The 25 people who were fatally electrocuted by a falling power cable last week in a busy market in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being laid to rest.
Tributes were held on Friday at the Velodrome stadium in the capital, Kinshasa.
Their deaths at nearby Matadi Kibala market were caused by a high-voltage cable snapping and falling onto houses and people. Many of those who died were female market traders.
The market was closed to the public afterwards and the retailers relocated.
It is not yet clear what caused the power cable to break.
Several districts of the capital are prone to flooding due to poorly maintained colonial-era drainage systems.
One trader said the market often flooded when it rained, with workers and shoppers having to wade through water.
BREAKING: United States president Joe Biden, painting a grim assessment of the situation in Ukraine, is urging Americans in Ukraine to leave now because “things can go crazy quickly.”
Biden sounded this alarm in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holtz shortly before getting on a zoom call with NATO Allies in anticipation of a possible Russia invasion of Ukraine.
Asked in what scenario would he put American troops in Ukraine to rescue American citizens, Biden replied: “There’s not. That’s a world war. When Americans and Russians start shooting at one another, we’re in a very different world than we’ve ever been in.”
Biden went on to say “American citizens should leave – should leave now. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world.”
The US State Department has recently been urging Americans in Ukraine to leave the country saying “there will not be the capability to evacuate US citizens” when war with Russia begins.
But the situation in Ukraine does not reflect what appears to be the alarm being sounded by the United States government.
In a phone interview, DNT correspondent Magdalene Nonkwia paints a rather calm Ukraine where the people are going about their normal business.
Asked if the news or talk around town indicated fear and panic of a Russia invasion, Nonkwia said: “never, I’m telling you that everything is normal in Ukraine. In my city and every other city there is nothing going on in the streets; there is no panic.”
The report makes Ukrainians some of the calmest people in the world with Russia known to have built up thousands of troops along the Ukrainian border.
DNT News with Correspondence report from Magdalene Nonkwia, Kharkov City, Ukraine
Enatha Cyuzuzo is one of very few women site engineers in Rwanda’s booming construction sector.
At only 26, you will find her on sites supervising the men and women she employs, some far older than herself.
As a civil engineer, she ventured into construction in 2019 after graduating, setting up a company that bids for housing projects in eastern Rwanda.
One of her employees, 39-year-old Martine Nyiraharwa, says Ms Cyuzuzo is humble and respectful to her employees, which “makes it smooth working with her”.
Ms Nyiraharwa says her boss’s work has even inspired one of her children, and “now he wants to be an engineer just like her”.
Fidela Tuyishime, another employee, says she is “proud of working on a site supervised by a woman like me”.
Fidela Tuyishime is proud of being supervised by a woman like herImage caption: Fidela Tuyishime is proud of being supervised by a woman like her
Ms Cyuzuzo draws house plans and leads their construction on sites.
She says this is a job that has been “very challenging” – because of a mindset that it is a male job and some men’s behaviour towards women.
“Some think that you cannot deal with a girl on a job only… You need to act like a man to be able to work with men and show them that you are a smart girl,” she says.
She wants to inspire more girls to join engineering and change the gender imbalance on construction sites.
WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — Canadian police moved in to remove protesters Saturday at a bridge border crossing that has disrupted Canada-U.S. trade.
Protesters at the busiest border crossing between the United States and Canada remained despite new warnings to end the blockade that has disrupted the flow of goods between the two countries and forced the auto industry on both sides to roll back production.
A city bus and school bus arrived on the scene Saturday morning and police moved in formation toward them. One of the protesters used a megaphone to alert others that police were coming for the demonstrators, who are protesting against Canada’s COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. There is also an outpouring of fury toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“The Windsor Police & its policing partners have commenced enforcement at and near the Ambassador Bridge. We urge all demonstrators to act lawfully & peacefully. Commuters are still being asked to avoid the areas affected by the demonstrations at this time,” police tweeted.
Police move into position to enforce an injunction against a demonstration which has blocked traffic across the Ambassador Bridge by protesters against COVID-19 restrictions, in Windsor, Ontario.
VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
About 20 protesters milled about outside early Saturday, while others remained in their pickup trucks and other cars. A judge on Friday ordered protesters at the Ambassador Bridge over the U.S.-Canadian border to end the blockade that has now entered a sixth day.
On Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in the province that will allow his cabinet to impose $100,000 fines and up to one year in jail as punishments against people who continue to illegally block roads, bridges, walkways and other critical infrastructure.
Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz of the Ontario Superior Court issued an injunction giving protesters blocking cross-border traffic until 7 p.m. Friday to clear out. However, the deadline came and went.
Truckers and supporters block the access leading from the Ambassador Bridge, linking Detroit and Windsor, as truckers and their supporters continue to protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, in Windsor, Ontario on Friday.
VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Windsor police immediately warned that anyone blocking the streets could be subject to arrest and their vehicles could be seized.
The news was met earlier with defiance by protesters.
At the Ambassador Bridge, an unidentified person grabbed a microphone and addressed the crowd, asking if they wanted to stay or leave when the deadline rolled around. By a show of applause, it was agreed they would stay. “OK,” the man said. “Let’s stand tall.” The protesters responded by singing the Canadian national anthem.
The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing, carrying 25% of all trade between the two countries. The standoff comes at a time when the auto industry is already struggling to maintain production in the face of pandemic-induced shortages of computer chips and other supply-chain disruptions.
Protesters and supporters wave flags at a blockade at the foot of the Ambassador Bridge, sealing off the flow of commercial traffic over the bridge into Canada from Detroit.
COLE BURSTON VIA GETTY IMAGES
While the Canadian protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 restrictions, many of the country’s infection measures, such as mask rules and vaccine passports for getting into restaurants and theaters are already falling away as the omicron surge levels off.
Pandemic restrictions have been far stricter in Canada than in the U.S., but Canadians have largely supported them. The vast majority of Canadians are vaccinated, and the COVID-19 death rate is one-third that of the United States.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s annual state of the nation address lasted longer than usual – perhaps because it was packed full of “something to appease everyone”.
With good reason. President Ramaphosa has many fires to put out given that his government is in crisis and consequently, as many experts warn, the country is becoming a failing state.
His Thursday evening address included some of the old commitments, including economic reforms and handling the energy shortages that cause blackouts (known as “load-shedding” – a term more agreeable to the government). The fact that South Africa cannot keeps its lights on is not an attractive offer to investors.
The country also needs jobs, a lot of them, and Mr Ramaphosa last night implored the private sector to get involved – committing his government to making conditions more favourable for business.
For those calling for an extension to existing Covid-19 grants given to South Africa’s poorest, he announced the scheme would be extended into next year.
As for innovation, the president promised that his government would work on industrialising the hemp and cannabis industry. Currently it is legal to grow cannabis in South Africa but only for personal consumption. This as-yet untapped market could create more than 130,000 jobs, especially in rural communities where farming is a way of life.
Lastly, the president’s commitment to fight corruption – on that front many will agree that it is time to show and tell. At least three reports have accused some in his government of gross corruption or negligence.
South Africans want to see people being held accountable – which will be the true test of Mr Ramaphosa’s apparent determination to steer the nation out of the muddy waters created by his party’s bad governance.
At least 111 people in Madagascar are now known to have died since Cyclone Batsirai hit the Indian Ocean island nearly a week ago.
Many homes simply crumpled in the ferocious winds, leaving around 30,000 people living in emergency shelters, according to the national emergency agency.
Southern African nations were already reeling from January’s Tropical Storm Ana.
Storms are common in this part of the world but the climate crisis has caused them to become more destructive.
It has also worsened drought, which has hit southern Madagascar hard, in turn making the humanitarian response after these storms even more urgent.
In Madagascar, 87 of the 111 deaths resulting from Cyclone Batsirai were in the south-eastern district of Ikongo, the national disaster agency says.
Whereas all 55 people killed by Tropical Storm Ana were in another part of Madagascar further north, Reuters reports.
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