Algeria introduces unemployment grant, as president moves to curb potential social instability

By providing unemployment benefits to people between 19 to 40, the Algerian government seeks to contain growing discontent as the country continues to suffer from a series of shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic and re-occurring food shortages.
#algeria #unemployment

Africa 'on track' to control the Covid-19 pandemic, WHO says

African countries are on course to control the coronavirus and its emerging variants this year, the World Health Organization's regional head for the continent has said.
#africa #africancountries #who

The world's 10 richest men could pay for every Covid-19 vaccine from pandemic gains, Oxfam says

The wealth of the top 10 richest men in the world has grown so much during the pandemic that even a one-time 99% tax on their gains would be able to pay for the production of all the Covid-19 vaccines the world needs and more, according to charity Oxfam.
#covidvaccine #oxfam

North Koreans told to make 150kg of manure each from their own excrement

North Korea is asking its citizens to use their own faeces to make manure as the country faces widespread food shortages. The country has long sourced its agricultural manure from China, but that trade, along with a number of other goods, ceased after North Korea closed its borders at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
#covid #northkorea #foodshortage

Australian PM says no decision yet on Djokovic visa

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday his government has yet to decide on cancelling tennis superstar Novak Djokovic's visa. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke's earlier statement that he is pondering whether to tear up the visa "has not changed", Morrison told a news conference in Canberra on the Covid-19 pandemic.
#australia #pandemic #covid19

Tennis great Djokovic facing deportation after Australia cancels visa

Australia vowed to deport tennis world number one Novak Djokovic on Thursday, saying the vaccine-sceptic Serb failed to meet strict pandemic entry requirements.
#australia #novakdjokovic

Over 71 000 die of coronavirus in Russia in November

Russia's state statistics agency Rosstat said on Thursday that more than 71 000 people died of coronavirus in the country in November, setting a new fatality record since the start of the pandemic.
#russia #rosstat #coronavirus

Bill Gates Warns Of Terror-Sponsored Smallpox Pandemic, Seeks Research Funds

Bill Gates has warned that governments must prepare for future pandemics and smallpox terror attacks by investing billions in research and development. Mr Gates made the warning during a Policy Exchange interview with the chair of the Health Select Committee Jeremy Hunt.
#billgates #pandemic #smallpox

Boost for pubs as UK announces massive cut to beer taxes

British finance minister Rishi Sunak announced what he called the biggest cut in taxes on beer in decades and the most radical simplification of alcohol duties in over a century in a boost to pubs as they struggle to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
#britain #UK #beer #rishisunak

Pandemic 'far from finished': WHO

The Covid-19 crisis is far from over, the World Health Organisation's emergency committee said Tuesday as it called for research into next-generation vaccines for long-term control of the pandemic.
#pandemic #who #covid

Brazil Senators ask high court to bar Bolsonaro from social media

A Senate panel probing the Brazilian government's pandemic response asked the Supreme Court and prosecutor general's office Tuesday to suspend President Jair Bolsonaro from social media for falsely linking Covid-19 vaccines to AIDS.
#brazil #bolsonaro #covidvaccines

Russia is still being ravaged by Covid-19, with 1,000 deaths a day and only 33% vaccinated

Russia's Covid-19 death toll reached record highs this week, starkly illustrating how the nation has struggled to handle the pandemic.
#russia #coviddeath

Cape Verde, eyeing economic recovery, votes for new president

The West African archipelago nation of Cape Verde, one of the continent's most stable democracies, voted on Sunday for a new president who will be tasked with righting its tourism-driven economy after the Covid-19 pandemic sent growth cratering.
#capeverde #covid19 #pandemic #archipelago #tourism

Matt Hancock handed Africa role after UK Covid failings

Matt Hancock, the former UK health secretary whose handling of the pandemic was criticised in a Parliament report this week, was named as the United Nations’ special representative for Africa.
#matthancock #africa #ukhealth #covid

UK vaccine policy is sending wrong messages, Africa CDC says

The UK’s refusal to recognise Covid-19 vaccines administered in most parts of the world tells other countries it isn’t ready to work internationally on ways to end the pandemic, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
#UK #vaccine #africacentres #covid19

UK travel curbs hurt vaccine drive: Africa CDC

The African Union's health watchdog Thursday warned that Britain's pandemic travel restrictions could make people across the continent more reluctant to get vaccinated.
#africanunion #britain #UK #pandemic

A fifth of Nigeria’s workforce lost their jobs because of Covid-19

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in a fifth of Nigeria’s workforce losing their jobs, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics said.
#covid19 #coronavirus #Nigeria

Some 20% of Nigeria’s workers lost jobs to Covid

A new report published on Tuesday offers a grim assessment of how the Covid-19 pandemic has roiled Nigeria’s economy and had an uneven impact across both the formal and informal sectors.
#nigerianworkers #jobloss #covid

Cutting-edge company flies drones to deliver vaccines in Ghana

As the world continues its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a cutting-edge delivery company is flying drones to the remotest corners of Ghana in West Africa to deliver thousands of COVID-19 vaccines.
#ghana #drones #covid19vaccines #MissSouthAfrica