NAIROBI, KENYA — Experts warn the war in Ukraine could increase hunger and food insecurity for some people in Africa. Most African countries import wheat and vegetable oil from Ukraine and Russia, a region now engulfed in conflict since Russia invaded its neighbor.   African families are feeling the pinch as prices of essential commodities increase due to persistent drought,

The first injection to offer long-lasting protection against HIV is being rolled out in South Africa and Brazil, as an alternative to daily medication, according to the UN agency UNITAID.   Hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNITAID announced the groundbreaking development on Friday, which it is hoped will boost HIV prevention worldwide.   Developed by ViiV Healthcare and

The World Health Organization says Africa’s COVID-19 vaccinations rose by 15% between January and February, as several countries embarked on mass inoculation drives to expand coverage and protect populations from the pandemic. Zimbabwe’s government says it is launching a “national vaccination blitz” targeting those who have not yet been vaccinated in a country where resistance to the shots has been

The Chinese city of Shenzhen is in lockdown, following an uptick in COVID-19 cases. Shenzhen, often described as China’s Silicon Valley, is home to several Apple suppliers, including Foxconn. The city’s public transportation has closed, and residents are being tested. Meanwhile, former U.S. president Barack Obama has tested positive for COVID, but his wife Michelle has not. Both are vaccinated.

 BEIJING — Mainland China posted a steep jump in daily COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, with new symptomatic cases more than doubling from a day earlier to a two-year high as a virus outbreak expanded rapidly in the country’s northeast. A total of 3,507 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms were reported on Monday across more than a dozen provinces and municipalities,

A Malian delegation is expected in Mauritania’s capital Friday to discuss the alleged disappearance of several Mauritanians on Malian territory. The delegation is scheduled to arrive in Nouakchott after the Mauritanian government accused Mali of “criminal acts” against Mauritanians on Malian territory. According to a French news agency report, a Mauritanian member of parliament, Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Henenna, says at

Aid groups say the number of people displaced by conflict in Burkina Faso in January spiked to 160,000, bringing the total displaced in the country to 1.7 million. The aid groups worry the crisis stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will draw much-needed humanitarian funding away from Africa’s Sahel region. The spike in displacements comes amid a six-year conflict with

Intercommunal clashes, mostly involving cattle, have killed nearly 70 people across various parts of South Sudan in the past week, according to witnesses and officials. In the most recent attack, 14 people were killed and 13 injured during a cattle raid Monday in Duk County, according to authorities in South Sudan’s central-eastern state of Jonglei. Jonglei’s acting governor, Tuong Majok,

The French army says it has killed one of the leaders of al-Qaida in Mali. The news comes as French forces are preparing to withdraw from the country. The French army said in a press release Monday that Algerian Yahia Djouadi, one of the leaders of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, was killed during the night of February 25-26. The

The U.N. children’s agency says it is procuring nearly seven million doses of polio vaccine to inoculate children in Malawi. The action follows a confirmed polio case last month in Malawi’s capital, the first reported in Africa in five years and the first in Malawi in decades. Malawi had last reported a polio case in 1992. The country was declared