Protests were held in several cities around the world Saturday, in seeming solidarity with demonstrators in the U.S. over the death of an African American man while in police custody earlier this week.The U.S. embassies in several countries drew protesters, angered by the death of George Floyd on May 25. Floyd died after a white police office kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. The incident was videotaped, and Floyd could be heard pleading several times, “I can’t breathe.”In Berlin Saturday, thousands of Germans gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, chanting “Black Lives Matter,” according to Forbes.A protest about racism in general drew thousands Saturday in Toronto, Forbes reported.On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to Floyd’s death, said in an article in The Washington Post, “Racism is real. It’s in the United States, but it’s also in Canada. … We know people are facing systemic discrimination, unconscious bias and anti-black racism every day.”In Mexico City on Saturday, drawings and flowers in support of Floyd were attached to a fence near the U.S. Embassy, according to social media posts.Justice for George Floyd. US Embassy, Mexico City. pic.twitter.com/SLraGkNYO9— Madeleine Wattenbarger (@madeleinewhat) May 30, 2020On Friday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also condemned the circumstances surrounding Floyd’s death, which she said was the latest “in a long line of killings of unarmed African Americans by U.S. police officers and members of the public.”“I am dismayed to have to add George Floyd’s name to that of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and many other unarmed African Americans who have died over the years at the hands of the police — as well as people such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin who were killed by armed members of the public,” she said.Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said he had seen the video of Floyd lying on the ground with a policeman’s knee on his neck.”Because of this discrimination, racism on the basis of race, such things are done,” he said during a webcast on compassion Friday. “We see in the news channels, the media, about discrimination on the basis of color or religion these days, and then there is killing due to that, and then there are some who even take it as a pride to be able to kill somebody.”The African Union Commission on Friday issued a strongly worded rare public statement on the domestic events in the United States.In the statement, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, “strongly condemns” police conduct in the Floyd case and extended his “deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”VOA’s Cindy Saine contributed to this report. 
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U.N. and private aid agencies are scaling up assistance to thousands of people who have lost everything in a fire that engulfed their camp in Maiduguri, the capital of eastern Nigeria’s Borno state a week ago.What was meant to be a festive occasion celebrating the end of Ramadan turned into a nightmare.   On the eve of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Fitr, sparks from a cooking fireplace started a fire that spread throughout a camp housing 40,000 people who had fled Boko Haram violence.   Two people died in the blaze.The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reports nearly 4,000 people, most of them women, lost all their goods.  UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo says the fire in this makeshift settlement has destroyed their shelters, razed houses to the ground and damaged other facilities.“UNHCR is working with authorities, aid agencies and local partners to make sure that those affected receive shelter and other relief items as people once again are being displaced outside and also inside the camp now,” said Mantoo. “Many, including young children, are living under the open, basically living out in into the open and without protection and also needing immediate help — shelter, food and clothing.”  Nearly 300,000 people displaced by Boko Haram violence are living in organized and makeshift sites in and around Maiduguri.  Mantoo says the current tragedy is only the latest in a spate of fires that have broken out throughout the region in recent months.She says camps across northeast Nigeria are congested and shelters are too close together for safety.“With violence on the rise, the threat of COVID-19 also brings in new threats for internally displaced people living in overcrowded camps and settlements where physical distancing is impossible,” said Mantoo. “In response, UNHCR is working with U.N. Development Program to expand several camps and build additional shelters.” Since the Boko Haram insurgency started in 2009, tens of thousands of people have been killed and 2.5 million have been displaced across the Lake Chad region.  This number includes 1.8 million inside Nigeria and the rest in Cameroon and Chad.Despite numerous setbacks, Boko Haram remains a potent and dangerous force.  The militant group has spawned other armed groups in the region, increasing violence.  Aid agencies report thousands are fleeing for their lives every day.  Those bearing the brunt of this ongoing conflict, they say, are young girls, old women and aid workers.
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As Minneapolis burns over the police killing of George Floyd and shock and disappointment in Africa grow, some U.S. embassies on the continent have taken the unusual step of issuing critical statements, saying no one is above the law.       The statements came as the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemned the “murder” of Floyd and said Friday the continental body rejects the “continuing discriminatory practices against black citizens of the USA.”       Africa has not seen the kind of protests over Floyd’s killing that have erupted across the United States, but many Africans have expressed disgust and dismay, openly wondering when the U.S. will ever get it right.       “WTF? `When the looting starts the shooting starts’?” tweeted political cartoonist Patrick Gathara in Kenya, which has its own troubles with police brutality. He, like many, was aghast at the tweet by President Donald Trump, flagged by Twitter as violating rules against “glorifying violence,” that the president later said had been misconstrued.       ‘Wanton Destruction’ in Minneapolis As Protests Spread Across USWhite police officer is charged with murder of George Floyd in MinneapolisMindful of America’s image on a continent where China’s influence has grown and where many have felt a distinct lack of interest from the Trump administration in Africa, some U.S. diplomats have tried to control the damage.       The ambassador to Congo, Mike Hammer, highlighted a tweet from a local media entrepreneur who addressed him saying, “Dear ambassador, your country is shameful. Proud America, which went through everything from segregation to the election of Barack Obama, still hasn’t conquered the demons of racism. How many black people must be killed by white police officers before authorities react seriously?”       The ambassador’s response, in French: “I am profoundly troubled by the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Justice Department is conducting a full criminal investigation as a top priority. Security forces around the world should be held accountable. No one is above the law.”       Similar statements were tweeted by the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Uganda, while the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya tweeted a joint statement from the Department of Justice office in Minnesota on the investigation.       African officials also were publicly outspoken last month over racism in China, when Africans complained of being evicted and mistreated in the city of Guangzhou amid the COVID-19 pandemic.         Protests Around the Country Following Minneapolis Death During a night of protests on Thursday, at least seven people were shot, one criticallyAt the time, the U.S. was quick to join in, with the embassy in Beijing issuing a critical security alert titled “Discrimination against African-Americans in Guangzhou” and noting actions against people thought to be African or have African contacts.       Now the Africa-facing version of the state-run China Daily newspaper is tweeting footage from Minneapolis with the hashtags #GeorgeFloydWasMurdered and #BlackLivesMatter.
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Malawi’s Constitutional Court on Friday put a stop to a government directive banning call-in shows.The government accused broadcasters of careless and unethical coverage of protests following the disputed 2019 elections.Presiding Judge Chifundo Kachale, on behalf of a three-judge panel, said the ban infringed on freedom of expression as guaranteed in Malawi’s Constitution.The judge also said a regulatory authority didn’t consult broadcasters before the directive took effect.Broadcasters called the ruling a victory for a free press and democracy.Teleza Ndanga heads the Malawi press freedom group, Media Institute for Southern Africa, which championed the case challenging the “call-in show” ban.“I had so much hope throughout the entire case,” Ndanga said. “I believed in the arguments that we had and the counsel that we got from our representation. So, it is quite relieving that they [the judges] agree with us and now media houses are quite free to continue with phone-in programs.”Ndanga said she expects the ruling to stand even if it’s appealed.  “I strongly believe in in the argument that we put forward.”Lawyers representing a government regulator told local radio station Zodiak that they are waiting to hear from their clients about a potential next move.  
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The head of the World Food Program tells VOA the number of people suffering from acute food insecurity in Africa could more than double due to COVID-19. Executive Director David Beasley says the impact of the virus on the economy and the flow of supplies could affect more than 40 million people in East Africa alone.The head of the World Food Program has warned a failure to keep food supply chains open during the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic could result in more people dying of hunger than of the virus itself.During a four-day trip to Africa, Beasley told VOA there are already grave problems distributing food because of curfews, long delays for truck drivers at border crossings and mandatory quarantines affecting pilots.FILE – People have been displaced from Wachile, Southern Oromia region of Ethiopia, May 5, 2020. The country is trying to avoid a food crisis caused by a huge invasion of locusts.The WFP has identified 28 hot spots in Africa where trade is slow due to coronavirus restrictions, says Beasley.“Quite frankly, we’ve had 350,000 people around the world die from COVID over five months,” said Beasley. “If the supply chain breaks down like we’re looking at, along with the economic deterioration, we could have 300,000 people die per day. Per day. It can’t be COVID versus hunger, we’ve got to thread the needle and balance both.”   The WFP chief is calling on governments to more carefully review whether all the restrictions are needed. “Africa is very fragile. If we shut down ports, even for a few days, if we have border restrictions, even for a few days it will have a major hunger and humanitarian impact to the people,” he said. “We are already running into issues. We’re working with the leaders, explaining the complications and the impact ripple effect if they do restrictions unnecessarily.”  In April, the WFP said that the number of people facing acute food insecurity globally could nearly double this year to 265 million due to the economic fallout of COVID-19. Most of those people reside in Africa.  The number of people living on the verge of starvation has already risen to 135 million today from 80 million four years ago due to a culmination of disasters from flooding in Kenya, insecurity in the Sahel and locust plagues throughout East Africa, says the WFP.  In the Horn of Africa alone, there are already approximately 20 million people suffering from severe food insecurity, a number the WFP estimates could rise to 43 million this year due to COVID-19 and other factors, such as locust swarms.In Ethiopia, the region’s most populous country, 7 million people are on the verge of starvation.  Beasley says the situation could get worse.“If you do a lockdown in some of the urban areas in Africa and those young people lose their jobs, and they are living day to day hand to mouth, and they lose their job and they don’t have food, you’re going to have disruption. You’re going to have protests and riots and chaos,” said Beasley.FILE – A man attempts to fend off a swarm of desert locusts at a ranch near the town of Nanyuki in Laikipia county, Kenya, Feb. 21, 2020.The WFP has set up two humanitarian hubs at airports in Ethiopia and Ghana to transport medical supplies, food and humanitarian workers across the continent.Beasley, who recovered from the coronavirus in April, said the WFP needs $960 million just to keep the supply chain up and running for humanitarian food aid.Abdi Jama, coordinator of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s food security hub, told VOA supply trucks are backed up at the border between Kenya and Uganda due to measures to contain the virus. Jama reports price hikes due to a lack of supplies.“It’s looking more or less like a doubling of the number of people in need of food aid. In previous years, we used to think more about the agro-pastoralists and [those working in] agriculture,” said Abdi. “But now, we have the issue of these informal settlements in the urban areas, which are really a new group of people that are coming on board.”Jama also said that the Horn of Africa has one of the highest numbers of internally displaced people in the world, creating another group at high risk.  
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The bodies of seven health workers and a civilian were found Thursday in a village north of Mogadishu, shocking residents, local authorities and elders said Friday.”We found the dead bodies of the seven young health workers and a shop owner outside Golaley village near Balad district, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu, a day after they were abducted by men in Somali military fatigues,” Ahmed Mohamed Muse, a local elder, told VOA Somali.It was not clear who was responsible for the killing, but local elders, including Muse, accused Somali government soldiers of being behind the attack.”The abductors were government soldiers and they carried out the execution, apparently as revenge for the killing of nine soldiers by a roadside bomb on Tuesday,” said Muse.Qasim Ali Nur, Balad district commissioner, denied the accusation and instead laid blame on the militant group al-Shabab.”We are still investigating the incident and the initial evidence we have is telling us that al-Shabab militants were behind the killing,” Nur told VOA Somali.He said the seven slain health workers were with the Zamzam foundation, a local aid group that focuses on health care, education, orphan care and peace building.In Somalia, Many Medics Chose Caring for COVID Patients Over Marking EidAs most Somalis celebrated the holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, frontline hospital workers stayed behind to look after those in needColonel Abshir Maxamuud, a senior military official operating in the Middle Shabelle region where the incident occurred, also denied any involvement of government soldiers.Omar Jamac, a spokesman for the aid group, confirmed to Reuters that seven of its health workers had been kidnapped from a center in Golaley village.Residents shockedThe executions shocked the residents of Balad town, triggering protests against what they called the “brutal execution of civilians.”The protesters, wearing red head bandannas, marched through main streets of the town Friday, calling on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.”We are deeply saddened by the gruesome incident. All we demand is justice and fair investigation that finally results in justice for those murdered civil servants,” Osman Muhumed, a protest organizer, told local media.The federal government, the United Nations and international groups also condemned the incident.U.N. Resident Humanitarian Coordinator Adam Abdelmoula said in a statement Thursday that he was shocked by the killings of the health workers. “Attacks against medical facilities and personnel are unacceptable and a breach of international humanitarian law and any common decency,” he said.Abdelmoula who also is the deputy U.N. head in Somalia, called for a “transparent and thorough investigation” into the incident.A statement from the Somali government said, “The government is sharing the pain with all Somalis and sends condolences to the families of those murdered.”The statement added that the government had ordered an immediate investigation into the incident.This incident came at a time when Somalia has been struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, drought and a locust invasion.Ibrahim Mohamoud and Husein Dhaqane in Beledweyn, Somalia, contributed to this report.
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The International Criminal Court eased travel restrictions on former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo for the first time Thursday since his acquittal last year over post-election violence that killed 3,000 people.The French News Agency (AFP) said the ICC is allowing Gbagbo to leave Belgium, which agreed to host him after his arrest, provided he return to court for the prosecution’s  appeal of his not guilty verdict.Gbagbo was the first head of state to stand trial in The Hague.  He and his deputy Charles Ble Goude were cleared of crimes against humanity in early 2019, eight years after his arrest.It is unclear if Gbagbo will return to the Ivory Coast, which is heading toward a presidential election in October.An ICC spokesman said wherever Gbagbo decides to go, the country must approve his stay. Gbagbo and his deputy denied any wrongdoing in connection with the violence that followed a disputed vote in Ivory Coast in 2010.
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Authorities in Cameroon are investigating a fire inside a maximum-security prison in the port city of Douala that sent three inmates to the hospital with serious burns.A fire official said two firefighters were also injured Thursday trying to put out the blaze at the New Bell jail in the commercial capital.Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to a heavily populated neighborhood close to the prison.It is unclear what started the fire, nor if the fire was linked to overcrowded conditions in the prison.Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, say overcrowding, poor sanitation and violence are chronic issues confronting Cameroon prisons. 
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Some South African parents of seventh- and 12th-grade students are reluctant to allow their children back into schools, set to reopen Monday, saying current disinfection efforts are not enough to convince them it’s safe.Work crews are now sanitizing schools in preparation for the planned reopening as the country slowly lifts lockdown measures.One parent refusing to send his child back to school said the government has yet to make protective gear available for children.South Africa’s leaders are struggling to contain the virus, which has infected more than 25,000, with more than 550 deaths. 
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The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Thursday said “no decision” had been taken regarding a U.S. push for an outside probe into its chief, accused by whistleblowers of ethics breaches.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says Washington is dissatisfied with the outcome of an internal inquiry that has exonerated AfDB chief Akinwumi Adesina.The chair of the AfDB board, Niale Kaba, who is also Ivory Coast’s minister of development, said the panel met on Tuesday “to examine the issue emerging from a whistleblowers’ complaint” against Adesina.”No decision has been taken,” she said in a statement in French, countering what she said was information “falsely conveyed by certain media.”FILE – African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina gives a press conference in Ouagadougou, Sept. 13, 2019.On Wednesday, some press reports said the board had accepted Mnuchin’s request that it appoint “an independent outside investigator of high professional standing” to take an in-depth look at the complaint.In a 15-page document, the whistleblowers earlier this year charged that ethics breaches including personal enrichment and favoritism had spread under Adesina’s tenure.The AfDB’s ethics panel completely cleared Adesina after conducting its own investigation, saying the accusations “rested on no objective, solid facts.”Adesina is the first Nigerian to be in charge of the 56-year-old AfDB, one of the world’s five largest multilateral development banks.The 60-year-old former agriculture minister is known for his bow ties and flamboyant manner, but also for a managerial style that critics say is authoritarian.The bank was shaken by a string of departures after Adesina took the helm in 2015.Support for AdesinaNigeria, whose stake makes it the bank’s biggest shareholder, on Thursday threw its weight behind the embattled Adesina.”The call for an ‘independent investigation’ of the President is outside of the laid down rules, procedures” of the AfDB, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said in a letter to Kaba.On Wednesday, Adesina issued a statement that insisted he was innocent, lashed the accusations as “trumped up” and vowed to continue working.Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo also gave Adesina his support in a letter dated Tuesday, saying the U.S. treasury secretary had “ridiculed” the bank’s governance and urging African leaders to stand up.”If we do not rise up and defend the AfDB, this might be the end of the Afdb,” he said.Upcoming electionKaba said that “in no case has (Adesina) been asked to resign” — some media reports have sketched the possibility of a “withdrawal” from office by the bank chief, who is seeking a second term.He is the only candidate in an election which was set for late May but which has been postponed until August because of the coronavirus pandemic.In October 2019, the AfDB raised $115 billion (105 billion euros) in fresh capital, an operation deemed a personal success for Adesina.It is the only African institution which has a triple A rating by credit rating agencies.The bank has 80 state shareholders, 54 of which are African, while others are from the Americas, Asia and Europe. 
 
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In Africa, slowly rising numbers of cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, have surpassed 100,000, according to the World Health Organization. The coronavirus has spread to every country on the continent.Researchers fear the virus will hit the most vulnerable African communities — the pastoralists, particularly those in Kenya, as officials have extended bans on travel in and out of Nairobi until June 1.Pastoralists — cattle, sheep or camel farmers whose livelihoods depend on animals — move from place to place seeking water and pasture. They are often far from city services and lack access to health care and sanitation services. Many come from remote villages to take their animals and milk products to customers in Nairobi.Loko Guyo, a 35-year-old pastoralist, heard of the coronavirus killing thousands of people globally. When she learned of the deaths of some of her customers, she knew the virus was real and dangerous.“Everybody in my village is terrorized,” she said. “This is worse than HIV/AIDS because you can get it from the air. We must be very careful going to the market.”Guyo makes her living selling camel and cow milk. She said she does not know what to do next, other than wait for Kenyan officials to ease restrictions in Nairobi.Hausa-Fulani pastoralists and cattle buyers wait for cattle transactions while sitting on a metallic fence at Kara Cattle Market in Lagos, Nigeria, on April 10, 2019.Guyo belongs to a semi-nomadic pastoralist community in Isiolo, a county in northern Kenya, where she is responsible for the well-being of six family members. In Isiolo, animals are essential sources of food and financial security.She said if the travel ban continues, some of the children in the family will be sent temporarily to her brother in Marsabit County. She is considering selling illegal charcoal to help make a living.“What else can I do for now?” she said.Korbessa, a small town east of Isiolo, is three hours from Nairobi. Seventy percent of its residents depend on animals, said Tahira Shariff, a doctoral candidate at the University of Sussex in Britain.Korbessa is one of Shariff’s four research sites where she is focusing on pastoralism and life amid the COVID-19 pandemic.“If they can’t sell their milk and other dairy products, they would [have] serious challenges balancing their daily life,” Shariff said.Pastoralists such as Fadumo Mohamed, from Isiolo County, are hoping for the days when they can return to their milk business in Nairobi. She said she is not sure if she would still have customers.The economic costs of COVID-19 have already been harsher than the direct impact on these moving communities, Shariff told VOA’s Horn of Africa service.Border closures, movement restrictions and quarantines have added challenges to pastoralists’ daily lives.If they become constrained by restrictions, their livelihoods will be destroyed, Qu Dongyu, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization, said in an opinion article. “Governments, even as they prioritize public health goals, must do everything in their power to keep trade routes open and supply chains alive,” he said. “The pastoralist economy is based on movements and are usually left out of state,” professor Gufu Oba of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, told the Horn of Africa service. “They live and herd through uncertain paths,” he said.States should help essential but most vulnerable African communities during this pandemic, said Gufu.Studies show pastoralists are among the most vulnerable people living in a region of about 20 million people in need of food security. Guyo helps her family by selling more than 10 liters of camel and cow milk weekly.  But because of restrictions on transportation, she had to rent trucks with others to deliver buckets of milk to groceries in Nairobi.“We had to pay extra for the cost of transportation,” Guyo said. “Prices are uncertain. Weather can be unpredictable, and demand is not always as high as you might think. A sudden outbreak like this pandemic can complicate our lives.”   Reports show that a small-scale milk trader like Guyo earns on average about $110 a month.  The pandemic has impacted both domestic and international markets. The traditional flooding of animals — taking animals to market on busy routes — from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula involves millions of ruminants, which is likely to be problematic, said Michele Nori, a Wageningen University researcher in the Netherlands.   
   
The majority of African pastoralists live in extreme poverty, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights said in a statement to VOA Horn of Africa.   
 
During difficult times countries give tax breaks and other social benefits to their urban citizens said Shariff. “Pastoralist communities shouldn’t be left out just because they live in remote areas,” she said.Pastoralists meet in many community places where transmission of the coronavirus is highly possible unless serious intervention is done.  Advocates are calling on the media to get the COVID-19 message to pastoralists. To improve access to COVID-19 prevention methods, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights suggests translating guidelines into local languages.As COVID-19 cases are peaking in Africa, the impact on pastoralists is also increasing. Its effects on the livestock sector are still largely unquantified and yet to be fully felt, the FAO said.This article originated in VOA’s Horn of Africa service.
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The coronavirus, medical experts like to say, doesn’t care about borders, or language, or any of the cultural aspects of humanity. Like viruses the world over, it just sees targets.But since the virus appeared on the African continent three months ago, it has taken a different course in different countries. The continent recently reported 100,000 positive cases, but they’re spread unevenly. South Africa leads the continent, with more than 25,000 cases and rapid growth, whereas the small tropical island of Mauritius hasn’t seen a new case of local transmission in more than a month.Meanwhile, countries such as Rwanda and Uganda that have previously sparred with epidemics have reported cases in the hundreds, but no deaths.Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa, said the organization is training more than 10,000 health workers in an attempt to decentralize their response to deal with these different realities.   “Most countries still have fewer than 1,000 reported cases,” he said. “This means that as governments ease lockdowns and other social measures, it’s important that the strong public health measures are in place all over the territories, not just in the capital cities. That communities are empowered and enabled to take preventive actions. And that we continue working on strengthening health systems and delivering essential services to people.”FILE – Ugandan police officers and members of Local Defence Units, a paramilitary force composed of civilians, patrol during the coronavirus lockdown after the 7 p.m. curfew in Kampala, Uganda, April, 29, 2020.In Mauritius, the nation’s minister of health and wellness, Dr. Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, said preparation was key to the nation’s response, and its apparent success in containing the virus.  “Mauritius registered the first cases of COVID-19 in March. Our monitoring and preparedness action plan was in place already since mid-January,” he said. “The Mauritian prime minister himself chairs a high-level committee on a daily basis. This allows the government to have daily updates on the evolution of the pandemic and implementation measures.”Despite seeing rapidly growing clusters of the outbreak, South Africa recently announced a new approach: Houses of worship will now be allowed to reopen, with precautions and limited congregation sizes. That, Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize explained, is part of the strategy — deputize trusted institutions, like churches, to teach South Africans how to live with the virus in the long term.   “It’s become clear that we are likely to have this pandemic for more than a year, maybe even two years. And therefore, it is important for us to understand that there is a degree of easing … and in this process … begin to motivate every part of our society to focus on social and behavioral change,” Mkhize said.And in the East African nation of Uganda, which has yet to report any deaths amid its fewer than 300 cases, Health Minister Dr. Jane Aceng said the health system was already well-fortified by other lethal epidemics.  “Uganda has had [the] opportunity to have several outbreaks. From the year 2000 to date, at least, we have had over six Ebola outbreaks and about five Marburg outbreaks, and several other outbreaks,” she said. “And these outbreaks have given us the opportunity to build capacity, but also to build systems in place which can easily be activated to respond to epidemics as they are occurring.”Moeti, the World Health Organization official who said that cases in Africa remain lower than in other parts of the world, said one thing holds true across this continent: The virus doesn’t let its guard down in its quest to survive. And so, she said, we shouldn’t either.
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Apple Music is launching its first radio show in Africa.The streaming platform announced Thursday that “Africa Now Radio with Cuppy” will debut Sunday and will feature a mix of contemporary and traditional popular African sounds, including genres like Afrobeat, rap, house, kuduro and more.  Cuppy, the Nigerian-born DJ and music producer, will host the weekly one-hour show, which will be available at 9 a.m. EDT.”The show represents a journey from West to East and North to South, but importantly a narrative of Africa then to Africa now,” Cuppy in a statement.African music and artists have found success outside of the continent and onto the pop charts in both the U.S. and U.K. in recent years. Acts like Drake and Beyoncé have borrowed the sound for their own songs, while performers like South African DJ Black Coffee as well as Davido, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Wizkid and Mr Eazi — all with roots in Nigeria — continue to gain attention and have become household names.Apple Music’s announcement comes the same week Universal Music Group said it was launching Def Jam Africa, a new division of the label focused on representing hip-hop, Afrobeat and trap talent in Africa. The label said it will be based in Johannesburg and Lagos but plans to sign talent from all over the continent. 
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South Africa has softened its coronavirus restrictions on houses of worship, with President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing Tuesday night that religious gatherings will now be allowed under strict conditions. Ramaphosa also announced a national day of prayer for Sunday, the day before restrictions are expected to ease across much of the country. While the nation’s influential religious leaders have greeted the move with rapturous approval, not everyone agrees with it.   FILE – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visits the COVID-19 treatment facilities at the NASREC Expo Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 24, 2020.”Go ahead and pray — it’s okay.”  That’s the word from the man at the top, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, announcing that houses of worship will now be allowed to hold in-person services —with certain restrictions.  The announcement softens the government’s hard stance prohibiting all religious gatherings, which medical experts identified as high-risk for transmission of the infectious coronavirus.  Ramaphosa said that faith trumped those concerns.  “As a nation, we have a responsibility to respond to this aspect of the pandemic with as much effort and urgency as we have responded to the health crisis, and as we have acted to relieve the economic and social effects on our people. We have a responsibility to also take care of the spiritual, psychological and emotional well-being of all South Africans,” he said.FILE – Faithful worship during a church service amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Apostolic Christian Church in Kagiso, west of Johannesburg, South Africa, March 22, 2020.Under the new regulations, houses of worship must keep facilities clean and sanitized, limit congregations to fewer than 50 people and require participants to wear face masks and maintain social distancing.    Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, general secretary of the influential South African Council of Churches, told VOA that the group’s member churches came up with the new guidelines, giving him the assurance that they can follow them. He said heads of member churches meet weekly — online — to discuss their anti-coronavirus strategy, and want to include other faiths in their discussions.  The bishop stressed that for millions of lower-income South Africans, who don’t have the means to watch virtual services, the physical structure is a lifeline.  “For several months, including times of major festivals in their churches or even in their mosques and synagogues, they’ve been unable to get in touch with their spirituality because there’s a total shutdown. It is not appropriate to say that they can only be able to do that next year, when we get to level one. But it says to me that we need to now look at how differently to be church in COVID times, because COVID is not going away,” he said. FILE – Children line up for food at a feeding scheme in Lavender Hill, Cape Town, South Africa, April 21, 2020, during the fourth week of lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.Fortunately, he said, churches are familiar with the challenges posed by plagues. To that end, the council plans to widen churches’ range of social services, including academic support for students who have suffered from school closures.  But not everyone believes this is a good idea.    Rick Raubenheimer is president of the South African Secular Society, a group of atheists, skeptics and agnostics that, since the pandemic began, has met only virtually. They do not plan to resume actual meetings, although technically, he told VOA, they could argue that they qualify under the new rules. “We think it’s a bad idea, from several points of view. Firstly, the president has to date largely followed the science, and the science says that you need to practice social distancing, not have large gatherings, take precautions against transmission and so on. And a lot of these would be very problematic in religious gatherings, which is why the prohibition on religious gatherings, just like any other recreational gathering, has been a good idea to date. He is now making an exception for a particular community, so he is in fact going against the Constitution, which says that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of religion or belief,” he said.A legal challenge seems unlikely, as 80 percent of South Africans identify as Christian.  Mpumlwana said houses of worship now have to take the lead in showing how to live — and thrive — amid the coronavirus.  “We are a society, and we are as churches, a community that saves lives,” he said. “We should not be, and cannot be, that this place of worship becomes a gateway to the grave. And for that reason, we will do everything we can, and we are encouraging everyone. The reason I wear a mask is not because I fear you will contaminate me. I wear a mask because I fear I might contaminate you, and I do not know if I’m a carrier or not. It is an act of love that I would not shake your hand. It is an act of love that I’ll be distant from you. It is an act of love to make sure that all of us survive beyond this.”  Ramaphosa has declared Sunday, May 31 a national day of prayer across the Rainbow Nation. More than 520 South Africans have died of the virus since March.    
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Cameroonians are fleeing the northwestern village of Ngarr-buh after the military began building a base this week near where troops in February massacred at least 13 civilians.  Cameroon says the base is needed to stop separatists from getting supplies in neighboring Nigeria.  But, villagers fear they may once again be targeted or get caught in crossfire. Twenty-two-year-old Cameroonian farmer Emelda Tatah says she and her family were among around a hundred villagers who fled Ngarr-buh on Sunday morning after several military trucks full of troops arrived.   The troops began constructing buildings for a military base to fight off anglophone rebels in the area.   Speaking via a messaging application from the neighboring village of Ngondzen, Tatah said the military’s massacre in their village was still fresh in their minds.  “On the 14th of February, military people entered Ngarr-buh and killed many women and innocent children,” she said.  “The military has built a camp in the village again and the villagers think that this same military that was supposed to protect them [villagers] they [military] are the very people killing them [villagers].  So, they have to flee to neighboring villages where they feel they will be more secured.” Cameroonian rights groups and opposition political parties have criticized the base in Ngarr-buh, saying it will only increase tensions with villagers.   
They estimate over 300 villagers have fled Ngarr-buh within the past week. National President of the United Socialist Democratic Party Prince Ekosso says the military presence in the village is uncalled for.   “Why establish a military base in Ngarr-buh, where the military has been accused of massacring civilians, children, women, pregnant women,” he said.  “We are calling on the government to retrieve [stop] the initiative of establishing a military base in Ngarr-buh. And we call on the international community to put their eyes [pay attention] on this particular situation in Ngarr-buh.  The use of force has never resolved any conflict.” Despite the ongoing tensions between the villagers and military, Cameroon authorities say the new military base is needed to stop rebels from re-supplying in neighboring Nigeria.   Speaking Sunday on state radio, Cameroon government spokesman Rene Emmanuel Sadi defended the base as a needed defense against the rebels.   Although troops had killed civilians, said Sadi, most atrocities in the area were committed by the separatists. He said most of the rebel fighters in Ngarr-buh disguised themselves as Cameroon troops to commit atrocities on villagers just to give troops a bad image and make civilians hate their military.  Sadi said the troops are out to protect civilians from the rebels, who are stealing, raping, abducting for ransom, and making life very difficult in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.  He says the troops will protect Cameroon’s border with Nigeria and stop the separatists from using the border for supplies. Human Rights Watch said in April the attack in Ngarr-buh was part of a larger pattern of rights violations by Cameroon’s military in the anglophone regions.   Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, admitted in April troops committed the massacre after an international outcry when authorities initially denied it. Biya ordered the arrest of troops that attempted to cover up the deaths by burning homes and filing a false report.  Some 600 villagers in Ngarr-buh had fled immediately following the atrocity.   The separatists have been fighting since 2017 to carve out an English-speaking state from French-speaking-majority Cameroon. The United Nations says the fighting has cost more than 3,000 lives and forced half-a-million to flee to French-speaking regions or into neighboring Nigeria.    
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U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) says Russia recently deployed military fighter aircraft to Libya to support Russian state-sponsored, private military contractors, who are helping forces fighting the U.N.-supported Libyan government.The Russian fighter aircraft arrived at al-Jufra Airfield in Libya from an airbase in Russia after a stop in Syria where they were repainted to camouflage their Russian origin, AFRICOM said Tuesday. The fighter jets are expected to provide close air support for Russian military contractors with the Wagner Group, who have been supporting Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in their yearlong offensive against the country’s Government of National Accord (GNA).AFRICOM commander Gen. Stephen Townsend called out Russia in a press release Tuesday for expanding its military footprint in Africa by sending mercenary pilots to “bomb Libyans.” “For too long, Russia has denied the full extent of its involvement in the ongoing Libyan conflict. Well, there is no denying it now. We watched as Russia flew fourth generation jet fighters to Libya, every step of the way,” Townsend said.He added that neither the LNA nor private military companies could arm and operate this type of aircraft without the “support they are getting from Russia.”FILE – President Donald Trump meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House, Nov. 13, 2019, in Washington.In a phone call Saturday, President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shared their concerns about worsening foreign interference in Libya, according to the White House. Turkey has provided military support to the internationally recognized GNA and has warned that attacks by Haftar’s forces will have “grave consequences.”Critics of Russian involvement in Libya say Moscow’s support of Haftar has increased the regional instability that has helped fuel Europe’s migration crisis.U.S. Air Force Gen. Jeff Harrigian, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa, warned Tuesday that Russia was setting up a means to create “real security concerns” for southern Europe in the near future.”If Russia seizes basing on Libya’s coast, the next logical step is they deploy permanent long-range anti-access area denial (A2AD) capabilities,” which are used to prevent adversaries from traveling across an area that the weapon protects, he said in a press release.
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The coronavirus has hit South Africa harder than any other country on the continent. So far it has infected more than 22-thousand people and killed more than 400. But the disease is also impacting the mental wellbeing of many people coping with social isolation and the economic impact of the virus. Franco Puglisi reports for VOA News in Johannesburg, South Africa
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The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR warns hundreds of thousands of urban refugees across the East, Horn and Great Lakes region of Africa are resorting to desperate measures to survive as the economic impact of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, takes hold.Government-imposed lockdowns and curfews aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus are restricting everyone’s freedom of movement and ability to earn a living. The U.N. refugee agency says urban refugees are most seriously affected by the measures and unable to meet their most basic needs.UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley says many urban refugees are at risk of exploitation and falling into debt. He warns many may be forced to take desperate measures to survive, such as engaging in transactional sex or child labor.“Urban refugees are facing job losses as businesses are forced to downsize or close due to COVID-19 restrictions. Many were daily wage workers or worked in the informal economy and were already living hand-to-mouth before the pandemic struck. Many urban refugees are also living in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions and are particularly vulnerable to the spread of the virus,” he said.Yaxley says thousands of refugees in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, are crammed into squalid districts with little access to clean water, making hand washing nearly impossible.He says governments across the East, Horn and Great Lakes region so far have included refugees in COVID-19 response plans. He told VOA refugees have the same access to testing and treatment as members of the local communities.“So, our call today is for governments to also ensure that refugees are included in social safety nets. So that they are able to access welfare support payments, so that they are able to get assistance with meeting their basic needs. So, they are able to pay rent, have shelters, so they are able to afford food,” he said.The UNHCR says food imports have become more challenging because of the pandemic, causing prices to rise. Additionally, it says swarms of locusts, especially in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, are ravaging crops and threatening to increase hunger and poverty.The agency is urging the international community to support its emergency response plan. It says $126 million is required to provide life-saving assistance before the rapidly deteriorating situation in the region reaches a breaking point. 
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Madagascar is sending soldiers and doctors to the city of Toamasina in an effort to contain a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country’s second largest city. Madagascar has confirmed 122 new cases since last Thursday.  The more than 100 soldiers sent to Toamasina are charged with keeping the peace and enforcing requirements for wearing masks and social distancing. A spokeswoman for the anti-COVID 19 operational command center said doctors will investigate whether recent deaths on the Indian Ocean Island are due to the coronavirus or another disease. The French News Agency (AFP) said some witness accounts revealed that bodies have turned up in the streets of Toamasina, with the cause of the deaths not known.AFP says Madagascar Communication Minister Lalatiana Rakotondrazafy denied bodies were in the streets anywhere in the country and that reinforcements were sent to Toamasina due to the spike in COVID-19 cases. Madagascar has confirmed 527 cases of coronavirus and two deaths.    
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Suriname’s president Desi Bouterse is looking to win a third term despite being convicted of murder last year and a separate drug smuggling conviction from the Netherlands. Voters went to the polls in the former South American Dutch colony Monday to elect the national assembly.   Bouterse’s National Democratic Party must win a plurality in an assembly session in August for him to win another five-year term.   Observers say Bouterse has a good chance of staying in power because of the fractured opposition and the coronavirus which has kept campaigning for Monday’s election to a minimum. A court in Suriname sentenced Bouterse in absentia to 20 years in prison in November for ordering the executions of political opponents after he seized power in a 1980 military coup. He is appealing the sentence. A Dutch court also sentenced him to 11 years in prison in 1999 on drug charges, but no country with an extradition treaty with the Netherlands has attempted to make an arrest. Suriname’s economy is a wreck, but Bouterse hopes the recent discovery of oil off the country’s Atlantic Coast can lead to a revival.  The 79-year-old Bouterse ruled from 1980 until 1987 and returned to power in a 2010 election.
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Botswana’s strict COVID-19 border checks have riled truck drivers, who say they spend days waiting to be cleared. Botswana has so far confirmed only 35 COVID-19 cases and one death but began requiring the border testing amid rising concerns about imported infections.
Truck drivers are growing frustrated with long delays at Botswana’s borders due to required COVID-19 testing.     The truckers say they wait for up to five days before being cleared to deliver goods in Botswana, or transit through the country.  Zambian truck driver Amon Phiri complains there are no washing facilities at the border check post, and they run out of food while waiting for test results.  
  
“We are frustrated with the situation going on. We have been kept in Botswana for about five days now, no results.  And we are all truck drivers gathered in one place,” he said.  “We are being kept here with a single toilet, no water and no food.  We are using the bush to answer the call of nature.”    
  
Phiri urged Botswana authorities to speed up the testing.    
  
“We were told the results will be out in 72 hours, but up to now nothing has come out.  We are appealing to authorities to take action,”    he said.
  
South African truck driver Malusi Dlamini says the delays have led to tensions across the border in South Africa. He says some South African truckers are threatening to block trucks entering from Botswana if the situation is not resolved.  
  
“It is a frustrating situation.  We hope it is addressed soon before tensions boil over.  There are long queues of up to 10 kilometers of trucks waiting to be cleared,”  he said. Truck drivers have to exercise patience at entry points in Botswana due to COVID-19 tests. (Mqondisi Dube/VOA).Botswana truck drivers are also subjected to COVID-19 tests when they re-enter the country. 
 
Landlocked Botswana imports about two-thirds of its goods from South Africa. Botswana’s COVID-19 taskforce team head Dr. Kereng Masupu acknowledged the challenges faced by truck drivers.   But he says remedial action cannot be taken overnight.  Steps will be taken to improve the lives of drivers while awaiting their results, says Masupu, and their welfare should be taken seriously as they provide an essential service.   Botswana introduced COVID-19 testing for truck drivers after confirming several imported cases of the coronavirus from truckers in the past week.   
 
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Ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye has won Burundi’s presidential election by a landslide, preliminary results show, while the main opposition party cries fraud.The independent election commission (CENI) announced partial results Monday, giving Ndayishimiye 69% of the vote and his chief competitor Agathon Rwasa of the opposition CNL party 24%.Current First Vice President Gaston Sindimwo of the nationalist party Uprona finished far behind with just 2%.CNL immediately cried foul. Party spokesman Terence Manirambona tells VOA’s Central Africa service that CNL has its own numbers to prove that Rwasa won.“We are going to go through the appropriate channels to demand that the vote be recounted. We have a lot of facts that undeniably demonstrate that the results announced by CENI do not reflect the will of the people,” he said.He said the party was “stunned” to hear what he says are false numbers and accuses the election commission of colluding with the ruling party to keep opposition election observers away from the polls.There has been no response so far from the government or would-be president-elect Ndayishimiye.But in another interview with VOA, First Vice President Sindomwo downplayed allegations that the election was rigged and congratulated the apparent winner.“Elections are over now. We urge president-elect Evarisate Ndayishimiye to be the leader for all Burundians,” he said.The ruling party also won 72 seats in the parliament while CNL took 27 seats and the Uprona party won one seat.Final results are expected Tuesday and all parties have 10 days to challenge the outcome before the constitutional court.Ndayishimiye is longtime president Pierre Nkurunziza’s hand-picked successor. He decided not to run again after 15 years in power. 
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Elementary school children in Malawi, one of Africa’s poorest countries, normally get free meals at school; but, when the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to close in March, families were left with the added cost burden. The international charity Mary’s Meals, which runs the feeding program in one-third of Malawi’s elementary schools, has started distributing food to poor communities to help them cope.Mary’s Meals has been feeding thousands of children in the schools for the past 18 years.The young learners receive hot porridge made from maize or soya bean flour mixed with salt and sugar.The aim is to increase enrollment for children who might fail to attend classes because of hunger in their families, and to meet the nutrition needs of the students.Bart Rombaut is the country director for Mary’s Meals in Malawi. He spoke to VOA by telephone.“We normally work in around 1,116 primary schools in Malawi. And we have a focus on some special schools like children who are suffering from HIV/AIDS, and also disabled children, so those children receive special attention…So, approximately one million children in Malawi are covered by this action,” he said.The closure of schools in March because of COVID- 19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, deprived students of this source of nutrition, posing a threat to their health.Rombaut saif this has forced the charity to find new ways of feeding the children in compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures.“We decided to make ready-made food packages that the parents collect at schools and take home. We want to limit interactions between human beings and at the same time make sure that the individual child receives our nutritious meal.”Lizinet Kanamule said her two children are benefiting from the school feeding program.She told VOA via telephone that although the meals are meant for her children, the whole family is benefiting.She said, “This is helping us a lot, and because of this pandemic, things are not working. We are facing food shortages in our homes. So as a family the food stuffs we are receiving for our children are helping us because we are cooking porridge to cater to the whole family.”Rombaut said the new program is expected to run through July when the Malawian school year normally ends.He said prospects are high the initiative will resume should the schools remain closed at the start of the new school year in September. 
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Burundi’s election commission declared ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye the winner of the country’s presidential election.
 
The retired general won just under 69% of the vote, according to results released Monday.  Opposition party leader Agathon Rwasa received about 24%, with five other candidates splitting the rest.
 
Voting last Wednesday was peaceful, but speaking to VOA, Rwasa accused the ruling party of “mischief” and said police and security officers were kicking opposition members out of polling places.
 
The ruling CNDD-FDD picked Ndayishimiye to succeed outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose decision to run for a third term in the 2015 election triggered mass protests and a crisis that forced more than 250,000 Burundians to flee the country.
 
Nkurunziza chose not to run for a fourth term this year but was named a “supreme guide for patriotism” by Parliament and still holds a prominent position in the ruling party.
 
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