Mungo - Angola’s Vice President Bornito de Sousa visited an agro-ecological farm on Friday and met with local authorities in Mungo municipality, central Huambo province.
Bornito de Sousa acknowledged that Mungo municipality has a strong tourist, economic and social potential, capable of enhancing local integrated development.
Speaking at a consultation meeting with authorities and community members, Bornito de Sousa said that Mungo's potential, especially from the agricultural and tourism point of view, if well explored can increase the region's economic capacity.
“Mungo has great potential in tourism and agriculture, as I have just seen in the agro-ecological project with the municipality's name, as well as Kaniñgili's cave paintings, which can attract national and foreign tourists,” said the Vice-President.
He called for the need to set up a medium-sized polytechnic institute, in order to provide technical and professional training for young people and prevent them from escaping, in order to ensure the promotion and development of agro-tourism.
He said that it is important to give priority to the local (Mungo) young people in public tender for access to education and health sectors.
Bornito de Sousa also expressed concern about the lack of the Public Television of Angola (TPA) signal and the poor coverage by National Radio (RNA) station in the area, located 130 kilometers from the capital city of Huambo.
During his visit to the 900-hectare agro ecological farm, Bornito de Sousa toured the project for testing process of the production of avocado.
Luanda- Angola reported Friday 224 new covid-19 cases, 202 recoveries and 4 deaths in the latest 24 hours.
Releasing daily statistics on covid-19, the State Secretary for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, said the fresh cases were reported in the 12 provinces, with Lunda Norte recording the highest figure (80).
He added that 33 cases were detected in Luanda, followed by Cunene with 30, Huíla 24, Namibe 20, Huambo 14.
Lunda Sul and Moxico recorded 6 cases each, while Bié, Benguela and Zaire with 3 each and 2 cases in Cabinda.
The new cases feature 106 men and 118 women, aged 1 - 94 years old.
The deaths were reported in Moxico 2, Lunda Norte and Cunene with 1 each.
As for the recoveries, the source said 89 are residents in Luanda, 57 in Huambo, 26 in Huíla, 20 in Cunene, 6 in Malanje, 3 in Cuando Cubango and 1 in Bié.
So far, the country’s global tally stands at 41,629 cases, 981 deaths, 35,284 recoveries and 5,369 active patients.
The US is preparing to evacuate thousands of Afghan special visa applicants who are at risk from the Taliban.
US President Joe Biden has authorised up to $100m from an emergency fund to meet “unexpected urgent” refugee needs stemming from the situation in Afghanistan, including for Afghan special immigration visa applicants, the White House said.
Biden also approved on Friday the release of $200m in services and articles from the inventories of US government agencies to meet the same needs, the White House said.
The United States is preparing to begin evacuating thousands of Afghan applicants for special immigration visas (SIVs) who are at risk from the Taliban because they worked for the US government.
Former Afghan interpreters demonstrating in front of the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan [File: Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo]
The first batch of evacuees and their families is expected to be flown before the end of the month to Fort Lee, a US military base in Virginia, where they will wait for the final processing of their visa applications.
About 2,500 Afghans could be brought to the facility, about 48km (30 miles) south of Richmond, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The Biden administration is reviewing other facilities in the US and overseas where SIV applicants and their families could be accommodated.
Special immigrant visas are available to Afghans who worked as translators or in other jobs for the US government after the 2001 US-led invasion.
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives passed legislation that would expand the number of SIVs that could be granted by 8,000, which would cover all potentially eligible applications in the pipeline. About 18,000 such applications are being processed, US officials say.
‘Everything is too uncertain’
At a consultancy office in a shopping centre in the commercial hub of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, some two dozen men had yet to hear on Saturday morning about Biden’s latest promise.
For them, what is most important is getting out as quickly as possible.
“Everything is too uncertain here and we have to get our families out before things get too bad,” Ahmad Bilal, 26, told Al Jazeera.
Like the others crowding into the small office next to a high-end steakhouse, Bilal said the biggest hurdle right now is bureaucratic. He said the majority of SIV applicants have little clarity in the process and consultancies like this one are overworked and overcrowded.
“This office is just answering basic questions, they’re just a guide because there’s no specific system in place.”
Bilal, who worked for one year with the US forces, said any promises of additional funds should be put towards improving the quality and breadth of such services.
“Right now, we have no way to get in direct contact with the embassies and these offices are overstretched.”
Several of the men at the office said they have waited for hours to get even basic questions answered by the two staff at their computers.
There is also the issue of getting in contact with their old superiors, some of whom have not been in Afghanistan in half a decade.
“You spend months on Facebook and WhatsApp trying to find them and when they do; they say they have no more authority and don’t know what they can do for you since leaving their jobs.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani by phone later in the day [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]
Meanwhile, on Friday, the Canadian government said it will fast-track resettlement of potentially thousands of Afghans who have worked with Canada during the past 20 years but offered few details of who will be eligible or when people will start arriving.
The government has been facing pressure from Canadian veterans worried that Afghans who supported them and their families will face arrest and even death at the hands of the Taliban.
“For the safety and security of the Afghans, as well as the Canadian teams who are already on the ground, we have to safeguard the precise details of how this operation will be carried out, as well as exactly when it will begin,” said Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino.
The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan emboldened the Taliban to take parts of the country. The captured territory includes parts of the southern province of Kandahar, where the Canadian military spent the longest amount of time during its 13-year mission in the country.
Also on Friday, the US called on the Taliban to negotiate after the group said there will not be peace in Afghanistan until there is a new government in Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani is removed.
In an interview with The Associated Press news agency, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who is also a member of the group’s negotiating team, laid out their stance on what should come next in a country on the precipice.
Shaheen said the Taliban will lay down their weapons when a negotiated government acceptable to all sides in the conflict is installed in Kabul and Ghani’s government is gone.
During a news briefing held over the phone, State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said, “We call on the Taliban to engage in serious negotiations to determine a political road map for Afghanistan future that leads to a just and durable settlement.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki affirmed Biden’s support for the Afghan president. She said Biden was scheduled to speak with Ghani by phone later in the day.
“The president and the administration supports the leadership of the Afghan people, including Ashraf Ghani,” Psaki told reporters.
“I would note that there are ongoing political negotiations and discussions that we certainly support between Afghan leaders, members of the Afghan government and the Taliban. And we believe a political solution is the only outcome to lasting peace in Afghanistan,” she said.
Ali Latifi contributed to this report from Kabul, Afghanistan
A tram crash which killed seven people in Croydon was an accident, an inquest jury has found.
More than 50 people were injured when the tram tipped over and spun off the tracks near Sandilands tram stop in south London, early on 9 November 2016.
The tram was travelling more than three times faster than a speed restriction.
Speaking after the verdict, the mother of one of the victims said the families were “bitterly disappointed” and that justice had not been done.
The inquest heard that the tram went into a very tight corner, just before the tram stop, at 73km/h (45mph). The speed limit was 20km/h (12mph).
The crash resulted in the deaths of Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35, and Donald Collett, 62, from Croydon.
Family members of the victims sat in the public gallery at Croydon Town Hall to hear the verdict, which came after more than nine days of deliberations.
The foreman of the jury said: “The tram driver became disorientated, which caused loss of awareness in his surroundings, probably due to a lack of sleep.
“As a result of which, the driver failed to brake in time and drove his tram towards a tight curve at excessive speed.
“The tram left the rails and overturned on to its right side, as a result of which the deceased [were] ejected from the tram and killed.”
image caption In addition to the six men and one woman who died, 51 passengers were taken to hospital, eight with life-changing injuries
It can now be reported that south London senior coroner Sarah Ormond-Walshe refused to call a number of people who the victims’ families wanted to give evidence about alleged safety failings.
Those potential witnesses included senior managers of operator Tram Operations Ltd (TOL) – a subsidiary of FirstGroup – and Transport for London (TfL), plus other experts.
The families said they felt “justice had been suffocated”.
Analysis: BBC London transport correspondent Tom Edwards
Many think that the Croydon tram crash is the forgotten tragedy – it happened on the day Donald Trump was elected president of the US.
Today, the families of those who died were visibly upset and angry at the jury’s verdict.
Outside court in tears they addressed the media. Many do not understand why witnesses from TfL and the tram operators or drivers on that line were not called as witnesses. One told me the whole process was a shambles.
While Mr Trump has moved into and out of office, the families are still waiting for answers and justice.
Jean Smith, 64, mother of Mark Smith, said she was disappointed the inquest did not hear from TfL or the driver of the tram that crashed.
“I am bitterly disappointed as justice has not been done today. It has been a total farce as we have only heard half of the evidence and no-one who could potentially have been responsible for the crash has been called as a witness.
“It’s morally wrong that we haven’t been able to hear from anybody from TfL, TOL or the driver during the proceedings, whatever legal precedent says.
“It feels like they have been able to hide from giving evidence and it simply isn’t fair or just. Justice has been suffocated because of the coroner’s ruling.”
image caption The tram toppled over and spun off the tracks in darkness and heavy rain near the Sandilands stop after hitting a curve at 73 kph (45 mph)
Danielle Wynne, the granddaughter of another crash victim Philip Logan, said: “I’m so upset and angry. It’s not an accident. Someone is to blame.
“We want lessons to be learned so that no other family has to go through this.”
The families intend to call on the Attorney General Michael Ellis to apply to the High Court to grant a new inquest.
European Medicines Agency gives all clear for vaccine to be used in children aged between 12 and 17.
The European Union’s medicines regulator has recommended authorising Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged between 12 and 17, marking the first time the shot has been approved for people under 18.
In a decision on Friday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said research in more than 3,700 children of 12 to 17 years of age showed that the shot produced a comparable antibody response to that seen in 18- to 25-year-olds.
Use of the vaccine, Spikevax, will be the same in adolescents as in people over 18, the EMA said.
Formal approval by the European Commission – the EU’s executive arm – is needed to start rolling out the vaccine for teenagers. The body typically follows EMA recommendations.
Until now, the vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech has been the only option for use in children as young as 12 in North America and the EU.
Vaccinating children has been considered important for reaching herd immunity and in light of the rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.
Most children with COVID-19 develop only mild symptoms or none. Yet children remain at risk of becoming seriously ill and can spread the virus.
‘Benefits outweigh the risks’
Moderna said in May that its vaccine was found to be safe and effective in teenagers. Hundreds of millions of doses of the shot have already have been administered to adults.
The EMA said common side effects in teenagers after vaccination with Spikevax were similar to those seen in older people.
But due to a smaller study size, the trial could not detect new uncommon side effects or estimate the risk of known ones such as myocarditis and pericarditis.
“The overall safety profile of Spikevax determined in adults was confirmed in the adolescent study; the CHMP (Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use) therefore considered that the benefits of Spikevax in children aged 12 to 17 outweigh the risks,” the EMA said.
Heart inflammation such as myocarditis and pericarditis has been listed by the EMA as a possible but rare side effect from use of mRNA vaccines such as Moderna’s and Pfizer’s in adults.
Spikevax is already being used in the EU for people over 18, and in the United States and Canada.
Moderna has also sought authorisation in the US and Canada for its use in adolescents.
But with global vaccine supplies still tight, much of the world still is struggling to immunise adults, let alone children.
Agencies including the World Health Organization have urged rich countries to donate their doses to the developing world – where fewer than 2 percent of people have been vaccinated – rather than moving on to inoculate their less vulnerable populations.
Former Afghan interpreters demonstrating in front of the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan [File: Mariam Zuhaib/AP Photo]
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani by phone later in the day [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]
