Epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim could be considered South Africa’s equivalent  to America’s Anthony Fauci. As co-chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19, he is the government’s top adviser on the pandemic and has become the country’s face of Covid-19 science. He also sits on the Africa Task Force for Novel Coronavirus, overseeing the continent’s response to the global crisis. Karim, who directs the Durban-based Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa and is a professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, has long advocated for science and speaking truth to power. For three decades, along with his wife and scientific collaborator, Quarraisha Abdool Karim, he has been at the forefront of the fight against South Africa’s substantial HIV and tuberculosis epidemics and in the early 2000s was one of the scientists who spoke out against the government’s Aids denialism.

We can therfore view him as a person with vast experience and knowledge so his message should not be ignored nor neglected. 

He was asked, “Are you worried that low- and middle-income countries won’t get enough vaccines?”

He answered, “Vaccine nationalism is a concern. There are countries – like the US – that believe they will be safe while the rest of the world is not. It’s a fundamental fallacy. None of us are safe if one of us is not. We have mutual interdependence. We need the whole world to be part of Covax: all the drug companies should have committed all their vaccine doses to Covax, which could then equitably provide the vaccine so all healthcare workers can get vaccinated. It will be terrible if the US is vaccinating low-risk young people while we in Africa cannot vaccinate healthcare workers.”

He pointed out that South Africa,  doesn’t “…have money to buy 10m doses and then not use it if it’s inappropriate.”

Salim Abdool Karim: ‘None of us are safe from Covid if one of us is not. We have mutual interdependence’ | Coronavirus | The Guardian

 In March of 2020 the Everyone In scheme to temporarily house rough sleepers in self-contained accommodation during the first wave of the pandemic, including in newly deserted hotels and hostels, was implemented. About 15,000 rough sleepers were housed in the following months, 

The homelessness charity Crisis called it extraordinary, while others lined up to congratulate the government on its unusually bold course of action to shelter thousands of society’s most vulnerable people. An article in the Lancet estimated that the measures prevented more than 21,000 infections and 266 deaths. Simply put, Everyone In saved lives.

Yet by early June, it was reported that funding had been withdrawn; the government pointed to the £3.2bn given to local authorities to deal with the fallout of the pandemic (though none of this figure was specifically given over for homelessness).  In September, £91.5m of government funding was split between 274 councils for their own rough sleeping plans. This was eventually joined by £10m announced on Friday. But it remains to be seen what effect this approach will have compared with the straightforward, fully funded initiative that made such a difference in spring 2020.

 UK’s network of winter shelters faces difficulties as they scramble to provide Covid-safe accommodation. Every winter sees a spike in avoidable deaths among homeless people, as temperatures plummet. In 2021, the threat isn’t just from the cold but a new variant of Covid-19.

Homelessness in all its forms has skyrocketed since 2010 under various Tory administrations. Austerity has butchered welfare and community services. And though the newly announced extra funding is better than nothing, new figures compiled by the Observer show that more than 70,000 households have been made homeless since the start of the pandemic – despite the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, pledging in March 2020 that “no one should lose their home as a result of the coronavirus epidemic”. It is clear proof of a failing “strategy” masked by sporadic U-turns and hurried concessions.

The end of the eviction ban may have been kicked down the line again until February, redundancies are soaring and the number of young people sleeping rough in London stands at a record high, as do the numbers of deaths among homeless people in England and Wales.

In the first lockdown, England proved it could end homelessness. Why not now? | Homelessness | The Guardian

Though the Everybody In scheme didn’t “solve homelessness”, and had its imperfections, it was clearly effective, in part because of its clarity of purpose. 

The government  announced that it was extending the ban on bailiff evictions that has been in place since the first lockdown in March, covering most tenants for another six weeks. The eviction ban has allowed landlords to go ahead with evictions in exceptional circumstances, such as when tenants were sitting on extreme levels of rent arrears. However, an important loophole has been placed in legislation that will for the first time give landlords the power to evict people for not paying their rent during lockdown.

“Substantial” rent arrears were previously defined in law as equivalent to nine months’ rent, but debt accrued since the first lockdown on 23 March  2020  was not allowed to be counted in the total. This rule was to make sure people who lost their jobs during the pandemic were not made homeless because the government had forced their workplace to close. But the new legislation published  removes this protection and redefines “substantial arrears” to cover many more people.

Now, a tenant can be evicted if they have been unable to pay their rent for just six months, and most crucially, rent accrued since the pandemic began is no longer excluded.

Housing activists warned that the new loophole leaves in tatters the government’s promise that no one will lose their home because of the pandemic. 

Citizens Advice estimates that around half a million tenants are in arrears, with the average amount owed being £730.

Government sneaks ‘cruel’ new loophole into eviction ban | The Independent

 B&M benefited from being classified as an essential retailer which allowed it continue trading through the tiered system of restrictions and the subsequent lockdown while non-essential stores were forced to close. Sales have also been helped by having shops at out-of-town retail parks which have been busier than high streets during the pandemic. Sales rose 22.5 per cent to £1.4bn in the 13 weeks to 26 December. The company during the period opened 18 new stores, taking its total to 673.

Simon Arora and his family are the biggest shareholders of B&M via an offshore trust which scooped a £44m payout just two months ago. The founder and chief executive of B&M  handed himself a £30m dividend.

B&M Bargains boss pays himself £30m after bumper lockdown sales | The Independent

 Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, told a news briefing that there is a “clear problem” that low- and middle-income countries are not yet receiving supplies of Covid-19 vaccines.

“Rich countries have the majority of the supply,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that he urged countries and manufacturers to stop making bilateral deals at the expense of the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility.

Wealthy nations including Britain, European Union members, the United States, Switzerland and Israel have been at the front of the queue for vaccine deliveries from companies including Pfizer and partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

WHO urges end to bilateral vaccine deals, says poor countries left behind (france24.com)

The experts predicted an increasing number of extreme weather events which will accompany the climate crises and sadly they have not been proved wrong. 

America suffered  a record number of weather and climate-driven disasters in 2020, such as extensive wildfires, hurricanes in quick succession and extreme heat, a new federal government report has shown.

A total of 22 major disasters, defined as each causing at least $1bn in damage, swept the US last year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). At least 262 people died, with $95bn in total damages recorded.

A total of 10.3m acres burned in wildfires in 2020 across the US west, an area larger than Maryland and well above this century’s average. California recording five of the six biggest fires in its history, an outbreak that destroyed thousands of homes and caused the sky to turn an apocalyptic orange over the San Francisco Bay Area.

On the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico, a record 12 tropical storms made landfall during a year. Seven of these caused more than $1bn in damage, including hurricanes Laura and Sally, which hit the US south in quick succession in August and September. Three hurricanes and two tropical storms hit Louisiana alone.

A major drought and heatwave happened in the US west last year and it was the fifth hottest on record across the contiguous US, which follows a longer-term pattern of national and global heating – all of the five warmest years on record in the US have occurred since 2012.

There were three major tornado-related disasters and a highly destructive derecho, which is an event driven by fast-moving thunderstorms, that downed power lines, damaged houses and flattened crops in the midwest. 

Scientists have found that the strength of storms is increasing as the atmosphere and ocean heats up, while the area eaten up by fire has grown as rising temperatures dry out soils and vegetation.

“The record number of climate change-exacerbated weather disasters this year drives home the fact that, as I like to say, the impacts of climate change are no longer subtle,” said Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State.

 22 disasters, 262 dead, $95bn in damages: US saw record year for climate-driven catastrophes | Climate change | The Guardian

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay fines and penalties of more than $124 million (€1.02 million) to avoid criminal prosecution in the United States on charges it participated in a bribery scheme to win business in Saudi Arabia. Previously, the bank has agreed to a Securities and Exchange Commission fine of $16 million to resolve separate allegations of corrupt dealings in Russia and China. The Frankfurt-based lender has also agreed to pay the state of New York $150 million to settle claims that it broke compliance rules in its dealings with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. There also were reports last year that the bank gave expensive gifts to senior Chinese officials and others to establish itself as a major player in China’s financial industry.

It also faced a commodities fraud charge arising from precious metals futures traders, who were accused of placing fraudulent trades, known as spoofing, to induce other traders to buy and sell futures contracts at prices they otherwise would not have.

Court papers alleged that Deutsche Bank bribed intermediaries to make deals in Saudi Arabia, labeling the payments of up to $1.1 million as “referral fees.” Other intermediaries demanded financing for a yacht and for a house in France as compensation, the papers said.

Deutsche Bank handed $124 million in bribery fines by US court | News | DW | 08.01.2021

 When it comes to comprehending the extent of the wealth held by the mega-billionaires, we, ordinary mortals, have some difficulty in imagining it. 

If Musk’s wealth was ranked alongside the GDP of every country in the world, he would be the 50th richest country in the world.

 Boris Johnson has promised to increase social housebuilding to 300,000 a year by the mid-2020s in a bid to tackle Britain’s housing shortage. But at the rate of increase achieved before the coronavirus lockdown, the government will not reach its target until 2032 – eight years later than planned. Housing experts have warned that a slowdown caused by the pandemic is likely to push numbers even further off course.

“The government wasn’t on track to meet its own targets even before the pandemic hit,” said Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity Shelter. “Now with a potential slump in construction as a result of Covid, the chances of getting the homes we need built are looking even slimmer. With over a million households on the social housing waiting list, and many more facing economic turmoil and homelessness this year, we desperately need to get building. We can’t go back to business as usual with missed targets and pitiful numbers of social homes.”

Government set to miss housebuilding target by almost a decade | The Independent