PARAMARIBO – The parents of toddlers who turn 4 in the first semester of 2025 are upset over the weekend fact that they can’t enroll their children in primary schools because their children did not go to toddler school. Samantha Adjaikoemar, told Times of Suriname that she was informed that if her daughter was enrolled at a toddler school, she would have been enrolled after having successfully passed the screening.

She also told Times of Suriname that her daughter would turn 4 on January 10th. “Why should my daughter have to stay home for a whole year before she can be enrolled at kindergarten school. I was very happy when I heard that children who turn 4 from January until the end of March 2025 could be enrolled in kindergarten. But when I went to the school, I was told that my child had to go to a toddler school but I do not have to money to pay the toddler school every month. Another woman claimed that last Monday she was told to bring her child to a certified psychologist for a screening. But the psychologist whom she visited made it clear that she would not be able to screen her child before August 12th. The woman must reportedly make an appointment. “I asked myself why there are so many procedures. Why didn’t the Ministry of Education organize the screening like before?” …[+]

PARAMARIBO – The Commewijne District is currently facing a shortage of cemeteries. This problem started some time ago and the alarm was sounded several times but the issue still has not been addressed. MP Ann Sadi (NDP) has criticized the government for not having opened a new cemetery at places such as Tamanredjo that urgently need one.

 “When I became a member of parliament four years ago I asked when Tamanredjo would get a new cemetery,” said MP Sadie who  is from Commewijne. “It is a dire situation. The only cemetery at Tamanredjo ran out of room three to four years ago. Does it really take four years to establish a new cemetery at a densely populated place like Tamanredjo?” Government officials explained that establishing a new cemetery is a complicated issue because the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management is not the only one that gets to make a decisions as multiple agencies from other ministries also have to give their advice and findings. …[+]

AFRICA – The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said the agency is likely to declare a continental public health emergency over the growing mpox outbreak.
The Africa CDC’s director general, Dr Jean Kaseya, said on Thursday that because of the increase in mpox cases and its continued spread across borders, he had resolved to start “active engagement” with African Union member states to prevent the outbreak from becoming “another pandemic”. “We are committed to mobilising resources and providing technical assistance to affected countries to control the outbreak,” said Kaseya.
A total of 887 new confirmed and suspected cases of mpox have been reported on the continent this past week, pushing the year’s total to 15,132, according to data presented at the briefing. The cases have increased by 160% compared with the same time period last year.
Sixteen countries have reported cases of the disease so far, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has more than 90% of them, and 461 people have died from it this year. Some countries – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – have reported it for the first time ever, Kaseya said. “This new incident demonstrates the need for a collective and collaborative approach in curbing the spread of the disease,” he added. (The Guardian)…[+]

GAZA -At least 93 Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli strike on a school and mosque in Gaza sheltering displaced people, according to local officials.
Gaza Civil Defense said people were performing dawn prayers at the Al-Tabi’in compound in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City when it was hit overnight into Saturday. Israel confirmed it carried out the strike, saying Hamas was operating there. “We recovered at least 90 people who had been killed,” Gaza Civil Defense Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN, adding that “many of them are torn apart, many are still unidentified.”
Videos seen by CNN of the aftermath of the strike show a large number of bodies strewn on the ground. Witnesses said there was no advance warning of the attack. “All of these people who were targeted were civilians, unarmed children, the elderly, men and women,” said Fares Afana, director of ambulance and emergency in northern Gaza. “These were innocent people praying… where is the entire world?” said one man, who lost his daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren in the strike.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed to CNN that it hit the compound, saying its air force “precisely struck Hamas terrorists operating within a Hamas command and control center embedded” in the building. The military also said that before the airstrike, “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information.”
After CNN asked the IDF for evidence supporting its claim the compound harbored a command and control center, it said it had intelligence saying about 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters operated from the building. The IDF also disputed the death toll given by Gazan authorities. CNN cannot independently verify the figures. Saturday’s strike is the fifth on a school in Gaza by the Israeli military since last Sunday, according to CNN’s previous reporting. The UN Human Rights Office earlier this week said it was “horrified by the unfolding pattern” of strikes on schools in Gaza, according to a statement on August 5th, adding that “such attacks are escalating.” (CNN)…[+]