World
5 tourists killed in India road crash
At least five people were killed and two others injured when their SUV crashed into a speeding dumper on a busy expressway near the national capital on Thursday.
Police said the accident occurred on the Yamuna Expressway in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida city bordering Delhi when the victims, all tourists from western India, were returning from Agra, where they had gone to visit the Taj Mahal.
Read: 7 of family killed in India road accident
"They were on the way from Agra towards Noida (sister city of Greater Noida) when their SUV hit the dumper truck from the rear side near Jewar toll plaza," a spokesperson for Noida Police told the local media.
While five of the occupants died on the spot, the injured have been hospitalised. "The condition of one of them is critical," a police officer said.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took to Twitter to expresse grief over the loss of the lives in the accident. "Praying for peace to departed souls," he said.
A probe has been ordered into the accident, the police spokesperson said, adding that the truck was seized.
Read: India's top court stays sedition law
Road accidents are very common in India, with one taking place every four minutes. These accidents are often blamed on poor roads, rash driving and scant regard for traffic laws.
Indian government's implementation of stricter traffic laws in recent years have failed to rein in accidents, which claim over 100,000 lives every year.
‘This tears my soul apart’: A Ukrainian boy and a killing
As he listened to his father die, the boy lay still on the asphalt. His elbow burned where a bullet had pierced him. His thumb stung from being grazed.
Another killing was in progress on a lonely street in Bucha, the community on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, where bodies of civilians are still being discovered weeks after Russian soldiers withdrew. Many had been shot in the head.
The 14-year-old Yura Nechyporenko was about to become one of them.
Survivors have described soldiers firing guns near their feet or threatening them with grenades, only to be drawn away by a cooler-headed colleague. But there was no one around to restrain the Russian soldier that day in March when Yura and his father, 47-year-old Ruslan, were biking down a tree-lined street.
They were on their way to visit vulnerable neighbors sheltering in basements and homes without electricity or running water. Their bikes were tied with white fabric, in a sign they traveled in peace.
When the soldier stepped from a dirt path to challenge them, Yura and his father immediately stopped and raised their hands.
Also Read: Russia hits Ukraine’s east as Finland moves toward NATO bid
“What are you doing?” Yura remembers the soldier asking. The soldier didn’t give Yura’s father time to answer.
A shot hit Yura’s hand, and he fell, too. Another shot struck his elbow. He closed his eyes. A final shot was fired.
This story is part of an ongoing investigation from The Associated Press and Frontline that includes the War Crimes Watch Ukraine interactive experience and an upcoming documentary.
Yura’s extraordinary account alleging an attempted killing by Russian soldiers stands out as international justice experts descend on Bucha, a center of the horrors and possible war crimes in Ukraine. More than 1,000 bodies have been found so far in Bucha and other communities around Kyiv. In Bucha alone, 31 children under the age of 18 were killed and 19 wounded, according to local authorities.
“All children were killed or injured deliberately, since the Russian soldiers deliberately shot at evacuating cars that had the signs ‘CHILDREN’ and white fabric tied to them, and they deliberately shot at the homes of civilians,” the chief prosecutor of the Bucha region, Ruslan Kravchenko, told the AP.
The U.N. human rights office says at least 202 children across Ukraine have been killed in Russia’s invasion, and believes the real number to be considerably higher. The Ukrainian government’s count is 217 children killed and over 390 wounded.
The AP and Frontline, drawing from a variety of sources, have independently documented 21 attacks where children were killed that likely meet the definition of a war crime, ranging from the discovery of a child in a shallow grave in Borodyanka to the bombing of a theater in Mariupol. The total number of child victims in the attacks is unknown, and the accounting represents just a fraction of potential war crimes.
Yura is a teenager growing into himself, spindly and spotted, with dark circles pressed under his eyes. Adulthood has been rushed upon him. As he lies on the floor of his family’s home to demonstrate what happened, he shows the healing holes in his elbow.
His mother, Alla, takes deep breaths to calm herself. Yura, sitting up, wraps an arm around her, then puts his head on her shoulder.
On that awful day, Yura survived the attempted killing by the awkward grace of that teenage constant, his gray hoodie. It was shot instead of him, and he felt it move.
Yura lay on the street for minutes afterward, waiting for the soldier to walk away.
Also Read: Ukraine reports more airstrikes on Azovstal
Then Yura ran. He reached the kindergarten where his mother worked, and where some residents used the basement as a shelter. They were shocked to see the boy and gave him first aid.
He realized he needed to go home. He returned to the streets, not knowing where the next soldier might be.
When he arrived home, his family called the police. The police said they could do nothing because they didn’t control the area, according to the family. The ambulance service said the same.
The police told the family that officers didn’t know what to do with the case, according to the boy’s uncle, Andriy. A prosecutor’s report describes the killing and attempted killing in a few bare sentences, including the loss of a cellphone belonging to Yura’s father. He would have been of help now — he’d been a lawyer.
Kravchenko told the AP that they continue to work on Yura’s case, and expressed confidence that crimes committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can be successfully investigated. Among other things, footage from dozens of surveillance cameras in Bucha is being analyzed, and an identification album of Russian soldiers’ faces is being assembled.
In March, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that investigations into crimes against children in particular will benefit from a new trust fund. Children account for half or more of those affected by conflict, but are often labeled as too vulnerable to testify or as having inaccurate memories, according to Veronique Aubert, the special adviser on crimes involving children to the prosecutor of the ICC.
Yura’s case is unusual.
“Prosecutors may want to take up this case because the victim is still alive and can potentially testify,” said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University and former special counsel for the U.S. Defense Department. “It may be difficult if not impossible for a defendant to claim they were somehow justified in trying to kill a child.”
Wickremesinghe to be appointed Sri Lankan PM: Party official
Five-time former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be reappointed on Thursday in an effort to bring stability to the island nation, engulfed in a political and economic crisis, a party official said.
“He is being sworn in as prime minister this evening because a number of members of Parliament have asked him to take over and solve the country's problems,” said Vajira Abeywardena, an official of the United National Party, which Wickremesinghe heads.
Also read: Sri Lanka leader vows to shed powers, appoint prime minister
Abeywardena said more than 160 lawmakers in the 225-member Parliament support Wickremesinghe’s selection, but this could not be verified independently. There was no immediate comment from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has the power to appoint the prime minister.
If Rajapaksa selects Wickremesinghe, it would be seen an attempt to end violence triggered by the crisis and restore international credibility as his government negotiates a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund and debt restructuring plans.
The president’s brother, Mahinda Rajakapsa, resigned as prime minister on Monday following violent attacks by their supporters on peaceful anti-government protesters. His resignation automatically dissolved the Cabinet, leaving an administrative vacuum.
Authorities deployed armored vehicles and troops in the streets of the capital on Wednesday after the attacks on the protesters triggered a wave of violence across the country. Nine people died and more than 200 have been injured.
Security forces have been ordered to shoot people deemed to be participating in the violence, as sporadic acts of arson and vandalism continue despite a strict nationwide curfew that began Monday evening.
The protesters have been demanding the resignations of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother over the economic crisis.
Sri Lanka is nearly bankrupt and has suspended repayments of $7 billion in foreign loans due this year. The IMF has said any short or long-term assistance depends on the outcome of talks with creditors on loan restructuring. Sri Lanka must repay about $25 billion in foreign loans by 2026 out of a current total foreign debt of $51 billion.
The finance ministry said earlier this month that the country's usable foreign reserves have plummeted to just $25 million.
The foreign currency shortage has forced a sharp decline in imports, leading to severe shortages of essentials such as fuel, cooking gas, food and medicine. For months, people have had to stand in long lines to buy limited supplies, with many returning empty handed.
If selected, Wickremesinghe will likely present a Cabinet list to the president for appointment, a power vested in him by the constitution. If there are any objections to the prime minister or the new Cabinet, lawmakers can submit a no-confidence motion to the house speaker when the body reconvenes on Tuesday. The motion would then be debated and voted on.
Also read: Sri Lanka deploys troops in capital after violence, protests
Wickremesinghe, 73, has been in Parliament for 45 years. He has wide international connections and is seen as a capable negotiator.
His political party split in 2019 amid a leadership crisis and most senior members left to form a new party, which is currently the country’s main opposition.
Wickremesinghe's reputation was damaged during his previous term as prime minister, when he was in a difficult power sharing arrangement with former President Maithripala Sirisena. An internal conflict and communication breakdown between him and Sirisena was blamed for intelligence lapses that led to Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks in 2019 that killed more than 260 people.
He was also accused of shielding a friend he appointed as head of the Central Bank from allegations of insider trading.
Finland's leaders advocate NATO membership 'without delay'
Finland's president and prime minister said Thursday they’re in favor of rapidly applying for NATO membership “without delay,” paving the way for the alliance to expand amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The dramatic move by Finland was announced by President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin. It means that Finland is virtually certain to seek NATO membership, though a few steps remain before the application process can begin. Neighboring Sweden is expected to decide on joining NATO in coming days.
The Kremlin reacted to the development a few hours later, saying that Finland’s move to join NATO won’t help stability and security in Europe. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) land border with Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia's response to the move would depend on what specific steps NATO will take to bring its infrastructure close to Russian borders. He noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin already had ordered to work out steps to strengthen the country’s defenses in the west in response to NATO’s expansion closer to Russian borders.
Also read:Russia hits Ukraine’s east as Finland moves toward NATO bid
Previously, the Kremlin had warned of “military and political repercussions” if Sweden and Finland decide to join NATO. Should they apply, there will be an interim period lasting from when an application has been handed in until all 30 NATO members’ parliaments have ratified it.
“NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance,” Niinisto and Marin said in a joint statement. "Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay. We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”
The statement on Thursday came a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited both Finland and Sweden to sign a military cooperation agreement.
The U.K. pledged on Wednesday to come to the aid of Sweden and Finland if the two Nordic nations came under attack.
During a joint news conference with Johnson and Niinisto in Helsinki, the Finnish head of state said Moscow could only blame itself should his nation of 5.5 million people become a NATO member.
“You (Russia) caused this. Look at the mirror,” Niinisto said pointedly Wednesday.
On Thursday, Niinisto tweeted that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Finland's firm support for Ukraine and the country's intention to join NATO. Niinisto said that Zelenskyy “expressed his full support for it."
In 2017, Sweden and Finland joined the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force, which is designed to be more flexible and respond more quickly than the larger NATO alliance. It uses NATO standards and doctrine, so it can operate in conjunction with NATO, the United Nations or other multinational coalitions. Fully operational since 2018, the force has held a number of exercises both independently and in cooperation with NATO.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Finland and Sweden have been pondering whether to abandon their historic, decades-old neutrality and join the 30-member NATO. After Moscow launched its attack on Ukraine, public support in the two countries started to quickly shift toward membership in NATO, first in Finland and a bit later in Sweden.
Also read:Ukraine shuts off Russian pipeline amid talk of annexation
The latest opinion poll conducted by Finnish public broadcaster YLE showed earlier this week that 76% of Finns are in favor of joining NATO, a big change from earlier years when only 20-30% of respondents favored such military alignment.
Speaking to European Union lawmakers Thursday as Niinisto's and Marin's announcement was made, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that “the war started by Russia jeopardizes the security and stability of the whole of Europe.”
Haavisto said that Russia’s unpredictable behavior is a serious concern for Finland, notably Moscow’s readiness to wage “high-risk operations” that could lead to many casualties, including among Russians themselves.
Should Finland become a NATO member, it would mean the biggest change in the Nordic country’s defense and security policy since World War II when it fought two lost wars against the Soviet Union. Along with Sweden, Finland joined the European Union in 1995 and has the longest border with Russia out of all the bloc's 27 members.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde tweeted that Finland’s announcement gave an “important message” and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that there were “strong messages" from Finland's president and prime minister.
During the Cold War, Finland stayed away from NATO to avoid provoking the Soviet Union, instead opting to remain a neutral buffer between the East and the West while maintaining good relations with Moscow and also with the United States.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the military alliance would welcome Finland and Sweden — both of which have strong, modern militaries — with open arms and expects the accession process to be speedy and smooth.
NATO officials say the Nordic duo's accession process could be done “in a couple of weeks.” The most time consuming part of the procedure – ratification of the country’s protocol by the 30 NATO member countries – could even be completed in less time than the four months or so that it took West Germany, Turkey and Greece to join in the 1950s, when there were only 12 members to ratify their applications.
“These are not normal times,” one NATO official said this week, discussing the possible applications of Finland and Sweden. The official was briefing reporters about the accession process on condition that he not be named as no application has been made by the two countries.
Russia hits Ukraine’s east as Finland moves toward NATO bid
Russian forces unleashed airstrikes on the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the besieged city of Mariupol and pressed their advance on towns across the country's east, Ukraine’s military said Thursday.
As the war, which has ground to a stalemate, wrought more death and upheaval, its globe-shaking repercussions spread, with Finland announcing plans to end decades of neutrality and seek NATO membership.
Finland’s president and prime minister said Thursday that the Nordic country should apply “without delay” for membership in the Western alliance, founded in part to counter the Soviet Union. The announcement means Finland is virtually certain to seek to join the military alliance, though a few steps remain before the application process can begin. Neighboring Sweden is expected to decide on joining NATO within days.
NATO's support of Ukraine — particularly by supplying weapons — has been critical to Kyiv's surprising success in stymieing Russia's invasion, which began on Feb. 24. Many observers thought Moscow's larger and better-armed military would be hard to stop, but the Ukrainians have bogged Russian troops down and thwarted their goal of overrunning the capital.
Also read:Ukraine reports more airstrikes on Azovstal
Still, the war has unleashed staggering destruction, killed thousands and forced millions from their homes, while shattering Europe’s sense of post-Cold War stability. It has prompted NATO to send troops and weapons to fortify the alliance’s eastern frontier and led Sweden and Finland to reconsider longstanding opposition to joining the trans-Atlantic alliance, whose members are committed to mutual defense.
In Mariupol, which has seen some of the worst destruction of the war, Ukraine offered to release Russian prisoners of war in exchange for the safe evacuation of badly wounded fighters trapped inside the Azovstal steel mill, the last redoubt of Ukrainian forces in the ruined city.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that negotiations were underway to release the wounded. She said there were different options, but “none of them is ideal.”
Russia's forces have taken control of the rest of the city, which they besieged for weeks, as residents ran short of food, water and medicine. Many thousands have fled, saying almost nothing remains of the port city, but an adviser to the Mariupol mayor said Russian forces have now blocked all evacuation routes.
Petro Andriushchenko said there are few apartment buildings fit to live in, and some remaining residents are cooperating with occupying Russian forces in exchange for food, though he did say Thursday the troops have resumed water supplies to two neighborhoods as a test.
“The occupiers turned Mariupol into a medieval ghetto,” said Mayor Vadym Boychenko in comments published by City Hall, as he called for a complete evacuation of the city. Officials said in recent weeks that about 100,000 residents could still be trapped in Mariupol, which had a prewar population of over 400,000.
Russian and Ukrainian authorities have periodically agreed to cease-fires to evacuate residents, and repeatedly blamed each other when those efforts failed. Andriushchenko’s allegations could not be independently confirmed.
In the wake of their failure to take Kyiv, Russian forces pulled back and regrouped — and switched their focus to Ukraine's Donbas, an eastern industrial region where Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian troops for years. While Russia's advance there has also been slow, the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces noted Thursday that Moscow has achieved a “partial success.”
It said Ukrainian forces repulsed nine attacks by Russian forces and destroyed several drone and military vehicles. The information could not be independently verified.
Evacuees from towns in the embattled east wiped away tears as they carried their children and belongings onto buses and vans to flee.
“It is terrible there now. We were leaving under missiles,” said Tatiana Kravstova, who left the town of Siversk with her 8-year-old son Artiom on a bus headed to the central city of Dnipro. “I don’t know where they were aiming at, but they were pointing at civilians.”
Ukraine's military also said Russian forces had fired artillery at Ukrainian units north of the city of Kharkiv — a northeastern city key to the offensive in the Donbas; fired artillery and grenade launchers at Ukrainian troops in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, which has been a refuge for civilians fleeing Mariupol; and attacked in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions to the north.
Overnight airstrikes in the Chernihiv region killed three people and wounded 12, according to local media citing emergency services. The regional governor said the strikes on the town of Novhorod-Siverskyi damaged a boarding school, dormitory and administrative building.
Also read:Ukraine shuts off Russian pipeline amid talk of annexation
President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s determination to ensure territory in the Donbas held by Moscow-backed separatists never returns to Ukraine in a congratulatory message Thursday to the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic.
On the eve of its invasion, Russia recognized the separatists' claim to independence in Luhansk as well as in the other Donbas region of Donetsk. Moscow sought to justify its offensive by claiming, without evidence, that Ukraine was planning to attack areas held by separatists and that it intervened to protect people in those regions.
“I am sure that through our joint efforts we will defend the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the Luhansk republic, Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.
Elsewhere, Kyiv prepared for its first war crimes trial of a captured Russian soldier. Ukraine's top prosecutor said her office charged Russian Sgt. Vadin Shyshimarin, 21, in the killing of an unarmed 62-year-old civilian who was gunned down while riding a bicycle in February, four days into the war.
Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova's office has said it has been investigating more than 10,700 allegations of war crimes committed by Russian forces and has identified over 600 suspects.
Volodymyr Yavorskyy of the Center for Civil Liberties said the Ukrainian human rights group will be closely following Shyshimarin's trial to see if it is fair — noting the difficulty of overserving the norms during wartime.
On the economic front, Ukraine shut down a pipeline that carries Russian gas across Ukraine to homes and industries in Western Europe, disrupting the westward flow of one of Moscow’s most lucrative exports.
The immediate effect is likely to be limited, in part because Russia can divert the gas to another pipeline and because Europe relies on a variety of suppliers. Still, the cutoff underscored the broader risk to gas supplies from the war.
In the southern Kherson region, site of the first major Ukrainian city to fall in the war, a Moscow-appointed leader said officials there want Putin to annex the area. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the regional administration appointed by Moscow, told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency: “The city of Kherson is Russia.”
That was something at least one resident contested. “All people in Kherson are waiting for our troops to come as soon as possible,” said a teacher who gave only her first name, Olga, out of fear of retaliation. “Nobody wants to live in Russia or join Russia.”
A Black Sea port of roughly 300,000, Kherson is seen as a gateway to wider Russian control over southern Ukraine. The development raised the possibility that the Kremlin would seek to break off another piece of Ukraine as it tries to salvage an invasion gone awry.
Sherpa woman climbs Everest for 10th time, breaks own record
A Nepali Sherpa broke her own record as the most successful female climber of Mount Everest by reaching the summit of the world's highest peak Thursday.
Lakpa Sherpa and several other climbers took advantage of favorable weather to reach the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) summit early in the morning, her brother and expedition organizer Mingma Gelu said. He said she was in good health and was safely descending from the peak.
Also read: Sherpa guide breaks own record scaling Everest for 26th time
Sherpa, 48, never got a chance to get a formal education because she had to start earning a living by carrying climbing gear and supplies for trekkers. Thursday's successful ascent was her 10th — the most times any woman has climbed Everest — and she has always said she wanted to inspire all women so they too can achieve their dreams.
A native of Nepal, Sherpa lives in the U.S. with her three children in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Another Nepalese Sherpa guide, Kami Rita, reached the summit for the 26th time Saturday, breaking his own record for the most climbs of Everest. Rita led a group of Sherpa climbers who fixed ropes along the route so that hundreds of other climbers and guides can make their way to the top of the mountain later this month.
Also read: China cancels Everest climbs over fears of virus from Nepal
Hundreds of foreign climbers and an equal number of Sherpa guides are set to attempt climbs of Everest in May, the month when weather conditions in the Himalayan peaks are most favorable for climbing.
Biden co-hosting 2nd COVID summit as world's resolve falters
President Joe Biden will appeal for a renewed international commitment to attacking COVID-19 as he convenes the second global COVID-19 summit at a time when faltering resolve at home jeopardizes that global response.
Eight months after he used the first such summit to announce an ambitious pledge to donate 1.2 billion vaccine doses to the world, the urgency of the U.S. and other nations to respond has waned.
Momentum on vaccinations and treatments has faded even as new, more infectious variants rise and billions across the globe remain unprotected. Congress has refused to meet Biden’s request to provide another $22.5 billion in what he has called critically needed aid funding.
The White House said Biden will address the opening of the virtual summit Thursday morning with prerecorded remarks and will make the case that addressing COVID-19 “must remain an international priority.” The U.S. is co-hosting the summit along with Germany, Indonesia, Senegal and Belize.
The U.S. has shipped nearly 540 million vaccine doses to more than 110 countries and territories, according to the State Department — by far more than any other donor nation.
Also read: Biden, Mexican president confer on migration, diplomacy
After the delivery of more than 1 billion vaccines to the developing world, the problem is no longer that there aren’t enough shots, but a lack of logistical support to get doses into arms. According to government data, more than 680 million donated vaccine doses have been left unused in developing countries because they were set to expire soon and couldn’t be administered quickly enough. As of March, 32 poorer countries had used fewer than half of the COVID-19 vaccines they were sent.
U.S. assistance to promote and facilitate vaccinations overseas dried up earlier this year, and Biden has requested about $5 billion for the effort through the rest of the year.
“We have tens of millions of unclaimed doses because countries lack the resources to build out their cold chains, which basically is the refrigeration systems; to fight disinformation; and to hire vaccinators,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week. She added that the summit is “going to be an opportunity to elevate the fact that we need additional funding to continue to be a part of this effort around the world.”
“We’re going to continue to fight for more funding here,” Psaki said. “But we will continue to press other countries to do more to help the world make progress as well.”
Congress has balked at the price tag for COVID-19 relief and has thus far refused to take up the package because of political opposition to the impending end of pandemic-era migration restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border. Even after a consensus for virus funding briefly emerged in March, lawmakers decided to strip out the global aid funding and solely focus the assistance on shoring up U.S. supplies of vaccine booster shots and therapeutics.
Biden has warned that without Congress acting, the U.S. could lose out on access to the next generation of vaccines and treatments, and that the nation won't have enough supply of booster doses or the antiviral drug Paxlovid for later this year. He's also sounding the alarm that more variants will spring up if the U.S. and the world don't do more to contain the virus globally.
“To beat the pandemic here, we need to beat it everywhere,” Biden said last September during the first global summit.
The virus has killed more than 995,000 people in the U.S. and at least 6.2 million globally, according to figures kept by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.
Also read: Biden sees bigger role for US farms due to Ukraine war
Demand for COVID-19 vaccines has dropped in some countries as infections and deaths have declined globally in recent months, particularly as the omicron variant has proved to be less severe than earlier versions of the disease. For the first time since it was created, the U.N.-backed COVAX effort has “enough supply to enable countries to meet their national vaccination targets,” according to vaccines alliance Gavi CEO Dr. Seth Berkley, which fronts COVAX.
Still, despite more than 65% of the world’s population receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, fewer than 16% of people in poor countries have been immunized. It is highly unlikely countries will hit the World Health Organization target of vaccinating 70% of all people by June.
In countries including Cameroon, Uganda and the Ivory Coast, officials have struggled to get enough refrigerators to transport vaccines, send enough syringes for mass campaigns and get enough health workers to inject the shots. Experts also point out that more than half of the health workers needed to administer the vaccines in poorer countries are either underpaid or not paid at all.
Donating more vaccines, critics say, would miss the point entirely.
“It’s like donating a bunch of fire trucks to countries that are on fire, but they have no water,” said Ritu Sharma, a vice president at the charity CARE, which has helped immunize people in more than 30 countries, including India, South Sudan and Bangladesh.
“We can’t be giving countries all these vaccines but no way to use them,” she said, adding that the same infrastructure that got the shots administered in the U.S. is now needed elsewhere. “We had to tackle this problem in the U.S., so why are we not now using that knowledge to get vaccines into the people who need them most?”
Sharma said greater investment was needed to counter vaccine hesitancy in developing countries where there are entrenched beliefs about the potential dangers of Western-made medicines.
“Leaders must agree to pursue a coherent strategy to end the pandemic instead of a fragmented approach that will extend the lifespan of this crisis,” said Gayle Smith, CEO of The ONE Campaign.
GAVI’s Berkley also said that countries are increasingly asking for the pricier messenger RNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, which are not as easily available as the AstraZeneca vaccine, which made up the bulk of COVAX’s supply last year.
The emergence of variants like delta and omicron have led many countries to switch to mRNA vaccines, which seem to provide more protection and are in greater demand globally than traditionally made vaccines like AstraZeneca, Novavax or those made by China and Russia.
Massive New Mexico wildfire grows, but Taos safe for now
Burning now for more than a month, the largest wildfire in the U.S. was spreading toward mountain resort towns in northern New Mexico on Wednesday, prompting officials to issue another set of warnings for more people to evacuate.
“Day 36,” fire spokesman Bill Morse said at a briefing Wednesday night. “Ever since April 6, this fire has grown day by day by day.”
Also read: Strong, swirling winds complicate New Mexico wildfire fight
Meanwhile, a wildfire that erupted Wednesday afternoon in coastal Southern California raced through coastal bluffs of multimillion-dollar mansions, burning at least 20 homes, fire officials said. The flames were fanned by gusty ocean winds but they were dying down Wednesday night. No injuries were reported but several streets were ordered evacuated.
The fire, which occurred in Laguna Niguel, was relatively small at about 200 acres (81 hectares) but the wind drove embers into palm trees, attics and dense, dry brush on slopes and steep canyons that hadn’t burned for decades, Brian Fennessy, chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, said at an evening news conference.
Fennessy said climate change has made even small fires that once would have been easily contained into extreme threats to life and property throughout the West.
As night fell, fire officials in New Mexico said the fastest-moving flames along the eastern front of the Sangre de Cristo range on the southern end of the Rockies were headed farther northeast — away from the area's biggest population center in Taos, a well-known tourist enclave 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of the Colorado line.
“Currently no issues in the Taos area," fire operations chief Todd Abel said. “The fire is kind of wanting to move to the north and east a little bit. But we’re still going to pay close attention.”
Some aircraft were able to fly to drop retardant on the blaze despite winds gusting in some areas in excess of 45 mph (72 kph). And some evacuation orders were relaxed along the southern flank of the fire near Las Vegas, New Mexico — more than 50 miles (80 km) south of the flames on the northern perimeter.
Additional crews were on order to join the more than 1,800 personnel fighting the fire, and forecasters said conditions should be more favorable by the weekend if crews can hold their ground through another red-flag warning stretch into Thursday evening.
On Wednesday, the most active part of the wind-fueled fire northeast of Mora was tossing hot embers farther into unburned territory giving the fire an even bigger foothold on the tinder-dry landscape.
“Another hot, dry, windy day. No surprises there,” fire incident meteorologist Makoto Moore said at Wednesday night's briefing in Las Vegas.
After growing more than 50 square miles (130 square kilometers) the day before, the fire had charred more than 370 square miles (958 square kilometers) by Wednesday morning. Evacuations were ordered for villages south of the resort town of Angel Fire east of Taos, where residents were told to also be packed and ready to go.
The towering plume of smoke created by the raging wildfire could be seen hundreds of miles away Wednesday afternoon, but it was more unnerving for residents of Taos.
“I think everyone is a little on edge,” Karina Armijo, a town spokeswoman, said Wednesday, adding that she's been busy fielding calls from people who are wondering whether it's still safe to visit. “It's hard to say what's going to happen a week from now versus three weeks from now — or even tomorrow.”
Also read: New Mexico residents brace for extreme wildfire conditions
In winter, the challenging ski slopes just north of town draw people from around the world. Just last month, the Taos ski valley hosted the World Pro Ski Tour’s championship races. Art galleries, adobe churches and a rich history of Hispanic and Native American culture are the attractions in warmer months along with the aspen-covered biking and hiking trails that traverse the region.
The fire already has burned through a forested landscape held sacred by its rural residents, many losing homes that have been in their families for generations. Some residents allowed to return Tuesday and Wednesday found only charred rubble. Others were more fortunate as the flames skirted their homes.
Firefighters were working to protect buildings around the towns of Mora and Holman and in smaller villages to the north, while authorities closed many roads in the area due to firefighting activity, smoke and fire danger.
“This is tough firefighting business right here,” fire Incident Commander Dave Bales said in a briefing. “This is not easy, especially in the fuel types we're in, in the Ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, even down into the grass. When we can’t fly aircraft, when we can’t get people on the direct edge of the fire, when it’s spotting over us, that’s a huge concern for us.”
A federal disaster already has been declared because of the blaze, which is partly the result of a preventative fire that escaped containment on April 6 after it was set to clear brush and small trees so they could not serve as wildfire fuel. That fire merged with another wildfire several weeks later.
Crews also were battling a smaller fire near Los Alamos National Laboratory, a key government facility for nuclear research that has been tapped to ramp up production of plutonium components for the nation's nuclear arsenal. Most employees began working remotely this week as the lab and adjacent town prepared for possible evacuations as a precaution.
Crews working that blaze have been using heavy machinery to clear out vegetation and build more fire lines in hopes of keeping the flames from moving closer to the community.
Ukraine reports more airstrikes on Azovstal
Ukraine's military says Russian forces are continuing airstrikes on the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol and pressing their advance on towns in eastern Ukraine.
In its operational statement for Day 78 of the war, the Ukrainian military's General Staff says Russian forces have also fired artillery and grenade launchers at Ukrainian troops in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, which has been a refuge for civilians fleeing Mariupol.
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It did not elaborate on the latest action around Azovstal.
The military says Russian forces also fired artillery at Ukrainian units north of the city of Kharkiv in the northeast, and reported Russian strikes in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions to the north.
Across the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, site of sustained fighting since the war began, the Ukrainian military noted “partial success” in Russia’s advance. It said Ukrainian forces repulsed nine Russian attacks and destroyed several drones and military vehicles. The information could not be independently verified.
Passengers injured as plane leaves runway in western China
A Chinese passenger jet left the runway upon takeoff and caught fire in western China on Thursday morning, and several people were injured.
Tibet Airlines said it happened at 8:09 a.m. (0009 GMT) as the flight to the city of Nyingchi in the Tibetan Autonomous Region was preparing to take off from the western city of Chongqing.
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The Airbus A319-115 jet had 113 passengers and nine flight crew onboard, all of whom were safely evacuated with some taken to a hospital with minor injuries, the airline said in an statement.
The plane itself had fire damage, it said.
“In the process of taking off, the flight crew discovered an abnormality with the aircraft and stopped the takeoff, after which the aircraft left the runway," the statement said.
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The incident follows the crash of a Chinese Eastern Boeing 737-800 in southeastern China on March 21 in which all 132 people on board were killed. That accident, in which the plane went into a sudden nosedive and slammed into the ground in a mountainous area, remains under investigation.