LONDON: The eradication of polio as a global health threat may be delayed unless US funding cuts – potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over several years – are reversed, a senior World Health Organization official has warned.
The WHO works with groups such as UNICEF and the Gates Foundation to end polio. The planned withdrawal of the United States from WHO has impacted efforts, including stopping collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last week, UNICEF’s polio grant was terminated as the State Department cut 90 percent of USAID’s grants worldwide to align aid with President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ policy.
In total, the partnership is missing $133 million from the US that was expected this year, said Hamid Jafari, director of the polio eradication program for the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean region. The area includes two countries where a wild form of polio is spreading: Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“If the funding shortfall continues, it may potentially delay eradication, it may lead to more children getting paralyzed,” he said, adding that the longer it took to end polio, the more expensive it would be.
He said the partners were working out ways to cope with the funding shortage, which will largely impact personnel and surveillance, but hoped the US would return to funding the fight against polio.
“We are looking at other funding sources ... to sustain both the priority staff and priority activities,” he said.
He said vaccination campaigns in both Afghanistan and Pakistan would be protected.
UNICEF did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation reiterated that no foundation could fill the gap left by the US Saudi Arabia gave $500 million to polio eradication last week.
The partnership already faces a $2.4 billion shortfall to 2029, as it accepted last year that it would take longer, and cost more, to eradicate the disease than hoped.
US actions may set polio eradication back in Pakistan and Afghanistan, WHO says
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US actions may set polio eradication back in Pakistan and Afghanistan, WHO says
- WHO works with groups such as UNICEF and Gates Foundation to end polio
- The planned withdrawal of the United States from WHO has impacted efforts
Japan’s finance minister calls US Treasury holdings ‘a card’ in tariff talks with Trump
- Japan is the largest foreign holder of US government debt, at $1.13 trillion as of late February
- The US is due to soon begin imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, as well as an overall 10 percent baseline tariff
TOKYO: Japan’s massive holdings of US Treasurys can be “a card on the table” in negotiations over tariffs with the Trump administration, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday.
“It does exist as a card, but I think whether we choose to use it or not would be a separate decision,” Kato said during a news show on national broadcaster TV Tokyo.
Kato did not elaborate and he did not say Japan would step up sales of its holdings of US government bonds as part of its talks over President Donald Trump’s tariffs on exports from Japan.
Earlier, Japanese officials including Kato had ruled out such an option.
Japan is the largest foreign holder of US government debt, at $1.13 trillion as of late February. China, also at odds with the Trump administration over trade and tariffs, is the second largest foreign investor in Treasurys.
Kato stressed that various factors would be on the negotiating table with Trump, implying that a promise not to sell Treasurys could help coax Washington into an agreement favorable for Japan.
Trump has disrupted decades of American trade policies, including with key security allies like Japan, by i mposing big import taxes, or tariffs, on a wide range of products.
A team of Japanese officials was in Washington this week for talks on the tariffs.
The US is due to soon begin imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, as well as an overall 10 percent baseline tariff. The bigger tariffs will hurt at a time when Japanese economic growth is weakening.
Asian holdings of Treasurys have remained relatively steady in recent years, according to the most recent figures.
But some analysts worry China or other governments could liquidate their US Treasury holdings as trade tensions escalate.
US government bonds are traditionally viewed as a safe financial asset, and recent spikes in yields of those bonds have raised worries that they might be losing that status due to Trump’s tariff policies.
Greece arrests man on suspicion of spying for Russia
- The source added that the suspect, who had served in the Russian army in his youth, had apparently been enlisted by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service via an intermediary
- The Greek port of Alexandroupolis has been a key gateway for the American military
THESSALONIKI: Greek authorities have arrested a man in the strategic port city of Alexandroupolis on suspicion of photographing supply convoys on behalf of Russia, police said.
The suspect, a 59-year-old Greek citizen of Georgian descent, was arrested in the northeastern city on Tuesday and on Friday was taken before an investigating magistrate, according to police and media reports.
The man “confessed to taking photos and video of military material, acting on behalf of another person to whom he sent the footage via an encrypted application,” the police statement said in a statement released on Tuesday.
A police source told AFP this week that the man, who has identified himself as a house painter, was targeting military convoys to Ukraine, according to footage retrieved from his cellphone.
The source added that the suspect, who had served in the Russian army in his youth, had apparently been enlisted by Russia’s GRU military intelligence service via an intermediary.
Greek media have reported that this intermediary was a Georgian man with organized crime links living in Lithuania.
Despite historic ties to Russia, Greece has supported Ukraine since the start of the invasion.
The Greek port of Alexandroupolis has been a key gateway for the American military, used to transport supplies into Europe under a mutual defense pact.
Thailand reports first anthrax death, hundreds potentially exposed
- A 53-year-old man in Mukdahan province, in northeastern Thailand near the border with Laos, died on Wednesday after contracting anthrax
- There are plans to vaccinate 1,222 cattle, though no animals have shown signs of illness or unexplained death, it added
BANGKOK: Thailand has reported its first anthrax-related death with two infections nationwide, prompting a public health alert after authorities identified hundreds potentially exposed to the deadly bacteria, officials said on Thursday.
A 53-year-old man in Mukdahan province, in northeastern Thailand near the border with Laos, died on Wednesday after contracting anthrax, the government said, with a second case confirmed in the same province and three additional suspected cases under investigation.
Authorities have identified at least 638 people as being potentially exposed after eating raw meat. Among them, 36 had participated in butchering livestock while the rest had consumed raw or undercooked beef, health officials said. All are receiving antibiotics as part of containment measures.
“All individuals who may have been in contact with infected meat are being monitored,” the health ministry said.
The Livestock Department is overseeing containment efforts in the affected area, including a 5-km (3.2-mile) quarantine zone around the infection site, the agriculture ministry said.
There are plans to vaccinate 1,222 cattle, though no animals have shown signs of illness or unexplained death, it added.
Anthrax is a rare but serious disease caused by bacteria often transmitted through contact with infected animals or consumption of contaminated meat. It is not spread person-to-person.
Thailand last reported human anthrax cases in 2017, when two people were infected without fatalities. In 2000, 15 cases were recorded, also without deaths.
Wednesday’s death, the first fatality from anthrax in Thailand, follows a rise in regional infections. Laos reported 129 anthrax infections last year, including one death, while Vietnam confirmed 13 cases in May 2023.
Thai authorities are continuing investigations into the source of the infection and said they would maintain heightened surveillance in border areas.
Australian PM says battle ahead to win election
- Polls have suggested 10 or more unaligned crossbenchers could yet hold the balance of power
- Albanese is promising modest tax cuts, cheaper health care and new homes for first-time buyers
SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has a “mountain to climb” in elections Saturday, despite leading the opinion polls, in a contest swayed by living costs and Trump tariffs.
Surveys give Albanese’s left-leaning Labour Party a narrow lead over the conservative opposition on a two-party preferred basis.
If they are right, Albanese, 62, could lead his party to a majority in the 150-seat parliament.
“On polls there’s a lot of undecided voters. We have a mountain to climb,” Albanese said Friday.
“My job is to maximize Labor’s vote in the next 48 hours. That’s what I’m intending to do.”
Albanese has promised to embrace renewable energy, tackle a worsening housing crisis and pour money into a creaking health care system.
He warned of “cuts and chaos” under a right-leaning coalition led by former police officer Peter Dutton, 54, who wants to slash immigration, crack down on crime and ditch a longstanding ban on nuclear power.
Dutton, leader of the Liberal Party, has predicted “a lot of surprises, seat by seat” on Saturday night.
“I haven’t met an Australian on this campaign who said that they’re better off today than they were three years ago,” he said.
A result could come as soon as Saturday night, unless the vote is very tight.
A total 18.1 million voters have enrolled for the election. More than a third of them have cast an early ballot, the election authority says.
Voting is compulsory, enforced with fines of Aus$20 ($13), leading to turnouts that top 90 percent.
Sizzling snags (sausages) cooked by local fundraisers also entice voters at more than 1,000 polling sites, searchable at democracysausage.org.
High prices are the top voter concern, polls show.
Albanese is promising modest tax cuts, cheaper health care and new homes for first-time buyers.
Dutton says he would slash fuel tax, curb gas prices and invest in infrastructure for half a million homes.
Both sides have had to grapple with US politics too.
The six-week election campaign had barely started when US President Donald Trump unveiled his trade tariffs, with a 10-percent levy on Australia.
Some polls showed Dutton leaking support because of Trump, who he praised earlier this year as a “big thinker” with “gravitas” on the global stage.
As Australians soured on the US president, both Dutton and Albanese took on a tougher tone, promising to stand up for Australia’s interests.
Coal mining superpower Australia will choose between two leaders with sharply contrasting ideas on climate change and emissions reduction.
Albanese’s government has embraced the global push toward decarbonization, warning of a future in which iron ore and polluting coal exports no longer prop up the economy.
Dutton’s signature policy is a $200 billion scheme to construct seven industrial-scale nuclear reactors, doing away with the need to ramp up renewables.
Growing disenchantment among voters has emboldened independents pushing for greater transparency and climate progress.
Polls have suggested 10 or more unaligned crossbenchers could yet hold the balance of power — making a rare minority government a possibility.
Hard right wins local UK election in blow to PM Starmer
- The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics
- Labour won Runcorn with 53 percent of the vote last year, meaning it was one of its safest seats, while Reform got just 18 percent
RUNCORN: Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour party on Friday in local elections that dealt a blow to Britain’s two establishment parties.
Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities including one mayoralty.
The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics.
“For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big moment indeed,” Brexit champion Farage said of Reform’s first-ever by-election win and Starmer’s first electoral loss since he took office last July.
Reform also picked up dozens of council seats from both Labour and the Conservatives as Britain’s political landscape shows signs of splintering.
In the fight for six mayoralties, Reform won Greater Lincolnshire with Labour holding three. Labour, however, only narrowly held the North Tyneside mayoralty after a 26-percent swing to Reform.
New Greater Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns said the “fightback to save the heart and soul of our great country has now begun.”
“Now that Reform is in a place of power, we can help start rebuilding Britain. Inch by inch,” she said.
The polls were the first since Starmer became prime minister and Kemi Badenoch took over the reins of the struggling opposition Conservatives last year.
Just 1,641 seats across 23 local authorities were up for grabs — only a fraction of England’s 17,000 councillors — but early results suggested Reform was transferring leads in national polls into tangible results at the ballot box.
“The big question we wanted to know after these results was are the polls right in suggesting that Reform now pose a significant challenge to both the Conservatives and the Labour party? The answer to that question so far is quite clearly yes,” political scientist John Curtice told the BBC.
The centrist Liberal Democrats and left-wing Greens also expected to make gains, as surveys show Britons are increasingly disillusioned with the two main parties amid anaemic economic growth, high levels of irregular immigration and flagging public services.
Reform, which has vowed to “stop the boats” of irregular migrants crossing the English Channel, is hoping that winning mayoralties and gaining hundreds of councillors will help it build its grassroots activism before the next general election — likely in 2029.
British politics have been dominated by the center-left Labour party and center-right Tories since the early 20th century.
But “British politics appears to be fragmenting,” Curtice wrote in the Telegraph this week.
He said Thursday’s polls were “likely be the first in which as many as five parties are serious players.”
Labour won a huge parliamentary majority in July with just 33.7 percent of the vote, the lowest share for any party winning a general election since World War II.
The Conservatives won just 24 percent of the vote, securing only 121 seats in the 650-seat parliament as the party endured its worst election defeat.
Reform picked up five seats, an unprecedented haul for a British hard-right party, although one of those now sits as an independent. After Friday’s win, their tally now stands at five again.
The Liberal Democrats in July won 61 more MPs than at the previous election and the Greens quadrupled their representation to four.
Labour won Runcorn with 53 percent of the vote last year, meaning it was one of its safest seats, while Reform got just 18 percent.
At a result declared shortly before 6:00 am (0500 GMT) Friday, election officials said Reform’s Sarah Pochin secured 12,645 votes to 12,639 for Labour candidate Karen Shore. Turnout was 46 percent.
The vote was sparked after sitting Labour MP Mike Amesbury was convicted of assault for punching a man in the street.
Labour spokesperson said by-elections are “always difficult for the party in government” and the events surrounding the Runcorn vote made it “even harder.”
On Tuesday, Reform UK topped a YouGov poll of voting intentions in Britain with 26 percent, three points ahead of Labour and six up on the Conservatives.
Labour has endured criticism over welfare cuts and tax rises that it claims is necessary to stabilize the economy.
As Labour edges rightwards it is facing a growing challenge from the Greens on the left.
Under threat from Reform on the right, the Tories are also being squeezed on the left by the Liberal Democrats, the traditional third party, which was eyeing gains in the wealthy south.
