As the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Nigeria increases, contact tracing of patients in the country’s communities is becoming more difficult for health officials. Nigeria’s Presidential Task Force Committee on COVID-19 has criticized Nigerians who refuse to assist contact tracers due to fear and stigma. But in some communities, local leaders have stepped up to help the tracers do their job.Daniel Sila is the town crier in this Mabushi village near Abuja city. Occasionally, he disseminates vital information from the village chief to people who live in the community.But in recent weeks, his message has been about COVID-19, and ways to prevent it.Silas said he also helps health officials with their contact tracing mission in the village.Sila said they came in their vehicles. I wore coronavirus protection clothing with them.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 6 MB480p | 9 MB540p | 13 MB720p | 27 MB1080p | 56 MBOriginal | 62 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioThis community was among the first in the Abuja region to record COVID-19 infections. Danjuma Dogo, the community secretary, said cases have increased exponentially.”The first time was about seven cases, the second was about fourteen. The conclusion when that testing was done, I think it was about 70-something.” Health authorities responded by conducting extensive testing in Mabushi. But as more positive cases were discovered, it became a challenge to trace them. They sought an audience with the community heads, and officials like Danjuma Dogo were assigned to help health workers locate positive cases.”They came with the list and we responded quickly by working together with them to fish out those ones affected. I was part of the committee and the list was with me, we had to go round, checking who and who is affected,” said Dogo. So far Nigeria has recorded more than 41,000 cases of COVID-19. But the fear and stigma attached to the disease have limited the number of people who show up for testing or report symptoms.Last month, the presidential task force committee on coronavirus criticized the reluctance of Nigerians to aid health workers or participate in contact tracing.The committee says unless Nigerians change their attitudes, the pandemic cannot be brought under control.
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Month: July 2020
US Appeals Court to Rehear Arguments Over Ex-Trump Aide Flynn
A U.S. appeals court on Thursday agreed to rehear arguments over whether the judge assigned to the criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, must grant a request to dismiss it.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it would hold an oral argument in the politically charged criminal case on Aug. 11.
In a 2-1 decision on June 24, a three-judge panel of the same court ruled in favor of Flynn and the Trump administration and said U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington had to grant the Justice Department’s motion to clear Flynn, who twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Sullivan asked the full court to reconsider the three-judge panel’s ruling, saying the Justice Department’s dropping of the Flynn case was unprecedented and had to be carefully scrutinized.
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Central Africa’s Muslim Feast Hampered as COVID-19 Blocks Livestock Trade
More than one million livestock being transported from Cameroon and Chad for Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice, have been blocked at the borders with Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. Cameroon’s neighboring states are refusing imports due to COVID-19, forcing livestock merchants who depend on the annual festival, known locally as Tabaski, to sell at cut-rate prices.Spokesperson for the Central African Association of Cattle Sellers Clementina Ondo said their trade was already crumbling because of COVID-19.The situation is made worse, she said, because border authorities are blocking trade of their livestock raised to sell for the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, known locally as Tabaski.Ondo spoke via a messaging app from the Cameroon town of Kiossi, on the borders with Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.She said at least 500 sheep and cattle sellers now find themselves in serious economic hardship. Ondo said it is unfair for major consumers of their animals like Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to completely seal their borders during peak sales periods like the feast of Tabaski. She said Cameroon refused entry to 20 trucks sent from Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to transport sheep in less than 24 hours.A health worker collects an oral swab from a woman during a COVID-19 coronavirus test at the Nkembo health center in Libreville, Gabon, July 9, 2020.Ondo said the sheep and cattle were from northern Cameroon and Chad, where ranching is a main economic activity.Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute on Wednesday denied his country is blocking the livestock trade.”We require a certificate to show that people coming in are free of the virus. So, the frontiers are not closed. They are still open but to certain categories of transporters,” he said.In March, Cameroon and its neighbors the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria sealed their borders to stop the spread of COVID-19.Cameroon and Chad later said they would allow merchants access as they were suffering economic hardship from the pandemic. Livestock traders had hoped neighboring states would follow suit or were unaware of the restrictions.But the Association of Cattle Sellers this week reported that Equatorial Guinea and Gabon refused imports of over 200,000 sheep and cattle.The association said Nigerian border authorities blocked another half-million animals from being exported from Cameroon.But while Cameroon’s livestock suppliers are suffering the glut, local buyers are benefitting.28-year-old Cameroonian butcher Kaigama Abo said prices have dropped by up to 70 percent.He said he can now afford to buy many sheep for the Tabaski feast with Muslim neighbors and friends — and also to store for selling when the price goes up.Abo said he is buying as many sheep as possible to sell and make much profit when COVID-19 reduces and the borders are opened. He said sheep he buys today at between $60 and $100 are normally sold for $400 to $500. Abo said he cannot miss the opportunity.But while Cameroon’s Muslims are celebrating the low prices, the Tabaski feast will still be hampered by pandemic restrictions.People are required to gather in groups of 50 or less, wear face masks, frequently wash their hands, and keep a distance of at least two meters from each other.
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Pelosi Mandates Masks in US House of Representatives
The U.S. House of Representatives begins a new mandated face mask policy Thursday, following an order from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was facing increasing pressure to address safety concerns in one of the nation’s most high-profile office complexes. Pelosi issued the order late Wednesday after U.S. FILE – Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert studies notes during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, July 28, 2020.Gohmert said in an interview with CNN last month he did not wear a mask because he was being tested regularly for the coronavirus. “I don’t have the coronavirus, turns out as of yesterday I’ve never had it,” Gohmert said. “But if I get it, you’ll never see me without a mask.” The 66-year-old Republican lawmaker attended a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday with Attorney General William Barr, during which chairman Jerry Nadler scolded several other Republicans for not wearing masks. Politico also reported Gohmert returned to his Capitol Hill office after receiving the diagnosis at the White House so that he could inform his staff in person. Responding to news of the positive test, House Majority leader Steny Hoyer criticized Gohmert and many other Republicans for not consistently donning a mask. “Too many Republicans have continued to act extraordinarily irresponsibly, including Louis Gohmert. Louie Gohmert ought to quarantine himself right now. He had this test, as I understand it prior to the Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, he was in the committee room. He put on his mask when he sat down in his chair. He came into the room without a mask on,” Hoyer told reporters. Under the new mask policy in the House, all members of Congress and staff are required to wear a mask at all times in the Capitol and office buildings. The policy instituted under the direction of the U.S. Capitol’s attending physician says, “Any person not wearing a face cover will be asked to put on a face cover or leave the building. This requirement will remain in effect until a determination is made that such a requirement is no longer necessary.”
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Trump Suggests Delaying Presidential Election
For the first time, U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting delaying this year’s election.
Trump, on Twitter on Thursday morning, alleged, without evidence, that mail-in balloting would be make the 2020 presidential balloting the “most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history.”
The president added: “It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020The president does not have the power to delay the election, which is to be held November 3rd. The date is set by Congress under the Constitution.
Delaying the election would violate American law, wrote presidential historian Michael Beschloss on Twitter.
“Never in American history—not even during the Civil War and World War II–has there been a successful move to ‘Delay the Election’ for President,” said Beschloss, the author of ten books about American history.Never in American history—not even during the Civil War and World War II–has there been a successful move to “Delay the Election” for President.— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) July 30, 2020Polls indicate Trump is significantly trailing the presumptive Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden in key battleground states.
The director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Chris Krebs, told the Brookings Institution on July 17th, “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The 2020 election will be the most secure election in modern history.”
US Officials Promising ‘Most Secure Election in Modern History’The officials say while the November presidential election will not be risk free, defense and back-up systems should guarantee a free and fair resultKrebs said that said at least 92% of U.S. states now have systems in place to ensure there is a paper record of every vote cast, making it easier to audit election results to make sure no one is able to tamper with the tally. And that number could rise as a growing number of states are expected to turn to mail-in ballots instead of in-person voting because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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Moscow Court Sentences Ex-US Marine to 9 Years in Prison
A court in Moscow has sentenced former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed to nine years in prison after finding him guilty of assaulting two police officers, a charge that he refused to admit.Judge Dmitry Arnaut of Moscow’s Golovinsky District Court on July 30 also ordered Reed to pay 150,000 rubels ($2,000) to each police officer as compensation for moral damage.The 29-year old man, who is from Texas, traveled to Moscow in May 2019 to study Russian and spend time with his Russian girlfriend, Alina Tsybulnik.On August 15, several days before his trip back to Texas, Reed and his girlfriend attended a party organized by her colleagues. He claims to have no memory of what happened following the party, where he says he was encouraged to drink large quantities of vodka.In a car going home afterward, Reed said he felt unwell, asked the driver to stop, and got out. His girlfriend’s co-worker called police and left the site with another colleague, leaving Tsybulnik alone with Reed.Two police officers arrived at the scene and took Reed in to sober up, telling Tsybulnik to come back in a few hours and pick him up.Tsybulnik told RFE/RL that when she arrived at the police station later, Reed was being questioned, without a lawyer or interpreter present, by two men who introduced themselves as employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB).Tsybulnik was told that her boyfriend was accused of endangering the lives of the policemen who brought him in by yanking the driver’s arm and elbowing another officer who tried to intervene.However, the case against Reed has been marred by inconsistencies. Video evidence reviewed in court appeared to show no evidence that the police vehicle swerved as a result of Reed’s actions, as alleged by the police officers.Speaking before the judge, the officers themselves have claimed to have no memory of key moments in the journey, and have retracted parts of their statements on several occasions or failed to answer simple questions from Reed’s defense team.Reed is one of several American citizens to face trial in Russia in recent years on charges that their families, supporters, and in some cases the U.S. government have said appear trumped up.Last month, another former U.S. Marine, 50-year-old Paul Whelan, was sentenced by a court in Moscow to 16 years in prison for espionage which he, his supporters, and the U.S. government have questioned.
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Global Markets Mostly Lower Thursday
Global markets are mostly lower Thursday as a stalemate in Washington over extending enhanced unemployment benefits for millions of Americans, plus an expected record-plunge in U.S. gross domestic product during the April-June period cast pessimism over trading activity. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index dropped 0.2%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed 0.6% lower, and Shanghai’s Composite index lost 0.2%. Elsewhere in the region, the S&P/ASX index in Australia gained 0.8%. South Korea’s KOSPI index gained 0.1%, while the TSEC index in Taiwan surged 1.4% and the Sensex in Mumbai closed 0.8% lower. European markets are in freefall, with London’s FTSE index down 1.7% in midday trading, the CAC-40 in Paris is 1.3% lower, and the DAX index has plunged 2.7% on news that Germany’s GDP declined 10.1% in the second quarter, its biggest loss in 50 years. Oil markets are also slumping Thursday, with U.S. crude trading at $40.54 per barrel, down 1.7%, and Brent crude oil trading at $43.05 per barrel, down 1.6%. And all three major U.S. indices are trending negative ahead of Wall Street’s opening bell.
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Vietnam to Shut Bars, Nightclubs Amid COVID Outbreak
Vietnam’s business hub, Ho Chi Minh City, has ordered bars and nightclubs to shut and banned gatherings of more than 30 people starting midnight on Thursday, to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus after it resurfaced in the country last week.
Ho Chi Minh City has registered two cases of COVID-19 linked to the Danang outbreak, both of which had reported themselves separately to health authorities before undertaking tests, the city’s administration said in a statement.
About 18,000 tourists who had been in Danang have returned to Ho Chi Minh City recently, it added. The restrictions follow similar curbs imposed by the capital Hanoi on Wednesday.
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Хабаровская Народная Республика? Китай радуется – карлик пукин угодил в собственную ловушку…
Хабаровская Народная Республика? Китай радуется – карлик пукин угодил в собственную ловушку…
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У обиженного карлика пукина круги под глазами из-за событий в Хабаровске: он сам этого не ведая, открыл ящик Пандорры…
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Глухой скандал: Китай отфутболил очередной бред обиженного карлика пукина
Глухой скандал: Китай отфутболил очередной бред обиженного карлика пукина.
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Глухой скандал, возникший на днях в Китае, заставил вернуться к теме уже слегка подзабытой за последний месяц
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За згоди зеленого карлика дегенерат медведчук на 112 каналі транслює антихриста гундяєва
За згоди зеленого карлика дегенерат медведчук на 112 каналі транслює збоченця гундяєва.
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На 112 каналі зрадника медведчука вільно транслювали виступ збоченця кіріла гундяєва, який причетний до розв’язання війни проти України і масових вбиств українців. При цьому в одній компанії з ним фактично опиняється і команда зеленого карлика, яка не вилазить з каналів придурка медведчука. Це може свідчити про те, що зеленський та медведчук мають спільні домовленості.
Блог про українську політику та актуальні події в нашій країні
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Найкращі пропозиції товарів і послуг в Мережі Купуй!
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Мощи обиженного карлика пукина полетят в Хабаровск
Мощи обиженного карлика пукина полетят в Хабаровск.
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Чем меньше перспектив у страны, тем больше в ней торжеств и показной, выдуваемой из пузатых, начищенных оркестровых труб, гордости
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Проклятие зелёного карлика, шедевр Оруэлла, бравада пукина и выборы в Беларуси
Проклятие зелёного карлика, шедевр Оруэлла, бравада пукина и выборы в Беларуси
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NBA Resumes Thursday With Playoff Push
The National Basketball Association is resuming its season Thursday, 20 weeks after suspending play when a player tested positive for the coronavirus.The regular season was nearing its end at the time of the shutdown, so the league is finishing with an eight-game schedule for 22 teams that have either already qualified for the playoffs or have a chance to do so.All games are being played at three arenas at the Disney complex in Orlando, Florida, where players and staff have been living for several weeks.The league employing a “bubble” strategy with no travel, mandatory quarantines for anyone who leaves the site, no unauthorized visitors and no fans in order to try to prevent coronavirus infections.NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he is anxious about the league’s return, but that everyone on the campus is being tested daily and that officials are ready to act if cases emerge.“Probably if we had any significant spread at all, we’d immediately stop and one thing we’d do is try to track those cases to determine where they’re coming from and whether there had been spread on the campus,” Silver said Wednesday. “I would say, ultimately, we would cease completely if we thought that this was spreading around the campus and something more than an isolated case was happening.”A league statement Wednesday said there were no confirmed positive tests among 344 players who were tested since July 20.Thursday’s first game is between the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz, with a second matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.Of those four teams, only the Pelicans have yet to clinch a playoff spot.The playoffs begin August 17, and will conclude with the final round in October.Across the state in Bradenton, Florida, the Women’s National Basketball Association began its season last week in its own bubble with similar rules and no fans at its games. The league typically starts in late May or early June, and this year will begin its playoffs in September.Saturday brings the beginning of the National Hockey League season, employing a similar bubble strategy using two Canadian cities – Toronto and Edmonton – to host players and games for 24 teams. The league announced Monday it also had no positive coronavirus tests during the past week.Major League Baseball began its season last week. It is not using a bubble but rather relying on limiting team travel to geographic regions to try to minimize risks. But already there have been setbacks, with multiple games postponed after members of the Miami Marlins tested positive.
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Launch Set for NASA’s Next-Generation Mars Rover Perseverance
NASA’s next-generation Mars rover Perseverance is set for liftoff from Florida’s Cape Canaveral on Thursday on a mission to search for traces of potential past life on Earth’s planetary neighbor.The U.S. space agency’s $2.4 billion mission is scheduled for launch at 7:50 a.m. ET and is expected to reach Mars in February.The car-sized six-wheeled robotic rover, which will launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance, also is scheduled to deploy a mini helicopter on Mars and test out equipment for future human missions to the fourth planet from the sun.The weather forecast from the Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron put chances of an undisturbed liftoff at 80 percent, reporting a slim chance that thick clouds would form over the launchpad and delay the launch.”This is the ninth time we’ve landed on Mars, so we do have experience with it,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.Perseverance is due to land at the base of a 250-meter-deep crater called Jezero, a former lake from 3.5 billion years ago that scientists suspect could bear evidence of potential past microbial life on Mars. Scientists have long debated whether Mars — once a much more hospitable place than it is today — ever harbored life.One of the most complex maneuvers in Perseverance’s journey will be what mission engineers call the “seven minutes of terror,” when the robot endures extreme heat and speeds during its descent through the Martian atmosphere, deploying a set of supersonic parachutes before igniting mini rocket engines to gently touch down on the planet’s surface.It’s the latest launch from Earth to Mars during a busy month of July, following probes sent by the United Arab Emirates and China.Aboard Perseverance is a 1.8-kilogram autonomous helicopter named Ingenuity that is due to test powered flight on Mars for the first time.Since NASA’s first Mars rover Sojourner landed in 1997, the agency has sent two others — Spirit and Opportunity — that have explored the geology of expansive Martian plains and detected signs of past water formations, among other discoveries. NASA also has successfully sent three landers: Pathfinder, Phoenix and InSight.The United States has plans to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s under a program that envisions using a return to the moon as a testing platform for human missions before making the more ambitious crewed journey to Mars.Perseverance will conduct an experiment to convert elements of the carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere into propellant for future rockets launching off the planet’s surface, or to produce breathable oxygen for future astronauts.
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Death Toll from Australia Coronavirus Surge Rises to 189
Australia’s southern state of Victoria posted 723 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths on Wednesday, a new one-day record for the hardest-hit state from the sudden spike of the disease.The new numbers exceed the 532 new coronavirus cases posted on Monday for Australia’s second most populous state. Victoria has now posted over 9,900 total number of COVID-19 infections and 105 deaths, making up the majority of Australia’s 16,298 total confirmed cases and 189 deaths.Melbourne, Victoria state’s capital city, is the epicenter of the state’s current COVID-19 surge. State Premier David Andrews has blamed the uptick on residents continuing to go to work or generally in public despite developing symptoms, as well as a breakout in assisted living facilities for the elderly. Andrews has ordered all residents in Victoria to wear a face mask outside beginning Sunday, extending a mandate already in place for Melbourne and the rural area of Mitchell Shire.Andrews has also issued an order banning residents in communities outside of Melbourne from bringing guests into their homes effective Thursday.Melbourne is at the halfway point of a six-week lockdown, which has restricted residents from leaving home unless going to work, school, medical appointments or shopping for food.Meanwhile, authorities in the northeastern state of Queensland have announced that it will ban residents from Greater Sydney effective Saturday to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The ban was imposed after two women tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the state capital of Brisbane from a trip to Melbourne via Sydney tested positive and without going into self-isolation.
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US Lawmakers Attack Tech CEOs
Lawmakers in Washington Wednesday questioned leaders of four top technology companies – Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google – about whether they use their dominance in the market to stifle competition. The hearing was an indication of a changed tone in Washington toward what is called Big Tech. Michelle Quinn reports.
Produced by: Michelle Quinn
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US Announces Massive Troop Pullout from Germany
The United States is pulling almost 12,000 troops from Germany, following through on President Donald Trump’s call to reduce the U.S. military footprint overseas. While defense department officials say the move will boost American security, critics see the move as punishment for a country Trump has criticized as “delinquent” in NATO defense spending. VOA’s diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
Produced by: Bronwyn Benito
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Ivory Coast Ruling Party Nominates President Ouattara to Seek Another Term
Ivory Coast’s ruling RHDP party nominated President Alassane Ouattara to seek re-election, but he is withholding a decision on seeking a third term. Earlier this year, the 76-year old Ouattara spoke of turning over the leadership reigns to a new generation. Ouattara’s plans to bow out may have changed when his prime minister and preferred successor Amadou Gon Coulibaly died of cardiac arrest earlier this month. During a tribute to Coulibaly, the president said he needed time to decide if he would consider seeking re-election. Ouattara could announce his decision on running again during a planned speech to the nation August 6. Opposition groups in Ivory Coast oppose Ouattara extending his 10-year reign, citing a third term in office would be unconstitutional. Voters are expected to choose the country’s next president on October 31.
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Some Nigerian Communities Step up to Help Health Workers with Coronavirus Contact Tracing
As the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in Nigeria increases, contact tracing of patients in the country’s communities is becoming more difficult for health officials. Nigeria’s Presidential Task Force Committee on COVID-19 has criticized Nigerians who refuse to assist contact tracers due to fear and stigma. But in some communities, local leaders have stepped up to help the tracers do their job. Timothy Obiezu has more from Abuja.
Camera: Simpa Samson
Produced by: Rob Raffaele
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2020’s Final Mars Mission Poised for Blastoff from Florida
The summer’s third and final mission to Mars — featuring NASA’s most elaborate life-hunting rover — is on the verge of liftoff.The rover Perseverance will follow China’s rover-orbiter combo and a United Arab Emirates orbiter, both launched last week. It will take the spacecraft seven months to reach Mars after traveling 300 million miles.Once on the surface, Perseverance will scrounge for evidence of past microscopic life in an ancient lakebed, and gather the most promising rock samples for future pickup. NASA is teaming up with the European Space Agency to return the samples to Earth around 2031.This unprecedented effort will involve multiple launches and spacecraft — and cost more than $8 billion.”We don’t know if life existed there or not. But we do know that Mars at one point in its history was habitable,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on the eve of launch.The U.S. remains the only country to land successfully at Mars. If all goes well next February, Perseverance will become the ninth U.S. spacecraft to operate on the Martian surface.First things first, though: Good flying weather is forecast for United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. The Denver-based rocket maker and its heritage companies have launched all of NASA’s Mars missions, beginning with the Mariners in 1964.ULA chief executive Tory Bruno said Perseverance is arguably the most sophisticated and most exciting of all the Mars missions.”We are literally chomping at the bit to take this nuclear-powered dune buggy out to Mars,” he said earlier this week.
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Atlanta Says Goodbye as Lewis’ Body Lies in Repose in Georgia Capitol
Mourners of all ages and races said their final goodbyes Wednesday to civil rights lion John Lewis as his body lay in repose in Atlanta.Lewis represented a large section of the Georgia state capital in the U.S. House of Representatives for 33 years before dying of pancreatic cancer last week at age 80.People lined the streets of downtown Atlanta as his casket was brought into the capitol, where it was to remain throughout the night to give the public a chance to pay respects.Georgia Governor Brian Kemp told Lewis’ family that “everyone knows the name of John Lewis, and more importantly, they know his record of standing up, speaking out and shaking up the status quo. Congressman Lewis changed our country in profound and immeasurable ways, and his legacy of passionate service is truly unmatched.”There will be a funeral for Lewis on Thursday at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church — where Martin Luther King Jr. preached — followed by a private burial.Wednesday’s remembrance for Lewis was one in a series honoring the late congressman, who was born to sharecroppers in heavily segregated Alabama and as a young man in the 1960s battled bravely for civil rights and nearly lost his life doing so.Lewis’ body was flown to Atlanta after lying in state in the U.S. Capitol – only the second Black U.S. lawmaker to be honored in this way. Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who died last year, was the first.
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Italian Coast Guard Rescues Migrants Off Libya
Italy’s coast guard said on Wednesday it had rescued nearly 100 migrants on a “half deflated” dinghy off the coast of Libya after authorities in other countries failed to intervene.The coast guard said the inflatable boat was spotted by aircraft on Tuesday afternoon in the Libyan Search and Rescue (SAR) zone, “without an engine and half deflated.””The Libyan authority responsible for search and rescue activities at sea did not take over the coordination of the rescue operations due to the lack of naval resources,” the coast guard said in a statement.The coast guard then informed Maltese authorities, whose search and rescue zone is close to that of Libya.It said it also alerted Gibraltar, as a supply vessel flying the Gibraltar flag was nine nautical miles from the dinghy, as well as French authorities due to a Total oil platform in the area.France replied there were no French-flagged vessels in the Libyan area of responsibility, it said.”The Italian coast guard, amid the persistent silence of the Maltese and Gibraltar authorities, then took over the coordination of the rescue,” the coast guard said, sending a vessel to rescue the people.The 84 migrants, who included six women and two children, were transferred at dawn on Wednesday from their “almost sunk” dinghy to the Italian ship, which on Wednesday was headed for the island of Lampedusa.The reception center on the island is already overcrowded with migrants who have been arriving daily by the hundreds in recent weeks.More than 300 people, mainly Tunisians, arrived in Lampedusa during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday on board 13 boats.On Monday night, Malta’s coast guard rescued a group of 94 migrants in the Mediterranean, most of whom later tested positive for coronavirus, Malta health authorities said.
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Ambassador to US Defends Netherlands’ Tough EU Stance
Despite acquiescing to a compromise solution at last week’s rancorous but ultimately successful EU summit, Dutch diplomats are offering no apology for their country’s tough stand on financial assistance to the members worst hit by the global pandemic.Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other leaders of what became known as “the frugal four” argued against a more generous relief offer promoted by France and Germany before settling on a package comprising $460 billion in grants and $424 billion in loans.In an interview with VOA, Andre Haspels, the Netherlands’ ambassador to the United States, maintained that the tough medicine that Dutch officials prescribed for the suffering EU countries was no worse than what his government had delivered to its own citizens.Structural changes sought“Yes, we were seen by some countries as being too strict, too tough,” acknowledged Haspels, who is nearing the one-year mark of his term in Washington. What Rutte was trying to do, he said, was to introduce structural changes so that a house that easily catches fire won’t have to rely on emergency extinguishers.Such reforms can be tough, he acknowledged, revealing during the interview that he was personally affected by some of the Netherlands’ painful reforms.When Haspels joined his nation’s foreign ministry in 1987, he thought he had a clear idea of when he would retire and the pension he would receive. Halfway through his career, Dutch society began coming to grips with the fact that people are living longer while population growth remains low.Andre Haspels, Netherlands ambassador to the United States since August 2019. (Embassy of the Netherlands in the U.S.)Ten years and many arguments and protests later, the nation settled on an arrangement that “trade unions, employers, insurance companies, pension funds” could all accept, Haspels said. The resolution doesn’t mean a dream come true for everyone; instead, it is dream revised for most, including career diplomats.“We’re still in relatively secure positions as government officials,” Haspels said, but they, like everyone else in the country, will have to rely not only on the government, but also on private plans to supplement their retirement.It means “a lot more responsibility for the individual,” he said, admitting that he will get a smaller pension than he had once expected and will have to work until age 67 before he can collect those benefits.On the plus side, the future will be more “sustainable for my children and grandchildren,” said the 58-year-old father of four.Less for grantsHaspels said Dutch representatives at the summit insisted on reducing the amount of pandemic-related relief money issued as grants to less wealthy nations because that was what most Dutch citizens wanted.“Two of our main opposition parties were very much against transferring money to the EU,” he said. Plus, Haspels said, his government saw the summit as an opportunity to discuss some countries’ long-standing promises of reform.However tough Rutte might have sounded in Brussels, most observers credit him for keeping the Netherlands firmly in the EU despite some voices in his country crying for a “Nexit,” fashioned after Brexit.At present, two-thirds of Dutch citizens support continued membership in the EU, but Haspels said euroskeptic sentiments “are always going to be there,” likely in all EU member states. “Even after a country exits, the debate continues,” he said with an eye to the ongoing argument in Britain.
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