Posts in category: Uncategorized

Breast cancer mortality is significantly reduced when women regularly attend screening mammograms, according to research being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Youth baseball players are prone to elbow pain and injuries, including repetitive overuse changes and fractures, based on the maturity of their bones, according to a new study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

By NATION REPORTER

ZAMBIA’s sixth President Edgar Lungu has called upon the Church to immediately lead the nation to ecclesiastically petition God for a favourable rainy season for food security, livestock and power generation.

By NATION REPORTER

PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema is expected to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) high level segment for Heads of State and governments, scheduled for December 1st to 2nd, 2023.

…Copper Queens beat Cosafa rivals to increase 2024 WAFCON

appearance chances 

By MICHAEL MIYOBA

THE Zambia national women’s team is one step to qualifying for a third consecutive Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) after outclassing Angola 6-0 in the first leg of the final 2024 WAFCON qualifying round played at the Estádio Joaquim Dinis in Luanda, Angola.

A hat-trick from captain Barbra Banda and goals apiece from defender Lushomo Mweemba, Ireen Lungu and Rachel Kundananji gave the Bruce Mwape-drilled Copper Queens the vital win away from home to increase their chances of qualifying for the Morocco 2024 WAFCON.

The Copper Queens dominated their Cosafa rivals from the first whistle and almost went ahead in the sixth minute when Kundananji found the back of the net but the goal was ruled out as winger Ireen Lungu was deemed to have been offside.

Ten minutes before the half hour mark, Lungu tried her luck with an effort which was saved by the goal keeper Maria Muecalia.

Muecalia produced another impressive save in the 24th minute, denying Lungu from putting the Copper Queens ahead a minute after Kundananji had sent her effort over the bar.

Mweemba finally opened the flood gates five minutes before the break, scoring from close range after benefitting from Angola’s clumsy defending.

The Copper Queens doubled their lead in the last minute of the first stanza when Barbra Banda converted a penalty won after Kundananji was tripped in the box.

Before the referee could signal the end of the first half, Banda completed her brace in injury time after being set up unselfishly by Kundananji.

Lungu finally added her name on the score sheet three minutes before the hour mark when she converted from close range to give Zambia a 4-0 lead.

Four minutes after the hour mark, Banda completed her hat trick with a low close range shot from another assist from Kundananji.

The Madrid CFF striker outrun her marker on the right wing before laying the ball to Banda who made no mistake to give the Copper Queens a 5-0 lead.

After playing a key role in Zambia’s first five goals, Kundananji put the icing on the cake, scoring the sixth goal with a low shot from close range after benefitting from Rachel Nachula’s assist six minutes before the final whistle.

The victory in Luanda gave the Copper Queens the advantage going into the reverse fixture slated for December 5 at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Lusaka.

Angola will need a 7-0 victory in Ndola to qualify for the prestigious continental championship which will be held in Morocco for a second consecutive time. 

A study, by Professor Xiaoling Song, Professor Biao Jiang and Pr. Xiaoling Song and Ph.D. student, Yifan Wu (Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, ShanghaiTech University), on the application of macrocyclic molecules in cancer treatment has been published in MedComm—Oncology.

Computer scientists have developed a new diagnostic tool using artificial intelligence and a digital camera to detect facial palsy with 98% accuracy, including the patient’s gender and age.

A South African company will make vaginal rings that protect against HIV, which AIDS experts say should eventually make them cheaper and more readily available.

THE reason nations strive to build strong impersonal institutions is to override and circumvent personal weaknesses that are inherent in all human beings, irrespective of stature.

The idea behind institutions is the expectation that their guiding principles represent a wider national agenda that is above human frailty; and does not favour narrow provincial perspectives.

The republic, therefore, is meant to be a system of representative politics, by design, carrying with it a semblance of national and collective representation.

Monarchs had shown some of the worst examples of excessive power such that absolute monarchs became a recessive existence found in few countries in the 1900s and 2000s.

The sense of self-importance exhibited by monarchical systems easily overwhelmed the needs of the people until revolutions overcame those systems and gave rise to republics which are common now.

In these modern republics, it is now the legislature and judiciary who are meant to be bulwarks against excessive executive authority – whether perceived or actual.

Presidential authority is designed in a way that it conforms with both judicial and legislative principles of governance. Admittedly, politicians get the worst wrap when it comes to matters of integrity because it can become a challenge to balance complex competing needs of the electorate.

Some politicians respond by becoming dictatorial and thereby acting above political and judicial structures. Herein lies the new challenge of democracy and the republic.

As nations evolve, governance systems are being forced to evolve as well. Some of these evolutions are organic while others are more artificial.

Organic changes are those inspired by citizens and how they hope to shape their own country. Artificial ones are those imported into the domestic sphere usually through lobbying by powerful foreign interests.

Sometimes, nations that refuse to adopt foreign norms are labelled undemocratic by these powerful foreign interests for protecting their value systems and aspirations of their citizens.

Ultimately, if the leadership cannot secure and protect its own citizens from foreign interests, those citizens will save the republic and restore order through the ballot.

Be that as it may, modern times have also shown that elections are not always the pure measure of trust they are meant to be. This is why elections alone cannot be sufficient evidence of democracy anywhere in the world.

The argument has shifted to consistent institutional guarantees for citizens. In other words, democracy must exist in governance institutions permanently and evidently, not just when elections are near.

More than ever, the evolution of nations teaches us to be more observant of the judicial systems because they easily become battle grounds to settle differences and grievances.

In this evolution of nations, it appears that the judiciary’s integrity can be borrowed; and its punitive power directed to perceived enemies. It is easier to assess if democratic tenets are respected in a country by observing how the judicial system adjudicates more so on matters pertaining to perceived political opponents of the government.

This is because the judiciary represents ultimate power that has potential to obliterate or merge competing domestic national interests.

The one weakness with power, however, is that it responds efficiently to its equal (power). For example, judicial power will appear to move efficiently when there is political or economic power in its midst.

Here is where the judiciary must be cautious and balanced. In the stronghold of law, integrity cannot be optional or responsive only to its equal. The principal assumption that justice is blind must still symbolise hope particularly for those whose only asset and hope is access to – and receipt of justice.

In these modern republics, the legislature can be expected to be casual or temperamental, it happens in some countries. After all, parliament is a direct representation of ongoing public interest.

Even more, the executive can show responsive flexibility to the social causes for which they were elected. The judiciary on the other hand, has an extremely difficult task of ensuring the survival of the republic and the confidence of the people in the existence of institutional democracy and integrity. It cannot exchange judicial principles every electoral cycle.

A judicial system must build a reputation par to that of legislative and executive authority on one hand; and of national conscious on the other.

The first sign of a dying republic is a compromised judicial system and every man or woman on the bench must be cautious to avoid any form of induced refraction in the dispensation of justice if indeed justice is to be judicious and retain its credibility and trust, otherwise the republic becomes compromised and renders the citizens to a point of taking actions in their own hands.

By SANFROSSA MBERI

CONSTITUENTS of Kwacha constituency have questioned the where abouts of the Member of Parliament Charles Mulenga.