Graphic News Planner (news) 18/05/2021 15:39:11

June 1, 2021 -- The long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, described as the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation, is due to open on the outskirts of Cairo. Approximately 100,000 ancient artifacts will be on display, including the complete Tutankhamun collection.

ARCHAEOLOGY: Grand Egyptian Museum (Graphic DUE May 20, 18:00GMT)
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May 22, 2021 -- Eurovision is back! The 65th Eurovision Song Contest finally takes to the stage, after its enforced pandemic-related hiatus in 2020.

Host city Rotterdam (traditionally, the last winning nation holds the following year’s contest) broadcasts two semi-finals ahead of the main event, with 33 acts competing for 20 places in the Grand Final.

The “Big Five” nations (countries who make the biggest financial contributions to the European Broadcasting Union), France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, gain automatic entry into the final, as does the host nation – in this case, the Netherlands.

These six, plus 10 acts from each semi-final, will take part in the world’s biggest music competition. Following the live performances, the equally mammoth voting rigmarole takes place where millions of television viewers can vote online (or by SMS) for their favourite acts (excluding their own nation).

The bookies’ favourite this year is Italian alternative rock band, Måneskin, with their song Zitti e Buoni (“Shut Up and Behave”). They won the 71st Sanremo Music Festival with the same song in March.

As usual, you can expect some nationally idiosyncratic performances to translate poorly in other countries, leading to much hilarity. Also providing amusement are the many peculiar voting patterns where European counties often vote for their friendly neighbours even if their song is woefully bad.

The contest begins at 19:00GMT, on Saturday, May 22. Put the TV on, pull up a chair, have refreshments to hand with pen and score card at the ready, and enjoy (ear plugs optional).

ENTERTAINMENT: Eurovision Song Contest 2021 (Graphic)
GN41361 Graphic shows the top 12 most successful countries in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest.
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May 18, 2021 -- After 75,600km and 39 dives, the Five Deeps Expedition has completed the first manned descent to the bottom of the world’s five oceans.

After mapping the seafloor bottoms in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans, scientists believe they have the most precise information yet on the deepest points in each of Earth’s five oceans.

All of the new bathymetry (depth data) is contained in a paper published in the Geoscience Data Journal.

To be able to carry all the measurments, members of the expedition used a Triton 36000/2 deep-submergence vehicle, the world’s first craft certified to repeatedly carry humans on dives of 11,000m, according to its manufacturers.

The submersible was piloted by explorer and investor Victor Vescovo, along with scientist Alan Jamieson from Newcastle University.

All of the information collected by the expedition is being handed over to the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to compile, from various data sources, a full-ocean depth map by the end of the decade.

SCIENCE: Five Deeps Expedition results interactive (Interactive)
GN41339 Responsive graphic shows results of the Five Deeps Expedition.
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May 18, 2021 -- Just 20 companies are responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic items thrown away around the world, according to a new report looking at the global business of plastic production.

The research – carried out by a consortium including the London School of Economics – names 20 petrochemical companies which it says are the source of 55 percent of the world’s single-use plastic waste. The companies include ExxonMobil, Dow and Sinopec.

According to the study, more than 130 million tonnes of single-use plastic was thrown away in 2019, almost all of it burned, buried in landfill or discarded directly into the environment.

Single-use plastics are most likely to end up in our ocean, where they account for almost all visible pollution. Once there, they eventually break down into tiny particles that impact wildlife health – and the ocean’s ability to store carbon, the report said.

ENVIRONMENT: Single-use plastic waste producers (Graphic)
GN41357 Graphic shows top plastic producers generating single-use plastic waste.
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May 18, 2021 -- More than 200 people were killed in Israel and the occupied territories in the first week of the latest hostilities, the vast majority of them Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

Heavy fighting broke out May 10 when Gaza's militant Hamas rulers fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem in support of Palestinian protests against Israel’s heavy-handed policing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint site sacred to Jews and Muslims, and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers.

At least 212 Palestinians have been killed in heavy airstrikes since in the Gaza Strip, including almost 100 women and children, with more than 1,440 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Twelve people in Israel, including a 5-year-old boy and a soldier, have been killed in the ongoing rocket attacks launched from civilian areas in Gaza toward civilian areas in Israel.

The fighting is the most intense since a 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, but efforts to halt it have so far stalled. Egyptian mediators are trying to negotiate a cease-fire, but the U.S. has stopped short of demanding an immediate stop to the hostilities and Israel has so far vowed to press on

MIDEAST: Israeli-Palestinian conflict casualties (Graphic)
GN41358 Graphic shows number casualties in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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May 18, 2021 -- AT&T is to spin-off and merge WarnerMedia with its rival Discovery to create a streaming giant combining Warner Bros film and TV studios, HBO and CNN with Discovery’s global footprint.

The deal underscores the value of scale in today’s media landscape, where industry leaders Netflix and Walt Disney Co are looking outside the United States for growth.

The new company, likely to be called Warner Discovery, will have a value of about $132 billion, over 200,000 hours of programming and 100 brands, including DC Comics, Cartoon Network, Eurosport, Magnolia, TLC and Animal Planet. It will incorporate streaming services such as HBO Max and Discovery+, which are growing but still significantly smaller than Netflix and Disney+.

“I think, together, the combination makes us the best media company in the world,” said Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who will run the new company.

WarnerMedia and Discovery launched their streaming services, HBO Max and Discovery+, within the past two years. The combined streaming service will have a vast array of content to offer: TV shows, news with CNN, and U.S. sports, including the NBA and NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Discovery has broadcast rights in Europe for the Olympic Games through 2024

HBO Max and HBO have a combined global subscriber base of about 63.9 million, and Discovery+ has about 15 million subscribers. That compares with Netflix, which has more than 207 million subscribers worldwide, Amazon Prime Video with 175 million, and Disney+, which counts over 103 million.

BUSINESS: AT&T-Discovery deal (Graphic)
GN41359 Graphic shows popular streaming services with their subscriber counts.
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June 6-12, 2021 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries for each day of the week. This week features the Normandy landing, The Soviet Soyuz 11, New Zealand lifting Coronavirus restrictions, King Bhumibol of Thailand, Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, the discovery of the Great Barrier Reef, and Russia’s Saint Petersburg

June 6, 1944: Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. Operation Overlord, codenamed D-Day, was the largest seaborne invasion in history

June 7, 1971: The Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 11 docked in space with the Salyut space station. The three-man crew spent 22 days on board but did not survive their return to Earth

June 8, 2020: New Zealand lifted almost all coronavirus restrictions as it reported no active cases. Premier Jacinda Ardern was widely praised for her swift response to the crisis

June 9, 1946: King Bhumibol of Thailand acceded to the throne at age 18. His reign lasted for 70 years until his death in 2016, the longest in Thai history

June 10, 1921: Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II for 73 years until his death in April, was born in Greece. He would have been 100 today

June 11, 1770: Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef, when HMS Endeavour ran aground on it. It was only refloated after its guns were ditched to lighten the load

June 12, 1991: Coinciding with Russia’s first presidential election, the citizens of Leningrad voted to re-adopt the city’s pre-revolutionary name of Saint Petersburg

HISTORY: On this day June 06-12, 2021 (week 23) (Graphic)
GN41307 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
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May 30 - June 5, 2021 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries for each day of the week. This week features the space probe Mariner 9, the Tulsa race massacre, the Doomsday Clock, U.S. President Grover Cleveland, Raul Castro of Cuba, Henry Ford’s first car, and the assassination of US Senator Robert Kennedy

May 30, 1971: The U.S. space probe Mariner 9 was launched on its mission to Mars. It became the first artificial satellite of Mars, sending back more than 7,000 pictures

May 31, 1921: An attack on a prosperous black area of Tulsa, Oklahoma, killed around 300 residents in one of the worst ever atrocities targeting black Americans

June 1, 1947: The Doomsday Clock, intended to show how close humanity was to catastrophic destruction, first appeared on the cover of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists

June 2, 1886: Grover Cleveland became the first U.S. President to marry while in the White House. He was 49 and his bride, Frances Folsom, his former ward, was 21

June 3, 1931: Raul Castro, former president of Cuba, was born. He stood down as First Secretary of the Communist Party in 2021, bringing an end to Castro rule in Cuba after 62 years

June 4, 1896: Henry Ford test drove his first car, the quadricycle, in Detroit. The vehicle had a simple frame fitted with a gas-powered engine and four bicycle wheels

June 5, 1968: U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated at a hotel in Los Angeles during his presidential campaign. Gunman Sirhan Sirhan opposed his support for Israel

HISTORY: On this day May 30 - June 05, 2021 (week 22) (Graphic)
GN41306 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
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May 17, 2021 -- Designed to intercept short-range rockets fired from up to 70km away, mortars, artillery shells, and drones, Iron Dome consists of a radar, control centre and launchers, and costs $50 million.

As fighting between Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel enters a second week, Hamas has launched more than 3,000 rockets on Israel, targeting cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and other towns.

But, according to the Israeli military, at least 1,000 of the Palestinian rockets have been intercepted by the Iron Dome, a system developed for the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) by state-owned Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. The Palestinian rockets have killed ten Israelis, including two children. The toll in the Palestinian enclave reached 192 people -- including 58 children -- on Sunday (May 16), with 1,235 Palestinians wounded.

Currently, there are Iron Dome batteries deployed at ten sites in Israel, with three to four launchers that can each fire 20 interceptors, giving the system the ability to launch up to 800 missiles at incoming rockets without counting reloads.

Built with financial aid from the U.S., one unit of Iron Dome is priced at over $50 million. The cost to construct each Tamir interceptor missile is around $80,000, whereas a Palestinian Qassam rocket costs less than $1,000.

Iron Dome has intercepted more than 2,500 rockets in the decade since it was deployed, at an estimated cost of some $200 million. Given that Hamas and Hezbollah have over a hundred thousand artillery rockets aimed at Israel, the price of defence against Iranian-backed militants could skyrocket.

MILITARY: Iron Dome defence system (Graphic)
GN41356 Graphic shows how Iron Dome works.
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May 17, 2021 -- Working 55 hours or more a week is associated with a 35 percent higher risk of stroke and a 17 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease, compared with a 35-40 hour working week, according to the World Health Organisation.

The first global study of its kind showed that long working hours led to 745,000 deaths from stroke and heart disease in 2016 – an increase of nearly 30 percent from 2000.

People in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific region were the most affected. The WHO also said the trend may worsen due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The study, conducted with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), showed almost three quarters of those that died were men.

HEALTH: Working hours risk (Graphic)
GN41354 Graphic shows selected data from WHO study.
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May 17, 2021 -- Economists believe the UK will lead Europe’s economic recovery with its fastest growth in almost 50 years, before the effects of Brexit and poor productivity send it tumbling to the bottom of the pack by 2023.

The United Kingdom will lead Europe's economic recovery with its fastest growth since 1973, before sliding to the bottom of the leader board in 2023, economists forecast.

Predictions for 2021 see UK growth to 6%, putting it ahead of Germany, France, Italy and Spain, thanks in the main to its rapid vaccine rollout – allowing lockdown restrictions to relax early.

Looking ahead further, however, analysts predict growth of just 1.7% for 2023, falling due to the long-term effects of Brexit and the country's lagging productivity – meaning it will fall behind its European peers.

ECONOMY: UK set for rapid recovery then slump (Graphic)
GN41355 Graphic charts the UK's forecast economic recovery against Europe's.
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May 14, 2021 -- Israeli ground forces are bombarding the Gaza Strip with artillery, escalating a conflict that has already brought Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian rocket attacks and sectarian violence to the streets.

Israel has massed troops along the border and called up 9,000 reservists as fighting intensifies with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian militants have fired some 1,800 rockets, and the Israeli military has launched more than 600 airstrikes, toppling at least three high-rise apartment buildings, and has shelled some areas with tanks stationed near the frontier.

As Israel and Hamas plunged closer to all-out war despite international efforts at a cease-fire, communal violence in Israel erupted for a fourth night. Jewish and Arab mobs clashed in the flashpoint town of Lod, even after Israel dispatched additional security forces.

CONFLICT: Israel steps up assault on Gaza (Graphic)
GN41349 Graphic shows sitrep.
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May 13, 2021 -- The IOC, the body that runs the Olympic movement, is resisting calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics, despite surging Covid-19 cases in Japan.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), Tokyo planners and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are continuing to press ahead with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – already postponed from last year – despite overwhelming negative public opinion, and surging Covid-19 cases.

Adding to the discord is the IOC's call for the Japanese Nursing Association to volunteer 500 nurses to work at Olympic sites, thus removing them from vital duties treating patients with Covid-19.

Additionally, the IOC says some 10,000 medical workers will be needed during the Games, which are taking place during the hottest time of year in Japan. Many hospitals are full to capacity and struggling to cope with mounting cases as Japan struggles with a fourth deadly wave of coronavirus infections.

In related news, some leading tennis players such as Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams are casting doubts as to whether they will turn up to the event at all, citing safety and travel concerns.

And in ominous news that is sure to dishearten athletics fans, Team USA has cancelled plans for a pre-Olympic training camp in Japan because of the virus.

Somewhat ironically, IOC President Thomas Bach has even postponed a trip to Japan himself, because of the continued surge in coronavirus cases that have caused a state of emergency to be extended in the host nation.

JAPAN: Pressure mounts to cancel Tokyo Olympics (Graphic)
GN41348 Graphic charts new Covid-19 cases and public opinion, juxtaposed against IOC broadcast rights earnings from summer Olympic Games.
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May 12, 2021 -- The UN is warning that the worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years is escalating towards full-scale war.

Rockets streamed out of Gaza and Israel pounded the territory with airstrikes Wednesday as the most severe outbreak of violence since a 2014 war took on many hallmarks of that devastating 50-day conflict, with dozens killed and no resolution in sight.

Palls of gray smoke rose in Gaza, as Israeli airstrikes levelled two apartment towers and hammered the militant group’s multiple security installations, destroying the central police compound.

In Israel, barrages of hundreds of rockets fired by Gaza’s Hamas rulers and other militants at times overwhelmed missile defences and brought air raid sirens and explosions echoing across Tel Aviv, Israel’s biggest metropolitan area, and other cities.

Amid those protests, communal violence erupted in several mixed Jewish-Arab Israeli cities, including the burning of a Jewish-owned restaurant and a synagogue, the fatal shooting of an Arab man and attacks on Arab-owned cars.

There was no sign that either side is willing to back down. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to expand the offensive, saying “this will take time.” Hamas has called for a full-scale intifada, or uprising. The last such uprising began in 2000 and lasted more than five years.

CONFLICT: Israel and Gaza spiralling to “all-out war” (1) (Graphic UPDATED May 13)
GN41342 Graphic shows sitrep.
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May 13, 2021 -- Coercive policies in China’s region of Xinjiang have led to a sharp decline in birth rates for Uyghurs and other minorities, which could add to evidence of genocide, according to an Australian think tank.

A report from the Australian Strategy Policy Institute, found the birthrate across Xinjiang fell by 48.74% between 2017 and 2019.

In counties where the population was at least 90% non-Han Chinese, the birthrate dropped by an average 56.5% between 2017 and 2018. By examining county-level statistics, the report provided further evidence of “the systematic targeting” of communities, it said

Over the past four years, the Chinese authorities have carried out a brutal campaign of forced assimilation targeting the Uyghurs, an ethnic Turkic minority native to Xinjiang.

China maintains that changes in birth rates are linked to improved health and economic policy and it strongly rejects accusations of genocide.

CHINA: Record drop in Xinjiang birth rate (Graphic)
GN41344 Graphic shows birth rate in Xinjiang versus the whole of China from 1951 to 2019.
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May 13, 2021 -- Bitcoin hit a record high in April, driven by investors seeking high-yielding assets amid low-interest rates. Sotheby’s has now accepted cryptocurrency for the first time as payment for a piece of fine art.

On Wednesday (May 12), the auction house announced that “Love is in the Air” by Banksy sold for $12.9 million in an auction that lasted 14 minutes and involved four bidders.

The auction is the first time a cryptocurrency, including bitcoin and ethereum (ether), has been accepted as a payment for a physical artwork by a fine art auction house.

Cryptocurrency is money created using secure computer technology known as blockchain. Sotheby’s allows the artwork’s seller the chance to accept payment from them in the form of bitcoin, ether, or to have it exchanged for old-fashioned cash using cryptocurrency platform Coinbase.

Love is in the Air, created in 2005 with spray paint and oil on canvas, is one of the British artist’s most iconic images. The painting depicts an archetypal protester preparing to hurl a bomb toward an unseen foe, but his projectile is a bunch of hand-painted flowers.



BUSINESS: Bitcoin becomes mainstream (1) (Graphic UPDATED May 13)
GN41341 Graphic shows bitcoin's march towards the mainstream.
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May 12, 2021 -- Global forest cover has declined by one million square kilometres since 1960, while cropland and pasture have increased by roughly the same extent, according to a new study.

Since 1960, humans have repurposed land on Earth equivalent in area to Africa and Europe combined, researchers have revealed. If one counts all transitions, such as turning forests into cropland or Savannah into pastures, it adds up to approximately 43 million km2 – four times greater than was previously believed.

Since 1960, Earth’s total forest cover has reduced by nearly 1 million km2, while areas covered by cropland and pastures have each increased by around the same amount. The Earth’s crust is stretched across 510 million km2, with 70% (361m km2) being water – mostly oceans.

Studies like these are important. Tropical forests, for example, soak up about 30% of manmade carbon pollution, so large landscape alterations can radically alter attempts at global temperature reductions and meeting Paris Agreement targets.

Presently, the Earth is warmer by 1.2°C than it was in the pre-industrial age.

ENVIRONMENT: Earth’s diminishing forests (Graphic)
GN41343 Graphic charts global decline in forestation against increases and cropland and pastures.
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May 11, 2021 -- After 75,600km and 39 dives, the Five Deeps Expedition has completed the first manned descent to the bottom of the world’s five oceans.

After mapping the seafloor bottoms in the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans, scientists believe they have the most precise information yet on the deepest points in each of Earth’s five oceans.

All of the new bathymetry (depth data) is contained in a paper published in the Geoscience Data Journal.

To be able to carry all the measurments, members of the expedition used a Triton 36000/2 deep-submergence vehicle, the world’s first craft certified to repeatedly carry humans on dives of 11,000m, according to its manufacturers.

The submersible was piloted by explorer and investor Victor Vescovo, along with scientist Alan Jamieson from Newcastle University.

All of the information collected by the expedition is being handed over to the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to compile, from various data sources, a full-ocean depth map by the end of the decade.

SCIENCE: Five Deeps Expedition results (Graphic)
GN41335 Graphic shows results of the Five Deeps Expedition.
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May 11, 2021 -- The four front-running vaccine-makers have seen their profits surge since the rollout of coronavirus shots, boosted by some $18.5 billion from government, public and private funding.

In total, governments and not-for-profit organisations have provided $4.59 billion, according to science data analytics company Airfinity. Private funding has provided around $13.91 billion.

AstraZeneca/Oxford University has received over $11.5 billion, and Johnson & Johnson has scooped up $1.1 billion. Almost $3.2bn has gone to Pfizer/BioNTech, while Moderna has received $2.68 billion.

Pfizer expects 2021 revenue of between $44 billion and $46 billion, with profits of at least $14 billion, split 50-50 between Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Moderna’s forecast for 2021 is for revenue of $16 billion, overwhelmingly from vaccine sales.

Johnson & Johnson has said it will provide the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis as long as the world continues suffering from the pandemic. However, even after the pandemic has passed, people will need to receive booster shots to protect themselves from new variants.

HEALTH: Vaccine-makers’ income (Graphic)
GN41338 Graphic shows latest income from selected coronavirus vaccine producers.
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May 10, 2021 -- More than 700 people have been killed in Myanmar since the military seized power on February 1, according to a local monitoring group, as security forces have sought to suppress near-daily protests.

On Tuesday, 100 days will have passed since the generals made their lightning power grab in the early morning of February 1, ousting and detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, AFP said.

The period has seen Myanmar plunge into chaos as the army struggles to control widespread opposition to its rule.

Around 780 civilians have been killed, according to Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), an independent non-profit organisation based in Thailand.

MYANMAR: Cost of coup, 100 days on (Graphic)
GN41333 Graphic shows weekly deaths in violence since coup.
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May 10, 2021 -- A double-extortion attack that has shut down the Colonial Pipeline -- America’s most extensive refined fuel network -- is the most successful cyberattack to date on critical U.S. infrastructure.

The Colonial Pipeline Company, which manages 45 per cent of the U.S. east coast’s fuel supplies, was forced to suspend 8,850 kilometres (5,500 miles) of pipeline between Texas and New Jersey after falling victim to a double-extortion scheme carried out by the DarkSide ransomware group. 

Double-extortion ransomware attacks surged in 2020. The tactic involves threat actors stealing data from organizations in addition to encrypting files. As well as demanding a ransom to decrypt data, attackers can later threaten to leak or sell the stolen information.

Cybersecurity firm Emsisoft found that U.S. based governments, healthcare facilities and schools were hit by more than 23,600 ransomware attacks in 2020.

Emsisoft said the amount paid by ransomware victims in just ten countries reached about $2.6 billion last year. The average ransom paid by organizations in 2020 was more than $37,000.

Globally, a minimum of $18 billion was paid in ransoms, while the cost of downtime in the private and public sectors added billions more in fees.

Anne Neuberger, the Biden administration’s deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity and emerging technology, told The Associated Press that the government was supporting electric utilities, water districts, and other critical industries against potentially damaging cyberattacks.

TECH: Colonial Pipeline cyberattack (Graphic)
GN41332 Graphic shows ransomware and double-extortion cyberattacks in selected countries in 2020.
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May 7, 2021 -- China’s out-of-control rocket core draws attention to how agencies can safely dispose of unwanted spacecraft using Earth’s “Point Nemo”.

With China’s National Space Administration coming under increasing scrutiny from abroad due to its cavalier approach to disposing of a 30-metre-long, 21-tonne piece of space junk, how does NASA do it?

The short answer is, it dumps its unwanted spacecraft at “Point Nemo”.

Point Nemo (named after the famous submariner from Jules Verne’s “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”) is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, at a position that is the furthest away from any human population or landmass – 2,688km away from anything or anybody. In fact, it’s so far away from anybody that astronauts aboard the International Space Station are closer (360km above it).

NASA, and other space agencies, have been dumping space junk there since the early 1970s. It’s the perfect spot to get rid of top secret technology – whatever doesn’t burn up in the atmosphere will come to rest in a mangled heap about three kilometres below sea level.

Crashing a spacecraft into the Pacific is not a precise art form and nothing hits exactly upon Point Nemo. Typically, a large craft will break up into a variety of smaller chunks and be scattered across about 1,500km of ocean.

Russia is by far the biggest user of Point Nemo, with about 200 space objects down there. NASA is next with more than 50, Europe about 10 and Japan with half-a-dozen.

The types of craft being dumped there include spy satellites, fuel tanks, and cargo craft.

There are a couple of big ticket items down there too: Russia’s 130-tonne Mir space station, which was decommissioned in 2001, and China’s Tiangong-1 space station which went out of control in 2016 after only five years in service – eventually crashing into the Pacific in 2018.

More recently, unreusable rocket parts from SpaceX launches have found their way to Point Nemo, and alas eventually, so too will the International Space Station – due to be decommissioned and crashed there around 2028.

SPACE: Point Nemo – Earth’s space cemetery (Graphic)
GN41330 Graphic shows where Point Nemo is on Earth.
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May 7, 2021 -- The U.S. has joined India and South Africa in calling for a waiver on COVID vaccine patents, to allow any manufacturer in the world to produce their own copies without fear of infringing intellectual property rights.

Germany has opposed this, claiming manufacturing capacity and high quality standards are limiting production, not patents, while Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has said theirs are the only facilties that can manufacture
mRNA vaccines. However, a number of other EU states including Spain have expressed cautious support for the U.S. proposal.

Pharmaceutical investors have also warned against the move, claiming
that it could discourage investment in these companies, just as the industry has proved that they are the only ones capable of delivering a solution to the crisis.

HEALTH: Call to waive COVID vaccine patents (Graphic)
GN41329 Graphic shows details of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered worldwide, and major vaccine producing countries
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May 7, 2021 -- China emits more greenhouse gas than the entire developed world combined, a new report from the U.S.-based Rhodium Group claims.

China’s emissions of six heat-trapping gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, rose to 14.09 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2019, edging out the total of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development members by about 30 million tons, according to the New York-based climate research group.

China accounted for 27% of global emissions. The U.S., the second biggest emitter, contributed 11% while India for the first time surpassed the European Union with about 6.6% of the global total.

China is now the source of more than a quarter of annual global greenhouse gases, but its cumulative (historic) emissions are still far below those of other countries.

China’s per capita emissions reached 10.1 tonnes in 2019, close to the OECD average of 10.5 tonnes. The U.S. in 2019 produced a per capita average of 17.6 tonnes – the world’s highest.

CLIMATE: China emissions top all OECD total (Graphic)
GN41328 Graphic shows global greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2019, as well as emissions from the largest emitters in 2019.
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May 5, 2021 -- Archaeologists have found the remains of a child buried at a cave in Kenya 78,000 years ago, which provide new insights into the origin of mortuary practices on the continent of our species’ birth.

A new study by an international team of researchers, and published in the prestigious journal Nature, details the remains of a 2.5 to 3-year-old Homo sapiens nicknamed Mtoto – “child” in Swahili – found in a flexed position, deliberately buried in a cave at Panga ya Saidi, Kenya.

Despite being called the cradle of humankind, early evidence of burials in Africa are scarce and often ambiguous. Burials of Neanderthals and modern humans in Eurasia ranging back 120,000 years, are far more abundant. The reasons for the comparative lack of early burials in Africa remain elusive, perhaps owing to the lack of field work in large parts of the African continent.

Portions of the child's skeleton were first found during excavations at Panga ya Saidi in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2017 that the small pit containing the bones was fully exposed. Over several months of painstaking excavation, spectacular new discoveries were made.
Mtoto’s flexed body, lying on its right side with knees drawn toward the chest, testifies to deliberate preparation.

The position of the head suggests a support – such as a pillow – may have been present, indicating some form of funerary rite.

Also, microscopic analysis of the bones and surrounding soil confirms that the body was rapidly covered by sediment scooped up from cave floor, and decomposed in situ. In other words, Mtoto was intentionally buried shortly after death.

SCIENCE: Oldest human burial in Africa
(Graphic)
GN41316 Graphic shows location and details of the discovery.
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May 4, 2021 -- Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier will lead Carrier Strike Group 21 – a flotilla of Royal Navy ships – on its 28-week maiden deployment to East Asia.

The carrier will have eight RAF and 10 U.S. F-35B stealth jets onboard and will be accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.

They will be joined by a U.S. destroyer and Dutch frigate while carrying out visits to India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

The high-profile deployment, aimed at bolstering security ties in East Asia, comes amid tensions in the region as concern grows in Japan over any threat posed to neighbouring Taiwan by China, Reuters said.

MILITARY: HMS Queen Elizabeth deployment (Graphic)
GN41312 Graphic shows details of HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier and components of Carrier Strike Group 21.
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May 4, 2021 -- At least 23 people have been killed and dozens injured in Mexico City, after a metro overpass collapsed while a train was travelling on it.

The collapse occurred on the newest of the Mexico City subway’s lines, Line 12, which stretches far into the city’s south side. Like many of the city’s dozen subway lines, it runs underground through more central areas of the city of 9 million, but then runs on elevated concrete structures on the city’s outskirts.

The collapse could represent a major blow for Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who was Mexico City's mayor from 2006 to 2012, when Line 12 was built. Allegations about poor design and construction on the subway line emerged soon after Ebrard left office as mayor. The line had to be partly closed in 2013 so tracks could be repaired.

The Mexico City Metro has had at least two serious accidents since its inauguration half a century ago. In March of last year, a collision between two trains at the Tacubaya station left one passenger dead and injured 41 people. In 2015, a train that did not stop on time crashed into another at the Oceania station, injuring 12.

ACCIDENTS: Mexico City metro overpass collapse (Graphic)
GN41313 Graphic shows details and location of the accident.
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May 23-29, 2021 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries for each day of the week. This week features bifocal spectacles, Bob Dylan. the death of George Floyd, first Le Mans 24-hour race, the Cunard liner Queen Mary, Amnesty International and the European flag

May 23, 1785: Benjamin Franklin revealed he had invented bifocal spectacles, with lenses of two different thicknesses for viewing distant objects as well as near ones

May 24, 1941: Influential U.S. singer and songwriter Bob Dylan was born as Robert Zimmerman. His stage name was inspired by the poet Dylan Thomas. He is 80 today

May 25, 2020: Protests broke out across the U.S. after the death of a black man arrested in Minneapolis. George Floyd died as a police officer knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes

May 26, 1923: The first Le Mans 24-hour race was run, on public roads around the French town. It has since evolved into the most famous endurance race in motor sport

May 27, 1936: The Cunard liner Queen Mary made her maiden voyage to New York. The ship retired from service in 1967 and is now permanently moored in Long Beach, California

May 28, 1961: A British lawyer published a newspaper article, The Forgotten Prisoners, which led to the birth of the human rights organisation Amnesty International

May 29, 1986: The European flag, showing a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background, was first raised outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels

HISTORY: On this day May 23-29, 2021 (week 21) (Graphic)
GN41286 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
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May 16-22, 2021 -- Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries for each day of the week. This week features the first electric tram, the separation of North and South Korea, the Jerusalem crusades, the wedding of Britain’s Prince Harry, Cyclone Amphan, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and Zion City in the United States.

May 16, 1881: The world’s first electric tram line opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin, Germany, using a trolley pole to feed power from electric wires strung above the tram route

May 17, 2007: Trains from North and South Korea crossed the heavily fortified border for the first time since the Korean War, described by both as a milestone for reconciliation

May 18, 1291: The last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land fell to the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, al-Ashraf Khalil. The fall of Acre marked the end of the Jerusalem crusades

May 19, 2018: Britain’s Prince Harry married U.S. actress Meghan Markle. The new Duke and Duchess of Sussex chose to quit the Royal Family in 2020 and relocated to California

May 20, 2020: Cyclone Amphan devastated eastern India and Bangladesh, forcing the evacuation of four million people. Damage was estimated at over $13 billion

May 21, 1991: Former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, son of assassinated premier Indira Gandhi, was himself killed by a suicide bomber as he campaigned for re-election

May 22, 1921: Zion City, near Chicago, banned women from wearing short skirts and exposing bare necks and arms in public places, with fines of up to $200 for transgressors

HISTORY: On this day May 16-22, 2021 (week 20) (Graphic)
GN41285 Graphics show birthdays and anniversaries on each day for the week.
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April 30, 2021 -- A pioneering design to bore a train tunnel between Helsinki and Tallinn is gaining ground after Finland and Estonia signed a letter of intent.

Finland and Estonia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, taking plans for a long-discussed tunnel between the two nations a step closer to reality.

The privately funded project is headed up by entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka and his FinEst Bay Area Development company – he made his fortune from the Angry Birds video game series (his nickname is Mighty Eagle).

The ambitious project would see two 103-kilometre-long high-speed rail passenger and freight tunnels dug 250 metres under the Gulf of Finland, between Helsinki in the north and Tallinn in the south, making the route far and away the longest undersea tunnel in the world.

The tunnels would be 17 metres in diameter, allowing each one to carry two train lines as well as pipes and conduits for other services if needed. In fact, the idea behind making them so wide is to future-proof them for advances in technology, such as new transport systems that can't be imagined today.

The granite bedrock spoil from the tunnels would be used to create two artificial islands 15km from each nation's coastline, providing ventilation, access and energy supplies to the tunnels below. The larger one square kilometre island to the north would be transformed into an entertainment centre with train station, shops, businesses and affordable housing.

The project is expected to cost €15-20 billion, and is controversially mainly funded by Chinese backers, leading to accusations of being far too accommodating of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Vesterbacka says the use of 16 plasma boring machines (12 to be used at any one time) will speed the project along, with completion of the tunnels anticipated as soon as December 2024.

The economic impact of such a venture is clear. Currently 10,000 Estonians commute every day by ferry to Helsinki for work – a journey that takes two hours in each direction. Conversely, Finnish tourists frequently visit Tallinn, drawn to its picturesque Old Town and low alcohol prices.

The proposed train journey would slash travel times to just 20 minutes, increasing the exchange of capital between the two cities as well as forging closer social and business ties.

TRANSPORT: Bold concept for Helsinki-Tallinn tunnel (Graphic)
GN41300 Graphic shows proposed plans for the Helsinki-Tallinn rail tunnel.
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April 29, 2021 -- Trillions of cicadas are set to emerge, after 17 years underground across large parts of the eastern United States, bringing their distinctive, high-volume mating calls to towns and cities.

Also known as the “great eastern brood”, they were last seen in 2004 and will emerge across 15 states in the U.S., from Georgia in the south to New York in the north.

This year's group, known as Brood X, is the largest and most broadly distributed of all 15 broods of periodical cicadas in the U.S.

There are 15 different periodical broods of cicadas and two appear to have become extinct. As opposed to annual broods, which emerge every year from July to September, periodical broods stay underground for either 13 or 17 years, depending on the brood.

Cicadas do not bite but emit sounds between 80 and 100 decibels, the equivalent to a low flying airplane or a lawn mower.

Scientists believe that huge and synchronised arrival provides protection against predators.

ENIRONMENT: Brood X cicadas set to emerge in U.S. (Graphic)
GN41299 Graphic shows areas where the cicadas are expected to emerge and their life cycle.
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April 29, 2021 -- China has launched Tianhe -- a module containing what will be living quarters for three astronauts. Tianhe is the first part of its permanent Tiangong Space Station that it plans to complete in 2022.

The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan at 11:23 am Beijing Time (03:23GMT, April 29).

Tianhe will act as the management and control centre of the Tiangong Space Station (“Heavenly Palace”), with a node that could dock with up to three spacecraft.

The T-shaped, 100-tonne space station will comprise three major modules: the 16.6-metre-long core module (“Harmony of the Heavens”), and two 14.4-meter-long experiment modules, called Wentian (“Quest for the Heavens”) and Mengtian (“Dreaming of the Heavens”), which will be permanently attached to either side of the core.

Tianhe can accommodate three astronauts for stays of up to six months. Visiting astronauts and cargo spaceships can hook up to the core module from opposite ends.

In May, China plans to launch its Tianzhou-3 cargo craft to deliver supplies and fuel to Tianhe. In June, a Shenzhou-13 will deliver three astronauts who will begin their six-month stay in orbit.

SPACE: China’s space station project (Graphic)
GN41298 Graphic shows timeline of China’s planned Tiangong Space Station.
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April 27, 2021 -- With drones increasingly important in 21st century warfare, a U.S. startup has developed a portable and powerful microwave energy weapon that can disable enemy drones with pinpoint accuracy.

Founded in 2018, Los Angeles-based startup Epirus, says drones are fast becoming a staple of 21st-century warfare – with U.S. General Kenneth McKenzie going as far as to call them the most concerning tactical development since the rise of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

As well as of being of interest to major powers, the use of drones in warfare is seen as a cheap way for small insurgent groups to challenge larger powers on the battlefield. Drones can be equipped to be suicide devices, i.e. carrying an explosive device to a target and exploding (an avenue of warfare that China is reportedly interested in), or for use in surveillance by carrying cameras.

In recent times there have been several well publicised incidents where unwelcome drones have caused concern or cost companies millions of dollars.

Last month, it was revealed that in July 2019, six drones targeted U.S. Navy destroyers over several nights off the coast of California, flashing strobe lights, performing dangerous manoeuvres (at speeds in excess of 30km/h) and staying airborne for 90 minutes – a flight time greater than commercially available drones can accommodate.

In December 2018, unauthorised drones entered the airspace around London’s Gatwick Airport, forcing authorities to ground all aircraft for 36 hours – affecting 1,000 flights and costing the air industry an estimated $70 million.

In an attempt to tackle this growing problem, Epirus has created "Leonidas", a portable, High Power Microwave (HPM) energy weapon that can be used to disable a swarm of drones in a single blast or knock-out an individual drone with pinpoint accuracy.

Naturally, the fine details of how it works are confidential but the firm has revealed that it works by overloading the electronics on board a drone, causing it to instantly fall – a system known in military circles as a Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (C-UAS).

Epirus' method involves a solid-state, software-controlled HPM that can destroy electronic targets using beamforming (a technique that focuses a wireless signal towards a specific target) – allowing operators to disable enemy threats without damaging friendly technology close by.

Perhaps its most attractive attribute is its diminutive size. Current systems are very bulky, occupying shipping containers full of vacuum tubes and coolants. Leonidas, on the other hand, uses Gallium Nitride power amplifiers, meaning it can fit onto a small trailer and be towed by a car or mounted onto the deck of a ship. It can also power up and down in minutes rather than the hours required by vacuum-tube HPM systems.

Epirus has also developed the "Leonidas Pod", a compact HPM beam emitter that can be, somewhat ironically, carried by a drone itself – leading one to wonder if future warfare really is heading into the realms of science fiction, whereby computer-controlled adversaries do battle.

TECH: “Leonidas” microwave anti-drone weapon (Graphic)
GN41284 Graphic shows how the Leonidas anti-drone weapon works.
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May 1-31, 2021 -- Each month Graphic News publishes a World Agenda of forthcoming events that will shape the world in the month ahead. Events in May include the meeting between President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House, crucial elections in Scotland, the 74th World Health Assembly, and the 10th anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death.

Events include:
May 2, Pakistan: Ten years ago, U.S. commandos raided a compound in Abbottabad and killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The death of the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks weakened his movement, but it remains a threat.

May 6, UK: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says an outright victory for her Scottish National Party in elections to Scotland’s parliament would give her a mandate to demand a second independence referendum. The British government argues that the issue was settled in 2014, when Scots voted to remain in the UK.

May 15, U.S.: President Joe Biden welcomes South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the White House for talks including how to keep pressure on North Korea to stem the totalitarian state’s nuclear programme.

May 18-22, Netherlands: The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 takes place in Rotterdam. The city was due to host the event in 2020 before it was cancelled due to the global pandemic.

May 24-Jun 1, Switzerland: The 74th World Health Assembly – held virtually, amid the Covid-19 pandemic – will be the most pressing in recent history. Access to vaccines, waiving of patents and the vaccine-manufacturing capacities of low and middle-income countries, will be high on the agenda.

May 26, Syria: Syria is to hold a presidential election that is virtually certain to maintain President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power, despite continuing conflict and a growing economic crisis. Washington and the Syrian opposition say the poll is a farce, designed to cement Assad’s autocratic rule.

May 26, Space: The second shortest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting 14 and a half minutes, will be visible from Australia, parts of the Americas and much of Asia, if the reddened, super “Blood Moon” is not obscured by cloud.

May 30-June 13, France: Rafael Nadal is looking to win his 14th title at Roland Garros, in a tournament pushed back a week by ongoing coronavirus restrictions. Another win would give him his 21st Grand Slam, taking him past Roger Federer.

WORLD AGENDA: May 2021 interactive (Interactive)
GN41269 Responsive interactive graphic shows news events in May 2021.
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May 1-31, 2021 -- Each month Graphic News publishes a World Agenda of forthcoming events that will shape the world in the month ahead. Events in May include the meeting between President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House, crucial elections in Scotland, the 74th World Health Assembly, and the 10th anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death.

May 2, Pakistan: Ten years ago, U.S. commandos raided a compound in Abbottabad and killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The death of the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks weakened his movement, but it remains a threat.

May 6, UK: First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says an outright victory for her Scottish National Party in elections to Scotland’s parliament would give her a mandate to demand a second independence referendum. The British government argues that the issue was settled in 2014, when Scots voted to remain in the UK.

May 15, U.S.: President Joe Biden welcomes South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the White House for talks including how to keep pressure on North Korea to stem the totalitarian state’s nuclear programme.

May 18-22, Netherlands: The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 takes place in Rotterdam. The city was due to host the event in 2020 before it was cancelled due to the global pandemic.

May 24-Jun 1, Switzerland: The 74th World Health Assembly – held virtually, amid the Covid-19 pandemic – will be the most pressing in recent history. Access to vaccines, waiving of patents and the vaccine-manufacturing capacities of low and middle-income countries, will be high on the agenda.

May 26, Syria: Syria is to hold a presidential election that is virtually certain to maintain President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power, despite continuing conflict and a growing economic crisis. Washington and the Syrian opposition say the poll is a farce, designed to cement Assad’s autocratic rule.

May 26, Space: The second shortest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century, lasting 14 and a half minutes, will be visible from Australia, parts of the Americas and much of Asia, if the reddened, super “Blood Moon” is not obscured by cloud.

May 30-June 13, France: Rafael Nadal is looking to win his 14th title at Roland Garros, in a tournament pushed back a week by ongoing coronavirus restrictions. Another win would give him his 21st Grand Slam, taking him past Roger Federer.

WORLD AGENDA: May 2021 (Graphic)
GN41268 Graphic shows news events in May 2021
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April 21, 2021 -- During its first video broadcast of 2021, Apple unveiled a slew of new hi-tech gadgetry including AirTags, colourful new iMacs and a revamped Apple TV 4K with redesigned Siri remote.

Apple fans were not left disappointed by the "Spring Loaded" event, as Apple launched a new line-up of products during its first video broadcast of 2021.

The tech giant revealed its long-awaited AirTags – coin-sized trackers that people can attach to precious possessions like keys, wallets, bags and clothes. If they are misplaced, owners can use their iPhones to track them down using the Find My app.

Seven colourful iMacs have been launched that utilise Apple's own M1 system on a chip that combines numerous powerful technologies into a single processor. Its diminutive size has allowed Apple to streamline the iMac down to an incredible 11.5mm thickness.

Apple TV 4K is getting an upgrade to the A12 Bionic chip, making it much more powerful for Apple's recently launched Arcade service. The remote has also been completely redesigned to allow for better screen navigation.

The top of the line iPad has also been upgraded to a model that uses the same M1 chip found in the iMac and includes 5G connectivity. The screen has been improved to a 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display that features 1,000 nits of brightness that can show an extremely dynamic colour range.

Other announcements included a new purple iPhone 12, podcast subscriptions, and an expanded Apple Card credit card in the U.S. that allows two people to share a credit history together.

There will likely be two more Apple events this year – its Worldwide Developers Conference in June (which often showcases new operating systems across its product range) and a September event to launch the next iPhone and Apple Watch.

TECH: Apple launches new hardware (Graphic)
GN41261 Graphic highlights three of the main unveilings by Apple in its “Spring Loaded” video broadcast.
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April 22, 2021 -- Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are forecast to rise by the second largest annual amount on record, as global economies pour stimulus cash into fossil fuels to aid recovery from the Covid-19 recession.

The IEA’s Global Energy Review 2021 predicts carbon dioxide emissions would rise to 33 billion tonnes this year, up 1.5 billion tonnes from 2020 levels as global economies pour stimulus
cash into fossil fuels to aid recovery from the Covid-19 recession.

The leap will be second only to the massive rebound 10 years ago after the financial crisis, and will put climate hopes out of reach unless governments act quickly, the IEA has warned.

The use of coal in Asia is expected to be key: the IEA says it will push global demand up by 4.5%, taking it close to the global peak seen in 2014.

However, renewable energy is also booming, with green sources set to supply 30% of electricity this year.

CLIMATE: Carbon emissions to soar in 2021 (Graphic)
GN41258 Graphic shows energy-related CO2 emissions and annual change from 1990 to 2020.
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April 14, 2021 -- After reports of rare blood clotting, the U.S., EU and South Africa have paused the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine. The move follows similar cases after doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.

With both the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (J&J)vaccines, the reports involve extremely rare clotting, including a type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) combined with low levels of blood platelets.

As of April 4, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said it had received 169 reports of cases of CVST and 53 instances of splanchnic vein thrombosis (SVT), or clotting in veins in the abdomen. That’s out of 34 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses administered in Britain and the European Economic Area (EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein) over the past three months.

Most of the cases reported were in women under 60 years of age within two weeks of vaccination.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have data involving six reported cases of CVST out of more than 6.8 million single-shot J&J vaccine shots.

The CDC and FDA have recommended the suspension of the J&J vaccine “out of an abundance of caution.” South Africa has also suspended the rollout of the J&J vaccine after U.S. recommendations.

Both vaccines use “viral vector” technology. A common cold-causing adenovirus -- modified so it can’t replicate -- carries genetic instructions into human cells.

The gene creates a viral protein that stimulates the human immune system to produce antibodies. If infected, the antibodies attack the coronavirus, blocking its entry into cells where it can replicate.

AstraZeneca opted for a chimpanzee adenovirus, while J&J picked a human adenovirus. Experts suspect the adenovirus component may trigger rare cases of CVST.

HEALTH: Viral vector vaccines (Graphic)
GN41245 Graphic shows how viral vector vaccines work.
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August 1, 2022 -- NASA is to explore a giant asteroid which, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, appears to be the exposed metal core of a planet from the early days of our solar system.

Most of the objects in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter are rocky, but 16 Psyche appears to be made primarily of iron and nickel similar to Earth’s core.

The mission will help scientists assess the hypothesis that the 226km-wide asteroid may be the exposed core of an ancient planet, whose rocky outer layers were stripped away by impacts long ago.

The spacecraft will also carry a technology demonstration called Deep Space Optical Communication. This instrument will transmit data to Earth using photons, a more efficient strategy than the traditional radio-wave method, mission team members have said.

If all proceeds as planned, Psyche will be launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in Aug 2022, perform a gravity-assist flyby of Mars in May 2023, and arrive in orbit around Psyche in 2026.

SPACE: NASA’s Psyche mission (Graphic)
GN41211 Graphic shows details of NASA’s Psyche mission.
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April 8, 2021 -- Europe’s drug regulator has reported 222 cases of rare blood clotting among 34 million adults vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s Covid shot -- but says the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

On April 7, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that 169 of the blood clots were located in the brain, and 53 were in the stomach. All cases had the rare combination of blood clots, bleeding and low levels of platelets. Most of the clotting was found in women aged under 60.

The thrombi located in the brain were a form of clotting known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine estimates that typically one in every 200,000 people of all ages develop CVST in a given year.

The situation “clearly demonstrates one of the challenges posed by large-scale vaccination campaigns,” said Emer Cooke, the EMA’s executive director. “When millions of people receive these vaccines, very rare events can occur that were not identified during the clinical trials.”

The UK regulator said the overall incidence of cerebral clots was about 4 cases for every 1 million people who’d received the vaccine. The reported risk in Europe is 1 in 100,000, according to the EMA.

Following a review by the UK’s drug regulator, 79 people had developed CVST by the end of March. Out of those 79 cases, 19 people died, three of whom were below 30. Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended an alternative shot for people ages 18 to 29.

The EMA has identified 35 cases of brain blood clots in connection with Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine Comirnaty, out of some 54 million people vaccinated

HEALTH: Blood clots vaccine risk (Graphic)
GN41221 Graphic showsvaccine link to blood clots.
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May 22, 2021 -- Jailed Fatah party activist Marwan Barghouti is to field his own list of candidates in a direct challenge to Fatah President Mahmoud Abbas in forthcoming elections to the Palestinian parliament.

Barghouti, 61, a former West Bank Fatah official and parliamentarian, serving life imprisonment in Israel after being convicted of orchestrating deadly attacks, has registered his own list called “Freedom”.

“Freedom” list is headed by Nasser Al-Qudwa – a nephew of the party’s late founder Yasser Arafat – and Barghouti’s wife Fadwa.

But Barghouti, 61, is not among the names – fuelling speculation that he may be preparing to run against Abbas – who is 85 and in poor health – in a presidential election in July.

Analysts believe their alliance could split Fatah’s vote, possibly acting as a spoiler that could benefit Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza.

President Abbas announced earlier this year that Palestinians will head to the polls for the first elections in more than a decade. After May’s parliamentary elections, presidential elections are set for July.
This year’s vote would be the first parliamentary elections in 14 years and the first presidential ones in 15.

POLITICS: Palestinian militant challenges election (Graphic)
GN41199 Graphic shows timeline of Palestinian elections.
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January 28, 2021 -- Countries around the world are struggling to control the pandemic of the pneumonia-like virus that originated in China late 2019 as it spreads across the globe.

The number of people around the world who have contracted coronavirus is continuing to surge, with the death toll from the pandemic rising rapidly, as the global outbreak continues to take lives and wreak havoc on economies and established routines of life.

Medical workers and health services around the world are also at breaking point and the livelihoods of millions are at risk amid a widespread shutdown caused by the virus and the damage the viral outbreak is inflicting on the global economy. Layoffs are sure to accelerate as the world sinks into a recession with revenue collapsing at restaurants, hotels, movie theatres, gyms, airlines and numerous other businesses.

HEALTH: Coronavirus pandemic interactive (6) (Interactive UPDATED Jan 28)
GN40054 Interactive graphic shows cases, fatalities, and recovered cases from the COVID-19 coronavirus. N.B. This data is updated daily.
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May 7, 2020 -- Clinicians have traced the brutal rampage wrought by the coronavirus through the body, from the lungs -- ground zero -- to the heart and blood vessels, kidneys, gut, and brain.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 enters human cells by attaching to a cell-surface receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Once infected, the virus hijacks a host cell and turns it into a factory, making copies of itself to attack more cells.

Once in the nose and throat, the virus travels to the lungs. At the end of the lung’s respiratory tree lie the alveoli, tiny air sacs lined with a layer of cells that are also rich in ACE2 receptors.

Usually, oxygen crosses the alveoli into capillaries, tiny blood vessels, before being carried by the blood system to the rest of the body. As the immune system fights the virus, white blood cells release signalling molecules called cytokines. These proteins coordinate the body’s response against infection and trigger inflammation.

Vital organs throughout the body that are rich in ACE2 -- which helps regulate blood pressure -- are all targets for the virus. The lining of the heart and blood vessels, the kidneys and small intestine, along with the nose, throat and alveoli, are all rich in ACE2 receptors.

In some patients, an overreaction of the immune system known as a “cytokine storm” results in uncontrolled levels of cytokines which then activate more immune cells, resulting in hyperinflammation. Immune cells start to attack healthy tissues -- blood vessels leak, blood pressure drops, clots form, and catastrophic organ failure can ensue.

A newly observed threat from the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 is an abnormal tendency to blood clotting. Blood clots can break apart and travel to the lungs, blocking vital arteries -- pulmonary embolism -- or lodge in the brain, causing a stroke.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Animation can simplify complex subject matters and bring them to life. Video infographics promote engagement by immersing the viewer in a self-playing animated sequence. For more information: https://www.graphicnews.com/base/info.php?q=235

HEALTH: How coronavirus kills video animation (Video)
GN40186 Video shows how scientists have established that coronavirus kills people.
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