Multiple sclerosis caused by Epstein-Barr-Virus — study

Researchers say Epstein-Barr-Virus is a main cause of MS, which affects 2.8 million people worldwide. New treatments and prevention may now be possible.


US researchers see a link between Epstein-Barr-Virus infections, which causes glandular fever, and multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable condition — an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord.

MS tends to hit people in the prime of their lives. In most cases, the disease starts when those afflicted are between 20 and 40 years old.

It can be mild but can also turn into a lifelong disability, affecting a person's vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance.

And until now researchers have not known conclusively what causes MS. There are treatments to make living with MS better, perhaps easier, but there is no cure.

But that may change now that researchers say they have found a link between Epstein-Barr-Virus and MS. That could open the door to better treatments and even preventative measures.

The link between Epstein-Barr-Virus and MS

In a study conducted in the United States, researchers say they found that the Epstein-Barr-Virus (EBV) was definitely associated with all but one of 801 cases of multiple sclerosis.

The researchers analyzed blood samples from more than 10 million US military employees and identified 801 people with multiple sclerosis. They then analyzed those blood samples — from the people with MS — for EBV antibodies. That would indicate whether those people had ever had an EBV infection.

Epstein-Barr-Virus causes glandular fever, which commonly affects teenagers and young adults. It causes swollen glands and sore throat, and you usually only get it once in your life.

Among those US military personnel, 35 people with MS showed no EBV antibodies in an initial blood sample. But the researchers say that 34 of those 35 people later tested positive for EBV antibodies.

Only one of the 801 people with MS ultimately tested negative for EBV antibodies.

The most important indicator appears to be that those people who had initially tested negative for EBV antibodies also tested negative for multiple sclerosis at the time of the blood sample. It was only after those people experienced an EBV infection that they developed MS, which was also then detected by the researchers.

So, the researchers seem confident there is a link between EBV and MS. What they still don't know, however, is EBV's precise mechanism — or what it does exactly to cause MS and why.
EBV does not automatically mean MS

It's important to note that while about 90% of people contract EBV or glandular fever at some point in their lives, only very few develop multiple sclerosis.

However, experts say the new research and its data are significant.

"The study uses epidemiological methods to assess the risk of developing MS after an infection with the Epstein-Barr-Virus. And the authors conclude that the risk of developing MS is 32 times higher among people who have had EBV than those who have not," said Henri-Jacques Delecluse, a leading researcher at the German Cancer Research Center. "That is a significant number. It's the sort of risk we see for lung cancer among smokers."

But Roland Martin, a leading researcher at University Hospital Zurich, says it's too early to conclude that EBV is the main cause of MS.

"The methodology is good and solid, and you could conclude that EBV is the main cause of MS," said Martin. "But for me, that goes too far. Over the past 20 years, our data has indicated that MS has a complex genetic background, one that can make you more prone to developing MS."

So, it may not only be EBV or genetics, but a combination of the two.
Symptoms: What should you do if you're concerned?

As with every health issue: For the best advice, ask a medical professional or a doctor you trust if you're concerned.

Symptoms for multiple sclerosis can differ from person to person. But they can include the following:
Numbness or weakness in one or more limbs
Electric-shock sensations when you move your neck
Tremors or lack of coordination when you walk
Problems with vision, double vision and pain in your eyes
Slurred speech
Fatigue
Dizziness
Problems with sexual, bowel and bladder function

The study is published in the journal Science.

Gender-affirming treatment improves mental health in transgender youth: study

Trans youth experience better mental health outcomes when provided access to gender-affirming treatment, according to a new study.

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

STANFORD, Calif. (KGO) -- A new paper published Wednesday supports the overwhelming body of evidence that transgender youth with access to gender-affirming hormone treatments experience better mental health outcomes than those who wait until adulthood, or those who never receive the treatment.

The paper, featuring a secondary analysis of the largest ever survey of 27,000 transgender adults in the U.S., has the potential to combat prominent arguments in anti-trans legislation bubbling up in state houses across the country in an effort to limit access to this important treatment.

The paper published in the medical journal PLOS ONE is headed by Jack Turban, M.D. who serves as the chief fellow on child adolescent psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

"These newer approaches of providing gender affirming hormones result in better mental health outcomes than not providing those interventions," said Dr. Turban.

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Turban's research suggests earlier access to gender-affirming treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy improve mental health outcomes, especially youth that started treatment in their early teens.

"They were less likely to have thought about suicide in the past year when we asked them as adults," said Turban.

They were also less likely to struggle with alcohol abuse, use illicit drugs, or have clinically relevant mental health diagnoses-the kinds of things that would require special treatment.

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Turban said there was an existing body of evidence pointing to the mental health benefits of accessing gender-affirming treatments for the transgender population, but this is the first study that looked into the benefits of different age groups accessing treatment.

"All of the groups had better mental health than people who were never able to access hormones, but people who accessed them during adolescence had better mental health than people who weren't able to access them until adulthood," he said.

In state houses across the country from Arkansas to Texas, a slew of bills were introduced in 2021 in an attempt to limit gender affirming treatment for youth whose gender identity does not match the body they were born into.

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Turban stresses it's important to note that all transgender or gender non-conforming people are not interested in hormone therapy or other gender-affirming medical treatments.

However, of the thousands of trans people who were surveyed in the 2015 report, 41% of people who wanted to access hormones were never able to access it.

Turban said, in part, there aren't enough doctors who are trained to provide medical care to trans and gender diverse people.

He hopes the findings of this new report will dispel misinformation about the effects of gender-affirming treatments that are often the focus of anti-trans policy debates.

"Some of the narratives that we are hearing today are very hostile and damaging especially toward younger transgender people," said Cecilia Chung, Transgender Law Center senior director of strategic initiatives and evaluation.

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Chung, a long-time transgender activist is hopeful this research will strengthen the organization's hand in the fight to win policy battles and hearts and minds.

"Things are moving slowly, but it seems that we have more family accepting their transgender children. And it's not something that we could even imagine 40 years ago when I first transitioned," she said.

RELATED: Transgender woman and her mother launch online effort to combat prejudice

Turban echoes the sentiment that familial acceptance can go a long way.

"One of the greatest predictors of good mental health outcomes for transgender people is if their families accept them," he said. "Just having parents who say 'We love you no matter what. We accept your gender identity. We validate who you are as a person.' That does so much to make someone's mental health better."

EXCLUSIVE:
Devastating dust storms cause 'eternal black summer' where it hurts to blink or cough

For the latest in the NextGen International series, Marcos Vargas reports how demand for peanuts is fuelling unnatural and destructive dust storms every summer in Nicaragua

Demand for peanuts in the UK and Europe is driving unnatural dust storms 

(Image: Carlos Herrera)


By Marcos Vargas
13 Jan 2022

In the next part of our NextGen International project, young people from Nicaragua share their stories of the climate emergency.

Here, Marcos Vargas, who volunteers with our charity partner Raleigh International, writes how demand for peanuts in the UK and Europe is driving unnatural dust storms in Nicaragua.

Find out more and support the work of Raleigh International here.

Doors are bolted closed, shutters on windows come down and people put on their facemasks.

This is no lockdown, but a normal summer in the Central American city of Leon, Nicaragua, which is plagued by unnatural dust storms every year - because of demand for peanuts in the UK and Europe.

Peanuts are one of Nicaragua’s biggest exports but because of the way they are farmed, every summer cities suffer from dust whirlwinds, which affect air quality.

Peanuts are one of Nicaragua's biggest exports (Image: Carlos Herrera)

“Before the pandemic I used to wear face masks due to dust storms. Our houses are never clean,” says Pedro Caballero, a 22-year-old student, living in the Chacraseca district of León’s rural area, which is devoted to agricultural production.

“Throughout my life I have suffered from dust blisters and for me summer is the worst season. I am always sick during the dusty season and I just have to wait for winter to come.

“We have to eat quickly, we must keep the containers of water and food, doors and windows are always closed.”

He says his family are directly affected in the summer due to the house’s proximity to peanuts crops.

Pedro-Caballero says he and his family suffer every summer from the dust

“I live in an agricultural community surrounded by crops and the most terrible time is after the peanut harvest. The soil is completely arid, the land remains loose and when the wind blows the houses are completely covered with powder,” he adds.

This crop is being exported in record quantities to Europe.

In 2018, 64,000 tonnes of peanuts were sent to the UK, accounting for 70% of total Nicaraguan peanut exports, leading Nicaraguan soils to be overexploited.

More than 20,000 hectares of land in León - the size of about 37,000 football pitches - is devoted to peanut farming.

Marcos walks through a field where they grow peanut

The problem existed before peanut farming when the land was used for cotton but that made way for peanut cultivation in the 1950s.

Since then, the land has been decimated because the soil has been exploited far beyond what is sustainable.

The dust gets so bad in Leon, it’s referred to by some residents as the Eternal Black Summer.

The dust from the fields blows into nearby towns

Hanzell Benavides, 26, who volunteers with Raleigh International, says: “It leads to respiratory diseases and poor sanitary conditions of the areas when peanut crops are cut every six months during the summer.

“The worst thing about dust storms in León is how irritated your eyes and skin get due to the excess of dust.

“You can’t blink without feeling dust grains in your eyes, and can’t cough without inhaling dust particles.

“Even the traffic gets worse, drivers cannot see the street and businesses are forced to close.”

Marcos holds a peanut crop among the dry soil 

After harvesting the peanuts, farmers collect the stubble, which is the remaining stem and leaves of the plant rooted in the ground, and it’s then sold on as cattle feed.

But this process removes any remaining plants and nutrients in the ground, leaving only dirt which then causes the dust storms.

Dr Xiomaea Castillo has studied the soils where peanuts are grown 

In addition, the soils lose substantial amounts of fertility every time one of these whirlwinds occur.

And trees, a natural windbreaker, have been cut down to make way for more agricultural land which causes the dust to blow into nearby communities.

Dr Xiomara Castillo, a soil scientist from León, explains: “Peanut farming is a good example of how agriculture increasingly degrades our soils.

Marcos examines one of the crops

“The process of peanut farming, primarily during harvesting, involves tractors lifting the root structure of the peanut, which contains the peanut kernel and by straining and filtering, all the fine particles are removed from the soil.

“Since there is no windbreak protection system or soil cover protection system, trade winds blow over the land and carry practically all fine particles away.”

Among the companies that import peanuts from Nicaragua is KP, one of Britain’s biggest peanut brands.

A spokesman said: “We have a strict supplier selection policy, which includes a requirement that suppliers comply with our Responsible Sourcing Policy and includes the obligation to be a member of SEDEX.

NextGen reporter Marcos Vargas 

“We have a long-standing partnership with our supplier in Nicaragua, which deals directly with the farmers it sources from. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Central America and agriculture forms a significant part of the economy.

“We are aware of the challenges related to dust storms during the dry season, which pre-dates the peanut industry in Nicaragua, and we are committed to working in partnership with our supplier to help influence the use of more sustainable and regenerative practises across the region.

Raleigh International

Raleigh International is a global youth action organisation supporting a global movement of young people to take action for the planet.

Young people are at the forefront of building a fairer, more inclusive and greener world, and are actively confronting the planet’s most urgent crises through Raleigh International’s Action Not Excuses global campaign.

Dame Chance – meaning ‘to give a chance’ - is an Action Not Excuses campaign led by young people in Nicaragua to reduce deforestation and improve green livelihoods.



Dame Chance is tackling deforestation and unemployment by helping 6,000 local farmers to increase forest cover.

Through the work of this Action Not Excuses campaign, young people from rural communities are developing new job opportunities and working with local communities to conserve and protect Nicaragua’s precious forests.

PHOTOS Orlando Valenzuela

Sustainable fishing by 2025: 

What is the current situation in Indonesia?

Indonesia has set itself the goal of making its fishing industry sustainable by 2025. But subsidies and a lack of monitoring, coupled with the vital role of the sector, make this a challenging target.

Indonesia is aiming for a sustainable fishing industry by 2025

When the Indonesian government announced plans to make the country's fishing industry sustainable in early 2019, Arifsyah Nasution welcomed the news. The ocean campaign leader for Greenpeace in Southeast Asia has long been sounding the alarm about endangered fish stocks in Indonesian waters. But he is skeptical that the situation will change much by 2025.

With over 7 million tons of catch annually, Indonesia is the second-largest fishing nation after China. Most is for domestic consumption, with the 270 million-strong population eating more than three times as much fish and seafood as the global average.

This has wide-ranging consequences: Most fish stocks in Indonesia are completely depleted or already overfished. According to the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, 90% of Indonesian boats draw their catch from areas that are already overfished and overcrowded with boats.

Indonesian waters are home to 37% of the world's marine species, many of which are endangered as a result of fishing. Shrimp, for example, are already overfished in more than two-thirds of Indonesian waters, and are therefore becoming increasingly rare. Quotas have already been exhausted in other parts of the country, too.

The decline in stocks is alarming. The problem is not easy to solve though, because often the economic aspect, the sales volume, is in the focus. Nasution told DW "it's not about the demand of the world market, but the survival of the Indonesian population."  

Subsidies as drivers of overfishing

Subsidies in Indonesia's fisheries sector — such as lower fuel prices and tax deductions — have also contributed to a steady increase in catches over the past decades.

Many scientists are therefore critical of them: harmful subsidies can lead to overfishing, loss of biodiversity and destruction of marine areas. This happens, for example, when fishing is undertaken beyond sustainable levels or when subsidies encourage harmful fishing practices. More than 60% of global subsidies in the fishing industry are potentially harmful to the oceans, according to a study by the University of British Columbia in Canada. 

The World Trade Organization has been advocating for the abolition of harmful subsidies in the fishing industry since 2001, but has so far not been successful. "Two decades is too long for ending subsidies that finance the relentless overexploitation of our ocean. [...] We need these rules for the sake of the environment, food security and livelihoods worldwide," WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a speech marking World Ocean Day in June. 

Turning subsidies from harmful to beneficial

So far, Indonesia is subsidizing fisheries more than other developing countries, spending over $932 million (€825 million) in 2018. Peru, which catches almost as much, spends only a third as much as Indonesia on subsidies for the fishing industry.

Indonesia spends more on capacity-enhancing, harmful subsidies (60%) in total US dollar, but, as a percentage of the budget, Peru's spending is much higher. Such capacity-enhancing subsidies entail support for boat construction and renovation as well as bigger projects such as fishing port developments.

Although small-scale fishing operations account for almost 95% of the sector, experts say it is mainly the fishing fleets of large-scale industry that benefit from subsidies. 

A fisherman dries his catch in a village near Jakarta, Indonesia

On the other hand, targeted, beneficial subsidies can help maintain biodiversity and protect ecosystems. In Indonesia, about one-third of subsidies have so far been used for this purpose. Some of the funds have gone toward the promotion of marine protected areas, which are intended to protect threatened ecosystems from human exploitation.

One successful example is Raja Ampat, in eastern Indonesia, where several marine protected areas were designated in 2004. They now cover 4.6 million hectares (11.3 million acres) and are considered the most biodiverse protected region in the world, home to more than 1,600 species of fish and hundreds of corals. The abundance of fish attracts many tourists — but also some poachers, who have repeatedly caused damage by fishing with dynamite, for example.

Worldwide, however, Raja Ampat is considered a success story for the cooperation between NGOs, fishing communities and the Indonesian government. NGOs focused more on research and communication to increase public awareness and inform stakeholders. The government, for example, focused more on establishing structures such as a monitoring force to protect the area.

Raja Ampat, home to 75% of the world's known stone corals, is considered the richest coral reef on Earth

Protected areas can't be established everywhere, and it's not yet possible to completely phase out harmful subsidies. With entire industries depending on these funds, there is a risk of economic collapse without them, said Simon Funge-Smith, senior fishery officer at FAO's Asia-Pacific regional office in Bangkok, adding that the consequences would be far-reaching. "The loss of jobs, the loss of livelihoods is political dynamite."

Almost 7 million people are employed in Indonesia's fishing industry. If the government suddenly stopped all harmful subsidies, small-scale fishermen in particular would suffer, according to Indonesia for Global Justice, an NGO that advocates for a fair-trade system. 

The government must therefore plan carefully, gradually converting harmful subsidies into beneficial ones while continuing to ensure the industry's economic viability, Funge-Smith said. 

Politics hinder sustainable development

That is easier said than done. In recent years, there has been little continuity in Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Since 2019 alone, the minister in charge has changed several times. As a result, a ban on particularly harmful trawl nets was temporarily lifted in November 2020 before it was reintroduced in July 2021.

Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia's fisheries minister from 2014 to 2019, strongly

 advocated for sustainable fishing and marine conservation

Nevertheless, in order to encourage responsible fisheries management, "all stakeholders including the civil society need to continue and to focus on advocating the Indonesia fisheries issues at local, national and international levels," Greenpeace's Nasution said.

After all, he said, the ministry's knowledge when it comes to sustainable fishing has increased greatly in recent years. However, leadership problems in the ministry and the government's focus on attractive investments from abroad has hindered these efforts. Foreign investment is primarily focused on profit, which increases the pressure on marine resources. 

From 2014, the Indonesian government used radical methods against illegal boats, sinking more than 300 foreign and domestic vessels within four years. The number of foreign fishing boats dropped by a quarter, yet local fishermen were more active, according to a study by the ministry and American and Indonesian researchers from various universities. The authors observed an overall recovery of fish stocks in that time, but noted the risk that this would be wiped out by a strong increase in local fishing.

Starting in 2014, the Indonesian Navy sunk hundreds of fishing boat for illegal fishing

No data, no control

Another crucial problem in combating overfishing is the lack of reliable data to monitor compliance with regulations and to make the necessary decisions to protect the ocean. The mere size of the Indonesian archipelago, with its 17,5000 islands and over half a million fishing boats, makes monitoring tricky. And most boats don't have onboard electronic devices to facilitate tracking.

With Indonesia containing more than 17,500 islands and 60% of the territory

 covered by water, fishing boats are difficult to monitor

Several pilot projects could provide a solution. One of these is FishFace, which automatically records catches and species using connected cameras on board. The technology enables remote monitoring in real time. 

Such developments give observers, including Funge-Smith, reasons to be optimistic, even if Indonesia ends up missing its stated goal of sustainable fishing by 2025. "Any progress towards that goal is great," he said. 

 

DW's Arti Ekawati contributed to this piece.

Edited by: Anke Rasper, Gianna Grün and Martin Kübler.

WWW LINKS

Data and sources behind this story

HRW: Western leaders need to 'do better' against autocrats

Western politicians have not adequately stood up for democracy, the Human Rights Watch said in its annual report. Autocrats, however, have been losing their grip on power, the advocacy group said.


Human Rights Watch released its report annual report chronicling the human rights situations in roughly 100 countries where it works

Democratic leaders have failed in addressing serious global challenges, such as climate changeand the COVID-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Thursday.

HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth said the leaders in Western democracies have often been too mired in partisan battles and short-term preoccupations" to deal with the problems effectively.

"If democracies are to prevail in the global contest with autocracy, their leaders must do more than spotlight the autocrats' inevitable shortcomings," Roth wrote in the report's introductory essay.

"They need to make a stronger, positive case for democratic rule."

'Zombie democracy'

The pandemic also put the spotlight on the self-serving tendencies of autocrats, many of whom spent months downplaying the health crisis, Roth said.

"Autocrats claim to deliver better results than democrats, but they usually deliver mainly for themselves," the HRW chief said.

They have gone from subtly manipulating elections for the preservation of their power to overt electoral charades that guarantee their desired results, he wrote.

"What is left after such blatant undermining of elections is no longer managed democracy but 'zombie democracy'—the walking dead of democracy, a charade that has no pretense of a free and fair contest," the rights activist added.

Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth said he wants to counter the "conventional wisdom'' that autocrats are in the ascendancy

'Weak defense of democracy'

Roth criticized Western politicians for displaying weakness in their defense of democracy, adding that these governments often descend to the compromises of realpolitik.

US President Joe Biden vowed to put human rights at the center of his foreign policy after four years of American embrace of "friendly autocrats" under his predecessor, the head of HRW noted.

"But he (Biden) continued to sell arms to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel despite their persistent repression," Roth said.

He also gave the example of Germany's former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Merkel government coordinated a global condemnation of Beijing's crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, he wrote, but when holding the European Union presidency, Germany promoted an EU investment deal with China.

The deal was pushed despite human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslims, including mass internment, forced birth control, and labor transfers to other regions.

He accused French President Emmanuel Macron of turning a blind eye to the "abysmal rights situation" in Egypt under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.

"The defense of human rights requires not only curbing autocratic repression but also improving democratic leadership," Roth noted.

Short shelf lives see poor nations decline millions of Covid jabs: UN


Expired AstraZeneca vaccine doses at a dump in Abuja, Nigeria last month (AFP/Kola Sulaimon)

Thu, January 13, 2022

Poor countries refused to take around 100 million donated Covid-19 vaccine doses in December alone, chiefly due to their short shelf life, the United Nations said Thursday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has slammed the deadly "moral shame" of high-income countries hogging vaccine supplies then offloading near-expiry doses to jab-starved poorer nations.

Stark images last month of Nigeria disposing of more than a million AstraZeneca doses that had gone off highlighted the issue.

UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, uses its vaccine logistics expertise to handle delivery flights for Covax, the global scheme set up to ensure a flow of doses to poorer nations.

In December, "we had almost more than 100 million doses that have been refused because of countries' capacities", UNICEF's supply division director Etleva Kadilli told a European Parliament committee.

"The majority of refusals are due to product shelf life."

- Short notice -

"The short shelf life is really creating a major bottleneck for countries to plan their vaccination campaigns," Kadilli explained.

"Until we have a better shelf life, this is going to be a pressure point for the countries, specifically when countries want to reach populations in hard-to-reach areas."

European Union donations account for a third of the doses delivered so far via Covax, Kadilli told lawmakers.

In October-November, 15 million EU-donated doses were rejected -- 75 percent of them AstraZeneca shots with a shelf life of less than 10 weeks upon arrival.

Kadilli said that several nations were requesting for deliveries to be put off until after March, when they might be better able to handle the pressure on the cold storage chain.

Many countries "come back and request split shipments -- they want to push doses towards the next quarter", she said.

"And I'm talking here also for large, big countries where naturally you'd think that they do have the capacity."

- 'Shame' -

Covax is co-led by the WHO, the Gavi vaccine alliance, and CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. Via UNICEF, it is about to deliver its billionth vaccine dose.

On December 29, the WHO announced that 92 of its 194 member states had missed its target of vaccinating 40 percent of their population by the end of 2021.

"This is due to a combination of limited supply going to low-income countries for most of the year and then subsequent vaccines arriving close to expiry and without key parts like the syringes," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"It's not only a moral shame; it cost lives."

In a speech on Thursday, he said that while more than 9.4 billion vaccine doses had been administered around the world, more than 85 percent of people in Africa are yet to receive a single dose.

"Some of the supply constraints we faced last year are now starting to ease, but we still have a long way to go to reach our target of vaccinating 70 percent of the population of every country by the middle of this year," Tedros told member states.

bur-rjm/har

Nobel body criticizes Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy over war

BY JAN M. OLSEN

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, on Thursday issued a very rare admonition to the 2019 winner, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, over the war and humanitarian crisis in his country’s Tigray region.

“As prime minister and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Abiy Ahmed has a special responsibility to end the conflict and contribute to peace,” the Oslo-based committee said in a statement.

Abiy won the prize, in part, for making peace with neighboring Eritrea after one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts.

The committee said that “it must be emphasized that Abiy Ahmed’s prize was awarded on the basis of his efforts and the justifiable expectations that existed in 2019,” adding that “the historical backdrop included an authoritarian governing system and widespread ethnic conflicts.”

But in November 2020, Abiy’s government allowed Eritrean forces into Tigray as they together pursued the Tigray leaders after political tensions erupted into war. Some tens of thousands of people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands now face famine as Ethiopia’s government has kept almost all food and medical aid from Tigray since late June.

“Nowhere in the world are we witnessing hell like Tigray,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a former Tigray official, told reporters on Wednesday, saying the WHO had approached Abiy’s office for permission to send medicines into Tigray, in vain.

“The humanitarian situation is very serious, and it is not acceptable that humanitarian aid does not emerge to a sufficient degree,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee statement said.

There was no immediate comment from the prime minister’s office.

Ethiopia’s conflict entered a new phase in late December when Tigray forces retreated into their region amid a new military offensive and Ethiopian forces said they would not advance further there. But aid workers have said airstrikes continue to kill civilians in Tigray, with a weekend strike killing more than 50. Another airstrike killed 17 on Monday, the day President Joe Biden, in a call with Abiy, raised concerns about them.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee also said that its deliberations are confidential. “Furthermore, it is not our role to provide continuing commentary on Ethiopian developments or to assess the position of a Peace Prize laureate after the prize has been received.”

___

Associated Press Writer Cara Anna in Nairobi contributed to this report.

Abiy Ahmed has 'special responsibility' to end Tigray conflict : Nobel Panel

Issued on: 13/01/2022 -

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, said Thursday that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the honour in 2019, bore special responsibility for ending the bloodshed in Tigray. Awol Allo, senior lecturer at Keele University, gives his analysis.

Sudanese protesters kill police officer as anti-coup rallies turn violent
NEWS WIRES 

Sudanese anti-coup protesters stabbed to death a police general on Thursday, authorities said, as thousands who kept up rallies against an October military coup faced tear gas.

 

© AFP

Brigadier General Ali Bareema Hamad, "fell martyr while doing his duties and securing protests" in the capital Khartoum, a police statement said on Facebook.

Hamad "received deadly stabs by groups of protesters ... in different parts of his body," police spokesman Idris Abdalla Idris told Sudan TV.

Other police personnel "suffered severe wounds," he added.

Hamad's was the first fatality announced among security forces since protests calling for a return to civilian rule began more than two months ago.

A security crackdown has left at least 63 people dead and hundreds wounded, according to medics, who said many of the protesters were killed by live rounds.

Thursday's rallies converged from several parts of Khartoum and came after a United Nations bid to facilitate talks between rival Sudanese factions received tepid support.

The UN push aimed at resolving the crisis since the October 25 military coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the resignation of the civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok earlier this month.

Sudan has no government, foreign aid has been suspended, and regular demonstrations against the coup -- attended by up to tens of thousands -- are routinely met by a violent response from authorities.

Demonstrators also took to the streets in the capital's twin city of Omdurman as well as in Port Sudan in the country's east, according to witnesses.

Protesters in Khartoum converged on the city centre chanting: "With all our power, we are heading to the palace".

Others hollered: "Burhan is dirty, brought to (power) by the Islamists," who were dominant under the three-decade rule of strongman Omar al-Bashir. He was ousted by his own military in April 2019 after months of mass protests.

Following a repeated pattern, security forces fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the protesters in Khartoum and Omdurman, witnesses said.

Online footage appeared to show demonstrators hurling stones and unexploded canisters of tear gas at security forces near the presidential palace.

The military takeover derailed a fragile transition to civilian rule following Bashir's ouster.

Authorities have repeatedly denied using live ammunition in confronting protesters and insist scores of security forces have been wounded during demonstrations that have often "deviated from peacefulness".
'Not clear'

On Monday, UN special representative Volker Perthes said he was launching "consultations" with political and social actors as well as armed and civil society groups.

The UN push has received a mixed response.

"We don't accept this initiative at all," 62-year-old protester Awad Saleh said.

"It's not clear what points it constitutes and so for us it is deficient."

The Sudanese Professionals Association, an independent trade union confederation instrumental in organising the protests, said it completely rejects the UN initiative.

The mainstream faction of the Forces for Freedom and Change, the leading civilian pro-democracy group, said it will "discuss" the invitation internally before announcing its stand.

But spokesman Wagdy Saleh said the FFC rejected "any partnership" with the military.

The ruling Sovereign Council -- formed by Burhan following the coup with himself as chairman -- has welcomed the proposed talks, as have the United States, Britain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for stability in Sudan saying it "will not be reached except by consensus among all forces".

Burhan has insisted that the military takeover "was not a coup" but only meant to "rectify the course of the Sudanese transition.

Hamdok resigned as prime minister on January 2, only six weeks after being reinstated following his house arrest in the wake of the coup.

In his resignation speech, Hamdok warned that Sudan was now at a "dangerous crossroads threatening its very survival".

(AFP)

Assassination mars Cameroon's football fiesta, exposes missed political goals

Leela JACINTO 

The killing this week of a prominent senator from Cameroon’s anglophone western region, while the country hosts the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations, has put a spotlight on a conflict the government has tried to paper over. While President Paul Biya hails the tournament as a symbol of unity, his government’s policies have exacerbated deadly divides.

© Mohamed Abd el Ghany, Reuters

On Wednesday night, hours before the coastal city of Limbé hosted its first match of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON, or CAN as it is called in French), Senator Henry Kemende left his house in Bamenda, a city further inland in the troubled English-speaking region in the country's west.

He never returned home.

Hours later, the opposition politician’s body was found in his native Bamenda, capital of Cameroon’s war-torn Northwest Province, his chest riddled with bullets.

Kemende, a lawyer and lawmaker for the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, one of Cameroon’s main opposition parties, was an outspoken human rights defender. He was also a leading representative of the country’s marignalised anglophone minority, who constitute around 20 percent of the country’s 28 million population.

His killing came as international sports journalists were making their way to Limbé for Thursday’s match between Tunisia and Mali at the Omnisport stadium. The AFCON has seen the usual displays of national pride accompanied by choruses of buzzing vuvuzelas.The tournament kicked off on Sunday with the hosts beating Burkina Faso, setting of a burst of rapturous joy among Cameroonian football fans, many emblazoned in the green, red and yellow colours of the national flag.

But Africa’s premier football tournament this year has been overshadowed by serious security concerns.

Militants from a motley mix of armed groups fighting for a separate state – called “Ambazonia” – in the anglophone west have threatened to disrupt the games. Confronting a separatist insurgency in the west, a jihadist threat in the north and a pandemic across the world, the government nevertheless responded with a confident motto: “Safety will be guaranteed”.

But the Cameroonian state – led by 88-year-old President Paul Biya, who has been in power for four decades – has not been able to guarantee the security of its citizens in the western provinces over the past few years. The anglophone insurgency has claimed more than 3,000 lives and displaced nearly a million people over the past five years, with both sides accused of committing atrocities and abuses.

No one has claimed responsibility for Kemende’s killing so far. The Ambazonian Defence Force (ADF), one of the main anglophone separatist groups, has denied responsibility for the killing.

The group did however claim an attack on Wednesday, which killed a Cameroonian soldier in Buéa, a western city around 20 kilometres north of Limbé, where four Group F national teams – Mali, Gambia, Tunisia and Mauritania – are based.

The slaying of a prominent parliamentarian in the Northwest Region followed by a deadly attack in the Southwest Region has put a spotlight on a conflict the Cameroonian government has attempted to shield from the international community.

The hosting of the AFCON – which was postponed from 2021 due to the pandemic – has also raised questions over the use of major sports events by authoritarian leaders to project national unity while their policies exacerbate divisions – with deadly consequences.

A new killing, an old colonial problem

Kemende’s killing has exposed the intractable nature of a crisis amid fears that the moderate anglophone politician could have been assassinated by extremist Ambazonia militants, locally known as “Amba boys”.

With his legal background defending the rights of his constituents and his ability to speak truth to power, Kemende was a firebrand parliamentarian and a familiar figure on Cameroon’s English language TV stations.

For the many people who knew the SDF senator and worked with him, Kemende killing is both unfathomable and tragic.

“It’s a huge loss,” mourned Christopher Fomunyoh, senior associate for Africa at the Washington DC-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), in an interview with FRANCE 24.

“It’s a huge loss for his family of course. It’s a huge loss for the legal profession, given the role lawyers played in the beginning of this crisis and the role they stand to play in resolving the crisis. Nationally, it’s an enormous loss: A member of the Senate, a constitutional body, has been assassinated. And it’s a huge loss as the conflict continues and the gap between the anglophone population and the state widens.”

The crisis in Cameroon’s anglophone western region was sparked in October 2016, when lawyers took to the streets in Bamenda to protest the exclusive use of French in court and other state institutions.

The roots of the problem date back to the colonial era, when the central African region once colonised by Germany was split between Britain and France after World War I. With the withdrawal of the colonial powers, Cameroon was declared a “decentralised unitary state” under a 1961 constitution, with English and French designated official languages. Buéa became the capital of West Cameroom while Yaounde doubled as the federal capital as well as the capital of francophone East Cameroon.

But English-speaking Cameroonians have long complained of discrimination, noting that the country’s top positions in government, as well as in the oil sector, have always been held by French speakers. Anglophone Cameroonians also complained that government documents were published only in French, enabling their exclusion from top civil service jobs.

The grievances were familiar and the protests peaceful – until a ferocious security crackdown fuelled support for separatism and the emergence of several separatist militias calling for a new state of Ambazonia.

The emergence of militias has plunged the already marginalised western region in a cycle of violence with dismaying familiarity. A militarised state response has seen hundreds of opposition party members and activists jailed and a populace living in fear of arbitrary arrests and crackdowns.

Meanwhile Ambazonia militants routinely target civilians accused of “collaborating” with the government in Yaounde and have enforced a school boycott, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of their education.

“It’s always the civilians, the ordinary people caught in the middle, who suffer,” said Rebecca Tinsley, a London-based activist with The Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon. “The violence is just getting worse. In 2021, there were more than 80 IED [improvised explosive device] attacks in the anglophone region alone. Because of the violence, nearly a million children are not able to go to school and there’s very little security, making the lives of ordinary people very difficult.”

'Just five days' for talks

Two years after militants declared an independent Ambazonia in 2017, Swiss negotiators agreed to mediate talks between Cameroonian authorities and separatists in a bid to end the escalating violence.

The Swiss peace proposals however received no follow-up and the Cameroonian government instead launched a National Dialogue from September 30 to October 4, 2019, with much fanfare.

Following the talks in Yaounde, the government announced new measures, including the release of some political prisoners, the creation of regional assemblies and councils, as well as a $163 million special fund for the reconstruction of the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.

But a year later, the western regions were still ungovernable and the violence had increased. While the special fund had received 10 percent of the promised $163 million, fighting had slowed the first phase of the reconstruction exercise.

“The National Dialogue was a piece of theatre for the benefit of the international community,” dismissed Tinsley. “It had no credibility because most of the anglophones were either not invited or afraid to go [to Yaounde] in case they got arrested.”

Most analysts agree the talks, which brought together representatives from Cameroon’s 10 provinces instead of concentrating on the aggrieved region, were a failure. “The National Dialogue was held for just five days – you can’t deal with grievances of over 50 years, diagnose the problems, find solutions, seek consensus and address implementation in five days,” said Fomunyoh. “They continue to insist this is an internal problem. They think they can just shoot their way out of the conflict or the crisis will burn itself out,” he dismissed.

Tournament will end, but 'problems remain'

The hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations could have provided an opportunity to either reinvigorate a moribund peace process or better, evaluate failures and start afresh.

Football is politics in Cameroon, with the sport playing an important role in public life. Domestically, the sport “serves as a diversionary element in the country’s tightly controlled political system, whilst internationally, successful sports performance compensates for the country’s weak influence on other aspects of continental and global politics,” noted Joanne Clarke and John Sunday Ojo in their report, “Sport Policy in Cameroon”.

The Cameroonian president – with his advanced age, health problems and protracted stays in his Swiss luxury getaway – is the subject of private jokes and speculations about his mental agility. But even at 88, Biya has proved he instinctively understands the power of the game in his football-mad nation when he declared AFCON “a great moment of brotherhood” that would provide Cameroonians an opportunity to display “the rich cultural diversity that has earned our country the nickname, ‘Africa in miniature’”.

But aside from the spectacle of declarations, the Biya administration missed the moment to include all Cameroonians in a brotherhood that enables the inclusion of the country’s diversity in all political and economic sectors.

Fomunyoh lists four conditions for the resumption of an anglophone peace process based on established negotiation norms. These include the declaration of an immediate ceasefire to stop the cycle of violence, the release of political prisoners, the use of non-Cameroonian negotiators to facilitate dialogue between opposing sides, and finally, to “accept that the mediations should be held in another country outside Cameroon”.

None of the proposals were heeded, leaving Fomunyoh to view the current football circus as a metaphor for the country’s leadership style. “I feel this tournament and the debate around it captures how this government tackles issues. They’re so focused on the here and now, they don’t seem to be able to project into the middle or long term,” he noted. “In a few weeks, the tournament will be over, but the problems remain.”

The anglophone crisis, experts agree, requires a political – not military – solution. But for Cameroonians invested in a peaceful resolution to the conflict, Kemende’s killing leaves a deep vacuum. “He was one of the few anglophone elites who spoke out and who could talk to both sides,” mourned Fomunyoh. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any confidence that there will be a thorough investigation, that the perpetrators are found and put to trial, and that justice will be served.”

EU vetoes shipbuilding merger between Hyundai and Daewoo

By Choi Kyong-ae, Yonhap News Agency

The South Korean Navy's 2,800-ton frigate, the Daejeon, was manufactured by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. 

File Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The European Union antitrust regulator on Thursday vetoed Hyundai Heavy Industries Group's proposed acquisition of its smaller rival Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., citing monopoly issues.

The European Commission announced its decision to block the merger of the South Korean shipbuilders, arguing the tie-up could create a monopoly in the liquefied natural gas carrier market.

"The merger would have created a dominant position by the new merged company and reduced competition in the worldwide market for the construction of large LNG carriers," the commission said in a statement.

Hyundai Heavy did not formally offer remedies to address the commission's concerns that the merger would have led to fewer suppliers and higher prices for LNG ships, the statement said.

If merged, two shipbuilders' combined market share in the LNG ship market would rise to at least 60%, the EU regulator said.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. called the commission's conclusion unreasonable and disappointing.

"The commission's use of the market share as evaluation criteria has no probative value as the market share itself is not a proper indicator of market power in the shipbuilding industry," HHIH said in a statement.

LNG ships are the only sector that the EU took issue with in terms of dominant position, HHIH said.

Hyundai Heavy had expected unconditional European Commission clearance for the deal as was the case in Singapore, China and Kazakhstan.

The Singaporean regulator said that the shipbuilding market is heavily reliant on tenders and is essentially a bidding market. In bidding markets, having high market share may not confer market power as market share can be easily lost in the next bidding round, the statement said.

The existence of at least one credible alternative to the merged entity may be enough to constrain their ability to exert market power following the proposed merger. There are close competitors, such as Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co., and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., it said.

After reviewing the EU's final decision, HHIH said it will pursue possible measures, including an appeal to the General Court of the European Union.

Daewoo didn't provide an official statement.

The government and analysts expected no major impact of the deal's collapse in the shipbuilding industry as the shipbuilding business has bottomed out, and orders of high-end LNG carriers and offshore facilities began to rebound from last year.

Daewoo Shipbuilding's creditors will draw up measures to strengthen the shipbuilder's competitiveness and restart the process to find a new owner in the private sector, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Analysts said the collapse of the merger will have no major impact on the two shipbuilders as global shippers will likely place more orders for LNG ships, oil tankers, and offshore plants such as floating production storage and offloading units amid rising energy prices.

"The EU decision won't matter that much for the shipbuilders as the shipbuilding industry is entering an upcycle after a decade-long downcycle. In particular, Hyundai Heavy will be able to utilize the acquisition money for other purposes," Kim Hong-gyun, an analyst at Dongbu Securities Co., said over the phone.

But uncertainties remain for Daewoo as it has a growing financial burden to pay interest on the 1.9 billion debt sale to the state Export-Import Bank of Korea, he said.

Hyundai Heavy announced the deal in 2019, and the EU regulator postponed the review of the acquisition three times in the past two years due to the extended COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2019, Hyundai Heavy's main creditor Development Bank agreed to provide the 56% stake it holds in Daewoo Shipbuilding to Hyundai Heavy in exchange for a stake worth about $105 million in Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co.

HHIH, the holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, holds a 36 percent stake in KSOE. KSOE is the group's subholding company and has three affiliates -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. -- under its wing.

Under the initial agreement, Hyundai Heavy was planning to raise about $105 million through the sale of Daewoo Shipbuilding shares to pay back Daewoo's debts after acquisition.

An EU veto is the first since the EU regulator blocked the merger between Germany's steelmaker Thyssenkrupp AG and India's Tata Steel Ltd. in 2019 due to the same anti-competition worries.

South Korea has the world's three biggest shipbuilders by orders -- Hyundai Heavy, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding.

Meanwhile, South Korea's antitrust regulator is expected to end the merger review process if Hyundai withdraws the combination proposal following the EU decision.