Author: Trainee Reporter

United Kingdom: A recent global analysis has found that the worldwide obesity rate exceeded one billion. Participants in the research included health scientists from around the world affiliated with the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and the World Health Organization (WHO). The study, published in the journal ‘The Lancet’, indicated that 879 million adults and 159 million children were obese in 2022. Research shows that 16.8 million people in the UK suffer from obesity, including 8 million women, 7.4 million men, 760,000 boys, and 590,000 girls. From 1990 to 2022, obesity rates among children and adolescents have quadrupled globally, while rates…

Australia: Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has declared it will no longer be involved in deals to pay news publishers in Australia, prompting condemnation from the government and the media industry. “Additionally, to ensure that we continue to invest in products and services that drive user engagement, we will not enter into new commercial deals for traditional news content in these countries and will not offer new Facebook products specifically for news publishers in the future,” Meta stated in a blog post. The company assured that the move will not affect existing contracts with publishers until they expire. The tech…

United Kingdom: The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the first product through the International Recognition Procedure (IRP). Since its launch in January 2024, the IRP aims to bring life-saving new treatments to UK patients without delay. MHRA permitted a new formulation for XGEVA (denosumab), through the IRP. XGEVA is a treatment used in adults to prevent bone-related complications caused by bone metastasis and to treat oversized cell tumours of bone in both adults and adolescents. This marks the first product approved under the new procedure. The treatment was approved in 30 days, providing UK patients…

Canada: Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, aged 84, has passed away at a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida, where he was being treated following a recent fall. Mulroney served the country as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. The Conservative leader, who led Canada to a comprehensive free trade agreement with the United States, died peacefully with his family by his side, his daughter Caroline Mulroney reported. According to Mulroney’s family, last summer he was improving daily after a heart procedure that followed treatment for prostate cancer in early 2023.  In a post on X, Caroline Mulroney said that,…

Among the best senses of the human body is the sense of smell or odour. The healthcare process is becoming more intense after the COVID-19 pandemic waves around the world. We are more aware of our senses, which are more affected by people infected with the virus. The latest research suggests that smells of ripening fruit or fermented foods can cause changes in how genes are expressed inside cells beyond the nose. The findings have led scientists to consider whether sniffing volatile airborne compounds could be a potential treatment for cancer or a way to slow down neurodegenerative disease with…

Russia: An Iranian research satellite named Pars-1, has been launched into orbit by Russia amid increasing tensions with the West. From the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the Russian Soyuz rocket launched Pars-1, a remote sensing and imaging satellite that will scan Iran’s topography from an orbit of 310 miles (500km). Issa Zarepour, Iran’s Telecommunications Minister, stated that, “Pars-1 was fully domestically developed.” According to Iran’s claim, in January, the country launched three satellites into orbit using its own rocket, which was followed by another launch of a research satellite by its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Western governments, including the United States,…

WASHINGTON: Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican from Mississippi, has blocked legislation protecting the access to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Senator Tammy Duckworth, sponsored a measure that was brought up for consideration by unanimous consent, which meant that a senator could block it from passing. The measure would have provided federal protections for IVF. According to a recent ruling of the Alabama Supreme Court, embryos created through In Vitro Fertilization are considered to be children. There are concerns among doctors and families that the availability of In Vitro Fertilization might decrease as there is a possibility of people getting sued for…

United States: Elon Musk, the owner of X, has announced that Spaces, a live audio feature of X, is now allowing hosts to turn on their video during chat sessions. The platform, formerly known as Twitter, released the news and Elon Musk reposted a video tutorial from a user named “Dogedesigner.” Users of Spaces will now see a new option to “enable video” when creating a new Spaces session. Hosts can choose to use their phone’s front or back-facing camera, and also select between a landscape or vertical view of their video feed. At present, Video Spaces are only available in the iOS version…

United Kingdom: A new study has revealed that the impact of COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 symptoms on cognitive health is well-understood. The research was published in ‘The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).’ The recent study of 141,583 adults in England disclosed measurable cognitive deficiencies and impairments, especially in those who reported recent memory issues or difficulty concentrating, commonly referred to as “brain fog”. The researchers have found that individuals who have been affected by COVID-19 are experiencing poor memory and difficulty thinking or concentrating which is often referred to as “brain fog”. This has led to concerns that COVID-19 may have…

United Kingdom: France and the UK have announced new funding to enhance research collaboration and establish a new partnership for greater global artificial intelligence (AI) security. Sylvie Retailleau, the French Minister for Higher Education and Research, will visit London for her first face-to-face meeting with Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State since the UK’s association with Horizon Europe. The two ministers aim to enrich the current collaboration between British and French scientists, researchers, and businesses. This partnership has resulted in remarkable achievements in the past, such as Concorde, which made commercial supersonic flight a reality, and the Channel Tunnel, an engineering…