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40 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020
Coronavirus: Whole world ‘must take
action’, warns WHO
The “whole world
needs to be on
alert” to fight the
coronavirus, the head of
the World Health
Organization’s Health
Emergencies Programme
has said.
Dr Mike Ryan praised
China’s response to the
deadly outbreak, saying:
“The challenge is great
but the response has
been massive.”
The WHO will meet on
Thursday to discuss
whether the virus
constitutes a global
health emergency.
The Chinese city of
Wuhan is the epicentre of
the outbreak.
But the virus has
spread across China and
to at least 16 countries
globally, including
Thailand, France, the US
and Australia.
More than 130 people
have died in China and
close to 6,000 have been
infected.
There is no specific cure
or vaccine. A number of
people have recovered
after treatment, however.
The WHO’s Dr Ryan
said an international
team of experts was
being assembled to go to
China and work with
experts there to learn
more about how the
disease is transmitted.
“We are at an important
juncture in this event. We
believe these chains of
transmission can still be
interrupted,” he said.
Scientists in Australia
have managed to
recreate the new
coronavirus outside of
China, raising hope that
it could be used to
develop an earlydiagnosis
test.
WHO director-general
Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, who
visited China this week,
said most people who
contracted the virus were
suffering only “milder
symptoms”, but about
20% had severe effects
such as pneumonia and
respiratory failure.
He said that China
“needs the world’s
solidarity and support,”
and that “the world is
pulling together to end
the outbreak, building on
lessons learned from
past outbreaks.”
The director-general
added that the WHO
“deeply regrets”
referring to the
worldwide risk from the
virus as “moderate” in
three reports last week
instead of “high”.
He described the
person-to-person spread
of the illness in
Germany, Vietnam and
Japan as worrying, and
said experts would
consider it on Thursday
when deciding whether
to declare a global
emergency.
Brexit: European Parliament backs terms
of UK’s exit
Brexit: European
Parliament backs
terms of UK’s exit
Members of the
European Parliament
have overwhelmingly
backed the terms of the
UK’s departure from the
EU.
MEPs ratified the
Brexit Withdrawal
Agreement by 621 votes
to 49 following an
emotional debate in
Brussels.
After the vote, MEPs
marked the UK’s exit
by singing Auld Lang
Syne.
Several British MEPs
said they hoped the UK
would return one day
although Eurosceptics,
including the Brexit
Party’s Nigel Farage,
used their final
speeches to tear into the
EU.
The UK is due to leave
the bloc at 23:00 GMT
on Friday.
Ratification of the
withdrawal agreement,
agreed by the UK and
EU in October, was not
in doubt after it easily
cleared its committee
stage last week.
Signing the letter
confirming the EU’s
consent, the Parliament’s
president, David Sassoli,
said the two sides must
heed the words of the
late Labour MP Jo Cox
when approaching their
future relationship and
recognise “there is more
that unites us than
divides us.”
“You are leaving the EU
but you will always be
part of Europe…It is
very hard to say
goodbye. That is why,
like my colleagues, I will
say arrivederci.”
WH objects to Bolton book as Trump impeachment
trial enters new phase
The White House
yesterday objected
to the publication of a
book written by President
Donald Trump’s
former national security
adviser John Bolton that
depicts Trump as playing
a central role in a
pressure campaign on
Ukraine, as the Senate
impeachment trial entered
a new phase.
A letter from the White
House National Security
Council to Bolton’s attorney
said the manuscript
based on a preliminary
review appeared
to contain “significant
amounts of classified
information” and
could not be published
without the deletion of
this material. Some of
the material was considered
top secret, according
to the letter.
“Under federal law
and the nondisclosure
agreements your client
signed as a condition for
Boeing reports annual loss
of $636m
Boeing reported its first annual loss in more than
two decades on Wednesday as the lengthy
grounding of the 737 MAX undercut the company’s
revenues and exploded costs.
The aerospace giant reported a $1.0 billion loss in
the fourth quarter and a loss of $636 million for all
of 2019, the company’s first year in the red since
1997.
Newly-installed Chief Executive David Calhoun,
who took the reins this month to stabilize the
situation, pledged to turn the company around even
as Boeing disclosed $9.2 billion in new costs
connected to the MAX.
Some analysts had expected new costs twice as
high, and despite the hefty charges, Boeing shares
rallied early Wednesday in pre-market.
The MAX has been grounded since March
following two crashes that killed 346 people which
opened the doors to intense scrutiny of Boeing’s
safety practices — and regulatory oversight of its
productions — as well bruising congressional
investigations which have revealed a troublesome
culture at the aviation giant.
“We are committed to transparency and excellence
in everything we do,” Calhoun said in a statement.
“Safety will underwrite every decision, every action
and every step we take as we move forward.”
Calhoun has been at the helm of Boeing only since
January 13 after Dennis Muilenburg was ousted in
December following criticism of his handling of the
crisis, and immediately after damning series of
internal communications were released.
Calhoun is targeting mid-2020 to win approval
from aviation regulators to resume flights on the
MAX, which is seen as a more realistic timeframe
after Muilenburg repeatedly pushed a more
optimistic schedule.
The grounding of the MAX dented Boeing’s
earnings in multiple ways, halting deliveries of new
planes to customers, a major source of revenues.
Five killed in jihadist attack
in Cameroon
Five people were killed in an overnight attack
by jihadists in the Lake Chad region of northern
Cameroon, sources said on Wednesday.
“Five civilians were killed by Boko Haram in
Blaram,” a village in the Blangoua district of
Cameroon’s Far North region, a local official said.
The toll was confirmed to AFP by an army officer
in the region.
Based in neighbouring Nigeria, Boko Haram has
stepped up attacks in the vast Lake Chad region
where the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and
Nigeria converge.
Cameroon says the group has carried out nearly
13,000 attacks on its territory since 2014, with the
loss of “several thousand” lives.
The insurgency has forced more than 250,000
people to flee their homes and triggered an influx
of 60,000 people from Nigeria.
gaining access to classified
information, the
manuscript may not be
published or otherwise
disclosed without the
deletion of this classified
information,” the letter
said.
Democrats view Bolton
as a key figure who
could help them solidify
their case against the
president, and reports
about the book’s contents
appear to boost
their arguments in the
trial. Democrats want to
call Bolton, a foreign
policy hawk in several
Republican administrations,
and a small number
of other officials to
testify but many Republican
senators have so
far resisted the idea of
having any witnesses.
The letter said the
White House would be
in touch with Bolton’s
lawyer with “detailed
guidance” for manuscript
revisions.
Senators began the first
of two planned days of
posing questions to both
Trump’s legal team and
the Democratic lawmakers
in the House of Representatives
who have
served as prosecutors in
the trial on charges of
abusing power and obstructing
Congress arising
from his request that
Ukraine investigate political
rival Joe Biden.
Democratic senators
used their questions to
cast doubt on the veracity
of the Trump defense
and make their case for
witnesses including Bolton.
The Senate is expected
to acquit Trump but
allowing witnesses such
as Bolton could inflict
political damage on the
Republican president as
he seeks re-election on
Nov. 3. Biden is a leading
candidate for the
Democratic nomination
to challenge Trump.