31, May 2019
Yaounde declares polio public emergency after 4-year absence 0
Cameroon has declared a public emergency after reporting a polio case in its far north, four years after the virus disappeared from the country, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The confirmed case of polio type 2 was found in the Mada area in the remote north bordering Chad and Nigeria, the ministry said in a statement.
It declared a “new polio epidemic following the confirmation of a case of poliovirus type 2 detected in samples.”
A source at the ministry said the outbreak may have been caused in part by a refusal of vaccinations and the cross-border movement of people in the area.
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease which mainly affects young children and can result in permanent paralysis. There is no cure and it can only be prevented through immunisation.
International polio vaccination efforts have run into problems in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Militants and religious leaders in rural areas often tell locals immunisation is part of a shadowy conspiracy to weaken their faith.
Source: AFP






















31, May 2019
Trump praises Johnson and Farage ahead of UK state visit 0
US President Donald Trump has heaped praises on Boris Johnson, a main candidate to become next British prime minster, saying he may meet him and Nigel Farage, Britain’s top eurosceptic politician, during an upcoming visit to London.
Speaking outside the White House on Thursday, Trump described Johnson and Farage as good and interesting guys and said they were friends of him.
“Nigel Farage is a friend of mine, Boris is a friend of mine. They’re two very good guys, very interesting people.”
Trump said the two, known as the architects of Britain’s imminent withdrawal from the EU, have done a good job in politics.
“I think they’re big powers over there. I think they’ve done a good job … I like them, I mean they’re friends of mine,” he said.
Trump said that he might meet the two in his trip to the UK starting on June 3.
Although insisting he is not supporting them, Trump’s remarks on Johnson and Farage could be an immense show of political support for the two as they try to have a more powerful presence in the British politics and on Brexit.
Johnson is currently the top favorite to win a late July leadership race in the ruling Conservative Party and replace incumbent Theresa May who will officially step down on June 7.
Farage, whose newly -established Brexit party gained a significant 32 percent of the votes in last Thursday EU parliament elections, is also believed to be looking for a way to have a say in government’s way of handling Brexit.
Trump’s visit to the UK comes against the backdrop of increasing calls for protests in London and other places, especially in Portsmouth, where he will attend a June 5 ceremony to commemorate the Second World War events.
Senior political figures have boycotted a ceremony by British queen to host Trump in Buckingham Palace, saying the divisive US president should not be welcomed in the UK.
Source: Presstv