The 25th anniversary of the twinning of Ballybay and the village of Gergweis in Germany is due to be marked this year
The issue was discussed at the latest meeting of the Ballybay-Clones MD when Municipal District Co-Ordinator
told members that representatives from Osterhofen
the area where Gergweis is located have extended an invitation for a delegation to travel to Bavaria in June of this year. A return trip to Ballybay would take place in either September or October
Osterhofen is located in South Germany and has a population of around 12,000 people
with the village of Gergweis having a population of around 600
Ballybay and Gergweis officially signed a twinning agreement in 2000
after an Osterhofen council member was introduced to Ballybay after the 1997 All-Ireland Hurling Final
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20242 min readPhoto Credit: FK PribramGerman sixth-tier side SpVgg Osterhofen has made a significant addition to its squad with the signing of Ugandan striker Edrisa “Torres” Lubega
who was recently a free agent has penned a contract that will keep him at the district league club until June 30
who has 10 international caps for the Uganda Cranes between 2016 and 2018 brings vast experience from his stints in Austria
During his time with Floridsdorfer AC and SV Ried in Austria’s second division
He also enjoyed a prolific spell with Estonia’s Paide Linnameeskond where he netted 14 goals in 26 games in the country's top-flight league
His career also saw him make nine appearances
scoring twice in the Czech Republic’s first division with FK Pribram
Lubega had a brief stint in Portugal's second division with CF Estrela Amadora
SpVgg Osterhofen sports director Marco Dellnitz expressed excitement about the signing
“Eddy is a great guy who has no airs and graces
He is very modest and would like to get started tomorrow
The conversations with him and his wife Jenny were super pleasant and very trusting
His enormous experience and his willingness to perform will help the team a lot
We had a great connection right from the start and talked a lot about football in English,” Dellnitz said
who has been residing in the Regen district and is married to a woman from Lower Bavaria
is equally enthusiastic about his new journey
“My wife and I were given a very warm welcome by those in charge
I really liked their plans and goals for the future
I am highly motivated to achieve these together with them in order to look to the future with success again,” he shared
“The best experience in my professional career was undoubtedly representing my country in the national jersey and making the leap into European football
But I enjoyed it best in Austria at FAC Vienna and in the Czech Republic with Pribram.” 
With Lubega’s wealth of experience and hunger for success
SpVgg Osterhofen will be hoping he can inspire them to rise from the district league relegation battle
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major cause of human hepatitis
we know that is has been infecting people for at least 4,500 years
Research published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0097-z" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Nature</a> on May 9
revealed that Hepatitis B was found on skeletons from the bronze age
making it the oldest human virus ever discovered
the oldest human virus detected was from 450 years ago
A team of geneticists sampled DNA from around 300 skeletons when the discovery was made
They found 12 HBV genomes in 12 ancient humans
which showed that the same types of HBV prevalent in Asia and Africa today were present thousands of years ago
They also found an extinct variation of the virus
though it wasn&#8217;t previously known that viruses could become extinct
The 4,500-year-old <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5710373/Oldest-human-virus-discovered-Bronze-Age-bones.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ancient human</a> was from the &#8220;Beaker Bell&#8221; culture in Osterhofen
named for the bell-shaped pottery cups they left behind
Nicole NicklischSkeletal remains of HBV positive individual from the Stone Age site of Karsdorf
the oldest virus detected in humans dated back just 450 years
&#8220;We&#8217;re all quite excited that we can actually go [this] far back with HBV,&#8221; said Johannes Krause
an evolutionary geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for the science of Human History in Germany
According to Lilly Yuen, a senior medical scientist at the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, they&#8217;ve found the HBV in <a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/54518/title/Ancient-Humans-Had-Hepatitis-B/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ancient bird</a> genomes that suggest it could actually be millions of years old
Hepatitis B is an <a href="http://www.wpro.who.int/hepatitis/hepatitis_what_is_hepatitis_b/en/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">infection of the liver</a> that can lead to liver failure or cancer
People who have chronic Hepatitis B are often infected during childhood and don&#8217;t know it because symptoms are dormant for many years
the disease progresses and patients only become aware later in life when the liver begins to scar
Hepatitis B has many mutations that no longer exist
The new information found in this study can provide insight into the continuing evolution of the virus
which can help us prepare for dangerous new strains
&#8220;It&#8217;s a hugely important moment in our understanding of one of the most important pathogens of humans,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/science/ancient-dna-bones-hepatitis.html" rel="noopener" target="_blank">said</a> Edward C
If you found this article interesting, you may also want to read about the scientists who discovered the <a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/oldest-human-fossil-outside-africa">oldest human fossil found outside of Africa</a>. Then read about <a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/otzi-the-iceman-facts">Otzi the Iceman, the oldest preserved human ever found</a>
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&#8220;Refugees are bringing crime into our town,&#8221; an election leaflet declares – an example of how Germany&#8217;s far-right feeds its narrative of a country threatened by more than a million new arrivals
Alternative for Germany (AfD) party co-chairman and top candidate for the European Parliament elections Joerg Meuthen speaks at the Political Ash Wednesday gathering of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Osterhofen, Germany, 06 March 2019. [<a href="http://www.epa.eu/politics-photos/political-parties-photos/political-ash-wednesday-observed-in-osterhofen-photos-55033774" target="_blank">EPA-EFE/PHILIPP GUELLAND</a>]
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party entering the German parliament for the first time eclipsed the historically bad results of the country’s Grand Coalition members
But what is behind the AfD’s rise to becoming Germany’s third-strongest party
<a href="http://www.euractiv.de/section/bundestagswahl-2017/news/zum-wahlerfolg-der-afd/" target="_blank" …
The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Sunday (23 April) chose a tough-talking former member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and an economist to lead its campaign for a September election in a line-up likely to drag the group further right
Germany's domestic intelligence will step up monitoring for political extremism of the far-right AfD party
a blow to the party in a busy election year
the leaders of the far-right AfD (‘Alternative for Germany’) adopted a manifesto calling for changes in the EU
ranging from the abolition of the European Parliament to Germany leaving the eurozone and the common EU security and foreign policy
He no longer has some of the allergies he had.
His blood type has changed from O-positive to A-positive.
And he has acquired a taste for German food, something he jokingly thanked his donor for after meeting him last week.
Just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Wagner, 49, shook hands and embraced the man who saved his life in 2007. Josef "Sepp" Feuerecker and his wife, Maria, flew from Osterhofen, Germany, to spend the week.
The two met at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz before attending the evening service, during which the congregation of several hundred people said a prayer for them in German.
They sat next to each other during the service, and had their arms around each other's shoulders the whole time. When the pastor called them to the front to introduce them, the congregation gave them a standing ovation.
"It's the greatest feeling finally meeting someone that has given you a second chance at life," Wagner said with a big smile on his face.
"I think we're both at a loss for words right now," he said with his German accent.
Wagner's 81-year-old mother, Vera Wagner, tearfully watched and snapped pictures as the two men were talking to each other.
In 2007, her son's doctors told her he wouldn't make it to Christmas.
"To me, it's like a dream come true to finally meet the person that saved your son's life," she said.
Wagner, a University of South Florida alumnus and popular motivational speaker, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2003. After a series of treatments, he went into remission. But his cancer returned in May 2007, and doctors told him he wouldn't live long without a transplant.
So, he was entered into the Be the Match national marrow registry and hoped to find a match.
Doctors found two, but they backed out of the procedure at the last minute, Wagner said. Then the doctors looked at the international registry.
Feuerecker was a 10-point match, Wagner said, and he didn't back out.
"God is just an unbelievable writer of our life and our DNA," Wagner said. "It just strengthens me and my church family."
Feuerecker took time off from work to make the donation. His cells were then transplanted into Wagner at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, and the two became "blood brothers," as Wagner put it.
"Most people don't get new brothers when they're almost 50," said Wagner, whose cancer treatments left him in a wheelchair.
"I feel like somebody who's getting to meet his twin that he's heard about and known about, but never gotten to meet," he said.
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</a>Two years after the procedure, Wagner learned the identity of his donor through registry officials.
The two men have since kept in contact via email and Skype chats, but Wagner decided it was time to meet in person.
He invited the Feuereckers to Tampa, and they are staying at his home until they return to Germany on Thursday.
"We're going to spend the week getting to know each other," Feuerecker said.
A trip to SeaWorld in Orlando, watching a University of South Florida football game on television, a tour of Moffitt Cancer Center and volunteering at a donor drive at various locations throughout Tampa.
Wagner said he wants it to be the largest donor drive in Tampa history, and hopes it will help save many more lives like his.
"That would make it all worth it for me and Sepp," he said.
He's seeking folks between 18 and 44 years old, especially minorities and multiracial people, to register at sites at the University of South Florida on Tuesday.
For Wagner, the importance of marrow donors is clear. 
"He was my last option to live," he said of Feuerecker.
And Feuerecker? He simply wanted to help when he entered the registry.
"I did it for my love of people," he said. 
Elizabeth Behrman can be reached at ebehrman@tampabay.com.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD)&#8217;s chief candidate for European elections
expects big gains for nationalist parties but thinks they will have trouble forming a united front to advance an agenda
Alternative for Germany (AfD) party co-chairman and top candidate for the European Parliament elections Joerg Meuthen speaks at the Political Ash Wednesday gathering of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Osterhofen