Girls back to school after lockdowns - Angola. Campaign with Sofonie Dala. Don't miss it! Webisode 8

Many girls may not go back to school even after lockdowns 

Book Promotion: Angolan scholar Sofonie Dala launches book on Takula Field. Go and pick up your copy on AMAZON!

My book has just been published in AMAZON. I thought you might also be interested in getting your work published. Please click on this link to find my book: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sofonie&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

Click to appreciate the book

With the aim of helping thousands of international students, particularly Angolans, who study abroad, the oil and gas engineer, Sofonie Dala has decided to publish her thesis as a book in order to ease the lives of those students who have been struggling to find scientific and academic information about Angola in order to write their course work.

The original version of the book is in Russian language and has been translated into multiple languages such as Portuguese, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Finnish, French and other.

The book is available to the public in many online bookstore and has just been offered to all major distributors in the US and Europe such AMAZON and others.

This book was specially published to assist students taking courses in Mining Geology, Petroleum and Gas engineering and other related fields.

My hard work has been recognized internationally and an article about my intelligence  was published in Diaspora Network Television (DNT) -  a TV channel with an aim of fostering mutual understanding between Ghana and her diaspora for the purpose of collaborating for national development.

Sources: https://www.dntghana.com/2020/07/12/27994/

Please click here to see the beginning of the story: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/07/congratulations-sofonie-dala-launches.html

The electronic version of the book (Russian and English only) is available with 50% off (yes you pay half of the amount). 

Please contact the author for more information. 

Anheuser-Busch InBev Talent Acceleration Programme 2021 (graduate development and leadership programme) for young African Graduates

 Application Deadline: unspecified 

The Talent Acceleration Programme is an intensive 36 month programme which attracts the brightest most driven graduates and nurtures their talent by providing relevant experiences right from the start.

If you want to accelerate your career, build your skills through cross functional development and build your profile to be a future leader the Talent Acceleration Programme is for you!

Frequent evaluation

6 Month cycles
Rotation of work experience and teams
Individual and team evaluations

Future forward development

Cross functional experiences
On the job learning
Coaching and mentoring
Leadership development
Accelerated growth and graduation (Global Management Trainees will be chosen from the TAP Programme)
Accelerated career growth (top performers' programme will be shorter in duration)

Qualification

Recent University graduate; or
No more than 3 years TOTAL of full-time formal working experience by the programme start date. (Internship, vac work, short duration contracts and does not apply
Minimum GPA (Gross Point Average) of 60% and above at university
By programme start completed bachelors’ degree (from a recognised tertiary institution) achieved within requisite timeframe
Legal work authorization (full citizenship) in the country for which application is being submitted
Geographical mobility – you should be willing to relocate throughout your career (a valid passport is required)
Fully proficient in English
Proficiency in Microsoft Office (especially Excel) and ability to quickly adapt to new systems

Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/2Tr4K3U

Federal Government Scholarship Awards 2021/2022 for young Nigerians to Study Abroad.

The Honourable Minister of Education (HME), Mallam Adamu Adamu, hereby invites interested and qualified Nigerians to participate in the 2020/2021 Nomination Computer Based Test (CBT) for the Federal Government Scholarship Awards for:

A. BILATERAL EDUCATION AGREEMENT (BEA)
i) Undergraduate (UG) studies tenable in Russia, Morocco, Algeria, Serbia, Hungary, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Cuba, Romania, Japan, Macedonia; and
ii) Postgraduate (PG) studies tenable in Russia (for those whose first degrees were obtained from Russia), China, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, e.t.c.

UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS: 

All applicants for undergraduate degree courses must possess a minimum qualification of Five (5) Distinctions (As & Bs) in the Senior Secondary School Certificates, WASSCE/WAEC (May/June) only in the subjects relevant to their fields of study including English Language and Mathematics. 
Certificates should not be more than two (2) years old (2018 & 2019) for Non-African Countries and for African countries the age of certificate is one year (2019) only. Age limit is from 18 to 20 years.

POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS: 

All applicants for Postgraduate degree courses must hold a First Degree with 1st Class or at least 2nd Class Upper Division. The applicants who are previous recipients of Foreign Awards must have acquired at least two (2) years post qualification experience or employment practice in Nigeria. 
All applicants must have completed the N.Y.S.C. Programme and the age limit is 35 years for Masters and 40 years for Ph.D.
i) N.Y.S.C discharge or exemption certificates only are accepted; and
ii) Evidence of readiness to be released by an employer.

US: Nearly 100,000 evacuated in California as wildfires rage

 

Fast-spreading wildfires have forced evacuation orders for more than 100,000 people and seriously injured two firefighters in Southern California as powerful winds across the state prompted a power outage to hundreds of thousands of residents.

Some 60,000 people fled their homes near Los Angeles on Monday as the wildfire raged across more than 3,000 hectares (7,200 acres), blocking key roads in Orange County.

The so-called Silverado Fire broke out early in the morning in the foothills of Irvine, 60 kilometres (about 37 miles) southeast of Los Angeles, and quickly spread unchecked, fueled by dry conditions and erratic winds that prevented firefighting aircraft from flying.

“It’s nuts – even inside the car, my eyes, my nose and my throat stung,” said Frederic Tournadre, a French man whose company in Irvine sent all its employees home.

The inferno nearly quadrupled in size by afternoon, jumping a highway and covering the area with a huge plume of smoke and ash.

‘It’s the strongest wind event, and the lowest humidity event, for this fire season,’ said National Weather Service forecaster Jim Mathew [Robyn Beck/AFP]

The latest threats came amid what meteorologists called the strongest onslaught of extreme winds – and lowest humidity levels – documented yet in a California wildfire season ranked as the worst on record in terms of acreage burned.

Fires have scorched more than 16,500sq km (6,400 square miles) – an area equivalent to the landmass of the state of Hawaii – since the start of the year, with thousands of homes destroyed and 31 lives lost.

Cause of the blaze

In a report to the state Public Utilities Commission, utility company Southern California Edison said it was investigating whether its electrical equipment caused the blaze. The brief report said it appeared that a “lashing wire” that tied a telecommunications line to a support cable may have struck a 12,000-volt conducting line above it, and an investigation was under way.

SCE reported shutting off electricity to 21,000 homes and businesses as a precautionary measure in the face of elevated fire risks posed by dangerous winds.

Red-flag warnings for incendiary weather conditions remained in place across much of California due to winds gusting in excess of 129km/h (80mph), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

ome 90,800 residents were ordered to evacuate their homes in and around the city of Irvine as the fire raged largely unchecked through drought-parched brush in the canyons and foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains south of Los Angeles, officials said.

Two firefighters among some 500 personnel battling the flames with bulldozers and hand tools were hospitalized with severe burns, authorities said.

No property losses were immediately reported.

A second Orange County blaze, the Blueridge fire, later broke out near Yorba Linda and has charred roughly 485 hectares (1,200 acres), Nguyen said. Local television news footage showed at least one home gutted by flames.

An estimated 1,170 homes were under evacuation orders from that blaze, the county fire authority said on Twitter late on Monday.

Hundreds of miles away, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) said it had cut off power to more than 350,000 of its customers for the same reason.

Hundreds of miles away, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) said it had cut off power to more than 350,000 of its customers for the same reason.

Wind-damaged electrical lines have been implicated in causing dozens of devastating California wildfires in recent years, and utilities have increasingly resorted to such “public safety power shutoffs” to reduce the risk.

Wind gusts were clocked at up to 143km/h (89mph) in Sonoma County wine country north of San Francisco Bay and were steadily blowing at more than 80km/h (50mph) elsewhere in the region.

“It’s the strongest wind event, and the lowest humidity event, for this fire season,” National Weather Service forecaster Jim Mathews told Reuters.

By midday Monday, PG&E said it was beginning to restore services to some customers “where it is safe to do so,” with most of the shutoffs expected to be ended by Tuesday night as winds abated.

The latest outbreak of fires caps a summer of record California wildfire activity stoked by increasingly frequent and prolonged bouts of extreme heat, drought, wind and dry lightning storms that scientists point to as a consequence of climate change.

The two blazes combined have so far blackened well over a quarter of a million acres [Etienne Laurent/EPA]

Further east, in drought-stricken Colorado, an Arctic storm sweeping the Rockies over the weekend dumped 15 to 40cm (6 to 16 inches) of snow on the two largest wildfires in that state’s history.

“The snow has improved our chances of getting them contained, but we’re still a way off,” said Larry Helmerick, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center.

The two blazes combined have so far blackened well over a quarter of a million acres.

____

Source: News agencies

Cameroonian separatists blamed for school terrorist attack

 A DNT Exclusive – The gruesome attack on Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in the city of Kumba on Saturday that killed children between the ages of 12 and 14 is being blamed on separatist fighters seeking to secede from Cameroon.

The attack killed at least eight children and wounded a dozen after attackers stormed a school in southwestern Cameroon with guns and machetes.

No group has thus far claimed responsibility of the attack but observers point to a campaign by the separatists to boycott schools and businesses, and how they have used attacks such as this to enforce that boycott.

In 2016, long-simmering tensions in the country’s two English-speaking regions in the southwest began to boil over in October when the Anglophone community there staged a series of strikes and demonstrations, protesting against marginalization by the Francophone central government.

The government responded to the protests initially with repressive measures and then later with conciliatory gestures that addressed some of the grievances, but it was not enough to quell the unrest.

The unrest has persisted buoyed by the 38-year dictatorship of President Paul Biya whose reign has been seen as largely marginalizing the Anglophone parts of Cameroon.

The chief of Kumba is organizing a peaceful protest to demand justice for the victims and also for peace. Local celebrities have also joined in delivering messages that promote peace.

One Cameroonian who spoke to DNT on condition of anonymity said he was “perplexed” at why the separatists would kill their own children. He called himself “Ototon” meaning local boy, and expressed hopelessness for the people of the Southwest saying “we have no future.”

The “Ototon” rejected the separatist agenda, but said he would support a Federal system so that the Anglophone parts of Cameroon would exercise more control over their destiny.

According to DNT Correspondent, the justice department has not been able to provide any report on their investigation so far. At this point, there have been only protests and public denouncing of the massacre by public figures and the nation in general.

DNT News with Correspondence reports from Kown Elonge.

Nigeria looting hits capital

 Huge crowds ransacked food warehouses in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Monday in the latest looting to hit the country during a wave of unrest.

Lines of residents could be seen carrying away sacks of supplies meant for distribution during coronavirus lockdowns as authorities struggled to halt the pillaging.

“We are hungry, you understand,” a man with a package of noodles in his hand told AFP.

“There is plenty of food in this country but people are suffering. The government is cheating us by parking away this food.”

“We are not stealing, it’s our food and our right.”

The minister for the federal capital, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, told local media that a number of government and private warehouses were vandalised.

The looting comes after days of violent rioting in Nigeria following the shooting of unarmed protesters in largest city Lagos on Tuesday.

The situation has calmed in Lagos and elsewhere but widespread pillaging of government supplies has been reported across the country.

Authorities have slapped round-the-clock curfews on a string of regions and the police chief has ordered the mobilisation of all forces.

Fuelling the anger are accusations officials have horded much-needed food supposed to have been handed out to the poor during lockdowns earlier this year.

A coalition of state governors has denied allegations of graft and said the supplies were held back as a “strategic reserve” in case of a second wave of the virus.

But activists said that authorities needed to be more transparent.

“It’s now vital that the federal and state government clarify why the palliatives had not been disbursed, investigate and prosecute anyone implicated in corruption,” said Anietie Ewang of Human Rights Watch.

Peaceful protests against police brutality erupted on October 8 and quickly turned into one of the biggest challenges to Nigeria’s ruling elite in years.

Chaos spiraled after peaceful protesters were gunned down in central Lagos on Tuesday, sparking international outrage and violent rioting.

Amnesty International said the army and police killed 12 protesters in that incident, and 56 people have died overall since the demonstrations started.

The chief of army staff on Monday insisted soldiers have “continued to exercise restraint” and blamed a “smokescreen of falsehood and deliberate misrepresentation of facts being orchestrated by enemies of Nigeria”.

“We will not allow any force, elements or destabilizing agents in or outside our country to set our beloved country on fire,” General Tukur Yusufu Buratai said in a statement.