Ethiopia: man-made famine crisis
17 Jun 2021
In Tigray 353,000 starving people are in phase 5 (catastrophe) and 1.769 million in phase 4 (emergency). In other words, famine, though the Ethiopian government refuses to call it famine. Huge numbers of deaths by starvation are unavoidable. In remote villages people are found dead in the morning, having perished overnight. Women who were kidnapped by soldiers and held as sexual slaves, now in hospitals or safe houses, are separated from their children, tormented by the fear they will starve without their mothers' care. Death by starvation happens when the undernourished body consumes its own organs to generate enough energy to keep a flicker of life. Most of the nation is controlled by rebels or military who do not cooperate with humanitarian agencies. Eritrean forces joined the conflict and along with the Ethiopian army they pillage, burn crops, destroy health facilities, and prevent farmers from ploughing their land. This is a man-made famine. There is no drought, and last year's locust swarms have gone.
Uganda: Covid surge in the middle of lockdown
17 Jun 2021
On 11 June Uganda recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began. Cases were up 137% this week, forcing the state to impose a partial curfew. Last week, the UAE banned flights from Uganda after recording cases of the Indian virus while already struggling with the South African and British mutants. Uganda has a curfew between 9 pm and 5:30 am and has closed all learning institutions. The ministry of health announced a halt to the vaccination process citing the lack of jabs. All intensive care and high-dependency beds in the country are already occupied and vaccination against Covid-19 is progressing very slowly. Barely 750,000 people have received one dose (35,000 have received two doses), in a country of 45 million people.
Gaza: truth revealed - propaganda silenced
17 Jun 2021
A tunnel used by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza has been discovered under one of the schools run by UNRWA. The school was one of two of the organisation’s facilities damaged during the 11-day conflict. But now officials at UNRWA have confirmed that a terror tunnel ran directly underneath the school. Also Israel’s bombing of Gaza’s Jala Tower caused international outrage as the office block housed media organisations Associated Press and Al-Jazeera. However, the building was also being used by Hamas’s military intelligence services to develop electronic jamming systems against the Iron Dome anti-missile defence system. Israel has defended its reasons for targeting the high-rise building, which it gave notice to evacuate, and as a good-will gesture has offered to rebuild the media offices.
USA / Russia: relations warming
17 Jun 2021
Before talking in Geneva relations between the USA and Russia were at rock bottom. After talking, both presidents praised their talks but have made little concrete progress at the first such meeting since 2018. Disagreements were stated, said Joe Biden, but not in a hyperbolic way, and he said Russia did not want a new cold war. Vladimir Putin said Mr Biden was an experienced statesman and the two ‘spoke the same language’. They agreed to begin a dialogue on nuclear arms control and said they would return ambassadors to each other's capitals. However, there was little sign of agreement on cyber-security, Ukraine, or the fate of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is currently serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a penal colony. Mr Biden said there would be ‘devastating consequences’ for Russia if Navalny died in prison. Mr Putin hinted at a possible deal on exchanging prisoners, saying he believed compromises could be found.
China: Amnesty report on detainees in camps
17 Jun 2021
The head of Amnesty International said China has created a ‘dystopian hellscape’ for people detained in Xinjiang camps, who are routinely tortured. A report based on 50+ former detainees details crimes against humanity - including mass imprisonment, torture and persecution - carried out by Chinese authorities against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities. The secretary general of Amnesty said, ‘China must immediately dismantle the internment camps, release the people arbitrarily detained in them and in prisons, and end the systematic attacks against Muslims in Xinjiang.’ Since 2017 hundreds of thousands - and possibly more than one million people - have been sent to camps in Xinjiang. China for a long time denied the existence of any camps. It eventually changed tack and now says the camps are voluntary ‘vocational training centres’, necessary to combat terrorism. President Xi Jinping said his government's policies in the region are ‘totally correct’.
Fight against global corruption
17 Jun 2021
On 10 June a bipartisan group of members of the US Congress launched a caucus against foreign corruption and kleptocracy at a virtual kickoff event. The new caucus will focus on fighting global corruption and kleptocracy (authoritarian governance model in which foreign officials use corruption to maintain their power and grow their influence in countries). Transparency International said this caucus is a clear recognition of the importance of combating global corruption by leaders, which has increased since the pandemic. Corruption, including stolen and misappropriated relief funding, harsh crackdowns on pandemic reporting in the media, and attempts to appropriate or dismantle democratic and rule-of-law institutions, robs all those in need of urgent aid.
A child’s life-changing discovery
11 Jun 2021
11-year-old Chan-Rey always wondered who created the whole world. Her mother didn’t know, so she kept searching for an answer. One Sunday a girl invited her to church. The Sunday school class was watching the Superbook episode ‘In the beginning’, about the creation of the world. ‘The story was AMAZING!’ she declared. ‘I saw the Spirit of God flying around. He said, “Let there be light”, and there was light! Then He made the world. It looked so beautiful. Then He created a man from dust and let them take care of everything!’ After watching the episode, Chan-Rey prayed with the teacher to become a Christian. She couldn’t wait to tell her family about what happened. ‘I shared the gospel with my parents and sisters. Then I brought them to church. Now they believe in Jesus too!’
Queen 'delighted' - Harry and Meghan’s daughter
11 Jun 2021
The Queen was ‘delighted’ after Harry and Meghan announced the birth of their second child, Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor. Lilibet is a very intimate name that the Queen has used since she was very little and her sister could not pronounce her name properly. Many believe this is a diplomatic olive branch offered to the royal family after what has been a fractious year between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royals. Lilibet was born in a California hospital, weighing 7 lbs 11oz.