Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
[African Arguments] We're told the war is not with ordinary Tigrayans. Yet as thousands suffer and our compatriots remain silent, that's how it feels.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
Twenty-six people were killed in an attack on a village in central Mali, officials said Saturday, in the latest violence to hit the West African nation.
Friday's attack targeted a Fulani village named Binedama in the volatile Mopti region, said Aly Barry, an official from Tabital Pulaaku, a Fulani association in Mali.
Central Mali - an ethnic mosaic - has become one of the flashpoints of conflict in the country, with regular jihadist attacks on military targets and occasional intercommunal fighting.
A local government official in Koro, a subdivision of the Mopti region, told AFP that the attack on Binedama occurred on Friday afternoon.
The region has also seen several massacres recently, including a militant attack on rural villages which left 12 people dead in April.
HAMPTON ROADS
The Coastal Virginia American Red Cross and the Sickle Cell Association are asking African Americans in Hampton Roads to donate blood to support a current shortage being experienced by patients with Sickle Cell.
Sickle cell disease affects almost all races; however, it largely affects African Americans who depend on blood transfusions that must be matched very closely to reduce the risk of complications.
However, she said, “Despite the steep decline in blood donations, the need for blood products for patients with sickle cell disease has remained relatively stead.”
Additionally, African American blood donors are vital for many patients with rare blood types, like those with sickle cell disease, who depend on blood that must be matched very closely to reduce the risk of complications.”
A single patient with sickle cell disease can receive up to 50-100 pints of blood each year.
(ThyBlackMan.com) To be emasculated is to be ‘deprived of one’s male role or identity; made weaker or less effective’, according to Webster’s dictionary. To be clear: black men in America have always been, and continue to be, the most persecuted member of the male lineage in human history, especially within an American construct. The question, […]
The new Government is aiming to establish a Youth Advisory Committee in the coming weeks with the focus being placed on creating job opportunities.
The article Youth Advisory Committee to be set up - Ali appeared first on Stabroek News.
During a conversation on Tamar Braxton's new podcast \"Under Construction,\" Mo'Nique spoke about her relationship with her husband Sidney Hicks and how he's fulfilling a fatherly role in her life.
Coordinates: 8°30′N 11°30′W / 8.500°N 11.500°W
15% others
Sierra Leone (/s iː ˈ ɛər ə l iː ˈ oʊ n iː, -l iː ˈ oʊ n/ ( listen)),[6] officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south-west. Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. The country has a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi)[7] and a population of 7,075,641 (based on 2015 national census).[2] It is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature.
Sierra Leone is made up of five administrative regions: the Northern Province, Northwestern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Province and the Western Area, which are subdivided into sixteen districts [2]. Each district has its own directly elected local government. Freetown (population 1,050,301), located in the Western Area, is Sierra Leones capital, largest city and its economic centre. Bo is Sierra Leones second largest city and is located in the Southern province, 160 miles from Freetown. Kenema (population 200,354) is Sierra Leones third largest city, and is located in the Eastern province, 200 miles from Freetown. Koidu Town is Sierra Leones fourth largest city and is located in the diamond rich Kono District in the Eastern province, 285 miles from Freetown. Makeni is Sierra Leones fifth largest of the countrys five major cities, and is located in the Northern province, 85 miles from Freetown.
Sierra Leone became independent from the United Kingdom on 27 April 1961 led by Sir Milton Margai. The current constitution of Sierra Leone was adopted in 1991, though it has been amended several times. Since independence to present, Sierra Leonean politics has been dominated by two major political parties; the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) and the All Peoples Congress (APC), though the Sierra Leone military had seized power through military coup six times
Two years after California lawmakers passed the first consumer data privacy act in the country, voters have a chance to expand the law or leave it as it is. Proposition 24 on the November ballot would update the California Consumer Privacy Act to add new provisions and create an agency to enforce the laws. California’s consumer data privacy laws were established […]
The post Supporters, Opponents of Prop. 24 Make Last-Minute Pitches to Voters Before Election first appeared on Post News Group.
U.S. Department of State Background Note
Guinea is located on the Atlantic Coast of West Africa and is bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte dIvoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The country is divided into four geographic regions: A narrow coastal belt (Lower Guinea); the pastoral Fouta Djallon highlands (Middle Guinea); the northern savannah (Upper Guinea); and a southeastern rain-forest region (Forest Guinea). The Niger, Gambia, and Senegal Rivers are among the 22 West African rivers that have their origins in Guinea.
The coastal region of Guinea and most of the inland have a tropical climate, with a rainy season lasting from April to November, relatively high and uniform temperatures, and high humidity. Conakrys year-round average high is 29oC (85oF), and the low is 23oC (74oF); its average annual rainfall is 430 centimeters (169 inches). Sahelian Upper Guinea has a shorter rainy season and greater daily temperature variations.
Guinea has four main ethnic groups:
West Africans make up the largest non-Guinean population. Non-Africans total about 10,000 (mostly Lebanese, French, and other Europeans). Seven national languages are used extensively; major written languages are French, Peuhl, and Arabic.
The area occupied by Guinea today was included in several large West African political groupings, including the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires, at various times from the 10th to the 15th century, when the region came into contact with European commerce. Guineas colonial period began with French military penetration into the area in the mid-19th century. French domination was assured by the defeat in 1898 of the armies of Almamy Samory Touré, warlord and leader of Malinke descent, which gave France control of what today is Guinea and adjacent areas.
France negotiated Guineas present boundaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the British for Sierra Leone, the Portuguese for their Guinea colony (now Guinea-Bissau), and the Liberia. Under the French, the country formed the Territory
Ethiopia’s month-long war in its northern Tigray region has severely hampered efforts to fight one of Africa’s worst coronavirus outbreaks,... View Article
The post Ethiopia’s conflict stokes humanitarian and virus crisis: 'I think the war is worse' appeared first on TheGrio.
However, some progress may be expected following the passing of the National Communications Law in October 2017, aimed at setting a legal and regulatory framework for the telecoms sector.
Through the anarchy which continues to disrupt the country, the telecoms market, dominated by the competitive mobile sector where seven networks compete for customers, has flourished.
The forming of a new government in 2017 has given rise to hopes that the country may stabilise and become more attractive to foreign investment, which is needed to take the telecoms and broadband sector to the next level.
During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure.
The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services.
Evariste Ndayishimiye was sworn in Thursday as Burundi's new president following the sudden death of his predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza.
Maj. Evariste Ndayishimiye prononce le discours d'investiture et rend un vibrant hommage à son prédécesseur Feu S.E Pierre Nkurunziza.
\"We are not going to build a new Burundi, rather we are going to use the foundation that was built by the Champion of Patriotism, President Pierre Nkurunziza,\" he told the public.
The policies are strikingly similar to the health and education reforms rolled out by Nkurunziza during his first term and that Ndayishimiye now wants to emulate.
If his predecessor ignored the virus and kicked out experts from the World Health Organization, Ndayishimiye seems unwilling to take any chances, amid rumours Nkurunziza succumbed to Covid-19.
Politician and educator, Thomas E. Miller was born in Ferrebeeville, Beaufort County, South Carolina on June 17, 1849. Miller was the son of free black parents, and moved with them to Charleston, South Carolina in 1851 where he attended the all-black schools in the city. After the Civil War, Miller moved to Hudson, New York where he worked and continued his education. He then received a scholarship that allowed him to attend Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Miller graduated from Lincoln in 1872.
Miller returned to South Carolina and was appointed school commissioner of Beaufort County. He then moved to Columbia, the state capital where he studied law at the recently integrated University of South Carolina. Miller was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1875.
While preparing for a career in the law Miller had already entered politics. He served as a member of the South Carolina Assembly between 1874 and 1880. Then in 1880 he was elected to the State Senate and nominated for lieutenant governor. Miller did not enter the race because the South Carolina Republican Party chose not to put forward a ticket in the wake of anti-black violence. Miller nonetheless remained politically active. He was the Republican Party state chairman in 1884.
In November 1888, Thomas Miller was elected to the U.S. Congress from South Carolina’s heavily African American Second Congressional District. Along with earlier U.S. Congressmen such as Robert Smalls, Richard H. Cain and Alonzo J. Ransier, Miller became the seventh African American elected to the House of Representatives from South Carolina during and after Reconstruction. He was also one of the last to serve, being elected to a single two year term in 1889. South Carolina followed Mississippi in black voter disenfranchisement by enforcing the ability to read and write the Constitution or to own property worth at least $300.00, a move that directly reduced Miller’s African American support.
In direct response to the charge by Senator Alfred H.
Idi Amin Dada, who became known as the Butcher of Uganda for his brutal, despotic rule whilst president of Uganda in the 1970s, is possibly the most notorious of all Africas post-independence dictators. Amin seized power in a military coup in 1971 and ruled over Uganda for 8 years. Estimates for the number of his opponents who were either killed, tortured, or imprisoned vary from 100,000 to half a million.
He was ousted in 1979 by Ugandan nationalists, after which he fled into exile.
Date of birth: 1925, near Koboko, West Nile province, Uganda
Date of death: 16 August 2003, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
An Early Life
Idi Amin Dada was born in 1925 near Koboko, in the West Nile Province of what is now the Republic of Uganda. Deserted by his father at an early age, he was brought up by his mother, a herbalist and diviner. He was a member of the Kakwa ethnic group, a small Islamic tribe that was settled in the region.
Success in the Kings African Rifles
Idi Amin received little formal education: sources are unclear whether or not he attended the local missionary school. However, in 1946 he joined the Kings African Rifles, KAR (Britains colonial African troops), and served in Burma, Somalia, Kenya (during the British suppression of the Mau Mau) and Uganda. Although he was considered a skilled, and somewhat overeager, soldier, Amin developed a reputation for cruelty - he was almost cashiered on several occasions for excessive brutality during interrogations.
He rose through the ranks, reaching sergeant-major before finally being made an effendi, the highest rank possible for a Black African serving in the British army. Amin was also an accomplished sportsman, holding Ugandas light heavyweight boxing championship from 1951 to 1960.
A Hint of What was to Come?
As Uganda approached independence Idi Amins close colleague Apolo Milton Obote, the leader of the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC), was made chief minister, and then prime minister.
Obote had Amin, one of only two high ranking Africans in the KAR, appointed as
Another peace accord between the government and the rebels was signed in March 2007. The two sides agreed to set up a power-sharing government and establish a joint army. Observers were cautiously optimistic that this deal would finally end the civil war. In April, rebel leader Guillaume Soro—President Gbagbos bitter rival—was sworn in as prime minister, and a new government was formed.
National name: République de Guinée
Current government officials
Languages: French (official), native tongues (Malinké, Susu, Fulani)
Ethnicity/race: Peuhl 40%, Malinke 30%, Soussou 20%, smaller ethnic groups 10%
Religions: Islam 85%, Christian 8%, indigenous 7%
National Holiday: Independence Day, October 2
Literacy rate: 41% (2010 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2012 est.): $12.37 billion; per capita $1,100. Real growth rate: 3.9%. Inflation: 15.2%. Unemployment: n.a. Arable land: 11.59%. Agriculture: rice, coffee, pineapples, palm kernels, cassava (tapioca), bananas, sweet potatoes; cattle, sheep, goats; timber. Labor force: 4.7 million (2012); agriculture 76%, industry and services 24% (2006 est.). Industries: bauxite, gold, diamonds; alumina refining; light manufacturing and agricultural processing industries. Natural resources: bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish. Exports: $1.348 billion (2012 est.): bauxite, alumina, gold, diamonds, coffee, fish, agricultural products. Imports: $2.606 billion (2012 est.): petroleum products, metals, machinery, transport equipment, textiles, grain and other foodstuffs. Major trading partners: India, Russia, Spain, France, US, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Ukraine, China, Netherlands (2012).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 18,000 (201); mobile cellular: 4.5 million (2011). Broadcast media: government maintains marginal control over broadcast media; single state-run TV station; state-run radio broadcast station also operates several stations in rural areas; a steadily increasing number of privately-owned radio stations, nearly all in Conakry, and about a dozen community radio stations; foreign TV programming available via satellite and cable subscription services (2011). Internet hosts: 15 (2012). Internet users: 95,000 (2009).
Transportation: Railways: total: 1,185 km (2008). Roadways: total: 44,348 km; paved: 4,342 km; unpaved: 40,006 km (2003). Waterways: 1,300 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft) (2011). Ports and
