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☆ Indonesia vows restraint as troops surround separatists holding NZ pilot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB)/Handout via REUTERSJAKARTA, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Security forces in Indonesia's restive Papua region have surrounded separatists holding captive a New Zealand pilot, but will exercise restraint while negotiations for his release continue, a top security official said on Tuesday. The rebels say they will not release Mehrtens, 37, unless Indonesia's government recognises the region's independence and withdraws its troops. Chief security minister, Mahfud MD said security forces had found the location of the group holding the pilot but would refrain from actions that might endanger his life. He did not elaborate on the location or what steps Indonesia might take to free the pilot. Security forces have previously said a "law enforcement operation" had been planned, but only as a last resort if negotiations failed.

☆ Deadlier and more media savvy, separatist rebels evolve in Indonesia's Papua
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Kate Lamb | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Egianus Kogoya, young West Papuan rebel commander, sits on a captured plane piloted by New Zealand national Philip Mehrtens in Indonesia's Papua region in this undated picture released on February 14, 2023. Separatist rebels kidnapped New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, 37, after he landed his small plane in the remote Papuan highlands on Feb 7. An estimated 500 fighters identify as members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM). Cahyo Pamungkas, a researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency, said the separatists are using social media to get their message out. "Social media is a tool of resistance to deliver the stories from Papua because national media is mainly dominated by perspectives from Jakarta," he said.

☆ Rebels in Indonesia's Papua say images show abducted NZ pilot in good health
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JAKARTA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Separatists in Indonesia's restive Papua region have released images that they say show a New Zealand pilot taken hostage last week is in good health, but pledged he would not be freed until authorities acknowledge the independence of the area. The pilot, Philip Mehrtens, who flew a plane operated by airline Susi Air, was abducted by fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) last week after landing in the remote region of Nduga. One of the fighters is holding up the "Morning Star" flag, a symbol of Papuan independence. In a statement accompanying the images, Sambom said that the pilot was in good health and that he was collateral in a political dispute. Reporting by Kate Lamb and Stanley Widianto Editing by Ed Davies and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The richest Black mothers and their babies are twice as likely to die as the richest white mothers and their babies. Yet there is one group that doesn’t gain the same protection from being rich, the study finds: Black mothers and babies. The researchers found that maternal mortality rates were just as high among the highest-income Black women as among low-income white women. The richest Black women have infant mortality rates at about the same level as the poorest white women. Generally, rates for Hispanic mothers and Asian mothers track more closely with those of white mothers than Black mothers.

JAKARTA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Separatist fighters in Indonesia's Papua region have taken a New Zealand pilot hostage after setting a small commercial plane alight when it landed in a remote highland area on Tuesday, a pro-independence group said in a statement. A police spokesperson in Papua province, Ignatius Benny Adi Prabowo, said authorities were investigating the incident, with police and military personnel sent to the area to locate the pilot and five passengers. The plane operated by Susi Air landed safely early on Tuesday morning, before being attacked by rebel fighters, authorities said. The TPNPB made no mention of the passengers, but said this was the second time the group had taken a hostage. Susi Air founder and former fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti said on Twitter she was praying for the safety of the pilot and passengers.

☆ Ukraine's battlefields look like World War I but with a new and terrifying addition that leaves troops with almost nowhere to hide
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

The conflict in Ukraine has emerged as the first major war involving drone use on both sides. By the late 1990s, Predator drones were being used by the US and NATO for reconnaissance missions in the Kosovo War. Ukraine has in many ways emerged as a guinea pig for drone warfare. Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesLater in the war, Russia began launching swarms of Iranian-made Shahed-136 "kamikaze" drones, striking targets across Ukraine. Drones have significantly shortened the so-called kill chain, Cancian explained, helping troops swiftly locate targets and provide coordinates for artillery.

The debate centers on the precise form and function of the new fighting vehicles — but it misses the point. (The guns on the Bradley and Marder are smaller-caliber, while the AMX is wheeled rather than tracked.) And despite the downsides of providing these more sophisticated vehicles, armored vehicles can help capture ground whereas artillery, even if more lethal and at least as important, by itself can’t. A Marder infantry fighting vehicle of the German armed forces participates in the NATO Iron Wolf military exercises on Oct. 26, 2022, in Pabrade, Lithuania. Nonetheless, supplying new, tougher armored vehicles will improve Ukraine’s ability to liberate territory.

☆ Inflation fears fade as geopolitical risks rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —Inflation fears roiled the markets in 2022. Now, investors may have scarier things to worry about in 2023, according to a report from global research and consulting firm Eurasia Group. “Inflation shockwaves” still feature as one of Eurasia’s top political risks for 2023 in a new report. But FTX and Alameda were each forced to file for bankruptcy in December after investors rushed to pull deposits. Just a year ago, Apple was the first company in the world to reach a $3 trillion market valuation.

Dec 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place for now a pandemic-era policy allowing U.S. officials to rapidly expel migrants caught at the U.S.-Mexico border. The court said it would hear arguments on whether the states could intervene to defend Title 42 in its February session. Enrique Lucero, director of migration affairs in Tijuana, said it was "absurd" that Title 42 remained in place, noting the city had a large backlog of U.S. asylum seekers. It also failed to weigh the harm asylum seekers would face from Title 42, he said. When a federal appeals court on Dec. 16 declined to allow them to intervene and put Sullivan's order on hold, they took the matter to the Supreme Court.

They promoted and delivered vaccines, developed prevention strategies, monitored data and did a million other unheralded things to help weave a stronger public health safety net. Meanwhile, top health officials are warning that persistent vaccine misinformation remains a serious public health threat. Particularly in vulnerable communities where access to vaccines, therapeutics and good information are lacking, there is much work to be done. And this common-sense principle is still true: When you enact and maintain good policies, good things happen. In the past two weeks, deaths from Covid are up 63%, a possible harbinger of things to come in 2023.

☆ Fact Check-COVID vaccinations did not ‘inject people’ with the next pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

There is no evidence to support a claim that COVID-19 vaccinations were a ploy to inject people with an infectious disease that will lead to a new pandemic. Fact sheets for the Janssen (J&J) and Novavax COVID-19 vaccine are available (here ) (here ). Ingredients described in the fact sheets for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines include mRNA, lipids, sucrose and tromethamine, a chemical (here) (page 3), (here) (page 34). There is no evidence of the COVID-19 vaccines containing any substance that could cause an infectious disease pandemic. All vaccine ingredients, pharmacology and toxicology for COVID-19 vaccines approved in the United States are published online.

☆ In car crashes, women are more likely to die than men. This new crash test dummy could help save lives
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Rochelle Beighton | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

According to Verity Now, a US-based campaign group striving to achieve equity in vehicle safety, women are 73% more likely to be injured – and 17% more likely to die – in a vehicle crash. CNN: You’ve developed the first ever female crash test dummy. Swedish engineer Dr Astrid Linder has created a "female" crash test dummy. Courtesy VTICNN: How has the female crash test dummy been designed, and how is technology used to test safety? Linder: We took data for the average male and the average female, including weight and height, for the crash test dummy.

☆ Drug overdose deaths during pregnancy and postpartum rose sharply in recent years, study shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Drug overdose deaths reached record levels nationwide during the Covid-19 pandemic, and research published Tuesday suggests an outsized effect on pregnant and recently pregnant people. In 2020, there were about 12 pregnancy-associated overdose deaths for every 100,000 births – a 46% spike in one year and an 81% increase since 2017. The lack of reliable information on pregnancy-associated overdose deaths has made it challenging to delve into how and why trends might be different for this group compared with others, Bruzelius said. Mirroring national trends, the new study found a large increase in pregnancy-associated overdose deaths that involved fentanyl and other synthetic drugs and psychostimulants in recent years. And often the way our health care system deals with them is the focus really changes from the pregnant person to the baby.

☆ America’s gun epidemic is deadlier than ever, and there are vast disparities in who’s dying
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The researchers found that firearm mortality rates increased for most demographic groups in recent years – especially during the pandemic – and vast disparities persisted. With infant mortality in the United States, when you look at Black infants versus White infants, there’s over a two-fold (difference in) mortality rate. There are two key factors driving community gun violence, says Jonathan Jay, an assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health: disadvantage at the neighborhood level and exposure to gun violence at the individual level. “Gun violence is most likely in spaces that show signs of physical disinvestment. The gun suicide rate increased 10% while the non-gun suicide rate decreased by 8%, and the gun homicide rate increased 45% while the non-gun homicide rate increased only 6%.

Drone Amplified, a Nebraska-based startup, is using unmanned aerial technology to improve one of the oldest and most-effective methods of preventing wildfires: prescribed burns. “Then you have helicopters with a whole crew on board, flying really low and slow over the fire,” he added of other methods for prescribed burns. The drones allow firefighters to work at a distance from flames, according to Detweiler, and in areas that are difficult to reach due to terrain or visibility. Precision is a critical element when conducting prescribed burns, because it is crucial for preventing fire escapes. Two recent controlled burns in New Mexico escaped and led to the state’s largest wildfire on record.

☆ Rising tensions between 2 of NATO's biggest militaries are driving fears of the first war between alliance members
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Constantine Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Greece and Turkey have two of NATO's largest militaries and are in an important corner of Europe. Their tensions have escalated in recent years, stoking new fears about the first war within NATO. Greece's defense spending in 2022 was the highest in the alliance as a share of GDP. (NATO also calls for 20% of members' defense spending to go toward equipment purchases and upgrades.) Greece's defense minister said that "as long as there is a threat of territorial sovereignty, it renders futile any attempt at communication."

As an outbreak of Ebola spreads in Uganda, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention remain confident that the virus can be contained. The people most at risk, therefore, are household contacts and health care workers treating Ebola patients. In 2019, a vaccine was approved for the Ebola virus that caused the 2014 outbreak. The current Ebola outbreak, however, is caused by a different species of the virus, and no vaccines or direct treatments are available. The Ebola virus causes hemorrhagic fever, leading to problems with how the body clots blood.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York, U.S., September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Leah MillisUNITED NATIONS/NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria on Wednesday reached $14.25 billion pledged as world leaders seek to fight the killer diseases after progress was knocked off course by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Fund said the $14.25 billion figure is likely to increase as more donations are expected. We will end AIDS, we will end tuberculosis, we will end malaria – once and for all," she said. Nigeria pledged $13.2 million, the Netherlands pledged 180 million euros and Indonesia pledged $15.5 million, alongside private sector pledges.

☆ What causes road rage? Big, expensive cars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-12 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The more expensive the car, the less likely the driver was to yield the right of way. Anecdotally and statistically, evidence is mounting that driving itself turns people into bad drivers — and that maybe pricier, fancier, bigger cars make them even worse. Making cars bigger made them deadlier. "They are in a bigger car," says Bart Claus, a marketing researcher at IÉSEG School of Management in France who was one of the paper's authors. The only way to fix the fact that cars make us unsafe is to reduce the number of cars.

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