samedi 31 juillet 2021
vendredi 30 juillet 2021
James Chambers (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences.
jeudi 29 juillet 2021
Police fire tear gas at protesters against French Covid-19 passport rules The Sun225 541 vues15 juil. 2021 French police used tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a protest against President Emmanuel Macron's plan to require a COVID-19 vaccine certificate or negative PCR test to gain entry to bars, restaurants, and cinemas from next month. Macron this week announced sweeping measures to fight a rapid surge in new coronavirus infections, including the mandatory vaccination of health workers and new health pass rules for the wider public. In doing so, he went further than most other European nations have done as the highly contagious Delta variant fans a new wave of cases, and other governments are watching carefully to see how the French public responds. The police stepped in shortly after scores of protesters marched down a boulevard in central Paris on Wednesday without permission from the Paris authorities. Some wore badges saying "No to the health pass". A Reuters witness saw a column of police vans and riot police blocked off one street. Some critics of Macron's plan - which will require shopping malls, cafes, bars and restaurants to check the health passes of all patrons from August - accuse the president of trampling on freedoms and discriminating against those who do not want the COVID shot. Macron says the vaccine is the best way to put France back on the path to normalcy and that he is encouraging as many people as possible to get inoculated. Wednesday's protest took place on Bastille Day, the anniversary of the 1789 storming of a medieval fortress in Paris which marked the turning point in the French Revolution. Among other proposals in the government's draft bill is the mandatory isolation for 10 days of anyone who tests positive, with police making random checks, French media reported. The prime minister's office did not respond when asked to confirm the detail.
mercredi 28 juillet 2021
Top Stories: Kenyan aid groups and analysts say the al-Shabab terror group is preying on young people who are struggling during the pandemic, to recruit them into their ranks. To combat their recruitment efforts, Kenya’s local groups hold outreach sessions in low-income neighborhoods. Somalia lacks a national power grid and relies on imported fuel and wood and charcoal for its energy needs. But energy experts say with the longest coastline in mainland Africa and an average of 10 hours of sunshine per day, Somalia has great potential for onshore wind and solar power. Britain risks becoming a breeding ground for new variants of the coronavirus that could be resistant to vaccines, according to some scientists. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that former U.S. President Barack Obama has joined NBA Africa as a Strategic Partner. Mr. Obama released a statement about his future role with NBA Africa and the impact that he hopes to achieve. Computer programing skills are seen by many to earn a decent income. But for Afia Owusu-Forfie is using these skills to empower young people with computer or mathematical programming skills to meet the global demand for software developers. U.S. lawmakers heard emotional testimony from four members of law enforcement Tuesday as a special panel met for the first time to investigate the events of the January 6th attempt by Trump supporters to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election 25:03 Description Africa 54 - July 28, 2021 VOA Africa59 vues28 juil. 2021 You are watching Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Host Esther Githui-Ewart and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis. Top Stories: Kenyan aid groups and analysts say the al-Shabab terror group is preying on young people who are struggling during the pandemic, to recruit them into their ranks. To combat their recruitment efforts, Kenya’s local groups hold outreach sessions in low-income neighborhoods. Somalia lacks a national power grid and relies on imported fuel and wood and charcoal for its energy needs. But energy experts say with the longest coastline in mainland Africa and an average of 10 hours of sunshine per day, Somalia has great potential for onshore wind and solar power. Britain risks becoming a breeding ground for new variants of the coronavirus that could be resistant to vaccines, according to some scientists. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that former U.S. President Barack Obama has joined NBA Africa as a Strategic Partner. Mr. Obama released a statement about his future role with NBA Africa and the impact that he hopes to achieve. Computer programing skills are seen by many to earn a decent income. But for Afia Owusu-Forfie is using these skills to empower young people with computer or mathematical programming skills to meet the global demand for software developers. U.S. lawmakers heard emotional testimony from four members of law enforcement Tuesday as a special panel met for the first time to investigate the events of the January 6th attempt by Trump supporters to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election
Top Stories: The United States and several other countries have called for calm in Tunisia after violent protests broke out following the suspension of parliament Sunday. Tunisia’s president invoked purported emergency powers to sack the prime minister following months of demonstrations over a worsening economic crisis. At least 57 people drowned on Monday after a boat capsized off the Libyan coast near Khums, the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean. More than 1,100 have perished this year, according the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration. Bodies have not been recovered from the shipwreck, but survivors included migrants from Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia, IOM spokeswoman Paul Dillon told a U.N. briefing in Geneva on Tuesday . The migrants, the majority from West Africa, departed from Khums, presumably to reach Europe. Spain's coast guard rescued 54 migrants off the Canary Islands on Monday night and transported them to Gran Canaria. The United Nations says some 24,000 Eritrean refugee are trapped in two camps in Ethiopia's Tigray region, cut off from humanitarian aid and where food rations may have run out.Fighting between armed groups has escalated in and around the camps, Mai Aini and Adi Harush, and two refugees have been killed this month, With years of civil war having severely reduced agricultural output in South Sudan, Thai peacekeepers have set up agricultural demonstration plots to teach residents ways of growing and cooking vegetables. Kenya's first female Assistant Commissioner of Prisons, Wanini Kireri, is changing the leadership landscape in the prison system. Kireri oversees both men's and women's prisons across Kenya, where her leadership style has been hailed as humane but firm. More than one year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is still struggling to contain the virus despite the availability of several vaccines for prevention. Health experts say the challenge of new variants is exacerbated by the unequal access to COVID vaccine worldwide. The number of known deaths from COVID-19 has passed 4 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking both cases and deaths. In the past 100 years, there have been flu and cholera epidemics, the AIDS epidemic and multiple other diseases around the world. The Biden administration on Tuesday will announce a new push to expand business ties between U.S. companies and Africa, with a focus on building needed digital, health and physical infrastructure on the continent, according a senior U.S. official.U.S. industry executives welcome the interest, but say dollar flows will lag until the Biden administration wraps up its lengthy review of Trump administration trade measures and sets a clear policy on investments in liquefied natural gas. Dana Banks, senior director for Africa at the White House National Security Council, will kick off a U.S.-Africa business summit, with a pledge to "re-imagine" and revive Prosper Africa, an initiative unveiled by the Trump administration in 2018. Hearings begin Tuesday in the House of Representatives for a select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. VOA’s Steve Redisch explains the committee’s work and the political controversy surrounding it.
Top Stories: Mali's government says a man who attempted to stab Mali's coup-leading interim President Colonel Assimi Goita has died while in the custody of security services. Kidnappers who raided a boarding school in northern Nigeria earlier this month released 28 children on Sunday -- but another 81 remain in captivity, according to a pastor involved in the negotiations for their release. Tunisian troops blocked the head of parliament from entering the building early Monday, hours after President Kais Saied announced he had fired Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi and suspended parliament for 30 days. Saied’s decree came after protests over country’s COVID-19 and economic situation turned violent. Saied said he was acting in response to the country’s economic woes and political deadlock and added that the country’s constitution gave him that authority. Sierra Leone is set to become the 23rd country in Africa to abolish the death penalty. Lawmakers in the West African nation voted unanimously Friday to outlaw capital punishment and replace it with life imprisonment or a minimum 30-year sentence for such crimes as murder or treason and grant judges additional discretion when handing down a sentence. Sierra Leone has not executed anyone since 1998, when 24 soldiers were put to death by firing squad for taking part in a coup attempt the previous year. Somalia’s long-delayed electoral process failed again to take place on Sunday as scheduled. Sunday should have been the senate or Upper House election, followed presidential election in October this year. Abdi-razak Omar Mohamed, a Somali member of parliament and former security minister says some issues that needed to be resolved to make Sunday’s election possible were not, including agreeing on Somaliland electoral committees, and financing. Mohamed told VOA’s James Butty the international community and donors have not agreed on the estimated $25 million price tag that the Somali government proposed to finance the election. Mohamed also says technical issues, including election security and monitoring were not agreed upon. A spokesperson for South Sudan President Salva Kiir says the country made history last Friday when President Kiir nominated the first female speaker of the country’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly. Ateny Wek Ateny says the nomination of Jemma Nunu Kumba as speaker of parliament means that a woman is leading one of the three pillars of the government. Kumba was secretary-general of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and governor of Western Equatorial State. South Sudan women’s activist groups have long demanded women be appointed to important government positions because of the role women played in the South Sudan independence struggle. The body of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise was laid to rest in the northern port city of Cap-Haitien today. Moise was gunned down in his home in Port-au-Prince on July 7th. The assassination underscored the continuing influence of foreign actors in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has our story.
mardi 27 juillet 2021
lundi 26 juillet 2021
dimanche 25 juillet 2021
samedi 24 juillet 2021
Top Stories: Condemning Tigrayan forces and praising the filling of a major dam project, thousands rallied in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on Thursday in support of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Attacks by Tigrayan fighters in Ethiopia's Afar region have forced over 54 thousand people from their homes, according to an official. Refugees in a camp in southern Tigray described heavy clashes nearby. Tens of thousands of people, meanwhile, rallied in the capital to support Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has faced criticism for his handling of a conflict that threatens to undermine stability in Africa's second most populous nation. Africa is demanding that Global pharmaceutical firms license production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals. Africa Union coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa made the call when speaking a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced a "fill and finish" deal with South Africa's Biovac Institute under which it will carry out the final stages of vaccine manufacturing - where the product is processed and put into vials. Meanwhile, Ethiopia's Prime Minister's Office released drone footage of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on social media this week, showing the reservoir fully filled.The Horn of Africa nation completed filling the reservoir of its huge dam on the Blue Nile river for a second year. Former President Jacob Zuma, whose jailing this month led to South Africa's worst outbreak of violence in years, was granted compassionate leave to attend the funeral of his younger brother on Thursday. The government said he was back in prison by the afternoon.Soldiers patrolled nearby and military and police vehicles were stationed along the road. Students in Malawi have begun classes in what is being billed as the world's first 3D-printed school, constructed by joint venture group 14Trees. The Swiss-British group says the quick construction of computer-built schools can help alleviate a shortfall in classrooms in countries like Malawi. But as Lameck Masina reports from Salima district, Malawi, the cost remains a challenge. Space tourism notches another win after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos follows fellow billionaire Richard Branson in rocketing to weightlessness. Plus, the hunt for ancient life on Mars is about to begin, and wildfires rage out of control in the U.S. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space. This year’s 1455 Summer Literary Festival – an annual free 3-day virtual program sponsored by a group of universities in Virginia – featured over 200 authors, poets, and creative artists sharing their insights into the Art of Storytelling. Maxim Moskalkov has the story. Burkinabe triple jumper Hugues Fabrice Zango in January set a world record to hop, skip and jump more than 18 meters indoors. Zango is on his way to the Tokyo Olympics and stands a good chance of bringing home Burkina Faso’s first Olympic medal. Henry Wilkins reports from Ouagadougou.
ДИНАН Flash flood in Dinant, Namur province, Belgium Natural disaster on July 24, 2021 Heavy rains hit Belgium again today, 24 July. The city of Dinant in the province of Namur was particularly affected. At about 8 o'clock in the evening, the sky opened up, and a huge amount of water poured onto the city. "The amount of water that fell out in a short period of time was impressive," - local police said. In some places, more than 50 liters of water per square meter have already fallen. All of this is reminiscent of the catastrophe that happened a week ago. The streets are flooded, cars are floating, and in houses the water reaches half a meter or more. The damage is especially severe in the area of the train station and the regional road to Philippeville. The fire department does not have time to answer all incoming calls. The Belgium Meteorological Service issued an orange code due to a severe thunderstorm. "Thunderstorms are now heading to the provinces of Liege and Limburg. The worst will not end until tonight," - the meteorological service said. In 2021, natural disasters have become more frequent. We see signs of global warming and climate change in many countries around the world. It is not known how 2021 will end. Follow the latest news on natural disasters on the KN News channel
vendredi 23 juillet 2021
jeudi 22 juillet 2021
Top Stories: Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has moved away from her predecessor’s pandemic denial to urge social distancing, handwashing, and mask-wearing. But as the third wave of coronavirus sweeps across Africa, it seems the measures are being ignored by most of the public. Charles Kombe reports from Dar es Salaam. The Lagos state government is educating medical experts on better ways to deal with public health crisis, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic and the new delta variant. according to the state commissioner for health, professor Akin Abayomi, the training will assist health practitioners in mitigating a likely 3rd wave of the pandemic. Africa, battling a severe third wave of COVID-19 infections, will start to receive the first batch of 400 million doses of vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) next week, the African Union's special envoy on COVID said on Thursday.Only about 60 million doses have been administered among a total population of 1.3 billion so far on the 55-nation continent.J&J doses will be used to immunise half of the estimated 800 million people in need of the vaccine on the continent, Strive Masiyiwa, who is also coordinator of the AU task force on vaccine acquisition, told an online news conference. Large numbers of migrants continue to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean from Africa to the southern coasts of Spain. Among them are hundreds of unaccompanied minors who, under Spanish law, are entitled to be housed in Spain until they turn 18. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report by Alfonso Beato in Barcelona. More than 200 migrants crossed into Spain's North African enclave of Melilla early on Thursday, climbing the high fence that separates it from Morocco, local authorities said.More than 300 migrants attempted to scale the six-metre (20-ft) fence using hooks, the authorities said in a statement. New video has emerged of a story we first brought you on Tuesday -- the aftermath of what authorities called an "attempted stabbing attack" on Mali's interim president Colonel Assimi Goita. David Doyle has the details. The U.S. has averaged more than 26,000 new COVID-19 cases per day over the past week — more than double the number it was a month ago — with the more contagious delta variant making up over 80% of cases. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara looks at the Biden administration’s strategy for dealing with the surge, as misinformation continues to drive anti-vaccination sentiments in certain groups. Olympic officials are warning against what they say are divisive political protests at the Summer Games in Tokyo. But as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports, the event may be the perfect opportunity for athlete activism. Excitement is building over the Tokyo Olympics, despite more athletes testing positive for COVID-19. While the Games are set to begin this Friday (July 23), the head of the Tokyo organizing committee says there is still a chance they could be canceled due to the virus. Still, sports fans in the U.S. are eagerly gearing up to watch, as VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
Top Stories: A Kenyan government support program benefited just a small fraction of those in need and was beset by irregularities and cronyism, according to a report by U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch. With COVID-19 surging in Senegal, thousands of people are leaving Dakar to join their extended families for Eid al-Adha - but for some the risks are too great. Police and government authorities have secured the release of 100 people, including women, children and nursing mothers, who were kidnapped from their village in northwestern Nigeria over a month ago, according to a local police spokesperson. Tanzania's main opposition party said on Wednesday its leader had been arrested with ten other party figures, in what it called proof that President Samia Suluhu Hassan was persisting with the authoritarianism of her late predecessor John Magufuli. The Chadema party said leader Freeman Mbowe and the others had been detained before dawn at a hotel in the lakeside city of Mwanza, where they had been planning to hold a meeting later on Wednesday to discuss proposals for a new constitution. Hundreds of undocumented immigrants, on hunger strike in Brussels for the last two months to demand residence rights, have begun refusing water, putting themselves close to death and the Belgian government in danger of collapse. Around 400 migrants, many of whom have been in Belgium for years, are already emaciated after refusing food since May 23, and three-quarters of them decided on Friday to stop receiving water or saline drips. The United States on Tuesday carried out an air strike against al Shabaab militants in Somalia, the first strike in the country since President Joe Biden came into office. In a statement, the Pentagon said the strike took place near Galkayo, Somalia.While the United States has frequently carried out air strikes in Somalia against al Shaabab, this was the first since Jan. 20 when Biden took office. Beijing has denied allegations that it is behind a major cyberattack against Microsoft Exchange — a popular email platform used by companies worldwide. Earlier this week, NATO, the European Union, Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan and New Zealand joined the U.S. in accusing Chinese state-sponsored actors of "malicious cyber activity." Space company Blue Origin and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos rocketed to space Tuesday, with the world’s oldest and youngest people to ever fly in space in tow. Bezos’ flight follows last week’s suborbital jaunt by Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson. The two billionaires are further ushering in an era of space tourism and exploration. 20 years after freeing Afghanistan from the grip of the Taliban, U.S. and NATO troops are leaving. For a generation of Afghans who grew up during that time, the future is worrisome. It's not uncommon to see people carry papa bags to schools, offices, and to and from retail and grocery stores. But, perhaps, you could argue that it's a new trend because they are 100% recyclable. In Uganda, Ori-bags Innovations Ltd, one of the leading manufacturers of Eco-friendly paper bags, is turning various forms of waste into valuable products.For more, Africa 54's Technology Correspondent Paul Ndiho, via Skype, spoke to Rusia Orikiriza, CEO, Oribags Innovations, Ltd in Kampala, Uganda.
Africa 54 - July 20, 2021 Top Stories: In a Tigray town young men and women march to a training camp, officials from three of Ethiopia's region say they are sending troops in support of the federal army - raising fears of a showdown in Tigray's west that could spark a new refugee crisis. David Doyle reports.. A South African court granted former President Jacob Zuma's request for a delay in his arms deal corruption trial on Tuesday, and adjourned proceedings for three weeks .Zuma is accused of receiving kickbacks over a $2 billion arms deal from the 1990s. More than 200 people have been killed and hundreds of businesses destroyed in the riots following former president Jacob Zuma's 15 month imprisonment. Protests initially flared in Zuma's home province KwaZulu-Natal before escalating into arson and looting in other provinces. For more perspectives on the impact and other underlying causes of the riots, Managing Editor TV, Vincent Makori spoke to Darren Taylor, South Africa based Journalist. Two armed men, including one who wielded a knife, attacked Mali's interim president Assimi Goita on Tuesday in the great mosque in the capital Bamako, an AFP journalist saw.The attack took place during prayers for the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha. Goita has since been taken from the scene, according to the journalist, who said it was not immediately clear whether he had been wounded. The number of people unable to access adequate food in the world is on the increase. A joint report by United Nations agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization - FAO and the World Food Program, indicates that food insecurity has been on the rise since the mid-2010s. For more on the subject, Africa 54's Linord Moudou spoke with Cindy Holleman, Senior Economist with FAO. Female refugees are among the most vulnerable to losing out on education, a problem made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. To combat the challenge, U.S.-funded aid group RefuSHE offers learning programs for refugee women and girls in Kenya. Brenda Mulinya reports from Nairobi. Muslims in Lagos, Nigeria are were out on Monday in a last-minute rush, shopping for the Eid Al-Adha holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan season..On Saturday the government announced that it had put six states on red alert after seeing a 'worrisome' rise in COVID-19 infections, urging people to curb gatherings and hold prayers outside the mosque . Nigeria, is now facing a COVID-19 third wave after detecting the more transmissible Delta variant. Kenya Chess Youth: More than half of the Kenyan capital's nearly 5 million people live in slums, where many young people are lured by drugs and crime. In one neighborhood, a group is using the game of chess to help transform the lives of young people. Lenny Ruvaga reports from Nairobi. After last year’s summer Olympics in Japan were postponed because of the pandemic, some American student athletes have been balancing school and training in anticipation of this year’s Games in Tokyo. Connor Smith has this report
Top Stories: South African authorities are investigating whether a chemical spill in the coastal city Durban was caused by a fire at a warehouse during violent unrest last week. South African former president Jacob Zuma, whose jailing earlier this month triggered some of the worst unrest of the post-apartheid era, appeared by video link in court on Monday to seek a further delay in his arms deal corruption trial.While the government has largely restored order in the streets, there are fears Zuma's latest court appearance could again trigger protests from his support base. Efforts to prosecute the ex-president for allegedly receiving kickbacks over a $2 billion dollars weapons deal in the late 1990s are seen as a test of South Africa's ability to hold powerful politicians to account. Ethiopia's health minister Lia Tadesse and U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Geeta Pasi attended a ceremony at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport to greet the shipment's arrival that contained 453, 600 doses.In a speech, Tadesse said that the vaccines had come at an instrumental time when the delta variant is ripping around the world driving a new spike in cases.Tadesse said in total they expect to receive 1.2 million doses with the remaining vaccines expected in the coming weeks.Africa recorded a 43 percent jump in COVID-19 deaths last week, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. Ethiopia has nearly completed the filling of a huge dam on the Blue Nile river for a second year, according to a Monday report by state media . The move that has already angered Egypt.Addis Ababa says the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a $4 billion dollar hydropower project, is crucial to its economic development and to provide power. But it has caused concern over water shortages and safety in Egypt and Sudan, which also depend on the Nile's waters. A spokesman for Ethiopia’s Afar region says Forces from Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have mounted attacks in neighboring Afar region, marking an expansion of an eight-month-old conflict into a previously untouched area. Nigeria's broadcasting regulator has asked TV stations to curb their reporting of insecurity in the country by withholding details of incidents and victims, in what a leading civil society group described as a "sweeping gag order." Tokyo Olympics organisers on Sunday reported the first COVID-19 cases among competitors residing in the athletes' village, as its population swells ahead of the start of the pandemic-hit Games next week. With COVID-19 cases rising in the United States, some cities and counties are telling all residents to wear masks indoors, even if they are vaccinated, while the Biden administration points to the prevalence of misinformation about vaccinations, especially on social media, as one of the drivers keeping people from getting shots. Pressure is ratcheting up against Donald Trump and his closest circle. His company, the Trump Organization, is under a criminal investigation on suspicion of fraud and other illegal financial dealings. Yet the former president remains popular among Republicans and wields an outsized influence over the party.
Heavy rain and flood in Lagos, Nigeria Natural disaster on July 16, 2021 Climate change has exacerbated flood problems in Nigeria. Particularly affected was Lagos, a coastal city of over 20 million people. On Friday, July 16, heavy rains continued for several hours and the city was partially flooded. Some streets looked like rivers, cars were under water, public transport stopped. Many people reached their destination on foot on the water. Despite the government's efforts to build drainages and advise against dumping trash in them, flooding in Lagos is almost inevitable during heavy rains. There is no information about the damage and victims yet
mercredi 21 juillet 2021
lundi 19 juillet 2021
dimanche 18 juillet 2021
samedi 17 juillet 2021
Sombi/Senegalese Rice Pudding Hey guys! This right here brings back childhood memories HATED it as a child but lovvvveeee it as an adult. 1 cup of long grain rice 4 cups of milk or water you can use almond milk also Salt Wedge of “laughing cow” cheese or a dollop of sour cream 3 tablespoons evaporated milk 1/8 cup of powdered milk use nido or carnation makes powdered milk too but I used the great value brand 2 tablespoons of sugar feel free to add more Couple dashes of vanilla extract 2tsps freshly grated nutmeg
Top Stories: It has been a harrowing week for many of South Africa’s citizens. Violence, arson, and looting, triggered by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma last week for contempt of court has engulfed the nation. But slowly the malicious vandalism is beginning to ebb in some areas, leaving communities to pick up the pieces. President Cyril Ramaphosa's patience is being tested and he says that the unrest that has roiled South Africa in the past week had been instigated -- and his government will not allow anarchy and mayhem to prevail. Community members in some of South Africa’s worst affected areas began a cleaning initiative on Thursday, removing trash from the streets of Johannesburg and Durban. One community member talks about the harm of vandalizing and looting your own neighborhood. Several neighborhoods were quiet on Thursday, ahead of an expected surge in soldiers on the streets. Now to Libya, where Amnesty International says that migrants being held in detention camps are subject to horrific sexual violence at the hands of guards, including being forced to barter sex for clean water, food and access to sanitation. The report, which focused on migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean and who disembarked in Libya in 2020 and 2021, suggests worsening conditions in the camps despite being recently placed under the control of the Libyan interior ministry. Pope Francis and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are calling for the camps to be shut down. At least 20 countries across Africa are in the grip of a third wave of COVID-19 infections, according to Africa CDC. Still, the rates of vaccinations are still very low. Millions of Nigerians who were once on solid financial footing, can no longer reliably feed themselves or their families. The World Bank says about 18 percent of households in Nigeria have at least one adult who doesn't eat for an entire day at a time, compared to six percent before the pandemic. Jayson Albano has the details. India’s popular holiday destinations are crammed with visitors with what some have termed “revenge travel” — the urge to vacation following long coronavirus shutdowns. But as Anjana Pasricha reports, authorities warn that the massive holiday crowds could reverse the gains made recently in the world’s second worst hit country. U.S. President Joe Biden hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House on Thursday. The two leaders highlighted a stronger transatlantic relationship and cooperation on a range of issues, but differences remain on the Nord Stream 2 Russian natural gas pipeline. Twenty-nine elite athletes from eleven countries comprise the International Olympic Committee’s Refugee Olympic Team. The group will compete in the Summer Games in Tokyo that open later this month. The space-tourism industry got a major boost aboard a billionaire’s rocket ship. If you like to keep ahead of the current trends in African music, we’ve got you covered! Ethno-musicologist and host of VOA's Music Time in Africa radio show, Heather Maxwell, has this round-up of the latest Top 3 artists-on-the rise.
vendredi 16 juillet 2021
jeudi 15 juillet 2021
Top Stories: At least 72 people have died amid the widespread violence, looting and vandalism across South Africa -- but a two-year old girl was saved from a burning building in Durban Tuesday, after her mother threw her to safety as they escaped a burning high-rise building. Innocent lives are being lost in the wave of violence gripping South Africa. A 15-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet in a Johannesburg township on Wednesday, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene who saw the body and his distraught relatives grieving. A crowd gathered around the body of teenager Vusi Dlamini in Vosloorus to the south of Johannesburg. Among his relatives at the scene were his grandmother and his sister. The war in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray appears set to intensify as the prime minister signaled the end of a government ceasefire - and the neighboring Amhara region says it will go on the offensive against Tigrayan forces. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed abruptly pulled central government troops out of most of Tigray last month, citing a unilateral ceasefire that the Tigray People's Liberation Front allegedly mocked as "a joke" designed to justify his forces' retreat. In a statement on Wednesday, Abiy said the ceasefire had failed to deliver. Nigeria is set to resume its coronavirus vaccinations, having exhausted its supply of doses last week, with shots donated by COVAX and the United States. Overdose deaths in the United States soared to a record 93-thousand last year amid a continued tide of illegal narcotics, many of them smuggled into the country from Central America. As protests continue in Cuba, hundreds of people in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood have taken to the streets in support of the demonstrations in the Caribbean nation. As the Covid-19 Delta variant spreads in record numbers in Indonesia, hospitals are overwhelmed. The situation is forcing many residents to care for sick families themselves. U.S. President Joe Biden was in Philadelphia Tuesday to urge the passing of voting rights legislation that has stalled in Congress, but he did not outline a path to overcome Republican opposition. In the future, keyboards and remote controls may be replaced with a more direct way for humans to interact with machines – hand gestures. Guernsey's Auction House in New York is auctioning off pieces of music history this week.
mercredi 14 juillet 2021
Top Stories: It was a tumultuous day across South Africa on Tuesday. Armored personnel carriers rolled down highways as the military was deployed to contain looting and violence that were triggered by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma. So far, at least seventy-two people have been killed in riots and vandalism. But the unhappiness among many residents goes deeper -- fueled by grievances over the state of the economy. Across South Africa people are worried about their property being looters. Eyewitness video showed residents, some wielding guns and baseball bats, blocking access to a residential area in the port city of Durban as looters ransacked shops and supermarkets. Protests that followed ex-president Jacob Zuma's jailing last week have descended into vandalism and an outpouring of general anger. As we've mentioned, the unrest has triggered serious concerns over food and fuel supplies in parts of South Africa, as the looting and vandalism have halted exports, damaged crops and forced food retailers to remain closed. Consumers formed long queues at retailers that have remained open despite the unrest across Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, with some people on social media saying they are unable to buy basic staples such as bread. Seven COVID-19 vaccines have received the green light from the World Health Organization so far. And as new variants of the coronavirus evolve, questions arise about how well each vaccine works. It can get confusing. African fashion Labels are flourishing, with many young, emerging designers breaking into the global market. However, despite this upward trend, many African fashion brands are struggling to get the proper media placement or connections to help them achieve their dreams. The Lithuanian parliament has approved the mass detention of migrants and curbed their right of appeal. The move is meant to deter high numbers crossing the border with Belarus, but which is sparking an outcry among humanitarian groups. The new law bans any release of migrants from detention for six months after their arrival, curbs the right of appeal for rejected asylum-seekers and stipulates those migrants can be deported while their appeals are considered. As the United States withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, Taliban attacks have significantly increased, and the group is gaining ground in some rural areas across the country. But thousands of locals in northern Afghanistan are joining the Afghan military in fighting the Taliban in the region. The top U.S. general in Afghanistan has stepped down from his post, as Taliban fighters continue to make gains across the war-torn country. While still banned by federal law, medical marijuana and cannabis programs are making inroads in the US at the state level, with some doctors helping lead the way. A new and unique park opened in New York City in late May and since then it has become a city gem and tourist magnet
mardi 13 juillet 2021
Top Stories: Authorities continued to press for calm across South Africa Tuesday, following Monday’s looting and violence in the aftermath of former president Jacob Zuma's imprisonment. President Cyril Ramaphosa says the unrest is damaging efforts to rebuild the economy in the wake of COVID-19. The United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday called for an immediate end to all violations in Ethiopia's conflict-torn Tigray region -- and for Eritrean troops to quickly withdraw in a verifiable manner, according to the Paris-based Agence France-Presse news agency. Meanwhile, a rebel spokesman says its forces have launched a new offensive in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Getachew Reda told AFP by telephone that its forces routed divisions of the Federal Defense Forces and the Amhara forces. COVID-19 continues to surge across Africa and the worst is yet to come, according to the continent's director at the World Health Organization. Genomics expert Professor Tulio de Oliveira says the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant is spreading rapidly throughout Africa, accounting for roughly three-quarters of the genomes sequenced on the continent recently and driving up deaths. The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa is warning of a rampant spread of more contagious COVID variants, as a third wave of Covid-19 infections sweeps across Africa. Observers say the third wave promises to be much more difficult than the previous ones on the continent and warn that vaccination levels are low. Countries in Africa have received the Astra-Zeneca vaccines made in India, Covi-Shield. But the European Union medical regulatory body says it will NOT accept the India-made Astra-Zeneca as part of its vaccine passport. U.S. President Joe Biden is calling on Haiti's political leaders to unite for the good of their country. President Biden says -- quote -- "The people of Haiti deserve peace and security." Biden says he is closely following developments in the Caribbean nation in the wake of President Jovenel Moïse's assassination last Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging Haiti's political leaders to work toward holding free and fair elections later this year. One of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders is threatening to wade into the street unrest and demonstrations and throw the impoverished Caribbean country deeper into chaos. Afghan interpreters were invaluable to American troops during two decades of war. Now that U.S. forces are pulling out, Afghans who aided Americans fear for their lives. The Maldives – a tiny nation of about twelve hundred islands set in crystalline waters – depends on tourism. The pandemic cut that revenue in half. But with COVID on the run, the government’s wooing tourists, especially those from China. Lidia Reyes of Los Angeles, California loves riding her Harley Davidson motorcycle. She eventually started a non-profit group called Biker Chicks and dreams of becoming a professional motorcycle mechanic. Genia Dulot spoke with Reyes and other women who share her passion for motorcycles
Top Stories: South Africa's top court is holding a virtual hearing Monday as former president Jacob Zuma challenges a 15-month prison term. Zuma’s chances of winning the challenge are minimal, according to legal experts. Ethiopia election board says Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party won the most seats in Ethiopia's parliamentary election on Saturday -- a victory that assures him another term in office. On the streets of Addis Ababa there was little reaction to the results, some people say they are most concerned about the war in Tigray and would like Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his party to make peace a priority. Rwanda has deployed part of a one-thousand strong force to Mozambique over the weekend, to help the country battle an escalating Islamic State-linked insurgency that is threatening the nation's stability. The soldiers and police officers departed by air from the Rwandan capital Kigali on Saturday. The head of Haiti’s national police, Leon Charles, says authorities have arrested a Haitian man who flew to the country on a private jet in June and worked with the masterminds and alleged killers of President Jovenel Moïse. Sunday marked the United Nations World Population Day. Its experts say there is no perfect population number and that human innovation will continue to manage and outpace the growth in the number of humans living on the planet. U.S. President Joe Biden announced Thursday the U.S. mission in Afghanistan ends August 31, but concerns remain about the plight of Afghan civilians, particularly women, as the Taliban continues to gain ground against Afghan forces. Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is proving hard to crack, with roughly one-third of Americans not vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The partisan divide over the vaccine continues to hamper efforts to defeat the virus. The Biden administration is sending 3 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine to Indonesia as the archipelago deals with a surge in COVID-19 cases. The Indonesian government said it will use the doses as booster shots for health workers who have already been fully vaccinated with the Chinese Sinovac vaccine. Olympic officials have barred spectators from the games amid spiking coronavirus cases in Japan. Organizers have long said they will push forward with the Olympics, but experts say the highly transmissible delta variant should give them pause. Refugee athletes are going all out in their preparations for the delayed Tokyo Olympics, which is set to take place from July 23 to August 8th. The Tokyo 2020 Games will mark the second Summer Olympics that features a team of refugee athletes competing under the Refugee Olympic Team banner. Thomas Bach, President of International Olympic Committee, has announced a team of twenty-nine athletes from around the world, across twelve sports, that will travel to Japan. That is ten more than participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics. This year, the Head of the Mission of the Refugee Olympic Team, Tegla Loroupe, the former Kenyan marathon world record-holder, is training four refugee athletes in Ngong Hills, located southwest of Nairobi before making the journey to Tokyo to pursue their dreams at the games. North India’s Kullu district is famed for its ancient tradition of spinning hand-woven stoles and shawls with designs that have been passed down for generations. Now artisans, many of them women, are learning to make another traditional Indian garment called the sari, under a program sponsored by the local government and private sector that aims to reach new markets and enhance income opportunities for women. Anjana Pasricha has a report.
dimanche 11 juillet 2021
samedi 10 juillet 2021
#EidAlAdha2021 #MoonSighting #ZulHijjah Eid al-Adha 2021 Date: Moon Sighting For Zul Hijjah Month On July 9 In Saudi Arabia Muslims in Saudi Arabia will look for a new moon in the sky on July 9, sighting of which will confirm the date for Eid al-Adha festival. Eid al-Adha, also known as Bakra Eid, Bakrid and Eid Ul Azha, is celebrated on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah month. The Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has urged Muslims to try to sight the crescent, which will mark the beginning of Dhu al-Hijjah (Zul Hijjah) month. As per the Saudi Press Agency, anyone who spots the moon with the naked eye or through binoculars should inform the nearest court and record their testimony. In the Islamic lunar calendar, months complete either 29 or 30 days, depending on the sighting of the new moon on the 29th night of each month. A new month begins when a crescent moon is sighted on the 29th day of the ongoing month. If the moon remains invisible on 29th, the ongoing month completes 30 days and then a new month begins. July 9 marks the 29th of Dhul Qadah - the month before Zul HIjjah, in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, if a moon is sighted on July 9, Dhu al-Hijjah month will start from July 10 and Eid al-Adha will fall on July 19. If the moon is not sighted on July 9, Dhul Qadah will complete 30 days, meaning Dhu al-Hijjah month will begin on July 11 and Eid al-Adha will be celebrated on July 20
vendredi 9 juillet 2021
Top Stories: South Sudan is celebrating ten years of independence on Friday. But after achieving its autonomy and becoming a self-governing state from Sudan -- rights organizations have warned that South Sudan's healthcare system has been decimated by conflict and a lack of investment -- and now the country’s health sector is in ruins. David Doyle reports. Zimbabwe has scrapped rules requiring sole state ownership for cannabis farming to encourage investment in the plant for industrial and even medicinal use. Zimbabwe is Africa's largest tobacco producer, but authorities expect hemp export earnings to start replacing tobacco as farmers seek higher earnings from the crop. Columbus Mavhunga reports from the Beatrice farming district in Zimbabwe. The UN has called Africa's Sahel region 'the canary in the coal mine' for the effects of climate change: drought and desertification that contributes to conflict and migration in the region. Burkina Faso rapper turned farmer Art Melody channels the struggles of being on the front line of climate change into his music. Henry Wilkins reports from Ouagadougou. The foreign ministers of Egypt and Sudan appealed to the U.N. Security Council Thursday to intervene in their dispute with Ethiopia over the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Tensions have escalated since Addis Ababa said Monday it had begun its second phase of filling the dam. The Nile flows northward, with one tributary, the White Nile, beginning in South Sudan and the other, the Blue Nile, in Ethiopia. Ethiopia started building the dam in 2011 on the Blue Nile as a major hydropower project, which is nearly complete. After 10 years of negotiations, the three countries still have not resolved the situation. Now to Haiti, where there is a fragile peace on Friday, after the nation was engulfed in chaos Thursday, just one-day after President Jovenel Moise’s brazen assassination. Haitian authorities described a heavily armed hit-squad of 28 "mercenaries,” made up of 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, involved in the killing of Moise, 53, at his private residence in a wealthy suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince, before dawn on Wednesday. Haiti National Police Director Leon Charles gave some details, saying that three suspects have been killed and eight were still at large. Seventeen Colombians have been captured and they were identified by their passports. The U.S. State Department has not confirmed the reports that two U.S. citizens are in detention. The U.S. says it will respond to requests for help in investigating the attack. But experts say the U.S. should resist any temptation to intervene militarily in Haiti as it has in times of past upheaval. VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 started in 2019, we've learned a lot about the virus ... who is most vulnerable, how to better treat COVID-19 patients, and how the virus works? Researchers are also discovering how the virus manipulates the body's immune system and evades its defenses, as we learn in this report from VOA's Carol Pearson. European borders and economies are opening this summer, thanks to falling coronavirus cases and rising vaccination numbers. But experts warn the pandemic’s scars could be long term and profound—especially for young people, a generation Europe cannot afford to lose. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Paris. The pan-African digital music conference MIDEM AFRICA 2021, that took place June 28th – July 1st -- galvanized the African music industry into action on many fronts. One of South Africa’s hottest MC's and participant at the conference; Amapiano hitmaker Focalistic, explains how in this interview with the host of VOA’s Music Time in Africa, Heather Maxwell
Africa 54 - July 8, 2021VOA Africa Top News: Hundreds of women and girls in Ethiopia’s Tigray region have reported brutal rapes at the hands of soldiers in a war that is still ongoing -- despite last week’s government troop withdrawal. As VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Mekelle, the rape victims who have come forward say they are only a small percentage of the women and girls who have been brutalized. Former South African president Jacob Zuma is behind bars on Thursday after turning himself over to police, to begin serving a 15-month prison term. Shortly before the midnight deadline for police to arrest him, Zuma left his Nkandla home in a convoy of vehicles. Due to poor security in Nigeria’s northwest, hundreds of thousands of children in are missing out on an education as the threat of kidnapping gangs closes schools. A young boy is one of them. David Doyle has more. Zambia's founding president, Kenneth Kaunda, was laid to rest at the country's presidential burial site on Wednesday after the High Court dismissed a challenge by one of his sons that this would be against his wishes. Kaunda's son Kaweche on Tuesday challenged in court the government's plan to bury his father's remains at Embassy Park, where other former heads of state are buried and which is visited by the public as a national monument. Kaweche Kaunda says his father's last wish was to be buried at his residence next to his wife, Betty, who died more than ten years ago. A Cameroon minister-counsellor said Wednesday, World Athletics is discriminating against women with intersex variations by requiring them to reduce high natural testosterone levels to participate in the female category -- and he says the discrimination is like apartheid. Come Damien Georges Awoumou, minister-counsellor at the Cameroon mission to the United Nations, made the comments on behalf of the African group of countries at a special debate on sports and human rights held at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. There is a women-only village in northern Syria's Rojava region, where widowed families live. Due to an increase in domestic violence in the area, village leaders are now also welcoming victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Haitians are expressing shock and anger over President Jovenal Moise’s assassination on Thursday. A state of siege has been declared by the interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who says he is now in charge of the country. National Police Force chief Léon Charles said late Wednesday four “mercenaries” suspected of carrying out Moise’s assassination were killed in a shootout with police, with two other suspects captured. Charles says three police officers held hostage by the suspected assassins were freed. Britain is about to try something that no other nation has yet dared: lifting coronavirus restrictions in the middle of a wave of new infections. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the government says that with more than half of Britons now fully vaccinated, the time is right to reopen – but some scientists warn it is a big gamble. Russian authorities say the country is facing a surge in new coronavirus infections. And, as Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, that has prompted a renewed effort to convince a skeptical public that the time to vaccinate is now. People on Spain’s Mediterranean coast are grappling with what researchers are calling a silent invasion of sea algae that is threatening its biodiversity, tourism and fishing industry. Scientists say the invasive species arrived in the Mediterranean from Asia in the ballast of cargo ships, creating an “environmental nightmare
jeudi 8 juillet 2021
mercredi 7 juillet 2021
Top Stories: We begin our broadcast in West Africa, where the parents of 121 Nigerian students abducted by armed bandits at Bethel Baptist High School in Damishi, Kaduna state, held a prayer vigil at the school Tuesday, hoping for their children’s safe return. The attack in Burkina Faso last month that killed 160 civilians was in retaliation for the activity by pro-government civilian militias in the area, according to Human Rights Watch. The International Committee of the Red Cross says that more than one-third of Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province has been displaced amid an escalating Islamic State-linked insurgency. Residents there are living in extremely harsh conditions. Nearly fifty percent of the people living in Chad's Lake Province are displaced. Some of people there are from other parts of the West Sahel region, where armed attacks by Islamist militants and other groups continue unabated, despite interventions from United Nations peacekeepers and international armed forces. According to the UN Refugee Agency, half of Lake Province’s 450-thousand people are displaced. Ghanaian youth of the main opposition National Democratic Congress protested in the streets of Accra Tuesday demanding justice for all persons they say have been killed or brutalized by security forces. Ghana’s electoral commission declared President Nana Akufo-Addo winner of the 2020 elections with nearly 52 percent of the votes, while opposition leader and former President John Mahama received 47 percent of the votes. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Monday and stressed the need for all parties involved in the Tigray conflict to commit to an immediate, indefinite, negotiated ceasefire, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price. Price said Tuesday that Secretary Blinken also condemned the destruction of bridges into Tigray and other impediments to access. Egypt and Sudan both say they have been informed by Addis Ababa of its plans to begin the second phase of filling the Great Renaissance Dam, built by East African nation upstream of the Nile. But Ethiopia has not officially confirmed this operation on the dam -- which has long been the subject of conflict with Egypt and Sudan who fear for their water is set to take place "in July and August." Egyptian Irrigation Minister Abdel Aty said in a statement, that the North African nation rejects this unilateral measure and denounced it as a violation of the law and international standards that regulate construction projects on shared basins of international rivers. The Sudanese foreign ministry is also denouncing Ethiopia’s plan as a flagrant violation of international law. Mobile clinics are now rolling through the streets of Ivory Coast after setting officials set an ambitious target of vaccinating one-million people against COVID-19 over the next ten days - more than doubling its total so far. Lucy Fielder has the details. The White House announced shipments of millions of the Moderna vaccine donations for Guatemala and Vietnam on Tuesday, after pledging to donate four million doses to Indonesia last week. Overall, the U.S. fell short of its target of sending 80 million doses to countries in need by the end of June. VOA White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports on the challenges facing the U.S. effort to help vaccinate the world. Union Bank, one of Nigeria's leading commercial banks, recently announced the winners of its fourth edition of the Innovation Challenge, UnionX themed A New Discovery. The Belgian government says it will begin the process of returning thousands of artworks stolen from Democratic Republic of Congo during colonial rule -- but there’s a catch. Here again is David Doyle to explain
Top Stories: We begin in Nigeria, where anguished parents are suffering on Tuesday, after more than one-hundred school children were kidnapped Monday at a boarding school. Police and members of the military are pursuing the perpetrators. Worried by the disturbing revelation that one-out-of-seven Nigerians engage in drug abuse, some youth organizations in the country are advocating for more community-based knowledge-driven efforts to reverse the trend. The government of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, says life in the country is returning to normal following days of deadly protests. Government spokesperson Sabelo Dlamini says the protests cost an estimated 3 billion in eSwatini currency to the economy and an estimated five-thousand jobs were lost due to the destruction of many businesses. Conservationists in Zimbabwe are trying to rally opposition to a Chinese coal mining project operating in the district with the country's biggest national park. Critics say locals and wildlife will be affected and are urging authorities to move away from coal production toward renewable energies. The co-founder of footwear start-up Enda Sportswear says it is seeing a boost in sales from people stuck at home during the pandemic and says manufacturing could also help Kenya recover from the economic impact of COVID-19. Between eight-hundred and 15-hundred businesses worldwide are feeling the effects of a ransomware attack centered on U.S. information technology firm Kaseya, according to its chief executive. Fred Voccola, the Florida-based company's CEO, said in an interview that it was hard to estimate the precise impact of Friday's attack because those hit were mainly customers of Kaseya's customers. Kaseya provides software tools to information technology outsourcing shops: companies that typically handle back-office work for companies too small or modestly resourced to have their own technology departments. As the dangerous Delta Variant of COVID-19 sweeps across the world, a new study by the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that pregnant women are getting vaccinated against the coronavirus at a lower rate than their non-pregnant peers. Experts say most pregnant women infected with COVID-19 will be asymptomatic or have a mild disease, but their health may deteriorate rapidly, affecting the fetus. They say a lack of outreach and engagement with pregnant women, as well as delayed or even inaccurate information, is causing some distrust in the vaccine. Pandemic economic pressure and more state limits on abortion are driving an increasing number of women, especially the poor, to Washington, D.C. to terminate their pregnancy. The Paris-based, International music market and festival known as MIDEM [pronounced “me-dem” or “mi (as in do – re -mi – dem”] launched its first ever DIGITAL event dedicated 100 percent to Africa. It took place from June 28th – July 1st as a pan-African event with Kenya as its Country of Honor
Africa 54 - July 5, 2 Top Stories: The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has authorized the use of the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech. This latest vaccine approval is based on the "safety, quality and efficacy data" submitted to the regulator between March 22nd and June 22nd, according to the regulatory authority. It will be used for people between the ages of 18 and 59. Each person should wait for 14 to 28 days between the two doses. A proposed law is aiming to prevent South Africans from obtaining firearm licenses for self-defense. While gun critics say limiting access to guns is proving successful in reducing the death toll, some gun proponents argue that taking firearms out of some hands -- specifically, women’s hands -- will deepen what South Africa’s president is calling a “second pandemic,” of gender-based violence. Former South African President Jacob Zuma lashed out on Sunday at the judges who this week gave him a 15-month jail term for running from a corruption inquiry -- comparing them to the white minority apartheid rulers he once fought. Zuma spoke at his home in Nklandla, in a rural part of Kwazulu Natal province, where hundreds of his supporters, some of them armed, gathered to prevent his arrest. Thousands demonstrators flooded the streets of Burkina Faso's capital on Saturday to call for a tougher government response to a wave of jihadist attacks that has destabilized the West African country in recent years. The Suez Canal Authority says it has reached an agreement to settle a financial dispute with the owners of a hulking container ship that blocked the crucial waterway for nearly a week earlier this year. Fourteen bases that had been run jointly by the United Nations and the African Union in Sudan’s Darfur region for 13 years are now under Sudan’s control and to be used by local populations. Pope Francis is recovering nicely from Sunday's planned intestinal surgery. The Vatican says he his alert and breathing without assistance and he is expected to stay in the hospital for seven days. The 84-year-old pontiff was hospitalized for the first time since his election in 2013. As U.S. President Joe Biden continues to pursue the withdrawal of nearly all U.S. forces from Afghanistan after almost 20 years, the U.S. commander in the country and others say they are worried about Taliban advances. Hackers suspected of being behind a massive ransomware attack are making a demand of $70 million in crypto currency in exchange for unlocking all the affected systems. The demand appeared Sunday on a dark web site used by the Russia-linked REvil gang. In California, Los Angeles County public health officials have advised mask wearing in indoor public spaces to deal with rising COVID-19 cases involving the delta variant. Several countries have imposed travel restrictions on travelers from Britain amid rising cases of the delta variant of the coronavirus. Scientists say the delta mutation is more infectious and now makes up around 95 percent of new cases in Britain. Life in New York City is slowly returning to normal after the coronavirus pandemic hit the city hard more than 15 months ago. But certain changes caused by the pandemic are here to stay — at least for a while. Flags of Valor is a company that makes wooden American flags and provides employment for U.S. combat veterans. The company also raises money to support veteran assistance organizations
mardi 6 juillet 2021
lundi 5 juillet 2021
dimanche 4 juillet 2021
vendredi 2 juillet 2021
jeudi 1 juillet 2021
Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Host Esther Githui-Ewart and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis. Top Stories: A video obtained by Reuters is purporting to show group of fighters from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram is pledging their allegiance to rival group the Islamic State West African Province just weeks after the former group's leader died. The video fuels fears that the Islamic State group is consolidating control of the insurgency in northeastern Nigeria following the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau last month. The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is endowed with oil which accounts for nearly 80 percent of the country’s wealth. For decades, however, tensions between militants and foreign oil companies have wreaked havoc for area residents. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says his federal forces withdrew from Tigray's capital Mekelle because it was no longer the "center of gravity." But a spokesman for the Tigray People's Liberation Front says that's not true. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is calling on Russia to stop violence by "mercenaries working as an arm of Russia's Ministry of Defense" in Central African Republic. In a statement released Wednesday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia should hold accountable those responsible. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained families forced to work and study at home together with an added stress for couples who are also business partners. In Kenya, such life-work partnerships experience a struggle to not only earn a living but also to keep their families together. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan marked her first 100 days in office this week with the announcement of new measures in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, including opening of several COVID-19 testing centers, calling for the coronavirus vaccine in the country, and asking people to wear masks during public appearances. The issue of reparations -- making amends for historical wrongs perpetrated against a group or population is highly controversial. But to the victims of atrocities like genocide and slavery, offering such compensation should be a no-brainer. VOA's Mariama Diallo looks at examples of reparations as they relate to the debate over reparations for African Americans in the United States. The African wild dog, or African painted dog, is one of the world's most endangered mammals with less than seven-thousand remaining, mostly because of human-wildlife conflict. In Zimbabwe, the Painted Dog Conservation group finds and removes thousands of snares every year that can kill or injure the dogs and turns them into crafts to raise funds for their protection. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Hwange, Zimbabwe. American comedian Bill Cosby became a free man Wednesday after the Pennsylvania state supreme court overturned his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and he was released from prison.
Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Host Esther Githui-Ewart and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis. Top Stories: Former South African president Jacob Zuma has been found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to prison after failing to appear before a corruption inquiry. Soraya Ali has more. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that the East African nation will receive its first batch of 13 million COVID-19 vaccine shots from Johnson and Johnson in August. Like other nations on the continent, Kenya has struggled to secure vaccines for its citizens, to allow it to fully lift restrictions aimed at containing the pandemic. The nation’s health ministry says only one-million Kenyans, out of 47 million, have had a first jab -- and only 300 thousand are fully vaccinated. As a result of the deal for the J&J shots and other initiatives, the country will accelerate its vaccines deployment plan. Kenya had struck a deal to get 13 million shots from J&J for the price of 10 million doses, according to Kenyatta....... The Democratic Republic of Congo's military is blaming two explosions in the eastern city of Beni on the Allied Democratic Forces - a militant group which claims to have links to Islamic State. Angela Ukomadu has more. When Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari ran for re-election in 2019, he cited his achievements, saying he had “built the foundational work" and that his next job would be to "climb up the stairs to the next level.” But recent headlines of insurgency, lawlessness and kidnappings are raising concerns about his style of governance. Africa 54 Host Esther Githui-Ewart sought the perspective of Ngozi Bell, a native of Nigeria and a Partner at the Trans-Sahara Investment Corporation. She began by asking, what, in her opinion, went wrong. COVID-19 is impacting people's lives and livelihoods around the world. However, observers say women are being affected disproportionately in many aspects -- and the pandemic is having a regressive effect on gender equality. The Generation Equality Forum is underway in Paris Wednesday, bringing together governments, the private sector, and civil society partners, to step up efforts toward gender equality -- and advance women’s rights. As part of the forum, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday announced a commitment of $2.1 billion over the next five years to advance women’s economic empowerment, strengthen women and girls’ health and family planning, and accelerate women’s leadership. The foundation also released new data that show how the coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated gender-disparities. For more, Africa 54's Linord Moudou spoke with Mark Suzman, the CEO of the Gates Foundation. Many soldiers and civilians have been killed in the fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray region, according to a spokesman for the Ethiopian government task force for Tigray, Redwan Hussein. Wednesday's public statement is the first by any official in Ethiopia's federal government since Tigray's regional capital Mekelle was seized by Tigrayan forces this week. Hussein says the Ethiopian army could, however, re-enter Mekelle within weeks if needed, adding that a ceasefire declared on Monday was for humanitarian reasons. In Ethiopia, Tigrayan troops have regained control of the regional capital of Mekelle this week, prompting the government to declare an immediate cease-fire in the eight-month-long conflict. But U.S. lawmakers warned Tuesday, the cease-fire may be only temporary and will likely not prevent a looming famine from impacting millions of people. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more. Young women in Ghana often feel alone and isolated. But in Accra, Maureen Ahiataku is part of a group of young meteorologists using her skills to empower and encourage young people to pursue careers in Meteorology. For more perspective, Africa 54's Technology Correspondent Paul Ndiho, spoke to Maureen Ahiataku, a Meteorologist with the Ghana Meteorological Agency in Accra
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