A Hollywood fantasy turned into reality Saturday when Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win Britain’s grueling Grand National horse race, breaking one of the biggest gender barriers in sports. Blackmore, a 31-year-old Irishwoman, rode Minella Times to victory at odds of 11-1 in the 173rd edition of the famous steeplechase at Aintree in Liverpool, northwest England “I don’t feel male or female right now. I don’t even feel human,” Blackmore said. “This is just unbelievable.” Blackmore is the 20th female jockey to compete in a race that has been a mud-splattered British sporting institution since 1839. Women have been allowed to enter the National as jockeys since 1975. “I never even imagined I’d get a ride in this race, never mind get my hands on the trophy,” Blackmore said. In the 1944 Hollywood movie “National Velvet,” a 12-year-old girl, Velvet Brown — played by a young Elizabeth Taylor — won the Grand National on The Pie, a gelding she won in a raffle and decided to train for the world’s biggest horse race. In the story, Brown was later disqualified on a technicality, having dismounted before reaching the enclosure. Even though Aintree was without racegoers because of the coronavirus pandemic, cheers rang out as Blackmore made her way off the course — still aboard Minella Times — and into the winner’s enclosure. She looked as if she couldn’t believe what she had done. “For all the girls who watched ‘National Velvet’!” tweeted Hayley Turner, a former female jockey. “Thank you Rachael Blackmore, we’re so lucky to have you.” Blackmore, the daughter of a dairy farmer and a schoolteacher, grew up on a farm and rode ponies. She didn’t have a classic racing upbringing, which makes her ascent in the sport all the more inspirational. A professional jockey since 2015, she rode the second most winners in Irish jump racing in 2018-19, the same season she won her first races at the prestigious Cheltenham Festival. She was already the face of British and Irish horse racing before arriving at Aintree, having become the first woman to finish as the leading jockey at Cheltenham three weeks ago. Now she’s won the biggest race of them all, one that even non-horse racing enthusiasts turn on to watch and one that first captured Blackmore’s imagination. Indeed, her first memory of horse racing is going over to a friend’s house and taking part in a sweepstake for the National. A beaming Blackmore had special words for her parents, who “took me around the country riding ponies when I was younger.” “I can’t believe I am Rachael Blackmore. I still feel like that little kid — I just can’t believe I am me,” she said. “I hope it does help anyone who wants to be a jockey. I never thought this would be possible for me. I didn’t dream of making a career as a jockey because I never thought it could happen.” The previous best performance by a female jockey in the National was Katie Walsh’s third-place finish on Seabass in 2012. Minella Times went out as the fourth favorite of the 40 horses in a race run over 4 1/4 miles (6.4 kilometers) and features 30 big and often brutal fences. Minella Times was always near the front of the field, and Blackmore timed the horse’s run for glory to perfection, easing past long-time leader Jett with around three fences to jump. The famous, draining run to the line — about 500 meters from the last fence — was a procession as Minella Times won by 6 1/2 lengths. “He was just incredible and jumped beautifully,” Blackmore said. “I tried to wait as long as I could. When I jumped the last and asked him for a bit, he was there.” One of the other two female jockeys in the race, Bryony Frost, was taken to the hospital after being unseated from her horse, Yala Enki. The Long Mile was destroyed after suffering an injury while running between two of the fences. It was the second equine fatality since safety changes to the race were introduced in 2013.
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Month: April 2021
WHO Warns of Rising COVID Cases, Cites Vaccine Complacency
The World Health Organization is warning that COVID-19 cases and deaths are rising globally, partly because of complacency setting in that vaccines will stop the spread of the disease. The latest WHO report confirms more than 133.5 million cases of coronavirus infections, including nearly 3 million global deaths.
Data show a worrisome uptick in coronavirus cases and deaths in all regions of the world, with Africa slightly less affected than other regions. The World Health Organization attributes this rise to several factors, including an increase in coronavirus variants, failure to practice public health measures and the resumption of so-called normal life when people emerge from lockdown.
Another problem says WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris is a growing complacency that the availability of vaccines will soon end the crisis.
“People are misunderstanding that, seeming to think that vaccination will stop transmission. That is not the case. We need to bring down the transmission while giving the vaccination the chance to stop the severe disease and the severe deaths,” Harris said.
The WHO reports nearly 670 million doses of vaccines have been administered globally. However, most of those doses have been given in wealthy countries. Furthermore, the WHO warns there is a critical shortage of vaccines.
Harris said some countries cannot start COVID-19 inoculation campaigns because of the serious shortfall of doses, especially in developing countries.
“So, again, what can be done about it? Doubling down on the public health social measures. Truly understanding we have to keep on social distancing, we have to avoid indoor crowded settings. We have to keep wearing the masks, even if vaccinated,” she said.
The good news, Harris added, is preliminary results from countries such as Britain show that vaccination programs have averted very large numbers of deaths.
However, until most of the world is vaccinated, she said people must not let down their guard. They must remain vigilant and practice the few simple public health measures that have been shown to work.
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Australian Humpback Whale Numbers Surge But Scientists Warn of Climate Change Threat
Marine experts estimate about 40,000 humpback whales are now migrating through Australian waters annually, up from about 1,500 half a century ago.
The humpbacks’ annual journey from Antarctica to subtropical waters along Australia’s east and west coasts is one of nature’s great migrations.
It is a journey of up to 10,000 kilometers and is undertaken between April and November. Scientists have estimated 40,000 humpback whales have been in Australian waters to mate and breed. It is a remarkable recovery from the height of commercial whaling in the early 1960s when it was estimated there were fewer than 1,500 humpbacks. They were slaughtered mainly for their oil and baleen, or “whalebone.”
Australia’s environment department says no other whale species has recovered as strongly as the humpback since the end of commercial hunting, which ceased in Australia in 1978.
Australia is now considering removing humpback whales from the endangered species list because of their growing numbers.
The acrobatic humpbacks that can grow to 16 meters would still be protected in Australia. Conservationists, though, argue that they need more, not fewer, environmental safeguards to monitor the impact of climate change on krill – their main source of food. Krill are affected by the absorption of more carbon dioxide into the ocean.
Olaf Meynecke, a research fellow in Marine Science at Queensland’s Griffith University, says vigilance is needed to ensure the whales continue to thrive.
“Generally speaking, yes, it is a great success story that humpback whales have come back. But obviously we also need to ask questions as [to] how will this continue in the future, how are present threats already impacting the population and how we [are] going to detect changes in the future,” Meynecke said.
Scientists say humpbacks face a combination of other threats including the overharvesting of krill, pollution, habitat degradation, and entanglement in fishing nets. Calves also face attack by killer whales or sharks.
The recovery of the humpback has helped the rapid growth of Australia’s whale-watching industry.
As their numbers have grown, much about the humpback, a species famous for its song, remains a mystery. Scientists do not know exactly, for example, where on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef they mate and calve.
Humpback whales live in all the world’s oceans. They take their common name from a distinctive hump on the whale’s back.
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Johns Hopkins: Nearly 134.7 Million Global COVID Cases
There are nearly 134.7 million worldwide COVID-19 cases, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Saturday. The U.S. has more cases than anywhere else, with 31 million infections, followed by Brazil, with 13.3 million, and India, with 13.2 million cases.India has recorded its highest daily spike in COVID cases for a fifth straight day. On Saturday, the health ministry reported 145,384 new cases in the previous 24-hour period.Britain’s emergency doctors are reporting that their departments are seeing an influx of patients who say they have headaches and are worried about the Astra Zeneca vaccines they have received, following reports that the vaccine could be responsible for very rare, possibly fatal, brain blood clots.“We are seeing people with mild headaches and persistent headaches, but who are otherwise all right,” Dr. Katherine Henderson, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told The Guardian.Several nations have issued new guidelines over the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union’s medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and the blood clots.Britain, where the vaccine was developed jointly by the British-Swedish drugmaker and scientists at the University of Oxford, said it will offer alternatives for adults under 30. Oxford researchers have also suspended a clinical trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine involving young children and teenagers as British drug regulators conduct a safety review of the two-shot regimen.Spain and the Philippines will limit the vaccine to people over 60 years old, Reuters reported, while The Washington Post reported Italy has issued similar guidelines.The European Medicines Agency recently said blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but it continued to emphasize that its overall benefits outweigh any risks.AstraZeneca has been the key vaccine in Britain’s exceptionally speedy inoculation campaign, which has outpaced the vaccination rates in the rest of Europe.However, the vaccine has had a troubled rollout elsewhere, initially because of a lack of information from its late-stage clinical trials on its effect on older people, which has slowed vaccination efforts throughout Europe. Many nations stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports first surfaced of the blood clot incidents.After 34 million inoculations of the Astra Zeneca vaccine, the European Medicines Agency said it has received fewer than 200 reports about the rare brain blood clots.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday that Tokyo will be placed under a monthlong state of “quasi-emergency” to combat surging COVID-19 infections.Speaking to reporters during a COVID-19 task force meeting, Suga said the new measures are focused on shortening the business hours of bars and restaurants and imposing fines for violations. Many of Tokyo’s COVID-19 cases have been traced to the city’s nightlife.Suga said the steps are necessary because of surging infection rates, particularly of more contagious variants of the virus.Japan has never imposed strict lockdowns such as those seen in other countries.
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Volcano Erupts in Southern Caribbean, Sparking Evacuation ‘Frenzy’
La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent erupted on Friday after decades of inactivity, sending dark plumes of ash and smoke billowing into the sky and forcing thousands from surrounding villages to evacuate.Dormant since 1979, the volcano started showing signs of activity in December, spewing steam and smoke and rumbling away. That picked up this week, prompting Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves to order an evacuation of the surrounding area late on Thursday.Early on Friday it finally erupted. Ash and smoke plunged the neighboring area into near total darkness, blotting out the bright morning sun, said a Reuters witness, who reported hearing the explosion from Rose Hall, a nearby village.Smaller explosions continued throughout the day, Erouscilla Joseph, director at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, told Reuters, adding that this kind of activity could go on for weeks if not months.”This is just the beginning,” she said.St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which has a population of just over 100,000, has not experienced volcanic activity since 1979, when an eruption created approximately $100 million in damages. An eruption by La Soufriere in 1902 killed more than 1,000 people. The name means “sulfur outlet” in French.The eruption column was estimated to reach 10 km (6.2 miles) high, the seismic research center said. Ash fall could affect the Grenadines, Barbados, St. Lucia and Grenada.”The ash plume may cause flight delays due to diversions,” the center said on Twitter. “On the ground, ash can cause discomfort in persons suffering with respiratory illnesses and will impact water resources.”Local media have in recent days also reported increased activity from Mount Pelee on the island of Martinique, which lies to the north of St. Vincent beyond St. Lucia.Heavy ash fall halts evacuationSome 4,500 residents near the volcano had evacuated already via ships and by road, Gonsalves said at a news conference on Friday. Heavy ash fall had halted the evacuation efforts somewhat due to poor visibility, according to St. Vincent’s National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO).”The place in general is in a frenzy,” said Lavern King, 28, a shelter volunteer. “People are still being evacuated from the red zone, it started yesterday evening and into last night.”Gonsalves said that depending on the extent of the damage, it could be four months before evacuees could return home.Welling up with tears, he said neighboring islands such as Dominica, Grenada and Antigua had agreed to take evacuees in and cruise lines could ferry them over — as long as they got vaccinated first.That though could prove a challenge, said opposition senator Shevern John, 42.”People are very scared of the vaccine and they opt out of coming to a shelter because eventually they would have to adhere to the protocol,” she said. Shelters are also having to limit the number of evacuees they take due to COVID-19 protocols.Vincentians would have to wait for further scientific analysis to know what steps to take next, she said.”It can go for a few days or a few weeks,” she said. “At the moment, both ends of the island are covered in ash and very dark.”
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Malawi Expands Eligibility for COVID Vaccine as Doses Near Expiration
Malawi’s Ministry of Health expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine to all Malawians 18 and older. The decision was prompted by the approaching expiration date for about 40,000 doses the country received from the African Union. Malawi’s government has so far received 512,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which it is administering to the public.The first batch of 360,000 doses came in early March under the COVAX program. A few weeks later, Malawi received other allotments of 50,000 doses from India and 102,000 doses from the African Union.Joshua Malango, the spokesperson for Malawi’s Ministry of Health, said 40,000 of the African Union doses expire Tuesday, while the other vaccine expires in July. He believes there is still time to distribute the AU doses before they become unusable. “We have four days to go,” he said. “We still have tomorrow, we still have Sunday, and Monday.”In a televised situation update Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said all Malawians 18 and older are now eligible to be vaccinated. Critics have questioned why Malawi accepted doses with such a short shelf life. However, government officials said they did not anticipate the drugs would be unused given the huge turnout of people during the early days of the vaccination process. Dr. Mike Chisema, a manager for the expanded immunization program, said the ministry also started deploying medical workers to encourage vaccinations. “The aim is to be near those who would want to receive the vaccine,” he said. “We don’t want people to travel long distances to seek vaccination. This will also help people with disabilities to access the vaccine without difficulties.”The ministry said this week that out of its 512,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, it has used only 164,000, mostly in urban areas. Health care activists blame the low rate on a lack of civic education about the vaccine, especially in rural areas.
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Most New COVID Cases, Hospitalizations in US Are Among Younger Adults
U.S. Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that hospitalizations and new COVID-19 cases continue to rise, driven by infections in younger adults, who have not yet been vaccinated.During a White House COVID-19 Response Team virtual news briefing, Walensky noted hospitalizations for COVID-19 rose by seven percent over the past seven days, while new daily infections rose by an average of two percent during the same period.She noted most of those new cases were among adults age 55 and younger, who have not yet been vaccinated. Walensky also noted a decrease in hospitalizations for those age 65 and older, demonstrating the importance of getting vaccinated, since many older Americans are eligible and have received vaccines.To further encourage people to get shots, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, Anthony Fauci, addressed the issue of vaccine hesitancy based on mistrust of how quickly COVID-19 vaccines were made available. Fauci detailed the years of research that went into developing vaccines.“The bottom line is, this did not happen in eleven months. It was due to an extraordinary multidisciplinary effort …that had been underway for decades before the unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fauci told reporters on Friday.Also at the briefing, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy addressed the toll the pandemic has taken on mental health in the United States, citing new statistics this week showing one in eight people who contracted COVID-19 were diagnosed with a new psychiatric or neurological condition, with anxiety and depression chief among them.Murthy said younger adults, minorities, essential workers, and unpaid caregivers were disproportionately affected by mental health issues. The U.S. government is providing $3 billion to states to address the problem, and the recently-passed American Rescue plan included another $3.56 billion for prevention and treatment of mental health and substance abuse disorders.The surgeon general said getting vaccinated can also provide joy and relief to people suffering from pandemic-related anxiety.The White House COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients, said three million vaccinations were delivered between April 2 and April 8, with a total of 158 million vaccinations delivered so far. He said that puts the country on track to meet President Biden’s goal of having 200 million Americans vaccinated by the end of April, his first 100 days in office.
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Rapper-Actor DMX, Known for Gruff Delivery, Dead at 50
DMX, the raspy-voiced hip-hop artist who produced the songs “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” and “Party Up (Up in Here)” and who rapped with a trademark delivery that was often paired with growls, barks and “What!” as an ad-lib, has died, according to a statement from his family. He was 50.
The Grammy-nominated performer died after suffering “catastrophic cardiac arrest,” according to the hospital in White Plains, New York, where he died. He was rushed there from his home April 2.
A statement from relatives said he died “with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days.”
The rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had struggled with drug addiction since his teenage years. His lawyer, Murray Richman, had earlier said he could not confirm reports that DMX overdosed.
DMX made a splash in rap music in 1998 with his first studio album, “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot,” which debuted No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The multiplatinum-selling album was anchored by several hits including “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” “Get At Me Dog,” “Stop Being Greedy” and “How It’s Goin’ Down.”
DMX followed up with four straight chart-topping albums including “… And Then There Was X,” “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood,” “The Great Depression” and “Grand Champ.” He released seven albums, earned three Grammy nominations and was named favorite rap/hip-hop artist at the 2000 American Music Awards.
DMX arrived on the rap scene around the same time as Jay-Z, Ja Rule and others who dominated the charts and emerged as platinum-selling acts. They were all part of rap crews, too: DMX fronted the Ruff Ryders collective, which helped launch the careers of Grammy winners Eve and Swizz Beatz, and relaunch The Lox, formerly signed to Bad Boy Records. Ruff Ryders had success on the charts and on radio with its “Ryde or Die” compilation albums.
Along with his musical career, DMX paved his way as an actor. He starred in the 1998 film “Belly” and appeared in 2000’s “Romeo Must Die” with Jet Li and Aaliyah. DMX and Aaliyah teamed up for “Come Back in One Piece” on the film’s soundtrack.
The rapper would later open Aaliyah’s tribute music video, “Miss You,” alongside her other friends and collaborators, including Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim and Queen Latifah, after Aaliyah’s 2001 death in a plane crash at age 22.
The rapper also starred in 2001’s “Exit Wounds” with Steven Seagal and 2003’s “Cradle 2 the Grave” with Li.
But while DMX made his mark as one of hip-hop’s most recognizable names for his rap artistry and as an actor, the rapper was personally stifled by his legal battles — he was repeatedly arrested and jailed within a decade — and drug addiction. His addiction first took hold at age 14 when smoked a marijuana cigarette that was laced with cocaine.
DMX pleaded guilty in 2004 after he posed as an undercover federal agent a nd crashed his SUV through a security gate at New York’s Kennedy Airport. He was arrested in 2008 on drug and animal cruelty charges following an overnight raid on his house in Phoenix. He tried to barricade himself in his bedroom but emerged when a SWAT team entered his home.
In 2010, he was sentenced to a year in prison for violating terms of his probation. After he was admitted to rehab numerous times over the next year, he said he had finally beat his drug addiction.
First responders helped bring DMX back to life after he was found in a hotel parking lot in New York in 2016. The rapper said he suffered from asthma.
A couple years later, DMX was sentenced to a year in prison for tax fraud. Prosecutors said he concocted a multiyear scheme to hide millions of dollars in income from the IRS and get around nearly $2 million in tax liabilities.
After his release, DMX planned a 32-date tour to mark the 20th anniversary of “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot.” But the rapper canceled a series of shows to check himself into a rehab facility in 2019. In an Instagram post, his team said he apologized for the canceled shows and thanked his fans for the continued support.
Besides his legal troubles, DMX took the initiative to help the less fortunate. He gave a group of Philadelphia men advice during a surprise appearance at a homeless support group meeting in 2017, and helped a Maine family with its back-to-school purchases a couple years later.
Last year, DMX faced off against Snoop Dogg in a Verzuz battle, which drew more than 500,000 viewers.
He is survived by his 15 children and mother.
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Tokyo to Fight COVID-19 with ‘Quasi-Emergency’
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Friday announced Tokyo will be placed under a month-long state of “quasi-emergency” to combat surging COVID-19 infections.
Speaking to reporters during a COVID-19 task force meeting, Suga said the new measures are focused on shortening the business hours of bars and restaurants and imposing fines for violations. Many of Tokyo’s COVID-19 cases have been traced to the city’s night life.
Suga said the steps are necessary because of surging infection rates, particularly of more contagious variants of the virus.
Japan has never imposed strict lockdowns such as those seen in other countries.
In Germany, Health Minister Jens Span told reporters Friday that a nationwide lockdown is necessary to bring the surging third wave of the virus under control.
Speaking at the same briefing, Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases President Lothar Wieler said a two-to-four-week lockdown would be sufficient to stem the surging infections in Germany. He said the surge is being felt most in the nation’s intensive care units which have seen 4,500 new patients in the last week, most of whom are younger people.
The implementation of a new lockdown is not a certainty. While Chancellor Angela Merkel’s federal government is in favor of stricter measures to control the virus, regional leaders support lifting them, and some already have begun to do so.
Meanwhile, India’s health ministry Friday reported its highest daily tally of new COVID-19 cases, with at least 131,968 new cases in the previous 24-hour period. Friday’s tally beats the record count of 126,789 cases that the ministry reported Thursday. AstraZeneca vaccine
Elsewhere, several nations have issued new guidelines over the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union’s medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and very rare, possibly fatal blood clots.
Britain, where the vaccine was developed jointly by the British-Swedish drugmaker and scientists at the University of Oxford, said it will offer alternatives for adults under 30. Oxford researchers have also suspended a clinical trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine involving young children and teenagers as British drug regulators conduct a safety review of the two-shot regimen.
Reuters reported Spain and the Philippines will limit the vaccine to people over 60 years old, while The Washington Post reported Italy has issued similar guidelines.
The European Medicines Agency recently said blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but continued to emphasize that its overall benefits outweigh any risks. Rare blood clots have been associated with the deaths of at least 14 people across Europe.
AstraZeneca has been the key vaccine in Britain’s exceptionally speedy inoculation campaign, which has outpaced the vaccination rates in the rest of Europe.
But the vaccine has had a troubled rollout elsewhere, initially because of a lack of information from its late-stage clinical trials on its effect on older people, which has slowed vaccination efforts throughout Europe. Many nations stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports first surfaced of the blood clot incidents.
Also, Puerto Rico and Washington announced they will open COVID-19 vaccination eligibility beginning Monday to residents as young as 16.
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German Health Officials Say New Nationwide Lockdown Needed to Control COVID-19
Germany’s top health officials said Friday a nationwide lockdown of two to four weeks is necessary to bring a new wave of COVID-19 infections under control.
Health Minister Jens Spahn and Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for Infectious Disease President Lothar Wieler told reporters in Berlin there were 25,000 new infections reported as of Friday, which Spahn said were too many. He said a nationwide lockdown is needed to get the rate of infection permanently below 100 per 100,000 people.
Spahn said the infection rates are being felt most in the hospitals and intensive care units, which he said are currently treating nearly 4,500 patients across the country. Wieler said RKI hospital surveillance data indicates more and more of these seriously ill patients are young people.
He said that fact adds more stress to hospitals because young patients tend to require respiratory care longer than older ones.
Spahn said that burden on the hospitals is why nationwide action is needed. “This is why we must break this third wave as quickly as possible. This means reducing contacts and limiting mobility.”
But Germany’s federal government and regional governments are divided on new COVID-19-related restrictions. Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for a tighter lockdown as some regions and cities unilaterally ease restrictions.
Meanwhile, Spahn said vaccinations in Germany were “on a good path, with thousands of ordinary doctor practices this week joining the vaccination campaign.”
Germany now has almost 15 percent of its population vaccinated with one dose and 5.8% have received both shots.
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Britain’s Prince Philip Dies
Prince Philip, the Greek-born consort to Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest sitting monarch, has died at the age of 99. The Duke of Edinburgh is best remembered for his sense of duty to the queen, and also his sense of humor. Henry Ridgwell reports for VOA from London.
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Britain’s Prince Philip, Husband of Queen Elizabeth, Dies at 99
Prince Philip, the Greek-born consort to Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest sitting monarch, has died at the age of 99.
In a statement released to the media and posted on the gates of Buckingham Palace Friday morning, the royal family said, “It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.”
“His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. Further announcements will be made in due course. The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss.”It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen has announced the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle. pic.twitter.com/XOIDQqlFPn— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2021Prince Philip had spent several weeks in the hospital earlier this year for a pre-existing heart condition. He underwent surgery at London’s St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and was discharged in March.
The Duke of Edinburgh will be best remembered for his sense of duty to the queen, and also his sense of humor.
Philip Mountbatten was born on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921. His father was Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, and his mother, Princess Alice, was a great-granddaughter of Britain’s Queen Victoria.
Philip Mountbatten met Elizabeth in 1939 while he was a naval cadet and she a shy princess. Philip forged a distinguished naval career during World War II, receiving special mention for his role during the Battle of Cape Matapan off Greece, where he saved his ship from a night bomber attack.FILE – In this Aug. 1951 photo, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess Elizabeth, stands with her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and their children Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Clarence House.Philip and Elizabeth married in 1947 in Westminster Abbey, the first royal wedding to be filmed.
When Elizabeth became queen on the death of her father, King George VI in 1952, Philip found it very difficult, says Philip Eade, author of the book “Young Prince Philip.”
“He had been an extremely successful, extremely highly regarded naval officer in the British navy, and he was tipped from the very top,” Eade told VOA. “He was tipped to become head of the navy and so to have to give that all up in order to become second fiddle to his wife. He was a very overtly masculine character and not one who is going to take easily to this sort of life of walking a couple of paces behind the queen.” FILE – Britain’s Prince Philip waits for the bridal procession following the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, England.When asked in an interview what he thought of his royal role, Philip replied, “I don’t.”
“He grew up with a very strong sense of duty,” Eade says, “and he realized that his duty was first and foremost to support the queen in her work, and that was really by far and away his most important, how he saw his role, that was what was at the top of his list.”
Over seven decades, Prince Philip navigated the highs and lows of a Royal Family permanently in the public eye. He helped the family cope with difficult times in the 1990s, including the divorces of Prince Charles and Diana, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Diana was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997 alongside her fiancé Dodi Fayed.
Philip was known for his wry sense of humor, which came in handy whenever he had to brush aside any suggestion of his role as a secondary figure. He once said his best speech was in 1956, when he opened the Summer Olympics with eight words: “I declare open the Olympic games of Melbourne.”FILE – In this April 12, 1954, photo, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh leave Freedom Hall in Colombo, Sri Lanka, after opening parliament.His jokes on occasion caused offense but he had a serious and lasting effect on the monarchy, pushing it to change with the times, says Matthew Glencross, a royal historian at Kings College London.
“That is something Philip always saw for himself, is this idea that the monarchy must evolve. For example, he was very pro having the cameras in for Elizabeth the Second’s coronation in 1953. You’d think because of his reputation that he’d be one of the people who was quite conservative. Actually, no. He saw television as the future. People want to see more of their monarchy,” Glencross said.
Prince Philip retired from official royal duties in 2017. A year later, he was involved in a serious car accident while driving near the Royal Family’s country estate at Sandringham. His last public appearance was in July 2020 at Windsor Castle.FILE – Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II are seen with members of the British royal family.Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II had four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. They have eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Fulfilling his roles as consort and father, Prince Philip had a lasting effect on a 12-hundred-year-old institution, a monarchy that is more visible and relevant to its people as a legacy that he forged, effectively, from his place two steps behind.
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Expansion Plan by World’s Largest Contract Chipmaker Won’t Ease Global Shortage: Experts
Plans by the world’s largest contract chipmaker for a record $100 billion capacity expansion will just mildly dent a growing worldwide shortage of semiconductors for gear such as high-speed notebook computers, 5G smartphones and newer vehicles, tech experts believe.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said in an April 1 legal notice to the Taipei stock exchange that it would use the money over three years on “leading technology” for manufacturing and R&D to “answer demands from the market.” The notice specifically cites demand for chips used in 5G-enabled and high-performance devices.That amount would set a dollar-value record for the company, which is better known as TSMC, said Brady Wang, an analyst in Taipei with the market intelligence firm Counterpoint Research.TSMC’s investment will ease “anxiety” among clients worried about semiconductor supply-chain instability caused in part by Sino-U.S. trade tension, said Kent Chong, managing director of professional services firm PwC Legal in Taipei. Its clients include multiple American hardware developers including Apple.“Overall, it would indeed increase capacity, without any question,” Chong said. American clients hope to source chips in the United States, he added. The company headquartered southwest of Taipei is already planning to open a $12 billion plant in the U.S. state of Arizona. “TSMC is obviously the forefront runner in bringing the whole supply chain to the U.S.,” Chong said.TSMC said in its stock market filing it is “working closely with our customers to address their needs in a sustainable manner.”Years-long shortageAnalysts caution, though, that the ever-growing demand for chips paired with the lag time in building new production plants will extend the shortage for years, despite TSMC’s investment.“You can throw a lot of money at it, but it’s not going to solve the problem,” said Sean Su, an independent political and technology consultant in Taipei.He pointed to popularity of home-use devices during the pandemic and a possible long-term reliance on this technology in “hybrid” online-offline economy after COVID-19 subsides.“Demand is off the ceiling,” Su said. “People want smartphones. People want this and that more than ever. People want tablets all of a sudden. Every single child in the house now needs a computer instead of sharing it.”Remote study and telework, two trends that emerged during the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, particularly raised demand last year for chips that run high-speed notebook PCs. That trend is piggybacking on prepandemic demand for 5G smartphones and new devices that run on artificial intelligence.Automakers joined the mix, too, last year as they placed orders for automated vehicles and electric cars. Because of the current chip shortage, they must wait until at least early 2022 as production capacity is now “fully loaded,” said Wen Liu, industry analyst with the Taipei-based Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute.Feeling an additional pinchWorld demand for chips should increase from $450 billion last year to about $600 billion in 2024, market research firm Gartner says. Industry revenue had already grown 5.4% from 2019 to 2020, according to fellow market research company IDC. TSMC and South Korean technology giant Samsung are the biggest chipmakers today and make the highest-grade chips.Chinese semiconductor clients will feel an additional pinch because of curbs introduced by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Su said. The Trump administration barred companies, including those based offshore, from working with a list of Chinese firms considered national security risks.“They will be [affected in China] due to trade embargoes as is,” Su said. “Every year, companies fight over limited batches of top-end processors.”China-based chip buyers include developers of three of the world’s five biggest smartphone brands by market share in late 2020.Most of the world’s chipmakers, such as the growing China-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., lag in the equipment and knowhow to make chips that run fast on low power, tech analysts believe. TSMC’s investment will help it stay ahead of any up-and-coming peers, Wang said.“This is actually because [TSMC] saw a new opportunity, which would mainly be in 5G or high-performance PCs or demands for other digitization needs as that’s the demand following COVID-19,” Wang said. TSMC itself probably does not expect the planned $100 billion outlay to ease today’s chip shortage, he said.The company says in its stock exchange notice that “multiyear mega-trends…are expected to fuel strong demand for our semiconductor technologies in the next several years,” while the pandemic “accelerates digitalization in every aspect.”
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Strasbourg Mosque a Lightning Rod for Broader French-Turkish Tensions
The cement skeleton of the unfinished Eyyub Sultan mosque in France’s eastern city of Strasbourg has become a repository for myriad grievances, ranging from local partisan wrangling to longstanding friction between Islam and this country’s staunchly secular creed.The grievances also reflect mounting fears within the European Union about Turkey’s growing international influence.Claiming concern over foreign — and specifically Turkish — meddling, a top French official launched legal proceedings this week against a decision by Strasbourg’s leftist government to subsidize the construction of the mosque, designed to be Europe’s largest.The move coincided with a rare visit by EU leaders to Ankara, where efforts to patch up longstanding differences were overshadowed by a seating spat.Underpinning both issues, analysts say, is the EU’s reliance on Turkey as a bulwark against another massive refugee influx — a reality underpinning a multibillion-dollar migrant deal with Turkey in 2016 which limits the bloc’s muscle-flexing options today.The EU nations “need Turkey — if Turkey opens its borders what will happen?” asked Muslim specialist Erkan Toguslu, a lecturer at KU Leuven University, even as he warned about Ankara’s growing influence in the region, spread through its nationalist brand of Islam.FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a press conference, in Paris, France, Feb. 25, 2021.That warning appears to resonate with French President Emmanuel Macron. He has racked up an especially bitter and personal feud with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wrangling over issues from the conflicts in Libya and Syria, to Turkey’s exploration for oil and gas in the eastern Mediterranean.More recently Macron’s focus has shifted closer to home. He warned Ankara last month against interfering in next year’s French presidential elections, and his government takes aim at Turkish groups it considers suspect.Foreign meddling or partisan politics?Last year, for example, France moved to ban a Turkish ultra-nationalist group called Grey Wolves, after its members were accused of defacing an Armenian genocide memorial near Lyon. Other European countries, including Germany, are considering similar steps.French lawmakers are also debating legislation against extremism, which would ban foreign funding of religious groups. Among those potentially in its crosshairs: Turkish association Milli Gorus, the main backer of the Strasbourg mosque.In an interview with French radio Tuesday, Macron’s hard-line interior minister Gerald Darmanin threatened to dissolve Milli Gorus and others he deemed “enemies of the Republic,” noting the Turkish association’s refusal to sign a new government charter against extremism.Newly appointed French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin arrives to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, July 7, 2020.Darmanin also took aim at Strasbourg’s Greens Mayor Jeanne Barseghian, finding it regrettable she supported providing nearly $3 million in financing for the mosque, roughly one-tenth of the total cost, “given what we know about political Islam and sometimes foreign meddling on our soil.”Berseghian has rejected Darmanin’s suggestions. Another leading Greens Party mayor said he was scandalized by Macron’s suggestion of Turkish meddling. Strasbourg city council must still vote again to release the construction funds, a move that may be compromised by the new legal proceedings launched against the financing.Milli Gorus officials did not reply to a request for comment. But in a recent statement, the group denied being fundamentalist and described itself as a staunchly French association “that has always acted with total transparency, in respect of the republic’s values.” The Strasbourg mosque, with a total price tag of about $38 million, has been in the works for several years, but was halted for lack of funding.For some analysts, the mosque financing spat, and Macron’s warning of possible foreign election interference, may be aimed mostly at French voters, as critics point to the president’s rightward shift ahead of next year’s vote.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks in Ankara, Turkey, March 2, 2021.”That Mr. Erdogan today supports Islamist fundamentalism and acts like the enemy of French security today is certain,” far-right leader and leading opposition candidate Marine Le Pen told the Anglo-American Press Association in a recent interview. “But does he have the capacity to interfere with (French) elections? Not more than any other countries that are influential within their own diaspora.”Longstanding fearsStill the controversy digs up longstanding fears about the role of Islam in France, home to Western Europe’s largest Muslim community and battered by a series of terrorist attacks, as well as newer concerns about Turkey’s influence here.”The Green Mayor of Strasbourg is Subsidizing Political Islam,” right-wing magazine Valeurs Actuelle titled a recent headline. “Collaboration or Submission?””Should we be afraid of Turkish Islam?” France’s La Croix newspaper ask in an analysis of the evolving controversy.“The Turkish government wants to use this (Strasbourg) mosque and Milli Gorus as a kind of soft power,” said KU Leuven University’s Erkan Toguslu, describing Ankara’s aim as nationalist rather than religious. “It uses Turkish mosques, Turkish associations and the Turkish diaspora in Europe for its own policy, not to defend Muslim interests.”The quandary of foreign financing of local mosques is a longstanding one in France, where many local Muslim communities are too poor to bankroll construction and a 1905 law separating church and state prevents public financing of places of worship. The Strasbourg mosque doesn’t fall under these strictures because the larger Alsace region where it is located has a different set of rules.Past funding questions, and fears of foreign influence, have often centered on North African or Middle Eastern countries with sizable ethnic populations in France, and less on Turkey. The estimated 700,000 Muslims with Turkish roots here account for a fraction of France’s roughly 6-million-member Muslim community, and its geographically diverse factions are often at odds with each other. Like several other countries, Turkey also sponsors imams in France, making up for a dearth of local-born ones.Moreover, the Turkish religious community here is fragmented, experts say. Milli Gorus counts among several Muslim groups in France, including those sharply critical of the Erdogan government.Still, observers say, France’s Turkish community is increasingly influential and ambitious. Last year, its representatives captured the majority of seats on the French Council of the Muslim Faith, the main representative body, for the first time since its creation in 2003.”The threat is not about religion,” analyst Toguslu said. “The threat is about nationalism. Turkish nationalism.”
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COVID-19 Spurs Changes to Solve World’s Food Waste Problem
Around $1 trillion of food is lost or wasted each year around the world, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Reversing that trend could preserve enough food to feed 2 billion people. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias looks at how COVID-19 has spurred innovative efforts to prevent food waste and hunger in the United States.
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CDC: COVID Cases Rising in US Youth Sports, Young Adults and Day Care Centers
CDC says cases of coronavirus clusters are increasing in the U.S. in youth sports and day care centers, while hospitals are reporting more younger adults are being admitted with severe cases of the disease. As Mariama Diallo reports, coronavirus variants are to blame for the rise.
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US Joins UN Group of Nations on Climate and Security
The United States officially joined a U.N. group on climate and security on Thursday as part of the Biden administration’s focus on mitigating all impacts of the climate crisis.“This is a critical issue for the United Nations, especially because the threat isn’t just to all of our climates. It’s also a collective security issue for all of us,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.She noted that the Pentagon has declared climate change both a national security threat and a threat multiplier.“That’s because unpredictable and extreme weather will make vital resources, like food and water, even more scarce in impoverished countries,” she said. “Scarcity spurs desperation, and desperation, of course, leads to violence.”She said at the current pace, millions of people across the planet will be driven to mass migration due to the impacts of global warming, which would undermine peace and security.“The good news is, we can build resilience, we can stave off security threats, and we can even generate economic opportunity, if we work together,” the ambassador said.The U.N. Group of Friends on Climate and Security was created in 2018 and now, with the U.S., has 56 member states.“The United States was instrumental to the development and ultimate adoption of the Paris Agreement,” said Margo Dieye, ambassador of Nauru, who along with Germany co-chairs the group.“I expect that they will bring that same level of commitment to coordinated international action to the Group of Friends on Climate and Security,” Dieye said.The Paris Climate Agreement, signed by virtually every country in the world, aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and limit the planet’s temperature increase during this century to 2 degrees Celsius, while working to limit the increase even further to 1.5 degrees.Among its goals, the Group of Friends hopes to get U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a special envoy on climate and security. Guterres already has two climate envoys: Michael Bloomberg, a former New York City mayor and Democratic presidential candidate, is the organization’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions; Canadian Mark Carney is the envoy in charge of financing for climate action.Pivotal year“2021 is a make-or-break year for collective action against the climate emergency,” Guterres told a Security Council meeting on the subject in February.U.S. President Joe Biden will host a Leaders Summit on Climate later this month, and in November, nations will go to Glasgow, Scotland, for a review conference on implementation of the Paris Agreement.While there has been progress, it has been insufficient to meet the agreement’s targets on time. Guterres hopes nations will step up their national commitments at the two meetings this year.Biden has committed to putting climate at the center of his administration’s policies.Hours after being sworn in on January 20, he signed the instrument to rejoin the 2015 Paris climate accord, from which former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States in 2017, saying it was “in America’s economic interest to do so.”Biden also appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry as the United States’ first presidential envoy on climate and made him a part of his National Security Council.
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French Open Delayed Due to COVID-19
The French Open has been delayed by one week because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governing body of the tennis tournament said Thursday.The French Tennis Federation said first-round matches will now begin on May 30 instead of May 23 because of sharp spikes in coronavirus infections in France. The postponement marks the second year in a row the French Open has been disrupted by the pandemic.The federation postponed last year’s tournament to September and limited daily attendance to 1,000 people.This year’s delay came as hospitals in France struggle to handle the surge in coronavirus cases. The government recently imposed new lockdown restrictions to contain the spikes, including a month-long domestic travel ban and a three-week school closure.The federation said the decision to delay was aimed at ensuring that “as many spectators as possible” would be able to safely attend the event.Federation president Gilles Moreton said public authorities, the governing bodies of global tennis events, broadcasters and other partners were first consulted before announcing the delay.The federation was roundly criticized for postponing last year’s French Open without first consulting with the top men’s and women’s events.
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New Guidelines Issued After Blood Clots Linked to AstraZeneca Vaccine
Several nations have issued new guidelines over the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union’s medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and rare, possibly fatal blood clots.Britain, where the vaccine was developed jointly by the British-Swedish drugmaker and scientists at the University of Oxford, says it will offer alternatives for adults under 30. Oxford researchers have also suspended a clinical trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine involving young children and teenagers as British drug regulators conduct a safety review of the two-shot regimen.Reuters says Spain and the Philippines will limit the vaccine to people older than 60, while The Washington Post says Italy has issued similar guidelines.The European Medicines Agency said Wednesday the blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but continued to emphasize that its overall benefits outweigh any risks. Rare blood clots have been associated with the deaths of at least 14 people across Europe.AstraZeneca has been the key vaccine in Britain’s exceptionally speedy inoculation campaign, which has outpaced significantly the vaccination rates in the rest of Europe. But the vaccine has had a troubled rollout across the world, initially because of a lack of information from its late-stage clinical trials on its effect on older people, which has slowed vaccination efforts throughout Europe. Many nations stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports first surfaced of the blood clotting incidents.The vaccine is critical also to Europe’s immunization campaign and crucial in the global strategy to supply vaccines to poorer countries. The vaccine is cheaper and easier to use than rival vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the B.1.1.7 variant of the coronavirus first detected in Britain last December is now the dominant variant in the country. The CDC had predicted back in January that the British variant, which is far more contagious and deadly than the original version, would become the dominant one in the United States by March.“The virus still has a hold on us, infecting people and putting them in harm’s way. We need to remain vigilant,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Wednesday during a White House briefing.The United States recently surpassed 30 million total new cases, including 559,116 deaths, the most of any country in either category, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday that her country is suspending travel from India beginning Sunday due to a surge of coronavirus cases among travelers from that country. New Zealand has 23 new positive COVID-19 cases in quarantine, 17 of them from India. The ban will remain in effect until April 28, and will include New Zealanders returning from India.India has nearly 13 million total coronavirus cases, third behind the United States and Brazil, and is undergoing a second wave of new infections as it races to vaccinate its 1.3 billion people. The country posted a single-day record 126,789 new cases on Wednesday.
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Morocco Imposes Ramadan Curfew, Despite Vaccine Success
Moroccan authorities decided Wednesday to enforce a night-time curfew during the holy month of Ramadan because of a recent rise in COVID-19 cases, as scientists announced the discovery of a new, local variant of the virus.Many Moroccans voiced their anger over the decision on social networks, describing it as another blow to many businesses already struggling to survive, as well as to family gatherings that are a central part of the holiday.While the North African kingdom has had one of the region’s most successful vaccination programs so far, it is also seeing a growth in coronavirus infections, especially in Casablanca, the largest city.A curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. has been in place since December, and the Moroccan government decided Wednesday to extend it through Ramadan, which starts April 13 in Morocco.Because observant Muslims don’t eat or drink in the daytime during Ramadan, cafes and restaurants depend on nighttime business that’s now off-limits because of the curfew.Countries around the Mideast imposed some virus restrictions and curfews for Ramadan last year, and several are considering, or renewing restrictions, this year.Morocco has reported more than 499,000 COVID-19 infections with 8,865 deaths.The kingdom has administered the highest number of inoculations in Africa so far — 8.3 million doses for a population of 36 million people since vaccinations began Jan. 29. The per-person vaccination rate is higher than in some European countries that started a month earlier, but concerns are rising that Morocco’s vaccine supplies are drying up and the rate could slow.Morocco is using vaccines from AstraZeneca and China’s Sinopharm. Millions more doses are expected eventually from both companies as well as from the global COVAX program to provide vaccines to low and middle-income countries.Meanwhile, the Moroccan government’s National Scientific and Technical Committee for COVID-19 announced the discovery of a new variant of the virus first detected in the southern city of Ouarzazate. It was not immediately clear if it is linked to the recent spike in infections in the kingdom.The new variant can be classified as “100% Moroccan,” said professor Azzedin Ibrahimi, member of the committee and director of the biotechnology laboratory at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in the capital Rabat. He said Sunday that it was detected as part of a study conducted by Moroccan researchers into the spread of various variants.
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Pandemic Taking Toll on Mental Health, Expert Says
A New York social worker and psychotherapist says more is needed to address the pandemic’s impact on mental health, particularly among health care workers. More from VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo.
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‘Cambodia Burning’ Documentary Shows Unfettered Logging Impact on Forest Ecosystem
“Cambodia Burning,” a documentary by filmmaker Sean Gallagher, throws light on the effect Cambodia’s unfettered logging has had on the country’s forest ecosystem. VOA’s Penelope Poulou spoke to the award-winning filmmaker
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