South Sudan shuts down schools as it prepares for an extreme heatwave that’ll last two weeks
The World Food Programme in its latest country brief said South Sudan “continues to face a dire humanitarian crisis” due to violence, economic instability, climate change and an influx of people fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Sudan. It also stated that 818,000 vulnerable people were given food and cash-based transfers in January.
Pharmacist says Covid vaccine trials were biased and Pfizer, Moderna efficacies were exaggerated
In winter-spring 2021, when vaccine uptake was robust but limited to the elderly, vaccinated people were as a group much older than the unvaccinated and were experiencing just half the younger generation’s infection rate. This would tend to make the vaccines appear more effective at preventing infection than they were.
Integrity issues emerge after billion-dollar Jewish Communal Fund bars donations to Jewish group
A donor-advised fund is a philanthropic innovation that provides donors with significant tax advantages relative to their charitable contributions. By giving to a donor-advised fund, someone can immediately write off the entire amount of their donation, even while the money sits in the fund. When the donor has identified an organisation they wish to support, the donor directs the fund to transfer the money, much as one would with a bank account.
Putin shocks world with landslide win in Russia poll West says was not free and fair
First official results indicated the polls were accurate. The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and other nations have said the vote was neither free nor fair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and censorship.
African Development Bank chief Adesina criticises opaque loans tied to Africa’s natural resources
Akiwumi Adesina said loans secured with natural resources pose a challenge for development banks like his and the International Monetary Fund, which promote sustainable debt management. Countries may struggle to get or repay loans from these institutions because they have to use the income from their natural resources — typically crucial to their economies — to pay off resource-tied debts, he said.
Looming Armageddon: Putin warns America and allies Russia is ‘technically ready’ for nuclear war
Putin’s nuclear warning came alongside another offer for talks on Ukraine as part of a new post-Cold War demarcation of European security. The US says Putin is not ready for serious talks over Ukraine.
US and allies are considering commercial maritime option for Gaza humanitarian support
US officials have said the US military operation would provide hundreds of additional truckloads of aid every day and those shipments would include more than two million meals, water, temporary shelters and medicine.
Red Sea crisis: British military reports a suspected piracy attack off the coast of Somalia
In December, at least two incidents were reported. One involved a trading vessel seized by heavily armed people near the town of Eyl off the coast of Somalia.
Biden-versus-Trump rematch on the cards after they clinched party nominations setting off bruising campaign
The last repeat presidential matchup took place in 1956, when Republican President Dwight Eisenhower defeated former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, a Democrat, for the second time. This year, voters have expressed little enthusiasm for a repeat of the bitter 2020 election, with Reuters/Ipsos public polls showing both Biden and Trump are unpopular with the majority of voters.
Kenya halts deployment of police to Haiti in the absence of legal authority in the Caribbean nation
Under the plan, the UN-backed multinational police led by Kenyan officers was to help quell gang violence that has long plagued Haiti. But violence escalated sharply since February 29, with gunmen burning police stations, closing the main international airports and raiding the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.
