Ugandan Leader Rules Out Lockdown Over Ebola

 Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said that there is no need to impose restrictions in Ebola hotspots in the central region because the viral disease is not airborne.

Ebola is spread through contact with an infected person or infected surfaces and human waste.

The association of medical workers in the country had previously called for the affected region to be put under quarantine to stop further spread of the haemorrhagic fever.

Mr Museveni said his government had the capacity to control the epidemic due to previous experience with similar outbreaks. This is the fourth time Ebola has broken out in Uganda.

He said that health experts who had previously dealt with Ebola outbreaks had been deployed to the affected region.

It is currently taking 24 hours for samples to be tested and laboratory results to be released.

The president said the government would set up a laboratory at Mubende district headquarters, the epicentre of the outbreak, to quicken the sample processing.

Six medical workers who treated the 24-year-old man who was later identified as the first case, have tested positive for Ebola.

A total of 24 people have been confirmed to be infected by the virus in the country, five of whom have died since the outbreak was declared last week.

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Angola creates conditions for higher education distance learning implementation

 Luanda - The Secretary of State for Higher Education, Eugénio da Silva, said Wednesday in Luanda that the country's higher education institutions are creating conditions for the implementation of distance and semi-distance learning systems.

The minister made the statement to the press on the sidelines of the opening of the distance learning teacher training that brought together 57 professionals, in an initiative of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science Technology and Innovation, in partnership with the Higher Education Support Program (UNI-AO).

 

Angolan universities are not yet prepared for this new paradigm, the minister said, underscoring that these education institutions recognise  the need to adhere to this system that, when implemented, will coexist with the presencial learning  system.

 

The Secretary of State suggested the possibility of starting distance and semi-distance learning in the 2022/2023 academic year, as long as universities create conditions for its implementation with the aim to train masters and doctors in Angola.

 

Mr Silva pointed out as an advantage of the new teaching system the possibility of direct monitoring of the students, without their physical presence in classrooms.

 

"We are working so that the internet signal and its availability may effectively favour the development of this type of training initiatives, be it distance or semi-distance learning", Silva stressed.

 

The State Secretary also spoke of the importance of upgrading the teachers and provide technical support to higher education institutions to reach the desired transformation of education in Angola.

 

The course aims to train specialists from the provinces of Huambo, Benguela, Kwanza Sul, Bengo, Huila and Luanda and is being funded by the European Union.

Angola seeking parliamentary cooperation with Portugal

 Luanda – Angolan speaker of National Assembly (Parliament) Carolina Cerqueira Wednesday expressed the country’s availability to keep the cooperation with Portugal in the Parliamentary field, based on a permanent consultation.

The stance was expressed during a telephone conversation with the Portuguese counterpart, Augusto Santos Silva, said a press note from the National Assembly released Wednesday.

As for the cooperation between the Parliaments, the document defended harmony with geopolitical priorities and global challenges.

The speaker said that the challenges require the Parliaments’ commitment to peace and sustainable development for the good of the nations around the world.

 Portuguese Parliament speaker congratulates Angolan counterpart

In turn, the speaker of the Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese Parliament), Augusto Santos Silva, congratulated his Angolan counterpart Carolina Cerqueira, on her election for the top job in the Law House.

Augusto Santos Silva underlined the fact of the speaker to be the first woman to hold the position, and stressed the female progress in Angola, where they hold prominent positions in the legislative, judicial and executive powers".

During the dialogue, Augusto Santos Silva invited his Angolan counterpart to pay official visit to the Portuguese Parliament, having reaffirmed his readiness to carry on the institutional cooperation.

He added that he expects the strengthening of relations between the law houses of the two countries in the parliamentary domains and in training and exchange areas.

He stressed the importance of strengthening the role of the Parliaments of the countries of the Community of the Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) aimed to preserve peace and strengthening of democracy.

Angola and Brazil strengthen cooperation in hydrocarbons

 Luanda- Angola’s National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) and the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) signed Wednesday a cooperation agreement on programmes for the regulation and supervision of the exploration, development and production activities.

According to a statement issued by the ANPG, the   agreement was signed during the Rio Oil & Gas Conference being held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), by the ANPG CEO, Paulino Jerónimo, and the ANP general manager, Rodolfo Henrique de Saboia.

 

The five-year duration agreement aims to establish technical promotion cooperation for the strengthening of the oil and gas industry, transfer of knowledge related to technical standards and good practices of the oil industry, the statement says.

 

"One of the points we want to strengthen is our regulatory framework. We want to gain this experience that the ANP has.

 

The relationship between Angola and Brazil is transcendental, and this agreement reinforces the commitment between the governments to cement the relationship in the field of hydrocarbons", the Angolan official said.

 

Rodolfo de Saboia, on his turn, highlighted the brotherhood relationship between the two peoples, underscoring that the agreement transcends the interest of both countries in the exploration of their natural resources and hydrocarbons.

 

"Brazil and Angola have a common past, a close culture with the same origin, and a very close feeling of brotherhood. The cooperation extends beyond these economic activities but it is in this that we hope to achieve an even greater proximity between the two countries, with that mutual exchange of experience and knowledge that each of the countries can offer", Saboia said.

 

The cooperation will be carried out through periodic exchange of information and experiences, conducting of studies and joint research and the  training and qualification of human resources.

 

ANPG is participating in Rio Oil & Gas being held from September 26 to 29, with a delegation headed by the agency’s CEO and other senior staff with the aim to promote the Angolan oil potential.

 

Angola and Brazil have maintained diplomatic and political relations since Angola's independence and, which enable both countries to have currently 70 cooperation projects in the scope of the two nation’s  strategic partnership.

 

Brazil was the first country to recognize the Republic of Angola after the proclamation of independence, on November 11, 1975.

Rupa Huq apologises to Kwasi Kwarteng for ‘ill-judged’ comments

 A Labour MP has offered Kwasi Kwarteng “sincere and heartfelt apologies” after describing him as “superficially” black during a fringe meeting at the Labour conference.

Rupa Huq had the party whip suspended after she was accused of making a “racist” comments about the chancellor. The former shadow Home Office minister was recorded at an event held on Monday during a fringe event as part of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool hosted by British Future and the Black Equity Organisation and also attended by the party’s chair, Anneliese Dodds.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Huq said: “I have today contacted Kwasi Kwarteng to offer my sincere and heartfelt apologies for the comments I made at yesterday’s Labour conference fringe meeting.

“My comments were ill-judged and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone affected.”

Huq could be heard on a short recording obtained by the Guido Fawkes website saying: “I’m sorry if I was not making myself understood clearly. He superficially is a black man.”

She said Kwarteng went to “the top schools in the country” and added: “If you hear him on the Today programme, you wouldn’t know he’s black.”

Huq faced swift condemnation, with a senior Labour source calling the comments “clearly totally inappropriate” and David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, telling BBC’s Politics Live programme: “I think those comment are unfortunate. I wouldn’t have made them myself and clearly I hope Rupa apologises and retracts that.”

Jake Berry, the chair of the Conservative party, wrote to the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, saying he had “serious concerns” about the remarks. He called for Huq to lose the Labour whip, and added: “I trust you will join me in unequivocally condemning these comments as nothing less than racist.”

The Guardian understands Huq had the whip suspended on Tuesday afternoon.

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Young Russian Asks Friend To Break His Leg To Dodge Vladimir Putin ‘s Military Draft

 A young Russian man screams in pain in disturbing new footage after asking his friend to break his leg to dodge Vladimir Putin ‘s military draft.

It comes after the Russian president last week ordered the mobilisation of an additional 300,000 fighting-age men across the country for the war in Ukraine, leading to a rush of protests and forcing many to flee to neighbouring countries.

Others who are unable to leave have opted for reported acts of self-harm to avoid being called up, including one desperate man who made an extraordinary request for his pal to fracture his leg.

In the clip circulating online, the unidentified young person sits at the bottom of a set of stairs and places his feet on the steps while anxiously waiting for his his friend to carry out the deed.

Read Full Story …. mirror.co.uk >>> :   

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Rupa Huq MP apologises for ‘superficially’ black remark

 MP Rupa Huq says she has apologised to Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng for describing him as “superficially” black.

Speaking at a Labour Party conference fringe event, Ms Huq also said: “If you hear him on the Today programme, you wouldn’t know he’s black.”

Her remarks were criticised and Labour suspended her from the parliamentary party pending an investigation.

Tory Party chair Jake Berry called her comments “racist” and “disgusting”.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said the remarks were “unacceptable”.

Speaking to the BBC’s Politics Live programme, she said Ms Huq should apologise, while the party’s foreign affairs spokesman David Lammy described the remarks as “unfortunate” adding: “I wouldn’t have made them myself.”

A Labour spokesperson said: “We condemn the remarks, they are totally inappropriate, and we call on her to withdraw them.”

The Ealing Central and Acton MP, who will now sit in Parliament as an independent, was recorded making the comments on Monday evening at a fringe event entitled What’s Next for Labour’s Agenda on Race.

The audio clip was published by the Guido Fawkes website minutes before Sir Keir Starmer began his speech to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

During a Q&A session, she said: “He’s superficially, he’s, a black man but again he’s got more in common… he went to Eton, he went to a very expensive prep school, all the way through top schools in the country.

“If you hear him on the Today programme you wouldn’t know he’s black.”

Following the publication of the clip, Ms Huq tweeted: “I have today contacted Kwasi Kwarteng to offer my sincere and heartfelt apologies for the comments I made at yesterday’s Labour conference fringe meeting.

“My comments were ill-judged and I wholeheartedly apologise to anyone affected.” Kwasi Kwarteng became the first black Conservative cabinet minister in 2021, when he was given the job of business secretary

Mr Kwarteng, who became chancellor earlier this month, was born in east London and has Ghanaian heritage.

Former chancellor and Tory MP Sajid Javid said he was “appalled and saddened” by the clip adding: “Rather than give encouragement to racists and people who seek to divide us, she should know better. Not too late for her to show that she does.”

In a letter to Sir Keir, Mr Berry urged the Labour leader to “join me in unequivocally condemning these comments as nothing less than racist”.

The Conservative Party chair also labelled her words as “vile” and “disgusting”.

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