U.S. To Suspend Free COVID-19 Test Orders Next Week

 Starting next week, Americans will no longer be able to order free at-home COVID-19 tests from a website set up by the U.S. government due to limited supply arising from a lack of congressional funding.

The COVIDTests.gov website, set up during the Omicron variant record surge in cases, helped U.S. households secure COVID-19 tests at no cost.

President Joe Biden in January pledged to procure 1 billion free tests for Americans, including 500 million available through the website. However, ordering through the program will be suspended on Sept. 2.

The administration will suspend taking orders for free at-home tests through COVIDTests.gov as of Friday, Sept. 2, “because Congress has not provided the COVID-19 funding we need to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests,” said a senior administration official.

The government will no longer take orders through this program to ensure some tests are still available in the fall in case there is a rise in infections, the official said.

“We have already distributed over 600 million tests through this program, and every household has had the opportunity to place three orders for a total of 16 tests,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.

Alternative ways of getting at-home tests will remain, the official said, including getting them reimbursed by private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid, which collectively cover over 92% of Americans.

The government will continue to distribute free tests directly to long-term care facilities, schools, child care and early learning centers, community health centers, and food banks. The government will also keep supporting around 15,000 free testing sites in pharmacies and libraries.

“If Congress provides funding, we will expeditiously resume distribution of free tests through COVIDTests.gov,” the official said.

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Oscar Pistorius: South African ex-Paralympian seeks to force early prison release

 Convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius is going to court to try to force South African authorities to hold a parole hearing for him.

The former Paralympic gold medallist is serving a 13-year sentence for killing his girlfriend in 2013.

Pistorius shot dead Reeva Steenkamp through a locked toilet door, claiming he mistook her for a burglar.

He is seeking an early release over a dispute about when his sentence started.

A series of challenges and rulings by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has led to confusion about when his sentence became effective.

Pistorius argues that he has already served enough time in prison to be eligible for parole, and therefore authorities should look at whether he can be released early.

In 2017, SCA said that Pistorius should serve 13 years and five months for the murder of Ms Steenkamp – overturning a previous, more lenient punishment of six years for murder.

Last year, the same court ruled that his current term should be backdated to October 2014, when he was initially sentenced for a lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Pistorius argues that this backdating means he became eligible for parole in February last year.

He wants Gauteng’s High Court to order the parole board to convene a hearing for him. If that request is granted, he wants the hearing to be within 30 days of the order saying so.

But Atteridgeville prison, where he is being held, says the court of appeal has given contradictory rulings.

The Department of Correctional Services also says it is seeking a court judgement to establish the date when his sentence effectively began.

Steenkamp’s murder on Valentine’s Day nine years ago shocked the country. In the televised trial, which gripped millions in South Africa and around the world, Pistorius pleaded that he had shot his girlfriend four times because he thought a burglar had entered his Pretoria home.

But a panel of appeal judges found that having armed himself with a high-calibre weapon, Pistorius should have foreseen that whoever was behind the toilet door might die, especially given his firearms training.

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Camilo Guevara: Son of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara dies

 Camilo Guevara March, the 60-year old son of Argentine-born revolutionary leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara, has died.

Cuban officials said he died of a heart attack caused by blood clots in his lungs.

Camilo Guevara dedicated much of his career to documenting the life of his father, who fought alongside Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution.

He opposed the use of his father’s image – made famous by an Alberto Korda photograph – for marketing purposes.

Camilo is one of four children Che Guevara had with his second wife, Aleida March.

While his older sister Aleida took on the role as spokeswoman for the family, Camilo led the Centre of Che Guevara Studies in the Cuban capital, Havana.

The centre, where Che Guevara’s personal archives are stored, promotes the revolutionary leader’s “life, work and thought”.

Cuban officials said Camilo Guevara died while on a visit to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel paid tribute to him in a tweet, saying that “with deep sorrow, we say goodbye to Camilo, Che’s son and promoter of his ideas”.

Born in Argentina, Che Guevara arguably became the most famous face of the Cuban revolution after joining brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro in their successful fight to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista.

Camilo Guevara was the second of four children born to Che Guevara and his fellow rebel, Aleida March.

He was five years old when his father was shot dead in Bolivia, where he had travelled to set up a guerrilla group.

He studied law but spent much of his life looking after the documents and memorabilia left behind by his father.

Unlike some of Fidel Castro’s close relatives who became vocal critics of the aftermath of the Cuban revolution, such as his sister Juanita Castro and his daughter Alina Fernández, Camilo Guevara remained loyal to the Castro brothers.

Fond of photography, he could often be seen clutching a Leica camera in one hand and a cigar in the other.

He is survived by his 85-year-old mother Aleida, his 61-year-old sister – also called Aleida – who works as a paediatrician, his younger sister Celia, who is a vet, and his younger brother Ernesto, who runs motorcycle tours of the Communist-run island.

He also leaves behind a daughter from his marriage to the late Cuban singer Suylén Milanés and two daughters from his subsequent marriage to Venezuelan Rosa Aliso.

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Charlbi Dean: Tributes to film and TV ‘star-in-the-making’ after death at 32

 South African actress and model Charlbi Dean, who starred in award-winning film Triangle of Sadness and TV series Black Lightning, has died at the age of 32.

Dean had a breakout role opposite Woody Harrelson in Triangle of Sadness, which won the top prize, the Palme d’Or, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

In Black Lightning, based on DC Comics characters, she appeared as Syonide.

Dean’s representatives said her death in hospital from a sudden unexpected illness was “devastating”.

Triangle of Sadness is regarded as a strong contender for next year’s Oscars

In writer and director Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle of Sadness, Dean played Yaya, one half of a model couple who were invited on a cruise that goes horribly wrong.

Writing in The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw said: “Charlbi Dean was a true star-in-the-making. Her loss is a huge one.”

Fellow film critic Robert Daniels tweeted that the news was “very tragic”. He wrote: “Charlbi Dean was on the verge of a breakthrough with Triangle of Sadness. I was so looking forward to where her career was going to go next.”

Another critic, Guy Lodge, called it “a massive shock”, adding: “She’s so witty and deadpan and clockwork-precise in Triangle of Sadness, and I was so excited to see a new South African talent on the international scene.”

Dean with co-stars Jean-Christophe Folly, Vicki Berlin and Woody Harrelson and director Ruben Ostlund in Cannes

Playwright Jeremy O Harris described the late actress as a “true talent”. He posted: “This is absolutely devastating. Charlbi Dean was such an exciting performer to me after seeing her in Triangle of Sadness.

“Her work had a vulnerability and intellect a lesser actor would have denied the character.”

The film is a biting social satire that sees models and the ultra-rich have their status undermined by unexpected events. It is set to be released in October and is expected to be in the running for the 2023 Oscars.

Speaking about the film before it was crowned at Cannes, Dean told the Associated Press: “For me, I’m like, I’ve already won. I’m already at Cannes with the movie. That’s so unbelievable. Anything is just a cherry on top at this point for me.”

Born and raised in Cape Town, Dean became a childhood model, adorning the covers of the South African editions of GQ and Elle, before making her acting debut in the 2010 film Spud – an adaptation of a popular South African novel that also starred Troye Sivan and John Cleese.

She went on to appear in such films as Death Race 3: Inferno and Blood in the Water, as well as Don’t Sleep and Porthole.

Dean, who survived a near-fatal car accident in 2008, was engaged to model Luke Volker, who posted during Cannes in May that he “couldn’t be more proud” of her success.

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Dozens Die In DR Congo Cholera Outbreak – Report

 At least 48 people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s central province of Sankuru, following a cholera outbreak in the region, the privately-owned news website Actualites CD has reported.

According to local health officials, 401 cases of the disease were recorded between 15 and 21 August.

To contain the disease, health officials are working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) to raise awareness among the local population.

According to the website, the province of Sankuru has also been dealing with other diseases such as measles, monkeypox, acute respiratory infections and meningitis.

On 12 August, Congolese health officials said they had recorded 69 cases of monkeypox , which was declared a global health emergency in July by the World Health Organization.

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Suellen Tennyson: Kidnapped US Catholic nun freed in Burkina Faso

 A US Catholic nun who was kidnapped by armed men in April in Burkina Faso has been freed, the bishop of the local north-east diocese of Kaya has said.

“Sister Suellen is currently in a safe place and in good health,” Bishop Theophile Nare said in a statement.

Suellen Tennyson, 83, was taken hostage from a local parish in the middle of the night, leaving behind her glasses and blood pressure medication.

The identity of the kidnappers is not known.

However, several militant groups have carried out attacks in Burkina Faso.

Bishop Nare said he did not have any information on the circumstances leading to Sister Suellen’s release. The FBI had put out a missing person notice after the kidnapping.

Several militant groups allied to al-Qaeda and Islamic State operate in the Sahel region and are known to carry out attacks and kidnapping against civilians in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries.

Regional nations continue to launch several offensive operations against the militant groups.

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Saudi Woman Jailed For 45 Years For Social Media Posts

 A Saudi woman has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for her social media posts, in the second case of its kind this month, activists say.

A terrorism court convicted Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani of “using the internet to tear the social fabric” and “violating public order by using social media”, rights group Dawn reported.

Little is known about her other than that she criticized Saudi leaders.

Another woman was jailed for 34 years over her Twitter activity on 9 August.

Abdullah Alaoudh, director of research for the Gulf region at Dawn, told the BBC’s Newshour programme that the US-based group had learnt of Qahtani’s case only after being passed court documents by a judicial source, and that it was continuing to investigate.

“Nothing in her court documents pertains to any violence or criminal activity,” he said.

“The charges against her are really broad. They are using the counter-terrorism law and the anti-cybercrime law… that can criminalise any posting that is even remotely critical of the government,” he added.

Several other female activists have reportedly been detained in relation to social media posts since last year. Mr Alaoudh said he feared that they could also be handed lengthy prison sentences.

“The Saudi government is sending a strong signal to the West that it does not care about human rights.”

Mr Alaoudh warned that it was “impossible not to connect the dots” between US President Joe Biden’s controversial meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed in Jeddah last month and “the uptick in the repressive attacks”.

Mr Biden had previously vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its human rights record.

ALQST, a UK-based rights group, also expressed grave concern about Qahtani’s sentence, which it said was “based on [her] tweets”.

“As feared, we are witnessing an alarming deterioration of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia,” it added.

The Saudi Prisoners of Conscience account also tweeted that it had confirmation of the sentence, but there was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities.

Earlier in August, Salma al-Shehab, a Saudi PhD student at Leeds University, was jailed for 34 years.

She was arrested while on holiday in Saudi Arabia in January 2021, and was found guilty of “providing succour to those seeking to disrupt public order” and “publishing false and tendentious rumours”.

Before leaving England, the 34-year-old mother of two had called for reforms and the release of prominent activists and intellectuals imprisoned under a crackdown on dissent overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Shehab’s prison term was believed to be the longest ever handed to a peaceful activist in the country until Qahtani’s was reported.

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