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BY SPORTS REPORTER TANZANIAN side Simba Stars arrived in Harare yesterday, five days before their Caf Champions League first round first leg tie against FC Platinum to be played at the National Sports Stadium in a show of how seriously they are taking this tie. Simba Stars qualified for the first round after they knocked out Plateau United of Nigeria following a 1-0 away win before the nil-all home draw. The Zimbabwe champions on the other hand dispatched Mozambique's Costa dol Sol 4-1 on aggregate. Norman Mapeza's side have it all to do if they are to progress beyond this stage, facing a side leaving nothing to chance. FC Platinum's target is to go beyond the group stage, but even reaching the mini league stage will be a tall order. The Zvishavane-based side will be looking to win the home match without conceding. Unlike FC Platinum, Simba Stars have been involved competitively as the Tanzania top-flight league ran it's full course last season before they began a new one. FC Platinum's only competitive matches since March came against Costa dol Sol. They reappointed Mapeza a week before they face Costa dol Sol in the first leg. The miners will be looking to tap into their experience, having made it into the group stages of the last two editions of the tournament.
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
An Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic's disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said.
\t Iran's foreign minister alleged the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh bore ``serious indications'' of an Israeli role, but did not elaborate.
Israel, long suspected of killing several Iranian nuclear scientists a decade ago, declined to immediately comment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once told the public to \"``remember that name'' when talking about Fakhrizadeh.
\t The killing risks further raising tensions across the Mideast, nearly a year after Iran and the U.S. stood on the brink of war when an American drone strike killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general in Baghdad.
\t Details about the assassination remained slim in the hours after the attack, which happened in Absard, a village just east of the capital that is a retreat for the Iranian elite.
Iranian state television said an old truck with explosives hidden under a load of wood blew up near a sedan carrying Fakhrizadeh.
\t As Fakhrizadeh's sedan stopped, at least five gunmen emerged and raked the car with rapid fire, the semiofficial Tasnim news agency said.
Photos and video shared online showed a Nissan sedan with bullet holes in the windshield and blood pooled on the road.
Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice—with serious indications of Israeli role—shows desperate warmongering of perpetratorsIran calls on int'l community—and especially EU—to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 27, 2020
\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.
Nigeria will encourage and support every move that will enhance economic cooperation between her and the Republic of Algeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured.
[This Day] -Says news network exhibiting panic by seeking to clarify its tweet 35 days after
AUSTIN – Texas officially dedicated a statue to the late Julius Whittier before Friday’s game with Iowa State, honoring the school’s first Black football...
(CALMATTERS) - California is in the throes of another COVID-19 surge — cases are skyrocketing and hospital beds are filling up quickly. On Tuesday, hospitals had 3,300 more COVID patients than at the beginning of this month, state health officials said. But a glimmer of hope has emerged in the last leg of 2020: The […]
From the first death in December 2019 and world-wide quarantine to the development of vaccine, here are 2020's COVID-19 milestones.
[IPS] Johannesburg, South Africa -- Japan should step up and play a role as a global facilitator for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, Dr Daisaku Higashi said at a recent Japan Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP) study meeting.
[This Day] Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
By Gracie Bonds Staples Thanksgiving Day celebrations at my home have been shrinking for years so this one, just days away, won’t look that different. Depending on how you look at it, it’s one of the blessings or, in my case, curses of your kids growing up and moving away. But life isn’t just about... [Read More]
… L. Fudge of Ohio, an African-American Democrat from Ohio.
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CEO says AstraZeneca likely to run new global trial of COVID-19 vaccine: Bloomberg News - Correct Success The Canadian Press ‘These are loved ones:’ Top doctor says most COVID-19 deaths…
DESPERATE Bulawayo residents have resorted to harvesting rain water as the city’s supply dams are yet to receive significant inflows from the current intermittent downpours. BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) chairperson Ambrose Sibindi said the rains had come as relief to the residents who were finding it difficult to source water due to the water crisis being experienced in the second city. “Most residents were fighting for water at boreholes and council bowsers and also other unsafe sources that they had to dig for themselves,” Sibindi said. “For the past three days, we have been receiving good rains. There are no longer queues at boreholes.” He added: “People are harvesting rain water and utilise it for different purposes. Some are even boiling it for drinking and if rains continue, this will be a huge relief to the residents.” Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairman Winos Dube weighed in: “I pray this again could mark a good turn to learning how to harvest and reserve water. Hard times sometimes bring best lessons, which I hope Bulawayo residents have learnt from.” Human rights activist Effie Ncube said it was not surprising that residents were surviving on rain water as it was the only readily available source in the city. “The city council has failed to provide clean and reliable water because of a number of factors, including that the dams are empty. It is a pity because the shortage of water has increased water-borne diseases in Bulawayo,” Ncube said.
HIGH Court judge Justice Felistas Chatukuta has ruled in favour of Kubatana Arts and Craft Centre Co-operative and barred the Institute of African Knowledge from constructing a museum at the co-operative’s stand in Warren Park, Harare. BY CHARLES LAITON Justice Chatukuta’s order was issued on Wednesday this week, days after Justice Sylvia Chirawu Mugomba issued another order interdicting the City of Harare from evicting members of the co-operative from stand number 5797, where the government intended to set up a Museum of African Liberation. Justice Chatukuta issued the order following an application for an interdict by the Arts and Craft Centre after the City of Harare went to the centre armed with an eviction and demolition notice. In its application, the co-operative cited Institute of African Knowledge, Tonderai Katsande, City of Harare, Local Government and Public Works minister July Moyo and Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga as co-respondents. Last week Thursday, Kubatana Arts and Craft Co-operative Society also took the City of Harare to court seeking an order declaring null and void the cancellation of an agreement of sale relating to the same piece of land. Chairperson Gideon Chidongo said the co-operative had been occupying the stand since 1992, but efforts to have the same stand transferred into its name had been futile. Chidongo said the co-operative was shocked when on November 11, 2020, the City of Harare delivered a notice cancelling the agreement of sale for the stand and ordering members to vacate the premises. “This is an application for an order declaring the cancellation of an agreement of sale between respondent and the applicant relating to Stand 5797 Warren Park Township, Harare, null and void,” the notice read. Chidongo said he paid the purchase price in instalments and referred the court to attached copies of receipts for the deposit and final payment for the stand. Said Chidongo: “Applicant connected water and provided sewage reticulation to the said stand and installed electricity on it.” He said the co-operative constructed toilets and some buildings on the stand designed for the purpose of operating an art and craft centre and had been enjoying undisturbed use of it. The decision by council to dispossess him of the land purchased 28 years ago was motivated by ulterior motives, he said.
An Iranian scientist named by Israel as the leader of the Islamic Republic's disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday... View Article
The post Iran scientist linked to military nuclear program killed appeared first on TheGrio.
A team of UCLA researchers has developed a method to identify those most at risk of the coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to guide public policy related to the control and prevention of COVID-19.
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Samara Heisz/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, IVAN PEREIRA and MEREDITH DELISO, ABC News (NEW YORK) - A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 60.2 million people and killed…
MONTEGO BAY, St James - Owen Speid has slammed some principals who he has accused of trying to look better than their peers by going out to school despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, thus putting the lives of others at risk.
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.
As the sense of emergency and worsening crisis in poor countries arising out of the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic becomes increasingly clear, World Bank Group President David Malpass has called for a refashioning of the arrangements governing the management of the debt burden of those countries in order to further accentuate an already critical situation.
The article Reform debt repayment regime for poor countries - World Bank Group President appeared first on Stabroek News.
Shortages have become ‘’very critical’’ in Ethiopia’s embattled northern region of Tigray, the United Nations says. The region of 6 million people is still sealed off as it faces threats by Ethiopian federal forces.
Martin Plaut is a writer and an expert on Ethiopia. He says what is ‘’ much more likely is that the Tigrayans will head for the hills in the mountains, it's an extremely rough terrain.’’
‘’If he has a quick victory then perhaps he will be able to establish control. Much more likely is that the Tigrayans will head for the hills in the mountains, it's an extremely rough terrain. And they know it very well, they spent 20 years fighting the previous government, which they overthrew in 1991. In the same time they don't control the skies. The skies are held by the jets of the Ethiopian Air force and also, the Tigrayans are said to be under attack from the United Arab Emirates who have drones based in neighboring Eritrea, and they are said to be using these drones against key targets’’, he said.
Plaut noted that the trappings of Tigrayans in the fight is compounding an already dire situation.
‘’The BBC reported seeing Ethiopian federal troops now preventing people from crossing the river into Sudan. Which is why the numbers have dropped substantially from about 6.000 a day to about 700 a day. So people are being trapped in the fighting, and that is making their situation even worse. Once they get across the river of course they can get substantial aid and assistance. And the international community is moving heaven and earth to make that happen’’, Plaut added.
More than a million people are now displaced. Fuel and cash are running out. The Tigrayan capital, Mekele cannot be accessed by the UN World Food Program over travel blockages.
Communications links remain severed with the Tigray region since the deadly conflict broke out on November 4. Human Rights Watch is warning that ``actions that deliberately impede relief supplies'' violate international humanitarian law.
It was late on the first Tuesday in November, and Captain Hussen Besheir, an Ethiopian federal soldier, was on duty at a guard post outside the military camp in Dansha.
It was close to midnight when he saw headlights approaching.
Ten armed members of the Tigrayan special forces got out of the vehicle and demanded to see the camp's commander.
\"'We're not here for you',\" Hussen recalled them saying. \"'We want to talk to the leaders.'\"
Hussen refused. An argument ensued and gunfire rang out.
They were the first shots in a conflict that has since engulfed northern Ethiopia's Tigray region, killing many hundreds of people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.
This week AFP visited the Dansha barracks, home to the Fifth Battalion of the Northern Command of the Ethiopian military, after gaining rare access to Tigray, where a near-complete communications blackout has been in place since the fighting began.
Shell casings littered the camp's grounds, and bullet holes were punched in the walls of buildings and sides of military trucks.
A metal sign at the entrance reading, \"We need to protect the constitution from anti-development forces and lead our country to renaissance,\" was so perforated with gunfire as to be almost illegible.
'Betrayal'
Hussen and others described hours-long rifle and grenade battles against fighters loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), including special forces and militiamen, joined by some federal soldiers of Tigrayan ethnicity who turned against their comrades.
Echoing a statement from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Hussen said soldiers \"were killed in their pyjamas\", adding, \"What happened here is even worse than that.\"
\"Betrayal alone wouldn't describe the feeling that I have. These are soldiers who have been eating and drinking with us,\" he said of those former federal troops who allegedly turned their guns against them.
The government in Addis Ababa has claimed the attack on Dansha - and a simultaneous assault on another barracks in the regional capital Mekele - as justification for its military offensive in Tigray since November 4.
It points to an interview on Tigrayan media in which a prominent TPLF supporter, said a pre-emptive strike was \"imperative\".
\"Should we be waiting for them to launch attacks first? No,\" said Sekuture Getachew, in the interview, which Abiy's office has called a \"confession\".
Confrontation between Abiy and the TPLF was a long time coming. The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades until anti-government protests swept Abiy to power in 2018.
Since then the TPLF has complained of being sidelined and scapegoated for the country's woes.
The rift widened after Ethiopia postponed national elections because of the coronavirus pandemic. Tigray went ahead with its own vote, then branded Abiy an illegitimate ruler.
Ethnic forces
Tadilo Tamiru, a sergeant in the government-aligned Amhara special forces, was 50 kilometres to the south with his 170-strong unit, in a small town along the bo
By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Donald Trump's legal team suffered yet another defeat in court Friday as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected the campaign's latest effort to challenge the state's election results. Trump's lawyers vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court despite the judges' assessment that the 'campaign's claims have no merit.' 'Free, fair elections are the lifeblood of our democracy. Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,' 3rd Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote […]
The post Appeals court rejects Trump challenge of Pennsylvania race appeared first on Black News Channel.
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Two years after the murder of popular Brazilian councilwoman Marielle Franco, her partner Monica Benicio has also won a council seat and vowed to fight for justice and LGBT+ rights.
The article Widow of murdered LGBT+ politician in Brazil vows to combat hate with election win appeared first on Stabroek News.
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 […]
The images of young girls abducted by Boko Haram in 2014 shocked the world. The girls, known as the Chibok girls became a symbol of violence against women in Nigeria. Six years have passed but violence against women is still very rife.
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, photographer Etinosa Yvonne puts a spotlight on these female victims of violence.
''It was like writing down what they were going through and how it affected their mental health. They don't understand what they're going through, they know they're getting psychological help. But because they can't contextualize it, they're going through what they're going through and they're trying to understand what's happening on a day-to-day basis. The problems of self-esteem are very present and I have noticed that many of them don't have confidence in themselves and this prevents them from trying anything, from trying to get out of this situation they find themselves in'', she said.
Mental health problems is still taboo in society. But recently, the activism of a younger segment of the population has brought the issue to the fore.
''Because it's a taboo subject and people who have problems are told \"oh you're crazy, you have to go to church or you have to go to an imam to get prayers\". There has never been a need to sit down and discuss it. So they might stop saying that, but since it's a taboo subject they have to keep it (mental health) to themselves'', the photographer added.
For the photographer, society needs to question the way it works and especially how both sexes are viewed.
''So, it will take a lot of education for us to be accommodating and to first be emphatic towards these people. I think that as a society there needs to be a lot of unlearning...the glorification of men, and the objectification of women also needs to end. Because we have a society in which women are seen only as objects of sexual desire, of housekeeping. All these horrible opinions have to stop. It's hard for people to say, \"Okay, it's happening, it's wrong and needs to stop'', Yvonne said.
But we have to make sure that both boys and men are part of a fairer world for the women of tomorrow.
Women and girls across the globe have been exposed to more physical and sexual abuse since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of the necessary confinement measures implemented to contain the spread of the coronavirus. It is for this...
