The president of the Union for Progress and Change (UPC), Burkina Faso's main opposition party, Zephirin Diabré, and former Prime Minister Isaac Zida, filed their candidacies for the November 22 presidential election with the National Electoral Commission (Ceni) on Friday. In the 2015 elections, Diabré, 61 years old, came second with 29.65% of the votes, defeated by current President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who is seeking a second term and whose record he criticized. "Five years of managing the MPP (People's Movement for Progress, President Kaboré's party), have brought Burkina Faso to the brink of chaos. We are obliged to save it today because that is what it is all about," he said. Former minister of Blaise Compaoré in the 1990s, Zéphirin Diabré had gone into opposition in 2011 by founding the UPC, three years before a popular uprising ousted his former boss after 27 years in power. Threat of... Read more
Immigrant Heritage Month Celebration in the U.S : Many elected officials have weighed in
Immigrant heritage month was celebrated on June 28, 2020 through webinar as many elected officials from across America joined their voices to other voices to tell their stories and Democratic nominee Joe Biden delivered a message of hope. Several elected officials including Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, New York Congresswoman Grace Meng, Alexandria, Virginia Councilman Mohamed Seifeldein, and Florida State Senator Annette Taddeo, have tuned in to celebrate immigrant heritage month as descent of immigrants or immigrants themselves. “Immigration is part of the DNA of this country… It is essential to who we are as a nation,” said Biden for President Senior Advisor Karine Jean-Pierre. In a speech that was read, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. the presumptive Democratic nominee said his grand grandparents came from Irish Island, his grandfather delivered furniture in New Jersey, and his father went on to fight World War II before he became a bank manager. [caption id="attachment_5090" align="alignleft" width="289"] Karine Jean-Pierre[/caption] “My... Read more
African Diaspora for Biden : A political movement to negotiate and to vote
African Diaspora for Biden has held in April 26, 2020 a teleconference meeting to lay out a strategy for the election of the democrat candidate Joe Biden and to address their preoccupations to one of Biden surrogates. A thousand of people from the 50 states of the United States of America have attended that very first meeting with a bold commitment not only to make their voices heard but also to support Joe Biden. [video width="480" height="256" mp4="https://theafricanjournalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/video-biden.mp4"][/video] “This meeting is about to put our fate in our own hand,” said Chijike Ndukwu one of the initiators of the meeting. “Africans contribute a lot to this country, the only thing we do not have is a political power, a possibility to have a seat,” he added as he enumerated some statics showing how much Africans have been devoted to the United States of America. African Diaspora for Biden is indeed... Read more
Socialist candidate for governor speaks out against Jew hatred and murderous assault on Pittsburgh synagogue
By : Peter Thierjung
MANHATTAN – "Working people everywhere should condemn the murderous assault on the Pittsburgh synagogue by an anti-Semitic and ultra - rightist terrorist who killed 11 people and gravely injured others," Róger Calero, the Socialist Workers Party candidate for governor of New York told a campaign meeting here Oct. 27. “History tell us that Jew-hatred rises in times of capitalist crisis like today,” Calero said. “This scapegoating is a poison that weakens the working class. It is used to keep us from focusing clearly on the those who oppress and exploit us — the capitalists who own the corporations, banks, and factories." "Working people face the brunt of today’s economic, social and moral crisis of capitalism," Calero said. "Workers are discussing and looking for ways to organize, to win better wages and working conditions. We need stronger unions and need to organize the unorganized. We need to reject the divide-and-rule tactics... Read more
South Africa – National minimum wage delayed
JOHANNESBURG (REUTERS) - The introduction of a national minimum wage of 20 rand (S$2.19) an hour in South Africa could be delayed by up to two months as parliament is yet to approve necessary draft legislation, a spokesman for the labour ministry said on Friday (April 20). The minimum wage - a policy championed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as an important step to tackle labour instability and wage inequality - was approved by the Cabinet in November and meant to be introduced on May 1. Supporters of the minimum wage say it will reduce inequality and stimulate economic growth as workers can spend more. But critics say it could lead to increased unemployment, already at record highs, with some employers unable to afford higher wage bills. Labour ministry spokesman Teboho Thejane said the ministry was focused on getting the minimum wage introduced. "The minimum wage will definitely be implemented. But... Read more
DOJ tinkers with immigration courts to speed deportations
It is a judicial bureaucracy that American citizens almost never encounter, with 58 courtrooms around the country and more than 300 judges, whose decisions affect the lives of thousands of people each year. There are limited avenues for appeal and no constitutional right to a lawyer for anyone caught up in it. Welcome to the immigration court system, the latest focus of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration — less visible than a border wall and less dramatic than midnight raids by ICE officers, but arguably more important. The sequence of events that lead to immigration court vary from case to case, especially now, as even broader categories of people — ranging from convicted criminals to recent border crossers seeking asylum, longtime residents and even a few U.S. citizens — are getting caught up in the Trump administration’s sweeping enforcement dragnet. But for all who find themselves in front... Read more
In new book, Comey blasts untruthful, ‘ego-driven’ Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey blasts President Donald Trump as unethical and "untethered to truth" in a sharply critical new book that describes Trump as fixated in the early days of his administration on having the FBI debunk salacious rumors he insisted were untrue but could distress his wife. In the forthcoming book, Comey compares Trump to a mafia don and calls his leadership of the country "ego driven and about personal loyalty." He also reveals new details about his interactions with Trump and his own decision-making in handling the Hillary Clinton email investigation before the 2016 election. He casts Trump as a mobster-like figure who sought to blur the line between law enforcement and politics and tried to pressure him personally regarding his investigation into Russian election interference. The book adheres closely to Comey's public testimony and written statements about his contacts with Trump and his... Read more