内容摘要："We have had a parade of geopolitical allies turning up on our doorstep saying, we want your rocks, we want Canada to be the geopolitically secure primary resource commodity provider, in place of Russia," said Mark Winfield, a professor in the faculty of environmental and urban change at Toronto's York University.

"We have had a parade of geopolitical allies turning up on our doorstep saying, we want your rocks, we want Canada to be the geopolitically secure primary resource commodity provider, in place of Russia," said Mark Winfield, a professor in the faculty of environmental and urban change at Toronto's York University.

Two brothers who competed in the TV series Race Across the World said they took on the challenge to show they could complete it at any age.Melvyn and Brian Mole, who are both in their 60s, were one of five teams who raced more than 14,000km (8,700 miles) across China, Nepal and India to win £20,000.

Melvyn, who lives in Middlesbrough, said: "I saw the first series and I thought, 'could I do that?' And of course I could."After making the decision to apply he then needed to find a partner, but unfortunately Brian was not his first choice."The wife didn't want to go on it, so I called Brian and asked him if he fancied it," said Melvyn.

Brian said it took him a little while to make up his mind, but he was glad he did."I think Melvyn ran out of friends who would want to go on it with him. So in the end he contacted me and I said yes.

"The adventure then started there - and it truly was a fantastic adventure."

Speaking to BBC Radio Tees, the pair said one of the difficulties they faced was explaining to people they could not use a mobile phone.Pepfar was launched in 2003 by then US President George W Bush and its funding is distributed via the US government's main overseas aid agency USAID.

It has been regarded as a ground-breaking scheme that has enabled some of the world's poorest people to access anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and has saved more than 25 million lives worldwide.A 90-day freeze on US foreign aid payments instituted by President Donald Trump on his first day in office last month has already upended the global aid system.

In reaction to the raft of cuts, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) issued a stark warning on Friday."I have to say that the world is playing with fire," Dr Jean Kaseya told the BBC.