# data[].attributes.body
This article is about how a South African preacher has been put out for a arrest warrant. This is because he had skipped bail. They talk about how he has caused a lot of controversy surrounding him with money laundering and other things. They also talk about how he has caused a diplomatic row.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
He claims to have cured people of HIV, made the blind see, changed the fortunes of the impoverished and, on at least one occasion, appeared to walk on air, although none of these claims have been scientifically proven.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Shepherd Bushiri: South Africa issues arrest warrant for fugitive preacher

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
He claims to have cured people of HIV, made the blind see, changed the fortunes of the impoverished and, on at least one occasion, appeared to walk on air, although none of these claims have been scientifically proven.

# data[].attributes.body
The president of Egypt when he was first elected he promised that he would make health care  number 1 on his agenda. Over the past couple of years he hasn't  done anything to improve their health care. According to the article "back in  May Egypt's health system was straining badly, Doctor Ibrahim Bediwy warned in a message posted online and it said Any doctor in the current situation is not safe."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi vowed to put improved health care "at the heart" of his agenda. It hasn't worked out like that in a country where the military's needs always come first.

Coronavirus testing at a field hospital in Cairo in June. Testing levels are low as compared with other countries in the Arab world. Credit... Khaled Desouki/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images

CAIRO - As the pandemic swept up the Nile this spring, one idealistic young doctor at a bustling Cairo public hospital at first grew anxious.

Then he became angry.

Patients were flooding through the hospital doors but resources were alarmingly scarce. Doctors lacked protective equipment, often making do with a single mask for a 24-hour shift. Testing kits were in short supply. Colleagues and friends caught the virus. Several died.

Six years earlier, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt had vowed to put health care reform "at the heart" of his agenda.

It didn't work out like that.

Egypt's public health system was straining badly, the doctor, Ibrahim Bediwy, 27, warned in a message posted online in May. "Any doctor in the current situation is not safe," he said. "And neither is his family."

Days after Dr. Bediwy's post, Mr. el-Sisi's security officials burst into his parents' home and whisked him away. He now faces a raft of terrorism-related charges.

Image

For almost every nation on earth, - including the richest -not only has the coronavirus proved an extraordinary, often humbling challenge, it has brought a political reckoning for their leaders. It lifted the fortunes of some, while endangering the futures of others.

In Egypt, the pandemic offered Mr. el-Sisi a chance to showcase the sweeping health care reforms he promised in 2014, at the start of his presidency. Instead, it exposed chronic weaknesses.

In the early months of the crisis, overstretched hospitals struggled badly. Angry doctors went on strike, and those who dared criticize the government's efforts were thrown in jail. Egypt soon had one of the highest fatality rates in the Arab world.

At the same time, Mr. el-Sisi continued to cut subsidies to the poor while splurging on arms deals for warships and fighter jets totaling at least $12 billion.

Mr. el-Sisi can claim some credit for his pandemic response. With more than 109,000 declared cases and 6,380 deaths, Egypt has been nowhere as badly hit as Europe or the United States.

Yet testing levels remain strikingly low, at 953 tests per 100,000 people, according to data Egypt reports to the World Health Organization, which means that large numbers of cases are likely going undetected. Concerned health experts say this approach is giving the public a false sense of security.

"People tend to believe the pandemic is over," Dr. Pierre Nabeth of the World Health Organization told a news conference in Cairo last month. "This is an alarming situation because in fact the winter season is starting."

In the region, Egypt's testing rate exceeds only the figures of countries in crisis like Yemen (33) and Syria (199), and is far behind Iraq (7,554), Jordan (20,540) and even war-torn Libya (5,421).

And the fragility of Egypt's underfunded public health system, exposed in the early days of the pandemic, highlights a core element of Mr. el-Sisi's harsh rule, where a tiered system of privilege perpetuates inequality and rewards a powerful military - often at the expense of an increasingly poor citizenry.

"Weapons purchases and vanity megaprojects have been his priorities, even during the pandemic," said Michele Dunne, an Egypt scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Egypt's military has become "increasingly rapacious" under Mr. el-Sisi, she added. "And that has diverted scarce government resources from the critical needs of the Egyptian people."

Mr. el-Sisi broke his first promise to Egyptians almost as soon as he made it.

Hours after he swept to power in July 2013, backed by troops and tanks, Mr. el-Sisi, then a general, declared that Egypt's armed forces had no desire to rule.

"They are out of politics," he said.

It soon became clear, however, that Mr. el-Sisi had no intention of relinquishing power. In June 2014, he won a pro forma presidential election with 95 percent of the vote.

The night he was inaugurated, he delivered a speech that amounted to an authoritarian compact with Egyptians.

In return for limiting political freedoms, Mr. el-Sisi pledged security, prosperity and vastly improved public services. Reforming the health care system was "at the heart" of his plans.

Budgets would soar and new hospitals would be built. Underpaid Egyptian doctors, who had been emigrating to oil-rich Persian Gulf countries in droves, would get a pay rise.

Underpinning those promises was a new Constitution that committed the government to spending 3 percent of Egypt's gross domestic product on health care every year, effectively doubling the former amount.

But Mr. el-Sisi's ambitious agenda quickly ran into stiff headwinds. An exploding Islamist insurgency in Sinai blunted his promise of security. A currency crash in 2016 led to painful economic reforms that hit Egypt's poor the hardest. By last year, the government's own figures showed that one-third of Egyptians lived in poverty, up from 28 percent in 2015.

Then the pandemic hit.

WHAT WE FOUND

In the early stages of the virus, it appeared Mr. el-Sisi's reputation might be burnished by Egypt's response.

He turned to the military to project an image of swagger and competence. Slick government videos showed soldiers in chemical warfare suits striding through empty streets, spraying disinfectant. Serried rows of military ambulances lined up in the desert, awaiting patients.

Mr. el-Sisi even turned the crisis into a public relations opportunity, dispatching planeloads of medical supplies to other countries in a pointed display of strongman largess.

It was emblematic of the way Mr. el-Sisi has run Egypt, where army generals and security officials dictate who sits in Parliament and even censor soap operas.

Egypt was the world's third-largest importer of weapons between 2015 and 2019, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Mr. el-Sisi has also committed $58 billion to a sprawling new capital under construction in the desert outside Cairo.

Health budgets rose, too, thanks in part to offshore gas discoveries. But Mr. el-Sisi remains far from his targeted spending of 3 percent of gross domestic product - last year, the figure was between 1.3 percent and 1.8 percent, by different estimates.

Egypt is hardly at the bottom of the list. Indonesia, an economic peer, spends 1.4 percent of its gross domestic product on health. Pakistan clocks in at 0.8 percent.

But in Egypt, where the health care system is fragmented along class lines, the standard of care received by a patient may depend on their status or job.

Of the country's 740 public hospitals, about 25 cater to the military and another 110 are run by universities or treat police officials and some civil servants.

At the bottom of the ladder are about 600 public hospitals, many in poor condition, where the pandemic hit hardest.

In its fight against the coronavirus, Egypt has sought to balance public health with protecting its economy, World Health Organization officials said. The government eschewed widespread testing, which would be expensive in a country of 100 million people, in favor of allocating resources to hospital care and public awareness campaigns.

Even so, when the first peak hit around April, many patients in Cairo struggled to get treated, doctors went on strike, and the medical doctors' union warned that the health system was under great strain and headed for "catastrophe."

The coronavirus response was "typical of Egypt under Sisi," said Nadim Houry, executive director of the Arab Reform Initiative. "On the surface, things seem to be under control. But underneath, the story is not so good."

Egypt's health ministry and the State Information Service did not respond to questions.

What We Found

Even before the pandemic, the doctors who were key to fulfilling Mr. el-Sisi's health care promise had continued to flee Egypt, seeking higher wages and better working conditions.

The number of doctors at government hospitals declined from 113,100 in 2014 to 75,700 in 2018, according to government statistics. Just over half the country's 220,000 registered doctors work abroad, according to the main doctor's union.

The virus further thinned their ranks.

At least 203 doctors have died, according to Egypt's main doctors union. Indonesia, which has recorded almost four times the cases of Egypt, has lost 130 doctors.

Upon graduation, doctors earn no more than $190 a month - barely enough to get by. And they and other health professionals continue to head for the airport.

Islam el-Sayes, a pharmacist, earned $300 a month and traveled in cramped buses when he lived in Alexandria. Now working in Saudi Arabia, he has his own car.

"Our leaders spend money on the military, judges and Rafales," Mr. el-Sayes said, referring to a kind of French warplane. "But not on doctors, hospitals or people."

What We Found

Mr. el-Sisi can claim some victories. Life expectancy continues to rise, reaching 72 in 2018. A campaign to eliminate hepatitis C has achieved remarkable progress.

An ambitious new health insurance system promises to revolutionize public health care by regulating quality and ensuring even the poorest Egyptians have access to good treatment. But the new system will take up to 15 years to roll out.

"The early indications are that it's working," said Amr el-Shalakani, a senior health specialist at the World Bank, which has contributed $400 million to the first phase.

To fight the pandemic, Mr. el-Sisi allocated $6 billion for an emergency plan that included monthly payments to 1.5 million jobless laborers. And his decision to avoid a hard lockdown may be paying economic dividends.

This coming fiscal year Egypt's G.D.P. will grow by 2.3 percent, according to the World Bank - far less than is needed to sustain the country's soaring population, but more than nearly every country in the region.

One promise made by Mr. el-Sisi in June 2014, which he has kept, was to show "no leniency or reconciliation" to his perceived enemies - a category that widened during the pandemic to include dissenting doctors.

Dr. Bediwy remains in detention, one of at least nine medical workersimprisoned for criticizing the government's handling of the pandemic, according to Amnesty International. His wife gave birth to a daughter, Maria, last month.

The arrests are a test for the World Bank, which in March announced it would not tolerate "reprisals and retaliation against those who share their views about Bank-financed projects." The Bank has pledged Egypt $58 million in Covid relief.

A spokesman for the World Bank declined to comment on whether the arrests of doctors would affect aid to Egypt, while noting the anti-reprisal policy "applies to all projects approved in support of Egypt."

Now, as fears of a second wave loom large, disillusioned young doctors continue to emigrate.

Nermene, 27, recently moved to the United States, where her sister, a dentist, already lives.

"It's not a nice feeling to have to leave home for work," she said, requesting partial anonymity to avoid reprisals against her family. "But Egyptian hospitals are in a tragic state."

The Takeaway: Political freedom or better social services? Egyptians got neither under a president who prioritizes the military.

Sheri Fink and Nada Rashwan contributed reporting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sisi Promised Egypt Better Health Care. Virus Exposed His True Priority.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi vowed to put improved health care "at the heart" of his agenda. It hasn't worked out like that in a country where the military's needs always come first. CAIRO - As the pandemic swept up the Nile this spring, one idealistic young doctor at a bustling Cairo public hospital at first grew anxious.

# data[].attributes.body
This is Daniel Way,

The article that I have chosen to summarize is about police brutality in Nigeria. The unit that is being held accountable for the majority of the infractions is a unit called S.A.R.S. There have been protests throughout Nigeria begging to end this task force and the immediate response will be too limit their power.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
celebrities protest against controversial police unit accused of brutality  - cnn

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Nigerians take to the streets in protests against controversial police unit accused of brutality

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Nigeria's leading celebrities and activists have organized mass protests across major cities in the country Friday demanding an end to police brutality in the country.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fake pharmaceutical industry thrives in West Africa

# data[].attributes.subject
Fake pharmaceutical industry thrives in West Africa

# data[].attributes.body
Africa has long been the subject of an incomprehensible drug epidemic. This epidemic, although has been slightly improving, continues to take and ruin countless lives; but at the center of it all, the counterfeit pharmaceuticals. According to the text, "When hospital pharmacies go out of stock, patients will purchase drugs elsewhere, often from unregulated markets. And they do not need to go far, outside her hospital window Dr Roberts can see marketers selling two things - 'drugs and coffins'". Street sellers peddling drugs is a familiar scene across West Africa - whereas in many countries the sale of pharmaceuticals is more a trade than a profession." In sum, a lack of regulation and mismanagement from the government has allowed for mass corruption. Many citizens have to resort to drug dealing, or consuming in order to survive. But legitimate drugs are expensive; and for an addict or someone who's healthcare system has let them down; that just wont cut it. As a result, fake pharmaceuticals have become an entire industry, one that only wishes harm upon its customers. The author writes, "The lack of regulatory oversight is one of the reasons why the region is so attractive to criminals in the business of falsifying medicines. And in West Africa it is a big business. The criminals have been keeping the head of the Intellectual Property Rights Unit at the customs service, Mohammed Babandede, and his team busy of late as the pandemic has created the perfect storm for fake medicines to flourish. 'It is really scary', he said, adding that in one week more than 30 million counterfeit tablets had been seized." This is a major problem that needs to start being solved; the world needs to wake up, or we will have a lot more to deal with than "Bad fake drugs."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The counterfeit pharmaceutical industry is thriving in West Africa, with law enforcement agencies battling to crackdown on foreign-linked criminal syndicates, writes Emma Hooper.

It is rare to have a conversation in Nigeria about the problem of falsified medicine without a mention of the My Pikin syrup tragedy.

In 2009, 84 children were killed by a batch of teething syrup that contained diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent and ingredient found in antifreeze and brake fluid. Two employees from the company which made the syrup were found guilty by a court.

'Bad drugs'

The case was significant as convictions for manufacturing or selling falsified medicines remain uncommon in Nigeria.

"That's the one that got into the papers," Dr Alero Roberts said, adding: "We've had numerous issues."

Dr Roberts, a senior lecturer at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, is lucky that the hospital has a robust drug procurement system and they do not have problems with falsified medicines, although they do see patients who have encountered bad drugs.

She is concerned there may be more in the coming months due to the effect Covid-19 is having on the supply of drugs in Nigeria.

"There are shortages looming - cancer drugs, antibiotics," Dr Roberts said.

When hospital pharmacies go out of stock, patients will purchase drugs elsewhere, often from unregulated markets. And they do not need to go far, outside her hospital window Dr Roberts can see marketers selling two things - "drugs and coffins".

Street sellers peddling drugs is a familiar scene across West Africa - where in many countries the sale of pharmaceuticals is more a trade than a profession.

The lack of regulatory oversight is one of the reasons why the region is so attractive to criminals in the business of falsifying medicines. And in West Africa it is a big business.

The criminals have been keeping the head of the Intellectual Property Rights Unit at the customs service, Mohammed Babandede, and his team busy of late as the pandemic has created the perfect storm for fake medicines to flourish.

"It is really scary," he said, adding that in one week more than 30 million counterfeit tablets had been seized.

He explained that authorities in India had provided intelligence on a shipment coming into Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, the commercial capital.

Powerful networks

The consignment included significant amounts of counterfeit dexamethasone - a medicine believed to treat severe Covid-19 symptoms.

In the same week, he also intercepted 920,000 fake tramadol tablets at Lagos airport that had come from India's main city, Mumbai. These pills were likely destined for markets in northern Nigeria where abuse of the drug is rampant.

You may want to watch:

Mr Mohammed said that catching the suspects was difficult as consignments were often labelled with fictitious addresses at both ends - meaning authorities cannot trace the goods to source.

In Nigeria, when there are arrests, often the networks are so powerful that there are rarely prosecutions - the best lawyers are hired to negotiate bail or find ways to adjourn court cases for many years.

Adebayo Alonge knows all too well how dangerous these groups are. A victim of fake drugs himself, Mr Alonge purchased salbutamol in 2003 from a chemist in Ibadan in the south-west.

The drugs were falsely labelled and contained fatal levels of diazepam that left him in a coma for three weeks.

This experience inspired him to launch RxAll, a company that uses technology to identify the quality of prescription drugs.

Last year, he started receiving death threats for his work.

"We won't stop - I have died once already, I'm not afraid to die again," he said.

Holed up in small warehouses in cities across West Africa there are people in the business of repackaging pharmaceuticals.

They may also be busy tampering with expiry dates or manufacturing goods from scratch.

Sometimes, these clandestine make-shift laboratories are raided by enforcement agencies and the goods are destroyed - but the scale of the networks and operations mean it does not take long for them to pop up elsewhere.

The routes criminal groups are taking are becoming increasingly complex.

"They are getting wiser. If you block a route, they will find a different one. This is why it is a big problem in West Africa and Nigeria," a visibly concerned Mr Mohammed said.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime and World Customs Organization have set up a special unit to help regional states fight the criminal networks.

Bob Van den Berghe, a law enforcement expert who is attached to the unit, said that 81kg of pharmaceutical products in a container labelled as carrying "boxes of humanitarian donations" were seized from a port in West Africa earlier this year.

That container was shipped from France, but officials have uncovered fake medicines in containers originating from a wide range of countries, including Brazil and Switzerland, he said.

The unit reported that its highest number of seizures were at ports in the Togolese city of Lomé in Togo and Cotonou in Benin.

Containers that get past port surveillance teams are stripped and the medicines broken up into smaller packages, then taken across borders - some go north to Burkina Faso, others into Ghana and on to Ivory Coast, and others east into Nigeria, research shows.

Matter of life and death

With under resourced border teams and large porous borders, authorities have their work cut out.

"We are ramping up our operations, focusing on more border crossing points to respond to the efforts of these criminals," Mr Van den Berghe said.

With an estimated 116,000 deaths a year caused by substandard and falsified anti-malarial drugs in sub-Saharan Africa alone, these operations could be a matter of life and death.

Yet, experts warn that if the overall war against fake medicines is to be won, more must be done to ensure access to healthcare for all.

"There must be a parallel effort to fix vulnerabilities in health markets in West Africa; in some countries, wealth has become a determining factor for gaining access to quality healthcare and drugs."

"Hopefully the weaknesses in health systems Covid-19 has further exposed will lead governments to prioritise ensuring every citizen has access to safe and affordable medicines", said Dr Gernot Klantschnig, a senior lecturer in International Criminology at Bristol University in England.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Fake pharmaceutical industry thrives in West Africa

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The counterfeit pharmaceutical industry is thriving in West Africa, with law enforcement agencies battling to crackdown on foreign-linked criminal syndicates, writes Emma Hooper. It is rare to have a conversation in Nigeria about the problem of falsified medicine without a mention of the My Pikin syrup tragedy.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53998374
This article talks about the coronavirus and how the death and infection rates in South African residents are way lower than scientists feared. With the amount of population density there is there, it would be quite hard to social distance. Without social distancing the virus spreads which is why it was so surprising how low the infection and death rates are.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-47639452?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5f7ee7628baf0c02d0e784be%26Namibians%20protest%20against%20gender-based%20violence%262020-10-08T10%3A47%3A03.048Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:b5ec7b80-3718-48eb-8354-69a1e477a4d1&pinned_post_asset_id=5f7ee7628baf0c02d0e784be&pinned_post_type=share

This website talks about the women of Nigeria protesting for woman's rights after many abusive things have been happening to them.

# data[].attributes.body
Chloe Jahnke
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-saudi-arabia-africa-djibouti-yemen-8d268e93771646089a852e361560aca2

At least 8 migrants have drowned and 12 are missing after smugglers forced them off a boat near The Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. 14 of the other migrants have been found safe. They were all thought to the Ethiopian and making the passage to Djibouti from Yemen.

# data[].attributes.body
This article talks about how a man in Liberia dies when trying to rescue a note worth 20$. The man felt the need to rescue the money because he owed part of it to his friend,  but ended up drowning in the Monrovia River. Reported Mr. Cater states that drownings weren't common and that many are sad for this man's death.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Liberia man drowns rescuing dropped $20 note in Monrovia river

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Street hawker Tamba Lamine dived into a river and found the money but then disappeared, police say.

# data[].attributes.body
Madeline Molkenbuhr https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54433904
Nearly 6 million people in Africa are being affected by seasonal flooding. This flood is said to be the worst that Africa has had, and the number of people affected by the flood "has increased five fold in four years, according to UN figures.". Nearly 1.5 million of them have been forced out of their homes. from 2016 to 2020, this year has had the most affected people than in any of its past years, beating 2019 with the next highest amount of people affected, by almost 2 million people. The flooding is primarily affecting areas in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. The article states that in Sudan which is one of the most affected countries, "860,000 people have had their homes destroyed or damaged and more that 120 have died.

# data[].attributes.body
Sudan is speaking up for their rights and requesting a change in rights. They are becoming a louder voice and a bigger movement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Following months of protests, Sudan's president for 30 years, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in April and replaced by a military council. Following negotiations between the military leaders and opposition groups, a transitional government led by a "sovereign council" composed of military and civilian members replaced the military council in August.

The periods of protests both before and after al-Bashir's ouster was marked by serious human rights violations against protesters, starting December 2018. Government security forces routinely used live ammunition against unarmed protesters, detained activists and political opponents, censored media and blocked access to the internet. After April 11, Rapid Support Forces (RSF)-the paramilitary force known for attacks on civilians in Darfur since 2013-continued the crackdowns. The bloodiest was their attack on the protesters' sit-in in Khartoum on June 3.

Conflicts in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile continued at low levels, and restrictions on humanitarian aid access persisted. In Darfur, government forces attacked villages in Jebel Mara. The African Union/United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) temporarily halted withdrawal plans in June, in view of national political changes and news that the RSF occupied bases the mission handed over to the government. In May, the ruling military council issued a decree stating that all UNAMID bases be handed over to the RSF, in contravention of United Nations rules and procedures.

The agreement to form the transitional government included setting up a national independent investigation into events of June 3. The agreement also called for accountability for all past abuses under the al-Bashir government. Although women played an important role in the protests, women's rights groups expressed disappointment that few women were included in a transitional government. The government has yet to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in respect of cases against al-Bashir and four other men on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur.

Crackdowns on Protesters

Sudanese took to the streets in towns across the country in December to protest price hikes and demanded President Omar al-Bashir step down. Government security forces responded with lethal violence, shooting live ammunition at unarmed protesters, beating and arresting hundreds and killing scores of people between December and April. Security forces chased protesters into hospitals and shot tear gas into operating rooms, impeding the provision of medical care to wounded protesters. At least one doctor was killed and several others arrested for providing medical services.

President al-Bashir declared a state of emergency on February 22, banning protests and authorizing "emergency courts" to try violators in speedy trials. Many protesters were detained, tried summarily, and imprisoned or fined, without due process protections.

On April 11, defense minister and first vice president, Awad Ibn Ouf, announced the arrest of al-Bashir. On April 12, Lt. Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Burhan, former commander of the army's ground forces, took over and formed the Transitional Military Council (TMC), appointing Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo "Hemedti," RSF commander, as his deputy.

Despite the TMC's promises to protect the protesters' camp near military headquarters, security forces continued to use live ammunition against unarmed protesters calling for transition to civilian rule.

On June 3, government forces led by the RSF shot live bullets at protesters, beat them with sticks and batons, rounded up hundreds and subjected them to various forms of humiliation, including beating, rape and sexual assaults. They also attacked hospitals and clinics and prevented wounded protesters from receiving needed medical help. An estimated 120 were killed and hundreds wounded; some bodies were dumped into the river Nile and an unknown number of people were reported missing.

The TMC spokesperson denied government forces attacked protesters and claimed their operation was limited to criminal activity in an area near the sit-in. He later said the dispersal was planned, but that mistakes were made. The attorney-general launched an investigation into the violence and recommended charges be brought against eight soldiers including for crimes against humanity.

On June 30, the anniversary of al-Bashir's assumption of power, RSF soldiers opened fire on protesters calling for justice for June 3 victims, as they crossed a bridge linking Khartoum and Omdurman, killing eight. Another three bodies were found the next day in Omdurman covered with banners used in protests, with blood stains on their bodies and a megaphone near where the bodies were found. The father of one victim said he believed his son died from torture.

On July 29, RSF soldiers shot at high school students in al-Obeid, North Kordofan protesting price hikes and poor transportation services killing five of them, according to media reports. On August 1, RSF soldiers reportedly killed four more protesters in Omdurman. TMC immediately denounced the violence, admitting that nine RSF soldiers were involved in the shootings in Omdurman and el-Obeid and that those responsible had been dismissed from service and referred for prosecution.

Arbitrary Detentions, Torture

In response to the protests starting in December, National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) officials arrested and rounded up protesters, opposition members, and activists. Security agents subjected detainees to abuses while in detention including beatings, inhumane conditions in a facility known as "the refrigerator," and insults and beatings during interrogations. Many detainees were not allowed family visitation or access to lawyers. Women released from detention told Human Rights Watch they were beaten and sexually harassed and threatened with rape.

Dozens of students from Darfur arrested in mid-December were rounded up in their dormitories, severely beaten and forced to make televised "confessions" of having links to the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, a Darfur rebel group led by Abdelwahid al-Nur. They were later released without charges.

On February 3, Ahmed al-Khair, a teacher in East Sudan, died while in NISS custody. Witnesses and his family found signs of torture on his body, according to media. Authorities later charged 40 NISS agents in connection with the killing.

Sudan has failed to investigate other allegations of torture by national security officials and has yet to ratify the Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 1986. In violation of international human rights law, it retains the death penalty and corporal punishment for numerous crimes, including consensual same-sex conduct.

Freedom of Media

Since protests started in December 2018, authorities imposed even more restrictions on media, seized and confiscated newspapers, arrested journalists covering protests, shut down their offices, and blocked access to the internet.

Nine journalists were briefly arrested on December 26 by the NISS while gathered outside the headquarters of the independent Sudanese newspaper Al-Tayar in protest against harassment of the media. Many other journalists were arrested while covering protests or during journalists strikes. In late December, authorities restricted access to social media for several days.

On December 25, authorities blocked London-based al-Araby TV journalists from covering the protests and deported them. On January 22, authorities revoked permits of reporters working with Al Jazeera, al-Arabiya and Anadolu news agency.

On February 22, NISS officials arrested the editor-in-chief of Al-Tayar, after he appeared on TV criticizing al-Bashir's emergency declaration. He was released on March 30 without charge.

After al-Bashir's ouster, authorities allowed media coverage of protests for several weeks, but on May 31, they shut down Al Jazeera offices. Authorities sought to suppress information about the June 3 violence by restricting media access to the country, by cutting off completely cutting internet access on June 10 for over a month.

Conflict and Abuses in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile

In January, Sudan declared an open-ended unilateral ceasefire in Darfur and the other conflict zones. However, government forces, including the RSF, reportedly continued to attack sites in the Jebel Mara, destroying dozens of villages between July 2018 and February 2019, according to reports.

UNAMID halted plans to further downsize and exit Sudan by 2020, in view of the formation of transitional government after al-Bashir ousting and the occupation and use of the mission's bases by RSF soldiers. Authorities continued to limit peacekeepers and aid groups' access to displaced people and conflict-affected areas.

Eight years into the armed conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, the government and armed opposition failed to agree on modalities for supplying life-saving aid to civilians in need. However, negotiations between the government and all armed groups resumed in Juba in September leading to new agreement on access.

Refugees and Migrants

Sudan hosts about 1.1 million refugees and migrants from the region, mostly South Sudanese (more than 858,000 as of September). Authorities also reported an increase of Eritrean refugees, estimating that half of these new arrivals migrate to other countries, making them vulnerable to human trafficking and smuggling. Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees from Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile live in camps in Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

Key International Actors

Hours after the June 3 crackdown, the African Union condemned the violence and called for an "immediate and transparent investigation" into the events, to hold those responsible to account. On June 6, the AU suspended Sudan's membership, but lifted the suspension in September.

The US, United Kingdom, and Norway, troika members, condemned the attacks on protesters and blamed the TMC for ordering it. The US, which lifted economic sanctions on Sudan in 2017, has promised to revise its Sudan policy with a view to supporting the transitional government.

The EU also condemned the June 3 violence against protests and in late July suspended projects related to migration and border control, which are part of the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, known as "Khartoum Process." The program had prompted fears that EU was supporting the RSF to carry out-migration control.

The UN secretary-general, following the establishment of the transitional government in August, called for the lifting of all economic and financial sanctions imposed on Sudan, as well as the country's removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

In September, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to continue the work of the Independent Expert on human rights in Sudan for another year. The resolution also supported the establishment of a country office of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Khartoum, Sudan's capital.

In October, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution extending UNAMID's mandate for one year and tasking UN secretary-general along with AU chairperson to submit options for a post-UNAMID follow up presence based on needs and views of Sudan government after March. The mission will maintain its protection of civilians and human rights-monitoring functions through the end of its mandate.

The TMC declined to hand al-Bashir over to the ICC but try him in Sudan in on corruption and money laundering charges. The UN Security Council failed to press Sudan to cooperate with the ICC for the surrender of the al-Bashir and four other fugitives sought on alleged Darfur crimes, despite having referred the situation to the ICC in 2005. The ICC first announced charges in 2007.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
World Report 2020: Rights Trends in Sudan

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Following months of protests, Sudan's president for 30 years, Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in April and replaced by a military council. Following negotiations between the military leaders and opposition groups, a transitional government led by a "sovereign council" composed of military and civilian members replaced the military council in August.

# data[].attributes.body
Some have responded that there have been investigations into Sars before
Ethiopia bans flights over Nile Dam
Weah blasts Liberian youth for asking him for money
Lesotho Twitter users could be classed as 'broadcasters'
Three Kenyan lions die in bushmeat traps
Eight migrants dead and 12 missing off Djibouti coast
Ex-top police woman in South African court
Kenya mall attack verdict postponed
US lauds Mali's transitional government

# data[].attributes.body
Some have responded that there have been investigations into Sars before. Ethiopia bans flights over Nile Dam Weah blasts Liberian youth for asking him for money Lesotho Twitter users could be classed as 'broadcasters' Three Kenyan lions die in bushmeat traps Eight migrants dead and 12 missing off Djibouti coast Ex-top police woman in South African court Kenya mall attack verdict postponed US lauds Mali's transitional government

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Liberia's President George Weah has revealed in a church sermon that he receives a barrage of insults via text message from people claiming to be his supporters who are angry that he is not helping them.

The 54-year-old ex-footballer is approaching the half-way point of his term in office and some are complaining that his government has failed to create the job opportunities that Mr Weah had promised when running for president.

In a sermon transcribed by the FrontPage Africa newspaper, the president is quoted as telling worshippers that out of every 1,000 messages he receives, 999 are insults.

The president declared that he will not offer any help or assistance to people who continuously show him disrespect through text messages.

"You are arrogant and you're asking me for something small; I will not do it. You can't be asking for help and disrespecting the president," Mr Weah is quoted as saying.

He blasted young people 19-20 years old who desire to live on their own instead of remaining with their parents.

"You know I was 18 years sleeping on the floor? Why are you rushing life?" he asked.

The president was raised by his grandmother in a slum in the capital, Monrovia, from where he rose to stardom and went on to become one of the greatest African soccer players of all time, winning the Fifa Player of the Year title in 1995.

He said young people should be thinking about going into business and not living on their own.

"Some of you telling me to pay your rent; you get your ma and pa and you asking me to pay your rent; "why you can't go live with your ma. The money you want to pay your rent [with]; you can use it with your mother to do business."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Africa Live: Nigeria to investigate 'rogue' police force - BBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Liberia's President George Weah has revealed in a church sermon that he receives a barrage of insults via text message from people claiming to be his supporters who are angry that he is not helping them.

# data[].attributes.body
In the midst an ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo the WHO is investigating the allegations against its own aid workers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
WHO's pledge comes days after a report accused WHO and other NGO workers operating in DRC of demanding sex in exchange for being hired for a job.

The WHO was in charge of efforts to control an Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC between August 2018 and the end of June [File: Al-hadji Kudra Maliro/AP Photo]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has promised to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by people identified as health and aid officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the global body is trying to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.

The WHO said it is "outraged" and promised the charges will be "rigorously investigated" in a statement released on Tuesday.

"The betrayal of people in the communities we serve is reprehensible. We do not tolerate such behaviour in any of our staff, contractors or partners," read the statement. "Anyone identified as being involved will be held to account and face serious consequences, including immediate dismissal."

The statement came after the news website The New Humanitarian released a report in conjunction with the Thomson Reuters Foundation in which more than 50 women accused aid workers from the WHO and non-governmental organisations operating in DRC of both improperly propositioning women and of demanding sex in exchange for being hired for a job.

The WHO statement did not specifically mention the report, and would not say if it had received complaints against staff or contractors during the Ebola response.

The WHO was in charge of efforts to control an Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC between August 2018 and the end of June this year. During that time, 3,481 people were infected with the haemorrhagic fever and 2,299 people died.

It was the 10th Ebola outbreak the country had seen. This one was particularly difficult to bring under control due to fighting between various rebel groups and the government there.

Since the end of the Ebola mission, there has been a new outbreak in western DRC.

Strategies put in place by the United Nations and NGOs to end such behaviour largely failed during the outbreak, aid officials and workers, gender analysts and researchers said.

'Sexual blackmail'

Fifty-one women told the nearly year-long investigation that they were sexually exploited or abused by mostly foreign men identifying as aid workers in Beni, the hub of the outbreak.

Not one said she knew of a hotline, email address or person to contact to report the incidents.

"Knowing the poverty of the population, many consultants amused themselves by using sexual blackmail for hiring," said one WHO employee who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

In the investigation, the largest number of accusations - made by 30 women - involved men who identified themselves as being with the WHO.

Other organisations named by women included UN Children's Fund UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, World Vision, UN migration agency IOM, medical charity ALIMA and DRC's health ministry.

While ALIMA and World Vision also promised to investigate, most of the others said they needed more information to follow up. Police heard rumours of abuse but no victim came forward, said commander Lokango Ebaleongandi in Beni.

In a survey as part of the investigation, 18 agencies involved in the Ebola response said they had received no complaints of sexual exploitation. Six groups said they had received a total of 22 allegations, six of which were substantiated.

"If you're not getting reports, then something is going wrong," said Jane Connors, a long-serving UN staffer who in 2017 became its first victims' advocate, based in New York.

Aid sector experts blamed a male-dominated operation with little funding to combat sexual abuse, vast income and power imbalances, and a failure to win locals' trust - problems seen in numerous other emergency responses.

From Bosnia to Haiti, reports of sexual abuse and exploitation scandals have shaken the aid sector for decades - denting the trust of local populations, donors and taxpayers.

In DRC, few women believed they could get justice. Many said they could not afford to lose their jobs while others feared being stigmatised by family or community.

"The fear of retribution is so high," said Alina Potts, a researcher at the Global Women's Institute at George Washington University and a former aid worker. "They need to have a lot of trust in that overall system to come forward."

Up to 80 percent of survivors globally - not just those in humanitarian crises - do not report sexual assault for a range of reasons, said Miranda Brown, formerly with the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"Typically, survivors and victims do not use standard reporting mechanisms but report to persons of trust."

More women in senior roles

Aid agencies deployed thousands of workers into eastern DRC when Ebola erupted, sensitive to criticism of acting slowly in the 2014-16 outbreak in West Africa.

But a network to prevent sex abuse was not set up until 14 months into the crisis, according to an internal report by the inter-agency Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Network seen by reporters.

Despite UN pledges to work more closely with locals, the report said there was poor communication about what constituted sexual abuse and how to report it.

Agencies each had their own hotlines, email addresses and suggestion boxes for receiving complaints, which was confusing for victims, said Fidelia Odjo, the UN coordinator for the prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation in DRC.

"I didn't know where to report him and I didn't have much trust in the police," said one woman, who said she was asked for sex by a doctor who said he worked for the WHO. She refused and was denied a job. Her friend, who agreed to sex, was hired.

While some $700m was spent on the Ebola response, the network to combat abuse was crippled by a lack of funding, receiving only $40,000 from the UN three months before the outbreak was over, according to the PSEA network report.

A "lessons learnt" section said agencies should talk to staff about sexual abuse at the start of an operation.

Part of the problem was the operation was dominated by men, said gender experts. Men made up 81 percent of Ebola responders working for the WHO, it said in a 2019 report, while 15 of the other 18 organisations surveyed said their teams were mostly male.

"Increasing the number of women in senior roles in operational settings would clearly reduce the number of sexual exploitation and abuse cases," said Brown, who testified to the US Senate about the UN's child sex abuse scandal in the Central African Republic (CAR).

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched a fanfare of initiatives after a 2016 report said the UN failed to take action on allegations involving peacekeepers in CAR.

To boost transparency, in 2017 Guterres required all UN entities to report abuse allegations to him. The numbers are fed into a database in real-time and compiled on a UN website. The WHO has only just "now" agreed to post their allegations, according to Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said the agency had been reporting substantiated allegations to its governing body, the World Health Assembly.

The WHO's latest global report shows 10 investigations into sexual exploitation and abuse since 2017, including one in 2020.

Looking ahead, a review of aid in DRC commissioned by the UK government recommended boosting funding to local women's groups to encourage victims to report.

Involving more women in emergency responses could also help change the power dynamics in aid delivery, Potts said. "We can't keep putting [women and girls] in these risky situations and expecting the outcomes to change."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WHO to probe sex abuse by aid workers in DRC amid Ebola outbreak

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WHO's pledge comes days after a report accused WHO and other NGO workers operating in DRC of demanding sex in exchange for being hired for a job. The World Health Organization (WHO) has promised to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by people identified as health and aid officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the global body is trying to stop the spread of the Ebola virus.

# data[].attributes.body
Nigeria’s Institute of Medical Research developed a fast and strightforward COVID-19 tesing kit. This is referred to as the SARS-COV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay, which delievers results in less than 40 minutes. In term of expenses, the testing kit is much less costly in comparison to the other testing methods. According to health authorities, this COVID-19 test will be shared with other regions of the country. As of now, approximately 500,000 people in Nigeria have been tested for the virus.

# data[].attributes.body
In Nigeria, a fast way of testing for Covid was found. This test kit can give results within 40 minutes and does not need extensive training to be used. The country has really low testing rates. There are 200 million people yet only 500,000 of them have been tested. This kit was created to hope that the testing rates will be raised. These tests will be distributed to communities soon. The Nigerian health authorities say that this kit is Nigeria's contribution to the global fight against the pandemic through scientific research.

# data[].attributes.body
2 prisoners were killed after 219 escaped a prison with more than 15 guns. The prisoners range from robbers to murderers. Although, 2 were captured and re-arrested there  was still 217 out. This wasn't Ugandas first prisoner escape since the corona virus this was actually their 3rd. The re capture has been a tough experience since the prisoners escaped during the night and had many hours of darkness

# data[].attributes.body
Currently in South Sudan the people are looking at the worst flooding in almost 60 years. Almost half the population are in need of assistance. Many crops have been killed due to the flood Mr. Hollingworth said "This flooding crisis is coming on top of a very grim hunger situation in Jonglei, where already this year 1.4 million people were suffering from acute and severe hunger, in addition to over 300,000 children under five who are acutely malnourished." WFP is trying to get 58 million dollars for assistance for South Sudan, hopefully more will be said in the next 6 months.

- Sammy Arasadi

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Some 700,000 people are in crisis after flood waters swept across the country, submerging villages, land and livestock, according to a World Food Programme ( WFP) alert.

"There is a very significant flood, which is covering vast areas of the country", said Matthew Hollingworth, WFP Country Director in South Sudan. "More than 36 counties of the country are under water, submerging entire villages, homes, farmsteads, killing livestock and putting an end to livelihoods."

Across Jonglei and Unity State, homes and clinics have been submerged, communities have been stranded and animals "lie dead in the fields", WFP said in a statement. Schools that were due to open next week "are filled with the homeless".

Worst flooding in 60 years

The WFP official described the flooding as likely the worst in 60 years and explained that this year's rains had begun before last year's flood waters had receded fully.

Some 5.5 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance, according to WFP, representing half the total population.

The 2019 flooding was already "unprecedented" and had led to the expansion of wetlands, the Sobat and Nile basins, Mr. Hollingworth said, adding that this year's crisis is likely to be even more severe, as the peak of the flood season still lies ahead.

WFP is particularly concerned that crops have been lost in worst affected Jonglei state, where 85,000 people have been displaced by rising waters and some 230,000 people have experienced flooding more than once.

Crops submerged

"We've seen, as I mentioned, harvests being decimated in Jonglei state...and 45 per cent of all the land that was planted with cereals and sorghum - the mainstay of the diet - have been lost this year. That comes in addition to what we saw very similar last year," Mr. Hollingworth said.

He added: "This flooding crisis is coming on top of a very grim hunger situation in Jonglei, where already this year 1.4 million people were suffering from acute and severe hunger, in addition to over 300,000 children under five who are acutely malnourished."

The development adds to the challenges facing South Sudan's people, where years of civil war, inter-communal conflict, political infighting and corruption have rendered the country vulnerable to natural disaster.

Fighting obstacles

Conflict was "very significant" ahead of this year's rains in Jonglei, Unity and Lake State, along with the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, the WFP official explained.

This added to the current crisis by preventing humanitarians from delivering food stocks to areas while they were still accessible.

To help "half a million people more than we would usually", WFP has appealed for $58 million to support assistance for the coming six months. This will help to fund assistance by air and boat to areas that are "completely cut off", Mr. Hollingworth explained, including communities whose crops have been destroyed by the flooding.

He warned that it was crucially important to provide support to host communities that had to cope with people displaced by flooding or violence to prevent further tensions and flare-ups, as the country continues to make gradual progress on implementing the 2018 peace agreement.

"As cattle move into areas where they weren't previously put to pasture, as people are displaced into areas where there are not necessarily sufficient resources to look after them as well as the resident community; all of those can breed future problems," Mr. Hollingworth said.

In the longer-term, it was also important to be able to encourage people to return home and to their livelihoods, he insisted.

"We've been seeing natural disasters, we've been seeing conflicts displacing people, that is the situation we're in right now. We have yet to get data back to confirm how bad it will be, but I think we all need to prepare ourselves that we must do everything in our power to avoid famine and to avoid the levels of hunger - the catastrophic hunger - that we've seen sadly in the past in this country."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Flooding leaves South Sudan facing threat of 'catastrophic' hunger levels

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Some 700,000 people are in crisis after flood waters swept across the country, submerging villages, land and livestock, in more than one in two counties, according to a World Food Programme ( WFP) alert. "There is a very significant flood, which is covering vast areas of the country", said Matthew Hollingworth, WFP Country Director in South Sudan.

# data[].attributes.body
Africa is being hailed for the way that they have handled coronavirus to keep the cases at a minimum. Their infection and death rates are significantly lower than Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC) has praised African states for managing to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Africa has seen about 1.4 million cases and 34,000 deaths since February.

These figures are far lower than those in Europe, Asia or the Americas, with reported cases continuing to decline.

Early interventions played a crucial role in curbing the virus' spread, Africa CDC head John Nkengasong told the BBC's Newsday programme.

Africa CDC is the health agency of the 55-member African Union (AU).

The continent of more than one billion people accounts for just under 5% of cases globally and 3.6% of deaths.

Dr Nkengasong described as "false" suggestions that cases and deaths in Africa were significantly under-reported.

"We may not have been picking up all the cases, just like in other parts of the world... but we are not seeing people around the continent falling dead on the streets or mass burials going on," Dr Nkengasong said.

African states introduced a series of measures to tackle the virus as soon as the first cases were reported. Many, including South Africa, introduced nationwide lockdowns, but others such as Ethiopia opted for less strict measures.

Dr Nkengasong, however, attributed the low number to a "joint continental effort", which focused on "scaling up testing and following up contact tracing and very importantly masking", or the wearing of face masks.

"In many countries, including Ethiopia where I live, if you go to the streets of Addis Ababa you will see there is almost 100% masking," he added.

What other reasons did he give?

Africa's relatively young population also contributed to the low number of cases, Dr Nkengasong said.

Furthermore, the emphasis on community-driven initiatives, and experience in contact-tracing from fighting diseases like Ebola, had helped countries to tackle the virus, he said.

"This virus is in the community, and without a strong community response and strong community engagement there is no chance we can fight it," Dr Nkengasong added.

Warning over possible second wave

Analysis by Anne Soy, BBC News, Nairobi

The drop in the number of Covid-19 cases on the continent is mainly driven by South Africa, which accounts for nearly half of Africa's cases but also a big proportion of tests.

As of Tuesday, South Africa had conducted more than four million tests. In comparison, the entire continent of more than 50 countries crossed the 10 million tests mark a month ago.

By international standards, this is a relatively low number, and it is blamed on global shortages of testing equipment and a lack of manufacturing in Africa. It continues to undermine the Africa "success" story.

While there may be cases that have gone undetected, experts such as Dr Nkengasong say there is no indication of a large number of unexplained deaths in most countries.

But there are warnings there could be second wave of infections as more and more countries relax restrictions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coronavirus: Health chief hails Africa's fight against Covid-19

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC) has praised African states for managing to curb the spread of coronavirus. Africa has seen about 1.4 million cases and 34,000 deaths since February. These figures are far lower than those in Europe, Asia or the Americas, with reported cases continuing to decline.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nigeran gas tanker explosion kills at least 28

# data[].attributes.subject
Nigeran gas tanker explosion kills at least 28

# data[].attributes.body
Jacob McKeon
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/24/africa/nigeria-explosion-oil-tanker-kogi-intl/index.html

On September 23, at least 28 people were killed when a gas tanker exploded. This explosion lead to loss of lives, vehicles, properties, and other valuables. Bisi Kazeem said that nine children were involved in the accident. Fuel tanker accidents are common in Nigeria where supplies is regularly transported via road.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"The north-west regions of Zimbabwe have an over-abundance of elephants and this outbreak of disease is probably a manifestation of that, particularly in the hot, dry season elephants are stressed by competition for water and food resources," he said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zimbabwe: Elephants die from 'bacterial disease'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"The north-west regions of Zimbabwe have an over-abundance of elephants and this outbreak of disease is probably a manifestation of that, particularly in the hot, dry season elephants are stressed by competition for water and food resources," he said.

# data[].attributes.body
In Zimbabwe there has been an affect on Elephants and it is not looking to good. This year 100 of elephants where found dead and park officials say that it was from a Bacterial poisoning. There has been a case of a lot of elephants found dead. They say the reason this is because  they are stressed about the dry season and if they are gonna get all of the food and water they need. Climate changes can also make it toxic blooms this is cause they favour the warm water. The big thing that is the area where this is happening has total of 400,000 elephants and if this bacteria keeps on spreading it can affect the population in a bad way. But the main reason that this bacteria can be happening is by algae in water. But right now there has been a total of 330 elephants that have died. If this keeps on happening the elephants might be in a big problem. - Gulraj Dhaliwal

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"The north-west regions of Zimbabwe have an over-abundance of elephants and this outbreak of disease is probably a manifestation of that, particularly in the hot, dry season elephants are stressed by competition for water and food resources," he said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zimbabwe: Elephants die from 'bacterial disease'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"The north-west regions of Zimbabwe have an over-abundance of elephants and this outbreak of disease is probably a manifestation of that, particularly in the hot, dry season elephants are stressed by competition for water and food resources," he said.

# data[].attributes.body
Suddenly, 34 elephants were found around Zimbabwe, dead laying on their backs. Scientists initially suspected a disease because earlier this year a lot of elephants were found dead in Botswana due to bacterial poisoning. The animals were discovered by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority in the forests between Hwange National Park and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. As the scientists investigated the bodies, they realized the elephants also had inflamed livers and other organs. This led many to believe it was not only a disease that killed the elephants. This part of Zimbabwe is very dry during this time of the year and there is major competition for food and other resources which may have an affect on the inflamed organs. This is concerning because less than a week ago, a microscopic algae killed hundreds of elephants. It is possible that the algae killed these elephants as well. According to the article, Botswana and Zimbabwe are home to 400,000 African elephants.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"The north-west regions of Zimbabwe have an over-abundance of elephants and this outbreak of disease is probably a manifestation of that, particularly in the hot, dry season elephants are stressed by competition for water and food resources," he said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zimbabwe: Elephants die from 'bacterial disease'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"The north-west regions of Zimbabwe have an over-abundance of elephants and this outbreak of disease is probably a manifestation of that, particularly in the hot, dry season elephants are stressed by competition for water and food resources," he said.

# data[].attributes.body
Hauwa Ojeifo was abused both mentally and physically at a young age, which caused her to develop bipolar disorder. She started forming suicidal thoughts, but found it hard to express what she was thinking. She decided to turn her experiences around and create awareness. She became an activist that helped others face the same situations.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
activist hauwa ojeifo is the winner of the 2020 changemaker award
 - cnn

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
She was diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Now she is helping others work through theirs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mental health advocate Hauwa Ojeifo is one of the 2020 winner of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Changemaker award

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/africa/disney-partners-with-nollywood/index.html

Disney is now going to be able to give a lot of their popular movies we know today to Nigeria. This is in hopes that producers will notice more of African film making.

# data[].attributes.body
In May-June conservationists found around 300 Elephant carcasses. Some appeared to have just dropped dead. This led them to believe that they had been poisoned. They do not know what happened but they know that Ivory stealers/poachers were not involved because there were no bullet holes and the tusks were not gone. This is surprising because the country has had a very good history with their conservation efforts.

-Emilie Hughes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Some conservationists accepted the explanation provided by Botswana's government, but others raised doubts.

Botswana wildlife officials say toxic algae in large rain puddles in the Okavango Delta are to blame for the hundreds of mysterious elephant deaths in recent months. Credit... National Park Rescue, via Agence France-Presse - Getty Images

In May and June, conservationists discovered the carcasses of 356 elephants in Botswana's Okavango Panhandle. Some of the animals appeared to have collapsed and died suddenly, while walking or running. Others seemed disoriented, walking in circles before they died.

While the elephant deaths have ceased, their cause has remained a mystery, creating fears among some experts about the future of the mighty mammals in a country where their conservation has largely been a success story.

None of the bodies contained bullet holes and no tusks were removed, implying that ivory poachers were not involved. Some experts suspected that poisoning by local people might still be to blame, while others thought something in nature was the most likely explanation.

On Monday, Botswanan officials announced their answer: Neurotoxins produced by cyanobacteria, a type of microscopic algae, caused the elephants to die after they drank from large puddles that formed after rains. While some conservationists accepted the explanation, others did not consider the mystery solved and feared that the elephants could again face renewed danger.

Cyril Taolo, deputy director of Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks, announced the government's findings at a news conference.

"There's absolutely no reason to believe that there was human involvement in these mortalities," he said. "This is not a phenomenon that was just seen now, it is something that happens quite a lot when there are these environmental changes."

Mmadi Reuben, the government's principal veterinary officer, added that "there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered," including why elephants were the only species that died and what caused the deadly outbreak.

Some conservationists were also concerned that the government did not disclose the name of the lab that produced the findings, nor did officials reveal how many samples were taken and from where, which tests were performed and which species of cyanobacteria was implicated. Officials did not respond to interview requests.

"There's just so many questions that are outstanding," said Pieter Kat, director of LionAid, a nonprofit conservation organization, and who has worked extensively in Botswana and researched wildlife diseases there. "They need to be completely transparent about the laboratories the samples were sent to and the lab reports."

Most types of cyanobacteria that produce neurotoxins occur in marine environments, where they can cause red tides. A few species are found in freshwater around the world, and they sometimes kill dogs, cattle and other animals that drink from or swim in contaminated water bodies.

"One of the biggest unresolved issues is why there seems not to have been collateral mortality," said Chris Thouless, head of research at Save the Elephants, an organization based in Kenya. "That is one of the reasons we originally said this was not a probable explanation, because other animals didn't seem to be dying."

Elephants account for the majority of wildlife in the area, but cattle are also found there, Dr. Thouless said. He has not been able to verify, however, whether cattle drink from the same bodies of water used by elephants.

That said, he added, "While no suggested cause is a perfect fit to observations, this one is less improbable than the others, so I am inclined to accept it, particularly since this is supported by lab results."

There are several possible explanations for why only elephants died, said Roy Bengis, a veterinary wildlife specialist at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, who formerly served as chief state veterinarian at Kruger National Park.

It could be that elephants are "exquisitely sensitive" to whichever particular neurotoxin killed them, whereas other species are more resistant, Dr. Bengis said. "We know this happens - different species of animals have different tolerances."

Elephants also drink copious amounts of water, up to 40 gallons a day, so they would be taking in a larger dose of toxin than a smaller animal. Additionally, unlike most other species, elephants "actually go and frolic in the water and roll in the mud and spray themselves," Dr. Bengis said. The neurotoxin might have been absorbed through their skin.

Why vultures and other scavengers were not impacted is another unanswered question. A neurotoxin would most likely have been concentrated in the elephants' relatively small and inaccessible brains and spinal cords, making it less likely to be consumed, Dr. Bengis said.

But not all conservationists are convinced that toxic algae are responsible. "The chance was lost to find out what has really happened to the elephants, because of the government of Botswana's unwillingness to collaborate with the research community at an early stage," said Keith Lindsay, a conservation biologist at the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in Kenya. "There remain big questions over whether any useful samples were collected."

Dr. Bengis added that without seeing the lab results or knowing more about the samples, "I can't say yea or nay with regards to whether this diagnosis is correct or incorrect, or possible or impossible."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
356 Elephants Dropped Dead. Did This Bacteria Poison Them?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Some conservationists accepted the explanation provided by Botswana's government, but others raised doubts. In May and June, conservationists discovered the carcasses of 356 elephants in Botswana's Okavango Panhandle. Some of the animals appeared to have collapsed and died suddenly, while walking or running. Others seemed disoriented, walking in circles before they died.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ioana Dumitru

A team of archeologists with Yale researchers uncovered a buried ancient town called Beta Samati, which has shed light on trade routes and the origins of Christianity in Ethiopia.

Beta Samati was a part of the Empire of Askum, which peaked between 80 B.C. to 825 A.D. and was a powerful trading empire that controlled parts of eastern Africa and western Arabia. The archeologists' findings were published in Dec. 2019. Beta Samati was located between the empire's capital, Aksum, and the Red Sea.

"Our finds are important for documenting the origins of complex societies in sub-Saharan Africa, the international trade routes and contacts of the Empire of Aksum, as well as early Christianity in Africa," said Michael Harrower, the lead author of the research. Harrower is an assistant professor of archaeology at John Hopkins University and the director of the Southern Red Sea Archaeological Histories.

Jessica Lamont, assistant professor of Classics at Yale and a member of the research team, said the scholars initially began looking at the Red Sea as an "artery." They wanted to examine the trade connections between cities along the Red Sea, across Aksum, the Roman Empire, the eastern Mediterranean and the Byzantine Empire.

Lamont said that the team began with a non-invasive archeological survey of the area. In 2009, local residents suggested the archaeologists investigate a hill near the modern village of Edaga Rabu. Residents knew it was significant due to oral tradition, but did not know why.

The team conducted excavations in 2011-12 and 2015-16. According to Ioana Dumitru, field director for excavations at Beta Samati, they discovered an ancient settlement with both residential and religious architecture. She said the site reveals important details about daily life in ancient Ethiopia. While residential areas indicate evidence of architectural planning, food preparation and workshop activities such as small-scale metal and glass production, an early basilica is evidence of ancient religious practices and engagement in long-distance trade with the Mediterranean.

The excavators' biggest discovery was a building about 60 feet long and 40 feet wide resembling an ancient Roman basilica. Lamont said that this basilica, one of the earliest pieces of physical evidence for Christianity's presence in sub-Saharan Africa, sheds light on the religion's spread via trading networks that linked the Mediterranean with Africa and South Asia with the Red Sea. Additional findings such as tokens, rings and figurines indicate a mixture of pagan and early Christian traditions.

"It is a fascinating historical moment where you see pre-Christian beliefs and religious practices, and how they change with the advent of Christianity," Lamont said. "We had always been able to do that in Rome and cities in the eastern Mediterranean, but now we can see how far south and far east this was happening concurrently."

Lamont noted that she was involved in the project because of the Aksumite empire's "globalized nature." The empire was in dialogue with the classical eastern Mediterranean and used Greco-Roman goods and objects as status symbols.

Lamont said that Yale's ancient history program is "pushing the field in exciting new ways." Yale's program, and the Beta Samati project, both seek to expand the study of Greek and Roman history to the "fringes and outskirts of the Mediterranean world."

"Trade networks and the early conversion to Christianity is a great example of how we're not just looking at beads, pottery, jewelry and luxury import; we're talking about the exchange of technology, religion and religious institutions," Lamont said.

She added that scholars see influences traveling in exciting ways, with Aksumite kings converting to Christianity at the same time Constantine was converting the Roman Empire.

Since the excavations, Lamont said that the team has been interpreting material and writing about their discoveries. The first iteration of their discoveries appeared in an academic journal called Antiquity last year. Yet Dumitru said the team plans to continue excavations at the Beta Samati site and survey its surrounding region.

Lamont said that the team seeks to engage residents who live in the site's vicinity to fund a museum displaying the team's findings. She said she hopes this will draw tourists to north-eastern Ethiopia.

The team's research was funded by NASA, the National Geographic Society and the Archaeological Institute of America.

Freya Savla | freya.savla@yale.edu
Correction, Feb. 20: A previous version of this article said the Empire of Askum peaked from 80 B.C. to 825 B.C.E. In fact, it peaked from 80 B.C. to 825 A.D.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Archaeologists uncover new site in East Africa

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A team of archeologists with Yale researchers uncovered a buried ancient town called Beta Samati, which has shed light on trade routes and the origins of Christianity in Ethiopia. Beta Samati was a part of the Empire of Askum, which peaked between 80 B.C. to 825 A.D.