– NEWS –
Many people killed in train crash north of Cairo: Eleven people were killed and about 100 injured on Sunday in a train accident in Egypt’s Qalioubia province north of Cairo. Railway authorities say that at least four train wagons ran off the tracks at the city of Banha in the province. The train was travelling to the Nile Delta city of Mansoura from the Egyptian capital. Sunday’s train accident came three weeks after two passenger trains collided in the province of Sohag, killing at least 18 people and injuring 200 others, including children. Egypt has a history of train wrecks and mishaps. The government says it has launched a broad renovation and modernization initiative.
africanews.com
Cape Town fires continue to rage, man detained for arson: A man has been detained in relation to the „out of control“ fires in Cape Town, which began on Sunday morning and continues to blaze 24 hours later. Around 150 firefighters were tackling the blaze on Monday, which began in Cape Town’s Table Mountain National Park, damaging buildings and prompting the evacuation of hikers from the city’s most famous landmark. Authorities will investigate speculation that additional fires were started and whether the original fire was an act of arson. The fire is now spreading in the direction of Vredehoek, located in the City Bowl, on the slopes of Table Mountain. All schools in the area have been asked to evacuate.
cnn.com
Somalia’s president signs law extending his term: Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has signed a disputed law extending his mandate for two years, the state news agency reported, drawing condemnation from the United States and other allies who viewed it as a naked power grab that could upend faltering efforts to establish a functioning state in Somalia and defeat the insurgency by the extremist group Al Shabab. The move represented a worst-case scenario for United Nations and Western officials, who had been shuttling for months between Mohamed and Somali regional leaders locked in a bitter dispute over when and how to hold parliamentary and presidential elections that were scheduled to take place by early February.
nytimes.com, reuters.com
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Cape Verde ruling party retains power after winning legislative vote: Cape Verdeans have put their trust in outgoing Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva to turn around the archipelago’s economy, which has been heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, by granting a large victory to his center-right formation in Sunday’s legislative elections, according to near-complete results released overnight. In power since 2016, the 58-year-old head of government, a former senior executive of the Bank of Cape Verde, ex-minister and ex-mayor of the capital Praia, claimed before the press his victory, celebrated at the same time by his supporters in front of his party headquarters and in the rest of the city.
africanews.com
42 migrants dead after boat from Yemen capsizes off Djibouti coast: At least 42 migrants have died after a boat they were traveling in from Yemen capsized off the coast of Djibouti, East Africa, during the early hours of Monday morning, the United Nations‘ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday. The IOM’s Regional Director for East and the Horn of Africa, Mohammed Abdiker, also tweeted Tuesday that „grim pictures“ of „children’s bodies ashore“ have now emerged. A tweet from Abdiker earlier said that at least 16 children (8 boys and 8 girls) were among the dead.
cnn.com
Democratic Republic of the Congo: New government, old violence dw.com
German Education Minister: We create attractive prospects for young scientists in Africa finanznachrichten.de
These founders make climate protection in Africa a profitable business handelsblatt.com
– BACKGROUND –
Only one percent of the African population has been vaccinated: Delivery bottlenecks from pharmaceutical manufacturers are complicating the progress of the vaccination campaign in Africa. So far, only one percent of Africa’s population has been vaccinated. In North America, the rate is already over forty percent. Critics speak of „vaccine nationalism“ or „vaccine apartheid“, the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, called this situation „morally unacceptable and a severe economic blow.“ Most African countries should receive their vaccine doses through the Covax initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO). A total of 300 to 350 million people are to be vaccinated with the help of the Covax initiative. A few countries purchase additional vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers, plus smaller vaccine donations from China, Russia, India and the United Arab Emirates. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa-CDC) also wants to procure an additional 400,000 vaccine doses. But it will be a long time before that happens, as vaccine manufacturers keep reporting delivery bottlenecks.
faz.net
Madagascar turns schools into hospitals to cope with Covid surge: Schools and hotels in Madagascar are being transformed into hospitals as coronavirus cases surge on the Indian Ocean island. The spike is most likely due to the South African variant, which has caused a second wave. But as hospitals are overwhelmed, the makeshift treatment centers are also quickly getting full. Hotels too are being used for the influx of patients.
africanews.com
Namibia surrogate newborns lose court battle for travel documents: A Namibian court on Monday threw out a bid by a same-sex couple to have their twin daughters, born to a South African surrogate mother, issued documents to travel to Windhoek. Handing down his ruling, High Court Judge Thomas Masuku said it would be „judicial overreach“ for the court to order the home affairs and immigration ministry to issue emergency travel certificates to one-month-old Maya and Paula. The twins are daughters of a Namibian-Mexican gay couple, but the Namibian authorities have dragged their feet on issuing papers for the girls. The Namibian government has demanded proof of a biological connection between the infants and the couple, Phillip Luehl and his partner Guillermo Delgado. The court’s rejection quashed attempts to take the infants to Windhoek to join Delgado and their two-year-old brother Yona.
france24.com
UN warns of famine in West and Central Africa: The World Food Program (WFP) has warned that more than 31 million people across West and Central Africa may not have enough to eat in the coming months as hunger rises due to an explosive mix of skyrocketing food prices, conflict and fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The figure is more than 30% higher than last year and represents the highest level over most of the past decade, according to a joint food security analysis assessment released under the auspices of the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), a regional organization. WFP stressed that immediate action is needed now to avert a catastrophe. The warning comes ahead of the lean season, from June to August, when food is scarce before the next harvest.
news.un.org
– NUMBER –
At least 2,700 people have been killed in Mozambique since the first attack by the “al-Shabab” militia three and a half years ago.
nzz.ch
– QUOTE –
„As a church leader, I am happy that we are now acting on the basis of scientific knowledge.“
In a statement, the respected Protestant Bishop Msafiri Mbilu is delighted about Tanzania’s turnaround in Covid policy.
spiegel.de
– AT LAST –
Suspected poacher killed by elephants: A suspected poacher was trampled to death by a herd of elephants over the weekend in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, according to a statement from the national park officials. The statement revealed that the deceased and his accomplices were fleeing from Rangers when they ran into a breeding herd of elephants.
africanews.com