Stop Hate Speech Now

A range of unusual plants and wildlife lives in the Harenna Forest, but they face pressure from development. There are few places in Ethiopia—or the world—quite like the Harenna Forest. Spread across the southern slopes of the Bale Mountains, it is the second-largest stand of moist tropical forest in Ethiopia and the largest cloud forest in the country. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this natural-color image of the forest on February 5, 2021. The forest grows in highland areas at elevations of 1400 to 3200 meters (4,600 to 10,500 feet) above sea level. From the mostly treeless Sanetti Plateau, an escarpment drops sharply into a series of forested ecosystems defined by altitude, including areas where bamboo, tree heather, fig, fern pines, hagenia, and wild coffee thrive. Forest wildlife includes monkeys, baboons, bushbucks, warthogs, lions, leopards, hyena, and wild dogs. While there are dense tracts of forest sou...

Pablo Cavallero, a former Argentina goalkeeper has been charged with manslaughter after his involvement in a fatal car crash. The 26-cap international goalkeeper – who spent much of his career in Spain – was reported to have hit 57-year-old Juan Rivero with his vehicle on Route 2 near Etcheverry, Argentina. Ambulances rushed to the scene from a nearby toll booth on the motorway, but Rivero died at the scene. ( The Sun ) 

Portugal is set to allocate 5 percent of its share of coronavirus vaccine doses to African nations. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa disclosed on Friday at the end of an EU session. His country’s donation would focus on countries where Portuguese is the main language. The proposal follows a suggestion from French President Emmanuel Macron, who has urged rich nations to share 4 or 5 per cent of their vaccine doses with needier countries. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also shown interest in the idea. Costa’s statement builds on promises made by all 27 EU national leaders on Thursday to extend aid amid the crisis. (dpa) 

Jamaican-American rapper, songwriter Safaree Lloyd Samuels popularly known as Safaree has said getting married is one of his biggest mistakes he has made in life. This is coming just a day after he shared loved-up photos of his wife Erica Mena. Taking to the microblogging platform, Twitter, the rapper said he will never get married again and he is walking away from the current one before he ends up in jail. In a since-deleted Twitter post, the Love & Hip Hop: New York personality wrote, “I mean this from the bottom of my heart getting married was 1 of my BIGGEST mistakes and it will never happen again. I’m walking away before I End up in jail over some dumb shit. Nobody is worth my freedom!!!” Safaree, who dated Nicki Minaj for years, married Erica Mena in October 2019, and they share a daughter, Safire Majesty Samuels, born in 2020. See tweet below; Erica took to Twitter to respond to Safaree’s claims, saying that the feelings are mutual. She also added tha...

Vanessa Bryant, the wife of late Basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, has called out popularly American rapper Meek Mill, over disrespectful lyrics about her husband. The 33- year- old took to Instagram to talk about the song titled “Don’t worry” which reads: “This b**ch I’m f**kin’ always tell me that she love me, but she ain’t ever showed me / Yeah, and if I ever lack, I’m goin’ out with my chopper, it be another Kobe.” Vennessa says the Rapper didn’t go the right way in remembering her husband. She said she doesn’t listen to his songs but the memory he is trying to keep is a disrespectful one. According to her: “Dear @meekmill, I find this line to be extremely insensitive and disrespectful. Period. “I am not familiar with any of your music, but I believe you can do better than this. “If you are a fan, fine, there’s a better way to show your admiration for my husband,” she continued. “This lacks respect and tact.” However, Mill has said he later apologized to Vanes...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for a New York City prosecutor to obtain the tax returns of former President Donald Trump, as part of a criminal investigation. The ruling is a big blow to Trump’s quest to conceal details of his finances. The justices rebuffed Trump’s request to put on hold an Oct. 7 lower court ruling directing the former Republican president’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, to comply with a subpoena to turn over the materials to a grand jury convened by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat. Trump’s tax records are not supposed to become public as part of prosecutors’ investigation, but the apex court’s action is a blow to Trump because he has for so long fought on so many fronts to keep his tax records shielded from view. The ongoing investigation the records are part of could also become an issue for Trump in his life after the presidency. Trump has called it ‘a fishing expedition’ and ‘a continuation of the witch hunt...

Jose Mourinho has said Tottenham deserved to win against West Ham as they fell 2-1 to their London rivals. In Mourinho’s post-match interview, the Portuguese tactician said the result was saddening. He praised the team for the way they played in the second half. In contrast, West Ham did not play in the second half and only defended, he said. “The result is there. They have the points and we have the sadness and the frustration. The good feeling is the way the team played, especially in the second half. “No doubt the team wanted to win, no doubt the team was fighting together for a different result, and I believe we deserved a different result. “They didn’t play in the second half, they just fought and defended. ” We played, we created chances, we scored a goal, should score more, hit the post twice, had fantastic crosses across the face of goal waiting for a touch, even sometimes an own goal. “We had great positions from the edge of the box, shots that normally you think t...

Call it a hat-trick of joy as music superstar Kelly Rowland is basking in her current bliss. The Grammy-award winning artist gave birth to her second child, she turned 40 last week and released a new EP dubbed ‘K’ on Friday February 19. It’s a result of her musical labor of love. "I think the hardest part for me in all of this, because I believe so much in time, or making time for myself, that - you know, because I was giving so much of, you know, to hubby to baby to kid - well, in in that time, growing a baby, to work. So I really, really was thinking about, 'OK, I love giving to everybody else, but how am I going to give back to myself?' So I really had to make time or find time for myself, and I did’’, Kelly said. But it wasn’t all rosy, as the recording artist grappled with love for her own skin for a while. "I did notice it with certain photo shoots or with people being honest and saying, 'Oh well, we can't have her for this campaign - she...

It’s now official: Kim Kardashian has filed for divorce from Kanye West after six years of marriage. Rumours of divorce had dogged the couple since Kanye West had a mental breakdown last year. But according to TMZ, Kim has now made the move to make the separation legal. The divorce papers have been filed by Laura Wasser, an American attorney specializing in divorce. According to the report, Kim is asking for joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s four kids. The report said Kanye is fine with the joint custody arrangement. This will be Kim’s third divorce and Kanye’s first. She was married to music producer Damon Thomas before they divorced in 2004. She married Kris Humphries in August 2011 but she filed for divorce after 72 days. This is Kanye’s first divorce.

Legendary Jamaican reggae singer, vocalist and dance hall innovator, U-Roy, is dead. He was pronounced dead on Wednesday, at the age of 78, causing so much heartbreak and agony to the beloved family. Popularly known as the Originator, Ewart Beckford, Hugh Roy, the Jamaican popularized the vocal technique of toasting He was known for performing conversational, rhythmic speech over a reggae or dancehall beat. His longtime collaborator, Neil Fraser, aka Ariwa Sounds studio’s Mad Professor, confirmed the news of his death. Throughout his career, U-Roy released some 20 records and contributed to Toots and Maytals’ Grammy-winning album True Love. He was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government for his influence on the country’s music scene. Born Ewart Beckford in Jones Town, Jamaica, in the 1940s, U-Roy was given his nickname by a younger family member who couldn’t pronounce Ewart. He started his musical career as a deejay in the Jamaican parlance, a vocalist o...

Jeff Bezos has reclaimed his title of world’s richest person, ending Elon Musk’s six-week reign atop the list. Musk lost about $4.5 billion Tuesday after Tesla’s (TSLA) shares fell 2.4 percent, which was enough to knock him to second place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking. Bezos’ net worth also fell as the broader stock market lost a bit of ground but his loss wasn’t as extreme, only taking a hit of about $372 million. The index currently says Bezos is worth $191 billion compared to Musk’s $190 billion. Musk became the richest man in the world early in January when Tesla’s stock was rising. The 170 million shares of Tesla he already owns increased in value by $106 billion during 2020, as shares shot up 743 percent during the course of the year. Bezos had a rather robust 2020, too. The Amazon CEO’s stake in the company increased by $75 billion in 2020, to $173.3 billion, given the huge increase in sales driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. Bill Gates remains the world...

Kylian Mbappe was PSG’s hero on Tuesday, grabbing a hat-trick in 4-1 demolition of Barcelona at the Nou Camp in Champions league first leg. Lionel Messi had put Barcelona in front from the penalty spot on 27 minutes. He put the ball into the roof of the net past the outstretched arm of Keylor Navas. PSG responded immediately, grabbing the equaliser on 32 minutes through Mbappe. Marco Verratti fed the ball through to Mbappe, who picked up the pass inside the box and quickly sent it into the top left corner, as the goalkeeper was helpless. The French star got his brace on 65 minutes. A rebound wrong footed everyone except Kylian Mbappe, and he slammed the ball into the open net from close range. Five minutes later, PSG made it 3-1 against the host. Leandro Paredes flights the free kick into the box, where Moise Kean peeled off his marker and headed straight inside the upright from the edge of the six-yard box. Mbappe completed his hat-trick on 85 minutes to give PSG unassaila...

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) have just launched a scheme to help redistribute binoculars, telescopes, identification field guides and much more from those that don’t need them anymore, to those that do. The BTO Equipment Donation Scheme (EDS) is designed to help redistribute birding equipment from those who don’t need them anymore, or wish to support others by gifting equipment, to those who may not be able to afford or access the equipment, but would benefit from its use. Many experienced wildlife watchers upgrade their binoculars and telescopes and other wildlife watching equipment as newer and better instruments are brought onto the market, and there will be lots of older pairs of binoculars, books and more languishing in cupboards across the UK. It is this kit that the BTO wants to get into the hands of a young wildlife watcher in need. Anyone can donate to the scheme, but to be a recipient of redistributed wildlife watching equipment you need to be: aged bet...

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a superb hat-trick as Arsenal ended their three-game winless run with victory over Leeds United at Emirates Stadium. Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 14th minute before doubling his side's advantage from the spot towards the end of the first half. Right-back Hector Bellerin grabbed a third on the stroke of half-time, with Aubameyang completing his hat-trick with a header moments after the restart. But from 4-0 down Leeds grabbed two second-half goals through Pascal Struijk and substitute Helder Costa to give Arsenal a late scare. Aubameyang punishes sloppy Leeds Making his first start in almost a month, Arsenal skipper Aubameyang proved just how valuable he is to the north London club. Since he was last named in a starting XI, the Gunners had gone out of the FA Cup and taken four points from four games in the league. Right from the off he looked lively, cutting in from the left and finding the bottom corner with a cultured finish in ...

U.S. House impeachment managers introduced a twist in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, when they requested for the testimony of witnesses. The development came after news that Trump told a top congressional Republican during the deadly assault by his supporters last month that the mob was “more upset” about his election defeat than lawmakers. U.S. senators then voted in favour of allowing witnesses, extending the proceedings as lawmakers weigh whether to convict Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The 55-45 vote in favour of allowing witnesses means a decision in the trial is unlikely to come today. Prior to the vote, closing arguments from the House lawmakers serving as prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys were expected after a week-long trial. A lengthier trial could stymie efforts by Democratic President Joe Biden to move past the controversies surrounding his predecessor and push forward his own legislative agenda on COVI...

Unstoppable Manchester City demolished Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham 3-0 on Saturday to cement their place at the top of English Premier League. Ilkay Gundogan was the hero of the day, with his sensational scoring form, grabbing a brace in the match. The German hit a second half brace for the second game in succession after Rodrigo had fired Pep Guardiola’s side in front from the penalty spot. It was Gundogan who won the spot-kick, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s clumsy challenge allowing the Spanish midfielder to net the first penalty of his club career, which Hugo Lloris got a hand to but was unable to keep out. The Spurs goalkeeper should have done better when Gundogan added City’s second four minutes after half-time, but he allowed the in-form midfielder’s toe-poke to squirm under his body following good combination play with Raheem Sterling. Pep Guardiola’s side controlled possession throughout, but it was from a rare long ball forward that allowed Gundogan to add his second ...

Short-form mobile video app TikTok has been announced as a Global Sponsor of UEFA EURO 2020. This is the first time a digital entertainment platform has sponsored a major international tournament for UEFA and represents an exciting step for both TikTok and UEFA, bringing a new kind of partner to UEFA EURO 2020. Through its partnership with UEFA, TikTok is looking to cement its reputation as the home for football fans to share their passion for the game. As an official partner, TikTok will provide a place where fans can follow their favourite football content creators, share the best TikTok football content, and create their own special moments, reactions and celebrations around the tournament. As a Global Sponsor, TikTok will work with UEFA to launch a range of exciting features including AR effects, Hashtag Challenges, TikTok LIVEs and Sounds, in order to bring surprise and joy to its community. UEFA will also give TikTok access to its huge library of historic assets to de...

Instagram blocked Robert F. Kennedy Jr from the social media network for spreading misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines, the company confirmed Thursday. “We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” a spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, told AFP. The nephew of assassinated US president John F Kennedy nonetheless remained active on Facebook, where he had made similar posts promoting debunked claims about the harm done by vaccines. “We don’t automatically disable accounts across our apps, because the accounts may post about different things on our different services,” the spokesperson said. The environmental activist and son of former US attorney general Robert F Kennedy have repeated a false claim that the recent death of baseball legend Hank Aaron was linked to the Covid-19 vaccine. He had previously posted misinformation about the flu vaccine. Kennedy frequently has gotten involved in controversial is...

U.S drug firm, Pfizer, has announced a partnership with IDA Foundation to provide equitable access to quality cancer treatments. The agreement covers the delivery of cancer treatments in almost 70 developing countries across Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Western Pacific region. At least 45 African countries are covered by the supply agreement. In Africa, the supply agreement covers Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome, and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Pfizer, in a statement, said; “The supply agreement means that millions of more patients wil...

By Allan Lichtman While the House impeachment managers have focused on events leading up to the Capitol breach, it was the real time response from Donald Trump to the rioters which yields smoking gun evidence of his intent to incite the insurrection. Trump failed to promptly call off his followers or to summon timely assistance for the police, despite pleas from his fellow Republicans caught up in the mayhem. His final words that day connect his incendiary statements about a “stolen election” to the storming of the Capitol. As he watched the insurrection unfold on television, with some delight according to witnesses, Trump made no immediate demand that the rioters leave the Capitol. He failed to heed the pleas of Republicans in Congress, who desperately tried to call him with no response. “We are begging essentially, and he was nowhere to be found,” Representative Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio said. We know Trump did call Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama after mistakenly dial...

A member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ron Wright (R-Texas) has died of COVID-19, the first congressman to die from the virus. He died on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19 late last month. “Congressman Ron Wright passed away peacefully at the age of 67 on Feb. 7, 2021,” Wright’s campaign said in a statement on Monday. “His wife Susan was by his side and he is now in the presence of their Lord and Saviour.” Wright, 67, previously battled lung cancer after being diagnosed in 2018. “I am experiencing minor symptoms, but overall, I feel okay and will continue working for the people of #TX6 from home this week,” Wright tweeted on Jan. 21. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow (R-La.), 41, died of the disease in late December, days before he was set to be sworn in. Wright was re-elected to his seat in November 2020.

Manchester City outclass defending champions, Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield to cement their place at the top of English Premier League on Sunday. It was a game dubbed ‘the clash of Titans’ but City made it look easy, beating Liverpool at their backyard. Liverpool have now had two back to back defeat at home. Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty miss was the highlight of the first half, but the second half sparked to life as Gundogan made amend, putting City in front on 49 minutes of play. Gundogan pounced on a rebound inside the box from a Phil Foden shot and sent the ball into the back of the net. Liverpool responded with penalty kick by Mohamed Salah on 63 minutes. The Liverpool striker won the battle of wills and sent an unstoppable penalty past Ederson into the roof of the net. City took the lead again on 73 minutes through Gundogan, who got his brace. Phil Foden was the provider as he slipped the ball to Gundogan who simply steered it home from close range. It was 3-1 for City on 76 mi...

Mikel Arteta urged Arsenal to be more ruthless after they crashed to a second successive Premier League defeat as Ollie Watkins’ early goal fired Aston Villa to a 1-0 win on Saturday. Arteta’s side fell behind after just 74 seconds at Villa Park and were unable to muster a convincing response. Arsenal lost at Wolves on Tuesday and have gone three league games without a victory. The Gunners are languishing in 10th place, nine points adrift of the top four as their faint hopes of Champions League qualification look less realistic by the day. “Really strong performance. We completely dominated the game, we dominated every department, and we should have won,” Arteta said. “But in the Premier League when you give a goal to the opponent – and we gave them another three opportunities to be fair, just giving them to them – and then you are not ruthless in the opponent’s box, you don’t win games. “That is something we have to do better, and it cost us two games in the last few days ...

Christopher Plummer, the Canadian-born Shakespearean actor who starred in films including “ The Sound of Music ” and “ Beginners ,” died on Friday morning at his home in Connecticut. He was 91. “Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self deprecating humor and the music of words,” said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager of 46 years. “He was a national treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots. Through his art and humanity, he touched all of our hearts and his legendary life will endure for all generations to come. He will forever be with us.” An imposing theatrical presence with a well-cultivated, resonant voice, that critic John Simon once observed, “in its chamois mode, can polish mirrors,” Plummer was best known for playing Captain von Trapp in the Oscar-winning musical “The Sound of Music.” He also won an Oscar in 2012 for his supporting turn in the film “Beginners,” becoming the oldest a...

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats who will prosecute former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial asked him on Thursday to testify next week. The testimony will be on his conduct before hundreds of his supporters launched a deadly attack on the Capitol. The House last month impeached Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection after he made a fiery speech urging his followers to “fight” his election defeat shortly before they stormed the Capitol, fighting with police and sending lawmakers scrambling for their safety. Trump’s attorneys this week rejected the charge, contending that he “fully and faithfully executed his duties as president” and asserting that his claims that his election defeat was the result of widespread fraud – which were baseless – were protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. “In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate imp...

Alexei Navalny: anti-Putin protesters sentenced to prison term Agency Report Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader was sentenced to more than 2 1/2 years in prison, by a Moscow court for violating the terms of his probation. The violation happened as he was recuperating in Germany from nerve-agent poisoning. Navalny, who is the most prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, had earlier denounced the proceedings as a vain attempt by the Kremlin to scare millions of Russians into submission. The prison sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that he has rejected as fabricated. The 44-year-old Navalny was arrested Jan. 17 upon returning from his five-month convalescence in Germany from the attack, which he has blamed on the Kremlin. Navalny attributed his arrest to Putin’s “fear and hatred,” saying the Russian leader will go down in history as a “poisoner.” “I have deeply offended him simply by surviving the assassination attempt that he ordered,” he sai...