Feeding New Zealand’s hungry children will take one step forward and one step backwards when children return to school next week.About 640 low-decile schools will join 182 existing schools getting free school lunches under a $220…
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Costa Rican scientists develop saliva tests for quick COVID-19 detection
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Scientists from the three principal public universities in Costa Rica, the University of Costa Rica, the Technologic University and the National University, completed the first prototype of saliva tests for a speedy diagnosis of COVID-19.
After almost a month of investigation and the support of more than 20 specialists, the scientists begin with the verification phase of the saliva tests they are developing for the fast diagnosis of COVID-19.
With the use of synthetic genes also designed by the scientists, the preliminary results obtained so far are successful, according to the scientists.
“The first results show that in vitro tests using synthetic genes achieved a sensitivity of 94.4 percent in the ability of the test to detect the disease. It also has a specificity level of 100 percent in the case of applying the test to healthy individuals,” German Madrigal, director of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Research said. “The percentages obtained are very high and mean that the test has great potential to improve the diagnosis of COVID-19.”
Intending to carry the validation tests, the scientists designed synthetic COVID-19 genes and artificial saliva as a first step to counteract the results with the standard test known as Polymerase chain reaction, PCR.
The most common test is the PCR, which is a process that amplifies (replicates) a small, well-defined segment of DNA hundreds of thousands of times, creating enough of it for analysis. Samples can be obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab (or nasopharyngeal culture) for collecting nasal secretions from the back of the nose and throat.
If this new test successfully passes the following two stages that are still pending, it is expected that within a few months the university will share with Social Security, the Ministry of Health and any company that wishes to produce the tests.
The country will have an additional resource to the standard test for the diagnosis of COVID-19 with 70 percent less cost, the scientist said in the statement.
The speedy and efficient detection of COVID-19 is vital for health authorities, due to the increase in virus contagions in the country.
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World's richest got wealthier during pandemic while inequality grew for the rest
Almost every country in the world is likely to see an increase in inequality because of the pandemic, according to a new report.
ILO expects uncertain, uneven labour market recovery
GENEVA – Tentative signs of recovery are emerging in global labour markets, following unprecedented disruption in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest report from the International Labour Organization.
New annual estimates in the seventh edition of the ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work confirm the massive impact that labour markets suffered in 2020. The latest figures show that 8.8 percent of global working hours were lost for the whole of last year (relative to the fourth quarter of 2019), equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs1 . This is approximately four times greater than the number lost during the 2009 global financial crisis.
These lost working hours are accounted for either by reduced working hours for those in employment or “unprecedented” levels of employment loss, hitting 114 million people2 . Significantly, 71 percent of these employment losses (81 million people) came in the form of inactivity, rather than unemployment, meaning that people left the labour market because they were unable to work, perhaps because of pandemic restrictions, or simply ceased to look for work. Looking at unemployment alone drastically understates the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market.
These massive losses resulted in an 8.3 percent decline in global labour income (before support measures are included), equivalent to US$3.7 trillion or 4.4 percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Impact by groups and sectors
Women have been more affected than men by the pandemic’s labour market disruptions. Globally, employment losses for women stand at 5 percent, versus 3.9 percent for men. In particular, women were much more likely than men to drop out of the labour market and become inactive.
Younger workers have also been particularly hard hit, either losing jobs, dropping out of the labour force or delaying entry into it. The employment loss among youth (15-24 years old) stood at 8.7 percent, compared to 3.7 percent for adults. This “highlights the all too real risk of a lost generation,” the Monitor says.
The report shows the uneven impact on different economic, geographic, and labour market sectors. It highlights concerns of a “K-shaped recovery,” whereby those sectors and workers hit hardest could be left behind in the recovery, leading to increasing inequality, unless corrective measures are taken.
The worst affected sector has been accommodation and food services, where employment declined by more than 20 percent, on average, followed by retail and manufacturing. In contrast, employment in information and communication, and finance and insurance, increased in the second and third quarters of 2020. Marginal increases were also seen in mining, quarrying and utilities.
Looking ahead
While there is still a high degree of uncertainty, the latest projections for 2021 show that most countries will experience a relatively strong recovery in the second half of the year, as vaccination programmes take effect.
The Monitor puts forward three scenarios for recovery; baseline, pessimistic and optimistic. The baseline scenario (which draws on International Monetary Fund forecasts from October 2020), projects a 3 percent loss of working hours globally in 2021 (compared to Q4 2019), equivalent to 90 million full time jobs.
“The signs of recovery we see are encouraging, but they are fragile and highly uncertain, and we must remember that no country or group can recover alone.”
Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
The pessimistic scenario, which assumes slow progress on vaccination in particular, would see working hours drop by 4.6 percent, while the optimistic scenario forecasts a 1.3 percent decline. This would depend on the pandemic being under control and an upsurge of consumer and business confidence.
In all scenarios the Americas, Europe and Central Asia would experience around twice the working hour losses of other regions.
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Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani sued for $1.6 billion
Dominion Voting Systems has sued former US President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani for defamation after he pushed the "Big Lie" about election fraud on his podcast and TV appearances.
Dominion is seeking more than US$1.3 billion (AUD$1.6 billion) in damages.
"Just as Giuliani and his allies intended, the Big Lie went viral on social media as people tweeted, retweeted, and raged that Dominion had stolen their votes. While some lies – little lies – flare up on social media and die with the next news cycle, the Big Lie was different," lawyers for Dominion wrote in the lawsuit, filed in DC District Court on Monday morning.
"The harm to Dominion's business and reputation is unprecedented and irreparable because of how fervently millions of people believe it."
The lawsuit notes that while Giuliani spread falsehoods about Dominion being owned by Venezuelan communists and corrupting the election, he did not make those claims in lawsuits he pushed on behalf of Trump.
This is the second defamation lawsuit Dominion has filed in recent weeks seeking to recoup its losses following the Trump post-election disinformation campaign. The vote auditing company previously sued lawyer Sidney Powell, who pushed similar claims alongside Giuliani. The Powell lawsuit is still in its earliest stage.
Dominion has positioned itself in recent weeks as a major voice to push back against Trump's false election claims and the insurrection of the Capitol by his followers who hoped to overturn Joe Biden's win.
In the lawsuit Monday, the company focused on how Giuliani continued to claim without evidence that Dominion aided election fraud even after he received a cease-and-desist letter. The Canadian-founded company details how listeners of Giuliani reacted by amplifying online his message of a stolen election.
The former mayor of New York and well-known prosecutor repeated his claims on podcasts and his radio show and YouTube shows. He also used his platform in recent months to make money pitching cigars, a conservative alternative to the AARP and the sale of gold coins, the lawsuit says.
Giuliani also appeared on TV networks OANN, Fox and Fox Business to make accusations of election fraud, the lawsuit notes.
Dominion also details how on January 6 – hours before a crowd of Trump supporters in Washington violently overran the Capitol – Giuliani continued to push claims of election fraud about Dominion in tweets, on a YouTube appearance and in his own speech at the event. Giuliani said at the rally, without evidence, that he knew of an expert who had examined Dominion voting machines and saw changed votes, concluding, "This election was stolen," according to the complaint.
Dominion sent Giuliani a second letter, asking for a retraction on January 10, the company says.
"Giuliani has not retracted his false claims about Dominion, and many of his false and defamatory television and radio appearances and tweets remain available online to a global internet audience. Indeed, to this day, he continues to double down on the Big Lie," the lawsuit noted.
Dominion said it is now distrusted by millions of American voters and its employees have been harassed. The company believes hundreds of its contracts with states and localities are now in jeopardy and that the business projects a loss of profits in the next five years of $200 million, according to the lawsuit.
China's President calls for unity in fighting coronavirus
Countries must cooperate more closely in fighting the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and climate change and in supporting a sustainable global economic recovery, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in an address to the World Economic Forum.
“Humanity has only Earth and one future,” Mr Jinping said in remarks from Beijing to a virtual gathering that is taking place in lieu of the annual in-person meetings in Davos, Switzerland, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Fighting the pandemic is the most urgent task facing the international community," Mr Jinping said, in urging that countries cooperate to conquer the disease, which first was reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan just over a year ago.
“In particular, we should strengthen cooperation in vaccine research and development, production and distribution, so that vaccines can truly become a public good that are accessible and affordable to people in all countries," he said.
READ MORE: Australia's Vaccine rollout: What you need to know
Much of what the Chinese leader said was a reiteration of Beijing’s usual stance on issues such as closing the gap between wealthy and developing nations, and warning that countries should not meddle in other countries' affairs.
While Mr Jinping did not mention recent US policies directly, he did call for sticking to rules, embracing diversity and avoiding confrontations over trade and technology.
Relations between the US and China have sunk to their worst in decades as former President Donald Trump imposed punitive tariffs and other sanctions to try to gain concessions on trade and counter perennial trade deficits.
“We should advocate fair competition, like competing with each other for excellence in a racing field, not beating each other on a wrestling arena,” Mr Jinping said.
“To engage in cliques, a new Cold War, exclusion, threats and intimidation against others, to warn of decoupling, cutting off supplies, sanctions at every turn . . . can only drive the world to division and even conflict," he said.
“A divided world cannot tackle the common challenges facing humanity, and confrontation will lead humanity to a dead end."
Just days after his inauguration, President Joe Biden has yet to set out his administration's own policies on trade with China, though he is adopting a more conventional approach than Trump's “America First" stance in handling global issues such as the pandemic and global warming.
READ MORE: China builds massive COVID-19 quarantine camp
Few experts expect Biden to significantly soften the US stance on trade and technology given longstanding friction over a wide range of issues, including human rights.
Mr Jinping said countries need to better coordinate their economic policies, avoid protectionism and other barriers to trade and cooperation to support a global economic recovery and ensure the stability of world financial systems.
“Despite trillions of dollars countries around the world rolled out in economic remedies, the momentum of the global economic recovery remains very unstable, and there is great uncertainty about the outlook,” Mr Jinping said.
Other leaders expected to address the virtual forum include Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The forum has said it plans to hold its annual meeting in person in May in Singapore.
Woman wins $60 million lottery using numbers from her husband's dream
Deng Pravatoudom followed her husband's dream all the way to Easy Street.
Pravatoudom, 57, has played the lottery for two decades using a set of numbers that her husband dreamed about 20 years ago.
In December, his dream became reality when his wife played those numbers and won a CAD$60 million (AUD$61m) jackpot, Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) said in a news release Monday.
On December 1, the mother of two – who was laid off during the pandemic – went to the bank to pay some bills while her husband checked the tickets.
When they returned to the car, he told her they had won $60 million.
"I was ecstatically happy, I was crying at the same time. I couldn't believe it at first," Pravatoudom said during a virtual celebration where she was presented the check.
"I am going to buy a house, then if it's allowed after Covid, I'm going to travel the world."
Pravatoudom emigrated from Laos to Canada with her 14 siblings in 1980. For decades, she and her husband have worked hard to support their family, she said.
"My family was sponsored by a local church and because we had nothing, I am thankful for the great support they provided us over the years," she said.
"My husband and I have worked long hours as general labourers for over 40 years, trying to save what we could for our family. Due to the pandemic I was laid off last spring, so this money will certainly help make our lives much easier."
Along with buying herself some diamonds, Pravatoudom and her husband will first pay off their bills and help their children, who she says are overwhelmed with joy for their parents.
"They said, 'Mom and Dad you have worked so hard for 40 years and made many sacrifices, so you deserve this happiness," Pravatoudom said.
Ex-Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders running for Arkansas governor
Sarah Sanders, Donald Trump’s former chief spokeswoman and one of his closest aides, announced she’s running for Arkansas governor, vying for political office even as the former president’s legacy is clouded by an impeachment charge that he incited the deadly siege at the US Capitol.
The former White House press secretary, who left the job in 2019 to return to her home state, launched the bid less than a week after the end of Trump’s time in office and as the ex-president faces an impeachment trial.
But her announcement reflected how much she expected voters in solidly red Arkansas to embrace the former president, if not his rhetoric.
“With the radical left now in control of Washington, your governor is your last line of defense,” Sanders said in a video announcing her bid.
READ MORE: Members are quitting 'sad' Mar-a-Lago after Trump loss
“In fact, your governor must be on the front line. So today I announce my candidacy for governor of Arkansas.”
The daughter of former Governor Mike Huckabee, Sanders had been widely expected to run for the office after leaving the White House — and Trump publicly encouraged her to make a go.
She’s been laying the groundwork for a candidacy, speaking to GOP groups around the state.
Sanders joins a Republican primary that already includes two statewide elected leaders, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.
The three are running to succeed current Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who is unable to run next year due to term limits.
No Democrats have announced a bid to run for the seat.
Sanders launched her bid weeks after a riot by Trump’s supporters at the US Capitol left five people dead.
More than 130 people have been charged in the insurrection, which was aimed at halting the certification of President Joe Biden’s win over Trump.
Sanders was the first working mother and only the third woman to serve as White House press secretary.
But she also faced questions about her credibility during her time as Trump’s chief spokesperson.
During her nearly two-year tenure, daily televised briefings led by the press secretary ended after Sanders repeatedly sparred with reporters who aggressively questioned her about administration policy and the investigation into possible coordination between Trump’s campaign and Russia.
But Sanders earned reporters’ respect working behind the scenes to develop relationships with the media.
Trump’s tumultuous exit from the presidency may do little damage to Sanders in Arkansas.
Republicans hold all of Arkansas’ statewide and federal seats, as well as a solid majority in both chambers of the Legislature.
Trump in November won the state by nearly 28 percentage points, one of the biggest margins in his ultimate loss to Biden. Sanders’ nearly 8-minute video prominently features photos of Trump, along with references to his favorite targets such as “cancel culture,” socialism and the Green New Deal.
Griffin and Rutledge have spent months positioning themselves ahead of Sanders’ announcement, lining up endorsements from the state’s top Republicans and raising funds. Combined, the two have raised more than $2.8 million.
The race could also get even more crowded. Republican State Sen. Jim Hendren, a nephew of Hutchinson’s, is considering a run for the seat.
Sanders, who published a book last year and joined Fox News as a contributor after leaving the White House, enters the race with a much higher profile than any of the candidates.
She remains an unknown on many of the state’s biggest issues, though in her announcement she called for reducing state income taxes and cutting off funding for cities that violate immigration laws.
Budweiser will sit out Super Bowl, funnel marketing dollars to boost vaccine awareness
The move marks the first time in 37 years that the brand will not advertise beer at the event. Pepsi and Coca-Cola also won’t be advertising their drinks.
China In New Law Allowing Its Forces to Attack Foreign Ships
China has passed a law that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels, a move that could make the contested South China Sea and nearby waters more choppy.
The Coast Guard Law passed on Friday empowers it to “take all necessary measures, including the use of weapons when national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organisations or individuals at sea”.
Keep reading
China has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea.
It has sent its coast guard to chase away fishing vessels from other countries, sometimes resulting in the sinking of these ships.
China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress standing committee, passed the Coast Guard Law on Friday, according to state media reports.
Potential flashpoints
China’s coast guard is the most powerful force of its kind in the region and is already active in the vicinity of uninhabited East China Sea islands controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing, as well as in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety.
Those activities have brought the coast guard into frequent contact with air and sea forces from Japan, its chief ally the US, and other claimants to territory in the South China Sea, including Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Both water bodies are considered potential flashpoints and the law’s passage may be a signal China is preparing to up the stakes over what it considers its key national interests.
Controlling them is a strategic imperative if China wishes to displace the US as the dominant military power in East Asia, while the resources they contain, including fish stocks and undersea deposits of oil and natural gas, may be key to maintaining China’s continued economic development.
The bill specified the circumstances under which different kind of weapons – handheld, shipborne or airborne – can be used.
The bill allowed coast guard personnel to demolish other countries’ structures built on Chinese-claimed reefs and to board and inspect foreign vessels in waters claimed by China.
The bill also empowered the coastguard to create temporary exclusion zones “as needed” to stop other vessels and personnel from entering.
Chinese coast guard ships and barges spotted in 2016 at the Scarborough Shoal, which is also claimed by the Philippines [Philippine Government via AP]Responding to concerns, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday the law is in line with international practices.
The first article of the bill explained the law is needed to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and maritime rights.
Complicate US relations
This law comes seven years after China merged several civilian maritime law-enforcement agencies to form a coast guard bureau.
After the bureau came under the command of the People’s Armed Police in 2018, it became a proper branch of the military forces.
The latest move by China could also further complicate its relations with the United States, which maintains strategic alliances with several Asia-Pacific countries, including Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, which have competing maritime claims with Beijing.
In a social media post, Christian Le Miere, a maritime diplomacy analyst and founder of the London and The Hague-based group Arcipel, said the new law “strikes at the heart” of the US policy of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
“China’s coast guard is already doing most of the heavy lifting in maritime coercion in the near seas, so it’s worth examining the new legislation just passed on this issue.”
The International Court in The Hague has nullified China’s nine-dash line claim, which asserts control of most of the South China Sea.
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