Coronavirus: Rich countries hoarding COVID vaccines, campaigners warn

Rich nations are stockpiling the most promising coronavirus vaccines, and people in poorer nations could miss out as a result. Campaigners are urging pharma companies to share technology so more doses can be made.

The UK began its coronavirus vaccination campaign on Tuesday

Just one in 10 people in dozens of poor countries will be able to get vaccinated against the coronavirus because wealthy countries have hoarded more doses than they need, the People's Vaccine Alliance said Wednesday.

Rich nations have bought 54% of the total stock of the world's most promising vaccines, despite being home to just 14% of the global population, said the Alliance, a coalition including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Global Justice Now.

Those wealthy nations have purchased enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations three times over by the end of 2021 if the vaccine candidates currently in clinical trials are approved for use.

"This shouldn't be a battle between countries to secure enough doses," Mohga Kamal-Yanni, an advisor for People's Vaccine Alliance, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The Alliance called on pharmaceutical companies developing coronavirus vaccines to openly share their technology and intellectual property through the World Health Organization so that more doses can be made.

"During these unprecedented times of a global pandemic, people's lives and livelihoods should be put before pharmaceutical company profit," Kamal-Yanni said

Wealthy countries first?

The UK began vaccinating high-risk groups on Tuesday after becoming the first country to approve the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine. The US and EU are expected to follow suit in the coming days and weeks.

This week it was revealed US President Donald Trump would sign an executive order prioritizing the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine to Americans before doses go to other nations, as part of his "America First" policy.

But while these wealthy nations are either beginning or about to begin their vaccination campaigns, the People's Vaccine Alliance warned that people in 67 low- and lower-middle-income countries, including Bhutan, Ethiopia and Haiti, are at risk of being left out.

Almost all the available doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines — two of the most promising — have been bought up by rich countries, the Alliance said.

AstraZeneca and Oxford University, who are also developing a promising vaccine, have promised to make 64% of their doses available to developing countries. However, the Alliance said that would reach only 18% of the world's population by next year "at most."

"No one should be blocked from getting a life-saving vaccine because of the country they live in or the amount of money in their pocket," said Anna Marriott, Oxfam's health policy manager. "But unless something changes dramatically, billions of people around the world will not receive a safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 for years to come."

Germany's gender pay gap shrinks, but still higher than EU average

German women made 19% less than men in 2019, a slim decrease from 2018. With the European Union average at 15%, Germany has the bloc's second-worst gender pay gap after Estonia.




The gender pay gap between men and women in Germany fell by 1% in 2019, but it was still higher than the European Union average, according to new figures from the Federal Statistical Office published on Tuesday.

Women made 19% less in wages than men in 2019, compared to 20% in 2018.

"Viewed over a longer period of time, a slow but steady decline can be observed in Germany," the report read, noting that the gap in 2014 stood at 22%. The figure takes a look at all jobs and all qualifications, adjusting only for gender differences.

When the wage gap is evaluated for men and women employed in the same number of hours, with the same qualifications and in the same kinds of jobs, the gap narrowed to 6%.

The narrower adjusted wage gap has moved at an even slower pace than the unadjusted wage gap, remaining at 6% since 2014. It stood at 7% in 2010 and 8% in 2006.

Experts have long attributed Germany's gender pay gap to the differences in career choices, with women working in lower paid professions and industries.

Women are also more likely to work part-time or reduced hours, often because they still bear the brunt of childcare and housekeeping responsibilities.

Moreover, women in Germany are less likely to occupy higher management positions in most industries.

 VIDEO The Gender Pay Gap


Higher than EU average

The EU has not yet published its figures for 2019, but it posted an average 15% gender pay gap across the bloc in 2018.

Germanys 2019 numbers still put it above the average and last year, it ranked second worst after Estonia, which posts the highest wage gap in the EU at 22%.

The EU countries that registered the narrowest gaps in wages between men and women were Luxembourg at 1%, Romania at 2% and Italy at 4%.

Countries like the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland landed roughly at the average with 14-15%, while nations like Croatia, Hungary and Sweden were just below at an average of 10-12%.
Germany's east-west divide

The gender pay gap in Germany is driven by a higher inequality in the West, as the states which made up the former East Germany had markedly narrower gaps in 2018.

In the states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia the pay gap was on average 7%.

This can be attributed to the fact that wages are generally lower in eastern Germany, but also to cultural patterns of childcare and female participation in the labor force, which was much higher in the East prior to reunification.

jcg/dr (dpa, Reuters, KNA)

ABOUT TIME; TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

COVID-19: Alberta to close bars, restaurants, casinos, ban outdoor gatherings in bid to curb spread of virus
Anna Junker , Dustin Cook , Ashley Joannou POSTMEDIA 

© Provided by Edmonton Journal 

Premier Jason Kenney outlined a list of new restrictions because of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Casinos, gyms and dine-in service at restaurants will be shut down, all outdoor social gatherings will be banned and masks will be mandatory across Alberta in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19, Premier Jason Kenney announced Tuesday.

Retail services, shopping malls and places of worship must also reduce capacity to 15 per cent of fire code occupancy.

The ban on social gatherings and masking mandate are effective immediately while all other measures will come into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday. They will be in effect for at least four weeks and apply to the entire province.

Indoor gatherings remain prohibited as well, and will continue to be over the holidays.

Calling the decision a “last resort” in an effort to save lives and protect the health-care system, Kenney said hospitals would run out of capacity if the virus is allowed to spread at current growth rates without stronger measures.

“We know that hundreds or potentially thousands more Albertans could die” he said.

“We are now at a place where viral transmission is so widespread in the community, that it does not any longer matter how careful business operators are.”

The suite of new restrictions came as Alberta reported 1,727 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 20,388 — the highest in Canada.

There are 654 people in hospital, including 112 in the intensive care unit. The provincial death toll is now at 640 after nine more deaths were reported.

Until now, the province has taken a regional approach with COVID-19 restrictions, but Kenney said that is not a viable option anymore.

“Ninety-seven per cent of Albertans live today in a local geographic area with more than 50 active COVID cases per 100,000 population and that was our key threshold,” Kenney said. “The virus is spreading at an alarming rate in every region of the province.”

NDP Leader Rachel Notley called the restrictions “late,” saying the government could have acted four weeks ago before the numbers increased even further.

“The premier acted like he didn’t have a choice but let’s be clear, he’s had many choices, many opportunities to act decisively. But at every turn, he failed to make the tough choice, that public health expertise and public health evidence clearly pointed to, at least until today,” she said following the announcement.

Business restrictions

As of Sunday, restaurants, pubs, bars, lounges and cafes will be closed to dine-in service while other businesses including casinos, bingo halls, bowling alleys, legions and private clubs will be shut down.

Recreational facilities such as fitness centres, pools, spas, gyms, studios and indoor rinks and arenas will also be closed — including the City of Edmonton’s five fitness centres and four pools.

Outdoor recreation, including skating rinks and ski hills, remain permitted as long as public health measures are followed. Facilities with indoor spaces will be closed, except for washrooms.

Entertainment spaces such as libraries, science centres, museums and galleries will also be closed.

Hotels can remain open, but must follow public health restrictions, including the closure of spas, pools or in-person dining — only room service will be available.

Personal and wellness services such as hair salons, nail salons, massage, tattoo and piercing parlours must also close.

Social or protective services, shelters, emergency services, childcare and not-for-profit community kitchens or charitable kitchens may remain open for in-person attendance.

Kenney also announced a mandatory province-wide work-from-home mandate, unless the employer determines “a physical presence for operational effectiveness.”

Meanwhile, to help the estimated 30,000 businesses that will be impacted by the restrictions, the government is expanding its grant program to $20,000 from $5,000.

Jobs, Economy and Innovation Minister Doug Schweitzer said an additional 15,000 businesses will qualify for the grant that is now open to businesses who have experienced a 30 per cent reduction in revenue — a drop from the previous 50 per cent requirement.

Businesses will be eligible for up to 15 per cent of their pre-COVID monthly revenues up to $20,000. Applications will open later this month.

Edmonton Independent Hospitality Community co-founder Kristoffer Harvey said the organization welcomes the new restrictions and the changes to the grant program. Although the expansion falls short of the $25,000 the NDP had been calling for, Harvey said the lower threshold will make more hospitality businesses eligible even if they continue to offer takeout and delivery.

“This is much-needed provincial help that we’ve been asking for since April,” he said. “It is bittersweet because unfortunately we’ve lost far too many businesses along the way due to the province not expanding their ability to help sooner.”

Edmonton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Janet Riopel said the restrictions will hurt businesses but are essential to curbing the spread of the virus before focusing on economic recovery.

“These restrictions will impact every business — whether they contributed to the spread of COVID or not — and will not be easy to manage. Having some cash flow through government supports will help our job creators to hang on a bit longer,” she said in a statement. “We continue to urge Edmontonians to shop local, shop safely, support our charitable sector, and wear a mask this holiday season — it’s simply the right thing to do.”

Alberta is the last province to implement a provincial mask mandate, which the NDP had been calling for. 

Notley urged the government Tuesday to fix the contact tracing system, pursue a workforce strategy in continuing care and bring in rapid testing at least twice a week to slow the spread.
Gathering bans

Public and private outdoor social gatherings will be banned, while indoor gatherings remain restricted. Any close contacts are limited to household members only, while t hose who live alone continue to be allowed to visit with two people.

Kenney said the restrictions will apply over the holidays because the single biggest source of transmission of COVID-19 is at-home gatherings.

“If we relax the public health measures to permit large family gatherings in just three weeks time, we will without a shadow of a doubt see a large increase in hospitalizations and fatalities,” he said. “We simply cannot let this Christmas turn into a tragedy for many families.”

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, added that a university student who is studying out of province, but still calls Alberta home, would be allowed to go back to their family for Christmas.

“If it’s somebody who’s coming to visit, whose place of residence, permanent residence is not Alberta, that at this time — and I recognize that this is very difficult, people have had travel plans for a while — but at the current time, our restrictions for in-home social gatherings would apply to anyone who would be coming just for that visit,” she said.

Following the province’s announcement, Mayor Don Iveson urged Edmontonians to observe the new rules and find creative ways to stay connected over the holidays.

“Not too long from now, we’ll look back with pride at how we hibernated for health and, by our diligent actions saved many lives and prevented an overload of the health system for those who still needed it,” Iveson said in a statement

Edmonton area to see more surgery reductions

In the Edmonton Zone, which includes the city and surrounding municipalities, there are 9,383 active causes of COVID-19, the most of the province’s health zones.

On Tuesday, Hinshaw announced as much as 60 per cent of non-urgent scheduled surgeries that require a hospital stay will now be postponed, up from 30 per cent in October. Surgeries for major and minor trauma, urgent cancer, cardiac and vascular cases will continue.

Diagnostic imaging or other clinical support services could be reduced as much as 40 per cent while ambulatory visits and procedures will be reduced as needed.

“These steps are yet another reminder of why today’s restrictions are needed, and how COVID-19 impact reaches far beyond those who test positive,” Hinshaw said.

City council will meet Thursday to discuss how the city can support communication and enforcement of the measures.

A full list of the restrictions can be found here .

'Stronger action:' Many businesses to close as Alberta tightens COVID restrictions

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, his province relentlessly pounded by thousands of new COVID-19 cases, has reintroduced strict economic lockdown rules and banned all outdoor social gatherings

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

"If stronger action is not taken now, we know that hundreds, potentially thousands, of Albertans will die," Kenney told a news conference Tuesday.

"We cannot let that happen. We will not let that happen."

Alberta, once a national leader in COVID-19 prevention, has been in free fall for over a month, its health system bending dangerously under well over 1,000 new cases a day with more than 100 people in intensive care.

For days, it has the highest rate of new infections of any province.

To combat the crisis, Kenney announced he is restricting restaurants and bars to delivery or takeout and closing casinos and gyms, recreation centres, libraries, theatres and personal service providers such as hair salons.

Retail stores and churches can remain open, but at 15 per cent capacity. Outdoor skating rinks and ski hills may remain active.

The order comes into effect Sunday.

Outdoor social gatherings had been limited to 10 people but are now banned altogether. Fitness activities, such as skating, skiing, or walking, are fine as long as social distance is maintained.

Kenney also imposed a provincewide mask mandate in indoor public spaces, including workplaces, except for farms.

Alberta had been the only province without a sweeping mask rule, although many communities were already mandating face coverings. Kenney had called it unworkable and unnecessary in remote areas and particularly punitive to farmers who already work in socially distanced settings.

Existing school rules stay in place: all students in grades 7 through 12 must learn at home while in-class learning continues for those in lower grades.

The measures are to remain in effect for at least four weeks, putting them in force through the Christmas season.

Jobs Minister Doug Schweitzer announced $500 million in supports to help small and medium-sized businesses survive the shutdown.

The new rules are similar to orders imposed by Kenney’s government in the spring, except for allowing most retailers to stay open.

In recent weeks, as cases rose precipitously, the Opposition NDP and hundreds of physicians and infectious disease specialists argued for a short, severe lockdown of the economy and public events to avoid swamping the health-care system. 

Kenney had argued for a balance of “lives and livelihoods'' and said throwing thousands of people out of work would make things worse for the economy, community wellness and mental health. 

NDP Leader Rachel Notley told the house Tuesday that Kenney’s decision cost lives.

She later told reporters, after the new measures were announced, that "the premier acted like he didn’t have a choice. But let’s be clear, he has had many choices, many opportunities to act decisively. 

“But at every turn he failed to make the tough choice that public health expertise and public health evidence clearly pointed to.”

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said he backs the changes.

“These restrictions will be tough to bear — more so for vulnerable people in our community and for struggling businesses — but there is provincial, municipal and substantial federal aid available that should allow us all to do the right thing and follow these new public health measures to stop this virus," said Iveson.

The City of Calgary, in a news release, said it also supports the new rules.

It’s the second time in two weeks that Kenney has introduced new restrictions to try to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. 

On Nov. 24, the premier introduced rules to keep businesses open but with tighter health restrictions and limits on gatherings.

But Dr. Deena Hinshaw, chief medical officer of health, announced Monday those measures weren't flattening the curve and tougher rules were needed. 

Alberta reported more than 21,000 active cases on Tuesday with 654 people in hospital — 112 of them receiving intensive care. Daily death counts have been in the double digits for much of the last week. 

Daily infection numbers have also been over 1,000 since Nov. 24 and more than 1,600 a day for almost a week.

Alberta’s health system has been reassigning patients, staff, wards and spaces to free up more intensive care beds. The province has also consulted with the federal government and the Red Cross on setting up field hospitals to handle patient overflow. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2020. 

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

German intelligence places coronavirus protesters under observation - media

By Reuters Staff


FILE PHOTO: Police use water cannons during a protest against the government's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, next to the Brandenburger Gate, in Berlin, November, 18, 2020. REUTERS/Christian Mang

BERLIN (Reuters) - German intelligence has for the first time placed under observation a group of protesters against the government’s coronavirus restrictions, media reports said, following warnings about far-right extremists’ growing influence in the movement.

The domestic intelligence service in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg has made the group called “Querdenken 711” subject to observation, Spiegel magazine reported on Wednesday, citing security sources.

“Querdenken 711” was founded in the affluent city of Stuttgart and is seen as the origin of a movement promoting protest rallies across the country.

Spiegel said security authorities were especially alarmed about calls by protesters for a large rally in Berlin on New Year’s Eve, which is being promoted in the far-right Reichsbuerger movement.

Members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) do not recognise modern-day Germany as a legitimate state, and insist the former, far larger “Deutsches Reich” is still alive despite Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War Two.

Last month, police fired water cannon and pepper spray in an effort to scatter thousands of protesters in Berlin angry about coronavirus restrictions.

Ethiopia's war risks leaving manufacturing dreams in tatters

By Ruma Paul, Anna Ringstrom and Joe Bavier

© Reuters/TIKSA NEGERI FILE PHOTO:

 Workers sew clothes inside the Indochine Apparel textile factory in Hawassa Industrial Park in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - When Bangladeshi textile firm DBL set up shop in Ethiopia two years ago, the African nation was the garment industry's bright new frontier, boasting abundant cheap labour and a government keen to woo companies with tax breaks and cheap loans.

© Reuters/TIKSA NEGERI FILE PHOTO: Members of Amhara region militias ride on their truck as they head to face the Tigray People's Liberation Front in Sanja

Last month, as fighting raged in the northern Tigray region, DBL's compound was rocked by an explosion that blasted out the factory's windows, radically altering its business calculus.

"All we could do was to pray out loud," said Adbul Waseq, an official at the company, which makes clothes mainly for Swedish fashion giant H&M and is one of at least three foreign garment makers to have suspended operations in Tigray.

© Reuters/TIKSA NEGERI FILE PHOTO:

 Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during a question and answer session with lawmakers in Addis Ababa

"We could have died," Waseq told Reuters.

For over a decade, Ethiopia has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure such as hydro-electric dams, railways, roads as well as industrial parks in an ambitious bid to transform the poor, mainly agrarian nation into a manufacturing powerhouse.

By 2017, it was the world's fastest growing economy.

A year later, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office, pledging to loosen the state's grip on an economy with over 100 million people and liberalise sectors such as telecoms, fuelling something akin to glasnost-era headiness among investors.

But for two years Ethiopia has been pummelled by challenges: ethnic clashes, floods, locust swarms and coronavirus lockdowns.

Now, fighting which erupted on Nov. 4 between the army and forces loyal to Tigray's former ruling party, and fears it could signal a period of prolonged unrest, have served investors with a harsh reality check.

© Reuters/TIKSA NEGERI FILE PHOTO: 

Workers sew clothes inside the Indochine Apparel textile factory in Hawassa Industrial Park in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region

Any hesitation by investors could spell trouble as the country's manufacturing export push isn't yet generating enough foreign currency either to pay for all the country's imports or keep pace with rising debt service costs. Even before the pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had warned that Ethiopia was at high risk of debt distress.

© Reuters/TIKSA NEGERI FILE PHOTO: 

A general view shows Hawassa Industrial Park in Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region

Abiy's government said that, amid the crises it's facing, Ethiopia was pushing ahead with reforms that will build the foundations for a modern economy.

"Despite the unprecedented shock from COVID and continued insecurity in different parts of the country, the Ethiopian economy showed remarkable resilience," Mamo Mihretu, senior policy adviser in the prime minister's office, told Reuters.

For a graphic on Ethiopia's rising debt payments:

https://graphics.reuters.com/ETHIOPIA-CONFLICT/DASHED-PROMISE/nmovabmbxpa/chart.png

PRODUCTION SUSPENDED

Ethiopia is a relatively small textiles producer with exports in 2016 of just $94 million compared with $29 billion for Vietnam and $253 billion for China in the same year, World Bank trade data showed. Its top exports are agricultural, such as coffee, tea, spices, oil seeds, plants and flowers.

But Ethiopia's push into the textile industry over the past 10 years has been emblematic of its manufacturing ambitions.

As fighting neared Tigray's regional capital, Mekelle, textile companies began shutting down and pulling out staff.

"It seemed that the conflict was getting closer to the city, and our worry was that we wouldn't be able to leave," Cristiano Frati, an electrician evacuated from a factory run by Italian hosiery chain Calzedonia, told an Italian newspaper.

Calzedonia said on Nov. 13 it had suspended operations at the plant, which employs about 2,000 people, due to the conflict. It has declined to comment further.

DBL, meanwhile, has flown its foreign staff out of Ethiopia.

"Everything has become uncertain," its managing director M.A. Jabbar said. "When will the war end?"

Another foreign company, Velocity Apparelz Companies - a supplier to H&M and Children's Place - has also temporarily shut down, a company official told Reuters.

H&M said it was "very concerned" and was closely monitoring the situation.

"We have three suppliers in Tigray, and the production there has come to a halt," the company told Reuters, emphasising that it would continue to source from Ethiopia where it has about 10 suppliers in total.

Indochine Apparel, a Chinese firm that supplies Levi Strauss & Co, said its operations in the Hawassa industrial park in the south of the country were unaffected.

Levi Strauss said it was monitoring the situation and confirmed there had been no impact on its supply chain so far.

'NOT A PRETTY PICTURE'

Ethiopia's apparel sector was struggling even before the fighting in Tigray because of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Some facilities did not survive the collapse in orders while others slashed wages or laid off staff.

The malaise has not been limited to the garment sector.

Even before the conflict, insurance companies underwriting political risk had stopped providing cover beyond Ethiopia's northern Amhara region and the federal capital Addis Ababa, a risk consultant who advises corporate clients said.

"Ethiopia is not a pretty picture right now," he said.

Like most sources contacted by Reuters, the consultant asked not to be named, fearing a backlash from government authorities.

Abiy's efforts to ease a repressive political climate had already uncorked ethnic clashes before the war in Tigray. Violence in other parts of the country which intensified in 2019 had disrupted projects, notably in agriculture.

"The fighting started around the time we were going to start planting," said the head of an agri-industry project that was forced to delay its investment last year.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA opened a purchasing office in Ethiopia last year. However, it closed it down in September after shelving plans to source from the country due to the political and social situation, COVID-19 and changes to the cotton market in Africa, the company told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, a bottling partner of the Coca-Cola Company, told Reuters that the fighting in Tigray, which accounts for about 20% of its sales volumes in Ethiopia, had halted business there.

That comes on the heels of delays in the construction of two new bottling plants - part of a $300 million five-year investment plan announced last year - due to the pandemic and an excise tax increase.

For a graphic on Investment slipping:

https://graphics.reuters.com/ETHIOPIA-CONFLICT/DASHED-PROMISE/gjnpwkgzepw/chart.png

'FEW WAYS OUT'

With the fall of Mekelle at the end of last month, Abiy declared victory over Tigray's former ruling party (TPLF).

"The swift, decisive, and determined completion of the active phase of the military operation means any lingering concerns about political uncertainty by the investment community will be effectively settled," Abiy's adviser Mamo said.

The TPLF has vowed to fight on.

For the government, there is little margin for error. Ethiopia's external debt has ballooned five-fold over the past decade as the government borrowed heavily - notably from China - to pay for infrastructure and industrial parks.

Foreign direct investment inflows, meanwhile, have declined steadily since a 2016 peak of more than $4 billion, slipping to about $500 million for the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Inflation is hovering around 20%.

"There are very few ways out of this. They aren't going to get more money from the IMF. They can't go to the markets. Their best bet is a global economic recovery next year," said Menzi Ndhlovu, senior country and political risk analyst at Signal Risk, an Africa-focused business consultancy.

Still, Ethiopia passed a landmark investment law earlier this year and implemented currency reforms.

And the government is pushing ahead its plans to open up the telecommunications sector. It opened tendering for two new telecoms licences at the end of November and plans to sell off a minority stake in state-owned Ethio Telecom.

Sources following the process, which should provide the beleaguered economy with a hefty injection of dollars, said interested companies were not deterred by the current unrest.

But for now, Ethiopia's grand manufacturing dreams have been dealt a setback.

"Who will go there in this situation?" asked DBL's Waseq, who has returned to Bangladesh. "No one."

(Reporting by the Addis Ababa newsroom, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm and Joe Bavier in Johannesburg; Additional reporting by Sonya Dowsett in Madrid, Maggie Fick in Istanbul, Silvia Aloisi in Milan, Sophie Yu in Beijing and Martinne Geller in London; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and David Clarke)

TORONTO ZOO ANNOUNCES DEATH OF 49-YEAR-OLD GORILLA, JOSEPHINE

One of the Toronto Zoo's original animals from when it opened in 1974 has died. Josephine the gorilla was 49 years old. As Ali Chiasson explains, her zookeepers are determined to keep her legacy alive through animal research.

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Tesla progress on German factory slowed by sleeping snakes

Tesla is building its first European factory in Brandenburg, Germany.

But a court ordered Elon Musk's electric car company to stop clearing a pine forests there, after environmentalists said their activity could harm hibernating snakes and lizards.

Tesla intended to start production of vehicles by early summer of 2021 in Germany, but delays to the factory's construction could push that timeline out.

© Provided by CNBC 25 January 2020, Brandenburg, Grünheide: Tesla electric vehicles stand on a road on the edge of a forest where the construction of a Tesla factory is planned.

Tesla has been clearing a pine forest to build its first European factory in Brandenburg, Germany. Now, a German environmental authority has ordered the electric car company to suspend that activity until it can prove the action won't harm hibernating snakes and lizards in the area.

German newspaper Tagesspiegel first reported on the court's order to suspend the clear-cutting.

The delay was a second win for environmental groups in Germany. Earlier, Tesla capitulated to activists' demands and agreed to reduce water consumption at its new plant by more than a third.

Delays in factory construction could push Tesla's start of production in Europe later into next year or beyond. The company was aiming to produce its electric vehicles locally in Germany by July 2021.

Time is of the essence for Tesla in Europe -- automakers in the region, including Volkswagen, and Audi, are now selling battery-electric vehicles that compete with Tesla's most popular models, including the VW ID.3 and Audi e-tron.

While Tesla was able to build a new vehicle assembly plant in Shanghai in less than a year, the company faces a stricter regulatory environment in Germany. It has had broad political support in Germany, but faced significant pushback from environmental activists concerned about the factory's water consumption, and impact on the ecosystem in Brandenburg. It also faces demands of the German auto workers' labor union, the 2.3 million-member IG Metall.

Tesla was not immediately available to comment.

In November 2019, when CEO Elon Musk announced plans to build a car plant in Germany, he lauded German engineering. At that time, Musk said: "Everyone knows that German engineering is outstanding, for sure. That's part of the reason why we are locating our Gigafactory Europe in Germany. We are also going to create an engineering and design center in Berlin, because Berlin has some of the best art in the world."

On Tuesday, Tesla said in regulatory filings that it is raising up to $5 billion in its third at-the-market offering of 2020, in part to support its expansion plans.

During a third-quarter earnings call, Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn advised investors of increased spending over the next two years. He said: "Looking forward to 2021 and 2022, we have revised up our expectations for capital spending by $2 billion to $2.5 billion, which we have ample liquidity and expected cash flows to fund. This is driven by an increase in in-store scope for certain factories, including battery cell manufacturing, as well as investments to enable greater capacity expansion in the future."

Tegu lizards: An invasive species of giant lizard has been making its way through the Southeast
By Lauren M. Johnson, CNN 

© Dustin Smith/SCDNR 

The black and white tegu lizard has few predators and can reproduce quickly.

An invasive species of giant lizard is invading the Southeast and threatening native wildlife.

The Argentine black and white tegu is a native of South America and eats the eggs of ground-nesting birds, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. They grow up to 4 feet long and can weigh more than 10 pounds. They also eat fruits, vegetables, insects and eggs.


Wildlife officials are concerned that the invasive species will compete with native animals for food and other resources, cause habitat damage, and transmit diseases. Invasive species can prey on native wildlife, so the department has a strategy for conserving indigenous species and their habitats statewide.

The lizards also have few predators, so they can multiply quickly.

It is unclear how they were released into the wild, but tegu lizards are legal as pets in many states, so it's possible a domestic lizard was released, on purpose or accidentally.

In Georgia, Department of Natural Resources officials began investigating reports of the tegu in eastern Toombs and western Tattnall counties in May.

The department is working with the US Geological Society and Georgia Southern University to trap the animals to remove them and assess their population. Trapped tegus are euthanized, and their diet and reproductive status documented.

In August there was a confirmed sighting in South Carolina, the first. Wildlife experts are asking residents to document where they see the animal so they can track its whereabouts.

The lizards are also known to occupy Florida, with official sightings in Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, St. Lucie and Charlotte counties.

Tegus do not pose a large threat to humans, but they can bite.

Vast wildfires in Siberia linked to warming Arctic


WASHINGTON — This year's vast wildfires in far northeastern Russia were linked to broader changes in a warming Arctic, according to a report Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

Wildfires are a natural part of many boreal ecosystems. But the extent of flames during the 2020 fire season was unprecedented in the 2001-2020 satellite record, and is consistent with the predicted effects of climate change, said Alison York, a University of Alaska Fairbanks fire scientist and a contributor to the annual Arctic Report Card.

The recent wildfires were exacerbated by elevated air temperatures and decreased snow cover on the ground in the Arctic region, the report found.

The past year — from October 2019 to September 2020 — was the second warmest on record in the Arctic, the report said. And the extent of snow on the ground in June across the Eurasian Arctic was the lowest recorded in 54 years.

Under those conditions, trees and plants “are just more flammable,” said York.

“The Arctic isn’t just this collection of components, it’s really an integrated system,” said Dartmouth sea ice scientist Don Perovich, who contributed to the report. "When something happens to one part of the system, it has cascading effects," he said.

Satellites recorded the second lowest extent of sea ice in September since record-keeping began 42 years ago, the report found.

Melting ice is both a result of increased temperatures and an accelerator of further changes, Perovich said. “As sea ice thins, more light can penetrate into the ocean, with unclear impacts for ecosystems,” he said.

As snow and ice cover decreases, the land and ocean surfaces also absorb more heat.

“Changes in the Arctic climate are important because the Arctic acts as a refrigerator for the rest of the world — it helps cool the planet,” said Lawrence Mudryk, a report contributor and a climate scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, a governmental research group.

“How much of the Arctic continues to be covered by snow and sea ice reflects part of how efficiently that refrigerator is working,” he said.

Last year's report included essays and research contributed by the Arctic's Indigenous communities for the first time. But in 2020, close collaboration between visiting scientists and Indigenous communities was not possible because of travel restrictions related to COVID-19.

Report contributor Matthew Druckenmiller, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder, said efforts to involve Indigenous communities would resume after the pandemic subsides.

The consequences of a warming Arctic are already felt far beyond the region.

“The Arctic continues to be a warning siren of how our Earth system is changing and it is important for policymakers and the public to understand that the impacts don’t stay in the Arctic with the polar bears,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd, who was not involved in the report.

“We feel them, too, through changes in our weather patterns, sea level rise, and fisheries."

THIS APPLIES TO NORTH AMERICA AS WELL
Childhood sex education reduces risky sexual behaviour: a Nigerian case study
December 6, 2020 

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The World Health Organisation has marked significant improvements in some aspects of adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Young people are having their first sexual encounters at a later age and are more likely to use condoms. But HIV infections in this age group are not decreasing and sexually transmitted infections remain high.

The World Health Organisation defines an adolescent as a person between the ages of 10 and 19. Adolescents make up 22.3% of Nigeria’s population. The country is home to a third of all adolescents on the continent. This is why any study on how to prevent risky health behaviours is important for the country’s future health.

In Southeastern Nigeria alone, the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among adolescents has been placed at 17%. In addition, 32.5% of all unsafe abortions in this region are among adolescents. The prevalence of sexually transmitted infection and HIV among adolescents in Nigerian universities is high. This is due to high-risk sexual behaviours like unprotected sexual intercourse and multiple sexual partners.

Research has shown that sex education can help address risky sexual behaviour. It can also reduce teenage pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Access to sex education gives young people the opportunity to learn about their sexuality, sexual activity, safe sex and sexual abstinence. The knowledge equips them to make sensible sexual decisions. But young people in Nigeria rarely have free access to information about their sexuality. As a result, most find answers from questionable sources, which exposes them to even greater risks.

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Parents have the primary role of educating their children about their sexuality. But cultural beliefs and taboos about sex can work strongly against their efforts. Another challenge is that even when the subject is approached, emphasis is often on abstinence-only sex education.

We conducted a study among young undergraduates at four Nigerian universities. The aim was to find out what type of sex education they were exposed to in childhood and how that influenced their sexual behaviour as university students.

We found that the rate of risky sexual behaviour differed among adolescents based on the type of sex education they received in childhood. The more information they were given by their parents, the less risky behaviour they engaged in.
The views of adolescents

We conducted qualitative research that involved collecting data from 24 adolescent undergraduate students in four universities located in Southeastern Nigeria. The number of participants is considered appropriate for a study of this nature.

The participants were within the 16 – 19 years age range. We focused on adolescent undergraduates who were separated from their parents or guardian and were staying either on or off campus.

Often, this group has greater autonomy, which could mean more opportunity to engage in sexual activity.

Our data showed that most students who received abstinence-plus sex education reported consistent condom use, complete abstinence or one sexual partner.

We concluded from this that the fact that parents spoke to their children about contraceptives like condoms and the risks associated with multiple sexual partners was important for the child’s sexual experience as they grew older.

Our findings also showed unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners were much more prevalent among adolescents who were not exposed to quality sex education in early adolescence.

This was also true of adolescents whose parents were religious and authoritative and did not teach sex education during early adolescence. In addition, students who received abstinence-only sex education engaged in unprotected sex and multiple sexual partners.

Students raised in rural areas indulged in unprotected sex because of limited access to sex education during early adolescence.

These groups described the university as an environment to do most of what they were prevented from doing at home.

What to do

The important role of parents when it comes to sex education has been shown in a range of research around the world. But sex education must happen at an early age. In addition it must be comprehensive enough to cover knowledge on contraception, and the consequences of multiple sexual partners and sexual initiation at a young age.

Mothers, unlike fathers, are more available to educate their children about sex. But there is a need for both parents to see sex education as a joint activity and not the sole responsibility of mothers.

Programmes to improve the communication skills of parents should be organised. This has the potential to improve children’s sexual development.

Authors
Aloysius Odii

Ph.D. candidate in Demography and population studies, University of Nigeria
Nkechi G. Onyeneho

Researcher, University of Nigeria
Disclosure statement

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.


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