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ST. GEORGE’S. Grenada, Dec. 15, CMC – An investigation has been launched to determine if the Sandals All-Inclusive Resort breached COVID-19 protocols, in the wake of the recent increase in positive cases in Grenada. In an...
The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.
He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.
South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.
AFP
[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.
The Chinese Embassy in Kingston has unloaded on United States Ambassador Donald Tapia for suggesting that Chinese companies are a national security threat to Jamaica and has warned America not to open a Pandora’s box or suffer the consequences....
CHAOS rocked the start of the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) June “O” and “A” Level examinations which started yesterday, with teachers’ unions claiming government hired “villagers and ancillary staff” to invigilate the public examinations after most of their members boycotted over poor working conditions.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou yesterday told NewsDay that
schools in rural areas had resorted to hiring villagers to supervise the examinations, raising questions about the integrity of the examinations.
At Vhembe Secondary School in Matabeleland South province, district officials invigilated the examinations, while in other areas including Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Karoi, Mutare, Uzumba, Maramba and Pfungwe, parents were hired to invigilate the examinations after teachers failed to turn up.
He added: “There are reports from the rural areas of schools that enticed some villagers to come and invigilate under the supervision of at least a teacher in every class and some heads have sent an SOS through Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) for villagers with 5 ‘O’ Levels to report to schools for consideration as invigilators.
Another sad development was recorded in schools in border areas, where some candidates just sneaked in from other countries and went straight into examination rooms with others.
Sporadic gunshots were heard in Lagos on Friday as security forces patrolled Nigeria's biggest city after days of unrest following the shooting of protesters that sparked condemnation at home and abroad.
President Muhammadu Buhari warned demonstrators in a televised address on Thursday not to \"undermine national security\" as he called for an end to widespread protests gripping Africa's most populous country.
The 78-year-old leader was speaking for the first time since the shooting in Lagos on Tuesday, although he did not directly address the incident.
He appealed to the youth to \"resist the temptation of being used by some subversive elements to cause chaos\".
\"For you to do otherwise will amount to undermining national security and the law and order situation. Under no circumstances will this be tolerated,\" Buhari said.
- 'Please stay indoors' -
Nigeria, where many live in extreme poverty and where the median age is 18, is a tinderbox of economic and social grievances.
\"Police officers are currently patrolling major parts of the city to ensure the safety of residents. Please stay indoors,\" Lagos State Police Command said on Friday.
Protests against police abuse erupted on October 8 after a video of an officer allegedly killing a civilian went viral.
Despite the disbanding of the police unit accused of brutality, the federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), protests spread and violence escalated.
Anger spread further after pictures and videos on social media showed security forces shooting on a peaceful crowd of around 1,000 protesters on Tuesday.
Amnesty International said 12 people were killed in the incident, with a total of 56 people dead in the unrest across the country.
- 'Rushing to judgement' -
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for an immediate investigation into violence by security forces, which has also triggered condemnation by the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union and others.
Nigeria's president shrugged off the international concern.
\"We thank you and urge you all to seek to know all the facts available before taking a position or rushing to judgement and making hasty pronouncements,\" Buhari said.
The spreading of \"deliberate falsehood and misinformation, in particular through social media\" was, he said, \"a ploy to mislead the unwary within and outside Nigeria into unfair judgement and disruptive behaviour.\"
After the president's speech, a key protest group told its followers to \"stay home\" but many made it clear that the movement would continue.
\"The past two weeks have been tough for many Nigerians, most specifically the last two days,\" the Feminist Coalition said in a statement.
\"We hereby encourage all young Nigerians to stay safe, stay home, and observe the mandated curfew in your state.\"
Others in the youth-led movement insist that the demonstrations will continue.
\"Everybody, get your PVC (electoral card) ready,\" tweeted Afrobeats star Davido.
\"This was just practice. We go again! Now we must deploy our unity and experienc
THE Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) says it expects a speedy review of the long-anticipated reports on the Petrojam investigations by the various parliamentary oversight committees.
In this Sept. 30, 2019, file photo, former national security adviser John Bolton gestures while speakings at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Saturday that former national security adviser John Bolton can move forward in publishing his tell-all book despite efforts by the Trump administration to block the release because of concerns that classified information could be exposed.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth is a victory for Bolton in a court case that involved core First Amendment and national security concerns.
Bolton took it “upon himself to publish his book without securing final approval from national intelligence authorities” and perhaps caused irreparable harm to national security, Lamberth said.
US President Donald Trump speaks as National security advisor John Bolton listens during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in the Oval Office of the White House on May 22, 2018 in Washington DC.
C. Steven McGann joined the Foreign Service in 1992 and has since attained the status of Career member, Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Minister-Counselor (FE-MC). His overseas posts have included Taiwan, Zaire, South Africa, Australia, and Kenya.
A member of the United States Mission to the United Nations (1998-2000), McGann was instrumental in working with peacekeeping operations in Georgia and Tajikistan; he also developed and implemented Security Council strategies for Afghanistan, Cyprus, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Chechnya. During this time, he also shepherded a resolution through the United Nations Security Council that endorsed Nelson Mandela as Special Envoy for Burundi.
As South Asia Bureau Deputy Director for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh (2000-2002) he helped craft polices to restore democracy in Afghanistan. As Director for Asia and the Near East in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (2003-2005), McGann oversaw $370 million in humanitarian assistance for Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Bhutan, and North Korea. He was next Senior Advisor in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs; succeeded by Director of the Office for Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2006-2008).
C. Steven McGanns first ambassadorial assignment came with the responsibility of not just one, but five nations. Nominated by President George W. Bush on October 6th, 2008 and subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he arrived in Suva, the capital of Fiji, on November 24, 2008 and presented his credentials to the island government. He presented his credentials to four other nearby South Pacific island nations—Kiribati, Tonga, Nauru, and Tuvalu—on the same day. Resident at Suva, Ambassador McGann oversaw the construction of a new U.S. Embassy in that city and was also the first United States Representative to the Pacific Islands Forum, during which he served as principal interlocutor with the Secretariat of the
The seditious libel case involving Sierra Leone’s former minister of social welfare and journalist – Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, was adjourned today to Friday 12 June 2020, after prosecution witness who is the lead police investigator – Detective M.K. Alieu, was cross-examined by Blyden who is representing herself in court.
On Friday, 22nd May 2020, Dr Blyden was charged with seditious libel under Sections 33, 32 and 27 of the notorious Public Order Act No 46 of 1965, which successive governments of Sierra Leone have used to harass, intimidate and persecute those with whom they disagree, especially journalists.
According to Section 33 (1): “Any person who (a) does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do, any act with a seditious intention; or (b) utters any seditious words; or (c) prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious publication; or (d) imports any seditious publication, unless he has no reason to believe it is seditious shall be guilty of an offence and liable for a first offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to a fine not exceeding one thousand leones or to both such imprisonment and fine, and for a subsequent offence shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding seven years, and every such publication shall be forfeited to the government.”
Section 32 (1) states: “Any person who publishes any false statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear or alarm, to the public or to disturb the public peace shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred Leones or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twelve months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
Section 27 states: “Any person who maliciously publishes any defamatory matter shall be guilty of an offence called libel and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding seven hundred leones or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
Korematsu v. US
Case: Korematsu v. United States (1944)
Parties involved: Fred Korematsu, a twenty year old Japanese American who was born in Oakland, California decided that he did not want to be interned in a relocation camp. Korematsu ignored the relocation order and went into hiding but was arrested and tried for having violated the evacuation order.
Facts of the case: The American Civil Liberties Union defended Korematsu in court, but the case was lost. He received five years probation and was sent off to an internment camp at Topaz, Utah. His actions violated Exclusion Order #34 and Executive Order #9066 of 1942, which had been issued to protect the West Coast from acts of espionage and sabotage. The Acts required all JapaneseAmericans living in restricted areas to go to inland relocation centers. Korematsu believed the order violated his constitutional rights being an American born citizen. After this initial defeat, Korematsus lawyers appealed his case all the way to the Supreme Court. Their argument was based on the grounds that it was unconstitutional to take people out of their homes and put them in internment camps solely on the basis of their race. It was noted that other so-called enemy aliens like Italians and Germans had not been relocated. The lawyers argued that there was no evidence that Korematsu was in any way disloyal to the government including acts of sabotage or espionage. In addition, as an American citizen he had a constitutionally guaranteed right to be treated as an individual and not as a member of a particular racial group. The lawyers for the United States government pleaded that Fred Korematsu and the 112,000 of the other Japanese-Americans were interned under a lawful military order issued for the protection of Americas West Coast. The government lawyers also pointed out that it had been proven that certain Japanese-Americans were loyal to Japan and therefore a threat to the war efforts.
Courts decision: The Supreme Court did not announce its decision until December
Two organisations representing Namibian employers have launched a High Court case against the president, the government and trade unions to have the suspension of parts of the Labour Act during Namibia's Covid-19 state of emergency declared unconstitutional.
In an urgent application filed at the Windhoek High Court on Friday, the Namibian Employers' Federation (NEF), the Namibian Employers Association and the companies FP du Toit Transport, JetX Couriers, John Meinert Printing, Huab Safari Ranches and Skycore Aviation are asking the court to declare parts of two proclamations issued by president Hage Geingob on 28 April and 4 May, and also parts of the Covid-19 state of emergency regulations, as unconstitutional.
The proclamations stipulate that during Namibia's Covid-19 lockdown period, which started on 28 March and at this stage is due to end on 2 June, employers may not dismiss any of their employees because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their businesses, they may not force employees to take unpaid leave or annual leave due to the pandemic, and they may not reduce the pay of any employee for reasons related to Covid-19.
The president, government, attorney general, ministers of labour and health, the labour commissioner and the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW), Trade Union Congress of Namibia (Tucna), Namibia National Labour Organisation (Nanlo), Namibia Transport and Allied Workers Union (Natau) and Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN) are cited as respondents in the case filed by the two employers' organisations and the five companies questioning the constitutionality of the regulations.
In his affidavit, Strauss says the purpose of suspending a specific provision of the Labour Act must be to address the situation that gave rise to the Covid-19 state of emergency, which is the spread of Covid-19 itself.
When US President Donald Trump declared TikTok a threat to national security, there were more than a few people who thought, “What’s that?” Others were confused about how a Chinese-owned service mainly known as a way for teenagers to share short videos showing off their pets or dance moves could become the centre of a global controversy. However the question of TikTok’s ownership is resolved, the episode could mark a deepening of what’s been described as a digital Cold War.
David Scott represents Georgia’s 13th district in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 13th district includes portions of Cobb, Clayton, Douglas, Fulton, Henry, and DeKalb counties.
The son of a minister, Scott was born in Aynor, South Carolina, on July 27, 1946. He attended elementary school in Scranton, Pennsylvania, junior high in Scarsdale, New York, and high school in Daytona, Florida. In 1967 he received his B.A. degree in finance with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. with honors from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance in 1969. Scott founded Dayn-Mark Advertising in 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia, which is currently run by his wife Alfredia Scott.
David Scott was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1974 and served as a member until 1982. He then served in the Georgia Senate from 1983 until his successful election bid for Congress in 2002.
Scott is currently a member of the Financial Services Committee, the Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Subcommittees, the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Agriculture Committee. He is also the co-chairman of the Democratic Group on National Security. He has sponsored several bills in Congress, including the Moment of Silence Act, which allows for a moment of silence for reflection and prayer in public schools, the Access to Healthcare Insurance Act, which extends affordable healthcare coverage, and the Financial Literacy Act, which provides educational information to home buyers and investors. Scott is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
