WHO Africa sees 10-year growth in healthy life expectancy
Africa’s regional health body announced on Thursday that the continent recorded a ten-year increase in its healthy life expectancy from 2000 to 2019, citing a new report that also shows it is the highest growth for any region across the world over the same period
washingtonpost.comAmusan gets WR, then the gold, in superfast 100 hurdles
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan set a world record in the semifinals, then ran an even faster, wind-aided time in the final Sunday to take the gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles at world championships. The record time of 12.12 seconds came on the first race of the final evening, one of three semifinals that set up the eight-woman gold-medal race. About 90 minutes later, she ran 12.06 to beat Jamaica's Britany Anderson by 0.17.
news.yahoo.comTwo Nigeria churches attacked; worshippers killed, abducted
Gunmen attacked two churches in rural northwestern Nigeria on Sunday, killing three people, witnesses and a state official said, weeks after a similar attack in the West African nation left 40 worshippers dead. The attack in Kajuru area of Kaduna State targeted four villages, resulting in the abduction of unspecified number of residents and the destruction of houses before the assailants managed to escape, locals said. It wasn't immediately clear who was behind the attack on the Kaduna churches.
news.yahoo.comChildren among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria
A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people dead and seven injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. The stampede at the event organized by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved people who came to the church’s annual “Shop for Free” charity program, according to Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman. Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million people live in poverty, according to government statistics.
news.yahoo.comUK officials: 4 men infected with "rare" monkeypox in London
British health authorities say they have identified four “rare and unusual” cases of the disease monkeypox among men who appear to have been infected in London and had no history of travel to the West African countries where the smallpox-like disease is endemic
washingtonpost.comNo mourners at burial of 50 victims of Nigeria refinery fire
Days after more than 100 people died in an explosion at an illegal oil refinery in southeast Nigeria, authorities and gravediggers returned to the site in a forest to bury about 50 unclaimed bodies that were burned beyond recognition
washingtonpost.comBlack Entrepreneur Used His Entire Life Savings to Launch a Scheduling App. Now It’s Worth Over $3 Billion Less Than 10 Years Later.
When Nigeria-born, Atlanta-based Tope Awotona launched the meeting scheduling service Calendly in 2013 he believed in his idea so much that he used his entire life savings to […]
news.yahoo.comNigerian governor says 279 kidnapped schoolgirls are freed
Zamfara state governor Bello Matawalle announced that 279 girls who were abducted last week from a boarding school in the northwestern Zamfara state have been released Tuesday. Bello Matawalle said that 279 girls had been freed after being abducted from the Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Jangebe town on Friday. It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students,” Matawalle said in a post on Twitter early Tuesday. In December, more than 300 schoolboys from a secondary school in Kankara, in northwestern Nigeria, were taken and later released. The government has said no ransom was paid for the students’ release.
Pope prays for liberation of 317 kidnapped Nigerian students
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Sunday decried the kidnapping of 317 students from their boarding school in northwest Nigeria and prayed for the girls' quick release. Police on Friday in Nigeria said gunmen had abducted the students from their boarding school. “I pray for these girls, so that they may return home soon,'' the pope said. A resident of the area said the gunmen also attacked a nearby military camp and checkpoint, preventing soldiers from interfering with the mass abduction. On Saturday, authorities in Nigeria announced that nearly 40 students, teachers and relatives abducted on Feb. 17 from a school in northern Nigeria have been freed.
Students abducted from Nigerian school 2 weeks ago freed
(AP Photo)(AP) – Students, teachers and relatives abducted two weeks ago from a school in northern Nigeria have been freed. The students, teachers and family members were abducted Feb. 17 by gunmen from the Government Science College Kagara. Their release was announced a day after police said gunmen had abducted 317 girls from a boarding school elsewhere in northern Nigeria, in Zamfara state. “We will not succumb to blackmail by bandits and criminals who target innocent school students in the expectation of huge ransom payments,” he said. In December, 344 students were abducted from the Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State.
Africa CDC: New virus variant appears to emerge in Nigeria
“It’s a separate lineage from the U.K. and South Africa,” the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters. He said the Nigeria CDC and the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases would analyze more samples. The new virus variant in South Africa is now the predominant one there, Nkengasong said, as confirmed infections in the country approach 1 million. “We believe this mutation will not have an effect” on the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the continent, he said of the South Africa variant. Infections across the continent have risen 10.9% over the past four weeks, the Africa CDC director said, including a 52% increase in Nigeria and 40% increase in South Africa.
The Latest: China tests millions in port over virus cluster
(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)BEIJING — Authorities in China’s northeastern port city of Dalian are testing millions of residents after seven new coronavirus cases were reported there in the last 24 hours. It has a deal to secure up to 100 million doses of the potential vaccine produced by AstraZeneca. Koca said the first shipment of three million doses of CoronaVac would be shipped to Turkey on Sunday and arrive Monday. He said Turkey could get 4.5 million doses until the end of March and would have the option buy up to 30 million doses. Indonesia has reported nearly 700,000 COVID-19 cases, the largest caseload in Southeast Asia and second in Asia only to India’s 10.1 million confirmed cases.
Hundreds of Nigerian students missing after attack on school
People gather inside the Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Nigeria, Saturday Dec. 12, 2020. Nigerian police say that hundreds of students are missing after gunmen attacked the secondary school in the countrys northwestern Katsina state. (AP Photo/Abdullatif Yusuf)(AP) – Hundreds of Nigerian students are missing after gunmen attacked a secondary school in the country’s northwestern Katsina state, police said, while the president said the military was in gunfights with bandits in a forest as it tried to find the students. “The police, Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force are working closely with the school authorities to ascertain the actual number of the missing and/or kidnapped students,” said Isah. ”Our prayers are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured,” said the president's statement.
US citizen kidnapped in Niger rescued in military operation
WASHINGTON – An American citizen kidnapped in the West African nation of Niger this past week has been rescued in a U.S. military operation in neighboring Nigeria, U.S. officials said Saturday. The man was taken from his farm in Massalata in southern Niger early Tuesday morning by armed kidnappers who demanded a ransom from the man’s father. “This American citizen is safe and is now in the care of the U.S. Department of State. No U.S military personnel were injured during the operation,” the department said in a statement. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss the operation and spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details .
Houston’s Nigerian community hosts protest in support of the End SARS movement
HOUSTON – Momentum is growing on an outcry for justice in Nigeria, where more than 50 civilians have been killed during peaceful protests. In Houston, Congressman Al Green joined the Coalition Against Human Rights Abuse and the Houston Nigerian community to protest the killings on Saturday. “It is time for us to let Nigeria know we will not allow human rights to be ignored.”“People who look like me are dying everyday,” said a Houston resident. The End SARS movement calls for an end to violence and police brutality being done by the special anti-robbery squad in the west African country. The movement has been viral on social media for days.
Nigeria’s police order massive mobilization after unrest
Nigeria's president says 51 civilians have been killed in unrest following days of peaceful protests over police abuses, and he blames "hooliganism" for the violence while asserting that security forces have used "extreme restraint. The police order could further heighten tensions in Africa’s most populous country after its worst turmoil in years. Adamu, ordered colleagues to “dominate the public space” while announcing that enough is enough, a statement said. By not taking action against security forces, some Nigerians have warned, the president could inspire further abuses. We are part of the system, we are part of this governance.”___Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria contributed.
#EndSARS movement spreading in Houston; first-generation Nigerian Americans speak out about the violence
The violence erupted during peaceful protests that were meant to bring to light rampant abuses at the hands of police. Mayor Sylvester Turner, several community leaders and people gathered Friday night at Houston’s city hall to remember the young lives lost during the peaceful protest in Nigeria. Peter Uwalaka and Elizabeth Opara are members of the UIU chapter in Houston and are first-generation Nigerian Americans. People tired of the violence against peaceful protest and police brutality. On Saturday, the Houston UIU Chapter will have a protest march to bring awareness to the atrocities in Nigeria.
Nigerian president leaves protest shootings out of speech
“For you to do otherwise will amount to undermining national security and law and order," he said. “President Buhari during his speech refused to acknowledge those dead as a result of military attacked on Lekki protesters #EndSARS,” tweeted Usman Okai Austin. As looting gangs stormed through parts of Nigeria's largest city, spreading violence for a second day in Lagos. But on Tuesday night security forces fired without warning into crowds of thousands of protesters singing Nigeria's national anthem, killing 12, Amnesty said. "We welcome an immediate investigation into any use of excessive force by members of the security forces.
#EndSARS protesters shot dead in Nigeria, reports say
People hold banners as they demonstrate on the street to protest against police brutality, in Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday Oct. 20, 2020. The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, said in a statement Tuesday night only that “there have been reports of shooting at the Lekki Toll Plaza following the 24-hour curfew imposed on Lagos." The development came just hours after Lagos state Gov. The governor of Lagos state said the new curfew would cover the entire city of some 14 million people and surrounding areas. The announcement came after a police station was burned down in the city and two people were shot dead by police.
Up to 150 million could join extreme poor, World Bank says
Middle income-countries are expected to have 82% of the new extreme poor, including India, Nigeria and Indonesia. Most of the new extreme poor, more than 110 million even by the World Bank's baseline estimate, will be in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Roughly a third of the newly extreme poor are expected to be in sub-Saharan Africa, between 26 million and 40 million. The World Bank estimates between 88 million and 115 million people could slip into extreme poverty this year, with another 23 million to 35 million in 2021. The report "offers no simple answers to these major challenges currently confronting the world, because there are not any,” the World Bank authors write.