Global Pulse

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  • Three Ebola vaccines in development amid growing outbreak fears

    Three Ebola vaccines in development amid growing outbreak fears

    A rapidly spreading outbreak of a rare, lethal strain of Ebola, the Bundibugyo species, has sparked an urgent global push to develop targeted vaccines, with three leading research and industry groups racing to deliver viable candidates to stem a crisis that has already claimed nearly 250 lives. Public health experts warn this outbreak, which emerged undetected in a conflict-stricken region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with severely limited healthcare infrastructure, could become the most devastating Ebola event on record, rivaling the 2014–2016 West African crisis that killed more than 11,000 people.

    As of the latest update, more than 1,000 suspected Bundibugyo Ebola cases have been recorded in the DRC, with nine confirmed cases already detected in neighboring Uganda, raising fears of cross-border spread. Unlike the more common Zaire Ebola strain, for which an approved vaccine already exists, Bundibugyo is one of six known Ebola species that has only caused two documented outbreaks in history, and no licensed countermeasures currently exist for it.

    The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is providing funding to all three ongoing vaccine development projects, with CEPI CEO Dr Richard Hatchett emphasizing that “every day counts” in the race to contain the virus. Each project leverages different cutting-edge vaccine technologies, many refined and proven during the global COVID-19 pandemic, to target the unique glycoprotein structure on the surface of the Bundibugyo virus.

    The International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is leading one effort, adapting the existing approved Zaire Ebola vaccine to target the new strain. Preclinical testing in non-human primates has already shown promising results: the modified candidate rapidly primes the immune system and delivered nearly 100% protection against Bundibugyo. IAVI president and CEO Dr Mark Feinberg noted that while early data leaves his team optimistic about the vaccine’s potential, the candidate currently remains seven to nine months away from entering human clinical trials, though researchers are working aggressively to shorten that timeline. Feinberg echoed widespread public health warnings, saying the outbreak “is clearly threatening to be as severe an outbreak as [the 2014–2016 West African event], if not even worse”, making vaccine development an urgent global priority. That assessment aligns with warnings from medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières, which has described the situation as “deeply alarming”, noting the outbreak has already produced more confirmed cases in its early stages than any previous Bundibugyo event.

    A second candidate is being developed by US pharmaceutical giant Moderna, which is drawing on its mRNA technology that enabled rapid vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the company would “move with urgency and scientific rigor to support the response and help bring a potential vaccine closer to the communities that need it most”.

    The third candidate is being developed by the University of Oxford, which also adapted its established viral vector vaccine platform – first used at scale for COVID-19 – to create a new targeted Ebola vaccine. The Oxford team projects their candidate will be ready for human clinical trials in just two to three months, a significantly faster timeline than the IAVI project.

    While all three candidates are designed to train the human immune system to recognize the Bundibugyo glycoprotein, they use distinct technological approaches: IAVI’s candidate uses a live, harmless engineered virus that displays the Ebola glycoprotein to teach the immune system to recognize the threat, while both Moderna’s mRNA vaccine and Oxford’s viral vector vaccine deliver a small fragment of genetic code that instructs the body’s own cells to produce the glycoprotein, triggering an immune response. Differences in how these technologies activate the immune system may impact the level of protection they provide or the number of doses required, so all candidates will require rigorous testing in human clinical trials to confirm safety and efficacy. The outbreak has already drawn widespread concern from global health bodies, with World Health Organization director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noting that a safe, effective Bundibugyo vaccine would not only help control the current crisis but also strengthen global preparedness for future outbreaks of this rare but deadly pathogen.

  • The schoolgirl who became world champion at 14

    The schoolgirl who became world champion at 14

    At just 15 years old, Farida Khalil of Egypt has carved out a place in sporting history that most elite athletes twice her age can only dream of achieving. In a single 2024 season, the teenage phenomenon claimed every major global title in modern pentathlon, sweeping all three youth divisions before stunning the sporting world by taking home the senior women’s World Championship gold in August 2024. The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), the sport’s global governing body, has labeled Khalil’s unprecedented clean sweep the “Farida Slam,” a feat never before recorded in modern pentathlon competition.

    What sets Khalil apart beyond her historic trophy haul is the relentless commitment she brings to a grueling multi-discipline sport that combines fencing, swimming, running, shooting, and a newly added obstacle race. For the young champion, the variety of modern pentathlon is one of its greatest draws. “I love that difference, that I’m not going to stay fixed on one discipline,” Khalil told BBC Arabic in a recent interview. Her rise to the top of global rankings has been a true family effort, with her father Mohamed Abu Hashem serving as her head coach since she began competing.

    Abu Hashem emphasizes that Khalil’s success is no happy accident, but the product of years of deliberate sacrifice and unwavering persistence. “Raising a champion in your home, a world champion, is not easy at all,” he explained. “It’s not about luck. It is persistence, years of effort, endurance and big sacrifices.” Khalil’s daily routine bears this out: she wakes at 5 a.m. long before the sun rises over Cairo, kicking off each day with two hours of swimming, followed by two hours of running, and fits up to 14 hours of total training into most days, with only short breaks for lunch and academic tutoring. While her school is located just north of the Egyptian capital, her packed training schedule means she can only attend classes part-time, but when she does join her peers, her status as the world’s youngest number-one-ranked athlete precedes her. “My friends at school are always proud that they are walking around with a world champion – walking with the youngest girl to become world number one,” Khalil says.

    Khalil’s emergence as modern pentathlon’s breakout new star could not have come at a more pivotal moment for the sport. Just a few years ago, modern pentathlon faced the threat of being removed from the Olympic Games following a high-profile incident at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where video emerged of a German coach striking a horse that refused to jump during the show jumping discipline. In response, the UIPM voted in November 2021 to replace show jumping with an obstacle race, a change that would take full effect after the 2024 Paris Olympics. This revamped format was used for the first time at the 2025 World Championships in Lithuania, where Khalil claimed her historic senior gold. The young champion is a vocal supporter of the sport’s evolution, noting that the new discipline brings fresh energy to modern pentathlon for both athletes and fans. “I love the idea that our sport is evolving and becoming more appealing to young athletes like me,” she told Olympics.com.

    Today, Khalil hones her craft at Cairo’s El Shams Sporting Club, where she trains under her father’s watchful eye alongside a new generation of young Egyptian pentathletes. Wearing her black Team Egypt shirt emblazoned with a golden image of the falcon-headed Egyptian sky god Horus, she navigates obstacle courses with incredible speed and agility, springing from metal platforms to swing hand-over-hand across overhead ladders as part of her daily training. Abu Hashem says every minute of his daughter’s schedule is intentional, as the pair work toward a shared big dream of Olympic gold. “We are building a big dream, so every minute has to count. This spirit is what makes Farida different from others all over the world,” he says.

    Khalil’s rapid rise through the competitive ranks began just four years ago, when she started competing in youth championships in 2021. She notched wins so consistently against youth competitors that her team quickly moved her up to face senior competition, where she continued to dominate. “We found we were winning with very competitive scores,” Abu Hashem explained. “I started calculating the world records and found that Farida can break them very easily.” Now, father and daughter have their sights set on gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a goal that builds on Egypt’s already impressive legacy in modern pentathlon.

    Egypt first emerged as a global pentathlon powerhouse at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, where Ahmed Elgendy and Salma Abdelmaksoud claimed men’s and women’s individual gold respectively. Elgendy went on to win Egypt’s first senior Olympic medal in the sport with a silver at Tokyo 2020, then upgraded that to a gold medal and a new world record at the 2024 Paris Games. Just hours before Khalil claimed her historic World Championship gold last August, Egyptian athlete Moutaz Mohamed became the first African man to win an individual world title in the sport.

    “Egypt has become a powerhouse in this sport,” Sherif El Erian, president of the Egyptian Modern Pentathlon Federation (EMPF) and UIPM vice president, told the BBC. “This has come through years and years of hard work. It’s like all of Egypt is training.” Khalil’s breakthrough success has only boosted the federation’s momentum: Cairo will host the 2028 World Championships, which will also serve as an official Olympic qualifying event.

    Off the competition course, Khalil has embraced her role as an inspiration for young athletes across Egypt and beyond. In 2023, UNICEF named her a Shabab Balad (Youth of the Country) champion, recognizing her as “a true inspiration and source of pride” for young people across the nation. Today, she often receives requests for advice from aspiring athletes both inside and outside the world of pentathlon, and she makes time to support anyone who wants to follow in her footsteps. “I am very happy when I see someone who wants to do what I did,” she says. “Of course I help them. I help everyone who needs advice.”

  • Protesters in Kenya call for national crisis declaration over gender-based violence

    Protesters in Kenya call for national crisis declaration over gender-based violence

    On a tense Monday in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, hundreds of women marched through downtown streets to amplify urgent demands for government intervention into a steep rise in gender-based violence (GBV) and the targeted killing of women, known as femicide. What began as a peaceful but impassioned demonstration drew heavy public attention, with participants carrying hand-painted placards emblazoned with slogans including “Stop Killing Women” and a symbolic empty coffin to honor victims who have been killed. Protesters also used the rally to raise public awareness of a string of unexplained child disappearances and murders that have shaken local communities over the past several weeks, with uniformed police officers assigned to escort the march throughout its route.

    The demonstration was triggered by the brutal recent killing of a local Kenyan singer, who was doused in petrol and set on fire by an attacker before dying of her injuries. In response to growing public anger, women’s rights advocacy groups have spent weeks sounding the alarm over the climbing GBV caseload across the country, calling on the Kenyan government to formally declare the crisis a national emergency to unlock emergency funding and coordinated policy action.

    Lobby groups originally gave the government a 40-day ultimatum to implement concrete reforms on May 21, threatening escalated nationwide protests if officials failed to act. But the early outbreak of public demonstrations in Nairobi shows that activists have grown frustrated with the slow pace of official response, choosing to mobilize sooner than planned.

    Following mounting pressure, Kenya’s national police force announced on May 23 that it had assembled a new specialized investigative task force dedicated to addressing gender-based violence. The unit brings together cross-disciplinary experts, including criminal intelligence analysts, forensic specialists, veteran homicide detectives, and other specialized personnel to streamline investigations into GBV cases. Law enforcement officials also noted that the vast majority of reported GBV incidents are tied to domestic disputes, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and unresolved family conflicts.

    Data from the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya underscores the scale of the crisis: the organization’s three regional offices in Nairobi, the coastal port city of Mombasa, and the lakeside city of Kisumu receive an average of 70 new gender-based violence cases every week, a figure that activists say points to a widespread underreporting of abuse across the country. For the women who marched on Monday, the demonstration is just the first step in a sustained campaign to force systemic change and end the cycle of violence targeting women and children in Kenya.

  • African EV firm Spiro raises $215 million for electric mobility expansion

    African EV firm Spiro raises $215 million for electric mobility expansion

    Nairobi, Kenya – African electric mobility startup Spiro has announced it has closed a $215 million equity financing round, with backing from cross-continental institutional investors to fuel its aggressive expansion of battery-swapping infrastructure and electric vehicle operations across the African continent.

    The new capital injection, which counts Denmark’s Impact Fund among its lead backers, highlights the rapidly growing global investor interest in Africa’s emerging clean transport and renewable energy sectors, a space that has gained increasing attention as governments across the continent pursue decarbonization and energy security goals.

    For Spiro, the fresh funding marks the start of a new high-growth phase after a transformative 12 months for the company. Gagan Gupta, Spiro’s founder and chair of parent firm Equitane, framed the past year as a defining strategic milestone for the business in an official statement. Currently active in seven African markets – Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon – Spiro has already deployed 100,000 electric vehicles and 2,500 smart battery-swapping stations, turning what was once a niche sustainable mobility concept into an affordable, accessible option for daily use across multiple regions. Gupta emphasized that the company’s next chapter will center on bringing affordable clean transport alternatives to millions of riders across the continent.

    Spiro did not disclose the company’s valuation tied to this latest financing round. What the startup did outline is its clear roadmap for the new capital: the funds will go toward expanding its existing battery-swapping network, scaling up local manufacturing and vehicle assembly operations, and accelerating entry into two new target markets, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.

    This funding round closes at a pivotal moment for African sustainable transport. Many governments across the continent are actively working to cut reliance on costly imported fossil fuels, boost domestic energy security, and modernize overstretched urban transportation systems. These policy shifts come as global fuel prices remain volatile and consumer demand for low-cost mobility options continues to rise alongside rapid urban population growth.

    Lars Bo Bertram, CEO of Denmark’s Impact Fund, noted that the investment signals broad confidence in the long-term growth potential of Africa’s electric mobility market. Two-wheeled vehicles, particularly electric motorcycles, have emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments for clean transport in Africa, where motorcycles already dominate urban passenger mobility and last-mile delivery services across most major cities.

    Unlike many foreign EV entrants that rely on imported fully assembled vehicles, Spiro has built local production capacity across key markets, operating manufacturing facilities in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as a purpose-built battery recycling plant in Nigeria. The company also highlights tangible cost savings for riders: users of Spiro’s electric motorcycles can cut their daily transport expenses by up to 40%, equal to roughly $2 per day, compared to operating a traditional gasoline-powered two-wheeler.

    In addition to expanding its core network, Spiro is also investing in innovative sustainable energy integration, including developing solar-powered battery-swapping stations and second-life battery storage systems that repurpose used EV batteries for stationary energy storage.

    While Africa’s overall electric mobility market still lags behind the larger, more mature sectors in China and Europe, industry analysts project rapid continued growth for the segment. That expansion is being driven by two key trends: national governments rolling out policy incentives for clean transport, and homegrown startups like Spiro developing locally tailored business models – such as widespread battery swapping, which eliminates long charging waits and cuts the high upfront cost of EV ownership for riders.

  • Nigeria police warn against reprisal attacks against South Africans

    Nigeria police warn against reprisal attacks against South Africans

    Tensions are escalating across West and Southern Africa in recent weeks, after widespread public demonstrations in South Africa demanding harsh new restrictions on undocumented migrants have sparked cross-border security concerns. A South African activist group called March and March organized the protests, which have pushed the issue of immigration to the top of the regional diplomatic agenda. The group has set a 30 June deadline for all undocumented migrants to voluntarily leave South Africa, framing its campaign as a push for systemic immigration reform that eases strain on overburdened domestic public services. Protesters have also argued that unvetted migration has fueled higher crime rates, claims that South African authorities have not independently verified.

    While South African police have not confirmed any targeted violent attacks on foreign nationals, the national government has publicly condemned any criminal acts directed at people from other countries. The growing unrest has already prompted other African nations to take precautionary measures: Ghana recently organized the evacuation of hundreds of its citizens from South Africa, and multiple governments have issued advisory warnings urging their nationals residing in the country to maintain heightened vigilance for personal safety.

    In response to widespread public anger in Nigeria over unsubstantiated reports of attacks on Nigerian citizens in South Africa, Nigerian law enforcement has issued an urgent official warning against retaliatory action targeting South African people or commercial assets operating within Nigeria’s borders. The statement came after a high-level meeting between senior national security and intelligence leaders, convened to assess the cross-border fallout from the South African protests.

    Aliyu Giwa, a senior spokesperson for the Nigerian Police Force, outlined the force’s position in an official post shared to the social platform X. “We recognise the pain and anger caused by recent attacks on Nigerians abroad,” Giwa wrote. “As an institution dedicated to protecting Nigerian lives, we understand these concerns deeply. However, this is a time for calm and restraint. Violence would not protect Nigerians abroad and would only create additional crises.”

    Giwa confirmed that the Nigerian government is already engaging with South African officials at the highest diplomatic levels to address security concerns for Nigerian citizens. To prevent outbreaks of retaliatory violence, Nigerian police have deployed enhanced security patrols and protective measures around foreign diplomatic missions, critical national infrastructure, and other sites deemed sensitive to national and international security.

    The police force emphasized that any deliberate action targeting South African nationals, diplomatic properties, legitimate businesses, or other legal assets operating in Nigeria will be prosecuted as a criminal offense under Nigerian law. The region has existing precedent for escalating tensions over anti-migrant violence: past outbreaks of xenophobic attacks in South Africa triggered severe diplomatic rifts and retaliatory violence in Nigeria, where dozens of South African-owned commercial properties were vandalized and looted in waves of unrest.

  • UK wins court case over collapsed Rwanda asylum deal

    UK wins court case over collapsed Rwanda asylum deal

    An international arbitral court has delivered a landmark ruling that clears the United Kingdom of any obligation to pay Rwanda over £100 million in damages for the cancellation of the controversial offshore asylum processing scheme signed by the former Conservative government. The Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague, Netherlands, rejected Rwanda’s legal claim that the UK breached the terms of the bilateral agreement when newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the policy shortly after taking office.

    The highly controversial policy was first unveiled in 2022 by then-Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with the formal agreement later finalized under his successor Rishi Sunak. Under the terms of the original deal, the UK was set to make multi-million pound payments to Rwanda in exchange for the African country hosting asylum seekers who arrived in the UK via unauthorized small boat crossings across the English Channel. Sunak framed the scheme as a core deterrent to reduce the flow of irregular migration across the Channel, but it faced repeated legal challenges in UK courts and fierce political opposition throughout its development.

    Labour made scrapping the Rwanda asylum plan a central campaign pledge during the 2024 UK general election. After securing victory, Starmer moved quickly to cancel the agreement, publicly declaring the policy “dead and buried” within days of his inauguration. During the three-day arbitration hearing held in The Hague, UK legal representatives argued that the cancellation of the scheme following a change in government was entirely predictable and logically consistent. They maintained that it was basic common sense that no additional payments would be required after the policy was terminated, and denied that the UK had violated any terms of the original agreement. The legal team told the court that “Rwanda is not entitled to any of the forms of relief it seeks.”

    This ruling brings a swift legal conclusion to one of the first major international policy disputes of the new Starmer administration, and resolves a potential £100 million liability for the UK public purse. This is an ongoing developing news story, with further details expected to be released in the coming hours.

  • Confirmed Ebola cases in Congo reach 282 as survivors describe their recoveries

    Confirmed Ebola cases in Congo reach 282 as survivors describe their recoveries

    BUNIA, Democratic Republic of Congo – In an update released Sunday evening, Congolese health authorities confirmed that the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the country’s eastern region has reached 282 confirmed cases, as survivors of the virus share stories of unexpected recovery that have offered a glimmer of hope amid widespread response challenges.

    The vast majority of infections – 264 of the total confirmed cases – are concentrated in Ituri province, the epicenter of the current outbreak. Nationwide, more than 1,000 additional suspected cases are being investigated, with the pathogen identified as the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rare variant for which no universally approved vaccine or targeted treatment currently exists.

    Congolese health officials outlined the core barriers halting effective containment of the virus. Key challenges include timely detection of new infections and rapid isolation of positive cases, thorough contact tracing of exposed individuals, implementation of safe, culturally respectful burials for virus victims, and bolstering infection control protocols at local health facilities. To date, only 45% of required contact tracing has been completed, with 220 suspected cases still undergoing testing and verification.

    Against this difficult backdrop, the five people confirmed to have recovered from the strain – all of whom work in the health sector, including four nurses and one laboratory technician, the group most heavily impacted by the outbreak so far – have opened up about their experiences, describing overwhelming relief at surviving the deadly disease.

    Baraka Bulambulu, one of the recovered nurses, shared that he felt indescribable joy after his final two consecutive Ebola tests returned negative results. Bulambulu was among the survivors honored with recovery certificates by World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the opening ceremony of a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital, on Sunday. “My first test came back positive, but the second and third were negative,” Bulambulu said, smiling as he spoke. “Coming out of this illness alive is a joy that cannot be put into words.”

    Another recovered nurse, Ezo Étienne, recalled how his symptoms first emerged while he was completing routine ward rounds checking on patients at his hospital. “That was how it started,” he said. “I called the response team and told them something was wrong. I checked my blood pressure and saw I had immediate hypotension. I decided to rest for a few minutes, and shortly after I began vomiting.”

    To date, all clinical care for infected patients has focused on managing symptoms, as no targeted antiviral treatment for the Bundibugyo strain is yet approved for widespread use. Speaking to the recovered health workers at the treatment center opening, Tedros emphasized that their survival carries a powerful message for the response effort. “Your courage gives hope, and your living story proves that this outbreak can be stopped,” he told the group.

    Neighboring Uganda has already confirmed nine cases of Ebola linked to the Congolese outbreak, and has closed its shared border with Congo in an effort to slow cross-border transmission.

    While the DRC and Uganda have recorded more than 20 previous Ebola outbreaks across the region, the Bundibugyo strain remains extremely rare. Complicating the current response beyond the lack of approved medical countermeasures are the remote location of outbreak hotspots and ongoing armed violence in the eastern DRC that hinders aid access. Despite these significant hurdles, senior Congolese health leaders say the recoveries mark an important milestone.

    These five recoveries are “a victory worth celebrating,” said Dr. Dieudonne Mwamba Kazadi, director-general of the DRC’s National Institute of Public Health. He added that the outcomes send a clear message: “It is possible to recover from Ebola when you seek care early at a dedicated treatment facility.”

  • DR Congo celebrates recovery of Ebola survivors

    DR Congo celebrates recovery of Ebola survivors

    In a hopeful turning point for the ongoing Ebola outbreak centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) eastern Ituri province, five infected patients have officially recovered and been discharged from medical care, drawing praise from global and national health authorities. Four of the newly discharged survivors are frontline nurses, honored at a public ceremony held Sunday in Bunia, Ituri’s provincial capital, while the first recovered patient – a laboratory worker – was released last week.

    Speaking directly to the four nurse survivors during his visit to Bunia, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the profound symbolic power of their recovery. “You are living proof that this outbreak can be stopped,” he told the group, which includes three men and one woman. Acknowledging the heavy toll the outbreak has already taken on frontline medical staff, Dr. Tedros added, “It pains me to see health workers who have already died because of Ebola while serving others… this is the risk which comes with the profession, but your commitment to coming back to serve means a great deal.” Each survivor received a formal certificate recognizing their recovery at the ceremony.

    For the survivors, the experience of infection and isolation was deeply challenging. Nurse Etienne Ezo, one of the discharged nurses, shared his candid reflection with Reuters, saying, “We were really demoralized because we thought at any moment we would die. If you have never been isolated, you cannot understand how hard that experience is.”

    National health officials echoed Dr. Tedros’ optimism, framing the recoveries as a clear validation of existing response strategies. DRC’s Institute of Public Health wrote on social media that this encouraging milestone confirms the effectiveness of core field interventions: early detection of cases, timely clinical care, comprehensive contact tracing, and active community engagement. The institute’s director, Dr. Mwamba Kazadi, called the recoveries a victory worth celebrating, emphasizing that early diagnosis and high-quality care directly improve patient outcomes. Health officials stress this outcome should encourage anyone who suspects they have contracted Ebola to seek medical care immediately.

    The latest outbreak, the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in DRC history, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which no widely approved vaccine currently exists – though development of targeted vaccines is ongoing. As of the latest update, more than 1,000 suspected cases have been recorded in DRC, with at least 246 deaths linked to the outbreak. The virus has spread beyond DRC’s borders: neighboring Uganda has confirmed nine cases and one death, including cases in the capital Kampala, and suspected cases have even been identified outside of Africa. On Saturday, Brazilian health authorities announced they were investigating two potential Ebola cases in São Paulo state.

    Despite this small win, major challenges remain for the outbreak response. Dr. Tedros highlighted persistent barriers including gaps in early case detection and isolation, incomplete contact tracing, difficulties implementing safe and dignified burial practices, infection control gaps in health facilities, and low community awareness in some affected areas. Most notably, community resistance has emerged in some regions, sparked by public health rules that ban traditional family handling of Ebola victims’ bodies to prevent transmission – a regulation that directly clashes with long-held local burial customs. This tension has already led to attacks on health centers by local residents.

    Addressing these challenges, Dr. Tedros and the Congolese government released a joint statement Sunday emphasizing that local communities are “at the heart of the solution” to the outbreak, and that successful response depends on earning community trust and active participation. The joint statement calls on all communities to adopt sustained protective behaviors, including regular hand washing, seeking early medical care at approved facilities when symptoms appear, and sharing accurate public health information to counter misinformation.

    Frontline health workers have borne the brunt of the outbreak’s risk, with many contracting the virus while caring for patients. The recovery of five infected patients, four of them health workers, offers a rare moment of optimism amid a crisis that has already claimed hundreds of lives, and serves as a reminder of the importance of rapid access to care for those exposed.

  • Hundreds of youths protest outside Kenya’s Ebola quarantine center for US citizens

    Hundreds of youths protest outside Kenya’s Ebola quarantine center for US citizens

    On Monday, hundreds of young Kenyan demonstrators gathered outside the gates of Laikipia Air Base in the central town of Nanyuki, rallying against a planned Ebola quarantine facility that was set to host American citizens exposed to the virus. The public demonstration comes just two days after Kenya’s High Court ordered an immediate suspension of the facility’s construction and any incoming foreign patients, pending a full judicial hearing into the case. The legal challenge was filed by two prominent Kenyan groups: the Law Society of Kenya and a national constitutional watchdog, which argue that Kenya’s overstretched, fragile public health system cannot safely accommodate the risks of hosting quarantined Ebola-exposed patients from abroad. The controversial plan first emerged last week, when anonymous U.S. administration officials confirmed to reporters that the U.S. intended to transfer Americans who had contracted Ebola exposure while working or traveling overseas to this new Kenyan facility, rather than repatriating them to the United States. According to those officials, the site at Laikipia Air Base was scheduled to be operational by this Friday, with capacity for 50 quarantine patients. The initiative has sparked widespread pushback across multiple levels of Kenyan society even before it could launch. On Sunday, Kenya’s Health Minister Aden Duale attempted to ease public tensions, stating that the facility would be open to “everyone” rather than being reserved exclusively for U.S. nationals. But this clarification has done little to alleviate local concerns. Joshua Irungu, the governor of Laikipia County, has publicly joined the opposition, noting that dozens of local residents work on the air base and would face unavoidable exposure risks if the quarantine center opens. For its part, the U.S. has sought to frame the initiative as a contribution to Kenyan public health: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in an official statement that the U.S. government would allocate $13.5 million to support Kenya’s overall Ebola preparedness efforts as part of the plan. Currently, Kenya itself has not recorded any confirmed cases of Ebola, but the threat is close to home. Neighboring Uganda has already confirmed nine cases and closed its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the current outbreak is centered. The DRC has reported at least 282 confirmed cases of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, with more than 1,000 additional suspected cases. Critically, this specific strain of the virus has no approved vaccine or targeted treatment available, amplifying global and local concerns about accidental spread. The ongoing legal challenge, public protest, and conflicting statements from Kenyan and U.S. officials have left the future of the quarantine project hanging in limbo as regional authorities work to contain the spreading outbreak.

  • 50 years on, Fela’s legendary ‘Zombie’ album still resonates in Nigeria

    50 years on, Fela’s legendary ‘Zombie’ album still resonates in Nigeria

    Half a century after its 1976 release, Fela Kuti’s iconic protest album *Zombie* still stands as one of the most fearless acts of political defiance in African musical history, a work that not only reshaped global music but also laid bare the deep inequalities and authoritarian abuses that continue to plague Nigeria decades after the end of military rule.

    To understand the stakes of *Zombie*, one must look back at the turbulent context that birthed it. Nigeria had won independence from British colonial rule in 1960, buoyed by the discovery of massive oil reserves that promised widespread prosperity for the resource-rich West African nation. Just six years later, the first of a long string of military coups ousted the civilian government, followed by a brutal civil war that claimed at least three million lives. By 1976, the military had held unelected power for a full decade, with successive juntas embedding authoritarian control into every layer of public life — including deploying soldiers to secondary schools across the country to enforce state-mandated discipline under then-ruler Olusegun Obasanjo.

    For Yunusa Yau, a 16-year-old student in northwestern Nigeria at the time, growing anger at soldiers’ heavy-handed abuse of power on campus led him and his classmates to embrace Fela’s searing new track as their anthem. Decades later, Yau — now a 66-year-old political activist based in Abuja — told the Associated Press that Fela had already become a beacon of resistance for young Nigerians tired of authoritarian overreach. “In a way, we saw him as a symbol of our own nascent attempt to protect our limited horizon of freedom,” Yau said, noting the song quickly became a protest against both unaccountable soldiers and the unpopular school officials complicit with military rule.

    Fela Anikulapo Kuti, born under colonial rule in 1938, is widely regarded as Nigeria’s greatest modern artist, with a 40-year career that stretched from the late 1950s until his death in 1997. Earlier this year, he earned a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in recognition of his lasting cultural impact. He co-created the iconic Afrobeat genre alongside legendary drummer Tony Allen, blending polyrhythmic traditional West African percussion with Black American jazz and funk to create a signature sound entirely his own. But far more than a musical innovator, Fela built his legacy as a relentless chronicler of everyday life under military rule, which dominated Nigeria from the 1966 coup until the return of civilian democracy in 1999.

    *Zombie* was unlike any of Fela’s previous political work. Released as a 25-minute two-track album, the title track cut straight to the core of military authoritarianism, with lyrics that mocked the unthinking obedience of soldiers to unelected rulers: “Zombie no go turn, unless you tell ’em to turn (Zombie) / Zombie no go think, unless you tell ’em to think.” Layered over Fela’s driving polyrhythms, the track mimicked a military parade, complete with chanted commands to march, salute and fire. The B-side, “Mister Follow Follow,” expanded the critique to call out widespread blind obedience to authority and the status quo across Nigerian society.

    Lemi Ghariokwu, the artist who designed the *Zombie* album cover and collaborated with Fela for decades, called the record Fela’s definitive work. “It was one of his boldest moments on record,” Ghariokwu told the AP. “He was very much vexed by the actions of the military government. When he was composing the song, we asked him if it was going to be a direct attack song, and he said yes.”

    Interestingly, the zombie archetype that Fela used to devastating political effect originates from traditional West and Central African mythology, where it describes a figure stripped of free will, controlled by external forces. The imagery would later be popularized globally by Michael Jackson in his iconic 1982 *Thriller* music video, but Fela was the first to weaponize it for mass political protest.

    Fela’s unflinching attack on the junta drew brutal, immediate retaliation. The military government dispatched 1,000 soldiers to Fela’s self-declared independent Lagos compound, which the artist had claimed was outside Nigerian state control. Troops burned the compound to the ground, badly injured Fela, and left his mother — Funmi Ransome-Kuti, a prominent Nigerian activist in her own right — with fatal injuries. The album was banned from all state-run radio, and ordinary Nigerians were arrested for defying the junta by playing *Zombie* in public venues, at parties or on personal speakers.

    Critics note Fela’s foresight in calling out the long-term damage of military rule has proven entirely accurate. When the military seized power in 1966, junta leaders justified their coup by ousting a civilian government they accused of corruption and mismanaging Nigeria’s oil wealth. Decades after the end of military rule, that same failure of shared prosperity persists: official data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics shows 63% of Nigerians currently live in multidimensional poverty, lacking access to basic amenities, with sky-high youth unemployment. The country also faces a sprawling, ongoing security crisis, with militant and criminal groups carrying out widespread killings and kidnappings across large swathes of the country. Just this year, six people including soldiers and police officers were charged with plotting a coup against democratically elected President Bola Tinubu, a reminder of the military’s enduring oversized influence on Nigerian public life.

    “Fela was actually ahead of his time, because he seemed to have foreseen the kind of rot and decay that the military class would leave Nigeria in,” said Dami Ajayi, a prominent Nigerian music critic. “Fela was already saying to everyone that these guys who are here are going to ruin your country; you cannot allow a zombie to be in charge of everything around you.”

    Fifty years after its release, *Zombie*’s impact remains unmatched in Nigerian popular culture. While other Nigerian artists across reggae, fuji, pop and other genres have criticized government overreach, none have matched the open, uncompromising confrontation Fela pulled off with *Zombie*. Today, mainstream commercial success in Nigeria’s large music industry rarely makes space for overt political protest, even as the grievances Fela sang about remain largely unaddressed.

    Ayomide Tayo, a Nigerian music and pop culture critic, said Fela’s bravery has yet to be replicated by modern artists. “The consequences of that record are well-documented, and I don’t think anybody is that brave to critically criticize the government like that,” Tayo said. “The epic scale at which Fela did it has not been replicated.”