Tree Of Life Is Dying: Africa’s Ancient And Strange Baobab Trees Are Being ‘Killed By Climate Change’

Avenue du Baobab in western Madagascar is home to dozens of the ancient trees which can live to be 3,000 years old

●The ancient trees are found across southern Africa and are up to 3,000 years old ●Researchers found nine out of 13 of the oldest trees have died in the last decade ●A report published last month lists climate change as the reason for the deaths 

Africa's ancient trees of life are being killed by climate change - according to a recent scientific study.

The trees can grow as wide as a bus's length and have been said to have been adversely affected by climate change

Teachers Rip Down Statue Of Gandhi Unveiled By Ghana’s President - Saying The Independence Leader Was ‘Racist’ As A Young Man In South Africa

The teachers removed the Gandhi statue removed from University of Ghana on Wednesday after campaigning for two years 

●Teachers at the University of Ghana pulled down the statue on Wednesday ●They had campaigned for its removal since it was unveiled in 2016 ●India's renowned independence leader used offensive racial slurs in his writings

A statue of Mahatma Gandhi on a university campus in Ghana has been pulled down by lecturers arguing that India's most renowned independence leader was racist. 

Lecturers and students stand triumphant in front of the empty plinth after they pulled down the statue of Gandhi from the university's recreational quadrangle

China’s Vow To Curb Fentanyl Won’t End US Opioid Crisis: Experts

A graphic shows US drug overdose death rates by opioid category. China is believed to be one of the main manufacturers of synthetic drugs that have been blamed for public health crises in the US, Canada and Australia among other countries

The US-China trade war truce includes a pledge by Beijing to tackle another lucrative -- and deadly -- export: fentanyl, a potent opioid ravaging US communities.

A pledge by Beijing to tackle fentanyl exports was part of a trade war truce between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping

Scientists Will Copy Effects Of A Huge Volcano Eruption To Block The Sun’s Rays And Fight Global Warming In £2.3m Study Funded By Bill Gates

As part of a £2.3million (US$3million) experiment partly-funded by Microsoft’s Bill Gates, a team from Harvard University will spray tiny chalk particles into the atmosphere. Scientists hope this will have a similar effect to an erupting volcano releasing sulphur dioxide, which has a cooling effect (pictured: Steam rising from Fuego Volcano, Guatemala) 

●A £2.3million experiment partly-funded by Bill Gates hopes to block sun rays ●Harvard University scientists will spray tiny chalk particles into the atmosphere ●This could have similar effect to an erupting volcano's sulphur dioxide emission 

Scientists are to copy the effects of a massive volcanic eruption to block the Sun’s rays and combat global warming.

Trump Rejects Key Conclusion Of US Government Climate Report

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, for a short trip to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and then on to Mississippi for rallies. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump has rejected a central conclusion of a dire report on the economic costs of climate change released by his own administration, but economists said the warning of hundreds of billions of dollars a year in global warming costs is pretty much on the money.

Cases Of Polio-Like Illness, Acute Flaccid Myelitis, AFM, Rise In US

"Parents and caregivers are urged to seek immediate medical care for a child who develops sudden weakness of the arms or legs," said the CDC

Puzzled by a rise in US children with sudden paralysis in their arms or legs, health officials said Tuesday they are probing whether a virus or auto-immune disorder may be to blame.

Top Hotel Chains In China Apologize After Dirty Cleaning Expose

Cleaning staff at top luxury hotels in Shanghai and Beijing were shown using the same towels and sponges to clean showers and toilets and cups

The Ritz-Cartlon and other five-star hotels in China apologized after a video exposing unhygienic cleaning practices went viral online this week in the latest health and safety scandal to rock the country.

Saudi Arabia Considers Disbanding Oil Production Cartel OPEC Amid Growing Pressure Following Trump Criticisms And Jamal Khashoggi Murder

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, founded in 1960, coordinates petroleum prices among producers and maintains a regular supply to consumer nations

●Saudi Arabia commissions study into dissolving oil production cartel OPEC ●OPEC coordinates oil prices among producers and maintains the supply globally ●Saudi now researching effects of disbanding group amid surmounting pressure ●Kingdom faces scrutiny following US president's criticism and Khashoggi affair

Saudi Arabia's leading government-financed think tank is looking into the possible effects on oil markets of a breakup of OPEC.

The move comes amid growing pressure on the Saudi government, including from the US President Trump, who has accused the cartel of hiking up oil prices. While investors have temporarily distanced themselves after US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered by regime henchmen (Trump with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman)

Climate Fund Approves US$1B For Projects In Poor Countries

A U.N.-backed fund has approved more than US$1 billion for 19 new projects to help developing countries tackle climate change, officials said Sunday.

Campaign Steps Up Against Traffickers Who Lure Children To Non-Existent Football Trials

Interpol want people to follow Didier Drogba in communicating with young African players

●An estimated 1,000 African children a year are tricked into fake football trials ●Traffickers bring them to Europe and then take their money and abandon them ●Many of the children are sold into slavery and vanish off the radar completely ● Traffickers worm their way into junior football clubs in Africa or use social media ●An expert panel convened at the European Parliament to discuss the problem ●Baroness Young of Hornsey admitted young people are being 'let down'

An estimated 1,000 African children a year are tricked into coming to Europe for non- existent football trials by traffickers who take their money and abandon them.

Baroness Young of Hornsey hit out against traffickers who lure children to fake football trials

South African Newspaper Apologizes For ‘Tainted’ Scoops

The Sunday Times is one of South Africa's leading newspapers

One of South Africa's leading newspapers admitted Sunday it had run "tainted" scoops during the presidency of Jacob Zuma which turned out to be largely false, but insisted it had been the victim of political manipulation.

HIV-Positive Mother Donates Liver To Save Her Child’s Life

South Africa has the world's largest HIV treatment programme

Faced with the only chance to save a child's life, doctors in South Africa have performed a medical first -- transplanting part of the liver from a HIV-positive mother to her HIV-negative child, it was announced Thursday.

The doctors at the University of Witwatersrand reveal one year after the operation, the child may not have caught the virus from her new liver

Lilly’s Diabetes Drug Data Impresses, Hurts Rival Novo’s Shares

GLP-1 drug Trulicity contributed at least 38% to Eli Lilly and Co's total sales of US$6.36 billion in the latest reported quarter

Eli Lilly and Co said on Thursday its new two-in-one diabetes drug was successful in lowering blood sugar and reducing weight, sending its shares to a record high and weighing on those of arch-rival Novo Nordisk.

UN Report Spotlights Government Inaction On Climate

With only one degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has seen a climate-change crescendo of deadly heatwaves, wild fires and floods, along with superstorms swollen by rising seas

Diplomats gathering in South Korea Monday will find themselves in the awkward position of vetting and validating a major UN scientific report that underscores the failure of their governments to take stronger action on climate.

Climate 'tipping points': the Earth's ticking time bombs

EU Launches Asia Strategy To Rival China’s ‘New Silk Road’

No longer the only game in town

As doubts grow over China's vast "Belt and Road" trade infrastructure project, the EU is launching an alternative plan for Asia that it says will not saddle countries with debt they cannot repay.

Sri Lanka is a key link in the 'new silk road' but fears over a debt trap are growing

How Lawyers Forged Judgments To Get SAN Title, By CJN

Justice Walter Onnoghen

●Police to investigate, prosecute arrested culprits ●Legal body restores Ogunba to senior advocate

An unspecified number of lawyers have been apprehended for forging court judgments in a bid to qualify as Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN).

Google Looking To Future After 20 Years Of Search

Google is set to mark its 20th anniversary with an event in San Francisco devoted to the future of online search

Google celebrated its 20th birthday Monday, marking two decades in which it has grown from simply a better way to explore the internet to a search engine so woven into daily life its name has become a verb.

Google is also now a major player in artificial intelligence

2-IN-1 STORY: Nigeria Suspends National Carrier Takeoff Over Investors’ Apathy

Nigeria’s Aviation minister Hadi Sirika speaks at a press conference at the Farnborough Airshow, south west of London, on July 18, 2018.

• Funding delays application for AOC, recruitments, others

The Federal Government has suspended indefinitely the takeoff of the proposed national carrier scheduled for December 24.

Nigeria's last flag carrier was Nigeria Airways, which collapsed in 2003 under a mountain of debt Image credit: AFP

Liberia Loses US$104 Mln In Central Bank Cash, Bans 15 From Foreign Travel

Central Bank of Liberia

Fifteen Liberians, including the son of former president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, are banned from leaving the country while the government investigates the whereabouts of US$104 million in missing cash intended for the central bank, the government said.

UK University To Atone For Profits Gained From Historical Slavery

Glasgow University

A Scottish university will launch a "programme of reparative justice" after discovering it gained tens of millions of pounds from historical slavery, with activists hailing rising attention on modern slavery for stirring fresh debate about past horrors.

From the book "The Black Man's Lament, or, how to make sugar" by Amelia Alderson Opie. (London, 1826). Image source: The Peninsular