More students in India will be able to step inside a classroom for the first time in nearly 18 months Wednesday, as authorities gave the green light to partially reopen more schools despite apprehension from some parents and signs that infections are picking up again.
Schools and colleges in at least six more states are reopening in a gradual manner with health measures in place throughout September. In New Delhi, all staff must be vaccinated and class sizes will be capped at 50 per cent with staggered seating and sanitized desks.
In the capital only students in grades nine through 12 will be allowed to attend at first, though it is not compulsory. Some parents say they will be holding their children back, including Nalini Chauhan, who lost her husband to the coronavirus last year.
“That trauma is there for us and that is what stops me from going out. We don’t go to malls. We don’t go shopping. So why schools now?” she said.
Life has been slowly returning to normal in India after the trauma of a ferocious coronavirus surge earlier this year ground life in the country to a halt, sickened tens of millions and left hundreds of thousands dead. A number of states returned last month to in-person learning for some age groups.
Daily new infections have fallen sharply since their peak of more than 400,000 in May. But on Saturday, India recorded 46,000 new cases, the highest in nearly two months.
The uptick has raised questions over reopening schools, with some warning against it. Others say the virus risk to children remains low and opening schools is urgent for poorer students who lack access to the internet, making online learning nearly impossible.
“The simple answer is there is never a right time to do anything during a pandemic,” said Jacob John, professor of community medicine at Christian Medical College, Vellore. “There is a risk, but life has to go on — and you can’t go on without schools.”
Online education remains a privilege in India, where only one in four children have access to the internet and digital devices, according to UNICEF. The virtual classroom has deepened existing inequities, marking the haves from the have-nots, said Shavati Sharma Kukreja of Central Square Foundation, an education non-profit.
“While kids with access to smartphones and laptops have continued their learning with minimal disruption, those less privileged have effectively lost over a year of education,” she said.
In Uttar Pradesh state, where school reopens for first to fifth graders on Wednesday after older students were allowed last month, six-year-old Kartik Sharma was excited to wear his new school uniform. His father, Prakash Sharma, said he was “satisfied” with the virus protocols the school has in place.
“The arrangements the school has made are top class,” he said.
Not all are as confident. Toshi Kishore Srivastava said she would wait before sending her son back to first grade.
“The doctors are predicting the third wave, and in this scenario sending children to schools could prove detrimental,” she said.
-From The Associated Press, last updated at 7 a.m. ET
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Pandemic, online learning taking a toll on children’s mental health:
Pandemic, online learning taking a toll on children’s mental health
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Research suggests the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the move to online learning, has led to symptoms of depression in 50 to 70 per cent of children. It doesn’t appear that loosened restrictions or a return to the classroom will improve the situation. 2:16
What’s happening around the world
WATCH | Are COVID-19 vaccine booster shots necessary now?
Are COVID-19 vaccine booster shots necessary now?
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Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Zain Chagla answers questions about COVID-19 booster shots and whether they’re necessary at this point in the pandemic. 4:56
As of early Wednesday afternoon, more than 217.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker. The reported global death toll stood at 4.5 million.
In the Asia-Pacific, Moderna said its Japanese distribution partner Takeda Pharmaceutical planned to initiate the recall of three lots of the U.S. drugmaker’s COVID-19 vaccine that were suspended as Japan reported the fourth contamination case in less than a week. The country’s Health Ministry said the contaminants found were particles of stainless steel and it did not expect they would pose a health risk.
In Africa, the number of daily COVID-19 cases confirmed in Egypt has grown steadily in recent weeks amid relaxed precautionary measures and the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. The Health Ministry reported late Tuesday 279 cases in 24 hours and nine deaths, compared to 194 cases and seven deaths on the same day last week.
The delta variant first was detected in Egypt in July. Daily reported cases have gone up as authorities relaxed restrictions, allowing concerts and other large events where few participants wear face masks or maintain a distance from others.
In Europe, the World Health Organization on Wednesday inaugurated a new “hub” in Berlin that aims to help prepare the world to prevent future pandemics. The goal is to promote more effective data collection, information-sharing and analysis, leading to better and more coherent decision-making after the patchy global response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Italian government has vowed to crack down on demonstrators threatening to block train tracks as a rule requiring COVID-19 tests or vaccines takes effect for long-distance domestic travel.
Starting Wednesday, passengers on domestic flights, trains travelling between regions and some ferries must show a so-called “Green Pass” certifying that they’ve had at least one dose of vaccine, tested negative in the past 48 hours or recovered from COVID-19 in the past six months. Local buses, trams and subways are exempt from the rule, which was announced weeks ago.
In France, meanwhile, health workers started administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccine to people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions to shore up their vaccine protection, as the highly contagious delta variant is spreading in the country.
People can get the shot on condition a minimum six-month period has passed since they got fully vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson jab can get a booster shot of Pfizer or Moderna at least four weeks after they first got vaccinated.
Britain will offer people with severe immunosuppression a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
In the Middle East, Palestinian health authorities are launching a vaccination drive for students in the Gaza Strip ages 16-18 as the territory contends with a third wave of coronavirus infections. Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank began a similar drive on Tuesday.
In the Americas, Brazil recorded 24,589 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 839 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said.
The largest hospital on the Big Island of Hawaii is operating at about 120 per cent of capacity amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that Hilo Medical Center has 38 patients being treated for the disease caused by the coronavirus, including 10 in the intensive care unit. A hospital spokesperson said that as the largest hospital on the island, it can’t divert patients.
-From The Associated Press, Reuters and CBC News, last updated at 3 p.m. ET
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday named Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, as the new chairman of the agency tasked with regulating broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband.
Carr is a longtime member of the commission and served previously as the FCC’s general counsel. He has been unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times and was nominated by both Trump and President Joe Biden to the commission.
The FCC is an independent agency that is overseen by Congress, but Trump has suggested he wanted to bring it under tighter White House control, in part to use the agency to punish TV networks that cover him in a way he doesn’t like.
Carr has of late embraced Trump’s ideas about social media and tech. Carr wrote a section devoted to the FCC in “ Project 2025,” a sweeping blueprint for gutting the federal workforce and dismantling federal agencies in a second Trump administration produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Trump has claimed he doesn’t know anything about Project 2025, but many of its themes have aligned with his statements.
Carr said in a statement congratulating Trump on his win that he believed “the FCC will have an important role to play reining in Big Tech, ensuring that broadcasters operate in the public interest, and unleashing economic growth.”
“Commissioner Carr is a warrior for Free Speech, and has fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans’ Freedoms, and held back our Economy,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday. “He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”
The five-person commission has a 3-2 Democratic majority until next year, when Trump gets to appoint a new member.
Also a prolific writer of op-eds, Carr wrote in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last month decrying an FCC decision to revoke a federal award for Elon Musk’s satellite service, Starlink. He said the move couldn’t be explained “by any objective application of the facts, the law or sound policy.”
“In my view, it amounted to nothing more than regulatory lawfare against one of the left’s top targets: Mr. Musk,” Carr wrote.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending his embattled carbon-pricing program on the world stage, and he argues that misinformation is threatening environmental progress. He spoke at a conference held by the anti-poverty group Global Citizen, ahead of the G20 leaders summit in Brazil, and said fighting climate change is not in conflict with affordability. (Nov. 17, 2024)
PROVO, Utah (AP) — Shortly after sunset on Saturday, Rabbi Chaim Zippel clasped an overflowing cup of wine and a tin of smelling spices as he marked the end of the Sabbath with a small Jewish congregation at his home near Provo, which doubles as the county’s only synagogue.
The conclusion of the ceremony known as Havdalah set off a mad dash to change into blue and white fan gear and drive to the football stadium at nearby Brigham Young University, the Utah private school run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Zippel never expected to become a BYU fan, or even a football follower, but that changed when the school where 98.5% of students belong to the faith known widely as the Mormon church added its first Jewish quarterback to the roster.
Retzlaff has earned a hero’s embrace by rabbis and others in Provo’s tiny but tight-knit Jewish community while also becoming a favorite of the broader BYU fan base that lovingly calls him the “BYJew.”
One of just three Jewish students in a student body of 35,000, the quarterback and team co-captain who worked his way into the starting lineup has used his newfound stardom to teach others about his own faith while taking steps to learn more about Judaism for himself.
“I came here thinking I might not fit in with the culture, so this will be a place where I can just focus on school and football,” Retzlaff told The Associated Press. “But I found that, in a way, I do fit. People are curious. And when everybody around you is so faith-oriented, it makes you want to explore your faith more.”
The junior college transfer from Corona, California, formed a fast friendship with the Utah rabbi when he came to BYU in 2023. The two began studying Judaism fundamentals each week in the campus library, which would help Retzlaff speak confidently about his faith in public and in his many required religion classes.
BYU undergraduates must take classes about the Book of Mormon, the gospel of Jesus Christ and the faith’s core belief that families can be together forever if marriages are performed in temples. Retzlaff said he was surprised to find many references to the Jewish people in the Book of Mormon. Some classmates and fans have even called him “the chosen one,” referring to both his success on the field and a Latter-day Saint belief that members of the Jewish faith are God’s chosen people.
“It’s a lot of respect, honestly. They’re putting me on a mantel sometimes, and I’m like, ‘Whoa guys, I don’t know about that,'” he said with a laugh.
Retzlaff, 21, has embraced becoming an ambassador for his faith in college football and in a state where only 0.2% of residents are Jewish. The redshirt junior wears a silver Star of David necklace on campus and attends dinners on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, at the rabbi’s house during the offseason.
He led Utah County’s first public Hanukkah menorah lighting last year at Provo’s historic courthouse, brought a kosher food truck to a team weight training and wrapped tefillin with Zippel in the BYU stadium. The tefillin ritual performed by Jewish men involves strapping black boxes containing Torah verses to the arm and forehead as a way of connecting to God.
“I told Jake, I said, after doing this here, after connecting to God on your terms inside the stadium, no amount of pressure will ever get to you,” Zippel said. “I think there’s no greater example of finding your corner of the world where you’re supposed to make your impact and making that impact.”
Retzlaff is affiliated with the Reform denomination of Judaism, which melds Jewish tradition with modern sensibilities, often prioritizing altruistic values and personal choice over a strict interpretation of Jewish law. He plays football on Friday nights and Saturdays during Shabbat and says sports have become a way to connect with his faith and to inspire young Jewish athletes.
Among them is Hunter Smith, a 14-year-old high school quarterback from Chicago who flew to Utah with his dad, brother and a group of Jewish friends to watch Retzlaff play. The brothers sported Retzlaff’s No. 12 jerseys, and their father Cameron wore a “BYJew” T-shirt depicting Retzlaff emerging from a Star of David, the most recognizable symbol of the faith.
“Being the only Jewish quarterback in my area that I know of, I feel like I get to pave my own path in a way,” Smith said during Saturday’s game. “Jake’s the only Jewish quarterback in college football, so he’s someone I can relate to and is like a role model for me, someone I can really look up to.”
When Retzlaff lit Provo’s giant menorah last December, Zippel said he was touched to hear the quarterback speak about the importance of his visibility at a time when some Jewish students didn’t feel safe expressing their religious identity on their own campuses amid heightened antisemitism in the United States.
His presence has been especially impactful for BYU alumna Malka Moya, 30, who had struggled to navigate her intersecting identities on the campus as someone who is both Jewish and a Latter-day Saint.
“Jake feels very comfortable wearing his Star of David all the time,” said Moya, who lives near Provo. “I haven’t always been very comfortable with expressing my Jewish identity. But, more recently, I feel like if he can do it, I can do it.”