Author: Starvision News Desk

Madrid, Sep 30 (IANS) Almost half (48.9 per cent) of the food products in Spain that are subject to the government’s sales tax reduction measures became more expensive in September, according to Facua-Consumers in Action, one of the country’s main consumer associations.After analysing the prices of 962 food products in eight of the largest supermarket chains in Spain: Alcampo, Aldi, Carrefour, Dia, Eroski, Lidl, Hipercor and Mercadona, the association found that the prices of 470 items had gone up since the start of the inflation reduction measures at the beginning of the year, reports Xinhua news agency.Fruit and vegetable products…

Kolkata, Sep 30 (IANS) Amid the alarming dengue situation in West Bengal, the Union Health Ministry has advised the state government to organise large-scale blood donation camps to have a sufficient stock of platelets. In its advisory, the Union Ministry also advised the state government to keep the infrastructure, including adequate hospital beds, ready to control any emerging situation.Reacting to the advisory, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor Firhad Hakim said that the awareness level in West Bengal is much higher than any other Indian states.“On an average, the number of blood-donation camps organised in our state is much higher than…

Washington, Sep 30 (IANS) The Republican-led US House of Representatives has failed to approve a one-month stopgap funding bill, as a federal government shutdown after Saturday midnight appears increasingly inevitable.All Democrats and 21 Republicans voted against the measure late Friday night, in a vote of 232-198, marking a high-profile defeat for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has been struggling to garner enough support for a funding plan in the slim Republican majority, reports Xinhua news agency.Earlier Friday, the lower chamber voted 218-210 to clear a key procedural hurdle for the measure amid opposition from Democrats and some hardline Republicans.Even if…

Washington, Sep 30 (IANS) The United Auto Workers (UAW) is expanding its strike against the ‘Big Three’ US automakers to General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Company SUV plants, the union’s President Shawn Fain announced on the 15th day of the strike.During a Facebook live on Friday, Fain told workersthat negotiations haven’t broken down but Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress, reports Xinhua news agency.”Sadly, despite our willingness to bargain, Ford and GM have refused to make meaningful progress at the table,” Fain said.More than 7,000 workers at the GM plant in Delta Township in Lansing, Michigan,…

Seoul, Sep 30 (IANS) The number of apparent heat-related deaths in South Korea nearly quadrupled on-year in 2023 as the country was struck by an unusual heat wave, the disease control agency said on Saturday.A total of 32 people were presumed to have died of heat-related illness this year as of Friday, compared with nine a year earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.This year’s figure is the largest since 2018, when the country reported 48 heat-related deaths, reports Yonhap News Agency.South Korea began compiling the related data in 2011.The country had been gripped by sweltering weather…

Washington, Sep 30 (IANS) In a bid to promote religious freedom and combat discrimination, Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar has launched the Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain (HBSJ) American congressional caucus.Thanedar, the founder and chair of the caucus, is joined by 27 other members of the US Congress, both from Republican and Democratic parties. Stating that the HBSJ communities have made significant contributions to the cultural, social, and economic fabric of the US, Thanedar said on Friday that the launch of the caucus is a “statement of commitment”. “A commitment to stand against religious discrimination, to propel the wheels of inclusion,…

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) After being suspended from X, Dr Abby Phillips, popularly known as Liver doc, claims all his posts on the social media platform have been “scientific” and with “good evidence”. On Thursday, Dr. Philips’s X account was suspended after an interim injunction order issued by a Bengaluru court in response to a defamation claim by Himalaya Wellness Company.In an Instagram post, the popular hepatologist said he aims to legally challenge the ban. “Unfortunately, my Twitter account was suspended because the Himalaya company filed an injunction against me in the Bangalore Civil Courtand the judgement was unfortunately…

Lucknow, Sep 2 (IANS) A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow have developed a model to protect healthcare systems globally from cyber threats.Their ‘Healthcare Cyber Risk Assessment model’ evaluates and mitigates risks of cyberattacks, thereby ensuring the security of patient data and the continuity of digital healthcare services for healthcare institutions.The increasing complexity and sensitivity of data in healthcare organisations have heightened their susceptibility to cyberattacks, especially as the healthcare sector’s reliance on digital data has grown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Digital health records contain sensitive personal information like government IDs (e.g., Aadhaar), medical histories,…

London, Sep 29 (IANS) People with cannabis use disorder have 60 per cent more chance of having heart diseases, stroke, according to a new study.The study contributes to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the health implications of cannabis use disorder and its potential links to cardiovascular health.”Our study doesn’t provide enough information to say that cannabis use disorder causes adverse cardiovascular disease events, but we can go so far as to say that people with cannabis use disorder appear to have a much higher risk of cardiovascular disease than people without the disorder,” said Dr. Anees Bahji, lead author of the…

Moscow, Sep 29 (IANS) The death toll from a fuel depot explosion in the conflict-hit Nagorno-Karabakh region which was seized by Azerbaijan last week, has increased to 170, Russian media reported on Friday citing local emergency services.A total of 170 bodies and remains have been found and transferred to the forensics bureau, Xinhua news agency quoted the RIA Novosti report as sayingThe remains will be transported to Armenia for DNA identification, said the report, adding the rescue operation remains ongoing.The cause of the blast on Monday remains unknown.The tragic incident occurred as hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians have crossed…