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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.
Nationwide protests have taken place since October 7 despite the disbanding of the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit.
The demonstrators have been accused of attacking police stations and personnel.
The rallies which are mostly attended by young people have become avenues to vent against corruption and unemployment.
Rights groups say at least 15 people have been killed the demonstrations began in early October.
A school board president in the San Francisco Bay Area has resigned after his wife’s racist comments about Vice President-elect... View Article
The post California school board president quits after wife's racist Kamala Harris comments appeared first on TheGrio.
The Aurora Police Department has fired two of the three officers who took photographs depicting a choke hold in front of the memorial for Elijah McClain, who died after a confrontation with officers in August 2019. A third officer was fired for his response to the photos that he received in a text message, and []
The post 3 officers fired over photos depicting choke hold near Elijah McClain memorial appeared first on DefenderNetwork.com.
Two years ago President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the UNHRC, the White House said that the decision did not mean that the country would retreat from its stance on human rights — a cause the administration accused the council of betraying.
Now, African countries are pushing for the UN’s top rights body to launch a high-level investigation into “systemic racism” and police violence in the United States and beyond, The text was the subject of heated discussions in Geneva ahead of a so-called “urgent debate” on the topic at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday.
The draft resolution, introduced by the African group, condemns “racially discriminatory and violent practices perpetrated by law enforcement agencies against Africans and people of African descent and structural racism endemic to the criminal justice system, in the United States of America and other parts of the world.”
The commission, the text said, should probe “systemic racism, alleged violations of international human rights law and abuses against Africans and of people of African descent in the United States” and elsewhere by law enforcement agencies.
UNHRC, founded in 2006, is designed to review and investigate human rights concerns in U.N. countries, whether they are members of the council or not.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has pampered soldiers and the police, giving them between $5 000 and $8 000 COVID-19 allowances which critics say are meant to appease them ahead of the planned July 31 protests by opposition and civic groups. BY MOSES MATENGA In contrast, teachers were awarded $1 200. Mnangagwa last month awarded government workers a 50% salary hike and a non-taxable US$75 three months COVID-19 allowance to cushion them from the economic crisis that has eroded earnings and savings. With inflation running at 786% and the prices of basic commodities rising daily, workers are demanding United States dollar salaries and rejected the government offer. The increment, recently described by Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana as “a gift”, reflected in civil servants’ accounts on Tuesday, showing a huge disparity between other civil servants and security forces. While police and soldiers got $5 000 and $8 000 respectively, other civil servants including teachers questioned why government gave them only $1 200. They now await the US$75 COVID-19 allowance promised by government. Observers immediately described the government move as a ploy to appease members of the uniformed forces ahead of the protests against the deteriorating economic situation in the country. In separate interviews, teachers, military and police officers confirmed receiving the allowances which they immediately rubbished as a useless gesture by government. Analyst Rashweat Mukundu said the disparities exposed the divide and rule tactic by the government which was banking on soldiers and police to crush dissent. “It is a clear strategy of divide and rule in which government is pampering the security sector in order to use it for repression and suppressing protests by other civil servants as we saw a few days back where police were used to chase and arrest striking nurses protesting over poor salaries,” Mukundu said. “Government is in a survival mode and not necessarily focusing on resolving issues faced by civil servants. Essentially, it is a strategy to pamper and give more money to those you will unleash on protesters. “It is partly to prepare for end of month protests being planned and it is an unfortunate way to deal with the civil servants crisis of livelihood.” Mangwana was not picking calls yesterday, but hinted on his Twitter handle that Mnangagwa might be forced to lock down Harare and Bulawayo in the face of rising local COVID-19 cases, a move seen by observers as an excuse to block the planned anti-government protests. Zanu PF communications director Tafadzwa Mugwadi said government would unleash the security forces to quell “the illegal protest”. “I am pretty sure these July 31 issues will be a non-event,” Mugwadi said. “It is illegal and it is not going to happen. I am pretty sure that our law enforcement agents, whom the nation has entrusted with the responsibility to maintain peace and order and also ensure that lockdown regulations are enforced to the full, are not going to fold their arms and watch people
Following the Partition of Africa during the Berlin Conference of 1885, Prime Minister Francesco Crispi of Italy began his nation’s colonization in Africa. Italy focused on the Red Sea because of its trade routes to Asia and East Africa, and subsequently stationed troops in the port of Massawa in Eritrea, then part of the Ethiopian nation. Ethiopia’s King Yohannes fought back against this Italian invasion. Although initially unsuccessful, they eventually defeated the Italian troops in a battle that took place on January 26, 1887, that would be known as the Dogali Massacre. This battle left four hundred and thirty Italian troops dead and injured eighty-two. King Yohannes’s forces did not dislodge the Italians from Eritrea, but they did limit their control to that coastal province. Nonetheless, with the Dogali Massacre, Ethiopia became the first African nation to defeat a European power following the partition.
After the death of King Yohannes in 1889, the new monarch, King Menilik II, realizing the Italians would seek to conquer all of Ethiopia, began to assemble a modern arsenal for his army by opening up trade with French-controlled Djibouti, and ironically with Italian merchants at Massawa. After developing a friendly relationship with Italians partly because of this trade, Menilik in 1889 signed the Treaty of Wichale with the Italian government. While Menilik and the Ethiopians understood the treaty would give them the option to use Italian assistance to communicate with other European powers, the Italians interpreted the treaty as giving them authority over all Ethiopian trade and communications with other nations, thus effectively stripping Ethiopia of its sovereignty. This deliberate mistranslation by the Italians caused tensions between Italy and Ethiopia which led to the Italo-Abyssinian War of 1889–1896.
In preparation for the oncoming conflict, Menilik II assembled an army of one hundred and ninety-six thousand men to take on both the Italian Army of twenty-five thousand men composed of European
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.
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard called it the best goal he has ever seen... even if Kemar Roofe reckoned it was \"just the same as a tap-in.\"
The chairman of the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Volda Lawrence, has been detained by police as investigations continue into the disputed March 2 regional and general elections.
The Second Italo-Abyssinian War was Italy’s conquest of Ethiopia, a process it began after the 1885 Partition of Africa. Italy was defeated in its first attempt at conquest at the battle of Adwa in 1896, allowing Ethiopia to become the only African nation to remain free of European control. Italian colonial forces however still remained in neighboring Eritrea and Somalia, and it was only a matter of time before the two nations would clash again.
The prospect of war increased dramatically after the fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, took control of Italy in 1922. He sought Ethiopia for its resources but also to salvage the pride of the only European nation defeated by an African country. Taking Ethiopia would have also completed the Italian domination over the Horn of Africa.
The initial conflict that sparked the war took place at Wal Wal, an oasis in the Ogaden Desert in 1934. On November 22, 1934, Italian forces marched fifty miles into Ethiopia and clashed with Ethiopian troops at Wal Wal, leaving one hundred and fifty Ethiopians and two Italians dead. The League of Nations evaluated the conflict and exonerated both nations, although Italy was the clear aggressor. Great Britain and France, which dominated the League, hoped to prevent Italy from becoming an ally of Nazi Germany. Taking advantage of this situation, Mussolini signed agreements with France and the United Kingdom, thus isolating Ethiopia and forcing it to face Italy alone.
The impending attack from the Italians prompted Emperor Haile Selassie I to recruit and mobilize the Army of the Ethiopian Empire. His approximately half-million-man legion was armed with mostly bows and spears, with the exception of those who owned outdated rifles, some of which remained from the conflict forty years earlier. Only a quarter of the army had any combat training. With a miniscule arsenal of outdated artillery and anti-tank or aircraft guns, and a handful of planes including some piloted by African Americans and other volunteers, the Ethiopian nation was
Human Rights Watch said Tuesday the U.S. has \"not adequately investigated\" two U.S. airstrikes in Somalia this year that killed seven civilians.
The group released a report Tuesday on airstrikes in Somalia, which it considers possible violations of international humanitarian law.
Human Rights Watch said it has no evidence the U.S. Africa Command or the Somali government spoke with the victims' family members or evaluated their claims for reparations.
The group said it found no evidence the attacks were targeting the terrorist group al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-affiliated group based in Somalia.
The U.S. admitted killing two Somali civilians in 2019, but rights groups in Africa contend the deaths could be higher.
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
As Prime Minister of Jamaica and the minister of defence, I am honoured by this opportunity to again remember those Jamaicans who bravely fought in World Wars I and II, a number of whom paid the ultimate sacrifice to set the foundation for the...
Opposition MPs boycotted the swearing-in of the new MP stressing that the condition of Lissu was known to the National Assembly but speaker John Ndugai defended the decision at the time, saying the absentee Lissu had breached parliamentary procedures.
Lissu, an avowed Magufuli critic – arrested a number of times prior to the 2017 attack – said the last five years of the Magufuli government had plunged Tanzania into economic, political and diplomatic difficulties.
Chadema leader attacked – AP report
\tMin opposition leader was attacked by unidentified assailants as he entered his home late at night, officials with his party said Tuesday (June 9, 2020), just months ahead of a general election and as opposition figures face alleged harassment.
Freeman Mbowe, the leader of the opposition in parliament and chairman of the Chadema party, was rushed to a health center for treatment after he was attacked overnight in Dodoma, the administrative capital, Dodoma Regional Police Commander Gilles Murotto told reporters.
A climate of fear has grown in the East African nation, rights groups and critics say, as President John Magufuli seeks a second term in the October election that shows no sign of being delayed despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Nkurunziza’s sour relations with international organisations began in 2015 when he insisted on running for a for a third term.
Later in 2017, Burundi became the first country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, amid accusations by African countries that the court was targeting Africans for prosecution.
Lewis Mudge, Human Rights Watch director for Central Africa said Nkurunziza betrayed his call.
“When Pierre Nkurunziza was sworn in as president in 2005 at the end of a brutal civil war, many hoped he would lead the country on a path of democratic reforms,” Mr Mudge said.
“Nkurunziza was willing to isolate Burundi almost entirely from the international community, with devastating consequences for the Burundian population.
By CLAUDIO ESCALON and SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press CORINTO, Honduras (AP) — About 2,000 Honduran migrants hoping to reach the United States entered Guatemala on foot Thursday morning, testing the newly reopened frontier that had been shut by the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities had planned to register the migrants as they crossed and offer assistance to those willing to turn back, but the group crossed the official border at Corinto without registering, according to Guatemala immigration authorities. Outnumbered officials made no attempt to stop them. Before the crossing happened, Edwin Omar Molino, a 17-year-old from Cortes, said he wanted to […]
The post Hundreds of Honduran migrants set out for US amid pandemic appeared first on Black News Channel.
The International Monetary Fund approved US$4.3-billion (R71-billion) in emergency funding for South Africa, the largest emergency disbursement for any country yet to assist with fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
India has become the third country to record more than 1m coronavirus infections, following the US and Brazil, as it reported 34,956 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national total to 1,003,832. Amid evidence that the disease was taking hold in poorer, rural […]
The post Global report: coronavirus infections in India pass 1m mark appeared first on The New York Beacon.
The stage is set for the formation of a government of national unity as President Uhuru Kenyatta races against time to implement his legacy projects — the Big Four Agenda.
President Kenyatta has been consulting with key political players in the country such as Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga, Kanu boss Gideon Moi and Wiper’s Kalonzo Musyoka in what is understood to be part of consensus building that could see them nominate their allies for plum jobs in government.
Political analyst Herman Manyora said whatever is happening — the talk of a government of national unity, post-election agreements and pushing Ruto allies out of the system — is part of the wider game plan to ensure that President Kenyatta gains total control of the State.
“If you want to form a government of national unity you need the numbers, hence the agreement,” he added, noting that the agreements help to strengthen the President in the face of a Jubilee falling-out.
Having sensed danger, a number of MPs, especially the nominated ones who did not heed President Kenyatta’s call to attend the State House meeting, are toeing the line.
[VOA] Omar Radi wasn't surprised to find he was the target of apparent surveillance by Moroccan authorities. The freelance investigative journalist has been threatened and arrested for his coverage of the government, and was most recently summoned by police on June 24.
