A fascinating new survey from Amnesty. “China is the most welcoming country when it comes to refugees, according to a new survey of citizens' attitudes published on Thursday, with Germany ranking second and Britain third. In its first ever report to record global acceptance of refugees, Amnesty International surveyed more than 27,000 people across 27 countries and found that 80 percent of respondents would welcome refugees into their city, neighborhoods or homes. Nearly three quarters said people escaping war or persecution should be allowed to seek asylum in other countries. One in ten respondents said they would let refugees stay in their home, with nearly half of all Chinese surveyed offering hospitality in their homes for refugees.” (VOA http://bit.ly/1TJMcSR)
WHO Declines to Designate Yellow Fever Outbreak a “Global Health Emergency... On Thursday, the U.N. health agency convened an expert committee to consider whether the epidemic of yellow fever, an acute hemorrhagic disease, qualifies as an international health emergency. That is defined by WHO as an "extraordinary" event with the potential to cross borders and requiring immediate action.WHO previously declared crises including the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the Zika virus to be global emergencies.After deliberating for several hours, the committee's chair, Oyewale Tomori, announced that although yellow fever does not meet the conditions for being an international health emergency it requires "intensified control measures" including better surveillance and vaccination policies. (AP http://yhoo.it/253IRpP)
Latest on the Egypt Air Crash...At time of publication there was wide speculation, but no confirmation, that the plane was deliberately brought down. The Guardian is offering continuous updates as the situation evolves. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1TJKIs2)
Quote of the Day…”...but that doesn't mean that he isn't crazy, crazy like a goat." former Uruguayan president José Mujica referring to his leftist counterpart, Nicolas Maduro (WaPo http://wapo.st/1TJMB7P)
Africa
Sudan will not seek to renew the mandate for the international peacekeeping mission in Darfur in June. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/253JGig)
The UN on Thursday said five Chadian peacekeepers had been killed and three others wounded during an ambush in northeastern Mali, raising concern over the rising body count of its mission in the country. (News24 http://bit.ly/1TJLR2P)
A pilot project in Ghana is one of several experiments to see if drones can deliver everything from contraceptives to blood for transfusions. (NPR http://n.pr/253Jhwq)
A UN Security Council delegation visited Somalia Thursday to insist August elections proceed as planned. (Yahoo! http://yhoo.it/253ID1O)
The Chibok schoolgirl rescued from Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria this week was transported to the capital Abuja today, where she met privately with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian officials said. (ABC http://abcn.ws/1TJMAkn )
MENA
An international conference aimed at reviving peace efforts between Palestinians and Israelis is set to take place on June 3 in Paris, according to Jean-Marc Ayrault, France's foreign minister. (Al Jazeera http://bit.ly/1TJMLw9)
Egyptian authorities arrested a well-known advocate for the rights of Egypt's Coptic Christians, the latest in the government's crackdown on rights activists and dissidents. (AP http://yhoo.it/253IUBY)
The International Monetary Fund is lending $5.4 billion over three years to Iraq, which has been hit hard by a sharp drop in oil prices. (AP http://yhoo.it/253MewS)
Jihadi militants in Syria are mobilizing again for all-out war against President Bashar al-Assad, taking advantage of the collapse of peace talks. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/253LtE3f)
Asia
India's much vaunted mobile telecom revolution has caused a lot of anguish at the country's only toll-free emergency helpline for street children and children in distress. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/253Ovbv)
Indonesia's military elite are openly stoking public anxiety about communism, gays and other 'foreign influences.' (Reuters http://yhoo.it/253OOmB)
An estimated 500,000 people have been directly affected by flooding in Sri Lanka, with 43 deaths and close to 307,000 people displaced. (ReliefWeb http://bit.ly/253KYcZ)
A fisherman from Myanmar described a meeting over a beer a with job broker in Thailand which resulted in his five-year enslavement on a fishing boat, in proceedings in a human trafficking case against nine defendants. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/253LyHW)
The Americas
Violence in Mexico and in Honduras and other countries of Central America has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and is a product of transnational crime, but it is invisible to the international community. (IPS http://bit.ly/253OSmp)
Dams along the Madeira River in western Brazil have flooded 36,100 hectares of rainforest, affecting people who live along the river and harming fish populations upon which they depend. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/253PXdK)
The Dominican Republic is reporting two new deaths from a paralyzing disorder linked to the mosquito-borne Zika virus. (AP http://yhoo.it/253IGL7)
A trio of foreign mediators -- ex-leaders of Spain, Panama and the Dominican Republic -- said they are seeking "national dialogue" in Venezuela to pull the country back from the brink of chaos. (AFP http://yhoo.it/253ItaH)
Lawmakers in Oklahoma approved a bill Thursday that would make performing abortions a felony and revoke the medical licenses of any physician who assists in such a procedure. (WaPo http://wapo.st/1TJLyEV)
...and the rest
On the heels of two record-setting years for global heat, 2016 is likely to set a new high for the planet in modern times. (AFP http://yhoo.it/253Iyv1)
Indigenous people are seeking a permanent political voice at the United Nations. (AP http://yhoo.it/253J1NI)
The UN human rights chief today warmly welcomed the initiatives announced by Pfizer to ensure that the drugs it produces will not be used to carry out executions. (UN News Service http://bit.ly/253LCY7)
Opinion
A preview of the World Humanitarian Summit (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1TJJSeE)
What’s inside the new FGM medical care guidelines issued by the WHO? (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1TJJRY6)
Will Kenya really close Dadaab? (IRIN http://bit.ly/253Q359)
Mental health funding and the SDGs: what now and who pays? (ODI http://bit.ly/1VbYFE3)
A Precarious Fate for Climate Migrants in India (IPS http://bit.ly/253KQKM)
A Framework for Understanding Data Risk (UR http://bit.ly/253PaJR)
Global Security Efforts Must Be a Post-Paris Climate Imperative (Reuters http://bit.ly/253JhML)
Now 1 in 2 World’s Refugees Live in Urban Areas (IPS http://bit.ly/253KHqK)
Female Genital Cutting in Mali: Portrait of a Traditional Practitioner (Pulitzer Center http://bit.ly/1TJLVzy)