Gender affects driverless car performance

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY

Newcastle University research has shown that women respond quicker and exhibit more stable takeover control than men in automated cars.

The study focussed on level 3 automated vehicles (L3 AVs), which allow drivers to be completely disengaged from driving and perform non-driving related activities. However, in L3 AVs human drivers’ intervention in the control of the vehicle may still be required in some situations, such as no signal or network connections, and places without complete road signage and markings.

The driving simulator study involved 76 drivers (33 females and 43 males), who were asked to take over control from L3 AVs in different weather conditions, with researchers measuring the timing and quality of takeover.

Published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, the results show that gender significantly affects takeover performance. Compared to men, women exhibited a smaller percentage of hasty takeovers and slightly faster reaction times as well as slightly more stable operation of the steering wheel.

Study Lead Author, Dr Shuo Li, of Newcastle University’s School of Engineering, said: “Our research strengthens the importance of tackling inequality in the context of future mobility. To create user-friendly automated vehicles, the manufacturers and designers need to adopt inclusive practices which fully consider the needs, requirements, performance, and preferences of end-users from different demographic groups.

“The next step, follow-up research is planned to explore gender differences in the needs and requirements associated with non-driving related tasks in Level 3 automated vehicles and investigate the effect of performing these tasks on end-users' behaviour and performance.”

Study Co-Author, Professor Phil Blythe, Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems at Newcastle University’s School of Engineering, added: “This research is part of a wider programme of work which is helping us understand the issue and challenges of designing automated vehicles in a way that end users will be able to understand and use safely.”

The findings of this paper have important implications for policymakers, the vehicle manufacturers  and academics for designing and facilitating user-friendly human–machine interactions in L3 AV.

The results also highlight that it is important for both genders to recognise they can use and interact with L3 AVs well, however more hands-on experience and teaching sessions could be provided to deepen their understanding of L3 Avs particularly at the point when the driver is required to retake manual control of the vehicle.

The researcher argue that design of the car interiors of L3 AVs should also take into account gender differences in the preferences of users for different non-driving related tasks, however the overriding requirement is to keep the required user interface and take-over tasks as simple as possible with a standard way of doing this irrespective of vehicle model.

Reference

Li, S., Blythe, P., Zhang, Y. et al. Analysing the effect of gender on the human–machine interaction in level 3 automated vehicles. Sci Rep 12, 11645 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16045-1

---

JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-16045-1 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Analysing the effect of gender on the human–machine interaction in level 3 automated vehicles

Having a partner more important than children to staving off loneliness during pandemic, new study finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

KINGSTON, R.I. – August 3, 2022 – A new study released in the European Journal of Ageing found that having a partner had a greater impact than having children in helping to stave off loneliness among older adults during the pandemic’s first wave. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island, University of Florence, University of Maryland Baltimore County and the SGH Warsaw School of Economics analyzed data on more than 35,000 adults aged 50 and older from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to examine if unpartnered and childless older adults reported more loneliness and how that changed over the course of the pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic when asked “have you felt lonely recently?” those older adults who lacked one tie but had the other (unpartnered parents or partnered childless) were at greater risk for loneliness. However, during the pandemic, this combined status mattered less. More significant was the independent status of being either without a partner or childless. And specifically, not having a partner had the greatest bearing on loneliness.

During the pandemic’s first wave respondents were asked “have you felt lonely recently?” and “have you felt lonelier than before the pandemic?” While those without a partner and those without children were both more likely to experience loneliness, the unpartnered were more likely to undergo a more significant shift in their loneliness.

According to URI Assistant Professor of Health Studies Nekehia Quashie, one of the authors of the study, “What we found is that those without a partner had a higher risk of being lonely – even if they were not lonely prior to the pandemic. They had a higher risk of moving into loneliness – more so than those who had no children.”

Those who were lonely prior to the pandemic were less likely to exit loneliness, regardless of their status, said Quashie.

In the decade preceding the pandemic academics and public health officials have been increasingly concerned about loneliness, particularly among older adults, for a variety of reasons. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation efforts centered squarely on measures like “physical distancing” and minimizing social interactions outside one’s immediate household, this heightened concern – especially for groups that were already at a greater risk for loneliness, said Quashie on the reason for the study.

Interestingly, “kinless” older adults (unpartnered and childless), while still at risk for loneliness, were not lonelier than the other two groups (unpartnered parents, partnered childless) prior to the pandemic. To researchers’ surprise, this held true over the course of the pandemic. 

“With those who are ‘kinless,’ it’s possible they have developed a range of resources and different coping strategies to manage a situation where they don’t have large networks to rely on – whether that is an immediate personal crisis or, as we saw in the pandemic, a major public health crisis,” said Quashie.

She added, “Remember that the concept of loneliness is very subjective – essentially we see loneliness arise when one’s desired or expected social interactions don’t match with their reality. So people have different thresholds for loneliness.”

While the study did not examine well-being outcomes such as anxiety and depression, the results highlight the increased risk for loneliness among certain groups – both prior to and during the pandemic. As the population of unpartnered and childless older adults grows globally it will be important for public health officials to take into account how measures intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which limited social interaction, affected those groups already at higher risk for loneliness and consider approaches which limit social isolation.

---

JOURNAL

European Journal of Ageing

DOI

10.1007/s10433-022-00718-x 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic—are unpartnered and childless older adults at higher risk?

Genes involved in heart disease are similar across all populations, VA study finds

Peer-Reviewed Publication

VETERANS AFFAIRS RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

The genes involved in coronary heart disease, the most common form of heart disease, appear to be nearly the same for everyone, according to a VA study.

Roughly one-third to one-half of everyone’s chances for developing this type of heart disease are rooted in their genes. This genetic risk seems to be the same across all major racial and ethnic backgrounds, including people of European, African, Japanese, and Indigenous ancestries, the VA study found. 

“Some groups, such as African Americans, are more likely to suffer from heart disease, and our findings indicate that’s not because they have a higher genetic risk for the disease,” says study author Dr. Catherine Tcheandjieu, a genetic epidemiologist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and University of California San Francisco. “It confirms that other factors are responsible for more heart disease in those populations, such as access to health care and different lived experiences,” she adds.

The genetic study—the largest to date on heart disease—was published August 1, 2022, in Nature Medicine. It looked at nearly a quarter of a million cases of coronary heart disease, including more than 100,000 U.S. Veterans with the disease.

Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for one in every five deaths. It occurs when major blood vessels to the heart muscle become narrowed or blocked, which can lead to heart attack.

The study was led by investigators at the Palo Alto VA and involved researchers from several other VAs across the nation.

Research into the genetics of heart disease, like many other areas of health research, is mostly based on data from white people because of higher participation.

The Nature Medicine study, on the other hand, examined the genes of more than 27,000 Black and 12,000 Hispanic people with coronary artery disease. Most of these were Veterans, who agreed to share their genetic and health information for research as part of VA’s Million Veteran Program, also known as MVP.

With data from MVP, VA researchers in this study confirmed for the first time that many genetic variations known to heighten heart disease risk in white people have the same effect in people of African and Hispanic ancestry. Additionally, researchers found nearly 100 new locations on the human genome where variations appear to increase risk of coronary artery disease.

To find these locations in the human genome that are linked to heart disease, researchers in the study carefully looked at the genes of nearly a quarter of a million people with heart disease and compared them to more than 840,000 people without the disease.

“Ours is the first genetic study of coronary artery disease that had enough people of African and Hispanic descent to confirm previous findings in white people,” says corresponding author Dr. Themistocles (Tim) Assimes, a cardiologist and researcher at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University. “This was directly because of VA’s Million Veteran Program.”

Among nearly 900,000 Veterans in MVP, close to 150,000 are Black and more than 70,000 are Hispanic, making MVP one of the richest sources of data available for genetic research on all people, including those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.

In 2007, researchers identified a gene termed the “heart attack gene” that can lead to up to a 50% lifetime chance of developing heart disease. For more than a decade, researchers have known this gene is linked to higher chances of early and more severe heart disease in white, South Asian, and East Asian populations. But genetic studies never had enough people of other ancestries to determine whether the same held true for other populations.

That is, until now.

As part of the Nature Medicine study, VA researchers were able to show that the region of DNA where this “heart attack gene” sits appears to play much less of a role in altering the risk of disease among people with African ancestry, including a majority of African Americans and many Hispanics.

This is because the genetic miscoding, also known as a genetic variation, does not exist in people with African ancestry.

“It’s possible other ‘heart attack’ genes exist in Black populations,” Assimes adds, “but to find out, we need to do more research and make it a priority to invite many more people with African origins to participate in our genetic studies.”

Researchers from this study used their findings to create new genetic tests to better predict who might develop coronary heart disease in the future. These new tests are not much different than cholesterol, blood pressure, and diabetes tests, except they provide an idea of how high or low someone’s inherited risk of heart disease is from birth.

“The impacts of this study on health care are happening now,” explains Tcheandjieu. She acknowledges, however, more fine-tuning needs to be done to fully capture genetic risk in Black people.

“The best way to improve these genetic tests, also known as polygenic risk scores, is to study more people of African background such as African and Hispanic Americans, as well as people from Africa. This will allow us to discover all the miscodings in genes that increase risk for heart disease in diverse populations and make sure these tests capture that,” says Assimes.

An important next step is to see how well these new genetic tests accurately predict one’s risk for heart disease, say the researchers. The way to do that is through clinical trials, where researchers compare health outcomes for people who received genetic testing compared to people who didn’t.

For now, this study establishes a solid foundation for researchers to begin building the future of individualized heart health for everyone.

---

JOURNAL

Nature Medicine

DOI

10.1038/s41591-022-01891-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Large-scale genome-wide association study of coronary artery disease in genetically diverse populations

Cannabidiol effective for young people with treatment-resistant anxiety – pilot study

Cannabidiol may halve the severity of chronic anxiety symptoms and impairment in young people, an Orygen pilot study has shown

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ORYGEN

Cannabidiol may be effective in halving the severity of symptoms and impairment caused by chronic anxiety, a pilot study by Orygen, Australia’s centre of excellence in youth mental health, has shown.

The Cannabidiol Youth Anxiety Pilot Study found that young people with treatment-resistant anxiety had an average 42.6 per cent reduction in anxiety severity and impairment following 12 weeks’ treatment with cannabidiol – a non-intoxicating component of the Cannabis sativa plant which is often referred to as CBD.

Orygen’s Professor Paul Amminger, who led the study, said this level of improvement was remarkable.

“The young people had fewer panic attacks and could do things which they were previously unable to do like leave the house, go to school, participate in social situations, eat at restaurants, take public transport or attend appointments by themselves,” Professor Amminger said.

“That's an amazing change in the group which has had treatment-resistant, long-standing severe to very severe anxiety.”

The reduction in symptoms was observed on two different scales: a clinician rated scale (the Hamilton Anxiety Rating, 50.7 per cent) and a self-rated scale (the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale, 42.6 per cent), which involved participants filling in a questionnaire on symptoms such as panic attacks, situational anxieties, worries and flashbacks.

Study co-investigator and Orygen Executive Director, Professor Patrick McGorry said the findings held promise for a significant number of young people, with Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on 22 July showing anxiety was the most common form of mental ill-health in young people, affecting nearly a third (31.5 per cent) of those aged 16–24 – almost double the rate of the general population.

“We’re seeing more and more young people experiencing anxiety – it’s the fasting growing form of mental ill-health in young people and we urgently need innovation in treatment. Cannabidiol is a promising treatment option which appears safe and effective. We need further research to confirm this and explore its value,” Professor McGorry said.

The pilot study involved 31 participants aged 12–25 who were recruited from Orygen’s primary care services. The participants had a diagnosed anxiety disorder and had failed to show significant improvement in anxiety severity following at least five cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) sessions.

“The problem with current frontline treatments for anxiety – CBT and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant drugs – is that they only work in about half of the people who try them,(1, 2)” Professor Amminger said.

“Anxiety disorders are very common so that leaves a large number of young people untreated, struggling with symptoms and developing secondary conditions, for instance depression and substance use disorders.”

Orygen started exploring cannabidiol as an anxiety treatment after it was found to be effective in reducing anxiety in adults.(3, 4, 5, 6)

In Australia, cannabidiol has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration as a treatment for children with rare forms of epilepsy (Dravet syndrome and Lennox Gastaut syndrome).(7) Cannabidiol has been approved for clinical trials as a treatment for children in Australia with Tourette Syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability.(8)

“It’s important to stress that cannabidiol does not induce any significant side effects or lead to the emergence of any neurological or psychiatric manifestations,” Professor Amminger said.

“Cannabidiol is non-intoxicating and doesn’t contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) so it doesn’t cause alterations in thinking and perception, it doesn’t make you ‘high’ and it’s not addictive. In fact, cannabidiol has been used to treat addictive behaviours in other research trials and can reduced some of the adverse and intoxicating effects of THC.(9)”

Pilot study participants’ starting dose was one 200mg capsule of cannabidiol per day, which was increased to 400mg after one week. Those who did not show significant improvement in anxiety symptoms had their dosage increased at 200mg increments up to 800mg per day. All participants were offered biweekly CBT for 12 weeks (five sessions).

“Our pilot study found that cannabidiol not only helped to reduce anxiety symptoms but it was also very well tolerated – the most common side-effects were mild sedation and mild fatigue but that was at the time when doses were increased and usually went away after a couple of days,” Professor Amminger said.

“We did not see side-effects like suicidal thoughts, irritability or sleep problems, which are not uncommon in people taking SSRIs.”

Although the findings are promising, further research is required.

“An open-label pilot study is limited by its design. To see a treatment effect in the treatment-resistant group is encouraging, but it could still be a placebo effect. The next step is a randomised controlled trial, which is the gold standard to test a new intervention. Such a trial needs to be done in a much larger group – around 200 to 250 young people – to enable us to say with some certainty that there is, or is not, real treatment benefits and effects,” Professor Amminger said.

The trial received financial and specialist technical support from the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney, a philanthropically-funded research program specialising in the development of cannabis-based therapies to alleviate human suffering.

Study co-investigator and Orygen Executive Director, Professor Patrick McGorry, is available for media interviews about the findings on Monday 1 August and Tuesday 2 August.

A short video about the findings is available here: https://vimeo.com/733870128/d66a2367ac

The content of this press release and video is strictly embargoed until 4 August, 3am AEST.

Media contact

Thea Cowie
Senior communications advisor
+61 447 675 698
thea.cowie@orygen.org.au

FAQ

What is cannabidiol?

• Cannabidiol is a non-intoxicating component of the Cannabis sativa plant. This means it does not cause alterations in thinking and perception, such as those caused by tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
• Cannabidiol is not the same as cannabis. Cannabidiol is a component that is enriched in the “hemp” strains of cannabis. Unlike other substances found in the cannabis plant (for example, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)), cannabidiol does not get you ‘high’.
• Cannabidiol is often referred to as CBD.
• Cannabidiol is not addictive. In fact, there is emerging evidence that it may help to treat addiction to other drugs such as alcohol, methamphetamine and high-THC cannabis.(9)
• Cannabidiol does not induce any significant side effects or lead to the emergence of any neurological, psychiatric or general clinical manifestations.(12)
• Cannabidiol has been tested in healthy research participants and in adults with anxiety disorders. In these studies cannabidiol has been found to reduce anxiety.(3, 4, 5, 6)
• The cannabidiol in this trial was supplied by Biosynthesis Pharma Group (BSPG). BSPG’s cannabidiol is purified to more than 99.5 per cent.

What did the pilot study involve?

The Cannabidiol Youth Anxiety Pilot Study (CAPS) was a 12-week open-label trial to test the feasibility, safety, tolerability and therapeutic effects of cannabidiol in reducing anxiety severity in young people.

The 30 participants recruited to the trial:

• were clients of Orygen’s primary care services
• were aged between 12 and 25 years (inclusive)
• had a diagnosed anxiety disorder
• had failed to show significant improvement in anxiety severity after five cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) sessions that calendar year.

Participants started on a dose of one 200mg capsule of cannabidiol per day, which was increased to 400mg after one week. Those who did not show significant improvement in anxiety symptoms had their dosage increased at 200mg increments up to 800mg per day.

All participants were offered biweekly cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for 12 weeks (five sessions).

Why run the pilot study?

• Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in young people and affects up to 31.5 per cent of the Australian population.(10)
• Treatments for anxiety disorders include CBT and medications that increase serotonin levels in the brain but they do not work for everyone.
• In fact, only about 50 per cent of young people fully recover from anxiety disorders with current treatments.(1, 2) The remainder continue to experience symptoms that interfere with their life, work and education.
• Cannabidiol has been tested in healthy research participants and adults with anxiety disorder. In these studies cannabidiol has been found to reduce anxiety.(3, 4, 5, 6) The purpose of Orygen’s pilot study was to test the feasibility, safety, tolerability and therapeutic effects of cannabidiol in reducing anxiety severity in young people.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are characterised by persistent feelings of being anxious, that may have no obvious reason or cause. For people who suffer from anxiety, these feelings can be difficult to control. Although feeling anxious is a common response to a situation where we feel under pressure, if such feelings persist or occur suddenly in the absence of a stimulus, this can be quite disabling and may require support or treatment.

What does it mean to have anxiety?

Although some people may experience only mild anxiety, more severe anxiety often interferes with people’s lives and can be associated with palpitations (pounding heart or accelerated heart rate), panic, feeling detached from oneself, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath or chest pain.

How common is anxiety?

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in young people and affects up to 31.5 per cent of the Australian population.(10)

References

1. James AC, James G, Cowdrey FA, Soler A, Choke A. Cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online); 2015. p. CD004690.
2. Strawn JR, Welge JA, Wehry AM, Keenshin B, Rynn MA. Efficacy and tolerability of antidepressants in pediatric anxiety disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Depress Anxiety; 2015. p. 149-57.
3. Bergamaschi MM, Queiroz RHC, Chagas MHN, et al. Cannabidiol Reduces the Anxiety Induced by Simulated Public Speaking in Treatment-Naïve Social Phobia Patients. Neuropsychopharmacology: Nature Publishing Group; 2011. p. 1219-26.
4. Zuardi AW, Cosme RA, Graeff FG, Guimarães FS. Effects of ipsapirone and cannabidiol on human experimental anxiety. J Psychopharmacol (Oxford); 1993. p. 82-8.
5. Crippa JAdS, Zuardi AW, Garrido GEJ, et al. Effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on regional cerebral blood flow.  Neuropsychopharmacology; 2004. p. 417-26.
6. Crippa JAS, Derenusson GN, Ferrari TB, et al. Neural basis of anxiolytic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) in generalized social anxiety disorder: a preliminary report.  J Psychopharmacol (Oxford); 2011. p. 121-30.
7. Therapeutic Goods Administration. Prescription medicines: registration of new chemical entities in Australia, September 2020. Available from: https://www.tga.gov.au/prescription-medicines-registration-new-chemical-entities-australia
8. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. Trial Search: cannabidiol. 2022. Available from: https://anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx
9. Jutras-Aswad D, Prud’homme M, Cata R. Cannabidiol as an Intervention for Addictive Behaviors: A Systematic Review of the Evidence.  SART; 2015. p. 33.
10. AIHW. Mental health: prevalence and impact. 2022. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health

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JOURNAL

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

ARTICLE TITLE

Cannabidiol for treatment-resistant anxiety disorders in youth people: an open-label trial

Digital farm in Niger: An advanced system to adjust farmer's water usage

 In Niger, a Tech entrepreneur is hoping that his innovation in automatic irrigation could be a game changer for rural communities struggling to manage increasingly scarce water supplies. Abdou Maman Kane's prizewinning system lets farmers adjust their water usage drop by drop. Our team reports.

WHO urges caution after dog catches monkeypox

Issued on: 17/08/2022 - 

Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization called Wednesday for people infected with monkeypox to avoid exposing animals to the virus following a first reported case of human-to-dog transmission.

A first case of human-to-dog transmission of monkeypox -- between two men and their Italian greyhound living together in Paris -- was reported last week in the medical journal The Lancet.

"This is the first case reported of human-to-animal transmission... and we believe it is the first instance of a canine being infected," Rosamund Lewis, the WHO's technical lead for monkeypox, told reporters.

Experts had been aware of the theoretical risk that such a jump could happen, she said, adding that public health agencies had already been advising those suffering from the disease to "isolate from their pets".

She also said "waste management is critical" to lowering the risk of contaminating rodents and other animals outside the household.

Species barrier

When viruses jump the species barrier it often sparks concern that they could mutate dangerously.

Lewis stressed that so far there were no reports that was happening with monkeypox.

But she acknowledged that "as soon as the virus moves into a different setting in a different population, there is obviously a possibility that it will develop differently and mutate differently".

The main concern revolves around animals outside of the household.

"The more dangerous situation... is where a virus can move into a small mammal population with high density of animals," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told reporters.

"It is through the process of one animal infecting the next and the next and the next that you see rapid evolution of the virus."

He stressed though that there was little cause for concern around household pets.

"I don't expect the virus to evolve any more quickly in one single dog than in one single human," he said, adding that while "we need to remain vigilant... pets are not a risk."

Monkeypox was originally identified in monkeys kept for research in Denmark in 1958, though it is found most frequently in rodents.

The disease was first discovered in humans in 1970, with the spread since then mainly limited to certain West and Central African countries.

But in May, cases of the disease, which causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, began spreading rapidly around the world, mainly among men who have sex with men.

Worldwide, more than 35,000 cases have been confirmed since the start of the year in 92 countries, and 12 people have died, according to the WHO, which has designated the outbreak a global health emergency.

'Not a silver bullet'

With global case numbers jumping by 20 percent in the past week alone, the UN health agency is urging all countries to do more to rein in the spread, including ensuring at-risk populations have access to services and information about the dangers and how to protect themselves.

There is also a vaccine, originally developed for smallpox, but it is in short supply.

Lewis also stressed that there was still little data on the effectiveness of the vaccine in protecting against monkeypox in the current outbreak.

While no randomised control trials had been conducted yet, she said there were reports of breakthrough cases following vaccination, indicating "the vaccine is not 100 percent".

Pointing to limited studies in the 1980s suggesting that the smallpox vaccines used at the time might offer 85-percent protection against monkeypox, she said the breakthrough cases were "not really a surprise".

"But it reminds us that the vaccine is not a silver bullet," she said.

© 2022 AFP

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/08/monkeypox-can-spread-to-pet-dogs.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/08/cdc-changes-guidance-after-dog.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/08/dog-with-monkeypox-sparks-questions.html

ETHIOPIAN IMPERIALISM AND ETHNIC CLEANSING
WHO slams 'unimaginable cruelty' inflicted on Tigray

Robin MILLARD
Wed, August 17, 2022 


The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday branded the "man-made catastrophe" in Ethiopia's Tigray region the "worst disaster on Earth" -- and slammed global leaders for overlooking the humanitarian crisis.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "unimaginable cruelty" was being inflicted on six million people in the northern region, effectively cut off from basic services for nearly two years.

Tedros, who is himself from Tigray, suggested racism may be why the situation ranked behind Ukraine in terms of international attention, despite it being "the worst humanitarian crisis".

In November 2020, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered troops into the region to topple the Tigray People's Liberation Front, accusing rebels of attacking federal army camps.


Since the war broke out, Ethiopia's northernmost region has suffered food shortages and access to basic services such as electricity, communications and banking has been severely limited.

"As a result, the people of Tigray are facing multiple outbreaks of malaria, anthrax, cholera, diarrhoea and more," Tedros told a WHO press conference in Geneva.

"This unimaginable cruelty must end. The only solution is peace."

Fighting has eased in northern Ethiopia since a humanitarian truce was declared at the end of March, allowing the resumption of desperately needed international aid convoys to Tigray.

In recent weeks both sides have mooted the possibility of peace talks.

But Tedros said only a trickle of food and medicines had made it into the region, and said basic services must be resumed in order to build confidence in the peace negotiations.

"How can peace talks happen when six million people are suffocated?" he said, putting his hand around his neck.

Tedros suggested discrimination could explain why the crisis had persisted without world leaders pressing Ethiopia and its northern neighbour Eritrea, whose forces have been backing the Ethiopian army.

"Maybe the reason is the colour of the skin of the people in Tigray. I haven't heard in the last several months now even a head of state talking about the Tigray condition anywhere, in the developed world especially. Why? I think we know," Tedros said.

"This is the worst disaster on Earth as we speak... That's the bare truth."

He said the drought affecting the Horn of Africa was compounding the crisis.

"I appeal to the Ethiopian government to resolve this peacefully. The ball is in its hand," the country's former health and foreign minister said.

Soce Fall, the WHO's assistant director-general for emergency response, said that recovery in the health system in Tigray would take "months and months", with the current needs far from being fulfilled before it was even possible to talk about recovery.

rjm/nl/rox/ri

UN rights chief says Rohingya refugees unable to return

AFP -

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Wednesday that it remained unsafe for Rohingya refugees to return to their homes in Myanmar, nearly five years after a crackdown there sparked an exodus to neighbouring Bangladesh.


© -UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet (C) visits a Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh

Nearly a million members of the mostly Muslim minority live in a sprawling and squalid patchwork of refugee settlements near Bangladesh's southern coast.

Most fled their homes after a 2017 Myanmar army offensive that is now subject to a landmark genocide case at the UN's top court.

Five years later, the refugees refuse to go back without guarantees for their safety and rights in Myanmar, which is now ruled by a military junta after the ouster of its civilian government last year.

Bachelet met with Rohingya community members during a tour of the camps on Tuesday and said they had expressed "resounding hope" that they would be able to go back to their homes.

"Unfortunately the current situation across the border means that the conditions are not right for returns," Bachelet told reporters in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

"Repatriation must always be conducted in a voluntary and dignified manner, only when safe and sustainable conditions exist in Myanmar."

Bangladesh has become increasingly impatient with the presence of its huge refugee population, and Bachelet said she was concerned about "increasing anti-Rohingya rhetoric" and scapegoating of the community.

She added that many refugees were fearful for their safety due to the activity of armed groups and criminal gangs.

Security has been a constant issue in the camps, with scores of killings, kidnappings and police dragnets targeting drug trafficking networks.

Two Rohingya community leaders were shot dead earlier this month, allegedly by an insurgent group active in the camps that has been accused of murdering political opponents.

Bachelet was on a four-day visit to Bangladesh before her term as UN high commissioner for human rights ends later this month.

While touring the camps on Tuesday, she urged the international community to continue to support the Rohingya despite heightened global focus on more recent crises.

She added that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was being keenly felt among the Rohingya, with global food prices soaring and driving up the costs of supporting a population dependent on humanitarian aid.

"I would insist that the international community don't abandon the Rohingyas and continue supporting and even looking at if they can scale up and support, because of the consequences of the war," she said.

- 'Serious allegations' -

Bachelet is the first UN rights chief to visit Bangladesh and her trip included meetings with local activists to discuss accusations of gross abuses by security forces, including extrajudicial killings.

Campaigners say that under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the country's security forces have killed thousands of people in staged shootouts, while hundreds of others have disappeared.

"I raised my deep concern about these serious allegations with government ministers and highlighted the need for an impartial, independent and transparent investigation into these allegations," Bachelet told reporters.

In December, the United States imposed sanctions on the country's elite Rapid Action Battalion police force as well as seven top security officers, including the national police chief, over allegations of gross human rights violations.

The government denies the accusations of disappearances and extrajudicial killings, with one minister saying that some of those who went missing had in fact fled Bangladesh.

bur-gle/slb/aha

Damaged freighter blocks traffic at drought-hit Rhine

Wed, August 17, 2022 


A stranded cargo ship caused traffic to be halted Wednesday at the Rhine river in western Germany after suffering a technical fault, authorities said, at a time when water transport was already ailing from a drought.

The vessel is stuck at St Goar and Oberwesel, in between the cities of Mainz and Koblenz, water police said, adding that they were expecting to clear the stricken ship within the day.

The machine damage came as water levels in the Rhine had dropped to critical points at several locations, including at nearby Kaub -- a known bottleneck for shipping where the river runs narrow and shallow.

The gauge at Kaub stood at 34 cm (13 inches) on Wednesday, well below the 40-cm reference point.

While vessels are still able to navigate at low water levels, they are forced to reduce their loads to avoid the risk of running aground.

About four percent of freight is transported on waterways in Germany, including on the Rhine, which originates in Switzerland and runs through several countries including France and Germany before flowing into the sea in the Netherlands.

Transport on the Rhine has gained significance in recent months because among cargo moved on the river is coal, now all the more necessary as Germany seeks to wean itself off Russian gas.

Germany's biggest companies have already warned that major disruptions to river traffic could deal another blow to an economy already beset by logistical difficulties.

The 2018 drought, which saw the benchmark depth of the Rhine in Kaub drop to 25 cm in October, shrank German GDP by 0.2 percent that year, according to Deutsche Bank Research.

hmn/dlc/lth

Egypt's central bank governor resigns as economic woes mount

Wed, August 17, 2022 


CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s central bank governor resigned Wednesday as the Middle East's most populous nation struggles to curb inflation triggered by Russia's war in Ukraine, high oil prices and a drop in tourism.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi accepted the resignation of Tarek Amer and named him a presidential adviser, the Egyptian leader’s office said in a statement. The brief statement offered no explanation for Amer’s resignation.

No replacement was immediately named for Amer, who had been appointed governor of the central bank in November 2015. He has been criticized for his handling of Egypt’s financial challenges.

The currency is under pressure, sliding in value to about 19 Egyptian pounds to the U.S. dollar. That followed a central bank decision allowing the currency to depreciate by around 16% in March to try to stem a growing trade deficit.

“It seems there's a lot of tensions within policymaking circles, and I think that's ultimately what led to Mr. Amer's resignation," said Jason Tuvey, a senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.

Tuvey said there are officials that oppose devaluing the pound and instead support measures like rationing gas consumption by curbing electricity usage, which could in turn harm business activity. Amer had traditionally been seen as in the camp that supported the pound's depreciation as a way to secure a loan from the International Monetary Fund.

The London-based Capital Economics research firm predicts that Egypt’s currency will continue to slide, reaching 25 pounds to the dollar by the end of 2024 amid sustained pressure.

The resignation of the central bank head comes after key ministries were reshuffled Saturday as the government faces mounting pressure from economic challenges. The Cabinet shake-up, which was approved by parliament in an emergency session, affected 13 ministries, including health, education, culture, local development and irrigation. The country’s minister of tourism and antiquities also was replaced.

Egypt’s expansive tourism industry, which employs millions, was hit hard by years of turmoil, the COVID-19 pandemic and then the war in Ukraine. Prior to the conflict, around a third of tourists to Egypt came from Russia.

Russia’s war has been deeply felt in other ways in Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer that sources around 80% of it from the Black Sea region.

In the first weeks after the invasion of Ukraine in late February, the price of wheat and other grains skyrocketed, as did the price of fuel. Although prices have come down somewhat, the cost of grains remains at least 50% higher than before the pandemic in early 2020. Furthermore, the cost of shipping to export those grains through the Black Sea is high.

Inflation in the country of 103 million people reached 14.6% in July, increasing pressure on lower-income households and everyday necessities. Around a third of Egyptians live in poverty, according to government figures.

The World Bank notes that Egypt's government announced an assistance package worth 130 billion pounds (more than $8 billion) just before devaluing the pound in March to alleviate the impact of rising prices. The package aimed to increase public-sector wages and pensions, as well as expand direct cash assistance programs.

Egypt's Gulf Arab allies have come to its assistance with multibillion-dollar investments buoyed by high oil prices that have helped their bottom line.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, known as the Public Investment Fund, recently established a division in Egypt that has already announced deals worth $1.3 billion with the aim of bringing in $10 billion into Egypt.

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Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Samy Magdy And Aya Batrawy, The Associated Press