Corona Voice Angola. The tok show with Sofonie Dala. Don't miss it! Day 9

 Our covid-19 show is ongoing. Day 9

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, social media and online communication have become essential tools for maintaining social connections. Moreover, many young people have been independently promoting positive narratives and engaging in peacebuilding activities during the COVID-19 crisis.

Our today's guest is Adilson, he will share with us his original covid-19 song written by him.

Ladies and gentlemen meet our musician Adilson, with the song "We are stronger when we face tough times together."

We launched the “Corona Voice show” campaign to provide a space for young women and men around Angola to share their views, experiences and initiatives.

This is the first and the only Coronavirus show in Angola where the most ordinary citizens show their brilliant talents.

One of the main tasks of the show is to refute the saying "you can't help things with a word." The heroes of the program are the most ordinary citizens - they share with the audience their songs, poems and real stories of how the Coronavirus pandemic affected their lives.

Click here to watch free full webisodes: https://coronavoice-angola.blogspot.com/

labour mp calls for scrapping of offensive Empire honours titles

 A senior Labour MP has sparked outrage after slamming the Queen’s honours system as ‘offensive’ because the awards reference the British Empire – even though she has an OBE herself.

Kate Green claimed there was no justification for ‘branding’ the gongs in colonial terms as ‘it’s offensive’ and could be ‘hurtful to people’ – and has called for reform.

But the Shadow Education Sectary has been blasted as a ‘hypocrite’ after it was revealed that she herself received an OBE in recognition of her charitable work in the 2005 New Year Honours list.

MailOnline has asked Ms Green if she will return her OBE in light of her recent comments but she has not yet replied.

Tory MPs have hit back at her comments, arguing changing the name of the honours system would be an ‘act of cultural and historic vandalism’ as they ‘reflect this country’s history and traditions’.

In an interview with BBC podcast Political Thinking today, she slammed the ‘Order of the British Empire’ titles, saying its ‘divisive, it’s offensive and hurtful to people’, and claimed they are ‘really the wrong language’.

But Ms Green still defended accepting her own honour – an appointment made before she became an MP in 2010 – as it ‘thrilled’ her father.

She argued that those who are singled out for their work to their community and country should be able to enjoy the ‘huge pleasure that it gives to so many people’ – but insisted that the wording should change.

Ms Green said: ‘One of the things I’ve been looking at a lot in recent weeks is the black curriculum campaign and decolonising our history and the whole curriculum.

‘You can’t excuse or justify that branding but actually it’s deeper than that.

‘I know many efforts have been made to democratise and open up that honours system but it’s still pretty hierarchical of who gets what. There’s a lot more reform that’s needed.’

Furious Britons took to social media to slam the MP – branding her a ‘hypocrite’ and calling for her to hand her OBE back.

Some said her statements devalued the awards given to notable public figures – including footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford who was made MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list this year for his successful campaign for free meals to be issued during the national lockdown.

Other notable recipients include The Beatles who received MBEs in 1965, and Professor Stephen Hawking who received a CBE in 1982.

Stephen Lawrence’s mother Doreen was made OBE for ‘services to community relations’ in 2003.

Risk of dying from Covid-19 in British hospitals has HALVED since the peak of the crisis in spring

 The risk of dying from Covid-19 in British hospitals has halved since the peak of the crisis in spring, according to research submitted to Number 10‘s scientists.

SAGE – the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies – heard how the mortality rate fell from 35 per cent in early April to 15 per cent by August.

Mortality rates dropped across all age groups, sexes, ethnicities and those suffering from underlying conditions.

Experts from the Government-run Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium (ISARIC4C), who conducted the study, said it was a sign that doctors had become better at treating the virus.

A number of cheap steroids, including dexamethasone and hydrocortisone, were proven to treat severe Covid over the summer and autumn.

The scientists say the initial high rates may have also been triggered because more elderly and vulnerable people were catching the disease.

At the start of the crisis masks were not mandatory and social distancing rules were not in place. It left at-risk groups, who are now told to isolate as much as possible, exposed to the disease.

They also suggested that because hospitals were far busier in spring it meant medics were spread thin, whereas now they can spend more time and resources treating each individual patient.

Britain has recorded more than 63,000 Covid-19 deaths since the pandemic began.

The ISARIC4C group submitted the study to SAGE after examining 63,972 Covid-19 patient admissions to 247 acute hospitals – about 48 per cent of the total –  from March 15 to August 2.

‘In-hospital mortality within 28 days after admission substantially decreased throughout the course of the first wave,’ they wrote.

‘At the peak of admissions in late March and early April, illness severity at several hospital presentations was greatest, and patients presented later from their onset of symptoms.

‘Overall, there was a reduction in the requirement for respiratory support; within this, use of invasive ventilation reduced over time, and non-invasive ventilation increased.’

At the start of the crisis the vast majority of ICU patients were put on mechanical ventilators to help them breathe.

But now there is a growing suspicion the machines actually inflame the lungs of some patients even further.

ICC prosecutor seeks probes into Nigeria and Ukraine war crimes

 The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said she will seek full investigations into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Nigeria, as well as during the Ukraine conflict.

Fatou Bensouda said in a statement on Friday her office had completed a preliminary examination and found a “reasonable basis to believe” that Boko Haram and its splinter groups had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Nigeria, through murder, rape, sexual slavery and torture. Judges must approve the request.

Bensouda’s office has been reviewing the conflict between government forces and Boko Haram and its various splinter groups in western and northern Nigeria since 2010.

She said the office recognised that the vast majority of the crimes were attributable to non-state actors, but that it had also found a “reasonable basis” to believe that members of the Nigerian security forces had also committed crimes.

This included murder, rape, torture and cruel treatment, as well as enforced disappearance and forcible transfer of the population and attacks directed at civilians.

Boko Haram began its violent campaign in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 with the goal of imposing its version of strict Islamic law. Thousands have since been killed and many more displaced.

Bensouda’s office has been reviewing the conflict between government forces and Boko Haram and its various splinter groups since 2010.

Its main group claimed responsibility earlier this month for the massacre of farmworkers in an area outside Borno state’s capital Maiduguri, in which dozens of labourers were mowed down by gunmen on motorbikes.

Agricultural workers were also tied up and had their throats slit in the attack believed to be seeking revenge on villagers for seizing the group’s fighters and handing them over to the authorities.

Important milestone’

Amnesty International welcomed the announcement as an “important milestone” and urged the ICC, which was set up in 2002 to try the world’s worst crimes, to swiftly begin an “effective and well-resourced investigation”.

“ICC Prosecutor must now follow with immediate action to open a full investigation,” Netsanet Belay, the group’s director of research and advocacy, wrote on Twitter.

Later on Friday, Bensouda said she would seek permission to open a formal investigation into whether war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed during the Ukraine conflict.

Bensouda’s office has been conducting an examination into possible atrocities in the conflict in eastern Ukraine at the invitation of Kyiv since 2014.

She said she had “reasonable basis to believe that a broad range of conduct constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed” during the conflict.

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, and fighting broke out in eastern Ukraine the following month between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces.

Bensouda said her examination’s findings included crimes committed during the hostilities, crimes committed during detentions, and crimes in Crimea. She did not name any suspects or indicate which party to the conflict might have committed crimes.

Bensouda’s office is running investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya, Ivory Coast, Mali, Georgia, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and a decision on whether to investigate alleged atrocities in the Palestinian territories, is pending.

Bensouda’s term is due to end on June 15 and her successor has not yet been chosen.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

When will COVID-19 vaccinations start in African countries?

 With the United Kingdom rolling out the world’s first approved coronavirus vaccine this week and other clinical trials showing promising results, the focus has swiftly turned towards the distribution of the doses worldwide and which countries will get them first – and which will be pushed to the back of the queue.

On Thursday, Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director John Nkengasong warned “it will be extremely terrible to see” wealthy nations obtaining vaccines and African countries missing out, as he called on for an extraordinary United Nations session to discuss this “moral issue” and avoid a “North-South distrust in respect to vaccines, which is a common good”.

Countries across Africa have largely been praised for their response to COVID-19 since the first infection was confirmed on the continent on February 14 in Egypt. Despite some observers’ initial doomsday predictions, the continent so far appears to have been spared the worst of the pandemic. Still, uncertainty remains and the threat of further economic pain due to the prospect of additional lockdowns have given the discussions about vaccine distribution extra urgency.

There are, however, a number of challenges.

Expressing concern over what it has branded as the continent’s “largest ever immunisation drive”, the World Health Organization has said the African region has an average score of 33 percent readiness for a COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, well below the desired 80 percent.

Meanwhile, Nkengasong has stressed it is necessary to be realistic about immunisation campaigns due to challenges on how vaccines would be delivered across the continent, adding that it is unlikely that this will happen before the middle of 2021.

For Catherine Kyobutungi, epidemiologist and executive director of the African Population and Health Research Center, a big challenge regarding access to vaccines is “a lack of global solidarity”.

“We’ve seen reports about countries like the US and UK securing a huge share of vaccine doses, which then leaves you wondering, what about the rest of us?”

In a similar vein, the People’s Vaccine Alliance – a coalition of campaign organisations including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Global Justice Now – has condemned rich countries for “hoarding” vaccine doses to the detriment of poorer nations.

“Wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021 if those currently in clinical trials are all approved for use,” it said.

“Canada tops the chart with enough vaccines to vaccinate each Canadian five times. Updated data shows that rich nations representing just 14 per cent of the world’s population have bought up 53 per cent of all the most promising vaccines so far.”

Tied to all this are financial constraints and the huge investments required to roll out vaccination campaigns, noted Benjamin Kagina, a senior researcher in vaccinology at The Vaccines for Africa Initiative, University of Cape Town.

White detective chief inspector is fired after calling black colleague ‘a choc ice’

 A white detective chief inspector has been fired for calling a black colleague a ‘choc ice’ after they asked to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stewart Miller stormed out of the misconduct hearing in Goole, East Yorkshire, as the judgment was handed down, followed by his wife who was in tears.

On June 8 the officer, who is trained in counterterrorism and kidnap, was asked if a lower ranking colleague could work from home due to concerns his ethnicity was more susceptible to the virus.

DCI Miller said: ‘He isn’t fat or diabetic and has a good job so doesn’t fit in to the category. In fact, he is as close to white as he can be. In fact, he’s a choc ice.

‘He is probably more white and middle class than I am’.

The comment was made next to the Major Incident Room at Birchin Way Police Station in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, when DCI Miller was in charge of masterminding the police response to the pandemic.

The black officer’s wife had raised fears about whether her husband should be shielding as a vulnerable member of the BAME community.

She was concerned about him and the risk of the virus being passed on to their sons.

When a colleague approached his superior for guidance, he replied with the racist outburst.

The more junior officer later decided to report what had happened and DCI Miller was interviewed by professional standards.

The hearing was told he ‘was horrified’ to learn what his ‘off the cuff remark’ meant.

He said he only realised when he went onto Google that a Choc Ice is a term used by one black person to another to refer to someone who has betrayed their heritage.

DCI Miller claimed he was ‘shocked’ when he was confronted about his remarks. He said it was ‘an error of judgement because of a lack of knowledge’ about what the words meant.

He told the hearing: ‘I would not use those words again with the knowledge I now have.’

But panel chairman Simon Mallett ruled that the officer’s claims that he did not know the phrase was racist was no defence.

He continued: ‘In a couple of sentences he made two offensive comments. The use of racist language is serious. The use of it by a senior officer is even more serious.

‘It is incredibly damaging to public perception of the police. It damages race relations locally when there are national concerns about the policing of black communities.

‘The conduct is so serious it justifies dismissal. It constitutes gross misconduct.’

Olivia Checa-Dover, for the force, argued: ‘The only outcome capable of maintaining public confidence in the police is dismissal without notice. Police forces wish to recruit officers who represent communities they serve.

‘The scale and depth of national concern about racial stereotypes is a significant aggravating feature.’

DCI Miller did not initially accept he had breached standards, she added. She also revealed he had received a disciplinary sanction in February this year for two matters of disreputable conduct.

Demotion was not an option. ‘There is no room for racism in any rank,’ she added.

Mr Mallett said DCI Miller was an ‘exceptional officer who had led serious and major investigations’ during his 21 years or service.

The panel had considered demotion and a final written warning but said:

‘In our view, public confidence in, and the reputation of, the force can only be maintained by the immediate dismissal of this officer.’

The panel issued a direction that the only officer in the case who can be identified was DCI Miller.

ANGOLA INCREASES DAILY ATM CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMITS

 Daily ATM withdrawal and transfer limits and Automatic Payment Terminals (POS) will increase from AKz 50,000 to AKz 60,000, National Reserve Bank (BNA) has announced.

The measure enters into force 30 days after its publication, stated the BNA in a press release, reached Angop on Thursday.

The Central Bank sets the limits of money for Issuing Checks, operations in Electronic Machine network and Clearing and Settlement Systems. 

As for paying by card, the BNA stipulated the amount of AKz 19.9 million. For the transfers by cards the amount stands at 5 million kwanzas.

The maximum amount per payment transaction for the Ministry of Finance and the National Social Security Institute is set at the limit of Akz 99.9 million.

For transfers initiated by card, the amount is Akz 5 million.

The maximum daily value of purchases at Automatic Payment Terminals, per payment card, is set at Akz 6 million.

As for charging of commissions on purchase transactions with the ATM card for an amount greater than 2,000 Kwanzas, whose maximum limit is 5,000 kwanzas, the amount to be charged must not exceed one percent of the purchase value.

This is applicable to Financial Institutions under the supervision of National Bank of Angola (BNA).

The Angolan interbank network increased the daily limit for withdrawing money from ATMs by 25 percent to 50,000 Kwanzas on April 1, 2016.

FIRST LADY OF ANGOLA REAFFIRMS HIV FIGHT

 First Lady Ana Dias Lourenço Friday in Luanda reiterated her commitment to doing all in her power to ensure that Angolan children are born free from HIV.

Ana Dias Lourenço said so during the signing of the terms of cooperation between her office and the country’s mobile telephone company Unitel S.A, within the framework of the Free to Shine campaign.

The partnership deal with Unitel S.A seeks to implement the "Mobile Healthcare Project: Free to Shine ", within the framework of the axes 3 and 4 of the 2019-2021 Operational Plan for Prevention of Transmission of HIV from Mother to Child, in the provinces of Luanda, Cunene and Moxico.

The specific goal is to reduce to 46 percent the rate of new HIV infections among children until the year 2021.

The Project is an extension of the Mobile Healthcare Programme designed to cover 9,000 women living with HIV/AIDS and their children.

In terms of the deal, Unitel S.A will provide a financial and technological assistance, through the implementation of the Interactive Voice Response (IVR), seeking the registration of women living with HIV/AIDS in health units involved in the Free to Shine campaign.

Under the agreement, the mobile telephone company has undertaken to send automatic voice messages to women living with HIV/AIDS who join the programme for consultation, treatment and counselling in Portuguese and vernacular kwanhama and chokwe languages.

Unitel S.A has also committed to helping with supervising, evaluating and continuous training of health personnel on registration of women living with HIV/AIDS for a 12 months period.

Unitel S.A, along with People In Need, has been involved in the “Mobile Healthcare” programme since 2017, seeking to reduce infant mortality and the number of deliveries out of maternity hospitals and medical centres.

Another goal sought by the project is to influence the attitude of mothers towards children vaccination schedules and encourage exclusive breastfeeding, healthy feeding and mother and child hygiene.

The "Free to Shine” campaign was launched in the country in 2018 by the First Lay of Angola and seeks to eliminate the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child.

It is part of a continental programme implemented by the Organisation of African First Ladies, established in 2002, during the 29th African Union General Assembly.

COVID-19: ANGOLA WITH 136 NEW INFECTIONS, 119 RECOVERIES

 Angola has recorded 136 new positive cases of Covid-19, 119 recoveries and three deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health authorities reported Friday evening in Luanda.

Speaking at the daily Covid-19 update briefing, the secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, said of the above mentioned, 44 infections have been detected in Cuanza Norte province (north), 39 in Luanda and 25 in Zaire (north).

Northern Cabinda has recorded 19, three in Lunda Sul (northeast), two in Benguela (centre) and one in Huíla (south), Bengo (north), Malanje (north) and Lunda Norte (northeast).   

According to the official, the ages of the newly infected persons range from two to 73 years, involving 83 males and 53 females.

The recoveries have been recorded in the southeastern Cuando Cubango province with (61), 22 in Huíla, 19 in Luanda, eight in Cunene (south), six in Moxico (east), and three in Huambo (centre), with ages from one to 73 years.

The dead are three Angolan nationals from Luanda (two) and Zaire (one). Two are females, with ages from 73 to 78 years.

Angola’s Covid-19 overall figures so far show 16,061 positive cases, 365 deaths, 8,798 recoveries and 6,898 active patients.