Author: Chronicle Editor

Italy withstood a late Belgium fightback to return to winning ways and claim third in the Nations League. Nicolo Barella opened the scoring with a crisp volley a minute after the interval in Turin before Domenico Berardi scored from the penalty spot. Belgium hit the woodwork three times before pulling one back through Charles de Ketelaere late on. They pressed for an equaliser but Italy, whose 37-game unbeaten run was ended by Spain on Wednesday, held on. After a dull first half of the bronze-medal match, Barella sparked the game into life with a stunning first-time strike into the bottom…

The Taliban warned the United States not to “destabilise” the regime on Saturday during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal, as a deadly sectarian bombing raised further questions about their grip on power. As mourners in northern Afghanistan buried their dead from an attack on a Shiite mosque that killed 62, a Taliban delegation told US officials in Doha that any weakening of their government could cause “problems for the people”. Scores more worshippers were wounded in Friday’s blast in Kunduz, which was claimed by the Islamic State group — who appear to be attempting to further shake…

A 32-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in Lagos state. It was gathered that the suspect is neighbour to the victim’s family. The incident was disclosed in a statement by the spokesman of the Lagos state police command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu on Sunday. Ajisebutu revealed that the suspect carried out the dastardly act when his wife went for a church vigil. “The victim’s mother had kept her in the custody of the suspect’s wife when she travelled out of town for three weeks. 20-year-old man arrested for raping 9-year-old girl in Lagos “According to the…

Not less than 20 persons have been killed by armed bandits after an attack on a market at Ungwan Lalle in Sabon Birni Local Government Area in Sokoto state. It was gathered that the many other people were injured during the attack and are currently receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Sabon Birni while others with life threatening injuries were taken to the state capital for proper care. The attack was confirmed by a former council chairman of Sabon Birni local government, Abdullahi Tsamaye. According to him, the gunmen came in large numbers into the market, shooting sporadically and…

Some political supporters of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, under the aegis of the Progressives Consolidation Group, have gotten approval of the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to canvass support for his emergence as the party’s candidate for the 2023 presidential election. The approval was contained in a letter titled, “Letter of Recognition As A Support Group,” dated October 4, 2021, which was signed by the Director, Administration of the APC, Abubakar Suleiman, and made public in Abuja on Saturday. The letter which was addressed to the PCG, read in part, “We write to inform you that the national…

Belgium pair Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard will miss the Nations League third-placed play-off with Italy because of “muscle overloads”. Chelsea striker Lukaku will go back to Belgium, rather than London, first from Italy and boss Roberto Martinez does not know when he will be fit. Lukaku played all of Thursday’s 3-2 semi-final defeat by France and scored. “They’re not in best conditions to play,” said Martinez of Lukaku and Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard. “They’re leaving the national team camp due to these problems – I don’t know how long it will take for them to recover.” Champions League: Lukaku…

England took another step towards confirming qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a predictably easy victory in Andorra. Gareth Southgate’s side dropped their first points in qualifying when they drew in Poland in their last game but there was no threat of anything other than a very comfortable win against the country ranked 156th in the Fifa rankings. England rested big guns such as captain Harry Kane but, with Phil Foden outstanding, they had far too much for Andorra and quickly established their superiority. Foden played in Jadon Sancho to set up Ben Chilwell for his first…

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 112th Portugal goal as they beat Qatar, extending his record as the top-scoring player in men’s international football. The Manchester United forward scored the opener from close range in the friendly at the Estadio Algarve and was replaced at half-time. The 36-year-old broke Iran striker Ali Daei’s record of 109 goals last month. This was Ronaldo’s 181st cap, meaning he has now also overtaken Sergio Ramos as Europe’s most-capped male player. Malaysian Soh Chin Ann, who retired in 1984, has the world record with 195. Messi, Ronaldo, Lewandowski, 27 others nominated for Ballon d’Or Jose Fonte…

A U.S. appeals court late on Friday temporarily reinstated Texas’s restrictive abortion law, which bars the procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy and outsources enforcement of the ban to ordinary citizens. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, a conservative-leaning intermediate appeals court, granted a request on Friday by the Texas Attorney General’s Office to temporarily suspend a judge’s order blocking the abortion ban. The administrative stay from the Fifth Circuit, a conservative-leaning appeals court, came in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department on Sept. 9. The purpose of the administrative stay is to…

Tyson Fury has knocked Deontay Wilder to remain the undefeated WBC champion of the world. Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III, billed as Once and For All, was a professional boxing trilogy fight between WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, and former WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder. The bout took place at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada on October 9, 2021. Twenty months since Fury dethroned the American, the 33-year-old had to show all his resolve and resilience to extend his undefeated professional record to 32 fights after twice being floored in the fourth round. Tyson Fury knocks…