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Death Toll From Madagascar Boat Sinking Climbs To 83

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The death toll from the sinking of a cargo ship off the coast of northeastern Madagascar has risen to 83 as bad weather ended the search for five missing passengers.

Maritime and River Port Agency (APMF), said the ship, which was not authorised to take passengers, was overloaded and water flooded the engine before it sank on Monday.

Mamy Randrianavony, director of operations at sea added that fifty survivors have been found, while the search for the five remaining missing passengers would resume on Thursday.

One of the search helicopters carrying General Serge Gellé, who heads the national Gendarmerie, crashed at sea late on Monday. Gellé was found alive on Tuesday morning after 13 hours, during which time he used the pilot’s seat as a float.

In a video posted by the Gendarmerie Gellé said, “Since I couldn’t fight the waves, I knew I wouldn’t make it to dry land. Yet I was very close. I arrived within 500 meters, but the waves sent me back because I was getting tired.”

He said, “I thank heaven that there was a fisherman. But the fisherman’s canoe was too small. So he had to come back for a bigger canoe. So I stayed two more hours in the sea.

Another passenger from the helicopter, a mechanic, was also found alive. Two other passengers are unaccounted for.

Kwara State To Commence School Feeding Programme In January

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The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq says the National Home-grown School Feeding Programme will commence in January.

The Governor spoke in Ilorin at the hand-over ceremony of the feeding utensils to the state focal person Bashirah AbdulRazaq by officials of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development that coordinates the scheme.

AbdulRazaq said the project represents another milestone in the administration’s catalogue of achievements.

“Today again represents a milestone in the strides of the Otoge administration. Since coming on board, we have worked hard to enlist Kwara in this laudable and hugely beneficial programme,” he said.

“The school feeding programme began a few years ago. Until today, only Kwara and another state were absent from the list.”

Represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Mamman Saba Jibril, AbdulRazaq said his government had to relaunch the implementation committee for the programme in 2019 because the former administration failed to do it.

He said the programme will reduce malnutrition, improve school enrollment and boost the state’s economy.

The Governor commended the Federal government especially the Minister and the state agencies for their commitment.

At the ceremony were the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiyyah Umar Faruq, represented by Sefiyat Sanni; representative of the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Poverty Alleviation, Muhammad Bawa; representative of the Kwara First Lady and Commissioner for Communications Abosede Buraimoh; Special Adviser to the Governor on Strategy Sa’ad Salau; Special Adviser on Political Abdullateef Alakawa; Special Adviser Political Communication Bashir Adigun; and Chairman Kwara SUBEB Prof Raheem Adaramaja.

Sefiyat Sanni, who stood in for the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, said the programme is designed to address poverty, boost school enrollment, nutrition and economic activities across the nation.

She said the Ministry has deployed technology-supported monitoring systems to enable it to know how the programme is being implemented and the areas that need intervention and amendment.

Libyan Election Collapses With No Plan Out Of Crisis

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Libya’s parliament said Friday’s planned presidential election will not be going ahead.

This latest development is leaving the internationally-backed peace process in chaos and the fate of the interim government in doubt.

The electoral commission proposed pushing back the voting date by a month, confirming a delay that had been widely expected amid disputes over the rules, including the eligibility of several divisive candidates.

There have been various disagreements involving candidates viewed as unacceptable in large parts of the country, including the son of the late ruler Muammar Gaddafi and a military leader who assaulted Tripoli.

Analysts say at this rate, the peace process which is seen as the best hope in years of bringing an end to the decade of chaos and violence in the country, will be jeopardized.

Large numbers of Libyans had already registered for voting cards for the election in what politicians on all sides in Libya have said is a sign of strong popular desire for a vote.

The U.S. ambassador on Wednesday said work towards elections should remain a priority.

However, with mobilisations in Tripoli and other western areas by armed groups, the collapse of the electoral process risks aggravating local disputes and triggering a new round of fighting.

Renewed conflict could also lead to more frequent or extensive shutdowns in oil output by armed groups, hitting state finances. A group this week closed down three major fields.

U.S. Concerned Over Turkey’s Drone Sales To Ethiopia

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U.S. authorities are expressing concern over Turkey’s sales of armed drones to Ethiopia, where two sources familiar with the matter said there was mounting evidence the government had used the weapons against rebel fighters.

A senior Western official said Washington has “profound humanitarian concerns” over the sales, which could contravene U.S. restrictions on arms to Addis Ababa.

The year-long war between Ethiopia’s government and the leadership of the northern Tigray region, among Africa’s bloodiest conflicts, has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions.

A State Department spokesman said U.S. Horn of Africa envoy Jeffrey Feltman “raised reports of armed drone use in Ethiopia and the attendant risk of civilian harm” during a visit to Turkey last week.

Elsewhere, a senior Turkish official said Washington conveyed its discomfort at a few meetings, while Ethiopia’s military and government did not respond to detailed requests for comment.

Turkey, which is selling drones to several countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, has dismissed criticism that it plays a destabilising role in Africa and saying it is in touch with all sides in Ethiopia to urge negotiations.

Last week though, the United Nations agreed to set up an independent investigation into rights abuses in Ethiopia, a move strongly opposed by its government.

Madagascar Minister Swims For 12 Hours After Helicopter Crash

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A government minister in Madagascar Serge Gelle has said he swam for 12 hours to safety after his helicopter crashed at sea during a rescue mission.

Speaking to a camera as he recovered on a stretcher, the exhausted Police Minister said it was not his time to die yet.

Gelle, aged 57, said his helicopter came down after it caught a gust of wind, and he swam from “7:30 last night , until 7:30 this morning,” to Mahambo. He said he had no injuries but added that he was feeling cold.

He said, “I would just like you to broadcast this video for my family to see, my colleagues to see, the government members to see. [I am] alive and well,” Mr Gelle told locals at Mahambo.

Another security official travelling with him in the helicopter also survived the crash. The team had been flying to inspect the site of a shipwreck in the north-east of the country on Monday night.

In the meantime, the maritime agency has said the number of people killed in that accident has risen to 64 with at least 20 others still missing,

The vessel was a cargo ship that was not authorised to carry passengers, and was overloaded and water flooded its engine, according to an agency official.

At least 45 survivors have so far been rescued, the agency said.

On Twitter President Andry Rajoelina mourned those who died and also paid tribute to Mr Gelle and the other officer, who arrived in the seaside town of Mahambo separately.

Police chief Zafisambatra Ravoavy told Newsmen that Gelle had used one of the helicopter’s seats as a flotation device, adding that he has always had great stamina in sport, and he’s kept up this rhythm as minister.

New General Takes Over EU’s Training Mission In Mali

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The EU’s training mission in Mali (EUTM) has handed over command to a new general.

The ceremony took place in the Malian capital, Bamako, and was attended by a number of European ambassadors as well as Malian military brass.

The move follows the announcement that Mali has accepted one thousand UN peacekeepers from nearby Chad and comes as France announced a reduction in the deployment of troops in the country.

Christian Riener, the new EUTM commander said the mission is very critical and that it was a great honour for him to serve in this mission, adding that he had great respect for the Malian people and the Malian soldiers.

Hervé Bléjean, director general of the European Union Military Staff added they are working for the benefit of the G5 joint force, doing training, and also providing them with equipment.

Paris has already closed down three army bases in Northern Mali and by next year its presence in the country will be reduced to about 3,000 soldiers from 5,100.

Mali is the epicentre of a jihadist insurgency that began in the north of the country in 2012 and spread three years later to neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

South African Court Allows Jacob Zuma Appeal Return To Jail

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Former South African President Jacob Zuma will be allowed to appeal a court ruling that ordered him back to jail to serve the remainder of his sentence, according to a court ruling on Wednesday.

The eighty-year old former President had been released on medical parole earlier this year, but the Gauteng High Court in the capital, Pretoria, ruled last week that his parole had been illegal.

However, On Tuesday, Judge Elias Matojane said that Zuma can now appeal that finding, adding that due to his illness and advanced age, he needs compassion, empathy and humaneness.

Zuma was convicted and sentenced for defying a court order ordering that he appear before a government-backed commission probing allegations of corruption during his tenure as president from 2009 to 2018.

His release on medical parole had been granted by former correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser against the recommendation of the parole board.

He served nearly two months of his 15-month sentence, but this was mainly in the hospital wing of the Estcourt Correctional Center and a hospital in Pretoria, where he underwent surgery in August this year.

Zuma’s lawyer, Dali Mpofu, had argued that returning him to jail “is equivalent to a death sentence.”

Zuma’s imprisonment in July also sparked protests by supporters who demanded his immediate pardon and release from jail.

The protests quickly descended into chaotic violence in which trucks were burned, shops and warehouses looted and burned. More than 300 people died in the country’s worst violence since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Nigerian Govt. Launches Free E-Learning Website

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The Nigerian government has launched a free e-learning website called “inspire.education.gov.ng” for all levels of education to allow for easy learning access.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said in Abuja that the website would accommodate 2 million Nigerians at a time.

Adamu said that the decision was initiated by COVID-19 which disrupted learning for two years.

He said the website was a brainchild of the ministry and it has two features namely, inspire for students and ignite for teachers, saying it would allow both learners and teachers to have full access to the website.

He added that the ministry was collaborating with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) to allow only registered teachers to have access to the website.

The minister said that the content of the e-learning would cover all levels of education saying that currently, the ministry is focused on primary and secondary education.

He added that the current e-learning website being used by polytechnics and universities would not be stopped but rather linked to the new website.

According to the minister, as of today, the ministry has provided over 4,000 video lessons for basic levels, 7,000 video lessons for secondary levels and 4,000 audio lessons for secondary levels.

“We have been developing content in such we can broadcast in every media. We have the content on the radio which covers the entire country and also television.

“ We have exceeded 30 per cent in terms of broadband. We are working with Galaxy Backbone to lay fibres across the country and lay it across schools in the country.

“The content is for all levels but the focus presently is at the level of primary and secondary. This is because there is hardly any of our Polytechnic or University that does not have their own.

“We don’t have the intention to close down the website for polytechnics and universities but want to create a link for them to access the platform,” he said.

He added that the ministry is also working to reserve a proportion of  Galaxy Backbone cyber base dedicated for the e-content.

whether the website would accommodate teaching in the various local languages, the minister said that a committee had been set up to link up with regulatory agencies to harness local languages.

He commended the partners and local content providers for their role in bringing the project to the limelight.

Adamu further urge users to take advantage of the website saying that the ministry was working to make it seamless and economical for users.

Also, the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the ministry, Abubakar Isah said the website would offer both teachers and learners more beneficiary teaching and learning resources to teach and understand lessons respectively.

He added that the e-learning website had also enabled states to adopt a strategy for teaching.

Covid-19: CDC confirms it keeps no records of cases with natural immunity re-infecting themselves or infecting others

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In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) admitted that there are no documented cases of unvaccinated individuals who have been re-infected or transmitted Covid to another person after acquiring so-called “natural immunity.”

Attorney Brehm, whose firm Siri & Glimstad lists vaccine injury and exemptions among its specialties, had requested “documents reflecting any documented case of an individual who: (1) never received a COVID-19 vaccine; (2) became infected with COVID-19 once, recovered, and then became re-infected; and (3) transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to another person when re-infected.”

The CDC responded in a letter dated Nov. 5. “A search of our records did not reveal any documents related to your request,” a CDC spokesperson responded. “CDC’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) relayed that this information is not collected.”

While the response alone does not establish that no such cases exist, it could be taken as an indicator of health officials’ disinterest in the information that could undermine elected policies.

“Studies have found that vaccine-induced protection against Covid wanes at around six months (or potentially sooner),” Life Site News reported, “by contrast, a recent Yale study projected that natural immunity lasts three times longer.”

In an article, Dr. Sebastian Rushworth, a Stockholm physician, discussed a recent Swedish study to determine how effective Covid injections are in protecting against Covid after more than a few months.

In total, 1,684,958 people were included in the study. The study authors identified who was “vaccinated” at the end of May 2021. The vaccinated people were then compared individually with people of the same age and sex and living in the same municipality who had not been “vaccinated.” They followed them until October to see if they developed Covid-19.

After the first two months from “vaccination,” there was a rapid decline in efficacy. At four to six months, the injections, across all types, only reduced the relative risk of infection by 48%.

“Governments had initially set the bar for approving vaccines with a 50% relative risk reduction. Therefore, if the trials had been required to run for six months before presenting results instead of only running for two months, then the vaccines would have been considered too ineffective to be worth bothering with and would never have been approved,” said Dr. Rushworth.

Rushworth added that “four to six months after injection, AstraZeneca was no longer doing anything to reduce risk … [and] at nine months, the Pfizer vaccine no longer offers any protection.”

And yet – Federal employees around the world continue to be subjected to the shaming, bullying, coercion, harassment, and discrimination as a result of their vaccine status.

The world has witnessed ant-vaccine protests from civil scoiety organisations and workers more than ever before in resistance to the “vaccinate or we terminate” business plan which they say promotes discrimination, resentment, and inequity within the workplace.

Meanwhile analyst say they are yet to understand government rational behind forced vaccination for a virus which shares the overall mortality rate of season influenza among low risk individuals.

Outbreak of COVID on New Orleans Cruise Ship – all staff and passengers vaccinated

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A Norwegian Cruise Line ship docked in New Orleans over the weekend with at least 17 passengers and crew members infected with the coronavirus, according to local health officials, including one probable case of the omicron variant among the crew.

WpGet the full experience.Choose your planArrowRightThe Norwegian Breakaway departed from New Orleans on Nov. 28 with more than 3,200 people aboard and stopped in Belize, Honduras and Mexico on its voyage, the Louisiana Department of Health said in a statement Saturday.

The statement did not say whether the passengers were tested for the coronavirus before the trip, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises cruise-goers to get tested one to three days in advance.

The cruise company said that it requires all passengers and crew members to have been vaccinated before departure, and that the cases represent only a “handful” of the thousands of people on the ship. It described their infections as “asymptomatic.”

Even so, the outbreak highlights that despite cruise lines’ efforts to impose strict public health rules, the virus is still finding a way on board. And public health rules that dictate how cruise ships can operate in U.S. waters during the pandemic are due to become only recommendations in mid-January.

Cruise ships were an early source of outbreaks last year, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a no-sail order in March 2020. As the government allowed cruises to resume with some restrictions, ships added vaccine requirements, testing rules, capacity limits and mask mandates.

A report by the CDC last month showed that more than a thousand cases had been discovered on cruises in the United States since sailing resumed following the industry-wide shutdown.

Many of those involved breakthrough infections of people who were fully vaccinated.