Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African novelist Deon Meyer wished the deadly virus wrecking havoc in his 2016 thriller “Fever” had not turned into an eerily accurate depiction of the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world. “I find no pleasure in it,” said the crime fiction author and screenwriter. “I …
Read More »Violence and looting point to food crisis in S.Africa lockdown
Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | “Mr President we are in the middle of a food crisis. It’s war out here,” warned Joanie Fredericks, a community leader in Mitchells Plain township in Cape Town. The desperate plea was made in a video posted on social media to South African President …
Read More »5G, Biotech: How conspiracy theories harm technologies with great potential
Kampala, Uganda | Isaac Nkechi | Various media outlets, particularly social media, were awash with stories linking the roll-out of 5G mobile network to the novel coronavirus-Covid-19 pandemic over the past weeks. These included spurious theories claiming that 5G makes people more susceptible to the virus while some more extreme proposals even …
Read More »Nigeria leader’s top aide dies of coronavirus: presidency
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | The powerful chief of staff to Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari has died after contracting the novel coronavirus, the presidency said Saturday. Buhari’s office announced in a statement that it “regrets to announce the passage” of Abba Kyari, who acted as gatekeeper to the president of Africa’s …
Read More »Leaders warn Africa short of funds to fight pandemic
Washington, United States | AFP | International financial institutions and African leaders warned on Friday the continent needs tens of billions of dollars in additional money to fight the coronavirus pandemic despite debt freezes and massive pledges of support. In a joint statement, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said …
Read More »Senegalese wrestler keeps training with an eye on tiny but dangerous foe
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | One of the rising stars of traditional Senegalese wrestling, Moussa Diop has been driven off the beaches of Dakar, where he usually trains, and behind closed doors by the country’s coronavirus lockdown Diop, a fighter who “packs a punch”, is due to fight again in June …
Read More »Leaders warn Africa short of funds to fight pandemic
Washington, United States | AFP | International financial institutions and African leaders warned on Friday the continent needs tens of billions of dollars in additional money to fight the coronavirus pandemic despite debt freezes and massive pledges of support. In a joint statement, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said …
Read More »Africa’s billionaires called to help coronavirus fight
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Workers in the northern Nigerian city of Kano set out rows of new hospital beds inside two cavernous tents that have been hastily erected on the pitch of an empty football stadium. The facilities have been built to become an isolation centre for COVID-19 patients as …
Read More »Pandemic worsens plight of Middle East prisoners
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | As governments in the Middle East isolate their populations to prevent the spread of coronavirus, attention is turning to the region’s jails, where detainees face a more punishing form of lockdown. “Because of the pandemic, confinement is an additional punishment for the prisoners,” said Kaddour Chouicha, …
Read More »African health officials race to fill virus test gap
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention plans to distribute a million COVID-19 test kits from next week to help the continent tackle a glaring shortfall in testing, its director, John Nkengasong, said Thursday. “There is a big gap on the continent on testing,” …
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