Polio, which can paralyze small children, has become the latest threat to refugees already struggling with famine and disease in the camps of Darfur.
Sudan is one of 12 countries that had been polio-free for at least two years but is now again seeing cases of paralysis as a result of a major outbreak in northern Nigeria.
PHOTO: EPA
There have been 453 cases of polio in Kano, Nigeria, because controversy over the polio vaccine in the Muslim province led to cessation of immunization.
Although immunization in Kano started again two weeks ago, major efforts will be needed across much of Africa to contain the outbreak.
One case was identified in Darfur earlier in the year. On Tuesday it was confirmed there have been three more, all caused by the Nigerian polio strain.
Mali and Guinea also have had polio cases, it was revealed yesterday, taking the total from ten in June to 12 now.
African Union health ministers have agreed on a campaign to reach 74 million children under five years old, but it will be able to go ahead only if more money is forthcoming from donors.
Six countries have never been polio-free. There have been 453 cases in Nigeria this year, 33 in India, 21 in Pakistan, 19 in Niger, three in Afghanistan, and one in Egypt.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
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