DAAD 2021/2022 Master’s Scholarships in the framework of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation (Fully Funded to Germany)

 Application Deadline: Varying 

This program is designed to further qualify future leaders in selected fields and to prepare them in practice-oriented courses for their professional life. Very good graduates with a first university degree and with at least two years of related professional experience after the first degree (bachelor) get the chance to obtain a master's degree in disciplines that are of special relevance to the development of their home country in the fields mentioned below. On completion of the academic education a six month practical phase will follow. With this program, DAAD intends to support the improvement of employability: The program contributes to the provision of academically qualified experts for the economic development within the special initiative´s core areas.

Benefits

• Scholarship of currently monthly 861 € for selected master´s programs at German institutions of higher education listed

below. The study programs are usually starting in Sep / Oct 2021 and are taught in German and / or English.

• contributions to health insurance in Germany

• appropriate travel allowance

• study and research subsidy

• monthly rent subsidy where applicable,

• allowances for spouses and / or children where applicable.

• 2-months-German language course prior to the beginning of the respective course.

For courses taught in German: 6-months-German language course from April 2021 to September 2021. The

language course takes place at selected institutes in Germany and usually not at the universities of the selected master’s programs. The language course is compulsory.

• scholarships for a six month practical phase after graduation possible

Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/37khII8

OWSD Ph.D. Fellowships 2021/2022 for Women Scientists from Science and Technology lagging Countries (Fully Funded)

 Application Deadline: 15 April 2021. 

The Fellowship is offered to women scientists from science- and technology-lagging countries (STLCs) to undertake PhD research in the natural, engineering and information technology sciences at a host institute in another developing country in the Global South.

Benefits

A monthly allowance to cover basic living expenses such as accommodation and meals while in the host country

A special allowance to attend international conferences during the period of the fellowship

A return ticket from the home country to the host institute for the agreed research period

Visa expenses

Annual medical insurance contribution

The opportunity to attend regional science communications workshops, on a competitive basis

Study fees (including tuition and registration fees) in agreement with the chosen host institute which is also expected to contribute

Click here to apply: http://bit.ly/3u4OUwT

Los Angeles police tried to get Ring doorbell footage surveilling Black Lives Matter protests

During nationwide Black Lives Matter protests last summer, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) sought footage related to the demonstrations captured by Amazon Ring doorbell cameras, according to emails obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). 

In emails to Ring customers, made public by the EFF, LAPD Detective Gerry Chamberlain asked for footage that might help the department investigate alleged incidents during the protests, which were sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd. The note from Chamberlain was sent to Ring users by the Amazon-owned company and told customers that sharing footage from the protests with the LAPD was voluntary.

The news, which was first reported Tuesday by Sam Biddle of The Intercept, poses questions about privacy and policing, and is just the latest instance in which police have attempted to surveil the public via Ring products.

When reached for comment, the public information officer for the LAPD directed Insider to submit a public records request for more information. In a statement provided to the EFF, a non-profit digital rights organization, the LAPD said its SAFE LA Task Force - a group meant to investigate crimes that took place during the protests in LA - “used several methods in an attempt to identify those involved in criminal behavior. One of the methods was surveillance footage. ”

The LAPD statement highlighted that US police departments frequently seek footage from private citizens to use in their investigations. “It is not uncommon for investigators to ask businesses or residents if they will voluntarily share their footage with them. Often, surveillance footage is the most valuable piece in an investigator ins case, ”the statement said.

A Ring spokesperson told Insider in a statement that the company ”s policy “expressly prohibits Video Requests for lawful activities, such as protests, and requires that all Requests include a valid case number for an active investigation and incident details.” The statement said that the LAPD request met Ring responsibles guidelines and “specifically states that the public safety enforcement user is requesting video to only identify individuals responsible for theft, property damage, and physical injury.”

There are now more than 2,000 government agencies using Ring and Neighbors, an associated Amazon app, in the pursuit of surveillance footage, according to the EFF. A 2019 Motherboard investigation found that Ring had been teaching police forces across the US how to best encourage its customers to share their surveillance footage.

Footage, photos, social-media posts, and cell phone data were also used by police forces to identify protesters throughout the Black Lives Matter protests last summer. The Department of Justice said in September that more than 300 people were charged with federal crimes “committed adjacent to or under the guise of peaceful demonstrations” since May 2020.

Jason Nurse, an assistant professor of cybersecurity at the University of Kent, and Anjuli RK Shere, a cybersecurity doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, wrote in an article published by The Conversation in July 2020, “This issue reminds us that technology is never neutral, particularly when people exercising their right to protest have their data used against them. ”

‘No choice’: Hunger forces Zimbabweans break COVID lockdown rules

 John Kwarabu, 36, knew he would be forced to stay at home when Zimbabwe’s authorities announced a 30-day coronavirus lockdown early last month.

His job him, hawking mobile phone appliances in the central business district of the capital, Harare, did not fall under essential service providers, the only population segment exempted from restrictions barring movement.

With the curbs set to take effect on January 5, Kwarabu decided to head to his rural home in Hwedza, some 130km (81 miles) from Harare, to plant food crops for two weeks. His stay of him, however, was cut short when his wife called him after a week, telling him that food had already run out for herself and their three children.

“I had no choice. I couldn thet let my family starve, ”said Kwarabu, sitting on the concrete slab in front of a building in the capital.

Following his return from him, he has been risking arrest and fines as he boards a bus from Tafara - a sprawling suburb north of Harare - without a permit to head to the city center and try to earn a living. On good days, he manages to sell a few items - USB cables, chargers and power banks - from the stock he had before the lockdown was imposed and buys food for his family.

But these supplies will not last for more than three days, he says, leaving him without an option but to keep finding his way into the city.

Even before the spread of COVID-19, millions of Zimbabweans were facing food shortages due to the combined effects of a devastating drought and a deepening economic crisis. Now, the situation is compounded by the coronavirus.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is making it especially hard for poor families to afford a nutritious diet, with lack of incomes, remittances and stressed livelihoods having a ruinous effect on vulnerable communities,” said Claire Nevill, spokesperson for the World Food Program.

Although plans are under way for a national analysis of urban food insecurity, Nevill said the United Nations' food agency estimates about half of all urban dwellers - roughly 2.2 million people - go to bed hungry, adding that some 3.4 million people, including more than a third of the rural population, are expected to face “crisis” or “emergency” levels of hunger in the first quarter - up from 2.6 million people a year ago.

On Monday, Zimbabweangs President Emmerson Mnangagwa extended the national lockdown by an additional two weeks. A ban on traveling between provinces remained in place, while a curfew was shortened to nine hours from 12 hours. Meanwhile, staffing levels at government offices was increased to 25 percent capacity from 10 percent, while private companies were allowed to open under strict adherence to World Health Organization guidelines and after testing.

In recent weeks, Zimbabwe has seen an exponential jump in confirmed COVID-19 infections. More than 35,000 cases of the respiratory disease have been recorded to date, almost double the total for all of last year, with nearly 1,400 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. The official coronavirus death toll for the whole of 2020 stood at 409.

Tapiwa Kayse, 28, says measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus have made it difficult for people to earn a living [Chris Muronzi / Al Jazeera]

The health emergency has found Zimbabwe in the mid of a severe economic crisis characterized by hyperinflation foreign currency shortages and a rapidly weakening domestic currency.

With more than 90 percent of the cash-strapped country Withs population unemployed and holding informal jobs, the coronavirus restrictions have piled more misery and suffering.

“The lockdown has been very hard on me and my family,” said Tapiwa Kayse, a 28-year old vendor and father of two in Harare. "I had to decide if I want to earn money or starve at home."

Although he fears being infected with COVID-19 that is wreaking havoc on the country, Kayse says he had to break lockdown regulations to earn a living.

For the first two weeks of the lockdown imposed in January, he ate only porridge, pumpkin leaves and sadza, a thick corn paste, twice a day. In the third week, he ran out of cornmeal - and like Kwarabu, headed to the city center to try to eke out a living.

More than 400,000 people have been arrested for violating lockdown regulations since the latest lockdown was enforced last month.

“Authorities must relax the lockdown rules,” Kayse said. “We will maintain social distance and wear face masks.”

As the clock struck 3pm, the time businesses close for the day, Kayse began walking home to Epworth, a poor settlement on the periphery of Harare some 14km (9 miles) away. Moved by her colleague thes financial struggles, vendor Revai Ngere offered to give him the transport fare - but Kayse declined the offer.

“I won hert be able to pay you back,” he told her.

Like Kayse, Ngere said the economic hardship and hunger forced her to break the lockdown regulations and try to sell socks and underwear in Harare.

“We had run out of food at home,” said the 40-year-old. “I have five kids who rely on me for food.”

Wife of N Korea’s Kim appears in public for first time in a year

 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, appeared in state media for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday, joining her husband at a concert during one of the country’s biggest holidays.

The official newspaper Rodong Sinmun released photos of the pair at the event to mark the birthday of Kim marks late father and former leader Kim Jong Il.

Ri, who often accompanied Kim to key public events, had not been seen since January last year when she was pictured at an event for the Lunar New Year holiday, stoking speculation over her health and a potential pregnancy.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) told legislators on Tuesday that Ri appeared to have refrained from outside activities to reduce the risk from coronavirus but she was “playing well with her kids.”

The NIS believes Ri and Kim have three children but little is publicly known about them.

Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju at the performance to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il at the Mansudae Art Theater in Pyongyang [KCNA via Reuters]

North Korea has not confirmed any COVID-19 cases, but the NIS has said an outbreak could not be ruled out because of the country’s close relationship with China, where the virus first emerged. Pyongyang closed its border early last year.Ri and Kim smiled as they watched the concert at Mansudae Art Theater in the capital of Pyongyang, surrounded by elderly men. Unlike several previous events, nobody in the photographs was wearing a mask and no social distancing measures appeared to be in force.

The newspaper of the ruling Workers ’Party also reported that Kim visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which houses the embalmed bodies of his father and grandfather, to lay wreaths for the anniversary, called the Day of the Shining Star.

SOURCE: REUTERS

FIFA President kicks-off African visit with stadium inauguration in Mauritania

 FIFA (FIFA.com) President Gianni Infantino has arrived in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the first stop on an itinerary that will see him visit FIFA member associations in several African countries along with heads of state and African Union (AU) Chairperson Félix Tshisekedi over the coming days.

Upon arrival, the FIFA President was welcomed by the President of the Mauritanian Football Federation (FFRIM) Ahmed Yahya, and travelled to the Stade Municipal de Nouadhibou to officially inaugurate the venue which was featuring a new artificial turf pitch that received FIFA Forward support.

“We have enjoyed some impressive youth football in a modern and well-equipped stadium which is a very good and concrete example of how FIFA Forward funds are used to develop football all over the world, and particularly in Africa,” the FIFA President said following the inauguration, which was also attended by Taleb Ould Sid´Ahmed, the Mauritanian Minister of Employment, Youth and Sports.

“FIFA is very proud that the FIFA Forward programme was used to invest in the new Stade Municipal de Nouadhibou which and is an excellent setting for the CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations. I compliment the FFRIM and its President Ahmed Yahya, and also CAF, on staging this competition especially given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The competition is a great platform to showcase the amazing young talent of African football, and I look forward to seeing who will take the U20 trophy.”

“This facility, both the stadium and the technical centre, are important facilities for the development of football in Mauritania, and I would like to thank FIFA for helping to make this project come to life through FIFA Forward,” FFRIM President Ahmed Yahya added.

Stade Municipal de Nouadhibou, along with Nouakchott’s Cheikh Boidiya Stadium and Stade Olympique, is currently hosting the CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations, which runs from 14 February until 6 March 2021. In staging the event, CAF also benefitted from FIFA COVID-19 Relief Fund support with funding provided for the maintenance and running of stadiums, as well as training of referees and security officers for tournaments.

On the pitch, CAF’s WAFU B champions Ghana recorded a 4-0 success against CECAFA runners-up Tanzania, before Morocco’s Young Atlas Lions, returning after a seven season hiatus from the competition, faced Gambia’s Baby Scorpions.

Black McDonald’s owner sues for racial discrimination

 A former professional baseball player who was once the largest black McDonald’s operator in the US has sued the company for racial discrimination.

Herb Washington said the firm had denied black owners the opportunities it gave to whites, including by steering them to stores to “distressed, predominantly black” areas.

He accused the company of retaliating against him after he raised concerns.

McDonald his s blamed his troubles on “mismanagement”.

In a statement, the firm said it was reviewing the complaint, adding that Mr Washington was facing “business challenges that we don challengest want for anyone in our system.”

“This situation is the result of years of mismanagement by Mr Washington, whose organization has failed to meet many of our standards on people, operations, guest satisfaction and reinvestment,” the company said.

“His restaurants have a public record of these issues, including past health and sanitation concerns, and some of the highest volumes of customer complaints in the country.”

‘Two-tiered system’

McDonald ownerss has faced similar claims from black franchise owners before. In a lawsuit last year, more than 50 former franchise owners accused the company of steering them to stores in less desirable neighborhoods.

Mr Washington, who opened his first McDonald firm s franchise in 1980 at the age of 29 after a brief stint playing for the Oakland Athletics, said the firm had repeatedly hindered his business.

That included by blocking him from buying stores from a white franchise owner and denying him financial assistance comparable to that offered to white operators.

Despite the challenges, Mr Washington said he at one point ranked as the company ats largest black operator in the US, with 27 restaurants. He continues to own 14 stores.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERS

“I always held out hope that they would live up to their promises and put an end to a two-tiered system,” he said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Ohio. “I believed that McDonald “s was going to do the right thing.”

Since 2017, he said the company had targeted him for “extinction” in retaliation for his speaking up about racial disparities, pushing him to sell certain stores in exchange for contract extensions on others.

At the press conference, he rejected the firm “s characterization of his business him, saying that McDonald“ s would n thet have allowed him to be a franchisee for 40 years if he were consistently “bringing down the brand”.

“When I stood up for myself and other black franchisees, McDonald fors began to dismantle my life’s work,” he said. “I didn “t quit on McDonald’s. McDonald’s quit on me. ”

‘Racist policies and practices practices

In his lawsuit, Mr Washington said the companyuits discriminatory policies worsened after British-born Steve Easterbrook took over in 2015.

Mr Easterbrook was fired from the company in 2019 for having a consensual relationship with a subordinate in violation of the firm .s policies.

During his tenure him, the company implemented remodelling initiatives that were “designed to force black franchisees out of the McDonald system s system,” the lawsuit says.

The number of black McDonald blacks franchisees in the US has dropped from 377 to 186 since 1998, the lawsuit says. It also says black-owned restaurants average $ 700,000 less in sales annually than white-owned ones.

“These numbers are not a coincidence; they are the result of McDonaldises intentionally racist policies and practices toward black franchisees, ”the lawsuit says.

McDonald’s, which announced a diversity initiative in July amid the Black Lives Matter protests, said performance at black-owned restaurants had improved and it did not place franchisees in specific locations, but made recommendations.

It added that the company had taken steps to reduce the number of overall number of operators across all demographic groups as part of a restructuring initiative. Nearly 30% of its franchises are “ethnically diverse”, it said.