WHO urges Tanzania to Share Information About Suspected Ebola Cases
The World Health Organization is expressing concern about Tanzanian authorities’ reluctance to share detailed information about suspected cases of Ebola, and is calling for full transparency.Two weeks ago, the World Health Organization received what it calls unofficial reports regarding the death of a person in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam. The person was suspected of having contracted the deadly Ebola virus. Since then, WHO says it was told by unofficial sources that a 27-year old man suspected of carrying the virus was admitted to a hospital. However, it says it has received no information regarding laboratory tests and results either proving or disproving the presence of the deadly virus.During a press conference on September 14, the Tanzanian authorities announced there was no Ebola outbreak in the country. WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib says that despite repeated requests, WHO has not received further details of any of the suspected Ebola case from Tanzanian authorities.“We need information to make a proper risk assessment,” she said. “If it is Ebola or if it is another disease, we need to know it and to share the information with the international community… We stand ready to provide all the technical support to the Tanzanian authorities to investigate — if it is not Ebola, what is it as a disease and to provide them with technical expertise and help.” The latest reports by WHO find 3,157 cases of Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, including 2,108 deaths. A few cases and deaths in Uganda have been reported, but the disease has been contained there.In mid-July, the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak in DRC a “public health emergency of international concern.” WHO urged member states of the region to strengthen their readiness and preparedness.In the case of Tanzania, WHO says the risk at regional level is considered high due to potential cross-border travels. However, it says the risk at the global level is considered low. Spokeswoman Chaib says WHO advises against any restrictions on travel or trade to Tanzania based on the currently available information.
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Medieval Masterpiece by Cimabue Rediscovered in French House
A masterpiece attributed to 13th century Italian painter Cimabue has been discovered in a French woman’s kitchen —and it’s expected to sell for millions of euros at an upcoming auction.Titled “Christ Mocked,” the small wood painting depicts Christ surrounded by a crowd. Experts think it to be part of a larger diptych Cimabue painted around 1280, said Stephane Pinta, an art specialist with the Turquin gallery in Paris.“It’s a major discovery for the history of art,” Pinta said of the newly discovered work measuring about 10 inches by 8 inches (24 centimeters by 20 centimeters). Other experts agreed.Until recently, the painting hung on a wall between the kitchen and the dining room of a home in Compiègne. The woman considered it an icon of little importance until an auctioneer spotted the painting while going through her house and suggested bringing it to art experts, Pinta said.Cimabue, who taught Italian master Giotto, is widely considered the forefather of the Italian Renaissance. He broke from the Byzantine style popular in the Middle Ages and incorporated elements of movement and perspective that came to characterize Western painting.After examining the French kitchen find, Turquin gallery specialists concluded with “certitude” it bore hallmarks of Cimabue’s work, Pinta said.They noted clear similarities with the two panels of Cimabue’s diptych, one displayed at the Frick Collection in New York and the other at the National Gallery in London.Likenesses in the facial expressions and buildings the artist painted and the techniques used to convey light and distance specifically pointed to the small piece having been created by Cimabue’s hand.Pinta said all those characteristics animate the newly discovered piece.“What’s moving in this painting is the motion that we see in Christ,” Pinta said.Alexis Ashot, an independent art consultant for British auction house Christie’s, said the discovery in France sent ripples of excitement in other parts of the art world.“It’s wonderful to be reminded that there are paintings of such major importance that are still out there and still to be discovered,” he said.The painting will be the first Cimabue masterpiece to be auctioned when it is put up for sale at the Acteon auction house north of Paris on Oct. 27, according to Pinta. Turquin experts think a major art museum will buy it for a price of between 4 million and 6 million euros.Ashot said he thinks the painting could fetch even more.“I could easily see that if word gets out there that this painting is available for sale, then the price could be much higher than they are estimating,” he said.
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Google Wins EU Data Privacy Case
The European Union’s top court ruled Tuesday Google is not required to remove worldwide links to sensitive personal information. Observers say the case highlights the need to balance data privacy concerns against the public’s right to information.The EU proposed in 2012 that people deserve the “right to be forgotten” on the internet but the proposal was weakened by the European Parliament last year to ensure internet users the “right to erasure” of specific information. The existing “right to be forgotten” rule remains in force within the European Union.France’s privacy watchdog CNIL fined Google $ 110,000 in 2016 for refusing to remove sensitive information from search results worldwide upon request.The landmark ruling between the giant American technology company and French privacy regulators was viewed as crucial in determining whether EU regulations should apply beyond Europe’s borders.Google had argued that the removal of the search results required by EU law should not extend to its google.com domain or its other non-EU sites.The European Court of Justice agreed, saying Tuesday there “is no obligation under EU law for a search engine operator” to extend the rule beyond EU nations. The court also said, however, that a search engine operator must impose new measures to discourage internet users from going outside the EU to find that information.
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Plastic Pollution Continues in Lake Malawi Despite Ban
Plastic pollution continues in Lake Malawi despite a recent ban on the use of plastics. Conservationists say the plastic is putting a strain on aquatic life in the lake. Studies have warned that the fish stock in the lake could be depleted by 2050 unless the pollution stops. Lameck Masina reports from Lakeside district of Mangochi.
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UN Meets as Climate Change Action is Supported, Questioned
World leaders who are gathering in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this week first met for a Climate Action Summit aimed at discussing ways to reduce carbon emissions. Saqib Ul Islam reports from the meeting where President Donald Trump briefly joined leaders from some 60 countries, despite his skepticism of climate science.
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World Leaders Set to Address UN General Assembly
World leaders involved in some of the most high profile geopolitical issues are among those set to speak on the first day of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.After opening remarks from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, those gathered for the annual meeting will hear from a group that includes U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Korean President Moon Jae-in and French President Emmanuel Macron.The addresses come a day after Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg scolded world leaders at a U.N. summit calling for climate action, saying people are suffering and dying from the effects of global warming and that all the leaders have are empty words. “We are in [the] beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money,” said Thunberg, who ignited a youth movement with her Friday school strikes for climate action.She said the science has been clear for 30 years, and still they are not doing enough. “You are failing us! But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal,” Thunberg said in a voice filled with emotion. “The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say we will never forgive you.”The 16-year-old warned the more than 60 presidents and prime ministers gathered in the General Assembly hall for the summit that the youth would not let them “get away with this.” She said they draw the line here and now and “change is coming,” whether they like it or not.Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks with other child petitioners from 12 countries who presented a landmark complaint to protest the lack of government action on the climate crisis during a press conference in New York, Sept. 23, 2019. “My generation has failed in its responsibility to protect our planet,” Guterres said. “That must change.”Guterres has called for the phasing out of fossil fuels and an end to construction of new coal power plants. “Is it common sense to build ever more coal plants that are choking our future?” the secretary-general asked. “Is it common sense to reward pollution that kills millions with dirty air and makes it dangerous for people in cities around the world to sometimes even venture out of their homes?” He said it is time to end subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and shift taxes from salaries to carbon – taxing pollution, not people.The U.N. chief has sought to highlight the importance of the summit and challenged leaders to “come with concrete plans” and not just “beautiful speeches,” which some outlined Monday.India, which has one of the world’s highest levels of air pollution, said it would increase its renewable energy capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted his country’s expansion into solar energy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a rare U.N. appearance, pledged that her country would reduce its carbon emissions by 2030 by 55% compared to its 1990 emissions. She said Germany would be carbon neutral by 2050. “In 2030 we want to get two-thirds of our energy from renewables,” Merkel said. “In 2022, we will phase out the last of our nuclear power plants, and at latest, in 2038, we will phase out coal.”Trump, who announced his administration’s intention to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement soon after taking office, was not scheduled to attend or speak at Monday’s summit. Trump, however, made a brief appearance and was seen sitting at the U.S. delegation’s table before attending an event on religious persecution.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, far left, and young environmental activists look on as Greta Thunberg, of Sweden, in red, addresses the Climate Action Summit in the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Sept. 23, 2019. The U.N. released a report ahead of the summit compiled by the World Meteorological Organization showing there has been an acceleration in carbon pollution, sea-level rise, warming global temperatures, and shrinking ice sheets.It warns that the average global temperature for the period of 2015 through the end of 2019 is on pace to be the “warmest of any equivalent period on record” at 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which has been ratified by 186 nations, calls for actions to prevent global temperatures from surpassing 2 degrees, and ideally remain within 1.5 degrees by cutting greenhouse gas emissions. One of the world’s biggest emitters – the United States – announced under President Trump that it would leave the pact. The U.S. decision has not stopped climate action at the state, local and private sector levels. The report warns that in order to achieve the 2-degree target, “the level of ambition needs to be tripled.”
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Honda to Cease Diesel Vehicle Sales in Europe by 2021
Honda said on Monday it would phase out all diesel cars by 2021 in favor of models with electric propulsion systems, as the Japanese automaker moves to electrify all of its European cars by 2025.Honda is the latest automaker cutting production of diesel cars to meet stringent global emissions regulations. The plan is part of its long-term goal to make electric cars, including all battery-electric vehicles, to account for two-thirds of its line ups by 2030 from less than 10% now.By next year, according to European Union emission targets, CO2 must be cut to 95 gram per km for 95% of cars from the current 120.5 gram average, a figure that has increased of late as consumers spurn fuel-efficient diesels and embrace SUVs. All new cars in the EU must be compliant in 2021.For Honda, declining demand for diesel vehicles and tougher emissions regulations have clouded its manufacturing prospects in Europe.Honda said in February it would close its only British car plant in 2021 with the loss of up to 3,500 jobs.Japan’s No. 3 automaker has said it would cut the number of car model variations to a third of current offerings by 2025, reducing global production costs by 10% and redirecting those savings toward advanced research and development.
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Tech Companies Back Independent Watchdog to Tackle Online Extremism
A global working group set up by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft to remove extremist content will become an independent watchdog working “to respond quicker and work more collaboratively to prevent” attacks like Christchurch, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.Ardern has pushed for stronger action since New Zealand’s worst peacetime mass shooting in March, when a gunman attacked Muslims attending Friday prayers in Christchurch. He killed 51 people and broadcast the attack live on Facebook.”In the same way that we respond to natural emergencies like fires and floods, we need to be prepared and ready to respond to a crisis like the one we experienced,” Ardern told reporters on the sidelines of the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders.The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism was created in 2017 under pressure from U.S. and European governments after a spate of deadly attacks. It will now become an independent organization led by an executive director, funded by Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft.Speaking at a joint news conference with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Ardern said the organization would be governed by an operating board made up of company representatives and would have an independent advisory committee composed of government and civil society members.Ardern said some of the group’s work would be to fund and coordinate academic research on terrorism and violent extremist operations and on best practices for data sharing.Sandberg said the forum had already shared some 200,000 digital fingerprints “because when terrorists try to use one platform, they try to use all the platforms; so when one of us find them, we can take them down across multiple platforms.”She added that while the fastest-growing messaging platforms were encrypted, Facebook was still able to combat extremism while aiming to protect users’ privacy. She noted that even though WhatsApp is encrypted, Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram are not.”We are often able to find people on one and then take then down off the encrypted platforms,” Sandberg said.
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UN Plans Vast Urban Forests to Fight Climate Change
The United Nations unveiled plans to plant urban forests over an area four times the size of Hong Kong, seeking to make Africa and Asia’s rapidly growing cities greener.The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said the pace of urbanization on both continents was contributing to climate change and planting trees could improve air quality, cut the risk of floods and heatwaves and halt land degradation.It will discuss plans to create up to half a million hectares of new urban forests – more than four times the size of Hong Kong – by 2030 in New York this week.”If you look at the urbanization data, particularly in some parts of Asia and Africa, it is happening now,” said Simone Borelli, an expert on urban forestry with the FAO.”For example, Chinese cities are growing very fast and in 20 years’ time, they may have 20% or 30% more people living there.”Unless they start planting now, they’ll find themselves in a situation where it’s too late. Trees take a long time to grow,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation on Monday.If managed well, urban forests could reduce air temperatures by up to 8 degrees Celsius (14.4 F) and cut the cost of air conditioning by up to 40%, the FAO said.The initial plan is to support 90 cities in 30 countries in Africa and Asia to create green areas, said FAO director-general Qu Dongyu in a statement.The problem is particularly severe in dry areas, where climate change is expected to make cities and surrounding areas more vulnerable to droughts, heatwaves, extreme winds, floods and landslides, he said.With almost 70% of the world’s population estimated to be living in cities by 2050, mainly in Africa and Asia, environmental impacts of urbanization could worsen without solutions, experts have warned.FILE – The Bosco Verticale (vertical forest) towers are seen in Milan, Italy, Aug. 29, 2015.The FAO will work on the project with the U.N. housing agency, Britain’s Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, and the C40, a global network of cities pushing for climate action.It is also working with Stefano Boeri Architetti, the firm that designed a “vertical forest” in the Italian city of Milan by incorporating trees equivalent to two hectares of forests in two residential towers.The architects said the towers helped create a microclimate that would produce humidity, absorb carbon dioxide and dust particles and produce oxygen, calling them a model for sustainable residential building.
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Apple Will Produce New Mac Pro Computers in US
Apple said Monday it would keep making its Mac Pro in the United States, after obtaining tariff exemptions for some components in the high-end computers.The California tech giant said it would keep production of the Mac Pro — a computer costing some $6,000 — in Austin, Texas, following reports it was considering moving the manufacturing the China.Apple said the decision came after the company obtained “a federal product exclusion” from tariffs “for certain necessary components” for the computers.The news comes despite comments from President Donald Trump in July that he would oppose waiving tariffs on components for Apple’s devices, commenting in a tweet, “Make them in the USA, no Tariffs.”Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in a statement Monday the company is “proud to be building (the new Mac Pro) in Austin” and added, “We thank the administration for their support enabling this opportunity.”The company said it would begin production soon at the same Austin facility where Mac Pro has been made since 2013.Apple said it was “on track to fulfill its commitment” to invest $350 billion in the U.S. economy by 2023 through its own manufacturing and from suppliers.Trump has been moving to slap punitive tariffs on Chinese goods to press Beijing to accept more imports and improve protections for US intellectual property, although his administration has issued some waivers and delays.
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Without Brazil, Donors Unlock $500M to Preserve Rainforests
International donors agreed on Monday to free up more than $500 million in aid to protect tropical rainforests, including the Amazon where wildfires are raging, France’s president said on Monday at a U.N. meeting shunned by Brazil.The Brazilian Amazon is facing its worst spate of forest fires since 2010, prompting a global outcry and worries that destruction of parts of the world’s largest rainforest could hurt demand for Brazil’s exports.Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in August offered $20 million of emergency aid to help fight Amazon fires, a gesture Brazil at the time criticized as colonialist.French President Emmanuel Macron had called for a wider alliance to protect rainforests worldwide using the United Nations General Assembly as a platform to garner support.France, Chile and Colombia met on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders on Monday, despite the absence of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic who is promoting development in the Amazon region.French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to reporters on the sidelines during the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, Sept. 23, 2019.”Everybody thinks ‘How are you going to do without Brazil?'” Macron said during a speech. “Brazil is welcome and I think everyone wants to work with Brazil (…) It will come, it takes a very inclusive approach.”Macron hit back at Bolsonaro’s accusations that Paris had no role to play, saying that French Guiana, a French overseas territory in South America, shared a more than 700-kilometer border with Brazil, making it a player in protecting rainforests.France would contribute $100 million out of $500 million in the package, Macron said. Germany, Britain and the European Union were also among the contributors to investments in biodiversity preservation and lasting development.”Halting deforestation and restoring degraded forests are global imperatives,” said U.N. Secretary General Antonio Gutteres, who also spoke on Monday at the U.N. Climate Action Summit.”For every dollar spent restoring degraded forests, as much as $30 can be recouped in economic benefits and poverty reduction,” Gutteres said.Many of the fires sweeping through the Amazon are thought to have been started deliberately in Brazil, with environmentalists blaming speculators who burn vegetation to clear it in hopes of selling the land to farmers and ranchers.The Amazon is often described as “the lungs of the world” because of its vast ability to absorb carbon dioxide.”As we destroy the world’s forests, we drive ever more species to extinction, we erode nature’s ability to cope with climate change and we undermine the livelihoods of millions of people,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “The U.K. recognizes that we are at a tipping point and that action now is both urgent and essential.”
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Aid Group Says Vaccine ‘Rationing’ in Congo Hampering Ebola Fight
The World Health Organization is “rationing” Ebola vaccines in Democratic Republic of Congo, with access controls meaning too few people at risk are being protected in an outbreak of the deadly disease, the aid group MSF said Monday.The medical charity Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) accused the WHO of using a rigid system of eligibility for vaccination, and said the restrictions are allowing the viral disease to resurge in communities previously thought to be protected.”The WHO is rationing Ebola vaccines and hampering efforts to make them quickly available to all who are at risk of infection,” MSF said in a statement. “As a result, the outbreak keeps coming back to areas that have supposedly been covered by vaccination.”FILE – A nurse prepares a vaccine against Ebola in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Aug. 7, 2019.The WHO denied it was rationing the vaccine and said it was working as hard as any organization to end Congo’s deadly Ebola outbreak.”We partner closely with the DRC government to reach as many communities and individuals in the outbreak area as possible and are not limiting access to vaccine,” it said in a statement.The Congo Ebola outbreak has killed more than 2,100 people since the middle of last year, second only to the 2013-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,300.MSF called for more transparency around access to the vaccine, which is manufactured by the U.S. drugmaker Merck and is being deployed in the WHO-led emergency response.”Time is of essence in an outbreak: medical teams should be able to rapidly provide treatments or vaccines based on what they see on the ground,” MSF’s emergency coordinator, Natalie Roberts, said. “But our capacity … is severely undermined by a rigid system which is hard to comprehend.”The WHO and the Congolese health ministry say that since August 2018, more than 223,000 people have been vaccinated with rVSV-ZEBOV, the Merck vaccine that has been shown in clinical trials to be highly protective against Ebola infection.MSF said it estimates that based on the number of Ebola cases in the outbreak so far, the vaccine should have been given to twice as many — between 450,000 and 600,000 people.Congo health authorities gave the go-ahead on Saturday for plans to introduce a second Ebola vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson, to help fight the outbreak.’Ring vaccination’The Merck shot is being deployed in a strategy known as “ring vaccination,” which aims to control Ebola by identifying and offering the vaccine to contacts of those likely to be infected.The WHO said that because Ebola spreads via person-to-person contact, this is “the most effective means of stopping” its spread. It said the Merck vaccine eligibility and strategy were recommended by independent specialists in agreement with Congo.The plan with the addition of the J&J vaccine, it said, is to extend protection by providing it to “targeted at-risk populations” in areas where the disease is not yet being actively transmitted.
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Toyota Banks on Olympic Halo for Humble Bus to Keep Hydrogen Dream Alive
Buses may not be the most glamorous mode of transport but at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games, they will represent Toyota’s best bet for wider acceptance of hydrogen power – technology so far eclipsed by electric vehicles.Japan’s biggest automaker plans to roll out 100 hydrogen fuel cell buses to shuttle visitors between venues, a stepping-stone to a big ramp up for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022.There, more than 1,000 buses are planned in partnership with Beiqi Foton Motor Co., according to people familiar with the project, which aims to make the most of a push by China to start adopting the zero-emissions technology.The plans to promote hydrogen with its exclusive Olympic ‘mobility’ sponsorship deal – one Toyota holds until 2024 – underscore its determination to keep backing the technology. That is despite an increasing number of electric cars on the road and Toyota’s own efforts to speed up EV development.But its reliance on buses for hydrogen publicity also highlights the lack of traction for its fuel cell cars, and the risk that hydrogen-powered transport may never be more than a niche market despite a quarter century of development and Japanese government backing.Toyota has sold fewer than 10,000 of the Mirai, a fuel cell sedan it touted as a game changer at its launch five years ago. Costing consumers about 5 million yen ($46,200) in Japan after subsidies, it is one of three fuel cell cars available to consumers. Hyundai sells the Nexo, while Honda leases out the Clarity.By contrast, Tesla sold 25,000 of its all-electric Model S sedans in its first year and a half.The disappointing Mirai sales reflect insufficient refueling stations, consumer worries about resale values and concerns over the risk of hydrogen explosions. A hydrogen tank blast in South Korea that killed two in May was followed by another at a Norway hydrogen station in June.”Hydrogen still has this image of being dangerous – that it might explode – and our aim with the Olympics is to erase this image,” Masaaki Ito, Toyota’s general manager of its Olympic and Paralympic division, told Reuters.The company will also provide 500 Mirai sedans to ferry officials between venues at the Tokyo Olympics. “We want to expose the technology to as many people as possible.”Government ambitions unfulfilledToyota, which is also developing fuel cell delivery trucks and big rigs, has not disclosed how much money it has poured into the technology but it has been emboldened by support from the Japanese government, which sees hydrogen as a key way to reduce its reliance on oil.Both envision a “hydrogen society” where homes, trains, ships, and even lunar rovers can be powered by fuel cells that turn the invisible, odorless gas into electricity.The city of Tokyo, which will showcase the Olympic village for athletes as a hydrogen society in miniature, is buying most of the buses for its Toei municipal transport service, with 15 already in operation.Unlike cars, buses have fixed routes, making it easier to plan fueling stations and give them a shot at being profitable.Local and national government subsidies cover 80% of the cost, bringing them in line with the 23 million yen ($213,000) price tag for a regular diesel bus, a Toei representative said.But lofty government goals remain unmet. Three years ago, Japan declared that by 2020 it wanted 40,000 fuel cell vehicles on the road and 160 hydrogen fueling stations in operation.Today, just 3,400 fuel cell vehicles have been sold in Japan and it has 109 hydrogen stations.Though vital for fuel cell cars to catch on, the stations are not easy to build, costing five times as much as a gasoline stand. Due to stringent safety regulations, they also require large plots of land, which are in scarce supply.Relying on ChinaYet for all the slow progress, some analysts don’t fault Toyota’s pursuit of hydrogen power, pointing to China’s backing of the technology and its vast auto market.”China is actually moving ahead a lot faster and although they suffer the same issue with lack of refueling infrastructure, China has shown in the past that they can get infrastructure done pretty quickly,” said Janet Lewis, head of Asian auto research at Macquarie.For the Beijing games, Toyota will supply powertrain components for the Foton buses. They will be emblazoned with “Powered by Toyota” branding during the event, the sources said, declining to be identified as the plans have not been made public.Toyota said the number of fuel cell buses for the Beijing Olympics has not been decided and that branding would be up to Foton. Foton did not respond to requests for comment. Toyota has similar deals with Higer Bus Co and China FAW Group Corp.The project with Higer will likely have a fleet of 20 buses ready for deployment in early 2020 whereas FAW plans to have its first prototype ready by the end of the year, said Audrey Ma, a director at Shanghai ReFire Technology Co., which is doing the system integration.Outside of China, the only other similar deal Toyota has announced is one to supply fuel cell systems to Portugal’s Caetanobus.Although the technology remains unprofitable, Toyota says costs will fall with scale. It is building new fuel cell stack and hydrogen tank factories so it can lift production of fuel cell vehicles to 30,000 a year.($1 = 108.1600 yen)
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Iran’s Female Fans Find Soccer Buzz in Cafes, Malls
On match days Iran’s young female soccer fans cram Tehran’s shopping centers and cafes, their faces painted with the Iranian flag and beaming with excitement, as they follow their national team on giant television screens alongside male fans.Iranian women have been banned from men’s soccer matches at football stadiums in the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but that has done nothing to dampen their determination to enjoy it.Iranian female fans have long campaigned to be allowed to watch men’s soccer, and occasionally a limited number of women have been allowed into the stadium.FILE – A banner supporting allowing Iranian women in soccer stadiums is displayed in Saint Petersburg Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia, June 15, 2018.The death this month of a female fan who set herself on fire in protest at her arrest for attending a match has drawn international attention to women’s exclusion. Iran is also under pressure from soccer’s governing body FIFA on Iran to change its stance.Following a match in a busy cafe, Iranian fan Somayyeh Rajabpour said, “Watching like this is more exciting.”Another female fan, Mahsa Alipour, said, “All the people love it. They love soccer a lot. For me personally, although I may not know much about soccer, I am so excited by the games.”Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff said last week that women would be allowed into stadiums if foul language in chants and sporadic violence was curbed.”We don’t see a problem with women attending if the atmosphere in stadiums is convenient … but with so much foul language among fans and violence, this is not advisable,” Mahmoud Vaezi told state television.Government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference, “We believe that women can enter stadiums, but I am sure you agree that a portion of society is worried about their presence.”First stepHe said women would be present at Iran’s game with Cambodia. “Their presence will increase step by step.”The move is seen as a first step toward opening national games to women.Vaezi said the sports minister would contact leaders of supporter groups to “improve the atmosphere from a moral standpoint” and special areas for women would be set up in stadiums.FIFA officials are expected to visit Iran on Wednesday, as part of preparations for Iran’s World Cup qualifying games, the semi-official news agency YJC reported.’Blue Girl’Sahar Khodayari, dubbed “Blue Girl” after her favorite team’s colors, died in the hospital just over a week ago after setting herself alight outside a court where she feared being jailed for six months. She had tried to attend a match disguised as a man.”They do not let us inside the stadiums. But we were so good like this today, inside the shopping center,” said Atieh, who was among a group of men and women watching a soccer game at a cafe in Tehran. “Men did not say anything improper at all, and we were all together, all fine, watching the match.”A female architect, who did not give her name, said she objected to women at football stadiums, “because of the cultural problems we have, not just in grounds but even in our normal urban atmosphere.”
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Young People Organize Protests to Demand Climate Change Actions
Young people around the world have been organizing protests to demand action on climate change. Millions walked out of their schools and workplaces last Friday as part of demonstrations leading up to the Youth Climate Summit at United Nations headquarters in New York. Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg helped inspire the protests, staging weekly demonstrations for the past year calling on world leaders to bolster efforts to combat climate change. Saqib Ul Islam has more in this report from New York.
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Malawi Works to Contain Overfishing on Lake Malawi
Malawi is trying to find ways to contain overfishing in its largest body of water, Lake Malawi. The third largest lake in Africa has long been the economic hub for thousands of fishing communities along the lakefront areas. However, locals say unsustainable fishing practices and climate change have led to dwindling catches, forcing some fishermen to look for alternatives. Lameck Masina reports from the town of Mangochi.
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Kabul Musician Teaches Street Kids, Hopes For Future Harmony
In Afghanistan, where the Taliban once banned music, a young musician teaches her art to a new generation of children, including many street kids. Masooma Mohammadi worries the Taliban might regain power, but also hopes one day, her students and all Afghans will embrace music. VOA’s Jim Randle has our story.
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YouTube ‘Milestone’ Highlights Vietnam Growth and Growing Pains
The Vietnamese comedy channel FAP TV has become the first YouTube account to hit the 10 million subscribers mark in the Southeast Asian country of nearly 100 million people, according to an announcement on Thursday from the Asia Pacific office of Google, which owns YouTube.Vietnam has been one of the fastest growing markets for the video site, especially after Google invested in computer servers in the country, which have sped up streaming and download times. YouTube has also invested heavily in Vietnamese language content and advertising. But the process has come with growing pains, too, most notably in the realms of taxes and censorship. The site has blocked videos with content critical of the government. While these actions are taken following requests from the state, YouTube says it follows the same protocol around the world when it gets requests from governments to take down clips. Videos have been blocked in countries from Algeria to Germany, with reasons cited ranging from hate speech to terrorism.In its transparency report for Vietnam Google notes that it received a request from the Vietnamese government to remove 28 YouTube videos inciting violent protests during the Vietnamese Independence Day period (Vietnam’s Independence Day is September 2). Google says it removed 12 videos for violating YouTube Community Guidelines that prohibit publishing instructions to commit violent acts. It restricted access to 4 other videos in Vietnam. The company did not remove the remaining 12 videos.YouTube promoted its brand in Ho Chi Minh City with a panel with Vietnamese users.Google also appears to be complying with a new cyber security law in Vietnam, which requires foreign companies to set up representative offices inside the country. Some have speculated that one of the factors motivating the law is to ensure that multinational companies do not evade taxes.Vietnam has been trying to collect taxes from both Google and YouTube, as well as other foreign tech companies that make profits from Vietnamese customers while declaring their profits to tax authorities in other countries with lower tax rates like Singapore. In contrast to a bricks and mortar store that sells bicycles, which are simple to tax, foreign tech companies tend to sell intangible services, like advertising attached to YouTube videos, which are harder to tax. “Aside from the matter of studying amendments to laws and regulations of tax administration, cooperation is needed between state agencies and industry,” Luu Duc Huy, head of the policy department at the Vietnamese General Department of Tax, told the government TV station, V News. “Second, cooperation is needed between the Vietnamese tax agency and other countries’ tax agencies.”Google has said repeatedly that it follows all laws in the countries where it operates. It is not just Vietnam. Most countries from Thailand to France are trying to figure out how to collect taxes on YouTube and other businesses that physically operate beyond their borders but make money from citizens within the borders. As Huy noted, the solution is likely to derive from these multiple tax authorities coming together, as is now being proposed by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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‘Thrones,’ ‘Fleabag’ Top Emmys, Billy Porter Makes History
“Game of Thrones” resurrected the Iron Throne at Sunday’s Emmy ceremony, ruling as top drama on a night of surprises in which “Pose” star Billy Porter made history and the comedy series “Fleabag” led a British invasion that overturned expectations.”This all started in the demented mind of George R.R. Martin,” said “Game of Thrones” producer David Benioff, thanking the author whose novels were the basis of HBO’s fantasy saga.Porter, who stars in the FX drama set in the LGBTQ ball scene of the late 20th century, became the first openly gay man to win a best drama series acting Emmy. “God bless you all. The category is love, you all, love. I’m so overjoyed and so overwhelmed to have lived to see this day,” said an exuberant Porter, resplendent in a sparkling suit and swooping hat. Amazon’s “Fleabag,” a dark comedy about a dysfunctional woman, was honored as best comedy and earned top acting honors for its British creator and star, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and a best director trophy.Phoebe Waller-Bridge, winner of the awards for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series, outstanding comedy series and outstanding writing for a comedy series for “Fleabag.””This is getting ridiculous,” Waller-Bridge said in her third trip to the stage to collect the top trophy.Her acting win blocked “Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus from setting a record as the most-honored performer in Emmy history.”Nooooo!” a shocked-looking Waller-Bridge said as Louis-Dreyfus smiled for the cameras. “Oh, my God, no. Thank you. I find acting really hard and really painful. But it’s all about this,” she said, her acting trophy firmly in hand.In accepting the writing award earlier, she called the Emmy recognition proof that “a dirty, pervy, messed-up woman can make it to the Emmys.”Porter, a Tony and Grammy Award winning actor, relished his groundbreaking moment, quoting the late writer James Baldwin, Porter said it took him many years to believe he has the right to exist.”I have the right, you have the right, we all have the right,” he said.English actress Jodie Comer was honored as best drama actress for “Killing Eve.” She competed with co-star Sandra Oh, who received a Golden Globe for her role and would have been the first actress of Asian descent to win an Emmy in the category.”My mum and dad are in Liverpool (England) and I didn’t invite them because I didn’t think this was going to be my time. One, I’m sorry, two I love you,” Comer said after saluting Oh.Bill Hader won his second consecutive best comedy actor award for the hitman comedy “Barry.”Peter Dinklage, named best supporting actor for “Game of Thrones,” set a record for most wins for the same role, four, breaking a tie with Aaron Paul of “Breaking Bad.””I count myself so fortunate to be a member of a community that is about nothing but tolerance and diversity, because in no other place I could be standing on a stage like this,” said Dinklage, a little person.”Ozark” star Julia Garner won the best supporting drama actress trophy.The auditorium erupted in cheers when Jharrel Jerome of “When They See Us,” about the Central Park Five case, won the best actor award for a limited series movie.”Most important, this is for the men that we know as the Exonerated Five,” said Jerome, naming the five wrongly convicted men who were in the audience. They stood and saluted the actor as the crowd applauded them.It was the only honor for the acclaimed Netflix series of the evening; “Chernobyl” won the best limited series honor.HBO retained its durable front-runner status, with a total of 34 awards from Sunday and last weekend’s creative arts ceremony.Alex Borstein accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.But streaming hit new Emmy heights, powered by Amazon Prime winners “Fleabag,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and a “Very English Scandal,” and Netflix’s “Bandersnatch (Black Mirror),” honored as best movie. Netflix collected 27 awards and Amazon nabbed 15.Michelle Williams, honored as best actress for her portrayal of dancer Gwen Verdon in FX’s limited series “Fosse/Verdon,” issued a call to arms for gender and ethnic equality.She thanked the network and studio behind the project for “supporting me completely and paying me equally because they understood … when you put value into a person, it empowers that person to get in touch with their own inherent value. And where do they put that value, they put it into their work.””And so the next time a woman and, especially a woman of color, because she stands to make 52 cents on the dollar compared to her white male counterpart, tells you what she needs in order to do her job, listen to her,” Williams said.Patricia Arquette won the trophy best supporting limited-series or movie actress for “The Act.” She paid emotional tribute to her late trans sister, Alexis Arquette, and called for an end to prejudice against trans people, including in the workplace.Ben Whishaw took the category’s supporting actor trophy for “A Very English Scandal,” admitting in charming British fashion to a hangover.Alex Borstein and Tony Shalhoub of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won best supporting acting awards at the ceremony, which included early and varied messages of female empowerment after the hostless ceremony.”I want to dedicate this to the strength of a woman, to (series creator) Amy Sherman-Palladino, to every woman on the ‘Maisel’ cast and crew,” Borstein said, and to her mother and grandmother. Her grandmother survived because she was courageous enough to step out of a line that, Borstein intimated, would have led to her death at the hands of Nazi Germany.”She stepped out of line. And for that, I am here and my children are here, so step out of line, ladies. Step out of line,” said Borstein, who won the award last year.Shalhoub added to his three Emmys which he earned for his signature role in “Monk.” The awards opened without a host as promised, with an early exchange pitting Ben Stiller against Bob Newhart.”I’m still alive,” Newhart told Stiller, who introduced him as part of a wax museum comedy hall of fame that included Lucille Ball and George Burns.Kim Kardashian West and Kendall Jenner drew some mocking laughter in the audience when they presented their award after Kardashian West said their family “knows firsthand how truly compelling television comes from real people just being themselves.”An animated Homer made a brief appearance on stage until he was abruptly crushed, with Anderson of “black-ish” rushing in to, as he vowed, rescue the evening. He called “Breaking Bad” star Cranston on stage to tout the power of television from its beginning to the current golden age.”Television has never been bigger. Television has never mattered more. And television has never been this damn good,” Cranston said.
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Hundreds Mourn Melting Swiss Glacier
Hundreds of mourners gathered Sunday to commemorate the loss of yet another European glacier.Dressed in mourning clothes, they hiked for hours in the Glarus Alps in eastern Switzerland to reach the remnants of the Pizol glacier at 2,600 meters above sea level.The glacier has lost more than 80% of its volume since 2006.“I have climbed up here countless times,” Matthias Huss, a glaciologist at ETH Zurich university, told the mourners. “It is like the dying of a good friend.”Last month, About 100 people, including Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, held a similar ceremony for 700-year-old Okjokull, the first Icelandic glacier lost to climate change.“We can’t save the Pizol glacier anymore. … Let’s do everything we can, so that we can show our children and grandchildren a glacier here in Switzerland a hundred years from now,” Huss told the gathering.His call came just two days after millions around the world went on a strike for climate change, inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.The funeral was organized by the activist group Swiss Association for Climate Protection which has collected more than 100,000 signatures to launch an initiative demanding the country reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.The Swiss government has voiced its support for the move.
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‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Veep’ Aim for Records at Emmy Awards
Records could be broken at the 2019 Emmy Awards by “Game of Thrones” and “Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.The HBO fantasy saga already has the most awards for a show in one season, 12, and it’s competing Sunday in seven categories.If Louis-Dreyfus wins top comedy actress honors for “Veep,” she’ll have a total of nine Emmys, the most ever for a performer.Other contenders to keep an eye on include Sandra Oh of “Killing Eve” and Billy Porter of “Pose,” both vying for top drama series acting awards.Oh could become the actress of Asian descent to win in the category, and Porter could be the first openly gay actor to nab a trophy.The 71st annual Emmy Awards airs at 8 p.m. EDT Sunday on Fox.
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Swiss Hold High-Altitude Wake For Lost Glacier
Dozens of people dressed in black went on a “funeral march” up a steep Swiss mountainside on Sunday to mark the disappearance of an Alpine glacier amid growing global alarm over climate change.The Pizol “has lost so much substance that from a scientific perspective it is no longer a glacier,” Alessandra Degiacomi, of the Swiss Association for Climate Protection, told AFP ahead of the event.Sunday’s climb took place as the U.N. gathered youth activists and world leaders in New York to mull the action needed to curb global warming.The solemn two-hour “funeral march” led up the side of Pizol mountain in northeastern Switzerland to the foot of the steep and rapidly melting ice formation, situated at an altitude of around 2,700 meters (8,850 feet) near the Liechtenstein and Austrian borders.Upon arrival, a chaplain and several scientists were to give sombre speeches in remembrance of the glacier, accompanied by the mournful tones of alphorns — a 3.6-metre (12-foot), pipe-shaped wooden instrument.A wreath will be laid for the Pizol glacier, which has been one of the most studied glaciers in the Alps.The move comes after Iceland made global headlines last month with a large ceremony and the laying of a bronze plaque to commemorate Okjokull, the island’s first glacier lost to climate change.500 glaciers goneBut unlike Iceland, Sunday’s ceremony does not mark the first disappearance of a glacier from the Swiss Alps.”Since 1850, we estimate that more than 500 Swiss glaciers have completely disappeared, including 50 that were named,” Swiss glaciologist and march participant Matthias Huss told AFP before the event.Pizol may not be the first glacier to vanish in Switzerland, but “you could say it is the first to disappear that has been very thoroughly studied,” Huss of the ETH technical university in Zurich said.The logs kept since scientists began tracking the glacier in 1893 paint a bleak picture of recent rapid changes to the climate.Pizol has lost 80-90 percent of its volume just since 2006, leaving behind a mere 26,000 square meters (280,000 square feet) of ice, or “less than four football fields,” Huss said.Pizol, which sits at a relatively low altitude, was never very big.According to Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, or GLAMOS, it, like nearly 80 percent of Swiss glaciers, has been considered a so-called glacieret.Greenhouse gas referendumIt has figured among some 4,000 glaciers — vast, ancient reserves of ice — dotted throughout the Alps, providing seasonal water to millions and forming some of Europe’s most stunning landscapes.But Huss and other ETH scientists recently cautioned more than 90 percent of the Alpine glaciers could disappear by the end of this century if greenhouse gas emissions are not reined in.Regardless of what actions humans take now, the Alps will lose at least half of their ice mass by 2100, according to their study, published in April.And in a subsequent study published earlier this month, the researchers indicated that the Alps’ largest glacier, the mighty Aletsch, could completely disappear over the next eight decades.Sunday’s “funeral” for Pizol provides an occasion to point out that climate change is not only melting glaciers but is endangering “our means of subsistence”, according to the organizing groups, including Greenpeace.It is threatening “human civilisation as we know it in Switzerland and around the world,” they warn on the event webpage.With this in mind, the Swiss Association for Climate Protection recently presented the 100,000 signatures needed to launch a popular initiative, to be put to a referendum, demanding that Switzerland reduce its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.The date for the vote has yet to be set, but the Swiss government in August said it supported the objective.
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In Cambodia, It’s a Bad Year for Dengue Fever
Amir Khasru of the VOA Bangla Service contributed to this report.KRAYEA COMMUNE, KAMPONG THOM PROVINCE, CAMBODIA — The babies are crying, coughing as they vomit.Each parent holds one of the 8-month-old twins. Their daughters tested positive for the potentially lethal and almost always painful dengue fever.Lang Chanthoeun says she doesn’t have money yet to get treatment for Pheak Sonisa and Pheak Somatha. “I tried to borrow money from relatives but they didn’t have any,” she said.“Last night, I couldn’t sleep,” said the 35-year-old mother of six who lives in a poor rural area of Cambodia’s Kampong Thom province on the central lowlands of the Mekong River. The local rubber plantations in the province’s Santuk district shelter mosquitos, making it a center of this year’s dengue outbreak.The government should consider providing a treatment center in the province so villagers don’t need to travel, said Meas Nee who holds a doctorate in sociology and international social work from Australia’s La Trobe University.According to a 2008 article in the International Journal for Equity in Health, “High rates of hospitalization and mortality from dengue fever among infants and children reflect the difficulties that women continue to face in finding sufficient cash in cases of medical emergency, resulting in delays in diagnosis and treatment.”“Regardless of whether they used a public or private facility, villagers reported spending on average US$34.50 and up to US$150 for a single episode of dengue,” wrote Sokrin Khun and Lenore Manderson in their article, Some villagers look after children who have been diagnosed with dengue fever at a private health clinic in the village, June 2019. (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer)In Kampong Thom province’s Krayea commune, many babies and young children have received dengue treatment in local private clinics and from state-run hospitals in the province. A few of them have been treated at the reputable A villager drives a tractor past a private health clinic in Kampong Thom province’s Krayea commune, where children diagnosed with dengue fever stay for treatment, June 2019. (Sun Narin/VOA Khmer)Since 2006, the Cambodian government has run a program offering free health care at public facilities. Those who are eligible receive Equity Cards, known colloquially, and predictably, as “poverty cards,” which must be presented to tap into benefits.But more than a decade after the program began with help from the German and Australian governments, many people remain frustrated and confused about the criteria used to allocate the cards and the benefits bestowed on their holders.Neither Pin Roeun nor Chun Mom are in the program. That means they don’t have the card for the poorest of the poor.Lang Chanthoeun said she qualified for the program but has yet to receive a card.Srey Sin, who heads the Kampong Thom province department of health, said more than three times as many people have shown up at local hospitals for dengue fever treatment in 2019 compared with last year.“We treat them for free if they have the poverty card,” he said. “Our staffs have tried their best to treat them even though there are a lot of people.”Lang Chanthoeun’s husband took the twins to a state-run hospital in the province after they were diagnosed with dengue at the local clinic.Hak Sopheak, 37, said he spent $25 each for treatment of Pheak Sonisa and Pheak Somatha but wasn’t pleased.“It took my daughters getting worse for the medical staff to get them treatment,” he said. “Before that, they did not receive good care.”
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A Unique Seattle Rehab Helps People Overcome Internet Addiction
Smartphones have quickly evolved from being a way to make an untethered phone call to service as portable hand-held personal computers. Yet these pros bring along many cons, as conditions like Internet addiction disorder become more widespread. To help people overcome these disorders, special rehab centers are opening around the world. Iurii Mamon visited one such center in Seattle.
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