Libya now fighting two wars: a civil war and Covid-19F

Libya now fighting two wars: a civil war and Covid-19F

Tripoli, March 25, 2020  – Libya has reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, a particular source of concern in the North African country where civil war has badly degraded the public healthcare system.  Libya has been mired in chaos since the 2011...
Sahel: Massacre in ChadF

Sahel: Massacre in ChadF

N’Djamena, March 24, 2020 – Ninety-two Chadian soldiers have been killed in the deadliest attack ever by Bok o Haram jihadists on armed forces in the country, President Idriss Deby Itno said Tuesday. The attack is part of an expanding jihadist campaign in...
Sahel: More insurgent attacks across the SahelF

Sahel: More insurgent attacks across the SahelF

March 25, 2020 – Two soldiers in Mali and three civilians in Burkina Faso died in suspected jihadist attacks in the Sahel on Tuesday, a day after Islamist rebels killed scores of troops in Chad, security sources said. The two soldiers were killed and three...
Four more African countries announce first case of Covid-19F

Four more African countries announce first case of Covid-19F

Bamako, March 25, 2020 – Four countries led by war-ravaged Mali on Wednesday joined the lengthening list of African countries hit by the novel coronavirus as Kenya ordered a curfew and unveiled tax breaks in the fight against the pandemic. Mali, mired in an...
Sahel: Mali opposition leader Soumaila Cisse goes missingF

Sahel: Mali opposition leader Soumaila Cisse goes missingF

Bamako, March 25, 2020 – Leading Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cisse went missing in the war-torn centre of the country on Wednesday afternoon, his party said, with no-one is able to contact him since. In a statement released on Wednesday, Cisse’s...
Sahel: Mali announces Covid-19 curfew after first case was identifiedF

Sahel: Mali announces Covid-19 curfew after first case was identifiedF

Bamako, March 25, 2020 – Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced a nationwide night-time curfew on Wednesday to limit the spread of coronavirus, but said a parliamentary vote planned for this week will go ahead. In a televised address, Keita said the...
North Africa’s incomprehensible night curfewsF

North Africa’s incomprehensible night curfewsF

Opinion by Arezki Daoud: Persistent, logical and even unpopular policies must be implemented to fight the coronavirus. And so North African countries adopted night curfews to limit the spread of Covid-19. At first, the decision sounded OK. But then again what is the...
Education: Studying from home amid Covid-19F

Education: Studying from home amid Covid-19F

Tripoli, March 24, 2020 –  By Rim Tahar – Either on television as in Libya or on tablets in the IT-savvy Gulf monarchies, in the time of novel coronavirus millions of schoolchildren around the Arab world are now learning lessons at home.  Governments...
Concerns about Africa’s readiness to confront Covid-19F

Concerns about Africa’s readiness to confront Covid-19F

Lagos, March 24, 2020 – Equipment shortages, scarce beds and poorly-paid doctors and nurses: Africa is finding that it has few means to protect itself as a feared coronavirus tsunami looms.  Earth’s poorest continent has so far confirmed around 1,800 cases...
Covid-19:  Africa update as of March 23, 2020F

Covid-19: Africa update as of March 23, 2020F

March 23, 2020 – Democratic Republic of Congo’s second largest city began a 48-hour lockdown and three more African countries led by Nigeria announced coronavirus fatalities Monday as the disease extended its reach south of the Sahara. More African...
Covid-19: Morocco deploys troops on the streetsF

Covid-19: Morocco deploys troops on the streetsF

Rabat, March 22, 2020 – Groups of Moroccans went out to pray and to protest in the streets at the weekend, defying orders to stay at home to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. Images shared on social networks and broadcast by local media showed people...
The latest development on Covid-19 [21 March update]F

The latest development on Covid-19 [21 March update]F

March 21, 2020 – Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis: Nearly one billion people confined to homes An estimated 900 million people are now confined to their homes in 35 countries around the world — including 600 million hemmed in by...
North Africa’s incomprehensible night curfewsF

Libya: Night-time curfew in Libya to thwart Covirus-19F

Tripoli, March 21, 2020 – Libya’s UN-recognised government declared a night-time curfew and closure of public spaces starting Sunday to keep the novel coronavirus out of areas it controls, while fighting continued south of the capital. The Tripoli-based...
Egypt suspends religious gatherings, shuts down mosques and churchesF

Egypt suspends religious gatherings, shuts down mosques and churchesF

Cairo, March 21, 2020 – Egypt’s religious authorities ordered Saturday the closure of all mosques and churches and banned communal prayer gatherings to try and stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. The decision taken by the ministry of religious...
Tunisia’s total confinement approachF

Tunisia’s total confinement approachF

Tunis, March 20, 2020 – Tunisian President Kais Saied on Friday declared a nationwide, round-the-clock self-isolation of inhabitants to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country, after an increase in confirmed cases. The start date and...
Algeria: The empty streets of AlgiersF

Algeria: The empty streets of AlgiersF

Algiers, March 20, 2020 – For the first time in over a year, the streets of the Algerian capital were quiet and almost empty on Friday, the day of weekly anti-government rallies. The coronavirus threat put paid to what would have been the 57th straight Friday of...
Africa: Beware of the chloroquine rush, warn NigeriansF

Africa: Beware of the chloroquine rush, warn NigeriansF

Lagos, March 20, 2020 – Authorities in Nigerian megacity Lagos said Friday that hospitals had seen cases of chloroquine poisoning after US President Donald Trump touted the drug as a treatment against the new coronavirus. Trump on Thursday said the anti-malarial...
Literature: The Plague by Albert CamusF

Literature: The Plague by Albert CamusF

Telecharger gratuirement la version Francaise en PDF  |  Download free English version in PDF 1346–1353 pandemic in Eurasia and North Africa The Black Death was a that occurred in from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the in human history; as many as 50 million people...
Africans doing their best to thwart Covid-19 in a tough environmentF

Africans doing their best to thwart Covid-19 in a tough environmentF

Lagos, March 20, 2020 (By Max Delany – Photo: Cape Town, Tim Johnson @timalanjohnson) – African countries led by Nigeria and South Africa have ramped up action against the coronavirus after the continent recorded its first fatality. Nigeria said Thursday...
Egypt: Government shuts down the countryF

Egypt: Government shuts down the countryF

Cairo, March 19, 2020 – Egypt on Thursday ordered the overnight closure of cafes, restaurants, nightclubs and sporting clubs to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. The decision, issued by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and carried in the official...
WHO does not have good news for Africa, sees “worse” aheadF

WHO does not have good news for Africa, sees “worse” aheadF

Ouagadougou, March 18, 2020 (AFP) – Sub-Saharan Africa on Wednesday recorded its first COVID-19 death, a high-ranking politician in Burkina Faso, as the head of the World Health Organisation urged the continent to “prepare for the worst”. ...
Moroccans brace for a period of “hibernation”F

Moroccans brace for a period of “hibernation”F

Rabat, March 18, 2020 – Morocco on Wednesday urged residents to stay home in an effort to contain the novel coronavirus, as a minister warned the country was in “economic hibernation”. The North African country has reported 49 COVID-19 cases,...
Despite global health crisis, Arab regimes continue to repressF

Despite global health crisis, Arab regimes continue to repressF

March 18, 2020 – Egyptian police arrested four prominent women dissidents Wednesday after they demanded the release of prisoners for fear of a coronavirus outbreaks in jails, their families said. The four activists and academics — sisters Mona, Laila and...
Covid-19:  Africa update as of March 23, 2020F

Sahel and Sub-Sahara’s first coronavirus deathF

Ouagadougou, March 18, 2020 (By Armel Baily with David Esnault in Abidjan) – Sub-Saharan Africa’s weeks-long reprieve from the fatal impact of the coronavirus came to an end on Wednesday as Burkina Faso announced the death of a 62-year-old woman who had...
Middle East countries urged to come clean about their covid19 numbersF

Middle East countries urged to come clean about their covid19 numbersF

Cairo, March 18, 2020 – The World Health Organization urged Middle Eastern governments Wednesday to be more forthcoming with information about new coronavirus infections in order to effectively combat the global pandemic. “We can only control this disease...