Category: General

The COVID-19 infection rate for Africa may be as much as seven times higher than reported, while death counts could be two to three times higher, according to the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa.

“We’re very much aware that our surveillance systems problems that we had on the continent, with access to testing supplies, for example,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said Thursday, “have led to an underestimation of the cases."

Public health officials have warned for some time that Africa’s COVID infection and death tolls were likely undercounted.

India’s health ministry reported 58,077 new COVID cases on Friday. Like Africa, public health officials have also cautioned that India’s COVID figures are probably under-calculated, as well.

As many as 3,000 New York City municipal workers are facing termination Friday if they do not adhere to the city’s mandate requiring city workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Workers have staged protests, but Mayor Eric Adams has remained firm in upholding the policy imposed by his predecessor Bill de Blasio.

“We are not firing them. People are quitting,” Adams said recently.

Firefighters and police could be among those terminated.

Meanwhile, officials in Paris and Brussels have warned that they will not allow convoys, to enter the cities to stage anti-vaccine protests, similar to the one in Ottawa, Canada. Part of the French convoy is already en route to the capital for the weekend rally. The Belgian protest is planned for Feb. 14.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Friday it has recorded more than 406 million global COVID infections and almost 6 million deaths. More than 10 billion COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, the center said.

Source: Voice of America

The International Criminal Court will next week hear an appeal by Ugandan former Lord's Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen against his conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ongwen, a former child soldier in the notorious rebel group led by the fugitive Joseph Kony in the early 2000s, was sentenced by the ICC in May last year to 25 years in jail for murder, rape and sexual enslavement.

Ongwen, whose nom de guerre was "White Ant," had protested his innocence and cited his own history of being kidnapped while on his way to school by the LRA, and brutalized.

"The appeal brought against the conviction is the largest ever considered by the chamber, raising complex and novel issues," the ICC said in a statement announcing the appeal hearings, which will run from Monday to Friday.

Ongwen's lawyers have raised 90 grounds of appeal against the verdict and 11 against the sentence, alleging "legal, factual and procedural errors" by the court, the Hague-based ICC said.

The LRA was founded three decades ago by former Catholic altar boy and self-styled prophet Kony, who launched a bloody rebellion in northern Uganda against President Yoweri Museveni.

Its brutal campaign to set up a state based on the Bible's Ten Commandments left more than 100,000 people dead and 60,000 children abducted, eventually spreading to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

Ongwen handed himself in to the ICC in 2015 and was convicted of 61 charges. He was also the first person convicted by the ICC of the crime of forced pregnancy.

Judges said in their verdict that Ongwen personally ordered his soldiers to carry out massacres of more than 130 civilians at the Lukodi, Pajule, Odek and Abok refugee camps between 2002 and 2005.

Civilians were locked in their homes and burned to death or beaten during the massacres, while mothers were made to transport the LRA's loot, forcing them to abandon their infant children by the roadside.

But the court held back from the maximum possible 30-year sentence for his crimes, saying that his traumatic past as a child soldier was a mitigating factor.

Source: Voice of America

Trucker-led protests against coronavirus restrictions in Canada shut down another U.S. border crossing Thursday, as copycat movements gathered steam overseas and Washington called on its northern neighbor to use federal powers to end the blockades.

The border obstructions have already impacted business, with the key Ambassador Bridge linking Ontario and Detroit out of service for several days -- and major automakers forced to cut back production at several plants as a result.

A second crossing in the western province of Alberta has been blocked for days, and on Thursday protesters closed down a third -- in central Manitoba.

Citing supply shortages, Ford said it was forced to slow down production at factories in Canada, while some Stellantis factories in the United States and Canada halted work Wednesday evening, General Motors canceled several shifts, and Toyota said its plants were also hit.

In the Canadian capital, police said Thursday they were bringing in reinforcements, issuing more arrests and tickets, and stepping up truck towing operations in a bid to break the impasse that has paralyzed the city.

But protesters were hunkering down and taking pride in how their two-week protest has mushroomed into an international movement.

"You know it's really bad if Canadians are coming out full force," said protester Naomi Gilman, noting how her fellow citizens had largely remained quiet "for two long years" of COVID-19 restrictions.

"So I think that resonates around the world for sure," she told AFP.

France, New Zealand, US

Addressing reporters outside the House of Commons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau once again called the blockades "unacceptable" and said he was working with authorities across the country to bring them to an end.

"This is hurting communities across the country," Trudeau said.

Washington stepped up its pressure too, with the White House saying that U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas "called his Canadian counterparts, urging them to use federal powers to resolve this situation at our joint border."

Despite Trudeau and Washington warning the protests pose an economic threat, rallies inspired by the trucker movement have sprung up elsewhere, from New Zealand to France and Belgium.

An anti-vaccine protest turned ugly Thursday in Wellington, with police clashing with demonstrators on the grounds of parliament and more than 120 people arrested.

In France, thousands inspired by the Canadian truckers planned to converge Friday evening on Paris, with some aiming to move onwards to Brussels.

Paris police sought to prevent the demonstration, saying they would ban so-called "Freedom Convoys" and would stop roads from being blocked, threatening hefty fines or jail -- while Belgian authorities vowed similar action.

And in the United States, supporters took to social media announcing a "People's Convoy" of truckers and "all freedom-loving Americans" to gather east of Los Angeles for a two-day rally beginning March 4 before hitting the road, possibly towards the capital Washington.

Canada's self-styled "Freedom Convoy" began last month in the country's west -- launched in anger at requirements that truckers either be vaccinated, or test and isolate, when crossing the U.S.-Canada border.

For two weeks they have occupied the capital, Ottawa, with loud protests marked by music, honking and banner waving.

They have caused significant economic disruption by shutting down the Ambassador suspension bridge -- a trade corridor used daily by more than 40,000 commuters and tourists, and trucks carrying $323 million worth of goods on average.

Even Trudeau's political rival, Tory party interim leader Candice Bergen, who earlier expressed support for the protesters, urged them Thursday to end their siege.

"I believe the time has come for you to take down the barricades, stop the disruptive action, and come together," she said from the House of Commons.

'Canadian pride'

With blockades dragging on, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined a chorus of industry voices warning of the economic impact -- saying it was "imperative" that Canadian officials rapidly de-escalate the situation.

Presumably eager to stop the movement spreading further domestically, several provinces including Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan this week announced a gradual lifting or loosening of COVID-19 restrictions.

A court has already ordered the truckers to stop the incessant honking that has upset residents in Ottawa and made sleep difficult.

But the atmosphere on the streets of the capital remained one of defiance and celebration. Some 400 vehicles remain camped on Parliament Hill below Trudeau's offices, against a backdrop of barbecues, campfires and music.

Dennis Elgie, a curling ice technician who came from Toronto to join the protest, called the movement "fantastic."

"I've never seen Canadian pride like this," he told AFP. "This is history."

Source: Voice of America

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday issued a draft of revised guidelines for prescribing opioid painkillers, urging doctors to be flexible and individualize their use of the drugs to the needs of the patient.

The CDC's current guidelines were issued in 2016, largely in response to the over-prescribing of opioids in the United States from 2007 to 2012. The agency reports in 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for the highly addictive painkillers, enough for every person in the country to have their own bottle.

The result was one of the worst drug-abuse epidemics in the U.S., with addiction and deaths related to the drugs skyrocketing. The CDC reports that from 1999 to 2014, more than 165,000 people in the United States died from overdoses related to opioid pain medication.

But CDC officials said that while 2016 guidelines helped end the over-prescribing of the drugs, they also may have pushed doctors too far in the other direction.

Co-author of the new guidelines, acting director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Christopher Jones, said some doctors were too quick to cut off patients taking prescription painkillers and too strict in keeping the drugs from patients who might benefit.

The 229-page draft of the updated guidelines removes some of the suggested limits the original guidelines placed on administering opioids and proposes individualized patient care. It also offers more options for treating the kind of short-term, acute pain that follows surgeries or injuries.

The CDC published the draft of the new guidelines in the U.S. Federal Register, where the public can view and comment on them for the next 60 days. The CDC will consider comments before finalizing the updated guidance.

CDC guidelines are voluntary, though they are widely followed by U.S. healthcare providers.

Source: Voice of America

Uganda has rejected a ruling from the U.N.'s International Court of Justice ordering it to pay war reparations to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Analysts say Uganda could have avoided the $325 million fine if it had agreed to mediation.

In a statement, Uganda’s minister for foreign affairs described the the ICJ ruling as unfair and wrong.

On Wednesday, the U.N. court ordered that Uganda pay $325 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo as reparations for damages to people, property and resources inflicted during Uganda's invasion of the DRC’s Ituri province in the late 1990s, during the Second Congo War.

Foreign Affairs Minister Okello Henry Oryem said the judgement singled out Uganda for punishment, ignoring the presence of other countries’ armed forces in Ituri during the period.

He also denied the Ugandan army committed abuses in Ituri, saying the army is a very disciplined force.

“The judgement of 2005 gave the DRC the burden of proof of the number of people they claimed were killed, the number of properties they claimed were destroyed. By the time this judgement was made yesterday, the DRC had not proved those issues that were raised,” Oryem said.

VOA reached out to the DRC’s information minister for comment on the ruling but the ministry said he did not have time to talk.

The ICJ ruling calls for Uganda to make annual payments of $65 million beginning this September, continuing until 2026.

But Uganda’s Oryem says paying the money is not really the issue.

“The fact that we might be able to resolve this matter diplomatically which might not require paying any money. And if there’s another possible legal option, it won’t take money,” he said.

The DRC has pursued reparations for the invasion for decades. In 2002, officials from Congo and Uganda met in Gambia trying to negotiate some of the issues.

The DRC filed its first case with the International Court of Justice in 2005, and the court ordered Uganda to pay 11 billion dollars.

Uganda refused and the countries resumed negotiations. However, security analyst Dismas Nkunda who attended the meeting, says Uganda failed to sign.

“They are lucky that the amount has been reduced. They are lucky that they have been given installments. This is a matter of the Ministry of Justice and the attorney general’s office to have dealt with in the beginning. It wouldn’t have come to this,” Nkunda said.

Uganda says it will continue to constructively engage with the DRC on the matter.

Source: Voice of America

France will build at least six new nuclear reactors in the decades to come, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, placing nuclear power at the heart of his country's drive for carbon neutrality by 2050.

Macron said the new plants would be built and operated by state-controlled energy provider EDF and that tens of billions of euros in public financing would be mobilized to finance the projects and safeguard EDF's finances.

"What our country needs, and the conditions are there, is the rebirth of France's nuclear industry," Macron said, unveiling his new nuclear strategy in the eastern industrial town of Belfort.

Promising to accelerate the development of solar and offshore wind power in France, Macron also announced he wanted to extend the lifespan of older nuclear plants to 50 years or more from 40 years currently, provided it was safe.

The announcement comes at a difficult time for debt-laden EDF, which is facing delays and budget over-runs on new nuclear plants in France and Britain, and corrosion problems in some of its aging reactors.

The nuclear blueprint cements France's commitment to nuclear power, a mainstay of the country's postwar industrial prowess but whose future was uncertain after Macron and his predecessor had promised to reduce its weight in the country's energy mix.

Macron's thinking has been reshaped by the European Union’s ambitious goals for carbon neutrality within three decades, which put renewed focus on energy forms that emit fewer, or zero, greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, including nuclear.

Surging energy prices and concerns about Europe's reliance on imported Russian gas have also persuaded French officials of the region's need for more energy independence.

EDF estimates the cost of six new EPR reactors at about 50 billion euros, depending on financing conditions.

The first new reactor, an evolution of the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR), would come online by 2035, Macron said. Studies for a further eight reactors beyond the initial half-dozen new plants would be launched, he added.

France will also increase its solar power capacity tenfold by 2050 to more than 100 gigawatts (GW) and target building 50 offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of at least 40 GW. Capacity from land-based wind turbines, which face strong public resistance, would only be doubled by 2050, he said.

Energy U-turn

Macron's decision to extend the lifespan of existing plants marked a U-turn on an earlier pledge to close more than a dozen of EDF's 56 reactors by 2035.

Nuclear safety still divides Europe after Japan's Fukushima disaster. France lobbied hard for nuclear to be labeled as sustainable under new European Commission rules on green financing.

If the new EU taxonomy rules are approved, it should reduce the cost of financing nuclear energy projects.

Macron said the state would assume its responsibilities in securing EDF's finances, indicating that the government may inject fresh capital into the 84% state-owned firm.

The State will assume its responsibilities in securing EDF's finances and its short- and medium-term financing capacity," Macron said.

EDF's EPR reactors have suffered a troubled history. EPR projects at Flamanville in France and Hinkley Point in Britain are running years behind schedule and billions over budget, while EPR reactors in China and Finland have been hit by technical issues.

Separately EDF this week revised lower its output forecast for its nuclear fleet to 295-315 TWh compared to 361 TWh last year, in part due to extended reactor shutdowns due to corrosion problems in several reactors. If the level drops below 300 TWh, it would be at its lowest since 1990.

Compounding EDF's difficulties, Macron, who faces a re-election battle in two months and is striving to head off public anger over rising energy bills, has ordered the utility to sell more cheap power to rivals – a move that will knock about 8 billion euros off EDF's 2022 core earnings.

EDF's share price is down 18% so far in 2022.

EDF confirmed on Thursday it would buy a France-based nuclear turbine unit from General Electric as the utility looks to bundle nuclear activities deemed to be strategic.

Source: Voice of America

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that even though she was encouraged by dropping COVID-19 hospitalizations and case rates, the pandemic was still not at the point at which the agency could recommend dropping nationwide indoor mask requirements.

During a White House COVID-19 response team briefing, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters the team was very encouraged by current trends that have shown overall cases dropping more than 44% in the past week and hospitalizations down nearly 25%.

But Walensky said that while hospitalizations were down, U.S. deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3% in the past week, and that both indicators were too high to change the CDC guidance on indoor masking in areas of high transmission.

“We aren’t there yet,” she said.

More state and local governments are announcing plans to begin lifting their mask requirements. Wednesday, New York state became the latest, with Governor Kathy Hochul saying infection rates had declined to a level at which it was safe to rescind the broad masking order.

Hochul said masks would still be required in schools, health care facilities, certain types of shelters and public transit. Private businesses will be free to set their own masking rules for staff and patrons.

Walensky said that many states like New York were lifting their mandates in phases, and that she recognized the need for local governments to be flexible. But she said the CDC was basing its guidance on nationwide surveillance and data, with hospitals, in particular, being a barometer.

White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said that, in terms of the pandemic, January was a difficult month, but data showed the nation was moving toward a time when COIVD-19 would no longer disrupt our daily lives.

He said 210 million people had been fully vaccinated, and, in the last three weeks, nationwide, daily cases were down 65% and hospitalizations were down 40%.

Source: Voice of America

SpaceX says a geomagnetic storm brought down 40 satellites launched last Thursday as part of its Starlink satellite internet service.

In a release posted to the company’s website, the private space company said the satellites were among 49 Starlink satellites launched from the Kennedy Space Center, and that they were deployed to their intended orbit 210 kilometers above Earth.

The company explained it deploys its satellites into lower orbits so that, in the event they do not pass initial system checkouts, it can quickly and safely bring them out of orbit by atmospheric drag.

But SpaceX says the satellites were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's ((NOAA)) Space Weather Prediction Center had posted a watch late last week for minor to moderate geomagnetic storm activity.

The company said the storms cause the atmosphere to warm and increase its density at altitudes where the satellites are deployed. SpaceX reports GPS readings on the satellites suggests the storm increased atmospheric drag 50 percent higher than normal.

The SpaceX ground control team set the satellites into a “safe-mode,” changing their flight attitude to minimize drag to effectively “take cover from the storm.”

The company says its preliminary analysis shows the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe mode and they failed to return to their intended orbits. It said 40 will reenter or already have reentered Earth’s atmosphere.

The company says the satellites pose no collision risk with other ones and are designed to disintegrate upon re-entering the atmosphere with no orbital debris expected to hit the ground.

SpaceX has launched nearly 2,000 satellites as part of a network to provide high-speed internet service to users anywhere in the world. Service in the northern United States and Canada is expected to start later this year.

Source: Voice of America