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The NGO Rio de Paz organised a demonstration on Copacabana beach on Wednesday to demand answers from the government about the violent deaths of children in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Announcement of the death of former President Rawlings pic.twitter.com/7ext0fp4sd
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) November 12, 2020
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COVID-19 was the cause of canceling a slew of events this year but not the Super Bowl halftime show. The... View Article
The post The Weeknd to perform 2021 Super Bowl halftime show: 'I'm humbled' appeared first on TheGrio.
NEW YORK — During the COVID-19 pandemic, public life in much of the world has largely ground to a halt. For the two billion people living in conflict-affected countries, however, there has been no lull in violence and upheaval. Some of the world’s conflicts have even escalated or been reignited during the crisis, dealing devastating new blows to infrastructure and health-care systems that were only beginning to be rebuilt. Globally, we continue to invest far more in the tools of war than in the foundations of peace. guest column:Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka As the world awaited the outcome of the US presidential election, no one doubted the stakes. But, even if Joe Biden emerged victorious, Americans must reckon with the fact that nearly 70 million of their fellow citizens voted for a candidate who lacks any capacity for ethical reasoning. Of course, some are working for peace. On March 23, at the outset of the pandemic, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres called for a global ceasefire, in order to enable countries to focus on the COVID-19 crisis and allow humanitarian organisations to reach vulnerable populations. More than 100 women’s organisations from Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen quickly joined the appeal with a joint statement advocating a broad COVID-19 truce, which could form the basis for a lasting peace. It should come as no surprise that women were among the first to support the call for a ceasefire. Last week, governments and civil society came together to mark 20 years since UN Security Council Resolution 1325 first recognised women’s pivotal roles on the frontlines of peace-building efforts. It is women — including young women — who do much of the painstaking, long-term work that underpin high-profile formal agreements, which are still often reached in talks that exclude them. For example, in Syria, women have negotiated ceasefires to allow the passage of humanitarian aid, worked in field hospitals and schools, distributed food and medicine, and documented human-rights violations. In South Sudan, women have mediated and resolved tribal disputes to prevent conflicts from escalating to violence. Women also spearhead the critical work of campaigning for peace, including through education programs, which teach young people that conflict is never inevitable. Feminist organisations have long called for nuclear disarmament, arms control, and the reallocation of funds from the military to social investments. These appeals are essential. But they have gone unanswered. So has the UN’s call for a COVID-19 ceasefire: according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, in the two months following Guterres’s appeal, armed conflict in 19 countries displaced at least 661 000 people. Unless we listen to women, and shift our investments from war toward peace, the devastation will continue. Enjoy unlimited access to the ideas and opinions of the world’s leading thinkers, including weekly long reads, book reviews, and interviews; The Year Ahead annual print magazine; The Green Recovery special-edition print maga
Doctors who helped stop Ebola call on Joe Biden's transition team to address COVID-19's racial and economic inequities. The evidence shows a safety net under the most vulnerable protects us all.
Longtime California Congresswoman Maxine Waters successfully defended her seat in a contentious race against Republican challenger Joe Collins. After her... View Article
The post Maxine Waters: Biden win 'dawn of a new progressive America' appeared first on TheGrio.
TEACHERS have rejected the government’s 40% salary hike offer, describing it as a mockery, vowing not to return to work until their employer pays them meaningful salaries. BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA/LORRAINE MUROMO Government on Tuesday proposed a 40% salary hike for all its workers and a 10% risk allowance to teachers as a way of enticing them to end the job boycott that started in September when schools reopened for examination classes, throwing schools into chaos. According to Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa during a post-Cabinet Press briefing, the 40% salary hike will be awarded to all grades below director level. The offer came after teachers rejected a 20% salary hike last week announced through the National Joint Negotiating Council. But teachers yesterday scoffed at the government offer that will leave them earning $18 237, which they said was grossly inadequate. “Incapacitated teachers have rejected the 40% salary increase offered by Cabinet on Tuesday, the increase is procedurally defective and grossly insufficient in quantum,” Progressive Teacher of Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou said. “Salaries and conditions of service are subject to bargaining between the employer and workers and not a product of employer machinations. Government attempts to render unions useless must be rejected in toto.” He said the PTUZ was ready for meaningful dialogue with the government. Government has been resisting increasing salaries for reachers, with Labour minister Paul Mavima, saying such a move would trigger inflation. Schools opened on Monday for the final phase with pupils being turned away because teachers did not report for duty. The teachers are demanding US$520 per month. “We remain worried at government’s reluctance to pay its workers in forex at a time the economy has dollarised,” Zhou said, adding the 40% salary hike would not improve the standard of living for the struggling teachers. “The government is also silent on prioritisation of health and safety of teachers and pupils, more so given cases of COVID-19 in schools. In light of the foregoing, the best foot forward for incapacitated teachers remain the incapacitation modus operandi until we are capacitated.” Zhou urged parents to keep their kids in the safety of their homes. He reiterated that the educators would not be intimidated by the steps taken by government to record names of absent teachers in order to dock their incomes. “We urge school heads to resist submission of names of incapacitated teachers to any office. We urge all teachers to rise and be counted in our incapacitation struggle. The darkest hour is just before dawn,” he said. “We implore government to engage leaders of teacher unions in order to find a holistic solution to the current impasse in schools.” He added: “We reiterate that no amount of threats and brutality can force teachers back to their workplaces. Dialogue and capacitation are the only means available, and the sooner they are employed the better for the education system in Zimbabwe.” Zimbabwe Rural Teacher
More than 130 Secret Service officers, which is about 10% of all Secret Service officers, are said to have either... View Article
The post Over 130 Secret Service officers may be infected with coronavirus appeared first on TheGrio.
FRANCE-BASED Zimbabwean football players Tino Kadewere and Marshall Munetsi are looking to follow in the footsteps of former Warriors captain Benjani Mwaruwari, who made a huge impact during his stint at AJ Auxerre, where he scooped the player of the month award in two successive months. BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA The former Warriors striker, who was on the books of Jomo Cosmos and had a one-season stint with Swiss club Grasshoppers, moved to AJ Auxerre in 2002 after impressing Guy Roux. He immediately made an impact, burying opponents under an avalanche of goals which won him the player gong for the month of September and October, overshadowing the likes of Didier Drogba. Then, Drogba was playing for French Ligue 1 side Guingamp before he switched to Olympic Marseille and then to English Premiership side Chelsea where he eventually established himself as one of the world’s greatest forwards. Although Mwaruwari later moved to Portsmouth and then Manchester City, he had already left an indelible mark in the French Ligue 1 and it appears Kadewere and Munesti are on course to repeating the same feat. Kadewere was named in the Sofascore’s Ligue 1 Team of the Week after he rose from the bench on Sunday to score a brace, which saw his side overturn a first half deficit to win 2-1 against St Etienne. Sofascore, a football statistics website, gave him a performance rating of 8,5, the second highest in the team. Munetsi was in last week’s Team of the Week following a commanding performance in Stade de Reims’ 2-1 victory. Whether the pair would be able to match the bar set by Mwaruwari remains to be seen. Munetsi had been included in the Warriors squad that played against reigning African Champions Algeria in the 2021 African Cup of Nations qualifier in Algiers last night but missed out after his club Stade de Reims claimed he was injured. Zifa, however, have formally written to the club demanding the release of the player for further assessment by Warriors’ doctors. Should he be released and certified fit, he is certain to play in the second leg in Harare on November 16. There are no problems though for Kadewere who was expected to lead the Warriors attack last night. Follow Tawanda on Twitter @Tafitawa
POLICE are investigating a robbery case in Esigodini, Matabeleland South province, where six robbers walked away with US$87 000 and R38 800 on Monday. BY RICHARD MPONDE “The Zimbabwe Republic Police is investigating an armed robbery case which occurred in Esigodini on November 9, 2020 when a gang of six suspects attacked a family with machetes and a bold cutter,” national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said in a statement. “The suspects used a bolt cutter to break burglar bars of a sitting room window and went on to tie the two complainants with an electric cable and shoelace before ransacking the house. “Complainants were robbed US$87 000 and R38 800 cash which was in a safe, four Samsung Galaxy tablet cellphones, Samsung laptop and a 32-gig flash disk.” The police urged people, including miners to be security conscious and avoid keeping such large amounts of cash in their houses. Cases of robberies are on the rise with the robbers including members of the security such as police and soldiers. This week, a Seke businessman was robbed of US$30 000 by robbers which he was keeping in the house. Meanwhile, leader of an Esigodini notorious gang of gold panners and businessman Baron Dube has been jailed to an effective 10 years for shooting a rival to death in a gold rush in the farming area of Matabeleland South province. Dube (44) of Habane Extension Township pleaded not guilty to murder when his trial started last year, but was convicted on Tuesday by Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Maxwell Takuva. He was sentenced to an effective 10 years after the court noted that he committed the offence in aggravating circumstances. In sentencing him, Takuva noted that Dube acted out of greed as the offence was committed in a gold rush. “In the first place, you had no right to be at that mine which you claimed the owner tasked you to manage. There was a gold rush at the mine and you were driven there by greed because you are a bully,” Takuva said. In his defence, Dube said he accidently shot the now deceased, Prince Antony Bvundura (22) after he fell down in an attack by his gang, leading in his rifle discharging. Dube’s sworn rival with whom he has had several fights over gold claims and also a gang leader Mkhululi Sibanda was the key witness in the matter.
President Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede defeat in the US presidential election even though major independent media outlets have called the race for Democratic presidential nominee and former vice-president Joe Biden. Instead, Trump has ranted and raved, in a somewhat predictable fashion, and at one time thrown aspersions on the culture of the...
The post Black people have given America's democracy another lifeline but lifelines aren't forever appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
Kat Stafford, Aaron Morrison and Angeliki Kastanis | Associated Press Power. Respect. Finally. When Eric Sheffield first saw Joe Biden take the lead in the vote count in Georgia, the 52-year-old Black man immediately thought about all the years he spent urging his Black friends and family to vote and all the times he saw […]
The post 'This is Proof': Biden's Win Reveals Power of Black Voters appeared first on Black Voice News.
DAVID BILLER and MAURICIO SAVARESE SAO PAULO (AP) - Bold styles are usually the talk of the town for Sao Paulo Fashion Week. This year, couture connoisseurs in Brazil's most cosmopolitan city have focused on the models - more specifically, the color of their skin. For the first time, designers in Latin America's largest fashion […]
The post Fashion-Forward: Affirmative Action Hits Brazil's Runways appeared first on Voice and Viewpoint.
THE majority of residents in Zimbabwe’s major urban areas are drinking sewage-contaminated water due to poor management systems by local authorities, Auditor-General Mildred Chiri has revealed in her latest audit report. BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA An assessment by the Auditor-General on six major cities in the country showed that urban local authorities were failing to attend to sewer blockages within 24 hours, resulting in raw sewage mixing with drinking water. This ultimately gives rise to outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera, among others. Unattended sewer blockages also result in sewage back-flowing, which further weakens the pipes, according to the audit findings for the period 2013 to 2017 following a public outcry over sewer bursts. “The assessment of the urban local authorities’ management of sewerage system revealed a number of weaknesses which contributed to the increase in the number of sewer blockage complaints from consumers,” Chiri said. “If local authorities fail to attend to blockages within the stipulated eight to 24 hours, raw sewage is lost into the environment before reaching the treatment plants, thereby contaminating water bodies. “According to interviews conducted, engineers cited that they were doing more of reactive maintenance rather than planned maintenance.” Results of the assessment also showed that Harare, with the highest population of over 1,5 million people, records the highest number of sewer blockages on average each year, which places residents in the capital city at high risk of contracting waterborne diseases. The United Nations Environment report of 2013 ranked Lake Chivero, Harare’s main water source, as one of the most 10 polluted lakes in the world. Statistics from the audit show that Harare discharges about 4 000 megalitres of raw or partially-treated water into water systems. In responding to the audit, city fathers blamed residents over sewer blockages, citing dumping of kitchen utensils and other items in sewage pipes as the major contributor to infrastructure damages. Although with a higher population, the audit report said Bulawayo had a better sewer system compared to other councils. In 2013 alone, 560 people died of waterborne diseases, while close to 600 000 others contracted the diseases countrywide. In 2008, five years before the audit, Zimbabwe recorded its worst cholera outbreak, which claimed over 5 000 lives, with Harare’s Budiriro and Glen View high-density suburbs the worst hit. Harare and Bulawayo are staring another crisis due to recurrent water shortages, with Harare declaring incapacitation to buy water treatment chemicals. Last week, Harare City Council confirmed four cases of typhoid, a bacterial infection that can be transmitted through contaminated water. The local authorities do not have modern equipment and technologies for sewer system inspection and maintenance and Chiri stated that the government was losing about US$194 million annually owing to poor sanitation practices. The Auditor-General also noted that poor service
The Biden-Harris campaign announced that Yale School of Medicine professor Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith will be co-chair- their new COVID-19 task force.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to 709,000, a still-high level but the lowest figure since March and a further sign that the job market might be slowly healing. Yet the improvement will be put at risk by the sharp resurgence in confirmed viral infections to an […]
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and Huron-Clinton Metroparks announced recently that a multi-year, pilot partnership that focuses on widening access to new programs and recreation for city and suburban families, to use the world-class parks, greenways, and public spaces managed by the two organizations, according to a press release. Through the partnership, Metroparks will create a … Continued
The post The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Huron-Clinton Metroparks Announce Partnership; Widening Access to New Programs and Recreation for City, Suburban Families appeared first on The Michigan Chronicle.
In summary As the pandemic drags on into the winter, EDD blunders and slim unemployment benefits have left jobless Californians virtually fending for themselves. As coronavirus resurges 10 months into a devastating pandemic, many jobless Californians have exhausted their options and are hanging on to what little government support remains. Once padded by an extra […]
The post Expired unemployment boost, EDD debacles sink jobless Californians appeared first on Black Voice News.
SUSPENDED High Court judge Justice Erica Ndewere filed an application seeking the recusal of fellow High Court judge Justice Benjamini Chikowero from hearing her urgent chamber application and challenging Chief Justice Luke Malaba’s move to have her investigated over allegations of gross misconduct. BY CHARLES LAITON Justice Ndewere appeared before Justice Chikowero seeking to have President Emmerson Mnangagwa set aside the tribunal that he appointed last week to investigate her suitability to hold office. A week ago, Justice Moses Foroma was forced to recuse himself from the matter after Justice Ndewere’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, questioned the impartiality of a sitting judge to preside over a matter involving a colleague. Justice Ndewere is challenging the setting up of the tribunal on the basis that Chief Justice Malaba must first appoint an internal disciplinary hearing committee to which she intends to present evidence to exonerate herself. She is denying the charge of incompetence and is alleging victimisation by the Chief Justice. Justice Ndewere yesterday asked Justice Chikowero to recuse himself from hearing her case, with Mtetwa telling the judge that he could be a witness to the tribunal because he was one of the two judges that Justice Ndewere confided in after she had been threatened by Chief Justice Malaba. Mtetwa told the court that in 2019, Justice Ndewere informed Justice Chikowero in the presence of another judge at a conference in Vumba that Chief Justice Malaba had threatened to “investigate” her after she refused to accept his instruction to deny former Public Service minister Priscah Mupfumira bail. Mtetwa also told the court that Justice Chikowero’s name appeared on the memorandum from Chief Justice Malaba to Judge President George Chiweshe dated February 6 2019 which listed 10 judges the Chief Justice alleged were not doing their work. Justice Ndewere said Justice Chikowero was aware that the “facts” in that memorandum were disputed by the judges and were later withdrawn and that he may also be called as a witness to the tribunal in that regard. Mtetwa argued that the application before Justice Chikowero was challenging the discrimination against her client because Justice Ndewere was singled out for investigation and dismissal from a list of 10 judges and Justice Chikowero was a beneficiary of the discrimination against her. “Justice Chikowero cannot adjudicate on the matter because he is grossly conflicted,” Mtetwa argued, adding that he was Justice Ndewere’s pair judge for the urgent roll in the High Court where they worked together during evenings and weekends. She said Justice Chikowero should not hear her case because of collegiality. However, she said she would not insist on this point if collegiality was not important to the judge. Mtetwa told Justice Chikowero that she had asked the Judge President to provide a retired judge to hear her case as most judges had either an interest in this matter or were conflicted by virtue of their outstanding judgments or reviews. Justice Chikowore re
By Laurel Rosenhall, CALMatters California’s status has shifted dramatically with the election of Joe Biden as the next president. The reasons are both political — deep blue California will have more inroads to a White House controlled by Democrats — and personal: For just the second time in American history, a Californian will serve as […]
The post Home State Advantage: What a Vice President Kamala Harris means for California appeared first on Voice and Viewpoint.
OVER 350 families close to Gwayi-Shangani Dam are facing imminent displacement to pave way for the construction of the largest water body in Matabelaland North province. BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE The Gwayi-Shangani Dam pipeline was estimated to provide 147 mega litres a day and, therefore, ensure bulk water supply in the medium term to Bulawayo and Matabeleland North. Speaking during a tour of the project which was organised by Bulawayo Civic Society Organisation, the project’s assistant engineer Lucio Chayeruka said 350 families would be displaced. “I am aware of the 350 families that are going to be affected by the construction of the dam,” Chayeruka said. “We have done a survey and saw that 350 families need to be evacuated as they are going to be affected by the dam construction. “The matter is now with the Lands and Agriculture ministry, but as it stands, the matter is now urgent so urgent intervention is required.” Chayeruka said the Lands ministry would decide the fate of the families. “It is the sole responsibility of the ministry to decide when and where these families will be resettled. Once we start the construction process, the structures will have to be removed,” he said. Chayeruka decried lack of funding for the delay in the completion of the dam which is currently 39% complete after the contractor, China International Water and Electric Corporation, abandoned the project in January due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is being constructed to link Cowdray Park and the City of Bulawayo. In 2016, the contractor suspended operations due to lack of funding. “This dam is a US$121 million project. I haven’t seen the bill of quantities, but I know that this is a US$121 million project. Of that US$121 million, so far we have used about 39% of the money,” Chayeruka said. “The issue here is actually of funding as you will see that we have all the materials in place. The only material that we might need to buy is cement and when all funding has been put in place, the dam will only take one year to be completed.” Matabeleland Collectives chairperson Jenny Williams said civil society organisations needed to know if those families were going to be compensated. “It is important for us the civil society to empower the community that is within the 60km radius of the dam and what it will mean for them when the dam is constructed. They need to be empowered to know what is coming their way,” Williams said. “The communities need to be empowered so that people cannot come and take advantage of those communities.” The project is going to help improve the water situation in Bulawayo which is currently facing serious water shortages. lFollow Praisemore on Twitter @TPraisemore
DETROIT , MICHIGAN , USA, November 13, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Michigan Mesothelioma Victims Center says, "Because of the Coronavirus and all of the craziness of 2020-this year might go down as the worst year for mesothelioma …
By ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden's top allies on Capitol Hill adopted a combative posture on COVID-19 relief on Thursday, pressing their case for a $2 trillion bill that's a nonstarter for Republicans and faulting the GOP for dragging its feet on acknowledging Biden's victory. The message from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. — both of whom witnessed disappointing outcomes in House and Senate races last week — was that Republicans should concede Biden won and immediately return to negotiations on COVID relief, with the Democrats' $2.4 trillion […]
The post Post-election rancor clouds chances for COVID relief bill appeared first on Black News Channel.
The Detroit Public Schools Community District, Michigan's largest, is one of the latest to
The post Schools facing tough choices as Covid cases soar in the US appeared first on L.A. Focus Newspaper.
Anti-Jihadist Operation in Mali
Reports on the death by troops from the French-led Barkhane force military operation of Bah Ag Moussa, described as the military commander of the Al-Qaeda-aligned Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) in the Malian desert who had been on a United Nations sanctions list and was believed responsible for numerous jihadist terrorist attacks on Malian and international ally forces in the region. Friday’s announcement marks the conclusion to an operation launched Tuesday in a series of anti-jihadist action taken in recent weeks.
Regional Context
France has thousands of troops in West Africa to help fight jihadist around the area. The ousting of Islamist extremist groups from power in Mali by way of a military operation in 2013 saw a regrouping of jihadist forces in the dessert who have since wreaked terror and havoc in the region.
The city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo faces growing insecurity.
Day and night, the killings of civilians have multiplied under the helpless watch of Congolese authorities.
Today, Sharifa Kamana is a widow. Her husband was shot a few meters from home at night.
10 days later, no investigation has been opened yet.
\"We don't know the killers, they go after money changers like my husband. We are currently living in fear. The authorities need to take this situation seriously and know where these weapons come from? How can a civilian live with a weapon illegally without the State knowing about it,\"? Kamana asked.
To battle against the insecurity, a provincial deputy has initiated an operation to collect weapons.
These firearms, ammunition and military effects were handed over to the authorities for a sum up to US$100.
\"I had been keeping this weapon since the M23 took control of the city and I took the opportunity to get it back. I kept it at home waitin g for the right time to avenge my father who was murdered a few years ago here in Goma\", Didier Mwamba told our Congolese Correspondent, Gael Mpoyo.
Patrick Munyomo is the National Deputy and Initiator of the project.
\"What is certain is that now is the time for anyone who has a weapon illegally to hand it over because we are in the process of educating them. After this campaign is over, if a gun is found in someone's home, that person will be brought to justice,'' he said.
During his last visit to Goma, President Felix Tshisekedi promised to defeat the scourge of insecurity once and for all.
Since October, about ten murders have already been recorded in the region.
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “Getting the flu vaccine is especially important this year. If you get the flu, you may need to be hospitalized, in this time of COVID-19, in an already overwhelmed healthcare system. Get your flu shot. Avoid getting the flu. Stay out of the hospital due to the flu,” said Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., […]
The post In light of pandemic, flu vaccinations more important than ever for people at highest risk appeared first on Milwaukee Community Journal.
