Brazil, Ethiopia, Ghana.

Today's three stories you should know.

Brazil

Brazil is seeing a severe surge in Omicron cases with confirmed infections doubling in a week. But, yet again, President Jair Bolsonaro is playing things down. Bolsonaro, despite contracting Covid himself, has been notorious for his hostility to restrictions and for spreading misinformation since the pandemic began. A staggering 620,000 people have died of Covid in Brazil so far, which is the second highest official death toll next to the United States. “If you don’t know a friend who’s got the virus at the moment, it means you don’t have any friends,” Cesar Eduardo Fernandes, head of the Brazilian Medical Association, told the Reuters news agency today.

More from Al Jazeera here.

Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s government has sent a letter of protest to the World Health Organization, slamming its director-general and accusing him of “misconduct.” Tedros Adhanom, who is Ethiopian, has expressed strong concern about the war in his home country and said of the humanitarian situation in his native Tigray region: “Nowhere in the world are we witnessing hell like Tigray.” Ethiopia’s government has been battling Tigrayan rebels for more than a year and has been accused of a crackdown on ethnic Tigrayans, rounding up tens of thousands and forcing others from their jobs.

More from AP here.

Ghana

Ghanaians are using social media to mercilessly mock their president, Nana Akufo-Addo, for holding an official meeting with American rappers, Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa. The three were photographed together with Akufo-Addo seen bumping fists with the chart-topping musicians. The meeting was held as part of a campaign to encourage members of the African diaspora to visit Ghana.

More from BBC here.