First Mpox Vaccines to Arrive in Outbreak Epicenter of DRC |
More than ninety-nine thousand doses of the mpox vaccine are scheduled for delivery today in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. The DRC is the hotbed of the current mpox outbreak, with at least 629 deaths and 17,500 cases reported since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Health experts say that costs and regulatory hurdles have prevented the approvals necessary for vaccines to reach African countries more quickly, though this could soon change after the outbreak was declared a global public health emergency last month.
Africa CDC estimates that the continent needs around ten million doses to respond to the current outbreak, as well as about $245 million—an appeal that is so far only 10 percent funded. The European Union (EU) donated the first tranche of vaccines set to arrive in the DRC, with other countries having pledged more that have yet to arrive. Beyond the continent, the disease has also been detected in Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sweden. The WHO has still not officially approved the mpox vaccines, but officials are pushing forward with an emergency listing designed to expedite delivery. (AFP, NYT, AP, Reuters)
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“While high-income nations rely on their own drug regulators, such as the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, many low- and middle-income countries depend on the WHO to judge what vaccines and treatments are safe and effective,” the New York Times’ Stephanie Nolen writes. “In recent weeks, key players in the epidemic response have grown increasingly critical of the WHO for unnecessarily slowing the effort to get vaccines to Africa.”
“Despite efforts to boost donations and scale up [vaccine] production, there’s an unsettling sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of the early COVID-19 response when vaccine supply fell woefully short of demand,” the Center for Global Development’s Witold Więcek and Javier Guzman write. For Think Global Health, CFR’s Allison Krugman and Chloe Searchinger track mpox vaccine pledges and arrivals to the continent. |
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WaPo: White House Is Preparing to Block Nippon Steel’s Acquisition of U.S. Steel |
An unnamed White House official declined to confirm or deny intent to block the Japan firm’s proposed absorption when asked for comment from the Washington Post in a story that cited three unnamed sources on the matter. U.S. officials have cited national security concerns related to the deal, while U.S. Steel’s CEO said its blockage would put “thousands of good-paying union jobs” at risk. (WaPo)
Indonesia: Pope Francis warned against religious intolerance on a visit to Indonesia yesterday, urging the country to live up to its promise of “harmony in diversity.” Today, he’s speaking at a six-religion interfaith ceremony in an iconic Jakarta mosque. (AP)
At this CFR webinar, experts detail the state of international religious freedom in 2024.
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India, Singapore Sign Deal to Cooperate on Semiconductors |
Singapore will support India’s growing chips industry and New Delhi will facilitate the arrival of Singaporean firms into its market under the new agreement. Singapore accounts for some 10 percent of global semiconductor output and 20 percent of production for the manufacturing equipment associated with chipmaking. (Nikkei)
Pakistan: Digital rights groups criticized Pakistan’s installation of a digital content filtering system, comparing it to China’s so-called “Great Firewall,” Nikkei reported. Pakistan’s cabinet reported setting up the system late last month. An unnamed government official told Nikkei that criticism of the filtering method was being blown out of proportion and was only meant to block cyberattacks. (Nikkei)
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Middle East and North Africa |
Egypt, Turkey Sign Seventeen Cooperation Deals in Sisi’s First-Ever Bilateral Visit
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Egyptian leader Abdel Fatah al-Sisi visited Ankara for the first time yesterday and inked seventeen cooperation deals with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Ties had previously been in the freezer after Egypt’s 2013 ousting of a Muslim Brotherhood-led government, which Turkey denounced. (Al-Monitor)
Palestinian territories: The second stage of the WHO’s polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip is beginning today in the enclave’s south after the first stage in central Gaza was successfully completed, the global health agency said. It reported doling out vaccines to 187,000 children so far. (Reuters)
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China Pledges $50 Billion for African Countries at Beijing Summit |
Chinese President Xi Jinping claimed China-Africa ties were their “best in history” as he announced his new three-year target at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. Part of the funds will be difficult to guarantee, however, given that the amount hinges on funds coming from Chinese private-sector investors. Some of the money will be in the form of government-backed credit. (CNN)
CFR’s Alexandra Dent rounds up Beijing’s cooperation with African countries in the run-up to the summit.
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Macron Taps EU’s Former Brexit Negotiator as Prime Minister |
Michel Barnier hails from France’s conservative Republicans party. President Emmanuel Macron invited him to take the role after two months of wrangling following a snap election in which a left-wing alliance won the most seats in parliament but fell short of an absolute majority. (FT, Bloomberg)
This Expert Brief by CFR Senior Fellow Matthias Matthijs looks at how France’s election changes the calculus for the right and left.
Russia: A new Russian natural gas project in the Arctic is struggling to find buyers after it was hit with U.S. sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shipping data and satellite imagery suggest. An initial shipment of the gas went to a storage unit while the others have remained in Russian or European waters. (FT)
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Blinken Travels to Haiti in Support of U.S.-Backed Security Mission |
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins his first official trips to Haiti and the Dominican Republic today. A U.S.-backed international security force has so far struggled to beat back Haitian gangs. Washington is exploring transferring the mission, which relies on voluntary contributions, to a more formal UN peacekeeping force or another option that would make its funding more sustainable, U.S. diplomat Brian Nichols said. (Miami Herald)
In this YouTube Short, Monique Clesca details what Haitians want for their country.
Canada: The left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) pulled out of a deal to back Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, a move that carries the potential to trigger new elections earlier than expected. The NDP’s leader did not mention a specific policy trigger but said that Liberal governance had been too corporate-friendly. The Liberal government could still survive with backing on a case-by-case basis for its proposals. (CBC, NYT)
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DOJ, Treasury Announce Actions Against Russian Disinformation Campaign |
The Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment yesterday that said two employees of the Russian state news outlet RT secretly paid American commentators to disseminate English-language videos. The DOJ also announced a takedown of web domains related to a Russian malign influence campaign known as Doppelgänger, while the Treasury Department announced sanctions on a Russian nonprofit and the editor-in-chief of RT. Content spread as part of the influence campaigns included messaging regarding immigration, inflation, and the war in Ukraine, the Justice Department said. (WaPo, NYT)
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