Monday, December 19, 2016

Six In The Morning Monday December 19

Aleppo battle: Hundreds leave Syria city as evacuations resume


Evacuations have resumed from east Aleppo, with buses and ambulances leaving rebel areas of the Syrian city.
At least 350 people reportedly left rebel enclaves late on Sunday, heading towards other rebel-held territory.
Among those to have left is seven-year-old Bana Alabed, who had tweeted about conditions in besieged areas of Aleppo.
A separate evacuation of government-controlled parts of Idlib province, besieged by rebels, started early on Monday.
Thousands more are waiting to leave east Aleppo amid dire conditions.






Congo on a knife-edge as opposition leader calls for Kabila to step down

Moise Katumbi says strongman president will become an ‘illegitimate’ ruler if he does not give up power on Monday


Moise Katumbi, the most popular politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo according to recent polls, has made a dramatic intervention in the ongoing crisis in the vast central African state, calling on the president, Joseph Kabila, to stand down within 24 hours to avoid chaos and bloodshed.
The DRC is bracing for violent protests and riots when the mandate of Kabila, whom critics accuse of seeking to hold on to power indefinitely, expires on Monday night.
Opposition officials have spoken of a “trial of strength on the streets” in coming days.

Bana Alabed, the seven-year-old girl who has been tweeting from Aleppo, evacuated to safety

Bana Alabed gathered a worldwide following after tweeting about what it was like to live with under the constant threat of air strikes during the siege of east Aleppo 

The seven-year-old girl who has been tweeting about the dire situation in Aleppo has been evacuated from the city and is safe, a charity official has said. 
Bana Alabed is among the around 1,200 people to have reached relative safety on Monday after a weekend in which the evacuation of thousands of civilians from the last rebel enclaves of the embattled Syrian city was delayed. 
Ahmad Tarakji, the president of the Syrian American Medical Society, tweeted that Bana was safe and well in the Aleppo countryside, along with a picture of her smiling in her father's arms. 

Meet the tiny African heroine teaching kids to protect the environment


In Senegal, protecting the environment isn’t exactly a concern for most people. However, a Franco-Senegalese man and his team want to change that, starting with the country’s youngest citizens. They just launched “Mia Moké”, a cartoon featuring a spunky little girl heroine who teaches kids about the environment. At the same time, Mia Moké gives African children a role model who they can identify with. 

The communication agency Advise, which is based in Dakar, launched the "Mia Moké" cartoon in late September. "Moké" means "little" in Lingala, a language widely spoken across West Africa. A team of four people work on the multi-platform project which includes old-fashioned comics as well as high-tech versions that kids can explore on an iPad or tablet. 

Karim Gadjigo, 50, is one of the people working on the project. Gadjigo grew up in Senegal before going to France for university. He went back to Senegal about 20 years ago to work in the communications sector.


Will an incipient wave of elections change the face of Latin America?

Over the coming 24 months, a host of Latin American nations are slated to elect their leaders. The outcome of many of these races is far from certain.



Almost half of the 20 nations in Central and South America will hold presidential elections over the next two years (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, and Venezuela). The number of elections is not unprecedented, but the degree of uncertainty is, given the economic doldrums and political crises that have afflicted the region in recent years.
As a consequence of the electoral outlook’s uncertainty, many of the coming year’s events in Latin America will need to be interpreted through the peculiar lens of candidates’ strategic calculations and parties’ maneuvering for advantage at the polls.

Rohingya abuse may be crimes against humanity: Amnesty


Rights group says Myanmar army targets civilians in "systematic campaign of violence" as ASEAN discusses the issue.



Military actions against Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority may amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said, as the government called a meeting of regional leaders to discuss the issue.
"The Myanmar military has targeted Rohingya civilians in a callous and systematic campaign of violence," Rafendi Djamin, Southeast Asia director for the rights group, said in a statement on Monday.
"The deplorable actions of the military could be part of a widespread and systematic attack on a civilian population and may amount to crimes against humanity."








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