(2020-03-24). Egypt imposes nighttime curfew, partially closes shops to fight coronavirus spread. rt.com 
The Egyptian government has imposed a two-week long curfew and is shutting down shops and restaurants to curb the spread of the coronavirus epidemic in the country. | The curfew will be in force between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. starting Wednesday and apply to all citizens and transport, Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly announced in a televised address. Violators would be subjected to fines and prison terms. | Businesses will have to stay shut between 5 p.m. and 6 a.m. on all days except Fridays and Saturdays, when they will not be allowed to open at all. | Cafes and restaurants will be allowed to deliver foo…
(2020-03-24). Libya: Haftar militias target prison in Tripoli. yenisafak.com The UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said Tuesday that militias affiliated with Eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar targeted the Ain Zara prison facility in southern Tripoli.Spokesman for the GNA-led Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) Operation, Mustafa al-Majee, told Anadolu Agency three security officers were injured in the attack.Despite the GNA approval on a humanitarian cease-fire to focus on efforts to combat the coronavirus, Haftar has regularly violated the terms by attacking different locations in Tripoli, he said.GNA justice minister has appealed to the international commun…
(2020-03-24). German shipment of 6 million masks lost in Kenya. yenisafak.com Nearly six million medical masks recently purchased by Germany have disappeared at an airport in Kenya, Der Spiegel a weekly German news magazine reported on its website on Tuesday. | German Defense Ministry has confirmed that authorities have begun an investigation into the incident, but did not provide any further details., | Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government had recently ordered nearly ‚Ǩ241 million ($262 million) worth of medical masks, other protective equipment, and material to cope up with a potential shortage amid the coronavirus outbreak. | Due to arrive in the country on…
(2020-03-23). Headlines for March 23, 2020. democracynow.org Global COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 15,000 as Italy Drafts Military to Enforce Lockdown, Angela Merkel to Self-Quarantine After Her Doctor Tests Positive for COVID-19, First COVID-19 Cases Reported in Occupied Gaza, War-Stricken Syria and Afghanistan | , Coronavirus Cases Mount Across Africa, Two Nigerians Overdose Self-Medicating with Chloroquine After Trump Praised Anti-Malaria Drug as Possible COVID-19 Treatment, Coronavirus Leads to Lockdowns, Travel Bans in Latin America, as a Colombian Prison Riot Turns Deadly | , Fate of Tokyo Olympics Still Unknown as Canada, Australia Refuse to Send Athletes | , India Lock…
(2020-03-23). Unique female white giraffe and calf killed at hands of illegal poachers in Kenya. nationofchange.org "Its killing is a blow to tremendous steps taken by the community to conserve rare and unique species, and a wake-up call for continued support to conservation efforts."
(2020-03-23). COVID-19 Pandemic and Coronavirus Suppression — Should Schools Close? globalresearch.ca The world is in the grip of a COVID-19 pandemic that is now impacting relatively poor countries in Africa and South Asia. Rich island continent Australia (population 25 million) has only about 1,000 cases so far and has achieved this …
(2020-03-23). Can Democrats widen their appeal to embrace rural working-class America? peoplesworld.org 
We hear these days about the importance of the African-American vote within the Democratic base, and rightly so. This base has played a key role in the Democratic primaries and, according to all indications, will play a key role in determining the Democratic presidential candidate. Democratic candidates would also be wise, though, as well as …
(2020-03-22). Guinea Voted in Contested Elections Amid Protests, COVID-19. telesurenglish.net Guineans voted Sunday in a referendum and parliamentary election contested by the opposition and held despite deadly protests and the threat of the RELATED: | President Alpha Conde, 82, wants to change the constitution to introduce social reforms, but his opponents say his real…
(2020-03-21). UN welcomes response by Libyan parties to calls for humanitarian pause. news.un.org The United Nations on Saturday welcomed the "positive responses" of Libya's Tripoli-based government and the Libyan National Army (LNA) to calls for a pause to stop the fighting, in the hopes that this would allow humanitarian access throughout the crisis-torn country and head off the potential threat of COVID-19.
(2020-03-21). [Obituary] Lionel Henry Opie. thelancet.com Leading African cardiologist. He was born in Hanover, South Africa, on May 6, 1933, and died in Cape Town, South Africa, on Feb 20, 2020, aged 86 years.
(2020-03-21). [Perspectives] Sean Wasserman: rising star in TB-HIV research and medicine. thelancet.com A year spent working in a township hospital outside Cape Town, South Africa, was a defining career moment for Sean Wasserman, winner of the 2019 Stephen Lawn TB-HIV Research Leadership Prize, which is supported by The Union. "I remember seeing the devastation caused by untreated HIV and common opportunistic infections including TB and meningitis, and was inspired by the high quality of medicine practised by my consultants in this challenging environment. I knew from that point on that I wanted to make a contribution in the emerging field of infectious diseases medicine in South Africa", he says.
(2020-03-20). Doctor: As Coronavirus Cases Spike Worldwide, We Need Global Cooperation to Halt Spread. democracynow.org 
As the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 10,000, with over 250,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, we speak with Stanford University's global health expert Dr. Michele Barry, an infectious disease doctor. Italy has surpassed China in coronavirus deaths, and cases are rising in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, as the governor of California has ordered all 40 million residents to shelter in place.
(2020-03-20). Headlines for March 20, 2020. democracynow.org Worldwide COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 10,000 as Italian Nurses "Stop Counting the Dead", Refugee Groups Warn of COVID-19 "Carnage" in Camps Housing Millions, Coronavirus Multiplies Across Australia, Latin America, Africa and Middle East, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Issues Statewide "Stay at Home" Order for 40 Million, New York Mayor Calls on Trump to Mobilize Military to Aid Overwhelmed Hospitals, Georgia State Legislators Urged to Self-Quarantine; Spring Break Revelers Party On in Florida, Demands Grow to Empty ICE Jails as NJ Detention Center Worker Tests Positive, Trump Blasts "Corrupt" Media at Rambling Coronav…
(2020-03-20). UN rights chief urges South Sudan authorities to address inter-communal violence. news.un.org Authorities in South Sudan must address intercommunal violence if the nation is to achieve lasting peace, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday, in response to a recent escalation in fighting in the east and central parts of the country.
(2020-03-20). UNHCR delivers much-needed aid to Sudanese refugees in Chad. news.un.org Nearly 94 tonnes of emergency aid has been airlifted into Chad to support thousands of people who have fled ongoing violence in Sudan's West Darfur state, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, reported on Friday.
(2020-03-19). UN, an 'ally' in Kenya in fight against COVID-19: a UN Resident Coordinator blog. news.un.org The United Nations is working closely with the Kenyan Government to help prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus or COVID-19. By Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator to Kenya.
(2020-03-19). Headlines for March 19, 2020. democracynow.org Italy Records Record 475 Coronavirus Deaths as Infections Continue Climbing, British PM Boris Johnson Closes Schools After Reversing Lax Virus Containment Plan, Millions of Brazilians Protest from Windows and Balconies Demanding President's Ouster, World Health Organization Warns Critical Lack of Testing Is Costing Lives, Egypt Arrests Protesters Calling for Release of Prisoners at Risk of COVID-19, Yemen, Already Wracked by U.S.-Supported, Saudi-Led War, Braces for Coronavirus, Trump Admin Tightens Sanctions That Have Devastated Iran's Public Health System, Trump Signs Coronavirus Relief Bill Providing Paid Leav…
(2020-03-18). [Research Paper] A phase 1b randomized study of the safety and immunological responses to vaccination with H4:IC31, H56:IC31, and BCG revaccination in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-uninfected adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa. thelancet.com BCG revaccination administered as a single dose ID and both H4: IC31 and H56: IC31 administered as 2 doses IM had acceptable safety profiles in healthy, QFT-negative, previously BCG-vaccinated adolescents. Characterization of the assays and the immunogenicity of these vaccines may help to identify valuable markers of protection for upcoming immune correlates analyses of C-040-404 and future TB vaccine efficacy trials.
(2020-03-17). Spain Locks Down & Nationalizes Private Healthcare as Coronavirus Deaths Double & Cases Skyrocket. democracynow.org 
Europe is the epicenter of coronavirus, and Spain now has the second most cases in Europe, with more than 2,000 new cases in 24 hours and the number of deaths doubled. We'll go to Madrid for an update, where more than half of the country's cases have been reported. This comes as the Spanish government announced it is nationalizing hospitals and private healthcare companies to better manage the pandemic. We are joined by María Carrión, a freelance journalist and former Democracy Now! producer who is also executive director of FiSahara and co-founder of Nomads HRC, which focus on human rights in Western Sahara.
(2020-03-16). "Something Is Wrong in America": Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor & Michael Eric Dyson Debate Sanders v Biden. democracynow.org 
Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders faced off in their first one-on-one debate Sunday night in the midst of an unprecedented national crisis, with 3,600 reported COVID-19 cases, 61 deaths so far, 33 states closing schools and mass shutdowns in major cities. The rivals clashed on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Medicare for All, the climate crisis, Joe Biden's record and whether or not the U.S. needs a revolution. We play highlights from the debate and get responses from scholars Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and Michael Eric Dyson. Taylor is assistant professor of African-America…
(2020-03-12). The Government Has a Secret Plan to Track Everyone's Faces at Airports. We're Suing. aclu.org U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration are putting us on an extraordinarily dangerous path toward the normalization of face surveillance. But because key facts about this surveillance are still secret, the public lacks the information it needs to hold these agencies to account. We're
(2020-03-04). [Commentary] We all progress through progress towards gender equality. thelancet.com Ubuntu — often translated as "I am because we are" — is an African humanist philosophy asserting that we are all interconnected and derive our humanity from each other [1]. It follows that we progress through the progress of others. Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it this way [2]: "We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity."
(2020-03-03). [Research Paper] Violence-related knife injuries in a UK city; epidemiology and impact on secondary care resources. thelancet.com Knife injuries constitute 12 ∑9% of trauma team workload. Violence recidivism and intoxication are common, and females are predominantly injured in a domestic setting, presenting opportunities for targeted violence reduction interventions. 13 ∑9% of injuries involved machetes, with implications for law enforcement strategies.
(2020-02-24). [Articles] Effects of updated demography, disability weights, and cervical cancer burden on estimates of human papillomavirus vaccination impact at the global, regional, and national levels: a PRIME modelling study. thelancet.com HPV vaccination provides greater health benefits and is more cost-effective than was previously estimated. The demography update, which incorporates population aging, has the largest effect on the health impact estimates. The WHO African region is expected to gain the greatest health benefits and should be prioritised for HPV vaccination.
(2020-02-10). [Research Paper] Outcomes of a nine-month regimen for rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis up to 24 months after treatment completion in nine African countries. thelancet.com The close to 80% relapse-free success indicates the good outcome of the regimen in low-and middle-income settings. Results confirm the lesser effectiveness of the regimen in patients with initial resistance to fluoroquinolones and support the use of high-dose isoniazid, but do not support exclusion of patients for resistance to drugs other than fluoroquinolones.
(2019-12-23). [Corrections] Correction to Lancet Infect Dis 2019; 19: 143—55. thelancet.com Hemelaar J, Elangovan R, Yun J, et al; WHO—UNAIDS Network for HIV Isolation Characterisation. Global and regional molecular epidemiology of HIV-1, 1990—2015: a systematic review, global survey, and trend analysis. Lancet Infect Dis 2019; 19: 143—55—In figure 3 of this Article, one segment of the pie charts for east Africa and central Africa was mislabelled as CRF02_AG (yellow) instead of D (pink). This change does not affect the written interpretation. This correction has been made to the online version as of Dec 23, 2019.