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People who are out of work after contracting COVID-19 were told Friday a solution is coming that will ensure sick benefit payments by the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). Consultant Manager of Home Isolation Dr Adanna Grandison confirmed on Friday that authorities were nearing the implementation of a digital payment system that would allay the fears […]
The post NIS benefit payment system ‘coming’ for COVID-positive workers appeared first on Barbados Today.
The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.
He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.
South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.
AFP
Cape Town - The South African government has confirmed that it has made a formal request to the government of Malawi for the extradition of fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary. “The extradition request for Mr and Mrs Bushiri, has been duly served in terms of Article 6 of the SADC Protocol on extradition as well Article 10 of the Extradition Agreement Between the Government of Malawi and Republic of South Africa entered in terms of the Republic of South Africa Extradition Act No 67 of 1962 as amended,” the Department of Justice said on Friday. “Given our sound and healthy diplomatic, strategic and political relationship, and our common citizenship of the SADC community, we are convinced that the Republic of Malawi will honour the letter and spirit of every provision of their International and regional obligations” Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said. The couple fled South Africa after being released on bail early last month. The self-proclaimed prophet and prophetess are facing charges charges of theft, money laundering and fraud relating to an investment scheme. They were released on a R200 000 bail each in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on November 4, following their arrest in October. Their bail conditions stipulated that they were allowed to travel within Gauteng and North West only, until the case was finalised. The couple own a hotel in Rustenburg in North West. The prosecuting authority in Malawi last week filed an appeal against the unconditional release of the charismatic preacher and his wife. The case was heard on Tuesday. Lilongwe Magistrate Viva Nyimba ruled last week that the couple’s arrest in Malawi was illegal as there was no arrest warrant issued by the Malawian authorities. The magistrate ordered their unconditional release. Malawi police arrested them on a warrant received from Interpol. The state wanted the couple to remain in custody for 30 days while waiting for the extradition request from South Africa. Bushiri has said he fled to Malawi because he feared for their lives and that they would not get a fair trial presided by white court officials and investigated by corrupt white police officers. He demanded that the prosecuting team and the investigating officers be removed and for South African authorities to assure his safety and not revoke his bail. However, Bushiri’s bail has been revoked and warrants of arrest issued. He has also lost his opulent house in Centurion, Pretoria. Three more warrants of arrest were also issued against Bushiri for alleged rape.- IOL
Soraya Jiménez Mendívil made history at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when she won a gold medal for her 490.5 pound lift. It was the first year female weightlifting was included as an Olympic sport. [...]
Milwaukee – The Milwaukee Health Department is revising the current public health order, modifying the capacity rules for restaurants and bars and requiring more stringent protocols for participation in team sports. The COVID-19 Public Health Plan for the City of Milwaukee, Order #4.3, will take effect on December 3, 2020. In a change from past […]
The post COVID-19 Trends Prompt Milwaukee Health Department to Modify Current Public Health Order appeared first on Milwaukee Community Journal.
Ethiopian forces blocked people from the country's embattled Tigray region from crossing into Sudan on Thursday at the busiest crossing point for refugees, Sudanese forces said.
Their account follows allegations by refugees in previous days of Ethiopian forces stopping people from fleeing the month-old deadly conflict in Tigray.
The Sudanese forces, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the events, said people tried to cross from Ethiopia around 6 a.m. to Hamdayet in Sudan but were stopped, and refugees waiting on the Sudan side became upset and began throwing rocks.
The Sudanese forces then cleared the area, and on Thursday evening they confirmed that the border crossing remained closed.
Tensions have been rising at the border in recent days as the flow of Ethiopians crossing has slowed to hundreds per day from several thousands.
A senior Ethiopian government official who has served as spokesman during the conflict did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
End fighting
The European Union's crisis management commissioner Thursday urged the Ethiopian government to restore communications in its northern Tigray region and called on both sides to cease hostilities.
\"I urge... the Ethiopian authorities to lift the communication blockade,\" Janez Lenarcic said at Um Raquba camp in neighboring Sudan, where he spoke with Ethiopian refugees who had fled their homeland over the last month.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last month ordered military operations against the northern Ethiopian region's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in response to what he said were attacks on Ethiopian federal army camps.
Tens of thousands of refugees have since poured into eastern Sudan, with many complaining that they have not been able to re-establish contact with those left behind or lost on the scramble to leave due to a communications blackout.
\"I spoke with a number of refugees in this camp today and what is perhaps most painful to hear is that they have zero information... about their relatives and friends who stayed behind,\" Lenarcic said.
Abiy on Saturday claimed the conflict was over after federal troops took control of the Tigrayan capital, Mekele, but the TPLF threatened a full-scale counter-offensive on Wednesday.
Lenarcic also urged Ethiopia's government to provide access for humanitarian workers and goods, while calling on both sides to \"cease the hostilities\".
Ethiopia has formally granted the United Nations access to deliver aid to Tigray.
Ramaphosa was adamant that public behaviour needs to change immediately to prevent the spread of the virus, and blasted defiance of the laws.
PLANS by three of the country’s biggest foreign-controlled firms to invest fresh capital into their local operations represent the earliest pointers to a potential bounce back next year following a turmoil-filled 2020, researchers at IH Securities said on Monday. BY SHAME MAKOSHORI Swiss-headquartered foods and beverages giant, Nestle and Jersey-based Caledonia Mining Corporation have announced combined investments totalling US$62,5 million into Zimbabwe in the past week. Caledonia operates Blanket gold mine, one of the country’s biggest bullion extraction outfits. Platinum miner, Zimplats has also been making aggressive expansion moves at its Ngezi operation. Foreign firms hold the key to the development of frontier markets and the attitude of those already invested shapes perceptions across fund managers and individual investors seeking opportunities in a given destination. In a two-page paper titled Macro-Economic Update, Zimbabwe 2021 National Budget Review, IH said the optimism demonstrated by the three firms received a boost when Finance minister Mthuli Ncube attempted in next year’s fiscal plan to make interventions that may steer industries back to improved production. The past two years have been difficult for Zimbabwe, which has battled acute foreign currency, fuel and power shortages. These were compounded by inflationary surges in the past 12 months, together with exchange rate volatilities that only cooled off after the central bank introduced the forex auction system in June. At the beginning of the year, Zimbabwe’s fragile economy was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced government to shut down businesses, as authorities tried to prevent contagion. However, IH’s paper said stability would only be sustained if the exchange rate continued on a positive trajectory. “The 2021 budget attempts to solve the underlying problem of productivity through several measures, the main lever of which is stabilisation of the local currency,” IH said. “Trading updates for 3Q20 (third quarter 2020) have consistently shown recovering retail volumes from the sharp decline in 1H2020 (first half 2020) implying some recovery in consumer demand. Interestingly, companies servicing the infrastructure industry such as Proplastics and Lafarge have also shown improved order books implying growth in capital spend. We also note signs that some foreign-based parent companies, including Nestle, Caledonia and Zimplats, have indicated intent to increase investment in their local subsidiaries. The relatively stable environment in H2 set up by a surprisingly stable forex auction market and a resultantly stable Zimbabwe dollar has improved business and consumer confidence,” the paper said. Last week, Caledonia said it had spent US$60 million developing its flagship central shaft project, which is due to be commissioned in 2021. “We have invested approximately US$60 million in this project since we first announced it in 2015 and it has been owner-built and fully funded through internal cashflow and has been completed at a cost that is w
Additional funds are being raised to meet ongoing needs In April 2020, Texas Women’s Foundation established the Resilience Fund to provide immediate, mid- and long-term support to women, girls and families most affected by the COVID-19 economic and community health crisis. With $1.4 million raised and granted, the Resilience Fund is impacting lives of many, especially women of color, who […]
Election materials on Thursday arrived at the Bangui M'poko International Airport in Central African Republic. The materials include ballot boxes, voting booths and voter cards for the first round in presidential and parliamentary elections on December 27.
Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, MINUSCA peacekeeping force, Denise Brown is satisfied with progress thus far.
\"We are extremely satisfied with the progress, in view of the electoral preparation. There was the mapping in May, June, then the implementation of the enumeration, then the arrival of the tablets, the training of tablet agents. The electoral list was compiled despite the Covid, despite the rainy season\", she said.
On Thursday, the Constitutional Court of the Central African Republic rejected ex-president Francois Bozize's candidacy in the elections. Bozize is being sought for alleged murder and torture and is under UN sanctions.
The court also rejected four other bids for the December 27 polls. This leaves 17 candidates, including incumbent president Faustin-Archange Touadera as contenders of the country’s top job. His chances look bright for a second term.
Bozize, 74, has played a major part in CAR's decades-long troubles, and some have feared he could try to stage a violent comeback. He seized power in 2003 before being overthrown a decade later by the Seleka, a rebel coalition drawn largely from the Muslim minority. The 2013 coup sparked brutal violence between the Seleka and so-called \"anti-Balaka\" self-defence forces, mainly Christian and animist.
It’s Friday 4 December, and this is TheSouthAfrican.com Daily News Wrap - with the latest news you really need to know - when you need it.
NNPA Press Room Dubbed the “she-cession,” women face disproportionate housing impacts due to unemployment, housing tenure and childcare. Unemployment claims for women were up 1,368 percent year over year at the height of the COVID-19 recession. Last month, women represented 80 percent of those who dropped out of the labor force. Women are more likely […]
The post Women More Likely to Face Housing Insecurity in Pandemic-Led Recession appeared first on Voice and Viewpoint.
Mali's interim government on Thursday announced the composition of a new legislative body for the West African country's transition to civilian rule, with the military retaining a key role.
Young army officers in the conflict-ridden Sahel state toppled president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on August 18 after weeks of anti-government protests.
Under the threat of international sanctions, the officers between September and October handed power to an interim government, which is meant to rule for 18 months before staging elections.
Coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita, who was made vice president of the interim government, was given veto power last month over the appointments to the 121-seat legislative body.
The move was seen by critics of the military-dominated interim regime as strengthening army control.
The final list for the new National Transitional Council was published by a decree from the interim president, Bah Ndaw, himself a retired army colonel.
The list of appointments was read out late Thursday on national television. Members of the defense and security forces received 22 seats.
The body will meet for the first time on Saturday and will elect its president.
The opposition June 5 Movement, or M5, last month called for \"resistance\" after it was announced Goita would have the final say on the MPs.
As interim vice president, Goita is in charge of security issues in a country which has struggled to quell a brutal militant insurgency since 2012.
The transitional government's mandate is meant to last for 18 months with a return to democratic civilian rule.
The disagreements over the assembly's composition threaten to derail plans for elections, national reconciliation and the fight against militants in the north of the country.
Anger over the seemingly endless conflict, as well as over perceived corruption, contributed to the protests which culminated in Keita's ouster.
The cans have a label that peels back to reveal a chronology of those long weeks with haunting black-and-white photographs.