Johnny Mullagh becomes 1st Aboriginal member of Australia Cricket HOF


A bust of 19th century Australian cricketer Johnny Mullagh is seen at a park in Cootamundra, Australia. File Photo by Doug Butler/Wikimedia Commons

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Johnny Mullagh, a star for Australia's pioneering 1868 all-Aboriginal cricket team, was selected Monday as the first Aboriginal member of the country's Cricket Hall of Fame.

Born Unaarrimin, Mullagh is hailed as one of the top cricketers of the Victorian Era and the best player on a groundbreaking all-Aboriginal cricket tour of Britain -- the first Australian squad of any sport to tour internationally, noted Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Chairman Peter King.

"Johnny Mullagh and the 1868 Aboriginal team paved the way for so many future Australians to showcase their skill and talent on the world stage," King said.

"To consider the team's feats were in an era dictated by inequality, makes their story even more remarkable and worthy of recognition."

Mullagh played in 45 of the team's 47 matches during the inaugural tour, taking 245 wickets at 10 and scoring 1698 runs at 23.65.

Before the British tour, Mullagh played in the third match ever scheduled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, held on Boxing Day in 1866 between his team, called the Aboriginal and T. W. Wills Eleven, and the Melbourne Cricket Club.

In the historic contest, he was the team's highest runs scorer in both innings, with scores of 14 and 33.

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"His story is an important one for all Australians because it tells of the huge contribution Johnny made to Australian sport in a time of grave inequality and discrimination," said Australian Cricketers' Association Interim CEO Joe Connellan.

"Hopefully this honour serves to tell Johnny's Mullagh's largely untold story."

Mullagh will be officially honored at the Cricket Australia awards night in February.

THIRD WORLD USA

Birth mortality, heart attack deaths worse in U.S. than other wealthy nations
HEALTH NEWS 
DEC. 28, 2020 / 11:01 AM

The wealthiest U.S. residents have worse overall health outcomes than those of other countries, despite spending more for care, a new study has found. Photo by fernandozhiminaicela/Pixabay

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Infant and maternal mortality rates among the wealthiest people in the United States are higher than those for 12 high-income countries globally, an analysis published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine found.

In addition, survival rates for affluent U.S. residents with breast or colon cancer, two of the most common forms of the disease, were comparable or worse than those for "average" residents of these other countries, the data showed.

The findings suggest that even "privileged White Americans" have worse health outcomes than all residents of 12 other high-income countries, study co-author Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel told UPI.

"I think privileged White Americans should be more concerned and upset about the quality of the care they receive," at least in part because they pay more for it, said Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

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The United States spends more than $3.5 trillion per year on healthcare, 25% more per capita than the next highest-spending country, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

For this analysis, Emanuel and his colleagues compared data on health outcomes from the 157 wealthiest counties in the United States to that of all residents in 12 other developed countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

They focused specifically on infant and maternal mortality -- the death of mothers or babies during or after childbirth -- as well colon and breast cancer and acute myocardial infarction, which is a severe form of heart attack.

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The 157 richest U.S. counties have a median household income of approximately $84,000, higher than that for the 12 comparison countries, which ranged from $50,000 to $60,000 annually, the researchers said.

The infant mortality rate in the highest-income counties in the United States is roughly four per 1,000 live births, which is higher than all 12 comparison countries and more than twice that of Finland, which has the lowest rate, the data showed.

Among White women living in the wealthiest counties in the United States, the maternal mortality rate is 10.85 per 100,000 births, according to the researchers.

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The worst-performing comparison countries were Canada, with a maternal mortality rate of six per 100,000 births and France, with a rate of five per 100,000 births, the data showed.

For White U.S. residents in the wealthiest counties nationally, the five-year survival rate for colon cancer is 67%, which is comparable to rates for average residents in Canada, Japan, Norway and Switzerland and lower than that for average Australians, at 71%, the researchers said.

However, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer among White U.S. women in the highest-income counties is 92%, which is higher than that for average residents in all the comparator countries, the data showed.

The countries with the next highest breast cancer survival rates among average residents are Australia and Japan, at just under 90%, and Sweden, at 89%, the researchers said.

The 30-day case fatality rate for heart attack among White U.S. residents age 65 and older in the wealthiest counties is just over 12%, higher than rates in the worst-performing comparative countries Norway, at 10%, and Denmark, at 11%, according to the researchers.

"We have to hold health care providers -- doctors, hospitals and others -- responsible for the quality of care they deliver," Emanuel said.

"And the fastest way to do that is to link the amount they are paid to the quality for care they provide on these and other key quality measures," he said.

Blaze at Mass. Black church investigated as possible hate crime

An early morning blaze at Martin Luther King Jr. Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Mass., is being investigated as possible arson and a hate crime, the fire commissioner said Monday. Photo courtesy of the Springfield Fire Department/ Twitter

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- An early morning, two-alarm fire at a Black church in western Massachusetts is being investigated as arson and is "highly suspicious," fire officials said Monday.

Springfield firefighters were summoned to the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church about 5 a.m. on Monday, Springfield Fire Commissioner Bernard Calvi said. The fire was put out in about an hour, but the church is significantly damaged and unusable, he said.

"There have been several nuisance fires in that neighborhood that we've been looking into," Calvi said Monday. "This morning's fire is highly suspicious. ... It's a church that burned at nighttime, so it's a potential hate crime," Calvi said.

"At this time, we have not identified anybody, but any help the community could give would be greatly appreciated," he added.

A $5,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved with the fire, which is being investigated by the city's arson and bomb squad, state police investigators from the fire marshal's office and agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"It's terrible that someone tried to burn down Martin Luther King Community Presbyterian Church," Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno said Monday. "It looks to be an arson type of situation and we are reviewing cameras."

The fire caused about $100,000 worth of smoke and water damage, spokesman Capt. Drew Piemonte said Monday. Firefighters cut a hole in the roof, which had just been replaced by the congregation last week, Piemonte said.

The church building, used by the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church since 1979, was built in 1950. The congregation has about 50 members, WWLP reported.

upi.com/7063812

Walter Reed doctor who criticized Trump motorcade greeting works final shift

Dr. James Phillips worked his final shift at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to greet supporters from his motorcade while being treated for COVID-19. File Photo by Oliver Contreras/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- An emergency room doctor at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center worked his last day at the hospital after criticizing President Donald Trump's decision to greet supporters from his motorcade while he was being treated for COVID-19.

Dr. James Phillips announced on Twitter on Sunday that he had worked his final shift as he was removed from the work schedule after describing the motorcade greeting during Trump's brief stay at the hospital as "completely unnecessary."

"I will miss the patients and my military and civilian coworkers -- they have been overwhelmingly supportive. I'm honored to have worked there and I look forward to new opportunities," he wrote. "I stand by my words, and I regret nothing."

Walter Reed told CNN Monday that there was "no decision by anyone" at the hospital to remove Phillips from the work schedule

"As you may know, Dr. Phillps worked as a contract employee at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which provides requirements for contract employees to the contract agency," the hospital said.

"The contract agency then works together with contract employees to determine individual schedules."

Two days after being admitted to Walter Reed upon testing positive for COVID-19, Trump made what he described as a "surprise" visit to supporters in the motorcade, wearing a cloth mask while sitting in the back seat of the vehicle as he waved at those who gathered outside of the hospital.

Secret Service agents riding in the car wore N95 masks, protective eyewear and protective gowns, the White House said at the time.

Following the incident, Phillips tweeted that Trump had put lives at risk for "political theater" and that everyone inside the vehicle should have quarantined for 14 days following.

"That Presidential SUV is not only bulletproof, but hermetically sealed against chemical attack," he wrote in the since-deleted tweet. "The risk of COVID-19 transmission inside is as high as it gets outside of medical procedures. The irresponsibility is astounding. My thoughts are with the Secret Service forced to play."

Phillips will continue his work at George Washington University, where he serves as chief of disaster medicine.

Dec. 29 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE

In 1890, more than 200 Lakota men, women and children were massacred by the U.S. 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, S.D.

File Photo courtesy of Northwestern Photo Co./Wikimedia

BEFORE DRESDEN 

St. Paul's Cathedral is surrounded by smoke during the German bombing of London on December 29, 1940, as part of World War II. File Photo courtesy the Imperial War Museum

THIRD WORLD USA

Older adults, non-English speakers less likely to use telemedicine


A new study shows some groups of people have had access-to-care issues associated with telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. File Photo by Rawpixelcom/Shutterstock


Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Older adults, Asian Americans and non-English speakers have been much less likely to complete scheduled telemedicine visits during the COVID-19 pandemic than those in other demographic groups, a study published Tuesday by JAMA Network Open found.

The findings suggest that many of these patients are uncomfortable with the technology needed to complete medical appointments virtually, or they lack access to it, study co-author Dr. Srinath Adusumalli told UPI.

"Telemedicine is a great way to maintain access to care during the pandemic," said Adusumalli, a cardiologist at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia.

Although the ability to conduct follow-up medical appointments virtually "may be one of the silver linings" of COVID-19, "we need to ensure there is access to care for all patients, equally," he said.

Use of telemedicine, in which patients consult with clinicians either by phone or online, has risen since the start of pandemic earlier this year, with virtual visits expected to reach 1 billion by year's end.

The rise has been fueled by patient reluctance to visit health facilities during the pandemic over fears that they will be exposed to someone with the virus.

However, concerns exist that the shift to telemedicine will effectively shut out those who either don't have access to the necessary technology or lack familiarity with it, Adusumalli said.

This includes people who don't have a cellphone or wireless and broadband connectivity, as well as those unable to access these services because their health systems do not provide interpreters for non-English speakers, he said.

For this study, Adusumalli and his colleagues reviewed data on 148,402 scheduled telemedicine visits at Penn Medicine primary care and specialty ambulatory clinics between March 16 and May 11, when the pandemic was raging in the northeastern United States.

Of these visits, 80,780, or 54%, were completed, with about 46% done primarily by video chat, and 57% involving a telephone call, the researchers said.

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People age 55 to 64 were 15% less likely than younger adults to complete medical appointments using these methods, while those aged 65 to 74 years were 25% less likely to do so, and those over 75 were 33% less likely, according to the researchers.

People age 55 to 74 were just over 20% less likely than younger adults to use the technology and those over 75 were 51% less likely to use it, the data showed.

Black and Latinx people were 35% and 10% less likely White people, respectively, to use the technology during telemedicine consultations, while those with household incomes less than $50,000 per year were 43% less likely to do so.

Asian Americans were 31% less likely than White people to use telemedicine platforms while non-English-speaking patients were 16% less likely than English-speakers to do so, the researchers said.

"We have seen how COVID-19 has been the great unequalizer," study co-author Dr. Lauren A. Eberly told UPI.

"The findings of this study demonstrate significant inequities are also present among patients in accessing necessary telemedicine care, [and] these results call for immediate implementation of strategies to ensure more equitable access," said Eberly, a cardiovascular fellow at Penn Medicine.

South Korea surpasses neighbors in migrant integration, data show

By Elizabeth Shim DEC. 29, 2020 


South Korea ranked highest among Asian nations for societal integration of migrants, according to the latest data from the Migrant Integration Policy Index. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 29 (UPI) -- South Korea's policies allow new immigrants to face more opportunities than obstacles for societal integration, according to a European Union-sponsored study.

The Migration Integration Policy Index, which measures the ability of 52 countries to accommodate immigrant populations, ranked South Korea 13th on the list, giving Asia's fourth-largest economy higher marks than its Asian peers, the Korea Herald reported

"Immigrants in Korea enjoy more favorable policies than any other Asian countries included in MIPEX," the MIPEX report said.

MIPEX also said that while Seoul's policies are similar to the average nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the policies are less "well-developed" than "traditional destination countries" Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

South Korea scored 56 out of 100 possible points on the index, tying at 13th with Britain, Iceland and France. Sweden and Finland ranked highest, at 86 and 85 points, respectively, followed by Portugal at 81 and Canada at 80. The United States scored 73, while Japan and China scored below average for "integration-denying" policies, according to MIPEX.

MIPEX said South Korea has demonstrated "halfway favorable" policies in the areas of anti-discrimination, access to citizenship and family reunification. The country remains weak in the area of healthcare access for migrants, however.

International watchdogs are evaluating South Korea's integration policies at a time when migrant laborers in the country could be working in subpar conditions.

Yonhap reported last week 30% of migrant workers in the country live in facilities that do not meet local standards, including greenhouses and shipping containers.

The report said a woman originally from Cambodia who worked at a local farm was found dead recently in a greenhouse. Her death has prompted calls for better enforcement of regulations, according to Yonhap.

IRELAND

Ryan warns that climate change presents a major threat to potato growth

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan says drought and deluges will wreak havoc with farming unless action is taken. Photo: Julien Behal



Cormac McQuinn
December 29 2020 


Climate change threatens Ireland’s ability to grow the humble spud, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has warned.

Droughts will mean it will be increasingly difficult to grow potatoes in the south and east of the country, while the north and west suffers from more severe winter deluges of rain.

These are among the “real” impacts that will occur before the longer-term threat to Ireland’s major cities from sea-level rise due to the melting of polar ice-caps, if climate change isn’t halted, Mr Ryan has said.

The Programme for Government sets out an ambitious 7pc-a-year target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade and the aim of having net zero by 2050.

The inclusion of the goal was one of the key demands of the Green Party before it entered coalition.

Mr Ryan has said one of his priorities in the next six months is to set out a “really ambitious climate action plan”.

At a round-table interview with journalists, he was asked to put in real terms what climate change will mean for people in Ireland.

He said the south-east is most at risk from rising sea levels, adding that the threat to the Dublin-Rosslare rail line, which runs along the coast, is a “practical example of it”.

Mr Ryan stated that even sections of the line in Dublin Bay are at risk. He said that Dún Laoghaire Harbour and the Dart station at Salthill have been “getting a battering”.

He said the protection of the rail line will require “significant intervention”, and added that it’s “not a small engineering issue and not easy to resolve”.

Mr Ryan also pointed to the work of one of Ireland’s top climate-change scientists, Prof John Sweeney, in outlining other tangible impacts at a local level in Ireland.


“The analysis he’s done shows, in general, that we’re going to see much wetter winters in the north and west of the country and drier summers in the south and east.”

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Mr Ryan said he always tells farming organisations that “the climate itself is going to change Irish farming”.

He said the drought of 2018 was “very severe” and “the grass-based system that we have in the south-east was under huge stress. That would force us to change”.

He also warned: “It would force us to change. For example, the growing of potatoes will become increasingly difficult in the south and east unless there is irrigated land.”

He said the north and west are “already harsher or difficult environments because of the levels of rainfall – those increased rainfall events in the winter – and particularly the intense rainfall events, that’s very real.”

Mr Ryan added: “This is not an academic or long-term problem. This is something we’re already facing here now. They’re the big adaptations.”

He said the climate is “going to require us to change”.

The Green Party leader said the long-term effect of climate change is why he is so adamant that the targets in the Paris Agreement must be met.

He said there are “tipping points” like the impact of the Arctic ice melt in terms of accelerating the heating of the planet. “The risk is that if we go beyond a certain point, it then becomes an irreversible
process.”

He said that this could lead to a sea-level rise that “threatens our major cities”, adding: “If we collectively, globally, don’t address that, most major cities will be facing huge difficulties and challenges.

“Huge engineering solutions will be required.”

Pope strips Vatican secretariat of financial and property assets over bungled management of donations cash

Pope Francis leads Angelus prayer inside a library, at the Vatican on December 26. 

Photo: Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters


Nicole Winefield in Rome
December 29 2020 

Pope Francis has formally stripped the Vatican secretariat of state of its financial assets and real estate holdings following its bungled management of hundreds of millions of euro in donations and investments that are now the subject of a corruption investigation.

Francis signed a new law over the weekend ordering the secretariat of state to complete the transfer of all its holdings to another Vatican office by February. 4.

The law also calls for all donations to the pope – the Peter’s Pence collections from the faithful as well as other donations – to be held and managed by the Vatican’s treasury office as separate funds that are accounted for in the Holy See’s consolidated budget.

The changes are a response to a spiralling Vatican criminal investigation into years-long allegations of mismanagement of donations and investments by the Vatican’s secretariat of state which has resulted in losses of tens of millions of euro at a time of financial crisis for the Holy See.

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The Holy See is facing a major cash crunch as its main source of revenue, ticket sales from the Vatican Museums, evaporated this year due to coronavirus closures.

Francis had already ordered the transfers in August and followed up in November by appointing a commission to put the changes into effect. The new law makes the changes permanent.

Francis said he was making the changes to improve the administration, control and vigilance over the Holy See’s assets and ensure a more “transparent and efficient management”.

Francis moved against his own secretariat of state amid an 18-month investigation by Vatican prosecutors into the office’s €350m investment into a luxury residential building in London’s Chelsea neighbourhood and other speculative funds.

Francis’ decision has been an embarrassing blow to the secretariat of state’s standing as the most powerful Holy See office, reducing it to essentially any other department that must propose a budget and have it approved and monitored by others.


The outcome is essentially what was sought years ago by Cardinal George Pell, Francis’ first economy minister who clashed with the secretariat of state over his financial reforms.

Pell had to abandon those reform efforts in 2017 to face trial for sexual abuse in his native Australia, but he was acquitted and recently told reporters he felt vindicated the wrongdoing he tried to uncover was being exposed.

Argentina’s leader says ‘trade war’ unleashed against Sputnik V 

as country starts immunization campaign with Russian vaccine

29 Dec, 2020
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Shipping containers with Sputnik V vaccine at Ezeiza international airport outside Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 24, 2020. © AFP / Argentina's Presidency Press Office / Esteban Collazo

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has dismissed fears of using Russia’s Sputnik V to vaccinate the population, arguing that the inoculation fell victim to a smear campaign driven by politics.

Competitors are eager to “discredit each other,” Fernandez told TV Publica in an interview broadcasted on Monday, adding that the coronavirus vaccine market is worth “tens of billions of dollars.”

“A trade war has been unleashed and, as everyone hopes for a vaccine, there is a geopolitical debate about who imposes it.”

“They call it a Russian vaccine and not the Gamaleya vaccine,” Fernandez said, referring to the drug’s developer, the Moscow-based Gamaleya Research Institute.

“There are political sectors that inform or misinform, and use this vaccine as part of their game,” he added, noting how some players are interested in “scaring” the public away from getting a shot and are “sowing doubts.”

“I would not dare to say that one is better than the other. How do you compare? I cared a lot about negotiating with everyone: we are buying vaccines of Covax, of AstraZeneca, we have bought a vaccine from Russia, we continue negotiations with China and we continue the talks with Pfizer, because the truth is that we need vaccines.”

We are waiting for others when we start negotiations, and suddenly – don’t ask me how – we’re apparently sinners for having brought 300,000 doses of vaccine to Argentina, when some other [nations] are asking for any vaccine for their people.

Argentina began a mass vaccination campaign using Sputnik V on Tuesday.ALSO ON RT.COM‘Path of hope has opened’: Argentina's president thanks Sputnik V developers & Putin for making Covid vaccine deliveries possible

Some shade has been cast on the Russian-made vaccine after documents were leaked to Argentine media reportedly saying that 12 volunteers have had “adverse” side-effects during the trial, among them three volunteers over the age of 60 had suffered from abscesses, abdominal pains, and blood clot.

However, Eduardo Lopez, an infectious disease expert at the Ricardo Gutierrez Children’s Hospital in Buenos Aires, told La Nacion newspaper that such severe symptoms were “almost certainly” not related to the vaccine.