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Cambridge Varsity Announces Nigerian Professor As Seventh President

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The University of Cambridge has announced a Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience, Ijeoma Uchegbu, as the seventh President of Wolfson College, one of its 31 colleges.

This was made known in a statement titled, “Wolfson elects Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu as the College’s 7th President on the University’s website.”

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Uchegbu, who will succeed the current President, Professor Jane Clarke, on October 1, 2024, is known for her ground-breaking work in nanoparticle drug delivery.

The Nigerian professor currently lectures at University College London.

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The statement read, “We are delighted to announce that Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu, a ground-breaking nanoscientist, has been elected as Wolfson’s seventh President.

“Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu, a Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience known for her ground-breaking work in nanoparticle drug delivery, will become the 7th President of Wolfson. She will succeed the current President, Professor Jane Clarke, on 1 October 2024.

“Professor Uchegbu is currently a Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London. Her pioneering work on the mechanisms of drug transport has led to the development of new treatments which promise to transform pain relief, including the enkephalin pain medicine candidate (EnveltaÔ), designed to address the opioid crisis.

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“Her work has won her numerous awards, fellowships and accolades, and she holds positions on several academic boards and councils including the Wellcome Trust, the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

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“She has also played a leading role during her time at UCL as Pro Vice Provost for Africa and the Middle East, in forging new research partnerships in those regions and as UCL’s Provost’s Envoy for Race Equality, steering the organisation’s race equality agenda.

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Responding, Uchegbu said, “I am so thrilled to be joining Wolfson College, an ambitious and forward-thinking College.

“It will be an honour to lead such a lively, diverse and engaged student community in an environment where people are stimulated culturally, socially and intellectually. I look forward to working with the Governing Body, staff and students to help realise their ambitions and potential.”

Meanwhile, the current President, Professor Clarke, said, “I congratulate Ijeoma for being elected President of Wolfson College. If she finds being the leader of the ‘Wolfpack’ half as rewarding as I have, then I can assure her that she will enjoy herself immensely.”

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Uchegbu was raised in South East Nigeria and Hackney. She completed her pharmacy studies at the University of Benin in 1981 before attending the University of Lagos to obtain her master’s degree.

After returning to the UK, she studied postgraduate work at the University of London, earning a PhD in 1997. Alexander (Sandy) Florence, the Dean of the School of Pharmacy, supervised her dissertation. From 2002 to 2004, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde.

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Family Of Five Killed In Iranian Missile Strike After Fleeing Ukraine For Safety In Israel

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A Ukrainian family of five who fled Russia’s war in search of safety were killed in Israel by an Iranian missile — the very conflict they thought they had escaped.

Mariia Pieshkurova had brought her 7-year-old daughter, Anastasiia, to Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv, hoping to get lifesaving cancer treatment and refuge from the violence at home.

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Along with Anastasiia’s grandmother, Olena Sokolova, and two young cousins, Illia and Kostiantyn, they had started over — believing they were finally safe.

But on June 15, an Iranian missile tore through their apartment building during a retaliatory strike on Israel, killing them all.

“I really thought they’d be safe,” said Artem Buryk, Anastasiia’s father and Mariia’s former partner. “I never thought they’d go to Israel to escape war — and find it there.”

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READ ALSO:US Struck Iran With B-2 Bombers, Submarine-launched Missiles – Top US General

The missile attack, part of Iran’s response to Israeli airstrikes on its territory, collapsed much of the building in Bat Yam.

It took four days to recover Mariia’s body from the rubble.

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Their deaths marked a heartbreaking intersection of two wars — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s conflict with Israel — both of which had already tested the family’s will to survive.

Mariia had moved to Israel in late 2022 after Anastasiia was diagnosed with leukemia.

Ukraine’s hospitals were overwhelmed, and its largest children’s hospital was later destroyed in a missile strike.

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In Israel, treatment began immediately. It was effective but costly. Mariia turned to Instagram, sharing photos of her daughter in treatment and videos of Artem pleading for help while serving on Ukraine’s front lines.

READ ALSO:Israel-Iran War: Stranded Nigerians Cry For Help From Underground Shelters

“Masha did everything for her little girl,” said Anastasiia’s godmother, Khrytsyna Chanysheva. “She dedicated her life to her, moved to Israel to get her full treatment.”

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Despite the pain, Anastasiia always smiled at visitors.

“She was in pain, and she would close her eyes for a second,” said charity worker Lada Fichkovsi. “But every time I walked into her room, she would smile.”

Her cousins joined the family in May 2024 as the situation in Odesa deteriorated.

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“The shelling made my children cry,” said Hanna Pieshkurova, Mariia’s sister. “I decided to let them go.”

Though Israel was at war with Hamas, Mariia had assured her sister that Bat Yam was calm. Air raid sirens were rare, and the Iron Dome defense system offered hope.

READ ALSO:Iran Nabs 22 Suspected Israeli Spies Amidst Escalating Conflict

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“Ukrainians often say, ‘This is not Ukraine, it’s not as scary,’” said Inna Bakhareva of Chance4Life, a charity helping sick children in Israel. “They felt secure due to the Iron Dome.”

That sense of security evaporated after Israel struck Iranian targets on June 12. Iran retaliated with missile attacks across Israeli cities.

“Dad, at night I saw how the missiles were falling,” Anastasiia told her father in a voice message the night before she died.

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She and her mother had been scheduled to visit the hospital the next morning. The missile struck before dawn.

Mr. Buryk, who had just returned from the front lines near Sumy, received the news that same day.

“I still don’t understand what’s happening,” he said. “I still can’t believe it.”

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He used to promise Anastasiia they’d go fishing together when peace returned.

“Every time I talked to her, I’d say, ‘Sweetheart, we’ll go fishing. Just us,’” he said. “And now I just don’t understand. I still don’t even grasp that she’s gone.”

“Last night,” he added quietly, “I sent her voice messages.”

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(New York Times)

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Militia Attack On DRC IDP Camp, Kills 10, Mostly Women, Children

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An armed group at the centre of a long-running ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast attacked a camp for displaced people on Friday, killing 10, local sources told AFP.

Bordering Uganda, Ituri province has for years been the scene of pitched battles between the Lendu, a group mainly made up of settled farmers, and the Hema people, typically nomadic herders.

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The fighting has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and the mass displacement of many more.

Friday’s assault on the Djangi displaced persons camp was carried out by the self-proclaimed Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), a Lendu-aligned militia responsible for previous civilian massacres, the camp’s head told AFP.

READ ALSO:Trump Bans Citizens Of Chad, Congo, 10 Others From Entering US

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They were many and armed with firearms and machetes. They surprised us, they killed 10 displaced people, most of them women and children,” said Richard Likana.

An employee of the Red Cross, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the attack, which took place around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Bunia.

They were cut up with machetes while others were shot,” the humanitarian worker added.

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Congolese army Colonel Ruffin Mapela, the local administrator for Djugu territory where the camp is located, gave the same toll of 10 dead and put the number of injured at 15.

READ ALSO:Heineken Withdraws Staff As Armed Rebels Seize Facilities In Eastern DR Congo

According to local and humanitarian sources, Codeco was responsible for an attack on February 10 which killed 51 people in Ituri province. Most of the victims were also displaced persons.

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That raid was said to be a response to a strike by the rival Hema-led Zaire militia in the same area.

Violence between the Hema and Lendu killed thousands in gold-rich Ituri from 1999-2003, which only ended after European forces intervened.

The conflict erupted again in 2017, killing thousands more.

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The violence has led to more than 1.5 million people leaving their homes, according to the UN.

AFP

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Israel Wants Global Action Against Iran’s Nuclear Plans

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Israel’s foreign minister said on Friday that the world was obliged to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb, days after Israel claimed it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” in a 12-day war.

Israel acted at the last possible moment against an imminent threat to itself, the region, and the international community,” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

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The international community must now prevent, by any effective means, the world’s most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon.”

READ ALSO:Netanyahu Vows To Thwart ‘Any Attempt’ By Iran To Rebuild Nuclear Programme

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

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The conflict erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign, stating it aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon—an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

Following waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites, the United States bombed three key facilities, with President Donald Trump insisting it had set Iran’s nuclear programme back by “decades”.

READ ALSO:We Would Have Killed Iran’s Supreme Leader If Given Opportunity – Israel

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.

However, there is no consensus as to how effective the strikes were.
On Friday, Iran rejected a request by UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to visit the bombed facilities, saying it suggested “malign intent”.

The comments from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

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In a post on X following the move, Saar said Iran “continues to mislead the international community and actively works to prevent effective oversight of its nuclear programme”.

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