You are watching Africa 54, your daily news and feature magazine-style program, from the Voice of America. Host Esther Githui-Ewart and a team of correspondents zero in on the big stories making news on the continent and around the world with context and analysis.
Top Stories:
The total number of COVID-19 infections continues to soar and has now topped the 17-million mark, with nearly 670,000 deaths. The United States continues to lead the world in both categories. With more than 4.4 million total confirmed cases, the U.S. reached another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday when it passed 150,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that it could authorize the emergency use of an experimental coronavirus vaccine within a matter of weeks, once it meets efficiency standards. The Wall Street Journal says the vaccine is derived from antibody-rich plasma from recovered coronavirus patients. Anti-bodies are proteins made by the body’s immune system to fight off a virus.
As the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Nigeria increases, contact tracing of patients in the country’s communities is becoming more difficult for health officials. Nigeria's presidential task force committee on COVID-19 is criticizing Nigerians who refuse to assist contact tracers due to fear and stigma. But in some communities, local leaders are stepping up to help the tracers do their job.
Cases of COVID-19 are increasing daily in the Palestinian West Bank, with the city of Hebron emerging as the virus epicenter. The health and economic crisis have worsened after the Palestinian authority severed ties with Israel, in protest of Israeli plans to annex parts of the west bank. The World Bank announced a 30-million-dollar grant for emergency aid to the west bank and to create more jobs.
The U.S. military is accusing Russia of sending weapons and mercenaries to Libya in an attempt to gain a foothold in the north African country. U.S. Africa command's latest accusation against Russia came on July 24th, as Libya’s rival camps faced-off in a battle over the strategic central coastal city of Sirte.
U.S. congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis, is being laid to rest after a funeral service in Atlanta, Georgia. Former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are expected to be among the mourners at the funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church, a historic site where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Preached. Obama is expected to speak at the service. Lewis died last week from pancreatic cancer at the age of 80.
Nigeria is not known for chocolate. One entrepreneur wants to change that. In the west African nation’s commercial capital Lagos, Femi Oyedipe's locally produced chocolate is now competing on the shelves with foreign imports that dominate the market.
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