Last safe haven: UN workers turned Ebola response in DRC into a sex abuse epidemic
More than 20 Congolese women have accused aid workers of sexual abuse in new claims that include rape and unwanted pregnancies, with UN investigators uncovering similar allegations of workers exploiting vulnerable women. The New Humanitarian and the Thomson Reuters Foundation spoke to 22 women in Butembo who said male aid...
AstraZeneca and Pfizer Covid vaccines combination produces potent immune response
Vaccinating people with both the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines produces a potent immune response against the virus SARS-CoV-2, researchers conducting a study in Spain have found. Preliminary results from the trial of more than 600 people – announced in an online presentation on May 16 – are the first...
New pneumonia-causing coronavirus traced to dogs discovered in patients in Malaysia
In the past 20 years, new coronaviruses have emerged from animals with remarkable regularity. In 2002, SARS-CoV jumped from civets into people. Ten years later, MERS emerged from camels. Then in 2019, SARS-CoV-2 began to spread around the world. For many scientists, this pattern points to a disturbing trend: Coronavirus...
Nearly century-old error WHO and CDCs cite as key Covid prevention tool
In the past, graduate student Katie Randall would have acquired the book, In Before Times, through interlibrary loan. With the pandemic shutting down universities, that was no longer an option. On the wilds of the open internet, Randall tracked down a first edition from a rare book seller for $500...
Book review: America’s jolly physics Nobel laureate who nearly bombed Nevada
In the early 1950s, the physicist Frederick Reines and his colleague Clyde Cowan designed an experiment to detect neutrinos, the tiniest and most elusive of subatomic particles. Theorists were convinced that neutrinos must exist – and that they would be untraceable. And Reines liked nothing better than a challenge. The...
Wildlife conservation goes nuclear as endangered African rhino project is launched
A nuclear science-based project with high potential to drastically reduce rhino poaching in Africa was mid this month (May) launched in South Africa. It is expected that the success of the project will decrease the demand for rhino horn on the international market as well as make the it more...
Exit of UN forces exposes millions of South Sudanese refugees to police abuses
As United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) forces surrender refugee camps under their protection to the government, national police in Juba concede that camp residents don’t trust them. “Up to now, we have not taken over the in terms of handling their security issues,” said Daniel Justin...
Seychelles: Bigger worry is impact of low tourist arrivals, not Covid infection
The Seychelles vaccination puzzle is a reminder that even after widespread vaccinations, infections are unlikely to stop completely. This is because, although 61.4 per cent of the population is already fully immunised that hasn’t been enough to stop the rapid spread of the virus. The vaccines available are able to...
Irony of Seychelles’ 60 per cent vaccinated and sharp rise in Covid infections
While other nations struggle to secure enough vaccines, the Seychelles is in the enviable position of having already fully immunised more than 61.4 per cent of the population. But that hasn’t been enough to stop the spread of Covid. Over the past month, case numbers have been rising in the...
South Sudan’s refugees fear army brutality as UN forces pull out of protection camps
When she was just nine, Sara Nyatapa fled to a UN camp as South Sudanese government soldiers launched attacks against members of her community during the heat of the civil war. Seven years later, the 16-year-old fears the past may repeat itself after peacekeepers transferred responsibility for protecting her camp...
