Month: September 2020

Uganda and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) have placed one of the largest refugee camps in Africa, Kyangwali, under lockdown after a jump in confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The refugees there say they are feeling the pinch.
 
Kyangwali, in southwestern Uganda, is home to more than 120,000 refugees. The lockdown is due to a rising number of coronavirus cases among both aid workers and refugees.
 
Rebecca Noel, a Congolese national and mother of two, has lived at the settlement in Kikuube district for 11 years. To supplement the monthly $6 cash for food money given to her and others by the World Food Program, Noel says she does casual labor and trades in shoes and clothes. With little food to put on the table, Noel says she too could be at risk of contracting the coronavirus.
    
“Life is hard. Because we are under a lockdown and we cannot leave,” Noel said. “We may get corona because when you and the children get hungry – as an adult you could persevere, but when the child cries you just have to get out and find food so the children don’t starve and die.”
 
According to a statement by the Ugandan government and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, 40 refugees and humanitarian workers at Kyangwali have tested positive for the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, and two refugees have died.
 
Musa Ecweru, Uganda’s state minister for refugees, says with the rising numbers, the settlement dwellers have to manage amid the circumstances.
 
“There have been cases of COVID-19 patients there, including a death. They are in Uganda and all the operating procedures that are given by the minister of health apply to all people who reside in this jurisdiction called Uganda. There are certainly going to be difficulties. There are certainly going to be inconveniences but it’s for their own good,” Ecweru said.
 
Uganda currently has 2,928 cases with 30 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the infection across the globe.   
 
Yonna Tukundane, the UNHCR social media associate in Uganda, says more than 600,000 face masks have been already produced by refugee tailors and distributed to the communities.
    
“Critical and lifesaving activities continue to take place in the settlement to provide assistance to the most vulnerable. We began local procurement of an additional 860,000 reusable face masks for immediate distribution to refugees across the country, especially in Kyangwali,” Tukundane said.
   
The infections come as the World Food Program warns of further food ration cuts for refugees in east Africa. In Uganda, the WFP says, to provide full rations for 1.2 million refugees in the settlements from now until the end of the year, it needs $47.4 million immediately.
 
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After scientists determined that the coronavirus likely spread from an animal to a human, there came a flurry of statements from nations around Asia promising to ban the trafficking of animals. Now there is data to suggest that authorities, at least in Vietnam, are following through with enforcing the bans. Among the cases of trafficked wildlife that was seized in Vietnam, the percent that led to arrests reached 97% in the first half of this year, according to Education for Nature Vietnam, an environmental organization.  From 2015 to 2019, the number had remained steady at around 87%. Scientists believe the pandemic may have begun after human contact with an infected bat or pangolin in China.  Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations act as a frequent conduit for illicit animal products that end up in China. In recent years police have seized pangolins, a scaly mammal that resembles armadillos, as well as endangered turtles, gibbons, and langurs in Vietnam. ‘More serious’“ENV’s prosecution analysis attests to the strength of the current penal code and the elevated efforts of Vietnam’s law enforcement and criminal justice courts to take down wildlife criminals,” Bui Thi Ha, the vice director of Education for Nature Vietnam said, referring to the penal code that was revised in 2018. “Since the new law has been in force, and especially this year in 2020, evidence shows that wildlife trafficking crimes are being taken more seriously in Vietnam.”A view over the Saigon river next to Ho Chi Minh city’s financial district. An expert in illegal wildlife trafficking says many of the people involved in the illicit trade in rhino horn are from this and other Vietnamese cities.Ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus, ending wildlife trafficking has become more urgent to stop a potential source of disease, as well as any harm to wildlife, environmentalists say. Facebook has responded by taking down hundreds of posts offering illegal animals and animal parts in Southeast Asia.  In Vietnam, in addition to the increase in the arrest rate, more criminals are going to prison. Among trafficking cases that went to court, the percent that resulted in a prison sentence reached 68% this year, according to data compiled by ENV. That contrasts with 2015 to 2019, when the percentage did not go beyond 49%. Prison Terms “This suggests the courts are taking a much more assertive stance to wipe out wildlife crime in 2020 than in previous years,” ENV said in an analysis of 552 cases in the past five years. It recommended that Vietnam, to fully end the trafficking, next turn its attention to the leaders of the trafficking rings, as well as the state officials who support them. The Southeast Asian nation can also focus enforcement on ports and airports, as well as on the use of money laundering, ENV said. Vietnam says it is taking a “whole of government” approach to enforcement. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc published a directive in July prohibiting the import and sale of wildlife products. The premier’s order assigns a task to each office, from the defense ministry increasing border patrols, to the health ministry checking that pharmacies don’t sell drugs with illegal animal parts. The state prosecutor said in a statement it will enforce the directive by increasing investigations of transnational criminals, as well as impose “severe penalties on masterminds and leaders who abuse positions and powers to commit crimes.” 
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A court filing disclosed Monday shows Big Ten Conference presidents voted 11-3 to postpone the football season, bringing some clarity to a key question raised in a lawsuit brought by a group of Nebraska football players. The vote breakdown was revealed in the Big Ten’s response to the lawsuit.  The court documents did not identify how each school voted, but a person familiar with the outcome told The Associated Press that Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State voted against postponing the fall football season. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Big Ten was not planning on making the specifics of its vote public. The Big Ten announced Aug. 11 it would move its football season from fall to spring semester because of health risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The Pac-12 followed suit, joining the Mid-American Conference and the Mountain West.The eight football players are seeking the reinstatement of a fall season.  FILE – Ohio State wide receiver K.J. Hill (14) holds the trophy following the team’s 34-21 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game, Dec. 8, 2019, in Indianapolis.”The Big Ten Conference continues to share the disappointment that student-athletes and families are feeling,” the conference said in a statement. “The Big Ten Return to Competition Task Force will continue to be transparent as it actively considers options to get back to competition when it is safe to play.” The lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court contends, among other things, that the players are losing a chance for development, exposure for a possible pro career and won’t be able to market themselves to eventually capitalize on name, image and likeness revenue opportunities. The Big Ten filing was a response in opposition to the players’ motion for expedited discovery. The filing said the 11-3 vote “far exceeded” the 60% threshold the Big Ten requires. The filing also said the Big Ten based its decision on multiple factors, including the medical advice and counsel of the Big Ten Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Big Ten Sports Medicine Committee. Listed as plaintiffs are Brant and Brig Banks, Alante Brown, Noa Pola-Gates, Jackson Hannah, Garrett Nelson, Ethan Piper and Garrett Snodgrass. The players’ attorney, Mike Flood, declined immediate comment, saying he needed to read the filing. FILE – Nebraska Speaker of the Legislature Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk follows debate in the legislature, April 18, 2012.Flood, a former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, owns five radio stations that broadcast Cornhuskers football games as part of the Husker Sports Network. The lawsuit says the Big Ten’s decision-making process was “flawed and ambiguous” and called into question whether the league’s Council of Presidents and Chancellors formally voted on the decision. The medical studies used to make the decision, the lawsuit says, were not relevant to the circumstances of college-age athletes and did not take into account school safety measures. “This decision did not occur in a vacuum,” the conference said in its filing. The decision not to play fall football has created a firestorm in Big Ten country, fanned by the fact the ACC, Big 12 and SEC are pushing ahead with plans to start their seasons in September. Commissioner Kevin Warren has faced sharp criticism for not clearly laying out how the decision was reached. He has sidestepped questions about the vote breakdown, and his explanations of the medical reasons were panned for not being detailed enough. A group of Nebraska player parents have been most vocal in demanding answers from the commissioner, and parents from other Big Ten schools joined them. The Big Ten said last week the lawsuit “has no merit and we will defend the decision to protect all student-athletes as we navigate through this global pandemic. We are actively considering options to get back to competition and look forward to doing so when it is safe to play.” Flood, in his role representing the Nebraska player parents, previously sent a letter to Warren asking for documents relating to any votes taken, how each school voted, meeting minutes and all audio and video recordings and transcripts of meetings where votes were cast. He also wanted copies of studies, scientific data and medical information or advice considered by the presidents. Flood had threatened a federal lawsuit if the materials weren’t delivered to him. The Big Ten did not respond to the letter.  
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Canada reached an agreement in principle on Monday with both Novavax and Johnson & Johnson for millions of doses of their experimental coronavirus vaccines, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. Canada’s two agreements follow separate deals with Pfizer and Moderna announced weeks ago, and are the latest example of countries rushing to secure access to vaccines. Canada is also in “the final stages of negotiations” to secure AstraZeneca’s potential vaccine and is in talks to secure more doses of the Pfizer vaccine candidate, Procurement Minister Anita Anand said. “What we are trying to do is make sure that when a vaccine is developed, we are at the front of the line,” Anand told reporters. Canada has a population of about 38 million, and the four vaccine agreements signed so far “give Canada at least 88 million doses with options to obtain tens of millions more,” Trudeau said when he announced the deals in Montreal. More doses possibleAll four agreements announced so far have options to purchase more doses if needed, officials said. Trudeau also said the government will invest C$126 million ($96.7 million) over two years to build a biomanufacturing facility at the Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre in Montreal capable of producing up to 2 million doses of a vaccine per month by next year. Last week, Canada’s National Research Council said it had ended its partnership on a coronavirus vaccine with China’s CanSino Biologics because the company lacked the authority to ship the vaccine. Help for businessesSeparately, Canada extended to the end of October a program to provide loans of up to C$40,000 ($30,666), a quarter of which is forgivable, to small businesses struggling amid the pandemic. It had been due to expire Monday. Novavax said it expects to finalize an advance purchase agreement to supply doses of the vaccine, beginning as early as the second quarter of next year. Novavax has agreed to supply up to 76 million doses of its experimental vaccine, while Johnson & Johnson will supply up to 38 million doses of its vaccine candidate. Both agreements are subject to the vaccines obtaining licenses from Health Canada. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Shares of Novavax were up 1.7% at $109.59 and Johnson & Johnson shares were little changed at $153.72 on Monday afternoon. 
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After years of planning, China now dominates the world’s production of new generation batteries that are key to transitioning away from fossil fuels. These new batteries are essential for electric vehicles and most portable consumer electronics such as cell phones and laptops.  By 2040, energy analysts estimate over half of all passenger vehicles sold worldwide could be electric, according to 2019 report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. They expect a similar percentage of light commercial vehicles in the U.S., Europe and China sales will be electric within that time, BNEF predicts. If current trends continue, most of them will likely use Chinese batteries, a key element for transitioning away from fossil fuels, and most of those batteries will be lithium ion, which are also popular for cellphones and laptops because of their high energy per unit mass relative to other electrical energy storage systems, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.“Looking at the global automotive industry chain, China, for the first time, has taken the lead in the world in the manufacturing of key parts,” state media Xinhua said in August in a report titled “China’s dominant position in batteries needs to be further consolidated.”  Switching from oil As the United States and China face off over advanced communication technologies like 5G, the world’s battery supply is not yet a major issue. But it will likely grow in importance if the U.S. continues to transition away from fossil fuel energy sources for items such as vehicles, power grids, mobile phones and laptop computers. And that could make the global battery supply an issue of national security.  For nearly half a century, American politicians have sought to protect the country from disruptions caused by foreign oil producers.  “All of our national security decisions were set against the backdrop of what they might mean to our energy security, following the 1973 Yom Kippur war when Egypt and Syria invaded Israel and the Arab nations cut off supplies to the US and allies who helped Israel.” Dan Kish, senior vice president for policy at the American Energy Alliance, a not-for-profit energy advocacy organization, told VOA. In 2019, the U.S. achieved its long-held goal of energy independence” producing enough oil and gas for its domestic needs. The achievement points to the challenge of controlling the raw materials that will power the world’s next energy revolution. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), last year the U.S. imported 78% of its cobalt, and all of its graphite. For the foreseeable future, the country will likely need to depend on Chinese supply chains to produce the batteries that help power America’s economy.  Graphite, cobalt, lithium According to data released from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a London-based research firm for the lithium-ion battery industry, in 2019, Chinese chemical companies accounted for 80% of the world’s total output of raw materials for advanced batteries.  “Of the 136 lithium-ion battery plants in the pipeline to 2029, 101 are based in China,” the firm said in May. “China controls the processing of pretty much all the critical minerals, whether it’s rare earth, lithium, cobalt or graphite,” Pini Althaus, the chief executive of USA Rare Earth, said in a telephone interview with VOA.  A little-known Chinese company that was founded in 2011 is now the world’s biggest maker of electric vehicle batteries.  For three consecutive years ending in 2019, South Korea’s market tracker SNE Research has ranked China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) as No. 1 in the electric vehicle battery production, with a 27.9% market share. CATL makes electric-car batteries for Tesla. CATL hairman Zeng Yuqun told Bloomberg last month that they have developed a power pack that lasts more than a million miles. Among their top customers are Daimler AG, BMW and Toyota.  Battery supply chain China has focused on building capacity at every stage of the battery supply chain.  In addition to rare earths, the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries depends on some key materials like graphite, the material used in pencil tips. In 2019, China produced more than 60% of the world’s graphite, according to U.S. government research. That means Beijing can set world prices. “This is a completely untenable situation,” said Althaus, whose company has a pilot project in Colorado with the goal of producing a full range of rare earths as well as lithium.   He said that it could take the U.S. 20 to 30 years to catch up with China. “It does not matter whether it is China or any other country. It is very dangerous if the world only depends on one country to provide key raw materials.  African cobalt, Chinese factories  Cobalt has emerged as one of the hottest commodities in the new energy revolution because it is widely used in electric vehicles as well as computer and consumer electronics. But unlike graphite, which China has significant natural reserves, the country’s cobalt reserves accounts for only about 1% of the world’s total. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) produces more than 60% of the world’s mined cobalt.  But Beijing controls the global supply of this silvery-blue metal.  According to a working paper published last year by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), eight of the 14 largest cobalt mines in the DRC are Chinese-owned and account for almost half of the country’s output.    DRC mining ownership was not always controlled by China. For example, the largest mine in DRC, the Tenke Fungurume Mine where cobalt is a by-product of its copper mining, was owned by an American company until 2016. That year, for $2.65 billion, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., a leading international mining company with headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, sold its mine to China Molybdenum. China’s influence dominates cobalt processing with Chinese companies controlling about 80% of the cobalt refining industry, where it is turned into commercial-grade cobalt metal and power, according to Benchmark Minerals. World lithium reserves China is among the five top countries with the most lithium resources, according to the 2020 USGS, but it has been buying stakes in mining operations in Australia and South America where most of the world’s lithium reserves are found.  China’s Tianqi Lithium now owns 51% of the world’s largest lithium reserve, Australia’s Greenbushes lithium mine. In 2018, the same company also paid about $4 billion to become the second-largest shareholder in Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM), the largest lithium producer in Chile.  Another Chinese company, Ganfeng Lithium, now has a long-term agreement to underwrite all lithium raw materials produced by Australia’s Mount Marion mine, the world’s second-biggest, high-grade lithium reserve.  
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Facebook Inc said it would block news publishers and people in Australia from sharing news on Facebook and Instagram if a proposal to force the U.S. tech giant to pay local media outlets for content becomes law. The Australian government said in July it would require tech giants Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay for news provided by media companies under a royalty-style system that is scheduled to become law this year. “This is not our first choice – it is our last. But it is the only way to protect against an outcome that defies logic and will hurt, not help, the long-term vibrancy of Australia’s news and media sector,” Facebook Australia managing director Will Easton said in a statement published on Tuesday. Following an inquiry into the state of the media market and the power of the U.S. platforms, the Australian government late last year told Facebook and Google to negotiate a voluntary deal with media companies to use their content. After those negotiations failed, Australia’s competition regulator drafted laws that it said would allow news businesses to negotiate for fair payment for their journalists’ work. Easton said the proposed legislation misunderstands the dynamic of the internet and will damage news organizations. Australia’s Ministry for Communications did not immediately respond to questions on Tuesday.  
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