Category Archives: Africa

‘Millions hang by a thread’: extreme global hunger compounded by Covid-19

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Coronavirus ‘potentially catastrophic’ for nations already suffering food insecurity caused by famine, migration and unemployment

The warning from the World Food Programme (WFP) that an extra 265 million people could be pushed into acute food insecurity by Covid-19, almost doubling last year’s total, is based on a complex combination of factors.

WFP’s latest warning underlines the increasing concern among experts in the field that for many the biggest impact will not be the disease, but the hunger hanging off its coat tails.

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Zimbabwe faces malaria outbreak as it locks down to counter coronavirus

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A rise in cases of the mosquito-borne disease poses another layer of threat in a country where the health system is already struggling

At least 131 people have died from malaria in Zimbabwe in a new outbreak, adding pressure to a country already struggling to deal with Covid-19.

The fatalities occurred in 201 outbreaks recorded across the country, according to the Ministry of Health. Meanwhile Zimbabwe’s lockdown has been extended by two weeks to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

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Mozambique expels suspected Brazilian drug lord

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Gilberto ‘Fuminho’ Aparecido dos Santos arrested in international sting operation

Mozambique has expelled one of Brazil’s most wanted criminals, an alleged drug lord who has been on the run for two decades.

Gilberto “Fuminho” Aparecido dos Santos was sent home on a Brazilian air force plane that left Maputo at 1.30am on Monday with dozens of police officers onboard, the authorities said.

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44 suspected Boko Haram members found dead in Chad prison

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The group of men appeared to have been poisoned, according to country’s chief prosecutor

A group of 44 suspected members of Boko Haram who had been arrested in Chad during a recent operation against the jihadist group have been found dead in their prison cell, apparently poisoned, Chad’s chief prosecutor has announced. Speaking on national television on Saturday, Youssouf Tom said the prisoners were found dead on Thursday.

Autopsies on four dead prisoners revealed traces of a lethal substance which had caused heart attacks in some victims and severe asphyxiation in others, he said. The dead men were among a group of 58 suspects captured during a major army operation around Lake Chad launched by the president, Idriss Déby Itno, at the end of March.

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Lesotho PM under police investigation deploys army to ‘restore order’

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Thomas Thabane faces calls to step down after allegations of possible involvement in murder of ex-wife

Lesotho’s prime minister announced on Saturday that he had deployed troops in the streets to “restore order”, and accused unnamed law enforcement agencies of undermining democracy.

Thomas Thabane is under pressure to step down after police said they suspected him of a hand in the murder of his estranged wife in 2017, a case that has thrown the country into political turmoil.

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Archbishop of Uganda urges women to use contraception during lockdown

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Family planning group hails Stephen Kazimba Mugalu’s break with Anglican tradition, but Catholic officials brand advice immoral

The new archbishop of Uganda has become the first primate of the country’s Anglican church to embrace the use of modern contraceptives after urging women to be “very careful” to avoid getting pregnant during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The ninth archbishop of the church of Uganda, Stephen Kazimba Mugalu, said in a televised Sunday sermon he is “really concerned” that many women will get pregnant during the nationwide shutdown. On Tuesday, President Yoweri Museveni extended the initial 14-day lockdown for a further three weeks.

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Nigerian president’s chief of staff dies from coronavirus

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Abba Kyari was the top aide to President Buhari and one of the most powerful men in the country; deaths on African continent have passed 1,000

The Nigerian president’s chief of staff, Abba Kyari, has died after contracting Covid-19, two presidency spokesmen said on Twitter, as Covid-19 deaths on the continent pass 1,000.

Kyari, who was in his 70s and had underlying health problems, including diabetes, was the top official aide to 77-year-old President Muhammadu Buhari and one of the most powerful men in the country.

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Lions and other wild animals relax in South Africa golf club during lockdown – video

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Lions and wild dogs have been filmed relaxing in the the greens of Skukuza golf club in Kruger National Park in South Africa as visitors stay away during the coronavirus outbreak.

Jean Rossouw, captain of the golf club, located within the park, captured videos and images of lions and hyenas on the green in the early morning

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Namibia’s youngest MP enters the crucible as Africa’s youth lead the way

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Her ascent to a cabinet position at the age of 23 took her by surprise. Yet across southern Africa, young leaders like Emma Theofelus are on the rise

One of Africa’s youngest cabinet members to date is experiencing a baptism of fire.

Emma Theofelus, 23, was appointed Namibia’s information, communication and technology deputy minister a week after coronavirus hit Namibian shores. “I have literally been learning on the job so far,” she says.

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EU offers ‘heartfelt apology’ to Italy over coronavirus response

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Ursula von der Leyen voices regret as expert warns herd immunity still a way off in Europe

The EU has offered “a heartfelt apology” to Italy for letting it down at the start of the coronavirus crisis as fresh evidence emerged that few European countries are likely to have achieved herd immunity as they begin cautiously lifting their lockdowns.

As the World Health Organization warned that the continent remained firmly “in the eye of the storm”, the president of the European commission said on Thursday that truth was needed to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic – including political honesty.

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‘Race against time’ to prevent famines during coronavirus crisis

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UN calls for international solidarity to ease effects of Covid-19 on food security

Vulnerable parts of the developing world, particularly in Africa, are at risk of sliding into famine as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, while humanitarian relief efforts are being hindered by lockdowns and travel restrictions, according to the UN.

Experts raised the spectre of unrest similar to that seen in 2007-08 when food price rises sparked riots around the world, destabilising fragile states and fuelling conflict in ways that are still being felt. They told the Guardian that the world could still avoid such a crisis, but time was running out.

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Signing on: The deaf workers weaning a capital city off plastic bags

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Ethiopian paper bag firm employs 18 deaf workers who use sign language to persuade clients to choose greener alternative

What do you say to a business owner who has heard it all before? Answer: Don’t speak, use sign language.

At least that’s the novel approach taken by Teki Paper bags, an Ethiopian enterprise developed by deaf women.

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‘We have nothing’: as lockdown bites, migrants in Tunisia feel the pinch

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With Covid-19 yet to spread widely, business closures are already causing hardship for people dependent on casual work

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    • From 6pm to 6am, the security services enforce the curfew. Like most other countries in the world, Tunisia remains in lockdown.

    At all other times, tight restrictions on public movement are in place to limit the spread of coronavirus. Across the country, many businesses are shuttered up, with employees preparing themselves for the long and potentially economically devastating wait until something like normal life returns to the country.

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    Suspicion and fear linger as Ethiopia’s campus wars go quiet

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    Violent unrest at Ethiopia’s universities has been quelled by police, but the root causes will prove harder to tackle

    On a December morning last year, students at Ambo University in Ethiopia’s Oromia region awoke to find threatening notices pinned to the walls of their dormitories. The message was simple: boycott classes. Anyone failing to do so would face punishment.

    Written by Oromo student activists calling themselves the Qeerroo, the notices demanded solidarity with fellow Oromos at universities in the neighbouring region of Amhara, after a spate of deadly ethnic clashes there. Similar boycotts had been called in universities across Oromia, the country’s largest region.

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    ‘Will we die of hunger?’: how Covid-19 lockdowns imperil street children

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    For millions of young people, coronavirus restrictions have made access to food, water and shelter even more precarious

    Timothy, a teenager on the streets of Mombasa, wonders how he will eat. “Rich people can stay home … because they have a store well stocked with food,” he says. “For a survivor on the street your store is your stomach.”

    However, says another, if the rumours are true and street children are arrested in the city during the Covid-19 crisis, he’d be happy to go to Shimo women’s prison, because there “you are sure to get free food, shelter and medical services”.

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    Deep inequalities of social distancing in South Africa – in pictures

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    In densely populated townships and cities, the army and police have been patrolling the streets to enforce strict measures to curb the spread of coronavirus

    All photographs by Jérôme Delay for AP

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    Man believed to be Brazil’s biggest cocaine supplier arrested in Mozambique

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    Gilberto ‘Fuminho’ Aparecido dos Santos caught after more than 20 years on the run

    One of Brazil’s most wanted people, an alleged drug baron accused of running international cocaine operations for the country’s biggest gang, has been arrested in Mozambique.

    Gilberto “Fuminho” Aparecido dos Santos, believed to be the leader of the First Capital Command (PCC), was arrested in an international sting that included agents from Brazil, Mozambique and the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Mozambican police confirmed the arrest on Tuesday.

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    Food rations to 1.4 million refugees cut in Uganda due to funding shortfall

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    World Food Programme announce 30% relief reduction, as farms and businesses shut in Covid-19 lockdown, fuelling hunger fears

    Food rations have been cut to more than 1.4 million vulnerable refugees in Uganda by the World Food Programme (WFP) because of insufficient funds.

    Announcing a 30% reduction to the relief food it distributes to refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from neighbouring South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, the WFP in Uganda warned that further cuts could follow.

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    Italian death toll passes 20,000; more than 1.87m Covid-19 cases reported worldwide – as it happened

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    Spain records another drop in daily death toll; Singapore sees biggest daily jump in infections; China reports highest daily cases in over five weeks. This blog is now closed

    We’ve launched a new global coronavirus liveblog at the link below where I’ll be bringing you rolling coverage throughout the day:

    Related: Coronavirus live news: cases worldwide near 2 million as Trump repeats WHO funding threat

    Dr. Fauci opens by saying he does not claim to know anything about economics. “But the one thing we do know as health experts is... some people think it will be like a light switch on and off. But it won’t be.”

    Each state is different, he says. There will be a “rolling re-entry,” says Dr. Fauci. “It’s not one size fits all.”

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    Second wave of locusts in east Africa ’20 times worse’, says UN

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    UN warns of ‘alarming and unprecedented threat’ to food security and livelihoods in the region

    A second wave of desert locusts is threatening east Africa with estimates that it will be 20 times worse then the plague that descended two months ago.

    The locusts present “an extremely alarming and unprecedented threat” to food security and livelihoods, according to the UN. A swarm of just more than a third of a square mile can eat the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people.

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