Author: Starvision News Desk

Guatemala City, Sep 26 (IANS) Heavy rain amid the ongoing monsoon season in Guatemala has claimed the lives of 32 people and left 16 others missing, the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Conred) said.There was damage to 30 schools, 242 roads and 31 bridges, and some 472 homes were at risk of destruction, Xinhua news agency quoted the Conred as saying.Meanwhile, 5,689 people were left homeless, 10,303 evacuated and 587 sheltered due to heavy rains.”In the last 24 hours, the Conred system has registered six incidents associated with rain around the country,” the agency wrote on X (formerly known as…

Islamabad, Sep 26 (IANS) The multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has hit a roadblock after Beijing refused to further expand cooperation, underscoring the challenges that are needed to enhance and deepen economic ties.Sources have confirmed that China has not agreed to expand cooperation with Pakistan in several areas including energy, water management and climate change under CPEC.On the other hand, Pakistan has also lifted its opposition to the coal-fired power plant in Gwadar, along with many other demands concerning the Chinese, addressed during the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) to the CPEC. While the JCC meeting was held in…

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) The US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti on Tuesday dismissed criticism of the American envoy in Islamabad visiting Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) on the ground that a US delegation had also visited Jammu and Kashmir during the G20 meeting in Srinagar.India had raised strong objections to the US Ambassador in Pakistan, Donald Blome’s recent visit to PoK, during which he repeatedly referred to the region as AJK, the abbreviation for ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’.“The Quaid-e-Azam Memorial Dak Bungalow symbolises the cultural and historical richness of Pakistan and was famously visited by Jinnah in 1944. I’m honoured to…

Toronto, Sep 26 (IANS) People are nearly twice as likely to experience mental illness in the years leading up to the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS), new research has shown.MS is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibres, disrupting communications to and from the brain. Recognising MS is often challenging for medical professionals because its symptoms are varied and easily mistaken for other conditions. The study, published in the journal Neurology, suggests that psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression may be part of a prodromal phase of MS — a…

Washington, Sep 26 (IANS) The US has reiterated that it was “deeply concerned” by the allegations levelled by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the involvement of officials of Indian agencies in the murder case of Canada-based pro-Khalistan hardliner Hardeep Singh Nijjar.Replying to a query during a regular press briefing on Monday, spokesman for the US State Department Matthew Miller said: “We remain in close contact with our Canadian partners, as the Secretary (Antony Blinken) said on Friday (September 22). We believe it’s critical that Canada’s investigation proceed and that the perpetrators be brought to justice.”And we have publicly –…

Manila, Sep 26 (IANS) An offshore earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 rocked the Davao Occidental province in the southern Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said, adding that there was no threat of a tsunami.The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake, which occurred at 9.39 a.m., struck at a depth of 122 km, about 434 km southeast of Balut Island in Sarangani town, reports Xinhua news agency.The institute said the tectonic quake will trigger aftershocks but will not cause damage. There will be no tsunami threat to the Philippines, it added.The archipelagic Philippines has frequent seismic activities…

Yerevan, Sep 26 (IANS) Amid fears of ethnic cleansing, thousands of ethnic Armenian refugees have fled Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s seizure of the disputed region last week.Addressing reporters on Monday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned that ethnic cleansing is “underway” in the region.”That’s happening just now, and that is very unfortunate fact because we were trying to urge international community on that,” the BBC quoted Pashinyan as saying.More than 6,500 people have so far crossed into Armenia from the enclave, which is home to a majority of some 120,000 ethnic Armenians.They left after the government in Armenia announced plans to…

London, Sep 25 (IANS) Scientists have cracked the genetic code of rare kidney cancer called reninoma, providing a possible alternative solution to surgery. There are around 100 cases of reninoma reported to date worldwide, and it is amongst the rarest of tumours in humans. Although it can usually be cured with surgery, it can cause severe hypertension or it can spread and develop into metastases. There is no existing medical treatment for reninoma and management involves surgery alone. Until now, it had been unknown what genetic error causes reninoma. Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and…

Toronto, Sep 25 (IANS) Cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR) programmes are underutilised and women are much less likely to participate than men due to some barriers, according to a study.CR improves health outcomes and well-being and can reduce death and re-hospitalisation rates by 20 per cent. The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, found that the greatest barriers were not not knowing about CR and finding exercise tiring or painful. Further, distance, travel, family responsibilities, and difficulties in accessing sessions that require attendance in person also caused a hindrance. “The benefits of cardiac rehab participation are remarkable, plus patients get…

New York, Sep 25 (IANS) Bills, insurance delays, cancelled appointments await Americans queuing for new Covid vaccine, according to media reports. Early in September, the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended Americans to take the new Covid vaccine in the wake of rising Covid cases in the country. While the federal officials promised the new Covid shot would be free and covered by insurance, some Americans have been denied coverage and charged up to $200, the Washington Post reported.In addition, many people also saw cancelled appointments, pharmacies being out of network, and supply snags with vaccines not…