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Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova declared without offering evidence that “there are reasons to believe that Ukrainian special services were involved in the killing"
South Africa is one of the hardest-hit countries in Africa with over 740,000 infections.
The country recorded 60 more virus-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 20,011.
Newly elected DA leader John Steenhuisen has come out guns blazing following President Cyril Ramaphosa's extension of the national state of disaster by another month.
TEACHERS have rejected the government’s 40% salary hike offer, describing it as a mockery, vowing not to return to work until their employer pays them meaningful salaries. BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA/LORRAINE MUROMO Government on Tuesday proposed a 40% salary hike for all its workers and a 10% risk allowance to teachers as a way of enticing them to end the job boycott that started in September when schools reopened for examination classes, throwing schools into chaos. According to Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa during a post-Cabinet Press briefing, the 40% salary hike will be awarded to all grades below director level. The offer came after teachers rejected a 20% salary hike last week announced through the National Joint Negotiating Council. But teachers yesterday scoffed at the government offer that will leave them earning $18 237, which they said was grossly inadequate. “Incapacitated teachers have rejected the 40% salary increase offered by Cabinet on Tuesday, the increase is procedurally defective and grossly insufficient in quantum,” Progressive Teacher of Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou said. “Salaries and conditions of service are subject to bargaining between the employer and workers and not a product of employer machinations. Government attempts to render unions useless must be rejected in toto.” He said the PTUZ was ready for meaningful dialogue with the government. Government has been resisting increasing salaries for reachers, with Labour minister Paul Mavima, saying such a move would trigger inflation. Schools opened on Monday for the final phase with pupils being turned away because teachers did not report for duty. The teachers are demanding US$520 per month. “We remain worried at government’s reluctance to pay its workers in forex at a time the economy has dollarised,” Zhou said, adding the 40% salary hike would not improve the standard of living for the struggling teachers. “The government is also silent on prioritisation of health and safety of teachers and pupils, more so given cases of COVID-19 in schools. In light of the foregoing, the best foot forward for incapacitated teachers remain the incapacitation modus operandi until we are capacitated.” Zhou urged parents to keep their kids in the safety of their homes. He reiterated that the educators would not be intimidated by the steps taken by government to record names of absent teachers in order to dock their incomes. “We urge school heads to resist submission of names of incapacitated teachers to any office. We urge all teachers to rise and be counted in our incapacitation struggle. The darkest hour is just before dawn,” he said. “We implore government to engage leaders of teacher unions in order to find a holistic solution to the current impasse in schools.” He added: “We reiterate that no amount of threats and brutality can force teachers back to their workplaces. Dialogue and capacitation are the only means available, and the sooner they are employed the better for the education system in Zimbabwe.” Zimbabwe Rural Teacher
By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain's Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, one of the world's longest-serving prime ministers who led his island nation's government for decades and survived the 2011 Arab Spring protests that demanded his ouster over corruption allegations, died on Wednesday. He was 84. Bahrain's state-run news agency announced his death, saying he had been receiving treatment at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, without elaborating. The Mayo Clinic declined to comment. Prince Khalifa's power and wealth could be seen everywhere in this small nation off the coast of Saudi […]
The post Bahrain's long-serving prime minister dies at age 84 appeared first on Black News Channel.
THE trial of two Beitbridge policemen who allegedly assaulted citizens under the guise of monitoring compliance to the COVID-19 lockdown regulations failed to kick off because their lawyer was absent. BY REX MPHISA Carrotnos Wafawanaka and Hardlife Shoko are accused of assaulting Tafadzwa Mukutiri who sustained serious head injuries on April 17 this year. Resident magistrate Toyindepi Zhou acknowledged receipt of Wafawanaka and Shoko’s Bulawayo lawyer Tatenda Razemba’s letter to the court indicating that he had a commitment at the High Court. “The State has indicated it is ready for trial, but we will note that it is your constitutional right to access legal representation of your choice. I have a letter from your lawyer stating he is committed at the High Court,” Zhou said. Prosecutor Tsitsi Mutukwa suggested that since it was the defence that was not ready, it should propose a date suitable for trial and next Tuesday was agreed upon. Allegations against the two are that they assaulted Mukutiri while he was in handcuffs, accusing him of breaking COVID-19 regulations. Mukutiri, who was in the company of Cyprian Badze and Ronald Kapfunde, was allegedly bashed on the head and sustained deep cuts for which he sought medical attention. The two cops, however, allegedly destroyed his medical affidavit to conceal the crime and ordered Mukutiri to pay a fine. Zhou has already nullified the fine and ordered the police to refund him. Wafawanaka, Shoko and other policemen at Beitbridge Urban face another charge of beating up civilians during arrest while their colleague, Constable Utete from the Canine Unit, faces a charge of setting his dog on non-violent citizens. Up to 20 people were bitten by dogs and treated at Beitbridge District Hospital during the lockdown period. Follow us on Twitter @NewsDayZimbabwe
THE FIRST cruise to resume in the Caribbean has been halted after a passenger tested...
The post First cruise to resume in Caribbean halted after COVID-19 case appeared first on Voice Online.
People from the Northeast are as much Indians as the people from the rest of the country
Continue reading on ZORA »
Nigerian-born author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel has been voted the best book to have won the Women's Prize for Fiction in its 25-year history.
Adichie, who won the prize in 2007 for her 'Half of a Yellow Sun', was selected in a public vote from a list of 25 winners.
The one-time award marks the anniversary of the prize, previously called the Orange Prize and the Bailey's Prize.
Half of a Yellow Sun is set in Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria during the Biafran War.
The novel explored the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class, race and female empowerment.
\"I'm especially moved to be voted Winner of Winners because this is the prize that first brought a wide readership to my work, and has also introduced me to the work of many talented writers\", Adichie said.
The book garnered global acclaim when it was published in 2006.
A 29-YEAR-OLD Chivhu woman yesterday slit her four children’s throats before setting the family house on fire following a dispute with her husband over infidelity. BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA Emelda Marazani also reportedly attempted to commit suicide by taking poison after killing her daughters aged nine, five, three and one. Police sources claimed that Marazani, who was pregnant, had a stillbirth while in hospital where she was being treated, but personnel at the hospital said the pregnancy was intact. She handed herself to the police after committing the crime, but was admitted at Chivhu General Hospital, where she was put under police guard. Chivhu Hospital medical superintendent Alice Kanyemba said Marazani was in a stable condition. “She is at an advanced stage of pregnancy, but for now, no signs of complications have shown,” she said. It is reported that Marazani and her husband Lameck Brande had a dispute at the weekend after she saw a message from his alleged girlfriend, a Form 4 pupil at local school. Following the dispute, on Monday they went to Chirumanzi to seek advice from Marazani’s relatives and returned to Chivhu. Yesterday, Brande went to work, but Marazani, who was employed as a shop assistant in Chivhu, did not go to work and instead bought an unknown pesticide. When she returned home, she locked her four children in one room, tied the two older ones together and cut their throats with a kitchen knife. She then turned on the smaller ones and killed them too. Neighbours rushed to the scene after seeing smoke coming from the house and met Marazani who told them it was just a minor fire which she had already extinguished. She then left her house in haste, according to witnesses. “I quickly sent messages to various local WhatsApp groups when I saw smoke from the house, attempting to notify the house owners that their house was on fire, only to discover few minutes later the owner was actually there,” a witness, who preferred anonymity, said. Neighbours managed to retrieve the bodies of two younger girls, but the other two who were tied together were burnt beyond recognition. The house and the property were also destroyed by the fire. Police confirmed the incident. “The suspect, Emelda Marazani (29), had a marital dispute with her husband, Lameck Brande (43) and when the husband left for work in the morning, the suspect locked the children aged nine, five, three and one in the house. She took a rope and tied the other two elder children before slitting open their throats with a knife. The suspect went on to kill the other two children with the knife before setting the house on fire,” Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said in a statement last night. He said Marazani then drank poison which she had earlier bought before going out. “Neighbours saw some smoke and asked her what was happening. She said all was in order before she handed herself over to the police.”
Ghana’s former President Jerry John Rawlings has died in Accra Thursday morning, local media reports.
He is said to have passed on at the nation’s premier hospital, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
Jerry Rawlings had been on admission at the hospital for about a week for an undisclosed ailment.
Local online news portal, Graphic Online reports that Mr. Rawlings felt sick after his mother's burial about three weeks ago.
As a former Ghanaian military leader and subsequent politician, Rawlings led a military junta from 1981 until 1992.
He then served two terms as the democratically elected President of Ghana from January 1993 to January 2001.
The late former president initially came to power as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup in 1979.
Before this, he led an unsuccessful coup attempt against the ruling military government in 1979, just five weeks before scheduled democratic elections were due to take place.
After initially handing power over to a civilian government, he took back control of the country on December 31, 1981 as the Chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC).
In 1992, Rawlings resigned from the military, founded the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and became the first President of the 4th Republic.
He was re-elected in 1996 for four more years. Rawlings was 73.
Say goodbye to that brillo pad on your face.
Virginia reported more than 1,500 new coronavirus cases again Thursday, continuing a recent surge in cases after months of relative steadiness.
Ethiopia's Minister of Defence Kenea Yadeta on Wednesday denied allegations that Eritrea is assisting Ethiopia in the fight against Tigray People's Liberation Front or TPLF in the Tigray region.
The statement comes after the Tigray president on Tuesday accused Eritrea of attacking his region at the request of Ethiopia, saying that \"the war has now progressed to a different stage.\"
Up to 200,000 refugees could pour into Sudan while fleeing the deadly conflict, officials said Wednesday, while the first details are emerging of largely cut-off civilians under growing strain.
Communications remain almost completely severed with the Tigray region a week after Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a military offensive in response to an alleged attack by regional forces.
He insists there will be no negotiations with a regional government he considers illegal until its ruling “clique” is arrested and its well-stocked arsenal is destroyed.
Reports grew of the targeting of ethnic Tigrayans across Ethiopia, the Tigray Communication Affairs Bureau said in a Facebook post.
The administration of Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, announced rallies in support of the federal government's measures there and in other cities in the Oromia and Amhara regions Thursday, along with a blood drive for the Ethiopian army.
The European Union, the African Union and others have urged Abiy for an immediate de-escalation as the conflict threatens to destabilize the strategic but vulnerable Horn of Africa region.
Ethiopia’s federal government and Tigray’s regional government, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, blame each other for starting the conflict. Each regards the other as illegal.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia's ruling coalition for years before Abiy came to office in 2018 but has since broken away while accusing the prime minister's administration of targeting and marginalizing its officials.
Experts have compared the fighting to an inter-state conflict, with each side heavily armed. The Tigray region has an estimated quarter-million fighters, along with four of the Ethiopian military's six mechanized divisions.
That's a legacy of Ethiopia's long border war with Eritrea, which made peace after Abiy came to power but remains at bitter odds with the TPLF.
Is it safe yet to fly during the pandemic? Public health experts say staying home is best to keep yourself and others safe from infection. But if you're thinking about flying for the holidays, you should know what to expect. Flights are getting more crowded and more airlines plan to stop blocking seats to accommodate […]
