Category Archives: headline

headline

China has administered 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine shots

China's coronavirus vaccination drive has surpassed 2 billion doses, authorities announced Friday, but heavy-handed tactics intended to boost inoculation rates are triggering backlash in some areas.

As of Thursday, more than 889 million people had been fully vaccinated, with more than two billion shots of domestically-produced COVID-19 vaccine administered in total, an official at the National Health Commission said at a press conference Friday.

That puts China on par with the United Kingdom and ahead of the United States in terms of the percentage of its population that is now fully vaccinated.

The 2 billion milestone came just 10 weeks after the country passed its first billion mark in June, with China now accounting for around 40 per cent of the approximately 5 billion shots given globally.

RELATED: China may have controlled major Delta outbreak in world-first

China's push to boost vaccination rates has accelerated since July, when the highly contagious Delta variant sent infections rising across the country. On Friday, health officials announced that the outbreak had been "effectively brought under control," with case numbers decreasing for 11 straight days since August 16, but the inoculation drive has continued to gather pace.

Speaking at a health conference last Friday, China's top respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan said the country is aiming to fully vaccinate 80 per cent of its 1.4 billion population by the end of the year.

China's latest inoculation campaign has targeted the elderly, minors and residents in the country's vast rural areas — hard to reach groups that had not been covered in earlier vaccination rounds.

In the southern province of Guangdong, a 111-year-old villager rolled up his sleeve last week to receive a coronavirus vaccine shot. In some remote areas, officials arranged home pickups and bussed in residents to vaccination sites.

The NHC has repeatedly stressed that vaccinations should be voluntary. But under pressure to get more shots into arms, local authorities are increasingly turning to coercive measures to ensure compliance.

Across the country, a growing number of localities have banned unvaccinated residents from accessing public services, including hospitals, schools and public transport.

In the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, district governments announced that residents who refused to be vaccinated without a legitimate reason would impact their social credit — a controversial nationwide system that uses big data to incentivise certain behaviours.

And in Qinghai province, a residential community issued a notice this week, warning residents their pensions, medical insurance and social allowances would be suspended if a member of their immediate family failed to get vaccinated. An official said the notice was meant to "scare" people into getting inoculated, because the community had not met its vaccination target, state-run news reported.

These measures have drawn wide criticism and anger on Chinese social media, with many users accusing local authorities of violating the central government's policy and making the voluntary vaccination drive de facto mandatory.

Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the discrepancy between central government policy and its local implementation is a typical occurrence in China's top down political system, where provincial officials are placed under tremendous pressure to meet policy targets set by Beijing.

"Failure to fullfil these targets will lead to penalisation, creating this incentive for local government officials to undertake heavy-handed measures to get things done," he said.

In a sign of the mounting pressure, multiple municipal governments have warned local officials they would be "seriously held accountable" if infections broke out among the unvaccinated. Some local authorities have complained that residents have been lured across borders to inoculation sites in neighbouring towns by cash rewards — as officials compete to meet vaccination targets.

Despite the growing vaccination rates, there are no signs that China is preparing to relax its strict zero-COVID approach, or open up its borders anytime soon.

Zhong, the top respiratory expert, said China could establish "effective herd immunity" when the vaccination rate hits 80 per cent.

But Huang with the Council on Foreign Relations said he remained sceptical, given the lower efficacy rates of Chinese vaccines and the surge of Delta variant breakthrough infections across the world.

In Israel, where 78 per cent of those 12 and older have been fully vaccinated (mostly with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine), daily cases have surged in recent weeks, and authorities have started to offer booster shots to older citizens.

At the press conference Friday, Zheng Zhongwei, an official at the NHC, said experts at the agency recommend high-risk groups, such as workers at customs, airports and quarantine sites, to be given a booster shot six months after they've been fully vaccinated.

On Monday, state broadcaster CCTV warned the pandemic has not ended and that people shouldn't become careless in epidemic prevention.

headline

US: 100,000 More COVID Deaths Predicted by December

The Hill- The United States is projected to record an additional 100,000 COVID-19 deaths between August and December, as the highly transmissible Delta variant sweeps the country, a forecast from the University of Texas (UT) COVID-19 Modeling Consortium found.

Its director Lauren Ancel Meyers said: “Behavior is really going to determine if, when and how sustainably the current wave subsides… We cannot stop Delta in its tracks, but we can change our behavior overnight.”

The type of behavioral changes Meyers is referring to include mask-wearing in public spaces, maintaining a social distance of 6-feet and getting vaccinated. Experts have said that 50,000 people of the 100,000 projected dead could be saved by wearing a mask. School mask mandates are already instituted in states like New York, California and others. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced that his state would be reinstating its statewide indoor mask mandate, regardless of vaccination status, to take effect August 30.

What happens now? More mask mandates will likely be reinstated across the country as America contends with the Delta variant

The post US: 100,000 More COVID Deaths Predicted by December appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

UK: Notting Hill Carnival Virtual for 2nd Year Due to Pandemic

This year’s Notting Hill Carnival will not take place on the streets, with organisers putting “safety first”.

They said that with time short for participants to prepare, along with the risk of cancellation, they had decided to represent the fiesta in other ways.

The three-day street party, held in west London since 1966, usually attracts about two million people.

Last year, the first digital version of the event was hosted by radio presenters DJ Ace and Remel London.

It was streamed on four channels over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Executive director Matthew Phillip said the decision was not easy but was the responsible choice.

“We’ve been planning and weighing up the situation all year but we’ve come to the point where we want definites – and we are not definitely sure it would be safe to be on the streets at the end of August,” he said.

Matthew Phillip in 2019
Matthew Phillip is confident the street carnival will return when safe to do so

Mr Phillip was certain that the event would return though: “It’s not like carnival is the only thing cancelled [since the pandemic], we’re part of a wider community. It will return to the streets because it means too much not to.

“As with last year we will make sure carnival will be celebrated – it’s not actually carnival because carnival is a street event and if it’s not on the street it’s not carnival – but it will be celebrated.”

There will be some smaller events in the run-up to the bank holiday where the number of spectators can be limited and controlled, and there will also be online offerings.

2px presentational grey line
Crowds at Notting Hill Carnivalimage sourceAFP

Notting Hill Carnival

  • The event takes place on the August Bank Holiday in Notting Hill, Westbourne Park and parts of Kensington
  • The spectacle of music, dancing, food and drink is rooted in Caribbean culture, and has been influenced by the Windrush generation
  • Over the past 55 years it has grown to become the second-biggest carnival in the world, after the one held in Rio de Janeiro
  • The event aims to “promote unity and bring people of all ages together”
  • The first festival was put on by Rhaune Laslett, who lived in Notting Hill and wanted to highlight and celebrate the diversity in her area
2px presentational grey line

Emma Will from Kensington and Chelsea Council said that although the news was disappointing, the council “completely supports” the move.

“It is important that we look after the wellbeing of our residents and visitors.

“We are committed to supporting this celebration and making it as fun, magical and as safe as possible. We will be working with relevant partners such as the Met, TfL and more to ensure that this bank holiday weekend passes safely and the virtual carnival alternative is enjoyed.”

dancer at Notting Hill Carnival
The carnival would be impossible to hold while maintaining social distancing

The decision to take the event off the street follows the government’s extension of Covid restrictions in England.

It had hoped to remove all legal limits on social contact from 21 June. That has been put back until 19 July.

Full details of the carnival’s alternative arrangements will be released nearer the time and the latest developments will be announced on social media and via its website.

The post UK: Notting Hill Carnival Virtual for 2nd Year Due to Pandemic appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

World View: Afghan Evacuations – 100 Killed in Bomb Blasts, Caribbean Hurricane Forming, Covid Ravages Hawaii, More

Aug 27, 2021

Alternate text

The Associated Press

The Rundown

I'm an image

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the Taliban takeover and killed more than 100. The U.S. says further…Read More

I'm an image

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is vowing to complete the evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan despite the deadly suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport. He promised to avenge the deaths of 13 U.S. …Read More

I'm an image

HONOLULU (AP) — Kuulei Perreira-Keawekane could barely breathe when she went to a Hawaii emergency room. Nausea made it difficult for her to stand and her body throbbed with pain. Like many Native Hawaiians, she was not vaccinated against COVID-19. …Read More

I'm an image

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville-based helicopter pilot Joel Boyers had just finished helping his fiancee earn her pilot’s license on Saturday morning, and they were heading home to celebrate, when he received a frantic call from a woman in Pennsylv…Read More

I'm an image

BREMEN, Germany (AP) — The two men risked their lives together nearly a decade ago trying to eliminate the Taliban, dodging bullets and forever bonding in a way that can only be forged in war. Now the American soldier and his Afghan translator were …Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Ida has prompted a hurricane warning for New Orleans and a state of emergency for the state of Louisiana as it pushes across the Caribbean toward…Read More

SOMERTON, Ariz. (AP) — It’s a Thursday evening in Somerton, Arizona, and parents and students packed inside a middle school gym are roaring for the school’s wrestling team a…Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — The chief executive of the sexual harassment victims’ advocacy group Time’s Up resigned Thursday amid outrage over revelations that its leaders advised forme…Read More

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Apple has agreed to let developers of iPhone apps email their users about cheaper ways to pay for digital subscriptions and media by circumventing a …Read More

The post World View: Afghan Evacuations – 100 Killed in Bomb Blasts, Caribbean Hurricane Forming, Covid Ravages Hawaii, More appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

Royal Navy support ship RFA Wave Knight, French Frigate Germinal in Haiti Aid Missiom

Royal Navy support ship RFA Wave Knight has again supported the international relief following Haiti’s devastating earthquake – this time assisting the French Navy.

As with US Army helicopters flying constant missions to the disaster zone, the tanker has helped sustain the Marine Nationale’s relief effort, providing their frigate FS Germinal with much-needed fuel to keep it on mission.

The Germinal has been off Haiti since Saturday. Much like Wave Knight she carries specialist teams ready to deliver aid. She loaded essential goods, including more than 30 tonnes of fresh water, working hand-in-hand with many French donors (Red Cross, Bernard Hayot group, Carrefour, authorities in Martinique).

As well as refuelling the Germinal and US Army Black Hawk helicopters of Joint Task Force Bravo – using the tanker’s flight deck as a ‘lilypad’ to spare them long trips back to base and spend more time delivering aid and assisting Haitians – the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship is now into its seventh day of reconnaissance flights over the regions most affected by the August 14 disaster.

The sorties the tanker’s Wildcat helicopter is flying over the Tiburon Peninsula which was hit by the 7.2 magnitude quake provide crucial imagery and film footage, plus analysis from specialist commando engineer Captain Jake Lott RE, helping to guide relief efforts on the ground to where it is needed most.

Commander Brian Trim, in charge of the Royal Navy’s Caribbean task force – which also includes patrol ship HMS Medway – says the concerted international relief mission is making a difference.

“Our efforts here are reducing suffering in the communities affected by this disaster.”

The post Royal Navy support ship RFA Wave Knight, French Frigate Germinal in Haiti Aid Missiom appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

'Like a bad dream': Rare personal insight on dementia

A Sydney grandmother has given a rare and personal insight into a disease that robs people of their thinking and their memories.

Theresa Flavin has dementia, and her story is at the heart of a new campaign to break stereotypes and better educate people about what's needed most.

Living with dementia

"Living with dementia is like a bad dream," Ms Flavin said.

"You're like who am I, where am I, you have to re-orientate all over again every day.

"It's actually repulsive to live with your brain not functioning properly."

The 55-year-old, who used to work for financial watchdog APRA, has been living with dementia for a decade.

She is the face of the new awareness campaign to help people in health and aged care understand the internal struggles.

"Your brain is a bit broken and there's a disconnect between what you feel and what you express it can come out as anger, frustration, short temper," Ms Flavin said.

"I might throw something. But I'm not angry at people. I'm angry with me."

Living with dementia

This insight comes after disturbing revelations at the aged care royal commission on the widespread use of chemical restraints such as anti-psychotics and sedatives…to "calm" dementia patients instead of resolving their expressions of pain, discomfort or fear.

"Medication is probably the most cruel thing you can do that person," Ms Falvin said.

"It makes you feel more frightened because your mind is scrambled, it feels like there's a flock a seagulls going around your head and someone is saying hey here, let's pop more seagulls on, let's make you more confused.

"Sometimes we can't talk at all, just please be patient and look for clues."

Living with dementia

The grandmother's story has been posted to the NPS Medicinewise website, a non-for-profit in the health sector.

"I really think the video is a lesson in empathy," clinical lead Kara Joyce said.

"I honestly don't think the program would've been complete without her. We often don't get to hear the voice of someone with dementia."

Educators have already reached out to more than 1,000 aged care facilities.

headline

US Marines Head for Haiti as Part of International Relief Effort

 

More US Marines headed to Haiti to provide humanitarian assistance in the wake of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake on Aug. 14 that destroyed thousands of homes and affected millions of people.

The Corps has sent in 150 Marines from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266, based out of Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, and Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252, based out of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.

The two units will join Joint-Task Force-Haiti, established by U.S. Southern Command, which consists of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard medical teams, ships and aircraft already providing support to the Haitian people.

The Corps previously sent roughly 200 Marines from 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to Haiti to provide security and other ground resources to the task force.

RELATED
The 200 Marines will be used to provide security to a joint U.S. task force.

 

By Philip Athey

Along with its MV-22 Ospreys, VMM-266 is staging at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, “in anticipation of support to humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief operations on behalf of USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance,” a press release from the 2nd Marine Air Wing said.

The Ospreys, along with the KC-130Js from VMGR-252, will be used to bring in more assistance workers, along with emergency supplies and equipment, the press release said.

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake was quickly followed by a tropical depression, which struck the nation on Aug. 15.

About 2,207 people died in the earthquake, Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said Sunday, with 344 people still missing, 12,268 people injured, 52,923 houses destroyed and another 77,006 houses damaged.

The post US Marines Head for Haiti as Part of International Relief Effort appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

Tropical Storm Ida forms in Caribbean, Heading towards US Gulf Coast

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Ida formed in the Caribbean on Thursday and forecasters said its track was aimed at the U.S. Gulf Coast, prompting Louisiana’s governor to declare a state of emergency and forecasters to announce a hurricane watch for New Orleans.

“Unfortunately, all of Louisiana’s coastline is currently in the forecast cone for Tropical Storm Ida, which is strengthening and could come ashore in Louisiana as a major hurricane as Gulf conditions are conducive for rapid intensification,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said.

“By Saturday evening, everyone should be in the location where they intend to ride out the storm.,” the governor added.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ida was expected to cross the tobacco-rich western stretch of Cuba as a tropical storm starting Friday afternoon and then strengthen, reaching the Gulf Coast by Sunday.

“There is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge, damaging hurricane-force winds, and heavy rainfall Sunday and Monday, especially along the coast of Louisiana,” the Hurricane Center said.

“Ida certainly has the potential to be very bad,” said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

A hurricane watch was in effect for Cameron, Louisiana, to the Mississippi-Alabama border — including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and metropolitan New Orleans

Late Thursday night, Ida had sustained maximum winds of 40 mph (65 kph) and was traveling northwest at about 12 mph (19 kph). It was centered about 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast of Grand Cayman and 365 miles (585 kilometers) southeast of the western tip of Cuba.

The storm was forecast to deliver anywhere from 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) of rain over parts of Jamaica, Cuba and the Cayman islands, with the potential for more in some isolated areas.

Forecasters warned of possible flash floods and mudslides and tidal storm surge of as much as 2 to 4 feet above normal, along with “large and destructive waves.”

The Cayman Islands government said nonessential government offices closed at ‘2:30 p.m. Thursday and four shelters were activated.

 

The post Tropical Storm Ida forms in Caribbean, Heading towards US Gulf Coast appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

World Economic Recovery Underway While Pandemic Rages On

 

Aug 27 (Reuters) – While the financial world waits for the Federal Reserve to start reversing its ultra-loose policy stance, recent moves by a clutch of other central banks signal the days of pandemic-era accommodation are already numbered even as COVID-19 continues to impede smooth economic recoveries around the world.

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to blunt rising financial stability risks posed by a surge in household debt, becoming the first major monetary authority in Asia to do so since the coronavirus broadsided the global economy 18 months ago. read more

Even before the rate hike in South Korea, though, central banks in Latin America and eastern and central Europe had begun lifting interest rates this year to beat back inflation that is building on the back of currency fluctuations, global supply chain bottlenecks and regional labor shortages.

And larger-economy central banks also are getting into the swing. The Bank of Canada has already cut back on its bond purchases and could proceed to raise borrowing costs in 2022, read more and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is expected to lift rates by the end of this year despite balking at an expected hike last week in the face of a snap COVID-19 lockdown.

For its part, the Fed is lumbering toward tapering its $120 billion in monthly asset purchases, with an announcement expected before the end of 2021, possibly as early as next month. An actual U.S. interest rate increase is likely a year or more away, however.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak later on Friday on the economic outlook at the U.S. central bank’s annual Jackson Hole summer research conference, which is being held virtually for the second year in a row. His remarks may color expectations at the margin for when the Fed makes its move but are not likely to offer any concrete signal. read more

THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES

When Powell spoke at last year’s conference – unveiling a new policy framework that is just starting to be tested – fewer than half of the 22 million U.S. jobs lost to coronavirus shutdowns in the spring of 2020 had been recovered and inflation was running at half the Fed’s 2% target rate. The outlook outside the United States was no less bleak, with lockdowns still widespread.

The situation in the United States and other economies could hardly be more different a year later.

The U.S. economy has more than fully recouped all of its lost output read more , roughly 9 million more jobs have been regained and inflation is well above target. Elsewhere, most of the world’s economies are back squarely in growth mode, albeit unevenly so in many cases as COVID-19 outbreaks fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant trigger localized lockdowns.

In South Korea, the economy grew 5.9% on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter, the fastest pace in a decade read more , and young people are bingeing on debt and kindling financial stability concerns at the Bank of Korea. The export-reliant Asian nation’s key factory sector expanded in July for a 10th straight month, even as the Delta variant crimped manufacturing output for rivals like China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Central Europe’s recovery also accelerated in the second quarter as lockdowns in the region eased. The improvement – along with an upswing in inflation – has already spurred the Czech central bank to raise interest rates twice this summer and the Hungarian central bank to deliver its third hike on Aug. 24, the first increases across the European Union. Both are expected to deliver more tightening, and Czech officials are debating if they need to deliver more than the standard quarter-percentage point increase.

While the earliest movers have been emerging market countries where inflation is often aggravated by movements in choppy currency markets, the gears of tightening are also starting to move in top-tier economies.

The RBNZ opted not to raise rates last week because of the messaging complications that would have arisen from such a move alongside a hastily-called lockdown after the island nation reported its first local COVID-19 infection in six months. read more Central bank officials, however, appear determined to get a rate hike in before the year runs out.

Meanwhile, Norway’s central bank is signaling it will not veer from its plan for its first rate hike next month despite a recent rise in infections, putting it on course to be the first of the Group of 10 (G10) developed economies to raise borrowing costs.

“In the committee’s current assessment of the outlook and balance of risks, the policy rate will most likely be raised in September,” Norges Bank Governor Oeystein Olsen said in a statement last week.

While the Fed and several other G10 banks now appear on course to start reducing their pandemic accommodation measures this year, tightening moves by the Fed’s two largest peers – the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan – look much further off. read more

Still, that doesn’t mean they don’t see some improvement in conditions even as the Delta variant spreads.

Japan was among the Asian economies to experience factory sector growth last month even as COVID-19 cases hit a record high. read more And a key ECB policymaker sees only a limited headwind to the euro zone’s recovery due to the variant.

“I would say we’re broadly not too far away from what we expected in June for the full year,” Philip Lane, the ECB’s chief economist, told Reuters on Wednesday. “It’s a reasonably well-balanced picture.”

(This story corrects to make clear in paragraph 11 the Hungarian central bank has raised rates three times this summer, not twice.)

Reporting by Balazs Korayi and Frank Siebelt in Frankfurt, Jason Hovet in Prague, Krisztina Than in Budapest, Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Praveen Menon in Wellington, and Cynthia Kim and Joori Roh in Seoul Writing by Dan Burns Editing by Paul Simao

The post World Economic Recovery Underway While Pandemic Rages On appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

headline

Argentina’s President Charged with Breaking Quarantine to Host Party

Dailies Clarin and La Nacion reported the news, citing prosecutors, who did not immediately respond to a comment request from Reuters.

The case against Fernandez has grabbed headlines in past weeks as Argentina imposed stricter lockdowns than most countries to deal with the pandemic. In July of last year, Fernandez himself had banned all social gatherings before hosting one for the birthday of Fabiola Yanez, his partner.

Earlier on Thursday, Fernandez participated in a hearing in the case and offered to pay a fine to settle the case.

Opposition lawmakers have tried to start a political trial against Fernandez due to the party, although they have a slim chance of succeeding because most lawmakers are aligned with the government party.

Reporting by Nicolas Misculin in Buenos Aires; Editing by Michael Perry

The post Argentina’s President Charged with Breaking Quarantine to Host Party appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.