Headlines
As hospitals in New York treat the flood of patients with COVID and as people wear masks and gloves to grocery stores and banks, discarded Personal Protection Equipment dumped in the city’s streets is becoming a health and environmental hazard
Hayat Dakhil Murad — a young Yazidi woman who fled the Islamic State (IS) attack on Sinjar in 2014 to the Sharya Refugee Camp in the Kurdistan Region’s Dohuk province — has found solace in painting the realities of her people’s ordeal in Iraq
It’s been 10 years since Azimjon Askarov was arrested by Kyrgyz security forces in connection with ethnic Uzbek-Kyrgyz clashes that first erupted in the city of Osh. The violence left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. His wife, Khadicha Askarova, told RFE/RL that in that time “our grandchildren have been born. Some of them have passed away.” A court in Bishkek recently upheld the ethnic Uzbek human rights activist’s life sentence, despite international pressure for his release
Some parts of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, have been without running water for weeks, after a landslide destroyed a water pipe, making frequent handwashing for coronavirus prevention a challenge. Water distribution points have been set up to help tens of thousands of Kenyans to cope. But the gatherings to collect rationed water risks exposing more people to the virus
After a few fits and starts, South Africa will gradually open schools this coming week, and feelings are mixed about the event as students between 7th and 12th grade go in first. Is it safe? Is it too soon, or overdue?
Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, is now reopening its most renowned tourist attractions to international visitors. But these sites will not be seeing the crowds of the past for some time even though the country is open for business
Zuhura Hassan is a mother in Tanzania struggling to keep her son safe during the pandemic. Zuhura’s son, a 5-year-old boy named Hayyan Hamoud, is one of the estimated 11,000 Tanzanian children who are born with sickle cell disease each year. SCD is a blood disorder that leads to immunity deficiency. This puts Hayyan Hammnd into a high-risk group that could become more severely compromised by COVID-19 should it infect him
Protesters in Baltimore, Maryland, are taking to the streets in support of a black man who died in police custody more than a thousand miles away. Baltimore is no stranger to protest – even rioting – after its own troubles with alleged police brutality
The World Health Organization has warned that malaria deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa could double this year to 769,000 due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Nigeria has the highest cases of malaria in the world but with the global focus on controlling the spread of COVID-19, many malaria patients are not getting to hospitals and intervention could fall through the cracks. Nigerian technology startup Wellahealth is trying to bridge the gap with rapid malaria testing. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Ghanaians have been heading to a plant research center outside the capital, Accra, to hand scientists and researchers’ herbal products and plants they think will help cure the coronavirus — or at least alleviate symptoms. About 70 % of Ghanaians depend on herbal remedies for their healthcare. Last year, general hospitals began integrating the practitioners and training them to incorporate scientific methods into their work