Pfizer tells US officials that it cannot provide substantial additional vaccine doses until late June, July - report

Tue 8 Dec 2020 
Author: Justin Low | 

Washington Post reports on the matter

This adds to the earlier story by the New York Times earlier here.

The report above cites multiple individuals familiar with the situation in saying that Pfizer has told the Trump administration that it cannot provide substantial additional doses of its coronavirus vaccine until late June or July.

This is because other countries have already rushed to buy up most of its supply.

Again, this is a bit of a setback to the timeline in getting things back to "normal" in the US as it may mean that the virus situation may persist for quite some time yet unless they are able to secure larger quantities from other vaccine providers.

Moderna, Pfizer decline WH invitation for COVID-19 "vaccine summit"

Marisa Fernandez AXIOS


Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images


The Trump administration is hosting a "vaccine summit" on Tuesday that will include President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, pharmacies and logistics companies, but not any vaccine manufacturer representatives.

The big picture: Moderna and Pfizer declined the White House’s invitation, Stat News first reported. But a senior administration official said Monday that the administration ultimately deemed the vaccine manufacturers presence “not appropriate” due to their pending EUA applications.

Why it matters: The summit takes place just two days before the Food and Drug Administration advisory committee is scheduled to review Pfizer's data and decide whether to approve the vaccine for emergency use authorization. Moderna is expected to be reviewed in the coming weeks.

Details:
The summit will have select governors and health officials, including the FDA's Peter Marks, so Americans can better understand the vaccine approval and distribution process on a federal and state level, the White House said.
Trump will also sign an executive order reinforcing Americans' guarantee to the vaccine.

Between the lines: Much of this event is a PR stunt from the White House, which is still reeling over Pfizer and Moderna making their vaccine announcements after the election.

Worldwide ginger shortage caused by poor harvests and coronavirus-hit Chinese farms

Ginger is a key ingredient of gingerbread men, a Christmas favourite


According to The Times  Asda reported a 'temporary shortage' while Tesco said there is high demand because more people were cooking and baking at home. 

It appears that part of the reason this year's supply is limited, is the poor harvest and an impact on the coronavirus-hit Chinese farms. 

Last year China suffered a poor harvest and this year the coronavirus pandemic led to labour shortages on farms. 

The situation has only gotten worse by another poor harvest in October- while the demand of the spice has been rising. 

As a result the wholesale prices have soared. 

+2

Ginger is a very popular spice used all over the world 

Marcel Verdellen, of Satori, told the Fresh Plaza food website: 'Generally, you'll make a killing if you can offer ginger now. 

'It's not a question of sales. It's more one of being able to deliver the goods. After all, people still want to offer ginger. 

'It's a standard supermarket item. And there aren't any alternatives. 

Gabriel Bonancin of Fresh Quality which imports ginger to Europe added: 'There was a gap in the supply from China, and they are usually the biggest supplier of ginger, so this has brought a lot of opportunities for other ginger supplying countries such as Brazil. 

Read more:
Home bakers snap up ginger stocks amid global shortage | News | The Times

India: Farmers launch nationwide strike over new laws

Farmer unions in India have called for a general strike over new agricultural laws that are aimed at liberalizing the industry. The nationwide shutdown comes a day before talks with the government.


Indian farmers called for a one-day nationwide strike on Tuesday after days of blockading New Delhi in a bid to force the government to repeal its new market-friendly farm laws.

Tuesday's strike, called Bharat Bandh, will see tens of thousands of farmers blocking key roads and rail lines across the country for several hours, affecting transport services and offices.

They have received support from railway workers, truck drivers and other unions, who will be joining them in the strike.

The farmers have emphasized that the strike will be a peaceful protest, and they will ensure that emergency services such as ambulances and fire brigades aren't affected.

"Our protest is peaceful, and we'll continue that way. Bharat Bandh is a symbolic protest to register our opposition. It is to show that we don't support some of the policies of the government," farmers' union leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters.

Read more: India farmers threaten Delhi blockade in protest of Modi's agriculture reforms

The strike comes after five rounds of talks between farmers' unions and the government failed. The sixth round of talks is scheduled for Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of farmers have camped near the border of New Delhi since November 27 to protest the new laws, blocking most of the entry points to the national capital.

The farmers have said they will not return home until the laws are repealed.

The Indian government issued an advisory to all states and union territories to boost security. Thousands of extra police personnel have been deployed in Delhi and neighboring states where farmers have been protesting for nearly two weeks.

VIDEO India: Farmers demand repeal of agricultural market reforms

What are the laws they are protesting?

In September, India's parliament passed three controversial agriculture bills aimed at liberalizing the country's farm sector. They were subsequently signed into law, sparking farmers' protests across the country.

The government argued that the new laws will give freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside regulated markets and enter into contracts with buyers at a pre-agreed price.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) insists that the laws will fetch better prices and free farmers from traditional middlemen who dominate the trade. The government hopes that its new policy will double farmers' income by 2022.

Farmers' associations say the legislation does not guarantee the acquisition of farm produce through state-run organizations that guarantee a minimum support price (MSP), thus leaving them at the mercy of corporations that are now expected to enter the country's troubled farming sector.

"We are fighting for our rights. We won't rest until we reach the capital and force the government to abolish these black laws,'' said Majhinder Singh Dhaliwal, a farmers' leader.

Opposition parties and even some allies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have called the laws anti-farmer and pro-corporation and called on the government to accept the farmers' demand to roll them back.

Protesters from the Left Front political party blocked railways in Kolkata

Domestic and international support for farmers

More than 15 opposition parties and many non-BJP-ruled state governments have backed the strikes. The government has accused Congress, the main opposition party, of opportunism.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Congress supported privatizing the agricultural sector but is now opposing it to gain favor with the farmers, an influential voting group.

The farmers have also received support internationally. Several US lawmakers have voiced their support for the ongoing protests.

"I stand in solidarity with the Punjabi farmers in India protesting for their livelihoods and protection from misguided, manipulative government regulations," Congressman Doug LaMalfa said on Monday.

"Punjabi farmers must be allowed to protest peacefully against their government without fear of violence," the Republican said in a tweet.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also reiterated his support of Indian farmers last week.

Trudeau released a Twitter video calling the police crackdown on the farmer protests "concerning" and saying they should be allowed to stage peaceful protests.

"Canada will always stand up for the right of peaceful protests anywhere around the world. And we are pleased to see moves towards de-escalation and dialogue," he told reporters in Ottawa.



INDIAN FARMERS CONTINUE PROTEST AGAINST NEW DELHI
Talks inconclusive
Farmers from the northern state of Punjab sit in protest at the border between Delhi and Haryana amid an ongoing deadlock with the national government.
PHOTOS 12345678

India’s farmers launch nationwide shutdown against new agricultural reform laws

Farmers have vowed to block major roads and rail lines across the country and have been given support by railway workers, truck drivers and teachers

They want laws they say will force produce prices down to be repealed, but which the government insist are necessary for agriculture’s long-term future


Agence France-Presse in New Delhi
Published:  8 Dec, 2020

Indian farmers threaten weeks of protests as talks with government continue

Indian farmers who have been blockading New Delhi on Tuesday launched a one-day, nationwide general strike to push their demands for the government to repeal reform laws opening up trade in agricultural produce.

Tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of the capital since November 27 

in protest at the laws in what has become one of the biggest challenges to the Hindu nationalist government since it won a second landslide election in 2019.

Farmers have vowed to block major roads and rail lines across the country for several hours and have been given support by railway workers, truck drivers, teachers and other unions.

Farmers react after police tried to stop them from entering New Delhi to protest against new farm laws on Monday. Photo: EPA

Authorities have put thousands of extra police on the streets in Delhi and boosted security in the rest of the country in a bid to head off any trouble.

Five rounds of talks have failed to narrow differences between farmers and ministers. The growing numbers of farmers and their supporters camped outside the capital say they will not go home until the laws are repealed.

The laws will allow farmers to sell their produce on the open market – including to supermarket chains – instead of being forced to sell through state-run organisations that guarantee a minimum price.

Farmers carry crops after harvesting a field on the outskirts of Kolkata earlier this month. The government insists reforms are necessary to give Indian agriculture a long-term future. Photo: AFP

Farmers say the industry will be taken over by major firms who will force prices down. The government insists the changes are necessary to give agriculture – still the backbone of the Indian economy – a long-term future.

The protests have already caused price rises for fruit and vegetables in Delhi because supplies are restricted.

Rakesh Tikait, a protest leader, said that people should not travel during the shutdown and all stores should close.

Thousands of Indian farmers protest against market reforms as government talks fail to ease anger

Balbir Singh Rajewal, another leader, said: “We want nothing less than a withdrawal of the new farm laws.”

The main opposition Congress party and about 15 other political groupings are backing the protest but the government has accused them of opportunism, rejecting measures that they had called for when in power.

The farmers are strongest in the north of the country, but even the government in the southern state of Karnataka suspended online school lessons for the day to show support.

Indian farmers vs Modi: protesters ‘ready to die’ in winter of discontent
4 Dec 2020


Top athletes including wrestler Kartar Singh, who won gold medals at the Asian Games in 1978 and 1986, said they would return national awards in protest at the laws.

Singh alongside hockey player Gurmail Singh – gold medallist at the 1980 Moscow Olympics – and former women’s hockey captain Rajbir Kaur tried to march on the presidential palace on Monday to hand back awards but were stopped by police.

A new round of talks on the disputed laws are to be held on Wednesday.

Farmers shout slogans next to a police barricade amid foggy condition during a nationwide general strike to protest against the recent agricultural reforms at the Delhi-Haryana state border in Singhu on December 8, 2020. (AFP)

“We die or we win.”

India’s agriculture reforms ‘will reduce us to slaves’, say protesting farmers

Tens of thousands of Indian farmers are protesting against new laws to overhaul and deregulate the agriculture sector and remove middlemen

But farmers are digging in, saying the Narendra Modi government’s reforms are a ‘death warrant’ and they are resolute about maintaining a blockade

Agence France-Presse
Published: 7 Dec, 2020

Sandeep Singh, a farmer from the northern Indian state of Punjab, listens to speakers during a rally along a road blocked by police to stop farmers from marching to New Delhi to protest against agricultural reforms. Photo: AFP

Behind concertina wire and trucks blockading a major highway into
India’s capital, tens of thousands of farmers are camping out in the bitter winter cold as they protest against agriculture reforms they fear could destroy their livelihood.

Layers of hay, mattresses and blankets are used as bedding inside the tractors and trucks, and on the road, while six months’ worth of food is piled up in trailers – signs that the farmers are resolute about maintaining the blockade until Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government reverses course.

Pro-farmers slogans blare out from speakers at the blockade, with some protesters standing on tractors brandishing swords and spears.

“These laws are death warrants for the farmers,” said Sandeep Singh, a farmer from Ludhiana district in northern Punjab state – a major agrarian region. “This [blockade] is the Berlin Wall but even if we have to protest for a year or two or have to face bullets, we won’t leave this site until the laws are repealed.”

Indian farmers vs Modi: protesters ‘ready to die’ in winter of discontent
4 Dec 2020


At the heart of the dispute are new laws that the government says will overhaul the flailing sector by deregulating agriculture and removing state middlemen.

But farmers believe the changes could instead tilt the power balance towards large corporations. Both sides have refused to budge despite several rounds of talks.

“We do not trust the government at all. Every law they have brought previously has turned to be a disaster … They want to disempower farmers and hand over our land and lives to big companies,” Singh said.

The blockade kicked off when farmers marched from Punjab towards New Delhi on November 26, sparking violent clashes with police.

Singh, 65, one of the first demonstrators, has been joined by tens of thousands of his fellow mostly Sikh farmers.

He and a dozen others drove six tractors carrying rations to the border between Delhi and Haryana state, which lies between the capital and Punjab.

Singh supervises one of the scores of makeshift kitchens where the food is cooked. For bathing, some use buckets filled with water and hosepipes connected to tankers.

The farmers, wearing brightly coloured turbans, sit cross-legged in a long line along the highway as a volunteer serves them meals prepared in huge pots.

Trudeau wades in on Indian farmers’ protests, sparking debate
3 Dec 2020


At night, Singh retreats to his tractor where he updates his family back home on WhatsApp about the latest news from the campaign backed by his entire village.

“My son encouraged me to join the protests. This is a do-or-die situation for us. I am here for my future generations,” said Singh, who owes two hectares (five acres) of farmland.

Camps distributing medicines and masks have also popped up on the nearly 2km (1.2-mile) Delhi-northern India border.

Farmers gather along a road blocked by police to stop them from marching to New Delhi to protest against the central government's recent agricultural reforms. Photo: AFP

Shuvaik Singh has been camping at the site from day one when police fired tear gas and water cannon on protesters.

The 75-year-old, who owns seven acres of semi-parched land in Punjab’s Patiala district, was hit by cold water from the cannon. But he is not deterred.

“We have seen droughts and famine but that never worries us. Bullets and water cannons won’t stop us either,” Singh said as he gripped a modified walking stick with a crescent-shaped axe.

“These laws will reduce us to slaves, which is unacceptable. If needed I will use my weapon but won’t go back without the laws being rolled back. How will I face my family?” he asked.

“We die or we win.”

INDIA

Bharat Bandh (GENERAL STRIKE) TODAY

 Here's All You Need To Know
Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said that the protest is to show that the farmers don't support some of the policies of the government.

Outlook Web Bureau 07 December 2020

PTI
Farmers protesting against the Centre’s new farm laws on Friday announced the Bharat Bandh on December 8 after the fifth round of talks between the government and the farmer representatives ended in a deadlock.

Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said that the protest is to show that the farmers don't support some of the policies of the government.

As the farmer unions have suggested that the protests might intensify if the government does not accept their demand, here everything you need to know:



- There will be complete 'Bharat bandh' on Tuesday, farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal tells press conference. He adds, "Government will have to accept our demands, we want nothing less than a withdrawal of new farm laws."

- Bharat Bandh is from 11 am to 3 pm.

- Delhi commuters might face problems as some auto and taxi unions in the city have decided to join 'Bharat Bandh'. However, many other unions have decided to continue normal service despite their support to the demand raised by the farmers.

- On Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the Singhu border, where thousands of farmers are protesting against the Centre's new farm laws, and checked arrangements made for them by the city government.



- The visit comes a day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) extended its support to the 'Bharat Bandh' called by farmers' organisations.

- Members of farmers' unions will block national highways and occupy toll plazas, said Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union.

- Supply truck movement could be hit in north India, including Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, as at least 51 trade and transport unions have come out in farmers' support.

- The Bandh is likely to be most well-observed in Punjab, which has extended full support. Sit-in protests are likely in Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Telangana and northeastern states of Tripura and Assam, besides others.

- Banking operations are expected to be hit as several bank unions have expressed their solidarity with farmers.

#BharatBandh: 'We Are Farmers, Not Politicians'

Angry farmers gathered at the borders of Delhi express their disgust with politicians, and pledge not to stop their agitation till their demands are met.

Delhi NGO Provides Free Wifi To Protesting Farmers On Delhi-Haryana Border
Some were seen making a video call while others used the Internet connectivity to browse web and get the latest news updates

PTI 07 December 2020
Follow Outlook India On News

Farmers during their protest against the Centre's new farm laws, 

at Singhu border in New Delhi

Suresh K Pandey

Driven by a desire to offer protesting farmers a platform to "tell their stories of resistance" in their own words and help them stay connected with their families back home, a city-based NGO has provided free WiFi links to them on both sides of a Delhi-Haryana border point.

On the Delhi side, a dedicated router with a decent Internet speed has been installed. On the Haryana side, portable systems were being used to help farmers get better online connectivity, which are also being used by their children for virtual classes.

"We started the facility of free WiFi about five days ago. We had originally come here to distribute food and other supplies. But, we realised that while the farmers had sufficient supplies, it was mobile connectivity which was getting difficult," said Abhishek Jain, whose NGO provided the WiFi connectivity.

The WiFi username has been scribbled on cardboards and hung on a few posts holding the main protest shamiana on the Delhi side of the Singhu border. There is no password, so anyone can log in, he added.

A farmer from Punjab was seen making a video call on his smart phone while a few others used the Internet connectivity to browse the web and see the latest news updates and post live updates from the protest site.

"While there is media coverage of the issue, we felt the stories of struggle and resistance of farmers should be told in their own words too. These farmers, who feed our country, are on the streets. India and the rest of the world need to hear their voices, undiluted, unedited, unadulterated," Jain told PTI.

The 25-year-old social worker from Vasant Vihar in south Delhi, said, he has a degree in civil engineering and an MBA, but something drove him to "work for and give back to the society, as a youngster".

"My grandfather was born in Panipat, not far from the Singhu Border. He moved to Delhi about 70 years ago. It was he and his stories which inspired me to take up social work, even though my friend will sometimes ask why was I wasting my MBA on social causes," he said.

Jain founded Abhishek Janshakti Foundation, about a year ago, which he says has grown to a team of about 30 members, mostly college and university students. At the protest site, the uniformed volunteers of the NGO were seen helping people get connected to the free WiFi.

"On the Haryana side, we have installed a portable Wi-Fi system, and children of the farmers are using it too for their online classes.

"Our objective was easy providing connectivity to help farmers express themselves through social media and stay connected to their families. We should listen to farmers as India is still an agriculture dominant country. In a democracy, their voices should matter," said Subir Dass, one of the volunteers.

The NGO members were initially collecting testimonies of various farmers, but now many have started "voicing their words" on their own, the young social worker said.

"Some of the farmers opened Facebook pages to live stream the events unfolding... I myself have helped a few of them open Facebook pages. A 200 Mbps line via a dedicated dish makes the Internet speed quite viable. The speed goes down a bit when more people get linked to it," he said.

At the protest site, fiery speeches, fluttering flags of the Bharat Kisan Union and other peasant bodies, and spirited 'langars' that invited everyone to join in, added to the charged atmosphere.

Some of the farmers who have gathered here, said on the Haryana side solar panels have been installed on tractor-trolleys, making a makeshift unit to recharge mobile phones.

"They are calling it 'mobile langar' of sorts. I've heard about it, but it is a bit far from the main protest site," Jain said.

The social worker, who visits the protest site every day, rued that in a country like India, "farmers either commit suicide or have to leave their farms behind to fight for their rights".

WHO opposes mandatory COVID-19 vaccines

“There’s too much of a gap between the rhetoric and the reality.”

A nurse administers CoronaVac, Sinovac's potential vaccine

 against COVID-19, to a volunteer at Emilio Ribas Institute in 

Sao Paulo in July.

GENEVA – The World Health Organization said Monday that persuading people on the merits of a COVID-19 vaccine would be far more effective than trying to make the jabs mandatory.

The WHO said it would be down to individual countries as to how they want to conduct their vaccination campaigns against the coronavirus pandemic.

But the U.N. health agency insisted making it mandatory to get immunized against the disease would be the wrong road to take, adding there were examples in the past of mandating vaccines use only to see it backfire with greater opposition to them.

“I don’t think that mandates are the direction to go in here, especially for these vaccines,” Kate O’Brien, director of the WHO’s immunization department, told a virtual news conference.

“It is a much better position to actually encourage and facilitate the vaccination without those kinds of requirements.

“I don’t think we envision any countries creating a mandate for vaccination.”

O’Brien said there may be certain hospital professions in which being vaccinated might be required or highly recommended for staff and patient safety.

But WHO experts admitted there was a battle to be fought to convince the general public to take the vaccines as they become available.

“The vaccine story is a good news story. It is the victory of human endeavor, potentially, over a microbial adversary,” said the organization’s emergencies director Michael Ryan.

“We need to convince people and we need to persuade.”

As for making vaccines mandatory, he said: “I think all of us who work in public health would rather avoid that as a means for getting people vaccinated.

“We are much better served to present people with the data and the benefits and let people make up their own minds.

“There are certain circumstances … where I would believe that the only responsible thing would be to be vaccinated,” he added.

According to the WHO’s overview of different candidate vaccines, 51 have entered human trials, 13 of which have reached final-stage mass testing.

A further 163 candidate vaccines are being developed in laboratories with a view to eventual human testing.

The world-first rollout of the Pfizer vaccine is due to begin in Britain on Tuesday.

As countries begin deploying vaccines in the coming weeks and months, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged them to prioritize those most in need.

“These are not easy decisions,” he said, setting out the WHO guidelines.

Tedros said health workers at high risk of infection were a top priority, plus people at the highest risk of serious disease or death due to their age — thereby easing the pressure on health systems.

He said they should later be followed by people with a higher risk of severe disease due to underlying conditions, and marginalized groups at higher risk.

The WHO’s ACT-Accelerator mechanism, pooling risk and reward among countries rich and poor, is a global attempt to speed up the development of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments, and purchase and distribute them evenly regardless of wealth.

However, the program needs $4.3 billion urgently, with a further $23.9 billion required in 2021.

“What we need now globally is not to enter the land of empty promises in terms of supporting the ACT-Accelerator,” said Ryan, urging wealthy donors to stump up.

“The means to do this allocation fairly and equitably is there. But what’s not in place is the financing to make that happen in 2021.

“There’s too much of a gap between the rhetoric and the reality.”

Imagine: John Lennon shot on his doorstep 40 years ago

Published on December 5, 2020
By Agence France-Presse

Former Beatle John Lennon, giving the peace sign, and his wife, Yoko Ono, arrive for a hearing on their deportation case at U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service office in lower Manhattan, May 12, 1972. (Newsweek)

Late on a mild December evening in 1980, a young man with a revolver shot John Lennon four times in the back as the singer arrived home from a recording studio with his wife, Yoko Ono.

Police found his killer reading a book as he waited for them to arrest him outside the Dakota apartment building in midtown Manhattan.

Lennon was rushed to hospital on the back seat of a police car but “did not have the slightest chance of surviving” despite receiving several blood transfusions, a doctor told reporters.

An AFP breaking news dispatch on December 8 read: “Former Beatle John Lennon was assassinated in front of his home in New York.”

It was the start of a flood of media coverage that would rival the reach of the world-famous singer, who was just 40 years old.

– Fateful autograph –

Mark Chapman, then 25, had travelled from Hawaii and had got Lennon to sign his copy of the British singer’s latest album, “Double Fantasy”, earlier that day as Lennon left the building.

“I saw the photo where he signed the autograph. It was flashed on TV again and again,” Yoko Ono would write to fans a month later in an ad she took out in major newspapers across the country.

“Somehow that photo was harder for me to look at than the death photo. John was in a hurry that afternoon. He did not have to give his autograph but he did, while the man watched him, the man who was to betray John later.”

Years later from a prison cell, Chapman, an evangelical Christian, told a journalist he was “angry at (Lennon) for saying (in the song “God”) that he didn’t believe in God, that he just believed in him and Yoko, and that he didn’t believe in the Beatles”.

Lennon’s quip that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus” also irked him.

Chapman was deemed competent to stand trial and was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains. His 12th parole hearing is set for 2022.

– ‘Great tragedy’ –

Then US president-elect Ronald Reagan — who would later survive an assassination attempt himself — called the killing a “great tragedy” as thousands of mourners gathered outside the building where Lennon had lived with Ono and their son Sean.

Ono announced there would be no public funeral. Instead she sent word to fans singing outside her window to gather at an amphitheatre in nearby Central Park that Sunday to honour her late husband.

On December 14, about 200,000 people braved the New York cold to pay tribute to Lennon with all of the city’s radio stations going silent for 10 minutes.

Across the United States, tens of thousands flocked to “parks, squares, parking lots or theatres — even the natural Red Rocks amphitheatre in the heart of the Rocky mountains, where the Beatles had performed in 1964”, said the AFP report at the time.

Millions more joined in around the world.

– Moscow mourns –

In Moscow, where Beatles albums had been banned, with their recordings circulating on the black market, tributes went on for days. Police finally moved to disperse hundreds of young people who had gathered near the university with portraits of Lennon.

There was a similar crackdown on Beatles fans in Prague.

“You would have to go back to the tragic death of John Kennedy or Dr Martin Luther King Jr in the 60s to find a reaction like this in the wake of a celebrity,” said an AFP account of the events.

Emotions were equally high in Britain, especially in Lennon’s hometown of Liverpool. Some 20,000 people sang “Give Peace a Chance” at the end of a tribute concert.

There was crying and fainting reminiscent of scenes from overwrought audiences at the height of Beatlemania, AFP reported.

“John Lennon is not dead. As long as his music lives he can’t die,” a Beatles impersonator told the Liverpool crowd.

– Relics –

Decades after his death, Lennon’s legacy continues to resurface as objects linked to him come up for auction.

The piano he used to compose “Imagine” was sold in 2000 in London for 2.45 million euros, and one of his guitars went for $2 million in the United States in 2015.

Other prized relics include a pair of his round sunglasses purchased for £137,500 in 2019 and a lock of his hair which sold for $35,000 in Texas in 2016.

© 2020 AFP

 Conspiration Internationale D'art

New Isle of Wight monolith adds extra dimension to terrestrial trend

© Caroline Russell/Facebook A reflective monolith is shown on Compton Beach on the U.K.'s Isle of Wight Monday, Dec. 7, 2020.

Another day, another strange monolith showing up out of nowhere — except this one has a point.

A fourth metallic structure has been discovered under mysterious circumstances in the United Kingdom, amid a viral trend that's looking less alien with each copycat case.

The new metal monolith was spotted on Compton Beach on the Isle of Wight on Sunday, BBC News reports. The object appears similar to the three-sided monoliths previously found in Utah, Romania and California, though it's slightly shorter and has a dramatic point at the top.

Read more: Third metal monolith discovered in California

The new object stands about 2.2 metres tall, making it smaller than the others, which measured about three metres in height.

Social media posts show the object had been hastily planted in the sand and supported by rocks in a seemingly slapdash effort to secure it on the uneven beach.

Wooden feet were visible beneath it, and it appeared to be listing to one side within a few hours of its discovery.

Tom Dunford, 29, told Sky News that he discovered the monolith early Sunday while walking his dog on the beach.

"It's really reflective," he told the news outlet. Dunford added that the object has attracted a lot of attention on the small island south of the U.K. mainland. Yet he's not worried that it'll attract extraterrestrial or otherworldly forces any time soon.

"It's someone playing a practical joke. I don't believe any of these conspiracy theories," he said.

Local Alexia Fishwick said she was "dumbstruck" when she discovered the object on the beach. She told BBC that the mirror-like monolith was "really quite magical" to witness up close.

The U.K.'s National Trust, which owns the site, says it's investigating the incident.

The monoliths have become a sudden viral fad since the first one was discovered in the Utah desert last month. The objects have frequently been compared to the alien monoliths in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which were used to accelerate the progress of Earth's civilization.

Unlike the 2001 monoliths, the 2020 ones appear to be designed for capturing attention on social media.

Utah state officials spotted the first object during a helicopter flyover near Moab, where it had apparently been in place for years. The mysterious object sparked wild speculation that it had been built by artists or aliens, and has since spawned a number of copycats.

It was reportedly removed overnight on Nov. 27 by a group of people who wanted to destroy it.

A second monument briefly appeared in Romania in late November. That monolith was similar in general size and shape to the original, although its surface was covered in markings and marred by crude welding mistakes. It also disappeared after a few days.

Video: Mysterious monolith discovered in Romania after similar structure disappears in Utah desert

A third monolith cropped up on a hilltop in California last week, with a design similar to the first.

Pranksters toppled the California object within 24 hours of its discovery.

Video: Another mysterious monolith appears in California

A collective called The Most Famous Artist has claimed credit for the two U.S. monoliths, though their claims have not been verified. The group says it will not speak to anyone except podcaster Joe Rogan.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Isle of Wight monolith.

The object was still in place Monday afternoon, according to users on a community Facebook group.

Mysterious monolith found on Isle of Wight beach

Monoliths: Why are mysterious monuments appearing across the globe?

Shiny pillars have been erected without explanation at sites across world

Zoe Tidman

Monoliths have popped up in surprising places over the past few weeks, with the most recent appearing on a beach on the Isle of Wight.

Several of these tall, shiny pillars have now been found at sites around the globe without warning or explanation since mid-November.

The first was discovered in the US, when a helicopter crew flying over a remote part of a Utah desert counting sheep spotted a strange statue below.

This metal monolith was found on 18 November and disappeared just as mysteriously as it appeared on 27 November.

Around the same time as the Utah one vanished, a shiny metal monolith appeared on the other side of the globe in the Romanian hillside.

Mysterious silver monolith disappears from Utah desert

California monolith emerges after Utah, Romania works exit

New mysterious monolith appears on top of mountain in California

The structure disappeared several days after it was first spotted near the Petrodava Dacian Fortress, a local archaeological landmark in the northern Neamt country.

Shortly afterwards, a new monolith was spotted at the top of a mountain trail in southern California before it also vanished.

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Then, over the first weekend in December, people stumbled across a tall shiny monolith on a beach on the Isle of Wight. The pillar was spotted on Compton Beach on the west side of the island.

Although it is has not been confirmed exactly who is responsible for the monoliths, an anonymous collective called The Most Famous Artist has taken credit for the Utah and California statues, and is selling three replicas for $45,000 (£34,000) each

A shiny monolith has appeared on an Isle of Wight beach
(@AlexiaRFishwick via REUTERS)

However, when asked about the Isle of Wight structure, it said: “The monolith is out of my control at this point. Godspeed to all the aliens working hard around the globe to propagate the myth.”

The structures have sparked comparisons with the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, where an alien monolith is a recurring symbol that appears to play a role in the development of human evolution.

Bret Hutchings, a helicopter pilot who first spotted the Utah monolith, told local news station KSLTV he thought the structures could be from “a new wave artist” or someone who was a fan of the Stanley Kubrick film.

A monolith appeared in and disappeared from a Utah desert in November
(AP)

No one has claimed responsibility for the European monoliths.

Speaking about the Romanian monolith, the Piatra Neamt mayor Andrei Carabelea wrote on Facebook: “There is no reason to panic for those who think there is still life in the universe.”

“My guess is that some alien, cheeky and terrible teenagers left home with their parents' UFO and started planting metal monoliths around the world,” the mayor said. “First in Utah and then at Piatra Neamt. I am honoured that they chose our city.”

Speculation has also followed the disappearance of the US and Romanian monoliths.

A Colorado photographer told KSTU-TV that he saw four men come to the remote Utah site one night and push over the hollow, stainless steel object, saying “leave no trace” as they walked away.

Two extreme-sports athletes have claimed they were part of a group that tore down the hollow metal structure because they were worried about the damage the droves of visitors were causing to the relatively untouched spot.

A monolith stands on a Stadium Park hillside in Atascadero in California
(AP)

Officials said the visitors flattened plants with their cars and left behind human waste.

Meanwhile, authorities in the Californian city of Atascadero said its monolith had been torn down by a group of young men that traveled five hours in the middle of the night to remove it.

“We are upset that these young men felt the need to drive five hours to come into our community and vandalise the monolith,” Heather Moreno, the local mayor, said. “The monolith was something unique and fun in an otherwise stressful time.”

Additional reporting by agencies