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[UNFPA in WCA] NAIROBI, Kenya, 14 November 2019 - The Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 concluded today in the Kenyan capital, with partners making bold commitments to transform the world by ending all maternal deaths, unmet need for family planning and gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls by 2030.

AfricaDotcom  

Parallel Wireless, Inc., the leading U.S.-based OpenRAN company delivering the world’s only software-defined end-to-end OpenRAN solution for coverage and capacity

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[allAfrica] Cape Town -The inaugural Time 100 Next list has revealed the rising stars who are revolutionising their respective fields and industries. Six Africans were among the prestigious lineup, making names for themselves among the artists, advocates and phenoms sections. Let's take a closer look at who they are.

Africanews  

An Ebola simulation excercise by authorities in Lesotho caused panic in the country and across the border in South Africa. Reports indicated early Thursday morning that Lesotho’s health ministry mistakenly announced to the press that a woman from South Africa had been hospitalized after testing positive for Ebola. The said woman was reported to have had contact with another from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there is currently an outbreak, before she entered Lesotho via South Africa. But South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases, NICD, clarified on Twitter that there was no such case of an Ebola positive patient at least in South Africa. “This was the first small scale field simulation exercise to test preparedness. The NICD BSL4 Lab has not been requested to test suspected Ebola cases for any neighbouring countries. As such, we have not had a positive Ebola case.” A local news portal, the Eye Witness News reported that the Lesotho authorities confirmed that the earlier information was incorrect and that the case in point was a simulation exercise. “Chances of Ebola reaching South Africa are very slim. nonetheless, South Africa has strong response systems that are in place should there be a suspected case,” NICD added in a follow up tweet. Ebola is currently a big public health issue in eastern DRC where thousands have died since an outbreak that started over a year ago. The development has forced neighbouring countries to be on alert among others Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. The Ebola virus can spread quickly and be fatal in up to 90% of cases. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding. The virus is most often spread by close contact with bodily fluids of people exhibiting symptoms and with contaminated objects such as sheets. Health care workers are often at risk.

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[The New Humanitarian] Freetown -'Providing mental healthcare in this country is a challenge, due to the beliefs of people.'

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[SAnews.gov.za] The Department of Basic Education has released, on its website, the scripted lesson plans which are being used in the pilot phase of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in selected schools.

BBC News Africa  

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba receives his first official backing in his bid to become president of the Ivory Coast Football Federation.

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[SAnews.gov.za] South African Airways (SAA) has cancelled almost all its domestic, regional and international flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday as a result of industrial action.

BBC News Africa  

South Africa's rugby world champions strip to their pants to raise awareness of testicular cancer.

allAfrica  

[Chatham House] Georges Fahmi examines how protesters across the region have adapted their tactics after the experiences of the Arab Spring.

Africanews  

There are now more and more, rich and middle class people in China, and millions of them are looking for travel destinations. Currently around 10% of China’s 1.4 billion population travels internationally. By 2027, the number of passport holders is expected to reach 300 million or 20% of the Chinese population, reveals the World Tourism organization. In recent years, the number of Chinese visitors buying Africa tour packages has jumped, according to the Luxury Chinese Traveler 2018 Report. Jumia e-commerce platform recently released the 2019 hospitality report on africa, and their group head of communication & public relations, Abdesslam Benzitouni told me more about Chinese travel in the continent. “For many years we, the African countries used to have International travelers coming from the US or from Europe, and now, more and more, they are coming from Asia, and for instance 15 to 20percent of the Chinese traveling abroad they are visitng Africa now. And this is very interesting, because it is a new market, and the Chinese want to discover more and more Africa and many governments are already aware about that and they remove the visa or make the visa more easy. Like South Africa, or Morocco or even Egypt or Tunisia,“said Abdesslam Benzitouni, group head of communication and public relations. Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Mauritius and Zimbabwe are the African countries with the largest number of Chinese tourists in 2017, According to Dragon Trail, a China-based digital marketing agency.  So question is, what are Chinese tourists interested in? “Africa is becoming very common for them, and middle class in China is also booming and they want to visit Africa, its like visiting Paris, Rome and they want to do safaris, and they want to discover Egypt, they want to discover Morocco and they want discover even more.. and they.. and this is a great opportunity to attract international travelersbecause, this is something complete newand you can see tham, in Kenya for examplein the Maasai Mara, 20 or 25percent of all the travelers are Chinese“said Abdesslam Benzitouni, group head of communication and public relations. Why are there more Chinese coming to Africa ? “You know Africa represents five percent of all the destinations for all international travelers and moreand more asians are in this five percent, and more and more, they want to come, like if, you know there is more chinese companies doing the trips like Ethiopia and China, Kenya and China, Egypt as well, so I think is aso a very interesting trend and is going to increase alot, a lot, alot“said Abdesslam Benzitouni, group head of communication and public relations. How can Africa further tap into the Chinese billion dollar outbound tourism?According to experts Africa must ease visa and entry requirements, increase direct airline flights to China, further develop its tourism facilities especially its national heritage sites and parks but most importantly advertise, like South Africa’s recent agreement to advertise on Chinese internet and popular WeChat App… among other things. These they say can help the continent tap into the vast Chiense tourism market worth billions of dollars in revenue. @fmlemwa

OkayAfrica  

We asked several  SA artists, writers and DJs to share their top five SA hip-hop songs of the decade.

OkayAfrica  

"Caracara" is easily the South African hip-hop song of the decade.

Africanews  

Tunisian women besieged parliament in the city of Le Bardo to protest against a sitting MP accused of sexual harassment. The protesters fear that Zouheir Makhlouf, who was investigated for alleged harassment and public indecency, will enjoy immunity from prosecution. “We are before parliament to demand better implementation of Bill 58, to protect women from sexual harassment and violence because we are always victims of it”, said campaign manager, Nawrez Elladi. “The new parliament will sit and in that parliament, there is an elected representative, Mr. Makhlouf, who was caught red-handed, who harassed a young girl, a student. And that person must not remain in our democratic parliament today”, a protester said. Makhlouf, who was elected for the Qalb Tounes party was filmed with his trousers dropped to his knees by a student who shared it online along with accusations of sexual harassment. The MP has denied inappropriate conduct and said he was urinating due to a medical condition. The video went viral in the North African nation sparking Tunisia’s own #MeToo movement. The protesters have called for stricter implementation of a July 2017 law that outlaws sexual harassment in public places with a maximum of one year in prison and $1,000 fine. Article 68 of Tunisia’s constitution provides that no sitting MP can be “arrested or tried for their opinions… or for actions taken in connection with their parliamentary duties.” This in theory excludes allegations of sexual impropriety. AFP

Africanews  

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that terrorist groups have strengthened their foothold across Africa’s Sahel region, which is experiencing escalating violence. The U.N. chief said in a report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Wednesday that the expanding foothold is “making large swaths of territory unstable and stoking ethnic, violence, especially in Burkina Faso and Mali.” Guterres said combatting terrorism in the Sahel “cannot be outsourced” to the G5 Sahel Force established by Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad and Mauritania, or to the region or to the African continent. “Terrorism is a global issue, and the entire international community has a responsibility to contribute to the collective effort of tackling extremist violence in the Sahel, along with other cross-border challenges, including trafficking in persons, illicit goods, weapons and drugs, and migration and displacement,” he said. The secretary-general said the challenges the Sahel is facing are caused by poverty, marginalization, impunity and weakened government presence, “and are compounded by the impact of climate change and the scarcity of natural resources.” Civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, Guterres said, calling the numbers “shocking.” “Since January alone, more than 1,500 civilians have been internally displaced across the five countries, representing more than twice the number of persons displaced in 2018,” he said. Burkina Faso has experienced the most significant rise, with 486,000 displaced people this year compared with 80,000 last year, he said. Guterres’ report focused on the G5 Sahel force, which he said “continues to face significant training, capability and equipment shortfalls” that hamper its operations. “The lack of air assets, armored vehicles and transport capabilities and individual protection equipment compounds the threat posed by the use of improvised explosive devices,” he said. But Guterres said he is “particularly encouraged” by the commitment of leaders of the West African regional group ECOWAS at a summit in September to pledge “$1 billion to fight terrorism and extremism over the next five years.” He said this “illustrates a willingness to take ownership and address the challenges facing the countries.” Guterres also welcomed contributions from the European Union and others, and noted the U.S. provision of equipment and training to troops from Chad, Mauritania and Niger. But he said the G5 Sahel force will need more support “to fully play its role and yield more tangible results” in combating the Islamic State and other extremist groups. Guterres reiterated his call for “predictable and sustained funding to the force” by the U.N. Security Council, which the United States and others have so far blocked. Acting U.S. Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said in May that the Trump administration continues to believe bilateral aid is the best way to support the G5 force. AP

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[News24Wire] Jared Watson, the nephew of late Bosasa boss Gavin Watson, has laid criminal charges against former COO Angelo Agrizzi and CFO Andries van Tonder.

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[Mozambique Political Process Bulletin] Ballot box stuffing, fake registration and other illegal action took 475,000 votes and 5 parliament seats away from Renamo, according to a study by this bulletin published today. In part, the investigation uses the data from the EISA parallel vote tabulation (PVT) which covered 2,507 of the 20,162 polling stations inside Mozambique.

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[Monitor] Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine has made it to the 'TIME 100 Next' list of the world's most influential people.

Africanews  

Senegal showed their teeth on the opening day of qualifiers for the 2021 African Cup of Nations but other continental heavyweights struggled to find form on Wednesday. Nigeria could only scrape a 2-1 home win over neighbours Benin while Cameroon were held to an embarrassing home draw by the Cape Verde Islands. Cameroon are hosts of the next finals but are also participating in the qualifying competition. Assan Cessay scored two goals in two minutes for the Gambia, who went on to cause an upset by winning 3-1 in Angola to secure their first away victory in a Cup of Nations or World Cup qualifier. There were also wins for the Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Namibia and Sudan and a potential valuable away point for the small mountain kingdom of Lesotho, who drew 1-1 in Sierra Leone. Senegal, runners-up in this year’s Nations Cup in Egypt, beat Congo 2-0 at home with first-half goals from Sidy Sarr and Habib Diallo as Sadio Mane provided an assist. Nigeria went behind after nine minutes in Uyo where Stephane Sessegnon scored for Benin but a penalty from Victor Osimhen and the winner from Samuel Kalu ensured a narrow win. It is the fourth time in five games that goal-shy Cameroon have played out a goalless draw in a stuttering start for new coach Toni Conceição. Angola were ahead after two minutes through Wilson Eduardo but were hit by a double from FC Zurich striker Cessay before Sulayman Marreh added a third for Gambia on the stroke of fulltime. Gambia had not won in 39 previous away qualifiers, including losing in Luanda two months ago in the 2022 World Cup preliminaries. Qualifiers continue with matches every day until next Tuesday, by which time each of the 48 participating countries will have played two games each. REUTERS

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[Premium Times] Some South African artistes and showbiz personalities have called for a boycott of 'Africa Unite' concert because of Burna Boy's inclusion .

Africanews  

BRICS leaders discussed current global economic challenges on Wednesday with a commitment to overcome them. At an event for business executives in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed optimism. “Due to the double recession we faced, we have seen an increase in protectionist attitudes with problems in customs, but the countries of BRICS have to make an effort for not being dejected by those kind of things. We have to keep the livelihood of our people and improve it”, Putin said. South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted the impact of the economic crisis on businesses. “Key countries in the global economy are currently facing slowing growth, complex challenges to their trading relationships or a turn away from the open rules based global trading system to being much more closed and introvert. For business people, these challenges are felt in slowing investment opportunities, mostly costly and a complex trade, and raising uncertainty. I’m confident that the BRICS countries can overcome these challenges”, Ramaphosa said. Chinese President Xi Jinping said mounting protectionism and global threats have derailed international trade and investment. For India’s Narendra Modi, taxation and customs process have become simpler between BRICS. He said that the business environment is becoming more conducive Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa underscored the importance of integration aimed at boosting their economic growth. On Thursday, the leaders will hold plenary sessions and bilateral meetings. *AP