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The month old Nigerian girl touched the heart of the Italian Doctor, who was caring for her after he rescued her. The baby’s pregnant mother and father are believed to have died when the overcrowded boat capsized.

"I want to keep her with me forever," said Doctor Pietro Bartolo

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Rita Akana

27.May.2016

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Arthur Zang from Cameroon - has won the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. He invented the CardioPad, a touch screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations to be performed from remote areas‚ sparing patients from rural or outlying areas the trouble of travelling to urban centres for medical examinations.

Arthur's Cardio-Pad impressed the judges in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania tonight, where the finalists pitched in front of a live audience:“The Cardio-Pad should allow quick, low cost, cardiac illness detection and monitoring in rural villages and towns, addressing a huge African health challenge. His business plan is sound and his innovation could improve quality of life for millions of Africans," said head judged Malcolm Brinded.

We are extremely proud to announce that the second winner of the Africa Prize is Arthur Zang from Cameroon!Malcolm Brinded

In Cameroon‚ where there are roughly 50 cardiologists for 22-million citizens‚ Arthur Zang combined medical diagnostics with customised software and hardware to change the way rural Africans access heart doctors. The Cardio-Pad earned Zang a place in the finals for its ability to conduct cardiovascular diagnostics from anywhere in the world. A Cardio-Pad tablet‚ much like an iPad‚ is designed to be connected to a heart patient for tests conducted by ordinary doctors or nurses in rural areas. The results are sent to a cardiologist via a cellular network‚ and a diagnosis returned within 20 minutes.

The Africa Prize encourages ambitious and talented sub-Saharan African engineers from all disciplines to apply their skills to develop scalable solutions to local challenges, highlighting the importance of engineering as an enabler of improved quality of life and economic development. Crucial commercialisation support is awarded to a shortlist of innovative applicants through a six-month period of training and mentoring.

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Rita Akana

27.May.2016

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Militants attacked crude oil and gas pipelines operated by Nigeria's state oil firm in the Niger Delta, a community leader said on Friday, in an attack claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers, which has been targeting energy facilities for weeks.

"Another crude pipeline was attacked yesterday Thursday night near Batan oil field in Warri," said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in the vast delta in southern Nigeria.

"There were two simultaneous attacks on (state oil firm) PPMC and NNPC pipelines," he said, referring to the marketing arm of the NNPC.

The militant group tweeted later that they had blown up a gas and crude pipeline near the town of Warri that was protected by soldiers and operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

"At 11:45pm on Thursday @NDAvengers blew up other #NNPC Gas and Crude trunkline close to Warri," the group said on its Twitter feed. It had claimed on the same platform an attack on Chevron's main power feed in the Delta, which shut down the U.S. firm's onshore operations, according to a company source.

The Avengers, who have given oil firms until end of the month to leave, say they want independence for the Delta and have intensified attacks in recent weeks, pushing oil output to its lowest in more than 20 years and compounding Nigeria's economic problems.

Delta residents, some of whom sympathize with the militants, have long complained of poverty in an area producing oil accounting for 70 percent of national income.

The government has responded by moving in army reinforcements but British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said this month that President Muhammadu Buhari needed to deal with the root causes of poverty and anger about oil spills.

In the first signal that the government might try a less heavy-handed approach, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Thursday an amnesty program for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve.

A committee set up by Delta state leaders warned on Thursday that a military approach would not work and saw "an apparent consensus" that the federal government and oil companies have neglected the grievances of local communities.

Nigeria is now producing less than 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), less than Angola and well below the 2.2 million bpd assumed in the 2016 state budget.

Reuters

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Rita Akana

27.May.2016

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The leading opposition party in Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front ,SDF, has announced its 9th convention for February 2017. In a message issued by the party’s Chairman on May 26 2016, as the party celebrates 26 years of its existence,

Ni John Fru Ndi said they party is being reorganized to prepare for any ‘eventuality,’ without any further precision. While lauding the mobilization currently being spearheaded by the party’s Socialist Youths, (YL) the SDF chairman in his usual style blasted the Biya Regime for stalling growth and democracy in Cameroon for the past 34 years.

Ni John Fru Ndi said the party would continue to clamour for a true independent electoral commission, two round presidential elections the reduction and limitation of presidential terms amongst others.

Political pundits are asking whether the SDF Chairman would resign or be voted out during the 2017 convention, having spent 26 years at the helm of the party. Another issue being raised is what the SDF and the other opposition parties would do if the Yaoundé authorities decide to anticipate elections.

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Solomon amabo

26.May.2016

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Olivier Masonda left the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2012 to study in India, and he had recently become a French teacher in New Delhi. But the life that the 23-year-old was building for himself came to an abrupt end on May 20, when he was beaten to death by locals.

The fight occurred in Vasant Kunj, a neighbourhood in a southern suburb of New Delhi. According to the Indian police, who saw surveillance footage, Masonda was trying to hail an auto-rickshaw when he got into an argument with three Indian men.

According to reports in the Indian press, which cited the police, Masonda and the men wanted to rent the same rickshaw. Masonda was surrounded and violently beaten by the three men, one of whom delivered the fatal blow by hitting his head with a large rock.

But was this a racist attack? The Indian police says it is investigating this possibility. After arresting two of the men involved in the fight, they are searching for the third, as well as for the auto-rickshaw driver who witnessed the scene: “His version will help us find if any racist remark was passed by the accused,” a senior police officer told The Hindu newspaper.

When contacted by FRANCE 24, the president of the Association of African Students in India (AASI), Abdou Brahim, said that he didn’t have enough information about the incident to comment on it. However, he did say that there are “frequent” attacks on Africans and that the situation is distressing.

Last month, our journalist Gaelle Faure went to the city of Bangalore in southern India to investigate growing reports of violence against African students for our show 'Observers Direct'. There, she met numerous African students who said they had experienced both racism and violence.

FRANCE24

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Rita Akana

26.May.2016

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Donald Trump has won enough delegates to secure the Republican Party’s nomination for US president, according to estimates by the Associated Press.

Trump has passed the required 1,237 delegates thanks to the support of unbound delegates who are free to choose who they will back but have indicated they will side with the businessman, AP reported.The Republican candidate is chosen at the party’s convention from a vote of delegates sent from different states.

Most of these are committed to support a certain candidate based on the rules of their states and the results of primary votes there. However a few are free to choose themselves how they vote at the convention. It is these latter that have tipped the balance already, according to AP.

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Rita Akana

26.May.2016

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