Bill and Melinda Gates divorce after 27 years of marriage

 Bill and Melinda Gates have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying “we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”.

“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the pair tweeted.

They first met in the 1980s when Melinda joined Bill’s Microsoft firm.

The billionaire couple have three children and jointly run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The organization has spent billions fighting causes such as infectious diseases and encouraging vaccinations in children.

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The Gates - along with investor Warren Buffett - are behind the Giving Pledge, which calls on billionaires to commit to giving away the majority of their wealth to good causes.

Bill Gates is the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, and is worth $ 124bn (£ 89bn).

He made his money through the firm he co-founded in the 1970s, Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company.

The pair both posted the statement announcing their divorce on Twitter.

“Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,” it read.

“We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives.

“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”

How did they get together?

Melinda, now 56, joined Microsoft as a product manager in 1987, and the two sat together at a business dinner that year in New York.

They began dating, but as Bill told a Netflix documentary: “We cared a lot for each other and there were only two possibilities: either, we were going to break up or we were going to get married.”

Melinda said she found Bill - methodical it seems even in matters of the heart - writing a list on a whiteboard with the “pros and the cons of getting married”.

They got married in 1994 on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, reportedly hiring up all the local helicopters to stop unwanted guests flying over.

Bill, 65, stepped down from Microsoft's board last year to focus on his philanthropic activities.

The couples who split in the pandemic

What is the Gates Foundation?

The couple established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 in Seattle

The foundation focuses primarily on public health, education and climate change

Its grants included some $ 1.75bn to vaccine initiatives and research during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2019, the foundation had net assets of more than $ 43bn

Bill and Melinda Gates pumped more than $ 36bn into the foundation between 1994 and 2018

What role did Melinda play in their campaigning?

“Bill and I are equal partners,” she told the Associated Press in an interview in 2019. “Men and women should be equal at work.”

In her recent memoir The Moment of Lift, she wrote about her childhood, life and private struggles her as the wife of a famous figure and and stay-at-home mother with three kids.

Working together at the Foundation had made their relationship better, she argued. “He’s had to learn how to be an equal, and I’ve had to learn how to step up and be an equal,” she wrote.

Apart from her work with the Foundation she founded Pivotal Ventures, an investment company focused on women and families, in 2015.

“The world is finally waking up to the fact that none of us can move forward when half of us are held back,” she said at the time. “The data is clear: empowered women transform societies.”

BBC / Reuters / GNA

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CIA briefing to lawmakers on suspected energy attacks turned contentious

 Washington (CNN) A briefing on suspected energy attacks on US intelligence officers turned contentious last week, two sources told CNN, as senators demanded more information about the mysterious incidents from the CIA and accountability for how the agency has handled them.

Senators on the Intelligence Committee were baffled that they were just learning about significant developments for the first-time and they were also frustrated that they were not given more details. The classified briefing was one of the most contentious in the committee’s recent memory, according to the two sources familiar with the briefing.

The briefers made clear that they believe the attacks on intelligence officials overseas are ongoing and they discussed previously unreported suspected cases that emerged in a European country this year, according to two sources familiar with the cases.

CNN first reported last week that federal agencies are also investigating a possible incident near the White House where a National Security Council staffer developed similar conditions to those who have reported the debilitating constellation of symptoms known as “Havana syndrome,” which often includes severe headaches , fatigue and loss of hearing.

US officials believe the symptoms affecting US personnel overseas could be the result of attack by some type of weapon that aims pulsed radiofrequency energy at its victims.

President Joe Biden's new CIA director, Bill Burns, has committed to prioritizing an investigation into the attacks but the extraordinary briefing revealed that a lot of work needs to be done on this complex and disturbing issue - particularly in terms of accountability for how the agency initially mishandled cases, including failing to properly provide medical care to officials affected and coordinating the investigation across government, according to the sources familiar with the briefing.

The briefers - who were members of the CIA task force looking into the attacks - did not provide a clear timeline of when certain information had been discovered and why it was only being shared with the senators then, which led some members to believe that the agency had previously been hiding that information from Congress, the sources said.

The tense briefing underscores the frustration that lawmakers have expressed over the mysterious suspected energy attacks on US personnel across the globe over the last several years, which the US government has struggled to address.

The Senate Intelligence Committee said in a bipartisan statement on Friday that the “pattern of attacking our fellow citizens serving our government appears to be increasing.” The statement also said that the committee is committed to “get to the bottom of this” and welcomed Burns ’“ renewed focus ”on these attacks.

“Our committee will continue to work with him, and the rest of the Intelligence Community, to better understand the technology behind the weapon responsible for these attacks,” said Chairman Mark Warner, Virginia Democrat, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the panel's top Republican. “We will focus on ensuring we protect our personnel and provide the medical and financial support to the victims deserve. Ultimately we will identify those responsible for these attacks on American personnel and will hold them accountable. ”

A Senate Intelligence Committee spokeswoman declined to comment on the briefing, pointing to the committee’s Friday statement.

Senators made clear those who mishandled response should be held accountable

Senators made it clear during the briefing that agency officials who mishandled the agency’s response to the attacks from the get-go must be held accountable, one of the sources said. The briefers said they would take those sentiments back to the agency, the source said.

Some senators directed criticism specifically towards officials in the CIA medical office, which initially doubted intelligence officials who said they had been subject to the mysterious attacks.

Burns told the House intelligence committee last month that he had appointed a senior officer to report directly to him on the matter. He has also said that he met with individuals who have been affected by the alleged attacks.

“I've met with three different groups over several hours with my colleagues going back to Havana who have been affected by these incidents simply to make clear to them not only my personal priority, but that we take very seriously what they've experienced and have enormous respect for their sacrifice and their dedication and that we will get to the bottom of this, ”Burns told the committee.

The CIA pointed to Burns ’testimony on this issue but declined to provide anything further.

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday it was “outrageous” that officials have struggled to obtain medical care.

“There’s a mysterious, direct energy weapon that is being used. And it is causing, in some cases, permanent traumatic brain injury. And yet the personnel involved - there have been other attacks around the world - have had a difficult time getting both the medical care and the financial help that they need from the CIA. And that is outrageous, ”Collins said.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pressed Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines about the possible attacks at a hearing last week, urging Haines to declassify information about the incidents and “share it with members of Congress in a way that allows us to better respond. ”

“Our concern obviously with the classification is because we believe that it’s protecting sources and methods, and it’s critical to our national security, and we’ll have to figure that out with you,” Haines responded. “But you should certainly have access to the classified information. And we should figure out if there’s a way to help you address these issues more generally. ”

A House Intelligence Committee spokesperson declined to comment on specific briefings, but said that the committee has been “working quietly and persistently behind closed doors on this critical issue since the first reports.”

“The committee will continue to hold events and briefings on this subject and we will follow the evidence wherever it may lead and ensure anyone responsible is held to account,” the spokesperson said.

Symptoms first emerged in Cuba

The US has struggled to understand these attacks since 2016 and 2017, when diplomatic and intelligence personnel in Cuba first began reporting alarming symptoms that seemed to appear out of the blue. That is when the attacks became known as the “Havana syndrome.”

The perpetrator of the attacks has not been identified by the US government, which is still investigating the incidents, but many current and former US officials believe Russia is to blame.

One State Department-sponsored study found the attacks were likely carried out using directed microwave energy. But US officials continue to stress that they have more questions than answers surrounding these incidents.

Intelligence and defense officials have been reluctant to speak publicly about the mysterious incidents and some who were impacted have publicly said that the CIA did not take the matter seriously enough from the onset.

The Biden administration has said that it will adopt a whole of government approach to getting to the bottom of the incidents. That commitment comes as a recently declassified 2018 State Department Accountability Review Board report, obtained by the National Security Archive, said there had been a delayed response to the attacks in 2018 during the Trump administration caused by “excessive secrecy” and “serious deficiencies in the Department's response in areas of accountability, interagency coordination, and communication, at all levels ”in Washington and Havana.

The State Department named a senior official to lead the department’s response to the “Havana syndrome” attacks in March and the CIA task force was setup late last year as part of this push. The CIA task force will draw on a wide range of resources at the agency and ensures a team and process exists to address any future incidents, CNN previously reported.

But questions remain about how effective the task force has or will be, how much interagency sharing of information is actually happening and how the Biden administration is providing all of that information to the oversight committees.

The Senate and House Armed Services Committees both received briefings on the Pentagon’s efforts to track and investigate these mysterious incidents in recent weeks. Then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller who served as acting defense secretary in the final weeks of the Trump administration also set up a task force inside the Pentagon to track the cases, telling CNN last month that he didn't think other agencies were doing enough about it.

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Prince Harry calls for vaccines to be ‘distributed to everyone everywhere’ at Vax Live concert in LA

 The Duke of Sussex appeared alongside Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Selena Gomez and Jimmy Kimmel at the star-studded concert.

The Duke of Sussex has called for vaccines to be “distributed to everyone everywhere” as he spoke at a star-studded charity concert in Los Angeles.

Prince Harry appeared along with a host of famous names from the worlds of music, film and politics at Global Citizen’s Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World - a charity performance in aid of the international COVID-19 vaccination effort.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are campaign chairs for the event, although Meghan - who is expecting the couple’s second child - stayed at home.

Speaking to the crowd of only fully vaccinated guests, Harry praised frontline medical workers both at the concert and around the world.

"Tonight is a celebration of each of you here, the vaccinated frontline workers in the audience and the millions of frontline heroes around the world," Harry said.

“You spent the last year battling courageously and selflessly to protect us all. You served and sacrificed, put yourselves in harm’s way, and acted with bravery, knowing the costs. We owe you an incredible debt of gratitude. Thank you. ”

The event to promote coronavirus vaccines was Harry’s first public appearance since Prince Philip’s funeral on 17 April and his first in the US since he and Meghan gave their dramatic interview to Oprah Winfrey in March.

Hosted by Selena Gomez, the concert – to be broadcast this Saturday – featured musical performances by Jennifer Lopez, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Foo Fighters, J Balvin and H.E.R.

The event raised donations to Covax, which is working to provide vaccines for low and middle-income countries.

Messages about vaccine equity were also heard from guests including Ben Affleck, David Letterman, Gayle King, Jimmy Kimmel and Sean Penn.

US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris also committed to make special appearances through Global Citizen’s partnership with the White House’s We Can Do This initiative, which encourages measures including mask-wearing.

Prior to the concert, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement saying: “Over the past year, our world has experienced pain, loss, and struggle – together. Now we need to recover and heal – together.

“We can’t leave anybody behind. We will all benefit, we will all be safer, when everyone, everywhere has equal access to the vaccine.

“We must pursue equitable vaccine distribution, and, in that, restore faith in our common humanity. This mission couldn’t be more critical or important.”

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Kanye West raises $1 Million for DMX’s family from Balenciaga shirt profits

 Kanye West is showing his support for DMX’s family. A source tells ET that less than 24 hours after Kanye, 43, enlisted Balenciaga to team up with his Yeezy brand and produce a DMX tribute shirt, they raised $ 1 million for the late rapper’s family. The shirt has now sold out.

DMX died on April 9, days after he was rushed to the hospital following a heart attack. He was 50.

ET’s source notes that, amid the release of the tribute shirt, “Kanye went to NYC and produced an elaborate memorial service held for DMX on Saturday,” where he “produced the entire service with his Yeezy creative force behind him.”

“He enlisted acclaimed visual artist Akeem Smith to create visuals and projections and collages used in the production,” the source says, before adding that those “larger than life” projections “brought DMX images to life.”

Those projections were used when the rapper and his Sunday Service choir opened the memorial service, which was held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

The group wore red hooded sweatshirts and huddled around a piano to sing a medley of songs including, “Back to Life,” “Keep on Movin’ ”and“ Amen. ”

In addition to Kanye’s performance, DMX’s homegoing celebration included tributes from several of the late rapper’s 15 children, Russell Simmons, Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and more.

In a statement to ET after his death, DMX’s family honored him as a “warrior who fought till the very end.”

“He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him. Earl ’s music inspired countless fans across the world and his iconic legacy will live on forever,” the statement read in part. "We appreciate all of the love and support during this incredibly difficult time."

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Nigeria’s army vows support for Buhari amid calls to resign

 The Nigerian army on Monday expressed its support for President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been criticized from all sides for his inability to curb insecurity in the country, categorically dismissing any likelihood of a coup.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is plagued by multiple conflicts, from a jihadist insurgency in the northeast, to attacks by criminal gangs carrying out mass kidnappings in the northwest and separatists targeting security forces in the southeast.

In a statement issued late Monday night, the Nigerian armed forces said they would continue to support the government despite the poor security situation and sustained criticism of Buhari, a 78-year-old former general.

“We categorically declare that the Armed Forces of Nigeria remain totally committed to the current administration as well as all the democratic institutions associated with it,” army spokesman Onyema Nwachukwu was quoted as saying in a statement.

“We will continue to remain apolitical, subordinate to the civilian authority, firmly loyal to the president, commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari and the 1999 Constitution as amended,” the military spokesman added.

Last week, parliament asked the head of state to declare a state of emergency.

At the same time, a flurry of statements from parliamentarians, local governors and even Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka called on President Buhari to contain the violence.

“Our nation is at war. Those who have come themselves weak and incapable must learn to swallow their pride and seek help, ”Soyinka urged.

A top Catholic cleric has also criticized the President’s security record, urging him to resign or face impeachment. He was immediately attacked by the presidency.

President Buhari met with his top security chiefs last week and again on Tuesday to discuss the violence rocking the country.

“We will continue to discharge our constitutional responsibilities in a professional manner, especially in the protection of the country’s democracy, the defense of the country’s territorial integrity as well as the protection of the lives and property of the citizens,” the military spokesman added.

In addition, the army hoped that the “current security challenges are not insurmountable”.

Buhari, a former coup general in the 1980s, was elected in 2015 on a promise to crush the jihadist rebellion in the northeast, which has killed 36,000 people and displaced two million.

But six years later, the Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa (Iswap) groups still control vast rural areas as well as strategic roads, where they are increasing attacks and kidnappings of soldiers, civilians and NGO workers.

AFP

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Restaurant manager beat and forced a Black man to work without pay owes him more than $500,000

 

/// Attached is a mugshot of Bobby Paul Edwards to go with this A-wire story. Here's a proposed caption This undated photo provided by the J. Reuben Long Detention Center in Horry County, North Carolina shows Bobby Paul Edwards. Federal prosecutors said Edwards is charged with abusing and enslaving a mentally challenged employee at the restaurant he managed. Doc URL: http://elvisb.ap.org/News/Stories/CTCB-2017-Oct-12-000205/CTCB-2017-Oct-12-000205.docx Slug: BC-US - Slavery Allegation Headline: Man accused of enslaving mentally disabled cafeteria worker Summary: A South Carolina restaurant manager has been charged with abusing and enslaving a mentally challenged employee. News outlets report 52-year-old Bobby Paul Edwards of Conway pleaded not guilty Wednesday to one count of forced labor. Authorities say Edwards used threats and force, including beatings with a belt and burning with tongs used in hot grease, to force 39-year-old John Christopher Smith to work as a J&J Cafeteria cook from 2009 until 2014. Extended Headline: A South Carolina restaurant manager has been charged with abusing and enslaving a mentally challenged employee Editors Note: Eds: Version moved in previous cycle on state lines. Urgency: Non Urgent Junkline: Mkrlsflsichawyffwmbf Dateline: CONWAY, S.C. CONWAY, S.C. (AP) - A South Carolina restaurant manager has been ordered held without bond on charges of abusing and enslaving a mentally challenged employee, according to information released by federal authorities. Bobby Paul Edwards, 52, of Conway pleaded not guilty to one count of forced labor, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Edwards used abuse and threats to force John Christopher Smith, 39, to work as a J&J Cafeteria cook from 2009 until 2014, authorities said. Court documents describe beatings with a belt, choking, slapping, punching with a closed fist and burning with tongs used in hot grease. Smith has been diagnosed with delayed cognitive development that results in intellectual functioning significantly below average. He filed a federal lawsuit in 2015 against Edwards and the restaurant owner, saying he wasn't paid or given time off or benefits. The lawsuit, which has not been resolved, also accused Edwards of repeated abuse, saying he hit Smith with objects including a frying pan and forced him Smith to work, to the point the man was so weak he had to be carried home. Saying some witnessed the alleged abuse, the lawsuit noted that Edwards went after Smith with a belt buckle for being too slow to replenish food items on the buffet line. "Plaintiff was heard crying like a child and yelling, 'No, Bobby, please!'" According to the suit, which accused the cafeteria's owner of knowing about the abuse but doing nothing to stop it. Edwards' attorney didn't respond to requests for comment. State assault charges against him are still pending. The indictment outlining the cartoons against Edwards was sealed last week by a federal magistrate, who has not released it to the public. Conway is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of Myrtle Beach.

A South Carolina man who was forced to work over 100 hours every week for years without pay and subjected to verbal and physical abuse was supposed to receive close to $ 273,000 in restitution after his former manager pleaded guilty.

But that initial amount was too low, an appellate court ruled in April. The man should have received more than double that amount - closer to $ 546,000 - from the manager to account for federal labor laws, according to the ruling.

John Christopher Smith was forced to work at a cafeteria in Conway without pay for years. His manager, Bobby Edwards, pleaded guilty to forced labor in 2018 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his abuse of Smith, a Black man who has intellectual disabilities.

A US District Court judge in 2019 ordered Edwards, who is White, to pay Smith around $ 273,000 in restitution, which represented Smith’s unpaid wages and overtime.

But the court “erred in failing to include liquidated damages” in the restitution, a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that would've doubled the amount of restitution Smith received, according to the April ruling from the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals based in Richmond, Virginia.

The Fair Labor Standards Act’s liquidated-damages provision holds that if failing to pay a worker’s wages on time is so detrimental to that worker’s “minimum standard of living,” then they should be paid double that amount, the Supreme Court decided in 1945.

“When an employer fails to pay those amounts, the employee suffers losses, which includes the loss of the use of that money during the period of delay,” the federal appeals court said.

The district court will now calculate the new amount Smith is owed.

CNN has reached out to the US Attorney’s Office in South Carolina and the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which ordered the original restitution payment, for comment.

Smith endured years of abuse

Smith started working at the cafeteria as a part-time dishwasher when he was 12, according to the recent ruling. His first 19 years of employment there, when the restaurant was managed by other members of Edwards ’family, were paid.

But when Edwards took over the restaurant in 2009, Smith was moved into an apartment next to the restaurant and forced to work more than 100 hours every week without pay, according to the ruling.

“Edwards effected this forced labor by taking advantage of Jack's intellectual disability and keeping Jack isolated from his family, threatening to have him arrested, and verbally abusing him,” the ruling reads.

Smith feared Edwards, who once dipped metal tongs into grease and pressed them into Smith’s neck when Smith failed to quickly restock the buffet with fried chicken, the ruling says. Edwards also whipped Smith with his belt, punched him and beat him with kitchen pans, leaving Smith “physically and psychologically scarred,” according to the ruling.

But Smith also feared what might happen if he attempted to escape, he told CNN affiliate WPDE in 2017.

“I wanted to get out of there a long time ago. But I didn't have anyone I could go to, ”he told the affiliate. “I couldn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t see none of my family. ”

The ruling says an employee’s relative alerted authorities of the abuse in 2014, and the South Carolina Department of Social Services removed Smith from the restaurant that year.

“We are talking about enslavement here,” Abdullah Mustafa, then the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, said at the time.

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Some Black parents say remote learning gives racism reprieve

 CHICAGO (AP) - Before schools shuttered during the pandemic, Ayaana Johnson worried every time she dropped her daughters off at school.

Johnson, a Black woman, says racism is rampant in her predominantly white Georgia town. At her daughters of her ’school, a student once used racial slurs and told another child he does n’t play with“ brown people. ” She says teachers are quick to punish or reprimand Black children and Ku Klux Klan flyers can be found in mailboxes.

“I knew from pregnancy on that this would be something we’d have to deal with,” she said. “This is the kind of area we live in, so you can imagine that you’re always going to feel protective of your children.”

As schools reopen across the country, Black students have been less likely than white students to enroll in in-person learning - a trend attributed to factors including concerns about the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on communities of color, a lack of trust that their schools are equipped to keep children safe, and the large numbers of students of color in urban districts that have been slower to reopen classrooms.

But many Black parents are finding another benefit to remote learning: being better able to shield their children from racism in classrooms.

“Now that they’re home, we feel safer,” said Johnson, who was keeping her two young daughters home despite options being made available for in-person learning.

White students have been far more likely to be back in the classroom, with 52% of white fourth-graders receiving full-time, in-person instruction in February, the latest month with results available from surveys by the Biden administration. By contrast, less than a third of Black and Hispanic fourth-graders were back at school full time, along with just 15% of Asian American students.

Even before the pandemic, concerns about racially hostile environments contributed to large numbers of Black parents turning to homeschooling, said Khadijah Ali-Coleman, co-director of Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars. There has since been a surge in homeschooling among Black families.

“Racism in schools plays a huge, huge role in a family’s choice to do homeschooling,” Ali-Coleman said. “That racism can manifest in a lot of different ways, from a teacher who criminalizes every behavior to not recognizing how curriculums exclude the experiences of Black people to not presenting Black children with the same opportunities such as accelerated classes as white children.”

Ali-Coleman chose homeschooling for her own daughter partially due to racism in schools. And while remote learning is different from homeschooling, she said she understands how the switch to remote learning would make Black parents feel more empowered and able to oversee the racism their children are facing.

Many remote learning parents have also reached out to her for advice after seeing for the first time the racism their children face.

"I think this has been eye-opening to a lot of parents," she said. “They’re finally getting to see what goes on in classrooms for Black and brown students, and I think many are dismayed.”

Remote learning also puts parents in a better position to intervene if necessary.

“When they’re at school, you have no clue what they’re going through unless you do the digging or they tell you,” said Erica Alcox, the mother of a 15-year-old high school freshman in Atlanta. “Remote learning lets you peek into the classroom. It puts more power back in our hands. ”

Alcox, who has been a teacher since 1998, said her son dela feels safer at home, where he can worry less about how schools police Black children and about bullying. She said remote learning can also offer opportunities for teachers to learn from parents.

“As a teacher, I would welcome this opportunity for parents to be more involved and to be more able to hold me accountable if need be,” she said.

Many parents also say they feel more empowered in having more control over what their children learn. While many schools largely ignore or gloss over Black history, culture and voices, remote learning allows parents to better see what’s missing.

Johnson does this through efforts like socially distanced backyard African dance lessons. Tanya Hayles, founder of Black Moms Connection, an online network of more than 16,000 Black mothers with chapters across North America and Asia, said she makes sure to monitor Black History Month lessons to fill in any gaps in coverage.

Hayles said she has noticed discussions among members about how remote learning has allowed Black mothers to better shield their children from racism.

A mother of an 8-year-old son in Toronto, Hayles has seen the benefit of remote learning in her own life. Most days, she works at a table beside her son to keep an eye on him and the classroom, where a lack of diversity among students and staff at her child’s affluent, predominantly white school is a concern.

“When your child enters the school system, you are no longer just a parent,” she said. “You’re an advocate, a detective, a cheerleader, so many things. And in some ways, remote learning makes that work easier. ”

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The Nasser International Leadership Fellowship 2021 for young emerging Leaders.

Application Deadline: June 16th 2021 https://bit.ly/3nI0efL

The Nasser Fellowship for International Leadership is deemed to be complementary to Egypt’s ongoing efforts -following its chairmanship of the African Union for the year 2019- to play its mandated role of strengthening the African youth role by providing all forms of support, habilitation and training, in addition to empowering them to occupy leadership positions, in order to capitalize on their capacities and insights. This was in fact endorsed President El-Sisi at the World Youth Forum in its second and third editions, held during 2018 and 2019, where he called for the implementation of the African Union initiative 2021 aimed at preparing one million young people for leadership

The Fellowship is named after the late leader Gamal Abdel Nasser as he is one of the greatest leaders for the people of developing nations (Africa- Asia- Latin America), in addition to being an exceptional leading figure. Nicknamed “Father of Africa”, Nasser is a quintessential political and historical example of the essence of leadership. As a leader, he sought to support the African Liberation Movements until it acquired independence.