Weight Loss Movement Tries to Combat Malaysia’s Obesity Crisis

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“1-2-3,” shouts Dr. Noradhiah Tumirin, a physician and fitness trainer. “You can do it,” she enthusiastically says as her client Sarah Baharudin is lying flat on her back and struggling to lift her legs from the ground to a 90-degree angle.Baharudin, age 35, is breathing heavily throughout the workout. She’s 165 centimeters tall and weighs 110 kilograms.“I eat traditional Malay food, yes and it’s high in fat and calorie,” Baharudin says while explaining how she became obese. “On top of that I was not active, not living an active lifestyle, did not exercise. So years after years of doing that it becomes obesity.”Sorry, but your player cannot support embedded video of this type, you can Dr. Noradhiah Tumirin, right, a physician and fitness trainer, says Malaysia’s obesity crisis is behind…


Kenya Fighting to End Female Genital Mutilation by 2023

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Despite Kenya banning female genital mutilation in 2011, the tradition of circumcising girls has continued in some ethnic communities. President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to end FGM by 2023, but activists say more needs to be done as millions of girls are still at risk of undergoing the cut.At just seven years old, Sylvia Keis' family told her she would be circumcised.One day before the ceremony, Keis ran away from her home village of Ewaso Ngiro to the town of Narok — a three-hour walk.    "I just decided I better ran away even if I was going to die, because I had that emotion," Keis said. "My father never took me to school and now he wants to circumcise me. After circumcision and you are not in school, what next?…


Iran-Linked Hackers Pose as Journalists in Email Scam

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When Iranian-born German academic Erfan Kasraie received an email from The Wall Street Journal requesting an interview, he sensed something was amiss.The Nov. 12 note purportedly came from Farnaz Fassihi, a veteran Iranian-American journalist who covers the Middle East. Yet it read more like a fan letter, asking Kasraie to share his "important achievements" to "motivate the youth of our beloved country.""This interview is a great honor for me," the note gushed.Another red flag: the follow-up email that instructed Kasraie to enter his Google password to see the interview questions.The phony request was, in reality, an attempt to break into Kasraie's email account. The incident is part of a wider effort to impersonate journalists in hacking attempts that three cybersecurity firms said they have tied to the Iranian government, which…


Vietnam Goes Big on Solar Power

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Solar power is making a strong showing in Vietnam after years of shuttling from one extreme to the other, with the nation looking sometimes like it would revert to coal, and other times like it would invest in renewable energy.By the end of last year Vietnam had surpassed Malaysia and Thailand to reach the largest installed capacity of solar power in Southeast Asia, with 44% of the total capacity, according to figures from Wood Mackenzie, a firm that sells consulting services in the energy industry.The figures show that Vietnam is serious about solar power, an issue that had been up for debate for years. Solar supporters were encouraged to see the government offer a high feed in tariff (FIT), a fee pioneered in Germany to let solar panel owners sell…


Coronavirus’ Impact on Global Economy Becoming a Worry

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With many Chinese cities on a virtual lockdown and businesses closed until next week at the earliest, there are growing concerns about coronavirus's impact on the global economy. On Tuesday, automaker Hyundai Motor said  it will suspend production in South Korea, its biggest manufacturing base, becoming the first major automaker to do so outside China due to disruption in the supply of parts resulting from the coronavirus outbreak. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo reports. ...


Hong Kong Medical Workers Still On Strike as Territory Confirms 1st Coronavirus Death

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Medical workers in Hong Kong are staging a second consecutive day of strikes Tuesday as the Chinese territory reports its first death from a coronavirus that has killed 425 people in mainland China.Hong Kong shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight local time after more than 2,000 medical workers walked off the job Monday demanding that all border crossings be closed completely.  Hong Kong was hit hard by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-03.Hong Kong health authorities have identified the victim as a 39-year-old male with a pre-existing illness who had recently visited Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.  Meanwhile, the Chinese gambling territory of Macau announced Tuesday that it will temporarily shut down all casino operations for two weeks to help…


Irish Regulator Probes Google, Tinder Over Data Processing

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Irish regulators have launched separate inquiries into Google and dating app Tinder over how they process user data, in a new round of regulatory scrutiny aimed at tech companies.Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said Tuesday that it decided to look into how Google handles location data after a number of consumer groups across the European Union filed complaints.The commission opened an investigation into Google’s Irish subsidiary to determine whether the U.S. search giant “has a legal basis for processing the location data of its users” and whether it meets transparency obligations under the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR.Google “will cooperate fully with the office of the Data Protection Commission in its inquiry, and continue to work closely with regulators and consumer associations across Europe,” the company said in…


Twitter Says State-Backed Actors May Have Accessed Users’ Phone Numbers

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Twitter said on Monday that it had discovered attempts by possible state actors to access the phone numbers associated with user accounts, after a security researcher unearthed a flaw in the company's "contacts upload" feature.In a statement published on its privacy blog, Twitter said it had identified a "high volume of requests" to use the feature coming from IP addresses in Iran, Israel and Malaysia. It said, without elaborating, that "some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors."A company spokeswoman declined to say how many user phone numbers had been exposed, saying Twitter was unable to identify all of the accounts that may have been impacted.She said Twitter suspected a possible connection to state-backed actors because the attackers in Iran appeared to have had unrestricted access to…


Hong Kong Medical Workers on Strike for Second Straight Day as Territory Confirms First Coronavirus Death

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Medical workers in Hong Kong are staging a second consecutive day of strikes Tuesday as the Chinese territory reports its first death from a coronavirus that has killed 425 people in mainland China.Hong Kong shut down nearly all land and sea border crossings with the mainland at midnight local time after more than 2,000 medical workers walked off the job Monday demanding that all border crossings be closed completely.  Hong Kong was hit hard by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-03.Hong Kong health authorities have identified the victim as a 39-year-old male with a pre-existing illness who had recently visited Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak.  Meanwhile, the Chinese gambling territory of Macau announced Tuesday that it will temporarily shut down all casino operations for two weeks to help…


Cancer Need Not Be a Death Sentence: WHO

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The World Health Organization reports cancer is on the increase globally. But it says preventive measures can save the lives of millions of cancer sufferers over the next decade. This report comes in regard to World Cancer Day on Feb. 4.Over the past decade, nearly every country in the world has seen an increase in the number of cancer patients. The World Health Organization reports one in six people will develop cancer in their lifetime, causing at least 10 million deaths from this disease every year.  If current trends continue, WHO warns, new cancer cases will rise by 60% by 2040, more than 80% in low- and middle-income countries.The technical officer in cancer control at WHO, Andre Ilbawi, says more people are dying from cancer in the poorer countries because…


In Myanmar, Betel Quid Chewing Remains Popular Despite Risks

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Wai Htet Aung, age 27, waits for his turn at a crowded betel quid stand in downtown Yangon. Customers have lined up by the table to place their orders. “It’s tasty,” he says. “I have bad breath and I want my mouth to smell better.”The signs of this popular habit are easy to spot from the roadside stands across the country to the red stains on teeth as well as on streets and sidewalks that stem from betel quid spit. “After I chew betel quids my mouth feels better,” says Ko Zaw Naing. “My mind feels relaxed.”Figures from the World Health Organization show that more than 60% of men in Myanmar chew betel quids and almost 25% of the women do. Aung Thura is 30-years-old and has been chewing betel…


HIV Vaccine Trial Fails in South Africa

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The latest trial of a vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been halted as results show it is not working.The Maryland-based U.S. National Institutes of Health announced Monday it has stopped the HVTN 702 study in South Africa, following a recommendation of an independent data and safety monitoring board.The study, also called Uhambo — meaning travel or a journey in Zulu — enrolled 5,407 HIV-negative volunteers at 14 sites across South Africa beginning in 2016. Participants were sexually active men and women between the ages of 18 and 35, who were randomly assigned to receive six injections of either the investigational vaccine regimen or a placebo.Over a period of 18 months, enough time for the vaccine regimen to stimulate an immune response, there were 129 HIV infections…


YouTube: No ‘Birther’ Conspiracy Videos for 2020 Election

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YouTube is making clear there will be no “birtherism” on its platform during this year's U.S. presidential election.Also banned: Election-related “deepfake” videos and anything that aims to mislead viewers about voting procedures and how to participate in the 2020 census.The Google-owned video service clarified its rules ahead of the Iowa caucuses Monday. The company is mostly reiterating content guidelines that is has been putting in place since the last presidential election in 2016.Google said that it will remove any videos that advance false claims about whether political candidates and elected officials are eligible to serve in office.The company's announcement comes about nine years after celebrity businessman Donald Trump began to get notice for claiming that Barack Obama, the nation's first African American president, was not born in the United States.Trump…


Google Works with World Health Officials to Combat Virus Lies Online

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 The World Health Organization is working with Google to ensure that people get facts from WHO first when they search for information about the new virus that recently emerged in China.       Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the opening of WHO's executive board meeting on Monday that social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Tencent and TikTok have also taken steps to limit the spread of misinformation and rumors about the virus and outbreak that first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late December and has now spread to 23 other countries.      “To that end, we have worked with Google to make sure people searching for information about coronavirus see WHO information at the top of their search results,” he said.       WHO officials…


Philippines Reports First Coronavirus Death Outside China

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As the deadly coronavirus continues to spread worldwide, it has killed its first patient outside China. News reports from the Philippines say a Chinese man from Wuhan, in Hubei province where the virus was first detected, died in a hospital in Manila a few days after arriving there. Many countries, including the United States, are denying entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been to China as part of a global effort to stop the spread. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports people returning home from China are being quarantined. ...


China Opens New Hospital, Other Nations Impose Travel Bans in Response to Virus

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*/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ The Latest:Passengers arrive at LAX from Shanghai, China, after a positive case of the coronavirus was announced in the Orange County suburb of Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 26, 2020.Chad Wolf, acting Homeland Security secretary, said that the overall risk to Americans remains low. He added that the new rules could add stress and travel time for some passengers, but "public health and security experts agree these measures are necessary to contain the virus and protect the American people," he said.President Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States has "shut down" the coronavirus coming in from China, even as officials in San Francisco reported a ninth confirmed U.S. case."We've offered China help but we can't have thousands of people coming in who…


US Flight Rules on China Visits will Pose New Airline Challenges

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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued rules on Sunday to implement new restrictions on Americans who have recently visited China to address the threat of the coronavirus.Airline officials said Sunday the new rules will mean they must now ask all U.S.-bound passengers if they have visited mainland China. Airlines are expected to scrutinize passports of travelers, and warned the new rules could require passengers to arrive even earlier for U.S.-bound flights.American Airlines Inc said Sunday it encouraged U.S.-bound passengers "to arrive at the airport three hours early as we expect this additional screening will lengthen the normal check-in process."The United States said Friday that for flights departing after 5 p.m. EST Sunday, it will bar entry to nearly all foreign visitors who have been in China within the…


Trump: US Has ‘Shut Down’ Coronavirus Coming in From China

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President Donald Trump says the United States has "shut down" the coronavirus coming in from China even as officials in San Francisco report the ninth confirmed U.S. case."We've offered China help but we can't have thousands of people coming in who may have this problem, the coronavirus," Trump told Fox News in a special Super Bowl pregame interview. "So we're going to see what happens, but we did shut it down."National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien told CBS's Face the Nation that the administration has offered China help — specifically sending experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But China has yet to accept the U.S. offer."So far, the Chinese have been more transparent certainly than in past crises and we appreciate that," O'Brian said. "We've got tremendous expertise.…


First Coronavirus Death Reported Outside China

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*/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ The Latest:A clerk wearing a face mask and a plastic bag stands in a pharmacy in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 31, 2020.Reports, including some from Wuhan residents, indicate that early information about the outbreak was covered up, and many people, including doctors, speaking about the virus in December were threatened by the government or even detained."These rumors were already flying around the Chinese internet," Flora Fauna, an American Wuhan resident who asked to be referred to by her pseudonym, told VOA Mandarin about the beginning of the outbreak in December."So, in response, the city governments dispatched the police to arrest people who were spreading this information," she said.Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a news…


Tokyo to ‘Strengthen Testing’ for Coronavirus Before Olympics

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Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike promised Sunday to implement "thorough measures" to protect people from the deadly coronavirus in the run-up to this summer's Olympic Games.At the opening of the $330 million Ariake Arena, venue for Olympic volleyball and Paralympic wheelchair basketball, Koike said:"I will implement even more stringent measures to tackle infectious diseases. I am having discussions this weekend with senior officials to assure the safety and security of people in Tokyo — specifically focusing on ways to prevent the spread of the virus and strengthen testing systems."Koike also urged people to wash their hands and wear surgical masks to help protect them from disease.Japan has warned citizens against non-essential travel to China, where the outbreak began, and fast-tracked new rules including limits on entering the country as it tries…


China Reports Bird Flu Outbreak in Hunan Province 

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As if health officials in China don't have enough on their hands with a spreading coronavirus, now officials announced an outbreak of bird flu.China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced Saturday an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 bird flu at a farm in the southern province of Hunan.The virus was discovered on a farm with nearly 8,000 chickens — more than half of them have already died because of the outbreak.China is not alone in trying to tamp down the spread of this virus.Earlier this week authorities in India started culling chickens and destroying eggs to contain the bird flu virus.And a different strain — the H5N8 virus — has spread throughout eastern Europe in recent weeks.A bird flu outbreak in China back in 2013 ended…


New Tech Could Make Coronavirus Vaccine in Record Time

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A vaccine against the new Wuhan coronavirus may start testing in as little as three months, according to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.That’s fast.It took 20 months before a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, was ready for clinical trials.That doesn’t mean you can line up for a shot in three months. The vaccine will need to be tested for safety and efficacy. That will take months more.But the time it takes to go from outbreak to vaccine candidate is shorter than ever, thanks in part to a new kind of vaccine.A lab assistant works on samples with Christian Drosten, director of the institute for virology of Berlin's Charite hospital on his researches on the coronavirus in Berlin, Jan. 21, 2020.Eighteenth century techEver since…


North Korea Suspends All Air, Train Links to China

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*/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ The Latest:As of Friday, North Korea has not reported any confirmed cases as the number of cases and deaths related to the virus continue to increase worldwide.  North Korea is also taking precautionary measures to close its border with South Korea, where there were 12 confirmed cases as of Friday.On Thursday, Pyongyang requested that Seoul close their inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea’s border town of Kaesong until the virus is “completely eased.” South Korea complied. North Korea also notified that its demand made in October for South Korea to tear down resort facilities on the North’s tourist site of Mount Kumgang should be postponed. North Korea has called closing its borders against the coronavirus a matter of “national existence.”Pyongyang is worried that its rudimentary medical care system…


Q&A: How the Coronavirus Differs from the Flu and SARS

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*/ /-->/ /-->/ /-->/ The Latest:Q: “And about the death rate, I think I’ve seen that it’s like, you know, there’s just the raw numbers coming out of China. It’s about 2 percent, but that's people who have been in the hospital right?”PEKOSZ: “Exactly! And so the big variable that we really just can’t quantify right now is how many people are getting sick with mild symptoms that don’t have them seek out health care? And how many actually don’t really have significant symptoms at all? And both of those numbers are going to be important for two things. One, like you said, it’s going to help us understand the true sort of fatality rate associated with this virus. And the second thing is that’s going to — knowing that number is…


Climate Activists From African Nations Make Urgent Appeal

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Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate and peers from other African nations on Friday made an urgent appeal for the world to pay more attention to the continent that stands to suffer the most from global warming despite contributing to it the least.The Fridays For Future movement and activist Greta Thunberg held a news conference with the activists to spotlight the marginalization of African voices a week after The Associated Press cropped Nakate out of a photo at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Nakate, Makenna Muigai of Kenya, Ayakha Melithafa of South Africa and climate scientist Ndoni Mcunu of South Africa pointed out the various challenges both in combating climate change on the booming continent of some 1.2 billion people and in inspiring the world’s response.“African activists are doing so…


Pakistan Stops Flights To, From China Amid Coronavirus Concerns

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Pakistan Friday temporarily halted all flights to and from China, effective immediately, a day after it decided to delay the opening of a key border crossing with the neighboring country following the coronavirus outbreak there.A spokesman for the Pakistan  Civil Aviation Authority said all flights “to and from China will remain suspended until February 2.” Abdul Sattar Khokar cited no reasons, saying the decision would effect 22 weekly flights.Chinese health officials reported Friday the respiratory virus that originated in the city of Wuhan has killed about 200 people, and the number of cases topped 9,000. The virus has spread to  18 countries outside China, including  South Korea, Japan, Australia, Canada  and the U.S.Pakistani officials say screening of travelers landing at national airports has already been tightened and emergency quarantine measures…


China Reports Nearly 10,000 Coronavirus Cases

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China says it has nearly 10,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus. The virus has caused 213 deaths in China where it emerged late last year.The World Health Organization says the  worldwide spread of the virus is  a global health emergency, as well as an "extraordinary event" requiring a coordinated international response.The Trump administration is warning Americans not to travel to China.The State Department issued what it calls a Britain reported its first confirmed cases Friday.  "We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus," said Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England.   He said the two are receiving "specialist" care from the country's National Health Service.   India and Philippines have also confirmed their first cases, joining a growing…