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News_Naija

Cancel Your Homecoming, Police Warn Natasha

~1.2 mins read

The police have asked Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduagan to cancel her planned Sallah rally in Kogi State’s Central Senatorial District. Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Miller Dantawaye, stated this in a statement released on Tuesday by the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP William Aya. According to the statement, Dantawaye said the rally goes against the state government’s recent ban on political gatherings, which was announced on Monday. The statement reads, “Following the intelligence report on security threats in Kogi State and the subsequent ban on all forms of rally and procession by the Kogi State Government, the Nigeria Police Force, Kogi State Police Command has called on the organisers of planned rally at Okene to cancel such event in the interest of the peace in Kogi State. “The call for cancellation becomes necessary, noting that intelligence reveals that some hoodlums plan to hijack the process and cause disturbance of peace in the State. The Command cannot afford to jeopardize the existing peace the State is currently enjoying.” The police also warned against any attempts to defy the directive, saying, “In view of the security threat received on the planned rally, the Kogi State Police Command is therefore advising the organisers to cancel the event so as to avoid any breakdown of law and order in the State. As the Command will not hesitate to apply the full wrath of law on anyone who causes disturbance of peace and order in the State.” Despite the ban on political gatherings, which was announced on Monday, Akpoti-Uduaghan has insisted that she will go ahead with her “homecoming,” stating that she is only returning to the state to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr with her constituents.

Read more stories like this on punchng.com

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Healthwatch

Healthier Planet, Healthier People

~3.3 mins read

Five small steps toward better health for you and planet Earth.

Everything is connected. You've probably heard that before, but it bears repeating. Below are five ways to boost both your individual health and the health of our planet — a combination that environmentalists call co-benefits.

How your health and planetary health intersect

Back in 1970, Earth Day was founded as a day of awareness about environmental issues. Never has awareness of our environment seemed more important than now. The impacts of climate change on Earth — fires, storms, floods, droughts, heat waves, rising sea levels, species extinction, and more — directly or indirectly threaten our well-being, especially for those most vulnerable. For example, air pollution from fossil fuels and wildfires contributes to lung problems and hospitalizations. Geographic and seasonal boundaries for ticks and mosquitoes, which are carriers of infectious diseases, expand as regions warm.

The concept of planetary health acknowledges that the ecosystem and our health are inextricably intertwined. Actions and events have complex downstream effects: some are expected, others are surprising, and many are likely unrecognized. While individual efforts may seem small, collectively they can move the needle — even ever so slightly — in the right direction.

Five ways to improve personal and planetary health

Adopt plant-forward eating.

This means increasing plant-based foods in your diet while minimizing meat. Making these types of choices lowers the risks of heart disease, stroke, obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and many cancers. Compared to meat-based meals, plant-based meals also have many beneficial effects for the planet. For example, for the same amount of protein, plant-based meals have a lower carbon footprint and use fewer natural resources like land and water.

Remember, not all plants are equal.

Plant foods also vary greatly, both in terms of their nutritional content and in their environmental impact. Learning to read labels can help you determine the nutritional value of foods. It's a bit harder to learn about the environmental impact of specific foods, since there are regional factors. But to get a general sense, Our World in Data has a collection of eye-opening interactive graphs about various environmental impacts of different foods.

Favor active transportation.

Choose an alternative to driving such as walking, biking, or using public transportation when possible. Current health recommendations encourage adults to get 150 minutes each week of moderate-intensity physical activity, and two sessions of muscle strengthening activity. Regular physical activity improves mental health, bone health, and weight management. It also reduces risks of heart disease, some cancers, and falls in older adults. Fewer miles driven in gas-powered vehicles means cleaner air, decreased carbon emissions contributing to climate change, and less air pollution (known to cause asthma exacerbations and many other diseases).

Start where you are and work up to your level of discomfort.

Changes that work for one person may not work for another. Maybe you will pledge to eat one vegan meal each week, or maybe you will pledge to limit beef to once a week. Maybe you will try out taking the bus to work, or maybe you will bike to work when it's not winter. Set goals for yourself that are achievable but are also a challenge.

Talk about it.

It might feel as though these actions are small, and it might feel daunting for any one individual trying to make a difference. Sharing your thoughts about what matters to you and about what you are doing might make you feel less isolated and help build community. Building community contributes to well-being and resilience.

Plus, if you share your pledges and aims with one person, and that person does the same, then your actions are amplified. Who knows, maybe one of those folks along the way might be the employee who decides what our children eat from school menus, or a city planner for pedestrian walkways and bike lanes!

Harvard Health Publishing

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Healthwatch

A Low-tech School Vacation: Keeping Kids Busy And Happy Without Screens

~3.5 mins read

Nine ways to encourage children to connect, create, and play off-screen.

Father, daughter, and son playing soccer on the grass in a park;

School vacation coming up? Wondering how to spend that time? Given how tiring holidays can be — especially for parents who are working — it's understandable why children are often allowed to spend hours with the TV, tablet, or video games. After all, happy, quiet kids make for happy parents who can finally get stuff done — or relax.

Except kids are spending way too much time in front of screens. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, kids ages 8 to 12 are spending four to six hours a day watching or using screens — and tweens and teens are spending nine hours.

Given how enticing devices and social media can be, those numbers can easily go higher during unscheduled times like weekends and school vacation. That's why it's good to be proactive and come up with other activities. Below are some ideas for parents and caregivers to try. These are mostly good for kids through elementary school, but tweens and teens may enjoy some of them too.

Spending time off the screen

Go outside. This sounds obvious, but spending time outdoors is something kids do less than they used to — and it can be really fun. If you have a yard, go out into it and play hide-and-seek or build a fort from snow or anything else that's around. If you don't have a yard, go to a local park or just go for a walk. A scavenger hunt up and down the block or game of I Spy may be a good enticement.

Go to the library. Do this early on in vacation, so that your child has lots of books, puzzles, and games to pass the time. Check out as many as they allow and you can carry. Ask if a Library of Things is available at a branch near you: crafts, tools, musical instruments, birding kits, telescopes — even metal detectors may be checked out for free.

Build a fort in the living room. Use blankets or sheets over chairs; if you have a small tent, set it up. Bring in pillows, sleeping bags, and flashlights; let the kids sleep in it at night. Let it stay up all vacation.

Build a city in the living room. Use blocks, Legos, boxes (or anything else), and add roads, cars, people, animals, trains, and other toys. Let it stay up all vacation, and make it bigger every day.

Getting creative off the screen

Get creative. Go to the craft store and stock up on inexpensive supplies. Buy things like poster board, huge pieces of paper (you could use those for your city, too, to make parks, roads, and parking lots), paints, and markers. You can make a paper mural, a comic book, a story, posters, or whatever catches your child's imagination. If you know how to knit or sew, think about teaching your child or making a simple project together. Play music while you create.

Read out loud. There are so many books that are fun to read aloud. When my children were younger, we read the Harry Potter series out loud, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia and books by E.B. White and Roald Dahl. Act out the voices. Have some fun.

Have a puppet show. If you don't have puppets, you can make some with socks — or you can hold up dolls or action figures and do the talking for them. You can make a makeshift stage by cutting out the back of a box and taping cloth (like a pillowcase) to fall over the front.

Get out the games. There are so many that work across the ages, like checkers, chess, Uno, Connect 4, Sorry, Twister, Clue, Scrabble, or Monopoly. We forget how much fun these can be.

Bake. You don't have to get fancy — it's fine to use mixes or pre-made cookie dough. There's nothing better than baked goods straight from the oven, and adding frosting and decorations makes it even more fun. Turn on music and dance while things bake.

While parents or caregivers need to be involved with some of these activities (like the ones involving the oven, or reading out loud), kids can do many of them independently once you have it started. Which, really, is what children need: time to use their imagination and just play.

But you just may find that once you have things started, you'll want to play, too.

Harvard Health Publishing

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Futbol

'He Just Lost It' - How Costly Will Cunha's Red Card Prove?

~4.3 mins read

An FA Cup fifth-round defeat by Bournemouth was a disappointing blow for Wolves, but the impact of losing star forward Matheus Cunha for at least three Premier League matches may hurt even more. The 25-year-old had to be dragged down the tunnel and was unable to take part in the penalty shootout following his red card in the final minute of extra time for an unsavoury clash with Cherries defender Milos Kerkez. Wolves boss Vitor Pereira said: "Of course, the emotional side was very high and not only inside the pitch, but on the bench and in the stands, a lot of pressure everywhere. In the end it happens. "It should not happen, but this is something that happens in football." Both Matt Doherty and Boubacar Traore missed spot-kicks for Wolves in the 5-4 shootout defeat after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes at Vitality Stadium. It was a dramatic climax to a game where Evanilson had put the Cherries ahead on his return from injury, before his fellow Brazilian Cunha levelled with a sensational equaliser from around 30 yards. However, Cunha's display went from magical to madness with a dismissal that will leave his side - fourth bottom in the Premier League - without their best player for crucial games in their relegation fight. The red-mist moment, where he clashed multiple times with Kerkez, including fighting, kicking out at the Hungarian full-back while he was on the ground and aiming a headbutt when Kerkez had got back to his feet. After being pulled away by team-mates, referee Sam Barrott eventually gave him a red card but a furious Cunha refused to leave the field, needing to be escorted and pushed down the tunnel. He will be suspended for three games following the red card for violent conduct, but additional games cannot be ruled out because of the severity of the incident and having already served a two-match ban for clashing with Ipswich Town security in December. Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown said on Match of the Day: "The ability he has is top level, the goal he scored belongs in the Champions League, but then suddenly we see the ugly. "I have not seen that on the football pitch since the 1970s - he just lost it. The referee had to send him off. They couldn't get him out of the ground. This was the ugly part and it is something he has to stop. "Wolves need points to stay up. He will be a huge loss." Wolves have what could be described as a favourable run of fixtures coming up against teams in the bottom half of the Premier League. But Cunha is certain to miss matches against Everton, bottom club Southampton and West Ham, while third-bottom Ipswich follow on 5 April. Wolves have built a five-point buffer over Ipswich and Leicester City after winning two of their past four league matches. But losing talisman Cunha will be a massive blow, given he is their top league scorer on 13 goals and their attacking inspiration in this troubled campaign. Cunha has been linked with a big-money move over the past year with Europe's top clubs keen, but he may be viewed as a loose cannon because of his antics. As well as his aggressive display at Bournemouth, in an unsavoury incident at Ipswich earlier in the season, Cunha elbowed a member of the Portman Road staff before snatching his glasses off his face. The Brazil forward is known to have a £62.5m release clause in place which may also put off suitors looking to secure a summer transfer. Wolves boss Pereira told BBC Match of the Day: "When the situation happened I was looking for the ball. "It means that I didn't see the situation, but football is emotional and the level was very high today. Not only inside the pitch, but outside [the pitch]. With a lot of pressure, and in the end these are things that can happen. "You know now he is frustrated, he is better in my opinion. I never speak to the team when we are nervous or frustrated. It is better to wait one day and think about everything. After we can have a talk. "Of course, he is an important player, but next game we play with 11 and start with 11." Speaking in his post-match news conference, he added: "Matheus is a special player and today he played extra time. The last three weeks he has a problem in the hamstring and he tried. "I didn't see the situation. Don't ask me about it because I was looking at the other end. In the end the referee decided the red card." Asked about whether Cunha deserves another chance, Pereira added: "Of course, he is important but I cannot speak about what I don't know. It is important to check the situation, to look for what happened because I was looking for the other side. "The others say to me he kick, he punch, he do what he did with the head and the player went to hospital? No, OK. But it is a situation that cannot happen of course. "To judge the situation, I must have the clear image in my mind." Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola criticised the decision to show Kerkez a yellow card in the Cunha clash. It was was the defender's second in this season's FA Cup and means he will be banned from playing in the quarter-final tie. "Milos Kerkez has received a yellow card for adopting an aggressive attitude," said Iraola. "After what they have done to Milos Kerkez, they should reward him because [of] the attitude he has. "They punch him, they kick him on the floor, they headbutt him and he doesn't react! You punish this? I will have to say to Milos [that] probably I cannot do as well as a player. "The prize is they show him a yellow card and he will not play the quarter-final. Yes, I am very disappointed with the refereeing."

All thanks to BBC Sport

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