Covid: WHO to investigate virus origins in China’s Wuhan

A team of 10 international scientists will travel to the Chinese city of Wuhan next month to investigate the origins of Covid-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

China has not opposed an independent investigation, although the WHO has been negotiating for access to the city for a number of months.

The virus is thought to have come from a market in the city selling animals.

But the search for the source has led to tensions, notably with the US.

President Donald Trump’s administration has accused China of trying to conceal the initial outbreak.

A biologist on the team travelling to Wuhan told the Associated Press news agency that the WHO was not seeking to apportion blame, but rather to prevent future outbreaks.

“It’s really not about finding a guilty country,” Fabian Leendertz of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute said.

“It’s about trying to understand what happened and then see if, based on those data, we can try to reduce the risk in the future.”

Dr Leendertz said the aim was to find out when the virus began circulating and whether or not it originated in Wuhan.

The mission was expected to last four or five weeks, he added.

Where and when was the virus first detected?

In the early days of the virus, it was traced to a so-called “wet market” in Wuhan, Hubei province, and it was suggested that this was where it made the leap from animals to humans.

But experts now believe it may simply have been amplified there.

Research suggests that coronaviruses capable of infecting humans may have been circulating undetected in bats for decades.

Last December, a Chinese doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital – Li Wenliang – tried to warn fellow medics about a possible outbreak of a new disease, but was told by police to “stop making false comments” and was investigated for “spreading rumours”.

Dr Li died in February after contracting the virus while treating patients in the city.

In April, suspicions and allegations emerged that the virus might have leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.

US State Department cables came to light suggesting that embassy officials were worried about biosecurity there.

The office of the US national intelligence director said at the time that while the virus was not man-made or genetically modified, officials were investigating whether the outbreak began through contact with animals or through a laboratory accident.

Recent reports in Chinese media have suggested that Covid-19 could have started outside China.

But analysts say the reports are without foundation, and the campaign reflects anxiety within the leadership in Beijing about damage to the country’s international reputation from the pandemic

BBC UK has agreed to term the recently held fashion week at Dakar, Senegal as “The The catwalk in a baobab forest”

Organisers of this year’s Dakar Fashion Week have a message for the world: sustainability is in style.

Forced by coronavirus restrictions to hold the show outside, models emerged beside the trunk of an ancient baobab tree to stride down the catwalk.

The event, held at the weekend in Senegal’s capital with the theme of environmental responsibility, featured 20 designers whose collections – both those on the runway and sold in boutiques – have long been handmade on the continent rather than mass produced in factories.

“A lot of the designers had already been doing ‘slow fashion’ but they didn’t know it,” said Adama Ndiaye, founder of Dakar Fashion Week and the designer behind Adama Paris.

“It’s made here and it’s not made in huge quantities. We were so ashamed of that for years but now we are proud of it. This is luxury.”

In what has become known as “fast fashion”, consumers, most notably in the West, are buying and discarding clothes at an alarming rate, causing industry-related pollution to soar.

The average number of times a garment is worn before it is discarded has decreased by 36% over the last 15 years, according to a 2017 report by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation.

Each year, the production and dying of materials consumes about 100 million tonnes of non-renewable resources and emits vast amounts of greenhouse gases, the report states.

In 2015 alone, carbon emissions from textile production totalled more than that of all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

Furthermore, the toxic chemicals released from the dyeing and treatment of textiles is responsible for 20% of global industrial water pollution.

The majority of the fabric used at this year’s Dakar Fashion Week, though assembled in Africa, was imported from abroad. Even wax fabrics are typically manufactured in China and Europe.

“We don’t make everything here, so we can’t create a collection that’s 100% Senegalese,” said Ndiaye, whose line used imported material from Thailand.

“But at least we took the initiative to do certain things.”

Saturday’s show, in keeping with the environmental theme, took place in a field of baobabs.

But the ambiance was undercut by stacks of plastic water bottles as well as umbrellas, mats and posters emblazoned with the logo of Kirene bottled water, which sponsored the event.

Kirene bottles are a ubiquitous sight along Dakar’s streets and coastline, which are notoriously engulfed in plastic waste.

But Ndiaye said she needed the financial backing and the company has pledged to create a recycling programme.

“For me to even be able to talk about sustainability I have to have support, because all of this costs money,” she said.

Bel Jacobs, co-founder of Fashion Act Now, a campaign group born out of Extinction Rebellion, said Dakar Fashion Week should be recognised for engaging in a conversation around sustainability and overconsumption

#naijapremiungist

Afghanistan: Kabul deputy governor killed in ‘sticky bomb’ attack on car

The deputy governor of the Afghan capital, Kabul, has been killed in a “sticky bomb” attack, security officials say.

Mahboobullah Mohebi and his secretary both died on Tuesday when a device attached to their car exploded.

No group has yet said it was behind the attack.

It is the latest in a spate of killings. Also on Tuesday, a deputy provincial council member died after a similar attack in Ghor province.

Journalists, activists and other political figures have been targeted in recent weeks.

The capital has also been hit by rockets twice this month, and recently saw attacks on educational centres, including a massacre of students at a university. The Islamic State group said it had carried out the student killings and one of the rocket attacks.

Several recent attacks on individuals have used so-called “sticky bombs”, attached to vehicles by magnets.

Afghan news channel Tolo TV reported that two of Mr Mohebi’s security guards were also injured in Tuesday’s attack.

Violence involving the Taliban has also continued despite peace talks between the group and Afghan officials in Doha, Qatar.

The negotiations, which have seen some progress on preliminary issues, have now been paused until January.

The two sides are yet to begin discussing a ceasefire or power-sharing arrangement.media captionIs peace with the Taliban possible?

Last month the US announced plans to withdraw 2,000 troops from the country by mid-January.

The decision was criticised amid concerns that a sharp and speedy reduction of troops would weaken the Afghan government’s ability to deal with a resurgence of the Taliban and other militant groups.

Many analysts fear the Afghan army is not strong enough to fight a continued insurgency on its own.

Japan ‘Twitter killer’ Takahiro Shiraishi sentenced to death

A man who murdered nine people after contacting them on Twitter has been sentenced to death, in a high-profile case that has shocked Japan.

Takahiro Shiraishi, dubbed the “Twitter killer”, was arrested in 2017 after body parts were found in his flat.

The 30-year-old had admitted to murdering and dismembering his victims – almost all of whom were young women he met on the social media platform.

The serial killings triggered debate over how suicide is discussed online.

More than 400 people turned up to watch the verdict on Tuesday, despite the court only having 16 seats available for the public, reported local media.

Public support for the death penalty remains high in Japan, one of the few developed nations to retain capital punishment.

How did he find his victims?

Shiraishi used Twitter to lure suicidal women to his home, saying he could help them die and, in some cases, claimed he would kill himself alongside them.

He strangled and dismembered eight women and one man aged 15 to 26 between August and October 2017, said Japan’s Kyodo news agency, citing the indictment.

The serial killings first came to light on Halloween that year when police found dismembered body parts in Shiraishi’s flat in the Japanese city of Zama, near Tokyo.

Japanese media called it the “house of horrors” after investigators discovered nine heads along with a large number of arm and leg bones stashed in coolers and tool boxes.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty for Shiraishi, who admitted to killing and butchering his victims.

But Shiraishi’s lawyers argued that he was guilty of the lesser charge of “murder with consent”, claiming his victims had given their permission to be killed.

Shiraishi later disputed his own defence team’s version of events, and said he killed without their consent.

On Tuesday, the judge who delivered the verdict said that “none of the victims agreed to be killed”.

“The defendant was found to be fully responsible,” said Naokuni Yano, reported The Straits Times newspaper.

The father of one victim, aged 25, told the court last month that he “will never forgive Shiraishi even if he dies”, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK

“Even now, when I see a woman of my daughter’s age, I mistake her for my daughter. This pain will never go away. Give her back to me,” he had said.

The killings stunned Japan, triggering fresh debate about websites where suicide is discussed. At the time the government indicated it may introduce new regulations.

The murders also prompted a change by Twitter, which amended its rules to state users should not “promote or encourage suicide or self-harm

Proverbs, according to the late sage China Achebe, remain the palm oil that is used to eat yam. Proverbs cannot be detached from any community in Nigeria.

It is so interesting to know that in Nigeria, apart from proverbs in the indigenous languages, English language and Pidgin have also enjoyed being used to compose proverbs.

naijapremiumgist makes a list a of interesting proverbs

PIDGIN ENGLISH PROVERBS

Chop this man money, chop that man money, na so ashawo dey start.

Feel at home, feel at home, na so visitor take dey spoil television.

Person wey belle full today, go hungry tomorrow.

Lean on me, lean on me, no mean say make you suffocate me.

Bring Suya, bring Suya, na cow body dey suffer am.

Life be like standing fan. E blow you small, e blow your neighbour small.

Jollof Rice wey dey bottom pot today, go dey for top of cooler tomorrow.

Do you know who I am, do you know who I am, na so traffic dey take start.

Akara and moin moin get the same parents. Na wetin dem pass through make them different.

No be who first call Police dey win the case.

Monkey smart, monkey smart, na because tree near tree.

I dey shame, I dey shame, na so person take dey die in silence.

E no get as e be wey e never be before.

Person wey dey chop egg no know say yansh dey pepper fowl.

No food for lazy man no be for pikin wey im mama dey sell food.

This one good, that one good, na im make mad man load plenty.

When money dey, friend go dey. When money go, friend go go.

Fly wey no dey hear word na im dey follow dead body enter grave.

Use rope tie goat, tie goat rope, na the same thing.

The difference between Kpekere and plantain chips na packaging.

No be today yansh dey back.

You see “thank you”, you dey find “very much”.

Na village wey native doctor know e dey disappear.

No matter the size of elephant, e no fit cause earthquake.

When breeze blow, fowl yansh go open.

Pikin wey hide cane wey dey for house forget say bush near.

Cow wey rush go abroad go come back as corn beef.

Na the same hot water wey dey make egg hard dey make Potato soft.

Khaki no be leather.

You no go call goat brother just because you wan chop goat meat.

E go land, e go land, na im make butterfly take enter bush.

Na footballer wey ball dey im leg camera dey follow

To craze no hard, na to trek be the wahala.

Na from clap dance dey start.

Monkey no fine, monkey no fine but im mama like am.

Sun too hot no mean say fowl go lay boiled egg

Escort me, escort me, na im slave trade take start.

Temper hot, temper hot but e no still fit boil beans.

I no gree, I no gree, na im dey tear shirt.

Dog wey go lost no dey hear hunter whistle.

Na pikin wey no know im mama boyfriend dey call am brother.

Cow wey no get tail na God dey help am pursue fly.

Person wey dey cry dey see road.

Na person wey wear shoe know where e dey pain am.

Dem no dey tell blind man say rain dey fall.

Second hand suit no dey get trouser.

Pikin wey say im mama no go sleep, no go take im eye sleep.

It’s a small world no mean say you go fit trek am.

Na man wey dey reason dey scratch im beards.

Say you chop egg no mean say you don chop full chicken.

Money no dey today, money go dey tomorrow.

Dem no dey find black goat for midnight.

Cunny man die, cunny man bury am.

Na condition make crayfish bend.

I get am before, no be property.

Person wey dey ask question no dey lost.

Who dey cut pepper no dey scratch blokus.

Na sleep dem take dey test die.

E never finish o.

Google applications including YouTube, email and Docs have suffered a rare service outage, with users unable to access many of the company’s services.

The outage started shortly before noon UK time, lasting more than half an hour before services were restored.

Users around the world reported problems with Gmail, Google Drive, the Android Play Store, Maps and more.

Google’s search engine, however, remained unaffected by the problems affecting its other services.

The brief outage had a significant impact on the company’s millions of users, many of whom rely on Google services for basic work apps such as email and calendars.

Users of Google Docs could continue to work if they had synced documents offline but were unable to use any online features.

The outage also affected Google-connected smart devices such as Home speakers – leading some users to complain on social media of being unable to switch off some lights in their homes

Senior members of the Trump administration will be among the first people to be vaccinated against coronavirus in the US, officials say.

The officials said some White House staffers are expected to be given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine this week.

But on Sunday, President Donald Trump said early vaccinations would only be offered in specific cases.

The vaccine offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 and was deemed safe by US regulators on Friday.

The first three million doses of the vaccine are currently being distributed to dozens of locations in all 50 states across the US.

The first shipment of those doses left a facility in Michigan on Sunday, with health workers and the elderly in line to receive the first shots as early as Monday.

Coronavirus deaths have been rising sharply since November in the US, with a world-record daily increase of 3,309 reported on Saturday.

But the vaccine’s roll-out has been framed as a turning point in the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken the lives of almost 300,000 people in the US.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said its emergency-use authorisation of the vaccine, announced on Friday, was a “significant milestone” in the pandemic, after coming under intense pressure from the Trump administration to approve the jab.

A mass inoculation drive using doses of the same vaccine has already begun in the UK. The Pfizer vaccine has received regulatory approval in Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as well.

Who will get the first vaccines in the White House?

Some of the first vaccines will be reserved for those who work in close proximity to Mr Trump, officials said told several US media outlets.

But eventually the vaccines will be offered to officials across all three branches of government, including the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court.

One unnamed official told Reuters news agency the vaccinations will ensure the government can “continue essential operations, without interruption”.

The vaccination plan, first reported by the New York Times, was confirmed by National Security Council (NSC) spokesman John Ullyot on Sunday.

One aim of the programme was to build public confidence in the vaccine, he said.

“The American people should have confidence that they are receiving the same safe and effective vaccine as senior officials of the United States government on the advice of public health professionals and national security leadership,” Mr Ullyot said.

Later on Sunday, Mr Trump clarified in a tweet that “people working in the White House should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the programme, unless specifically necessary”.

Mr Trump, who contracted coronavirus in November and recovered after treatment in hospital, added: “I am not scheduled to take the vaccine, but look forward to doing so at the appropriate time.”

There have been a number of coronavirus outbreaks in the White House, with several senior staffers and officials testing positive for the disease.

It was not clear if President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and members of their team would be offered early vaccinations.

How does the vaccine work?

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first coronavirus jab to show promising results in the latter stages of its testing process.

It is a new type called an mRNA vaccine that uses a tiny fragment of genetic code from the pandemic virus to teach the body how to fight Covid-19 and build immunity.

“The vaccine contains a small piece of the [Covid-19] virus’s mRNA that instructs cells in the body to make the virus’s distinctive ‘spike’ protein,” the FDA said.

“When a person receives this vaccine, their body produces copies of the spike protein, which does not cause disease, but triggers the immune system to learn to react defensively, producing an immune response against [Covid-19].”

The vaccine is given as two injections, 21 days apart, with the second dose being a booster. Immunity begins to kick in after the first dose but reaches its full effect seven days after the second dose.

The vaccine must be stored at ultra-low temperatures, which makes distribution difficult. Special shipping containers that use dry ice will be used to transport frozen vials direct to the point of vaccination, Pfizer says.

The pharmaceutical company has agreed a deal to supply the US with 100 million doses of the vaccine by March.

An additional 200 million doses of a second vaccine, developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, will be provided by June. However this vaccine is still seeking approval in the US.

People must think “really carefully” about the risk of more social contact over Christmas, NHS bosses have warned.

“I don’t want to be the Grinch who stole Christmas,” said Chris Hopson, the head of NHS Providers.

But he pointed out that the US saw “record numbers” of cases and deaths after the Thanksgiving holiday – and said the NHS was worried about January.

The government’s Dominic Raab said people needed the five-day relaxation of Covid rules on “an emotional level”.

Meanwhile, the chances of the Oxford University vaccine being rolled out by the end of the year are “pretty high”, the vaccine’s architect Prof Sarah Gilbert has told the BBC.

A further 18,447 cases were recorded across the UK on Sunday, along with another 144 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

The number of deaths recorded tends to be lower over the weekend because of reporting delays.

Between 23 and 27 December, coronavirus restrictions are being relaxed across the UK, allowing three households to form a “bubble” and mix indoors and stay overnight.

But NHS Providers – which represents hospital trusts in England – has written to the PM urging him to “personally lead a better public debate about the risks inherent in the guidance” – although it stopped short of calling for a review of the rules over Christmas.

“There seems to be a sense at the moment that, ‘hey because the government’s put these rules down, there’s no risk to people having more social contact over Christmas’,” Mr Hopson told BBC Breakfast.

“Of course, part of it is about sticking to the rules but any kind of extra social contact over Christmas – particularly with those who are vulnerable to the virus – actually is very risky”