Powerful Explosion Rocks Natural Gas Pipeline Connecting Lithuania And Latvia

By ZeroHedge - Jan 13, 2023

Lithuania natural gas transmission operator Amber Grid told Reuters its pipeline that connects Lithuania to Latvia was rocked by an explosion on Friday. 

Footage of the explosion emerged on Twitter in the last 30 minutes. 

A Lithuanian gas transmission operator to Reuters has stated that there has been an explosion at a gas pipeline between Latvia and Lithuania. pic.twitter.com/EOgz2n10nE

The location of the blast is in northern Lithuania. Amber Grid said an investigation is underway into the source of the explosion. 

Baltic news agency BNS said police evacuated the entire town of Pasvalys, located in northern Lithuania, due to the situation.

"The gas transmission system in the area consists of two parallel pipelines, and initial data indicates that the explosion occurred in one of them," SKY News said. 

Amber Grid's pipeline flows show where Natgas supplies have been halted. 

The grid is an interconnected NatGas transmission system of four countries – Latvia, Belarus, Poland, Russia's Kaliningrad region, the Klaip?da LNG terminal, and the systems of Lithuania's gas distribution operators.

A statement from the grid operator read:

On Friday at around 5pm an explosion occurred in the Amber Grid gas pipeline in Pasvalys district. According to initial data, no people were injured. The explosion took place away from residential buildings. The fire is being extinguished by the fire brigades that immediately arrived on the scene.

The gas transmission system in this area consists of two parallel pipelines, and initial data indicate that the explosion occurred in one of them. The other pipeline was not damaged. The gas supply through the damaged pipeline was immediately interrupted, but the Pasvalys district consumers are already being supplied with gas through the adjacent pipeline. 

Nemunas Biknius, CEO of the gas transmission system operator Amber Grid, said: "We regret this incident in the gas pipeline system. We immediately started to investigate the circumstances of the incident and ensure gas supply to consumers. At the moment, all our efforts and those of the responsible services are focused on containing the consequences of the fire and ensuring safety. We have immediately informed Government representatives, the Energy Distribution Operator (ESO) and Pasvalys city authorities about the situation. We will provide more details on the circumstances of the incident as we have more details."

The gas pipeline where the fire broke out is used to supply gas to the northern part of Lithuania and to transport gas to Latvia. 

Gas pipelines are potentially hazardous installations, so we ask residents to pay attention to the signs marking the route of the pipeline, to refrain from carrying out unplanned work in the protection zone of the pipeline that has not been approved by Amber Grid, and to protect themselves and their property.

By Zerohedge.com

Latvia hit by worst flood in decades

AFP Published January 15, 2023


JEKABPILS: Latvian authorities on Sunday urged residents of certain central areas to evacuate their homes in response to the worst flooding the Baltic state has seen in decades.

"It will be near impossible to get you out from among the ice cold sludge once it rushes into your homes," Raivis Ragainis, mayor of the city of Jekabpils, warned on local radio.

Particularly exposed are Jekabpils and the town of Plavinas and surrounding areas, where the flow of the Daugava river has been blocked by pack ice that drifted in from Belarus.

"Chunks of ice and torrents of ice-cold water rapidly took over our city," Jekabpils resident Maris Kodols told AFP.

Glacier’s collapse floods Chilas village

"These are the worst floods since 1981," he said, adding that current water levels are just five centimetres (two inches) below that year's all-time record.

A new dam was built 10 years ago as a precautionary measure, but it began to crumble Saturday under the pressure of the ice.

Several excavators were deployed to strengthen the dam with fresh piles of sandbags on Sunday.

"The dam has survived so far, as we are constantly strengthening it, but the situation remains tense," Ragainis, the mayor, said.

"There is no guarantee that it will withstand the extreme circumstances," he added.

Rescuers had deployed floating tanks -- a kind of amphibious vehicle -- to evacuate residents, though the majority had so far chosen to stay put.

"Thank God nobody has drowned or been injured so far," army captain Aleksands Cviguns, head of the military rescue operation, told AFP.

"Today our floating tank visiting five remote farms, evacuating people and delivering food and supplies to those who are staying," he added.

Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins and President Egils Levits organised a crisis management meeting in the capital Riga.

Palestinian government condemns ‘execution’ at West Bank checkpoint
 

RAMMUN: Palestinians attend the funeral procession of Ahmad Kahla in the village of Rammun in the occupied West Bank, on Sunday.— AFP

RAMMUN/TEL AVIV: Palestinian foreign ministry on Sunday condemned as an “execution” the killing of a Palestinian man by Zionist entity forces at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The ministry slammed the “heinous execution” of Ahmad Kahla, 45, who was shot dead by troops near the village of Silwad north of Ramallah. The Zionist entity’s military did not immediately respond to requests by AFP to comment on the incident.

The man’s son, Qusai Kahla, told AFP he was in the car with his father when they were stopped at the checkpoint. “Soldiers came and they sprayed pepper spray on my face and pulled me out of the car,” the 18-year-old said at the family home in Rammun village. “I don’t know what happened after that,” he said. “I found out from my uncle that my dad was killed.”

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported soldiers shot Kahla at “point blank” range after forcing him out of his vehicle. He died from a gunshot wound to the neck, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Kahla’s death brings up to 13 the number of Palestinians killed in the territory so far this month, the majority shot by Zionist entity forces, according to an AFP tally. The Palestinian foreign ministry said the Zionist entity’s leadership has made it “easy for soldiers to kill any Palestinian without them posing any danger to the occupation soldiers”.

The Zionist entity’s most right-wing government in history was sworn in last month, including ministers known for their anti-Palestinian remarks who have taken over key powers in the West Bank. The rising toll this month follows the deadliest year in the West Bank since United Nations records began in 2005.

‘Government of shame’

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people protested in central Tel Aviv Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new hard-right government of the Zionist entity. Protesters braved the rain for the rally, brandishing signs with slogans decrying a “government of shame” and urging: “bring down the dictator”, AFP correspondents said.

Media reported 80,000 people joined the rally, citing police sources. Police gave no official estimate after reporting 20,000 protesters earlier in the evening. The demonstration is the biggest since Netanyahu’s new government took power in late December. “The situation is worrying and scary,” said 22-year-old protester Aya Tal, who works in the high-tech industry. “They want to take away our rights… We must unite.”

Other rallies were held in Jerusalem, outside the prime minister’s and the president’s residences, and in the northern city of Haifa, local media reported. Already the Zionist entity’s longest-serving premier, Netanyahu returned to power at the head of a coalition with extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, some of whose officials now head key ministries.

Protesters called for Netanyahu, who is fighting corruption charges in court, to resign. “Bibi (Netanyahu) doesn’t want a democracy, we don’t need fascists in the Knesset,” read one sign at the Tel Aviv protest.

‘Save democracy’

The crowd filled the streets surrounding Tel Aviv’s Habima Square and chanted “democracy, democracy”, according to an AFP correspondent. Opposition parties had called on the public to join the demonstration-organized by an anti-corruption group-to “save democracy” and in protest at a planned judicial overhaul.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced on January 4 a controversial plan to hand more powers to lawmakers in appointing judges and overriding Supreme Court decisions. In the Zionist entity, which does not have a constitution, the Supreme Court currently has the authority to repeal laws it considers discriminatory.

The new government has also announced intentions to pursue a policy of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. The rally included messages against the Zionist entity’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. “There’s no democracy with the occupation,” read one sign.

‘Fight’

Netanyahu is the Zionist entity’s first sitting prime minister indicted while in office. He denies the charges against him of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The leader of right-wing party Likud was ousted from office in 2021 after a record 12-year run by a motley coalition of parties, elected on the heels of anti-corruption protests that called for Netanyahu’s resignation.

His return to power ended an unprecedented period of political gridlock that forced five elections in less than four years and deepened social divisions. The leader of center-left opposition party Labor, Merav Michaeli, was among several politicians at the Tel Aviv rally, as was former foreign minister Tzipi Livni.

Former defense minister Benny Gantz, now in the opposition, shared on Twitter a video of himself at the demonstration. “We’ll fight in the Knesset, we’ll fight in the media, we’ll fight on the streets”, Gantz told protesters. – AFP

ALL VIOLENCE IS POLICE VIOLENCE
German police finish clearing site of violent anti-coal protests

Issued on: 15/01/2023 - 

Hundreds of police have been working to remove activists from the hamlet of Luetzerath 

© INA FASSBENDER / AFP

Lützerath (Germany) (AFP) – Police on Sunday said they had almost finished clearing climate activists from a German village being razed to make way for a coal mine expansion, as both sides accused each other of violence.

In an operation that began on Wednesday, hundreds of police have removed around 300 activists from the doomed hamlet of Luetzerath in western Germany.

The clear-out had initially been expected to last weeks, but police said on Sunday only two activists remained in the village, holed up in an underground tunnel.

"There are no further activists in the Luetzerath area," they said.

The site, which has become a symbol of resistance to fossil fuels, had attracted thousands of protesters on Saturday, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

 

The site attracted thousands of protesters on Saturday including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg © INA FASSBENDER / AFP

Organisers said that 35,000 protesters demonstrated, while police put the figure at 15,000.

Protest organisers reported that dozens had been injured in clashes with police.

Indigo Drau, a spokeswoman for the organisers, said the police had gone in with "pure violence" while trying to disperse the demo.

Officers had "unrestrainedly" beaten protesters, often on the head, the organisers said.

At least 20 activists had been taken to hospital for treatment, said Birte Schramm, a medic with the group. Some of them had been beaten on the head and in the stomach by police, she said.

Stone-throwing and graffiti

The police said around 70 officers had been injured since Wednesday, many of them in Saturday's clashes.

"We have been targeted by projectiles, with stones, mud, fireworks," police spokesman Andreas Mueller told AFP.

"This does not enter anymore into the frame of a peaceful demonstration," he said.

Twelve people were arrested or taken into custody.

Investigations have been launched in around 150 cases, police said, including for resisting police officers, property damage and breach of the peace.

Many of the activists had been hiding in tree houses and on the roofs of buildings in a bid to complicate the evacuation effort.

Police said they had cleared 35 "tree structures" as well as around 30 wooden constructions.

The situation on the ground on Sunday was "very calm", they said.

The mine, already one of the largest in Europe, is operated by energy firm RWE.

The expansion is going ahead despite plans to phase out coal by 2030, with the government blaming the energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The evacuation operation at Luetzerath is politically sensitive for the coalition government of Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He governs with the Greens who stand accused by the activists of having betrayed their commitments.

The government considers the expansion of the mine to be necessary for Germany's energy security to compensate for the interruption of Russian gas supplies.

© 2023 AFP

Anti-coal protestors accuse German police of 'pure violence' following demonstration clashes



Issued on: 15/01/2023 - 

01:18  Police officers carry a demonstrator during a protest near the village of Luetzerath, Germany, on January 14, 2023. © Wolfgang Rattay, Reuters

Text by: FRANCE 24
Video by:  Sérine BEY|Selina SYKES

Climate activists on Sunday accused police of "pure violence" after clashes during a demonstration at a German village being razed to make way for a coal mine expansion.

In an operation that began on Wednesday, hundreds of police have been removing activists from the doomed hamlet of Luetzerath in western Germany.

The site, which has become a symbol of resistance to fossil fuels, attracted thousands of protesters on Saturday, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Protest organisers reported that dozens had been injured in clashes with police.

Indigo Drau, a spokeswoman for the organisers, on Sunday told a press conference the police had gone in with "pure violence".

Officers had "unrestrainedly" beaten protesters, often on the head, she said.

Activists on Saturday had accused the police of using "massive batons, pepper spray... water cannons, dogs and horses".

At least 20 activists had been taken to hospital for treatment, said Birte Schramm, a medic with the group. Some of them had been beaten on the head and in the stomach by police, she said.

Organisers said that 35,000 protesters demonstrated on Saturday. Police put the figure at 15,000.

A police spokesman said on Sunday around 70 officers had been injured since Wednesday, many of them in Saturday's clashes.

Criminal proceedings have been launched in around 150 cases, police said, including for resistance against police officers, damage to property and breach of the peace.

The situation on the ground was "very calm" on Sunday, the police spokesman said.

As of Sunday evening only two activists remained in the village holed up in an underground tunnel, according to the police.

Luetzerath - deserted for some time by its former inhabitants - is being demolished to make way for the extension of the adjacent open-cast coal mine.

The mine, already one of the largest in Europe, is operated by energy firm RWE.

The expansion is going ahead in spite of plans to phase out coal by 2030, with the government blaming the energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

US renames 5 places that used racist slur for a Native woman
By TRISHA AHMED

January 12, 2023

In this photo released by the Office of the Secretary Department of the Interior, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks at the Sabinoso Wilderness in Las Vegas, N.M., July 17, 2021. The U.S. Department of the Interior renamed five places in four states that had featured a racist term for a Native American woman until Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. (Felicia A. Salazar/U.S. Department of the Interior via AP, File)

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that it has given new names to five places that previously included a racist term for a Native American woman.

The renamed sites are in California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, completing a yearlong process to remove the historically offensive word “squaw” from geographic names across the country.

“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. She called the word “harmful.”

Haaland, who took office in 2021, is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.

In September, the Interior Department announced its final vote on proposals to change the names of nearly 650 sites that contained the word. The agency conducted an additional review of seven locations, all of which were considered unincorporated populated places. Five of those were changed in Thursday’s announcement.

In western North Dakota, the new name Homesteaders Gap was selected by members of a small community as a nod to their local history.

Mark Fox, tribal chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, welcomed the change, telling The Bismarck Tribune that the slur “really causes serious and strong emotions and resistance to that term.” In a statement to The Associated Press, he said it was long overdue, and “we are pleased that the racially insensitive and offensive name has been removed.”

But Joel Brown, a member of the McKenzie County Board of Commissioners, said many residents in the area “felt very strongly” in opposition to the switch. Brown, who is white, said he and others prefer as little interference from the federal government as possible because “generally we find they’re disconnected from what the culture and economy are out here.”

Two other newly named places are the California Central Valley communities of Loybas Hill, which translates to “Young Lady,” proposed by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians; and Yokuts Valley.

The others are Partridgeberry, Tennessee, and Lynn Creek, Texas.

The decision has long precedent. The Interior Department ordered the renaming of places with derogatory terms for Black and Japanese people in 1962 and 1974, respectively.

Last year alone, authorities renamed 28 Wisconsin sites to remove a racist word, a panel recommended the name change of a Colorado mountain tied to a massacre, and the federal government renamed hundreds of peaks, lakes, streams and other geographical features with racist and misogynistic terms.

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Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15

LOSER IN THE SPACE RACE

Virgin Orbit: Premature shutdown behind rocket launch fail

January 12, 2023

In this undated photo provided by Virgin Orbit on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, Virgin Atlantic Cosmic Girl, a repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft that will carry a rocket, is parked at Spaceport Cornwall, at Cornwall Airport in Newquay, England. Engineers are making final preparations for the first satellite launch from the U.K. later Monday, when a repurposed passenger plane is expected to release a Virgin Orbit rocket carrying several small satellites into space. (Virgin Orbit via AP)


LONDON (AP) — Virgin Orbit said Thursday its first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from the U.K. failed after its rocket’s upper stage prematurely shut down.

The U.S.-based company used a modified Boeing 747 plane to carry one of its rockets from Cornwall in southwestern England over the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. The plane released the rocket, which carried nine small satellites, but the rocket failed to reach orbit.

In a statement Thursday, Virgin Orbit said initial data indicated that the first stage of the rocket performed as expected. It said the rocket reached space altitudes, and that stage separation and ignition of the upper stage occurred in line with the mission plan.

But it said that later in the mission, at an altitude of approximately 180 kilometers (112 miles), “the upper stage experienced an anomaly. This anomaly prematurely ended the first burn of the upper stage,” the company said.

The plane, piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot, returned to Cornwall. The rocket components and the satellites were destroyed.

The launch failure was a disappointment to the company and U.K. space officials, who had high hopes that the mission — the first such one to be attempted from Europe — would be the beginning of more commercial space launch ventures.

Virgin Orbit, which was founded by British billionaire Richard Branson in 2017, began commercial launching services in 2021. It had previously successfully completed four similar launches from California, carrying payloads for businesses and governmental agencies into orbit.

The company has launched an investigation into the source of the second stage failure on Monday. It said it plans to carry out its next mission from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, and that it is in talks with officials and businesses to return to the U.K. for another potential launch “as soon as later this year.”

EXPLAINER: What came together to make deadly Alabama tornado
By SETH BORENSTEIN

January 13, 2023

The roof of a local businesses is strewn about after a tornado passed through Selma, Ala., Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

DENVER (AP) — A La Nina weather pattern, warm moist air coming from an unusually toasty Gulf of Mexico, likely juiced by climate change, and a decades long eastward shift of tornadoes came together to create the unusually early and deadly storm system that hit Alabama Thursday, meteorologists said.

And it may be the start of a bad tornado year, one expert worries.

Early signals, which could change, “indicate the overall pattern remains favorable for an above average tornadic year,” said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini, who studies tornado patterns.

Gensini said his concern is mostly based on historic patterns and changes in atmospheric conditions that happen when a La Nina, which is a natural cooling of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide, dissipates like it is forecast to do in a few months.

A NEEDED COMBINATION

For tornadoes to form, two big ingredients are needed that often aren’t at high enough levels at the same time: wet stormy instability and wind shear, which is a difference in wind speeds and directions at different altitudes.

At this time of year, “shear is a guarantee,” said Harold Brooks, a senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Severe Storms Laboratory. “What happens is when you get moisture you can have a (storm) system. That is the ingredient that is usually missing this time of year.”

The cold front was following a classic waviness in the jet stream — the atmospheric rivers that move weather systems — seen in La Nina winters, Gensini said. La Nina winters tend to produce more tornadoes and NOAA this week said preliminary numbers show 1,331 tornadoes in 2022, which was a La Nina year, 9% more than average.

“If you’re going to get tornadoes in January, this is the type of setup that’s going to produce them,” Gensini said.

Still without moisture there are no tornadoes.

WARM MOIST AIR

Measurements of moisture in the Alabama air were about twice as high as they should be this time of year and more like May in Tornado Alley, an area stretching from Texas to South Dakota known for being prone to twisters, Gensini said. That’s more than enough for a tornado.

The warm moist air is from the Gulf of Mexico and he said, “that’s a climate change signal.”

Gensini pointed to NOAA measurements of water temperature throughout the Gulf on a computer screen and said: “Look at that number. 70 (21 degrees Celsius). 70. 70. That is ridiculous. That’s way above average” for this time of year. That nearby warm water juiced up the air.

“This is very much a La Nina type of system that you’d expect but is being augmented by abnormally warm Gulf of Mexico sea surface temperatures,” Gensini said.

The warm humid air hits the cold front and goes up like a ramp and the mixing that creates tornadoes begin, Gensini said.

TORNADOES HITTING EAST

Over the past few decades, a new pattern of tornado activity has emerged.

There are fewer tornadoes in Tornado Alley and more of them east of the Mississippi River in the Southeast, a 2018 study by Gensini and Brooks found.

Tornado activity is increasing most in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and parts of Ohio and Michigan. The biggest drop in number of tornadoes is in Texas, but even with the decline, Texas still gets the most tornadoes of any state.

Gensini said his lab is working this summer to try to figure out why that is.

MORE VULNERABILITY

A nasty side effect of tornadoes moving further east is that they are moving from less populated areas to more crowded ones, Brooks and Gensini said.

In Tornado Alley, a tornado can go for miles and miles and not hit anything and anyone and thus not be an issue, Brooks said. But that’s not really the case in the East. People and buildings are in the way.

And the people in the way are more vulnerable.

“There’s more poverty in the Southeast, there’s a greater mobile home population” which is one of the most dangerous places to be in a tornado, Brooks said.

Also because of storm tracks, or the routes storms follow due to wind and weather conditions, the further east tornadoes hit, the more likely they are to hit later in the day and even at night, when people are sleeping or not listening for warnings, Gensini said.

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Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

___

Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @borenbears

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Mpox has faded in the US. Who deserves the credit?
By MIKE STOBBE

January 10, 2023

A physician assistant prepares a syringe with the Mpox vaccine for a patient at a vaccination clinic in New York on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Mpox is no longer the exploding health crisis that it appeared to be less than six months ago. So who deserves the credit for controlling the U.S. outbreak? It’s an unsettled question, but experts cite a combination of factors.Some commend public health officials.

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Less than six months ago, mpox was an exploding health crisis. What had been an obscure disease from Africa was ripping through European and U.S. gay communities. Precious doses of an unproven vaccine were in short supply. International officials declared health emergencies.

Today, reports of new cases are down to a trickle in the U.S. Health officials are shutting down emergency mobilizations. The threat seems to have virtually disappeared from the public consciousness.

“We’re in a remarkably different place,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert. “It’s really impressive how that peak has come down to very, very low levels.”

So who deserves the credit? It’s an unsettled question, but experts cite a combination of factors.

Some commend public health officials. Others say more of the credit should go to members of the gay and bisexual community who took their own steps to reduce disease spread when the threat became clear. Some wonder if characteristics of the virus itself played a role.

“It’s a mixed story” in which some things could have gone better but others went well, said Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CASES SOAR, THEN FALL

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals, but it was not known to spread easily among people.

Mpox cases began emerging in Europe and the U.S. in May, mostly among men who have sex with men. Cases escalated rapidly in dozens of countries in June and July, around the time of gay pride events. The infections were rarely fatal, but many people suffered painful skin lesions for weeks.

In late July, the World Health Organization declared an international health crisis. In early August, the U.S. declared a public health emergency.

Soon after, the outbreak began diminishing. The daily average of newly reported U.S. cases went from nearly 500 in August to about 100 in October. Now, there are fewer than five new U.S. cases per day. (Europe has seen a similar drop.)

Experts said a combination of factors likely turned the tide.

Health officials caught an early break: An existing two-dose vaccine named Jynneos, developed to fight smallpox, was also approved for use against the monkeypox.

Initially, only a few thousand doses were available in the U.S., and most countries had none at all. Shipping and regulatory delays left local health departments unable to meet demand for shots.

In early August, U.S. health officials decided to stretch the limited supply by giving people just one-fifth the usual dose. The plan called for administering the vaccine with an injection just under the skin, rather than into deeper tissue.

Some in the public health community worried that it was a big decision based on a small amount of research — a single 2015 study. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since then has confirmed there was no difference in vaccine performance between the two methods.

“They got criticized for the revised dosing strategy, but it was the right call,” said Frieden, who is currently president of Resolve to Save Lives, a non-profit organization focused on preventing epidemics.

Cases, however, had already begun falling by the time the government made the switch.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The current CDC director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, cited efforts to educate doctors on how to better diagnose and treat mpox. Other experts said that even more important was outreach to the sexually active gay and bisexual men most at risk.

In the first months of the outbreak, the government was cautious about focusing warnings too intently on gay and bisexual men for fear of stigmatizing the men and — in so doing — undermining efforts to identify infections. (Indeed, in November the WHO changed the name of the disease from monkeypox to mpox in an effort to reduce stigma.)

“They were a little coy about the population principally affected,” Schaffner said.

Many say queer activists and community organizations stepped up to fill the void, quickly offering frank education and assistance. In an online survey conducted in early August, many men who have sex with men reported having fewer sexual encounters and partners because of the outbreak.

“The success was really due to grassroots activities,” said Amira Roess, a George Mason University professor of epidemiology and global health. Leaders in the gay community “took it upon themselves to step in when the government response was really lacking” in a way that recalled what happened during the plodding government response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, she said.

Among those efforts was called RESPND-MI — Rapid Epidemiologic Study of Prevalence, Networks, and Demographics of Monkeypox Infection. The grant-funded organization put out transmission-prevention messaging, conducted a community-led survey of mpox symptoms, and mapped the social and sexual networks of queer and transgender people in New York City.

Nick Diamond, a leader of the effort, said government response improved only after gay activists pressured officials and did a lot of the outreach and education themselves.

“A lot of HIV activists knew that it would be up to us to start a response to monkeypox,” he said.

But Diamond also noted another possible reason for the declines: Spread of mpox at LGBTQ celebrations in June — coupled with a lack of testing and vaccinations — likely contributed to the July surge. “A lot of people came out of Pride, after being in close contact, symptomatic,” he said. They suffered blisters and scabs, bringing home the message to other at-risk men that the virus was a very real danger.

BIOLOGY VS. BEHAVIOR

There are also possible explanations that have more to do with biology than behavior.

The number of new infections may have been limited by increases in infection-acquired immunity in the men active in the social networks that fueled the outbreak, CDC scientists said in a recent report.

Past research has suggested there may be limits in how many times monkeypox virus will spread from person to person, noted Stephen Morse, a Columbia University virologist.

“The monkeypox virus essentially loses steam after a couple of rounds in humans,” Morse said. “Everyone credits the interventions, but I don’t know what the reason really is.”

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Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

AP: WHO knew of past sex misconduct claim against doctor

By MARIA CHENG

January 12, 2023

1 of 3

This image shows part of an election-style campaign brochure produced by the World Health Organization in September 2022, to promote Fijian Dr. Temo Waqanivalu to become WHO’s top official in the western Pacific. Internal documents obtained by the Associated Press show the World Health Organization knew of past sexual misconduct charges against a doctor who was accused of harassing a woman in the fall. (AP Photo)

LONG READ

LONDON (AP) — When a doctor tweeted that she was “sexually assaulted” by a World Health Organization staffer at a Berlin conference in October, the U.N. agency’s director-general assured her that WHO had “zero tolerance” for such misconduct.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus replied to her, saying he was “horrified” by the accusations of groping and unwelcome sexual advances. He offered his personal assistance, WHO suspended the staffer and the agency opened an investigation that is nearing its conclusion.

But internal documents obtained by The Associated Press show the same WHO staffer, Fijian physician Temo Waqanivalu, was previously accused by another woman of sexually harassing her several years ago. That claim was flagged to senior agency directors and others in 2018, before the accuser was informed that pursuing a formal investigation might not be in her best interests, according to the documents.

A former WHO ombudsman who helped assess the previous allegation against Waqanivalu noted the similarities between the two women’s accusations, several years apart, and suggested the agency had missed a chance to root out bad behavior.

“I felt extremely angry and guilty that the dysfunctional (WHO) justice system has led to another assault that could have been prevented,” said the staffer, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their job.

The previous allegation didn’t derail Waqanivalu’s career at WHO. As the new accusation surfaced, he was positioning himself for an exceptionally big promotion with a very public role: He was seeking to become WHO’s top official in the western Pacific, with support from Fiji’s prime minister, other Pacific islands and WHO colleagues, messages show.

The regional director would support countries fighting problems including dengue, malaria and heart disease, as well as coordinating the first global response to any new emerging outbreaks — as was the case when the coronavirus was first detected in China in late 2019.

Waqanivalu hung up when the AP contacted him for comment. He didn’t respond to several follow-up requests sent through email and two messaging apps.

Waqanivalu “categorically” denied that he had ever sexually assaulted anyone, including at the Berlin conference, according to correspondence between him and WHO investigators that the AP obtained. He said the accusations were “false” and could “irreparably damage” his career and reputation.

The physician said there may have been “a mutual misunderstanding” in Berlin and that his accuser was possibly “under the influence of alcohol.” He said he was “bewildered” and “confused” by the sexual misconduct allegation.

The U.N. health agency said in an email that it could not comment on individual cases for confidentiality and due process reasons, but that sexual misconduct by anyone working for the agency is “unacceptable.”

WHO said its investigation into the Berlin conference complaint “is in its final stage” and that a report, which will not be publicly released, would soon be submitted to Tedros.

“Perpetrators of sexual misconduct face grave consequences, including dismissal,” WHO said. It added that the names of perpetrators are entered into a U.N. screening database, to avoid their future employment.

In a speech posted to Twitter in December, Tedros said that “sexual misconduct is particularly grave when the perpetrators are our own personnel.” He called sexual misconduct by WHO staffers “a violation of the trust placed in WHO to serve public health.”

On Wednesday, hours after this story was published, WHO told staffers it was appointing members to its committee on “formal complaints of abusive conduct,” according to an internal email. The committee, first announced following previous misconduct concerns, will include 15 staffers, most of them designated by the U.N. agency’s director-general.

The claims against Waqanivalu are the latest in a series of misconduct accusations against people working for WHO, which is mandated to lead the international response to acute crises including COVID-19 and Ebola.

In May 2021, the AP reported that senior WHO managers were informed of sex abuse allegations during a Congo Ebola outbreak but did little to stop it. A panel appointed by WHO later found that more than 80 workers under WHO’s direction sexually abused women. No senior WHO officials tied to the exploitation have been fired.

And WHO’s last regional director in the western Pacific -- the person Waqanivalu was seeking to replace -- was put on leave in August, after AP reported that numerous staffers had accused him of racist and abusive behavior that compromised the U.N. agency’s response to COVID-19.

In the coming weeks, the agency’s highest governing body is meeting to set public health priorities and to address critical administrative concerns, including sexual misconduct. The officials also may discuss how and when the election for the region’s next director might occur.

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The earlier accusation against Waqanivalu came after a 2017 chronic diseases workshop in Japan, where a WHO employee said that Waqanivalu had harassed her at a post-work dinner and on other occasions. Her report was shared with senior WHO officials, according to documents obtained by the AP.

“Under the table, (Waqanivalu) took off his shoes, lifted one of his legs and toe(s) between my legs,” the woman wrote in the 2018 report. “It took me a while to process what was actually happening.”

She left the restaurant and said Waqanivalu followed her to a nearby train station. That’s where he grabbed her hand, asked if she was seeing anyone and questioned why she was not attracted to him, she reported.

After she said goodbye, Waqanivalu “proceeded to give me a hug, grabbing my buttocks with both of his hands and trying to kiss my lips,” the woman said. She said she turned her head to avoid him and moved his hands.

The woman is identified in the documents, but the AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually harassed unless they come forward publicly. The AP contacted the woman, but she declined to comment.

According to WHO protocols, her complaint should have been investigated by the organization’s office of internal oversight, following guidance from ombudsmen, who help staff mediate personnel problems.

After submitting her confidential report to WHO’s “integrity hotline” in July 2018, the case was “tossed around in (Geneva) for months” among officials tasked with misconduct claims, an ombudsman wrote to the woman in an email obtained by the AP.

“It seems our internal process is not efficient enough to address such cases,” the ombudsman said.

Months after raising her concerns, the woman was informed by the WHO ombudman’s office that its director had decided to give Waqanivalu a general “informal warning” that didn’t reference the alleged misconduct. Following that discussion, the office of the ombudsman and ethics considered the case closed, the woman wrote in an email to a WHO official.

In a follow-up message to a WHO ombudsman, the woman said the agency’s ethics office told her it would be difficult to prove a sexual harassment case, saying it might “compromise” her name and that she likely lacked “hard evidence.” She said she was also warned that Waqanivalu could file his own complaint against her for “degrading/dishonouring” his name and was told that pressing for an investigation “may not be the best option for me.”

WHO’s human resources director at the time told colleagues in a November 2018 email that the director of the agency’s compliance, risk management and ethics department had been informed of the allegations against Waqanivalu.

“He is aware of the case ... (and has) the matter in hand,” the human resources director said in an email obtained by AP.

It is unclear if any investigation was ever conducted.

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In October, Waqanivalu sat on a panel at the World Health Summit in Berlin, a high-level conference with global heads of state.

In a hotel lobby one evening, numerous people were having drinks, including Waqanivalu and Dr. Rosie James, a young British-Canadian physician and former consultant for WHO.

“We were talking about his work at WHO and he just started putting his hand on my bottom and keeping it there,” James told the AP. She said she felt intimidated talking to a senior manager at the organization. “I felt this power dynamic and I was really uncomfortable,” she said, explaining that she moved away to join her friends, who told her Waqanivalu’s actions were inappropriate.

“Somehow I ended up talking to him again and he was literally holding my bum cheek,” she said. James said Waqanivalu “firmly held my buttock in his hand multiple times (and) pressed his groin” into her. Before Waqanivalu left, she says he cornered her and repeatedly asked for her hotel room number.

Later that night, she tweeted about the encounter, saying that she was “sexually assaulted” and that “this was not the first time in the global health sphere that this has occurred.” WHO chief Tedros replied, pledging to do “everything we can to help you.”

James was later interviewed by WHO’s investigators. She said WHO officials told her she would not be entitled to see its final investigation report. James also said Tedros never personally followed up directly but said the agency’s communications director contacted her and that the two had lunch during the Berlin conference. She said WHO also offered to reimburse her for any private therapy costs related to her encounter with Waqanivalu.

Waqanivalu told WHO investigators he greeted James that evening “by tapping her on her left upper arm” and did not believe that was inappropriate, according to a record of the discussion obtained by AP. He acknowledged asking for her hotel room number, saying he made the request “to connect, if need be.”

“I recall that we faced each other the whole time with about an arm’s length distance between us,” Waqanivalu told investigators, adding that the conversation lasted about five minutes. He said he believed people in the group, including James, “were under the influence of alcohol” and that he remembered the event as “a good evening mixing around with everyone.”

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Waqanivalu is a unit head at WHO’s Geneva headquarters, overseeing a small team in the non-communicable diseases department. He has been featured in several WHO Facebook videos and also sits on the agency’s health, safety and wellbeing committee.

Last fall, he put himself forward as a candidate to be WHO’s next director for the western Pacific, a region that has a quarter of the world’s population.

“The experience and expertise I have gathered over the years … have given me the relevant credentials to lead the Western Pacific,” Waqanivalu wrote in a September letter addressed to Fiji’s then-Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama and other officials.

About a week after the Berlin conference, the chair of WHO’s top governing body in the region told Waqanivalu in a message seen by the AP that his name was mentioned “as a potential candidate” to be the next regional director. The chair messaged him to say that Pacific health ministers planned to push for a candidate from the region.

“That would be an opportunity for you, Dr. Temo,” Waqanivalu was told.

Correspondence obtained by the AP between Waqanivalu and a senior staffer in Bainimarama’s office also show Waqanivalu asked about formalizing his candidacy.

A memo from the prime minister’s office dated Oct. 17 and marked “approved,” confirmed “Fiji’s proposed candidacy” of Waqanivalu to the position. A handwritten note said officials should coordinate with the country’s ministry of health and inform all other Pacific nations of Waqanivalu’s candidacy. Bainimarama, who lost a December election in Fiji, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the AP.

Waqanivalu’s candidacy also had supporters within WHO itself. A WHO-produced election-style campaign brochure created in September — before the Berlin conference — outlined his vision for the region and was aimed to garner votes from member countries in the region.

“Under my leadership, WHO will empower people to serve within their countries,” the document reads.

Paula Donovan is co-director of the Code Blue campaign, which seeks to hold U.N. personnel accountable for sexual offenses. She said the allegations regarding Waqanivalu were unsurprising but deeply worrying.

She said it was particularly concerning that an official accused of sexual harassment had been potentially in line for such a prominent leadership role and that WHO seemingly had failed to uphold its own “zero tolerance” policy for unprofessional behavior.

“It’s patently false that WHO does not condone sexual misconduct,” Donovan said, calling for its member countries to overhaul the agency’s internal structures so that its officials are held accountable. “When WHO keeps this kind of stuff under wraps, they are giving sexual predators carte blanche to do it again with impunity.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

QUADRUPLE INDEMNITY

Man tried 4 times for killing set free after charges dropped
By LEA SKENE

yesterday

1 of 7

Keith Davis Jr. hugs supporter Peggy Amaker as he arrives at a gathering following his released from custody Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, in Baltimore, after prosecutors dropped all charges against him. Davis was tried for the same murder four times and was awaiting a potential fifth trial when newly elected State's Attorney Ivan Bates announced his decision to dismiss the case. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore’s new top prosecutor dropped all charges Friday against a Black man who stood trial four times for the same killing, freeing him from behind bars and ending a controversial case that repeatedly raised questions about police and prosecutorial conduct.

Keith Davis Jr. was accused of fatally shooting Pimlico Race Course security guard Kevin Jones in 2015, after police claimed his gun matched casings from the shooting scene. Before arresting Davis, officers shot him multiple times, leaving him badly wounded. He survived and has maintained his innocence ever since.

Newly elected Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, who took office Jan. 3, announced Friday that charges were being dropped.

“Today’s dismissal is about the prosecutorial missteps of my predecessor in her pursuit of a conviction at all costs,” Bates said in a news release. “I have a duty to ensure justice for all, not just the victim but also the accused.”

Bates had pledged on the campaign trail to reconsider the case, which his predecessor Marilyn Mosby repeatedly brought to trial. Mosby was defeated in a Democratic primary last year while facing federal perjury charges.

When contacted Friday, Mosby told The Associated Press the case “has always been about the pursuit of justice for Kevin Jones and his family.” She declined to comment further.

Jones’ grandmother, Earlene Neals, said she felt blindsided and heartbroken by the news.

“Our family is destroyed,” she told AP by phone. “Kevin is getting no justice whatsoever — none.”

She accused Bates of using the case for political gain, saying she’s skeptical police will ever identify another suspect now that Davis is free.

Davis was the first person shot by Baltimore police after the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, a Black man severely injured in police custody whose case triggered protests and civil unrest in Maryland’s largest city amid calls for police reform.

A recent confluence of factors helped Davis regain his freedom after seven years behind bars, including growing support from activists and Bates’ 2022 election. Then a defense attorney, Bates beat Mosby in the Democratic primary, which assured him election in November in the heavily Democratic city.

Davis requested privacy Friday and made no public appearance, though he was photographed smiling widely from inside a vehicle after his release. He celebrated with supporters, including his wife, Kelly Davis, who led a yearslong grassroots movement seeking to clear his name.

“I hope people realize, we have watched a wrongful conviction in real time — and we did not look away,” she told The Associated Press. “Keith survived the bullets because that was not the end of his story. It was meant to be so much bigger.”

She called the case “an indictment of the entire system.”

“Keith is not an anomaly,” Kelly Davis added, saying many other defendants with credible innocence claims remain behind bars. He’s home now, she said, but “we cannot get these years back that were stolen from us.”

Attorneys with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, which represented Keith Davis throughout, said Friday’s decision helps restore confidence in Baltimore’s justice system.

Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue said Mosby’s handling of the case ran “counter to any concept of justice.”

Davis, 31, faced his fourth murder trial in 2019, when the jury found him guilty of second-degree murder — an outcome that was later overturned on appeal in 2021. Two previous trials ended in mistrials. A third trial led to a second-degree murder conviction that was also overturned.

At the time of his release Friday, Davis was awaiting a potential fifth trial.

In 2021, after his latest conviction was overturned, prosecutors filed additional charges against Davis, accusing him of attempted murder in a stabbing nearly a year earlier while he was behind bars. When those charges were filed, a Baltimore judge found a “presumption of vindictiveness” behind the prosecution. The same judge also held Mosby in contempt of court after finding she willfully violated a gag order by commenting about the high-profile case on Instagram.

The attempted murder case also was dismissed Friday.

Jones was shot on June 7, 2015, at the Pimlico track in northeast Baltimore.

Hours after the shooting, a Baltimore police officer was flagged down by an unlicensed cab driver in a nearby neighborhood who said someone tried to rob him at gunpoint. Police identified Davis as the suspect, chased him through the streets and cornered him in a mechanic’s garage. Police then fired at least 33 rounds at Davis, striking him three times, including once in the face.

Authorities said Davis had placed a gun on top of the refrigerator he was hiding behind inside the garage. But Davis said the weapon was planted on him after the police shooting.

Davis initially went to trial in 2016 for armed robbery. The jury found him not guilty of all charges except illegal possession of a handgun. About a week later, prosecutors charged him with murder in the Pimlico shooting, citing ballistics testing.

In his announcement Friday, Bates stopped short of declaring Davis innocent. Because he made comments about the case on the campaign trail, Bates said, he requested one of his deputies conduct the formal review.

“It is clear that a blatant disregard for the rules of professional responsibility and the law has permeated throughout the attempted prosecutions of Mr. Davis,” Deputy State’s Attorney Thomas Donnelly said in a statement.

Baltimore activist DeRay Mckesson, who celebrated with Kelly Davis and others Friday, said he became hopeful after Bates won the primary election, but “it’s not real until it’s real.”

He said many of Davis’ supporters were excited to finally meet him in person.

“Today is a reminder that when you organize, you win,” he told AP. “It wasn’t easy, but we did it.”