About 13 children die each day at a camp in Sudan for displaced people, medical charity MSF says
Thirteen children are dying everyday of severe malnutrition at the Zamzam camp in Sudanโs Northern Darfur as a consequence of the 10 month war in their country, Medical charity Doctors without Borders or MSF said Monday.
Kenya's president blames corruption and incompetence for huge fireball that hurt hundreds in Nairobi
Kenya's president says corruption and officials' incompetence allowed a liquid petroleum plant to operate in one of Nairobi's most crowded residential neighborhoods, where its explosion and fire killed three people and injured more than 280 others.
Much of Kenya falls into darkness in the third nationwide power blackout in 3 months
A power blackout has hit Kenya, paralyzing large parts of the country, and the transport minister is calling for an investigation into โpossible acts of sabotage and coverupโ over the third nationwide outage in three months.
The first Africa Climate Summit opens as hard-hit continent of 1.3B demands more say and financing
The first African Climate Summit is opening with heads of state and others asserting a stronger voice on a global issue that affects the continent of 1.3 billion people the most, even though they contribute to it the least.
United Nations humanitarian chief says Sudan appears to be in a civil war 'of the most brutal kind'
The United Nations humanitarian chief tells The Associated Press that Sudan appears to be in a civil war โof the most brutal kindโ and the world needs a new forum for talks in pursuit of a cease-fire.
Portuguese chief vs. American deputy in race to lead UN migration agency
The 175 member countries of the U.N. migration agency are casting ballots to choose its leader for the next five years โ an unusual contest between its European director-general and his American deputy, who is looking to oust him from the job.
In Kenya, an electric transport plan for clean air, climate
Electric motorcycles are gaining traction in Kenya as private sector-led firms rush to set up charging points and battery-swapping stations to speed up the growth of cleaner transport and put the east African nation on a path toward fresher air and lower emissions.
Sub-Saharan Africa is 'new epicenter' of extremism, says UN
A new report by the U.N.โs international development agency says that sub-Saharan Africa is the new global epicenter of violent Islamic extremism and that people are increasingly joining as a result of economic factors and less by religious ones.
Tanzania's Masaai demand Indigenous rights in UN framework
Tanzaniaโs Maasai people, resisting government pressure to leave their ancestral homes in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, have presented their demands for Indigenous land rights to negotiators in Nairobi finalizing the proposed U.N. global biodiversity framework.
Ethiopia's economy hit as major clothing maker closes shop
Ethiopiaโs once rapidly growing economy is taking another hit tied to its yearlong war, with global clothing manufacturer PVH Corp_ saying it's closing its facility there because of the โspeed and volatility of the escalating situation.โ.
WHO Africa: COVID-19 booster shots make 'mockery' of equity
The Africa director for the World Health Organization says rich countriesโ decisions to roll out COVID-19 booster shots while so many people across Africa remain unvaccinated โthreaten the promise of a brighter tomorrow" for the continent.
Tigray fighters in Ethiopia reject cease-fire as 'sick joke'
The spokesman for the fighters retaking parts of Ethiopiaโs Tigray region says they will pursue soldiers from neighboring Eritrea back into their country and chase Ethiopian soldiers to Addis Ababa โif thatโs what it takesโ to weaken their military powers.
Africa welcomes COVAX doses but warns against 'selfishness'
โItโs a concern, and everyone is talking about it.โThe East African nation of 45 million people was receiving under 1 million vaccine doses โ 864,000. Itโs the first batch of a total of 18 million COVAX doses for Uganda, but when all will arrive is not known. While the COVAX initiative was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries receive COVID-19 vaccines, it has faced delays and limited supply. And Nigeria began its vaccination campaign after Africaโs most populous country received almost 4 million doses. AdThe COVAX delays have pushed other African countries to seek more doses elsewhere, including via bilateral deals that can be unfavorable.
COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to African nations pick up speed
COVAX has faced delays related to the severely limited global supply of vaccine doses as well as logistical issues. Despite the various challenges, some health officials expressed jubilation as the first vaccine doses via COVAX arrived. Kenya received 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. โThis first shipment of 1 million vaccines is part of an order of 3.5 million to Kenya,โ UNICEF spokesman Andrew Brown told The Associated Press. Many health workers for months have been disgruntled over the inadequate supply of personal protective equipment.
Arrested Zimbabwe journalist in prison isolation over COVID
Zimbabwean journalist Hopwell Chin'ono arrives at the magistrates courts in Harare, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. On Friday, Zimbabwe police arrested the prominent journalist for the third time in six months. Chinono posted on his Twitter account that police had picked him from his house and said they were charging him with communicating falsehoods. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)NAIROBI โ A prominent Zimbabwean journalist charged with communicating falsehoods has been sent to prison isolation after it emerged that he was likely exposed to people with COVID-19 prior to his arrest. Zimbabwe police on Friday arrested Hopewell Chinโono for the third time in five months.
Africa CDC: New virus variant appears to emerge in Nigeria
โItโs a separate lineage from the U.K. and South Africa,โ the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters. He said the Nigeria CDC and the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases would analyze more samples. The new virus variant in South Africa is now the predominant one there, Nkengasong said, as confirmed infections in the country approach 1 million. โWe believe this mutation will not have an effectโ on the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to the continent, he said of the South Africa variant. Infections across the continent have risen 10.9% over the past four weeks, the Africa CDC director said, including a 52% increase in Nigeria and 40% increase in South Africa.
African health official blasts 'terrible' vaccine inequality
NAIROBI โ โIt will be extremely terrible to seeโ rich countries receiving COVID-19 vaccines while African countries go without, especially as a new surge in cases begins on the continent of 1.3 billion people, Africaโs top public health official said Thursday. He has warned that the coronavirus could become endemic in Africa if vaccinations take too long. Africa's 54 countries now have a total of more than 2.3 million confirmed infections, including 100,000 in the past week. The U.S. has said the waiver would be a โbroad and unprecedented step,โ according to notes from an internal WTO meeting last month. โItโs like inviting someone to dinner and giving them a plate but then keeping all the food.โ___Maria Cheng in London contributed.
Ethiopia's forces shoot at, detain UN staffers in Tigray
A Tigray woman who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region holds her child inside of her temporary shelter at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Monday, Dec. 7, 2020. Another U.N. spokesman, Farhan Haq, said the staffers were stopped at a military checkpoint near Sheraro. Ethiopia's government is making it clear it intends to manage the flow of humanitarian aid, but the U.N. has openly sought unfettered and neutral access according to international principles. Ethiopia's government late last month declared victory in the conflict in the Tigray region against the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The fighting in the region erupted Nov. 4 between Ethiopiaโs government and the government of the Tigray region following months of rising tensions.