Day: January 8, 2022

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ECOWAS pushes Mali to hold elections next month

The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, has been pushing Mali’s military government to allow elections by February.

This week, the group sent a mediator, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, to deliver a message ahead of a summit on Mali, which experienced a coup last May. Coup leaders recently announced a plan for a five-year transition to democracy.

Goodluck Jonathan was in Mali to meet with Mali’s transitional leaders, including President Assimi Goita, ahead of an ECOWAS summit on Mali which will be held this Sunday in Ghana.

President Goita and the ECOWAS delegation spent almost two hours talking at Mali’s presidential palace. Jonathan briefly addressed the press but did not disclose the contents of Wednesday’s meeting.

“The key thing is that we have been properly briefed, and we are conveying that to the authorities and heads of state and government of the ECOWAS community,” said Jonathan. “That is what we can tell you now.”

ECOWAS has been pressuring Mali’s military government to hold elections in February. This past December, military leaders submitted a five-year plan to ECOWAS which proposes the next presidential election be held in 2026.

ECOWAS has already imposed financial and travel sanctions on members of Mali’s military government and threatens further penalties if the February election deadline is not met.

A coup in Guinea last September led to the ouster of that nation’s president, Alpha Conde.

Kalilou Sidibé, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Bamako, says that ECOWAS and Mali’s transitional leaders are likely to come to an agreement on a future presidential election date – one much sooner than the 2026 elections proposed by the military.

He says if ECOWAS stands firm in its position to organize elections no later than Feb 27, 2022, the crisis could continue and the Malian government will take action. He said he doesn’t think Mali is going in that direction. He says ECOWAS will maybe tell transitional leaders that they can grant a timeline of eight months beyond February, at which point they should organize elections.

Both Diop and Sidibé affirmed that ECOWAS has protocols in place for a coup, and that further action against Mali’s leaders should be expected if they cannot work with ECOWAS to agree on a timeline for a return to civilian rule.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Food prices hit 10-year high in 2021: UN FAO

Global food prices reached a 10-year high in 2021, rising by an average of 28 percent compared to the previous year, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization said.

The FAO’s Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities, dipped slightly in December.

However, at 133.7 points, it remained close to the record of 137.6 points it set in February 2011. The index stood at 125.7 points for the year as a whole, also the highest in a decade.

“While normally high prices are expected to give way to increased production, the high cost of inputs, ongoing global pandemic and ever more uncertain climatic conditions leave little room for optimism about a return to more stable market conditions even in 2022,” FAO Senior Economist Abdolreza Abbassian said in a statement.

Prices in all food categories jumped last year due to strong demand, he said.

Food oils saw an average price jump of 66 percent last year to hit their highest ever level.

Grain prices rose by 27 percent, hitting a level not seen since 2012, with corn prices soaring 44.1 percent and wheat rising 31.3 percent.

Meat prices rose by an average of 12.7 percent in 2021, and dairy products by 16.9 percent.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Covid-19: WHO reports record-breaking number of new cases over 2.6 mln

More than 2.6 mln coronavirus cases were registered around the world in the last 24 hours, which is the highest daily rate for the entire pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.

Thus, the organization reported about 296,496,809 cases and 5,462,631 deaths. The number of new cases increased per day by 2,618,130, deaths – by 8,168.

The previous record was set on Wednesday: within 24 hours, the WHO received reports of 2,294,039 cases. Over the past nine days, the daily growth surpassing 1 mln cases was recorded eight times. WHO statistics take into account only officially confirmed information on the number of cases and the deaths provided by countries.

The majority of the confirmed coronavirus cases reported to WHO were registered in the United States – 56,843,327. This is followed by India – 35,109,286, Brazil – 22,323,837, the United Kingdom – 13,835,338, and France – 10,645,841. The majority of deaths was recorded in the United States – 824,175, Brazil – 619,384, India – 482,876, Russia – 313,817, and Mexico – 299,711.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Covid-19 update: World passes 300 million cases as Omicron breaks records

The total number of COVID-19 cases registered worldwide passed 300 million on Friday, with the Omicron variant’s rapid spread setting new infection records in dozens of countries over the last week.

In the past seven days, 34 countries have recorded their highest number of weekly cases since the start of the pandemic, including 18 nations in Europe and seven in Africa, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

While far more contagious than previous coronavirus variants, Omicron appears to cause less severe illness than its predecessors.

Even as it spurred the world to record 13.5 million cases in the last week alone – 64 per cent higher than the previous seven days – the global average of deaths dropped 3 per cent.

France’s public health authority said Friday that the risk of hospitalisation was about 70 per cent lower for Omicron, citing data from the US, the UK, Canada and Israel.

However with a global average of 2 million new cases being detected daily, experts warn the sheer numbers threaten to overwhelm health systems.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Omicron should not be categorised as mild, as it “is hospitalising people and it is killing people”.

“In fact, the tsunami of cases is so huge and quick, that it is overwhelming health systems around the world.”

Omicron’s dizzying spread since being detected six weeks ago has prompted many nations to push harder for more vaccinations and some to clamp down with restrictions.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday that access to the country’s bars and restaurants will be limited to those who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from the virus and can also provide a negative test result.

However, people who have received a booster shot will be exempted from the test requirement.

In neighbouring Austria, Chancellor Karl Nehammer meanwhile tested positive for COVID-19.

“No cause for worry, I’m fine,” he said. “I continue to plead: get vaccinated.”

In the United States, challenges against vaccine mandates imposed by the administration of President Joseph Biden were heard by the Supreme Court on Friday.

The mandates, requiring COVID-19 jabs at businesses that employ 100 people, have come under attack from some Republican lawmakers and business owners as an infringement on individual rights and an abuse of government power.

But Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan asked: “Why isn’t this necessary to abate the grave risk?”

“It is by far the greatest public health danger that this country has faced in the last century,” she added.

As cases skyrocket in the US – which also broke its daily caseload record this week – Biden said that COVID-19 “as we are dealing with it now is not here to stay”.

“But having Covid in the environment – here and in the world – is probably here to stay.”

In France, President Emmanuel Macron stood by controversial comments in which vowed to “piss off” unvaccinated people until they get jabbed.

“People can get upset about a way of speaking that seems colloquial, but I fully stand by it,” he said, adding: “I’m upset about the situation we’re in”.

In India, Omicron-led rising case numbers have brought fears of a return to the country’s darkest pandemic days last year, when thousands were dying of COVID-19 every day.

Gautam Menon, a professor at India’s Ashoka University who has worked on COVID-19 infection modelling, said that “this could potentially stress out health care systems to levels comparable to or worse than the second wave”.

However Calcutta’s High Court rejected a bid to cancel a major Hindu festival, despite fears the virus could spread rapidly among the 500,000 expected attendees.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Case of African swine fever reported in northern Italy

A case of African swine fever has been detected in a wild boar in Italy, news agency ANSA said Friday, raising fears of a blow to the country’s meat industry.

Highly transmissible and fatal for pig populations, African swine fever (ASF) does not present a risk for human health, but risks serious repercussions for pork producers.

Italy, with about 8.9 million pigs, is the seventh biggest pork producer in the European Union, representing an 8 billion euro ($9.1 billion) industry, according to the agricultural association Confagricoltura.

ANSA said the case of the viral disease was detected after tests on the carcass of a wild boar in Ovada in the northern Piedmont region.

The regional research body reported to have carried out the tests could not be reached for confirmation later on Friday.

African swine fever has existed in Africa for decades.

In Italy, it has been endemic on the island of Sardinia since first appearing in 1978.

The disease spread to China — the world’s largest pork producer — in 2018, causing millions of pigs to be slaughtered to prevent an epidemic.

In western Europe, the virus was reported in Belgium in 2018, prompting China to ban all imports of Belgian pork.

After Germany confirmed its first case in a dead wild boar in 2020, China, Japan and South Korea, alongside Brazil and Argentina, also suspended German pork imports.

ANSA said the case in Italy had been referred to Italy’s health ministry, which in turn would notify the World Organisation of Animal Health (OIE) and the European Commission.

In a Dec 3 situation report on the virus, the OIE said ASF has been reported in 32 countries in five different world regions since January 2020.

It has affected more than one million pigs and more than 28,000 wild boar around the world.

“The events observed in the last six months confirm the global threat of ASF, which continues to spread with serious impacts on pig production systems, animal health and welfare, as well as the socio-economic impacts on

livelihoods, national food security and international trade,” the report said.

After Germany’s first case, Confagricoltura said Italy had activated a plan of surveillance and prevention approved by the European Commission since the beginning of 2020.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK