Ethiopian govt urges US to stop spreading false information
The Ethiopian government has urged the US and some organisations to stop spreading false information regarding the country’s current situation…reports Asian Lite News
The Ethiopian government has warned the US Embassy in Addis Ababa and other organisations against their continued practice of spreading false information, state media quoted Minister of Communication Service, Kebede Desisa as saying.
Ethiopian govt urges US to stop spreading false information
This came a day after the US Embassy in Ethiopia issued a caution to its citizens residing in Ethiopia over possible terror attacks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier, the US government repeatedly warned its citizens to leave the east African country over the expanding conflict there.
The conflict, which erupted in November 2020 in Ethiopia’s northernmost Tigray region between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, has over the past months spread across neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions as forces loyal to the TPLF have advanced southward.
This prompted huge popular mobilisation in the regions as well as other states in the country to fight back the TPLF’s expansion.
Earlier in December, the Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives ratified a six-month state of emergency rule to contain the TPLF’s advancement and ensure the country’s peace and security.
The new Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.529, detected in South Africa is mainly affecting people in the under 25 age group, among whom the vaccination rate against the virus is only 26 percent…reports Asian Lite News
Professor Anne von Gottberg from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the variant had been detected in about 100 genomes so far.
Regarding the affected group, South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Phaahla said: “They are at great risk,” Times Live reported.
KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (Krisp) genome sequencer Professor Tulio de Oliveira said the new variant “is concerning for predicted immune-evasion and transmissibility”.
Twenty-two positive cases of the variant have been recorded in the country following genomic sequencing collaborations between the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, and private laboratories. In addition, other NGS-SA laboratories are confirming more cases as sequencing results come out.
“It is not surprising that a new variant has been detected in South Africa,” comments Professor Adrian Puren, NICD Acting Executive Director.
“Although the data are limited, our experts are working overtime with all the established surveillance systems to understand the new variant and what the potential implications could be. Developments are occurring at a rapid pace and the public has our assurance that we will keep them up to date.”
Confirmed cases is increasing quickly, particularly in Gauteng, North West and Limpopo.
Michelle Groome, Head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response at the NICD, said that provincial health authorities remain on high alert and are prioritising the sequencing of Covid-19 positive samples.
The South African news outlet reported that with Gauteng emerging as the epicentre of the fourth wave of the pandemic once again, it’s no surprise that the province has recorded the most number of infections from the B.1.1.529 variant.
While Johannesburg and Tshwane were both considered hotspots for the previous waves, for now focus is on the capital. Areas such as Pretoria West, Atteridgeville, Centurion, Hatfield, and Soshanguve identified as a cause for concern.
Africa
“This variant surprised us… It has a big jump on evolution,” said Professor de Oliveira, News 24 reported.
South Africa has a large collaborative genomic surveillance network, which involves detecting and researching variants and controlling outbreaks.
Krisp is the principal investigative institute of this network.
De Oliveira added it had many more mutations than scientists expected, especially after a severe third wave, which was driven by the Delta variant.
“Many of the mutations are of concern for immune evasion and transmissibility. We can see the variant potentially spreading very fast… We do expect, unfortunately, to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks.”
Around 90 per cent of the cases linked to this variant were from Gauteng, he added, the report added.
Another scientist pointed out there were early signs from diagnostic lab tests this variant might already be present in many of the other provinces, although he cautioned this was based on a much smaller number of positive PCR tests.
“The cases are not rising to the same extent in the other provinces, but it gives us concern that this variant might be circulating quite widely in the country,” said Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases expert involved in surveillance for Covid-19 variants.
About 27% of African health workers fully vaccinated against Covid-19
Only some 27 per cent of health workers in Africa have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, leaving the bulk of the workforce on the frontlines against the pandemic unprotected, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said…reports Asian Lite News
“The majority of Africa’s health workers are still missing out on vaccines and remain dangerously exposed to severe Covid-19 infection,” Xinhua news agency quoted Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa as saying on Thursday.
About 27% of African health workers fully vaccinated against Covid-19
Africa’s shortage of health workers is acute and profound, as 16 countries in the region have less than one health worker per 1,000 population, said the WHO Regional office for Africa.
To date, more than 227 million vaccine doses have been administered in Africa. In 39 countries which provided data, about 3.9 million doses have been given to health workers.
“With a new surge in cases looming over Africa following the end-of-year festive season, countries must urgently speed up the rollout of vaccines to health care workers,” said Moeti.
As of Thursday afternoon, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa had reached 8,614,525, with 222,254 deaths and 8,060,459 recoveries, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Israel has announced a ban on entry of travellers from seven African countries, after a new Covid-19 variant was detected in South Africa…reports Asian Lite News
Amid reports of the heavily mutated variant known as B.1.1529, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horwitz on Thursday decided to list South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini as “red countries,” Xinhua news agency reported.
“Foreigners from these countries will not be able to enter Israel,” the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.
Israeli citizens who return home from trips to these countries will need to stay in a designated quarantine motel for seven days, even if they are fully vaccinated, it said.
They will be released after two negative PCR tests. Travellers who refuse to be tested will need to stay in quarantine for 12 days, according to the statement.
Zimbabwe calls for repatriation of African artifacts from Western museums
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for the restitution and repatriation of African artifacts that were expropriated from Africa during the colonial era and are currently displayed in Western museums…reports Asian Lite News
Mnangagwa made the remarks on Wednesday at the third edition of the International Conference on African Cultures, being held here from November 23-25 and attended by dignitaries from across the African continent.
“Our peoples’ heritage must be freed from the hostage of Western museums, public spaces and private institutions. Within the purviews of the rights-based discourse, Africa and its people continue to unreservedly pronounce that ‘cultural rights are human rights too.’ In light of this, Africa must reunite with that which belongs to it,” Mnangagwa said.
Zimbabwe calls for repatriation of African artifacts from Western museums
Raphael Chikukwa, director of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe said the looted artifacts are of great cultural and economic value, and therefore should be returned to their rightful owners, Xinhua news agency reported.
He said the return of the artifacts is essential for Africans to revisit and re-engage with the important aspects of African history the artifacts represent.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Kirsty Coventry said the return of the artifacts is imperative for the realisation of the national identity.
“To us as Zimbabweans, as we strive towards Vision 2030, it is imperative that we strengthen our national identity, we need to know and fully appreciate where we come from in order to know where we are going,” she said.
Vision 2030 seeks to propel Zimbabwe into a middle-income economy by the year 2030.
African Development Bank approves $135mn to help Morocco's recovery
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved for Morocco a loan of $135 million to stimulate recovery in the post-Covid 19 era…reports Asian Lite News
The Board of Directors of the AfDB Group approved the loan to help the North African country by implementing financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and support programme for small and medium-sized enterprises, the report published on Wednesday said.
African Development Bank approves $135mn to help Morocco’s recovery
Additionally, the loan will also enable companies in financial difficulty to resume their activities and safeguard jobs, Xinhua news agency reported.
At least eight people were confirmed dead and 17 injured in a suicide car bombing here early Thursday…reports Asian Lite News
A police officer at the scene told Xinhua that the death toll could rise after a suicide bomber targeted a convoy escorting foreign security forces near a local school in the Hodan district in Mogadishu.
At least 8 killed in car blast in Somali capital
“At least eight were killed and 17 others injured in the blast. The blast occurred in front of Muasir school and children are among the casualties,” the police officer, who declined to be named, said on the phone.
The police said the target was a convoy belonging to a security firm that guards the UN personnel who were reportedly travelling from Gordon training camp to Halane base camp.
Al-Shabab militants have claimed responsibility for the latest attack in the restive city, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Somali National Army backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia drove al-Shabab out of Mogadishu in 2011, but the terror group is still capable of conducting attacks, targeting government installations, hotels, restaurants and public places.
DRC to set up battery council to promote cleaner energy
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is to set up a battery council to promote cleaner energy, the DRC’s Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde announced at the opening of the 2021 DRC-Africa Business Forum…reports Asian Lite News
The two-day DRC Africa Business Forum, which opened on Wednesday in Kinshasa, is convened by the DRC government, with the aim to facilitate investments to increase Africa’s share of the battery, electric vehicles (EV) and renewable energy value chain.
DRC to set up battery council to promote cleaner energy
According to Lukonde, the battery council has the role of steering government policy to further promote the electric battery industry, the EV market and cleaner energies in Africa, Xinhua news agency reported.
In his opening speech at the event, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi noted that the DRC, with to its mineral resources reserve, must occupy a strategic position in the process of transforming clean energy.
“Indeed, the global transition to green energy and the decarbonization of economies is a requirement nowadays, which stimulates the demand for certain metals,” said Felix Tshisekedi, referring to cobalt, one of the most important ingredients for EV batteries.
The DRC accounts for nearly 70 per cent of global cobalt production, while more than 25 million tons of cobalt reserves, or about two-thirds of the world’s reserves, are identified in its subsoil.
Over 5mn Tunisians fully vaccinated against Covid-19
A total of 5,014,437 Tunisians have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 since the start of the national vaccination campaign on March 13, the Tunisian Health Ministry announced…reports Asian Lite News
The number of people registered on the country’s electronic vaccination platform Evax amounted to 6,994,088 on Wednesday.
Over 5mn Tunisians fully vaccinated against Covid-19
According to the latest figures released by the ministry on Tuesday evening, 145 new Covid-19 cases were reported, raising the tally in the North African country to 716,609, Xinhua news agency reported.
Tunisia has foiled nine illegal immigration attempts to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian coast…reports Asian Lite News
According to the media agency, the Tunisian Maritime Guard rescued 223 immigrants of different African nationalities, including 111 Tunisians, Xinhua news agency reported.
Tunisia foils nine illegal immigration attempts
Thousands of illegal immigrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean every year as Tunisia is one of the main points of access to Europe through irregular channels.
