
China rewrites global health leadership as US retreats from WHO
Ruby Wang is the founder of LINTRIS Health, a health and life sciences consultancy bridging East and West for public and private sector clients, and founder of the ChinaHealthPulse newsletter.
The 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva this May marked a turning point in global health diplomacy. For the first time since the founding of the World Health Organization, the U.S. was both financially and diplomatically absent. It sent no senior officials and has withdrawn all funding, with little indication of re-engagement.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Gaza Facing Man-Made ‘Mass Starvation', Says WHO's Tedros
July 23 (Reuters) – Gaza is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid into the Palestinian enclave, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. He spoke following an appeal by more than 100 aid agencies warning of hunger in Gaza while tons of food, clean water and medical supplies sit untouched just outside the territory. 'I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear,' Tedros told a virtual press conference live-streamed from Geneva. 'This is because of (the) blockade.' Gaza's food stocks haverun out since Israel, at war with Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 2023, cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May – but with restrictions that it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. As a result, international aid agencies say that only a trickle of what is needed is currently reaching people in Gaza. Israel says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being diverted by militants. It says it has let enough food into Gaza during the war and blames Hamas for the suffering of Gaza's 2.2 million people. Ten more Palestinians died overnight from starvation, the Gaza health ministry said, bringing the total number of people who have starved to death to 111, most of them in recent weeks as a wave of hunger crashes on the Palestinian enclave. The WHO said the deadly surge in malnutrition has caused the deaths of at least 21 children reported to the agency in 2025, but stressed those figures are likely the tip of the iceberg. Centers for treating malnutrition are full without sufficient supplies for emergency feeding, the WHO added, as the hunger crisis has been compounded by the collapse of aid pipelines and restrictions on access. Tedros also said the U.N. and its humanitarian partners were unable to deliver any food for nearly 80 days between March and May, and the resumption of deliveries was still insufficient. The situation is dire, he and other WHO officials said, with around 10% of people screened experiencing either severe or moderate malnutrition, and up to 20% of pregnant women. In July alone, 5,100 children have been admitted to malnutrition programs, including 800 who were severely emaciated, said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO's representative for the occupied Palestinian territories.


Japan Today
4 days ago
- Japan Today
Parkinson's patients in Brazil turn to a movement practice known as capoeira to ease symptoms
Physical therapist Rosemeire Peixoto, left, founder of a project called 'Parkinson's in the swing,' leads a capoeira class for people with Parkinson's disease at the Progress Foundry cultural center, in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, July 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) By ELÉONORE HUGHES Nilma Teles de Freitas, an 80-year-old retired teacher in Brazil who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease more than a decade ago, says she used to fall over all the time. That changed after she began attending a capoeira class in downtown Rio de Janeiro especially designed for people with the neurodegenerative illness. Capoeira is a movement practice that originated within the large enslaved communities in Brazil, where nearly 5 million kidnapped Africans disembarked during the transatlantic slave trade that started in the 16th century. It is considered both a martial art and a dance, combining ritual, exercise, spirituality and music. 'Capoeira gives me freedom to work on my body. What I can do. What I can't do. So I can have balance and a more comfortable life,' Teles de Freitas said during a recent class. Practiced for centuries by Afro-Brazilians, it has since become popular around the world. UNESCO recognized the practice in 2014 as Intangible Cultural Heritage. The project started in 2018 with physical therapist Rosimeire Peixoto, 60, who at that point had been attending capoeira classes herself for over a decade. After working with many patients with Parkinson's, she said she became convinced that introducing them to capoeira may help alleviate some of their symptoms. Parkinson's has a range of different symptoms, and along with difficulties in balancing, some common ones include slowness of movement, tremors and stooped posture. Patients can also experience anxiety, depression, sleeping disorders and nausea. 'I had the idea after reading an article that said alternating both hands when using a cell phone stimulates both hemispheres of the brain,' she said. 'And as a physiotherapist treating neurological patients, I was lacking exercises that would motivate them.' Peixoto's project was dubbed "Parkinson na ginga' — or 'Parkinson's in the swing' — a reference to the first fluid, rhythmic step that capoeira practitioners learn. She now holds classes twice a week in the Progress Foundry, a sprawling cultural center in downtown Rio next to a famed white 18th century aqueduct and surrounded by palm trees. Capoeira helps improve balance, coordination and strength, with music loosening up tense bodies, Peixoto says. 'There is a lot happening in a capoeira circle. They feel the vibration, the energy, they pay attention to the music and to the partner to dodge blows' and to themselves, she said. During a recent class, Peixoto walked among the students, placing a gentle hand on a back here and there to help with balance, patiently repeating demonstrations and offering words of encouragement. Antônio de Azevedo, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease a few years ago, said he could hardly stand before. But since he started practicing capoeira, his stability returned. 'It's the best thing that's ever happened to me,' he said while he attended a capoeira class with around 10 other people, all with Parkinson's. Peixoto tries to make the classes a fun and social event — she often suggests a group samba dance at the end of the class, and regularly brings a cake to share. Teles de Freitas, the retired teacher, says that she loves the camaraderie among the class. 'We are there for one another,' she said. 'Feeling and conversing with friends gives strength.' She remembers how when she got her diagnosis, she left the doctor's office crying, terrified of the future. 'Today I'm smiling," she said. "I'm managing to live. I'm managing to interact with other people. I'm managing to be happy.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.


Yomiuri Shimbun
5 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Officials Say 85 Palestinians Seeking Aid Are Killed in Gaza as Israel Widens Evacuation Orders
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza saw its deadliest day yet for aid-seekers in over 21 months of war as at least 85 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach food on Sunday, the territory's Health Ministry said. There was new alarm as Israel's military issued evacuation orders for parts of central Gaza, one of the few areas where it has rarely operated with ground troops and where many international organizations trying to distribute aid are located. One group said several offices were told to evacuate immediately. There was no immediate Israeli comment. The largest death toll was in devastated northern Gaza, where living conditions are especially dire. At least 79 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid entering through the Zikim crossing with Israel, Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Health Ministry's records department, told The Associated Press. The U.N. World Food Program said 25 trucks with aid had entered for 'starving communities' when it encountered massive crowds. A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment on the incident to the media, said Israeli forces opened fire toward crowds who tried to take food from the convoy. Footage taken by the U.N. and shared with the AP showed Palestinian men running as automatic gunfire was heard. 'Suddenly, tanks surrounded us and trapped us as gunshots and strikes rained down. We were trapped for around two hours,' said Ehab Al-Zei, who had been waiting for flour and said he hadn't eaten bread in 15 days. He spoke over the din of people carrying the dead and wounded. 'I will never go back again. Let us die of hunger, it's better.' Nafiz Al-Najjar, who was injured, said tanks and drones targeted people 'randomly' and he saw his cousin and others shot dead. Israel's military accuses Hamas of creating chaos Israel's military said soldiers shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. It accused Hamas militants of creating chaos. More than 150 people were wounded, some in critical condition, hospitals said. Al-Waheidi said Israeli gunfire killed another six Palestinians in the Shakoush area, hundreds of meters (yards) north of a hub of the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.- and Israel-backed group, in the southern city of Rafah. The GHF said it was not aware of any incident near its site. Witnesses and health workers say several hundred people have been killed by Israeli fire while trying to access the group's aid distribution sites. Separately, seven Palestinians were killed while sheltering in tents in Khan Younis in the south, including a 5-year-old boy, according to the Kuwait Specialized Field Hospital, which received the casualties. Evacuation orders cut road across Gaza The new evacuation orders cut access between the central city of Deir al-Balah and Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow territory. The military also reiterated evacuation orders for northern Gaza. Palestinians were startled to see the orders for parts of Deir al-Balah, a relative haven. 'All of Rafah is under evacuation, and now you have decided that half of Deir al-Balah is under evacuation. Where will we move to?' asked resident Hassan Abu Azab, as others piled everything from bedding to live ducks onto carts and other vehicles. Smoke rose in the distance, with blasts and the sound of a siren. The United Nations was in contact with Israeli authorities to clarify whether U.N. facilities in the southwestern part of Deir al-Balah are included in the order, according to a different U.N. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. The official said that in previous instances, U.N. facilities were spared from such orders. The Medical Aid for Palestinians group said several humanitarian organizations' offices and guesthouses had been 'ordered to evacuate immediately' and nine clinics, including the MAP one, had been forced to shut down. It was not immediately clear what other groups were affected. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee called for people to head to Muwasi, a desolate tent camp with little infrastructure on Gaza's southern coast that Israel's military has designated a humanitarian zone. The announcement came as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly asserted that expanding Israel's military operations in Gaza will pressure Hamas in negotiations. Earlier this month, Israel's military said it controlled more than 65% of Gaza. Palestinian death toll nears 59,000 Gaza's population of more than 2 million Palestinians are in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory. Many people have been displaced multiple times. Ambulances in front of three major hospitals in Gaza sounded their alarms simultaneously Sunday in an urgent appeal as hunger grows. The Health Ministry posted pictures on social media of doctors holding signs about malnourished children and the lack of medication. Hamas triggered the war when militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage. Fifty remain in Gaza, but fewer than half are thought to be alive. Israel's military offensive has killed more than 58,800 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't say how many militants have been killed but says over half of the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas government, but the U.N. and other international organizations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties. The Hostages Family Forum, a grassroots organization that represents many families of hostages, condemned the new evacuation order and demanded that Netanyahu and Israel's military explain what they hope to accomplish in central Gaza. 'Enough! The Israeli people overwhelmingly want an end to the fighting and a comprehensive agreement that will return all of the hostages,' the forum said. On Saturday night, during a weekly protest, tens of thousands marched in Tel Aviv to the branch of the U.S. Embassy, demanding an end to the war.