Gates Foundation Awards $18 Million for Anti-Poverty

The Land O'Lakes International Development Fund has announced a five-year, $18.1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of its effort to reduce poverty among smallholder farmers in Tanzania and Ethiopia.
The Public-Private Partnership for Artificial Insemination Delivery (PAID) program will address genetic constraints to dairy productivity in the two African countries through public-private partnerships designed to strengthen the delivery of artificial insemination services. PAID seeks to establish more sustainable and effective private-sector and government-led channels for delivering AI and related services aimed at improving dairy cattle productivity while helping to stimulate growth in East Africa's dairy sector.
To that end, PAID will work with Tanzanian and Ethiopian governments to train at least 225,000 smallholder farmers in improved dairy cattle management techniques and deliver approximately 1.8 million AI and other dairy production-related inputs and services. It also will work with the National AI Centers in both countries to boost the production and distribution of quality frozen dairy cattle semen, including crossbreeds. In addition, PAID and its partners will examine and test several business models for scaling AI delivery beyond the life of the program.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in this critical initiative, as it will play a catalytic role in enabling dairy farming to serve as a viable pathway out of poverty," said Land O'Lakes IDF executive director Jon Halverson. "Compared to rain-fed crops, dairy farming can provide families not only with a year-round income but also with a regular source of animal protein they can consume."

"New Program to Transform AI Service Delivery and Dairy Production in East Africa."Land O'Lakes International Development Fund Press Release 11/16/2015.

Subjects: agriculture / food; international affairs / development

People: jon halverson

Organization: bill & melinda gates foundation; land o'lakes international development fund

Location: Africa; Ethiopia; Tanzania

Nokia remains bullish about Africa business

Finnish network equipment maker Nokia remains upbeat about its growth prospects in Africa despite a slowdown in many of the continent's fastest-growing economies, a senior company executive said on Thursday.

Nokia, which sold its once-dominant mobile handset business to Microsoft in 2014, deals in Africa mostly with telecommunications operators and governments, both of which have been hit by weaker currencies and slower economic growth.

But a growing wave of consolidation in the sector is forcing mobile operators to step up investment to take advantage of the spectrum they gain, said Nokia Solutions and Networks head for Southern Africa Deon Geyser.

"Worldwide growth is flattish, but Africa is a pocket of growth for us," he told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the AfricaCom conference.

The region Geyser manages, which stretches from South Africa to Tanzania, is heavily dependent on commodities exports, and Geyser said the fall in the oil price had "hit a few key economies and subsequently the way they invest."

However, he said fundamental technology trends remained unchanged and the company was "bullish" about Africa

"You still have a significant amount of voice growth, even though revenue is flat, and you still have significant growth in data," he said.

Nokia's dominant networks division last month reported total net sales of 2.88 billion euros ($3.09 billion) in the third quarter, down two percent from a year earlier but up five percent from the second quarter.

Out of that total, the networks division reported net sales of 298 million euros in the Middle East and Africa in the third quarter, up six percent from a year earlier and up one percent from the previous quarter.

GDP growth in oil-rich Angola is forecast to fall to below 4 percent this year from 12 percent three years ago, while Zambia is also set slow to around 4 percent on the low copper price.

But these numbers won't derail the general trajectory of telecoms spending on the continent, Geyser said.

"The consolidation on the continent will be good for us," he said.

Nokia has launched an offer to take over rival network gear maker Alcatel-Lucent in a deal originally valued at 15.6 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9321 euros)

Ringleader's Cousin Blew Herself Up

Aitboulahcen, 26, and her cousin, Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaou, died during the pre-dawn raid on Wednesday.

The audio was recorded as Aitboulahcen was holed in an apartment in Saint Denis with Abaaoud and other suspected Islamic State extremists.

Amid heavy gunfire, an officer is heard yelling to her: "Where is your boyfriend?"

She yells back: "He's not my boyfriend!"

The officer yells again: "Where is he?"

She again responds:  "He's not my boyfriend!"

An explosion is heard as she detonates her explosive belt.

Witnesses described how the blast shattered windows in the street.

Her spine was found on a police car, an official said.

:: Profile Of Paris Attacks Ringleader

Aitboulahcen is believed to be the first female suicide bomber in Western Europe.

The French-Moroccan citizen was born and grew up in Paris, reports said.

Paris returns to cafes as hunt for terror suspects continues

A week after terrorist attacks shattered a French Friday evening, Parisians grasped for the things they love -- cafes and bistros.

The search for normalcy in a city shaken to its core persisted even as suspects remained on the run and investigators desperately fought to keep terrorists from striking again.

Back to the bar

The cafes and bistros of Paris are the French capital's living room. 

At the coaxing of President Francois Hollande and restaurateurs, Parisians have rallied behind the hastag #TousAuBistrot, basically "everyone to the bistro" or "back to the bar."

"What would our country be without its cafes, concerts, sport events, museums?" Hollande asked this week.

Keeping a wary eye on developments, Parisians sipped their wine and nibbled on quiche.

Ringleader dead

They did so knowing French authorities had identified the body of Abdelhamid Abaaoud. He was killed during a dramatic raid that shook the Saint-Denis neighborhood and collapsed an entire floor of an apartment building. But investigators say their work is far from finished.

A series of raids in Belgium and a search of a home on the outskirts of Paris on Thursday were the latest signs of investigators' efforts to piece together -- and take down -- the network of terrorists behind the attacks before they can strike again.

Official sources in France have also identified a woman who blew herself up during the raid: 26-year-old Hasna Ait Boulahcen, a relative of Abaaoud.

Investigators haven't revealed much about the suicide bomber. Friends of her family in their hometown of Aulnay-sous-Bois, on the northeastern outskirts of Paris, said she had lived there until recently. Residents in the area told CNN authorities had taken her mother and brother into custody. And the Paris prosecutor's office told CNN that police were searching the mother's home.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Abaaoud "played a decisive role" in the Paris attacks and played a part in four of six terror attacks foiled since spring, with one alleged jihadist claiming Abaaoud had trained him personally.

Facebook's New Tool To Ease A Broken Heart

optional feature will allow members to opt out of seeing pictures and posts made by their former spouse or lover on the website.

It works after people change their relationship status to reflect the break-up, allowing users to remove their name from previous posts that link them to their former partner.

Users will be able to edit who can see their past posts with an ex, untag themselves from posts with that person and their ex-partner will no longer be suggested when a user is writing a new message or tagging photos.

Designed for those who are not quite ready to "unfriend" their ex-partner - or even block them - the feature will be tested on mobile devices in the US before Facebook decides whether to offer it to all 1.5 billion users worldwide.

Facebook product manager Kelly Winters says: "Facebook is a place for sharing life's important moments, which for many people include their romantic relationships.

"Starting today, we are testing tools to help people manage how they interact with their former partners on Facebook after a relationship has ended.

"This work is part of our ongoing effort to develop resources for people who may be going through difficult moments in their lives.

"We hope these tools will help people end relationships on Facebook with greater ease, comfort and sense of control."

The 10 best stores for Black Friday deals

This holiday season, each American shopper will spend an average of $594.80 on gifts for family and friends, according to the National Retail Federation.

The annual deluge of competing Black Friday ads, promotions and coupons from retail chains and e-commerce sites alike can make it tough to figure out where best to apportion that budget.

With just over a week to go until this year’s Black Friday shopping bonanza, WalletHub is here to help.

Data gurus from the personal finance site surveyed 8,000 Black Friday ad scans from 30 of the biggest U.S. retailers, including those known for ‘doorbuster’ deals over the Thanksgiving weekend like Walmart and Best Buy.

WalletHub calculated the average discount offered by each of these companies on Black Friday, weighted based on the pre-discounted price of each sale item in order to give more credit to stores discounting higher-ticket products like electronics or jewelry.

Department store chain JCPenney leads the pack, with an average discount of 68%. Kohl'scomes in second with an average savings of 66.7% off.

Here are the top ten stores for Black Friday deals, according to WalletHub’s data: 

JCPenney 68.0%

Kohl’s 66.7%

Stage 63.9%

Groupon 63.7%

Belk 59.5%

Macy’s 56.0%

Kmart 50.1%

Panasonic 47.0%

Fred Meyer 45.3%

Office Depot and OfficeMax 42.8%

Perhaps surprisingly, big-box giant Walmart comes in fairly far down the list, at number 23 with an average discount of 30.1%.

Amazon, which has been promoting early access Black Friday deals for Prime members, ranks 28th out of 30 with an average 25.8% off.

Walmart’s members-only subsidiary Sam’s Club and its competitor Costco round out the list at 29 and 30 respectively.

France PM says Paris attacks ringleader used migrant crisis

France’s Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Friday some of the Paris attackers, including the mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, exploited the Syrian refugee crisis to slip into the country unnoticed.

Abaaoud, the ringleader behind last Friday’s bombings and shootings in the French capital that killed 129 people, was able to get into Europe undeterred, according to French authorities. The 28-year-old had also been linked to several plots around France including a thwarted attack by a gunman on a high-speed train in August.

French officials confirmed Thursday Abaaoud was killed in an anti-terror raid Wednesday in a suburb north of Paris. He was identified from skin samples after the Saint-Denis apartment raid.

Abaaoud had claimed he successfully moved back and forth from Europe to Syria coordinating terror attacks, and narrowly escaped a January police raid in the Belgian city of Verviers. “Allah blinded their vision and I was able to leave... despite being chased after by so many intelligence agencies," he told the ISIS magazine Dabiq.

Two counterterrorism officials told Fox News on Thursday that Abaaoud is comparable to Mohammed Atta – the “tactical guy” who identified and pulled together the operatives.

Police say they launched Wednesday's operation after receiving information from tapped phone calls, surveillance and tipoffs suggesting that Abaaoud was holed up in the apartment. Investigators said it was still unclear how he died. Eight other people were arrested.

French authorities did not know he was in Europe before the massacre, France's interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Thursday. He demanded Europe do everything in its power to "vanquish terrorism."

Valls said some of the Paris attackers had taken advantage of the massive influx of migrants into Europe fleeing war in the Middle East.

"These individuals took advantage of the refugee crisis ... of the chaos, perhaps, for some of them to slip in" to France, he told French TV. "Others were in Belgium already. And others, I must remind you, were in France."

Valls also warned that the passport-free Schengen zone is a risk of Europe fails to “take responsibility” over border controls, according to Sky News. European Union ministers are expected to meet in Brussels where they are expected to tighten border security in each of the 26-member nations.

Hasna Aitboulahcen, described as Abaaoud’s cousin, was also killed in the anti-terror raid Wednesday when she activated a suicide belt and blew herself up.

Police now turn their attention to two other suspects who are believed to have participated in the attacks. Police have identified one of them as Salah Abdeslam, who grew up in the same Belgian district as Abaaoud, the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek.

There was no indication Abdeslam escaped to neighboring Spain or tried to do so, Spanish Interior Miniister Jorge Fernandez Diaz said. He told Antena 3 television that security officials from several countries were called together in Paris to discuss the possibility that Abdeslam might try to cross into a country bordering France.

Spanish police say French authorities sent a bulletin to officers across Europe asking them to watch out for a Citroen Xsara car that could be carrying Abdeslam.

Abaaoud's death may provide some relief not only for Europeans, but also for his own family. “We are praying that Abdelhamid really is dead,” his sister, Yasmina, said last year, The New York Times reported. At the time, there was word he died fighting for ISIS, but it eventually emerged that he escaped Syria for Europe.

His own father, Omar, said the jihadi "dishonored" his family, the Times added.