Biden expands blacklist of Chinese firms off-limits to US investors

US President Joe Biden on Thursday expanded a blacklist of Chinese firms that are off-limits to American investors over their links to Beijing's "military-industrial complex," in a sign of Washington's continued pressure campaign against the Asian power.

Insect pest eats into Lebanon's 'white gold' pine nut trade

The scenic region of Mount Lebanon has long produced pine seed, a regional delicacy, but harvests have collapsed amid an exotic insect infestation experts say is accelerated by climate change.

No evidence mystery UFOs are alien spacecraft, report finds: NYTimes

There is no evidence that unexplained aerial phenomena spotted in recent years by US military personnel are aliens, an upcoming government report quoted by The New York Times Thursday said, but officials still can't explain the mysterious aircraft.

Nepal reports first 'black fungus' death

Nepal has reported its first death from mucormycosis or "black fungus", the highly deadly infection affecting thousands of coronavirus patients in neighbouring India.

Russia optimistic about European approval of Sputnik jab

Russian officials said Friday a European review of the country's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine is going "according to plan" and the jab may be approved in the coming months, local news agencies reported.

Spain to vaccinate 12- to 17-year-olds before September

Spain said Friday it wants to offer COVID-19 vaccines to everyone aged between 12 and 17 before the start of the new school year in September.

Nissan delays launch of electric car over chip shortage

Japanese carmaker Nissan said Friday it will delay the planned summer launch of its flagship new electric Ariya model to this winter over the global chip shortage plaguing automakers.

Pill shows benefit in certain hard-to-treat breast cancers

A pill has been shown to help keep certain early-stage, hard-to-treat breast cancers at bay after initial treatment in findings being reported early because they are so promising.

US traffic deaths up 7% last year, highest number since 2007

U.S. traffic deaths rose 7% last year, the biggest increase in 13 years even though people drove fewer miles due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government's road safety agency reported Thursday.

$1B in grants to go for broadband on tribal lands

The Biden administration is making available $1 billion in federal grants to expand the availability of high-speed internet on tribal lands.

Reports: Facebook to end rule exemptions for politicians

Facebook plans to end a contentious policy championed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg that exempted politicians from certain moderation rules on its site, according to several news reports.

Earthquake at underwater Hawaii volcano shakes Big Island

An earthquake at an active deep sea volcano off Hawaii shook the Big Island but didn't appear to have any impact on other nearby volcanoes and no significant damage was reported.

Taiwan, feuding with China, gets vaccines from Japan

A flight carrying 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine from Japan touched down in Taiwan on Friday to help the vaccine-starved island fight its largest outbreak since the pandemic began.

EU, UK investigate Facebook over classified ad competition

European Union and British regulators opened dual antitrust investigations into Facebook on Friday to look into whether the company distorts competition in the classified advertising market by using data it collects from rival services.

Immunotherapy after bladder cancer surgery may reduce recurrence, study shows

New research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) medical oncologist Dean Bajorin, MD, and colleagues found that patients who received nivolumab (Opdivo) after bladder cancer surgery reduced their overall risk for high-grade bladder cancer recurrence. This research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Immunotherapy drug delays recurrence in kidney cancer patients

Treatment with an immunotherapy drug following kidney cancer surgery, prolonged disease-free survival rates in patients at high risk for recurrence, according to an interim report of a phase 3 clinical trial of adjuvant immunotherapy in this patient population.

Getting they/them pronouns right

A growing number of people use they/them pronouns to signal their gender identity, but for many people, use of "they" to refer to a single individual takes some getting used to.

Neurological symptoms like fatigue common in mild COVID

Neurological and psychiatric symptoms such as fatigue and depression are common among people with COVID-19 and may be just as likely in people with mild cases, according to a new review study led by a UCL researcher.

Lessons from the last pandemic point the way toward universal flu vaccines

A new study from the University of Chicago and Scripps Research Institute shows that during the last great pandemic—2009's H1N1 influenza pandemic—people developed strong, effective immune responses to stable, conserved parts of the virus. This suggests a strategy for developing universal flu vaccines that are designed to generate those same responses, instead of targeting parts of the virus that tend to evolve rapidly and require a new vaccine every year.

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine recipients have lower antibody levels targeting the Delta variant

Levels of antibodies in the blood of vaccinated people that are able to recognise and fight the new SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant first discovered in India (B.1.617.2) are on average lower than those against previously circulating variants in the UK, according to new laboratory data from the Francis Crick Institute and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, published today (Thursday) as a Research letter in The Lancet.

Many COVID-19 patients produce immune responses against their body's tissues or organs

A University of Birmingham-led study funded by the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium has found that many patients with COVID-19 produce immune responses against their body's own tissues or organs.

Anxieties about side-effects and perceived trial uncertainties driving vaccine hesitancy

Concerns about side effects and whether vaccines have been through enough testing are holding people back from getting vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a new report.

Most US adults may lack knowledge about palliative care

The majority of surveyed Americans had an inadequate understanding of palliative care, and frequency of health care utilization was one determinant of knowledge, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.