A study published Wednesday shows nearly all the world’s glaciers have been melting at an accelerated pace in recent years, accounting for rises in sea level over the last two decades.In the study, published in the science journal Nature, an international group of scientists used high resolution imagery from NASA’s Terra satellite to study 220,000 of the world’s glaciers between 2000 and 2019.They found those glaciers lost an average of 267 billion tons – 267 gigatons – of ice per year.The study found melting increased over time, from an average of 227 gigatons in the early 2000s, to an average of 298 gigatons each year after 2015.The study showed the melt was raising sea levels by about 0.74 millimeters a year, or 21 percent of overall sea level rise observed during the period.Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets were excluded from the study.Scientists have long warned that warming temperatures driven by climate change are shrinking glaciers and ice sheets around the world, contributing to higher sea levels that threaten the world’s populous coastal cities. The latest reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change project that future sea levels will rise by more than a meter by 2100.Glaciers in Alaska, Iceland, the Alps, the Pamir mountains and the Himalayas were among the most impacted by melting, researchers found.Glaciers with surrounding communities provide an important water source and their decline could lead to serious food and water shortages.About half of the world’s glacial losses are in North America.
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Month: April 2021
American astronaut Michael Collins, who stayed behind in the command module of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin traveled to the lunar surface to become the first humans to walk on the moon, died on Wednesday at age 90, his family said.
A statement released by his family said Collins died of cancer.
Often described as the “forgotten” third astronaut on the historic mission, Collins remained alone for more than 21 hours until his two colleagues returned in the lunar module. He lost contact with mission control in Houston each time the spacecraft circled the dark side of the moon.
“Not since Adam has any human known such solitude as Mike Collins,” the mission log said, referring to the biblical figure.
Collins wrote an account of his experiences in his 1974 autobiography, “Carrying the Fire,” but largely shunned publicity.
“I know that I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three Apollo 11 seats, but I can say with truth and equanimity that I am perfectly satisfied with the one I have,” Collins said in comments released by NASA in 2009.
Collins was born in Rome on Oct. 31, 1930 – the same year as both Armstrong and Aldrin. He was the son of a U.S. Army major general and, like his father, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating in 1952.
Like many of the first generation of American astronauts, Collins started out as an Air Force test pilot.
In 1963, he was chosen by NASA for its astronaut program, still in its early days but ramping up quickly at the height of the Cold War as the United States sought to push ahead of the Soviet Union and fulfill President John F. Kennedy’s pledge of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Collins’ first voyage into space came in July 1966 as pilot on Gemini X, part of the missions that prepared NASA’s Apollo program. The Gemini X mission carried out a successful docking with a separate target vehicle.
His second, and final, spaceflight was the historic Apollo 11.
He avoided much of the media fanfare that greeted the astronauts on their return to Earth, and was later often critical of the cult of celebrity.
After a short stint in government, Collins became director of the National Air and Space Museum, stepping down in 1978. He was also the author of a number of space-related books.
His strongest memory from Apollo 11, he said, was looking back at the Earth, which he said seemed “fragile.”
“I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of 100,000 miles, their outlook could be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument silenced,” he said.
His family’s statement said they know “how lucky Mike felt to live the life he did.”
“Please join us in fondly and joyfully remembering his sharp wit, his quiet sense of purpose, and his wise perspective, gained both from looking back at Earth from the vantage of space and gazing across calm waters from the deck of his fishing boat.”
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Kenyan farmers say they are being forced to hand pollinate their crops due to a decline in bee populations from pesticides. Kenya’s insect experts say the chemicals, meant to kill desert locusts and other pests, are killing off bees and other pollinating bugs. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Robert Lutta
Producer: Rob Raffaele
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Diplomacy can be fraught at the best of times. Serious, high-level events are regularly punctuated with physical gaffes, miscues, awkward handshakes, strained laughter and cultural misunderstandings of varying scope and severity. Like the time President Donald Trump appeared to shove the prime minister of Montenegro at a NATO summit. Or when President Barack Obama got caught on a hot mic complaining to then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy about the prime minister of Israel, a key U.S. ally. Or when Russia’s foreign minister awkwardly explained to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, on live TV, that the “reset” button she handed him actually read, in Russian, “overcharge.” Or, perhaps most spectacularly — even more so than his performance later that year when he vomited on Japan’s prime minister — the time President George H.W. Bush visited U.S. ally Australia and flashed the crowd what he may have thought was a sign for victory, or peace. That two-fingered salute does not mean either of those things in Australia. At the worst of times — like in the middle of a pandemic, when leaders can’t meet in person to hash out important issues — diplomacy can be excruciating. Like the agonizingly long pause during a recent virtual U.S.-led climate summit, when the French president was cut off mid-speech and the screen cut to a silent Russian president as leaders shifted in their chairs and waited for someone to speak. By now, millions of people around the world have suffered through the awkwardness of virtual meetings and their many technical hazards. Like video glitches, missed cues, hot mics, and — oops — when you accidentally use that one Zoom filter that turns your face into a cat. But in meetings of global importance, going virtual raises serious concerns. Before the coronavirus pandemic began, major summits were a hub of human activity, commonly drawing civil society groups and protesters into the same space as major decision-makers. Now, with everything online, more people can watch the proceedings. And whereas activists may not have been able to travel to major summits because of cost and visa restrictions, now anyone can log on and tune in. But, says Mandeep Tiwana of CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, the closed nature of virtual summits — in which moderators limit who can speak — means fewer ordinary people and outsiders can actually participate and enjoy freedom of assembly and expression. “Online, these rights should be as equally available as they are offline,” he told VOA from New York via Google Hangouts. “That’s critical. Secondly, we are also urging that when meetings are being organized by intergovernmental institutions and multilateral bodies and so on, that they try to reach a vast swath of people. “But most importantly,” he said, “I think internet should be recognized as a very important human right.” Virtual diplomacy is likely here to stay, even after the pandemic, says Brooks Spector, a former American diplomat-turned-journalist who has lived in South Africa for decades. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken went fully virtual for his first Africa trip this week, spending a day going electronically between high-level meetings in Kenya and Nigeria. Blinken adapted quickly to the screen, Spector said. “The extent to which Tony Blinken shows the same kind of ability and warmth through the camera that the president can … [will] stand him in good stead,” he said. “Because this, I suspect, is going to be the way of the world for quite a while. “There’ll be a lot fewer international visits and a whole lot more international consultations by way of the electronics.” But, Spector warns, don’t conflate the novel format with fresh, new, or even honest, content. One thing remains essential to diplomacy, no matter the medium: preparation. These engagements are just as rehearsed as they ever were, he says, because they have to be. “Virtual diplomacy, it’s like anything else,” he said. “It’s only as good as the staff work that precedes it. If it’s entirely an open-ended discussion in which a dozen or more people are participating, the result is something approaching chaos.” Or whatever that was last week, when the world watched global leaders sit helplessly for 88 agonizing seconds as President Vladimir Putin stared blankly into the middle distance, fidgeting and gesturing mutely off camera as Blinken mutters under his breath about technical problems. It could have been worse: So far, the Zoom cat face filter has yet to make its diplomatic debut.
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America’s reengagement with various international organizations coincides with a weird new era: that of virtual diplomacy. Since the coronavirus pandemic made travel unsafe, world leaders have taken their diplomacy digital, opening up new possibilities for engagement — but also, new concerns about fairness and transparency, and the occasional awkward moment. VOA’s Anita Powell follows this story — virtually, of course — and reports from Johannesburg.Camera: Zaheer Cassim/Nike Ching (cellphone video)
Producer: Jon Spier
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Kenyan farmers say they are being forced to hand-pollinate their crops due to a decline in bee populations from pesticides. Kenya’s insect experts say the chemicals, meant to kill desert locusts and other pests, are killing off bees and other pollinating insects. Kenyan farmer Samuel Nderitu says he made a good living from his crops for nearly a decade until 2019, when he noticed neighboring farmers spraying for pests. His crop yields started dropping, says Nderitu, and he’s convinced it’s because the pesticides killed off pollinating insects like bees. He has since been forced to hand-pollinate the plants. “It has been quite successful — not 100% though because that’s not natural,” he said. “The natural one is where the insects transfer the pollen from one plant to another; that’s the most successful one. But now, because the pollinators are not there, we have to help in that process.”
A 2019 desert locust invasion in east Africa forced Kenyan authorities and farmers into a massive spraying campaign to save their crops. But Kenya’s International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology says the unchecked use of pesticides is ironically killing off the pollinators on which the crops depend. ‘’The pesticides are affecting the health of the bees because the pesticides reduce immunity of bees,” says Nelly Ngungu, a research scientist at the center. “Now, aggravating the effects of pesticides, and lack of forage because of climatic conditions, change in climate, all this they reduce the immunity of bees and can eventually lead to bee death and decline in population.’’ Kenya’s agricultural experts are researching pest control options that reduce chemical use. Agricultural research professor Hamadi Boga says biological control — using predators that feed on pests — is one option.
“The biggest challenge is that biological control works exito, where exito means ‘in the lab.’ It works very well but when you take it to the field, because of rain and other environmental issues, sometimes it’s not quite as perfect,” said Boga. Biodiversity groups are also training Kenya’s farmers on how to repel pests without harmful chemicals that can kill pollinators. The national coordinator of the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition, Anne Maina, explains. ‘’We train them on what is called integrated pest management,” she said. “For example, if you find that you have a particular pest that is giving you trouble or disease — how do you plant crops? For example, even in your kitchen garden, if you are growing vegetables, we encourage farmers to grow them with things like onions, pepper, or pilipili [chili peppers], and these are able to repel some of the pests.” Kenyan farmers like Nderitu hope to one day attract bees to their farms again. Until then, he will have to do the pollinators’ work by hand.
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Fully vaccinated people can skip the mask when they get together outside with others, vaccinated or not, according to A person wears a mask while jogging, April 27, 2021, near the Capitol in Olympia, Washington.The only time vaccinated people need to wear masks outdoors is when they are in crowds, like at street festivals, parades, farmers markets or political rallies, for example.Keep that mask handy, however. CDC still says to mask up when you go inside. But do go inside, the recommendations say. Indoor dining, movies, haircuts, religious services, exercise classes, and other indoor public spaces all are much safer for vaccinated people than unvaccinated.Just wear a mask.Why wear a mask indoors if you are vaccinated?”At their best, these vaccines are 95% effective,” said Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious diseases professor William Schaffner. “I did not say 100%. So, there’s still that small risk that you could yourself acquire the infection.”Even if a vaccinated person does not get seriously ill, there remains a chance that the person could pass the virus on to someone who is not vaccinated.Also, not wearing a mask puts an unfair burden on workers to enforce mask rules.”You can’t expect someone at a store to go around and look at people’s vaccination status,” noted Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.Indoor get-togethers without masks are fine when everyone is vaccinated, as earlier CDC guidelines said.Students at Wyandotte County High School wear masks as they walk through a hallway on the first day of in-person learning at the school in Kansas City, Kansas, March 31. 2021.The guidelines also note that unvaccinated people can walk, run or bike outside without a mask, a recommendation that some experts said is long overdue.”If you’re walking outside and passing someone for a second, even without vaccination, you did not need to be wearing a mask,” said Leana Wen, health policy professor at The George Washington University and former Baltimore health commissioner. “So, I’m glad that the Biden administration is clarifying that part.””I do still think that their guidance is overly cautious,” she added. “But at least now they are finally differentiating between what it is that people can do once they’re fully vaccinated compared to those who are not.”The updated recommendations give people more of an incentive to get vaccinated, Wen said.The recommendation regarding wearing masks indoors will likely remain until a bigger chunk of the population is vaccinated and the case count comes down from where it is today, in the tens of thousands, Adalja said.The pace of vaccination has slowed, however, from more than 3 million shots per day two weeks ago to about 2.5 million.The people who were ready and willing to get vaccinated have largely done so. Now, the hard work of overcoming hesitancy begins.”The more people who are vaccinated, the more steps we can take towards spending time with people we love doing the things we love to enjoy,” Walensky said.
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The family of the late Lee Kun-hee, the chairman of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, says it will pay $10.8 billion in taxes on the inheritance from his massive estate, the largest paid in South Korean history. Lee died last October leaving an estate estimated at more than $23 billion. The family, which includes his wife and three children, says it will split payments of the hefty tax bill in six installments over five years, with the first payment coming this month. It is believed they will use the shares they hold in the vast family-run conglomerate as a means to pay the taxes.People pass by Samsung Electronics’ shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 28, 2021.The Lee family will also donate the late patriarch’s vast collection of fine art to two state-run museums and other organizations to help ease the burden of the tax bill. The collection includes rare Korean artifacts and works by such legendary artists as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Paul Gauguin and Claude Monet. The family has also agreed to donate $900 million to build a new hospital devoted to treating infectious diseases, fund research on vaccines and treatment, and support a program that treats children suffering from cancer and rare diseases. Under the elder Lee, Samsung Electronics became the crown jewel of the Samsung conglomerate, the biggest in South Korea, with holdings in such sectors as shipbuilding, insurance and trading. Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest maker of semiconductors, smartphones and other consumer electronics. But the family has been mired in a host of corruption scandals, with Lee’s son, Jae-yong, currently serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence in connection with the scandal that brought down former President Park Geun-hye.
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Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is gaining attention for works inspired by the pandemic. One of his collections urges people to get vaccinated and another reminds people to take health measures hammering home a message to curb the spread of the virus. Ngwerume’s latest piece is called “Michael Jackson,” named after the late U.S. pop icon who was well-known for wearing masks and a glove. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe
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The UK government on Wednesday became the first country to announce it will regulate the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways, with the first such cars possibly appearing on public roads as soon as this year. Britain’s transport ministry said it was working on specific wording to update the country’s highway code for the safe use of self-driving vehicle systems, starting with Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) — which use sensors and software to keep cars within a lane, allowing them to accelerate and brake without driver input. The government said the use of ALKS would be restricted to motorways, at speeds under 37 miles (60 km) per hour. The UK government wants to be at the forefront of rolling out autonomous driving technology and the transport ministry forecasts by 2035 around 40% of new UK cars could have self-driving capabilities, creating up to 38,000 new skilled jobs. “The automotive industry welcomes this vital step to permit the use of automated vehicles on UK roads, which will put Britain in the vanguard of road safety and automotive technology,” Mike Hawes, CEO of car industry lobby group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said in a statement. Limits of technologyBut insurance companies warn that Britain’s goal of being a leader in adopting self-driving cars could backfire unless automakers and regulators spell out the current limitations of the technology available today. They say calling ALKS “automated,” or using the synonymous term “self-driving,” will confuse British drivers into thinking the cars can drive themselves, causing accidents and risking a public backlash against the technology. “Aside from the lack of technical capabilities, by calling ALKS automated our concern also is that the UK Government is contributing to the confusion and frequent misuse of assisted driving systems that have unfortunately already led to many tragic deaths,” said Matthew Avery, research director at Thatcham Research, which has tested ALKS systems. The dangers of drivers apparently misunderstanding the limits of technology has been an issue in the United States, where regulators are reviewing about 20 crashes involving Tesla’s driver assistance tools, such as its “Autopilot” system.
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With the rail still open and Kentucky Derby post positions dwindling, Brad Cox grew anxious about the most notable of his two horses drawing the least desired spot. The homegrown trainer soon breathed easier. Essential Quality got something more palatable, though the hardest part awaits with the target firmly on his back. Essential Quality is the 2-1 morning line favorite and will start from the No. 14 post for Saturday’s 147th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. “It got a little nerve-wracking with both horses still to go and the rail still being out there,” Cox said Tuesday. “I think it’ll be a good spot. He’s got good tactical speed that he’ll be able to get into a good position from there.” The $3 million, 1 1/4-mile marquee race for 3-year-old colts is back on the first Saturday of May after being delayed to Labor Day weekend last fall because of the pandemic. About 45,000 spectators are expected at the track. Rock Your World is the 5-1 second choice from the No. 15 slot, with Known Agenda the 6-1 third choice despite drawing the rail in the 20-horse field. Hot Rod Charlie drew 8-1 odds as the fourth choice from the No. 9 slot. Kentucky Derby hopeful Rock Your World works out at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Ky., April 27, 2021.The obvious focus is on Essential Quality, the reigning 2-year-old champion who enters the Run for the Roses having won all five races and with Luis Saez aboard. His haul of graded stakes victories includes a gutsy Blue Grass victory at Keeneland on April 3 that vaulted the gray son of Tapit to the top of the Derby standings with 140 points and cemented him as the projected favorite. He’s one of two entries trained by Cox, who grew up a few blocks from Churchill Downs and will make his Derby debut trying to become the first Louisville native to win the race. The Eclipse Award winner will also saddle Mandaloun from the No. 7 post as a 15-1 choice, with the bay colt looking to bounce back from a disappointing sixth in the Louisiana Derby. At least their starting spots are no longer an issue. “That was more than I wanted to experience this early, but it worked for us,” Cox added. Rock Your World, trained by John Sadler, has won all three starts this year after not racing as a 2-year-old. But he rolled to a 4-1/4-length victory in the Santa Anita Derby over favorite Medina Spirit, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, and looks for another marquee win. “It’s a good post, and we’re happy with it,” Sadler said. Medina Spirit will start from the No. 8 post at 15-1 odds. Kentucky Derby hopeful Medina Spirit works out at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Ky., April 27, 2021.Known Agenda leads Todd Pletcher’s four-horse contingent that includes Bourbonic, who drew the outside No. 20 post, Dynamic One (No. 11, 20-1 odds), and Sainthood (No. 5, 50-1). The chestnut colt has won two of three starts this season and has three wins, a second and a third in six career starts. Even with Churchill Downs introducing a new 20-stall starting Derby gate last fall to replace the standard 14-slot and auxiliary six-slot gates, Known Agenda has his work cut out for him to avoid being bunched inside and out of contention in a crowded field. “Obviously, it’s not what we were hoping for,” Pletcher said. “Of course, this is one of the things you can’t control. With the new gate, we’re hopeful that things will be better than they were in the past, and the post won’t be that bad.” Hot Rod Charlie’s post draw in the middle brought a loud cheer from his contingent in the otherwise sedate setting as the colt avoided being bunched inside out of the gate. Trainer Doug O’Neill’s horse won the Louisiana Derby by two lengths and was second to Essential Quality with 110 Derby points. “We decided we were going to give it a pump no matter what post we drew,” O’Neill said. “But we’re delighted with the nine. It’s a real good post.”
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Different races and religions sharing space is part of America’s melting pot ethos. Indonesian-American Christians and Muslims in Philadelphia are doing just that. VOA’s Alam Burhanan has more in this report narrated by Nova Poerwadi.Camera: Alam Burhanan, Irfan Ihsan, Ronan Zakaria
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Russia has fined Apple $12 million, alleging monopolistic activities.The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said Tuesday that Apple was gaining an unfair advantage over other companies through its app store.”Apple was found to have abused its dominant position in the iOS distribution market … which resulted in a competitive advantage for its own products,” the FAS said in a statement.The ruling was sparked by a complaint from Russia-based cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, which said a version of its Safe Kids app had been rejected by Apple.”We worked with Kaspersky to get their app in compliance with rules that were put in place to protect children,” Apple said in a statement. “They now have 13 apps on the App Store and we have processed hundreds of updates for them.”Apple reportedly said it “respectfully disagreed” with the FAS decision, which it plans to appeal.Earlier this month, Russia began enforcing a law that demands devices sold in Russia come with pre-installed domestic software. The legislation was intended to boost Russian tech companies.Critics say the law is an attempt by the Russian government to control the internet.Starting in July, companies that don’t comply could face fines.Western tech firms have been facing pressure from Moscow. For example, Russia has slowed down Twitter, saying the company was not acting quickly enough to remove certain content not allowed in Russia.Facebook and Google have also come under increased scrutiny.
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidelines Tuesday recommending that fully vaccinated people in the U.S. can now stop wearing masks outdoors unless they are in a large crowd of strangers.The updated guidelines also say people who have not been vaccinated can go maskless when outside alone or with household members, or in small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated people.The CDC recommended for most of the past year that people in the U.S. wear masks outdoors if they are within two meters of each other.The updated guidance is part of the Biden Administration’s initiative to carefully return the country to some state of normalcy. COVID-19 has killed nearly 573,000 people, by far the most in the world.The guidelines were relaxed after more than half of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been fully vaccinated.
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It’s literally the foundation of modern life.A slab of concrete underlies nearly every permanent structure on Earth. Concrete blocks are a Workers clean steps near a recently erected office high-rise in Beijing, China, April 20, 2017.”If we do not find ways to make concrete in a more benign way, we do have a problem,” said Volker Sick, mechanical engineering professor and University of Michigan Global CO2 Initiative director.A handful of companies are beginning to step up. Some have even found ways to turn carbon dioxide, a pollutant, into a resource.Two recently won the Soviet-era concrete apartment blocks close to the pond in Star City near Moscow, Russia, Oct. 21, 2020.CarbonCure, CarbonBuilt and a few other companies have found ways to turn the process on its head. They inject carbon dioxide into cement while it is still wet, before it hardens. They have modified the formulas for their cement so the carbon dioxide forms minerals inside their concrete, permanently locking it away.The Carbon XPRIZE winners drew their carbon dioxide from power plants. But they could also be connected directly to a concrete plant’s limestone-heating kilns.Absorbing carbon dioxide is one way these products lower their carbon footprint. But the minerals formed inside the concrete also make the cement stronger, “which means you need less cement to make your concrete,” Wagner said. Less cement needed means less carbon dioxide emitted.Manufacturing CarbonBuilt concrete blocks generates 50% to 70% less carbon dioxide than conventional blocks, Sant said. Wagner said each cubic meter of CarbonCure poured concrete saves 15 kilograms of carbon dioxide.Carbon dioxide-strengthened cement also lowers the cost of manufacturing. Wagner and Sant both said their company’s product costs the same as conventional counterparts.”Everybody wants to build green, but they don’t necessarily want to pay more,” Wagner said.CarbonCure has installed its systems in about 300 concrete plants around the world, she added. Sant’s company is just getting off the ground.The Carbon XPRIZE “showcases the potential,” said the University of Michigan’s Sick. The winners had to demonstrate that their process could work on an industrial scale. “Is that ready to be implemented everywhere now? We have ways to go. There is a long path, but it’s a great start.”Another company, Solidia, also uses carbon dioxide to make stronger cement. Its website says the company has demonstrated its process at more than 50 facilities in 10 countries. “We are at the very, very beginning of the curve,” Sick said. “We need many more companies to enter that market in scale.”
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Apple is following through on its pledge to crack down on Facebook and other snoopy apps that secretly shadow people on their iPhones in order to target more advertising at users. The new privacy feature, dubbed “App Tracking Transparency,” rolled out Monday as part of an update to the operating system powering the iPhone and iPad. The anti-tracking shield included in iOS 14.5 arrives after a seven-month delay during which Apple and Facebook attacked each other’s business models and motives for decisions that affect billions of people around the world. “What this feud demonstrates more than anything is that Facebook and Apple have tremendous gatekeeping powers over the market,” said Elizabeth Renieris, founding director of the Technology Ethics Lab at the University of Notre Dame. But Apple says it is just looking out for the best interests of the more than 1 billion people using iPhones. “Now is a good time to bring this out, both because of the increasing amount of data they have on their devices, and their sensitivity (about the privacy risks) is increasing, too,” Erik Neuenschwander, Apple’s chief privacy engineer, told The Associated Press in an interview. Once the software update is installed — something most iPhone users do — even existing apps already on the device will be required to ask and receive consent to track online activities. That’s a shift Facebook fiercely resisted, most prominently in a series of full-page newspaper ads blasting Apple. Until now, Facebook and other apps have been able to automatically conduct their surveillance on iPhones unless users took the time and trouble to go into their settings to prevent it — a process that few people bother to navigate. “This is an important step toward consumers getting the transparency and the controls they have clearly been looking for,” said Daniel Barber, CEO of DataGrail, a firm that helps companies manage personal privacy. In its attacks on Apple’s anti-tracking controls, Facebook blasted the move as an abuse of power designed to force more apps to charge for their services instead of relying on ads. Apple takes a 15% to 30% cut on most payments processed through an iPhone app. Online tracking has long helped Facebook and thousands of other apps accumulate information about their user’s interests and habits so they can show customized ads. Although Facebook executives initially acknowledged Apple’s changes would probably reduce its revenue by billions of dollars annually, the social networking company has framed most of its public criticism as a defense of small businesses that rely on online ads to stay alive. Apple, in turn, has pilloried Facebook and other apps for prying so deeply into people’s lives that it has created a societal crisis. FILE – Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., June 4, 2018.In a speech given a few weeks after the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol, Apple CEO Tim Cook pointed out how personal information collected through tracking by Facebook and other social media can sometimes push people toward more misinformation and hate speech as part of the efforts to show more ads. “What are the consequences of not just tolerating but rewarding content that undermines public trust in life-saving vaccinations?” Cook asked. “What are the consequences of seeing thousands of users join extremist groups and then perpetuating an algorithm that recommends more?” It’s part of Apple’s attempt to use the privacy issue to its competitive advantage, Barber said, a tactic he now expects more major brands to embrace if the new anti-tracking controls prove popular among most consumers. In a change of tone, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently suggested that Apple’s new privacy controls could help his company in the long run. His rationale: The inability to automatically track iPhone users may prod more companies to sell their products directly on Facebook and affiliated services such as Instagram if they can’t collect enough personal information to effectively target ads within their own apps. FILE – Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears on a screen as he speaks remotely during a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill, Oct. 28, 2020.”It’s possible that we may even be in a stronger position if Apple’s changes encourage more businesses to conduct more commerce on our platforms by making it harder for them to use their data in order to find the customers that would want to use their products outside of our platforms,” Zuckerberg said last month during a discussion held on the audio chat app Clubhouse. In the same interview, Zuckerberg also asserted most people realize that advertising is a “time-tested model” that enables them to get more services for free or at extremely low prices. “People get for the most part that if they are going to see ads, they want them to be relevant ads,” Zuckerberg said. He didn’t say whether he believes most iPhone users will consent to tracking in exchange for ads tailored to their interests. Google also depends on personal information to fuel a digital ad network even bigger than Facebook’s, but it has said it would be able to adjust to the iPhone’s new privacy controls. Unlike Facebook, Google has close business ties with Apple. Google pays Apple an estimated $9 billion to $12 billion annually to be the preferred search engine on iPhone and iPad. That arrangement is currently one element of an antitrust case filed last year by the U.S. Justice Department. Facebook is also defending itself against a federal antitrust lawsuit seeking to break the company apart. Meanwhile, Apple is being scrutinized by lawmakers and regulators around the world for the commissions it collects on purchases made through iPhone apps and its ability to shake up markets through new rules that are turning it into a de facto regulator. “Even if Apple’s business model and side in this battle is more rights protective and better for consumer privacy, there is still a question of whether we want a large corporation like Apple effectively ‘legislating’ through the app store,” Renieris said.
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A Cameroonian company has created a veterinary counseling app designed to help farmers and ranchers who live far away from veterinarians to detect animal diseases and give them guidance online.Cameroonian rabbit breeder Thierry Bayabon lost three-quarters of his stock to disease a few months ago. Like most small-scale Cameroonian farmers, he was not familiar with diseases that affect animals. Bayabon says the deaths could have been prevented, but it took too long to find a veterinarian to visit his remote farm. He says two weeks after the cases, as the situation was getting worse, he was successful in getting a veterinarian. The vet came on-site and was able to determine the problem.To help breeders like Bayabon avoid such costly losses, a Cameroonian startup designed the free online application, Veto.The app analyzes audio questions about symptoms, gives treatment advice, and helps breeders and ranchers share information.It also allows them to send photos and videos to actual veterinarians, like Mangoua Cédrick, for analysis.”In those villages, they have no vet personnel,” Cédrick said. “And with an advent of a zoonotic disease like tuberculosis, I mean, you taking the picture for the analysis may help you save life, because zoonoses are diseases that attack humans or that are transmissible between animal to human.”The Veto app’s main challenge is that it requires an internet connection, which is expensive and hard to come by in Cameroon’s remote villages.The app’s developers say they are working on the problem so it can be useful to more people raising livestock.Franklin Djomo, chief marketing officer for Veto, says their research and development teams are actively working to develop a module that is not connected to the internet so that it can operate in rural areas. While the veterinary diagnostic app has connection limitations, its practical use is not limited to Cameroon, or even West Africa. The Veto app is currently available in Cameroon’s official languages — French and English — and also in Arabic and Swahili.
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Thirty-seven percent of surveyed countries are still experiencing disruptions in vaccinating children against deadly diseases like measles compared to 2020 levels, according to a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
The disruptions stem from the COVID-19 pandemic, the groups say.
They also say 60 lifesaving campaigns are currently “postponed in 50 countries, putting around 228 million people — mostly children — at risk for measles, yellow fever and polio.”
As the world marks World Immunization Week 2021, which takes place in the last week of April, the groups are calling for countries to increase investments in vaccines.
The groups say investment could save 50 million lives by 2030.
“If we’re to avoid multiple outbreaks of life-threatening diseases like measles, yellow fever and diphtheria, we must ensure routine vaccination services are protected in every country in the world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
Measles outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Yemen, according to the groups. They added that further outbreaks were likely as children are not vaccinated.
“As COVID-19 vaccines are at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it is more critical than ever that children maintain access to other lifesaving vaccines to prevent devastating outbreaks of preventable diseases that have started to spread alongside the pandemic,” said David Morley, president and CEO of UNICEF Canada. “We must sustain this energy on vaccine rollout to also help children catch up on their measles, polio and other vaccines. Lost ground means lost lives.”
UNICEF said it delivered 2.01 billion vaccines in 2020 compared to 2.29 billion in 2019.
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Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is gaining attention for works inspired by the coronavirus pandemic. One of his collections urges people to get vaccinated. Another reminds people to take health measures, as he hammers home a message to curb the spread of the virus. Ngwerume’s latest piece is “Michael Jackson,” named after the late U.S. pop icon who was well known for wearing masks and a glove.Forty-year-old Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume is making what he calls a “COVID-19 Gallery.” Forty-year-old Zimbabwean sculptor David Ngwerume in front of his exhibit, called “Arms,” in what he calls a “COVID-19 Gallery” in Harare, April 23, 2021. He encourages people to take the COVID jab to help the country reach its vaccination target of 60 percent by the end of the year. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)His exhibit, called “Arms,” encourages people to take the COVID jab to help the country reach its vaccination target of 60 percent by the end of the year.Another one, called “We are torn,” encourages people to sneeze into their elbows.And the most talked about one encourages people to mask up in an exhibit called: “MJ” – named after the late U.S. pop icon “Michael Jackson.”“The iconic Michael Jackson was the first celebrity to move around wearing a mask and gloves. When he was asked, he stood his ground and said the air is somehow polluted,” Ngwerume said. “Michael Jackson used his public figure position to highlight what he was seeing as what would come with the times; that we have the COVID pandemic. We are now wearing masks. At that time people thought he was trying to show off. He warned us. Now I am using his figure around this COVID pandemic on my art to show that Michael Jackson gave us a warning that: Mask up. His figure shows a finger pointing to us as a people to say: Mask Up.”Ngwerume has posted his pieces online to keep most people from coming to his studio and potentially spreading the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease.New York-based art dealer Shingirai Mafara says he wants to hold an art exhibition to display the work of his fellow Zimbabwean David Ngwerume for a wider reach, April 23, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/SKYPE/VOA) Speaking via Skype, New York-based art dealer Shingirai Mafara says he wants to hold an art exhibition to display the work of his fellow Zimbabwean for a wider reach.”I find his pieces very, very pivotal not only putting Zimbabwean art sculpture on the map, because we are already back on the map but also sending to the entire world: let’s get vaccinated, let’s wear masks, let’s social distance, hold hands and try to see this together,” Mafara said. “These pieces are going to sit in the permanent collection of the United Nations World Health Organization or at a private collector’s residence. The work that David has created: a 100, 200 years from now you can look back and say in 2020/2021, we had a pandemic that killed millions and millions of people.”Ngwerume’s work has also caught the attention of a Zimbabwe government official.Josiah Kusena is the acting director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe. Josiah Kusena, the acting director of the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, says the government appreciates artists who think outside the box, April 23, 2021. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)“The situation has taught our artists to be resilient, to be imaginative and creative in terms of sustenance – how do you eke a livelihood in such an environment which is not easy to operate when sources of income have been closed totally,” Kusena said. “So that creativity is not a surprise at all. It is also an appreciation by the artist that COVID-19 has destroyed livelihoods, but it is also an appreciation that there has been progress in research in terms of how do you contain COVID-19.”Zimbabwean Doctors Worried about Low Acceptance of COVID-19 VaccineFewer than 36,000 people received shots since 200,000 doses arrived in February Ngwerume says he hopes to work with art auctioneers and use part of the proceeds to get personal protective equipment or PPEs for Zimbabwe’s health workers.Zimbabwe’s doctors and nurses have struggled due to lack of adequate resources while working in the front lines of prevention and treatment during the coronavirus pandemic. Zimbabwe has more than 38,000 confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,550 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the global outbreak.
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Senegal banned single-use plastics a year ago, but the regulation has been poorly enforced and plastic waste still litters the coastline and threatens health. For Earth Day (April 22) this year, a group of Senegalese surfers, scuba divers, and activists took matters into their own hands and to set an example for others to follow. Annika Hammerschlag reports from Dakar. Camera: Annika Hammerschlag
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While some mosques have opened to prayer during this second Ramadan during the COVID-19 pandemic, religious studies continue online. And in at least one mosque near Washington, D.C., a local teen is trying to keep the lessons entertaining and engaging, as VOA’s Dhania Iman reports.Camera: Dhania Iman Produced by: Bronwyn Benito
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Taking home the Academy Awards, or Oscars, for Best Director and Best Picture would normally be a notable event, but apparently not in China for Chloé Zhao, who won the two prizes for her movie “Nomadland.”State media outlets were silent about the accolades for the Chinese-born Zhao, with no mention on either CCTV or Xinhua.Sunday’s awards ceremony was not aired live in China or in Hong Kong.News of her win was also censored on China’s highly controlled internet. According to the Associated Press, a post about Zhao’s win by a movie-related account on China’s Weibo microblogging site was censored a few hours after it was posted.Some users had to resort to using the code “zt,” Zhao’s initials using her Chinese name Zhao Ting, to talk about Zhao.A popular movie app, Douban, banned even searching for “Nomadland” and “Zhao Ting.”Zhao left China at the age of 14 to go to boarding school in London and later moved to Los Angeles.
Some social media users in China said she insulted the country in past comments when she was nominated for a Golden Globe in March, but in her acceptance speeches, she was apolitical and even recalled her childhood in China fondly.”Nomadland” had been scheduled for release in China on April 23, but that never happened, the Associated Press reported. No new release date has been set.Zhao is the first Asian woman and second woman to win the Best Director award.
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U.S. space agency NASA said the experimental Mars helicopter Ingenuity — in its third flight Sunday on the red planet — flew farther and faster than ever, including during test flights on Earth.NASA scientists said the vehicle took off and rose to about 5 meters off the surface of the planet — the same height it reached on its second flight Thursday and slightly higher than on its initial flight a week ago. This time, Ingenuity flew about 50 meters down range from its position, traveling at a top speed of about 2 meters a second. The entire flight was about 80 seconds.As data from the flight was received at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the Ingenuity team said it was “ecstatic” to see how the helicopter performed. Program director Dave Lavery said the flight Sunday was what the team had planned for, “and yet, it was nothing short of amazing.”The initial data from the flight came in from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, which is parked several meters from where the helicopter took flight. The agency said segments of that video showing most of the helicopter’s 80-second journey across its flight zone will be sent back to Earth in the days ahead. The Ingenuity team has been pushing the helicopter’s limits by adding instructions to capture more photos of its own, including from the color camera, which captured its first images on the flight last Thursday. Ingenuity weighs just 1.8 kilograms and was packed away on the Perseverance rover when it landed on Mars in February. It was unfolded and dropped from the rover about three weeks ago.NASA considers Ingenuity a technology demonstration designed to test flight capability in the thin Martian atmosphere. It has specially designed rotors that spin much faster than they would have to on Earth to achieve flight. It also has innovative batteries and solar cells for recharging.Aside from cameras, Ingenuity carries no scientific instruments.
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With diversity at center stage, minority Oscar nominees took home many coveted golden statuettes, but the three major awards for best actor, best actress and best cinematography went to white nominees. VOA’s Penelope Poulou has more.
Camera: Penelope Poulou Producer: Penelope Poulou
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