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US, India In Talks Over Restarting COVID-19 Vaccine Exports: Report

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="US, India In Talks Over Restarting COVID-19 Vaccine Exports: Report" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/e1ajcg0s_us-india-export-vaccine_625x300_14_September_21.jpg" title="US, India In Talks Over Restarting COVID-19 Vaccine Exports: Report" /></div>
US and India are discussing the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, a report said.
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Washington:
The United States is communicating regularly with India in bilateral and multilateral channels to discuss the supply of COVID-19 vaccines and inquire about its timeline for restarting vaccine exports, a senior Biden administration official said.
The global pandemic will be a key topic on Sept. 24, when U.S. President Joe Biden will host the first in-person summit of <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-modi-to-attend-first-in-person-quad-summit-to-be-hosted-by-biden-next-week-pandemic-other-global-issues-on-agenda-2539952" target="_self">leaders of the "Quad" countries</a> - Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
The visit by Prime Ministers Scott Morrison, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga to the United States will coincide with the United Nations General Assembly in New York, which Biden will address on Sept. 21.
The Quad leaders met virtually in March and agreed to work closely on COVID-19 vaccines, but the initiative stalled after India, the world's largest vaccine producer, was hit by a catastrophic wave of infections, and halted vaccine exports.
The administration official said Washington was staying in close touch with India and other Quad partners about the vaccine partnership, and "any factors that may affect this project or global vaccine supply," but those discussions were not tied to a specific summit or engagement.
The official noted that Washington had diverted its own supply of raw materials for vaccine production to India in April, given its urgent needs, and global vaccine supply remained a key bottleneck to ending the pandemic.
"We commend India for being one of the largest manufacturers for safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines globally, and we note that COVAX and the world rely heavily on India's contributions," the official said. "It's important for the United States to engage all our allies and partners on these matters so we can take the necessary actions to end this pandemic together."
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-vaccine-us-india-in-talks-over-restarting-covid-19-vaccine-exports-report-2540164">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-vaccine-us-india-in-talks-over-restarting-covid-19-vaccine-exports-report-2540164</a>

news world US, India In Talks Over Restarting COVID-19 Vaccine Exports: Report

US and India are discussing the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, a report said. Washington: The United States is communicating regularly wi...

China Races To Curb New COVID-19 Cluster Among Schoolchildren

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="China Races To Curb New COVID-19 Cluster Among Schoolchildren" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-08/8c3uejr4_china-coronavirus_625x300_02_August_21.jpg" title="China Races To Curb New COVID-19 Cluster Among Schoolchildren" /></div>
Coronavirus: Chinese cities closed schools and ordered testing for millions.
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Beijing:
Southern Chinese cities closed schools and ordered testing for millions on Tuesday in a race to curb a new Covid-19 outbreak which has sparked concerns over infections among unvaccinated schoolchildren.
Putian, a city of 3.2 million in coastal Fujian province, ordered testing of all residents on Tuesday after Delta variant cases linked to a returnee from Singapore ballooned into a province-wide outbreak of more than 100 people.
China has now been hit by multiple outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant after initially vanquishing the first wave of the coronavirus last year.
The Fujian cluster is the biggest rebound in weeks and comes after the country declared the Covid outbreak spurred by the Delta under control, in a test of China's "zero case" approach to the pandemic.
China reported 59 new domestically transmitted cases on Tuesday, up from 22 the day before, all in Fujian province.
Authorities said the cluster's suspected patient zero was a man who had recently returned from Singapore and developed symptoms after completing a 14-day quarantine and initially testing negative for the virus.
The man's 12-year-old son and a classmate were among the first patients detected in the cluster last week, shortly after the new school term began.
The variant then raced through classrooms, infecting more than 36 children including 8 kindergartners, city authorities said Tuesday, in the first major school-linked spread the country has seen since the start of the pandemic.
China has administered more than two billion doses of its coronavirus vaccines as of Sunday, according to the official Xinhua news agency, enough to fully vaccinate around 70 percent of its population.
But most young children remain unvaccinated, sparking fear that the latest Fujian outbreak could hit the most vulnerable people in the country disproportionately.
The Putian government has ordered schools to stop in-person classes on Monday, while nearby port city Xiamen followed suit on Tuesday and shut down long-distance bus services, while ordering all residents to be tested.
The Chinese embassy in Singapore on Monday warned its citizens to be "cautious" about travelling to the Southeast Asian country and "be psychologically and economically prepared" for difficulties re-entering China.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-china-races-to-squash-new-covid-19-cluster-among-schoolchildren-2540099">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-china-races-to-squash-new-covid-19-cluster-among-schoolchildren-2540099</a>

news world China Races To Curb New COVID-19 Cluster Among Schoolchildren

Coronavirus: Chinese cities closed schools and ordered testing for millions. Beijing: Southern Chinese cities closed schools and ordere...

Climate Researchers "Potty Train" Peeing Cows

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Climate Researchers 'Potty Train' Peeing Cows" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/9c0cjdc8_potty-train-peeing-cows-afp_625x300_14_September_21.jpg" title="Climate Researchers 'Potty Train' Peeing Cows" /></div>
Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology shows an urinating cow in a latrine pen in New Zealand.
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Wellington, New Zealand:
Scientists say they have successfully "potty trained" cows to urinate in a designated toilet area as part of a programme aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
The team of New Zealand and German researchers admitted the idea began as a joke but said dealing with cows' nitrogen-rich liquid waste could have genuine long-term climate benefits.
"If we could collect 10 or 20 percent of urinations, it would be sufficient to reduce greenhouse gas emission and nitrate leaching significantly," Auckland University's Douglas Elliffe said.
Elliffe said the nitrogen in cow pee broke down into two problem substances over time -- nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, and nitrate, which collects in soil then leaches into rivers and streams.
Nitrous oxide accounts for about five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and just under 10 percent of New Zealand's total, according to official data, with more than half linked to livestock.
Researcher Lindsay Matthews said that the idea of toilet training cows so their urine could be captured and treated first occurred to him when a radio host was interviewing him in 2007 and made a throwaway joke on the matter.
"People's reaction is 'crazy scientists' but actually the building blocks are there," he said.
Working with colleagues in Germany, the scientists used food rewards to train 16 calves to urinate in a latrine pen, saying the results were similar to those you would expect from a three-year-old child.
Elliffe said the research, published this week in the journal Current Biology, provided "proof of concept" that toilet training cows was possible.
He said the challenge was to upscale the concept to train large herds and adapt it for cows in environments such as New Zealand, where the animals live outdoors rather than spending most of their time in barns.
Farming creates about half of New Zealand's greenhouse emissions, mostly in the form of methane and nitrous oxide.
Unusually for a developed nation, New Zealand's farm-reliant economy means methane accounts for about 43.5 percent of  the country's emissions, almost equal to the amount of carbon dioxide generated by sources such as fossil fuels.
The South Pacific country has numerous research projects examining possible solutions, such as breeding low-methane emitting livestock, using feeds that reduce emissions and even vaccinating animals so they produce less harmful gases.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climate-researchers-potty-train-peeing-cows-2540011">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climate-researchers-potty-train-peeing-cows-2540011</a>

news world Climate Researchers "Potty Train" Peeing Cows

Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology shows an urinating cow in a latrine pen in New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: Scientists ...

Many Prominent Afghan Female Leaders Have Fled Or Are Now Hiding

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Afghanistan's top female leaders have either fled or are in hiding after Taliban takeover.
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Even as the Taliban seek to assure the world they've become more moderate, most of Afghanistan's top female leaders who emerged over the past two decades have fled or are in hiding.
In recent weeks, Taliban fighters have fired shots in the air to disperse protests in Kabul and other cities by women demanding participation in government as well as rights to education and jobs. A major rallying point for these protests have been the exclusion of women from the new cabinet unveiled last week, a step back from U.S.-backed governments that included female lawmakers and technocrats.
The Taliban have said they would respect women's rights within the limits of Islamic law, allowing them to go to work or school as long as they don't mix with men -- an arrangement that doesn't often work in reality. The group has also sought to show the world they have female support, with armed fighters last weekend accompanying hundreds of fully veiled women who carried banners supporting the Taliban and saying the female leaders who fled Afghanistan don't represent them.
Here are some prominent female politicians who have left Afghanistan for fear of reprisals from the Taliban or went into hiding:
Fawzia Koofi, Former Member of Parliament, 46
Koofi, who represented northern Badakshan province, was the vice president of Afghanistan's National Assembly. In the months before the Taliban took Kabul, she had participated in talks with the group to urge that women have more say in policy decisions.
As a single parent, Koofi's advocacy of women's issues made her unpopular with conservatives -- leading to multiple assassination attempts, including one last year. Shortlisted for for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, Koofi left the country two weeks after the Taliban took control and is now lobbying governments to give humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
Naheed Farid, Former Member of Parliament, 37
Farid was chairwoman of the parliament's Women Affairs Commission and has represented western Herat city since she was 27. She has a degree in international relations from the George Washington University, and is known for her progressive views. Last year, she drafted and successfully implemented a proposal allowing for mothers' names on birth certificates.
Farid has warned that a Taliban government without oversight by the United Nations, the U.S. and other nations will be a "regime of terror." She fled the country fearing for her own safety and that of her children, the BBC reported.
Sima Samar, Human Rights Commissioner, 64
A medical doctor from the minority Hazara community, Samar first became a refugee when she was forced to flee to Pakistan in the 1980s. As minister for women's affairs in the Hamid Karzai-led interim government in the early 2000s, Samar oversaw the re-entry of girls into school and women into the workforce.
Samar survived assassination attempts during her time in office, though she resigned as minister for questioning conservative interpretations of Islamic law and advocating for the right of women to not wear a burqa -- a head to toe covering that hides the entire face. She since went on to run hospitals in Afghanistan and headed the independent human rights commission. Her whereabouts are currently unknown.
Habiba Sarabi, Former Negotiator in Taliban Talks, 65
An ethnic Hazara leader and medical doctor, Sarabi was one of only four female leaders in peace negotiations ahead of the U.S. withdrawal, during which she pushed for a greater role for women in Afghanistan.
Sarabi was minister for women's affairs for two years starting in 2002 and the first female governor of Bamyan province to the west of Kabul. She won accolades for her work on women's rights and continues to criticize the Taliban from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.
Shukria Barakzai, Former Ambassador to Norway, 51
Barakzai, an Afghan journalist-turned-politician who served as ambassador to Norway, fled Afghanistan after the Taliban returned to power. She survived a deadly suicide-bomber attack in 2014.
An ethnic Pahstun from Kabul, Barakzai has been a top advocate for women rights since 2001 when the U.S. overthrew the Taliban. Just months after the regime's fall, she founded Aina-e-Zan, or the Women's Mirror, a national weekly magazine that focused on women's issues.
Barakzai has participated in a loya jirga, a grand national assembly that takes place to discuss crucial matters. She helped pass a new modern constitution in 2004, the same year she was elected as a lawmaker from Kabul.
Zarifa Ghafari, Former Mayor, 29
Ghafari was the youngest mayor of Maidan Shahr city just north of Kabul before she and her family fled to Germany last month. As mayor, she survived six assassination attempts -- and unknown gunmen killed her father last year in a bid to force her to quit.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo gave Ghafari the International Woman of Courage award in 2020 for her bravery and resoluteness to keep women in the public space.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-taliban-takeover-many-prominent-afghan-female-leaders-have-fled-or-are-now-hiding-2540005">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/afghanistan-taliban-takeover-many-prominent-afghan-female-leaders-have-fled-or-are-now-hiding-2540005</a>

news world Many Prominent Afghan Female Leaders Have Fled Or Are Now Hiding

Afghanistan's top female leaders have either fled or are in hiding after Taliban takeover. Even as the Taliban seek to assure the wo...

After North Korea Missile Test, Envoys From Japan, US, South Korea Meet

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<div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="After North Korea Missile Test, Envoys From Japan, US, South Korea Meet" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-09/fgs518rk_north-korea-missile-testafp650_625x300_13_September_21.jpg" title="After North Korea Missile Test, Envoys From Japan, US, South Korea Meet" /></div>
North Korea test-fired a new "long-range cruise missile", reports said.
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Tokyo:
Top nuclear envoys from Japan, the United States and South Korea held talks in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss how to rein in North Korea's missile and nuclear programmes, a day after Pyongyang said it conducted a new long-range missile test.
North Korea's state media announced on Monday what it said <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/north-korea-test-fires-long-range-cruise-missile-report-2538704#pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll" target="_self">were successful tests of a new long-range cruise missile</a> that analysts said could be the country's first such weapon with nuclear capabilities.
"The recent developments in the DPRK are a reminder of the importance of close communication and cooperation from the three countries," Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, said in his opening remarks, using the initials of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, its official name.
The three countries have been discussing ways to break a standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have drawn international sanctions.
In meeting with his Japanese counterpart Takehiro Funakoshi and South Korean counterpart Noh Kyu-duk, Kim said Washington remained open to diplomacy to deal with North Korea issues.
The White House said they were still prepared to engage with Pyongyang despite the recent missile test, but U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has shown no willingness to ease sanctions.
Pyongyang has said it sees no sign of policy changes from the United States, citing issues such as sanctions as well as joint military drills with South Korea, which it says are preparation for an attack.
While Washington is a close military and economic ally of both Japan and South Korea, ties between the Asian neighbours have often been strained over issues including sovereignty disputes, Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula, and their wartime history.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
 
 
source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/after-north-korea-missile-test-nuclear-envoys-from-japan-us-south-korea-meet-2539990">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/after-north-korea-missile-test-nuclear-envoys-from-japan-us-south-korea-meet-2539990</a>