Friday, December 19

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Mpox vaccine procurement in Africa key to contain outbreak: Report
Health

Mpox vaccine procurement in Africa key to contain outbreak: Report

Mpox vaccine procurement for at-risk populations across Africa is crucial to contain the deadly outbreak and save lives, according to a report on Friday.  The report by GlobalData, a data and analytics company, noted that while Mpox vaccines played an important role in containing the 2022 mpox outbreak in high-income nations, “none are currently widely available in Africa”. Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN vaccine (Jynneos/Imvanex) -- approved in the US, Europe, and Canada -- is the leading mpox vaccine worldwide. In addition, KM Biologics’ LC16 vaccine is available in Japan and Emergent BioSolutions’ ACAM2000 is also under regulatory review for mpox in the US. Fiona Chisholm, Associate Director of Infectious Diseases at GlobalData, called for a coordinated international response to put “press...
Israeli strike in Lebanon kills 10, health ministry says
World News

Israeli strike in Lebanon kills 10, health ministry says

By Hugo Bachega in Beirut and Aleks Phillips in London, BBC News A man inspects the damage to a building after an Israeli strike in the southern town of Kfour, in the Nabatiyeh district on 17 August. Photo: MAHMOUD ZAYYAT / AFP An Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon has killed 10 people, Lebanese officials say, in one of the deadliest attacks in the current violence along the Lebanon-Israel border. The building hit, in the city of Nabatieh, was housing Syrian refugees, the Lebanese Health Minister, Firass Abiad, told the BBC. Israel said it had targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot, which was denied by the owner of the facility. In response Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political Lebanese group, fired a barrage of rockets, targeting a kibbutz in northern Israel and anothe...
Bubble skirts are the perfect late summer investment piece to add to your wardrobe
Life Style

Bubble skirts are the perfect late summer investment piece to add to your wardrobe

I have a theory. Whenever you want to predict an upcoming trend, simply look to the fashion archives of the last 50 years and wait until you feel the need to proclaim “That will never come back into fashion!” Then fire up Vinted, because you’ve got next year’s fashion staple sorted. The latest piece of supporting evidence for my theory? Puffball skirts, or ‘bubble’ skirts - the kind you’d see in one of the less-coveted pictures of Princess Diana from the 1980s, a Cyndi Lauper costume, or perhaps a bad sitcom’s take on a retro prom. But now they’re looking perfectly at home on models, influencers and all-round London trendy types setting the standard for the months to come. Luckily not all bubble skirts are made equal, so as much as the mini puffballs are in fashion for these last few warme...
Champion racehorse Black Caviar dies a day before her 18th birthday following laminitis disease
World News

Champion racehorse Black Caviar dies a day before her 18th birthday following laminitis disease

Strapper Donna Fisher parades Australian racehorse Black Caviar in the mounting yard for the last time during her farewell at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne in April 2013. Photo: AFP / Paul Crock Champion racehorse Black Caviar has died a day before her 18th birthday. A statement on Saturday on behalf of Black Caviar's owners announced the death. The Australian star captivated the nation and retired in 2013 with 25 wins from 25 starts, taking AU$7,953,936 (NZ$8,762,443) in prize money. "She was a remarkable horse who gave us all the ride of a lifetime and wonderful memories," trainer Peter Moody said in the statement. Moody later revealed the cause of death was laminitis, a painful disease of the foot that eventually progresses to a point that a horse can no longer walk. "She had a m...
Health explainer: All you need to know about the Mpox virus
Health

Health explainer: All you need to know about the Mpox virus

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV), a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus.   The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared a global health emergency with Mpox spreading rapidly across 13 African countries, including Congo, where 14,000 cases and 524 deaths have been reported.  There are two distinct genetic clades of this virus, Clade I and Clade II. The disease, often characterised by painful rashes, fever, and swollen lymph nodes, primarily spreads through direct contact with infected individuals, animals, or contaminated materials. Historically, the virus was first identified in 1958 in monkeys used for research in Denmark, with the first human case reported from Congo in 1970. After the eradication of smallpox...
Woman charged in alleged plan to steal Elvis’ Graceland
World News

Woman charged in alleged plan to steal Elvis’ Graceland

By Ana Faguy, BBC News Graceland Memphis Tennessee Photo: By PaddyBriggs - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15041528 A Missouri woman is accused of trying to defraud Elvis Presley's family of millions of dollars and steal the family's ownership interest in Graceland, the US singing legend's family home. Lisa Jeanine Findley, who used a variety of aliases, was arrested for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to conduct a fraudulent sale of Graceland, located in Memphis, Tennessee home. Findley, 53, was federally charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft and was expected to appear in court Friday. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison. The Presley family has not publicly commented on the charges. The US Justice Department claims Fi...
The superstorms from space that could end modern life
World News

The superstorms from space that could end modern life

By Jonathan O'Callaghan, BBC A sudden solar superstorm is thought to be behind a devastating bombardment of high-energy particles that happened around 14,000 years ago. (File photo: A solar eruption captured by astronomers in 2010.) Photo: NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Centre/ Solar and Heliospheric Observatory The Sun is going through a period of high activity, but it is nothing compared to an enormous solar event that slammed into our planet 14,000 years ago. If one were to occur today, the effect on Earth could be devastating. The oldest trees on Earth date back a whopping 5000 years, living through all manner of events. They have stood through the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, the birth of Christianity, the European discovery of the Americas and the first Moon landing. Trees ca...
NZ’s food system in ‘disarray’, scientist says
Business

NZ’s food system in ‘disarray’, scientist says

Photo: New Zealand's food system is in "disarray", with major cross-sector challenges to resilience, a leading scientist says. There was a growing need for a national food strategy to improve the country's food resilience, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University Professor Alan Renwick said. Food systems needed to withstand shocks from international conflicts or disasters, as well as deal with accessibility and health concerns, he said. One example cited by Renwick was of price shocks during the Covid-19 pandemics. He said food price inflation during that time was more severe and persisted longer in New Zealand than elsewhere. That was partly to do with a food system that was very reliant on imports and a concentrated agriculture system, he said. "The idea to me about food system res...
Gallipoli fire threatening war graves under control
World News

Gallipoli fire threatening war graves under control

A helicopter with water in the fight to put out fires ravaging Turkey. Photo: Facebook / Bekir Karacabey A fire raging on Turkey's Gallipoli peninsula may have unearthed the remains of fallen Anzac soldiers, the Returned and Services Association says. The wildfire - one of a number of large blazes that damaged large swathes of the country this week - was brought under control on Friday (local time), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. Images of the site in northwest Turkey showed soot-blackened gravestones in a scorched garden looking out over the Aegean Sea, the Associated Press reported. The RSA's Mark Compain said drone video of the fire damage looked similar to another wildfire there in 1994, which unearthed soldiers' remains. "Bones, you know, littered the area that I w...
The ‘blended’ family behind Kamala Harris
World News

The ‘blended’ family behind Kamala Harris

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff wave as they depart from Philadelphia International Airport on 6 August, 2024. Photo: Brendan Smialowski / POOL / AFP Vice-President Kamala Harris has had to speedily re-introduce herself to US voters, who are now having to size her up as a potential commander-in-chief, instead of Joe Biden's deputy. And during the biggest moment of Harris's career so far - the Democratic convention in Chicago - they will also get to know the family members who will stand beside her, as well as those who helped her get there. Unlike her rival Donald Trump, Harris has only been married once and was a step-parent. Here are the members of her big, modern family. Doug Emhoff, husband Harris met her now-husband, Los Angeles entertain...