UNITED STATES
COVID-19 hits birth rate
Nine months after the declaration of a national emergency due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, births across the nation fell by 8 percent in a month. The drop in December last year marked an acceleration in declines in the second half of the year. For the full year, the number of babies born fell 4 percent to about 3.6 million, the largest decline since 1973, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report yesterday. The latest data are early evidence of the drastic impact from the health crisis on birth rates, with the full effect expected to show in this year’s data. The December declines were led by states like California, which experienced a 19 percent drop that month. In the second half of the year, New Mexico, New York, Hawaii and West Virginia also posted substantial decreases, ranging from 8 to 11 percent. Coupled with the more than 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, the drop in births would have long-term consequences for the population growth. By race, the drop in births in December was most evident among Asian mothers, falling 19 percent from the same period in 2019. Black and Hispanic births dropped at about half that rate, while those among white mothers fell 6 percent.
COLOMBIA
Nation leads in butterflies
The nation is home to the world’s largest variety of butterflies, about 20 percent of all known species, a study published on Tuesday by the Natural History Museum in London said. An international team of scientists catalogued 3,642 species and 2,085 subspecies, registering them in a document titled “Checklist of Colombian Butterflies.” More than 200 butterfly species are found only in the South American nation, said Blanca Huertas, the museum’s senior butterfly collection curator who was part of the research team. Project researchers traveled widely across the nation, analyzed more than 350,000 photographs and studied information collected since the late 18th century, the museum said. “Colombia is a country with a great diversity of natural habitats, a complex and heterogeneous geography and a privileged location in the extreme northeast of South America,” the report said. “These factors, added to the delicate public order in the last century in certain regions, has limited until now, the advancement of field exploration.” The nation has endured more than half a century of armed conflict, with some areas controlled by leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups or drug lords, and with little government presence. Protecting butterflies would also help the nation protect its forests, as well as other, less likeable species, Huertas said. From 2000 to 2019, the nation lost nearly 2.8 million hectares of forest, equivalent to the area of Belgium, the National Department of Planning said.
MEXICO
Six dead in prison fight
A brutal fight on Tuesday between two rival groups of inmates at a prison in the state of Tabasco left six prisoners dead and nine wounded. The riot occurred in the patio of a prison in the state capital, Villahermosa, police said, adding that inmates used homemade weapons, which usually consist of crude blades fashioned from bits of metal, spoons or hacksaw blades. Authorities said they had regained control of the facility, but did not provide further information on the condition of the wounded. Drug gangs, including remnants of the old Zetas cartel, operate in Tabasco and their members often fight rivals in prison.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number