OKECHUKWUVITUSS

Mayor of Portland to Trump: Get Your Troops Out of the City
By ANDREW SELSKY and GILLIAN FLACCUS
Police stand as protesters gather during a demonstration, Thursday, July 16, 2020 in Portland, Ore. Federal officers deployed tear gas and fired less-lethal rounds into a crowd of protesters late Thursday. The actions came just hours after the head of the Department of Homeland Security called the protesters “violent anarchists.” (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian via AP)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The mayor of Portland demanded Friday that President Donald Trump remove militarized federal agents he deployed to the city after some detained people on streets far from federal property they were sent to protect.
“Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said at a news conference.
Democratic Gov. Kate Brown said Trump is looking for a confrontation in the hopes of winning political points elsewhere. It also serves as a distraction from the coronavirus pandemic, which is causing spiking numbers of infections in Oregon and the nation.
Brown’s spokesman, Charles Boyle, said Friday that arresting people without probable cause is “extraordinarily concerning and a violation of their civil liberties and constitutional rights.”
The ACLU of Oregon said the federal agents appear to be violating citizens’ rights, which “should concern everyone in the United States.”
“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street we call it kidnapping,” said Jann Carson, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. “The actions of the militarized federal officers are flat-out unconstitutional and will not go unanswered.”
Federal officers have charged at least 13 people with crimes related to the protests so far, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Thursday. Some have been detained by the federal courthouse, which has been the scene of protests. But others were grabbed blocks away.
“This is part of the core media strategy out of Trump’s White House: to use federal troops to bolster his sagging polling data,” Wheeler said. “And it is an absolute abuse of federal law enforcement officials.”
One video showed two people in helmets and green camouflage with “police” patches grabbing a person on the sidewalk, handcuffing them and taking them into an unmarked vehicle.
“Who are you?” someone asks the pair, who do not respond. At least some of the federal officers belong to the Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that its agents had information indicating the person in the video was suspected of assaulting federal agents or destroying federal property.
“Once CBP agents approached the suspect, a large and violent mob moved towards their location. For everyone’s safety, CBP agents quickly moved the suspect to a safer location,” the agency said. However, the video shows no mob.
In another case, Mark Pettibone, 29, said a minivan rolled up to him around 2 a.m. Wednesday and four or five people got out “looking like they were deployed to a Middle Eastern war.”
Pettibone told The Associated Press he got to his knees as the group approached. They dragged him into the van without identifying themselves or responding to his questions and pulled his beanie over his eyes so he couldn’t see, he said.
“I figured I was just going to disappear for an indefinite amount of time,” Pettibone said.
Pettibone said he was put into a cell and officers dumped the contents of his backpack, with one remarking: “Oh, this is a bunch of nothing.”
After he asked for a lawyer, Pettibone was allowed to leave.
“Authoritarian governments, not democratic republics, send unmarked authorities after protesters,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a tweet.
U.S. Attorney Billy Williams in Portland said Friday he has requested the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General investigate the actions of DHS personnel.
In a letter Friday, Oregon’s two senators and two of its House members demanded that U.S. Attorney General William Barr and Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf immediately withdraw “these federal paramilitary forces from our state.”
The members of Congress also said they’ll be asking the DHS inspector general as well as the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate “the unrequested presence and violent actions of federal forces in Portland.”
“It’s painfully clear this administration is focused purely on escalating violence without answering my repeated requests for why this expeditionary force is in Portland and under what constitutional authority,” Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said.
On Thursday night, federal officers deployed tear gas and fired non-lethal rounds into a crowd of protesters.
Wolf visited Portland on Thursday and called the demonstrators, who are protesting racism and police brutality, “violent anarchists.”
Wolf blamed state and city authorities for not putting an end to the protests. But Portland police said Friday they wound up arresting 20 people overnight.
At least two protests occurred Thursday night, one near the federal courthouse and the other by a police station in another part of the city. Police told protesters to leave that site after announcing they heard some chanting about burning down the building. Protester Paul Frazier said Friday the chant was “much more rhetorical than an actual statement.”
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell told reporters Friday that his officers are in contact with the federal agents, but that neither controls the others’ actions.
“We do communicate with federal officers for the purpose of situational awareness and deconfliction,” Lovell said. “We’re operating in a very, very close proximity to one another ... so it’s important for us to know if they’re going to take some type of action and it’s important for them to know if we’re going to take some type of action.”
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon on Friday added the federal government to a lawsuit it filed earlier to halt the use of crowd control measures, including tear gas and rubber bullets, against journalists and legal observers at protests in Portland.
“The lawsuit is one of many the ACLU will be filing against federal authorities in Portland for their unconstitutional attacks on people protesting the police killing of George Floyd,” the group said.
Tensions have escalated in the past two weeks, particularly after an officer with the U.S. Marshals Service fired a less-lethal round at a protester’s head on July 11, critically injuring him.
The protests following the police killing of Floyd in Minneapolis have often devolved into violent clashes between smaller groups and the police. The unrest has caused deep divisions in a city that prides itself on its activism and progressive reputation.
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This version corrects that the governor did not say the deployment serves as a distraction, and that chanting about burning happened at police station, not federal courthouse.
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Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon. AP reporters Ben Fox in Washington and Jake Bleiberg in Dallas contributed.
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Follow Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky
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How Does COVID-19 Affect Kids? Science Has Answers and Gaps
By LINDSEY TANNER
FILE - In this Tuesday, July 14, 2020 file photo, Amid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, teachers check students before a summer STEM camp at Wylie High School in Wylie, Texas. Not knowing if children are infected makes it difficult for schools to reopen safely, many experts say. Scarce data on whether infected children _ including those without symptoms _ easily spread the disease to others complicates the issue, said Jeffrey Shaman, a Columbia University infectious disease specialist. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
What role children play in the coronavirus pandemic is the hot-button question of the summer as kids relish their free time while schools labor over how to resume classes.
The Trump administration says the science “is very clear,” but many doctors who specialize in pediatrics and infectious diseases say much of the evidence is inconclusive.
“There are still a lot of unanswered questions. That is the biggest challenge,” said Dr. Sonja Rasmussen, a pediatrics professor at the University of Florida and former scientist at the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
Several studies suggest, but don’t prove, that children are less likely to become infected than adults and more likely to have only mild symptoms.
An early report from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began last winter, found that fewer than 2% of cases were in children. Later reports suggest between 5% and 8% of U.S. cases are in kids.
The CDC says 175,374 cases have been confirmed in kids aged 17 and under as of Friday, accounting for roughly 6% of all confirmed cases. The number of kids who have been infected but not confirmed is almost certainly far higher than that though, experts say, because those with mild or no symptoms are less likely to get tested.
The CDC says 228 children and teens through age 17 have died from the disease in the U.S. as of Thursday, about 0.2% of the more than 138,000 Americans who have died in all.
One early study examining infections in children comes from a Wuhan hospital. Of 171 children treated there, most had relatively mild illness. One child died, and only three needed intensive care and ventilator treatment. Perhaps more worrisome was that 12 had X-ray evidence of pneumonia, but no other symptoms.
A CDC study involving 2,500 children published that same month, in April, echoed those findings. About 1 in 5 infected children were hospitalized versus 1 in 3 adults; three children died. The study lacks complete data on all the cases, but it also suggests that many infected children have no symptoms.
“We’re trying to figure out who those kids are,” Rasmussen said. “We need to figure out the impact on kids and on the rest of the community, their parents and their grandparents. If they’re transmitting a lot to each other, and then bringing it home to their families.”
Not knowing if children are infected makes it difficult for schools to reopen safely, many experts say. Scarce data on whether infected children — including those without symptoms — easily spread the disease to others complicates the issue, said Jeffrey Shaman, a Columbia University infectious disease specialist.
A National Institutes of Health-sponsored study seeking to answer that question and others is under way.
A JAMA Pediatrics study from May, cited Thursday by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, involved just 48 children treated in U.S. and Canadian intensive care units. As McEnany indicated, most were not critically ill. Still, she did not mention that 18, or almost 40%, needed ventilator treatment and two died.
McEnany was correct that children appear less likely to become critically ill from COVID-19 than from the flu. But the CDC says COVID-19 can be more contagious and has been linked with more “superspreading” events than the flu, meaning it can quickly spread and infect lots of people.
Also, blood clots and organ damage have been found in children with COVID-19, including those who develop a related inflammatory illness. The most recent count shows 342 U.S. children and teens have developed that condition, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.
The condition is rare but can occur in children with current or recent COVID-19 infections. Symptoms include fever and problems in at least two organs, often including the heart. Digestive problems are common, and some cases have been mistaken with Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.
Perhaps the biggest unknown is whether permanent damage to lungs and other organs can result. The virus is too new to know for sure.
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Follow AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner at @LindseyTanner.
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AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed from New York.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Millions of Kids Told Full Return to School in Fall Unlikely
By FREIDA FRISARO and DAVID CRARY
Des Moines Public Schools custodian Tracy Harris cleans a chair in a classroom at Brubaker Elementary School, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Des Moines, Iowa. School districts that plan to reopen classrooms in the fall are wrestling with whether to require teachers and students to wear face masks. In Iowa, among other places, where Democratic-leaning cities like Des Moines and Iowa City have required masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while smaller, more conservative communities have left the decision to parents. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Millions more children in the U.S. learned Friday that they’re unlikely to return to classrooms full time in the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic as death tolls reached new highs.
It came as many states — particularly in the Sunbelt — struggled to cope with the surge and governments worldwide tried to control fresh outbreaks. In a sign of how the virus is galloping around the globe, the World Health Organization reported nearly a quarter-million new infections in a single day.
In the U.S., teams of military medics were deployed in Texas and California to help hospitals deluged by coronavirus patients. The two most populous states each reported roughly 10,000 new cases and some of their highest death counts since the pandemic began. Big numbers in Florida, Arizona and other states also are helping drive the U.S. resurgence that’s forcing states to rethink the school year.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out strict criteria for school reopenings that makes classroom instruction unlikely for most districts. The Democrat’s rules mandate that students above second grade and all staff wear masks.
Texas gave public schools permission to stay closed for more than 5 million students well into the fall. Under the guidelines, schools can hold online-only instruction for up to the first eight weeks, potentially pushing a return to campus in some cities until November.
Most Chicago children would return to the classroom just two days a week and spend the other three days learning remotely under a tentative plan outlined by officials from the nation’s third-largest school district. A final decision for fall classes for the district’s more than 300,000 students won’t come until late August.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, announced she will override school districts and require students to spend at least half of their schooling in classrooms, drawing criticism from the state teachers union.
The uncertainty about the way to safely restart schools has parents like Ivette Garcia of Orange Park, Florida, struggling with what to do. When she learned her school district only had two options this fall, in-person or virtual lessons, she decided to keep her kindergarten son home. She plans to schedule instruction before and after work, with her parents reinforcing education in between.
“The schools’ start date is less than 30 days away. And I don’t feel that there’s a very great plan in place that makes me feel comfortable enough to send my baby to school and then return back to our family dynamic,” Garcia said.
Several states have been reporting record numbers of COVID-19 this week, contributing to a surge in the national death rate. The seven-day rolling average for daily new deaths has risen 34% from two weeks ago, while the case count in that period shot up 43%.
Texas reported a record 174 new deaths, and more than 10,000 additional cases for the fourth consecutive day. California’s nearly 10,000 confirmed cases were its third-highest daily total, and it recorded 130 deaths during a week of seesawing infection numbers.
Florida reported 128 new deaths Friday and 11,345 additional cases.
There were signs across the Sunbelt that the virus was stretching authorities’ capacity to respond. The medical examiner’s office in metro Phoenix has gotten portable storage coolers and ordered more to handle an influx of bodies — reminiscent of New York City at the height of the pandemic there.
In Houston, an 86-person Army medical team worked to take over a wing of United Memorial Medical Center. In California, military doctors, nurses and other health care specialists were being deployed to eight hospitals facing staffing shortages.
Some hospitals in South Carolina also were being squeezed: The number of patients with COVID-19 is increasing rapidly, while nurses and other workers are getting infected when they are off work, said Dr. Wendell James, a senior vice president with Prisma Health who is based in Greenville.
“The majority of the illness we see in our nursing staffs and our support staff is community spread,” he said. “Almost all of it I can’t control.”
In Florida, Miami-area authorities began stepping up enforcement of a mask requirement. Code and fire inspectors have authority to issue tickets of up to $100 for individuals and $500 for businesses not complying with guidelines to wear masks and practice social distancing. Police already had that power.
Shaun Alley, assistant manager of Blue Collar, a Miami comfort food restaurant, said all of the customers eat outside on picnic tables and are asked to wear masks when not eating.
“We tell people flat out: ‘Either you comply or we have the right not to serve you,’” he said. “We haven’t had any issues so far.”
At least half of all states have adopted requirements for wearing face coverings.
But in Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has banned cities and counties from requiring face coverings. He sued Atlanta late Thursday to prevent it from defying his order, and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she was prepared to go to court to maintain the requirement.
Globally, confirmed cases numbered more than 13.9 million Friday, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University, and COVID-19 deaths totaled more than 590,000. WHO reported a single-day record of new infections: over 237,000. Experts believe that the true numbers are even higher.
India’s total confirmed cases surpassed 1 million, the third-highest in the world — behind the United States and Brazil — and its death toll reached more than 25,000. That followed an announcement Thursday that its confirmed cases exceeded 2 million, including 76,000 deaths.
The surge in India — where experts believe the vast majority of cases are still being missed — drove home concerns over the readiness of some countries to cope with outbreaks that could test feeble health care systems.
In sub-Saharan Africa, which already had the world’s greatest shortage of medical personnel, nearly 10,000 health workers in 40 countries have been infected, WHO said.
In Spain, which was one of the hardest-hit countries earlier in the pandemic, health officials asked Barcelona’s 5.5 million residents to stay home as much as possible to stem the virus’s spread.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson charted a different course, announcing that as of Aug. 1, the government was no longer asking people to avoid public transit or work from home.
The U.K.’s official death toll, which stood at more than 45,000, has for several weeks been the highest in Europe.
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Crary reported from New York. Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report.
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Felony Charges Dropped for 87 Protesters Arrested at Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's Home
Billy Kobin
Kala Kachmar
Louisville Courier Journal
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell said Friday he is dismissing the felony charge that the 87 protesters arrested this week outside of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's home were facing.
Louisville Metro Police arrested protesters during the Tuesday afternoon demonstration outside of Cameron's Louisville home and charged them with intimidating a participant in the legal process, a Class D felony that is punishable by one to five years in prison.
The protesters also were charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, which are misdemeanors and violations with less-severe penalties.
"While we do believe the LMPD had probable cause for the charge, in the interest of justice and the promotion of the free exchange of ideas, we will dismiss that charge for each protester arrested this past Tuesday," O'Connell said Friday in a statement.
"We continue to review the misdemeanors and violations for prosecution at a later date. Pursuant to KRS 431.076, our office will assist the protesters in expunging the felony charge from their record thirty (30) days after the dismissal."
LMPD Spokeswoman Jessie Halladay said in a statement Friday they respect O'Connell's decision and appreciate that they agreed officers had probable cause for the felony charge.
However, ahead of O'Connell's announcement, several former prosecutors said the 87 protesters LMPD arrested were "overcharged" with a felony that doesn't legally apply to the situation — "a stretch," they said.
Celebrities, rappers, civil rights leaders:Who was arrested during protest at Daniel Cameron's home?
“I’ve never seen anyone charged with a felony for this type of behavior," said Leland Hulbert, a former assistant Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney who lead the office's first violent crime division. "It's somewhat unheard of."
Police explained the felony charge stemmed from protesters chanting "burn it down," as well as intel from commanders monitoring social media and intel commanders monitoring protests from social media heard protesters "state" their intent to "escalate" their actions.
Commanders monitoring protests from social media — before protesters arrived at Cameron's house — heard it was the intent of the protest to "escalate" their actions, which in the past has "indicted violent or destructive behavior," Washington said.
The protest was organized by Until Freedom, a national social justice organization. On Tuesday, the group met at Ballard High School and walked just less than a mile to Cameron's house in support of justice for Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman gunned down by Louisville police in her home on March 13.
The deaths of George Floyd, Taylor and Louisville barbecue owner David McAtee, who was killed by LMPD and the Kentucky National Guard on June 1 in his doorway, has lead to 51 straight days of protests in the city.
It's up to Cameron to decide whether to criminally charge the officers involved in Taylor's death: Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and officers Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove. During a press conference Monday, Cameron said he still has no timeline for when his office will conclude its investigation. He's had the case since May.
Records show Cameron and his fiance purchased the house on July 2, but it's unclear if they're living in it.
The protest
By all accounts, Tuesday's protest was peaceful. It was streamed live on Facebook.
Hulbert, now criminal defense attorney, said in his eight years as a prosecutor he's only seen the interfering charge used in extreme cases of intimidation that involve death threats or threats of gun violence.
"It's one of those stretches that, theoretically, could be manufactured," Hulbert said. "But I've never seen it charged that way — for something so peaceful."
Protesters assembled on Cameron's front lawn Tuesday afternoon wearing matching shirts. At one point, standing and linking arms, they announced that "white bodies" would form a circle around the Black protesters to protect and support them. They spent the latter part of the protest sitting in rows, chanting.
The 87 protesters who opted to stay on Cameron's property after police warned of criminal charges were still seated on the grass before their arrests.
By then, officers were stationed around the outer perimeter of the lawn and immediately in front of the house, essentially surrounding the protesters, according to a stream of the protest.
They were handcuffed, one by one, and walked off the lawn.
Rep. Jason Nemes, a Republican and an attorney who represents parts of Oldham and Jefferson counties, Tweeted on Thursday that the felony charges should be dropped.
"I've spoken against every protest at elected officials' homes that I know of. Whether it is McConnell, Beshear, or Cameron, it is dangerous. But charging a felony w/ no threat is ridiculous & stretches the statute. Prosecute trespassers, but the felony charge should be removed."
Property records show Cameron and his fiance bought the house on July 2, but it's not clear if they're living there.
Charging decision
Thursday morning, two days after the arrests, LMPD spokesman Sgt. Lamont Washington sent a press release explaining why the protesters were charged with the felony.
Commanders monitoring protests from social media — before protesters arrived at Cameron's house — heard it was the intent of the protest to "escalate" their actions, which in the past has "indicted violent or destructive behavior," Washington said.
Protesters were on Cameron's property for at least an hour before officers made arrests, the stream shows.
"When protestors arrived at the home, they entered the yard without consent, searched through his windows, and occupied the street. LMPD personnel confirmed with the Attorney General’s security detail that the protestors were not invited and should be removed," Washington said in the statement.
He also said they were warned if they didn't leave, there would be criminal charges.
LMPD also released two videos — one a clip of video from a police body camera that shows the protesters sitting on the lawn positioned at least 10 feet from the house chanting what police say was "burn it down."
The other appears to be a snippet from a protester who streamed the demonstration on Facebook. The video shows about 30 seconds of protesters chanting while gathered at the high school before the protest at Cameron's.
One chant was "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now."
Another was "If we don't get it, burn it down."
The 30-second clip LMPD sent out is part of a two-plus hour stream of the event that doesn't indicate any violence or disorderly behavior.
Protesters could be heard in the stream, while sitting on the ground, chanting things like "Say her name, Breonna Taylor," "I don't see a riot here so why are you in riot gear?" and "You can't stop the revolution."
Under Kentucky statutes, a person is guilty of intimidating a participant in the legal process "when, by use of physical force or a threat directed to a person he believes to be a participant in the legal process, he or she" does at least one of several things, such as:
Influences, or attempts to influence, the testimony, vote, decision or opinion of that person.
Induces, or attempts to induce, that person to withhold a record, document or other object from an official proceeding.
Hinders, delays or prevents the communication to a law enforcement officer or judge of information relating to the possible commission of an offense or a violation of conditions of probation, parole or release pending judicial proceedings.
"Force by definition can be actual or implied and is the power, violence or pressure directed against a person. Entry into the ground of another without consent is an example of implied force," Washington said.
Dave Stengel, a 30-year veteran prosecutor and former Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney for 16 years said LMPD overcharged, "pure and simple."
"If this is considered intimidating a participant, my God every time I step out the door someone could be charged," Stengel said, adding that he doesn't recall this charge coming across his desk.
Marc Murphy, a criminal defense attorney representing three protesters and a political cartoonist for The Courier Journal, said it would be "unreasonable and irrational" for anyone in the justice system not to look at the totality of the protest, both in its execution and planning.
"There’s a purpose for this statute. We don’t want witnesses or judges to have guns put to their heads," said Murphy, who is also a former Commonwealth's Attorney. "It's wildly inappropriate that this charge would have been used for what has been, in every regard, a peaceful protest."
Murphy said the group had a pre-meeting in an auditorium during which they were instructed about how the protest would take place.
"There was no evidence that a member of the protest group broke rank. There's no evidence there were any rogue elements," Murphy said.
Constitutional infringements
Murphy said the decision to charge for interfering with the legal process is an abuse of power and a police intimidation tactic.
"It would be difficult for me to believe this wasn’t meant to send a chilling effect as the protests continue," Murphy said. "This has raised the stakes — in the way we get punished for exercising our Constitutional rights."
Stengel said the charge is fraught with all sorts of problems, but the most concerning is the infringement on First Amendment rights.
"People have the right to redress government and peacefully assemble, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights," he said.
LMPD said the charging decision came from "commanders on the ground."
Both Hulbert and Murphy said it's unlikely this type of charge came from the rank-and-file.
“I think there are probably numerous parties involved," Hulbert said. "I think it went up the chain of command. How far up? I don’t know."
Follow Billy Kobin and Kala Kachmar on Twitter: @Billy_Kobin and @NewsQuip.
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Africa Requires Ethiopia Fill Its Dam
By Lawrence Freeman
July 17, 2020
Ethiopia is entering a crucial period for the future of its nation, as we approach the second half of July. Ethiopia must use the forthcoming rainy season (July to September) to begin the partial filling of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) being built on Ethiopia’s Blue Nile River. When fully completed, the GERD, Africa’s largest hydroelectric project is capable of producing over 6,000 megawatts (MW). This is not only a game changer for Ethiopia, but will contribute to transforming the Horn of Africa.
The Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile just north of Khartoum, Sudan, provides 86% of the water that becomes the Nile River. From there, the Nile flows north through the deserts of Sudan and Egypt before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. Ethiopia has been involved in intense discussions with Sudan and Egypt, downstream from the dam, about the amount of water to be withdrawn from the Blue Nile to begin filling the GERD’s 76 billion cubic meter storage/reservoir. Egypt continuously attempts to forestall the filling of the dam, alleging that since it is dependent on the Nile, if the volume of the Nile is reduced, its citizens will suffer irreparable harm. For most of the last century Egypt has received the majority of the Nile River’s 84 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water.
Electricity for Development
The GERD, which is 75% finished was entirely funded by the Ethiopian people, is a $5 billion water infrastructure project initiated in 2011. Its purpose is to provide much needed electricity to power Ethiopia’s transition from an agrarian dominated economy to one that encompasses manufacturing and industry. In the years ahead, Ethiopia envisions become a light manufacturing hub for Africa, increasing manufacturing output, and manufacturing jobs by 440%.
The functioning of the GERD is not an option for this emerging nation of 110 million people, but a categorical necessity.
As a physical economist, who has studied Africa for decades, and knows the key drivers of economic growth, I can tell you that nothing is more vital for the survival of Africa, than the production of electricity. Without abundant and accessible electricity, poverty and disease will not be eliminated. Poverty is the number one enemy of Africa and is the cause of immense suffering for hundreds of millions of Africans.
Approximately 600 million Africans, almost half of the continent’s population, are not connected to a central energy grid. The overwhelming majority of them reside in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). More than 65 million Ethiopians, 40-45% of the population, do not have access to electricity. While Ethiopia suffers from one of the lowest per capita levels of electrical energy consumption, Egypt’s population of 100 million has 100% access.
When completed, the GERD will increase Ethiopia’s power generation from its current level of 4,500 MW to close to 11,000 MW, which will make it the second largest energy producer in SAA, behind South Africa. Ethiopia has already entered into agreements to export its excess electricity to other nations in East Africa.
Ethiopia’s commitment to construct the GERD resonates with the same vision that compelled the nation to build the Addis-Ababa to Djibouti rail line; to expand their economy, eliminate poverty, and provide a meaningful future for their expanding young population.
While Ethiopia is blessed with several water systems, the Blue Nile provides between 70% of its surface water. Ethiopia suffers from water shortages, droughts, and food insecurity due to inadequate infrastructure and under development.
It is true that Egypt has one of the lowest water per capita consumption rates in the world at 570 cubic meters per year, well below the global average of 1,000. Ethiopia’s amount is a mere 125 cubic meters per capita, barely more than 20% of Egypt’s level.
However, the Ethiopia government has plainly stated that the intention of the GERD is not to provide water for irrigation or consumption. The motivation and sacrifice of the Ethiopian people in undertaking this mega infrastructure project is to provide electrical power for the purpose of developing their nation. Ethiopia intends on becoming a low-middle income nation. It can no longer allow its people to be without electricity, relegated to burning wood. Improving the lives of their citizens today and future generations is the objective of an operational GERD.
Sovereignty Versus Colonialism
The Blue Nile descends from Lake Tana, deep inside Ethiopia’s mountains, traveling through Ethiopia before entering Sudan. The GERD will capture Blue Nile waters about 40 meters before the Sudanese border. Ethiopia intends to fill the dam’s reservoir with 14.5 bcm of water over the first two years for testing. The withdrawing of this amount from the Blue Nile’s 49 bcm will not adversely affect downstream nations (Sudan, Egypt). In fact, the GERD will benefit these nations by regulating the flow of the Nile, preventing flooding, reducing silt, and decreasing evaporation.
Ethiopia has the wonderful distinction in Africa of having never been colonized. Unlike my beloved American July 4th, celebrating our independence from the British Empire, Ethiopia has no Independence Day. Instead, Ethiopia celebrates Adwa Day, March 1, 1896, when they defeated the Italian army on the battlefield in northern Ethiopia. Yet Ethiopia is fighting the remnants of British colonialism today in its determination to generate energy to free its people from the bondage of poverty.
Contrary to Egyptian claims, the negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan are not about water sharing or water allocation. There have been two water allocation agreements regarding the Nile waters, that involved only Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia was not a signatory nor participants to either accord, yet Egypt asserts historical rights over the Nile River, including Ethiopia’s Blue Nile. The most recent such agreement was in 1959, three years after Sudan’s independence from Britain, which recodified the 1929 British Imperialist agreement guaranteeing 55 bcm of Nile waters to Egypt and 18.5 bcm to Sudan. At the time of the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty, both Egypt and Sudan were colonies of Great Britain as stipulated by the 1899 Anglo-Egyptian Condominium. This treaty also “granted Egypt veto power over construction projects on the Nile or any of its tributaries in an effort to minimize any interference with the flow of water into the Nile.”
To maintain geo-political domination and control of trade along the eastern spine of Africa, Britain maintained authority over the Nile waters from Cairo down to Khartoum and beyond into southern Sudan.
Ethiopia, an independent nation was not subject to Britain’s edicts and retained sovereignty over the Blue Nile.
Thus, from whence does Egypt’s historical claim to dominance of the Nile originate.
In a statement signed by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, sent to the Honorable Congresswoman Karen Bass, Chair of the Black Caucus, dated May 19, 2020, Rev. Jackson reveals that Egypt’s “historical rights” over the Nile are derived from the British Queen.
He cites a letter dated May 7, 1929, from Mahmoud Pasha, Chairman of the Egyptian Council of Ministers, to the British requesting affirmation of Egypt’s “natural and historical” rights to the waters of the Nile. Lord Lloyd, Britain’s High Commissioner in Cairo, responded on behalf of the Queen:
“I would like to remind your Excellency [Mahmoud Pasha] that her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom has already recognized the natural and historical rights of Egypt to the waters of the Nile. I am entrusted with the responsibility of declaring that Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom considers the observance of these rights as a fundamental principle of the policy of Great Britain.”
Rev. Jackson stresses in his letter, that Ethiopia should not be pressured “into signing a neo-colonial agreement will make Egypt a hegemon over the Nile River.”
U.S. Gets Involved
In September, Egyptian President Al-Sisi requested U.S. assistance in negotiating the operation of the GERD. President Trump asked Treasury Department to host a series of meetings in Washington DC, beginning in November 2019. Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt attended along with a representative of the World Bank, with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, to act as an impartial observer, not a mediator. Ethiopia compromised by indicating they would extend the filling beyond 3 years, to 5-7 years and increased the amount of water to be released from 35 bcm to 40 bcm in seasons of healthy rain. With the negotiations failing to lead to a resolution, Ethiopia requested to postpone the February 27-28 meeting. The meeting proceeded without Ethiopia. Sudan and Egypt attending, but Egypt alone initialed an agreement prepared without Ethiopia’s input, which the Ethiopia Foreign Ministry characterized as “unacceptable and highly partisan.”
On February 28, 2020, an official statement from the US Treasury Department praised Egypt’s “readiness to sign the agreement,” and instructed Ethiopia that “final testing and filling should not take place without an agreement.” The next day, Ambassador Shinn (ret), former ambassador to Ethiopia, whose has spent decades in the State Department, questioned whether the U.S. was “putting its thumb on the scale in favor of Egypt.”
In a June 22, 2020 bipartisan letter addressed to Ambassador David Hale, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, seven former Assistant Secretaries of State for African Affairs, asked the U.S. to embrace neutrality regarding the GERD talks. They wrote:
“The U.S. position at this sensitive juncture will also have long term implications. It will either strengthen or seriously weaken our future relations with Ethiopia. While there is no question that resolution of the Nile issue will require flexibility and compromise on all sides, it is not politically viable for Prime Minister Abiy (or any Ethiopian politician) to indefinitely delay filling the GERD. However, the perception—rightly or wrongly—that the United States has sided with Egypt in the negotiations will limit our ability to support efforts aimed at reaching a settlement.”
Discussions Move to Africa
Egypt, not satisfied with the negotiating process, attempted to involve the United Nations in forcing an agreement on Ethiopia that violated its sovereignty over the GERD. On June 29, 2020, Egypt with the support of the U.S. brought the matter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The UNSC is not the normal forum to settle such matters, but Egyptians were hoping to mobilize international pressure against Ethiopia. The UNSC has instead preferred to have the African Union (AU) resolve the issue of Ethiopia’s right to operate the GERD. On the previous Friday, June 26, the Extraordinary African Union Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government conducted a video-teleconference meeting on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat noted that more than 90% of the issues between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan had been resolved.
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the AU is committed to have “an African led process in the spirit of African solutions to African problems.”
In a June 23rd statement, the U.S. Congressional Caucus emphasized the pivotal role of the AU in these tripartite negotiations. They went on to discuss the importance of the GERD for Africa.
The GERD project will have a positive impact on all countries involved and help combat food security and lack of electricity and power, supply more fresh water to more people, and stabilize and grow the economies of the region.”
The Conference of Black Mayors, in a June 29th statement, expressed their support for the filling of the GERD
“Today, on behalf of global leaders throughout the African diaspora that hold the office of mayor, the Conference of Black Mayors released the following statement in support of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the impact GERD would have on Conference of Black Mayors member cities…
“It is known that Ethiopia generates 86% of the Nile waters but has been unable to use this considerable natural resource effectively in the past. Now, following more than a decade of impressive economic growth, Ethiopia desires to utilize its naturally endowed resource for its nation’s critical growth and development. Countries throughout Africa are in dire need of electric power to enable and sustain their respective nations rise out of poverty. The creation of a sustainable energy source will create a national infrastructure that directly contributes to the wellbeing of citizens our mayors represents through our global mayors’ association…
“We strongly support a timely fill of the dam without further delays to avoid the economic impact on Ethiopia and neighboring countries.”
Ethiopia is desirous to cooperate with downstream nations, but it will not have its sovereignty violated by having the operation of the GERD jointly managed or contingent on the requirements of water for Egypt’s downstream High Aswan Dam.
Ethiopia should and will begin filling the GERD. It would be irresponsible not to use this year’s rainy season to begin filling the reservoir, with the dam already 75% constructed. Ethiopia’s leadership will not disappoint the aspirations of the Ethiopian people, who view the GERD as emblematic of their national identity, and a critical vehicle to raise their standard of living and secure a more prosperous future for their posterity.
Ethiopia’s use of the word Renaissance in describing its new dam is not metaphorical. When fully functional, the GERD will lead to a rejuvenation of Ethiopia’s economy and that of its neighboring nations.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 8:29 PM No comments:
Africa’s Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Surpass 664,051: Africa CDC
By xinhuanet.com
Jul 17, 2020
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 664,051 as of Friday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC in its latest situation update issued on Friday said that the death toll from the pandemic surged from 14,044 on Thursday to 14,399 as of Friday.
The Africa CDC further said that 345,320 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have so far recovered from the infectious virus.
Amid the rapid spread of the virus across the continent, the highly affected African countries in terms of positive cases include South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Ghana.
The Africa CDC also said that the Southern Africa region is the most affected area across the continent in terms of positive COVID-19 cases, followed by the North Africa region.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 8:26 PM No comments:
IOM to Help Nigeria Reduce COVID-19 Risk in IDP Camps
By Ghana News Agency
Jul 17, 2020
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday it is extending its water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) operations to decrease the risk of COVID-19 spreading in densely populated camps for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the restive northeast Nigeria.
In a statement sent to Xinhua in Lagos, Teshager Tefera, IOM Nigeria WASH program manager, said the virus continues to disrupt the health, public life, and livelihoods in Africa’s most populous country.
The new IOM project will help prevent and control COVID-19 infections in three areas in Borno state with high concentrations of displaced persons and areas also deemed high-risk for disease spread, Terefa said.
“Without the availability of sanitation facilities and hygiene materials, IDPs are extremely vulnerable to disease transmission,” the official said.
According to Tefera, services will reach an estimated 420,000 IDPs in 120 camps and nearby communities in Maiduguri, Konduga, and Damasak in Borno state.
The project will supply clean and safe water, as well as 22,000 hygiene kits with soap, buckets, and other items, to populations at risk, he added.
Borno, the state which has witnessed continuous attacks by non-state armed groups for the past decade, is home to about 80 percent of the estimated 840,000 internally displaced persons, said Tefera.
He said the displaced persons “live in makeshift and temporary shelters in overcrowded conditions where physical distancing is difficult, if not impossible,” adding the impact of an outbreak among the displaced populations in this area could be devastating.
According to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, the country recorded 595 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total infections to 34,854 cases, of which 593 cases are in Borno.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 8:22 PM No comments:
GMA and College of Surgeons Caution Against the Use of Face Shields Without Nose Masks
By Ghana News Agency
Jul 17, 2020
The Fellows and Members of the Ghana Chapter of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) and the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) have noted with alarm the increasing use of face shields without masks as protection against COVID-I9.
This, according to the group, was a dangerous trend that must be discontinued by the public with immediate effect as it could lead to increased cases of COVID-19 in the country.
The made this known in a joint press release signed by Dr. Frank Ankobea, President of GMA and Professor Peter Donkor, 1st Vice-President and Country Representative of WACS and copied to the GNA.
They advised the public to wear masks at all times regardless of the face shields explained that the use of face shields alone (without a face mask) does not give the user the needed protection against COVID-19 especially, in the light of potential air borne spread of the virus from emerging scientific evidence.
“Face shields protect against splashes, and may be added to a mask and should not be used as a replacement for masks in protecting against COVID-19”, they enlightened.
They noted that there were unsubstantiated reports on some social media platforms about a decrease in blood oxygen concentration and a buildup of carbon dioxide when one uses a mask and debunked the assertion.
“As Medical Doctors, especially Surgeons, we wear face masks all the time in the course of work and no such derangements have been observed. We therefore entreat the public to disregard the social media report”, they emphasized.
They called for the rigorous enforcement of the “No mask-No entry” policy and said a face shield was not a mask and that the use of face shields without mask should not be encouraged and must be stopped.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 8:18 PM No comments:
Students Advised Against Lending Textbooks to Friends
By Ghana News Agency
Jul 17, 2020
Ms Rejoice Biscoff, the Birim Central Municipal Director for National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has advised students to avoid lending their textbooks to their friends to prevent the possibility of transferring the virus to one another.
She advised the students to stop stigmatization against victims of the coronavirus because it was discouraging and would not positively contribute to the efforts in the reduction of the spread of the virus.
Ms Biscoff was speaking with students when she toured Senior and Junior High Schools in the municipality under the third phase of the Accountability, Rule of law and Anti – Corruption Programme (ARAP).
The ARAP is to educate students and the public on good environmental governance necessary to help combat COVID-19 pandemic.
The programme is being implemented by the NCCE and the Municipal Health Directorate.
Mr Samuel Nakote, the Assistant Headteacher of Oda Islamic Junior High School (JHS) assured that teachers would do their best to ensure that students adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols and also urged parents to do likewise.
The schools visited include Oda Old Town Methodist JHS, St. Andrew JHS, Frimpong Manso JHS, and Birim L/A JHS.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 8:14 PM No comments:
Twelve Students and Health Workers in Ahafo Region Recover from COVID-19
By Ghana News Agency
Jul 17, 2020
Six out of the 10 Senior High School (SHS) students who tested positive for coronavirus in the Ahafo region in three schools of the Ahafo region have recovered.
Two are currently on admission at the treatment centre and the other two isolated in their school, while six out of the 24 Health workers, who also tested positive have also recovered and the remaining 18 in self- isolation.
Dr Boakye Boateng, Ahafo Regional Director of the Health who confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA)in Sunyani explained that five of the cases were recorded from a school at the Tano South, where two of the patients were discharged with one on admission at the treatment centre and the other two in isolation in their school.
He said at Tano North, all the four Covid-19 students had recovered and were discharged, while at Kenyasi in the Asutifi North, one case was recorded and was isolated at a health centre.
Dr Boateng said measures were in place to inform parents whose wards tested positive to cooperate with the health officials to offer psychosocial support and build the capacity of school counsellors to support the work of the health directorate and the Assemblies.
He said issues were diplomatically carried out to prevent parents from rushing into the schools for their wards.
Dr Boateng called on the public, particularly students to adhere to the safety protocols to curtail the spread of the virus.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 7:28 PM No comments:
Rather Endure the Discomfort Than Die a Waste – Miss NAFAC2019
By Ghana News Agency
Jul 17, 2020
Miss Adwoa Ahenewaa Nti, the Queen and face of the National Festival of Arts and Culture(NAFAC-2019) has told the public to endure the discomfort that comes with the novel Coronavirus than die and waste away.
She said the public should find it prudent to strictly adhere to all the laid down directives and protocols of the COVID-19 and not give in to chances to save them their priceless lives.
She noted that the wearing of nose masks needed to become a part of our lives even though it was extremely sometimes uncomfortable.
Likewise social and physical distancing and frequent washing of hands but urged all especially markets women and sellers to religiously do so to save themselves and others from the virus.
The Queen of NAFAC- 2019 as part of her project was extending COVID -19 Campaigns in markets nationwide, distributed some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to some market folks as the Thursday Market, the Ntsin Castle area and the Anafo market.
On why the education targeted traders, Mrs. Ama Amponsah Paintsil, the National Public Relations Officer for The National Commission for Arts and Culture said most market folks appear oblivious about the pandemic and most of them do not pay particular attention to how dangerous it could be.
She encouraged all to wear their nose masks properly and also resort to good practices at the markets adding that, “we need you alive, your mask can save your life, wear it anytime you are in public, do not joke and leave your children, orphans”.
The PRO pleaded with all to make masks wearing a priority because they may not know exactly who was a carrier and again urged that they thoroughly washed their hands and used hand sanitizers in times where there was no water.
For her part, Dr Salimatu Alhassan, the Acting Regional Director of Cape Coast Center for National Culture said there was the need for the Government to resource the cultural sector to help uphold values, educate and make Ghana a great nation.
“Let’s hold on to our very own and support the activities of the NAFAC and in the long run we will learn the various cultures in our country and appreciate its beauty for national development.” She further indicated.
Thursday, July 16, 2020
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WHO and UNICEF Warn of a Decline in Vaccinations During COVID-19
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Herald Reporter
The World Health Organization and UNICEF warned on Wednesday of an alarming decline in the number of children receiving life-saving vaccines around the world.
This is due to disruptions in the delivery and uptake of immunization services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to new data by WHO and UNICEF, these disruptions threaten to reverse hard-won progress to reach more children and adolescents with a wider range of vaccines, which has already been hampered by a decade of stalling coverage.
The latest data on vaccine coverage estimates from WHO and UNICEF for 2019 shows that improvements such as the expansion of the HPV vaccine to 106 countries and greater protection for children against more diseases are in danger of lapsing.
For example, preliminary data for the first four months of 2020 points to a substantial drop in the number of children completing three doses of the vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3). This is the first time in 28 years that the world could see a reduction in DTP3 coverage – the marker for immunization coverage within and across countries.
“Vaccines are one of the most powerful tools in the history of public health, and more children are now being immunized than ever before,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“But the pandemic has put those gains at risk. The avoidable suffering and death caused by children missing out on routine immunizations could be far greater than COVID-19 itself. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Vaccines can be delivered safely even during the pandemic, and we are calling on countries to ensure these essential life-saving programmes continue.”
COVID-19 disruptions
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at least 30 measles vaccination campaigns were or are at risk of being cancelled, which could result in further outbreaks in 2020 and beyond.
According to a new UNICEF, WHO and Gavi pulse survey, conducted in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control, the Sabin Vaccine Institute and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, three quarters of the 82 countries that responded reported COVID-19 related disruptions in their immunization programmes as of May 2020. The reasons for disrupted services vary. Even when services are offered, people are either unable to access them because of reluctance to leave home, transport interruptions, economic hardships, restrictions on movement, or fear of being exposed to people with COVID-19. Many health workers are also unavailable because of restrictions on travel or redeployment to COVID response duties as well as a lack of protective equipment.
“COVID-19 has made previously routine vaccination a daunting challenge,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “We must prevent a further deterioration in vaccine coverage and urgently resume vaccination programs before children’s lives are threatened by other diseases. We cannot trade one health crisis for another.”
Stagnating global coverage rate
Progress on immunization coverage was stalling before COVID-19 hit, at 85 per cent for DTP3 and measles vaccines. The likelihood that a child born today will be fully vaccinated with all the globally recommended vaccines by the time she reaches the age of 5 is less than 20 per cent.
In 2019, nearly 14 million children missed out on life-saving vaccines such as measles and DTP3. Most of these children live in Africa and are likely to lack access to other health services. Two-thirds of them are concentrated in 10 middle- and low-income countries: Angola, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Philippines. Children in middle-income countries account for an increasing share of the burden.
Progress and challenges, by country and region
There has been some progress. Regional coverage for the third dose of DTP in South Asia has increased by 12 percentage points over the last 10 years, notably across India, Nepal and Pakistan. However, that hard-won progress could be undone by COVID-19 related disruptions. Countries that had recorded significant progress, such as Ethiopia and Pakistan, are now also at risk of backsliding if immunization services are not restored as soon as feasible.
The situation is especially concerning for Latin America and the Caribbean, where historically high coverage has slipped over the last decade. In Brazil, Bolivia, Haiti and Venezuela, immunization coverage plummeted by at least 14 percentage points since 2010. These countries are now also confronting moderate to severe COVID19-related disruptions.
As the global health community attempts to recover lost ground due to COVID-19 related disruptions, UNICEF and WHO are supporting countries in their efforts to reimagine immunization and build back better by:
Restoring services so countries can safely deliver routine immunization services during the COVID-19 pandemic, by adhering to hygiene and physical distancing recommendations and providing protective equipment to health workers;
Helping health workers communicate actively with caregivers to explain how services have been reconfigured to ensure safety;
Rectifying coverage and immunity gaps;
Expanding routine services to reach missed communities, where some of the most vulnerable children live.
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Georgia Gov. Sues to End Cities’ Defiance on Mask Rules
By JEFF AMY and BEN NADLER
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp prepares to sign House and Senate bills at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital where the hospital opened a new Emergency Room space, Thursday, July 16, 2020, in Marietta, Ga. Mayors in Atlanta and other Georgia cities deepened their defiance of Gov. Kemp on Thursday, saying they want their requirements for people to wear masks in public to remain in place, even after the Republican governor explicitly forbade cities and counties from mandating face coverings.(AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta’s mayor and city council to block the city from enforcing its mandate to wear a mask in public and other rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, in a suit filed in state court late Thursday in Atlanta, argue that Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has overstepped her authority and must obey Kemp’s executive orders under state law.
“Governor Kemp must be allowed, as the chief executive of this state, to manage the public health emergency without Mayor Bottoms issuing void and unenforceable orders which only serve to confuse the public,” the lawsuit states.
Kemp on Wednesday clarified his executive orders to expressly block Atlanta and at least 14 other local governments across the state from requiring people to wear face coverings.
Kemp’s order was met with defiance Thursday by Bottoms and some other mayors, who said they would continue enforcing the order. The lawsuit forces that showdown, resolving an ambiguous situation with Kemp denying local governments could order masks, but local governments arguing it was within their power.
Bottoms said Thursday during a video news conference that the city’s order is still in effect.
“As of today, 3,104 Georgians have died and I and my family are amongst the 106,000 who have tested positive for COVID-19,” Bottoms said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed. “A better use of taxpayer money would be to expand testing and contact tracing. If being sued by the state is what it takes to save lives in Atlanta, then we will see them in court.”
The state asks a judge to overturn Bottoms’ orders that are more restrictive than Kemp’s, block her from issuing any more such orders, instruct the City Council not to ratify Bottoms’ actions or adopt any ordinances inconsistent with Kemp, to force Bottoms not to make any public statements claiming she has authority that exceeds Kemp’s, and to require city officials to enforce “all provisions” of Kemp’s existing orders.
In filing the lawsuit, Kemp combined a previous dispute with Bottoms over policing in the city with coronavirus control. He said he was suing to protect business owners and employees in the same way he called out the National Guard last week to protect state office buildings and the governor’s mansion after an 8-year-old girl was fatally shot July 4 by armed men at a site where a white Atlanta police officer shot and killed a Black man who had grabbed a stun gun and ran.
The shooting of Rayshard Brooks prompted unrest, including the burning of the fast food restaurant at the site, and complaints that armed people were blocking traffic with no police intervention. The city struggled at times to provide officers after many called in sick when a prosecutor, over Bottoms’ objection, criminally charged the officers involved.
Kemp also alleged in his lawsuit that Bottoms has forbidden police from enforcing Kemp’s earlier orders against gatherings of more than 50 people.
Officials in at least 15 Georgia cities and counties had ordered masks during the coronavirus pandemic, and many were angry at Kemp for swatting down their efforts.
“How can we take care of our local needs when our state ties our hands behind our back and then says ‘Ignore the advice of experts?’” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson asked in a news conference.
Bottoms last week made statements that people had to return to sheltering at home and forcing restaurants to return to only offering takeout and delivery. Kemp quickly swatted those claims down, and Bottoms on Thursday described them as guidelines. But Kemp’s lawsuit says the court should set Bottoms straight on those statements as well, and forbid her from making more claims about her power to reporters.
Kemp says he strongly supports mask-wearing to combat the spread of COVID-19 infections. He traveled the state this month to encourage face coverings. But he has maintained for weeks that cities and counties can’t require masks in public places, saying local actions can’t be more or less restrictive than his statewide orders.
Wednesday, in an otherwise routine renewal of rules governing business operations and ordering medically vulnerably people to stay home, Kemp made that prohibition explicit. He also said local governments could not order masks on their own property, which would include Atlanta’s massive airport.
Although national health officials have called on people to use masks, President Donald Trump’s administration has not issued any nationwide guidance. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia now require masks.
Kemp’s stance — not only shying away from a statewide order but trying to bar local governments from instituting their own — leaves him standing virtually alone. In the South, Republican governors in Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida have resisted statewide mandates but allow local jurisdictions to implement them. Republican governors in Alabama, Arkansas and Texas and Democrats in Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina have issued statewide mask requirements.
Thursday’s numbers showed more than 2,800 people hospitalized statewide with the COVID-19 respiratory illness, the highest on record. The state reported that 84% of hospitals’ critical beds were filled.
Georgia overall had more than 131,000 confirmed infections and more than 3,100 deaths overall as of Thursday.
Some business groups are supporting Kemp. Georgia Restaurant Association Executive Director Kelly Bremer said Thursday that a statewide mandate isn’t appropriate considering Georgia’s size and diversity. But she also said local rules would be confusing and businesses should make their own decisions about requiring customers to wear masks.
“For businesses to grapple with 535 different municipal ordinances and 159 different county ordinances is madness,” Bremer said. “Having one set of guidelines is very important.”
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Nadler reported from Marietta, Georgia. Associated Press writer Haleluya Hadero contributed to this report.
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Georgia Gov. Explicitly Voids Mask Orders in 15 Localities
By JEFF AMY and BEN NADLER
July 15, 2020
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at the Georgia Cancer Center in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, July 2, 2020, as part of his "Wear a Mask" Fly-Around Tour to promote the wearing of masks as COVID numbers rise in Georgia. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Gov. Brian Kemp is explicitly banning Georgia’s cities and counties from ordering people to wear masks in public places. He voided orders on Wednesday that at least 15 local governments across the state had adopted even though Kemp had earlier said cities and counties had no power to order masks.
An increasing number of other states order residents to wear masks in public, including Alabama, which announced such a ban Wednesday.
The Republican governor has instead been trying to encourage voluntary mask wearing, including telling fans that reduced infections from mask-wearing would make college football season possible.
Kemp’s move is likely to infuriate local officials in communities that had acted, including Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, Rome and the governor’s hometown of Athens-Clarke County. Overall, mask orders by Wednesday were covering 1.4 million of Georgia’s more than 10 million residents.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson was the first local official to defy Kemp and order masks, and had said police would start writing $500 citations to businesses that didn’t enforce the law.
“It is officially official. Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us,” Johnson wrote on Twitter Wednesday night. “Every man and woman for himself/herself. Ignore the science and survive the best you can.”
Kemp’s new order also bans local governments from requiring masks on public property, which void requirements that some governments have imposed for citizens to wear masks inside city and county buildings.
Kemp was among the first governors to ease earlier restrictions, and while infections declined for weeks afterwards, they began to rise in June. Wednesday’s numbers showed nearly 2,800 people hospitalized statewide with the COVID-19 respiratory illness, the highest on record and a number that’s nearly doubled since the beginning of the month. The state reports 84% of hospitals’ available critical beds are in use, although some hospitals say they have opened up more space and have more room.
Georgia overall had nearly 128,000 confirmed infections and nearly 3,100 deaths overall as of Wednesday, although experts say many more people get the illness but are never tested. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. Most recover, but some can become severely ill or die.
Local officials and Democrats had argued cities and counties had the power to move ahead because Kemp hadn’t specifically banned mask orders. His orders barred local governments from enacting any coronavirus restrictions beyond his orders and he called the local mask mandates “legally unenforceable.”
“It is increasingly clear from medical and scientific data that droplet and aerosol transmission of COVID-19 are an enormous community risk, so I made the decision to supplement the governor’s order with a local mask requirement to provide for greater community safety,” Kelly Girtz, mayor of the Athens-Clarke County unified government, said in an email.
The back-and-forth comes as rising hospitalizations have the state seeking new hospital beds to handle the record-setting number of people admitted with the virus. Kemp’s administration on Tuesday signed a deal with Piedmont Healthcare, one of four large hospital systems in the Atlanta area, to open 62 beds in a new tower at the system’s main Atlanta hospital. The state is providing nurses to staff the beds off a contract with a private staffing company. A Kemp spokesperson on Wednesday could not immediately say how much the state was paying Piedmont or how long the deal would last.
The Republican governor previously announced plans to reopen an overflow hospital at the mammoth Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta.
The trend of deaths had hit a low in Georgia on July 9, when the state averaged only 12 newly reported deaths a day over the previous week. Newly reported deaths sometimes happen weeks earlier. But the trend of deaths has since been rising, following upward trends in cases and hospitalizations that began in early June. Georgia is now averaging 24 deaths over the past week, the highest level in nearly four weeks.
Kemp on Wednesday extended some parts of his executive orders governing the state’s response to the pandemic until July 31. It extends the ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, renews rules about how businesses can operate and orders nursing home residents, senior home residents and other people with medical conditions to shelter in place. The overall state of emergency will run through at least Aug. 11.
Other governments are taking steps on their own property. Macon-Bibb County on Tuesday closed park pavilions, sports fields, basketball courts, and playgrounds to reduce virus transmission.
Kemp said Wednesday that the federal government has sent 32,600 vials of the antiviral drug remdesivir, which has been shown to aid people with infections. Kemp said that was enough to treat up to 5,400 patients. The governor said that from now on, hospitals will generally be able to buy the drug directly, although smaller federal shipments to Georgia will continue.
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Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
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Virus Prompts Drastic Measures as Death Tolls Set Records
By NOMAAN MERCHANT, JEFFREY COLLINS and ARITZ PARRA
A healthcare worker gathers information from a patient at a United Memorial Medical Center COVID-19 testing site Thursday, July 16, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
HOUSTON (AP) — The coronavirus kept surging in hot spots around the U.S. on Thursday, with one city in South Carolina urging people to pray it into submission, a hospital in Texas bringing in military medical personnel and morgues running out of space in Phoenix.
Record numbers of confirmed infections and deaths emerged again in states in the South and West, with hospitals stretched to the brink and fears worldwide that the pandemic’s resurgence is only getting started.
Texas reported 10,000 new cases for the third straight day and 129 additional deaths. The state has seen a third of its more than 3,400 total COVID-19 fatalities in the first two weeks of July alone.
Florida reached another ominous record, with 156 virus deaths, and health officials reported a staggering 13,965 new cases.
South Carolina confirmed 69 deaths, more than double any other day. In Louisiana, where officials thought they had contained the virus earlier this year only to become a hot spot again, it’s averaged more than 2,000 new confirmed infections a day over the past week.
Many of the governors leading states with the highest rising numbers had refused to mandate masks in public or prevented local officials doing so. While a number of them have reversed course — including Arkansas’ Republican governor — and at least 25 states now have mask rules, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp banned cities and counties from requiring face coverings and then sued Atlanta to prevent the city from defying his order.
Georgia’s capital and 14 other cities had ordered masks be worn, but the Republican governor has maintained that no local directive can be more or less restrictive than his statewide mandates.
“How can we take care of our local needs when our state ties our hands behind our back and then says, ‘Ignore the advice of experts?’” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson told reporters. He later added: “If you don’t want to protect us, then allow us the opportunity to protect ourselves.”
Arizona, meanwhile, has been so hard hit by the virus, the medical examiner’s office in metro Phoenix has gotten portable storage coolers and ordered more to handle an influx of bodies — reminiscent of New York City at the height of the pandemic there earlier this year.
The Arizona agency’s regular morgue storage was 63% full Thursday. Marcy Flanagan, executive director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, said many funeral homes are at capacity and unable to accept more bodies.
In Texas, the rising numbers are hitting big cities like Houston as well as smaller communities along the Mexico border. This month, Hidalgo County, about 220 miles (354 kilometers) south of San Antonio on the border, has reported more deaths than Houston’s Harris County.
Dr. Ivan Melendez, Hidalgo County’s public health authority, said it’s not uncommon for the body of a COVID-19 patient to lay on a stretcher for 10 hours before it can be removed in the overcrowded hospitals where intensive care space is running short.
“Before someone gets a bed in the COVID ICU unit, someone has to die there,” Melendez said.
Elsewhere in the second-largest state, health officials in San Antonio also turned to refrigerated trailers to store the dead, and soldiers prepared to take over a COVID-19 wing of a Houston hospital.
An 86-person Army team of doctors, nurses and support staff was setting up a nursing station at United Memorial Medical Center and expected to begin treating up to 40 patients in the coming days.
Some of the soldiers from around the country wore their uniforms. Others wore scrubs affixed with strips of surgical tape that had their ranks, names and medical titles.
“This facility, working with the United States military, is something that we asked for,” said U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat, standing near the soldiers as they worked. “We have exhausted medical personnel that we’re so grateful to, but we didn’t have enough.”
In South Carolina, where the coronavirus crisis was deepening, the mayor of Charleston asked for spiritual help.
“We do turn to God at a time like this,” Mayor John Tecklenburg said.
Declaring a day of prayer and remembrance in what for centuries has been nicknamed the Holy City for the number of church steeples dotting its colonial skyline, Tecklenburg was surrounded by pastors of various faiths who prayed for the dead, the sick, their families, health care workers, scientists seeking a vaccine and politicians.
Charleston is one of the biggest hot spots in a state that’s among the worst in the nation for the rate of new cases. South Carolina is a microcosm of how the virus has been playing out in the U.S. the past few months. Nearly 39% of the more than 62,000 known cases in the state have been diagnosed in the past two weeks.
South Carolina has set records for COVID-19 hospitalizations nearly every day this month. The 69 deaths reported Thursday pushed it well past 1,000 people killed by the virus, the 25th state to cross that somber threshold.
More than 13.5 million infections have been confirmed worldwide and over 588,000 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The numbers are likely higher for a number of reasons, including limited testing.
Elsewhere around the world:
— Brazil’s health ministry reported that the country had passed 2 million confirmed infections and 76,000 deaths. Since late May, Brazil has recorded more than 1,000 daily deaths on average in a gruesome plateau that has yet to tilt downward.
— With Europe’s summer vacation season kicking into high gear for millions weary of months of lockdown, scenes of drunken British and German tourists on Spain’s Mallorca island ignoring social distancing rules and reports of American visitors flouting quarantine measures in Ireland raised fears of a resurgence of infections.
— In France, which has seen new outbreaks, Prime Minister Jean Castex said masks would be mandatory in closed public places as of next week — sooner than Aug. 1 as previously announced.
— India’s record daily increase of nearly 32,700 cases pushed its total close to 1 million and led authorities to reimpose a three-day lockdown and nightly curfew in the popular western beach state of Goa, two weeks after it was reopened to tourists.
___
Parra reported from Madrid and Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 9:46 PM No comments:
China’s Q2 GDP Growth Crushes Washington’s Lies: Global Times Editorial
Global Times
2020/7/16 22:48:40
People walk to shop at the Chuhehan Street in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province on May 10, 2020. The city announced to disburse 500 million yuan ($71 million) worth of "consumption coupons" to residents to help restart the economy after a two-month lockdown. Photo: Li Hao/GT
China's GDP grew by 3.2 percent in the second quarter. It is a reflection of China's remarkable performance on epidemic control. Chinese authorities also announced on Thursday that cinemas in low-risk areas will reopen - the vast majority of China is under low risk right now.
The 3.2-percent growth is definitely one of the best in the world. More importantly, it was achieved during China's consolidated epidemic prevention. In this period, small outbreaks of infections appeared in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and capital Beijing, but they were quickly put out before affecting the economy across the country.
That was totally a different story from the US, which forcibly reopened economy regardless of the actual condition, and thus lost control of the epidemic. China has developed an effective mechanism to combine epidemic prevention and economic recovery, assuring its economic activities won't lead to resurgence of the epidemic. Thanks to this mechanism, China continues to improve, and the country is on track to the sustainable revitalization of its economy.
China has done a sound exploration. It offered the world a lesson on how to maintain zero new infections while simultaneously steadily reopening business. China's relatively quick recovery provided precious impetus to the gloomy world economy. We hope Washington does not get jealous with China's achievement, but instead learn from China's strong points to offset its own weakness.
China should not be complacent. Our economy is still a long way from full recovery, with a lot of service industries - from transportation to tourism and movies - yet to be restored. Precise epidemic prevention still has room to become more effective. Only after a series of improvements will China's mechanism of epidemic prevention and production recovery be more effective and adaptive in the long-term fight against the epidemic.
The impact of the epidemic on the economy is considerable. Some companies have closed, while others have suffered from sluggish operations. Many people have felt the pain of reduced income. China needs to be able to eliminate the impact of the epidemic while achieving zero new cases, remove the excessive epidemic prevention efforts of local governments, accelerate the expansion of domestic demand, and further translate the epidemic prevention achievements into all-round economic and social prosperity. This is a big challenge.
Facts speak louder than words. China's achievements and prosperity in the fight against the epidemic will eventually crush all kinds of lies made by the US, prompting world public opinion to seriously consider: Why is China able to do all this, and how absurd is the US' blame game, and what a terrible consequence of self-deception?
The US' almost hysterical strategic suppression of China has severely impacted the international environment China is facing. China for now cannot feel complacent because it has done a better job than the US in some aspects, nor should it feel annoyed about US lies spreading across the world. To accelerate the reversal of international public opinion, we must sustain our performance, which is far better than that of the US, in the protracted epidemic fight, to crush the hooligan acts of the US.
The global economic community is quite pessimistic about the US situation in the second quarter. It's widely predicted that the US will suffer a double-digit negative growth. That figure will be released soon, and Washington will face enormous pressure. It's highly likely that the US will continue to perform worse than China in the third quarter. The gap between the two would greatly squeeze the room that Washington can make China into a scapegoat and fool the Americans.
China's most powerful tool to deal with the US is to do its own things well. China should make the Chinese people satisfied as much as possible. As long as this is achieved, the room and gimmicks that the outside world could use to attack us will be greatly reduced. We will find that the attacks from the outside are not so important. China, first of all, is a country that serves its people.
Posted by Pan-African News Wire at 9:41 PM No comments:
Why US Democratic System Can’t Prevent Extreme China Policy
By Li Qingqing
Global Times
2020/7/16 22:33:40
The US' internal divisions are intensifying, but American politicians have at least reached a high degree of consensus on one thing - to act tough against China.
The Financial Times on Wednesday published an opinion piece titled "America's eerie lack of debate about China." The US has the advantage of "raucousness of its public discourse," the article read, but "on the China question, it is troublingly civilized."
There seems to be a serious malfunction in the US democratic system. One advantage of the US democratic system is supposed to be the full debate of policies to avoid any extreme strategy. Pros and cons are carefully weighed. But this is not the case when it comes to the China question. Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the two 2020 presidential candidates, are fiercely competing on who is tougher on China. As the election approaches, American politicians' frequent and reckless criticism of China has reached an unprecedented level.
The US' China policy has deteriorated rapidly after Trump took office. Attacking China seems to be the only work that US politicians and senior officials engage in every day. Toughness against Beijing has already become political correctness in Washington. Such an extreme mind-set has almost hijacked the US, squeezing out the rational and objective voices toward China. The atmosphere of the US' China policy is distorted.
Such a distorted atmosphere has deprived US voters of their right to choose - after all, the US democratic system should have provided voters with a choice as the country claims. But the voters have to face two presidential candidates accusing the other of being weaker on China. The space for internal debates on the US' China policy is disappointingly shrinking.
US policy on China lacks debate, and some US politicians cannot even bear any rational voice. Isn't that a kind of tyranny? Every day, the White House would come up with some new policies targeting China, or sanctions against China. Yet, the US political system is unable to curb this vicious trend. Many Chinese scholars and students are purged by US authorities - including some Chinese Americans - under the sweeping anti-China strategy of Washington.
China hopes to build a win-win relationship with the US, but Washington rejects the idea. It is pursuing decoupling at the risk of bringing huge losses to both sides and great uncertainty to global strategic stability.
Such an extreme and abnormal mind-set has dragged China-US relations to the worst stage since the two countries established diplomatic relations. As a superpower, can the US only try to maintain its leading position through demonizing and suppressing its rivals? If the US cannot face China objectively and adopt a more inclusive mentality, US democratic system will hardly help the country avoid making the worst strategy.
Pan-African News Wire
The Pan-African News Wire is an international electronic press service designed to foster intelligent discussion on the affairs of African people throughout the continent and the world. The press agency was founded in January of 1998 and has published thousands of articles and dispatches in newspapers, magazines, journals, research reports, blogs and websites throughout the world. The PANW represents the only daily international news source on pan-african and global affairs. PANW editor Abayomi Azikiwe is often solicited by various newspaper, radio and television stations for comment and analysis on local, national and world affairs. He has served as a political analyst for Press TV and RT worldwide satellite television news networks as well as other international media in the areas of African and world affairs. He has appeared on numerous television and radio networks including Press TV, RT, Al Jazeera, China Global Television Network, BBC, NPR, Radio Netherlands, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, South Africa Radio 786, Belgian Pirate Radio, TVC Nigeria and others.
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APO Group - Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
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Abayomi Azikiwe, Pan-African News Wire Editor
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Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire, Feb. 22, 2015
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Jimi Hendrix Live in Ipswich, UK, April 1967, Filmed for French TV With Purple Haze
Jimi Hendrix Experience Performing Wild Thing at Music Hall de Paris on May 11, 1967, French TV
Jimi Hendrix Experience in Stockholm, Sweden, May 24,1967
Jimi Hendrix Experience on the Beat, Beat, Beat German TV Show, 1967
Jimi Hendrix Experience in London, England, Dec. 1967
Jimi Hendrix Experience Fillmore East in NYC, Please Crawl Out Your Window, May 10, 1968
Jimi Hendrix Experience on French Television, October 1967
Jimi Hendrix Experience Live Performance of Dear Mr. Fantasy at SMU in Dallas, 1968
Jimi Hendrix Experience at the New York Rock Festival, June 1968
Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy Jam, 1968
Jimi Hendrix Experience Live at Cobo Hall, Detroit, Nov. 30, 1968
Jimi Hendrix Experience Concert in Stockholm, Sweden, Jan. 9, 1969
Jimi Hendrix and Timothy Leary, Live & Let Live, Part I
Jimi Hendrix and Timothy Leary With Live & Let Live, Part II
Jimi Hendrix Experience on the Lulu Show, Jan. 1969
Jimi Hendrix Experience in Toronto May 3, 1969
Jimi Hendrix Experience Last Concert in Denver, June 29, 1969
Visit This Site for a Film of Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles at the Newport Pop Festival, June 22, 1969
Jimi Hendrix With Buddy Miles at the Newport Pop Festival, June 22, 1969, Part II
Jimi Hendrix and John McLaughin
Band of Gypsys Winter Festival for Peace, Jan. 28, 1970
Band of Gypsys at the Fillmore East With Stepping Stone
Jimi Hendrix Plays Machine Gun at the University of Oklahoma Field House, May 8, 1970
Jimi Hendrix Live in Berlin, September 4, 1970
Jimi Hendrix Interview on September 11, 1970 in London
ABC News Report With Frank Reynolds on the Death of Jimi Hendrix, September 18, 1970
Jimi Hendrix Was Murdered on September 18, 1970
Jimi Hendrix is Considered the Greatest Guitarist of the 20th Century
Arthur Lee Was a Pioneer in Popular Music During the 1960s With the Band LOVE; Photographed Here With Jimi Hendrix
Arthur Lee (1945-2006) of LOVE
LOVE on American Bandstand June 1966 With Message to Pretty
Arthur Lee & LOVE on American Bandstand June 1966 With Little Red Book
American Bandstand Questions for Arthur Lee
LOVE With My Flash on You
LOVE Live Recording of My Flash on You
LOVE Studio Version of Softly to Me
LOVE With I'll Be Following
LOVE Studio Version of Seven and Seven Is
LOVE Live Recording of Seven and Seven Is
LOVE With She Comes in Colors
LOVE With Alone Again Or
Arthur and LOVE With Andmoreagain
LOVE Recording Red Telephone
Arthur Lee & LOVE With A House is Not a Motel
Check Out Studio Recording of The Daily Planet by LOVE
LOVE With Bummer in the Summer
LOVE Recording You Set the Scene
Arthur Lee and LOVE Short Film With Soundtrack of Your Mind & We Belong Together
LOVE With August From Four Sail
LOVE in Copenhagen March 1970 With Live Version of August
LOVE Studio Version of I'm With You
LOVE With Nothing
LOVE With Singing Cowboy
LOVE Studio Version of I Still Wonder From Out Here
Love With Stand Out
LOVE Recording Gather Round
Arthur Lee & LOVE Recording Listen to My Song
LOVE Live Version of Product of the Times at the Fillmore East, 9-21-1970
Jimi Hendrix & LOVE Playing Ezy Rider
Arthur Lee & LOVE With Jimi Hendrix in Jam Session, 1970
Arthur Lee & Jimi Hendrix Together, 1970
Arthur Lee With Midnight Sun From Black Beauty
Arthur Lee Recording Looking Glass Looking At Me From Vindicator
Arthur Lee Studio Version of Product of the Times
LOVE With Later Version of Singing Cowboy
Arthur Lee Later Version of Ezy Rider
LOVE With Good Old Fashion Dream
LOVE With Which Witch Is Which
LOVE With Time Is Like A River
LOVE Recordings With Arthur Lee
Click on the Photo of Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy to See a Classic Blues Video
Classic Blues Music on Video
Click on This Photo of Son House to See Him Performing the Classic "Death Letter"
Legendary Blues Man Son House
Watch Son House Singing "Levee Camp Blues"
Check Out Son House Playing "Yonder Blues"
Check Out Howlin' Wolf Live in England Performing "Smokestack Lightning"
Look at This Film Clip of Howlin' Wolf Musical Biography
Watch Skip James Doing "Devil Got My Woman"
Look at Skip James Performing the Anti-Segregation Song "Crow Jane"
Listen to the Studio Recording of John Lee Hooker Doing Drugstore Woman
J.B. Lenoir on Film Playing "Slow Down"
View Classic Blues Artists on Film
Aretha Franklin From Detroit
Aretha Franklin Pictured Performing at the Obama Inauguration on January 20, 2009
Just Visit This Site to Learn More About Aretha Franklin
Rev. C.L. Franklin, the Father of Aretha Franklin, in Rare Film Footage
The New Bethel Incident of 1969 Recounted
Aretha Franklin Live Singing Running Out of Fools, 1964
Aretha Franklin With Baby I Love You, 1967
The Original Piece of My Heart By Erma Franklin, 1967
Aretha Franklin on Mike Douglas Show Performing Natural Woman, Dec. 1967
Another Version of Baby I Love You
Aretha Franklin on Mike Douglas Performing Chain of Fools, Dec. 1967
Ain't No Way With Aretha Franklin and Family
Watch This Video of Aretha Franklin on TV Singing "Dr. Feelgood" in 1968
Watch This Video of Aretha Franklin Singing "I Never Loved A Man," From TV Special "Lady Soul" in 1968
I Get the Sweetest Feeling, Erma Franklin
Aretha Franklin is One of the Great Artists to Emerge During the 1960s. Click on Links Below
Click on this site to read about John Coltrane
A Tribute to John & Alice Coltrane
Just Click on This Image and Watch The John Coltrane Quartet Playing "Alabama".
John Coltrane Filmed in Studio Playing Alabama
This Protest Was Held in Downtown Detroit
Abayomi Azikiwe Covering the Demonstration in Solidarity With Palestinians in Gaza, January 8, 2009
MECAWI/Congress of Arab American Organizations' Demonstration Against the Israeli Siege of Gaza, Palestine on January 8, 2009
Click on Here to Visit the Official Bob Marley Web Site
Bob Marley, the Reggae Legend, Advanced the Struggle for Pan-Africanism
Bob Marley's 73rd Birthday was Feb. 6, 2018
Click on Here to Read Granma International
The Cuban Daily Newspaper Covering the World
Enter Here to Read About the Life & Legacy of Assata Shakur
Assata Shakur Speaks for the Liberation of the People
Click on to Read About the International Campaign to Free Political Prisoners
The Jericho Movement Calls For a General Amnesty for All US Political Prisoners
Check Out This Site For the Black Panther Party Compiled Archives
The Commemorative Archives of the Black Panther Party
Just Click On This Photograph To View a Rare Filmed Interview With Black Panther Party Deputy Chairman in Illinois Fred Hampton (1948-1969)
Watch Rare Fred Hampton Interview From 1969, Part II
Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver of the Black Panther Party, 1970 Film in Algeria
Eldridge Cleaver on the Black Panther Party Ideology
Eldridge Cleaver on William F. Buckley's Firing Line, 1968
Eldridge Cleaver Speaks to Filmmaker on the Priorities of the BPP
Stokely Carmichael in Chicago, 1966
Stokely Carmichael Debates a Racist, Chicago 1966
Stokely Carmichael Debates a Racist, Part II
Stokely Carmichael Debates Racist, Part III
Stokely Carmichael Debates a Racist, Part IV
Stokely Carmichael Debates Racist, Part V
Stokely Carmichael Speaks at Togaloo College in Mississippi on April 12, 1967
Stokely Carmichael Calls for the Freedom of Huey P. Newton, Feb. 1968
H. Rrap Brown Being Arrested in July 1967
H. Rap Brown Speaking at Free Huey P. Newton Rally in Oakland California in Feb. 1968
H. Rap Brown Interview With Gil Noble in New York, 1968
H. Rap Brown Interview With Gil Noble in New York, Part II
Angela Davis at UCLA, 1969-1970; Free the Soledad Brothers, Clip of Jonathan Jackson
University of Calif.-Santa Barbara Rebellion Against Bank of America, Feb. 26, 1970
Huey P. Newton Interview With William F. Buckley, Jan. 23, 1973
Finally Got the News, DRUM/LRBW History
Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party Speaks
Ruth Brown on 1950s Television Singing "Teardrops From My Eyes"
Ruth Brown on Film Singing Hit Song "Mama" From the 1950s
Ruth Brown on Film Singing "Oh What A Dream", 1950s Television
Just Click on This Site to Read More About Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown, Legendary Rhythm & Blues Artist, Actress, Joins the Ancestors
Mamie Smith Recording of "Crazy Blues" Reputed to be the First Blues Record in 1920
Mamie Smith Recording of "My Sportin' Man"
Blues Pioneer Mamie Smith on Film Singing "Lord, Lord, Lord"
Mamie Smith on Film With the Harlem Blues From 1935
Mamie Smith on Film Singing "No Good Man"
Bessie Smith on Film Performing "St. Louis Blues"
Bessie Smith Singing "You've Got to Give Me Some" From 1928
Bessie Smith Singing "I'm Wild About That Thing"
Bessie Smith Recording Entitled "I Ain't Got Nobody
Hear Bessie Smith Singing "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", With Photographs
Blues Singer Ida Cox on Film Performing "Four Day Creep"
Click on This Site to Read About the Pioneering Role of Women in Recorded Music
The Legacy of Blues Women From Mamie Smith Forward
Read Nkrumah and Other Writings on Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism
Kwame Nkrumah: Pan-Africanist Founder of Modern Africa
Panaf Books: The Publishing House of Kwame Nkrumah
First Conference of Independent African States, Part I
First Conference of Independent African States, April 1958, Part II
First Conference of Independent African States, Part III
Kwame Nkrumah at the All-African People's Conference, December 1958
Brief Report on Independent Ghana Under Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah's Vision of Pan-Africanism: The Volta Project
Kwame Nkrumah Visits Nigeria Before Independence,1959
Kwame Nkrumah Visit to Nigeria, 1959, Part II
Kwame Nkrumah Visits Nigeria, 1959, Part III
Abayomi Azikiwe Lecture on Kwame Nkrumah and the African Revolution, June 16, 2012, NYC
Abayomi Azikiwe on Kwame Nkrumah and the African Revolution, Part II
Abayomi Azikiwe on Kwame Nkrumah and the African Revolution, Part III
Abayomi Azikiwe on Kwame Nkrumah and the African Revolution, Part IV
Abayomi Azikiwe on Kwame Nkrumah and the African Revolution, Q and A
The Bibliography of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
Meje 30 Has Made a Debut With Tsala Muana on Sikila
Tsala Muana Classic Club Scene Video
Check Out Meje 30
Meje & Tsala Muana With Grand Petre Mere
Meje & Tsala Muana With Delestage
Meje 30 With Fimbu Ya Bakanja
Tsala Muana Video Entitled Moyo
Tsala Muana With Kapinga
Emony With Tsala Muana
Watch Tshala Muana Performing Mutuashi
Check Out Tshala Muana Doing Nasi Na Bali
Listen to Tshala Muana 4
Tsala Muana Doing Multiprise
Watch and Listen to Tshala Muana Performing "Menteur"
Check Tshala Muana Doing Dekeba
Watch and Listen to Tshala Muana in "Kalume"
Check Out Tshala Muana on "Banda Yango"
Listen to Tshala Muana Recorded Song "Tshibola"
Listen to Tshala Muana Singing "Koumba"
Mbilia Bel in Video Ndonge
Mbilia Bel Kayembe
Mbilia Bel With Nakei Nairobi
Mbilia Bel Classic Tune Douceur
Afrisa International Live Studio Performance of Loyenge
Mbilia Bel With Sante
Listen to Mbilia Bel Studio Version of Paka Wewe
Afrisa International Version of the Song Shawuri Yako Featuring Mbilia Bel
Mbilia Bel & Simaro Lutumba Video of Mobali Ya Bato
M'bilia Bel Video Performance With Sam Mangwana
M'bilia Bel Video Dilemma
Congolese Artist M'bilia Bel Performing Zipa Zipa
M'bilia Bel With Tweke on Video
M'bilia Bel Video Performing Kekele
Watch Mbilia Bel Performing "Naza"
Check Out Mbilia Bel Performing "Welcome"
See Mbilia Bel Doing Les Z'o'n-Dit
View Early Mbilia Bel Live In Concert
Mbilia Bel With Cadence Mudanda
Check Out Mbilia Bel Performing Bellisimo
Watch Mbilia Bel With Suzanna Owiyo Performing "Lo"
Listen and Watch TPOK Jazz With Papanzinga Performing "Massu"
Watch Abby Surya Performing "Bokila"
Check Out Abby Surya Singing Delice Ya Bolingo
Song and Interview With MJ 30 Repitition
Barbara Kanam With Djarabi
Listen to and Read About African Music From Traditional to Classical and Contemporary
Pan-African Music From All Over the Continent
Tshala Muana Is Another Great Congolese Pan-African Artist
Women in the Forefront of Pan-African Music
Electronic Funk From the 1970s & Beyond--Just Click On This Photo to See Sir Victor Uwaifo Band
Classic Nigerian Music in the Electronic Age
Check Out Prince Nico Mbarga Studio Recording of Aki
Another Classic Tune Welcome From Rocafil Jazz With Prince Nico Mbarga
Rocafil Jazz Recording Celibataire avec des enfants
Listen to the Rocafil Jazz Band Playing Christiana
TIlda & Rocafil Jazz International Covering Aki
Tilda & Rocafil Jazz International Video Christiana
Tilda & Rocafil Jazz International Video Sweet Mother
Fela Kuti Was One of the Greatest Cultural Figures to Emerge From Africa During the 1970s
Fela Kuti Documentary Part II
Fela Kuti Documentary Part III
Fela Kuti Documentary Part IV
Fela Kuti Documentary Part V
Fela Kuti Documentary Part VI
Listen to the Classic Sounds of Music From Nigeria
Abayomi Azikiwe Speaking in Detroit on May Day 2009
Abayomi Azikiwe is Often Featured on Radio and Video
Read Abayomi Azikiwe Articles Reprinted on AllAfrica.com
Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire
Read these articles from Pambazuka News
Abayomi Azikiwe is the Editor of the Pan-African News Wire
Abayomi Azikiwe poses for a photograph with students, staff and community people after a speaking engagement at Henry Ford College during Feb. 2015
The Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice Was Formed in 2002 and Continues Today
Click on the Above Photograph to Watch Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire
Abayomi Azikiwe You Tube Channel
Zimbabwe Herald Daily Newspaper
Just Click on the Photo for News and Documents on the PAP
Pan-African Parliament (PAP)
International Campaign to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Established in 1921
South African Communist Party
African National Congress New Website
African National Congress Stalwart Albertina Sisulu Centenary
Vote ANC for 2019
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
South African Communist Party
Links to the ANC, COSATU and South African Communist Party
Founded in 2002, The AU is the Successor of the Organization of African Unity Formed in 1963
The African Union represents 55-member states. Just Click on This Photo to View the AU Website
The Pan-African News Wire editor is a consultant on African affairs and is utilized over this continental and worldwide satellite television network
Abayomi Azikiwe is a Regular Guest on TVC Based in Lagos, Nigeria
Click on This Photo To Watch Russia Today Satellite Television
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, On RT Satellite Television
Abayomi Azikwe, PANW Editor, Interview Over RT on the Assassination of Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interview on RT Satellite TV on Libya, September 2, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Speaks on the Role of the US-backed Rebels in Libya, September 15, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Appeared on RT Televison Program CrossTalk on September 15, 2011, in a Debate on Syria
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Exposes Plot to Kill Gaddafi on October 18, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe Featured on RT Satellite World News Discussing the Situation in Occupied Libya on March 6, 2012
Abayomi Azikiwe on RT Worldwide Satellite Television
Press TV Provides a View of World News and Developments
Just Click on This Photo to Watch PressTV
Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire, Interview on Libya, March 29, 2011, Part I
PANW Editor, Abayomi Azikiwe, Libya Interview on March 29, 2011, Part II
Watch Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, on PressTV, March 30, 2011, Part I
Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire on PressTV, March 30, 2011, Part II
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, April 24, 2011 Interview on Libyan Humanitarian Crisis
PANW Editor, Abayomi Azikiwe, Press TV Interview on April 27, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interview on Press TV, June 11, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed Press TV US Desk, June 18, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interview on Press TV, June 19, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed on Press TV, June 25, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interview on Press TV, July 1, 2011
Press TV Interview With Pan-African News Wire editor Abayomi Azikiwe on the East Africa Drought, July 14, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe on Press TV Discussing the Continuing Revolution in Egypt on July 15, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interview on Press TV Dealing With Libya Bombing, July 17, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe on Press TV World News Speaking on the Drought and Famine and Its Impact on Kenya, August 14, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Press TV News Analysis Discussing Egypt on August 20, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor on Press TV News Analysis Discussing Libya, August 23, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Press TV News Analysis Discussing the UN Fading Role, September 21, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Press TV News Analysis Discussing the Assassination of Col. Muammar Gaddafi on October 20, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Press TV News Analysis Discussing the Military Violence in Egypt, November 25, 2011
Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured on Press TV News Analysis Discussing Racist Violence in the US, April 3, 2012
PANW Editor, Abayomi Azikiwe, Featured on Press TV News Analysis Talking About the Politics Leading Up to Egyptian Elections, April 28, 2012
Watch Interviews With Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire, on PressTV
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