Learn more about Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.

The book cover shows Haben Girma in profile, confidently facing forward in a blue dress. The background is a warm red, and white text over the bottom half of the image says, ‘Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law. Haben Girma.’

The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma is a human rights lawyer advancing disability justice. President Obama named her a White House Champion of Change.

She received the Helen Keller Achievement Award, a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and TIME100 Talks. President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Chancellor Angela Merkel have all honored Haben. Haben believes disability is an opportunity for innovation, and she teaches organizations the importance of choosing inclusion. The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, and TODAY Show featured her memoir, Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.

Haben was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she currently lives. Her memoir takes readers on adventures around the world, including her parents’ homes in Eritrea and Ethiopia, building a school under the scorching Saharan sun, training with a guide dog in New Jersey, climbing an iceberg in Alaska, fighting for blind readers at a courthouse in Vermont, and talking with President Obama at The White House. Warm, funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, this captivating book is a testament to Haben’s determination to resist isolation and find the keys to connection.

The hard cover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook (narrated by Haben herself) are available at most bookstores. Learn more at the book page.

Speaking & Consulting

Choosing accessibility is not just about legal requirements, it’s also good business. Disabled people are the largest historically underrepresented group, numbering over one billion worldwide. Reaching a group of this scale creates value for everyone. Organizations that prioritize accessibility benefit by gaining access to a much larger audience, improving the experience for both disabled and nondisabled people, and facilitating further innovation. Haben explains in this article, originally published in the Financial Times, “People with disabilities drive innovation.”

Haben provides consulting and public speaking on accessibility, diversity, and leadership. Her presentations have touched organizations as wide-ranging as Apple, GE, Lenovo, Microsoft, the New York Times, Oxford Law, Pearson Education, Stanford, and SXSW. The daughter of refugees and a black disabled woman, Haben built her path to success on the belief that inclusion is a choice. We all have the power to advocate. Her engaging presentations ignite audiences to make positive changes in their communities.

Trump Absent As All Living Former Presidents Come Together For Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign

Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter feature in national ad campaigns launched Thursday in a bid to boost shaky public confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, which has been undermined by speedy development and months of politicization—Donald Trump, who was vaccinated in secret after previously claiming he was “immune” to the virus and takes credit for the vaccines’ development, was the only living former president not to participate.

KEY BACKGROUND

Vaccine hesitancy is a big problem in the U.S. and hampering efforts to tackle the pandemic.  Partisan politics, which pervaded the vaccines’ development and the pandemic response as a whole, plays a part, hence the mostly concerted effort by former presidents to change public perception. A recent survey found that one in four Republicans ‘definitely’ won’t get a vaccine and there are even reports of large numbers of healthcare and other frontline workers refusing it, with many citing concerns over safety, side-effects and the government’s handling of the vaccines’ development. In line with the majority of his predecessors, President Joe Biden received his vaccine on camera.

WHAT WE DON’T KNOW

It remains to be seen how far such messages of unity can go without the support of Trump  who divisively oversaw the Covid-19 crisis and claims credit for the development of the very vaccines being rolled out. Unlike his predecessors, Trump was quietly vaccinated in January without fanfare. But Thursday’s effort builds on Obama, Bush and Clinton’s push in December to boost vaccine confidence by volunteering to get the vaccine in public, an effort made in the final month of Trump’s presidency.

Planet Alpha Corp signs Forest Carbon Conservation Agreements with DRC totaling 900,000 Hectares

The DRC hosts 100 million+ hectares of rainforest and communities that live in and protect the forest, a bold large-scale plan is needed to stop deforestation, now and for future generations

admin by admin  March 12, 2021

CAMBRIDGE, MA, March 10, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ — The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) hosts 100+ million hectares of primary rainforest within the Congo Basin, Africa. Will the DRC suffer from high rates of deforestation similar to that of the Amazon? Will the endangered okapi, endemic to the DRC forests, survive in the future? Three organizations, GIERI asbl, BDC sarl of the DRC and Planet Alpha Corp. of Cambridge, MA, USA, are embarking on a bold, long-term plan to conserve the forest and the Indigenous Peoples who protect and depend on them.

Patrick Kakka, executive director of GIERI, remarked, “We people from Shabunda, as Bantu, stand for ubuntu or ‘humanity.’ Our ubuntu pushes us to share with humanity what nature gave us — the Shabunda forest: Help us to save and protect it.”

Efforts to stop deforestation based on the trading of forest carbon credits have been mostly ineffective. Typically, offsets are purchased to equalize the buyer’s emissions, but this approach is not easily quantified and lacks verification. Promises of net-zero scenarios, popular with corporations, also lack verification. Planet Alpha Corp employs direct in-country measurement of CO2 flux to quantify and validate stored carbon. Typical estimation protocols are not used to create carbon credits.

Further, Mrs. Gaëlle Mbalula, BDC, commented, “Since 2017, the BDC has been involved with the province of Mai Ndombe by endowing the BDC with 900,000 hectares. One of the goals is the financing of large forest conservation and restoration projects — this greater effort could have a positive and lasting impact on the region — we look forward to developing and implementing the efforts of Planet Alpha Corp.”

The 30-year agreements call for a two-phase process. Phase I stabilizes canopy loss, and Phase II implements long-term forest restoration, producing directly measured and verifiable products that must cover the 30 years, creating legacy forests for humanity and the planet.

Bruno D.V. Marino, CEO of Planet Alpha Corp, remarked, “It is time for transparent carbon accounting; one-off, throwaway credits that cannot be verified are worse than doing nothing. [They are] denying landowners and stakeholders the long-term planetary benefits and revenue needed to manage climate change. African rainforests are the sleeping giant of carbon emissions unless real action is taken to preserve them, primarily by supporting forest communities.”

Direct measurement changes everything, equalizing voluntary and compliance product pricing and ensuring equity for forest communities and indigenous peoples. Solar energy, improvements in health care, education and agricultural production are among the intended benefits for the region.

Phase I of the Shabunda Project is underway offering individuals, corporations and air travelers unique forest conservation products that will save and nurture the Shabunda Forest and communities into the future.

About Planet Alpha Corp., Cambridge, MA, USA www.planetalphaforest.earth. Planet Alpha Corp. is an American early-stage company bringing direct measurement of greenhouse gases to the GHG trading markets compared to estimation-based protocols.

About GIERI Asbl, Bukavu, DRC, Africa www.gieri.org. Groupe d’Intervention pour l’Encadrement et la Rehabilitation Integrale is a DRC NGO focused on supporting forest communities that live in and protect the forest.

BDC Sarl, Kinshasha, DRC, Africa, Banque de Développement du Congo, is a limited liability company operating in the DRC assisting NGOs in project development.

Gunmen strike again in Nigeria – kidnap 30 students overnight

The abduction that happened overnight in a forestry college near a military academy is the fourth mass school abduction in Nigeria since December

KADUNA, Nigeria – Gunmen in northwest Nigeria kidnapped around 30 students overnight from a forestry college near a military academy, three students said on Friday, in the fourth mass school abduction since December.

The Federal College of Forestry Mechanization sits on the outskirts of Kaduna city, capital of Kaduna state, in a region roamed by armed gangs, who often travel on motorcycles.Download the NBC News appfor breaking news and politicsKaduna state’s security commissioner, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the attack but did not say how many students had been taken.

Sani Danjuma, a student at the college, said those abducted were all female students, but authorities were unable to confirm this. Other students said some of the young women had managed to escape during the attack.

Local resident Haruna Salisu, speaking by phone, said he had heard sporadic gunshots at around 11:30 p.m.

“We were not panicking, thinking that it was a normal military exercise being conducted at the Nigerian Defence Academy,” he said.

“We came out for dawn prayers, at 5:20 a.m., and saw some of the students, teachers and security personnel all over the school premises. They told us that gunmen raided the school and abducted some of the students.”

Salisu said she had seen military personnel taking the remaining students into the academy.

On Friday morning, relatives of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by around 20 army trucks.

LAWLESS REGION

Banditry has festered for years in northwest Nigeria, rendering large swathes of the region lawless.

The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by the jihadist group Boko Haram, which seized 270 schoolgirls from a school at Chibok in the northeast in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found.

It has since been taken up by armed criminal gangs seeking ransom.

Within the last few weeks, 279 schoolgirlswere freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, and 27 teenage boys were released after being kidnapped from their school in the north-central state of Niger, along with three staff and 12 family members. One student was shot dead in that attack.

Military and police attempts to tackle the gangs have had little success, while many worry that state authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished, paying them off or, as in Zamfara, giving them amenities.

In late February, the presidency said President Muhammadu Buhari had urged state governments to “review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously”.

The unrest has become a political problem for Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism over the rise in violent crime, and replaced his long-standing military chiefs in February.

Turkey, Russia, Qatar push for political resolution in Syria

Turkey, Russia and Qatar are making a joint attempt to promote a political solution to Syria’s 10-year conflict, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

“Today we launched a new trilateral consultation process,” Cavusoglu said on Thursday after talks in Doha with Russian and Qatari foreign ministers. “Our goal is to discuss how we can contribute to efforts towards a lasting political solution in Syria.”

All three ministers emphasised in their meeting that the only solution to the conflict, in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced, was not a military solution, but a political settlement in line with United Nations resolutions, he said.

In a joint statement after the talks, the ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to “preserving the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity” of Syria.

Turkey and Qatar have backed fighters who sought to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Moscow provided military support which helped al-Assad seize back most of the country.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the three countries were not seeking to replace efforts which Turkey, Russia and Iran had jointly been making since 2017 to reduce fighting in Syria and discuss a political solution.

“I can only welcome Qatar’s desire to make its contribution to creating the conditions for overcoming the current tragic situation in Syria,” he said.

Syrian suffering

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the ministers had also discussed mechanisms for delivering humanitarian aid across the whole of Syria, adding “there is a crucial need to lessen the suffering of the Syrians”.

He said the reasons for Syria’s suspension from the Arab League in 2011 remain, while Cavusoglu said recent international engagement with al-Assad’s government hindered efforts for a political solution by giving it more legitimacy.

In their nine-point joint statement, the ministers urged UN agencies and the World Health Organization to prioritise COVID-19 vaccinations inside Syria and to “enhance” efforts for delivering humanitarian aid.

Cavusoglu said Turkey would host the next round of the talks.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

India sees worst single-day rise in COVID cases since December 24

India has registered its worst single-day increase in coronavirus cases since late December as the western state of Maharashtra battles a resurgence.

India’s health ministry on Friday reported 23,285 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. It is the highest daily rise since December 24, according to government data.

India has so far reported more than 11.3 million cases of coronavirus infection, the world’s second-highest total after the United States, and 158,000 deaths.

The cases had been falling steadily since a peak in late September, but experts say increased public gatherings and laxity toward public health guidance is leading to the latest surge.

The increase in new cases is being reported in six states, including Maharashtra, where authorities have announced a lockdown in densely populated Nagpur city.

A weeklong complete lockdown will be implemented next week, officials said. The vaccine drive will, however, continue in the city.

In Thane district, adjacent to Mumbai, a lockdown has been declared at 16 hotspots until March 31 with only essential services to remain open.

Restrictions on opening of markets, movement and closure of schools and colleges and night curfews have been announced in five other districts of Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s party has warned that unless people kept to the rules, more restrictions such as a statewide lockdown would be inevitable.

Government health official Vinod Kumar Paul in a news conference on Thursday said the latest surge, particularly in Maharashtra, was worrying. He advised people not to lower their guard as “the pandemic is not yet over”.

India began its vaccination drive in January and has advanced to the second phase, giving shots to healthcare workers, people older than 60 and people over 45 with significant health risks.

But the programme aiming to vaccinate 300 million people by August is running way below capacity. More than 26 million people have received a shot, though only 4.72 million are fully vaccinated with both doses.

The pace of vaccination has prompted concerns India could miss its targets.

The effort is fraught with logistical challenges in a country with nearly 1.4 billion people, but the drive has added urgency since new infections have begun to increase again after months of consistent decline.

SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES

Cote D’Ivoire: Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko Dies In Germany

Leader Hamed Bakayoko kicked the bucket in a German clinic on March 10, 2021 at 56 years old.

Bakayoko left Abidjan on February 18, 2021 for treatment at the American Hospital of Paris, in France. After fourteen days on March 6, 2021 he was moved to Germany.

President Alassane Ouattara said in a press release that Hamed Bakayoko served Côte d’Ivoire with devotion and altruism. “He was an incredible legislator, a model for our childhood, a character of extraordinary liberality and commendable dedication.

For the benefit of the public authority, I stretch out most profound sympathies to his better half, his youngsters, the incomparable Bakayoko family, every one of the unified families and all Ivorians”.

Bakayoko filled in as Minister of new Technologies, Information and Communication, just as Minister of Interior and as Minister of Defense.

He was named in July 2020 as head of government, after the unexpected passing of his archetype Amadou Gon Coulibaly.

Bakayoko is made due by his better half Yolanda Tanoh and four kids.

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