Jan232020 DmediaNo Comments

3 Chinese Cities on Lockdown in Bid to Contain Deadly Virus

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China decided Thursday to lock down three cities that are home to more than 18 million people in an unprecedented effort to try to contain a deadly new viral illness that has sickened hundreds and spread to other cities and countries in the Lunar New Year travel rush. Police, SWAT teams and paramilitary troops guarded Wuhan's train station, where metal barriers blocked the entrances at 10 a.m. sharp. Only travelers holding tickets for the last trains were allowed to enter, with those booked for later trains being turned away. Normally bustling streets, shopping malls, restaurants and other public spaces in the city of 11 million people were eerily quiet. In addition to the train station, airport, ferry, subway and bus services were also halted. Similar measures will take effect from…
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Jan232020 DmediaNo Comments

Pakistan Begins Screening Travelers From China for Coronavirus

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Pakistan announced Thursday airport authorities have begun screening travelers from neighboring China for signs of the coronavirus.China’s recent billions of dollars of investments in infrastructure development projects in Pakistan has led to a spike in the number of people traveling between the two countries, including thousands of Chinese workers.Pakistani officials said more than 40 direct or indirect flights from China land every week at three main airports, including Karachi, the country’s largest city, Lahore and the national capital of Islamabad.“These points of entry are being closely monitored in line with international health regulations,” Pakistani State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said in a statement.No cases reported yetHowever, he noted, Pakistan has so far not reported any case of the coronavirus, which seems to have originated in the Chinese city of…
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Jan232020 DmediaNo Comments

Virus-Related Tourism Ban Could Hurt North Korea’s Economy

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North Korea has temporarily banned foreign tourists in response to the outbreak of a dangerous new virus in neighboring China. Depending on how long the ban lasts, it could hurt North Korea’s economy, which though heavily sanctioned, has received a boost by a recent influx of Chinese tourists.Starting Wednesday, North Korea closed its borders to foreign tourists, according to Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based company that leads trips to North Korea. On its website, the company says it is not clear how long the suspension will last, but that authorities say they intend to reopen the border as soon as they institute precautionary measures.The pneumonialike respiratory illness, which can be transmitted among humans, originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. It has infected more than 500 people, 17 of…
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Jan232020 DmediaNo Comments

New Rules Could Bump Emotional-Support Animals From Planes

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The days of passengers bringing rabbits, turtles and birds on planes as emotional-support animals could be ending.The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday proposed that only specially trained dogs qualify as service animals, which must be allowed in the cabin at no charge. Airlines could let passengers bring other animals on board, but hefty fees would apply.Airlines say the number of support animals has been growing dramatically in recent years, and they have lobbied to tighten the rules. They also imposed their own restrictions in response to passengers who show up at the airport with pigs, pheasants, turkeys, snakes and other unusual pets."This is a wonderful step in the right direction for people like myself who are dependent on and reliant on legitimate service animals that perform a task to…
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Jan232020 DmediaNo Comments

Coronavirus Deaths Rise as Health Agencies Try to Curb Its Spread

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A new virus spreads within and outside China, and the World Health Organization has confirmed nearly 500 cases, including nearly 20 deaths. Health officials are scrambling to contain the disease, but the virus is new and not much is known about it.People from China are being screened at airports, both in their own country and abroad. They’re being checked for fever and other symptoms of a new respiratory virus.The virus is a coronavirus. It’s called that because under a microscope, the virus appears to be surrounded by a crown.The common cold is an example of a coronavirus and so are SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — and MERS — Middle East respiratory syndrome. SARS originated 17 years ago at a food market in China. Scientists traced the virus to civets,…
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Jan232020 DmediaNo Comments

Chinese City Stops Outbound Flights, Trains From Wuhan to Fight Virus

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Chinese state media say the city of Wuhan is shutting down outbound flights and trains as the country battles the spread of a new virus that has sickened hundreds and killed 17.The official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday that the city also asked people not to leave Wuhan without specific reasons.The state-owned People's Daily newspaper said in a tweet that no one would be allowed to leave the city starting at 10 a.m. and that train stations and the airport will shut down. It said that city buses, subways, ferries and long-distance shuttle buses would also be temporarily closed, citing Wuhan authorities.In Geneva, the World Health Organization said it had put off deciding whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency and asked its expert committee on the issue…
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Jan232020 DmediaNo Comments

Students from Wuhan Traveling Globally for Holidays

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International students remaining in Wuhan, China — where the government has issued a lockdown to avoid the spread of the deadly coronavirus — report being provided surgical masks and being asked to stay indoors.“As I write this message, the school is on lockdown as the school authorities are putting in place measures to protect the remaining foreign students on campus,” emailed an international student who identified himself as @Vince Vela Nova from Ghana who is doing a post-graduate degree program in land resource management.“There are just a handful of Chinese students around as most of them have gone back home to celebrate the Chinese New Year,” he wrote. “This morning the international office provided the students with surgical masks and entreated every one of us to stay indoors.”Medical students from…
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Jan222020 DmediaNo Comments

What We Know So Far About New China Virus

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A new SARS-like virus has killed 17 people in China, infected hundreds and reached as far as the United States, with fears mounting about its spread as hundreds of millions travel for Lunar New Year celebrations, which start Friday.Many countries have stepped up screening of passengers from Wuhan, the Chinese city identified as the epicenter, and the World Health Organization has called an emergency meeting.Here's what we know so far about the virus:It's entirely newThe pathogen appears to be a never-before-seen strain of coronavirus — a large family of viruses that can cause diseases ranging from the common cold to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed 349 people in mainland China and another 299 in Hong Kong between 2002 and 2003.Arnaud Fontanet, head of the department of epidemiology at…
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Jan222020 TechmanNo Comments

Huawei Founder Says Company Can Withstand Increased US Pressure

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Despite the U.S.-China trade deal signed last week, the two countries appear headed for more confrontation, especially over high tech.One of China's highest-profile tech executives, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Tuesday that he expects the U.S. to escalate its crackdown on Huawei. But he vowed that the world leader in building 5G networks is prepared to withstand further restrictions on its foreign markets and suppliers.Analysts say his remarks suggest that the Chinese may be ready to directly confront Americans in the global competition for high-tech advancements, which are seen at the core of trade frictions.Tech war is on"He [Ren] is fully aware that the tech competition between the U.S. and China will escalate. The U.S. has no plan to cut China some…
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Jan222020 TechmanNo Comments

Sources: EU Nations Can Restrict High-Risk Vendors Under New 5G Guidelines

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EU countries can restrict or exclude high-risk 5G providers from core parts of their telecoms network infrastructure under new guidelines to be issued by the European Commission next week, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The non-binding recommendations are part of a set of measures aimed at addressing cybersecurity risks at national and bloc-wide level, in particular concerns related to world No. 1 player Huawei Technologies. The guidelines do not identify any particular country or company, the people said. "Stricter security measures will apply for high-risk vendors for sensitive parts of the network or the core infrastructure," one of the people said. EU digital economy chief Margrethe Vestager is expected to announce the recommendations on Jan. 29.Other measures include urging EU countries to audit or even issue certificates…
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Jan222020 DmediaNo Comments

In Britain, Trying to Help Children Vulnerable to Drugs, Gangs

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In parts of Britain, thousands of children have fallen victim to so-called "county lines," drug networks run by gangs, with many forced to sell drugs in small towns and rural areas. Helping affected children in the $600 million illegal narcotics industry is a long and difficult process.Officials estimate that some 46,000 children are involved with gangs across Britain, and many of them are exploited through drug networks and routes termed "county lines."The children are groomed and forced to travel across the country to sell heroin and crack cocaine, using dedicated mobile phone lines.The children exploited through the "county lines" witness a lot of violence and intimidation.Tamsin Gregory works with the St. Giles Trust, an organization that offers support to youngsters who have been affected by "county lines."Gregory says it is…
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Jan222020 DmediaNo Comments

World Health Experts to Determine if Coronavirus Poses Global Risk

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Experts meeting in emergency session at the World Health Organization will look at the spreading Coronavirus to see whether it constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and decide on recommendations needed to manage it.  The WHO has confirmed 440 cases of the disease, including 17 deaths. Since the new coronavirus was detected in a fish market in Wuhan city, China three weeks ago, the previously unknown virus has moved with frightening speed internally and abroad.  Deaths have been reported in China, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.The first case of the disease has been reported in the United States in a man who returned to the West Coast city of Seattle last week from Wuhan.  He is hospitalized in good condition, but the appearance of the case has put…
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Jan222020 DmediaNo Comments

Taiwan Urges China to Release All Information on New Virus

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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen urged China on Wednesday to release all information about the outbreak of a new virus and work with Taiwan on curbing its spread.At China's insistence, Taiwan is not a member of the World Health Organization and is not allowed to participate in any of its meetings. However, large numbers of Taiwanese travel to and live in China, where hundreds of people have been sickened and nine have died in an outbreak that apparently originated in the city of Wuhan. Despite Beijing's restrictions, the Taiwan Center for Disease Control said earlier this month it had been notified on Jan. 15 by its Chinese counterpart about the outbreak. It said it had also sent two experts to Wuhan to visit health care facilities in order to "better understand…
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Jan222020 DmediaNo Comments

Death Toll from New Coronavirus in China Rises to Nine

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The World Health Organization will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday on the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has now killed nine people and sickened hundreds more across China and beyond its border.The global health agency will consider whether the outbreak, which originated in the central city of Wuhan, should be declared a global health emergency.  The number of confirmed cases has risen to 440, including 15 medical workers, and has spread from Wuhan into Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province, as well as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the United States, which announced its first case Tuesday in the northwest state of Washington.  Health officials there said a man who returned to Seattle from Wuhan last week is hospitalized in good condition with pneumonia.Chinese health experts say they know…
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Jan222020 DmediaNo Comments

China to Hold Coronavirus Emergency Meeting with WHO

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The first case to be diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus in the United States (in Seattle) was confirmed Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak, which originated in China, has so far spread to other countries including Japan, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. China says it will attend an emergency World Health Organization summit this week on the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected several hundred and killed at least six. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. ...
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Jan212020 DmediaNo Comments

US Reports First Case of New Coronavirus

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The United States is reporting its first case of the new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, and has killed at least six people.Health officials in the northwest U.S. state of Washington said a man who returned to Seattle from Wuhan last week is hospitalized in good condition with pneumonia. They say he poses no threat to doctors or hospital staff members.U.S. authorities are screening travelers from Wuhan at airports in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they are adding Atlanta and Chicago to the list of airport screenings this week.The United States is the fifth country to report cases of the new coronavirus, joining China, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.A health official watches travelers on a thermographic monitor at…
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Jan212020 DmediaNo Comments

Spain Declares Climate Emergency, Gets Climate Plan Ready

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Spain's new government declared a national climate emergency on Tuesday, taking a formal first step toward enacting ambitious measures to fight climate change.      The declaration approved by the Cabinet says the left-of-center Socialist government will send to parliament within 100 days its proposed climate legislation. The targets coincide with those of the European Union, including a reduction of net carbon emissions to zero by 2050.      Spain's coalition government wants up to 95% of the Mediterranean country's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2040. The plan also foresees eliminating pollution by buses and trucks and making farming carbon neutral.      Details of the plan are to be made public when the proposed legislation is sent to parliament for approval.     More than two dozen…
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Jan212020 DmediaNo Comments

WHO: New Coronavirus Expected to Spread in China and Abroad

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The World Health Organization says the new coronavirus is likely to spread in China and other countries and is urging governments to implement preventive infection control measures in health facilities.  The WHO confirms 278 cases of the disease, including six deaths, two in China and the other four in Thailand, Japan and South Korea.The WHO calls the coronavirus a fast-moving disease and says the number of cases and deaths is changing quickly.  The agency is stepping up measures to get to the source of the infection as quickly as possible and to provide the public with information it needs to protect itself.  The WHO will be convening an emergency committee meeting Wednesday to see whether the virus constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.  A team of experts is…
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Jan212020 DmediaNo Comments

Countries Around World Gear Up Response to New Coronavirus

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Countries in Asia and elsewhere have begun body temperature checks at airports, railway stations and along highways in hopes of catching people carrying a new coronavirus that is believed to have spread from Wuhan in central China and sickened more than 290 people in that country. The recent confirmation that the disease can spread between humans has heightened fears as millions of Chinese travel during the annual Lunar New Year holiday.      The measures are part of a widening effort aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS, another coronoavirus that started in China and killed nearly 800 people, paralyzed transport and damaged Asian economies.    JAPAN      One case has been detected in Japan, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged officials to step…
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Jan212020 DmediaNo Comments

China Confirms Coronavirus Tied to 4 Deaths Can Be Transmitted Among People

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Chinese health experts have confirmed that a new coronavirus that has now killed four people is contagious, raising fears that the virus could spread quickly among people.China's National Health Commission said the virus, which causes a type of pneumonia, can be transmitted person-to-person and not just from animals to people, the official Xinhua news agency reported.Earlier Monday, Chinese health officials confirmed 136 new cases of the newly discovered virus -- a huge spike -- over the past three days, including the first cases in the capital, Beijing, and Shanghai. Heath officials in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began, say the number of cases now exceeds 200, with most of the confirmed cases  described as mild.  The latest confirmed fatality is an 89-old man in Wuhan. South Korean health…
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Jan212020 DmediaNo Comments

Number of New Virus Infections Triples in China

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The number of people infected with a new strain of coronavirus in China tripled over the weekend and is spreading from Wuhan to other major cities. The new cases of pneumonia-like illness caused by the virus has been detected in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Scientists have also confirmed that the virus can be spread from human to human, which is bad news for China as it prepares for the Spring Holiday which is the busiest travel season. VOA's Zlatica Hoke has more. ...
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Jan212020 DmediaNo Comments

Unhealthy Levels of Smog Choke Thai Capital for Over Week

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Unhealthy levels of smog have choked Bangkok for more than a week, as the Thai capital's residents fume over the ineffectiveness of government measures to combat the problem.As thick haze blanketed the city Monday, pollution levels soared to 95 micrograms per cubic meter of PM 2.5 particle at noon in some areas, according to the government's Pollution Control Department, which described that level as very unhealthy. The maximum level considered safe by the government is 50.PM 2.5 particles are small enough to penetrate deeply into the lungs, which can cause both short-term bronchial problems as well as serious long-term health issues.Bangkok's smog crisis results from still air and an excessive amount of ultrafine dust from vehicle emissions and other activities, Pollution Control Department Director-General Pralong Damrongthai explained in a Monday…
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Jan202020 TechmanNo Comments

Britain’s Johnson Poised to Give Huawei Role in 5G Development

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears set to give the go-ahead for Chinese telecom giant Huawei to play a role in the development of Britain's 5G wireless network — a move that risks jeopardizing intelligence-sharing between Britain and America, according U.S. officials.  Despite last-ditch lobbying by the U.S. to block Huawei, British officials say it is a "foregone conclusion" Johnson will allow Huawei participation.That would confirm a "provisional" decision made by his predecessor, Theresa May. Last year, she said Huawei should be allowed to build some so-called "non-core" parts of Britain's future 5G data network, discounting U.S. alarm.Johnson's final decision could come as early as this week, officials say.For a year, the Trump administration has urged Britain to ban Huawei from participating in the development of Britain's fifth-generation wireless network.…
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Jan202020 TechmanNo Comments

Malawi is Home to Africa’s First Drone Academy

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Malawi this month opened the first African Drone and Data Academy, with support from the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF.  The academy aims to improve drone technology skills across Africa, beginning with Malawi and neighboring countries.Karen Asaba developed an interest in drones at Uganda Flying Labs, a Kampala-based drone mapping and data hub. As a student at Malawi’s just opened African Drone and Data Academy, she gets to learn how to build one."Right now, we are learning how to assemble a drone from the start, considering its weight, considering the central gravity, considering the GPS and all the electronics that are involved in making the drone,” she said.Asaba is one of 26 students from across Africa in the first three-month course at the academy, learning to construct and pilot drones.Instructors…
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Jan202020 DmediaNo Comments

China Confirms Coronavirus Transmitted by Humans

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Chinese health experts confirmed Monday that a new coronavirus is contagious, raising fears that the virus could spread quickly among people.China's National Health Commission said the virus, which causes a type of pneumonia, can be transmitted person-to-person and not just from animals to people, the official Xinhua news agency reported.Earlier Monday, Chinese health officials confirmed 136 new cases of the newly discovered virus — a huge spike — over the past three days, including the first cases in the capital, Beijing, and Shanghai.Heath officials in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began, say the number of cases now exceeds 200. Most of the confirmed cases are described as mild, but three deaths have been reported.South Korean health officials said Monday they confirmed a case in a 35-year-old…
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