Peru on Monday more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll, becoming the country with the highest Covid-19 mortality per capita anywhere in the world.

 

Peru on Monday more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll, becoming the country with the highest Covid-19 mortality per capita anywhere in the world.

By: Carl Brigante

Peru on Monday almost tripled its official COVID-19 death toll to 180,764, following a government review, making it the country with the worst death rate per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Peru has been among the hardest hit Latin America countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, with its hospitals overcrowded with patients and demand for oxygen outstripping availability. Experts had long warned that the true death toll was being undercounted in official statistics.

The government said it will now update its death count, which stood at 69,342 as of Sunday, in part because of a lack of testing that made it difficult to confirm whether a person had died due to the virus or some other cause.

According to Johns Hopkins data, Hungary had the worst number of per capita COVID-19 deaths at about 300 per 100,000 people. With its updated death toll, Peru now stands at more than 500 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people.

"We think it is our duty to make public this updated information," said Peru Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez during a news conference announcing the result of the review.

In Latin America, Brazil has the highest total death toll with more than 450,000 lives lost due to the pandemic. Based on population, however, Peru's per capita death toll now more than doubles that of Brazil, according to the data.

Peru's updated numbers are in line with so-called excess death figures, which researchers have used in Peru and other countries to measure possible undercounting during the pandemic.

Excess deaths measures the total number of deaths over a period of time and compares it with the same period pre-pandemic.

Source: Reuters

A drunk off duty cop shot a 52 year old woman in the Philippines

A drunk off duty cop shot a 52 year old woman in the Philippines

By Edward Era Barbacena

52 -year -old grandmother Lilybeth Valdez died after being shot by a drunk police officer in Sitio Ruby, Barangay Greater Fairview, Quezon City on Monday.

Police identified Police Master Sgt. Hensie Zinampan of the Police Security and Protection Group. Video captured the hunt.

It was past 9 pm when the victim bought a cigarette at a store outside their house.

The police followed her and he obviously hid the gun behind him. He swung it and pulled out the grandmother.

"When ante Susan tweaked, she said, 'sir, don't tweak me' ... When ante tweaked her hair, she was shot immediately," said Joanne Luceño, a relative of the victim who witnessed the incident.

I see in the video with kids around when this happens. Zinampan was not on duty when he shot the victim.

Coleman Thomas Blevins - a white American from Kerrville, Texas arrested after officials intercept plans for mass shooting at Walmart

Coleman Thomas Blevins - a white American from Kerrville, Texas  arrested after officials intercept plans for mass shooting at Walmart

By Edward Era Barbacena

KERRVILLE, Texas – The FBI, Texas DPS and Kerr County Sheriff's Office have arrested a Kerrville man they say planned to carry out a shooting at a Walmart.

Coleman Thomas Blevins, 28, popped up on the KCSO radar last week and reached out to Blevins. According to the KCSO, it confirmed Blevins was planning a mass shooting after speaking with him.

In a message KCSO intercepted, Blevins allegedly threatened to shoot up a Walmart, which location was not released.

Blevins was arrested Friday on a Terroristic Threat warrant, then officials got to work on a search warrant at his home.

There, deputies say they found firearms, ammo, electronic evidence, concentrated THC and “radical ideology paraphernalia,” which they said included books, flags and handwritten documents.

We are told Blevins is on active felony probation, which means he is prohibited from having guns. He remains in jail.

“This case reminds us that we need to always be vigilant. Many think ‘that can’t happen here’, and it was well on the way to happening,” Sheriff Larry Leitha said. “Our investigators did outstanding work in this case, and possibly saved many lives. The plot interrupted in this case is unthinkable. We appreciate the assistance of all our law enforcement partners, including the FBI, DPS, KPD, and Secret Service. We’d like to remind the public - if you see something, say something. The KCSO, working with other law enforcement professionals, will continue to stop threats to our community, and bring those responsible to prosecution.”

 

Police search for the white American man suspect in attack on a 75 year old Asian American elderly in NYC

 

Police search for the white American man suspect in attack on a 75 year old Asian American elderly woman in NYC

By Angelo Locsin

Police are looking for a suspect in connection with an attack on a 75-year-old Asian woman in Queens that occurred Wednesday.

“Authorities say the woman was walking on 57th Avenue near 97th Place in Corona when someone struck her in the head in a random, unprovoked attack,” ABC 7 reported. The location is a short walk from the supermarket on 57th Avenue to Wing Wa Chin’s home, according to the outlet.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) posted surveillance footage Thursday of a man wearing a green shirt and blue shorts getting up from the curb and walking toward the woman:

When he approached her, the suspect appeared to reach out and hit the woman in the face as she walked along the sidewalk with her cart.

She fell against a wall, then hit the ground as the suspect continued on his way.

According to CBS New York, the victim is a mother who has lived in the area for four decades.

“She was just coming back from the supermarket and she had her shopping cart,” her son told the outlet, adding he did not wish to be identified for fear of retaliation.

“It’s kinda obvious. He punched her because she was an Asian lady,” he commented.

The elderly victim was left with two black eyes and a fractured eye socket and nose.

“She said people around were nice enough to help her call the ambulance. They came to pick her up and stuff like that, so I’m glad people around here at least stick up for each other,” her son noted.

She was treated for her injuries at a local hospital but must return for surgery.

Malaysia imposes near-total lockdown after virus cases surge

 

Malaysia imposes near-total lockdown after virus cases surge 

Malaysia imposes near-total lockdown after covid-19 cases surge

By Edward Era Barbacena

KUALA LUMPUR,  — Malaysia’s prime minister announced on Friday a near-total coronavirus lockdown in the country, with social and economic activities to be halted for two weeks to contain a worsening outbreak.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the decision to implement the lockdown starting June 1 came after new infections breached 8,000 on Friday for the first time, sparking fears the disease could spiral out of control.

The government earlier this month imposed a partial lockdown until June 7, stopping short of shutting down businesses to prevent a possible economic catastrophe. But new infections have climbed since the recent Muslim Eid festival, crossing 6,000 on May 19 for the first time and soaring to 8,290 on Friday.

This raised the country’s total cases to 549,514. The health ministry also reported another 61 deaths Friday, pushing the tally to 2,552 — nearly 40% recorded this month alone. Malaysia’s total cases and deaths have jumped nearly five-fold compared to all of last year.

Muhyiddin said in a statement that all business activities will be shut down June 1-14 in the first phase of the full lockdown, except for essential services.

If daily cases fall, some economic sectors will be allowed to reopen in the second phase, which is expected to last four weeks, he said. After that, the country will return to current controls, with all businesses allowed to operate but not social activities.

Muhyiddin vowed that the government will bolster the healthcare system to ensure it doesn’t collapse and ramp up vaccinations.

This is the country’s second nationwide lockdown in over a year. A lockdown last year badly hit the economy, and the government resisted growing calls for another large-scale lockdown but caved in after the runaway increase in new cases.

Earlier Friday, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri said many ethnic Malay Muslims violated COVID-19 safety rules that banned them from visiting each other during the Eid festival.

He said 24 Eid clusters have been detected with 850 confirmed cases. Many of the positive cases involved people who were asymptomatic, he said.

Pauline Mae Altamirano - the woman seen in a viral video assailing a traffic enforcer was a drug courrier afterall

 

Pauline Mae Altamirano - the woman seen in a viral video assailing a traffic enforcer was a drug courrier afterall 

By Edward Era Barbacena

MANILA  — Pauline Mae Altamirano -the arrogant woman was arrested on thursday for assailing a traffic enforcer turned out to be a "drug courier" after all, the city of Manila's public information office said Friday, citing a report by the Manila Police District Special Mayor's Reaction Team (MPD-SMaRT).

MPD-SMaRT chief Col. Rosalino Ibay said they uncovered illegal drugs in the suspect's belongings. Police also scrutinized  the woman's wireless phone and found out about illegal transaction and she was about to deliver prohibited drugs to her alleged clients. 

Four other individuals were also  arrested in a follow-up operation in Ermita, Manila on  Friday. The police seized 5 grams of shabu worth P34,000 from the suspects.

The 4 suspects admitted they went to Manila from Calamba, Laguna just to supposedly get the drugs from the woman. 

"Pinakuha po sa akin, Yung drugs po nasa bag po," one of the suspects said. 

(Someone asked me to get the drugs. They are in the bag.)

The 4 suspects are facing charges related to illegal drugs peddling, according to authorities. 

The woman in the viral video said she was under the influence of drugs when the altercation happened. 

She was supposedly defensive and tried to evade the traffic enforcer because she was about to deliver the drugs she had that time to Pasig City, in exchange of kush. 

"Nakikiusap naman ako ng maayos, ayaw niya talaga eh. Hanggang napikon na ako nasuntok ko sya," she explained, noting that she regretted the incident. 

(I was talking to him nicely but he refused. I was irate until I punched him.)

Source: ABS-CBN News

San Jose shooter Samuel Cassidy killed 8 before taking his own

 

San Jose shooter Samuel Cassidy killed 8 before taking his own

By Edward Era Barbacena

SAN JOSE—Over a decade before Samuel Cassidy opened fire at the Bay Area light rail yard where he worked, killing at least eight people, he was accused of raping and abusing his ex-girlfriend during violent “mood swings.”

“Several times during the relationship, he became intoxicated, enraged, and forced himself on me sexually,” the ex-girlfriend, who was 45 years old at the time of their volatile relationship, said in 2009 court documents first obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. “He also played several mind games, which he seems to enjoy.”

According to the filings and the ex-girlfriend’s lawyer, Robert Gary Cummings, the couple met on Match.com. While their relationship only lasted about a year, it was doomed just two months in, when Cassidy proposed to her, Cummings said.

“She said, ‘No, this is all too soon.’ And that then became a big issue for him in their relationship. And he started to gaslight her, if you will, and so he filed some nasty things about her in court,” Cummings told the media.

The relationship got so toxic that the pair filed domestic violence restraining orders against one another, he added. In the ex’s motion, she claimed that Cassidy had major “mood swings” from what she believed to be bipolar disorder. She added that Cassidy forced himself on her repeatedly and that she also had to fight him off when he attempted to force her into anal sex.

On Wednesday, Cassidy reportedly set his own home ablaze, then drove to the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) rail yard and began shooting during a union meeting around 6:30 a.m. PT, just as the overnight team was handing off to the morning crew. When police showed up, Cassidy turned the gun on himself.

The suspect’s father, 88-year-old James Edward Cassidy, told The Daily Beast that he was shocked by the news, as his son “seemed completely himself” in the days before the incident.

“He didn’t talk about his job or politics. I just found out he was dead and his house on fire and all that a minute ago,” he said in an interview.

But Doug Suh, one of Cassidy’s neighbors, told the media that he and his wife could not recall a single positive interaction with the loner in the five years they’ve lived across the street from him.

Once, when backing out of his driveway, Cassidy yelled, “Don’t even come to my driveway!” Suh said. Another time, when Suh’s wife tried to say hello, Cassidy stared her down, he recalled. Suh said he and his wife both felt “scared” of Cassidy—and tried to avoid him.

Suh’s security camera captured firefighters responding to Cassidy’s burning home at around 6:44 a.m. Wednesday, a recording he shared with The Daily Beast. Another video he shared from 5:40 a.m. showed Cassidy opening the driver’s side door of a white truck before driving away. He was wearing what appeared to be a VTA work uniform.

On Wednesday afternoon, Davis added that trained dogs “detected... some kind of explosives material at the crime scene itself.”

A spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Health System told The Daily Beast that at least two of the shooting victims were taken to the local hospital. One male victim was pronounced dead on arrival and another was listed in critical condition.

“This is just a horrible tragedy that has occurred,” VTA Chairman Glenn Hendricks said during a Wednesday press conference. “We’re so sorry this event happened... VTA is a family.”

VTA spokeswoman Brandi Childress told The Daily Beast that the shooting occurred at the Guadalupe light rail maintenance yard, and resulted in “multiple casualties,” but that “the extent of the injuries is still being determined.”

“All employees were evacuated. The sheriff’s office, which is just down the street from the location, is the reunification center for employees and family members who may be looking for them,” Childress added.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo told The New York Times that it appeared the suspect’s house was on fire Wednesday morning, “but that there was nobody inside.” Law enforcement officials confirmed to The Daily Beast that gasoline and ammunition were found throughout the house.

“There’s a strange connection here between arson and the shooting,” the mayor added.

Aerial footage of the shooting scene obtained by KGO showed a massive law enforcement presence and several ambulances near the rail yard. California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted Wednesday that his office was in “contact with local law enforcement and monitoring this situation closely.”

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, and the “White House continues to monitor the situation and remains in close contact with local officials to offer any assistance as needed,” the administration said in a statement.

The circumstances of the shooting remain unclear, but the mother of a VTA employee reportedly contacted KTVU to say her son called to say he was sheltering in the auditorium of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, and that the shooting occurred during a union meeting.

In the hours after the attack, at least 100 VTA workers and friends and family were seen walking through a concrete plaza into a low-slung Santa Clara County building in San Jose to a reunification center for victims.

One uniformed worker told The Mercury News, “The whole crew is gone, the whole shift is gone. It’s horrible.”

Also among the group was Keith Baldwin, a 58-year-old from Tracy, who was looking for his neighbor, Tim Romo.

Baldwin told The Daily Beast that Romo was still unaccounted for, so he went to the center to wait as his neighbor’s wife was still more than an hour’s drive away.

“I was just with him last night,” Baldwin told The Daily Beast. “He was going to go on vacation—just him and his wife were going to see his son on Sunday, and he was looking forward to doing that.”

Michael Hawkins, a San Jose resident, was also anxiously waiting at the reunification center. He told a group of reporters he arrived a few minutes after 10 a.m. to look for his wife, Rochelle, after he got a message from her that she was alive.

“I’m just here for my wife and hoping she’s OK and whoever else in there is OK,” he told reporters. “The message [she sent] said that she dropped her phone and she’s alright. She said she dropped her phone from running and she’s using a coworker’s phone.”

The Bay Area mass shooting comes amid a spate of gun violence across the nation, including a “targeted attack” at a New Jersey birthday party last weekend that killed three people.

“There’s a sameness to this, and a numbness I think is something we’re all feeling,” Newsom said during a Wednesday news briefing. “It begs the damn question, ‘What the hell is going on in the United States of America?’”

By late morning local time on Wednesday, police, firefighters, and paramedics were blockading the environs of the suspect’s San Jose home. The neighborhood was mostly single-family homes in light shades of tan, off-white, and pink, surrounded by fences and trees, including the occasional palm reaching high into the sky. Even with the fire crews and police, children rode their bicycles and scooters on adjacent streets.

Joy Lovett, 61, a former neighbor, was in shock upon hearing the news, describing Cassidy in an interview as “normal,” and recalling that he seemed to have a typical social life and frequently had friends around.

There was “nothing bizarre” about him, she told The Daily Beast. “He didn’t seem isolated... He was a happy-go-lucky guy.”

But Suh, the more recent neighbor, painted a darker picture of an isolated man, one more consistent with the account offered by Cassidy’s ex in court records, noting that he never saw him have visitors. And other neighbors seemed to be virtually unaware of him.

“They don’t even talk to him,” Suh said.

South Koreans are no longer required to wear masks in July once inoculated against Covid-19

 

South Koreans are no longer required to wear masks in July once inoculated against Covid-19

By Edward Era Barbacena

Seoul - South Korea on Wednesday announced that people who have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will no longer be required to wear masks outdoors from July, local media reported.

According to the Yonhap News Agency, they will also be exempted from capacity limits at religious facilities.

Religious facilities in the greater Seoul area are currently restricted from accepting more than 20% of their full seating capacity, while those in other regions maintain a 30% ceiling.

To combat the coronavirus outbreak, people were mandated to wear face masks on mass transportation and in public places last October.

From June, those who have received a first dose will also be exempt from the gathering ban of eight among direct family members and have access to community and welfare centers for seniors with fewer restrictions.

The announcement is part of the government's incentive program, an effort to encourage more people to get COVID-19 jabs.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said his government plans to fully revise its antivirus measures in late September, when more than 70% of the population is projected to have received their first jabs.

"We will also review loosening indoor mask rules when reaching herd immunity," Kim was quoted as saying.

South Korea launched its two-dose vaccination regimen campaign in February, and plans to achieve herd immunity by November. As many as 1.9 million people, or 3.8% of the country's 52 million population, have been inoculated.

With 707 new COVID-19 cases and two related deaths in the past 24 hours, the total caseload has risen to 137,682 including 1,940 fatalities, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The country has also recorded four “breakthrough” infections – a person testing positive for COVID-19 between first and second doses of a two-dose regimen or after full vaccination.

Timothy Kahl a white American who was arrested for ramming his SUV into a police station in Maryland

 

Timothy Kahl a white American who was arrested for ramming his SUV into a police station in Maryland

By Edward Era Barbacena

A Maryland man in the suburb of Havre de Grace just outside of Baltimore recently rammed his SUV into the front of a local police station after threatening to kill cops. 

Timothy Joel Jackson Kahl, 24, is the alleged suspect in the case and reportedly phoned the police on Sunday threatening to harm officers. After the call was traced, police found Kahl had been driving erratic and crashed into several cars before police attempted to stop him. However, authorities say he "intentionally" drove into the police station. 

In a statement from the Havre de Grace police department, authorities said "When officers went to make contact with him he tried to run them over with his vehicle several times," adding, "He then fled the scene and drove straight to the Havre de Grace Police Department and drove his vehicle through the front doors of the station into the lobby." 

Kahl didn't immediately surrender after the crash either. According to reports, the 24-year-old attempted to attack an officer after exiting his vehicle but was tased and subsequently handcuffed. Kahl has been formally charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and three counts of malicious destruction of property with a value greater than $1,000.

CNN snoots down Rick Santorum After Racist Comments About Native Americans

 

CNN snoots down Rick Santorum After Racist Comments About Native Americans

By Edward Era Barbacena

CNN has terminated its contract with senior political commentator Rick Santorum after racist, inaccurate remarks he made about Native Americans.

Santorum, a former Republican senator and two-time failed GOP presidential candidate, sparked outrage last month after claiming there was “nothing” in America before white colonizers arrived and that Native people haven’t contributed much to American culture, anyway

.“We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,” Santorum told students during remarks at a Young America’s Foundation event. “I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”

Prominent Indigenous-led organizations including the National Congress of American Indians and Illuminative have spent weeks demanding that CNN fire Santorum over his remarks. National civil rights groups have also called for his firing. CNN has stayed silent on the matter.

But on Saturday, a CNN senior executive told HuffPost that the network quietly ended its contract with Santorum this week. This executive, who requested anonymity to speak openly, said the decision to cut ties with Santorum came after he went on one of the network’s shows, “Cuomo Prime Time,” to explain himself shortly after he made his racist comments. He blew it, said this executive, and after that, nobody at the network wanted to keep him around.

“Leadership wasn’t particularly satisfied with that appearance. None of the anchors wanted to book him,” said the executive. “So he was essentially benched anyway.”

During his appearance on Chris Cuomo’s show, Santorum said he “misspoke” and that his comments were “out of context.” But the context of his remarks was simply that he said them, and he did not apologize during the segment.

“I think after that appearance, it was pretty clear we couldn’t use him again,” said the executive.

A CNN spokesman also confirmed to HuffPost that the network officially parted ways with Santorum this week.

The network has been taking heat from Native advocacy groups and allies for weeks amid its silence on the situation. Their anger at Santorum has been shifting from him to CNN itself.

“Rick Santorum is an unhinged and embarrassing racist who disgraces CNN and any other media company that provides him a platform,” NCAI president Fawn Sharp said in a fiery statement last month that went viral. “Televising someone with his views on Native American genocide is fundamentally no different than putting an outright Nazi on television to justify the Holocaust. Any mainstream media organization should fire him or face a boycott from more than 500 tribal nations and our allies from across the country and worldwide.”

On Thursday, Indigenous-led groups teamed up with several Hollywood celebrities for a “day of action” to pressure CNN to fire Santorum. They held a day-long tweet storm with the hashtag Remove Rick, and a Twitter chat with Native journalists to talk about the impact of Native erasure in the media. They also circulated an open letter to CNN executives with more than 120 signatures from Native leaders; actors including Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Helms, Mark Ruffalo, Piper Perabo and Sarah Silverman; educators and artists.

Study in Argentina confirms Sputnik V is highly - effective against manaus variant of corona virus

 

Study in Argentina confirms Sputnik V is highly - effective against manaus variant of corona virus

By Edward Era Barbacena

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) announces that a study carried out by Argentina’s Institute of Virology of the National University of Cordoba and the Government of Cordoba has confirmed neutralization effectiveness of the Russian two-dose Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine against the Manaus (Brazilian) variant and overall strong immune response after vaccination with Sputnik V.

The study specifically confirmed that the immunity generated thanks to vaccination with Sputnik V neutralizes the Manaus (Brazilian) variant in those who received one dose as well as subjects inoculated with two doses of the vaccine. Study also demonstrated that:

99.65% of subjects induced IgG antibodies to COVID-19 on 42nd day after receiving the 2nd dose;

85.5% of subjects induced IgG antibodies to COVID-19 on 14th day after receiving the 1st dose.

To date the Russian vaccine has been registered in 66 countries with total population of over 3.2 billion people. Post-vaccination studies in a number of countries demonstrate that Sputnik V is the safest and most effective vaccine against coronavirus. Sputnik V ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:

“The study carried out in Argentina has confirmed high efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine against new strains and variants of coronavirus. Argentina was the first country of Latin America to start vaccinating the population with Sputnik V. Now we see that the use of the Russian vaccine helps to protect the population not only against known strains, but also new variants, including the Manaus one, with strong immune response generated after receiving just one dose of the vaccine.”

Sputnik V has a number of key advantages:

Efficacy of Sputnik V is 97.6% based on the analysis of data on the coronavirus infection rate among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of Sputnik V from December 5, 2020 to March 31, 2021;

The Sputnik V vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years.

Sputnik V uses two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines using the same delivery mechanism for both shots.

The safety, efficacy and lack of negative long-term effects of adenoviral vaccines have been proven by more than 250 clinical studies over two decades.

There are no strong allergies caused by Sputnik V.

The storage temperature of Sputnik V at +2+8 C means it can be stored in a conventional refrigerator without any need to invest in additional cold-chain infrastructure.

The price of Sputnik V is less than $10 per shot, making it affordable around the world.

***

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF’s management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 80 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB2 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 800,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 6% of Russia’s GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 18 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at www.rdif.ru

Philippines ranks second in Covid-19 vaccine rollout in Southeast Asia

 

Philippines ranks second in Covid-19 vaccine rollout in Southeast Asia

By Angelo Locsin

MANILA –The Philippines ranked second among the countries in Southeast Asia in terms of total doses of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines administered.

According to the latest data from Bloomberg and Foreign Service Post, the country has administered a total of 4,097,425 doses since it started its Covid-19 vaccines rollout on March 1, 2021. 

The Philippines is second to Indonesia which has had a total of 24,723,728 doses administered since January 13, 2021.

The country’s seven-day average of doses administered is 162,514 while its daily average rate is 49,367.

Meanwhile, the Philippines ranked seventh in terms of the total number of fully vaccinated individuals at 949,939.

Moreover, the country ranked 13th in Asia and 37th worldwide both in terms of total doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered.

The Covid-19 vaccines it used in its vaccination activities include AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Sinovac, and Sputnik V.

To date, about more than 1.63 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in 196 countries at a rate of 28.4 million doses per day. 

Source: PNA

Italian cable car plunges to the ground, killing at least 13

 

Italian cable car plunges to the ground, killing at least 13

By Edward Era Barbacena

ROME — A cable car taking visitors to a mountaintop view of some of northern Italy's most picturesque lakes plummeted to the ground Sunday and then tumbled down the slope, killing at least 13 people and sending two children to the hospital in serious condition, authorities said.

Stresa Mayor Marcella Severino said it appeared that a cable broke, sending the car careening until it hit a pylon and then fell to the ground. At that point, the car overturned “two or three times before hitting some trees," she said. Some of those who died were thrown from the cabin.

Images from the site showed the crumpled car in a clearing of a thick patch of pine trees near the summit of the Mottarone peak overlooking Lake Maggiore.

“It was a terrible, terrible scene," Severino told Italy's SkyTG24. She said that in addition to the two children, a third person was injured.

The plunge on the the Stresa-Mottarone line happened about 100 meters (yards) before the final pylon, in a spot where the cables were particularly high off the ground, said Walter Milan, spokesman for Italy’s Alpine rescue service.

Milan noted that the cable line had been renovated in 2016 and had only recently reopened after coronavirus lockdowns in Italy curtailed travel and forced the suspension of many leisure activities. Milan suggested many families may have flocked to the mountain on a sunny Sunday after months of restrictions.

The line is popular with tourists and locals alike to scale Mottarone, which reaches a height of 1,491 meters (4,900 feet) and overlooks several picturesque lakes and the surrounding Alps of Italy’s Piedmont region.

The mountain hosts a small amusement park, Alpyland, that has a children’s rollercoaster, and the area also has mountain bike paths and hiking trails.

Premier Mario Draghi offered his condolences to the families of the victims “with a particular thought about the seriously injured children and their families."

It appeared to be Italy's worst cable car disaster since 1998 when a low-flying U.S. military jet cut through the cable of a ski lift in Cavalese, in the Dolomites, killing 20 people.

Italy's transport minister, Enrico Giovannini, was following the rescue effort, which involved deploying three helicopters to the mountainside.

While the cause hasn't been determined, it's the latest episode to raise questions about the quality of Italy's transport infrastructure. In 2018, the Morandi bridge in Genoa collapsed after years of neglect, killing 43 people.

U.S. judge orders psychological evaluation of Capitol's riot Jason Chansley or otherwise known as 'Qanon Shaman'

 

U.S. judge orders psychological evaluation of Capitol's riot Jason Chansley or otherwise known as 'Qanon Shaman'

Political News - United States

By Edward Era Barbacena

A federal judge on Friday ordered a mental health assessment for Jacob Chansley, the man nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman” who was widely photographed wearing a horned headdress inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said he determined that a "competency examination" of Chansley was warranted and ordered that a "psychological examination be conducted." The judge said the examination should include an assessment as to whether Chansley cannot understand the criminal charges against him or assist in his own defense.

Chansley, of Arizona, currently faces six federal charges including violent entry and disorderly conduct.

He was among hundreds of people who stormed the Capitol after Trump gave a fiery speech repeating his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. The mob interrupted the formal congressional certification of President Joe Biden's election victory and the riot left five people dead.

Lamberth's order said that Chansley should be committed to the custody of the U.S. attorney general for "placement in a suitable facility for a competency examination" by one or more psychiatrists or psychologists.

Chansley's lawyer, Albert Watkins, said that his client needs healthcare. Watkins said that although Chansley was one of the most recognizable participants in the riot thanks to his headdress, face paint and extensive tattoos, he was not dangerous.

"He was not violent. He did not assault. He did not steal or destroy while he was in the Capitol," Watkins said.

Chansley, a Navy veteran, was a follower of QAnon, a conspiracy theory that casts Trump as a savior figure and elite Democrats as a cabal of Satanist pedophiles and cannibals.

Being found incompetent can potentially spare a defendant from being prosecuted. However, such a finding also would require the court to commit the person to a hospital in a federal prison for treatment to try to restore competency.

If a person’s competency cannot be restored and he or she cannot stand trial, there is still a chance the government could keep the defendant detained if he or she is deemed to pose a danger to the public.

McDonald's is sued for $10 billion for alleged bias against Black-owned media

 

McDonald's is sued for $10billion for alleged bias against Black-owned media

By Mark Andrew Santiago

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) was sued on Thursday for at least $10 billion by two companies owned by media entrepreneur Byron Allen, who accused the fast-food chain of racial discrimination for not advertising enough with Black-owned media outlets.

The complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court said McDonald's violated federal and state civil rights laws through its "racial animus and racial stereotyping" in allocating ad dollars.

According to the complaint, Chicago-based McDonald's has refused to advertise with Allen's Entertainment Studios Networks, which owns several lifestyle channels, or his Weather Group, which owns The Weather Channel.

The complaint said Blacks comprise about 40% of McDonald's customers, but the company devoted less than $5 million of its $1.6 billion U.S. ad budget in 2019 to Black-owned media.

"McDonald's, like much of corporate America these days, publicly touts its commitment to diversity and inclusion, but this is nothing more than empty rhetoric," the complaint said.

Allen sued on the same day McDonald's said it would boost its national ad spending with Black-owned media to 5% from 2% by 2024, and also spend more on Hispanic-, Asian-American, women- and LGBTQ-owned platforms.

"We have doubled down on our relationships with diverse-owned partners," McDonald's said in a statement. It said it will "review and respond accordingly" to Allen's lawsuit.

In April, General Motors Corp (GM.N) pledged to advertise more with Black-owned media, after Allen and other entrepreneurs took out full-page newspaper ads accusing the automaker of ignoring those media.

A former stand-up comic and co-host of the NBC reality TV show "Real People," Allen also sued Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) for $20 billion in 2015 over its refusal to carry his channels.

He settled in June, three months after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Comcast in setting a high burden for Allen to prove he was discriminated against.

Asian American teen's 2017 death being investigated by FBI as a hate crime

 

Asian American teen's 2017 death being investigated by FBI as a hate crime

By Angelo Locsin

DENVER — The FBI has revealed that it is investigating the 2017 death of an Asian American teenager in Colorado as a possible hate crime, a grisly case in which local authorities said she was purposefully set on fire and burned alive in her family’s mountain community home.

The FBI said in a statement Monday to Denver news station KCNC-TV that it was looking into the death of 17-year-old Maggie Long as a “hate crime matter.”

Long’s death was ruled a homicide, and authorities later released composite sketches of at least three men they believed were involved in her death. No arrests have been made.

The FBI did not provide any information about why agents are looking at the possibility of a hate crime and did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages from The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Long’s body was found inside her family’s home in December 2017 in Bailey, a mountain community about 45 miles southwest of Denver. A fire had broken out following a report of a disturbance.

Investigators believe there was an altercation between Long and her attackers before the fire started. Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw has said that Long was “purposely set on fire and burned alive.”

A Beretta handgun, an AK-47-style rifle, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, a safe and jade figurines were stolen from the home, authorities have said.

Arkansas man, president of white supremacist group, sentenced to 35 years in ' violent racketeering case

 

Arkansas man, president of white supremacist group, sentenced to 35 years in ' violent racketeering case

Global News - United States

By Edward Era Barbacena

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The president of a White supremacist organization was sentenced to 35 years in prison for his role in racketeering and drug conspiracy.

Wesley Gullet, 31, president of the New Aryan Empire was sentenced to 35 years of imprisonment with five years of supervised release after Judge Jonathan D. Ross, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, heard details about Gullet attempting to murder another man who attempted to buy methamphetamine from him.

Gullett was originally charged in October 2017, and a federal grand jury charged him along with 51 other defendants in a Second Superseding Indictment in September 2019. On February 3, 2021, Gullett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

“This defendant used his corrupt white supremacist organization to commit heinous crimes of violence,” said Ross. “These despicable acts, which included trying to murder a witness, will now appropriately be punished with 35 years in prison, where this defendant can no longer wreak havoc and poison our community.”

Three remaining defendants of the original 51 charged are awaiting trial, which is currently set for September 7, 2021. One defendant is still a fugitive, and all other defendants have pleaded guilty.

The Israel war on Palestine

The Israel war on Palestine

By Edward E. Barbacena

Just over twenty years ago, two months after Bill Clinton’s Camp David Summit failed to reach a final resolution to the 1993–1995 Oslo Accords, right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon led a provocative trip to the al-Aqsa compound at the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem. The highly contested area was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, along with Gaza and other territory in the West Bank. Following Sharon’s visit, Palestinian protests sparked a violent crackdown by Israeli riot police, marking the beginning of five years of resistance known as the second intifada. The resulting fighting claimed thousands of lives, mostly Palestinian, and saw the rise of Hamas as a political force in Gaza.

Two decades later, history has repeated itself with Israeli aggression in East Jerusalem. Once again the al-Aqsa compound and Sharon’s party—headed since 2009 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—are at the center of a wave of violence, following an Israeli police action at the al-Aqsa mosque on the first day of Ramadan and ongoing efforts to evict Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Now in its second week, the fighting has displaced tens of thousands amidst highly destructive Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Over 200 people have died—again mostly Palestinian, including scores of children.

To shed badly needed context on the current crisis, we compiled some of our most searching essays on Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Contrary to Israeli claims of self-defense in response to acts of terrorism, these crises reflect decades of brutal Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank. Above all, these pieces speak with moral clarity about the extreme imbalance of power between Israel and occupied Palestinian territories, the ongoing humanitarian crisis under Israel’s domination of Gaza, and the far-right militarization of Jewish supremacism in Israeli politics. Reflecting on his experiences as a solider in the Israeli army, philosopher Oded Na’aman disputes official Israeli claims that an ethical occupation is possible, while the late Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold discusses the responsibility of American Jews to hold Israel accountable.

Several essays stress the primacy of politics alongside moral exhortation. A forum with Palestinian legal scholar Lama Abu-Odeh makes the case for binationalism, while other pieces scrutinize the limitations of a one-state solution, the relationship between civil and political rights, and enduring obstacles to two states. Other contributors explore the uses and abuses of historical understanding, emphasizing how it is both essential for peace and liable to distortion. In two feature reports from the late 2000s, Middle East correspondent Helena Cobban tracks in great detail how the rise of Hamas and the decline of the Israeli peace movement transformed Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. A final set of essays mines other forceful visions of Israeli-Palestinian life, from Israeli and Palestinian novels and the work of Edward Said to the largely forgotten Jewish territorialist movement, which imagined forms of Jewish self-determination beyond statehood in Palestine.

Together they offer an indispensable guide to the current crisis and the movement for peace.

American congress approves bill to fight hate crimes against Asian Americans

 

American congress approves bill to fight hate crimes against Asian Americans

By Angelo Locsin

Washington - Congress approved legislation Tuesday intended to curtail a striking rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, sending President Joe Biden a bipartisan denunciation of the spate of brutal attacks that have proliferated during coronavirus pandemic.

The bill, which the House passed on a 364-62 vote, will expedite the review of hate crimes at the Justice Department and make grants available to help local law enforcement agencies improve their investigation, identification and reporting of incidents driven by bias, which often go underreported. It previously passed the Senate 94-1 in April after lawmakers reached a compromise. Biden has said he will sign it.

“Asian Americans have been screaming out for help, and the House and Senate and President Biden have clearly heard our pleas,” said Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., who helped lead efforts to pass the bill in the House.

To many Asian Americans, the pandemic has invigorated deep-seated biases that in some cases date back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of more than a century ago. President Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China, as the “China Virus” or the “Kung Flu.” And as cases of the illness began to rise in the U.S., so too did the attacks, with thousands of violent incidents reported in the past year.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said it’s painful for many to “open up the newspaper everyday and see that yet another Asian American has been assaulted, attacked and even killed.”

In February, an 84-year-old man died after he was pushed to the ground near his home in San Francisco. A young family was injured in a Texas grocery store attack last year. And in Georgia, six Asian women were killed in March during during a series of shootings targeting workers at massage parlors. Prosecutors are seeking hate crimes charges. The women who were killed are mentioned in the text of the bill.

“You start to think, ‘Well, will I be next?’” Chu said.

Yet to some activists, including organizations representing gay and transgender Asian Americans, the legislation is misguided. More than 100 groups have signed onto a statement opposing the bill for relying too heavily on law enforcement while providing too little funding to address the underlying issues driving a rise in hate crimes.

“We have had hate crimes laws since 1968, it’s been expanded over and over again, and this new legislation is more of the same,” said Jason Wu, who is co-chair of GAPIMNY-Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders. “These issues are about bias, but also rooted in inequality, and lack of investment and resources for our communities. Not a shortage of police and jails.”

Meng acknowledged some of the concerns raised by the groups, but countered that the widespread underreporting of hate crimes needs to be addressed.

“Law enforcement is currently underreporting these kinds of incidents and it makes it easy to ignore hate crimes all together,” she said.

Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, suggested that the surge in Asian American violence was tied to efforts backed by some Democrats and other progressives to decrease funding for the police.

“This violence, by and large, is happening in Democrat-controlled cities,” said Jordan. If “money wasn’t taken from police and they were allowed to do their jobs, we would probably be in an entirely different position.”

Yet the bill also represented a rare moment of bipartisanship in a Congress that has struggled to overcome partisan gridlock, while underscoring an evolution in Republican thought on hate crimes legislation.

Many conservatives have historically dismissed hate crimes laws, arguing they create special protected classes so that victims of similar crimes are treated differently.

“I’m glad Congress is coming together in a bipartisan way,” said Rep. Young Kim, a California Republican who is Korean American. “Let's also recognize that we cannot legislate hate out of our people's hearts and minds.”

Speaking earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said passage of the bill sends a “powerful message of solidarity” to those who have suffered discrimination during the pandemic.

“Discrimination against Asian Americans is, sadly, not a new phenomenon in our nation’s history, but the pandemic brought old biases and prejudices back to the foreground,” the New York Democrat said. “The Senate can be proud it took the lead.”

Texas governor bans mask mandates by state's public schools and local governments

 

Texas governor bans mask mandates by state's public schools and local governments

Political News - United States

By Edward E. Barbacena

Texas - Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Tuesday prohibiting state governmental entities such as counties, public school districts, public health authorities and government officials from requiring mask wearing.

"Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities. We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans' liberty to choose whether or not they mask up," Abbott said in a news release.

The executive order allows public schools to continue current mask-wearing guidelines through June 4; however, after June 4, no student, teacher, parent or staff member can be required to wear a mask on school grounds, according to the order.

The order, however, exempts state-supported living centers, government-owned or operated hospitals, state department of justice facilities and county and municipal jails, according to the release.

The governor's order comes less than a week after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidance allowing vaccinated people to be both outdoors and indoors without masks in most cases. Other states have moved to roll back mask mandates in recent weeks, with New York, California and Michigan announcing that they would lift such requirements.

Texas lifted its statewide mask mandate on March 2. A week later, Texas businesses of all types were allowed to open to 100% capacity.

Democratic Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner called Abbott's order on Tuesday "a clear overreach. His power is not absolute."

"If you are a city of Houston employee or entering a city facility and you have not been fully vaccinated, you should wear your mask," Turner continued in a statement. "We are not mandating it, but I strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their family, and their co-workers."

Abbott has come out against local Texas officials enforcing mask mandates before. In late April 2020, the governor overruled Harris County officials who were trying to enforce penalties for not wearing a mask.

Last year, Texas was one of the earliest states to reopen following the nationwide coronavirus shutdown in March and April as Abbott let his executive order lapse on May 1 of that year.

And in June 2020, Abbott announced that the state was moving into its Phase III -- meaning that "all businesses in Texas will be able to operate at up to 50% capacity, with very limited exceptions." On June 12, even as cases in the state were rising, Abbott insisted that there was "no real need to ratchet back the opening of businesses in the state ... "because we have so many hospital beds available to anybody who gets ill."

Texas will also end early the $300 weekly federal boost to state unemployment payments, as well as two other pandemic jobless benefits programs, Abbott announced Monday -- joining at least 19 other GOP-led states in dropping the federal expanded benefits over the past two weeks.

Abbott sent a letter on Monday to the Department of Labor announcing that the state would withdraw from the federal programs on June 26. This would affect more than 1.3 million jobless residents, according to The Century Foundation.

This story has been updated with a statement from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Long working hours are killing hundreds of thousands of people a year, WHO says

 

Long working hours are hundreds of thousands of people a year, WHO says

By Edward Era Barbacena

Working long hours is killing hundreds of thousands of people a year through stroke and heart disease, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In a global analysis of the link between loss of life and health and working long hours, WHO and the International Labour Organization estimated that in 2016, some 745,000 people died as a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week.

Most of the deaths were recorded among people aged 60 to 79, who had worked at least 55 hours between the ages of 45 and 74. This is quite common among call center agents where in they had to deal with unreasonable callers for 9 long hours, five times a week.

Men were the worst affected, accounting for 72% of deaths, the analysis found. People living in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia, and middle-aged or older workers took on a particularly significant share of the disease burden, the report said.

published Monday in the journal Environment International, found that deaths from heart disease linked with working long hours increased by 42% between 2000 and 2016, and stroke by 19%.

People who worked 55 or more hours a week had an estimated 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease -- heart disease caused by a narrowing of the arteries -- compared with those working 35-40 hours a week, the study found.

"Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard," Dr. Maria Neira, director of WHO's Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health said in a statement. "It's time that we all, governments, employers, and employees wake up to the fact that long working hours can lead to premature death."

WHO said there are two ways in which working long hours can cause death.

First, the psychological stress from working long hours can generate a physiological response, triggering reactions in the cardiovascular system and lesions that cause a change in tissue.

The second is through health-harming behavior in response to stress, including smoking, drinking alcohol, poor diet, physical inactivity and impaired sleep and poor recovery -- all considered risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

The analysis looked at a period of time before March 11, 2020, when WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.

But it said the coronavirus pandemic could be putting significant pressure on employees who have been forced to work from home.

Home-working employees in the United Kingdom, Austria, Canada and the United States are putting in more hours than before, according to research conducted during the pandemic by NordVPN Teams, a New York-based company that provides virtual private networks (VPNs) to businesses.

Home working has led to a 2.5-hour increase in the average working day in those countries, NordVPN Teams said in its report, published in February.

The UK and the Netherlands stand out, with employees "working until 8pm, regularly logging off later than usual to wrap up an extended working day," it added.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the way many people work," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

"Teleworking has become the norm in many industries, often blurring the boundaries between home and work. In addition, many businesses have been forced to scale back or shut down operations to save money, and people who are still on the payroll end up working longer hours.

"No job is worth the risk of stroke or heart disease. Governments, employers and workers need to work together to agree on limits to protect the health of workers," he added.

U.S. says China is resisting nuclear arms talks

 

China is resisting bilateral talks with the United States on nuclear weapons, the U.S. disarmament ambassador told a U.N. conference on Tuesday, as Washington seeks to advance efforts to reduce nuclear arms stockpiles.

"Despite the PRC's dramatic build-up of its nuclear arsenal, unfortunately it continues to resist discussing nuclear risk reduction bilaterally with the United States," said Robert Wood, referring to the People's Republic of China.

"To date Beijing has not been willing to engage meaningfully or establish expert discussions similar to those we have with Russia. We sincerely hope that will change," he added.

In an apparent rebuttal, China's envoy later told the same virtual U.N. meeting that Beijing was prepared for dialogue.

"We stand ready to carry out positive dialogue and exchange with all parties to jointly explore effective measures to reduce nuclear risk and to contribute to global strategic security," Ji Zhaoyu said.

The exchange came at a discussion on the Prevention of Nuclear War at the 65-member U.N. Conference on Disarmament based in Geneva. The body, which makes decisions by consensus, has not reached a major agreement in decades but is often the theatre for tense rhetorical exchanges between superpowers.

Earlier this year, Russia and the United States agreed to extend the New START arms control treaty for five years, preserving the last treaty limiting deployments of the world's two largest strategic nuclear arsenals.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are set to discuss arms control and security issues at a meeting and strategic nuclear stability will be on the agenda. read more Wood said on Tuesday he hoped that such bilateral discussions may lay the groundwork for nuclear disarmament and future arms control treaties.

Tauktae update: Cyclone moving northward, may cross Indian Gujarat

 

Global Weather News - India

By Edward E. Barbacena

Tauktae update: Cyclone moving northward, may cross Indian Gujarat night of May 17

Cyclone Tauktae has moved northward and now lies at a distance of 1,000 kilometres south to southeast of Karachi, the Pakistan Meteorological Department said, in its latest advisory on Sunday night.

“The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm “TAUKTAE” has moved Northward at a speed of 15 kmph during last 12 hours and now lay centered at 2000 PST of 16 May 2021 near latitude 16.8N and longitude 72.4E, at a distance of about 1,000 km south-southeast of Karachi,” read the advisory.

According to PMD, the maximum sustained winds around the system centre are 150-170 kmph, gusting to 190 kmph.

The system is likely to move further north to northwest and cross Indian Gujarat by the night of May 17, morning of May 18, PMD said.

It said that based on the current environmental and meteorological conditions, dust and thunderstorm along with isolated incidents of moderate to heavy rainfall with gusty winds of 40-60 kmph are likely to occur in Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tharparker, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Sanghar districts from May 17 to 19.

Karachi, Hyderabad, and Shaheed Benazirabad districts will likely experience hot to very hot weather with gusty winds during the next two days.

Sea conditions will remain rough to very rough and fishermen are advised not to venture in the sea till after May 19.

Mainland China reports first local COVID-19 cases in more than 3 weeks

 

Mainland China reports first local COVID-19 cases in more than 3 weeks

Global News - China

By Edward E. Barbacena

Mainland China reported seven new COVID-19 cases on May 13, including its first local transmissions in more than three weeks, the country's national health authority said on Friday.

Two of the new cases were local infections in the eastern province of Anhui, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The cases were the first local transmissions since April 20, when China recorded two local infections in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where a city on the border with Myanmar reported a new cluster in late March.

China's official Xinhua news agency reported that one of the local cases, surnamed Li, had travelled to Anhui on May 1 from Dalian, a port city in China's northeastern Liaoning province.

The other case, surnamed Zhang, was in close contact with Li during a training class Li led in the city of Luan, near Anhui's provincial capital Hefei, Xinhua reported.

Another local infection was newly reported on Friday in Feixi county, under Hefei's jurisdiction, according to the city government. The case, surnamed Lu, had shared a hotel room with Li.

Two areas in Luan city and one part of Feixi county were declared "medium-risk" regions by local authorities in response to the cases. State media reported mass testing being carried out in main urban area in Luan and some areas in Hefei.

The other five cases announced Friday were imported infections originating overseas. The health commission had reported nine cases a day earlier, all imported.

The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 22 from 14 cases a day earlier.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mainland China now stands at 90,815, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636.

British scientists gave woes over Indian corona virus variant

 

The British News

Published by Angelo Locsin

LONDON - British officials could declare one of the new coronavirus strains first found in India a "variant of concern", the BBC said on Friday, as scientists flagged evidence that it spreads more quickly than the original version of the virus.

Scientists have recommended that one version of the variant first found in India, known as B.1.617.2, is designated a "variant of concern", the BBC said, adding more than 500 cases of the variant had been recorded, up from 202 last week.

Public Health England (PHE), which postponed publication of its weekly data on variants on Thursday, had no immediate comment on the report.

Jeff Barrett, Director the Wellcome Sanger Institute COVID-19 Genomics Initiative, said that high numbers of cases of B.1.617.2 in Britain and around the world were "consistent with this one being more transmissible than older versions of the virus from last year".

"(It's) possibly as transmissible as the B.117 Kent variant that is very widespread in the UK," Barrett said on BBC radio, referring to the strain found in south-east England which fueled Britain's second COVID-19 wave.

The original India variant, B.1.617, was first detected in October, but Public Health England (PHE) has categorized three different subtypes, all with slightly different mutations.

Other variants of concern include variants first identified in Kent, south-east England, as well as South Africa and Brazil, and Barrett said that there had been reassuring evidence from real world studies on the effectiveness of vaccines on those.

"That paints a relatively positive picture that the vaccines are going to continue to have efficacy," he said.

"So obviously for new variants like this one, we need to do additional experiments and really get the solid proof one way or the other about that".

Vietnam reports first death in patient who received AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

The Vietnamese News

Published by: Edward Era Barbacena

Vietnam reports first death in patient who received AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine 

Vietnam's health ministry on Friday reported its first death in a patient who received AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine shot, as the country is battling a new outbreak.

A 35-year-old female health worker in the southern province of An Giang died on Friday, one day after she received her first coronavirus vaccine shot, the Ministry of Health said in a statement, adding that she died from allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.

"This is a very rare case in the vaccination against COVID-19," the ministry said in the statement.

The Southeast Asian country has inoculated around 750,000 people against the coronavirus since it started its vaccination campaign early March, according to the ministry. All of the shots used are from AstraZeneca.

Vietnam has been praised for its record in containing its outbreaks quickly through targeted mass testing and a strict, centralised quarantine programme.

Friday's death comes as the country is battling a new outbreak that began early last week and is spreading rapidly in many parts of the country, including the capital Hanoi.

The ministry reported 47 new infections on Friday, raising the total number of cases in the country to 3,137, with 35 deaths.

The government last week said its COVID-19 vaccine rollout would be expedited, with the aim of administering all of the 928,800 AstraZeneca doses it had received so far by May 15.

Nepal could be the next India --- except worse

 

Nepal could be the next India --- except worse

Nepal is very close to hitting that ominous mark of 10K new cases a day with 9,196 positive RT PCR and RDT tests on Friday, bringing the total active infections across the country to 78,629. There were additional 50 deaths in the last 24 hours.

At the current rate of replication of the virus, the Health Ministry’s projections of the second wave peaking at 15,000 new cases a day by July will fall modest, and soon. It is now evident that the second wave is sweeping Nepal faster than most parts of India and the world at 211 cases per 1 million population.

Meanwhile, according to the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, 91 reporters working in 25 different media houses have rested positive for coronavirus disease, as of Thursday.

Most of them are isolating at home but a few are undergoing treatment in Patan Hospital, Manmohan Memorial, Norvic, Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Centre and Nepal Police Hospital.

Of the total new cases on Friday, nearly half of them (4,106) as have been the cases on a daily basis are from Kathmandu Valley, where doctors are overwhelmed with patients and major hospitals have exhausted their ICUs, ventilators and oxygen cylinders.

The city’s only electric crematorium designed for Covid-19 deaths was unable to handle the increasing number of fatalities. Currently, of the 5,860 people admitted to hospitals, 728 are in ICU and 231 of them are in ventilator support.

But even as the pandemic breaks across the country with devastating consequences, Nepalis are unlikely to get a vaccine anytime soon.

In a press release on Friday, the Health Ministry spokesman Jageshwor Gautam said that Nepal wouldn’t be able to import more vaccines from India at the moment.

“Serum Institute of India has informed us that would deliver the vaccines once they have recovered from the fire and have expanded their capacity, we are not in a situation to buy additional 5 million doses,” he added.

After ordering two million doses of Covishield vaccines, Nepal has begun the procedure to buy additional five million shots and as such prime minister K P Oli had announced that the target population would be inoculated in three months.

But Nepal is yet to receive one million doses it paid for and India is struggling to meet its own demand as it records an excess of 400,000 new cases a day.

Away from the doom and gloom, locked down Kathmandu is abloom in Jacaranda, with the streets leading up to Tundikhel painted in purple.

Just like last year this time during the first shutdown, nature has taken over the usual hustle and bustle of the city, but there are few on the streets to admire the sight.

Japanese town spent COVID-19 relief funds on building a statue of a giant squid

 

The Japanese News

Published by Angelo Locsin

Tokyo— A coastal town in western Japan has drawn ire on social media for using some of the coronavirus relief funds it was given by the government to build a statue of a giant squid in the hopes of boosting tourism.

The town of Noto in Ishikawa Prefecture was awarded 800 million yen ($7.3 million) in grants from the central government as part of an aid program aimed at boosting local economies amid the pandemic, according to domestic media.

From that amount, Noto used 25 million yen ($229,000) to cover part of the cost of building the statue, which is 13 feet high and 29.5 feet long, domestic media reported. Total construction costs were around 30 million yen ($274,000), they said.

Japan is battling a fourth wave of coronavirus infections and the cabinet approved a $708 billion stimulus package in December to help the economy recover from the pandemic-induced slump.

Squid is a local delicacy in Noto and building the statue was part of a "long-term strategy" to raise awareness about the town's fishing industry and increase tourism, a local government official said, according to domestic media.

Reuters called Noto's government but the person who answered was not authorized to speak with the press. Japan's government buildings were closed on Wednesday for annual Golden Week holidays.

The grants were not specifically earmarked for spending related to treating coronavirus patients, and Ishikawa Prefecture's infection rate is low compared with other parts of Japan according to local media.

However, some people took to Twitter to question whether those funds should have been used for other purposes.

"No matter how you look at it, this is wrong. They have to return that money," one Twitter user said.

Construction of the pink cephalopod began in October 2020, and the finished statue was finally moved to its current home in March of this year, local media reported.