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Soyinka, Nwabuaze, Clark, Ezekwesili to address Grand National Summit in Abuja

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Prominent Nigerians including Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Legal Icon, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, elder statesman, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, and former military Governor of Kaduna state, Col. Dangiwa Umar are among top personalities listed to address political summit tagged the Grand National Summit fixed for Abuja this week.

A statement by the organisers of the Grand National Summit 2018 signed by the spokesperson, Mallam Naseer Kura, listed other Nigerians including Economist, Prof Pat Utomi, former Governor Donald Duke and Air Commodore Dan Suleiman among the speakers at the summit holding in Abuja on Wednesday.

The statement reads: “Nigeria Intervention Movement, NiM, a Rainbow Coalition of new breed political forces and movements; mobilising towards paradim shift within Nigeria’s political configuration, wishes to announce that its grand national summit scheduled to hold on Wednesday in Abuja received a major boost at the weekend from eminent national leaders and front line political activists invited to intervene in the political future of Nigeria at the summit.”

It said that the historic even has already received the blessing of Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, eminent Jurist, Prof Ben Nwabueze SAN, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (Rtd), Colonel Abubarkar  Umar Dangiwa, Mr Donald Duke, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, Senator Shehu Sanni, Dr Olu Agunloye.

It also listed other speakers at the event to include  Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Gen TY Danjuma, Dr Paul Unongo, Chief Edwin Clark, among other leaders.

The organisers said that the summit is designed to bring together both old and new generation of political leaders in Nigeria, for the first time, “towards finding an appropriate political road map for Nigeria’s troubled democracy, while facilitating a grand political coalition of fresh breed political leaders ahead of the 2019 elections.”

The statement further reads: “For the avoidance of doubt, these elders and leaders, given their experience in the political affairs of the country as well as their past roles in the life of the country, at one point or the other, have been invited to address Nigeria’s past, in order to provide a veritable political compass for emerging fresh breed leaders in navigating the future for the country.

“The grand summit, which promises to be a very fertile ground to breed national understanding and reconciliation is also conceived as a serious intervention to re set the future of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy which presently skewed against the majority of Nigerians, as many young emerging political leaders will be provided the rare

opportunity to interact and share their aspirations with the invited political veterans at the national confab.

“Some of the burning issues rocking the political fabric of country to be agreed and sorted, once and for all, at the summit, holding at the Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja is; Inclusive democratic review of the Nigerian Constitution, Referendum, equitable political structure for

Nigeria, popular democratic system of government suitable for the country, Sovereignty of the Nigerian peoples, peoples’ right to self determination, 2019 general elections and the options for masses, among others

“The event which will be co chaired by Dr Olisa Agbakoba SAN and Dr Abduljalil Tafawa Balewa is expected to come out with a communique on the future of Nigeria with the theme: birthing an equitable and prosperous democratic Nigeria at a special interactive session with

media editors on Thursday. Some of the young aspiring leaders who are invited to the Summit include, political aspirants like, Mr Fela Durotoye, Mr Kingsley Moghalu, Dr Chris Nwaokobia, Mallam Adamu Dauda, Mr Jaye Gaskia, Mr Omoyele Sowore, Ms Toyosi Akerele, Mr Abayomi Mighty, among other 35 young leaders aspiring to lead the country in various capacities.”

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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