Month: February 2021

Regional officials on the northeastern Indonesian island of Madura said Friday at least 45 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach there have died, while rescuers managed to push three back out to sea. East Java Provincial Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who was at the scene, told reporters that volunteers began arriving Thursday when news of the stranding first broke. He said they initially were able to push some of the whales back out to sea, but they returned.The governor said there will be an investigation into the stranding and samples from dead whales will be sent to a regional university for study. He said the rest of the whales will be buried Saturday once the tide recedes and excavators can be used. People try to save a short-finned pilot whale…

Two South African medics are swapping their medical gear for oars as they train for a risky 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) journey by rowboat through the Arctic Northwest Passage.If the 14-member team finishes the trip — across the north of Canada to Alaska — they will make history, as all attempts to row the icy waters have failed. "Nobody conquers a passage there," said Leven Brown, the expedition leader. "The ocean allows you to pass. And there is a very important distinction there. We will be lucky to get through the Northwest Passage, to row from Pond Inlet at the top right-hand corner of Canada, to the top left-hand corner of Alaska, a place called Point Barrow."  In decades past, travel through the icy, Arctic waters was only possible by large ships. Physical, mental toll   Reduced summer ice will allow the team to row the passage, but the journey — planned for next year — will still be a physical and mental challenge.   The South African team member, Daniel Lobjoilt, says such a long, confined journey will likely take…

Pharmaceutical partners Pfizer and BioNTech said Friday a new study the companies conducted indicates their COVID-19 vaccine can remain effective when stored in standard freezers for up to two weeks. In a statement posted on Pfizer’s website, the companies say they have submitted the new data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration demonstrating their COVID-19 vaccine is stable when stored at -25°C to -15°C, temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators.  The new data would be a significant development. One of the initial drawbacks of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was that it was required to be stored in ultra-low temperature freezers not commonly found in standard clinics and pharmacies. The requirement added considerable expense to transporting the vaccine and storing and distributing it in less developed areas.  The company…

Investigations are now under way into the Peruvian coronavirus vaccination scandal, in which hundreds of people, many well-connected, were given shots although they did not participate in trials for the Sinopharm vaccine to determine its efficacy.Heath Minister Oscar Ugarte said 3,200 vaccines were given, including 1,200 that went to the Chinese Embassy. He said of the other 2,000 doses, investigators are looking into where they are and who was vaccinated.The state-run Andina news agency reported Peru's Congress also launched a committee to investigate the scandal, amid a public uproar over how privileged people were able to jump ahead of front-line health workers for vaccinations.Fernando Carbone, the head of the commission investigating those benefiting from the shots is guaranteeing impartiality in the probe, with a threat of sanctions against those involved.Carbone…

Venezuela began its immunization program against the COVID-19 virus by vaccinating front-line health care personnel Thursday, less than a week after receiving the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V."Fortunately, the strategic cooperation between Russia and Venezuela has allowed us to have access to one of the best vaccines in the world, with an efficacy of 91.6%,” Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said.Venezuela participated in trials of the Sputnik V vaccine trials before signing a purchase agreement with Russia in December.The Latin American country hopes to begin vaccinating the general public in April.Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said officials aim to vaccinate 70% of the population this year in order to achieve herd immunity.Venezuela has so far confirmed more than 134,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,297 deaths, according to…

The COVID-19 pandemic has erased more than a decade of improvements in life expectancy in the United States and widened racial and ethnic inequalities, Chart shows the change in estimated life expectancy in the U.S. from 2019 to 2020The new CDC data put the United States in line with estimates from England, Wales and Spain, which also calculated about a one-year drop in life expectancy.France projected a half-year decline for men and four-tenths for women. Swedish men also lost an estimated half a year, and women, three-tenths.U.S. life expectancy already "lags substantially behind virtually all of the high-income countries," Goldman noted. "Now, we'll just be even further behind."These estimates look at cases where COVID-19 is listed as the cause of death. But "it's definitely true that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting…

People the world over have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. Most have heard rumors about their safety. Even some health workers and members of the U.S. military have opted out of getting immunized. VOA's Carol Pearson helps debunk some common myths about the COVID vaccines. ...

NASA’s Perseverance probe landed safely and on time on Mars, at 3:55 p.m. EST, Thursday, marking another success for the U.S. space agency.The nuclear-powered probe made its way through a harrowing landing process, deemed by some engineers as “seven minutes of terror” because it involves parachutes, powered descent and a “sky crane” that gently lowers Perseverance onto a challenging, rocky area of Martian surface. After a confirmed safe landing, members of the probe’s Mission Control erupted in applause and cheers. NASA has now successfully landed nine of 10 probes sent to the Red Planet. Minutes after touching down, Perseverance beamed back a black-and-white image from the surface as more applause broke out at Mission Control.Safe on Mars. https://t.co/heoYjkwfty— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021The probe is equipped with a microphone, which…

NASA and the United States have successfully landed the Perseverance on Mars after the rover left the company of spacecrafts from the UAE and China in orbit. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, challenges for the rover – and potentially a treasure trove of discoveries  – await.Produced by:  Arash Arabasadi  ...

Humans are making Earth a broken and increasingly unlivable planet through climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, so the world must make dramatic changes to society, economics and daily life, a new United Nations report said.Unlike past U.N. reports that focused on one issue and avoided telling leaders what actions to take, Thursday's report combined three intertwined environment crises and told the world what must change. It called for changing what governments tax, how nations value economic output, how power is generated, the way people get around, fish and farm, as well as what they eat.FILE - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Dec. 18, 2020."Without nature's help, we will not thrive or even…

The World Health Organization (WHO) Thursday launched its 2021 COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) designed to help all nations fight the pandemic and is seeking nearly $2 billion in donations to fund it.This is the second such initiative, coming just over a year after the first one was announced.  At a news conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the 2020 strategic plan raised $1.58 billion from WHO members and other donors.Tedros said those funds were allocated to nations and regions throughout the world, helping those at the front lines of the pandemic.He said this year’s COVID-19 SPRP will have six objectives: suppressing transmission of the virus, reducing exposure, countering COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation, protect the vulnerable, reduce death and illness, and accelerate equitable access to…

Pushed to the back of Gen Z anxieties by the COVID-19 pandemic, a looming stressor for many people younger than 30 remains climate change, say experts.    “Natural disasters precipitated by climate change, including hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires, and floods can lead to ... increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and other mental health disorders,” according to researchers at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University in Canada, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. FILE - Firefighters battle the Morton Fire as it burns a home near Bundanoon, New South Wales, Australia, Jan. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)  The authors label the fear “eco-anxiety, climate distress, climate change anxiety, or climate anxiety,” writing in the respected British medical and science journal, The Lancet Planetary Health.    In other words,…

Malawi will reopen schools on Monday (Feb 22), five weeks after President Lazarus Chakwera suspended classes due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Malawi's Presidential Task-Force on COVID-19 determined it is safe to resume classes after a drop in the rate of infection.Co-Chairperson of the Presidential Task-Force on COVID-19 Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said in a televised address Wednesday night the infection rate is at 16%, down from 30% in January, when classes were suspended.She said, “Actually what we wanted is that once we reopen the schools our children should be safe because we know that when we were closing the schools, some teachers were COVID-19 positive and were on quarantine.  So we wanted to give them enough time to recover.”However, Kandodo Chiponda, who is also minister of health, said some schools…

A new study shows the new Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the South African variant of the virus, although it generates a slightly lower immune response.   In a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers with Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch created a version of the virus that carried the same mutations found in the South African variant dubbed B.1.35.1.  They tested the engineered virus against blood samples from people who had received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.  FILE - A Walgreens pharmacist prepares a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine in Coral Gables, Fla., Jan. 12, 2021.The results found the vaccine’s ability to produce antibodies was reduced by two-thirds, compared with its effect on the most common version of the virus. In a…

The latest NASA probe to Mars is set to land Thursday after a journey that began last July.Perseverance’s entry into the Martian atmosphere was set to start at 3:55 p.m. EST, starting a seven-minute process that scientists hope will be successful. During the landing, NASA has no ability to control the probe.The elaborate landing process involves parachutes, powered descent and a “sky crane,” which is expected to lower Perseverance onto the Martian surface using cables."I can tell you that Perseverance is operating perfectly right now, and that all systems are go for landing," Jennifer Trosper, a NASA deputy project manager for the rover mission, said during a press briefing Tuesday.Perseverance is targeting a landing in Jezero Crater, which is believed to be an ancient lakebed. There, it will search for…

President Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to improve the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. This week, the first federally supported mass vaccination sites opened in California. Matt Dibble reports. Camera: Matt Dibble     Producer: Matt Dibble ...

Residents, some of whom lack heat or basic amenities in their own homes due to the unusually chilly weather, have been rescuing cold-stunned sea turtles and taking them to a convention center in a South Texas resort town. "Every 15 minutes or less there's another truck or SUV that pulls up," Ed Caum, executive director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. He said sometimes people bring one or two sea turtles, sometimes more. "We had trailers full yesterday coming in that had 80, 100, 50," he said. The South Padre Island Convention Center started pitching in Monday when its neighbor, Sea Turtle Inc., could no longer handle the number of sea turtles being dropped off, and their mostly outdoor operation had lost power. He said the…

The U.N. secretary-general called on the world’s largest economies Wednesday to create a task force to plan and coordinate a global COVID-19 vaccination plan.  “The world urgently needs a global vaccination plan to bring together all those with the required power, scientific expertise and production and financial capacities,” Antonio Guterres told a high-level virtual meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the global vaccine rollout. “I believe the G-20 is well-placed to establish an emergency task force to prepare such a global vaccination plan and coordinate its implementation and financing.” He said the task force should include the World Health Organization (WHO), the global vaccine alliance Gavi, international financial institutions, as well as the international vaccine alliance COVAX, and all countries that have the capacity to develop vaccines or produce them if…

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Wednesday the so-called British variant of COVID-19 is spreading quickly in his country, now accounting for more than 20 percent of all tested cases, and nearly four times the rate of two weeks earlier. Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Spahn said that rate of spread indicates the variant virus strain, first identified in Britain, roughly doubles each week, as has been seen in other countries where it has been found. He said he expects it will soon become the dominant strain found in Germany. FILE - German Health Minister Jens Spahn speaks at the lower house of parliament Bundestag on the start of the coronavirus vaccinations, in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 13, 2021.Spahn said the good news is that overall, the number of new infections is decreasing,…

A historic winter storm and frigid temperatures that have gripped at least half the United States has left more than 2.5 million Texans without power. Snow and record cold continued Wednesday in the southwestern state where temperatures are forecast to remain at or below freezing. The unusual winter weather created a huge demand for electricity that caused the state's independently-run power system to fail, exposing issues with its structure.  In an interview, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo — whose county includes the city of Houston — said some of the outages are caused directly by the weather, and many of those problems are being repaired.  Customers, whose homes are without electric power, wait in line to purchase food and snacks at a gas station in Pflugerville, Texas, Feb. 16, 2021. (Ricardo…