Africa 54 - November 29, 2021

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 new Omicron coronavirus variant kept spreading around the world on Sunday, with 13 cases found in the Netherlands and two each in Denmark and Australia. South African officials are furious about a British ban on flights from southern African countries, on which several other countries followed suit. Many South Africans feel they are being punished for their transparency and hard work in keeping tabs on the way the virus is mutating. South Africans rushed to get vaccinated against COVID-19 on Monday as the country's health facilities were being prepared to cope with the newly identified Omicron variant. Health Minister Joe Phaahla told a news conference on Monday that the government was doing everything possible to cope with the new strain. The World Health Organization warned on Sunday that the overall global risk related to the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 is "very high".In a document released Sunday, WHO said Omicron is a highly divergent variant with a high number of mutations, including 26 to 32 in the spike. More cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus are being discovered around the world. U.S. President Joe Biden’s senior health adviser says omicron “appears” to be more transmissible than other variants, but health officials are still not sure if it causes more severe disease. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. Suspected militants killed four soldiers in Burkina Faso's northern Loroum province on Sunday, the army said, in the latest of a wave of attacks. Pope Francis on Sunday (November 28) made an impassioned appeal for authorities to "respect the humanity" of migrants, as Britain and France continued to trade barbs over the deaths of 27 people trying to cross the Channel. A ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) scheduled for Nov. 29-30 is expected to further promote cultural exchanges between China and Senegal, a senior official with the African country said ahead of the event. COVID-19, rising inflation, polarizing politics - Americans are entering the holiday season with a wide range of worries, impacting the mental health of some. Portugal’s Golden Visa program puts people who invest in the country on a path towards Portuguese citizenship and thus greater access to the European Union. It’s long been attractive to people from mainland China, but now more people from Hong Kong and other parts of the world are signing up. These new investors are looking to take advantage of a good investment climate but with a deadline looming. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has our story. An exhibition that examines the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico has opened at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. The Wall/El Muro: What Is a Border Wall? looks at the structure from the perspective of design and architecture, but also reflects its environmental, historical, and symbolic impact. Maxim Moskalkov has the story. #Omicron #COVID19 #SouthAfrica #Ramaphosa #Burkinafaso #Biden #WHO