How cats help you in fighting lassa fever – Gombe Health Commissioner

Gombe State Commissioner of Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya on Friday cautioned against any act capable of reducing the population of cats in the state, saying they help in the fight against lassa fever.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after a meeting of the state Rapid Response Team on Epidemics, the commissioner described cats as natural allies in the fight against lassa fever, as such should be protected.

He said the meeting focused on four health issues which were of threat to human lives, namely CSM, Measles, Lassa fever and Polio.

According to him, cats are natural predators of rats, the carriers of lassa fever, as such dependable means of reducing the rat population in the state.

Cat chasing rat

“People should stop killing cats as they are natural predator of rats and we are all aware that rats cause Lassa fever,” he said.

Ishaya also revealed plans by his ministry to commence vaccination of children below the age of six, to protect them against Cerebral Spinal Meningitis (CSM).

He said they decided to focus on that particular age group because they were the most vulnerable whenever there was outbreak of communicable diseases.

“Rainy season is fast approaching and usually CSM is associated with winds.

“Although we have not recorded any CSM case in Gombe state, we want to take precautions,” he said.

The commissioner said the state government was exploring the possibility of establishing laboratory in Gombe for screening of suspected cases instead of taking samples to Lagos.

The post How cats help you in fighting lassa fever – Gombe Health Commissioner appeared first on Vanguard News.

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Indian minister condemns 'deplorable' race riots targeting African students

Seven arrested over violent clashes in and around Noida amid simmering resentment towards Africans

India’s foreign affairs minister has condemned “deplorable” race riots targeting African students near Delhi this week that put two men in hospital and led to seven arrests.

The victims included a Kenyan woman who alleges she was pulled from a rickshaw on Wednesday morning and beaten by a group of men.

Related: 'Racist' Gandhi statue banished from Ghana university campus

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Nigeria's Boko Haram insurgency

Almost left for dead when he was injured by a discarded bomb, Jonathan Gambo faces a long road to recovery. The teenager’s fate mirrors that of Nigeria itself.

On the day he lost his arm, Jonathan Gambo had been sent to gather firewood in the Nigerian village of Uba, where his parents worked as farmers. 

His elder brother had been curious to unearth a chunk of metal and unwittingly passed him the bomb before instructing him to throw it away.

Related: Boko Haram’s legacy of fear and ruin delays return of displaced Nigerians

Related: Around Lake Chad: Boko Haram's legacy of ruin and fear – in pictures

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EFCC arrests woman over N45m herbal cure fraud

Ibadan Zonal office of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), says it has arrested one Aminat Okiribiti for allegedly conspiring with others to defraud a woman  of her money, under false pretence.

Mr Ayo Oyewole, the EFCC Head of Public Affairs, Ibadan Zonal Office, told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday that the suspect had engaged in Advance Fee Fraud.

Oyewole stated that Okiribiti, with others now at large, had allegedly conspired ,using the pretence of providing cure and spiritual solution to health challenges, to defraud the women (name withheld) of a sum of N45 million.

He said that Aminat, age 34, married to one Wande Okiribiti (47) who is still at large, had confessed to committing the crime.

He said she had confessed that some of the money obtained from the victim, was collected by her through her bank account in a new generation bank, located in Ibadan.

Recounting her ordeal, the complainant said that she met Wande (suspect’s husband) sometimes in October 2014 at Utako, Abuja while in search of a cure for the health challenges of her children.

According to her, “Wande presented himself as a local herb hawker and a spiritualist capable of providing solutions to all problems and lured me into believing he had the cure to my children’s challenges.

“I subsequently made different payments as advised, totaling N45 million, but became suspicious at the request for funds transfers, which continued without solution to the problem.”

Oyewole said that the complainant, having suspected foul play, wrote petitioned the commission, necessitating the arrest of the suspect.

He urged members of the public to be wary of the age-long tactics to avoid falling into the hands of fraudsters.

Oyewole said that the suspect would be charged to court as soon as investigations were concluded.

The post EFCC arrests woman over N45m herbal cure fraud appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

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30-year-old man in N17,000 fraud case, gets N.2m bail - Punch

A 30-year-old man, Femi Ajayi, who allegedly defrauded one Funmiliayo Oyetade of N17,000, was on Friday granted N200,000 bail by an Osun Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ile-Ife.

Ajayi is facing a charge of fraud.

Magistrate Dorcas Ajiboye, who granted the bail, added that the accused must provide one surety in like sum as parts of his bail conditions.

Ajiboye said the surety should swear to affidavit of means and must reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

She said the surety should show evidence of three-years tax payment to the Osun State Government.

The magistrate then adjourned the case until April 26 for mention.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Sgt. Sunday Osanyintuyi, had told the court that the accused committed the offence in 2014 in Ido-Osun area of Ile-Ife.

Osanyintuyi said the accused collected the money from the complainant to plaster her house, which he failed to do.

“All efforts by the complainant to get back her money proved abortive, so she reported the matter to the Police,’’ he said.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 419 of the Criminal Law of Osun, 2002.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge. (NAN)

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Joe Biden Offers Piece of Advice to President Trump: ‘I Would Literally Stop Tweeting’

Former Vice President Joe Biden has some words of advice for President Trump about his social media habits.

“I would literally stop tweeting and start focusing,” Biden said Thursday at an event at the University of Pennsylvania, CNN reports. “The words of a president matter. They have enormous, enormous, enormous, reverberating sounds around the world. Every time a U.S. president speaks and says something, leaders and people around the world try to dissect what he means because it matters so much to their security, threats they face, whatever it is.”

Biden also repeated a piece of advice he’d already given to the new president: “Grow up.”

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Meet the altar boy who fought for ISIS

With his blue eyes, brown hair and beaming smile, young Michael Delefortrie looked every inch the angelic altar boy.

But fast forward twenty years, and Michael had changed his name to Younnes, traded his Christian faith for Islam, and the sleepy Belgian suburb he’d grown up in for the front lines of ISIS’ war in Syria.

Now, back in Belgium, he still expresses open support for the group’s warped ideology and says he wishes he could return to the group’s self-proclaimed Islamic State.

“I regret coming back,” he told me. “I want to live under the caliphate.”

Despite his shocking words, the most striking thing about the 28-year-old is how utterly unremarkable he appears. The first time we meet, in a café in the port city of Antwerp, he wears a hooded sweatshirt, sneakers and jeans (cuffed just above the ankle in a style that emulates the Prophet — though most people wouldn’t even notice).

He doesn’t shake hands with me, as a woman, but he is polite, makes eye contact, apologizes for being late, cracks jokes and even flirts a little with my young producer.

And while he dismisses his own nationality — “I’m not Belgian. I am Muslim” — and wants to see Western democracy replaced by the strictest form of Sharia law, the returned ISIS fighter is more than happy to accept welfare checks from the Belgian government.

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Gujarat: India state approves life term for killing cows

The BBC reports that the new amendment means Gujarat now has the toughest laws dealing with cow slaughter in India.

Under an amendment to the state's Animal Preservation Act, those found guilty of transporting beef will also be jailed for 10 years.

The cow is considered sacred by India's Hindu majority, and killing cows is illegal in many states.

But the new amendment means Gujarat now has the toughest laws on the issue in the country.

Offenders will face heavy fines, as well as time behind bars. The penalty for either act has been doubled from 50,000 rupees ($771; £618) to 100,000 rupees.

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Free eBook: "The Hardcore Truth: Interview with an Ex-Porn Producer"

Free eBook: "The Hardcore Truth: Interview with an Ex-Porn Producer" by Fradd and Pauling

By

 Daniel So

In the battle for purity, you’ll want to share this eBook with your church. Let this former porn producer dispel common myths people may have about the industry. 

From Covenant Eyes, “In this transcript, Matt Fradd interviews Donny about 10 common myths about porn. Is porn is truly “glamorous”? Does it liberate women? Is it just healthy, adult entertainment? Does porn enhance sexual intimacy? 

Weird Science - Sex robots: Experts debate the rise of the love droids (BBC)

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Image copyrightTHINKSTOCK

Image captionFor some, sex with robots is a dream but for others it is a soul-destroying nightmare

Would you have sex with a robot? Would you marry one? Would a robot have the right to say no to such a union?

These were just a few of the questions being asked at the second Love and Sex with Robots conference hastily rearranged at Goldsmiths University in London after the government in Malaysia - the original location - banned it.

It has proved controversial, not only to countries with conservative views.

There were no representatives from the sex industry in attendance and no sex robots on display, leading some to question the point of the event.

Read more here.

Spider venom may offer stroke therapy

Protein extracted from funnel webs may help minimise the effects of brain damage after a stroke. Scientists found a single dose of the protein Hi1a worked on lab rats.

They said it showed "great promise as a future stroke treatment" but had not yet been tested in human trials.

The Stroke Association said the research was at its early stages but it would "welcome any treatment that has the potential to reduce the damage caused by stroke".

ASUU Threatens To Close Universities

Channels Television reports that The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that Federal and State Universities risk closure, following lack of prompt payment of salaries. The Port Harcourt chapter of the union held a press conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where it revealed that the zone is the worst hit with shortfall in salaries and unpaid salary … 

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Africa To Get More Space In FIFA Competitions – Pinnick

Channels Television reports that President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Mr Amaju Pinnick, says plans are ongoing to get more space for African teams in FIFA competitions. The newly elected executive member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed that the number of teams in CAF competitions would also be increased. On the development of football in Nigeria, he … 

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Google unveils tools to prevent ads alongside undesirable content

Google, which has seen a slew of companies withdraw ads after they appeared alongside extremist content, said Tuesday it was introducing new tools to give firms greater control.

“We know advertisers don’t want their ads next to content that doesn’t align with their values,” Google’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler said in a post on the internet giant’s blog.

“So starting today, we’re taking a tougher stance on hateful, offensive and derogatory content.”

The move came a day after an apology by a senior Google executive after the British government and a handful of top firms including Marks and Spencer and HSBC bank pulled their adverts after they appeared alongside extremist content on its internet platforms.

Schindler said Google will tighten safeguards to ensure that ads show up only against legitimate creators on its video-sharing site YouTube, and “is taking a hard look at our existing community guidelines to determine what content is allowed on the platform”.

A boycott by firms worried about damaging their image could cause incredible damage to Google as advertising makes up the overwhelming majority of the internet giant’s revenue.

Schindler said Google acknowledged that companies have brand guidelines which dictate where and when they want their ads to appear, and that it wants to give them more control to do that.

“In the coming days and months, we’re introducing new tools for advertisers to more easily and consistently manage where their ads appear across YouTube and the web,” said Schindler.

The British government put its YouTube advertising on hold on Monday, saying “it is totally unacceptable that taxpayer-funded advertising has appeared next to inappropriate internet content — and that message was conveyed very clearly to Google.”

A Marks and Spencer spokesman said: “In order to ensure brand safety, we are pausing activity across Google platforms whilst the matter is worked through.”

AFP

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Philippine President Duterte Closes the Door on Legalizing Gay Marriage

Although President Duterte of the Philippines is a controversial personality, his recent statement on gay marriage will elicit positive and negative reactions from different camps. 

News that Rodrigo Duterte would not, after all, support gay marriage came partway through a lengthy speech during the Philippine President’s two-day trip to Myanmar, apparently closing the door on a campaign pledge to consider legalizing it.

In an address to Myanmar’s Filipino community on Sunday, Duterte castigated E.U. lawmakers who last week adopted a resolution condemning “the many extrajudicial killings” of his drug war. Then, referencing a recent edition of TIME magazine, in which the cover story focuses on changing attitudes to gender identity and sexuality in American culture, he warned of attempts to impose Western values on the Philippines.

Is there a link between climate change and diabetes?

No positive side to climate change. CNN reports that scientists have long warned that rising global temperatures may impact public health in a devastating way because climate change is associated with deadly weather events, the spread of infectious diseases and even food shortages.

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