The first group of white South Africans granted refugee status by Donald Trump’s administration has arrived in the US, stirring controversy in South Africa as the US president declared the Afrikaners victims of a “genocide”.

The Afrikaners, a minority descended from mainly Dutch colonists, were met at Dulles international airport outside Washington DC by US deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, and deputy secretary of homeland security, Troy Edgar, with many given US flags to wave.

Reuters reported that the group numbered 59 adults and children, citing a state department official, while Associated Press said there were 49.

On the same day the group arrived in the US, Trump’s government also ended legal protections that had temporarily protected Afghans from deportation, citing an improved security situation in the country, which is ruled by the Taliban.

One consideration for resettling Afrikaners not Afghans was that “they could be easily assimilated into our country,” Landau told reporters at the airport.

Trump suspended the US refugee settlement programme in January, leaving more than 100,000 people approved for refugee resettlement stranded. Then, in February, he signed an executive order directing officials to grant refugee status to Afrikaners, whose leaders ruled during apartheid while violently repressing the Black majority.

Some six million students lost up to two weeks' worth of classroom learning last year as temperatures hit a record 38.8 degrees Celsius (101.4 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the education department.

Schools reported cases of heat exhaustion, nose bleeds and hospitalisations as students struggled through lessons in classrooms without air conditioning.

Scientists say that extreme heat is a clear marker of climate change, caused largely by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

Last year's heat was further exacerbated by the seasonal El Nino phenomenon.

The drones are commercial models modified with improvised explosives, according to a new report by The Washington Post. While they have yet to eliminate any gang leaders, they have caused civilian injuries, including women and children, according to a healthcare worker.

Regardless, their use has drawn support from some Haitian citizens and human rights organizations. Some others, in contrast, have expressed concern about accountability and collateral damage.

The memo, shared with The Grocer, warns food businesses are woefully unprepared for challenges including soil degradation, extreme weather events, global heating and water scarcity and that yield, quality and predictability of food supply are all at severe risk.

It goes on to claim that companies’ risk mitigation strategies are being assured by major audit and assurance firms and giving false confidence to investors, whereas the true threat to the supply chain is far greater than companies have acknowledged.