Global Pulse

标签： Africa

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  • Burkina Faso junta secretly detained journalist and others, advocacy group says

    Burkina Faso junta secretly detained journalist and others, advocacy group says

    In a damning new revelation that shines a harsh light on rising authoritarianism in West Africa, global press freedom advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has accused Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta of running an unacknowledged, makeshift detention facility in the nation’s capital Ouagadougou, where a leading investigative journalist and dozens of detainees are held in degrading, abusive conditions. The findings, released Wednesday by RSF, directly contradict official claims about the whereabouts of Atiana Serge Oulon, editor-in-chief of the independent Burkina Faso newspaper L’Evenement.

    Oulon was forcibly removed from his private residence in Ouagadougou in June 2024 by a group of unidentified armed men dressed in civilian clothing. Shortly after the abduction, the junta, which has held power since a 2022 coup led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, announced that Oulon had been conscripted into national military service to fight the ongoing regional insurgency against Islamic militants. But accounts from former detainees obtained by RSF tell a far different story: as of late 2024, Oulon and as many as 40 other detainees remain imprisoned in a heavily guarded residential compound in central Ouagadougou, cut off from all contact with family, legal representation, and the outside world.

    Detainees held in the facility described systematic mistreatment that violates basic international human rights standards. Former prisoners reported sleeping on uninsulated bare concrete floors, being denied access to clean drinking water and forced to drink water from toilet fixtures, and regular beatings at the hands of guards who use thick ropes and tree branches as weapons. RSF’s investigation also revealed direct ties between the secret detention operation and Traoré’s inner circle: a senior security officer assigned to Traoré personally debriefs detainees before their release, threatening them with severe retaliation if they speak publicly about their experience in the facility.

    Oulon has been a target of junta scrutiny since 2022, when he published a high-profile investigative report exposing alleged embezzlement by a senior army captain, RSF confirmed. As of publication, Oulon’s exact location and current condition remain unknown, and the junta has not responded to repeated requests for comment from RSF after the organization shared its full investigative findings with government officials.

    This revelation is the latest in a growing body of evidence documenting a widespread crackdown on political dissent and independent press under Traoré’s junta. Since seizing power in the September 2022 coup, the military government has shuttered dozens of independent media outlets, targeted critical journalists and opposition figures, and systematically forcibly conscripted dissidents to frontline combat against jihadist insurgents. In an April 2024 report, Human Rights Watch documented that the junta’s sweeping crackdown has created what the organization described as “an atmosphere of terror” across Burkina Faso, severely cutting off public access to uncensored information and eliminating almost all space for political opposition. RSF is now calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Oulon and all detainees arbitrarily held at the secret Ouagadougou facility.

  • Amputee football players in Rwanda find healing and a sense of community

    Amputee football players in Rwanda find healing and a sense of community

    Against the backdrop of Kigali, Rwanda’s rolling hills, a revolutionary form of athletic competition is transforming lives and stitching together the fabric of a nation still healing from deep historical trauma. On grassy community pitches, athletes balance on crutches, striking them against one another in playful competition as they chase a football — and a shared, ambitious dream of competing on the world’s biggest stage for their sport. In the stands, young children scream with delight as a one-armed goalkeeper dives full-stretch to block a shot with her only functional hand, a moment that captures both the grit and joy that define this growing movement.

    Amputee football, a modified seven-a-side variant where outfield players maneuver across the pitch on crutches and goalkeepers are restricted to one functional arm, has expanded steadily across Rwanda over the past 10 years. For athletes who once assumed competitive sport was forever out of reach after limb loss, the pitch has become more than a place to play: it is a community, a path to physical rehabilitation, and a space to reclaim a sense of belonging after life-altering injury or trauma.

    Much of the sport’s growth in Rwanda is rooted in the country’s long road to recovery from its darkest chapter: the 1994 genocide, where an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in a 100-day campaign of violence, leaving thousands of survivors living with amputations and other permanent disabilities. Today, amputee football brings together people from all backgrounds — genocide survivors, accident survivors, and people who have lost limbs to illness — to build connection across divides.

    For Nyiraneza Solange, the sport has been life-changing. Born two years after the genocide, Solange lost her leg at age 5 following a fall that developed into a severe infection. She was drawn to the sport after witnessing the extraordinary resilience of genocide survivors who had limb loss, and was encouraged by the coach of Rwanda’s first-ever amputee football team, who told her she could adapt her crutches to compete. She quickly cast aside her fears, and now says she rarely thinks about her amputation while playing. “I don’t even think about I don’t have a leg,” she explained. On the pitch, she feels completely free, and has overcome the deep social stigma that once surrounded her status as an amputee.

    Official estimates place the number of lower-limb amputees in Rwanda at more than 3,000, a population encompassing genocide survivors, road accident victims, and people affected by chronic illness. Louise Kwizera, vice president of the Rwanda Amputee Football Federation, says the sport does more than build physical fitness: it helps people learn to trust one another again, rebuilding unity in a society that was once torn apart by division. “In communities affected by conflict or trauma, the playing field becomes a place of peace,” Kwizera told the Associated Press. “People who may have different pasts come together as teammates.”

    Today, that growing community has its sights set on a major global milestone: Rwanda is preparing to field a full national women’s team for the second women’s amputee football World Cup, scheduled to take place in 2025 in either Poland or Brazil. The 2024 inaugural edition of the tournament only included one Rwandan competitor, making next year’s event a historic step forward for the country’s program. Amputee football, overseen globally by the World Amputee Football Federation, is now played in more than 50 countries, and Rwanda has built a robust domestic structure: five professional women’s teams and 10 men’s teams across the country.

    Fred Sorrels, manager of the Haitian women’s amputee football team, recently traveled to Rwanda to support the development of the local program, and has thrown his support behind a potential future Rwandan bid to host the World Cup. While Rwandan sports authorities have not yet submitted a formal bid, Sorrels says he has seen firsthand the life-changing impact the sport has on participants. “It’s a win psychologically and mentally for these ladies to have an opportunity to experience wholeness and wellness again,” he said.

    Gilbert Muvunyi Manier, director general of sports development at Rwanda’s Ministry of Sports, echoed that sentiment, describing amputee football as a “powerful tool” for national healing, intergroup reconciliation, and building social cohesion across the country.

    Athletes acknowledge that the sport comes with unique challenges. Goalkeeper Nikuze Angelique, for example, notes that defending shots that bounce toward the side of her missing arm presents a constant technical hurdle. But like Solange, she emphasizes that the community she has found on the pitch far outweighs any challenges. As players posed for selfies after a recent training match, Angelique shared her hope that the team will qualify for next year’s World Cup — a milestone that would mark the fulfillment of a decades-long dream for Rwandan amputee athletes. “It will be a dream come true,” she said.

  • Antarctica’s tourism boom raises concerns about contamination and disease

    Antarctica’s tourism boom raises concerns about contamination and disease

    BRUSSELS — As climate change accelerates ice melt across Antarctica, a growing wave of travelers is rushing to see the continent’s one-of-a-kind frozen landscapes before they disappear forever. This surge in polar tourism, however, is raising urgent alarms among scientists and environmental advocates, who warn that more visitors bring heightened risks of ecological contamination, disease outbreaks, and irreversible damage to one of the planet’s most fragile wilderness regions.

    While annual visitor counts remain relatively modest compared to mainstream tourist destinations — limited by the extreme travel costs and long voyage times required to reach the southern continent — the pace of growth has been explosive. Data from the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) shows that more than 80,000 tourists set foot on Antarctica’s ice in 2024, with an additional 36,000 observing the continent from cruise ship decks. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that Antarctic tourism has grown tenfold over the past three decades, and industry analysts project that number could surge even more dramatically in the coming 10 years.

    Hanne Nielsen, a senior lecturer of Antarctic law at the University of Tasmania and a former Antarctic expedition guide, notes that falling travel costs, advances in polar vessel technology, and a growing fleet of ice-capable cruise ships are opening the region to more travelers than ever before. Her university’s research team projects annual visitor numbers could triple or even quadruple to more than 400,000 by the 2030s. Much of this growth is driven by the rise of “last chance tourism,” Nielsen explains: travelers who recognize that Antarctica’s rapidly melting ice landscapes are changing permanently, and are eager to see them before they are lost.

    The vast majority of tourist expeditions are concentrated on the Antarctic Peninsula, a narrow arm of the continent that ranks among the fastest-warming regions on Earth. NASA data confirms that between 2002 and 2020, Antarctica lost an average of 149 billion metric tons of ice each year, with the greatest melt occurring along the peninsula. This accelerating climate shift is exactly what draws many visitors to the region, but it also puts the already stressed ecosystem at greater risk from outside interference.

    The risks of unregulated or expanding tourism were thrust into the spotlight earlier this year by a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch cruise ship *MV Hondius*, which completed a weeks-long Antarctic expedition after departing Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1. The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently investigating the outbreak, with officials noting that the initial case is believed to have been contracted before the ship departed, and no evidence of rat populations (the primary carrier of hantavirus) has been found on the vessel. WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness director Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove says the organization is currently probing whether human-to-human transmission occurred during the voyage. While no contamination of Antarctica itself has been linked to the *MV Hondius* outbreak, the event has underscored the growing disease risks that accompany rising tourism.

    Ecological risks are already a documented concern. In recent years, migratory bird flocks have carried avian influenza from South America to Antarctica, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In response, IAATO and other regulatory bodies have tightened biosecurity and hygiene rules for all visitors to the continent. To prevent the introduction of invasive species — from plant seeds and insects to microscopic pathogens — tourists are required to stay at a set distance from native wildlife, and all gear and footwear is thoroughly cleaned with vacuums, disinfectants, and brushes to remove any foreign material before landing. Even tiny crevices in boot soles and laces can trap seeds, dirt, or microbes that could disrupt the Antarctic ecosystem, Nielsen explains.

    Disease outbreaks are also a persistent risk on crowded cruise vessels. Outbreaks of highly contagious norovirus are common in the close quarters of long voyages, and the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak on the *Diamond Princess* cruise demonstrated how quickly a novel virus can spread aboard ship, turning a tourist vessel into an unintended breeding ground for infection.

    Antarctica is currently governed by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, which designates the entire continent as a scientific preserve dedicated exclusively to peaceful purposes. The treaty’s supplementary rules require that all human activity avoid harm to the Antarctic environment, its scientific value, and its unique natural landscapes. Currently, tour operators and scientific expeditions voluntarily comply with biosecurity guidelines and submit environmental impact assessments for their operations. But environmental advocates note that the treaty framework was drafted at a time when Antarctic tourism was negligible, and it is not equipped to handle the rapid growth the region is seeing today.

    Claire Christian, executive director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, an environmental advocacy group, says the continent’s unique ecosystems deserve the same strict regulation that applies to other sensitive, protected ecological sites around the world. Christian is currently preparing to attend the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, where she will join calls for stronger protections for Antarctica’s native species, including penguins, whales, seals, seabirds, and krill — the tiny organisms that form the base of the entire Antarctic food web.

    “The sites you will see in Antarctica are extremely unique and not replicable anywhere else on the planet — the whales, the seals, the penguins, the icebergs — it’s all really stunning and it makes a huge impression on people,” Christian said. She also noted that human footprints in Antarctica’s cold, dry environment can remain visible for 50 years or more, a reminder that even small amounts of human activity leave a lasting mark on the pristine continent. For now, despite growing warnings from scientists, the allure of the last great untouched wilderness on Earth continues to draw record numbers of curious travelers.

  • How a deadly hantavirus outbreak unfolded on a cruise ship for weeks before it was identified

    How a deadly hantavirus outbreak unfolded on a cruise ship for weeks before it was identified

    A rare, deadly hantavirus outbreak has swept through an Antarctic expedition cruise over the past month, leaving three passengers dead and multiple others ill, according to official updates from the World Health Organization (WHO), the vessel’s operator, and global ship tracking data.

    The MV Hondius, operated by Dutch expedition cruise firm Oceanwide Expeditions, departed Ushuaia in southern Argentina on April 1 on a planned month-long voyage that would carry 149 passengers and crew from 23 nations to Antarctica and remote South Atlantic islands. These premium expedition trips, which target travelers seeking to visit some of Earth’s most isolated wilderness regions, cost between $6,000 and $25,000 per passenger, depending on cabin selection.

    The first case emerged just five days into the voyage, when a 70-year-old Dutch passenger developed a fever, headache, and mild diarrhea on April 6. His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died from respiratory distress on April 21 while the ship was traversing the open South Atlantic between the British overseas territories of South Georgia and Saint Helena. At the time, no clear cause of death could be identified on board, so the cruise continued its planned itinerary.

    The vessel stopped near the remote island of Tristan da Cunha before reaching Saint Helena on April 24, where the passenger’s body was disembarked. The man’s 69-year-old wife, who had already started showing early symptoms of illness, left the ship to accompany her husband’s remains and boarded a commercial flight bound for South Africa. She grew critically ill mid-flight and collapsed upon landing in Johannesburg, dying in a local hospital on April 26.

    After the ship left Saint Helena bound for Ascension Island, located 800 miles north of its previous stop, a third British passenger developed symptoms including high fever, shortness of breath, and pneumonia. He was evacuated from Ascension Island to a South African hospital for intensive care on April 27. A fourth passenger, a German woman, developed pneumonia-like symptoms and died on board on May 6, after the ship had altered course for Cape Verde off the West African coast. Her body remains in isolation on the vessel.

    It took nearly three weeks from the first death for health officials to confirm hantavirus as the cause of the outbreak. After all routine tests on the hospitalized British passenger returned negative, South African public health labs ran a hantavirus analysis, which returned a positive result on May 6. Posthumous testing of the Dutch woman’s body returned a second positive hantavirus result the following day. As of the latest update, two cases are laboratory-confirmed, and WHO has classified the event as a full hantavirus outbreak, suspecting the other fatalities are also linked to the virus.

    Currently, the MV Hondius is anchored off the coast of Cape Verde, with three symptomatic people still on board waiting for evacuation. The hospitalized British patient remains in intensive care in South Africa.

    Hantavirus is primarily a rodent-borne pathogen, spread to humans through direct contact with infected rodents, their saliva, urine, or fecal droppings. While person-to-person transmission is extremely rare for most hantavirus strains, the Andes hantavirus — the specific variant identified in this outbreak, which is endemic to Argentina and Chile — can spread between humans in rare cases. In severe infections, hantavirus causes life-threatening respiratory failure and kidney damage, with a high mortality rate for serious cases.

    International health authorities have stressed that the global risk from this outbreak remains very low, due to the virus’s limited ability to spread between people. WHO officials are currently conducting contact tracing for all passengers who shared the April 25 flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg with the infected Dutch woman, to monitor for any secondary spread. The ship’s passengers and crew have been placed in full cabin isolation with strict physical distancing protocols, a measure that mirrors lockdown measures implemented widely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    As of Tuesday, Oceanwide Expeditions announced plans to deploy medical evacuation aircraft to Cape Verde to extract three people from the ship: two passengers requiring urgent medical care and one companion of the deceased German woman. The evacuated passengers will be flown to the Netherlands for care, though an exact arrival timeline has not been released. After the evacuation, the MV Hondius will sail approximately three days to the Spanish Canary Islands, though Spanish officials have not yet finalized their approval for the vessel’s port of entry as of Tuesday evening.

    Investigations into the source of the outbreak remain ongoing. WHO officials are reviewing the travel histories of the first two infected passengers, who visited Argentina and other parts of South America before boarding the expedition cruise, to determine how the virus was introduced to the vessel.

  • Cruise passengers tell of life on board stranded ship after hantavirus outbreak

    Cruise passengers tell of life on board stranded ship after hantavirus outbreak

    A luxury expedition cruise that began as a dream Atlantic voyage has devolved into a deadly, uncertain quarantine, leaving roughly 150 passengers and crew from 23 countries stranded in waters off the coast of West Africa after a hantavirus outbreak claimed three lives.

    The MV Hondius, operated by Netherlands-based expedition company Oceanwide Expeditions, departed Ushuaia, Argentina — the world’s southernmost city — on April 1 on a highly anticipated itinerary that would take guests past dramatic, untapped Atlantic landscapes. The route included stops at South Georgia, the remote British overseas territory famous for its massive penguin colonies, and Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island on Earth. For weeks, passengers documented the once-in-a-lifetime trip on social media: American travel vlogger Jake Rosmarin shared clips of alpine snowfall, vibrant autumn coastal hues, penguin-spotting excursions, and leisurely iced lattes on deck, calling the quiet moments at remote ports unforgettable.

    That idyllic narrative unraveled rapidly in mid-April. On April 11, a Dutch passenger died on board with no clear cause of death. His remains were offloaded in St Helena nearly two weeks later, and his 69-year-old wife, who accompanied the body, was evacuated to a Johannesburg hospital in South Africa, where she also died. The World Health Organization (WHO) later confirmed she had been infected with hantavirus, a rare but serious infectious disease most commonly transmitted to humans by rodent populations. A British passenger fell ill on April 27 and was also evacuated to South Africa, where they remain in critical but stable condition after testing positive for the virus. A third fatality, a German national, was recorded on May 2, bringing the total death toll to three; health officials have not yet confirmed if the German victim died from hantavirus. Currently, two crew members are experiencing acute respiratory symptoms consistent with the virus, one mild and one severe, requiring urgent medical intervention. In total, health authorities have confirmed two cases of hantavirus on board and are investigating five additional suspected cases, with WHO warning the virus may have spread among the vessel’s population.

    Today, the stricken vessel remains anchored off Cape Verde, after local authorities declined entry to the port earlier this week. Passengers have described divided moods on board, with conflicting accounts of the crisis shared on social media. In an emotional viral TikTok posted to his followers, Rosmarin, who first brought widespread attention to the outbreak, spoke through tears about the fear and uncertainty gripping many on board. “We’re not just a story. We’re not just headlines, we’re people with families, with lives, with people waiting for us at home,” he said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty and that is the hardest part. All we want right now is to feel safe, to have clarity and to get home.”

    In subsequent posts, Rosmarin clarified he had settled his emotions, noting that he remained healthy, was getting regular fresh air, and was well cared for by the ship’s crew. “I’m just trying to focus on the positive,” he added.

    Another travel influencer and passenger, Kasem Hato, pushed back on widespread media coverage of the crisis, arguing the situation has been overblown. Hato claimed the intense public attention stemmed from Rosmarin’s viral panicked video, noting that “148 out of 149” people on board have remained calm, and that the outbreak is under control. “While his reaction is valid, it doesn’t represent the situation on board,” Hato wrote, adding that passengers are passing the time with reading, film screenings, and social activities, and wished ill passengers a quick recovery. Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions has echoed this framing, saying the overall atmosphere on board remains calm, with most passengers composed. The company said it is working urgently to secure a docking port, expedite disembarkation, and complete required medical screenings for all guests.

    Footage from inside the vessel confirms new public health protocols are in place: passengers are required to maintain social distance, wear face coverings in indoor common areas, and practice frequent hand sanitization. Usually bustling communal spaces, including plush lounges designed for evening socializing, now sit empty. One anonymous passenger told the BBC the group is preparing for at least three to four more days at sea, with no clear timeline for when they will be able to dock.

    The vessel’s next destination remains shrouded in confusion. WHO initially announced Spain had granted permission for the MV Hondius to dock in the Canary Islands, where officials could conduct a full risk assessment and ongoing medical monitoring. But Spain’s Ministry of Health has pushed back on that reporting, saying it has not yet received a formal request for the vessel to enter Canarian ports. A ministry spokesperson added that Spanish authorities stand ready to take over management of the situation if a request is submitted, including providing medical care, diagnostic testing, and vessel disinfection, though they would not confirm whether passengers would be allowed to disembark once docked.

    Hantavirus, which primarily spreads through contact with rodent urine, droppings, or saliva, can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular illness in humans, with a mortality rate of roughly 36% for the most common strain found in the Americas. Person-to-person transmission is rare, though not impossible, according to global health guidelines.

  • Zambia blasts the US over a $2 billion health deal in exchange for critical minerals

    Zambia blasts the US over a $2 billion health deal in exchange for critical minerals

    Diplomatic tensions between Zambia and the United States have boiled over into public view, as Lusaka accuses Washington of linking a $2 billion critical health assistance package to preferential access to Zambia’s strategic mineral reserves — reserves that are central to the global green energy transition. The escalating row also exposes growing pushback across Africa against the Trump administration’s new “America First” aid framework, which has redefined traditional development support as transactional deals weighted toward U.S. commercial and geopolitical interests.

    In a sharply worded statement released Monday, Zambian Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe pushed back against outgoing U.S. Ambassador Michael Gonzales, who had publicly accused Zambian leaders of rampant corruption and negotiation gridlock that had derailed the aid talks. Haimbe dismissed Gonzales’ claims as “mischievous, deeply regrettable and undiplomatic,” saying the allegations violate longstanding norms of mutual respect between sovereign nations. He clarified that negotiations have been stalled for months not because of Zambian intransigence or graft, but because of two non-negotiable U.S. demands Zambia finds unacceptable: intrusive data-sharing requirements that violate Zambian citizens’ right to privacy, and an insistence that U.S. companies receive preferential treatment for access to Zambia’s critical mineral reserves.

    Zambia’s position is clear, Haimbe added: the southern African nation retains full sovereignty over its natural resources, and no single strategic partner will receive preferential treatment over others. The U.S. has rejected Zambia’s accusations, with Gonzales calling the claims of a mineral-for-aid link “absolutely and patently false” and “disgusting.” The U.S. Embassy in Zambia has not yet issued an official response to Haimbe’s latest remarks.

    The dispute is not an isolated incident: it is the most high-profile example of growing pushback against the Trump administration’s complete overhaul of U.S. foreign aid policy. The administration has dismantled longstanding aid architectures including the United States Agency for International Development and the global AIDS relief program PEPFAR, replacing them with bilateral country-by-country agreements that frame aid as a reciprocal transaction. Under the new model, U.S. health funding is tied to a series of strict conditions, including commercial concessions, mandatory domestic spending commitments, broad disease surveillance access, pathogen sharing, and even religious provisions. As of mid-2000s, Washington has secured agreements with roughly 30 countries, most of them in aid-dependent African nations.

    U.S. officials defend the framework as a pragmatic shift that reduces long-term donor dependency, empowers local governments to take ownership of their health systems, and protects core U.S. interests — most notably countering China’s growing economic and political influence across the African continent. China is already a dominant infrastructure and trade partner in Zambia and many other African countries, and Washington has made it a priority to secure alternative access to African minerals critical for manufacturing solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and grid energy storage systems, key components of the global transition to clean energy.

    But African governments and global health experts have raised widespread alarm about the new model, with multiple nations already rejecting or pausing proposed deals over unacceptable terms. Last week, Ghana turned down a drafted agreement over the lack of safeguards for sensitive public health data. Zimbabwe previously walked away from a $367 million aid package over identical concerns. In Kenya, a $2.5 billion agreement signed last December remains frozen after a court challenge argued it violates national data protection legislation. In Lesotho, local negotiators only managed to reduce a U.S. demand for 25 years of unrestricted access to health data and biological samples down to a five-year term.

    Critics warn that the data-sharing provisions disproportionately benefit U.S. interests, with information flowing almost exclusively one-way to Washington. Following the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization in January, the country abandoned multilateral global pathogen-sharing and vaccine access negotiations currently led by the WHO, and is instead pursuing direct bilateral access to disease surveillance data and biological samples from African nations. Health advocates warn this approach risks creating a fragmented parallel global health system that undermines multilateral coordination. In Zimbabwe’s earlier rejected deal, government officials noted the U.S. offered no guarantee that Zimbabwe would gain access to future medical innovations such as vaccines, diagnostics, or treatments developed using the shared data and samples. This echoes the inequitable experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many African nations contributed critical data and viral samples but were last in line to access life-saving vaccines.

    The closed-door negotiation process for the new deals has also drawn fire for a lack of transparency and public accountability. “Secrecy is at the center of this. That puts accountability for results at risk,” said Asia Russell, executive director of global health advocacy group Health GAP. “It’s impossible to evaluate these deals properly without seeing the full terms. Part of what made PEPFAR successful was transparency. Now that’s been taken away.”

    Beyond data and transparency concerns, the new agreements carry stricter financial terms: most offer lower overall funding than previous U.S. assistance programs, while requiring recipient nations to increase domestic health spending, with total funding at risk if domestic targets are not met. “These are going to be very heavy lifts,” said Jen Kates, senior vice president at U.S.-based non-profit health policy organization KFF. “Countries are already under strain.”

    Critics ultimately warn that tying life-saving health support to commercial and geopolitical goals erodes global health security for all nations. “When health becomes a bargaining chip, everyone becomes less safe,” Russell warned.

  • Hantavirus may have spread between passengers on cruise ship, WHO says

    Hantavirus may have spread between passengers on cruise ship, WHO says

    A deadly hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch-operated cruise vessel has left three passengers dead and prompted an urgent international investigation into the rare possibility of sustained human-to-human virus transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed. The outbreak unfolded on the MV Hondius, an expedition cruise ship operated by Netherlands-based firm Oceanwide Expeditions, which launched its transatlantic voyage roughly one month ago from an Argentine port.

  • Inside the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak

    Inside the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak

    Three passengers have died and at least two more have fallen ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard a Dutch polar expedition cruise ship, which has been anchored off the coast of Cape Verde after local authorities blocked all passengers from disembarking over public health fears, multiple global health and government officials have confirmed.

    The MV Hondius, operated by Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions, was mid-voyage on a multi-week expedition journey that launched from Ushuaia, Argentina on April 1, bound for Antarctica and remote island destinations across the South Atlantic, when the outbreak was detected. As of the latest updates, nearly 150 passengers and crew remain confined to their individual cabins under isolation protocols, video footage obtained by the Associated Press confirms. The ship’s public spaces including open decks and common halls are nearly empty, with only a small number of masked personnel moving through restricted areas. Medical teams in full personal protective equipment—including full-body white hazmat suits, boots, and respiratory protection—have been observed transferring supplies and personnel between the Hondius and smaller support craft off the ship.

    Local Cape Verdean authorities, based in the capital Praia, made the decision to bar disembarkation to protect the country’s population of roughly 590,000 people. The archipelago nation, located off the western coast of Africa, has deployed a specialized response team including doctors, surgeons, nurses, and laboratory specialists to provide on-site medical support to the vessel, while activating enhanced safety protocols across all port areas as a precaution against the rodent-borne virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that while human-to-human transmission of hantavirus is rare, it is possible, prompting the strict safety measures. Cape Verde’s National Director of Health Angela Gomes emphasized that the government’s top priority is upholding maximum protection for both local residents and response personnel, noting all medical teams interacting with the ship are equipped with full protective gear to prevent transmission.

    In the immediate aftermath of the outbreak, the timeline for evacuating the sick remained unclear, but the WHO announced Monday that the plan called for a medical evacuation of affected passengers to the Netherlands for advanced care. If evacuation could not be completed through Cape Verde, Oceanwide Expeditions noted it would reroute the ship to one of two Spanish Canary Island ports: Tenerife or Las Palmas. By Tuesday, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove confirmed in a Geneva press briefing that the official adjusted plan is for the Hondius to continue onward to the Canary Islands, where Spanish authorities will accept the vessel. She added that no additional passengers or crew have developed symptoms as of Tuesday’s update, and once the two remaining sick passengers are medically evacuated, the ship will be cleared to resume movement. Early reports had noted three additional people had experienced mild symptoms, but none have progressed to active cases.

    The Spanish Ministry of Health however offered a more cautious update Tuesday, stating it is conducting close coordinated monitoring with the WHO and other involved stakeholders, and no final decision on a port of call has been made. Until all risk assessments are complete, the ministry will not formalize any acceptance of the vessel, per its official statement.

    Officials in the Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego, where the voyage originated, confirmed that all passengers were screened for hantavirus symptoms before departure, and no cases were detected when the ship set sail. Juan Facundo Petrina, the province’s epidemiology director, noted that hantavirus symptoms can take up to eight weeks to appear after initial exposure, meaning any infection likely occurred before passengers boarded, or very early in the voyage.

    As of the latest update, the WHO says the situation on board remains under careful continuous monitoring, with the global health body coordinating an international response that includes in-depth laboratory testing, case isolation, targeted care, and planning for evacuation. Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement that the atmosphere on the ship remains calm, with all passengers remaining composed, and the vessel has activated its highest level (Level 3) outbreak response protocol, which includes strict isolation, enhanced hygiene, and constant medical monitoring of all people on board.

  • Sudan accuses Ethiopia and UAE of orchestrating drone attacks on airport

    Sudan accuses Ethiopia and UAE of orchestrating drone attacks on airport

    A brazen drone strike on Sudan’s primary international gateway in Khartoum has ignited a sharp diplomatic row, with the Sudanese government formally accusing neighboring Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates of orchestrating the attack that it labels an open act of direct aggression against Sudanese sovereignty.

    The assault, carried out on Monday, targeted not only Khartoum International Airport but also multiple military sites across the wider Khartoum metropolitan region. This attack breaks a months-long stretch of relative calm in the capital, a period of stability that followed the Sudanese Armed Forces’ successful ousting of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from Khartoum last year.

    Sudan’s state-run Sudan News Agency (Suna) quoted military officials as saying the country holds conclusive proof that the drones used in Monday’s assault were launched from Bahir Dar Airport located in northern Ethiopia. This accusation builds on prior claims made by Sudan’s military back in March, when it said the RSF had launched air attacks from Ethiopian soil. On that earlier occasion, Sudanese forces tracked and shot down a drone they confirmed was owned by the United Arab Emirates after it crossed into Sudanese airspace from Ethiopian territory. Military spokesmen now confirm that the drone used in Monday’s strike traces back to the same origin point.

    Ethiopia has swiftly rejected the Sudanese accusations, labeling them completely baseless. The United Arab Emirates, which has repeatedly and forcefully denied allegations of providing military support to the RSF throughout Sudan’s ongoing civil conflict, has not yet issued an official statement on the latest accusation. Following the attack, Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mohieddin Salem announced that the country has recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia for urgent consultations in response to the incident.

    Officially, no casualties were reported in the strike, Sudan’s Information Minister confirmed to Reuters. Minor damage was however sustained by an administrative building near the airport tarmac. The timing of the attack is particularly sensitive: it comes just one week after the first direct international commercial flight landed at Khartoum International Airport in three years, a milestone that was meant to mark the capital’s gradual return to normalcy after years of war. In the wake of the strike, airport authorities immediately ordered a 72-hour full suspension of all operations, with plans to resume activity once mandatory security inspections are completed.

    Back in February, Reuters reporting exposed that Ethiopia had hosted a training camp for RSF fighters and upgraded military infrastructure at the nearby Asosa Airport to support drone operations, moves that the report claimed were backed by the UAE, a close Ethiopian ally. Both Ethiopia and the UAE denied those allegations at the time, just as they have denied involvement in the latest strike. Eyewitnesses contacted by AFP on Monday confirmed hearing multiple powerful explosions and seeing plumes of smoke rise from areas adjacent to the airport, matching official accounts of the attack.

    In comments following the strike, Sudan’s Foreign Minister emphasized that even though Ethiopia has long been considered a brotherly neighbor to Sudan, the two nations have chosen the wrong path in their alleged involvement and will ultimately come to regret their actions. For its part, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry struck a measured but firm tone in its Tuesday response, noting that Sudan and Ethiopia share centuries of historic, enduring friendship. The ministry added that Ethiopia has so far refrained from publicizing grave violations of its own territorial integrity and national security committed by belligerent parties in Sudan’s civil war, and called for constructive dialogue between all warring factions in Sudan to end the ongoing conflict.

    The conflict between Sudan’s regular armed forces and the RSF erupted in April 2023, and has since spiraled into one of the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophes. United Nations officials estimate that more than 150,000 people have been killed since fighting began, while over 12 million have been forced to flee their homes. The conflict has triggered widespread famine across large swathes of the country, and credible reports of systematic genocide in the western Darfur region have drawn international condemnation.

  • Sudan’s military accuses Ethiopia of drone attacks, recalls its ambassador

    Sudan’s military accuses Ethiopia of drone attacks, recalls its ambassador

    In a sharp escalation of cross-border tensions between two neighboring East African nations, Sudan has formally recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia and publicly accused Addis Ababa of orchestrating a series of recent drone strikes targeting key Sudanese sites, including the capital Khartoum’s international airport. The announcement, made during a press conference on Tuesday, marks one of the most serious diplomatic rifts between the two countries in years, unfolding against the backdrop of Sudan’s 13-month civil conflict between the national military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.