Relief group SmartAid providing thousands of tents to Gazans, says it’s the only Israeli NGO operating in the Strip

Judith Sudilovsky
Tue, April 16, 2024

Tents set up for Palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli relief group SmartAid.

The Israeli humanitarian tech aid nonprofit SmartAid has provided thousands of tents to civilians in Gaza in partnership with an American relief group since January, which its founder revealed exclusively to eJewishPhilanthropy.

“We have helped build three refugee camps; it is thousands of tents,” Shachar Zahavi, founding director of SmartAid, told eJP. “We have experience in war-torn areas for decades —this is a whole different ball game.”

Working with partners whose logistics infrastructures are spread across the Gaza Strip, Egypt and Jordan, SmartAid has purchased tents through Egypt and brought them to the crossing on the Egyptian border, where the IDF has inspected, vetted and approved every shipment. The tents have then been delivered to their partners on the ground for distribution to civilians, Zahavi said. He refrained from identifying his partners in order to protect them and the civilians receiving the aid from Hamas retribution.

Since the IDF’s accidental killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers earlier this month, Zahavi said he felt it necessary to come out openly about the work SmartAid has been doing to let the world know that Israelis and Jews are also involved in helping with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“We have been doing this quietly for months,” he said. “I want [people critical of Israel] to know that we are an international humanitarian aid organization, and yes we are Israeli and yes we are helping our [own] people and yes we are helping [people whom many Israelis perceive as our enemies]. This is exactly what Israel did when civil war broke out in Syria and the (injured) civilians came to Israel’s borders. That is what Jews do. There is never a simple answer or solution.”

Zahavi said he believes that his organization is the only Israeli nonprofit currently operating in Gaza. eJP could not immediately verify the claim.

The strike on the World Central Kitchen staff has also prompted a number of Jewish groups to step up their humanitarian efforts on behalf of Gazans, notably the New Israel Fund, which recently launched a Passover-themed fundraising campaign to combat food insecurity in Gaza.

He said the organization is constantly reevaluating how it conducts its work in Gaza to assure the aid does not get into the hands of Hamas, and has coordinated its aid delivery with the Israel Defense Forces and Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which provided them with the names of trusted American charities with whom to cooperate.

“We make sure we do not get involved in anything that might by mistake get into Hamas’ hands. We spoke to the IDF. We did all due diligence to make sure that we are looking at what the types of needs there are, and if Hamas might take it away from civilians,” Zahavi said. “There is always an internal debate about what we can do to add another percentage of certainty that [our aid] reaches civilians, specifically kids.”



Trucks carrying tents for Palestinians in Gaza from the Israeli relief group SmartAid.

Trucks carrying tents for Palestinians in Gaza from the Israeli relief group SmartAid. The efforts are being funded by a donation of an initial $200,000 from donors from abroad specifically for this project, he said. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, the donors asked to remain anonymous.

Since the strike, Zahavi said that SmartAid has also been in discussions with its partners about the growing food needs in Gaza, if it can help with distribution, with partners in the US in the waiting with “hundreds of tons” of food prepared to be shipped to SmartAID for distribution if given the approval.

Zahavi said that the decision to operate in Gaza came about over a series of conversations between SmartAid, longtime colleagues from international aid groups and different SmartAid Jewish and non-Jewish donors about whether to consider helping Gaza children.

“Some of our donors discussed with us that we are also a humanitarian charity and we have helped all over the world, and that we need to consider this,” said Zahavi. “It is something that is obvious but because it is in our country and because it is our people it is a lot harder to digest. It took a while but eventually we (came to the conclusion) that we are an aid organization and we are helping around the world in 40 countries. This is another conflict which hit straight in our backyard and so what are we going to do about it?”

Zahavi acknowledged the moral complexity of an Israeli organization — one that has helped the Israeli victims of the Oct. 7 attacks and the war — providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

“As Jews, we totally demand the release of the hostages, totally demand that Hamas be held fully accountable for what it did. I had close friends who were massacred on Oct. 7 and I know people who are still [captive] in Gaza. I am not doing this lightly,” he said. “But there is also the Jewish side of us, the Holocaust side of us, the humane side of us. How are we going to live with everything going on [in Gaza]?” he said.

“Everyone is saying we are against Hamas, not against children, but for me saying it wasn’t enough. I felt we had to do something, I know there are a lot of groups and individuals around the world in the Jewish community who are against this and I totally understand,” he said, noting that SmartAid also continues to provide aid to survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks, evacuated Israeli communities and Israeli farmers along the Gaza border.



Forklifts unloading tents for Palestinians in Gaza from the Israeli relief group SmartAid.

Forklifts unloading tents for Palestinians in Gaza from the Israeli relief group SmartAid. Coming from a family with very few members who survived the Holocaust, Zahavi said he takes his humanitarian aid work seriously, combining the need to do what is right with the desire to show the world that as an Israeli he actually does what Israel says.

“I am doing what people are saying,” said Zahavi. “If you just Google (you can find) thousands of articles about the Israeli government saying they are supporting aid for civilians, but are against Hamas. We are taking the words and making it into action.”

NI girl’s incredible journey to war-torn Ukraine for life saving brain surgery

Conor Coyle
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Rachel with some of the team at St Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv -Credit:Submitted


A four-year-old girl from Co Down is home and recovering after an incredible journey travelling to war-torn Ukraine for life saving brain surgery.

The family of Rachel Gribben from Killyleagh had raised thousands in a desperate attempt to pay for a risky surgery to save her from daily epileptic seizures - wich were not able to be treated by medication.

The severe form of epilepsy led to serious development issues, Rachel being non verbal and gradually losing muscle tone in her legs., while she suffered several injuries to her body caused by falls as a result of seizures.

READ MORE: Family's desperate plea for surgery to save daughter, three, from rare form of epilepsy

Doctors in the UK were unwilling to chance the complex brain surgery Rachel needed, which involved removing part of the little girl’s brain.

After successfully raising the funds required to travel to Ukraine for the surgery, Rachel and her family travelled to a hospital in Lviv, a city in war-torn Ukraine.

Paediatric neurosurgeons at St Nicholas Children’s Hospital successfully removed part of the four-year-old girl’s brain to relieve her from the debilitating seizures. This was the hospital’s first treatment of a young patient from abroad.

Now seizure free in the four weeks since her surgery, Rachels’ mum Katie Jennings says her daughter is now going from strength to strength.

“Everything went fantastic, she had the surgery she should have had all along,” Katie told Belfast Live.

“She hasn’t had a seizure since and has been recovering really well, it’s just absolutely amazing.

“She is so happy now, you wouldn’t even think she has had brain surgery apart from her scar now.

“Rachel has just been taking it all in her stride, she is an amazing little girl.

“We are immensely proud of her.”

Describing conditions in western Ukraine, Katie said they had constant reminders of the ongoing war with Russia, but the treatment Rachel received was first class.

“Going to Ukraine was a scary prospect with the war going on and I would be lying if I said there wasn't moments when I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

Rachel Gribben recovering in hospital in Ukraine following her brain surgery -Credit:Family photo

“I’m the first to admit that I thought to myself - what have I done?

“There were air raid sirens going off while we were there, it was pretty surreal.

“But the team there constantly put us at ease and I can honestly say there wasn't a moment we didn't feel safe.

“Lviv is a beautiful city, with wonderfully kind and generous people. In the midst of all they are going through the people of Ukraine keep pushing, keep rebuilding and keep fighting in every way, true resilience.

“In all of this, these amazing people had the time to treat a little girl from Killyleagh, to give a little girl from Killyleagh a life to live.”

Paying tribute to the hundreds of people who donated to fundraising efforts for her daughter, Katie said they have given Rachel a second chance at life.

Rachel Gribben and her mum Katie Jennings at a fundraiser ahead of their trip to Ukraine -Credit:Submitted

She added: “Now we are home and getting settled we can concentrate on Rachel’s development, which is already coming on leaps and bounds after just three weeks.

“Without all those who supported the fundraisers, none of this would have been possible.

“Without all of you, the possibility of my daughter dying at some stage in her life was very high, now she can live and have a good life.

“She’s going to go to school, she’s going to be able to play in the park without fear of having a seizure.

“None of that would have been possible without any of that support.”

The artist running Israel’s Venice Biennale pavilion says she won’t open it until hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire is reached

Benjamin Brown, CNN
Tue, April 16, 2024 

Israel’s representative at Venice’s Biennale exhibition has said she won’t unveil the country’s pavilion until a hostage and ceasefire deal has been reached in Gaza.

Artist Ruth Patir said the exhibit in the Italian city “will only open when the release of hostages and ceasefire agreement happens” in a statement shared on Instagram Tuesday.

Patir said she would raise her voice “with those I stand with in their scream, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity. We can’t take it anymore.”


The Venice Biennale, an eight-month-long international festival of art and culture, is staged every other year, showcasing some of the world’s most prominent creatives in one place.

Each year, an artistic director is appointed to curate the central exhibit which in many ways sets the tone for the whole festival.

A petition signed by more than 23,000 people had recently called for Israel to be excluded from the international cultural exhibition, as calls for truce and an independently Palestinian state have grown.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza on October 7 after the militant group Hamas, which governs the strip, killed at least 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 others.

Israeli attacks in Gaza have since killed at least 33,797 Palestinians and injured another 76,465 people, according to the Ministry of Health there. Human Rights Watch and Oxfam have accused Israel of carrying out “indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks in violation of international law” and imposing collective punishments on the civilian population.

Patir on Tuesday said that she and commissioners Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit had become the news in recent weeks rather than the art and the exhibition entitled, “(M)otherland.” “If I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count,” Patir said, adding that she “firmly objected” to cultural boycott but chose to take action as she felt there was “no right answer.”

Italian soldiers patrol the Israeli national pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art fair in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. - Colleen Barry/AP

Israel artist shuts Biennale show until ceasefire, hostages freed

AFP
Tue, April 16, 2024 

Ruth Patir's video installation "(M)otherland" had been due to open at Israel's national pavilion at the international art show. (GABRIEL BOUYS)


The artist representing Israel at the Venice Biennale called Tuesday for a ceasefire in the war with Hamas and said her exhibit would remain closed until the hostages were released.

Ruth Patir's video installation "(M)otherland" was due to open on Saturday at Israel's national pavilion at the international art show, but the day before a media preview, she said it would remain closed for now.

"I feel that the time for art is lost and I need to believe it will return," she wrote in a post on Instagram.


She said she and curators Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit "have become the news, not the art".

"And so if I am given such a remarkable stage, I want to make it count," she wrote.

"I have therefore decided that the pavilion will only open when the release of hostages and ceasefire agreement happens."

Thousands of artists, architects and curators signed a petition earlier this year urging the Biennale organisers to ban Israel over its actions in Gaza -- a call condemned by Italy's culture minister as "shameful".

"I am an artist and educator, I firmly object to cultural boycott," Patir continued.

"But since I feel there are no right answer(s), and I can only do what I can with the space I have, I prefer to raise my voice with those I stand with in their scream, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity.

"We can't take it anymore."

The Biennale's curator Adriano Pedrosa told AFP he thought Patir's decision was "very courageous".

"I respect and appreciate that decision. I think it's also very wise," he said.

Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 33,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

The militants also took about 250 hostages, of whom Israel estimates 129 remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.

The Biennale Arte 2024, one of the world's leading international art exhibitions, runs from April 20 to November 24.


Israeli artist, curators refuse to open exhibit until cease-fire, hostage deal is reached

Bradford Betz
Tue, April 16, 2024 

The artist representing Israel at this year's Venice Biennale in Italy, along with its curators, said Tuesday they will not open the Israeli pavilion until a cease-fire and hostage deal are reached in Israel’s months-long war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

A sign on the window of the Israeli pavilion posted Tuesday and written in English reads: "The artist and curators of the Israeli pavilion will open the exhibition when a cease-fire and hostage release agreement is reached."

In a statement, artist Ruth Patir, said she and the curators wanted to show solidarity with the families of the hostages "and the large community in Israel who is calling for change."

"As an artist and educator, I firmly object to cultural boycott, but I have a significant difficulty in presenting a project that speaks about the vulnerability of life in a time of unfathomed disregard for it," Patir said in the statement.

Israel is among 88 national participants in the 60th Venice Biennale, which runs from April 20-Nov. 24. The Israeli pavilion was built in 1952 as a permanent representation of Israel inside the Giardini, the original venue of the world's oldest contemporary art show and the site of 29 national pavilions. Other nations show in the nearby Arsenale or at venues throughout the city.

But even before the statement, curators and critics had signed an open letter calling on the Biennale to exclude the Israeli national pavilion from this year's show to protest Israel's war in Gaza. Those opposed to Israel's presence had also vowed to protest on-site.

Italy's culture minister had firmly backed Israel's participation, and the fair was opening amid unusually heightened security.

The national pavilions at Venice are independent of the main show, and each nation decides its own show, which may or may not play into the curator's vision. Patir’s Israeli exhibit was titled "(M)otherland."

The curators of the Israeli pavilion, Mira Lapidot and Tamar Margalit, said they were delaying the opening of the exhibit because of the "horrific war that is raging in Gaza," but that they hoped the conditions would change, so the exhibit could open for public view.

"There is no end in sight, only the promise of more pain, loss, and devastation. The exhibition is up and the pavilion is waiting to be opened," they said. For now, a video work made by Patir can be seen through the pavilion window.

The (M)otherland exhibit was set to run from Saturday, April 20, through Sunday, November 24.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CTHULHU CUDDLES
Video of Woman Getting a ‘Hug’ From a Friendly Wild Octopus Goes Viral

Natalie Hoage
Wed, April 17, 2024 



Here's something that you have to see to believe! Catherine is an amateur wildlife photographer in Canada. She had an amazing experience recently that she recorded as it happened and then shared on Instagram on Friday, April 12th. She appeared to be sitting on rocks and had her feet in the ocean when a friendly octopus came up to say hello!

In the video, we see a Giant Pacific Octopus with his tentacles wrapped around her feet. He lets Catherine touch him as he feels her legs with his arms. After a few moments he lets go and swims back out into the ocean waters. It is incredible to see!

View the original article to see embedded media.

How crazy was this? I would have been afraid that he was going to pull me in, but Catherine just enjoyed the interaction. The video quickly went viral, and has more than 21.6 million views, more than 650 thousand likes, and over 8 thousand comments. @alt492022 asked, "Oh my this looks dangerous. He is so big. How did this start?" Catherine responded, "I saw him 6 months ago when he surrounded me while I was standing on a small wobbly rock. Then on March 5 while I was videographing sea slugs he charged me and wrapped his tentacles around my leg very aggressively. Now he just gently moves in for a hug or head pat. It’s very cute! I feel we’ve become friends now."

Related: Octopus 'Hugs and Kisses' Diver in Extremely Rare Footage

More About Giant Pacific Octopus

Another commenter asked how many encounters she'd had with the octopus, and she replied, "Maybe 10?" @bancoubear said what I was thinking, "Kind of scary… it could literally just pull her down in the water." @Umbryella replied, "They’re strong but not strong enough to drag her all the way down against her own might. Plus it would never behave that way, they’re not aggressive creatures, they’re incredibly intelligent and curious."

I wondered if she was right and headed to American Oceans to find out more about the cool color changing animal. "The Giant Pacific Octopus is not generally regarded as a dangerous octopus, unlike its counterpart the Blue-Ringed Octopus."

These are the biggest octopuses in the world, with an average length of 16 feet, but they can reach up to 30 feet! They weigh in at 110 pounds and could easily attack a human if they chose to. Fortunately, they are known to be shy and usually friendly towards us, but they could do some damage. "The suckers (“suction cups”) on the arms can become dangerous if they lock onto a human as they are very difficult to remove." But that's not the only way they could hurt a human, "The bite of the Giant Pacific Octopus will not only hurt, but it will also inject venom into its target (although this venom is not fatal)."

The octopuses that have had negative interactions with humans and inflicted injuries usually have done so to defend themselves. If you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone. Unless you're lucky enough to befriend one like Catherine!

OLF (ORCA LIBERATION FRONT)

Infamous boat-sinking orcas spotted hundreds of miles from where they should be, baffling scientist

Harry Baker
Tue, April 16, 2024 

Orcas swimming near a boat.

Orcas that have been terrorizing boats in southwest Europe since 2020 were recently spotted circling a vessel in Spain for the first time this year. The close encounter, which took place hundreds of miles from where the cetaceans should currently be, hints that this group is switching up its tactics — and scientists have no idea why.

The Iberian subpopulation of orcas (Orcinus orca) is a small group of around 40 individuals that lives off the coast of Spain and Portugal, as well as in the Strait of Gibraltar — a narrow body of water between southern Spain and North Africa that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

Since 2020, individuals from this group have been approaching and occasionally attacking boats, sometimes causing serious damage to the vessels and even sinking them. The most recent sinking occurred on Oct. 31, 2023, but the orcas have sent at least three other boats to the bottom of the sea. However, no humans have been injured or killed.

Related: Orcas are learning terrifying new behaviors. Are they getting smarter?

On April 10, three of these orcas were spotted persistently swimming near a large yacht off the coast of Malpica in Galicia, northern Spain, local news site Diario de Pontevedra reported. The trio did not attack the vessel, but local conservation group Orca Ibérica GTOA, which has been closely monitoring the Iberian subpopulation, warned boaters to "take caution when passing through" the area.

The encounter was surprising as the orcas don't normally venture this far north until mid to late summer, Spanish science news site gCiencia reported.

"Theoretically, they are in the Strait [of Gibraltar] in the spring and should reach the north [of Spain] at the end of the summer," Alfredo López Fernandez, a biologist at the University of Aveiro in Portugal and representative of the Atlantic Orca Working Group, told gCiencia in the translated article. "There is an absolute lack of knowledge" about why this is happening, he added.

A map showing how far the orcas have had to swim to get to Spain

Other orcas have also been spotted further east along the Spanish coastline toward Biscay and further south in Portuguese waters over the last few weeks, gCiencia reported. The orcas normally only enter these areas to follow tuna, their preferred prey. It is unclear if the tuna have arrived early this year.

So far, the orcas have not attacked any boats. But López Fernandez believes this could start within the next few months. However, he says it is hard to predict when and where these encounters will occur.

Scientists still don't know exactly why these attacks started. Some researchers believe that the first attacks may have been perpetrated by a lone female named "White Gladis," who may have been pregnant when she started harassing the boats. But regardless of how it started, the behavior quickly spread among the group.

So far, at least 16 different individuals have attacked boats. Eyewitnesses also claim to have seen orcas teaching other individuals how to attack boats, with an emphasis on attacking vessels' rudders to immobilize them.

A juvenile orca swims away from the yacht with a large piece of fiberglass from the rudder in its mouth.

There is also a suggestion that the behavior may have spread outside the population after a boat in Scotland was attacked by a different group in June 2023. However, it is impossible to prove this attack was connected to the others.

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—11 ways orcas show their terrifying intelligence

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As the number of attacks has increased, boat owners have started using firecrackers and even guns to scare off the orcas, gCiencia reported. However, scientists like López Fernandez have urged for restraint because the subpopulation is "in danger of extinction."

"We want to transmit real and truthful information," López Fernandez said. "We're not going to hide that the orcas can touch the boats and sometimes break something, but we also have to be aware that what we have in front of us is not a monster."

Germany's Hapag-Lloyd sets out expansion strategy up to 2030

DPA
Tue, Apr 16, 2024

The Hapag-Lloyd containership "Berlin Express" is moored at Burchardkai in the Port of Hamburg. Marcus Brandt/dpa

Germany's Hapag-Lloyd is aiming to expand its stakes in terminals around the world, chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen said in Hamburg on Tuesday in outlining the shipping company's new business strategy.

"Our aim is to expand our terminal portfolio by up to 10 to 15 terminals by 2030," Habben Jansen said. This would take the number to considerably more than 30.

Hapag-Lloyd is aiming to cut costs by up to 20% and reduce CO2 emissions by a third by 2030. Punctuality is to rise from around 50% currently to more than 80%.

The aim is to maintain its position as the world's fifth-largest container shipping company and to grow faster than the market in key regions in Africa, India, South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Hapag-Lloyd operates 266 container ships with an annual volume of 11.9 million standard containers. Switzerland's MSC, Denmark's Maersk, France's CMA/CGM and China's COSCO are the only larger companies in the sector. Closely following Hapag-Lloyd are Singapore's One and Taiwan's Evergreen.

Habben Jansen expressed concern about the situation in the Middle East. The company is no longer sending its ships through the Suez Canal but around the southern tip of Africa on account of the attacks on shipping mounted by the Yemeni-based Houthi rebels.

While this would not impact the goals for 2030, "in the short term it is putting [Hapag-Lloyd] under extreme pressure," he said. The ships not only have to take the longer route, but have to travel faster to meet their schedules.

A difference of three knots (5.6 kilometres per hour) could mean a decline of almost 5 million tons of CO2 compared with a total of 15.5 million tons. "The effect is really very, very large," Habben Jansen said.

Report sees increase in attacks on journalists in Germany in 2023

DPA
Tue, April 16, 2024 

A photojournalist wears a patch with the text "Press" on his jacket at a demonstration to identify himself as a journalist to police and demonstrators. There were more attacks on journalists in Germany in 2023 than in the previous year, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) has found. Markus Scholz/dpa

There were more attacks on journalists in Germany in 2023 than in the previous year, the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) has found.

After 56 cases in 2022, 69 cases of physical attacks on journalists were recorded last year, the non-profit organization announced on Tuesday in its annual long-term analysis.

The capital Berlin had the most cases, with 25. The eastern state of Saxony had the most recorded attacks in the previous year.

Demonstrations are the most dangerous environment for Germany's media workers, the analysis found, with 77% of the known cases associated with protests. Of the 53 cases, 40% were recorded at pro-Palestinian gatherings.

It was pointed out in the previous analysis that the lack of anonymity could pose a security problem for journalists in their local area.

The German Newspaper Publishers and Digital Publishers Association (BDZV) has been involved in the study for several years.

BDZV Managing Director Sigrun Albert said that some of the local journalists under threat had also been the target of attacks in previous years.

The organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently published its own figures, which suggest there's actually been a decline in the number of attacks on Germany's media workers, down from 103 in 2022 to 41 in 2023.

Slimmer draft pandemic agreement released ahead of fresh talks


Robin MILLARD
Wed, 17 April 2024

The National Covid Memorial Wall in London is dedicated to those who lost their lives to Covid-19 (Justin TALLIS)

The new draft of the global pandemic agreement has been released to countries ahead of Thursday's deadline, with a more streamlined take on how the world should handle future pandemics.

Rattled by Covid-19, which shredded economies, crippled health systems and killed millions, countries have spent two years trying to craft an international accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

The ninth and supposedly final round of talks among the World Health Organization's 194 member states, held at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, ended on March 28 without a deal.

The bureau of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body conducting the talks therefore went away to reflect on the major sticking points and come up with a new, tighter draft, honing in on areas of common ground.

The new draft retains some provisions on equity -- which developing countries have been holding out for -- but kicks some aspects further down the road to 2026.

- What happened in March? -

Keen to prevent the trauma of Covid-19 ever happening again, countries started negotiating an accord two years ago.

But at the final two-week talks session, the text ballooned from 29 pages to more than 100 as countries inserted proposed amendments. Agreement between the main blocs seemed far off.

Western nations broadly want ramped-up surveillance and rapid sharing of all data and samples on emerging pathogens.

Meanwhile one bloc of countries that includes India, Mexico and Bangladesh, calling itself the Group for Equity, plus another group of African countries, is trying to ensure developing nations are not cut adrift again when it comes to accessing vaccines, tests and treatments.

- What comes next? -

Countries will now digest the new draft and return to the WHO headquarters for further talks, from April 29 until May 10.

They are up against the clock, with the aim being to adopt a final agreement at the annual assembly of WHO member states, which runs from May 27 to June 1.

- What's in the new draft? -

The new WHO Pandemic Agreement draft seen by AFP now runs to 23 pages.

It would commit countries to a more equitable geographical distribution and scaling up of the global production of pandemic-related health products.

The text also reflects efforts to battle the swirl of disinformation and conspiracy theories that have surrounded the negotiations, including allegations that WHO could take over countries' health policies.

The new draft retains a paragraph specifically saying the agreement cannot be interpreted as giving the WHO or its leader any authority to alter national laws, "impose vaccine mandates... or implement lockdowns".

- And on the key section? -

The main arguments revolve around the section titled access and benefit sharing.

The draft agreement calls for a WHO Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System (PABS).

Under the PABS system, the sharing of material for public health risk assessment is placed "on an equal footing" with "timely, effective, predictable and equitable access to pandemic-related health products" arising from that sharing.

The system would include the "fair, equitable and timely sharing of benefits" arising from PABS material and information, which countries must share in a "rapid, systematic and timely" way.

During a pandemic this would include "real-time access by WHO to 20 percent (10 percent as a donation, and 10 percent at affordable prices to WHO) of the production of safe, efficacious and effective pandemic-related health products".

But it now says the modalities, operational dimensions, and terms and conditions of the system "shall be further defined in a legally-binding instrument, that is operational no later than May 31, 2026".

By shunting the arguments over deeper details another two years down the road, this new move could improve the chances of an agreement being approved and adopted at the World Health Assembly in six weeks' time.

rjm/nl/rox

Biden administration announces new partnership with 50 countries to stifle future pandemics

AMANDA SEITZ
Updated Tue, April 16, 2024 


President Joe Biden listens as he meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Washington. 

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, with the goal of preventing pandemics like the COVID-19 outbreak that suddenly halted normal life around the globe in 2020.

U.S. government officials will offer support in the countries, most of them located in Africa and Asia, to develop better testing, surveillance, communication and preparedness for such outbreaks in those countries.

The strategy will help “prevent, detect and effectively respond to biological threats wherever they emerge,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday.

The Global Health Security Strategy, the president said, aims to protect people worldwide and "will make the United States stronger, safer, and healthier than ever before at this critical moment.”

The announcement about the strategy comes as countries have struggled to meet a worldwide accord on responses to future pandemics. Four years after the coronavirus pandemic, prospects of a pandemic treaty signed by all 194 of the World Health Organization’s members are flailing.

Talks for the treaty are ongoing, with a final text expected to be agreed upon next month in Geneva. It’s meant to be a legally binding treaty that obliges countries to monitor pandemic threats and share scientific findings. But major disputes have emerged over vaccine equity and transferring the technology used to make vaccines.

Even if a deal is hammered out, there would be few consequences for countries that choose not to abide by the treaty.

The U.S. will push on with its global health strategy to prevent future pandemics, regardless of a pandemic treaty or not, a senior administration official told reporters on Monday.

Several U.S. government agencies — including the State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health and Human Services and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID — will help countries refine their infectious disease response.

Health systems around the globe have been overwhelmed with COVID-19 and other health emergencies such as Ebola, malaria and mpox, the CDC said in a statement. The new strategy will help countries rebuild their agencies, the U.S. agency explained.

“Global health security is national security, and CDC is proud to contribute its expertise, investments and rapid response to protect the health and safety of the American people and the world,” Mandy Cohen, the CDC's director, said in a statement.

Congo is one country where work has already begun. The U.S. government is helping Congo with its response to an mpox virus outbreak, including with immunizations. Mpox, a virus that's in the same family as the one that causes smallpox, creates painful skin lesions. The World Health Organization declared mpox a global emergency in 2022, and there have been more than 91,000 cases spanning across 100 countries to date.

The White House on Tuesday released a website with the names of the countries that are participating in the program. Biden officials are seeking to get 100 countries signed onto the program by the end of the year.

The U.S. has devoted billions of dollars, including money raised from private donations, to the effort. Biden, a Democrat, is asking for $1.2 billion for global health safety efforts in his yearly budget proposal to Congress.

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Associated Press writer Maria Cheng in London contributed.

CRITICAL RACE THEORY

WWII: In the footsteps of the African Resistance fighters who fell in the Battle of Vercors

David GORMEZANO
Wed, 17 April 2024 a

Thousands of German soldiers moved in on southeastern France's Vercors Plateau in July 1944 in a bid to crush a regional uprising led by a rural French Resistance group. Over 100 Resistance fighters died in the bloody battles on the mountainside. Many of them were of African origin but who they were and why they decided to join the French Resistance has only recently begun to come to light.

When France on Tuesday inaugurated the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the French liberation, President Emmanuel Macron’s very first visit went to the tiny pre-Alps village of Vassieux-en-Vercors, in the Vercors Massif.

The choice of location was no coincidence.

During World War II, the village and its surroundings served as a refuge for a French Resistance group known as the Vercors Maquis. The group used the mountainous terrain to train its fighters and organise the wider French Resistance against the Nazis. Shortly after the Allied forces landed in Normandy in June, 1944, Vercors then became the first French region to claim its independence from German and Vichy rule, sparking the Vercors Uprising.

Croibier Muscat said that in Ben Ahmed’s file, “there is a mention of ‘six years in the army”.


Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Fossils found in Somerset by girl, 11, ‘may be of largest-ever marine reptile’


Nicola Davis Science correspondent
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax (left) with Ruby and Justin Reynolds and Paul de la Salle (right), who found remains that belonged to the same species of ichthyosaur.

Photograph: Supplied

Fossils discovered by an 11-year-old girl on a beach in Somerset may have come from the largest marine reptile ever to have lived, according to experts.

The fossils are thought to be from a type of ichthyosaur, a prehistoric marine reptile that lived in the time of dinosaurs. The newly discovered species is believed to have roamed the seas towards the end of the Triassic, about 202m years ago.

The team have named the species Ichthyotitan severnensis, meaning “giant fish lizard of the Severn”.

“This giant probably represents the largest marine reptile formally described,” said Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at the University of Bristol and co-author of the research, adding that comparisons with fossils from other ichthyosaurs suggested the creature would have been about 25 metres in length – about the size of a blue whale.

“Of course, we have to be careful with such estimates because we are dealing with fragments of giant bones,” he added. “But nonetheless, simple scaling is commonly used to estimate size, especially when comparative material is scarce.”

The team say samples from the fossils suggest the creature was still growing. And there is another twist.

“We believe these ichthyosaurs are the last surviving members of the family called shastasaurida, which went extinct during the global mass extinction event at the end of the Triassic,” said Lomax.

Writing in the journal Plos One, Lomax and colleagues report how the first pieces of the jawbone were discovered by Justin Reynolds and his daughter Ruby – co-authors of the paper – on the beach at Blue Anchor in May 2020, when Ruby was 11.

The pair contacted Lomax, who alongside members of the Reynolds family, joined the search for further pieces. Among those who also joined the hunt was Paul de la Salle, an expert from the Museum of Jurassic Marine Life in Dorset who in 2016 had discovered a jawbone from what appeared to be a new species of ichthyosaur at a beach in Somerset. That specimen was subsequently studied by Lomax and colleagues.

When the team fitted the fragments of the new fossil together they found it belonged to the same species as the specimen discovered by De la Salle.

In both cases the fossilised bone is the surangular – a long, curved structure that sits at the top and back of the lower jaw.

Lomax said: “When my team described the first specimen in 2018, it showed unusual features that suggested it might represent something new. However, we refrained from giving it a name, considering that it was incomplete and also partly eroded.”

“Having two examples of the same bone with the same unique features from the same geologic time zone supports our identifications of something new, especially when combined with the fact that these two bones appear roughly 13m years after their latest geologic relatives with a name,” he added.

Dr Nick Fraser, a palaeontologist at National Museums Scotland, who was not involved in the study, said the identification of the bone as part of the lower jaw from an ichthyosaur was very convincing.

“It hints that its one-time owner was a gigantic beast, possibly one of the largest marine reptiles of all time,” he said.

But Fraser said it was questionable whether the creature should be assigned as a new species. “For me it is a bit too incomplete for that,” he said.


Researchers identify ichthyosaur that may be the largest known marine reptile

Nina Massey, 

PA Science Correspondent
Wed, 17 April 2024



Palaeontologists have identified what may be the largest known marine reptile.

A father and daughter found the fossilised remains of a gigantic jawbone measuring more than two metres long on a beach in Somerset.

The bones belong to the jaws of a new species of enormous ichthyosaur, a type of prehistoric marine reptile.


Experts estimate that the giant creature would have been more than 25 metres long.

They believe the specimen represents possibly the largest marine reptile ever recorded

In May 2020, Justin and Ruby Reynolds from Braunton, Devon, discovered the first pieces of the second jawbone while hunting for fossils on the beach at Blue Anchor.

Ruby, then aged 11, found the first chunk of giant bone before the duo searched together for more pieces.

Realising they had discovered something significant, they contacted Dr Dean Lomax, a palaeontologist at The University of Manchester.

Dr Lomax contacted Paul de la Salle, a seasoned fossil collector who had found the first giant jawbone in May 2016 from further along the coast at Lilstock.

Mr Reynolds said: “When Ruby and I found the first two pieces we were very excited as we realised that this was something important and unusual.

“When I found the back part of the jaw, I was thrilled because that is one of the defining parts of Paul’s earlier discovery.”

Ruby, added: “It was so cool to discover part of this gigantic ichthyosaur. I am very proud to have played a part in a scientific discovery like this.”

Dr Lomax, said: “I was amazed by the find. In 2018, my team (including Paul de la Salle) studied and described Paul’s giant jawbone and we had hoped that one day another would come to light.

“This new specimen is more complete, better preserved, and shows that we now have two of these giant bones – called a surangular – that have a unique shape and structure.

“I became very excited, to say the least.”

He added: “I was highly impressed that Ruby and Justin correctly identified the discovery as another enormous jawbone from an ichthyosaur.

“They recognised that it matched the one we described in 2018. I asked them whether they would like to join my team to study and describe this fossil, including naming it.

“They jumped at the chance. For Ruby, especially, she is now a published scientist who not only found but also helped to name a type of gigantic prehistoric reptile.

“There are probably not many 15-year-olds who can say that. A Mary Anning in the making, perhaps.”

Over time, the team – including the father-daughter duo – found more pieces of the same jaw which fit together perfectly, like a multimillion-year-old jigsaw.

The last piece was discovered in October 2022.

Led by Dr Lomax, the researchers revealed that the jawbones belong to a new species of giant ichthyosaur that would have been about the size of a blue whale.

The team named the creature Ichthyotitan severnensis, which means giant fish lizard of the Severn.

Dating to the end of the Triassic Period in a time known as the Rhaetian, the bones are around 202 million years old.

Gigantic ichthyosaurs swam the seas during this time, while the dinosaurs walked on land.

But rock and fossil records suggest that after the Late Triassic global mass extinction event giant ichthyosaurs became extinct, meaning the bones discovered in the study represent the very last of their kind.

Master’s student, Marcello Perillo, from the University of Bonn, Germany, carried out further investigations and found that the animal was still growing at the time of death.

He said: “So much about these giants is still shrouded by mystery, but one fossil at a time we will be able to unravel their secret.”

Concluding the work, Mr de la Salle added: “To think that my discovery in 2016 would spark so much interest in these enormous creatures fills me with joy.

“When I found the first jawbone, I knew it was something special. To have a second that confirms our findings is incredible. I am overjoyed.”

The new research is published in the journal Plos One.