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BY STAFF REPORTER CABINET has resolved to withdraw operating licences for independent power producers (IPPs) whose projects have failed to take off the ground. This was announced by Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday. “Independent power producers who do not implement projects as agreed upon, risk losing their licences,” she said. Mutsvangwa’s statement came after Energy Parliamentary Portfolio Committee last week revealed that IPPs were only feeding 135,8 megawatt (MW) into the national grid against a target of 6 858,65 MW, as the majority of them were still not operational. “Some private sector players are being engaged to supply power off-grid to communities with metering and tariffs being regulated by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority,” she said. The Information minister said by mid-year, a standard power purchase agreement and government support implementation agreement will be in place to incentivise investors to take up renewable energy projects. “The (Energy) ministry is also working on the development of the national integrated energy resource plan which will determine the renewable energy targets for the coming 20 years,” Mutsvangwa said. Follow us on Twitter @NewsDayZimbabwe
A November 26 letter from the presidency asked the head of Uganda's national drug authority to 'work out a mechanism' to clear the importation of the vaccines.
China has about five COVID-19 vaccine candidates at different levels of trials. It was not clear what vaccine was being imported into Uganda.
One of the frontrunners is the Sinopharm vaccine developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Product, a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG).
On Wednesday, the United Arab Emirates said the vaccine has 86% efficacy, citing an interim analysis of late-stage clinical trials.
China has used the drug to vaccinate up to a million people under its emergency use program.
On Tuesday, Morocco said it was ordering up to 10 million doses of the vaccine.
Record cases
Uganda on Monday registered 701 new COVID-19 cases, the highest-ever daily increase, bringing its national count to 23,200.
The new cases were out of the 5,578 samples tested for the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours, the country's health ministry said in a statement.
Tuesday's tally was 606, the second-highest ever number of new infections, bringing the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the east African country to 23,860.
Health authorities have blamed ongoing election campaigns which have drawn huge crowds for the rise in infections.
[Tunis Afrique Presse] Tunis/Tunisia -- The Kebili local hospital saw one more death from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing fatality numbers in the region to 88 since the outbreak of the virus.
Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie smashed the half marathon world file by 29 seconds on Sunday, changing into the primary particular person to interrupt 58 minutes on the Valencia Half Marathon.
Kandie, who completed second on the world half marathon championships in Gdynia in October, completed the Spanish annual race in 57 minutes and 32 seconds, breaking the earlier file of 58:01 set by compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in September 2019.
The highest 4 males all ran beneath the earlier world finest, with Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda ending second in 57:37, Kenyan Rhonex Kipruto third in 57:49 and Kenyan Alexander Mutiso taking fourth place in 57:59.
Kandie, 24, led the chasing pack, which included reigning world champion Kiplimo, by way of the 15-kilometre mark in 41:10.
The pair traded the lead over the following six km earlier than Kandie made the decisive transfer, to complete greater than a minute off his earlier private better of 58:37.
Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba gained the ladies’s race in 1:05:18, setting the quickest time for a debut over the space.
It is going to be a hard Christmas for many Americans.
Johnny Nelson is proudly known as the man designing fine jewelry in NYC since 2017 but his fascination with jewelry started way before that and was always intertwined with hip hop. Growing up in New York, he credits the sights in his Brooklyn borough as his first inspiration, “the iconic neighborhood jewelers that elevated Hip-Hop Culture in the 80s and 90s”.
Cricket South Africa has confirmed that the Proteas will travel to Pakistan in January for their first tour since 2007.
By Chuck Chandler Alabama Newscenter Brother Bryan Mission of Birmingham has completed the second-largest purchase in its 80-year history, paying $340,000 for a neighboring building in an effort to soon provide beds for 100 men. The city’s oldest mission currently is able to house 76 men for its addiction recovery and back-to-work programs, said Executive Director […]
The number of people forced to flee their homes passed 80 million in 2020, the UN refugee agency said in a report released Wednesday in Geneva.
According to UNHCR’s Mid-Year Trends report on forced displacement, the figure includes 45.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs), 29.6 million refugees and others forcibly displaced outside their country, and 4.2 million asylum seekers.
The report said persecution, conflict, and human rights violations were the main factors forcing people to flee.
Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Somalia and Yemen all contributed to driving new displacements in the first half of 2020.
“We are now surpassing another bleak milestone that will continue to grow unless world leaders stop wars”, said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Sahel region, which is battling a brutal militant insurgency has also seen fresh displacement according to the report.
The UNHCR said plans to resettle refugees were affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The report adds that at the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in April, 168 countries and regions fully or partially closed their borders, with 90 countries and regions making no exception for people seeking asylum.
As a result, only 17,400 refugees were resettled in the first six months of 2020, half the figure of 2019.
I have read with great consternation and utter dismay that the Government is giving serious consideration to the abolition of August 1st as Emancipation Day and August 6th as our Independence Day.
… economic well-being of black Americans is a health care … white Americans. And for black Americans under the age of … at the time.
Unsurprisingly, African Americans are suffering more health issues … future of equity for black Americans starts with physical and …
When Georgia’s Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler isn’t complaining about the outcome of the 2020 election, she’s putting all her energy into approving negative ads about her opponent, Reverend Raphael Warnock, the Democratic Party’s candidate for her Senate seat. We took the time to separate fact from fiction.
FireEye, one of the largest cybersecurity companies in the US, said on Tuesday that foreign government hackers with “world-class capabilities” broke into its network and stole tools it uses to test the defenses of its thousands of customers, who include federal, state and local governments and major global corporations. The hackers “primarily sought information related to certain government customers”, said FireEye’s CEO, Kevin Mandia, in a statement, without naming them. He said there was no indication the hackers got customer information from the company’s consulting or incident-response businesses or threat intelligence data it collects. “I’ve concluded we are witnessing an attack by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities,” Mandia said, deeming it “different from the tens of thousands of incidents we have responded to throughout the years”. The hack of FireEye, a company with an array of business contracts across the national security space in the US and among its allies, is among the most significant breaches in recent memory. “I do think what we know of the operation is consistent with a Russian state actor,” said the former NSA hacker Jake Williams, president of Rendition Infosec. “Whether or not customer data was accessed, it’s still a big win for Russia.” The FireEye breach was disclosed in a blogpost authored by Mandia. The post said “red team tools” were stolen as part of a highly sophisticated operation. It is not clear exactly when the hack initially took place. Beyond the tool theft, the hackers also appeared to be interested in a subset of FireEye customers: government agencies. “We hope that by sharing the details of our investigation, the entire community will be better equipped to fight and defeat cyber-attacks,” Mandia wrote. The company itself has partnered in recent weeks with different software makers to share defensive measures. There is no evidence yet that FireEye’s hacking tools have been used or that client data was exfiltrated. But the investigation, which includes help from the FBI and Microsoft, is in its early phases. “This incident demonstrates why the security industry must work together to defend against and respond to threats posed by well-funded adversaries using novel and sophisticated attack techniques,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The stolen computer espionage kit targets a myriad of different vulnerabilities in popular software products. It is not yet clear exactly which systems may be affected. But Mandia wrote that none of the red team tools exploited so-called “zero day vulnerabilities”, meaning the relevant flaws should already be public. Experts say it can be difficult to measure the impact of a hacking tool leak which focuses on known software vulnerabilities. When a private company becomes aware of a vulnerability in their software product, they often try to offer a “patch” or upgrade that nullifies the issue. Yet users do not always download these patches quickly, leaving themselves exposed for month
The 2020 Rapper of the Year — according to GQ magazine — shared some of her blessings with a young... View Article
The post Megan Thee Stallion surprises young fan with PS5 appeared first on TheGrio.
An Anti-Jihadist Military Operation in Egypt
The Egyptian army said Tuesday its air force had \"managed to eliminate 25 takfiri elements” i.e. jihadists and that another 15 suspected Islamist militants had been killed \"in special operations\" since September with combined ground operations in the northeastern Sinai region, the site of an Islamist insurgency in the country. In addition, the army said the operations also \"resulted in the arrest of 12 other\" suspected extremist fighters and that it had destroyed 437 weapons caches, defused 159 improvised explosive devices, and confiscated dozens of other types of weapons.
The statement also mentioned that its own army personnel had been either wounded or killed, without specifications.
Background
Egyptian forces have fought the jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula for years. A problematic presence led mainly by the local branch of the Islamic State group.
Terrorist attacks have multiplied in the region since the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.
Egyptian authorities have been conducting a nationwide operation against Islamist militants - mainly focused on the northern Sinai and the Western Desert, since February 2018.
About 970 suspected militants and dozens of security personnel have been killed in the Sinai, according to official figures. However, as North Sinai is off-limits to journalists n o independently-sourced death toll is as yet publicly available.
Early results from Pfizer suggests the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective according to an FDA report released Tuesday. Compiled ahead of an advisory committee scheduled for Thursday, the FDAs […]
The post Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Found Safe, Effective In FDA Analysis appeared first on Essence.
Ethiopia's government admitted on Tuesday to firing on a United Nations team who were visiting refugees in the conflict-hit Tigray region.
But a government spokesman said they were to blame for Sunday's incident close to the town of Shire, claiming they ignored instructions and drove through government checkpoints.
UN and aid agencies are continuing to seek access to the region a week after fighting there was declared over.
\"They broke two checkpoints to drive hastily to areas where they were not supposed to go, that they were told not to go,\" Ethiopian government spokesman Redwan Hussein told a press conference.
\"They were left alone when (and) they broke two checkpoints, and when they were about to break the third one, they were shot at and detained. Now, of course they are free.\"
\"This country isn't no man's land. It has a government,\" he added.
Almost one million displaced
Ethiopia's army has battled the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the northern region since November 4.
Thousands have been killed and the UN estimates that more than 950,000 people have been displaced by the conflict,
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said there were four people in the UN team assessing roads in the area for aid deliveries.
Last week the UN said it had signed an agreement with the Ethiopian government guaranteeing \"unconditional access for humanitarian assistance\".
But Dujarric said the pact was not being met.
\"Are we getting unfettered, clear humanitarian access at this point? No. And that's why we're still in discussions with the government to try to get to where we want to be,\" he said.
\"We do have a number of humanitarian workers that stayed behind. I think most of them, if not all of them, nationals, they're trying the best that they can. But clearly, we're not able at this very moment to get the aid that we want to get in.\"
By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers U.S. stocks are are slipping Wednesday and pulling back from their recent record highs as virus cases surge and coronavirus vaccines move closer to distribution. A vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, which is already in use in the U.K., is on track for a positive review and potential approval in the U.S. within the next week. The Food and Drug Administration will also consider a vaccine developed by Moderna later this month. The prospect for a vaccine is giving Wall Street hope that the economy is nearing a […]
The post US stocks slip on Wall Street; S&P 500 backs off record appeared first on Black News Channel.
[allAfrica] As of December 9, the confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries have reached 2,286,768. Reported deaths in Africa have reached 54,520 and recoveries 1,954,729.
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) - Deaths from COVID-19 in the US have soared to more than 2,200 a day on average, matching the frightening peak reached last April, and cases per day have eclipsed 200,000 on average for the first time on record, with the crisis all but certain to get worse because of the fallout from Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both support stimulus checks for Americans... View Article
The post McCarthy says he and McConnell both support $600 stimulus checks appeared first on TheGrio.
A manhunt has been launched following the escape of two sentenced prisoners from the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre.
Carolyn Wright named Interim Director of Solid Waste Management Division and Kenneth Allen named Interim…
The post Mayor Sylvester Turner Appoints Two Interim Directors appeared first on Houston Forward Times.
President-elect Joe Biden made two key domestic policy picks, selecting Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his housing and urban development secretary and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration, according to five people familiar with the decisions. The picks on Tuesday highlighted Biden’s delicate balancing act as he builds out his Cabinet, seeking to diversify […]
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — China and Nepal jointly announced a new official height for Mount Everest on Tuesday, ending a discrepancy between the two nations. The new height of the world's highest peak is 8,848.86 meters (29,031.7 feet), which is slightly more than Nepal's previous measurement and about four meters (13 feet) higher than China's. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Nepalese counterpart, Pradeep Gyawali, simultaneously pressed buttons during a virtual conference and the new height flashed on the screen. The height of Everest, which is on the border between China and Nepal, was […]
The post China, Nepal say Everest a bit higher than past measurements appeared first on Black News Channel.
South Africans tried to make sense of this tumultuous year by asking Google about the coronavirus, the US elections, unemployment grants and how and how to make pizza dough.
[Thomson Reuters Foundation] Washington -- New Airbnb nonprofit will help to arrange free or cheap housing for aid workers, COVID-19 frontline workers and victims of natural disasters
The time of reckoning for West Indies Cricket has arrived and over the course of the next few days, developments both on and off the field will indicate in which direction our cricket is headed.
The article Reckoning time appeared first on Stabroek News.
[The Herald] The Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs, as chairperson of the Covid-19 Ad-Hoc Inter-Ministerial Task Force, presented an update report on the country's response to the Covid-19 outbreak, which was adopted by Cabinet.
