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Iran halloo on US to ‘stop brutality’ against its own people
The Iranian foreign ministry has called on the United States to “stop brutality” against its own people in the emergence of large protests across the nation succeeding the police killing in Minneapolis of another black man.
“To the American people: the world has heard your outcry over the state of oppression. The world is standing with you,” foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said at a news conference in Tehran on Monday.
“And to the American officials and police: stop violence against your people and let them breathe,” he told reporters in English.
Dozens of people have taken to the streets across the US in current days to protest against police cruelty and demand tougher, first-degree murder charges and more charges over the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25.
“We deeply regret to see the American people, who peacefully seek respect and no more violence, being suppressed indiscriminately and met with utmost violence,” Mousavi told reporters in English.
He also indicted the US, a longtime rival of Iran, of “practising violence and bullying at home and abroad”.
The most atimes violent protests in the US have gained universal coverage in Iranian media, especially on state television, which currently aired a programme indicting the US of institutional racism.
Iran was denounced by the US after deadly street violence that broke out in Iran in November during protests set of by an unexpected petrol price hike.
Source___Aljazeera
Liverpool footballers ‘take a knee’ over George Floyd’s death
Liverpool football players took a knee about the centre circle at Anfield Stadium on Monday, in an indication of unity as protests sparked the United States after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in police custody.
Squad members displayed the picture of the act on their social media accounts with the caption “Unity is strength #BlackLivesMatter“.
The move bring to mind memories of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling in the course of the US national anthem before NFL games in 2016 to object against police cruelty and racial imbalance in the US.
The picture of 29 players from the English Premier League leaders was snapped during a training session.
Star players Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and captain Jordan Henderson are among those to post the picture that was retweeted by the official account of Liverpool, which is owned by Fenway Sports Group – the US company which also controls the Boston Red Sox.
Source___Aljazeera
Christian Council in the Gambia says draft constitution does not entirely safeguards Christians
The Gambia Christian Council has said the 2020 draft Constitution handed over to the president by CRC still lacks some short of protection for christian religious rights.
In statement shared with The Standard, the GCC argued: “Apart from the text of the draft itself which allows for more than a single interoperation on this issue the primary concern of the Christian Community is driven by the reality of its experiences during the Jammeh era.
“The Christian community wishes to ensure that its rights as a minority religion are protected in the said Constitution. For more than 20 years, we have watched helplessly as the government openly encouraged and permitted the construction of mosques in government institutions, at the expense of other religions, including Christianity and in a country which the government was not permitted to prefer any one religion over another.
Arabic inscriptions were placed over government offices and the dress code of female students in schools was altered to require schoolgirls and women functionaries to wear the Hijab in public as their peers are obliged to do in Arab Islamic countries.
Instead of marking a return to order and the rule of law, the adopted text of the Constitution has plunged The Gambia into even greater chaos as regards religious tolerance. It is having the effect of polarising rather unifying us as a nation. The new Constitution has for the first time since The Gambia became an independent country created a parallel legal system to the common law system, this is the Shari’ah legal system.
“The Constitution makes it mandatory for the majority of the Gambian people to be subject to Shari’ah law in matters of marriage, burial, inheritance, adoption, endowments, all the key areas of human life.”
Credit___Standard Newspaper
GAMBIANS TO DEMONSTRATE AGAINST US POLICE KILLINGS
Dozens of people are looking forward to taking part in a demonstration in the country as Gambians join the rest of the world to protest US police killings of unarmed blacks.
Many of the states in America have been on fire since last week after a video seen online showing a US police officer pressing his knee on the neck of a black American, George Floyd, who eventually died.
‘There have been massive violent riots across the country since, as the police clash with protesters using rubber bullets and pepper sprays to disperse crowds.
In The Gambia while people followed the ugly developments in some states in the US, news broke Saturday night that a Gambian, Momodou Lamin Sisay, son of a UN diplomat Lare Sisay was shot dead by the police in Georgia. The police claimed Sisay was involved in a shootout.’
The news, which came on the slope of strings of police killings of blacks in America, caused enormous disturbance among Gambians.
Madi Jobarteh, a human rights activist, said a police granting will be sought to hold a procession in front of the US Embassy in Banjul to convey their frustration with the way blacks are treated by US police.
“The protest is planned for Monday June 8 at 10am. We will converge in silence. We will stand on one knee like Colin Kaepernick to symbolize our mourning and condemnation of the acts of violence meted out to Blacks in the US by the police. By 10:30am we will hand over a signed petition to the Ambassador and then peacefully disperse. You can sign the petition if you come to the protest site.
“We will ensure social distancing and we urge all to donate and bring face masks, water buckets and soap and hand sanitizers in respect of the state of emergency regulations,” Madi said.
Source___Standard Newspaper
Domestic Flights in Nigeria May Recommence June 21 – Federal Government
The Federal Government in Nigeria on Monday said the stop placed on domestic flights may be lifted by June 21.
The National Coordinator of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Sani Aliyu, made this known during a briefing at the nation’s capital in Abuja.
Aliyu at the briefing also interrogated the aviation sector to start their development protocols that will make a path to the resumption of domestic flights any time from June 21.
“The aviation industry is requested to start developing protocols to allow for domestic flights to resume anytime from the 21st of June onwards.
“When we say from June 21, we mean that we are preparing the aviation sector towards that date. That date may not necessarily be June 21, it could be June 26, 28 or even July 1.
“It depends on whether or not they are prepared. So we are giving them a time frame of three weeks to start preparing for domestic flights.
“We are giving an opportunity for the aviation sector that is heavily regulated to make sure that they start getting their acts together so that airports open up in a safe way,” Aliyu said.
Aliyu also make known that once domestic flights resume then means will be put in place regarding interstate travel because you cannot have a stop on interstate travel and you have people flying from one state to the other
Adding that passengers would be asked to wear masks or face shields and maintain physical distancing as much as possible while airports would also have to mark areas to reflect social distancing.
Source___Channels TV
BREAKING: Nigerian Music Legend, Majek Fashek Dies At Age 57
Majekodunmi Fasheke, popularly known as Majek Fashek, is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known in his home country for the 1988 album Prisoner of Conscience, which included the multiple award-winning single “Send Down the Rain”. Wikipedia
Born: 6 February 1949 (age 71 years), Benin City, Nigeria 🇳🇬
Tropical storm cause the death of 20 people in Central American countries
Tropical Storm Amanda has killed not less than 20 people in Central America, most of whom in El Salvador, as it smashed across several countries causing floods and landslides.
In El Salvador, officials said some 7,000 people have gone on refuge in 154 shelters as severe rain and strong winds eliminate hundreds of homes and destroy roads.
“We have 15 people dead and seven missing,” El Salvador Interior Minister Mario Duran told reporters on Monday, saying that relief efforts were under way.
Carolina Recinos, a senior aide to President Nayib Bukele, said the storm had discarded the equal of “almost 10 percent” of the yearly rainfall on the country in a comparably short space of time.
Bukele proclaimed a 15-day state of emergency to deal with the effects of Amanda, which he proclaimed to have caused $200m in damage.
On Sunday, officials said the storm had washed away at least 900 homes.
“We’ve never experienced this,” Maria Torres, whose house was damaged, told The Associated Press news agency. “The rain was so strong and suddenly, the water entered the homes, and we just saw how they fell.”
The storm came at a time a country of some 6.6 million people are struggling with the danger of the coronavirus pandemic. To date, El Salvador has reported 2,582 confirmed infections and 46 related deaths.
“We are experiencing an unprecedented situation: one top-level emergency on top of another serious one,” said San Salvador Mayor Ernesto Muyshondt.
The Legislative Assembly consented the government’s use of a $389m loan from the International Monetary Fund to help tackle the pandemic and the storm’s impact.
Source__Aljazeera
Nigerian student killed in church
There is anger in Nigeria succeeding the killing of a 22-year-old student, Uwavera Omozuwa in a church.
The hashtag #JusticeForUwa is trending in Nigeria, with her family alluring for help to track down her killers.
Uwavera had been studying in a “quiet” church not far from her home in Benin City when she was murdered, her sister, Judith, told BBC Pidgin.
The student, who niched of becoming a nurse, died in hospital on Saturday, three days after the attack.
Her family said they were call from a woman at the Redeemed Christian Church of God on Wednesday evening.
*Uwavera was taken to hospital after a security guard found her, her skirt torn and her shirt covered in blood, Judith Omozuwa said.*
Nonetheless, a police spokesperson in southern Edo State, whose capital is Benin City, told BBC Pidgin that they were making findings about the occurrence as a murder, not a rape, case.
The student died succeeding a fight at the church, the spokesperson added, without further clarification.
Source___BBC News
Burkina Faso Bandits ‘kill bunches’ of people at cattle market in Kompienga
Not Less than 30 people have been shot to dead in eastern Burkina Faso in a gun attack on a cattle market, reports say.
Bandits on motorbikes shot into the crowded market in Kompienga town around lunchtime, eyewitnesses and residents said.
It is not clear who was at the back of the attack, but Burkina Faso has seen a late sharp rise in jihadist violence and inter-communal disputes.
The uncompromising brutality has pushed hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
Local media earlier confirmed 20 killed, while quoting sources as saying the number of deaths could be considerably higher. AFP news agency quoted local residents as saying not less than 30 died.
On Friday at least 15 people died when suspected Islamist militants shot on a convoy of traders in the north, near the border with Mali.
The government announces the “terrorists”, as culpable, a phrase usually used to describe al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked jihadists Burkina Faso has been dealing with in recent years.
Not withstanding, infrequent government declaration of success against the Islamist militants, the insecurity in the north and east of Burkina Faso has exotically risen.
‘Jihadists have often targeted schools, forcing about 300,000 children out of education.’
Source___BBC News
Amazon UK website vandalized with racial bigotry
Amazon has held responsible a “bad actor” for racial bigotry that is seen on multiple listings on its UK website.
The abuse, now taken off, is usually seen when users searched the online shop for Apple AirPods and related products.
It was inexact how long the racist language has been on the site, but it stirred up anger on Twitter and the sharing of screenshots and video grabs.
“We investigated, removed the images in question and took action against the bad actor,” Amazon told the BBC.
The company did not explain on the “bad actor”, nor give glues of how many products were vandalized and how long the bigotry was visible on the listings.
Amazon also permits third-party retailers to sell goods through its website, with the company earning about half its retail incomes from this.
But the Amazon Marketplace platform has come under investigation.
There has been reviews about fake goods seen in the listings, and during the coronavirus pandemic Amazon was downgraded for not doing enough to stop sellers increasing prices.
‘In April, five Amazon e-commerce websites, including the UK, were added to the US trade regulator’s “notorious markets” report on marketplaces known for counterfeiting and piracy concerns.’
Amazon rejects strongly with the move, saying in a statement that “this purely political act is another example of the administration using the US government to advance a personal vendetta against Amazon”.
Source___BBC News
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