A trip that should have lasted just over a week spirals into a roughly eight-month adventure. Plus, a pioneering teacher memorialized in bronze. And a robot proves its purpose by picking up pebbles. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us The Week in Space.
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Month: September 2024
Female genital mutilation continues to endanger girls, women in Somalia
Despite global efforts to stop the practice of female genital mutilation, the harmful tradition continues to affect the lives and health of millions of women and girls in Somalia. Reporter Najib Ahmed has this story from the capital, Mogadishu, narrated by Anthony LaBruto. (Camera and Produced by: Abdulkadir Zuber)
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Britain halts criminal proceedings against movie producer Weinstein
LONDON — Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein won’t face charges of indecent assault in Britain, prosecutors announced on Thursday.
The Crown Prosecution Service, which in 2022 authorized two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein, said it decided to discontinue proceedings because there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”
“We have explained our decision to all parties,” the CPS said in a statement. ”We would always encourage any potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report to police, and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met.”
Weinstein became the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement in 2017 when women began to go public with accounts of his behavior. After the revelations emerged, British police said they were investigating multiple allegations of sexual assault that reportedly took place between the 1980s and 2015.
In June 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service said it had authorized London’s Metropolitan Police Service to file two charges of indecent assault against Weinstein in relation to an alleged incident that occurred in London in 1996. The victim was in her 50s at the time of the announcement.
Unlike many other countries, Britain does not have a statute of limitations for rape or sexual assault.
Weinstein, who has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone, remains in custody in New York while awaiting retrial in Manhattan, prosecutors said in August.
After the retrial, he is due to start serving a 16-year sentence in California for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles, authorities said. Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 while already serving a 23-year sentence in New York.
His 2020 conviction in Manhattan was thrown out earlier this year when the state’s top court ruled that the judge in the original trial unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Weinstein, the co-founder of the Miramax entertainment company and The Weinstein Company film studio, was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “The Crying Game.”
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Like Brazil, the European Union also has an X problem
Brussels — Elon Musk’s woes are hardly limited to Brazil as he now risks possible EU sanctions in the coming months for allegedly breaking new content rules.
Access to X has been suspended in South America’s largest country since Saturday after a long-running legal battle over disinformation ended with a judge ordering a shutdown.
But Brazil is not alone in its concerns about X.
Politicians worldwide and digital rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about Musk’s actions since taking over what was then Twitter in late 2022, including sacking many employees tasked with content moderation and maintaining ties with EU regulators.
Musk’s “free speech absolutist” attitude has led to clashes with Brussels.
The European Union could decide within months to take action against X, including possible fines, as part of an ongoing probe into whether the platform is breaching a landmark content moderation law, the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Nothing has yet been decided but any fines could be as high as 6% of X’s annual worldwide turnover unless the company makes changes in line with EU demands.
But if Musk’s reactions are anything to go by, another showdown is on the cards.
When the EU in July accused X of deceptive practices in violation of the DSA, Musk warned: “We look forward to a very public battle in court.”
The temperature was raised even further a month later with another war of words on social media between Musk and the EU’s top tech enforcer, Thierry Breton.
Breton reminded Musk in a letter of his legal duty to stop “harmful content” from spreading on X hours before an interview with U.S. presidential challenger Donald Trump live on the platform.
Musk responded by mocking Breton and sharing a meme that carried an obscene message.
EU ban ‘very unlikely’
Despite the bitter barbs, the European Commission, the EU’s digital watchdog, insists that dialogue with X is ongoing.
“X continues to cooperate with the commission and respond to questions,” the commission’s digital spokesman, Thomas Regnier, told AFP.
Experts also agree that a Brazil-like shutdown in the 27-country EU is unlikely, although it has the legal right.
The DSA would allow the bloc to demand a judge in Ireland, where X has its EU headquarters, order a temporary suspension until the infringements cease.
Breton has repeatedly insisted that “Europe will not hesitate to do what is necessary.”
But since X has around 106 million EU users, significantly higher than the 22 million in Brazil, the belief is that Musk would not want to risk a similar move in Europe.
“Obviously, we can never exclude it, but it is very unlikely,” said Alexandre de Streel of the think tank Centre on Regulation in Europe.
Regardless of what happens next, de Streel said the case would likely end up in the EU courts, calling X “the least cooperative company” with the bloc.
Jan Penfrat of the European Digital Rights advocacy group said a ban was “a very last resort measure” and that X would “probably” not close shop in the EU.
“I would hope that the commission thinks about this very, very hard before going there because this (a ban) would have a tremendously negative effect on the right to freedom of expression and access to information,” Penfrat said.
EU’s X-File
The commission in July accused X of misleading users with its blue checkmarks for certified accounts, insufficient advertising transparency and failing to give researchers access to the platform’s data.
That allegation is part of a wider probe into X, launched in December, and regulators are still probing how it tackles the spread of illegal content and information manipulation.
X now has access to the EU’s file and can defend itself including by replying to the commission’s findings.
The list of governments angry with Musk is growing. He also raised hackles over the summer in the UK during days of rioting sparked by online misinformation that the suspect behind a mass stabbing that killed three girls was a Muslim asylum seeker.
The billionaire, whose personal X account has 196 million followers, engaged in disputes with British politicians after sharing inflammatory posts and claiming a “civil war is inevitable” in the country.
Non-EU member Britain will soon be able to implement a similar law to the DSA with enforcement expected to start next year.
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First mpox vaccines due in DR Congo on Thursday
Kinshasa, Congo — The first delivery of almost 100,000 doses of mpox vaccines will arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, the African Union’s health watchdog said.
The vast central Africa country of around 100 million people is at the epicenter of the mpox outbreak, with cases and deaths rising.
“We are very pleased with the arrival of this first batch of vaccines in the DRC,” Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told AFP, adding that more than 99,000 doses were expected.
More than 17,500 cases and 629 deaths have been reported in the country since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The vaccine doses will be transported onboard an airplane leaving the Danish capital Copenhagen on Wednesday evening and are due to arrive at Kinshasa’s international airport on Thursday at 1100 GMT.
‘Health war’
The Congolese National Institute of Public Health, which is in charge of managing the country’s mpox response, indicated that it was still waiting for details on the origin of the vaccines contained in the first delivery.
“Kinshasa is still waiting for documents from the Africa CDC that will provide information on these doses,” the institute’s director Dieudonne Mwamba Kazadi told AFP.
“We are in a health war against mpox. To face this disease, we need you,” Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said on X on Tuesday.
In Africa, mpox is now present in at least 13 countries, including Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, according to figures from the Africa CDC dated August 27.
On Wednesday, Guinea said it had recorded its first confirmed case of the disease, convening an emergency meeting in response.
A health official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that the case was discovered in a sub-prefecture close to the Liberian border.
Outside the continent, the virus has also been detected in Sweden, Pakistan and the Philippines.
The WHO said last week that the first vaccine doses would arrive in the DRC in the following days, with other deliveries to follow.
The WHO said at the end of August that around 230,000 MVA-BN vaccine doses produced by Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic were “imminently available to be dispatched to affected regions.”
Other countries have also promised to send vaccine doses to African nations.
Spain has promised 500,000 doses, with France and Germany each pledging 100,000.
The WHO declared an international emergency over mpox on August 14, concerned by the surge in cases of the new Clade 1b strain in the DRC that spread to nearby countries.
Both the Clade 1b and Clade 1a strains are present in the DRC.
The WHO’s Africa bureau said at the end of last month that 10,000 vaccine doses would be delivered to Nigeria — Bavarian Nordic vaccines donated by the United States.
This was the first African country to receive doses outside of clinical trials.
Formerly called monkeypox, the virus was discovered in 1958 in Denmark, in monkeys kept for research.
It was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.
Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.
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Empty capsule to return to Earth soon; 2 astronauts will stay behind
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Boeing will attempt to return its problem-plagued capsule from the International Space Station later this week — with empty seats.
NASA said Wednesday that everything is on track for the Starliner capsule to undock from the space station Friday evening. The fully automated capsule will aim for a touchdown in New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range six hours later.
NASA’s two stuck astronauts, who flew up on Starliner, will remain behind at the orbiting lab. They’ll ride home with SpaceX in February, eight months after launching on what should have been a weeklong test flight. Thruster trouble and helium leaks kept delaying their return until NASA decided that it was too risky for them to accompany Starliner back as originally planned.
“It’s been a journey to get here, and we’re excited to have Starliner return,” said NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich.
NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will close the hatches between Starliner and the space station on Thursday. They are now considered full-time station crew members along with the seven others on board, helping with experiments and maintenance, and ramping up their exercise to keep their bones and muscles strong during their prolonged exposure to weightlessness.
To make room for them on SpaceX’s next taxi flight, the Dragon capsule will launch with two astronauts instead of the usual four. Two were cut late last week from the six-month expedition, which is due to blast off in late September. Boeing must vacate the parking place for SpaceX’s arrival.
Boeing encountered serious flaws with Starliner long before its June 5 liftoff on the long-delayed astronaut demo.
Starliner’s first test flight went so poorly in 2019 — the capsule never reached the space station because of software errors — that the mission was repeated three years later. More problems surfaced, resulting in even more delays and more than $1 billion in repairs.
The capsule had suffered multiple thruster failures and propulsion-system helium leaks by the time it pulled up at the space station after launch. Boeing conducted extensive thruster tests in space and on the ground, and contended the capsule could safely bring the astronauts back. But NASA disagreed, setting the complex ride swap in motion.
Starliner will make a faster, simpler getaway than planned, using springs to push away from the space station and then short thruster firings to gradually increase the distance. The original plan called for an hour of dallying near the station, mostly for picture-taking; that was cut to 20 or so minutes to reduce the stress on the capsule’s thrusters and keep the station safe.
Additional test firings of Starliner’s 28 thrusters are planned before the all-important descent from orbit. Engineers want to learn as much as they can since the thrusters won’t return to Earth; the section containing them will be ditched before the capsule reenters.
The stuck astronauts — retired Navy captains — have lived on the space station before and settled in just fine, according to NASA officials. Even though their mission focus has changed, “they’re just as dedicated for the success of human spaceflight going forward,” flight director Anthony Vareha said.
Their blue Boeing spacesuits will return with the capsule, along with some old station equipment.
NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station after its shuttles retired. SpaceX accomplished the feat in 2020 and has since launched nine crews for NASA and four for private customers.
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From jobs to food, Houston is most diverse large city in the US
When people think about the US state of Texas, they often think of cowboys in big hats and pointy-toed boots. But Texas is more than that. A study found that its biggest city, Houston, is the most diverse large city in the US. This is reflected in the immigrants and the many cuisines and cultures they brought with them to Texas. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports.
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Musk’s Starlink will comply with judge’s order to block X in Brazil
SAO PAULO, brazil — Elon Musk’s satellite-based internet service provider Starlink backtracked Tuesday and said it will comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court justice’s order to block the billionaire’s social media platform, X.
In a statement posted on X, Starlink said it will heed Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ order despite him having frozen the company’s assets. Previously, it informally told the telecommunications regulator that it would not comply until de Moraes reversed course.
“Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil,” the company statement said. “We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre’s recent order violate the Brazilian constitution.”
De Moraes froze the company’s accounts last week as a means to compel it to cover X’s fines, which exceed $3 million, reasoning that the two companies are part of the same economic group. Starlink filed an appeal, its law firm Veirano told The Associated Press on August 3, but has declined to comment further in the days since.
Days later, the justice ordered the suspension of X for refusing to name a local legal representative, as required in order to receive notifications of court decisions and swiftly take any requisite action — particularly, in X’s case, the taking down of accounts.
A Supreme Court panel unanimously upheld the block on Monday, undermining efforts by Musk and his supporters to cast the justice as an authoritarian renegade intent on censoring political speech in Brazil.
Had Starlink continued to disobey de Moraes by providing access, telecommunications regulator Anatel could eventually have seized equipment from Starlink’s 23 ground stations that ensure the quality of its internet service, Arthur Coimbra, an Anatel board member, said on a video call from his office in Brasilia.
The company has said it has more than 250,000 clients in Brazil, and it is particularly popular in the country’s more remote corners where it is the only available option.
Some legal experts questioned de Moraes’ basis for freezing Starlink’s accounts, given that its parent company SpaceX has no integration with X. Musk noted on X that the two companies have different shareholder structures.
X has clashed with de Moraes over its reluctance to block users — mostly far-right activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy and allies of former President Jair Bolsonaro — and has alleged that de Moraes wants an in-country legal representative so that Brazilian authorities can exert leverage over the company by having someone to arrest.
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K-pop documentary looks at how industry embraces diversity
SEOUL, South Korea — An Apple TV+ documentary series, “K-pop Idols,” premiering Friday, offers an intimate look at how the K-pop industry is embracing diversity while grappling with challenges in a field that demands perfection.
The six-part series features Korean American star Jessi and up-and-coming K-pop bands like Cravity and Blackswan, documenting the highs and lows of their careers.
K-pop is known for its blend of vocals with precise choreography.
Blackswan members Fatou and Nvee told The Associated Press they practice up to 10 hours daily, including choreography and vocal sessions before the “comeback” season which refers to a string of events to promote their latest songs.
The grueling practice starts early.
Once under contract, K-pop trainees enter a system that includes classes in manners, language, dance, and choreography. As of 2022, there were 752 K-pop trainees under entertainment labels, according to a Korea Creative Content Agency report.
Despite recent pushback against the perennial “dark side of K-pop” narrative, the documentary shows that some industry problems persist.
Former Blackswan member Youngheun said members had a curfew and were not allowed to drink or date. “We even had to report when we were getting our nails done and going to the convenience store in front of our house,” she shared in the documentary.
Rigid control extends to diet.
Blackswan member Gabi is seen eating a meal of egg, chicken breast and what resembles sweet potato sticks during her trainee period. “I am dieting because Mr. Yoon [the label’s head] told me I need to lose weight,” Gabi said.
The pressure applies to boy bands, too.
Cravity member Wonjin shared that he was given two weeks to lose weight to join the label. “I would eat like one egg a day […] I lost about 7kg,” he said in the documentary.
Bradley Cramp, one of executive producers of the documentary, noted that such restrictions exist in other competitive industries as well.
“I honestly don’t know one idol or elite sports athlete or entertainer that doesn’t deal with the issue of diet and self-image and mental health to some degree or another,” he told The Associated Press.
The documentary also touches on K-pop’s new challenge: embracing diversity.
Following BTS’ international success, K-pop labels have been actively recruiting foreign talents, which sometimes brings unfamiliar challenges.
In the documentary, Yoon Deung Ryong, the founder of Blackswan’s label DR Music, struggles to settle internal conflicts among members, which later escalated to online clashes between fans.
“If the company says, ‘don’t fight,’ they won’t fight,” he said, referring to traditional K-pop groups. He added that he can’t control a “multinational group” the same way because of language and cultural differences. There are currently no Korean members in Blackswan after member changes.
With K-pop’s global expansion, fundamental questions remain about the essence of K-pop.
“In a K-pop group, if there are no Korean members, I feel like it’s just a K-pop cover group, isn’t it?” Blackswan’s former Korean member Youngheun said in the documentary.
However, Cravity’s Hyeongjun disagrees. “If foreigners come to Korea and sing in other languages, I am not sure if I can call that K-pop, but since they [Blackswan members] are active in Korea and use Korean, they are K-pop.”
Cramp said social media has impacted K-pop’s ecosystem in various ways, including creating a “symbiotic relationship” between K-pop stars and fans, and forcing stars to live their lives “under a microscope.”
“There’s a desire to be real. But on the other hand, you have to obviously keep certain things kind of out of the public spotlight,” he told the AP. “You want to be famous, but yet at the same time, you still want your privacy and you want to be able to go and have dinner with your friends and have a good time and not be filmed doing it.”
“K-Pop Idols” is now available on Apple TV+.
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Stranger who offered to pay for sewing classes saved his life
New York is one of the fashion capitals of the world, but the industry has made fewer strides in advancing and promoting minorities. In the uptown neighborhood of Harlem, a program is tapping into community talent, led by a local who almost missed out on the industry entirely. Tina Trinh reports. Videographer: Ting-Yi Hsu
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Party of one: US restaurants cater to growing number of solo diners
NEW YORK — Parisa Imanirad, a scientist and cancer researcher from San Francisco, is married and has a wide circle of friends. But once or twice a week, she goes to a restaurant by herself.
Imanirad said dining alone gives her time to think or read. She tries not to touch her phone and relishes the silence. “It’s like a spa, but a different type,” Imanirad said during a recent solo lunch at Spruce, an upscale restaurant in San Francisco.
Imanirad isn’t alone in her desire to be alone. In the United States, solo dining reservations have risen 29% over the last two years, according to OpenTable, the restaurant reservation site. They’re up 18% this year in Germany and 14% in the United Kingdom.
Japan even has a special term for solo dining: “ohitorisama,” which means “alone” but with honorifics spoken before and after the word to make parties of one feel less hesitant. In a recent survey, Japan’s Hot Pepper Gourmet Eating Out Research Institute found that 23% of Japanese people eat out alone, up from 18% in 2018.
As a result, many restaurants in Japan and elsewhere are redoing their seating, changing their menus and adding other special touches to appeal to solo diners.
“Even so-called family restaurants are increasing counter seats for solitary diners, and restaurants are offering courses with smaller servings so a person eating alone gets a variety of dishes,” said Masahiro Inagaki, a senior researcher at the institute.
OpenTable CEO Debby Soo thinks remote work is one reason for the increase, with diners seeking respites from their home offices. But she thinks there are deeper reasons, too.
“I think there’s a broader movement of self-love and self-care and really … enjoying your own company,” Soo said.
The pandemic also made social interactions less feasible and therefore less important while eating out, said Anna Mattila, a professor of lodging management at Penn State University who has studied solo dining. And smartphones help some restaurant patrons feel connected to others even when they’re by themselves, she said.
“The social norms have changed. People don’t look at solo diners anymore and think, ‘You must be a loner,’” Mattila said.
More people live and travel solo
The growth comes as more people are living alone. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 38% of U.S. adults ages 25 to 54 were living without a partner, up from 29% in 1990. In Japan, single households now make up one-third of the total; that’s expected to climb to 40% by 2040, according to government data.
Increasing interest in solo travel — particularly among travelers ages 55 and over — is also leading to more meals alone.
On a recent solo trip to Lucerne, Switzerland, Carolyn Ray was stunned when the hostess led her to a beautiful lake-view table set for one, complete with a small vase of flowers. Ray, the CEO and editor of JourneyWoman, a website for solo women travelers over 50, said other restaurants have tried to seat her toward the back or pointedly asked if someone will be joining her.
Ray counsels women planning to dine alone to go somewhere else if they’re treated rudely or given a bad table.
“It’s almost like the world hasn’t caught up with this idea that we are on our own because we want to be on our own and we’re independent and empowered,” she said. “We can go into any restaurant we want and have a table for one and feel good about it.”
Shawn Singh, a Houston-based content creator and restaurant reviewer, said he eats alone about 70% of the time. If the idea of venturing out for a solitary meal is intimidating, he suggests going to lunch instead of dinner — when tables are usually more crowded with groups — or going early on a weekday.
“The best way to see a restaurant you’ve been wanting to see for a long time is definitely going solo,” Singh said. “If I go at 5 p.m. and alone, I haven’t been denied at one place ever.”
Restaurants aren’t always thrilled to seat a single diner at a table that could fit more. A Michelin-starred London restaurant, Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal, caused a stir last year when it started charging solo patrons the same price as two customers. Its eight-course dinner tasting menu, which includes caviar and Cornish squid, costs 215 pounds ($280) per person.
The restaurant, which has only 34 seats, didn’t respond to a request for comment. But its website doesn’t allow reservations for fewer than two people.
‘Playing the long game’
Other restaurants say it’s worth seating one person at a table made for two because solo diners tend to be loyal, repeat customers.
“While there may be a short-term loss there, I think we’re kind of playing the long game and establishing ourselves as a place that’s truly special,” said Drew Brady, chief operating officer at Overthrow Hospitality, which operates 11 vegan restaurants in New York.
Brady has seen an increase in solo diners since the pandemic, and says they’re evenly split between men and women. At the company’s flagship restaurant, Avant Garden, they make up as much as 8% of patrons.
In response, the restaurant teamed up with Lightspeed, a restaurant tech and consulting company, to develop a solo dining program. Avant Garden now has a spacious table designed for solo diners, with a $65 four-course menu fashioned like a passport to enhance the sense of adventure. If solo diners order a cocktail, a bartender mixes it tableside.
Mattila, at Penn State, said restaurants might want to consider additional changes. Her research has found that solo diners prefer angular shapes — in lights, tables or plates, for example — to round ones, which are more associated with the connectedness of groups. They also prefer slow-tempo music.
Jill Weber, the founder of Sojourn Philly, a Philadelphia company that owns two restaurants and a wine bar, said she adds a communal table at special events such as wine tastings so individuals have a place to gather. She also doesn’t offer specials designed for two.
Weber, who is also an archaeologist, loves dining alone when she’s traveling.
“There’s something about not having to agree on where to go and everything that goes with that. You have the freedom to stay as long as you want, order what you want and sit with those things,” she said. “It also feels brave sometimes.”
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Australian researchers plan new generation of biodegradable plastic
SYDNEY — Global concerns over plastic pollution and cuts to fossil fuel use are behind a new Australian-led initiative to develop a new generation of 100 percent compostable plastic. Experts estimate that more than 170 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the world’s oceans. There are growing concerns about the impact of micro-plastics on health and the environment.
The Bioplastics Innovation Hub aims to “revolutionize” plastic packaging by making biologically-made plastic that can break down in compost, land or water.
The aim is to produce water bottles, for example, using bioplastics derived from waste products from the food industry.
The green plastic scheme brings together the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, the CSIRO – Australia’s national science agency – and Murdoch University in Perth in a multi-million dollar collaboration with industry partners.
Andrew Whiteley, a CSIRO research program director, told VOA the technology could be ground-breaking.
“What we are really essentially doing is trying to phase out those fossil fuel plastics and bring in this new generation of bioplastics, which take over the roles of the plastics that we have already been using. So it is, really, just that switch over and going forward in a more sustainable way using these bioplastics.”
Australian states and territories have been phasing out various plastics for several years. At the start of September 2024, more items have been banned in South Australia and Western Australia, including polystyrene containers and cups, plastic confetti, and plastic coffee cups and lids.
Chile, Kenya, India and New Zealand have also imposed restrictions on some single-use plastic products, such as bags or cutlery.
But there is a warning that the degradation of everyday plastic items, from packaging and in clothing, is creating microplastics that pollute the environment and pose a risk to health.
Michelle Blewitt is the program director of the Australian Microplastic Assessment Project, a national citizen science organization, which has been monitoring microplastics.
She told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the microplastic problem is getting worse.
“Micro plastics are particles that are less than 5mm in size and they can break up into smaller and smaller pieces until they become airborne. So, they are found in our waterways and in the air and our homes and certainly on the beaches around our waterways as well.”
CSIRO scientists say the biodegradable plastic scheme is part of Australia’s commitment to the United Nations Global Treaty on plastic pollution. It aims to be a legally binding international agreement between 175 countries to reduce the production and consumption of high-risk plastic.
About 98% of single-use plastic products are made from fossil fuels, according to the U.N.
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Brazil Supreme Court panel upholds judge’s decision to block X nationwide
RIO DE JANEIRO — A Brazilian Supreme Court panel on Monday unanimously upheld the decision of one of its justices to block billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X nationwide, according to the court’s website.
The broader support among justices undermines the effort by Musk and his supporters to cast Justice Alexandre de Moraes as an authoritarian renegade intent on censoring political speech in Brazil.
The panel that voted in a virtual session was made up of five of the full bench’s 11 justices, including de Moraes, who last Friday ordered the platform blocked for refusing to name a local legal representative, as required by law. It will stay suspended until it complies with his orders and pays outstanding fines that as of last week exceeded $3 million, according to his decision.
The platform has clashed with de Moraes over its reluctance to block users and has alleged that de Moraes wants an in-country legal representative so that Brazilian authorities can exert leverage over the company by having someone to arrest.
De Moraes also set a daily fine of $8,900 for people or companies using virtual private networks, or VPNs, to access X. Some legal experts questioned the grounds for that decision and how it would be enforced, including Brazil’s bar association, which said it would request that the Supreme Court review that provision.
But the majority of the panel upheld the VPN fine — with one justice opposing unless users are shown to be using X to commit crimes.
Judge feuding with Musk
Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users. Its block marked a dramatic escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.
Over the weekend, many X users in Brazil said they felt disconnected from the world and began migrating en masse to alternative platforms such as Bluesky and Threads.
The suspension has proceeded to set up a showdown between de Moraes and Musk’s satellite internet provider Starlink, which is refusing to enforce the justice’s decision.
“He violated the constitution of Brazil repeatedly and egregiously, after swearing an oath to protect it,” Musk wrote in the hours before the vote, adding a flurry of insults and accusations in the wake of the panel’s vote. On Sunday, Musk announced the creation of an X account to publish the justice’s decisions that he said would show they violated Brazilian law.
But legal experts have said such claims don’t hold water, noting that de Moraes’ peers have repeatedly endorsed his rulings — as they did Monday. Although his actions are viewed by experts as legal, they have sparked some debate over whether one man has been afforded too much power, or if his rulings should have more transparency.
De Moraes’ decision to quickly refer his order for panel approval served to obtain “collective, more institutional support that attempts to depersonalize the decision,” Conrado Hübner, a constitutional law expert at the University of Sao Paulo, told The Associated Press.
It is standard for a justice to refer such cases to a five-justice panel, Hübner said. In exceptional cases, the justice also could refer the case to the full bench for review. Had de Moraes done the latter, two justices who have questioned his decisions in the past — and were appointed by former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro — would have had the opportunity to object or hinder the vote’s advance.
Starlink shutdown next?
X’s block already led de Moraes last week to freeze the Brazilian financial assets of Starlink to force it to cover X’s fines, reasoning that the two companies are part of the same economic group. The company says it has more than 250,000 clients in Brazil.
Legal experts have questioned the legal basis of that move, and Starlink’s law firm Veirano has told the AP it has appealed the freeze. It declined to comment further.
In a show of defiance, Starlink told the telecommunications regulator Anatel that it would not block X access until its financial accounts were unfrozen, Anatel’s press office said in an email to the AP. Starlink didn’t respond to a request for comment.
That means a shutdown of Starlink is likely, although enforcement will be difficult given the company’s satellites aren’t inside national territory, said Luca Belli, coordinator of the Technology and Society Center at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. It is popular in Brazil’s expansive rural and forested areas.
Anatel’s President Carlos Baigorri told local media GloboNews late Sunday afternoon that he has relayed Starlink’s decision to Justice de Moraes.
Baigorri told GloboNews that the “maximum sanction” for a telecom company would be revocation of its license. He said if Starlink loses its license and continues providing service, it would be committing a crime. Anatel could seize equipment from Starlink’s 23 ground stations in Brazil that ensure the quality of its internet service, he said.
“It is highly probable there is a political escalation” because Starlink is “explicitly refusing to comply with orders, national laws,” said Belli, who is also a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation’s law school.
The arguments from Musk, a self-proclaimed “free-speech absolutist,” have found fertile ground with Brazil’s political right, who view de Moraes’ actions as political persecution against Bolsonaro’s supporters.
On Brazilian orders, X previously has shut down accounts, including those of lawmakers affiliated with Bolsonaro’s right-wing party and far-right activists accused of undermining Brazilian democracy. X’s lawyers in April sent a document to the Supreme Court, saying that it had suspended or blocked 226 users since 2019.
Bolsonaro and his allies have cheered on Musk for defying de Moraes. Supporters rallied in April along Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach with a giant sign reading “Brazil Thanks Elon Musk.”
Earlier that month, de Moraes ordered an investigation into Musk over the dissemination of defamatory fake news and another probe over possible obstruction, incitement and criminal organization.
Bolsonaro is also the target of a de Moraes probe over whether the former president had a role in inciting an attempted coup to overturn the results of the 2022 election that he lost.
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Experts blame Africa’s mpox outbreaks on neglect, world’s inability to stop epidemics
LONDON — The growing mpox outbreaks in Africa that triggered the World Health Organization’s emergency declaration are largely the result of decades of neglect and the global community’s inability to stop sporadic epidemics among a population with little immunity against the smallpox-related disease, leading African scientists said Tuesday.
According to Dr. Dimie Ogoina, who chaired WHO’s mpox emergency committee, negligence has led to a new, more transmissible version of the virus emerging in countries with few resources to stop outbreaks.
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, had been spreading mostly undetected for years in Africa before the disease prompted the 2022 outbreak in more than 70 countries, Ogoina said at a virtual news conference.
“What we are witnessing in Africa now is different from the global outbreak in 2022,” he said. While that outbreak was overwhelmingly focused in gay and bisexual men, mpox in Africa is now being spread via sexual transmission as well as through close contact among children, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups.
And while most people over 50 were likely vaccinated against smallpox — which may provide some protection against mpox — that is not the case for Africa’s mostly young population, who Ogoina said were mostly susceptible.
Mpox belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox but causes milder symptoms like fever and body aches. It mostly spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, including sex. People with more serious cases can develop prominent blisters on the face, hands, chest and genitals.
Earlier this month, WHO declared the surging mpox outbreaks in Congo and 11 other countries in Africa to be a global emergency.
On Tuesday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were more than 22,800 mpox cases and 622 deaths on the continent and that infections had jumped 200% in the last week. The majority of cases and deaths are in Congo, where most mpox infections are in children under 15.
Dr. Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, a Congolese scientist who helped identify the newest version of mpox, said diagnostic tests being used in the country did not always pick it up, making it hard to track the variant’s spread.
In May, Mbala-Kingebeni, who heads a lab at Congo’s National Institute for Biomedical Research, published research showing a new form of mpox that may be less deadly but more transmissible. The noted mutations suggested it was “more adapted to human transmission,” he said, but the lack of tests in Congo and elsewhere complicated efforts to monitor outbreaks.
The new variant has been detected in four other African countries as well as Sweden, where health officials said they have identified the first case of a person this month with the more infectious form of mpox. The person had been infected during a stay in Africa.
WHO said that available data to date does not suggest that the new form of mpox is more dangerous but that research is ongoing.
Marion Koopmans, a virologist at Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands who has been studying mpox, said scientists were now seeing some significant impacts of the disease, noting that pregnant women were miscarrying or losing their fetuses and that some babies were being born infected with mpox.
Ogoina, a professor of infectious diseases at Niger Delta University in Nigeria, said that in the absence of vaccines and drugs, African health workers should focus on providing supportive care, like ensuring patients have enough to eat and are given mental health support, given the stigma that often comes with mpox.
“It’s very, very unfortunate that we have had mpox for 54 years and we are only now thinking about therapeutics,” he said.
Mbala-Kingebeni said strategies previously used to stop Ebola outbreaks in Africa might help, given the limited numbers of shots expected. He said authorities have estimated Africa needs about 10 million doses but might only receive about 500,000 — and it’s unclear when they might arrive.
“Finding a case and vaccinating around the case, like we did with Ebola, might help us target the hot spots,” he said.
Koopmans said that given the urgent need for vaccines in Africa, waiting for more doses to be produced was unrealistic.
“The short term really is about, who has vaccines and where are they to be best used next?” she said.
Spain’s health ministry announced Tuesday that it would dip into its mpox vaccine stockpile to donate 20% of its supply, about 500,000 doses, to African countries battling mpox.
“We consider it senseless to accumulate vaccines where they are not needed,” Spain’s health ministry said in a statement, adding Spain will recommend to the European Commission to propose that all member states also donate 20% of their vaccine stock.
Spain’s donation alone is more than what the European Union, vaccine Bavarian Nordic and the U.S. have pledged. Last week, Africa CDC said the EU and Bavarian Nordic had promised 215,000 mpox vaccines while the U.S. said it was donating 50,000 doses of the same vaccine to Congo. Japan has also donated some doses to Congo.
Meanwhile, the U.S. on Tuesday donated 10,000 doses of mpox vaccines to Nigeria where mpox has been common, making the vaccines the first to arrive in Africa since the global emergency was declared. The country has had a few dozen cases this year.
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At US theme parks, Halloween celebrations start in summer
los angeles, california — Halloween has arrived earlier than ever at major U.S. theme parks, as operators such as Disney, Six Flags, and Universal Studios seek to expand their reach and build on consumers’ love of spooky costumes and scares.
Theme park operators have introduced a range of attractions, live performances, merchandise and food and beverages in August — before summer has ended and well before the October 31 holiday — to take advantage of the surging popularity of Halloween. These holiday-themed efforts come at a time when domestic theme park attendance has slumped, following a surge in demand after COVID.
Edithann Ramey, chief marketing officer at Six Flags, told Reuters that the theme parks saw attendance gains and increases in guest spending in 2023 when it introduced attractions based on the horror films “SAW” and “The Conjuring.”
The offerings were so successful that the theme park company has been investing more in Halloween experiences, Ramey said.
“It’s become this time of the year that’s grown in explosive ways,” Ramey said. “It’s become a billion-dollar industry in the last five years.”
Jakob Wahl, chief executive for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, said Halloween has become one of the strongest selling points for parks that cater to young people and families.
“We actually see a growth every year in terms of Halloween events, not only North America, but across the world,” Wahl said.
Disney starts season in August
Walt Disney’s parks started the Halloween season earlier than ever this year with “Mickey’s Not So Scary Party” beginning on August 9 and running through the end of October.
The Oogie Boogie Bash, a separately ticketed event named for the “Nightmare Before Christmas” villain, sold out this year in 11 days, Disney said. Its popularity prompted the company to push the release date to August 25 from September 5.
“We’ve seen from our guests in years past that there’s a demand for them to come and enjoy that season with us,” said Tracy Halas, creative director of Disney Live Entertainment.
Six Flags also kicks off Halloween early this year, on September 14, with a new experience called “Saw: Legacy of Terror” celebrating the 20th anniversary of the “SAW” horror movie franchise.
Following the $8 billion merger of Six Flags and former rival Cedar Fair, which created the nation’s largest amusement park operator, with 42 parks across 17 states, Six Flags is increasing its investment in Halloween.
That includes adding Hollywood-themed experiences to Six Flags Fright Fest based on Netflix’s science fiction series, “Stranger Things,” as well as horror films “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and “The Conjuring.”
Universal adds ‘Ghostbusters’ haunted house
Comcast-owned Universal Studios 2024 Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando runs from August 30 to November 3, the longest season they’ve ever had. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Universal is adding a “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” haunted house to its Halloween programming alongside the first attraction inspired by horror franchise, “A Quiet Place.”
Universal also aims to attract guests at Universal Studios Japan with a new 4D show in collaboration with the anime television series “Chainsaw Man.”
Both Universal Orlando and Japan will add cast members dressed as the antagonists called Death Eaters to haunt Diagon Alley during Horror Nights.
Disney villain Cruella de Vil hosted a “Let’s Get Wicked” celebration at Hong Kong Disneyland in 2022, which received an industry award and returns this year.
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