Scramble to contain a cholera crisis in Zambia

Published

1 year ago

January 15, 2024

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Zambia is dealing with one of its worst cholera outbreaks in recent years as 351 people have died and nearly 9,000 active cases have been registered.

Climate change has fuelled heavy rains which have contaminated drinking water in overpopulated and impoverished urban areas, mostly in the capital Lusaka.

Health workers are scrambling to contain a crisis that has the potential to be the worst the country has seen since the first outbreak in 1977.

The sound of crying cuts through the humid air as soil is hastily dug out by a uniformed worker and flung to the side. Among the clutches of tall grass is a burial site with clustered and shallow individual allotments – only marginally better than a mass grave.

The screams of grief are coming from 16-year-old Catherine. Her grandmother Tamara Lungu’s coffin is in one of the new mounds in the soft ground. Tamara was the matriarch of the family at 84 – both Catherine’s guardian and under her care.

She died of cholera in Zambia‘s Heroes National Stadium on 10 January and the family was informed two days later.

Her other older grandchild Nable Nyirongo stands at her grave. It is marked with tree branches so that he and his cousins can find it among the many other fresh graves when they come back to place a signpost. They will not be allowed to have a funeral.

On top of the grief, there is palpable disappointment.

“There’s nothing we can do. At least they have to respect the bodies, I think they’re not giving us respect,” says 50-year-old Nable.

Beyond the graves, Heroes National Stadium can be seen in the distance. Nable was waiting there for days with worried relatives. He was in the front gardens of the stadium reeling from shock when we first met him.

“They told us that she is OK and we were transferred to the waiting room after. Now they are telling me that she’s dead. What is this? We are not happy with what is happening here,” he told us as he waited for his grandmother’s body to be placed in the coffin he purchased.

Other concerned relatives gather beyond the metal barriers of the stadium waiting for any news. A roll call of names is read out periodically to assure them that their infected loved ones are still alive.

One man is seething with anger and sitting on the edge of a dry storm water drain. He says his nephew’s name hasn’t been called out for days and all he wants to know is if he is dead or alive.

Next to him is 59-year-old Hamlet and his daughter Agnes. She says her ageing father has made five trips from out of town to check on her brother – his son.

They said they were taken in on Wednesday to see him and found him well. The next day, they went in to see him but couldn’t find him in any of the wards.

“We will feel better if they tell us whether he is dead or alive,” says Agnes. It is clear the lack of closure is beyond frustrating.

The health minister, Sylvia Masebo, is working on capacity and communication issues as the stadium increasingly becomes a focal treatment centre.

“When we started the first 48 hours it was a challenge. But we have stabilised now and have people who have been employed specifically just to deal with that issue of making sure that from six up to midnight they are looking at issues of families.”

We speak to the minister in the paediatric ward where infants as young as five months old are being treated for cholera.

There are buckets and IV drips by every bed. The floor is wet with bleach. Pained high-pitched cries ring out from corners of the room.

Many of these children come from the highly infected area of Kanyama and nearby districts.

Impoverished neighbourhoods full of flooded streets, shallow wells, pit latrines and open-air food stalls.

Mothers and guardians have been allowed in to sit at their bedsides on the orders of Ms Masebo.

The prohibition of funerals and family burials has remained in place. More emergency rules are being brought in by her ministry that will place health restrictions on public places like bars and open-air food markets.

I ask her how she predicts Zambians will respond to these measures.

“I think what is important is for us to do what needs to be done which we have not done as a country [for] many decades mainly because sometimes politicians we are scared to do what needs to be done, that which is right because you feel you will be unpopular.”

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Kristi Noem: Top Trump official’s handbag – containing $3,000 in cash and security pass – stolen in burger restaurant

Published

2 hours ago

April 22, 2025

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Kristi Noem: Top Trump official's handbag - containing ,000 in cash and security pass - stolen in burger restaurant

A bag belonging to the US Homeland Security Secretary was stolen on Sunday night – containing thousands of dollars in cash and an ID card that gives access to secure agency buildings.

Kristi Noem was eating at a Washington DC burger restaurant with family when a man in a face covering sat near her table and stole her purse, according to two people familiar with the theft.

Officials confirmed the theft to Sky News’ US partner NBC News on Monday.

The cabinet secretary was carrying $3,000 (£2,243) in cash because “her entire family was in town including her children and grandchildren”, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told NBC.

“She was using the withdrawal to treat her family to dinner, activities and Easter gifts.”

Just before 8pm, a man wearing an N-95 mask walked into the restaurant and up a few stairs to where Ms Noem was eating dinner.

He sat near her table and moved his chair close to hers before sliding her purse toward him with his foot, according to surveillance footage viewed by law enforcement, the sources said.

Within minutes, the man had Ms Noem’s purse under his jacket and walked out of the restaurant.

At least two on-duty members of the US Secret Service were in the restaurant – between Ms Noem and the front doors – according to a source who witnessed the meal.

They said the restaurant wasn’t very busy at the time.

The purse also contained credit cards, blank cheques, her passport, driver’s licence and a set of keys.

It’s unclear whether Ms Noem was specifically targeted – and investigators are looking into whether the man knew who the purse belonged to.

When asked about the incident, Ms Noem said: “I don’t think I can comment on it yet. It’s not resolved yet.”

She said the Secret Service was aware but said she hadn’t spoken to agency personnel about what happened.

Ms Noem is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s policies of deporting undocumented immigrants and fortifying the US-Mexico border to slow illegal migration.

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Starmer and Zelenskyy discuss ending Russia’s ‘brutal war’ – as Putin says says he is open to bilateral talks on longer ceasefire

Published

5 hours ago

April 22, 2025

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Starmer and Zelenskyy discuss ending Russia's 'brutal war' - as Putin says says he is open to bilateral talks on longer ceasefire

Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about ending Russia’s “brutal war” on Ukraine in their latest phone call on Easter Monday, as Vladimir Putin said he was open to bilateral talks.

The prime minister and Ukrainian president spoke on Monday afternoon, when Sir Keir “reiterated his iron-clad support for Ukraine“.

A Downing Street spokesperson added that the prime minister “said that the UK supports Ukraine’s calls for Russia to commit to a full ceasefire and that now is the time for Putin to show he is serious about ending his brutal war”.

“They discussed the latest developments on the Coalition of the Willing, and looked forward to further progress towards a just and lasting peace,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Zelenskyy later said on social media that he had a “good and detailed conversation” with the prime minister, and added Ukrainian officials will be in London for talks on ending the war with Russia on Wednesday.

“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” he added.

The Ukrainian president added that the 30-hour Easter truce, which both Kyiv and Moscow accuse the other of violating, showed that Russia “are prolonging the war”.

It comes as Mr Putin proposed bilateral talks with Ukraine on a longer ceasefire, which would mark the first time Russia held such talks since a failed peace deal soon after the invasion in 2022.

Speaking to a state TV reporter, the Russian president said: “We always have a positive attitude towards a truce, which is why we came up with such an initiative (the Easter truce), especially since we are talking about the bright Easter days.”

When asked about Mr Zelenskyy’s calls to extend the 30-hour ceasefire into a 30-day pause on civilian targets, he added: “This is all a subject for careful study, perhaps even bilaterally. We do not rule this out.”

The Ukrainian president said on Sunday evening that the Russian army had “violated Putin’s ceasefire more than 2,000 times” during the day, and accused Russia of “failing” to “uphold its own promise of a ceasefire”.

It also comes after Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia and Ukraine “will make a deal this week,” after he and his secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

The US president said on his Truth Social platform that both countries would “start to do big business” with the US after ending the war.

Last month, Ukraine accepted Mr Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, but Mr Putin refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire, saying crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out.

He then said he would agree not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. However, both sides have accused each other of breaking the moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea.

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Royal Navy’s flagship HMS Prince of Wales begins eight-month deployment

Published

5 hours ago

April 22, 2025

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Royal Navy's flagship HMS Prince of Wales begins eight-month deployment

The Royal Navy’s flagship HMS Prince of Wales is to begin an eight-month deployment to send a “powerful message” of the UK’s naval and air power.

Operation Highmast will take in joint exercises and visits with 40 countries across the Mediterranean, Middle East, southeast Asia, Japan and Australia.

The £3bn aircraft carrier is scheduled to sail from Portsmouth on Tuesday, accompanied from the navy base by Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless, to join a formation of warships, supply ships and aircraft off the coast of Cornwall.

HMS Prince of Wales, as the biggest class of ship in the Royal Navy, is leading Carrier Strike Group 25 (CSG25) with the involvement of around 2,500 personnel from the Royal Navy, 592 from the Royal Air Force and 900 from the Army.

Later during the deployment, as many as 4,500 military personnel will be involved in exercises in the Indo-Pacific region. Forces from Norway, Canada and Spain are among 12 other nations taking part in operations.

The CSG’s first task will be to join a NATO exercise off France testing aerial defences before the ships move on to the Mediterranean to work with an Italian-led carrier force and then head east via the Red Sea.

Other military assets include a contingent of up to 24 Royal Air Force F-35B Lightning fighter jets, Merlin Mk2 anti-submarine helicopters, Merlin Mk4 Commando and Wildcat helicopters along with T-150 Malloy and Puma drones.

Commodore James Blackmore, CSG commander, said the deployment would send a “powerful message” of the UK’s naval and air power.

He said: “It’s about supporting key trade routes that exist from the Indo-Pacific region to the UK, and supporting partners and allies in the region, showing that we are there as a capable and credible force should it be required.

“Operation Highmast will demonstrate credible deterrence and our support to NATO and the rules-based international order.”

Defence Secretary, John Healey MP, called it an “immensely complex operation” which sends “a powerful message of deterrence to any adversary”.

“This is a unique opportunity for the UK to operate in close coordination with our partners and allies in a deployment that not only shows our commitment to security and stability, but also provides an opportunity to bolster our own economy and boost British trade and exports,” he added.