YAOUNDE, Cameroon

Bodies of seven people were found in the eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday.

The bodies of seven civilians were found in the morning in the Singipa area of Beni territory, in North Kivu province, a region that has been marred by violence for several years, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) stated in a tweet.

It added that more than 10 people are also missing.

"This brings the number of civilians killed in Beni territory since November 2019 to more than 1,200," it stated.

Though no group has claimed responsibility for the killings, a neighboring Ugandan rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), has been blamed for such attacks because the area around Beni has been a fiefdom for the group's attacks for over a year.

To contain armed groups, President Félix Tshisekedi declared a state of siege earlier this month in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, bordering Uganda.

The ADF rebels – originating in Uganda's northeast in the 1990s – have been attacking and killing civilians, as well as UN personnel in eastern DRC for the past years.

The modus operandi of these rebels is atypical: peasants are killed with knives, generally in the evening in the bush, returning from the fields or in the village at nightfall.

The exploitation of natural resources continues to be a root cause and driver of conflict in the east of the country, according to the UN.

Most of the militia groups have set aside their political demands and are involved in mineral trafficking./agencies

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Wednesday warned that over 1.7 million people in Somalia will lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation unless resources are provided to respond.

“If we do not get resources to respond; More than 1.7 million people will not have access to safe water and lack adequate sanitation. Lack of access to water will remain one of the leading causes of displacement, conflict, and disease in Somalia,” the OCHA Somalia tweeted Wednesday.

The OCHA also warned earlier on Tuesday that “the cost of inaction is too high,” stressing that without early funding, humanitarian aids dedicated for essential programs including food, nutritional activities, healthcare and livelihood will have to be stopped.

Early funding would help Somalia save more people from suffering and rescue progress achieved over the last decade from being lost, OCHA said.

Somalia, the Horn of Africa country of over 16 million people, has been suffering from climate shocks and drought, leaving thousands of people under the threat of displacement this year, according to an earlier report by Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in April.

“Once again Somalia is facing the prospect of serious drought. Water and pasture resources are depleting every day and resulting in people abandoning their homes with their livestock to search for better conditions,” Mohamed Abdi, NRC’s country director in Somalia, was quoted as saying in the report./aa

The UN urged “Israel” on Tuesday to fully open its Karem Abu Salem and Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossings to Palestinians so they could receive medical treatment and humanitarian supplies. 

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said during a press briefing that the Erez Crossing was open to international humanitarian aid workers but closed to Palestinians since May 11.

He added that among them were Palestinian humanitarian workers and those who need to leave Gaza for medical treatment.

Calling for the full opening of all border gates to Gaza, Dujarric said they should be kept open for humanitarian aid and Palestinians in need of treatment.

“We reiterate the need for all crossings into Gaza to be opened and stay open. This is essential for the entrance of humanitarian supplies, including fuel for basic services and supplies to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Opening the crossings will also ensure the exit of patients who need life-saving treatment and the crossing of Palestinian humanitarian personnel who are critical to the response,” he said.​​​​​​​/agencies

The US health secretary called for a second phase study into the origins of the novel coronavirus Tuesday but made no mention of a pandemic treaty supported by the European Union and the head of the World Health Organization (WHO). 

"Phase 2 of the COVID origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent, science-based and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak," said Xavier Becerra, who spoke virtually on the second day of the World Health Assembly (WHA).

In March, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus called for further studies after the release of an inconclusive report on an international team's field visit to Wuhan, China to research the origins of COVID-19, citing difficulties accessing raw data.

The US official also reiterated the US demand for the inclusion of Taiwan as an observer at the WHA.

Global collaboration

"Global collaboration will be key in tackling the many challenges still before us. Collaboration with non-state actors must continue, and we must invite Taiwan to be a part of the World Health Assembly as an observer," said Becerra.

China's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Chen Xu, later Tuesday attacked the US and Japanese delegations for calling for Taiwan's inclusion as an observer the day after the WHA had rejected the call.

He said they were challenging the "one China principle," which he said Taiwan refuses to accept.

"China protests and resolutely opposes this," said Chen, asserting that China views Taiwan as one of its provinces.

"Some countries manipulated Taiwan-related issues in order to create two Chinas," said the Chinese envoy, and were interfering in China's internal issues and "would never succeed."

Becerra spoke the day after Tedros Ghebreyesus expressed his "deep appreciation" to President Joe Biden for reversing the decision to take the United States out of the WHO and for donating $4 billion to the COVAX Facility, a global risk-sharing mechanism that seeks to procure, equitably allocate and deliver 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021 to less-developed countries.

He also thanked the US for its announcement that it will donate 80 million vaccine doses globally – the largest contribution announced – and for supporting discussions on an intellectual property waiver on vaccines.

Accountability and oversight

Becerra also called for improved global triggers so all countries take swift action toward the next biological threat with strong accountability and oversight.

"And we must also do more to understand our current pandemic and look forward toward detecting, preparing and responding to future biological threats," said the US official.

He made no mention however of a pandemic treaty touted to help fight any future pandemic.

US Vice President Kamala Harris had said last week in a virtual speech for the Global Health Assembly in Rome that the Biden administration understands the intent of a treaty, but it "believes that we need to first strengthen our foundation."

Tedros had said Monday that "we can only address that fundamental weakness with a binding commitment between nations to provide a solid foundation for enhanced cooperation – a treaty on pandemic preparedness and response that can address the challenges."

The head of the EU delegation to the UN in Geneva, Lotte Knudsen, told the WHA that neither individual governments nor the global community can entirely prevent pandemics.

"This is why we are committed to work towards an international treaty on pandemics that would promote political commitment at the highest level," said Knudsen.

China, Russia and the United States have been absent from discussions on the pandemic treaty./aa

Two earthquakes struck the landlocked East African nation of Rwanda on Tuesday, according to local officials. 

The first magnitude 5.3 tremor left cracks in roads and houses in the western district of Rubavu bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The country has experienced repeated quakes said to have been triggered by a recent volcano eruption in the DRC.

The first quake hit at 11.03 a.m. (0903GMT), followed by a 4.9 tremor at 2.16 p.m. (1216GMT).

Dozens of Rwandans have been displaced after the quakes ruined houses, according to a local leader.

The earthquakes left major cracks in residential and commercial buildings, schools, and several unpaved and tarmac roads, Gilbert Habyarimana told reporters.

He said dozens of residents have abandoned their homes, while others spend nights outside, fearing the structures could collapse at any time.

Residents of the village of Isangano in particular were advised to relocate to safe areas, while the main market in Rubavu and schools are closed and students have been asked to stay away.

Nearly 500 Congolese entered Rwanda, fleeing the earthquakes on Tuesday, according to authorities.

Mt. Nyiragongo in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupted late Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents in Goma, North Kivu to flee to Rwanda.

According to Congolese authorities, the eruption led to the death of at least 32 people, while 2,000 households were destroyed.

The UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) said since the eruption, it has conducted eight helicopter reconnaissance flights and two drone flights above the crater to monitor the volcano's activity.

More than half a million people have lost access to safe water after lava destroyed one of the most important water supply sources, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross./aa

Zambia announced on Tuesday that the country has vaccinated all Chinese expatriates living in the country with Sinopharm doses provided by Beijing.

China had provided 13,600 vaccines for its nationals and promised to donate 100,000 more for Zambians. However, the additional Sinopharm vaccines have yet to be delivered to the Southern African nation.

Kennedy Malama, a senior official from the Ministry of Health, said in a statement released in the capital Lusaka that 138,799 Zambians have received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility in the first phase.

During the first phase of the vaccination campaign, 20% of the population, or 3.6 million people over the age of 18, were meant to get shots.

However, midway through the vaccination exercise, which started last month, Zambia had to limit shots due to rising demand in India, a source said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

“To date, the Sinopharm vaccination has been paused as all individuals scheduled to receive their second dose have been vaccinated. On the AstraZeneca front, we paused and have been reconciling data, which will be completed this week and overall status ascertained,” he said.

Zambia currently has reported 93,428 COVID-19 cases, including one of the latest Indian variants, and 1,271 deaths./aa

An informal partnership of five countries including Turkey voiced commitment on Tuesday to the World Health Organization (WHO) in supporting the global response to the pandemic, "one of the most serious global health crises of modern times."

MIKTA members Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia released a statement at the 74th World Health Assembly underlining that their highest priority was to ensure "timely, global, and equitable access to affordable, safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for the global public good, so that no one is left behind."

The group added that access to the vaccines was "an important pathway to saving lives, reopening economies, and restoring stability" and recognized the "fundamental role" of initiatives like the COVAX facility in providing vaccine access, especially for low and middle-income economies.

"These initiatives have advanced challenging and complex research and development at great pace and contributed to scaling up manufacturing. These efforts have been one of the key foundations of international response to COVID-19," said MIKTA.

Praising front-line health workers for their "extraordinary dedication" in the fight against the pandemic, it voiced readiness "to contribute to strengthening the global community's ability to prevent and mitigate future epidemics and pandemics."

The group affirmed that "all WHO Member States should work together in considering the benefits of developing a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response, under the coordination of WHO." ​​​​​​​

Established in 2013, MIKTA is an informal partnership consisting of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia.

All five countries in the group, which was established in 2013, are G20 members recognized as middle-power countries in international diplomacy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 3.4 million lives in 192 countries and regions, with more than 167.3 million cases reported worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Vaccinations began in December 2020 but inequity in their access has been criticized by the WHO and others time and again.

According to Our World in Data, more than 1.67 billion doses of vaccines have been administered globally.

The WHO and others have created COVAX, a global vaccine-sharing program, but it remains underfunded and has faced supply shortages./aa

A Turkish military plane carrying medical supplies to fight COVID-19 left on Tuesday for India’s capital New Delhi, Turkey's Defense Ministry announced on Twitter.

The plane was carrying medical supplies, including 630 oxygen tubes, five oxygen generators, 50 ventilators, and 50,000 boxes of tablet medicines prepared by the Turkish Red Crescent and Turkey’s Health Ministry.

The boxes of aid bore the words of 13th-century poet Mevlana Rumi – "There is hope after despair and many suns after darkness" – plus the message: "With love from Turkey to the people of India."

Ibrahim Altan, head of the Turkish Red Crescent, told reporters that they sent the aid at the orders of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and with help from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry along with the ministries of health, industry and technology, and defense.

Referring to Turkish-Indian ties dating back well over a century, Altan added: “India sent aid to our country during both the Balkan Wars and the War of Independence and has always stood with us in trying times. Today, we are sending aid to them.”

India recorded more than 3,511 fatalities in the last 24 hours as the overall coronavirus death toll reached 307,231, according to data compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.

Daily cases fell to 196,427, pushing the country’s total to 26.94 million, the data showed./aa

 Kenya on Tuesday confirmed 14 COVID-19-related deaths and 382 infections in last 24 hours after doing 3,719 tests across the country of 55 million people.

Since last year Kenya’s Health Ministry has confirmed a total of 3,087 COVID-19-related deaths and 168,925 infections after doing nearly 1.79 million tests across the East African country, the ministry said in its latest update.

The ministry also confirmed more than 1,134 recoveries from the virus, bringing the number of confirmed recoveries so far to 115,813.

On Kenya’s vaccination campaign, the ministry said that, as of Tuesday, a total of 957,804 people have so far been vaccinated nationwide, including 561,649 people age 58 and above, 164,369 healthcare workers, 150,807 teachers, and 80,979 security officers.

On Monday, Senator Mutahi Kagwe, a top health official, stressed during a virtual meeting of the 74th World Health Assembly the need to establish local and regional manufacturing of vaccines to fight the shortage Africa is suffering in vaccines from abroad.

“We must step up regional and local manufacturing of vaccines by facilitating and fast-tracking regulatory and prequalification for local production, especially in Africa in WHO processes,” he said./agencies