Seven union leaders involved in an ongoing strike have been sentenced to a month in Jail. “The nationwide strike involving thousands of doctors and nurses began on December 5. It has left public hospitals closed and patients unable to get basic medical care. Doctors have rejected a government offer of a 40 percent rise saying it falls short of promises made in a 2013 agreement. Staff shortages and a lack of equipment have also failed to be tackled. Widespread industrial action is not limited to healthcare, with Kenyan university lecturers also on strike over pay since last month. A series of corruption scandals — including in the health ministry — are fuelling the discontent, as is anger towards lawmakers who are among the best paid in the world and have voted themselves new benefits while claiming to be unable to meet doctors’ and lecturers’ demands. While inconveniencing many ordinary Kenyans, the doctors’ strike has nonetheless received wide support in the media and the public.” (AFP https://yhoo.it/2kCnJ8o)
Relief shipment en route to Rohingya…”The ship’s first stop was in the Myanmar port city of Yangon, last week, where it unloaded 500 tonnes of supplies. A representative of the mission on the ship said it would unload about 2,000 tonnes of food and emergency supplies in Bangladesh, though staff were not being allowed access. “We are not allowed to get off the ship or to visit the camps,” said the aid representative, who declined to be identified. The 70,000 new arrivals joined more than 200,000 Rohingya already in Bangladesh, many living in camps, who fled earlier crackdowns in Myanmar. A Bangladesh government official said the ship was on its way to the Chittagong port after anchoring off the coastal town of Teknaf, near the Myanmar border, and arrangements were being made to unload its cargo.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/2kCktdv)
Opinion
America’s relationship with the UN looms large at the World Government Summit in Dubai. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2kCmGFx)
Travel ban risks alienating key partners in fight against IS (AP https://yhoo.it/2l17PFZ)
Has Trump started a new deportation drive? (BBC http://bbc.in/2kkiDlq)
With aid under attack, we need stories of development progress more than ever (ODI http://bit.ly/2lJfEzV)
The real and imagined crimes of Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh (AFP https://yhoo.it/2kkwEzi)