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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) has announced a $5 million reward for the capture of three M23 rebel leaders, including former electoral chief Corneille Nangaa, military commander Sultani Makenga, and political leader Bertrand Bisimwa. The trio was sentenced to death in absentia.
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
Black Friday officially kicked off the 2020 holiday shopping season, but the coronavirus pandemic has affected consumers' spending habits considerably in myriad ways. Black consumers have not been exempt from that truth.
Nigerien History-Maker on a Mission
The first person from the Niger Republic to work at NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is a woman and the name of this brilliant mind, altruistic heart and award-winning scientist is Dr Fadji Maina . Maina was raised in Zinder — one of the largest cities in the Niger Republic that has had marked challenges with water scarcity that are worsening due to climate change.
Big Heart and Big Dreams
The accomplished scientist has recalled feeling blessed as when she was a little girl she was aware of many households that did not have running water like her own and would often wonder about the lines of tens of girls standing outside her family home with buckets during the dryer months of the year. It appears that the water issues exacerbated some of the gender-equality challenges within Nigerien society as it was typically the girls who would be sent by their families to fetch water from lakes or neighbours’ residences — amid other domestic duties, while priority was often given to boys to get an education.
Hence, her compassionate ten-year-old self knew she wanted to do something to eradicate the regional water issues her community faced.
This is What Success Looks Like
And she has surpassed even her own ambitions with a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering from the University of Fes, a master’s degree in engineering and environmental sciences and a doctorate in hydrology — both from the University of Strasbourg. Even before joining NASA at the end of August this year, the trilingual (Hausa, French and English) professional had already received international recognition and even made it onto the prestigious Forbes’ 30 Under 30 2020 Science list for her published research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California.
Today at twenty-nine years old, Maina works as an Earth scientist working as a computational hydrologist — using mathematical models and remote-sensing products to study the impact of climate change on water, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centers and holds the title as the first Nigerien to be a part of the US space agency’s team.
A position that has made her native country very proud. A feeling in a matter of sorts which appears to be mutual as one of Dr Maina’s social media handle profiles reads, “Proudly a daughter of Niger.”
Dr Fadji Maina hopes to not only make a positive impact on the world’s rising water issues but to also inspire other Nigerien women and girls — as she exemplifies being a model African citizen.
By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — With many small businesses struggling to hold on during the coronavirus pandemic, Issa Rae believes now is the time to support independent stores more than ever. The creator and star of HBO series 'Insecure' strongly encourages people to shop locally as part of Small Business Saturday, a couple days after Thanksgiving. She said the initiative created by American Express, for which she is a compensated endorser, can help give an extra push during the holidays to small businesses who have gone into survival mode. Rae said using 'word of […]
The post Issa Rae urges participation in Small Business Saturday appeared first on Black News Channel.
[UN Women] Galvanizes partners to fund organizations, respond to survivors' needs, prevent violence and collect data to build a post-pandemic \"new normal\" as the 16 days of Activism campaign kicks off
By Erick Johnson Morgan Park resident Catherine Townsend has made a 107-year-old Chicago holiday tradition sparkle. For the first time in the city’s history, Townsend is the first resident in Chicago to donate the Christmas tree in Millennium Park. She is also the first Black donor to hold the honor of one of Chicago’s oldest […]
… a state that traditionally disenfranchised African-American citizens. And the record about …
… L. Fudge of Ohio, an African-American Democrat from Ohio.
Mr. Clyburn … owes a special debt to African-American voters, and that he wants …
1. Spend Green and Buy Black This Black Friday What You Need To Know: To address economic inequality in Chicago, the city has partnered with the Chicago Urban League and local advertising agency O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul to create “Black Shop Friday”. 2. Incarcerated During the Holidays Meet Eric Powell, an inmate at Ross Correctional…
WARRIORS stars Tinotenda Kadewere and Marshall Munetsi, the only Zimbabweans playing in the French Ligue 1, meet for the first time on Sunday when their two sides clash in a league match. BY FORTUNE MBELE Kadewere only joined Olympique Lyonnais from second-tier side Le Havre in January and has since established himself, while Munetsi joined Stade de Reims last year and in May, extended his stay by four years. The Warriors gunslinger is Lyon’s man of the moment, whose exploits have taken the club to position three on the league table, while Munetsi’s Stade de Reims are struggling, sitting on position 17 ahead of the Sunday clash at the Park Olympique Lyonnais. Odds favour Lyon, who have gone eight games without tasting a defeat, picking four wins and four draws in which Kadewere has scored his four goals. He was single-handedly in charge of Lyon’s last two wins, netting a brace in the 2-1 win over St Ettiene and the solitary goal against Angers SCO. Kadewere has received rave reviews from ligue1.com ahead of the Sunday tie against Reims as he closes in on Lyon’s leading scorer Memphis Depay, who is on five goals. “Memphis Depay has Tino Kadewere hot on his heels in the goalscoring stakes as Olympique Lyonnais get set to welcome Stade de Reims. It was Kadewere who proved the difference between Lyon and Angers SCO on Sunday, through the Zimbabwean’s second-half strike, his fourth goal in five games, leaving him just one behind the Dutchman, and his side just two points away from Lille and four from Paris Saint Germain (PSG),” ligue1.com said. According to ligue1.com, Depay and Moussa Dembélé have been linked with a move to Spanish giants Barcelona and Lyon’s attack is poised to revolve around Kadewere in the future. Munetsi, a defensive midfielder, who last November managed to contain Brazilian star Neymar Jnr when his side beat PSG 1-0, has the task of making sure his menacing compatriot Kadewere and Depay are kept at bay. Lyon will have to contend with Reims’ Senegalese forward Boulaye Dia, who has banged in eight goals this far, one short of the league’s leading scorer, PSG and France’s star Kylian Mbappé. Munetsi, a regular at Reims, missed the 2-0 defeat to PSG in September after he received his marching orders in the previous 2-1 loss to Metz. He has played all the succeeding five matches, cautioned last week in the 1-0 defeat to Nîmes and in the 2-2 draw against Rennes, substituted in the big 4-0 demolition of Montpellier.
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
Typically, U.S. Presidents do not speak during Thanksgiving, unless there is a situation of national emergency. However, on this unusual of Thanksgiving Days, President Donald J. Trump spoke from the White House, promising he would visit Georgia to campaign for U.S. Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in their fights to retain their seats in Congress. 'Speaking of Georgia, I'll […]
Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton is urging operators of private labs to be reasonable in what they charge to conduct antigen testing for COVID-19.The health ministry on Monday started a month-long pilot of antigen testing for the novel coronavirus at nine public health facilities islandwide, and on Wednesday Tufton told journalists that private labs will begin offering the tests shortly.
The recent increase in novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Bartica is the result of residents refusing to adhere to preventative measures, according to Mayor Gifford Marshall, who says the region has since recommended the reinstatement of a 12-hour curfew and restrictions on non-essential movement.
The article Bartica residents’ irresponsible behaviour to blame for surge in COVID-19 cases - Mayor appeared first on Stabroek News.
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.
This Thanksgiving, Rep. Maxine Waters didn’t spend it with her family in California. Instead, the outspoken congresswoman spent the day... View Article
The post Maxine Waters spent holiday away from family to 'kick butt' for stimulus plan appeared first on TheGrio.
In its October World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund projected a 6.6% contraction in the UAE’s growth this year.
Recovery, the institute said, was not expected before 2021.
Whilst oil price swings and the coronavirus pandemic have hit hard, the UAE capital Abu Dhabi says it remains committed to its economic growth & diversification plans.
Moreover, last month, the agency Fitch reaffirmed the capital’s ‘AA’ rating and outlook as “stable”.
It cited, amongst other factors, Abu Dhabi’s strong fiscal metrics and reduced exposure to tourism, real estate and retail, compared to neighbouring emirates.
ADIO action
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) is the central government hub supporting investment in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Its vision is to develop a thriving, knowledge-economy for Abu Dhabi that is competitive and diverse, whilst attracting FDI.
How? The entity cites the UAE’s strategic location between East and West, its high ranking in regional reports relating to the ‘Ease of Doing Business’, plus its positioning on global competitiveness and innovation indexes.
Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, is an Emirati-American, London-trained economist who hopes to expand Abu Dhabi’s economy as the Director-General and CEO of the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
The former Emirates NBD executive is interested in cultivating a viable ecosystem for SMEs and startups in the UAE’s capital.
With a forward-thinking approach, Bin Hendi links diverse value systems across cultures to attract foreign investment.
Accelerators
A hashtag sculpture at Hub71’s space
Ghadan 21 is a $13 million accelerator program looking to support SMEs in the country which is overseen by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
When Inspire Middle East asked about the impact of Coronavirus on Ghadan 21, Bin Hendi says adaptability is key, with Ghadan 21 being both a proactive and reactive program.
The economist maintains that by adapting policy and with resources such as sovereign wealth funds, support from larger government entities, as well as the private sector, SMEs have the backing support to develop.
The fostering of innovation in the capital has seen the creation of Hub71 , an international tech base, which brings together startups, top VC funds, and investors.
AgriTech explorations
Crops being grown inside hydroponic greenhouses
ADIO has also encouraged innovators to flourish in the Agricultural Technology (AgTech) space, offering incentive programs, including financial incentives, to companies looking to relocate or expand in Abu Dhabi.
Pure Harvest is a farming startup that has reaped the benefit of ADIO’s support & investment.
Using climate-controlled, high-tech, hydroponic greenhouses located outside of the city, the company makes year-round farming possible in the arid desert.
“ADIO’s financial commitment is helping us significantly, as it’s allowing us to add additional technologies to our current deployments here in Al Ain,” Sky Kurtz, the Co-founder and CE
ZIMBABWEANS have expressed mixed feelings on the 2021 national budget presented by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube in Parliament yesterday, saying it should have been configured in United States dollars as the economy has dollarised. BY RICHARD MUPONDE/VANESSA GONYE Ncube presented his budget in Zimbabwe dollars with education getting the largest allocation after it was given $500 billion. Norton legislator Temba Mliswa (independent) said: “The fuel which is used to drive the truck economy is being sold in US dollars yet people are not being paid that money. We should have real money. It is not good for us to just have big numbers without value. The economy has dollarised.” Miriam Mushonga from Mabvuku added: “The minister (Mthuli) should have presented the budget in US dollars because everything is now being charged in that currency. “Civil servants should be paid in US dollars. Citizens are being paid in Zimdollars, but have to bear the brunt of using hard currency with their earnings chewed by the cross rate.” Community Working Group on Health executive director Itai Rusike said the 2021 budget allocation to the health sector was below the level required for the delivery of quality services despite the fact that health has maintained its ranking in the top five ministries in allocation of government funding. “The Health and Child Care ministry got $54,7 billion which is about 13% (of the budget). But has the allocation increased in real terms if compared to other years? “While the government has shown signs of prioritising health, the overall level of public spending is still low relative to need. Health, thus, needs to continue to be prioritised and the share of gross domestic product needs to be maintained,” he said. He, however, noted that the budget allocation for health did not increase in real terms. Rusike urged the government to make health delivery a top priority if it was to save its health institutions from imminent collapse. “The state of health services is directly related to the government’s misplaced priorities. Government is not allocating adequate resources to the health sector,” he said. Rusike hinted on the possibility of the COVID-19 pandemic going out of hand should there be no adjustments to the health sector allocation. Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education chairperson Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga said she was happy with the budget as her brief was given. “The ministry (Primary and Secondary Education) was given a lot of money. I just hope it is not going to salaries. In the previous budget, all the money went to budget salaries,” she said. Tafadzwa Chireya from Epworth said he was happy that education was given a priority. “You see for yourself that the standards of education have gone down, especially because of COVID-19. The amount that has been given to education is good enough to put back the rails of our education system. I just hope the amount is not going to be chewed up by teachers’ salaries,” Chireya said. Another resident said the budget has a focus on production, especi
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
Although ExxonMobil has been bullish on its over nine billion barrels of oil reserves to date in the Guyana basin, the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that from documents it has seen, the company has lowered its outlook on oil prices for much of the next decade.
The article Exxon has lowered outlook on oil prices for much of next decade –WSJ report appeared first on Stabroek News.
By Associated Press Undefined BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has fined two pharmaceutical companies for colluding to keep a cheap alternative to a sleep disorder medicine off the market for their profit and at the expense of patients. EU antitrust commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said that Teva pharmaceuticals and Cephalon, a company it later acquired, must pay 60.5 million euros ($72 million) for agreeing between themselves to delay for years the launch of Teva's cheaper version of Cephalon's blockbuster Modafinil. In return for the delay, Teva got beneficial side deals and some payments. Vestager said that 'Teva's and Cephalon's pay-for-delay […]
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is one of the leading... View Article
The post Dr. Fauci and Byron Allen talk COVID-19 pandemic outlook for Black America appeared first on TheGrio.
Michael Jordan has donated $2 million to food banks in the Carolinas and Chicago, using proceeds from The Last Dance.... View Article
The post Michael Jordan donates $2M of 'The Last Dance' proceeds to food shelter appeared first on TheGrio.
… , already the highest-ranking African-American Catholic in US history, told … quot;
Butler, who is African American, said she would have … the pandemic.
"For African American Catholics this is huge,… will be over. And Black Americans' long wait for …
(ThyBlackMan.com) Many Trump haters have been lying all along about President Donald Trump, what he stands for, what his record has been, and who his supporters are. Now they tell us they want unity. What Trump wants - and want his supporters want - is for America to reclaim its greatness, its robust liberty tradition, […]
By NICOLE WINFIELD and TRISHA THOMAS Associated Press ROME (AP) — The Vatican's Santa Marta hotel was built to sequester cardinals during papal elections. It's now sequestering soon-to-be cardinals in town for this weekend's ceremony to get their red hats: A handful are in protective coronavirus quarantine, confined to their rooms on Vatican orders and getting meals delivered to their doors. The 10-day quarantines, with COVID-19 tests administered at the start and finish, are just one example of how Saturday's ceremony to elevate new cardinals is like nothing the Holy See has ever seen. 'They told me it would be […]
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An Iranian scientist named by Israel as the leader of the Islamic Republic's disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday... View Article
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By LUIS ANDRES HENAO Associated Press When Chip Matthews heard the mail truck arriving on his sixth birthday, he rushed out — not knowing that he'd come back with a treasure. Outside the house, which was decorated with birthday balloons, mail carrier Tawanna Purter held a pile of boxes. One of them was marked with Chip's name and a greeting for his special day, Nov. 5. 'So, when he came running out the door, I said: 'You must be Chip!' And he was like, yes. I said, 'Today's your birthday?' And he started smiling,' Purter said. 'So, I said, 'Let […]
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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.
