EBOLA OUTBREAK: West Africa Battles Mystery Of Post-Ebola Syndrome

The director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Africa region, Matshidiso Moeti speaks during a visit to Zuma Town on the outskirts of the capital Monrovia, on April 22, 2015 ©Zoom Dosso (AFP)

As the Ebola epidemic retreats across West Africa, international health authorities are turning their attention to the little understood long-term effects of the often-deadly virus on the survivors. There is little research on patients cured of the tropical fever, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that many are experiencing crippling complications long after walking out of treatment units.

Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's new head in Africa, told AFP that Liberian survivors had been reporting a range of problems, including sight and hearing impairment. "We need to be aware that (complications) may be occurring and pay attention when people are being treated in case there is something that can be done to help them," she told AFP in the Liberian capital Monrovia.

Supplementary Polls: I’ll Hold Police DIGs, AIGs Responsible For Any Crisis In Taraba, Imo, Abia —Arase

New Police IG, Solomon Arase receiving an INEC bag from commission's chairman, Attahiru Jega,

Nigeria’s newly-appointed Inspector General of Police, Solomo​n​ Arase, has pledged to hold senior ​police ​officers responsible for any breakdown of law and order during rescheduled elections in Taraba, Imo and Abia States on Saturday. Governorship elections will hold in specific areas of the three states after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the April 11 elections inconclusive.

Mr. Arase, who was appointed on Wednesday to replace Suleiman Abba, said the police were doing everything possible to create an enabling environment for the repeat elections.

He said the force would not allow anybody to cause a breakdown of law and order in any of the states.

I Won’t Die Because Jonathan Lost Election — Clark

Chief Edwin Clark

A former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has said it is wrong for anyone to think that he would die because President Goodluck Jonathan lost the March 28 presidential election.

Clark, who was one of the supporters of the President, spoke with journalists on Friday in Abuja. He said some people had been going round with rumours that he collapsed when he heard about the outcome of the presidential election.

It will be recalled that the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), defeated Jonathan, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the election.

Magnitude-7.9 Quake Hits Nepal, Causing Big Damage, Injuries, 2 Dead

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a collapsed building is seen in Nepal's capital Kathmandu Saturday, April 25, 2015. (Zhou Shengping/Xinhua via AP)

A strong magnitude-7.9 earthquake shook Nepal's capital and the densely populated Kathmandu Valley before noon Saturday, collapsing houses, centuries-old temples and cutting open roads in the worst tremor in the Himalayan nation in over 80 years.

Dozens of people with injuries were being brought to the main hospital in central Kathmandu. Two fatalities have now being recorded including a 15 year old teenager.

Several buildings collapsed in the center of the capital, the ancient Old Kathmandu, including centuries-old temples and towers, said resident Prachanda Sual.

He said he saw people running through the streets in panic. Ambulance sirens blared and government helicopters hovered overhead.

Polls Open In Togo’s Presidential Elections; Meet The Candidates

Facts on Togo and photos of the two main presidential candidates, ahead of the vote on April 25, 2015 ©-, - (AFP Graphic)

Togo votes for a new president on Saturday, with the incumbent Faure Gnassingbe seeking a third term in office to extend his family's grip on power into a second half-century. Voting began shortly after 8:00 am (0700GMT) in Lome, the capital of the West African nation where 3.5 million people are registered to vote.

Queues were thin in the central administrative district, but in the densely populated Pa de Souza neighbourhood -- an opposition stronghold -- hundreds were waiting to cast their ballots, AFP journalists said.

Polling stations are scheduled to close at 1600 GMT.

Some 9,000 police and soldiers were on patrol, with borders shut until Sunday morning for security reasons, officials said.

Supplementary Governorship Elections In Abia, Imo, Taraba – LIVE UPDATES

GRAPHITTI NEWS is covering the elections and would be bringing you updates.

Today, INEC hold supplementary elections to the earlier April 11 governorship elections in Abia, Imo and Taraba states which were declared inconclusive in those states and/or where elections either did not take place or results were cancelled due to irregularities.

The supplementary elections will hold in 51 Registration Areas (RAs) in nine Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Abia State; 79 RAs in 23 LGAs in Imo; and 32 RAs in 10 LGAs in Taraba.

Already, the electoral agency has deployed three National Commissioners to each of the states on supervisory duties.

30% Of Afghan Security Forces Involved In Drug Trade — Russian Narcotics Watchdog

Reuters / Baz Ratner

Almost a third of Afghanistan’s security forces have turned to drug trafficking, Russia’s narcotics control agency reports. The watchdog’s director Viktor Ivanov blames foreign troops and fighting in the drug-rich region.

“A concentration of foreign forces and fighting in a drug-producing state has ensured a climate of rampant desertion from the local armed forces and police,” the director of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) said at the Second Anti-narcotics Ministerial Conference in Moscow. “This amounts to some 50-90,000 people taking up the criminal enterprise annually.”

Afghanistan is notoriously known worldwide for being the prime source opiate production, including heroin, and a large producer of marijuana and hashish.

3 Governors To Emerge After Saturday Supplementary Polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will on Saturday conduct 27 supplementary elections across 11 states in the country, including three states where the governorship will be decided. 

The elections are: governorship supplementary (three), senatorial district supplementary (one); federal constituency supplementary (one); and state constituency supplementary (22).

Prominent among the elections scheduled for tomorrow are the supplementary governorship elections for Abia, Imo and Taraba states.

Mayweather Vs Pacquaio Tickets Sell Out Quickly

Floyd Mayweather, pictured here in training, will face Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 2

Ringside tickets for the welterweight unification clash between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio are fetching upwards of £85,000 online after official outlets sold out within minutes on Thursday night.

Around 500 tickets went on sale to the general public on Thursday with the majority of seats in the 16,500-seater MGM Grand already allocated to the hotel, Mayweather Promotions and Top Rank, who promote Pacquiao.

Five price categories ranging from £1,000 to £5,000 were offered at face value but by Friday morning prices were varying from £3,900 to £85,000 on secondary seller StubHub.

The May 2 bout is one of the most anticipated in boxing history with the WBO, WBA and WBC titles all on the line.

There were fears the fight was under threat due to a stand-off over ticketing but the brinkmanship came to an end on Wednesday evening when the contracts between the hotel and the promotional companies representing Mayweather and Pacquiao were signed.

Overall revenue from ticket sales is expected to scale £50million, breaking the previous record by three times and elevating the size and location of the rival camps' allocations at the MGM Grand's Garden Arena into a key area of negotiation.

Further money will be raised from closed-circuit broadcasts of the fight at MGM properties, with up to 50,000 tickets being made available at £100.

Indonesia To ‘Execute’ 4 Nigerians On Saturday

Nusakambangan, the prison island off Java

A foreign embassy official in Jakarta, who did not want to be named, has confirmed that Indonesia is rounding off arrangements to execute several foreign drug convicts, including four Nigerians, on Saturday.

The official said some diplomats of the countries of the affected convicts had been requested to travel to Nusakambangan, the prison island off Java, where the inmates are to be executed. A government official also said that authorities had ordered preparations for the execution of 10 death-row inmates, including two Australians who have been the subject of a high-profile campaign for clemency.

World's First Malaria Vaccine Moves Closer To Use In Africa; Fast Working, Single Dose Malaria Drug Developed

The world's first malaria vaccine – made by GlaxoSmithKline – could be approved by international regulators for use in Africa from October after final trial data showed it offered partial protection for up to four years.

The shot, called RTS,S and designed for children in Africa, would be the first licensed human vaccine against a parasitic disease and could help prevent millions of cases of malaria, which currently kills more than 600,000 people a year.

Man-Made Earthquakes Increasing In US, Wastewater To Blame — USGS

Reuters / Stephen Lam

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has released a map of earthquakes believed to be the result of human activity. Experts say most of the quakes were caused by the oil and gas industry injecting waste-water underground. Fracking was also blamed in some cases.

All of the areas highlighted on the chart “are located near deep fluid injection wells or other industrial activities capable of inducing earthquakes,” the study said.

Such injection-induced earthquakes are occurring at a rate higher than before, according to the USGS.

POWER TRANSITION: Jonathan, Buhari Hold Another Meeting

President Jonathan & General Buhari meeting at the State House, Friday, April 24. #Transition (Photo source: Reuben Abati ‏@abati1990)  

For the third time in a month, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan have had a private meeting at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Speaking after the meeting, Jonathan did not reveal details of the conversation, but he said it was “fruitful”.

ATTENTION SEEKING: Take Note Of This British Woman — Celebrity Blogger Perez Hilton Thinks Katie Hopkins Seeks Attention By Promoting Race Hate!

NOT HER FIRST CONTROVERSY: Katie Hopkins reported to the police for race hatred by Labour MP Simon Danczuk after tweet about Pakistani men - People - News - The Independent

Katie Hopkins has come under fire for posting her most controversial views yet in her column for the Sun claiming that migrants making the perilous journey over across the Mediterranean should be chased off by 'gunboats'.

UN Rights Chief Accuses British Tabloids Of Hate Speech

Zeid Raad Zeid Al Hussein speaks to the media during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Photo dated Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The United Nations' human rights chief Zeid Raad Zeid Al Hussein on Friday accused Britain's tabloid newspapers of what he called hate speech against immigrants, and urged the British media and regulators to curb incitement to hatred.

Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said that an article in The Sun comparing migrants to cockroaches used language similar to that employed by the instigators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

The April 17 column by Katie Hopkins, a former contestant on TV show "The Apprentice," has caused controversy in Britain. Hopkins said gunboats should be used against migrant boats in the Mediterranean, and called immigrants "feral humans."

Zeid urged British media, authorities and regulators to curb incitement to hatred.

Protester Killed As Guinea Police And Opposition Clash

Protestors face off with troops on April 23 in Conakry as opposition supporters and police clashed in a series of anti-government rallies in the country's largest towns and cities ©Cellou Binani (AFP)

Security forces in Guinea killed a protester and wounded four others, witnesses said, as opposition supporters clashed with police at anti-government rallies in its largest towns and cities. The violence broke out after the opposition called for a day of protest against the restive west African nation's hotly disputed election timetable, capping two weeks of riots in the capital Conakry. The protester's body was carried to a regional hospital by fellow activists who cried "God is greatest", "death to the dictator" and "justice for all", witnesses said.

A hospital source in Labe, the country's second-largest city and an opposition stronghold, said the victim "was beaten with batons by security forces".

The government confirmed the death of Ousmane Bah, 28, in a statement and said 14 people were injured, including 11 police officers. Police had made 93 arrests, the statement said.

DNA-DISASTER OR MEDICAL MIRACLE? Chinese Researchers Modify Human Genome

Reuters / Stringer

For the first time ever, Chinese scientists report having successfully edited human embryos’ genomes. The breakthrough has, however, also revived heated debate about the ethical feasibility of such experiments, which are feared to lead to eugenics.

The 16-person team of researchers was based at the Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, China, and led by Junjiu Huang, a gene-function researcher. They tried to find out if they could cure the gene defect that causes beta-thalassemia (a genetic blood disorder that could lead to severe anemia, poor growth, skeletal abnormalities and even death), by editing the germ line.

Presidential Inauguration: Jonathan, Buhari Teams Meet

In preparation for the May 29 handover and Presidential Inauguration, a joint committee of the outgoing and incoming government met on Thursday to discuss issues that will ensure a smooth transition.

The committee is co-chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, who represents the outgoing government, and former Bayelsa state Governor, Timipre Sylva, who leads the delegation of the incoming government.

The terms of reference for the Presidential Inauguration Planning Committee include drawing up the programme of activities for the inauguration ceremony; arranging invitation and accommodation of local and foreign dignitaries; drawing up budget for the programme of activities; organizing the approved programme of activities; and co-opting into subcommittees persons that may be necessary to assist the committees.

Radioactive Drone Found On Japan PM’s Office Roof

Police and security officials stand around a tarpaulin covering a drone on the roof of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence in Tokyo April 22, 2015. (Reuters / Toru Hanai)

A drone marked with the radioactive sign and equipped with a camera, flare and water bottle, was found on the roof of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Tokyo office. A police investigation is underway.

A group of ministry officials and security could be seen huddled around the UAV on the rooftop, as it was covered by a blue tarpaulin. Footage from broadcaster NHK first showed a device with four propellers, which was about 50cm wide.

THE HYPE HAS REACHED FEVER PITCH: Fists Not Faith Are Key — Mayweather | Pacquiao-Mayweather Tickets Go On Sale On Thursday

Floyd Mayweather insists he's 'The Best Ever'

Floyd Mayweather insists his superfight against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2 will be decided by the rivals' fists and not divine intervention. Born-again Christian Pacquiao has drawn on his faith to enlist the aid of God by claiming the Lord is willing him to inflict the first defeat of Mayweather's career, stating "I believe God will deliver him to my hands".

Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has been equally keen to cast the Filipino as the hero in a battle of "good versus evil" and the underdog would undoubtedly be the popular victor at the MGM Grand. Mayweather, self-anointed as 'The Best Ever', has embraced the role of villain for the majority of his flawless 47-fight career, glorying in a lavish lifestyle of excess that often draws attention away from his technical brilliance and work ethic.

PDP BoT Member, Etiebet, Insists Party Didn’t Win Akwa Ibom Governorship Poll

Chief Don Etiebet

A member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Don Etiebet, has expressed outrage over the alleged attempt by the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission to doctor the figures of the April 11 governorship election result in Akwa Ibom State. He also faulted the declaration of the PDP’s candidate, Udom Emmanuel, as the victor in the election, saying “there was no election in Akwa Ibom”.

Media reports say the state government is working with INEC on behalf of the PDP to get enough accredited voters to match the number of votes which the Commission allegedly allocated to the party for the recent governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly elections in the state.

Drama As Abba Stalls Handover For Hours, 3 Digs Protest Arase’s Appointment

Handing over ceremony: Acting Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase (middle) discussing with his Deputy Inspector General of Police Hashimu (left) and DIG Doma (right) shortly after handing over in Abuja yesterday. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan

There was confusion and drama at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, yesterday, as the sacked Inspector-General of Police, Mr Suleiman Abba, stalled the formal handover to his successor, Mr Solomon Arase, until he was compelled to do so by the Presidency.

This came as some former Inspectors-General of Police expressed reservations over the manner Abba was removed while other leaders were divided over the sack.

The handover ceremony which was earlier slated for 8 a.m. with invitations sent to journalists for coverage from the office of the Force Public Relations Officer, did not take place until almost 4pm following the absence of the ex-Police boss at the headquarters.

PHOTO NEWS: Former IGP Abba Handing Over To His Successor, DIG Arase

R-L: The outgoing Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, handing over to the incoming acting Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, yesterday. (Image source: Gistmania)