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SOURCE: CMC - The Public Service Union (PSU) says its members will vote on Saturday on whether or not to defy a police order and participate in a protest march here next Wednesday. PSU president, Elroy Bouche, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that an estimated 155 members had attended a meeting on Thursday night where […]
The post REGIONAL: St Vincent Union to vote on whether to deny police order appeared first on Barbados Today.
Nationwide protests have taken place since October 7 despite the disbanding of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.
The demonstrators have been accused of attacking police stations and personnel.
The rallies which are mostly attended by young people have become avenues to vent against corruption and unemployment.
Rights groups say at least 15 people have been killed the demonstrations began in early October.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 1.1 million coronavirus relief payments totaling some $1.4 billion went to dead people, a government watchdog reported Thursday.
More than 130 million so-called economic impact payments were sent to taxpayers as part of the $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief package enacted in March.
The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ auditing arm, cited the number of erroneous payments to deceased taxpayers in its report on the government programs.
The relief payments were made to taxpayers based on the information filed on their 2019 or 2018 taxes.
The government used the previous tax forms to help speed along payments to the public to offset some of the economic devastation from the coronavirus pandemic.
Voters in Seychelles are starting to cast their ballots in the presidential and national assembly elections.
It comes at a crucial time for the nation of 115 islands off East Africa, Voters will decide if President Danny Faure will be elected for the first time after taking over from predecessor James Michel, who resigned.
His People's Party, which has been in power since 1977 also faces an unprecedented challenge
The vote will run across three days across the islands.
Faure is facing two rivals. The main one is Wavel Ramkalawan of the Linyon Democratik Seselwa (Seychelles Democratic Alliance) opposition party, the majority party in parliament after winning 19 of 34 seats in the last election.
He is an Anglican priest and has run for president six times
But the opposition parties have not managed to unite in this election.
The other candidate is Alain St Ange, who was in the opposition before joining the government tourism minister.
He is running for the One Seychelles party which he created a year ago.
The main concern for the voters is the economy, which has slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
About 700 people have lost their jobs, according to government figures. The idyllic islands famed for their white beaches are a hub for tourism, particularly with those on their honeymoon.
But the coronavirus pandemic has closed borders, hampering the key tourism industry.
Another key theme of the campaign has been corruption, a largely taboo topic in the tiny country where everyone knows everyone and business and politics are often intertwined.
The Seychelles is classed by Transparency International as being perceived as the least corrupt country in Africa and among the 30 least corrupt in the world.
However it is also a tax paradise housing numerous offshore companies.
Sierra Leone Telegraph: 19 October 2020: Ten African Heads of State have issued a strong call to other world leaders to increase their funding to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) or risk jeopardizing Sustainable Development Goal targets for eradicating poverty and hunger, particularly in Africa. “We share IFAD’s vision of vibrant rural communities…
Black people in America have been behind the social, economic and political eight ball ever since the first set of slaves were forcibly transported there from Africa four centuries ago, and a significant portion of them are of Jamaican and Caribbean descent.
Recent reports of the horrific death of Noel Chambers, who spent 40 years in the Jamaican penal system and died without being given a trial, have not escaped their attention.
It is true that when a white police officer kneels in a man’s neck in the US, black people everywhere should be enraged, but that is not the end of the story,” Wilson said.
How can a man be in prison for so long and die without even someone in the prison system realising that this gross injustice was meted out to our black brother?
“While our leaders have maintained for decades that they possess the legal authority to indefinitely imprison persons without a criminal trial, this system is unjust,” the JFJ said in a release.
By Olayiwola Balogun - Nigerians in the United Kingdom turned out in their multitudes on Wednesday 21 October 2020 at the Nigeria High Commission London, Parliament Square and areas close to Downing Street residence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson to protest in solidarity with their citizens who were brutally killed by Nigerian soldiers following a […]
The post UK calls for an end to violence in Nigeria appeared first on African Voice Newspaper.
Over the past six months, the lakes of Kenya's Rift Valley have risen to levels not seen in at least half a century.
This follows one of the wettest periods in East Africa in living memory. Above-average temperatures in the Indian Ocean have caused consecutive years of extreme and erratic rainfall, resulting in frequent and unusual showers on the slopes and rivers that feed the lakes
\"In my 60 years, I have never seen or experienced anything like this,\" said Richard Lichan Lekuterer, his gaze level with the tops of once-towering acacia trees poking above the water, the landscape altered beyond recognition.
Baringo and the other great lakes of Kenya's Rift Valley have risen to levels not seen in at least half a century, some by several metres or more this year alone, following months of extreme rainfall scientists have linked to a changing climate.
These tremendous bodies of water have ebbed and flowed through the ages, supporting life along the banks, but records show this latest surge is unlike any witnessed in recent memory.
\"It was like the speed of the wind,\" said Lekuterer, who relocated deep inland when the water shot up in March and is preparing to move again as the tide inches nearer.
The phenomenon is causing immense flooding along a chain of fresh and saltwater lakes stretching 500 kilometres (310 miles) along an ancient fault from the deserts of Turkana in Kenya's north, to the fertile shores of Naivasha to the south.
Tens of thousands of people have been driven to higher ground and homes, grazing land and businesses abandoned as the lakes have unrelentingly pushed outward.
- 'Phenomenal' -
The crisis shows no sign of easing, with seasonal rains forecast this month threatening further inundation.
\"It has never been this bad before,\" said Murray Roberts, who has lived on Baringo nearly 70 years, where he restores degraded land with his partner Dr Elizabeth Meyerhoff through their Rehabilitation of Arid Environments Trust.
Baringo has swollen about 70 square kilometres (27 square miles) since 2011 but rose sharply earlier this year, flooding their offices and a nearby dispensary.
Roberts' childhood home, and a family holiday business, disappeared beneath the surface.
Like Baringo, the surge at Lake Naivasha, some 200 kilometres south, began slowly about a decade ago, evoking little concern as the basin refilled after a long dry spell.
But it kept rising and in April suddenly accelerated, soon eclipsing the last historic high measured in the 1960s. The lake is now tracking closer to an extreme peak recorded in the early 20th century.
A monitoring station run by the Water Resources Authority (WRA), a government agency, indicates the lake rose 2.7 metres (8.9 feet) between April and June, pushing water half a kilometre inland.
\"It's been phenomenal,\" said Guy Erskine, as hippos wallowed in his submerged hotel at Sanctuary Farm, a conservancy on Lake Naivasha his family has owned since 1978.
- 'Things have changed' -
Government scientists are exploring possible causes for the
The rapper aims to effect change for future generations, recently partnering with neobank company Chime in a national effort to help the youth; details inside.
SOURCE: CMC - Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves suffered a concussion when he was struck in the head by an object outside Parliament on Thursday during the protest organised by the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) and two trade unions against a move by his government to have front line workers vaccinated against the […]
The post PM Gonsalves suffered concussion; must be monitored for weeks appeared first on Barbados Today.
ATLANTA (AP) — Three white men have been indicted on murder charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man fatally shot while running in a suburban neighborhood near Georgia’s coast.
Prosecutor Joyette Holmes announced Wednesday that a grand jury has indicted Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. on charges including malice and felony murder in Arbery’s death.
Arbery’s death also fueled a renewed push for a state hate crimes law in Georgia, which state lawmakers passed on Tuesday.
Arbery was slain Feb. 23 when the Greg and Travis McMichael, a white father and son, armed themselves and pursued the 25-year-old Black man running in their neighborhood.
Bryan told investigators that Travis McMichael cursed and said a racist slur as he stood over Arbery, moments after he fatally shot him, Dial testified.
… That is because in the African-American family tradition, reunions frequently act … a disease that disproportionately affects Black Americans, has prevented many of them … but meaningful political implications, as Black Americans’ voting rights are increasingly …
ATLANTA (AP) — A prosecutor on Wednesday announced that three men have been indicted on murder charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in coastal Georgia.
Prosecutor Joyette Holmes said a Glynn County grand jury has indicted Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. on charges including malice and felony murder in Arbery’s death.
Bryan was arrested on May 22, and an arrest warrant said he tried “to confine and detain” Arbery without legal authority by “utilizing his vehicle on multiple occasions” before Arbery was shot.
In addition to malice murder and felony murder charges, the McMichaels and Bryan each are charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count each of false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
There are 50 US states, but just a handful can decide the election. Since most states already lean strongly conservative or liberal, President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will spend the last two weeks of the campaign targeting battleground areas where shifting a few thousand voters could be critical to sweeping up their state's support in the decisive Electoral College.
Nigerians protesting against police brutality stayed on the streets in Lagos on Wednesday, breaking the government curfew following a night of chaotic violence in which demonstrators were fired upon, sparking global outrage.
Shots were fired Wednesday as young demonstrators set up barricades by the Lekki toll plaza in Lagos, where protesters had been fired upon Tuesday night, causing numerous injuries although officials said no deaths.
One protester told The Associated Press that his brother was shot and killed in the previous day's demonstrations and that he himself had been hurt in the leg.
Gunfire could be heard across Lagos, Nigeria's largest city of 14 million, including on the highway to the airport, at a major bus station, outside the offices of a television station and at the Lekki tollgates. Smoke could be seen billowing from several points in central Lagos.
Demonstrations and gunfire were also reported in several other Nigerian cities, including the capital city, Abuja.
The nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality have rocked Nigeria for more than two weeks. They started after a video circulated of a man being beaten, apparently by officers of the police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS.
In response to the protests, the government announced it would disband the SARS unit, which Amnesty International says has been responsible for many cases of torture and killings.
The demonstrators' demands have widened to include calls for accountable government, respect for human rights and an end to corruption in Africa's most populous nation of 196 million.
Despite massive oil wealth and one of Africa's largest economies, the bulk of Nigeria's 200 million people have high levels of poverty and lack of basic services, as a result of rampant corruption, charge rights groups.
WASHINGTON — AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins announced the creation of a new group, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and a new executive-level position, Chief Diversity Officer. The group and role were created to heighten the organization’s focus on its social mission work and best serve Americans 50+, a rapidly diversifying demographic. Jenkins also announced that she has promoted Edna Kane-Williams into the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer. The CDO position reports directly to the CEO and serves on the AARP Executive Team. Kane-Williams has worked at AARP since 2006, most recently serving as Senior Vice President […]
The post PRESS ROOM: AARP Creates New Business Group to Expand Its Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion appeared first on BNC.
(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minneapolis City Council on Friday unanimously approved a proposal to change the city charter to allow the police department to be dismantled, following widespread criticism of law enforcement over the killing of George Floyd.
The Minneapolis force has come under heavy pressure since Floyd, a Black man in handcuffs, died May 25 after a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes.
The Minneapolis Police and Peace Officers Association, which represents over 10,000 law enforcement officers, called the vote a “haphazard effort to dismantle the police department” that will create “an unsafe environment” without sufficient resources to prevent crime.
The coalition instead supports putting the department under community control via a new elected civilian council with the power to hire, fire and prosecute officers.
RELATED: Minneapolis Police Department will not remove Floyd memorial
Steven Belton, president and chief executive of Urban League Twin Cities, said the way some council members went forward without a concrete plan is “irresponsible.”
Limetree Bay Refining has challenged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 60-day shut-down order, protesting that the federal agency lacked legal authority to issue it.
