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[RFI] Ethiopia's army captured the town of Alamata, in southern Tigray, 115 kilometres from the regional capital Mekelle, according to a statement on Monday by the Ethiopian government, as a conflict between the federal government and Tigray region continues to escalate.
Nationwide protests have taken place since October 7 despite the disbanding of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.
The demonstrators have been accused of attacking police stations and personnel.
The rallies which are mostly attended by young people have become avenues to vent against corruption and unemployment.
Rights groups say at least 15 people have been killed the demonstrations began in early October.
Ethiopia's confirmed Covid-19 cases on Sunday reached 582 after 88 more infections were confirmed, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health said in a statement.
This is so far the highest daily increase in the Horn of Africa country, which on Saturday reported 61 new confirmed Covid-19 cases.
The Ministry of Health said all 88 new Covid-19 cases are Ethiopian nationals – 51 males and 37 females – with their ages ranging between 8 to 75 years.
The Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health also said that 152 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 have so far recovered from the virus.
Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation with about 107 million people, confirmed its first case of Covid-19 on March 13.
[Addis Standard] Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party of Tigray regional state, has won 98.2% of the vote for the regional parliament, taking 152 of the total 190 seats.
Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in Africa with 110 million people, and by far the most important power in the Horn of Africa.
This came out when senator representing people with disabilities (PWDs) Watson Khupe on Thursday last week quizzed Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare deputy minister Lovemore Matuke over social assistance which is yet to be disbursed to PWDs.
Matuke’s revelations came at a time non-governmental organisations like the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) have demanded transparency and accountability on how the $600 million package and the recently announced $18 billion to scale up production in all sectors of the economy in response to COVID-19, would be used.
Zimcodd said government must embrace the principles of transparency, accountability, inclusivity and participatory decision- making when implementing programmes of national interest.
Meanwhile, Econet Wireless’ Higherlife Foundation has donated food hampers to 300 PWD’s families in Gweru.
Higherlife Foundation has indeed established itself as a friend and life saver to many citizens in Zimbabwe including PWDs.”
[East African] The African Union on Tuesday implored the Ethiopian government to go slow on bombarding the troubled Tigray region, even as Addis Ababa insisted the situation was an internal matter.
Here today, I must begin because at the Unity breakfast this morning I was saving for last and the list was so long I left him out after that introduction. So I’m going to start by saying how much I appreciate the friendship and the support and the outstanding work that he does each and every day, not just in Capitol Hill but also back here in the district. Please give a warm round of applause for your Congressman Artur Davis.
It is a great honor to be here. Reverend Jackson, thank you so much. To the family of Brown A.M.E, to the good Bishop Kirkland, thank you for your wonderful message and your leadership.
I want to acknowledge one of the great heroes of American history and American life, somebody who captures the essence of decency and courage, somebody who I have admired all my life and were it not for him, I’m not sure I’d be here today, Congressman John Lewis.
I’m thankful to him. To all the distinguished guests and clergy, I’m not sure I’m going to thank Reverend Lowery because he stole the show. I was mentioning earlier, I know weve got C.T. Vivian in the audience, and when you have to speak in front of somebody who Martin Luther King said was the greatest preacher he ever heard, then youve got some problems.
And I’m a little nervous about following so many great preachers. But I’m hoping that the spirit moves me and to all my colleagues who have given me such a warm welcome, thank you very much for allowing me to speak to you here today.
You know, several weeks ago, after I had announced that I was running for the Presidency of the United States, I stood in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois; where Abraham Lincoln delivered his speech declaring, drawing in scripture, that a house divided against itself could not stand.
And I stood and I announced that I was running for the presidency. And there were a lot of commentators, as they are prone to do, who questioned the audacity of a young man like myself, havent been in Washington too long.
And I acknowledge that there is a
AFP PHOTO | NMG
England football star Marcus Rashford is used to hogging back page headlines for his exploits for his club Manchester United and the country’s national team.
The letter brought a change of heart in the government, opening the door to the £120 million (Sh16 billion) summer voucher plan that will, in the words of Rashford, give the vulnerable families one less thing to worry about amid crippling job losses in Britain.
Eventually, when the Coviod-19 demon has been slayed and life goes back to normal—or a new normal— the Rashford campaign will be seen as a seminal moment in the way sports stars leverage their considerable celebrity and reach for greater good.
It has taken the global Black Lives Matter campaign to force the game to act, but it can still learn a thing or two from the actions of Rashford and fellow black players in Europe, who have spoken strongly against racism in society.
By lending his considerable fame and celebrity to the cause, he has encouraged companies, the government and foundations to donate food to those in need, showing that just like Rashford in the UK, sports stars can go beyond entertaining on the field to make a difference in society.
The airline has been heavily affected by the drop in demand for passenger flights.
Nkurunziza's sour relations with international organisations began in 2015 when he insisted on running for a for a third term.
Later in 2017, Burundi became the first country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, amid accusations by African countries that the court was targeting Africans for prosecution.
Lewis Mudge, Human Rights Watch director for Central Africa said Nkurunziza betrayed his call.
\"When Pierre Nkurunziza was sworn in as president in 2005 at the end of a brutal civil war, many hoped he would lead the country on a path of democratic reforms,\" Mr Mudge said.
\"Nkurunziza was willing to isolate Burundi almost entirely from the international community, with devastating consequences for the Burundian population.
Pregnancy usually brings joy to many families keen on having children.
Professor John Agard, a leading scientist from the Department of Life Sciences at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, has been appointed by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres to help draft the 2023 Global Sustainable...
“If Mr Clunis had gone there with one police officer and the man opened fire at them and they fired back and get the man and get the same gun you see on display, everybody would say he was a hero,” Campbell said yesterday.
The former deputy superintendent faced public backlash in 2009 after he directed a police team he was leading to stand back as warring gangsters traded bullets in the gritty St Andrew community known as One Hundred Lane.
The Jamaica Police Federation, which represents cops up to the rank of inspector, is also aware of the whispers about Friday’s deadly early-morning operation.
“I was moving around the space with the police commissioner, talking to senior officers, including the head of St Catherine North [Police Division], and nobody gave that account.”
Hamilton was killed later that same day in another police operation in Cooreville Gardens, St Andrew.
Keifer Sykes plays professional basketball in Turkey, not Los Angeles or New York. He hasn’t yet made his NBA dream...
We all know that Tamar Braxton is all for Love and War, so true Tamartians recognize that the singer-songwriter won't ever go down without a fight. The
JAMAICANS for Justice (JFJ) wants the joint select committee of Parliament tasked with reviewing the proposed sexual harassment legislation to reform the provision imposing a 12-month limit on complaints brought by victims before the tribunal.
“This proposed limitation restricts victims' rights to effectively access justice and ignores many of the most obvious underlying issues associated with sexual harassment.
Jamaicans for Justice believes that Section 25 (3) sends a message that is inconsistent with the spirit and the purpose of the proposed legislation and ultimately diminishes its scope as a mechanism created to protect victims from sexual harassment,” the release said.
The rights groups said it has written to members of the joint select committee, outlining its reasoning on the issue and a detailed analysis of why the amount of time given for reporting sexual matters should be more.
We are urging the committee to amend the Bill by either removing the limitation being proposed or where such is deemed necessary, to create a limit that allows for the longest reasonable time for a complaint to be made which is consistent with the limits that already exist for other civil claims,” said the human rights group.
The Second Italo-Abyssinian War was Italy’s conquest of Ethiopia, a process it began after the 1885 Partition of Africa. Italy was defeated in its first attempt at conquest at the battle of Adwa in 1896, allowing Ethiopia to become the only African nation to remain free of European control. Italian colonial forces however still remained in neighboring Eritrea and Somalia, and it was only a matter of time before the two nations would clash again.
The prospect of war increased dramatically after the fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, took control of Italy in 1922. He sought Ethiopia for its resources but also to salvage the pride of the only European nation defeated by an African country. Taking Ethiopia would have also completed the Italian domination over the Horn of Africa.
The initial conflict that sparked the war took place at Wal Wal, an oasis in the Ogaden Desert in 1934. On November 22, 1934, Italian forces marched fifty miles into Ethiopia and clashed with Ethiopian troops at Wal Wal, leaving one hundred and fifty Ethiopians and two Italians dead. The League of Nations evaluated the conflict and exonerated both nations, although Italy was the clear aggressor. Great Britain and France, which dominated the League, hoped to prevent Italy from becoming an ally of Nazi Germany. Taking advantage of this situation, Mussolini signed agreements with France and the United Kingdom, thus isolating Ethiopia and forcing it to face Italy alone.
The impending attack from the Italians prompted Emperor Haile Selassie I to recruit and mobilize the Army of the Ethiopian Empire. His approximately half-million-man legion was armed with mostly bows and spears, with the exception of those who owned outdated rifles, some of which remained from the conflict forty years earlier. Only a quarter of the army had any combat training. With a miniscule arsenal of outdated artillery and anti-tank or aircraft guns, and a handful of planes including some piloted by African Americans and other volunteers, the Ethiopian nation was
Zimbabwe's investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was released from prison on Wednesday.
He was arrested six weeks ago for inciting public violence for tweeting his support for an anti-government protest.
He had reported on alleged COVID-19 procurement fraud- which led to the health minister being sacked and charged with corruption.
\"I was convinced that I was arrested for exposing corruption and the president's office ordered my arrest. When we go to trial we shall prove that,\" Chin’ono said.
He denounced the conditions in Chikuribi prison, saying that most prisoners don't have soap and water and that a cell meant for 16 people holds up to 45 prisoners.
He says his detention has made him all the more eager to continue his work.
\"I remain strong. In fact, it's amazing and I was talking to my friend here Jacob (Ngarivhume) some time that if these guys knew the mistake they made by taking us there, because we have seen things that we only used to hear about and we were not sure about, but now we know and we can write authoritatively about those things.\"
Opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, an organiser of the foiled protest, was arrested, charged and released at the same time as Chin'ono.
He has also been barred from posting on his Twitter account until his case is decided.
Rights groups say he was arrested for exposing corruption.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected in 2018, but despite his promises to reinforce democracy Reporters Without Borders says the page is not turned on his predecessor Robert Mugabe.
The group says extremely harsh media laws are still in effect and, when new laws have been adopted, their provisions are just as draconian as those they replaced.
Zimbabwe ranks 126 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says South Africans “desperately need” an ANC that is responsive to their needs.
Ethiopia on Friday appointed a new head of Tigray region, one week after parliament voted to remove the executive Addis Ababa deems rebellious.
Mulu Nega's appointment was announced by PM Abiy Ahmed via Twitter.
On the basis of the decision of the House of Federation and the Council of Ministers Regulation "Concerning the Provisional Administration of the Tigray National Regional State", Dr. Mulu Nega has been appointed as the Chief Executive of the Tigray Regional State. 1/2
— Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 (@AbiyAhmedAli) November 13, 2020
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
By The Associated Press A doctor arrested after writing an article about Egypt’s fragile health system. A pharmacist picked up from work after posting online about a shortage of protective gear. An editor taken from his home after questioning official coronavirus figures. A pregnant doctor arrested after a colleague used her phone to report a []
The post Egypt Arrests Doctors, Silences Critics Over Virus Outbreak appeared first on Afro.
The talks between the two sides are yet to begin as the Taliban is insistent on the release of the prisoners as a precondition for the peace talks.
The Lynden Sculpture Garden is located at 2145 West Brown Deer Road. Due to the pandemic, admission has been waived. All events listed below are free unless otherwise indicated. Memberships, which offer significant discounts on workshops and other events, are available. HOURS In November, the Lynden Sculpture Garden is open for social distance walking, daily […]
The post November Events at the Lynden Sculpture Garden appeared first on Milwaukee Community Journal.
MINNEAPOLIS—Protests turned violent on Tuesday as anti-police activists smashed windows and vandalized police cars in response to the death of an African American man at the hands of four law enforcement officers.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo fired Officer Derek Chauvin and three other officers who were present.
“Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated.
“Friends, Please wear your masks and join us if you can in demanding justice for the Black man who was unjustly killed by Minneapolis Police yesterday in broad daylight,” she wrote.
The post Tear gas flies as Minneapolis rioters protest death of George Floyd in police custody appeared first on Zenger News.
New York City restaurants can resume indoor dining at the end of the month but with certain restrictions. Governor Andrew... View Article
The post Cuomo says NYC can reopen indoor dining at 25% capacity appeared first on TheGrio.
By Norma Adams-WadeColumnist Isis Brantley is better known for blazing trails with natural hair than engaging the moon to bring peace in a South Dallas/Fair Park Confederate Cemetery. But Brantley–one of, if not, Dallas’s leading natural hair care salon and training school owners–is not known for walking away from a challenge with good cause. The hair care and African ancestral guru has taken on the task of informing a South Dallas community and the public about what she sees as the need to cleanse and transform any negativity that may still linger in a small, overlooked Confederate cemetery in the predominately African American area. The long-standing but little-known site is the Confederate Cemetery at 4225 Electra St. between Reed Lane and Pine Street in this South Dallas/Fair Park neighborhood. With no identifying nameplate for years, many locals speculated that it was a pet cemetery. The site’s origin is linked to the Dallas Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a women’s organization that helped wounded and needy Confederate soldiers during the Civil War and whose parent body formerly organized in 1894. Currently and in recent years, the Daughters group has spoken against racist acts and rhetoric and attempted to set a conciliatory tone while sustaining its purpose to honor their Southern ancestors who members say bravely fought to preserve their land and economy during the war. Brantley said she would welcome a public conversation with group members. Meanwhile, she said she plans to do a cleansing rite at other Confederate cemeteries in traditionally African American neighborhoods once she completes researching their locations. “I accidentally ran across it (the cemetery) while in the neighborhood visiting my aunt,” Brantley said. “I really never noticed it before but it caught my eye this time.” Brantley, aside from using her innate natural hair skills, has studied and trained in African ancestral ceremonies and spiritual rites. She said the cleansing idea came after she and a friend walked over and looked at the cemetery. Various headstones showed that some of the confederate soldiers and their families who were buried there had been born as early as the 1820s and were buried there in the early 1900s. She said she thought about the irony of a confederate cemetery in a now predominantly African-American community considered to be middle-to-low-income. She said she thought about how society currently is awakening to the injustices that still linger from the Civil War and the South’s attempt to break away from the Union to preserve the Southern way of life that included the institution of slavery. She said the May 25th killing of George Floyd, a Black man by an Anglo police officer in Minneapolis was an example of a lingering aftermath of slavery and oppression. So, she took it upon herself to rally a small group of friends and relatives for a spiritual cleansing ceremony, called “smudging,” designed to rid a space of negative energy and bring peace and healing. She chose the date and time: 8:30 p
