Meanwhile, the global yellow fever vaccine supply is under heavy stress. ”DR Congo on Monday declared a yellow fever outbreak in the capital Kinshasa, home to more than ten million people, and in two other western provinces. Health Minister Kabange Numbi said 67 cases — including five fatalities — had been confirmed in the provinces of Kinshasa, Kongo central and Kwango after an inquiry into more than 1,000 suspect cases. ‘The epidemic has hit 67 people. To date, five fatal cases have been registered,’ Numbi said. He said the overwhelming majority of cases were linked to an Angolan outbreak that has killed more than 300 people since December. Citing some 2,500 suspected cases in Angola, the World Health Organization said last month that cases of the deadly disease had spread to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and even China.” (AFP http://bit.ly/28JKzpl)
India Issues Sweeping Reform of Foreign Direct Investment Rules…“The long-awaited rules were rolled out just two days after the surprise resignation of the widely respected chairman of the central bank, Raghuram G. Rajan. They allow foreign investors to establish 100 percent ownership in companies involved in defense, civil aviation and food products, albeit with government approval. Foreign investors will also be permitted to buy up to 74 percent of Indian pharmaceutical companies without seeking government approval. The government also relaxed regulations that had made it difficult for companies like Apple and Ikea to establish retail operations in India. The changes, instituted through executive order, signal a greater shift away from the socialist and protectionist policies of India’s modern post-independence history. They had long been sought by domestic and international business leaders. (NYT http://nyti.ms/28JzfgM)
Bahrain Strips Shiite Leader of Citizenship… “Bahrain’s government on Monday stripped the country’s leading Shiite cleric of his nationality in a move that brought thousands of protesters into the streets and threatened to ignite sectarian tensions across the region. The Bahrain News Agency quoted the Interior Ministry as saying that Sheikh Isa Qassim had played a key role in creating an extremist sectarian atmosphere and had formed groups that “follow foreign religious ideologies and political entities,” an apparent reference to Shiite-majority Iran. The move was welcomed by Bahrain’s Sunni-led allies but condemned by Shiites, and could serve as another flashpoint for tensions stoked by the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.” (ABC http://abcn.ws/28JvTKG)
Stat of the Day: 1 in every 113 people on the planet is now a refugee, asylum-seeker or internally displaced in a home country, says the UN Refugee Agency. (Reuters http://reut.rs/28JvrfK)…and a breakdown of the data (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/28KstWG)
Song of the Day: Gregory Porter and Common collaborate in a new release called “Running,” in honor of World Refugee Day. Proceeds from the download benefits Refugees International, Human Rights First and the International Rescue Committee among other organizations. (Refugee Song http://bit.ly/28JIeuB )
Africa
Five Kenyan policemen escorting a passenger bus have been killed after suspected al-Shabab fighters ambushed their convoy in the northeast of the country, according to officials. (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/28JHvte)
Nigeria’s currency plummeted Monday, losing more than 40 percent of its value as the government floated the naira for the first time in the history of the oil-producing nation. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28MpF9l)
The International Monetary Fund will increase loans to Malawi by $76.8 million, the global lender said on Monday following an economic review of the drought-hit country. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28K4Cc0)
As prolonged drought dries up waterholes and grass, Zimbabwe’s government is taking an unprecedented step to keep the wildlife in its game reserves alive: It is selling the animals to private owners. (Reuters http://bit.ly/28JWya8)
A “Miss and Mister Albino” contest, heavy sentences for ritual murder and concrete graves to ward off tomb raiders were all discussed at a UN summit on albinism concluding in Tanzania on Monday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28KxQ82)
MENA
United Nations humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien has today released$15 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund to provide urgent life-saving assistance for people affected by the recent fighting and military operations in Fallujah. (OCHA http://bit.ly/28JK52x)
The United Nations said Monday it delivered food and medical aid to besieged Syrians on the rural outskirts of Damascus over the weekend. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28K4ER7)
Syrian journalists who have sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey remain in danger despite having fled war and hostility in their homeland, a media rights watchdog said Monday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28J1FnZ)
UN chief Ban Ki-moon will meet with Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Wednesday as the world body and Riyadh lock horns over the conflict in Yemen. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28KvyIl)
The United States is “alarmed” by Bahrain’s decision to revoke the citizenship of the spiritual leader of the country’s Shi’ite Muslim majority, a spokesman said on Monday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28KvAQs)
Despite stinging military defeats and enormous financial strains, Islamic State is working to imprint a lasting legacy on children through increasing in-classroom training in areas it controls and an aggressive social media campaign. (VOA http://bit.ly/28JQuuw)
Asia
The U.N. human rights chief is urging Myanmar’s new government to end discrimination and human rights violations such as restrictions of movement, forced labor and sexual abuse against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities. (AP http://yhoo.it/28MpGKC)
Rights groups are calling on the Association of South East Asian Nations to make greater progress in settling about 7,000 Muslim Myanmar refugees a year after they were rescued after being abandoned at sea by traffickers. (VOA http://bit.ly/28Mplrf)
The incoming Philippines transportation chief said on Monday President-elect Rodrigo Duterte should be given emergency powers by Congress for two years to solve a debilitating traffic crisis in the capital Manila and elsewhere. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28Kxyhv)
A busload of Nepali security guards were among 25 people killed in a string of bombings across Afghanistan Monday, days after Washington expanded the US military’s authority to strike the Taliban. (Yahoo http://yhoo.it/28NAvNQ)
Thai junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha and opposition supporters of ousted populist premier Thaksin Shinawatra both reached out to the United Nations on Monday as tension rises ahead of an August referendum on a new constitution. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/28Mps6i)
The Americas
The long-simmering dispute between Mexico’s federal government and a radical arm of the country’s teachers’ union erupted into violence over the weekend, as riot police clashed with protesters in the southern state of Oaxaca, leaving at least six dead and more than 100 others wounded. (WaPo http://wapo.st/28JHpBN)
At least 185 activists and indigenous people fighting environmental pillaging were murdered in 2015, the watchdog group Global Witness said on Monday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28MpHOu)
Venezuelans queued to get fingerprinted Monday in a crucial phase of efforts to force President Nicolas Maduro from power, after food shortages sparked deadly protests and looting. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28KvyI8)
The US Supreme Court on Monday effectively upheld state bans on military-style assault weapons, declining to hear a challenge to bans on guns like the one used to kill 49 people in Orlando earlier this month. (AFP http://yhoo.it/28K4ola)
The owner of Puerto Rico’s biggest oil supplier was accused Monday of misappropriating $11 million in public funds from the largest U.S. public power utility amid a dire economic crisis. (AP http://yhoo.it/28K4Lfo)
… and the rest
The raucous business of Britain’s House of Commons was replaced by somber silence and heartfelt tributes Monday for slain lawmaker Jo Cox, while the man charged with her slaying made a brief appearance in court by video link from prison. (AP http://yhoo.it/28MpnPS)
A Turkish court placed two Turkish journalists — including a local representative of Reporters Without Borders — and an academic in pretrial arrest Monday over charges of disseminating “terrorist propaganda,” according to the press freedom rights group and Turkish media reports. (AP http://yhoo.it/28K4kls)
A Serbian court sentenced one of the richest businessmen in the Balkans to five years in prison for tax evasion Monday in a trial that the government sees as a major effort to curb corruption as it seeks European Union membership. (AP http://yhoo.it/28JWnve)
Opinion/Blogs
George W Bush’s top Africa policy official, Jendayi Frazer, discusses being mentored by Condi Rice and why she won’t be voting for Donald Trump. (Global Dispatches Podcast http://bit.ly/28JIE3S)
Virtual reality: Aid groups play with idea that it could prompt more to care – and give (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/28JRcYw)
Is Africa Still Rising? Yes. Actually, It’s Just Getting Started! (HuffPo http://huff.to/28JHwxc)
Bad boys not Boko Haram: how the media misinterprets African violence (Africa Arguments http://bit.ly/28K19KF)
The refugee crisis is a problem of poverty, not just migration (Guardian http://bit.ly/28JPneq)
The year the world woke up to refugees (IRIN http://bit.ly/28K2OQt)
Could British exit from EU be watershed for global economy? (AP http://yhoo.it/28JQaf4)
Zika And Children: What Parents Need To Know (Goats and Soda http://n.pr/28Nzsxl)
We need to stop treating people with disabilities as less than human (Guardian http://bit.ly/28MpMlw)
Fences and Walls: A Short-sighted Response to Migration Fears? (Inter Press Service http://bit.ly/28MpQS2)
Millions in asylum claim backlog (IRIN http://bit.ly/28KxuhJ)