Former Ghanian President Jerry Rawlings has died at the age of 73, Ghanaian media reports.
Rawlings was one of the most respected African leaders. He was a military leader in Ghana and later became a politician who ruled the country from 1981 to 2001.
The former president initially came to power in Ghana as a flight lieutenant of the Ghana Air Force following a coup d’état in 1979.
Rawlings’ death came weeks after he buried his mother.
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Dating to around the time of King David 3,000 years ago, what may be the earliest fortified settlement in the Golan Heights was recently discovered during salvage excavations ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood. Incredible rock etchings of two figures holding their arms aloft — possibly at prayer with what could be a moon — were uncovered inside the unique fort, which was dated to circa 11th-9th century BCE.
The striking find is being tentatively linked to the Geshurite people, whose capital is recorded in the Bible as having been located nearby, to the north of the Sea of Galilee.
In a brief Hebrew video about the discovery, dig co-director Barak Tzin said that when the etching was found near the entrance of the fort, “We understood that we had something very, very important… We were astonished to discover a rare and exciting find: a large basalt stone with a schematic engraving of two horned figures with outspread arms.”
“The minute that Egyptian and Hittite empires are destroyed… there is a big vacuum. There is no historian that writes the history of the era and we return to a sort-of ‘pre-history’ in which we only have physical artifacts to base our assumptions upon. So we go into the realm of speculation. It is impossible to know what really happened,” said Be’eri.
The small fort was built on a hilltop that would have served as a lookout at a strategic river-crossing location above the El-Al River canyon. Be’eri said the fort itself is evidence of the era of conflict and struggle for control that began after the fall of the northern Hittite empire in circa 1180 BCE.
Be’eri told The Times of Israel that his dating of the site to circa 11th-9th century BCE was made based on physical evidence, mostly the plentiful pottery sherds, which point to the early Iron Age, and are somewhat comparable with those found at Israelite sites such as Tel Megiddo that are dated to circa 11th-10th centuries BCE.
The Golan Heights, a rocky plateau in south-western Syria, has a political and strategic significance which belies its size. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 Six-Day War.
The move thrust the Golan Heights — a fertile plateau beside the Sea of Galilee that has been one of Israel’s quieter frontiers for a half-century.
The area covers under 500 square miles and offers expansive views over Syria and Israel, giving it strategic military importance. It was seized by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967.
How did it come under Israeli control?
The Six-Day War of June 1967 ended in decisive victories for Israel, which seized the Golan Heights from Syria. Syrian forces began a failed attempt to reclaim the territory in 1973. That war ended with an armistice that left most of the Golan Heights in Israeli hands. In 1981, Israel passed a law that effectively annexed it.
In Biblical times, the Golan Heights was referred to as “Bashan;” the word “Golan” apparently derives from the biblical city of “Golan in Bashan,” (Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 21:27). The area was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:29-31). In early First Temple times (953-586 BCE), the area was contested between the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel and the Aramean kingdom based in Damascus.
Significance Of Golan Heights
The Golan Heights’ high altitude provides it with observation points deep into Syria.
For Israel, relinquishing the Golan to a hostile Syria could jeopardize its early-warning system against surprise attack. Israel has built radars on Mt. Hermon, the highest point in the region. If Israel withdrew from the Golan and had to relocate these facilities to the lowlands of the Galilee, they would lose much of their strategic effectiveness.
In reality, Iran wants to avoid a direct military confrontation with Israel over the Golan Heights, as it knows Israel comfortably outweighs it on technical military might. That’s why Iran prefers to exploit forces as Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon and Bashar al-Assad’s military in Syria as proxies between them and Israel. This enables Iran to say it’s confronting Israel without taking on the risks of an actual confrontation.
The army of the federal republic of Nigeria has released an 86 man list of the most wanted persons in connection with terrorism.
This list is the fourth to be released by the army and was launched by, Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff, alongside the governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum.
The army chief has called on the public, to support the military in fishing out remnants of the insurgents as this is designed to be the last push to end Boko Haram in the northeast.
Several on the list include Abu Musa Al Barnawi, Modu Sulum, Malkam Umar, Bello Husba, Ibrahim Abu Maryam, Baka Kwasari, Bana Gonna, Mohammed Abu Maryam,Yan Kolo, Abu Imma, Abu Dardda and Abubakar Shekau
A dental therapist, Dr Simon Audu, on Wednesday said it is a developmental abnormality for a baby to be born with teeth.
Audu, the Secretary-General, Nigerian Dental Therapists Associations (NDTA), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that such births should not be linked to any superstitious or cultural beliefs.
According to him, the development of teeth usually begins at five weeks of the prenatal stage of pregnancy, which enables babies to get their first tooth between four months and seven months of age.
The dental therapist, in an interview with NAN, explained that on rare occasions some medical conditions and predisposing factors may cause developmental abnormalities leading to babies being born with teeth.
“For such parents, bring the babies to hospital for professional advice, the teeth can either be removed or left to be monitored if no health implication arises,’’ he said.
Audu advised the public to discard superstitious beliefs attached to babies who are born with teeth, saying it could lead to societal stigmatisation as the babies could be labelled as monsters and bearers of misfortunes.
The expert also advised people to visit their dentists regularly, have adequate and balanced nutrition and adhere to oral health hygiene to prevent oral diseases.
“The mouth is the only gateway to the body, bad oral health will affect the general health of the body,’’ Audu said.
Nigeria has ratified its membership of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), less than a month before the deadline for the process to be concluded.
The decision was taken during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on Wednesday, and subsequently confirmed by the Federal Government via its verified handle on the microblogging site, Twitter.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, becomes the latest country to ratify its membership of AfCFTA bringing the total of African Union member states to have ratified their membership so far to 30.
According to the African Union (AU), the AfCFTA will offer Africa an opportunity to reconfigure its supply chains; reduce reliance on others and speed up the establishment of regional value chains which will boost intra-Africa trade.
Its implementation will form a $3.4 trillion economic bloc with 1.3 billion people across the continent.
The first commercial deal under the AfCFTA is expected to take place on January 1, 2021 after the COVID-19-enforced delay in implementation.
The Federal Government came under fire on Wednesday for tagging of #EndSARS campaigners as terrorists with prominent citizens and groups deploring the Central Bank of Nigeria’s action, which led to the freezing of the accounts of some of the campaigners.
The Federal Government had succeeded in freezing the accounts of 20 #EndSARS campaigners after telling a Federal High Court in Abuja that the funds in their accounts might have been linked to terrorist activities.
This was according to a written address in support of a motion ex parte filed by the CBN, which froze 20 accounts in the second week of October and thereafter approached the court to seek an ex parte order to freeze the accounts.
In the case with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1384/2020, filed before Justice A. R. Mohammed, the CBN, however, made no mention of the fact that the 20 accounts were owned by persons involved in the #EndSARS protests, but told the court that the funds might have emanated from terrorist activities.
The Nigerian Bar Association said on Wednesday that blocking the accounts of #EndSARS protesters on the pretext that they were terrorism suspects showed that the Federal Government was insincere.
Speaking for the body of lawyers in an interview, the Publicity Secretary of the association, Dr Raps Nduka, maintained that the #EndSARS protests were lawful and the demands of the campaigners genuine.
He added that the action of the Federal Government through the CBN in blocking the accounts of the promoters of the movement showed that the government was insincere with its promise to address their demands.
Nduka said, “The timing looks very suspicious. The protests are lawful and the demands of the protesters and the concerns they expressed are genuine.
“What has happened shows that the protesters were right to insist that they were not going to leave the streets because, over time, the government would promise something and do the opposite. This action of the CBN lends credence to the position taken by the youth.
“Even if the government is right, who will believe it at this time? The government makes it look like it is trying to silence people from talking about the ills of society. Why does the government appear to be doing that?
“It tells us that the government may not be doing anything to ensure that the complaints are being addressed. It also tells us that that their original claims that they were standing with the youth were pretences. You cannot be standing with them and freeze their accounts. It does not work that way.
“Let us assume that the allegations are true, what happens to discrete investigation? Why should they block the accounts of persons because you are investigating them? Why don’t they be on the trail of the money going into the accounts, assuming the allegations are true?
“The time is very suspicious. It lends credence to the belief of the average Nigerian that the government is not being sincere.”
A Nigerian lawyer, Joseph Nwaegbu, has filed a criminal complaint against human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague for his alleged role in the #EndSARS protest.
Violence trailed the #EndSARS protest across the country, leading to loss of lives and destruction of property.
In the petition dated November 4, 2020, and addressed to Fatou Bensouda, ICC prosecutor, Nwaegbu who claimed to be acting for his group, Make Nigeria Better Initiative (MNBI), described #EndSARS as “the mother of all protests in Nigeria.”
See Also: #EndSARS: APC shares open letter to Pastor Sam Adeyemi
“On the recent #EndSARS protests which turned violent across the country, we beg to submit that the role played by Mr Falana before, during, and after what observers described as “the mother of all protests in Nigeria” is not only ignoble but criminal,” Nwaegbu stated.
“We have seen how the type of incitement spearheaded by Mr Falana worked in Rwanda and other parts of the world and the resultant effect was genocide.
“The misguided youths who acted based on Falana’s posture, character and utterances employed crude methods to illegally murder about 22 police officers in cold blood during the #EndSARS protests that lasted between the period 3rd October 2020 till 21st October 2020.
“At Oyingbo police station in Lagos alone, a total of 3 (Three) police officers were killed and roasted like Christmas goats with their facilities destroyed.
”It is our further submission that what Falana is doing gives room for suspicion that another brand of the terrorist group may be created to hide under the cover of “human rights activists” whilst sustaining the evils already bedevilling our people through the activities of the disbanded Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Boko Haram and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).”
See Also: CBN action: #EndSARS campaigners should explain use of funds, says Akeredolu
Nwaegbu urged the ICC to investigate Falana.
He added that upon conviction under the Rome Statute, the ICC prosecutor should compel the senior advocate of Nigeria to pay $2 billion as punitive damages for causing death, injury destruction of properties and all other things caused during the protest.
Mark P. Dillon, head of information and evidence unit, ICC, acknowledged receipt of the complaints.
Dillon said the complaint will be considered accordingly with the procedure and Rome Statute of the ICC.
Responding, Falana described the allegations against him as an “obnoxious rejoinder” hurriedly crafted “to divert attention from the crime against humanity committed by those who opened fire on peaceful protesters in violation of international humanitarian law.”
He said the Socio-Economic and Rights Accountability Project (SERAP), one of his clients, had earlier submitted a petition to the ICC against the Nigerian Army “for the brutal killing of peaceful protesters in Nigeria.”
“Before then, a London based human rights group had submitted a petition over the massacre of 347 Shiites in December 2015 by the Nigerian army. The suspects in both petitions believe that I instigated both petitions.
“But the cheap ploy will not work as the ICC does not entertain frivolous petitions that are anchored on conjecture or speculation.
“After all, the ICC is not unaware of the fact that the suspects who committed arson and willful damage to private and public properties in Lagos state and other places during the #EndSARS protests have been arrested, investigated and arraigned in criminal courts.”
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said his country will use everything at its disposal to counter terrorism in Nigeria and other parts of the world.
After a virtual meeting on Tuesday, he said progress is being made in the fight against terrorism.
The meeting was attended by the US, Nigeria, members of the Global Coalition to Defeat Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and representatives of West African states.
Popmeo, who took to Twitter on Wednesday, thanked Nigeria for co-hosting the meeting.
“Great progress was made at yesterday’s virtual Global @Coalition to Defeat ISIS meeting on West Africa. We will use all tools at our disposal to counter ISIS and its affiliates anywhere in the world. My thanks to Nigeria for co-hosting the event,” he wrote.
Nathan Sales, the newly designated special envoy for the Global Coalition, had at the meeting outlined the Coalition’s increasing focus on defeating ISIS’ global branches and affiliates.
He also expressed his appreciation to the Nigerian delegation that was led by Yaminu Musa, who serves as coordinator for the counter terrorism centre in Nigeria’s office of the national security adviser (ONSA), for co-hosting the event.
Pompeo’s office in a statement had earlier said as the Global Coalition seeks to apply lessons learned from the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria to other locations, participants reviewed potential lines of effort, including the use of battlefield evidence and border security measures that could be applied in West Africa.
Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) is an affiliate of ISIS.
ISWAP has continue to wreak havoc in the north-eastern region of the country.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA says Iran continues to increase its stockpile of low-enriched uranium far beyond the limits agreed in a nuclear deal with world powers and to enrich it to a greater purity than allowed.
U.N.’s atomic watchdog agency reported in a confidential document distributed to member countries that Iran as of Nov. 2 had a stockpile of 2,442.9 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, up from 2,105.4 kilograms reported on Aug. 25.
The IAEA reported that Iran has also been continuing to enrich uranium to a purity of up to 4.5%, higher than the 3.67% allowed under the deal.
Iran has openly announced all violations of the nuclear deal in advance, which have followed the decision by the U.S. to pull out unilaterally in 2018.
The nuclear deal signed in 2015 with the United States, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, allows Iran only to keep a stockpile of 202.8 kilograms.
Since the U.S. withdrawal and imposition of new sanctions, Tehran has been putting pressure on the remaining parties with the violations to come up with new ways to offset the economy-crippling actions by Washington.
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara and his main rival, Henri Konan Bédié, have met for talks for the first time since the recent election crisis in the country.
Both Ouattara and Bédié, an 86-year-old former president, arrived at an upmarket hotel in Abidjan amid a swarm of reporters, several hours after the much-awaited meeting was announced by the government.
Their talks are the first since Ouattara secured the October 31 election by more than 94 percent amidts a dispute after opposition leaders rejected the vote.
While President Ouattara said It was a first meeting to break the ice and restore trust, Opposition chief Bédié said they have been able to break through the wall of ice and the wall of silence.
The face-to-face between Ouattara and Bedie follows insistence from the UN, EU, former colonial power France and Ivory Coast’s neighbours for efforts to ease the tension.
Ouattara and Bedie have been central figures in Ivorian politics for decades. The two men said further meetings would also take place.
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