COVID-19: STATE MINISTER REITERATES CALL FOR VACCINATION

 Mbanza Kongo- Minister of State for the Social Sector Carolina Cerqueira has reiterated the need for the eligible population to take the Covid-19 vaccine to halt the spread of the disease in the country.

The minister made the appeal on Friday in Mbanza Kongo, northern Zaire province, during the inauguration of the bust of the Kingdom of Kongo's envoy to the Vatican, Dom António Manuel Nsaku Nvunda.

The official called for compliance with the Executive's measures aimed at combating this deadly evil.

“Covid-19 is ravaging the world and threatening humanity, so we must continue to believe that the vaccine and respect for biosafety measures will prevent further human losses as a result of this virus,” she said.

She said that she hoped that this health crisis, which has had serious consequences for the social and economic fabric of the country and the rest of the world, will be overcome in the near future.

The minister thanked the Angolan population for their understanding of the constraints created at the personal, family and community level due to the measures that have been taken to mitigate the effects of this pandemic.

The country has 64, 612 confirmed cases, of which 57, 493 recoveries and 1,719 deaths

ANGOLA AT INTRA-AFRICAN FAIR WITH ABOUT 20 COMPANIES

 Luanda – Angola will participate with around twenty companies in the 2nd edition of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2021), which takes place from 15 to 21 November, in Durban, South Africa, under the motto “Transforming Africa”.

In this event, Angola hopes, through the Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX), to attract investors to the most diverse sectors of the economy with the presentation of a set of business opportunities, tax incentives and favorable conditions provided for in the “Law of Private Investment”.

 

The business class, which will occupy a large part of the Angola pavilion, will seek to establish partnerships and exhibit their products and services.

 

The Angola pavilion plans to host, among other stands, the stands of Sonangol, Opaia, BAI, Catoca and Refriango, ZEE, Kubinga, Gulkis, Steel Door, Food Care, Sino-Ord, JPNM, Alltrans, Federation of Women Entrepreneurs of Angola ( FMEA), the Community of Exporting and Internationalized Companies of Angola (CEEIA) and the Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX).

 

Intra-African Trade Fair - Organization

The event, which will take place specifically in the KwaZulu-Natal region, is an initiative of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbak), in collaboration with the African Union and the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

 

According to the organization of IATF 2021, projections for this event indicate business and investments valued at US$40 billion, against US$32 billion in the first edition (2018).

 

For this year, 10,000 delegates, visitors, traders and journalists from 55 countries are expected to attend the conference, while in 2018 the number of participants was 2,500 participants from 45 countries.

 

Regarding the number of exhibitors, the 2nd edition of the IATF 2021 is expected to host 1 100.

Key Sectors

The exhibition is aimed at the sectors of agriculture, livestock, automobile, clothing and textiles, construction and infrastructure, goods and services, creative industries including entertainment, education, energy and power, engineering, finance, health and pharmaceutical, ICT, innovation, logistics, production, mining exploration standards and young start-up.

WORLD BANK VICE PRESIDENTS IN ANGOLA FOR NEW PARTNERSHIPS

 Luanda - The World Bank Regional Vice-President for Eastern and Southern Africa, Hafez Ghanem, arrives in Angola on the 8th of this month, for a new partnership with the Angolan Executive.

In addition to Hafex Ghanem, the full delegation  also includes Sérgio Pimenta, Regional Vice-President of the IFC-International Finance Corporation, one of the arms of the World Bank Group (WBG).

The joint visit to Angola, from 8 to 11 November 2021, aims to discuss the work of the World Bank Group and the new partnership for Angola, focused on the agenda of reforms and economic diversification strategies.

Climate change and adaptation, empowering women and girls are other items on the agenda.

During the joint visit, Hafex Ghanem and Sérgio Pimenta will meet with Angolan Government officials, civil society organizations, development partners and representatives of the private sector.

The two vice-presidents will be guided by the executive director of the WBG for Angola, Armando Manuel, who is a former finance minister.

Alexandre Benalla: Ex-Macron aide who beat up protesters given jail term

 A sacked aide to French President Emmanuel Macron has been given a jail sentence for beating up two demonstrators in 2018.

Alexandre Benalla was fired after video of the May Day incident emerged – Mr Macron’s first major political crisis.

Benalla will not go to jail, as two years were suspended and he will serve the third wearing an electronic bracelet.

The former aide had denied the charges, saying he acted to help officers.

The video showed Benalla, wearing a police helmet, striking a young man and grabbing a young woman by the neck during the protest in Paris. It later emerged Benalla had been given permission to attend the disturbance as an observer on his day off.

The presidency was accused of a cover-up for not acting on the case as it knew of the existence of the video. It only acted after newspaper Le Monde identified Benalla.

Student activist Taha Bouhafs filmed a woman and a man being beaten on 1 May

Benalla, now 30, played an important role in Mr Macron’s presidential campaign. He rose through the ranks of the Elysée and was regularly seen in public at the president’s side.

The court also found him guilty of illegally using his diplomatic passports after his dismissal, of having forged a false document to obtain an official pass, and of illegally carrying a weapon in 2017.

He was also fined €500 (£430; $575).

The sentence was greater than the 18-month suspended term sought by prosecutors.

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Ahmaud Arbery murder trial: Prosecutors say he was ‘under attack’

 Prosecutors in Georgia have alleged an unarmed black jogger killed last year “was under attack” by the three white men who confronted him.

Opening arguments in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial began on Friday with prosecutors playing the full video of the 25-year-old’s final moments.

Gregory and Travis McMichael and William Bryan have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.

The defence has called for a mistrial, arguing prosecutors misled the jury.

The three men say they confronted Mr Arbery in order to make a citizen’s arrest – allowed at the time under Georgia law – because they suspected he had stolen from a nearby construction site.

The McMichaels have also said they acted in self defence, accusing Mr Arbery of attacking Travis when they tried to stop him.

Prosecutors are seeking to prove that racial bias – not facts and evidence – influenced the actions taken by the three defendants.

Lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski argued the men had no knowledge of Mr Arbery committing any crimes but “assumed the worst”.

“All three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions.”

She portrayed the actions of Mr McMichael, 65, his son Travis, 35, and their neighbour Mr Bryan, 52, who filmed the incident as “driveway decisions”.

• Ahmaud Arbery went jogging. Why did he die?
• Nearly all-white jury in black jogger murder trial

In a lengthy opening statement, Ms Dunikoski laid out a months-long timeline for the court, showing that Mr Arbery never stole from or damaged the site. She also added that, because the site was unsecured, he was not trespassing either.

“The only thing Mr Arbery did was run away,” she said.

Prosecutors played video and audio evidence to support their argument that the property owner was already handling the matter with local police, but the McMichaels acted on hearsay as soon as they saw Mr Arbery running.

“They didn’t simply follow Mr Arbery. All three ‘trapped him like a rat’ with their two pickup trucks,” said Ms Dunikoski, using the elder Mr McMichael’s own words.

She added that Mr Bryan tried to hit the jogger four times with his car, getting so close that Mr Arbery’s palm prints and T-shirt fibres were later visible on the vehicle.

“No one said I’m making a citizen’s arrest today,” she told the jury.

According to court reporters, the young jogger’s father Marcus Arbery briefly left the courtroom as the video of his son’s killing played. Wanda Cooper-Jones, his mother, was seen weeping and looking away.

Earlier, in twin blows to the defence, the judge ruled that evidence of recent cannabis use by Mr Arbery was not relevant to the case, but that the McMichaels’ Confederate flag license plate was admissible as evidence.

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Italian Mafia: ‘Ndrangheta members convicted as Italy begins huge trial

 An Italian court has sentenced 70 members of the powerful mafia group, the ‘Ndrangheta, in the first stage of the biggest mafia trial in decades.

Defendants faced charges including attempted murder and extortion.

Over the next two years, 355 alleged mobsters and corrupt officials will face court for their involvement with Italy’s richest and most powerful organised crime group.

Hundreds of lawyers and nearly a thousand witnesses are involved.

Saturday’s “maxi trials” took place behind closed doors in a specially converted courtroom in the Calabrian city of Lamezia Terme.

Those accused had opted for a speedy trial which allowed them to have their sentences reduced by a third if found guilty. Judges handed six of those convicted the maximum 20-year sentence that prosecutors had asked for.

Another 21 defendants were acquitted.

The ‘Ndrangheta is a sprawling criminal network consisting of some 150 families. This trial is targeting just one of those: The Mancuso family.

The lengthy charge sheet includes an array of drugs charges, murder, attempted murder, extortion, loan sharking, disclosure of official secrets and abuse of office.

Alleged boss Luigi Mancuso, 67, who goes by the nickname “the Uncle”, and ex-senator Giancarlo Pittelli, 68, who prosecutors have alleged was his white-collar fixer, will face longer court trials at a later date.

• BACKGROUND:Biggest mafia trial in decades opens in Italy
• EXPLAINER:How Italy’s crime families went global
• PROFILE: Nicola Gratteri: Life as the Enemy of the Mafia

Leading the case is Nicola Gratteri, one of Italy’s most respected anti-mafia chief prosecutors. He has spent decades tackling the Italian crime gangs and as a consequence has lived under police protection for more than 30 years.

Mr Gratteri vowed earlier this year to take down “this asphyxiating ‘Ndrangheta, which truly takes the breath and the heartbeat from the people” and told reporters that Saturday’s sentencing had “gone very well”.

The ‘Ndrangheta rose to prominence after the maxi trials of the late 1980s, which significantly weakened Sicily’s Cosa Nostra mafia families.

The ‘Ndrangheta is involved in a wide range of illegal activities, but it specialises in cocaine trafficking and is believed to control about 80% of Europe’s trade.

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Iraqi PM al-Kadhimi survives drone attack on his home

 Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi has said he escaped unhurt after a drone attack on his home inside Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone.

A drone laden with explosives struck the building, injuring six of his bodyguards in an apparent assassination attempt, officials said.

Mr Kadhimi called for “calm and restraint from everyone”.

The attack, which comes after violent unrest over recent election results, was condemned by both the US and Iran.

Security sources say three drones were used in the attack, launched from near Republic Bridge on the River Tigris, but two were shot down.

No-one has said they carried out the attack, in an area of the city housing many government buildings and foreign embassies.

IMAGE SOURCE,EPA

Image caption,

Photos have been released of the damage to the building

IMAGE SOURCE,EPA

Images published by Iraqi media show damage to parts of the residence as well as an SUV vehicle parked in a garage.

Remains of a small explosives-laden drone were collected by security forces for examination, an unnamed security official told Reuters news agency.

“It’s premature now to say who carried out the attack,” the official was quoted as saying. “We’re checking our intelligence reports and waiting for initial investigation results to point the finger at perpetrators.”

Commercial drones fitted with explosive were used by the Islamic State militant group when it held parts of northern Iraq, notably during the battle for Mosul in 2017.

Mr al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief, was sworn into office in May last year.

• Nationalist cleric Sadr claims Iraq election win
• US combat forces to leave Iraq by end of year

Analysis: Attack could mark a dangerous escalation

By Anna Foster, BBC Middle East correspondent

Iraq held elections less than a month ago, and now it’s in the long and awkward process of trying to form a governing coalition.

The turnout was a record low – just 41% – and that lack of engagement shows that many Iraqis don’t believe any real change lies ahead.

Pro-Iranian parties did worse than they’d hoped for, losing many of their seats. Their supporters have been protesting against the results ever since, holding demonstrations outside Baghdad’s secure Green Zone and calling for votes to be manually recounted.

The Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr claimed victory, as his party gained the most seats. He’s pushing for a government free from foreign interference – and crucially that means from Iran as well as the West. He wants to end Tehran’s influence over Iraq’s internal affairs.

These political faultlines mean tensions are high, and this attempt on Prime Minister al-Kadhimi’s life could turn out to be a dangerous escalation with far-reaching repercussions.

The drone attack was widely condemned:

• Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose party was the biggest winner in the election, called it a terrorist act against the country’s stability that aimed to “return Iraq to a state of chaos to be controlled by non-state forces”

• President Barham Saleh said it was a heinous crime against Iraq, adding in a tweet: “We cannot accept that Iraq will be dragged into chaos and a coup against its constitutional system”

• US state department spokesman Ned Price said the “apparent act of terrorism” had been “directed at the heart of the Iraqi state”, and America was offering its assistance with the investigation

• The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, accused unnamed “foreign think tanks” of “creating and supporting terrorist and occupying forces” in Iraq that had “brought nothing but insecurity, discord and instability”

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