Day: July 17, 2022

Authorities in Zambia have extradited a Chinese citizen who fled Malawi last month over accusations of selling exploitative videos to China of Malawian children.

Police in Malawi told VOA Sunday that their counterparts in Zambia handed over Lu Ke to them Saturday night in the Mchinji district which borders Zambia.

“He is in police custody. He was handed over by our friends from Zambia. As of now he has been charged with trafficking in persons, but other charges may be added,” said Harry Namwaza, the deputy spokesperson for Malawi Police Service.

Lu Ke fled Malawi last month where police were searching for him after a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigation found he was recording young villagers in central Malawi and making them say racist things about themselves in Mandarin.

In one video, children, some as young as nine years of age, are heard saying in Mandarin that they are a “black monster” and have a “low IQ.”

The BBC reported he was selling the videos at up to $70 apiece to a Chinese website. The kids performing in the videos were paid about half-a-dollar each.

The news sparked outrage in Malawi forcing various rights organizations to hold street protests and present a petition to the Chinese Embassy in the capital, Lilongwe.

In the petition, the protesters asked the government of China to compensate the children in the videos for being fooled to say words in a foreign language they could not understand.

Comfort Mankhwazi is the president of the University of Malawi Child Rights Legal Clinic, which led the protests.

She told VOA Sunday that she is happy with the extradition.

“Because we feel like this is one of those things we had in our petition, what we wanted, and we got that. We truly hope that this extradition and the arrest will lead to something big like the prosecution in our courts and finally those victims will be able to get justice they deserve,” she said.

There were no official comments from Chinese authorities on the extradition of Lu Ke as of Sunday.

However, police spokesperson Namwaza said Lu Ke is expected to appear in court soon.

Source: Voice of America

One moment, Tamirat Tola was right there with the lead pack — shoulder to shoulder and shoe to shoe.

Then, he wasn’t. He left them that quickly. No catching him, either.

Tola led a 1-2 finish by Ethiopia in the men’s marathon at the world championships Sunday, opening a wide lead late in the race and cruising through the finish line.

The 30-year-old Tola finished in a championship-record time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 36 seconds on a fast and flat course that featured plenty of scenic views to soak in. Teammate Mosinet Geremew held on for silver, finishing 68 seconds behind Tola. Bashir Abdi of Belgium captured bronze.

“I tried to prepare myself for a long time” for this, Tola said through an interpreter. “It was my dream.”

Even in dreams, rarely are wins by this convincing of a margin. Tola never glanced back after pulling away.

Well, maybe a few times. But no one was even close to catching up as the 2017 world silver medalist kept building and building on his lead. The previous championship record was 2:06:54, set by Abel Kirui of Kenya at the 2009 world championships in Berlin.

This is the sign of Tola’s domination: Geremew’s time eclipsed the championship record, too. It was another silver for Geremew, who finished runner-up at worlds in the heat of Doha in 2019.

“I’m very much happy because we own gold and silver,” Geremew said.

Again.

In 2019, Lelisa Desisa led the way for Ethiopia. On Sunday, though, the defending world champion tried to keep up but couldn’t maintain the pace. U.S. runner and University of Oregon standout Galen Rupp was in the lead group for much of the race before dropping back and finishing 19th. The 36-year-old Rupp received loud cheers from the fans who lined the course, some of whom followed along while riding bikes.

That was one way to keep up with Tola.

The real race was for silver, with the 33-year-old Abdi pushing Geremew all the way to the finish before running out of steam. Cameron Levins of Canada was fourth and Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya wound up fifth. Kamworor is rounding back into form after recovering from a broken leg he suffered when he was hit by a motorcycle in 2020.

For Tebello Ramakongoana of Lesotho, it was quite a journey just to get to the starting line. He arrived in Portland after a roughly 40-hour trip, but his luggage didn’t make it. That included his running gear.

Sandra Cress, who was working the transportation operations desk in Portland for World Athletics, helped him secure socks, leggings and a pair of Nike shoes.

“It was fun to be able to follow him in the race, and he was easy to pick out as the only runner in white leggings,” Cress wrote in a text.

Ramakongoana finished 35th — and with a great story.

The runners were able to push pace with the temperature hovering at a comfortable 57 degrees Fahrenheit (13.9 Celsius) and cloud cover. That’s quite a contrast to the conditions at worlds in Doha when the men’s marathon was held at midnight to avoid the searing heat. The temperature was still around 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 Celsius).

After a slight delay, 1972 Olympic marathon champion Frank Shorter signaled the start of the race that sent the runners along a three-loop course that finished in front of the University of Oregon’s Autzen Stadium. The route wound through the cities of Eugene and Springfield.

The course crossed over the Willamette River and ventured alongside Pre’s Trail, the bark running trail that’s named in honor of University of Oregon running icon Steve Prefontaine, who died in a car accident in 1975.

The field was missing Kengo Suzuki after the Japanese team had a few cases of positive tests for COVID-19. Also not racing was Kenyan marathoner Lawrence Cherono, who was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for a banned substance.

Source: Voice of America

A history-making team of Zimbabwean high school students that became world and European moot court competition champions has been widely praised in a country where the education system is beset by poor funding, lack of materials and teachers’ strikes.

The 11-member Zimbabwean team of nine girls and two boys aged between 14 and 18 and drawn from different schools was crowned world champions last month after winning the International High School Moot Court competition held online at the end of May. A team from New York City came second in the competition where participants used fictional cases to simulate proceedings in the International Criminal Court pre-trial chambers.

Zimbabwe now has also been crowned champions of Europe after beating The Netherlands in the finals of the European Moot Competition for high school students on July 3. It was Zimbabwe’s first time competing in both prestigious events.

Organizers of the European competition were so impressed with Zimbabwe’s performance at the International High School Moot Court competition that they invited the team to be the first-ever African country to enter their competition, said team captain Ruvimbo Simbi.

“It is surreal and extraordinary,” said Simbi after returning from Romania, where the European competition was held.

“When we were at the European Moot Court, many people didn’t even know Zimbabwe. We put Zimbabwe on the map, letting the world know of the amazing talent found in this country,” said Simbi.

The southern African country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, in June invited the team to his official residence and presented them with $30,000 in cash following their victory in the high school competition. He described the latest win as “another victory for the pride of Zimbabwe.”

The European Union delegation in Zimbabwe has also congratulated the team.

The winning team received a rousing reception by hordes of schoolchildren, parents and supporters when they returned last week. The usually subdued airport was filled with cheers, song and dance when the team arrived displaying their awards. The team was treated to a welcome with a red carpet, flowers and balloons. Some held placards reading “Welcome back champions.” Others played drums and marimba, a traditional instrument of wooden bars played using mallets.

When Zimbabwe achieved independence and majority rule in 1980, the new government vigorously expanded the country’s education system so that all Black children could attend primary and secondary school. Previously the education system had catered mainly for the country’s white minority. Zimbabwe achieved one of Africa’s highest literacy rates.

But in recent years, the country’s debilitating economic problems have seen its education system deteriorate and become characterized by dilapidated infrastructure, shortages of key learning materials such as books and frequent pay strikes by teachers.

Despite these problems, Zimbabwe’s education system is still rated highly in Africa.

The victories at the international moot court events “mean a lot to us Zimbabwean educators,” said Kudzai Mutsure, head of Dominican Convent, a girls-only Catholic school in Harare where some of the team members are enrolled.

“We take academic, sport and cultural activities very seriously,” said Mutsure. “A student can flourish in one of those areas.”

Source: Voice of America