WHO declares mpox a global public health emergency
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa was now a global public health emergency, sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation.
“Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.
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Climate change fuelled deadly India landslides, say scientists
Climate change played a key factor in torrential rains in India that triggered catastrophic landslides killing at least 200 people last month, a group of scientists said Wednesday.
Monsoon rains battered the southern coastal state of Kerala and triggered landslides on July 30, burying homes and residents in Wayanad district under tonnes of rock and soil.
World Weather Attribution, a network of scientists who have pioneered peer-reviewed methods for assessing the possible role of climate change in specific extreme events, said the link between the intense rainfall and a warming planet was clear.
“The landslides… were triggered by a burst of rainfall that was made about 10 percent heavier by human-caused climate change,” the WWA analysis by 24 scientists said, noting more than 140mm (5.5 inches) of rain fell in a single day.
“Before climate change, similar downpours in Kerala were incredibly rare,” it said.
The scientists say higher temperatures due to fossil fuel emissions mean the atmosphere can hold more moisture, resulting in heavier rainfall.
It also said there had been a staggering 62 percent decrease in forest cover in the Wayanad region since 1950, “reducing slope stability” and increasing the landslide risk.
“The Wayanad landslides is another catastrophic example of climate change playing out in real time,” said study member Mariam Zachariah, from Imperial College London.
Monsoon rains from June to September offer respite from the summer heat and are crucial for agriculture and replenishing water supplies, but they also bring regular destruction.
WWA said the rain that caused the landslides was the third heaviest one-day event on record in the area — beaten only by storms in 2019 and in 1924 — and warned worse will come without rapid change.
“One-day bursts of monsoon rainfall will continue to become even heavier, risking even deadlier landslides, until the world replaces fossil fuels with renewable sources of energy”, researchers said.
India is the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases but has committed to achieve a net zero emissions economy by 2070 — two decades after most of the industrialised West.
For now, it is overwhelmingly reliant on coal for power generation.
“These direct threats to people in India will continue to escalate as the climate warms and humans continue to regulate natural systems,” said WWA scientist Arpita Mondal, from the Indian Institute of Technology.
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New Google Pixel 9 phones flaunt AI capabilities
Google on Tuesday unveiled new Pixel 9 smartphones packed with artificial intelligence features meant to compete with Apple’s iPhone.
The Pixel easily weaves users more tightly into Google’s online services, taking a page from Apple’s strategy with the iPhone and App Store.
And it poses a direct challenge to the iPhone’s “Apple Intelligence” AI as well as the company’s alliance with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
But it raises questions about how well Google is safeguarding personal data and how regulators will react to the tech giant’s push to make users even more dependent on its platform.
A US judge last week handed Google a major legal blow, ruling in a landmark anti-trust case that it has maintained a monopoly with its dominant search engine.
The court decision against a “big tech” giant could alter how the sector operates in the future.
District Court Judge Amit Mehta found that Google had a monopoly for search and for text ads through exclusive distribution agreements that made it the “default” option that people were likely to use on devices.
Pixels account for a tiny sliver of the global smartphone market led by Samsung and Apple.
One of the phone’s purposes, however, is to showcase capabilities of the Android operating system that powers most of the smartphones in the world.
Pixel 9 models optimize Google’s Gemini AI capabilities and can help with daily tasks like booking appointments or finding old files in the mountain of data people tend to save, according to Pixel senior director of product management Shenaz Zack.
“With your permission, Gemini can offer unparalleled personalized help accessing information across your inbox, Gmail, your calendar and a lot more,” Zack said during a briefing.
A Pixel might be used to take a photo of a concert poster, for example, then check whether that calendar date is open and draft a message inviting friends to join.
And conversations with Google’s AI on Pixel will be more free flowing, allowing interruptions or sudden topic shifts.
New Pixels will also be able to take notes during phone calls, automatically notifying the other party first.
Google said it made a priority of privacy, from protecting data used by its AI to letting users create password-protected private spaces for apps and other content.
The Pixel 9’s starting price is $899, with a new foldable model priced at $1,899.
Google has been racing against Microsoft, OpenAI and others to lead in AI since the 2022 release of ChatGPT ignited intense interest in the technology.
Meta has infused its AI into smart glasses, letting wearers ask questions about what they are looking at.
Along with new Pixel smartphones, Google unveiled new Pixel ear bud and smart watch models boasting AI features and synched to work smoothly together.
Pixel watches will be able to access live feeds from Nest camera-equipped doorbells, letting wearers see who is at their homes and speak with them.
Google last week introduced an AI television streaming device designed to be the hub of a hyper-smart home.
A sleek Google TV Streamer enhanced with Gemini AI is set for release September 24 and will mark the end of a Chromecast line dating back more than a decade.
“We’re using AI to evolve the future of Google Home and Nest experiences,” senior director of product management Anish Kattukaran told AFP during a briefing.
Nest is Google’s line of “smart” home gadgets including speakers, cameras, locks, thermostats and routers.
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France reports over 140 cyberattacks linked to Olympics
French authorities said on Tuesday that more than 140 cyberattacks were reported during the Paris Olympics, but none of them disrupted the competitions.
In the runup and throughout the Olympic Games, France’s cyber security agency had been on high alert for attacks that had the potential to disrupt the organising committee, ticketing or transport.
Between July 26 and August 11, government cyber security agency Anssi recorded 119 reports corresponding to low-impact “security events” and 22 incidents in which “a malicious actor” successfully targeted a victim’s information system.
The attacks mainly targeted government entities as well as sports, transport and telecoms infrastructure, the agency said.
According to Anssi, a third of those were downtime incidents, half of which were due to denial-of-service attacks designed to overwhelm servers.
The other cyber incidents were related to attempted or actual compromises and data disclosure, among others.
“All the cyber events that occurred during this period were generally characterised by their low impact”, said Anssi.
The Grand Palais, which hosted Olympic events in Paris, and around 40 other museums in France were victims of a ransomware attack in early August, but this did not affect any of the information systems involved in the games, according to Anssi.
Ransomware exploits security flaws to encrypt and block computer systems, demanding a ransom from a user or an organisation to unlock them.
During the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, organisers reported 450 million such operations, twice as many as during the 2012 London Olympics.
Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Marie-Rose Bruno, director of technology and information systems for the Paris Games, had said he expected “eight to 10 times more” cyber attacks than those seen at the Games in Tokyo.
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New talks surface for sale of The Telegraph
Three months after the failed takeover of The Telegraph by Abu Dhabi-backed group Redbird IMI, the right-wing British daily finds itself at the centre of fierce negotiations to find a new owner.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that a bid led by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi — in which ex-prime minister and former Telegraph correspondent Boris Johnson could play a role — has made it onto a shortlist of potential buyers.
Speculation includes Johnson being made global editor-in-chief of the paper.
The newspaper, widely considered the “Tory bible” for the Conservatives who were in power for ten years until last month, also reported a competing offer was made by hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, who also owns media group Unherd and right-wing TV channel GB News.
His bid is backed by American billionaire and Republican Ken Griffin, of Citadel hedge fund, a source close to Griffin confirmed to AFP.
The Financial Times, citing sources close to the process, reported that an offer by UK media group National World was also under consideration.
The sale process is expected to continue into September, according to the FT, which would make it a year since the Telegraph and the Spectator — also part of the media group up for sale — have had an owner.
Founded in 1855 and owned since 2004 by the Barclay family, the Telegraph was put up for sale last October by British bank Lloyds to pay off debts of around £1.2 billion pounds (1.4 billion euros).
A joint venture by American company Redbird and the UAE’s media investment fund (IMI), dubbed Redbird IMI, struck a deal with Barclays at the end of 2023 to pay off its debt, which was completed last December, in exchange for control of media group.
However, the prospective takeover by an Emirati-backed fund raised serious concerns about press freedom, spooking the then-Tory government and press freedom activists.
Redbird IMI is majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice president of UAE and owner of Manchester City Football Club.
It is run by former CNN president Jeff Zucker who had said that Mansour would be a “passive investor” and that the takeover was “American-led”.
The group dropped the controversial bid at the end of April and is now trying to recover its funds.
Redbird IMI and The Telegraph did not immediately respond to AFP’s requests for comment.
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Thousands cancel trips in Japan after megaquake alert
Japan’s unprecedented megaquake advisory has prompted thousands of hotel cancellations in areas flagged as high-risk, dealing businesses a heavy blow in what would have been one of the busiest seasons, hoteliers said Tuesday.
The weather agency said last week a huge earthquake was more likely in the aftermath of a magnitude 7.1 jolt in the south on Thursday, which left at least 15 people injured.
The advisory, the first of its kind, doesn’t mean a colossal tremor is imminent, but that the risk of such an event has now been elevated, if still low, authorities have said.
Subject to the warning is the so-called “Nankai Trough” 800-kilometre (500-mile) undersea zone that runs from Shizuoka, west of Tokyo, to the southern tip of Kyushu island.
In western Kochi, among the regions projected to be hit hardest, at least 9,400 people have cancelled their hotel bookings since the alert was issued last week, according to a local hotel union.
The cancellations covering the period August 9 to 18, amount to a loss of around 140 million yen ($948,000) in revenue, Susumu Nishitani, a union representative told AFP.
The warning coincided with Japan’s annual “obon” holiday, a busy season for tourism businesses when many Japanese visit their hometowns and pay respects to ancestors.
“Normally all hotels and inns in our city would be fully booked at this time of the year”, Nishitani said.
Thousands more cancellations are expected in the neighbouring Matsuyama city’s Dogo Onsen, one of the hot springs believed to have inspired animation studio Ghibli’s globally-acclaimed film “Spirited Away”, public broadcaster NHK said.
The megaquake advisory is set to be lifted on Thursday this week if no abnormalities in seismic activity are detected, local media have reported.
“It is our slight hope that new reservations will start trickling in once the warning is lifted,” Nishitani said.
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Earth hit by ‘severe’ solar storm
The Earth was hit Monday by an intense solar storm that could bring the northern lights to night skies further south than normal, a US agency announced.
Conditions of a level-four geomagnetic storm — on a scale of five — were observed Monday from 1500 GMT, according to a specialized center at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
These conditions may persist for several hours, but were not expected to increase further in intensity, NOAA added in a statement.
“A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen faintly as far south as Alabama and northern California,” NOAA said in a statement, referring to US states.
The new solar storm is caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are explosions of particles leaving the Sun. When these particles arrive on Earth, they disrupt its magnetic field.
“There are a lot of auroras now… If it lasts until nightfall here, we might be able to see some,” Eric Lagadec, an astrophysicist at the Cote d’Azur Observatory in France, said on X.
On Sunday, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick published on X a superb photo of the aurora borealis — or Northern Lights — taken from the International Space Station, where he is currently stationed.
But solar or geomagnetic storms can also trigger undesirable effects.
For example, they can degrade high-frequency communications, disrupt satellites, and cause overloads on the electricity grid. Operators of sensitive infrastructure have been notified to put in place measures to limit these effects, NOAA said.
In May, the planet went through the most powerful geomagnetic storms recorded in 20 years. They caused auroras to light up the night sky in the United States, Europe, and Australia, at much lower latitudes than usual.
This type of event has increased recently because the Sun is currently close to its peak activity, as per its 11-year cycle.
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Fauci Says He’s Infected With COVID For Third Time After Being Vaccinated And Boosted Six Times
Anthony Fauci recently revealed that he contracted COVID for the third time, despite being vaccinated and boosted a total of six times.
He said this in an exclusive video interview with Jeremy Faust, MD, editor-in-chief of MedPage Today.
Former NIAID Director Fauci talks about masking, his third time COVID infection, and more
Fauci, MD, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), discussed the differences between COVID and other viruses and his masking preferences.
Fauci said that, unfortunately, we’ve been living through his worst nightmare with COVID. However, it’s not as severe now, even though the virus is still around. Most people, including over 90% in the U.S., have had multiple infections or been vaccinated and boosted. So even if you get infected, the severity is much less than before.
Dr. Fauci has COVID again for the third time and has been vaccinated and boosted six times
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 12, 2024
“I got infected about 2 weeks ago. It was my third infection, and I had been vaccinated and boosted a total of six times. It was a very, very mild infection.”
He added: “I’m 83 years old. I would think that if I were naïve immunologically, this thing could have killed me. But it didn’t even make me significantly ill. A little sniffles, a little sinusitis, and a fever, and then it was over.”
Fauci advised that if you’re in a high-risk category, you should take COVID seriously. While you don’t need to isolate yourself completely, it’s important to wear a mask in crowded, enclosed spaces, he suggested.
For example, if you’re an 85-year-old with chronic lung disease or a 55-year-old with obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, you should wear a mask indoors, regardless of current recommendations.
“So I wear a mask under certain circumstances. I avoid as much as possible crowded spaces, and I get regularly boosted,” the former NIAID Director shared.
Fauci discusses HIV and Flu antivirals and why effective treatments matter for chronic and acute infections
He explained that COVID-19 and influenza are distinct viruses with different patterns of illness. For viruses like these, where most people recover on their own without antiviral treatment, the need for highly effective antivirals is less urgent compared to HIV.
“[HIV] is a chronic infection, which if you don’t get a really good antiviral, the patient is not going to do well at all. Whereas if you get a really good antiviral, you completely transform the life of a person,” he said.
Fauci claimed that if we had an antiviral as effective as some HIV treatments, it would make a huge difference. He gave the example of Paxlovid. While its impact isn’t as dramatic now for those who’ve had multiple infections and vaccines, it was a lifesaver for people who were new to COVID, he stated.
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Ukrainian troops hold 1,000 square kilometres of Russia: military chief
This is a developing story.. check back for updates.
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Ukrainian deputy energy minister arrested for bribery
A Ukrainian deputy energy minister accused of taking a bribe worth half a million dollars has been arrested along with three alleged accomplices, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service said on Monday. The minister, whom the SBU did not name, allegedly demanded mining industry officials pay him to transfer equipment from mines in the frontline eastern Donetsk […]
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