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The content originally appeared on: CNN Earlier in the day, Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of incitement and breaking Covid-19 rules, in the first verdict against the Nobel Peace Prize winner since the military seized power in February. Suu Kyi, 76, was Myanmar's state counselor and de facto leader of the country before she was ousted and detained by the military 10 months ago and hit with almost a dozen charges that add up […]
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
Communique of the Extraordinary African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government video-teleconference meeting on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)
President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa of the Republic of South Africa, and Chairperson of the African Union (AU) convened a video-teleconference Meeting of the African Union (AU) Extraordinary Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, on 26 June 2020, to discuss developments pertaining to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The Meeting of the Bureau was held pursuant to consultations undertaken by His Excellency, President Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Union with the three Negotiating Parties concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), namely, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
The Bureau of the Assembly was addressed by His Excellency, President Abdel Fattah al Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt; His Excellency, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and His Excellency, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok of the Republic of Sudan, with regards to their respective positions pertaining to the GERD matter.
In this regard, the Bureau of the Assembly agreed to augment the Tripartite Committee dealing with the GERD issue consisting of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan with the participation of observers, namely South Africa in its capacity as Chairperson of the AU, Members of the Bureau of the AU, and experts from the Commission, with a view to addressing outstanding technical and legal issues.
The Bureau of the Assembly and participating Heads of State and Government welcomed the intervention of H.E. President Ramaphosa and expressed their deep gratitude for his initiative to bring together the three Parties to the GERD in order to find a negotiated solution on outstanding matters.
June 2, 2021 (JUBA) - South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOMA) has welcomed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) decision to renew arms (...)
[Nation] The National Election Board of Ethiopia has finally settled on June 21 as the new date of the country's election, having pushed it twice since last year.
NEW YORK — As India is gearing up to assume the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India hopes to keep the spotlight on the Secretary-General’s report on the Islamic State (IS) terrorists. The rolling presidency means India has the power to decide the agenda for August. “We have never failed to highlight the manifestations of terrorist activities across […]
The post India Lists Priorities As United Nations Security Council President first appeared on The Florida Star | The Georgia Star.
By Nina Golgowski Black Voices Centenarians who survived the 1921 destruction of a thriving Black district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, told members of Congress at a hearing last week that they are still waiting for justice. “By the grace of God, I am still here. I have survived. I have survived to tell this story,” Lessie Benningfield […]
May 31st marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Tulsa race massacre when more than 35 blocks of what was dubbed Black Wall Street were burned to the […]
The post Russell Westbrook On Bringing New 'Tulsa Burning' Documentary To Life: 'It Kind Of Hit Home' appeared first on Essence.
African and Western nations called for an immediate ceasefire in Ethiopia on Thursday after Tigrayan forces from the country's North said they made advances towards the capital this week.
[State Department] Washington, DC -- Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed today. The Secretary stressed the need for all parties to the conflict to commit to an immediate, indefinite, negotiated ceasefire.
Two years after her son’s death, Mona Hardin has finally seen the bodycam footage that captures the fatal altercation between Ronald Greene and Louisiana... View Article
The post Ronald Greene's mother says she's 'hurting so bad' over bodycam video appeared first on TheGrio.
He added that “we want to make it clear that Ethiopia will not beg Egypt and Sudan to use its own water resource for its development,” pointing out that Ethiopia is paying for the dam’s construction itself.
The years-long dispute pits Ethiopia’s desire to become a major power exporter and development engine against Egypt’s concern that the dam will significantly curtail its water supply if filled too quickly.
Sticking points in the talks have been how much water Ethiopia will release downstream from the dam during a multi-year drought and how Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan will resolve any future disputes.
In reply to that, Ethiopia’s foreign minister said: “Statements issued from governments and other institutions on the dam should be crafted carefully not to take sides and impair the fragile talks, especially at this delicate time.
The Sudanese minister said his country and Egypt rejected Ethiopia’s attempts to include articles on water sharing and old Nile treaties in the dam deal.
[Ethiopian Herald] Ethiopia's Foreign Minister, Gedu Andargachew has rejected Egypt's call to refer the dispute over Addis Ababa's construction of the giant Nile dam to the United Nations Security Council.
South African business confidence plunged to the lowest level in 45 years due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with companies even more pessimistic now than when disinvestment from the country over its apartheid policies started gaining momentum more than three decades ago.
A quarterly gauge measuring business confidence fell to 5 in the second quarter from 18 in the previous three months, Rand Merchant Bank and Stellenbosch University’s Bureau for Economic Research said in a statement on Wednesday.
That was the year the United Nations Security Council called on members to introduce more far-reaching economic sanctions against South Africa.
A reading of 5 means just about every respondent in the second quarter was unsatisfied with the prevailing business conditions
A reading of 5 means “just about every respondent in the second quarter was unsatisfied with the prevailing business conditions”, RMB said.
A monthly business confidence index compiled by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry also dropped to an all-time low in April and was then temporarily suspended due to a lack of activity during the lockdown.
[New Times] The Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) Serge Brammertz has called for an intensification of efforts in locating and arresting fugitives wanted for their participation in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
[Cameroon Tribune] The planetary body also hailed Parliament for the approval of a new unified government.
The United Nations' Security Council has endorsed Guinea's Bintou Keita and South Africa's Nicholas Hayshom as new emissaries.
Soul icon Sade has a new daughter-in-law. The singer’s son, model and artist Izaak Theo Adu-Watts, married his longtime love, hairdresser and artist Emily Margaret Shakeshaft, in April in Hawaii, […]
The post Sade’s Son Izaak Got Married In Hawaii appeared first on Essence.
Document - Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
A ZIMBABWEAN journalist who was imprisoned on charges of incitement by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government has accused the successor to Robert Mugabe of having him jailed because he exposed pandemic-linked corruption implicating the First Family. Hopewell Chin’ono, who was bailed on September 2 after spending six weeks in prison on charges that drew international condemnation, told the Financial Times that he was repeatedly told by jailers that they were under orders to punish him. “Prison officers said that they were working under instruction … guards said they were acting on orders of the President,” he said. “The only reason I got out is because of unrelenting international pressure … they would have thrown the key away.” Mnangagwa came to power in a 2017 military coup against Mugabe with promises to end abuse of Zimbabwe’s legal system to silence dissent. The detention of Chin’ono, an award-winning investigative journalist, became a symbol of a return to oppression amid rising unrest over corruption and an economic meltdown in the southern African nation. Chin’ono still faces trial. Since March, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, a non-governmental organisation, has documented more than 800 alleged human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, scores of assaults by security agents, and 20 attacks on journalists. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, the African Union commission, and church groups have added to international pressure on Mnangagwa over the repression. As the global pandemic hit Zimbabwe this year, Chin’ono published stories on the basis of leaked documents, including invoices and contracts, alleging that key COVID-19 supplies were being looted. Local media also reported on the alleged graft. Chin’ono accused Collins Mnangagwa, the President’s son, of involvement. Collins has denied wrongdoing. Mnangagwa’s ruling Zanu PF party ordered Chin’ono to back off. “My problems started when I started doing these corruption exposés” on social media and the local Press,” he said. “When it was tied to Mnangagwa’s family, it became a big issue for Zanu PF.” Mnangagwa’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the claim that the President’s officials gave instructions for Chin’ono to be given severe treatment. His government has repeatedly denied that Chin’ono was arrested as punishment for reporting about corruption. It also denies Zimbabwe is in any form of crisis. Chin’ono was arrested by State agents in July, ahead of planned protests against corruption that the State said were “incitement to participate in public violence”. Jacob Ngarivhume, a protest organiser, was detained alongside Chin’ono. Before his release, the courts repeatedly refused bail for Chin’ono and barred Beatrice Mtetwa, one of Zimbabwe’s most respected human rights lawyers, from representing him. He was transferred with Ngarivhume to Harare’s Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison. “When they took me to Chikurubi, I then realised to what extent they wanted to inflict as much pain as they could pre-trial,” he said.
2007: A car bomb strikes near the revered Shiite Khillani mosque in Baghdad, killing at least 78 people and wounding more than 200, the same day about 10,000 US soldiers launch an offensive against al-Qaeda in Iraq north-east of Baghdad, killing at least 22 insurgents.
2008: Serbia's Supreme Court sentences Radomir Markovic, who was security chief for the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, to 40 years in prison for organising an attack on a prominent dissident in which four people died.
2009: The Vatican condemns as 'unjustified and inopportune” a claim by a church official that pressure from Jewish organisations is delaying the beatification of Pope Pius XII, the wartime pontiff who critics say did not do enough to stop the Holocaust.
2013: President Barack Obama cautions the US and Europe against “complacency” brought on by peace, pledging to cut America's deployed nuclear weapons by one-third if Cold War foe Russia does the same.
2013: Afghan President Hamid Karzai suspends talks with the US on a new security deal to protest the way his Government was left out of initial peace negotiations with the Taliban.
June 18: Kenya beats Djibouti for non-permanent UNSC seat
\tKenya defeated Djibouti on Thursday for an African seat on the U.N. Security Council in a second round of voting held under dramatically different procedures because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AP
June 17: Kenya, Djibouti split regional votes for non-permanent UNSC seat
\tKenya and Djibouti will later today know which of them will take Africa’s non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, UNSC.
The Security Council is the U.N.’s most powerful body and has five permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and 10 members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, with seats allocated to regional groups.
Winning a seat on the council is considered a pinnacle of achievement for many countries because it gives them a strong voice on issues of international peace and security ranging from conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Ukraine to the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and Iran to attacks by extremist groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Normally, ambassadors from the 193 U.N. member states would meet in the horseshoe-shaped assembly chamber at U.N. headquarters overlooking New York’s East River and vote by secret ballot for new Security Council members.
[SudaNow] Khartoum -- Three of the last week's events had attracted much of the press comments.
[Addis Standard] Addis Abeba -- Ahead of the planned in-person meeting later today, Tunisia, the outgoing non-permanent member of the African Group at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), has submitted a proposal to the 15-member states SC requesting a binding agreement on Ethiopia's mega dam, the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam, within the next six months, and urging \" Ethiopia to refrain from continuing to unilaterally fill the GERD reservoir.\"
By Associated Press Undefined YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Police in Myanmar filed a new charge against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her lawyer said Tuesday, in a move that may allow her to be held indefinitely without trial as part of an intensifying crackdown by authorities who seized power in a coup. Suu Kyi, who was deposed and detained in the military takeover on Feb. 1, already faced a charge of illegally possessing walkie-talkies — an apparent attempt to provide a legal veneer for her house arrest. Under the new charge, she is accused of breaking a law that […]
The post Myanmar's Suu Kyi faces new charge as crackdown intensifies appeared first on Black News Channel.
