Category: General

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that even though she was encouraged by dropping COVID-19 hospitalizations and case rates, the pandemic was still not at the point at which the agency could recommend dropping nationwide indoor mask requirements.

During a White House COVID-19 response team briefing, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters the team was very encouraged by current trends that have shown overall cases dropping more than 44% in the past week and hospitalizations down nearly 25%.

But Walensky said that while hospitalizations were down, U.S. deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3% in the past week, and that both indicators were too high to change the CDC guidance on indoor masking in areas of high transmission.

“We aren’t there yet,” she said.

More state and local governments are announcing plans to begin lifting their mask requirements. Wednesday, New York state became the latest, with Governor Kathy Hochul saying infection rates had declined to a level at which it was safe to rescind the broad masking order.

Hochul said masks would still be required in schools, health care facilities, certain types of shelters and public transit. Private businesses will be free to set their own masking rules for staff and patrons.

Walensky said that many states like New York were lifting their mandates in phases, and that she recognized the need for local governments to be flexible. But she said the CDC was basing its guidance on nationwide surveillance and data, with hospitals, in particular, being a barometer.

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said that, in terms of the pandemic, January was a difficult month, but data showed the nation was moving toward a time when COIVD-19 would no longer disrupt our daily lives.

He said 210 million people had been fully vaccinated, and, in the last three weeks, nationwide, daily cases were down 65% and hospitalizations were down 40%.

Source: Voice of America

GENEVA– The World Food Programme (WFP), yesterday warned that, an estimated 13 million people are facing hunger across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, as the Horn of Africa grappled with severe drought, caused by the driest conditions since 1981.

Tomson Phiri, spokesperson for the WFP, told a press briefing here yesterday that, the severe drought was widespread and likely to grow worse, with livestock dying, causing devastating losses for pastoral families.

After three consecutive failed rainy seasons, harvests were as much as 70 percent below the norm, in affected areas, the WFP spokesperson noted.

Moreover, he said, food and water prices were skyrocketing, leading to a sharp decline in the terms of trade.

“Given the forecast for a below-average Mar to May rainy season, the next two to three months would be critical. Early action was needed to prevent a humanitarian disaster across the Horn of Africa,” he said.

WFP said, it would be launching its Regional Drought Response Plan for the Horn of Africa, where teams were already supporting families with cash and emergency assistance, and providing life-saving food and nutrition assistance to affected communities.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Drought conditions have left an estimated 13 million people facing severe hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the United Nations World Food Program.

People in a region including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya face the driest conditions recorded since 1981, the agency reported Tuesday, calling for immediate assistance to forestall a major humanitarian crisis.

Drought conditions are affecting pastoral and farming communities across southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, south-eastern and northern Kenya, and south-central Somalia. Malnutrition rates are high in the region

WFP said it needs $327 million to look after the urgent needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months and help communities become more resilient to extreme climate shocks.

“Three consecutive failed rainy seasons have decimated crops and caused abnormally high livestock deaths,” it said in a statement. “Shortages of water and pasture are forcing families from their homes and leading to increased conflict between communities.”

More forecasts of below-average rainfall threaten to worsen conditions in the coming months, it said.

Others have raised alarm over a fragile region that also faces sporadic armed violence.

The U.N. children’s agency said earlier in February that more than 6 million people in Ethiopia are expected to need urgent humanitarian aid by mid-March. In neighboring Somalia, more than 7 million people need urgent help, according to the Somali NGO Consortium.

Source: Voice of America

The UN children’s fund, UNICEF, warns the Horn of Africa is facing a climate-induced emergency and says the international community must act now to prevent a catastrophic loss of life and livelihoods.

The specter of the 2011 famine in Somalia hangs over the dire situation confronting millions of people in the Horn of Africa. That emergency killed 250,000 people, half of them children. Hunger and malnutrition have worsened in the region after three years of consecutive drought. But famine has not been reported in any area.

UN agencies, however, say that could rapidly change. The UN children’s fund predicts as many as 20 million people in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia will need water and food assistance in the next six months.

Mohamed Malick Fall is UNICEF Eastern and Southern African Regional Director. Speaking on a line from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, he says children will be among the biggest victims of this crisis.

Right now, nearly 5.5 million children in these four countries are threatened by acute malnutrition and an estimated 1.4 million children by severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF fears that this number will increase by 50 percent if the rains do not come in the next three months.

Three dry seasons in a row have decimated crops, led to severe water scarcity, and killed livestock. This has forced families to leave their homes in search of grazing land and water, increasing the risk of disease and severe malnutrition.

The World Food Program estimates 13 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are gripped by severe hunger. Fall says children caught in this climate emergency are missing out on meals, on school and on access to lifesaving health services.

“Families are taking extreme measures to survive and in many cases leaving their homes, which puts children on the move at particular risk. This is a crisis that requires a collective response—ensuring access to clean water, nutrition, and safe spaces for children.”

UNICEF is appealing for $123 million to provide lifesaving aid for the most vulnerable in the four countries until the end of June. It warns many children will die or end up with life-long cognitive or physical damage if the international community fails to act quickly.

Source: Voice of America

Russia's geopolitical ambitions in Africa have in recent years been backed by private military contractors, often described as belonging to the "Wagner group" — an entity with no known legal status.

Most recently, Western nations have condemned the alleged arrival of Russian mercenaries in Mali's capital Bamako, a claim denied by the junta that seized power in 2020.

As relations with France worsen, the military rulers may be looking for ways to make up for shrinking numbers of European troops fighting Mali's years-old jihadist insurgency.

"Mercs [mercenaries] working in Africa is an established norm" thanks in part to decades of operations by contractors from South Africa, said Jason Blazakis of the New York-based Soufan Group think tank.

"The Wagner folks are walking through a door that has long been open to their ilk," he added.

No information is publicly available about the group's size or finances.

But around Africa, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington has found evidence since 2016 of Russian soldiers of fortune in Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, the Central African Republic (CAR), Madagascar and Mozambique.

Botswana, Burundi, Chad, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Zimbabwe are also on the CSIS's list.

In Africa "there is a convergence of many states' interests, including China's," Alexey Mukhin of the Moscow-based Centre for Political Information told AFP.

"Every state has the right to defend its business assets," he added.

'Hysteria'

Wagner does not officially exist, with no company registration, tax returns or organizational chart to be found.

When the EU wanted to sanction the group in 2020, it targeted Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin who is suspected of running Wagner.

It imposed further sanctions in December last year when mercenaries' arrival in Mali appeared certain — drawing accusations of "hysteria" from Moscow.

Western experts say military contractors are embedded in Russia's official forces like intelligence agencies and the army, providing plausible deniability for Moscow.

Their deployment to African countries aims to "enable Russia to... regain this sphere of influence" that fell away with the collapse of the Soviet Union, said CSIS researcher Catrina Doxsee.

The mercenaries' presence has been growing even faster since a 2019 Russia-Africa summit.

Moscow has been active "especially in what has traditionally been France's zone of influence" in former colonies like CAR and Mali, said Djallil Lounnas, a researcher at Morocco's Al Akhawayn university.

While military contractors sometimes shepherd Russian arms sales, the revenue "really pales compared with the profit they are able to generate from mining concessions and access to natural resources," Doxsee said.

That makes unstable countries with mineral or hydrocarbon wealth prime customers — such as in Syria where the mercenaries first became known to the wider public.

No questions asked

Lounnas said that another advantage for clients is a lack of friction over human rights and democracy that might come with Western partners.

"Russia has its interests. It doesn't ask questions," he added.

Reports of violence and abuse on the ground suggest that same latitude may extend to the mercenaries themselves.

In the CAR, the United Nations is probing an alleged massacre during a joint operation by government forces and Wagner fighters.

One military source told AFP that more than 50 people died, some in "summary executions."

On Thursday, the European Union said it would not resume military training in the CAR — suspended since mid-December — unless the country's soldiers stop working for Wagner.

Meanwhile the mercenaries' results do not always measure up to the hopes of the governments that hire them.

In Libya, Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses in Marshal Khalifa Haftar's year-long attempt to conquer the capital Tripoli, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

And in Mozambique, the Russians retreated in the face of Islamic State group jihadists, ultimately losing out to South African competitors.

Although lacking language skills and experience with the terrain, Wagner "were picked because they were the cheapest", Doxsee said.

"They didn't have what it took to succeed," she added, noting that "they've had a fair few failures" across Africa.

Succeeding completely might actually harm the mercenaries' business model, which thrives on unrest, conflict and crisis.

"If a country such as the CAR hires them to train forces, to help them in their military efforts, it’s in their interest to accomplish that just well enough to continue to be employed," Doxsee said.

"If they actually were to do it well enough to resolve the conflict, they would no longer be needed."

Source: Voice of America