Cambridge doctors record sharp fall in infections after 12 days in Covid test analysis on healthcare workers
A single dose of the Pfizer vaccine can reduce asymptomatic infections by 75%, according to research that suggests the jab could substantially curtail transmission of the disease.
Doctors in Cambridge recorded the sharp fall in infections after 12 days of the first shot in an analysis of Covid tests performed on healthcare workers in the last two weeks of January.
Continue reading...Israel has set a curfew to limit festivities for the Jewish holiday when revellers don costumes and party into the night. Similarly muted celebrations have taken place around the world
Continue reading...In a country where pneumonia, malaria and TB are much bigger killers, doctors say ‘resource-intensive’ Covid-19 is diverting precious resources
When stocks of medical equipment in the general ward of Tengandogo University hospital in Ouagadougou ran low as resources flowed to the coronavirus unit, medical staff bought the essentials themselves.
Blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors and oximeters were needed. Even the ink in the printers had to be replaced.
Continue reading...Private school in central Kenya is welcoming pregnant teenagers, teenage mothers and their babies to ensure they have the chance to finish an education otherwise denied to them by stigma, logistics and lack of money
Continue reading...Ban on violence against children will only apply in Islamabad, but campaigners hope rest of the country will follow suit
Pakistan has passed a bill banning corporal punishment for children in a move described as “historic” by rights activists.
It comes amid a number of high-profile cases of schoolchildren being badly beaten and even killed in schools, religious institutions and workplaces.
Continue reading...Coronavirus pandemic meant the envoys and their families had to travel home in an unconventional way
In normal times, most diplomats can expect to end a foreign posting with an official – if not always fond – farewell from their hosts and a comfortable journey back to their native country.
But for one group of Russian envoys and their families, the coronavirus pandemic meant there was only one way home – under their own steam on a hand-pushed rail trolley.
Continue reading...One year on from the nation’s first case of coronavirus, Aotearoa has largely eliminated the virus - communications played a key part in its success
“Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.” The catch cry of pandemic Britain under Boris Johnson, revived last month, might sound familiar to New Zealanders now enjoying their “unstoppable summer”.
Johnson’s three-part slogan reportedly derived last March from a suggestion by Ben Guerin, a 25-year-old Kiwi who advised on the Conservatives’ social media strategy. His attention had been caught by a phrase that was increasingly prevalent in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s messaging back home: “Stay at home, save lives.”
Continue reading...Man was cleaning stables when he was hit by female, knocking his head against bars of enclosure
A zoo worker in Spain has died after he was struck by an elephant’s trunk, knocking his head against the bars of an enclosure, the zoo and local officials said.
The female elephant weighing around 4,000kg (8,800lb) hit the 44-year-old with her trunk on Wednesday morning at the Cabarceno Natural Park near the northern city of Santander, the zoo said. The man was rushed to hospital where he died from his injuries some three hours later.
Continue reading...PNG’s Grand Chief led the country to independence in 1975 and served four terms as prime minister
The man who led Papua New Guinea to independence, the country’s Grand Chief and longest-serving prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, has died in Port Moresby, aged 84.
Known throughout the country as “Papa blo Kantri” – Father of the Nation – Somare served as prime minister for a total of 17 years, over four terms, and was revered as a pivotal figure in the country’s peaceful transformation from colony to independent nation. He is depicted on PNG’s 50 Kina banknote.
Continue reading...White House says president ‘affirmed the importance the United States places on universal human rights and the rule of law’
Joe Biden has spoken with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman for the first time as president, ahead of the publication of a US intelligence report expected to implicate the Saudi crown prince in the 2018 murder of dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
A White House account of the call did not mention the report, but did say, in another context, that Biden “affirmed the importance the United States places on universal human rights and the rule of law” and that the two discussed working on “mutual issues of concern”.
Continue reading...Butterflies had bad year after four times as many trees were lost to illegal logging and extreme climate conditions
The number of monarch butterflies that reached their winter resting grounds in central Mexico decreased by about 26% this year, and four times as many trees were lost to illegal logging, drought and other causes, making 2020 a bad year for the butterflies.
The butterflies’ population covered only 2.1 hectares (5.2 acres) in 2020, compared to 2.8 hectares (6.9 acres) the previous year and about one-third of the 6.05 hectares (14.95 acres) detected in 2018, according to government figures.
Continue reading...A mother rescued four children by throwing them from the window of a burning apartment block in Istanbul, Turkey. Neighbours caught the children with blankets spread out below as black smoke billowed from the building. Local authorities said the children were in good health. The mother was hospitalised as a precaution before being discharged
Continue reading...CSIS included quote from A Perfect Spy in tweet about job postings, bewildering Twitter users
For an intelligence agency seeking new recruits, the promises of adventure and intrigue found within the pages of famous spy novels might seem like a useful recruiting tool.
But promoting a double agent who lies to his family, betrays his country and ultimately takes his own life, is possibly not a strategy that will produce the best candidates.
Continue reading...Commission head reassures leaders she will ban vaccines leaving EU if suppliers fail to deliver again
Ursula von der Leyen has reassured EU leaders she will ban coronavirus vaccines from leaving the EU if suppliers such as AstraZeneca fail to deliver again, as she faced questions over her handling of shortages.
The European commission president’s pledge at a virtual summit came as leaders issued a statement promising to “accelerate the provision of vaccines”, with just 8% of the adult population having received a jab compared with 27% in the UK.
Continue reading...Some arriving passengers are dodging mandatory three-night hotel stay while claims of sexual assault tarnish health plan
Less than a week after the introduction of new rules obliging international air travellers to quarantine at a hotel on arrival in Canada, the plan is facing criticism after allegations of sexual assault and reports that some passengers are ignoring the rules.
Amid growing concern that international travellers could pose a risk of spreading variants of the coronavirus, Canada began requiring anyone arriving from abroad to isolate at a hotel for up to three nights, beginning Monday.
Continue reading...Police officers shot into a crowd of pro-democracy protesters in Yangon's Tamwe township in Myanmar, as thousands continued to rally against the military coup across the country.
Hundreds of people took part in the first pro-military demonstration in Yangon on Thursday, with the crowd a fraction of the size of anti-coup protests
Continue reading...Decline in system underpinning Gulf Stream could lead to more extreme weather in Europe and higher sea levels on US east coast
The Atlantic Ocean circulation that underpins the Gulf Stream, the weather system that brings warm and mild weather to Europe, is at its weakest in more than a millennium, and climate breakdown is the probable cause, according to new data.
Further weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) could result in more storms battering the UK, more intense winters and an increase in damaging heatwaves and droughts across Europe.
Continue reading...Photojournalist Zohra Bensemra meets Fallou Diop, one of Senegal’s most promising jockeys who won the country’s top racing prize when he was 17. He hopes to begin racing in France next year, realising a dream coveted by some of Senegal’s foremost riders
Continue reading...Work is under way to see whether an abandoned 14th-century building is part of the legacy of the country’s exiled Jews
The rambling, 14th-century building that sits off a narrow alley in the historic heart of Utrera, its patio walls furred with moss and its inner ones painted pugnacious shades of purple and orange, has led a long and varied existence.
Over the centuries, it has served the Andalucían city as a hospital, a home for abandoned children, a restaurant and, in its final incarnation, a bar.
Continue reading...Recipe using bacon and parmesan cheese attracts ire of chefs, foodies and farmers’ association
The New York Times has cooked up a controversy in Italy after tinkering with the recipe for the classic Roman dish pasta carbonara.
Called “Smoky Tomato Carbonara”, the recipe, by Kay Chun, was published by NYT Cooking. To be fair to Chun, she did preface her version of the recipe by saying that “tomatoes are not traditional in carbonara, but they lend a bright tang to the dish”.
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