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DR Congo cholera vaccine drive targets 2 mn people: WHO

AFP

A vaccination drive against cholera kicked off last week targeting two million people in the troubled east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Monday.

The highly contagious bacterial infection, which causes severe diarrhoea and dehydration, thrives in conditions of poor sanitation and contaminated water or food. 

The vaccination drive began last Wednesday in Haut-Lomami, South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces, hard hit by cholera since August, the WHO’s office in the capital Kinshasa said.

Since the start of 2021, the vast central African country has reported 8,279 suspected cases of cholera and 153 deaths in 16 of its 26 provinces, the office said in a statement.

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The DR Congo is also beset by malaria, which claims some 20,000 lives in the country each year, as well as Ebola, measles, yellow fever and polio, not to mention malnutrition, poverty and widespread conflict, notably in the east.

It has been relatively unscathed by Covid-19, with fewer than 13 deaths per million people — from some 75,000 cases in the country of 90 million — since the start of the pandemic.

The anti-cholera vaccination drive is the second in the former Belgian colony this year, following campaigns in March and July when more than 1.4 million people received jabs in the southeastern Haut-Katanga province.

“Cholera is a dangerous infection that can kill in a few hours if it is not treated, but it can be anticipated and is preventable,” the WHO’s Amedee Prosper Djiguimde said in the statement.

“In addition to vaccines… we are also supplying potable water and we are strengthening hygiene and cleaning to prevent the spread of the epidemic,” he said.

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International

Brazil’s Lula wishes Trump a successful term focused on prosperity and peace

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wished the new U.S. President, Donald Trump, a “successful” term that promotes “prosperity and well-being for the U.S. people” and “a fairer and more peaceful world.”

“On behalf of the Brazilian government, I congratulate President Donald Trump on his inauguration,” said the progressive leader on his social media, shortly after Trump took the oath of office at the Capitol in Washington.

Lula, 79, highlighted that the relationship between Brazil and the United States, one of its most important trade partners, is “marked by a history of cooperation, based on mutual respect and historical friendship.”

“Our countries maintain strong ties in various areas such as trade, science, education, and culture. I am confident that we can continue to make progress in these and other areas,” he added.

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International

Iran hopes U.S. will adopt realistic approaches under Trump administration

Iran declared on Monday that it hopes the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump will adopt “realistic approaches” toward Tehran and show “respect” for the interests of the countries in the region.

The Republican tycoon will take the oath for his second term as president of the United States on Monday at noon Washington time (17:00 GMT).

“We hope that the approaches and policies of the new U.S. government will be realistic and based on respect for the interests… of the countries in the region, including the Iranian nation,” said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, during a weekly press briefing.

During his first term (2017-2021), Trump implemented a “maximum pressure” policy toward Iran.

In 2018, under his administration, the United States withdrew from the international nuclear deal with Iran, concluded three years earlier, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for assurances that the country would not seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Tehran denies any such intentions.

In response, Tehran significantly increased its stockpile of enriched materials and raised the enrichment threshold to 60%, approaching the 90% required to produce an atomic bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Tehran, which has expressed a desire to relaunch negotiations to revive the deal, defends its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons.

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International

Trump to sign executive order recognizing only two sexes

Donald Trump will sign an executive order instructing his administration to “recognize” the existence of only “two sexes,” future White House officials announced on Monday, just before the Republican’s inauguration.

“What we are doing today is defining that the policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes: male and female,” said the official, speaking to the press on the condition of anonymity.

The aim of the decree is “to defend women against the ideological extremism of gender and to restore biological truth within the Federal Government,” the official added, explaining that a person’s sexual identity will be defined solely by the gametes they possess.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to put an end to the “transgender delusion.”

The elected president also plans to eliminate federal funding for programs supporting diversity in the administration, the same officials from his incoming cabinet stated.

“We are going to end this type of funding, we are going to put an end to these programs,” said one source from the future team, speaking anonymously about antiracism and diversity training courses.

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