Five-year-old Shado is one of dozens of children being rushed to a health center in the US state of Texas to get the measles vaccine, after the recent death in the area of a child who was not immunized against the highly contagious virus.”Look at you, you’re so brave,” the nurse administering the shot tells the young girl, who is sitting on her father’s lap. The death came as immunization rates have declined nationwide, with the latest cases in the west Texas town of Lubbock concentrated in a Mennonite religious community that has historically shown vaccine hesitancy.Mark Medina brought his children, Shado and her brother Azazel, after they heard about that death.”It kind of sparked fear and we’re like, ‘Alright, it’s time to go get vaccinated. Let’s go,'” the 31-year-old father told AFP. Rachel Dolan, a Lubbock health official, said the initial outbreak spread rapidly through the community south of the town, potentially fueled by a lack of vaccination.”It’s the most contagious virus that we know of, and so just that one little spark, you know, really caused a lot of cases and rapid spread among that population,” she said.This year more than 130 measles cases already have been reported in west Texas and neighboring New Mexico, the vast majority in unvaccinated children.Around 20 have been hospitalized in Texas, and officials warn the outbreak is likely to grow.The disease’s spread comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long spread falsehoods about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, begins his tenure as President Donald Trump’s health secretary.Kennedy has downplayed the outbreak, saying: “It’s not unusual. You have measles outbreaks every year.”- ‘The safe side’ -Nationwide immunization rates have been dropping in the United States, fuelled by misinformation about vaccines. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a 95 percent vaccination rate in order to maintain herd immunity.However, measles vaccine coverage among kindergartners has dropped from 95.2 percent in the 2019–2020 school year to 92.7 percent in 2023–2024, leaving around 280,000 children vulnerable.News of the death in Lubbock, however, has spurred some into action.”Well, I heard about this little kid… That’s one of the reasons, just to be on the safe side,” said Jose Luis Aguilar, a 57-year-old driver who was encouraged by his boss to get vaccinated.Dolan, the health official, said there was an increase in people seeking the vaccine since the death.”There are pockets of our population that are hesitant toward vaccination,” she said.”We have seen some of those people realize that this threat is more imminent and have made that decision to vaccinate.”The CDC says the MMR vaccine is “very effective” at protecting people against those illnesses.Two doses of the vaccine are 97 percent effective at preventing measles, the agency says.The last US measles-related death was in 2015, when a woman in Washington state died from pneumonia caused by the virus. She had been vaccinated but was taking immunosuppressive medication. Before that, the previous recorded measles death was in 2003.Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or simply breathes.Known for its characteristic rash, it poses a serious risk to unvaccinated individuals, including infants under 12 months who are not ordinarily eligible for vaccination, and those with weakened immune systems.While measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, outbreaks persist each year.

US President Donald Trump’s abrupt pivot to Russia will remould Moscow’s ties with China but is unlikely to prise apart its flourishing partnership with Beijing, analysts say.Since taking office last month, the US president has sought to unravel three years of Western opposition to the invasion of Ukraine, sidelining Kyiv and European allies while pushing a deal to end the war on terms purportedly favourable to Moscow.These overtures will have repercussions for China too, which has drawn Russia deeper into its orbit as its northern neighbour has endured economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation from the West.Russian “dependence on China will automatically be mitigated” once it improves its international standing, said Yun Sun from the US-based Stimson Center, a non-partisan think tank.”Russia traditionally is known for diplomatic manoeuvre and strategic manipulation. It was deprived of that space and ability during the Ukraine war, but once Russia improves relations with the US, the space will open up,” she said.Beijing has presented itself as neutral in the Ukraine conflict, urging peace talks while refusing to condemn the invasion and boosting economic, military and political ties with Moscow. That stance was criticised by the previous US administration and Kyiv’s other allies, which urged Beijing to take a more active role and use its influence over Russia to end the war.  Trump’s taking the lead on talks with his counterpart Vladimir Putin has — at least for the moment — taken that focus off Beijing as a potential mediator.- ‘Reverse Nixon’? -Trump’s about-face has drawn comparisons with another historic act of high-wire diplomacy, with some foreign policy experts dubbing the move a “reverse Nixon” moment.In 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon paid a shock visit to China, paving the way towards full diplomatic recognition and gaining leverage over a wrongfooted Soviet Union.By that same logic, a shock rapprochement between Trump and Putin could achieve the opposite, bringing Russia in from the cold while undermining its bond with Beijing.But the apparent parallels are a “misreading of history”, said Elizabeth Wishnick from Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute.In Nixon’s time, China was “weak, isolated” and fearful of war with the Soviet Union. These days it is a global power with a huge economy and military, and has strong ties with Moscow.Alexander Gabuev, director of the Berlin-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said Russia “will definitely portray to Trump that they want to have space and distance from China… and not to be China’s junior partner”.However, Moscow sees the Chinese leadership as a consistent “towering presence”, in contrast to Trump at the whim of the US election cycle, he told AFP. “Why would they rock the boat with China, given their increased dependency, overlapping economic structures, and strategic interests to dislodge the United States as a global hegemon?” he added.Sun, of the Stimson Center, agreed that the United States would be unable to “‘break’ the Russia-China relationship, which has endogenous logic and strength”.”But Washington is able to tamper with the quality and the level of cooperation within that relationship,” she said.- Post-war prospects -China, Russia and the United States are inextricably interconnected as “the three main forces of world security and multipolarisation”, Wang Yiwei from the Renmin University of China told AFP. Beijing and Moscow appeared to reinforce their ties this week as President Xi Jinping and Putin held a phone call that coincided with the third anniversary of the Ukraine conflict.Their conversation was followed by top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu landing in Beijing on Friday — his second to China in the past three months, according to Russian media.Meanwhile, the United States and Ukraine are edging closer to a minerals deal that Kyiv hopes will bring future security guarantees from Washington after the war’s conclusion.For China, “a scenario where Russia was able to keep its territorial gains at Ukraine’s expense and still be able to rejoin the international community would be optimal”, Wishnick said.Such an outcome would also “encourage Chinese leaders to pursue their own territorial annexations with potential impunity”, she added in apparent reference to Beijing’s claims to self-ruled Taiwan.Zhao Long, from Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said China could play a practical role in ending the conflict, such as by pushing for dialogue among all stakeholders and even “providing a platform for… negotiations”.Beijing could also rally countries to explore peacekeeping operations in post-war Ukraine and explore opportunities to help rebuild the country’s destroyed infrastructure, “giving play to the comparative advantages of Chinese enterprises”, he said.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports while moving ahead with levies on Canada and Mexico next week, citing “unacceptable” drug smuggling.Markets opening in Asia on Friday tracked losses across the world from the previous day, as the Republican’s latest comments fanned fears of a global trade war. Trump had announced — then halted — sweeping 25 percent levies on Canadian and Mexican imports this month over illegal immigration and deadly fentanyl, with Canadian energy to face a lower rate. But the month-long pause ends Tuesday.Following reporters’ questions on whether he planned to proceed on the tariffs next week, Trump wrote on social media Thursday that until the problem of fentanyl stops “or is seriously limited,” the proposed levies will happen as scheduled.”China will likewise be charged an additional 10 percent Tariff on that date,” he added, referring to March 4.Earlier this month, Trump imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff hike on imports from China, prompting Beijing to retaliate.A US official confirmed to AFP that the new 10 percent levy adds to the existing one over fentanyl, saying that there has been “insufficient progress” on the drug front.The official added that Washington had to act against all three countries in order to tackle the fentanyl issue.On Thursday, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao expressed concerns over Washington’s earlier 10 percent tariff.”China firmly opposes this and has taken corresponding countermeasures,” Wang said in a letter to newly confirmed US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer.China’s leadership will convene next week to hammer out plans to shield its economy from Trump’s threats.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday said she hoped to speak with Trump to avoid being hit by his threatened tariffs.A high-level Mexican delegation is in Washington in search of an agreement.And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said officials are working around the clock to avert US levies but would have an “immediate” response if measures were imposed next week.Trudeau has repeatedly stressed that less than one percent of the fentanyl and undocumented migrants that enter the United States come through the Canadian border.Trump’s threats have sent shivers through major exporter countries. Asian markets were all well in the red early Friday, with Tokyo briefly shedding three percent.- Reciprocal tariffs -Besides levies over fentanyl, Trump added on Truth Social that an April 2 date for so-called reciprocal tariffs “will remain in full force and effect.”These will be tailored to each US trading partner, with details to come after government agencies complete studies that Trump has called for on trade issues.In his letter to Greer, Wang noted that Trump has called for many trade investigations “aimed at China” and urged both sides to resolve their differences via dialogue.Beijing has pushed back against US fentanyl concerns, saying Washington has to solve the issue itself rather than taking aim at other countries with levies.Rather than the drugs being supplied directly to the United States, a Congressional Research Service report noted last year that US-bound fentanyl appears to be made in Mexico using chemical precursors from China.While some precursors face international controls, others may be made and exported legally from countries like China.In early February, China’s foreign ministry warned that fresh tariffs could hurt counternarcotics cooperation.