Egypt denies ‘oxygen crisis’ as Covid-19 ward videos allege shortage

Amid rising infection rates, authorities suppress efforts to discuss levels of vital supplies, as relatives’ claims fuel concerns

Filming on his phone inside Egypt’s Hussainiya hospital, Ahmed Mamdouh pans around the ward to show beds occupied by motionless bodies. “All the people are dead,” he says. Mamdouh’s own relative had just died, for which he blames a lack of medical oxygen.

In another video, a screaming woman at Zeftah hospital in Gharbiyeh governorate demands nurses help resuscitate a relative. In a third, a man in Damanhour, in the Nile delta, gasps for air, glassy-eyed as he holds an oxygen mask in his hand. “There is a lack of oxygen,” he says, extending an invitation for local health minister to come and witness the problem. “Join us, minister.”

Continue reading...

Macron tells Idris Elba he will invite young Africans to summit, not leaders

French president vows to overhaul France-Africa event to help mobilise Africa’s young people

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has pledged to invite young Africans rather than their political leaders to a key France-Africa summit in a video call with the actor Idris Elba.

The Élysée Palace said Elba, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ international fund for agricultural development, had asked to speak to the French leader. The Guardian was the only newspaper invited to attend the discussion at the Élysée, which marked the start of the One Planet biodiversity summit in Paris.

Continue reading...

Aid spending in Africa must be African-led – it needs a Black Lives Matter reckoning | Dedo Baranshamaje and Katie Bunten-Wamaru

If we use this pivotal moment to shift funding to grassroots groups we could unlock transformational change

While the US continues to reckon with its long-simmering struggle against racial injustice, it is important to remember that racism is not just a homegrown problem – we are also exporting it.

As we begin 2021, global philanthropy has an opportunity to address this.

Continue reading...

Nigeria cattle crisis: how drought and urbanisation led to deadly land grabs

The death toll of animals and humans is mounting as herders seeking dwindling reserves of pasture clash with farmers

In February last year, Sunday Ikenna’s fields were green and lush. Then, one evening, a herd of cattle led into the farm by roving pastoralists crushed, ate, and uprooted the crops.

“I lost everything. The situation was sorrowful, watching another human being destroy your farm,” says Ikenna, a father of 10 who farms in Ukpabi-Nimbo in Enugu state, southern Nigeria. “I farmed a smaller portion this year because I am still scared of another invasion.”

Continue reading...

‘Agent of foreign interests’: Museveni lashes out at Uganda election rival

Presidential challenger Bobi Wine has been protesting against corruption and youth unemployment

As Uganda readies for an election on Thursday, President Yoweri Museveni is doubling down on his main rival and preparing himself for a sixth term in office.

After 35 years in power, he faces a powerful opponent, the popular singer Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, 38, known by his stage name Bobi Wine, who has captured the hearts of a new generation by protesting against corruption and youth unemployment.

Continue reading...

Six gorilla rangers killed in ambush at DR Congo’s Virunga national park

Previous attacks against rangers blamed on militias fighting to control land and natural resources

Armed men have killed at least six rangers and wounded several others in an ambush in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga national park, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas, the park said.

The identity of the assailants was not immediately clear, said Olivier Mukisya, a Virunga spokesman. Previous attacks against the rangers have been blamed on various militias who fight to control land and natural resources in eastern Congo.

Continue reading...

‘South Africa is going to get a third wave of coronavirus, even a fourth’

Covid fatigue, super-spreader events and a virulent local variant of the virus put economy and healthcare in crisis

South Africa is struggling to contain a second wave of Covid-19 infections, fuelled by a virulent new local variant of the virus, “Covid fatigue” and a series of “super-spreader” events.

On Thursday health officials announced 844 deaths and 21,832 new cases in a 24-hour period, the worst toll yet. Experts believe the second wave has yet to reach its peak in the country of 60 million, and fear healthcare services in the country’s main economic and cultural hub may struggle to cope with the influx of patients.

Continue reading...

‘This is Africa’s generational cause,’ says Uganda’s election challenger

As a campaign marred by violence comes to an end, Bobi Wine warns President Museveni to learn from history

Millions of voters in Uganda will cast their votes this week in an election pitting a 76-year-old president seeking his sixth term against a former popular musician half his age.

The contest between Bobi Wine, 38, and Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is being keenly watched across the continent, where veteran leaders are coming under pressure to give way to politicians more representative of Africa’s increasingly youthful, urban and educated population.

Continue reading...

Zimbabwe journalist Hopewell Chin’ono arrested for third time in six months

Chin’ono tweeted that police had taken him from his home, charged with ‘communicating falsehoods’

Police in Zimbabwe have arrested the prominent journalist Hopewell Chin‘ono, for the third time in six months, his lawyer said.

Doug Coltart said he was en route to the police station to confirm the charges against his client.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: WHO says poorer countries not getting vaccines; Denmark to restrict all travel

WHO urges rich countries to stop making bilateral deals with manufacturers; Denmark to restrict entry from all countries after today

The United States has set a new daily record for new coronavirus cases, with 290,000 cases reported in 24-hours, according to the Johns Hopkins global tally.

Some 3,676 people in the US died with the virus in the same period.

Mexico has reported 14,362 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,038 deaths.

It is one of the highest daily case increases and brings the total number of cases in Mexico since the pandemic began to 1,507,931, with 132,069 deaths.

Continue reading...

‘We can’t cope’: Lesotho faces Covid-19 disaster after quarantine failures

Rise in cases reported after workers returned from South Africa for Christmas, with many crossing illegally to avoid tests

A Covid-19 disaster is threatening the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho after revelations that the government released people who had tested positive for the virus from quarantine early.

Government sources this week said they had been sending Covid-19 patients home from as far back as last June over cost concerns.

Continue reading...

Kenya faces $62bn bill to mitigate climate-linked hunger, drought and conflict

Country accounts for less than 0.1% of global emissions but suffers disproportionately from related disasters, say new report

Kenya needs $62bn (£46bn) to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis in the next 10 years, according to a government document sent to the UN framework convention on climate change. It equates to almost 67% of Kenya’s GDP.

The report illustrates the scale of the challenge as the country aims to cut greenhouse gases by 32% within the next decade. It will rely on international sources to fund close to 90% of the expenditure. Securing such a colossal amount of often contentious climate financing from rich countries yet to honour their commitments to the $100bn target pledged during the 2015 Paris agreement will be a tall order.

Continue reading...

Ugandan police confront Bobi Wine during online press conference – video

Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, is the Ugandan presidential hopeful trying to unseat the long-serving president, Yoweri Museveni.

The candidate was dragged from his car as he announced a petition to the international criminal court to investigate rights abuses in the country 

Continue reading...

Bobi Wine confronted by Ugandan police during appeal for ICC inquiry

Presidential candidate dragged from car during online press briefing calling for investigation into rights abuses

Police in Uganda have confronted the presidential candidate Bobi Wine during an online press conference where he announced a petition to the international criminal court to investigate rights abuses in the country.

Related: Bobi Wine likens Uganda election to 'a war and a battlefield'

Continue reading...

This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection review – an uncompromising tale of resistance

Mary Twala gives an intimate yet epic performance as an 80-year-old widow fighting plans for dam that will obliterate her village in Lesotho

This is an extraordinary and otherworldly feature film from the tiny landlocked kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa. It is the tale of a rebel spirit: an elderly woman who opposes government plans to flood her village, making way for a dam. It’s a film about resistance and resilience, but director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese is coolly unsentimental and realistic about the inevitable march of capitalism and construction. Weaving in ideas around displacement, collective identity and history, this film takes on almost mythic qualities.

Related: From Beyoncé to the Oscars: Mary Twala, Africa's queen of cinema

Continue reading...

Congolese people have been brutalised since 1996. Why isn’t the west helping?

Despite accusations of war crimes in the central African country, the international community seems unmoved

On New Year’s Eve, a gang of militia left its jungle base and swept across Beni, a forested north-eastern corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, looking for Nande people to kill.

Locals alerted the Congolese army but they were ignored. In small farms in Tingwe, a few kilometres from a DRC army base, the gang found 25 people – men, women and children – out harvesting food. One by one they hacked them to death with machetes and axes.

Continue reading...

Wedding guests killed in Mali airstrike, local sources say

French forces were in area but say they attacked ‘fully-identified armed terrorist group’

More than 20 people, including children, were killed in airstrikes during a wedding ceremony in a remote desert area of central Mali, according to local sources.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attacks but the reports emerged as French military sources said its forces in the country had carried out an airstrike in the area on Sunday that killed “dozens of fighters” from Islamist groups.

Continue reading...

Covid vaccinations: slow start around world brings dose of reality

Burst of optimism over approvals has been followed by delays, shortages and bureaucratic errors

The global introduction of newly approved coronavirus vaccines has been marked by delays, shortages and bureaucratic errors as it has become clear that many governments will miss their targets for mass inoculation.

The burst of optimism that arrived with approvals of new vaccines – encouraged by unrealistic expectations raised by politicians – is colliding with the reality of the challenge of vaccinating a large part of the world’s population.

Continue reading...

Zimbabwe enters Covid lockdown amid fears over crowded new year parties

Panic over infection rates mixed with fear of widespread hunger as 30-day shutdown is imposed after people defy ban on gatherings

Parties and new year celebrations that attracted thousands of revellers with little social distancing or mask wearing have triggered panic and a strict 30-day national lockdown in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

On New Year’s Eve thousands of people gathered at Matapi, Mbare, one of Zimbabwe’s oldest townships for a dancehall concert, while thousands of others held parties across the city despite a police ban.

Continue reading...

Why the world’s biggest mammal migration is crucial for Africa – photo essay

Up to 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on Zambia’s Kasanka national park every year, dispersing millions of seeds as they go

  • Words and photographs by Georgina Smith

David Mubiana will always remember the day he was shot. It happened in 2002, when his unit was ambushed by poachers with AK-47 rifles and a shotgun. He was wounded in the arm and stomach; one bullet rupturing his spleen. As a wildlife police officer in Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife, his job is inherently risky.

“Even if you fall down, you have to stand up and continue fighting. If we finish our wildlife, [our children] are not going to see what we are seeing today,” he says.

Continue reading...