British workers unite in largest strike action in a generation

 Hundreds of thousands of teachers are among those who walked off to demand wages that keep pace with inflation.

Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, train drivers, and university lecturers have walked out over pay and conditions in the largest coordinated strike action in a generation, as wages fail to keep pace with soaring inflation.

About 300,000 on strike on Wednesday are teachers, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Across schools in England and Wales, teachers formed picket lines as they called for higher salaries in demonstrations which have divided public opinion.

Some locals in cars beeped their horns and raised a fist in solidarity as they drove past, while others walking by, who disagreed with the industrial action, questioned teachers on their motives.

Home-schooling and home-working reminiscent of COVID lockdowns returned to many households, as school gates remained closed and most trains were halted.

According to a YouGov poll late last year, 59 percent were in favour of the education sector striking.

The National Education Union said some 23,000 schools will be affected on Wednesday, with an estimated 85 percent fully or partially closed.

A sign held up by a striking teacher at a demonstration in Manchester, England [Jon Super/AP Photo]

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who crossed the picket lines to join striking workers in London, called for a “fairer taxation system”.

“This country cannot afford the levels of inequality we have,” Corbyn told Al Jazeera.

“There are more billionaires in Britain than ever before, many people, billionaires and millionaires, made a lot of money during COVID-19 they haven’t been taxed for it,” he added.

Jack, a teacher who was on strike, told Al Jazeera that it was “almost impossible” to help every child that needs support under current conditions.

“Teachers are not just teachers. They are social workers, they are nurses, they are all sorts of different professions within the job itself – and on an emotional side, it’s not sustainable for teaching long term,” Jack said.

Striking workers attend a march in London [Toby Melville/Reuters]

Others also on strike range from museum workers and London bus drivers to coastguards and border officials manning passport control booths at airports.

More action, including by nurses and ambulance workers, is planned for the coming days and weeks.

Union bosses say that despite some pay rises – such as a 5 percent offer the government proposed to teachers – wages in the public sector have failed to keep up with skyrocketing prices, effectively meaning workers have been taking a pay cut.

The TUC says the average public sector worker is 203 pounds ($250) a month worse off compared with 2010, once inflation has been taken into account.

Al Jazeera’s Neave Barker, reporting from Parliament, said teachers were demanding significant pay increases to beat the “soaring levels of inflation that currently stand at around 10.5 percent, the highest among the G7 group of advanced economies”.

“Many teachers are saying, ‘Look we cannot afford 2023 prices given that many of us still earning what we were earning a decade ago’,” he said.

Striking teachers sit on a train at Hammersmith to travel to a protest march in London, Britain

On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told public health workers he met on a visit: “I would love, nothing more would give me more pleasure than, to wave a magic wand and have all of you paid lots more.”

“An important part of us getting a grip on inflation and halving it is making sure the government’s responsible with its borrowing, because if that gets out of control that makes it worse and it’s about making pay settlements reasonable and fair.”

Gillian Keegan, education minister, said on Wednesday that the government’s response was unchanged and that higher wage increases would fuel inflation further.

Mary Bousted, head of the National Education Union, gave the government a deadline.

Almost 300,000 teachers are striking on Wednesday 

“We want this to be a one-day strike and what I would say to the government is that you have now got 27 days until the next strike in England, which is a regional strike in the northwest. That’s 27 days where you can sit down and really negotiate with us, we’re ready to do that,” Bousted told Sky News.

“We have to find a way to address the workforce crisis in our schools, we have to find a way of a long-term correction for teachers’ pay which has declined so drastically over the last 12 years, to a much worse extent than nearly any other profession.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Woman Finds Lookalike On Instagram And Kills Her To Fake Own Death

 A 23-year-old German-Iraqi woman sought out a lookalike on Instagram and murdered her with a friend in order to fake her own death, prosecutors in Bavaria believe.

When the blood-covered body of a young woman was found last August in a parked Mercedes in Ingolstadt, southern Germany, reports initially identified the victim as Sharaban K, a Munich-based 23-year-old beautician with Iraqi roots.

Even though some members of Sharaban K’s family had identified the body, an autopsy report the next day raised questions over its identity. The victim was eventually named as Khadidja O, an Algerian beauty blogger from Heilbronn in the neighbouring state of Baden-Württemberg, also 23.
With long black straight hair, a similar complexion and heavy makeup, the two women looked “strikingly alike”, police said, leading the German press to refer to the case as the “doppelganger murder”.

Along with a 23-year-old Kosovan, named as Sheqir K, Sharaban K was detained on remand by Bavarian police on 19 August 2022, though authorities did not publicly speculate about a motive until this week. The victims and accused have been referred to by their first names and an initial as is customary in the German legal system.

“Investigations have led us to assume that the accused wanted to go into hiding because of a family dispute and fake her own death to that effect,” Veronika Grieser of the Ingolstadt state prosecutor’s office said on Monday morning.

Police say several women bearing her resemblance had been contacted by Sharaban K, operating on social media sites under numerous aliases, in the week before the murder. “By making various promises she tried to bring about meetings, which was initially unsuccessful,” Grieser said.

But Khadidja O had agreed to meet, lured by what Süddeutsche Zeitung reported to be a cosmetics offer. By car, Sheqir K and Sharaban K allegedly picked her up from her apartment on the day of the murder. In a stretch of woodland between Heilbronn and Ingolstadt the accused pair are alleged to have made up a pretext for the Algerian woman to step outside the vehicle and stabbed her to death.

“The crime weapon has not been found, but the evidence is overwhelming,” a police spokesperson, Andreas Aichele, told the tabloid Bild. “The victim was killed with over 50 thrusts of the knife, the face completely disfigured.”

Prosecutors allege the pair then lifted the victim on the backseat of their Mercedes and drove to Ingolstadt, parking the car in a quiet residential area by the banks of the Danube, where it was discovered by Sharaban K’s parents shortly before midnight on 16 August 2022.

Though investigations were ongoing and further witnesses were still to be interviewed, arrest warrants against Sheqir K and Sharaban K were issued on 26 and 27 January, the spokesperson for the Ingolstadt prosecutor said. The pair face life sentences if convicted.

“You don’t get a case like this every day, especially with such a spectacular twist,” Aichele told Bild. “On the day we found the body there was nothing to prepare us for this development.”

Source: peacefmonline

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Nigerian rights commission to probe army over alleged abortions

 Reuters reported in December that the military ran a secret abortion programme in its fight against Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria.

Nigeria’s human rights commission has appointed a special panel whose role will include investigating a Reuters report that the military ran a secret abortion programme in its fight against armed groups in the northeast.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which is appointed by the government, said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday that it would launch the special panel next week in Abuja.

“The National Human Rights Commission will on Tuesday (7th February 2023) inaugurate a Special Independent Investigative Panel on human rights violations in the implementation of counterinsurgency operations in the northeast,” NHRC said.

“The panel will, among other things, focus on investigating Reuters report which alleged that Nigerian Military was involved in abortion of many pregnancies in the North East in the last 10 years,” NHRC said.

The seven-member panel will be chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Abdu Aboki and includes a retired major general, a representative from the Nigerian Bar Association and an expert in obstetrics and gynaecology, NHRC said.

It was not immediately clear how long the investigation would last and what the panel would do with its findings. NHCR has no powers to prosecute human rights violators but can recommend prosecution for offenders.

An NHRC spokesperson did not respond to calls and messages sent to their mobile phone seeking further details.

Reuters reported in December, based on dozens of witness accounts and documentation, that the military abortion programme involved terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls, many of whom had been kidnapped and raped by rebel fighters.

The Nigerian military said it would not carry out an investigation because the report was not true.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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UK documents: Bush ordered CIA to find replacement for Arafat

Documents say US President George W Bush considered the Palestinian leader ‘useless’ but US spy agency found no suitable successor.

Former United States President George W Bush ordered the CIA to search for a replacement for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after the escalation of the second Intifada in 2001, the BBC said, quoting recently released British documents.

The US effort came after the failure of the Camp David negotiations in 2000 between Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The talks followed the escalation of violence in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

According to the BBC documents, Bush expected early on that Ariel Sharon, who succeeded Barak, would use the Gaza Strip to sow divisions among the Palestinians.

The documents deal with discussions that took place between the United Kingdom and the US a few months after Bush and his administration, which was dominated by neoconservatives, entered the White House.

When Bush was inaugurated in January 2001, the second Palestinian uprising was at its height. It had erupted in late September 2000 when Sharon entered the courtyards of Al Aqsa Mosque, an act widely seen by Palestinians as a provocation.

The Bush administration called on Arafat to stop the uprising to lay the groundwork for the start of security negotiations with Israel. It also vetoed a draft resolution in the United Nations Security Council, which proposed sending a UN observer force to protect Palestinian civilians from Israeli forces in the occupied territories.

After the negotiations were aborted, telephone talks were held between Bush and then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair in which they discussed the Palestinian-Israeli conflict at length.

According to the minutes of the talks, the prime minister said Arafat was a liability.

He said the Palestinian leader “had reached the limits of what he can do constructively and he is only working to maintain his position”. He added that Arafat “no longer has anything to offer”, indicating that the leader had made all the possible concessions he could.

Bush endorsed what Blair had said, then described Arafat as “weak and useless”. He revealed that he had asked the CIA to search for possible successors to the Palestinian leader but said that the agency “researched the Palestinian scene thoroughly and concluded that there is no successor available”.

The British documents revealed that the US secretary of state at the time, Colin Powell, did not agree with Bush’s search for a replacement for Arafat.

Arafat died a few years later, on November 11, 2004, at a Paris hospital after a cerebral haemorrhage caused by a toxic substance – polonium – that was found on his clothes and body.

Palestinians and Arabs accused Israel of killing him. It denied any responsibility for his death.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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The most expensive city of the world turns 447 years old (Luanda)

  Luanda turns 447 years old

The city of Luanda completed on Wednesday [25.01.2023] its 447th anniversary.

Located on the west coast of Africa, Luanda is the capital of Angola and was founded on January 25, 1576, by the Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais, under the name of “São Paulo de Asunción De Loanda”.

One year after its foundation, Paulo Dias de Novais laid the stone for the construction of the church dedicated to São Sebastião, in the place where today is the Central Museum of the Armed Forces. Three decades later, with the increase in the European population and the consequent increase in buildings, the village becomes a city.

After the Independence of Angola, in 1975, the Municipality of Luanda was extinguished, dividing the territory of the province, first, in three municipalities and, later, in nine: Cazenga, Ingombota, Kilamba Kiaxi, Maianga, Rangel, Sambizanga, Samba , Viana and Cacuaco.

With millions of inhabitants, the city of Luanda, whose name comes from Axiluandas,” the men of the sea " native to Cape Island, is the main financial, commercial, economic and industrial center of Angola. Its inhabitants are mostly members of the ambundos, congos and ovimbundos ethnic groups, with relevant fractions of all Angolan ethnic origins. There is also a population of European origin, consisting mainly of Portuguese.

Luanda has as its visit cards the Bay of Luanda, the old Marginal Avenue or Avenida 4 de Fevereiro, where imposing works of architecture are implanted, such as the building of the National Bank of Angola, which still maintains the coat of arms of Portugal on the facade. 

The colonial historical buildings, such as the Provincial government, the Museums of the Armed Forces, Anthropology, currency, Natural History and slavery, where you can see instruments of coercion and immobilization used against slaves are, among others, places that prove to be authentic postcards.

After more than four centuries of existence, Luanda continues, among other aspects, to struggle with anarchic constructions, acts of vandalism of public and private property. Still, Luanda continues to be loved by all!

   Luanda the most expensive city in the world

In 2015, Luanda was rated to be the most expensive city in the world by several surveys. This has been argued to be a subjective view, based on one side of the city: that of expats and the rich.

In reality, Luanda has different economic streams, one for locals that is reasonable and comprised of road side restaurants, markets, vendors, hawkers and bootleggers, and another one based on restaurants, hotels, supermarkets with exorbitant pricing for the most simple commodities.

Luanda has long been one of the most exciting African music cities, spearheading and originating movements and sounds such as kuduro, semba, kizomba and most recently, along with South Africa, afrohouse. With it's economic boom, due to oil finds, and the subsequent crash, the force of the music scene has not subsided one bit.

Music Venues to visit: Elinga Teatro; Centro Recreativo Kilamba; Palos; Salão Paula Francinete; Switch; Epic Sapa; Miami Beach; Café del Mar; King's Club; Espaço Bahía

Festivals: Feskizomba; Luanda International Jazz Festival; Luanda Sounds Fest; Festival de Música Eletrónica, Great Ouagadougou

Artists to watch out for: Homeboyz Muzik; Djeff Afrozila; Titica; DJ Satellite; Jack Nkanga, Ikonoklasta; Bonga; Francis Boy; Before Crush; Dor Fantasma;  MC Sacerdote; Cabo Snoop;  Kapri; Renato Xtrova; DJ X-Trio; Paulo Flores; Os Banah, Gerilson.

US multinational DAGAN LTD checks investment opportunities in Angola

 Luanda - A delegation from US multinational company DAGAN LTD began a week-long visit to Angola on Sunday, with the aim of exploring the Angolan market so that they can soon invest in the agriculture and fishing sectors, mainly.

The delegation which is composed by the two presidents of the corporation, namely Sharon Amar and Assaff Bagg, as well as the vice-president of the group Talila Klainman, is to meet Monday morning with the minister of Agriculture and Forestry, António Francisco de Assis, the minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Carmen do Sacramento Neto, and in the afternoon they will meet with the board of the Agency for the Promotion of Private Investment and Exports (AIPEX).

 

During the visit, which will run from 29 January to 5 February, the US delegation, which arrived on Sunday, plans to travel to the centre-west Benguela Province to meet with provincial government officials and representatives of fishermen's associations from the centre-south region of Angola.

 

After the two-day stay in Benguela, starting 4 February (public holiday), a visit to an agricultural project is scheduled, located in the area of Catete, east of Luanda Province, where there are several national and foreign initiatives.

 

Speaking briefly to ANGOP, Talila Klaiman said that the search for spaces to invest in Angola aims to respond to the national strategy of attracting investors to the agriculture and fishing sectors, which is now motivated by the new business legislation recently approved in Angola.

 

According to the official, they are looking for land that is in nearby areas to operate in both sectors, also looking for good logistical support, water and electricity, so that investments can be extended to livestock, saltpans, logistics and other areas.

 

She said that the DAGAN LTD group was founded in Israel, around 40 years ago, and that it also has investments and businesses in China and in Latin American countries and in this way they are now working to make room in Africa with projects to invest in Angola.

 

According to ANGOP, the group´s visit was a result of audiences that the Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, António Francisco de Assis, granted to the US businesspeople during his visit to Washington (USA), from 13 to 15 December, 2022, as part of the government's policy to attract investments at this time of economic diplomacy in Angola.

Angola at COEWG 2023 meeting

 Luanda - The Chancellery of Defence of the Permanent Mission of Angola to the UN participated in the meeting of the Contingent-Owned Equipment Working Group -COEWG 2023 held from 16 to 27 January in New York (US)

The Military and Police Counselors of this Permanent Mission, respectively, Colonel Custódio Livulo and the Superintendent Chief Martins Soares, took part in the meeting, which took place at the UN headquarters.

According to a press release from the Permanent Mission of Angola to the United Nations, this is a three-year meeting, which aims to assess the cost of the means of each contingent made available by the Member States of the United Nations for the operations of peace under the aegis of this organisation.

The meeting gathers all Member States, with the status of "contributing country" with military and/or police personnel for peacekeeping operations, under the terms of the implementation of the provisions of resolution (A/RES/49/233) of the 49th Session of the General Assembly, adopted on March 1, 1995.

The note highlights that, since 2022, Angola has made its debut as a contributor to the Peacekeeping Forces, with the insertion of two Officers from the Angolan National Police, in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), with a view to expanding its contribution by sending soldiers and resources.

It adds that the existence of an adequate legal framework, embodied in the Law on the Dispatch of Military Contingents and Militarized Forces Abroad, approved in the first half of 2021, promotes the inclusion of the country in the “Peacekeeping community under the aegis of the United Nations".

According to the document, the General Assembly, in its resolution 50/222, of April 11, 1996, authorised the application of procedures to determine the reimbursement of means belonging to the Member States.

The Manual on Policies and Procedures Relating to Reimbursement and Control of Means Belonging to T/PCC Contingents, details the steps authorised by the General Assembly.