The race is on to save the ecologically crucial wetlands surrounding the final 160 kilometers of the Mississippi River, America’s most iconic waterway.

“We are losing our communities, our culture, our fisheries, and our first line of defense against the hurricanes that threaten us,” said Kim Reyher, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

Adjacent to New Orleans, Plaquemines Parish is disappearing at an alarming rate. In recent decades, nearly 700 square kilometers of land have been consumed by the Gulf of Mexico because of the devastating combination of sinking land and rising sea levels. The parish includes wetlands that are home to thousands of Louisianans and many species of wildlife deemed critical to the ecology — and economy — of the region.

In December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed off on the state’s ambitious $2.2 billion plan to divert sediment from the Mississippi River and, it is hoped, protect and restore the vanishing region, which contributes to Louisiana’s robust seafood and energy sectors.

“The most fortunate thing about the situation we find ourselves in,” Reyher told VOA, “is that we have the tools necessary to build more land by mimicking what the Mississippi River had done for millennia. We can make ourselves safer moving forward.”

That is what this plan hopes to do. But not everyone is convinced.

“They say this is a 50-year plan, but who of us is going to be around in 50 years?” asked Dean Blanchard, owner of Dean Blanchard Seafood in vulnerable Grand Isle, Louisiana, speaking with VOA. “They’ve been trying to build back land for decades and so far I haven’t seen them build enough for two of us to stand on. It just doesn’t work.”

Choking the muddy Mississippi

It wasn’t long ago in geological terms that what is now south Louisiana didn’t exist at all. The region is known as an alluvial delta, built over thousands of years as the country’s major rivers carried sediment from the Rocky Mountains in the west and deposited them into the Gulf of Mexico.

Over time, that process created land stretching from Gulf-facing Plaquemines Parish in the south to areas as far north as Baton Rouge, the state capital. New Orleans, a world-renowned hub of culture and tourism, also owes its existence to this sediment.

“But land down here sinks back into the Gulf unless it’s replenished with new sediment,” Reyher explained. “In the past, that replenishment would come from the seasonal overflowing of the muddy, sediment-rich Mississippi River. But, of course, no one wants to live in a place with annual flooding, so that’s why we built the levees.”

Those levees — barriers largely built in the 20th century on either bank of the river — have helped keep residents safe from river flooding.

But the levees also block the flow of new sediment, making the region more vulnerable to land loss due to erosion and rising sea levels. Ecologists project another 400 square kilometers of land could disappear by the end of the century.

But with the Army Corps’ approval of what is being called the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, some believe there is hope.

“We have been studying this for a very long time,” said Chip Kline, board chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which will be responsible for executing the plan.

“The project will mimic the pre-levee natural land building processes of the Mississippi River and strategically reconnect the river to our sediment-starved estuaries,” he said. “It will establish a consistent sediment source to nourish the newly created land in a way that provides a more sustainable solution than other options such as mechanical dredging.”

Doubt and outrage

The architects of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion believe this is the best available plan. They do, however, concede there will be consequences, particularly for the region’s fishermen, shrimpers and oyster harvesters.

“The water in which our oysters, shrimp and many of our fish thrive is salty,” local shrimper George Barisich told VOA. “So, when you divert all of this fresh Mississippi River water in there, it’s going to kill them. It’s going to destroy those fish populations for years and it’s going to destroy us fishermen.”

Even calling it fresh water, according to Barisich, is misleading.

“This isn’t the same water that traveled down the continent hundreds of years ago,” he said. “This now has pesticides and [feces] from every farm and household along the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) Mississippi River. It’s not going to build our wetlands; it’s going to destroy it.”

Although the project is backed by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, not everyone in state government is enthusiastic.

“I want what’s best for the people of Louisiana,” Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser told VOA, “and this isn’t it. We’ve tried building land his way before and it doesn’t work. The land gets washed away in six months because the Mississippi River doesn’t carry the same amount of sediment it did thousands of — or even a hundred — years ago.”

Mitigating consequences

Reyher, from the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, said she’s sympathetic to the concerns fishermen in the region have.

“This is going to impact them, we understand that,” she said. “That’s why we are including $360 million in the plan to assist them and mitigate those consequences.”

She continued: “But, if we do nothing, we’re admitting defeat. We’re talking about whole communities and millions of people that would eventually need to be relocated.”

Lieutenant Governor Nungesser said he also hopes to avoid that outcome. But he also says solutions need to be focused on the short term as well.

“We don’t have to sacrifice people now for some plan that we won’t know doesn’t work until 50 years down the road,” he said. “I’ve been a policymaker here for years, and we know what works. We have seen that specifically building up ridges and islands and berms that protect us from storms — that can keep us safe. And it can do it while protecting the culture and communities around Louisiana’s last surviving sacred resource — our seafood.”

Proponents of the project say the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion is the most effective and cost-efficient tool they have — a key component of a 50-year, $50 billion suite of solutions to save south Louisiana.

“Nothing like this has ever been done in the region,” Donald Boesch, professor of marine science at the University of Maryland, told VOA. “This project is designed to capture and distribute sediment during the times of year it is most available. And we can do it in a way that minimizes the water that will kill our fisheries while maximizing the … sediment that will save and re-establish south Louisiana.”

Louisiana must decide by February whether to accept or appeal the Army Corps’ permit conditions. The plan could draw lawsuits from opponents.
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Russia said Wednesday that it will send an empty spacecraft to the International Space Station next month to bring home three astronauts whose planned return vehicle was damaged by a strike from a tiny meteorite.

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, made the announcement after examining the flight worthiness of the Soyuz MS-22 crew capsule at the space station, which sprang a radiator coolant leak in December.

Roscosmos and NASA officials said at a joint press briefing that an uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft, MS-23, would be sent to the station February 20 to bring Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio back to Earth.

“We’re not calling it a rescue Soyuz,” said Joel Montalbano, the space station program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “I’m calling it a replacement Soyuz.

“Right now, the crew is safe onboard the space station,” he added.

MS-22 flew Petelin, Prokopyev and Rubio to the space station in September. They were scheduled to return home in the same spacecraft in mid-March.

But MS-22 began leaking coolant on December 14 after being hit by what U.S. and Russian space officials said they believed was a micrometeorite.

“Everything does point to a micrometeorite,” Montalbano said.

Sergei Krikalev, executive director of human space flight programs at Roscosmos, said the “current theory is that this damage was caused by a small particle about 1 millimeter in diameter.”

Krikalev said the decision to use MS-23 to fly the crew home was made because of concern over high temperatures in MS-22 during reentry. 

“The main problem to land the current Soyuz with crew would be thermal conditions because we lost heat rejection capability,” he said. “We may have a high temperature situation on Soyuz in the equipment compartment and in the crew compartment.”

Montalbano said discussions were also underway with SpaceX officials about potentially returning one or more crew members on the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule currently docked with the space station.

Four astronauts were flown to the station by a SpaceX rocket in October for a mission expected to last about six months.

“We could safely secure the crew members in the area that the cargo normally returns on the Dragon,” Montalbano said.

“All that is only for an emergency, only if we have to evacuate ISS,” he stressed. “That’s not the nominal plan or anything like that.”

Krikalev said MS-22 would return to Earth after the two cosmonauts and the NASA astronaut leave on MS-23. It would bring back equipment and experiments that are not “temperature sensitive,” he said.

Soyuz MS-23 had been initially scheduled to fly Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and NASA’s Loral O’Hara to the space station on March 16.

Space has remained a rare venue of cooperation between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia.

The space station was launched in 1998 at a time of increased U.S.-Russia cooperation following the Cold War space race.

Russia has been using the aging but reliable Soyuz capsules to ferry astronauts into space since the 1960s.
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Genomic sequencing allowed the world to track new coronavirus variants throughout the pandemic. Now British researchers plan to use it to better understand a host of other respiratory pathogens, from influenza to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).  

The work is aimed at shedding more light on known threats and, potentially, emerging ones, said the team at the Wellcome Sanger Institute working with the UK Health Security Agency. 

The world has never had access to the kind of real-time information for these viruses that scientists obtained on SARS-CoV-2 through sequencing millions of genomes, Ewan Harrison, head of the new Respiratory Virus and Microbiome Initiative, told reporters Monday. 

That includes granular detail on how they transmit as well as how they evolve in the face of the human immune response.  

“We hope that by expanding our ability to sequence these viruses routinely, we can build upon the work that’s going on COVID, and hopefully supercharge research efforts to understand the transmission of these viruses, but also to help develop new treatments and vaccines,” Harrison said. 

The aim is to make genomic surveillance of this type the norm, to inform public health responses and act as a blueprint for other countries that want to do the same thing, he said. 

The work will begin later this year by using leftover material from swabs taken for COVID-19 diagnostic purposes, sequencing SARS-CoV-2, influenza, RSV and other common respiratory viruses in a combined process.  

While some of the viruses targeted typically cause mild, cold-like symptoms, others can cause serious illness, particularly in vulnerable populations. 

Cases of COVID-19, flu and RSV have all surged this winter in the northern hemisphere in a so-called “tripledemic” that is putting serious pressure on hospitals in a number of countries.  

The team said that, in the future, the initiative could answer questions about outbreaks like this.  

It also aims to sequence everything found in a single nose swab, including the viral, bacterial and fungal species present and how they change during infection. 

The five-year initiative aims to begin work from spring this year and is funded by Wellcome. 

 
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Countries should consider recommending passengers wear masks on long-haul flights to counter the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 given its rapid spread in the United States, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday.

In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant is being detected in small but growing numbers, WHO/Europe officials said at a press briefing.

Passengers should be advised to wear masks in high-risk settings such as long-haul flights, said the WHO’s senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, adding: “this should be a recommendation issued to passengers arriving from anywhere where there is widespread COVID-19 transmission.”

XBB.1.5 – the most transmissible Omicron subvariant that has been detected so far accounted for 27.6% of COVID-19 cases in the United States for the week ending Jan. 7, U.S. health officials have said.

It remains unclear if XBB.1.5 will cause its own wave of infections around the world. Current vaccines continue to protect against severe symptoms, hospitalization and death, experts say.

“Countries need to look at the evidence base for pre-departure testing”, Smallwood added, saying it was crucial not to focus exclusively on one particular geographic area.

If action is considered, she said, “our opinion is that travel measures should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner.”

That did not mean the agency recommended testing for passengers coming from the United States at this stage, she added.

Measures that can be taken include genomic surveillance, and targeting passengers arriving from other countries as long as it does not divert resources away from domestic surveillance systems. Others include wastewater monitoring systems around points of entry, such as airports.

XBB.1.5 is yet another descendant of Omicron, the most contagious – and now globally dominant – variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. It is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, which is itself a recombinant of two other Omicron subvariants.

Concerns about XBB.1.5 fueling a fresh spate of cases in the United States and beyond are on the rise at the same time as a surge of COVID cases in China, after the country pivoted away from its signature “zero COVID” policy last month.

According to data reported by the WHO earlier this month, an analysis by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed a predominance of Omicron sublineages BA.5.2 and BF.7 among locally acquired infections.

Many scientists — including from the WHO — believe China is likely under-reporting the true extent of its outbreak.

More than a dozen countries — including the United States — are demanding COVID tests from travelers from China.
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Space sector bosses on Tuesday said they were disappointed by the failure of the country’s historic first attempt to launch satellites from UK soil but pledged to investigate and try again.

The failure of the mission late on Monday is a blow to the UK’s fledgling space sector.

Had it been successful, it would have made the UK one of only nine countries able to launch rockets into Earth’s orbit.

A Virgin Orbit Boeing 747 carrying the 70-foot (21-meter) rocket took off from a spaceport in Cornwall, southwest England, at 2202 GMT on Monday.

The rocket then detached from the aircraft and ignited as planned at a height of 35,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland at around 2315 GMT.

But as the rocket was due to enter orbit and discharge its nine satellites, scientists reported an “anomaly” that prevented it from reaching orbit.

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart praised the launch teams but said their task had been complicated by the “first time nature of this mission” which had “added layers of complexity.”

“We will work tirelessly to understand the nature of the failure, make corrective actions and return to orbit as soon as we have completed a full investigation and mission assurance process,” he added.

The UK Space Agency said it would work closely with Virgin Orbit as they “investigate what caused the anomaly.”

“While this result is disappointing… the project has succeeded in creating a horizontal launch capability at Spaceport Cornwall,” said Matt Archer, the agency’s commercial spaceflight director.

Monday’s launch would have been the first from UK soil. UK-produced satellites have previously had to be sent into orbit via foreign spaceports. 

‘Within a year’

The satellites were to have a variety of civil and defense functions, from sea monitoring to help countries detect people smugglers and space weather observation.

Lucy Edge, CEO of Satellite Applications Catapult, said planning would begin immediately for a replacement mission for a client who had a maritime surveillance satellite on board.

But she said the bigger picture was the issue of UK launch capabilities.

“We will keep doing this. We will get a launch capability out of the UK, probably more than one. I think within a year is entirely reasonable,” she told BBC radio.

The number of space bases in Europe has grown in recent years due to the commercialization of space.

For a long time, satellites were primarily used for institutional missions by national space agencies but most of Europe’s spaceport projects are now private-sector initiatives.

The market has exploded with the emergence of small start-ups, modern technology making both rockets and satellites smaller, and the rapidly growing number of applications for satellites.
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It’s been six months since the James Webb Space Telescope began transmitting breathtaking pictures of the cosmos back to Earth, transfixing star gazers and scientists alike.  

The images have led to new discoveries about the universe, including the formation of stars, the evolution of black holes and the composition of planets in other solar systems. 

NASA’s Webb telescope — a collaboration between the United States, Europe and Canada — was launched on Christmas Day 2021. However, it was not until July 12, 2022, when U.S. President Joe Biden officially released the first set of pictures taken by the $10 billion telescope, that its first images were seen by the world.  

Here is a look at some of the best images captured by the telescope over the past six months. 

Galaxy cluster (Webb’s first Deep Field) 

July 12, 2022 

Among the first set of images taken by the telescope and revealed by NASA is a galaxy cluster known as SMACS 0723 that is teeming with thousands of galaxies. NASA called the picture “the deepest, sharpest infrared view of the universe to date” and said it shows the galaxies as they appeared 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists describe the telescope as looking back in time. That is because it can see galaxies that are so far away that it takes light from those galaxies billions of years to reach the telescope.  

The Carina Nebula 

July 12, 2022 

Also part of the first set of images NASA released, this picture shows emerging stellar nurseries in a star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. NASA says the stellar nurseries and individual stars that are seen in the image are completely hidden in visible-light pictures. “Because of Webb’s sensitivity to infrared light, it can peer through cosmic dust to see these objects,” it said. A successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, Webb is able to use the infrared spectrum in capturing its images, while its predecessor used mainly optical and ultraviolet wavelengths.  

Atmosphere of a distant planet   

July 12, 2022

This observation from the Webb telescope captures detailed measurements of a planetary atmosphere 1,150 light-years away. Among the findings from this atmosphere is the distinct signature of water. NASA says such images show “the significant role the telescope will play in the search for potentially habitable planets in coming years.” The planet analyzed here, known as WASP-96 b, is one of more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way, according to NASA. It has a mass less than half that of Jupiter, a temperature greater than 500°C, and it orbits its Sun-like star once every 3½ Earth-days. 

Enchanting Jupiter   

August 22, 2022 

The Webb telescope captured new images of Jupiter in August, delighting the internet with its composite picture of the planet from three infrared filters. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot – a storm so big it could contain the entire Earth — is shown in white instead of red, and in sharp detail. NASA says the spot appears white, as do some of the clouds around the planet, because they are reflecting a large amount of light and contain high-altitude hazes.    

Neptune’s rings   

September 21, 2022 

Staying within our solar system, Webb turned its gaze to Neptune, producing an image of the icy planet that captures some of the clearest views of its rings. The photo also shows seven of Neptune’s 14 known moons. While Neptune appears blue at visible wavelengths, caused by small amounts of gaseous methane, Webb’s near-infrared camera does not show the color in this image. “Methane gas so strongly absorbs red and infrared light that the planet is quite dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where high-altitude clouds are present,” NASA said.    

The Pillars of Creation   

October 19, 2022 

Webb’s new view of the Pillars of Creation shows a beautifully clear picture of the celestial event, where new stars are forming within dense clouds of gas and dust. The Pillars captured people’s imagination when NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope began sending images of it in 1995, including the picture at left taken in 2014. The image on the right is created from Webb’s near-infrared camera and shows the presence of far more stars, which are formed out of the dusty clouds over millions of years. 
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Children struggling with obesity should be evaluated and treated early and aggressively, including with medications for kids as young as 12 and surgery for those as young as 13, according to new guidelines released Monday.

The long-standing practice of “watchful waiting,” or delaying treatment to see whether children and teens outgrow or overcome obesity on their own, only worsens the problem that affects more than 14.4 million young people in the U.S. Left untreated, obesity can lead to lifelong health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes and depression.

“Waiting doesn’t work,” said Dr. Ihuoma Eneli, co-author of the first guidance on childhood obesity in 15 years from the American Academy of Pediatrics. “What we see is a continuation of weight gain and the likelihood that they’ll have [obesity] in adulthood.”

For the first time, the group’s guidance sets ages at which kids and teens should be offered medical treatments such as drugs and surgery — in addition to intensive diet, exercise and other behavior and lifestyle interventions, said Eneli, director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

In general, doctors should offer adolescents 12 and older who have obesity access to appropriate drugs and teens 13 and older with severe obesity referrals for weight-loss surgery, though situations may vary.

The guidelines aim to reset the inaccurate view of obesity as “a personal problem, maybe a failure of the person’s diligence,” said Dr. Sandra Hassink, medical director for the AAP Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight, and a co-author of the guidelines.

“This is not different than you have asthma and now we have an inhaler for you,” Hassink said.

‘Not a lifestyle problem’

Young people who have a body mass index that meets or exceeds the 95th percentile for kids of the same age and gender are considered obese. Kids who reach or exceed that level by 120% are considered to have severe obesity. BMI is a measure of body size based on a calculation of height and weight.

Obesity affects nearly 20% of kids and teens in the U.S. and about 42% of adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The group’s guidance takes into consideration that obesity is a biological problem and that the condition is a complex, chronic disease, said Aaron Kelly, co-director of the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota.

“Obesity is not a lifestyle problem. It is not a lifestyle disease,” he said. “It predominately emerges from biological factors.”

The guidelines come as new drug treatments for obesity in kids have emerged, including approval late last month of Wegovy, a weekly injection, for use in children ages 12 and older. Different doses of the drug, called semaglutide, are also used under different names to treat diabetes. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk, helped teens reduce their BMI by about 16% on average, better than the results in adults.

How Wegovy works

The drug affects how the pathways between the brain and the gut regulate energy, said Dr. Justin Ryder, an obesity researcher at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago.

“It works on how your brain and stomach communicate with one another and helps you feel more full than you would be,” he said.

Still, specific doses of semaglutide and other anti-obesity drugs have been hard to get because of recent shortages caused by manufacturing problems and high demand, spurred in part by celebrities on TikTok and other social media platforms boasting about enhanced weight loss.

In addition, many insurers won’t pay for the medication, which costs about $1,300 a month.

One expert in pediatric obesity cautioned that while kids with obesity must be treated early and intensively, he worries that some doctors may turn too quickly to drugs or surgery.

“It’s not that I’m against the medications,” said Dr. Robert Lustig, a longtime specialist in pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco. “I’m against the willy-nilly use of those medications without addressing the cause of the problem.”

Lustig said children must be evaluated individually to understand all factors that contribute to obesity. He has long blamed too much sugar for the rise in obesity. He urges a sharp focus on diet, particularly ultra-processed foods high in sugar and low in fiber.

Dr. Stephanie Byrne, a pediatrician at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said she’d like more research about the drug’s efficacy in a more diverse group of children and about potential long-term effects before she begins prescribing it regularly.

“I would want to see it be used on a little more consistent basis,” she said. “And I would have to have that patient come in pretty frequently to be monitored.”

At the same time, she welcomed the group’s new emphasis on prompt, intensive treatment for obesity in kids.

“I definitely think this is a realization that diet and exercise is not going to do it for a number of teens who are struggling with this — maybe the majority,” she said.
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A modified jumbo jet carrying a Virgin Orbit rocket took off from southwestern England Monday, marking the first attempt to launch satellites into orbit from Western Europe.

Hundreds gathered for the launch cheered as the repurposed Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 aircraft, named “Cosmic Girl,” took off from Cornwall late Monday. Around an hour into the flight, the plane will release the rocket at 35,000 feet (around 10,000 meters) over the Atlantic Ocean to the south of Ireland.

The rocket will then take nine small satellites for mixed civil and defense use into orbit, while the plane, piloted by a Royal Air Force pilot, returns to Cornwall.

If successful, the mission will mark the first international launch for Virgin Orbit, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson. The company, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, has already completed four similar launches from California.

In the past, satellites produced in the U.K. had to be sent to spaceports in other countries to make their journey into space.

Some of the satellites are meant for U.K. defense monitoring, while others are for businesses such as those working in navigational technology. One Welsh company is looking to manufacture materials such as electronic components in space.

“This is the start of a new era for the U.K. in terms of launch capabilities,” said Ian Annett, deputy chief executive at the U.K. Space Agency. There was strong market demand for small satellite launches, he said, and the U.K. has ambitions to be “the hub of European launches.”

Annett said it was too early to say whether more missions are planned in coming months.

The mission is a collaboration between the U.K. Space Agency, the Royal Air Force, Virgin Orbit and Cornwall Council.

The launch was originally planned for late last year, but it was postponed because of technical and regulatory issues.
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A U.N.-led study released Monday shows a hole in the protective layer of ozone over Antarctica is on track to fully recover in about four decades, thanks to the global phasing out of nearly 99% of banned ozone-depleting substances.

The report, published every four years, was presented Monday at the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Denver.

The report indicates that if current policies remain in place, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 values — before the appearance of the ozone hole — by around 2066 over the Antarctic, by 2045 over the Arctic and by 2040 for the rest of the world. It shows the Antarctic ozone hole has been slowly improving in area and depth since the year 2000.

The scientific assessment monitors the progress of the Montreal Protocol, a global agreement reached in 1987 and put into place in 1989, intended to protect the Earth’s ozone layer by phasing out the chemicals that deplete it, often used as propellants in household products or in air conditioning.

In a statement, U.N. Environmental Program Ozone Secretariat Meg Seki said the ozone recovery data in this latest study is “fantastic news.”

“The impact the Montreal Protocol has had on climate change mitigation cannot be overstressed,” she said, calling the treaty “a true champion for the environment.”

The latest assessment has been made based on extensive studies, research and data compiled by experts from the U.N. World Meteorological Organization; the U.N. Environment Program; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the U.S. space agency, NASA; and the European Commission.
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One year after Australia deported Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic for refusing to get vaccinated, Australian Open tournament officials say players this year will not be tested for COVID-19 and would even be allowed to compete even if they had the virus. 

Tournament director Craig Tiley told reporters Monday they are telling players and tournament staff to stay away if they feel ill, but otherwise they will not be tested. If they have already been tested, they will not be required to disclose their status. 

Tiley said the tournament just wanted to “follow what is currently in the community.” 

The new policy is a stark change from the strict protocols of the past two years, when spectators were banned from the tournament, matches were played in a bio-secure “bubble,” and nine-time tournament champion Djokovic was not allowed to play. 

Last week, during a Cricket match in Sydney between South Africa and Australia, Australian Cricketer Matt Renshaw was allowed to play in a five-day test match despite testing positive for COVID. 

Riley said, “It’s a normalized environment for us and, not dissimilar to cricket, there will potentially be players that will compete with COVID.” 

The more relaxed rules for sports reflects Australia’s more relaxed rules regarding COVID-19. At the height of the pandemic, the nation — and Melbourne in particular -— endured some of the longest and strictest lockdowns.   

But in the past year, mandates regarding safeguards such as testing, and mask-wearing have been replaced. 

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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China will not include Pfizer Inc’s Paxlovid in an update to its list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes as the U.S. firm quoted a high price for the COVID-19 drug, China’s Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said Sunday.   

The COVID-19 antiviral drug is currently covered by the country’s broad health care insurance scheme under temporary measures the regulator introduced in March last year as outbreaks rose.   

But authorities held talks with Pfizer in recent days to decide whether to include it in the latest version of their list, which they update annually.   

Inclusion on the list means a drug is accessible via state insurance schemes, which will boost volumes but comes with the condition that manufacturers lower prices. Past rounds have seen drugmakers cut prices by as much as 62% after negotiations with officials.   

“We will continue to collaborate with the Chinese government and all relevant stakeholders to secure an adequate supply of Paxlovid in China. We remain committed to fulfilling the COVID-19 treatment needs of Chinese patients,” Pfizer said in a statement, without elaborating.   

The NHSA said Paxlovid would continue to be eligible to be paid for by state medical insurance until the current planned end-date to the temporary measures of March 31.   

While the talks on Paxlovid failed, they succeeded with two other COVID-19 treatment drugs — herbal medication Qingfei Paidu granules and Chinese drugmaker Genuine Biotech’s Azvudine — which will be included in the list’s update, the regulator said.   

Three years into the pandemic, China began pivoting away from its signature “zero COVID” policy last month after historic protests of the economically-damaging curbs that had been championed by President Xi Jinping.   

The sudden loosening of restrictions has fueled a giant wave of infections and prompted many to turn to underground channels to procure remedies such as Paxlovid, which a clinical trial has found to have reduced hospitalizations in high-risk patients by around 90%.   

Boxes of Paxlovid are changing hands for as much as 50,000 yuan ($7,313.15), more than 20 times the original price of 2,300 yuan, according to local media reports and social media posts.   

Beijing has been largely resistant to Western vaccines but has greenlighted foreign oral treatments Paxlovid and Merck’s Molnupiravir. It approved Paxlovid in February.   

Reuters reported Saturday, citing sources, that China is in talks with Pfizer to secure a license that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of Paxlovid.   

Last month, China Meheco Group Co Ltd said Wednesday it signed an agreement with Pfizer to import and distribute Paxlovid in mainland China.   

Pfizer also signed a deal in August for Chinese drugmaker Zhejiang Huahai to produce Paxlovid in mainland China solely for patients there. 
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Thailand will require international travelers to show proof they are fully vaccinated for COVID before flying to Thailand, according to the country’s aviation regulator, as it prepares for more tourists after China reopened its border on Sunday.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand said in a statement Saturday that starting early Monday, all foreign arrivals starting early on Monday must prove they are vaccinated or provide a letter certifying that they have recovered from COVID within six months.

Unvaccinated travelers must show a medical certificate explaining why they have not received the vaccine.

CAAT said airlines would be responsible for checking documents before passengers board and has released a list of how many doses are required for various types of COVID-19 vaccines on its website.

The new measure will remain in effect at least until the end of January, CAAT said.

The vaccination requirement was scrapped by Thailand last October but has been revived as China reopens its border following the easing of its zero-COVID policy.

The first commercial flight from China to Thailand, Xiamen Airlines flight MF833, will arrive to Bangkok from Xiamen on Monday carrying 286 passengers, government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said Sunday.

Foreigners traveling to Thailand from a country where a negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test result is a condition for entry are required to show proof of health insurance that covers COVID-19 treatment, the Health Ministry said.

The new entry requirements do not apply to Thai passport holders or passengers transiting through Thailand.
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China lifted quarantine requirements for inbound travelers Sunday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in COVID cases.

The first people to arrive expressed relief at not having to undergo the grueling quarantines that were a fixture of life in zero-COVID China.

And in Hong Kong, where the border with mainland China was reopened after years of closure, more than 400,000 people were set to travel north in the coming eight weeks.

Beijing last month began a dramatic dismantling of a hardline zero-COVID strategy that had enforced mandatory quarantines and punishing lockdowns.

The policy had a huge impact on the world’s second-biggest economy and generated resentment throughout society that led to nationwide protests just before it was eased.

At Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, a woman surnamed Pang told AFP on Sunday she was thrilled with the ease of travel.

“I think it’s really good that the policy has changed now, it’s really humane,” she told AFP.

“It’s a necessary step, I think. COVID has become normalized now and after this hurdle everything will be smooth,” she said.

Chinese people rushed to plan trips abroad after officials last month announced that quarantine would be dropped, sending inquiries on popular travel websites soaring.

But the expected surge in visitors has led more than a dozen countries to impose mandatory COVID tests on travelers from the world’s most populous nation as it battles its worst-ever outbreak.

China has called travel curbs imposed by other countries “unacceptable,” despite it continuing to largely block foreign tourists and international students from travelling to the country.

China’s COVID outbreak is forecast to worsen as it enters the Lunar New Year holiday this month, during which millions are expected to travel from hard-hit megacities to the countryside to visit vulnerable older relatives.

And Beijing has moved to curb criticism of its chaotic path out of zero-COVID, with its Twitter-like Weibo service saying it had recently banned 1,120 accounts for “offenses against experts and scholars.”

‘We just walked out’

At Beijing airport Sunday, barriers that once kept international and domestic arrivals apart were gone, as were the “big whites” — staff in hazmat suits long a fixture of life in zero-COVID China.

One woman, there to greet a friend arriving from Hong Kong, said the first thing they’d do was grab a meal.

“It’s so great, we haven’t seen each other in so long,” Wu, 20, told AFP.

“They are studying over there, and we can meet each other directly in Beijing … It’s been a year,” she added.

At Shanghai airport, one man surnamed Yang who was arriving from the United States said he had not been aware that the rules had changed.

“I had no idea,” he told AFP.

“I’d consider myself extremely lucky if I only need to do quarantine for two days, turned out I don’t have to do quarantine at all, and no paperwork, we just walked out like that, exactly like in the past,” he added.

“I’m quite happy not needing to be in quarantine,” another woman being picked up by her boyfriend who declined to give her name told AFP.

“Who wants to be in quarantine? Nobody.”

Hong Kong opens

In China’s southern semiautonomous city of Hong Kong, visitors streamed across the border as travel restrictions with the Chinese mainland were eased.

Hong Kong’s recession-hit economy is desperate to reconnect with its biggest source of growth, and families are looking forward to reunions over the Lunar New Year.

Official data showed some 410,000 people in Hong Kong planned to travel north in the next two month, while some 7,000 people in the mainland planned to travel south Sunday.

At the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint near Shenzhen, a postgraduate student from mainland China surnamed Zeng told AFP they were happy to cross with no more restrictions.

“I am happy as long as I don’t have to be quarantined — it was so unbearable,” Zeng told AFP.
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A 38-year-old retired NASA satellite is about to fall from the sky.

NASA said Friday the chance of wreckage falling on anybody is “very low.” Most of the 5,400-pound (2,450-kilogram) satellite will burn up upon reentry, according to NASA. But some pieces are expected to survive.

The space agency put the odds of injury from falling debris at about 1-in-9,400.

The science satellite is expected to come down Sunday night, give or take 17 hours, according to the Defense Department.

The California-based Aerospace Corp., however, is targeting Monday morning, give or take 13 hours, along a track passing over Africa, Asia the Middle East and the westernmost areas of North and South America.

The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, known as ERBS, was launched in 1984 aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Although its expected working lifetime was two years, the satellite kept making ozone and other atmospheric measurements until its retirement in 2005. The satellite studied how Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the sun.

The satellite got a special send-off from Challenger. America’s first woman in space, Sally Ride, released the satellite into orbit using the shuttle’s robot arm. That same mission also featured the first spacewalk by a U.S. woman: Kathryn Sullivan. It was the first time two female astronauts flew in space together.

It was the second and final spaceflight for Ride, who died in 2012.
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 U.S. health officials on Friday approved a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug that’s been shown to modestly slow the early stages of the brain-robbing disease, albeit with potential safety risks that doctors and patients will have to weigh carefully.

The drug, Leqembi, is the first that’s been convincingly shown to slow the decline in memory and thinking that defines Alzheimer’s by targeting the disease’s underlying biology. The Food and Drug Administration approved it specifically for patients with mild or early cases of dementia.

An uncommon success

Leqembi, from Japan’s Eisai and its U.S. partner Biogen, is a rare success in a field accustomed to failed experimental treatments for the incurable condition. The delay in cognitive decline brought about by the drug likely amounts to just several months, but some experts say it could still meaningfully improve people’s lives.

“This drug is not a cure. It doesn’t stop people from getting worse, but it does measurably slow the progression of the disease,” said Dr. Joy Snider, a neurologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “That might mean someone could have an extra six months to a year of being able to drive.”

Snider stressed that the medicine, pronounced “leh-KEM-bee,” comes with downsides, including the need for twice-a-month infusions and possible side effects such as brain swelling and bleeding.

Approval came via FDA’s accelerated pathway, which allows drugs to launch based on early results, before they’re confirmed to benefit patients. The agency’s use of that shortcut has come under increasing scrutiny from government watchdogs and congressional investigators.

Last week, a congressional report found that the FDA’s approval of a similar Alzheimer’s drug called Aduhelm — also from Biogen and Eisai — was “rife with irregularities,” including a number of meetings with drug company staffers that went undocumented.

Average price tag: $26,500 a year

Scrutiny of the new drug, known chemically as lecanemab, will likely mean most patients won’t start receiving it for months, as insurers decide whether to cover it and for whom.

The drug will cost $26,500 for a typical year’s worth of treatment. Eisai said that price reflects the drug’s benefit in terms of improved quality of life, reduced burdens for caregivers and other factors. The company pegged its overall value at $37,000 per year, but said it priced the drug lower to reduce costs for patients and insurers. An independent group that assesses drug value recently said the drug would have to be priced below $20,600 to be cost-effective.

Some 6 million people in the U.S. and many more worldwide have Alzheimer’s, which gradually attacks areas of the brain needed for memory, reasoning, communication and daily tasks.

The FDA’s approval was based on one mid-stage study in 850 people with early symptoms of Alzheimer’s who also tested positive for a type of brain plaque that is a hallmark of the disease.

Since then, Eisai has published the results of a larger 1,800-patient study that the FDA is expected to soon review to confirm the drug’s benefit, setting up a decision on full approval later this year.

The larger study tracked patients’ results on an 18-point scale that measures memory, judgment and other cognitive abilities. Doctors compile the rating from interviews with the patient and a close contact. After 18 months, patients receiving Leqembi declined more slowly — a difference of less than half a point on the scale — than patients who received a dummy infusion. The delay amounted to just over five months.

There is little consensus on whether that difference translates into real benefits for patients, such as greater independence.

“Most patients won’t notice the difference,” said Dr. Matthew Schrag, a neurology researcher at Vanderbilt University. “This is really quite a small effect and probably below the threshold of what we’d call clinically significant.”

Schrag and some other researchers believe a meaningful improvement would require at least a difference of one full point on the 18-point scale.

Leqembi works by clearing a sticky brain protein called amyloid that’s a key indicator of Alzheimer’s. But it’s not clear exactly what causes the disease. A string of other amyloid-targeting drugs have failed, and many researchers now think combination treatments will be needed.

Aduhelm, the similar drug, was marred by controversy over its effectiveness.

The FDA approved that drug in 2021 against the advice of the agency’s own outside experts. Doctors hesitated to prescribe the drug, and insurers restricted coverage.

The FDA did not consult the same expert panel before approving Leqembi.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut — a frequent FDA critic — said in a statement Friday that she was “deeply concerned that FDA chose to forego” a panel meeting on the drug.

Schrag said many of the same concerns apply to both drugs.

“Is this slight, measurable benefit worth the hefty price tag and the side effects patients may experience?” she asked. “I have pretty serious doubts.”

About 13% of patients in Eisai’s study had swelling of the brain and 17% had small brain bleeds, side effects seen with earlier amyloid-targeting medications. In most cases those problems didn’t cause symptoms, which can include dizziness and vision problems.

Also, several Leqembi users died while taking the drug, including two who were on blood-thinning medications. Eisai has said the deaths can’t be attributed to the drug. The FDA label warns doctors to use caution if they prescribe Leqembi to patients on blood thinners.

Insurers are likely to cover the drug only for people like those in the company study — patients with mild dementia and confirmation of amyloid buildup. That typically requires expensive brain scans or a spinal fluid test. Doctors will need to perform a different type of scan to periodically check for brain swelling and bleeding.

Medicare coverage still up in air

A key question in the drug’s rollout will be insurance coverage by Medicare, the federal health plan that covers 60 million seniors and other Americans. The agency severely restricted coverage of Aduhelm, essentially wiping out its U.S. market and prompting Biogen to abandon marketing plans for the drug.

Eisai executives said they have already spent months discussing their drug’s data with Medicare officials. Coverage isn’t expected until after the FDA confirms the drug’s benefit, expected later this year.

“Once we have a Medicare decision, then we can truly launch the drug across the country,” said Eisai’s U.S. CEO, Ivan Cheung.

Betsy Groves, 73, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2021. A former lecturer at Harvard’s graduate school of education, she noticed she was having trouble remembering some students’ names and answering questions.

Her initial diagnosis, based on a cognitive examination, was later confirmed by a positive test for amyloid.

Groves, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, says she is “more than willing” to try Leqembi, despite potential side effects and the need for infusions.

“For me, the minute that drug comes on the market — and I get my doctor’s approval — I’m going to take it,” Groves said.
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The Biden administration is proposing tougher standards for a deadly air pollutant, saying that reducing soot from tailpipes, smokestacks and wildfires could prevent thousands of premature deaths a year. 

A proposal released Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency would set maximum levels of 9 to 10 micrograms of fine particle pollution per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms set a decade ago under the Obama administration. The standard for particle pollution, more commonly known as soot, was left unchanged by former President Donald Trump, who overrode a scientific recommendation for a lower standard in his final days in office. 

Environmental and public health groups that have been pushing for a stronger standard were disappointed, saying the EPA proposal does not go far enough to limit emissions of what is broadly called “fine particulate matter,” the tiny bits of soot we breathe in unseen from tailpipes, wildfires, factory and power plant smokestacks, and other sources. 

In a development that could lead to an even lower standard, the EPA said Friday that it also would take comments on a range of ideas submitted by a scientific advisory committee, including a proposal that would lower the maximum standard for soot to 8 micrograms. A microgram is one-millionth of a gram. 

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the proposal to strengthen the national ambient air quality standards for fine particle pollution would help prevent serious health problems, including asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Those populations include children, older adults and those with heart and lung conditions, as well as low-income and minority communities throughout the United States. 

“This administration is committed to working to ensure that all people, regardless of the color of their skin, the community they live in or the money in their pocket, have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and the opportunity to lead a healthy life,” Regan said at a news conference. “At EPA, we are working every single day to create cleaner and healthier communities for all and have been doing so for over 50 years.” 

‘A disappointment’

Harold Wimmer, the president of the American Lung Association, called the EPA’s proposal disappointing, saying it was “inadequate to protect public health from this deadly pollutant.” 

“Current science shows that stronger limits are urgently needed … to protect vulnerable populations,” Wimmer said, calling for the EPA to lower the standard to 8 micrograms or lower. 

Seth Johnson, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, called the EPA plan “a disappointment and missed opportunity overall.” While it would strengthen some public health protections, “EPA is not living up to the ambitions of this administration to follow the science, protect public health and advance environmental justice,” Johnson said. He urged the EPA “to hear communities, not industrial polluters, and strengthen this rule. Overburdened communities have the right to breathe clean air.” 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups called for the current standards to be maintained. 

“The United States has some of the best air quality in the world, thanks to steady reductions in contributors to particulate matter emissions over the last decade,” said Chad Whiteman, vice president of environment and regulatory affairs at the chamber’s Global Energy Institute. 

The proposed rule could “stifle manufacturing and industrial investment and exacerbate permitting challenges that continue to hamper the economy,” Whiteman said. 

‘Regulatory burden’

Mike Ireland, president of the Portland Cement Association, which represents U.S. cement manufacturers, added that the EPA’s proposed action “is yet another regulatory burden that will hamper the cement industry’s ability to manufacture sustainable construction materials to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs.” 

EPA scientists have estimated exposure at current limits causes the early deaths of thousands of Americans annually from heart disease and lung cancer as well as causing other health problems. 

Dr. Doris Browne, president of the National Medical Association, the oldest and largest national organization representing African American physicians, hailed the plan as “the bold action needed to protect public health across the country.” 

Appearing with Regan at a news conference, Browne said the proposal is likely to have lasting benefits across the country “but especially for those communities of color and low-income communities that experience the increase in particulate matter pollution.” Smog, soot and other pollution near factories, power plants and other hazards has a “devastating impact on public health,” she said. 

The EPA proposal would require states, counties and tribal governments to meet a stricter air quality standard for fine particulate matter up to 2.5 microns in diameter — far smaller than the diameter of a human hair. A micron, also called a micrometer, is equal to one-millionth of a meter. 

The standard would not force polluters to shut down, but the EPA and state regulators could use it as the basis for other rules that target pollution from specific sources such as diesel-fueled trucks, refineries and power plants. 

A 2022 report by the American Lung Association found that 63 million Americans live in counties that experience unhealthy daily spikes in soot pollution and 21 million live in counties that exceed annual limits for soot pollution. Most of those counties were in 11 Western states, the report said. People of color were 61% more likely than white people to live in a county with unhealthy air quality, the report said. 

Fresno, California, displaced Fairbanks, Alaska, as the metropolitan area with the worst short-term particle pollution, the report found, while Bakersfield, California, continued in the most-polluted slot for year-round particle pollution for the third year in a row. 

As of December 31, five metropolitan areas were not in compliance with current standards, the EPA said. Four of those areas are in California, including the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which includes Pittsburgh, also is out of compliance. 

The EPA will accept comments on the proposed rule through mid-March and will hold a virtual public hearing over several days. A final rule is expected this summer.
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India has announced a $2.3 billion plan to promote “green hydrogen” — hydrogen produced with renewable energy — which experts say could be the clean fuel of the future.

The initiative could help the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases reach its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2070. 

A series of incentives are aimed at making green hydrogen affordable by bringing down production costs of a technology that has yet to become commercially viable.  

While India has been rapidly expanding renewables such as solar energy, these will not be enough to meet climate goals in a country whose energy needs are expected to grow more than anywhere in the world over the next two decades. India’s current reliance on carbon-emitting coal, its primary source of electricity, has raised concerns on how it will switch to clean energy.

The government is hoping that investments under what is called the National Hydrogen Mission, will provide the answer.

“For lot of heavy industries like steel, cement and oil refining, green hydrogen can be a better solution to make them cleaner. Their massive energy requirements cannot be met by other renewable sources such as solar and wind,” Vibhuti Garg, South Asia director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said.

 “But much will depend on the cost economics” he said. 

Green hydrogen is made by using electricity from renewable sources to split hydrogen from water. The energy it produces creates no carbon emissions. But in an industry still in its infancy, the key lies in significantly lowering production costs. 

“The goal is to bring down its cost over the next five years,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said this week while announcing the initiative. He said it will also help India reduce its emissions and become a major exporter in the field.   

Some experts are optimistic. “In the last one year there has been a drop in green hydrogen prices from roughly $4 per kilogram to $3 now,” said Hemant Mallya at the Council for Energy, Environment and Water, a public policy think tank in New Delhi.

He said increased use will bring down costs further. “The eventual target is $1 per kilogram because that is when you start becoming competitive with coal. But even before that if we can hit $2 per kilogram, it will compete with gas currently imported from Russia and that is pretty much achievable with scale and technological advancement.”

The hope is that just as costs for solar power have dropped substantially in recent years and are now lower than that of electricity generated by coal plants, the cost of producing green hydrogen will also reduce over time. 

India’s goal is to produce 5 million tons of green hydrogen per year by 2030. Experts call it an “ambitious” target and point out that at the moment India only has a handful of pilot projects in the sector. 

However, India wants to ensure that it is not left behind in a technology that is now being looked at with much more hope as the world grapples with a climate crisis. In giving a push to green hydrogen, India is following other countries like the United States and those in the European Union that have also approved incentives worth billions of dollars for its development. 

“I think India does not want to miss the bus and is putting the building blocks in place,” said Garg. She pointed out that in the solar energy sector for example, China took the lead in manufacturing the most cost-competitive components for solar panels, leaving most countries, including India, dependent on Chinese imports. “In green hydrogen, India wants to be a pioneer and not wait for other countries to become the lead players.” 

As the government offers financial incentives, some of India’s biggest firms have made commitments to invest in green hydrogen. They include conglomerates like the Adani Group and Reliance Industries and state-owned energy companies.  

Still, experts say there are many challenges ahead in developing the nascent industry. India will have to scale up domestic manufacturing of electrolyzers, which are a key component to develop green hydrogen and also ensure that there is enough renewable energy available to make it. The investments needed will be huge. Domestic industries might have to be incentivized to switch to using green hydrogen.  

India is also eyeing exports of green hydrogen by becoming a cost-competitive source.

“Our aim is to establish India as a global hub of green hydrogen,” Thakur said. “We will make efforts to get at least 10% of the global demand for green hydrogen.” 

Hopes that export markets will emerge if green hydrogen becomes viable have risen after the disruption in global energy markets in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We need to broaden the horizon and look at exports because the premium on the price of green hydrogen might be a problem domestically, but internationally it is not that much of a challenge for someone in Europe to pay it. And because of the Ukraine crisis for example, countries in Europe, will want to transition quicker than anticipated from natural gas,” according to Mallya.  

 
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