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Zoos Protecting Birds as Avian Flu Spreads in North America 

Zoos across North America are moving their birds indoors and away from people and wildlife as they try to protect them from the highly contagious and potentially deadly avian influenza. 

Penguins may be the only birds that visitors to many zoos can see right now, because they already are kept inside and usually protected behind glass in their exhibits, making it harder for the bird flu to reach them. 

Nearly 23 million chickens and turkeys have already been killed across the United States to limit the spread of the virus, and zoos are working hard to prevent any of their birds from meeting the same fate. It would be especially upsetting for zoos to have to kill any of the endangered or threatened species in their care. 

“It would be extremely devastating,” said Maria Franke, who is the manager of welfare science at Toronto Zoo, which has fewer than two dozen Loggerhead Shrike songbirds that it’s breeding with the hope of reintroducing them into the wild. “We take amazing care, and the welfare and well-being of our animals is the utmost importance. There’s a lot of staff that has close connections with the animals that they care for here at the zoo.” 

Toronto Zoo workers are adding roofs to some outdoor bird exhibits and double-checking the mesh that surrounds enclosures to ensure it will keep wild birds out.

 

How it spreads

Birds shed the virus through their droppings and nasal discharge. Experts say it can be spread through contaminated equipment, clothing, boots and vehicles carrying supplies. Research has shown that small birds that squeeze into zoo exhibits or buildings can also spread the flu, and that mice can even track it inside. 

So far, no outbreaks have been reported at zoos, but there have been wild birds found dead that had the flu. For example, a wild duck that died after tornadoes last month in a behind-the-scenes area of the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, tested positive, zoo spokesman Ryan Bickel said.  

Most of the steps that zoos are taking are designed to prevent contact between wild birds and zoo animals. In some places, officials are requiring employees to change into clean boots and don protective gear before entering bird areas. 

When bird flu cases are found in poultry, officials order the entire flock to be killed because the virus is so contagious. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has indicated that zoos might be able to avoid that by isolating infected birds and possibly euthanizing a small number of them. 

Sarah Woodhouse, director of animal health at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, said she is optimistic after talking with state and federal regulators. 

“They all agree that ordering us to depopulate a large part of our collection would be the absolute last-ditch effort. So they’re really interested in working with us to see what we can do to make sure that we’re not going to spread the disease while also being able to take care of our birds and not have to euthanize,” Woodhouse said. 

 

Precautions taken

Among the precautions zoos are taking is to keep birds in smaller groups so that if a case is found, only a few would be affected. The USDA and state veterinarians would make the final decision about which birds had to be killed. 

“Euthanasia is really the only way to keep it from spreading,” said Luis Padilla, who is vice president of animal collections at the Saint Louis Zoo. “That’s why we have so many of these very proactive measures in place.” 

The National Aviary in Pittsburgh — the nation’s largest — is providing individual health checks for each of its roughly 500 birds. Many already live in large glass enclosures or outdoor habitats where they don’t have direct exposure to wildlife, said Dr. Pilar Fish, the aviary’s senior director of veterinary medicine and zoological advancement. 

Kansas City Zoo CEO Sean Putney said he’s heard a few complaints from visitors, but most people seem OK with not getting to see some birds. “I think our guests understand that we have what’s in the best interests of the animals in mind when we make these decisions, even though they can’t get to see them,” Putney said. 

Officials emphasize that bird flu doesn’t jeopardize the safety of meat or eggs or represent a significant risk to human health. No infected birds are allowed into the food supply, and properly cooking poultry and eggs kills bacteria and viruses. No human cases have been found in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

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Global TB Fight Set Back Years by COVID, Health Experts Say

As the world impatiently looks for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, another tenacious pandemic, tuberculosis, has gained new strength and threatens millions of people around the world, health experts say.   

With less funding for its detection and care programs, and more deaths resulting from it, the global fight against TB has seen major setbacks.  

“We’ve lost five years of progress or more in the fight against TB because of the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic,” David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told VOA.    

Dowdy’s assessment is echoed by the World Health Organization. “The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed years of global progress in tackling tuberculosis and for the first time in over a decade,” said Amna Smailbegovic, a WHO spokesperson.  

More than 66 million lives have been saved through TB treatment programs since 2000, and the WHO had expected to treat 40 million TB cases between 2018 and 2022, cutting deaths in half over the 10 years ending in 2025. 

Not only have these targets been pushed back several years, but whether they can be achieved at all depends on how and when the world effectively ends the COVID-19 pandemic, the experts say. 

“The situation continues to look bleak according to the data reported monthly from 90 countries,” Smailbegovic said. “There has been insufficient progress made in closing case detection gaps, with still far fewer people diagnosed and treated or provided with TB preventive treatment compared with 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. There remains a shortfall of 13% in notifications of people with TB compared with before the onset of the pandemic.”   

TB deaths up 

TB, which has existed some 9,000 years in human societies, is an airborne disease spread by coughing or sneezing, and the pathogen is carried by an estimated 1.8 billion people or one-quarter of the world population, according to the WHO.  

More than 1.5 million people died from TB in 2020, up from 1.4 million the year before.  

With the marked reduction in detection and care during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is feared that as many as an additional 500,000 deaths could be added to the TB mortality rate, which will push “the world back a decade, to the level of TB mortality in 2010,” the agency has warned.  

A major cause for this is that many countries have directed most health resources to deal with the COVID-19 emergency.  

Over the past two years, hospitals that treated TB patients turned to COVID-19 cases, and TB specialists, who were also diverted to COVID-19 patients, could not follow up with their TB patients, according to TB Alliance, a nongovernmental research organization.   

“In spite of the fact that it has almost forever been the greatest global pandemic, unfortunately COVID has taken over in terms of the number of deaths caused by an infectious disease over the last couple of years. So now TB, from the point of view of deaths, is No. 2 behind COVID,” Mel Spigelman, president and CEO of TB Alliance, told VOA.  

COVID-19 has caused more than 6.16 million deaths so far worldwide with more than 982,000 deaths alone in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking cases globally. 

Drop in funding  

While the response to COVID-19, particularly the relatively quick development of several highly effective vaccines, has been commended widely, the approach has come at a cost of reduce funding for TB programs.  

Annually, about $13 billion is needed to diagnose, treat and research TB, and even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the global TB programs received less than half that.  

Funding dropped to $5.3 billion in 2020, about $500 million less than 2019, according to WHO figures.  

Meanwhile, governments and other donors spent more than $100 billion on developing COVID-19 vaccines.   

While India, Indonesia, the Philippines and China carry the highest TB burden, TB incidences increased 9.4% in the U.S. last year compared with 2020.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe economic recessions around the world, forcing millions of already vulnerable people deeper into poverty. This, experts say, has created an environment conducive for a resurgence of TB, which has historically seen increases during times of war and widespread hunger.  

“What we’ve learned from the history is that TB will definitely get worse in the settings of war, hunger, famine, etc.,” said Spigelman, adding, “TB anywhere is TB everywhere.” 

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Tiger Woods Says He’s Planning to Play the Masters  

Tiger Woods says, for now anyway, he’s planning to play this week in the Masters, a little more than a year after nearly losing a leg in a car crash.

The five-time champion at Augusta National made the announcement Tuesday morning. He will play nine more practice holes on Wednesday before making a final decision, but will be doing so with the intention of playing Thursday.

“As of right now,” Woods said, “I feel like I’m going to play.”

Woods was asked if he believes he can win this week. “I do,” he said.

“I can hit it just fine,” Woods added. “I don’t have any qualms about what I can do physically from a golf standpoint. It’s now, walking’s the hard part. This is not an easy walk to begin with. Now given the condition that my leg is in, it gets a little more difficult. And 72 holes is a long road. It’s going to be a tough challenge and a challenge that I’m up for.”

There had been plenty of signals in recent days that Woods was on the cusp of deciding it was time to play again. He came to Augusta National for a practice round last week, then returned Sunday — saying he’d be “a game-time decision” — and Monday for more. On Tuesday morning, with bad weather in the forecast, he spent plenty of time in the practice areas.

“It’s great to be back,” Woods said.

He’s scheduled to tee off Thursday at 10:34 a.m. with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann. That threesome plays again Friday starting at 1:41 p.m.

Woods played in December at the PNC Challenge, a 36-hole scramble on a flat Florida course where he and his son Charlie finished second to John Daly and his son. Woods was allowed to use a cart in that event, and when those rounds were over he flatly dismissed any notion that his game was tour-ready again.

“I can’t compete against these guys right now, no,” Woods said on Dec. 19. “It’s going to take a lot of work to get to where I feel like I can compete at these guys and be at a high level.”

About 3-1/2 months later, Woods apparently feels differently. If he plays, he’ll be in the Masters for the 24th time; he’s finished in the top five 12 times in his previous 23 appearances.

“I love competing,” Woods said. “I feel like if I can still compete at the highest level, I’m going to. And if I feel like I can still win, I’m going to play. But if I feel like I can’t, then you won’t see me out here.”

Thursday’s opening round would mark the first time Woods competes against the world’s best players since Nov. 15, 2020, which was the final round of that year’s pandemic-delayed Masters.

He had his fifth back surgery two months later and was still recovering from that on Feb. 23, 2021 when he crashed his SUV over a median on a suburban coastal road in Los Angeles and down the side of a hill.

Woods’ injuries from that crash were so severe that doctors considered right leg amputation, before reassembling the limb by placing a rod in the tibia and using screws and pins to stabilize additional injuries in the ankle and foot.

“It’s been a tough, tough year … but here we are,” Woods said.

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Economy & business/Silicon Valley & Technology
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Elon Musk Named to Twitter Board After Acquiring Massive Stock Share

A day after it was revealed he owned the largest stake in Twitter, slightly more than 9% of shares, Elon Musk has joined the company’s board of directors.

The Tesla and SpaceX founder will be on the board until at least 2024, according to a regulatory filing.

As a stipulation of his board membership, Musk won’t be allowed to own more than 14.9% of Twitter shares while on the board and for three months following a departure from the board.

After the announcement, Musk tweeted, “Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”

“I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board!” tweeted Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. “Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.”

“He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service, which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!”

In recent weeks, Musk, who is an active Twitter user with upwards of 80 million followers, has questioned the platform’s commitment to free speech and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  

He recently ran a poll on Twitter asking users if they felt the same. More than 2 million responded, with over 70% saying Twitter does not adhere to free speech.  

 

Twitter stock has surged since Musk’s acquisition of about $3 billion worth of the company’s stock. 

Some information in this report comes from The Associated Press. 

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Wimbledon Organizers Holding Talks with UK Govt on Russian, Belarusian Players

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is holding talks with the British government on the participation of players from Russia and Belarus at this year’s Wimbledon, saying on Tuesday that it hopes to announce a decision in mid-May.

Russian and Belarusian players have been allowed to compete on the regular ATP and WTA Tours but not under the name or flag of their countries following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus was a key staging area for the invasion, which Russia says is a “special military operation.”

Russia was also banned from defending its Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup team titles.

“We have noted the UK Government’s guidance regarding the attendance of Russian and Belarusian individuals in a neutral capacity at sporting events in the UK,” the AELTC, organizers of the grasscourt Grand Slam, said in a statement.

“This remains a complex and challenging issue, and we are continuing to engage in discussion with the UK Government, the Lawn Tennis Association, and the international governing bodies of tennis.

“We plan to announce a decision in relation to Wimbledon ahead of our entry deadline in mid-May.”

British Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston had said last month that he would not be comfortable with a “Russian athlete flying the Russian flag” and winning Wimbledon in London.

He added that U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev may have to provide assurances that he does not support Russian president Vladimir Putin if he is to compete.

Wimbledon will be held from June 27-July 10.

 

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Amazon Signs on Launch Partners for Space Internet 

Amazon on Tuesday announced deals for scores of launches to deploy a “constellation” of satellites in low orbit around the Earth to provide internet service to people below.

Amazon said that its contracts with Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are the largest commercial procurement of launch vehicles in history.

The overall cost and timing of launches booked to make Amazon’s Project Kuiper a reality were not disclosed.

“We still have lots of work ahead, but the team has continued to hit milestone after milestone across every aspect of our satellite system,” Amazon senior vice president Dave Limp said in a statement.

“Project Kuiper will provide fast, affordable broadband to tens of millions of customers in unserved and underserved communities around the world.”

U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, head of the space company SpaceX, has already put more than 1,500 satellites into orbit to create a Starlink internet service network.

Late last year Boeing entered the space internet race, getting U.S. authorization for satellites that will provide internet services from above.

Project Kuiper aims to provide high-speed broadband internet service to households, schools, hospitals, businesses, disaster relief operations and others in places without reliable connectivity, according to Amazon.

Amazon is developing Kuiper in-house, and planned to take advantage of capabilities already present in its other divisions, such as logistics operations and AWS cloud computing arm.

Musk formed an alliance with Microsoft, which is Amazon’s biggest rival in the cloud computing market, to use its Azure platform to provide his version of satellite-powered internet service.

With some of Amazon’s launch contracts awarded to Blue Origin, one Bezos operation will be feeding business to another.

Bezos has used some of his Amazon wealth to create and fund private space exploration enterprise Blue Origin.

“We’re honored to support Amazon’s ambitious mission to provide reliable, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world,” Blue Origin senior vice president Jarrett Jones said in a joint release.

Rocket booster

It was Amazon’s plan from the outset to enlist multiple rocket launch companies, according to Project Kuiper vice president of technology Rajeev Badyal.

The approach reduces risk of launch delays slowing the project, and saves Amazon money with competitive pricing, according to Badyal.

“These large, heavy-lift rockets also mean we can deploy more of our constellation with fewer launches, helping simplify our launch and deployment schedule,” Badyal said.

The massive number of launch bookings was also expected to boost that industry in the U.S. and Europe.

Badyal gave the example of Arianespace relying on suppliers from 13 European countries to produce its Ariane 6 rockets.

Eighteen of the contracted launches will employ Ariane 6 rockets.

“This contract, the largest we’ve ever signed, is a great moment in Arianespace’s history,” Arianespace chief executive Stephane Israel said in the release.

“It is a major win for the European launcher industry.”

ULA won the largest share of contracts and planned to build a second launch platform at its site in Cape Canaveral, Florida as part of the arrangement.

That joint venture is operated by U.S. giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

“This agreement marks the beginning of an exciting new era for ULA and for the entire U.S. launch industry,” said ULA chief executive Tory Bruno.

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