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We look back on this day in history and remember the people and events that shaped the world we live in today. Every day is worth remembering.
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.
Germany has agreed to pay Namibia $1.3 billion as it formally recognizes the atrocities committed during the colonial-era genocide that claimed the lives of some […]
The year 2020 witnessed the event being celebrated not only in the background of climate change impacts, but also in the midst of COVID-19, a deadly pandemic that has caused massive human casualties around the world.
It affects every aspect of human health, providing clean air, water, nutritious foods, scientific understanding and medicinal sources, natural disease resistance and climate change mitigation.
With a wide range of ecosystems, plant and animal species being threatened by climate change, human beings, who are supposed to be environmental stewards, are threatened by the COVID-19 scourge.
During these dire situations, while human beings are urged to be climate conscious, they are also supposed to be human conscious as well, with regard to their well-being in the background of the coronavirus.
As the nations around the world are urged to guard against biodiversity losses with severe implications on human well-being, collapse of the food and health systems, culminating into global food insecurity and health scares as in the case of the coronavirus.
The federal government also said wearing face masks in public places is compulsory, going by the COVID-19 regulations signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, pursuant to Quarantine Act.
In addition, the government has opened talks with Canada on the evacuation of Nigerians just as the Federal Ministry of Health has started implementing some measures to contain the health challenges posed by the virus based on the preliminary findings of the exploratory teams sent to investigate the unexplained deaths in Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Bauchi and Borno States.
FG Urges Govs Not to Deviate from Presidential Guidelines
Ehanire's counterpart in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, advised governors not to jeopardise efforts at combating the spread of the virus by undermining the guidelines rolled out by the federal government.
FG Holds Talks with Canada on Evacuation of Nigerians
In his speech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Godfrey Onyeama, said the federal government was engaging Canada on its refusal to give landing right to a Nigerian carrier that was detailed to evacuate Nigerians from the country.
Preliminary Reports Identifies Manpower Gap in Kano
On the situation in Kano and other northern states, Ehanire said although the final report from the Kano investigation was not ready, his ministry had identified manpower gap in the state and had started acting on the preliminary findings of the exploratory teams sent to investigate the unexplained deaths in Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Bauchi and Borno States.
[Daily Trust] A former presidential candidate, Prof Kingsley Chinedu Moghalu, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission comprising seven independent members of high reputation and relevant expertise to play key roles that would end the various agitations in the country.
John F. Hicks is a diplomat and global educator who served as a United States Ambassador to the United Nations (UN). A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Hicks was born in 1949. Hicks holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Morehouse College, a diploma and master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Bologna, Italy and Washington, D.C.
His career in international relations and diplomacy began in 1973 when he joined the United Internship Program with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This service propelled him through the ranks where he served in senior leadership positions in Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Zambia, and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. In 1989, Hicks was awarded the Agency’s Senior Foreign Service Presidential Meritorious Service Award.
Hicks received his first presidential appointment in 1993 as the Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Africa Bureau. In this capacity Hicks was responsible for distributing aid in addition to strategically managing United States humanitarian and economic development programs on behalf of Sub-Saharan Africa. Towards the end of his tenure with USAID, he became a member the Senior Foreign Service and was promoted to the rank of Career Minister.
In 1996 President Bill Clinton announced Hicks’s second appointment, as Ambassador to Eritrea. By 1997, Federal investigator Jacquelyn L. Williams-Bridgers had begun investigating Hicks on accusations of sexual misconduct. In September of 1997 Hicks resigned after a report by Williams-Bridgers concluded that he had engaged in sexual misconduct. Hicks was accused of sexual harassment against two secretaries in the U.S. Embassy in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. The women claimed he engaged in inappropriate physical contact and created a hostile work environment for them.
Originally, Hicks denied these accusations and prepared to defend himself in the upcoming hearings. He decided, however, to resign to spare his family embarrassment, and instead to pursue a career in the United
[ANGOP] Taiyuan -- The Angolan ambassador to China, João Salvador dos Santos Neto, said this Saturday in Taiyuan that Chinese investment in the development of low-carbon energy sources could be one of the ways to support the diversification process of Angolan economy.
India hopes to keep the spotlight on the Islamic State (IS) terrorists.
The post India Lists Priorities As United Nations Security Council President appeared first on Zenger News.
Three soldiers have been charged with murder in the Ngarbuh village massacre in western Cameroon, where at least 23 civilians were killed during an operation against Anglophone separatist forces in February.
\"The three Cameroonian soldiers have been placed in provisional detention in Yaounde military prison,\" army spokesman Colonel Cyrille Atonfack Guemo told AFP news agency, adding that they had been charged with murder.
The investigation prompted the government to do a U-turn: the soldiers were arrested and put before a military tribunal accused of killing at least three women and 10 children with the help of a local vigilante committee.
In addition to being charged with the murder, the three soldiers are also accused of disobeying orders, destruction of property and arson, the army said on Thursday.
The government has clamped down on Anglophone separatists and close to 2,000 people have been killed and over 500,000 displaced, according to the United Nations.
[SPS] Sidney (Australia) -Polisario Front representative in Australia and New Zealand, Kamal Fadel, said Morocco's refusal to respect the international legality and UN silence are a \"danger to peace and security in the region,\" and which, according to him, may lead to a war, and \"Morocco and its allies will be the only side to blame.\"
[Radio Dabanga] Khartoum -- Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok met with the visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdel Rahman Al Thani, in the presence of Sudan's Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khaled Omar and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mariam El Sadig El Mahdi.
Senegal and the sporting world has been shaken after the former head of the world athletics body, Lamine Diack, was found guilty of corruption by a Paris court.
Residents in Dakar alleged racism and said Wednesday's verdict by a Paris court was unjust.
\"As a Senegalese, I think it was an injustice to condemn him. African people are tired because if Lamine Diack was a white person, he would not be sued, arrested,\" said Cheriphe Toure.
\"It is not normal, he is a Senegalese, he is about 80 years old and they want to put him in prison, he is tired. The trial (against Diack) is not a real trial, it's just politics.\"
Lamine, an 87-year-old Senegalese, was charged for his role in a scheme that allowed Russian athletes to pay bribes to keep competing when they should have been suspended for doping after they paid bribes.
Prosecutors said Diack solicited $5.5 million in bribes and paid off other officials at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to help with the cover-up.
The court handed Diack a four-year prison sentence, two years of which are suspended and a fine of $590,000.
He was also ordered to pay €5 million in damages to World Athletics (formerly IAAF) with his son and co-accused, Papa Massata Diack.
From 1999-2015 Diack was the head of the IAAF and was influential in the world of Olympic sports.
Diack's lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
\"I think if the law is valid in France, it will be overturned because it's really unfair,\" Abdoulaye Diagne, Coordinator of the support committee for Lamine Diack.
[Ethiopian Herald] The United Nations has released 35.6 million USD for water, sanitation, medical supplies to civilians in Tigray State.
What Was the Rwandan Genocide
On April 6, 1994, Hutus began slaughtering the Tutsis in the African country of Rwanda. As the brutal killings continued, the world stood idly by and just watched the slaughter. Lasting 100 days, the Rwandan Genocide left approximately 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers dead.
Who Are the Hutu and Tutsi?
The Hutu and Tutsi are two peoples who share a common past. When Rwanda was first settled, the people who lived there raised cattle.
Soon, the people who owned the most cattle were called Tutsi and everyone else was called Hutu. At this time, a person could easily change categories through marriage or cattle acquisition.
It wasnt until Europeans came to colonize the area that the terms Tutsi and Hutu took on a racial role. The Germans were the first to colonize Rwanda in 1894. They looked at the Rwandan people and thought the Tutsi had more European characteristics, such as lighter skin and a taller build. Thus they put Tutsis in roles of responsibility.
When the Germans lost their colonies following World War I, the Belgians took control of Rwanda. In 1933, the Belgians solidified the categories of Tutsi and Hutu by mandating that every person was to have an identity card that labeled them either Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa. (Twa are a very small group of hunter-gatherers who also live in Rwanda.)
Although the Tutsi constituted only about ten percent of Rwandas population and the Hutu nearly 90 percent, the Belgians gave the Tutsi all the leadership positions.
This upset the Hutu.
When Rwanda struggled for independence from Belgium, the Belgians switched the status of the two groups. Facing a revolution instigated by the Hutu, the Belgians let the Hutus, who constituted the majority of Rwandas population, be in charge of the new government. This upset the Tutsi.
The animosity between the two groups continued for decades.
The Event That Sparked the Genocide
At 8:30 p.m. on April 6, 1994, President Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda was returning from a summit in Tanzania when
[Tunis Afrique Presse] Tunis/Tunisia -- Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Othman Jerandi, on Wednesday, spoke over phone with Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Kenya Raychelle Omamo.
READ MORE – Burundi sacks WHO officials ahead of May 20 polls
February 2020: Tunisia expels UN envoy
\tTunisia on Friday expelled its own ambassador at the United Nations, faulting him for not doing adequate consultation on a Security Council resolution he helped draft responding to the U.S. Middle East peace initiative.
The official TAP news agency quoted the Tunisian president’s office as saying Moncef Baati was accused of “absence of coordination and consultation” with the foreign ministry and with representatives of Arab and Islamic countries at the United Nations.
DRC expels EU envoy
\tLast month, the Democratic Republic of Congo took a decision to expel the European Union ambassador, Bart Ouvry as a reaction to the renewal of EU sanctions against Congolese officials including the ruling coalition’s candidate in a presidential election.
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READ MORE: DRC gives EU quit notice, nationwide protest over excluded cities
Burundi vs U.N. Human Rights office
\tBurundi’s government has taken several actions against the United Nations office in its country, including asking that ‘all international staff are redployed’ and that the office closes ‘within two months’ from December 2018.
SUGGESTED READING: Burundi clashes with AU over arrest warrant against ex-President
\tWhile the affected diplomats face the consequences of leaving the country hastily, and could end up on blacklists for those particular countries, relations between the governments and international institutions like the United Nations often continue.
[New Times] Regional heads of state on Tuesday stressed the importance of putting an end to impunity in the Central African Republic (CAR), by bringing to justice the perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses.
President Irfaan Ali yesterday urged the United Nations to strengthen solidarity to address the COVID-19 pandemic and commit to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The article Ali urges UN to strengthen solidarity to tackle COVID appeared first on Stabroek News.
Argan oil, often called \"liquid gold\", is used in cooking, medicine and in beauty products to boost hair and skin.
[FrontPageAfrica] Ilaro Court, Barbados -- Amb. Lorenzo L. Witherspoon's Portes Find a New Home in Liberia has taken a further dimension with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, giving him the assurance that her government will help facilitate citizens of her country wishing to make Liberian connections.
Press Release - Amid a worsening security situation marked by mounting terrorist attacks, troops deployed to stem the tide of violent extremism in Africa’s Sahel region require more predictable funding and broader international support, the United Nations senior peace operations official told the Security Council during a videoconference meeting today.
[Namibian] President Hage Geingob and the Popular Democratic Movement's leader McHenry Venaani, have extended their condolences to the children and family of the late political icon Mburumba Kerina.
Today is the 342nd day of 2020. There are 24 days left in the year.TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT2016: Time magazine names US President Donald Trump its Person of the Year.OTHER EVENTS43 BC: Roman statesman and scholar Marcus Tullius Cicero is slain at the order of the Second Triumvirate.1787: Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the US Constitution.