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The overthrow of President Alpha Conde in Guinea capped a steady slide from grace for the veteran opposition leader and human rights professor who critics say failed to live up to pledges to deliver democratic restoration and ethnic reconciliation. A dishevelled Conde appeared in a video circulating on social media as he was being held […]
The post Who is Alpha Conde, Guinea’s toppled president? appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
Wynn Las Vegas announced the newest concept in nightlife,Intrigue, last night during a reveal at Tryst Nightclub’s “Final Affair” industry party. Intrigue will open in the space currently occupied by Tryst on Apr. 28, 2016, which marks Wynn Las Vegas’ 11th anniversary. Tryst closes on Saturday, Nov. 7, after a successful 10-year run.
“The current market is dominated by the DJ phenomenon,” said Sean Christie, VP of operations at Wynn Las Vegas. “While the current nightlife options at Wynn continue to enjoy the success of EDM, there is an audience who wants an alternative nightlife experience. Wynn was the first in Las Vegas to embrace the DJ phenomenon at Encore Beach Club, XS and Surrender and will again usher in a unique concept with Intrigue while providing the highest level of luxury and service that customers expect from the resort.”
Intrigue will feature state-of-the-art lighting and sound designed by award-winning John Lyons Systems throughout the spectacular 14,000-square-foot venue, which will accommodate up to 1,200 patrons. Guests will enjoy contemporary party music that will cross over many different genres creating a high-energy dancing environment. A new glass enclosed patio will allow year-round views to the venue’s dramatic waterfall and spectacular pyrotechnics show. Additionally, a 1,200-square-foot private club within the club will be a social media free zone, allowing guests the ultimate in privacy.
St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church of Sacramento, California was founded in 1850, the same year that California was admitted to the union. It stands to this day as the oldest continuous African Methodist Episcopal (AME) congregation on the west coast.
The church began humbly, spurred on by a small group of early black settlers in the Sacramento area who in 1850 gathered at the home of Daniel Blue. They were led by preacher Barney Fletcher for worship. Later that year the members of the church filed a petition with the Indiana Conference to be officially admitted to the African Methodist Episcopal Conference. The petition was accepted in Indiana which returned a few materials to the new Sacramento church along with a letter of welcome from Rev. W.R. Revels to the fledgling congregation.
St. Andrews’ first pastor was John Fitzgerald. The church was initially known as Bethel AME Church and was admitted to the Indiana conference under that name. Soon thereafter, however, it became St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church.
For the decade between 1855 and 1865, the church hosted three of the four California Colored Citizen’s Conventions. These conventions, which included delegates from most of the states counties, were organized to illustrate the economic progress black Californians had made during their short residency in the state and to highlight a number of civil rights grievances including the inability of African American males to vote or of any black Californians to give testimony in the states courts. The Conventions met at St. Andrews in 1855, 1856, and 1865.
In 1925, St. Andrews celebrated its Diamond Jubilee. Among those serving as trustees at that time were Julia Brown and Laura C. OReilly, the first woman ever elected to a local AME church trustee board in the California Conference.
In 1951 the currently existing church building was constructed in Sacramento, giving the church a permanent home. The old site is now owned by the County of Sacramento and is a parking structure.
Celebrity parents, including actress Gabrielle Union, reality star and entrepreneur Kylie Jenner, and now “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” reality stars Princess Love and Ray J Norwood, are among the many participating in the Fruit Snack Challenge.
The 35-year-old Love took to Instagram by uploading a video of herself giving her and Norwood’s daughter, Melody Love Norwood, gummy bears on her high-chair table.
Melody smiled, chuckled, and picked up a gummy bear, indicating that she might have been about to falter in the challenge, but when Love returned baby Melody hadn’t eaten any gummy bears.
Norwood’s presence in the video sparked a wave of commentary on Love’s post about her estranged husband’s presence.
Love claimed that Norwood left her stranded with Melody in Las Vegas last November following an argument.
May 19: govt to explain boom recoveries and address hot spot case management
\tTotal confirmed cases = 5,918 (new cases = 183)
Total recoveries = 1,754 (new = 0)
Total deaths = 31 (new = 2)
Active cases = 4,137
\tFigures valid as of May 19, 2020
\t
\tNo new figures were released on Monday but the government through the Information Ministry will release new tallies at a press conference scheduled for later today.
May 17: 5,735 cases, prez fact-checked on testing ‘record’
\tTotal confirmed cases = 5735 (new cases = 97)
Total recoveries = 1,754 (new = 294)
Total deaths = 29 (new = 5)
Active cases = 3,952
\tFigures valid as of close of day May 16, 2020
\tGhana maintained her spot as West Africa’s most impacted after the Health Ministry released latest figures yesterday.
AFP Fact-check – Ghana’s leader falsely claims his country fronts COVID-19 testing
May 16: 5,530 cases, jumbo recoveries
\tTotal confirmed cases = 5,638 (new cases = 108)
Total recoveries = 1,460 (new recoveries = 1086)
Total deaths = 24 (new deaths = 0)
Active cases = 4,150
\tGhana recorded a boost in recoveries with a record 1,086 discharges authorities reported early Saturday.
READ MORE – Uniting behind a people’s vaccine against COVID-19
May 14: 5,530 cases, 13 of 16 regions infected
\tTotal confirmed cases = 5,530 (new cases = 122)
Total recoveries = 674 (new recoveries = 160)
Active cases = 4,832
\tThirteen of the 16 regions in the country have recorded cases of the disease.
Statistics as at close of day May 13, 2020
\tTotal confirmed cases = 5,408 (new cases = 281)
Total recoveries = 514
Total deaths = 24
Active cases = 4,872
May 12: Cases hit 5,127; gold-rich Obuasi new hotspot
\tGhana’s case statistics passed the 5,000 mark after 427 new cases were recorded according to head of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Aboagye.
Over the summer of 2012, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Dine, another radical Islamist group, took advantage of the instability and an increasingly weak military and captured Timbuktu, Kidal, and Gao. The groups briefly allied themselves with the Tuareg rebels, but severed ties and declared the northern part of the country an Islamic state. They implemented and brutally enforced Shariah, or Islamic law. They also destroyed many ancient books and manuscripts and vandalized tombs, saying that worshipping saints violated the tenets of Islam. The Islamists continued to stretch their area of control into the fall, prompting concern that legions of Islamists would gather and train in northern Mali and threaten large swaths of Africa. ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States) began planning a military action to reclaim the north from the Islamists. However, by January 2013, the militants had pushed into the southern part of the country, crossing into the area controlled by the government. France sent about 2,150 troops to Mali to push them back. In addition to launching airstrikes on militant strongholds, France also deployed ground troops to combat the stubborn fighters. By the end of January, French troops had pushed the militants out of Gao and Timbuktu, forcing them back to northern Mali. Soldiers from other African nations were also deployed to Mali to aid in the effort and will take a more active role in both combat and training Malian troops once France withdraws from Mali.
On Jan. 16, 2013, Islamic militants entered neighboring Algeria from Mali and took dozens of foreign hostages at the BP-controlled In Amenas gas field. Algerian officials said the militants were members of an offshoot of al-Qaeda called Al Mulathameen and were acting in retaliation for Frances intervention in Mali. On Jan. 17, Algerian troops stormed the complex and attacked the kidnappers. By the end of the standoff on Jan. 20, 29 militants and 37 hostages were killed. Three Americans were among the dead.
The UN
KLFY says the Kaplan police officer Steven Aucoin made the comment in a live feed for the governor’s Friday press conference.
Chief of Police, Joshua Hardy, slammed Aucoin, saying this behavior is not tolerated within the department and Aucoin was fired after an investigation of the entire thread.
However, he argued that Aucoin’s comments could’ve been a misunderstanding because of how Facebook works.
Chief Hardy explained, “There were some comments that were further up that was not suitable for a police officer to put up on Facebook.”
According to screenshots taken by a Facebook user of the comments, Aucoin posted other comments like, “LOL you people have no clue you think your pathetic existence is meaningful.
Guinea, in West Africa on the Atlantic, is also bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte dIvoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Slightly smaller than Oregon, the country consists of a coastal plain, a mountainous region, a savanna interior, and a forest area in the Guinea Highlands. The highest peak is Mount Nimba at 5,748 ft (1,752 m).
Republic.
Beginning in 900, the Susu migrated from the north and began settling in the area that is now Guinea. The Susu civilization reached its height in the 13th century. Today the Susu make up about 20% of Guineas population. From the 16th to the 19th century, the Fulani empire dominated the region. In 1849, the French claimed it as a protectorate. First called Rivières du Sud, the protectorate was rechristened French Guinea; finally, in 1895, it became part of French West Africa.
Guinea achieved independence on Oct. 2, 1958, and became an independent state with Sékou Touré as president. Under Touré, the country was the first avowedly Marxist state in Africa. Diplomatic relations with France were suspended in 1965, with the Soviet Union replacing France as the countrys chief source of economic and technical assistance.
Prosperity came in 1960 after the start of exploitation of bauxite deposits. Touré was reelected to a seven-year term in 1974 and again in 1981. He died after 26 years as president in March 1984. A week later, a military regime headed by Col. Lansana Conté took power.
In 1989, President Conté announced that Guinea would move to a multiparty democracy, and in 1991, voters approved a new constitution. In Dec. 1993 elections, the presidents Unity and Progress Party took almost 51% of the vote. In 2001, a government referendum was passed that eliminated presidential term limits, thus allowing Conté to run for a third term in 2003. Despite the trappings of multiparty rule, Conté has ruled the country with an iron fist.
Guinea has had ongoing difficulties with its neighbor Liberia, which was embroiled in a long civil war during the 1990s and again in
Rarely has an event grown big enough that it has outgrown Walt Disney World.
But in its 14th year, the Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion has taken up practically the entire Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, drawing tens of thousands to Kissimmee for what it calls a “party with a purpose.”
“In the black community, families get together and have family reunions every year,” said spokesman Jason Gregory. “What’s better than families getting together with other families, and mingling and having a good time, and talking about issues going on within the black community.”
The massive four-day event featured events ranging from ancestry seminars to a NASA robotics camp to comedy routines and sports clinics.
Guests could choose from gospel performances, spoken word and jazz, a “beats camp” and an Afrofunk dance fit class, all while making time for a tag relay, a comics course, a teen summit, and a whist tournament.
In addition, NBA great Dominique Wilkins, “Good Times” star Bern Nadette Stanis and gospel singer Kirk Franklin all made appearances, and the next generation was represented by the child stars of the ABC show “Black-ish”.
“(It’s) the magnitude of the event,” said Oscar Joyner, president of Reach Media and son of radio host Tom Joyner. “Think of the thousands of people coming to Orlando for this, and going home and spreading the message.”
On Sunday morning, the last day of the event, the main convention center ballroom was almost packed to capacity with hundreds of guests attending “The Gospel Explosion” show, featuring gospel singers Deitrick Haddon and Yolanda Adams.
The show also featured comedy, including Adams’ morning radio show co-host Marcus D. Wiley.
“I pray in my own voice,” Wiley said jokingly. “(People) who get up here and pray in another voice scare me.” He imitated the deep cadences of a preacher — “Our father, who art in heaven …” — and imagined God saying ” ‘Who is this?’ That’s why God’s not answering; he doesn’t know who’s praying.”
Dee Davis, who came all the way from Little Rock,
Tolbert was ousted in a military coup on April 12, 1980, by Master Sgt. Samuel K. Doe, backed by the U.S. government. Does rule was characterized by corruption and brutality. A rebellion led by Charles Taylor, a former Doe aide, and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), started in Dec. 1989; the following year, Doe was assassinated. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) negotiated with the government and the rebel factions and attempted to restore order, but the civil war raged on. By April 1996, factional fighting by the countrys warlords had destroyed any last vestige of normalcy and civil society. The civil war finally ended in 1997.
In what was considered by international observers to be a free election, Charles Taylor won 75% of the presidential vote in July 1997. The country had next to no health care system, and the capital was without electricity and running water. Taylor supported Sierra Leones brutal Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in the hopes of toppling his neighbors government and in exchange for diamonds, which enriched his personal coffers. As a consequence, the UN issued sanctions against Liberia.
In 2002, rebels—Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD)—intensified their attacks on Taylors government. By June 2003, LURD and other rebel groups controlled two-thirds of the country. Finally, on Aug. 11, Taylor stepped down and went into exile in Nigeria. By the time he was exiled, Taylor had bankrupted his own country, siphoning off $100 million and leaving Liberia the worlds poorest nation. Gyude Bryant, a businessman seen as a coalition builder, was selected by the various factions as the new president.
May 12: Nigeria accepts COVID-Organics
\tNigeria is set to fly in Madagascar’s herbal cure donation from Guinea-Bissau, a top official at the president who is leader of the presidential task force on COVID-19 disclosed on Monday.
“Mr President has given instructions for the airlifting of Nigeria’s allocation of the Madagascar Covid-19 Syrup; also given clear instructions that it must be subjected to the standard validation process for pharmaceuticals; there will be no exceptions for this.
May 6: ECOWAS ‘rejects’ COVID-Organics, Madagascar’s untested virus cure
\tThe Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has dissociated itself from reports of a donation from Madagascar regarding a coronavirus herbal cure, COVID-Organics.
In a May 6 press release, the ECOWAS Commission said it dissociates itself from claims that it had “ordered a package of COVID Organics (CVO) medicine from a third country.”
“We wish to dissociate ECOWAS and its health institution, West Africa Health Organization, WAHO, from this claim and inform the general public that we have not ordered the said CVO medicine,” the statement read in part.
A section of formal workers on Sunday took to social media to air their disgust after the National Response Covid-19 Fund made an appeal asking them to donate Shs10, 000 each, to compliment government's efforts in the fight against coronavirus.
The Shs15 billion could come directly from the 1.5 million employees and if the companies were so gracious enough to match, that would get us another Shs15 billion to get to Shs30 billion,\" said Mr Patrick Mweheire, the chairman Fundraising Subcommittee National Response Fund to Covid-19 which was established by President Museveni to mobilise resources from the private sector to supplement an already strained Ministry of Health in its combat against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Below is a sample of the concerns from social media:
\"The government has refused to relieve us of PAYE, Corporate taxes, our salaries have been cut, companies have closed, they are swindling money in the treasury by way of allocating MPs free millions of shillings, we are grappling to feed our families having lost our jobs or part of our salaries and they have the audacity to ask us again to contribute?
Hours after the appeal, Senior Presidential press secretary, Mr Don Wanyama said President Museveni on Monday (May 18) address Ugandans on government's efforts in the fight against Covid-19.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the country have risen to 227 after 24 people tested positive to the virus on Saturday.
Our forever president, Barack Obama, will join a star-studded lineup and speakers in a live broadcast commencement event for graduating high school seniors this evening.
Presented by XQ Institute, the LeBron James Family Foundation, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 will feature Mr. Obama and a host of other stars such as King James, Pharrell Williams, H.E.R., Lena Waithe, and more.
The event will be simulcast across various social media platforms and major broadcast networks, including YouTube, NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, Instagram, and over 20 digital streaming venues.
Obama joined JPMorgan Chase’s “Show Me Your Walk” HBCU commencement event, hosted by Kevin Hart and featuring Sen. Kamala Harris and others who shared their words of encouragement for this important cog of the American education system.
Check out @GraduateTogether to connect with all social media connected with the Barack Obama To Address High School Class Of 2020 Students
\t\t\t\t\t\twas originally published On The Urban Daily:
May 16: Nigeria receives COVID-Organics, scientific tests ordered
\tNigerian president Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday (May 16) received the country’s share of a purported coronavirus herbal cure, COVID-Organics.
Madagascar donated a consignment of the controversial cure to the West African bloc, ECOWAS.
The shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, went viral on social media on May 6, months after his murder.
Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself because one of the men seen in the video of the fatal shooting pointing a gun at Arbery worked in the district attorney’s office.
During an exclusive interview on Roland Martin Unfiltered on May 7th with Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones confirmed there was no support of her from anyone in the small Georgia community after her son died.
The Congressional Black Caucus had demanded arrests the day before and released a statement that in part read, “the killing of Ahmaud Arbery shows us that the spirit of lynching is still alive and well in our nation and something that we cannot tolerate.”
The culture is so backwards down there they actually thought that,” said Arbery family attorney Lee Merritt on Roland Martin Unfiltered.
As news hit on May 18th that legendary DFW sports journalist Roger B. Brown passed away days after his 61st birthday, many of his friends and former media colleagues took to social media to express their feelings about the beloved “Roger B.”
“Damn.
My world just got rocked 30 minutes ago when Alicia Young, the sister of sports journalist Roger B. Brown, called to tell me that he died today,” Roland S. Martin wrote in an Instagram post.
Roger B. Brown wasn’t just a colleague of mine at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and KKDA-AM, he was also my Alpha Phi Alpha brother.
Another former colleague, longtime Star-Telegram Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill Jr., wrote a Facebook post accompanied by a picture of Roger B. and a post from his sister breaking the news of his death.
“Prayers to the family of the legendary Roger B. Brown, former Star-Telegram columnist—NBA writer, former longtime talk show host on Soul 73 KKDA.
MDC Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora has dismissed as fake social media chats purporting to be between him and some Zanu PF officials.
In a statement Mwonzora said the chats are fake and malicious and are designed to reinforce the false allegations that his party is working with Zanu PF.
They are designed to buttress the false allegations that we are working with Zanu PF ahead of our Extraordinary Congress slated for the 31st July 2020,\" said Mwonzora
He urged Zimbabweans to ignore the chats and had no kind words for Journalist cum activist Hopewell Chin'ono whom he said was a propagandist.
Only a few weeks ago a rabid social commentator and Zanu Pf G40 apologist and propagandist, Hopewell Chin'ono circulated fake social media chats on Twitter purporting to be a conversation in which I was supposed to have admitted working with Emmerson Mnangagwa.
\"These chats and other shenanigans are meant to divert attention to the brave rebellion by our MPs who rejected the instruction to resign en masse from Parliament by the Zanu-PF G40 sponsored outfit calling it's self the Alliance party\"
Social media was abuzz with chats purported to be between Mwonzora and Zanu PF officials who include Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri and Information deputy Minister Energy Mutodi implying that Zanu PF was funding MDC.
April 12: Cases hit 5,127; gold-rich Obuasi new hotspot
Ghana has undertaken 160,501 tests since the outbreak, a figure the president touted as highest per million people than any other country in Africa.
May 10: 4,263 cases, Accra prison ‘infected’
\tGhana’s case statistics as of close of day May 9 stood at 3,263 according tallies released by the health service.
May 9: 900+ new cases, tally hits 4,012
\tGhana returned to most impacted West African country after authorities disclosed a record one-day increase of over 900 cases late Friday.
May 7: 3,091 cases, police rolls out mass tests
\tGhana’s case statistics stood at 3,091 in the latest tallies released early Thursday by the Ghana Health Service.
Tommie Lee isn’t here for social media users accusing her of surgically enhancing her body.
IG followers were unimpressed with Lee’s video and suggested her body was enhanced, not natural.
“You play to much 😂 gimme your docs number sis”
One fan in particular commented underneath Lee’s post, “Major surgery.
“natural for the win you always been thick let them know tommiee”
“People need to stop hating even after surgery you still have to maintain your health and your body 😐 so I’m confused to why she can’t promote it.
You look good gemini twin”
“Tummy goals I mean tommie goals b–ches really be pressed 😩”
In a now-deleted Instagram post from 2017, Lee addressed plastic surgery speculations in a video.
The First Liberian Civil War was one of Africa’s bloodiest civil conflicts in the post-independence era. The war claimed more than two hundred thousand Liberian lives in a nation of 2.1 million people and displaced a million other citizens in refugee camps in neighboring countries. On December 24, 1989, a band of Libyan-trained rebels led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from the Ivory Coast. Taylor’s rebel group which was called the NFPL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia) consisted mostly of Gio and Mano peoples from Nimba County in eastern Liberia. The Gio and Mano people had long been opposed and persecuted by Liberian President Samuel Doe and his Krahn ethnic group.
Taylor’s NPFL, which included former Liberian military men and civilians, was one of the first to recruit children as soldiers. The NPFL clashed with government forces and other ethnic militias supporting President Doe between December 1989 and mid-1993. During that period, all groups involved in the fighting generated civilian causalities, but Taylor’s NFPL was responsible for the slaughter of thousands of Liberians, both military and civilians, who opposed him. As the NFPL forces advanced toward Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, in 1990, they specifically targeted people from the Krahn and Mandingo ethnic groups who remained loyal to the Doe government.
Eventually, because of the high level of civilian casualties, Nigerian and Ghanaian troops from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) entered Monrovia ostensibly as peacekeepers, but their presence prolonged the war by aiding President Doe’s beleaguered troops. Doe was captured and killed on September 9, 1990, by Prince Johnson and his rebel group, the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) which had been waging a separate campaign against the government.
ECOWAS troops prevented Taylor from capturing Monrovia and instead forced the creation of the Interim Government of National Unity (IGNU) led by Dr. Amos C Sawyer who became the nation’s president.
This makes it imperative for governments to apply social assistance programme for the poor and vulnerable .
According to the World Bank, per capita spending on social assistance programmes is lower in low- and middle-income countries (less than $1,000) than in high-income countries ($4,000-$5,000).
It reports that Nigeria's total spending on social assistance programmes is 0.28% of GDP and covers only 7% of the population.
This is aimed at financial support for the poor and vulnerable whose incomes or livelihoods are at risk due to natural, human or economic crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown.
Others include youth employment and community social development projects, like the home-grown school feeding programmes to address poverty and hunger.
As the U.S. experiences increases in the numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths, leaders remain divided on how to define and implement the way business and life should be conducted going forward.
THE PANDEMIC
Social workers across the country are raising concerns over considerable drops in child abuse reports as social distancing mandates have kept people home and kids out of sight.
STATES
After several reports of police brutality in enforcing social distancing mandates in Black and brown communities, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the NYPD will stop requiring the wearing of face masks.
City leaders in heavily Democratic Charlotte have expressed fears that gathering thousands of people could prompt a surge in COVID-19 cases.
As the pandemic continues to alter daily life and devastate businesses, restaurant and bar owners say social distancing could wipe out their industry.
Polling station closed across Burundi on Wednesday in a largely incident free process in keenly watched general elections.
Burundians stood in long lines outside polling stations, which opened shortly after six am, most centers had hand washing points for people arriving to vote and election officials had some protective equipments in some instances.
Meanwhile, main opposition candidate, Agathon Rwasa, has protested what he says is fraud in Wednesday’s general election.
He said his party’s election observers were chased away from some polling stations.
In the presidential vote, 5.1 million registered voters are to choose between Nkurunziza’s handpicked heir and frontrunner, 52-year-old general Evariste Ndayishimiye, main opposition competitor Agathon Rwasa, and five other candidates.
