Amnesty International has accused Nigerian government of Denials and cover up mark 100 days since Lekki shooting

Youth-led demonstrations in Nigeria began against police abuse, quickly spiralling into broader calls for reform [Phill Magakoe/AFP]

Nigerian authorities have failed to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the brutal crackdown by security forces on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki toll gate and Alausa in Lagos in October 2020 and have brazenly attempted to cover up the violence, said Amnesty International Nigeria today, 100 days on from the attacks. 

Since the assault by security forces, which killed at least 12 people, Nigerian authorities have targeted supporters of the protests against police brutality by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Some of the movement’s supporters have had their bank accounts frozen.  

The bloody events of 20 October 2020, when Nigerian security forces killed at least 12 people during the violent dispersal of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki and Alausa, have cast a shadow over Nigerian society that lingers to this day, 

Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria

“Instead of bringing suspected perpetrators to justice and prioritizing genuine police reforms, Nigerian authorities have been abusing their powers by subjecting those who supported the protests to intimidation, harassment and smear campaigns.” 

Reports from across Nigeria indicate that police violence is still widespread despite government promises of change.   

Amnesty International is concerned that the Nigerian authorities will continue their current ban on protests and reminds the government of its obligations under the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) and international human rights treaties to - which the country is a state party - to allow those who gather peacefully to express their views without fear of arrest or intimidation.  

International human rights law also requires the Nigerian authorities to carry out prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and effective investigations into violations of human rights of the protesters including the right to life, such as those committed at Lekki and Alausa, as well as in other parts of the country, and to identify and bring suspected perpetrators to justice in fair trials.   

Those suspected to be responsible for the killings should be brought to justice in accordance with international fair trial standard. 

Osai Ojigho

 Amnesty International is calling on the Nigerian government to suspend accused officials, pending investigations, and to ensure that victims access justice and effective remedies.  

Background  

 

The Nigerian government has set up a panel of inquiry in Lagos State to investigate complaints against SARS and the incidents at Lekki and Alausa on 20 October 2020. However, government officials and the military continue to deny that anybody was killed during the protests while restating their resolve to punish leaders of the #EndSARS movement against police violence.  

 

 Investigations by Amnesty International indicate that since the #EndSARS protests were violently dispersed several of the movement’s leaders have been arrested, tortured and their bank accounts frozen. Many others have fled into exile. 

 

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'We want to finish Boko Haram': Nigerians welcome new army chiefs

Residents of an internally displaced camp in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri have welcomed President Muhammadu Buhari's decision to replace the country's top military commanders as security issues mount.

"To be sincere, the outgoing service chiefs have tried their best but in some instances their best isn't enough at all, despite the fact that we are not security experts, but we know that they have failed." said Ummate Abubakar, an internally displaced person from the village of Monguno.

The Boko Haram insurgency and its deadly affiliate, the Islamic State in West Africa, has killed some 36,000 people and displaced millions since it waged its war for a caliphate in the northeast in 2009.

The group controlled vast swathes of the region in 2015 but were pushed back.

But Boko Haram still conducts deadly attacks and ambushes on civilians and the military.

"What we want is not to repel the Boko Haram but to kill them, not to repel them but to kill them, to finish them at once, not to repel them again," said Sunday Ishaya, an internally displaced person from the village of Monguno.

"We are repeating what all the time we do, that is the reason why we are not after them. We want somebody that will just degrade them, complete them, wipe them away."

Nigeria also faces criminal gangs in the northwest, who were blamed by authorities for the kidnapping of some 300 schoolboys in December.

While in the central regions farmers clash with cattle herders.

 

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Fourth member of Zimbabwe's cabinet dies from COVID-19

The burial of Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba who died of COVID-19, at the Heroes Acre in Harare, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa who presided over the burial called the pandemic "evil" and urged people to wear masks, practice social distancing and sanitize, as cases across the country increased amid a fragile health system. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Four Zimbabwean Cabinet ministers have died of COVID-19, three within the past two weeks, highlighting a resurgence of the disease that is sweeping through this southern African country.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the coronavirus is reaping a “grim harvest” in the country.

“The pandemic has been indiscriminate. There are no spectators, adjudicators, no holier than thou. No supermen or superwomen. We are all exposed,” Mnangagwa said on a nationally televised address.

Mnangagwa presided at the burial of one Cabinet minister last week, shortly after the death of the foreign minister was announced. Then came the death of the transport minister. Several other high-profile politicians and prominent Zimbabweans have also died recently.

The opposition accuses the government of using COVID-19 as a weapon by detaining its members of parliament, officials and other critics in overcrowded jails where the disease is easily transmitted. Critics also accuse the government of neglecting the public hospitals, where many ill with COVID-19 cannot get oxygen needed to survive. Many of the country’s elites are treated at expensive private facilities or fly out of the country for health care.

The government says it is doing its best, and that despite the wide political and economic differences, fighting the virus is everyone’s war.

Zimbabwe, like many other African countries, initially recorded low numbers of COVID-19 but has recently experienced a spike in cases. There are fears that a new, more infectious variant of the virus came to the country when scores of thousands of Zimbabweans living in South Africa returned home for the holiday season.

The country of 15 million recorded a total of 31,007 cases, including 974 deaths, on Jan.23, up from the slightly more than 10,000 cases and 277 deaths at the beginning of December, according to government figures.

Zimbabwe’s rate of deaths by COVID-19 has doubled recently, with the 7-day rolling average of daily deaths rising over the past two weeks from 0.10 deaths per 100,000 people on Jan. 9 to 0.28 deaths per 100,000 people on Jan. 23, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In poor areas such as Chitungwiza, the sprawling residential area about 30 kilometers (18 miles) southeast of Harare, gravediggers are overwhelmed.

“Coronavirus, this is something I used to read about in the news, (but) it is here on our doorsteps now. People are dying,” said Coleta Moyana, a Chitungwiza resident. Officials are seeking more burial space to accommodate rising numbers of deaths.

Many people are not being tested, nor are they going to hospitals for help, said a doctors’ association, noting that on some days, nearly half of COVID-19 deaths happen outside hospitals.

“Those undiagnosed cases are super-spreading,” said the Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors Association earlier this month.

“COVID-19 is affecting everyone, but it is not affecting everyone equally. It has entrenched and exacerbated the extreme inequalities and injustices that existed before the pandemic,” Itai Rusike, director of the Harare-based organization, Community Working Group on Health, told The Associated Press on Sunday.

“The majority of poor Zimbabweans without medical insurance end up dying at home,” he said.

Zimbabwe has not yet received any vaccines. Mnangagwa on Saturday said the government health officials are still deciding which vaccine to acquire.

“Our experts are very close to finalizing the course to recommend … and it will be quite soon,” he said.

 

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Pirates kill sailor, kidnap 15 off Nigeria on Turkish ship

The ship was sailing through the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy when it was attacked

Armed men killed an Azerbaijani sailor and abducted 15 Turkish crew members from a Turkish cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported Sunday.

That left three crew members to sail the Liberian-flagged Mozart owned by a Turkish company, the state agency said. 

Turkish news channel NTV spoke to a sailor still on board who said several crew members were wounded.

The Mozart had been en route from the Nigeria’s economic capital Lagos to Cape Town in South Africa when it was boarded on Saturday. It has now arrived at Port-Gentil in nearby Gabon.

“We have established the necessary contacts with all the countries concerned for the release of our nationals,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on NTV.

“The bandits, the pirates who abducted our citizens have not contacted us yet. These pirates make contact at some point to communicate their demands,” he added.

Earlier, a voice from the Mozart — purportedly that of the new captain — had said on a recording posted on Twitter: “I do not know where I am heading. The pirates cut the cables, only the radar is working.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone to the new captain and was following events closely, his office said.

Ten sailors who were taken hostage from a Turkish vessel off West Africa were released in August 2019.

Pirate attacks on ships worldwide jumped 20 percent last year driven by a record spate of kidnappings off West Africa, the International Maritime Bureau said last week.

A total of 195 incidents of piracy and armed robbery were reported, up from 162 in 2019.

Out of 135 sailors abducted globally last year, 130 were recorded in the Gulf of Guinea — the highest ever number of crew members kidnapped in the area stretching thousands of kilometres (miles) from Senegal to Angola.

 

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Fear arose as fabled ark could be among ancient treasures in danger in Ethiopia’s deadly war

Tigray’s rich heritage is ‘highly endangered’, experts warn, as the conflict escalates near key cultural sites

The sacred Book of Miracles in the Church of Our Lady of Zion in Aksum, Ethiopia: experts fear sacred texts, Bibles and treasures are being looted amid fighting in the Tigray region. Photograph: agefotostock/Alamy

It has been hidden from view for thousands of years, and its whereabouts never proved. But if the Ark of the Covenant indeed rests in a chapel in northern Ethiopia, this extraordinary religious treasure could be at grave risk from fighting in the area.

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, which reputedly houses the ark – a casket of gilded wood containing stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, according to the Bible – was the scene of a recent massacre of 750 people, reports filtering out of the country say.

International experts have raised the alarm over the security of the ark and other religious and cultural artefacts as a result of escalating conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

Among those voicing concern are academics from the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies at Hamburg University, who warn that Tigray’s rich cultural heritage is “highly endangered”. In an appeal, they say reports suggest “hostilities are taking place in close proximity to renowned cultural sites”.

They add: “There are reports of looting of manuscripts from Tigrayan churches and monasteries, and warnings that they will ... be taken out of Ethiopia to be sold at antiquities markets in other countries.”

The conflict began in early November when Ethiopia’s Nobel peace prize-winning prime minister Abiy Ahmed sent federal forces to attack the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled the country for almost three decades until 2018. Abiy has accused the TPLF, which has its own military, of seeking to destabilise Ethiopia and holding illegitimate elections. Troops from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s former enemy to the north, have crossed the border to fight alongside Abiy’s forces.

 

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, in Aksum, said to be home to the Ark of the Covenant. Photograph: Neil McAllister/Alamy

Reliable reports of the fighting and its impact have been scarce due to a communications blackout and lack of humanitarian access, but the UN has warned of mass killings, the displacement of civilians and looting. More than 21,000 people have reportedly fled across the border to Sudan.

Heritage experts readily acknowledge that the humanitarian crisis must take priority over protection of the country’s artefacts and antiquities. But, said Alison Phipps, professor of languages and intercultural studies at Glasgow University, “these are sacred sites and of incalculable value to the history of Christianity and its development in Ethiopia in particular.

“Attacks on cultural heritage are devastating in the context of war as they speak of the destruction of the soul of a people, of things which have endured through the ancestors.”

Catherine D’Andrea, director of the Eastern Tigray archaeological project at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, said the region was “truly blessed with numerous and varied forms of tangible and intangible cultural patrimony”.

They include monumental architecture such as the Unesco world heritage site of Aksum, rock-hewn churches and remains of one of the earliest mosques in Africa, which are at high risk of damage, she said. “In addition, there are less visible cultural treasures, including manuscripts, paintings, oral traditions and artefacts held by churches and monasteries scattered throughout rural areas of Tigray. These tend not to be fully documented, so we can’t even begin to calculate the potential losses if destroyed or pillaged.”

 

Despite the absence of verifiable information, damage from the conflict to the recently reconstructed 7th-century mosque complex at Negash had been clearly documented, said D’Andrea. “It appears that the structure was shelled and images from within are suggestive of looting.”

At the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum, fleeing civilians have said the aim of the attack, in which hundreds of people hiding in the church were brought out and shot, was to remove the ark to Addis Ababa, according to Martin Plaut, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.

The ancient Debre Damo monastery, which dates from the 6th century, is reported to have been attacked. Photograph: Tim Wege/Alamy

The ark is believed by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians to have been brought to Aksum by Menelik, the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon of Israel, after Jerusalem was sacked in 586/587BC and Solomon’s temple destroyed. It has since been guarded by a succession of monks who are forbidden until death to leave the church grounds.

As well as the potential threat to the ark, Eritrean troops were “looting everything they can get their hands on” in the region, Plaut told the Observer. “They’ve also gone through some monasteries and churches, taking Bibles and icons back across the border. It’s absolutely appalling.”

The monastery of Debre Damo, dating from the sixth century and containing painted ceilings and walls, is also reported to have been attacked.

Alessandro Bausi of the Hiob Ludolf Centre said he was “extremely concerned that unique artefacts will be destroyed or lost”. The centre is calling on Ethiopia’s state institutions to do “everything possible to protect the cultural property of Tigray”, and for warring parties “to abstain from attacking the cultural heritage and to respect the integrity of the places, both religious and secular, where this heritage is preserved”.

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Rwandans To Celebrate Heroes Day Despite Lockdown

 

KIGALI - On Monday February 1, Rwandans will wake up to observe a national Heroes Day despite this taking place at a time all 30 districts are detached from each other while the Capital Kigali is frozen into a Lockdown.

Heroes Day allows Rwandans to reflect on the country’s heroes classified into three categories named in Kinyarwanda as Imanzi, Imena, and Ingenzi.

Celebrations are scheduled to take place at village level across the country to pay tribute to the heroes that have shaped the future of the country.

Imanzi:
This is the highest order that is bestowed upon people that pushed to limits and even sacrificed their own lives in the interest of Rwanda.

For example, Major-General Fred Rwigema that led exiled Rwandan refugees to forcefuly return home by use of arms. He died in action on the battle front during first days of the liberation war.

“Unknown Soldier” represents all soldiers who lost their lives in the liberation.

Imena:

This is a category reserved for people with proven track record such as King Mutara III Rudahigwa, Agathe Uwilingiyimana and Nyange Secondary School students who were killed by militias after refusing to divide themselves along ethnic lines.

Ingenzi:
This is a category reserved for living heroes – However, the list is yet to be made public.

 

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We Look Forward To Working With Joe Biden And Kamala Harris – Nigerian President

President Muhammadu Buhari has said his government is ready to work with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and hopes that a strong point of cooperation and support for Nigeria as well as the African continent will be marked. 

President Buhari in a communique by his special media aide – Garba Shehu, congratulated the leaders, and the entire country on the successful transition, which marks an important historical inflection point for democracy as a system of government and for the global community as a whole.

“We look forward to the Biden presidency with great hope and optimism for the strengthening of existing cordial relationships, working together to tackle global terrorism, climate change, poverty and improvement of economic ties, and expansion of trade.

“We hope that this will be an era of great positivity between our two nations, as we jointly address issues of mutual interest,” the President added.

President Buhari and all Nigerians rejoice with President Joe Biden, sharing the proud feeling that the first woman elected Vice President of the United States has African and Asian ancestry.

 

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Joe Biden sworn in as 46th U.S president, calls on Americans to 'end this uncivil war'

Kamala Harris is sworn in as VP, breaking historic gender and racial barriers

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters)

Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, declaring that "democracy has prevailed" as he took the helm of a deeply divided nation and inherited a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.

Biden, sworn in at 11:49 a.m. ET,  used a 21-minute inaugural address to call for unity and offer an optimistic message that Americans can get through dark moments by working together. The ceremonies were scaled back due to the coronavirus pandemic, with heightened security measures arising from the Capitol riot exactly two weeks ago.

"Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew, and America has risen to the challenge," Biden said early in his address. "Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate but of a cause: the cause of democracy."

Biden pivoted to the challenges ahead, acknowledging the surging virus that has claimed more than 400,000 lives in the United States and become a polarized issue unlike in most other countries. Biden looked out over a capital city dotted with empty storefronts that attest to the pandemic's deep economic toll and where summer protests laid bare the nation's renewed reckoning on racial injustice.

"Those 400,000 fellow Americans — moms, dads, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, friends, neighbours and co-workers — we'll honour them by becoming the people and nation we know we can and should be," he said, before asking for a silent prayer on their behalf.

Biden called on Americans to overcome divisions, declaring that "without unity, there is no peace."

"We must end this uncivil war that pits red versus blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal," he said. "We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts."

There was, he said, "much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build and much to gain."

"Few people in our nation's history have been more challenged, or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we're in now."

Biden also hailed the historic achievement of his Vice-President Kamala Harris. Harris took the oath administered by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, becoming the first Black, South Asian and female vice-president.

Harris, who spent some of her teen years in Montreal, was said to be using a Bible in the swearing-in ceremony that belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice. 

Biden and his wife, Jill, began the day by attending a service at Washington's Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Along with Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, those in attendance included: both Senate leaders, Republican Mitch McConnell and Democrat Chuck Schumer, as well as Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Biden is only the second Catholic president in U.S. history after John F. Kennedy, and St. Matthew's is the seat of the Catholic archbishop of Washington.

A Capitol police officer hailed as a hero for his actions during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol accompanied Harris and Biden at the west front. Officer Eugene Goodman, a Black man, confronted the overwhelmingly white insurrectionists and led them away from Senate chambers.

 

Family Bible brought out again

Prominent U.S. politicians past and present proceeded to the west front shortly before 11 a.m., with 44th president Barack Obama and wife Michelle getting a notable round of applause.  Two other past presidents arrived with their wives — Bill and Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush and his wife, Laura — while the oldest living president, 96-year-old Jimmy Carter, had sent his well wishes.

Vice-President Mike Pence was the highest-ranking official from Donald Trump's administration to attend the inauguration, but not Trump, the first outgoing president to skip the ceremony since Andrew Johnson more than a century and a half ago.

U.S. President Joe Biden embraces his daughter Ashley after he was sworn in, as Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, who spoke at the inauguration, looking on. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Biden used a Bible for his swearing-in that has been in his family since at least 1893. Several inches thick, it is the same Bible he used twice when swearing in as vice-president and seven times as a senator from Delaware.

Although the festivities were radically scaled down due to the pandemic as well as security threats, a steady stream of A-list names signed on, headlined by Lady Gaga singing the national anthem, with Jennifer Lopez singing This Land Is Your Land and America the Beautiful, and Garth Brooks performing Amazing Grace.

An invocation was given by the Rev. Leo O'Donovan, a former Georgetown University president, and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Andrea Hall, a firefighter from Georgia. Amanda Gorman, the first national youth poet laureate, gave a riveting address, while the benediction was given by a Biden family friend, Rev. Silvester Beaman of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Del.

Biden, Harris and their spouses paused on the steps of the U.S. Capitol while leaving to observe the procession of ceremonial military regiments. Several groupings passed by the steps, with military members saluting the new president and musicians playing traditional patriotic tunes such as Yankee Doodle Dandy.

The couples were then joined by the three former presidents and their wives at Arlington National Cemetery for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner by a brass band and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

As Biden was ushered in, congratulations poured in from around the world, including statements from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Pope Francis sent a message to the second Catholic U.S. president, saying he hoped Biden's decisions would be guided by justice, freedom and respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those with no voice.

Long political career

Biden becomes just the seventh person to have served as senator, vice-president and president and the first to achieve that feat since Richard Nixon. While on paper that wealth of previous experience may give the impression of inevitability to his becoming president, there were two failed bids and multiple points along the way where one could reasonably doubt he'd ever become commander-in-chief.

Biden took his first oath of office as a Washington politician just over 48 years ago, in a hospital room in Delaware as his two sons recuperated from a car crash that killed Biden's first wife, Neilia, and their baby daughter, Naomi.

Vice President Kamala Harris greeted by Michelle Obama during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol. (Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images)

During his years in Congress, he earned the slings and arrows that come along with serving in the Senate — a strong reputation for bipartisan work and criticism for his handling of Anita Hill's testimony at Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearings from both parties. There were also a pair of brain aneurysms in the late 1980s, one which was life-threatening.

In 2008, he was picked by Obama to serve as his running mate. Biden, not thrilled with playing second fiddle, later wrote of being persuaded to take the VP job in no small part by his 91-year-old mother, Catherine, who impressed upon him the history of serving under the first Black president. Catherine Biden died in 2010, eight years after her husband, Joe Sr.

Biden had every intention of running for president in 2016, but was waylaid by another tragedy. His oldest son, Beau, expected to become a prominent national politician himself, died at 46 of brain cancer.

As in the past, Biden proved a survivor in the 2020 Democratic race after a slow start, winning the nomination and the general election on Nov. 3.

U.S. President Joe Biden, wife Jill Biden, vice-president Kamala Harris, and Harris's husband Doug Emhoff prepare to descend the Capitol steps as part of the inauguration ceremony. (Tom Brenner/Reuters)

In addition to his wife Jill, who he married in 1977, their son Hunter, daughter Ashley and several grandchildren were on hand to watch him become the next U.S. president.

The traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue will not take place, but an inaugural parade featuring 1,391 virtual participants, 95 horses and nine dogs is scheduled. Organizers said it will be similar in nature to how convention events were conducted last August.

Trump will loom large in the early days of the Biden presidency, as the Senate plans for a remarkable second impeachment trial while holding confirmation hearings for officials in the new administration. As well, because Trump could not admit defeat and commit to a typical transition, the Biden team was not briefed on several fronts by the outgoing administration to the extent that is typical.

After 5 p.m, Biden is scheduled to sign a series of executive orders, many of which roll back Trump initiatives, and at nighttime attend the "Celebrating America" inaugural ceremony along with his wife. The multi-network evening broadcast hosted by Tom Hanks takes the place of the usual multiple inaugural balls.

 

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North Korea reveals new submarine-launched missile

The missile was debuted at a military parade which came at the end of an important and rare political meeting

North Korea has unveiled a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, described by state media as "the world's most powerful weapon".

Several of the missiles were displayed at a parade overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, reported state media.

The weapon's actual capabilities remain unclear, as it is not known to have been tested.

The show of military strength comes days before the inauguration of Joe Biden as US president.

It also follows a rare political meeting where Mr Kim decried the US as his country's "biggest enemy".

Images released by North Korean state media showed at least four large black-and-white missiles being driven past flag-waving crowds.

Analysts noted it was a previously unseen weapon. "New year, new Pukguksong," tweeted North Korea expert Ankit Panda, using the North Korean name for their submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).

Clad in a leather coat and fur hat, Mr Kim is pictured smiling and waving as he watched the display in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square, which also included infantry troops, artillery and tanks.

"The world's most powerful weapon, submarine-launch ballistic missile, entered the square one after another, powerfully demonstrating the might of the revolutionary armed forces," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The event on Thursday did not showcase North Korea's largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which was unveiled at a much larger military parade in October. That colossal weapon is believed to be able to deliver a nuclear warhead to anywhere in the US, and its size had surprised even seasoned analysts when it was put on show last year.

The country's latest display of its arsenal comes at the end of a five-yearly congress of the ruling Workers' Party.

In his address to members last week, Mr Kim had pledged to expand North Korea's nuclear weapons and military potential, outlining a list of desired weapons including long-range ballistic missiles capable of being launched from land or sea and "super-large warheads".

He also said that the US was Pyongyang's "biggest obstacle for our revolution and our biggest enemy... no matter who is in power, the true nature of its policy against North Korea will never change".

Under Mr Kim's leadership North Korea has made rapid progress in its weapons programme, which it says is necessary to defend itself against a possible US invasion.

The unveiling of the new missiles appears designed to send the incoming Biden administration a message of the North's growing military prowess, say experts.

"They'd like us to notice that they're getting more proficient with larger solid rocket boosters," Mr Panda tweeted, noting what appeared to be new solid-fuel short-range ballistic missiles on display too. These missiles can be launched more quickly than liquid-fuelled varieties.

 

Flexing North Korea's military muscle

 

Kim Jong-un has had a busy week. In this rare party congress at the start of a new year he's earned a new title, pledged to build new nuclear weapons and now he's shown the world some new missiles.

The general secretary, the title posthumously awarded to his father by which he is now known, had been pretty quiet in 2020 and appeared very few times in state media.

But 2021 is looking rather different. The party congress has offered him a grand daily domestic platform - even if it is not getting the international attention it may have done due to events in the United States and a global pandemic.

The parading vehicles include a new submarine-launched ballistic missile and new short-range ballistic missiles. This is a show of strength - flexing the military muscle once more to show the people of North Korea that despite the current bleak economic outlook, this impoverished country is capable of designing and building new strategic weapons.

It also offers a direct challenge to the incoming US administration.

North Korea appears willing to continue with its self-imposed isolation and being subject to strict economic sanctions, and the state has vowed to continue to build nuclear weapons in defiance of the international community.

During the transfer of power, President Obama told Donald Trump that North Korea should be his top national security concern.

In the last four years a combination of US and UN sanctions, so-called "maximum pressure" policies and three summits between Mr Trump and Mr Kim have done nothing to alleviate those concerns.

Kim Jong-un has shown the new US president this week that he faces the daunting prospect of coming up with new solutions for this decades-old problem.

 

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One of world’s biggest COVID vaccine campaigns starts in India

Tezpur: A health official shows a Covishield vaccine dose, after a consignment of the vaccine arrived from Serum Institute of India, in Tezpur, Friday, (PTI)

India started inoculating health workers Saturday in what is likely the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign, joining the ranks of wealthier nations where the effort is already well underway.

India is home to the world’s largest vaccine makers and has one of the biggest immunization programs. But there is no playbook for the enormity of the current challenge.

Indian authorities hope to give shots to 300 million people, roughly the population of the U.S and several times more than its existing program that targets 26 million infants. The recipients include 30 million doctors, nurses and other front-line workers, to be followed by 270 million people who are either over 50 years old or have illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID-19.

For workers who have pulled India’s battered healthcare system through the pandemic, the shots offered confidence that life can start returning to normal. Many burst with pride.

“I am excited that I am among the first to get the vaccine,” Gita Devi, a nurse, said as she lifted her left sleeve to receive the shot.

“I am happy to get an India-made vaccine and that we do not have to depend on others for it,” said Devi, who has treated patients throughout the pandemic in a hospital in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state in India’s heartland.

The first dose was administered to a sanitation worker at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital. New Delhi, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi kickstarted the campaign with a nationally televised speech.

“We are launching the world’s biggest vaccination drive and it shows the world our capability,” Modi said. He implored citizens to keep their guard up and not to believe any “rumors about the safety of the vaccines.”

It was not clear whether Modi, 70, had taken the vaccine himself like other world leaders as an example of the shot’s safety. His government has said politicians will not be considered priority groups in the first phase of the rollout.

Health officials haven’t specified what percentage of India’s nearly 1.4 billion people will be targeted by the campaign. But experts say it will almost certainly be the largest such drive globally.

The sheer scale has its obstacles. For instance, India plans to rely heavily on a digital platform to track the shipment and delivery of vaccines. But public health experts point out that the internet remains patchy in large parts of the country, with some remote villages entirely unconnected.

Around 100 people were to be vaccinated in each of the 3,006 centers across the country on the first day, the Health Ministry said.

News cameras captured the injections across hundreds of hospitals, underscoring the pent-up hopes that vaccination was the first step in getting past the pandemic that has devastated the lives of so many Indians and bruised the country’s economy.

India on Jan. 4 approved emergency use of two vaccines, one developed by Oxford University and U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca, and another by Indian company Bharat Biotech. Cargo planes flew 16.5 million shots to different Indian cities last week.

But doubts over the effectiveness of the homegrown vaccine is creating hurdles for the ambitious plan.

Health experts worry that the regulatory shortcut taken to approve the Bharat Biotech vaccine without waiting for concrete data that would show its efficacy in preventing illness from the coronavirus could amplify vaccine hesitancy. At least one state health minister has opposed its use.

In New Delhi, doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, one of the largest in the city, demanded they be administered the AstraZeneca vaccine instead of the one developed by Bharat Biotech. A doctors union at the hospital said many of its members were a “bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial” for the homegrown vaccine.

“Right now, we don’t have the option to chose between the vaccines,” said Dr. Nirmalaya Mohapatra, vice president of the hospital’s Resident Doctors Association.

India’s Health Ministry has bristled at the criticism and says the vaccines are safe, but maintains that health workers will have no choice in deciding which vaccine they will get themselves.

According to Dr. S.P. Kalantri, the director of a rural hospital in Maharashtra, India’s worst-hit state, such an approach was worrying because he said the regulatory approval was hasty and not backed by science.

“In a hurry to be populist, the government (is) taking decisions that might not be in the best interest of the common man,” Kalantri said.

Against the backdrop of the rising global COVID-19 death toll — it topped 2 million on Friday — the clock is ticking to vaccinate as many people as possible. But the campaign has been uneven.

In wealthy countries including the United States, Britain, Israel, Canada and Germany, millions of citizens have already been given some measure of protection with at least one dose of vaccines developed with revolutionary speed and quickly authorized for use.

But elsewhere, immunization drives have barely gotten off the ground. Many experts are predicting another year of loss and hardship in places like Iran, India, Mexico and Brazil, which together account for about a quarter of the world’s COVID-19 deaths.

India is second to the U.S. with 10.5 million confirmed cases, and ranks third in the number of deaths, behind the U.S. and Brazil, with 152,000.

Over 35 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccines have been administered around the world, according to the University of Oxford.

While the majority of the COVID-19 vaccine doses have already been snapped up by wealthy countries, COVAX, a U.N.-backed project to supply shots to developing parts of the world, has found itself short of vaccines, money and logistical help.

As a result, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, warned this week that it is highly unlikely that herd immunity — which would require at least 70% of the globe to be vaccinated — will be achieved this year.

“Even if it happens in a couple of pockets, in a few countries, it’s not going to protect people across the world,” she said.

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Kenya's Private Schools Resume

FILE - A student's temperature is measured by a staff member at Valley View Academy school in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya, Jan. 4, 2021, as students return to school following a nine-month closure ordered by the government in March.

John Kamande sells caskets out of a showroom in Kenya that, until last year, was full of young life.    

The building was a privately-run Nairobi kindergarten until July, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to close.    

"The corona pandemic is the one that made me to get this shop, because the school was closed, and there were no kids," Kamande said. 

Kenya's Private School Association says nearly 400 private schools were forced to close because of the pandemic, affecting 56,000 students. 

Now the buildings are being repurposed, as shops, storage facilities, businesses and residences. 

Twenty-nine-year-old Nassir Kirui taught math and science before his school closed, but stayed on as the property manager after the building was converted into rental housing.   

"I used to be a teacher here," he said. "But because of money, I lack money, that's why I asked to be the caretaker." 

While Kenya's schools opened this month for the first time since March, the impact of private school closures is likely to be felt for some time.    

"We have a very big supply gap in our country, and our population is growing — last census at about one million a year. So, we have a lot of work to do," said Mutheo Kasanga, national chair of the Kenya Private Schools Association. 

Kenya's government in September pledged about $64 million in support for private schools but is yet to make good on the promise.    

 

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Nigeria warns against fake COVID vaccines

Nigerian authorities recently announced they hope to vaccinate 40 percent of the population in 2021.

In April last year, black market coronavirus tests flourished in Nigeria [File: AFP]

Nigerian authorities have warned against fake coronavirus vaccines in the country where 10 million real doses of the shots are expected to arrive in March.

“There are reports of fake vaccines in Nigeria,” Director General of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food Drug and Administration Control (NAFDAC) Mojisola Adeyeye said on Friday.

“NAFDAC is pleading with the public to beware. No COVID vaccines have been approved by NAFDAC. Fake vaccines can cause COVID-like illnesses or other serious diseases that could kill.”

Nigeria’s anticipated vaccines add to 100,000 expected doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine although it was not specified which type of jab would be used for the 10 million doses.

It was also unclear whether the batch would be financed by the African Union (AU) or as part of COVAX, which links the World Health Organization (WHO) with private partners to work for pooled procurement and equitable distribution.

Nigerian authorities recently announced they hope to vaccinate 40 percent of the population in 2021.

But the challenges of transporting and storing vaccines for many millions of people are enormous in a country where adequate hospital facilities are lacking.

In April last year, black market coronavirus tests flourished in Nigeria because citizens were reluctant to be subjected to mandatory quarantine.

The most populous nation in Africa, with about 200 million people, Nigeria has officially reported some 104,000 COVID-19 cases, with 1,382 deaths.

But these figures are believed to fall short of the real toll since the number of tests in low.

Cases have risen sharply since the end of November, notably in the economic capital Lagos, a city of about 20 million people. The death rate has also increased.

A variant strain of coronavirus has been discovered in recent months. It was found in two patient samples collected on August 3 and October 9 in Nigeria’s Osun state, according to a working research paper seen by The Associated Press news agency.

 

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Hundreds of protesting health workers sacked in Kenya

Thousands of health workers, who claim to be 'totally neglected' by gov't, on strike in Kenya for over a month

At least 500 health workers protesting for better working conditions in southeastern Kenya have been fired from their jobs, local media reported on Tuesday. 

The workers, including nurses and clinical officers, were sacked in Taita-Taveta County “after they declined to return to work” despite orders from government officials, according to daily The Nation.

The medics were among thousands protesting in the country over multiple issues, such as lack of protective gear during the COVID-19 crisis, and demanding improved work conditions, including health insurance.

The protests have now continued for over a month, seriously crippling Kenya's public health system and the country's fight against the pandemic.

Officials in Taita-Taveta told the protesting health workers that “the matter was being addressed at the national level” and issued them a show cause notice before dismissing them from their jobs, the report said.

“The public service board has already initiated the replacement process. We want normal operations in our health facilities to resume immediately,” John Mwakima, health executive for the county, told the newspaper.

“Our people are suffering. I have received many distress messages from residents who are unable to get treatment. That is why we are working to ensure that services resume by next week.”

Workers defiant

The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has vowed to mount a legal challenge against the decision in Taita-Taveta.

In a statement on Tuesday, the union said Kenyan citizens who cannot afford treatment at private hospitals have been expose to “more sufferings” because nurses and other health workers in the public secort “have been totally neglected.”

“We advise our members to stay put as we await [the] signing of an agreement that will provide a permanent solution,” said KNUN, reiterating that its 23,000 members will not resume work until their grievances are addressed.

 

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Sudan-Ethiopia military conflict looms as tension rises

Sudanese military source says Ethiopian raids resulted in death of civilians

 

A military confrontation between Sudan and Ethiopia along their border has become imminent amid rising tensions in the wake of recent Ethiopian air raids, a Sudanese military source said on Tuesday.

"The Ethiopian army carried out provocative operations, which resulted in the killing of civilians inside the Sudanese border," the source who preferred anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Anadolu Agency.

He said the Sudanese military is prepared and ready to protect its lands. “The Ethiopian army and militias will not be allowed to return to the Sudanese lands that it had controlled."

The source continued, “the Sudanese leadership considered the necessity of self-control and resorting to dialogue for demarcating borders”.

On Tuesday, Ethiopia accused the Sudanese army of continuing to "encroach" on its borders, referring to the fact that the dispute between Addis Ababa and Khartoum has not been effectively resolved.

On Friday, the Ethiopian Boundary Commission issued a statement in which it stated that "the Ethiopian-Sudanese border has been the subject of disputes between the two countries for more than a century. The border demarcation agreement was signed for the first time in 1902, but the two sides did not specify it."

The work of a technical committee for demarcating the borders between the two countries was suspended in 2013.

In December, Sudan said it retook its entire border area from Ethiopia.

According to the Sudanese authorities, some Ethiopian gangs seized farmlands in al-Fashqa after expelling farmers by force. Sudan accuses the Ethiopian army of supporting these gangs, which Addis Ababa denies.

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Naomi Campbell to become Magical Kenya's International Ambassador

Tourism CS Najib Balala with International supermodel Naomi Campbell who has been named Magical Kenya International Ambassador.
Image: OLIVER VALENTA

International supermodel, Naomi Campbell, will now become Magical Kenya's International Tourism Ambassador, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife has announced.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Tourism CS Najib Balala stated that she will help promote Kenya as an ideal tourism and travel destination to the world.

This was agreed upon during her meeting with the CS over the weekend.

"We welcome the exciting news that Naomi Campbell will advocate for tourism and travel internationally for the magical Kenya brand," Balala said.

During the meeting, Naomi commended the government of Kenya for the improvement of infrastructure at the Coast including the upgrading of Malindi Airport to international standards adding that this will boost tourism in the region.

"I am also impressed with the world-class standard facilities at the Professional Golf Association Baobab course located in Vipingo Ridge, the only golf course accredited by the PGA in the whole of Africa. I invite golf professionals globally to visit the course to enjoy the experience," Naomi said.

 

Tourism CS Najib Balala with International supermodel Naomi Campbell who has been named Magical Kenya International Ambassador.
Image: OLIVER VALENTA

Naomi jetted into the country last year, for the Christmas and New Year holidays.

She arrived aboard her luxurious jet and was in the tourist resort town of Malindi for one month.

Campbell stayed at the exclusive Lion in the Sun resort owned by her ex-boyfriend and billionaire Flavio Briatore.

The international celebrity's visit is a major boost to the tourism sector, which has been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Campbell is among many international celebrities who love the resort town of Malindi and was in the town last year for a photoshoot of an international magazine.

 

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CAMEROON: At least 14 killed in Boko Haram attack

At least 14 people have been killed in a Boko Haram attack in northern Cameroon,

The overnight attack took place in the town of Mozogo, in Cameroon's Far North region.

The jihadist group in recent days have staged several attacks in the same region despite the government's claims of success against them.

According to the mayor of Mozogo, Boukar Medjewe, local residents started fleeing to a nearby forest as soon as they heard that the attackers were approaching the town.

A suicide bomber who hid among the fleeing civilians is reported to have detonated explosives killing 11 people on the spot, before gunmen shot dead three others.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, violence committed by Boko Haram has affected some 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others.

 

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Worst day ever in the fight against Covid-19 as South Africa found new strain

 

Dr Cillian De Gascun, Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory. Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

A highly infectious strain of coronavirus which is linked to an explosion of Covid-19 in South Africa was confirmed here yesterday as the country suffered its darkest day for deaths since May.

Three cases of the South African variant which is easier to catch were found as the daily death toll from the virus rose to 20 and a record 8,248 people tested positive for the virus.

The number of patients hospitalised with Covid-19 also rose to a new record of 1,180, while 109 are seriously ill in intensive care.

Several hospitals were creaking under the pressure yesterday as more than 2,700 staff were absent due to the virus and at one point yesterday there was no free intensive care bed in 13 hospitals. There were only 21 intensive care beds available across the country.

Limerick hospital intensive care consultant Dr Catherine Motherway said: “This is the most worried and anxious I have been about this pandemic, and we were fairly scared in March.”

There are now fears that the South African strain will spread further and that it will drive up infection.

Already the other highly infectious form of coronavirus – found in the UK – has contributed to the current surge along with Christmas socialising.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “Three cases of a new variant of Covid-19 recently identified in South Africa have been confirmed in Ireland today by whole genome sequencing.

“All of the cases identified are directly associated with recent travel from South Africa.

“Anyone who has travelled from South Africa recently is advised to self-isolate for 14 days and identify themselves through a GP for testing as soon as possible.

“We are particularly advising healthcare workers travelling from South Africa, that it is essential that they self-isolate for 14 days before entering or re-entering the workplace.

“While this variant has not yet been identified in many European countries we believe the identification here reflects the extent of genome sequencing surveillance in Ireland.”

Dr Cillian De Gascun of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, said a European Centre for Disease Control assessment found that preliminary analyses indicated that the South African variant was associated with a heightened viral load and may have increased transmissibility.

There was no evidence to date that this variant caused more severe forms of the illness in those who caught it.

There is currently not enough information available to determine whether this variant poses a possible risk related to vaccine match and effectiveness.

The potential impact of the new variant on vaccines is under investigation and results are expected in the coming weeks.

The surging spread of the virus is already pushing some hospitals to the limit and Cork University Hospital yesterday had to cancel all non-essential services until January 24.

It cancelled all scheduled services, inpatient, medical, surgical and outpatients, announcing it was dealing with emergency levels only.

It was forced to issue a plea to volunteer nurses and care assistants to come and work in the hospital due to depletion of staff as result of the virus.

There are now major fears about the impact that the cancellation of services in hospitals across the country will have on patients with non-Covid illnesses.

An agreement was reached between the HSE and 16 private hospitals yesterday to provide care for public patients who need to be treated.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said last night that talks were still under way with one remaining private hospital.

The ‘safety net’ agreement will be in place for 12 months and will be triggered where a surge is “imminent or present”.

Meanwhile, BreastCheck said it would be postponing screening of well women and assessing its ability to offer routine appointments at local level. Women who need follow-up assessment should continue to attend.

The screening service said the risks posed by Covid-19 to well women outweighed the benefits of routine screening.

The Irish Cancer Society said patients and their families were feeling significant anxiety about the unknown consequences of Covid restrictions on their own care plan.

Director of services Donal Buggy said: “Over the Christmas period we noticed the level of anxiety and distress increasing on calls to our support line. Calls are taking longer as our nurses deal with increasingly challenging problems and questions from members of the public.

“Uncertainty is one of the biggest issues for anyone affected by cancer at the moment: uncertainty around their treatment plan, what will happen if they catch Covid, and when they will get a vaccine.”

 

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Elon Musk Surpasses Jeff Bezos to Become World’s Richest Person

Elon Musk has become the world's richest person, as his net worth crossed $185bn (£136bn).

The Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur was pushed into the top slot after Tesla's share price increased on Thursday.

He takes the top spot from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who had held it since 2017.

Mr Musk's electric car company Tesla has surged in value this year, and hit a market value of $700bn (£516bn) for the first time on Wednesday.

That makes the car company worth more than Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, GM and Ford combined.

Mr Musk reacted to the news in signature style, replying to a Twitter user sharing the news with the remark "how strange".

TWITTER

An older tweet pinned to the top of his feed offered further insight into his thoughts on personal wealth.

"About half my money is intended to help problems on Earth, and half to help establish a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure continuation of life (of all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs or WW3 happens and we destroy ourselves," it reads.

The tycoon's fortunes have been buoyed by politics in the US, where the Democrats will have control of the US Senate in the forthcoming session.

Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities wrote: "A Blue Senate is very bullish and a potential 'game changer' for Tesla and the overall electric vehicle sector, with a more green-driven agenda now certainly in the cards for the next few years."

Expected electric vehicle tax credits would benefit Tesla, "which continues to have an iron grip on the market today", he added.

Mr Bezos is also using his personal wealth to fund space exploration

Mr Bezos has also seen his fortunes rise over the past year. The coronavirus pandemic has meant Amazon benefited from stronger demand for both its online store and cloud computing services.

However, he gave a 4% stake in the business to his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott after they split, which helped Mr Musk overtake him.

In addition, the threat of regulation has meant Amazon's stock has not risen as high as it might otherwise have done.

 

 

The owner of a business which has only just made its first annual profit and is still a minnow compared to the likes of Toyota - or Amazon - is now the world's richest person.

It is the fact that Tesla's share price has increased more than seven-fold in the past year that has sent Elon Musk's fortune rocketing past that of Jeff Bezos.

To believe the electric car-maker's worth could rise so rapidly in just 12 months is the ultimate example of irrational exuberance.

It means that Musk will have to show within the next five years that Tesla can make more profits than just about the whole of the rest of the motor industry combined to justify the valuation.

Mind you, his many fans will point out that the somewhat eccentric tycoon has constantly confounded the sceptics who bet that he would go bust.

And of course 20 years ago another tech visionary was staring disaster in the face when the dot com bubble burst and big profits seemed a distant dream - but Jeff Bezos went on to make those who bet on Amazon very rich indeed.

 

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