Tag Archives: Africa

First food aid shipment bound for Africa leaves Ukrainian port | Russia-Ukraine war News

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UN-chartered vessel departed Pivdennyi port for Djibouti, carrying the primary cargo of wheat to Africa since battle started.

The primary ship carrying humanitarian meals help to Africa from Ukraine since Russia’s invasion started in February has departed from the nation’s Black Sea port of Pivdennyi, the Ukrainian authorities has introduced.

The United Nations-chartered Brave Commander, which is loaded with 23,000 tonnes of wheat, departed for Djibouti on Tuesday with provides destined for shoppers in Ethiopia, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry mentioned in an announcement.

The ministry mentioned it was working with the UN on rising “meals provides for the socially weak sections of the African inhabitants” as considerations mount over a world meals disaster attributable to Moscow’s battle on Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov mentioned the Courageous Commander was anticipated to reach within the Horn of Africa in two weeks.

Ukraine’s grain exports have slumped on account of Russia’s blockade of the nation’s Black Sea ports, driving up world meals costs and sparking fears of shortages in Africa, Asia and the Center East.

Ukraine’s ports had been reopened final month following a deal between Moscow and Kyiv, brokered by the UN and Turkey, which has made it doable for Ukraine to export tons of of hundreds of tonnes of grain, different meals provides and fertilisers to world consumers.

A complete of 21 ships have left Ukrainian ports below the deal thus far, in accordance with Turkey’s defence ministry.

The World Meals Programme (WFP) on Tuesday warned the world nonetheless faces an unprecedented food crisis regardless of the reopening of Ukraine’s Chornomorsk, Pivdennyi and Odesa ports, saying as much as 50 million folks in 45 international locations are on the sting of famine.

“It’ll take greater than grain ships out of Ukraine to cease world starvation, however with Ukrainian grain again on world markets we’ve got an opportunity to cease this world meals disaster from spiraling even additional,” WFP Govt Director David Beasley mentioned in an announcement.

Beasley’s remarks got here as Ukraine’s deputy infrastructure minister Yuriy Vaskov mentioned that the nation can export three million tonnes of grain from its ports in September and will sooner or later have the ability to export 4 million tonnes month-to-month.

Vaskov mentioned that Kyiv had obtained functions for 30 ships to come back to Ukraine within the subsequent two weeks to move grain, whereas the whole export quantity thus far was about 600,000 tonnes.

Regardless of the reopening of the Black Sea ports, Ukraine’s grain exports are down 46 p.c year-on-year to 2.65 million tonnes thus far within the 2022/23 season, the agriculture ministry mentioned this week. Ukraine exported 948,000 tonnes of grain within the first half of August, down from 1.88 million tonnes in the identical interval final 12 months, in accordance with the ministry.

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Spain, Brazil report first monkeypox deaths outside Africa | Health News

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About 70 p.c of instances within the outbreak that started in Could have been present in Europe and 25 p.c within the Americas.

Spain and Brazil have reported one loss of life every from monkeypox in what are regarded as the primary fatalities linked to an outbreak of the illness that started in early Could.

Spain is among the world’s worst-hit nations, with 4,298 instances of the virus, in keeping with the well being ministry’s emergency and alert coordination centre.

“Of the three,750 (monkeypox) sufferers with accessible data, 120 instances had been hospitalised (3.2 p.c) and one case has died,” the centre stated in a report on Friday.

A well being ministry spokesperson declined to present additional particulars on the affected person who died. An post-mortem is because of happen.

In Brazil, the affected person who died was a 41-year-old man.

The well being ministry stated he additionally suffered from lymphoma and a weakened immune system.

He had been admitted to hospital within the southeastern metropolis of Belo Horizonte and died from septic shock after being taken to the intensive care unit.

“It is very important underline that he had severe co-morbidities, in order to not unfold panic within the inhabitants. The loss of life charge may be very low” for monkeypox, stated Minas Gerais well being secretary Fabio Baccheretti.

World well being emergency

Brazil’s well being ministry has recorded near 1,000 monkeypox instances, principally in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states, that are additionally within the nation’s southeast. Together with the United States and Canada it is among the nations that has been most affected by monkeypox within the Americas.

Early indicators of the illness embrace a excessive fever, swollen lymph glands and a chickenpox-like rash.

The primary case within the present outbreak was confirmed in the UK on Could 7 and the World Well being Group (WHO) stated the emergence of tons of of instances exterior the central and western African nations the place the virus is endemic urged it had been spreading undetected for a while.

Some 18,000 instances have now been present in 78 nations internationally and per week in the past, the WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency.

About 70 p.c of instances present in Europe and 25 p.c within the Americas, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on Wednesday.

As instances surge globally, the WHO on Wednesday referred to as on the group presently most affected by the virus – males who’ve intercourse with males – to limit their sexual companions.

The illness often heals by itself after two to a few weeks, though restoration can typically take a month.

A smallpox vaccine from Danish drug maker Bavarian Nordic, marketed beneath the title Jynneos in the US and Imvanex in Europe, has additionally been discovered to guard in opposition to monkeypox.

South Africa applies for Guptas’ extradition over ‘state capture’ | Corruption News

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The Gupta brothers fled to Dubai in 2018 as investigations intensified into their position in siphoning off state property underneath the administration of President Jacob Zuma.

South Africa has formally filed a request with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to extradite two brothers accused of orchestrating industrial-scale corruption within the nation, in accordance with its justice minister.

Enterprise tycoons Atul and Rajesh Gupta have been held in Dubai final month on suspicion of fraud and cash laundering.

They fled there in April 2018, shortly after investigations intensified into their position in utilizing their affiliation with former President Jacob Zuma to affect contracts and appointments and siphon off state property from Africa’s most superior economic system.

The scandal led to the phrase “state seize” turning into a buzzword in South African politics.

Zuma, who was president from 2009 to 2018, is on trial for misappropriation of state funds throughout his tenure in collusion with the brothers, amongst others. He and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing.

“We are able to verify that the extradition request has been duly submitted to the UAE central authority at this time,” Justice Minister Ronald Lamola advised a press convention.

The request is step one in a course of that specialists have warned may take years.

South Africa’s case centres on an alleged 25-million-rand ($1.5-million) fraud linked to an agricultural feasibility research – small fry in comparison with the size of different allegations dealing with the Gupta household.

Lamola mentioned the alleged research rip-off is heading for South Africa’s Excessive Court docket, with a provisional trial date set for January 2023.

The ultra-wealthy brothers ran a sprawling household enterprise empire in South Africa for greater than 20 years after migrating from India.

Their arrests adopted the inking of an extradition treaty between Pretoria and the UAE.

The pair fled to the emirate in 2018 at first of an anti-corruption push.

An investigation discovered that they paid bribes for state contracts and wielded affect over ministerial appointments in a scandal that tainted Zuma’s administration and finally pressured him from workplace.

Photos: Child marriages, FGM rising in drought-hit Horn of Africa | In Pictures News

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Throughout the Horn of Africa, the worst drought the area has seen in 40 years is driving a shutdown of life there.

No less than 10 million children are suffering as 4 wet seasons have failed within the area of two years – killing huge swathes of livestock and crops and drying up water sources.

This 12 months’s March to Might wet season is probably going the driest on report and one other season later this 12 months might additionally fail.

Greater than 1.8 million youngsters throughout Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia require pressing remedy for life-threatening extreme acute malnutrition. Greater than 200,000 individuals are judged to be prone to famine in Somalia, in accordance with the Famine Early Warning Community.

Multiple million individuals throughout the area have been pushed from their houses, in the hunt for meals and water.

Worse nonetheless, the impact of the struggle in Ukraine is ready to tip extra households within the Horn of Africa over the sting, with growing meals and gas costs and reducing the availability of wheat imports.

Households are dealing with determined decisions to outlive. Rising numbers of oldsters or caregivers are marrying off ladies early to safe dowries to assist help the remainder of the household, to have one much less mouth to feed, or in an try to assist the bride enter a better-off family.

Within the areas of Ethiopia worst affected by the drought – Somali; Oromia; and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Area (SNNP) – little one marriage has on common greater than doubled within the area of 1 12 months, in accordance with native authorities figures. Throughout the identical timeframe, cases of female genital mutilation or FGM in SNNP elevated by 27 per cent.

The variety of youngsters prone to dropping out of college in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia because of the impact of the drought has tripled within the area of three months – from 1.1. million to an estimated 3.3 million youngsters – leaving huge numbers of adolescent ladies at larger danger of kid marriage and FGM.

“We’re seeing alarming charges of kid marriage and FGM throughout the Horn of Africa – with some destitute households arranging to marry off ladies as younger as 12 to males greater than 5 instances their age,” says Andy Brooks, UNICEF’s Regional Baby Safety Advisor for Japanese and Southern Africa.

UNICEF is offering important life-saving assist to youngsters and their households in dire want – together with well being, diet, immunisation, training, water and sanitation, and providers to reply to the rising safety wants amongst weak youngsters and ladies. The kids’s company can also be investing in long-term resilience work, corresponding to drilling for dependable sources of groundwater and increasing money switch programmes.

This picture gallery was offered by UNICEF.  Some names* have been modified to guard their identification.