Brian Waller questions the lack of political will when it comes to preventable deaths across Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, while Tony Haynes reveals how artists can explore attitudes to disease

Neil Singh’s powerful long read (Cholera and coronavirus: why we must not repeat the same mistakes, 1 May) tellingly compares the way in which the world is reacting to Covid-19 with how it has handled cholera, especially in developing countries. He states: “There is no biological or environmental reason why cholera can’t be eradicated … It is not the knowhow that is lacking, but rather the political will.”

Exactly the same conclusion can be reached in respect of the 5 million-plus children under five who are dying every year. According to the World Health Organization, many of these early child deaths are preventable or can be easily treated, but there is nothing remotely like the effort being put into this as in the response to Covid-19. Might the reason for that inaction be that more than 80% of these deaths involve children in central and south Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa?
Brian Waller
Otley, North Yorkshire

EU-hosted talks tout cooperation but is not addressed by India, Russia or US

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

World leaders, with the notable exception of Donald Trump, stumped up nearly €7.4bn (£6.5bn) to research Covid-19 vaccines and therapies at a virtual event convened by the EU, pledging the money will also be used to distribute any vaccine to poor countries on time and equitably.

But in a sign of the fractured state of global health diplomacy, the event was not addressed by India, Russia or the US. After a weekend of persuasion, China was represented by its ambassador to the EU.

UK data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that men are almost twice as likely to die from the disease as women. The trend was first seen in China, where one analysis found a fatality rate of 2.8% in men compared with 1.7% in women. Since then, the pattern has been mirrored in France, Germany, Iran, South Korea and Italy, where men have accounted for 71% of deaths.

UK data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that men are almost twice as likely to die from the disease as women. The trend was first seen in China, where one analysis found a fatality rate of 2.8% in men compared with 1.7% in women. Since then, the pattern has been mirrored in France, Germany, Iran, South Korea and Italy, where men have accounted for 71% of deaths.

Kuwait police break up riot by Egyptian workers after large numbers of jobs lost across the Gulf states

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

India is to send its navy and a fleet of planes to repatriate migrant workers stranded by the coronavirus pandemic, as mounting tensions sparked a riot in Kuwait and alarm among large numbers of laid-off employees across the Gulf states.

The riot in a migrant camp in Kuwait on Sunday night was led by Egyptian workers, some of whom brandished furniture as security forces fired tear gas and sound grenades towards them.

Civil society has outperformed the state in helping to feed India’s poorest. It should be seen as ally not enemy

The highways connecting India’s overcrowded cities to the villages had not seen anything like it since the time of partition 73 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of workers were on the move, walking back to their villages with their possessions bundled on their heads.

On 24 March, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide 21-day lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. States sealed their borders, and transport came to a halt. With no trains or buses to take them home, India’s rural-to-urban migrant population, estimated at a staggering 120 million, took to the roads. On 5 April a statement from the home ministry said 1.25 million people moving between states had been put up in camps and shelters.

Related: As the wealthy quaff wine in comfort, India’s poor are thrown to the wolves

‘Special corona fee’ levied to deter gatherings after police called in to break up crowds

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Officials in India’s capital have imposed a special tax of 70% on retail alcohol purchases to deter large gatherings at stores as authorities ease a six-week lockdown imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Taxes on alcohol are a key contributor to the revenue of many of India’s 36 states and federal territories, most of which are running short of funds because of the lengthy disruption in economic activity caused by the virus.

A radical new form of universal basic income could revitalise damaged economies

While countries in east Asia and Europe are gradually taking steps towards reopening their economies, many in the global south are wondering whether the worst of the pandemic is yet to come. As economists who work on poverty alleviation in developing countries, we are often asked what the effects of coronavirus will be in south Asia and Africa. The truth is, we don’t know. Without extensive testing to map the number of cases, it’s impossible to tell how far the virus has already spread. We don’t yet have enough information about how Covid-19 behaves under different conditions such as sunlight, heat and humidity. Developing countries’ more youthful populations may spare them the worst of the pandemic, but health systems in the global south are poorly equipped to deal with an outbreak, and poverty is linked to co-morbidities that put people at a higher risk of serious illness.

Without the information widespread testing provides, many poorer countries have taken an extremely cautious approach. India imposed a total lockdown on 24 March, by which time the country had about 500 confirmed cases. Countries such as Rwanda, South Africa and Nigeria enforced lockdowns in late March, long before the virus was expected to peak. But these lockdown measures can’t last forever. Poorer countries could have used the quarantine to buy time, gather information about how the disease behaves and develop a testing and tracing strategy. Unfortunately, not much of this has happened. And, far from coming to their aid, rich countries have outrun poorer nations in the race for PPE, oxygen and ventilators.

Mohar Singh was once one of the most feared men in the Chambal region

A notorious bandit who spent years rampaging across central India’s impoverished badlands before trying his luck as a Bollywood actor and politician has died aged 92, police have said.

Mohar Singh, once one of the most feared men in the Chambal region accused of hundreds of murders, kidnappings and other crimes, died on Tuesday, a senior police official in Bhind district told AFP.

Related: Masked assassins kill Bandit Queen

Riyaz Naikoo was member of region’s largest indigenous militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen

Indian government forces have killed a top rebel commander and his aide in disputed Kashmir, and shut down mobile phone and mobile internet services during subsequent anti-India protests.

Riyaz Naikoo, 35, was the chief of operations of the region’s largest indigenous rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen, which has spearheaded an armed rebellion against Indian rule.

(August 1, 1947) 

Decades after Bhopal, lack of law enforcement and political will plagues Indian industry

The gas leak at a chemical factory in Visakhapatnam will immediately remind many in India and beyond of the 1984 Bhopal disaster, widely considered the world’s worst industrial disaster.

So far, the scale of the tragedies are very different. Eleven people are confirmed to have died in Visakhapatnam – but with hundreds hospitalised and thousands affected, there are fears the toll will rise. In Bhopal, 4,000 people died within days of the toxic gas leak from a pesticide plant in the central Indian city, and thousands more in the following years.

Gas from LG Polymers plant in Andhra Pradesh leaked into nearby homes while families slept

• Analysis: 36 years after Bhopal, another case of history repeating

At least 11 people have been killed and hundreds more taken to hospital after a gas leak at a chemical factory in south-east India.

A plastics plant owned by South Korea’s LG Corp started leaking styrene into the surrounding residential area at about 3am on Thursday. Some people were enveloped as they slept, while others collapsed in the streets as they tried to flee the area on the outskirts of the coastal city of Visakhapatnam.

Related: 'Bhopal’s tragedy has not stopped': the urban disaster still claiming lives 35 years on

Everyone within 5km of the plant in Andhra Pradesh told to leave over fear of repeat of accident that has left at least 11 dead

Indian officials have evacuated more people from the area around a chemical plant in the south of the country that leaked toxic gas, killing at least 11 people and sickening hundreds more.

There was confusion about whether the wider evacuation orders were sparked by a renewed leak at the LG Chem factory in Andhra Pradesh, or by the fear that rising temperatures at the plant could lead to another leak.

Related: India's chemical plant disaster: another case of history repeating itself

Related: 'Bhopal’s tragedy has not stopped': the urban disaster still claiming lives 35 years on

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 662.8788 Iraqi Dinar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 2890.7643 Zambian Kwacha

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 10.2222 South African Rand

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 139.4691 Yemeni Rial

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 337.0098 CFA Franc BCEAO

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 13035.0379 Vietnamese Dong

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 5.5634 Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 5631.1275 Uzbekistan Som

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 24.0305 Uruguayan Peso

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 0.557 US Dollar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 2116.934 Ugandan Shilling

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 14.95 Ukrainian Hryvnia

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 1289.1043 Tanzanian Shilling

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 16.6316 New Taiwan Dollar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 3.7642 Trinidad and Tobago Dollar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 3.9489 Turkish Lira

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 1.6224 Tunisian Dinar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 17.8367 Thai Baht

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 4.875 Salvadoran Colon

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 5492.4242 Sierra Leonean Leone

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 12.3697 Slovak Koruna

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 0.7869 Singapore Dollar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 5.4433 Swedish Krona

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 9.5633 Seychellois Rupee

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 2.0924 Saudi Riyal

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 40.8889 Russian Ruble

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 60.4139 Serbian Dinar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 2.4807 Romanian Leu

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 2.0282 Qatari Rial

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 3638.408 Paraguayan Guarani

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 2.3422 Polish Zloty

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 88.9316 Pakistani Rupee

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 28.1278 Philippine Peso

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 1.9109 Papua New Guinean Kina

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 1.8934 Peruvian Nuevo Sol

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 0.2136 Omani Rial

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 0.9075 New Zealand Dollar

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 67.3663 Nepalese Rupee

1 Netherlands Antillean Guilder = 5.6913 Norwegian Krone