IMN urges Nigeria to free Sheikh Zakzaky amid outbreak
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-04-11
TEHRAN, Apr. 11 (MNA)

Cuban Doctors Arrive in Angola to Train 1500 Health Technicians
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-11
Angola's Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta informed that 1,500 health technicians will be trained by Cuban doctors in matters of family medicine for community epidemiological surveillance. | RELATED: | Cuba: Government Implements New Measures to Prevent COVID-19 | "The training will take place at Girassol Hospital… because it has excellent simulators for practical classes, which is an indispensable condition," local outlet SAPO reported. | With that training, "Angolan doctors will…
telesurenglish.net/news/Cuban-Doctors-Arrive-in-Angola-to-Train-1500-Health-Technicians-20200411-0002.html

African economies in free fall as coronavirus pandemic worsens
wsws.org | 2020-04-11
An African Union study predicts that some 20 million jobs are at risk in Africa due to the impact of the pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/11/afri-a11.html

African economies in free fall as coronavirus pandemic worsens
wsws.org | 2020-04-11
An African Union study predicts that some 20 million jobs are at risk in Africa due to the impact of the pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/11/afri-a11.html

DR Congo militias free nearly 50 child soldiers
yenisafak.com | 2020-04-11
At least 48 child soldiers have been freed separately by militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week, local media reported Friday.At least 15 children age between 11 and 17 were released Monday by a group of Mai-Mai militiamen in North Kivu's Beni territory, Actualite.CD reported.The militia, led by self-proclaimed Colonel Uhuru, is active in the western part of the city of Oicha, where Congolese forces launched an offensive against Uganda's Allied Democratic Forces rebels.It was the leader of the militia who decided to release the children, according to reports that quoted the UN mission, MONUS…
yenisafak.com/en/world/dr-congo-militias-free-nearly-50-child-soldiers-3516627

The Racial Politics of 'Return'
Edna Bonhomme | thenation.com | 2020-04-10
The Racial Politics of 'Return'…
thenation.com/article/world/slavery-tourism-ghana-africa/

Cuban Medical Science in the Service of Humanity
Helen Yaffe | counterpunch.org | 2020-04-10
By 21 March, Cuba had sent healthcare professionals to 37 countries to collaborate in combating the pandemic. Italy received 53 Cuban medics who had previously worked in West Africa during the deadly Ebola outbreak of 2014. Cuba also stepped into the breach in mid-March when a cruise ship with over 600 mostly British passengers and…
counterpunch.org/2020/04/10/cuban-medical-science-in-the-service-of-humanity/

Saudi Arabia Violates its Own Ceasefire As Yemen Announces First Cases of Coronavirus
Ahmed Abdulkareem | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-10
The Saudi regime has engaged in a number of questionable activities since the global outbreak of COVID-19, including moving masses of African refugees deported from areas with coronavirus to the Yemeni border.
mintpressnews.com/saudi-arabia-violates-ceasefire-yemen-announces-first-cases-coronavirus/266547/

Saudi Arabia Violates its Own Ceasefire As Yemen Announces First Cases of Coronavirus
Ahmed Abdulkareem | mintpressnews.com | 2020-04-10
The Saudi regime has engaged in a number of questionable activities since the global outbreak of COVID-19, including moving masses of African refugees deported from areas with coronavirus to the Yemeni border.
mintpressnews.com/saudi-arabia-violates-ceasefire-yemen-announces-first-cases-coronavirus/266547/

'Unprecedented Threat' for East Africa as Larger Second Wave of Locust Crisis Arrives Amid Pandemic
Jessica Corbett, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-04-10
While much of the world focuses on the coronavirus pandemic that has infected over 1.6 million people across the globe, East Africa is battling the worst invasion of desert locusts in decades—a monthslong "scourge of biblical proportions" that experts warn could get worse with a larger second wave already arriving in parts of the region. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-12031902351.jpg …
commondreams.org/news/2020/04/10/unprecedented-threat-east-africa-larger-second-wave-locust-crisis-arrives-amid?cd-origin=rss

UN Seeks $130 Million To Prevent Hunger Catastrophe in Zimbabwe
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-09
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Wednesday it needed US$130 million to fund emergency operations in Zimbabwe until August and prevent a catastrophe in the southern African nation, as climate- and recession-induced food shortages deepened. | RELATED: | Uganda: Unqualified Woman Ran Health Center, 105 Children Died | The WFP added 7.7 million Zimbabweans, half the population, need food aid after a devastating drought and cyclone last year. A lack of predictable…
telesurenglish.net/news/UN-Seeks-130-Million-To-Prevent-Hunger-Catastrophe-in-Zimbabwe-20200409-0020.html

Uganda on Alert, Fight Locusts Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
telesurenglish.net | 2020-04-09
Desert locusts swarm into Uganda from neighboring Kenya, threatening food security and livelihoods, while the country also faces another problem, the new coronavirus, COVID-19. | RELATED: | UN Warns Desert Locusts Spreading in East Africa | Farmers in Uganda are bracing for a fresh onslaught of desert locusts after two swarms entered the country from neighboring Kenya last week, threatening to destroy crops and intensify hunger amid the struggle to contain the COVID-19 pande…
telesurenglish.net/news/Uganda-on-Alert-Fight-Locusts-Amid-the-COVID-19-Pandemic-20200409-0021.html

Fight against desert locust swarms goes on in East Africa despite coronavirus crisis measures
news.un.org | 2020-04-09
Sustained efforts to contain East Africa's worst invasion of desert locusts in decades are forging ahead, despite limits on the flow of personnel and equipment stemming from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the UN food agency said Friday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1061482

Headlines for April 8, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-08
U.S. Daily Death Toll Nears 2,000 as Hundreds of COVID-19 Deaths Go Uncounted, Trump Threatens to Withhold U.S. Funding for World Health Organization, New WH Press Secretary Said Recently, "We Will Not See Diseases Like the Coronavirus Come Here", Trump Fires Inspector General Tasked with Overseeing $2 Trillion Stimulus, China Lifts Lockdown in Wuhan, Where Coronavirus Pandemic Began, EU Coronavirus Stimulus Talks Fail as Deaths Surge in Spain and France, Libyan Rebels Attack Hospital for COVID-19 Patients; Chadian Ex-Dictator Released from Prison, International Labour Organization: Pandemic Could Wipe Out 195 Mi…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/8/headlines

"A Systematic Issue of Disparity": Black People in Louisiana Account for 70% of COVID-19 Deaths
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-08
Louisiana faces one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in the United States. New data shows black people account for 70% of all the state's coronavirus deaths, though they comprise just 32% of the state's population. Louisiana also has the highest incarceration rate in the country, and more than 65% of the people in its jails and prisons are black. At least 28 people are infected, and 22 corrections staff have tested positive. State corrections officials are sending infected prisoners to the Louisiana State Penitentiary

Albert Woodfox: COVID-19 Offers Public a "Small Window" into What Prisoners Face in Solitary Confinement
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-08
As millions shelter in place around the world, we speak with Albert Woodfox, who served the longest time in solitary confinement of any prisoner in the United States. Known as one of the Angola Three, along with Robert King and Herman Wallace, Woodfox was held in isolation for nearly 44 years at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. He was convicted of killing a guard in jail, but always maintained his innocence. He says he was targeted for co-founding the first Black Panther chapter in Angola. He was released in 2016 and is now 73 years old. His memoir is "Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solit…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/8/albert_woodfox_solitary_confinement

If COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates?
ReNika Moore | aclu.org | 2020-04-08
COVID-19 is ravaging many parts of the United States, but nowhere more than in Black communities. Early data from the Midwest and the South reveal that Black people are contracting and dying from the virus at far higher rates than whites. Louisiana just released data which shows that African Americans account for 70 percent of all deaths in the state. In Milwaukee…
aclu.org/news/racial-justice/if-covid-19-doesnt-discriminate-then-why-are-black-people-dying-at-higher-rates

Over 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa; Zimbabwe and South Sudan among most vulnerable
news.un.org | 2020-04-08
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that the number of COVID-19 cases in Africa has now risen to more than 10,000, claiming more than 500 lives.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1061352

Mali: UN mission fulfills mandate, aids battle against coronavirus
news.un.org | 2020-04-07
As the COVID-19 pandemic plagues the world, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali told the Security Council on Tuesday that the mission continues to fulfill its mandate while doing whatever it can to prevent the coronavirus outbreak from overrunning the country.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1061312

Course of coronavirus pandemic across Libya, depends on silencing the guns
news.un.org | 2020-04-07
Fighting must stop immediately in Libya if it is to have any chance of staving off the COVID-19 outbreak, the top United Nations official in the North African country said on Tuesday as he condemned an attack on a major Tripoli hospital.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/04/1061272

Deaths of Inequality: AOC on Black and Latinx Communities at Epicenter of Epicenter of the Pandemic
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-07
As COVID-19 deaths spike in African-American and immigrant communities, almost a third of New York City's infections are in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world, and many in the hardest-hit neighborhoods are undocumented and working-class. We speak with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, about how the Trump administration's response to the pandemic is causing "deaths of incompetence," "deaths of science denial" and "deaths of inequality."
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/7/aoc_coronavirus_queens_bronx

Headlines for April 6, 2020
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-06
Coronavirus Cases Surge in U.S., Surgeon General Warns of "Pearl Harbor Moment" | , Gov. Cuomo Slashes Medicaid as New York Struggles to Get Handle on COVID-19 Cases | , Black Communities Hit Disproportionately Hard by Coronavirus , Coronavirus Cases Appear to Level Off in Parts of Europe, But Death Tolls Remain High | , Boris Johnson Hospitalized for Acute Coronavirus Symptoms | , Japan's Shinzo Abe to Declare Emergency; Filipino Police Kills Man Who Flouted Coronavirus Rules, Low-Paid Garment Workers in Bangladesh Face Mass Unemployment , Former Prime Ministers of Somalia and Libya Die from COVID-19, Complaint…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/6/headlines

Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-04-03
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican bord…
www.democracynow.org/2020/4/3/covid_us_mexico_border_immigration_jails

[Correspondence] COVID-19 gives the lie to global health expertise
Sarah L Dalglish | thelancet.com | 2020-03-26
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak began spreading in Europe and the USA, a chart started circulating online showing ratings from the 2019 Global Health Security Index, an assessment of 195 countries' capacity to face infectious disease outbreaks, compiled by the US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health's Center for Health Security. The USA was ranked first, and the UK second; South Korea was ranked ninth, and China 51st; most African countries were at the bottom of the ranking.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30739-X/fulltext?rss=yes

[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
Linda-Gail Bekker, One Dintwe, Andrew Fiore-Gartland, Keren Middelkoop, Julia Hutter, Anthony Williams, April K. Randhawa, Morten Ruhwald, Ingrid Kromann, Peter L. Andersen, Carlos A. DiazGranados, Kathryn T. Rutkowski, Dereck Tait, Maurine D. Miner, Erica Andersen-Nissen, Stephen C. De Rosa, Kelly E. Seaton, Georgia D. Tomaras, M. Juliana McElrath, Ann Ginsberg, James G. Kublin, HVTN 602 | thelancet.com | 2020-03-18
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.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(20)30057-2/fulltext?rss=yes

[Correspondence] Adoption of COVID-19 triage strategies for low-income settings
Rodgers R Ayebare, Robert Flick, Solome Okware, Bongomin Bodo, Mohammed Lamorde | thelancet.com | 2020-03-11
Despite major advances in epidemic preparedness, Africa remains uniquely susceptible to novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). According to the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index,1 22 of the 25 countries most susceptible to an infectious disease outbreak are in Africa. The high prevalence of HIV, tuberculosis, and other pathogens might potentiate the severity of COVID-19 and contribute to diagnostic uncertainty. Health-care systems and human resources are already spread thin. And although the young age of the population (with more than half aged younger than 20 years) might prove protective, it also means…
thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30114-4/fulltext?rss=yes