Africa

Muhammad Mubarak Bala, an atheist who has been detained since April 2020, is shown in a photo held by his wife, Amina Ahmed, at her home in Abuja, Nigeria, Nov. 21, 2021. Bala is an outspoken atheist in a deeply religious country; his alleged crime: Posting blasphemous statements online. (AP Photo / Sunday Alamba)

Mariama Sawadogo poses outside Zama Radio where she works as a radio host in Kaya, Burkina Faso, Oct. 25, 2021. Sawadogo’s voice has become a familiar sound for nearly a million people in Kaya and beyond. In the West African country of Burkina Faso, many feel the government has let them down during the pandemic. In a region where women are responsible for family work and community relationships, they’ve stepped up to fill gaps in COVID awareness and basic resources. (AP Photo / Sophie Garcia)

Desta Haileselassie sits at his desk in Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 18, 2021. Cut off from Tigray due to a communications blackout, Desta has compiled a list of more than 3,000 Tigrayan victims of the war, including 19 members of his own family. He is one of many in the Tigrayan diaspora who have waited for months to know whether loved ones are alive. (AP Photo / Nat Castaneda)

A soldier of the Polisario Front fires a rocket toward Morocco, near Mehaires, Western Sahara, Oct. 14, 2021. After 30 years of cease-fire, the Polisario Front has taken up arms again in its quest for an independent Western Sahara. The flare-up in the conflict is fueled by frustration among new generations of Sahrawi refugees who believe that the wait for a referendum on self-determination, as promised by the United Nations, has only played on Morocco's benefit while their lives languished in unforgiving desert camps. (AP Photo / Bernat Armangue)

Rose Jatta pulls her boat into estuary waters as she looks for fish traps she set earlier in the mangrove of the Gambia River in Serrekunda, Gambia, Sept. 25, 2021. As health officials in Gambia and across Africa urge women to be vaccinated, they've confronted hesitancy among those of childbearing age. Jatta fears the vaccine against COVID-19 could make her ill, leaving her two children without food on the dinner table. (AP Photo / Leo Correa)

In this photo provided anonymously, Genet Mehari, 5, is treated for malnutrition with medications limited, at the Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, Sept. 28, 2021, in a photo provided anonymously. In the regional capital Mekele, a year of war and months of government-enforced deprivation have left the city of a half-million people with a rapidly shrinking stock of food, fuel, medicine and cash. (AP Photo)

In this photo provided anonymously, A severely malnourished child is treated in an intensive care unit at the Ayder Referral Hospital, where medicines have almost run out and hospital staffers haven’t been paid since June, in Mekele, Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, in a Sept. 2021 photo provided anonymously. The United Nations has warned of famine in Tigray and now internal documents and witness accounts obtained by the AP reveal the first starvation deaths since Ethiopia's government in June imposed what the U.N. calls “a de facto humanitarian aid blockade.” (User-Generated Content via AP)

Senait Ambaw, left, who said her home had been destroyed by artillery, leaves by foot along a path near the village of Chenna Teklehaymanot, in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia, Sept. 9, 2021. At the scene of one of the deadliest battles of Ethiopia's 10-month Tigray conflict, witness accounts reflected the blurring line between combatant and civilian after the federal government urged all capable citizens to stop Tigray forces “once and for all.” (AP Photo)

In this image from video obtained by The Associated Press, Refugees from Ethiopia recover a body found in the Setit River, known in Ethiopia as Tekeze River, at Wad el Hilu, Sudan, in an Aug. 4, 2021 photo obtained by AP. The AP reported dozens of bodies floating down the river in early August and saw six of the graves. Doctors who saw the bodies said one was tattooed with a common name in the Tigrinya language and others had the facial markings common among Tigrayans, raising fresh alarm about atrocities in the least-known area of the Tigray war. (AP Photo)

Guinean wrestler Fatoumata Yarie Camara holds past credentials and medals at her house in Conakry, Guinea, Monday July 19, 2021. A West African wrestler's dream of competing in the Olympics has come down to a plane ticket. Fatoumata Yarie Camara is the only Guinean athlete to qualify for these Games. She was ready for Tokyo, but confusion over travel reigned for weeks. The 25-year-old and her family can't afford it. Guinean officials promised a ticket, but at the last minute announced a withdrawal from the Olympics over COVID-19 concerns. Under international pressure, Guinea reversed its decision. (AP Photo/Youssouf Bah)

Members of the Ethiopian National Defense Force who were captured by Tigray forces gather inside a prison as prisoners of war, in Mekele, capital of the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, July 6, 2021. Debretsion Gebremichael, Tigray’s president, said more than 6,000 Ethiopian soldiers and officers had been detained. “We are committed to keep them well as long as they are with us,” he said. “And after a while, yes, our plan is ... they have to be free, wherever they want.” For the prisoners of war, many of whom the Tigray leaders have said will be released, conditions are challenging because of the destruction that Ethiopian and allied forces waged for months against almost all health centers across Tigray. (AP Photo)

People throw stones at police as they attempt looting at Letsoho Shopping Centre in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, July 12, 2021, amid escalating violence that broke out following the imprisonment of South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of the country’s highest court. (AP Photo / Themba Hadebe)