VOA [Voice of America] Africa : August 14, 2018 01:00PM-02:00PM EDT

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VOA [Voice of America] Africa : August 14, 2018 01:00PM-02:00PM EDT

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Closed captions transcript: 00:00:00 It's the concrete bridge carrying the 810 May 2 way spend an industrial area 00:00:06 a river and the genoa Milan railway line Sabina Castle Franco for yelling 00:00:12 rain and I witness told Sky Italia television he saw 8 or 9 vehicles on the bridge 00:00:18 when it crumbled and what he described as an apocalyptic scene police in London 00:00:23 have arrested a man on suspicion of terrorism after he crashed a car into 00:00:27 a group of pedestrians and cyclists before hitting 00:00:29 a set of barriers outside of Britain's Houses of Parliament on Tuesday causing 3 00:00:34 injuries Jason Williams was an eye witness my friend it was deliberate it wasn't it 00:00:40 was moved over to me he is and we use it as 00:00:44 a direct hit in London Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu told reporters that the 00:00:48 suspect is not cooperating with police as they try to establish both the man's 00:00:52 identity and motive 00:00:54 a UN report Monday said Islamic state insurgency still has up to 30000 members in 00:00:59 Syria and Iraq with 00:01:01 a reduced covert version expected to survive recent efforts to destroy them instead 00:01:06 significant affiliated supports are found in Afghanistan Libya and Southeast Asia 00:01:11 this is V.O.A. 00:01:12 News. Taliban militants have seized control of an Army base in northern Afghanistan 00:01:18 killing and capturing dozens of government soldiers the fall of camp in far yob 00:01:24 Province late Monday followed 2 days of intense fighting regional military and 00:01:29 government officials Tuesday confirmed to be 00:01:31 a way that 40 of the 70 soldiers stationed at the base surrendered to the Taliban 00:01:37 they said the rest have either been killed or fled to nearby mountains during the 00:01:40 clashes the Afghan Taliban is demanding freedom for 00:01:44 a member of the militant Conny network along with others insurgent prisoners in 00:01:48 exchange for the release of an American prisoner and his Australian colleague who 00:01:54 were kidnapped 2 years ago Kevin King and Timothy weeks from Australia were 00:01:58 teaching at Kabul's American University of Afghanistan before gunman took them 00:02:03 hostage near the campus in August of 2016 at the time the abductors did make 00:02:08 a demand for the release of one of the Kani family members who is being held by the 00:02:13 Afghan government an apparent reference to death row prisoner on 00:02:16 a comedy who is the youngest son of the founder of the economy network the United 00:02:21 States has declared the network 00:02:23 a global terrorist it appears the Turkish currency has temporarily ended its slide 00:02:28 following central bank action launched Monday providing cash to the banks the 00:02:33 currency which has declined over 40 percent this year reflects the country's debt 00:02:38 burden high inflation and tensions with the US did yet all on the president great 00:02:43 ship tire pressure to want to complain again Monday that Turkey is being and 00:02:47 circled economically and such attacks will continue for son of time the 2 countries 00:02:53 remain at odds over the jailing of an American pastor and Turkey's demand for 00:02:57 extradition for an exiled Muslim cleric it accuses of masterminding the failed 2016 00:03:03 coup the tensions are also caused by tariffs and sanctions W.-H. 00:03:08 Ireland chief market strategist MIKE INGRAM said investors are nervous about 00:03:13 Turkey's overture. As to Russia I think that's probably what's troubling investors 00:03:18 because at the moment we seem to be in a very much in 00:03:21 a risk off mood and that's I don't know why you get 00:03:25 a FISA for tourists like Fatima Ali who wait Turkish goods are 00:03:30 a bargain us absolute She said the prices are very cheap compared with Kuwait yet 00:03:34 the White House said it is monitoring the Turkish situation closely around supreme 00:03:40 leader Ayatollah Ali hominy on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's recent 00:03:45 offer of talks with no preconditions I get a chilly June yet referred to the U.S. 00:03:50 Regime as 00:03:51 a bully and always wants something and negotiations only give them the tools to 00:03:56 continue hostility because Washington reimpose sanctions after pulling out of the 00:04:01 2015 nuclear agreement I'm Joe Palca V.O.A. 00:04:05 Nudists. 00:04:16 Today is Tuesday August 14th and this is for you A's international edition I'm 00:04:21 Steve Miller in Washington coming up 00:04:23 a bridge over an industrial area in Italy collapsed during 00:04:26 a sudden and violent storm police in London arrest 00:04:29 a man in his twenty's after driving his car into pedestrians at the podium of the 00:04:34 French side alcoholic sounds going to be doing some space on the ground to make us 00:04:40 less safe seem to be going to its profits bust North Korea has repeated the call 00:04:46 for 00:04:46 a deal you decoration formally ending the Korean War and out for your support for 00:04:52 the ailing Queen of Soul It's all ahead on today's international edition. 00:04:59 A bridge over an industrial area in the Italian city of general partially collapsed 00:05:03 during 00:05:04 a sudden and violent storm on Tuesday and left several vehicles crushed in the 00:05:08 rubble below joining me on the phone from Italy is reporter Sabina Castle Franco 00:05:13 thank you so much for joining today's international edition My pleasure there have 00:05:18 been 00:05:18 a number of reports both vehicles being crushed by the bridge and the number of fatalities 00:05:23 what has been confirmed by authorities thus far that far the attorney in the deputy 00:05:30 transport minister is actually in Genoa already confirmed the sky is 00:05:36 24 that dead 22 people are dead and I believe the 00:05:43 faking injured that have been taken to the nearby hospitals 3 days does 00:05:49 a numbers add prison for all those highly likely that the death toll will rise 00:05:56 a number of people are reported missing and what we didn't know what the 00:06:03 employees and says busy is that they would leave 30 vehicles what are we 00:06:10 wrong with the bridge when the disaster occurred and of course these many of these 00:06:15 cars and trucks crashed down there and then follow that some 00:06:22 16 leaders I would crush them by the concrete pillars and concrete 00:06:29 Strunk's of the actual bridge and the this was 00:06:33 a highway bridge that ran over an industrial area it also ran 00:06:39 a river Have there been any kind of discussions as to understanding why this took 00:06:44 place I mean I understand it was some sort of sudden storm but has anything been 00:06:50 made clear if there was 00:06:51 a huge from the storm was going on and there were witnesses who said that 00:06:58 that. RIDGE I was struck by lightning just before it crashed down others said this 00:07:04 is that the wind was blowing very strong and you could see that the bridge would 00:07:10 slightly moving then there have been other reports of possible need to know 00:07:17 something work this is nothing confirmed by your Harveys firefighters told the 00:07:23 Associated Press that they were worried about gas lines exploding in the area from 00:07:27 the collapse what have authorities said about their rescue efforts Well we have 00:07:33 disparaged 100 of firefighters rescue workers emergency 00:07:40 operators busy ambulances trucks you know to help with 00:07:46 removing some of the rubble. Anything could happen but what the authorities 00:07:53 have confirmed on this particular Civil Defense Department press conference was 00:07:59 given that not so long ago and 00:08:02 a special commission have been established to coordinate all efforts. To help find 00:08:08 any survivors in the rubble and many of them government officials have already said 00:08:14 that such 00:08:16 a tragedy is no longer acceptable in this country and that much more needs to be 00:08:22 done to ensure that the structures. Did though they needed anything 00:08:29 untoward Sabina Castle Franco's reporter thank you so much for joining us thank you 00:08:34 . Among other top stories Congo's 00:08:41 latest deadly Ebola outbreak has spread into 00:08:44 a neighboring province as health workers began using experimental treatment for the 00:08:49 disease so far there have been 30 confirmed cases including 14 deaths Portugal has 00:08:54 become the 1st European country just say you were taken some of the 141 migrants on 00:08:59 board the rescue ship Aquarius defense attorneys for Paul Manor for present their 00:09:04 case Tuesday without calling any witnesses or having the former Trump campaign 00:09:08 chairman testify in the trial where he's accused of bank and tax fraud Tessa's 00:09:13 board 00:09:14 a special committee to evaluate the possibility of taking the electric car maker 00:09:18 private for expanded coverage of these stories and more are at V.O.A. 00:09:22 News dot com and on The View 00:09:24 a mobile app this is international edition. This is 00:09:31 its image. Iraq this is 00:09:35 a primitive hominid species that is said to have lived between about 2000000 and 00:09:39 143000 years ago this early human relative is said to be the 1st home of the 00:09:45 species to migrate from Africa but like other archaic human relatives Homo erectus 00:09:51 became extinct 00:09:52 a team of scientists led by the Australian National University say they found 00:09:57 evidence that one reason why the species came to an end was because in essence they 00:10:02 were lazy the scientists who study material found in archaeological excavations 00:10:07 that they'd back to the early stone age say they found indications that Homo 00:10:12 erectus really didn't put that much effort into their tool making found how they 00:10:16 collected resources they say that these are kids people seemingly looked for the 00:10:20 easiest way to do things that were key to their survival I feel ways Rick pencil 00:10:26 ale. 00:10:33 The always international edition continues a man was arrested after 00:10:37 a car collided with security or security barriers outside London's parliament 00:10:42 building and 00:10:42 a number of pedestrians were injured joining me on the phone is London based 00:10:46 reporter Amy Gutmann. Amy can you take us through the events that took place this 00:10:51 morning as best we know them Steve about 730 this morning 00:10:55 a man drove his car into cyclists and pedestrians outside the Houses of Parliament 00:11:00 No this was the start of the commuter hour though it's mid August so it's important 00:11:04 to bear in mind that typically busy areas are much quieter than normal Having said 00:11:09 that there were still plenty of people around Also it's important to note that 00:11:12 parliament is on summer break until September so there wasn't the usual business 00:11:18 that you would find around the houses of parliament there either However this is 00:11:22 a very busy area for tourists obviously because of the houses of parliament because 00:11:26 the Westminster Abbey and Big Ben which are all anchored right there at Westminster 00:11:32 now there were some reports of at least 2 individuals being injured by the attack 00:11:37 what do we know about those victims we know very little we know that 2 were taken 00:11:43 to the hospital one has already been released and the other is currently still 00:11:47 being treated for non-life threatening injuries and as far as you know authorities 00:11:53 they have said they are treating this as 00:11:55 a terrorist incident and one person has been arrested what do we know about the 00:12:01 alleged perpetrator we know very little about the alleged perpetrator and that's 00:12:05 largely because he's been refusing to cooperate with police since he's been 00:12:09 apprehended However they have been able to identify him in fact he's known to local 00:12:15 police in his area they believe he's from the Midlands that's an area 2 or 3 hours 00:12:20 north of London they know he's 00:12:22 a man in his twenty's but they don't know very much more so they don't know whether 00:12:27 the car was borrowed stolen or belonged to him they know that there were several 00:12:31 previous owners so it's off it's we 00:12:33 a used car but again whether the car was registered to him it's not yet known they 00:12:38 will know his name Of course they haven't released that yet he was not on the radar 00:12:43 of security services for the U.K. 00:12:45 But again he was known to local police now police are nationally cordoned off some 00:12:50 of the area around where the attack took place some of those cordons have been 00:12:53 lifted but how else is the government responding. The government is responding as 00:12:59 it usually does with these kinds of attacks and that is with what's called the 00:13:02 Cobra meeting so COBRA is essentially an emergency response committee made up of 00:13:08 ministers police intelligence officers civil servants and also very high ranking 00:13:13 lawyers and advisors to the prime minister they'll all be meeting at Whitehall 00:13:18 which is 00:13:18 a government building to figure out whether they need to raise the threat level 00:13:23 whether they can expect further attacks you know all of these kinds of inner 00:13:29 workings of the government once an attack is happened how to respond. Just 00:13:35 how secure they need to make the nation that meeting is currently still ongoing 00:13:41 police have also told people to avoid the Westminster area they had previously 00:13:45 closed the Tube station and several side streets but corners are now being lifted 00:13:51 course that hasn't stopped tourists from continuing to snap selfies of them toast 00:13:56 even in front of these barriers Amy Gutmann is 00:13:59 a reporter based out of London thank you so much for joining today's program thank 00:14:03 you Afghan officials say they've sent special forces backed by U.S. 00:14:07 Advisors and air strikes to the city of God's name were clashes with Taliban 00:14:12 fighters have left hundreds of people dead over days of fighting Reuters Ryan 00:14:17 Brooks has more. The Afghan Taliban said they're in control of most of the city of 00:14:24 Gaza on Monday after 4 days of fighting hundreds of people have been killed or 00:14:28 wounded in the clashes diplomats in the capital Kabul tell Reuters The government 00:14:33 says they were surprised when the attack began late last week Gaza is 00:14:37 a strategic center on the highway that links Kabul to the country itself people 00:14:42 fleeing Gaza you have described the bodies in the streets while 00:14:46 a group say hospitals are struggling to take in the wounded the Taliban's siege is 00:14:50 a blow to President gunning weeks before 00:14:53 a parliamentary election that dashes hopes the 2 sides could begin. Peace talks on 00:14:58 Monday after days of silence Ghani said on Twitter that reinforcements will be sent 00:15:03 to the city and the defense minister said Special Forces had been dispatched by on 00:15:08 them are the men want to stay on message to the people of Afghanistan and 00:15:11 especially for Gazan the residents is that Afghan security forces are ready to 00:15:15 defend their people and country at any time by accepting sacrifices on the 00:15:19 battlefield officials say U.S. 00:15:21 Forces are on the ground helping to coordinate air strikes and U.S. 00:15:25 Military said it's launched at least 2 dozen of them since Friday while the 00:15:29 government said the situation had improved by mid Monday the Taliban claimed they 00:15:33 still control much of the city it all adds to tension ahead of October's election 00:15:38 and raises questions over the threat posed by the Taliban and other armed 00:15:41 insurgents while the fight raged in Gaza the suicide bomber in Kabul set off 00:15:46 a deadly blast New York crowd of protesters at the Election Commission officials 00:15:51 say at least one police officer was killed and another was wounded that was Reuters 00:15:56 reporter Ryan Brooks North Korea has repeated the call for 00:16:00 a declaration formally ending the Korean War as 00:16:03 a way to foster mutual trust call those 00:16:06 a requirement and said it was necessary for progress on denuclearization according 00:16:12 to South Korea's Yonhap news agency North Korea's state run publication the tongue 00:16:19 said that the United States should take 00:16:21 a practical measure to implement what was agreed to on June 12th in Singapore 00:16:26 between North Korean leader Kim Jong un and President Donald Trump The paper also 00:16:30 warned South Korea that continued sanctions and improving relations are 00:16:34 incompatible Mondays commentary follow the agreement between the Koreas for their 00:16:40 leaders to meet for 00:16:41 a 3rd time this year that meeting is to take place sometime in September in 00:16:45 Pyongyang on the demands by North Korea are no surprise to analysts the honest the 00:16:51 director of Defense Studies at the Center for the national interest he told V.O.A. 00:16:55 Victor Beatty the planned Korean. Summit comes at 00:16:58 a time when the pace toward denuclearization has stalled seems like the North 00:17:03 Koreans want 00:17:03 a lot of concessions up front before they're willing to really even talk about 00:17:07 denuclearization whereas the trumpet ministration their starting point negotiations 00:17:12 was what everybody was calling a few months ago C.B.I. 00:17:15 Whether it's the complete verifiable irreversible denuclearization of North Korea 00:17:20 so it's very clear that Washington and Pyongyang are basically on Tuesday opposite 00:17:26 ends of the spectrum and I think with South Korea's trying to do here is trying to 00:17:29 bridge the gap that's going to happen but we're going to find out pretty soon who 00:17:33 wants this meeting more North or South Korea or is it mutual think it's mutual I 00:17:37 think for moon in South Korea you know his popularity has dipped 00:17:41 a little bit the economy is starting to have 00:17:43 a little bit of problems for Kim Jong un I think it's pretty obvious that he really 00:17:48 wants to get South Korean investment he's looking to try and build his legacy and 00:17:54 he's also trying to legitimize themselves in the international arena so for both 00:17:58 Korean leaders I think it's obvious the reasons why they would want to meet again 00:18:02 the 2 at their April meeting their 1st summit agreed to push for 00:18:05 a declaration of an end to the Korean conflict but Ambassador Harry Harris said 00:18:11 that would be premature at this point you know I don't understand the rub why so 00:18:15 many people are against some sort of formal declaration that the Korean War The war 00:18:19 is over so it's the equivalent of everybody arguing sky is blue everybody knows the 00:18:25 sky is blue and it's just people view it as some sort of concession on America or 00:18:30 souls part saying that the war's over I think that's 00:18:33 a good thing I think it would be 00:18:34 a bad idea if you know if president moved on to trump or Kim Jong un maybe even met 00:18:40 you know at this potential 3rd Korean summit and the war I think that would be 00:18:45 a good way to test North Korea's intentions because quite frankly for many years 00:18:49 that has been something I've been asking for I don't think there's any harm in 00:18:52 doing that and I think at that point you could honestly go to Kim Jong Il and say 00:18:56 look we've. Give me 3 meetings with by Pompei out we've given you 00:19:00 a summit with Donald Trump now we're ending the Korean War Where's your turn in 00:19:04 terms of doing what you said you would do and work towards denuclearization if at 00:19:09 that point they still won't talk about denuclearization I think that only you have 00:19:13 the international community not your side to contain or Korea you how really that 00:19:18 that the entire world on Donald Trump side so I think this is something that we can 00:19:22 do are you surprised at the lack of forward motion Monday nuclearization you know 00:19:27 I'm not surprised I mean the North Koreans have been a very clear in 00:19:31 a lot of their public statements that denuclearization is almost an aspirational 00:19:35 goal for them the things they want upfront before they were denuclearize that 00:19:39 they've said and sometimes in very full throated ways in some ways sort of 00:19:42 basically is that they want the Korean War to be ended they want to see some of the 00:19:46 sanctions removed you know they're looking to be legitimatized in the international 00:19:50 read as of the chill in that nation news also reports that 00:19:54 a South Korean advance team is heading to North Korea this week to inspect 00:19:58 preparations for the August 20th to 26 planned family reunions evolving 100 people 00:20:04 from each side who have been separated since the armistice was signed ending the 00:20:08 1950 to 1953 Korean War This is international edition. 00:20:15 Come celebrate the 60th birthday of legendary queen of pop Madonna on Thursday 00:20:21 August 16th but with 00:20:22 a very special edition of border crossings join Larry London as it takes you back 00:20:26 through time with a full hour of Madonna's Friess hits with 00:20:30 a career spanning over 35 years Madonna has given us plenty of songs to choose from 00:20:34 Don't miss border crossings on Thursday August 16th at 1500 universal as he paid 00:20:40 tribute to one of the greatest pop stars of all time. 00:20:48 This is. On the next train to Africa fresh off 00:20:54 a 2 nation Africa visit to Zimbabwe and. Shut the sunny talks about the fascinating 00:21:00 people he met and the challenges he encountered reporting on democracy in Africa on 00:21:05 the road with Shaka on the next straight talk Africa tune into one of the day that 00:21:10 they declared to you the great here. Africa. 00:21:20 From the Voice of America this is international edition Japan's and verbal take 00:21:25 part in an annual memorial ceremony honoring war dead on Wednesday Reuters 00:21:30 graciously reports it will be the last time Akihito will do so as reigning Emperor 00:21:35 . Actions speak louder than words when it comes to Japanese Emperor Akihito. 00:21:43 For 3 decades he's visited countless war memorials across Asia and beyond seeking 00:21:49 to heal the wounds of 00:21:50 a war waged in his father's name but Akihito is set to abdicate this role next year 00:21:56 and on Wednesday he'll honors 00:21:57 a war dead for the last time as reigning emperor on the anniversary of Japan's 00:22:02 World War 2 surrender in my mind and I specifically. The 1st. 00:22:09 Thing he did was to. Console the soul of that war that in an 00:22:16 exclusive interview former senior aide McCord to what to not be told Reuters he's 00:22:20 seen 1st hand 00:22:21 a key to his push for reconciliation because of his. Thoughts that 5. 00:22:29 Truth truth and you always have to look for truth. If you know where. 00:22:38 I had to stand. In June 2560 years after 00:22:43 a bloody World War 2 battle Akihito and his wife stood head bowed at 00:22:48 a seaside cliff on site pan they paid their respects at memorials not only for 00:22:52 Japanese but also for American and Korean War dead though politicians have 00:22:58 sometimes undercut official apologies Akihito message has remained consistent he 00:23:03 has really made it his business to expand the role of the Emperor and all sorts of 00:23:09 ways but in terms of addressing history issues and what he thinks was the resolve 00:23:16 and lingering legacies of his father's reign when Akihito steps down next year 00:23:22 he'll be the 1st Japanese emperor to abdicate in 2 centuries however his decades of 00:23:28 work leaves behind 00:23:29 a promising legacy his heir Prince Naruhito hold similar views about teaching the 00:23:34 tragedies of war there was Reuters reporter Grace Lee Aretha Franklin is known 00:23:40 throughout the music industry as the queen of soul 00:23:43 a person close to Franklin who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the 00:23:47 person was not allowed to publicly talk about the topic told the Associated Press 00:23:51 on Monday that the singer is seriously ill and provided no additional details as 00:23:57 the news has spread so did an outpouring of support and musical tributes A.P. 00:24:02 Entertainment editor Oscar Welles Gabriel reports. I think it was fate that brought 00:24:08 beyond say to Aretha Franklin's own backyard Detroit last night but there she was 00:24:12 at Ford Field performing with her husband Jay Z. 00:24:15 As part of this summer tour expressions of support for Franklin began well before 00:24:19 the headliners took the stage D.J. 00:24:21 Can lead to hype the crowd by playing one of America's biggest hits respect the 00:24:26 Detroit Free Press reports that during the show beyond say dedicated her 00:24:30 performance to Franklin and expressed thanks to her for the beautiful music she has 00:24:34 done during her. Maria the show came the same day 00:24:36 a source close to Franklin told the Associated Press that the singer is seriously 00:24:41 ill. 00:24:52 Perhaps Missy Elliott put it best when she wrote on Twitter that important to give 00:24:56 props to iconic performers while they are still here with us she says and with 00:25:01 a Franklin certainly deserves such praise for giving us decades of timeless music 00:25:05 the right to carry also expressed concern in the wake of news that the queen of 00:25:09 soul is ailing saying that she is praying for Franklin to recover 00:25:13 a Moscow's Gabriel before I go today on this date back in 1900 international forces 00:25:20 including U.S. 00:25:21 Marines interbank to put down the Boxer Rebellion now 00:25:25 a Chinese organization called the won or the Society for the righteous and 00:25:29 harmonious fist led the uprising in the northern part of China against the spread 00:25:33 of Western and Japanese M fluence that movement had between summer of 50100000 00:25:40 members the rebels were referred to by westerners as boxers and this was because 00:25:44 they perform physical exercises 00:25:46 a special kind of Chinese martial arts that some call Chinese boxing the boxers 00:25:51 killed foreigners Chinese Christians and destroyed foreign property the uprising in 00:25:56 did in 1901 with the boxer protocol and that is going to do it for today's 00:26:02 international edition Patrice Martin director the program and Nash one college 00:26:07 engineer the broadcast but before I go today I would like to thank you for taking 00:26:11 time out of your day to join us now to keep up with the latest pictures video 00:26:15 stories and more be sure to follow the voice of America on You Tube Facebook 00:26:20 Twitter and Instagram I'm Steve Miller in Washington have 00:26:24 a terrific Tuesday. Next 00:26:44 an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government religious freedom 00:26:49 is under threat in many parts of the world today indeed 00:26:52 a stunning 83 percent of the world's population live in nations where religious 00:26:57 freedom is either threatened or even banned said vice president Mike Pence in 00:27:02 a speech at the ministerial to advance religious freedom the victims of religious 00:27:06 persecution face economic sanctions they're often arrested and imprisoned they are 00:27:11 the target of mob violence and state sanctioned terror and all too often those who 00:27:16 believes run counter to their rulers face not just persecution but death warrant Mr 00:27:22 Pence the list of religious freedom violators is long he said their crimes and all 00:27:27 precious span the with of our world in the western hemisphere the Nicaraguan 00:27:33 government of Daniel Ortega is virtually waging war on the Catholic Church said 00:27:38 vice president pence for months Nicaragua's bishops have sought to broker 00:27:42 a national dialogue following pro-democracy protests that swept through the country 00:27:47 earlier this year but government backed mobs armed with machetes and even heavy 00:27:52 weapons have attacked parishes and church properties and bishops and priests have 00:27:57 been physically assaulted by the police father Raul's a more 00:28:01 a is the pastor of Divine Mercy church and is 00:28:04 a hero of the Faith said Mr Pence recently the Ortega government laid siege to his 00:28:09 church after more than $200.00 students sought shelter there and 2 students lost 00:28:14 their lives they joined the more than 350 courageous Nicaraguans who have died for 00:28:20 the cause of freedom this year alone speaking to fathers and more and the 00:28:25 Nicaraguan people vice president Penn said our prayers are with you and the people 00:28:30 of America stand with you for freedom of religion and freedom. In Nicaragua. 00:28:38 That was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States government if you 00:28:42 have a comment please write to editorials Vio wave Washington D.C. 00:28:47 20237 USA You may also comment and view all our current editorials 00:28:54 at the V.O.A. Editorials home page W W W dot V.O.A. 00:28:59 News dot com slash editorial. 00:29:22 Good evening everyone I mean no mood to welcome to have chat today we start we've 00:29:27 some news from West Africa Mallee precisely where villages in the Mandara area of 00:29:33 the Moxi region are battling 00:29:35 a mysterious disease that is proving to be deadly and habitants who have contracted 00:29:41 the illness isolated in 00:29:42 a small area without access to adequate medical attention causing an environment 00:29:47 Halley susceptible to the spread of disease according to doctors without borders 00:29:53 and local officials over 200 cases have been identified in the villages of tuna. 00:30:00 And not just. Efforts are now underway to provide services and contain the disease 00:30:06 joining us in the studio for more is a view 00:30:09 a bar report or more. People welcome to the program thank you very much Lenore So 00:30:16 listen what is happening with the outbreak we hear about 00:30:22 a mysterious illness some people even where worried about they were saying symptoms 00:30:28 look like the plague but of course there is really nothing concrete that we are 00:30:33 hearing what can you tell us thank you very much again and I got 00:30:37 a chance to talk to one of the health local health official from. His name is Dr 00:30:43 say to country according to him Security is one of the main reason why area 00:30:50 from. Russia do not able to get the proper food they were getting Why 00:30:57 because I don't know if you are familiar with it right now in the middle of the 00:31:01 specially marked in the extreme north there is 00:31:04 a huge insecurity due to the jihadist Yes and also some ethnic group violence. For 00:31:11 learning. And landmine and then the population is no longer able 00:31:18 to get the food they were getting through the rot so therefore it caused 00:31:23 a food shortage and as 00:31:25 a result nutritions store making statement that. Could be 00:31:32 mysterious disease local official that's what they told us how they found it last 00:31:38 Sunday they made a visit and I got 00:31:42 a chance even to talk also to the mayor maybe we can discuss their lives and they 00:31:47 can from there's no such kind of mysterious serious illness so basically hungry OK 00:31:53 So basically you are saying that this so-called mysterious disease is malnutrition 00:31:57 has more attention shifts that's what I say do you know if there are still looking 00:32:01 into other possible. Sickness is all for now they are focusing on not 00:32:08 malnutrition according to Dr Cantu when they get on the ground and we have even the 00:32:14 where World Health Organisation of some people are from then also Mali health 00:32:19 ministry officials so it is not only 2 people they went over there with an 00:32:24 investigative unit and based on their investigation they find out that people I 00:32:30 think they reported 200 or 4 yes cases have been affected and also 00:32:37 25 people are dead and 53 were hospitalized and 00:32:43 symptoms like loss of weight and also impairment Sometimes people 00:32:50 cannot walk because when you are eating properly of course you're going to get sick 00:32:55 look like somebody was having some kind of. Disease based on them there is not such 00:33:02 kind of things which is happening in one OK So tell us how long has this been going 00:33:08 on because this is not just something that happen you. Yesterday or last week it 00:33:11 seems like it's been 00:33:12 a couple of months right yes this has been going on according to local law health 00:33:17 official almost 2 months and the problem of maybe destroying things but the 00:33:23 population also was worried they didn't know exactly why people were dying quickly 00:33:29 you know and when health officials went over there after all those one on one 00:33:34 interview in the cases so they find out that people are not getting the food 00:33:41 because if you try for instance on January 25th I don't know if you remember 00:33:46 a. U.N. 00:33:48 Unit in Mali I think of the car exploded 26 people died yeah we have 1000000 people 00:33:55 from Mobile can offer so according to country since January 25th no car was 00:34:01 able to bring food in one door. We are in which month thus has been many months 00:34:08 yeah and so the food that those people were able to secure Yeah so after those food 00:34:14 where finished so it cause a shortage as 00:34:17 a result and the population was finking maybe at the beginning that it was 00:34:21 a disease but when they came after all the medical investigation came from 00:34:27 according to him it's just monetary sense oh wow that's incredible and it goes to 00:34:33 show how deadly man attrition is I mean it's not something to be taken lightly 00:34:39 histories have shown that malnutrition it's really serious occurrence that needs to 00:34:45 be taken seriously and one of the issues and I mentioned that in my introduction is 00:34:48 that that region is landlocked it's really hard to access Yes Mali itself is 00:34:54 a landlocked and. Is 00:34:57 a limb local Rhino what make it very difficult for people to bring food and 00:35:02 security as I told you because in most of the area. I don't know if you are 00:35:07 familiar with the name is leader of. The terrorists. And 00:35:13 they put landmines so it's almost in parts in impossible to use the road to bring 00:35:19 food and right now the government only with his local and international partner all 00:35:25 they are doing according to county they use Airways for instance the use of copter 00:35:32 to bring food because trying to bring it you're going to going to die. Your car my 00:35:38 explode and there may or its name is. On money from that 00:35:44 exactly the government and his partner were able to bring food and they have and 00:35:51 interesting that you talk to the mayor what it is about this whole situation you 00:35:57 come from the same thing you say people are hungry when you are getting food so you 00:36:01 may looks like somebody was sick because the stomach is not getting what is 00:36:06 supposed to get at the right time and therefore people you know is according to him 00:36:11 many people die you know and they say 35 and Dr Conti specified that 00:36:18 they did in I witness those people we have been reported that they told them that 00:36:25 35 people died so far 53 were all Spittal eyes and now they count 200 00:36:32 to 4 people. Who have been affected by this nutrition so it's interesting that they 00:36:38 did not necessarily witness the people who died there are saying there I see 00:36:42 meeting. The death toll at $35.00 which means it could be less oh it could be even 00:36:49 more according to him $35.00 cases have been reported by the populations 00:36:56 but they have not I witnessed those in really unfair size on this one which means 00:37:01 you might be less or you may be more bare the good news at least is right now 00:37:06 a government is really trying to do what it can and one. Yes about that yeah go 00:37:11 ahead one thing I just forget to mention earlier when we're doing a T.V. 00:37:16 Power demand or really raises again if some very interesting issues 00:37:23 the government says they are ready to do whatever it takes to solve this issue 00:37:28 unfortunately they cannot use their role because of the insecurity security even 00:37:34 the army so if you try to bring food to roads you might have you may be facing 00:37:40 landline or you may be even attacked by those terrorists so right now he's happy at 00:37:45 least they are using and according to him how long this is going to last so does 00:37:51 the question mark how long they would be able to deliver the food yes because 00:37:55 that's what is the best way to him if they can really provide like. In those areas 00:38:01 so you can really secure. Because he has for health district and 00:38:08 Rayna really affected and as 00:38:11 a Syria we have to know. Villages where will we have 00:38:18 many people we are suffering from these issues and according to him he will be much 00:38:23 better if they can really secure those areas by sending those security forces and 00:38:29 unfortunately as I say again we have a land mine yeah so it's kind of like 00:38:34 a dilemma that's 00:38:36 a tough one so I know you mentioned some of the things that are being done you talk 00:38:41 to the mayor you talk to the chief of the District Health Unit So what are the 00:38:46 steps they're delivering food via our air what else are they are doing what are the 00:38:52 prospects in terms of containing this disease are there optimistic. According to 00:38:58 him and I spoke also to the health unit of T. 00:39:03 And. Is part of the district health of multi according to him his name is Dr 00:39:09 Coulibaly. Especially Malley international partner really providing 00:39:16 financial and the material help to provide more food because according to them we 00:39:22 don't have such kind of disease that is really affecting people OK So they are 00:39:27 trying to see how they can really get more food for instance he said they are 00:39:31 providing Millet they are providing they are providing sugar those daily basic 00:39:38 necessities that people need to feed themselves and the 1st day I have done the end 00:39:44 if you think of the plane arriving around like unknown and everyone was supposed to 00:39:49 come at 4 pm So do you think that is going to be able to feed like 3 villages 00:39:57 that's the question my maybe they might need more quantities and so they later 00:40:02 development can tell us if they're really able to do the OK You know definitely 00:40:07 keep an eye on it and you talked about international partners such as we know that 00:40:12 Doctors Without Borders on the ground and there are other partners as well and 00:40:17 thank you so much on anything else you'd like to add before we let you go thank you 00:40:21 very much thank you so much for joining us thank you for keeping us abreast of 00:40:27 what's going on and we'll look forward for more updates and more of your reporting 00:40:33 thanks for a Great reporting. We appreciate your time and that was a V.O.A. 00:40:39 Reporter from the Bamber our service Madiba. You are listening to health chat we 00:40:45 are going to take 00:40:46 a short break and we'll be right back. And 00:42:05 that's what. You were listening to the Zimbabwe singer famous 00:42:12 singer leave him to cause the I am in no mood to welcome to hell and it is now time 00:42:18 for the new. Good evening 00:42:23 a new study published in The Lancet psychiatric journalist says regular physical 00:42:28 activity lasting 45 minutes 3 to 5 times 00:42:31 a week can reduce poor mental health but doing more than that is not also 00:42:35 beneficial adults taking part in the study 6 that they experience average $32.00 00:42:41 days of poor mental health each month for those who are physically active This 00:42:46 reduced to only 2 days all types of activity were found to improve mental health no 00:42:50 matter what people's age gender including the housework and looking at children 00:42:56 looking after children 00:42:57 a total of $1200000.00 people reported their activity levels for 00:43:01 a month and rated their mental well being 00:43:04 a recent recently released report reveals that 3 and 4 young adults experienced 00:43:09 some form of violence during their childhood according to their 1st ever Ugandan 00:43:13 violence against children survey among the findings the survey highlights that 00:43:17 violence against children occurs at all levels of society such as home schools and 00:43:22 communities survivors suffer and negative physical mental and social cognitive 00:43:27 consequences Uganda is the latest among several countries worldwide that have 00:43:31 conducted similar violence against children surveys the Ugandan survey was 00:43:36 conducted by its ministry of gender labor and social development with support from 00:43:41 partners such as Africa Child Center for Excellence the U.S. 00:43:47 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF and that's 00:43:50 a wrap up of your latest health. 00:44:19 And thank you Ruth for their news. Listen to this experts say vaccine is an 00:44:25 effective way to prevent many diseases in children as well as adults but many 00:44:30 children around the world do not have access to the vaccines they need I spoke 00:44:35 recently to all right Dr Orrin Levin he's the director of vaccine delivery at the 00:44:41 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation we talked about many aspects of vaccine coverage 00:44:47 and vaccine that every special effects in coverage across Africa and how better 00:44:52 data through innovations can help protect children take 00:44:56 a listen that there are in Levin thank you so much for joining us here the Voice of 00:45:00 America my pleasure you are the director of vaccines delivery at the Bill and 00:45:06 Melinda Gates Foundation 1st and foremost can you give us 00:45:09 a sense of what your work entails sure the poem or the Gates Foundation 00:45:16 we have 00:45:17 a very simple motto or vision that really drives us which is that all lives have 00:45:23 equal value. Knowing how important vaccines are for protecting women 00:45:30 and children we believe strongly that everyone deserves the right to those 00:45:36 lifesaving vaccines and so our vaccine delivery program is focused on trying to 00:45:41 make sure that those vaccines that can improve people's lives and protect people 00:45:47 from serious illness are made available to everyone everywhere that's in a such 00:45:52 a basic it's such 00:45:54 a basic step in public health when you think about vaccine it's been there for 00:45:58 quite in quite 00:46:00 a long time but yet there are still some communities regions people countries that 00:46:07 do not have access to some basic vaccines so tell us today your 00:46:13 your approach your opinion on how the world is doing with regards to vaccine 00:46:20 coverage especially in developing countries when we look at the. Sustainable 00:46:27 Development Goals and the. Where we are now what is your take. Sure so. 00:46:34 I think global vaccination is generally 00:46:38 a really really great story of success. Demonstrates how with 00:46:44 a collective effort with 00:46:46 a partnership of public private sector governments of philanthropy international 00:46:52 institutions we can. Making credible strides if you look at Africa for example 00:46:58 there are so many shining examples of African led success with immunization 00:47:05 smallpox no longer exists in Africa polio is gone epidemic mind and justice is 00:47:11 nearly gone and measles deaths are 80 percent lower than historical levels all of 00:47:18 those successes in Africa driven by Africans using immunizations to reach 00:47:25 every every child every woman who needs them everywhere. Now tell us more 00:47:31 about the value of vaccine Yes we understand that vaccination is very important but 00:47:38 if you can take take us back to the fundamentals of why it's 00:47:44 important to get vaccinated Sure well you know I think for me 00:47:51 there's that there's both a head and 00:47:54 a heart answer to this that the answer from my my brain is if I look at the 00:48:02 rational payout if you will the advantages of vaccinating 00:48:08 people they're incredible we estimate that the economic return on vaccinations in 00:48:14 developing countries is about $44.00 for every single dollar invested so just an 00:48:20 incredible rational argument for it but as a parent of 2 daughters there's also 00:48:26 a heart issue. I want to do everything I can as 00:48:30 a parent to make sure that they never suffer needlessly and so the idea that with 00:48:35 with just a couple of. Contacts with the health system with just 00:48:40 a couple of jobs and there are I can protect them against deadly diseases that 00:48:45 could otherwise make them illiterate and kill them it is the kind of. Compelling 00:48:51 reason for me as 00:48:52 a parent. To make sure that immunizations are complete for all my kids. Yet there 00:48:59 as 00:48:59 a missionary against communities that none have access to to bathe events in what some 00:49:05 of the barriers to vaccination it's basically when we look at the continent of 00:49:09 Africa what can you tell us about some of the main factors that Hender access to 00:49:16 vaccination for children and people in need I'm glad you're asking about this 00:49:21 because I do think that for all the good news about him is 00:49:25 a chanson what we have accomplished we still also have to be very very. 00:49:32 Sober and looking at what the situation looks like for everyone and there are still 00:49:38 large areas of inequity large areas where the immunization coverage is not reaching 00:49:44 the high levels that we see across the world and there are 00:49:48 a number of different barriers that contribute to that the single most important 00:49:53 conflict wherever there's conflict it just makes it hard for workers to reach 00:49:59 communities and for communities to access the systems that deliver vaccines 00:50:06 in addition we have learned that in communities where. 00:50:14 They may be remote or harder to reach where there may be. 00:50:20 Historical. Under-investment and in health systems in general and the 00:50:26 infrastructure in general. Those contribute to under immunization and then 00:50:33 importantly I think there's there's 00:50:35 a demand side to this. Good team is 00:50:40 a sion coverage also works best when communities understand the value 00:50:47 of immunizing their children and their families and actively seek out even as 00:50:54 a sions as well so. To some degree each of those different barriers 00:51:00 exist in different parts of the world and at least for our part we're not done 00:51:07 we're not clear declaring victory until we've got every hit everywhere reach with 00:51:12 with the full set of images now there is the sense that the fact that 00:51:18 a date that plays an important role in vaccine coverage to help protect moment 00:51:25 children CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO HAVE to us the importance of data but more importantly 00:51:32 reliable data in vaccine coverage to protect children you have 00:51:37 a thrill that you're asking this question because maybe not surprisingly. At the 00:51:42 bill money Gates Foundation our our focus is very much on data and 00:51:48 results were results driven organization probably born out of the foundations 00:51:55 voters themselves. What would typically at the most basic 00:52:02 level immunization programs struggle with is. First of all knowing every kid that 00:52:09 they need to reach so making sure that no one is left out. And then because you 00:52:16 need multiple immunizations to finish your series In other words you're not 00:52:20 completely protected until you reach 2 or 3 different injections of the vaccines 00:52:27 they need to avoid kids getting into the program and then dropping out so basically 00:52:34 in immunizations we talk about 2 kinds of problems left out and drop data can help 00:52:41 you with avoiding left out if it can help you to visualize where the children are 00:52:47 that you need to serve. Health care workers to say. This child was born but I 00:52:54 haven't yet seen them for the routine activation registering children and the like 00:52:59 it can also help with dropouts if we know that 00:53:03 a child got in for their 1st immunization how do we make sure that they complete 00:53:08 the immunization series if you take 00:53:11 a country like Cote d'Ivoire for example they have 00:53:15 a very strong program at reaching everyone at least once about 99 percent of 00:53:21 children in Cote d'Ivoire estimated to have at least one has 00:53:25 a sion visit but about 15 percent of those kids who start don't beat 00:53:32 immunizations series one way data could help by empowering health workers 00:53:39 to keep track of the kids who got in the system and were dropping out or by 00:53:46 having parents reminded my child is due for their next immunization and 00:53:53 bringing them back yet. This is 00:53:55 a good point when that you making when you take the example of could and speaking 00:54:01 about left out and drop out because I remember when I saw this data was like Are 00:54:06 you sure because you why is it kind of advance when it comes to immunize ition But 00:54:11 then the dropout rate is where the problem is at least you know and I think 00:54:17 a lot of times we tend to. To oversee that when when we talk about vaccination Yes 00:54:24 people children should be vaccinated once but then what happened after that and 00:54:29 it's a very very and very interesting that I mean this is 00:54:33 a clear example of how dropout also is 00:54:37 a critical critical problem that needs to be addressed very very very much so so 00:54:43 did you did you have anything to add we forgot to drop outs and how we retain them 00:54:49 not only with data about perhaps other interventions. So. 00:54:56 The dropout problem is one where data can really help us. Because if you 00:55:03 got into the system once then your name your cell phone number your. 00:55:12 Something then how that's how to reach you or find you should be in our data system 00:55:17 . Well what I think is really exciting about where things are going in Africa right 00:55:23 now is that data is increasingly moving off of paper and into electronic 00:55:29 or digital system not. That allows 00:55:36 health workers really rapid access to the data it allows health 00:55:43 workers to be able to plan their next day's work in order to make sure that they 00:55:49 find 00:55:49 a child who may be late for an immunization session and make sure that she gets caught 00:55:53 up and she gets the complete set of the immunizations So it's it's the use of data 00:55:58 . In some ways the energy platforms are increasingly providing you know I 00:56:05 forgot to do that and I think has 00:56:07 a lot of people really excited about what's possible for Africa. 00:56:20 And that was Dr arena Van He is director of vaccines there is 00:56:25 a very at the been meeting that Gates Foundation we thank him for giving us time to 00:56:31 talk to him about such an important topic which is vaccination immunization for 00:56:36 children we also think our colleague who came in the studio to give us an update on 00:56:43 the illness at that affecting people in Mali. From 00:56:50 the. Services we thank you for joining us and thanks to all of you our listeners 00:56:56 for joining us for 00:56:57 a while listening in Africa and around the ward of via the Net We appreciate your 00:57:01 time if you'd like to stay in touch let's keep the conversation going on our 00:57:06 Facebook page Facebook that no facebook dot com Yes slash 00:57:12 a video with health chats I know the address I am your host you know I'm doing 00:57:16 Washington 00:57:17 a way for you said Jackson been Gagnon Ruth at the SUV with their new then 00:57:21 associate producer Thomas engineer John thank you to all of you until next time 00:57:27 take care be well and strive to make every day 00:57:30 a healthy day. Oh 00:58:25 yeah. It would. 00:58:42 Be. 00:59:01 With. 00:59:13 You soon feel 00:59:15 a new sun Joe Palca the volume of the crime its side now thought sound going I 00:59:20 suppose there is some space going around about something that slow outside seems to 00:59:25 be going from it's Donovan Parsons of London an eyewitness to the near tragedy of 00:59:30 a car crashing into.