Oxford river swimmers criticise Christmas Day sewage release

 A group of outdoor swimmers were forced to cancel their Boxing Day river dip after a water company announced a “sewage release” on Christmas Day.

Residents in Wolvercote, Oxford, were informed about the release into the River Windrush in an email from Thames Water.

Swimmer Dr Fiona Palumbo Tolan said the group found it “deeply distressing”.

Thames Water said sewage release was “sometimes necessary” to prevent flooding.

Dr Tolan said: “Every week we have to check for notifications of sewerage releases before being sure that it’s safe to swim.

“It seems that what should be a very last resort in the case of extreme emergency has become a very common tactic of convenience for the water companies.”

The email from Thames Water confirmed an “ongoing sewage release” at nearby Whitney, adding: “If you’re thinking of entering the river, please remember that it can take up to four days for the sewage to clear.”

In a statement, the water firm added: “After heavy rain it’s sometimes necessary and permitted [to release sewage into the river]. This prevents it flooding homes, gardens, streets and open spaces.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Environment Agency staff respond to pollution incidents 24/7 to contain pollution and protect water quality.

“We would urge anyone who notices a pollution incident to call our hotline.”

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126 offences recorded on Christmas eve

 Luanda – National Police reported on Friday and early hours Saturday (25th), 126 various crimes countrywide, less 12 compared to the same period of 2020.

The data were released on Saturday during a press conference to announce the result of Nkembo Operation aimed to secure the festive season.

 

“Of the offenses, 63 had direct intervention by Police officers and/ or from the Interior Ministry”, the deputy director of the Press Office of General Command of National Police, Mateus Rodrigues told the reporters.

 

Mateus Rodrigues also said that the operation led to the detention of 78 suspects.

 

He attributed the crime drop to the measures adopted by Angolan government aimed to halt the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the limited number of the family members during the Christmas.

 

According to him, the provinces of Luanda, with 47 cases, followed by Benguela 12 and Zaire 10 topped the list of the offences.

 

Also 360 foreigners were arrested in connection with border violation and seven groups of criminals were dismantled.

 

As for the border violation and illegal migration, the police officers detained 11 people. The source also referred to the seizure of 12 firearms, 32 vehicles, 113 motorbikes, two kilograms of slurry and 35 heads, among other goods.

 

Seven road accidents were also reported which resulted in 42 injuries.

Police seize 386 diamond stones in Cuango

 Dundo – National Police seized Saturday 386 diamond stones in municipality of Cuango, eastern province of Lunda Norte.

The police officers detained three Angolan citizens, with ages ranging from 34 to 44, who were found in possession of the precious stones in Cafunfo village.

According to a note from the police command of Cuango municipality, the suspects were forwarded to the Public Ministry Office for questioning.

 

South Africa court blocks Shell’s oil exploration

 

A South African court has halted oil giant Shell’s seismic testing for oil and gas along the country’s eastern coastline, pending a final ruling.

The decision has been hailed by environmentalists who fear that the sound blasting will harm marine life.

Shell said it had “paused” operations while it reviewed the judgement.

South Africa’s Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe had condemned the project’s critics, saying they wanted to deprive Africa of energy resources.

In his ruling, High Court Judge Gerald Bloem said that Shell’s right to explore the waters near the Wild Coast “was awarded on the basis of a substantially flawed consultation process”.

The 250km (155-mile) stretch of coastline in Eastern Cape province is known for its natural beauty and marine life.

Campaigners argued that many sea creatures – including whales, dolphins and seals – would be affected by the seismic testing.

Local communities, who were also represented in the case, said that their customary rights to the land and fishing had not been respected.

Welcoming the ruling, local campaigner Nonhle Mbuthuma said: “As coastal communities we have relied on the sea for centuries – and we are glad that the judge has recognised that our ocean livelihoods must not be sacrificed for short term profit.”

Seismic surveys are carried out as a means of mapping what lies beneath the seafloor.

Shockwaves fired from an air gun – like a very powerful speaker – are blasted down towards the seabed. The sound that returns reveals whether there is, for example, oil locked in the rock beneath.

Shell had begun surveying the 6,000-sq-km area at the beginning of December after an earlier court judgement said it could go ahead. In that case, the judge said that those who wanted to prevent the survey had not provided enough evidence to show the environmental harm.

In Tuesday’s ruling, Justice Bloem said that experts had testified to the damage the testing could cause and Shell had not sufficiently challenged that.

Katherine Robinson from the non-governmental organisation Natural Justice said the ruling was a “huge victory”, but added that the “struggle is not over”.

“This decision is just the interdict. We understand that the proceedings will continue,” she was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

In its response, Shell said: “We respect the court’s decision and have paused the survey while we review the judgement.”

Shell had earlier warned that if the case went against it, it might cancel the entire operation, losing the chance to extract millions of dollars worth of oil and gas.

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Covovax and Corbevax: What we know about India’s new Covid vaccines

 India has approved two new vaccines, expanding its programme amid fears of a third wave fuelled by Omicron.

The new vaccines – Serum Institute of India’s Covovax and Biological E’s Corbevax – have both been authorised for “restricted use in emergency situation”.

India has now approved eight vaccines, three of which have been developed in India.

The country has so far given more than 1.4 billion doses.

The government aimed to vaccinate all Indians by the end of this year but is falling short of that target. About 62% of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated and more than 90% have received at least one jab since the beginning of the drive in January.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India would begin administering booster shots – or “precaution doses” as he called them – to healthcare and frontline workers, and those above 60 with comorbidities from 10 January.

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He said India would also begin vaccinating 15-18-year-olds from 3 January.

India’s daily caseload is around 6,000, but cases of the Omicron variant – about 653 now – have been rising in several states, prompting night curfews and a slew of other restrictions.

It’s unclear still if the newly approved vaccines will be deployed for booster shots, or if the government will insist on the third shot being the same as the first two.

How do the new vaccines work?

Corbevax from Indian pharma company Biological E was developed in collaboration with US-based Dynavax and Baylor College of Medicine.

It is India’s first indigenously developed recombinant protein sub-unit vaccine, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said. That is, it’s made up of the coronavirus’ “spike protein”, which the virus uses to latch on and enter human cells. When injected, this is expected to trigger an immune response in the body.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

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India has administered 1.4 million doses of a Covid vaccine so far

Covovax is a local version of the Novavax vaccine, and will be produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), which is also manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, known locally as Covishield.

The vaccine was more than 90% effective in a late-stage US-based clinical trial, according to the company.

What vaccines had India approved before this?

India has already approved six other vaccines.

It’s currently using only three – Covishield, Covaxin by Indian firm Bharat Biotech and Russian-made Sputnik V – for its vaccination drive. Of these, Covishield accounts for over 90% of the doses given so far.

It also approved ZyCoV-D vaccine – the world’s first DNA vaccine against Covid – by Indian firm Cadilla, but it’s not available yet.

The federal government had also approved Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, which was to be introduced in India through a supply agreement with Biological E; and it had authorised Indian pharma company Cipla to import the Moderna vaccine.

But it’s unclear when either of those will be available in India.

What do we know about these vaccines?

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, locally known as Covishield, is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. It has been modified to look more like coronavirus – although it can’t cause illness.

Covaxin by Indian firm Bharat Biotech is an inactivated vaccine which means that it is made up of killed coronaviruses, making it safe to be injected into the body.

The vaccine ran into controversy after India’s regulators gave it emergency approval in January while the third phase of the trial was still underway, sparking scepticism and questions from experts. Bharat Biotech, which makes the vaccine, has since published data suggesting 78% efficacy.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

Bharat Biotech is a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company

The Sputnik vaccine, developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, also generated some controversy initially after being rolled out before the final trial data had been released. But scientists say its benefits have now been demonstrated.

It uses a cold-type virus, engineered to be harmless, as a carrier to deliver a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body. After being vaccinated, the body starts to produce antibodies especially tailored to the virus.

The ZyCoV-D vaccine uses plasmids – or small rings of DNA that contain genetic information – to deliver the jab between two layers of the skin.

The three-dose ZyCoV-D vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 66% of those vaccinated, according to an interim study quoted by the vaccine maker Cadila Healthcare.

It is also India’s first needle-free Covid-19 jab – administered with a disposable needle-free injector, which uses a narrow stream of the fluid to penetrate the skin and deliver the jab to the proper tissue.

Previous DNA vaccines have worked well in animals but not humans.

The challenge, say scientists, was how to push the plasmid DNA into the human cell so that it gives a durable immune response.

Dr Jeremy Kamil, a virologist at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, told the BBC that it was imperative that the efficacy data of the vaccine “be vetted independently”.

Are there any other vaccine candidates?

The other candidates which are in different stages of trials in India to test safety and efficacy include:

• HGCO19, India’s first mRNA vaccine made by Pune-based Genova in collaboration with Seattle-based HDT Biotech Corporation, using bits of genetic code to cause an immune response
• A nasal vaccine by Bharat Biotech

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Somalia’s President suspends PM as elections spat deepens

 Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed announced Monday that he was suspending Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, a day after the two men sparred over long-delayed elections in the troubled Horn of Africa nation.

“The president decided to suspend Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble and stop his powers since he was linked with corruption,” the office of the president said in a statement, accusing the premier of interfering with an investigation into a land grabbing case.

Relations between the president, better known as Farmajo, and Roble have long been frosty, with the latest development raising fresh fears for Somalia’s stability as it struggles to hold elections.

On Sunday, Roble accused the president of sabotaging the electoral process, after Farmajo withdrew the prime minister’s mandate to organise the elections and called for the creation of a new committee to “correct” the shortcomings.

Roble, who has not responded to Monday’s suspension announcement, said Farmajo did not want to hold “a credible election in this country”.

In April, pro-government and opposition fighters opened fire in the streets of Mogadishu after Farmajo extended his term without holding fresh elections.

The constitutional crisis was only defused when Farmajo reversed the term extension and Roble brokered a timetable to a vote.

But in the months since, a bitter rivalry between the men derailed the election again, straining ties with Western allies long impatient for the process to finish peacefully.

Farmajo and Roble only agreed to bury the hatchet in October, and issued a unified call for the glacial election process to accelerate.

Elections for the upper house have concluded in all states and voting for the lower house began in early November.

Analysts say the election impasse has distracted from Somalia’s larger problems, most notably the violent Al-Shabaab insurgency.

The Al-Qaeda allies were driven out of Mogadishu a decade ago but retain control of swathes of countryside and continue to stage deadly attacks in the capital and elsewhere.

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