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Hunger affected one out of every eleven people in the world and one out of five in Africa, with the number rising on that continent.
Abiy's government and the regional one run by the Tigray People's Liberation Front each consider the other illegitimate.
\t There was no immediate word from the three AU envoys, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano and former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe. AU spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo did not say whether they can meet with TPLF leaders, something Abiy's office has rejected.
\"``Not possible,'' senior Ethiopian official Redwan Hussein said in a message to the AP. ``\"Above all, TPLF leadership is still at large.'' He called reports that the TPLF had appointed an envoy to discuss an immediate cease-fire with the international community ``masquerading.''
\t Fighting reportedly remained well outside the Tigray capital of Mekele, a densely populated city of a half-million people who have been warned by the Ethiopian government that they will be shown ``no mercy'' if they don't distance themselves from the region's leaders.
\t Tigray has been almost entirely cut off from the outside world since Nov. 4, when Abiy announced a military offensive in response to a TPLF attack on a federal army base.
That makes it difficult to verify claims about the fighting, but humanitarians have said at least hundreds of people have been killed.
\t The fighting threatens to destabilize Ethiopia, which has been described as the linchpin of the strategic Horn of Africa.
\t With transport links cut, food and other supplies are running out in Tigray, home to 6 million people, and the United Nations has asked for immediate and unimpeded access for aid.
AP
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Wednesday, ending a yearslong prosecution in the Russia investigation that saw Flynn twice plead guilty to lying to the FBI and then reverse himself before the Justice Department stepped in to dismiss his case. 'It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon,' Trump tweeted. 'Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!' The pardon, in the waning weeks of Trump's single […]
The post Trump pardons Flynn despite guilty plea in Russia probe appeared first on Black News Channel.
At least 40 miners in Zimbabwe are trapped underground after a shaft in a disused gold mine collapsed, the country's miners' federation said Thursday.
The incident occurred late Wednesday in the town of Bindura, around 70 kilometres north of the capital Harare, said Wellington Takavarasha, head of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation.
Takavarasha told AFP the miners were working inside the disused Ran Gold Mine when a shaft caved in.
Six miners have since been pulled from the rubble and taken to hospital.
\"Those who were rescued said there were about 40 people in the mine shaft at the time of the incident,\" said Takavarasha, adding that rescue efforts were ongoing.
Mining is a major source of foreign currency for Zimbabwe, where gold alone accounts for 60 percent of exports.
The landlocked southern African country is home to vast gold and mineral reserves, including diamonds and platinum.
The gold sector provides jobs to nearly 10 percent of the country's population, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG).
Small-scale miners often operate illegally to avoid selling their bullion to the state-owned buyer, Fidelity Printers and Refiners, as they are paid only 55 percent in foreign currency.
The remaining 45 percent is paid in Zimbabwean dollars, which is notorious for its weakness.
Accidents are relatively common in decommissioned mines, particularly when the ground is loosened by rain.
LAFARGE Cement Zimbabwe, in partnership with Practical Action, a non-governmental organisation that advocates for sustainable development, will today conduct training with local journalists on sustainability reporting. BY Staff Reporter In a statement, Larfage said the one-day workshop was aimed at equipping participants with in-depth insight into corporate and community sustainability issues so as to further enhance the quality of reporting on the subject. “This workshop is a first of a series that Lafarge will be convening in the coming years. As a corporate with a strong commitment to operating a sustainable business model in Zimbabwe, we believe that creating a platform for knowledge-sharing on sustainable development with journalists will go a long way in influencing impactful sustainable business and social practices,” Lafarge spokesperson Tsungie Manyeza said. Practical Action said it believed in doing things differently by placing ingenious ideas to work so people in low-income communities can change their world. “It is against this background that Practical Action found this training programme a valuable investment towards the overall sustainable development narrative in Zimbabwe,” it said.
By SCOTT SMITH ASSOCIATED PRESS CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A U.S. oil executive jailed for three years in Venezuela said all he hopes for is a fair trial so that he can walk free with his name cleared and go home to his family in the United States. In a letter from prison provided exclusively to The Associated Press, Tomeu Vadell said it's especially painful to be separated during the Thanksgiving season from his wife, three adult children and a newborn grandson he's never held. 'Before living this tragedy, these celebrations were very special times for our family,' Vadell wrote, […]
The post AP Exclusive: Letter from Venezuelan jail: 'Give me freedom' appeared first on Black News Channel.
[Ghanaian Times] The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with four organisations to seal their collaboration on the \"NBSSI/Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works\" project.
[Premium Times] \"We are quite optimistic about African economies given the abundance of available opportunities.\"
The 2020 CAF Champions League final in Cairo will see Egyptian giants Al Ahly, coached by Pitso Mosimane, take on bitter rivals Zamalek.
The fifth episode of Shelea, a radio drama that chronicles women struggles and triumphs in contemporary society, has cautioned society on the dangers of fraudulent money-making scams known as pyramid schemes. BY WINSTONE ANTONIO This come as Zimbabweans have fallen victim to the scams losing fortunes to masterminds of these fraudulent schemes. The drama is a compelling story of a young female politician, Shelea, who faces hurdles as she tries to balance between being a wife and mother at the same time making a difference in her community. Written by Sitshengisiwe Olinda Siziba and produced by Patsimeredu Edutainment Trust, the drama is part of a She-Leads Project being spearheaded by Hivos in partnership with the Irish Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa. The episode opens with a conversation between main character Shelea Gore speaking to her maid Sisi Kiri who was a victim of fraudulent pyramid scheme that was being run by her potential fiancé who eventually dumped her. “I have a heartbreak madam, do you remember my potential candidate whom I used to talk about? “He has dumped me. “I was introduced to this guy by a friend of mine and we started dating without any problems and I was deeply in love with him madam, I am heartbroken, I am crushed madam,” Kiri said. “I was involved in a lot of investment deals with him as I thought we had a long-term relationship. “I had recruited other women who are my friends and I don’t know how I am going to tell them that he disappeared with their money.” Narrating her ordeal to her boss on how she was enticed to join a pyramid scheme, Kiri said she was advised to take advantage of the COVID-19-induced lockdown to make money in the comfort of her home. “Madam this man advised me that if I had some money it would be wise to invest in his project (pyramid scheme). “He assured me that with as little as US$13, the joining fee, I would get US$7 500 as interest or profit,” she said. “I decided to give him more money so that I could get more profits than just putting in US$13. I have been paying into the pyramid scheme and even the recent salary that you paid me, I took it there.” For her to make more money, Kiri said, she was encouraged to recruit more people to subscribe to the scheme. “I had recruited my friends, more than six people, and one of the women who had been impressed by the offer had to remove roofing sheets from her house and sell them to contribute to the scheme and now it is about to rain what will she do after the man varnished with her money,” she said. “Now he has switched off his phone, his office has been closed and now the women want their money, how will I tell them that he disappeared with their money? Shelea told her that most pyramid scheme fraudsters targeted poor women who would have struggled to obtain the money. “Sisi Kiri by now you should know that money does not grow on trees. “It’s so sad that people keep falling for this trick over and over again. “It is not realistic that someone makes an investment of US$13 and get a profit of US$7 500 just because they
… loss, who, nonetheless recruited an African-American ally to join him in …
By LISA RATHKE Associated Press COLCHESTER, Vt. (AP) — St. Michael's College managed to keep coronavirus cases at bay for almost two months this fall with students tested upon arrival and once every three weeks. But in mid-October, cases at the small Vermont school started to climb. The outbreak was linked to an ice rink more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) away. The liberal arts college shifted to all-remote learning and closed the campus to visitors. By November, a total of 76 of the roughly 1,600 students had tested positive, the school said. 'It was very concerning to experience the […]
The post US colleges mull new virus protocols for students' return appeared first on Black News Channel.
[Cameroon Tribune] This, amongst other issues was highlighted during the daily press briefing on the evolution of the disease in the country.
The Moroccan judiciary confirmed the life imprisonment sentences handed to Sahrawi activists found guilty of killing eleven members of Morocco's armed forces in 2010 in Western Sahara, a lawyer said Thursday.
\"The Court of Cassation rejected Wednesday all appeals of the defense. This is the final decision\" for the 23 Sahrawis, convicted for the deadly clashes in 2010 in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara, Mohamed Fadel Leili told AFP.
The had been convicted by a military court in 2013, with sentences ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment.
But after protests from human rights organizations and relatives of the convicted, and following judicial reform, the case was moved to a civilian court, which handed down sentences ranging from two years to life in 2017.
The clashes erupted on November 8, 2010, when Moroccan forces deployed to evict a camp, south of the city of Laayoune, the largest in Western Sahara, where some 15,000 Sahrawis had settled to protest their living conditions.
The operation quickwere killed and several dozen wounded.
Some of the unarmed victims had had their throats cut or their bodies soiled, according to security forces videos that shocked public opinion.
Morocco and the Polisario Front, Western Sahara's independence movement accused each other of provoking the clashes.
The decision of the Court of Cassation comes amidst high tensions in Western Sahara, where Morocco and the Polisario Front have been engaged in intermittent clashes since November 13, after 30 years of a ceasefire ovserseen by the United Nations.
Batteries Not Included: Balenciaga To Reveal Its Fall/Winter 2021 Collection With A New Video Game
RENOWNED music promoter and Mokoomba band manager Marcus Gora yesterday called on artistes to invest in diverse management as well as marketing teams to ensure sustainable growth of their brands at a time lots of talent is emerging and fighting for recognition on the music scene. BY KENNEDY NYAVAYA Gora made the remarks speaking at the Managing your Music as a Business workshop that was organised by Gateway Stream (a subsidiary of the Rainbow Tourism Group) that recently launched a mobile and web music application (Gateway Stream Music Application) that presents an interactive platform for musicians and users. He said through working with the internationally-acclaimed Mokoomba band, for over a decade he had learnt that building a strong brand required different professional hands. “One of the things that I want to emphasise is that, it is important for an artiste that whichever direction you want to take to create a good team around you, you need to gather appropriate people to make it,” he said. “Inasmuch as doing it yourself is attractive and it can work, but in our environment it is a bit difficult to do everything for yourself, you need people to partner with so that you can multiply your power.” Gora said lack of understanding and requisite knowledge on how to effectively negotiate and earn fully from one’s artistic worth had seen artistes sell their souls for peanuts. “Some of the mistakes that we make, we are not an empowered negotiator…someone can come and present a deal, but if there are issues that may tie you up for 10 years or a lifetime they would have been done and well documented and we do not want to keep on making those mistakes,” he said. Gora said the local music scene needed more platforms like the Gateway Stream Music Application to professionally publish and for musicians to earn from their talents. “As an industry we ought to be thankful that there are things like Gateway Stream that are coming up because it broadens the opportunities and platforms that are there for artistes. We have a problem in Zimbabwe with gatekeepers choosing who can be heard and when, which affects our work,” he said. In a recent interview, Rainbow Tourism Group’s corporate communications and innovations manager Pride Khumbula said through the Gateway Stream Music Application musicians were able to upload their music, set prices, manage inventories and receive revenue for all purchases through a revolutionary wallet function. “The Gateway Stream Music App will give artistes access to consumers and ensure that they can earn revenue from their trade, reducing the risk of losing earnings through piracy,” she said. Follow Kennedy on Twitter @ken_nyavaya
By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA and NICK PERRY Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand said Thursday it transferred three Iranians involved in a botched 2012 bomb plot back to Tehran, as Iran released an Australian academic who was imprisoned for more than two years on spying charges. While Thai officials declined to call it a swap and Iran referred to the men as 'economic activists,' the arrangement freed academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert and saw the three men linked to a wider bomb plot targeting Israeli diplomats return home to a hero's welcome. The bombers wore Iranian flags draped over their shoulders, their faces […]
The post Thailand approved transfer of 3 Iranians as Australian freed appeared first on Black News Channel.
Analysis - A transnational phone scam known as Wangiri is on the rise in Kenya, warns the country's Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI Kenya). Addressing these invisible syndicated scams is a global challenge and Kenya, with its robust telecommunications infrastructure, is a prime target.
[Lesotho Times] Finance Minister Thabo Sophonea yesterday presented his mid-term budget review indicating tough times ahead for the country as the economy continues feel the effects of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) induced slowdown on global business activity.
On Friday, November 20, 2020, Milwaukee Health Services, Inc. (MHSI) hosted their '9th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway,' at their MLK Heritage Health Center, 2555 N. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Due to COVID-19 this year was different however, as families could not just walk up to receive their free holiday meal. Families were required... [Read More]
At the Martyrs' School near Tripoli, teachers and parents are using the limited means at hand to repair buildings devastated by a year-long battle for the Libyan capital.
Some of the walls have been repainted, furniture has been installed and ageing computer screens dusted off. But the roofs and other walls, pockmarked by gunfire and mortar blasts, remain grim reminders of the recent fighting.
\"We didn't want to sit and wait for help,\" said Najah al-Kabir, a teaching coordinator in a patterned jallaba gown and a hijab.
She is taking part in a refurbishment campaign launched by staff and joined by enthusiastic parents of students from the surrounding Ain Zara district.
\"We're one family,\" Kabir said, standing in the playground of the primary school, damaged by weeks of artillery fire.
\"This school was our second home.\"
When eastern Libyan military chief Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive in April 2019 to seize the capital from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), Ain Zara found itself on the front line.
The fighting degenerated into a long battle of attrition on the outskirts of Tripoli and lasted until June this year, when pro-GNA forces ended the stalemate by pushing Haftar's forces back eastwards.
By the time the fighting ended, the school had been reduced to \"ruins\", Kabir said.
\"It needed to be rebuilt quickly,\" she added.
'A terrible state'
The UN children's agency UNICEF warned earlier this year that \"attacks against schools and the threat of violence have led to (school) closures and left almost 200,000 children out of the classroom\".
The Martyrs' School is one of around 100 schools fully or partly destroyed during the offensive by Haftar, backed by Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Pro-GNA armed groups, whose counter-offensive was spurred by Turkey, used some schools to stock arms or as observation posts.
By the end of the fighting, the Martyrs' School was \"in a terrible state\", said headteacher Saleh al-Badri.
The establishment caters for 1,500 students in an area three kilometres from the next school, making it \"important to reopen it as soon as possible,\" he said.
Mahmoud Abdelkhalek, who lives nearby and sends his three sons to the school, was keen to get involved.
\"It seemed important that everyone get involved to fix it,\" he said. \"A collective effort has brought it back to life.\"
\"We spend more on homelessness than we realise,\" Jonathan Hopkins, acting director at U-turn, said during the virtual launch of a study on the cost of homelessness in Cape Town.
Black people find ourselves inadequately included or represented in the government we’ve worked so tirelessly to support and protect. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is no exception.
Ten-year-old Samarwat Tkhal fled fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray region this month -- now she sells food to survive, among tens of thousands of fellow refugees building a new life in neighbouring Sudan.
Tkhal, wearing a red T-shirt and yellow trousers, wanders the dusty streets of \"Village Eight\", a transit point just across the border into Sudan that has rapidly swelled into the size of a small town.
It is the first stop for many of the Ethiopians fleeing their homeland.
Tkhal holds up a box of chocolate cakes, as she shyly approaches potential customers.
\"My father gives me a box of 50 cakes every morning that I sell,\" she said. \"I work from morning to night.\"
Over 43,000 refugees have crossed into Sudan since fighting broke out in Tigray on November 4, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said Friday, as he visited Sudanese camps crammed with those fleeing the conflict in northern Ethiopia.
While praising Sudan for upholding its \"traditional hospitality to people in need\", Grandi warned that the host country also \"urgently requires international assistance to support its efforts.\"
- Heavy fighting -
Hundreds have been killed in fighting between the federal government of Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and dissident forces of the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
On Friday, Abiy is due to meet African Union envoys to discuss the worsening conflict, after he ordered the army to launch a final offensive against Tigrayan forces.
But while conflict rages at home, many of the refugees in Sudan are already eking out a living in their new surrounds.
Taray Burhano, 32, walks the streets selling cigarettes -- one-by-one, not by the pack.
\"I'm not making a fortune,\" said Burhano, who, like many, escaped with only what he could carry for the hard trek across the baking hot bush.
\"But at least I don't sit around and think about what happened to us.\"
Once a sleepy settlement, Village Eight is now a busy centre.
- Entrepreneurs -
Chekhi Barra, 27, sits on the ground waiting for clients.
\"Until a solution to the fighting is found, something has to be done,\" he said, adding that while aid is trickling in, people need more than what is provided.
Barra fled with his wife and son from their home in the town of Mai-Kadara, where Ethiopia's rights watchdog this week said at least 600 civilians were massacred.
Using the little cash he took with him, Barra invested in a box of 100 bars of soap, a basic necessity that he knows will generate a profit when sold individually.
\"I sell them for twice as much as I bought them,\" he said.
Despite losing their homes and businesses, the new Ethiopian arrivals to Sudan are not wasting their time.
Sylvia Tahai immediately resumed her work -- selling coffee.
\"As soon as I arrived, I went to buy coffee, cups, sugar and a coffee-maker\", the 23-year-old said, as customers crowded around her traditional Ethiopian flask brewing on a charcoal brazier.
Buhano Amha, 28, has built a stall where he sells tomat
[Monitor] Four non-governmental organisations have moved to the East African Court of Justice to block the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) by Uganda and Tanzania.
Speaking shortly after the electoral commission's announcement, Kabore offered an olive branch to the opposition, which has criticized re-election as flawed.
\"I will deploy all my efforts so that through continuous consultation, through dialogue... we can work together for peace and development,\" he said at his party's headquarters in the capital Ouagadougou.
\"We are all Burkinabe, seeking to build a better Burkina Faso together,\" he said.
\"It is a victory... we do have joy in our hearts, but there is also a major responsibility - that of being the president of all Burkinabe, without exception.\"
Preliminary results on Thursday showed Kabore winning nearly 58% of the vote.
Opponents Eddie Komboigo, head of the Congress for Democracy and Progress, received 15 percent, and the other main challenger, Zephirin Diabre, from the Progress and Change Party, who lost to Kabore in 2015, garnered approximately 12 percent.
Kabore has come under fire for what critics say has been a lackluster response to a five-year-old militant insurgency that has rolled in from Mali.
Despite his record, he was the favorite in what commentators said was one of the country's most open elections in years.
By winning an overall majority in the first round he avoids a runoff vote in which he would have had to stand against a single candidate backed by a united opposition.
As we all get in gear for holiday shopping, it's important that we not only remember to shop small but that we also remember to shop Black — especially this year.
Growing up in Greenville, South Carolina, Jasmine Twitty knew she wanted to serve her communities. While in elementary school, she was in girl scouts and church youth groups, where she learned the trailblazing work of influential figures including presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm. “These are people in power, and they have the influence to shape society...
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