Why does coronavirus kill fewer people in East Asia?

Eye on Africa, we go to the Democratic Republic of Congo where six people have died following an explosion in a military camp in Goma. The DRC’s president travels to Nairobi to sign his country’s treaty of accession to the East Africa Community. And items illegally excavated and shipped from Libya to the United States have been returned to Tripoli.

In this edition of Eye on Africa, we go to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where six people have died following an explosion in a military camp in Goma. Meanwhile, the DRC's president travels to Nairobi to sign his country’s treaty of accession to the East Africa Community. And we see how items illegally excavated and shipped from Libya to the United States have been returned to Tripoli.

At least 306 people have been killed in flooding around Durban in South Africa. On a visit to the stricken city, President Cyril Ramaphosa described the devastation as a "catastrophe of enormous proportions". Also, Amnesty International accuses Mali of stalling war crimes and abuse investigations. And after the French city of Bordeaux, the international tour of an exhibition highlighting the African experience heads to Abidjan in Ivory Coast.

Brazil has more than three million "ghost citizens": people who don't have a birth certificate or ID card. In administrative terms they do not exist and have no access to public health care or education. They also can't vote. But in the run-up to October's elections, these people could constitute a potential political force. Our correspondents Perrine Juan, Louise Raulais and Tim Vickery take a closer look at the legal and social workers who are trying to help "ghost citizens".

The death toll from South Africa's unprecedented floods has risen to nearly 400. Police army and volunteers have widened the search, and the dozens of people still missing after the storm that devastated Durban over the weekend. In Senegal, citizens express their anger at the failures of the healthcare system after a pregnant woman died in hospital. And in South Sudan, the World Food Programme warns that millions are on the brink of hunger.

The WHO chief has urged countries to ramp up testing to accurately reflect global transmission trends. Meanwhile, Mexico said it is transitioning from pandemic to endemic.

The number of people facing hunger rose to 193 million last year as conflict, climate change and economic crises ravaged people's livelihoods, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday.

Cyril Ramaphosa was widely seen as the saving grace of South Africa's ruling ANC party when he became president in 2018. But his credibility with the working class and the poor is falling.

Wars and natural disasters tear families apart worldwide. The German Red Cross tries to put them back in touch.

The latest figures put pollution on par with smoking in terms of global deaths. In comparison, COVID-19 killed about 6.7 million people globally since the pandemic began.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.

Prince Charles believes the "pain and suffering" of Canada's indigenous people must be understood