The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Uganda next week will host a ministerial meeting on the outbreak of the Sudan strain of the Ebola virus which has no proven vaccine and has caused alarm in the East Africa region.
Acting director Ahmed Ogwell told journalists on Thursday the three countries that suffered the devastating West Africa outbreak of Ebola in 2014-16, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, also are invited to the Oct. 12 meeting.
The current Ebola outbreak in central Uganda has a 69% case fatality rate, which Ogwell called “very high,” and four health workers are among the 30 people who have died. There have been 43 confirmed cases. None have been in the capital, Kampala.
Ogwell said the exposure of health workers was at the beginning of the outbreak “when we did not know what we were dealing with,” and he dismissed the suggestion that the infections signaled the outbreak was getting out of hand.
He said more than 860 active contacts have been listed and at least 78% of them are being monitored, a situation that has almost doubled from a week ago.
The Africa CDC said it has procured 20,000 test kits that should arrive early next week for the region, and it will ship stockpiles of personal protective equipment next week.
Gambia has launched an urgent door-to-door campaign to remove cough and cold syrups blamed for the deaths of more than 60 children from kidney injury in the tiny West African country.
Speaking to The Associated Press, the Director of Health Dr. Mustapha Bittaye confirmed the wave of child deaths from acute kidney injury, sending shockwaves across the country of 2.4 million people and around the world.
The World Health Organisation has issued an alarm in response to the deaths.
“WHO has issued a medical product alert for four contaminated medicines identified in The Gambia that have been potentially linked to acute kidney injuries and 66 deaths among children,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement issued Wednesday.
“The loss of young lives is beyond heartbreaking for their families,” he said.
The four medicines are cough and cold syrups produced in India, said the WHO statement.
While the contaminated products have so far only been detected in Gambia, they may have been distributed to other countries, said the statement. WHO is pursuing investigations with the company and regulatory authorities in India, it said.
The leader of Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region and the federal government have been invited to peace talks in South Africa this weekend as part of a pan-African effort to end one of the world’s most overlooked wars, according to a letter seen Wednesday by The Associated Press.
If Debretsion Gebremichael attends the proposed talks between the Tigray and Ethiopian sides, it will be the highest-level effort yet to end the two-year war that has killed thousands of people from conflict and starvation.
Ethiopia’s government has accepted the invitation, national security adviser Redwan Hussein said. In a separate statement, the government called it “consistent with the Ethiopian government’s prior positions” that talks be mediated by the AU and be held without preconditions. The statement, however, does not give details about who might attend.
A diplomat in Addis Ababa said the African Union was still waiting for a response from the Tigray side. The spokesman for the Tigray forces, Getachew Reda, could not immediately be reached. Another member of the Tigray negotiation team, Tsadkan Gebretensae, told a U.S. think tank last week that “we have agreed on an African-led process, but that should not be carte blanche for the AU to impose what should be a peace process.”
Iran on Thursday published video showing two detained French citizens purportedly confessing to acting on behalf of a French security service.
The scenes were published amid ongoing protests roiling the country that Tehran has sought to describe as a foreign plot instead of local anger over the death of a 22-year-old detained by the country’s morality police.
The video released by the state-run IRNA news agency showed two French citizens, Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are unionists associated with France’s National Federation of Education, Culture and Vocational Training.
Iran, which long has used detained Westerners as bargaining chips in negotiations, previously has offered no public evidence to support the spying accusations.
The European Union will weigh possible sanctions in coming weeks against Iran, Josep Borrell, the 27-nation bloc’s foreign policy chief, said Thursday. He declined to describe the measures to be considered when the E.U.’s foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg on Oct. 17.
North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters Thursday after the United States redeployed an aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula in response to Pyongyang’s previous launch of a nuclear-capable missile over Japan.
The latest missile launches suggest North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is determined to continue with weapons tests aimed at boosting his nuclear arsenal in defiance of international sanctions.
Many experts say Kim’s goal is to eventually win U.S. recognition as a legitimate nuclear state and the lifting of those sanctions, though the United States and its allies have shown no sign of allowing that to happen.
The latest missiles were launched 22 minutes apart from the North’s capital region and landed between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The first missile flew 350 kilometers (217 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 80 kilometers (50 miles) and the second flew 800 kilometers (497 miles) on an apogee of 60 kilometers (37 miles).
A former police officer killed at least 24 children and 11 adults in a gun and knife attack that began at a child care center in Thailand on Thursday, authorities said.
The assailant fled the first scene, shooting from his car as he drove home, before killing his wife and child and taking his own life.
Photos and videos posted online of the day care showed the floor of one room was smeared with blood and sleeping mats scattered about. Alphabet pictures and other colorful decorations adorned the walls.
In videos from the scene, frantic family members could be heard weeping outside the building. Ambulances stood by as police and medical workers walked around.
Authorities identified the assailant as a former police officer and said he entered the child care center after noon in the northeastern Thai town of Nongbua Lamphu.
Twenty-two children and two adults were killed in the building before the assailant fled, according to a police statement. But he continued to shoot people from his car, police Maj. Gen. Paisal Luesomboon told The Associated Press.
So as to effectively utilize the Algorand blockchain, Crypto Smart started a systematic teaching process to equip their developers with adequate knowledge of the Algorand blockchain.
Algorand uses Pyteal and Reach for its Dapps which is quite new to some blockchain developers.
To know more about the genesis of borderless, kindly watch this video by Karla Obakpolor.
Click here to watch the video.
After the initial in-house training, Crypto Smart partners with Comsotech to teach young Africans different tech skills for free.
The genesis of Borderless Dev Hub
Borderless Dev Hub started as an online programme but currently it has expanded to becoming a developers’ hub with its first physical hub in Port-Harcourt, a major tech city in South South, Nigeria while plans are ongoing to expand to other states in Nigeria and Africa at large.
According to Prince Michael Dalafi, CTO of Crypto Smart,
Borderless is a haven where Africans are trained to become developers who can build solid infrastructure and innovative ideas for Africa
Borderless 1.0
The theme for the maiden edition of the tech event is “Building Usable Tech Solutions”
Borderless 1.0 will be a hybrid event i.e. it will be held at Port-Harcourt (onsite) on November 4th, 2022 and also it will be available online.
For more information, watch this video by Primidac
Significance of Borderless 1.0
Access to borderless developers
Borderless 1.0 will be of immense benefits to the crypto space as founders, CEOs, product managers will have access to developers who can breathe life to their ideas.
Developers from borderless include, but not limited to, frontend developers, backend developers, full stack developers, cybersecurity, cloud computing, product managers, UI/UX designers among others.
Certification and beginning of next cipher program
Borderless 1.0 will serve as the beginning of the next quarter of the developers’ cipher programme.
Do you want to join the borderless developers’ programme? Sign up here
Also, at the events, current developers will be certified.
Networking
Aside from the aforementioned significance, there will be the opportunity to network with blockchain experts, enthusiasts, developers, founders, CEOs, etc.
Borderless 1.0 will be a fun filled, educative and inspirational tech event where young Africans will be guided on how to become developers.
Final remark
According to Primidac,
Borderless 1.0 is an event to attend if you need to see what Africans is building for the future of Africa based on young minds and talents
Don’t be too overwhelmed, register for the event now!!!
PS: There are lots of giveaways to be won at the event.
About Crypto Smart
Crypto Smart is a B2B Crypto Asset Management company founded in January 2021 by Karla Obakpolor, a blockchain business developer and Algorand ambassador in 2020.
Crypto Smart offers fast and secure services which are based on a well-encrypted system with 24/7 customer support services. Crypto Smart has grown from offering its services to individuals to companies and major enterprises as well as providing crypto education through various crypto courses.
Crypto Smart upscaled to the Algorand blockchain and offers blockchain products which include SmartChange; a cross-chain P2P marketplace, Bitsave Protocol; a SaveFi protocol that combines savings with DeFi.
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has pledged to tackle the menace of vote buying.
INEC Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated this in Abuja during a citizens’ election dialogue on the theme, “What makes a good election in Nigeria,” saying the commission will deploy undercover security personnel on the election day.
He reiterated the commission’s commitment to delivering free, fair and credible elections for all Nigerians in collaboration with security agencies.
“We have also made sure that people do not enter the voting compartments with their mobile phones that can take pictures and we’re also collaborating with the different security agencies under the auspices of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security to make sure that plain clothe security personnel is deployed to some polling units on election day to stem the issue of vote buying and vote selling,” Okoye said.
“This commission is focused and determined to give Nigerians a good election. In terms of the issue of vote buying, the commission has reconfigured the various polling units to guarantee the secrecy of the votes.”
“It’s fashionable to grandstand relating to the commitment of the INEC to free, fair and transparent election. But you should also flip back and look at some of the party primaries that some of the political parties conducted and how well they conducted them.”
According to the INEC National Commissioner, the electoral body will continue to train its members of staff towards ensuring a hitch-free poll.
The move, he stated, is to ensure that election officials know how to configure and position the voting cubicle to guarantee the secrecy of the votes.
Okoye stated that INEC will “make sure technology is deployed and we’re also going to make sure that we transmit polling unit results into our INEC viewing portal.”
Okposi Salt Lake is located almost two hours from Abakaliki, in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, south-east, Nigeria.
Its water level is low during the rains and rises in the dry season. Only scaled fishes thrive in it. For 400 years, it has been the source of salt for the indigenes of the area.
According to local lore, the lake was discovered by two hunters, who when searching for drinking water found that the water could not quench their thirst.
Over the years, Okposi women led the production of salt by utilizing solar energy, and the town became a notable trade centre, attracting buyers from the eastern and northern parts of present-day Nigeria. A famous market arose, called Odenigbo Okposi.
The Okposi Salt Lake was a haven during the Biafran War when people in the east ran out of salt. Biafran scientists, on finding that it has the highest salinity out of all the lakes in Eastern Nigeria, initiated an industry near it, and taught the women modernized production techniques.
Close to Okposi, in the same local government area, is the town of Uburu, which has its own lake.
The Uburu Salt Lake is bigger than that in Okposi, but its salt production has historically been seasonal.
The Okposi and Uburu Lakes are the reason Ebonyi State took as its slogan “salt of the nation.”
The Federal Government of Nigeria on Wednesday commended teachers for their selflessness and commitment and for not embarking on strike despite what it tagged “unfavourable and intolerable policies.”
Minister of Education Adamu Adamu made this known during the 2022 World Teachers Day celebration in Abuja.
Speaking during the ceremony, Adamu noted that teachers embraced the principle of constructive engagement which has helped to keep students in schools amidst relegation of welfare.
“It is universally accepted that the teaching profession is a noble one.
“Regrettably, over time, the place of teachers in our society has come to be less appreciated, their roles relegated and their welfare ignored.
“Our teachers, especially at the basic and secondary levels have been at the receiving end of some of the most unfavourable and sometimes intolerable policies, practices and experiences.
“Despite this paradox, I note with an enormous debt of gratitude that the Nigerian Union of Teachers, the umbrella association of all teachers, never called out their members on strike or stopped catering to the educational needs of our children throughout my tenure as Minister of Education.
“Rather, they chose a policy of constructive engagement with all levels of governments and the larger society to proffer solutions.
“They even instituted awards for state and non-state actors who demonstrate commitment to the welfare of teachers and the promotion of educational development generally.
“We have restored the practice of attracting and retaining the best brains in the teaching profession to reduce current shortfalls in staff-students ratios in our universities through the reintroduction of graduate assistantship with enhanced incentives,” the minister expressed.
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