Burkina: more than 350 deaths from dengue fever in one month

An epidemic of dengue fever, a disease transmitted by mosquitoes, killed 356 people in Burkina Faso between mid-October and mid-November, bringing the death toll to 570 since January 1, an establishment reporting to the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

From January 1 to November 19, "123,804 suspected (dengue) cases were reported, including 56,637 probable cases and 570 deaths, with a lethality of 1%" recorded by the Health Emergency Response Operations Center ( Corus), declared its director, biologist Joseph Soubeiga, at a press briefing.

As of October 15, the same source reported 214 deaths since the start of the year. Between October 15 and November 19, 356 people died from dengue fever.

From November 13 to 19 alone "59 deaths were recorded" , added Mr. Soubeiga, who specified that during the same period, "13,896 suspected cases of dengue were notified, including 6,829 probable cases" and "1,101 serious cases hospitalized .

To try to stop the progression of the epidemic , the government launched a campaign to spray mosquito repellent products in the two cities mainly affected: the capital Ouagadougou (center) and Bobo-Dioulasso (west). “1,642 patients’ homes and neighboring homes” and “696 public spaces” were treated there, he detailed.

Burkina Faso has had cases of dengue fever since the 1960s, but its first documented epidemic dates from 2017, with 13 deaths.

Transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito , just like malaria of which it presents the same symptoms, dengue is a virus widespread in hot countries, which occurs mainly in urban and semi-urban areas, causing 100 to 400 million people. infections every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dengue fever can notably cause high fevers, headaches , nausea, vomiting , muscle pain and, in the most severe cases, bleeding which can lead to death.

South Africa: Victim's mother believes Pistorius "is not rehabilitated"

June Steenkamp, ​​the mother of Reeva Steenkamp, ​​murdered by Oscar Pistorius ten years ago, said Friday in a statement to the parole board which is considering the former athlete's request for early release that the South Paralympic champion -African had “not been rehabilitated”.

"I am not convinced that Oscar has been rehabilitated. Rehabilitation requires someone to honestly engage with the full truth of their crime and its consequences. No one can claim to be remorseful if they are not capable of fully engaging with the truth. If someone does not show remorse, they cannot be considered rehabilitated,” expressed the family spokesperson for mother Steenkamp.

Oscar Pistorius was released on parole on Friday. This was his second attempt at parole in less than eight months.

Last month, the Constitutional Court ruled that this was an error, paving the way for a new hearing.

June Steenkamp, ​​absent during the hearing, was represented by a family spokesperson and a lawyer.

Steenkamp's father Barry died in September at the age of 80.

Pistorius killed Steenkamp , ​​a model, in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013 , by shooting four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria home.

Known worldwide as the "Blade Runner" for his carbon fiber prosthetics, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2017 following a lengthy trial and of several calls.

He pleaded not guilty and denied killing Steenkamp in a fit of rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.

Morocco: normalization with Israel hampered by the war in Gaza

Trade between Morocco and Israel flourished thanks to the normalization of their relations three years ago, but the war in Gaza and the support of the Moroccan population for the Palestinian cause have cut this momentum, analysts believe.

Defense, agriculture, new technologies, tourism: bilateral cooperation accelerated in the wake of the normalization agreement , signed in December 2020 and in return for which Morocco received American and then Israeli recognition of its sovereignty over the disputed territory. of Western Sahara .

But since October 7 and the bloody attack by Hamas on Israeli soil, a prelude to a new war in the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamist movement, air links between Israel and Morocco have been suspended, Israeli tourists have vanished like investors.

"From one day to the next, there was no one there. The Israelis who were there ran away, they were very afraid" , relates Michel Cohen, Franco-Israeli investor, owner of a kosher restaurant in Marrakech which closed, like 11 others out of the 14 which opened in the wake of normalization.

At the same time, pro-Palestinian demonstrations , which had always been a vector of mobilization but had run out of steam over the last three years, have regained momentum, giving rise to calls for a break in relations between Morocco and Israel.

Faced with images of Gaza being relentlessly bombed, "(Moroccan) civil society expresses its discontent and Rabat had to take this popular demand into account" , notes Zakaria Abouddahab, professor of international relations at Mohammed V University.

Since October 7, Rabat 's tone has evolved: first expressing its "deep concern" and condemning any attack against civilians, the kingdom ended up denouncing, on November 11 during an Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, "Israel's persistence in its blatant aggression against unarmed civilians" . Without ever condemning the Hamas attack itself.

In Gaza, more than 14,500 people were killed in Israeli strikes in retaliation for the Hamas attack, the deadliest in Israel since the creation of the state in 1948, leaving 1,200 dead, according to the local authorities.

"Morocco today is in a very delicate situation" , with on the one hand "a deep desire to maintain a win-win relationship" and "pressure from the street" on the other, analyzes Mr. Abouddahab.

In October, the evacuation of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat for security reasons, reported by Moroccan media, recalled the breakdown in relations in 2000, against the backdrop of the second Intifada (Palestinian uprising ) .

Rabat then denounced “Israeli violence” , causing the closure of the Israeli office. But according to analysts, this scenario is unlikely today. “We will maintain the relationship but slow down the pace of meetings and visits ,” said Mr. Abouddahab to AFP.

In this context, it is difficult to imagine the kingdom welcoming high-level Israeli officials and even less so Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself, whose visit was expected by the end of the year.

According to Jamal Amiar, author of "Morocco, Israel and Moroccan Jews" , the military, security and economic ties established since 2020 are too strong to be broken even if support for normalization - which was already than 31% last year according to a survey by the Arab Barometer network - has fallen further.

A break would also create "diplomatic disorder" , particularly with the American administration, he said, recalling that support on the question of Western Sahara was in the eyes of Rabat a "huge counterpart" to normalization.

Mr. Amiar recommends that the kingdom make its delicate position "an asset" to "play a more dynamic role" in mediation efforts, banking on its links with Israel, Arab countries but also the large Jewish community in Morocco, which makes it a unique country in the Arab world.

Estimated at 3,000 people, Moroccan Jews remain the main Jewish community in North Africa, while some 700,000 Israelis are of Moroccan ancestry and have maintained strong ties to their country of origin.

“The fundamentals of the Moroccan-Israeli relationship are strong, they have roots ,” Mr. Amiar told AFP.

In Morocco, there is a "real" coexistence between Muslims and Jews, assures Jacky Kadoch, representative of the Jewish community of Marrakech, who wants to believe in a return to normal, because despite the repetitive crises, " the umbilical cord does not heal. "is never cut between the two countries" .