World

Madrid, Sep 2 (IANS) Spain's tourism sector continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Statistical Office (INE) confirming that the country welcomed 39.3 million foreign travellers in the first seven months of this year.

Although this is still below the 48 million visitors registered in the same period of 2019, it is three times more than the 9.8 million tourists who visited Spain in January-July 2021, reports Xinhua news agency citing the INE as saying.

This year so far, foreign visitors to the country spent 47.6 billion euros, over four times more than in 2021 but still less than in the same period of 2019 (52.2 billion euros).

Juan Carlos Higueras, professor at the EAE Business School, explained to Xinhua that the increase in tourist numbers is a direct response to the elimination of restrictions introduced during the pandemic and commented that "the comparison and growth should be looked at in relation to the years prior to Covid".

The expert also highlighted that, although everything points to the tourist market remaining buoyant over the autumn, macroeconomic factors, such as rising inflation and fuel bills, could play a role.

"Everything will depend on how the market evolves and the inflation that is already causing problems for families.

"We have to take into account that rising costs have had an impact on the profit margin of the tourism sector, although it has tried to alleviate the situation by increasing prices," he said.

The main source markets for Spain in the first seven months of 2022 were the UK (with about 8.4 million tourists and an annual increase of 908.5 per cent), followed by Germany (5.5 million arrivals) and France (5.3 million).

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New York, Sep 2 (IANS) For the first time, astronomers have used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system.

The exoplanet called 'HIP 65426 b' is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and could not be habitable.

The exoplanet is about six to 12 times the mass of Jupiter, and these observations could help narrow that down even further.

It is young, about 15 to 20 million years old, compared to our 4.5-billion-year-old Earth.

"This is a transformative moment, not only for Webb but also for astronomy generally," said Sasha Hinkley, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Exeter in the UK.

The image, as seen through four different light filters, shows how Webb's powerful infrared gaze can easily capture worlds beyond our solar system, pointing the way to future observations that will reveal more information than ever before about exoplanets, the space agency said in a statement.

This image shows the exoplanet 'HIP 65426 b' in different bands of infrared light.

A set of masks within each instrument, called a coronagraph, blocks out the host star's light so that the planet can be seen.

Astronomers discovered the planet in 2017 using the SPHERE instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile and took images of it using short infrared wavelengths of light.

Webb's view, at longer infrared wavelengths, reveals new details that ground-based telescopes would not be able to detect because of the intrinsic infrared glow of Earth's atmosphere.

Since 'HIP 65426 b' is about 100 times farther from its host star than Earth is from the Sun, it is sufficiently distant from the star that Webb can easily separate the planet from the star in the image.

"It was really impressive how well the Webb coronagraphs worked to suppress the light of the host star," Hinkley said.

Taking direct images of exoplanets is challenging because stars are so much brighter than planets.

The 'HIP 65426 b' planet is more than 10,000 times fainter than its host star in the near-infrared, and a few thousand times fainter in the mid-infrared.

"Obtaining this image felt like digging for space treasure," said Aarynn Carter, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

In July, James Webb Space Telescope produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date.

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New York, Sep 2 (IANS) Amid the shortage of monkeypox vaccines, the US holds nearly 80 per cent of the Jynneos jab used to fight monkeypox, despite having only 35 per cent of the global cases of the virus, a report said on Friday.

According to the Public Citizen analysis, the US has 22 times more doses than the EU and the UK.

"Once again, vaccines for an outbreak are not available in the vast majority of countries, including in the African states that have fought monkeypox for years," Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen's Access to Medicines Programme, said in a statement.

"We still are waiting for President Biden to put forward a plan to fight global monkeypox and avoid the tragic mistakes of the Covid crisis," Maybarduk added.

The analysis compared vaccine access and monkeypox cases in more than a dozen countries.

For example, African countries where monkeypox is endemic, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, neither have access to doses nor orders secured, despite recording multiple deaths.

The report mentioned that no countries in Africa have any doses on hand or any orders placed. And Brazil, which has reported close to one in twelve cases globally, has no doses available.

As of August 25, the US had already obtained 1,100,000 vaccine doses for 16,602 cases -- or 66 doses for every case, with nearly 7 million in total ordered so far.

Earlier this month, advocates urged the Biden administration to use the Defense Production Act to ramp up and accelerate production of additional finished Jynneos vaccine doses and support expansion and diversification of vaccine production capacity globally.

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Beijing, Sep 2 (IANS) More than 21 million people are under a Covid lockdown in Chengdu after a fresh outbreak was detected in the Chinese city, the media reported.

On Thursday, Chengdu, the capital of the southern Sichuan province, reported 157 new Covid-19 cases, including 51 asymptomatic, the BBC reported.

The lockdown came into effect on Thursday, with residents being asked to remain indoors while just one person per household has been allowed to step out for essential shopping.

Authorities have also imposed a ban on people leaving or entering the city as health officials have termed the current situation as "extremely complex and severe" and blamed the outbreak on mass gatherings.

Mass testing will begin in the coming days, the BBC said but added that there was no immediate information on when the lockdown will end.

This latest development is in line with China's "zero Covid policy" require cities to enter strict lockdowns, even if just a handful of cases are reported.

In March, China imposed its largest lockdown in Shanghai which lasted for two months and led to widespread reports of food shortages and poor living conditions in quarantine centres, the BBC reported.

Wuhan, the city where the virus originated in late 2019, went into a lockdown in July after the discovery of four positive cases.

Other restrictions currently in force elsewhere in China include Shenzhen in the south and Dalian in the north-east.

Although the Covid pandemic originated in China, the country so far has reported a total of 243,822 cases and 5,226 deaths, way less than the worst-hit countries like the US, Brazil and India.

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Ottawa, Sep 2 (IANS) Health Canada has authorised an adapted version of the Moderna Spikevax Covid-19 vaccine which targets the original SARS-CoV-2 virus from 2019 and the Omicron (BA.1) variant.

According to a statement issued by the agency on Thursday, this vaccine, known as a "bivalent" vaccine, is authorised for use as a booster dose in individuals aged 18 years or above.

This is the first bivalent Covid-19 vaccine authorised in Canada, said the agency, adding that the bivalent Moderna Spikevax booster is safe and effective with the same mild adverse reactions that resolved quickly, Xinhua news agency reported.

Clinical trial results showed that a booster dose of the bivalent Moderna Spikevax vaccine triggers a strong immune response against both Omicron (BA.1) and the original SARS-CoV-2 virus strain, the agency added.

It was also found to generate a good immune response against the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, and is expected to extend the durability of protection, Health Canada said.

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United Nations, Sep 2 (IANS) The UN Security Council has called on all parties in Libya to preserve the prevailing calm on the ground, and to refrain from violence or other actions that could escalate tensions.

In a press statement on Thursday, the council members condemned the violent clashes perpetrated by armed groups in Libya's Tripoli on August 27, which resulted in civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure.

The council members "called on all parties to preserve the prevailing calm on the ground," said the statement.

They also called on the parties to refrain from violence or any other actions that could escalate tensions and undermine the political process or the ceasefire agreement reached in October 2020, which they said "should be implemented in full, including through the withdrawal of all foreign forces, foreign fighters, and mercenaries from the country without further delay".

The council members reiterated that there can be no military solution in Libya and urged all Libyan parties, facilitated by the UN, to agree a pathway to deliver presidential and parliamentary elections across the country as soon as possible through dialogue, compromise and constructive engagement, in a transparent and inclusive manner.

They called upon the UN Secretary-General to appoint a special representative immediately, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the press statement, the council members stressed "the importance of an inclusive, comprehensive national dialogue and reconciliation process aimed at, inter alia, forming a unified Libyan government able to govern across the country and representing the whole people of Libya".

They urged Libyan parties to respect international law, particularly regarding the protection of civilians, and called on all parties to allow and facilitate full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.

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United Nations, Sep 2 (IANS) Fighting in northern Ethiopia, routing tens of thousands of people from their homes, challenges humanitarian relief delivery, a UN spokesman said.

"We and our partners continue to provide humanitarian aid in the north, including in Afar, where more than 31,000 people were reached with food," said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Thursday.

"More than 8,000 people have received health services since August 24."

Northernmost Tigray and the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara pay the heaviest toll in the country's north, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, Dujarric added that while the main road into Mekelle is impassable and UN Humanitarian Air Service flights into Tigray's capital grounded, blocking relief from outside the region, aid workers distributed 17 truckloads of fertilisers this week to support farmers within the region during the planting season.

The disruption failed to block humanitarians from distributing food assistance to more than 39,000 people in Tigray's Northwestern Zone since last week, he said.

The tens of thousands of people forced by conflict from their homes last week lived in the Yallo and Gulina districts, bordering Tigray, and Chifra district, bordering the Amhara region, he added. The situation is reported calm in Amhara's Dessie town following the movement of people arriving on Wednesday from elsewhere in the region.

The spokesman said that a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in several Amhara towns impacting the movement of people, limits access to emergency health services and commercial activities.

"We continue to call on all parties to the conflict to take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects, including by allowing civilians to leave for safer areas, in accordance with international humanitarian law," he said.

"Rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need across northern Ethiopia remains critical."

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Paris, Sep 2 (IANS) French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has said that rolling power cuts are "possible" this winter for companies.

Asked by France Inter about the energy shortages caused by the Russian gas cuts and by the unavailability of several of France's nuclear power plants, Borne on Thursday added that these power cuts will concern companies only.

"I confirm that even if the winter is cold and we face supply problems, there could be restrictions but not on households. There will be no gas cuts for households," she stressed.

"There may be cuts on large gas consumers," Borne said, adding that discussions are currently underway with companies to assess the potential consequences of gas cuts.

However, she noted that a mechanism of right to consume would allow companies to exchange their cuts, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The company that it looks like we're going to cut off could agree with a company for which it would be less serious," she said.

Earlier this week, Borne told French broadcaster TMC that "there may be times when, if it is very cold, there may be a problem with the supply for individuals".

If such a situation would arise, energy suppliers could make "rotating load shedding," she said.

She also revealed that "from the beginning of 2023, a rise in prices also seems inevitable for households".

France's Minister for Energy Transition, Agnes Pannier-Runacher announced earlier in August that the country's gas reserves were 80 per cent full in preparation for possible shortages this winter.

She said that France was ahead of its goals, and the country's strategic gas reserves would be 100 per cent filled by November 1.

On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a Defence Council meeting to discuss the country's energy plan for the winter.

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London, Sep 1 (IANS) Vaccinated people who were infected by the earlier Omicron subvariants have four times greater protection than vaccinated people who were not infected against the new variants like BA.5, finds a new study.

The study indicates that previous infection in vaccinated people (the so-called hybrid immunity) continues to confer immunity for the variants that are known for their ability to evade the immune response.

"Vaccinated people who were infected by Omicron sub variants BA.1 and BA.2 have a protection against infection with subvariant BA.5, in circulation since June, about four times greater than vaccinated people who were not infected at any time," said lead author Luis Graca from the University of Lisbon.

"Infections in 2020 and 2021 that occurred through infection with earlier variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (ancestral lineage, Alpha and Delta variants) also confer protection against infection for the more recent Omicron variant, although this protection is not as high as that of individuals infected with the BA.1 and BA.2 variants, at the beginning of 2022," Graca added.

For the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine journal, the team accessed the registry of Covid-19 cases at Portugal's national level.

"We used the Portuguese national registry of Covid-19 cases to obtain information on all cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the population over 12 years of age residing in Portugal," the researchers said.

"The virus variant of each infection was determined considering the date of infection and the dominant variant at that time. We considered the infections caused by the first variants of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 together," they added.

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San Francisco, Sep 1 (IANS) Tech giant Apple may use "hybrid" OLED technology, which incorporates rigid and flexible OLED panel materials, as part of its rumoured plans to switch to OLED technology for upcoming iPad models.

The tech giant is hesitant to rely solely on the flexible OLED technology it employs in its iPhone models since the panels tend to "crumple", and the effect is more evident as displays get bigger, MacRumors reported citing The Elec.

"When it became known that Apple plans to apply hybrid OLED to the first OLED iPad, the industry has assumed that the cause was cost reduction," the report said.

However, it is understood that there is a reason why Apple preferred hybrid OLED other than this cost reduction.

An official from the parts industry said: "Apple hated the fact that a part of the product screen could look wrinkled to the user's eyes when using a flexible OLED.

"iPhone OLED has a 5-7 inch screen, so these characteristics are not well revealed, but it is relatively noticeable in large-screen (10-20 inch) IT products."

While the hybrid OLED technology has yet to be perfected and will take at least a year to become commercially viable before it could be incorporated into an OLED iPad by around 2024, the report said, adding that both Samsung and LG are pursuing ultra-thin glass substrates measuring just 0.2 mm thick to be used with the technology, down from the current standard of around 0.5 mm.

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