Aug162024 by DmediaNo Comments

Nigeria on ‘high alert’ amid surging cases of mpox in Africa

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Abuja, Nigeria — Nigerian authorities on Thursday placed key entry points into the country on high alert following the outbreak of the mpox virus in Africa. Authorities have also put nine Nigerian states, including the commercial hub, Lagos, and the capital, Abuja, under serious surveillance. The Nigerian Center for Disease Control and Prevention told journalists that the action is in response to surging cases of the mpox virus in Africa and to intensify coordination to limit importation and spread of the virus. This week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had recorded 2,863 confirmed cases of mpox, with 517 deaths, across 13 countries this year. It said there are about 17,000 suspected cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in total. So far this year, Nigeria has…


Aug162024 by DmediaNo Comments

Mpox virus now in Pakistan, health authorities say

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan's health ministry has confirmed at least one case of the mpox virus in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, it said on Friday, as provincial health authorities reported they had detected three cases. A health ministry spokesperson said the sequencing of the confirmed case was under way, and that it would not be clear which variant of mpox the patient had until the process was complete. A new form of the virus has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily though routine close contact. Earlier on Friday, the health department in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said three cases had been detected in patients on arrival from the United Arab Emirates. It was not clear whether the patient confirmed by the central…


Aug152024 by DmediaNo Comments

August’s supermoon kicks off four months of lunar spectacles

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cape canaveral, florida — The first of four supermoons this year rises next week, providing tantalizing views of Earth's constant companion. Stargazers can catch the first act Monday as the full moon inches a little closer than usual, making it appear slightly bigger and brighter in the night sky. "I like to think of the supermoon as a good excuse to start looking at the moon more regularly," said Noah Petro, project scientist for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. August's supermoon kicks off a string of lunar spectacles. September's supermoon will coincide with a partial lunar eclipse. October's will be the year's closest approach, and November's will round out the year. What makes a moon so super? More a popular term than a scientific one, a supermoon occurs when a full lunar…


Aug152024 by TechmanNo Comments

Pakistanis frustrated by slowdown in internet service

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islamabad — From sharing memes to sealing deals, millions of Pakistanis are struggling to communicate digitally as internet and data services have slowed down across much of the country.  Officials are blaming internet service providers for the slowdown, but media reports indicate the problem may stem from the deployment of a nationwide internet firewall aimed at controlling online content and traffic.  Crippling economy  The problem, which began several weeks ago, has worsened in recent days, frustrating freelancers like Moadood Ahmad, who is seeing a drop in income.  "If I don't show as available on Upwork or Fiverr, then new clients can't even approach me. Older clients are also disturbed," Ahmad told VOA. The Lahore-based digital marketing services provider says he has made virtually no money in the last two weeks.  According…


Aug142024 by TechmanNo Comments

Google says Iranian group trying to hack US presidential campaigns

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NEW YORK — Google said Wednesday that an Iranian group linked to the country's Revolutionary Guard had tried to infiltrate the personal email accounts of roughly a dozen people linked to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since May.  The tech company's threat intelligence arm said the group was still actively targeting people associated with Biden, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democratic candidate last month when he dropped out of the presidential race. It said those targeted have included current and former government officials, as well as presidential campaign affiliates.  The new report from Google's Threat Analysis Group affirmed and expanded upon a Microsoft report released Friday that revealed a suspected Iranian cyber intrusion in this year's U.S. presidential election. It shed light…


Aug132024 by DmediaNo Comments

Biden strikes $150M blow against cancer in campaign to slash deaths

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washington — President Joe Biden on Tuesday visited Louisiana's infamous "Cancer Alley" to strike at what he identified as a top priority of his dwindling presidency: announcing $150 million in research funding toward the goal of dramatically reducing cancer deaths in the United States. The Cancer Moonshot is an initiative close to Biden's heart. Both he and first lady Jill Biden have had brushes with skin cancers. And in 2015, an aggressive brain cancer took the life of their eldest son, Beau. "We're moving quickly," Biden said of the initiative, which has a goal of reducing the U.S. cancer death rate by at least half by 2047. "Because we know that all families touched by cancer are in a race against time." Cancer is the second-biggest cause of death worldwide. The…


Aug132024 by DmediaNo Comments

Nigerian invents crop disease detection drone

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As Nigeria struggles with food insecurity, young Nigerians and startups are seeking to revolutionize the agricultural sector through technology. In the state of Kaduna, Shamsuddeen Jibril invented a drone that can detect crop diseases. Alhassan Bala has the report from Abuja, Nigeria. ...


Aug132024 by DmediaNo Comments

Australian researchers herald new groundbreaking diabetes drug

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SYDNEY — Researchers in Australia have developed a drug that could revolutionize treatment for millions of diabetes patients around the world.   Scientists in the U.S., China and Australia are designing treatments that imitate the body’s natural response to changing blood glucose, or sugar, levels and respond instantly.   The Australian team is handling one of several research projects that have developed different types of so-called 'smart insulins,' which sits in the body of a diabetes patient and is activated only when it is needed.  The aim is to keep glucose levels within a safe range, avoiding excessively high blood glucose, which is called hyperglycaemia, and excessively low blood sugar levels, known as hypoglycaemia.     The new treatments are not cures for diabetes but could ease the burden on patients.…


Aug122024 by TechmanNo Comments

New Zealand to loosen gene editing regulation, make commercialization easier

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The New Zealand government said Tuesday that it would introduce new legislation to make it easier for companies and researchers to develop and commercialize products using gene technologies such as gene editing.  Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins said in a statement that rules and time-consuming processes have made research outside the lab almost impossible.  "These changes will bring New Zealand up to global best practice and ensure we can capitalize on the benefits," she said.  Current regulations mean that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) cannot be released out of containment without going through a complex and vigorous process and it is difficult to meet the set standard. Furthermore, gene editing is considered the same as genetic modification even when it doesn't involve the introduction of foreign…


Aug122024 by DmediaNo Comments

Zimbabwe government declares end to latest cholera outbreak

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Harare — Zimbabwean authorities recently declared the end of a cholera outbreak which lasted nearly 18 months, but public health experts say the conditions which caused the waterborne disease still exist and need urgent attention. After battling a cholera outbreak which began in February of last year, Zimbabwe gave the ‘all clear’ after saying no new cases were recorded in July. The last reported case was in June. During the outbreak, the country recorded 34,549 suspected cases and more than 700 deaths.   Dr. Douglas Mombeshora is Zimbabwe’s health minister. “What it means really is to say the interventions that we undertook as government have yielded [the] results that we wanted, that is to make sure that we suppress cholera. There are other issues that we have to continue working on.…


Aug122024 by TechmanNo Comments

China test-flies biggest cargo drone as low-altitude economy takes off

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beijing — Engineers sent China's biggest-yet cargo drone on a test run over the weekend while a helicopter taxi took to the skies on a soon-to-open 100-km route to Shanghai, laying new milestones for the country's expanding low-altitude economy. Packing a payload capacity of 2 metric tons, the twin-engine aircraft took off on Sunday on an inaugural flight, state media said, citing developer Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co., for a trip of about 20 minutes in southwestern Sichuan province. China's civilian drone makers are testing larger payloads as the government pushes to build a low-altitude economy, with the country’s aviation regulator envisioning a $279-billion industry by 2030, for a four-fold expansion from 2023. The Tengden-built drone, with a wingspan of 16.1 meters and a height of 4.6 meters, is slightly larger than the world's…


Aug112024 by DmediaNo Comments

Addictions on the rise in wartime Israel

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Beersheba, Israel — At 19, Yoni, an Israeli man, has to put aside his plans to join the military and instead enter rehab for drug abuse that has worsened since Hamas' October 7 attack. Health professionals said Yoni's case is not an exception in wartime Israel, noting a surge in drug and alcohol abuse as well as other addictive behaviors. Yoni, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect his privacy, told AFP he had started taking drugs recreationally before, but "after the war it seemed to really get worse." "It's just a way to escape from reality, this whole thing," said the resident of Beersheba in southern Israel who lost a friend, Nir Beizer, in the Hamas attack that sparked the ongoing Gaza war. Psychiatrist Shaul Lev-Ran, founder of the…


Aug112024 by DmediaNo Comments

‘Miseries of the Balkhash’: Fears for Kazakhstan’s special lake

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Balkhash, Kazakhstan — Seen from the sky, with its turquoise waters stretching out into the desert expanses in the shape of a crescent, you can see why they call Lake Balkhash the "pearl of Kazakhstan." But pollution, climate change and its overuse are threatening the existence of one of the most unique stretches of water in the world. One side of the Balkhash — the biggest lake in Central Asia after the Caspian Sea — has salt water, but on the other it is fresh. In such a strange environment, rare species have abounded. Until now. "All the miseries of the Balkhash are right under my eyes," fisherman Alexei Grebennikov told AFP from the deck of his boat on the northern shores, which sometimes has salty water, sometimes fresh. "There are…


Aug112024 by DmediaNo Comments

Namibian occupational therapists assist children with mental health

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Windhoek, Namibia — Poverty, family dysfunction, hopelessness and learning challenges are among the reasons children, sometimes as young as 9, take their own lives. The Namibia Association of Occupational Therapists on Saturday brought together children, parents, and health care workers to teach children how to cope and adapt into adulthood. When Samuel Njambali was 11 years old, he began drinking and smoking with his peers. This destructive behavior led to fights and failing grades at school. His grandmother helped him get his act together. Now an intern occupational therapist, Njambali gave a peer talk at a #Be Free Youth Campus workshop Saturday on the impact of substance abuse on adolescent mental health and the role of occupational therapy in treating and correcting negative behavior patterns. "Occupational therapy is a profession that…


Aug102024 by DmediaNo Comments

Mars and Jupiter get chummy in the night sky

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Mars and Jupiter are cozying up in the night sky for their closest rendezvous this decade. They’ll be so close Wednesday, at least from our perspective, that just a sliver of moon could fit between them. In reality, our solar system’s biggest planet and its dimmer, reddish neighbor will be more than 575 million kilometers apart in their respective orbits. The two planets will reach their minimum separation — one-third of 1 degree or about one-third the width of the moon — during daylight hours Wednesday in most of the Americas, Europe and Africa. But they won’t appear that much different hours or even a day earlier when the sky is dark, said Jon Giorgini of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. The best views will be…


Aug102024 by TechmanNo Comments

China’s drivers fret as robotaxis pick up pace – and passengers

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WUHAN, China — Liu Yi is among China's 7 million ride-hailing drivers. A 36-year-old Wuhan resident, he started driving part-time this year when construction work slowed in the face of a nationwide glut of unsold apartments. Now he predicts another crisis as he stands next to his car watching neighbors order driverless taxis. "Everyone will go hungry," he said of Wuhan drivers competing against robotaxis from Apollo Go, a subsidiary of technology giant Baidu 9888.HK. Baidu and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology declined comment. Ride-hailing and taxi drivers are among the first workers globally to face the threat of job loss from artificial intelligence as thousands of robotaxis hit Chinese streets, economists and industry experts said. Self-driving technology remains experimental but China has moved aggressively to green-light trials compared…


Aug102024 by DmediaNo Comments

Sex eligibility rules for female athletes are complex, legally difficult

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PARIS — Women's boxing at the Paris Olympics has highlighted the complexity of drafting and enforcing sex eligibility rules for women's sports and how athletes like Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan are left vulnerable in the fallout. When eligibility for women's events has come into question, it often has been a legally difficult process for sports bodies that has risked exposing athletes to humiliation and abuse. In the 1960s, the Olympics used degrading visual tests intended to verify the sex of athletes. The modern era of eligibility rules are widely known to have started in 2009, after South African 800-meter runner Caster Semenya surged to stardom on the track as an 18-year-old gold medalist at the world championships. Semenya, the Olympic champion in the 800 meters in…