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Around 14 million people could die across the world over the next five years because of cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), researchers have warned.

Children under five are expected to make up around a third (4.5 million) of the mortalities, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.

Estimates showed that “unless the abrupt funding cuts announced and implemented in the first half of 2025 are reversed, a staggering number of avoidable deaths could occur by 2030”.

“Beyond causing millions of avoidable deaths – particularly among the most vulnerable – these cuts risk reversing decades of progress in health and socioeconomic development in LMICs [low and middle-income countries],” the report said.

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March: ‘We are going to lose children’: Fears over USAID cuts in Kenya

USAID programmes have prevented the deaths of more than 91 million people, around a third of them among children, the study suggests.

The agency’s work has been linked to a 65% fall in deaths from HIV/AIDS, or 25.5 million people.

Eight million deaths from malaria, more than half the total, around 11 million from diarrheal diseases and nearly five million from tuberculosis (TB), have also been prevented.

USAID has been vital in improving global health, “especially in LMICs, particularly African nations,” according to the report.

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Queer HIV activist on Trump and Musk’s USAID cuts

Established in 1961, the agency was tasked with providing humanitarian assistance and helping economic growth in developing countries, especially those deemed strategic to Washington.

But the Trump administration has made little secret of its antipathy towards the agency, which became an early victim of cuts carried out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – formerly led by Elon Musk – in what the US government said was part of a broader plan to remove wasteful spending.

Read more:
USAID explained
USAID ‘a bowl of worms’ – Musk

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What is USAID?

In March, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said more than 80% of USAID schemes had been closed following a six-week review, leaving around 1,000 active.

The US is the world’s largest humanitarian aid donor, providing around $61bn (£44bn) in foreign assistance last year, according to government data, or at least 38% of the total, and USAID is the world’s leading donor for humanitarian and development aid, the report said.

Between 2017 and 2020, the agency responded to more than 240 natural disasters and crises worldwide – and in 2016 it sent food assistance to more than 53 million people across 47 countries.

The study assessed all-age and all-cause mortality rates in 133 countries and territories, including all those classified as low and middle-income, supported by USAID from 2001 to 2021.

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UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

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UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

The United Nations Security Council has passed a US resolution which endorses Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with China on the 13-0 vote.

The resolution endorses the US president’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Mr Trump would head.

Read more: What does Trump’s Gaza peace plan look like?

US ambassador Mike Waltz said the resolution was “historic and constructive”, but it was “just the beginning”.

“Today’s resolution represents another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security,” he added.

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

The proposal gives no timeline or guarantee for an independent Palestinian state, only saying “the conditions may finally be in place” after advances in the reconstruction of Gaza and reforms of the Palestinian Authority – now governing parts of the West Bank.

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It also says that the US “will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence”.

The language on statehood was strengthened after Arab nations and Palestinians pressured the US over nearly two weeks of negotiations, but it has also angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has vowed to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, and on Sunday pledged to demilitarise Gaza “the easy way or the hard way”.

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From October: How will peace plan unfold?

Hamas: International force is ‘in favour of’ Israel

In a statement rejecting the resolutions’ passing, a Hamas spokesperson said that it “falls far short of the political and humanitarian demands and rights of our Palestinian people”.

“The effects and repercussions of this war continue to this day, despite the declared end of the war according to President Trump’s plan,” they added.

“The resolution imposes an international trusteeship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people, their forces, and factions reject.”

The spokesperson then said that “assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation”.

Read more:
Trump asks Israeli president to ‘fully pardon’ Netanyahu
Inside Jordan warehouse holding Gaza aid ‘refused entry by Israel’

The Palestinian Authority, however, issued a statement welcoming the resolution and said it is ready to take part in its implementation.

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death.

It comes after the 78-year-old was found guilty of ordering lethal force in a crackdown on a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule.

The former leader, who is now exiled in India, was tried in absentia by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in last year’s violence.

Bangladesh‘s health adviser in the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

Following a months-long trial, Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

“I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

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August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising.

She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

The ICT, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital, delivered its four-hour verdict on Monday amid tight security.

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What was behind the protests?

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

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July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations.

India’s foreign ministry said it had noted the verdict concerning Hasina and “remained committed” to the people of Bangladesh.

“We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” the ministry added in a statement.

During the verdict, protesters had gathered outside the former home-turned-museum of Hasina’s late father demanding the building be demolished.

Read more from Sky News:
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Protesters gather outside the former home of Sheikh Hasina's late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pic: AP
Image:
Protesters gather outside the former home of Sheikh Hasina’s late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pic: AP

Police used batons and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown in protest at the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Image:
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity.

It follows a months-long trial in the country that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

The former leader, exiled in India, was tried in absentia after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence.

Bangladesh’s health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising, ending 15 years of rule.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation

The 78-year-old is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered its four-hour verdict amid tight security.

Hasina received a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What was behind the protests?

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations. India has not yet made any response.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

It comes after Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown as part of a protest against the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Image:
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Read more from Sky News:
Hundreds of tonnes of ‘revolting’ waste dumped next to river
Arctic air to bring risk of ice and snow to the UK this week

Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

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