Emmanuel Macron selects Edouard Philippe as French PM

French President Emmanuel Macron has selected Edouard Philippe as the country's new prime minister.

Mr Philippe, 46, is the mayor of Le Havre and a close associate of Alain Juppe, a prominent conservative who was touted to replace Francois Fillon as presidential candidate for the Republicans.

Analysts say his appointment could convince other Republicans to support Mr Macron, who is looking to secure a working majority in crucial parliamentary elections next month.

One of Mr Macron's aides welcomed the appointment as "a good move", telling AFP it would help the president "break the right".

:: Macron's battle begins now he is in the Elysee

Republicans secretary general Bernard Accoyer said the move had created "ambiguity" over what political line Mr Philippe would follow.

He said: "This is an individual decision. It is not a political agreement.

"Will this new prime minister support the candidates of En Marche of the President ... or will he support the candidates of The Republicans-UDI, the candidates of his own political family?"

Meanwhile, Mr Juppe described the new prime minister as "a man of great talent" with "all the qualities to handle the difficult job".

Image:Mr Macron waves off Francois Hollande as he takes over as French president

Mr Philippe began his political life as a Socialist activist, before switching sides and serving as Mr Juppe's campaign spokesman during the Republicans party primary.

When Mr Juppe was beaten, the 46-year-old pledged his support to Francois Fillon but later quit the campaign when prosecutors started investigating allegations that the presidential candidate gave family members taxpayer-funded "fake jobs".

:: Why Macron picked a centre-right French PM

A relatively unknown politician, Mr Philippe previously worked as a director of public affairs for French nuclear group Areva from 2007-2010.

Prior to that he worked as a lawyer for New York City-based international law firm Debevoise and Plimpton LLP.

Image:Emmanuel Macron and Edouard Philippe shake hands during a meeting in February 2016

The announcement comes a day after Mr Macron was inaugurated as France's youngest ever president in a ceremony in Paris.

In his inauguration speech, the centrist leader vowed to fight terrorism and also listed "the excesses of capitalism in the world" and climate change among his future challenges.

The 39-year-old has appointed Alexis Kohler, who was his chief of staff when he was economy minister, as his secretary general.

Philippe Etienne, a former ambassador to Berlin, will act as his diplomatic adviser.

The remainder of Mr Macron's government is expected to be announced on Tuesday.

Europol says cyberattack that hit NHS is 'biggest in history and unique'

The cyberattack that crippled NHS computer systems is the biggest of its kind and "unique" in its malicious software, security chiefs have said.

Known as WannaCrypt or WannaCry, the ransomware is widely believed to have been developed as a hacking tool by the US National Security Agency.

In its latest update on the cyberattack, Europol said it was the "largest ransomware attack observed in history".

The EU's law enforcement body said the unique features of the WannaCry ransomware were its two main components, a "worm functionality" and the ransomware itself.

Europol said: "This is the first ever detected malware combining these features, which makes it unique."

Russia on Monday denied it had anything to do with the cyberattack.

President Vladimir Putin said there was "no significant damage" to Russian institutions such as banks and hospitals, but asserted the incident was "worrisome" and warranted immediate talks "on a serious political level".

:: Cyberattacks: How to protect your computer from infection

The NHS was among hundreds of organisations affected around the world, with 47 trusts hit.

Sky News has learned that trusts in England were sent details of a security patch last month to protect themselves from such an attack.

A spokesman for NHS Digital said: "Our understanding is that if that had been acted on it would have prevented (the malware attack)."

The cyberattack, which began in London on Friday morning, has so far affected 150 countries and locked more than 200,000 computers.

As people across the globe returned to work, Japan reported 2,000 computers at 600 locations had been affected, with firms including Hitachi and Nissan reporting problems.

Chinese state media said 29,372 institutions had been affected along with hundreds of thousands of devices, and universities and universities and schools among the hardest hit.

Microsoft said the attack was a "wake-up call" and identified "nation-state action and organised criminal action" as "the two most serious forms of cybersecurity threats in the world today".

The company said it had released a security update back in March to protect Windows system computers against such attacks, but said many computers "remained unpatched globally".

The 22-year-old British IT expert credited with saving thousands more computers across the world being infected said he was more concerned for his privacy than his safety.

The security researcher, who goes by the handle of MalwareTech (MT), was hailed an "accidental hero" for discovering the WannaCry virus' kill switch.

He tweeted on Monday: "For the record I don't 'fear for my safety', I'm just unhappy with trying to help clear up Friday's mess with the doorbell going constantly."

The online community pleaded for his identity not to be outed online - a research process known as "doxing" - to protect him.

Police officer overdoses after brush with highly potent Fentanyl

A police officer has ended up in hospital after overdosing by accidentally touching a highly potent drug.

Chris Green, an officer from East Liverpool in Ohio, US, collapsed after he handled what was suspected to be Fentanyl.

The substance, a painkiller also used as a recreational drug, is 50 to 100 times more powerful than fellow opioids morphine or heroin.

Mr Green had searched a car on Friday night after the driver carried out an alleged drug deal.

The officer had worn gloves and a mask when searching the vehicle but, when he returned to his police station, a colleague noticed Mr Green had white powder on his shirt.

He instinctively brushed off the powder with his bare hand and, within a few minutes, collapsed.

Fentanyl can be absorbed into the body merely through skin contact.

:: Painkiller that killed Prince on the rise in US

The officer was revived with a total of four doses of opioid antidote Narcan - administered first by an ambulance crew and then later when Mr Green was taken to hospital.

Mr Green was reported to have recovered by Sunday.

He told local newspaper The Morning Journal: "I started talking weird. I slowly felt my body shutting down.

"I could hear them talking, but I couldn't respond. I was in total shock. 'No way I'm overdosing,' I thought."

The driver of the car Justin Buckle and his passenger Cortez Collins had been arrested and are facing charges of tampering with evidence.

Police said there was white powder all over the vehicle.

In recent years, several American states have been hit by a wave of Fentanyl-related deaths as part of an overdose epidemic across the country.

The deadly drug was described by East Liverpool police chief Patrick Wright as a "weapon of mass destruction".

Its variant Carfentanyl is used on animals and can be 10,000 times more potent than morphine.

American singer Prince was found to have died from an accidental overdose of Fentanyl, which can be prescribed as a painkiller, following his death last year.

During his last few months in the White House, former US president Barack Obama announced a £4.3m fund to tackle the illegal supply of the deadly drug.

Last month, West Yorkshire and Humberside police warned Class A drugs contaminated with Fentanyl and Carfentanyl could have made their way onto UK streets.

2030: Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

The future of humanity and of our planet lies in our hands. It lies also in the hands of today’s younger generation who will pass the torch to future generations.

Years ago, an earlier generation of world leaders came together to create the United Nations. From the ashes of war and division, they fashioned this Organization and enshrined as its statutes the values of peace, dialogue and international cooperation which today underpins the importance of the body. The supreme embodiment of those values is the Charter of the United Nations.

WE CAN BE THE FIRST GENERATION TO SUCCEED IN ENDING POVERTY; JUST AS WE MAY BE THE LAST TO HAVE A CHANCE OF SAVING THE PLANET.

We can be the first generation to succeed in ending poverty; just as we may be the last to have a chance of saving the planet. The world will be a better place in 2030 if we are successful. Children, young women and men are critical agents of change and will find in the new goals a platform to channel their infinite capacities and energies for activism into the creation of a better world. These must be seen as towards ending poverty and hunger in all their forms and dimensions, and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment structured to protecting the planet from degradation through sustainable consumption and production. There’s also the crying need to sustain-ably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.

The dividend of such strides is the fostering of peace, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. So mobilizing the means required to implement this agenda through a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development must be based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity, focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries and all stakeholders and all people.

The inter-linkages and integrated nature of Sustainable Development Goals are of crucial importance in ensuring that the purpose of the new agenda is realized. If we realize our ambitions across the full extent of the agenda, the lives of all will be profoundly improved and our world will be transformed for the better.

Sustainable Development Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.

http://www.newsmakersng.com/2017/05/15/2030-achieving-sustainable-development-goals/

Second case of Ebola virus confirmed by WHO

A second case of Ebola has been confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following an outbreak of 17 further suspected cases.

Health workers are trying to trace 125 people thought to be linked to the cases in the country's remote northeastern province of Bas-Uele, near the border with the Central African Republic.

The disease has an incubation period of 21 days and people who have symptoms have been warned to isolate themselves while waiting for treatment.

Three people have died so far.

The World Health Organisation said the first victim was a man who was confirmed as having Ebola on 22 April around 870 miles from the country's capital Kinshasa.

It is not yet clear how this outbreak originated but previous ones have been blamed on contact with infected animals such as apes.

WHO said it was working with DRC officials and sending health workers to help deal with the crisis.

In a televised address, Health Minister Oly Ilunga urged people "not to panic", adding that the authorities had "taken all necessary measures to respond quickly and efficiently to this new outbreak".

It comes just a year after an Ebola epidemic in West Africa killed more than 11,300 people, most of them in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The disease was first detected in 1976, near the River Ebola in DRC, after which it is named. There have been seven outbreaks in the country since, the most recent in 2014, which killed 49 people.

The Future of our World and the Role of the Youth in 2030 – An Agenda

The future of humanity and of our planet lies in our hands. It lies also in the hands of today’s younger generation who will pass the torch to future generations.

Years ago, an earlier generation of world leaders came together to create the United Nations. From the ashes of war and division they fashioned this organization and the values of peace, dialogue and international cooperation which underpin it. The supreme embodiment of those values is the Charter of the United Nations.

We can be the first generation to succeed in ending poverty; just as we may be the last to have a chance of saving the planet. The world will be a better place in 2030 if we are successful. Children and young women and men are critical agents of change and will find in the new goals a platform to channel their infinite capacities for activism into the creation of a better world.

We have a responsibility to ending poverty and hunger in all their forms and dimensions and to ensure that the human race can fulfil their potential in dignity, equality and in a healthy environment as well as protecting the planet from degradation. This can only be done through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.

Ancilliary to this is fostering peace, just and inclusive societies which are free from fear and violence. There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development. Mobilizing the means required to implement an Agenda through a revitalized Global Partnership for Sustainable Development based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity with a focused in particular on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders and all people.

The interlinkages and integrated nature of the Sustainable Development Goals are of crucial importance in ensuring that the purpose of the new Agenda is realized. If we realize our ambitions across the full extent of the Agenda, the lives of all will be profoundly improved and our world will be transformed for the better.

Sustainable Development Goals and targets are integrated and indivisible, global in nature and universally applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.

http://www.pegasus-reporters.com/the-future-of-our-world-and-the-role-of-the-youth-in-2030-an-agenda-olayinka-y-shittu/

BAFTAs: Real-life dramas crowned at awards as royal saga deposed

It was a night of art imitating life, as shows based on reality cleaned up at the BAFTA TV Awards as hot favourite The Crown failed to sparkle.

Damilola Taylor's father gave the most emotional speech of the evening when the moving BBC drama Damilola, Our Loved Boy won in the Best Single Drama category.

Since the 10-year-old schoolboy Damilola Taylor was killed in south London in 2000, his father Richard has campaigned tirelessly against gang violence in the capital.

:: 2017 TV BAFTAs - all the winners

Richard Taylor used the BAFTA acceptance speech as an opportunity to appeal to end the stabbings on the streets of London.

Dedicating the award to Damilola's memory, he said: "I want to appeal to young people on the streets killing themselves. Parents are crying... killing has gone up recently in the city of London. I beg you: stop unnecessary killing of innocent people, spread the message."

The drama won its second award of the night when Wunmi Mosaki took Best Supporting Actress, and also dedicated it to Damilola and his late mother Gloria Taylor.