PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, February 17: It's been one year since the Trump administration dismantled USAID, the agency for international development. The press looks at how South Africa, a country which relied on US aid, is faring and the impact it has had on HIV/AIDS prevention. Also, the EU's climate advisory board says Europe should prepare for a three-degree increase in temperatures by the end of the century. Plus: the Olympics' curling scandal plays out in the Swedish and Canadian press.
It has been one year since Donald Trump's administration dismantled USAID, the agency responsible for humanitarian aid. The decision has had a huge impact on countries who relied on it, both economically and socially. The Belgian paper Le Soir quotes a Boston University study which shows that 265,000 adults and 551,000 children have died as a result. The British medical journal The Lancet predicts that if all USAID programs remain suspended, the number of deaths could rise to over 14 million by 2030, including 4.5 million children. Le Soir's editor condemns this "selfish strategy" and warns that it could backfire. It says that since access to treatments against TB and HIV have been curtailed, this could lead to a global resurgence in the diseases, which could impact the West as well.
One of the hardest-hit countries is South Africa. In 2022, there were 8.5 million HIV-positive people, according to the development website Devex. The website cites OUT, an LGBTQ clinic specialising in protecting gay men as a case study. OUT cut 93 percent of its workforce after USAID closed. It's now in the process of having to rebuild, refinance and reassure a stigmatised community who relied on them for safe sex education and for whom seeking help was not easy.
In other news, the Guardian reports on the EU climate advisory board's warning that the continent will have to prepare for a catastrophic 2.8 to 3.3°C increase in global temperatures by the century's end. A member of that board says leaders' efforts so far have been ineffective and ill prepared. Climate scientists have been surprised by the weather extremes in Europe in recent years – deadly rains but also forest fires in Spain, Portugal and Germany.
We turn next to the Winter Olympics, where the press is talking about a cheating scandal engulfing curling. There's no love lost between Canada and Sweden in these Winter Games. Last Friday, Sweden accused the Canadian men's team of double touching the curling stone – a big no-no in the sport. This led to a hot mic F-bomb moment on the ice and angry denials by Canada. Then the drama escalated when the women's team were accused of double touching in their match against the Swiss, while Team GB's men's team were also accused of double touching in their game. They will play Canada this Tuesday, in what will be perhaps a highly watched event. In The Curling News, Michael Fournier, a former Canadian player, pens an opinion piece in which he says Sweden's Oskar Erikkson's accusation on the ice was "unethical." Swedish sports paper Sport Bladet reacts on its front page by reminding readers that Eriksson also accused Fournier of cheating 10 years ago! As Le Devoir, a Canadian website says, it's the stupidest way to cheat anyway. It quotes a commentary on Radio Canada that puts it down to bad habits rather than actual cheating. In any case, the internet's had a riot and you can check out the memes here.
Finally, we look at the winners from the open competition of the Sony World Photography awards.
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
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