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Rio de Janeiro's deadliest police raid in history left 25 people dead, including one police officer, on Thursday.
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.
South Sudan's Information Minister and government spokesman, Michael Makuei, has tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus.
Mr Makuei told The East African on Wednesday night that he and several of his colleagues who sat on the initial High-Level Taskforce on Covid-19 had tested positive for the viral disease.
\"Since I tested positive, there is no need to hide it from the public because this is one way of protecting others.
The Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Elia Lomuro, one of the members of the defunct taskforce, said in a statement that he tested negative for the virus.
On Wednesday, South Sudan confirmed 134 new Covid-19 cases, bring the country's tally to 481.
Sarah Hegazi, a prominent queer Egyptian feminist, committed suicide on Saturday in exile in Canada.
Hegazi died in Toronto, where she had sought asylum in 2018 after her arrest for daring to raise the rainbow pride flag at a concert in Cairo in 2017.
For musician Hamed Sinno, also an LGBTQ activist, Hegazi's death is linked to wider violence inflicted on LGBTQ people's bodies and minds.
\"From 2013, when Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took power, to 2017, when Sarah was arrested, Egyptian authorities arrested or charged tens of thousands of people, forcibly disappeared hundreds for months at a time, handed down preliminary death sentences to hundreds more, and tried thousands of civilians in military courts,\" Younes wrote.
Younes' message to the Egyptian government was unequivocal:
\"We, queer feminists, are the collective force etching at your oppression, raising our flags and voices and fists until you are held accountable for robbing Sarah and countless others of their bodily autonomy, their home, and their lives.\"
“If Mr Clunis had gone there with one police officer and the man opened fire at them and they fired back and get the man and get the same gun you see on display, everybody would say he was a hero,” Campbell said yesterday.
The former deputy superintendent faced public backlash in 2009 after he directed a police team he was leading to stand back as warring gangsters traded bullets in the gritty St Andrew community known as One Hundred Lane.
The Jamaica Police Federation, which represents cops up to the rank of inspector, is also aware of the whispers about Friday’s deadly early-morning operation.
“I was moving around the space with the police commissioner, talking to senior officers, including the head of St Catherine North [Police Division], and nobody gave that account.”
Hamilton was killed later that same day in another police operation in Cooreville Gardens, St Andrew.
LA PAZ, (Reuters) - Bolivia's former president Jeanine Anez yesteday appeared via videolink for a first hearing before a judge over accusations she helped foment a coup against the country's socialist government.
The article Bolivia ex-president Anez appears before judge accused of fomenting coup appeared first on Stabroek News.
Tanzania’s main opposition leader was attacked by unidentified assailants as he entered his home late at night, officials with his party said Tuesday, 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.
Chadema secretary-general John Mnyika said the attack was reminiscent of one in 2017 when former opposition legislator Tundu Lissu was shot by unknown gunmen at his home in Dodoma.
Lissu has said he will challenge Magufuli for the presidency in October.
TREASURE BEACH, St Elizabeth – Just under a decade since the Tranquility Bay facility at Old Wharf in this secluded south coast village was used for a short time as a police training academy, police recruits are to return there.
Head of the Constabulary Communications Unit, Senior Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay confirmed to the Jamaica Observer yesterday that Tranquility Bay, which was originally built decades ago as the Old Wharf Hotel, has been refurbished and should be reopened to police recruits “sometime in early July”.
Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, Floyd Green told the Sunday Observer by telephone yesterday that he expects water issues to be resolved over the next three years with the “execution” of a comprehensive three-year project set to cost just over $500 million dollars and serving Fort Charles and the various Treasure Beach communities.
The MP welcomed the planned opening of the police training facility at Tranquility Bay, saying it provided a “wonderful opportunity” for additional employment and will also keep Treasure Beach “safe”.
Leading Treasure Beach hotelier Jason Henzell also embraced the training initiative, saying young police recruits could enhance the community tourism project in the area and also provide opportunities for on the job practise of a “softer” type of policing.
And after a week of intense public pressure and outcry, president Bio simply suspended the minister, rather than have him arrested and charged with incitement of public hatred and violence.
For many in the country, this decision by the president not only sends the wrong message about his so called “tough on violence” mantra, but reinforces the perception that as a former soldier once accused of the unlawful killing of 29 people accused of treason in 1992 after leading a military coup that toppled the APC government, president Bio has still not shed his violent past.
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Today, several opposition politicians who were rounded up and arrested by president Bio’s government forces over a year ago, are still languishing in jail, accused of violent conduct or incitement of violence during a clash between the police and opposition supporters, when heavily armed police stormed the opposition APC party office.
Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden – a senior opposition APC politician who is also a former minister in the previous APC government, will appear in court today in Freetown, charged with ten counts of seditious libel and incitement of subversion, after simply criticising president Bio’s government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as well as questioning his government’s human rights record and governance approach.
Dr Sylvia Blyden did not threaten to kill anyone – but president Bio’s minister Abu Abu Koroma who yesterday was rewarded for threatening to killing his fellow citizens – did.
By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi court issued final verdicts on Monday in the case of slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi after his son, who still resides in the kingdom, announced pardons that spared five of the convicted individuals from execution. While the trial draws to its conclusion in Saudi Arabia, the case continues to cast a shadow over the reputation and international standing of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose associates have been sanctioned by the U.S. and the U.K. for their alleged involvement in the brutal killing, […]
The post Saudi court issues final verdicts in Khashoggi killing appeared first on Black News Channel.
Struggling with hunger, Covid-19 and death threats, the residents of Nairobi's Kariobangi shack settlement are speaking out against state demolitions that left thousands homeless.
The demolitions in the Kariobangi Sewage Farmers estate, in the northeast of the city, were carried out in May and continued for days, destroying at least 600 homes in addition to shops, schools and churches.
The state-run Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) claims ownership of the land, but residents have legal documents from the Nairobi City County that they say prove their rights to the land.
According to George Kegoro, the executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the privatisation of public land, including through \"corrupt processes\", has contributed to the evictions and demolitions in shack settlements.
Kegoro noted that the Kenya Human Rights Commission is discussing the possibility of seeking \"legal redress\" for the forced evictions and demolitions in Kariobangi.
New models projecting the timeline and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic were published on Wednesday.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura backtracked slightly on his insistence that the entire province be moved to Level 3 and Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela said all but one district of the province were ready for Level 3.
Swipe through the gallery below to view the latest Covid-19 numbers available on 20 May at the district level.
All maps are sourced from provincial health departments; however, KwaZulu-Natal did not provide updates by the time of publishing:
South Africans have finally been able to see the work of the SA Covid-19 modelling consortium.
Modellers say the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 is expected to grow to 30,000 at best and 54,000 at worst by the end of May.
We are all going through this COVID-19 pandemic together. Remember to follow protocol, wash your hands and wear your masks.
Khartoum / New Halfa / El Geneina / El Fasher / Um Rawaba / ED Damer — While Covid-19 continues to spread in Sudan, a number of medical staff in Kassala have been quarantined after having been in contact with suspected cases.
Medics working at the isolation centre of the Khartoum Teaching Hospital embarked on a strike on Wednesday, to add weight to their demands submitted to the Sudanese Ministry of Health earlier this week.
In New Halfa in eastern Sudan's Kassala, medics stay at home in fear of infection, after a large number of their colleagues had to be quarantined because of contact with coronavirus patients.
The Sudan Doctors Committee unit in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, has warned of an imminent health collapse in the state after a large number of medical personnel has been infected with Covid-19.
Last week, nurses in more than 30 hospitals in Khartoum and the states carried out a 24-hour strike demanding that PPEs be provided.
The St Thomas Police are reporting that Raymond Gowie, who was listed as wanted by the St Andrew South Police, has been captured.\tGowie, who is wanted for murder and shooting, was picked up during a police operation in the parish on Sunday.\tIt is...
Omoh, a realtor, and Mamza, a microbiologist, had set the date for April 25, with a big-budget ceremony that was to include at least 500 guests, who were to be transported to the wedding by bus.
“I just wanted to be married to someone I love, and wouldn’t want to leave it to another date, so we got the pastor to my house and with not less 20 people maintaining the 2-meter social distance, we had a peaceful wedding,” Omoh said.
Typically, weddings in Nigeria are quite expensive, regardless of the financial status of the celebrants, who are required culturally to put on an elaborate ceremony for family members, relatives, friends and even uninvited well-wishers who “gate crash” the celebration in full swing.
“I had more pressure because my friends from my home state of Borno had already sewn their wedding anko dresses (made from specially selected material that normally features the colors of the wedding, and is chosen by every group of friends or family members),” said Mamza.
“Maybe after this pandemic, people will learn to just have a wedding solely because they want to get married to each other and not necessarily trying to impress their family members and friends by struggling to have expensive ceremonies as if their parents are Aliko Dangote,” Ibrahim wrote, referring to a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist.
Rwanda has on Wednesday, May 20 reported seven new recoveries and six new cases of COVID-19.
This brought the country's tally of total confirmed cases to 314, of which 216 have been discharged from treatment centers after recovery.
In total, the country has so far conducted 53,317 sample tests of COVID-19 since outbreak in March.
The cabinet on Monday, May 18, further eased the nationwide novel coronavirus lockdown but largely maintained existing measures to control the spread of this pandemic.
Meanwhile, citizens are still urged to abide with COVID-19 precautionary measures such as regular washing of hands and self-distancing and wearing of face masks when in public or multi-family compounds.
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.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has rubbished a threat by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar of legal action should he name the date for a general election, due later this year, with the country’s borders still closed as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Constitution determines how and when an election could be called and it has nothing to do with the fuddles of any opposition leader,” Rowley told a news conference on Saturday.
Persad Bissessar, speaking at a virtual media conference earlier this week, told reporters that should Rowley call a general election at a time when the borders are closed “our lawyers will be waiting.”
He said perhaps the Opposition Leader wants the border open “for her members to come back home as they should…but that is not the basis on which we conduct the health care issues of Trinidad and Tobago.
“The border is closed for a reason and its opening partially or in total would be a public health issue and not an election issue,” Rowley said.
Kenneth Walker III contends his constitutional rights were violated when officers carried out a lethal raid of Taylor's apartment while searching for drugs not found.
South Africa has the most reported cases – 18,003, with deaths numbering 339.
Other most-affected countries include Egypt (14,229 cases), Morocco (6,652), Algeria (7,133), Ghana (6,269) and Nigeria (6,677).
The numbers are compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (world map) using statistics from the World Health Organization and other international institutions as well national and regional public health departments.
For the latest totals, see the AllAfrica clickable map with per-country numbers.
Also see: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization Africa and African Arguments.
