29 September 2014
At the UN General Assembly, the President of Ghana noted that just as Ebola was able to freely pass through West African borders, so could drugs, arms, human traffickers and terrorists, and called for greater cooperation and coordination to conquer common threats.
15 August 2014
On 8 August, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa an international public health emergency, saying: ‘our collective health security’ depends on urgent support for containment in the affected countries. WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan declared ‘the current outbreak of the Ebola a public health emergency of international concern’. Although the disease is only affecting a small part of the African continent, there is ‘a clear call for international solidarity’ to boost the capacity of the countries currently affected. According to the WHO, between 10 and 11 August, 128 new cases of Ebola virus disease, as well as 56 deaths, were reported from Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, bringing the total number of cases to 1,975 and deaths to 1,069. (more…)
Source: AlJazeera| Canada sends trial Ebola vaccine to W Africa
Source: UN News Centre | UN declares Ebola outbreak global ‘international public health emergency’
Source: UN News Centre | Ebola: UN health agency says more than 1 million people affected by outbreak
Source: UN News Centre | Ebola: WHO-convened ethics panel endorses use of experimental drugs
8 July 2014
On 3 July, at a two-day conference in Accra, the capital of Ghana, West African countries and international health organizations adopted a new common strategy to fight the Ebola epidemic. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus has killed at least 467 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since February 2014. (more…)
Source: Reuters | West African authorities adopt common strategy to fight Ebola
3 May 2014
Despite weaker Al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, Al Qaeda’s affiliates in Somalia, Syria, Yemen and West Africa are exerting increasing influence in their regions. According to a US State Department report that was released this Wednesday, this poses new challenges for American counterterrorism officials. (more…)
Source: The New York Times | Qaeda Affiliates Gain Regional Influence as Central Leadership Fades
Source: U.S. Department of State | Executive Summary | BUREAU OF COUNTERTERRORISM | Country Reports on Terrorism 2013 | 30 April 2014
23 January 2014
Lion status in West African protected areas within lion range.
© P. Henschel, L. Coad, C. Burton, B. Chataigner, A. Dunn et al. (see footnote).
A recently published study showed that the lion in West Africa is now critically endangered and faces extinction. From one angle, this would be just one of the large (though unknown) number of species that has previously faced extinction or has even become extinct. But the risk of extinction of some species give more reason for pause than others. Surely the lion – a cultural icon for cultures across the world since time immemorial – deserves a moment of reflection.
The cited study describes how the lion was once the most successful large carnivore. Its range extended from South Africa, across Eurasia, and into the southern United States. Today, the lion’s range is restricted to Africa, with a population of the Asiatic sub-species in India. Lions in Africa have lost 75 percent of their range in the last 100 years. (more…)