Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Monday the Tigray region's dissident leaders had fled west of the regional capital after weeks of fighting but indicated federal forces were monitoring them closely and would attack them soon.
Abiy, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, this month ordered military operations against leaders of Tigray's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in response to what he said were TPLF-organised attacks on Ethiopian federal army camps.
More than three weeks of fighting between federal soldiers and pro-TPLF forces has left thousands dead in the northern region, and prompted tens of thousands of refugees to flee across the border into Sudan.
"I want them to hear me: yesterday evening, around midnight, we saw them from the situation room in the area between Hagere Selam and Abiy Addi," Abiy said in remarks to lawmakers, referring to two towns west of the Tigray capital Mekele.
"We didn't attack them at night because as they retreated they took their wives, children and abducted soldiers... But this will not continue."
The fighting has been a dramatic escalation of tensions between Abiy and the leaders of the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before anti-government protests swept Abiy to office in 2018.
Abiy said on Saturday the military operations were "completed" after federal forces claimed control of the Tigray regional capital Mekele.
The TPLF leaders, however, have repeatedly vowed to fight on as long as federal forces are on Tigrayan soil.
Their exact whereabouts remain unknown.
'Mekele is ours'
As the Ethiopian military bore down on Mekele last week, global concern mounted about a possible bloodbath in a city that, before the conflict, had a population of half a million.
A communications blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to verify claims from both sides about how the fighting is going.
On Monday, Abiy claimed soldiers did not kill any civilians as they took over Mekele and other cities in Tigray.
"Mekele is ours, it was built with our own resources. We are not going to destroy it," he said. "Not even a single person was harmed by the operation in Mekele."
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that hospitals in Mekele were flooded with trauma patients, though it did not specify how the injuries were sustained.
Abiy also dismissed claims from TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael that airstrikes had resulted in many civilian casualties.
As Abiy tries to shift towards helping Tigray recover, the national human rights body called Monday for telecommunications to be restored and for water, electricity, and health services to resume.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is government-affiliated but independent, also noted "complaints of ethnic profiling" including "forced leave from work" and travel restrictions.
"EHRC is gravely concerned that while there is no government policy nor legal framework condoning ethnic profiling, security measures designed t
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.
Territorial Development Officer (TDO) of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Colin Stuart, says that the board is set to stage an Under – 19 Inter-County tournament in mid – January 2021 to allow players, who missed the 2020 edition of the tournament due to the ongoing pandemic, the opportunity to showcase their talent.
The article GCB to host U-19 inter-county tournament in mid-January appeared first on Stabroek News.
Ethiopia has said that forces loyal to the ruling party in the Tigray region had fired into neighbouring Amhara region.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is to decide shortly if it will give the green light for broadcaster Markland 'Action' Edwards to be its standard-bearer in the election to choose the next mayor of Portmore.
It's been a year since the earliest-known COVID-19 transmission took place - and looking back at the first news reports on the virus is a haunting exercise.
FIRED opposition MDC-T national organising secretary Abednico Bhebhe yesterday rubbished the decision to expel him, saying he would remain in the race for the party presidency. By Richard Muponde Bhebhe was shown the exit door during a national council meeting held virtually on Saturday “for grossly violating the constitution of the party by supporting political party other than the MDC-T”. He was expelled soon after he trounced party bigwigs, interim leader Thokozani Khupe, acting secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora, acting chairperson Morgen Komichi and former Energy minister Elias Mudzuri during provincial nominations held in Bulawayo recently. The defiant Bhebhe yesterday told NewsDay that his expulsion was not enforceable at law. “I am not aware of any constitutional and legally enforceable expulsion except what I read in the Press,” Bhebhe said. He, however, remained mum on whether he was going to seek legal recourse. But Mwonzora defended the party’s decision to expel Bhebhe and dismissed allegations that he was manipulating the electoral process to get rid of candidates who posed a serious threat to his presidential bid. “First and foremost, we have acted above board in accordance with the law. If he thinks that we acted unlawfully, he can find recourse in the courts or any other remedies,” Mwonzora said. Khupe and Mwonzora have been accused of engineering a resolution by the MDC-T national standing committee to suspend provincial nominations during a strategic retreat held in Nyanga last week. Initially, the pair is said to have been pushing for the nomination of only two candidates to contest for the presidency, but Mudzuri and Komichi were roped in after they protested. Reports also say that there is a fresh plot to reshuffle the standing committee after the congress and dump Mudzuri and Komichi.
[Africa In Fact] The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Renaissance Dam offers a unique chance to create a regional authority benefiting all 12 countries reliant on the river
Algerian authorities must immediately release journalist Merzoug Touati and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On June 12, Algerian police arrested Touati, a reporter for the news website L'Avant-Garde, while he was covering anti-government protests in the city of Béjaïa, according to journalist and press freedom advocate Mustapha Bendjama, who has followed the case and spoke to CPJ via messaging app, and a statement by the National Committee for the Liberation of Detainees, a local human rights group.
On June 13, a state prosecutor charged Touati with inciting an unarmed assembly, distributing publications harmful to national unity, and putting the lives of others in danger by violating COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, according to Bendjama and news reports.
If convicted on the harming national unity charges alone, Touati could face up to 10 years in prison, according to CPJ research.
Today, a judge at the Béjaïa court denied Touati's appeal for parole, and postponed the next hearing in his case until July 1, according to Bendjama and news reports.
Defunding the police does NOT mean eliminating police. You can say it 100 times but people fundamentally opposed to your equality will always alter your words to apply a meaning convenient to their narrative, as if they are the victims.
SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Zimbabwean musician Enock “Nox” Guni said his recent smash-hit song My Melody, featuring South Africa’s Master KG, saved his career at a time he was contemplating quitting music after going through a rough patch. BY KENNEDY NYAVAYA Nox, who rose to fame in the early 2000s, has continued to sing since relocating to Mzansi albeit without much following back home. In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Nox said he was relieved that what started off as a final trial had revived his career. “When this year started, I had told myself that if I do not make it in this industry, I was going to quit, but I am glad it has all paid off and it is all because of this track so I give thanks to Master KG,” he said. “Master KG was never really in my plans initially because he does house music, but I am glad we were in touch with him earlier this year before he had become the world sensation he is now.” The song had amassed over 1,4 million views as of yesterday, a first for the Ndinonyara singer whose music career stretches close to two decades. “Having a collaboration of this magnitude is a dream for every artiste because it instantly unifies fans from both sides which widen one’s support base and for us it has made it easier to organise more collaborations with big artistes,” he said. Nox said he would be releasing two more songs with Master KG as well as singles with a Tanzanian and two Nigerian artistes. The 37-year-old singer said he had also lined up collaborations with South Africa’s Zanda Zakuza, Makhadzi, DJ Maphorisa and DJ Tira. Turning to the rough patch that saw him mired in controversy, particularly involving multiple affairs that almost jeopardised his career a few years ago, the now married Nox said it had all worked to his advantage as he drew life lessons from the experience. “To be honest, my brand has been attacked from all angles. I have been unfortunate, but that did not stop me from dreaming and wanting to achieve more. So when attention was on me for all the negative reasons I continued to work,” he said. “I might have brought it on myself by making some mistakes, but I am one person who has survived. It is just fate and God’s favour because had it been someone else they might not have endured.” He advised local musicians to take time to understand how the music industry functions as well as in dynamic teams which push their brands if they are to make it beyond the borders. “Talent alone can only take you so far, but there is a lot that our artistes need to learn such as how the music business works. They also need to invest in having a good diverse team to work on their brand because without that they will continue to do good music and it will end there,” he said.
[New Times] The number of teachers in pre-primary schools is set to be increased from the current 33 to 613 in this fiscal year, according to the ministry of education.
[spotlight] In the Winelands district of the Western Cape, one community has taken COVID-19 humanitarian relief into their own hands.
Hundreds of people have been killed and some 25 000 have fled to Sudan since fighting began.
The Angolan Civil War, beginning at the time of the countrys independence from Portugal in 1975, was a 27-year struggle involving the deaths of over 500,000 soldiers and civilians. Initiated at the height of the Cold War, pro- and anti-communist forces in Angola set the stage for a proxy fight between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Though the fighting officially ended in 2002, Angola remains in economic and social turmoil with a massive refugee crisis and millions of landmines impeding farming practices.
Rich in diamonds and oil, Angola was one of the last African nations to receive independence from a European power. On April 25, 1974, a Portuguese military coup d’état protesting the country’s colonial practices successfully overthrew the regime. The combined forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) created a transitional government with the Alvor Accord of 1974.
Within a year the government had disintegrated, and with aid from the USSR and the Cuban military, the Marxist-oriented MPLA under the leadership of José dos Santos had wrested control of most of Angola. Indirectly and through proxies, governments from the United States, Brazil and South Africa funded UNITA, providing munitions, intelligence reports, and mercenaries.
Heavy fighting continued until 1991 when a temporary agreement known as the Bicesse Accords was reached. Calling for an immediate ceasefire and the removal of both Cuban and South African troops, the agreement mandated a new national government and army, along with Angola’s first multi-party elections. A year later, MPLA candidate José dos Santos won 49% of the popular vote in the election compared to 40% for UNITA candidate Dr. Jonas Savimbi. When Savimbi disputed the outcome, UNITA resumed guerilla war against the MPLA.
In 1993 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 864 placing
[Addis Standard] Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party of Tigray regional state, has won 98.2% of the vote for the regional parliament, taking 152 of the total 190 seats.
By Chris Patten
LONDON – The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the 1970s was a product of the Cold War standoff between the liberal democratic West and the communist Soviet bloc.
The article America’s Fifth Column appeared first on Stabroek News.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday promised prosperity and an improved quality of life for Zimbabweans during the launch of a new five-year economic blueprint, the National Development Strategy One (NDS1) in Harare, which focuses on inclusive economic development between 2021 and 2025. BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA NDS1 succeeds the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) launched in 2018 which introduced austerity measures that resulted in the public being heavily taxed after the inception of the 2% electronic transaction tax. The NDS1 expects economic recovery rates of 7,4% next year, 5,5% in 2022, 5,2% in 2023 and 2024, and 5% in 2025. “Through the implementation of NDS1 we, therefore, envision inclusive development, an improved quality of life for our people and shared prosperity. Our country must equally emerge from the strategy period more competitive with diverse and vibrant trade relations and investments,” Mnangagwa said. “This launch of the NDS1 and its subsequent implementation commencing in January 2021, allows the nation to build on the achievements and lessons learnt during the implementation of the TSP. Our success going forward must continue to be anchored on our united unitary character, as a nation,” he said. Mnangagwa said the strategies, policies, legal and institutional reforms, programmes and projects highlighted in the NDS 1 document would be implemented to achieve accelerated, high, inclusive, broad-based and sustainable economic growth. The areas to be prioritised under NDS1 include economic growth and stability, food and nutrition security, governance, moving the economy up the value chain and structural transformation, human capital development, environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resource management, housing delivery, digital economy, health and well-being; infrastructure and utilities, image-building and international engagement and re-engagement, social protection; youth, sport and culture; and devolution. He said the idea was to transform the economy from a natural resource-based economy to a knowledge-driven one. Meanwhile, the gross national income per capita is expected to close the year at US$1 159,80 (2020), US$1 842,20 (2021), US$2 137,10 (2022), US$2 712,70 (2023), US$2 960,70 (2024), and US$3 207,30 (2025). However, the continued volatility of the Zimbabwe dollar on the back of no substantial foreign currency, commodity or market confidence backing will make it difficult to achieve these goals as wages continue to be eroded by the depreciation of the Zimdollar. NDS 1 envisages that this can be achieved through the adoption and swift implementation of bold policies aimed at achieving economic transformation. “This will be done through the creation of a thriving private sector-led competitive economy, implementation of sound macroeconomic policies anchored on fiscal discipline, monetary and financial sector stability including enhancing an open and business friendly environment, which promotes both foreign and domestic investment,” the policy document read. Mnanga
President Cyril Ramaphosa showed his support for a South African restaurant on the Steenberg Vineyards this past weekend.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday launched the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the government’s latest economic blueprint. EDITORIAL COMMENT The blueprint will succeed the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) which ran from 2018 to this year. Despite the abundance of skeptics, the government thought of it as a roaring success. The new blueprint will focus on 14 priority areas. These include economic growth and stability, food security and nutrition, governance, moving the economy up the value chain and structural transformation, human capital development, environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resource management, housing delivery and health and well-being. The blueprint has been welcomed by international financial institutions such as the World Bank. However, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. This is not the first time that the government has come up with an impressive blueprint. There is no shortage of economic blueprints having had nearly 20 of them since independence. However, most of them have partially or have not been implemented and have gathered dust on the shelves. Brilliant blueprints that is! The TSP, for example, focused on stabilising the macro-economy and the financial sector, improving infrastructure, and laid the foundation required for economic take-off and growth. However, under the TSP the economy actually worsened with inflation shooting up to as high as 800% which led to the suspension of year-on-year inflation figures by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube. Inflation has decimated incomes and pensions which are denominated in the Zimbabwe dollar, impoverishing the average Zimbabwean whose income does not match the prices of goods and services indexed against the United States dollar. This has led to a restive workforce as evidenced by the crippling strike by health workers which lasted more than two months and the current job action by teachers that has disrupted the current school term. Under the TSP, investment dwindled from US$717,1 million in 2018 to US$259 million last year and is expected to plummet further to US$150 million this year. It was also under the TSP that the government suspended trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange citing illicit activities on the bourse. This has led to foreign investors deserting the ZSE. Between August and September this year, foreign investors sold 80% of the shares traded on the bourse although Ncube has boasted of a surplus during the TSP. The benefits of this, however, have not been felt by the man in the street with the majority earning well below the total consumption poverty line which is $17 957. Given the failure of the TSP to provide the foundation for economic take off, it is understandable why most Zimbabweans are not excited about the launch of NDS1. We have been here before where we have had high-sounding blueprints that have not been matched by tangible benefits on the ground. If anything, poverty has deepened. Without implementation, the NDS1 will join the long list of blueprints
It has been a week since the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League concluded, with Mumbai Indians snapping up their fifth title.
ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI, Nov 30 - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed lauded his troops on Monday for ousting a rebellious northern movement, but the leader of Tigrayan forces said they were still resisting amid fears of a protracted guerrilla conflict
In summary In the latest installment of the “Future of Work” series, California mayors explain their cities’ most pressing issues. CalMatters · The Future of Work #4: A Q&A with California Mayors As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, several California mayors described how the crisis has affected their cities, from an impending “homelessness armageddon” to […]
The post California mayors share how the pandemic shapes their cities appeared first on Black Voice News.
\"They have pushed us, and they must prepare to be pushed harder,\" the EFF tweeted, announcing its intention to stage more protest action at Brackenfell High School over a private matric party that was reportedly only attended by white pupils.
[New Times] As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect sports events across the globe, the Kigali International Peace Marathon has become the latest victim.
By Danica Kirka
The Associated Press
Nations around the world have watched in horror at the five days of civil unrest in the United States following the death of a Black man being detained by police.
Burning cars and riot police in the U.S. featured on newspaper front pages around the globe May 31—bumping news of the COVID-19 pandemic to second-tier status in some places.
Germany’s top-selling Bild newspaper on Sunday carried the sensational headline “This killer-cop set America ablaze” with an arrow pointing to a photo of now-fired police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with third-degree murder in Floyd’s death, with his knee on Floyd’s neck.
In Italy, the Corriere della Sera newspaper’s senior U.S. correspondent Massimo Gaggi wrote that the reaction to Floyd’s killing was “different” than previous cases of Black Americans killed by police and the ensuring violence.
In another expression of solidarity with American protesters, about 150 people marched through central Jerusalem on May 30 to protest the shooting death by Israeli police of an unarmed, autistic Palestinian man earlier in the day.
Venezuela calls US warship presence a ‘provocation’
\t
By
ohtadmin
|
on
July 01, 2020
\t\t
\t\tIn the ongoing ‘war’ with the United States, yesterday Venezuela accused them of “an act of provocation” after a US warship steamed close to the South American country’s territorial waters the day before.
“A United States Navy destroyer approached within 30 miles of the coast, in a clear act of provocation.
On Tuesday, the US Southern Command admitted in a statement that a guided-missile destroyer had entered waters that Venezuela considered its own.
The operation took place in international waters outside a 12 nautical-mile jurisdiction that President Nicolas Maduro claims as belonging to Venezuela.
US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) statement: “The US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94) conducted a freedom of navigation operation, contesting an excessive maritime claim by Venezuela.”
