Boko Haram caused $9b damage in Northeast, UN Says

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In this photo taken on September 15, 2016 women and children queue to enter one of the Unicef nutrition clinics at the Muna makeshift camp which houses more than 16,000 IDPs (internally displaced people) on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Borno State, northeastern Nigeria. AFP PHOTO / STEFAN HEUNIS

Islamist militant group Boko Haram has caused $9 billion of damage in Nigeria’s northeast since 2009, destroying homes, schools, bridges and roads, according to the United Nations.

Borno state alone suffered losses worth $6.2 billion, Matthew Rycroft, the president of the UN Security Council, told reporters Sunday on a visit to its main city of Maiduguri. The global body is stepping up support to the region as many who fled Boko Haram violence are now facing a humanitarian crisis even as attacks on their communities abate, he said.

“The number of displaced is shocking, the number of children suffering from malnutrition is alarming,” Rycroft said. “It is like suffering twice.”

Boko Haram has waged an eight-year campaign, capturing towns and razing villages in a bid to impose its version of Islamic law on Africa’s most populous country of more than 180 million people. Nigeria is almost evenly split between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south.

The U.K. will contribute more money to help tackle a crisis that’s struggled to attract donor funds, said Rycroft, who’s also the British permanent secretary to the UN. He didn’t specify how much. Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters Sunday that Nigeria had spent $4 billion on the region, without giving further details.

Norway last month pledged $189.7 million over three years to Nigeria and the broader Lake Chad basin that’s been affected by the violence.

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Barca boos unhelpful, says Luis Enrique

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Barcelona's coach Luis Enrique / AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique labelled harsh treatment dished out to his players by Barca fans nonsensical as the Spanish champions squeezed past Leganes 2-1 on Sunday.

Following a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain in midweek, Barca needed a last minute Lionel Messi penalty to see off a Leganes side without a win since November and on their first ever league visit to the Camp Nou.

Messi had given Barca a fourth minute lead, but jeers rang around the Camp Nou when Unai Lopez levelled 19 minutes from time.

“As a fan, booing a player of your own team for me makes no sense,” said Enrique.

Much-criticised midfielder Andre Gomes received the brunt of the boos as he was replaced 10 minutes from the end.

“What can clearly help the team and the players is the support that we saw from the majority of the fans throughout the game and especially in the final minutes,” added Enrique.

“That is what makes us stronger. Andre’s case annoys me.”

However, the Barca boss said he had no such problem with criticism directed his way.

“I am the coach and after the result and performance we saw in Paris it is logical.

“I accept any criticism, but those on the pitch need to be in the best state possible.

“The games are difficult enough as they are. If you add this on top of it, I don’t think it helps.”

Victory ensured Barca moved back up to second in the table and to within a point of Real Madrid, who still have two games in hand.

Barca face a much stiffer test next weekend when they travel to Atletico Madrid, but Enrique highlighted the psychological importance of getting the three points despite a poor display.

“A slip-up today would have been almost definitive. Not in terms of points, but on an emotional level.

“I am convinced that the team is going to improve and immediately.”

The Spanish champions were thankful to a series of fine saves from Marc-Andre ter Stegen as he was unexpectedly busy to keep Leganes at bay.

“It has been a difficult week for everyone without a doubt,” said the German.

“The most important thing is that we were able to win today. That will give us a bit of confidence, which we need for the weeks ahead.”

And Ter Stegen echoed his coach’s call for a show of unity from the Barcelona faithful.

“Everyone that is on the field tried their best and I think the most important thing is to support us at times like we have had this week with the 4-0 defeat in Paris,” he added.

“We need the fans, above all at home, to support us.

“We can win or lose together, but the most important thing is that we are united.”

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US women worry about Trump threats against Planned Parenthood

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President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Cecile Richards speaks onstage during The 2017 MAKERS Conference Day 2 at Terranea Resort on February 7, 2017 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for AOL/AFP

When President Donald Trump took office last month heading one of the most vocally anti-abortion administrations in modern US history, it was clear that one of his first targets would be Planned Parenthood.

He has promised to end federal funding for the non-profit health care group with some 650 centers across the United States offering abortions and other health services — a longtime goal of Republican politicians even though Planned Parenthood says only around three percent of the services it provides are abortion-related.

Shelby Weathers voices a common response to the threat.

“As a woman, I feel almost attacked,” the 18-year-old student says at one of the group’s centers in Phoenix, Arizona, where she has access to contraception.

“It’s really discouraging to hear people are trying to take away access to health care.”

In a clear sign of the administration’s position, Vice President Mike Pence recently headlined an anti-abortion march in Washington, where he told the gathering that Trump’s election in November proved that “life is winning in America.”

Trump himself told the marchers in a tweet that they had his “full support.”

– ‘Devastating for women –
Samaria has just undergone an abortion at the Phoenix clinic. A single mother of two who opposed abortions for many years, she says she is in an unstable relationship and wasn’t ready for a third child.

“I felt so depressed,” she said with tears in her eyes. “You have to say goodbye to someone you don’t even know.”

Deanna Wambach — the head doctor for Planned Parenthood in Arizona — wears green hospital scrubs as she prepares to examine a patient in a room equipped with a gynecological examination chair and a model representing the female reproductive system.

She’s worried. If the new administration goes through with its promise to defund Planned Parenthood, many of the patients the group serves — typically low- to middle-income Americans — will no longer have access to health services.

The group, which serves some 2.5 million men and women a year, relies on federal funding for more than 40 percent of its operating budget.

“That would be devastating for women,” she says. “In Arizona alone, we serve over 33,000 women.”

Others express outrage.

Gabrielle Goodrick, who practices abortions at a private clinic in Phoenix, denounced the threat to defund Planned Parenthood as nothing but a “smokescreen,” given that it’s been illegal to use federal funds for abortions for decades.

“The defunding never had anything to do with abortion,” she said. “It’s an attack on all abortion providers to demonize them.”

“They’re defunding pap smears, breast cancer and STD (sexually transmitted disease) screenings,” she added.

The days following Trump’s election saw a 900 percent increase in patients seeking contraception, Wambach says.

She now fears a spike in unwanted pregnancies, and stresses that women who want abortions will find ways to get them.

– ‘Major benefit for women’ –
Making it harder for women to have access to contraception or abortion will only lead to unwanted pregnancies or late-term abortions that can cost up to $3,500 dollars, Goodrick says.

In Arizona, which has some of the toughest legislations in the country, patients must foot the cost.

As a result, many desperate women are taking more risks.

“We definitely have seen patients ordering pills online,” Goodrick said. “We’ve had patients we can’t quite tell what happened but when you check their uterus, it seems a mess.”

Nevertheless, pro-life groups such as the Susan B. Anthony List insist that cutting federal funds for Planned Parenthood would be “a major benefit to women’s health.”

Mallory Quigley, a spokeswoman for the group, says the funds could be reallocated to more than 13,000 community health centers that provide the same services — but not abortions.

But experts point out that existing health centers will be unable to absorb Planned Parenthood patients.

In rural regions where cuts in subsidies and tougher legislation have led to the shutdown of Planned Parenthood centers, the authorities say they have seen a big uptick in sexually transmitted diseases even though other factors, such as drug addiction, also play a role.

Meanwhile, the immediate threat to defund Planned Parenthood is just an opening salvo in the battle against abortion.

If Trump’s current nominee to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch — a judge known for his pro-life stance — is confirmed, a majority of conservative justices could threaten the constitutional right to abortions itself.

Vía The Guardian Nigeria http://ift.tt/2kKJK60

South Africa and EU spar over chicken meat ‘dumping’…Read full details

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AFP PHOTO/KHALED DESOUKI

South Africa’s poultry industry says it is on the brink of collapse due to hotly-denied accusations that the European Union is dumping cheap chicken in the country in a dispute over free trade.

Workers, former workers and company managers from the South African poultry sector will march on the EU headquarters in Pretoria on Wednesday, furious over cheap imports and mounting job losses.

But the EU has accused the industry of using it as a “handy scapegoat” for domestic production problems, and said volumes of EU chicken imported to South Africa were too small to be responsible for the crisis.

Organisers of the march said that 4,000-5,000 jobs had already been lost, and that 110,000 more were at risk in the industry, plus 20,000 in the feed supply sector.

RCL Foods, South Africa’s largest poultry producer, last month laid off 1,350 employees — 20 percent of its workforce — and is selling 15 of its 25 farms.

“This issue has been growing since the EU started to send more and more leg quarters to South Africa at what we consider dumped prices,” RCL Foods managing director Scott Pitman, who will join the march, told AFP.

“Not only have we taken a financial burden over the last five years, but the loss has got so big that we are going to go bankrupt if we don’t cut the size of our business.”

The South African poultry industry alleges that the EU dumps off-cuts of “dark meat” — chicken thighs and drumsticks — in South Africa at below-cost prices because the European market prefers breast meat.

– ‘Waste disposal’ –
“This is a form of waste disposal,” Kevin Lovell, the boss of the South African Poultry Association (SAPA), told AFP.

South Africa is struggling with slow growth at just 0.4 percent last year and unemployment is stuck stubbornly high at 27 percent — posing a major challenge to the ANC government.

On Monday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe suggested the government should intervene by buying poultry farms that are closing down and finding new markets for their produce.

In the face of damaging accusations of dumping, the European Union has fought back, saying the South African poultry industry was blaming others for its own failures.

“When people are losing livelihoods, trade deals can be a handy scapegoat,” EU Ambassador Marco Cornaro told reporters on Tuesday.

“It is a distortion… to think that it is the EU trade policy which is the origin, let alone the main source, of the current woes of the SA chicken industry.”

According to EU figures, EU exports account for less than seven percent of total South African chicken consumption, and EU imports of “dark meat” account for only 14 percent of local market consumption.

Cornaro said a lack of competition, a severe drought pushing up feed prices, rising electricity costs and injecting brine (salt water) were causing South African industry’s problems rather than EU imports.

The EU said it would welcome marchers into their delegation offices on Wednesday to discuss their concerns.

Brazil was the biggest poultry importer to South Africa in the first half of 2016, followed by Netherlands, Britain and Spain.

Trade Minister Rob Davies told Bloomberg News last week the poultry sector was in “distress”, adding “we will not have an industry to raise the competitiveness” if imports continue to flood the market.

On top of tough avian flu restrictions, South Africa has imposed anti-dumping duties on EU importers and, in December, also introduced an extra “safeguard” tariff to try to protect the industry.

The EU is South Africa’s biggest trading partner, and the dispute marks a tricky start to the economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the two sides that came into force last year.

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Wenger confused after Watford sink Arsenal…See full details

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Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger / AFP / ADRIAN DENNIS

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was at a loss to explain his side’s appalling first-half display during their surprise 2-1 defeat by Watford at the Emirates Stadium.

His side mustered just three wayward efforts on goal in the opening 45 minutes as they allowed Watford to canter into a two-goal lead and damage further their tilt at the Premier League title.

“It was not good in the first half, especially in the first 20 minutes. We were beaten in the duels and Watford were sharper than us,” Wenger admitted after Tuesday’s match.

“Did we think subconsciously that we just had to turn up? I don’t know. Honestly we prepared well for the game. Looking at the preparation, I have no basic regret.

“We knew that Watford would make it very physical and we prepared for that.

“You do not make 47 points after 23 games in the Premier League if you don’t have physical power, but you have to switch it on 100 percent all of the time in the Premier League.

“We didn’t start the way we wanted, but in the second half it was all us and let’s be fair, we didn’t deserve to lose this game.

“We hit the bar and (Watford goalkeeper Heurelho) Gomes made fantastic saves as well, so I still think that if you look at the chances, we were unlucky to lose.

“On top of that we were a bit unlucky with the free-kick for the first goal and then a deflected shot on top of that.”

Younes Kaboul’s deflected free-kick gave Watford a 10th-minute lead and Watford added a second three minutes later when Troy Deeney tucked in the rebound from Etienne Capoue’s shot.

Arsenal, who replied through Alex Iwobi, travel to leaders Chelsea on Saturday and Wenger insisted his team will not suffer from a hangover from this result.

Nor was he comforted by draws for Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, which limited the ground Arsenal lost.

– Taylor tribute –
“We want to respond against Chelsea and win the game, of course. But we first have to analyse why we didn’t start well in this game,” said the Frenchman, whose team now trail Chelsea by nine points.

“I’m responsible for the results of the team so I am very frustrated that we did not win the game. We are playing at home, we had a great opportunity and we had a start like we did.

“We have to learn from that and respond very quickly and in a very convincing way. What the other teams do doesn’t matter.”

Wenger confirmed that Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey had limped off with a calf strain.

For Watford manager Walter Mazzari, the result justified his decision to rest almost his entire first team for Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by third-tier Millwall.

The Italian made a point of dedicating the victory to former Watford manager Graham Taylor, who passed away on January 12.

“My objective is for Watford to stay in the Premier League and to make my team grow game by game, week by week,” said Mazzarri, whose side sit 13th.

“Of course the players need this victory to work better with me and also to believe that they can achieve great things.

“I was very happy at the end because recently we deserved to win some games, but didn’t because luck was not on our side. We needed a big win, especially for the morale of the team.

“Of course I would have liked us to play the whole 90 minutes like we did in the first half.

“But we had at least four or five players coming back from injury and who hadn’t played 90 minutes for a long time, so they weren’t in condition to play the full 90 minutes at the same level.

“Today was a great game and I want to dedicate this victory to a great person in Graham Taylor.”

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Watch Video: Miyonce and TBoss finally gets down on Big Brother Naija (#BBNaija)

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Seems like Miyonce is finally making head-ways with Tboss in the Big Brother House.

After Tboss showed off her pierced breast on live TV, Miyonce has become the first housemate to feel those breast. Last night, they were videoed spooning on the bed with Miyonce romancing Tboss. However, they used a duvet to cover themselves.

Watch the video after the cut..

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Erick Rush – Mama’s House ft. Rowlene [Mp3 + Lyrics]

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Erick Rush released his much anticipated mixtape New Age Voyage yesterday. One of the collaborations on the project sees him feature young female rapper/singer Rowlene.

Their joint effort is titled Mama’s House. Listen to what they came up with below..

DOWNLOAD

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African Union to debate Morocco’s bid to rejoin bloc (Read full details)

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African Union

African Union leaders meet Monday for a summit that has exposed regional divisions as they mull whether to allow Morocco to rejoin the bloc, and vote for a new chairperson.

The two-day summit in Ethiopia comes after several shake-ups on the international stage: the election of US President Donald Trump and a new head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, who will address the opening of the assembly.

On Sunday in Addis Ababa, Guterres praised Ethiopia’s generosity in welcoming refugees from the region while battling its worst drought in 50 years.

It is “an example that I would say needs to be thought about in a world where unfortunately so many borders are being closed,” he said in a veiled dig at the US ban on travellers from seven Muslim countries, including Libya, Somalia and Sudan in Africa.

Uncertainty over Africa’s relationship with Trump’s America is one of several issues demanding the attention of AU leaders — from turmoil in Libya, radical Islam in Mali, Somalia and Nigeria, to stagnating peace efforts in South Sudan.

However Monday’s talks will be dominated by Morocco’s bid to return to the fold 33 years after it quit in protest against the AU’s decision to accept Western Sahara as a member.

– Facing resistance –

The membership of affluent Morocco could be a boon for the AU, which lost a key financier in late Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi and is working hard to become financially independent.

Currently foreign donors account for some 70 percent of its budget, according to the Institute for Security Studies.

A Moroccan diplomat said Sunday the country had the “unconditional support” of 42 members of the bloc.

However in a sign of the resistance Morocco is facing, 12 countries including heavyweights Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Kenya and Angola, requested a legal opinion from the AU on whether the bloc could accept a country that some members consider is occupying another member’s territory.

These nations have long supported the campaign for self-determination by Western Sahara’s Polisario movement.

Morocco maintains that the former Spanish colony under its control is an integral part of the kingdom, while the Polisario Front, which campaigns for the territory’s independence, demands a referendum on self-determination.

The AU’s legal counsel, in a document seen by AFP, said the nations raised “fundamental concerns that have to be taken into account”. However the decison to weigh Morocco’s request ultimately rests with heads of state.

– Regional interests –

Also on Monday, leaders will vote for a new chairperson six months after failing to decide on a replacement for South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Fragmented regional interests — whether on Morocco’s bid or divisions over membership of the International Criminal Court (ICC) — will shape the choice between five candidates from Kenya, Senegal, Chad, Botswana and Equatorial Guinea.

Kenya’s foreign minister Amina Mohamed, Chad’s former prime minister Moussa Faki Mahamat and Senegal’s veteran diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily are the newcomers and frontrunners in the race.

The winner will have to obtain a two-thirds majority.

The choice of a new leader is crucial for the future of a bloc still seen as largely irrelevant in the daily lives of most Africans, and which is undergoing deep introspection on how to reform.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame was tasked with drawing up a report recommending an overhaul of the bloc, which he presented to heads of state on Sunday.

According to the Kenyan government, the “biting” report criticised “chronic failure to see through African Union decisions (which) had resulted in a crisis of implementation and a perception that the AU was not relevant to Africans”.

Kagame also slammed “over-dependence on (donor) funding.”

Efforts to obtain more financial independence are likely to gain even more significance as Africa faces uncertainty over its partnership with the United States after Trump’s vow to put “America first”.

The US is one of the main contributors to the fight against the Shabaab jihadist group in Somalia, and the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has already been hit by funding cuts from the EU.

African Union to debate Morocco’s bid to rejoin bloc

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