Corona Voice - Angola. The tok show with Sofonie Dala. Don't miss it! Day 28

 Our Corona Voice Show is ongoing. Day 28

One of the most encouraging phenomena we have begun to see in response to social distancing laws are the innovative ways that people are starting to bond with each other, particularly musically.

Our today's guest is Ezequias. He will sing a very sentimental Covid-19 song for all of us.

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet our singer Ezequias!

1

I want this to end

Free of corona, I want to be closer,

Close to people, to be able to hug them

And protect them, free I am

2

All I want most is that the coronavirus passes away in the world

I want to embrace you and see you free of this great terror

Yeshuuuuaaaaaa!

Hello! my name is Ezequias Dala.

I want to give you a hug and a piece of advice: Protect yourself from the coronavirus.

One love!

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

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.

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.

FIND SOMEONE TO SPONSOR TODAY

Your sponsorship will help the most affected people by covid-19 to take the first step out of poverty.

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

Africa Educates Her Campaign - Angola. Season 3. Don't Miss Out! Webisode 14

Our girls back to school campaign is ongoing. Day 14

Children all over the world have had their education severely disrupted this year, as schools struggle to cope with repeated closures and re-openings. Disadvantaged children, however, have been worst-hit by the emergency measures.

Our today's guest is Marcelina, she will share with us the impact of covid-19 pandemic in her life.

My school is closed and may never return

Hello, my name is Marcelina Mateus, I study in the 7th class, I am 14 years old and I live in Luanda.

How has the Coronavirus affected your academic life?

Well, the coronavirus cut my school, this year I'm not studying and I was in 7th grade.

Now that schools have reopened, have you gone back to study?

No, I don't.

Why?

Because my school is closed permanently. The school leaders thought that school could never evolve again, reason why they made the decision to close the school forever without return.

Will you be able to go back to school next year if you enroll in another school?

Yes, I have this possibility.

Have you been complying with the preventive measures against the coronavirus?

Yes. I use the mask, wash my hands with water and soap and disinfect them with alcohol gel

Aren't you afraid of the coronavirus?

I'm afraid.

School closures as a result of health and other crises are not new, at least not in the developing world, and the potentially devastating consequences are well known; loss of learning and higher drop-out rates, increased violence against children, teen pregnancies and early marriages.

We launched this campaign to ensure that every girl is able to learn while schools are closed and return to the classroom when schools safely reopen. Everyone can play a role in supporting girls ’education - whether you’re a teacher, parent, student, journalist, policymaker, or simply a concerned citizen.

Don't miss this opportunity to bring girls back to school. Tell us your story!

Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus would you like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the poverty among women?

FIND SOMEONE TO SPONSOR TODAY

Your sponsorship will help the most vulnerable girls and women to take the first step out of poverty.

Click here to watch free full webisodes: https://she-leads.blogspot.com/ 

EU chiefs sign deal, UK MPs to vote on agreement

 The European Union’s top officials on Wednesday formally signed the long fought-over post-Brexit trade deal with the United Kingdom.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel signed it in a brief ceremony in Brussels, Belgium.

The documents will now be flown across the Channel to London in a Royal Air Force plane for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to sign.

“The agreement that we signed today is the result of months of intense negotiations in which the European Union has displayed an unprecedented level of unity,” Michel said.

“It is a fair and balanced agreement that fully protects the fundamental interests of the European Union and creates stability and predictability for citizens and companies”.

The UK Parliament will start debating the agreement on Wednesday, before a vote at 14:30 GMT, setting up new trade rules between the 27-nation bloc and former member the UK.

The House of Lords, which holds unelected lawmakers, will then start their debate afterwards.

The debate in the House of Lords is expected to last for several hours, which means the bill may not be turned into binding British law until late in the evening on Wednesday.

Under British legislation, the bill cannot be turned into law unless it is voted through by both houses.

Because Johnson’s ruling Conservative Party enjoys a parliamentary majority, UK MPs are expected to approve the deal, which is set to provisionally enter into force on January 1.

The agreement also needs approval from the EU’s legislature, which is not expected to take up the deal for weeks.

The leaders of the European Parliament’s political groups said they would not seek full approval until March because of the specific and far-reaching implications of the agreement. The overwhelming expectation is that EU lawmakers will approve the deal.

The 1,240-page post-Brexit deal was sealed by the EU and the UK on Christmas Eve, just a week before the year-end deadline.

“On major issues, the European Union stands ready to work shoulder to shoulder with the United Kingdom,” Michel said.

“This will be the case on climate change, ahead of the COP 26 in Glasgow, and on the global response to pandemics, in particular with a possible treaty on pandemics. On foreign affairs, we will seek cooperation on specific issues based on shared values ​​and interests. ”

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Source: AP

Russia charges critic Navalny with ‘fraud’ in new criminal case

 Russian state investigators say they have opened a new criminal case against Kremlin criticized Alexey Navalny, accusing him of fraudulently spending more than 356 million rubles ($ 4.8m) of public donations to organizations and controls on his personal needs, including holidays abroad.

The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said in a statement on Tuesday the money was part of more than 588 million rubles Navalny had raised “exclusively” for his non-profit organisations, including the Anti-Corruption Fund.

“In this way, the funds collected from citizens were stolen,” the committee said, adding it had opened a criminal case into “fraud on an especially large scale”.

The charge Russia’s most prominent opposition figure carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The move came a day after Russia’s prison service gave Navalny another potential legal headache in the form of a last-minute ultimatum: Fly back from Germany at once and report early on Tuesday morning, or be jailed if you return after that deadline.

Navalny was unable to return in time.

The fraud case is likely to be seen as the latest sign that the Kremlin does not want Navalny, who is convalescing in Germany, to return to Russia after what Berlin and other Western nations say was an attempt in August to murder him with a nerve agent.

In August, the Kremlin critic fell violently ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow and was hospitalised in the city of Omsk before being transferred to Berlin by medical aircraft.

Experts in several Western countries concluded the 44-year-old Russian dissident was poisoned with the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent – a claim that Moscow has repeatedly denied.

Navalny has said the main security agency Federal Security Service (FSB) was behind the poisoning at the direction of President Vladimir Putin

On Tuesday, Navalny described the fresh criminal probe against him as “invented by Putin”. He said he had predicted that the authorities would seek to jail him after failing to kill him.

“Well, I immediately said that they will try to put me in jail because I didn’t die” from the poisoning, he wrote on Twitter.

The Kremlin earlier on Tuesday declined to comment on other potential legal action against Navalny.

Putin has said that media reports that Russian state security agents poisoned Navalny were part of a United States-backed plot to try to discredit him. He said Navalny was not important enough to be a target.

Navalny has faced charges of fraud before.

In February 2014, he was charged with fraud and money laundering and spent almost a year under house arrest before receiving a suspended sentence in December that year.

Last year, Europe’s tops right courts ruled that Russia had violated Navalny’s rights with the case.

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Source: News agencies

EU, Chinese leaders to announce hard-fought investment deal

 European Union and Chinese leaders are poised to announce a hard-fought agreement to expand opportunities in China for foreign investors.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, who chairs the bloc’s summits, plan to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a video conference on Wednesday to signal the successful completion of negotiations begun in 2013 on an EU-China investment pact, according to officials in Brussels.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, which currently holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, will also join the discussion, two of the officials said. The video conference is due to start at 1 p.m. Central European Time, Michel said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.

The deal aims primarily to expand access to the Chinese market for foreign investors in industries ranging from cars to telecommunications. The accord also tackles underlying Chinese policies deemed by Europe and the U.S. to be market-distorting: industrial subsidies, state control of enterprises and forced technology transfers.

“We need to rebalance the economic and investment relationship with China,” Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice-president in charge of economic matters at the commission, the EU’s executive arm, told Bloomberg Television on Dec. 18. “Currently Europe is substantially more open to Chinese investments than China is to the EU’s investments.”

Human Rights

The planned announcement on Wednesday will represent a high-level political blessing to the investment agreement, which will also cover environmental sustainability. Both sides plan to put the finishing touches on it over the coming months.

The accord will then need the approval of the European Parliament, where some voices have expressed objections as a result of alleged human-rights violations in China. The deal includes Chinese pledges on labor standards meant to address such concerns, including in relation to ratification of related United Nations-backed conventions, according to EU officials, who asked not to be identified because of the continuing preparations.

The incoming U.S. administration of President-elect Joe Biden has also signaled reservations, at least about the timing of the agreement. Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to Biden, on Dec. 22 urged “early consultations with our European partners on our common concerns about China’s economic practices.”

The EU says its deal with China will help to foster the renewal of transatlantic cooperation, which has been shaken over the past four years by the “America First” agenda of outgoing President Donald Trump.

Deal Highlights

Following are some of the Chinese concessions to European investors in the agreement, according to an EU official:

• Chinese market opening: improved access across industries including air-transport services, where joint-venture requirements for computer-reservation systems are being removed, and new opportunities in sectors including clean vehicles, cloud services, financial services and health
• Chinese state-owned enterprises: non-discrimination commitment when state owned enterprises are buyers of services
• Chinese subsidies: enhanced transparency, notably for services
• Chinese forced technology transfers: prohibited

While the accord largely commits the EU to maintain its relative openness to Chinese investors, according to the European official, the deal offers greater access for them to the bloc’s:

• energy wholesale and retail markets (but excluding trading platforms)
• renewable-energy markets (with a 5% cap at the level of EU countries and a reciprocity mechanism)

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Source: bloomberg