Author: Chronicle Editor

A private helicopter carrying a wedding party landed by mistake inside a high security prison on Thursday, sparking massive security concerns amid reports that terrorists were planning an attack on the jail to free the militant inmates. According to the officials the guards at Kashimpur Central Jail detained the five passengers, all members of an expatriate Bangladeshi family, for a brief period but the pilot, reportedly a retired air force officer, flew away with the plane after sensing his mistake. “This happened by mistake but the incident made us concerned as there are intelligence reports that terrorists could launch attacks…

At least 36 people were killed and 13 injured when a packed bus slammed into a tunnel wall on an expressway in northern China, state media said Friday. The coach crashed in Qinling tunnel in Shaanxi province on Thursday night, according to Xinhua news agency, which cited local authorities. The bus had departed from Chengdu in southwest Sichuan province en route to the central city of Luoyang. The injured have been rushed to hospital, Xinhua said. According to Sina news website, the bus had a 51-passenger capacity and was carrying 49 people, including two children. Sichuan province is already reeling…

A U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a “freedom of navigation operation” on Thursday, coming within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, U.S. officials told Reuters. The operation came as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs and could complicate efforts to secure a common stance. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the USS John S. McCain traveled close to Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals. China has territorial disputes with its…

President Donald Trump has said that he did the US military a “great favour” by banning transgender troops from the armed forces. Trump, speaking to reporters at his New Jersey country club, said the issue of transgender service members had been “complicated” and “confusing” for the military. “Look, I have great respect for the (transgender) community,” Trump said. “I think I have great support — or I’ve had — great support from that community. “I got a lot of votes.” But Trump said the issue of transgender troops has been a “very difficult situation” for the US armed forces. “As…

A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked the region south of the Philippine capital on Friday, causing buildings in Manila and nearby areas to sway, seismologists and witnesses said. The quake struck just off the coast of Lian town at 1:28 pm (0528 GMT), at a relatively deep 173 kilometres (107 miles), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology told AFP. The US Geological Survey measured it at 6.2 magnitude. “Due to its depth we do not expect any damage,” the institute’s director Renato Solidum said on government television. A rescue official at the town closest to the epicentre also reported no…

No fewer than 128 Nigerians deported from Libya arrived in Lagos on Thursday aboard a chartered Airbus A320 Afriqiyah aircraft with registration number 5A-ONA. The aircraft landed at 5.35p.m at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. The deportees, comprising 126 male, two female, were flown back into the waiting hands of officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police. Also on ground were officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). The two females and four male deportees…

Arsenal have offered Chile international Alexis Sanchez a new contract worth £300,000 per week, to make him the Premier League’s highest paid player. (Daily Mail) But manager Arsene Wenger has admitted Arsenal are “not super optimistic” that they can convince the 28-year-old forward to extend his contract. (SFR Sport – in French) Juventus are prepared to offer £23m to try to persuade Liverpool to sell German midfielder Emre Can. (Gazzetta dello Sport via Daily Mirror) West Ham have bid a club record 30 million euros (£27.1m) for Sporting Lisbon and Portugal midfielder William Carvalho, 25. (Daily Telegraph) Barcelona cannot afford…

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has stopped plans by telecommunications provider, Globacom to offer free data to its subscribers on Friday, August 11, 2017. The commission in a letter jointly signed by its Commissioner for Stakeholder Management Sunday Dare, and its Director, Consumer Affairs, Abdullahi Maikano, on behalf of the Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman, on Tuesday, explained that the promotion was not in line with what was approved by the regulator. Globacom had announced a “free data day” package for all its prepaid subscribers, whom it said would get free data for one whole day when they meet…

Another suspected ritualist’s den was on Thursday uncovered at Ile-Zik area of Mangoro, Agege, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. A mob tried to burn down the massive structure suspected to be hideout of ritualists, but the police prevented them from doing so. Several policemen, army and neighbourhood watchers have been deployed to the area to forestall the break down of law and order. An eye witness who craved anonymity told newsmen that for the intervention of the police, the building believed to be harbouring one of the suspected ritualists would have been burnt down. A huge crowd gathered around the expressway, hindering…

Senate President Bukola Saraki has sacked his director of protocol, head of administration and 96 others to scale down the number of his aides, correspondents reliably gathered yesterday. Daily Trust gathered that the affected aides have been issued sack letters through the office of the Chief of staff, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. It was gathered that with the mass sack, Saraki’s aides have been reduced from over 300 to a little above 200. The newspaper had exclusively reported in March, 2016, how hundreds of aides engaged by Saraki, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, the Deputy Senate President, Ike…