Month: June 2022

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Pilgrimage to Nakfa

For Eritreans, Nakfa is the most significant place of resilience, love, devotion, ingenuity and determination. It was the stronghold of the EPLF and a haven of freedom fighters for justice and dignity. It is a sacred place where our beloved freedom fighters’ spirit rests in eternal peace.

Once liberated in 1977, Nakfa was never captured by the Derg army despite several attempts. The principle of self-reliance was incubated in Nakfa and it flourished there.

It was in 1998, during the TPLF invasion, that I came back to Eritrea for the first time and visited Nakfa with my niece, Selam. At the bus terminal, I came across a veteran freedom fighter, Botul Adem, who was born and raised in Nakfa. Botul curiously asked me if I came from Asmara. Then, she looked at me with sympathetic eyes and asked me if I had a pledge. I momentarily run out of words and only smiled. Indeed, that was the purpose of my visit to Nakfa: to pay respect to our martyrs, including my beloved brother, Menghsteab, relatives and many who lived in my neighborhood who are resting in peace in Nakfa,

Like many Eritreans who grew up during the armed struggle for liberation listening to Dimsi Hafash radio station, and after liberation in the diaspora, reading the remarkable history of the struggle, published under the title Meswati waga Harinet (Martyrdom, the price of Liberation) and other similar publications, I came to the conclusion that Nakfa is a holy place that deserves a place in the heart of every Eritrean. Nakfa’s place in the hearts of Eritreans is so great that people should go on a pilgrimage to Nakfa just like religious people go on pilgrimage to Mecca or Jerusalem.

Freedom fighters have a lot to share about their personal, social, political, economic as well as spiritual experiences. From their narrations about Nakfa, many of us learn the significance of the struggle, the freedom fighters and the liberation front. And by looking at the wounds of survivors, one could read into the extraordinary resilience and endurance of freedom fighters.

The extensive interviews, books and short stories as well as the revolutionary songs are excellent references that help to appreciate the significance of Nakfa and the ultimate sacrifice paid by freedom fighters.

Visiting Nakfa in person brings one closer to those who gave their lives for our freedom. One feels it deep in the soul and a communion with all the spirits of the martyrs — the cream of the society who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Eritrea.

Pilgrims who visit Jerusalem or Mecca believe in the blessings they receive by going to the holy places, and I know many Eritreans go on pilgrimage to Mecca or to Jerusalem. I would like to suggest that as an expression of our love and reverence for our martyrs, we need to develop a national tradition of making Nakfa a destination for pilgrims.

Nakfa is an important place to visit for any peace, justice and equality loving people anywhere in the world. Nakfa and its miracles belong to all regardless of faith, gender or ethnicity as our martyrs were men and women from all ethnic groups and social and religious backgrounds of our society.

Source: The New Humanitarian

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Over 84 million Nakfa disbursed to families of martyrs

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare branch in the Central Region reported that in 2021 and in the first half of 2022 over 84 million Nakfa has been disbursed in support of families of martyrs.

Mr. Tedros Fesehaye, head of Social Welfare at the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, said that the support was part of the over 5 billion 200 Nakfa the Government of Eritrea paid to families of martyrs since 2004.

Mr. Tedros also said that in 2021 Eritrean people inside the country and abroad contributed over 634 thousand Nakfa which was distributed to 95 disadvantaged citizens in the Central Region.

Regarding rehabilitation of families of martyrs, Mr. Tedros said that six families of martyrs in the sub-zones of Serejeka, Gala-Nefhi, Akria, Arbaete Asmara, and Abashawul have been rehabilitated with mini-kiosks worth 288 thousand Nakfa.

Mr. Tedros went on to say that seven disadvantaged families of martyrs in Godaif, Arbaete Asmara, and Gala-Nefhi have been rehabilitated with livestock worth 10 thousand Nakfa each while material support worth over 56 thousand Nakfa was extended to families of martyrs in the administrative areas of Godaif sub-zone.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

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G20 ambitious on plan to roll out pandemic fund this year

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia, June 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Finance Ministers and Health Ministers of the world’s 20 largest economies agree to establish a ground-breaking pandemic fund to help the world better prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics.

Indonesian Health Minister gave remarks at the 1st G20 JFHMM

Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati co-chaired the 1st G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting (JFHMM), during which G20 member states agreed to the establishment of a Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) for Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response (PPR) under the trusteeship of the World Bank and technical guidance of the WHO.

“I am pleased to announce a commitment of over USD 1.1 billion has been secured for the Financial Intermediary Fund for pandemic PPR.” Minister Mulyani said. Indonesia commits to contribute USD 50 million, Singapore USD 10 million, the United States USD 450 million, the European Union USD 450 million, Germany Euro 50 million (USD 52.7 millions) and Wellcome Trust £10 million (USD 12.3 million). G20 member states also highlighted that the fund would be inclusive in nature and allow access middle to low income countries to utilize it.

The JFHMM conclusion will also be discussed at the next Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ (FMCBG) Meeting next month and to be followed up at the next Joint Finance-Health Task Force (JFHTF) meeting.

Indonesian Health Minister Budi empasized that the G20 JFHTF has made progress in discussing further the idea of FIF establishment that was first introduced during 2021 Italian G20 presidency. “I am confident that we will achieve concrete results by October, which includes the establishment of the FIF and coordinating platform collaboration,” Minister Budi said.

Two meetings also agree on the universal verification of COVID-19 vaccine certificates, health protocols to ease global mobility, and the expansion of the Global Manufacturing and Research Hub for PPR, especially the production of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to take place in developing countries.

WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Bank, GAVI, CEPI, The Global Fund and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation attended the meeting. Dr. Tedros said that FIF must also be coherent with other global health initiatives. “This platform should be built on the experience of the ACT Accelerator, the Pandemic Influenza Framework and other mechanisms. This is an important focus of the G20 health track under Minister Budi’s leadership,” he said.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1846835/SLW00832.jpg

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CORRECTION – Zoom Unveils Platform Evolution; Launches New Packaging and Translation Feature

  • Zoom One is a new offering that brings together options for persistent chat, phone, meetings, whiteboard, and more into a single, secure and scalable package
  • All-new translation feature allows meetings to be translated between English and any of the 10 languages, or from those languages into English

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) is updating a press release issued on June 22, 2022 to clarify that Unlimited Regional Calling is an optional add-on feature for Zoom One Enterprise and Enterprise Plus customers. Complete corrected text follows.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today unveiled the latest evolution of its communications platform with the introduction of Zoom One, a new offering that brings together persistent chat, phone, meetings, whiteboard, and more into secure and scalable packages. Additionally, Zoom also launched an all new translated and multi-language captions feature.

“Simplicity is at the core of everything we do. As the Zoom platform has evolved from a meeting app to a comprehensive communications platform, it was clear that introducing new packaging like Zoom One was the next step in the company’s evolution,” said Greg Tomb, President, Zoom. “By bringing together chat, phone, meetings, whiteboard, and more in a single offering, we are able to offer our customers solutions that are simple to manage, so they can focus on business issues that matter most.”

“Businesses continue to realize the time and cost saving a single provider can offer. According to Omdia’s latest end user survey, 40% of organizations are prioritizing investments around eliminating multiple cloud-based UC solutions that may be deployed within their organizations,” states Brent Kelly, Principal Analyst, Omdia Research. “The need to simplify business operations is a market trend that we see as being increasingly important, and Zoom One’s tiered bundles and common management console aligns well to this customer demand.”

Zoom One’s intuitive experience
Purpose-built to work together, Zoom One’s intuitive experience offers customers the choice between six tiered offerings according to their business needs.

  • Zoom One Basic provides free 40-minute Zoom Meetings for up to 100 attendees, persistent Zoom Chat for team messaging, limited Zoom Whiteboard for synchronous and asynchronous work, and real-time transcription.
  • Zoom One Pro provides everything Zoom One Basic offers without Meeting time limits, plus cloud recording.
  • Zoom One Business provides everything Zoom One Pro offers, plus Zoom Meetings for up to 300 attendees and unlimited Zoom Whiteboards.
  • Zoom One Business Plus provides everything Zoom One Business offers, plus Zoom Phone Pro with unlimited regional calling and Zoom’s all-new translation feature.
  • Zoom One Enterprise and Zoom One Enterprise Plus are similar to Zoom One Business, with larger meeting capacity and additional features, like Zoom Webinars, to help modern businesses scale. Unlimited Regional Calling is an optional add-on feature for Zoom One Enterprise and Enterprise Plus.

Zoom One Basic, Pro, Business and Business Plus plans are available for purchase online today. To purchase Zoom One Enterprise or Enterprise Plus, customers can speak to an account executive directly. For more information, visit https://zoom.us/pricing.

“If you provide a complete suite of reliable and easy-to-use communication tools that people can use to do their jobs, they are less likely to be using one-off solutions outside of our offerings – which in turn simplifies our support and delivery model,” said Rob Kerr, chief information officer at Cooley, a global law firm with 3,300 employees in 17 offices across the United States, Asia, and Europe. “Zoom’s secure portfolio of unified video, chat, whiteboarding, and telephony solutions aligns our global teams and allows Cooley to better serve its clients.”

For more information on the new, simplified offerings or to find the plan that is best suited for your business, visit the Zoom blog.

Introducing translated & multi-language captions
Launching first in Zoom One Business Plus and Zoom One Enterprise Plus packages, Zoom’s translated captions will allow users to view captions translated into the language of their choice. At launch, translations will be available between English and 10 additional languages, or from any of the 10 languages to English. The ability to translate directly to and from English is known as bi-directional translation. Translated captions display at the base of the screen while in a Zoom Meeting.

The bi-directional translations are available in the following languages: Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

To access the translated captions feature, Zoom One customers must upgrade to either the Zoom One Business Plus or Zoom One Enterprise Plus packages (in applicable countries).

Zoom also extended its automated captioning – the ability to caption in real-time what a speaker is saying in the same language as the one spoken – to include 10 additional languages. Automated captions previously were supported in English, but now can be displayed in the additional 10 languages referenced above. Multi-language automated captions are available in Business Plus, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus packages with additional support for other plans coming soon.

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. Zoom is a space where you can connect to others, share ideas, make plans, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for large enterprises, small businesses, and individuals alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

Zoom Public Relations
Candace Dean
Corporate PR Lead
press@zoom.us

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Girmay returns to racing with Eritrean time trial title triumph

Biniam Girmay immediately became Eritrean time trial champion on his return after the cork incident. It was his first race since his retirement in the Giro. In his home city of Asmara, he was celebrated like a king.

A month after Giro d’Italia accident, Girmay takes national title

A little more than a month after he had to quit the Giro d’Italia injured, Biniam Girmay has returned to racing with a victory on home soil in Eritrea in the National Time Trial Championships.

The Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert leader was previously seen in race action in the Giro d’Italia when Girmay claimed the first ever stage win for a Black African in a Grand Tour in May, outsprinting Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) for a history victory on stage 10 in the town of Jesi.

This year, in a major step-up for the 22-year-old in his one-day racing campaign, he had already won Gent-Wevelgem and finished fifth two days before in the E3-Harelbeke.

However, he then had to abandon the Giro d’Italia almost immediately after his stage victory because of an incident during the winner’s ceremony when opening a prosecco bottle and the cork injured him in one eye.

Diagnosed with a haemorrhage in the anterior chamber of his left eye, a week after the accident, fresh medical tests determined that Girmay had escaped without permanent damage to his eye, although a total period of nearly three weeks off the bike had to be observed.

Best known as a sprinter and Classics racer, Girmay’s time trial victory provided yet more evidence of his versatility as a racer as it comes on his first ever participation in the event.

His victory in the TT event in the capital city of Asmara came ahead of defending champion Merhawi Kudus (EF Education-EasyPost) and 2019 winner Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Trek-Segafredo).

After his fourth win of the season, Girmay will now take part in the road race on Sunday. While the Tour de France was not on his program, will return to racing in Europe at the Tour de Pologne, a race he already took part in last year, before heading to the Canadian WorldTour races

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

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Eritrea Cycling Championship commences

Eritrea Road Cycling Championship 2022 commences today, 24 June, at the Asmara Martyrs Cemetery area with an individual time trial.

In the junior men category that covered 18 km, Aklilu Arefaine, Samuel Haile, and Yoel Habteab stood first, second and third respectively.

Arsema Woldemicael also won the junior females’ category that covered 9 km, while Niat Teklehaimanot from Denden Club and Fithawit Teklu from Arag Club finished second and third.

In the female elite and under 23 categories that covered 18 km, Danait Fitsum and Adiam Dawit from Denden Club won the Gold and Silver medals respectively while Milena Yafet the Bronze medal.

The men’s elite and U-23 category that covered 36 km was highly expected by the cycling fans. Accordingly, the Eritrean Profession cyclist, Biniam Ghirmay finished the race in 43 minutes, 36 seconds, and 76 micro-second and become the fastest Eritrean rider of 2022.

Merhawi Kudus finished the race 15 seconds behind Biniam and Amanuel Gebrezgiabher finished 27 seconds behind Biniam to stand third.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

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Sensegen unveils natural fragrance survey results for 2022 World Perfumery Congress

Fragrances made by biology are 100% true-to-nature.

Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., June 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Southern California’s taste, smell, and beauty innovator, Sensegen, announced its natural fragrance survey results, gearing up for exhibiting its “New Naturals” initiative at the World Perfumery Congress (WPC), Booth #523, June 29 – July 1, 2022, in Miami, Florida. Sensegen is a division of Blue California ingredients.

“We’re very excited to share our results of the natural fragrance survey, revealing consumer knowledge of natural fragrances and what is appealing, trend-setting in personal care and beauty products,” said Angelique Burke, senior perfumer at Sensegen. “The era of truly natural perfumery is here; we are bringing nature back into perfumery by harnessing classic fragrance molecules from biology rather than deriving them from petroleum.”

Sensegen’s New Naturals are bio-designed fragrances that are natural (plant-based), safe, and sustainable. They perform and are as pleasant as synthetics, yet more complex than blends of essential oils, which thus far have been the only option for natural fragrance seekers. No such fragrance initiative exists on the market today.

An ideal example of a New Natural is Sensegen’s entire class of plant-based musks that gives perfumers the best natural alternative to synthetics. Once coveted and exclusive, the musk fragrance became banned for the inhumane treatment of the Musk Deer — the only source at the time. After that, the highly sought-after musky olfactive character was solely a synthetic option for perfumers.

“The lack of availability of natural musks, combined with the ubiquity, performance, and wide acceptability of this olfactive character, has created a huge challenge for natural fragrances to compete in the marketplace,” said Burke. “Today, Sensegen can offer a far-reaching range of natural and sustainable creations, which proudly stand their ground in the market.”

Sensegen asked 1,000 consumers about their personal care routines and beauty regimens in an online survey. Survey respondents were also asked about their attitudes and understanding of personal care/beauty care products as it relates to scented, as opposed to unscented products, label reading, purchase decision influencers, and familiarity and understanding of natural fragrances.

While 66% of consumers said natural fragrances were naturally derived fragrances, approximately 14% thought it meant no added fragrance, and 5% said it was the same as unscented.

Later, survey participants were shown an explanation of New Natural Fragrances and a product concept containing the new natural fragrance. The data shows that 74% of those respondents would choose the New Natural fragrance concept versus the synthetic. This was a 5% increase over consumers’ choice before being presented with information on the new natural fragrance.

“From this natural fragrance survey, we concluded that there’s a gap in understanding and awareness regarding such terms used in labeling fragrance and fragrance-related statements,” said Natasha D’Souza, senior director, global sensory and consumer insights at Blue California. “There hasn’t been a better time for brands to make exceptional, sustainable products and educate consumers on how they are adopting a more natural position for the benefit of the planet and humankind.”

Interested parties and media members inquiring about the natural fragrance survey can stop by Sensegen’s booth #523 at the WPC or contact Sensegen. The Sensegen booth will have smelling products from sustainable, 100% bio-based materials. Fragrances include samples of fine fragrance, personal care, and home care.

The World Perfumery Congress is hosted by Perfumer & Flavorist.

About Sensegen

Sensegen™, is the science of good sense. We’ve got nature down to a science and create the perfect sense.

As a division of Blue California Ingredients, our innovative taste, smell, and creative beauty center is dedicated solely to delivering plant-based, natural, and sustainable solutions. Our diverse team of experts collaborate with advanced bio-techniques and collaborate as a team to provide unique consumer-validated ingredients.

At Sensegen™, we’ve pioneered a way of formulating nature without compromise or harm, providing one-of-a-kind solutions for Taste, Smell, and Beauty.

Attachments


Ana Arakelian, Head of Public Relations and Communications
Sensegen
+1.949.635.1991
ana.arakelian@sensegen.com