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With the holy Muslim month of Ramadan set to start this weekend, authorities in Niger are fearing violence after several cities saw riots over anti-coronavirus lockdowns banning collective prayers, AFP reports.
"We just want to pray in our mosques, without violence... we are determined to exercise our religious right," Hassane Dari, a young trader in the rundown district of Lazaret in the capital Niamey, said.
In nearby Banizoumbou, housewife Hadjia Aissa said: "They want to keep us from praying during the holy month of Ramadan? It's not going to happen!"
Such discontent began stirring a month ago in the deeply Muslim semi-desert country as the government began imposing measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic, notably closing down mosques.
More than 300 people have been arrested in recent days in the runup to Ramadan in the impoverished former French colony, with rioters torching cars and buildings and setting up roadblocks.
The lockdown has been imposed despite a relatively low Covid-19 toll in the country - officially 20 deaths from 657 cases as of Tuesday.
In addition to border closures, a state of emergency and a curfew, mosques have been closed as well as schools, and Niamey has been shut off from the rest of the country.
Riots broke out first in the central town of Mirrya on March 23 when youths wielding clubs and knives torched buildings and vehicles, according to authorities.
A week later in the western region of Tahoua, protesters took to the streets of Illela, torching the town hall and personal property.
Dozens of protesters were taken into custody in the two incidents, authorities said.
Unrest has since surged in Niamey, notably late Sunday when around 10 neighbourhoods including Lazaret and Banizoumbou "erupted," the city's governor Issaka Assane Karanta said on state television Tuesday.
He charged that "organised individuals" flouting the curfew "burned tyres and attacked private property."
MSF running out of masks
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned that it will run out of protective masks within three to four weeks, putting millions at risk if the medical charity has to halt its operations.
MSF, which is on the front line fighting the coronavirus pandemic in some of the world's poorest countries, appealed for any help it could get in keeping its medics supplied with protective equipment.
"We have stocks, globally, for three, maybe four weeks maximum," said Kenneth Lavelle, MSF's deputy director of operations, from a virtual press conference in Geneva, where the organisation is based.
"The small quantities that remain will be distributed to our missions, but we have got virtually zero visibility on what stocks we will have in three to four weeks."
He said Medecins Sans Frontieres would need roughly around a million masks a week for the next six months.
Switzerland to stock shops with a million masks a day, but wearing won't be mandatory
Switzerland says it would deliver to shops a million masks a day, but insisted it would not make it mandatory to wear them as coronavirus restrictions start to ease.
The army will be used to distribute the million masks daily for the next two weeks, for stores to be able to sell to the public.
Switzerland stopped short of imposing full confinement in emergency measures introduced last month to combat the spread of the new coronavirus.
But next week it will begin to ease the restrictions as the spread of Covid-19 has slowed.
More than 28 000 people in Switzerland have tested positive for coronavirus, while more than 1 200 have died in the landlocked European country of 8.5 million people.
Monaco reduces spending for its royal household
Monaco will reduce spending on the royal household by 40% to cope with the coronavirus fallout in the principality on the French Riviera.
"The gravity of the situation demands rigorous financial management... that leads to an overall reduction in state expenses," the palace said in a statement.
As a result, the allocation for the royal living expenses will fall to eight million euros from 13.2 million euros before the crisis.
Head of state Prince Albert II tested positive for Covid-19 last month, though he came out of quarantine on 31 March.
Monaco has been battered by a wave of event cancellations including the Formula One Grand Prix, a glittering fixture on the world motorsport calendar that was supposed to be held on 24 May.
