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Lebanon is running desperately short of life-saving medicines to treat cancer, heart ailments, or even of basic vitamins needed by expectant mothers. It is all a direct result of Lebanon’s deepening political and economic crisis which has led to severe shortages hard currency and fuel. Anchal Vohra has this report for VOA from northern Lebanon.Videographer and producer: Tilo Gummel
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According to reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to make public Friday an internal federal health document about the delta variant of the coronavirus that can be spread “as easily as chickenpox” by vaccinated and unvaccinated people.The newspapers reported the document is a slide presentation distributed to CDC officials. The presentation details the difficulties the agency has experienced in convincing some populations to get vaccinated and wear masks.The presentation urges CDC officials to develop public service messages that “emphasize vaccination as the best defense against a variant so contagious that it acts almost like a different novel virus, leaping from target to target more swiftly than Ebola or the common cold.”With the delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 rapidly spreading across the country, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced civilian federal government employees must be vaccinated or submit to regular testing and wear masks.“Every federal government employee will be asked to attest to their vaccination status,” Biden said Thursday in a speech from the White House East Room. “Anyone who does not attest or is not vaccinated will be required to mask, no matter where they work, test one or two times a week to see if they’ve acquired COVID, socially distance, and generally will not be allowed to travel for work.”Nurse Darryl Hana prepares a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a three-day vaccination clinic at Providence Wilmington Wellness and Activity Center on July 29, 2021, in Wilmington, California.The federal government employs more than 4 million Americans, including over 2 million in the federal civilian workforce, a White House statement said.The same standards will apply to federal contractors, Biden added.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced lockdown measures Friday for the Manila capital region, home to 13 million people. The move is designed to curb the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus.  The lockdown will go into effect beginning Aug. 6 and lasting until Aug. 20.Tokyo’s neighbors are being placed under a state of emergency from Aug. 2-31, according to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun.  Tokyo, where the Olympic Games are currently being held, and Okinawa have already been placed under a state of emergency due to the spread of the coronavirus.Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa and Osaka are the new prefectures to have the emergency state imposed on them.Hokkaido, Ishikawa, Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures, also neighboring Tokyo, will be placed under pre-emergency measures.Under a state of emergency, business is suspended in locations that serve alcohol or have karaoke.Business are asked not to serve alcohol under pre-emergency measures.Japan has reported a record number of daily COVID cases as the country hosts the Olympics Games in Tokyo.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 14 MB480p | 20 MB540p | 27 MB720p | 55 MB1080p | 108 MBOriginal | 124 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioAsahi Shimbun reported late Thursday that Japan had more than 10,000 daily coronavirus cases, the first time the country’s daily count has exceeded 10,000. Tokyo had 3,865 infections, eclipsing the previous day’s total of 3,177, according to the publication. The newspaper also reported that 24 people associated with the Olympic Games tested positive for COVID-19, including three athletes, bringing the total to 193 for people connected with the Games who have tested positive for COVID-19.WHO officials fear that 47 of Africa’s 54 countries will miss a September target of vaccinating 10% of their populations, a goal set earlier this year by the World Health Assembly, the world’s highest health policy-setting body. Africa accounts for less than 1% of the more than 4 billion vaccine doses administered globally.Many Latin American countries also are lagging. The region, along with the Caribbean, has suffered 1.25 million COVID-19-related deaths and is struggling to secure the vaccines needed by those countries. While Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have inoculated about 50% of their populations, most of the others have managed to vaccinate only about 30% — with Honduras, Guatemala and Venezuela trailing at under 10%.The U.S. sent millions of doses of vaccine to Latin America earlier this month as part of Biden’s commitment to end the pandemic across the globe. One million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine were shipped to Bolivia, a million doses of Pfizer to Paraguay on Friday, and 1.5 million doses of Moderna to Guatemala, according to the White House.Overall, across the globe, just 1.1% of people in low-income countries have received at least one vaccine dose.The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported 196,634,210 global COVID infections early Friday.
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Once seen as a vaccine hoarder, the U.S. is now sharing its COVID-19 doses, acting on the Biden administration’s pledge to deliver a half-billion doses around the world over the next year. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports on some of the countries that have received their first batches.
Producer: Bakhtiyar Zamanov
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A long-delayed Russian laboratory module docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, but hours later the Russian lab knocked the orbiting station out of position when the lab’s thrusters accidentally fired.It took mission controllers nearly an hour to reposition the ISS, which had been bumped 45 degrees out of alignment.  Ground controllers fired Russian thrusters on other Russian elements at the station to fix the positioning.During the repositioning, communications between the ground and the crew went out twice for several minutes.It was “a pretty exciting hour,” according to Kathy Lueders, NASA’s human spaceflight chief.“We haven’t noticed any damage,” space station program manager Joel Montalbano said. “There was no immediate danger at any time to the crew.”The complication forced NASA to delay a Boeing test flight to the ISS that had been scheduled to take off from Florida Friday.The Russian unmanned, 20-ton, nearly 13-meter-long Nauka module — also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module — docked with the ISS following a long and, at times, uncertain journey.The European Space Agency says shortly after its July 21 launch from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the module deployed its solar panels and antennas as scheduled. But soon after, Russia’s mission control center in Moscow said the craft did not receive proper automated data commands and failed to complete an initial burn to raise its orbit.The ESA says flight engineers spent the week running critical propulsion tests and carrying out orbital corrections on the module, which is designed to rendezvous and dock automatically with the ISS using its own engines.The ESA monitored the module launch as it carried with it a robotic arm developed by the agency.The troubled trip to the orbiting space station follows years of problems getting the module off the ground at all. The Nauka — designed to provide more room for scientific experiments and space for the crew — was initially scheduled to go up in 2007 but was repeatedly delayed because of technical problems. Contamination had been found in its fuel system, resulting in a long and costly replacement, and other systems underwent modernization or repairs.The Nauka is now the first new module in the Russian segment of the station since 2010. Russian crewmembers on the station had done two spacewalks to connect cables in preparation for the new arrival. On Monday, one of the older Russian modules, the Pirs spacewalking compartment, undocked from the space station to free up room for the new module.The new module will require many operations, including up to 11 spacewalks beginning in September, to prepare it for operation.Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies. 
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The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has stretched people’s mental health around the globe, and Zimbabwe is no exception. But some Zimbabweans hit hard by the stress have found unique support at the Friendship Bench, one of the country’s biggest counseling services.The Friendship Bench was created in 2006 to provide counseling to those stressed out or depressed by the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe. The organization now has branches at most clinics and hospitals in Harare, and it is the only large mental health therapy service operating in the country.The service is run by volunteers who say they do not want to see Zimbabwean people experience severe anxiety.Chengetayi Nyamukapa, country coordinator for Friendship Bench, says due to COVID-19, the organization is now mainly doing online counseling. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)According to Chengetayi Nyamukapa, country coordinator for Friendship Bench, many people have stopped meeting others in person due to COVID-19.”As Friendship Bench, are saying we are there, we continue to provide counseling to people who are infected, affected by COVID-19 pandemic,” Nyamukapa said. “Again, we are saying that we are unable to do that using our conventional face to face, but what we have done as an organization is to migrate to an online platform. We are accessible via WhatsApp, be it in audio, video call, being it texting and even a general call.”But some, such as Elizabeth Chibeka, still come to their offices. The 49-year-old said her father is battling COVID-19.“I have nothing to pay for his medical bills,” she said. “I am unemployed, I have no means to raise funds even for his food. Those are some of the things stressing me, hence I came here to talk to these people. COVID-19 is there and it’s real, especially where we stay. We are failing to attend funerals because of COVID-19.”Forget Gutuza, 53, one of the counselors at the Friendship Bench, says COVID-19 is dominating her counseling lately. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)Fifty-three-year-old Forget Gutuza, one of the counselors at the Friendship Bench, said COVID-19 is dominating her counseling lately.”COVID-19 has really spread its wings,” she said. “It’s all over. But people are not masking up. I do not know how awareness programs can be done. I wonder why people do not understand the situation we are in.”Dr. Debra Machando, chief of mental health for the World Health Organization’s office in Zimbabwe, said COVID-19 has caused a lot of stress.“Lately we have been seeing a number of psychological disorders, including panic attacks, insomnia, depression, and also a surge in terms of family conflict and violence,” she said. “So, there are a number of things that people can do to mitigate loss of income, to mitigate the stress. The first thing is to understand, to appreciate that we are living in strange times, and things are difficult. When people understand, it also means that they are going to put their expectations into perspective.”This realization might help people to cope as the number of cases of COVID-19 continue to spike in Zimbabwe with the delta variant on the rise.  
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With the delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 rapidly spreading across the country, U.S. President Joe Biden has announced civilian federal government employees must be vaccinated or submit to regular testing and wear masks.“Every federal government employee will be asked to attest to their vaccination status,” the president said Thursday in a speech from the White House East Room. “Anyone who does not attest or is not vaccinated will be required to mask, no matter where they work, test one or two times a week to see if they’ve acquired COVID, socially distance, and generally will not be allowed to travel for work.”The federal government employs more than 4 million Americans, including over 2 million in the federal civilian workforce, a White House statement said.The same standards will apply to federal contractors, Biden added.”If you want to do business with the federal government, get your people vaccinated,” he said.Reporters raise their hands as they shout questions to President Joe Biden after speaking about COVID-19 vaccinations in the East Room of the White House in Washington, July 29, 2021.Labor unions representing federal workers are reacting cautiously.“We expect that the particulars of any changes to working conditions, including those related to COVID-19 vaccines and associated protocols, be properly negotiated with our bargaining units prior to implementation,” said Everett Kelley, the head of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the largest union of federal workers, representing a workforce of 700,000.“Forcing people to undertake a medical procedure is not the American way and is a clear civil rights violation no matter how proponents may seek to justify it,” said Larry Cosme, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), which represents 30,000 people across 65 agencies.”We would, therefore, encourage the administration to work collaboratively with FLEOA and other federal employee groups to incentivize all federal employees to be vaccinated, rather than penalize those who do not,” Cosme said.The decision to get vaccinated is one federal employees will be able to make, “because largely unvaccinated people continue to spread the virus and until we have more people who are vaccinated and are curbing the spread there needs to be proper protocols to keep Americans safe,” the White House deputy press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters prior to the president’s remarks.“And as a large employer, the largest in this country, who cares about the individuals who keep the government running, we have an obligation to be good stewards of the workforce and ensure their health and their safety.”Biden also said he is asking the Department of Defense to explore how and when to add mandatory inoculations for the coronavirus to the list of vaccines required for service personnel.“Our men and women in uniform who protect this country from grave threats should be protected as much as possible from getting COVID-19,” the president said. “I think this is particularly important because our troops serve in places throughout the world, many where vaccination rates are low and disease is prevalent.”The president also discussed whether people who are fully vaccinated will need booster shots.“As of now, my medical advisers say the answer is no,” Biden said. “No American needs a booster now. But if science tells us there’s a need for boosters, that’s something we’ll do.”Asked by a reporter about ordering states to compel vaccinations, the president replied the legality of that is not yet determined.“It’s still a question whether the federal government can mandate the whole country,” he said.Biden also announced the federal government will reimburse private employers who give paid time off to get vaccinated or take a family member to get shots. And he suggested more state and local governments offer $100 to those who get fully vaccinated. Again, the president tried to depoliticize the issue of vaccination.”The vaccine was developed and authorized under a Republican administration” of his predecessor Donald Trump, Biden said.He also repeated that wearing masks “is not a political statement,” while acknowledging widespread frustration with the return to masking.”I know it’s frustrating. I know it’s exhausting to think we’re still in this fight. I know we hoped this would be a simple, straightforward line without problems or new challenges. But that isn’t real life,” he said.Noting that desperate foreign leaders are calling him “almost every day” to plead with him to send more vaccine doses to their countries, Biden said it is “an American blessing that we have vaccines for each and every American. … It’s just a shame to squander that blessing.”
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Experts say in a few years, billionaires and their friends won’t be the only ones who can afford to go to space. Plus, the Mars rover begins the search for ancient life, and new hardware arrives at the International Space Station. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has the Week in Space
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A long-delayed Russian laboratory module docked with the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday, eight days after it was launched from Russia’s space facility in Kazakhstan.The unmanned, 20-ton, nearly 13-meter-long Nauka (Science) module — also known as the Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) — docked with the ISS following a long and, at times, uncertain journey.The European Space Agency (ESA) says shortly after July 21 its launch from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the module deployed its solar panels and antennae as scheduled. But soon after, Russia’s mission control center in Moscow said the craft did not receive proper automated data commands and failed to complete an initial burn to raise its orbit.The ESA says flight engineers spent the week running critical propulsion tests and carrying out orbital corrections on the module, which is designed to rendezvous and dock automatically with the ISS using its own engines.  The ESA monitored the module launch as it carried with it a robotic arm developed by the agency.The troubled trip to the orbiting space station follows years of problems getting the module off the ground at all. The Nauka — designed to provide more room for scientific experiments and space for the crew — was initially scheduled to go up in 2007 but was repeatedly delayed because of technical problems. Contamination had been found in its fuel system, resulting in a long and costly replacement and other systems underwent modernization or repairs.The Nauka is now the first new module in the Russian segment of the station since 2010. Russian crew members on the station had done two spacewalks to connect cables in preparation for the new arrival. On Monday, one of the older Russian modules, the Pirs spacewalking compartment, undocked from the space station to free up room for the new module.The new module will require many operations, including up to 11 spacewalks beginning in September, to prepare it for operation.Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Reuters. 
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The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched people’s mental health everywhere and Zimbabwe is no exception. But some Zimbabweans hit hard by the stress have found unique support at the “Friendship Bench,” now the country’s biggest counseling service. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe 
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Six months after its coup, Myanmar now faces a mushrooming COVID-19 pandemic.Deaths have risen sharply daily during the third, delta variant, infection wave that began May 25; 326 deaths were reported July 23, bringing the coronavirus death toll to 6,459. Myanmar reported 5,506 new infections out of 13,487 samples, a 40% infection rate.  Actual numbers may be higher because of those unable to get into hospitals.Cemeteries struggle to dispose of bodies quickly, without safety measures, and hearses carry three or more bodies, also transported by taxis and cars.  Social media videos and photos show bodies piled for cremation at Yangon cemeteries. Volunteers and staff since the coup wear no protective equipment other than masks.Out of capacityFree funeral operators and aid workers in Yangon say they cannot keep up with a death toll they claim is now around 1,000 a day.Sein Win Than, whose charity service transports bodies, told VOA his organization must transport at least 40 bodies to cemeteries daily but cannot keep up with requests.“We cannot take over 50 bodies a day. We have to wait for hours at the cemetery to drop off the bodies but we cannot wait anymore because of high demand. When we get to the cemetery, we must quickly leave for another trip,” he said.The situation is not unique to Yangon.In Mandalay, the death toll has risen daily because of a hospital doctor and nurse shortage.“About 60 patients die per day, but we can take only 30 dead bodies to the cemetery,” an aid worker told VOA.Kalay, in northwest Myanmar, was the first declared stay-home township when the wave hit. Aid workers and residents estimate the daily death toll has reached 20 to 30 since the last week of June.“Over 500 suspected COVID-19 patients died in Kalay and most are Christians,” Lang Khan Khai, head of Kalay’s Zomi Baptist Aid Group, told VOA July 18, referring to deaths since the last week of June.“The local crematorium was overwhelmed with bodies July 16. Now, we cannot dispose of those bodies following religious rites,” he said. At least 30 people had died every day since June, he said.However, the official count is different. A township health department official said, as of July 17, 275 patients had died out of 1,855 who tested positive in the third wave.COVID-19 infections have forced some funeral services and volunteers supplying oxygen to needy patients to suspend services, but there are also other reasons.Tin Maung Oo, whose Yangon-based charity organization provides oxygen cylinders to needy people, stopped oxygen service July 16.Oxygen is difficult to buy, he said, and some people do not return the cylinders — some rent them to friends, some sell them, so the organization ran out of cylinders.Disobeying orders for loved onesA partial July 19-25 lockdown has been extended to Aug. 1. Enforcement is lax, though, and many choose between following regulations and saving loved ones, including obtaining oxygen. Aid workers and funeral service officials said 80% of pandemic deaths were from lack of oxygen.As of July 17, hundreds of people regularly arrived at oxygen plants at 4 a.m. for refills. They say the curfew and orders make it more difficult when they need oxygen at night but they have no choice.“Getting oxygen is the most important thing for me as my mother really needs it. I don’t care about anything else,” said Ko Moe Zaw, in line at a Yangon oxygen plant July 17. He got up at 3 a.m. to line up for oxygen, but 20 people beat him there.Ko Teik, a 50-year-old garment factory employee, has lost family members because oxygen was not available. His grandfather, father and nephew died this month because of lack of oxygen.”My nephew was the last one. On July 12, his breathing level dropped seriously, and he needed more oxygen, but we could not get enough. I searched all over Yangon to get oxygen. Sadly, he was dead when I did get oxygen,” he said.The coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, said July 12 there is enough oxygen and blamed people for panic buying, warning the public not to spread rumors.“I want the people to cooperate. The main thing is not to take political advantage of it. This is a social issue, not a political issue. This is health issue and also a matter of human life,” he said.The same day, junta spokesperson Major-General Zaw Min Tun told reporters authorities were limiting sales of oxygen to discourage speculation and risky home treatments — some factories have since suspended operations.“We understand some people really need oxygen. In that case, they can buy it with the recommendation of relevant township health officers,” he said.The need for oxygen is increasing as more patients are treated at home, and an oxygen aid worker said oxygen tank prices had more than tripled. Speculators, he said, buy large numbers of cylinders wholesale, pushing resale prices up.The shortage has affected charity ambulances.”We also have to wait for hours for oxygen to be refilled so we can’t bring an oxygen cylinder when we pick up patients. Patients sometimes die in ambulances,” said Zar Ni, who works with a social welfare organization.State media announced July 17 that liquid oxygen tanks had arrived from China in Yangon and Mandalay and more tanks would arrive in days, but they would be used only for government hospitals and facilities. They did arrive and others are coming, including some from individuals or imported from Thailand, which are going to government hospitals.Dying at homePatients are being denied hospitalization and have not received adequate medical treatment at private and government hospitals. Private hospitals cannot provide enough care for COVID-19 patients and government hospitals are similarly hobbled because thousands of medical workers have joined the civil disobedience movement and left hospitals.Health Ministry guidelines say patients with symptoms should contact township health departments, and hospitals will not accept patients without a referral. Although the ministry announced township health department contact numbers, they rarely accept phone calls. Some patients who did get through were advised to stay home and refused referrals. Consequently, most people must cope on their own, despite warnings from medical professionals such as Khin Khin Gyi, the director of the Health Ministry’s Emerging Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Unit, who advises against home treatment and warns oxygen should be used only under expert guidance.“The pandemic is spreading around the world. It is not so easy to treat it at home,” she said.Some are resorting to home care because they do not trust the post-coup military.“Everyone is in trouble and everything has collapsed because of military coup. Instead of seeking help from the dictators, I would rather die at home,” Su Myat, the head of a now-closed Yangon garment factory said.Ma Theingi Htike, a resident of Sittwe, in the western Rakhine state, also had concerns about the military.“We tried to send my sister, who lost her sense of smell and taste, to private hospitals but they were full. Finally, we contacted to township health department, but they refused to provide a referral to admit her to the hospital,” she said. Finally, she said, she concluded that seeking help from military was a waste of time. Similar cases have occurred elsewhere.Aid workers found dead bodies at Yangon homes recently. On July 16, the Metta Thingaha Free Funeral Service found a father and son who had died at home in Yangon. The head of the service said the 70-year-old father was in bed, while his 40-year-old son was in a living room chair with an oxygen cylinder. The next day, Ye Thurein, a member of a township reserve fire brigade said a 70-year-old woman living alone was found dead in her fifth-floor apartment.Some health experts say the toll could rise in coming weeks because of the oxygen shortage, rising medicine prices and scarce medical supplies.“These conditions could put the lives of many people at home at risk and the death rate will definitely increase,” a senior physician in charge of a Mandalay hospital told VOA.Meanwhile, there are reports of a rising death toll as far away as Rakhine state, where the Sinbawkaing refugee camp has been shut down, and Kalay, where Lang Khan Khai, of the Zomi Baptist Aid Group cited local death figures, and which is also facing fighting between local forces and the army.“We expect the worst to happen in the coming months if we cannot control the current situation,” Lang Khan Khai said.   
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Big tech companies are making it mandatory for employees in the United States to get COVID-19 vaccinations before entering campuses, as the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus drives a resurgence in cases.Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. said on Wednesday all U.S. employees must get vaccinated to step into offices. Google is also planning to expand its vaccination drive to other countries in the coming months.According to a Deadline report, streaming giant Netflix Inc. has also implemented a policy mandating vaccinations for the cast and crew on all its U.S. productions.Apple Inc. plans to restore its mask requirement policy at most of its U.S. retail stores, both for customers and staff, even if they are vaccinated, Bloomberg News reported.Apple and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comments.Many tech companies, including Microsoft Corp. and Uber, have said they expect employees to return to their offices, months after pandemic-induced lockdowns forced them to shift to working from home.In April, Salesforce said it would allow vaccinated employees to return to some of its offices.Google also said on Wednesday it would extend its global work-from-home policy through Oct. 18 due to a recent rise in cases caused by the delta variant across different regions.”We’ll continue watching the data carefully and let you know at least 30 days in advance before transitioning into our full return-to-office plans,” the company said.   
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A scientist says fossils she collected from an ancient seabed in the mountains of northwestern Canada may be the earliest evidence of animal life on Earth ever discovered. In a study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature, Laurentian University geologist Elizabeth Turner detailed how she found fossilized three-dimensional structures that resemble modern sponge skeletons in thin sections of rocks taken from the remnants of a prehistoric ocean reef.Turner said the surrounding rock was 890 million years old, which would make the fossils she discovered about 350 million years older than the oldest undisputed sponge fossils previously found.Many scientists believe Earth’s first animal groups included simple, soft sponges or sponge-like creatures that lack muscles and nerves but have other features of simple animals, including cells with differentiated functions. But scientists often disagree on specifically what the earliest animal life might have looked like.Turner’s discovery will be carefully vetted by other scientists, and it has been greeted with excitement and skepticism.Paleobiologist Graham Budd of Sweden’s Uppsala University told The New York Times the problem was the 350 million-year gap between Turner’s discovery and the next most recently discovered fossil. “It would be sensational. It would be like finding a computer chip in a 14th-century monastery,” he said.Turner herself told the Times she could be wrong. But other researchers said her study was important.University of Southern California paleobiologist David Bottjer said he thought Turner had a pretty strong case. “I think this is very worthy of publishing – it puts the evidence out there for other people to consider,” he said.Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
 
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