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Congo dispatches former warlords to try to resolve ethnic conflict

DAKAR (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's government has dispatched former warlords, including two who were tried for war crimes in The Hague, to try to convince militiamen in their home region to surrender, the governor of Ituri province said on Monday.DAKAR (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's government has dispatched former warlords,including two who were tried for war crimes in The Hague, to try to convince militiamen in their home region to surrender, the governor of Ituri province said on Monday.

Ethnic violence in Ituri, where a conflict between Lendu farmers and Hema herders between 1999 and 2007 resulted in an estimated 50,000 deaths, broke out again in 2017. Hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands forced to flee.

Now, Congo's government is turning to some of the main players from the previous conflict to try to resolve the current one, dispatching a delegation that arrived in Ituri last week.

Governor Jean Bamanisa said one of the members of the delegation is Germain Katanga. The International Criminal Court (ICC) convicted Katanga in 2014 on one count of crimes against humanity and four of war crimes for leading a

Lendu militia in a 2003 attack on a village that killed about 200 civilians.He was released earlier this year after serving over a decade in prison in The Hague and in Congo.

Another delegation member is Mathieu Ngudjolo, who was acquitted by the ICC in 2012 of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the same attack.

The delegation will begin travelling around the province later this week to meet members of the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, whose fighters are mostly drawn from the Lendu community, Bamanisa told Reuters.
"It could take more than 45 days to travel everywhere," he said. "It is a mystical-religious community group, and not structured."

Late last year Congo's army launched a large-scale operation against militias in the east of the country, but that sparked a backlash in which armed groups killed several hundred people.

Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Giles Elgood)Rfeuters 5th July 2020

Britain nears 500 million pound supply deal for Sanofi/GSK COVID-19 vaccine

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is close to agreeing a 500 million pound supply deal with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline for 60 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine, the Sunday Times reported.LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is close to agreeing a 500 million pound supply deal with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline for 60 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine, the Sunday Times reported.The newspaper said that Britain was considering taking an option to buy the vaccine should it work in human trials, which are due to begin in September.

Reference: Reuters - Sunday Times  11 hrs ago 5th July 2020

Severe Covid-19 can cause brain damage and strokes, new study shows

Coronavirus may cause brain damage in as many as six in 10 critically-ill patients in hospital, a preliminary study has suggested.Coronavirus may cause brain damage in as many as six in 10 critically-ill patients in hospital, a preliminary study has suggested.

British researchers examined 125 people hospitalised with COVID-19 and found the disease can cause complications such as stroke, inflammation, psychosis and dementia-like symptoms in some severe cases.

The most common brain complication seen was stroke, which was reported in 77 of 125 patients, or 62 per cent, with most cases in those aged over 60, and caused by a blood clot in the brain, known as an ischaemic stroke.

The findings are the first detailed look at a range of neurological complications of COVID-19, the researchers said, and underline a need for larger studies to find the mechanisms behind them and assist the search for treatments.

Published in the Lancet Psychiatry journal on Thursday, scientists from the universities of Liverpool, Southampton, Newcastle and University College London analysed data collected between April 2 and April 26 - when the disease was spreading exponentially in the UK.  

Almost a third of patients developed psychosis, or dementia-like symptoms; nine had unspecified brain dysfunction, known as encephalopathy, and seven patients had inflammation of the brain, medically known as encephalitis.

In addition, up to a third of people who fall severely ill with coronavirus develop dangerous blood clots, which can trigger deadly strokes if they migrate to the brain and cut off its blood supply.

Scientists are unsure exactly why the clots form, but it's believed they're caused by severe inflammation due to the Covid-19 infection.

This inflammation in major arteries leading to the brain is thought to be behind the psychiatric problems seen in some patients.

Sarah Pett, a University College London professor who co-led the work said: “This (is) an important snapshot of the brain-related complications of COVID-19 in hospitalised patients.

"It is critically important that we continue to collect this information to really understand this virus fully."

New virus cases in capital fall to 115 a day but decline 'tailing off'However, Benedict Michael, co-lead researcher from Liverpool University stressed that the study only focused on severe cases selected by doctors, and was too small to draw firm conclusions.

Mr Michael said: “We now need detailed studies to understand the possible biological mechanisms ... so we can explore potential treatments."

Independent scientists have said the findings are "probably relatively rare" in most Covid-19 patients, so people should "not worry too much".

Michael Sharpe, professor of psychological medicine at the University of Oxford, said: "This report describes often striking cases of neurological and psychiatric illness as being sometimes associated with severe Covid-19 in hospitalised patients.

"It reminds us that Covid-19 is more than a respiratory infection and that we need to consider its link to variety of other illnesses.

"However, because this is only a series of case reports of patients seen by certain types of hospital specialists, we cannot be certain that these illnesses were in fact caused by Covid-19 or were simply co-occurring."

Mainland China reports 27 new coronavirus cases, including 22 in Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) - Mainland China reported 27 new coronavirus cases as of the end of June 19, 22 of which were reported in the capital Beijing,

China's National Health Commission said on Saturday.BEIJING (Reuters) - Mainland China reported 27 new coronavirus cases as of the end of June 19, 22 of which were reported in the capital Beijing, China's National Health Commission said on Saturday.

This compared with 32 confirmed cases a day earlier, 25 of which were in Beijing, where local authorities are working to contain a new outbreak at a food wholesale market.

Another seven asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, those who are infected with the coronavirus but show no symptoms, were also reported as of June 19 compared with five a day earlier.

China does not count these patients as confirmed cases.Another seven asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, those who are infected with the coronavirus but show no symptoms, were also reported as of June 19 compared with five a day earlier. China does not count these patients as confirmed cases.

Reference : Reuters: : 9 hrs ago 20th June 2020 : (Reporting by Tom Daly and Xiao Han; Editing by Michael Perry)