New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's success containing coronavirus has driven an extraordinary popularity surge that has put the youthful leader on course for a landslide win in September's national election.
Ardern's centre-left Labour Party was up 14 points at 56.5 percent, a Newshub-Reid Research poll published Monday found, with her rating as preferred prime minister surging 20.8 points to 59.5 percent.
The survey also indicated an overwhelming 91.6 percent backing for Ardern's COVID-19 response, which involved a strict seven-week lockdown that appears to have the virus under control.
Support for the conservative National opposition slumped 12.7 points to 30.6 percent in the poll, with its leader Simon Bridges on 4.5 percent as preferred Prime Minister -- down 6.1 points.
The figures mirror leaked research from Labour's own pollster, UMR, last month which had Ardern's party on 55 percent support and National at 29 percent.
Ardern, who won office on a wave of "Jacinda-mania" in 2017, said she was making no assumptions about the September 19 election.
"I'm taking nothing for granted," the 39-year-old told Newshub.
"The fact that I'm making no assumptions about what will be the end outcome will be on election day should be a nod to that."
Ardern's personal approval rating is comparable to the 65 percent some polls gave former centre-right leader John Key, who won three elections before stepping down in 2016.
The support for Labour will be even more heartening for Ardern, giving the party the chance to govern in its own right for the first time since a German-style proportional voting system was introduced in 1996.
Ardern took Labour from the doldrums in the 2017 election, lifting its vote by almost 13 points to 36.9 percent.
But she still needed support from minor parties to form office and National attracted the most support of any single party with 44.4 percent.
Ardern gained international acclaim for her empathetic response to last year's Christchurch mosques massacre, when a lone gunman murdered 51 Muslim worshippers.
But it was not reflected in polling and before the pandemic, indications were that Labour's support had plateaued, with Ardern set to struggle in the September election because voters were turning away from her coalition partners.
Whether the latest jump in support can be maintained will depend on the long-term success of Ardern's "go fast-go hard" coronavirus strategy.
It appears to be working so far, with New Zealand recording only 21 COVID-19 deaths in a population of five million.
New Delhi (AFP) - Tibet's parliament-in-exile on Sunday called for Beijing to confirm the "well-being and whereabouts" of the Panchen Lama, the second-most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism's largest school, a quarter of a century after he disappeared.The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima -- the boy recognised as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995 -- have not been known since he was taken into custody three days later by Chinese authorities aged six."China must provide verifiable information on the wellbeing and whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama," t...
Washington (AFP) - The US on Sunday warned China against interfering with American journalists working in Hong Kong, in an escalating row between the two countries over press freedom and other issues.The two sides have expelled each other's reporters in tit-for-tat moves over recent months as they trade barbs over the coronavirus pandemic and US President Donald Trump threatens to impose fresh trade tariffs."It has recently come to my attention that the Chinese government has threatened to interfere with the work of American journalists in Hong Kong," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in ...
Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's beloved Mount Fuji will be closed during this year's summer climbing season to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, officials said Monday.Shizuoka prefecture, home to the country's tallest mountain, announced they were closing three of the four major routes to the mountain's peak."The routes open in summer but this year we will keep them closed from July 10 to September 10," the only climbing season for Mount Fuji, a Shizuoka prefecture official told AFP."We're taking this measure so as not to spread the coronavirus," the official said.It will be the first time the ...
Puebla (Mexico) (AFP) - Scores of Mexicans are dying from drinking adulterated liquor, a consequence of the shortage of mainstream alcoholic beverages during the coronavirus pandemic, authorities say.The first of at least 138 deaths in recent weeks occurred at the end of April in the western state of Jalisco, a month after the government declared a health emergency over the spread of COVID-19.Much of Mexico has run out of beer after factories were shut down along with other non-essential firms.Beer stocks were depleted within a month, and in some areas the prices of what was left doubled, acco...
Rome (AFP) - Saint Peter's Basilica throws its doors open to visitors on Monday, marking a relative return to normality at the Vatican and beyond in Italy, where most business activity is set to resume.Public masses also resume throughout the predominantly Catholic country after a two-month hiatus, while restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and hairdressers, among other businesses, are all expected to reopen.In the face of much opposition, including from Pope Francis, churches in Rome were shuttered at the beginning of the coronavirus emergency in early March.Most, however, opened shortly thereafte...
Quito (AFP) - The first case of the novel coronavirus has been detected in one of Ecuador's indigenous Amazon tribes, the health ministry said Sunday.Waorani organizations -- speaking through the GO Alliance for Human Rights in Ecuador (DDHH) -- warned COVID-19's spread could be "catastrophic and highly lethal" for their community, which is vulnerable to diseases.The first case reported in the Waorani tribe is a "pregnant woman, 17 years old, who began to show symptoms on May 4," the ministry said in a statement.She was taken to a hospital in the capital Quito and placed in isolation, the stat...
Miami (AFP) - For the thousands of cruise ship crew members stuck at sea aboard their vessels as the coronavirus crisis unfolds, the situation is psychologically intense, to say the least.For some, it has been too much to bear -- at least three crew members are believed to have taken their own lives, and some fear a major mental health crisis is brewing."Many of us have a lot of stress and anxiety right now, especially with not knowing what the future holds," Ryan Driscoll, a 26-year-old singer on the Seabourn Odyssey, told AFP."We call it Groundhog Day here, the same thing every single day. S...
President Donald Trump's attempt to dodge responsibility for the impact of the coronavirus has prompted blame pointed at China and the World Health Organization. In the middle of a global pandemic, Trump is leaning toward canceling 100 percent of the WHO's funding.
On Friday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson obtained a "leaked document" he said showed Trump was "on the brink of resuming U.S. funding of the World Health Organization."
According to a report from Axios, Trump was nearly convinced to restore partial funding for the WHO, given the need for the world to work together to fight COVID-19. Trump, however, is vacillating between most options. Three sources said he was ready to kill the future funding, while another source said the decision was still fluid.
While Trump and GOP leaders spent the weekend at Camp David, they pressed the president "to not give a dime to WHO," a source familiar with the weekend told Axios.
"That's where the president's head is at as well. So it was more reaffirming his position," added another source.
House Democrats say that Trump doesn't have the legal authority to stop WHO funding since Congress controls the budget for the United States. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed to indicate that she would challenge the decision if Trump attempts to enact his funding cuts.
The Trump White House claimed that no language in Congress' spending bills forcing dollars go to the WHO.
There are many examples of mathematical breakthroughs achieved in prison. Maybe the most famous is from the French mathematician Andre Weil, who came up with his hugely influential conjectures while in a military prison in Rouen, France. Another mathematical giant, Srinivasan Ramanujan, started off with no formal training in mathematics and produced most of his revolutionary results in complete isolation.
Christopher Havens’ story certainly agrees with this perspective.
A murder conviction
Havens received a 25-year sentence in Washington in 2011 after being convicted for murder. He found his love and gift for mathematics while in solitary confinement a few months after his incarceration. His journey in mathematics and research led to him publishing a first-author paper in an academic mathematics journal in January 2020.
In January 2013, my partner Matthew Cargo, who was, at the time, the production editor for Mathematical Sciences Publishers, was forwarded this letter in an email from a colleague:
“To whom it may concern,
I’m interested in finding more information on a subscription to Annals of Mathematics for personal use. I’m currently serving 25 years in the Washington Department of Correction and I’ve decided to use this time for self-betterment. I’m studying calculus and number theory, as numbers have become my mission. Can you please send me any information on your mathematical journal? Christopher Havens, #349034
PS. I am self-teaching myself and often get hung on problems for long periods of time. Is there anyone who I could correspond with, provided I send self-addressed stamped envelopes? There are no teachers here who can help me so I often spend hundreds on books that may or may not contain the help I need. Thank you.”
Cargo put Havens in contact with my parents, who are both mathematicians.
The initial letter sent by Christopher Havens, an inmate serving time in the Washington Department of Correction.
(Marta Cerruti), Author provided
Productive time
Initially, my father, Umberto Cerruti, a number theorist who was a professor of mathematics at the University of Torino, Italy, agreed to help Havens simply because we asked him. My father thought that Havens was likely one of the many cranks that fall in love with numbers and come up with a flawed theory. To test him, he gave Havens a problem to solve.
In return, my father received a 120-centimetre-long piece of paper in the mail, and on it was a long and complicated formula. My father entered the formula into his computer and to his surprise, the results were correct!
After this, my father invited Havens to work on a problem involving continued fractions he was working on.
Discovered by Euclid in 300 BC, continued fractions allow expressing all numbers through sequences of integer numbers. For example, pi is the ratio between a circle’s circumference and its diameter: 3.14159…. The sequence of numbers after the initial digit continues forever and is totally chaotic. But written as a continued fraction its expression is simple and beautiful:
Continued fractions are an example of the power of number theory, the field that both Weil and Ramanujan mostly contributed too. Number theory has given us breakthroughs in modern cryptography, nowadays crucial in banking, finance and military communications.
Havens’ findings, published in a the journal Research in Number Theory in January 2020, showed for the first time some regularities in the approximation of a vast class of numbers. This result can open new fields of research in number theory. Indeed, finding new ways for writing numbers is one of the most important problems for a number theorist, although the results may not have an immediate application. Just as an example, there are supercomputers fully dedicated to computing trillions of pi digits.
Havens worked on this topic using only pen and paper in his prison cell, exchanging ideas with his co-authors in Italy through hard-copy letters mailed across the ocean.
Prison conditions
So how could this happen? In Havens’ words:
“It was less than a year after I came to prison that my behaviour landed me in ‘the hole’ (solitary confinement). It was in the hole that my life would change because there I figured out that I loved mathematics. I spent somewhere around 10 hours a day studying …. I decided to enter the Intensive Transition Program, ITP. This is a one-year program which helps people get their minds right. It’s designed to effectively aid you into ‘taking your head from your backside.’ This was my schedule. Eat, math, remove my head from my backside, brush, rinse, repeat. It was an important time in my life.”
It was after the ITP that Havens sent his inquiry, and the mentorship with my parents started.
My parents sent him loads of books. However, the prison blocked them all as they did not come from an authorized vendor. Havens worked with the prison staff and started the Prison Mathematics Project, where he would explain mathematics to other inmates. In exchange they were allowed a library and a room to meet biweekly. It worked — the box of books got admitted to the prison.
I spoke with Havens on the phone in three 20-minute chunks (as much as he’s allowed to talk at a time) to write this piece. Havens used the word education frequently in our conversations:
“Education was a hassle to me. I was a high school dropout — a drug addict, held no jobs, no place long enough to call home …. Education is hard to come by in prison …. So I’m looking for an education outside of prison. I try to build bridges and nurture my relations with others outside. Because this is my education. Every opportunity is a learning experience for me because they are so rare.”
Havens also sees maths as a way to “pay his debt to society”:
I definitely have plotted out a long term life plan to accommodate paying a debt that has no price. I know this path is permanent … and there never is a day that it’s is finally paid off. But this longevity in debt is not bad. It’s inspiration. Maybe this will sound stupid, but I serve my time in the company of the soul of my victim. I dedicate a lot of my biggest accomplishments to him.
Havens is currently pursuing an associate of science degree from Adams State University, which offers it through the mail. But he already knows all the math they require. So for now, Havens wishes he could have a math mentor to touch base with on a regular basis.
When Havens gets out, he intends to complete a bachelors and a graduate degree, despite the clear difficulties that can result from a criminal history. He plans to start a career in mathematics, and hopes to transform the Prison Mathematics Project into a non-profit organization for inmates with a gift for mathematics.
Berlin (AFP) - A long simmering row between the leaders of Germany's far-right AfD party and its radical fringe has boiled over, sapping their strength as Chancellor Angela Merkel climbs in the polls.As voters look for steady leadership amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Alternative for Germany party, which had capitalised on fears linked to the large 2015-16 refugee influx, has struggled to keep a lid on an increasingly toxic infighting.A feud between populist ultra-conservatives and elements in the party with ties to the right-wing extremist scene came to a head over the weekend after the pa...
Herzliya (Israel) (AFP) - China's ambassador to Israel, Du Wei, was found dead at his residence on the outskirts of Tel Aviv on Sunday, police said.The 57-year-old envoy, who had arrived in Israel in mid-February, was found dead in his home in Herzliya, north of the city, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP, adding that police were investigating.Du's wife and son were not with him in Israel.The Chinese foreign ministry said it would only comment when it had "solid" information.Israeli police and forensics teams could be seen at the residence, a property guarded by a low wall and shaded by a lea...
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel was poised to swear in a unity government Sunday after three elections, more than 500 days of limbo and a delay on the home stretch, as the country hopes to end the longest political crisis in its history.The coalition government was agreed last month between veteran right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist rival-turned-ally Benny Gantz, a former army chief.Plans had been set for an inauguration last Thursday. But after 17 months without a stable government and three inconclusive elections in less than a year, Netanyahu asked for three more days to...
