Month: July 2021

A report by a non-profit group says Africa needs to increase internet access to boost its economies, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The advocacy group found that while Africa’s locally routed online traffic has increased, only one in five Africans has internet access.  High taxes and frequent internet shutdowns by some African governments have also discouraged online trade.The Internet Society group says in a report this month Africa’s internet exchange points, or IXP’s, have increased from 19 to 46 in under eight years. Six countries have more than one IXP. An IXP is where multiple networks and service providers exchange internet traffic.  The increase is significant because a decade ago, most African countries routed their online traffic outside the continent.Dawit Bekele is the Africa regional vice president for the Internet Society, a global nonprofit organization that promotes the development and use of the internet. He said Africa having its own IXP’s improves internet performance for users on the continent.“By developing internet exchange points within Africa, we have limited this kind of unnecessary travels of internet traffic outside of Africa to come back to Africa, which has a considerable advantage to improving the user experience, be it the speed, connectivity or even the cost of connectivity,” he said.The Washington-based group says its goal is to eventually have 80% of internet traffic in Africa be exchanged locally.Michael Niyitegeka, an information technology expert, said public demand has forced African governments to improve internet access.“We can’t run away from the youth population. There are quite a number of young people and therefore their affinity or drive for technology and use of the Internet is way higher than our parents and they are more comfortable using technology than anything else. Finally, the other aspect I think is quite critical is the access to mobile technology devices is a big driver. We see quite a number of relatively cheap smart or internet-enabled phones in our markets and that has a massive effect on how many people can access the internet,” said Niyitegeka.In a 2020 study, the International Foundation Corporation said internet use could add $180 billion to Africa’s economies.However, some governments have taken steps to control digital communication by shutting down social media platforms and imposing a high tax on internet use.Omoniyi Kolade is the CEO of SeerBit, a Nigerian company that offers payment processing services to businesses. He said that government control of the internet will drive businesses backward. “It’s a way we are driven backward instead of moving forward. We are supposed to encourage access, we are supposed to encourage free access point for interaction for solutions, because if businesses had to put their product on platforms, as long as those platforms are put down or disconnected there is loss of revenue at that point and for payment gateway. We are already losing revenue as those businesses do not exist to achieve the purpose of what they should achieve,” he said.The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa notes that only 20% of the continent’s population has access to the Internet.The Internet Society Group is urging African governments to expand internet infrastructure to rural areas, where most of the population lives, so that they can benefit from it.Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story misspelled Omoniyi Kolade’s last name. VOA regrets the error.
 
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In the future, keyboards and remote controls may be replaced with a more direct way for humans to interact with machines —  hand gestures. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more.  
Camera: Elizabeth Lee
Produced by: Elizabeth Lee
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is adding a new warning to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine because of a link to a rare neurological condition.The federal oversight agency issued a statement Monday saying it had received preliminary reports of 100 people who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome after receiving the single-shot vaccine. According to the FDA, Guillain-Barré syndrome occurs when the immune system damages nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and occasional paralysis.  Between 3,000 and 6,000 people are diagnosed each year with the condition in the United States.The FDA said of the 100 vaccine recipients who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, one person died and 95 were hospitalized. Most of the cases were reported in men 50 years old and older, and usually two weeks after being inoculated.The numbers are a small fraction of the 12.8 million people who have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which makes up a small proportion of the U.S. vaccine supply.  The FDA said after evaluating the information it has determined that “the known and potential benefits” of the vaccine “clearly outweigh the known and potential risks.”But the new warning casts another cloud over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has been plagued with problems since it was approved by the FDA.  Both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention briefly halted use of the vaccine back in April after several women under 50 years old developed a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder following vaccination, and at least one person died. Another problem occurred earlier this year when millions of doses were ruined when a Baltimore-based manufacturing plant mixed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine with ingredients from the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.   Global COVID Cases Up for 4th Consecutive Week, WHO Says Spike comes as delta variant has now been reported in more than 104 countriesThe company said in a statement it has been discussing the reports with the FDA and other health regulators around the world.The latest tally from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center shows 187.3 million total COVID-19 infections around the world, including over 4 million deaths.  The U.S. leads in both categories with 33.8 million total cases, including 607,442 deaths.  India and Brazil are second and third in total infections with 30.8 million and 19.1 million, respectively, while the positions are reversed in fatalities — Brazil is second with 534,233, followed by India with 408,764. [[ COVID-19 Map – Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
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Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states on Tuesday, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened California’s power supply. Nearly 60 wildfires tore through bone-dry timber and brush from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Arizona, Idaho and Montana accounted for more than half of the large active fires. The fires erupted as the West suffered through the second bout of dangerously high temperatures in just a few weeks. A climate change-fueled megadrought also is contributing to conditions that make fires even more dangerous, scientists say. The National Weather Service says the heat wave appeared to have peaked in many areas, and excessive-heat warnings were largely expected to expire by Tuesday. However, they continued into Tuesday night in some California deserts, and many areas were still expected to see highs in the 80s and 90s. In Northern California, a combined pair of lightning-ignited blazes dubbed the Beckwourth Complex was less than 25% surrounded after days of battling flames fueled by winds, hot weather and low humidity that sapped the moisture from vegetation. Evacuation orders were in place for more than 3,000 residents of remote northern areas and neighboring Nevada. There were reports of burned homes, but damage was still being tallied. The blaze had consumed 362 square kilometers (140 square miles) of land, including in Plumas National Forest. A fire that began Sunday in the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park exploded across 36 square kilometers (14 square miles) and was just 10% contained. A highway that leads to Yosemite’s southern entrance remained open. The largest fire in the United States lay across the California border in southwestern Oregon. The Bootleg Fire — which doubled and doubled again over the weekend — threatened about 2,000 homes, state fire officials said. It had burned at least seven homes and more than 40 other buildings. Over the weekend, the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office warned that it would cite or even arrest people who ignored orders to “go now” in certain areas immediately threatened by the blaze. Tim McCarley told KPTV-TV that he and his family were ordered to flee their home on Friday with flames just minutes behind them. He described the blaze as “like a firenado,” with flames leaping dozens of feet into the air and jumping around, catching trees “and then just explosions, boom, boom, boom, boom.” The fire is burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, near the Klamath County town of Sprague River. It had ravaged an area of about 621 square kilometers (240 square miles), or nearly twice the size of Portland. Firefighters hadn’t managed to surround any of it as they struggled to build containment lines. The fire drastically disrupted service on three transmission lines providing up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity to California, and California’s power grid operator has repeatedly asked for voluntary power conservation during evening hours. Elsewhere, a forest fire started during lightning storms in southeast Washington grew to 223 square kilometers (86 square miles). It was 20% contained Monday.  Another fire west of Winthrop closed the scenic North Cascades Highway, the most northern route through the Cascade Range. The road provides access to North Cascades National Park and the Ross Lake National Recreation Area.  In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little mobilized the National Guard to help fight twin lightning-sparked fires that have together charred nearly 62 square kilometers (24 square miles) of dry timber in the remote, drought-stricken region. The July heat wave follows an unusual June siege of broiling temperatures in the West, and comes amid worsening drought conditions throughout the region. Scientists say human-caused climate change and decades of fire suppression that increases fuel loads have aggravated fire conditions across the region. 
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Scientists funded by U.S. space agency NASA are studying how small impacts from space materials have affected the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa and how they could affect the search for signs of life there. Scientists have determined that on Europa, beneath a thick layer of ice, is a salty ocean whose conditions may be suitable for life. The water may even make its way into the icy crust and onto the moon’s surface. Because of its proximity to Jupiter, Europa is subject to impacts with space debris and intense electron radiation generated by the planet. Each of these impacts can stir up the surface of the moon. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have been studying the cumulative effects the impacts have on Europa’s surface as part of their preparations to send a probe mission to the distant moon later this decade. FILE – The icy moon Europa rises above Jupiter’s cloud tops in this undated image taken by NASA spacecraft New Horizons.The study, published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Astronomy, explains how the JPL scientists, using models, determined that the icy surface of Europa had been churned by small impacts to an average depth of about 30 centimeters over tens of millions of years. And that any molecules that might qualify as potential biosignatures — including chemical signs of life — could be affected at that depth. The researchers call the surface-churning process “impact gardening,” and they say the impacts would churn some material to the surface, where radiation would likely break the bonds of any potential large, delicate molecules that suggest or are indicative of life.  University of Hawaii at Manoa planetary research scientist Emily Costello, lead author of the study, said impact gardening has likely exposed biosignatures within those 30 centimeters, requiring their search for life to go deeper than the impact zone. The study will help the scientists at the JPL designing the Europa Clipper probe target their search for life on the moon. JPL Europa scientist Cynthia Phillips, a co-author of the study, says it also provides a broader understanding of processes that shape the surface planets and other bodies throughout the solar system.  The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2024 and is being designed to conduct a series of close flybys of Europa as it orbits Jupiter. 
 
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U.S. President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland met Monday with key municipal and law enforcement officials about a seemingly intractable American problem: the soaring number of gun crimes.By various tabulations, 2021 could be the deadliest year for gun violence in the U.S. in two decades. Already this year, more than 10,700 people have been killed in shootings, according to a tabulation by the Gun Violence Archive, some accidentally but many in homicides, robberies and in highly publicized mass shootings such as attacks that occurred at a grocery store, massage spas and a package shipping warehouse.Biden has called gun violence in the U.S. “an epidemic” and “an international embarrassment,” but he has been powerless to stop it.U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland takes part in a meeting with President Joe Biden, law enforcement officials, and community leaders to discuss gun violence reduction strategies at the White House in Washington, July 12, 2021.In April, in the aftermath of a mass shooting that left 10 dead at a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store, Biden called on the Senate to approve two gun violence bills already adopted by the Democrat-led House of Representatives. He also authorized some tighter gun restrictions with an executive order.One of the House-passed measures would close a longstanding loophole in gun laws by expanding background checks to those purchasing weapons over the internet, at gun shows and some private transactions. The other would give officials 10 business days, instead of the current three, to make background checks on gun purchasers.But the politically divided Senate, with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, has yet to act, and it is unclear that all Democrats, along with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote, will be able to muster enough votes to approve any legislation restricting gun use. Only a handful of Republicans in the House supported the tighter controls.Biden has also authorized some tighter gun restrictions with an executive order and called for renewal of a long-expired ban on the sale of assault weapons. But the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to gun ownership and any suggestions of new restrictions often draw quick opposition from gun owners.In the U.S., conservative Republican lawmakers especially oppose tightening the gun laws, while more liberal Democrats, although not all, often favor new restrictions on gun sales.Biden and Garland are meeting with Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, Mayor Sam Liccardo of San Jose, California, and Eric Adams, likely the next New York mayor, along with top police officials from four cities.The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says that on average, 316 people are shot every day in the U.S., with 106 dying and 210 surviving. Among the total, the group says there are 39 murders and 64 suicides. 
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World leaders should prioritize reopening schools for in-person learning immediately in order to avoid a “generational catastrophe,” UNICEF and UNESCO said in a joint statement Monday.The organizations said that keeping schools closed to 156 million students in 19 countries, due to COVID-19, is causing potentially irreparable damage to child development. They also pointed out discrepancies in reopening strategies, which have often opened bars and restaurants while keeping schools shut.“Closing schools mortgages our future for unclear benefits to our present,” the statement read. “We must prioritize better. We can reopen schools safely, and we must.”The statement comes one day before the 2021 Global Education Meeting convenes, an annual event organized by UNESCO that brings together prominent education leaders to address global efforts to improve education.Last year, leaders at the 2020 GEM agreed to a 15-month education plan focused on recovering from the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic and staying on track with other educational goals.UNICEF’s and UNESCO’s primary argument for reopening schools now centered around mitigating the negative impacts 18 months of school closures have incurred.“From learning loss, mental distress, exposure to violence and abuse, to missed school-based meals and vaccinations or reduced development of social skills, the consequences for children will be felt in their academic achievement and societal engagement as well as physical and mental health,” they said. “The most affected are often children in low-resource settings who do not have access to remote learning tools, and the youngest children who are at key developmental stages.”The organizations urged governments not to wait for teachers and students to be fully vaccinated, even as the parts of the world experience surges in coronavirus cases, primarily due to a rise of the more contagious delta variant.Over 3.1 billion people are vaccinated against COVID-19 worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. UNICEF helps lead COVAX, alternatively known as COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, an organization focused on the equitable distribution of vaccines.UNICEF and UNESCO also pointed out in the statement that since schools aren’t a primary driver of virus transmission, the task of safely reopening schools is achievable if proper guidelines are implemented, such as mask wearing and social distancing for the unvaccinated.
 
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Taiwanese tech giants Foxconn and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced Monday they will each donate five million coronavirus vaccine doses to the government in a deal with a China-based distributor. Taipei has been struggling to secure enough vaccines for its population, and its precarious political status has been a major stumbling block. As Taipei and Beijing accused each other of hampering vaccine deals, Foxconn and TSMC stepped in with a face-saving solution — buying the Pfizer-BioNTech doses from a Chinese distributor and donating them to Taiwan. “Me and my team feel the public anxiety and expectations on the vaccines and we are relieved to give the public an answer that relevant contracts have been signed,” Foxconn founder Terry Gou said in a post on his Facebook page. “Beijing authorities have not offered any guidance or interfered with the vaccine acquisition process,” he said, adding that the vaccines will be shipped directly by German firm BioNTech. Foxconn and TSMC, the world’s largest contract electronics and chip makers respectively, said they will spend $175 million each on the vaccines. Beijing’s authoritarian leadership views democratic self-ruled Taiwan as part of China’s territory and has vowed to one day seize the island, by force if needed. China tries to keep Taiwan internationally isolated, including blocking it from the World Health Organization. Taipei has been trying to secure Pfizer-BioNTech direct from Germany, but Shanghai-based Fosun Pharma has the distribution rights for China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Attempts to sign a direct deal made little headway, something Taiwan blamed on Beijing. In return, Beijing has accused Taiwan of refusing to deal with Fosun Pharma and politicizing its vaccine search. Fosun issued a statement late Sunday saying it had signed a deal with the Taiwanese firms to sell 10 million shots, to be donated to “disease control institutions in the Taiwan region.” In an interview with China’s Global Times — a state-run tabloid — Fosun Chairman and CEO Wu Yifang accused Taipei of “rule-breaking in the whole process.” No further elaboration was provided. Taiwan had only received 726,000 vaccine doses before the United States and Japan recently donated 2.5 million and 2.37 million doses, respectively. So far, just 14 percent of its 23.5 million people have been vaccinated, according to the health ministry. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung previously revealed that Taiwan and BioNTech were about to finalize a deal in January when the company suggested the words “our country” had to be taken out of a Taiwanese press statement. Chen said authorities agreed to replace it with “Taiwan,” but the deal remained stalled. The Chinese government reacts angrily at any attempts to recognize Taiwan as an independent nation. 
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China’s technology ministry Monday announced a three-year action plan to develop the country’s cyber-security industry, which it estimates will be worth more than $38 billion by 2023, according to Reuters. The new strategy by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is being unveiled as Beijing tightens its grip on the country’s technology sector, underscored by its regulatory probe of ride-hailing giant Didi Global.   The company was valued at $68 billion after its June 30 initial public offering, or IPO, on the New York Stock Exchange.   But Chinese regulators launched a cybersecurity review of the company and said new users would not be allowed to register during the review, sending Didi Global share prices tumbling. The Cyberspace Administration of China then ordered Didi’s app removed from domestic mobile app stores. The agency has also ordered two other tech-based companies, Uber-like trucking startup Full Truck Alliance and Kanzhun, which connects job seekers and hiring enterprises via a mobile app, to suspend user registrations and submit to security reviews, citing risks to “national data security.”   The two companies, like Didi Global, had also recently issued IPOs on U.S. stock exchanges.   Some information for this report came from Reuters, CNBC, and the New York Times. 
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