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Ivory Coast To Become Regional Medicine Hub With IFC Loan

Zoe Maven
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Ivory Coast To Become Regional Medicine Hub With IFC Loan

A World Bank programme to help medical clinics in Ivory Coast procure equipment from General Electric and Philips could spur the cocoa-producing country’s development into a regional medical hub.

Prime Minister Patrick Achi said on Sunday If we do not solve the problem of equipping our private clinics and hospitals, this goal of seeing the private (health) sector grow and create jobs will be a failure.

A $300 million financing agreement signed on Friday by Ivory Coast and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) aims to remedy that situation by providing credit to clinics hoping to get supplies from Philips and General Electric.

As in other African countries, many smaller clinics in Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, struggle to obtain the bank loans necessary to buy or rent essential medical equipment.

The programme is part of the IFC’s Africa Medical Equipment Facility, which partners with African financial institutions and global medical supply firms to give local currency loans to small- and medium-sized clinics for equipment purchases.

As part of the agreement, Philips and General Electric will become the only two companies from which Ivorian private and public medical facilities procure medical equipment, Achi said.

Achi sees the agreement’s exclusivity clause as a reason for optimism. By limiting options to just two suppliers, Achi said that clinics will be able to secure their equipment at lower costs and with easier access to spare parts.

But the programme’s greatest impact will be on clinics seeking to grow into larger medical facilities, Achi said. If smaller institutions can finance their own expansions, so too can the country expand its regional medical footprint.

Morocco Court Jails Journalist Omar Radi For Six Years

Zoe Maven
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Morocco Court Jails Journalist Omar Radi For Six Years

A Moroccan court on Monday sentenced journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi to six years in jail on charges of espionage and rape, offences which he has denied.

Radi’s trial opened in June last year, just days after rights group Amnesty International charged that Moroccan authorities had planted Israel-made Pegasus spyware on his cellphone.

Rabat denied the report at the time, and on Monday the authorities “categorically rejected” using Israeli spyware to monitor critics at home and abroad.

Radi is a known vocal critic of the authorities and has been detained since July 2020 and his arrest and detention sparked protests by rights activists, intellectuals and politicians at home and abroad.

He faced charges of rape and “undermining the internal security of the state” in two separate cases investigated separately but judged together.

Radi was also accused of having received “foreign funds” in exchange for providing “intelligence” information to a third party.

On Monday Amnesty in a statement labelled the proceedings “flawed” and “not justice”, and called for “a fair retrial in line with international standards”.

Radi has protested his innocence throughout, and last month told the court the case against him was void and “did not justify my imprisonment for nearly a year”.

He said he was the victim of people “who consider themselves above the law”, and rejected both charges of rape and espionage.

A government statement denied that Rabat had “infiltrated the phones of several national and international public figures and heads of international organisations through computer software.

Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine Hold ‘Milestone’ EU Summit

Zoe Maven
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0
Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine Hold ‘Milestone’ EU Summit

The leaders of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine on Monday met European Council chief Charles Michel to push their EU membership bids, with Michel hailing the summit as a “milestone”.

Seeking to emerge from Moscow’s orbit, the eastern European nations set up the Associated Trio diplomatic format in May to jointly advance their bid to join the European Union.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, Moldova’s Maia Sandu and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine held talks with Michel near Georgia’s Black Sea city of Batumi, in the ancient clifftop Petra fortress overlooking the sea.

Addressing the three presidents, Michel said: “Our meeting here with you is an important milestone.”

He said the EU has pledged an “unprecedented investment package” worth 2.3 billion euros with the potential to mobilise up to 17 billion euros in public and private investments for the region.

At the end of the summit, the three presidents signed a joint declaration pledging to work together for their countries’ “European future.”

In an effort to derail former Soviet republics from seeking EU and NATO membership, Moscow has lavished economic and military aid to separatist regimes in Georgia’s breakaway enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and in Moldova’s Transnistria region.

The refusal of Ukraine’s then-president Viktor Yanukovich in 2013 to sign an association agreement with the EU triggered a revolt that toppled his pro-Russian government.

It was followed by Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, sparking an ongoing conflict with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Haiti Interim Prime Minister Joseph Set To Step Down This Week

Zoe Maven
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0
Haiti Interim Prime Minister Joseph Set To Step Down This Week

Haiti’s acting Prime Minister, Claude Joseph, who has nominally led the country since the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, will hand power to a challenger backed by the international community.

The announcement appears to end a power struggle in the Caribbean nation between Joseph and Ariel Henry, the 71-year old neurosurgeon who was appointed prime minister by Moise two days before the killing but had yet to be sworn in.

Haiti foreign ministry senior official Israel Jacky Cantave said that Joseph took charge following Moise’s assassination to help ensure continuity of state but would hand over power to Henry now that there is a consensus on the future of the country and protests have calmed.

Cantave said that Haiti’s Council of Ministers would meet on Monday and that if all goes well, Joseph could hand over power to Henry in a ceremony on Tuesday.

Moise was shot dead when attackers armed with assault rifles stormed his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince.

The assassination has pitched the poorest country in the Americas into political uncertainty at a time of surging gang violence that has displaced thousands of people and hampered economic activity.

Joseph told the Washington Post in an interview published Monday that he and Henry had met privately over the past week, and that he had agreed on Sunday to step down “for the good of the nation” and was willing to transfer power “as quickly as possible.”

Haiti, a country of about 11 million people, has struggled to achieve stability since the fall of the Duvalier dynastic dictatorship in 1986, and has grappled with a series of coups and foreign interventions.

New Diplomatic Tension Between Algeria And Morocco

Zoe Maven
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New Diplomatic Tension Between Algeria And Morocco

Algiers has recalled its ambassador in Rabat for consultations, against the backdrop of a new diplomatic crisis between the two Maghreb countries caused by the Western Sahara dispute.

Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said the recall follows “the drift of the Moroccan diplomatic representation in New York which has distributed an official note to member countries of the non-aligned movement in which Morocco “publicly and explicitly supports an alleged right to self-determination of the Kabyle people.

During a meeting of the non-aligned movement on July 13 and 14 in New York, the Moroccan ambassador to the UN, Omar Hilale, passed a note in which he believes that “the valiant Kabyle people deserve, more than any other, to fully enjoy their right to self-determination.

This is the first time, it seems, that a Moroccan diplomat has expressed his support for Kabyle separatism, in reaction to Algiers’ support for Sahrawi independence fighters against Morocco.

The Movement for Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK) was classified on May 18 by the Algerian authorities as a “terrorist organization.

On Friday, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement urging “the Kingdom of Morocco to clarify its final position on the extremely serious situation created by the inadmissible remarks of its ambassador in New York.

Since the controversy, the Algerian political class, all trends, has stressed its commitment to the unity of the country and denounced a “call to sedition” from the Moroccan neighbor.

On social networks, many Internet users and sites have also defended the territorial unity of Algeria.

At Least 13 Dead In Kenya After Petrol Truck Explosion

Zoe Maven
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0
At Least 13 Dead In Kenya After Petrol Truck Explosion

Thirteen people have died and others seriously burned in northwest Kenya after a petrol truck that had overturned caught on fire.

Reports say as the fuel tanker collide with another vehicule on a highway connecting the town of Kisumu to neighbouring Uganda, onlookers rushed to the crash site with jerrycans to collect the leaking fuel.

But the truck ignited without warning, leaving many shocked and scarred. Those on the scene first managed to get away safely with some fuel, said witness Magdalene Adhiambo.

But others went back for a second round, and the crowd grew larger as more and more people arrived hoping to get lucky.

Charles Chacha, a local police chief in Siaya County where the accident occurred, said 24 people were in hospital with serious burns. Earlier, he said children were among those injured.

He said the death toll at the time was 13 adding that the death toll could rise, with investigators trying to account for those missing, and charred bones found among the twisted wreckage of the fuel tanker.

Fire crews arrived on the scene two hours later to douse the inferno. The cause of the explosion is not yet known.

Deadly accidents involving fuel trucks are not uncommon in Kenya and the wider East Africa region. In 2009, more than 100 people had died in similar circumstances northwest of Nairobi.

More recently, at least 100 people were killed when a tanker exploded in Tanzania in 2019 while in 2015 more than 200 perished in a similar accident in South Sudan.

Ex-President Zuma Appears In Virtual Corruption Trial From Jail

Angel Gimalo
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Ex-President Zuma Appears In Virtual Corruption Trial From Jail

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has appeared on a video link from prison to attend a corruption trial.

Zuma faces charges of fraud and racketeering dating back to the 1990s.

This is the first time he has been seen since he was sent to jail for contempt of court – a move that sparked a week of looting and arson in South Africa.

He sat quietly in a large office chair in a nondescript prison room. He wore a dark suit and red tie, and said little as his lawyer argued for another postponement of his corruption trial.

The hearing took place online – due to the pandemic and security concerns.

Zuma has now spent more than a week in prison after he was found guilty of contempt of court, for refusing to participate in a separate corruption inquiry.

The decision to sentence Zuma to 15 months in jail sparked protests which quickly turned violent – leading to more than 200 deaths, and widespread looting and arson.

Egyptian Journalist Detained For Calling On Pres. Sisi To Resign

Angel Gimalo
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Egyptian Journalist Detained For Calling On Pres. Sisi To Resign

Prominent Egyptian journalist Abdenasser Salama has been detained on terrorism charges after calling for President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to resign.

Salama, a former editor-in-chief of the state-owned Al Ahram daily newspaper, wrote a long post on Facebook accusing the president of “his failure to deal with the Ethiopia dam crisis”.

Egypt opposes the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam saying it threatens its water security, but it has so far failed to halt or get a favourable agreement with Ethiopia.

Salama was arrested on Sunday and charged with “financing terrorism” and joining “an illegal organisation”.

Rights groups accuse the Egyptian government of relentless attacks on journalists who criticise Sisi.

Pilot Ejects From Plane, Uses Survival Instincts To Avoid Capture – Military

Angel Gimalo
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0
Pilot Ejects From Plane, Uses Survival Instincts To Avoid Capture – Military

A plane hunting kidnappers in northern Nigeria has been shot down by criminal gangs, the military says.

A spokesman for the Nigerian Air Force said the Alpha Jet had completed a successful raid when it came under intense fire on Sunday.

He said the pilot, Flight Lt Abayomi Dairo, ejected and used “survival instincts” to avoid capture and find shelter with local residents.

The attack happened on the border of Zamfara and Kaduna states.

Armed gangs – referred to locally as “bandits” – have been blamed for a spate of recent kidnappings in this part of north-western Nigeria.

Students and schoolchildren have been especially targeted – more than 1,000 have been kidnapped since December. Most have since been freed, reportedly after ransoms were paid, but some have been killed.

In recent days, President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the military to do all it takes to flush out criminal elements in the states of Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna.

The Nigerian Air Force said it had mounted intensive day and night air operations against the bandits and their hideouts, especially in these three states, in collaboration with ground forces. It was in one of the operations that the fighter jet was brought down on Sunday.

“Through these intensive air operations, hundreds of bandits have been neutralised and several of their hideouts destroyed,” the Nigerian Air Force said in a statement.

While there have been several military plane crashes this year, this is the first reported case of armed gangs downing one.

Stonehenge Mystery, Finally Solved

Angel Gimalo
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0
Stonehenge Mystery, Finally Solved

The origin of the giant sarsen stones at Stonehenge has finally been discovered with the help of a missing piece of the site which was returned after 60 years.

A test of the metre-long core was matched with a geochemical study of the standing megaliths.

Archaeologists pinpointed the source of the stones to an area 15 miles north of the site near Marlborough.

English Heritage’s Susan Greaney said the discovery was “a real thrill”.

The seven-metre tall sarsens, which weigh about 20 tonnes, form all fifteen stones of Stonehenge’s central horseshoe, the uprights and lintels of the outer circle, as well as outlying stones.

The monument’s smaller bluestones have been traced to the Preseli Hills in Wales, but the sarsens had been impossible to identify until now.

The return of the core, which was removed during archaeological excavations in 1958, enabled archaeologists to analyse its chemical composition.

No one knew where it was until eighty-nine year old Robert Phillips, who was involved in those works, decided to return part of it last year.

Researchers first carried out x-ray fluorescence testing of all the remaining sarsens at Stonehenge which revealed most shared a similar chemistry and came from the same area.

They then analysed sarsen outcrops from Norfolk to Devon and compared their chemical composition with the chemistry of a piece of the returned core.

English Heritage said the opportunity to do a destructive test on the core proved “decisive”, as it showed its composition matched the chemistry of sarsens at West Woods, just south of Marlborough.

The origin of the giant sarsen stones at Stonehenge has finally been discovered with the help of a missing piece of the site which was returned after 60 years.

A test of the metre-long core was matched with a geochemical study of the standing megaliths.

Archaeologists pinpointed the source of the stones to an area 15 miles north of the site near Marlborough.

English Heritage’s Susan Greaney said the discovery was “a real thrill”.

The seven-metre tall sarsens, which weigh about 20 tonnes, form all fifteen stones of Stonehenge’s central horseshoe, the uprights and lintels of the outer circle, as well as outlying stones.

The monument’s smaller bluestones have been traced to the Preseli Hills in Wales, but the sarsens had been impossible to identify until now.

The return of the core, which was removed during archaeological excavations in 1958, enabled archaeologists to analyse its chemical composition.

No-one knew where it was until eighty nine year old Robert Phillips, who was involved in those works, decided to return part of it last year.

Researchers first carried out x-ray fluorescence testing of all the remaining sarsens at Stonehenge which revealed most shared a similar chemistry and came from the same area.

They then analysed sarsen outcrops from Norfolk to Devon and compared their chemical composition with the chemistry of a piece of the returned core.

English Heritage said the opportunity to do a destructive test on the core proved “decisive”, as it showed its composition matched the chemistry of sarsens at West Woods, just south of Marlborough.

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