A warning from the WHO….”Angola is grappling with a yellow fever outbreak, which has infected more than 450 people and killed 178 – the first epidemic of the disease to hit the country in 30 years. The outbreak, which was first reported in the capital city Luanda in December 2015, has since spread to 6 of the country’s 18 provinces.Yellow fever virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes, the most common species being Aedes aegypti – the same mosquito that spreads the Zika virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. A small percentage of infected people experience a second more severe phase of illness which includes high fever, jaundice and internal bleeding. At least half of severely affected patients who don’t receive treatment die within 10 to 14 days. Angola is one of 34 countries in Africa where yellow fever occurs, and vaccination against the disease is recommended.” (WHO http://bit.ly/22IX0Y7)

Karadzic Convicted! Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was found guilty Thursday of genocide and sentenced to 40 years in jail over the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II. UN war crimes judges said Karadzic, the most high-profile figure convicted over the wars that tore Yugoslavia apart, bore criminal responsibility for murder and persecution during the 1992-95 Bosnian conflict. Judge O-Gon Kwon pronounced Karadzic guilty of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and nine other charges including extermination, deportations and hostage-taking in a verdict issued more than two decades after he was first indicted. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1PtJhLA)

Quote of the day: “This man does not deserve as much attention as he gets. What is so scary is the impact he has. It makes me shudder. It makes me shudder about the state of a part of the American heartland.” Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Donald Trump. http://yhoo.it/1T82wRt)

Symbolic Gesture of Solidarity of the Day…”Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Christian and Hindu refugees Thursday and declared them all children of the same God, as he performed a gesture of welcome and brotherhood at a time of increased anti-Muslim sentiment following the Brussels attacks.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/22IXHAN)

Africa

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared on video for the first time in more than a year on Thursday, rejecting rumours about his death but appearing to signal his time in charge of the Nigerian jihadist group may be coming to an end. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1T83QUv)

The United Nations Human Rights Council decided to set up a three-person commission to investigate human rights abuses in South Sudan, making a last minute amendment to a resolution to significantly bolster scrutiny of the country. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1PtJhez)

Sudanese security forces have used threats, assault and rape to silence female human rights activists, forcing many to abandon their work or flee the country, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1Rk0Y5U)

Uganda’s main opposition leader has spoken out against more than a month of house arrest since elections he claims were rigged. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1Rk1Gjy)

At least four people were injured after two grenades exploded outside the army hospital in the capital, part of a wave of violence appearing to target the military, a Burundian official said Thursday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1ZxsVZD)

Ivory Coast plans to establish new centers for rapid response forces to protect soft targets throughout the country following an attack by Islamic extremists on a popular beach town earlier this month that killed 19, the country’s prime minister said Thursday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1Rk2V2b)

South Sudan President Salva Kiir fired his foreign affairs minister Wednesday who served a role throughout the country’s 27-month civil war. (VOA http://bit.ly/1WM10nc)

South Africa has launched a corruption probe into President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane and the Guptas, a family of businessmen accused of wielding improper political influence, a police spokesman said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1Rk1BfE)

Angola’s population has risen to nearly 26 million from earlier estimates of around 21 million, according to the results of a 2014 census released on Thursday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1T83ihn)

One of Africa’s best known satirists blames government pressure for journalist sackings at Kenya’s biggest newspaper group which threaten to reverse decades of hard-won press freedoms. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1Rk2Tao)

The Kenyan government on Thursday dissolved the national examination board and will arrest its members after they were implicated in widespread cheating on the university entrance exams, officials said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1T83RYs)

MENA

An Israeli soldier has been arrested for fatally shooting a wounded Palestinian attacker in the head, after activists released a video showing the shooting. (Time http://ti.me/22IYf9R)

It was meant to finally bring an end to Libya’s political chaos and unrest, but the creation of a new UN-backed unity government has only added to the country’s disarray. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1WM15r5)

A year after it launched air strikes in Yemen, a Saudi-led military coalition has failed to deal a decisive blow to Iran-backed rebels and is facing mounting criticism over civilian casualties. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1ZxrkTT)

Blunt assessments by Barack Obama of longtime US ally Saudi Arabia have triggered unprecedented Saudi criticism of the president as he prepares to visit for a key summit with Gulf allies next month. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1WM2dLc)

The U.N.’s top Mideast envoy warned Thursday that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is slipping through our fingers” as a result of Israel’s settlement-building and confiscation of Palestinian land, and the lack of Palestinian unity. (AP http://yhoo.it/1ZxtliK)

The Syrian opposition said on Thursday it believed a basis had now been set for “substantive” peace talks when the warring parties meet again in April, including to push ahead on the divisive issue of political transition. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1Rk2ZyR)

Asia

Amnesty International urged Aung San Suu Kyi and her party’s new government to release all political prisoners when they take office next week, saying Thursday that Myanmar’s historic transition is an opportunity to break away from the repression of the former junta rule. (AP http://yhoo.it/22yny1C)

At least seven police officers were killed in a suspected insider attack in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, authorities said. (VOA http://bit.ly/1ZxrwCv)

The Americas

More than three years into marathon peace talks to end Latin America’s last civil war, Colombia and Marxist FARC rebels missed their self-imposed deadline, but pledged to keep trying. (AFP http://yhoo.it/22yntv2)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled Exxon Mobil Corp must include a climate change resolution on its annual shareholder proxy, a defeat for the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer, which had argued it already provides adequate carbon disclosures. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1PtJQEZ)

Peru’s electoral council on Thursday rejected a move to bar leading presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori from the first round of voting on April 10. (AP http://yhoo.it/22yojI2)

Unemployment in Latin America’s largest country is at its highest level since 2012, the Brazilian government said Thursday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1T83YmX)

President Barack Obama on Thursday said the United States needed to examine its own policies related to the early period of Argentina’s 1976-1983 “Dirty War” dictatorship. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1Rk2UuV)

…and the rest

The British government on Thursday issued a vehement rebuttal of a UN panel’s findings that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been arbitrarily detained. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1T83PQm)

A U.N.-backed report says global investments in solar, wind and other sources of renewable energy reached a record $286 billion last year. For the first time the developing world accounted for the majority. (AP http://yhoo.it/1PtKKS5)

Brussels Airport said in a tweet that it would not be handling any passenger flights until Monday at the earliest following suicide bomb attacks which destroyed much of its departure hall. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1Rk2ZPt)

Opinion/Blogs

A grounds-eye view of the disasterous EU-Turkey refugee deal (Global Dispatches podcast http://bit.ly/1S9pi6A )

The Radovan Karadzic trial breaks new legal, political and social ground. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1RzUbAx)

Refugees pay the price of Mozambique power struggle (IRIN http://bit.ly/1Rk1D78)

14,600 pills over two years – there has to be a better way to treat TB (Guardian http://bit.ly/1Rk1zo9)

Easy-To-Use IUD Inserter Could Aid Women Who Lack Access To Birth Control (Goats and Soda http://n.pr/1ZxrtXm)

From Trump to refugees: ripple effects of Brussels attack (AFP http://yhoo.it/1Rk2WmA)

What did trade campaigns achieve? Plus reinventing Robert Chambers & changing aid narratives: some Berlin conversations (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/22IDpHG)

Why America must lead on refugee resettlement (Devex http://bit.ly/22IDafy)

The homeless refugee speaking out for female asylum seekers (Guardian http://bit.ly/1Zxroms)

Just give them the money: Why are cash transfers only 6% of humanitarian aid? (World Bank http://bit.ly/22yqvPR)

Can deterrent policies stop people coming to Europe? (The Broker http://bit.ly/22yqtHI)

One of the world’s largest cities in 1500 I’d never heard of (Chris Blattman http://bit.ly/22IDhI6)