International
Kenya lifts Covid curfew, unveils stimulus plan
AFP
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday ordered the immediate lifting of a coronavirus curfew in force since March 2020 and unveiled a stimulus package to try to revitalise the battered economy.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the East African powerhouse hard, particularly in the vital tourism sector, and led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Kenyatta announced his decision to end the dusk-to-dawn curfew to cheers and applause at an event to mark Mashujaa Day, a public holiday to honour those who contributed to the country’s independence struggle.
“With significant progress registered in the containment of Covid-19, it is now time to shift our focus from survival to co-existing with the disease,” he said.
Kenya has reported 252,308 cases of the new coronavirus, including 5,238 deaths, since the start of the pandemic.
But inoculation rates remain low, with only 4.6 percent of the adult population fully vaccinated, according to the latest government data.
However Kenyatta said the country was on target to meet his goal of vaccinating 10 million people by Christmas, out of a population of almost 54 million.
Currently over 4.6 million people are either fully or partially vaccinated, latest figures show.
Kenya’s economy contracted by 0.3 percent in 2020 — the first contraction in three decades — but the government has forecast a swing back to growth of about six percent this year.
Kenyatta announced a 25-billion shilling ($225 million, 193 million euro) financial stimulus programme from November 1 “designed to accelerate the pace of our economic growth and to sustain the gains already made”.
He said a variety of sectors would be targeted, including agriculture — long the backbone of the economy — as well as health, education, drought response, infrastructure, energy and environmental conservation.
International
Judge declares Donald Trump not guilty in Stormy Daniels case
Judge Juan Merchan acquitted U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the case involving former porn actress Stormy Daniels.
“At this moment, I am issuing this verdict to cover all 34 charges,” Merchan stated. The judge also wished Trump good luck in his second term as president.
Trump will now become the first criminal president.
Merchan declined to impose any punishment. This decision strengthens Trump’s acquittal and clears the way for his return to the White House without the threat of prison or a fine.
“Never before has this court faced such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Judge Merchan said.
International
Canada imposes sanctions on 14 venezuelan officials for human rights violations
Canada imposed sanctions on 14 high-ranking officials of the Venezuelan “regime” this Friday, including prominent members of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM), for their involvement in human rights violations in Venezuela.
Among those sanctioned are DGCIM prosecutors Dinorah Yoselin Bustamante Puerta and Farik Karin Salcedo Mora; the director of criminal investigations at the agency, Asdrubal José Brito Hernandez, as well as its former deputy director, Rafael Ramón Blanco Marrero.
The sanctions also target several members of the Bolivarian National Guard: its general commander, Elio Ramón Estrada Paredes; the commander of the capital region, Johan Alexander Hernández Lárez, and lieutenant colonel, Alexander Enrique Granko Arteaga.
Other individuals sanctioned include the director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Alexis José Rodríguez Cabello, and his deputy director, Miguel Antonio Muñoz Palacios; Brigadier General of the Bolivarian National Police, Rubén Darío Santiago Servigna, and Domingo Antonio Hernández Lárez, commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
International
María Corina Machado urges Edmundo González Urrutia not to return to Venezuela for his safety
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Friday that she asked Edmundo González Urrutia, former candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), not to return to Venezuela to avoid putting himself at risk.
In a video message, Machado explained that the opposition evaluated the situation and concluded that González Urrutia would be in danger if he tried to enter Venezuela as he had planned.
González Urrutia, who claims to have won the July 28 elections with the support of more than 85% of the official voting records, had announced that he would return to Venezuela on January 10 to assume the presidency.
Earlier, Nicolás Maduro, who was declared the winner of those elections, took the oath of office for a third term.
Judge declares Donald Trump not guilty in Stormy Daniels case
Canada imposes sanctions on 14 venezuelan officials for human rights violations
María Corina Machado urges Edmundo González Urrutia not to return to Venezuela for his safety
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