Farmers say extreme temperatures caused a huge drop in the output of olive oil in Spain, the world’s largest producer, triggering a big jump in world olive oil prices. Elizabeth Cherneff narrates this report from Alfonso Beato in Barcelona, who says Europe’s leadership is blaming climate change.
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Category: Silicon Valley
Silicon valley news. Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley
For more than three decades, Somalia’s digital identity system remained stagnant, untouched by the major technological changes sweeping the globe. That standstill is now coming to an end, says Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre.
In a historic move, Barre convened a two-day conference in Mogadishu on Saturday, marking the official return of civil registration and the issuance of national ID cards.
“Today marks a great day for Somalia as we finally lay the foundations of a reliable and all-inclusive national identification system that is recognized worldwide,” Barre said.
After the official inauguration of the system Saturday by the prime minister in Mogadishu, the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was in the city of Dhusamareb commanding the fight against al-Shabab militants in central Somalia, received his national identification card.
“The ID card issuance was started by the president and the PM and it is part of a rollout in the country, which every Somali citizen is eligible to acquire,” a government statement said.
“It is a significant milestone in Somalia’s state-building journey. The national ID rollout is set to enhance security and address crucial national issues,” Mohamud said as he received his card.
Digital identity systems, often referred to as eID, are the bedrock of Somalia’s new digital services. The government says they empower citizens to exercise their liberties and businesses to operate efficiently.
“Through this system, the government reaffirms its endeavor to ensure that Somali citizens enjoy equal rights with regard to the participation of all national commitments,” Barre said.
Barre cited the need to combat security threats, terrorism and identity fraud as compelling reasons to introduce a national ID.
“This system will boost our businesses and economy, our banks, communication and Hawala money transfer systems. It will strictly deal with terror networks and the fight against extremism,” Barre said.
In a video message to the conference from the front line in central Somalia, Somalia’s minister of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation, Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, reiterated the importance of a reliable national ID for the government’s fight against al-Shabab militants.
“A national identification system is a powerful tool in our fight against extremism, providing a sense of belonging and identity to our citizens,” Fiqi said. “National ID is not only a piece of plastic, but it represents access to essential services like health care, education, elections and economic opportunities to the Somali people.”
In March, Somalia’s upper house passed the National Identification and Registration Authority Bill, which enables every Somali citizen to legally register their identity and gain access to the government and private services to which they are entitled.
Somali government officials, businessmen, members of civil society and international partners were among participants in the conference in Mogadishu.
Speakers at the conference included United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia Catriona Laing and the World Bank country manager, Kristina Svensson.
Those who spoke at the conference expressed optimism that the national ID will help in the fight against the al-Shabab terror group.
The story of Somalia’s digital identity resurgence finds its roots in the turbulent year 1991, when the national citizen registry collapsed. National unrest, instability, disorder and economic turmoil led to the downfall of government leadership and the disintegration of the registration system.
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A global hunger crisis has left more than 700 million people not knowing when or if they will eat again, and demand for food is rising relentlessly while humanitarian funding is drying up, the head of the United Nations food agency said Thursday.
World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain told the U.N. Security Council that because of the lack of funding, the agency has been forced to cut food rations for millions of people, and “more cuts are on the way.”
“We are now living with a series of concurrent and long-term crises that will continue to fuel global humanitarian needs,” she said. “This is the humanitarian community’s new reality — our new normal — and we will be dealing with the fallout for years to come.”
The WFP chief, the widow of the late U.S. senator John McCain, said the agency estimates that nearly 47 million people in over 50 countries are just one step from famine — and a staggering 45 million children younger than 5 are now estimated to suffer from acute malnutrition.
According to WFP estimates from 79 countries where the Rome-based agency operates, up to 783 million people — one in 10 of the world’s population — still go to bed hungry every night. More than 345 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity this year, an increase of almost 200 million people from early 2021 before the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency said.
At the root of the soaring numbers, WFP said, is “a deadly combination of conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes and soaring fertilizer prices.”
The economic fallout from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have pushed food prices out of the reach of millions of people across the world at the same time that high fertilizer prices have caused falling production of maize, rice, soybeans and wheat, the agency said.
“Our collective challenge is to ramp up the ambitious, multi-sectoral partnerships that will enable us to tackle hunger and poverty effectively, and reduce humanitarian needs over the long-term,” McCain urged business leaders at the council meeting focusing on humanitarian public-private partnerships. The aim is not just financing, but also finding innovative solutions to help the world’s neediest.
Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard, told the council that “humanitarian relief has long been the domain of government” and development institutions, and the private sector was seen as a source of financial donations for supplies.
“Money is still important, but companies can offer so much more,” he said. “The private sector stands ready to tackle the challenges at hand in partnership with the public sector.”
Miebach stressed that “business cannot succeed in a failing world” and humanitarian crises impact fellow citizens of the world. A business can use its expertise, he said, to strengthen infrastructure, “innovate new approaches and deliver solutions at scale” to improve humanitarian operations.
Jared Cohen, president of global affairs at Goldman Sachs, told the council that the revenue of many multinational companies rivals the GDP of some of the Group of 20 countries with the largest economies. And he said five American companies and many of their global counterparts have over 500,000 workers — more than the population of up to 20 U.N. member nations.
“Today’s global firms have responsibilities to our shareholders, clients, staff, communities, and the rules-based international order that makes it possible for us to do business,” he said.
Cohen said businesses can fulfill those responsibilities during crises first by not scrambling “to reinvent the wheel every time,” but by drawing on institutional memory and partnering with other firms and the public sector.
He said businesses also need “to act with speed and innovate in real time,” use local connections, and bring their expertise to the humanitarian response.
Lana Nusseibeh, the United Arab Emirates ambassador, said the U.N. appealed for over $54 billion this year, “and until now, 80% of those funds remain unfulfilled,” which shows that “we are facing a system in crisis.”
She said public-private partnerships that were once useful additions are now crucial to humanitarian work.
Over the past decade, Nusseibeh said, the UAE has been developing “a digital platform to support a government’s ability to better harness international support in the wake of natural disasters.” The UAE has also established a major humanitarian logistics hub and is working with U.N. agencies and private companies on new technologies to reach those in need, she said.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the funding gap has left the world’s most vulnerable people “in a moment of great peril.”
She said companies have stepped up, including in Haiti and Ukraine and to help refugees in the United States, but for too long, “we have turned to the private sector exclusively for financing.”
Businesses have shown “enormous generosity, but in 2023 we know they have so much more to offer. Their capacities, their know-how, and innovations are tremendously needed,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “The public sector must harness the expertise of the private sector and translate it into action.”
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Authorities in India are scrambling to contain a rare outbreak of Nipah, a virus spread from animals to humans that causes deadly fever and has a high mortality rate. Here is a look at what is known so far:
What is the Nipah virus?
The first Nipah outbreak was recorded in 1998 after the virus spread among pig farmers in Malaysia. The virus is named after the village where it was discovered.
Outbreaks are rare but Nipah has been listed by the World Health Organization — alongside Ebola, Zika and COVID-19 — as one of several diseases deserving of priority research because of their potential to cause a global epidemic.
Nipah usually spreads to humans from animals or through contaminated food, but it can also be transmitted directly between people.
Fruit bats are the natural carriers of the virus and have been identified as the most likely cause of subsequent outbreaks.
Symptoms include intense fever, vomiting and a respiratory infection, but severe cases can involve seizures and brain inflammation that results in a coma.
Patients have a mortality rate of between 40% and 75% depending on the public health response to the virus, the WHO says.
There is no vaccine for Nipah.
What has happened during previous outbreaks?
The first Nipah outbreak killed more than 100 people in Malaysia and prompted the culling of 1 million pigs to try to contain the virus.
It also spread to Singapore, with 11 cases and one death among slaughterhouse workers who had come into contact with pigs imported from Malaysia.
Since then, the disease has mainly been recorded in Bangladesh and India, with both countries reporting their first outbreaks in 2001.
Bangladesh has borne the brunt in recent years, with more than 100 people dying of Nipah since 2001.
Two early outbreaks in India killed more than 50 people before they were brought under control.
The southern state of Kerala has recorded two deaths from Nipah and four other confirmed cases since last month.
Authorities there have closed some schools and instituted mass testing.
This marks Kerala’s fourth recorded spate of Nipah cases in five years. The virus killed 17 people during the first instance in 2018.
The state has stamped out previous outbreaks within weeks through widespread testing and strict isolation of those in contact with patients.
Are animal-to-human viruses becoming more frequent?
Having first appeared thousands of years ago, zoonoses — diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans — have multiplied over the past 20 to 30 years.
The growth of international travel has allowed them to spread more quickly.
By occupying increasingly large areas of the planet, experts say, humans also contribute to disruption of the ecosystem and increase the likelihood of random virus mutations that are transmissible to humans.
Industrial farming increases the risk of pathogens spreading among animals while deforestation heightens contact among wildlife, domestic animals and humans.
By mixing more, species will transmit their viruses more, which will promote the emergence of new diseases potentially transmissible to humans.
Climate change will push many animals to flee their ecosystems for more livable lands, a study published by the scientific journal Nature warned in 2022.
According to estimates published in the journal Science in 2018, there are 1.7 million unknown viruses in mammals and birds, with 540,000 to 850,000 of them having the capacity to infect humans.
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One American and two Russian space crew members blasted off Friday aboard a Russian spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a mission to the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub lifted off on the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft at 8:44 p.m. local time. O’Hara will spend six months on the ISS while Kononenko and Chub will spend a year there.
Neither O’Hara nor Chub has ever flown to space before, but they will be flying with veteran cosmonaut and mission commander Kononenko, who has made the trip four times already. The trio should arrive at the ISS after a three-hour flight.
When they get to the ISS, their module will dock and when the hatches open they will be met by seven astronauts and cosmonauts from the U.S., Russia, Denmark and Japan. Later in September, three of the ISS crew will depart, including NASA astronaut Frank Rubio who will have been there for more than a year.
According to NASA, when mission commander Kononenko finishes his tour to space in a year’s time, he will hold the record for the person who has spent the longest amount of time — more than a thousand days — in space.
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Bangladesh is struggling with a record outbreak of dengue fever, with experts saying a lack of a coordinated response is causing more deaths from the mosquito-transmitted disease.
The World Health Organization recently warned that diseases such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever caused by mosquito-borne viruses are spreading faster and further because of climate change.
So far this year, 778 people in Bangladesh have died and 157,172 have been infected, according to the government’s Directorate General Health Services. The U.N. children’s agency says the actual numbers are higher because many cases are not reported.
The previous highest number of deaths was in 2022, when 281 people are reported to have died during the entire year.
Dengue is common in tropical areas and causes high fevers, headaches, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and, in the most serious cases, internal bleeding that leads to death.
Mohammed Niatuzzaman, director of the state-run Mugda Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka, said Thursday that Bangladesh is struggling to cope with the outbreak because of a lack of a “sustainable policy” and because many do not know how to treat it.
Outside Dhaka and other big cities, medical professionals including nurses need better training in handling dengue cases, he said.
He said authorities should include groups like city corporations and local governments in the fight against dengue, and researchers should study how to prepare for future outbreaks.
Some residents of Dhaka are unhappy with the authorities.
“Our house is in an area which is at risk of dengue. It has a higher quantity of waste and garbage. I’m cautious and use a mosquito net. Despite that, my daughter caught dengue,” said Zakir Hassain, a resident of Dhaka’s Basabo area.
“What will happen to those who are unaware? If the city corporation or ward commissioner took more care and sprayed insecticides, then we could have avoided the dengue outbreak,” he said.
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The Scattered Spider hacking group said on Thursday it took six terabytes of data from the systems of multibillion-dollar casino operators MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment as both companies probed the breaches.
Speaking to Reuters via the messaging platform Telegram, a representative for the group said it did not plan to make the data public and declined to comment on whether it had asked the companies for ransom.
The group’s contact was provided to Reuters by a cybersecurity expert who runs an online repository of malware samples called “vx-underground,” and declined to be named. Caesars and MGM did not respond to requests for comment on the amount of data that was breached.
Caesars reported to regulators on Thursday it had found that on Sept. 7 hackers took data on a significant number of its loyalty program members, including “driver’s license numbers and/or Social Security numbers.” Earlier, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that Caesars had paid ransom, but Caesars declined a Reuters request for comment on the matter.
Earlier, MGM said it was working with law enforcement on resolving a “cybersecurity issue.”
Scattered Spider, also known as UNC3944, is one of the most disruptive hacking outfits in the United States, according to Google’s Mandiant Intelligence.
Several security analysts have drawn attention to the group over the past year for its effective social engineering tactics. It is known to reach out to a target an organization’s information security teams by phone, pretending to be an employee needing their password reset.
“They tend to have most of the information they need before that call to the helpdesk – that is the last step,” said Marc Bleicher, a security analyst who has conducted forensic investigations into such hacks before.
Mandiant has linked Scattered Spider to over 100 intrusions in the last two years at companies ranging from gaming and technology firms to retailers, telecom and insurance firms, Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant told Reuters.
The group’s members appeared to be scattered across several Western countries, he added.
Caesars said the breach resulted from a “social engineering attack” on an IT vendor the company used. It didn’t quantify the financial impact.
Operations at MGM, one of the world’s largest casino and hotel operators, were still disrupted four days after news of the hack emerged. Social media posts had visuals of slot machines showing error messages at its Las Vegas casinos.
Some analysts believe Scattered Spider is a subgroup of the ALPHV, a ransomware hacking outfit that emerged in Nov. 2021, according to Mandiant.
The FBI said it was investigating the incidents at MGM and Caesars and declined further comment.
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NASA said on Thursday it has selected a research director to investigate UFO sightings on the recommendation of an independent panel of experts.
Administrator Bill Nelson, who made the announcement, has yet to identify the appointee.
The unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, is the official term for what most call UFOs — unidentified flying objects. The panel, which included physicists, astronomers and biologists, wouldn’t say whether eyewitness accounts of UAP prove the existence of life beyond our horizons.
That’s still an open question, according to Nelson. “If you ask me do I believe there’s life in a universe that’s so vast that it’s hard for me to comprehend how big it is, my personal answer is, ‘Yes,'” he said.
In his statement, Nelson conceded that “[NASA scientists] don’t know what these UAP are.”
In 2021, the national intelligence director published a comprehensive report, sharing never-before-seen scientific data and military observations on coastal sightings of UAP. Some of the high-flying objects are said to outpace and outmaneuver even the best fighter jets, without any apparent thrust or flight control systems.
UAP have mystified Americans since June 1947, when newspapers first reported that a metallic “flying saucer” appeared in the sky over mountain ranges in Washington state. Sensational accounts of UAP sightings have cropped up all over the world since, including the debunked Roswell, New Mexico incident that made headlines that same year.
For the better part of a century, conspiracy theorists have accused the government of withholding facts or even lying to the public. But Nelson promised that NASA’s incoming research director would disclose all UAP-related developments to “shift the conversation about UAP from sensationalism to science.”
The director will manage “centralized communications, resources and data analytical capabilities to establish a robust database for the evaluation of future UAP,” NASA said.
The appointment comes as academics claim to be making inroads in the search for extraterrestrial life. In recent weeks, the controversial Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb recovered tiny meteorite fragments off the coast of Papua New Guinea. His team is evaluating whether the unusual metallic samples are bits of alien technology.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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One of the world’s most popular apps, TikTok, is under growing scrutiny in Kenya over what critics see as explicit and offensive content, and hate speech. An activist has petitioned parliament to ban the Chinese app, even as millions of young Kenyans use it for entertainment, social connections, or even to make money. Francis Ontomwa reports from Nairobi. Camera: Amos Wangwa.
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Malawi is extending the maximum age of children eligible for the polio vaccination from 5 to 15. Since the discovery last year of its first polio case 30 years after the country eradicated the disease, the number of cases has increased to five this year — the latest victim being 14 years old.
Malawi health authorities made the announcement Tuesday at the launch of the nationwide polio vaccination campaign that is targeting about 9.7 million children.
Beston Chisamile, the secretary of health in Malawi, said the children will be vaccinated on their doorsteps.
“Our health workers will be visiting parents’ homes and vaccinating [children],” said Chisamile. “We are aware that some of them were skipped in the previous vaccination phase, and we want to try and reach the majority.”
Chisamile said the maximum age of children to be vaccinated was extended from 5 to 15 years of age after the discovery of another case this year of a 14-year-old.
Polio resurfaces
Polio is a viral disease that causes irreversible paralysis and has no cure. The disease can be prevented, however, by the administration of effective vaccines.
Thirty years after it eradicated the disease, Malawi confirmed its first polio case in February 2022. Since then, the number of confirmed cases has increased to five.
Malawi is among several countries in Africa that have registered confirmed cases of polio in recent years.
The World Health Organization said in a statement released on August 30 that 187 confirmed cases of circulating variant poliovirus have been reported in 21 countries in the African region.
The WHO said that although the region has been certified free of wild poliovirus, it is witnessing a resurgence of the disease because of a decline in immunization coverage and the disruption of essential health services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A push to vaccinate
UNICEF, WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are leading the vaccination campaign in Malawi.
The UNICEF representative in Malawi, Shadrack Omol, said the United Nations’ children’s agency so far has procured and distributed 10.2 million doses of the polio vaccine across all 29 districts and 865 health facilities in Malawi.
Omol also said UNICEF has installed 250 new refrigerators, repaired 125 broken ones, and distributed essential cold storage equipment.
Health authorities in Malawi have noted with concern, though, that some parents refuse to have their children vaccinated because of cultural and religious beliefs.
Authorities say this will impede efforts to meet vaccination targets.
George Jobe, the executive director of the Malawi Health Equity Network, told VOA that his organization has been educating people about the importance of vaccinating children against polio.
“We still maintain our plea and health education to those who don’t believe in medication that they should be mindful of the right to the good health of their children,,” said Jobe. “The children will make their own choices when they grow up. But at the moment, parents must not apply whatever they believe in on their children.”
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A government watchdog agency in France has ordered Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it emits levels of electromagnetic radiation that are too high.
The National Frequency Agency, which oversees radio-electric frequencies as well as public exposure to electromagnetic radiation, called on Apple in a statement Tuesday to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction” for phones already being used.
Corrective updates to the iPhone 12 will be monitored by the agency, and if they don’t work, “Apple will have to recall” phones that have already been sold, according to the French regulator’s statement.
Apple disputed the findings and said the device complies with all regulations governing radiation.
The agency, which is known by the French acronym ANFR, said it recently checked 141 cellphones, including the iPhone 12, for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body.
It said it found a level of electromagnetic energy absorption of 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests of a phone in a hand or a pocket, higher than the European Union standard of 4 watts per kilogram.
The agency said the iPhone 12 met the threshold when radiation levels were assessed for a phone kept in a jacket or in a bag.
Apple said the iPhone 12, which was released in late 2020, has been certified by multiple international bodies and complies with all applicable regulations and standards for radiation around the world.
The U.S. tech company said it has provided the French agency with multiple lab results carried out both by the company and third-party labs proving the phone’s compliance.
Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s minister in charge of digital issues, told France Info radio that the National Frequency Agency “is in charge of controlling our phones which, as there are software updates, may emit a little more or a little less electromagnetic waves.”
He said that the iPhone 12 radiation levels are “slightly higher” than the standards but “significantly lower than levels where scientific studies consider there may be consequences for users. But the rule is the rule.”
Cellphones have been labeled as “possible” carcinogens by the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm, putting them in the same category as coffee, diesel fumes and the pesticide DDT. The radiation produced by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA and is different from stronger types of radiation like X-rays or ultraviolet light.
In 2018, two U.S. government studies that bombarded mice and rats with cellphone radiation found a weak link to some heart tumors, but federal regulators and scientists said it was still safe to use the devices. Scientists said those findings didn’t reflect how most people use their cellphones and that the animal findings didn’t translate into a similar concern for humans.
Among the largest studies on potential dangers of cellphone use, a 2010 analysis in 13 countries found little or no risk of brain tumors.
People’s mobile phone habits also have changed substantially since the first studies began and it’s unclear if the results of previous research would still apply today.
Since many tumors take years to develop, experts say it’s difficult to conclude that cellphones have no long-term health risks. Experts have recommended that people concerned about their cellphone radiation exposure use earphones or switch to texting.
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A government watchdog agency in France has ordered Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the French market, saying it emits levels of electromagnetic radiation that are too high.
The National Frequency Agency, which oversees radio-electric frequencies as well as public exposure to electromagnetic radiation, called on Apple in a statement Tuesday to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction” for phones already being used.
Corrective updates to the iPhone 12 will be monitored by the agency, and if they don’t work, “Apple will have to recall” phones that have already been sold, according to the French regulator’s statement.
Apple disputed the findings and said the device complies with all regulations governing radiation.
The agency, which is known by the French acronym ANFR, said it recently checked 141 cellphones, including the iPhone 12, for electromagnetic waves capable of being absorbed by the body.
It said it found a level of electromagnetic energy absorption of 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests of a phone in a hand or a pocket, higher than the European Union standard of 4 watts per kilogram.
The agency said the iPhone 12 met the threshold when radiation levels were assessed for a phone kept in a jacket or in a bag.
Apple said the iPhone 12, which was released in late 2020, has been certified by multiple international bodies and complies with all applicable regulations and standards for radiation around the world.
The U.S. tech company said it has provided the French agency with multiple lab results carried out both by the company and third-party labs proving the phone’s compliance.
Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s minister in charge of digital issues, told France Info radio that the National Frequency Agency “is in charge of controlling our phones which, as there are software updates, may emit a little more or a little less electromagnetic waves.”
He said that the iPhone 12 radiation levels are “slightly higher” than the standards but “significantly lower than levels where scientific studies consider there may be consequences for users. But the rule is the rule.”
Cellphones have been labeled as “possible” carcinogens by the World Health Organization’s cancer research arm, putting them in the same category as coffee, diesel fumes and the pesticide DDT. The radiation produced by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA and is different from stronger types of radiation like X-rays or ultraviolet light.
In 2018, two U.S. government studies that bombarded mice and rats with cellphone radiation found a weak link to some heart tumors, but federal regulators and scientists said it was still safe to use the devices. Scientists said those findings didn’t reflect how most people use their cellphones and that the animal findings didn’t translate into a similar concern for humans.
Among the largest studies on potential dangers of cellphone use, a 2010 analysis in 13 countries found little or no risk of brain tumors.
People’s mobile phone habits also have changed substantially since the first studies began and it’s unclear if the results of previous research would still apply today.
Since many tumors take years to develop, experts say it’s difficult to conclude that cellphones have no long-term health risks. Experts have recommended that people concerned about their cellphone radiation exposure use earphones or switch to texting.
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In Indian cities, most electric vehicles seen on the roads are not cars, but three- and two-wheel vehicles that deliver goods and ferry passengers in cities. Anjana Pasricha reports on how the exponential growth in these electric vehicles in New Delhi and surrounding towns could contribute to cleaning up the air in one of the world’s most polluted cities. Video: Darshan Singh
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At bus stops and metro stations in the Indian capital and towns around it, passengers are accustomed to the familiar call by three-wheel electric rickshaw drivers to take an eight-cent, shared ride to their offices, homes or markets.
The ride-hailing trade is flourishing according to the hundreds of rickshaw drivers crowding the streets.
“It is much better than a petrol vehicle. It does not create pollution and it is cheaper to run. After charging, my battery lasts for 80 to 120 kilometers,” said Abdul Alam, as he stood outside a metro station in Gurugram, a business hub, to which thousands of commuters travel daily from New Delhi.
In India, most electric vehicles are not cars, but three wheelers that ferry passengers and deliver goods or two wheelers used for personal mobility. Accounting for 90% of the country’s nearly three million electric vehicles, they are at the forefront of India’s transition to clean transportation.
That is not surprising — in developing countries like India, these vehicles provide an affordable means of transport.
In the case of electric rickshaws, they help decarbonize small trips.
“The market is basically pushing it and it’s taking care of last mile mobility,” according to Moushumi Mohanty, head of Electric Vehicle Technology at the Center for Science and Environment in New Delhi.
Their popularity has grown as subsidies by the federal and state government for manufacturers, along with tax incentives, drive down costs. Spiraling petrol costs in recent years have made them more attractive.
Adhir Bhiya, who worked as an office help, left his job three years ago and took out a loan to buy his own rickshaw for $1,500. “I spend about $25 in a month to charge the batteries. It gives a good income to provide for my family,” said Bhiya.
As e-commerce booms, three-wheel electric vehicles are also playing a key role in making deliveries to customers. Road trips for deliveries are adding to carbon emissions according to experts, as people increasingly opt for the convenience of ordering everything from groceries to clothes online.
Zyngo EV Mobility, a start-up launched three years ago, uses an all-electric fleet of vehicles to make about 20,000 deliveries a day in and around Delhi.
“We wanted to adopt something which is more futuristic,” says Prateek Rao, founder of Zyngo. “Sustainability is something which is very close to our heart. We are all new-age people, we are a very young and aggressive team, we think that somewhere we are contributing to the eco-system back then why not? So we adopted EV’s as the core technology, so that we help reduce carbon emissions.”
Rao took a cue from the COVID-19 pandemic when Delhi residents glimpsed clear blue skies instead of the customary grey that shrouds the city as vehicles disappeared from roads during lockdowns and work-from-home norms.
The switch from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles is important for a city where the millions of vehicles clogging its toads contribute to almost half the emissions that dirty the air— Delhi is one of the world’s most polluted cities. Commercial vehicles are among the biggest contributors to toxic fumes.
“This will help a whole lot because look at the numbers that we are trying to transition,” points out Mohanty. “If you are converting say ten, twenty or 30% of these vehicles into electric, it basically means there is zero emissions from there.”
The government is pushing for a rapid expansion in the coming years — Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, called on automakers Tuesday to accelerate the transition to electricity and bio-fuels to curb vehicular pollution.
But there are challenges to be tackled before electric mobility can take off on a larger scale.
“Charging infrastructure is a pain point,” said Rao, “It is being ramped up, especially in Delhi but if we need faster adoption of EV’s across India, we need to improve the pace.”
Experts also say that India needs to step up domestic manufacturing of batteries and improve battery technology. While batteries are assembled in India, components are mostly imported.
“We need to reduce the dependence on imports of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, etc. from China,” according to N.C. Thirumalai at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy in Bengaluru. “We have to de-risk the supply chain and look at other countries also.”
India also needs to develop batteries that are adapted to local conditions. “It is hot and humid here and we have roads which don’t always give you a smooth ride. So clearly you need batteries that have high temperature tolerance and can withstand high vibrations,” said Mohanty.
The long-term challenge is an even bigger one. In a country where coal is still king for power generation, the electricity source that charges batteries will also have to be cleaned up.
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Most Americans should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine, health officials said Tuesday.
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed the new shots for everyone 6 months and older and the agency’s director quickly signed off Tuesday on the panel’s recommendation. That means doses should be available this week, some as early as Wednesday.
The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has faded, but there are still thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths in the U.S. each week. Hospitalizations have been increasing since late summer, though the latest data indicate infections may be starting to level off, particularly in the South.
Still, experts worry that immunity from previous vaccinations and infections is fading in many people, and a new shot would save many lives.
According to a survey last month that the CDC cited, about 42% said they would definitely or probably get the new vaccine. Yet only about 20% of adults got an updated booster when it was offered a year ago.
Doctors hope enough people get vaccinated to help avert another “tripledemic” like last year when hospitals were overwhelmed with an early flu season, an onslaught of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, and yet another winter coronavirus surge.
Here is what you need to know about the new COVID-19 shots:
Who should get the updated vaccine?
The Food and Drug Administration approved the updated shots from Pfizer and Moderna for adults and children as young as 6 months. FDA said starting at age 5, most people can get a single dose even if they’ve never had a prior COVID-19 shot. Younger children might need additional doses depending on their history of COVID-19 infections and vaccinations.
The CDC decides how best to use vaccines and makes recommendations for U.S. doctors and the general public. The agency’s panel of outside experts recommended the updated COVID-19 shots by a vote of 13-1. The no vote came from a panel member who had argued that the new shots should initially be recommended only for older people and others at greatest risk of severe illness. But other panel members said all ages could — and should — benefit.
“We need to make vaccination recommendations as clear as possible,” said one panel member, Dr. Camille Kotton, an infectious diseases doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Where can i get a shot?
The new vaccine will be available at pharmacies, health centers and some doctor offices. Locations will be listed on the government’s vaccines.gov website. The list price of a dose of each shot is $120 to $130, according to the manufacturers. But federal officials said the new COVID-19 shots still will be free to most Americans through private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. For the uninsured or underinsured, the CDC is working with health departments, clinics and certain pharmacies to temporarily provide free shots.
On Tuesday, a Pfizer official said his company expected to have doses available at some U.S. locations as early as Wednesday.
Why more COVID-19 shots?
Similar to how flu shots are updated each year, the FDA gave COVID-19 vaccine makers a new recipe for this fall. The updated shots have a single target, an omicron descendant named XBB.1.5. It’s a big change. The COVID-19 vaccines offered since last year are combination shots targeting the original coronavirus strain and a much earlier omicron version, making them very outdated.
Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax all have brewed new supplies, and the FDA on Monday approved shots from Pfizer and Moderna. Novavax’s updated vaccine is still under review.
Will they be effective enough?
Health officials are optimistic, barring a new mutant. As expected, XBB.1.5 has faded away in the months it took to tweak the vaccine. Today, there is a soup of different coronavirus variants causing illness, and the most common ones are fairly close relatives. Recent lab testing from vaccine makers and other research groups suggest the updated shots will offer crossover protection.
Earlier vaccinations or infections have continued to help prevent severe disease and death but protection wanes over time, especially against milder infections as the virus continually evolves. The FDA did allow seniors and others at high risk to get an extra booster dose last spring. But most Americans haven’t had a vaccination in about a year.
Can I get a flu shot and COVID-19 shot at the same time?
Yes. The CDC says there is no difference in effectiveness or side effects if people get those vaccines simultaneously, although one in each arm might be more comfortable. The CDC urges a yearly flu shot for pretty much everyone ages 6 months and up. The best time is by the end of October.
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Apple unveiled its next generation of iPhones Tuesday — a lineup that will boast better cameras, faster processors, a new charging system and a price hike for the fanciest model.
The showcase at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, comes as the company tries to reverse a mild slump that has seen its sales drop from last year in three consecutive quarters. The malaise is a key reason Apple’s stock price has dipped by about 10% since mid-July, dropping the company’s market value below the $3 trillion threshold it reached for the first time earlier this summer.
Investors apparently weren’t impressed with what Apple rolled out. The company’s shares fell nearly 2% Tuesday, a steeper decline than the major market indexes.
As has been case with Apple and other smartphone makers, the four types of iPhone 15 models aren’t making any major leaps in technology. But Apple added enough new bells and whistles to the top-of-the line model — the iPhone 15 Pro Max — to boost its starting price by $100, or 9%, from last year’s version to $1,200. As part of the higher base price, the cheapest iPhone 15 Pro Max will provide 256 megabytes of storage, up from 128 megabytes for the least expensive version of the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Apple is holding the line on prices for rest of the lineup, with the basic iPhone 15 selling for $800, the iPhone 15 Plus for $900 and the iPhone 15 Pro for $1,000.
Although maintaining those prices are bound to squeeze Apple’s profit margins and put further pressure on the company’s stock price, Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro believes it’s a prudent move with still-high inflation and spiking interest rates pinching household budgets. “The reality was that Apple found itself in a challenging position leading up to this event,” Monteiro said.
And the price hike for the iPhone 15 Pro Max could help Apple boost sales if consumers continue to gravitate toward the company’s premium models. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives expects the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max to account for about 75% of the device’s total sales in the upcoming year.
All the new models will be available in stores Sept. 22, with preorders beginning this Friday.
One of the biggest changes that Apple announced is a new way to charge the iPhone 15 models and future generations. The company is switching to the USB-C standard that is already widely used on many devices, including its Mac computers and many of its iPads.
Apple is being forced to phase out the Lightning port cables it rolled out in 2012 because of a mandate that European regulators plan to impose in 2024.
Although consumers often don’t like change, the transition to USB-C ports may not be that inconvenient. That’s because the standard is already widely used on a range of computers, smartphones and other devices people already own. The shift to USB-C may even be a popular move since that standard typically charges devices more quickly and also offers faster data transfer speeds.
The basic iPhone 15 models have been redesigned to include a shape-shifting cutout on the display screen that Apple calls its “Dynamic Island” for app notifications — a look that was introduced with last year’s Pro and Pro Max devices. The basic models are also getting a faster chip used in last year’s Pro and Pro Max models, while the next generation of the premium iPhone 15s will run on an even more advanced processor that will enable the devices to accommodate the same kind of video games that typically require a console.
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max also will be equipped with what Apple maintains is the equivalent of seven camera lenses. They will include periscope-style telephoto lens that will improve the quality of photos taken from far distances. The telephoto lens boasts a 5x optical zoom, which lags the 10x optical zoom on Samsung’s premium Galaxy S22 Ultra, but represents an upgrade from the 3x optical zoom on the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
In anticipation of next year’s release of Apple’s mixed reality headset, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will also have a spatial video option designed for viewing on that headset.
Apple is encasing the premium models in titanium that the company says is the same alloy used on some space ships.
Besides its new iPhones, Apple also announced its next generation of smartwatches — a product that made its debut nearly a decade ago. The Series 9 Apple Watch, available in stores Sept. 22, will include a new gesture control that will enable users to control alarms and answer phone calls by double snapping their thumbs with a finger.
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From zero to 100 kph in less than a second: A racing car built by students has broken the world record for electric vehicle acceleration, a Swiss university said Tuesday.
Students from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences designed and built the “Mythen” vehicle that achieved the feat, ETHZ said in a statement.
“Now, Guinness World Records has confirmed that Mythen broke the previous world acceleration record for electric vehicles,” it said.
Covering a distance of 12.3 meters (40.4 feet) at the Switzerland Innovation Park in Dübendorf, opposite the students’ workshop, the car was powered from zero to 100 kilometers per hour (zero to 62.15 miles per hour) in 0.956 seconds.
“This beats the previous world record of 1.461 seconds, set in September 2022 by a team from the University of Stuttgart by more than a third,” ETHZ said.
According to the statement, around 30 student members of the Academic Motorsports Club Zurich (AMZ) had spent the better part of a year on the project.
All the components, “from the printed circuit boards (PCBs) to chassis and the battery, were developed by the students themselves and optimized for their function,” it said.
The vehicle weighs just 140 kilograms (309 pounds) and boasts 240 kilowatts of power, or around 326 horsepower.
The vehicle’s driver was named as Kate Maggetti, a friend of students involved in the project, who was selected “due to her light body weight” and “willingness to take on the challenge,” Yann Bernard, head of motor at AMZ, told AFP.
“Working on the project in addition to my studies was very intense,” Bernard added in the statement.
“But even so, it was a lot of fun working with other students to continually produce new solutions and put into practice what we learned in class,” he said.
“And, of course, it is an absolutely unique experience to be involved in a world record.”
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For at least the second time this year, U.S. cyber forces have come to the aid of a Baltic ally, as concerns linger about potential cyberattacks from Russia and other Western adversaries.
U.S. Cyber Command Tuesday announced the completion of a two-month-long, so-called “defensive hunt” operation in Lithuania, alongside Lithuanian cyber teams.
The focus of the operation, according to a spokesperson with the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force, was to look for malicious cyber activity on networks belonging to Lithuania’s Interior Ministry.
Neither U.S. nor Lithuanian officials were willing to specify the exact nature of the threat, but just last year Vilnius was hit with a series of distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), claimed by the Russian hacking group known as Killnet.
“We need to develop competences and be more resilient to cyberattacks,” Lithuanian Vice Minister of the Interior Arnoldas Abramavičius, said in the joint statement.
“The war in Ukraine has shown that cyberattacks are a powerful tool of modern warfare, so it is extremely important to be prepared and to ensure the security of our networks,” said Abramavičius. “I believe that the results of this mission [with the United States] will be mutually beneficial.”
The U.S. Cyber National Mission Force spokesperson, speaking to VOA on the condition of anonymity to discuss limited details of the operation, said the effort involved about 20 U.S. cyber troops, hunting for malicious activity and potential vulnerabilities under guidelines set by Vilnius.
This is at least the second time U.S. cyber forces have deployed to Lithuania. U.S. Cyber Command said its forces conducted similar operations in the country last May.
And both Vilnius and Washington have also been working on a continuous basis through Lithuania’s Regional Cyber Defense Center, set up in 2021, to further coordinate efforts with Ukraine, Georgia and Poland.
Word of the completion of the latest U.S-Latvian cyber operation comes just days after a top U.S. intelligence official warned the cyber threat from Moscow has not waned as Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on.
“The Russians are increasing their capability and their efforts in the cyber domain,” CIA Deputy Director David Cohen told a cybersecurity summit in Washington on Thursday.
“There are no laurels to be rested on here,” he said. “There is this is a pitched battle every day.”
Concerns about possible Russian cyber activity also prompted what U.S. officials described as a “hunt forward” operation in Latvia earlier this year that also involved Latvian and Canadian cyber forces.
Since 2018, U.S. cyber teams have deployed 50 times, conducting operations on more than 75 networks in more than 23 countries, according to information provided by the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force.
Some information from Reuters was used in this report.
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