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On Sunday, demonstrators in Lagos expressed their thoughts on an early request made by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to halt the weeks-long protests in the country against economic challenges.
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.
Press Release - Egyptian human rights activist Sanaa Seif was detained today outside the Public Prosecutor's office in New Cairo, where she was waiting to file a complaint after suffering a violent assault. Amnesty International is calling for her immediate release and an end to the \"relentless harassment\" of her and her family.
Authorities in Cameroon are investigating a fire inside a maximum-security prison in the port city of Douala that sent three inmates to the hospital with serious burns.
A fire official said two firefighters were also injured Thursday trying to put out the blaze at the New Bell jail in the commercial capital.
Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to a heavily populated neighborhood close to the prison.
It is unclear what started the fire, nor if the fire was linked to overcrowded conditions in the prison.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say overcrowding, poor sanitation and violence are chronic issues confronting Cameroon prisons.
With the economic challenges arising out of the advent of the coronavirus pandemic still some distance away from being overcome, the Biden administration is reportedly in the process of formulating plans for a Caribbean Region Trade Mission and Business Conference in October.
The article US to mount October trade mission to the Caribbean appeared first on Stabroek News.
About 40 people have been killed in eSwatini, during the violent pro-democracy demonstrations that have rocked the nation
[Nation] The Ethiopian government on Monday refuted claims of planned talks with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, mediated by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala.
Media guilds in Eastern Africa have called on their respective governments to review and update media laws in advocating for press freedom and sustainability measures amid the ongoing global pandemic.
In a statement Wednesday, the editors, led by guild chairs Churchill Otieno (Kenya), Daniel Kalinaki (Uganda), Deodatus Balile (Tanzania) and Bruh Mengistu Yihunbelay (Ethiopia), acknowledged that the current political, social and economic challenges in the region have affected media performance and its sustainability.
Concerns of media freedom were also raised, with the Guild making observations over the decreasing levels of press freedom in some countries in Eastern Africa, which they further attribute to both political and economic pressures.
According to the report, the spread of the pandemic has led to media professionals experiencing increased incidences of arrests, physical attacks and fake news, with Africa being among the leading regions globally in the regression of press freedom.
In addition, the editors are also seeking for funds to support investigative journalism in the region, stating that it would be critical to the advancement of the role of the media and journalism to check governments and hold leaders to account.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith says the continued implementation of the country’s foreign policy is vital, particularly so in the midst of the many social and economic challenges that have attended the global...
But the now-familiar scenes of U.S. police officers in riot gear clashing with protesters at Lafayette Park across from the White House and in other cities have police critics charging that the weaponry too often escalates tensions and hurts innocent people.
Protesters in Denver arrived at the hospital with injuries from police projectiles that caused one person to lose an eye and left three other people with permanent eye damage, said Prem Subramanian, a physician who operated on some victims following demonstrations late last month.
A protester takes a knee in front of San Jose Police officers during a protest on East Santa Clara Street in San Jose, Calif., on May 29, 2020, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Seattle’s mayor and police chief early this month banned tear gas for 30 days before a federal judge ordered the city to stop using pepper spray, flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets.
In New York City, the nation’s largest police department has not used rubber bullets or tear gas during protests.
Nearly 200 people have been arrested and at least 200 have been injured during weeks-long protests across Spain demanding rapper Pablo Hasel’s release from prison. To date, 189 people have been arrested since protests began on Feb. 16 in hundreds of cities over Hasel’s imprisonment on charges of exalting terrorism and insulting the country’s monarchy on his Twitter feed and […]
The post Nearly 400 Arrested And Injured As Protesters Demand Spanish Rapper’s Release From Prison first appeared on The Florida Star | The Georgia Star.
On January 14, president-elect Joe Biden announced his administration’s proposal for economic aid: the American Rescue Plan.
Source
FILE PHOTO | NMG
The Treasury will find it difficult raising 2020/21 domestic financing that is more than a quarter larger than in the ending fiscal year, meaning high chances of mid-term public spending cuts.
Analysts at Kestrel Capital say with the Treasury having mobilised Sh391 billion for this fiscal year, it will be a gruelling task to raise Sh493 billion proposed in the 2020/21 budget — that is an extra Sh102 billion or 26 percent.
The domestic target of Sh493 billion for FY20/21 was thus unrealistic,” said Alexander Muiruri in an analysis of the budget for the next State fiscal year.
Besides the domestic financing, the Treasury plans to bridge the fiscal deficit through money from foreign entities.
That is to say, the trend of adjustments in deficit financing in the budget in the fiscal year is likely to be maintained.
Black Americans across the country are uniting with Nigerians against Police Brutality. Learn how you can join them.
“Under-promise and over-deliver. People will be pleasantly surprised when you do more than they expected. And remember that there is always room for us to be better and do better.” - Luvvie Ajayi We will soon clock a year after the Fresh Presidential Election of 23 June 2020, which ushered in President Lazarus Chakwera’s presidency […]
The post Talking Blues: Chakwera’s first year, the making of yet another inconsequential presidency first appeared on Malawi Nyasa Times - News from Malawi about Malawi.
Global NGO Save the Children says more than 1.7 million children and adults are displaced as a result of Ethiopia's Tigray conflict.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country, Ms Atieno, who lives in Nyalenda slums in Kisumu County, could easily access her antiretroviral therapy drugs (ARVs).
She is among hundreds of people living with HIV who are avoiding visiting local health facilities to collect their drugs for fear of contracting Covid-19.
Ms Jane Oriedo, a resident of Nyalenda, confirms that there are HIV patients in the slum who fear visiting health facilities.
At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, however, 33,000 HIV patients in 61 facilities in Kisumu were supplied with ARVs to last them months.
To mitigate the decline in patients visiting facilities, the National Network of People Living with HIV has started an initiative to distribute the ARVs to those who cannot access them in public facilities.
[AI London] The UN Security Council must extend the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) by at least six months in light of failure by government security forces to protect civilians in recent months, said Amnesty International, with weeks left to the end of the mission's mandate.
[New Zimbabwe] Global human rights watcher, Amnesty International has called on the Zimbabwean government to allow children without identification documents to sit for public examinations.
Algerian authorities must immediately release journalist Merzoug Touati and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On June 12, Algerian police arrested Touati, a reporter for the news website L'Avant-Garde, while he was covering anti-government protests in the city of Béjaïa, according to journalist and press freedom advocate Mustapha Bendjama, who has followed the case and spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and a statement by the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees, a local human rights group.
On June 13, a state prosecutor charged Touati with inciting an unarmed assembly, distributing publications harmful to national unity, and putting the lives of others in danger by violating COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, according to Bendjama and news reports.
If convicted on the harming national unity charges alone, Touati could face up to 10 years in prison, according to CPJ research.
Today, a judge at the Béjaïa court denied Touati's appeal for parole, and postponed the next hearing in his case until July 1, according to Bendjama and news reports.
The U.S. condemned the ongoing suspension of Twitter by the Nigerian government and subsequent threats to arrest and prosecute Nigerians who use Twitter.
Struggling with hunger, Covid-19 and death threats, the residents of Nairobi's Kariobangi shack settlement are speaking out against state demolitions that left thousands homeless.
The demolitions in the Kariobangi Sewage Farmers estate, in the northeast of the city, were carried out in May and continued for days, destroying at least 600 homes in addition to shops, schools and churches.
The state-run Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) claims ownership of the land, but residents have legal documents from the Nairobi City County that they say prove their rights to the land.
According to George Kegoro, the executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the privatisation of public land, including through \"corrupt processes\", has contributed to the evictions and demolitions in shack settlements.
Kegoro noted that the Kenya Human Rights Commission is discussing the possibility of seeking \"legal redress\" for the forced evictions and demolitions in Kariobangi.
Authorities in Zimbabwe have jailed Hopewell Chin’ono, a prominent investigative journalist whose coverage of corruption brought the dismissal of a government minister for alleged profiteering on essential coronavirus supplies. Health Minister Obadiah Moyo was fired [...]
Nigeria has been rocked by nearly two weeks of protests against police brutality and calls to disband its controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad, better known as […]
The African Development Bank this week announced the 100 finalists from the #AfricaVsVirus Challenge ideathon to find solutions to challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.
Some 25,000 participants from across Africa and beyond, joined the online platform to pitch their ideas for innovative solutions to the health and economic challenges caused by the virus.
\"The quality of ideas and the level of engagement from participants during the online challenge showcases that innovation and a passion to find solutions are among Africa's greatest resources,\" said Dr. Jennifer Blanke, the Bank's Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development.
Through the African Development Bank's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab Platform, the Bank will now act as an enabler to match the most relevant solutions to the initiative's 140+ partners.
The AfricaVsVirus Challenge is implemented by the Bank strategy Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab (https://bit.ly/2wtWect) as well as the Youth Entrepreneurship & Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (https://bit.ly/30q7Mu4) working together with implementing partners Seedstars (www.Seedstars.com) digital agency WAAT (https://WAAT.eu) and development consultants Luvent Consulting full list of the Top 100 Solutions finalists will be posted to the #AfricaVsVirus website, www.AfricaVsVirus.com.
Democratic Republic of Congo: President Tshisekedi reneges on justice pledge, leaving victims in despair
\tPresident Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo has reneged on his inauguration pledges to strengthen the rule of law, fight impunity and ensure justice, leaving the families of hundreds of people killed during the country’s pre-election crisis in despair, Amnesty International said today.
“President Tshisekedi and his government must acknowledge the pain that victims and their families have been enduring and publicly commit to promptly and effectively prosecute those responsible,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.
Victims of 2015-2018 brutal crackdowns denied justice in the DRC, Amnesty International interviewed 115 survivors and victims’ family members, on their quest for justice.
Farcical investigations
\tUnder international pressure, former President Joseph Kabila constituted three committees to investigate the deadly crackdowns on protestors, none of which have resulted in any prosecutions.
A second committee created in February 2018 investigated the use of deadly force against protestors on 31 December 2017 and 21 January 2018, recommending prosecution of security officers who ordered or used excessive force against protestors.
[Daily Maverick] Since Nigeria launched its first microsatellite, NigeriaSat-1, in 2003, the country has expanded its space programme and is now a continent-wide leader in the field.
Guinean President Alpha Conde met with supporters in the country's capital on Friday, during the last rally ahead of Sunday's presidential election.
Conde, 82, is seeking a third term in office, insisting his attempt to prolong his rule does not make him a dictator, even as opposition protesters slam his candidacy as an illegal power grab.
Speaking to supporters in Conakry, Conde vowed to \"focus on the social conditions of Guineans\" if he were re-elected in the weekend's poll.
The electoral campaign has already seen deadly protests and many fear an increase in violence after the results are announced.
More than 50 people have been killed in anti-Conde protests since October last year, Amnesty International said this month, urging the government to investigate.
Conde made history in 2010 when he became Guinea's first democratically elected president since independence from France in 1958, raising hopes that the country could finally emerge from a long history of corrupt rule.
Sunday's vote is also the third match-up between Conde and his long-time rival Cellou Dalein Diallo, whom he defeated in 2010 and 2015.
The president maintains his candidacy for a third term is legal because the constitutional changes were approved by voters in a referendum earlier this year.
Diallo, the opposition candidate, is urging the international community to monitor Sunday's vote, accusing the government of rigging the electoral lists.
[AI London] Award-winning journalist Omar Radi was targeted with notorious Pegasus spyware days after Israel tech firm pledged to abide by human rights standards
Entrepreneurs launch campaign to bridge the Black Wealth Gap
By
alexisgrace098@gmail.com
|
on
June 26, 2020
The 10K Project is an economic movement to create a 100% black-owned crowdfunding platform
As part of a national movement to fund black business and bridge the black wealth gap, a group of entrepreneurs have launched a 100% black-owned equity crowdfunding platform to create a new generation of black businesses.
The 10K Project allows micro investors to join for $100 and have the opportunity to invest in black-owned small business.
Warrick, who has been writing business plans for more than a decade, said The 10K Project is responding to a growing need to support black entrepreneurs, especially during a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has created such economic uncertainty.
She and her co-founders believe that the project has a chance to create a new generation of black investors.
“We all come from communities with beautiful histories and amazing black people doing wonderful things,” said Tawana Rivers, a co-founder and the project’s COO.
[New Zimbabwe] PUBLIC transporter, the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) has withdrawn its services in some suburbs in Bulawayo citing poor roads.
