2020-11-21: News Headlines

_____ (2020-11-21). Protest Marks One Month Anniversary Of Lekki Massacre In Nigeria. popularresistance.org Washington, DC – The End SAR Solidarity Network is mobilized DC area based activists to protest in front of the Embassy of Nigeria to demand justice for peaceful protestors in Nigeria who were massacred by the Nigerian army at Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020 and demand an end to the continued repression of other activists. | On the 20th of October, 2020, the Nigerian army opened fire on peaceful protesters singing the Nigerian anthem and waving the Nigerian flag at Lekki tollgate, Alausa and other parts of Lagos.

Andrew J Pollard, Oxford COVID Vaccine Trial Group (2020-11-21). [Comment] Notice of addendum to Article reporting Oxford trial of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. thelancet.com On request, and to aid others doing similar trials, we are publishing the full standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the Oxford University-sponsored trials of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. Operational details about running clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines in a pandemic are not generally available as they are contained in SOPs held at trial sites. These SOPs can provide additional insight into study conduct that assist with interpretation of the data. We have provided an additional appendix to our Article reporting the phase 1/2 findings1 to provide this information about the key processes guiding the Oxford…

news.un (2020-11-21). 'We see the sparks before they turn into fires': training women to avoid conflict in Sierra Leone. news.un.org In the West African country of Sierra Leone, the UN is supporting a government programme, training women and men to take on leadership roles in areas such as peacebuilding, with the aim of promoting peace and non-violence.

Baba Aye (2020-11-21). Nigeria: "We Will Fight For Our Total Liberation" zcomm.org Nigeria is the most populous country on the African continent, with just over two hundred million inhabitants. The Oct. 3 killing of a young man by the brutal SARS police unit has sparked a nationwide uprising…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-21). Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine released on bail. peoplesdispatch.org Pop star-turned-politician Bobi Wine was arrested on Wednesday on charges of violation of COVID-19-related regulations. His arrest was followed by mass protests during which state repression led to at least 37 deaths…

Pavan Kulkarni (2020-11-21). South Africa Broadcasting Corporation employees launch strike against retrenchments. peoplesdispatch.org Employees of South Africa Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) downed tools on Friday, November 20, starting from 1 pm, in a protest against the looming retrenchments that will affect 400 permanent employees. In preparation for this action, pickets were held outside several offices of the public broadcaster on Thursday. | Faced with this labor action, the board of SABC announced the temporary suspension of the retrenchment process for a period of seven days, after a meeting of its members concluded late on the night of Thursday, November 19. | "We are going ahead with the strike because they haven't written to us form…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-11-21). Human rights organizations condemn arrest of Egyptian activists. peoplesdispatch.org Three functionaries of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Gasser Abdel-Razek, Karim Ennarah and Mohammed Basheer, have been arrested over the past week. They have been sent into pre-trial detention…

Munyaradzi Makoni (2020-11-21). [World Report] Violence leads to health emergencies in Mozambique. thelancet.com Displaced by war, thousands of people in Mozambique are at risk of infectious disease. Munyaradzi Makoni reports.

Habibulah Mohamed Lamin (2020-11-20). Tired of stalemate, Sahrawis support Polisario military action against Morocco. middleeasteye.net Tired of stalemate, Sahrawis support Polisario military action against Morocco | The absence of a quick resolution to the recent flare-up in Western Sahara risks a wider regional conflict | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 10: 01 | A handout picture published by the Moroccan army shows tents used by the Polisario Front ablaze near the Mauritanian bor…

Mohammad Ayesh (2020-11-20). Arabic press review: Third of Jordanian children suffer from anaemia. middleeasteye.net Arabic press review: Third of Jordanian children suffer from anaemia | Jordanian health official warns of health crisis in the kingdom, while the UAE institute visa restrictions for Tunisians | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 11: 33 | Yemeni Aymen, who is suffering from a congenital spinal malformation, receives treatment at a private hospital in the Jordanian capital Amman (AFP) | Third of Jordan's child…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-20). Macron accuses Turkey of stoking anti-France sentiment in Africa. middleeasteye.net Macron accuses Turkey of stoking anti-France sentiment in Africa | Tensions have risen between Paris and Ankara over the French president's defence of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 13: 57 | Macron at a press conference at the G5 Sahel summit on 30 June 2020 in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott (AFP) | French President Emmanuel Macron accused Turkey on Friday of p…

Vijay Prashad (2020-11-20). It is freedom, only freedom which can quench our thirst. mronline.org In the 1980s, after Mozambique won its independence from Portugal in 1974, the South African apartheid regime and the settler-colonial army of Rhodesia backed an anti-communist faction against the government of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO).

MEE staff (2020-11-20). US senators urge Egypt to take action in case of detained Christian activist. middleeasteye.net US senators urge Egypt to take action in case of detained Christian activist | Legislators ask Cairo to allow fair trial for Ramy Kamel or drop charges and release him | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 19: 02 | Ramy Kamel is prominent Coptic Christian activist and founder of rights group Maspero Youth Union (Twitter) | A pair of bipartisan senators called on the Egyptian government to take action in the case of an imprisone…

MEE and agencies (2020-11-20). UN warns $200m needed for Ethiopian refugees fleeing into Sudan. middleeasteye.net UN warns $200m needed for Ethiopian refugees fleeing into Sudan | Ethiopians escaping Tigray region where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has launched a military operation | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 14: 49 | Ethiopian refugees who fled fighting in Tigray province are pictured at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref province (AFP) | Around $200m is needed to accommodate the thousands of refugee…

Simon Hooper (2020-11-20). EU trained Algeria and Morocco police in online disinformation tactics. middleeasteye.net EU trained Algeria and Morocco police in online disinformation tactics | Courses funded by European Union taught surveillance methods including data harvesting and use of 'sock puppets' | Fri, 11/20/2020 – 13: 09 | Algerian security forces face protesters during a demonstration in Algiers in March 2019 (AFP) | The European Union is training police and security forces in North African countries in surv…

Editor (2020-11-20). How to End the War in Afghanistan (Video). scheerpost.com The U.S. war on Afghanistan is in its 19th year. Enough is enough! Ann Wright is the moderator. Panelists are Kathy Kelly, Matthew Hoh, Rory Fanning, Danny Sjursen, and Arash Azizzada. Ann Wright is a retired Army Colonel who became a US diplomat for 16 years in US Embassies in Grenada, Nicaragua, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, …

Areeb Ullah (2020-11-19). UK's Raab 'directly' intervenes on behalf of arrested Egyptian activists. middleeasteye.net UK's Raab 'directly' intervenes on behalf of arrested Egyptian activists | Three members of a prominent human rights organisation detained after meeting with western diplomats, including the British ambassador in Cairo | Thu, 11/19/2020 – 16: 17 | Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has raised the activists' case directly with his Egyptian counterpart (Reuters) | British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has per…

news.un (2020-11-19). Heartbreaking stories from refugees fleeing Ethiopia violence. news.un.org In a briefing to journalists on Thursday, a senior UN humanitarian official in Sudan recounted moving testimony from refugees who are crossing the border from Ethiopia in their thousands, fleeing fighting in Tigray province.

WSWS (2020-11-19). Zambia defaults amid growing African debt crisis, intensified by pandemic. wsws.org As hundreds of millions of African workers and peasants face economic disaster and inadequate protection against COVID-19, African nations are expected to pay almost $500 billion by 2023 to avoid default.

news.un (2020-11-19). Libyans charting way to secure and prosperous future, but challenges lie ahead. news.un.org Following years of political instability and conflict, Libya is making substantial progress on the path to peace, the top UN official in the country told the Security Council on Thursday.

Marc Chadeau-Hyam, Barbara Bodinier, Roel Vermeulen, Maryam Karimi, Verena Zuber, Raphaà´le Castagné, Joshua Elliott, David Muller, Dusan Petrovic, Matthew Whitaker, Silvia Stringhini, Ioanna Tzoulaki, Mika Kivimà§ki, Paolo Vineis, Paul Elliott, Michelle Kelly-Irving, Cyrille Delpierre (2020-11-19). Education, biological ageing, all-cause and cause-specific mortality and morbidity: UK biobank cohort study. thelancet.com The BHS captures features of the embodiment of education, health behaviours, and more proximal unknown factors which all complementarily contribute to all-cause, cancer and CVD morbidity and premature death.

Mehr News Agency (2020-11-19). Iran's new amb. submits credentials to South Africa President. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Nov. 19 (MNA) — Iran's new Ambassador to South Africa submitted his credentials to the country's president on Thursday.

_____ (2020-11-19). Susan Rice Is Asia's Worst Nightmare. strategic-culture.org Forget Libya—the Obama alumna was an absolute disaster in Asian affairs. That alone should disqualify her for Secretary of State. | Tanner GREER | There is a movement

Ralph Nader (2020-11-18). Abdicating to Boeing: An Open Letter to FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson. counterpunch.org November 13, 2020 Stephen Dickson, Administrator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) U.S. Department of Transportation 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591 Dear Mr. Dickson, It is now abundantly clear that instead of clearing out top Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operatives who have worked to make the FAA safe for Boeing, you have thrown in your

MEE staff (2020-11-18). Egypt arrests another rights activist after meeting with Western diplomats. middleeasteye.net Egypt arrests another rights activist after meeting with Western diplomats | Karim Ennarah was detained in the resort town of Dahab in South Sinai while on vacation, EIPR said in a statement | Wed, 11/18/2020 – 20: 05 | Some 60,000 detainees in Egypt are political prisoners, according to an estimate by Human Rights Watch (AFP/File photo) | Egyptian authorities arrested a human rights defender on Wednesday, jus…

news.un (2020-11-18). Violence, insecurity continues to plague South Sudan communities. news.un.org Over 1,000 people have been killed and more than 400 abducted in the past six months in intercommunal violence in South Sudan, amid fears that tensions may worsen with the onset of the dry season, the UN envoy for the country has said.

Pavan Kulkarni (2020-11-18). Ethiopian federal government announces final offensive against Tigray regional forces. peoplesdispatch.org Around 27,000 people are estimated to have fled from Ethiopia's Tigray region across the western border into Sudan. The UN refugee agency in Sudan estimated that an average of 4,000 refugees have been arriving daily…

teleSUR (2020-11-18). Ethiopia: Gov't Issues Arrest Warrants Over Tigray Conflict. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Ethiopian authorities issued an arrest warrant for 76 High Ranking Military Officers and Sub-ordinate military personnel over treason related to the Tigray conflict north of the country. | RELATED: | The Ethiopian Federal Police Commission said that the officers involved participated in an attack two weeks ago on the Ethiopian army. The authorities have refused to accept international mediation as the confli…

Sierra Club (2020-11-18). Thursday 11/19: African Diaspora and Climate Change from Kenya to New Orleans. indybay.org Online via livestream…

WSWS (2020-11-18). Fighting erupts between Morocco and Polisario in Western Sahara. wsws.org The fighting erupted amid reports of mounting protests in regions of both Morocco and Algeria near the former Spanish colonial possession of Western Sahara.

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2020-11-18). BRICS 2020: Achievements and Future Challenges. Summit of Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. globalresearch.ca On November 17, under Russia's BRICS Chairmanship, Vladimir Putin hosted the 12th BRICS Summit via videoconference. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa participated to discuss the state and prospects of cooperation within BRICS, discussed the global …