Life

UNESCO announces 20 new biospheres in 21 countries

ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) – UNESCO on Wednesday added 20 new sites in 21 countries to its global network of biosphere reserves, the UN agency’s designation for specially protected regions. New biosphere reserves are designated each year to promote sustainable development, protect terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems and encourage conservation. For the first time, Lesotho, Libya and Saudi Arabia joined the list. In Lesotho, the Matseng Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 112,033 hectares in the northern […]

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Ebola virus in survivors can trigger outbreaks years after infection

by Sara HUSSEIN TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Ebola survivors can relapse and trigger outbreaks at least five years after infection, and long-term follow-up of former patients is needed to prevent devastating flare-ups, according to new research. Scientists already knew Ebola could lie dormant in survivors, who test negative because the virus is in tissue rather than circulating in the blood. But analysis of an outbreak this year in Guinea, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, […]

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In first, SpaceX to send all-civilian crew into Earth orbit

by Lucie AUBOURG Can four people who’ve never been to space before spend three days spinning around Earth after only a few months of training? That’s the challenge SpaceX has set for itself when it launches its first tourism mission on Wednesday, the first time a crew of exclusively private citizens will orbit our planet. A five-hour launch window for “Inspiration4” opens from 8:02 pm (0002 GMT Thursday). A Falcon 9 rocket, with a Dragon […]

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Tunis residents decry beaches too polluted for swimming

by Akim Rezgui with Francoise Kadri in Tunis EZZAHRA, Tunisia (AFP) — Tahar Jaouebi looks out from a beach south of Tunis remembering the 1990s, when the water was still clean enough to bathe in. “Now I can’t swim any more, and neither can my son,” he says. Jaouebi, 47, is one of hundreds of protesters who formed a human chain over the weekend to highlight the pollution plaguing the coast south of the Tunisian […]

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No need for a vaccine third jab booster: study

by Kelly MACNAMARA PARIS, France (AFP) — Vaccines are effective enough at preventing severe cases of Covid-19 that there is no current need for the general population to be given third doses, according to a report in The Lancet published Monday. Some countries have started offering extra doses over fears about the much more contagious Delta variant, causing the World Health Organization to call for a moratorium on third jabs amid concerns about vaccine supplies […]

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US Open champion Raducanu can ‘rule the world’ says former coach

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Emma Raducanu’s stunning US Open triumph showed the British teenager can “rule the world” of women’s tennis, according to her former coach. Raducanu has become a global sensation after the 18-year-old stormed through qualifying to win the US Open in just her second Grand Slam appearance. She defeated Leylah Fernandez in Saturday’s final in New York to become the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title […]

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Philippines’ John Arcilla wins best actor at Venice

  VENICE, Italy (AFP) — Philippines actor John Arcilla was the surprise choice for the best acting award at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. The 55-year-old took home the prize for his starring role in “On the Job: The Missing 8”, a crime thriller that delves into corruption and fake news. “I’m the happiest actor tonight also because I know we come from different countries and we have different languages and cultures, yet I […]

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Covid vaccines hold up against severe Delta: US data

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Fully vaccinated people were 11 times less likely to die of Covid and 10 times less likely to be hospitalized compared to the unvaccinated since highly contagious Delta became the most common variant, US health authorities said Friday. The data came from one of three new papers published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all of which underscored Covid vaccines’ ongoing effectiveness against severe outcomes. For reasons […]

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Mu’ Covid variant potentially of concern: EU agency

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The European Medicines Agency said yesterday a coronavirus variant known as “Mu” could be cause for concern, although there is no data yet to show it will overtake the dominant Delta strain. Mu, which was first identified in Colombia in January and is known scientifically as B.1.621, was classified earlier this month as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization. The EMA, while mainly focused on the highly […]

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La Niña climate cycle may reemerge in 2021: UN

  GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The weather phenomenon La Niña could resurface before the end of 2021, after petering out four months ago, the UN said Thursday, predicting above-average temperatures despite its generally cooling influence. The World Meteorological Organization said that there was now a 40-percent chance that La Niña, which last held the globe in its clutches between August 2020 and May, would reappear again by year-end. “But despite La Niña’s cooling influence, temperatures […]

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Co-inventor of mRNA shots sets sights on pan-coronavirus vaccine

  by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Drew Weissman’s decades of research helped pave the way for mRNA Covid-19 vaccines, but the scientist isn’t resting on his laurels. The University of Pennsylvania immunologist, who on Thursday shared the $3 million 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences with his longtime collaborator Katalin Kariko, is now spearheading efforts to design a new vaccine against all coronaviruses. The Silicon Valley-backed award honors major […]

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Astronauts smell smoke, burning on Russia’s ISS module

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A smoke alarm sounded Thursday in Russia’s segment of the International Space Station (ISS) and astronauts smelled “burning” on board, Russia’s space agency and NASA said. The incident, which the Russian space agency Roscosmos said happened at 01:55 GMT ahead of a scheduled spacewalk, is the latest in a string of problems to spur safety concerns over conditions on the Russian segment. “A smoke detector was triggered in the Zvezda […]

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