A majority of LabourList readers named Keir Starme
A majority of LabourList readers named Keir Starmer as a favourite shadow cabinet member in our latest readers’ survey, with 56.4% putting the Shadow Brexit Secretary in their top three.Starmer, who is widely thought to have future leadership ambitions, has topped the shadow cabinet popularity poll every time LabourList readers have been asked to pick their favourite frontbenchers in our relaunched weekly surveys.The boost for the Holborn and St Pancras MP came as he openly warned that no Brexit deal would get through parliament without being attached to a fresh EU referendum, estimating that up to 150 Labour MPs would vote against any cross-party agreement that was not subject to a public vote.John McDonnell was the second most commonly chosen shadow cabinet member in the LabourList poll conducted over the weekend, with almost 50% of readers opting for the Shadow Chancellor. Emily Thornberry, Tom Watson and Angela Rayner completed the top five.LabourList readers were mostly disappointed by Labour’s performance at the recent local elections, which saw the party make key gains in areas including Amber Valley and Gravesham but lose a net 63 councillors. 57.5% described themselves as “disappointed”, while the rest of the respondents were almost equally divided between being “pleased” and “undecided”.Asked whether Labour’s Brexit policy had been electorally damaging for the party, 78% of the 3,939 survey respondents said “Yes”.But, of those, over 22% thought “it would be the best policy for Labour in a snap general election” nonetheless. 17.5% chose “No – any Labour losses are better explained by other factors”.On the upcoming European elections – in which polling suggests Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party will win the most votes, possibly more than Labour and the Tories combined – over 63% of readers said they would vote Labour.Nearly 28% picked a Remain-backing party – the Lib Dems, Green Party or Change UK – while a combined 4.8% said they would vote for a Leave-supporting option (The Brexit Party, Conservatives or UKIP).However, more than 66% of our readers have predicted that The Brexit Party will secure the most support in the EU elections on May 23rd. Only around 20% were optimistic about Labour’s chances of topping the poll.1. How did you feel about Labour’s performance at the local elections last week?Click to enlarge.Disappointed – Labour did worse than I expected – 57.5% (2,265)Neither/Don’t know – 21.3% (839)Pleased – Labour did better than I expected – 21.2% (835)2. Do you think Labour’s Brexit policy has been electorally damaging for the party?Click to enlarge.Yes – and it would damage Labour in a snap general election – 54.8% (2,160)Yes – but it would be the best policy for Labour in a snap general election – 22.2% (873)No – any Labour losses are better explained by other factors – 17.5% (691)Don’t know – 5.5% (215)3. Which one of the following parties will get your vote in the European elections?Click to enlarge.Labour – 63.4% (2,497)Liberal Democrats – 12.2% (482)Green Party – 11.3% (446)The Brexit Party – 4.6% (180)Other – 4.2% (166)Change UK – The Independent Group – 4.1% (160)Conservatives – 0.1% (5)UK Independence Party – 0.1% (3)4. Which of these parties do you think will come first in the European elections?Click to enlarge.The Brexit Party – 66.4% (2,617)Labour – 20.3% (801)Liberal Democrats – 6.4% (254)Other – 3.4% (132)Green Party – 1.4% (54)UK Independence Party – 1.2% (46)Change UK – The Independent Group – 0.5% (20)Conservatives – 0.4% (15)5. Who are your top three favourite shadow cabinet members?Click to enlarge.Keir Starmer – 2,220John McDonnell – 1,958Emily Thornberry – 1,391Tom Watson – 1,298Angela Rayner – 706Rebecca Long-Bailey – 697Diane Abbott – 600Barry Gardiner – 493Jonathan Ashworth – 328Richard Burgon – 315Shami Chakrabarti – 283Dawn Butler – 207John Healey – 167Ian Lavery – 126Andrew Gwynne – 122Baroness Smith of Basildon – 120Andy McDonald – 109Nia Griffith – 106Cat Smith – 88Dan Carden – 75Nick Brown – 72Jon Trickett – 63Margaret Greenwood – 54Tony Lloyd – 44Sue Hayman – 40Peter Dowd – 27Lesley Laird – 25Valerie Vaz – 24Barbara Keeley – 24Lord Thomas McAvoy – 23Christina Rees – 12The survey was open from 3.30pm on Friday 10th May until 1pm on Monday 13th May. Thank you to all 3,939 readers who took part.Tags:Labour /Weekly Survey /Keir Starmer /Brexit /
Subscribe to Mission Local’s daily newsletter 0% Email Address Share this: FacebookTwitterRedditemail,0% A Toyota and a Mazda collided at 22nd Street and Potrero Avenue on Thursday afternoon, temporarily stopping traffic in front of San Francisco General Hospital. There were no serious injuries to either of the two drivers, or the sole passenger, a dog.Emergency responders brought the driver of the Toyota, which subsequently slammed into the Rose Food Mart, to San Francisco General for treatment.The driver of this Toyota escaped with minor damage, which is more than can be said for the vehicle. Photo by Charlotte Silver.
“It started about 6 months ago, and it’s just gotten worse as the weather, rain and different things like that, the ruts get deeper, it’s even broken up the sidewalk here in front of Ms. Cat’s house where the trash truck runs across the sidewalk and the curb.”Brooklyn Arts Center Executive Director Richard Leder said although he asked Waste Management to stop driving on the lawn, it is city property and the truck is doing nothing wrong.Dylan Lee, a spokesman with the City of Wilmington, said although the grassy area and the sidewalk is city property, the truck is not allowed to drive on it.Related Article: Demolition begins at old WWAY building in downtown WilmingtonWaste Management Senior Community Relations Specialist Marla Prince said “Apparently, Waste Management’s commercial customer built a corral on their property which restricted access and made it difficult to service the container. This is something we were just made aware of and we are in the process of assessing the situation. We will make every effort to take corrective action to service this customer correctly.”Meanwhile, Leder said he and his employees plan to plant new grass and beautify the area for Grantham in the spring.If you want to hear more about Grantham’s story or would like to donate to her cause, you can do so here. WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Members of a tight-knit Downtown Wilmington community teamed up over the holidays to provide home repairs for an elderly neighbor Catherine Grantham, known simply as Ms. Cat. After the success of those repairs, those same community members raised concerns that Grantham was being treated unfairly.Greg Pampell and Kristen McKeithan, who live just a few doors away from Grantham’s Campbell St. home, say a trash truck has been driving across her lawn to access a dumpster at the Brooklyn Arts Center. Pampell says this has created ruts in Grantham’s lawn and cracks in her sidewalk.- Advertisement – 
The notice of violation cites Chemours’ failure to take action following a December 15 letter from DEQ that directed the company to terminate or control sources of contamination and mitigate onsite hazards.The notice of violation requires Chemours to take immediate measures to mitigate any hazards resulting from exposure to GenX and other pollutants. The notice of violation also directs the company to immediately take steps including but not limited to:Excavate, treat or control all stormwater and wastewater conveyance ditchesRemove, treat or control other known sources that could be causing further contaminationClean potentially contaminated equipment and capture any resulting wastewater for offsite disposalReduce or eliminate air emissions that are contributing to groundwater contaminationThe notice of violation comes in the wake of four spill incidents in recent weeks at the Bladen County facility. Clean-up efforts began immediately following each spill and no contaminated wastewater reached the Cape Fear River.Related Article: Reporter who broke GenX contamination story hired as CFPUA spokesmanState officials do not believe the spills caused subsequent GenX spikes in water samples taken from the facility’s discharge pipe at the river. However, there is a correlation between rain events and elevated levels of the chemical in water samples taken at that location.In September, DEQ pursued civil action against Chemours and obtained a partial consent order requiring the company to stop all discharge of process wastewater containing GenX. As part of their response to the consent order, Chemours severed and capped the plant’s industrial wastewater pipe.On November 13, DEQ issued a notice of violation to Chemours after a smokestack release of GenX caused deposition of the chemical on the facility’s grounds. Subsequent rainfall mixed with the GenX which resulted in contaminated stormwater being discharged to the Cape Fear River. Final enforcement action for this violation is under review by the department.Chemours required to install new technology to reduce air emissions DEQ’s Division of Air Quality has required Chemours to implement new technology to control and significantly reduce the amount of GenX from indoor sources that is released through smokestacks at two buildings on the Fayetteville Works site.The new air abatement system will use a mechanism called carbon absorption to capture contaminants from the air. While indoor air from the Vinyl Ethers North Tower and the Polymer Processing Agent facility is currently drawn directly up and out of smokestacks, the abatement system will first route that air through the added filter before returning it to the stack for release.Engineering estimates suggest that this will drastically cut the overall rate of GenX in air emissions, reducing by more than 90 percent the amount of GenX contributed through stack emission of filtered indoor air. Waste material collected in the abatement system will be disposed of offsite.Chemours is responsible for developing a test protocol for review and approval by the Division of Air Quality. The company will be required to conduct air sampling and analysis, with timely results provided to the DEQ.Carbon well filtration system pilot study ordered DEQ’s Division of Waste Management issued a conditional approval for a pilot study to test filtration systems at four residential drinking water wells to be determined by the department. In January, Chemours submitted to the state a proposal for installing granular activated carbon filtration systems at numerous residences located near the Fayetteville Works facility. After a full review of the proposal, state officials determined that there was insufficient data to determine whether such filtration systems are effective.Today’s conditional approval establishes a step-by-step plan for a pilot study of the filtration systems which will include strict state oversight. Upon completion of the study, Chemours must submit a final report to the Division of Waste Management for review and analysis. Officials will then determine whether use of the filtration systems is a viable short-term solution for wells that have been impacted by GenX contamination.Well sampling continuesPrivate well sampling continues in the areas surrounding the Chemours facility. Testing done to date indicates that 151 wells near the Chemours facility have levels of GenX above the health goal. Residents who rely on those wells are currently receiving bottled water.Phase III sampling results are available online as well as a map of the area where Phase IV sampling recently began. Aerial view of Chemours plant (Photo: WWAY) RALEIGH, NC (WWAY/NEWS RELEASE) — The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has issued a notice of violation to Chemours Fayetteville Works ordering the company to immediately take new measures to control additional sources of GenX and other perfluorinated compounds from site contamination and air emissions.The state agency also issued a letter directing the company to begin a trial of new technology to curb emissions from the facility’s smokestacks and granted limited approval for Chemours to test carbon filtration systems on residential drinking water wells.- Advertisement – 
Council members approved rezoning that supports the sister project, Arboretum West, which sits along Station Road. That project would add more than 300 apartments and commercial space and remains a concern for neighbors.“If you want to go south you’re going down to Military Cutoff that’s what’s going to happen and it’s going to come right through our intersection there that’s already a mess and it’s going to get worse,” said neighbor Bill Shell.No public traffic analysis was needed for the Village, the development team performed their own and showed the project would not affect traffic. An analysis was required for West and engineers said they would attempt to make improvements with interconnectivity for Market Street and Military Cutoff Road.Related Article: FEMA assesses community needs starting at the front door“Improvements are really designed to minimize delay on Military Cutoff road we know that’s carrying a lot of traffic there are some delays there,” said Rynal Stephenson presenting the traffic analysis for Arboretum West. “These improvements are meant to minimize delays and keep traffic moving.”Council members approved a resolution showing a sign of support to students in Parkland, Florida as well as in Wilmington. In it, they applaud the efforts students are making to bring awareness to gun violence in schools and demand for action to end school shootings.Lastly, city council approved an ordinance to ban the box. From now on they will no longer require a potential city employee to disclose whether they had a prior conviction or not. The city will continue to run background checks for specifics with the need for such screening. WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) – A busy night for Wilmington city leaders as they tackle major development coming to a busy road.Wilmington city leaders unanimously approved rezoning on Military Cutoff Road that supports the 98 town home encompassing project, Arboretum Village.- Advertisement – 
The male peacock — definitely a male, since it squawked elaborate mating calls — had been hanging around in Oakdale, Pine Forest and adjacent Bellevue Cemetery since at least 2016.Kozen, who lives in Burgaw, nicknamed the bird “Blueberry” because of the blue feathers on his head, and also in honor of the N.C. Blueberry Festival in Burgaw.Read more from StarNewsOnline. Blueberry the Peacock (Photo: Oakdale Cemetery) WILMINGTON, NC (StarNews) — Add Blueberry the Peacock to the list of Hurricane Florence casualties.Eric Kozen, the superintendent of Oakdale Cemetery, said Monday that the caretaker of neighboring Pine Forest Cemetery had found the peacock’s dead body.- Advertisement – 
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina officials sought criminal charges after the 2016 election against the man now at the center of absentee ballot fraud allegations, but prosecutors didn’t indict him before the now disputed 2018 congressional race, according to documents released Wednesday.The documents detail a two year investigation by the North Carolina State Board of Elections into Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. Authorities informed the 62-year-old convicted felon from rural Bladen County earlier this month that he is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation into irregularities in the Nov. 6 vote in the state’s 9th Congressional District.- Advertisement – In a January 2018 memo referring Dowless and others for criminal charges, state elections investigators detailed interviews in which people who had worked for Dowless in the 2016 election cycle described collecting absentee ballots from voters. Because of the potential for mischief, it is against North Carolina law for anyone other than a voter or immediate relative to handle someone’s absentee ballot before it is sealed and mailed.Investigators also alleged Dowless attempted to interfere with their investigation by calling witnesses and warning them before they could be interviewed.The referral to state and federal prosecutors came well before a May GOP primary and November general election in which Republican Mark Harris eked out narrow victories.Related Article: Trump blames mental illness in California bar massacresHarris now leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the year’s only still unresolved congressional election, according to unofficial results. The state elections board has refused to certify the tally, and leaders in both parties now concede a do-over election might eventually be needed.The state elections board plans to review the evidence at a Jan. 11 public hearing.Investigators are looking into whether Dowless and others working on the GOP candidate’s behalf ran an illegal operation to collect large numbers of absentee ballots from voters in at least two counties.Dowless didn’t respond Wednesday to a voicemail or text message seeking comment. His lawyer, Cynthia Adams Singletary, said in a statement Tuesday that any speculation regarding her client and the 9th District election is premature and unwarranted. Through his attorney, Dowless has declined to be interviewed by state investigators.Harris, the Republican candidate, said in an interview last week that it was his decision to hire Dowless, though he denied knowledge of any potential wrongdoing.The extent of the state’s prior investigation into Dowless’ tactics had not previously been publicly known.In their January memo, investigators for the state board said they had uncovered evidence that Dowless employed workers to encourage people to ask for absentee ballots and then collect them, as well as push for certain candidates.The 2016 probe appears to have been triggered when three voters registered formal complaints with county elections officials saying that people subsequently identified as working for Dowless had come to their houses to encourage them to request absentee ballots.One woman, Linda Baldwin, said a man told her he was paid to collect absentee ballot request forms and “that when the ballots arrived by mail at her house, and she completed them, he would return to pick them up to take and show his ‘boss’ so that he could get paid,” according to the document.A second person, Brenda Register, said a young woman came to her house and tried to convince her to request an absentee ballot, but she declined and reported it to elections officials.A third person who complained, Heather Register, said the same man and woman told her they were getting paid to encourage people to request ballots, though she and relatives never received or voted those ballots. Yet when Heather Register attempted to vote in person on Election Day, poll workers told her she had already voted, according to the documents.The man and woman the witnesses described, Matthew Matthis and Caitlyn Croom, later acknowledged to investigators that they had been paid by Dowless, according to the documents. Neither Croom nor Matthis responded to messages Wednesday seeking comment.The documents say state elections investigators decided in December 2016 to present their findings to federal prosecutors in Raleigh. Don Connelly, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, declined to comment Wednesday about why they didn’t pursue charges.In January 2018, the case was referred to Jon David, the state prosecutor for the district that includes Bladen County. David, who didn’t return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday, determined he had a conflict of interest because Dowless had previously worked for his opponent. He then asked Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman in Raleigh to take over the case.Freeman said Wednesday that her investigation expanded when they became aware of “additional fraudulent activity” during the 2018 primary and general election, requiring investigators to track down more leads. Some of the evidence only surfaced in the last several weeks, she said.Freeman was also mindful that the investigation was going on during heights of the election season and that she didn’t want to create public concerns that might make voters fearful. It’s general practice to let investigations run until they are complete, she said.“Our standard of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt,” Freeman said. “We had to have a case that would stand up in court.”
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Fun in the sun is going to cost you more this year at Wrightsville Beach.The Board of Alderman voted Tuesday morning to increase parking rates after losing thousands of dollars in revenue from Hurricane Florence.- Advertisement – Beginning April 1, hourly parking rates at all lot and street meters go up by 50 cents to $3. Residential passes will go from $35 to $50.The town also voted to increase C1, C2 and contractor parking passes.The town manager says it all comes down to tourism.Related Article: Business provides free plywood ahead of Hurricane Florence“Parking season begins April 1 and ends at the end of October,” Town Manger Tim Owens said. “On October 31 a lot of these changes were done so we could continue to provide services for tourism related activities.”Some of those activities include beach renourishment, first responders and lifeguards.
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Police Chief Ralph Evangelous addressed Wilmington city leaders Tuesday to present the crime statistics of 2018.Before his address to city council, we asked him about the numbers and an update on the review of an internal investigation at the department. Three and a half years worth of drug-related cases are under review by the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office after police administrators fired a forensic chemist for multiple violations.- Advertisement – The Chief says the District Attorney’s review of the investigation continues. He adds that the former employee violated internal affairs protocols for documenting lab findings. The Chief does not feel that the actions jeopardize any investigations.“It’s going to be a bunch of nothing. I believe that all of those tests that were done were valid,” said Chief Evangelous, “There’s an overabundance of caution relooking at everything.”WPD says drug tests will be handled by the state as the investigation is reviewed by the DA. Other tests, such as those for DWI cases, will still be handled at the crime lab.
SharePrint Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party Joseph Muscat said that government will be announcing schemes to help the elderly remain living and participating in the community. Speaking at a rally in Valletta as part of the MEP election trail, Muscat noted that elderly ladies were a cohort which was more vulnerable to poverty. He said that those whose age does not permit them to take care of themselves in independent living need to be given sheltered environments within which they can live serenely. He said that there are plans for government to foot half the salary of carers for such persons. Muscat said that the government’s work with the elderly is an intrinsic part of its vision of social justice and added that in recent years pensions were increased and taxes on pensions were removed. WhatsApp <a href=’http://revive.newsbook.com.mt/www/delivery/ck.php?n=ab2c8853&cb={random}’ target=’_blank’><img src=’https://revive.newsbook.com.mt/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=97&cb={random}&n=ab2c8853&ct0={clickurl_enc}’ border=’0′ alt=” /></a>
SharePrint <a href=’http://revive.newsbook.com.mt/www/delivery/ck.php?n=ab2c8853&cb={random}’ target=’_blank’><img src=’https://revive.newsbook.com.mt/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=97&cb={random}&n=ab2c8853&ct0={clickurl_enc}’ border=’0′ alt=” /></a> Malta Police ForceMalta Police Force A toddler was seriously injured after she fell from a one-storey height in Birkirkara.In a statement, the Police explained that the incident took place on Sunday at 6.45 pm in Emmanuel Schembri Street.An ambulance was called on-site to take the child to Mater Dei hospital.The police investigation is ongoing.WhatsApp
In his first statement in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that his mission is to deliver Brexit and make the UK the greatest country on Earth. He said that while this might sound like hyperbole, he felt that this target was realistic. He said that the UK has the potential to become the best place to live, the most compassionate place for the elderly and the go-to place for education and health. He said that this is the start of a golden age. Attacking Labour as the doubters and sceptics, Johnson targeted various sore spots such as the underfunded NHS and the influx of knife-crime. Johnson said that NHS money will go to the frontline as soon as possible. He said ta he had asked officials to work on plans to reduce waiting times and to speed up GP appointments. He added that government will start hiring 20,000 more police officers as a priority in a comprehensive bid to ensure that serious offenders serve their sentences on full.Restoring trust in democracy“There is too much negativity around. We must take immediate steps. First, we must restore trust in democracy by taking the UK out of the EU by 31 October. If we fail to do this, it would cause a catastrophic loss of confidence in our political system” warned Johnson.Johnson said that he would prefer to leave the EU with a deal but the withdrawal agreement has been rejected by MPs three times. He added that the Irish backstop is unacceptable because it undermines Britain’s democracy. It must go, he said and a time limit would not be enough. He said the Irish border issue should be settled in the negotiations on the future relationship, which is where this issue should always have been decided.Johnson said that his team is ready to talk to the EU whenever and wherever they want to do so and expressed the hope that EU will also be ready to meet, and to rethink their current positions. He said that the UK is more ready for a no-deal Brexit than many people believe. But in the days left before 31 October, the government will step up its preparations.He added if the UK does leave without a deal, the UK will have the £39bn available concluding that Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, has been put in charge of no-deal planning.WhatsApp SharePrint <a href=’http://revive.newsbook.com.mt/www/delivery/ck.php?n=ab2c8853&cb={random}’ target=’_blank’><img src=’https://revive.newsbook.com.mt/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=97&cb={random}&n=ab2c8853&ct0={clickurl_enc}’ border=’0′ alt=” /></a>
Advertisement Depending on how you phrase your question or request, the app will bring up text answers and images or play YouTube videos. The app also can give answers specific to your location, such as movie times or weather. For example, “What’s the weather here next week?” will show a weather report for that exact period.The version of this search-by-voice feature was already available for Android 4.1 users, and Google says it will be available for older versions of Android at some point in the future.There also are some subtle changes coming to English versions of the search engine around the world, starting Thursday. Auto-predict, the sometimes amusing feature that shows popular search terms that start with the words you are typing, will be joined by smarter, more relevant suggestions. The feature works by tapping the company’s knowledge graph, which is a database of more than 500 million “objects.” – Advertisement – An object can be anything in the real world, such as a location, public figure, movie, sports team or company. For example, a search for “Luxor” will suggest the Las Vegas casino, the city and the original Egyptian temple in search field.Another new feature is the knowledge carousel — a collection of frequently mentioned results for certain search terms that will appear as a row of thumbnail images at the top of the screen. A search for famous astronauts will bring up images of relevant people, along with dates of birth and death. Clicking on one of these links updates the page’s search results to show links about that person. It also works for other things such as locations, museums, animals or albums.The final feature announced Wednesday is a beta project that loops your Gmail account into the search results. When the feature is on, Google will search the Web as well as all the e-mails in your account and include a list of relevant e-mails or contacts on the side of your screen.For some common queries, Google will parse the e-mails to isolate key bits of information, much like travel app TripIt. A search for “my flights” will pull flight information for upcoming trips you may have booked, and present it along with data from the Web, like an updated flight status.The feature has been tested by several thousand Google employees, and now the company is opening up the trial to a test group of a million. Anyone can sign up to try the feature at g.co/searchtrial, although it will only work on the main Google.com site in English.These tweaks are the survivors of a huge number of experiments Google has done for search. In 2011, the search team conducted 58,000 experiments on search and made 530 tweaks to how search works. Google says it has found more than 30 trillion unique URLs on the Web, crawls 20 billion sites a day and processes 100 billion searches every month.Amit Singhal, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, said the changes bring Google one step closer to his dream of being like Capt. Kirk on “Star Trek” and using the starship computer to find out anything he needed to know.“The destiny of search is to become that ‘Star Trek’ computer,” he said. Source: CNN
Advertisement The Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) has unveiled a text message platform for public use in a bid to reach more people in the country wherever they need to file a complaint.A person can file a complaint by texting the word ‘REPORT’ to number 0754 460 259 and file a complaint directly to the Commission, after which one will receive a text message confirming that the report has been filled and afterwards will receive a call for further consultation.[related-posts] – Advertisement – Mr Wilfred Warioba, CHRAGG head of Communication and Information, said the system will enable people to file a complaint wherever they are.“This technological improvement will be carried out in tandem with a rural outreach programme to be executed in collaboration with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” said Warioba while unveiling the number.The initiative aims at expanding the current system for filing complaints and tracking of cases with a web/mobile platform that will save many people in rural areas from costly trips to CHRAGG’s offices.Meanwhile, in improving reproductive and child health through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), three pilot projects in ICT for development have been evaluated in Rufiji, Zanzibar, Bunda and Serengeti districts.The projects were conducted by Technological Ideas Development Organization (ITIDO), Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) and Decision Tree International (D-Tree), which have been subcontracted by the Swedish Programme for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER).Commenting on the project, an ITIDO official, Mr Jacob Mtalitinya, said the project’s use of ICT for development showed considerable success.“Most villagers are ignorant of the use of ICT facilities; hence it become difficult in providing education about the use of the communication portal we have prepared,” said Mtalitinya.He added that they were looking forward to meeting with stakeholders so they can help them in preparing a communication portal that will be user-friendly even for ignorant people.Source: Daily News
Advertisement Joel MwaleA young Kenyan social entrepreneur might have solved one of the conundrums of the Facebook generation – how to stop social media getting in the way of studying.Joel Mwale, a 20-year-old who never completed his own education, has realised the answer is to stop trying to push social media away, and instead embrace it.More than one million people around the world seem to agree with him, because in the five weeks since his website Gigavia.com went live, they have signed up as users. – Advertisement – Teachers and schools have always faced the problem of stopping students using social media in class, seeing it as a distraction.But they also know that teenagers are addicted to chatting to each other online.His website allows schools and teachers to be part of it, so you can sign into class-specific areas of the site where academic materials can be shared.There is a personal library section where you can share books at a class level, and there is a section for mentoring.This is all on the same site which you can also use for all the usual personal social media chats and sharing with friends.Although he wants his idea to be taken up in East Africa, his ambition is global.His website has been developed with a team of international software developers.The proof of its success is not only the staggeringly quick take-up by users, but also that they come from around the world.More than 50% of users so far come from the US, and other countries like Turkey and South Africa have been quicker to sign on than Kenyans.Gigavia Usage Statistics so far47 countries represented493 institutions registered1, 078 verified registered teachers352 verified professional mentors registeredOriginal story posted on BBC
Advertisement High-level presentations at eLearning Africa, Africa’s leading conference on technology for development and education, will focus on the role ICTs are playing in transforming the continent’s rural economies by improving access to information and training.Reports indicate that over 70 per cent of African workers are employed in farming and the role ICTs can play in boosting agricultural growth has been identified by the African Union as a key factor in making a reality of its 2063 Vision of a “transformed continent.”The subject has been described as “critical” by African political leaders and will be one of the matters under discussion at a roundtable meeting for education and technology ministers at the conference. – Advertisement – The 10th eLearning Africa Conference is the key networking event for ICT enhanced education and training in Africa. As the largest annual conference of its kind, the three-day event is a must for those wanting to develop multinational and cross-industry partnerships and contacts whilst enhancing their knowledge, expertise and abilities.[related-posts]The 2015 eLearning Africa conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training is slated for May 20 – 22, 2015 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.eLearning Africa will provide a showcase of a series of presentations about new training-based solutions to some of the most enduring challenges facing Africa’s farming and rural communities. Presenters include:Mr. Willis Ndeda Ochilo of CABI, a leading agricultural entomologist, will explain how CABI’s ‘Plantwise’ initiative, which organises weekly plant clinics supported by an online database with access to international expertise, is helping to improve the productivity of agricultural crops.Ghanaian, Albert Yeboah Obeng of Foresight Generation Club, will discuss the contribution new initiatives, such as online farmer association meetings and agricultural e-commerce, can make not only to economic growth but to more environmentally sensitive farming practices and the development of resilience to the effects of climate change.Creesen Naicker of the MRP Foundation (a part of the Global Literacy Project), will demonstrate the free, tablet-based learning platforms his organisation has been providing to disadvantaged rural populations in parts of South Africa, such as Kwa Zulu Natal.Nathan Castillo of the University of Pennsylvania will show the effect on struggling learners in rural areas of South Africa of providing culturally contextualised, high-quality digital content in local languages through the ‘Bridges to the Future Initiative.’“If proven successful,” says Mr Castillo, “the programme will be scaled up to other low performing provinces and then throughout the entire country as a means of improving the quality of early literacy learning that takes place in the most marginalized environments.”
[L-R] Fabian-Carlos Guhl, Founder & MD Ampion Africa, Louis Otieno, Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs at Microsoft 4Afrika, Amrote Abdella, Director of Startup Engagement & Partnerships at Microsoft 4Afrika, Kabelo Makwane, GM Microsoft Nigeria andIfeanyi Oteh, Co-Founder Ampion Africa Advertisement LAGOS, Nigeria – Over 200 entrepreneurs from across Africa are set to receive the resources, networking opportunities and mentorship needed to start their own businesses. Microsoft 4Afrika has collaborated with AMPION to provide financial, technical, and mentorship support for the 2015 Venture Bus, fellowship and accelerator programs.The program will start out with five buses of 40 entrepreneurs travelling across 16 countries in Africa. On the Venture Bus tour, entrepreneurs will receive on-board mentorship and visit local tech hubs over seven days, with the aim of helping them develop solutions and business ideas.Following this, through the 6-9 months fellowship followed by an extensive incubation program, Microsoft’s support will include, amongst other offering:In-country and virtual mentorships through the MySkills4Afrika volunteer program (using Microsoft Cloud services, Skype for Business and Yammer to stay connected)Technical & business support and skills training, through BizSpark and the Microsoft Virtual Academy programs, to help them refine and take their business solutions to market – Advertisement – “Microsoft is keen on supporting an innovation ecosystem in Africa,” says Amrote Abdella, Director of Startup Engagement and Partnerships at Microsoft 4Afrika. “Entrepreneurs who tackle issues create the path for innovative solutions while building sustainable businesses on the continent. Through our collaboration with AMPION, we look forward to giving young talent the tools and resources needed to succeed – laying the foundation for the creation of globally competitive businesses.”The first Venture Bus has just completed the West Africa tour which started in Cote d’Ivoire, passing through Togo, Ghana and Benin. Its final stop is at the annual DEMO Africa startup event in Nigeria, which Microsoft is sponsoring for the 4th consecutive year. Here, the best performing and most high potential startups from the bus will be pitching their business ideas developed during the seven day journey.The Ampion Venture Bus Africa 5 tours will take specific focus tracks i.e. East Africa (e-health), West Africa (fin-tech), Southern Africa (hardware & agriculture) and Tunisia (female empowerment).“The seven-day Venture Bus program is designed to be intense, competitive and challenging – an ideal environment for innovation to thrive,” says Fabian-Carlos Guhl, Founder and Managing Director of AMPION Africa. “The Fellowship Program is then designed to sharpen the entrepreneurs and business ideas with the highest potential.”Guhl adds: “Microsoft’s 4Afrika Initiative shares our vision of inspiring entrepreneurs and cultivating innovation across the continent. We are excited to have them on board, as they understand the power of technology in empowering entrepreneurs to become pan-Africa change agents.”To apply for the program, or learn more, interested entrepreneurs can visit: http://www.ampion.org/For more information on the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/africa/4afrika/
Advertisement Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus were launched on at Unpacked Galaxy event 2017 on Wednesday, and they come with iris recognition, face recognition, Bixby assistant, to mention a few.However, inside the specifications sheet, and something that Samsung should have boasted about on stage, was the fact that both the smartphones come with the latest Bluetooth version v5.0 connectivity. This makes the duo the first smartphones to launch in the market with the newest Bluetooth version that brings along a lot of advantages over the others, NDTV news reports.Bluetooth v5.0 Bluetooth version v5.0 was announced last year and the Bluetooth SIG touts it to bring 2x faster speeds and 4x better range than the previous version. Bluetooth v5.0 has increased bandwidth of up to 2Mbps and up to 8 times better broadcasting message capacity. – Advertisement – Another interesting thing to note is the two times faster bandwidth and four times better range is applicable when working in low-energy mode too, which is the case with most accessory devices. This essentially means that you’ll be able to remain connected to your Galaxy S8 even if you are up to 800 feet away. Also, Bluetooth v5.0 brings the ability to push audio to two wireless devices at the same time, something that wasn’t possible before.Gigabit LTE Speeds Also, the phones are apparently the first to hit Gigabit LTE speeds. T-Mobile has shared a video that shows the Galaxy S8 hitting really fast speeds.This is largely possible due to the Snapdragon 835 chip that houses the latest Qualcomm X16 LTE modem capable of hitting gigabit speeds. Samsung had also announced earlier that the Exynos 8895 is also capable of hitting gigabit speeds.source: Gadgets 360 news
In Pictorial (L to R): HRH The Duke of York poses for a group photo with the Pitch@Palace Africa winners, Muzalema Mwanza, Chelmis Thiong, and Anne Rweyora | Courtesy Photo. Advertisement Uganda tech-preneur, Anne Rweyora — founder of Smart Havens Africa emerged as a 3rd runner-up at the Pitch@Palace Africa Competition. The overall prize was won by Muzalema Mwanza — founder of Safe Motherhood Alliance, a Zambia-based social enterprise that develops simple, low-cost disposable baby delivery kits.Anne Rweyora was among the 17 finalists selected for the final pitch competition. Notably, another Ugandan, Paul Matovu was among the finalists. He founded, The Vertical Farm, a ‘farm-in-a-box’ for urban areas, using urban waste to grow high yielding plants.Speaking at the Pitch@Palace Africa award event, HRH The Duke of York said, “We heard from entrepreneurs from across Africa, with 17 brilliant businesses coming from six countries. Listening to these entrepreneurs has been inspiring beyond measure, and I would just like to thank them for all they have done. – Advertisement – Anne’s Smart Havens Africa — is a social enterprise that aims to end housing poverty through the development of sustainable, eco-friendly, affordable housing for women earning less than USD$6 per day.Technologies include locally designed brickmaking that uses less material, designs that reduce temperatures in the hot Ugandan climate, custom biodigesters, and solar water and electricity installations to keep utility costs down.A teacher by training, Rweyora began working on the idea after volunteering in South Sudan as a social worker, having felt the need that home ownership should be more attainable to the average working woman
Ashes 2nd TestEngland v AustraliaTIME: 10amm, C4WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNEROur raiding mission to Killarney reaped rewards last night when Frontline obliged in the final race at 6/4. Hopefully you managed to get a few quid on.The second Ashes Test begins on Thursday at Lords and I’m not sure why Australia are so big in the betting.Let’s face it – although England won the thrilling opener at Trent Bridge it was a coin flip at the end and yet for the Second Test we are looking at over 3/1 Australia and around evens England – or in the drawn no bet market as short as 4/11 England.Sorry but that’s insulting to the Aussies. I’m quite happy to take them at 2/1 on the draw no bet market as I thought there was nothing between the two sides and 2/1 on an even money shot always makes appeal.Aussie fans can also take comfort from the fact that they have a better record at Lord’s than any other away venue having won 14 and lost just six of 34 Tests there.STAR FORECAST(stake between 0.5 and 10 points)8 point win AUSTRALIA DRAW NO BET (2nd Ashes Test)(+12 points Monday)MEANWHILE, DOWN UNDERAustralian builders have uncovered a rare trove of crocodile, frog, fish and plant fossils, in what could be a world-first.The fossils, trapped in a layer of oil shale, were found during excavation works near Brisbane’s Geebung railway station at a depth of about 15 metres (49ft).The bones have been identified as coming from ancient crocodiles, as well as other significant material including fish, freshwater shells and plant impressions.They are thought to be about 50 million years old.We could be cruel and suggest they have found the last decent Aussie cricketers too.