Sunao Tsuboi, Hiroshima survivor who campaigned against nuclear war, dies at 96 #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008486


Sunao Tsuboi, an engineering student at the university in Hiroshima, was making his way across the citys Miyuki Bridge en route to a morning class when, in a sudden, terrifying moment on Aug. 6, 1945, blazing light flooded his surroundings.

Ablast threw him more than 30 feet, leaving him unconscious. When he awoke, the light was gone, subsumed by an awful pall. “I know now,” he told the British Daily Mirror decades later, “I was under the mushroom cloud.”

Tsuboi emerged from the U.S. atomic attack on Hiroshima with burns across his entire body. “My ears were hanging off,” he recounted. “I saw tens of thousands of bodies everywhere, all burned and dead. I saw such terrible things. One girl had her right eye hanging from its socket, next to her jaw. A woman was trying to force her own intestines back into her body. An old man’s lung was sticking through his chest.”

Convinced of his own impending death, Tsuboi used a pebble to scrawl the words “Tsuboi died here,” a marker for friends who might come searching for his remains. When he died Oct. 24 at 96, he had outlived by more than 76 years his expectation that day, when the world first observed the horror of nuclear war and when Tsuboi was set on his path as an international advocate for disarmament.

Tsuboi eventually reached a military hospital, where he said he again lost consciousness. Only weeks later, after regaining his orientation, did he learn that World War II was over and that Japan had surrendered after the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki.

By the end of 1945, an estimated 140,000 people had died in Hiroshima and 74,000 more had perished in Nagasaki from the effects of the blast, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization in Geneva.


“I don’t know why I survived and lived this long,” Tsuboi said in 2015, according to the Agence France-Presse. “The more I think about it . . . the more painful it becomes to recall.”

Sunao Tsuboi was born in Ondo, on Kurahashi Island, toward the southern tip of Japan, on May 5, 1925. He was 16 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the event that precipitated U.S. entry into World War II, and 20 years old, a student at what is now Hiroshima University, when the United States ended the war with the two atomic attacks.

Although he did not realize it at the time, Tsuboi was less than one mile from ground zero of the blast at Hiroshima. His clothes were burned off, and he recalled running, naked, until he could no longer go on.

Against all odds, his mother located him at the field hospital where he was taken for treatment.

“She had a strong love for her son,” Tsuboi told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 2007. “She, in a loud voice, shouted my name, ‘Sunao.’ It was miraculous.”

Tsuboi embarked on a long recovery, crawling before he could once again walk. With the scars from his burns, he was easily recognizable as one of the hibakusha – the Japanese word for survivors of the atomic blasts – and said he encountered discrimination in both his professional and personal lives because of his past.

The parents of his future wife, Suzuko, at first opposed their marriage because they worried that Tsuboi, who, like other survivors of the atomic attacks, suffered from the effects of radiation, would leave their daughter a widow. Discouraged from marrying, the young couple took sleeping pills in a double-suicide attempt. They survived and ultimately wed.

The couple had three children and seven grandchildren, but a complete list of survivors was not immediately available.

Tsuboi became a math teacher and later a junior high school principal. With the passage of time, he became increasingly involved in disarmament advocacy, working closely with Nihon Hidankyo, an organization of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks.

Koichiro Maeda, a representative of the group’s Hiroshima branch, wrote in an email that Tsuboi died at a hospital in Hiroshima of an abnormal cardiac rhythm caused by anemia. Tsuboi also suffered several bouts of cancer, which he attributed to the radiation from the blast.

Tsuboi traveled around the world speaking about the catastrophic effects of nuclear war. He had perhaps his most significant audience in 2016, when President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. They clasped hands, Tsuboi recalled, in a meeting where the emotions, he said, required no interpreter.

“At some point in the next century I won’t be here,” Tsuboi told the Agence France-Presse in 1999. “We really need to let the next generation take over the mission to tell the horrible story and urge the world not to repeat the same mistake.”

Published : November 06, 2021

By : The Washington Post

Antiviral pills from Pfizer, Merck, show promise against worst covid-19 outcomes #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008485


People at risk for severe covid-19 could soon have a transformative treatment option: antiviral pills that can be prescribed and taken at home to prevent the worst outcomes.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Friday announced that its experimental pill regimen, when taken shortly after symptoms develop, dramatically reduced the risk of hospitalization and death. A different pill developed by Merck and its partner, Ridgeback Therapeutics, is already under review by federal regulators.

If the pills are deemed safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration in coming weeks, they are expected to become available right away, although supply of the Pfizer drug could be limited initially. The companies have already begun manufacturing, with plans to ramp up production more next year.

Vaccines will remain the primary protection against the coronavirus, but easy-to-take medicines that blunt infections could be a powerful addition to the medical tool kit to manage a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 people in the United States – and equip the world for a future in which the coronavirus continues to circulate. The pills would augment the medical armamentarium, not replace highly protective vaccines, similar to how people receive flu shots but may be prescribed Tamiflu if they do fall ill.

Such treatments must be given within days of symptoms emerging and will depend on symptoms being identified and patients getting tested quickly. The Pfizer drug, Paxlovid, reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% when given within three days of the first symptoms. The Merck-Ridgeback drug, molnupiravir, cut the risk in half when given within five days.

“We’re accelerating our path out of this pandemic,” President Biden said Friday reacting to news of the potential treatment, along with the expansion of vaccine eligibility for younger children and the continued uptake of vaccine among adults.

“If authorized by the FDA, we may soon have pills that may treat the virus of those who become infected,” he told reporters during a news conference.

Antiviral pills will be one part of the public health toolkit, and there will be room for more than one treatment. Some public health experts believe that in the long run, multiple antivirals will be necessary to create cocktails and combination therapies that ensure that a constantly evolving coronavirus doesn’t find a way to elude the treatment.

The U.S. government is in the process of procuring 1.7 million treatment courses from Pfizer, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the purchase. There will be an additional option to purchase 3.3 million more.

The government already struck an agreement with Merck to purchase 1.7 million treatment courses of molnupiravir for $1.2 billion.

The effect of the Pfizer drug, a five-day regimen designed to block the virus from making copies of itself, was found to be so strong midway through the study that an independent committee monitoring the clinical trial recommended it be stopped early. The data has not yet been published or peer-reviewed. Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla told CNBC that the company would submit data to U.S. regulators before Thanksgiving.

“This is amazing news. My overall feeling was relief – it’s been a long path,” said Annaliesa Anderson, the chief scientific officer of Pfizer’s bacterial vaccines and hospital medicine division, who leads the program to develop the drug. Anderson, who has been working on the medicine since January 2020, said it was a “heart-in-your-mouth moment” when she learned the news Wednesday night while driving to Massachusetts to tour colleges.

“We’re looking at end-to-end protection and treatment,” Anderson said. “We have the vaccine for protection, and now we have an opportunity for treatment.”

David Boulware, an infectious-disease physician-scientist at the University of Minnesota Medical School not involved in the research, said the findings were “pretty impressive.” He noted the drug was most effective when given within three days of symptoms, but it remained highly effective when given five days after symptoms appeared – which may better reflect the real world use of the drug.

“That’s great. That’s a huge impact,” Boulware said.

Pfizer has already begun manufacturing its drug and projects producing more than 180,000 pill packs, each containing a single treatment course, by the end of this year. The company is working to rapidly scale up manufacturing to at least 21 million packs in the first half of next year, with a total production of 50 million packs in 2022. The company did not disclose the drug’s price.

Pfizer is in “advanced discussions” on a licensing agreement to allow other companies to manufacture its drug, “with the goal of expanding capacity for the hardest-to-reach populations,” around the world, according to Gelise McCullough, a spokesperson for the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool.

Pfizer is also conducting studies of its drug in lower-risk patients and to see whether it helps prevent infections in households in which one family member becomes sick.

Drugmaker Merck announced a month ago that its antiviral pill, molnupiravir, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by half in high-risk patients. Regulators in Britain cleared molnupiravir for use this week in people diagnosed with covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, who have at least one risk factor for severe illness. In the United States, an expert advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to meet to scrutinize the safety and effectiveness of Merck’s drug shortly after Thanksgiving – a crucial step before a drug is authorized for use. Merck has said it will produce 10 million treatment courses in 2021.

The work on Pfizer’s antiviral drug, called Paxlovid, built off efforts by Pfizer scientists nearly two decades ago to develop treatments for the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Paxlovid combines a new molecule specifically designed by Pfizer scientists against covid-19 last year and ritonavir, an antiviral drug used to treat HIV that protects that molecule from degrading.

In a clinical trial, participants at high risk of developing severe illness were given the drug regimen – a combination of three pills, taken twice a day – within three days of their covid-19 symptoms. Half received the experimental drug and half received a placebo. Paxlovid was 89% effective in reducing risk of hospitalization and death. Among 389 people who received the drug, three hospitalizations and no deaths were reported. Among 385 people who got a placebo, 27 hospitalizations were reported, with seven subsequent deaths.

The trial also included people who were given the drug within five days of symptom onset to test whether there was leeway on timing. The window of opportunity for giving antiviral drugs to thwart acute respiratory infections is short, so people must recognize their symptoms and get tested and receive results right away for the drugs to be effective. Tamiflu, for example, is often given too late.

The drug was 85% effective at five days after symptoms began. For about 600 people who received the drug within five days of symptoms, six people were hospitalized. Among the 600 who received a placebo, there were 41 hospitalizations and 10 subsequent deaths.

The company reported that side effects after treatment were similar between the group that received the drug and those that received the placebo, and were mostly mild.

Paxlovid blocks a coronavirus protease, an enzyme the virus needs to make copies of itself. It uses a different mechanism than the Merck drug, which disables the virus by garbling its genome and has raised concerns about its potential to cause mutations in people’s cells.

“For me, if I had a choice, I’d pick the Pfizer drug 10 times out of 10,” Boulware said. “It was more effective and there’s less of a safety concern.”

Published : November 06, 2021

By : The Washington Post

Professors sue University of Florida, claiming free-speech restraint #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008483


Three professors filed a lawsuit against the University of Florida on Friday, claiming school officials violated their right to free speech by trying to prevent them from offering testimony in a voting rights case.

The case further inflames a heated debate over academic freedom, one that has brought national attention and criticism to the flagship state university.

Photo for the Washington by Phelan M. Ebenhack

It was filed on the same day school officials reversed course: After a week of controversy and pushback from faculty members, alumni and academics across the country, UF on Friday said the three political science professors should not be barred from testifying in a voting rights lawsuit against the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis, R.

The complaint by the professors contends that the university is discriminating against them based on viewpoints they wish to express and that by trying to prevent them from offering expert testimony on issues of overwhelming public importance, UF violated their First Amendment rights.

Seeking to restrict the professors from testifying is contrary to UF’s stated mission as a public research institution, “to share the benefits of its research and knowledge for the public good,” and to the principles of academic freedom and free speech, the complaint says.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare unlawful the policy of “stifling faculty speech against the State.”

Hessy Fernandez, a UF spokeswoman, said the university does not comment on pending litigation.

UF President Kent Fuchs wrote in a campuswide email earlier Friday that he was asking the school’s conflicts-of-interest office to allow the professors, all of whom are experts in their fields, to testify in a federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit by voting rights groups challenges a new state law, championed by DeSantis, that puts new limitations on ballot drop boxes and vote-by-mail practices.

David A. O’Neil and Paul Donnelly, attorneys for the professors, said in an email that despite reversing the decision prohibiting the professors from testifying, the school had “made no commitment to abandon its policy preventing academics from serving as expert witnesses when the University thinks that their speech may be adverse to the State and whatever political agenda politicians want to promote.”

After Fuchs’s announcement Friday, Kenneth Nunn, a law professor at the university who, along with several colleagues at the law school, has raised concerns about academic freedom at the university called it a welcome development. “I think it’s great that the president saw the university’s reputation was being damaged by their unfortunate decision to restrict those three faculty members from testifying in their case,” he said.

But Nunn said the decision doesn’t do anything about the many faculty members who have been restricted from testifying and those who probably feel a chilling effect.

Fuchs said in an email to students and faculty members earlier this week that he was appointing a task force to review the university’s conflict-of-interest policy, which was created last year.

“First, we would like to be abundantly clear that the University of Florida stands firmly behind its commitment to uphold our most sacred right as Americans – the right to free speech – and to faculty members’ right to academic freedom,” Fuchs wrote. “Nothing is more fundamental to our existence as an institution of higher learning than these two bedrock principles. Vigorous intellectual discussions are at the heart of the marketplace of ideas we celebrate and hold so dear.”

But that did not quell the firestorm among faculty members and others who saw the prohibition against professors Michael McDonald, Sharon D. Wright Austin and Daniel A. Smith as a violation of academic freedom.

“It appears as though Fuchs made an exception to a policy that is deeply flawed,” said Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors and chair of the mathematics department at Fairfield University.

“He’s managing a PR crisis by making an exception. But the policy still stands – which is deeply troubling. It never should have happened in the first place,” Mulvey said.

In September, UF touted its rise to No. 5 on the U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 list of best public schools. Fuchs wrote in the UF Alumni Association magazine that it was “very welcome and historic news” to achieve “a milestone decades in the making.”

But the controversy over barring professors from testifying as experts prompted UF’s accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, to say it was looking into the matter to see whether an investigation is called for, a move that could threaten the school’s coveted ranking.

The organization sent a letter to Fuchs on Nov. 2, asking him to prepare a report that “explains and documents” UF’s compliance with issues of academic freedom and external influence. Fuchs has until Dec. 7 to respond.

“We’re just going to let the investigation play itself out,” said Belle Wheelan, president of the accrediting organization. “I can only imagine he will do everything he can to turn this around.”

Published : November 06, 2021

By : The Washington Post

U.S. pushes for broader COVID-19 vaccination while pills emerge as alternative therapy #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008477


The U.S. federal government unveiled its new COVID-19 standards for businesses, “its biggest push yet to encourage widespread vaccination,” reported CBS. However, the new rule has raised questions about the process for implementing, costs and timing of the requirements for workers and their bosses.

The U.S. federal government has released its biggest push to encourage widespread vaccination against COVID-19, while Pfizer and Merck have introduced in tandem their pills as an alternative therapy for coronavirus patients.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated that 222,591,394 people had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, making up 67 percent of the whole U.S. population. Fully vaccinated people stood at 193,227,813, accounting for 58.2 percent of the total. A total of 21,483,519 people, or 11.1 percent of fully vaccinated group, received booster shots.

Photo taken on Aug. 26, 2021 shows the building of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)Photo taken on Aug. 26, 2021 shows the building of the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

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STRONG PUSH

The federal government on Thursday unveiled its new COVID-19 standards for businesses, “its biggest push yet to encourage widespread vaccination,” reported CBS. However, the new rule has raised questions about the process for implementing, costs and timing of the requirements for workers and their bosses.

Under the plan, employers with more than 100 employees must choose whether their workers be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing within 30 days of the plan’s publication in the Federal Register on Nov. 5.

By Jan. 4, those businesses must implement the rule. The so-called “emergency temporary standard” was requested by U.S. President Joe Biden as part of his September COVID-19 action plan, and will be overseen by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Reactions from businesses ranged from support to alarm, with the trade group Truckload Carriers Association warning that the rule will prove to be “disastrous” as it could lead to an “exodus” of truck drivers during the ongoing supply-chain crisis.

Jim Frederick, deputy assistant secretary of labor at OSHA, said that the agency believes the “vast majority” of workplaces will comply with the new requirement.

“OSHA estimates that this rule will save thousands of lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations” after it goes into effect, Frederick said in a conference call with reporters on Thursday. “We know that many, many workplaces will be looking at this and starting up as early as today.”

Photo taken on Aug. 23, 2021 shows Pfizer signage at PfizerPhoto taken on Aug. 23, 2021 shows Pfizer signage at Pfizer

CURING PILLS

Pfizer Inc. said on Friday that its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cuts hospitalization and death rates by nearly 90 percent in high-risk adults, as the drugmaker joined the race for an easy-to-use medication to treat the coronavirus.

Pfizer said it will ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and international regulators to authorize its pill as soon as possible. If authorized by the FDA, the company would sell the drug under the brand name Paxlovid.

Currently most COVID-19 treatments require an IV (intravenous therapy) or injection. Competitor Merck’s COVID-19 pill is already under review at the FDA after showing strong initial results, and on Thursday Britain became the first country to approve it.

The Merck pill, known as molnupiravir, was shown in a key clinical trial to reduce by half the risk of hospitalization and death in high-risk COVID-19 patients who were treated early in their infections.

Dispensed from a pharmacy and taken at home, the drug is expected to reach many more people than treatments like monoclonal antibodies, which are typically administered intravenously at a hospital or clinic.

Britain has already ordered enough supplies of the pill for 480,000 people. Merck said last week it had reached deals to sell the pills to the governments of the United States, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Serbia and Singapore. 

Published : November 06, 2021

By : Xinhua

U.S. employers add 531,000 jobs in October as hiring rebounds #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008476


The unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage points to 4.6 percent in October, after dropping by 0.4 percentage points in the previous month. The figure was down considerably from its recent high in April 2020, yet remained well above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent.

U.S. employers added 531,000 jobs in October, with unemployment rate dropping to 4.6 percent, indicating a hiring rebound as the Delta wave weakened, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.

The latest data followed upwardly revised job gains of 312,000 in September, and upwardly revised job gains of 483,000 in August, when labor market recovery slowed amid a Delta variant-fueled COVID-19 surge. In July, job gains were over 1 million.

In October, job gains were significant in leisure and hospitality,  professional and business services, manufacturing, as well as transportation and warehousing. Employment in public education, however, declined over the month, following a drop in September.

People spend their leisure time at a pier in San Francisco, the United States, on Aug. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)People spend their leisure time at a pier in San Francisco, the United States, on Aug. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

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Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 164,000 in October. Professional and business services added 100,000 jobs in October, and employment in manufacturing increased by 60,000, the report showed.

In October, employment decreased in local government education and state government education, by 43,000 and 22,000, respectively. Employment increased slightly by 17,000 in private education.

Since February 2020, employment is down by 370,000 in local government education, by 205,000 in state government education, and by 148,000 in private education, according to the report.

The unemployment rate edged down by 0.2 percentage points to 4.6 percent in October, after dropping by 0.4 percentage points in the previous month. The figure was down considerably from its recent high in April 2020, yet remained well above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent.

In October, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 11 cents to 30.96 dollars, following large increases in the prior six months.

The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.6 percent in October and has remained within a narrow range of 61.4 percent to 61.7 percent since June 2020, according to the report. The participation rate is still 1.7 percentage points lower than that of February 2020.

The monthly employment was released two days after the payroll data company Automatic Data Processing reported that U.S. private companies added 571,000 jobs in October, which also indicated a renewed momentum in the labor market recovery.

In the second quarter, job growth was robust due to vaccination progress and continued economic recovery. But amid a Delta variant-fueled COVID-19 surge, there was a marked slowdown in job growth in the third quarter.

The number of COVID-19 cases had been going up since June with the rapid spread of Delta, before the national outlook started to improve since early September, when case levels began to fall.

“The job market is revving back up as the Delta wave of the pandemic winds down,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, noting that job gains are accelerating across all industries.

Published : November 06, 2021

By : Xinhua

London mayor welcomes Chinese investment in infrastructure #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008475


London has “invested hugely” in the expansion of its transportation system and “Chinese companies helped us with the electric buses, electric taxis,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn.

The British capital welcomes Chinese investment, including in the city’s infrastructure, Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn has said.

Asked about the concerns by some British politicians over Chinese investment, Kahn said Thursday that Chinese investment has been contributing to the growth of the city.

London has “invested hugely” in the expansion of its transportation system and “Chinese companies helped us with the electric buses, electric taxis. It is a working partnership”, he told reporters in Glasgow, Scotland.

A man looks over the city from a highland in London, Britain, Oct. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)A man looks over the city from a highland in London, Britain, Oct. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

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The London mayor made the remarks after a meeting of C40, a network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed to confront the climate crisis, in Glasgow.

The mayors’ meeting came as the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are being held in the largest Scottish city.

At least 500 electric buses are running in the British capital under the partnership between Chinese clean energy car maker BYD and Britain’s largest bus and coach manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL).

“You’ve got to invest in the infrastructure. If you don’t invest in infrastructure, the city will be in a bad position. Cities can’t grow. Our city is growing. You’ve got to plan for the growth,” Kahn said. 

People enjoy sunshine, backdropped by the City of London buildings in London, Britain, June 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)People enjoy sunshine, backdropped by the City of London buildings in London, Britain, June 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

Published : November 06, 2021

By : Xinhua

China did not create climate problem: German broadcaster #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008473


“There was already a problem before China came along.”

China is not responsible for the climate problem, according to an article published on the website of the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle recently.

“There was already a problem before China came along,” said Robbie Andrew, a senior researcher at the Center for International Climate Research.

“So, effectively, China did not create the problem,” Andrew added.

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The United States, instead, was responsible for 25.5 percent of global CO2 emissions, according to figures by Our World in Data, an online scientific publication, the article said.

It is unfair to blame China for increasing greenhouse gas emissions. It is developed countries who emit more greenhouse gases, the article wrote.

Published : November 06, 2021

By : Xinhua

Chinas Shenzhou-13 astronauts to conduct extravehicular activities #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008472


Chinas Shenzhou-13 astronauts will conduct extravehicular activities (EVAs) for the first time in the next few days, announced the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Friday.

Three Chinese astronauts have been working and living in orbit for 21 days since they were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship and entered the combination of the country’s space station on Oct. 16, said the agency.

The three astronauts are currently in good condition, and the combination is operating stably. All conditions for the crew’s first EVAs are in place, the CMSA said.

The combination of China’s space station is formed by the Shenzhou-13 spaceship, Tianhe core module, and cargo crafts Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3.

Screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2021 shows ChinaScreen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 16, 2021 shows China
 

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Starting from Oct. 16, three Chinese astronauts embarked on the country’s longest-ever crewed mission for space station construction.

The three astronauts are Zhai Zhigang, the commander and China’s first spacewalker; Wang Yaping, the first female aboard China’s space station; and Ye Guangfu, a newcomer to space.

Over the 21 days in space, the astronauts performed their daily work, including transferring supplies from the cargo craft, managing the space station combination, testing new EVAs spacesuits, in-orbit medical checks, weightlessness protection exercises, and space experiments.

The crew also carried out in-orbit training programs such as emergency evacuation, mechanical arm operation, and medical rescue drills.

Published : November 06, 2021

By : Xinhua

Asean reported over 27,000 new Covid-19 cases on Friday #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.nationthailand.com/international/40008471


The number of Covid-19 cases crossed 13.34 million across Southeast Asia, with 27,454 new cases reported on Friday (November 5), higher than Thursday’s tally at 28,026. New deaths are at 525, increasing from Thursday’s number of 430. Total Covid-19 deaths in Asean are now at 280,914.

The Philippine capital and nearby cities will be placed under a more relaxed alert level starting November 5. According to the presidential palace spokesman, Metro Manila will be downgraded to Alert Level 2 from November 5 to 21 as the new infection rate has started to slow down while the vaccination rate in the area is climbing. Starting December 1, alert level assignments per region or locality shall be determined every 15th and 30th of the month.

Meanwhile, Cambodia’s Siem Reap province will organize the 26th Angkor Wat International Half Marathon on December 19. The event is expected to be participated by over 2,500 foreign and domestic runners who are required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The half marathon will serve as a pre-opening event for tourism in Siem Reap.
 

Published : November 06, 2021

By : THE NATION

‘มงกุฏกา’ กับอำนาจมนตราแห่งกษัตริย์ภูฏาน #SootinClaimon.Com

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https://www.posttoday.com/world/667344

วันที่ 05 พ.ย. 2564 เวลา 19:54 น.'มงกุฏกา' กับอำนาจมนตราแห่งกษัตริย์ภูฏานวันที่ 1 พฤศจิกายน เป็นวันขึ้นครองราชย์ของสมเด็จพระราชาธิบดีจิกมี เคเซอร์ นัมเกล วังชุก ประมุขแห่งราชอาณาจักรภูฏาน

ในประเทศที่ปกครองด้วยระบอบราชาธิปไตย มักมี “เครื่องราชกกุธภัณฑ์” ที่เป็นสัญลักษณ์อำนาจแห่งองค์เหนือหัว ในประเทศที่ได้รับอิทธิพลจากอารยธรรมอินเดีย เช่นในไทย ลาว กัมพูชา จามปา ชวาและบาหลี “ร่มขาว” หรือเศวตฉัตร คือสัญลัษณ์แห่งพระมหากษัตริย์ ในไทยนั้นยิ่งฉัตรมีหลายชั้น (เก้าชั้น คือนพปฎลมหาเศวตฉัตร) ยิ่งหมายถึงพระราชอำนาจอันสูงส่ง

เครื่องกกุธภัณฑ์จำพวกนี้มักมีความเชื่อเรื่องอำนาจศักดิ์สิทธิ์พ่วงมาด้วย เช่น ในไทยเชื่อว่านพปฎลมหาเศวตฉัตรนั้นมีเทพยดาเป็นอารักษ์อยู่ จะต้องทำพลีกรรมบวงสรวงอยู่เป็นนิตย์และจะล่วงละเมิดไม่ได้ เทพผู้รักษาเศวตฉัตรยังเป็นผู้รักษาแผ่นดินด้วยในทำนองเดียวกับความเชื่อเรื่องพระสยามเทวาธิราช

ในกัมพูชายังมีเครื่องกกุธภัณฑ์อีกองค์หนึ่งที่ถือกันว่าศักดิ์สิทธิ์และมีอิทธิฤทธิ์เล่าสืบต่อมาเป็นตำนาน คือ “พระขรรค์ราช” จะถวายให้พระมหากษัตริย์เพื่อคราวทรงขึ้นครองราชย์ และจต้องจัดบารคูหรือพราหมณ์คอบทำพิธีบวงสรวงเสมอ เชื่อกันว่าสีของพระขรรค์ราชนั้นบอกดวงชะตาของบ้านเมืองได้ หากมีสีสนิมแดงดั่งเลือดแสดงว่าบ้านเมืองถึงกาลวิบัติ

ที่ญี่ปุ่นมีกกุธภัณฑ์ 3 ประการ คือพระแสงคุซานางิหนึ่ง คันฉ่องยาตะหนึ่ง และมณียาซากานิหนึ่ง ทั้งสามสิ่งนี้ พระแสงคุซานางิดูเหมือนจะมีความสำคัญมากที่สุด เนื่องจากเกี่ยวพันกับเทพเจ้าผู้เป็นบรรพชนของจักรพรรดิญี่ปุ่น และมีบันทึกถึงอิทธิฤทธิ์ของพระแสงนี้ในประวัติศาสตร์โบราณ (บันทึกประวัติศาสตร์โคจิกิ)

ความเชื่อของฤทธิ์เดชของเครื่องกกุธภัณฑ์จึงเกี่ยวข้องกับศาสนาในประเทศนั้น เรื่องพระแสงคุซานางิเกี่ยวข้องโดยตรงกับเทพเจ้าในศาสนาชินโต เรื่องพระเศวตฉัตรเป็นคติที่เกี่ยวข้องกับศาสนาพราหมณ์ เช่นเดียวกับพระขรรค์ราชของกัมพูชาที่เกีย่วข้องกับศาสนาพราหมณ์และความเชื่อท้องถิ่น

ภูฏาน เป็นประเทศพุทธศาสนาฝ่ายมหายานแบบวัชรยาน พระมหากษัตริย์นอกจากจะทรงเป็นประมุขทางโลกยังทรงมีภารกิจในทางธรรมด้วย

ตามปกติแล้ว วัฒนธรรมในเอเชียจะไม่ถือมงกุฏว่าเป็นกกุธภัณฑ์ที่มีอภินิหารและเป็นเครื่องหลักเหมือนคติที่ถือกันในยุโรป เแต่ภูฏานเป็นข้อยกเว้น เครื่องกกุธภัณฑ์สำคัญของกษัตริย์คือมงกุฏ (หรืออันที่จริงควรเป็นพระมาลามากกว่า แต่ทางภูฏานเรียกอุษา) เรียกว่า “มงกุฏกา” (Raven Crown)

กรรมา พุนโช (Karma Phuntsho)นักคิดและนักสังคมสงเคราะห์ ประธานมูลนิธิ Loden และเป็นผู้เขียนหนังสือและบทความมากมาย รวมทั้งหนังสือ The History of Bhutan เล่าถึงที่มาของมงกุฏอีกาว่า อีกาเป็นสัตว์มงคล เมื่อครั้งที่ท่านงาวัง นัมกยัล พระลามะชั้นสูง (มีสมณะฉายาว่า ซับดรุง รินโปเช) มีเหตุให้ต้องลี้ภัยจากทิเบตมาปักหลักที่ภูฏาน ท่านเกิดนิมิตว่าได้เหาะมาจากทิเบตมายังทิมพู (ปัจจุบันคือเมืองหลวงของภูฏาน) โดยบินมากับกาตัวหนึ่ง

พุทธศาสนาฝ่ายวัชรยานมีเทพและโพธิสัตว์มากมาย หนึ่งในนั้นคือ “มหากาล” ซึ่งมีหลายปาง เมื่อท่านงาวัง นัมกยัลมาถึงภูฏานแล้ว ก็เชื่อกันว่ากานั้นเป็นการจำแลงของมหากาล ชาวภูฏานจึงบูชามหากาลปางหน้าอีกาในฐานะเทพผู้ปกป้องแผ่นดินมานับแต่นั้น

แต่ในยุคแรกนั้น ภูฏานไม่ได้เป็นเอกภาพ แต่มีเจ้ามณฑลคือ “เพนลอป” ปกครองมณฑลทั้ง 9 ค่อนข้างเป็นเอกเทศ ในระดับส่วนกลางจะมีการคัดเลือกฆราวาสมาเป็นหัวหน้าฝ่ายบริหารเรียกว่า “ดรุก เดซี” ปกครองในทางโลกเรียกว่า “เทพราชา” ส่วนในทางธรรมมี “เจ เคนโป” หรือ “ธรรมราชา” หรือสังฆราชแบ่งกันปกครอง

ในปลายศตวรรษที่ 19 มณฑลตรองซา มีขุนนางที่มากความสามารถคนหนึ่งชื่อว่า จิกมี นัมกยัล ขณะที่เขาเป็นปลัดมณฑลอยู่นั้นได้พบกับพระลามะท่านหนึ่งชื่อว่าจังชุบ ซุนดรู และฝากตัวเป็นศิษย์กับท่าน ท่านจังชุบ ซุนดรูจึงสร้างมงกุฏอีกาขึ้นมาแล้วมอบให้จิกมี นัมกยัล ราวกับมองเห็นว่าอนาคตคนผู้จะเป็นมหาบุรุษของแผ่นดิน

มงกุฏอีกายุคแรกนั้นหน้าตาไม่เหมือนทุกวันนี้ มียอดเป็นเศียรและปีกครุฑ ประดับด้วยพระเนตรของมหากาล และมีศีรษะของหงส์ประดับได้ พร้อมด้วยวัชระ ในเวลาต่อมาจิกมี นัมกยัลก็ได้ก้าวขึ้นมาจากปลัดมณฑล ขึ้นมาเป็นเจ้าผู้ปกครองมณฑล แต่เขายังไม่ได้หยุดลงแค่นั้น

ในเวลานั้นมณฑลและผู้มีอำนาจต่างๆ ในภูฏานขัดแย้งกันเอง จิกมี นัมกยัลก็ทำการปราบกลุ่มก๊กต่างๆ จนเกิดสันติภาพขึ้นหลังจากใช้ความพยายามยาวนานถึง 30 ปี

ไม่เพียงเท่านั้น ในศตวรรษที่ 19 อนุทวีปอินเดียถูกอังกฤษครอบครองจนเกือบหมด อังกฤษเริ่มขยายอิทธิพลขึ้นเหนือมายังหิมาลัยและทิเบตและปะทะเข้ากับภูฏานเพราะอังกฤษต้องการดินแดนตอนล่างของภูฏานซึ่งเป็นที่ราบอุดมสมบูรณ์

จนกระทั่งเกิดสงครามกัน จิกมี นัมกยัลผู้ครองมงกุฏอีกานำทัพภูฏานยันอังกฤษเอาไว้ได้และยังเอาชนะอังกฤษได้อีกด้วย แต่สุดท้ายทั้ง 2 ฝ่ายตกลงกันได้ โดยภูฏานเสียที่ราบไป (เรียกว่าพื้นที่ดูอา) แต่อังกฤษจะจ่ายเงินชดเชยให้ภูฏานปีละ 50,000 รูปี

กรรมา พุนโชเล่าว่า จิกมี นัมกยัลใช้มงกุฏอีกาในพิธีกรรมเพื่อปราบปรามพลังชั่วร้าย และมีตำนานมุขปาฐะเล่ากันว่า “เมื่อจิกมี นัมกยัลอัญเชิญ เลเกิน หรือมหากาลหน้าอีกาก่อนที่เขาจะเดินออกจากมณฑลตรองซา แท่นบูชาก็สั่นสะเทือนและมีอีกาติดตามเขาไปจนถึงสนามรบ เมื่อเขายิง ประสุนเจาะเข้าที่หน้าผากเจ้าหน้าที่อังกฤษ ”

กล่าวกันว่า จิกมี นัมกยัลเป็นผู้ชนะสี่ทิศและไม่มีใครพิชิตได้ก็เพราะอำนาจของมงกุฏกา

เชอริง ทาชิ (Tshering Tashi) ผู้เชี่ยวชาญด้านประวัติศาสตร์ภูฏานผู้ร่วมเขียนหนังสือ The Bodhisattva King, Bold Bhutan Beckons, Symbols of Bhutan เขียนไว้ว่า ทุกครั้งที่จิกมี นัมกยัลเดินทางไปไหนจะจัดม้าดำเอาไว้ สวมบังเหียนและโกลนเหมือนพร้อมสำหรับนั่ง แต่เขาไม่ได้นั่งมัน จะจูงไปข้างกายเสมอ เชื่อกันว่าจัดท้าเอาไว้ให้พระมหากาลทรงประทับ และม้าจะมีเหงื่อนโซมกายมันเหมือนกับว่ากำลังเหนื่อยหอบเพราะมีคนนั่งมัน

จิกมี นัมกยัล กลายเป็นบุคคลทรงอำนาจ ได้รับการแต่งตั้งเป็นเดซีหรือ “เทพราชา” ผู้ปกครองส่วนกลางและในกาลข้างหน้ายังบรรพชนของราชสกุลวังชุก ในเวลานั้นยังแต่งตั้งบุตรชายของตนคือ อุกเยน วังชุกขึ้นเป็นเจ้ามณฑลตรองซาแทนตนด้วย

แต่หลังจากนั้น เจ้ามณฑลต่างๆ เริ่มขัดแย้งกันเอง เพราะแบ่งเป็นฝ่ายเอียงทิเบตต่อต้านอังกฤษและฝ่ายที่เอียงเข้าหาอังกฤษ อุกเยน วังชุกก็สานต่องานของพ่อด้วยการทำศึกสงครามกลางเมือง และกำราบฝ่ายตรงข้ามได้สำเร็จรวบรวมอำนาจเป็นหนึ่งเดียว พร้อมกับที่ระบบเทพราชาและธรรมราชาเสื่อถอยลง

ในปี 1907 คณะสงฆ์และคณะชนชั้นสูงฝ่ายฆราวาสก็เชิญ อุกเยน วังชุกขึ้นเป็น “ดรุก กยัลโป” หรือพระราชา สืบทอดตำแหน่งทางสายเเลือดเป็นองค์แรกของราชอาณาจักรภูฏาน และมงกุฏอีกาก็กลายเป็นสัญลักษณ์ของกษัตริย์ภูฏานนับแต่นั้น

กรรมา พุนโช กล่าวว่า เมื่อถึงรัชกาลที่ 5 คือ สมเด็จพระราชาธิบดีจิกมี เคเซอร์ นัมเกล วังชุก พระมหากษัตริย์องค์ปัจจุบัน ได้สร้างมงกุฎกาอีกองค์ แล้วไปประกอบพิธีที่ศาลของท่านซับดรุง ผู้สถาปนาประเทศภูฏานเพื่อให้เกิดอำนาจศักดิ์สิทธิ์ และยังออกแบบให้รักษารูปลักษณ์ตามขนบพุทธตันตระ คือปักลายรูปกะโหลกและโครงกระดูที่ขอบมาลา มีเศียรครุฑขนาบข้างด้วยมังกรสายฟ้าสองตัว (มังกรสายฟ้า หรือดรุก เป็นสัญลักษณ์ของประเทศภูฏาน)

และมีรูปกาประดับเพชรและจะงอยปากทำจากนอแรด ดวงตาทำจากหินทิเบตที่เชื่อกันว่ามีพลังอำนาจลี้ลับ

โดย กรกิจ ดิษฐาน

ภาพจาก King Ugyen Wangchuck — in Punakha, the old capital of Bhutan, in 1905. by John Claude White – British Library