Africa tops 3 million COVID-19 cases, 72K deaths, agency says
JOHANNESBURG — Africa passed the milestone of 3 million confirmed cases COVID-19 on Sunday, including more than 72,000 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Africa, with more than 1.2 million reported cases, including 32,824 deaths, accounts for more than 30% of the total for the continent of 54countries and 1.3 billion people.
South Africa is battling a resurgence of the disease, driven by a variant of the virus that is morecontagious and spreading quickly.
South Africa’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen over the past two weeks from 19.86 new cases per 100,000 people Dec. 26 to 30.18 new cases per 100,000 people Jan. 9, according to Johns Hopkins University.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will meet with his Cabinet this week to consider if further restrictions should be taken to slow the spread of the disease, while balancing the need to encourage economic growth. Thegovernmenthas already reimposed measures including a ban on the sales of liquor, the closure of bars and restricting the number of people who can attend public gatherings.
Later in January, South Africa expects to receive its first delivery of a vaccine, 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca shot. The government said its first priority will be to inoculate the country’s 1.25 million health workers. It expects to receive more vaccines through the WHO’s COVAX initiative in April.
Capitol officer dead: Four days after a violent mob stormed the Capitol, overrunning its police force, an officer who was assigned to protect the Senate during the siege died off duty, the Capitol Police announced Sunday.
The Capitol Police union said that Officer Howard Liebengood, a 15-year veteran of the force, “was among the officers who responded to the rioting at the U.S. Capitol” onWednesday, when insurrectionists incited by President Donald Trump attacked the seat of U.S. government.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to Officer Liebengood’s family, and we mourn the death of a friend and colleague who worked alongside us to protect the lives of the members of Congress, their staff and all who serve at the U.S. Capitol,” the statement from the union said.
Liebengood, 51, had been a Capitol Police officer since 2005andwasassigned to the agency’s Senate division. His father, whoshared his name, served as the sergeant-atarms, the chief security official, of the Senate from 1981 to 1983. Liebengood is the second Capitol Police officer to die in the aftermath of the riot.
In a statement Sunday, the Capitol Police said only that Liebengood’s death took place “off duty” but did not provide the cause or answer further questions.
Congo park rangers: Gunmen have killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack in the part of eastern Congo that is home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas, officials said Sunday.
The violence took place in Nyamitwitwi, in the Rutshuru area of the park, said Olivier Mukisya,
Indonesian crash: Search and rescue divers on Sunday find part of a Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 that crashed shortly after taking off Saturday from Jakarta into the Java Sea with 62 people on board. There were no survivors. Authorities said they have the location of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder after emergency signals were detected.
spokesman for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though past attacks on Virunga park rangers have been blamed on several armed groups that vie for control of eastern Congo’s natural resources. Among those rebel groups is the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, known by its French acronym FDLR, an ethnic Hutu group opposed to the government of neighboring Rwanda and one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in the Congo.
Dam dispute: Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia failed to achieve a breakthrough in the African Union-led talks to revolve their yearslong dispute over the controversial dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, the three countries announced on Sunday.
Foreign and irrigation
ministers of the three nations met online for the second time in a week in efforts to find an agreed approach to resume their talks focused on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam.
Ethiopia is building the dam on the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan to becometheNile River, and about 85% of the river’s flow originates from Ethiopia. Officials hope the dam, now more than 75% complete, will reach full power-generating capacity in 2023, helping pull millions of its people out of poverty.
Hong Kong arrests: The foreign ministers of Australia, the United States, Great Britain and Canada issued a joint statement Sunday expressing “serious concern” about the arrest of 55 democracy activists and supporters in Hong Kong last week.
The arrests were by far the largest such action taken under a national security law
that China imposed on the semi-autonomous territory just over six months ago.
“It is clear that the National Security Law is being used to eliminate dissent and opposing political views,” the four foreign ministers said.
The Chinese and Hong Kong governments say the law is needed to restore order in a city that was rocked in 2019 by months of often violent anti-government protests demanding greater democracy.
Spanish snowstorm: Emergency crews in central Spain cleared 500 roads and rescued over 1,500 people stranded in their vehicles, allowing Madrid and other areas Sunday to slowly shovel out of the country’s worst snowstorm in recent memory.
After recording 20 inches of snow in the Spanish capital between Friday night and Saturday, Madrid and a large swathe of the coun
try remained impassable Sunday, with roads, rail lines and air travel disrupted by Storm Filomena. The blizzard has been blamed for four deaths.
Deadlylandslides: Twolandslides set off by heavy rainfall and unstable soil killed at least 12 people on Java, Indonesia’s most populous island, and left rescue workers searching for survivors, disaster officials said Sunday.
The landslides Saturday also destroyed a bridge and cut off several roads in the West Java village of Cihanjuang.
Alocal disaster official said Sunday that rescuers were still attempting to determine howmanypeopleweremissing. Eighteen people were reported injured.
Deadly landslides are common in Indonesia, where deforestation and illegal small- scale gold mining operations often contribute to unstable soil conditions.