Speedo Mick finishes 2,500 mile charity walk in Liverpool

Charity fundraiser Speedo Mick has completed a 2,500 mile (4,023 km) trek across the UK and Ireland in snow, wind and rain, wearing only swimming trunks.

Michael Cullen celebrated his 57th birthday by crossing a finish line at Liverpool’s Pier Head.

The five-month Giving Back Tour has raised almost £180,000 for charities which support homelessness, mental health and disadvantaged young people.

The Everton fan said he was “ready to lie down for about three months”.

He said the support he received along the way had been “phenomenal”, adding: “I was amazed that a lot of people, even in the Outer Hebrides, have heard about my exploits in my knickers.”

‘Stay grateful’

On the trek Mr Cullen also visited charities to hand out some of the money he had already raised in his trunks and help those whose fundraising has been affected by the pandemic.

At the finish line Mr Cullen was greeted by former Everton player Ian Snodin and cheering supporters and admitted: “I honestly don’t think I’d have been able to carry on much longer.”

Former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher also showed his support, joining in for a stretch of the walk earlier.

Speaking of his own struggles with mental health, Mr Cullen said: “This is amazing for me because I’m always intrinsically linked to the lost soul I was over 19 years ago.

“That feeling is always there with me so I stay grateful for my life.

“I just love my life, I’m living my best life now.”

He said he would be spending Christmas with his family and had no plan for further challenges but added: “You never know, because the knickers call me.”

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UN orders investigation into Ethiopia war abuses

The United Nations Human Rights Council has ordered an international investigation into abuses carried out during the conflict in Ethiopia.

The European Union had called for a special sitting of the council in Geneva after rights groups said violations committed during more than a year of conflict might amount to war crimes.

Ethiopia has dismissed the move as politically motivated. The UN rights council again warned that all sides in the civil war were committing severe violations.

It said there was a risk to the entire region and called on all parties to pull back.

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Hunger-striking Angolan pleads with Portugal president

An Angolan activist living in Portugal calling for the country’s president to send observers to Angola ahead of its next election is resuming a hunger strike, after being treated in hospital for extreme dizziness.

Tomás Kissamá has returned to the Portuguese parliament, where he has been for the past 18 days, in solidarity with Angola.

“Portugal has a say and can play an extraordinary role for Angola,” he told the BBC.

“[President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa] needs to understand the desperation we Angolans feel and provide aid. I’m ready – and willing – to stay as long as necessary for a response,” he said.

He is urging fellow Angolans in the diaspora to follow suit.

“No matter where a person goes, they never forget their home.”

Mr Kissamá has been on hunger strike following the comments made by Angola’s President João Lourenço about “hunger being relative”.

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Part of Sudan 2020 peace deal suspended after eastern protests

Evelyn Frimpong by Evelyn Frimpong  December 17, 2021

Part of Sudan 2020 peace deal suspended after eastern protests

Sudan’s ruling Sovereign Council on Thursday suspended a section of a 2020 peace deal with rebel groups dealing with the east of the country following tribal protests against the deal.

In October 2020, the government signed a peace pact with multiple rebel groups in Sudan’s far-flung regions with a view to ending the ethnic conflicts that have dogged the country since independence.

Although the deal focused on three battleground regions — Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan — it left minority communities in other parts of Sudan feeling sidelined.

Among those were members of the Beja people of eastern Sudan, who mounted protests across the east for more than a month from mid-September.

The demonstrations included a blockade of oil pipelines and the trade hub of Port Sudan, a move that sparked shortages of basic goods across the country and threatened an already-struggling economy.

The protesters ended their campaign on October 25 when the military staged a coup in which top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved the government.

But they warned they would resume the blockade of Port Sudan after December 19 unless the government revised the text of the 2020 deal.

On Thursday Sovereign Council vice-president Mohamed Hamdan Daglo said the eastern Sudan track of the deal had been suspended “until an accord is reached with residents of east Sudan”.

“The parties to the East will sit together to reach an agreement to solve all the problems facing the people in East Sudan,” Daglo was quoted as saying by the official SUNA news agency.

The Beja make up roughly around 10 percent of Sudan’s 45 million people, according to the latest official figures published in 2008.

They are split into various tribes, including the rival Al-Hadendoa and Beni Amer tribes.

In 2020, members of the Beni Amer signed onto the section of the peace deal related to the east.

Member of Al-Hadendoa say those who signed do not represent all the Beja people, and accuse them of having made too many concessions to the government.

They are demanding better representation in decision-making, and more government funds for their impoverished region.

Though eastern Sudan is known for its fertile fields, gold mines, and maritime links it is also the most impoverished part of Sudan — a country already ranked by the United Nations as among the poorest in the world.

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Ramaphosa making progress after Covid-19 infection

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is making good progress in his recovery from mild Covid-19 symptoms and is still continuing treatment, according to a statement.

The 69-year-old tested positive for the infection on 12 December – the same day he started self-isolation in Cape Town.

He is being monitored and treated by military doctors.

The president is in good spirits and is calling on people to be cautious during the Christmas period, the statement continued.

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