From a smart dog collar that can tell you your pet’s emotional state to toys that automatically move, the pet tech industry is growing, especially during the pandemic when many people staying at home have been adopting dogs and cats. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more on the latest tech devices for pets.Camera: Elizabeth Lee, Sam Verma
Producer: Elizabeth Lee
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Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus.The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 42,000 people, rattled doctors and big city leaders who said they are now bracing for another deadly resurgence. One hospital executive in Houston said he told his staff they would need more personnel and ventilators.Texas Governor Greg Abbott delivers an announcement in Montelongo’s Mexican Restaurant on March 2, 2021, in Lubbock. Abbott announced that he is rescinding executive orders that limit capacities for businesses and the state wide mask mandate.Federal health officials this week urgently warned states to not let their guard down, warning that the pandemic is far from over.Abbott, a Republican, has faced sustained criticism from his party in America’s biggest red state over the statewide mask mandate — which was imposed eight months ago — as well as business occupancy limits that Texas will also scuttle next week. The mask order was only ever lightly enforced, even during the worst outbreaks of the pandemic.”Removing statewide mandates does not end personal responsibility,” said Abbott, speaking from the crowded dining room of a restaurant in Lubbock, surrounded by several people not wearing masks.”It’s just that now state mandates are no longer needed,” he said.The repeals will take effect March 10.The full impact of Texas’ reversal was still coming into focus. Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, said he had no immediate plans to change the limits on fans at home games. Their biggest crowd so far this season was about 3,000 spectators.Restaurant owners began confronting whether they, too, would relax COVID-19 safeguards in their dining rooms. And school administrators scrambled to figure out how the end of the mask mandate would impact the state’s 5 million public school students.”While we’ve made significant progress, I’d hate to have that go away,” said Tinku Saini, the CEO of Tarka Indian Kitchen, which has locations across Texas. He said Abbott’s announcement left him with mixed feelings, and that he would now allow customers to go maskless but still require face coverings for staff and keep tables spread apart.Abbott joins a growing number of governors across the U.S. who are easing coronavirus restrictions. Like the rest of the country, Texas has seen the number of cases and deaths plunge. Hospitalizations are at the lowest levels since October, and the seven-day rolling average of positive tests has dropped to about 7,600 cases, down from more than 10,000 in mid-February.Only California and New York have reported more COVID-19 deaths than Texas.”Absolutely reckless,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted in response to Abbott’s announcement.Texas is doing away with the restrictions just ahead of the spring break holiday, which health experts worry could lead to more spread as people travel.”The fact that things are headed in the right direction doesn’t mean we have succeeded in eradicating the risk,” said Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, a professor of integrative biology and director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium.She said the recent deadly winter freeze in Texas that left millions of people without power — forcing families to shelter closely with others who still had heat — could amplify transmission of the virus in the weeks ahead, although it remains too early to tell. Masks, she said, are one of the most effective strategies to curb the spread.The top county leader in Houston, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, called the announcement “wishful thinking” and said spikes in hospitalizations have followed past rollbacks of COVID-19 rules.”At worst, it is a cynical attempt to distract Texans from the failures of state oversight of our power grid,” said Hidalgo, a Democrat.Dr. Joseph Varon, chief medical officer at Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center, said he called the hospital’s top leaders immediately after Abbott’s announcement and said they will need more staff and ventilators.”I am just concerned that I am going to have a tsunami of new cases,” Varon said. “I truly hope I am wrong. But, unfortunately, history seems to repeat itself.”Early in the pandemic, Abbott stripped local officials of their power to implement tougher COVID-19 restrictions, but now says counties can impose “mitigation strategies” if virus hospitalizations exceed 15% of all hospital capacity in their region. However, Abbott forbade local officials from imposing penalties for not wearing a face covering.Retailers and other businesses will also still be allowed to impose capacity limits and other restrictions on their own.Abbott imposed the statewide mask mandate in July during a deadly summer surge. But enforcement was spotty at best, and some sheriffs refused to police the restrictions at all. And as the pandemic dragged on, Abbott ruled out a return to tough COVID-19 rules, arguing that lockdowns do not work.Politically, the restrictions elevated tensions between Abbott and his own party, with the head of the Texas GOP at one point leading a protest outside the governor’s mansion. Meanwhile, mayors in Texas’ biggest cities argued that Abbott wasn’t doing enough.Most of the country has lived under mask mandates during the pandemic, with at least 37 states requiring face coverings to some degree. But those orders are increasingly falling by the wayside: North Dakota, Montana and Iowa have also lifted mask orders in recent weeks.In Texas, it was only last week that emergency restrictions on restaurants and businesses were relaxed in the Rio Grande Valley, which has been walloped by the virus like few other places in America.”I appreciate Governor Abbott’s desire to return to normalcy, but I remained concerned that, at least in Hidalgo County, we may be moving too quickly,” Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said.
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The global COVAX vaccine distribution plan aims to deliver tens of millions of vaccine doses to low-income countries — many of them in Africa – in the coming months, top global health officials say, describing this as a turning point in the quest to quash the coronavirus pandemic.The world’s largest, fastest, and most ambitious vaccine drive delivered 11 million vaccine doses Tuesday to Angola, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. Between now and the end of May, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the COVAX facility will deliver 270 million doses to 142 participating countries and economies.The global initiative was set up last April to ensure that poorer nations aren’t left out of the worldwide scramble for vaccine access. The program, which is projected to cost about $11 billion, is funded by donor nations, foundations and corporations. It is part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, a global collaboration that works on the development, production, and equitable access to tests, treatments, and vaccines.Last week, the West African nation of Ghana became the first to benefit from COVAX, receiving 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Among the first recipients were President Nana Akufo-Addo and the first lady, who received their shots on national television Monday in what he said was an effort to boost public confidence in the vaccine. Akufo-Addo plans to vaccinate the rest of his country by the end of the year, he said. “The world has seen already the great value of the COVAX facility,” he told journalists via teleconference on Tuesday. “COVID-19 is a global problem. It requires a global solution. Unless every country is protected, no country will be safe. We all fell together. Let us all rise together.”Ivory Coast also launched its COVAX vaccination program this week.“We’ve now see Africa’s first vaccinations and the COVAX doses in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Truly moving ceremonies in both countries were held yesterday,” said UNICEF director Henrietta Fore. “But what took place on Monday is more than a feel-good story that speaks to our collective best natures. It is a necessary first step that speaks to our collective best interests. The only way out of this pandemic is to ensure vaccination is available around the globe and that people from less wealthy countries are not left behind in the race to be protected.”Tedros says while the vaccine deliveries are good news, he’s thinking much bigger. “When the history of the pandemic is written, I believe that the accelerator and COVAX will be one of the standout successes,” he said. “This is an unprecedented partnership that will not only change the course of the pandemic, but will also change the way the world responds to future health emergencies.”Officials say the next step is to bring vaccine manufacturing to the continent. Currently, most vaccines available to the continent come from the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India. Akufo-Addo said Ghana is working on a plan to manufacture vaccines locally. And Dr. John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the African Union will meet next month to discuss how to do this as a continent.“All of that speaks to the need for our own ability to stand up and say that we, as the people, of 1.2 billion people, will continue to invest in our own health security, our economic security that increasingly is being threatened by covid-19,” he said. “It is this perspective that we look forward to working with all countries that will be receiving these COVAX vaccines to ensure that they are distributed effectively, [to] provide the appropriate support from the African CDC and partnerships that will enable us to distribute these vaccines in a timely fashion.”This vaccine rollout, Nkengasong said, is the first step in a thousand-mile journey. But in this voyage, he said, the African continent is — finally — keeping step with the rest of the world.
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Bunny Wailer, a reggae luminary who was the last surviving member of the legendary group The Wailers, died on Tuesday in his native Jamaica, according to his manager. He was 73.
Wailer, a baritone singer whose birth name is Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers in 1963 with late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh when they lived in a slum in the capital of Kingston.
They first recorded catapulted to international fame with the album, “Catch a Fire.” In addition to their music, the Wailers and other Rasta musicians popularized Rastafarian culture among better-off Jamaicans starting in the 1970s.
Wailer’s death was mourned worldwide as people shared pictures, music and memories of the renown artist.
“The passing of Bunny Wailer, the last of the original Wailers, brings to a close the most vibrant period of Jamaica’s musical experience,” wrote Jamaica politician Peter Phillips in a Facebook post. “Bunny was a good, conscious Jamaican brethren.”
Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, also paid tribute to Wailer, calling him “a respected elder statesman of the Jamaican music scene,” in a series of tweets.
“This is a great loss for Jamaica and for Reggae, undoubtedly Bunny Wailer will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music industry and Jamaica’s culture,” he wrote.
While Wailer toured the world, he was more at home in Jamaica’s mountains and he enjoyed farming while writing and recording songs on his label, Solomonic.
“I think I love the country actually a little bit more than the city,” Wailer told The Associated Press in 1989. “It has more to do with life, health and strength. The city takes that away sometimes. The country is good for meditation. It has fresh food and fresh atmosphere – that keeps you going.”
A year before, in 1988, he had chartered a jet and flew to Jamaica with food to help those affected by Hurricane Gilbert.
“Sometimes people pay less attention to those things (food) but they turn out to be the most important things. I am a farmer,” he told the AP.
The three-time Grammy winner died at the Andrews Memorial Hospital in the Jamaican parish of St Andrew, his manager, Maxine Stowe, told reporters. His cause of death was not immediately clear. Local newspapers had reported he was in and out of the hospital after a stroke nearly a year ago.
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U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck has agreed to help manufacture rival Johnson & Johnson’s new coronavirus vaccine to help speed production of millions of new doses of the single shots to inoculate more Americans in the coming months, White House officials said Tuesday.Johnson & Johnson has encountered unexpected production problems, even as it won emergency use approval last weekend for the vaccine. The company has manufactured 3.9 million doses so far, but says it is on pace to produce 100 million doses by the end of June.President Joe Biden is set to spell out details of the agreement between the two pharmaceutical companies later Tuesday. But officials familiar with the deal say Merck will use two sites in the U.S., one to help make the vaccine and the other to provide “fill-finish” services, the final stage in the production process in which the vaccine is placed in vials and packaged for distribution.The Merck agreement with its drug-making rival could sharply increase the number of doses Johnson & Johnson could make on its own, the officials said. Merck failed in its efforts to develop its own coronavirus vaccine, but the company has made vaccines for a century. It is the sole U.S. supplier of the combination childhood vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella. It developed Gardasil, which protects against the human papillomavirus, while the Food and Drug Administration approved its Ebola vaccine in 2019.With the approval of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the U.S. now has three medical treatments to fight the spread of the virus, along with two-shot regimens produced by drug makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.Pharmacy technicians fill syringes with a COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation site in Portland, Maine, March 2, 2021.After the FDA’s approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the company said it would immediately ship nearly 4 million doses in the United States, and a total of 20 million by the end of March. That is 17 million less than originally expected although the company still says it expects to markedly increase its production pace in coming months.A top Johnson & Johnson executive told Congress last week that it hopes to manufacture 1 billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021.The mass inoculations in the U.S. are first targeting health care workers, older people living in nursing homes, such essential personnel as police and firefighters, teachers, people 65 and older and those with underlying health problems.U.S. health officials are hoping that the country’s sense of normalcy might return by the end of 2021, but that is dependent on the widespread vaccination of millions of adults and later, possibly children. So far, 75 million vaccine doses have been administered to about 15% of the country’s adult population, with half that percentage receiving both shots of the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna regimens. About 1.7 million shots are being administered daily.The spread of the coronavirus has slowed in the U.S. But 50,000 or 60,000 new cases are still being diagnosed each day and another 1,500 people or so are dying.The U.S. has totaled more than 514,000 deaths and more than 28.6 million infections, both higher totals than in any other country, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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President Emmerson Mnangagwa has relaxed Zimbabwe’s coronavirus lockdown, saying new infections continue to decrease. Vendors welcome the move but say they need help buying protective equipment so they can safely operate. Meanwhile, the main opposition party says more needs to be done to help the country bounce back from the pandemic.In a nationally televised address late Monday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe was with immediate effect relaxing most lockdown regulations – which the country reimposed early January following a spike in cases.“It is noteworthy that the number of COVID-19 positive cases, fatalities and hospitalizations continue to steadily decrease. We must, however, remain alert and on guard to maintain this positive momentum attained so far. The government has rolled out the first phase of the national COVID-19 vaccination program which targets the front-line workers, security sector, and members of the media, the elderly and those with underlying conditions. More vaccines are coming and people will have the opportunity to be vaccinated,” said the president.The country started a vaccination drive last month after receiving 200,000 doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine donated by Chinese government.Samuel Wadzai welcomes, March 2, 2021, the government’s decision to allow informal traders to resume operating.(Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)Samuel Wadzai leads the activist group Vendors Initiative Social and Economic Transformation in Zimbabwe. He welcomed the government’s decision to allow informal traders to resume operating.“This is going to significantly help us to survive. The lockdown itself was causing a lot of suffering. The informal sector was heavily affected,” he said.But Wadzi wants the government to help vendors obtain personal protective equipment to avoid a new surge in cases.“The majority of informal traders are unable to buy those PPEs given that they have been out of business a long time. We really need to go back to work and cover for the lost revenue during the lockdown,” he said.Fadzayi Mahere is the spokeswoman for the country’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, and has just recovered from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. She said the government has been using lockdowns to restrict freedoms.Fadzayi Mahere says March 2, 2021, Zimbabwe needs a plan to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)She also said Zimbabwe needs a plan to bounce back from the pandemic.“There is no post-COVID economic revival plan. There is no post-COVID social support plan. Both big and small businesses are facing closure and there is no policy plan to ease the pressure. The question of social safety nets remains wholly unanswered. We have ordinary people in rural areas, townships and vendors, more vulnerable than ever. Nothing has been done to address their plight,” said Mahere.The government has offered small monthly grants to ease people’s suffering, but the money is not enough to buy a dozen loaves of bread.Zimbabwe currently has about 36,000 confirmed infections and close to 1,470 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the global outbreak.
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France will now vaccinate people aged 65 years and older with the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca. The decision was announced Tuesday by Health Minister Olivier Veran during a televised interview. Veran said anyone older than the age of 50 with pre-existing conditions can receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, “including those between 65 and 74.” France was among many European nations that refused to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca for its elderly citizens. The developers did not enroll many people in those age groups for their large-scale clinical trials, leading to a lack of data about its potential efficacy. French President Emmanuel Macron even went so far as describing the vaccine as “quasi-ineffective.” FILE – A medical worker holds a vial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a mass vaccination center at the Cecchignola military compound, in Rome, Italy, Feb. 23, 2021.But health officials say further data from clinical trials has proved its efficacy among older people. The reversal is sure to jumpstart France’s slow vaccination campaign, which has been hampered by a shortage of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. France’s change of heart coincides with a real-world study conducted in Britain that found the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford University-AstraZeneca are highly effective in protecting elderly people from the disease after receiving just one shot. Researchers at Public Health England say the respective two-dose vaccines are more than 80% effective at preventing people in their 80s from being hospitalized around three to four weeks after the first shot is administered. FILE – A woman receives the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine at the Pasteur Institute during a vaccination program, in Paris, Jan. 21, 2021.The study also found that the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was between 57% and 61% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections among people at least 70 years old, while the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was between 60% and 73% effective. The study, posted online Monday, has not undergone the customary peer-review process. Britain was the first European country to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for all of its citizens regardless of age. US sticks to two-dose regimenIn the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Washington Post Tuesday the United States will stick with the two-dose regimen of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines. A growing number of public health experts have urged government health officials to use millions of doses intended to be used as second shots instead be used as first doses, as millions of adult Americans have not been inoculated due to an acute shortage of vaccines. But Dr. Fauci warned that switching to a single-dose strategy could leave people less protected and enable the growing number of variants to spread. FILE – Workers for the U.S. federal government prepare the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines at a new mass vaccination center in Oakland, California, Feb. 16, 2021.The nation’s leading infectious-disease expert tells the Post that “the gap between supply and demand is going to be diminished and then overcome” very soon as both Pfizer and Moderna fulfill their commitment to provide 220 million total doses by the end of March, along with Johnson & Johnson’s pledge to deliver 20 million doses of its one-shot COVID-19 vaccine this month. New cases on the riseThe World Health Organization said new coronavirus cases increased globally for the first time in seven weeks, and officials expressed concern that cases could again rise significantly. “We need to have a stern warning for all of us that this virus will rebound if we let it,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead for COVID-19, said Monday at a news briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the rise in cases occurred in four regions: the Americas, the eastern Mediterranean, Europe and Southeast Asia. He said the development was “disappointing but not surprising” and said part of the spike appeared to be the result of the “relaxing of public health measures.” FILE – Health staff attends to a patient at the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dedicated ICU unit of the Tras-Os-Montes E Alto Douro Hospital, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Vila Real, Portugal, Feb. 22, 2021.Michael Ryan, director of WHO’s emergencies program, said, “Right now, the virus is very much in control” and said it was “unrealistic” to think the pandemic might be stopped by the end of the year. The warnings come after a sharp fall of coronavirus cases and deaths in many parts of the world, which along with vaccine developments, had led to hopes that the spread of the coronavirus would continue on a downward trend. In the United States, health officials are warning that another surge in cases could be on the horizon, as newer and more infectious variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 are growing more frequently. The new upward trend in cases comes as most states are easing coronavirus restrictions.
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One in four of the world’s population will suffer from hearing problems by 2050, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, calling for extra investment in prevention and treatment. The first-ever global report on hearing said that the causes of many of the problems — such as infections, diseases, birth defects, noise exposure and lifestyle choices — could be prevented. The report proposed a package of measures, which it calculated would cost $1.33 per person per year. Against that, it set the figure of nearly $1 trillion lost every year because the issue was not being properly addressed. “Failure to act will be costly in terms of the health and well-being of those affected, and the financial losses arising from their exclusion from communication, education and employment,” said the report. One in five people worldwide have hearing problems currently, it said. But the report warned: “The number of people with hearing loss may increase more than 1.5-fold during the next three decades” to 2.5 billion people — up from 1.6 billion in 2019. Of the 2.5 billion, 700 million would in 2050 have a serious enough condition to require some kind of treatment, it added — up from 430 million in 2019. Much of the expected rise is the result of demographic and population trends, it added. Poor access to treatment A major contributor to hearing problems is a lack of access to care, which is particularly striking in low-income countries where there are far fewer professionals available to treat them. Since nearly 80% of people with hearing loss live in such countries, most are not getting the help they need. Even in richer countries with better facilities, access to care is often uneven, the report said. And a lack of accurate information and the stigma surrounding ear disease and hearing loss also prevents people getting the care they need. “Even among health-care providers, knowledge relevant to prevention, early identification and management of hearing loss and ear diseases is commonly lacking,” it noted. The report proposed a package of measures, including public health initiatives from reducing noise in public spaces to increasing vaccinations for diseases such as meningitis that can cause hearing loss. It also recommended systematic screening to identify the problem at key points in people’s lives. Among children, it said, hearing loss could be prevented in 60% of cases. “An estimated 1 trillion U.S. dollars is lost each year due to our collective failure to adequately address hearing loss,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the report. “While the financial burden is enormous, what cannot be quantified is the distress caused by the loss of communication, education and social interaction that accompanies unaddressed hearing loss.”
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A third COVID-19 vaccine is heading to clinics and pharmacies across the United States. But U.S. health officials are warning that another surge in cases could be on the horizon.Regulators authorized the vaccine from pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson over the weekend. Nearly 4 million doses are expected to be available at vaccination sites beginning as soon as Tuesday.But after a sharp fall over the past several weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths has increased again. Experts are concerned that newer, more infectious variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 may be taking over.The reversal comes as most states are easing restrictions that contain the disease.”Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press briefing of the White House COVID-19 Response Team.Though the numbers have declined, the National Guard personnel check in people as they wait to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, Feb. 26, 2021, in Shelbyville, Tennessee.”Please hear me clearly,” Walensky said. “At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress.”Effective against severe diseaseThe Johnson & Johnson vaccine was about 85% effective in preventing severe illness in a clinical trial spanning eight countries on three continents.That includes South Africa, where a more transmissible coronavirus variant dominates cases.”Even though the vaccine itself was not specifically directed against [that variant], it did extremely well when it came to preventing severe critical disease,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, noted at the briefing.Though three vaccines are now available, experts are urging people not to try to pick and choose.”All three vaccines are safe and highly effective at preventing what we care about most, and that’s very serious illness and death,” Marcella Nunez-Smith, the Biden administration’s COVID-19 health equity task force chair, told reporters at the briefing.”As a physician, I strongly urge everyone in America to get the first vaccine that is available to you when it is your turn,” she said. “If people want to opt for one vaccine over another, they may have to wait. Time is of the essence. Getting vaccinated saves lives.”Easier to useUnlike the shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one shot and does not need to be frozen.A pharmacist prepares a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination site at NYC Health + Hospitals Metropolitan, in New York, Feb. 18, 2021.This easier-to-use vaccine could be distributed in pop-up vaccination sites, mobile clinics or other places without freezers.Immediately after regulators gave the go-ahead, Johnson & Johnson began shipping its entire 3.9 million dose inventory of the vaccine. The company expects to deliver another 16 million doses by the end of March.But COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said supplies will be “uneven” for the next couple of weeks. He said most of the doses will arrive in late March.He urged people to continue wearing masks and social distancing, and to get vaccinated when their turn comes.”There is a path out of this pandemic,” he said, “but how quickly we exit this crisis depends on all of us.”
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More than 86,000 people died from drug overdoses last year in the U.S. – a massive increase of just over 24 percent. It is an epidemic that as VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports, has been shoved in the shadows by the pandemic – but is no less serious a public health issue.Camera: Veronica Balderas Iglesias Produced by: Veronica Balderas Iglesias
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Scientists with the British Antarctica Survey (BAS) say a huge iceberg — larger than New York City — has broken off from the northwestern Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, almost 10 years after scientists discovered the first cracks. In a statement on its website, the BAS says the iceberg broke away Friday and that it covers about 1,270 square kilometers. The BAS says the mass is about 150 meters thick. The agency said Halley Research Station, also situated on Brunt Ice Shelf, is not expected to be impacted as it is located on an area of the ice shelf still connected to the continent. The BAS took the precaution of moving the station in 2016 to avoid the paths of cracks in the ice its staff had been observing. In the statement, the BAS director, Professor Dame Jane Francis, said agency scientists were expecting the break, known as calving, to happen, after daily monitoring of the area with GPS instruments and satellite imagery. Francis said the iceberg is expected to either move away or run aground not far from the Brunt Ice Self.
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An international study shows an upward trend in support for receiving COVID-19 vaccines in several countries compared to the end of 2020, with the biggest increase in Britain and Sweden. Multinational communication firm Kekst CNC Monday published the results of the survey conducted in six countries – Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and United States. The poll indicated 89% of Britons were in favor of getting vaccinated now, compared to 65% last September.The AstraZeneca vaccine is prepared in the COVID-19 vaccination center at the Odeon Luxe Cinema in Maidstone, Britain, Feb. 10, 2021.In Sweden, 76% of those interviewed were in favor of inoculation, compared to 51% in September 2020. The study shows that 68% of men worldwide support vaccination, the ratio is lower among women at 55%. Older and middle-aged people have become more likely to get a vaccine since September, the survey found. The study also shows that 75% of Britons are pleased with the pace of the vaccination campaign in the country, but the ratio drops in the other countries surveyed, to 32% in U.S., 22% in France and 20% in Sweden. Kekst CNC conducted the survey in mid-February over ten days, with samples of 1,000 adults in each country and margin of error of 3.3 percent for all participating counties. Sunday, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel endorsed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, voting overwhelmingly to recommend the shot for adults older than 18. CDC recommendations are not binding but are widely respected by medical institutions and professionals. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky later approved the panel’s recommendations.FILE – Vials of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine candidate are seen in an undated photograph.Sunday’s CDC endorsement came one day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally authorized the use of the one-dose vaccine. Nearly 4 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be distributed and available as early as Tuesday morning, according to a senior administration official. This vaccine, the third to be approved for use in the United States, will be distributed to states, tribes and territories proportional to their populations – the same way the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been distributed. Health officials in the U.S. welcomed the third vaccine, which has been eagerly awaited largely because it requires only one shot, but officials urged Americans to receive whichever vaccine is first available to them, reiterating that all three have proved to be safe and effective. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 85% effective against serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to data from a study that spanned three continents. The shot kept its protection even in the countries where the South African variant is spreading. Johnson & Johnson is also seeking authorization for emergency use of its vaccine in Europe and from the World Health Organization. As of Sunday evening, about 28.6 million Americans have had COVID-19 and more than 513,000 have died from the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center. The U.S. continues to lead the world in the number of coronavirus infections, followed by India with more than 11 million infections and Brazil with more than 10.5 million.
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Here are the winners in key categories for the 78th Golden Globe Awards, which were handed out on Sunday. “Nomadland” boosted its Oscars momentum by taking home the prizes for best drama film and best director for Chloe Zhao. On the comedy side, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” was named best musical or comedy film, and Sacha Baron Cohen was named best comedy actor. “The Crown” dominated in the television drama categories. Comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were back to host the event — the first major awards show of a pandemic-era season that culminates with the Oscars on April 25 — though they were on opposite coasts due to the coronavirus crisis. FILM Best film, drama: “Nomadland” Best film, musical or comedy: “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” Best director: Chloe Zhao, “Nomadland” Best actor, drama: Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Best actress, drama: Andra Day, “The United States vs Billie Holiday” Best actor, musical or comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” Best actress, musical or comedy: Rosamund Pike, “I Care A Lot” Best supporting actor: Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah” Best supporting actress: Jodie Foster, “The Mauritanian” Best foreign language film: “Minari” Best animated feature: “Soul” TELEVISION Best drama series: “The Crown” Best drama actor: Josh O’Connor, “The Crown” Best drama actress: Emma Corrin, “The Crown” Best musical or comedy series: “Schitt’s Creek” Best musical or comedy actor: Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso” Best musical or comedy actress: Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek” Best supporting actor: John Boyega, “Small Axe” Best supporting actress: Gillian Anderson, “The Crown” Best limited series or TV movie: “The Queen’s Gambit” Best limited series or TV movie actor: Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True” Best limited series or TV movie actress: Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit”
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The Philippines launched its national coronavirus vaccination campaign Monday amid widespread public skepticism and a struggle to procure vaccines. Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, the director of the state-run Philippine General Hospital in Manila, received the first dose of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by China-based Sinovac Biotech Limited. The doctor’s inoculation came just hours after President Rodrigo Duterte greeted the arrival of 600,000 doses of Sinovac donated by Beijing. The Philippines is the last Southeast Asian nation to receive a COVID-19 vaccine supply. The Duterte administration is aiming to vaccinate 70 million of its citizens, but some public opinion polls have revealed a resistance among a majority of people due to uncertainty over the safety and efficacy of the CoronaVac vaccine.Used vials of China’s Sinovac vaccine are shown during the first batch of vaccination at the Lung Center of the Philippines in Quezon city, Philippines on March 1, 2021.But Carlito Galvez, who is leading the Philippines’ vaccine procurement efforts, urged his compatriots to get the first vaccine that becomes available. “Let’s not wait for the best vaccine. There’s no such thing,” Galvez said in a speech at the Philippine General Hospital. “The best vaccine is the one that’s safe and effective, and arrives early.” But just receiving vaccines has been an issue. An expected shipment of 525,600 doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine that was due Monday has been postponed due to supply problems. The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the Pacific archipelago, sickening more than 576,000 people, including 12,318 deaths, the second-highest in the region. President Duterte has vowed to ease some of the restrictions imposed in an effort to boost the Philippine economy once more vaccines are available.
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Drama “Nomadland” and satire “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” won movie honors at the Golden Globes on Sunday in a mostly virtual bicoastal ceremony that was marked by impassioned calls for more diversity and the dominance of Netflix. “Nomadland,” a moving drama about van dwellers in recession-hit America from Searchlight Pictures, also took the best director prize for Chinese-born Chloe Zhao.It made Zhao only the second woman to win at the Globes in that category, and the first woman director of Asian descent to win. “For everyone who has gone through this difficult and beautiful journey at some point in their lives, this is for you,” said Zhao. “We don’t say goodbye, we say see you down the road,” she said, quoting a line from the movie. The two wins for “Nomadland” increased the profile of the film ahead of nominations in March for the Oscars. Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” from Amazon Studios was named best comedy movie actor, while singer Andra Day was a surprise winner for her lead role in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” “Donald Trump is contesting the result!” Baron Cohen joked about the win for the “Borat” sequel, which was a satire on the America of the former U.S. president. Netflix Inc’s period drama “Mank,” about “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, had gone into Sunday’s show with a leading six nods but ended the night empty-handed.78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, Feb. 28, 2021.Nevertheless, the streaming service was the biggest winner on Sunday, with four wins in the movie field and six for television, including best TV drama series “The Crown” and limited series chess saga “The Queen’s Gambit.” The usual chummy gathering of A-listers at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills, California, was replaced by webcams in the homes of celebrities that were either dressed up or, like “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis, in casual garb. Hosted by Tina Fey in New York and Amy Poehler in Beverly Hills, the small physical audiences were made up of masked frontline workers. Peter Morgan, creator of “The Crown” said he missed being together. “I’m just sorry I am sitting here in my tragic little office and not surrounded by the people who make this show such a pleasure,” Morgan said, appearing by video. However Jodie Foster, a best supporting actress winner for the Guantanamo prison legal drama “The Mauritanian,” told reporters backstage that she felt it was one of the best Golden Globe shows ever. “It didn’t feel like it was filled with so much artifice,” said Foster. Emotional high points included a posthumous best actor award for Chadwick Boseman, who died at age 43 last August from an undisclosed battle with cancer. “He would say something beautiful,” said his widow Simone Ledward Boseman, as she fought back tears. “I don’t have his words.” British actors Daniel Kaluuya and John Boyega were among other Black winners chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which has been lambasted in recent days for having no Black people among its 87 members.Daniel Kaluuya at the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards, Feb. 28, 2021.”Soul,” the first Pixar movie to have a Black character in the lead, was named best animated movie and won best score. The HFPA was the target of jokes and comments throughout the night. “We all know awards shows are stupid,” said Fey. “Even in stupid things, inclusivity is important and there are no Black members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.” Members of the HFPA appeared briefly on Sunday’s show and pledged to do better. Jane Fonda, 83, used her lifetime achievement acceptance speech to make the case for elevating all voices in Hollywood, saying that stories “really can change people.”
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Black British actors Daniel Kaluuya and John Boyega, and animated movie “Soul,” were among the early winners at Sunday’s virtual Golden Globes ceremony, which took place under a cloud following a furor over diversity.Kaluuya won best supporting actor for his role as Black Panther activist Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah.””This took it out of me. I gave everything,” said Kaluuya, accepting the award via a webcam.Boyega won the supporting actor award for his role in the “Small Axe” series of TV movies about life as a Black person in 1970s London. “Soul,” the first Pixar movie to have a black character in the lead, was named best animated movie.The usual chummy gathering of A-listers at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills has been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic and controversy over the lack of Black members in the 87-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) whose members choose the Golden Globe winners.Actor Laura Dern presents the Best Supporting Actor award, in this handout photo from the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, Feb. 28, 2021.Three members of the HFPA appeared on the show and pledged to do better.”We look forward to a more inclusive future,” said Ali Sar, the current president, who is from Turkey.Comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, hosting from New York and Los Angeles respectively, opened the show by lobbing a series of jokes at the expense of the HFPA.”Let’s see what these European weirdos nominated this year,” Fey said.”We all know awards shows are stupid,” she said. “Even in stupid things, inclusivity is important and there are no Black members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. I realize HFPA maybe you guys didn’t get the memo … but you’ve got to change that.”In the movie category, Netflix period drama “Mank,” about the screenwriter of “Citizen Kane,” went into Sunday’s show with a leading six nominations, including for best drama movie, for actors Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, and for director David Fincher.The biggest competition comes from Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland,” a moving documentary-style drama about van dwellers in recession-hit America, and star-laden 1960s hippie courtroom drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” also from Netflix. The #MeToo revenge black comedy “Promising Young Woman” and the unsettling aging tale “The Father” round out the film drama nominations.Aaron Sorkin won the Golden Globe for best screenplay for “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”The Disney+ TV film of hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” and Amazon Studios’ “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” a satire on the America of former President Donald Trump, are seen as front-runners in the best comedy or musical movie category.For television, the Netflix royal series “The Crown” leads the way with six nods, followed by quirky small-town comedy “Schitt’s Creek” on Pop TV.”Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, whose death at 43 of an undisclosed battle with cancer stunned fans and the industry, is considered the favorite for a best actor Golden Globe. His last performance, as a brash trumpet player in drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” was released after his death.Jane Fonda and TV producer Norman Lear will get lifetime achievement awards on Sunday.
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Spacewalking astronauts ventured out Sunday to install support frames for new, high-efficiency solar panels arriving at the International Space Station later this year.NASA’s Kate Rubins and Victor Glover put the first set of mounting brackets and struts together, then bolted them into place next to the station’s oldest and most degraded solar wings. But the work took longer than expected, and they barely got started on the second set before calling it quits.Rubins will finish the job during a second spacewalk later this week.The spacewalkers had to lug out hundreds of pounds of mounting brackets and struts in 2.5-meter (8-foot) duffel-style bags. The equipment was so big and awkward that it had to be taken apart like furniture, just to get through the hatch.Some of the attachment locations required extra turns of the power drill and still weren’t snug enough, as indicated by black lines. The astronauts had to use a ratchet wrench to deal with the more stubborn bolts, which slowed them down. At one point, they were two hours behind.”Whoever painted this black line painted outside the lines a little bit,” Glover said at one particularly troublesome spot.”We’ll work on our kindergarten skills over here,” Mission Control replied, urging him to move on.With more people and experiments flying on the space station, more power will be needed to keep everything running, according to NASA. The six new solar panels — to be delivered in pairs by SpaceX over the coming year or so — should boost the station’s electrical capability by as much as 30%.Rubins and Glover tackled the struts for the first two solar panels, set to launch in June. Their spacewalk ended up lasting seven hours, a bit longer than planned.”Really appreciate your hard work. I know there were a lot of challenges,” Mission Control radioed.The eight solar panels up there now are 12 to 20 years old — most of them past their design lifetime and deteriorating. Each panel is 34 meters (112 feet) long by 12 meters (39 feet) wide. Tip to tip counting the center framework, each pair stretches 73 meters (240 feet) longer than a Boeing 777’s wingspan.Boeing is supplying the new roll-up panels, about half the size of the old ones but just as powerful thanks to the latest solar cell technology. They’ll be placed at an angle above the old ones, which will continue to operate.A prototype was tested at the space station in 2017.Rubins’ helmet featured a new high-definition camera that provided stunning views, particularly those showing the vivid blue Earth 435 kilometers (270 miles) below. “Pretty fantastic,” observed Mission Control.Sunday’s spacewalk was the third for infectious disease specialist Rubins and Navy pilot Glover — both of whom could end up flying to the moon.They’re among 18 astronauts newly assigned to NASA’s Artemis moon-landing program. The next moonwalkers will come from this group.Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris put in a congratulatory call to Glover, the first African American astronaut to live full time at the space station. NASA released the video exchange Saturday.”The history making that you are doing, we are so proud of you,” Harris said. Like other firsts, Glover replied, it won’t be the last. “We want to make sure that we can continue to do new things,” he said.Rubins will float back out Friday with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi to wrap up the solar panel prep work and to vent and relocate ammonia coolant hoses.Glover and Noguchi were among four astronauts arriving via SpaceX in November. Rubins launched from Kazakhstan in October alongside two Russians. They’re all scheduled to return to Earth this spring.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally authorized the use of the Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine Saturday, clearing the way for shots to go into arms as early as Monday.The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is 85% effective against serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to data from a study that spanned three continents. The shot kept its protection even in the countries where the South African variant is spreading.The one-and-done inoculation has been eagerly awaited by health officials who want to speed vaccinations in a race against the coronavirus and its worrisome mutations. As of Saturday evening, more than 28.5 million Americans have had COVID-19 and nearly 512,000 have died from the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.Biden: Don’t let upPresident Joe Biden praised the “exciting news for all Americans” in a statement Saturday evening but urged Americans not to let their “guard down now.”“I want to be clear: This fight is far from over,” he said. “I urge all Americans — keep washing your hands, stay socially distanced and keep wearing masks. As I have said many times, things are still likely to get worse again as new variants spread, and the current improvement could reverse.”An FDA advisory panel unanimously endorsed the vaccine Friday, paving the way for the agency’s authorization.Edmond Lomas III receives his COVID-19 vaccination at Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit, Feb. 27, 2021.The one-dose vaccine is the third coronavirus inoculation approved by the FDA, after the two-dose vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.By the end of March, Johnson & Johnson has said it expects to deliver 20 million doses to the U.S., and 100 million by summer, The Associated Press reported. Johnson & Johnson is also seeking authorization for emergency use of its vaccine in Europe and from the World Health Organization.Auckland lockdownIn New Zealand, residents of Auckland, a city of nearly 2 million people, began a seven-day lockdown Sunday, the second in the month since the more contagious U.K. variant of the coronavirus emerged there.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the lockdown Saturday because of a person who was infectious for a week but had not isolated.”It is more than likely there will be additional cases in the community,” Ardern told a press conference Sunday, although no new cases had been recorded.New Zealand, a nation of 5 million people, identified its first COVID-19 case on February 29, 2020, and since then has seen almost 2,400 cases of COVID-19 and 26 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins data.
Japan reported 329 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, slightly down from 337 a day earlier, according to national broadcaster NHK. FILE – Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks at the Hallam Conference Centre in London, Dec. 18, 2019.Meanwhile, Britain’s Trades Union Congress said in a study that the pandemic had provided a “mirror to the structural racism” in Britain, with the unemployment rate for communities of color double that of their white contemporaries during the pandemic.In Russia, the coronavirus crisis center confirmed 11,359 new coronavirus cases on Sunday and 379 deaths in the past 24 hours. The total number of infections in the country stands at 4,246,079 to date and the death toll at 86,122. Elsewhere, the Vatican’s ambassador to Iraq, Archbishop Mitja Leskovar, has tested positive for COVID-19. The announcement comes a week before Pope Francis’ March 5-9 trip to the country. Leskovar, whose title is apostolic nuncio, said in a statement that he was experiencing only light symptoms so far. “This is not going to influence the pope’s program, which is going on as planned,” he said.
France will impose weekend lockdowns in Paris and 19 other regions at the beginning of March if coronavirus infections continue to accelerate. A Nice resident and her dog go for a bike ride during virus-related confinement in Nice, southern France, Feb. 27, 2021. Nice and the surrounding coastal area will be under weekend lockdowns for at least two weeks.France will impose weekend lockdowns in Paris and 19 other regions at the beginning of March if coronavirus infections continue to accelerate. The Czech government announced tighter restrictions beginning March 1. In Latin America, new containment measures were imposed in several Brazilian cities and states. The U.S. continues to lead the world in the number of coronavirus infections with more than 28.5 million cases, followed by India with over 11 million infections and Brazil with more than 10.5 million.
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There’s a new player in the social media webspace: it’s called Clubhouse. But unlike other social media platforms this one isn’t open to just anyone. Mariia Prus looked into why the platform got so popular so fast.
Camera: Oleksii Osyka
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When drained of glamour, what’s left of the Golden Globes?That’s one of the biggest questions heading into the 78th annual awards on Sunday night. The show, postponed two months from its usual early-January perch, will have little of what makes the Globes one of the frothiest and glitziest events of the year. Due to the pandemic, there will be no parade of stars down the red carpet outside the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. Its hosts, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, will be on different sides of the country.More than any award show, the Globes revel in being an intimate banquet of stars. When the show begins at 8 p.m. EST on NBC, with Poehler in Beverly Hills and Fey in New York’s Rainbow Room, the circumstances will test the Globes telecast like never before.Presenters will include Awkwafina, Joaquin Phoenix, Kristen Wiig, Tiffany Haddish, Margot Robbie and Angela Bassett. At least some of them will be present at one of the two locations. Pre-show coverage is still going forward on E! beginning at 4 p.m. EST and on NBC beginning at 7 p.m. EST. The telecast will be streamed on NBC’s website with a television-provider log-in, as well as on the Roku Channel, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV, Sling TV and Fubo TV.Lack of diversityBut pandemic improvising is only part of the damage control the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the Globes, finds itself dealing with this year. A pair of extensive reports by the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times in the week leading up to the awards renewed scrutiny on the press association and its 87 voting members.While the HFPA has long been known as an organization with members of questionable qualification — most of its members don’t write for well-known publications — and are known for being swayed by high-priced junkets, the reports again forced the HFPA to defend itself.Among the most damning details was the revelation that there are no Black voting members in the group, something that only reinforced criticism that the press association — which host Ricky Gervais last year called “very, very racist” in his opening monologue — needs overhauling. This year, none of the most acclaimed Black-led films — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, One Night in Miami, Judas and the Black Messiah, Da 5 Bloods — were nominated for the Globes’ best picture award.In a statement, the HFPA said it would make “an action plan” to change. “We understand that we need to bring in Black members, as well as members from other underrepresented backgrounds,” the group said.For some, none of the revelations were surprising. Ava DuVernay tweeted in response to the Los Angeles Times article: “Reveals? As in, people are acting like this isn’t already widely known? For YEARS?”Two-time nominee Sterling K. Brown, who’s presenting Sunday, said in an Instagram post that “having a multitude of Black presenters does not absolve you of your lack of diversity.”“87 people wield a tremendous amount of power,” said Brown. “For any governing body of a current Hollywood award show to have such a lack of voting representation illustrates a level of irresponsibility that should not be ignored.”42 nominations for NetflixYet the Globes have persisted because of their popularity (the show ranks as the third most-watched award show, after the Oscars and Grammys), their profitability (NBC paid $60 million for broadcast rights in 2018) and because they serve as important marketing material for contending films and Oscar hopefuls. That may be especially true this year when the pandemic has upset the normal rhythms of buzz in a virtual awards season lacking the usual frenzy.The Globes are happening on the original date of the Academy Awards, which are instead to be held April 25.Netflix comes in with a commanding 42 nominations, including a leading six nods for David Fincher’s Mank and The Crown also topping TV nominees with six nods. Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, also from Netflix, is also a heavyweight with five nominations.Chloe Zhao, the Nomadland filmmaker and Oscar frontrunner, is expected to become the first woman of Asian descent to win best director at the Globes and the first woman since Barbra Streisand won for Yentl in 1984.Chadwick Boseman, nominated for best actor for his performance in the August Wilson adaptation Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, could win a posthumous Golden Globe. Boseman is widely expected to be nominated for an Oscar.And Borat Subsequent Moviefilm stands a good chance of being crowned best picture, comedy or musical. With many of the leading nominees in the drama category — among them Mank, Nomadland, The Father, Promising Young Woman and The Trial of the Chicago 7 — Sacha Baron Cohen’s sequel could emerge a big winner. Cohen, who won a Globe for his performance in the first Borat film, is nominated for Borat and for his role in The Trial of the Chicago 7.Jane Fonda, a seven-time Globe winner, will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement. Norman Lear will be honored for his television career and accept an award named after Carol Burnett.
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Officials at the Pompeii archaeological site in Italy announced Saturday the discovery of an intact ceremonial chariot, one of several important discoveries made in the same area outside the park near Naples following an investigation into an illegal dig.The chariot, with its iron elements, bronze decorations and mineralized wooden remains, was found in the ruins of a settlement north of Pompeii, beyond the walls of the ancient city, parked in the portico of a stable where the remains of three horses previously were discovered.The Archaeological Park of Pompeii called the chariot “an exceptional discovery” and said “it represents a unique find — which has no parallel in Italy thus far — in an excellent state of preservation.”A detail of the decoration of a chariot that was found in Civita Giuliana, north of Pompeii. Officials at the Pompeii archaeological site near Naples announced its discovery Feb. 27, 2021.The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii. The chariot was spared when the walls and roof of the structure it was in collapsed, and also survived looting by modern-day antiquities thieves, who had dug tunnels through to the site, grazing but not damaging the four-wheeled cart, according to park officials.The chariot was found on the grounds of what is one of the most significant ancient villas in the area around Vesuvius, with a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea, on the outskirts of the ancient Roman city.Archaeologists last year found in the same area on the outskirts of Pompeii, Civita Giulian, the skeletal remains of what are believed to have been a wealthy man and his male slave, attempting to escape death.The chariot’s first iron element emerged January 7 from the blanket of volcanic material filling the two-story portico. Archaeologists believe the cart was used for festivities and parades, perhaps also to carry brides to their new homes.While chariots for daily life or the transport of agricultural products have been previously found at Pompeii, officials said the new find is the first ceremonial chariot unearthed in its entirety.The villa was discovered after police came across the illegal tunnels in 2017, officials said. Two people who live in the houses atop the site are on trial for allegedly digging more than 80 meters of tunnels at the site.
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A federal judge on Friday approved a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without the permission of its users.U.S. District Judge James Donato approved the deal in a class-action lawsuit that was filed in Illinois in 2015. Nearly 1.6 million Facebook users in Illinois who submitted claims will be affected.Donato called it one of the largest settlements ever for a privacy violation.”It will put at least $345 into the hands of every class member interested in being compensated,” he wrote, calling it “a major win for consumers in the hotly contested area of digital privacy.”Jay Edelson, a Chicago attorney who filed the lawsuit, told the Chicago Tribune that the checks could be in the mail within two months unless the ruling is appealed.“We are pleased to have reached a settlement so we can move past this matter, which is in the best interest of our community and our shareholders,” Facebook, which is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, said in a statement.The lawsuit accused the social media giant of violating an Illinois privacy law by failing to get consent before using facial-recognition technology to scan photos uploaded by users to create and store faces digitally.The state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act allowed consumers to sue companies that didn’t get permission before harvesting data such as faces and fingerprints.The case eventually wound up as a class-action lawsuit in California.Facebook has since changed its photo-tagging system.
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The U.S. moved a step closer Friday to having another vaccine in its coronavirus arsenal, after an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously endorsed Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose COVID vaccine.Formal authorization for the vaccine could come in the next few days. The one-dose vaccine would become the third coronavirus inoculation approved by the FDA after the two-dose vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.Members of the Congressional Black Caucus went on television Friday to encourage African Americans to receive the COVID-19 inoculations.“We’re looking at historic fear of vaccines and a fear of the health care industry,” said Rep. Barbara Lawrence, a Democrat from Michigan.Black and Latino communities are being inoculated at lower rates in the U.S. than their white counterparts, public health officials say.Meanwhile, Britain’s Trades Union Congress says in a study that the pandemic has provided a “mirror to the structural racism” in Britain, with the unemployment rate for communities of color double that of their white contemporaries during the pandemic.Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports early Saturday more than 113 million global COVID infections with more than 2.5 million deaths.The U.S. continues to lead the world in the number of coronavirus infections with more than 28 million cases, followed by India with over 11 million infections and Brazil with more than 10 million.Former British prime minister Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change has issued a report titled The New Necessary: How We Future-Proof for the Next Pandemic that calls for international cooperation in the future to identify and test for any new outbreak. The report also called on countries to work together to produce vaccines.Blair told The Guardian, “Had there been global coordination a year ago, I think we could have shaved at least three months off this virus,” in a reference to the outbreak of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
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U.S. health advisers endorsed a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson on Friday, putting the nation on the cusp of adding an easier-to-use option to fight the pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to quickly follow the recommendation and make Johnson & Johnson’s shot the third vaccine authorized for emergency use in the U.S. Vaccinations are picking up speed, but new supplies are urgently needed to stay ahead of a mutating virus that has killed more than 500,000 Americans. After daylong discussions, the FDA panelists voted unanimously that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks for adults. If the FDA agrees, shipments of a few million doses could begin as early as Monday. More than 47 million people in the U.S., or 14% of the population, have each received at least one shot of the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which FDA authorized in December. But the pace of vaccinations has been strained by limited supplies and delays because of winter storms.While early Johnson & Johnson supplies will be small, the company has said it can deliver 20 million doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine protects against the worst effects of COVID-19 after one shot, and it can be stored up to three months at refrigerator temperatures, making it easier to handle than the previous vaccines, which must be frozen. EffectivenessOne challenge in rolling out the new vaccine will be explaining how protective the Johnson & Johnson shot is after the astounding success of the first U.S. vaccines. The two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots were found to be about 95% effective against symptomatic COVID-19. The numbers from Johnson & Johnson’s study are not that high, but it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. One dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19. After adding in moderate cases, the total effectiveness dropped to about 66%. Some experts fear that lower number could feed public perceptions that Johnson & Johnson’s shot is a “second-tier vaccine.” But the difference in protection reflects when and where Johnson & Johnson conducted its studies.Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was tested in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa at a time when more contagious mutated versions of the virus were spreading. That wasn’t the case last fall, when Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were wrapping up testing, and it’s not clear if their numbers would hold against the most worrisome of those variants. Importantly, the FDA reported this week that, just like its predecessors, the Johnson & Johnson shot offers strong protection against the worst outcomes, hospitalization and death. Studying 2nd doseWhile Johnson & Johnson is seeking FDA authorization for its single-dose version, the company is also studying whether a second dose boosts protection. Panel member Dr. Paul Offit warned that launching a two-dose version of the vaccine down the road might cause problems. “You can see where that would be confusing to people thinking, ‘Maybe I didn’t get what I needed,’ ” said Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s a messaging challenge.” Johnson & Johnson representatives said they chose to begin with the single shot because the World Health Organization and other experts agreed it would be a faster, more effective tool in an emergency. Cases and hospitalizations have fallen dramatically since the January peak that followed the winter holidays. But public health officials warned that those gains may be stalling as more variants take root in the U.S. “We may be done with the virus, but clearly the virus is not done with us,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, speaking at the White House on Friday. She noted that new COVID-19 cases have increased over the past few days. While it’s too early to tell if the trend will last, Walensky said adding a third vaccine “will help protect more people faster.” More vaccines are in the pipeline. On Sunday, a CDC panel is expected to meet to recommend how to best prioritize use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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