Psalm 69 - Rescued from Deep Waters

 Psalm 59

1

Psalm 59 For the director of music. [To the tune of] "Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam. ^[1] When Saul had sent men to watch David's house in order to kill him.

1

Deliver me from my enemies, O God; protect me from those who rise up against me.

2

Deliver me from evildoers and save me from bloodthirsty men.

3

See how they lie in wait for me! Fierce men conspire against me for no offense or sin of mine, O LORD.

4

I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Arise to help me; look on my plight!

5

O LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to wicked traitors. Selah

6

They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.

7

See what they spew from their mouths-- they spew out swords from their lips, and they say, "Who can hear us?"

8

But you, O LORD, laugh at them; you scoff at all those nations.

9

O my Strength, I watch for you; you, O God, are my fortress,

10

my loving God. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.

11

But do not kill them, O Lord our shield, ^[2] or my people will forget. In your might make them wander about, and bring them down.

12

For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride. For the curses and lies they utter,

13

consume them in wrath, consume them till they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. Selah

14

They return at evening, snarling like dogs, and prowl about the city.

15

They wander about for food and howl if not satisfied.

16

But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

17

O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.

 

Psalm 69   - Rescued from Deep Waters

69 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.

2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.

9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.

12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.

13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

16 Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.

19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.

20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.

23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.

24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.

26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

29 But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.

33 For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.

35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.

36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

The Lawyers Hub Africa Startup Law Accelerator Program 2021 for Pre-seed Tech Startups.

 Application Deadline:1st April 2021

Startups and SMEs contribute largely to the digital economy in Africa. An estimated $2.4 billion in capital and acquisition value was recorded across the African tech and innovation scene in 2020. Still, startups in Africa struggle with in-depth legal training support to enable them to set up legally sound and risk proof businesses, products and strategies from an early stage.

Having considered the role that tech startups play in the growth of Africa’s economy and their legal needs, the Lawyers Hub introduces a 12-week accelerator geared towards supporting pre-seed startups in strategy and business development with training on legal strategies for startup growth, investor readiness and sustainability.

Benefits:

Enjoy access to extensive legal training and support from key ecosystem players as mentors, program facilitators and funders.

Benefit from an activity-packed mentorship program leveraging accelerated knowledge processes to impart years of accumulated wisdom in three months.
Gain access to our exclusive network of ecosystem stakeholders.

Learn relevant management and operational skills such as legal auditing and self-assessment for tech ideas and products in areas such as privacy and data protection, legal structures audit, Intellectual Property.

Training on how to participate in tech policy in Kenya and access to a vibrant policy engagement forum

Click here to apply:  https://bit.ly/3f5Qxp8

COVID-19: WHO CALLS FOR STRENGTHENED PREVENTION MEASURES

 Luanda - The representative of the World Health Organisation in Angola, Djamila Cabral, Tuesday reaffirmed the need to maintain measures to prevent and fight against Covid-19 to avoid a second wave of the disease in the country.

The public health technician, who was speaking to Angolan Public Television (TPA), said it was essential that health authorities and Angolans in general reinforce the transmission of messages about the importance of using face masks and alcohol gel, among other prevention measures, so as not to "throw away" the gains made since March 2020.

Djamila Cabral praised the Angolan authorities for, in her opinion, having given a quick and adequate response, a decisive factor in controlling the disease in the country.

The specialist considers that continuous preparation is fundamental so that the country does not run the risk of being surprised, once again, by a second wave.

In relation to the vaccines, Djamila Cabral states that they have a six-month immunity, having as main objective the reduction of the number of Covid-19 cases.

In addition to reaffirming the safety of the vaccine AstraYeneka administered in Angola, she considers it a gain.

The specialist also noted that Angola was one of the first African countries to receive the vaccine, stating that it was by its own merit, taking into account the technical conditions for vaccine conservation (chambers) and the number of prepared professionals.

MPLA STRESSES COOPERATION WITH RUSSIAN FEDERATION

 Luanda - The president of the ruling MPLA party, João Lourenço, said Wednesday that in the framework of the diversification of the national economy, there are enormous perspectives of cooperation with the Russian Federation in several sectors.

He stressed the sectors of industry, agro-livestock, fisheries, energy, tourism, telecommunications and science and technology, as the ones that can contribute the most to this effect.

In a message sent to the Russia-Africa inter-party conference, which is being held for two days in Moscow, he said that scientific research and the training of excellent cadres should also be given special attention in cooperation between the two countries.  

João Lourenço said that the world is still living the effects of the pandemic resulting from Covid-19, which had a negative impact on the economies of all countries.

"Angola adopted very early the prevention measures recommended by the World Health Organisation; however, the structure of the country's economy, where the informal sector has considerable weight, could not withstand the effects of the paralysis of the economy for a long time, which led to the implementation of measures aimed at alleviating the confinement and the progressive return to the activities of the different sectors," he stressed. 

According to the leader of the ruling party in Angola, in this way, it was possible to avoid the massive spread of the disease, which would lead to the collapse of the national health system.

He considered important the development of the relations between the African countries and the Russian Federation, as well as between the political parties, which have the responsibility of defining the policies that guide the action of the respective governments, to face the enormous challenges that are faced today.

At the event, the MPLA President is represented by the party's Vice-President, Luísa Damião, in a virtual way, from Luanda.

COVID-19: ANGOLA REPORTS 73 RECOVERIES, 62 NEW CASES

 Luanda - At least 73 patients recovered, 62 new cases and one death is the last 24 hours balance released Wednesday by health authorities.

According to the health bulletin, of those recovered, 66 are residents of the province of Luanda, six in Lunda Norte and one in Moxico, and their ages range from 5 to 69 years old.

Of the new cases, 57 were registered in Luanda, 3 in Benguela, 1 in Cabinda and 1 in Malanje.

Among the new patients, whose ages range from 3 months to 78 years, 37 are men and 25 women.

The death involves a 63-year-old Angolan citizen residing in Luanda.

The general picture of the country shows 21,836 positive cases, with 532 deaths, 20,172 recovered and 1,132 active. Of the active cases, six are in critical state, seven are serious, 41 moderate, 28 light and 1,050 asymptomatic.

There are 87 people in hospitalisation centres, 78 in institutional quarantine.

The authorities have 1,489 contacts of positive cases under medical surveillance.

 

COVID-19: ANGOLA VACCINATES OVER 80,000 PEOPLE

 Luanda - The health authorities announced Wednesday that 87,022 people had been immunized so far.

According to the Ministry of Health (MINSA), of this number, 11,016 were vaccinated this Wednesday, 24, at the high performance posts against Covid-19.

Of these, 6,169 are in Luanda, 1,870 in Cabinda, 1,544 in Benguela, 1,033 in Huambo and 400 in Huila.

The vaccination, which began on 2 February, is initially being given to health professionals, teachers at all levels of education, senior citizens over 65 years old with comorbidities, employees of the Defence and Security bodies, people with sickle-cell disease and chronic renal shortage over 18 years old.

In Luanda, vaccination is taking place at the Osvaldo Serra Van-Dúnem Police Science Institute, in the Special Economic Zone (ZEE), Paz Flor Tourist Centre, Mutu-ya-Kevela Primary School and in the Cidade Alta Garden.

 

Murdoch-Owned New York Post Backs Joe Biden’s Call To Ban ‘Weapons Of War’

 

The New York Post does not see this as a conservative or liberal issue — it’s an issue of life and death,” the tabloid’s editorial board wrote in an op-ed.

President Joe Biden’s call to ban assault weapons following Monday’s mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, has been wholeheartedly endorsed by the editorial board of the conservative New York Post.

“Get weapons of war off America’s streets,” the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid, often a thorn in Biden’s side, declared in an op-ed published Wednesday.

“The New York Post does not see this as a conservative or liberal issue — it’s an issue of life and death,” the board wrote. “Curbing guns is what led to New York City’s three-decade reduction in murders. And, sadly, it’s the dismissal of that progress that has led to a rise in shootings here. Outside the city, the toll of semi-automatic weapons is a sad litany of cities and schools: Newtown, Parkland, Aurora, Las Vegas. It’s a national shame.”

The board recalled how it similarly urged then-President Donald Trump to ban assault weapons nationwide in August 2019, following mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. But with no significant changes forthcoming, “the bodies keep piling up,” the newspaper wrote.

Democratic and GOP centrists will have to “stare down their ‘ban everything’ and ‘ban nothing’ extremes,” it continued. “Start by writing an assault-weapon ban that focuses on firepower — rate of fire, muzzle velocity, and so on. Then move on to tighter, universal background checks, etc., reasonable waiting periods and all the rest.”

“Get started today, before the next horror hits,” the board concluded.

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Rwanda: Paul Rusesabagina quits trial, says expects no justice

 The man hailed as a hero in the film about the 1994 genocide says he will not appear before a court, contends terror-related charges against him are fabricated.

Paul Rusesabagina, a Rwandan government critic who was hailed as a hero during a genocide in the country, has not showed up for his trial after informing prison authorities he was quitting the process as he did not expect justice.

Rusesabagina, whose actions during the 1994 bloodbath inspired hit movie Hotel Rwanda, has been charged with nine offences, including “terrorism” for starting an armed group in recent years that is accused of staging deadly attacks within Rwanda.

The 66-year-old had been living in exile abroad but was mysteriously taken back to Rwanda in late August when he was presented to the media at the headquarters of the Rwanda Investigations Bureau in Kigali. Rusesabagina has said he was kidnapped, after being tricked into getting onto a plane to Rwanda’s capital, when he thought he was going to neighbouring Burundi.

Rwandan Justice Minister Johnston Busingye admitted in an interview with Al Jazeera last month that the government had paid for the flight.

Rusesabagina has admitted to helping form the National Liberation Front (FLN), but denied any role in its crimes. Rwandan authorities blamed the FLN for a series of deadly attacks in 2018.

At Wednesday’s hearing, a letter from Nyarugenge Prison where Rusesabagina is being held was read out, saying that he would no longer attend the trial.

“He told Nyarugenge jail that he will never again appear before this court, not just today but even for future hearings. He said that he does not expect any justice from this court,” according to the letter, written by Michel Kamugisha, the prison’s director.

Presiding judge Antoine Muhima ruled the trial would continue.

“Rusesabagina chose not to attend this hearing. He has a right to do so but choosing not to appear does not stop the trial from proceeding,” Muhima said, according to the AFP news agency.

During his last appearance on March 12, when the court ruled against Rusesabagina’s request to have six months to prepare his defence, he said he was quitting the trial as “my basic rights to defend myself and to have a fair trial were not respected”.

Rusesabagina’s family insists that he has not been given access to more than 5,000 pages of documents in his case file.

He is also being tried alongside 20 others accused of terrorism, “all of whom pled guilty and incriminated him”, according to Kitty Kurth, spokeswoman for Rusesabagina’s Hotel Rwanda Foundation.

“President [Paul] Kagame has publicly pronounced that Paul [Rusesabagina] is guilty of the charges, effectively obliterating his right to be presumed innocent.”

Rusesabagina, whose character was played by Don Cheadle in the Oscar-nominated 2004 film, is credited with sheltering hundreds of Rwandans inside a hotel he managed during the 1994 genocide, in which 800,000 mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

But in the years after Hollywood made him an international celebrity, a more complex image emerged of the staunch government critic, whose tirades against Kagame’s rule made him an enemy of the state.

Kagame has been in power since 1994 and is accused by critics of crushing opponents and ruling through fear.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Ghana: Impact of COVID-19 on commodities continues to cause decline in exports

 Latest data from the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Macroeconomic and Financial Data for the period ending February 2021 shows the value of Ghana’s total exports decreased to about 2.5 billion dollars in February 2021, from the about 2.8 billion dollars recorded during the same time in 2020.

An estimated 2.2 billion dollars was spent on importing goods for the same period.

However, the report showed an increase in total imports from about 2.0 billion dollars in February 2020 to about 2.2 billion dollars for the same period in 2021.

While exports for the year under review declined in value by about 9.2 percent, imports saw an increase in value by about 9.6 percent.

The data from the Central Bank also showed that Ghana recorded a positive balance of trade of about three hundred and forty billion dollars as at the end of February 2021.

In an interview with Citi Business News, Economist with Databank, Courage Martey notes that the trend recorded across board can be attributed to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the commodities, especially on Brent Crude.

“This is something we expected especially with the steady reopening of the economy. We expected that non-oil imports will start to pick up and that is exactly what is happening and that is why you saw almost 13% growth in non-oil imports because economic activities are bouncing back and that is the reason for the import growing by that much. On the export side, we saw a 9% decline in total exports largely because revenue from oil declined on a year-on-year basis.”

“This decline in oil is happening despite the increase in oil price on the world market because the expectation is that production or output in the oil sector will be lower this year compared to last year and if you look at the 2021 budget, it was indicated in there that total oil production for this year would amount to some 64 million barrels compared to 66 million barrels in the preceding year, so this is exactly what we are beginning to suffer. And the decline in total oil revenue, export revenue is as a result of lower output this year for the period compared to the same period last year,” he said.

As of February 2021, the value of gold hovered around nine hundred and thirty- one million dollars.

This represents a 5.5 percentage drop compared to the value of about nine hundred and eighty-five million dollars recorded during the same period in 2020.

But Courage Martey attributes the decline in gold prices to people’s expectation of economic recovery on the back of the vaccine roll-out.

“Gold recorded a slight decline this year compared to last year. This is because investors are moving slightly away from safe havens to a bit more riskier assets. It is largely because they now expect the global economy to recover on the back of the vaccine roll-out. Now, if you expect economic activities to bounce back on the back of the vaccine roll-out, you don’t want to hold all of your assets in safe havens again. Rather, you want to start taking risks with the assets for higher earning potential and so that pull-out from gold away from safe havens into more risky investment is hurting the price of gold,” he added.

Source: myjoyonline

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China bashes US over racism, inequality, pandemic response

 Annual report seeks to counter US accusations of human rights abuses by China’s ruling Communist Party.

China has taken the US to task over racism, financial inequality, and the federal government’s response to the coronavirus in an annual report that seeks to counter US accusations of human rights abuses by China’s ruling Communist Party.

The 28-page report issued by China’s cabinet opens with “I can’t breathe,” a reference to George Floyd, the Black American who died last May after a police officer pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes.

The document released by the State Council Information Office said the United States in 2020 “saw its own epidemic situation go out of control, accompanied by political disorder, inter-ethnic conflicts, and social division”.

It also highlighted the January 6 insurrectionist attack on the Capitol as well as gun violence and health disparities.

“What happened on Capitol Hill revealed the shortcomings of US democracy,” Chang Jian, the director of a centre for human rights studies at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, said at a government news conference.

“And that is the two political parties would sometimes do everything they can to advance their own interests… They would incite division and violence among the people. So can US society continue to prosper under its current democratic system? I would put a question mark on it.”

China issues the report each year in response to US criticism of its record on issues such as abuses against minority groups in the western regions of Xinjiang and Tibet and a crackdown on opposition voices in Hong Kong.

It has used the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed many more people in the US than in China, to highlight the Communist Party’s handling of the outbreak – and by extension, what it sees as the benefits of its system.

“To defeat the epidemic requires mutual help, solidarity, and cooperation among all countries. However, the United States, which has always considered itself an exception and superior, saw its own epidemic situation go out of control, accompanied by political disorder, inter-ethnic conflicts, and social division,” the report said.

“Vulnerable groups became the biggest victims of the government’s reckless response to the epidemic,” it said.

Ethnic minorities abused

The Chinese report is based on open-source material, as opposed to the US document, which is largely drawn from work by diplomats, journalists and human rights activists who cannot always reveal their information because of threats of retaliation from the Communist Party.

The report comes after the European Union joined the US, UK and Canada in imposing sanctions on Chinese officials over accusations they abused ethnic minorities.

Beijing retaliated by announcing it would penalise four European legislators, a German researcher and European-based rights organisation with bans on travelling to Chinese territories or having financial interactions with Chinese institutions.

A US state department spokesperson criticised the recent closed-door trials of two Canadians in China on espionage charges in apparent retaliation for Canada’s detention of an executive of the telecoms giant Huawei, who is wanted in the US on fraud charges.

“We can’t underscore enough that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Canada in calling for the immediate release of both Michaels, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and continue to condemn the lack of minimum procedural protections during their two-year arbitrary detention,” deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter said on Tuesday in Washington.

China has taken an increasingly hard line against any criticism of its domestic politics, or what it sees as attempts to impede its rise as a global leader.

“The United States has mountains of human rights problems in its own country,” said Li Xiaojin, a human rights official from the State Council Information Office.

“However, it is more intensively interfering in the internal affairs of other countries under the banner of human rights. It’s like when it is sick but asks others to take medicine and injections.”

SOURCE : AP

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