France’s Bogdanoff TV twins die of Covid six days apart

Grichka and Igor Bogdanoff became France’s most famous twins, hosting a TV science and science-fiction show in the 1980s on a spaceship set.

They died of coronavirus within days of each other in hospital, Grichka on 28 December and his brother on Monday.

Aged 72, the brothers had not been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Their friends said they were convinced their healthy lifestyle would protect them and they were admitted to hospital in mid-December.

Although their families did not specify the cause of their deaths, their lawyer Edouard de Lamaze confirmed they had both contracted the virus.

Family friend Pierre-Jean Chalençon said they had left it too late to seek hospital treatment, deciding it was similar to flu. “People have said they were anti-vaxxers but they absolutely weren’t,” he told BFMTV. “Several friends told them to get themselves vaccinated but they felt because of their lifestyle and their [lack of] comorbidity, they weren’t at risk of Covid.”

The Bogdanoff brothers were a pair of eccentrics, descended from Austrian nobility.

Feted for their initial Saturday afternoon TV programme Temps X which ran from 1979, they were synonymous for years with popular science and were part of public life for the rest of their lives.

Their programme on TF1 was for years seen in some ways as highlighting cutting-edge technology, according to Le Monde, which described them as icons from a kitsch period of culture. Temps X showcased other TV shows such as Doctor Who, The Prisoner and Star Trek, with guests including electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.

IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES

Image caption,

The twins presented their hit TV series from 1979-1987

However, when the TV channel went private in 1987, they were dropped.

During the 1990s their facial features changed dramatically, leaving them with odd-looking chins, lips and cheek-bones. “We are proud of having faces like extra-terrestrials,” they once said.

Grichka Boganoff was adamant that they had never had “what people call cosmetic surgery”, insisting that he and his brother were experimental by nature and had tried out very advanced technology.

That was contradicted by their friend, former education ministry Luc Ferry, who said they had both had Botox injections.

The brothers later tried their hands at academic work, writing doctoral theses in mathematics and theoretical physics which were both panned by their peers.

Ridiculed by sections of French media, they won a 2014 court case for defamation before losing a lawsuit against the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Asked why they had chosen not to have the Covid vaccines if they were not themselves anti-vaxxers, Luc Ferry said on Monday: “Like Igor, Grichka,wasn’t antivax, he was just antivax for himself.”

“They were both athletic, with not an inch of fat, and they thought the vaccine was more dangerous than the virus.”

In a statement on Monday, Igor Bogdanoff’s family said he had “gone towards the light”, surrounded by his children and family.

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New Covid-19 variant ‘IHU’ discovered in France, has more mutations than Omicron

The B.1.640.2 has not been spotted in other countries or labelled a variant under investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO).

People wait in line outside a community vaccination centre administering the BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in Hong Kong, on Tuesday.(Bloomberg Photo)

 Written by Amit Chaturvedi, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Scientists in France have identified a new strain of coronavirus with more mutations than the Omicron variant. The emergence of the new variant, which probably originated in Cameroon, as per the study, harbours both substitutions N501Y and E484K in the spike protein. At least 12 cases of the new variant have been reported near Marseilles, and has been linked to travel to the African country Cameroon.

“The mutation set and phylogenetic position of the genomes obtained here indicate based on our previous definition a new variant we named IHU,” the authors of the study said.

“These data are another example of the unpredictability of the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, and of their introduction in a given geographical area from abroad,” they added.

The B.1.640.2 has not been spotted in other countries or labelled a variant under investigation by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to a paper posted on medRxiv, the genomes were obtained by next-generation sequencing with Oxford Nanopore Technologies on GridION instruments.

“Fourteen amino acid substitutions, including N501Y and E484K, and 9 deletions are located in the spike protein. This genotype pattern led to create a new Pangolin lineage named B.1.640.2, which is a phylogenetic sister group to the old B.1.640 lineage renamed B.1.640.1,” the research paper said.

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DUP MLA Diane Dodds condemns ‘callous’ dead son tweet

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) assembly member Diane Dodds has described online abuse mocking her late son as “callous and malicious”.

The Upper Bann representative’s son Andrew was born with spina bifida and died in 1998, aged eight.

Police are investigating after she was targeted by an anonymous account, which has been removed, on New Year’s Eve.

“In politics you expect the rough and tumble, but you probably don’t expect that level of brutality,” she said.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show, Mrs Dodds said online trolling could be both harmful and dangerous, adding that those involved set out to “strike the core of your very being”.

She said she had received messages of support from members of the public and other politicians following the incident.

“People are shell-shocked that there can be this much cruelty and callousness,” she said.

DUP leader condemns online abuse against Dodds

Mrs Dodds said the anonymous Twitter account involved has also been trolling victims of terrorism on the platform.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers attended her constituency office on Tuesday.

Image caption,

Police officers visited Diane Dodds at her constituency office on Tuesday

The former economy minister welcomed Westminster’s plans to introduce an online harm bill but she said what is being proposed won’t be effective enough.

“People in the public eye seem to be seen as fair game,” Mrs Dodds said.

“I don’t see anything in the new bill that will actually deal with this feature that people on social media can hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

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Detained Tunisia ex-minister suspected of ‘terrorism’

Detained Tunisian ex-justice minister Noureddine Bhiri of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, who is refusing food or medication after his transfer to hospital, is suspected of “terrorism”, the interior minister said Monday.

Bhiri, deputy president of Ennahdha — viewed by President Kais Saied as an enemy — was arrested by plainclothes officers Friday and his whereabouts were initially unknown.

Ennahdha had played a central role in Tunisian politics until a power grab by President Kais Saied last year.

Tunisia was the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring revolts of a decade ago, but civil society groups and Saied’s opponents have expressed fear of a slide back to authoritarianism a decade after the revolution that toppled longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

“There were fears of acts of terrorism targeting the country’s security and we had to act,” Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine said late Monday of the arrest.

A member of a delegation that visited Bhiri in hospital revealed on Monday that he was refusing food or medication.

On Sunday activists and a former Ennahdha legislator said Bhiri was in a critical condition and facing death.

But the sourcedisclosed that Bhiri, 63, is “not in critical condition for the time being”.

The source, asking not to be named, said that a joint team from Tunisia’s independent anti-torture group INPT and the United Nations rights commission visited Bhiri at hospital in the northern town of Bizerte on Sunday.

He is “lively and lucid”, and being kept under close observation in a private room of the hospital’s cardiology ward.

 

Since Friday, however, Bhiri has “refused to take any food or medication, prompting his transfer to hospital” two days later, the source said.

Samir Dilou, a lawyer and ex-Ennahdha MP, condemned Bhiri’s arrest as “political” and an abuse of the justice system.

He told a Tunis news conference that he is lodging a “kidnapping” charge against Saied and the interior minister Charfeddine.

The interior minister said late Monday that evidence had been sent to the justice ministry regarding Bhiri’s activities, but that the prosecution “delayed” action on the matter.

This, Charfeddine said, prompted him to “quickly apply… judicial control” over Bhiri.

Bhiri’s wife, Saida Akremi, also a lawyer, told reporters he had suffered “a heart attack”, and that she was being denied access to him because she refused to sign documents as demanded by security services.

Mondher Ounissi, a doctor and member of Ennahdha’s executive bureau, said Sunday that Bhiri suffers from several chronic illnesses, including diabetes and hypertension.

He has been “deprived of his medication” and “his life is threatened”, Ounissi said, adding that Bhiri usually takes 16 pills a day.

The interior ministry on Friday said that two individuals had been ordered under house arrest, without identifying them.

It said the move was a “preventive measure dictated by the need to preserve national security”.

The anti-torture group INPT has identified the second person detained as Fathi Baldi, a former interior ministry official.

The president “bears full responsibility for the life of Mr Bhiri”, the anti-Saied group “Citizens against the coup” said Sunday on Twitter.

It said he had been “rushed to the hospital in a very serious condition”.

Saied on July 25 sacked the Ennahdha-supported government and suspended parliament, presenting himself as the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.

He later took steps to rule by decree, and in early December vowed to press on with reforms to the political system.

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South Africa parliament fire: Suspect ‘had explosives’

A man detained for setting South Africa’s parliament in Cape Town on fire was found at the site with an explosives, prosecutors have alleged.

Zandile Christmas Mafe, 49, appeared in a city court on charges under the Explosives Act, as well as for arson, theft and a break-in.

His lawyer said he was innocent of all the charges.

The fire first boke out on Sunday, totally destroying the National Assembly, or lower chamber.

No-one was injured the blaze, but it has left the nation shocked.

Mr Mafe is the only person arrested in connection with the fire.

He looked unkempt and dazed in court, reports the BBC’s Nomsa Maseko from Cape Town.

As he arrived in the dock wearing shorts and a creased shirt, he removed his face mask and did a 360 degree turn as cameras flashed.

Police said Mr Mafe had been arrested within the parliamentary complex after the fire started, but his lawyer said the wrong person had been detained.

The case was postponed for seven days to allow police to continue with their investigations.

Firefighters say they have managed to contain the blaze that reignited on Monday.

Strong winds caused smouldering wood in the roof to catch fire again.

A video of Monday’s blaze has been posted on parliament’s Twitter account:

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa – who admitted the building’s sprinkler system had not functioned properly – praised firefighters for responding to the “terrible and devastating event” in minutes.

Government minister Patricia de Lille separately admitted that CCTV cameras had not been monitored at the time the initial fire started.

The chairperson of the upper chamber, Amos Masondo, said Sunday’s fire had led to the “complete burning down” of the National Assembly chamber. Other areas of the parliamentary complex – parts of which date back to 1884 – were also badly damaged.

The parliament is not currently in session because of the holidays, and no-one was injured.

The building is home to thousands of treasures including historic books, photographs and important works of art, which officials said had been saved.

There had been particular concern that the valuable Keiskamma Tapestry, which is 120m (394ft) long and documents South Africa’s history, may have been damaged or destroyed.

It is expected to be many months before the building can be used again.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the city’s council chamber would be made available as an alternative place for parliament to meet.

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Nigerian singer Teni dismisses attempted kidnap rumours

The popular Afrobeats singer Teni has dismissed rumours there was an attempt to kidnap her in Nigeria’s southern Rivers state, after a video emerged over the weekend which showed a commotion during her performance there during which she left the stage.

Some people were running and loud bangs could be heard in the background.

Police later confirmed that shots were fired by security operatives to restore order and not kidnappers, according to Nigeria’s Vanguard paper. 

On her Instagram account, the popular musician expressed gratitude about escaping the incident safely.

“Myself and entire team are safe and back home now,” she wrote.

“It all happened so fast there was no incidence of attempted kidnap,” Teni continued. “A fight started out backstage and that lead to a stampede,” she said.

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Nigerian gang leader releases kidnap victims – reports

The leader of a notorious armed gang in Zamfara state, in northern Nigeria, is reported to have released more than 50 people who had recently been kidnapped.

Eyewitnesses saw buses full of hostages heading to the state capital, Gusau.

Officials have not said why the group’s leader, Bello Turji, decided to release dozens of people.

It appears to be part of an effort to persuade the state government to grant him amnesty, local residents say.

The Nigerian Air Force says it has recently been targeting the bases of the criminal gangs behind the frequent kidnappings.

Two of the most wanted gang leaders had been killed, it said.

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Haitian prime minister forced to flee city after New Year’s Day shootout

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was forced to flee the northern city of Gonaïves, where he and other government officials were attending a New Year’s Day Mass to mark the country’s independence from France, after a shootout that left one person dead and that his office cast as an attempt on his life.

Henry’s office said Monday that “bandits and terrorists” put soldiers behind walls to shoot at his convoy and also threatened the bishop by surrounding the Cathedral of St. Charles Borromeo, where the Mass was taking place. It said arrest warrants had been issued and called the situation “intolerable.”

In a tweet, Henry thanked the bishop of Gonaïves and other church officials for doing their duty “despite the tense situation that reigned in the city.” Le Nouvelliste, a Haitian newspaper, reported that one person was killed and at least two people were wounded in the gunfire, which prevented Henry from delivering a planned speech.

The shootout underscored the threat posed by violent gangs that control large swaths of the beleaguered Caribbean nation and that have been responsible for a surge in mass abductions for ransom targeting Haitians of all walks of life, including buses full of passengers and preachers delivering sermons.

The gangs have tightened their grip amid a security and political vacuum worsened by the still-unsolved assassination in July of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, which has left the country’s interim government weak and divided.

Police, including some who analysts say have been co-opted by gangs, have struggled to respond. Henry has vowed to crack down on the gangs that have in the past year blocked aid convoys bound for victims of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in August, as well as fuel trucks and fuel distribution terminals, causing fuel shortages that have hit hospitals and triggered paralyzing nationwide strikes.

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Is Cyril Ramaphosa rebuilding South Africa?

Is Cyril Ramaphosa rebuilding South Africa?

My views on the man have since changed. He was a QUITE deputy president from 2014 to 2018 when Zuma was pillaging the country’s resources. It was all Zuma’s fault, or so we thought.

a) Less than 2 years into his presidency over R100 million COVID-19 relief funds have been stolen. These funds were stolen by non-other than the husband to the president’s spokesperson.

b) There is a 2018 report on State Security Agency sitting on the president’s in-tray. This report paints a grim picture of an intelligence organisation that is politicised and sometimes operates beyond its mandate. It talks of unvetted public officials who occupy senior positions in State Owned Enterprises. Review Panel State Security Agency

c) There is also a report on VBS Mutual Bank The Great Bank Heist, and only 8 people have been arrested so far. The politically connected are still roaming the streets. According to Advocate Motau who investigated corruption in the bank:

There is hardly a person in its employ in any position of authority who is not in some way, or other complicit.

Thieves steal live wires and railway tracks on broad daylight, bringing the whole railway network to a standstill in matter of two months.

One can sympathise with the president and he does appear to have good intentions when it comes to rooting out corruption. But his good intentions have simply been overtaken by even more brazen acts of corruption.

I’m afraid, our diagnosis of the problem is not Zuma, and the tweet below expresses my sentiments.

The president can only do so much, he doesn’t seem to have the power to build anything. The ANC is the ultimate problem for this country. Smaller municipalities have simply collapsed, Standardton in Mpumalanga is untraversable due to potholes, Zeerust in Northwest has no clean water, all former mining towns are either drug dens or simply shadows of their former selves.

The president has had ample opportunity to get rid of incompetent ministers, he hasn’t done it ,because he’s afraid to upset the ANC. Cabinet ministers are yet to sign performance agreements, Eskom has yet to deliver reliable energy. We keep bailing out the South African Airways and this has been happening for the past 27 years. Of course Zuma took us 10 years back by handing over his powers to the Guptas. By so doing he provided a fertile ground for the rest of his cronies to do as they please. The rebuilding of South Africa requires serious political will. I afraid I don’t see it.

Next time I will write about how the opposition parties have also failed South Africa.

EDIT:

Some housekeeping. I see many have commented that the president “has nothing to do with VBS looting”. The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) was established for purposes of investigation of all transactions involving the state. People who have read the report would know that a number of municipalities actually deposited money to VBS bank despite treasury warning them not to. Funds stolen from the bank aren’t limited to individual investments but municipal funds were looted. That means your rates & taxes meant for service delivery were in fact diverted to the bank.

SIU alerts presidency to Khusela Diko’s alleged R1mn Digital Vibes payout

The SIU has sent a letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office informing it of alleged corruption by his former spokesperson

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Bachelor's in Social Policy, Vilnius University (Graduated 2019)1y