World No Closer to Answer on COVID Origins Despite WHO Probe - Experthttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2842456/world-no-closer-answer-covid-origins-despite-who-probe-expert
World No Closer to Answer on COVID Origins Despite WHO Probe - Expert
A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
World No Closer to Answer on COVID Origins Despite WHO Probe - Expert
A logo is pictured on the headquarters of the World Health Orgnaization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, June 25, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo
Despite a high-profile visit to China by a team of international experts in January, the world is no closer to knowing the origins of COVID-19, according to one of the authors of an open letter calling for a new investigation into the pandemic.
"At this point we are no further advanced than we were a year ago," said Nikolai Petrovsky, an expert in vaccines at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, and one of 26 global experts who signed the open letter, published on Thursday.
In January, a team of scientists picked by the World Health Organization (WHO) visited hospitals and research institutes in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the coronavirus was identified, in search of clues about the origins of COVID-19.
But the mission has come under fire, with critics accusing the WHO of relying too much on politically compromised Chinese fieldwork and data.
Team members also said China was reluctant to share vital data that could show COVID-19 was circulating months earlier than first recognized.
The open letter said the WHO mission "did not have the mandate, the independence, or the necessary accesses to carry out a full and unrestricted investigation" into all theories about the origins of COVID-19.
"All possibilities remain on the table and I have yet to see a single piece of independent scientific data that rules out any of them," said Petrovsky.
At a press briefing to mark the end of the WHO visit to Wuhan, mission head Peter Ben Embarek appeared to rule out the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.
But Petrovsky said it "doesn't make any sense" to rule any possibility out, and said the aim of the open letter was "to get an acknowledgement globally that no one has yet identified the source of the virus and we need to keep searching."
"We need an open mind and if we close down some avenues because they are considered too sensitive, that is not how science operates," he said.
The city's skyline is framed by mountain peaks in Kabul, Afghanistan, 22 October 2026. (EPA)
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Pakistan Says Afghan Firing Kills One in Border District
The city's skyline is framed by mountain peaks in Kabul, Afghanistan, 22 October 2026. (EPA)
One person was killed and five injured after Afghan Taliban fired at civilian houses and a market in Pakistan's Waziristan region, near the countries' border, a senior Pakistani administrative official said on Wednesday.
Pakistani forces are "responding effectively and heavily" to the "unprovoked" firing on Tuesday, the Deputy Commissioner of South Waziristan Lower said on X.
Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the incident.
The violence comes days after the Afghan Taliban said that problems with Pakistan can be resolved through diplomacy.
Allies-turned-foes Pakistan and Afghanistan have increasingly been at odds over militancy, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harboring militants who stage cross-border attacks.
The Taliban government denies the charge and says militancy is Pakistan's internal problem.
The conflict between the neighbors has killed hundreds of people this year.
What’s Ahead as Votes Are Counted in an Israeli Election with No Clear Winnerhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5334567-what%E2%80%99s-ahead-votes-are-counted-israeli-election-no-clear-winner
Supporters of the Yashar party of the former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot react to the first exit polls, in Tel Aviv, Israel, 27 October 2026. (EPA)
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What’s Ahead as Votes Are Counted in an Israeli Election with No Clear Winner
Supporters of the Yashar party of the former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot react to the first exit polls, in Tel Aviv, Israel, 27 October 2026. (EPA)
Israelis appear to have handed a rebuke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in national elections, but what’s next is uncertain as exit polls suggest there's no clear winner and no obvious path to a governing majority.
The election was widely seen as a referendum on Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, who gave a defiant speech to his supporters just after 3 a.m. on Wednesday in Jerusalem.
His party, Likud, appears to have gotten the most votes. But the exit polls by major Israeli TV stations indicate that support for his religious-national coalition dropped significantly.
The exit polls suggested his opponents — led by Netanyahu’s chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, who also rallied exuberant supporters in Tel Aviv early on Wednesday — could secure a solid majority in the next parliament. But whether those disparate parties, which include Arab-led parties, can form a government is uncertain. It would likely take weeks of haggling or possibly new elections.
Here are some key points to know on Wednesday morning, hours after the polls closed in Israel.
Exit polls suggest no clear winner and complex power-jockeying ahead
In Israel, voters choose not individuals but parties. Since no party has ever captured a parliamentary majority on its own, party leaders must agree to come together in a governing coalition.
Exit polls indicate that Netanyahu's bloc of supporters won about 51 seats in parliament, approximately the same as the bloc led by Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff. That would leave each side well below the 61 seats needed to form a government with a parliamentary majority.
The exit polls suggested that Arab-led parties captured the remaining 19 seats.
Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu gestures after exit polls, at his party headquarters during Israel's national election, in Jerusalem, October 28, 2026. (Reuters)
With just under a third of the ballots counted early on Wednesday morning, Israel’s Central Elections Committee reported 22.02% of the vote went to Likud, the party led by Netanyahu, and 15.46% to Eisenkot's Yashar party. The count does not indicate how many seats each party will win in the parliament.
Arab parties could play a key role in next coalition
Final official results aren't expected until later this week and they may vary from the exit polls, which, like all surveys, are subject to potential error.
If the Arab parties do as well as the exit polls suggest, they could play a decisive role in selecting Israel's next prime minister.
In his election night speech, Netanyahu repeated his refusal to create a government relying on Arab parties. Eisenkot has signaled he is ready to work with them under certain conditions, but that could risk alienating some of his partners.
Campaigns gave short shrift to Palestinian issues
Israelis are largely opposed to a Palestinian state. No major candidate advocated a return to the long-moribund peace process.
Even Mansour Abbas, a Palestinian Arab politician who leads Ra’am, the first Arab-led party to join a governing coalition in 2021, focused his campaign on concerns about crime in Arab communities.
As exit polls were shown on a screen at an Abbas election night event in Sakhnin, an Arab city in northern Israel, supporters of the small Arab-led party Ra’am erupted in celebration.
Enduring impact of Oct. 7 attacks
This election was held against the background of the enduring trauma of the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when fighters killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 others, and the ensuing wars in Gaza and beyond.
The deadliest day in Israel’s history featured prominently in the campaigns. Israelis have focused on the security failures surrounding Oct. 7 and the enormous burden on their society, rather than on the humanitarian situation in war-devastated Gaza.
Leader of the Yashar party and former Israeli military chief, Gadi Eisenkot, celebrates with supporters the first election results, Tel Aviv, 27 October 2026. (EPA)
Netanyahu has rejected an investigation into Oct. 7 and blamed the army for the failures that day. His supporters say he led the country back from that difficult day and scored important achievements in wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
Netanyahu’s opponents said he should be held accountable for the security failures that occurred on his watch and have demanded a commission of inquiry.
Religious divide over military service
The country has also been deeply divided by exemptions from military service granted to ultra-Orthodox males. These exemptions are especially contentious after three years of wars.
Netanyahu’s governing coalitions have long relied on ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties that have demanded these exemptions remain in place.
Eisenkot — who lost his son and two nephews to combat in Gaza — has vowed to end the de facto exemptions. He repeated that promise speaking to supporters on Wednesday morning.
The exit polls, which also indicated a drop in support for ultra-Orthodox parties, signaled voter unhappiness over these exemptions.
High voter turnout
The final update from Israel’s Central Elections Committee put voter turnout at 77.7% of eligible voters as polls closed Tuesday night.
That’s the highest turnout since 1999, and just over seven percentage points higher than in the previous election in 2022, reflecting the high stakes of the election.
Cyclone Arnab Hits India’s Andhra Pradesh State as Tens of Thousands Are Evacuatedhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5334555-cyclone-arnab-hits-india%E2%80%99s-andhra-pradesh-state-tens-thousands-are-evacuated
A vehicle damaged by a fallen tree following Cyclone Arnab, in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, October 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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Cyclone Arnab Hits India’s Andhra Pradesh State as Tens of Thousands Are Evacuated
A vehicle damaged by a fallen tree following Cyclone Arnab, in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India, October 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Cyclone Arnab dumped heavy rain across India ’s eastern Andhra Pradesh state and caused extensive damage in some areas Wednesday after tens of thousands of people were evacuated from vulnerable coastal areas.
Prakhar Jain, head of the state’s disaster management authority, said the cyclone had weakened slightly before landfall earlier in the day but brought heavy to very heavy rainfall to several coastal districts, triggering widespread disruption in affected areas. No casualties were reported and damage was being assessed.
State disaster management officials said late Wednesday morning that wind speeds were up to 135 kph (84 mph).
Officials said the cyclone was expected to weaken further as it moved inland, with wind speeds likely to ease later in the day.
The cyclone left a trail of destruction across the state’s fertile Konaseema district, which officials said was the worst hit so far.
Banana and coconut plantations suffered extensively and a large number of trees and electricity poles were uprooted, disrupting electricity across the district, officials said.
Fallen trees blocked several roads, and disaster management workers rushed to clear roads and restore connectivity. About 6,000 electric poles were uprooted in Konaseema alone, officials said.
The India Meteorological Department said the landfall process was complete and heavy rainfall as well as strong winds would continue under the cyclone's influence in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and parts of southern Odisha state. The rainfall flooded several low-lying areas of the port city of Visakhapatnam.
Cyclone Arnab weakened to a "severe" cyclonic storm Wednesday, the department said in an update.
Arnab’s outer bands began lashing parts of the Andhra Pradesh coast first late Tuesday as the storm intensified over the Bay of Bengal and moved toward an earlier-than-expected landfall.
Authorities began evacuating people from low-lying and flood-prone areas ahead of the cyclone's landfall. They also canceled some train services as heavy rain and gusty winds started lashing parts of the coast. At least 89,000 people were evacuated in Andhra Pradesh, according to an official statement.
The state’s disaster management authority said more than 12 million people live along the cyclone’s expected path.
Authorities set up over 2,000 cyclone shelters across 20 districts, while emergency alerts were being sent to the mobile phones of millions of residents, Jain said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. More than 30,000 fishing boats were secured along the coast, while nearly 1,100 medical teams were deployed across affected areas to provide emergency assistance, he added.
In neighboring Odisha, officials planned to evacuate about 48,000 people from areas likely to be affected by the storm.
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