Four persons were killed in flash floods in Turkey’s northern Black Sea region and 11 others are missing, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, said on Sunday. The footage, from the northern province of Giresun, showed floodwaters caused by unusually heavy rainfall dragging buildings and vehicles along a road, leaving them buried in mud. Speaking to reporters in Giresun, Soylu said search and rescue operations were underway to find the missing. One of those killed was a soldier, he said. “So far, 133 citizens have been rescued,’’ Soylu said. “Our state will dress the wounds and stand with our citizens with all…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, has confirmed leakage of petrol from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Atlas Cove-Mosimi System 2B Pipeline at Isheri in Alimosho local government area. The acting head, Mrs Margret Adeseye, confirmed the development in a statement signed by Mr Jamiu Dosunmu, spokesperson for the fire service, after visiting the scene on Sunday. Adeseye said that the fire service received a distress call from residents of Peace Estate at about 5.41 a.m. after Petrocam Bus Stop, Isheri, adding that firemen from Ikotun Fire Station were swiftly mobilised to the scene. “On getting there, it was…
By Sylvester Thompson The World Economic Forum, in an article published on March 3 2018, listed threats to global food production as poor harvests, droughts, floods among others. It suggested that the best way to boost food security is by investing in new technologies. The Forum noted that smallholder farmers and rural dwellers normally rely on their personal networks for information to help them overcome weather crises, improved productivity, and limit crop losses. But these personal networks are not paying off as poor harvests and other variables, are still unsettling farmers. Experts stressed that the way out is for farmers…
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, has announced 601 new cases of coronavirus. The highest daily cases in two months, the Centre through its official Twitter handle, @NCDCGov Saturday night, said Lagos recorded the highest number with 404, followed by the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, with 37 and Oyo, 19. It gave the breakdown as follows: Lagos-404 FCT-37 Oyo-19 Ondo-14 Abia-13 Enugu-13 Kaduna-13 Edo-12 Kano-12 Kwara-11 Ebonyi-10 Nasarawa-7 Ogun-6 Osun-5 Delta-5 Niger-5 Plateau-4 Bayelsa-4 Katsina-3 Ekiti-2 Imo-2 According to NCDC, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Nigeria now stands at 51,905; discharged patients stand at 38,767 and…
By Harvey A. Risch, MD, PHD As a professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, I have authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications and currently hold senior positions on the editorial boards of several leading journals. I am usually accustomed to advocating for positions within the mainstream of medicine, so have been flummoxed to find that, in the midst of a crisis, I am fighting for a treatment that the data fully support but which, for reasons having nothing to do with a correct understanding of the science, has been pushed to the sidelines. As a result, tens of…
Honey is more effective and less harmful than usual care for improving symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, particularly cough frequency and cough severity, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of previous studies, published in the journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine. Upper respiratory tract infections are the most frequent reason for antibiotic prescription. Since the majority of these infections are viral, antibiotic prescription is both ineffective and inappropriate. However, a lack of effective alternatives and a desire to preserve the patient-doctor relationship both contribute to antibiotic over prescription. “Honey is a well known traditional therapy for symptoms of upper…
The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) on Friday, August 21, 2020 approved several new projects, including one for Côte d’Ivoire that marks the first time the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has helped an African country obtain a grant from the international entity. Along with the $11.8 million approval for Côte d’Ivoire, other two FAO-led projects in Armenia and Colombia, for a total amount of $58.5 million, including $10.5 million in co-financing, received approval from the Green Climate Fund, a global platform mandated to invest in low-emission and climate-resilient development. “These approvals show that FAO is…
By Joseph Opoku Gakpo Restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have prompted a revival of locally produced food in Africa. As border closures make imported foods more expensive and harder to get, and political leaders rally support for the local agricultural economy, African consumers are showing renewed interest in local foods. “I wish the farmers could go and stay in their farms so that we can produce what we need sufficiently so that we don’t have to import,” Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari told the media in Abuja. “In any case, we don’t have money to import so we must produce…
By Nkechi Isaac Africa’s cotton farmers are struggling to recoup their investments because they lack access to quality seeds that can increase yields and profits. “I have spent about N5 million, an equivalent of over US$12,000, in farming in the previous season and I am worried if I’ll be able to make enough profit to cover my investment,” lamented Alhaji Salmanu Abdullahi, a cotton farmer in Nigeria. Abdullahi and other cotton farmers say that despite all their efforts, they’re harvesting less than half a ton per hectare. Meanwhile, their South African counterparts are getting 1.5 to 2 tonnes per hectare by…
In order to curb insecurity in Zamfara state, Governor Bello Muhammad has secured the establishment of three Information and Communication Technology, ICT, hubs from the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. A statement by the Director General Media, Public Enlightenment and Communication, Yusuf Idris Gusau made available to Ashenewsonline on Friday said the development was sequel to the governor’s visit to the Minister, Dr. Ali Isah Pantami at his office in Abuja. According to the statement, the Governor requested the Ministry to support his administration’s efforts in the fight against banditry, kidnapping and cattle rustling and other forms of…