February 4, 2023

360 Scholarships to Accelerate Sustainability Education for Young Women Worldwide

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Available to young women (ages 15-17.5) around the world, applications are now open for the AFS Global STEM Accelerators: a full-scholarship virtual exchange program in sustainability, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), and positive social impact.

Global Stem Accelerators’ voices echo the desire for a brighter and more inclusive future.

The program is run by AFS Intercultural Programs, a global non-profit intercultural exchange network with more than 75 years’ experience in international education. AFS received Diversity Abroad’s 2022 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion in International Education (EDIIE) Award for the Accelerators’ successful inauguration. 20% of the scholarships will be allocated specifically for refugees and girls from displaced populations, whether from war, violence, or natural disaster.

The Accelerators program is part of a broader five-year scholarship initiative aimed at reaching 5,000 young people worldwide, with a focus on supporting women. The initiative is funded by bp, and the curricula is co-developed by AFS and the University of Pennsylvania Center for Social Impact Strategy. AFS conducts outreach with support from SPARK, an international NGO that creates pathways for young people, particularly women and refugees, in fragile communities worldwide. The program also provides internet and technical support for users in need.

Previous scholarship awardees reflect the diversity the program was designed to embrace: 20% were refugees or displaced persons; 82% identified as People of Color; 51% were from low-income households; and 10% are set to be the first in their families to graduate from high school.

AFS scholars’ voices echo the desire for a brighter and more inclusive future: “I am from a traditional society where girls don’t even have the right to go to school,” says Harira, a participant from Afghanistan. “Participating in this program is my first step toward achieving my goal to explore the world and become influential in improving sustainable societies.”

The Accelerators program culminates with scholars developing social impact capstone projects and presentations that offer potential solutions to real-world challenges, with an emphasis on sustainability. Participants earn the Advanced Certificate on Global Competence for Social Impact, awarded by AFS and the University of Pennsylvania.

“It is always exciting to see strong interest from brilliant young women around the world,” says Kerry Dryburgh, EVP people & culture, bp. “With their passion to make a difference and the skills they will learn, they are future changemakers, leaders and innovators.”

Applications are open until March 15, 2023, and the first cohort begins on May 13.
Learn more & apply: https://afs.org/global-stem/accelerators.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1995738/AFS_Intercultural_Programs_Accelerators.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1809272/AFS_Logo.jpg

February 4, 2023

‫التذاكر معروضة للبيع الآن للنسخة الخامسة عشرة من بطولة الاتحاد للطيران للفورمولا 1 #ABUDHABIGP

أبوظبي، الإمارات العربية المتحدة،, 4 فبراير 2023/PRNewswire/ — قبل بداية موسم للفورمولا 1 لعام 2023، أعلنت إدارة أبوظبي لرياضة السيارات (ADMM) اليوم عن بيع تذاكر النسخة الخامسة عشرة من سباق الجائزة الكبرى للاتحاد للطيران للفورمولا 1 أبوظبي 2023.

Fans can secure their seat for the 15th edition of the #AbuDhabiGP from today with tickets now on sale

سيقام السباق الثالث والعشرون والأخير لموسم 2023 في الفترة من 26 إلى 29 نوفمبر في حلبة مرسى ياس، ليختتم أطول موسم في تاريخ الرياضة. ستشهد عطلة نهاية الأسبوع # AbuDhabiGP ، الممتدة على أربعة أيام، مجموعة فريدة من الرياضات الرائعة على المسار الصحيح، والتي تكملها مجموعة عالمية من تجارب الترفيه والضيافة على حلبة جزيرة ياس.

بعد عطلة نهاية أسبوع # AbuDhabiGP التي حطمت الرقم القياسي في عام 2022 والتي شهدت حضور أكبر عدد من الجماهير على الإطلاق، ولمكافأة المشجعين المخلصين، أكد المنظمون أن مشتري التذاكر المبكرة سيستفيدون من خصم “الطائر المبكر” والذي يصل إلى 20 في المائة على التذاكر المختارة أثناء طالما هي متوفرة. شهد الحدث بالفعل طلبًا غير مسبوق على تذاكر 2023، ويجب على أولئك الذين يتطلعون للحضور التحرك بسرعة لتجنب خيبة الأمل.

شهدت تذاكر نسخة 2022 مبيعات قياسية، حيث بيعت التذاكر بشكل أسرع من أي وقت مضى. لن يشهد هذا العام نهاية مثيرة فقط لموسم الفورمولا 1 الأطول على الإطلاق والتحولات المذهلة في فئتي دعم الفورمولا 2 والفورمولا 4، بل أيضًا مجموعة مذهلة من نجوم الموسيقى العالميين ومجموعة من تجارب الضيافة ذات المستوى العالمي في جميع أنحاء أربعة أيام عطلة نهاية الأسبوع.

This year's #AbuDhabiGP, serving as the final race of the F1 season, will bring exciting new additions to the region's biggest sports and entertainment weekend in November

بالإضافة إلى الوصول إلى يومهم في الحلبة، يمكن لحاملي تذاكر # AbuDhabiGP 2023 الاستمتاع بحفل المساء بالإضافة إلى الدخول المجاني إلى واحدة من حدائق المغامرات المليئة بالمرح في جزيرة ياس، بما في ذلك عالم فيراري أبو ظبي، وعالم Warner Bros . أبو ظبي، و Yas Waterworld ، أو عالم البحار أبو ظبي، مع العرض الذي يمتد عبر عطلة نهاية الأسبوع # AbuDhabiGP من 22 إلى 27 نوفمبر لحاملي التذاكر.

وقال سيف النعيمي، الرئيس التنفيذي لإدارة أبوظبي لرياضة السيارات: “إنه يوم فخر لنا أن نعلن أن تذاكر الإصدار الخامس عشر من الجائزة الكبرى للاتحاد للطيران للفورمولا 1 معروضة للبيع في وقت أبكر من أي وقت مضى. وبعد تسجيل رقم قياسي في عام 2022، والذي شهد حضور حشود قياسية في عطلة نهاية الأسبوع في جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى، شعرنا بسعادة غامرة لمشاهدة الطلب على التذاكر من قاعدة جماهيرنا الدولية، وتمثل بداية الموسم فرصة فريدة لضمان أن يتمكن مشجعونا محليًا ومن جميع أنحاء العالم من شراء تذاكرهم والتخطيط للموسم المقبل”.

“بالنسبة لعام 2023، كنا سعداء للعمل عن كثب مع شركائنا وجيراننا في جزيرة ياس لتقديم عدد من المزايا لرواد السباق، للمساعدة في بناء تجربة وجهة جزيرة ياس النهائية. وسيحظى المشجعون بفرصة حضور حفل موسيقي مذهل بعد السباق في حديقة الاتحاد ويوم واحد في واحدة من حدائق المغامرات ذات المستوى العالمي في الجزيرة، إلى جانب أربعة أيام من السباقات في عطلة نهاية الأسبوع في جائزة أبوظبي الكبرى، وكل ذلك كجزء من التذكرة. سيكون هناك المزيد للإعلان عنه خلال الأسابيع المقبلة، لذا ترقبوا”.

بعد تقديم التجارب المفضلة لدى المشجعين خلال عطلة نهاية الأسبوع، بما في ذلك المدرج الشمالي المستقيم الجديد و Deck at Nine ، الذي يمتد على طول ركن مرسى الجنوبي، هناك مجموعة من الخيارات المرنة لرواد السباق لتحقيق أقصى قدر من عطلة نهاية الأسبوع في # AbuDhabiGP هذا العام. ويشمل ذلك تذكرة “الجناح الدراج” و “جناح ياس المتعدد” الشهيرة، حيث يمكن للضيوف الاختيار بين تجربة أجزاء مختلفة من المكان خلال عطلة نهاية الأسبوع.

مع المزيد من الإعلانات المثيرة في المستقبل، يمكن للجماهير العثور على مزيد من المعلومات حول كيفية تأمين مقاعدهم في أكبر حدث رياضي وترفيهي في المنطقة على: www.yasmarinacircuit.com

الصورة – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1995586/Abu_Dhabi_Motorsports_Management.jpg

الصورة – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1995587/Abu_Dhabi_Motorsports_Management_2.jpg

February 4, 2023

‫احتفل وافرح بالسنة الصينية الجديدة مع العالم، قم بزيارة جيانغسو في عام الأرنب

نانجينغ، الصين , 4 فبراير / شباط 2023/PRNewswire/ — مع وصول عام الأرنب للتو في عام 2023، أطلق حساب وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي في الخارج @Visit Jiangsu التابع لإدارة الثقافة والسياحة بمقاطعة جيانغسو العديد من أنشطة السنة الصينية الجديدة على Facebook, وTwitter, وInstagram, وYouTube وTikTok من خلال أشكال تفاعلية إبداعية متنوعة مثل مقاطع الفيديو والصور والنصوص والبث المباشر الرقمي والتفاعل عبر الإنترنت وتحدي تحية السنة الصينية الجديدة بلغات متعددة وما إلى ذلك لمساعدة الأشخاص من جميع أنحاء العالم على التعرف على السنة الصينية الجديدة وثقافة جيانغسو. وصلت المنشورات إلى 3.08 مليون متابع وحذت على 662000 تفاعل، غطت ما يقرب من 100 دولة ومنطقة حول العالم، مما جلب للناس عيد سمعي وبصري لـ “سحر جيانغسو” المليء بأجواء السنة الصينية الجديدة.

هذا العام، منتجات وسائط التقارب المرئي للعام الصيني الجديد، مع دمج عناصر المعالم في جيانغسو، وقطع الورق للتراث الثقافي غير المادي، وعناصر مميزة أخرى، أنشأت لافتة عام الأرنب لوسائل التواصل الاجتماعي الخاصة بنا، وصور احجيات عبر الإنترنت وملصقات السنة الصينية الجديدة وغيرها من المنتجات المرئية الإبداعية التي تم تثبيتها في الأعلى على منصات متعددة. ونحن نسعى جاهدين لتقديم سنة صينية جديدة مثيرة للاهتمام وفريدة من نوعها في جيانغسو لمعجبينا في الخارج مع رؤية متعددة المستويات.

في الوقت نفسه، تم إعداد عمود خاص من “سحر جيانغسو” على حسابنا على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي @ Visit Jiangsu مع موضوع “سنة صينية جديدة سعيدة”. يتم إنتاج العمود مع موضوع “معرفة عادات السنة الصينية الجديدة في جيانغسو”، و”طعام السنة الصينية الجديدة في جيانغسو” و”جولة جيانغسو خلال السنة الصينية الجديدة” باللغات المحلية في الخارج لإدخال الثقافة والطعام ومناطق الجذب السياحي المتعلقة بالعام الصيني الجديد.

بالإضافة إلى ذلك، قدمت @ Visit Jiangsu باستمرار برامج السنة الصينية الجديدة الغنية إلى “البث المباشر السحابي” وحافظت على تحسين ابتكارها الرقمي. كما جمعت بين أشكال الأداء المتعدد والمشاهد الغامرة من خلال تقديم أنماط مختلفة من عروض السنة الصينية الجديدة حول ثقافة جيانغسو، وتخصيص فلتر AR للسنة الصينية الجديدة وطرق أخرى لخلق تجربة حسية جديدة في الثقافة والسياحة حول السنة الصينية الجديدة. حتى الآن، تم استخدام فلتر AR لـ 250000 مرة وحذت على 116000 تفاعل. شارك الناس من جميع أنحاء العالم في @ Visit Jiangsu عام الأرنب فلتر AR للاحتفال بالسنة الصينية الجديدة معًا.

@ Visit Jiangsu نفذت نشاطًا بعنوان “تحية السنة الصينية الجديدة بلغات متعددة” على منصات التواصل الاجتماعي في الخارج في ليلة رأس السنة الصينية لجعل الأصدقاء في الخارج يشعرون بالأجواء القوية للسنة الصينية الجديدة. لقد قمنا بدعوة المعجبين و KOLs في الخارج لاستقبال العام الصيني الجديد، والاحتفال بالعام الصيني الجديد مع @ Visit Jiangsu ، وتقديم أطيب التمنيات بالعام الصيني الجديد والشعور بسحر الترحيب بالعام الصيني الجديد بلغات مختلفة، مما يجعل اللغات والثقافات المختلفة أقرب معًا في شكل مقاطع فيديو وصور.

سلسلة من أنشطة “السنة الصينية الجديدة السعيدة” التي أنشأتها إدارة الثقافة والسياحة في مقاطعة جيانغسو أظهرت للجمهور في الخارج الأجواء الاحتفالية والحياة الترفيهية خلال السنة الصينية الجديدة وصورة أكثر انفتاحًا وتنوعًا وحيوية لجيانغسو، الصين.

الفيديو – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1995489/video.mp4

February 4, 2023

Celebrate & Rejoice Chinese New Year with the world, Visit Jiangsu in the Year of Rabbit

NANJING, China, Feb. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — As the Year of the Rabbit just arrived in 2023, the overseas social media account @Visit Jiangsu of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism launched several Chinese New Year activities on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok through various creative interactive forms such as videos, pictures and texts, digital live streaming, online interaction, Greeting the Chinese New Year in Multiple Languages Challenge and so on to help people from all around the world to learn about the Chinese New Year and the culture of Jiangsu. The posts reached 3.08 million followers and accumulated 662,000 interactions, covering nearly 100 countries and regions around the world, bringing people an audio-visual feast of “Charm of Jiangsu” which is full of Chinese New Year atmosphere.

This year, the Chinese New Year visual convergence media products, integrating elements of the landmarks in Jiangsu, paper cutting-an intangible cultural heritage, and other characteristic elements, created the Year of the Rabbit banner of our social media, photos of the online puzzle games, Chinese New Year posters and other creative visual products which were pinned to the top on multiple platforms. We strive to present an interesting and unique Chinese New Year in Jiangsu for our overseas fans with a multi-level vision.

At the same time, a special column of “The Charm of Jiangsu” was set up on our social media account @Visit Jiangsu with the topic of “Happy Chinese New Year”. The column is produced with the theme of “knowledge of Chinese New Year customs in Jiangsu”, “Chinese New Year food in Jiangsu” and “tour Jiangsu during the Chinese New Year” in localized languages overseas to introduce the Chinese New Year-related culture, food, and tourist attractions.

In addition, @Visit Jiangsu continuously introduced rich Chinese New Year programs to “cloud live broadcast” and kept improving its digital innovation. It also combined multiple-performance forms with immersive scenes through the introduction of different styles of Chinese New Year performances about Jiangsu’s culture, customizing Chinese New Year AR Filter and other ways to create a new sensory experience in culture and tourism about Chinese New Year. Up to now, the AR Filter has been used for 250,000 times and accumulated 116,000 interactions. People from all around the world participated in the @Visit Jiangsu Year of the Rabbit AR filter to celebrate the Chinese New Year together.

@Visit Jiangsu carried out an activity named “Greeting the Chinese New Year in Multiple Languages ” on overseas social media platforms on Chinese New Year’s Eve to make overseas friends feel the strong atmosphere of Chinese New Year. We invited fans and overseas KOLs to greet the Chinese New Year, celebrate the Chinese New Year with @Visit Jiangsu, extend best wishes for Chinese New Year and feel the charm of greeting the Chinese New Year in different languages, which brings different languages and cultures closer together in the form of videos and pictures.

A series of “Happy Chinese New Year” activities created by Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism has showed the overseas audience the festive atmosphere and leisure life during the Chinese New Year and a more open, diversified and energetic image of Jiangsu, China.

Video – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1995489/video.mp4

February 4, 2023

Africans Rescued in Mediterranean

Italy’s coast guard Friday found eight bodies, including the body of a pregnant woman, on a migrant vessel that was attempting to make the journey across the Mediterranean from Tunisia to Italy.

The bodies were unloaded on Italy’s Lampedusa island, the first stop for many migrants on the journey across the sea.

Dozens more Africans were aboard the vessel, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency.

Survivors of the journey told officials that three other people had died at sea, ANSA reported. They said a women died and fell into the water with her 4-month-old son, who drowned. In addition, survivors said a man passed out and fell into the water.

The Guardian reports that authorities on Malta had been alerted to the migrants’ situation at sea, but no rescue was dispatched. Prosecutors in Sicily have launched an investigation, the newspaper said.

Source: Voice of America

February 4, 2023

41 Dead After Bandits, Vigilantes Clash in Nigeria

ABUJA, NIGERIA — Authorities in Nigeria’s Katsina state have launched a joint security operation after 41 people were killed when a vigilante group clashed with bandits who attacked their village.

This is the latest violence ahead of the February 25 presidential and parliamentary election where insecurity has become a major concern of voters.

Katsina state police spokesman Gambo Isah said that, as of Saturday, a joint security team that includes the military, air force and police were still searching for the perpetrators.

The bandits are believed to be holed up in the nearby Yargoje Forest, where many of the victims were found.

50 cows, 30 sheep stolen

The local vigilante group known as Yankasai was drawn from 11 communities in the Bakori area, where bandits stole 50 cows and 30 sheep before fleeing into the bush.

The vigilante group traced the suspects to the Yargoje Forest to recover the animals but were ambushed by the bandits, killing 41 and injuring two others.

“Our men are still there and as I am speaking with you presently an operation is ongoing,” Isah told Voice of America by phone. “But I cannot say there is no arrest being made but we’re waiting for the result of that operation.”

The bodies of slain vigilantes have been recovered and taken to the mortuary. The injured are being treated at the Kankara General Hospital.

Crime a concern

Katsina state is the home state of Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, and one of the most affected by growing violence perpetrated by armed gangs in northwest Nigeria.

Attacks in the region have led to criticism of Buhari’s eight-year tenure built on a promise to fix insecurity in Nigeria.

The Katsina state special adviser on security said the village attack and the killings have sparked outrage in the community. Authorities have called for calm.

Last week, Katsina state residents hurled stones at the president’s motorcade during his visit to commission projects started by the state’s governor.

Source: Voice of America

February 4, 2023

Three Killed in Attacks on Ethiopian Orthodox Church, According to Report

NAIROBI, KENYA — Three people have been killed Saturday in attacks on a church in southern Ethiopia, according to reports by a religious media outlet.

The violence erupted against a backdrop of tensions in the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church after rebel bishops created their own synod in Oromia, the country’s most populous region.

Abune Henok, Archbishop of Addis Ababa Diocese, described the incidents in the Oromia city of Shashamene as “shameful and heart-wrenching,” according to the Church-affiliated Tewahedo Media Center (TMC).

The TMC said two Orthodox Christian youths had been killed, and another four people injured, when Oromia special forces attacked the church in Shashamene, which lies about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Addis Ababa.

It later said there had been sniper fire on the church from nearby high-rise buildings that had killed a woman and injured others.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports.

Henok called on the authorities in Oromia, also the largest geographic region in Ethiopia, to stop the “persecution” of Orthodox Christians, according to the TMC.

A statement issued by the Holy Synod later urged clergy and the faithful to wear black in protest and called for peaceful demonstrations at churches at home and abroad on February 12.

The unity of the Ethiopian Church, one of the oldest in the world and which accounts for about 40 percent of the country’s 115 million population, is under threat after the move by the rebel clergy last month.

The Church, headed by Patriarch Abune Mathias for a decade, has declared the breakaway synod illegal and excommunicated the bishops involved.

It has also accused the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of interfering in its affairs and making comments that effectively recognized the “illegitimate group.”

Addressing cabinet members earlier in the week, Abiy — who is himself from the Oromo community — called for the rivals to engage in dialogue and said both sides had their “own truths.”

The breakaway bishops accuse the church of discrimination and linguistic and cultural hegemony, saying congregations in Oromia are not served in their native language, claims rejected by the patriarchate.

Orthodox leaders have long complained of religious persecution, including the burning of churches several years ago, and relations with the government have been tense in the past, including over the Tigray conflict.

The World Council of Churches issued a statement Friday voicing “deep concern” about the developments in the Ethiopian institution.

“We call upon all political leaders in Ethiopia to support the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in its efforts to achieve unity and peace among its members,” WCC general secretary Jerry Pillay said.

Source: Voice of America

February 4, 2023

POPE TO MEET WAR VICTIMS ON SOUTH SUDAN PEACE PILGRIMAGE

Pope Francis on Saturday will meet victims of South Sudan’s civil war, a day after delivering an impassioned plea for the country’s leaders to recommit to peace for the sake of their long-suffering people.

Francis is making the first papal visit to South Sudan since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and then plunged into a brutal ethnic conflict that left the young nation divided and traumatised.

Some 380,000 people died in five years of bloodshed before the civil war formally ended in 2018, with a ceasefire between warring leaders who remain in power today.

But the country remains fragile and violent, and Francis, who tried to broker peace between the rival parties, is visiting South Sudan as it lurches from one crisis to the next.

At his first event Saturday, the wheelchair-bound pope met South Sudan’s religious leaders, who work with the poor and marginalised and are deeply respected in the devout country where 60 percent of its 12 million people are Christian.

He said they must “step into the middle of (people’s) sufferings and tears,” adding that the Church had a duty to be “willing to dirty its hands for people”.

Several thousands turned out early to wait for the 86-year-old pontiff in the courtyard of the Cathedral of Saint Therese, many waving national flags and ululating as they gave him a jubilant welcome.

“We came here to receive his blessings. This is all about peace. Pope Francis is not even walking, and he is still coming here to encourage our leaders,” said John Makuei, 24.

He said he arrived before dawn, so he did not miss this “historic day”.

“I am so so happy,” said 36-year-old Adongpiny Harriet, wiping away sweat after she joined an impromptu dance outside the cathedral following the pope’s blessing.

“It is the first time to see papa in my country. I feel so privileged.”

‘A NEW START’

Later Saturday, the Argentine pontiff will address a group of South Sudanese living in a camp outside Juba who were forced to flee ethnic violence during the war.

They will be brought to the capital for an audience with Francis, who has made the defence of migrants and those on the margins a pillar of his papacy.

Despite a peace deal technically ending the war, conflict still drives people from their homes, and there are some 2.2 million internally displaced people across South Sudan, according to UN data from December.

On Saturday evening, Francis will hold a joint prayer with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who joined him in the country.

On Friday, Francis delivered a pointed speech to the country’s political leaders, warning they must make “a new start” toward reconciliation and end the greed and power struggles tearing the nation apart.

“Future generations will either venerate your names or cancel their memory, based on what you now do,” he told an audience that included President Salva Kiir and his rival and deputy Riek Machar, as well as diplomats, religious leaders and traditional kings.

“No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence and mutual recriminations about who is responsible for it, no more leaving your people athirst for peace.”

PRISONERS PARDONED

The pope promised in 2019 to travel to South Sudan, when he hosted Kiir and Machar at a Vatican retreat and asked them to respect a hard-fought ceasefire for their people.

In scenes that reverberated in South Sudan, Francis knelt and kissed the feet of two foes whose personal armies had been accused of horrific war crimes.

But four years later, the country remains mired in intractable conflict and lags at the bottom of global rankings on health, poverty and stable governance.

Human rights groups have urged Francis to press South Sudan’s leaders to address widespread impunity for abuses and deliver justice for victims of war-era atrocities committed on their watch.

Workneh Gebeyehu, secretary general of the regional grouping IGAD also called in a statement on Twitter on the leaders and people of South Sudan to “heed his call for durable peace & stability”.

After his meeting with the pope, Kiir announced in a decree he was pardoning 71 prisoners, including 36 on death row, but gave no other details.

The pope’s stop in South Sudan follows a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, another resource-rich country plagued by persistent conflict and also often overlooked by the world.

The visit — Francis’s fifth to Africa — was initially scheduled for 2022 but had to be postponed because of problems with the pope’s knee.

Source: National News Agency

February 4, 2023

POPE MEETS DISPLACED PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN

Today, Pope Francis met with internally displaced people in South Sudan, after urging its leaders to make a “new start” for peace in a country divided by power struggles and extreme poverty, as reported by “Agence France Presse”.

Source: National News Agency

February 4, 2023

Pope Encourages South Sudanese, Will Raise Plight of Women

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN — Pope Francis sought Saturday to console the long-suffering people of South Sudan as he opened his first full day in a country beset by conflict, poverty and humanitarian crises by encouraging priests and nuns to serve their flocks by joining in their tears.

After arriving in the world’s newest country on the first-ever papal visit Friday, Francis was spending Saturday ministering first to church personnel and then to South Sudanese who have been forced by fighting, flooding and other crises to leave their homes.

Francis was highlighting in particular the plight of South Sudanese women, half of whom are married before age 18, are subject to rampant sexual violence and then face the world’s highest maternal mortality rate.

“Let us ask ourselves what it means for us to be ministers of God in a land scarred by war, hatred, violence, and poverty,” Francis said in St. Theresa Cathedral in the capital, Juba. “How can we exercise our ministry in this land, along the banks of a river bathed in so much innocent blood, among the tear-stained faces of the people entrusted to us?”

Lush in oil and other natural resources but beset by years of civil war and conflict, South Sudan is one of the world’s poorest countries and is responsible for Africa’s worst refugee crisis: More than 2 million people have fled the country and another 2 million are displaced within its borders.

Joined by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Presbyterian head of the Church of Scotland, Francis is seeking to draw global attention to the country’s plight.

The aim of the novel ecumenical visit is to encourage South Sudan’s political leaders to implement a 2018 peace accord ending a civil war that erupted after the overwhelmingly Christian country gained independence from mostly Muslim Sudan in 2011.

The deal and many of its key provisions, including the formation of a national unified army, has stalled amid political infighting and continued clashes around the country that have forced the postponement of the first presidential election for another two years.

At the cathedral Saturday, Francis urged South Sudan’s bishops, priests, nuns and seminarians not to join religious life for social prestige, but to serve their flocks by accompanying them.

“It is precisely this art of stepping into the middle of our brothers and sisters that the church’s pastors need to cultivate: the ability to step into the middle of their sufferings and tears, into the middle of their hunger for God and their thirst for love,” he said.

On a day when South Sudan’s suffering women are expected to take the pride of place, Francis heard of the horrific sacrifices some nuns have made. Sisters Mary Daniel Abut and Regina Roba Luate of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart Sisters were killed in a 2021 ambush along with two others.

“Thank you, on behalf of the entire Church, for your dedication, your courage, your sacrifices and your patience,” Francis said.

Women and girls in South Sudan live a “hellish existence,” the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said in a report last year based on several years of interviews.

“South Sudanese women are physically assaulted while being raped at gunpoint, typically held down by men while being abused by others. They are told not to resist in the slightest way, and not to report what happened, or they will be killed,” the report said.

“It’s hard to convey the level of trauma of South Sudanese women whose bodies are literally the war zone,” commission chair Yasmin Sooka said late last year.

In his arrival speech Friday, Francis raised the plight of women and called for them to be protected and promoted.

Among those on hand for his visit to the cathedral on Saturday was Sister Regina Achan, who said Francis’ visit would encourage other sisters to keep serving.

“We stand with them because we are their voices, we don’t run away at difficult times,” said Achan.

Francis’ visit, she added, would awaken “serenity and peace in our hearts that we may work for peace and justice in this country.”

Francis issued a blunt warning on Friday to President Salva Kiir and his onetime rival and now deputy Riek Machar that history will judge them harshly if they continue to drag their feet on implementing the peace accord.

Kiir for his part committed the government to return to peace talks — suspended last year — with groups that didn’t sign onto the 2018 accord. And late Friday, the Catholic president granted presidential pardons to 71 inmates at Juba’s central prison in honor of the ecumenical pilgrimage, including 36 on death row.

Francis has changed Catholic Church teaching to hold that capital punishment is inadmissible in all circumstances.

Source: Voice of America

February 4, 2023

Seychelles ranked Africa’s least corrupt country – 2022 CPI

BERLIN, The 2022 Corruption Perception Index was released earlier this week, showing the world’s most and least corruption nations.

The index, which looked at perceptions about corruption in 180 countries of the world, also showed that “most countries are failing to stop corruption.”

According to details on the website of transparency.org, the organisers of this index, the rankings are done looking at the levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

At the level of the African continent, Seychelles came tops with 70 points.

Botswana was ranked the second least corrupt along with Cabo Verde (both countries got 60 points).

Rwanda (51 points) came in fourth followed by Mauritius (50 points), Namibia (49 points) Sao Tome and Principe (45 points) whiles Benin, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa in joint 8th spot with 43 points.

Burkina Faso and Tunisia with 42 and 40 points respectively completed the top 10 African countries featured in the index.

The country listed as the cleanest when it comes to corruption is Denmark, with a score of 90.

Source: Nam News Network

February 4, 2023

Regional Leaders Urge Immediate Cease-fire in Eastern Congo

NAIROBI, KENYA — Regional heads of state have called for an immediate cease-fire by all parties in eastern Congo, where tensions have grown amid talk of war as Congo and neighboring Rwanda trade allegations of backing armed rebels.

The communique issued Saturday at the end of an East African Community summit also directed troop-contributing countries to immediately deploy more troops to a regional force created and sent to eastern Congo last year. It also directed defense chiefs to meet within one week and called for more dialogue and de-escalation of tensions.

The heads of state of both Congo and Rwanda attended in a “cordial and friendly atmosphere,” the communique said.

Some observers fear the toll and regional effects if the two countries slide again into all-out conflict as they did in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Alarm soared last month after Rwanda fired on a Congolese military aircraft it alleged violated its airspace. Congo called it “a deliberate act of aggression that equals an act of war” with the goal of sabotaging regional peace efforts.

Congo for months has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group — whose origins lie in the region’s ethnic fighting — and powerful voices in the West have openly agreed. Rwanda denies backing the M23 group, which is one of dozens operating in mineral-rich eastern Congo, and accuses Congo of backing another rebel group that reportedly includes ethnic Hutus who participated in the 1994 Rwanda genocide that killed more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

United Nations experts have said they have “substantial evidence” of Rwandan government forces crossing into Congo to reinforce M23 rebels or to conduct operations against the other rebel group. The United States, France and Germany have urged Rwanda to stop supporting the rebels.

Saturday’s regional summit occurred days after Pope Francis visited Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, to highlight the toll that decades of conflict have taken on the country, particularly eastern Congo, a volatile region rich in minerals critical to much of the world’s technology. A planned visit by the pope to Goma in eastern Congo was called off because of the insecurity.

At a Nov. 23 summit in Angola, which included Congo’s president and Rwanda’s foreign minister, regional leaders called for a cease-fire in eastern Congo to be followed by a withdrawal of rebels from major towns under M23 control. The group said it would leave some of the occupied territories before Jan. 15, but some areas remain under its control and fighting has intensified in some areas.

Source: Voice of America