UN indifference to women in DRC sheds light on why Ebola sex abuse victims may never find justice
Ketsia* said she was working as a part-time cleaner for the World Health Organization during the 2018 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, when a doctor invited her to his house and offered her a promotion in exchange for sex. He tried to rape her, but she...
Zimbabwe president accused of retaining proxies to smuggle gold to evade punitive US trade sanctions
Zimbabwe’s government is using smuggling gangs to sell gold worth hundreds of millions of dollars, skirting some of the consequences of tough Western sanctions imposed on the country over human rights abuses, Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) can reveal. The smuggling feeds into an enormous money-laundering operation, all facilitated by...
Britain transfers Tamil refugees who attempted suicide to Rwanda Military Hospital for treatment
Five Tamil asylum seekers who attempted suicide on the British-held Indian Ocean Island of Diego Garcia have been sent to Rwanda for medical treatment, it has been established. The news follows a recent backlash against the British government’s immigration deterrence policies and a scandal that involved 200 unaccompanied minors who...
Scientists in Wuhan now claim Covid may have originated from raccoon dogs, bamboo rats or palm civets
Raccoon dogs, bamboo rats, palm civets: these are just some of the animals whose DNA has been found in swabs taken from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, which has been linked to the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic. The swabs also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, which causes...
Covid racism : How US government doled out bribes to push vaccines, collect data in communities of colour
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has since 2021doled out hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for the creation of “culturally tailored” pro-vaccine materials and for training “influential messengers” to promote Covid-19 and flu vaccines to communities of colour in every state across the country. The grants...
Drug, weapons trafficking remain serious security threat in Arabian Sea despite recent pushback on smuggling
Despite the growing effectiveness of maritime operations along the route from Iran to Yemen, drug and weapons trafficking remains a serious threat with consequences for regional security. On 27 December 2022, while patrolling the Arabian Sea, the French frigate FNS Guépratte intercepted a fishing vessel aiming to smuggle illegal drugs....
Hungry and war weary, 600,000-plus IDPs in eastern DR Congo cry out for peace, want to return home
More than 600,000 people have been displaced since the M23 rebel group re-emerged in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in late 2021. But what is life like for those uprooted? What journeys have people taken to safety? And how are they providing for themselves and their families as the...
New study finds children in urban set-ups are more prone to asthma attacks due to air pollution
Asthma attacks, which involve the worsening of the inflammation and narrowing of the lung airways, are commonly caused by viral respiratory infections but can also be caused by non-viral factors. Higher exposure to air pollutants is associated with an increased risk of asthma attacks, but the molecular mechanisms underlying the...
As US legalises cannabis, new studies find a minute’s exposure to pot smoke can be fatal to asthma patients
A new study in a number of states in America has established a direct link between legalisation of cannabis sativa consumption and rising incidence of asthma, especially in children and young adults. About six million children in the United States have asthma, according to the US Centers for Disease Control...
No safe place for millions of Ukrainians displaced by war a year after Russia launched full-scale invasion
A year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, around 5.3 million Ukrainians – 12 per cent of the pre-war population – are displaced within the country. Many are struggling to meet their most basic needs, with the elderly and people with disabilities among the most vulnerable. “Internally displaced people (IDPs)…...
