Women and girls are a new frontier in the fight against HIV

At the ninth annual conference on HIV science, happening in Paris right now, there’s a lot to celebrate. AIDS used to be one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide — no more. A report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS) shows that deaths have fallen from 1.9 million in 2005 to 1 million last year. And that’s not all: For the first time ever, there are more people receiving treatment than people who are not. “Today, we are saying to the world that we have almost 70 percent of people…

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Zouma signs new Chelsea deal, heads to Stoke City on loan

Kurt Zouma has signed a new six-year contract and will spend the 2017/18 season on loan at Stoke City. Zouma arrived Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2014. He has made 71 appearances for the Blues so far and scored four goals. Technical director Michael Emenalo said: “It is fantastic Kurt has chosen to commit his future to Chelsea. He has shown his talent since joining us three years ago, and has returned from a serious injury with a fantastic attitude”. “Now he has the opportunity to play regularly in…

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Russia launches 5th generation fighter jet

Russia has successfully completed the first set of flight tests of its T-50, fifth-generation fighter jet. The Aerospace Forces Commander Viktor Bondarev confirmed the successful tests on Friday. “Today is a historic event — a preliminary conclusion has been signed at the MAKS airshow on the first stage of the flight trials of the T-50 prototype. “We are now switching to the second stage of trials. We have also been recommended to start the manufacture of the plane’s pre-production batch,” Bondarev said. In an interview with Sputnik, Dmitry Drozdenko, a military…

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Trump warns of ‘serious consequences’ unless Iran releases detained Americans-White House

U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Iran would face “new and serious consequences” unless all unjustly detained American citizens are released and returned, the White House said in a statement on Friday. Trump urged Iran to return Robert Levinson, an American former law enforcement officer who disappeared more than 10 years ago in Iran, and demanded that Tehran release businessman Siamak Namazi and his father, Baquer. The statement capped a week of rhetoric against Tehran. On Tuesday, Washington slapped new economic sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile program and…

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U.S. State Department to clamp ban on travel to North Korea

The U.S. government on Friday said it will bar Americans from traveling to North Korea due to the risk of “long-term detention” in the country, where a U.S. student was jailed while on a tour last year and later died. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has authorized a “Geographical Travel Restriction” on Americans to forbid them from entering North Korea, spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. “Once in effect, U.S. passports will be invalid for travel to, through and in North Korea, and individuals will be required to obtain a passport…

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TuFace to hold charity concert for IDPs

As part of efforts to assist displaced persons, Tuface Foundation is organising a fund raising charity concert to support the activities of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in the North-East. Musical icon Innocent Idibia, popularly known as Tuface, made this known while briefing journalists on Thursday in Abuja. Tuface said that the concert would take place on Sunday at Transcorp Hilton, Hotel, Abuja, and urged Nigerians to support the cause. He said that 60 per cent of the proceeds would be donated to UNHCR to support its interventions…

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The burden of victory

Sweet victory, right? Yes. You cannot blame the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders of the Ahmed Makarfi faction for being so euphoric since the Supreme Court handed it the final legal victory last week. It had been a long, nasty and gut wrenching intra-party struggle. It has caused deep wounds on both sides. It has left the party haemorrhaging badly. And now the once largest party in Africa that ruled us at the centre and in the majority of the states for some 16 years faces an uncertain future; not…

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NSE market capitalisation appreciates by N27bn

The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the third consecutive day on Wednesday posted further growth increasing by N27 billion. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation rose by N27 billion or 0.23 per cent to close at N11.550 trillion against N11.523 trillion on Tuesday. Similarly, the All-Share Index, which opened at 33,436.61, inched 78.32 points or 0.23 points to close at 33,514.93 due to price growth by some highly capitalised equities. Seplat led the gainers’ table during the day, appreciating by N9.98…

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What exactly are we restructuring?

Not a few Nigerians from all walks of life have spoken in favour of Nigeria’s restructuring, from past and present political leaders to professional bodies, traditional leaders and even Nigerians in the Diaspora. This seems to be about the only time Nigerians seem to be agreeing on one thing; Nigeria is not working! Everywhere in Nigeria today, the story is the same; the song is the same. It cuts across all known divides. The discourse everywhere is centered on one theme: The need to restructure the Nigerian state. It is…

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Nigerian girls in danger in Italy

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Friday said thousands of Nigerian migrant girls brought to Italy were in great danger of being forced into prostitution in Europe. The number of female Nigerians, many of them minors, often naive about their fate at the hands of traffickers, arrived by sea in Italy surged over the past three years from 1,454 in 2014 to 11,000 in 2016. The organisation’s spokesman, Flavio Di Giacomo, said at a news briefing in Geneva that some 4,000 Nigerian girls had arrived so far in 2017.…

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