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Around a quarter million housing units have been destroyed or damaged, according to U.N. estimates
The court enjoys global jurisdiction.
Investigators will now need the authorization of the court’s judges to open a probe. Bensouda appealed for support from Nigeria’s government.
She said the army has dismissed accusations against government troops after examining them.
Boko Haram strictly opposes formal education. In 2015, Nigeria enlisted the support of neighbors Chad, Cameroon and Niger to try and defeat the group.
While the joint operations made the group lose considerable territory, they have not been able to wipe it out.
The ICC has conducted investigations in several African countries. In Sudan, Libya and Ivory Coast, former leaders were indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity after the investigations.
Allen was the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1972 AL MVP.
Provisional results from LIberia's Special Senatorial elections have put four candidates from the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP) in an early significant lead.
The results are seen as a big blow to President George Weah's ruling party the Congress for Democratic Change.
The Elections Commission on Thursday announced preliminary results from eight counties.
Madam Davidetta Brown Lansannah said, the results are from Bong, Nimba, Montserrado, Maryland, Grand Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, Margibi, and Gbapolu Counties.”
Speaking at a Press conference, chairperson of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Davidetta Brown Lansannah, said “The Liberian people can be rest assured that the Commission will accurately announce the results of the election as expressed by the people through the ballot box.”
The mid-term elections are seen as a test of support for Weah, a former football icon who has faced criticism as president over persisting economic problems.
The opposition is also leading in the country's largest county, Montserrado, which is home to the capital Monrovia, as well as most of the voters in the nation.
Tuesday’s election is regarded to have been peaceful in most parts of the West African country as 2.2 million registered voters went to the polls to elect 15 senators.
The elections occurred alongside a referendum on reducing presidential terms and allowing dual nationality.
The full results are expected to be announced within two weeks.
… coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn. Black Americans have the highest rate of … mistreatment, doctors struggle to sell Black Americans on coronavirus vaccine @LFadulu https … white people catch a cold, African Americans catch pneumonia,” Dawson told NBC …
AT the time people thought the government has now reformed and breathing a new political life, the opposite is happening. Last week’s arrest and detention of MDC Alliance vice-president Tendai Biti on allegations of insulting a Russian national Tatiana Aleshina, is clear testimony that a leopard will not change its spots. This has exposed the new dispensation’s hatred of the opposition and selective application of the law or simply abusing law. Judging from the way the Judiciary or our courts are handling cases involving opposition and civic society activists, one would be left with no option, but to conclude that some animals are not equal to others. Arrests, harassments, detentions of opposition activists have become a common place in Zimbabwe. Police and prison cells are being used to harass and torture opposition and civic society activists. It has now become so easy for opposition activists to be fast-tracked to prison than a member of Zanu PF to be fast-tracked to a police interrogation desk. Vice-President Kembo Mohadi threatened his harmless and defenceless wife with an axe, but he never got arrested. That is gender-based violence at play. If the rule of law was applied, by now Mohadi should have been locked up or appeared before a court of law. Members of the opposition are arrested nearly every month and are given stringent bail conditions, some being denied bail a number of times and then released after establishing that they had no case to answer. This demonstrate that there is selective application of law and opposition activists. It has nothing to do with whether one is guilty or not. It has to do with your political identity. Instead of investigating and bringing Tawanda Muchehiwa's abductors to book, the government is wasting resources on investigating a spurious charge of assault against Biti. There is an urgent need to reform our legal system. The Judiciary is being abused to cow opposition activists. Biti is not the only one who has been caged for such charges. Harare mayor Jacob Mafume was also arrested and denied bail on frivolous charges. Leonard Koni
The president of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who is one of the world's longest-serving leaders, will seek a fourth term in elections due next March, the country's ruling coalition said on Thursday.
The 77-year-old has led the central African country, also called Congo-Brazzaville for a total of 36 years since he first became president in 1979.
His bid to run for the top job comes after nominations by the 17 parties that make up his presidential majority.
\"The presidential majority believes that of all its leaders, it is President Sassou Nguesso who holds all the trump cards,\" said Pierre Moussa, acting chairman of the parties in the coalition.
He has yet to announce his candidacy but he could do so during a speech to the Nation on December 19 when he could also set the date of the vote which is scheduled for March 2021.
Bloodshed
The country staged a referendum in 2015 to remove a 70 year age limit and a ban on presidents serving more than two terms.
The move paved the way for Sassou Nguesso to secure a third term in elections in March 2016, which sparked bloodshed.
His rivals, former general Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and former minister Andre Okombi Salissa, disputed the results.
They were arrested, put on trial and each handed 20 years in jail on charges of undermining state security.
Congo is an oil-rich but impoverished country.
It is in the grip of a deep economic crisis, triggered by the slump in oil prices but worsened by long-standing debt and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
BY MOSES MATENGA/WINSTONE ANTONIO PARLIAMENT has exposed government for its failure to address the plight of soldiers by not providing essentials that include medical aid and allowances, as well as adequate food rations, resulting in the military personnel “marching on empty stomachs”. This was revealed on Wednesday in a report by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Home Affairs chaired by Umzingwane MP Levi Mayihlome (Zanu PF) which was presented during debate on the Finance Bill to do with the 2021 National Budget. Mayihlome said as a result of poor budgetary support of the army, morale was low, hence, the need to boost determination in the army and equip the soldiers with modern technology as the current one was archaic. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube, in his 2021 budget statement announced in November allocated the Defence and War Veterans Affairs ministry $23,75 billion instead of their proposed budget of $158,4 billion. Mayihlome said the 2021 salary allocations showed that the Finance ministry did not take into cognisance the approved military salary concept. “An army marches on its stomach. Rations are an institutional requirement, but the allocations are so paltry, one would get the impression that someone thinks he is doing the military a favour,” Mayihlome said. “The most seriously distressed expenditure items in the ministry were employment costs that currently do not reflect the approved military salary concept. On funeral benefits for the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), no funds were allocated for funerals, yet it is part of their conditions of service,” he said. The report said ZDF members, their families and war veterans were failing to access healthcare services, posing a danger to the effectiveness of the army. He said the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was grossly or not funded on funeral and medical expenses for the military and their dependents. “Currently, using PSMAS (Premier Service Medical Aid), but the claims are not being honoured. Thinking of PSMAS — can someone tell me how soldiers on operations or on important training exercises are expected to access or benefit from the use of PSMAS?” Mayihlome said the ZDF had not been paid travel and subsistence allowances (T&S) paid when soldiers were deployed and as a result a huge backlog has been accumulated. “The ZDF has accumulated a backlog on T&S, medical supplies and services where the war veterans, the ZDF members and their dependents are failing to access free health services,” he said. On allocation of food, he said it was too paltry to serve that purpose. He said as a result of Ncube’s paltry allocations to the army, the focus was now on the welfare of soldiers, instead of focusing on their training and acquisition of new combat technology. “The military need to have the appropriate tools of the trade, when there is peace so that they practice with those tools for there is no room for trial and error in actual combat. The military must not exist to be paid monthly salaries, they must be equipped and trained for war. It foll
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told Pfizer it intends \"to proceed towards an authorization\" of its coronavirus vaccine
Doctors performing bariatric surgery say good data on the rising number of requests is hard to come by for reasons unique to this age of COVID.
It is going to be a hard Christmas for many Americans. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is soaring. The virus is spreading faster than ever. Families and small business owners whose incomes have been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic are being hurt by the U.S. Senate’s refusal to provide any relief since April. This suffering […]
The post Demand that Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans Stop Blocking COVID-19 Relief first appeared on Post News Group.
Hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 63rd Grammy... View Article
The post Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five to be honored with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award appeared first on TheGrio.
With many people still nervous to travel, even under lockdown level one, here's how you can make the most of staying home.
Manchester City manager Pep Guradiola defended the players who are trying to combine doing their job with a wave of protocols to follow.
A SURVEY done by the Rural Communities Empowerment Trust (Rucet) and the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) in Matabeleland North and South has revealed that most resettlement schools are experiencing serious water challenges amid the COVID-19 outbreak. BY SILAS NKALA Rucet chairperson Thunyiwe Zidla, who is based in Lupane, said children end up resorting to open water sources in desperations. “In Matabeleland North and particularly Lupane, this pandemic came at a time there is a water crisis due to poor rains and reduced levels of water tables,” Zidla said. “The implications are that people have to share the limited water sources with livestock. This has a negative impact on rural schools when it comes to sanitation and hygiene issues,” she said. Zidla said some areas like Dongamuzi were forced to use water from unsafe sources, adding that Mathambo Secondary School was one of the worst affected. The survey revealed that at Mathambo Secondary School, the water source had dried up, while Vulindlela Primary School, which used to depend on Shangani River for water, is struggling to get the precious liquid as the river has dried up. It also established that out of 10 resettlement schools in Matabeleland North, 80% had water challenges. PTUZ Matabeleland South provincial co-ordinator Urgent Moyo said most of the schools in the province were not provided with COVID-19 personal protective equipment, while boreholes in areas such as Halisupi, Mawaza and Gungwe in Gwanda had dried up. Moyo said in resettlement areas, for example, at Sikhwili Khohli Moyo Secondary School at Nsindi Farm in Gwanda, teachers and pupils were walking more than 10km in search of water. Rucet co-ordinator Vumani Ndlovu said COVID-19 had worsened the challenges in Matabeleland North and South where low pass rates have always been recorded, and would be worse this year given that there was no learning. “Pupils from urban schools were doing e-learning, radio lessons and private lessons, but such facilities were not available for rural children due to network challenges, poor radio signals and inability to pay teachers for private lessons,” Ndlovu said. Follow Silas on Twitter @SilasNkala
by Kevin Mapasure FORMER Caps United and Warriors leftback Cephas Chimedza has revealed the heartbreak he suffered 15 years ago after missing out on an opportunity to break into the English second-tier league, the Championship. Chimedza shared letters from December 2004 and January 2005 on his Twitter page that show arrangements were being made for him to travel to England for trials with Sheffield United. The trials did not materialise in the end and after his followers on Twitter inquired why he never made it to the United Kingdom he only said the intermediary disappeared, after too many people got involved in the deal. 'The guy who was the intermediary didn't want any other people to get involved, so he just disappeared on the last minute,' he responded after followers, mostly Zimbabwean football fans got curious. Former Warriors midfielder Clemence Matawu, who recently announced retirement after a long and illustrious career, suggested that Chimedza should write a book about his experience as he had many interesting stories to share. Chimedza shared a letter from Sheffield United to the British High Commission in Harare requesting that he be granted a visa to travel for trials. 'We request that the above player be allowed to trial at Sheffield United,' the club wrote on December 29 2004, few weeks after Chimedza had been voted Soccer Star of the Year after leading Caps United to a league title. Then Caps United boss, Twine Phiri, consented to Chimedza trailing at Sheffield United. 'As per the attached letter from Sheffield United requesting the above mentioned player, Caps United hereby authorise him to proceed for trials as requested,' part of the letter read. Chimedza was pencilled to leave on January 5, but the trip never materialised. Instead, he was to move to Belgium that year to join Germinal Beershot and also played for Sint Truidense, before moving to lower leagues. Had the Sheffield United move materialised, he would have become the second Zimbabwean to play at the club after Peter Ndlovu. Follow Kevin on Twitter @KevinMapasure
President-elect Joe Biden is getting the old gang back together. Increasingly deep into the process of selecting Cabinet members and... View Article
The post Obama reunion? Biden fills Cabinet with former WH leaders appeared first on TheGrio.
By JONATHAN LEMIRE, DARLENE SUPERVILLE and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday pressed Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day or face possible firing, two administration officials said. The vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech won a critical endorsement Thursday from an FDA panel of outside advisers, and signoff from the agency — which was expected this weekend — is the next step needed to get the shots to the […]
The post White House threatens FDA chief's job over vaccine approval appeared first on Black News Channel.
It It is a story that's decades-old but still rings true today.
HBO documentary '40 years a prisoner' revisits Philadelphia in 1978 when the black liberation group Move was involved in an epic police siege and shootout.
A police officer was killed in the shootout for which nine Move members were convicted and sentenced to 30 years to life.
The Philadelphia police said they received complaints from neighbors, under orders from mayor Frank Rizzo, who ordered the group to vacate. But the situation escalated into violence.
The story documents the past event and follows Mike Africa Jr, whose parents were arrested in the raid and how he tried to free them.
\"The story captures the deep-seated racism and issues in the city of Philadelphia that we can see, that we can really begin to make some changes on,\" said Africa.
\"'40 Years a Prisoner' captures the human-ness of us, of who we are, and it shows who we are versus the image that we've been portrayed as. And that is the element that I think is so valuable in it, because people get to see us for us, who we are and how we interact with each other, the love we share with each other.\"
The film shows the shocking footage of one of the Move members, Delbert Africa, is beaten by three police officers while he is unarmed, showing how police brutality and systematic racism ensues to this day.
Director Tommy Oliver finished editing the movie in June, just days after George Floyd was killed under the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis.
\"It's a cautionary tale in a big way, because when we forget our history, we're doomed to repeat it. And this was something that, like you said, you didn't know about it, your parents barely knew about it,\" said Oliver
\"And here we are fighting for the same thing some 40 years later, fighting against police brutality, wrongful incarceration, systemic racism, abuse of power.\"
The siege ranks as one of the most violent clashes of the black liberation struggle involving Move and the Black Panthers in the late 1960s and 1970s.
But systemic racism and police brutality are not the only themes of the film.
\"But it's also a story about love. It's a story about a child's love. It's a story about romantic love. It's a story about the love of a city,\" Oliver said.
It also ends on a somewhat upbeat note with his parents released 40 years later and the film captures the first hug between mother and son.
BY FREEMAN MAKOPA VETERAN musician and promoter Clive Malunga yesterday challenged the government to run institutions based on non-partisanship after his Jenaguru Arts Centre built 25 years ago in the capital was on Thursday demolished by Harare City Council. In an interview, Malunga said the government has to put mechanisms that protect the arts industry. “We are not in Gaza or Palestine where Israelites destroy people’s things and we are not at war with each other. So, the government should make sure these institutions are not run based on partisanship where people look at where you come from or who you support. There is unfairness in all this,” he said. “Zimbabwe unlike other countries has vast land and if they wanted to give someone that land they should have just given them another piece rather than destroying our centre. The government should put in place mechanisms that protect the arts industry and if we had that in place we would not have these mishaps.” But acting council spokesperson Innocent Ruwende claimed Malunga had encroached onto private land. “The only issue here is that he (Malunga) encroached on land which is meant for other things that is why the buildings were demolished. It doesn’t matter if he has letters, but if he doesn’t have the offer letter it means the land is not his,” he said. Malunga, however, vowed to stay put at the centre, although it will no longer accommodate students. “We still have the arts centre, but it is now small to cater for all the students, like we have traditional dance groups that we have been teaching from various parts of the country and now we are unable to help them achieve their goals because we now have a small place,” he said. “People in power should make sure institutions are fair because the blame will always go to the ruling party Zanu PF and MDC (but) the forums should not be used at national entities. Anyone who wants to do this should go and do it at their parties. People should not label others or me as a sell-out because I am not a sell-out.” Malunga said the centre was demolished without giving him an opportunity for negotiations. “I have a letter which I wrote to the city council pleading with them to develop it so that I start my Jenaguru project. It’s now 25 years since its inception in 1995,” he said. “I have written them letters and applied to buy the land, but they just placed me on a waiting list, in which I was ready to follow all normal procedures to acquire the place, but they told me at first that the place was meant for a technical college and to my surprise they are saying someone has bought it.” Malunga said he had explored several avenues that include travelling abroad to source funds in order to develop the centre, adding that he had high hopes that the place will go a long way in uplifting untapped talent. “The place has been playing a crucial role in ensuring that people realise their talents, while at the same time we were sending people to other countries to pursue their dreams,” he said. “Notwithstanding all that they just sent me
Legislators in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday voted to remove the National Assembly speaker, as the political rift between President Felix Tshisekedi and supporters of his predecessor Joseph Kabila deepens.
After parliament became a scene of brawls between MPS this week, they voted in favour of a petition to force out the National Assembly's pro-Kabila speaker, Jeanine Mabunda.
The petition was launched by Tshisekedi loyalists after the president announced on Sunday that he would seek to forge another coalition within the FCC, which controls 300 of 500 seats in parliament, or would otherwise dissolve the assembly.
The coalition, formed in 2018 after Tshisekedi's election, has prevented the president from passing much-needed reforms.
A total of 484 MPs out of 500 were present at a tense session late Thursday debating whether to oust the assembly's speaker Mabunda, with 281 voting in favour and 200 against.
'Dictatorial regime'
The speaker asked the assembly to reject the petition against her due to \"purely technical and non-political\" reasons.
But the FCC accuses Tshisekedi of breaching the constitution.
The party says Tshisekedi is plotting to establish a \"dictatorial regime, in the service of personal power\".
Kabila, who is still only 49 after ruling for 18 years, retains huge clout through political allies and appointees in the military.
On Thursday Tshisekedi met with around 50 high-ranking army officials, who \"reaffirmed their determination to only carry out his orders\", the presidency said on Twitter.
Tshisekedi also met with military leaders last week, the head of the elite Republican Guard ordering his troops \"not to plot\" against the president.
On Monday, pro-Tshisekedi MPs trashed furniture on the National Assembly's podium, and on Tuesday, legislators on both sides brawled in the building's lobby, prompting the police to intervene.
Tshisekedi has been verbally supported by other countries, including the United States, France and Belgium.
