Food security: African Union working on long term plan to raise cropland, cut further imports
A statement issued at the Pre-African Union Extra-Ordinary Summit on Post-Malabo CAADP Agenda media briefing by Maj-Gen David Kasura-Kyomukama, cites statistics that show Africa spends $100 billion – mainly on cereals – while $16 billion goes to fat and oil imports.
Sources reveal China plans record $411 billion special treasury bond issuance next year
China’s 10-year and 30-year treasury yields rose 1 basis point (bp) and 2 bps, respectively, after the news. The planned special treasury bond issuance next year would be the largest on record and underscores Beijing’s willingness to go even deeper into debt to counter deflationary forces in the world’s second-largest economy.
Xenotransplantation: A 53 year-old patient becomes third patient to receive genetically engineered pig kidney
More than 103,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for a transplant, with the vast majority of those needing a kidney. With human donor organs in short supply, some researchers are exploring the use of pigs as a potential source.
Japan labour shortage crisis mirrored in worker crunch in Ino – small-town in Japan
While labour shortage-related bankruptcies are a small portion of the total, the surge will ripple through to these companies’ suppliers and customers, potentially causing a “chain of bankruptcies or mergers”, according to Takayasu Otomo, a researcher at Teikoku Databank.
US scientists admit health and drugs facts are manipulated, ask Trump to eradicate conflicts of interest at FDA, EPA
In August, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General issued a report criticising Joseph Goffman, a high-level government air quality official, for taking part in the development of a rule that regulates emissions from the medical device industry even though Goffman has financial holdings in Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic.
Major players in global economy wary of Trump policies even before he takes over reins of office
The upshot was US central bankers pencilled in estimates for higher growth next year than previously estimated, but also notably higher inflation. That left Powell repeatedly urging “caution” around additional rate cuts from here, which triggered a slide in stock prices and a recalibration of market estimates for further easing. Just a single Fed rate cut is now priced in for 2025.
Health Rounds: J&J drug shows promise in helping keep a precancerous condition from progressing
At five years, 63 per cent of patients in the daratumumab group remained progression-free, compared to 41 per cent in the active monitoring group. Survival at five years was 93 per cent in the daratumumab group versus 87 per cent for monitoring.
Western official and Iran officials says the ME nation’s Revolutionary Guards are tightening control over Tehran’s oil exports
Six specialists – Western officials and security experts as well as Iranian and trading sources – said the Guards control up to 50 per cent of Iran’s oil exports, a sharp increase from about 20 per cen three years ago. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Findings: Most social media users who buy hard drugs online are aged between 13 and 18 years
The world’s first internet-facilitated sale, in the early 1970s and on the internet precursor Arpanet, was for an undetermined amount of cannabis. The agreement was between students. Today, strangers may contact you on social media offering drugs to buy. For as many people who believe this is something of a utopian development, you can be sure many more view it as dystopian – especially if the dealers are in fact scammers or selling dodgy goods.
How hard drug peddlers turned emojis, gifs into cool tools of trade to evade security surveillance
For every illegal drug, there is a combination of emojis that dealers and consumers use to evade detection on social media and messaging platforms. Snowflakes, snowfall and snowmen symbolise cocaine. Love hearts, lightning bolts and pill capsules mean MDMA or molly. Brown hearts and dragons represent heroin. Grapes and baby...
