Commonwealth Games: Abraham Mensah Secures Medal, Targets Gold

 Ghanaian boxer Abraham Mensah secured for himself a place in the medal zone of the Commonwealth Games after recording a 3-1 split decision victory over Rukmal Prassana of Sri Lanka in their quarter-final clash in the bantamweight division at the NEC Hall on Thursday.

Mensah won the first two rounds but lost the third round to earn a deserved victory which earned him a place in the semi-final and an automatic medal.

He joins Black Bombers teammates Joseph Commey and Abdul Wahib Omar who have also qualified for the semi-finals in their divisions and are also guaranteed a medal each.

After the win, Mensah paid tribute to his trainer for guiding him to win the fight. He said the strategy to win the first two rounds and move around in the final round worked perfectly.

Now, his focus is to reach the final and win a gold medal.

“Everyone has to thank my coach for this win because he was instrumental in this victory for Ghana and I really appreciate him.

“The plan was to attack from the first round so you can kill the game before it ends and that was why I started attacking from the opening round”.

Excited at guiding three of his boxers to the medal zone, Black Bombers head trainer, Kwasi Ofori Asare, said his young boxers had made a strong case again for the government to pay more attention to amateur boxing and put in more investment to develop the talents that abound in the sport to win laurels at such international competitions.

He told Graphic Online that the fisticuff sport had continuously made a statement at international competitions and deserved better treatment.

“We targeted at least three medals and we have been able to achieve that and I can only be proud of my fighters and technical team,” said Coach Asare.

“Boxing continues to prove to the nation that with a lot of investment, we can win more medals for the state at international competitions.

“I want to take this opportunity to appeal to the state to take a position in helping the sport with infrastructure to help us in our preparations for tournaments.”

Source: Graphiconline.com

…………………………………………………………

Monkeypox: US Declares Outbreak A Public Health Emergency

 The US government has declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency following a spike in cases.

The decision will speed up the distribution of vaccines, treatments and federal resources to curb the spread of the virus.

It comes less than a fortnight after the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its highest emergency alert following a worldwide surge in cases.

Cases have topped 6,600 in the US, according to health officials.

A quarter of these cases have appeared in the state of New York, which declared its own state of emergency over the disease last week.

The two states with the next highest caseloads – California and Illinois – declared states of emergency earlier this week.

More than 26,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide this year, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows.

Some public health experts have expressed concern the emergency declaration could further stigmatise the disease.
Although anyone can catch monkeypox, the outbreak has been largely concentrated among men who have sex with men.

But it is not purely a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and can also be passed on by close contact with an infected person.

The virus typically causes pimple-like rashes, which can be extremely itchy and painful, to develop and spread across the body, as well as other complications.

Infections are usually mild and clear up on their own in adult patients without treatment or hospitalisation – but the WHO has warned that young children have died at higher rates from the disease.

Officials in the US and elsewhere have recommended that people at the highest risk of exposure – including some gay and bisexual men, as well as some healthcare workers – should get the jab on a priority basis.

Pressure had been building on President Joe Biden to do more to stop the spread of monkeypox.

Public health officials say the disease is particularly prevalent amongst men who have sex with men.

In cities like here in San Francisco, with a large LGBT presence, politicians have claimed not enough is being done to protect the community.

Unlike when Covid-19 surfaced, there are pre-existing vaccines for monkeypox. But many who have tried to get the jab have reported waiting in long lines, only to be told there aren’t enough to go round.

Some have questioned whether Mr Biden should have called this nationwide state of emergency earlier – and whether this will be enough to prevent further spread.

San Francisco introduced a public health state of emergency on Monday. In doing so, the mayor invoked memories of the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1980s – when she says the city was ignored.

“We are in a very scary place”, she said.

…………………………………………………………

Food Prices Fell Again In July, U.N. Agency Says

 The United Nations food agency’s world price index declined again in July, edging further away from record highs hit in March.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 140.9 points last month versus a revised 154.3 for June. The June figure was previously put at 154.2.

The July index was still 13.1% higher than a year earlier, pushed up by the impact of the invasion of Ukraine, adverse weather and high production and transport costs.

“The decline in food commodity prices from very high levels is welcome, however, many uncertainties remain,” said FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.

A bleak global economic outlook, currency volatility and high fertilizer prices – which can impact future production and farmers’ livelihoods – all pose serious strains for global food security, he said.

The vegetable oil, sugar, dairy, meat and cereal price indices all fell month-on-month in July, with wheat slumping 14.5%, partly due to a deal reached between Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations to unblock grains exports from Black Sea ports.

The maize price index fell 10.7% in July, also due in part to the Russia-Ukraine deal as well as increased seasonal availability from key producers Argentina and Brazil, the FAO said.

Three ships carrying a combined 58,041 tonnes of corn were authorised to leave Ukrainian ports on Friday, the organisation arranging the operation said. A first vessel carrying Ukrainian grain set sail from Odesa on Monday.

Source: Reuters

………………………………………………………

Former Nigeria Coach Wants His Outstanding Debt Settled

 Gernot Rohr wants the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to settle its outstanding debt to him, but his former employers insist he will not have to wait long to be paid.

The 69-year-old was sacked as Super Eagles coach in December before the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations kicked off in January, prompting Rohr to go to football’s world governing body Fifa to seek compensation for unfair dismissal.

A Fifa tribunal ordered the NFF to pay the Franco-German about $380,000 in May, adding that the NFF would be sanctioned if Rohr was not paid in full within 45 days.

“I received part of the payments from Fifa but not everything has been paid,” Rohr told BBC Sport Africa.

“The ruling already said the interest must be paid, now we are waiting for the outstanding with the interest.”

The financially-stricken NFF attributed the delay in payment to their precarious financial situation, hence the body decided to utilize a percentage of its Fifa development funding to clear Rohr’s debt.

A top NFF official said the latest remarks from Nigeria’s longest-serving manager are understandable – but stressed Rohr will be paid his outstanding $127,800.

“We agreed to this mode of payment (Fifa development fund) with Fifa to enable us clear the debt,” the official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told BBC Sport Africa.

“The NFF received a letter through his lawyer that he wants to be paid the outstanding and additional interest, which is understandable.

“Rohr refused to tell the media that he was paid over $250,000 and that the outstanding is actually $127,800, but this is normal. We are very optimistic that he will be paid soon and this case will be closed.”

However, Rohr, who somewhat brought stability to Nigeria’s often volatile national side in over five years in charge, said Fifa’s ruling to add on interest in his compensation package must be respected.

“Yes [it is the amount quoted] but it’s a little more than the sum now. There are also interests that have to be paid,” he said.

“We are talking about it in dollars amount, which has increased and this is what Fifa said in the ruling.”

Compensation follows fall-out of World Cup exit

Rohr was highly praised for rebuilding Nigeria between 2016 and 2018, but nervy and lackluster performances in more recent years and his conservative approach were heavily criticized by the local media and fans.

Despite leading the Super Eagles to both Africa’s 2022 World Cup play-offs and qualification for this year’s Nations Cup finals, he came under fire for poor results against lower-ranked opponents during qualifying for Qatar.

Rohr, who guided Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup and to third place at the 2019 Nations Cup in Egypt, was subsequently replaced by Augustine Eguavoen.

His successor led the team to the last 16 in Cameroon this year and was then tasked with reaching the World Cup finals in Qatar.

But Nigeria was eliminated on the away goals rule following a 1-1 draw with Ghana in Abuja in the second leg of their play-off in late March.

Eguavoen stepped down from the job as a coach, while the rest of his coaching staff were dismissed.

Fifa’s order to pay Rohr compensation comes after the NFF was fined $154,000 for crowd trouble following their draw against the Black Stars.

Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro has since taken over as Nigeria’s coach and has made a perfect start in qualifying as the West Africans seek a spot at the 2023 Nations Cup in Ivory Coast.

…………………………………………………………