We all know he’s busy preparing for his historic inauguration at the moment, but @masindeonyango is sending Africa’s mayor, @ZohranKMamdani, an early invite to Pamoja AFCON 2027
Distanced at club level, and scrutinized at home, there is no player with more to prove at this African Cup of Nations than Mohamed Salah. https://t.co/AIcJxrHBAj
CAF ruined the Afcon...
Thoughts on yesterday's announcement as AFCON has become a tournament that will now be played every four years
https://t.co/id06uocLQ2
Moments ago, I joined Al Jazeera to discuss the worsening malnutrition crisis across northern Nigeria.
In the first six months of this year alone, more than 650 children died from malnutrition in Katsina State - at just one organisation’s facility.
The key drivers include:
1. Violence by armed groups that has displaced millions from their homes and farmlands;
2. Skyrocketing food prices - slightly easing but still far beyond the reach of most families - largely due to government policies; and
3. Cuts in international aid budgets, leaving a gaping hole in funding.
To address this, we need urgent action:
1. Nigerian authorities must allocate more resources to food provision and supplements and ensure transparency in their use;
2. Donors should diversify funding by engaging Gulf countries, private organisations, and other partners; and
3. Most importantly, the violence must be tackled decisively by confronting the terrorist groups driving this crisis and by easing government policies that are worsening inflation.
“The last thing I heard was the voice of my children playing, then everything went black. When I opened my eyes I thought I’d gone blind. I couldn’t see anything. I could no longer hear their voices. I checked to see if my wife was alive. Her back and legs were fractured, but she was alive. So I turned on the light of my phone and tried to find the children. My three-year-old daughter Julia was calling to me from beneath the rubble: ‘Baba, Baba, where are you?’ I carried her to a safe place then went back for my second son Kareem. He had severe head trauma. He was in a trance. He kept saying: ‘I’m sorry Mama. Please don’t blame me. I’m sorry.’ When I brought them to the hospital, I refused to let my colleagues deal with their injuries. I dealt with them alone. I did the dressing. I removed the sutures. I wanted them to feel: ‘Our dad is taking care of us, maybe he can still protect us. Maybe he’s still our hero.’ We’re doing OK, I guess. My wife is in a wheelchair now; she can’t walk. So I’m everyone’s caregiver. The children’s wounds are healing slowly. But there is a big problem with their brain. They cannot eat well, cannot talk well. Julia is still waking in the night and screaming. Every time she hears a rocket she starts trembling and crying. I used to tell her: ‘Don’t worry. They’re not targeting us.’ It’s a myth that all of us in Gaza tell our children. But it doesn’t work anymore; she knows that it’s a lie. I'm trying to keep myself together, so they can still see me as their hero. But no, I am not strong now. I'm weak. I’m not eating well. I used to wear better clothes. I’m not OK. There’s so much fear. Fear that they will never recover. If there’s another strike, even near us, they will lose their mind. You understand me? And I have so much guilt, because I’m the reason we stayed. We had a chance to leave Gaza, one year ago. But I refused. Because I love my people. I love my patients, so I chose to stay. But I regret all of it. My children had the right to live their life. Not this life I chose for them. I'm not okay. I didn't do well with my children. I didn't save them or protect them. We used to be a beautiful family. But now, I don’t know.”
------------------------------------
Dr. Ahmed Seyam is a surgeon with @MSF_USA. His story is a part of a series I am doing on the Palestinian Staff of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza.