Gleaner- Four men were killed in a targeted police operation in a community known as Zambia in Central Village, St Catherine this morning.
Preliminary reports are that the men were caught by surprise at a house.
They were killed at about 2:30 a.m.
The police say they recovered three firearms in the operation.
Investigators are at the scene.
The post Jamaica: Cops Kill 4 at Central Village Shootout appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
March 09, 2022
Today’s Headlines
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Air raid sirens blared over Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday as officials said they were bolstering defenses in key cities threatened by Russian…Read More
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Koreans were voting for a new president Wednesday, with an outspoken…Read More
The latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war: BEIJING — China says it is sending humanitarian…Read More
For more of today’s news, go to APNews.com >>
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Editor Selections
BRUSSELS (AP) — Even though Russia has lost influence and friends since the collapse of the Soviet…Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Venezuelan government has freed two jailed Americans, including an oil…Read More
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) — People stand when Dr. Matshidiso Moeti enters a room at the…Read More
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Cross Section
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A man who tried to slither past U.S. border agents in California had 52 lizards and…Read More
The mouth of a harried woman who has just fled war-battered Ukraine curves up in a tentative smile…Read More
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new version of its budget-priced iPhone that’s…Read More
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The post WORLD VIEW: Ukraine: Russians Pressure Cities, China Sends Aid, Venezuela Free 2 Yanks,More appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment, the Maryland hospital that performed the surgery announced Wednesday.
David Bennett, 57, died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Centre.
Doctors didn't give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier.
READ MORE: One vaccine could end COVID-19 and common cold – but doesn't exist
Bennett's son praised the hospital for offering the last-ditch experiment, saying the family hoped it would help further efforts to end the organ shortage.
"We are grateful for every innovative moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic effort," David Bennett Jr. said in a statement released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "We hope this story can be the beginning of hope and not the end."
Doctors for decades have sought to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants.
Bennett, a handyman from Hagerstown, Maryland, was a candidate for this newest attempt only because he otherwise faced certain death — ineligible for a human heart transplant, bedridden and on life support, and out of other options.
After the January 7 operation, Bennett's son told The Associated Press his father knew there was no guarantee it would work.
READ MORE: First ever pig-to-human heart transplant performed by US doctors
Prior attempts at such transplants — or xenotransplantation — have failed largely because patients' bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ.
This time, the Maryland surgeons used a heart from a gene-edited pig: Scientists had modified the animal to remove pig genes that trigger the hyper-fast rejection and add human genes to help the body accept the organ.
At first the pig heart was functioning, and the Maryland hospital issued periodic updates that Bennett seemed to be slowly recovering. Last month, the hospital released video of him watching the Super Bowl from his hospital bed while working with his physical therapist.
Bennett survived significantly longer with the gene-edited pig heart than one of the last milestones in xenotransplantation — when Baby Fae, a dying California infant, lived 21 days with a baboon's heart in 1984.
"We are devastated by the loss of Mr. Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end," Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery at the Baltimore hospital, said in a statement.
The need for another source of organs is huge. More than 41,000 transplants were performed in the US last year, a record — including about 3,800 heart transplants. But more than 106,000 people remain on the national waiting list, thousands die every year before getting an organ and thousands more never even get added to the list, considered too much of a long shot.
The Food and Drug Administration had allowed the dramatic Maryland experiment under "compassionate use" rules for emergency situations. Bennett's doctors said he had heart failure and an irregular heartbeat, plus a history of not complying with medical instructions. He was deemed ineligible for a human heart transplant that requires strict use of immune-suppressing medicines, or the remaining alternative, an implanted heart pump.
Doctors didn't reveal the exact cause of Bennett's death. Rejection, infection and other complications are risks for transplant recipients.
But from Bennett's experience, "we have gained invaluable insights learning that the genetically modified pig heart can function well within the human body while the immune system is adequately suppressed," said Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the Maryland university's animal-to-human transplant program.
One next question is whether scientists have learned enough from Bennett's experience and some other recent experiments with gene-edited pig organs to persuade the FDA to allow a clinical trial — possibly with an organ such as a kidney that isn't immediately fatal if it fails.
Twice last fall, surgeons at New York University got permission from the families of deceased individuals to temporarily attach a gene-edited pig kidney to blood vessels outside the body and watch them work before ending life support.
And surgeons at the University of Alabama at Birmingham went a step further, transplanting a pair of gene-edited pig kidneys into a brain-dead man in a step-by-step rehearsal for an operation they hope to try in living patients possibly later this year.
Pigs have long been used in human medicine, including pig skin grafts and implantation of pig heart valves. But transplanting entire organs is much more complex than using highly processed tissue.
The gene-edited pigs used in these experiments were provided by Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics, one of several biotech companies in the running to develop suitable pig organs for potential human transplant.
Scientists say they have found the sunken wreck of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, more than a century after it was lost to the Antarctic ice.
The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust says the vessel lies 3,000 metres below the surface of the Weddell Sea, about 6.4 kilometres south of the location recorded in 1915 by its captain, Frank Worsley.
An expedition set off from South Africa last month to search for the ship, which was crushed by ice and sank in November 1915.
READ MORE: Russia's KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks outlets to close
Mensun Bound, director of exploration for the Endurance22 expedition, said footage revealed the ship to be in remarkably good condition.
"This is by far the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen," he said. "It is upright, well proud (clear) of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation. You can even see 'Endurance' arced across the stern, directly below the taffrail."
Shackleton's 1914-16 attempt to become the first person to cross Antarctica via the South Pole failed — he never set foot on the continent.
But his successful bid to reach help at a remote South Atlantic whaling station and rescue his men is considered a heroic feat of endurance. All the men survived and were rescued many months later.
The expedition to find the ship comes 100 years after Shackleton's death in 1922.
British historian and broadcaster Dan Snow, who accompanied the expedition, tweeted that Endurance was found on Saturday, "100 years to the day since Shackleton was buried."
He said the wreck had been filmed, but wouldn't be touched.
"Nothing was touched on the wreck," he said.
"Nothing retrieved. It was surveyed using the latest tools and its position confirmed. It is protected by the Antarctic Treaty. Nor did we wish to tamper with it."
Sharing more photos and videos from behind the scenes of the discovery on social media, Snow said the wreck was "in an astonishing state of preservation".
"The Antarctic seabed does not have any wood eating micro organisms, the water has the clarity of distilled water," he wrote.
"We were able to film the wreck in super high definition. The results are magical"
Irish-British explorer Shackleton had a long-time obsession with the South Pole and set off on a total of four expeditions toward the White Continent.
Endurance departed from the UK in 1914 and reached Antarctica's McMurdo Sound the following year on a journey called the the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
However, due to the extreme conditions, the ship got stuck amid thick, impenetrable ice in the Weddell Sea. The 28 men on board, including Shackleton himself, abandoned the Endurance and set up rudimentary camp facilities on board ice floes that were floating northward.
Eventually, the team made it to the uninhabited Elephant Island, then some — including Shackleton — volunteered to get in a lifeboat and head toward South Georgia Island, finally crossing it on foot to reach Stromness whaling station, which was then manned by the Norwegians, and organise a rescue of the men left behind on Elephant Island.
Although the expedition was a failure, the team's survival and eventual rescue months later, without any loss of life, was seen as a triumph of their tenacity and the incredible leadership skills of Shackleton.
Following another expedition later in his life, Shackleton died on South Georgia Island in 1922, at the age of 47, and is buried there.
After being abandoned, Endurance eventually sank into the Weddell Sea, where she has been ever since.
Its resting place is about four miles south of where Captain Frank Worsley, a New Zealander who helmed the ship, had believed it to be.
The discovery team departed from Cape Town on the South African polar research and logistics vessel, S.A. Agulhas II. Fittingly, they dubbed their ship — and mission — Endurance22.
On board were a mixed group including scientists, historians and filmmakers who were capturing footage for an upcoming National Geographic documentary about the journey to locate Endurance.
Once they were close to where they believed the shipwreck was, explorers used Sabertooth hybrid underwater search vehicles made by Saab to locate her.
As per the guidelines of the Antarctic Treaty — which was signed by 12 countries in 1959 and is the closest thing to a constitution for the southernmost continent — Endurance will not be moved or taken apart.
Instead, she will remain where she is and be studied, mapped and photographed there.
While Shackleton's name and biography are still famous around the world, the Endurance22 mission is as focused on the future as the past.
Dr. John Shears, the expedition leader, said, "We have also conducted an unprecedented educational outreach program, with live broadcasting from on board, allowing new generations from around the world to engage with Endurance22 and become inspired by the amazing stories of polar exploration, and what human beings can achieve and the obstacles they can overcome when they work together."
MEXICO CITY, March 8 (Reuters) – Guatemala’s Congress approved on Tuesday a law that punishes abortion with up to 25 years in prison and prohibits same-sex marriage and teaching about sexual diversity in schools.
Proposed by the conservative Viva Party, the law for the protection of life and the family was unexpectedly approved by a large majority of lawmakers including allies of President Alejandro Giammattei.
The legislation had been on ice since 2018 and still has to be published in the official gazette to come into force.
The penalty for an abortion was increased from between five to 10 years to 25 years – except when the life of the mother is in danger.
The law also prohibits teaching children and young adults about sexual diversity and gender ideology and stipulates that no orientations other than heterosexuality are “normal”, the draft text shows.
Activists and some politicians have criticized the law, which was passed on International Woman’s Day.
Guatemala’s human rights ombudsman, Jordan Rodas, said he would challenge it on human rights grounds.
“It violates human rights, it violates the international agreements ratified by Guatemala, it is a setback to freedoms,” Rodas told reporters outside Congress.
Some lawmakers argued that the law promotes hatred, homophobia and unfairly criminalizes women.
The post Guatemala Law Punishes Abortion with Prison For Up to 25 Years appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
By Helen Briggs
BBC Environment correspondent
The Amazon rainforest is moving towards a “tipping point” where trees may die off en masse, say researchers.
A study suggests the world’s largest rainforest is losing its ability to bounce back from damage caused by droughts, fires and deforestation.
Large swathes could become sparsely forested savannah, which is much less efficient than tropical forest at sucking carbon dioxide from the air.
The giant forest traps carbon that would otherwise add to global warming.
But previous studies have shown that parts of the Amazon are now emitting more carbon dioxide than can be absorbed.
“The trees are losing health and could be approaching a tipping point – basically, a mass loss of trees,” said Dr Chris Boulton of the University of Exeter.
The findings, based on three decades of satellite data, show alarming trends in the “health” of the Amazon rainforest.
There are signs of a loss of resilience in more than 75% of the forest, with trees taking longer to recover from the effects of droughts largely driven by climate change as well as human impacts such as deforestation and fires.
A vicious cycle of damage could trigger “dieback”, the scientists said.
And while it’s not clear when that critical point might be reached, the implications for climate change, biodiversity and the local community would be “devastating”.
Image source, Getty ImagesOnce the process begins they predict it could be a matter of decades before a “significant chunk” of the Amazon is transformed into savannah – a vastly different ecosystem made up of a mixture of grassland and trees.
“The Amazon stores lots of carbon and all of that would be released into the atmosphere, which would then further contribute to increasing temperatures and have future effects on global mean temperatures,” Dr Boulton said, adding that stopping deforestation would go some way to addressing the problem.
Around a fifth of the rainforest has already been lost, compared to pre-industrial levels, they said.
The research was carried out by the University of Exeter, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Technical University of Munich.
“Deforestation and climate change are likely to be the main drivers of this decline,” said Prof Niklas Boers of PIK and the Technical University of Munich.
Commenting, Dr Bonnie Waring of the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment, Imperial College London, said: “These latest findings are consistent with the accumulating evidence that the twin pressures of climate change and human exploitation of tropical forests are endangering the world’s largest rainforest, which is home to one out of every 10 species known to science.”
The findings, based on satellite data from 1991 to 2016, are published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
The post Amazon Rainforest Reaching Tipping Point, Researchers Say appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
The Hill
Almost two weeks on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict commands Americans’ attention, the headlines and the airwaves.
But that will not always be the case. The shock sparked by the initial images of the invasion will be blunted by time.
The defenders of Ukraine, however valiant, are unlikely to stave off the Russian forces forever.
The media’s focus on Ukraine will become less intense too, as happened in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in which American forces were directly involved.
The overarching political question is whether Americans, while not suffering the life-and-death consequences being visited upon the Ukrainian people, have the stomach to make sacrifices for a long fight in a faraway place.
Right now, there is clear and avid sympathy for the Ukrainians — and an apparent willingness to withstand economic pain at home to support them.
In a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday, a large majority of Americans — 71 percent — said they would support a ban on Russian oil even if it meant higher gas prices in the United States. The figure encompassed 82 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Republicans.
Whether those numbers will be sustained as a hypothetical becomes reality is a whole different question.
The average price of gasoline in the United States hit an all-time high on Monday, according to the GasBuddy website, cresting above $4.10.
The stock market is also taking a battering, with the S&P 500 falling roughly three percent on Monday to notch its worst day since October 2020.
Broader inflationary pressures are increasing too, as the price of other commodities, such as wheat, surges.
Even Democrats who are supportive of President Biden’s approach to the crisis are on-edge about how all of this shakes out politically, with the midterm elections just eight months away.
Democratic pollster Mark Mellman told this column that, while he did not doubt the sincerity of Americans’ concern with the plight of Ukraine, “people are ultimately always more focused on their own lives than other people’s lives.”
Electorally speaking, “on the one hand, there is no question that, the better the economy, the better we’ll do in the midterms; and the worse it is, the worse we’ll do,” he added.
“On the other hand, there are few better reasons to have inflation and a tougher economy than the fact that we are defending Ukraine and sanctioning Russia.”
Right now, Biden seems to be getting a small but measurable boost in his standing as he spearheads a western alliance against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll released late last week showed Biden’s overall approval rating jumping eight percentage points in a month. Approval of his handling of Ukraine went up by a striking 18 points.
The Republican Party has also been in some degree of disarray over the issue, with GOP opinion splintering at least three ways.
Some have favored an ultra-aggressive approach, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) going so far as to call on Russian citizens to assassinate Putin.
Others, often loosely affiliated with former President Trump, have been hesitant about the U.S. getting too deeply involved at all.
And in the middle, some of the most senior figures including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have given Biden a measure of cautious support for now.
All of that could change.
The semblance of bipartisanship could fade as more divisive issues such as the exact nature of aid the U.S. should render become sharper.
Terry Madonna, a polling expert and the senior fellow in residence for political affairs at Pennsylvania’s Millersville University, said that there was near-unanimity that American troops should not be put in harm’s way — but that cross-party agreement could begin to break down on any issue beyond that.
“The issue between Republicans and Democrats is likely to not be, are we engaging in ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine — I think there is a bipartisan consensus against that — but how quick do we supply, and what do we supply, to the Ukrainians?
“You’ll have some Republicans saying, ‘We need to do more,’ and we’ll have to see what happens.”
On the other side of the equation, some Republicans continue to express skepticism about just how much the American public truly cares about what happens in Ukraine over the long haul.
One strategist affiliated with the more populist, pro-Trump element of the GOP insisted that Republican voters, at least, “are far more concerned with the territorial integrity of the United States than they are with the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
To be sure, much remains unclear.
Most analysts believe it is near-certain that Russia will gain control over the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv sooner or later.
That, in turn, would almost certainly spark an insurgent campaign by Ukrainian forces, presumably with the aid of many Western nations.
Such conflicts are almost never short or clean.
The sanctions campaign being waged by Biden will also not work anytime soon, as the president has repeatedly warned.
In his State of the Union speech, Biden emphasized that the Russian invasion “has costs around the world.”
He added that, for Americans, “This is a real test. It’s going to take time.”
Right now, no-one can be sure whether American voters will give him the time he, or Ukraine, needs.
The post View: A Long War in Ukraine Will Test American Voters appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
Now WHO recommends boosters
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The World Health Organization (WHO) updated its vaccine guidance on Tuesday to recommend the administration of COVID-19 booster shots, marking a reversal from what the United Nations organization has previously said about additional vaccine doses.
In a statement, the WHO said the Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition “strongly supports urgent and broad access to current COVID-19 vaccines for primary series and booster doses, particularly for groups at risk of developing severe disease.”
The WHO has previously spoken out against administering COVID-19 booster shots, arguing that wealthier countries should abstain from administering additional doses while low- and middle-income countries have struggled to provide initial rounds of vaccinations for their populations.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for a moratorium on booster shots for healthy adults through the end of 2021.
“We do not want to see widespread use of boosters for healthy people who are fully vaccinated,” Tedros said in September.
What’s different: The WHO has also previously recommended prioritizing booster shots for high-risk individuals in countries that have moderate-to-high coverage. However, the newest guidance marks a shift in urgency for the organization, now recommending “broad” access to boosters.
The post Now WHO Supports Covid Booster Shots, World Covid Stats appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
A cruise ship travelling from the UK to the Caribbean has been forced to turn around because of positive Covid-19 cases on board.
The Spirit of Adventure set sail on 22 February for a 35-day cruise, but is returning to Southampton.
A Saga spokesperson refused to confirm the number of cases but said the ship was returning because of strict entry requirements in the Caribbean.
They said all customers on board would receive a full refund.
The over-50s only cruise, dubbed by Saga as “A Caribbean Spring”, was set to visit Azores, Antigua, Anguilla, Tortola, Port Royal, Grand Turk and Bermuda.
However, the ship has turned around in the Atlantic Ocean after only visiting the Portuguese-controlled Azores due to a coronavirus outbreak on board.
A Saga spokesperson said a “limited number of guests” were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms.
They explained “strict Covid-19 entry requirements” in the Caribbean meant they had made the “difficult decision” to return to the UK
The spokesperson added: “The safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority and we value the long-term relationship we have with them.
“We, like everyone else in the cruise industry, are learning to live with Covid.”
The holiday company’s coronavirus policy requires passengers to be fully vaccinated and each guest is transported to the ship via private chauffeur, where they are then tested before departure.
It is currently unable to confirm the number of people on board but the Spirit of Adventure can take up to 987 passengers and has 540 crew members at maximum capacity.
The post Caribbean Cruise: Saga Spirit of Adventure Returns to Southampton After Covid Outbreak appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.
South Australia's deputy premier has defended messages he sent to the victim of a workplace assault.
The woman was assaulted by a colleague at Port Augusta Fire Station in 2018.
The male firefighter was found to have grabbed his female colleague by the back of the neck and pushed her to the ground.
Yesterday the firefighter lost his two-year bid to have his dismissal overturned.
READ MORE: PM defends ADF flood response
On the same day, Dan Van Holst Pellekaan, who is the victim's local member, reached out to the woman via text message and said she must be "relieved" at the outcome – but asked her to "spare a thought" for the perpetrator.
"It would be terrible if the impact was too great for him to deal with," the deputy premier wrote.
Max Adlam, Secretary of the United Firefighters Union South Australia, said today the victim was upset by the message.
"The inference being that she's the reason for all this, that she's at fault for all this," Ms Adlam said.
Mr Van Holst Pellekaan later sent another message, then followed up with a voicemail.
"I'm pleased for you that you got the result back that you asked for… There's no problem about that whatsoever," he said in the recorded message.
However, he appears to again ask the victim to consider the feelings of her attacker.
"My concern is just, putting all that aside, I would just hate the impact to be too great," Mr Van Holst Pellekaan said.
Listen to the voicemail below.
Ms Adlam said the deputy premier did not appear concerned about the victim's welfare.
Mr Van Holst Pellekaan has since issued a short statement.
"I reached out in support of a constituent during a very difficult time for her," he said.
"In no way do I condone that type of behaviour."
Premier Steven Marshall defended his deputy today, saying he would not have intended to cause any distress.
"He's got a heart of gold, he certainly didn't wish to put any further stress on this victim, he wanted to support the victim and he's conveyed that in a further message to her," Mr Marshall said.
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