The trial of the Nigerian separatist leader, Nnamdi Kanu, which was supposed to be getting underway in the capital Abuja has been adjourned until January.
He has been accused of treason and terror related offences.
Mr Kanu heads the Indigenous People of Biafra group. It has been agitating for secession of south-eastern Nigeria.
His detention and trial has heightened political tensions in the south-eastern region of the country.
Read more: The man behind Nigeria’s separatists
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The cool 1960s-style lines of the Ariana Cinema’s marquee stand out over a traffic-clogged roundabout in downtown Kabul. For decades, the historic cinema has entertained Afghans and borne witness to Afghanistan’s wars, hopes and cultural shifts.
Now the marquee is stripped of the posters of Bollywood movies and American action flicks that used to adorn it. The gates are closed.
After recapturing power three months ago, the Taliban ordered the Ariana and other cinemas to stop operating. The Islamic militant guerrillas-turned-rulers say they have yet to decide whether they will allow movies in Afghanistan.
Like the rest of the country, the Ariana is in a strange limbo, waiting to see how the Taliban will rule.
The cinema’s nearly 20 employees, all men, still show up at work, logging in their attendance in hopes they will eventually get paid. The landmark Ariana, one of only four cinemas in the capital, is owned by the Kabul municipality, so its employees are government workers and remain on the payroll.
The men while away the hours. They hang out in the abandoned ticket booth or stroll the Ariana’s curving corridors. Rows of plush red seats sit in silent darkness.
The Ariana’s director, Asita Ferdous, the first woman in the post, is not even allowed to enter the cinema. The Taliban ordered female government employees to stay away from their workplaces so they don’t mix with men, until they determine whether they will be allowed to work.
The 26-year-old Ferdous is part of a post-2001 generation of young Afghans determined to carve out a greater space for women’s rights. The Taliban takeover has wrecked their hopes. Also a painter and sculptor, she now stays at home.
“I spend time doing sketches, drawing, just to keep practicing,” she said. “I can’t do exhibitions anymore.”
During their previous time in power from 1996-2001, the Taliban imposed a radical interpretation of Islamic law forbidding women from working or going to school — or even leaving home in many cases — and forcing men to grow beards and attend prayers. They banned music and other art, including movies and cinema.
Under international pressure, the Taliban now say they have changed. But they have been vague about what they will or won’t allow. That has put many Afghans’ lives — and livelihoods — on hold.
For the Ariana, it is another chapter in a tumultuous six-decade history.
The Ariana opened in 1963. Its sleek architecture mirrored the modernizing spirit that the then-ruling monarchy was trying to bring to the deeply traditional nation.
Kabul resident Ziba Niazai recalled going to the Ariana in the late 1980s, during the rule of Soviet-backed President Najibullah, when there were more than 30 cinemas around the country.
For her, it was an entry to a different world. She had just married, and her new husband brought her from their home village in the mountains to Kabul, where he had a job in the Finance Ministry. She was alone in the house all day while he was at the office.
But when he got off work, they often went together to the Ariana for a Bollywood movie.
After years of communist rule, it was a more secular era than recent decades, at least for a narrow urban elite.
“We had no hijab at that time,” said Niazai, now in her late 50s, referring to the headscarf. Many couples went to the cinema, and “there wasn’t even a separate section, you could sit wherever you wanted.”
At the time, war raged across the country as Najibullah’s government battled an American-backed coalition of warlords and Islamic militants. The mujahedeen toppled him in 1992. Then they turned on each other in a fight for power that demolished Kabul and killed thousands of people caught in the crossfire.
The Ariana was heavily damaged, along with most of the surrounding neighborhood, in the frequent bombardments and gunbattles.
It lay abandoned in ruins for years, as the Taliban drove out the mujahedeen and took over Kabul in 1996. Whatever cinemas survived around Kabul were shuttered.
The Ariana’s revival came after the Taliban’s ouster in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. The French government helped rebuild the cinema in 2004, part of the flood of billions of dollars of international aid that attempted to reshape Afghanistan over the next 20 years.
With the Taliban gone, cinema saw a new burst of popularity.
Indian movies were always the biggest draw at the Ariana, as were action movies, particularly those featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, said Abdul Malik Wahidi, in charge of tickets. As Afghanistan’s domestic film industry revived, the Ariana played the handful of Afghan movies produced each year.
They had three showings a day, ending in the mid-afternoon, at 50 afghanis a ticket — about 50 cents. Audiences were overwhelmingly men. In Afghanistan’s conservative society, cinemas were seen as a male space, and few women attended.
Wahidi recalled how he and other staffers had to preview all foreign films to weed out those with scenes considered too racy — with couples kissing or women showing too much skin, for example.
Letting something slip through could bring the wrath of some movie-goers. Offended audiences were known to hurl objects at the screen, though it didn’t happen at the Ariana, Wahidi said. He remembered one patron at the Ariana, outraged by a scene, storming out and shouting at him, “How can you show pornography?”
Ferdous was appointed as the Ariana’s director just over a year ago. She previously led the Kabul municipality’s Gender Equality division, where she had worked to gain equal pay for women employees and install women as senior officers in the capital’s district police departments.
When she came to the Ariana, the male staff were surprised, “but they have been very cooperative and have worked well with me.”
She focused on making the cinema more welcoming to women. They dedicated one side of the auditorium for couples and families where women could sit. Those entering the cinema had to be patted down by guards as a security measure, and Ferdous brought in a female guard so women patrons would feel more comfortable.
Couples began coming regularly, she said. In March 2021, the cinema hosted a festival of Afghan films that proved very popular, attended by Afghan actors who held talks with the audiences.
Now it has all been brought to a halt, and the Ariana’s staff is left not knowing their fate. The male employees have received part of their salaries since the Taliban takeover. Ferdous said she has received no salary at all.
“It is women who suffer the most. Women are just asking for their right to work,” she said. “If they are not allowed, their economic situation will only get worse.”
Inanullah Amany, the general director of the Kabul Municipality’s cultural department, said that if the Taliban do ban movies, the Ariana’s employees could be transferred to other municipal jobs. Or they could be dismissed.
The staff said they couldn’t even guess what the Taliban will decide, but none held out much hope they would allow movies.
That would be a loss, said Rahmatullah Ezati, the Ariana’s chief projectionist.
“If a country doesn’t have cinema, then there’s no culture. Through cinema, we’ve seen other countries like Europe, U.S. and India.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Thursday against letting tensions in the Asian-Pacific region cause a relapse into a Cold War mentality.
His remarks on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum came weeks after the U.S., Britain and Australia announced a new security alliance in the region which would see Australia build nuclear submarines. China has harshly criticized the deal.
Xi spoke in a pre-recorded video to a CEO Summit at APEC, which is being hosted by New Zealand in a virtual format. Xi is scheduled to participate in an online meeting with other Pacific Rim leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday.
In his speech, Xi said attempts to draw boundaries in the region along ideological or geopolitical lines would fail.“The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era,” Xi said. Xi also said the region should make sure to keep supply lines functioning and to continue liberalizing trade and investment.“China will remain firm in advancing reform and opening up so as to add impetus to economic development,” he said.
The most pressing task in the region is to make an all-out effort to fight the pandemic and to emerge from its shadow as soon as possible, he said. Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney also spoke at the CEO summit, saying she believed that liberal democracies could improve global human rights by pressuring autocratic nations. She said businesses also needed to play a role.
In all, APEC members account for nearly 3 billion people and about 60% of the world’s GDP. But deep tensions run through the unlikely group of 21 nations and territories that include the U.S., China, Taiwan, Russia, and Australia.
Many of the countries in Asia endeavor to balance Chinese and U.S. influences on the economic and geopolitical fronts.
China claims vast parts of the South China Sea and other areas and has moved to establish a military presence, building islands in some disputed areas as it asserts its historic claims.
Both Taiwan and China have applied to join a Pacific Rim trade pact, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, with Beijing saying it will block Taiwan’s bid on the basis that the democratically governed island refuses to accept that it’s part of communist-ruled China.
And it remains unclear whether all APEC members will support a bid by the U.S. to host the 2023 round of APEC meetings.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said Wednesday that APEC was founded on consensus and that there was not yet a confirmed host for 2023.
Officials say they have made significant progress during some 340 preliminary meetings leading up to this week’s leaders’ meeting. APEC members have agreed to reduce or eliminate many tariffs and border holdups on vaccines, masks and other medical products important to fighting the pandemic.
Activists and politicians have cautiously welcomed an unexpected US-China declaration that vowed to boost climate co-operation.
The EU and UN described the move as encouraging and an important step, but Greenpeace said both countries needed to show more commitment.The US and China are the world’s two biggest CO2 emitters.
They said they would work together to achieve the 1.5C temperature goal set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Scientists say that limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C will help humanity avoid the worst climate impacts. This is compared with pre-industrial temperatures.
The announcement by the two global rivals was made on Wednesday at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, which officially ends on Friday.
US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are now expected to hold a virtual meeting as early as next week.According to China’s climate envoy, the announcement was agreed following some 30 meetings over the past 10 months.The reaction to the surprise agreement has been largely positive, but experts and activists have warned that concrete action must now be taken to support the promises.
Genevieve Maricle, director of US climate policy action at pressure group WWF, said the announcement offered “new hope” that the 1.5C limit might be achieved.But she added that “we must also be clear eyed about what is still required if the two countries are to deliver the emission reductions necessary in the next nine years”. Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan warned that China and the US needed to show greater commitment to reaching climate goals.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is president of the Asia Society which works on global climate change agreements, told the BBC that the agreement was “not a game changer” but was a big step forward. “The current state of geopolitics between China and the United States is awful, so the fact that you can extract this… agreement between Washington and Beijing right now is [important],” he said.
France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of "France 2030" investment plan at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, on October 12, 2021. - Hydrogen, semiconductors or electric batteries: Emmanuel Macron details on October 12, 2021, the priority sectors of the "France 2030" plan to "bring out the champions of tomorrow", in the face of Chinese and American competition and criticism of the "decline" of France. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)
President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced France would restart the construction of new nuclear plants in order to better meet growing energy and environmental challenges.
“To guarantee France’s energy independence and achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality in 2050, we will for the first time in decades relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors in our country,” Macron said in an television address to the nation on Tuesday.
Macron, speaking as the COP26 climate summit continues in Glasgow, vowed that France would also continue to develop renewable energy.
France, which derives the majority of its electricity from nuclear power, is currently building one new third-generation EPR nuclear reactor in Flamanville in Normandy.
But work on the site, which began in 2007, has still not been completed. French energy firm EDF this spring submitted a feasibility study to the government for a programme to build six new reactors.
“If we want to pay for our energy at reasonable rates and not depend on foreign countries, we must both continue to save energy and invest in the production of carbon-free energy on our soil,” Macron said.
The Green party in France denounced this decision to restart the construction of new nuclear power plants. “I am not surprised, but I am scandalised. It’s not up to the president to announce like that, without any debate, that we are going down the dangerous path of a nuclear programme. […] It is really the wrong way to persist in nuclear power,” said Julien Bayou of Europe Ecologie-les Verts.
In a statement, Greenpeace France lashed out at Macron’s announcement, accusing him of electioneering ahead of April 2022 polls. Macron has not declared his candidacy but is widely expected to stand in next year’s elections.
“Announcing a nuclear revival and the construction of new reactors as the nuclear industry is mired in fiascos is totally disconnected from reality,” said Greenpeace France’s energy transition campaigner Nicolas Nace, pointing to the delays at Flamanville.
“Too expensive, too slow and too dangerous, nuclear power is obsolete in a climate emergency,” he added.
Macron’s announcement comes as the head of the UN nuclear agency said last week on the sidelines of the COP26, he saw atomic power playing a key role balancing climate concerns and the world’s energy needs.
An Arizona man accused of supplying the dealer who sold Mac Miller the drugs that killed the rapper has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Ryan Michael Reavis, 38, will admit to a single count of distribution of fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said in a statement.
Reavis knowingly supplied counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to co-defendant Cameron James Pettit, 30, of Los Angeles, according to a plea agreement. Pettit sold the pills and other drugs to Miller, who two days later suffered a fatal overdose, according to prosecutors.
Another co-defendant, Stephen Andrew Walter, 48, of Los Angeles, agreed last month to plead guilty to one count of distribution of fentanyl. Prosecutors said Reavis supplied the pills to Pettit at the direction of Walter. Reavis and Walter are each expected to enter their pleas in the coming weeks.
The case against Pettit is pending. Reavis, formerly of West Los Angeles, moved to Lake Havasu, Arizona, in 2019.
Miller’s assistant found the rapper unresponsive in his Los Angeles home on Sept. 7, 2018, and he was declared dead soon after.
Miller, a Pittsburgh native whose real name was Malcolm James Myers McCormick, was a beloved and respected figure among hip-hop fans. “Circles,” his sixth and final studio album, was released posthumously in 2020.
CLICK TO TWEETKundai Chiyanika is a Zimbabwean television and radio host. She is fun loving and always keen for an adventure. An explorer at heart, she loves new places and new people.
A proud mommy of two, Kundai is building a name for herself in the entertainment industry. Her life motto is ‘Be happy and stay happy’ and she’s focusing on building her brand around that. SLA contributor Ruva Samkange recently caught up with Kundai to learn more about her brand.
I had lived in Cape Town for a long time and had some personal issues so I felt that it was time to move back home to be with family and regroup. At first, I really didn’t have an idea of what I wanted to do. I had enjoyed baking so I started a small baking business in my hometown. The market was not sustainable and I felt like it wasn’t what I really wanted to do.
@KundaiChiyanika wanted to make sure she was not just working because she had toCLICK TO TWEETEven though I struggled with what I what wanted to do, I always knew I wanted to work actively with people and that an office job wasn’t for me. I wanted to make sure I did something that suited my personality and was not just working because I had to.
Well, radio found me. A friend of mine sent me a flyer about an entertainment company that was looking for a female co-host for a radio slot. I shared it with another friend and she asked me why I wasn’t trying out. I was scared but she encouraged me.
The experience has been amazing, I never thought I would love it so much. My co-presenter Dannythatguy and I get along like a house on fire, we present The Switch and Fire Friday. Our show is the pre-party, helping people get ready for a Friday night.
I’ve secretly always wanted to be an actress since I was a child. So television has always been something I would jump at the chance for. I think it is a natural progression. A lot of people I work with did radio.
I get to diversify my portfolio through television with exposure to different mediums, Kwese Sports is a Pan- African channel. Even though I’m a couple of months in I have traveled and will continue to travel between across Africa and I can’t wait to get more African stamps in my passport.
I have been very fortunate that an opportunity became available when I was not looking. But the industry is so competitive. Once you are in, the pressure is on to produce a quality product because there are 10,000 people behind you hungry for your job.
I have learnt that passion is not enough. You have to keep chasing the dream. Fight for it and keep trying to improve. There is always room for more.
You have to keep chasing the dream. Fight for it & keep trying to improve - Kundai ChiyanikaCLICK TO TWEET
With radio, my personality comes out a whole lot more because my show allows that. Television is a whole different beast. If you are nervous people can see it a mile away and there is more pressure to be perfect.
Like I said its a very natural progression. Television is the next step for a lot of radio personalities. Once you conquer one, you’re hungry for the next challenge. I am lucky I still get to do both.
Don’t copy anyone. Be inspired but always be yourself. Also, keep making demos and keep sending them. Try to make those contacts. Entertainment in Zimbabwe is hard, you need to become visible to build your brand. Do promos, host events, be relevant.
Be inspired but always be yourself if you're looking to get in TV and radio @KundaiChiyanikaCLICK TO TWEETI’m not a social media person but I had to open myself up and become active online. Having updated Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts will let people know who you are. Make sure your name comes up when people are are looking for an entertainment personality to host events or when job opportunities arise.
Try not to compare your journey to someone else. Unfortunately, this industry is about comparisons and people’s preferences so you have to sometimes put blinders on and focus on what you need to do. Not every job will be for you. Try not to dwell too much. The hustle never stops.
If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
Every dollar of investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than in the fossil fuel industry. Greetings friends. I am Sofonie D...
