Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12

Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame delivers a speech during the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation at the French Foreign Ministry, the Quai d'Orsay, in Paris, on June 20, 2024. (File/AFP)
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Updated 06 October 2024
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Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12

Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12
  • The Rwandan government said there were 46 confirmed cases, with 29 of them in isolation. Health authorities have identified at least 400 people who came into contact with confirmed cases of the virus

KIGALI: Rwandan health authorities will begin a vaccine study against the Marburg hemorrhagic fever, officials said Sunday, as the East African country tries to stop the spread of an outbreak that has killed 12 people.
Rwanda, which received 700 doses of a vaccine under trial from the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute on Saturday, will target health workers and emergency responders as well as individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases, according to the Health Ministry.
Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana told reporters Sunday that the Rwanda Biomedical Centre had reviewed the vaccine shipment.
There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease.
In a statement, Sabin Vaccine Institute said it had “entered into a clinical trial agreement with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, the trial sponsor, to provide investigational doses" for the study.
The Rwandan government said there were 46 confirmed cases, with 29 of them in isolation. Health authorities have identified at least 400 people who came into contact with confirmed cases of the virus.
Rwanda declared an outbreak of Marburg on Sept. 27 and reported six deaths a day later. Authorities said at the time that the first cases had been found among patients in health facilities. There is still no confirmation of the source of the outbreak.
Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss.
In Rwanda, most of the sick are health workers in six out of the country's 30 districts. Some patients live in districts bordering Congo, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania, according to the World Health Organization.
Rwandans have been urged to avoid physical contact to help curb the spread. Strict measures include the suspension of school and hospital visits as well as a restriction on the number of those who can attend funerals for Marburg victims. Home vigils aren’t allowed in the event a death is linked to Marburg.
The U.S. Embassy in Kigali has urged its staff to work remotely and avoid visiting offices.
Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to WHO.
The virus was first identified in 1967, after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died after being exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.


Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College

Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College
Updated 03 November 2024
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Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College

Win the vote but still lose? Behold America’s Electoral College
  • What matters most in a US presidential election is who gets more than 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes, regardless of who gets the most popular votes
  • Because many states predictably lean Republican or Democratic, presidential candidates focus heavily on the handful of “swing” states on which the election will likely turn

WASHINGTON: When political outsider Donald Trump defied polls and expectations to defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election, he described the victory as “beautiful.”
Not everyone saw it that way — considering that Democrat Clinton had received nearly three million more votes nationally than her Republican rival. Non-Americans were particularly perplexed that the second-highest vote-getter would be the one crowned president.
But Trump had done what the US system requires: win enough individual states, sometimes by very narrow margins, to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House.
Now, on the eve of the 2024 election showdown between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, the rules of this enigmatic and, to some, outmoded, system is coming back into focus.

The 538 members of the US Electoral College gather in their state’s respective capitals after the quadrennial presidential election to designate the winner.
A presidential candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the “electors” — or 270 of the 538 — to win.

The system originated with the US Constitution in 1787, establishing the rules for indirect, single-round presidential elections.
The country’s Founding Fathers saw the system as a compromise between direct presidential elections with universal suffrage, and an election by members of Congress — an approach rejected as insufficiently democratic.
Because many states predictably lean Republican or Democratic, presidential candidates focus heavily on the handful of “swing” states on which the election will likely turn — nearly ignoring some large states such as left-leaning California and right-leaning Texas.
Over the years, hundreds of amendments have been proposed to Congress in efforts to modify or abolish the Electoral College. None has succeeded.
Trump’s 2016 victory rekindled debate. And if the 2024 race is the nail-biter that most polls predict, the Electoral College will surely return to the spotlight.

Who are the electors?

Most are local elected officials or party leaders, but their names do not appear on ballots.
Each state has as many electors as it has members in the US House of Representatives (a number dependent on the state’s population), plus the Senate (two in every state, regardless of size).
California, for example, has 54 electors; Texas has 40; and sparsely populated Alaska, Delaware, Vermont and Wyoming have only three each.
The US capital city, Washington, also gets three electors, despite having no voting members in Congress.
The Constitution leaves it to states to decide how their electors’ votes should be cast. In every state but two (Nebraska and Maine, which award some electors by congressional district), the candidate winning the most votes theoretically is allotted all that state’s electors.

How do electors vote?

In November 2016, Trump won 306 electoral votes, well more than the 270 needed.
The extraordinary situation of losing the popular vote but winning the White House was not unprecedented.
Five presidents have risen to the office this way, the first being John Quincy Adams in 1824.
More recently, the 2000 election resulted in an epic Florida entanglement between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.
Gore won nearly 500,000 more votes nationwide, but when Florida — ultimately following a US Supreme Court intervention — was awarded to Bush, it pushed his Electoral College total to 271 and a hair’s-breadth victory.

Nothing in the Constitution obliges electors to vote one way or another.
If some states required them to respect the popular vote and they failed to do so, they were subjected to a simple fine. But in July 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that states could impose punishments on such “faithless electors.”
To date, faithless electors have never determined a US election outcome.

When do electors vote?

Electors will gather in their state capitals on December 17 and cast votes for president and vice president. US law states they “meet and cast their vote on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December.”
On January 6, 2025, Congress will convene to certify the winner — a nervously watched event this cycle, four years after a mob of Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol attempting to block certification.
But there is a difference. Last time, it was Republican vice president Mike Pence who, as president of the Senate, was responsible for overseeing the certification. Defying heavy pressure from Trump and the mob, he certified Biden’s victory.
This time, the president of the Senate — overseeing what normally would be the pro forma certification — will be none other than today’s vice president: Kamala Harris.
On January 20, the new president is to be sworn in.
 


Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling
Updated 03 November 2024
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Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling

Moldova holds presidential runoff election amid claims of Russian meddling
  • Pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu faces Alexandr Stoianoglo, an ex-prosecutor general backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party
  • Sandu won 42 percent of the vote in the first round, falling short of the 50 percent needed to win outright, while Stoianoglo came second with 26 percent

CHISINAU: Moldovans vote on Sunday in a presidential runoff that has been overshadowed by election meddling allegations and could see Moscow gain more influence in a diplomatic battleground between Russia and the European Union.
Pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu, who has accelerated the southeast European nation’s push to leave Moscow’s orbit and join the EU, faces Alexandr Stoianoglo, an ex-prosecutor general backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party.
The fortunes of Sandu, who set Moldova on the long path of EU accession talks in June, will be closely followed in Brussels a week after Georgia, another ex-Soviet state hoping to join, re-elected a ruling party seen as increasingly pro-Russian.
Stoianoglo says that as president he too would back EU integration but also develop ties with Russia in the national interest. He has vowed to try to revive cheap Russian gas supplies and said he would meet with President Vladimir Putin if Moldovans wanted it.
The outcome of the vote is likely to set the tone for next summer’s parliamentary elections where Sandu’s ruling party is expected to struggle to retain its majority and which will determine the stripe of the future government.
Stoianoglo’s East-West balancing rhetoric contrasts with Sandu’s four years in power, during which ties with the Kremlin have unraveled, a slew of Moscow’s diplomats have been expelled and she has condemned Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Moscow has said that her government is “Russophobic.”
Sandu portrays Stoianoglo as the Kremlin’s man and a political Trojan horse, painting Sunday’s vote as a choice between a bright future in the EU by 2030 and one of uncertainty and instability.
Stoianoglo says that is untrue and that she has failed to look out for the interests of ordinary Moldovans. He accuses Sandu of divisive politics in a country that has a Romanian-speaking majority and large Russian-speaking minority.

Fresh meddling allegations
The police have cracked down to try to avoid a repeat of what they said was a vast vote-buying scheme deployed by Russian-backed fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor in the first round and a referendum on the EU’s aspirations on Oct. 20.
Russia denies interfering, while Shor has denied wrongdoing. He lives in Russia and has openly called on people via social media to vote against Sandu and promised payment for following his instructions.
Sandu has said the meddling affected the Oct. 20 results and that Shor sought to buy the votes of 300,000 people, more than 10 percent of the population.
A Moldovan government source said Chisinau had notified several EU nations that it believed Russia would try to disrupt voting by Moldovan expatriates on Sunday at polling stations in their countries.
The source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters polling stations in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Romania, United States and Britain might be targeted by disruption including with the use of bomb hoaxes.
Moldovan voters living in the West are seen as largely pro-European and therefore more likely to support Sandu, who has championed Moldova’s effort to join the 27-nation bloc by 2030.
The referendum result went to the wire, delivering a slender win of 50.35 percent for the pro-EU camp.
Sandu won 42 percent of the vote in the first round, falling short of the 50 percent needed to win outright. Stoianoglo came second with 26 percent.
Stoianoglo is expected to benefit from protest votes against Sandu’s handling of the economy in the poor agricultural nation of fewer than 3 million people.
Moldova struggled with the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and the effects of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of neighboring Ukraine. That sparked a huge influx of refugees and sharply reduced Russian gas supplies, causing high inflation.
Ahead of the vote, Sandu campaigned with the slogan “Save Moldova.” The opposition was quick to counter with a parody slogan: “Save Moldova from Sandu.” (Reporting by Tom Balmforth; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)


Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift
Updated 03 November 2024
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Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Joint sea drills with Russia signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift
  • Indonesia's new president, Prabowo Subianto, has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta
  • Prabowo has visited more than a dozen countries including China and Australia, where he struck a key security deal
  • Jakarta has also kickstarted a process to join the BRICS group of emerging economies

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s first joint military drills with Russia this week signal that new President Prabowo Subianto will seek a bigger role for Jakarta on the world stage as part of a significant foreign policy shift, analysts say.
Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or US-China rivalry, but Prabowo has called for stronger ties with Moscow despite Western pressure on Jakarta.
“It is part of a broader agenda to elevate ties with whomever it may be, regardless of their geopolitical bloc, as long as there is a benefit for Indonesia,” said Pieter Pandie, researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The southeast Asian ASEAN bloc, which Indonesia is a member of, held joint drills with Russia in 2021, but individual member nations have never held joint exercises with Moscow.
Jakarta has billion-dollar trade ties with Moscow, but major arms imports have stalled in recent years, according to weapons watchdog SIPRI, following Western sanctions on Russia after it seized Crimea in 2014 and invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Still, Prabowo has kept alive a $1.1 billion Russian fighter jet deal he agreed in 2018 as defense minister, despite the reported threat of US sanctions.
Jakarta also refused to budge when Western nations lobbied Indonesia to disinvite Russia from the G20 summit it hosted in 2022.
Prabowo met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in July, later announcing joint naval drills that experts say indicate how Moscow will grow in significance as part of a broader foreign policy.
The five-day drills begin Monday in eastern Java where Moscow will send three corvette-class warships, a medium tanker ship, a military helicopter, and a tug boat.
“They reaffirm that we will not alienate one or two countries in the geopolitical arena,” said Anton Aliabbas, professor at the Paramadina Graduate School of Diplomacy.

Diversifying partners

During his Kremlin visit, Prabowo — a 73-year-old ex-general — said he wanted to deepen the relationship with Russia.
“We consider Russia as a great friend and I would like to continue to maintain and enhance this relationship,” Prabowo told Putin.
Before his inauguration last month, Prabowo said he wanted to build a “web of strong friendships.”
To that end he visited more than a dozen countries including China and Australia, where he struck a key security deal, and Jakarta has since kickstarted a process to join the BRICS group of emerging economies.
The new leader has already been tested at sea, with a Chinese coast guard vessel being driven away three times from Indonesian-claimed waters by Jakarta’s ships last month.
For Indonesia, the chance to host one of the world’s most advanced navies is clear.
It will allow “capacity building to be obtained” and for Jakarta to “exchange ideas” on maintaining Russian equipment it already owns, said Curie Maharani Savitri.
Indonesia has Russian-made amphibious tanks, helicopters, missiles and fighter jets in its arsenal.

Different goals

Jakarta and Moscow have different maritime goals, with Indonesia facing threats of smuggling and piracy while Russia is looking for willing allies.
Pieter said he expects the exercises to not be as advanced as annual Super Garuda Shield drills Indonesia hosts with the US and other allies.
“I think it’s an introductory phase to the military relationship between the two, especially on the naval side,” he said.
But the drills may still raise eyebrows in Washington, which has been trying to diplomatically isolate Russia.
The US embassy in Jakarta declined to comment on the drills.
For Prabowo they allow him to send a message about his new policy in the early days of his presidency, said Pieter.
“Historically, the US has been the partner of choice for military exercises. But... Indonesia has been trying to diversify its partners,” he said.
“And I think there’s an overall bigger trend of that.”


Ukraine ‘holding back’ powerful Russian offensive, Kyiv top commander says

Ukraine ‘holding back’ powerful Russian offensive, Kyiv top commander says
Updated 03 November 2024
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Ukraine ‘holding back’ powerful Russian offensive, Kyiv top commander says

Ukraine ‘holding back’ powerful Russian offensive, Kyiv top commander says
  • The war is entering what Russian analysts say is its most dangerous phase as Moscow’s forces advance

KYIV: Ukrainian forces are restraining one of Russia’s most powerful offensives since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbor, the top commander of Kyiv’s forces said on Saturday.
Russian troops advanced in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, the month after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion, according to open-source data. Ukraine in August took part of Russia’s Kursk region.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding back one of the most powerful Russian offensives from launching a full-scale invasion,” General Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
After failing to capture the capital Kyiv early in the war and win a decisive victory, Putin scaled back his war ambitions to taking the Donbas industrial heartland in Ukraine’s east, which covers the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Donbas has since become the war’s main theater, where some of biggest battles in Europe for generations have taken place and where thousands of troops on each side have died.
On Saturday, Moscow said it has taken two more settlements along the Donbas frontline. In the week of Oct. 20-27 alone, Russia captured nearly 200 square km (80 square miles) of Ukrainian territory, according to the Russian media group Agentstvo, which analyzed Ukrainian open-source maps.
The war is entering what Russian analysts say is its most dangerous phase as Moscow’s forces advance, North Korea sends troops to Russia and the West ponders how the conflict will end.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has been traveling the world lobbying NATO countries to allow Kyiv the use of the long-range missiles they have provided to strike targets deep inside Russia.
Ukraine is bracing for what could be the toughest winter of the war after long-range Russian airstrikes destroyed what officials say is about half of its power generating capacity.
 


UK FM Lammy vows ‘new approach’ ahead of Africa trip

UK FM Lammy vows ‘new approach’ ahead of Africa trip
Updated 03 November 2024
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UK FM Lammy vows ‘new approach’ ahead of Africa trip

UK FM Lammy vows ‘new approach’ ahead of Africa trip
  • Lammy said that economic growth would “underpin our relationships in Nigeria, South Africa and beyond”

LONDON: UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Sunday vowed a “new approach” with Africa that will “listen rather than tell” as he began a visit to Nigeria and South Africa.
“Our new approach will deliver respectful partnerships that listen rather than tell, deliver long-term growth rather than short-term solutions and build a freer, safer, more prosperous continent,” he said, according to a press release from his ministry.
“I want to hear what our African partners need and foster relationships so that the UK and our friends and partners in Africa can grow together,” he added, as he set off for his first trip to the continent as foreign minister.
Lammy said that economic growth would “underpin our relationships in Nigeria, South Africa and beyond.”
In Nigeria, he will sign a “Strategic Partnership” that will cover growth, national security and climate change.
Lammy will then travel to South Africa, where he will “agree to develop a new UK-South Africa Growth Plan,” according to the Foreign Office.
He will also attend the Earthshot+ conference in Cape Town, where he will speak with innovators to find out how Britain can help channel finance to environmental solutions.
Founded by Prince William, The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental award and platform designed to develop solutions to ecological problems.