How the Trump administration made a sewage crisis ‘woke'
'There's a chance if you don't watch yourself, everything will shoot down with force and get all over you,' says Christopher McPherson.
Nina Lakhani, a senior reporter for Guardian US, explains to Nosheen Iqbal that Lowndes County is one of the poorest districts in the country and has a history of brutal cotton plantation enslavement and also the civil rights and Black power movements.
They discuss the way the soil has affected access to sanitation in the county, the significant health and psychological problems that have followed, and the long struggle for justice in which a landmark civil rights ruling under the Biden administration has been overturned by the actions of Donald Trump.
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The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Takeaways from AP's report on problems in the worldwide campaign to eradicate polio
For nearly four decades, the World Health Organization and partners have been trying to rid the world of polio, a paralytic disease that has existed since prehistoric times. While cases have dropped more than 99%, polio remains entrenched in parts of Afghanistanand Pakistan. In its quest to eliminate the virus, WHO and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative have been derailed by mismanagement and what insiders describe as blind allegiance to an outdated strategy and a problematic oral vaccine, according to workers, polio experts and internal materials obtained by the Associated Press. Officials tout the successes – 3 billion children vaccinated, an estimated 20 million people who would have been paralyzed spared – while acknowledging challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan. WHO polio director Dr. Jamal Ahmed defended progress in those two countries, citing workers' tailored response in resistant pockets. Here are some takeaways from AP's report on what's happened in one of the most expensive efforts in all of public health. Documents show major problems on polio vaccination teams Internal WHO reports reviewing polio immunization in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past decade — given to AP by current and former staffers — show that as early as 2017, local workers were alerting problems to senior managers. The documents flagged multiple cases of falsified vaccination records, health workers being replaced by untrained relatives and workers improperly administering vaccines. On numerous occasions, WHO officials noted, 'vaccinators did not know about vaccine management,' citing failure to keep doses properly cold. They also found sloppy or falsified reporting, with workers noting 'more used vaccine vials than were actually supplied.' According to an August 2017 report from Kandahar, Afghanistan, vaccination teams worked 'in a hurried manner,' reports said, with 'no plan for monitoring." A team in Nawzad, Afghanistan, covered just half of the intended area in 2017, with 250 households missed entirely. Village elders said no one visited for at least two years. Polio workers say problems have gone unaddressed Health officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan told AP their efforts to vaccinate children are often stymied by cultural barriers, misinformation about the vaccines, and poverty. Sughra Ayaz has traveled door to door in southeastern Pakistan for the past decade, pleading for children to be immunized. Some families demand basics such as food and water instead of vaccines. Others, without citing proof for their beliefs, repeat false rumors and say they think the oral vaccine doses are meant to sterilize their kids. Ayaz said that given the immense pressure for the campaign to succeed, some managers have instructed workers to falsely mark children as immunized 'In many places, our work is not done with honesty,' she said. Some scientists blame the oral vaccine Polio eradication demands perfection — zero polio cases and immunizing more than 95% of children. But some scientists and former WHO staffers say the campaign's efforts are far from perfect, blaming in particular the oral vaccine. It's safe and effective, but in very rare instances, the live virus in the oral vaccine can paralyze a child. In even rarer cases, the virus can mutate into a form capable of starting outbreaks among unimmunized people where vaccination rates are low. Except for Afghanistan and Pakistan, most polio cases worldwide are linked to the vaccine; several hundred cases have been reported annually since 2021, with at least 98 this year. Most public health experts agree the oral vaccine should be pulled as soon as possible. But they acknowledge there isn't enough injectable vaccine — which uses no live virus and doesn't come with the risks of the oral vaccine — to eliminate polio alone. The injectable vaccine is more expensive and requires more training to administer. More than two dozen current and former senior polio officials told AP the agencies involved haven't been willing to even consider revising their strategy to account for campaign problems. Last year, former WHO scientist Dr. T. Jacob John twice emailed WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus calling for a 'major course correction.' John wrote that 'WHO is persisting with polio control and creating polio with one hand and attempting to control it by the other.' Ahmed told AP the oral vaccine is a 'core pillar' of eradication strategy and that 'almost every country that is polio-free today used (it) to achieve that milestone.' Critics say there's no accountability Dr. Tom Frieden, who sits on an independent board reviewing polio eradication, said he and colleagues have urged WHO and partners to adapt to obstacles in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since 2011, the board has issued regular reports about program failures, but had little impact. 'There's no management,' he said. With an annual budget of about $1 billion, polio eradication is among the most expensive initiatives in public health. WHO officials have privately admitted that sustaining funding will be difficult without signs of progress. Roland Sutter, who previously headed polio research at WHO, said donors had spent more than $1 billion in Pakistan trying to get rid of polio in the last five years — and made little progress. 'If this was a private company, we would demand results," he said. Ahmed pointed to the program's many successes. "Let's not overdramatize the challenges, because that leads to children getting paralyzed,' he said. Mistrust of the vaccine persists Vaccine workers and health officials say it's hard for campaign leadership to grasp the difficulties in the field. Door-to-door efforts are stymied by cultural barriers, unfounded stories about vaccines, and the region's poverty and transience. The campaign is up against a wave of misinformation, including that the vaccine is made from pig urine or will make children reach puberty early. Some blame an anti-vaccine sentiment growing in the U.S. and other countries that have largely funded eradication efforts. In a mountainous region of southeastern Afghanistan where most people survive by growing wheat and raising cows and chickens, many are wary of the Western-led initiative. A mother of five said she'd prefer that her children be vaccinated against polio, but her husband and other male relatives have instructed their families to reject it, fearing it will compromise their children's fertility. 'If I allow it,' the woman said, declining to be named over fears of family retribution, 'I will be beaten and thrown out.' Cheng reported from London. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's clumsy nuclear rhetoric shows he still has no strategy to deal with Putin
US president Donald Trump claims to have ordered a redeployment of nuclear submarines in response to threatening language from Moscow. Predictably, the US and global media have reacted excitedly, without always stopping to consider what, if anything, has happened, and why. As with Trump's other comments on Russia, the vague statement raised more questions than answers. Trump claimed he ordered two nuclear submarines (without specifying whether that meant nuclear-armed or nuclear-powered) to be positioned 'in the appropriate regions' (without explaining why they would have been somewhere inappropriate to start with). All of which came in response to a taunt containing a reference to The Walking Dead and a laughing emoji on social media from Dmitry Medvedev, once president of Russia but now enjoying a public persona more akin to a court jester. Trump's secretary of state Marco Rubio seems confident that Medvedev is 'not a relevant player in Russian politics', and yet his trolling has supposedly triggered a change in American nuclear posture. As with so much else in Trumpworld, the explanation probably lies elsewhere. It's true that Trump's verbal outbursts criticising Moscow have become more frequent recently – and that this marks a startling turnaround from his earlier inclination to blame Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Russia having invaded his country. But despite the latest claims, there's still no indication that Trump is willing to follow words with meaningful action. The latest arbitrary deadline for Vladimir Putin to take unspecified action towards ending Russia's war on Ukraine, followed by an equally arbitrary bringing forward of the deadline, suggest there is no coherent plan for putting pressure on Moscow. Instead, when setting dates, Trump appears to be plucking random numbers from the air and then changing them with no warning, in the same manner as when setting the United States's global trade policy. With the submarine comment, Trump has discovered another means of appearing 'tough on Russia' without actually doing anything that would be of any concern to Moscow – and there are plenty of other reasons why he might be seeking headlines that suggest he is taking a firmer line with Putin. Namely, that Trump needs distractions at the moment. His best efforts to keep his relationship with sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell out of the headlines, and prevent the release of any material from their criminal case that may implicate Trump personally, have been counterproductive. And the effects of his economic policies are starting to dawn on even those sections of the American public that still believe he has their best interests at heart. With prices rising rapidly amid uncertainty triggered by Trump's chaotic tariff policy, it is becoming harder to maintain upbeat messaging on the economy – and last week also saw the release of employment statistics so bad that Trump felt compelled to shoot the messenger who delivered them, by firing the head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics. This, and moving submarines in response to an insult from a Russian politician who throws them for a living, unfortunately fits Trump's style of governing through outbursts and rants in response to perceived slights more than through clear and considered policy. But whatever the reasons for that, the net effect is that once again, Trump has taken every possible step to pressure Russia short of actually doing something. In fact, he has succeeded in preventing action that Russia would dislike: Trump's notional deadline for Putin to do something successfully headed off an initiative by Senate Republicans to push through a package of secondary sanctions that would have caused genuine headaches for Moscow, not to mention a proposal for sanctions on China for supporting Russia's war. That's one reason among many why Russia felt the Trump submarine claim, which, if made by any other US president, would have been a significant and dramatic move, could be calmly ignored. Whatever Trump's latest verbal salvo at Moscow may be, there's one thing it isn't: a strategy for dealing with Russia, let alone a sensible or coherent one. Vladimir Putin and those around him will no doubt continue to watch Trump's moves closely; but perhaps as much out of curiosity as of concern as to what he will do next.
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Why the firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics boss is bad news for your money
President Trump's sudden firing of the nation's top labor data official may seem like political drama — but experts warn it could have very real consequences for your wallet. The president ousted Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Dr. Erika McEntarfer on Friday, just hours after the release of weak jobs figures. Trump believes the federal agency had previously manipulated figures to appear worse than they really were. The president accused McEntarfer of 'faking' jobs numbers in a blistering post to Truth Social that did not provide evidence to support the accusations. The sacking undermines confidence that independent agencies are putting out accurate data, a fact that could have damaging effects on trillions of dollar of assets including 401(k)s. Despite the potential severity of the situation financial markets did not appear to react much to the firing of McEntarfer, who was appointed to the role by former President Joe Biden. Damaging the BLS's reputation could mean markets don't trust the economic data it puts out, which affects how they price assets and therefore the overall direction of stock indices. As well as the political firing of McEntarfar the BLS has raised alarm bells over its collection of recent inflation data. Due to staff shortages the agency stopped collecting figures from certain cities and began to estimate more prices rather than checking them directly with sold goods or services, the Wall Street Journal reported. If investors believe this data is being tampered with politically or is simply not trustworthy it could reduce the allure of the $2 trillion Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) market. The return on these Treasury bonds are largely determined by BLS reports. Further to this investors who own other types of bonds and mortgage securities look to the TIPS market to determine their own rates of return versus inflation. If inflation data is less trustworthy it could also cause dissent from the tens of millions of Americans who receive Social Security checks that are linked to inflation. It could be the same case for millions of state and local retiree pension benefits. Taxpayers could also sound the alarm if their exemptions, tax brackets, retirement-account contribution limits and deductions that are linked to the rising cost of living could be effected by untrusted data. McEntarfar's firing comes after months of threats from Trump against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates fast enough. Firing Powell before his term ends in May 2026 would likely cause a rout in financial markets who insist the independence of the Fed is critical for stability. Trump has targeted Fed Chair Jerome Powell claiming he is 'too late' on lowering interest rates A new Fed chair seen as under Trump's influence would also concern Wall Street. 'Whomever is appointed, the key thing to monitor is whether they are perceived as being a political appointee,' Eric Winograd, chief U.S. economist at Alliance Bernstein told Reuters. 'And by that, I mean someone whose views change with the whims of the president.' Even if Trump does not fire Powell appointing a shadow chair could blur the Fed's message and direction. Markets respond not just to official Fed decisions, but also to hints about future moves — meaning mixed signals could cause turmoil.
