Yorkshire racism scandal: Martyn Moxon and Andrew Gale among 16 staff to leave

 Director of cricket Martyn Moxon, head coach Andrew Gale and all members of the coaching staff are among 16 people to have left Yorkshire amid the racism scandal.

A report found former player Azeem Rafiq was a victim of “racial harassment and bullying” at Yorkshire.

Moxon had been Yorkshire’s director of cricket since 2007.

Former captain Gale had been suspended as part of an investigation into a tweet he sent in 2010.

“Significant change is required at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and we are committed to taking whatever action is necessary to regain trust,” said Lord Patel, the club’s new chair.

“The decisions announced today were difficult to make, but are in the best interests of the club.

“Without making important changes to how we are run, we cannot move on from the past to become a culture which is progressive and inclusive.”

Moxon was due to appear before MPs at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee on 16 November but was absent from work because of a “stress-related illness”.

Rafiq told the committee that racist language was “constantly” used during his time at Yorkshire.

At the hearing, Rafiq said that the day after his son was still-born in 2017, Moxon “ripped shreds” off him in a manner he had never seen Moxon use when addressing anyone else at the club.

Yorkshire originally said no-one at the club would be disciplined despite the report finding Rafiq was the victim of racial harassment and bullying.

Roger Hutton, Yorkshire’s former chairman who resigned last month, said Moxon and former chief executive Mark Arthur “failed to accept the gravity of the situation”. Arthur also resigned last month.

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SA university approves Afrikaans use despite protests

 South Africa’s Stellenbosch University has adopted a new language policy which approves the use of three languages for teaching and communication at the institution – English, Xhosa and Afrikaans.

There had been controversy surrounding the use of Afrikaans at the university after the South African Human Rights Commission announced the launch of a probe into allegations some students had been stopped from speaking Afrikaans at “welcome” events and “informal settings” at Stellenbosch.

The university just outside Cape Town had previously denied any language ban to South Africa’s News24.

After protests in 2015, the university management had decided to drop Afrikaans in teaching.

A viral video about the challenges and racism faced by black students, sparked the demonstrations six years ago.

It detailed how some struggled with lessons in Afrikaans, one of the main languages spoken by the country’s white minority.

But a 2016 policy on the institution’s website adopted a bilingual approach, stating: “Afrikaans and English are the languages of teaching and learning” for undergraduate modules.

On Thursday in response to the outcome of the university’s year-long review of its language policy, a spokesperson quoted in SABC news said the changes would be implemented in January.

“Through this policy, the university recommits itself to multilingualism by using the three official languages of the Western Cape, namely Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa,” Dr Leslie van Rooi said.

“Further the university, through its policy would like to enhance access and success as well as the idea of social cohesion even further on our campuses,” he continued.

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UDS student designs technology for cleaning polluted water bodies

 A PhD Student at the University for Development Studies (UDS) has designed a modified ceramic water filter capable of filtering polluted water bodies’ of arsenic and mercury chemicals to ensure clean water for the population.

Miss Lydia Dziedzorm Senanu, a PhD Student with the West Africa Centre for Water, Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture Programme at the UDS, who designed the technology, said “This is something new. We are using local materials like clay, shea nut and groundnut shells, and millet hulls. The shea nut and groundnut shells and millet hulls are ground and sieved to an acceptable size. After that, they are charred in the furnace and later mixed with the clay to do the pot.”  

She said “Clay by itself cannot filter water. So, we are using these agricultural wastes to act as a sieving point where when we mix it with the clay, it can create pores and membrane, and when the water passes through it, it will be able to remove all these chemicals.”

She added that “The pot is clay. So, it is easily breakable. However, we have shown people how to maintain and use them in a way that they cannot be broken easily.”

She said her research was driven by efforts towards increasing access to clean water resources for the population in the northern part of the country, whose sources of water had been polluted as a result of illegal mining activities.

Ms Senanu presented her work at the First Annual Graduate School Conference organised in Tamale by the Graduate School of UDS in collaboration with the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG).

The two-day conference, which ended in Tamale on Thursday, was for post-graduate students of UDS to share their brilliant research output, celebrate and promote academic excellence by creating the platform to showcase outstanding post-graduate research engagingly.

Over 200 post-graduate students of UDS participated in the conference where a number of them presented their groundbreaking research works.

Professor Gabriel Ayum Teye, Vice-Chancellor of UDS said the conference would complement the annual Harmattan School, which provided the unique platform and opportunity for staff and students to disseminate significant findings of their research works.

Professor Teye said the event also fed into the University’s commitment to capacity building and professional development opportunities for students as well as helping graduate students to publish their research works.
     He, therefore, encouraged the Editorial Board of UDS to have a special edition for the papers presented at the conference to ensure that students published their research works.
 
Professor Elias Sowley, Vice-Chancellor of Dr Hilla Limann Technical University, who is a former Dean of the Graduate School, UDS, advised graduate students to take criticisms of their research works in good fate and improve on their works to address the needs of society.

Professor Sowley also advised them to aim at solving real-life problems through research, avoid shortcuts, disseminate their research findings, as well as join associations in their areas of discipline to gain access to further opportunities.  

Professor Francis Amaglo, Dean of Graduate School, UDS expressed gratitude to the Alumni Society of UDS, GRASAG, and Management of UDS for their support towards the organisation of the conference, which had come to stay.

A representative of GRASAG, UDS Chapter, expressed appreciation to stakeholders for their efforts to organise the conference.

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Covid: First data points to Omicron re-infection risk

The first real world data showing the coronavirus variant Omicron may evade some of our immunity has been reported by scientists in South Africa.

Scientists have detected a surge in the number of people catching Covid multiple times.

It is a rapid analysis and not definitive, but fits with concern about the mutations the variant possesses.

It is also not clear what this means for the protection given by vaccines.

• New Covid variant: How worried should we be?
• New Covid variant: Will new measures against Omicron work?
• Omicron: How do you detect it?

A week after the variant was named Omicron, the world is still scrambling to understand the true threat posed by the variant. But now the first of pieces of a large and complex puzzle are starting to be assembled.

We already know the variant is heavily mutated and officials in South Africa have warned it is leading to a surge in cases there.

The latest piece of the jigsaw is understanding how likely somebody who has already had Covid is likely to catch Omicron.

It has also been detected in more than 30 countries.

Scientists have analysed nearly 36,000 suspected re-infections in South Africa to look for any changes to re-infection rates (catching it twice or more) throughout the pandemic.

They showed there was no surge in the risk of re-infection during either the Beta or Delta waves. This is despite laboratory studies suggesting those variants had the potential to evade some immunity.

However, they are now detecting a spike in re-infections. They have not tested each patient to prove it is Omicron, but they say the timing suggests the variant is the driving force.

The study, which has not been formally reviewed by other scientists, estimates Omicron could be twice as likely to cause a re-infection than earlier variants.

Prof Juliet Pulliam, from Stellenbosch University and one of the researchers, said: “These findings suggest that Omicron’s selection advantage is at least partially driven by an increased ability to infect previously infected individuals.”

However, it is still only one piece of the puzzle.

There are questions about how much waning immunity is a factor and the extent to which any variant would be able to take off now.

In addition, this was a rapid analysis and more data will come with time. The high burden of HIV, which suppresses the immune system, in the country also makes it harder to interpret the findings for the rest of the world.

Laboratory studies that show how well antibodies can attack the virus are expected to give results in the next week.

Does the timing matter?

In South Africa, only 24% of people are fully vaccinated. The researchers said their findings could have “important implications” for similar countries where there are high levels of natural immunity from infection.

But Prof Pulliam stressed they “cannot make any assessment of whether Omicron also evades vaccine-derived immunity” because they did not have that data.

That makes it harder to understand what would happen in countries like the UK which have not only vaccinated far more people, but have rapidly rolled out booster doses to enhance immunity even further.

Boosting the immune system should compensate for some of the variant’s immune-evading tricks.

Prof Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said: “The implications of this paper are that Omicron will be able to overcome natural and probably vaccine-induced immunity to a significant degree.

“But, the degree is still unclear – though it is doubtful that this will represent complete escape.”

The gut instinct of most scientists is that even if vaccines are less effective at stopping you catching Covid their main job of preventing severe disease and death will hold up better.

However, Omicron could still cause a problem even if that is the case. If the variant is capable of causing a sudden large wave of new infections that could again put pressure on hospitals.

It is still too soon to know for sure as it takes a couple of weeks from catching the virus to needing hospital care. South Africa is also a relatively young country, which means Covid will appear milder than it would if it spread in a more elderly population.

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Prof Francois Balloux, from University College London, said: “The higher estimated re-infection ability of the Omicron variant to cause re-infection is not overly surprising and could be largely anticipated based on the large number of mutations in the spike protein carried by the omicron variant, which increase the Omicron variant’s ability to bypass host immunity.”

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What are the social distancing rules across the UK?

 Fears over the new Covid variant Omicron mean many people are questioning whether Christmas parties should go ahead this year.

Some companies have cancelled or scaled back their plans, and some schools have decided not to go ahead with end-of-term events like nativity plays.

• Omicron: How are Covid rules and booster jabs changing?

What’s been said about Christmas parties?

Earlier this week, Dr Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency, said we shouldn’t be socialising “when we don’t particularly need to”.

But Boris Johnson said the government wasn’t changing its guidance “about how people should be living their lives”, and urged people not to cancel Christmas events.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said everyone should carry out a lateral flow test before meeting others over the festive period.

Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned people to “think carefully” about whether to meet vulnerable relatives over Christmas.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Sajid Javid suggested people could consider testing before meeting, and wearing face masks while socialising.

• Covid: Is an office Christmas party too risky?
• The big company Christmas party is off this year
• Did we see a Christmas coronavirus spike?

What are the rules on social contact in England?

Almost all formal social distancing rules – such as limits on gatherings – ended in the summer.

Large groups can still hold parties in houses, bars, nightclubs or karaoke venues. Schools are allowed to hold events for parents if they wish.

The government’s Winter Plan for England says “meeting outdoors is safer”. Drinking with colleagues outside a pub is much less risky than socialising together inside, at the bar. If you are indoors, you should allow in plenty of fresh air.

The government says people should still “consider the risks of close contact”, particularly if someone is clinically extremely vulnerable, or not fully vaccinated.

It’s a legal requirement to wear a face covering in shops and on public transport, unless you are exempt.

Government guidance also says: “You should still continue to wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces where you may come into contact with other people you do not normally meet.”

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

What are the rules in Scotland?

Most rules on social distancing and limits to the size of gatherings were lifted in August.

However, the 2m (6ft) social distancing rule is still required in healthcare settings including doctors’ surgeries and hospitals.

The law no longer requires people to keep a certain distance from each other in most public places. But the advice remains to keep a safe distance from those in other households – especially indoors – and to avoid crowded places.

Face coverings are still compulsory in most public indoor settings, such as shops and on public transport – as well as in pubs and restaurants when not seated.

All over-18s are required to prove their vaccine status at nightclubs and other venues.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

What is the situation in Wales?

Formal social distancing rules came to an end in Wales on 7 August.

There is no limit to the number of people who can meet indoors or outdoors. But businesses have to carry out their own risk assessments for venues and premises.

Face coverings remain compulsory in most indoor public places, and on public transport – but not in pubs and restaurants.

The NHS Covid Pass is needed for entry to nightclubs, cinemas, theatres and concert halls and many other indoor and outdoor events.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

What restrictions are still in place in Northern Ireland?

There’s no requirement to socially distance outside.

A maximum of 30 people from an unlimited number of households can meet indoors in domestic settings. Social distancing should be maintained as much as possible.

Shops must take “reasonable measures to manage risk” and shoppers are asked to maintain physical distance with each other where possible.

Face coverings are compulsory in shops, indoor seated venues and visitor attractions, public transport and some other settings – unless you are exempt.

Vaccine passports are required for venues including nightclubs, bars and cinemas.

Why is social distancing important?

Coronavirus spreads mainly when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks – sending small droplets, packed with the virus, into the air.

The further apart people are, the lower the risk of the infection spreading.

• Five ways to avoid catching coronavirus indoors
• Five ways to protect yourself from catching Covid

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