Monday 20 April 2020

More news apart from Covid-19

Mass gun killing in Nova Scotia

Canada has stricter laws regarding possession of weapons than south of the border, but even so an apparently crazed former Mountie was able to take 16 lives in a rare killing spree yesterday.

105 insurgents killed in Nigeria

Government officials reported that the Nigerian Army killed at least 105 insurgents last week in counter-terror operations against Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Floods in Kenya

Following previous inundations last month and in November before that, there have been devastating flash floods in Kenya.

Hail in Australia

Golf-ball-sized hailstones pelted the coast of Queensland yesterday.

Canberra moves to force Facebook and Google to pay for news content

Australian government spokesmen cite the damage caused to local media.

Wildfires near Chernobyl

Pollution drifts to Kyiv, but so far there has been no measurable radio-activity above background levels.

Control of Ebola outbreak lost in Democratic Republic of Congo

Just when it seemed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) and local health organisations were getting on top of last year's major outbreak, it is reported that a man diagnosed with the disease absconded from the facility where he was to be treated and cannot be traced. 

This is no time to be withdrawing funds from the WHO, considering the effects on public health round the world of conflict and of other diseases than Ebola and Covid-19. Dengue has erupted again in Latin America and there must be a threat to several African countries which have suffered floods recently from water-borne infections.

Nor does it reflect well on USA that without her contribution, the largest two contributors to the WHO are both non-governmental bodies. Next come the UK and Germany, while, according to this briefing by India Today, China - which is supposed to wield an unhealthy influence - weighs in at just 0.21% of total inflows.

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