Not again: Scientists accuse US of creating deadlier, more contagious flu virus that can jump from birds to humans…like Covid
Scientist Brian Hooker told Iversen the CDC’s Influenza Division infected ferrets with the currently circulating H5N1 avian influenza strain, then infected human lung cells, to make the virus more infective to humans.
Their justification, he said, is to be prepared for a zoonotic outbreak, where a virus from a bird or other animal jumps to humans.
Kenyan police advance team to Haiti returns to Nairobi as international mission is delayed
The officials arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, met the Haitian police on Thursday and the transitional presidential council on Friday. The United States has agreed to contribute $300 million to a multinational force that will include 1,000 Kenyan police officers and others drawn from Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda and other countries.
Zimbabwe fights citizenry resistance to world’s newest currency as demand for US dollar peaks
Senior officials from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the ruling ZANU-PF party embarked on a flurry of public rallies and meetings to encourage the sceptical population to now embrace the ZiG ahead of the US dollar, which is also legal tender in the southern African nation. Commercial jingles heralding the currency flooded the airwaves along with Caleb’s single.
South Africa’s Ramaphosa walks tightrope as he promises to ‘do better’ if re-elected president
In comments broadcast on national television, he said the ANC would focus on getting more South Africans into work, tackle the high cost of living, maintain existing social grants and progressively implement a basic income support grant for the unemployed.
Accustomed to friendly crowds, Trump faces hostile audience at Libertarian convention
Libertarians, who prioritise small government and individual freedoms, are often sceptical of the former president, and his invitation to address the convention has divided the party. Trump tried to make light of that by referring to the four criminal indictments against him and joking, “If I wasn’t a Libertarian before, I sure as hell am a Libertarian now.”
UN refugee camps have makings of prisons, but ongoing law reforms in Kenya may catapult it to a refugee rights champion
While the Kenyan government has not yet addressed citizenship rights for refugees, it has shown signs of adopting more progressive refugee policies in recent years. Together with the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) and its development partners, it has drafted a multi-year, multi-million dollar ‘Shirika Plan’, which aims to transform Kenya’s sprawling camp-cities into self-reliant open settlements, where refugees can live, work, and set up businesses among their local hosts.
