Non-IT News Thread
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Pfizer becomes first Covid vaccine to gain full FDA approval
Pfizer's two-dose Covid-19 vaccine has received full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - the first jab to be licensed in the nation.
The vaccine had initially been given emergency use authorisation. Its two jabs, three weeks apart, are now fully approved for those aged 16 and older. The approval is expected to set off more vaccine mandates by employers and organisations across the country. It comes amid lingering vaccine hesitancy among many Americans. In a statement, the FDA said its review for approval included data from approximately 44,000 people. The vaccine, which will now be marketed as Comirnaty, was found to be 91% effective in preventing Covid disease. Acting FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock said that the public "can be very confident" the vaccine meets high safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality standards. -
Airbnb offers free accommodation for 20,000 Afghan refugees
Online accommodation platform Airbnb has said it will house 20,000 Afghan refugees at no charge to help them resettle across the world.
The company's boss said the move was in response to "one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time". He said the firm felt a responsibility to step up. Chief executive Brian Chesky added: "I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. There's no time to waste." "As tens of thousands of Afghan refugees resettle around the world, where they stay will be the first chapter in their new lives. For these 20,000 refugees, my hope is that the Airbnb community will provide them with not only a safe place to rest and start over, but also a warm welcome home." he said. -
South Korea becomes first major Asian economy to raise interest rates
South Korea has become the first major Asian economy to raise interest rates since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The Bank of Korea increased its base rate of interest from a record low of 0.5% to 0.75%. The move is aimed at helping curb the country's household debt and home prices, which soared in recent months. Central banks around the world are trying to balance the impact of ongoing Covid-19 infections against economic risks such as high inflation. It is the first time the Bank of Korea has raised its main interest rate for almost three years. The decision comes as the central bank attempts to balance helping to support the country's economic recovery against the risks of surging debt and rising inflation. Policy makers for Asia's fourth largest economy had been signalling that they were ready to increase the cost of borrowing since May. -
Covid: Vaccine complications dwarfed by virus risks
A major review of vaccines suggests the AstraZeneca jab does raise the risk of blood clots and another serious condition that can cause bleeding.
But the study found the risk of such problems following a coronavirus infection was still much higher. The University of Oxford-led team also found an increased risk of stroke after the Pfizer jab - but again at a much lower rate than after infection. The team said it once again showed the "substantial" benefit of vaccination. It comes after a coroner ruled on Thursday that BBC Radio Newcastle presenter Lisa Shaw died because of complications from the AstraZeneca jab. The 44-year-old died in May after developing headaches a week after getting her first dose. She suffered blood clots in the brain. -
Hurricane Ida: One million people in Louisiana without power
A million people are without power in Louisiana from Hurricane Ida, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm.
Ida brought 150mph (240km/h) winds when it made landfall, leaving a trail of destruction through the state before passing into Mississippi. One person was killed when a tree fell on their home in Ascension Parish, in Louisiana's Baton Rouge area. However, the full scale of the destruction will only become clear as the day goes on, officials said. "Daylight will bring horrific images as the damage is assessed", tweeted Shauna Sanford, communications director for the Louisiana Governor. President Joe Biden had previously said Ida would be "life-threatening", with the National Hurricane Center warning that heavy rain could still cause flooding in parts of the state. -
Caldor fire: Lake Tahoe deserted as Californians evacuate
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the shores of Lake Tahoe in northern California as a major wildfire continues to spread.
The Caldor Fire has already burned more than 191,000 acres, with just 16% of the fire brought under control. More than 3,500 firefighters have been deployed to combat the blaze, which began more than two weeks ago. One hospital has been forced to evacuate, with patients transferred to other facilities in the region. Five people have been injured, while more than 700 properties have been damaged or destroyed, according to authorities. -
International Space Station facing irreparable failures, Russia warns
The International Space Station (ISS) could suffer "irreparable" failures due to outdated equipment and hardware, a Russian official has warned.
At least 80 percent of in-flight systems on the Russian segment of the ISS had passed their expiry date, Vladimir Solovyov told state media. He also said small cracks had been discovered that could worsen over time. Russia has often raised concerns over hardware and has suggested it could leave the ISS after 2025. The station was built in 1998 as part of a joint project between Russia, America, Canada, Japan and several European countries and was originally designed for a 15-year lifespan. Mr Solovyov, the chief engineer at the space company Energia, which is the leading developer of Russia's section of the ISS, said: "Literally a day after the [in-flight] systems are fully exhausted, irreparable failures may begin." -
Afghanistan: Fate of Panjshir Valley in balance amid heavy fighting
The fate of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley - the final holdout against Taliban control - hangs in the balance as heavy fighting continues.
Taliban sources told Reuters news agency that they had seized the area, but the resistance fighters they are battling denied this. One of the resistance leaders, Amrullah Saleh, dismissed claims he had fled, but said the situation was "difficult". The fighting in Panjshir is reported to have left hundreds dead. The valley, north of the capital Kabul, is one of Afghanistan's smallest provinces and the only one not to have fallen to the Taliban. The traditional anti-Taliban stronghold is home to somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 people, and is hidden behind mountain peaks. The resistance - which includes former Afghan security force members and local militias - is led by local tribal leader Ahmad Massoud. His father successfully fought the Soviets who invaded in the 1980s, and the Taliban in the 1990s. -
@mlnews said in Non-IT News Thread:
Afghanistan: Fate of Panjshir Valley in balance amid heavy fighting
The fate of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley - the final holdout against Taliban control - hangs in the balance as heavy fighting continues.
Taliban sources told Reuters news agency that they had seized the area, but the resistance fighters they are battling denied this. One of the resistance leaders, Amrullah Saleh, dismissed claims he had fled, but said the situation was "difficult". The fighting in Panjshir is reported to have left hundreds dead. The valley, north of the capital Kabul, is one of Afghanistan's smallest provinces and the only one not to have fallen to the Taliban. The traditional anti-Taliban stronghold is home to somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 people, and is hidden behind mountain peaks. The resistance - which includes former Afghan security force members and local militias - is led by local tribal leader Ahmad Massoud. His father successfully fought the Soviets who invaded in the 1980s, and the Taliban in the 1990s.And the US in the 2000s.
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James Webb: Hubble successor given mid-December launch date
It's a date for your diary and one that's not to be missed.
The $10bn James Webb Space Telescope is expected to launch on 18 December. Yes, countless targeted lift-offs have come and gone in the past, but this one has a reality to it that the others didn't: the successor observatory to Hubble is now actually built. All that is required is to ship the finished telescope to French Guiana, put it on the top of an Ariane rocket, light the engines and stand well back. "It's fantastic for everybody; it's a real boost for all those that have worked on the project," said Prof Gillian Wright, the senior UK scientist on Webb who co-leads one of the telescope's four instrument packages. -
Here is a staggering admission as to how bad the medical profession is trained globally:
"But doing so is difficult, not least because deprescribing, or stopping, a patient’s medications is rarely taught when drugs are covered in medical or pharmacy school. "There’s not even the discussion that you need to check whether the balance of harms and benefits is constant over time,” says Tobias Dreischulte, a clinical pharmacist at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany and one of the authors of the Annual Review paper."
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210909-the-alarming-risk-of-taking-common-drugs-together
Imagine if other fields like IT or law treated things in the same way. This is like teaching how to rack and stack but never talking about backups!
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Afghanistan: UN condemns Taliban's brutal crackdown on protests
The UN has condemned the Taliban for what it called an "increasingly violent response" to dissent, weeks after the group's rapid takeover of Afghanistan.
The body said Taliban fighters killed four people during recent protests. Demonstrations have taken place across Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul on 15 August, demanding respect for women's rights and greater freedoms. Taliban fighters have used batons, whips, and live ammunition against protesters, the UN said in its report. "We call on the Taliban to immediately cease the use of force towards, and the arbitrary detention of, those exercising their right to peaceful assembly and the journalists covering the protests," a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a press statement. -
Unmanned submarine earmarked for Irish Sea freight crossings
A self-driving hydrogen-powered submarine is among the winners in a UK government competition to tackle emissions from shipping.
A start-up consortium has been given £380,000 to develop the sub to deliver parcels without a captain or crew. Call it blue seas thinking - the submarine will follow shipping routes but 50 metres below the surface. It will be able to deliver goods in shallow waters where container ships can't operate. Then it will dive beneath the waves to weather storms on the open ocean. The firm awarded the grant, Oceanways, has flagged Belfast to Glasgow as a possible route for the submarine. The grant is part of a £23m UK fund for environmental maritime projects. The cash is too small to put a dent in carbon emissions in time to stave off dangerous heating of the planet but it does demonstrate the explosion of innovation that climate change has prompted. -
@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:
Here is a staggering admission as to how bad the medical profession is trained globally:
"But doing so is difficult, not least because deprescribing, or stopping, a patient’s medications is rarely taught when drugs are covered in medical or pharmacy school. "There’s not even the discussion that you need to check whether the balance of harms and benefits is constant over time,” says Tobias Dreischulte, a clinical pharmacist at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany and one of the authors of the Annual Review paper."
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210909-the-alarming-risk-of-taking-common-drugs-together
Imagine if other fields like IT or law treated things in the same way. This is like teaching how to rack and stack but never talking about backups!
There's a reason it's called medical Practice... lol.
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Climate reporting reaches melting point
A trip to a melting glacier will shape how the BBC's new climate editor, Justin Rowlatt, reports on the story of climate change.
You cannot help but be awed by the scale of Antarctica, the great white continent. I visited just before the pandemic struck and it is impossible not to feel humbled in the presence of something that seems so much bigger and more powerful than you. But that sensation is an illusion. When we finally flew over the front of the enormous glacier after weeks of travelling, I found myself staring down at an epic vision of shattered ice. As I wrote at the time, it felt like I'd reached the frontline of climate change; a place where the equilibrium that has held our world in balance for thousands of years was slipping and crashing. -
Google’s spending $2.1 billion for even more New York City real estate
Google's Hudson Square campus adds St. John’s Terminal at 550 Washington St.
Google is once again snapping up more real estate in New York City. Tuesday the company announced it was buying one of the buildings it currently leases: Google is buying Manhattan's St. John’s Terminal at 550 Washington Street for $2.1 billion. New York City is Google's second-biggest campus after its headquarters in Mountain View, and this building will be part of the 1.7 million-square-foot "Hudson Square campus," which has expanded several times now. The Hudson Square campus includes the Chelsea Market, which Google bought for $2.4 billion, and the first-ever Google retail store, which opened earlier this year. -
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US approves Covid booster jabs for some older and at-risk Americans
US drug regulators have approved Pfizer booster vaccines for people over 65 if they had their last shot at least six months ago.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also authorised adults at higher risk of severe illness and who work in front-line jobs to get the booster jab. It means tens of millions of Americans are now eligible for their third shot. However the boosters still need approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Independent panels from the CDC are holding meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, and are expected to endorse the move quickly, US media reports. The panels' decisions will include recommendations on who qualifies as high risk, and which frontline workers should be eligible. For its part, the FDA says "health care workers, teachers and day care staff, grocery workers and those in homeless shelters or prisons" should be on that list, acting FDA commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. -
Just managed to put some fuel in the car, the petrol stations are all run out. Last garage in my town has only an hour left of fuel. Idiot panic buyers causing carnage in the uk.
