Author: Admin

1.9 billion people overweight, 650m obese: FAO chief

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The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said almost 1.9 billion people are overweight and some 650 million people are obese globally. FAO Director-General Jose da Silva said at the opening of a regional conference in Montego Bay in Jamaica, that governments must keep the fight against malnutrition at the top of their agenda. Da Silva said the situation was most worrying in Latin America, where about 96 million adults were obese. He said a “radical transformation” of food systems and food habits was critical to combat the growing scourge of overweight…

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MTN announces $279 million annual profit

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MTN Group, Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, returned to annual profit in 2017 in the absence of one-off charges related to a $1.1 billion Nigerian fine. Headline earnings totalled 3.3 billion rand ($278.82 million), or 182 cents per share, in the year ended December, compared with a loss of 1.4 billion rand, or 77 cents per share, a year earlier, South Africa-based MTN said on Thursday. Headline EPS is the main profit measure in South Africa and strips out certain one-off items. Group service revenue rose 7.2 percent to 124…

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Studies on HIV prevention in women assuring – USAIDS

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UNAIDS is elated with mid-way results from two studies that show a vaginal ring releasing long-acting antiretroviral medicine to prevent HIV infection in women. Reports say that the results show that studies is up to 54 per cent effective in preventing HIV. The ring, which is replaced monthly, slowly releases the antiretroviral medicine dapivirine and could give women an additional HIV prevention option that is discreet and that they can control. Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said: “These results are significant. Structural, behavioural and biological factors make women more…

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Hollywood honours Lionel Richie

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Four-time Grammy winner Lionel Richie cemented his legacy in Hollywood Wednesday, plunging his feet and hands into a wet paving slab at the forecourt of the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre. The 68-year-old R&B singer, a former front man for Motown legends,  The Commodores, has sold more than 100 million records over a career spanning six decades. “This is almost beyond the childhood dream,” Richie told AFP at the ceremony on Hollywood Boulevard, a time-honored tradition launched in the 1920s. “When I first came to this town, the Holiday Inn was…

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Dangote loses N2b monthly to Apapa traffic jam

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The Management of Dangote Group says its sugar and salt companies lose about N2 billion monthly to the perennial traffic gridlocks on Apapa Port roads  every month. The company’s traffic Manager, Mr  Mohammadu Rabiu, revealed this at a stakeholders meeting called at the instance of the Western Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy in Lagos. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was aimed a finding a lasting solution to the chaotic traffic situation in the area. Rabiu said that the company was losing so much because…

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DSS arraigns alleged kidnapper of Unity Bank manager in Rivers

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The Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday arraigned the leader of a vigilance group, Emeke Agbabere, in a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Port Harcourt for allegedly kidnapping a banker. Agbabere, the secretary of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area Security, Peace and Advisory Committee, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy as well as kidnapping and illegal detention. The prosecuting counsel, Mr Calistus Eze, told the court that the accused conspired with others at large to lure, kidnap and illegally detain one Johnson Oyedokun, the branch Manager of Unity Bank at…

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Leicester deny Mahrez has retired

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Leicester City confirmed on Wednesday that star forward Riyad Mahrez is not quitting football after a bizarre post appeared on the player’s Facebook page announcing he was retiring. The post said the Algerian was retiring after a medical consultation, prompting an outpouring of disappointment from fans but also claims it was fake. “After the last consultation with many doctors, I’ve decided to stay away from football,” the Facebook post said. “As my time as a football player comes to an end, I would like to say few words. “I want…

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Syria army intensifies fight against rebels in Eastern Ghouta

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Rebels in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta have reiterated they will defend the area and will not accept a negotiation for a Russian-proposed withdrawal, a military spokesperson of one of the rebel groups in the enclave said. Reuters News Agency on Wednesday reported that the spokesperson said “there are no negotiations about this subject”, referencing Russia’s offer to provide rebels and their families safe passage out of Eastern Ghouta. “The factions of Ghouta and their fighters and its people are holding onto their land and will defend it,” Hamza Birqdar told Reuters…

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Federal govt urged to make science, technology development national priority

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Prof. Onuegbu Ugwu of Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Abakaliki, has called on government to consider the development of Science and Technology (S&T) as a national priority. Ugwu, the Director of Research and Development at the institution, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday on the side-line of the on-going Science and Technology Expo in Abuja. The expo with the theme, “Fast Tracking Sustainable Development of Nigeria through Science and Technology’’, is scheduled to end on Friday. He said that the country had enough…

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Israel gives Palestine condition for peace

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine must embrace peace and stop paying terrorists in order to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Netanyahu said this while on official visit to Washington DC, United States (U.S.). “To get peace, President Abbas has to embrace peace and to stop supporting terror … He pays about $350 million a year to terrorists and their families,” Netanyahu said during remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference. The prime minister added that he…

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