Category: International & World

Its excellence in the computer chip market puts it at the center of the battle for global technological supremacy.

— NYT: Top Stories

 

BEIJING (AP) — A drone has been converted into a flying flamethrower in central China in a fiery campaign to eradicate more than 100 wasp nests.

Blue Sky Rescue, a volunteer group that conducts search and rescue and other emergency work, have teamed up with villagers in Zhong county near the city of Chongqing.

They raised 80,000 yuan ($12,200) to buy a drone and equip it with a gasoline tank and an arm-length nozzle.

Videos released by Blue Sky show a recent mission by the six-arm drone. It hovers above a hive as large as a suitcase before swooping down. The drone operator flips the ignition switch, and the drone spits bursts of fire onto the hive.

“The burning ashes of the wasp’s nest gradually peeled off and fell, and the surrounding residents applauded and praised the rescue team,” said an article on a local news app run by state-owned Chongqing TV.

The article quotes a resident thanking Blue Sky for helping the village: “Now we don’t have to worry about being stung by a wasp.”

Blue Sky said it has destroyed 11 hives so far. There are more than 100 to go.

 

— Associated Press

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Rani Nurwitawati never thought she would lose her job at an Indonesian market research company where she worked for 17 years.

The reality hit months after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The impact is quite big for me,” the 41-year-old said. “My brother lost his job, my sister got a 25% pay cut. And finally, I also lost my job.”

Armed with the knowledge from her former employer that the food and beverage business will survive during the economic downturn, Nurwitawati decided to start selling food from her own kitchen.

She found an ally in Omah Wulangreh, an art and cultural community in South Jakarta that began an online version of the Pahingan Sunday market in August, only days after Nurwitawati lost her job.

The community used to host the Sunday market at its location, but it only accommodated limited tenants. As the pandemic tore through Indonesia, leaving many without income, the artists moved the market online, providing space for sellers to register online while buyers are required to preorder.

Sellers must follow some rules, including offering local artisan products and use minimum plastic packaging.

Aside from providing income for her daily living, Nurwitawati said that the Sunday market is giving her more experience in operating a new business.

“I have learned about networking, got new knowledge, and more people know my products,” she said. “When I joined for the first time, I was really sad because there was only one buyer, after that it increased to more than 10. It was not bad, from less than one 100,000 rupiah ($7) to hundreds of thousands rupiah.”

She prepares baked spaghetti and mango sticky rice.

Parahita Satiti, 37, also joined the Sunday market. She has always dreamed of running a business related to traditional fashion products. She hopes to get extra income after her office cut her monthly allowance by half during the pandemic. She sells traditional Javanese kebaya — women’s upper long-sleeved clothes — and camisole — a loose-fitting sleeveless undergarment — made of Javanese batik cloth.

“This is a new business, but seeing the enthusiasm and orders from the Pahingan Sunday market, I think it will be a promising business for me,” Satiti said.

Reny Ajeng, one of the organizers of the Sunday market, said it’s held once every 35 days, following the five-day Javanese calendar.

Strict social restrictions imposed in Indonesia during the pandemic have stopped the physical market as well as other cultural and art activities at Omah Wulangreh. The online version came to life when Reny and her six friends decided to launch it in early August.

There were 46 tenants who joined the third online event last month. Buyers had one week to preorder item, such as traditional snacks, batik clothes, or coffee. During one week, there were almost 500 items sold, worth about 25 million rupiah ($1,770).

“To be honest, we are really happy,” Reny said. “Our first mission was to make an online Sunday market since we can do nothing offline during the pandemic. But it turns out, enthusiasm is high, so many sellers are having high hopes.”

___ “One Good Thing” is a series that highlights individuals whose actions provide glimmers of joy in hard times — stories of people who find a way to make a difference, no matter how small. Read the collection of stories at https://apnews.com/hub/one-good-thing

— Associated Press

 

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — One county in South Sudan is likely in famine and tens of thousands of people in five other counties are on the brink of starvation, according to a new report by international food security experts.

Nowhere in the world has been in famine since one was declared nearly four years ago in South Sudan’s Unity state as civil war raged. Now western Pibor county is feared to have reached that crisis level, the result of massive flooding and deadly violence that has prevented access to aid.

The new report stops short of declaring famine, which would kick aid efforts into higher gear, because of insufficient data. But based on available information, famine is thought to be occurring, according to the Famine Review Committee report released by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. That means at least 20% of households are facing extreme food gaps and at least 30% of children are acutely malnourished.

“Considering all the evidence available, famine is most likely ongoing, and we expect a high rate of death in that area,” said Chris Newton, a former U.N. World Food Program staffer with years of experience in South Sudan.

“The condition is catastrophic, and the humanitarian community and the government will have to scale up our assistance,” said Meshack Malo, country representative for the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

The report says catastrophe conditions are also occurring in five counties across South Sudan in Jonglei, Warrap and Northern Bahr el Ghazal states, where 5% to 10% of the population is facing starvation.

South Sudan’s government did not endorse the report. In a statement earlier this week, it urged caution in claiming famine conditions and said any famine occurring on the government and aid community’s watch is a “testament of failure by both parties.”

Aid workers worry that already challenging humanitarian access will become more difficult in these hungry areas. The report says there is less than a 50% chance that planned food assistance will be delivered to the affected areas in the months ahead.

South Sudan has been struggling to recover from five years of war that killed almost 400,000 people, according to a past study by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. A coalition government formed this year between President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar is implementing a peace deal behind schedule, while deadly violence continues in parts of the country.

The violence is the worst in Jonglei state and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, where hunger is the most severe.

“This famine is a result of the broader impact of violence on human lives,” said Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, a civil society group. He blamed “politicians who tend to use violence as an option for controlling power.”

Between January and May there was a 220% increase in incidents of intercommunal violence compared with the same period two years ago, the U.N. has said, with the government and opposition often providing arms.

A U.N. panel of experts has said the fighting prevented people from cultivating, blocked supply routes and burned down markets while humanitarian warehouses were looted and several humanitarian workers were killed.

Acting army spokesman Santo Domic Chol said the army has never denied civilians access to aid.

The problems have been compounded by the worst local flooding in decades, which has displaced more than 1 million people since July. Most of them are in Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, according to the U.N.

On a visit to the community of Old Fangak in Jonglei last month, displaced residents said the floods had wiped out their crops and cattle.

“It is difficult to get food unless we get it from the humanitarian organizations,” said a dispirited Regina Nyakul. Since her home was destroyed by the floods, the mother of nine shelters in a school with her children.

Sometimes they fall ill due to a lack of food, she said.

At the market, trader Gatluak Billiew said the floods had spoiled food commodities and made it difficult to restock.

“We are very worried about the upcoming dry season that will lead to more violence” bringing yet another crisis, said Jose Mas Campos, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in South Sudan.

But the hunger is a countrywide problem. A recent World Bank phone survey of more than 1,200 people in South Sudan found that nearly 73% reported going without eating for a whole day due to a lack of money. A drop in oil prices, the country’s main source of revenue, along with inflation and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened an economic crisis.

At the Al-Sabah Children’s hospital in the capital, Juba, doctors say they have seen an increase in children dying from malnutrition.

Eighty-five died between January and December, compared with 62 over the same period last year, even though the hospital has received less patients, said James Mawien Tong, head doctor at the hospital’s feeding center.

Many children die within 24 hours of arrival because their parents wait too long to bring them, he said. The families are largely from Juba and the surrounding area.

Seated on the floor, Angelina Ater soothed her sobbing 2-year-old daughter as she was fed through a tube in her nose.

The 20-year-old said that since August, the economic crisis has forced her family to eat just once a day because they can’t afford food.

“The situation is not good,” she said. “We really need help.”

 

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— Associated Press

 

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group on Friday criticized charges filed by a prosecutor against the caretaker prime minister and three former ministers over the massive explosion in Beirut’s port, describing it as “political targeting.”

The group called on investigating judge Fadi Sawwan to reconsider his decision, saying it lacked legal and constitutional basis and that the four were being selectively charged.

Similar criticism was voiced by Lebanon’s grand mufti, the top cleric for Sunni Muslims, and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, who said the charges against caretaker Premier Hassan Diab targeted the prime ministry as a position and were a violation of the constitution. The prime minister in Lebanon must be a Sunni Muslim, according to the country’s sectarian-based power-sharing system.

It was not clear what impact the criticism could have on Sawwan. In a surprise move, he filed charges against Diab and three former ministers on Thursday, accusing them of negligence that led to the death of hundreds of people.

The four are the most senior officials to be charged in the investigation and are set to be questioned as defendants next week by Sawwan.

Diab, who is supported by Hezbollah and its political allies, resigned in the wake of the Aug. 4 explosion and remains in his post in a caretaker capacity, as Lebanese officials have failed to agree on a new Cabinet.

The Aug. 4 explosion was caused by the ignition of a large stockpile of explosive material that had been stored at the port for six years, with the knowledge of top security officials and politicians who did nothing about it. It killed more than 200 people and wounded thousands, devastating large parts of the capital of Beirut.

Thursday’s decision to charge senior officials — including one in office — was significant in Lebanon, where a culture of impunity has prevailed for decades, including among the entrenched political elites.

According to Lebanon’s constitution, a separate council made up of judges and politicians is entrusted with trying ministers and presidents for crimes of high treason, dereliction of duties, and breach of the constitution.

The move by Sawwan to exercise his jurisdiction to accuse government officials came after he sent a letter and documents to parliament last month, informing lawmakers of serious suspicions relating to government officials and asking them to investigate. The lawmakers responded by saying that the material they received did not point to any professional wrongdoing.

Lawyer Youssef Lahoud, who represents the Bar Association in the investigation, said the parliament’s response does not prevent Sawan from exercising his right to charge government officials in the port explosion. The explosion is not viewed as a political crime, which would require the role of parliament, Lahoud said.

The three former ministers charged along with Diab are allies of Hezbollah. They are former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, as well as Ghazi Zeiter and Youssef Fenianos, both former ministers of public works.

“We are keen that all decisions taken by the investigating judge stay clear of politics and intent; be constitutional and not subject to interpretation or judgement; and that the indictment be based on legal and reasonable basis, which is what we did not find in the latest measures,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

“Therefore we absolutely reject the absence of unified criteria which led to what we consider political targeting affecting some people and ignoring others unfairly,” it added.

A statement from Diab’s office on Thursday accused Sawwan of violating the constitution and bypassing parliament. Although a political opponent, Hariri visited Diab on Friday in a gesture of solidarity.

Lebanon’s grand mufti and top cleric for Sunni Muslims, Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, also said the charges targeting the prime minister’s position is political and, unacceptable and a violation of the constitution.

Zeiter, the former minister of public works and currently a lawmaker, said in a press conference on Friday that the judge deviated from constitutional rules and abused power.

The judge committed a “catastrophe” on the judicial scale, Zeiter said, adding that he and the others charged would not be silenced by “any fake accusations.”

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Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb contributed reporting.

— Associated Press

 

NEW DELHI (AP) — Health officials and experts are still baffled by a mysterious illness that has left over 500 people hospitalized and one person dead in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The illness was first detected Saturday evening in Eluru, an ancient city famous for its hand-woven products. People started convulsing without any warning, said Geeta Prasadini, the director of public health.

Since then, symptoms ranging from nausea and anxiety to loss of consciousness have been reported in 546 patients admitted to hospitals. Many have recovered and returned home, while 148 are still being treated, said Dasari Nagarjuna, a government spokesperson.

Teams of experts have arrived at the city from India’s top scientific institutes. Different theories have been suggested and are being tested. The most recent hypothesis is contamination of food by pesticides.

“But nobody knows,” Prasadini admitted.

What is confounding experts is that there doesn’t seem to be any common link among the hundreds of people who have fallen sick. All of the patients have tested negative for COVID-19 and other viral diseases such as dengue, chikungunya or herpes. They aren’t related to each other. They don’t all live in the same area. They’re from different age groups, including about 70 children, but very few are elderly.

Initially, contaminated water was suspected. But the chief minister’s office confirmed that people who don’t use the municipal water supply have also fallen ill, and that initial tests of water samples didn’t reveal any harmful chemicals.

A 45-year-old man with the single name Sridhar was hospitalized with symptoms resembling epilepsy and died Sunday evening, doctors said. Prasadini said his autopsy didn’t shed any light on the cause of death.

The hypothesis currently being tested is that people ate vegetables tainted with pesticides made of organic compounds containing phosphorus. But this is an “assumption” based on the fact that such pesticides are commonly used in the area and not on any evidence, Prasadini said.

She said that experts were testing to see if pesticides had contaminated fish ponds or spilled over to vegetables.

Opposition leader N. Chandrababu Naidu demanded on Twitter an “impartial, full-fledged inquiry into the incident.”

Andhra Pradesh state is among those worst hit by COVID-19, with over 800,000 detected cases. The health system in the state, like the rest of India, has been frayed by the virus.

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Associated Press writer Chonchui Ngashangva contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

 

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— Associated Press

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A prominent Saudi prince harshly criticized Israel on Sunday at a Bahrain security summit that was remotely attended by Israel’s foreign minister, showing the challenges any further deals between Arab states and Israel face in the absence of an independent Palestinian state.

The fiery remarks by Prince Turki al-Faisal at the Manama Dialogue appeared to catch Israel’s foreign minister off guard, particularly as Israelis receive warm welcomes from officials in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates following agreements to normalize ties.

Left unresolved by those deals, however, is the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians view those pacts as a stab in the back from their fellow Arabs and a betrayal of their cause.

Prince Turki opened his remarks by contrasting what he described as Israel’s perception of being “peace-loving upholders of high moral principles” versus what he described as a far-darker Palestinian reality of living under a “Western colonizing” power.

Israel has “incarcerated (Palestinians) in concentration camps under the flimsiest of security accusations — young and old, women and men, who are rotting there without recourse to justice,” Prince Turki said. “They are demolishing homes as they wish and they assassinate whomever they want.”

The prince also criticized Israel’s undeclared arsenal of nuclear weapons and Israeli governments “unleashing their political minions and their media outlets from other countries to denigrate and demonize Saudi Arabia.”

The prince reiterated the kingdom’s official position that the solution lies in implementing the Arab Peace Initiative, a 2002 Saudi-sponsored deal that offers Israel full ties with all Arab states in return for Palestinian statehood on territory Israel captured in 1967.

He added: “You cannot treat an open wound with palliatives and pain killers”

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, who spoke immediately after Prince Turki, said: “I would like to express my regret on the comments of the Saudi representative.”

“I don’t believe that they reflect the spirit and the changes taking place in the Middle East,” he said.

The confrontation and a later back-and-forth between Prince Turki and a confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the summit highlighted continued widespread opposition to Israel by many inside Saudi Arabia, despite some state-backed efforts to promote outreach with Jewish groups and supporters of Israel.

Ashkenazi, meanwhile, reiterated Israel’s position that it is the Palestinians who are to be blamed for not reaching a peace deal.

“We have a choice here with the Palestinians whether to solve it or not, or to go to this blame game,” said Ashkenazi, an ally of Netanyahu’s chief rival, Benny Gantz.

Dore Gold, a Netanyahu confidant and former U.N. ambassador in the audience, implied Prince Faisal’s remarks were “accusations of the past — many of which are false.” The prince later brought up Gold’s previous television appearances “denigrating the kingdom and using the most vile descriptions.”

“I think Mr. Dore Gold should be the last one to talk about having previous beliefs and positions here,” the prince said.

Prince Turki led Saudi intelligence for more than 20 years and served as ambassador to the U.S. and United Kingdom. Though he now holds no official position, his stance is seen as closely mirroring that of King Salman. However, the king’s assertive son, the 35-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is seen having a greater willingness to quietly engage with Israel to counter common rival, Iran, and boost foreign investment in the kingdom.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, also on stage for the tense exchanges, sought to smooth over the differences in his remarks. Still, he too stressed the importance of a resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on a two-state solution as envisaged by the Arab Peace Initiative.

“The path of peace is not an easy ride. There will be a lot of obstacles along the way,” he said. “There will be ups and downs. But the bedrock of that path, the path of peace, is the Israeli-Palestinian issue.”

In an apparent reference to Iran, al-Zayani added that a resolution to the conflict would also remove the pretext to justify some of the threats made to regional security.

 

— Associated Press

 

LONDON (AP) — The coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech was being sent to hospitals across the U.K. in super-cold containers on Sunday, two days ahead of the kickoff of Britain’s biggest-ever immunization program, one being closely watched around the world.

Around 800,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to be in place for the start of the rollout on Tuesday, a day that British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has reportedly dubbed as “V-Day,” a nod to triumphs in World War II.

“Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday,” said Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director. “The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness.”

Last week the U.K. became the first country to authorize the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine for emergency use. In trials, the vaccine was shown to have around 95% efficacy. Vaccinations will be administered starting Tuesday at around 50 hospital hubs in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also begin their vaccination rollouts the same day.

Governments and health agencies around the world will be monitoring the British vaccination program to note its successes and failures and adjust their own plans accordingly. The United States hopes to start vaccinations later this month. British regulatory authorities are also examining data on vaccines made by Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford University.

Russia on Saturday began vaccinating thousands of doctors, teachers and others at dozens of centers in Moscow with its Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, which was approved over the summer after being tested in only a few dozen people.

The excitement in Britain, which has Europe’s highest virus-related death toll at more than 61,000, was palpable.

“This coming week will be an historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19,” said Hancock.

Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospitals as outpatients and those being discharged after a stay in the hospital will be among the first to receive the jab in Britain. Hospitals will also start inviting over 80s in for a vaccine shot and will work with nursing homes to book staff into vaccination clinics. Any appointments not taken up will be offered to those health workers deemed to be at the highest risk of serious illness from COVID-19. Everyone who is vaccinated will need a booster jab 21 days later.

Buckingham Palace refused to comment on speculation that Queen Elizabeth II, 94, and her 99-year-old husband, Prince Philip, will be vaccinated within weeks and then make it public, a move that could reassure anyone nervous about getting a vaccination.

“Our goal is totally to protect every member of the population, Her Majesty, of course, as well,” Dr. June Raine, chief executive of Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which authorized the vaccine, told the BBC.

The U.K. has secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which can cover 20 million people. Since the British government will only immunize people over 16, around 55 million people in the U.K. will be eligible.

Now that the first tranche of the vaccine has arrived from Pfizer’s manufacturing plant in Belgium, checks are being conducted by a specialist medical logistics company to ensure there was no damage in transit. This could take up to a day.

Each box containing the vaccines, which includes five packs of 975 doses, will need to be opened and unpacked manually at specially licensed sites. After that, the vaccines will then be made available to hospitals.

Delivering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is complicated because it needs to be stored at super-chilled temperatures: about minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit). Fortunately, the vaccine is stable at normal refrigerator temperatures, between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius (35.6 to 46.4 F), for a few days, meaning it can be stored locally. After defrosting the vaccine, which takes a few hours, additional time is required to prepare it to be given in a shot.

Public Health England has secured 58 special Twin Guard ultra-low temperature freezers that provide sufficient storage for approximately five million doses. The fridges, which are not portable, each hold around 86,000 doses.

The vaccine won’t just be provided by hospitals. Local doctors’ offices and other local health care centers are being put on standby to start delivering the vaccine, with a small number expected to do so the week of Dec. 14. More medical practices in more parts of the country will be phased in during December and in the coming months.

Vaccination centers treating large numbers of patients in sports areas and conference centers will subsequently emerge when further supplies of the Pfizer vaccine or other vaccines come on stream. Local pharmacies will later be able to offer the jabs as they do with annual influenza shots.

Although nursing home residents top the prioritization list given to the British government by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, they won’t be getting the vaccinations straight away, as the vaccine packs of 975 doses cannot yet be divided.

The NHS hopes that authorities will soon approve a safe way of splitting up the dose packs so the vaccination shots can get to nursing homes during December.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

 

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— Associated Press

 

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union’s top official are set to discuss the state of play of post-Brexit trade discussions later Saturday after negotiators paused talks in light of their inability to bridge an array of differences.

With the discussions stuck over the same issues for months, Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive European Commission, will see if there is a route to a deal.

With the U.K.’s post-Brexit transition period due to conclude at the end of the year, the discussions are clearly facing a crunch point, not least because of the necessary approvals required from both sides. Without an agreement in place, tariffs will end up being imposed on traded goods at the start of 2021.

Months of negotiations have produced agreement on a swath of issues, but serious differences remain over the “level playing field” — the standards the U.K. must meet to export into the bloc — and how future disputes are resolved. That’s key for the EU, which fears Britain will slash social and environmental standards and pump state money into U.K. industries, becoming a low-regulation economic rival on the bloc’s doorstep.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his British counterpart, David Frost, agreed Friday to “pause” negotiations while they brief political leaders.

“We will keep calm as always and if there is a way, still a way, we will see,” Barnier said Saturday morning outside a hotel in London before heading off to Brussels.

Though the U.K. left the EU on Jan. 31, it remains within the bloc’s tariff-free single market and customs union until the end of this year. A trade deal by then would ensure there are no tariffs and quotas on trade in goods between the two sides, but there would still be technical costs, partly associated with customs checks and non-tariff barriers on services.

Though both sides would suffer economically from a failure to secure a trade deal, most economists think the British economy would take a greater hit, at least in the near-term, as it is relatively more reliant on trade with the EU than vice versa.

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Follow all AP stories about Brexit and British politics at https://apnews.com/Brexit

 

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— Associated Press