GLOBAL COMMUNITY REPORTERS

By Lara Drayer Popcorn is a healthy, whole-grain, antioxidant-rich snack food b ut a medium bucket of movie theater popcorn has about three days worth of saturated fat

By Julia Jones Maria Josefa Pingo Sanchez named her daughter Cielo, Spanish for sky. After weeks of steady rain, a ray of sunlight: A woman gave birth to a healthy baby girl inside a rescue helicopter as she was being lifted from a flooded village in northern Peru, the Peruvian Army said. Maria Josefa Pingo Sanchez, 20, was rescued on Tuesday afternoon, and her baby girl came into the world about 3:50 p.m., 15 minutes before the helicopter touched down at a hospital. The baby was named Cielo, "sky" in Spanish, according to state-run news channel TV Peru. Mother and baby were lucky. The floods in Peru have claimed the lives of 106 people, government news agency Andina reported. Overall, more than a million people have been affected by the floods: Those include more than 361,981 children and 20,659 pregnant women. Tenant Col. EP Edward Albuquerque Cordova, who rescued Pingo, said in a video released by the Peruvian Army that...

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill that raises the minimum age of sexual consent from 12 to 16, his office said on Monday, in a bid to protect minors from rape and sexual abuse. The Philippines until now has had one of the world’s lowest minimum ages of sexual consent, behind Nigeria’s age of 11, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). A joint 2015 study by UNICEF and the Center for Women’s Resources, a local non-governmental group, showed seven of 10 rape victims in the Philippines were children. One in five respondents age 13 to 17 reported experiencing sexual violence, while one in 25 experienced forced consummated sex during childhood, the study said. Under the bill endorsed by Duterte, which is gender neutral, any adult engaging in sexual contact with anyone 16 or under would be committing statutory rape, unless the age difference between them was three years or less and sex was proven to be consensual, and neither abusive nor exploi...

It has come to the notice of the authorities of the Nigerian Prison Service that some unscrupulous syndicates are going about with fake contract documents relating to prisons ration and gas supply as well as fake appointment letters into the service. The Nigerian Prisons Service hereby issues this notice: That the NPS does not sell contract documents whether for ration/gas supply or other services to prospective contractor(s) and could not have authorized any individual or organization inside or outside the service to do so on its behalf. That the service does not use agents(s), syndicate(s) or private individual(s) to carry out recruitment of personnel into the service and does not sell recruitment form to job seekers.   The Nigerian Prison Service therefore wishes to disassociate itself from illicit dealings and shall be held liable for any such transaction with fraudsters masquerading as agents working for or on behalf of the NPS. Whoever engages in any form of business ...

By Godwin Oghre There was total collapse of commercial and socio-economic activities in Sapele, recently, as over half of the population took to the streets in protest against the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, for failure to improve on power supply to the area since it took over from Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, over six years ago.

By Joe Akwarandu, Umuahia The Umuahia North local government area says its current move to end the perennial street trading and indiscriminate loading of vehicles and tricycles within the Isigate axis was aimed at tackling the traffic snarl in the city; not to dislodge traders. Orient Daily gathered that the council began the enforcement of order prohibiting street trading and indiscriminate loading and picking of passengers within the congested Isigate, the city center on April 1. Mostly affected areas were Warri Street, Owerri and Umuwaya roads as well as other adjoining streets within the city centre where petty traders and commercial vehicle operators have converted to markets stalls and mini parks. Speaking after inspecting the extent of compliance, the deputy chairman of the council, Eze Okwulehie, who personally supervised the execution of the order said that the measure was to ensure smooth flow of traffic. The local government had last week announced th...

The General Overseer of Faith Revival Ministries Word Outreach (FRMWO) also known as Victory Christian Church, Apsotle Nkechi Anayo Iloputaife paid a visit to Arrow of God Orphanage to celebrate her birthday. The children were so delighted as she shared with them her birthdays cake and other wonderful gifts. Another highlight of the event was that the PFN Ojo province honored our her with an Excellence in leadership and Humanitarian award on the 26th of January. The event themed apostle appreciation day was indeed glamorous as there was a feast of music, dance and entertainment. Nkechi Francis Anayo-Iloputaife is a Nigerian charismatic leader, pastor and televangelist. In 1985, along with her husband, she co-founded Victory Christian Church. She remained one of the leaders of the church until the assassination of her husband, who was the overall head of the church. After his death in 1995, she assumed his previous role, overseeing the entire activities in the church. She ...

Ogun State Police Command says it has arrested a man, Wole Oke, 38, and his friend Wasiu Adesina, 30, for being in possession of human parts .

There was pandemonium at Tundunwada, Lugbe a satellite town in Abuja when a transformer exploded and electrocuted five persons, including a pregnant woman who recently relocated to the area. Another four persons were also said to have been injured during the incident, including a six-year-old boy, Destiny Okolo, who suffered injuries on his face and left ear. According to Punch, the transformer was on fire for about 10 minutes during which it sent devastating electric current to some residential apartments in the area. The Head, Corporate Communications and Community Relations, AEDC, Mr. Oyebode Fadipe, confirming the incident on Tuesday said investigation had commenced. “The incident happened around 9pm on Saturday, four persons injured about six persons died.” Fadipe, however, declined to speak about compensations for the victims as insisted by the victim’s families, until the cause of the accident had been established and a decision taken by the management.