AI tool selfies predict biological age, cancer survival
FaceAge, a deep learning algorithm described Thursday in The Lancet Digital Health, converts a simple headshot into a number that...
Science
WHO countries strike landmark agreement on tackling future pandemics
Geneva, Switzerland -- Years of negotiations culminated early Wednesday with countries agreeing the text of a landmark accord on how...
Geostrategy
Economy
Saudi Arabia to produce 80-90% insulin domestically
"More than 200 essential medications have been identified, making up about 40 percent of the total purchases by government health...
- Saudi Arabia is making strides in its pharmaceutical sector, with aims to produce 80 to 90 percent of its insulin domestically
- At the Global Health Forum, key agreements were inked, spotlighting the Kingdom's commitment to medical biotechnology
Business
Positive trial for Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-flu jab
Berlin, Germany - Germany's BioNTech and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Thursday announced "positive" results from initial trials of their combined...
- The messenger RNA method made its debut with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which was the first jab against Covid to be approved in the West in late 2020
- Pfizer and BioNTech first announced in November 2022 that they were planning to use the same technology to develop a combined Covid and flu vaccine
Business
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment inks 3 MoUs at FII7
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – The Kingdom’s Ministry of Investment signed three memoranda of understanding (MoU) in the fields of biotechnology,...
- The MoUs related to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors aim to explore, develop, manufacture and market a range of potential new medicines.
- The MoU of the financial services sector aims to provide an opportunity for investors to invest directly in key projects in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.
Science
Swedish researchers find snoozing in the morning isn’t bad
Stockholm, Sweden - You snooze, you lose? Swedish researchers said Wednesday that might not be the case, after their study even...
- Researchers at Stockholm University found that in general younger people were the ones snoozing and they were to a high degree night owls.
- In a second study, the researchers found that most of the respondents who snoozed for half an hour managed to get a lot of sleep during that half hour even though it was disturbed.
Market Report
Markets fall as Biden set for Middle East diplomacy drive
US and European stock markets mostly fell and oil prices rose as US President Joe Biden prepared for a trip...
- Wall Street opened in the red, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq shedding more than one percent, while Frankfurt and Paris fell 0.6 percent afternoon deal.
- "Understandably, not many people are in the mood to put their hard-earned cash at risk in these uncertain economic times," said an expert.
Geostrategy
WHO transports Gaza aid to Egypt, waits for humanitarian access
Geneva, Switzerland - The World Health Organization said on Saturday enough basic health supplies to serve 300,000 people in the Gaza...
- The WHO supplies include enough medicines to treat 1,200 wounded patients and 1,500 patients suffering from various diseases.
- The supplies were ready to go in once humanitarian access could be established through the Rafah crossing from Egypt into the southern Gaza Strip.
Business
SFD to provide US$20m loan to Central African Republic for development projects
MARRAKESH, MOROCCO - The CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, signed an additional US$20...
- The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 2023 World Bank and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Morocco.
- The US$20 million loan agreement aims to finance development projects in CAR, including the establishment of a 250-bed hospital.
‘Broken in two’: Libya flood survivors grapple with mental health
Last month's flood was the latest catastrophe to strike the oil-rich North African country that has been wracked by war...
- IRC warned of the "immense psychological toll the emergency is taking on those affected, particularly in the city of Derna, one of the areas hardest-hit
- UNICEF's partners had "reported several instances of suicides, withdrawal, lack of sleep, bed wetting... among children, especially in shelters"
Science
EU wants to renew herbicide glyphosate for next 10 years
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The European Commission is proposing to renew the use of the controversial and widely used herbicide glyphosate in...
- Current authorization expired in December 2022 but was extended by a year pending a scientific study of the herbicide.
- Environmental activists said there was scientific evidence that glyphosate may cause cancer, poison aquatic life.
Geostrategy
UN agencies warn of disease threat in Libya’s Derna city
UN agencies warned that Libya's flood-stricken city of Derna, where thousands were killed a week ago, faces the threat of...
- The massive flash flood that killed over 3,000 people and left thousands more missing came as Libya was lashed by the hurricane-strength Storm Daniel.
- “Teams from nine UN agencies have been on the ground delivering aid and support,” said the UN Support Mission in Libya.
AI tool selfies predict biological age, cancer survival
FaceAge, a deep learning algorithm described Thursday in The Lancet Digital Health, converts a simple headshot into a number that...
Science
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From polar bears to groundwater, nature is riddled with ‘forever chemicals’
Paris, France - They didn't exist a century ago but today PFAS "forever chemicals" contaminate the environment from groundwater to Antarctic...
Geostrategy
Newborn mortality and malnutrition surges in Gaza, says WHO
"From different doctors, particularly in the maternity hospitals, they're reporting that they're seeing a big rise in children born with...
Geostrategy
WHO says 9,000 patients need emergency evacuation from Gaza
"Around 9,000 patients urgently need to be evacuated abroad for lifesaving health services, including treatment for cancer, injuries from bombardments,...
Geostrategy
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Geostrategy
UN warns record e-waste in 2022 a catastrophe for environment
On average, every person on earth generates roughly 7.8 kilograms (17 pounds 3 ounces) of e-waste each year, said the...
- Less than one quarter of the 62 million tons of e-waste produced in 2022 was recycled, resulting in heavy metals, plastics and toxic chemicals leaking from junked devices
- The scourge is only going to worsen as demand for new technologies, including solar panels and electric vehicles, outpaces the ability to recycle, the report by UN says
Middle East poised to lead global crypto surge as Bitcoin eyes $100,000
Geneva, Switzerland - A major new study released by The Lancet Neurology shows that, in 2021, more than 3 billion people worldwide...
- Neurological conditions are now the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide
- The overall amount of illness and premature death caused by neurological conditions has risen by 18% since 1990
Science
Nervous system disorders surpass heart ailments as top cause of illness
Paris, France - Conditions affecting the nervous system -- such as strokes, migraines and dementia -- have surged past heart disease...
- More than 3.4 billion people -- 43 percent of the global population -- experienced a neurological condition in 2021, far more than had previously been thought, the analysis found.
- The researchers looked at how 37 different neurological conditions affected ill health, disability and premature death across 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021.