Africa Educates Her Campaign with Sofonie Dala. Do not miss it! Webisode 24

 Our Africa Educates Her Campaign Angola is ongoing 

Unfortunately, for girls, the impact of education loss during and even after COVID-19 closures is even greater. As a result of the pandemic, 20 million girls in developing countries may never return to the classroom. 

                                

Today we have Helena and her brother Filipe. They will share with us their challenges during covid-19 pandemic.

 Helena is 16 years old and Filipe is 11 years old. The guys say that coronavirus is a very big danger that has plagued the country. They can no longer visit schools and do not have physical contact with colleagues and teachers.

They added that, it is difficult to learn at home since they come from a very poor family, shortage in electricity supply has been a big challenge in their community, this is not allowing them to watch tele-classes on TV, moreover their TV has broken and the parents cannot buy a new TV at the moment.

They said that, they will only return to school if the government establishes sanitary conditions, to ensure safety in schools.

IS SCHOOL REOPENING A GOOD IDEA? NINETY-SEVEN TEACHERS TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 IN ANGOLA

 Ninety-seven teachers from Luanda, submitted to the molecular biology test (RT-PCR), last week, tested positive for  Covid-19.

In higher education, a subsystem in which 650 teachers were tested on the 25th and 26th of September, at the University Campus of the Agostinho Neto University (UAN), 12 are infected, which corresponds to 1.8 percent.

These data were revealed on Tuesday by the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, during the data update session of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Franco Mufinda announced the mass testing of students from selected schools for Wednesday.

Angola has 5,725 positive cases, 201 deaths and 2,598 recovered.

Angola accommodates over 52, 000 refugees

 Angola is home to 52.671 foreigners of various nationalities, who benefit from protection and social assistance as well as have access to birth registration of the children born into national territory.

The official said that out of this figure, 30,139 are asylum seekers; 16,183  refugees; 6,349 prima facie refugees from the Kasai Region in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This number, which includes 1,350 men, 1,266 women and 3.733 children, represents refugees sheltered in Lôvua, Angola’s eastern Luanda Norte province, and benefiting from the refugee's foreign passport, since 2000.

A practice by which all persons forming part of a large-scale influx are regarded as refugees on a prima facie basis, ensuring that protection and assistance needs are met without prior individual determination of refugee status defined by 1951 Geneva Convention.

Speaking at 71st session of the executive committee of the United Nation High commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland, the Secretary of State for the Interior stressed that 2020 sees a decrease by 3,073 of those who benefit from the international protection in Angolan soil.

José Bamóquina Zau said the figure represents refugees from DRC, who decided to return to their country based on the tripartite agreement signed by Angola and DRC with the UNHCR.

Of those registered,  2,912 returned on an organised basis and  161 others did so voluntarily.

Angola praises the session at a time the States still experience the burden of various economic consequences due to the pandemic Covid-19 at all levels.

More than ever, Covid-19 requires global solidarity and multilateral cooperation, stressed the Angolan representative.

On the occasion, the Angolan representative said that under the National Emergency Plan to control and combat the Covid-19, the Angola, in cooperation with closer cooperation with specialized agencies of the United Nations? (UNICEF, UNHCR and UNFPA) is putting into practice several measures in favour of the refugees.

He also stressed the country’s decision to suspend (since February 2020) the plan to implement the clause on end of refugee status in favour of some foreign communities.

All the initiatives on return, he said, have been launched in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and with the support of the Angolan State aimed at tackling the challenges posed by the situation of refugees and, essentially, to improve the conditions of this social group.

The official named the plenary sessions of the National Council for Refugees to approve the guidance documents for the implementation of the clause terminating refugee status in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Rwanda, scheduled to start by the end of October 2020.

The state secretary also mentioned the biometric updating of the database of all refugees and asylum seekers, with a view to renewing and issuing new identity documents (under the terms of Law 10/15 of 16 June on the right to asylum and the status refugees).

He underlined that the process of voluntary and organised repatriation of refugees from the DRC, who are still in the sheltering Center of Lôvua, and the local integration of those who expressed the desire to remain in Angola, are being monitored.

Covid-19: Angola with 195 new cases, seven recovered

 Luanda - National health authorities reported 195 new infections, two deaths and seven recovered patients in the last 24 hours.

The data were released Tuesday by the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, adding that 15 cases were diagnosed in Bié, 56 in Huíla and 124 in Luanda provinces.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 data update session, Fronco Mufinda added that the new patients include 106 men and 89 females, with the age ranging from 4 to 92 years old.
 

So far, Angola has tallied a total of 5,725 cases, with 201 deaths and 2,598 recoveries.

Mozambique probes fake Covid-free certificates

 The health authority overseeing Mozambique's capital, Maputo, has said an investigation will be opened following reports of an ongoing trade in documents certifying a negative result for Covid-19.

Mozambique and neighbouring South Africa require travellers to present a Covid-19 free certificate from a test taken 72 hours before travel.

The tests, however, are mostly done in private hospitals, and cost between $41 (£30) and $97, which many consider to be very expensive.

The Maputo Provincial Health Director, Daniel Chemane, said on Tuesday that the authorities will try to find out who was behind the fake Covid-19-free certificates which are being sold for $7 on the black market.

Mozambican traders cross the border into South Africa frequently to buy stock for their businesses and want the government to come up with a Covid-19 testing system that they can afford.

COVID-19: IS SCHOOL REOPENING A GOOD IDEA? NINETY-SEVEN TEACHERS TEST POSITIVE FROM COVID-19 IN ANGOLA

 Ninety-seven teachers from Luanda, submitted to the molecular biology test (RT-PCR), last week, tested positive to Covid-19.

Within the framework of the random testing carried out by the multisectoral Commission to combat Covid-19, 85 teachers, of the 2,844 general education tested, corresponding to 2.9%, had positive results.

In higher education, a subsystem in which 650 teachers were tested on September 25 and 26, In the University Campus  Agostinho Neto( UAN), 12 are infected, which corresponds to 1.8 percent.

Yale Greenberg World Fellows Program 2021 for mid-career emerging Global Leaders (Fully Funded to Yale University, USA)

 Application Deadline: December 2, 2020 

The Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program is a four-month, full-time residential program based out of Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. The Program runs annually from mid-August to mid-December.

The Program provides World Fellows the opportunity to expand their vision, learn from each other, and grow personally and professionally. World Fellows contribute to Yale’s intellectual life, give talks and participate on panels, collaborate with peers, audit classes, and mentor students.

Requirements

Applicants should be between five and twenty-five years into their professional careers, with demonstrated and significant accomplishments at a regional, national, or international level. The average age of a World Fellow is 39, though there is no minimum or maximum age limit.
Applicants must be citizens of a country other than the United States. While applicants who hold dual citizenship with the United States are eligible, strong preference is given to candidates whose work is focused outside the United States.
Applicants must be fluent in English. An excellent command of the English language is essential to successfully participating in the program.
World Fellows are required to be in residence at Yale University in New Haven for the entirety of the program which runs from mid-August through mid-December.

Benefits

A taxable stipend to cover the costs of living in New Haven
A modest, furnished one, or two-bedroom apartment for the duration of the program
Medical insurance
Round-trip travel from home country

Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/3d6mJFC

Paradigm Initiative’s Digital Rights and Inclusion Learning Lab (DRILL) Fellowship 2021 for young Africans

 Application Deadline: 30 October 2020

Click here to apply:  https://bit.ly/3lxHEEX

Paradigm Initiative (PIN) welcomes applications for its Digital Rights and Inclusion Learning Lab (DRILL). The successful applicants will work full time with Paradigm Initiative team members for 9 months starting from 1 March 2021 to 31 November 2021. As a mid-career fellowship, potential candidates will be expected to have had a minimum of 5 years’ experience as technology or social innovators, researchers, policy experts, and/or entrepreneurs. Fellows must have a relevant postgraduate qualification, be exceptional individuals who will bring new learnings and innovations as well as gain exposure to the digital ecosystem.

Requirements

The successful fellows will propose and work on an innovative project which will be completed during the fellowship ( i.e cutting edge research/technology-centric project that seeks to address digital rights or digital inclusion issues in Africa)
The fellows will be expected to host monthly ecosystem/sector meetings with the PIN Team to engage the ecosystem on critical issues arising or existing.
Each Fellow will have the opportunity to host a Digital Rights and Inclusion Forum (DRIF) – Digital Rights and Inclusion Learning Lab in April 2021. 

Benefits

PIN will provide a monthly stipend to the selected fellows which will cover participation in the Fellowship. 
PIN will provide a research project grant to support an approved project and budget. 
PIN will cover costs associated with activities at the Digital Rights and Inclusion Lab and provide an opportunity to be embedded within our team, access to the ecosystem and feedback on projects throughout the duration of the fellowship. 
A possible opportunity to travel to an international platform to showcase the finished project.

Ethiopian migrants held in Saudi Arabia call it ‘hellish’

 From a filthy cell in Saudi Arabia, the Ethiopian migrant spoke on a smuggled phone, fearing to give his name. Some 300 countrymen are imprisoned with him, he said. And no one knows when Ethiopia’s government might bring them home.

“We are detained in a very inhumane condition, sleeping on waste overflowing from a nearby toilet. We really want to go back home but no one is assisting us, including Ethiopian officials,” he told The Associated Press from a detention centre outside the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

“We are beaten every day and our only crime was seeking a better life in a foreign land.”

New details are emerging of the squalid detention conditions facing thousands of migrants from Ethiopia – men, women and children – some who were chased across the border from Yemen into Saudi Arabia this year amid gunfire because of coronavirus fears.

A new report released on Friday by Amnesty International describes widespread abuses, including beatings and electrocutions, in Saudi detention facilities. Detainees described being chained together in pairs and being forced to use cell floors as toilets.

“Surrounded by death and disease, the situation is so dire that at least two people have attempted to take their own lives,” Amnesty researcher Marie Forestier says in the report.

“Pregnant women, babies and small children are held in these same appalling conditions, and three detainees said they knew of children who had died.”

The abuses highlight one of the most popular, and most dangerous, migrant routes in the world. The Saudi government did not immediately comment.

Thousands of Ethiopians cross into Saudi Arabia every year after a journey across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden from Somalia or Djibouti and through conflict-torn Yemen, looking for better lives.

Amnesty International said thousands of Ethiopian migrants had been working in northern Yemen, earning money to pay for their passage to Saudi Arabia.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic escalated, Houthi authorities began ordering migrant workers to go to the border, where they reportedly became caught in crossfire between Saudi and Houthi forces,” the new report says.

The International Organization for Migration says some 2,000 Ethiopians are stranded on the Yemeni side of the border without food, water or healthcare.

Now migrants say they are held in life-threatening conditions.

“I wouldn’t have left my country had I known this hellish condition would await me,” another detained migrant told the AP. “I had some suicidal thoughts in the past. It is just unbearable, especially during those very hot days, since we don’t have an air conditioner. And they beat us with electric cords whenever we complain. And they took all our money and cell phones.”

He said he was detained nine months ago because his Saudi residence card had expired. “The only thing I want now is to return to Ethiopia, but that’s just a dream for now,” he said. The detainees spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety.

The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated their repatriation, with Ethiopian authorities saying they do not have the quarantine capacity to handle the return of so many people at once.

Ethiopia’s state minister at the foreign ministry, Tsion Teklu, told the AP that up to 16,000 Ethiopians are estimated to be held in Saudi prisons. She said some 4,000 have been repatriated since April.

“We are now working to repatriate 2,000 more migrants by bringing around 300 of them every week,” she said, adding that Ethiopia has repatriated some 400,000 in recent years. “The problem is compounded with the fact that some of our citizens that are repatriated are retrafficked.”

“If quarantine spaces remain a significant obstacle, other governments and donors must support Ethiopia to increase the number of spaces to ensure migrants can leave these hellish conditions as soon as possible,” Forestier said. “Nothing, not even a pandemic, can justify the continued arbitrary detention and abuse of thousands of people.”

Eight migrants drown after forced off boat by smugglers

 At least eight migrants have drowned and 12 are missing after human smugglers forced them off a boat near Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Another 14 migrants survived and are receiving medical care, a statement said.

The migrants were all believed to be Ethiopians returning to the Horn of Africa after failing to reach Saudi Arabia via Yemen due to COVID-19 border closures.

The pandemic and the conflict in Yemen have made the journey to Gulf nations more dangerous, and some migrants have turned back.

“At least eight migrants have died and 12 are missing at sea after being forced off a boat by smugglers off the coast of Djibouti, Horn of Africa,” IOM spokesperson Yvonne Ndege said.

“According to eyewitness survivors, assisted by IOM, three smugglers violently forced the young men and women off the vessel while still at sea. Smugglers are known to exploit migrants on this route in this way, many having to pay or their families having to pay large sums to facilitate travel.”

Eight bodies washed ashore and were buried by authorities in Djibouti.

The IOM said some 2,000 migrants have arrived in Djibouti from Yemen in the past three weeks.

“This tragedy is a wake-up call,” added Ndege, warning that further tragedies could occur as hundreds of migrants are leaving Yemen every day on the precarious voyage by boat across the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

In 2017, up to 50 migrants from Somalia and Ethiopia were “deliberately drowned” when a smuggler forced them into the sea off Yemen’s coast.

And in 2018, at least 30 refugees and migrants died when a boat capsized off Yemen, the survivors reporting gunfire.

Mozambique President named Africa Oil & Power’s ‘Person of the Year’ for 2020

 FILIPE Nyusi, President of Mozambique, has been selected as Africa Oil & Power’s ‘Person of the Year’ for 2020 by Africa Oil & Power. This prestigious award is presented to exceptional individuals who display true leadership and innovative thinking in steering their countries or organisations to the forefront of the global energy sector.

President Nyusi has been at the helm of Mozambique’s energy sector during its many recent successes, including several multi-billion gas projects which are now in development in this Southern African country. These natural gas projects, once fully actualised, represent more than three times the country’s current GDP, with the Exxon-led Rovuma LNG project valued at $23.9bn, the country’s Total-led gas project valued at $23bn, and the $4.7bn Coral FLNG project, which is expected to reach first gas in 2022.

‘H.E. Filipe Nyusi has led the charge in creating an enabling environment in the energy industry and the broader economy that paved the way for extraordinary energy deals which Mozambique currently enjoys,’ said Jude Kearney, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Service Industries and Finance at the US Department of Commerce during the Clinton Administration and currently President of Kearney Africa Advisors. ‘I can think of no better individual in Africa’s energy space on whom to bestow this award. Mozambique has a bright future ahead as international gas projects drive new growth, job creation, economic development and prosperity,’ added Kearney.

Not only has President Nyusi been instrumental in the deals coming through, he has also helped drive a focus on national capacity building and has made sure the projects set aside natural gas for domestic use, setting the country on a path towards economic diversification and energy security.

‘H.E. President Filipe Nyusi has worked hard to create an environment that ensures that a strong gas industry will create jobs, boost entrepreneurship, protect our environment, diversify our economy for the benefit of all the citizens and generate much-needed revenue for the government. The President has made the energy sector a crucial component of the economic well-being of Mozambique,’ said Florival Mucave, CEO of the Mozambican Oil & Gas Chamber.

‘H.E. President Filipe Nyusi has taken Mozambique from a place of relative obscurity in the energy markets, to a place of leadership in the global natural gas industry,’ said Renée Montez-Avinir, Managing Director of AOP.  ‘His leadership has been instrumental in bringing these mega natural gas projects to fruition, providing vital investment security to close several multi-billion dollar deals. There is no doubt, the natural gas projects will transform Mozambique, bringing progress and prosperity to the entire country and placing Mozambique at the forefront of a global natural gas revolution,’ added Montez-Avinir.

In office since 2015, Nyusi has aggressively pursued an anti-corruption campaign; continued to lead the country in peace; and has successfully navigated the country through incredible challenges, including Tropical Cyclone Idai that struck Mozambique in 2019 and the economic fallout presented by Covid-19 this year.

Uganda reports blood shortages amid coronavirus pandemic

 Health authorities in Uganda say the supply of blood has sharply declined since the start of the coronavirus pandemic as fewer people donate and schools remain closed. The consequences are sometimes deadly.

Students, especially those in secondary school, are the largest group of blood donors in the East African country but schools have been closed since March amid efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

This means the government agency charged with collecting blood is failing to meet its targets.

Dr. Emmanuel Batiibwe, the director of a hospital that looks after many of the poorest residents of the capital, Kampala, cited multiple deaths there in recent months related to blood shortages.

One victim was a woman with pregnancy complications. Children under 5 and patients going into surgery are also among those frequently in need of a blood transfusion, he said.

In July, Batiibwe’s China-Uganda Friendship Hospital received only 18 of a requisitioned 218 units of blood. The next month 68 of 217 units came in, he said.

“There’s a problem somewhere,” he said, calling the shortage a “disaster.”

The head of Uganda Blood Transfusion Services, Dr. Dorothy Byabazaire, told lawmakers earlier this year that her agency collected 56,850 units of a targeted 75,000 between April and July.

Facilities across the country submit blood orders to the agency, and there is a sharing mechanism among facilities in the event of emergencies. But “borrowing” blood can be time-consuming, Batiibwe said.

The Uganda Red Cross, which helps authorities to mobilize blood donors, said it hasn’t been easy to recruit donors during the pandemic. The country has confirmed more than 8,600 coronavirus cases, including 79 deaths.

“People don’t feed well anymore. People are stressed,” said spokeswoman Irene Nakasiita, adding that some willing, potential donors are turned away because their blood levels are too low.

Similar challenges were echoed by Ariho Franco, a donor recruiter for a blood bank operated by Kampala’s private Mengo Hospital, who said that while schools are closed they are focusing on public places. They have set up tents in locations such as the public square in central Kampala. Donors receive soda and cookies.

“The blood shortage is a serious problem because the few people who are out there that we are able to reach are unable to donate due to various reasons,” Franco said.

He said blood collection teams are facing challenges in finding donors among communities reeling from the economic impacts of the pandemic. Some people say they are not sure where their next meal will come from, he said.

“At the end of the day some people may only survive by the mercy of God since the little blood that will have been collected will only be reserved for serious emergencies,” he said.

Blood shortages have been reported elsewhere, including in parts of Europe.

Local media in Romania have cited fear of COVID-19 infections among the reasons for a decline in the number of blood donors. The cities of Iasi and Cluj face a dire situation as some cancer patients needing frequent transfusions and people needing urgent surgery have had to bring their own donors to survive.

Facebook Bans QAnon Conspiracy Theory Accounts Across All Platforms

 Facebook has banned all accounts linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory movement from its platforms.

“Starting today, we will remove Facebook Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts,” the company said on Tuesday.

The move is a significant escalation to Facebook’s earlier decision to remove or restrict groups and accounts sharing and promoting QAnon material.

QAnon is a conspiracy theory that says President Trump is waging a war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Facebook said its staff had begun removing content and deleting groups and pages, but that “this work will take time and will continue in the coming days and weeks”.

“Our Dangerous Organizations Operations team will continue to enforce this policy and proactively detect content for removal instead of relying on user reports,” the statement added.

Facebook said it was updating measures implemented in August, which aimed to “disrupt the ability of QAnon” to organise through – and operate on – its networks.

That policy – introduced to limit the risks to public safety posed by QAnon, “offline anarchist groups” and US-based militia organisations – resulted in restrictions on more than 1,950 Facebook groups and over 10,000 Instagram accounts.

This is a big move from Facebook, which has laid out how it plans to proactively remove all evolving QAnon content from its platforms.

It comes after I asked Facebook’s vice-president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, why the site still allows QAnon to spread political disinformation to US voters and beyond using hashtags like #SaveOurChildren.

Facebook’s first crackdown on this dangerous conspiracy theory focused on violent content plugged by those supporting it, removing a number of groups and pages.

But those supporting QAnon soon adapted, using new palatable hashtags to reach parent groups, local forums and the average Instagram feed. And the movement kept growing.

This latest move will be welcomed – but will also be very hard to enforce, especially since QAnon has become so big and spread under new guises.

I recently spoke to US voters about how QAnon disinformation about candidates and child trafficking rings could already have impacted their friends and neighbours ahead of polling day.

They explained how people they know now believe totally unfounded claims they’ve seen on Instagram and Facebook about the Democrats running a child-trafficking ring or presidential candidate Joe Biden abusing children.

Could this move – like the last – also be too late?

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Facebook is not the only social media giant to look at tackling the QAnon conspiracy movement.

In July, Twitter banned thousands of accounts and said it would stop recommending content linked to QAnon in an attempt to help prevent “offline harm”. It also said it would block URLs associated with the group from being shared on the platform.

What is QAnon?

In October 2017, an anonymous user put a series of posts on the message board 4chan. The user signed off as “Q” and claimed to have a level of US security approval known as “Q clearance”.

These messages became known as “Q drops” or “breadcrumbs”, often written in cryptic language peppered with slogans, pledges and pro-Trump themes.

The amount of traffic to mainstream social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and YouTube has exploded since 2017, and indications are that numbers have increased during the coronavirus pandemic.

• QAnon: What is it and where did it come from?

Judging by social media, there are hundreds of thousands of people who believe in at least some of the bizarre theories offered up by QAnon.

QAnon followed on from the “pizzagate” saga in 2016 – a fake theory about Democratic Party politicians running a paedophile ring out of a Washington pizza restaurant.

Eddie Van Halen: Revered Guitarist Dies At 65 After Cancer Battle

 The Dutch-American musician, 65, had been undergoing treatment for throat cancer. 

His band, Van Halen, were best known for their song Jump, which hit the top of the US charts in 1984. 

His son Wolfgang paid tribute to him on social media, saying he was the best father he could ever ask for.

“Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift,” Wolfgang, who became Van Halen’s bassist in 2006, wrote.

“My heart is broken and I don’t think I’ll ever fully recover from this loss. I love you so much, Pop.”

Some of rock’s biggest names have paid their respects to the “Mozart of rock guitar” on social media, with Kiss Singer Gene Simmons dubbing him a “guitar god”.

Celebrity news website TMZ, which first broke news of his death, said Van Halen died at St Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California on Tuesday surrounded by his family.

The guitarist had been in and out of hospital in the past year and recently underwent a round of chemotherapy, TMZ reported, citing sources.

Van Halen is survived by his son Wolfgang and his wife Janie Liszewski, whom he married in 2009.

How did Van Halen rise to stardom?

Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Van Halen was the son of Eugenia Van Halen and Jan Van Halen, a clarinettist, saxophonist and pianist. The musical influence rubbed off on Van Halen, who was taught to play piano as a child.

When the family emigrated to Pasadena, California in 1962, they brought a piano on the boat.

“We actually played music on the boat on the way over here, you know? I’m serious! It wasn’t like, ‘so what do you want to do in life?’. Dad said, ‘we’ve got to make a living’. So if it weren’t for music, we wouldn’t have survived,” Van Halen said in a 2012 interview with Esquire.

As he grew up, Van Halen switched to drums and then guitar, initially playing alongside his father and brother at weddings and bar mitzvahs.

As an adult, Van Halen formed Van Halen in the early 1970s in Los Angeles. He was the guitarist, his brother Alex was the drummer, David Lee Roth was the singer and Michael Anthony was the bassist.

Van Halen was said to be the main song-writing force behind the band’s eponymous debut album, released in 1978. The album shot to number 19 on the Billboard charts, becoming one of the most successful debuts of the decade.

But Van Halen’s biggest success came with their sixth album, 1984, which saw Van Halen focus on synths over guitars. It produced the band’s only number one single, Jump, and the MTV favourite Hot For Teacher.

Jump was also the band’s only significant hit in the UK, reaching number seven in 1984.

That aside, the guitarist was possibly just as well known in the UK for playing the guitar solo on Michael Jackson’s 1983 hit Beat It.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, Van Halen received great acclaim for his distinctive guitar parts in many of the band’s hits, from Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love to Panama.

He refined and popularised a style of playing known as the “two-handed tap”; and his lightning-fast technique influenced countless rock guitarists in the 80s.

What do we know about his cancer battle?

Van Halen had been battling separate bouts of cancer for years.

He first confirmed he had tongue cancer in 2001, telling fans he would beat the disease. He received treatment and the subsequent surgery removed about a third of his tongue.

He was declared cancer-free in 2002. But TMZ reported last year that Van Halen had been privately battling throat cancer for five years, flying between the US and Germany for radiation treatment.

Throughout his treatment, Van Halen continued to attend concerts and rehearse music with his son Wolfgang, TMZ said.

Who has paid tribute to Van Halen?

Simmons tweeted: “My heart is broken. Eddie was not only a Guitar God, but a genuinely beautiful soul. Rest in peace, Eddie! …Eddie Van Halen Dead at 65 from Cancer.”

On Twitter, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea wrote that Van Halen had a “beautiful creative heart”.

Sammy Hagar, who replaced Roth as Van Halen frontman when he split from the band in 1984, shared a picture of himself alongside Van Halen, with the caption: “Heartbroken and speechless. My love to the family.”

Geezer Butler, founder member of Black Sabbath, described Van Halen as a “true gent and true genius”.

“Just when I thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, I hear Eddie Van Halen has passed. So shocking – one of the nicest, down to Earth men I have ever met and toured with,” he wrote.

The Twitter account of rock group Pantera tweeted Van Halen was a “tremendous influence” on their music.

A post said: “RIP Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen were a tremendous influence on both Vinnie & Dime & Pantera. Hopefully they are all rocking out together now!”

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill sent his condolences to Wolfgang, adding: “But take solace in knowing that he will be long remembered and live on forever as one of Rock’s most extraordinary guitar virtuosos.”

Angola, Tajikistan formalise beginning of cooperation

 Angola and Tajikistan formalised on Monday an agreement to establish diplomatic relations to mark the beginning of bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation.

The agreement was signed by the ambassadors of Angola and Tajikistan to the United Nations in New York, respectively, Maria de Jesus dos Reis Ferreira and Mahmadamin Mahmadaminov. 

According to a note from the Angolan representation at the UN reached ANGOP, the agreement allows the evolution to formalise and deepen relations between the two States, should the respective Governments so wish in the future.

Tajikistan is a mountainous country wedged in Central Asia that borders Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north and the People's Republic of China to the east.
Its capital is Dushanbe and it has a population estimated at 9.101 million.