Top Stories: U.S.-based transport worker Idrissa Lo returned to Senegal when his family members started dying from COVID-19. This week he mourned his fifth relative as a third wave leaves hospitals in the capital without spare beds for the most severe cases, and many race to get vaccinated. Once seen as a vaccine hoarder, the U.S. is now sharing its COVID-19 doses, acting on the Biden administration's pledge to deliver a half-billion doses around the world over the next year. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched people’s mental health everywhere and Zimbabwe is no exception. But some Zimbabweans hit hard by the stress have found unique support at the "Friendship Bench," the country’s biggest counseling service. Vaccination programs against some of the world’s deadliest diseases have saved millions of lives over the past 20 years, according to researchers – but continuing progress is threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic's impact has led to cuts in foreign aid from donors like Britain, which this month slashed its aid budget by $5.5 billion, hitting those on the ground in Africa. The funding loss is felt in Burkina Faso where it could possibly shut down a group that helps thousands of gender-based-violence and rape survivors. On Wednesday Ibrahim Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, and his wife Zeenah were acquitted of all charges against them having been in detention since 2015. Kenya's Kakuma settlement is home to three athletes competing for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in Tokyo whose families have been sending messages of support ahead of their competitions. Experts say in a few years, billionaires and their friends won’t be the only ones who can afford to go to space. Plus, the Mars rover begins the search for ancient life, and new hardware arrives at the International Space Station. Dobet Gnahoré, a multidimensional artist and Grammy Award winner originally from la Côte d’Ivoire, recently released her newest album, Couleurs. Ethnomusicologist and Host of Music Time in Africa Heather Maxwell joined up with her earlier this week to find out more