Day: August 31, 2022

The U.N. weather agency is predicting that the phenomenon known as La Nina is poised to last through the end of this year, a mysterious “triple dip” — the first this century — caused by three straight years of its effect on climate patterns like drought and flooding worldwide.

The World Meteorological Organization on Wednesday said La Nina conditions, which involve a large-scale cooling of ocean surface temperatures, have strengthened in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific with an increase in trade winds in recent weeks.

The agency’s top official was quick to caution that the “triple dip” doesn’t mean global warming is easing.

“It is exceptional to have three consecutive years with a La Nina event. Its cooling influence is temporarily slowing the rise in global temperatures, but it will not halt or reverse the long-term warming trend,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said.

La Nina is a natural and cyclical cooling of parts of the equatorial Pacific that changes weather patterns worldwide, as opposed to warming caused by the better-known El Nino — an opposite phenomenon. La Nina often leads to more Atlantic hurricanes, less rain and more wildfires in the western United States, and agricultural losses in the central U.S.

Studies have shown La Nina is more expensive to the United States than the El Nino.

Together El Nino, La Nina and the neutral condition are called ENSO, which stands for El Nino Southern Oscillation, and they have one of the largest natural effects on climate, at times augmenting and other times dampening the big effects of human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas, scientists say.

Source: Voice of America

The flight crews at one of Taiwan’s main airline carriers have voiced frustration about continued COVID-19 policies that require them to adhere to some of the strictest quarantine and testing requirements in the world.

The policies remain in place even as other parts of the world loosen pandemic restrictions and adapt to a “new normal.”

Upon arrival at destinations overseas, pilots and cabin crews from China Airlines must be taken directly to their hotel rooms and provided with room key cards that work only once — when they leave and embark on their next flights.

One pilot for China Airlines, who wished to remain anonymous, told VOA he was “frustrated” with the current conditions.

“It’s really affected [me]. Whenever I went to work, I felt so frustrated … it means I can’t go home for a period of time, and [I’m] also very tired, because I need to continuously [go] back and forth to Taipei and the U.S. or Europe. So, I have to adjust myself, try to sleep more and be more positive. [Being] stuck in a tiny room for long is really uncomfortable, but I still have to get used to it,” he said.

The first officer has worked for the airline for nearly eight years, and he flies both long- and short-haul trips each month. He said the restrictions were worse in the beginning of the pandemic, as pilots were forced to wear goggles, gloves and face masks while on duty, as well as facing quarantine for seven days. And because of the quick turnaround of a pilot flying both domestically and internationally, the pilot described how he was in a constant loop of being quarantined.

“There [was] a period of time we couldn’t quarantine at home, only in the hotel, so I’ve been 22 days and [still can’t] go home,” he said.

Today, the rules for vaccinated flight crews have since been relaxed slightly, removing the necessity of home quarantine in Taiwan. But when pilots and crews go abroad, they are still restricted from leaving their hotel rooms.

“At out stations, we still can’t go out. We only [can] stay in the room, until our pickup time for the next flight. It’s really unhealthy, [I] watch TV, read and sleep all day. I’ll do some workouts, too, and order Uber Eats, but that’s it,” the pilot added, referring to the food delivery service provided by Uber.

Rule change

A local pilots union in Taiwan is now seeking the loosening of some restrictions.

The Pilots Union Taoyuan, which represents nearly half of all pilots working for Taiwan’s airlines, has called the measures “outdated” and is requesting that the Taiwan government ease the strict controls.

The head of the union, Lee Hsin-yen, referred to an in-house survey that found most of the member pilots who have had the coronavirus caught it in Taiwan, the news website Focus Taiwan reported.

VOA has requested a comment from the Civil Aeronautics Administration in Taiwan but has not yet received a reply.

Cabin crews

Cabin crews also have vented their discontent about the rules and said following the restrictions is like being in prison.

A woman calling herself Shirley, who didn’t want to be identified, is a cabin crew member at China Airlines and said she has worked there for nearly seven years.

“The rules are: We are not allowed to leave our room; crews got one-time-use key card, or [the] hotel monitors us via [closed-circuit television] to make sure there’s no crew [leaving] their room. And we’re also not allow to have any contact with locals,” she told VOA.

She said that in pre-pandemic times, cabin crew members would often go shopping, have coffee or enjoy the summertime when overseas.

“That’s how crew members [would] release their stress,” she said.

Today, with the prolonged restrictions, she said, the flight crews in Taiwan are being treated unfairly in comparison to those in the rest of the world.

“In the beginning of the COVID, all these rules seemed to make sense. Nowadays, more and more countries open their borders. It feels like we [are] behind bars when we are in another country, because we can’t go anywhere. When we have [a] layover flight, the only place we can go is on the plane and hotel room. And it seems like the lockdown is endless,” she said.

Taiwan tourism

As the rest of the world is returning to pre-pandemic travel norms, Taiwan is currently closed to overseas tourists. Only residents and business travelers can enter Taiwan, but they must quarantine for three nights, followed by four days in self-health control. This means they are prohibited from visiting public venues or meeting groups of people.

It is an example of how concerns about the infection still linger in East Asia, with parts of the region slow to reopen travel to the world. The trend seems to be gradually changing, as Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan have all opened their respective borders recently for visitors, each with specific measures in place.

Gary Bowerman, an Asia travel analyst, told VOA that Taiwan’s cautious approach is soon going to affect its goals to boost tourism.

“Taiwan is talking about a phased reopening beginning with tour groups from Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea. This is a cautious strategy, which some Southeast Asian countries tried initially. As Southeast Asian countries discovered over the past year, it is only when full border reopenings are activated, and pre-flight and on-arrival testing and restrictions are removed, that travelers gain the confidence to visit in larger numbers,” he said.

With a population of more than 23 million, despite keeping infections low at the beginning of the pandemic, Taiwan is now reporting upward of 25,000 domestic cases daily. Vaccination numbers are high, with 85% of the population inoculated, according to the website Our World in Data.

Source: Voice of America

Huambo – UNITA in central Huambo province reiterated Wednesday its commitment to strengthening democracy, consolidation of peace and political stability.

The party’s commitment was expressed by its deputy secretary in Huambo province, Eduardo Ndumba Delfino, during a press conference, in reaction to the final results of the August 24 elections released by the National Electoral Commission (CNE).

He said that UNITA will continue to reinforce actions aimed at consolidating unity, political and social stability.

He praised the patriotic, civic and orderly attitude of the people during August 24 general elections, underlining that democracy, as a “work in permanent construction, will need volunteer workers united in principles, values and open to the country”.

Eduardo Ndumba Delfino said that although UNITA is not in agreement with the results released on the 29th, it hopes that the militants will remain calm and serene, while waiting for the “restore of transparency”.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The United States of America (US) on Tuesday highlighted the broad participation of Angolans in the elections on 24 August.

“We look forward to working together on a path to a safer, more secure and prosperous Angola for all. We will continue to monitor the electoral process closely”, reads the statement posted on the US State Department´s website.

On the note, the US calls on politicians to express themselves in a peaceful manner and to settle any complaints according to the legal procedures applicable to Angolan law.

According to the definitive results published by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), MPLA won with 51.17% corresponding to 209.429 votes, thus confirming the re-election of its candidate, João Lourenço and gaining 124 parliamentary seats.

The largest opposition party, UNITA, conquered 43.95% (2.756.786 votes), thus winning 90 parliamentary seats, while the PRS, with its federalism banner only got 1,14% (71,351 votes, 2 MPs), the same as the historical FNLA 1,06% (66,337 votes, 2 MPs) and PHA with 1,02% (63,749 votes, 2 MPs).

The coalition CASA-CE got 0.76% (47,446 votes), APN 0.48%(30,139 votes) and P-NJANGO with 0.42% (26,867 votes), as consuequence they did not manage to win a single seat in the National Assembly (parliament).

Source: Angola Press News Agency

The newly appointed National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) board toured Taita Taveta County this month for a boots-on-ground experience and promised to prioritize environmental protection among artisanal miners.

Led by the NEMA’s incoming Chairperson, Mr. Eric Wagithuku Mungai, the board was awed by the county’s riches in natural resources but cited a lack of policy for protecting the environment as an impediment that could derail success in the small-scale mining sector.

“We’re awestruck by the natural riches endowed to this county. However, we cannot close our eyes to the issues of protecting nature. There’s no proactive framework to protect the environment and I think that’s where our work as a board will start,” said Mungai.

The chair emphasized that the tour was necessary as the incoming board would want to take head on the environmental challenges occasioned by mining activities and create a sustainable avenue for social prosperity and economic development in the county and country.

“We want to go to the office knowing the challenges on the ground and come up with practical solutions to the environmental challenges from mining activities. We aim to create a sector that is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable,” added the chairperson.

Small-scale miners at Kamtonga and Mkuki mines in Mwatate Sub-County are confronted by environmental hazards such as sinkholes, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and water and soil contamination that put their lives at risk according to Oscar Mwangola, the mining manager at Kamtonga mine.

“Every day is a walk of faith for the miners as they face a plethora of environmental hazards. We’re dealing with the risks of soil and water contamination and biodiversity loss,” said Mwangola.

Being small-scale miners, a majority of the players in the mining sector in Taita Taveta are financially constrained and cannot have robust projects to protect against environmental degradation.

The lack of forthcoming support from stakeholders has doomed any efforts to have proactive measures to limit and reverse the damage done to the environment during mining activities.

“Most of the miners here do it on a small scale basis; thus, do not have the financial muscles to put up comprehensive environmental protection measures. Lack of support by the key players has worsened the situation here,” said Mwangola.

Taking note of the challenges, NEMA’s chairperson of the technical committee, Charles Mulila assured the miners of renewed efforts to help them conserve nature and a raft of other measures to not only make their activities safe but also conserve the environment for the future generation.

“We’re now aware of the specific challenges you face here. We will act on them to ensure that you’re not only safe but the environment is conserved for generations to come,” said Mulila.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Following an on-sight assessment by a team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Influenza Laboratory of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) has been recognized as a World Health Organization (WHO) National Influenza Centre (NIC) and joined the WHO global influenza surveillance network. The on-site assessment was performed by a WHO team composed of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) Lead, a technical specialist from the WHO Regional Office for Africa, and a laboratory coordinator from the WHO Ethiopia Country Office.

The Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) was founded in 1952 as a worldwide network to protect people from the threat of influenza through effective collaboration and sharing of viruses, data and benefits based on Member States’ commitment to a global public health model. To date, including the National Influenza Centre of Ethiopia, 155 institutions in 125 countries are recognized by WHO as part of the GISRS. These GISRS-member centres collect specimens in their country, perform primary virus isolation and preliminary antigenic characterization and they ship newly isolated strains to regional WHO collaborating centres for antigenic and genetic analysis.

The assessment mission recognized the National Influenza Centre as a full member of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) after evaluating its status against the WHO NIC Terms of Reference using a standardized assessment tool. The recommendations of the assessment will help the country to further strengthen the centre by identifying, prioritizing and undertaking capacity building activities, including training. It will also be useful for advocacy for funds, supplies and other resources to meet the needs of the National Influenza Centre.

National influenza centres in the WHO African Region play a key role in influenza surveillance at the national level and participate in regional and global surveillance through the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System by contributing to the implementation of the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework and International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005.

Since 2016, the WHO Regional Office for Africa has been supporting the strengthening of influenza surveillance in several countries in the region. Ethiopia has benefited from this support and has established sentinel sites in the country for epidemiological and virological surveillance of influenza.

The National Influenza Laboratory, which is a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL 2) facility, was established in 2008 with the primary purpose of serving as a virology lab for influenza and other respiratory viruses, and was exclusively designated as an influenza centre of EPHI in 2018. The Lab served as the first national laboratory to process COVID-19 specimens during the early days of the pandemic and continues to provide the service alongside other national and regional laboratories.

The laboratory has been contributing to the regional influenza network and to GISRS by sharing clinical specimens with the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control of Influenza in Atlanta. The laboratory has also regularly participated in the WHO GISRS External Quality Assurance Project on the detection of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses by PCR, registering good performance. The laboratory continues to produce and share regular reports on influenza surveillance data to WHO which are published in the bi-weekly influenza update .

The team recommended Ethiopia to continue to contribute to regional and global influenza surveillance, enhancing its involvement in GISRS by increasing shipping of influenza positive specimens to a WHO collaborating centre for candidate influenza vaccine selection four times a year, to continue regular reporting of influenza surveillance data to WHO and to maintain participation in the annual WHO GISRS external quality assurance programme.

WHO and the WHO Collaborating Centres for Influenza are committed to continue to provide technical advice, assistance, influenza reagents and training to the National Influenza Centre.

Source: World Health Organization. Africa