Americans Brace for the Holidays as Another Pandemic Year Approaches
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· Veronica Balderas Iglesias
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UK bans travel from South Africa after emergence of new heavily-mutated Covid-19 variant | South China Morning Post
South Africa recorded a new Covid-19 variant with ‘a high number of mutations’ on November 25, 2021. The strain, which has the scientific designation B.1.1.529, has at least 10 mutations, compared to two for Delta and three for Beta. Concerns over transmissibility and vaccine effectiveness on the new variant has pro…
COVID Vaccine Company BioNTech Founders Aim to Tackle Cancer
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· Dilge Timocin
Chinese father makes own medicine in desperate bid to treat son’s fatal genetic disease | South China Morning Post
In China’s southwestern Yunnan province, two-year-old Haoyang may only have a few months to live because he suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Menkes syndrome. In a desperate effort to save his dying son, Xu Wei has assembled a home laboratory to try and create a treatment for his child. The disease is incu…
2-year-old chopstick pro is on the road to recovery | South China Morning Post
Haihai, five, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was just a year old. Since falling sick, he has learnt to be independent, using chopsticks like a pro by the age of two. We shared the story of his cancer ordeal in 2019. Now, he is on the road to recovery.
Religious sect at the centre of new Covid-19 outbreak in South Korea, sparking record high cases | South China Morning Post
South Korea reported a record 4,116 coronavirus infections on November 23, 2021, its highest daily Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. The latest outbreak started in the southern city of Cheonan where a religious sect, whose leader conducts healings by poking eyes, set up a commune. Around 90 per cent of…
Chinese factory in Serbia called out for alleged abuse and trafficking of Vietnamese migrant workers | South China Morning Post
A group of Vietnamese migrant workers recruited to build a Chinese-owned car tyre factory in Serbia has accused their employer of ill treatment. Said to be the first Chinese car tyre factory in Europe, Shandong Linglong Tire Co set up shop in northern Serbia where it’s being touted as the largest foreign investment …
The EPA Administrator Visited Cancer-Causing Air Pollution Hot Spots Highlighted by ProPublica and Promised Reforms
Two days after ProPublica published a first-of-its-kind analysis of industrial air pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that its administrator, Michael S. Regan, would visit the communities featured in our reporting. During last week’s “Journey to Justice” trip across the South, Regan toured the …
India sees lowest daily Covid-19 new case number in over 18 months | South China Morning Post
India registered 7,579 new cases of coronavirus on November 23, 2021, the lowest daily infection number reported since May 2020. Cases have continued to drop even though large crowds recently gathered to celebrate Diwali, one of the most popular Hindu festivals in the country. In May 2020, India experienced a devast…
Hong Kong microbiologist blames 'selfish' mask for Covid-19 cross infection at quarantine hotel | South China Morning Post
A leading microbiologist in Hong Kong has labelled a face mask as “selfish” because its design contains a valve that filters air being breathed in, but not out. The city's health officials have blamed the mask for a cross infection of Covid-19 at a quarantine hotel, after two guests staying on the same floor tested …
Pandemic Leads to Dramatic Rise in Road Fatalities in US
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· Karina Bafradzhian
Holiday Shopping Season Hit by Pandemic, Supply Chain Woes, Inflation
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· Maxim Moskalkov
Kitten with four ears becomes internet sensation | South China Morning Post
This kitten with four ears in Turkey has gone viral on social media. Midas’ owner – Canis Dosemeci – fell in love with her at first sight and took her home, worried her unique condition would lower her chances of adoption. Her condition does not affect her health or hearing, according to her vet.
Japanese wine lovers bathe in red wine to celebrate official launch of 2021 vintage | South China Morning Post
Crowds of wine lovers in Japan celebrated the official launch of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau with a red wine bath on November 18, 2021. The event was held at Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Hot Spring Resort, an onsen theme park known for a wide array of unique spa-bathing offerings, such as wine, coffee and green tea. …
Singaporeans welcome plan to charge Covid-19 patients for medical care if they refuse vaccines | South China Morning Post
Many Singapore residents have welcomed government plans to bill Covid-19 patients who had chosen to remain unvaccinated, for their medical care. The city state has one of the world’s highest inoculation rates, with 85 per cent of its 5.45 million population fully vaccinated. The new Covid-19 medical care fees policy…
Los Angeles Approves One of the Strictest Vaccine Mandates in US
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· Angelina Bagdasaryan
¿Puede la contaminación del aire causar cáncer? Lo que usted tiene que saber sobre los riesgos.
Usted puede ser una de los millones de personas a través del país que han vivido en una zona con un riesgo estimado de cáncer aumentado por los químicos emanados al aire por instalaciones industriales.
· Maya Miller, Laila Milevski, Lisa Song, Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, and Al Shaw
Kandahar Hospital Reports Increased Child Malnutrition Cases
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· Gaja Pellegrini-Bettoli
Poppy plantations in Afghanistan flourishing amid Western sanctions and economic collapse | South China Morning Post
After its return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban promised to crack down on poppy plantations and the drug trade. But Western sanctions imposed on the country have brought the Afghan economy on the brink of collapse, with many Afghans once again turning to the profitable poppy trade. As the world’…
He wanted to visit every country in the world without flying, the pandemic stranded him in Hong Kong | South China Morning Post
Torbjørn “Thor” Pedersen set off from his home in Denmark in 2013 to travel around the world without flying. But after arriving in Hong Kong in early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic struck, closing borders and leaving Pedersen unable to complete his journey. Stranded in Hong Kong, the 42-year-old adventurer has spent th…
Toxic smog smothers New Delhi as stubble burning outside Indian capital worsens problem | South China Morning Post
New Delhi’s air quality hit more than 16 times higher than the daily safe limit set by the World Health Organization on November 10, 2021. Every winter, tens of thousands of farmers in states bordering Delhi flout laws to clear their fields by burning leftover straw to make way for new crops, a process otherwise kno…
China’s delivery drivers pushed to the brink by food app algorithms | South China Morning Post
Big data algorithms on food delivery apps are reportedly pushing China’s delivery drivers to the edge by allocating them shorter delivery time, effectively encouraging dangerous driving. After years of unrestricted growth and soaring demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, food delivery companies now face scrutiny over…
Myanmar jade traders caught between the military junta and anti-coup dissidents | South China Morning Post
Myanmar is the world’s biggest source of jade, exporting more than US$420 million worth of the gemstone mineral between October 2019 to May 2020. The nation’s jade industry has long supported the financing of the military, which seized power on February 1, 2021, after staging a coup and detaining pro-democracy leade…
What is a Covid-19 booster shot? And who should get it? | South China Morning Post
Many governments around the world have started issuing policies regarding the roll out of Covid-19 booster shots. They’re an additional dose of a vaccine given to people who have already received their initial doses. While experts are still unsure exactly how long the protection against Covid-19 the initial shots pr…
Chinese-owned steel mill rains ‘thick, greasy’ dust on Serbian town facing rising cancer cases | South China Morning Post
A Chinese-owned steel mill in central Serbia has been pumping dense fumes into the air, coating the town of Radinac in thick, red dust. Local activists believe that the industrial plant is ignoring environmental standards by releasing pollutants that’s causing rising cancer rates in the area. According to a local he…
Wild Conspiracy Theory Linking Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine To ‘Lucifer’ Goes Viral
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· VOA
Massive cow dung fight marks end of Diwali festival in Indian village | South China Morning Post
To mark the end of the popular Hindu festival of Diwali, a village in southern India has a tradition that is not for the faint of heart. During a day-long event, people in Gumatapura throw cow faeces at each other. The latest “Gorehabba”, as it is known locally, took place on November 6, 2021. Many Hindus believe co…
Hong Kong freediving takes photographer on a breathtaking underwater journey | South China Morning Post
Practised for thousands of years by pearl divers and spearfishermen, freediving has grown to become a popular recreational and competitive sport around the world. Freediving requires swimmers to hold their breath until they resurface. In Hong Kong, there has been a growing community of freedivers in a city not widel…
VOA60 America - White House Issues COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Large Firms, Health Care Workers
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· VOA
Diwali candles glow as Hindu festival of light celebrations begin after year of Covid-19 darkness | South China Morning Post
Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in Hinduism and is celebrated by devotees all over the world. This year’s event officially started on November 4, 2021, with restrictions to fight the Covid-19 pandemic still in place. But many were doing their best to celebrate the “festival of lights'' marking the ancien…
As More US States Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine, Exemptions Remain
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· Angelina Bagdasaryan
India’s home-grown Covaxin coronavirus vaccine wins WHO approval | South China Morning Post
An Indian coronavirus vaccine, known as Covaxin, has gained approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) on November, 3, 2021. It is the seventh Covid-19 vaccine getting WHO backing. Covaxin is produced by drug maker Bharat Biotech. It is said to have 78 per cent efficiency after two doses, with a dose interval…
Hong Kong’s Covid response is more ‘pursuing politics’ than ‘following science’ | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong’s Covid-19 measures do not appear to be necessary to protect public health, and instead seem to be more about persuading the Chinese central government to open the border with the mainland. The SCMP’s Cliff Buddle argues that the city is paying a high price in pursuit of its goals... with no end in sight f…
North Korea breeds black swans for meat to tackle food shortages | South China Morning Post
North Korea is breeding ornamental black swans to provide meat to its population amid food shortages. The country’s state media reported that the industrial scale breeding under way at a swan farm could help improve people's lives. North Korea has long suffered from food insecurity, which deepened after the UN impos…
At least 25 dead, many more wounded in attack on Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital in Kabul | South China Morning Post
Taliban officials say at least 25 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded when a group of gunmen linked to the local affiliate of Islamic State attacked Afghanistan’s biggest military hospital. Two large explosions preceded the November 2, 2021, armed assault on the Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital in the…
COP26: Will Vaccine Inequality Drive Distrust Between Rich, Poor Nations at Climate Summit?
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· Henry Ridgwell
VOA60 World - Militants Storm Main Afghan Military Hospital in Kabul
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· VOA
Chinese wineries gaining domestic recognition amid Covid-19 pandemic | South China Morning Post
Chinese wineries have long been plagued by the image of poor quality and high prices at home. But since the Covid-19 pandemic, local winemakers are finally turning the tide and beginning to gain recognition among domestic consumers. Closed borders and travel restrictions have led many Chinese wine lovers to learn mo…
Can Air Pollution Cause Cancer? What You Need to Know About the Risks.
You may be one of millions of people across the country who has lived in an area with an increased estimated cancer risk because of the chemicals industrial facilities release into the air.
· Maya Miller, Laila Milevski, Lisa Song, Lylla Younes, Ava Kofman, and Al Shaw