We often skip over Africa, including one or two articles. I thought it would be a good time to focus on it for a change.
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OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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The BBC has pictures of the week from Africa.
We begin with a couple of pan-African stories, beginning with this from CNN:
Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt CNN —
The crowd was loving what Bhekumuzi Bhebhe had to say, cheering loudly as he yelled “don’t gas Africa!” into the megaphone.
Standing under the baking Egyptian sun at the COP27 UN climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday, Bhebhe, a South Africa-based climate campaigner, was protesting against what he says is an attempt by rich countries to bribe Africa into investing in planet-warming fossil fuels.
From Quart:
Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank, stresses the importance of easy travel within Africa
In 1960, the Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila made history in Rome as the first athlete from sub-Saharan Africa to win an Olympic gold, even as he broke the marathon world record. All this was made more remarkable by the fact that he ran completely barefoot.
Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), recounted this story to Quartz as an analogy for his unbridled optimism in the continent’s future.
Below the fold, Africa counterclockwise, starting with Egypt.
From the United Nations:
A new strategy has been launched to address the urgent problem of antimalarial drug resistance in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden, with around 96 per cent of all cases and deaths in 2020.
Malaria is caused by parasites that are transmitted to humans through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
From Deutsche Wille:
Cathrin Schaer
9 hours ago
Sudanese protesters have been calling for the removal of a German diplomat from the UN mission to the country. Despite the fractious nature of post-dictatorship politics, there are some reasons for optimism.
Over the past few weeks, the calls from protesters in Sudan have become louder. Carrying signs that say "Volker out!" and "No to foreign interference," thousands of Sudanese people have indicated that they would like to see the back of German diplomat Volker Perthes, who heads the United Nations' Integrated Transition Assistance Mission Sudan (UNITAMS).
From the Middle East Monitor:
The moves taken by Tunisian President Kais Saied since 25 July 2021 have taken the country backwards, the Ennahda movement said yesterday.
"Whoever is still not convinced, whether of good intention or otherwise, that the 25July move is a coup will be sure of that in the upcoming weeks," said Ali Laarayedh,Ennahda's deputy.
From The Observer:
A video showing vehicles being destroyed in Africa has sparked all kinds of explanations on social media since it first appeared on November 13. The two most popular theories are that the video shows French troops destroying vehicles while pulling out of Mali or that it shows French actions as they abandon a mine in Burkina Faso. But the clip actually took place at Perkoa Mine in Burkina Faso and shows an Australian company contracted to run the mine destroying vehicles judged to be in poor condition.
From The Guardian:
Germany latest to end peacekeeping mission as operations prove unable to stop Islamic extremist insurgency
Thousands of international troops are withdrawing from Mali amid surging violence, growing Russian influence and an acute humanitarian crisis.
On Wednesday Germany became the latest country to end its participation in the UN peacekeeping mission in the unstable west African country. Earlier this week, British officials said that 300 British soldiers sent in 2020 to join the United Nations force would be returning earlier than planned.
From Bellingcat:
On 26 September a civilian convoy accompanied by a military escort sought to resupply the besieged city of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso.
Access routes into the city have been controlled by Al-Qaeda linked militant group Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) since the beginning of 2022, causing thousands of people to become food-insecure and leaving the city’s inhabitants dependent on escorted convoys and air drops for food and medicine.
From Al Jazeera:
The brilliant consistency of star fullback Achraf Hakimi may be crucial to Morocco’s chances at the World Cup this time.
Previous World Cup appearances: 5
Titles: 0
Best finish: Round of 16 (1986)
World Cup record: W2 L9 D5
Goals: 14
Biggest win: 3-0 vs Scotland (1998)
Player to watch: Achraf Hakimi
Ranking: 22
Fixtures: Croatia (November 23), Belgium (November 27) and Canada (December 1)
Sitting pretty at 22nd place in FIFA rankings, the North African country’s 26-man squad will be looking to make its sixth World Cup appearance a memorable one and ditch the tag of perennial underachievers.
From Reuters:
From Scientific American:
Unusually heavy monsoon rains that caused deadly flooding in Nigeria were made 80 percent more likely by climate change
Extreme rainfall in Nigeria triggered catastrophic floods this summer that killed hundreds and displaced more than a million people. A new study finds that the influence of global warming made the downpours 80 times more probable.
It’s the latest report from the international research consortium World Weather Attribution, which specializes in the links between climate change and extreme weather events. So far this year, the organization has identified the fingerprints of global warming in deadly flooding in Pakistan and extreme heat in the United Kingdom.
Also from Reuters:
Global police agency Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for Angolan billionaire and daughter of the country's former president Isabel dos Santos, Portugal's Lusa news agency reported on Friday.
According to Lusa, citing an official document, the INTERPOL warrant was issued after Angola's public prosecutors requested the agency to "locate, arrest" and extradite dos Santos.
From gro-intelligence:
Increasingly wet conditions in South Africa’s corn-growing regions, brought on by a third consecutive year of La Niña, raise the risk of a smaller corn crop just as the country's planting season ramps up, and lower corn planted area could have consequences for importing nations in Asia and Africa.
Gro’s Food Security Tracker for Africa currently forecasts 2023/24 South Africa corn production will be down 3% from last year, although production will exceed the 10-year average. It’s still very early in the planting season, though, and forecasts can change in coming weeks.
From The Guardian:
HIV infections and pregnancies are on the increase among young women, after many resorted to transactional sex to survive during the pandemic
A couple of months into the Covid lockdown in South Africa, Dimakatso, 25, resorted to sleeping with an older, married man for 1,000 rand (£50).
It was the first time she had had sex for money. She did it because she needed to feed her two children, aged five and eight; she was unemployed, and her mother, the sole earner in the household, had lost her job.
From CNN:
Martine Viljoen's love for the ocean led her to pursue a career protecting Cape Town's wildlife. She helps rehabilitate penguins and sea turtles at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) and Two Oceans Aquarium.
From Reuters:
A suspected Israeli gang leader, arrested by South African police on Thursday in an affluent Johannesburg suburb, appeared in court on Friday for an extradition hearing.
The 46-year-old, wanted for conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder, is attached to a criminal group called the Abergil Organisation and has been on Interpol's Red Notice list since 2015.
From The Guardian:
Hollywood actor criticised by South Africans after saying settler language ‘not very helpful’
From the Religion News Service:
Performers of the Gule Wamkulu, or “the great barefoot dance,” are seeking to counter such negative impressions and rehabilitate the group’s reputation in society.
From Xinhua:
by Tafara Mugwara
HARARE, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Having spent considerable time at Victoria Falls, near Zimbabwe's prime wildlife sanctuary, Alison Baker has learned the art of incorporating her anti-poaching insights into her works.
As an environmentalist and an animal lover, the Zimbabwean artist said her pieces are inspired by her day-to-day experiences.
From Seychelles News Agency:
A German tourist, aged 69, reported lost on Thursday, has been located in the vicinity of Anse Maron on La Digue Island, said the police.
Found on Friday morning lodged in a gap between rocks, the man was taken to the Logan Hospital on La Digue, Seychelles' third most populated island, where he received medical care. No further details were provided.
According to the police, since the start of the month, four other visitors got lost on La Digue trails, three of whom have been rescued. The fourth visitor, a German national, Marco Viole, has not been found to date.
From News at Medical Net:
Studies have reported six viral organisms of the Ebolavirus genus, including Sudan, Zaire, Bundibugyo, Bombali, Taï Forest, and Reston), a few of which have caused disease outbreaks with considerable mortality in the African continent.
BOMV was initially detected among free-tailed bat species of the Molossidae family, particularly in the Chaerephon pumilus and Mops condylurus bat species in the year 2016 in Sierre Leone’s Bombali district.
From the BBC:
A 99-year-old woman, believed to be the world's oldest primary school pupil, has died peacefully at home in Kenya, her grandson has told the BBC.
Priscilla Sitienei started developing health complications after attending class on Wednesday.
She, and her 12-year-old classmates, had been preparing for final exams set to start next week.
From Al Jazeera:
Former Kenyan president and Rwandan leader agree on the need for M23 rebels to cease fire and withdraw from eastern DRC.
Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame have agreed on the need for M23 rebels to cease fire and withdraw from captured territories in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the East African Community (EAC) bloc.
Kenyatta and Kagame both agreed via telephone “on the need for an immediate ceasefire”, the EAC said in a statement on Friday. A second round of talks will take place in Angola’s capital Luanda next week, it said.
From CNN:
Joseph Singiringabo has lost almost everything and everyone he held dear to Ebola. In a few short weeks, the 78-year-old lost his wife, his son, and a newborn granddaughter to the disease.
He is left taking care of three grandchildren under 13 after their mother fled the village to escape the danger of Ebola. His livestock was stolen while he was away in the required 21-day quarantine, leaving him destitute and desperate.
From Al Jazeera:
Despite objections from the Somali government, UNSC voted to maintain the sanctions regime over al-Shabab threat.
The United Nations Security Council has voted to maintain an arms embargo on Somalia over strong objections from its government, saying al-Shabab still seriously threatens peace and stability in the region and sanctions are needed to degrade its activities.
The resolution, which also expresses concern at the continued presence of affiliates of the ISIL (ISIS) group in the Horn of Africa nation, was on Thursday approved by a vote of 11-0, with Russia, China, Gabon and Ghana abstaining in support of the call by the Somali government, backed by the African Union, to lift the arms embargo.
From the BBC:
Ethiopia, which made global headlines in 2019 when it launched an ambitious campaign to plant 20 billion trees by the end of this year, says that goal has already been exceeded - and its arboreal mission is set to continue.
But in a country battling drought, conflict and a rising population, it is unclear how effective and successful the mass tree-planting has been.