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THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has reportedly refused to restore water supplies to Binga Rural District Council until the local authority has paid at least $300 000 of its $1,5 million debt. BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE Zinwa cut off water supplies to Binga in September, forcing residents and business operators to turn to boreholes and other unsafe water sources. Binga Residents Association vice-chairperson Samson Sibanda said Zinwa recently met council officials and indicated that it would restore water supplies after the local authority has paid at least $300 000 towards settling the bill. “We met and agreed on the way forward for water to be reopened. Council is the one that owes Zinwa money and not the residents. For water to be reopened Zinwa said they require at least $300 000 from the council,” Sibanda said. “Residents of Masoja area who are affected by the water cut started to protest and demonstrate saying they had been paying council and the issue has to be resolved immediately.” Binga district development co-ordinator Farai Marinyame confirmed that stakeholders met on Wednesday to try to resolve the crisis. “I was not on the ground, but there was a meeting between Zinwa, residents and the council to solve the ongoing water crisis. For now there is still no water as council is still negotiating with Zinwa so that they take that project,” Marinyame said. “The main problem is that residents are not paying up.” Binga RDC chief executive officer Joshua Muzamba said he was still out of Binga. “I am still out of Binga, just look for those on the ground who can give you information,” he said. Zinwa spokesperson Marjorie Munyonga, who previously pleaded with residents to pay up, yesterday said she was out of office and was yet to be briefed on the latest developments.
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — While much of Washington is twisted in knots over the upcoming election, there's another contingent already busy trying to figure out how to stage an inauguration for the to-be-determined next president during a pandemic. Visitors to the U.S. Capitol and the White House can already see preparations underway for the Jan. 20 ceremony, a date set by the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, for whoever emerges as the winner. And low-flying helicopters are swooping around town as part of beefed-up security precautions. Construction work is taking place with the mindset that it […]
The post Work already underway for presidential inauguration appeared first on Black News Channel.
Image: Dado Ruvic, Reuters
Facebook is acquiring Giphy, a popular website for making and sharing animated images, or GIFs, and will integrate it with its rapidly growing Instagram photo-sharing app, Facebook said in a blog post.
In 2015, Giphy rebuffed a Facebook offer, choosing instead to continue integrating its products with multiple social media platforms, according to news site TechCrunch.
Giphy will become part of Instagram, the photo-sharing site owned by Facebook.
“People will still be able to upload GIFs; developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to Giphy’s APIs; and Giphy’s creative community will still be able to create great content,” said Vishal Shah, Instagram’s vice president of product, in the blog post.
Facebook’s blog post said 50% of Giphy’s traffic already comes from Facebook’s apps, with half of that coming from Instagram.
TOP Zanu PF officials in Chikomba district, Mashonaland East province, have been exposed for allegedly demanding bribes from prospective candidates so they could influence the outcome of the party’s looming district co-ordinating committee (DCC) elections. By Miriam Mangwaya The alleged scam was exposed in an audio recording of a telephone conversation between Zanu PF councillor Lovemore Mufamba and DCC aspiring candidate Alfred Pedzisa, which has gone viral. In the six-minute long audio, Mufamba is heard naming three Zanu PF provincial members in Chivhu whom he claimed demanded US$300 from him so that they could disregard CVs for other aspirants. This, they said, would ensure that Mufamba gets a DCC post which was not disclosed in the audio. Mufamba also claimed that the three provincial members namely Moses Mataruse, Clifford Ngirazi and one Songore had the capacity to tamper with other candidates’ CVs and alter their contents in favour of a candidate who would have bribed them. “Each of the provincial members wants US$100, so I am busy looking for someone who can lend me $300 so that I give them and they consider my CV,” Mufamba allegedly said in the audio. “They told me they could access councillor Israel Dhikinya’s CV (chairperson for Chikomba (Rural District Council) and alter it to another less influential post. They can also do that to many other aspirants whom the leadership is not pleased with.” Pedzisa confirmed the authenticity of the recording, but declined to comment on the matter. “I am also an aspiring candidate in the DCC elections hence I cannot comment on the matter. You can get a comment from party leadership,” said Pedzisa who is eyeing the DCC chairmanship. Mufamba also confirmed to NewsDay Weekender that he was the one recorded talking to Pedzisa over the phone. 'I am not worried that the audio was leaked. This is election time, there is a lot of treachery, deceit and blackmailing but the truth always prevails,” Mufamba said. He, however, refused to comment on his fate in the party. Both Mataruse and Ngirazi dismissed claims that they were demanding bribes to influence poll outcomes. They referred questions to the party provincial chairperson Joel Biggie Matiza, who was not picking calls.
By LEKAN OYEKANMI Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's top police official on Saturday ordered the immediate mobilization of all officers to 'reclaim the public space from criminal elements masquerading as protesters' after days of unrest and demonstrations over police abuses that left at least 69 people dead. The police order could further heighten tensions in Africa's most populous country after some of its worst turmoil in years. Nigeria's inspector general of police, M.A. Adamu, ordered colleagues to 'dominate the public space' while announcing that enough is enough, a statement said. Nigerians on Tuesday evening watched in horror as […]
The post Nigeria's police order massive mobilization after unrest appeared first on Black News Channel.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE OPPOSITION MDC Alliance vice-chair Job Sikhala yesterday walked out of the tall walls of Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison after he was granted $50 000 bail by High Court judge Justice Erica Ndewere, who blasted the State for bringing unsubstantiated allegations to court. The opposition leader was arrested last month on allegations of fleeing from justice and plotting to subvert the government. “Sikhala’s arrest was a coincidence as the police stumbled upon him while on another mission not related to him. His fleeing was not that of a fugitive, but was running away from unidentified men he reported to be following him and not the police,” Justice Ndewere ruled. The judge said the police should have called his lawyer if they were seeking him, but they did not and misdirected themselves by relying on a vague Press statement they issued. As part of his bail conditions, Sikhala was ordered to surrender his passport to the clerk of court, report thrice a week at St Mary’s Police Station and was barred from posting political audios and videos on social media. In a related matter, MDC Alliance secretary-general Chalton Hwende, who also faced charges of trying to subvert government, was removed from remand by Justice Webster Chinamhora after the State failed to provide him with a trial date more than a year on. Hwende, who was represented by Harrison Nkomo, had been on remand following his arrest in connection with January 2019 protests over the fuel price hikes. Hwende was one of several MDC Alliance legislators’ activists and supporters arrested in connection with the protests.
Determined to figure out which McDonald's locations had a broken ice cream machine, Rashiq Zahid put his technical skills and love of the McSundae to use.
By CALVIN WOODWARD and HOPE YEN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A more measured President Donald Trump does not necessarily mean a more truthful one. In the final debate of the presidential campaign, he was loose with facts on the crisis of the time — the pandemic — and much else. Trump did, though, exploit confusion sowed by Joe Biden during the primaries, when the Democrat occasionally made his position on energy sound more to the left than it actually is. Trump accurately called out Biden when Biden denied he had ever vowed to ban fracking. That was never Biden's […]
The post AP FACT CHECK: Trump and Biden in their last clash on stage appeared first on Black News Channel.
The Media Association Jamaica (MAJ) Limited is expressing disappointment over the passing of the Data Protection Bill two weeks ago without changes to grant complete exemption to the media on the basis of press freedom principles, something for which it and the Press Association of Jamaica had been lobbying.
In a release yesterday, the MAJ said, among other things, that this means that there could be subjective determination by the information commissioner for whether exemptions applied when journalists, as data controllers, are challenged for publishing personal data.
Additionally, media personnel will not be able to present their case to the information commissioner before a determination is made in respect of an application challenging the use of personal data.
MAJ Chairman Christopher Barnes said that the association’s disappointment is due to the fact that policymakers have seemingly squandered an opportunity to make a credible process of consultation by proceeding without the suggestions made not only for the benefit of the media, but for all Jamaicans.
It is because while there are certain exemptions in this bill afforded to the media, the average person, as a data controller, will be fully exposed to many of the above issues and more,” Barnes said.
… corporate executives and entrepreneurs, largely African-Americans, with years of experience at … same interview. "There is African-American talent that's been …
By SIMBARASHE SITHOLE A SELF-PROCLAIMED Bindura prophetess Spiwe Gwashure (40) of Grace in Abundance Ministries was sentenced to two months in jail yesterday by Bindura provincial magistrate Tinashe Ndokera for fraud. Gwashure was ordered to pay the US$320 which she had taken from one of her congregants, Abina Maliwo (46), on the pretext that she would find him a wife to marry. Prosecutor Edward Katsvairo told the court that sometime in April 2018, the prophetess gave a prophecy to the complainant, saying she would find him a good wife to marry. In July last year, Gwashure called Maliwo to come to her house and told him that she had found a wife for him in Guruve and there was need for him to pay the bride price. The complainant raised US$320 in two months and was supposed to get his wife in October 2019.He was ordered to buy a cellphone for his intended wife and he complied for easy communication. The wife did not appear and in November, he figured out that he had been duped after he spoke to Gwashure on a mobile phone that he bought assuming that he was speaking to his intended wife. He filed a police report leading to her arrest.The magistrate ordered a full compensation of the money within two months.
BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA A PRIVATE health facility in Harare, Parktown Hospital, will today offer free breast cancer screening services for both men and women as part of efforts to encourage citizens to undergo early checks for the world’s leading killer disease. This comes at a time breast cancer cases are on the increase, with one in eight women likely to be affected in their lifetime. Men are also at risk, but the chances are slim. The world over, breast cancer is commemorated during the month of October where stakeholders amplify and review their campaign strategies to counter the disease. However, many women still do not have access to correct information on the disease as well as screening and treatment. Senior general nurse at Parktown Hospital, Laurel Hamandishe, said women should take the awareness month as an opportunity for them to go for early and regular breast cancer screening. “Women should do regular breast cancer screening such as mammography. They should know the early signs of breast cancer. They must do daily breast cancer examinations to check for any lumps, nipple shapes and skin texture,” she said. Hamandishe demystified the myth that breast cancer is a death sentence, adding early diagnosis increases chances of survival. She urged women to live a healthy life style, exercise regularly and not to have too much radiation exposure. “To those battling with cancer I say do not lose hope because there are countless ongoing researches, medications and technologies that are being invented daily to tackle such cases. Who knows — maybe soon there will be a cure for cancer,” she said.
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Africa needs to 'triple its testing', 'US picks companies to develop vaccine' - International Covid-19 news
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday warned that the coronavirus could further weaken sub-Saharan Africa's ability to adapt to climate change, as measures to contain the pandemic stretch limited resources.
Africa needs to triple its coronavirus testing in the coming months \"to move ahead of the curve\" as more countries ease lockdown measures, the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Story by Jeanette Chabalala
Cabinet to appeal judgment declaring lockdown regulations for levels 3 and 4 invalid, confident of another outcome
Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said the decision was taken after advice from legal experts.
By Lizeka Tandwa
RECAP | State of Disaster extended, Cabinet to appeal High Court's lockdown regulations judgment
The ruling by Judge Norman Davis that regulations for Level 3 and 4 of the lockdown were unconstitutional and invalid will be taken on appeal, government has decided.
Why lockdown judgment opens up the possibility for more lawsuits against government
In his judgment, handed down on Tuesday, Judge Norman Davis found that many of the promulgated regulations for Level 3 and 4 of the lockdown were not rationally connected to the objectives of slowing the rate of infection or limiting the spread of the virus.
BY Stephen Chadenga At least 75 cattle have succumbed to drought in parts of the Midlands province in the past two months and farmers have been urged to de-stock and by supplements for the remaining beasts. Midlands provincial crops and livestock officer, Madeline Magwenzi said four areas in the province were the worst affected. “We have over 75 cattle that succumbed to drought in the past two months and these are mainly in Kwekwe, Mberengwa, Zvishavane and Zhombe,” she said. “These deaths were recorded since August to date due to the drought. Grazing is not available and of low quality.” “We urge farmers to consider de-stocking by selling older stock and use the proceeds to buy stockfeed.” Magwenzi said there was need for a subsidy for stockfeed to enable farmers to buy it. “We should go back to a situation we had before where there was a subsidy for concentrates,” Magwenzi said. Early this year, there were reports that farmers particularly in Gokwe North and South as well as Mberengwa were selling cattle at giveaway prices due to shortage of pasture.
