Pro Pak Live News: May 2021

Monday 31 May 2021

Two million rushed to shelters as India braces for another cyclone

Kolkata: A powerful cyclone headed for eastern India Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of nearly two million people just a week after another huge storm claimed at least 155 lives on the west coast.

Cyclone Yaas in the Bay of Bengal is expected to slam into West Bengal and Odisha states around midday on Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department said, and could bring winds of up to 165 km per hour.

Experts say the warming of ocean waters due to climate change has led to an increase in the frequency and intensity of such storms.

Nearly two million people living along India's east coast are being moved to shelters, officials said Tuesday, and the storm has also disrupted efforts to combat the country's devastating COVID-19 outbreak.

"This cyclone is a terrible blow for many people in coastal districts whose families have been struck down by Covid-19 infections and deaths," West Bengal Sundarbans development minister Bankim Chandra Hazra said.

"Nearly half a million people are being evacuated from their homes in the (West Bengal) coastal region and it's a big challenge to provide them shelter (while) maintaining social distancing."

Some vaccination centres in districts under threat as well as the capital Kolkata would suspend operations, officials said, and efforts were under way to ensure the supply of oxygen and medicines to hospitals during the storm.

Some 1.4 million people were moved away from coastal districts in neighbouring Odisha, with thousands of disaster and relief personnel deployed, local media reported.

The state's special relief commissioner, Pradeep Jena, said arrangements were being made to maintain social distancing in shelters, with face masks and sanitisers supplied.

Officials in Bangladesh, which lies to the east of West Bengal, said they did not expect the storm to hit the delta nation.

The Bay of Bengal has conditions favourable to the development of cyclones, including high sea surface temperatures.

Some of the deadliest storms in history have formed there, including one in 1970 that killed half a million people in what is modern-day Bangladesh.

Odisha's worst-ever cyclone, in 1999, killed 10,000 people.

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Hunger stalks India’s poor in pandemic double blow

New Delhi: Rasheeda Jaleel lives in fear that she may not be able to feed her seven children as millions of Indian families are forced into poverty by a devastating new coronavirus wave.

The 40-year-old, her husband Abdul Jaleel, 65, and the children already survive on just one meal a day.

“When we are hungry and thirsty, I feel very helpless and worry, ‘How am I going to survive like this?’” Jaleel told AFP as she made roti - flatbread - for the solitary meal in their tiny New Delhi flat.

“We manage with whatever my husband is able to earn. If it’s not enough, I stay hungry so I can feed my children.”

The coronavirus has killed 160,000 in eight weeks, overwhelmed hospitals and shut many businesses in India. Experts warn that another crisis is looming, with rising levels of hunger among poor Indians already reeling from a first lockdown last year.

“It’s a double crisis that the poor in the country are facing - there is the health crisis and there is also an income economic crisis,” Anjali Bhardwaj from the Right to Food Campaign told AFP.

“We have had a huge health crisis unfolding... and many have had to spend their life savings on trying to provide medical aid to their families.”

About 230 million Indians fell into poverty - defined as living on less than 375 rupees ($5) per day - in the first year of the pandemic, according to a study by Bangalore’s Azim Premji University.

‘We have no choice’

More than 7.3 million jobs were lost in April alone, according to the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy. That means more pain in a country where 90 per cent of the workforce is in the informal sector with no social safety net, and where millions do not qualify for emergency government rations.

“A lot of people went into poverty last year, they went into debt, and... they had to cut back on food consumption,” Associate Professor Amit Basole, one of the university study’s authors, told AFP.

“So the second wave is coming on top of a very precarious, stressed situation.”

Abdul Jaleel turned to peddling a rickshaw to feed his family after his construction work dried up during a fresh Delhi lockdown.

Previously up to 500 rupees ($7) a day, his income is now as little as 100 rupees.

“And on some days, I don’t make anything,” he said.

“As parents, we will have to make ends meet somehow, whether we beg, borrow or steal. We have no choice.”

‘Helpless and hungry’

In last year’s lockdown, about 100 million people lost their jobs in India. After restrictions were lifted, around 15 per cent failed to find employment by the end of 2020 - including 47 per cent of female workers, the Azim Premji University study found.

Many who returned to work had to settle for lower pay, leaving them more vulnerable when the second wave hit.

Meanwhile an estimated 100 million Indians, including the Jaleels, have no ration cards to give them access to government food aid, Bhardwaj said.

The Right to Food organisation has been campaigning for emergency food supplies to be given to the needy, even if they do not have ration cards.

With the pandemic unravelling years of poverty reduction, experts warn that many could remain trapped in a vicious cycle of hardship even after lockdowns are lifted.

“The fear is that we... get locked into a longish-term depressed economy where there is low aggregate demand because people’s jobs and incomes are not coming back. And because they are not coming back, it... perpetuates its own cycle,” Basole said.

Bhupinder Singh, a micro-financier who has distributed food to the needy during the two lockdowns, has seen desperation rise among hundreds of unemployed men sleeping rough beside a busy Delhi highway.

When he arrives with food packets, a cry of excitement goes up and men run to the back of his car and form a long queue.

“People are stuck here out of helplessness,” Sunil Thakur, 50, who lost his job as a hotel waiter during the lockdown, told AFP.

“If they come with food, we get to eat... If they don’t come, we’ll stay hungry.”

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Pakistan: 1.4 million Afghan refugees to receive biometric cards

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Ministry of State & Frontier Regions (SAFRON) and the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) under an agreement have started issuing biometric identity smart cards to around 1.4 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is providing technical assistance and issuing the advanced-featured smarts cards to the Afghan refugees.

Known in the past as the registration cards, the Proof of Registration (PoR) cards will have the same advanced features that Pakistan’s Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) possess.

According to the UNHCR, the issuance of the PoR card is a part of the government-led and UNHCR-supported Documentation Renewal and Information Verification Exercise (DRIVE).

Same technology

The exercise is currently verifying the information of 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan and will issue them with new PoR smartcards based on the same technology used for Pakistani citizen identification cards, said the UNHCR spokesperson.

First census of Afghan refugees was held in 2005 and they were issued registration cards a year after census in 2006-07 for a period of three years.

Later, they were issued new cards for three more years and since then their registration is renewed every years, the spokesperson said adding the PoR smart cards too are issued for a period of two years.

About those who want to go back, the UNHCR representative said each Afghan migrant is given US $250 (Dh918) upon return, however, he/she is required to surrender his smart card.

However, UNHCR has never asked them either to go back or continue to stay as refugees he said adding this is entirely their personal choice.

Refugees who completed their DRIVE verification interviews will be receiving SMS notifications with the information of when and where to receive their new PoR smartcards.

“The DRIVE exercise is a joint effort between the SAFRON Ministry and UNHCR, with the technical assistance of NADRA,” said Saleem Khan, the Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees in Pakistan.

The UNHCR Representative in Pakistan, Noriko Yoshida, appreciated the government’s efforts for taking this important exercise forward, seeing it as an important opportunity to strengthen the protection of refugees and better understand existing needs in the refugee community.

Updated information

“DRIVE will provide updated information on registered Afghan refugees and their immediate family members in Pakistan.

“This will allow us to better plan and deliver our support to the Government of Pakistan and refugees, as well as the communities hosting them,” said Noriko Yoshida.

The new PoR smartcards will be offering new possibilities for identity verification, including in the banking sector, said the spokesperson.

"In addition to validating existing data, the verification will record Afghan refugees’ skill sets, level of education, socio-economic circumstances and sources of income, allowing better targeted health, education and livelihood support in Pakistan and in the Priority Areas of Return and Reintegration in Afghanistan," the spokesperson said.

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China ends two-child policy, families allowed to have up to three children

Dubai: China has ended its two-child only policy for families, BBC reported on Monday.

The South China Morning Post said in their report that, according to the seventh national population census, Chinese mothers gave birth to 12 million babies last year, down from 14.65 million in 2019, marking an 18 per cent decline year on year.

The census took place in November and December 2020 and the results were released in May 2021.

The decision to allow Chinese couples to have a third child was taken after a meeting of the Political Bureau of Communist Party of China Central Committee held on Monday. Xinhua reported that the committee said that implementing the policy and its relevant supporting measures will help improve China's population structure, actively respond to the aging population, and preserve the country's human resource advantages.

Among those measures, China will lower educational costs for families, step up tax and housing support, guarantee the legal interests of working women and clamp down on "sky-high" dowries, it said, without giving specifics. It would also look to educate young people "on marriage and love".

China had a fertility rate of just 1.3 children per woman in 2020, recent data showed, on par with ageing societies like Japan and Italy and far short of the roughly 2.1 needed for replacement level.

In 2016, China had amended its earlier policy of one-child per couple to allow up to two children.

"People are held back not by the two-children limit, but by the incredibly high costs of raising children in today's China.

Housing, extracurricular activities, food, trips, and everything else add up quickly," Yifei Li, a sociologist at NYU Shanghai, told Reuters.

"Raising the limit itself is unlikely to tilt anyone's calculus in a meaningful way, in my view." Zhang Xinyu, a 30-year-old mother of one from Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, said the problem was that women bore most of the responsibility for raising children.

"If men could do more to raise the child, or if families could give more consideration for women who had just had children, actually a lot of women would be able to have a second child," she told Reuters.

"...But thinking of the big picture, realistically, I don't want to have a second child. And a third is even more impossible." In a poll on Xinhua's Weibo account asking #AreYouReady for the three-child policy, about 29,000 of 31,000 respondents said they would never think of it while the remainder chose among the options: "I'm ready and very eager to do so", "it's on my agenda", or I'm hesitating and there's lot to consider .

The poll was later removed.

"I am willing to have three children if you give me 5 million yuan ($785,650)," one user posted.

Share prices in birth- and fertility-related companies surged.

- with inputs from Reuters

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Top anti-vaxxers: How they could jeopardise drive against COVID-19

Question: What’s the similarity between anti-vaxxers, flat-Earthers and climate-change deniers? Answer: They’re all part of the latest “The Science Denial” scenario of Plague Inc, a popular smartphone game.

Originally published in 2012, Plague Inc simulates a pandemic by putting the player in control of a dangerous pathogen — a virus, parasite or fungus. The game's objective is simple: find ways to help you (the player) render humans extinct. How? By evolving and spreading it to as many people as possible.

The end goal: Infect the entire world and end all human life. Then, you win.

The role of "anti-vaxxers", by the way, came as a later plug-in. That's art — a graphics-heavy game (also available for Xbox, PS4 and PC as Plague Inc: Evolved) — imitating life.

Fast forward to 2020-2021: A real pandemic burst into the global scene, leaving 167 million infected and 3.47 million dead (as of May 25, 2021), according to Worldometers data. Down here below, anti-vaxxers play with real lives. What's their role in jeopardising global efforts against the pandemic? Let's break it down:

Q: What is the net effect of the anti-vaxx camp on efforts to fight COVID?

Anti-vaxxers are at the front, back and centre of the hotly-debated, and deeply polarising global vaccine campaign. They're also in the sub-surface of social media, casting doubt over the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 shots. Spreading conspiracy theories about supposed “side effects”. Raising alarm bells that heighten hesitancy, or outright refusal of vaccines. Some on Facebook have tens of thousands of ardent followers — and advertisers. In that kind of world, who cares about science? Or the discipline of open scrutiny?

Anti-vaxxers are at the front, back and centre of the hotly-debated, and deeply polarising global vaccine campaign. They're also in the sub-surface of social media, casting doubt over the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 shots.

Q: What is vaccine hesitancy/refusal?

It refers to the delay or concerns about the decision to vaccinate oneself or one’s children despite the availability of vaccine services. Vaccine refusal is outright rejection of vaccines.

HESITANCY EXISTS IN 90% OF COUNTRIES:

Vaccine hesitancy exists in more than 90% of countries, The Lancet medical journal reports. In many areas, immunisation for measles, a vaccine-preventable disease was largely eliminated following widespread use of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, has drooped to less than the 95% threshold set by WHO that was required for herd immunity.

Q: Vaccine hesitancy/refusal: What is it a problem?

Two ways to face COVID: allow it to infect the planet's 7.8b inhabitants (and live with the deadly consequences), or use science, via vaccines. Now, vaccine production is being ramped up. In some countries, there are now more vaccines than there are people willing to take them. Here’s a warning from experts: simply providing high-quality COVID-19 immunisation services will likely not achieve the necessary vaccination rate.

“The pandemic will soon enter a new phase when the pandemic wanes, cases drop, vaccine supply expands, restrictions ease and vaccine hesitancy rates spike,” warned Dr. Heidi Larson of the Vaccine Confidence Project.

Q Is opposition to vaccines — hesitancy/rejection — new?

No. It's as old as time. Refusing vaccines go as far back as the early 1800s — when the smallpox vaccine started being used in large numbers.

Sanitary, religious and political objections were raised against Dr. Edward Jenner’s (father of vaccines) idea of injecting someone with a cowpox blister to protect them from smallpox. Some clergy believed that the vaccine went against their creed. In the 1970s, the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) vaccines drew a wave of opposition when it was linked to brain damage (later studies found no association/causation).

Q: What are the degrees of vaccine hesitancy/refusal?

They vary. In general, people who reject the standard vaccine schedule fall into 2 groups.

Group 1: “Vaccine hesitant” — they may delay or space out vaccines or accept specific vaccines only.  
Group 2: “Vaccine refusal” — these are people and parents who accept NO vaccines for themselves or their children.

If you look at those people (anti-vaxx camp), they break them down into different groups. There are the true anti-vaxxers — the people that, through no science at all, have made up their minds that vaccines are bad. What they believe in is nonsense.

Dr Drew Weissman, father of mRNA vaccine, professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Q: Can vaccinations be mandated: What countries have adopted it?

Mandatory vaccination has become more popular across Europe. Australia has offered financial incentives to families who fully vaccinate their children.

The US, on the other hand, give people the right to decline vaccines (under current protocol, the only exception is when child is exposed to tetanus infection).

If you look at those people (anti-vaxx camp), they break them down into different groups. There are the true anti-vaxxers — the people that, through no science at all, have made up their minds that vaccines are bad. What they believe in is nonsense.

Dr Drew Weissman, father of mRNA vaccine, professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

In China, where officials seek to vaccinate 560 million people with COVID shots by June, health authorities urged local executives to halt mandatory vaccination orders. Instead, authorities only encourage those in need to get vaccinated — “while respecting their wishes” — according to a Global Times report.

Q: Is it true that vaccines cause autism?

No, it’s not true. The claim that they do came from a bogus, widely discredited study. In 1998, the medical journal Lancet published results of research which concluded that the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine led to autism in children. The study looked into the cases of just 12 children. Later, British journalist Brian Deer exposed the study as bogus.

Image Credit: Seyyed dela Llata / Jay Hilotin

His investigative reports, between 2004 and 2010, revealed how data cited in the study was “manufactured” at a London medical school, for which the lead researcher, Andrew Wakefield, collected money from a law firm for two years prior to its publication. Wakefield failed to disclose the payments to his co-authors and the Lancet review committee as part of standard disclosure protocols.

DIPTHERIA EPIDEMIC

In Russia, major epidemics of diphtheria broke out (in the former Soviet Union) in the 1990s. The main culprits: low primary immunisation rates for children and the lack of booster vaccinations for adults. The result: an increase from 839 cases in 1989 to nearly 50,000 cases and 1,700 deaths in 1994, based on CDC data.

The study was used to bolster a class-action suit against MMR vaccine makers that cost $100 million for both sides. Though the study and authors were discredited, the scare lingers around the world to this day.

Wakefield’s assertions have since been tested extensively, with a 2019 study involving 600,000 children — which found no links between MMR shots and autism. When the fraud was unearthed, Wakefield lost his license to practise medicine in the UK. He later moved to the US where he has continued his anti-vaxx campaign, and enjoys a hero-status among his adherents. But the damage has been done. Wakefield’s infamous paper continues to affect vaccination rates and the perception of vaccine safety worldwide.

VACCINE HESITANCY: PAKISTAN

A key challenge in Pakistan (population: 217 million as of 2019), say health officials, is not vaccine availability but to convince millions to vaccinate. “Our problem is hesitancy and we are not alone in this,” said Dr. Faisal Sultan, the adviser to the prime minister on health affairs. As of May 11, only 5 million people have so far registered, while the government said almost 11 million vaccines were available. Officials said at least 40% — or 2 in 5 — Pakistanis are not ready to get the COVID-19 vaccine. This places the country in the list of least-eager nations to get vaccinated, according to Ipsos survey conducted in March 2021.

8

Number of COVID-19 vaccines approved so far

Q: How many COVID-19 vaccines are approved?

There are current 8 vaccines approved in different jurisdictions. Besides the 8 approved, researchers are currently testing 91 others vaccines in clinical trials (on humans), and 27 have reached the final stages of testing. At least 77 pre-clinical vaccines are under active investigation in animals.

VACCINE HESITANCY: INDIA

A widely-circulated rumour that vaccines caused infertility blew a hole to the COVID vaccination system that the government set up. India faced an unexpectedly high vaccine hesitancy rates, frustrating the sub-continent’s massive immunisation challenge for its 1.3 billion people. Dr. Vinod Paul, Head of India’s COVID-19 task force and National Institution for Transforming India Aayog member said some people were concerned with the efficacy and possible unwanted side effects of the vaccine, he was quoted in an ADB report. To counter this skepticism, India asked health worker associations to issue statements in favour of vaccination. India also capitalised on using mass media to broadcast people getting vaccinated. Influential people were also tapped to appeal to the public to get vaccinated. Dr. Paul said that when the vaccine priority list moved to people over 60 years of age, after inoculating frontline health workers, India focused on getting across two key vaccine messages: 1) vaccines provide protection against COVID-19; and 2) vaccines are safe.

Vaccine disinformation, fear-mongering and misconceptions on social media is the scourge of asymmetric, modern communications. Coupled with confirmation bias (seeking only the information one believes in) and algorithmic promotion, it’s the noisiest bunch that’s often heard loud and clear. Image Credit: Reuters

Q: What’s been the effect of vaccine hesitancy/refusal in the past?

Vaccine refusal has been associated with outbreaks of invasive Haemophilia influenzae Type B disease, varicella, pneumococcal disease, measles, and pertussis, resulting in the unnecessary suffering of young children and waste of limited public health resources, according to Daniel Salmon, who wrote for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in a 2015 article.

VACCINE HESITANCY: PHILIPPINES

The Philippines’ dengue vaccination programme, which began in 2016, was suspended following the manufacturer’s release of new findings that the vaccine increases the risk of severe dengue. The result: mistrust in vaccination programs, and a steady decline in childhood immunisations. Today, vaccine hesitancy — or refusal — runs high in the south-east Asian country. A March 2021 survey shows that only 16% of respondents wanted to be vaccinated. Up to 61% would say “No” to getting inoculated with a COVID-19 vaccine if the shot was available during the polling period (from February 22 to March 3, 2021). Philippine health officials are working overtime to address misconceptions about vaccination through intensive information drives, alongside trainings on cold chain management, COVID-19 testing.

Q: Will the anti-vaxx campaign ruin the global drive against COVID-19?

Yes, they could potentially ruin it for everybody. Given the rapid pace of COVID-19 infection across the world, which props up the emergence of new variants, there's an urgency for the global community to get ahead of the virus.

In the past, campaigns by the anti-vaxx camp has led to reduced vaccination rates — which in turn has been linked to a recurrence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and mumps.

Unlike SARS-CoV-2, which has rapidly mutated into new strains in its first year as it jumped from human-to-human, measles virus does not mutate the same way. When a person is fully vaccinated against the measles virus, he will usually be protected for life, explained Mayo Clinic scientists. A study published in Cell Reports Medicine shows a "near-zero probability" for the natural emergence of a new measles virus capable of evading vaccine-induced immunity.

With the coronavirus, however, the more infections (due to vaccine rejection/hesitancy), the greater the chance to generate a large set of mutations — simultaneously — possibly making some available vaccines less effective.

ARE VACCINES SAFE? THE POLIO STORY

There was a time, when thousands of people young and old were afflicted by polio, including the late US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. You don’t hear much about children maimed by the bone-wasting virus today, thanks to polio vaccines, first invented in 1955.

Q: Who are the figures behind the anti-vaxx camp?

The anti-vaxx camp is a fringe community of people trashing vaccines as a whole. In modern times, the intellectual father of the anti-vaxx camp is British ex- doctor Andrew Wakefield. In 1998, the former gastroenterologist wrote results of his team’s research in The Lancet that they found a “genuinely new syndrome” — a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and an increased risk of autism. It was a dynamite study.

Image Credit: Seyyed dela Llata / Gulf News

For 12 years, his thesis stood uncontested. In February 2010, The Lancet retracted Wakefield's 1998 paper, noting elements of the manuscript proved to be false. An expose showed Wakefield failed to disclose that, two years before his study was published, he had received payment from a law firm out to pin down MMR vaccine makers with a class-action suit.

He failed to disclose this. More importantly, Wakefield based his conclusions on 12 children whose medical data were cooked up. In January 2010, the UK General Medical Council ruled that Wakefield acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly,” and showed “callous disregard” for the suffering of children involved in his controversial research.

After he was discredited in the UK, Wakefield migrated to the US, where he continued his campaign. Some people hail him as a hero for saying truth to power, and standing up to "Big Pharma”.

Q: Other prominent anti-vaxxers?

The intellectual head of the anti-vaxx camp is US lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr, nephew of former US president John F. Kennedy. In 2017, he announced he would be heading up a new federal panel on vaccine safety convened by Donald Trump. That didn’t happen. On February 11, 2021, Kennedy was kicked out of Instagram for vaccine misinformation.

Another is Dr. Steven Hotze, a US medical doctor who has created a widely-circulated video urging viewers to “just say no” to the new coronavirus shots, especially the mRNA one. The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) dismissed his claim — as “almost all of it completely wrong”. Dr Hotze was recently slapped with a warning by US drug regulators following claims about the vitamins his company is peddling — supposedly to curb COVID-19 — without conducting the necessary clinical studies to clear regulatory hurdles.

Image Credit: Seyyed dela Llata / Gulf News

Q: Why did Instagram ban Robert F Kennedy Jr?

Kennedy, who enjoys a huge following on social media, frequently posts debunked or unproven claims about vaccines. The ban came after he repeatedly posted misinformation about vaccine safety and COVID-19. He also uses his social media pages to post about large pharmaceutical firms and environmental health concerns. Kennedy Jr. repeated warns people not to take a COVID-19 vaccine “under any circumstances” — and that vaccines comprise a “crime against humanity”.

Here’s another Kennedy claim: mRNA directly “alters the genetic material of those who receive it”. He says it is no different to genetically-modified (GMO) organisms or food crops, engineered to make them resistant to bugs or drought.

“This intervention can be compared to genetically modified foods, which are also very controversial,” Kennedy was quoted as saying. Kennedy, a lawyer, claims the “mRNA genetic damage” is “irreversible and irreparable.” Kennedy compares the “genetic damage” to the type that causes Down syndrome or cystic fibrosis.

He claims that unlike older vaccines (using inactivated/attenuated platforms), many of which can be “detoxified” following injection, mRNA COVID-19 jabs “live on in perpetuity inside the body”. “The damage they cause is forever”. “You will have to live with the consequences because you will no longer be able to be cured simply by removing toxins from the human body.”

Q: Are the anti-vaxx camp solid?

No. Their attitudes and persuasions vary widely — from mere hesitancy sparked by a wait-and-see posture (“let others have it first, then I’ll take it if they live”), to institutional distrust and general unease, to full-blown conspiracy theories point to fantastic tales of tiny microchip embeds, forced sterilisation, and even mass-murder.

Lynn Channel is a prolific anti-vax channel on Faceboook, which ropes in hundreds of thousands of views in a few days. Image Credit: Screengrab / Facebook

Q: How do anti-vaxx camp spread their message?

It’s mostly on social media (Facebook, WhatsApp) and blogs — and, now, TikTok. Some unvaccinated users claim they will “inherit” the Earth, the soon-to-become lone survivors of a “mass extinction” sparked by COVID-19 vaccines.

Some unvaccinated users claim they will “inherit” the Earth, the soon-to-become lone survivors of a “mass extinction” sparked by COVID-19 vaccines.

Q: How to beat the anti-vaxxers and win the war against COVID-19?

It's a big job. The most powerful weapon: the truth. Open science, backed by verifiable evidence, provides the best answers. However, it must be readily accessible. A good response starts with a clear message. Answers should be ready and customised to various audiences — ranging from the easy-to-convince to the poorly reached, unconcerned and hesitant.

GROWING OPPOSITION TO VACCINES? The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines vaccine hesitancy as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services. Based on studies of social networks, it emerges that opposition to vaccines is small but far-reaching — and growing. Photo shows anti-vaccine activists joining hundreds of protesters at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington, on April 19, 2020 to protest the state's stay-at-home order. Image Credit: AP

Creative messaging

One way is to enlist top influencers in boosting vaccine acceptance and uptake. Community engagement is another. It must be tailored to specific groups to move the wider community to seek immunisations. Also important: Understand local audience needs, attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs. Experts say part of good messaging entails keen awareness of the questions people have. They point to the most common factors that strongly influence vaccine acceptance and uptake:

Contextual

Understand and address the historical experience (good or bad) with previous vaccine introductions.
Know the religious, cultural, gender, or socio-economic norms.

Structural

Understand geographic challenges: Distance to, travel conditions to reach, and general access to vaccination services.
Know the quality of care given to people, which may be affected by health staff motivation, performance, and attitudes.
Master the logistics/delivery systems (lack of resources or strong logistic systems to prevent stock outs, missed opportunities to promote vaccine uptake). This is a big challenge.
Information: Know the false contraindications (particularly for sick children, older children, under-weight).
Offer vaccine at every opportunity, another logistical challenge.
Ensure reliability of service provision (e.g., healthcare provider should be present, vaccine is available at time of request).

Attitudes/Knowledge/Norms

Build up knowledge about the vaccine (what illnesses it prevents, where it is available, how it works)
Be ready to address certain beliefs that the risks posed by vaccine ("side effects") are greater than the benefit
Be ready to address rumours/misinformation.
Address perceived risk of the vaccine-preventable disease.
Give the right information about efficacy of the vaccine

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George Floyd: Biden hopeful for police bill deal

Washington: US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he is hopeful an agreement will be reached on the George Floyd police reform legislation after the May 31 Memorial Day holiday.

Biden had missed a self-imposed deadline of passing the bill by Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the killing of Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

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America's first vaccine millionaire ‘thought it was a prank’

At first, Abbigail Bugenske thought it was a joke - maybe even a scam.

A man had called from a number she didn't recognise and introduced himself as Mike DeWine, governor of Ohio.

"I thought it was a prank call," Bugenske told The Washington Post on Thursday, one day after her phone lit up and her life changed. "To make it even crazier, he said I had won a million dollars, so I definitely thought it was a prank call."

Turns out, he was serious: The caller was indeed DeWine, and Bugenske was one of the first winners of the state's Vax-a-Million lottery, a plan devised to drum up more interest in coronavirus vaccines.

"That was my very first notification that I was about to be a millionaire," said Bugenske, a 22-year-old resident of Silverton, near Cincinnati.

The lottery, one of a slew of vaccine incentive programs in cities and states across the country, also awarded on Wednesday a full-ride scholarship for an Ohio public university to eighth grader Joseph Costello. In all, the program will dole out $1 million prizes to five vaccinated adults and scholarships to five vaccinated teenagers.

At a virtual news conference Thursday morning, Costello, flanked by his parents, said he's "very excited." His mother, Colleen Costello, was stunned when she answered DeWine's call.

"I was really thankful at that moment that there was a bench nearby," she said, "because I needed to sit down."

Ohio's rollout started something of a trend as states seek to rejuvenate flagging inoculation rates - and perhaps engage in a bit of one-upmanship. California, the most recent to announce such a scheme, will hold 10 drawings of $1.5 million each. While some have balked at officials resorting to seven-figure prizes to convince Americans to take a potentially lifesaving vaccine, research has shown that cash incentives may make the unvaccinated more likely to get their shots.

"We're more than happy with the results," DeWine, a Republican, said at a news conference this week. "This was just so important to our future as a state, our immediate future and our long-term future. Having more people vaccinated really allows us to get back to normal."

Costello's parents said they were fully vaccinated and had planned to get their children vaccinated by the end of the month. The lottery announcement, they said, prompted them to move the appointments up.

Bugenske, however, signed up for her jab as soon as she was eligible. Registering for the lottery when it was announced was "a win-win" she said, but she forgot about the drawing soon after - that is, until about five minutes before it was announced on live TV, when DeWine called.

Long before, Bugenske had urged her grandmother, who is in her 70s and lives in Michigan, to get the shot quickly as possible.

"She encouraged me all the time to get it," Karen Bugenske said of her granddaughter. She added that she had never been opposed to the vaccine, but "wasn't in any hurry for it."

"I would've gotten it," she said, "but they wanted me to get it yesterday."

In the end, she got both her Moderna shots and called her granddaughter with the good news.

"Having the deadlines for the Vax-a-Million is the same thing," Bugenske said. "You just need someone to say, 'Don't put it off, just go and get it."

Abbigail Bugenske graduated from Michigan State in 2020 and began working at GE while studying for a graduate degree in aerospace engineering at Ohio State University. She has no plans to quit her job, she said, and after donating some of her winnings to charity, she'd like to invest.

"It's been less than 24 hours," she said. "This still hasn't processed for me."

She got the news while on her way to Cleveland to shop for a used car. She plans to go through with the purchase, rather than seek an upgrade.

"No, I'm not looking to buy a Ferrari," she said.

Nationwide, the race to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible has taken on new urgency as more states continue to relax their pandemic-era public health measures.

About half the US population has received at least one dose, but the average number of shots administered per day has fallen about 36 per cent in the past month to 1.75 million.

In Ohio, 45 per cent of residents have received at least one dose, a metric that slightly lags behind the nation overall. But officials insist the state would be in a worse place without DeWine's high-profile giveaway initiative. Five days after its rollout, the Ohio Department of Health said the campaign had driven a 28 per cent increase in the vaccination rate of those 16 and older.

However, in the past week, the state's overall vaccination rate has fallen by about 3 per cent.

The White House has praised the plan and during an appearance in Cleveland on Thursday, Biden applauded it again.

"Ohio has a new millionaire!" Biden said. "I tell you what, who wouldathunk it, a million bucks for getting a vaccine? But it's working."

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India says Twitter undermining law over opposition to new IT rules

New Delhi: India's government Thursday accused Twitter of working to undermine its legal system, escalating a battle between authorities and social media giants over new IT rules.

The US company accused police of "intimidation" after they visited its offices in the capital New Delhi to serve a notice over an inquiry into a "manipulated media" label it placed on a tweet by the ruling party's spokesman.

Twitter also slammed new regulations that its peers and digital rights activists say will threaten privacy guarantees.

The government - which says they are needed to investigate offences relating to the country's sovereignty, national security as well as sexually explicit material - hit back and accused Twitter of seeking to "undermine India's legal system".

"Twitter is just a social media platform and it has no locus in dictating what should India's legal policy framework should be."

The government added that "representatives of social media companies including Twitter are and will always remain safe in India and there is no threat to their personal safety and security."

Delhi Police added in a statement that Twitter was obliged under the law to cooperate with their inquiry and share "material information" about why the ruling party spokesman's tweet had been tagged.

'Big tech vs the Indian government'

IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted Thursday that the government fully respected the right to privacy and the new rules were aimed at preventing "abuse and misuse of social media".

But critics say Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration is seeking to stifle online opposition in what is a huge market for Twitter, Facebook and others - accusations the government rejects.

The new rules demand that social media companies give details of the "first originator" of posts deemed to undermine India's sovereignty, state security or public order.

Social media firms and privacy activists fear the rules' vagueness mean that the companies could be forced to identify the authors of posts critical of the government.

Twitter has expressed particular concern about the requirement to name a compliance officer who would then be criminally liable for content, and has requested at least three more months to comply.

"(Just) as we do around the world, we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law," a Twitter spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

WhatsApp is challenging the law in India's courts, and says it would mean breaking encryption - a cornerstone of its service which prevents anyone other than the sender and receiver from being able to read messages sent on the platform.

In a court filing this week, the Facebook-owned company said the rules infringed upon the "fundamental rights to privacy and free speech of the hundreds of millions of citizens using WhatsApp" in India.

Digital rights activist Nikhil Pahwa told AFP the war of words was "just the beginning of big tech versus the Indian government".

"The people who suffer at the end of it are users... What I'd like to see is a reduction in power of (social media) platforms over our speech, but also not increasing the power of governments over platforms, because then governments can use them to censor us."

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Genetically modified salmon head to US dinner plates

Indianapolis: The inaugural harvest of genetically modified salmon began this week after the pandemic delayed the sale of the first such altered animal to be cleared for human consumption in the United States, company officials said.

Several tons of salmon, engineered by biotech company AquaBounty Technologies Inc., will now head to restaurants and away-from-home dining services - where labeling as genetically engineered is not required - in the Midwest and along the East Coast, company CEO Sylvia Wulf said.

Thus far, the only customer to announce it is selling the salmon is Samuels and Son Seafood, a Philadelphia-based seafood distributor.

AquaBounty has raised its faster-growing salmon at an indoor aquaculture farm in Albany, Indiana. The fish are genetically modified to grow twice as fast as wild salmon, reaching market size - 8 to 12 pounds (3.6 to 5.4 kilograms) - in 18 months rather than 36.

The Massachusetts-based company originally planned to harvest the fish in late 2020. Wulf attributed delays to reduced demand and market price for Atlantic salmon spurred by the pandemic.

"The impact of COVID caused us to rethink our initial timeline ... no one was looking for more salmon then," she said. "We're very excited about it now. We've timed the harvest with the recovery of the economy, and we know that demand is going to continue to increase."

Although finally making its way to dinner plates, the genetically modified fish has been met by pushback from environmental advocates for years.

The international food service company Aramark in January announced its commitment to not sell such salmon, citing environmental concerns and potential impacts on Indigenous communities that harvest wild salmon.

The announcement followed similar ones by other major food service companies - Compass Group and Sodexo - and many large U.S. grocery retailers, seafood companies and restaurants. Costco, Kroger, Walmart and Whole Foods maintain that they don't sell genetically modified or cloned salmon and would need to label them as such.

The boycott against AquaBounty salmon has largely come from activists with the Block Corporate Salmon campaign, which aims to protect wild salmon and preserve Indigenous rights to practice sustainable fishing.

"Genetically engineered salmon is a huge threat to any vision of a healthy food system. People need ways to connect with the food they're eating, so they know where it's coming from," said Jon Russell, a member of the campaign and a food justice organizer with Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. "These fish are so new - and there's such a loud group of people who oppose it. That's a huge red flag to consumers."

Wulf said she's confident there's an appetite for the fish.

"Most of the salmon in this country is imported, and during the pandemic, we couldn't get products into the market," Wulf said. "So, having a domestic source of supply that isn't seasonal like wild salmon and that is produced in a highly-controlled, bio-secure environment is increasingly important to consumers."

AquaBounty markets the salmon as disease- and antibiotic-free, saying its product comes with a reduced carbon footprint and none of the risk of polluting marine ecosystems like traditional sea-cage farming carries.

Despite their rapid growth, the genetically modified salmon require less food than most farmed Atlantic salmon, the company says. Biofiltration units keep water in the Indiana facility's many 70,000-gallon (264,979-liter) tanks clean, making fish less likely to get sick or require antibiotics.

The FDA approved the AquAdvantage Salmon as "safe and effective" in 2015. It was the only genetically modified animal approved for human consumption until federal regulators approved a genetically modified pig for food and medical products in December.

In 2018, the federal agency greenlit AquaBounty's sprawling Indiana facility, which is currently raising roughly 450 tons (408 metric tons) of salmon from eggs imported from Canada but is capable of raising more than twice that amount.

But in a shifting domestic market that increasingly values origin, health and sustainability, and wild over farmed seafood, others have a different view of the salmon, which some critics have nicknamed "Frankenfish."

Part of the domestic pushback revolves around how the engineered fish is to be labeled under FDA guidelines. Salmon fishermen, fish farmers, wholesalers and other stakeholders want clear labeling practices to ensure that customers know they're purchasing an engineered product.

USDA labeling law directs companies to disclose genetically-modified ingredients in food through use of a QR code, an on-package display of text or a designated symbol. Mandatory compliance with that regulation takes full effect in January, but the rules don't apply to restaurants or food services.

Wulf said the company is committed to using "genetically engineered" labeling when its fish are sold in grocery stores in coming months.

In November, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco affirmed that the FDA had the authority to oversee genetically engineered animals and fish. But he ruled that the agency hadn't adequately assessed the environmental consequences of AquaBounty salmon escaping into the wild.

The company argued that escape is unlikely, saying the fish are monitored 24 hours a day and contained in tanks with screens, grates, netting, pumps and chemical disinfection to prevent escape. The company's salmon are also female and sterile, preventing them from mating.

"Our fish are actually designed to thrive in the land-based environment. That's part of what makes them unique," Wulf said. "And we're proud of the fact that genetically engineered allows us to bring more of a healthy nutritious product to market in a safe, secure and sustainable way."

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Infographic: How Google made a 3D video calling booth

Image Credit: Seyyed Llata/Gulf News | Graphic News

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Retro milk float brings Londoners zero-plastic groceries

London: Ella Shone's small electric truck used to deliver milk but now she drives it around London, selling groceries and household goods that are free of plastic packaging.

The 32-year-old bought her "top-up truck" last year after the first coronavirus lockdown got her thinking about innovative ways to reduce waste.

She has found plenty of demand for her service, with customers scooping up dry groceries such as lentils or filling bottles from large dispensers of vinegar or washing detergent.

On a rainy day in May, the 32-year-old plied a route to eight stops in the up-and-coming district of Hackney in northeast London.

"It's very straightforward: it's a bit like a go-cart ride," she said of driving the truck, which has a top speed of 30 miles (48 kilometres) per hour.

But she admitted the steering can get "a bit bumpy".

Ella Shone serves a customer from her electric milk float converted into a zero waste shop. Image Credit: AFP

At one stop, three customers bought dried mango, pasta, raisins and shampoo.

The mobile shop was created to bring "packaging-free" shopping to people's doors, tapping into a growing demand for deliveries during the stay-at-home restrictions.

"I felt that there was a need to make it easier, to make it more accessible, more visible," she said.

Nevertheless, she wasn't immediately sure her idea was viable.

"When I started this, I thought I'd gone a bit mad on furlough leave", she admitted.

During lockdown, Shone was on government-subsidised leave from her job in sales at a company producing sustainable condiments.

She decided to buy the truck with the money she saved during lockdown, wanting to offer a "community shopping experience".

Ella Shone drives her electric milk float converted into a zero waste shop. Image Credit: AFP

The truck deliveries launched in August last year and customers can book a stop online.

The electric vehicles - known commonly as milk floats - were once commonly used by milkmen and women to deliver pint bottles of fresh milk on household doorsteps.

Customers returned them for reuse and Shone says her truck prompts a "nostalgic" reaction.

But she is responding to very current concerns over plastic packaging, which disintegrates over time, creating ubiquitous microplastic pollution.

Activism targeting governments and corporations can help, she said, but added: "I think there's a lot that needs to be done at consumer level."

Pandemic 'awakening'

The UK is the world's second biggest producer of plastic waste per person behind the United States, according to Greenpeace.

A study published in January by Greenpeace and the Environmental Investigation Agency found that the 10 largest supermarket chains in the UK reduced their use of plastic by just 1.6 percent in 2019, despite promises of change.

Shone is nevertheless optimistic about people's motivation to cut down on wasteful packaging.

"During the pandemic, there has been a bit of a step back towards single-use (plastic) just because people are fearful of reusing something that might entail passing on Covid-19," she said.

"But against that tide, I think there has been a bit of an awakening in terms of our responsibility towards the environment."

In April, she raised #15,000 ($21,000) through a crowd-funding campaign, which allowed her to add more shelves to her float. She has also left her previous job.

Ultimately, Shone would like to see a ban on single-use plastic packaging.

"There are so many areas where plastic is completely unnecessary and the government is not putting regulations on what corporations are allowed to do," she said.

"And the recycling infrastructure is quite terrible as well."

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COVID-19: Italy extends entry travel ban for India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

Rome: Italy extended Sunday an entry ban for people coming from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as a continued precaution against the more transmissible Indian variant of the novel coronavirus.

The ban, which does not apply to Italian citizens, was introduced in late April and was due to expire on Sunday. It was prolonged until June 21, a spokesman for Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said in a statement.

The B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus was first detected in India last year and has been blamed for much of a devastating Covid-19 wave that has battered South Asian nations in recent weeks.

This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the variant has officially spread to 53 territories, and has been linked to seven other territories by unofficial sources, taking the total to 60.

In an interview with AFP, WHO regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said the increased contagiousness of the new variants of the coronavirus, including the Indian one, was one of his main worries.

"We know for example that the B.1617 (Indian variant) is more transmissible than the B.117 (British variant), which already was more transmissible than the previous strain," the Belgian doctor said.

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Pakistan: COVID-19 positivity rate down to all-time low of 2.2% in Islamabad

Islamabad: Pakistan’s COVID-19 positivity rate remained less than 5 per cent for the third consecutive day as the country recorded 2,726 new cases and 75 deaths in the last twenty-four hours.

According to the National Command & Operation Centre (NCOC) Pakistan’s positivity rate of COVID-19 was 4.34 per cent after 62,706 tests conducted in the last twenty-four hours.

With these latest figures, Pakistan’s total number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 911,302 while the country’s death toll stood at 20,540.

The active cases too have reduced from 60,295 to 59,018 in the last twenty-four hours, the NCOC data further reveals.

6 million vaccinated

The NCOC statistics reveal that so far, 6,130,509 vaccines (complete two doses) have been administered while more than 200,000 persons are being administered jabs, first or second.

In the last twenty-four hours, 287,109 doses were administered, according to the NCOC.

The strict restrictions imposed in Sindh and Punjab during the recent lockdown have started yielding results and the Punjab recorded around 3 per cent positivity rate on Thursday with 24 persons dying in the last twenty-four hours.

According to the Punjab Secondary Health Department (PSHD) 24,914 tests were conducted in the last twenty-four hours showing 758 new cases added to the province’s single-day cases.

In Lahore, too, the positivity remained 3 per cent with 307 cases reported in the last twenty-four hours.

Similarly, in Sindh the situation is getting better as the province recorded 1,293 new cases and 24 deaths in the last twenty-four hours, while a week ago, on May 21, the single-day cases were 2,136.

Positive cases

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah while presiding over a meeting said that the strict measures had helped in decreasing the rate of the positive cases in Sindh this week.

The federal capital on Thursday recorded 2.2 per cent COVID-19 positivity, all time low since the virus outbreak. In the last twenty-four hours, the city recorded 113 new cases and three deaths.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, Hamza Shafqaat the district health department has been asked to vaccinate more than half the population of the federal capital.

About a number of misleading messages and videos gone viral on social media regarding efficacy of certain vaccines and others, he said there was no truth in them. They are fake and those who were spreading such rumours were the enemies of Pakistan, the DC further said.

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Mumbai's dabbawalas face financial crisis amid COVID-19 lockdown

Mumbai: Mumbai's world-famous dabbawalas are among those severely affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown that followed.

Under normal circumstances, about 5,000 dabbawalas were part of the intricate network that delivers food to offices from their homes. But with 95 per cent of business closed, only 350 dabbawalas are on the move.

At present, dabbawalas are not allowed to travel on the local trains, forcing many to travel 40 to 45 kilometers daily by cycle. Many have taken up temporary work to make ends meet.

Vishnu Kaldoke, a spokesperson of Mumbai's dabbawalas said that help has been sought from the government but they are yet to receive any kind of relief.

"The government has promised to help but we have not received any help yet. Mumbai's dabbawalas are following all COVID-19 rules but now we desperately need financial help. They should allow us to travel by local train," he said.

Kaldoke is currently struggling to support his family. He has school-going children to look after and fears that they may not be able to complete their education.

"I am very grateful to Mumbaikars who have helped us during this difficult time. But the government should also take note of this, provide financial assistance and allow us to travel by the local train," he said.

Maharashtra has been observing 'strict restrictions' for over a month after cases crossed record numbers in April.

Under the guidelines, all establishments, public places, activities have remained closed in the state. Only essential services have been exempted, and their operations are unrestricted.

Cinema halls, theatres, auditoriums, amusement parks, gyms, sports complexes have remained closed under Section 144. Only employees of essential services, hotels and restaurants are on the local train.

Cases have come down considerably over the last week. In all, 24,136 new COVID-19 cases, 36,176 patient discharges, and 601 were reported deaths on Wednesday.

There are currently 314,368 active cases in the state. A total 90,349 deaths have been reported so far.

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Ping-pong! Sterling goes close after a sustained period of pressure but he is denied and Chelsea break. Werner messes up and then we go again but Sterling cannot find a man in the box.

MAN CITY 0 CHELSEA 0

City get into their passing game early, but Chelsea are harrying them every step of the wy. Ederson tidies up an early break by the Blues.

11:04 PM
May 29, 2021

MAN CITY 0 CHELSEA 0

We are under way. Who will claim the trophy? Can Tuchel outsmart Guardiola once again? The beat the Sky Blues twice already this season, remember, even if they start as underdogs today.

10:55 PM
May 29, 2021

MAN CITY 0 CHELSEA 0

Silly dancing going on now - not a fan. We are 5 mins away from a massive game with massive implications for both sides.

10:45 PM
May 29, 2021

MAN CITY v CHELSEA

TEAM NEWS

Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Sterling, Foden. Subs: Ake, Gabriel Jesus, Aguero, Steffen, Laporte, Rodri, Torres, Mendy, Fernandinho, Joao Cancelo, Carson, Garcia.

Chelsea: Mendy, James, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Chilwell, Mount, Havertz, Werner. Subs: Arrizabalaga, Alonso, Christensen, Pulisic, Caballero, Zouma, Kovacic, Giroud, Hudson-Odoi, Ziyech, Gilmour, Emerson Palmieri.

10:38 PM
May 29, 2021

“It’s fantastic that there are two English teams in the final,” says Craig Leader, manager of Crown & Lion, Byblos Barsha Heights.

“A north-south divide and we are going to be in for another great game. The new protocols mean we have a real vibe back in the place. We are booked out tonight, like most other places across the city for a huge game. Who will win? Manchester United were stunned by Villarreal in the Europa League final a few days ago, and I think we will see another upset and Chelsea will take the title away form Manchester City.”

10:37 PM
May 29, 2021

There are so many subplots and questions to tonight’s game we could get a deal with Penguin. But the main ones are as follows:
Will this City team — on a cusp of greatness — announce their true arrival among the big boys?
Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel has a point to prove having missed out on the trophy last time out with PSG. Can he prove the doubters wrong?
Can the Blues make a statement after a poor season and another sacked manager — trophyless will hurt having come close in the FA Cup?
Can City really hold it together on the biggest stage where they have failed so many times, despite domestic dominance in England?

Time will tell — well, two hours or so from now will give us a clearer picture ...

10:32 PM
May 29, 2021

Here we go. Nervous much? Manchester City are preparing to take on Chelsea in a colossal clash of English titans.

Will it be Pep’s crowning glory in a decade-long Abu Dhabi project, or will Thomas Tuchel and the Londoners upset the applecart?

How a tiny Khazak girl beat her idol Mary Kom at the Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Dubai

On Sunday night, India’s six-time world champion MC Mary Kom’s worst fears became a reality when she lost to Kazakhstan’s Nazym Kyzaibay in the women’s 51kg final of the Asian Men’s and Women’s Elite Boxing Championships in Dubai.

Not only did pocket-sized Kyzaibay bring down a giant of the sport she broke the hearts of millions of Indian fans who idolise the boxer from the northeastern Indian state of Manipur.

Kom, who is seen as a big medal prospect for the Tokyo Olympics-bound Indian squad, was expected to win the gold in Dubai but she learnt that nothing can be taken for granted in the brutal world of boxing.

The pride of India was so devastated by her split-decision defeat to Kyzaibay, that she broke down in tears in the warm-up area while seeking the comfort of her coaches and technical staff.

Saturday’s loss was the worst thing that could happen to a fighter who was using the Dubai event as a warm-up for a shot at an elusive Olympic gold medal at the July 23-August 8 extravaganza in Japan.

The way I saw it was this setback could be both good, or bad news for Kom as she bids to keep her Olympic hopes alive.

Even the biggest names in boxing have suffered reverses only to pick themselves up and come back stronger. Which is what Kom fans will be hoping to see.

But, at the age of 38, does she still have the hunger and ability to fight off adversity and make history as the oldest gold medal winner at the Olympics? It looks a tough call.

Admitted, Kom is a great boxer as her numerous accomplishments will show, which begs the question — has time caught up with her? Perhaps it has, as on Saturday night she looked a trifle hesitant to assert herself, short of confidence and lacking the speed required to trouble an opponent.

On the contrary Kyzaibay, was bristling with enthusiasm even though she may have been at the wrong end of the exchanges during a back-and-forth first two rounds. But boy did she bring it on in the final round, taking the fight to Kom and totally convincing the judges to vote in her favour.

“Most of the time I try to inspire myself,” Kyzaibay told Gulf News. “Mary Kom has always been my idol. And to one day find yourself in the ring fighting someone who has inspired you, feels strange — almost unreal. But I put everything I knew about her away, stayed focused even when things were not going my way and kept myself fully motivated throughout the fight.

“I fought my fight but she did not. I knew I would win regardless of being the underdog. It may have looked close for some, but I got the decision in the end. I want to say sorry to the many Indians who were disappointed at Mary Kom’s loss, but she was not the fighter I knew and admired for so many years.”

Meanwhile, Aziz Kozhambetov, the former director of the Asian Boxing Confederation who is currently the chief advisor to Kassym-Jomart K. Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on International Relations, praised hosts the UAE and the Kazakhstan women’s team who won eight of the ten gold medals on offer in the Asian Championships.

“I know how hard it was to organise this event at such short notice after Delhi (India) were unable to host it due to the pandemic,” he said. “But the UAE authorities showed their solidarity by stepping to host the championship in a most professional manner. Hats off the UAE, the boxing world is proud of you.

“I must be honest to say that I was a bit disappointed with the performances of the Indian girls, a lot was expected of them, but the girls from my country capitalised to deliver dominant performances and win a record eight gold medals.

“This is a historic achievement and speaks well for the growth of boxing in our country.”

Altogether 150 boxers including 47 women are competing at the Championships for which the AIBA has allocated $400,000 in prize money.

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Pakistan PM launches special economic zone, 200,000 jobs to be generated

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday inaugurated the Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that would create at least 200,000 job opportunities and give new impetus to Pakistan’s export-oriented industrialisation.

Rashakai, one of the nine SEZs under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), will begin a new era of industrialisation in Pakistan, PM Imran Khan said.

The SEZ is being constructed in Nowshera, Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The zone is being built at the cost of $242 million with the collaboration of China’s state enterprise China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and KP Economic Zone Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC).

Artist's impression of Pakistan's Rashakai Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Image Credit: Supplied

Prime Minister Imran Khan says the government is taking all-out steps to incentivise investors for the promotion of industrialisation and exports in the country. There will be one-window operation to make it an investor-friendly zone and to remove the hurdles by facilitating local and foreign investors. Rashakai SEZ is a landmark project that would help attract direct foreign investment, bolster industrialisation, create new jobs for the skilled workforce, and increase exports - imperative for sustainable economic development, he said.

Industrial development and jobs

The location of the economic zone, close to Afghanistan and Central Asian States (CARs) would accelerate the pace of economic and industrial development and take the country’s exports to new heights, and transform the KP province into a hub of trade and investment, the premier stated.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong said the Rashakai SEZ would drive “industrial development in Pakistan”, create more jobs for youth and accelerate economic progress. It will also help enhance economic cooperation between Pakistan and China, he said.

Industrial sectors

These industrial sectors have been planned and proposed at Rashakai SEZ: · Pharmaceutical · Textile · Food and beverage · Homebuilding materials · Electronics and electrical appliances · Automobile and mechanical equipment

Trade and investment hub

The Rashakai SEZ is prioritised as a special economic park spreading over an area of about 1,000 acres near the provincial capital of Peshawar. The zone under the CPEC framework will become an important trade hub for the region with the collaboration of Pakistan and China, says CEO of KPEZDMC Javed Khattak.

The project will be completed in three phases. It had attracted $128 million Chinese investment, according to special assistant to KP chief minister on industries Abdul Karim Khan said.

Rashakai SEZ has attracted the interest of more than 2,000 potential investors, according to the government. CPEC Authority chairman Asim Saleem Bajwa said Phase 2 of CPEC includes “industrialisation through establishing export-oriented SEZs”.

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Two deaths reported as powerful cyclone Yaas destroys homes in India, forces Kolkata airport closure

Bhubaneswar: A powerful cyclone destroyed tens of thousands of mud houses in eastern India on Wednesday, forcing the closure of the busiest regional airport in the city of Kolkata as it brought storm surges to coastal areas, the second such event within a week.

Two people were killed in the latest cyclone to hit the country, authorities announced.

"One was carried away by the surge from the sea and another died after his house collapsed in East Midnapore district," said Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal.

Cyclone Yaas was packing gusts of up to 140 kmph as it hit land, authorities said, days after Tauktae tore up the western coast, triggering mass evacuations and piling pressure on authorities battling a deadly second wave of the coronavirus.

Authorities said more than a million people had been moved out of the storm's path, while television broadcast images of rough seas, strong winds and rains lashing the state of Odisha, with shops and homes boarded up.

Weather officials said the "very severe cyclone" was expected to hit Odisha and adjacent West Bengal, with some effects felt even in Bangladesh, although the neighbouring country is not in the storm's direct path.

West Bengal's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, told reporters that about 20,000 mud houses and temporary shelters had been damaged in the state.

"I have not seen anything like this before," said another state minister, Bankim Hazra, after seawater gushed into the low-lying areas of Sagar island in the Bay of Bengal and the tourist town of Digha, where a police station was flooded.

"Successive high tides battered the coastline," he added.

"It is inundation all around and villages are cut off." The state's Kolkata airport was closed to flights until Wednesday evening.

Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are common at this time of year, and often roar ashore, bringing death and destruction to the coastal areas of both India and neighbouring Bangladesh.

Police said they had rescued 10 people after their boat capsized near shore in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district on Tuesday. Naval base Chilka is monitoring ships in the area and is ready for rescue operations, the Indian Navy said.

The devastating wave of virus infections complicated storm preparations. Odisha officials said they had suspended testing, vaccination and a door-to-door health survey in the three districts in the storm's path.

Weather officials in Bangladesh said the storm was likely to swamp low-lying areas of 14 coastal districts, bringing tides three feet to four feet (0.91 m to 1.22 m) higher than normal, and advised fishing boats and trawlers to stay in shelter.

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India's COVID-19 infections ebb but states struggle for vaccines

New Delhi: India's official tally of daily infections of coronavirus fell to the lowest in nearly six weeks in the past 24 hours, offering hope that a devastating second wave is ebbing, but government leaders said shortages of vaccines were a big concern.

Barely 3% of the country's 1.3 billion people have been vaccinated, the lowest rate among the 10 countries with the most COVID-19 cases, leaving India and its healthcare system vulnerable to a potential third wave, experts say.

The Serum Institute of India, which is supplying the AstraZeneca vaccine, and local firm Bharat Biotech which is providing Covaxin, have both said they are ramping up production but the supply remains way short of the millions of doses India needs.

On Tuesday, the country posted 196,427 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, its lowest daily rise in infections since April 14, and less than half the 414,188 peak reported on May 7. The country's overall officially recorded case load since the start of the pandemic now stands at 26.95 million.

There are serious concerns that many new infections are not being reported, due to a dearth of testing in the countryside, where the virus has spread to from the cities.

Deaths due to COVID-19 amounted to 3,511 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total since the pandemic first stuck over a year ago to 307,231, according to health ministry data.

Experts believe that grossly underestimates the actual toll as only people who have tested positive are counted, whereas many victims were never tested.

The Economist magazine’s excess-deaths model estimates that around a million people have died of COVID-19 in India so far, way above the 590,240 in the United States, which is the worst hit country based on official counts.

Drugmakers rebuff states

In desperation, several Indian state governments and even cities such as Mumbai have launched global tenders or sought expressions of interest from firms such as Pfizer , Moderna and Johnson and Johnson for urgent supplies.

But Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the three firms told them they were in touch with the federal Indian government and that they will not be dealing with state level authorities.

Sisodia blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for mishandling vaccine procurement and not moving fast enough to secure supplies for the country.

"It is a global blunder," said Sisodia, whose Aam Aadmi Party is bitterly opposed to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The northern state of Punjab also said over the weekend its efforts to directly source supplies had been rebuffed by the foreign vaccine manufacturers. The hill state of Uttarakhand extended its global tender till the end of the month after failing to get any bid, local media reported on Tuesday.

"The vaccination drive is in shambles and people are suffering and despairing," Anand Sharma, a leader of the main opposition Congress said, urging Modi to put aside politics and work with state governments to help them procure vaccines.

Pfizer said it was in talks with the Indian government to supply its vaccine, which has still to be cleared by India's drug regulator.

"Pfizer remains committed to continuing our engagement with the government of India towards making the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine available for use in the country," a spokeswoman told Reuters, declining to provide details of the ongoing discussions.

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