Angola holds funeral for former leader dos Santos amid vote dispute

Angolans and world leaders gather for the state funeral of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos as his MPLA party looks almost certain to win Wednesday's elections.

Dos Santos and his family dominated Angolan politics for the 38 years that he ruled, up to 2017. (Reuters)

Angolans and foreign dignitaries have gathered for the funeral of long-serving ex-leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain in July but whose burial was delayed by a family request for an autopsy. Sunday's memorial service was held at the historic palm tree lined Praca da Republica in the seaside capital Luanda on what would have been dos Santos's 80th birthday. It comes days after his party, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which has ruled the country for nearly half a century, saw its worst results at the polls in the most hotly contested elections since independence. Dos Santos, who died of a cardiac arrest, will be remembered as a "statesman and devoted pan-Africanist," former Namibian President Sam Nujoma, 93, told the hundreds of mourners in attendance. A choir sang dirges while flags flew at half-mast around the square, which houses an imposing concrete mausoleum where the country's founding President Agostinho Neto is interred. Dignitaries including South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa filled rows of white and gold seats. READ MORE: Angola's incumbent president secures strong lead in early poll results [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08MR1OKhnW0[/embed] Disputed legacy Dos Santos and his family dominated Angolan politics for the 38 years that he ruled, up to 2017. Under Dos Santos's tenure, Angola became one of Africa's top oil producers. While Dos Santos and his family reaped vast wealth from Angola's resources, most of the country's 33 million people remain among the poorest in the world.
Weakened by age and illness, he stepped down in 2017, appointing Joao Lourenco as his successor, who now stands to gain a second term in office. Dos Santos’ formerly Marxist party, the MPLA, looks almost certain to have won Wednesday's election. With 97 percent of the ballot counted, the electoral commission has given the MPLA and President Joao Lourenco a 51 percent majority, with the main opposition — the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA — trailing with 44.5 percent. UNITA, which fought a bitter 27-year civil war against the MPLA government, has rejected the results and there have been sporadic protests that were quickly shut down by police. Five members of the 16-strong election commission have threatened not to sign off the results. The electoral commission has said the process was fair and transparent. READ MORE: DRC, Rwanda agree to 'de-escalate' tensions in Angola-brokered talks Source: Reuters

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Indiana funeral set for GOP Rep. Walorski killed in crash

GRANGER, Ind. -- The funeral for Indiana Republican U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski will be held Thursday in her home state of Indiana, where she and three other people were killed in a head-on highway crash.

The funeral is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Granger Community Church, Palmer Funeral Homes said on its website.

Walorski, who was 58, was in an SUV with two members of her staff on Aug. 3 when it crossed the median of a northern Indiana highway for unknown reasons and collided with an oncoming vehicle near the town of Wakarusa, the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office said.

Walorski, her 27-year-old staffer Zachery Potts of Mishawaka, who was driving, and her 28-year-old communications director, Emma Thomson of Washington, D.C., all died, as did the woman who was driving the vehicle struck by their SUV.

Potts was Walorski’s district director and the Republican chairman for northern Indiana’s St. Joseph County.

Walorski was first elected to represent northern Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District in 2012 and was seeking reelection this year in the solidly Republican district.

Walorski's husband, Dean Swihart, said in a statement Wednesday that he was "touched by the support and kindness" the family has received since her death.

“Her loss leaves a massive void in our family, our community and in Congress,” Swihart said. “Our family remains focused solely on celebrating Jackie’s memory and mourning her loss as she returns home to be with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb has set a special election to fill the remainder of Walorski's current term running through the rest of this year for the same date as the Nov. 8 general election.

Under Indiana law, it will be up to local Republican officials to decide nominations for the special election and to replace Walorski on the ballot for the full two-year term. The state Republican Party has scheduled an Aug. 20 caucus meeting for those selections. No Republican candidates have yet announced for the seat.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/indiana-funeral-set-for-gop-rep-walorski-killed-in-crash/?feed_id=9397&_unique_id=62f4baaa1b52a

President Arif Alvi skipped funeral of Balochistan chopper crash martyrs due to social media trolls

President Dr Arif Alvi. — APP/File

• Alvi was advised that it would be better if he did not attend the funeral of the martyrs.
• Maryam says it is not only PTI trolls who are responsible for this, it is because of ‘fitna’ that is imposed on us.
• The president called and condoled death of the martyrs and spoke to their family members.

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ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi wanted to attend the funeral of the Balochistan helicopter crash martyrs, however, he was stopped from attending due to the “false and negative propaganda created by PTI trolls”.

According to sources, the president had expressed his desire that as the supreme commander and head of state he wanted to attend the funeral of the martyrs, however, the institutions informed the Dr Alvi that PTI trolls have initiated a “toxic, false and negative propaganda about the martyrs” which has enraged the people.

Therefore, President Alvi was advised that it would be better if he skipped the funeral of the martyrs to avoid any untoward incident. Adhering to the advice, the president did not attend the funeral prayers.

Taking to her Twitter handle, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz reacted to the news and blamed the PTI chairman Imran Khan for this hatred.

“It is not only PTI trolls who are responsible for this, it is because of the ‘fitna’ that has been imposed on our country as a ‘foreign agent’,” she wrote, adding by this “shameful” propaganda these “PTI trolls” have hurt the sentiments of the martyrs' families and the entire nation.

However, late night today the President's Office tweeted that Dr Alvi had called and condoled the death of the martyrs. The president had spoken to the family members of Naik Mudassar Fayyaz Shaheed, co-pilot Maj Talha Mannan, Maj Saeed Ahmed, Brig Khalid, Brig Amjad Hanif, and Lt. Gen Sarfraz Ali.

Martyrs of helicopter crash laid to rest

On Tuesday, the martyrs of the helicopter crash in Balochistan were laid to rest with full military honours in Rawalpindi.

The funeral prayers of Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, Major General Amjad Hanif, and Brigadier Muhammad Khalid were offered at the Army graveyard.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, federal ministers, Azad Jammu and Kashmir's prime minister, foreign dignitaries and a large number of senior serving, retired military and civil officials and relatives of the martyrs attended the funeral prayers.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/president-arif-alvi-skipped-funeral-of-balochistan-chopper-crash-martyrs-due-to-social-media-trolls/?feed_id=7150&_unique_id=62ed8bd052039