The Telegraph

Crouching on dusty orange soil outside a clinic, a four-year-old wretches up blood in a gutter. For minutes, bile forces itself out of her small body. The girl straightens; gently dabs sweat from her face and smooths down her pink dress. Her mother guides her to a bench and covers her with a blanket. As she lies prone in the 30-degree heat, a doctor confirms she has malaria. Ghana is home to 32 million people, many of whom face the wrath of vicious infectious diseases. Local clinics – the corner

Germany announced on Tuesday that it would send anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, but it later emerged that Berlin has not yet secured ammunition for the machines' cannons. The move marked a U-turn for Olaf Scholz's government, which previously refused to send heavy weaponry from Germany to Kyiv. But it later emerged that ammunition for the Gepard tanks had not yet been secured. Switzerland reportedly turned down a German request to supply the ammunition, citing its neutrality. A spokesman for

Gerhard Schroder, the former German chancellor, has warned the country not to ban Russian energy and refused to apologise for his close ties to the Kremlin in a defiant first interview since the start of the war in Ukraine. Mr Schroder, under pressure at home and abroad to cut his business ties to Moscow, told the New York Times in an interview published on Saturday that he does not "do mea culpas". The 78-year-old Social Democrat, who sits on the boards of two Kremlin-controlled energy compan

A row over whether to send heavy weaponry to Ukraine threatens to throw Berlin into crisis after the opposition said it would force a parliamentary vote, with junior coalition partners expected to rebel against the government. Friedrich Merz, the CDU leader, confirmed on Friday that he would ask the parliament to vote on a motion calling for "immediate" deliveries of heavy weapons, including battle tanks, to Ukraine. "If the government isn't going to deliver, then the Bundestag needs to deliver

In Mali’s national language, cancer translates to curse. Fearful of a diagnosis, many women avoid hospitals and visit traditional healers instead. There, they are given herbs and leaves, which they paste onto their bodies. Their cancerous lumps grow, spreading upwards, breaking the skin and forming open wounds. Rather than helping, the herbs complicate the sores, which become necrotic and dry. “Cancer in Bambara means a really bad spell, it carries such a negative meaning,” Sophie Gossens, a B

The UK was the only G7 country to cut aid over the last two years, despite a pandemic, growing devastation wrought by climate change, and mounting conflict. While Britain decreased aid, an analysis published on Tuesday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, found that many countries increased contributions, including the United States, Korea, Japan, Canada and Australia. Aid agencies said the analysis showed that Britain has “turned our backs on marginalised people faci

The German government is facing renewed criticism after it reportedly rejected an offer by an arms firm to repair 100 tanks to send to the Ukrainian front line. Rheinmetall, an arms manufacturer, said 100 Marder tanks standing around in its factory could be made battle-ready, enabling the German armed forces to send an equivalent number of operative vehicles to Ukraine. According to a report in Bild newspaper, the defence ministry responded that the decommissioned tanks would take too long to re

In early February, 29-year-old Anastaysia, from the town of Nemishaieve, west of Kyiv, was diagnosed with HIV. She was terrified, she told The Telegraph, and unsure what the diagnosis meant for her future. Two weeks later, Russia invaded Ukraine. “I don’t know what will kill me first: HIV or bombs,” she said from her temporary shelter in Vinnytsia. Anastaysia is one of an estimated 260,000 adults and children living with HIV in Ukraine. In 2020, Ukraine had the second highest rate of newly diagn

Ukraine on Monday condemned Angela Merkel's "policy of concessions" to Moscow as Western leaders faced mounting pressure to impose tougher sanctions on Russia. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, said the former German chancellor's refusal to let Ukraine join Nato in 2008 had ultimately led to the atrocities discovered on the outskirts of Kyiv. The scathing criticism came amid a chorus of Western condemnation for the alleged genocide and an attempt by the European Union to ratchet up econom

A British security guard accused of spying for Moscow will be extradited to the UK this week after losing a battle to stay in Germany. David Smith, a former employee of the British embassy in Berlin, was arrested last August having allegedly offered names of British officials to Russian spies. The 57-year-old is due to arrive back in the UK on Wednesday and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning. The state court of Brandenburg told The Telegraph on Monday that it ha

For the liberal Free Democrats, speed limits are an unwanted infringement on the freedoms of car-loving Germans. Bijan Djir-Sarai, the Free Democratic Party secretary, accused the Greens of “symbolic politics” saying that "now is definitely the wrong time for partisan ideology". The Green party is believed to favour a temporary speed limit of 130 km/h (80mph), a move which would likely also win the support of the Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats. Calculations carried out by Germany’s

Germany is the “main roadblock” in attempts to ban the import of Russian gas, Poland’s prime minister has said, as the EU prepares to hit Moscow with tougher sanctions after accusations of war crimes in Ukraine. “It’s Germany that is the main roadblock on sanctions. Hungary is for the sanctions,” Mateusz Morawiecki said on Monday. "It is not the voice of German businessmen or of German billionaires, who have surely been trying to prevent more steps being taken [against Russia], which should be

Women and children fleeing Ukraine are at increasing risk of human trafficking, aid organisations have warned, while elderly citizens travelling alone face frostbite and are reliant on volunteers to carry them over the border. Speaking exclusively to The Telegraph, Jagan Chapagain, secretary-general of the International Federation of the Red Cross, painted a stark picture of a humanitarian crisis unfolding on the border. “Refugees walk with frostbite, after being stuck on the road for hours," he

Germany has hit back at Britain's claim that it supports Ukraine surrendering territory to Russia, amid tensions between Western allies over peace talks. Berlin was said to be "over-eager" to endorse a series of significant Ukrainian concessions in order to secure an early peace pact with Moscow. But a spokesman for Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, branded the suggestion "absurd", while German sources accused British officials of playing politics. It came as Ukrainian forces continued to make

The Horn of Africa is facing one of the worst droughts on record. Some 14 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are at risk of severe hunger and water shortages. In Somaliland, an autonomous region in northern Somalia, it hasn’t rained since April 2021. Amina Jama Ismail, 40, who lives in Xidhinta village with her eight children, told ActionAid: “Previously there was plenty of rain and water, but now the climate has changed. Every time spring is expected, a drought will replace it.”

In the bathroom of Dubai’s Caviar Kaspia restaurant, a statuesque Russian blonde reapplies her make-up from her Gucci handbag and checks her diamonds in the mirror. Anastasia, as she introduces herself, is new in town, having moved to Dubai with her husband she describes simply as a “businessman”. Moscow is home, she says, but they have arrived in the desert emirate to see out the Ukraine war.

Most countries in Africa could survive at least five years of drought – and some could survive more than 50 years – if the continent’s groundwater reserves were tapped into, according to new mapping by the British Geological Survey and WaterAid. If extracted with simple tools like boreholes and pumps, the groundwater could be “the world’s insurance policy against climate change,” the researchers said. Groundwater exists almost everywhere underground in gaps within soil, sand and rock. In Africa,

India lost almost a third of its solar power potential between 2001 and 2018 due to air pollution, scientists have found, in a blow to the country's clean energy transition. A study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi said the country lost 29 per cent of its utilisable “global horizontal irradiance potential”, or the radiation that generates solar power, over the 17-year period. India dominates the list of cities that have particle pollution levels more than 20 times the World He

Germany's planned "Freedom Day" from Covid lockdown laws failed to materialise on Sunday, as regional governments chose to maintain restrictions amid rising cases. Sunday was supposed to signal a milestone in the fight against the virus after two years of social distancing and mask mandates. Little changed on the ground, however, with Germans still expected to wear masks and show their vaccine passports when entering shops and other venues. German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann of the liber

A Black Sea Fleet commander has been shot dead by Ukrainian forces, becoming the first Russian naval chief to be killed during the invasion. Andrey Paliy, the deputy commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, is the sixth top military figure to die during the invasion of Ukraine, after he was killed in battle around Mariupol. His death was confirmed in a post on the social media site VKontakte by Konstantin Tsarenko, a former colleague at the Naval School in Sevastopol. Mr Tsarenko’s post was

It comes as Berlin failed to deny German press reports that it had delivered just 500 Cold War-era Strela anti-aircraft missiles, despite having promised 2,700. Christine Lambrecht, the defence minister, said at the weekend that the German army's reserves of weaponry “have been exhausted”, and more would have to be sought from manufacturers. Meanwhile, Die Welt has reported that many of the rockets are no longer usable because they have lain in storage for so long. Mr Grob said: “I was in com

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In his Georgian hometown, Joseph Stalin – a man who was responsible for the deaths of millions – is still heralded as a hero.

The World Health Organization has urged Ukraine’s scientists to destroy any dangerous pathogens it holds in laboratories to avoid the risk of “potential spills” as Russia continues to attack the country. Russia’s deadly offensive has raised the risk of diseases escaping, if facilities are damaged in the bombings, it was reported on Friday. Like many countries, Ukraine’s public health laboratories conduct research into how to mitigate the threats of deadly viruses, including Covid-19. Tarik Ja

Leaders from across the political divide in Berlin have called for compulsory service to be re-introduced, as Germany re-evaluates its relationship with its armed forces. Reintroducing compulsory service would “do real good” for German society and help to bring people together, said Carsten Linnemann, deputy leader of the conservative CDU, on Sunday. The debate includes influential voices from the governing centre-left SPD, which is also calling for a return of conscription among men and women

The Russian invasion of Ukraine could be “devastating” for tuberculosis control in eastern Europe, and will cause a “terrible public health tragedy”, Dr Anthony Fauci has warned. Ukraine reports roughly 30,000 new TB cases annually and has one of the highest rates of multidrug-resistant TB in the world. According to the World Health Organization estimates, Ukraine has the fourth highest TB incidence rate among the 53 countries of the WHO European Region. “[The war] could be devastating, quite

Mosquitoes are evolving to evade insecticide nets and traps, scientists have warned, as they race to find new ways to control the insects. Mosquitoes transmit a host of diseases, such as zika, dengue, yellow fever, and the most deadly vector-borne disease, malaria. This pathogen alone results in more than 600,000 deaths each year, and scientists are urgently working to understand how mosquitoes’ behaviour has changed and design new traps to stop them. “All living organisms try to evolve and cont