Welcome to Chidi Egesionu's blog

The number of new cases of Ebola has risen in all of West Africa's worst-hit countries for the second week in a row, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. This is the second weekly increase in confirmed cases in 2015, ending a series of encouraging declines. The WHO said on Wednesday that Sierra Leone had registered 76 of the 144 new cases, Guinea 65 and Liberia three. More than 9,000 people have died from Ebola since December 2013. The WHO said that the increase highlights the "considerable challenges" that must still be overcome to end the outbreak. "Despite improvements in case finding and management, burial practices, and community engagement, the decline in case incidence has stalled," the UN health agency said in a statement. In another development, US President Barack Obama has said he will withdraw nearly all US troops helping to combat the disease in Liberia. Continue...

Governor of Rivers State has been brought to the spotlight after a wad of dollars were displayed in error during an interview with an unknown platform. In the video of the interview which has gotten several thousand views on YouTube, Governor Amaechi tried to conceal the bundle of cash after he noticed his exposure. But his recovery was not completely successful as the hard currency had already been made bare.

With full lashes and ruby red lips, Taylor closed her eyes before slowly turning her back away from the audience. A second video shared earlier on Tuesday captured the Blank Space singer as she stood motionless with a plume of smoke rising through her neck. Continue...

Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, will step down later this year. The comedian said it had "been an absolute privilege" to have been at the helm of the satirical show since 1999. He will leave later this year. "This show doesn't deserve an even slightly restless host and neither do you," Stewart told his audience on Tuesday. Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless paid tribute, saying: "His comedic brilliance is second to none." Stewart's show has often been cited as a leading news source for young people, with an average audience of one million viewers. His targets - and his guests - have been politicians and public figures, addressed in tones that are often indignant, or teasing. The Daily Show has also been a launch pad for several well-known comic performers, including Steve Carell and John Oliver, as well as Stephen Colbert. Continue...

"American Sniper" Chris Kyle described his killer as "nuts" in a text to a friend moments before they were both shot dead by a former Marine, a court was told. Defence lawyers for Eddie Ray Routh claim the 27-year-old was psychotic at the time of the shooting. But prosecutors say Mr Routh was aware of what he was doing when he gunned the pair down at a Texas gun range in 2013. The hit film based on Kyle's memoir is nominated for six Oscars. Continue...

In a statement Wednesday on its website, the French embassy said the offices would close as of Friday, and told French citizens to leave the country "as soon as possible." The U.S. embassy closure will not affect counter-terrorism operations against al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, which the U.S. views as the world's most dangerous branch of the terror group. Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country and it has been in crisis for months as fighters led by Iran-linked Abdel-Malek al-Houthi last week dissolved parliament and claimed formal control of the government. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned in January and has since been under house arrest, and Houthi has repeatedly warned against foreign intervention. "We will not accept pressures. They are of no use," al-Houthi said in a speech on Tuesday. "Whoever harms the interest of this country could see that their interests in this country are also harmed."

More than 200 migrants are dead after the motorboats they were travelling on sank in the Mediterranean Sea, the UN's refugee agency says. "Nine were saved after four days at sea. The other 203 were swallowed by the waves," UNHCR's spokeswoman in Italy, Carlotta Sami, said on Twitter. She called the situation a "horrible and enormous tragedy". On Monday, at least 29 migrants died after the inflatable boat carrying them overturned in high seas. Seven were already dead when they were picked up near the Italian island of Lampedusa, and a further 22 succumbed to hypothermia after spending more than 18 hours on the open deck of the vessel which picked them up. The International Organization for Migration says the two boats involved in the latest tragedy had departed from the Libyan coast on Saturday. The IOM says that each boat was carrying more than 100 people when they capsized, probably on Monday. The nine survivors all speak French, and are believed to be f...