The first 100 days of the Biden-Harris Administration brings us close to “May Day.” Appropriately, may day (m’aidez) is the distress call sent out by those facing dire circumstances. The United States today finds itself at a difficult crossroads. This Administration is not only against life but the President does not appear to be in control. Whereas, Vice President, Kamala Harris, stands ready to step in should the occasion warrant. 

It is a disgrace that in order to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, blatant violations of human rights are being overlooked, starting with the status of women, who are prevented from having a life that is not dependent on a man.

America has always has had a bittersweet relationship with guns. The Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms, including to defend against external and internal tyrannies. But the mass shootings and police violence in recent weeks are calling into question all certainty. A lucid analysis is needed to understand the reasons. Because it is people who kill, not the guns.

The U.S. has apparently taken the final decision to withdraw all its armed forces from Afghanistan. The symbolic date to complete the operation is September 11, 2021, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Meanwhile on the ground, the Taliban are not defeated and local armed forces are not prepared. Therefore, this spells defeat.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided to suspend the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The cause: dangerous reactions linked to blood clots that occurred within two weeks of its being administered to six women aged 18-48. In Europe, the EMA is stalling any pronouncements on the causal connection, as it had initially done with AstraZeneca. The reality is that for commercially-developed Covid vaccines, normal approval times have gone into "warp speed." Better pharmacovigilance is needed while Australia’s University of Queensland  has issued a warning about vaccine-centric strategies.

Not a day goes by that we don't hear about Covid carnage in Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil. But does Brazil really "deserve" it? Brazil has the second highest number of Covid-related deaths, but compared to its large population the situation isn't so dramatic. Worse than Brazil are Italy and most of Europe. As usual, we are dealing with manipulative politically-oriented data.

The Covid-19 situation in Africa is very different from what we are being told. First of all, the statistics show that the pandemic is not the continent's number one problem. Secondly, the rhetoric about poor countries not receiving vaccines clashes with reality: the doses have arrived, but no health organisation is there to help manage administering them to the enormous population.

Pope Francis' visit to Iraq, which illustrated that the road to dialogue is a viable one, has no doubt generated hope among the local population. However, it is now up to political and religious leaders to demonstrate their willingness to lay down their arms and fight corruption. For Christians, the desire to return to their homes and lands - previously occupied by Isis and now by Shiite militias - risks remaining a mere hope.

It is right to invite the three religions to collaborate for development and peace, but it isn’t to try and make a new religion of the Sons of Abraham. Yet, this is precisely the risk that Pope Francis ran with the approach he took in Ur.

Since February 3, Ebola has again struck the Democratic Republic of Congo: the first victim was a 42-year-old woman who died after two days. Meanwhile, the virus has also reappeared in Guinea. The WHO has alerted the countries most at risk, where Ebola, which has a lethality rate varying between 25 and 90%, is much more alarming than Covid. At least, compared to the past, there is more availability of vaccines.

By declassifying a CIA report more than two years later, the new US president is reopening the Khashoggi case. The journalist, who was murdered in Istanbul in 2018 in the Saudi consulate, was linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. He promoted its agenda in the Washington Post.

The reopening roadmap announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks like a dream when seen from EU countries. Yet, in spite of those who predicted post-Brexit catastrophes, at least in terms of managing the Covid war, the fact is the United Kingdom has proven itself much better prepared than the EU from which it recently exited.