QUICK READ

Ukraine

UKRAINE’S foreign minister, lawmakers and mayors made long journeys by car, train and plane to the Swiss Alps to convince global elites to send more help to repel their Russian invaders.

As the four-day World Economic Forum in Davos wrapped up this week, they returned home without the heavy weapons they desperately want or new sanctions against Moscow.

But the summit gave the Ukrainians a chance to press the world’s political and business leaders face-to-face for urgent help after three months of fighting.

Another major concern raised in Davos was the Russian blockade preventing Ukraine from exporting its wheat to countries that depend on it.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine was in talks with the UN on the idea of opening a safe passage for ships out of the port of Odessa, which would require de-mining the harbour and getting security guarantees from Moscow.

Meanwhile, two captured Russian soldiers pleaded guilty on Thursday to shelling a town in eastern Ukraine in the second war crimes trial of the war. | AFP and Reuters

THE acting director of Africa’s top public health agency said he hoped vaccine hoarding, as seen by wealthier nations during the Covid-19 pandemic, would not be repeated with the monkeypox outbreak which has caused panic abroad.

Monkeypox, a usually mild viral infection, is endemic in the African countries of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.

Africa has used smallpox vaccines to manage outbreaks of monkeypox in the past, he said, urging people to avoid looking for those vaccines and squeezing supplies for those most at risk. | Reuters