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Report Shows Number of hungry people increased by 15% in 2017

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Conflicts and climate disasters, particularly drought, drove the number of people facing crisis levels of hunger up by about 15 percent last year and the situation is getting worse, a report said on Thursday.

Last year 124 million people in 51 countries faced crisis levels of hunger compared to 108 million people in 48 countries in 2016 and 80 million in 2015, according to the Food Security Information Network (FSIN).

The FSIN is a global project set up to strengthen food and nutrition security information systems that is sponsored by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

“We are clearly seeing a trend now, from 80 million to 108 million, from 108 to 124 million, people literally marching to the brink of starvation around the world,” said David Beasley, WFP’s executive director.

“We will never address the issues of the day until we end some of these conflicts,” he added at the report’s launch.

The FSIN report said the rising numbers in 2017 were largely due to new or intensified conflicts in Myanmar, north-east Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Yemen.

In 2018, “conflict will remain a primary driver of food security”, it said, while severe dry weather is expected to affect crop and livestock production and worsen hunger in many parts of Africa.

Yemen, where a proxy war between a Saudi-led military coalition and the Iran-backed Houthi movement has displaced more than 2 million people since 2015, would remain “the world’s most concerning food crisis”, the report said.

It also singled out Eritrea, North Korea and Venezuela as places of concern but said a lack of data made it difficult to estimate the number of people left hungry.

The analysis showed the situation could worsen in 2018 in at least three or four countries, Luca Russo, senior food crises analyst at the FAO, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The FSIN uses a five phase scale with the third level classified as crisis, fourth as emergency and fifth as famine/catastrophe.

“In South Sudan, we all applaud ourselves because we avoided famine last year, but the figures today tell us we might have famine in South Sudan in the next few months and this can also apply to other countries,” Russo said. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

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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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Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Arrive Nigeria Today, May 10th

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex came into Nigeria for a private visit following an invitation by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.

The Director of Sports, Defence Headquarters, DHQ, Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis, said the founder of Invictus Games will spend three days in Nigeria and would interact with wounded soldiers and their families.

He said the visit scheduled from 10th to 13th May 2024 would help wounded soldiers in their recovery efforts.

Marquis said: “Because we realised that 80 per cent of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery programme, they are getting better.

“Their outlook on life is positive. You know, when you are engaged in, you experience a permanent disability, you know, issues, it affects your mental health and also your outlook on life.”

Prince Harry and Meghan who are already in Nigeria, First made a visit to children at the Lights Academy in Abuja, Nigeria.

Here are pictures.

Prince Harry and Meghan at Light Academy In abuja

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