Month: December 2020

The hunger relief organization Feeding America says more people are seeking help at food banks nationwide. More with VOA’s Mariama Diallo.
…

While the first shots against COVID-19 are rolling out in the United States, Britain and Canada, nearly a quarter of the world’s population likely will not have access to a vaccine until at least 2022, according to Epidemiologist Hilda Aleman reacts upon receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dec. 15, 2020.A second vaccine from biotech firm Moderna is expected to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization this week.  The World Health Organization is reviewing these vaccines, along with a third from pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University.  While these and other vaccines were still in clinical trials, countries committed billions of dollars to secure hundreds of millions of doses for their residents.  According to the new study, 13 manufacturers have signed preorder deals for nearly 7.5 million vaccine doses. Just over half of those preorders are from high-income countries, though they account for less than 14% of the world’s population.  Canada has secured enough vaccines to immunize its population nearly five times over, while the United States has reserved just over one vaccine course per person. Brazil and Indonesia have not ordered enough to fully immunize even half their populations. Uncertainty According to the study, the leading vaccine manufacturers have said they will have the combined capacity to produce enough vaccines to immunize 6 billion people by the end of 2021.  A box of Pfizer/BioNTEch COVID-19 vaccine is delivered from a UPS truck past news photographers to the Maimonides long term care home in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Dec. 14, 2020. (Courtesy Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services)That means in a best-case scenario, in which every vaccine candidate works and there are no financing shortfalls or manufacturing glitches, supplies would be more than 1.6 billion courses short. While most of the world’s manufacturing capacity will be tied up with preorders next year, up to 40% may still be available for low- and middle-income countries that have not reserved doses, the study says.  However, some of the countries that preordered vaccines have the option to buy more. Because the details of the deals are not public, it is not clear whether those countries would get priority.  “What these agreements between vaccine manufacturers and countries really entail is the uncertainty factor that makes many (other) countries wonder whether or not they will be at the front of the line or the back of the line,” said study co-author Anthony So, director of the Johns Hopkins University Innovation+Design Enabling Access (IDEA) Initiative.  With low- and middle-income countries at risk of being left out, WHO helped put together a system, called COVAX, to ensure more equitable COVID-19 vaccine access.  Countries put money into COVAX to support development of several vaccines at once. Since some are likely to fail, backing more than one raises the odds that a country will have access to at least one successful vaccine.  A dose of the coronavirus disease vaccine is prepared at UW Health in Madison, Wisconsin, Dec. 14, 2020. (Courtesy UW Health)COVAX members get access to enough vaccines for up to 20% of their populations. The organization aims to deliver 2 billion doses by the end of 2021.  At least 184 countries have joined COVAX, including 92 donor-funded, low- and middle- income countries. Not included The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are not part of COVAX.  Some middle-income countries are signing bilateral agreements for these shots outside COVAX, “but this is all done through untransparent backdoor deals,” said Elder, of Doctors Without Borders.  As for when these vaccines might arrive in the rest of the world, she added, “I think a lot of us are scratching our heads.”  Of the 13 manufacturers that have signed preorder deals, COVAX has agreements with three. That includes 300 million doses from AstraZeneca and 200 million from Novavax, which has a product in late-stage clinical trials.  COVAX also committed to buy 200 million doses of a vaccine from drugmaker-collaborators Sanofi and GSK.  That vaccine suffered a setback Friday, when early data showed it fell short in older adults.  Sanofi and GSK said they are continuing their studies with a reformulated vaccine.  
…

Lawmakers in Britain have proposed legislation that would fine social media companies if they do not quickly take action to remove illegal content like child pornography or terrorist materials. U.S. based Facebook and Twitter and China-owned TikTok could be fined up to 10% of turnover, according to Reuters. CNBC reported that Ofcom, a British media watchdog, would have the power to enforce the laws if they are enacted. Under the proposal, which will be introduced next year, social media companies must establish clear terms and conditions about content, CNBC reported. FILE – Britain’s Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden arrives for a Cabinet meeting, at Downing Street in London, Britain, July 21, 2020.”We are entering a new age of accountability for tech to protect children and vulnerable users, to restore trust in this industry and to enshrine in law safeguards for free speech,” Britain’s Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said Tuesday. In addition to fines, some sites could be blocked from the British market if they fail to act. Dowden left open the possibility for criminal charges against companies that permit illegal content, according to Reuters. “These measures make this the toughest and most comprehensive online safety regime, and they will have a clear and immediate effect,” he told lawmakers.  But the proposals don’t stop at illegal content. According to Reuters, the proposed legislation would require companies to have clear policies against misinformation that could cause “harm,” such as information about COVID-19 vaccines. “We already have strict policies against harmful content on our platforms, but regulations are needed so that private companies aren’t making so many important decisions alone,” said Rebecca Stimson, Facebook’s head of Britain public policy. Other Big Tech companies echoed Facebook. Under the proposed laws, online journalism and user comments on news sites would be exempt to “safeguard freedom of expression,” Reuters reported. Britain’s move comes as the European Union was also set to unveil a slate of similar proposals on December 15.
…

Scientists at Japan’s space agency on Tuesday confirmed the capsule they recovered last week from their Hayabusa2 probe that had landed on an asteroid did indeed contain samples collected from that heavenly body.The Hayabusa spacecraft was launched in 2014 and arrived at the near-Earth asteroid called Ryugu in 2018. The probe spent about a year and a half orbiting, observing and eventually landing on the asteroid, where it collected samples.It headed back toward Earth last year, finally dropping its collection capsule into Earth’s atmosphere December 5. It was recovered in a remote area of Australia and delivered to the Tokyo-based Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) last week.At a press conference on Tuesday, JAXA scientists said they took their time and great care to open the capsule, to preserve any gases and other materials collected on Ryugu. Until it was opened, they could not be sure they obtained what they were after.In this photo provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), a member of JAXA retrieves a capsule dropped by Hayabusa2 in Woomera, southern Australia, Dec. 6, 2020.JAXA’s Hayabusa project manager Yuichi Tsuda said the capsule contained plenty of soil samples and gas.”It has been more than 10 years since we started this project, and six years have passed since we launched it,” he told reporters. “The asteroid soils that we dreamed of are finally in our hands.”Scientists say they believe the samples, especially ones taken from under the asteroid’s surface, contain valuable data unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet.They are particularly interested in analyzing organic materials in the samples. JAXA hopes to find clues about how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth. They intend to distribute portions of their samples to other researchers around the world, including scientists with the U.S. space agency, NASA.
 
…

President-elect Joe Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee announced measures Tuesday to protect public health during an inauguration that will take place in the midst of a coronavirus crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States. The committee said in a statement it is collaborating with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies “to ensure that the inauguration … honors and resembles sacred American traditions while keeping Americans safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19.” On January 20, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take oaths of office at the U.S. Capitol with “vigorous health and safety protocols,” followed by Biden’s inaugural address, the committee said.  “The ceremony’s footprint will be extremely limited, and the parade that follows will be reimagined,” it added. President-elect Joe Biden speaks after the Electoral College formally elected him as president, Dec. 14, 2020, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del.The committee is calling on Americans to remain at home as they celebrate the day’s inaugural activities. “The pandemic is continuing to have a significant public health impact across the nation. Americans everywhere must do their part to slow the spread of the virus: wear masks, stay home and limit gatherings. We are asking Americans to participate in inaugural events from home to protect themselves, their families, friends and communities,” said Dr. David Kessler, the committee’s chief medical adviser. President Donald Trump’s presence at the inauguration has yet to be determined. When asked during an interview broadcast Sunday with Fox News if he would attend the ceremony, Trump, still waging an unsuccessful battle to overturn election results, replied, “I don’t want to talk about that.”  As it has for months, the U.S. continues to lead the world in coronavirus infections and related deaths. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 16.5 million of the world’s 73 million coronavirus cases were in the U.S., home to more than 301,200 COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University statistics.  
…

Doses of the first federally approved coronavirus vaccine were administered to front-line health care workers in the United States Monday. That signals what health officials call a significant turn in the fight against the virus that has claimed more than 300,000 lives in the U.S. alone. VOA’s Jesusemen  Oni has more.
…

Zimbabwe authorities are being criticized for evicting hundreds of families of squatters amid the COVID-19 pandemic and struggling economy. Legal experts say the destruction of their homes in the capital this month, leaving many homeless in a rainy season, is a violation of the constitution.Fifty-two-year-old Bigboy Mabhande and his family are among hundreds of families of alleged squatters who are now homeless in Zimbabwe’s capital.Bigboy Mabhande is hoping to rebuild his home. (Colombus Mavhunga/VOA)Harare city officials demolished the homes they were living in, saying the land is for a school, not residential use.The father of five is trying to rebuild enough of the demolished home so that his 16-year-old son can move in and continue his studies at a nearby school.“It (the destruction) really pained me,” Mabhande said. “We had to ask for a place to stay from a relative. I am now rebuilding this room so that my son, who is writing exams, can stay in there, since it’s far where we are temporarily staying.”         Wilbert Mandinde is a program manager at Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)Wilbert Mandinde, a program manager at Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, says the demolitions by Harare city should not have been done in the middle of a pandemic and during the rainy season.“In any event, there are demolitions of such a nature the government or local authority has an obligation of ensuring that people are not left in the open,” Mandinde said. “But people have alternative places where they will stay, where there is running water, ablution facilities, where there is electricity. Hence, we are pushing to ensure that they get these things. There are diseases — we are in the COVID-19 pandemic, among other things. There are children. All are things that have to be taken care of. We want authorities to be able to provide sufficient and minimum standards for the people affected.”About 200 families have been affected. The rights group has asked the high court to push the city to ensure the families have a decent place to stay.Jacob Mafume is the mayor of the city of Harare and says he regrets the incident. (Columbus Mavhunga/VOA)Jacob Mafume, mayor of the city of Harare, says he regrets the incident, which happened when he was in prison on allegations of corruption. He vows to act now that he is out on bail. “We are going to look into how court orders are enforced by the deputy sheriff and other governmental departments that created this humanitarian crisis,” Mafume said. “But we need to assist people to get food, to get tents, to get shelter. And also to look at, is it possible to regularize some of these settlements? Once we do that, we will be able to come up with a solution. We do not want to implement any orders in an inhumane manner. But we need to be considerate, because the season, as we know, is the rainy season, when people are most vulnerable.”    But for now, it does not look like it will happen any time soon. And the affected families fear that properties will be destroyed by the rainy season, which ends in March and April of next year.  
…

Apple on Monday began adding labels that reveal what user data is gathered by games, chat or other software offered in the App Store for its popular mobile devices. The iPhone maker announced plans for such privacy labels when it first unveiled the new version of its iOS mobile operating system, which it released in September. “App Store product pages will feature summaries of developers’ self-reported privacy practices, displayed in a simple, easy-to-read format,” Apple said in a blog post when iOS 14 launched. “Starting early next year, all apps will be required to obtain user permission before tracking.” Apple began pushing out the labels Monday, with the rule applying to new apps for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Mac computers. The labels will contain information provided by developers when they submit apps for approval to appear on the App Store’s virtual shelves, according to the Silicon Valley-based company. Apple last week began requiring developers to submit privacy information for use in labels. “Apple recently required that all apps distributed via their App Store display details designed to show people how their data may be used,” Facebook-owned smartphone messaging service WhatsApp said in a blog post explaining what data the app gathers. “We must collect some information to provide a reliable global communications service,” it said. The aim, according to Apple, is for users to be able to easily see and understand what apps do with their data, from lists of contacts to where they are. Data types added to labels will include tracking in order to target advertising or sharing with data brokers, as well as information that could reveal user identity. Apple and Android mobile operating systems provide tools for controlling the kinds of data apps can access once they are installed. 
 
…

The United States surpassed 300,000 recorded deaths from COVID-19 Monday — the same day the first American was vaccinated against the coronavirus that causes the disease. The grim number comes about two weeks after millions of Americans defied warnings to avoid travel and gathered with family members for the Thanksgiving holiday. According to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, by Monday afternoon 300,267 Americans have died of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The U.S. makes up nearly 1-in-5 deaths worldwide from COVID-19. The medical staff listens during a news conference at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dec. 14, 2020.While it took four months for the first 100,000 Americans to succumb to the virus, some public health experts forecast another 100,000 deaths before the end of January. Similar surges are being recorded around the world, as a number of European countries enter a second round of lockdowns, even as front-line health care workers begin to receive vaccines against the virus. In EuropeGermany is heading for a second lockdown starting Wednesday amid rising coronavirus infections. The government is urging citizens to avoid Christmas shopping in the two days before most stores close and social distancing rules tighten.  People queue in front of a shop, as the coronavirus disease outbreak continues, in Frankfurt, Germany, Dec. 14, 2020.According to Johns Hopkins, as of Monday afternoon, Germany had recorded more than 1,356,650 confirmed cases and more than 22,300 deaths. Italy has overtaken Britain as the European country with the most COVID-19 deaths, according to data collected by JHU. Monday afternoon, Italy had more than 65,000 deaths, while Britain had 64,500. Prime Minister Micheal Martin of Ireland said Monday that some COVID-19 restrictions may be reimposed in January, after top health officials said infection cases may rise again after many sectors of the economy reopened in the past two weeks. In AsiaIn Asia, South Korean health authorities said 150 virus testing centers will be opened in phases in the capital area, adding to more than 210 existing sites.  The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the country registered 718 new cases Monday, but the additional cases marked a drop from the more than 1,000 reported Sunday. South Korea has seen relatively low total infections and deaths at 43,484 and 587 respectively as of Monday afternoon.  A medical staff member wearing protective gear takes a swab from a woman to test for the COVID-19 coronavirus at a temporary testing station outside Seoul station in Seoul, Dec. 14, 2020.In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday that the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has been approved, with the first shots to be delivered by the end of this month. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday that her country has agreed to allow quarantine-free travel from Australia in the first quarter of next year. Australia is already allowing New Zealanders to skip a two-week quarantine required of travelers from other countries.  
 
…

Pressure is growing on the European Union to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine after regulators in Britain, the United States and Canada gave the green light in recent days. Coronavirus cases are soaring across the continent, with extended lockdowns announced in Germany and the Netherlands. Henry Ridgwell reports.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell 
 
…

A narrow 96-kilometer-wide corridor from the Pacific Coast in Chile across the Andes mountain range and into Argentina in South America was treated Monday to views of the final total solar eclipse of 2020. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow that momentarily extinguishes daylight on Earth. Magdalena Nahuelpan, a Mapuche Indigenous girl, looks at a total solar eclipse using special glasses in Carahue, La Araucania, Chile, Dec. 14, 2020.Despite COVID-19 restrictions on travel and movement, thousands of tourists and residents gathered in Chile’s south-central Araucania region, about 800 kilometers south of the capital, Santiago. While heavy rain and clouds obscured the sun itself, the region was nonetheless plunged into darkness for about two minutes and eight seconds.  The Chilean health ministry issued protective eyewear for safe viewing of the eclipse, along with face masks and sanitizer to keep people safe from COVID-19. The weather was better in Argentina, though the path of the eclipse there went through sparsely populated areas of the Patagonia Desert.  The next total solar eclipse will occur over Antarctica on December 4, 2021.  
…

The Philippines aims to finalize negotiations with Sinovac Biotech this week to acquire 25 million doses of the Chinese company’s COVID-19 vaccine for delivery by March, a coronavirus taskforce official said on Monday.President Rodrigo Duterte, who has pursued warmer ties with Beijing, wants to inoculate all his country’s 108 million people, preferably buying vaccines from Russia or China.Philippine officials had met with Sinovac representatives on Friday and there would be another meeting this week to finalize a deal, Carlito Galvez, the country’s vaccine chief, said.”We have already conveyed to them our needs, 25 million for 2021,” Galvez told a news conference, adding that vaccine distribution was targeted for March.Sinovac’s plan to conduct Phase 3 clinical trial in the Philippines is being evaluated by the country’s drugs agency. Trials are taking place in Indonesia and Brazil.Philippine companies last month signed a deal for 2.6 million shots of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, the Southeast Asian nation’s first supply deal for a coronavirus vaccine, for delivery in May or June.Harry Roque, Duterte’s spokesman, told the news conference for people who were waiting on Western vaccine brands, “the Chinese brand will come earlier.”Since taking office in 2016, Duterte has set aside a territorial spat in the South China Sea in exchange for billions of dollars of pledged Chinese aid, loans and investment.But mistrust of China, including of its vaccines, remains widespread in the Philippines, according to an opinion survey conducted in July.The Philippines’ $370 billion economy, among Asia’s fastest growing before the pandemic, fell deeper into recession in the third quarter as broad curbs aimed at controlling the virus battered the economy.With nearly 451,000 COVID-19 infections and more than 8,800 deaths, the Philippines has the second-highest number of cases and fatalities in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia. 
…

After nearly an hour of widespread global outages of Google services, most users were again able to access their Gmail, Google Drive and YouTube accounts Monday morning.
 
“Update — We’re back up and running! You should be able to access YouTube again and enjoy videos as normal,” YouTube tweeted once service was restored.
 
Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has not said what caused the outage.
 
Some users of Google Home Services, which can control lighting and other smart devices, reported outages, as well.
 
“I’m sitting here in the dark in my toddler’s room because the light is controlled by @Google Home. Rethinking … a lot right now,” tweeted one user.I’m sitting here in the dark in my toddler’s room because the light is controlled by @Google Home. Rethinking… a lot right now.— Joe Brown (@joemfbrown) December 14, 2020 
According to Bloomberg, Google search and advertisements were not affected by the down time.
 
While outages among Big Tech companies are not uncommon, this outage was notable because it impacted so many different Google products, Bloomberg reported. 
…

Daily records continue to tumble for COVID-19 cases and deaths in many parts of the world, forcing governments to impose restrictions or consider lockdowns to halt the spread of the coronavirus.    In Europe, Germany is heading for a second lockdown starting on Wednesday amid rising coronavirus infections. The government in urging citizens to avoid Christmas shopping in the two days before most stores close and social distancing rules tighten. A person wearing protective mask lights a candle on a vigil organised by activist-group #wirgebendenToteneinGesicht (We give a face to the dead) to commemorate the people who died due to COVID-19 in Berlin, Germany, Dec. 13, 2020.According to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center (JHU), as of Monday morning, Germany had recorded over 1,350,800 confirmed cases and more than 22,080 deaths.   Italy has overtaken Britain as the European country with the most COVID-19 deaths, according to data collected by JHU. Monday morning Italy had 64,520 deaths, while Britain 64,267. A nurse tends to a patient inside a COVID-19 intensive care unit of the Tor Vergata Polyclinic Hospital in Rome, Italy, Dec. 13, 2020.Prime Minister Micheal Martin of Ireland said on Monday that some COVID-19 restrictions may be reimposed in January, after top health officials said infection cases may rise again after many sectors of the economy reopened in recent two weeks.   In Asia, South Korean health authorities said 150 virus testing centers will be opened in phases in the capital area, adding to more than 210 existing sites.    The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the country registered 718 new cases Monday, but the additional cases marked a drop from over 1,000 reported on Sunday. South Korea has seen relatively low total infections and deaths at 43,480 and 587 respectively as of Monday.  In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday that use of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has been approved with the first shots to be deliveres by the end of this month. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday that her country has agreed to allow quarantine-free travel from Australia in the first quarter of next year. Australia is already allowing New Zealanders to skip a two-week quarantine required of travelers from other countries.       In the U.S. last week, California recorded more than 25,000 new infections in one day.  “Lives will be lost unless we do more than we’ve ever done,” Governor Gavin Newsom said.     People wait in line to be tested at an outdoor COVID-19 testing site in the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California, Dec. 5, 2020.Overall, more than 16 million people in the U.S. have contracted the disease, while nearly 300,000 have died.       FILE – A nurse prepares to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Guy’s Hospital in London, Britain, Dec. 8, 2020. (Frank Augstein/Pool via Reuters)Across the United States, the first doses of coronavirus vaccine are arriving at regional hubs Monday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine made by U.S. drug maker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech for emergency use.   
   
Mexico also approved the emergency use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine late Friday, bringing to six the number of countries that are using or plan to use it.      Britain, Bahrain, Canada and Saudi Arabia have also approved the vaccine.      Brazil is steadily approaching 7 million COVID-19 cases and has recorded more than 181,000 deaths.       Last week, Brazil’s health minister vowed to vaccinate the entire country during the course of next year.    
…

Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species. Stepped-up use of farm herbicides, climate change and destruction of milkweed plants on which they depend have caused a massive decline of the orange-and-black butterflies, which long have flitted over meadows, gardens and wetlands across the U.S. The drop-off that started in the mid-1990s has spurred a preservation campaign involving schoolchildren, homeowners and landowners, conservation groups, governments and businesses. Some contend those efforts are enough to save the monarch without federal regulation. But environmental groups say protection under the Endangered Species Act is essential — particularly for populations in the West, where last year fewer than 30,000 remained of the millions that spent winters in California’s coastal groves during the 1980s. This year’s count, though not yet official, is expected to show only about 2,000 there, said Sarina Jepsen, director of the endangered species program at the Xerces Society conservation group. “We may be witnessing the collapse of the of the monarch population in the West,” Jepsen said. Scientists separately estimate up to an 80% monarch decline since the mid-1990s in the eastern U.S., although numbers there have shown a recent uptick. FILE – Monarch butterflies fly between trees at the Sierra Chincua butterfly sanctuary on a mountain in the Mexican state of Michoacan, Mexico, Nov. 29, 2019.The Trump administration has rolled back protections for endangered and threatened species in its push for deregulation, even as the United Nations says 1 million species — one of every eight on Earth — face extinction because of climate change, development and other human causes. Under a court agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must respond by Tuesday to a 2014 petition from conservation groups on behalf of the monarch. The agency could propose or decline to list the butterfly as threatened, which means likely to become in danger of extinction within the foreseeable future throughout all or much of its range. Or it could find that a such listing is deserved but other species have a higher priority, which might delay action indefinitely. A recommendation to designate the butterfly as threatened would be followed by a yearlong period to take public comment and reach a final decision. Listing it “would guarantee that the monarch would get a comprehensive recovery plan and ongoing funding,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The monarch is so threatened that this is the only prudent thing to do.” If the status is granted, federal agencies would have to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service about potential harm to monarchs from actions proposed for government funding or permitting, such as expanding interstate highways. The service would prescribe other measures in a regulation tailored specifically for the butterfly. Orley “Chip” Taylor, an insect ecologist at the University of Kansas, agreed the butterfly’s long-term prognosis is grim but said he opposes a federal listing for now, fearing it would sour many rural residents on helping the monarch. “There’s a palpable fear of regulation out there,” he said, adding that voluntary measures should be given additional time. Monarchs in southern Canada and the eastern U.S. migrate by the millions to mountainous areas of Mexico each winter, while those west of the continental divide head to coastal California. They congregate so thickly in forests that scientists can estimate their numbers through aerial inspections of trees with an orange hue. Worsening droughts are reducing the number that survive the journey south for winter, Taylor said, while rising temperatures prompt the butterflies to leave their wintering grounds too soon, damaging reproduction. As the forests dry out, wildfire risk worsens. If habitat losses and climate change aren’t slowed, “we aren’t going to have a monarch migration in 30 years,” Taylor said. Environmental groups say 67 million hectares of monarch habitat — an area the size of Texas — have been lost in the past 20 years to development or herbicide applications in cropland.  Twenty-five years ago, the 6-year-old son of a chemist named Jim Edward just happened to catch a monarch tagged by Oberhauser’s researchers, when the butterfly wandered into Edward’s yard in Minnesota. Since then, captivated by the butterfly and its complex migration over generations, Edward has raised monarchs to tell and show hundreds of school groups about the unending migrations. “Just the exposure of kids to that, that don’t necessarily get to see” wildlife otherwise, he said. “Their enthusiasm, their joy, their ‘oh, wowness’ — to see that.” Some enthusiasts fear they could no longer harvest eggs and raise monarchs if the species gains federal protections. Curry said her group has recommended that careful, small-scale, noncommercial raising be allowed. Sheila Naylor, a substitute teacher near Sedalia, Mo., says the chance discovery of a milkweed plant in her yard five years ago inspired a quest to grow the monarch’s host plant in every available inch of yard and roadside. She visits the Missouri state fair, schools and elder care homes, pleading the case for preserving monarch and other native butterflies. “I push myself,” Naylor said, “because the butterflies keep me going.” 
…

Daily records continue to tumble for COVID-19 cases and deaths in many parts of the world, forcing governments to impose restrictions or consider lockdowns to halt the spread of the coronavirus.In Europe, Germany is heading for a second lockdown starting on Wednesday amid rising coronavirus infections. According to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center (JHU), as of Monday morning, Germany had recorded over 1,350,800 confirmed cases and more than 22,080 deaths.Italy has overtaken Britain as the European country with the most COVID-19 deaths, according to data collected by JHU. Monday morning Italy had 64,520 deaths, while Britain 64,267. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Pharmacy supervisor Kevin Weissman wears a thick glove as he opens the door of a special freezer that will hold the Pfizer vaccine at LAC USC Medical Center, during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, in Los Angeles, California, Dec. 10. 2020.Overall, more than 16 million people in the U.S. have contracted the disease, while nearly 300,000 have died. Across the United States, the first doses of coronavirus vaccine are arriving at regional hubs Monday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine made by U.S. drug maker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech for emergency use. 
 
Mexico also approved the emergency use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine late Friday, bringing to six the number of countries that are using or plan to use it. Britain, Bahrain, Canada and Saudi Arabia have also approved the vaccine.   Brazil is steadily approaching 7 million COVID-19 cases and has recorded more than 181,000 deaths.  Last week, Brazil’s health minister vowed to vaccinate the entire country during the course of next year.
…