Despite being disgraced in recent years, Lula da Silva has emerged as strong contender to become Brazil’s next president, unseating President Bolsonaro’s administration.
South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province is still reeling from the country’s worst floods in 60 years, which killed about 435 people last month. Mass funerals are taking place, although many families are still unable to bury their loved ones because their bodies were swept away by the raging torrents, as the BBC Pumza Fihlani reports.
435 souls perished last month when non-stop rain caused a massive natural disaster that still leaves many more unaccounted for. The force of the relentless deluge made search and rescue attempts futile in most districts. The cost in financial terms dwindles when compared with the human suffering unleashed upon many Africans.
The global organisations that buy Covid vaccines for poorer countries “need to step up” and order doses from Africa’s only Covid vaccine maker in order to save the production line, the company’s senior executive told the BBC.
Well, responsible players have stepped up their efforts, and even a South African medical manufacturer aimed to launch the country’s own vaccinations. That would save tremendous cost and even allow surplus vaccines to be exported. What went wrong? The answer is simple. Supply is there but less so the demand. The anti-vax campaigners succeeded in their consistent attempts to dissuade others to comply with health officials seeking to protect its citizens. Additionally, many local villagers, particularly in rural areas, adopt suspicious attitudes towards any external interference in their lives. Accordingly, while the will remains to rectify health problems in Africa, the means to deliver cures are met by stubborn resistance in many areas where it counts.
LATEST BREAKING NEWS “Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuse officials and security forces from neighboring Amhara of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in western Tigray – allegations dismissed by Amhara’s regional government.”
Relations between the federal government and the Tigray regional government deteriorated after the election, and on 4 November 2020, Abiy began a military offensive in the Tigray Region in response to attacks on army units stationed there, causing thousands of refugees to flee to neighbouring Sudan and triggering the Tigray War. According to local media, up to 500 civilians may have been killed in a massacre in the town of Mai Kadra on 9 November 2020. In April 2021, Eritrea confirmed its troops are fighting in Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea and Djibouti to the north, Somalia to the east and northeast, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west, and Sudan to the northwest. Ethiopia has a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi). It is home to 117 million inhabitants and is the 12th-most populous country in the world and the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria. The national capital and largest city, Addis Ababa, lies several kilometres west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the African and Somali tectonic plates.
The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire. The name means “the place where the king lives” and carries a connotation of strength. Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria. It lies between latitudes 10° and 25°N, and longitudes 13°W and 5°E. Mali borders Algeria to the north-northeast, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the south-east, Ivory Coast to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal to the west and Mauritania to the north-west.
Rock paintings and carvings indicate that northern Mali has been inhabited since prehistoric times when the Sahara was fertile grassland. Farming took place by 5000 BC and iron was used around 500 BC.The rock art in the Sahara suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, when the Sahara was fertile and rich in wildlife. Early ceramics have been discovered at the central Malian site of Ounjougou dating to about 9,400 BC, and are believed to represent an instance of the independent invention of pottery in the region.
The Mali Empire later formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power in the 14th century. Under the Mali Empire, the ancient cities of Djenné and Timbuktu were centers of both trade and Islamic learning. The empire later declined as a result of internal intrigue, ultimately being supplanted by the Songhai Empire.
Mali fell under the control of France during the late 19th century. By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control as a part of French Sudan. On 24 November 1958, French Sudan (which changed its name to the Sudanese Republic) became an autonomous republic within the French Community. In January 1959, Mali and Senegal united to become the Mali Federation. The Mali Federation gained independence from France on 20 June 1960.
In the central Mali province of Mopti, conflict has escalated since 2015 between agricultural communities like the Dogon and the Bambara, and the pastoral Fula (or Fulani) people. Historically, the two sides have fought over access to land and water, factors which have been exacerbated by climate change as the Fula move into new areas. The Dogon and the Bambara communities have formed militias, or “self-defense groups”, to fight the Fula. They accuse the Fula of working with armed Islamists linked to al-Qaeda. While some Fula have joined Islamist groups, Human Rights Watch reports that the links have been “exaggerated and instrumentalized by different actors for opportunistic ends”
Ukrainian forces say Russia launched over 200 drones and missiles against the nation's power and energy infrastructure this weekend. [...]
Following Trump’s victory, the Mexican government, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, is considering reassessing some of its policies to navigate the anticipated challenges. [...]
Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov accuses Hungary of having advance knowledge of the Russian invasion, saying that Hungary was warned by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that Hungary had plans to annex parts of Western Ukraine.
This accusation not only undermines previous attempts to form a strong eastern block alliance against Russia, but conversely serves to strengthen Russia’s own circle of friends against Ukraine.
On Monday night, a woman went into labor at her home in one of Jerusalem’s northern neighborhoods. Her husband quickly called emergency services for help. The family, who was familiar with some of the first responders in their neighborhood, waited excitedly for them to arrive.
Leah Einhorn holding a baby she just helped deliver (illustration)
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Leah Einhorn, who is part of the organization’s specialized women’s unit, known as the Adele and Joel Sandberg Women’s Unit, had just returned from her nightly run when she received the alert to the medical emergency. She quickly put her shoes back on, grabbed her vest and medical kit, and rushed over to the given address. Upon arriving in the apartment, Leah found the soon-to-be mother in advanced labor. Leah notified dispatch that she was preparing to assist in the delivery of the baby and to alert the ambulance that it would be a home birth.
“The woman was well into the labor and the delivery came quickly,” Leah explained. “I assisted in delivering a healthy baby girl. After finishing off the delivery process and checking that both the mother and daughter were healthy, I took the baby girl in my arms and heard her cry which touched my heart. It wasn’t my first delivery but something about it had an impact on me. After everything was over and the ambulance arrived the mother and daughter were transported to the hospital. It was then that a neighbor came up to me and pointed out that I had been here before. In truth, I didn’t recognize the address, but the neighbor pointed out to me that I had helped this family once before.”
Three years ago, Leah had been dispatched to a medical emergency at the same address. The incident involved the father of this new baby after he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Leah was one of the first responders to arrive and initiate CPR on him. “During the CPR I remember assisting during the initial stages,” Leah recounted. “Then once the ambulance teams arrived and there were enough people to perform CPR on the husband, I went to comfort the young wife. The couple was alone, with no family in the area. The woman told me that they had been trying to have children. She was crying in my arms worried about what was going to happen to her husband. I provided her with what comfort I could. The teams worked tirelessly to try and save the man’s life. Finally, after 40 minutes of CPR and a number of shocks from a defibrillator, the man’s pulse came back at a stable rate. The feeling of elation we all felt was tangible. We knew it would be a long process for him to make a full recovery, but there was now hope. Hope for a new beginning for the man and for this young family.”
Leah reflected on the two incidents together. “I thought to myself after the baby girl was born how one action can have so many different interpretations. I helped this young new mother through two sets of tears, tears of sadness when her husband was undergoing CPR, and tears of joy at the fulfillment of so many prayers now that their first child was finally born. It gave me a sense of coming full circle and really brought home for me just how important the work is that we do as first responders. We recite so many prayers and we shed so many tears for the people we help. It is always our dream that our patients recover and continue to live their lives and bring more light into the world. I count myself lucky that I have merited to see these miracles, first of the husband’s survival and second of this new baby girl, who carries with her the hopes and dreams of her parents who went through so much to finally bring her into the world and finally meet her.”
To support the work of United Hatzalah volunteers such as Leah and the Adele and Joel Sandberg women’s unit, please click here:
Embarking upon any journey of purpose always begins with having a set destination in mind. In trying to determine the fate of the lost Ark, an essential starting point would be knowing exactly what it is that one is looking for. Many intrepid explorers have looked to solve the whereabouts of missing biblical artefacts. But without having a clear image in mind about exactly what one is hoping to find, identification problems are likely to fog the way ahead, even from the very starting point of the journey. Accordingly, trying to gain a clearer understanding of what the Ark of the Covenant is, and is not, will hopefully provide a more enlightened trail to pursue. We intend updating our knowledge base whenever appropriate.
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