New York City recently hosted the world’s largest Halloween parade, bringing together the city’s spookiest and most spectacular characters. Here’s Aron Ranen with the story.
Camera: Aron Ranen
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Toxic smog cloaks New Delhi a day after Diwali festival
NEW DELHI — A thick layer of toxic smog cloaked India’s capital on Friday as smoke from firecrackers used to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, pushed air pollution to hazardous levels.
New Delhi’s air quality index plunged into the “severe” category, according to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency. In many areas, levels of deadly particulate matter reached seven times the World Health Organization’s safety limit.
Authorities in the capital have banned the use and sale of traditional firecrackers since 2017, asking people to opt for environmentally friendly ones or light shows instead, but the rule is often flouted.
New Delhi, home to more than 33 million people, is regularly ranked one of the most polluted cities in the world.
The air pollution crisis deepens particularly in the winter when the burning of crop residue in neighboring states coincides with cooler temperatures that trap deadly smoke. That smoke travels to New Delhi, leading to a surge in pollution and worsening the public health crisis.
Emissions from industries without pollution controls and the use of coal, which produces most of the country’s electricity, are also linked to poor air quality in urban areas.
“We may not realize it now, but later we will face lung problems,” said Manoj Kumar, a New Delhi resident who does his morning runs around the capital’s iconic India Gate monument.
Several studies have estimated that more than a million Indians die each year from air pollution-related diseases. Tiny particulate matter in polluted air can lodge deep in the lungs and cause a variety of major health problems.
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Bird flu infects 3 more people; number of human cases in US grows to 39
Bird flu has infected three more people from Washington state after they were exposed to poultry that tested positive for the virus, according to health authorities in Washington and in Oregon, where the human cases were identified.
A total of 39 people have tested positive for bird flu in the U.S. this year, including nine from Washington, as the virus has infected poultry flocks and spread to more than 400 dairy herds, federal data show. All of the cases were farm workers who had known contact with infected animals, except for one person in Missouri.
The people from Washington cleaned facilities at an infected chicken farm after birds were culled to contain the virus, the Washington State Department of Health said in an email on Thursday.
Officials tested workers who had symptoms, including red eyes and respiratory issues, and those with potential exposure to the birds, the department said. People with symptoms were told to isolate and given antiviral treatment, it added.
Oregon identified the three new cases after the people traveled to the state from Washington while infected, the Oregon Health Authority said in a Thursday statement. They have since returned to Washington, where public health staff are monitoring them, according to the statement.
There have been no infections among people living in Oregon and there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission, the Oregon Health Authority said. It said the risk for infection to the general public remains low.
Since 2022, the virus has wiped out more than 100 million poultry birds in the nation’s worst-ever bird flu outbreak.
H5N1 bird flu was confirmed in a pig on a backyard farm in Oregon, the first detection of the virus in swine in the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.
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Fourth mass coral bleaching prompts UN emergency session at Colombia biodiversity summit
The United Nations, scientists and governments made an urgent call Wednesday for increased funding to protect coral reefs under threat of extinction.
Research this year shows that 77% of the world’s reefs are affected by bleaching, mainly due to warming ocean waters amid human-caused climate change. It’s the largest and fourth mass global bleaching on record and is impacting both hemispheres, United Nations Capital Development Fund said.
The findings prompted a U.N. special emergency session — typically called to address escalating conflicts or natural disasters — on corals to be convened on sidelines of the U.N. biodiversity summit, known as COP16, nearing its end after two weeks in Cali, Colombia.
Coral reefs are vital ecosystems that support over 25% of marine life and nearly a billion people, many relying on reefs for food security, coastal protection and livelihoods, the U.N. development fund said.
After the emergency session, the governments of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany and France made new pledges totaling around $30 million to the U.N. fund for coral reefs established in 2020. By 2030, the fund seeks to leverage up to $3 billion in public and private finance to support coral reef conservation efforts. Around $225 million has been raised to date.
“Protecting our ocean and its precious habitats is fundamental to life on earth,” said U.K. Minister for Nature Mary Creagh. “But without urgent action, the world’s coral reefs face extinction from global heating, acidification, disease, and pollution; a vital ecosystem lost within our lifetime.”
Next year, a U.N. ocean conference will take place in Nice, France, and countries are being urged beforehand to pledge more to the U.N. global fund for coral reefs with the aim of mobilizing an additional $150 million in donations by the conference.
“In 2024, climate change and other human impacts triggered the fourth mass coral reef bleaching event, the most extensive and devastating on record,” said Peter Thomson, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. “With the window to protect these ecosystems closing rapidly, world leaders must act now.”
“We must secure a sustainable future for coral reefs and the countless lives that rely on them —before it’s too late,” Thomson said.
A change in water temperature can cause coral to drive out algae that provides nutrition, lose its color and become stressed. Coral may bleach for other reasons, such as extremely low tides, pollution or too much sunlight.
In the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, bleaching affected 90% of the coral assessed in 2022. The Florida Coral Reef, the third-largest, experienced significant bleaching last year.
The first mass bleaching happened in 1998, the second between 2011-2013, the third in 2016, said Kenyan marine ecologist David Obura, who heads Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean East Africa.
“They’re lasting more than one year at a time, which is worrying,” Obura said at the U.N. emergency session at COP16.
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Use of firecrackers renews air pollution debate in India ahead of Diwali
NEW DELHI — As India gears up for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, people are divided over whether they should celebrate by setting off firecrackers, which worsen the country’s chronic air pollution.
Diwali, which will be celebrated Thursday, is marked by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Many Indians light earthen oil lamps or candles. But every year the festivities are tinged with worries over air pollution, as smoke-emitting firecrackers cause toxic smog that can take days to clear.
The capital, New Delhi, which is among India’s worst cities for air quality, is particularly impacted by the problem and is usually shrouded in toxic gray smog a day after Diwali. Authorities there and in some other states have banned the use and sale of firecrackers since 2017, asking people to opt for more sustainable options like environmentally friendly firecrackers and light shows, but the rule is often flouted. Firecrackers can be easily bought from roadside stalls and stores.
Some residents in New Delhi say the ban doesn’t make much difference, while others see it as a necessary measure to fight pollution.
Vegetable vendor Renu, who only uses one name, loves celebrating Diwali in the city. Every year her kids set off firecrackers at night. She tells them to be careful but not to refrain from using them.
“Diwali is a day of celebration and happiness for us which comes only once a year, and I feel the ban should not be there,” she said.
Others are against it.
Unlike most kids, Ruhaani Mandal, 13, doesn’t light firecrackers. She acknowledges it is fun but says it is hazardous for people and animals.
“I have seen firsthand the struggle of my father, who has lost his sense of smell due to pollution, and I see how his health worsens after Diwali celebrations,” she said.
New Delhi and several northern Indian cities typically see extremely high levels of air pollution between October and January each year, disrupting businesses and shutting schools and offices. Authorities close construction sites, restrict diesel-run vehicles and deploy water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to control the haze and smog that envelopes the skyline.
This year, thick, toxic smog has already started to engulf New Delhi. On Wednesday, authorities reported an AQI of over 300, which is categorized as “very poor.”
Several studies have estimated that more than a million Indians die each year from air pollution-related diseases. A high level of tiny particulate matter can lodge deep into the lungs and cause major health problems, including chronic respiratory diseases.
New Delhi’s woes aren’t only due to firecrackers. Vehicular emissions, farm fires in neighboring states and dust from construction are the primary causes of the capital’s air pollution woes. But health experts say the smoke emitted from firecrackers can be more hazardous.
“The smoke that is produced by firecrackers contains heavy metals like sulphur, lead and toxic gases like carbon monoxide and fumes of heavy metals that are dangerous to our respiratory system,” said Arun Kumar Sharma, a community medicine professor at New Delhi’s University College of Medical Sciences.
Meanwhile, authorities in New Delhi have largely failed to enforce a strict ban on the use of firecrackers to avoid offending millions of Hindus across the country, for whom Diwali is one of the biggest festivals. To sidestep the ban, many sellers offer firecrackers online, some with the convenience of home delivery.
Shopkeeper Gyaanchand Goyal said the ban on firecrackers has disadvantaged sellers like him and affected their biggest source of income during the festive season.
“The government enforces a restriction on firecrackers solely to demonstrate their commitment to the environment. Other than that, I don’t think there are any other consequences of this ban,” he said.
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Children trick-or-treat at White House; first lady dresses as panda for Halloween
washington — President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, who dressed as a giant panda, hosted trick-or-treaters on the White House South Lawn on Wednesday for the last time.
The first lady had participated in the National Zoo’s announcement earlier this year that pandas would be returning to Washington. They arrived in the nation’s capital in mid-October and Jill Biden donned the panda suit Wednesday as a “welcoming gesture,” the White House said.
Jill Biden added an educational theme to the event and named it “Hallo-Read” to help encourage reading. She has been a teacher for 40 years. Earlier Wednesday, she read a short story about spooky pumpkins to a group of costumed children gathered on the lawn.
She and the president later ventured outside at sunset and spent about an hour handing out treats. Biden, in a suit and tie, dropped boxes of White House Hershey’s Kisses chocolates in the kids’ tote bags while the first lady handed out copies of “10 Spooky Pumpkins.”
Up to 8,000 people, including students and children tied to the military, were expected to pass through the White House gates during the day.
A large orange moon and a sign that said “Hallow-Read at the White House” decorated the south face of the executive mansion. The decorations also included cardboard representations of Willow, the family cat who is rarely seen in public, and stacks of books. Giant pumpkin decorations flanked the door.
Biden dropped his bid for reelection in July. He leaves office in January.
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China-Russia cooperation blocks Antarctic conservation proposals
taipei, taiwan — China and Russia are deepening cooperation in Antarctica in a trend that analysts say could undermine marine conservation efforts and disrupt the long-standing status quo in the resource-rich region.
China and Russia were accused of collaborating to block key proposals that would establish new marine protected areas and revise the krill fishery management plan in the Southern Ocean, during the annual conference of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Australia last week.
The commission was established in 1982 and is a part of the Antarctic Treaty System, which establishes the legal status of Antarctica and comprises four different treaties.
CCAMLR focuses on preserving marine life and other resources in the Antarctic. The commission has 26 members, including China, Russia, the United States, Australia and the European Union.
Any member state can veto a proposed measure, and Russia and China have repeatedly used that power to block proposed conservation efforts by the council over the years.
Some member states said every proposed measure at this year’s conference, including the establishment of four new marine protected areas and an extension of existing krill management measures, was blocked by China or Russia or both.
“Most concerning was the failure of some members to support the extension of existing krill management measures while the harmonization process is progressed,” a spokesperson of the Australian Antarctic Division told VOA in a written response.
“This is a backwards step for CCAMLR and puts krill, and the ecosystems and predators it supports, at risk,” the spokesperson added. Krill are small shrimp-like crustaceans that play a crucial role in the marine food chain.
Limit on krill fishing
The measure that CCAMLR member states hope to preserve is the mechanism that limits krill fishing in a protected area near the Antarctic Peninsula to no more than 620,000 tons.
Another 620,000 tons of fishable krill are redistributed across several subareas to prevent overconcentration of krill fishing in one area.
The measure needs to be renewed annually during the CCAMLR meeting with the approval of all the commission’s member states. Analysts said China’s and Russia’s move to block the rollover of the krill measure will affect the sustainability of a crucial food source for species such as penguins, seals and whales.
“If there’s too much krill fishing in one small region of Antarctica, it will restrict the amount of food available to the seal and penguin populations,” Tony Press, an expert on Antarctic affairs at the University of Tasmania, told VOA in a video interview.
In his view, other countries within CCAMLR should try to collectively challenge China’s and Russia’s decisions to block the proposed conservation measures through diplomatic means or decide to implement the proposed measures without involving Beijing or Moscow.
“Other countries could decide that Russia and China’s behaviors mean they would have to start implementing decisions among themselves,” Press said.
Experts say China and Russia refuse to support the proposed measures because they think setting up more marine protected areas will lead to more areas in the Antarctic becoming unavailable for use or development.
“They think once a marine protected area is adopted, it creates a snowball effect and generates more support behind the development of additional marine protected areas, which both countries think could lead to all marine living resource exploitation in the Southern Ocean being completely prohibited,” said Donald Rothwell, professor of international law at Australian National University.
Lynda Goldsworthy, a research associate at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, said one of China’s objectives in increasing its fishery footprint in the Southern Ocean is to “increase geopolitical influence in the Antarctic region.”
But since Russia is not as invested in the Southern Ocean as before, Goldsworthy said its decision to block marine conservation efforts in Antarctica is driven by an attempt to challenge the rules-based world order.
“Russia is playing the disruptor and [the objections] are part of their global disruption approach,” she told VOA by phone.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and Russian Embassy in the U.S. have not responded to VOA’s request for comments. The Chinese Foreign Ministry and Chinese Embassy in Australia also have not responded to requests for comments from VOA.
CCAMLR successfully established two marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean in 2009 and 2017, but no new zones have been established since then. The four new zones proposed during the 2024 meeting would increase the protected area in the Southern Ocean to 26%.
Antarctic status quo
The deepened cooperation between China and Russia in Antarctica comes as Beijing expands its presence across the continent. In February, China inaugurated a new scientific research station near a U.S. research station. The development raises concerns among some security analysts that China may collect intelligence or develop its dual-used capabilities through the station.
China’s increased presence in Antarctica has allowed Beijing to more boldly assert its agenda in some regional bodies such as CCAMLR, said Press.
China’s behavior at last week’s conference “is a reflection of their confidence because they are now a party with a significant presence in the Antarctic,” he told VOA.
“A lot of what they [China and Russia] are doing points to the idea that the actions they take now are to ensure there are no curbs on any future actions they might take,” Press added.
Goldsworthy said the growing synergy between China and Russia in Antarctica could create potential challenges for the Antarctic Treaty System.
“There had been blockages for the protection of penguins on the Antarctic continent, and I do think both Russia and China are positioning themselves for [mineral mining] when or if the current mining ban is lifted,” she told VOA.
While Beijing and Moscow have been consistently blocking CCAMLR’s proposals, Rothwell said it is unclear whether that trend has “totally infected decision-making within the Antarctic Treaty,” which designates the continent as a demilitarized zone for peaceful purposes and scientific research.
Even if China and Russia can’t easily challenge the treaty, Rothwell said that China “will find it advantageous to align itself with Russia,” in order to fulfill its aspirations to exercise control and influence in Antarctica.
Goldsworthy added that if China and Russia maintain their “combative approach” in the Antarctic Treaty System, which includes CCAMLR, it could turn “a safe and secure region” into a “much less peace-oriented” continent.
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Militant attacks in Pakistan hinder polio immunization campaigns
washington — Militant groups have intensified attacks against polio vaccination teams and their police escorts in Pakistan amid a dramatic resurgence of polio cases in the country.
Officials say because of the deteriorating security situation, polio vaccination teams cannot reach communities in high-risk areas where polio is endemic.
On Tuesday, militants attacked two health centers in the tribal districts of Orakzai and Waziristan that are being used in the polio vaccination campaign. Two police officials were killed in the attack in the restive region along the Afghan border.
According to local officials in North Waziristan, militants took guns from the police officers guarding the polio team and warned the health workers not to take part in the anti-polio campaign.
Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in reaction to the latest violence, said in a statement, “The terrorists’ attack on the polio team is an attack on the safe future of Pakistan.”
Violence has heightened safety concerns among front-line polio workers in the country.
“When I go out as part of [a] polio vaccination team, I am not sure I will return home safely,” Fahima Bibi, a front-line polio worker supervising vaccinations in northwestern Pakistan, told VOA.
But Bibi said she is determined to do the job.
“The cause is bigger and needs bigger commitment and sacrifice,” she told VOA.
Bibi’s concerns for safety are shared by many of her co-workers.
According to the Pakistan National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, 225,440 female vaccinators are working in the immunization workforce, going door to door to administer polio drops to children. They travel to hard-to-reach and remote, conservative regions in Pakistan, breaking cultural barriers.
Ihtesham Ali, minister of health in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, expressed concern Wednesday over the surge in attacks. He told VOA that the “security situation in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is quite bad. And it is affecting access to communities. It is creating difficulties in our access for polio vaccinations.”
‘A fearful environment’
Most of the recent cases in Pakistan were reported in southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
World Health Organization officials in southern Balochistan province say militant violence has affected polio campaigns in the province.
“Polio teams go house to house in a fearful environment,” said Dr. Nayyar Khan Loni, a WHO official in Balochistan. He said that the recent attacks in Balochistan have forced polio teams to rush the vaccination of children in some areas.
He said immunization campaigns have been modified because of security concerns. He attributed the recent polio outbreak in Balochistan to several factors, including cross-border mobility with Afghanistan and misinformation among certain parents about polio vaccines.
Campaign against polio vaccinators
Pakistan’s hard-line extremist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has sustained a violent campaign against polio vaccinators and security forces guarding polio team workers in Pakistan for nearly 15 years. Militants spread false claims that polio vaccines are part of a Western agenda to sterilize Muslim children. Also, militants target polio teams suspected of being government spies.
In January, at least five policemen were killed and more than a dozen injured in a major attack on polio teams and security personnel in northwestern Pakistan.
According to the Emergency Operations Center in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, militants have carried out 23 attacks against polio teams and security escorts in Pakistan this year.
Overall, militant-sponsored violence has increased in Pakistan since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021.
According to independent think tanks tracking violence in Pakistan, militant violence has killed more than 1,000 Pakistanis, half of them security forces, in the first 10 months of this year.
The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition identified 16 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Pakistan in 2022, an increase from seven in 2021. Nearly 90% of these incidents involved threats and violence against polio vaccination workers, undermining health care providers’ ability to meet vaccination targets.
Experts say the TTP has ignored local and international religious scholars’ fatwa (edicts) that support polio vaccination in Pakistan.
Fakhar Hayat Kakakhel, a Pakistan-based researcher on militancy, said that because of military operations, militants lost space and polio vaccination teams gained more access to conflict areas.
“After August 2021, when the Pakistani Taliban regrouped in the region and got space, they restarted their anti-polio vaccination campaigns. And now we are seeing a sudden surge in cases of polio,” he said.
Sindh province health officials say the security situation in Sindh is not like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but police are providing security to polio teams in Karachi and other parts of the province.
“Police are patrolling the streets in Karachi so that polio teams feel safe. We do not have any security issue, but [the] police department is with us,” Shumaila Rasool, spokesperson for Emergency Operations Center in Sindh, told VOA.
Afghanistan and Pakistan launched synchronized polio immunization campaigns on Monday. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the spread of polio has never been stopped.
VOA Deewa reporter Usman Khan contributed from Peshawar.
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US detects H5N1 bird flu in pig for first time
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS — H5N1 bird flu had been confirmed in a pig in a backyard farm in Oregon, the first detection of the virus in swine in the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.
Pigs represent a particular concern for the spread of bird flu because they can become co-infected with bird and human viruses, which could swap genes to form a new, more dangerous virus that can more easily infect humans.
The USDA said there is no risk to the nation’s pork supply from the Oregon case and that the risk to the public from bird flu remains low.
Pigs were the source of the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009-2010, and have been implicated as the source of others, said Richard Webby, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital virologist who studies flu in animals and birds for the World Health Organization.
The finding of the virus in a small farm makes the pig infection less of a concern than if it had been detected in a commercial pig farm, he said.
“I think it probably doesn’t increase the risk much, but surely, if this virus starts transmitting in pigs, that absolutely increases the risk,” he said.
The Oregon farm has been quarantined, and other animals there, including sheep and goats, are under surveillance, the USDA said.
Pigs and poultry on the farm were culled to prevent the spread of the virus and enable additional testing of the swine, the USDA said. Tests are still pending for two of the pigs, the agency said.
The swine case originated with wild birds and not from a poultry or dairy farm, a USDA spokesperson said. Wild bird migration has carried bird flu to poultry flocks and cattle herds.
The case was one factor that prompted the USDA to broaden its bird flu surveillance to include nationwide bulk milk testing, which the agency announced on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Reuters in an interview.
“While it’s a different variation of the virus and it is tied to wild birds, it is a factor to make sure that we understand and appreciate exactly where the virus is in dairy and in bovine,” he said.
The pigs on the Oregon farm were not intended for the commercial food supply, the USDA said.
The agency said that poultry and swine on the backyard farm shared water sources, housing and equipment, which have all served as pathways for transmitting the virus between animals in other states.
The detection is a warning for pig farmers to be on the lookout for further infections, said Marie Culhane, a professor of veterinary population medicine at the University of Minnesota who has researched flu viruses in swine.
“People need to start increasing their plans to deal with it if it should happen in another herd and another herd,” Culhane said. “Pigs are just really good at picking up influenza viruses.”
This year, 36 people have tested positive for bird flu as the virus has spread to nearly 400 dairy herds. All but one of the people were farm workers who had known contact with infected animals.
Since 2022, the virus has wiped out more than 100 million poultry birds in the nation’s worst-ever bird flu outbreak.
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Britain identifies its first case of new mpox variant
LONDON — Britain has detected its first case of new mpox variant clade Ib, the country’s health security agency (UKHSA) said Wednesday, adding that the risk to the population remained low.
The clade Ib variant is a new form of the virus that was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighboring countries in Africa.
The case, in a patient who had recently traveled to affected countries in Africa, was detected in London and the individual has been transferred to a specialist hospital, the UKHSA said.
Close contacts of the case are being followed up by UKHSA and partner organizations, the UKHSA added.
There have been cases of mpox clade Ib reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sweden, India and Germany, as well as Congo. It is a different form of the virus from clade II, which spread globally in 2022, largely among men who have sex with men.
Mpox is a viral infection that typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and while usually mild it can kill. Clade Ib is thought to cause more severe disease than clade II.
Both forms can be transmitted through close physical contact, including sexual contact.
The United Kingdom authorities said they would not provide any more details about the patient, but added that the person’s contacts were being followed up and would be offered testing and vaccination as needed, as well as further care if they test positive or have symptoms.
According to the latest WHO figures, there have been more than 44,000 confirmed and suspected cases of mpox in Africa this year, and more than 1,000 deaths, largely in Congo.
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Indians mark Diwali by lighting record number of earthen lamps
LUCKNOW, INDIA — Millions of Indians began celebrating the annual Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, by symbolically lighting a record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps at dusk on Wednesday on the banks of the Saryu River in a northern Indian city they believe to be the birthplace of the deity Lord Ram.
Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India — for the Hindu majority in particular. It is marked by socializing and exchanging gifts with loved ones. Many light earthen oil lamps and candles, and fireworks are set off. In the evening, a special prayer is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who is believed to bring luck and prosperity.
A Guinness World Records team presented a certificate to Uttar Pradesh state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, acknowledging the unprecedented number of oil lamps, exceeding last year’s 2.2 million. Drone cameras closely monitored the event.
The celebrations took place within the northern city of Ayodhya where Prime Minister Narendra Modi nine months ago opened a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a historic mosque following a Supreme Court decision, seen as a political win for the populist leader. The establishment of the temple dedicated to Lord Ram fulfilled a long-standing demand by millions of Hindus.
On Wednesday, thousands of volunteers lit lamps, called “Diyas,” along riverbanks, lanes, fronts and roofs of homes.
“More than 30,000 volunteers, primarily college students, worked meticulously to maintain the systematic pattern of burning lamps for the prescribed time,” said Dr. Pratibha Goyal, vice chancellor of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, who coordinated the massive effort.
The earthen lamps lit along 55 riverfront steps of the river Saryu created a captivating display throughout 1.5 kilometers (1 mile). As the lamps remained lit for over five minutes, government spokesperson Shishir Singh said Ayodhya achieved its seventh consecutive world record for the largest display.
Singh said that around 91,000 liters of mustard oil were used to light the lamps.
The event transformed Ayodhya into a city of lights amid devotional bhajan singing. A laser show depicting scenes from the epic Ramayana added to the immersive experience, and an eco-friendly fireworks show lit the skyline. Traditional decorations, including elaborate arches and grand gateways along the main highways, were in abundance, capturing the festive atmosphere as folk cultural performances drew pilgrims to the streets.
The festival also featured a massive praying ceremony performed by 1,100 priests along riverbanks.
Security was tightened across the city. Paramilitary commandos, bomb detectors, dog squads, face-recognition technology and monitoring drones were deployed throughout the city, police officer Rajkaran Nayyar said.
Major Hindu festivals such as Dussehra and Diwali are associated with tales of Lord Ram extolling the virtues of truth, sacrifice and ethical governance.
Diwali’s main festival celebrations will be held across the country on Thursday.
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Cambodian archaeologists discover centuries-old statues at Angkor
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Archaeologists in Cambodia have unearthed a dozen centuries-old sandstone statues in a “remarkable discovery” at the Angkor World Heritage Site near the city of Siem Reap, authorities said Wednesday.
The statues — depicting “door guardians” — were discovered last week near the north gate leading to the 11th-century Royal Palace at Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Khmer Empire, said Long Kosal, spokesperson for the Apsara National Authority, the government agency that oversees the archaeological park.
Teams were assessing the ancient gate’s structure and searching for fallen stones around the portal on the north side of Angkor Thom, one of four entrances to the complex, when the discovery was made.
The statues depict guardians standing at attention and vary in size from about 1 meter to 110 centimeters (about 39 to 43 inches). They were found buried at depths of up to 1.4 meters (4.5 feet), and some are in surprisingly good shape, with each featuring unique facial hair ornaments, adding to their distinctiveness, archaeologist Sorn Chanthorn said.
“Experts believe these door guardian statues exemplify the Khneang Style, aligning with the construction period of the 11th-century palace.” the Apsara National Authority said.
Angkor Thom is part of the Angkor Archaeological Park, a complex that sprawls over some 400 square kilometers (155 square miles), named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and one of Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist destinations.
It contains the ruins of Khmer Empire capitals from the 9th to 15th centuries, including the temple of Angkor Wat.
The site, near Siem Reap, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh, drew more than 500,000 international visitors in the first half of 2024, according to Cambodia’s Tourism Ministry.
The archaeological dig was a collaborative project between Apsara and the China-Cambodia Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor, Apsara said.
Following the discovery of the statues, the archaeological team carefully documented their positions before removing them for cleaning and restoration. They will eventually be returned to their original locations, authorities said.
Many Khmer cultural treasures were looted during the long period of civil war and instability when Cambodia was ruled by the brutal communist Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.
Cambodia has benefited from a trend that in recent decades has seen the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures taken from their homelands. In August, it celebrated the return of dozens of artifacts from museums and private collections abroad.
It has also come under criticism for efforts to clean up the Angkor site, which has involved relocating thousands of families in what Amnesty International has condemned as a “gross violation of international human rights law.”
At its meeting in July, the U.N.’s World Heritage Committee recommended that Cambodia invite a new team of experts to monitor the situation.
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Record 8 million people diagnosed with TB in 2023, WHO reports
london — More than 8 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis last year, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, the highest number recorded since the U.N. health agency began keeping track.
About 1.25 million people died of TB last year, the new report said, adding that TB likely returned to being the world’s top infectious disease killer after being replaced by COVID-19 during the pandemic. The deaths are almost double the number of people killed by HIV in 2023.
WHO said TB continues to mostly affect people in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Western Pacific; India, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Pakistan account for more than half of the world’s cases.
“The fact that TB still kills and sickens so many people is an outrage, when we have the tools to prevent it, detect it and treat it,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
TB deaths continue to fall globally, however, and the number of people being newly infected is beginning to stabilize. The agency noted that of the 400,000 people estimated to have drug-resistant TB last year, fewer than half were diagnosed and treated.
Tuberculosis is caused by airborne bacteria that mostly affects the lungs. Roughly a quarter of the global population is estimated to have TB, but only about 5%-10% of those develop symptoms.
Advocacy groups, including Doctors Without Borders, have long called for the U.S. company Cepheid, which produces TB tests used in poorer countries, to make them available for $5 per test to increase availability. Earlier this month, Doctors Without Borders and 150 global health partners sent Cepheid an open letter calling on them to “prioritize people’s lives” and to urgently help make TB testing more widespread globally.
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Teri Garr, comic actor of ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘Tootsie,’ has died
LOS ANGELES — Teri Garr, the quirky comedy actor who rose from background dancer in Elvis Presley movies to co-star of such favorites as Young Frankenstein and Tootsie, has died. She was 79.
Garr died Tuesday of multiple sclerosis “surrounded by family and friends,” publicist Heidi Schaeffer said. Garr battled other health problems in recent years and underwent an operation in January 2007 to repair an aneurysm.
Admirers took to social media in her honor, with writer-director Paul Feig calling her “truly one of my comedy heroes. I couldn’t have loved her more” and screenwriter Cinco Paul saying: “Never the star, but always shining. She made everything she was in better.”
The actor, who was sometimes credited as Terri, Terry or Terry Ann during her long career, seemed destined for show business from her childhood.
Her father was Eddie Garr, a well-known vaudeville comedian; her mother was Phyllis Lind, one of the original high-kicking Rockettes at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Their daughter began dance lessons at 6 and by 14 was dancing with the San Francisco and Los Angeles ballet companies.
She was 16 when she joined the road company of West Side Story in Los Angeles, and as early as 1963 she began appearing in bit parts in films.
She recalled in a 1988 interview how she won the West Side Story role. After being dropped from her first audition, she returned a day later in different clothes and was accepted.
From there, the blonde, statuesque Garr found steady work dancing in movies, and she appeared in the chorus of nine Presley films, including Viva Las Vegas, Roustabout and Clambake.
She also appeared on numerous television shows, including Star Trek, Dr. Kildare and Batman, and was a featured dancer on the rock ‘n’ roll music show Shindig, the rock concert performance T.A.M.I. and a cast member of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.
Her big film break came as Gene Hackman’s girlfriend in 1974’s Francis Ford Coppola thriller The Conversation. That led to an interview with Mel Brooks, who said he would hire her for the role of Gene Wilder’s German lab assistant in 1974’s Young Frankenstein — if she could speak with a German accent.
“Cher had this German woman, Renata, making wigs, so I got the accent from her,” Garr once recalled.
The film established her as a talented comedy performer, with New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael proclaiming her “the funniest neurotic dizzy dame on the screen.”
Her big smile and off-center appeal helped land her roles in Oh God! opposite George Burns and John Denver, Mr. Mom (as Michael Keaton’s wife) and Tootsie in which she played the girlfriend who loses Dustin Hoffman to Jessica Lange.
Although best known for comedy, Garr showed in such films as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Black Stallion and The Escape Artist that she could handle drama equally well.
She had a flair for spontaneous humor, often playing David Letterman’s foil during guest appearances on NBC’s Late Night With David Letterman early in its run.
Her appearances became so frequent, and the pair’s good-natured bickering so convincing, that for a time rumors cropped up that they were romantically involved. Years later, Letterman credited those early appearances with helping make the show a hit.
It was also during those years that Garr began to feel something in her right leg. It began in 1983 and eventually spread to her right arm. By 1999 the symptoms had become so severe that she consulted a doctor. The diagnosis: multiple sclerosis.
For three years Garr didn’t reveal her illness.
“I was afraid that I wouldn’t get work,” she explained in a 2003 interview. “People hear MS and think, ‘Oh, my God, the person has two days to live.'”
After going public, she became a spokeswoman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, making humorous speeches to gatherings in the U.S. and Canada.
“You have to find your center and roll with the punches because that’s a hard thing to do: to have people pity you,” she said in 2005. “Just trying to explain to people that I’m OK is tiresome.”
She also continued to act, appearing on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Greetings From Tucson, Life With Bonnie and other TV shows. She also had a brief recurring role on Friends in the 1990s as Lisa Kudrow’s mother. After several failed romances, Garr married contractor John O’Neill in 1993. They adopted a daughter, Molly, before divorcing in 1996.
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Authorities in Shanghai crack down on Halloween celebrations
In Shanghai, police, not trick-or-treaters and partygoers, are taking to the streets this week as the city approaches Halloween. The strengthened police force accompanies official notices prohibiting citizens from “role-playing” on Halloween, signaling the government’s paranoia over the social instability the holiday’s festivities could bring.
Videos online show police cars lining the streets of Shanghai, with some officers approaching crowds and instructing them to disperse from fenced-off areas.
A leaked notice from the Huangpu subdistrict office identified any form of Halloween costumes, but especially role-playing costumes and makeup with gore, to be prohibited in public. Police have been instructed to persuade those in costume to leave or take off offensive garments and employ more coercive measures in the event of noncompliance.
The police garrisons, protocols and general air of malaise in Shanghai find their roots in the local government’s fear of mass protest, according to Shanghai resident Ma, who declined to provide her first name out of fear of reprisal for talking to VOA.
“The Communist Party knows that ‘a spark can start a prairie fire’ and that many young people are now unemployed and unable to find jobs,” Ma siad. “So they have deployed a large number of police forces on Changle Road and Julu Road, probably because they are worried that some of the freethinking young people will protest against the government in a strange way on Halloween.” Ma told VOA.
Costumed people taken by police
Some youth in Shanghai have appeared to ignore the warnings, gathering in Zhongshan park and the nearby streets to celebrate the holiday early. Online videos of the scene show some people in costume being taken away by the police, while others argue with law enforcement.
At another celebration Friday night, in the Jing An district, Reuters reported that an attendee in a skeleton costume was detained by the police and escorted to an administrative building where he was asked to remove his makeup.
Wang, a Shanghai resident who declined to provide his first name for his personal security, disagreed with the sudden tightening of restrictions on Halloween celebrations in his city.
“What can wearing a unique dress do?” Wang asked. “As a normal, civilized society, this should not be a matter of concern at all. It is normal to ‘let the arts blossom’ and allow everyone to release their inner yearning for freedom. In a normal, civilized society, the police maintain the safety of the people. In our case, it’s the opposite,” Wang said.
Originating in the West, Halloween has found popularity in China in recent years. This is especially the case in Shanghai, known as China’s most international city and for its relative open-mindedness.
In 2023, the city resumed the celebration of Halloween for the first time after the COVID-19 lockdowns, and some residents used this opportunity for self-expression to critique the Chinese government and political phenomena through costume. Some people dressed as Winnie the Pooh, a character that is often censored online in China given his likeness to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and others referenced past protests through covering their bodies in white paper.
Ma believes that tensions this week between Halloween celebrants and local authorities are unlikely to escalate.
“Young people are indeed rebellious, but because of the education we have received since childhood, most Chinese young people dare not, and are unlikely, to rebel,” Ma said.
“Will the authorities completely control and prohibit Halloween? I don’t think they will, but they will strictly control it. There will definitely be a lot of police in more important places. If any little thing happens, they will immediately send a police car to prevent the matter from escalating,” she said.
Unique opportunity for free expression
Chen Daoyin, an independent political analyst in China, told VOA that he believes that Halloween provides Chinese people with a unique opportunity for Western-style free expression.
“Most people, especially young people who dress up as characters on festivals like Halloween, have usually adopted Western culture, or at the very least know that people in Western systems have the freedom of expression,” Chen said.
“We have opinions about the current situation and the government, and can make our voices heard, but we also know that this is not allowed in the current political environment in China. Everyone knows what is going on. So they express their dissatisfaction with the authorities through dressing up as characters,” he said.
Li Rongwei, executive director of the Taiwan Inspirational Association, however, told VOA that the holiday’s Western origins make it more susceptible to suppression.
“For China, Halloween is a product of the West, a typical capitalist bourgeois thing,” Li said. “Since Halloween is a foreign thing and not a product of the so-called Chinese nation or China as the CCP believes, it is, of course, a class struggle and should be slandered,” Li said.
October 27 marked the first anniversary of the death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, whose unexpected passing less than a year after he left the powerful premier position, sparked online conspiracy theories about the Chinese government. The Chinese government also might fear a social disruption akin to the 2022 White Paper Movement in protest of strict pandemic regulations that was referenced at Halloween celebrations in Shanghai last year.
“Social movements always have to have a reason, and it is conceivable to use Li Keqiang as the reason,” Lai said. “This is also what the CCP fears the most. A tandem movement always has a theme. According to the perception of the CCP’s top officials, it may be believed that this is a social movement planned by foreign forces.”
But Chen believes that it is an over-speculation and inaccurate to link this year’s crackdown on Halloween with Li Keqiang and the White Paper Movement and says that there will not be any kind of uprising in China without an acute inciting incident.
“It is impossible for the youth of today … to start a movement of any kind without the impact of a big event,” he said.
“So far this year, there has been no major event that can arouse empathy and emotional expression,” Chen said.
Katherine Michaelson and Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Nigeria praises CAF decision in controversy over Libya’s treatment of Nigerian footballers
Abuja, Nigeria — Africa’s football governing body has sided with Nigeria in that country’s dispute with Libya over a canceled qualifying game. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) awarded Nigeria a 3-0 victory over Libya following accusations Libya deliberately breached competition guidelines.
Libya’s football federation is appealing.
The decision by the CAF puts Nigeria at the top of their division, Group D, and in contention for a spot at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations, or AFCON, finals, in Morocco.
The CAF on Saturday said Libya violated a rule that mandates that host nations receive and manage the logistics of visiting teams.
The body also ordered Libya to pay a fine of $50,000 within 60 days.
On October 15, Nigerian players returned home rather than play what would have been a qualifying match in Libya. They were protesting long delays at an airport about 250 kilometers away from the venue after their charter flight was unexpectedly diverted. Some news reports say the players were delayed by about 16 hours.
Nigerian football fan Elvis Ume welcomed the CAF’s decision.
“I think justice was served because the truth of the matter is that they genuinely put our players’ lives in danger,” he said “It was extremely malicious on their part. In my opinion they got off lightly. I think CAF could still have been a bit more firm in their decision for it to serve a sort of a deterrent to other countries.”
But the Libya Football Federation, or LFF, denies deliberately trying to dampen the morale of the Nigerian Super Eagles players and has appealed the decision.
Libya called the CAF’s decision unjust and malicious. The federation accused the Nigerian team of using the reputation of its players – who are team members of various European leagues – to win global support on the matter.
The LFF said its players faced similar challenges in Nigeria days earlier and that the situation is not unique to African football leagues.
Sports analysts say common tricks may include immigration delays, lengthy trips or allocation of poor training facilities.
“When you look at antecedents, the North Africans especially Libya, Morocco, Egypt, they’re known for this ‘gamesmanship,'” said Nigerian sports analyst Bunmi Haruna. “I think in Europe they call it the ‘dark act.’ This is the chance for CAF to let the whole world know … it’s not good for our football in any way.”
Haruna said the CAF must continue to uphold this standard.
“I think it’s a very good step from CAF and I hope it’s not just going to be a one-off because these things happen even in club football. They want to go and appeal, which is good in terms of testing the laws.”
It is very unlikely that the CAF will reverse its decision, but many will be watching to see the outcome of Libya’s appeal.
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One person dead in Iowa from Lassa fever, state health department says
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services on Monday confirmed the death of a middle-aged eastern Iowa resident from Lassa fever.
The individual had recently returned from travel to West Africa, where it is believed the person contracted the virus, the state health department said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to confirm the diagnosis of Lassa fever, the state health department said. The CDC said it assesses the risk to the general public to be extremely low.
Lassa fever is a viral disease common in West Africa, but rarely seen in the United States.
There have been eight travel-associated cases of Lassa fever in the United States in the past 55 years, according to the Iowa health department.
In West Africa, the Lassa virus is carried by rodents and spread to humans through contact with urine or droppings of infected rodents.
About 100,000 to 300,000 cases of Lassa fever and 5,000 related deaths occur in West Africa each year, according to the CDC.
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Pakistan, Afghanistan launch polio vaccination drives as cases resurge
Islamabad — Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan simultaneously launched fresh vaccination campaigns against polio Monday amid a resurgence in cases in the only two countries globally where the virus continues to be endemic and paralyze children.
The World Health Organization reported 64 polio infections this year: 41 from Pakistan and 23 from Afghanistan, up from six each in both countries in 2023.
Pakistani officials said the weeklong house-to-house nationwide campaign that was rolled out Monday enlists 400,000 polio workers, who aim to vaccinate over 45 million children under five against the paralytic disease.
“This is Pakistan’s third nationwide campaign this year, launched in response to the alarming increase in polio cases across 71 districts,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s point-person for polio eradication.
More than half the infections in 2024 are located in southwestern Balochistan province, which sits on the Afghan border and is “facing an intense transmission” of the poliovirus. The southern province of Sindh has recorded 12 cases this year, while other regions in Pakistan, a country of more than 240 million, have reported the remaining cases, according to Pakistan’s polio eradication program.
Anwarul Haq, the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, urged parents to cooperate with health teams in protecting their children against the crippling disease, stressing that there is no cure for polio. “With the threat at an all-time high, we must act as one nation to keep our children safe through vaccination,” he stated.
Local and WHO officials attribute the resurgence of poliovirus in Pakistan to vaccine boycotts in rural areas stemming from the false propaganda that these initiatives are a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.
Additionally, anti-state militants in violence-hit districts bordering Afghanistan occasionally attack vaccinators and their police escorts, suspecting them of spying for the government. The violence has resulted in the deaths of dozens of polio workers and police personnel, including at least two vaccinators and seven police members killed this year.
Afghanistan
Meanwhile, health officials in Taliban-led Afghanistan announced Monday the opening of a three-day polio-vaccination campaign, saying it aims to reach 6.2 million children under five in 16 of the country’s 34 provinces. The target areas are primarily located close to the border with Pakistan.
The latest round of this year’s anti-polio campaign in Afghanistan began after nearly a two-month delay because Taliban authorities abruptly halted house-to-house vaccine deliveries in the southern province of Kandahar without publicly stating any reason. Instead, de facto Afghan authorities stressed the need to conduct vaccinations for children from site to site and mosque to mosque.
In a report released last month, an independent monitoring board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative believed that the Taliban’s action had stemmed from their “administration’s concerns about covert surveillance activities.” The report quoted Taliban officials as explaining that their leadership is living in Kandahar and has concerns about their security.
Kandahar, regarded as the unofficial capital of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, is where the militant group’s reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, resides and governs the country through his decrees based on his strict interpretation of Islam.
The Taliban chief has banned most Afghan women from public and private sector workplaces and barred girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade.
WHO officials say eradicating polio in Afghanistan requires comprehensive integration of large migrant populations into the vaccination program. They say it is also crucial to reach out to groups that refuse vaccination and establish a female public health workforce dedicated to the polio initiative to tackle multiple challenges facing polio-eradication efforts in the impoverished country.
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Texas Country Boys give charity concerts in war-torn Ukraine
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a musical group of American Christians calling themselves the Texas Country Boys have been playing charity events in Ukraine. Tetiana Kukurika met with the band members to find out why Ukraine is so important to them. Anna Rice narrates her story. (Camera: Sergiy Rybchynski; Produced by: Vitaliy
Hrychanyuk and Anna Rice )
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McDonald’s Quarter Pounder returns after E. coli testing rules out beef
LOS ANGELES — McDonald’s announced Sunday that Quarter Pounders will again be on its menu at hundreds of its restaurants after testing ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak of E. coli poisoning tied to the popular burgers that killed one person and sickened at least 75 others across 13 states.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to believe that slivered onions from a single supplier are the likely source of contamination, McDonald’s said in a statement. It said it will resume selling the Quarter Pounder at affected restaurants — without slivered onions — in the coming week.
As of Friday, the outbreak had expanded to at least 75 people sick in 13 states, federal health officials said. A total of 22 people had been hospitalized, and two developed a dangerous kidney disease complication, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. One person has died in Colorado.
Early information analyzed by the FDA showed that uncooked slivered onions used on the burgers “are a likely source of contamination,” the agency said. McDonald’s has confirmed that Taylor Farms, a California-based produce company, was the supplier of the fresh onions used in the restaurants involved in the outbreak, and that they had come from a facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
McDonald’s pulled the Quarter Pounder burger from menus in several states — mostly in the Midwest and Mountain states — when the outbreak was announced Tuesday. McDonald’s said Friday that slivered onions from the Colorado Springs facility were distributed to approximately 900 of its restaurants, including some in transportation hubs like airports.
The company said it removed slivered onions sourced from that facility from its supply chain on Tuesday. McDonald’s said it has decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility “indefinitely.”
The 900 McDonald’s restaurants that normally received slivered onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility will resume sales of Quarter Pounders without slivered onions, McDonald’s said.
Testing by the Colorado Department of Agriculture ruled out beef patties as the source of the outbreak, McDonald’s said.
The Department of Agriculture received multiple lots of fresh and frozen beef patties collected from various Colorado McDonald’s locations associated with the E. coli investigation. All samples were found to be negative for E. coli, the department said.
Taylor Farms said Friday that it had preemptively recalled yellow onions sent to its customers from its Colorado facility and continues to work with the CDC and the FDA as they investigate.
While it remains unclear if the recalled onions were the source of the outbreak, several other fast-food restaurants — including Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King — pulled onions from some menus in certain areas this week.
Colorado had the most illnesses reported as of Friday, with 26 cases. At least 13 people were sickened in Montana, 11 in Nebraska, 5 each in New Mexico and Utah, 4 each in Missouri and Wyoming, two in Michigan and one each in Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Wisconsin and Washington, the CDC reported.
McDonald’s said Friday it didn’t pull the Quarter Pounder from any additional restaurants and noted that some cases in states outside the original region were tied to travel.
The CDC said some people who got sick reported traveling to other states before their symptoms started. At least three people said they ate at McDonald’s during their travel. Illnesses were reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11.
The outbreak involves infections with E. coli 0157:H7, a type of bacteria that produces a dangerous toxin. It causes about 74,000 infections in the U.S. annually, leading to more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths each year, according to CDC.
Symptoms of E. coli poisoning can occur quickly, within a day or two of eating contaminated food. They typically include fever, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea and signs of dehydration — little or no peeing, increased thirst and dizziness. The infection is especially dangerous for children younger than 5, people who are elderly, pregnant or who have weakened immune systems.
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Bavarian tradition honors St. Leonhard, patron saint of farmers, horses and livestock
WARNGAU, Germany — Farmers and their horses walked in a festive parade through the small Bavarian town of Warngau on Sunday to honor their patron saint, St. Leonhard.
Their manes neatly combed, the massive horses were decorated with ribbons and greenery as they pulled the adorned carriages to a local church as part of the procession some 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Munich.
Farmers donned colorful regional costumes and hats decorated with tufts of animal hair called Gamsbart, or chamois beards, as townspeople joined in amid the pounding of hooves. After the procession, the revelry traditionally turned to toasts with schnapps.
Often called Leonhardiritt or Leonhardifahrt, the traditional pilgrimage dates back centuries in Bavaria and Austria. It was revived in Warngau in 1983, after an 80-year break, and takes place there each year on the fourth Sunday in October, ahead of the annual Nov. 6 feast day.
St. Leonhard (St. Leonard in English) is the patron saint of farmers, horses and livestock. Also known as St. Leonard of Noblac, he was a Frankish courtier who asked God to repel an invading army, according to the Catholic News Agency. His plea worked, and he converted to Christianity following what he believed was a miracle.
Other Bavarian towns have similar traditions. In Bad Tolz, southwest of Warngau, this year’s Nov. 6 procession will be the 169th in a row.
Bad Tolz’s pilgrimage is listed on the Nationwide Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the German Commission for UNESCO. Only cold-blooded horses — large draft horses like Clydesdales — are allowed in the procession, which begins at 9 a.m. when all of the town’s church bells ring.
The crowd journeys to a Leonhardi chapel for blessings and an open-air Mass. The tradition involves the entire town, from the youth to the clergy and the city councilors.
St. Leonhard mostly lived in monasteries and in seclusion in what is now France, though Bad Tolz calls him the “Bavarian Lord.” According to legend, his prayers were believed to be breaking the chains of captives. He is also the patron saint of prisoners, among other groups.
He died of natural causes around the year 559, and many Catholic churches have been dedicated to him throughout Europe.
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How to prepare for potential health effects of upcoming end to daylight saving time
The good news: You will get a glorious extra hour of sleep. The bad: It’ll be dark as a pocket by late afternoon for the next few months in the U.S.
Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time next Sunday, Nov. 3, which means you should set your clock back an hour before you go to bed. Standard time will last until March 9 when we will again “spring forward” with the return of daylight saving time.
That spring time change can be tougher on your body. Darker mornings and lighter evenings can knock your internal body clock out of whack, making it harder to fall asleep on time for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.
“Fall back” should be easier. But it still may take a while to adjust your sleep habits, not to mention the downsides of leaving work in the dark or trying exercise while there’s still enough light. Some people with seasonal affective disorder, a type of depression usually linked to the shorter days and less sunlight of fall and winter, may struggle, too.
Some health groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine, have said it’s time to do away with time switches and that sticking with standard time aligns better with the sun — and human biology.
Most countries do not observe daylight saving time. For those that do — mostly in Europe and North America — the date that clocks are changed varies.
Two states — Arizona and Hawaii — don’t change and stay on standard time.
Here’s what to know about the twice yearly ritual.
How the body reacts to light
The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we become sleepy and when we’re more alert. The patterns change with age, one reason that early-to-rise youngsters evolve into hard-to-wake teens.
Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. Too much light in the evening — that extra hour from daylight saving time — delays that surge and the cycle gets out of sync.
And that circadian clock affects more than sleep, also influencing things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones and metabolism.
How do time changes affect sleep?
Even an hour change on the clock can throw off sleep schedules — because even though the clocks change, work and school start times stay the same.
That’s a problem because so many people are already sleep deprived. About 1 in 3 U.S. adults sleep less than the recommended seven-plus hours nightly, and more than half of U.S. teens don’t get the recommended eight-plus hours on weeknights.
Sleep deprivation is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity and numerous other problems.
How to prepare for the time change
Some people try to prepare for a time change jolt by changing their bed times little by little in the days before the change. There are ways to ease the adjustment, including getting more sunshine to help reset your circadian rhythm for healthful sleep.
Will the U.S. ever get rid of the time change?
Lawmakers occasionally propose getting rid of the time change altogether. The most prominent recent attempt, a now-stalled bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act, proposes making daylight saving time permanent. Health experts say the lawmakers have it backward — standard time should be made permanent.
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