People are being advised not to swim at 24 beaches in Devon and Cornwall because of bacterial pollution.
The Environment Agency blamed heavy rain for the problem, “as we have seen over the last couple of days”.
It said the pollution was “short term” and did not expect it to last more than 72 hours.
Beaches affected include North Sands in Salcombe and Goodrington near Paignton, both in Devon, as well as Summerleaze in Bude, Cornwall, said the agency.
An agency spokesperson said there were a “number of factors that can influence the quality of bathing waters”, including wind, sunlight, rain and tide.
Child health experts have urged mothers to breastfeed their newborns within the first 30 minutes to one hour after delivery, noting that doing so is of great health benefit to the baby.
The experts, a Consultant Paediatric Haematologist and Oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araban Prof. Edamisan Temiye, and a Paediatrician, Neonatologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Zainab Imam, noted that early breastfeeding is not only beneficial to the baby but also to the mother.
According to them, not breastfeeding early could give room for newborns to develop irreversible health complications and infections.
Prof. Temiye warned that if a baby is not breastfed early enough, they may become hypoglycaemia, which means a dangerously low level of sugar in the blood.
“Hypoglycaemia is the medical term for low blood sugar in newborns. It is common immediately after birth but usually corrects itself when the infant begins feeding regularly.
“Hypoglycaemia in a newborn is treatable however, without treatment; this medical condition can cause lasting damage.”
Hypoglycaemia, must be prevented at all costs because it may lead to irreversible damage to the brain of the baby.
He further added that if feeding is not delayed, the problem of the baby not sucking will be solved almost immediately.
The paediatrician also noted that there may, however, be instances when a baby should not be breastfed early to prevent further complications.
He said instances like, “If the baby is delivered and didn’t cry at birth, that kind of baby cannot breastfeed at that time, if you have an extremely premature baby, the baby should not breastfeed immediately.
“There are also some babies that are born and have some malformations that can cause problems for the baby and it will not be able to suck. Some other deformations like intestinal obstruction and other forms of malformations.”
Prof. Temiye stated further that in a situation when a mother is unable to breastfeed within the stipulated time, the alternative is to use a breast milk substitute which is formula.
He said, “The alternative available when the mother cannot breastfeed is a formula but for babies that have galactosemia, they have to take a special formula because if you give the baby normal formula the baby will suffer the same effect so the special formula must be galactose free.”
He further advised that exclusive breastfeeding should be taught right from secondary school and not just in universities or when a woman is pregnant.
The NASA Artemis rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building moving slowly on an 11 hour journey to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Thursday, March 17, 2022. While at the pad the rocket and Orion spacecraft will undergo tests to verify systems and practice countdown procedures. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The launch of Nasa’s new Artemis I Moon rocket is facing a potentially lengthy delay after a second postponement.
Controllers tried and failed again on Saturday to get the Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle to lift off. They were thwarted by a fuel leak.
Engineers now want to inspect the rocket, and any repairs may need to happen in the workshop rather than on the launch pad.
The whole process is certain to lead to a setback of several weeks.
It means we may not see a third launch attempt before mid-October at the earliest.
The SLS is the most powerful rocket ever developed by the US space agency, and is designed to send astronauts and their equipment back to the Moon after an absence of 50 years.
Much of the enormous thrust comes from burning almost three million litres of super-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen in four big engines on the vehicle’s underside.
But when controllers sent the command early on Saturday morning to fill the rocket’s hydrogen tank, an alarm went off, indicating there was a leak.
The problem was traced to the connection where the hydrogen was being pumped into the vehicle.
Controllers tried a number of fixes, including allowing the hardware to warm up for short periods to reset the seal, but they were not successful.
Skardu Fort, also known as Kharpocho Fort, is a historic fortress which is located above the city of Skardu in the Gilgit-Baltistan Region, in the northern part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
As there are some sources which claim that the fortress was built in 8 century, it is widely considered that it was built by King Ali Sher at the end of 16 century, and it was named Skardu Fort because it is considered to be the “King of Forts”.
With its important location, it was a primary target for attacks and occupation, and since the fort lies on the eastern face of the Khardrong Hill, also known as Mindoq-Khar or Castle of Queen Mindoq, it overlooks and protects the town that has the same name.
Within the fortress there aren’t structures which survived the time, however, there is a mosque that is considered to have been built with the arrival of the Islam in the region.
Still, the fortress was designed according to the model of some other fortresses, such as the Potala Palace in Tibet, China, but Skardu Fort was not fortunate enough to survive the plentiful campaigns of conquest, which finally was completely destroyed in 1857 under the guidance of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir and head of the Jamwal Rajput clan, Ranbir Singh.
After the First Kashmir War, with a long siege of Skardu, the fortress became part of Kashmir that is still controlled by Pakistan, and at that time it was renamed into Gilgit-Baltistan.
Lastly, always succeeding to impress everyone who is eager and adventurous enough to visit this impressive Pakistani treasure, the Skardu Fort shall continue to tell the story of its long past that saw quite a lot of conquest and destruction, which in the end has only most of its walls to be the witnesses of those times.
1666 Great Fire of London ends, leaving 13,200 houses destroyed and 8 dead
1774 Twelve of the thirteen American colonies adopt a trade embargo against Great Britain at the first Continental Congress at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1839 The First Opium War begins in China
2017 Hurricane Irma becomes the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin region with winds of 185mph (280km/h)
HISTORICAL EVENTS TODAY
TODAY IN FILM & TV
1958 1st color video recording on magnetic tape presented, Charlotte, North Carolina
TODAY IN MUSIC
1993 Musical “Will Rogers Follies” closes at Palace Theater NYC after 983 performances with 6 Tony Awards
TODAY IN SPORT
1972 11 Israeli athletes taken hostage and later killed by Palestinian Black September group at the Munich Olympics
MORE FACTS…
1889 German Christine Hardt patents the first modern brassiere
2019 Erramatti Mangamma becomes the world’s oldest living mother giving birth to twins aged 74 in Hyderabad, India
FAMOUS WEDDINGS
1725 French King Louis XV marries Polish princess Mary Lesczynski
1959 Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel (20) weds Linda Joan Bork
1968 Author Ken Follett (19) weds Mary Emma Ruth Elson
Zamfara Government has inaugurated 43 newly constructed Primary Health Care Centres and distributed 147 tricycle ambulances to boost access to health services in the state.
The health centres were constructed under the government programme of providing one functional PHC in each of the 147 political wards of the state.
Governor Bello Matawalle said in a message at the inauguration of one of the completed health centres at Sabongida, Bungudu Local Government Area, that the remaining PHCs were at various stages of completion.
Represented by his Deputy, Sen. Hassan Nasiha, the governor said that the 43 PHCs were fully equipped to provide quality health services to patients at the grassroots.
He directed the state Primary Healthcare Board (PHCB) to ensure full utilization of the facilities for the benefit of all residents.
Matawalle called on contractors handling the remaining facilities to complete them or risk revocation of the contract.
Matawalle said his administration had distributed ambulances and medical equipment to secondary health care facilities across the state.
The Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello and the Commissioner of Local Government Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar S-Pawa, appreciated the intervention and pledged to ensure that the facilities served the people.
The Executive Secretary, PHCB, Dr. Tukur Isma’il, said the PHCs would help to reduce infant and maternal deaths and encourage pregnant women to go for antenatal care.
Israel has dropped a controversial demand for foreigners visiting the occupied West Bank to report romantic links with Palestinians within 30 days.
Revised rules also on foreigners living in, or wanting to, visit the territory remove a quota for university lecturers and students from abroad.
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, described them as “racist measures”.
Israel says restrictions on travel into the West Bank are for security reasons.
The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides said he had “aggressively engaged” with the Israeli government and continued “to have concerns with the published protocols”.
European diplomats previously said they had brought up concerns “at the highest level” with the Israeli authorities.
Mr Shtayyeh has called on the US and EU to apply diplomatic pressure to make further changes.
The procedures affect thousands of foreign spouses, as well as Palestinians living in the diaspora, businesspeople, academics and volunteers.
A senior source at the Co-ordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), the unit of the Israeli ministry of defence responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, told me they were intended “for the convenience of foreigners” and would allow requests for more long-term visas.
In his meetings with the top officials of the US government right after his speech at the Centre for Global Development, Nigeria’s Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbanjo says the proposed Debt-for-Climate swaps would be a very useful intervention and helpful as it will reduce debt burdens,” while advancing the Climate Change objectives of the international community.”
He also described the idea as a Climate Change related financing instrument deserving of global consideration as it is a win-win proposal.
The VP also pushed the idea of opening up the Carbon Market in Africa so that the Climate Change actions of African countries can be adequately verified by the international community through the assessments of the appropriate verification institutions.
In addition, the VP noted, “we are hoping to get support and international buy-ins for these ideas,” specifically the DFC and the participation of African countries in the international carbon market. He reiterated that the DFC will help solve many of the debt burden challenges in Nigeria and other countries.
Responding to the Debt-for-Climate proposal, the Administrator of USAID told the Vice President that the idea was “fresh thinking that is very exciting,” adding that the US was open to such new thinking even though it would require the full policy review of the American Government.
Experts say under the DFC, sovereign debtors and international creditors will forgive all or a portion of external debt often running into billions in a country like Nigeria, in exchange for a commitment by the country to invest, in domestic currency, in specific climate or energy transition projects during a commonly agreed period.
The expectation is that Debt For Climate swaps will reduce the level of indebtedness and free up fiscal resources to be invested in clean energy projects in Nigeria and other countries signed up for the programme once accepted by creditor-nations.
Prof. Osinbajo in his CGD speech explained that the “debt for climate swaps is a type of debt swap where bilateral or multilateral debt is forgiven by creditors in exchange for a commitment by the debtor to use the outstanding debt service payments for national climate action programs.
Nick Kyrgios ended Daniil Medvedev’s defence of the US Open title as he earned a thrilling four-set win on an entertaining night in New York.
The 27-year-old Australian demonstrated all of his shot-making – and propensity for creating drama – in a 7-6 (13-11) 3-6 6-3 6-2 win in the last 16.
Medvedev, 26, will lose his ranking as world number one after the defeat.
Wimbledon runner-up Kyrgios goes on to play another Russian, 27th seed Karen Khachanov, in the quarter-finals.
Khachanov reached his third Grand Slam quarter-final by outlasting Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta in a 4-6 6-3 6-1 4-6 6-3 win.
“It was an amazing match. Daniil is the defending champion and a lot of pressure on his shoulders, but I’ve been playing great recently,” said 23rd seed Kyrgios, who will move back into the world’s top 20 after the win.
“People were really starting to doubt my ability to pull out matches like this at majors. I’m really proud of myself because it hasn’t been easy dealing with all the criticism.”
Kyrgios has regularly demonstrated over the years he has the talent to win one of the major tournaments, but said he had been in some “really scary places mentally” which had stopped his progress.
Reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Novak Djokovic, showed he had figured out what he needed to do on and off court to be successful.
His form has been transferred to the North American hard courts – winning the Washington title and now going further at Flushing Meadows than before.
“I just feel like I’m playing for a lot more than myself. I’ve got a lot of motivation in the back of my mind,” said Kyrgios.
“I’ve been away from home now for four months. My whole team has. We don’t get to see our family like other tennis players do the majority of time.
“I’m trying to make it worthwhile, trying to make it a memorable ride for all of us. Hopefully we can get it done, go back home and really celebrate.”
Kyrgios and Medvedev deliver the show which they promised
Apart from Serena Williams’ farewell, this was the biggest blockbuster of the tournament so far and a match-up between two characters which would have befitted the latter stages.
The pair have been two of the standout players on the ATP Tour in recent months, with Kyrgios winning the most tour matches since the start of June after 25 victories and Medvedev next behind him – and alongside Britain’s Cameron Norrie – on 18.
Both players promised beforehand to “put on a show” on the Sunday night of a holiday weekend in New York.
They did not disappoint.
Almost three hours of ferocious serving, baseline blows, momentum swings and bizarre moments entertained a near-capacity 24,000 crowd on a sticky night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It was a really high-level match,” said Medvedev, who compared Kyrgios’ level to that of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
“If he plays like this until the end of the tournament, he has all the chances to win it. But he’s going to get tough opponents, so it’s not sure.”
Kyrgios took first blood for a 4-2 lead in the first set, whipping up the fans before he converted the break point, with Medvedev mimicking his opponent’s actions as he instantly hit back.
A tense tie-break, packed with quality and drama, saw Kyrgios save three set points and twice clatter his racquet against the court before converting the fourth opportunity of his own to take the lead.
“I feel like if he’d got that first set, it was going to be pretty much an impossible task for me to come back and win,” said Kyrgios.
Kyrgios popped off for a bathroom break after the 64-minute opener as a shirtless Medvedev complained to the umpire about the noise from the Australian’s box while he was serving.
Medvedev (22) and Kyrgios (21) landed 43 aces between them, with the Australian hitting a total of 53 winners compared with 49 by the top seed
A different Kyrgios emerged – and not the one which the crowd, whose support was tipped in his favour, wanted to see.
With his first-serve percentage plummeting, Kyrgios played with nonchalance bordering on disinterest as he fell 5-1 behind.
One of the breaks was retrieved when he hit a brilliant crosscourt winner for 5-2 and he threatened to wipe out the other before Medvedev recovered to serve out the set.
The Kyrgios Show resumed in the third set.
After holding for 1-0, he slipped at 30-15 in the next game and looked injured as he laid out on the court, prompting Medvedev to come round the net to check if he was OK.
The pair tapped hands as Kyrgios reassured him he was fine and when play continued there was another extraordinary moment in the next point.
Kyrgios forced Medvedev into a volley which was looping out on the Russian’s side of the net and Kyrgios decided to come around the post to hammer it into the court.
That was a foul shot and he lost the point as a result, meaning he did not get the break-point opportunity and Medvedev went on to hold.
“I thought that was legal. Now it’s going to be all over the internet and I’ll be looking like an idiot,” laughed Kyrgios about his foul shot
While that felt like a considerable and perhaps pivotal moment, Kyrgios refocused quickly to break for 3-1 anyway and served out to regain the lead.
Now it was Medvedev’s turn to pop off court and, while Kyrgios waited for his return, he showed how much he was in the zone.
Jumping off his seat and keeping loose, that energy remained as he broke twice to race into a 5-1 lead.
Many of the crowd rose to their feet when Kyrgios brought up match point and stayed on them as he quickly thumped a 135mph ace down the middle to seal a memorable win.
The rivals shared an embrace full of shoulder-patting before Kyrgios pointed to the court as he drew acclaim and then joined the crowd in clapping Medvedev back to the locker room.
“I feel like tonight was another message that rankings don’t matter,” said Kyrgios.
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