Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

-
Image
  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen
Post a Comment

EU throws lifeline to urban Zimbabweans struggling to buy food

-

 


13 August 2021 - 09:55BY SHARON MAZINGAIZO
Many urban households in Zimbabwe are unable to buy basics such as mealie meal, salt and cooking oil. Stock photo.
Many urban households in Zimbabwe are unable to buy basics such as mealie meal, salt and cooking oil. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/photovs

The European Union (EU) will pay $12 (about R178) in monthly cash assistance to urban Zimbabweans struggling to get basic foodstuffs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The contribution is being made through the EU civil protection and humanitarian aid operations department (ECHO). Recipients will receive the cash via electronic transfers and vouchers enabling them to buy food.

According to the World Food Programme in Zimbabwe, the EU contributed €3m (about R52m) to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Zimbabwe. The funding will be used to support vulnerable people in urban communities who are struggling to meet their basic food needs due to the pandemic.

There are 2.4 million people in the country’s urban areas struggling to meet basic food needs because of lockdowns to contain the pandemic. Nearly 83% of the country’s urban households are struggling to buy food for their families. Most urban households are unable to buy basics such as mealie meal, salt and cooking oil.

​

EU ambassador Timo Olkkonen said: “The EU, is committed to working with partners like WFP to bring life-saving assistance to vulnerable populations, most of whom are struggling to make ends meet in these challenging times.

“Our assistance can never cover all those in need. Only sound public social policies and sustainable economic growth based on political and economic reforms can.”

Zimbabwe has been in a level four lockdown for the past six weeks, and recently extended by a further two weeks. Lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus have dealt a  severe blow to urban communities.

WFP Zimbabwe country director and representative Francesca Erdelmann said food insecurity in the country had worsened due to lockdown restrictions.

“Urban populations face high living costs to obtain basic food needs, along with other critical items such as rent, water and electricity. We are seeing a 30% increase in the average price of basic food items [maize meal, maize grain and sugar beans] in the first half of 2021 when compared with the second half of 2020. Cash assistance can help to ease the burden for households, providing people with greater autonomy when planning monthly expenses,” said Erdelmann.

WFP is assisting 326,000 people across 23 urban areas and aims to reach up to 500,000 people in Zimbabwe’s urban areas by the end of the year.

TimesLIVE

READ MORE:

SA businessman arrested in Zimbabwe over presidential solar plant project dispute

A SA businessman was arrested last week on his arrival in Zimbabwe, and now can’t leave the country because of a contractual dispute involving US$1m ...
NEWS
4 days ago

Stabilising Mozambique will take time, says Institute for Security Studies

The Institute for Security Studies believes it will take time to stabilise the situation on the ground and resume economic activity in Mozambique.
NEWS
4 days ago

‘A tragic attempt to sanitise a bloody and smelly Zim political legacy’

Experts slam biography on Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, saying it doesn’t tackle issues truthfully
NEWS
1 week ago

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

-
Image
  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen
Read more

Are there any planets outside of our solar system?

-
Image
  Academic rigour, journalistic flair COVID-19 Arts  +  Culture Business  +  Economy Education Environment  +  Energy Health  +  Medicine Politics Science  +  Technology In French Artist illustration of an exoplanet.  dottedhippo/iStock via Getty Images Are there any planets outside of our solar system? July 19, 2021 2.06pm SAST Author Jean-Luc Margot Professor of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles Disclosure statement Jean-Luc Margot receives funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and philanthropists. Partners University of California  provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US. The Conversation is funded by the National Research Foundation, eight universities, including the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Rhodes University, Stellenbosch University and the Universities of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pretoria, and South Africa. It is hosted by the
Read more

If everyone on Earth sat in the ocean at once, how much would sea level rise?

-
Image
  There are a lot of people, but the oceans are very big.   Rosley Majid/EyeEm via Getty Images If everyone on Earth sat in the ocean at once, how much would sea level rise? March 29, 2021 2.07pm SAST Author Tony E. Wong Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology Disclosure statement Tony E. Wong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Partners Rochester Institute of Technology  provides funding as a member of The Conversation US. The Conversation is funded by the National Research Foundation, eight universities, including the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Rhodes University, Stellenbosch University and the Universities of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Pretoria, and South Africa. It is hosted by the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Western Cape, the African
Read more