Across the 54 Countries in Africa, these are the 5 top stories you may have missed:
Algeria: Thousands defy curfew as protest resurge
About 2,000 Algerians rallied against the government Tuesday, 2nd March, in defiance of the imposed lockdown measures, as their two-year-old pro-democracy protest movement resurges – Africa News reports
It’s been barely a week where young protesters accompanied by lecturers and other supporters poured through central Algiers, shouting slogans demanding “a free and democratic Algeria” and an end to the military’s domination of the North African country. For this week’s protest, protesters marched through the narrow streets of the Casbah in order to evade police cordons set up along the normal route of the once-regular student-led Tuesday marches.
HIV findings in DR Congo ‘give hope for a cure’
The discovery of a large group of people whose bodies naturally control HIV without medication is leading experts to believe in the arrival of an eventual cure – BBC Africa reports
The study found that as many as 4% of HIV carriers in the Democratic Republic of Congo were able to suppress the virus without drugs. Typically less than 1% of people with HIV are able to do so.
Zambia to recruit more health workers in COVID-19 fight
Jonas Chanda, Zambia’s Minister of Health, has announced plans to recruit 395 health workers to reduce the burden on the existing workforce crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic – News Central Africa reports
The Minister confirmed that President Edgar Lungu had authorised the hiring of more health workers as part of the COVID-19 response.
“The epidemiology of the COVID-19 has contributed to an unprecedented increase in the demands on the healthcare workforce, and simultaneously diminished health worker supply,” he said in a statement.
Nigeria: Buhari declares Zamfara No Flight Zone
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, in a bid to put an end to banditry that has ravaged Zamfara and neighbouring North-west and North-central states, has declared the state a no-fly-zone – Premium Times reports
Babagana Monguno, The National Security Adviser, disclosed this to journalists at the end of the National Security Council meeting held in the Presidential Villa. According to Babagana, the president also banned all mining activities in the state. He had announced a similar ban in 2019.
Mozambique: Army, private firm, fighters accused of war crimes
Amnesty International has accused some fighters, government forces and a “private militia” backing the authorities to have reportedly indiscriminately killed hundreds of civilians in an escalating conflict in northeastern Mozambique – Aljazeera Africa reports
Part of the report read “all three have committed war crimes, causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians.”
