* Nigeria is Africa&#8217;s top oil exporter
* Companies need attractive terms to invest &#8211; Kyari
* Oil majors are cutting spending worldwide
* NNPC seeking $2 bln in pre-finance for Warri, Kaduna refineries
By Libby George
LAGOS, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria&#8217;s state oil company is renegotiating commercial contract terms with major oil firms, its chief told Reuters, in a move that it hopes will keep investment flowing into a sector crucial for its economy at a time when spending is being slashed.
Africa&#8217;s largest oil exporter and biggest economy relies on the oil sector for half of its budget and 90% of its foreign exchange. It wants to raise revenue but also attract investment.

Oil companies meanwhile, including Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Total and Eni, are cutting billions in spending after taking hits to their profits, shifting money to renewable fuels and focusing only on the most cost-effective markets.
Mele Kyari, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said in an interview on Friday that new commercial terms were being negotiated and would be finalised before a pending oil overhaul bill is passed.
&#8220;No company will invest where they cannot get the appropriate margin,&#8221; Kyari said in a video interview, declining to say specifically what was being renegotiated.
&#8220;We&#8217;re very conscious of the fact that people have choices, companies will make choices to leave countries when they have to.&#8221;
Nigeria&#8217;s parliament has promised to pass the long-awaited oil overhaul bill by May. It will define the sector for decades to come, but companies have criticized the draft for not doing enough to attract development dollars. They have raised issues over taxation, royalties and local community obligations.
Kyari said companies would have the option of the newly negotiated commercial terms or moving to the updated terms outlined under the new law.
By the end of June the NNPC is planning to have found $2 billion of financing to overhaul its Warri and Kaduna refineries, Kyari said. Talks are underway on financing repairs to the Port Harcourt refinery after a pre-finance bid for more than $1 billion was oversubscribed, he said.
The money will be repaid in profits and fuel cargoes from the refineries, rather than in oil cargoes, Kyari said.
While the refineries have not operated at full capacity for years, NNPC had to shut all of them completely last year as they await much-needed maintenance, repair and upgrades, leaving it with a hefty fuel import bill. (Reporting By Libby George; Editing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Elaine Hardcastle)
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Nigeria negotiates terms with Big Oil to keep investments

Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Cricket West Indies (CWI) on Friday signed a five-year deal with broadcaster BT Sport for exclusive live coverage in the United Kingdom of all the Caribbean team&#8217;s international home matches, including the test series against England next year.
The 2022 test series between England and West Indies will be the first time the teams will play the Richards-Botham Trophy.
&#8220;&#8230; I&#8217;m delighted to announce one of our largest ever broadcast rights agreements in the form of this unprecedented partnership with BT Sport,&#8221; CWI President Ricky Skerritt said in a statement https://www.windiescricket.com/news/cwi-sign-major-uk-broadcast-agreement-bt-sport-all-west-indies-matches-caribbean.
&#8220;Our tour to England last year helped to remind us how strong the West Indies brand continues to be in the UK, and we thank BT Sport for so highly valuing West Indies cricket by committing their broadcast support.&#8221;
Apart from England&#8217;s tour, BT Sport will also broadcast West Indies home matches across all formats against Sri Lanka this year. That will be followed by the visits to the Caribbean by South Africa, Australia and Pakistan in June, July and August.
&#8220;West Indies&#8217; home series are the second-most watched cricket in the UK after England&#8217;s home matches,&#8221; CWI CEO Johnny Grave said.
&#8220;And this agreement ensures that the best action from the Caribbean will be broadcast in an extremely important sports and tourism market for the region.&#8221;
England are currently touring India with the first test having begun on Friday, with Channel 4 showing the four-match test series in its entirety.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru Editing by Toby Davis)
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Cricket-West Indies signs with BT to broadcast home internationals in UK

By Hereward Holland
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; C ongo&#8217;s state mining company Gecamines has replaced its secretary general and other senior positions, an internal memo showed, bolstering the influence of President Felix Tshisekedi at the expense of his predecessor Joseph Kabila.
The reshuffle sidelines allies of Kabila, allowing Tshisekedi to exert more authority over the company that controls minority stakes in most of Congo&#8217;s largest copper and cobalt projects.
Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa&#8217;s top copper producer and the world&#8217;s biggest miner of cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries.
Mining industry lawyer Patrice Pungwe, a former adviser in the Prime Minister&#8217;s office, replaces Déogratias Ngele Masudi, an ally of Gecamines Chairman Albert Yuma, as secretary general, a Jan 22 letter seen by Reuters shows.
Yuma is a close associate of Kabila.
Gecamines&#8217; board decided on the new roles as part of a &#8220;revitalisation&#8221; of the company&#8217;s upper management, Gecamines Director General Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge wrote in the letter.
Lukonde took over as director-general in June last year, one of Tshisekedi&#8217;s nominees for the company.
&#8220;There is new management [at Gecamines] &#8211; and it goes without saying that the new managers would make some adjustments,&#8221; Pungwe said over the phone.
He declined to comment on whether the reshuffle was driven by Tshisekedi&#8217;s broader push to consolidate power.
&#8220;Control over Gécamines &#8211; the key power centre in Congo&#8217;s mining sector &#8211; has been an aspect of the power struggle between Tshisekedi and Kabila since 2019. And just as Tshisekedi asserts control over parliament, this is another win for him,&#8221; said Vincent Rouget, an analyst at London-based risk consultancy Control Risks.
&#8220;The restructuring strengthens the influence of Lukonde, the director-general whom Tshisekedi appointed, and isolates Yuma, who loses some of his closest associates.&#8221; (Reporting by Hereward Holland, additional reporting by Helen Reid; editing by Bate Felix and Jason Neely)
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Reshuffle at Congo state miner further entrenches Tshisekedi’s authority

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; The charity arm of the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church urged the United Nations on Friday to hold a Security Council meeting to designate the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as a global security issue.
An appeal by two senior Vatican cardinals and the secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis (CI) said rich nations had a moral obligation to see that vaccines reach the poor, refugees and minorities.
&#8220;(We) call for a Security Council meeting to address the issue of access to the vaccines as a global security problem with firm political decisions based on multilateralism,&#8221; the appeal text said.
&#8220;This pandemic is a global human security problem that threatens the whole human family. Addressing the vaccines issue from the perspective of a narrow national strategy might lead to a moral failure in meeting the needs of the most vulnerable across the globe,&#8221; the appeal said.
It was signed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who is head of the Vatican&#8217;s worldwide missionary arm and also CI president, Cardinal Peter Turkson, head of the Vatican&#8217;s Integral Human Development department, and CI Secretary General Aloysius John.
The appeal further summoned affluent nations to remit the debt of the poorest nations so that money could be diverted to improving national health systems.
It said holders of vaccine patents should set up production hubs in Africa, Asia and Latin America to speed up delivery to the poorest populations.
Rich nations that look after only their own good could face another crisis in the future if poorer nations are neglected now and the pandemic gets out of hand in the global south, it said.
On Wednesday, the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, which includes two U.N. agencies, said it had allocated at least 330 million doses of vaccines for poorer countries. (Reporting by Philip Pullella Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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Vatican urges U.N. Security Council meeting on COVID vaccine access

Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Anrich Nortje took five wickets as Pakistan were dismissed for 272 but South Africa’s struggles with the bat in the sub-continent continued as they limped to 106 for four at the close on the second day of the second test in Rawalpindi on Friday.
Captain Quinton de Kock (24 not out from 11 balls) and Temba Bavuma (15 not out) survived in the gloom at the close, but the tourists still trail by 166 runs and will be looking for a counter-punch on day three.
South Africa have passed 300 just three times in their last 25 innings on the sub-continent, and have been prone to spectacular collapses, as they seek to level the two-match series after a seven wicket defeat in the first test in Karachi.
Nortje (5-56) was superb with the ball, his aggression and accuracy leading to a third five-wicket haul in tests to restrict Pakistan to a manageable first innings score.
South Africa’s openers Dean Elgar (15) and Aiden Markram were positive at the start of the innings, but disaster struck as they lost two wickets in the final two balls of the middle session.
Elgar was caught by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan off the bowling of Hasan Ali (2-29), and the very next delivery Rassie van der Dussen was deceived by a ball that kept low and clattered into his stumps.
Faf du Plessis (17) looked in control until he inexplicably tried to cut a wide Faheem Ashraf delivery and edged to Rizwan.
The visitors were dealt a further blow when left-arm spinner Nauman Ali deceived Markram (32) and the latter chipped a simple catch to Shaheen Shah at mid-wicket.
Pakistan had resumed their innings on 145 for three but lost their two set batsmen from the day before in quick succession.
Captain Babar Azam (77) edged the second delivery of the morning from Nortje to Du Plessis at second slip, before the centurion from the first test, Fawad Alam (45) was run out by a direct hit from Bavuma.
Babar and Fawad had put on 127 for the fourth wicket to rescue the home side from a precarious 22 for three on the first morning.
Faheem Ashraf picked up the momentum with a superb unbeaten 78, but ran out of partners as Nortje chipped away at the wickets column to leave the home side all out just before tea. (Reporting by Nick Said Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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Cricket-Nortje takes five-for to restrict Pakistan, but hosts fight back

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; A probe into public spending on coronavirus in South Africa has found evidence of political pressure, price inflation, and fraud in many of the contracts, fuelled by an &#8220;insatiable pursuit of self-enrichment&#8221;, a report showed on Friday.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) launched the probe in July after a flood of whistleblower submissions alleging irregularities in the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) and hospital supplies like beds and wheel chairs.
The investigation found evidence of tax fraud, the use of shell companies to win multiple contracts, instances of price inflation of up to 500%, and political pressure put on managers to break procurement laws, SIU head Andy Mothibi told reporters.
The investigation looked into more than 13 billion rand ($870 million) of spending, just a slice of total COVID-19 expenditure of 30.7 billion rand.
&#8220;It appears that persons in positions of authority in some state institutions believed that the declaration of the state of emergency meant that all procurement is automatically conducted on an emergency basis,&#8221; Mothobi said.
&#8220;The SIU investigations have revealed a flagrant and wanton disregard of the applicable law, policies and procedures. My observation is that the flagrant and wanton disregard is underpinned by insatiable pursuit of self-enrichment.&#8221;
The investigation will be concluded in the next six months, Mothobi said.
The SIU said that to date, contracts with a value of 365 million rand had been sent to a special tribunal formed to hear the cases. It added that about 260.60 million rand in cash or assets were seen as recoverable.
South Africa has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths on the continent with about 1.4 million cases and more than 45,000 deaths to date.
Already in recession before the pandemic struck, the country has also struggled to fund vaccine purchases, partly due to years of government corruption. President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to deal harshly with graft.
($1 = 14.9537 rand) (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana Editing by Frances Kerry)
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South African probe finds evidence of political pressure, fraud in COVID-19 contracts

SOUTH AFRICA&#8217;S MKHIZE SAYS HAD CONTACT WITH CHINA&#8217;S SINOVAC AND SINOPHARM, RUSSIA&#8217;S GAMALEYA INSTITUTE ON VACCINES
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SOUTH AFRICA’S MKHIZE SAYS HAD CONTACT WITH CHINA’S SINOVAC AND SINOPHARM, RUSSIA’S GAMALEYA INSTITUTE ON VACCINES

CAPE TOWN, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s health ministry said on Friday that the government had signed off on a term sheet for 9 million doses of Johnson &amp; Johnson&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine at $10 a dose.
The ministry said in a presentation in parliament that one of the conditions for the J&amp;J vaccine was the establishment of a no-fault compensation system for adverse events.
It added that Moderna had offered the country 200,000 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine priced at $30-$42 a dose in the second quarter, with more doses available in the third quarter. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf Writing by Alexander Winning Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo)
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South Africa says term sheet signed for 9 mln J&J vaccine doses

CAPE TOWN, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa will ramp up home delivery of medicines to patients and expand the use of chest X-rays for tuberculosis (TB) screening in communities as it looks to contain new infections since the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted health services, the health minister said on Friday.
Designated by the World Health Organization as a high burden country, South Africa registers around 60,000 deaths from TB each year, making it the country&#8217;s leading infectious disease killer closely intertwined with one of the world&#8217;s highest rates of HIV/Aids.
As COVID-19 pummelled South Africa since first being detected in March last year, many TB clinics in poor communities closed temporarily due to contamination. People were banned from public transport during lockdown restrictions while others stayed indoors for fear of catching the coronavirus.
A disease of the poor, TB is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria and is spread easily in shantytowns where a simple cough helps fuel the preventable disease.
&#8220;The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health services and TB in particular is well documented. A lot of effort will be required to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19,&#8221; Health Minister Zweli Mhkize said at the release of a national TB prevalence survey carried out between 2017 and 2019.
South Africa saw a 48% plunge in diagnostic testing and a 33% decline in laboratory-confirmed positive cases between February 3 and May 3 2020, said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Between April 1 and July 31 last year, as a result of COVID-19, an estimated 308,000 fewer TB Xpert tests were conducted, and 17,700 fewer positive samples detected, the NICD said in September, just before a deadlier second wave of coronavirus infections struck.
&#8220;We should also consider expanding TB screening and testing services in order to identify missing TB patients,&#8221; said Joe Phaahla, the deputy minister of health.
The WHO said last year the global number of TB deaths could increase between 200,000 to 400,000 in 2020 alone if health services are disrupted to the extent that the number of people with TB who are detected and treated falls by 25–50% over a period of 3 months.
In its Global TB report released in October, the WHO said India, Indonesia, the Philippines and South Africa &#8211; four countries that account for 44% of global TB cases &#8211; experienced large drops in the reported number of people diagnosed with TB between January and June 2020. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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South Africa looks to curb TB infections amid COVID-19 disruptions

Feb 5 (OPTA) &#8211; Scores from the European Tour Saudi International on Thursday -9 David Horsey (England) 61 -8 Stephen Gallacher (Scotland) 62 -7 Ryan Fox (New Zealand) 65 Bernd Wiesberger (Austria) 64 -6 Viktor Hovland (Norway) 68 Marcus Kinhult (Sweden) 65 -5 Bryson DeChambeau (USA) 65 Calum Hill (Scotland) 65 Guido Migliozzi (Italy) 68 Chris Paisley (England) 68 Antoine Rozner (France) 67 Andy Sullivan (England) 66 -4 Laurie Canter (England) 66 George Coetzee (South Africa) 66 Tommy Fleetwood (England) 68 Tyrrell Hatton (England) 67 Takumi Kanaya (Japan) 67 Kurt Kitayama (USA) 67 Mikko Korhonen (Finland) 66 HaoTong Li (China PR) 65 Thomas Pieters (Belgium) 65 Ian Poulter (England) 67 Julian Suri (USA) 69 Jhonattan Vegas (Venezuela) 66 Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 66 -3 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa) 68 Paul Casey (England) 69 Thomas Detry (Belgium) 67 Dustin Johnson (USA) 67 Masahiro Kawamura (Japan) 66 Martin Kaymer (Germany) 67 Jason Kokrak (USA) 70 Joost Luiten (Netherlands) 67 Victor Perez (France) 67 Matthew Southgate (England) 70 Lee Westwood (England) 67 Ashun Wu (China PR) 68 -2 Steven Brown (England) 68 Rafa Cabrera Bello (Spain) 69 Tony Finau (USA) 68 Min Woo Lee (Australia) 69 Ross McGowan (England) 68 Wilco Nienaber (South Africa) 71 Matthieu Pavon (France) 68 Justin Rose (England) 68 Justin Walters (South Africa) 68 -1 Shergo Al Kurdi (Jordan) 69 Jorge Campillo (Spain) 69 Ross Fisher (England) 69 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 70 Rasmus Hojgaard (Denmark) 70 Jazz Janewattananond (Thailand) 69 Søren Kjeldsen (Denmark) 69 Romain Langasque (France) 69 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (France) 69 Robert MacIntyre (Scotland) 71 Phil Mickelson (USA) 68 Kevin Na (USA) 69 Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 68 Patrick Reed (USA) 69 Shubhankar Sharma (India) 69 Richard Sterne (South Africa) 69 Danny Willett (England) 67 0 Abraham Ancer (Mexico) 71 Kristoffer Broberg (Sweden) 70 Dean Burmester (South Africa) 69 Sean Crocker (USA) 68 Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 72 Victor Dubuisson (France) 71 Julien Guerrier (France) 70 Harry Hall (England) 70 Joachim B. Hansen (Denmark) 70 Justin Harding (South Africa) 68 Francesco Laporta (Italy) 70 David Law (Scotland) 70 Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland) 70 James Morrison (England) 67 Haydn Porteous (South Africa) 70 Matthias Schwab (Austria) 68 Brandon Stone (South Africa) 70 Oliver Wilson (England) 68 1 Nacho Elvira (Spain) 71 Scott Hend (Australia) 71 Lucas Herbert (Australia) 70 David Howell (England) 71 Maximilian Kieffer (Germany) 71 David Lipsky (USA) 70 Shane Lowry (Republic of Ireland) 70 Wade Ormsby (Australia) 71 Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 71 Kalle Samooja (Finland) 69 Cormac Sharvin (Northern Ireland) 70 Jordan L Smith (England) 71 Jeff Winther (Denmark) 67 Chris Wood (England) 73 2 John Catlin (USA) 69 Benjamin Hebert (France) 71 Garrick Higgo (South Africa) 70 Pablo Larrazábal (Spain) 69 Joël Stalter (France) 69 Matt Wallace (England) 73 3 Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Thailand) 73 Adri Arnaus (Spain) 69 Alexander Björk (Sweden) 72 Paul Dunne (Republic of Ireland) 73 Gavin Green (Malaysia) 71 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 72 Andrew Johnston (England) 70 Zander Lombard (South Africa) 72 Aaron Rai (England) 69 Jason Scrivener (Australia) 75 Sebastian Soderberg (Sweden) 73 Paul Waring (England) 71 4 Grant Forrest (Scotland) 69 Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 74 Alexander Levy (France) 71 Edoardo Molinari (Italy) 73 Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland) 73 Richie Ramsay (Scotland) 73 5 Nino Bertasio (Italy) 75 Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 74 David Drysdale (Scotland) 70 Ernie Els (South Africa) 74 6 Othman Al Mulla (Kazakhstan) 71 Ashley Chesters (England) 70 Oliver Fisher (England) 72 Raphaël Jacquelin (France) 76 Richard McEvoy (England) 73 Renato Paratore (Italy) 72 Eduard Rousaud Sabate (Spain) 72 Jayden Schaper (South Africa) 74 Henrik Stenson (Sweden) 72 7 Lorenzo Gagli (Italy) 71 Sami Valimaki (Finland) 73 13 Andrea Pavan (Italy) 74 Marc Warren (Scotland) 74 15 Faisal Salhab (Saudi Arabia) 77 18 Saud-Al Sharif (Saudi Arabia) 80 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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European Tour Saudi International Scores

* Lira hits a six-month high
* Czech crown is the best weekly CEE performer
* MSCI EM stocks index up 4.7% this week
* High oil prices keep rouble positive
By Ambar Warrick
Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Emerging market currencies rose on Friday and were set for a solid week on optimism over more U.S. stimulus, while the lira outpaced its European peers to hit a new 2021 high due to expectations of tight monetary policy.
The lira firmed 0.7% and was set to add 3.3% for the week, its best since mid-November. The head of the country&#8217;s central bank Naci Agbal told Reuters he does not expect to begin considering cutting interest rates from 17% until much later this year, and that rate hikes are still a possibility.
A higher-than-expected January inflation figure reported earlier this week had also raised expectations of continued hawkishness.
Most other currencies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa strengthened, with Russia&#8217;s rouble gaining 0.4% as oil prices spiked to a one-year high.
Higher crude prices helped the rouble overcome concerns over the possibility of new western sanctions against Moscow, after the jailing of a prominent Kremlin critic.
Still, the currency was set to lag most of its regional peers for the week.
EM stocks rose on Friday, with the MSCI&#8217;s index adding about 0.3%. It was set to rise nearly 5% this week, as strength in Wall Street and expectations of a $1.9 trillion U.S. stimulus package fed risk appetite.
BoFA&#8217;s flow data showed EM debt saw its fourth-largest inflows ever last week at $3.7 billion, while EM stocks attracted inflows of $5.7 billion.
EMEA currencies logged large gains against the euro this week, as the unit was hurt by a sluggish vaccine rollout and signs that an economic recovery in the region was faltering. The dollar, meanwhile, marked large gains on optimism over the U.S. economy despite the currency&#8217;s status as a safe-haven.
&#8220;As the difficulties in the EU are unlikely to evaporate into thin air any time soon whereas a further stimulus package of some description will make it through the U.S. Congress, the dollar is likely to maintain the upper hand for now,&#8221; Esther Reichelt, FX and EM analyst at Commerzbank wrote in a note.
Among Central European currencies, the Czech crown outpaced its peers this week, after the Czech central bank indicated it could begin hiking rates this year on a stronger-than-expected economic bounceback.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
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EMERGING MARKETS-EMEA FX set for bumper week on stimulus hopes, Lira outperforms

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia, which became Africa&#8217;s first pandemic-era sovereign default late last year, said on Friday it had officially requested debt restructuring under a new common framework supported by the Group of 20 wealthy economies.
&#8220;Zambia is committed to transparency and equal treatment of all creditors in the restructuring process,&#8221; Finance Minister Bwalya Ng&#8217;andu said in a statement. &#8220;Our application to benefit from the G20 Common Framework will hopefully reassure all creditors of our commitment to such treatment.&#8221;
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda Writing by Joe Bavier)
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Zambia requests debt restructuring under G20 common framework

By Nita Bhalla
NAIROBI, Feb 5 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; When Margaret heard the family making plans for her genital cutting ceremony last August, the 15-year-old Kenyan schoolgirl knew there was no room for negotiation.
Her school in rural, western Kenya had been closed for five months due to the pandemic, and with no certainty when classes would resume, Margaret&#8217;s parents decided she should wed.
&#8220;They wanted me to be cut so I could be married and they would get dowry,&#8221; Margaret told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from a temporary foster home in West Pokot county, which borders Uganda.
&#8220;They didn&#8217;t listen when I told them I wanted to continue with my education &#8230; so I ran away to a neighbour who took me to a charity worker who helps girls like me.&#8221;
Margaret, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, is one of the lucky ones.
From Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania in the east to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria in the west, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in reports of girls across Africa undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM), say women&#8217;s rights groups.
FGM, which involves partial or total removal of the female genitalia, threatens 4 million girls annually.
The world has pledged to end the practice by 2030 &#8211; an ambitious goal made all the more remote by the new coronavirus.
For the pandemic has created a perfect storm for proponents of cutting: vulnerable girls stuck at home without teachers&#8217; protection, anti-FGM groups grounded by lockdown and hard-pressed health services diverted to COVID-19.
Shutdown has also driven poverty higher, said campaigners, so families perform FGM hoping to marry their daughters off to ease the financial burden at home or gain a dowry.
Africa&#8217;s confirmed coronavirus caseload has reached more than 3.5 million, with almost 100,000 deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Health experts say a lack of testing and reliable data from many African nations means the true figures may be far higher.
&#8220;Anecdotal evidence, including various reports from police and activists, indicate that in some communities there has been an increase, including girls being subject to FGM en masse,&#8221; said Flavia Mwangovya, who leads the anti-FGM programme at charity Equality Now.
The pandemic, she said, spawned &#8220;a fertile environment for FGM to proliferate&#8221;, with the United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA) predicting an extra 2 million girls will be cut in the next decade.

GIRLS AT RISK
On Saturday, International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation aims to focus minds on the practice and bolster efforts to raise funds and awareness to stamp it out.
More than 200 million girls and women globally have undergone FGM. It is practiced in more than 30 countries &#8211; largely in Africa, but also in parts of Asia and the Middle East, and by diaspora communities in the West.
Usually carried out by traditional cutters, often using unsterilised blades or knives, the centuries-old ritual has no health benefit and can lead to a host of medical problems, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
Girls can bleed to death or die from infections.
It can also cause fatal childbirth complications.
In many communities, a girl weds soon after cutting, say rights groups, stifling progress in education, health and employment and in turn hampering her children&#8217;s development.
The WHO says FGM also exacts a crippling economic cost &#8211; estimating the cost of treating the health impacts of genital cutting to be about $1.4 billion annually.
In Africa and the Middle East, 26 nations have outlawed FGM, but the practice persists within some communities that believe it fosters social acceptance and boosts marriage prospects.

MASS CUTTINGS
A September study by the anti-FGM charity Orchid Project found FGM cases had reportedly increased in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Liberia.
The Five Foundation, which supports local organisations to fight FGM, said they had given out grants to more than a dozen partners who had reported increased FGM cases during the pandemic, including in The Gambia, Guinea and Egypt.
Domtila Chesang, a Kenyan anti-FGM advocate, said communities had exploited school closures to perform genital cutting on their girls, free from the risk of detection.
&#8220;I can confidently say there has been a spike in FGM and child marriage cases due to COVID-19 in Kenya,&#8221; said Chesang.
&#8220;I received many tipoffs of FGM cases, sometimes ceremonies involving hundreds of girls. In some cases, we were able to intervene with the police and rescue the girls, but in other cases the place is too far off and you can&#8217;t reach in time.&#8221;
Chesang said she helped rescue 60 girls &#8211; including Margaret &#8211; in the nine months when Kenyan schools were shut, compared to an average of 15 rescues annually pre-pandemic.
In neighbouring Somalia &#8211; which has the world&#8217;s highest FGM rate with about 98% of women having been cut &#8211; child rights groups say the lockdown has seen circumcisers going door to door offering to cut girls stuck at home, as well as mass gatherings.
In Sierra Leone and Liberia, campaigners also believe cases have risen, although they do not have official data as backup.
&#8220;With no one watching, the practitioners started aggressively selling their services, so they could make more money by performing FGM procedures and this has led to an increase,&#8221; said Mackins Pajibo, programme officer at the Monrovia-based charity Women Solidarity Incorporated.
Anti-FGM groups also cite reports that former cutters in countries such as Nigeria who had given up their work, have restarted due to a loss of earnings caused by the pandemic &#8211; further hampering efforts to end the practice.
Some countries have tried to counter the new trend.
In Kenya, village chiefs have made house-to-house checks, while motorbikes were given to elders in Liberia so they could monitor girls at risk.
In Nigeria&#8217;s Enugu state, activists turned to &#8220;Neighbourhood Watch Group&#8221; members to provide an informal policing system.
To end FGM by 2030, the U.N. estimates it will cost $2.4 billion &#8211; or $95 for each girl safeguarded &#8211; and have urged donors to come forward and meet the challenge.
&#8220;It is an ambitious and necessary goal and it is achievable &#8211; if we unite, fund and act,&#8221; UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem said in a statement. (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla, Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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FEATURE-COVID creates ‘fertile ground’ for genital cutting in Africa

By Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) &#8211; Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of online education provider Coursera, knows what it is like to put his professional life on pause.
In 2015, Maggioncalda took a break from working in financial services and ended up traveling the world with his wife for two- and-a-half years, spending four weeks at a time in South Africa, China, Southeast Asia and more.
“We drove from Berlin to Munich. We went through all the Indonesian islands. We went to Komodo and saw komodo dragons &#8211; it was really extraordinary,” said Maggioncalda, 52, whose Mountain View, California-based company has offered online courses and degrees from universities and experts to more than 75 million people.
And what did he take away from the journey that is applicable now?
“I realized I&#8217;m a learner,” said Maggioncalda, who joined Coursera in 2017. “Adopting a growth mindset, being open-minded, being curious, being open-hearted to new people and new ideas and learning is important right now. The world is going to look fundamentally different &#8211; and that will help you become a pioneer in the new normal.”
Maggioncalda shared his thoughts on the course to success with Reuters. Edited excerpts are below.

Q. What courses can help people the most professionally right now?
A. If you don&#8217;t feel centered, confident, loved and supported, you’re not going to be very productive. Taking care of your mental and physical health is the foundation for good performance and a strong career.
On Coursera, I’d suggest “The Science of Well-Being,” which is all about how we make choices that make us happier and mentally healthier, and “Finding Purpose and Meaning in Life,” which is about how to find a centered, meaningful path in a chaotic life.
And then I’d suggest “AI For Everyone,” which teaches everyone with any background the basics of AI.

Q. What will help us stay ahead of the curve?
A. Employers are going to be looking for employees who are well-balanced and multidisciplinary &#8211; people who know about a number of different domains.
Try to develop a balanced skill set. Make sure you can increasingly communicate visually, with data. Learn basic data fluency skills, math, statistics, computers &#8211; G Suite, Microsoft, the basics of programming.

Q. What did you learn from your very first job?
A. I grew up in Pacifica, California. When I was 11 years old, I was a paperboy with my brother. We delivered papers at 3 in the morning every Wednesday morning. We collected a dollar per house, per month. We maybe made $25 a month.
Some days, it was a drag, but we made it kind of a game.
We delivered 100 papers. We had to fold them. We had to pack them. We had to go on a route and throw them onto the porches. We tried to figure out the fastest way to do it.
We had to deliver up a street on a big hill. At first, we would do one side of the street uphill and the other downhill. One day we had a revolutionary innovation &#8211; we pulled the cart behind us and delivered to both sides of the street on our way up.
Then we got on the cart at the top and came barreling down the hill.
It shaved off 30% on the time. That was revolutionary. It taught me that sometimes, nonlinear thinking leads to breakthroughs in efficiency.

Q. What work equipment is invaluable now?
A. A wire Ethernet cable &#8211; I do not rely on Wi-Fi. I use it at home. When I’ve had to travel, I’ll bring a 100-foot (30.5 m) Ethernet cable because you just don’t know what the Wi-Fi is going to be like.

Q. What will work look like once the pandemic is over?
A. My dream in the new normal is to become a nomadic CEO, to travel with my wife everywhere around the world where we have offices &#8211; Bulgaria, London, India &#8211; and see our customers, our employees and partners. Rather than just be there for a few days, I&#8217;ll stay there for two or three weeks.
Also, in a world where we’re not all tethered to offices, we can spend more time with people that we love. I’m really into creating family traditions where you don’t have to take vacations in order to spend time with people you love. (Reporting by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan Editing by Lauren Young and Matthew Lewis)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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Course to success: Coursera’s CEO on the value of lifelong learning

Feb 4 (Reuters) &#8211; The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning a rapid review process for quick turnaround of new COVID-19 booster shots if variants of the coronavirus emerge against which the vaccines do not provide protection, the agency&#8217;s top official said on Thursday.
Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the FDA, said that if new variants of the coronavirus emerge that require booster shots or changes to vaccines, the agency will not require the type of large trials that were required for emergency use authorization or approval.
The agency plans to issue a proposal on the process for public comment in a few weeks, she said during a press briefing. That process will likely require safety information as well as, if possible, the convening of an outside committee of experts to review the booster shot.
Both Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE as well as Moderna Inc, whose vaccines have been authorized for emergency use in the United States, have said they are preparing for the possibility that variants will emerge that could require a booster shot.
The current vaccines still provide adequate protection against existing variants of concern, Woodcock said. A variant in the U.K. has been found to be more transmissible while some vaccines have been found to be less effective against variants that emerged in South Africa and Brazil.
Settling on a regulatory process will help the FDA move quickly if needed, she said.
&#8220;If the virus changes, we are getting prepared for that,&#8221; Woodcock said.
The threshold for deciding on whether a new vaccine is needed has not yet been determined. Countries must build surveillance measures to find variants of concerns, and then scientists must agree upon at what point a variant has strayed too far from the unaltered virus and requires a new vaccine. (Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Leslie Adler)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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U.S. FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots

Feb 5 (OPTA) &#8211; Scores from the PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open on Thursday -8 Mark Hubbard (USA) 63 Matthew NeSmith (USA) 63 -7 Sam Burns (USA) 64 Nate Lashley (USA) 64 -6 Steve Stricker (USA) 65 -5 Keegan Bradley (USA) 66 Tom Hoge (USA) 66 Billy Horschel (USA) 66 Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Korea Republic) 66 Ted Potter Jr (USA) 66 Xander Schauffele (USA) 66 -4 Adam Hadwin (Canada) 67 James Hahn (USA) 67 Bo Hoag (USA) 67 Michael Kim (USA) 67 Carlos Ortiz (Mexico) 67 Andrew Putnam (USA) 67 Scottie Scheffler (USA) 67 Jordan Spieth (USA) 67 Scott Stallings (USA) 67 -3 Ryan Armour (USA) 68 Cameron Champ (USA) 68 Nick Hardy (USA) 68 John Huh (USA) 68 Zach Johnson (USA) 68 Matt Jones (Australia) 68 Russell Knox (Scotland) 68 Satoshi Kodaira (Japan) 68 Brooks Koepka (USA) 68 Henrik Norlander (Sweden) 68 J.T. Poston (USA) 68 Jon Rahm (Spain) 68 Kevin Streelman (USA) 68 Brendon Todd (USA) 68 Harold Varner III (USA) 68 Matthew Wolff (USA) 68 -2 Byeong Hun An (Korea Republic) 69 Daniel Berger (USA) 69 Stewart Cink (USA) 69 Corey Conners (Canada) 69 Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) 69 Max Homa (USA) 69 Patton Kizzire (USA) 69 Matt Kuchar (USA) 69 Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) 69 Pat Perez (USA) 69 Chez Reavie (USA) 69 Bo Van Pelt (USA) 69 Richy Werenski (USA) 69 -1 Brice Garnett (USA) 70 Talor Gooch (USA) 70 Will Gordon (USA) 70 Beau Hossler (USA) 70 Chris Kirk (USA) 70 Tom Lewis (England) 70 Jamie Lovemark (USA) 70 Denny McCarthy (USA) 70 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) 70 Ryan Moore (USA) 70 Grayson Murray (USA) 70 Ryan Palmer (USA) 70 Sam Ryder (USA) 70 Brendan Steele (USA) 70 Brian Stuard (USA) 70 Nick Taylor (Canada) 70 Justin Thomas (USA) 70 Michael Thompson (USA) 70 Jimmy Walker (USA) 70 Xinjun Zhang (China PR) 70 0 Austin Cook (USA) 71 Jason Day (Australia) 71 Dylan Frittelli (South Africa) 71 Brian Harman (USA) 71 Padraig Harrington (Republic of Ireland) 71 Russell Henley (USA) 71 Charley Hoffman (USA) 71 Jerry Kelly (USA) 71 Si Woo Kim (Korea Republic) 71 Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) 71 C.T. Pan (China PR) 71 Kyle Stanley (USA) 71 Sepp Straka (Austria) 71 Cameron Tringale (USA) 71 Bubba Watson (USA) 71 Will Zalatoris (USA) 71 1 Mark Anguiano (USA) 72 Scott Brown (USA) 72 Wyndham Clark (USA) 72 Jason Dufner (USA) 72 Harris English (USA) 72 Brian Gay (USA) 72 Lucas Glover (USA) 72 Scott Harrington (USA) 72 J.B. Holmes (USA) 72 Sungjae Im (Korea Republic) 72 Kelly Kraft (USA) 72 Luke List (USA) 72 Adam Long (USA) 72 Jesse Mueller (USA) 72 Doc Redman (USA) 72 Davis Riley (USA) 72 Patrick Rodgers (USA) 72 Adam Schenk (USA) 72 Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 72 Robby Shelton (USA) 72 Kevin Stadler (USA) 72 Robert Streb (USA) 72 2 Luke Donald (England) 73 Martin Laird (Scotland) 73 Webb Simpson (USA) 73 Vaughn Taylor (USA) 73 Kevin Tway (USA) 73 Erik Van Rooyen (South Africa) 73 Vincent Whaley (USA) 73 3 Tyler Duncan (USA) 74 Rickie Fowler (USA) 74 Danny Lee (New Zealand) 74 Hunter Mahan (USA) 74 Troy Merritt (USA) 74 Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 74 Aaron Wise (USA) 74 4 Joel Dahmen (USA) 75 Harry Higgs (USA) 75 William McGirt (USA) 75 Keith Mitchell (USA) 75 Martin Trainer (USA) 75 5 John Augenstein (USA) 76 Gary Woodland (USA) 76 6 Sung-hoon Kang (Korea Republic) 77 Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 77 Hudson Swafford (USA) 77 7 Sebastian Munoz (Colombia) 78 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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PGA Tour Waste Management Phoenix Open Scores

By Ricardo Brito
BRASILIA, Feb 4 (Reuters) &#8211; Brazil&#8217;s prosecutor-general has opened a preliminary investigation into its president and health minister for possible negligence in response to a COVID-19 outbreak in Manaus city, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday.
Located deep in the Amazon rainforest, Manaus has been hit hard by a brutal second wave of virus infection that has pushed its emergency services to their breaking point. The city ran out of oxygen in January, prompting the federal government to fly in tanks from across the country in an attempt to save people from suffocating to death.
The region is also the birthplace of a coronavirus variant, with similar mutations to those from Britain and South Africa, that researchers say is more transmissible and may be worsening the situation in the city.
The probe into President Jair Bolsonaro and Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, revealed by Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras in a document sent to Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski, follows requests by eight federal congressmen from the far-left Communist Party of Brazil for an investigation to be started.
In the document, Aras said he had begun an &#8220;initial inquiry&#8221;. This can precede a more formal investigation known in Brazil as an &#8220;inquerito,&#8221; a type of probe that would require the court&#8217;s approval.
&#8220;If, eventually, reasonable indications of possible wrongdoing come to light &#8230; a request for the beginning of an &#8216;inquerito&#8217; will be submitted to the Supreme Court,&#8221; the document read.
Last week, Lewandowski authorized the opening of an &#8220;inquerito&#8221; into Pazuello&#8217;s conduct in relation to the situation in Manaus, but that probe does not involve Bolsonaro.
The office of Brazil&#8217;s solicitor-general, which is responsible for defending Bolsonaro, and the health ministry declined to comment.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Karishma Singh)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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