ASIA
North Korea-
North Korea has been constantly issuing threats against the United States in the recent decades and in a recent press conference at the United Nations, a Korean diplomat warned of a possible thermonuclear war.
North Korea’s UN deputy representative, Kim In Ryong, on Monday unleashed a series of threats, war scenarios, and rhetoric towards the United States. This took place after the US Vice President Mike Pence visited the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. On his visit, Pence asked North Korea to not “test [their] resolve” or their military strength.
This led to a verbal backfire in New York where the North Korean ambassador condemned the US for its naval buildup in the waters off the Korean Peninsula and the US missile attack on Syria.
Sri-Lanka
The capital city of Sri-Lanka saw tons of garbage give way and collapse on 145 homes and dozens of people. The 300-foot rubbish mountain has taken 30 lives as reported and 6 people are unaccounted for. It has been four days since the garbage collapsed and though there is a rescue team in place, working to find people from under the rubble, the authorities are not hopeful.
This was the main rubbish dump site and the authorities have shut it down, and now the Municipal Council is looking for new locations to dump the 800-tons of garbage produced in the city every day.
EUROPE
Chechnya-
In the past recent weeks, Chechnya has been rounding up and detaining gay men and subjecting them to horrifying abuse. Now, several witnesses are accusing the government of mass arrests and torture.
An anonymous source, who recently fled Chechnya, has reported that hundreds of gay men were rounded up by the authorities and are being held in three different detention centers in appalling conditions.
Gay activists say sexual minorities have for years been targeted in conservative Chechnya.
AFRICA-
Nigeria-
Nigeria saw an outbreak of Meningitis, which has now killed 489 people and 4637 suspected cases have been reported, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.
Meningitis is a serious bacterial infection, affecting the thin lining surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Thus, if left untreated, it can cause serious brain damage. According to recent statistics, 50% of the untreated cases led to the death of the patient.
The WHO also said that a vaccination campaign organized by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision is underway in Nigeria. In a press release on April 1, Health Minister Isaac Adewole said that up to 1.3 million vaccines had been acquired, including 500,000 doses of meningococcal vaccine provided by the WHO as well as an additional 820,000 units have been donated by the British government.
