COVID-19: ANGOLA RECORDS 26 NEW CASES, 19 RECOVERIES

The Angolan health authorities Friday announced 26 new cases of Covid-19 and the recovery of 19 patients in the last 24 hours.

According to the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, who was speaking at the updating session, 20 cases were reported in Luanda, five in Huíla and one in Bié.

Amongst the new patients, whose ages range from one to 64 years old, 16 men.

Those recovered, according to Franco Mufinda, eight are residents of Huambo, five in Luanda, three in Bié and the same number in Moxico.

The national data register 20,478 positive cases, 989 of which are active, 498 deaths and 8,991 recovered cases.

Of the active cases, four are critical, six serious, 53 moderate, 62 mild and 864 asymptomatic.

The laboratories processed 1,045 samples by RT-PCR, with a daily positivity rate of 2.5 per cent.

At treatment centres 125 patients are under follow-up, 44 are in institutional quarantine and 1,735 contacts of positive cases are under medical surveillance.

ANGOLA IMPROVES INTERNET ACCESS RANKING

 

The Republic of Angola improved 26 places in the Ranking on Internet Access, going from position 49 to 22, in an analysis of the South African specialised portal "Research ICT Africa (RIA)", referring to the year 2018.

On its website, RIA said that in the latest update, Angola improved another five positions and should soon be ranked 18th when data for the third quarter of 2020 is made available.

Among other factors, the fact that the price of a 1GB 30-day Internet package remains below 5% of the monthly income of an average inhabitant in the 51 countries monitored has contributed to this.

Contributing to this, according to a note from Unitel attesting to the fact, was the depreciation of the local currency, while the price in local currency fell due to price drops.

US wary China’s new coast guard law could escalate sea disputes

State Department says language in the law could be used by Beijing to intimidate its neighbours in the region amid South China Sea tension.

The United States is concerned about China’s recently enacted coast guard law and that it could escalate maritime disputes and be invoked to assert unlawful claims, the US State Department said on Friday.

China, which has maritime sovereignty disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea, passed a law last month that for the first time explicitly allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels.

State Department spokesman Ned Price told a regular briefing that Washington was “concerned by language in the law that expressly ties the potential use of force, including armed force, by the China coast guard to the enforcement of China’s claims, and ongoing territorial and maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas.”

He said the language, “strongly implies this law could be used to intimidate [China’s] maritime neighbours.”

“We are further concerned that China may invoke this new law to assert its unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, which were thoroughly repudiated by the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling,” he said, referring to an international ruling that found in favour of the Philippines in a dispute with China.

“We remind the PRC and all whose forces operate in the South China Sea that responsible maritime forces act with professionalism and restraint in the exercise of their authorities.”

Price said the US reaffirmed a statement last July in which then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected China’s disputed claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea as “completely unlawful”.

He added that the US “stands firm” in its alliance commitments to both Japan and the Philippines.

The South China Sea dispute was among the issues that US President Joe Biden discussed in his first call as American leader with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

‘Threat of war’

The US has mutual defence treaties with both countries and has sailed regular naval patrols in the region to assert freedom of navigation and challenge China’s extensive maritime claims.

In recent weeks, it has deployed warships and aircraft carriers to patrol in the South China Sea, angering Beijing.

The Philippines said last month it had filed a diplomatic protest over China’s new law, describing it as a “threat of war”.

Earlier, new Secretary of State Antony Blinken had voiced concern about the Chinese maritime law in a call with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi.

Blinken at the time reaffirmed that the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea – also claimed by Beijing, which calls them the Diaoyu, and Taiwan – fell under a security treaty that commits the US and Japan to each other’s defence.

China has repeatedly defended its new China Coast Guard Law, downplaying its effect in the disputed region.

In January, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China is just upholding its “territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests”.

Zhao also said that Beijing remained committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes.

“China’s sovereignty, rights and interests in the South China Sea have been formed in the course of a long history, and are in line with international law and practice,” Zhao added.

Zhao added that countries “outside the region” will respect Beijing’s efforts “to properly handle maritime disputes” and “safeguard stability” in the South China Sea.

SOURCE : AFP, AL JAZEERA, REUTERS

10 years after quake, Christ Church Cathedral finally rising

The Christ Church Cathedral was arguably New Zealand’s most iconic building before much of it crumbled in an earthquake 10 years ago. The years of debate that followed over whether the ruins should be rebuilt or demolished came to symbolize the paralysis that has sometimes afflicted the broader rebuild of Christchurch.

As the city on Monday marks one decade since the quake struck, killing 185 people and upending countless more lives, there are finally signs of progress on the cathedral.

It’s being rebuilt to look much like the original that was finished in 1904, only with modern-day improvements to make it warmer and safer, even to add extra much-needed bathrooms. But first, workers must stabilize the remains.

Peter Carrell, the Anglican bishop of Christchurch, said reopening it will represent a key milestone.

“I think it will be hugely significant, because it will be one of the final pieces in the jigsaw of putting Christchurch back together,” Carrell said. “It will be a healing of the heart of Christchurch after the earthquake.”

Still, the doors aren’t expected to open for another six years. Preserving what’s left is more costly and time-consuming than demolishing and starting again. And so far, the mix of funds from insurance, church, council and government sources adds up to only about two-thirds of the 154 million New Zealand dollar ($111 million) price tag.

Keith Paterson, the project director, said the aim is for a fundraising team to raise the rest of the money from both local and international donors.

“We’re very confident we’ll get the money in by the time the project is finished,” said Carrell. “We’ve got plenty of money to start with.”

Elsewhere in the city, shiny new buildings are popping up, along with innovative playgrounds and parks. But where some buildings once stood there are now just empty parking lots, and the migration of shops and businesses to the suburbs that happened after the quake hasn’t yet fully reversed.

There also remains a disparity in neighborhoods. Parts of the city to the west look much as they did before the quake. But in the east, where the ground was prone to liquefaction, entire suburbs have been razed.

Authorities have deemed the land too unstable for rebuilding. Some suburbs now look like giant parks, with a few fruit trees and power lines the only sign that homes were once there.

Richard Cosgrove’s house by the Avon River in the suburb of Dallington was one of those torn down. The communications adviser recalls the enormous forces at play during the quake.

“The whole area sunk massively,” he said. “We had a wooden villa built in 1922. Basically, the four corners went in separate directions.”

Cosgrove said the strong community bonds that formed as neighbors tried to salvage their homes and worked on improving the area ended when the government declared it unsafe for rebuilding.

“That broke the community apart,” he said.

Cosgrove and his wife now live outside the city on a small farm.

“We thought if we moved anywhere else in the city it would remind us of what we lost, so we decided to build a new life in the country,” he said.

But he remains upbeat about Christchurch and its future. He said the adversity people have suffered has brought the community together and made it stronger and more resilient, and that many of the foreign workers who came to help rebuild have been so impressed they have stayed.

“We’ve got a really great city,” Cosgrove said. “It’s quite an impressive rebuild that’s gone on. I think of all the great things they have done.”

Still, he says, it would have been nice if it had all happened a little sooner.

 

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP)

We need to protect the media – Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

Accra, GNA – Information Minister Designate Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has underscored the need to protect the media because “they provide the sunlight that helps democracy.

Mr Nkrumah did not accept a suggestion from a member of the Appointments Committee that the Akufo-Addo Government is harassing the media.

The former broadcaster, re-nominated by President Akufo-Addo, to serve at the Minister of Information, at the beginning of his second term, stressed the need to protect the media and media practitioners, during his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, at the Parliament House in Osu- Accra.

The work of the Appointments Committee of Parliament, currently chaired by Mr Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for Bekwai, is based on the 1992 Constitution and the Standing Orders of Parliament.

The Committee recommends to Parliament for approval or persons nominated by President for appointment as Minister of State, Deputy Minister, Members of Council of State, the Chief Justice and other Justices of the Supreme Court and any other persons specified under the Constitution or under any other enactment.

During his vetting, the Information Minister Designate, who is also the MP for the Ofoase Ayirebi, said the administration of President Akufo-Addo, had not in any way harassed or penalized editors for their editorial opinions.

Rather, the Government has complied, against complaints from certain sections, with provisions that protect the media and would expand the frontiers of press freedom.

Mr Nkrumah answered questions on attacks on journalists, and said the shutting down of some radio stations, which was perceived as attack on the media, was not the case.

In May 2019,, the National Communications Authority (NCA), the broadcasting and telecommunication frequency regulator in Ghana, shut down Radio Gold and Radio XYZ, both based in Accra which are aligned to the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

But the Minister Designate explained that that those stations were not closed down to demand license to operate, but were shut down because their authorization that granted them spectrum had expired.

The matter went to the National Communications Tribunal which ruled against the stations.“We encouraged them to reapply,” the Information Miniter Designate said.

On attacks on Ghanaian journalists, Mr Nkrumah stated that there is a need to validate any report of attack to establish the journalists was attacked in the line of duty.

Such validation, he said would ensure a proper follow-up and investigation.

He informed the Committee that he was in communication with the Interior Minister on the investigation into the death of undercover journalist Ahmed Hussein Suale.

The Minister made a strong case for continuous existence of the Information Ministry, and explained that the work of the sector Minister was different from that of the President’s Press Secretary.

Whereas the Press Secretary focused on activities of the Office of the President, there is the need for free flow of available information from the Government to the people to help the running of the country’s democracy.

“The Government must have an opportunity to update the people on its activities,” “the Minister Designate said, adding that the Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals stressed strong institutions, for which there must be strong information machinery.

“You need a bigger machinery to channel information to the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies,” the Minister Designate said.

GNA

Dozens of pilot whales die in Indonesia’s Madura Island

Rescue effort launched to save dozens of beached pilot whales but 46 died while only three were returned to sea.

Forty-six whales stranded on a beach on the Indonesian island of Madura have died, while rescuers managed to push three back out to sea, the provincial governor said.

A rescue effort was launched as early as Thursday after dozens of pilot whales beached. Volunteers pushed some back out to sea, while the remains of the dead whales were expected to be buried on Saturday.

“But some came back here, trying to find their mothers, though it turns out the mothers are dead,” East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa said.

Video footage on Friday showed whales dotted across a wide area with local residents wading in ankle-deep water, some trying to splash water on them or push them out to sea, while others took photos while mounting the stranded animals.

The governor told the Reuters news agency that authorities planned to bury the dead whales on Saturday once the tide had receded and said two excavators had been brought in.

It is not fully understood why whales, which travel together in pods, beach themselves but they are known to follow a leader, as well as gather around an injured or distressed whale.

Whale Stranding Indonesia, a non-governmental organisation, said that in 2020 more than 70 marine mammals were found stranded, including dugongs.

Last year, a 29-metre (95-foot) blue whale washed up in Kupang, attracting thousands of spectators.

In 2018, a 9.5-metre (31-foot) sperm whale also washed up in Indonesia’s Kapota island.

The cause of the death was unknown, but residents found 5.9-kg (13 pounds) of plastic in its stomach. According to reports, the plastic items found included flip flops and plastic bags.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US, other threats whales face include being struck by sea vessels or getting entangled in fishing nets.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA, REUTERS