Author: Chronicle Editor

General Electric Co has proposed investing in Nigeria’s oil refineries, potentially convening a consortium of companies to improve capacity at the run-down facilities. GE’s plan and similar promises from companies like Italy’s Eni to work with Nigeria to rehabilitate the country’s three oil refineries could help the government as it tries to reduce costly imported oil products. The work was raised during a meeting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a GE spokeswoman said late on Tuesday. “We propose that work commences either with the Warri or Port Harcourt refinery as a pilot, as we set a target to…

United States authorities have seized $20m (£16m) in cash discovered in a bed frame under a mattress in a Massachusetts flat. The cash is believed to be linked to a $1bn pyramid scheme involving TelexFree, a company that claimed to provide internet phone services. Investigators uncovered the cash while following a Brazilian man, who was charged in connection to the haul, BBC reports. Federal prosecutors say the defunct company swindled almost a million people worldwide out of about $1bn. The US attorney’s office in Massachusetts tweeted a photo of the windfall of cash, which was found at the flat of…

Morocco beat Ivory Coast 1-0 to reach the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals and knock out the champions. Rachid Alioui scored with a terrific shot from 25 yards to earn the win for Morocco and their coach Herve Renard, who led the Ivorians to the 2015 title. Ivory Coast needed a win to go through but gave a listless performance, creating only two chances of note. Wilfried Zaha shot weakly from 12 yards, while Salomon Kalou’s header from a tight angle clipped a post. The Elephants lacked urgency in their play and go home after appearing not to put up…

Liverpool attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho, 24, is set to sign a new £200,000-a-week five-year contract with the club. (Daily Mirror) Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is keen to extend his contract and sign a new five-year deal. (Sun) Manchester United are considering expanding the capacity of their home ground, Old Trafford, to 88,000. (Daily Mail) Liverpool are in negotiations with Sporting Lisbon over their 24-year-old defensive midfielder William Carvalho, who is valued at £26m.(A Bola – in Portuguese) West Ham’s plans for a February training camp in Dubai do not include taking 29-year-old attacking midfielder Dimitri Payet.(Daily Mail) Crystal Palace…

Manchester United are making progress under Jose Mourinho and are “unlucky” not to be challenging Chelsea, says their former boss Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson, 75, stepped down in 2013 but retains close ties to Old Trafford and attends most games. “I think he has done a great job,” said the Scot in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport. Ferguson also explained why he thinks Wayne Rooney’s United goalscoring record will never be broken. Jose Mourinho became Manchester United’s third manager since Ferguson retired when he replaced Louis van Gaal in May. Although he won his opening three games in charge,…

Six-time champion Serena Williams outplayed Britain’s Johanna Konta to reach the Australian Open semi-finals. The American, 35, won 6-2 6-3 and will next play unseeded Croat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat fifth seed Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-4 3-6 6-4. Konta, seeded ninth, went into the quarter-final on a nine-match and 18-set winning streak but came up short in her first meeting with Williams. Williams is now two wins from claiming an Open-era record 23rd major title. “Johanna Konta has been playing so well,” said the second seed. “I was in the locker room watching her clean up her matches. She is…

A female suicide bomber who attacked a town in northeast Nigeria earlier this month was carrying a baby at the time, the country’s main relief agency said on Tuesday. But the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it was unclear whether this was a new tactic on the part of Boko Haram Islamists to allow would-be bombers to evade detection. “From the report we got after the Madagali attack (on January 13), one of the female suicide bombers had a baby strapped to her back,” said the NEMA coordinator for Adamawa state, Saad Bello. “However it is not clear whether…

Prof Uche Uwaleke, an economic expert says he is optimistic that Nigeria’s economy will be ‘out of the woods’ this year. Uwaleke, the Head of Banking and Finance, Nasarawa State University, said this in Abuja on Tuesday. He stated that the growth would be possible, especially if the 2017 expansionary budget was approved in due time and implemented accordingly. Uwaleke shares the same optimism with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding a possible growth by 0.8% in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year. According to him, the growth will be largely powered by the crude oil price, which…

Four-time champion Roger Federer coasted into the Australian Open semi-finals with a straight-set defeat of unseeded Mischa Zverev. The 35-year-old reached the last four in Melbourne for a 13th time with a 6-0 7-5 6-2 win over Zverev, who upset world number one Andy Murray on Sunday. Federer, seeded 17th as he seeks an 18th Grand Slam title, faces compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the last four. Fourth seed Wawrinka beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-2. Wawrinka won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 2014. The 31-year-old has since added victories at the French Open in…

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa has warned Nigerian migrants to avoid Libya. Dabiri-Erewa also warned against illegal entry to the country, noting that such immigrants to the country when caught and convicted were placed on death penalty. The Presidential aide said this in a statement made available to the newsmen in Abuja on Monday. She was reacting to a video and pictures being circulated on the purported killing of black immigrants to the country. “While the authenticity of the pictures and tapes in question cannot be verified, it is a known…