Tag Archives: WorldNews

Patient’s best friend: Dog waits for days outside hospital for owner

Associated Press

ISTANBUL — A devoted dog has spent days waiting outside a hospital in northern Turkey where her sick owner was receiving treatment.

The pet, Boncuk (Bon-DJUK), which means bead, followed the ambulance that transported her owner, Cemal Senturk, to hospital in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on Jan. 14. She then made daily visits to the facility, private news agency DHA reported on Wednesday.

Senturk’s daughter, Aynur Egeli, said she would take Boncuk home but the dog would repeatedly run off and return to the hospital.

Hospital security guard Muhammet Akdeniz told DHA: “She comes every day around 9 a.m. and waits until nightfall. She doesn’t go in.”

“When the door opens she pokes her head inside,” he said.

On Wednesday, Boncuk was finally reunited with Senturk when he was pushed outside in a wheelchair for a brief meeting with his dog.

“She’s very used to me. And I miss her, too, constantly,” he told DHA.

Senturk was discharged from the hospital later on Wednesday and returned home with Boncuk.

CDC forecasts 100,000 COVID deaths in next few weeks

mask up, wash up and stay clear and safe

By Madeline Holcombe | CNN

The United States could face as many as 100,000 more Covid-19 deaths in less than a month, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The nation reported more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths Wednesday, only the third day ever to cross that threshold, bringing the death toll to at least 406,001 people, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracking data.

And by February 13, that number could reach 508,000, according to an ensemble forecast published by the CDC. The last forecast, on January 13, projected up to 477,000 deaths by February 6.

The CDC’s ensemble forecast comes as the US on Thursday marks one year since the first patient with Covid-19 was identified in the US — a number that has since ballooned to more than 24.4 million, per Johns Hopkins.

While the US is far from out of the woods, CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins data shows slight dips in new daily cases.

New cases are down 21% compared to last week, the largest week-over-week drop since the pandemic began. As of Wednesday the average number of new cases over the last seven days remained high, at 194,252 — but that marked a dip below the 200,000 per day average the country has consistently seen for weeks.

As of Thursday morning, 43 states were reporting decreases in new Covid-19 cases greater than 10% compared to last week, according to CNN’s analysis.

Six states — Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont — were holding steady compared to the week prior. Only Virginia showed an upward trend in cases greater than 10% compared to last week.

And according to data from the COVID Tracking Project, the US has a 9.81% positivity rate over the last seven days, dropping below the 10% threshold for the first time since late November.

Biden team tackles Covid-19

President Joe Biden is taking steps to recalibrate the country’s response to the virus, with an emphasis on vaccine distribution. There remain significant challenges with vaccine supply across the country, according to state officials. And sources tell CNN that Biden and his advisers are inheriting no coronavirus vaccine distribution plan from the outgoing Trump administration.

New CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Thursday told NBC News the agency was working with the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed, vaccine manufacturers and the states to understand the supply issues.

But in the meantime, “right now, I think we still have vaccine on the shelves that we need to get into people,” she said. Federal officials are looking at a “diverse” rollout plan, she said, involving community vaccination centers, stadiums and mobile units to get vaccines to everyone across the country.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the United States can reach the President’s goal of 100 million shots in 100 days — and may even be able to surpass it.”

“The President has made this his top priority,” Fauci told ABC’s “Good Morning America,” adding he was set to meet with Biden later Thursday to brief him on Covid-19 and vaccine distribution.

“As he says, he’s going to do everything that he needs to do to make sure we have a successful rollout of the vaccines, get it into people’s arms and get as many people vaccinated as we possibly can,” Fauci said.

Biden also announced the US would rejoin the World Health Organization, a move Fauci said was important for an effective global response.

“The official announcement that we are rejoining, we’re going to live up to our financial commitments and a whole bunch of other things, it was really a very good day,” Fauci said. “The response I’m getting from my colleagues all over the world is really very, very refreshing.”

California deaths and severity of cases remain high

Most coronavirus metrics have been improving in California, an epicenter of the virus in the US. But the severity of cases in the state and the death toll remain high.

California added 22,403 new cases Wednesday, which is well below the average daily number for the state of 38,000.

But it also reported 694 new Covid-19-related deaths Wednesday, the second-highest single-day toll to date. The previous high of 708 was recorded nearly two weeks ago.

In Los Angeles, the rate of death among hospitalized Covid-19 patients has nearly doubled in recent months.

Since November, hospitalized patients in Los Angeles County have had about a 23% chance of dying from the disease, health officials said Wednesday. That rate marks a significant increase from the prior three months when Covid-19 patients had an approximately 12% chance of dying, according to the county’s Department of Health Services.

Along with the fatality rate, the length of hospital stays for coronavirus in Los Angeles County jumped from about seven days between September and November to about nine and a half from November to January, suggesting the severity of illness in those hospitalized has jumped, LADHS said.

“This trend does not mean the virus has become more virulent or that care in hospitals worsened during the surge,” Health Services Director Christina Ghaly explained. “Rather, we believe these trends are because hospitals, facing capacity constraints in the setting of the surge, became more selective in determining which patients to admit.

“In other words, hospitals are discharging more of the lower-acuity patients home with oxygen. They are admitting only the most critically ill patients.”

But with a limited supply of coronavirus vaccine, state epidemiologist Erica Pan said it may take four to five months to get all Californians over the age of 65 vaccinated.

‘A constant pattern of basically running out’ of vaccine

The push to get people vaccinated has grown as officials race to distribute doses to meet their demand.

As of Wednesday, more than 16.5 million doses have been administered in the US and nearly 2.2 million Americans are fully vaccinated, the CDC said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state is administering about 65,000 doses a day — a rate that will deplete its current supply in two or three days. “What’s clear now is that we will be going from week to week and you will see a constant pattern of basically running out, waiting for the next week’s allocation and then starting up again,” Cuomo said.

The state will receive 250,400 doses next week, but Cuomo urged Biden to increase the supply to states immediately.

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“At this current rate of supply, it takes seven and a half months to get enough vaccine for the currently eligible population,” Cuomo said.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a statewide mask mandate on Tuesday while the state waited for more vaccine doses.

“At the end of the day, vaccine supplies are limited, so while we continue to ask the federal government for more vaccines and faster, we have to keep working together to stop the spread today,” Evers said, “by continuing to wear our masks, staying home whenever we can, avoiding gatherings, and doubling down on our efforts to keep our friends, neighbors, and families safe.”

US Military Sales to Morocco Doubled in 2020

The quid pro quo for Trump-US warming up to Morocco claims over Western Sahara?

US-Military-Sales-to-Morocco-Doubled-in-

Agadir – The US Agency for International Trade (ITA) reported that sales of military equipment to Morocco more than doubled in 2020, growing from $4.01 billion (MAD 36 billion) to $8.5 billion (MAD 76 billion).

The figures came in a report ITA issued in December providing an overview of the Moroccan aerospace industry, as well as highlighting the major US military sales to Morocco last year.

The source also pointed to the Royal Armed Forces’ (FAR) purchase of the PATRIOT Air Defense System, a medium-range surface-to-air missile defense system. Observers expect the acquisition to significantly improve the FAR’s missile defense capability.

The 2020 purchases of 25 new F-16 aircraft, 24 new Apache attack helicopters, as well as G550 reconnaissance aircraft, also factor into the figures. ITA also reported that several deals currently under discussion may push the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) portfolio over $10 billion (MAD 89 billion) in the following years.

Read Also: New Framework Law Sets Ground for Arms Industry in Morocco

Morocco is the largest purchaser of American weapons in Africa. After the US, the primary sources for sales to Morocco’s military are France and Spain.

The most notable US military equipment already in use in Morocco includes F-16 fighters, C-130 transport aircraft, and CH-47D helicopters, according to the report, as well as modern frigates equipped with US-manufactured digital communications. 

Besides military matters, the data also points to the growing Moroccan aerospace sector which before COVID-19 “presented diverse opportunities including supply inputs, finished aircraft, maintenance, and airport infrastructure, with over 140 aerospace companies represented in the country.”

Among the various deals between Morocco and the US was the $1 billion (MAD 9 billion) Moroccan arms deal concerning SeaGuardian Drones. The MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones specialize in surveillance operations, such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, border surveillance, and law enforcement. 

The post US Military Sales to Morocco Doubled in 2020 appeared first on Morocco World News.

Amazon Prime drama agrees to changes after Hindu nationalist pressure

Caves to Indo-Fascists

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Director of Tandav agrees to remove scenes deemed to insult Hindu gods and office of Indian prime minister

An Indian political drama on Amazon Prime has been forced to edit out scenes that were accused of being an “insult to Hindu gods”, the first time that streaming platforms have been subjected to Indian government censorship.

Tandav, a gritty political drama made by Amazon Prime, one of the world’s largest streaming platforms, had faced growing controversy since it launched last week over allegations it had “hurt Hindu religious sentiments” and insulted the office of the prime minister.

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