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"Since this campaign has been (on) everyone is worried. Everyone is worried," said driver Andrew Kiiza.
\t While no one claimed responsibility for the attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif pointed the finger at Israel, calling the killing an act of ``\"state terror.''
\t ``Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice _ with serious indications of Israeli role _ shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators,'' Zarif wrote on Twitter.
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.\"
Local entertainment promoters and night clubs would do well to take note of the decision by the administration of Prime Minister Andrew Holness in Jamaica which is widely regarded as the entertainment capital of the Caribbean, to keep in place an existing ban on such public events during the Christmas season.
The article Jamaica turns down promoters’ lobby for Christmas ‘bashments’ appeared first on Stabroek News.
WELLINGTON, (Reuters) - The Pakistan cricket team’s behaviour in their bio-secure facility in Christchurch had “significantly improved”, New Zealand’s Ministry of Health said yesterday, just 24 hours after the tourists had been warned about breaching COVID-19 protocols.
The article Pakistan’s isolation behaviour ‘significantly improved’: NZ govt appeared first on Stabroek News.
THE 2021 budget presented by the finance minister Mthuli Ncube to Parliament shows that the minister was living in a ‘fantasy world,’ according to academic, Professor Austin Chakaodza. “Some of the major challenges facing our society are issues of poverty and unemployment. Ninety percent of the people of Zimbabwe were already unemployed before the eruption of COVID-19. The majority of the people continue to lack certain basic capabilities which are encapsulated in the socio - economic rights guaranteed in the constitution,” he said. “They continue to be deprived of basic capabilities - such as the capability to be free from hunger, to live in good health, to be literate and access to a social security safety net. This budget does not fulfil a number of human rights such as the right to food, health, education and training,” Chakaodza said. A big part of Mthuli 2021 budget is a range of new tax measures to fund the ambitious $421,6 billion budget. The highlight of this plan is how the taxman plans to go after the informal sector, which is the bulk of the economy but pays little tax. From new and higher taxes to a new tax unit targeting SMEs, it is a budget that gives away very little, but takes a lot. Here is how some of Mthuli’s measures will affect you. If you are a low-income earner There is not much tax relief for you. The tax-free threshold has only been raised slightly from $5 000 per month to $10 000 per month. Tax bands will begin at $10 001 and end at $250 000 per month. This does little for the poorest workers. For perspective; in October, a Zimbabwean family of five needed $18 750 just to stay above the poverty line. If you earn more than $250 000, you pay the highest marginal tax rate of 40%. If you are expecting a bonus, the bonus tax-free threshold has gone up from $5 000 to $25 000, with effect from 1 November 2020. If you were tired of the 2% tax, sorry The 2% tax on mobile money and other electronic transfers stays. The tax has been unpopular since it came in 2018, but Mthuli says it has “generated substantial resources that have enabled Government to support various infrastructure projects”, including the COVID-19 response. So, the Minister isn’t giving much of this cash-cow away. You will no longer pay the 2% for transactions of up to $500, which is just a small increase from the current $300. For forex transactions, this tax will apply above US$5. The maximum of this tax that your business can pay has been raised from $25 000 to $800 000 on transactions with values exceeding $40 million, with effect from 1 January 2021. If you were planning to import a car Government will now control the importation of cars that are 10 years or older. Owning a car has just slid further from the reach of the majority, who cannot afford new vehicles. According to Mthuli, Zimbabwe has spent around US$1,3 billion importing buses and used cars over the past five years. Cars older than 10 years are now off the Open General Import Licence. This means that, from 2021, you will need a special import licence for older cars.
Betty Porto, co-owner of Porto’s in Glendale, poses for a photo as employees
DEFIANT teachers have dug in demanding provision of personal protective equipment for fear of contracting COVID-19 before returning to the classrooms. By Tatenda Chitagu The teachers also vowed not to invigilate Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) examinations, saying the examination body should have a separate arrangement with them. Teachers last week begrudgingly accepted a 41% salary increase and have since registered their displeasure, but they have been under pressure from a shadowy Zanu PF-linked union called Zimbabwe Parents Union (ZPU) to report back to work. In a memo to members dated November 26, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) said its members were still incapacitated and vowed to snub invigilating the examinations. “This note serves to remind each and every one of us that we are still incapacitated, but we are encouraging all our members to attend school once every week for the next three weeks to assess adherence of schools to COVID-19 regulations,” the memo, signed by Artuz secretary-general Robson Chere, read. “We are informed of shocking COVID-19 reports emanating from schools. As Artuz members, we will not take part in invigilating end of year Zimsec examinations. We will not be drawn to invigilate learners that we did not teach for the whole year due to incapacitation and COVID-19-induced lockdown.” Another teachers union, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) wrote to the Public Service Commission and Primary and Secondary Education ministry saying its members will not report full-time for duty, citing COVID-19 fears. “We would like to officially notify you that our members will not be able to report for work full-time due to the continued state of incapacitation,” part of the letter by PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe, dated November 23 read. “The agreement reached with government on remuneration last Monday did not capacitate us as expected. It still falls short of the minimum expenses that our members have to meet, which we estimate to be not less than US$520 which we demanded. Government has even failed to meet the consumer basket, announced by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe as about $21 000 and by our own research, not less than $28 000.” Majongwe added: “Our members have had to report for work under duress, but will be able to do so for a maximum of three days a week. This enables them to hustle around to fend for the families. We regret to inform you that this situation will persist until government fully capacitates them to report for work full-time. “We also officially inform you that our members will not invigilate Zimsec examinations because they do not work for that parastatal. If Zimsec wishes to secure their services, it should negotiate with them for remuneration commensurate with that duty. We stand ready to facilitate that dialogue before the examination session starts in earnest on December 1.” Majongwe also requested for a waiver on teachers with chronic conditions to stop reporting for duty until the COVID-19 pandemic subsi
