Nine people were killed in floods in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam, officials said on Monday. Downpours, common during the East African country’s rainy season, caused the flooding, which badly damaged infrastructure, said Dar es Salaam police official, Lazaro Mambosasa. Major roads were flooded, causing the city’s bus system to suspend services, and at least 20 houses in low-lying areas were also swept away. Residents of the city were urged to remain vigilant as heavy rains were expected to continue over the next few days. (dpa/NAN)
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Director of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Prof. Ibrahim Umar-Abubakar has said that the institute would constitute a committee to build and strengthen research-industry synergy to boost Nigeria’s agricultural production. He disclosed this at the sidelines of Research Extension Farmers Input Linkage System (REFILS), which is part of the 2018 Annual Agricultural Research Review and Planning Meeting organised by IAR, Samaru, Zaria in Kaduna State. Abubakar said the committee became imperative in view of the fact that it would bring the industries closer to researchers for solving societal and national challenges. “I…
The Borno state Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia has said that at least, three persons have died in fresh cholera outbreak in Kukawa local government of of the state. He disclosed this when the Director General of World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebrayesus visited the WHO’s Emergency and Response Centre on Friday in Maiduguri. Mshela said that about 700 cases of cholera were recorded in Baga, Doron Baga and Kukawa in the past weeks, adding that the state government in collaboration with WHO and other partners had scaled up activities to combat the outbreak in the affected communities. Noting…
The University of Liège has awarded the AGRA President, Dr. Agnes Kalibata an Honorary Doctorate – its highest honour – in recognition of her leadership role in driving Africa’s agricultural transformation. Presenting her with the Insignias of the distinction, Prof. Albert Corhay, the University Rector, outlined her outstanding contributions to agriculture across Africa. He spoke particularly of her vision and leadership in contributing to real change across Africa both through her former role as the Minister of Agriculture in Rwanda and now as the AGRA President. On receiving the honour, Dr. Kalibata recognised the input of others in the process, saying: “This is a…
By Catherine Offord A preliminary clinical trial finds that the personalized therapy improves survival rates and has no severe side-effects. Ovarian cancer is a particularly hard-to-treat disease. It’s often diagnosed late, and even after surgery and chemotherapy, around 85 percent of patients relapse and develop chemoresistance. But a preliminary clinical trial, carried out by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, has shown promising results for a new type of vaccine that aims to boost patients’ immune systems to fight the disease. The findings were published yesterday (April 11) in Science Translational Medicine. “This vaccine appears to be safe for patients, and…
Ondo state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has called for effective action to free waterways of water hyacinth that is impeding the development of water transport as an alternative mode. Making the call in Akure during a courtesy call by a delegation from the Nigerian Maritime and Administration Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Thursday, he said the waterways could serve as a major means of transport in Nigeria. “When water hyacinth is properly harvested, it could be used for something else, even for biogas,” Akeredolu said while urging something be done to harvest the hycinth that that had clogged waterways in Nigeria. Expressing…
Pharmaceutical wastes resulting from human and farm animal consumption are endangering the eco-system of rivers around the world, a new research says. Francesco Bregoli, a researcher at the Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, told the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2018, on Thursday, when presenting the research findings. A large part of the world’s rivers and lakes are potentially threatened by the high concentration of drug wastes, Bregoli said. Bregoli’s team used diclofenac, an anti-inflammation drug, as a proxy to estimate the concentration of other drugs in global river systems. Diclofenac has been branded as a threat…
The newly-elected President of Sierra Leone, Mr Julius Bio, on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 issued a directive ordering the suspension of timber export. According to the presidential directive issued by State House, the suspension is part of the government’s strategy to fight deforestation in the country. Former President Ernest Koroma suspended the export of timber in 2013, but lifted it in early 2017 in the build-up to the 2018 elections. Although timber logging has created many jobs for Sierra Leonean youths, environmental activists have welcomed the suspension and called on the government to make the suspension a permanent ban. The…
In an ambitious United Nations (UN) campaign to eliminate epidemics of the deadly disease on the African continent, nearly one billion people would be vaccinated against yellow fever by 2026. The mosquito-borne viral disease is a major killer in the continent, where it could spread fast in highly populated areas with devastating consequences. Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said this at the programme’s launch in Nigeria, which is a priority-target country. “With one injection we can protect a person for life against this dangerous-pathogen. This unprecedented commitment by countries will ensure that by 2026 Africa is…
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh has said that Federal Government would establish 14 additional rice mills in the country to meet increasing demand for local rice and achieve self sufficiency. Speaking at the AgroNigeria High Level Rice Conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Ogbeh who was represented by the ministry’s Director of Agribusiness and Marketing, Alhaji Muyiwa Azeez said the mills would be sited in different states. “Different brands of home grown international grade rice can now be found in the market. This has been a great stride. A total of 14 number mills will soon come…