PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The United Nations Children’s Fund said that about 1.2 million people, including 540,000 children, have been affected by the powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on Aug. 14. Already battered, departments of South, Nippes, and Grand’Anse are now getting drenched by the Tropical Depression Grace, which is further disrupting access to essential services like water and shelter, said United Nations Children’s Fund in a statement. “Magnitude 7.2 #earthquake in Haiti Much damage reported in the South and Grande Anse. Move away from your homes to avoid further shaking. Take care of the children,” tweeted United Nations Children’s Fund Haiti. Flooding and mudslides are likely to worsen the…
Author: zenger.news
AUCKLAND, New Zealand — A nationwide lockdown has been announced by Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, after the country confirmed its first locally transmitted Covid-19 case since February 2021. Ardern, addressing a press conference on Aug. 17, said that the authorities assumed it was the contagious Delta variant, although genome sequencing is still underway. “New Zealand will be under the strictest level lockdown level for the next three days starting from 11:59 pm Aug.17 (local time),” Ardern said. She said that everyone must stay home under level four lockdown, and businesses are closed aside for essential services such as supermarkets…
Algiers, Algeria — Rising Covid-19 cases have overwhelmed hospitals across Algeria, many of which have run out of medical oxygen or beds in intensive care units for the rising number of patients. As of August 16, 2021, the country had recorded 187,258 cases with 4,794 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. “Between July 24-30, we received 230 patients at the Oran EHU (Oran University Hospital) seeking treatment and oxygen, while 22 other critically ill patients succumbed to the virus,” Lellou Salah, a professor at the university, told Zenger News. “Our establishment cannot accommodate more than 200 patients, and it is full.…
KOLKATA, India — Partha Paul, 46, a self-employed businessman in Kolkata’s packaging industry, woke up to a new reality during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India. “I supply packaging materials for garments and other apparel, and there was a robust demand for my products before the pandemic,” Paul told Zenger News. “However, from last year, I have been forced to sell my products on credit, and seldom do I get timely cash payments.” Even then, the INR 2 lakh ($2,685) worth of products that he sold since 2020 is less than what he sold in the years preceding…
ACCRA, Ghana — All his life, Solomon Quao Kummey, 72, from Nungua in the Greater Accra region in Ghana, had never participated in an anti-government demonstration. But on Aug. 4, aided by a walking stick, he joined thousands of young people in the capital Accra protesting the country’s alleged “bad” leadership. “This is an opportunity I have been waiting for the past 12 years [since retiring from the civil service],” Kummey told Zenger News. “The time has arrived for me to stand with the youth and to tell them that time has come for them to liberate themselves from the economic…
Amid the tragic destruction and displacement caused by wildfires that have blazed through the Jerusalem Hills since Aug. 15, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a memorable photo on Facebook The caption reads: “Israeli & Palestinian firefighters take a lunch break together while battling wildfires near Jerusalem. Thank you to the Palestinian Authority for the cooperation.” Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz took to Twitter to express his thanks to the Palestinian Authority for assisting Israeli firefighters on Tuesday. “Mutual care and saving human lives are common interests to us all,” Gantz tweeted in Arabic, Hebrew and English. By nightfall…
Male chimpanzees that form close relationships with the boss, or other males, are more successful when choosing mates, new research shows. To find out why making friends is important at mating time, researchers at the University of Michigan joined others to study the link between male social relations and mating success by looking at behavioral and genetic data from chimpanzees living in western Tanzania. The researchers examined a group of chimps that are part of the long-running study begun by the renowned Jane Goodall at Gombe Stream National Park in 1960. They found that males who build strong bonds with…
The devastating floods that hit northern Turkey last week have claimed 78 lives, according to officials. Terrifying footage shows floodwater gushing down streets, obliterating the roads. One of the areas most affected by the flood was the district of Bozkurt in Kastamonu Province. At one point, video shows the water pushing a large white car a few feet as Sumeyra Ergin Felek, who lives in Bozkurt, films the flood engulfing the city from a neighboring building. She can be heard screaming as people try and escape the car as water reaches the doors. The video also shows the wreckage of…
The elderly population appears to be more vulnerable to COVID-19, and vaccines are less effective in protecting them. A new study explains why. For her doctoral thesis under the guidance of immunology professor Doron Melamed, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology graduate student Reem Dowery explored the aging process of the immune system and ways of rejuvenating it. Findings appear in the journal Blood. Dowery explained that immune system cells called memory B lymphocytes are responsible for long-term production of effective antibodies. They form in response to a new pathogen such as a virus. Subsequent exposures to that pathogen trigger an accelerated…
Achaeologists say mummified remains, including hair, bones and an ear, are one of the best-preserved skeletons ever found in the ancient city of Pompeii. The remains found at the necropolis of Porta Sarno are identified as those of Marcus Venerius Secundio, a public slave and custodian of the Temple of Venus who later was freed and joined priests dedicated to the imperial cult, according to a press release from the Pompeii website. Cult members regarded emperors as gods. A marble slab on the tomb has a commemorative inscription to Secundio, who was believed to have been older than 60, and…