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[RFI] Ethiopia's army captured the town of Alamata, in southern Tigray, 115 kilometres from the regional capital Mekelle, according to a statement on Monday by the Ethiopian government, as a conflict between the federal government and Tigray region continues to escalate.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
[Monitor] Former Security minister, now Independent presidential candidate, Lt Gen (rtd) Henry Tumukunde, on Friday said constructing a better hospital in Kiruhura District will be top on his agenda once he becomes president.
A Black college student in Texas said campus police stormed into her dorm room with their guns drawn after a group of mostly white students falsely accused her of a crime. This incident happened Sept. 14 at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, about 160 miles southeast of Dallas. Attorney Randall Kallinen said […]
The post Black Texas college student says police stormed into dorm after false report appeared first on DefenderNetwork.com.
Dozens in Kenya’s capital Nairobi held peaceful demonstrations on Monday against police brutality. Marching through Mathare slums, the demonstrators demanded justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings.
According to Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority, at least 15 people have been killed by the police since authorities imposed a coronavirus curfew in late March.
Rebecca, a protester underlined the necessity of the march: “It’s important to stand in solidarity with victims of police brutality both locally and globally and it’s atrocious. We can’t have a peaceful, prosperous, existence with a police state, period.”
“We are sick and tired of the police brutality, we want justice for everyone, regardless whether in Kenya or all over the world, LGBT, any body, black lives matter. We just want justice, there’s no need of violence, nobody needs to be killed nobody needs to be beaten,” another protester, Beatrice, stressed.
Kenya’s police force is often accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings, especially in poor neighbourhoods. Before the coronavirus pandemic, Human Rights Watch documented eight cases of police killings in less than two months.
The former First Lady of G-Unit has had unprecedented highs on the music front; accompanied by her fair share of lows--but now she's back with a fierce new sound and a lot of new projects on the way.
Ethiopia has said that forces loyal to the ruling party in the Tigray region had fired into neighbouring Amhara region.
Thousands of street children in Addis Ababa are being moved to shelters as COVID-19 cases soar in the east African nation
ADDIS ABABA - When Olana Abdulsewud was woken by the police in Addis Ababa early one morning in March, the Ethiopian teenager was relieved.
Begging to survive on the streets had become increasingly tough for Olana, one of an estimated 10,000 homeless children in Ethiopia's capital, since the arrival of the new coronavirus.
Authorities in Addis started rounding up street children in March to prevent them from contracting and spreading the virus - so far more than 4,100 have been placed in shelters - and the drive is being ramped up as coronavirus cases rise nationwide.
Despite rapid growth in the past decade, inequality is stark in Ethiopia where a growing number of children have been driven from their homes - by poverty or neglect - and ended up begging or selling wares to survive life on the streets, charities said.
Tatek Abebe, an academic who has done research into Ethiopia's street children, said factors such as rural poverty and ethnic violence meant most of these children would prefer to remain in Addis rather than move back home to the countryside.
All the while, President John Magufuli has led a crackdown on anyone who dares raise concerns about the virus's spread in his East African country or the Government's response to it.
The country's number of confirmed virus cases hasn't changed for three weeks, and the international community is openly worrying that Tanzania's Government is hiding the true scale of the pandemic.
While many African countries have been praised for their response to the coronavirus, Tanzania is the most dramatic exception, run by a president who questions — or fires — his own health experts and has refused to limit people's movements, saying the economy is the priority.
While health experts say recorded coronavirus cases and deaths the world over are undercounts, Opposition leaders accuse Magufuli's Government of hiding the outbreak's true toll.
Kenya closed its border with Tanzania this month except for cargo traffic and imposed stringent testing measures on Tanzanian truck drivers after more than 50 of them tested positive for the virus in a single day.
In Jan. 2007, the U.S. launched airstrikes on the retreating Islamists, who they believed included three members of al-Qaeda suspected of involvement in the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. The air strikes were strongly criticized in a number of Muslim countries, which accused the Americans of killing Somali civilians. Battles between the insurgents and Somali and Ethiopian troops intensified in March, leaving 300 civilians dead in what has been called the worst fighting in 15 years. The fighting created a humanitarian crisis, with more than 320,000 Somalis fleeing the fighting in Mogadishu in just two months. In July, a national reconciliation conference opened in Mogadishu but was quickly postponed when leading opposition figures failed to appear. The fighting intensified once again in October. The Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia, a coalition of moderate Islamist leaders, and the transitional government agreed to a cease-fire in June 2008 that called on Ethiopian troops that were propping up the fragile government to be replaced by UN troops. The future of the deal was tenuous from the start and was greeted by much skepticism. Indeed, it was unclear if the UN could assemble a force willing to be deployed to the troubled region, and several powerful Islamist groups did not participate in the negotiations.
Al-Shabab, the militant wing of SICC, began gaining strength in 2007. It allied itself with al-Qaeda and won the support of many local warlords, primarily in the south. The group has raised alarms in the U.S. that its brand of militant Islam would spread throughout eastern Africa and beyond. The group seeks to return Somalia to an Islamist state and has intimidated civilians with stonings, by chopping off hands, and by banning many forms of technology, while continuing to wage war against the transitional government. Al-Shabab has taken advantage of the power vacuum and weak transitional government. By February 2009, the group controlled almost all of southern
Guinea's main opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo arrived in the capital Conakry on Thursday ahead of this weekend's election, greeted by hordes of animated supporters.
The city had earlier resounded to the sound of car horns as supporters of President Alpha Conde, who is seeking a controversial third term on Sunday, whisked through the city in a motorcade.
After about a week of combative campaigning, the 82-year-old president himself returned to the capital on Wednesday amid heightened political tension in the West African state.
Conde's re-election bid comes after he pushed through a constitutional referendum in March, which he argued would modernise the country, but which allowed him to bypass a two-term limit for presidents.
Opposition to this triggered mass protests from last October, sparking a massive crackdown by security forces and claiming dozens of lives.
Rights groups are increasingly critical of Conde, whom they say is veering towards authoritarianism.
Diallo's motorcade proceeded through streets thronged with supporters wearing the green and white colours of his party Thursday, while a swarm of motorbike riders driving ahead of the opposition leader slalomed between the supporters.
\"We're tired, we want change,\" said unemployed mechanic Balde Mamadou Oury, 35.
Twelve candidates are contesting Sunday's election in total. However most think only Conde and Diallo are serious contenders.
After decades as an opposition activist, Conde became Guinea's first democratically-elected president in 2010 and won re-election in 2015.
Diallo, 68, now Guinea's leading opposition politician, was formerly a prime minister under authoritarian leader Lansana Conte.
After months of tension between the pair, Guineans interviewed by AFP expressed fears of potential violence on election day and the period that follows.
Clashes between Conde and Diallo supporters have wounded several people in different parts of the country in recent days.
'Hate speech'
Kabinet Fofana, a Guinean political scientist, warned there was a danger one of the candidates would not accept the outcome of the election.
\"A major difficulty is the question of recognition, acceptance of the results of the ballot boxes,\" he said.
The outcome of Guinea's poll is likely to resonate further afield too, kicking off a string of elections this year across West Africa.
Activists are concerned that a win for Conde would bode ill for democratic norms in the region.
Aside from the third presidential term, Guinea's election campaign has been marked by fears of increased ethnic tensions in the diverse country.
For example, Conde - who normally speaks French when addressing the nation - last month told voters in the Malinke language that backing an opposition Malinke candidate amounted to voting for Diallo.
Politics in Guinea are mostly drawn along ethnic lines. President Conde's party is largely backed by Malinke people, and Diallo's UFDG by Fulani people, although both insist that they are pluralist.
Against a back
[Radio Dabanga] Khartoum / Nyala / Shendi / Wad Madani / El Gedare -- Correctors of the Sudanese secondary school examinations laid down their pens yesterday in protest against their working conditions. Nutritionists, medics and airport staff are or will go on strike in Sudan as well.
\tTamique Hines, senior manager of software engineering at MC Systems Ltd, has said the COVID-19 pandemic is helping to create a digital revolution in Jamaica, which can assist in revitalising the country’s economy. “There is certainly an opportunity...
[Nation] The Ethiopian government on Monday refuted claims of planned talks with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, mediated by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Kampala.
Yet another Black man has been fatally shot by police this week, and this time the tragedy occurred near Vancouver,... View Article
The post Washington cops fatally shoot Black man, leave body in street for 12 hours appeared first on TheGrio.
A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
Voting by mail is actually very secure, despite what the President says. However, if people don't trust that their votes will be counted, that's a full-blown crisis of democracy. With millions of Americans turning to mail-in voting, many for the first time, because of the coronavirus pandemic, that means doubts about the ability of the USPS to deliver mail equal doubts about the election.
Related: What you need to know about voting by mail
Vote early! On Friday, we learned USPS has notified states that some mail-in ballots are at risk of not being counted.
From CNN's Ellie Kaufman:
Multiple states received communications from the USPS general counsel outlining standard mail delivery times and prices leading up to the November election and warning secretaries of state that election laws established by the states would not necessarily guarantee that mail-in ballots will be received in time to be counted.
CNN obtained letters sent to Washington, Pennsylvania, California and North Carolina. The Utah lieutenant governor's office also confirmed to CNN that it received a letter at the end of July. The Washington Post reported 46 states and Washington, DC, all received similar warnings.
USPS General Counsel Thomas Marshall wrote to California's secretary of state that there is \"a significant risk that some ballots will not be returned by mail in time to be counted under your laws as we understand them.\"
The letters suggest election mail be sent by first class mail, at a higher rate than the nonprofit rate most states use, an obstacle for cash-strapped states dealing with the pandemic.
The slowdown. Meanwhile, in a Pennsylvania court filing, it was alleged that slower USPS delivery times are a likely outcome of recent changes put in place by the post office that have been criticized for putting at risk the ability to conduct vote by mail across the country.
Pennsylvania may extend its deadline to receive ballots to up to three days after the election, provided they are mailed by Election Day.
See below for more on deadlines, but just remember not to wait 'til the last minute to vote by mail. And if you want to know how to get an absentee ballot, there are links below
The USPS crisis is not just about ballots. The saddest mail story you'll read today has to do with a neighborhood in Southeast Washington, DC, where they aren't getting mail at all.
Knee-capping the mail. Former President Barack Obama, appearing on a podcast, accused President Donald Trump of trying \"starve\" the postal service.
\"What we've seen in a way that is unique to modern political history is a President who is explicit in trying to discourage people from voting,\" Obama said. \"What we've never seen before is a President say, 'I'm going to try to actively kneecap the postal service to encourage voting and I will be explicit about the reason I'm doing it.'\"
\"That's sort of unheard of,\" he said.
After saying on Thursday on Fox News he was in
[Nation] Kenyan Journalist Yassin Juma has refuted claims that he opted to stay in Ethiopia, where he was arrested and detained for 49 days on several charges.
The Conflict Gets Worse
The Tigrayan regional government has fired rockets at two airports in the neighbouring Amhara region in Ethiopia with spokesman Reda asserting that further retaliation could continue and even Asmara in Eritrea could be targeted. The Ethiopian federal government confirmed that Gondar and Bahir Dar airports were damaged in the strikes late Friday — as the deadly conflict threatens to spread to not only other parts of Africa's second-most populous country but more areas in the horn of Africa.
Since the conflict began Nov 4th, reports from the Tigray region — still under a national state of emergency, see hundreds of people on both sides losing their lives and over 21,000 Ethiopians fleeing to neighbouring Eastern Sudan.
Many authorities in the international community who caution against inter-ethnic genocide fear a possible all-out civil war — compounded by the already chaélengiong Covid-19 pandemic.
The \"Insecure\" actress played a lawyer for the NAACP appearing on Kenan Thompson's made-up morning talk show, \"Your Voice Chicago,\" about the upcoming presidential election.
In the first moments of the skit, Rae said she would be \"voting for everybody Black\" -- a play on her viral comment at the 2017 Emmy Awards that she was \"rooting for everybody Black.\"
Seconds before the end of the skit, Rae quickly got the last word by responding to Thompson's mention of Kanye West with, \"Kanye? F him!\" along with an eye roll.
West responded to the joke by tweeting, \"Ive always said SNL uses black people to hold other black people back My heart goes out to Issa Rae I'm praying for her and her family.\"
He continued, \"I know that the twenty years of service that I've paid in the entertainment field has furthered our ability to be more successful.\"
West accompanied his tweet with a screenshot of Issa Rae's Google search results, in Spanish.
The rapper and father of four announced he was running for president on July 4, He has since campaigned on Twitter and encouraged voters to write in his name on ballots where it does not already appear.
The post Kanye West responds to Issa Rae's 'SNL' joke: 'I'm praying for her' appeared first on L.A. Focus Newspaper.
\"Bel-Air\" will reimagine the 90’s Comedy sitcom.
The Roots, who also perform as the house band on Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show,” paid homage to Malik B for his rap talents and faith.
CARACAS, (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez has abandoned the Spanish ambassador's residence in Caracas to leave the country, more than a year after seeking refuge there to escape house arrest, three people familiar with his exit said.
The article Venezuelan opposition figure Lopez abandons Caracas residence to flee abroad appeared first on Stabroek News.
Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group, which was driven out of Uganda in the late 1990s, attacked Samboko village, about 100km (60 miles) southwest of the city of Bunia, Omar Kavota from rights group CEPADHO said on Wednesday.
A day after killing at least 17 in the nearby village of Makutano, ADF members killed at least 40 people with machetes and looted food and valuables early on Tuesday, Kavota added
On the ground, some people have fled and others have given themselves the courage to stay for the moment.
More than 400 people have been killed in attacks attributed to the ADF since the army began an offensive to oust the group from its bases last year, according to the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a research initiative that maps unrest in the region.
About 200,000 people have fled their homes in Ituri province, where the two villages are located, in the past two months because of the widespread violence by a variety of armed groups.
Last month, 22 people from the Hema community were killed in attacks in the village of Koli in Ituri province, which were blamed on the Cooperative for the Development of Congo – an armed political-religious sect drawn from the Lendu ethnic group.
Eritrea was formerly the northernmost province of Ethiopia and is about the size of Indiana. Much of the country is mountainous. Its narrow Red Sea coastal plain is one of the hottest and driest places in Africa. The cooler central highlands have fertile valleys that support agriculture. Eritrea is bordered by the Sudan on the north and west, the Red Sea on the north and east, and Ethiopia and Djibouti on the south.
A transitional government committed to a democratic system.
Eritrea was part of the first Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum until its decline in the 8th century. It came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and later of the Egyptians. The Italians captured the coastal areas in 1885, and the Treaty of Uccialli (May 2, 1889) gave Italy sovereignty over part of Eritrea. The Italians named their colony after the Roman name for the Red Sea, Mare Erythraeum, and ruled there until World War II. The British captured Eritrea in 1941 and later administered it as a UN Trust Territory until it became federated with Ethiopia on Sept. 15, 1952. Eritrea was made an Ethiopian province on Nov. 14, 1962. A civil war broke out against the Ethiopian government, led by rebel groups who opposed the union and wanted independence for Eritrea. Fighting continued over the next 32 years.
MINNEAPOLIS—Protests turned violent on Tuesday as anti-police activists smashed windows and vandalized police cars in response to the death of an African American man at the hands of four law enforcement officers.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo fired Officer Derek Chauvin and three other officers who were present.
“Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated.
“Friends, Please wear your masks and join us if you can in demanding justice for the Black man who was unjustly killed by Minneapolis Police yesterday in broad daylight,” she wrote.
The post Tear gas flies as Minneapolis rioters protest death of George Floyd in police custody appeared first on Zenger News.
Ernest Armah is the Country Manager of enpact e.V. enpact e.V is a global non-profit organization founded in 2013 to empower entrepreneurs, ecosystems and international cooperation.
According to the Economic Commission for Africa, “firms and businesses in African cities are highly vulnerable to COVID-19 related effects, especially SMEs which account for 80% of employment in Africa.”
On 15th May 2020, I moderated a conversation on the topic: The African entrepreneur in the age of COVID-19: Coping Strategies for Today’s Reality.
If we were to be under lockdown for two straight years, what will the African entrepreneur do?
Analogous to the story of Henrietta’s is that of Vincent Okeke, the co-founder of Agriple, a Nigerian-based online farm market that connects farmers with consumers and off-takers in real time to minimize food waste.
Australia and West Indies' T20 series scheduled to take place in October has been postponed leaving a clear path for all gun players to grace IPL13.
We all know that Tamar Braxton is all for Love and War, so true Tamartians recognize that the singer-songwriter won't ever go down without a fight. The
Black Lives Won’t Matter Until Black Politics Do. Black centered policies developed by Black people that will change the daily lives of all Black people are necessary now more than ever.
Press Release - MONUSCO, through the International Strategy for the Stabilization of Congo (ISSS), officially handed over to the Provincial Government of Ituri, on Tuesday July 28, 2020, a building which will serve as administrative premises for the Kasenyi Land Brigade, in the territory of Irumu.
Zimbabwe's investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono was released from prison on Wednesday.
He was arrested six weeks ago for inciting public violence for tweeting his support for an anti-government protest.
He had reported on alleged COVID-19 procurement fraud- which led to the health minister being sacked and charged with corruption.
\"I was convinced that I was arrested for exposing corruption and the president's office ordered my arrest. When we go to trial we shall prove that,\" Chin’ono said.
He denounced the conditions in Chikuribi prison, saying that most prisoners don't have soap and water and that a cell meant for 16 people holds up to 45 prisoners.
He says his detention has made him all the more eager to continue his work.
\"I remain strong. In fact, it's amazing and I was talking to my friend here Jacob (Ngarivhume) some time that if these guys knew the mistake they made by taking us there, because we have seen things that we only used to hear about and we were not sure about, but now we know and we can write authoritatively about those things.\"
Opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, an organiser of the foiled protest, was arrested, charged and released at the same time as Chin'ono.
He has also been barred from posting on his Twitter account until his case is decided.
Rights groups say he was arrested for exposing corruption.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected in 2018, but despite his promises to reinforce democracy Reporters Without Borders says the page is not turned on his predecessor Robert Mugabe.
The group says extremely harsh media laws are still in effect and, when new laws have been adopted, their provisions are just as draconian as those they replaced.
Zimbabwe ranks 126 in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.
