Royal Mail Adds Digital Touch to Traditional Stamps
Varieties
London - Asharq Al-Awsat
A Royal Mail delivery vehicle drives along a road near Mount Pleasant, in London, Britain, June 25, 2020. Picture taken June 25, 2020. REUTERS/John Sibley/File Photo
Royal Mail is adding special barcodes to stamps, making it possible for people to watch videos, messages and other information, The Guardian reported. The move from Tuesday follows a successful trial, with the aim of connecting a letter with the digital world. Customers can scan the barcodes in the Royal Mail app and will eventually be able to watch videos, information about services, or birthday messages and other greetings from senders. At the moment, a video featuring Shaun the Sheep, created exclusively for Royal Mail by the animation studio Aardman, can be viewed. It is the first in a series of planned videos to be released during 2022 that will allow customers sending stamped mail to choose which one the recipient can see when they receive an item of mail. The barcoded stamps will have a “digital twin” and the two will be connected by the Royal Mail app. The barcodes match the stamp color and sit alongside the main body of the stamp, separated by a simulated perforation line. The barcodes will be available on “definitive” stamps – the regular everyday stamps featuring the profile of the Queen. Non-barcoded definitive and Christmas stamps will remain valid until January 2023. Nick Landon, Royal Mail chief commercial officer, said: “Introducing unique barcodes on our postage stamps allows us to connect the physical letter with the digital world and opens up the possibilities for a range of new innovative services in future.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3453091/royal-mail-adds-digital-touch-traditional-stamps
Opposition Says Iran Created Mercenary Naval Unit For Attacks
Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat
The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. (Reuters)
Iran has created a new naval militia made up of mercenaries from around the region to attack enemies in its neighborhood and particularly off Yemen, the exiled opposition alleged on Wednesday. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said the unit had been created as part of the Quds Force, the arm of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for extra-territorial operations. "The Quds Force has been recruiting mercenaries for newly created, armed and trained terrorist units to attack ships and maritime targets in the region," it said in a report based on information received from Iran. The NCRI, which is outlawed in Iran and is the political wing of the People's Mujahedin, said the mercenaries were being hired from Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Africa. The fighters are brought to Iran for training and then sent back to their home countries to conduct the operations, it said. "The strategy affords the politically weakened and vulnerable Iranian regime a veneer of plausible deniability for its proxy war in the region, as it seeks to augment the export of terrorism on which it depends," the group added. It said the primary location for naval commando training is at a naval academy in Ziba Kenar on the Caspian Sea in Gilan Province. The militia troops are then organized in naval commando battalions, which are deployed in the Arabian Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea. The aim is to "disrupt maritime navigation of commercial ships, to attack ports, conduct ship hijackings and plant mines". It detailed examples where such operations had already been carried out including suicide and bomb attacks using small boats off Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah. Tensions have soared in recent days after Houthis launched missile attacks on targets in the United Arab Emirates, prompting the United States to step up its military presence. "No rockets are fired, no attacks on ships take place, and no suicide speed boats target the shores, unless the order has come from Tehran," said Soona Samsami, the NCRI's representative in the US. Pierre Razoux, academic director of France's Mediterranean Foundation of Strategic Studies think-tank, said the Quds Force had always had the mission of training proxies to carry out asymmetric warfare. "What is without doubt somewhat new is that now it's done through naval actions. But they will not go far with 200 Yemeni mercenaries," he told AFP. "The timing (of the allegations) is certainly aimed at trying to bring down the nuclear negotiations by putting pressure on the Americans."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3453071/opposition-says-iran-created-mercenary-naval-unit-attacks
What Does ‘Endemic’ Covid Mean? The Experts Don't Agree
Opinion
Faye Flam
Faye Flam -
Predicting how Covid-19 will behave next remains notoriously hard. Predicting how humans will react is much easier, since history can be a guide. One of the most prescient articles written about the pandemic’s future was Gina Kolata’s May 2020 New York Times article “How Pandemics End,” with historians of medicine describing society’s reactions to Ebola, bubonic plague and the 1918 flu pandemic. There’s a biological end to a pandemic, when cases and death rates fall, and a social end, when people get tired of being afraid, accept a certain amount of risk, and resume social and commercial life. The social end sometimes comes first. After two years of living with Covid, it’s not surprising that many folks are far less fearful of the virus and are eager to go back to a more normal existence. People want a word to describe the better future we envision. In 2020, we talked about herd immunity. In 2022, we say “endemic” instead. Hopes for herd immunity faded when the delta variant spread through vaccinated populations, and omicron pushed that hope further away. And so “endemic” caught on. A weary public needs the emotional crutch, though it’s a wobbly one, since even the experts disagree about what it means. Oxford University biologist Aris Katzourakis has been arguing that the term endemic is being used in a misleading way to imply the pandemic will end without any more effort on our part. In a piece for Nature titled, “Covid-29: Endemic Doesn’t Mean Harmless” he called it one of the most misused terms of the pandemic. He said endemicity refers to a state in which the total number of infections is not dropping or growing — though an endemic disease can have big, predictable seasonal fluctuations. And endemic diseases can be deadly and disruptive. Colds are endemic but so is malaria, which kills 600,000 people a year. “You can be endemic and low prevalence or endemic and high prevalence and it can be harmful or not harmful and still be endemic,” he said. And endemicity doesn’t always last. A disease like the flu can be pandemic or endemic. When new strains jump from animals, flu can cause a pandemic, as H1N1 did in 2009. But now that same flu has stabilized and is considered endemic. The same virus can be described either way depending on its behavior at the time. “Endemic” doesn’t mean it’s time to go back to normal. “Endemicity … isn’t a promise of safety. Instead, as epidemiologist Ellie Murray has argued, it’s a guarantee of having to be on guard all the time,” wrote journalist Maryn McKenna recently in Wired. But people won’t be on guard all the time. Instead, some will continue in a state of perpetual anxiety. Others long ago reverted to ordinary life and other concerns. But that’s no reason to think the fight against this virus is winding down. What public health authorities can do now is apply two years of learning to impose interventions that are humane, sustainable, life-saving and protective against new variants. One step is making more and better vaccines, as well as antiviral medications, and getting them to poorly vaccinated parts of the globe. Though there’s some disagreement about how new variants arise, the primary suspect is unvaccinated people with conditions such as undertreated HIV, where the virus can multiply and evolve over weeks or months. New protocols for rapid tests could protect nursing homes and make hospitals and doctors’ offices safer. Salaried workers around the world need better sick leave and gig workers, a safety net. It’s something that physician Muge Cevik in the UK has been advocating since spring of 2020, when she saw how many people with severe disease had been unable to skip work for even a few days. Moving toward healthier buildings with good ventilation could prevent illness and death — as Harvard University’s Joseph Allen has been arguing. After championing universal masking early in the pandemic, he told me last fall that we have to start looking to solutions that can be sustained and that have multiple benefits. Another researcher from the Harvard School of Public Health, William Hanage, has been arguing that we might not see a steady, predictable amount of disease for some time. To prepare for a future with more waves and lulls, we need better surveillance and data. Data on surges and outbreaks could be more uniform, reliable, and accessible, as physician and researcher Eric Topol has argued. People would take precautions when it was most urgent. It’s unrealistic to expect people to change their lives to avoid infection indefinitely. We don’t know how the virus will act in the future, but there’s a long history to tell us how people will act. Whether we use “endemic” or find some other term to describe the post-crisis phase of Covid-19, there are ways to keep up the fight with measures aimed at protecting human beings the way we are, and have always been, rather than some idealized version that public health officials wish we could be. Bloomberg
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3452941/faye-flam/what-does-%E2%80%98endemic%E2%80%99-covid-mean-experts-dont-agree
UAE Destroys Three Drones that Entered its Airspace
Gulf
Asharq Al-Awsat
UAE flag flies over a boat at Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates May 22, 2015. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
The United Arab Emirates intercepted and destroyed three drones that entered its airspace over unpopulated areas early on Wednesday, the defense ministry said. On Twitter, the Emirati defense ministry said it was "ready to deal with any threats" and was taking "all necessary measures" to protect the state and its territory. Wednesday's drone launch was claimed by a little-known group calling itself the "True Promise Brigades", according to US-based SITE Intelligence Group.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3452936/uae-destroys-three-drones-entered-its-airspace
Striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang said on Tuesday that he regretted the circumstances of his departure from Arsenal and was sad at being unable to say good-bye to his team mates ahead of a likely move to Barcelona. Arsenal confirmed late on Tuesday that the Gabon international had left the club by mutual consent, ending speculation around his future after manager Mikel Arteta stripped him of the captaincy due to a "disciplinary breach" in December. "I have always been 100% focused and committed on doing everything I can for this club which is why leaving without a real goodbye hurts -- but that is football," Aubameyang wrote in a farewell message on Instagram. "I'm sad I did not get the chance to help my teammates in the last few weeks, but I have nothing but respect for this club and truly wish all my guys and the fans all the best and many successful years in the future!" The 32-year-old joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund four years ago, scoring 92 goals in 163 appearances for the London side. Reports in the British media said that Aubameyang trained with Barcelona on Tuesday after flying to the Spanish city on Monday. Club president Joan Laporta confirmed the impending move: "We will present Adama Traore (from Wolverhampton Wanderers) tomorrow (Wednesday) and, if everything continues well, we will also present Aubameyang."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3451086/leaving-arsenal-without-real-good-bye-%E2%80%98hurts%E2%80%99-says-aubameyang
Whoopi Goldberg Suspended from ‘The View’ over Holocaust Remarks
Entertainment
Asharq Al-Awsat
Whoopi Goldberg attends the world premiere of "Nobody's Fool" in New York on Oct. 28, 2018. (AP)
Whoopi Goldberg was suspended from ABC's "The View" talk show on Tuesday for asserting a day earlier that the Holocaust was "not about race," the network's news division president said, addressing a furor over the comments. The 66-year-old Goldberg apologized for her remarks later on Monday during an appearance on "The Late Show," and again on the next broadcast of "The View" on Tuesday morning. "Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments," Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, said in a statement the network posted on Twitter. "While Whoopi has apologized, I've asked her to take time and reflect and learn about the impact of her comments," Godwin said. "The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities." Goldberg and her "View" co-hosts were discussing the Holocaust after a local school board in Tennessee voted to remove the graphic novel "Maus," by Art Spiegelman, from its eighth-grade language arts curriculum. The McMinn County school officials cited profanity and nudity in the Pulitzer Prize-winning work. "This is white people doing it to white people, so y'all going to fight amongst yourselves," Goldberg said at one point. Jewish groups and others were infuriated by Goldberg's assertions, which they said contradicted the fact that the Nazis killed some 6 million Jews during World War Two based on an anti-Semitic ideology fomented by Adolf Hitler's that they were an inferior race. "No Whoopi Goldberg, the Holocaust was about the Nazis' systematic annihilation of the Jewish people - who they deemed to be an inferior race," Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, said on Twitter in response to the comments. "They dehumanized them and used this racist propaganda to justify slaughtering 6 million Jews. Holocaust distortion is dangerous", Greenblatt said. The comedian and actress, born Caryn Johnson, won an Academy Award for her role in the film "Ghost."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3451076/whoopi-goldberg-suspended-%E2%80%98-view%E2%80%99-over-holocaust-remarks
Khartoum - Ahmed Younis
IGAD Executive Secretary Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu. (IGAD)
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said on Tuesday it will not propose an initiative to resolve the political crisis in Sudan that erupted in wake of the October 2021 military coup. IGAD’s role will be restricted to helping Sudan get out of this crisis, and to submitting reports to the Authority at the meeting to be held on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa next week. “We are convinced that IGAD’s efforts should be limited to supporting the people of Sudan in facing the crisis. We do not want to dispel efforts, so we will not present a parallel initiative to solve the current crisis in the country,” IGAD’s Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said in a press conference concluding his visit to Khartoum. Gebeyehu had arrived in the Sudanese capital on Sunday for a three-day visit, to hold talks with the military and political leaders. “We know that the Sudanese are capable to prudently address the challenges they face. As a regional organization, of which Sudan is a member, we have come to assist the efforts made by its people,” Gebeyehu said. He added that IGAD insists on playing a role in Khartoum by coordinating with the African Union and other international players. “Accordingly, we held consultations with diplomatic representatives in Sudan, and we agreed not to present multiple parallel initiatives,” he stressed. During his visit, Gebeyehu held talks with head of the Sovereign Transitional Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as well as foreign diplomats and Sudanese political forces, during which he was briefed on the development of the situation and efforts to address the crisis. His visit is the first direct official action by the African body since the Oct. 25 military coup. The army takeover halted a power sharing arrangement between the military and civilians negotiated in 2019 after a popular uprising that forced the removal of longtime president Omar al-Bashir and his government.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3451066/igad-no-initiative-resolve-sudan-crisis
