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I WOULD like to hail the government for decentralising the COVID-19 vaccine rollout to speed up the process. The first month of the programme saw a low uptake of the vaccine, with many Zimbabweans sceptical about the Chinese-made Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines. Initially, the first vaccines in the country were meant for frontline workers, who were being vaccinated at either Wilkins Infectious Diseases Hospital or Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the capital. Now Harare has opened more immunisation centres in a bid to ramp up vaccination against the pandemic. Twenty-four centres including hospitals, polyclinics and satellite clinics, have been designated as vaccination centres in the city of about 1,5 million people, according to the Harare City Council. A total of 123 454 people in Zimbabwe have so far been vaccinated with the Chinese vaccines since the national inoculation programme began on February 18, with more than 16 000 people receiving their first dose on Easter Friday alone. Vaccination was being rolled out during the Easter holiday with the hope of attracting more people. Government aims to vaccinate 10 million people out of the country’s 16 million people to achieve herd immunity. Zimbabweans are being vaccinated with the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines from China, and the country is also expecting delivery of vaccines from Russia, India and through the Covax global distribution scheme. Gwizhikiti
The post Kudos to authorities for decentralising vaccine rollout appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
A Nigeria Railways Corporation official said the train departs Ibadan for Lagos at 8am daily with a return trip scheduled at 4pm.
The Lagos-Ibadan expressway is notorious for heavy trucks and traffic gridlocks that can stretch for several kilometres.
The Lagos-Ibadan line is the first part of a new 2,733km Lagos-Kano standard gauge line. The total cost of the project was valued at $11.117bn.
Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf revealed today that he tested positive for coronavirus but will continue to work remotely. The governor... View Article
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[New Zimbabwe] ALL is set for conferment of city status to Victoria Falls Municipality this Wednesday, with President Mnangagwa arriving in the resort town Tuesday evening.
So, on Monday, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) issued a threat against purported and alleged cyber-bullying of government officials including President Emmerson Mnangagwa. editorial comment Interestingly, ZRP issued its statement after Zanu PF acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa said colonial masters had turned to social media to “discredit icons like Mnangagwa” who were “working for economic emancipation.” Well, the President is not God, he is very human. If we voted him into office, please allow us to hold him to account. Checks and balances must apply to him too. Didn’t he say he was “a listening president?” If he cannot stand criticism then he should stay out of public office or politics altogether. Perhaps the ZRP needs to furnish us with their definition of cyber-bullying. We may also need to know why we should be limited or be told what to and not to say. Why does the ZRP keep quiet when ordinary Zimbabweans are subjected to cyber-bullying only to grow teeth after politicians give them instructions? But things have changed from the old days of German philosopher Jürgen Habermas’ public sphere. It's high time government accepted that people think, they have hopes and hunger for engagement. It should be easy especially in the internet age where social media has prompted the return of the public sphere. Social media platforms attract millions of users who connect digitally. Looking closely at all alleged cases of cyber-bullying, the people are simply calling on the government to act on corruption, poor governance and lack of accountability. It’s only particular individuals who carry the burden of excessive bootlicking who try to gag people. There should be no intimidatory tactics on social media platforms. Citizens must express their opinions freely. Some issues are tip offs on corrupt activities which the ZRP ignore and focus on threatening people. A government that does not allow for checks and balances is likely to be involved in unconstitutional acts which it fears could be exposed. The arrests of journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, Jacob Ngarivhume, a politician, and the hounding of another scribe, Mduduzi Mathuthu, are exactly what is wrong with a regime that fears being made to look into the mirror. The media or social media users did not create the animal you see in that mirror. Mnangagwa and his administration should respect freedom of expression and engagement as prescribed by the Constitution. It should sink into politicians' heads that a healthy functioning democracy is premised on the electorate making informed choices based on engagement. Clearly, the government of Zimbabwe wants people to live in fear and not to openly express their wishes and hopes, it’s not new. We saw it even during the Mugabe era. A process where citizens are empowered to participate in public decision-making is an effective means to tackle “democracy deficits” and improve public accountability.
Jairo Castillo, a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died at age 31 of coronavirus complications. Read More: Michigan’s... View Article
The post LA Dodgers scout Jairo Castillo dies at 31 from COVID-19 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.
FRANCE-BASED Zimbabwean Afro-pop sensation Queen Mashie (pictured) said resilience had made it possible her to push Zimbabwean music to crack the international airwaves. BY WINSTONE ANTONIO The songstress, born Tatenda Sandra Mashiringo, started singing at the tender age of four before she turned professional in 2000 when she joined her late brother Andy Brown as a backing vocalist. After about six years under other artistes, Queen Mashie, recorded her debut album titled Higher Heights in 2006 before she moved to Nairobi, Kenya. She now boasts five albums as part of her discography. In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style from her Geneva base yesterday, Queen Mashie said her style was influenced by a number of international musicians and producers and it enabled her to penetrate the international scene. “I started singing at the tender age of four and professionally in 2000 when I joined Andy Brown as a backing vocalist. I later joined the Vintage Band with the veteran guitarist Mudhara Timi Makaya where I became a lead singer,” she said. “To be the musician I am today, I was groomed by Andy, this is why my music reflects his influence. I do that so that his legacy lives on.” She attributes the huge strides she made in her musical career to determination. Since she became the lead singer, Queen Mashie has shown her preference for traditional instruments, particularly mbira which is salient in her compositions usually laden with social commentary messages. “With my productions, I always seek to put together something that will help me sell the Zimbabwean sound all over the world and push a proud legacy of Zimbabwean music and be able to crack the airwaves anywhere in the world,” she said. Meanwhile, Queen Mashie has released a single titled Unbreakable that seeks to celebrate womanhood as an appetiser to her forthcoming sixth album Let The Music Play. The song, that will have an accompanying video, is already available on different digital platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and SoundCloud. “With this Unbreakable song, I want to celebrate with every woman who has passed that stage which you say, if I come out of this alive, nothing in this life will ever break me. I am unbreakable,” she said. “I wrote this song Unbreakable because this is what I am, unbreakable, go getter, fear tackler and woman of steel. There are also so many women out there who have gone through the worst moments in their lives, but did not break down, instead they stood strong.” Queen Mashie, who is also a fashion designer, actress and beautician said people should not be afraid to stand up for what they believe in. “As they say, “what does not kill you makes you stronger’’, that moment you felt like there was that dark cloud covering you, which you thought was never going to pass, but you put your foot down and stood firm,” she said. “The reason to live is for one to have courage, determination, confidence, positivity, not to be afraid to stand up for what you believe in, recognising your importance, recognising your mistake
[This Day] The government of Estonia has invited the Chairman of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria and Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, as one of the panelists in an online cross-continental hackathon titled: \"EU-Africa: The Post Crisis Journey.\"
Hunter Biden is under a federal investigation relating to his taxes, and it does not involve his father, President-elect Joe... View Article
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If confirmed by the Senate, General Lloyd J. Austin will be the first African American to lead the Pentagon.
Source
Document - New technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, big data, and networks are expected to revolutionize production processes, but they could also have a major impact on developing economies. The opportunities and potential sources of growth that, for example, the United States and China enjoyed during their early stages of economic development are remarkably different from what Cambodia and Tanzania are facing in today's world.
Save the Giraffes
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Save Giraffes Now , and the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) make up the team of conservation groups coordinating a daring and unusual rescue operation to save eight Rothschild’s giraffes from the flooded Longicharo Island near Lake Baringo in Western Kenya.
The team is using a specially adapted barge to float the giraffes one-by-one to a nearby nature preserve on custom-made steel that is part of the Ruko Community
Wildlife Conservancy built by the local Ruko community for animal rescues.
The animals are part of a group of Rothschild's giraffes that were sent to the remote Kenyan Rift Valley in 2011 in anti-poaching protection efforts and in the hopes that the tranquillity of the remote area would help increase the subspecies' population.
Not Out of Danger Just Yet
Asiwa, an adult female, was the first giraffe to arrive \"safely on the mainland, safe from rising floodwaters.\" She had been stranded on a more remote part of the island away from the other giraffes — making her rescue a priority. Pasaka, a young male was the second giraffe to be brought to safety.
The same barge will likely be used to move the remaining six giraffes — five females, Susan, Nkarikoni, Nalangu, Awala, and Nasieku, and one adult male, Lbarnnoti, who are still stranded on the island which has been steadily shrinking due to intense rainfall.
With six more to go, the rescue team stated at least one more giraffe is set to be moved this week, with the rest likely to be moved over the next few months.
Giraffe Protection Efforts in Kenya
Africa’s population of giraffes has been on a steady decline over the last few decades due to habitat loss and poaching activity. However, some subspecies within the giraffe family are at higher risk of extinction than others. One of the most threatened populations is The Rothschild’s giraffe —who once roamed the entire western Rift Valley in Kenya, but there are fewer than 3,000 left in Africa today with as little as 1,600 of these giraffes are estimated to still be living in the wild and only about 800 in Kenya.
