Month: June 2022

Many people are trying to live more eco-friendly lives. But what about more eco-friendly deaths? For VOA, Svitlana Prystynska introduces us to the business of corpse composting. First, a caution: Some may find the subject matter disturbing.
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In marking the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the United Nations is calling for better land management and regreening initiatives to tackle the twin disasters. 

Europe is struggling with an unusually early and intense heat wave, which has spread from North Africa. That has been preceded by a prolonged heat wave in India and Pakistan in March and April. 

Spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization, Clare Nullis, said European countries are experiencing scorching temperatures in mid-June that are more typical of those in July or August. She added that temperatures more than 10 degrees higher than average are combined with drought in many parts of Europe. 

“As a result of climate change, heat waves are starting earlier. They are becoming more frequent and more severe because of concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which are at record level,” Nullis said. “What we are witnessing today is, unfortunately, a foretaste of the future.” 

Heat waves can exacerbate drought and wildfires, and trigger desertification. Droughts are increasing in frequency and severity, the WMO says, adding that they have gone up by 29 percent since 2000, affecting 55 million people a year. 

The World Health Organization calls drought an urgent, global issue. It says droughts are getting more frequent and fiercer in all regions, affecting the health and well-being of millions of people. WHO spokeswoman Carla Drysdale said a particularly hard-hit region is the greater Horn of Africa. 

“In the past 10 years, the region has endured three severe droughts,” Drysdale said. “The frequency and severity of droughts in recent years, linked to the changing climate, has made it harder and harder for families to recover from these shocks. … Millions in the greater Horn of Africa are facing acute hunger.” 

U.N. agencies agree early action can avert a crisis, lessen the impact of drought, and reverse desertification. They say measures such as rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation systems, and crop engineering that increases resilience to dry conditions can ward off some of the worst effects of drought. 

They recommend better land management, tree planting and other regreening projects to combat desertification and restore the land to what it was. They also point to the Great Green Wall of the Sahel project in Africa, which has restored millions of hectares of land and created thousands of jobs, from Dakar, Senegal, to Djibouti. 

 
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Abortion providers in some places where the procedure could be banned if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade are bracing for a ruling by halting scheduling for the procedure, transitioning staff to help patients travel to other states and creating networks of clinics that will span across regions of the country.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, which operates three clinics that provide abortions in the state, is not scheduling the procedure beyond June 25 as it anticipates a late June decision reversing the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion rights nationwide. The organization in recent weeks has dedicated two staff members to help patients book appointments and figure out how to get to clinics.

Whether clinics in Wisconsin will be able to provide abortions, though, has turned into a day-to-day question.

“One of the hardest aspects of this is not knowing what day this decision will come down and what it will be,” said Michelle Velasquez, the director of legal advocacy and services at Planned Parenthood Wisconsin. “The unknown has been difficult.”

It’s a window into what abortion providers and access funds are planning in more than a dozen other states across the South and Midwest. In South Dakota this week, the state’s only abortion clinic, also operated by Planned Parenthood, announced it had “paused” scheduling abortions beyond the end of the month. In Oklahoma, providers already stopped the procedure after a law was enacted to ban it.

In Wisconsin, a law banning abortion has been on the books since 1849, but Roe v. Wade overrode it. While Roe’s fall would likely spark a legal tussle over whether it is valid, Planned Parenthood does not want to put its staff at risk of prosecution.

Velasquez said clinic staff wanted to provide abortions in Wisconsin up until the last minute it was legal, but also had to consider that scheduling appointments for dates when it could become illegal could create uncertainty and be “distressing” for patients.

Velasquez acknowledged that the Supreme Court could release its decision as soon as next week, even while Planned Parenthood has appointments on the books. She said if that happened, Planned Parenthood would help those patients book appointments for abortions in nearby states, such as Minnesota and Illinois. Patients could still get counseling, lab work and ultrasounds in Wisconsin in the meantime.

“We wouldn’t leave patients, like, ‘You’re on your own,'” Velasquez said.

“Even if we can’t provide the medications or we can’t do a procedure, we are absolutely able to help people find the care they need,” she added.

The strategy will inevitably put more pressure on providers in states in the region where abortion will still be legal, said Caitlyn Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College who studies abortion access.

“As hundreds of thousands of women flood out of these states, it is going to enormously tax the resources of these providers,” she said. “I don’t think they are prepared for this huge influx.”

It comes as the number and rates of U.S. abortions is on the rise after a long decline. Abortions increased from 2017-20, according to figures from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. It counted more than 930,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2020.

Clinics shuttering, like one did in Idaho recently, or halting scheduling show that a post-Roe reality has already arrived in many places. Myers said getting an appointment for an abortion may soon become “critical” across the country.
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Data from a European space observatory tells the history of our galaxy and may even predict its future. Plus, the full moon was as close to Earth as it will be this year, and a look back at a true space pioneer. VOA’s Arash  Arabasadi  brings us The Week in Space.
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During the early months of the pandemic, the Chinese government developed a color-coded smartphone app to track the movement of people in its effort to control the spread of COVID-19 and implement its zero-COVID policy.

This week, however, media reports surfaced that authorities in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, were now using the required codes to restrict the movement of people upset because local banks had frozen their deposits.

Hundreds of depositors who had lost access to their funds had planned to travel to Zhengzhou on Monday, only to find their health codes had suddenly turned red. This meant they couldn’t travel, and the protests fizzled. The red code seemed to target only depositors, according to CNN.

VOA Mandarin asked China’s Foreign Ministry for comment on the government’s alleged new use for the app but received no comment.

The state-run Global Times ran an editorial on Tuesday saying, “The health code is a technical means designed to make the public compromise some personal information rights to comply with the needs of society’s public health security. It can only be used for epidemic prevention purposes. It is the responsibility of the relevant authorities to protect the privacy of citizens to the greatest extent during the epidemic prevention process.”

Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of Global Times, posted on his Weibo microblog that the “red code issue is very disturbing,” and that any non-COVID-related use would be a “clear violation” of virus prevention measures.

Ever since China began promoting the portable and personalized health codes in response to the coronavirus outbreak, some people have speculated that the technology could be used as a political tool to restrict mobility. The app tracks a user’s travel, contact history and biometric data, such as temperature, through a smartphone.

Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the New York-based Human Rights Foundation, said on Twitter, “I would have actually thought this happened more routinely in the past two years but apparently this is a watershed moment for using health tools to crack down on dissent.”

Another comment came from James Palmer, a former Beijing resident who is now deputy editor at Foreign Policy, who tweeted, “This is significant because — afaik (as far as I know) — it’s the first clear story we have of the health code system being used for non-Covid political control.”

The app uses a QR code to track a user’s movements in order to monitor exposure to known cases of the virus, according to a blog post at Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. Authorities throughout China required residents to provide their names and ID numbers and register for facial recognition to obtain the QR code linked to their identity.

If the QR code glows green, the user has had no contact with an infected person and can move around. An amber code means the user is required to quarantine at home for seven to 14 days, Those with red codes are to be treated and quarantined either at home or in a centralized location, according to CSIS.

It has become routine for Chinese to show the code in order to gain entry to housing compounds, theaters and restaurants, and public transportation.

According to reports by Reuters and other media, the depositors who had planned to protest in Zhengzhou said their most recent COVID-19 test results were negative, and that officials refused to explain why their health codes turned red.

Rina Chandran, a journalist at Thomson Reuters Foundation in India, tweeted, “This is what can happen when the govt controls your data: #China Covid app overnight restricts residents who need the health code to enter buildings and shops, use public transport, or leave the city.”

The Henan Provincial Health Commission told The Paper, a state-run news website, that it was “investigating and verifying” the complaints from depositors who received red codes.

Anouk Eigenraam, China correspondent at Het Financieele Dagblad/Algemeen Dagblad, tweeted, “This red health codes is exactly the reason why China will keep this 0 covid alive a long time. It’s to useful as a tool for control. I’ve been saying this for a year and many people kept saying ‘but the economy’, well as we saw they’re very willing to take a hit.”

 
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released new warnings about synthetic pollutants in drinking water known as “forever chemicals,” saying the toxins can still be harmful even at levels so low they are not detectable. 

The family of toxic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been used for decades in household products such as nonstick cookware, stain- and water-resistant textiles and in firefighting foam and industrial products. 

Scientists have linked some PFAS to cancers, liver damage, low birth weight and other health problems. But the chemicals, which do not break down easily, are not yet regulated. 

The agency is set to issue proposed rules in coming months to regulate PFAS. Until the regulations come into effect, the advisories are meant to provide information to states, tribes and water systems to address PFAS contamination. 

The EPA also said it would roll out the first $1 billion to tackle PFAS in drinking water, from a total of $5 billion in funding in last year’s infrastructure law. The funds would provide states technical assistance, water quality testing and installation of centralized treatment systems. 

The updated drinking water health advisories for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) replace those the EPA issued in 2016. The advisory levels, based on new science that considers lifetime exposure, indicate that some health problems may still occur with concentrations of PFOA or PFOS in water that are near zero and below EPA’s ability to detect. 

“Today’s actions highlight EPA’s commitment to use the best available science to tackle PFAS pollution, protect public health, and provide critical information quickly and transparently,” said Radhika Fox, the EPA’s assistant administrator for water. 

The agency encourages entities that find PFAS in drinking water to inform residents and undertake monitoring and take actions to reduce exposure. Individuals concerned with PFAS found in their drinking water should consider installing a home filter, it said. 

The American Chemistry Council industry group, whose members include 3M and DuPont, said the EPA rushed the notices by not waiting for a review by the agency’s Science Advisory Board. The group said it was concerned that the process for developing the advisories was “fundamentally flawed.”
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COVID-19 shots for U.S. infants, toddlers and preschoolers moved a step closer Wednesday. 

The Food and Drug Administration’s outside vaccine advisers gave a thumbs-up to Moderna’s two shots for the littlest kids. The panel is set to vote later Wednesday on whether to also recommend Pfizer’s three-shot series for those youngsters. 

The outside experts voted unanimously that the benefits of Moderna’s shots outweigh any risks for children under 5 — that’s roughly 18 million youngsters. 

They are the last remaining group in the U.S. to get vaccinated, and many parents have been anxious to protect their little children. If all the regulatory steps are cleared, shots should be available next week. 

“This is a long-awaited vaccine,” said panel member Dr. Jay Portnoy of Children’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. “There are so many parents who are absolutely desperate to get this vaccine, and I think we owe it to them to give them a choice to have the vaccine if they want to.” 

Dr. Peter Marks, FDA’s vaccine chief, opened the meeting with data showing a “quite troubling surge” in young children’s hospitalizations during the omicron wave, and noted that 442 children under 4 have died during the pandemic. That’s far fewer than adult deaths but should not be dismissed in considering the need for vaccinating the youngest kids, he said. 

“Each child that’s lost essentially fractures a family,” Marks said. 

FDA reviewers said both brands appear to be safe and effective for children as young as 6 months old in analyses posted ahead of the all-day meeting. Side effects, including fever and fatigue, were generally minor in both, and less common than seen in adults. 

The two vaccines use the same technology, but there are differences. In a call with reporters earlier this week, vaccine experts noted that the shots haven’t been tested against each other, so there’s no way to tell parents if one is superior. 

“That is a really important point,”‘ said Dr. Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former FDA vaccine chief. “You can’t compare the vaccines directly.” 

If the FDA agrees with its advisers and authorizes the shots, there’s one more step. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will decide on a formal recommendation after its own advisers meet Saturday. If the CDC signs off, shots could be available as soon as Monday or Tuesday at doctor’s offices, hospitals and pharmacies. 

Pfizer’s vaccine is for children 6 months through 4 years. Moderna’s vaccine is for 6 months through 5 years. 

Moderna’s shots are one-quarter the dose of the company’s adult shots. Two doses appeared strong enough to prevent severe illness but only about 40% to 50% effective at preventing milder infections. Moderna has added a booster to its study and expects to eventually offer one. 

Pfizer’s shots are just one-tenth its adult dose. Pfizer and partner BioNTech found that two shots didn’t provide enough protection in testing, so a third was added during the omicron wave. 

Pfizer’s submitted data found no safety concerns and suggested that three shots were 80% effective in preventing symptomatic coronavirus infections. But that was based on just 10 COVID-19 cases. The calculation could change as more cases occur in the company’s ongoing studies. 

The same FDA panel on Tuesday backed Moderna’s half-sized shots for ages 6 to 11 and full-sized doses for teens. If authorized by the FDA, it would be the second option for those age groups. Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is their only choice. 

The nation’s vaccination campaign started in December 2020 with the rollout of adult vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, with health care workers and nursing home residents first in line. Teens and school-age children were added last year. 

Moderna said in April that it is also seeking regulatory approval outside the U.S. for its little kid shots. According to the World Health Organization, 12 other countries already vaccinate kids under 5, with other brands. 

In the U.S., it remains uncertain how many parents want their youngest children vaccinated. While COVID-19 is generally less dangerous for young children than older kids and adults, there have been serious cases and some deaths. Many parents trying to keep unvaccinated tots safe have put off family trips or enrolling children in day care or preschool. 

Still, by some estimates, three-quarters of all children have already been infected. Only about 29% of children ages 5 to 11 have been vaccinated since Pfizer’s shots opened to them last November — a rate far lower than public health authorities consider ideal. 

Dr. Nimmi Rajagopal, a family medicine physician at Cook County Health in Chicago, said she’s been preparing parents for months. 

“We have some that are hesitant, and some that are just raring to go,” she said. 

 
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Amazon and Cartier joined forces Wednesday in U.S. court to accuse a social media influencer of working with Chinese firms to sell knock-offs of the luxury brand’s jewelry on the e-commerce giant’s site. 

The online personality used sites like Instagram to pitch Cartier jewelry such as “Love bracelets” to followers and then provided links that led to counterfeit versions on Amazon, one of two lawsuits alleged. 

The influencer appeared to be a woman in Handan, China, and the merchants involved in the “counterfeiting scheme” were traced to other Chinese cities, according to court documents. 

“By using social media to promote counterfeit products, bad actors undermine trust and mislead customers,” Amazon associate general counsel Kebharu Smith said in a statement. 

“We don’t just want to chase them away from Amazon — we want to stop them for good,” Smith added. 

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant has booted vendors targeted in the suit from its platform and teamed with Cartier to urge a federal court to make them pay damages and legal costs for hawking knock-off jewelry there from June 2020 through June 2021. 

The “sophisticated campaign” sought to avoid detection by having the social media influencer pitch jewelry as being Cartier, but the vendors made no mention of the luxury brand at their shops at Amazon, the lawsuit said. 

Buyers, however, were sent jewelry bearing Cartier trademarks, the companies alleged in court documents. 

A second lawsuit accuses an Amazon store operating under the name “YFXF” last year of selling counterfeit Cartier goods, disguising jewelry as unbranded at the website but sending buyers knock-offs bearing the company’s trademark. 

Those involved in the scheme “advertised their counterfeit products on third-party social media websites by using ‘hidden links’ to direct their followers to the counterfeit Cartier products, while disguising the products as non-branded in the listings in the Amazon Store,” the lawsuit said. 

The companies said that Instagram direct messages and shared links were used to instruct social media followers about how to buy knock-offs at Amazon. 

 
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Phil and Kristie Graves are a U.S.couple from Maryland and parents of three biological children and an adopted girl with special needs from Armenia. Recently, they decided to adopt a six-year-old girl with special needs from Ukraine. But that was before the Russian invasion. Anush Avetisyan has the story.
Videographer: Dmytri Shakhov  
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A massive, fast-growing black hole, more luminous than previously discovered phenomena, has been discovered by an international team led by astronomers in Australia. Scientists say the black hole consumes the equivalent of one Earth every second and shines 7,000 times brighter than all the light from our own galaxy.

Researchers were looking for unusual stars when they came across a supermassive black hole. It consumes the equivalent of one Earth every second and has the mass of three billion suns.

The team led by the Australian National University believes it was obscured by the lights of the Milky Way.

The discovery was made using the SkyMapper telescope at Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran in New South Wales.

To take a more detailed look, the team went to the South African Astronomical Observatory’s 1.9-meter telescope in Cape Town.

Christopher Onken from the Australian National University is the study’s lead researcher.

He says astronomers have been searching for these types of objects without success for more than 50 years.

“What we found is what appears to be the most luminous growing black hole in the last nine billion years of the history of the universe,” said Onken. “People have been looking for these kinds of objects for almost 60-years and this one escaped its notice probably because it was just a little bit too close to the plane of the Milky Way, where there is so many stars that often it is hard to follow up all of the objects that you might find. And, so, this one had been just outside the range that had been surveyed in the past.”

Black holes are parts of space where matter has collapsed in on itself.

Their light comes from a ring of gas, dust and stars that circles the black hole, known as an accretion disk.

Astronomers hope this rare find will offer tantalizing clues about the formation of galaxies. The ancient black hole is so “astonishingly bright” that it should be visible to well-equipped amateur stargazers.

The Australian-led research is continuing. The team also discovered another 80 growing black holes.
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A new study has found that Facebook has failed to catch Islamic State group and al-Shabab extremist content in posts aimed at East Africa as the region remains under threat from violent attacks and Kenya prepares to vote in a closely contested national election. 

An Associated Press series last year, drawing on leaked documents shared by a Facebook whistleblower, showed how the platform repeatedly failed to act on sensitive content including hate speech in many places around the world. 

The new and unrelated two-year study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found Facebook posts that openly supported IS or the Somalia-based al-Shabab — even ones carrying al-Shabab branding and calling for violence in languages including Swahili, Somali and Arabic — were allowed to be widely shared. 

The report expresses particular concern with narratives linked to the extremist groups that accuse Kenyan government officials and politicians of being enemies of Muslims, who make up a significant part of the East African nation’s population. The report notes that “xenophobia toward Somali communities in Kenya has long been rife.” 

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab has been described as the deadliest extremist group in Africa, and it has carried out high-profile attacks in recent years in Kenya far from its base in neighboring Somalia. The new study found no evidence of Facebook posts that planned specific attacks, but its authors and Kenyan experts warn that allowing even general calls to violence is a threat to the closely contested August presidential election. 

Already, concerns about hate speech around the vote, both online and off, are growing. 

“They chip away at that trust in democratic institutions,” report researcher Moustafa Ayad told the AP of the extremist posts. 

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue found 445 public profiles, some with duplicate accounts, sharing content linked to the two extremist groups and tagging more than 17,000 other accounts. Among the narratives shared were accusations that Kenya and the United States are enemies of Islam, and among the posted content was praise by al-Shabab’s official media arm for the killing of Kenyan soldiers. 

Even when Facebook took down pages, they would quickly be reconstituted under different names, Ayad said, describing serious lapses by both artificial intelligence and human moderators. 

“Why are they not acting on rampant content put up by al-Shabab?” he asked. “You’d think that after 20 years of dealing with al-Qaida, they’d have a good understanding of the language they use, the symbolism.” 

He said the authors have discussed their findings with Facebook and some of the accounts have been taken down. He said the authors also plan to share the findings with Kenya’s government. 

Ayad said both civil society and government bodies such as Kenya’s national counterterrorism center should be aware of the problem and encourage Facebook to do more. 

Asked for comment, Facebook requested a copy of the report before its publication, which was refused. 

The company then responded with an emailed statement. 

“We’ve already removed a number of these pages and profiles and will continue to investigate once we have access to the full findings,” Facebook wrote Tuesday, not giving any name, citing security concerns. “We don’t allow terrorist groups to use Facebook, and we remove content praising or supporting these organizations when we become aware of it. We have specialized teams — which include native Arabic, Somali and Swahili speakers — dedicated to this effort.” 

Concerns about Facebook’s monitoring of content are global, say critics. 

“As we have seen in India, the United States, the Philippines, Eastern Europe and elsewhere, the consequences of failing to moderate content posted by extremist groups and supporters can be deadly, and can push democracy past the brink,” the watchdog The Real Facebook Oversight Board said of the new report, adding that Kenya at the moment is a “microcosm of everything that’s wrong” with Facebook owner Meta. 

“The question is, who should ask Facebook to step up and do its work?” asked Leah Kimathi, a Kenyan consultant in governance, peace and security, who suggested that government bodies, civil society and consumers all can play a role. “Facebook is a business. The least they can do is ensure that something they’re selling to us is not going to kill us.”
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A dangerous heat wave hit much of the Midwest and South on Tuesday, with temperatures hitting triple digits in Chicago and combining with the humidity to make it feel even hotter there and in other sweltering cities. 

More than 100 million people were expected to be affected by midweek, and authorities warned residents to stay hydrated, remain indoors when possible, and be aware of the health risks of high temperatures. Strong storms brought heavy rain and damaging wind to many of the affected areas on Monday, and more than 400,000 customers remained without power as of Tuesday afternoon. 

Excessive heat warnings are in effect for much of Illinois and Indiana along with parts of Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio from Tuesday through Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service. 

Heat index values — which take into account the temperature and relative humidity and indicate how hot it feels outdoors — approached and topped 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in some locations, including Chicago, the weather service said. 

“Full sun today will make it feel even hotter,” the weather service wrote. “There will not be much relief for those without air conditioning today through Wednesday night.” 

Much of southeastern Michigan — from just south of Flint to the state lines with Ohio and Indiana — was put under an excessive heat watch Wednesday through Thursday morning as the warm front is forecast to move east. 

A heat advisory was also issued, stretching from as far north as Wisconsin down to the Florida Panhandle on the Gulf coast. 

Health risks of heat 

In Chicago, where a ferocious storm Monday night heralded temperatures that were expected to exceed 90 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday, the May deaths of three women when temperatures climbed above 32 C (90 F) served as a reminder of the dangers of such heat — particularly for people who live alone or are dealing with certain health issues. 

Pat Clemmons, an 81-year-old resident of the apartment complex where the women died, said everything was working well Tuesday morning as the temperatures climbed. She said that she had lived in the building for about 20 years and that she had never experienced issues before “that one horrible Saturday” in May. 

“They have every kind of air conditioner, air blower, fan jets and everything else. … I’m fine right now,” Clemmons said. “The air’s on. You know they’re going to have everything working perfectly right now ’cause all the chaos that happened.” 

By mid-afternoon, the temperature at Chicago Midway National Airport reached 100 F (38 C) for the first time since July 2012, the area’s weather service office reported. 

Officials encouraged Chicagoans to check on their neighbors and loved ones and to quickly report any problems with cooling their homes. The city opened six large cooling centers and encouraged people to cool off in libraries, park district buildings and other public locations. 

“The next two days will require that we all look out for one another and provide extra attention and resources for our vulnerable neighbors,” said Alisa Rodriguez, managing deputy commissioner for Chicago’s Department of Family Services and Support. 

The Detroit suburb of Westland opened many of its public buildings as cooling stations Tuesday, including its city hall, fire and police stations, a library and a community center. Residents can get out of the heat, charge cellphones and get bottled water there, the city said. 

South sizzles 

With a noon temperature at 35 C (95 F) and the heat index pushing 43 C (110 F) on Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama, Cindy Hanger sat outside the food truck where she works. Her face was red and her green T-shirt was soaked with sweat. 

“I am worn out and I’m hot, and I’m ready to go home and have a cold drink,” she said. 

Hanger works outside the small rig taking and filling orders while two relatives work inside cooking. That arrangement is just fine with her on such days. 

“You think it’s hot out here? Imagine in there,” she said. 

The heat was also stressing certain power grids. 

The Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six surrounding Southern states, said that on Monday, it experienced record power demand for a single day in June. It said it provided 31,311 megawatts of energy at an average temperature of 94 F (34 C) in its region, which broke the previous June high of 31,098 megawatts that was set on June 29, 2012. 

The power provider said similar demand could continue through the end of the week as more hot and humid weather was expected
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A government advisory panel Tuesday endorsed a second brand of COVID-19 vaccine for school-age children and teens.

The Food and Drug Administration’s outside experts voted unanimously that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective enough to give to kids ages 6 to 17. If the FDA agrees, it would become the second option for those children, joining Pfizer’s vaccine.

The same FDA expert panel will meet Wednesday to consider tot-sized shots from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids, those under 5.

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine has long been available for adults in the U.S. and elsewhere, and more than three dozen countries offer it to older children. If the FDA authorizes Moderna’s vaccine for teens and younger children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will next decide whether to formally recommend the shots.

The Massachusetts company is seeking clearance for two doses and plans to later offer a booster. Tuesday’s vote was only for two doses — full-strength for 12-17 and half-sized doses for those 6-11.

“The data do support that the benefits outweigh the risks for both of these doses, in both of these age groups,” said the CDC’s Dr. Melinda Wharton, a member of the panel.

“I believe that this will provide families an important option” and may be particularly important for families who live in areas where coronavirus spread is increasing, said another panel member, Dr. Ofer Levy of Boston Children’s Hospital.

The FDA held up Moderna’s teen vaccine for months while it investigated a rare side effect, heart inflammation. That’s mostly a risk for teen boys and young men, and also can occur with the Pfizer vaccine. Moderna got extra scrutiny because its shots are a far higher dose.

In their review, FDA scientists said there were no confirmed cases of heart inflammation in Moderna’s kid studies. But experts say the studies may have had too few participants for a rare side effect like that to appear.

“That clearly needs to be watched closely going forward as we expand the use of the vaccine,” said Dr. Mark Sawyer, a panel member from the University of California, San Diego’s medical school.

As for other side effects, FDA officials said nothing worrisome was reported — mainly sore arms, headache and fatigue.

The FDA analysis concluded that two doses of Moderna are effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 illness in teens and younger kids, with the levels of virus-fighting antibodies comparable to those developed in young adults.

Vaccine effectiveness was estimated at 93% for the teens, and 77% for the younger children, according to the FDA analysis. However, the research was done when earlier versions of the coronavirus were causing most U.S. infections, before more contagious versions emerged. It’s also based on a limited number of COVID-19 cases, making the estimates a bit rough.

A booster shot was added to the studies, and data is expected in about the next month, Moderna officials said. Booster shots are now recommended for children vaccinated with Pfizer’s shots, as well as for all adults.

How much demand there will be for even two Moderna shots isn’t clear. Teens became eligible a year ago for Pfizer’s vaccine, which uses the same technology, and only 60% have gotten two doses. Shots for younger kids started in November; about 29% have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
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