Author: Starvision News Desk

Quito, Aug 21 (IANS) Preliminary results revealed that Luisa Gonzalez of Citizen Revolution Movement and former legislator Daniel Noboa are expected to beat out six other candidates in the first round of Ecuador’s presidential elections and then face off in the runoff, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said.With over 60 per cent of ballot boxes counted as early Monday morning, Gonzalez has tallied around 33 per cent support, followed by Noboa of the National Democratic Alliance, who has obtained over 24 per cent of the vote, according to the CNE figures.Journalist Christian Zurita was in third place with 16 per…

Toronto, Aug 21 (IANS) An international team of scientists from Canada and the UK has identified four new genes associated with breast cancer, and potentially more, that could be included in tests to identify women at increased risk.Globally, more than 2.3 million women suffer from breast cancer, and it is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.Current genetic tests for breast cancer only consider a few genes, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2.However, these only explain a minority of the genetic risk, suggesting that more genes remain to be identified.The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, found…

Bhilai, Aug 21(IANS) A team of researchers from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Bhilai has successfully engineered a novel hydrogel-based insulin-delivery platform, which can help patients with Type-1 diabetes better manage their conditions. Currently, an estimated three million people in India rely on insulin therapy, where they often resort to daily insulin injections using needles or specialised devices to manage their blood sugar levels.The hydrogel-based drug delivery system has the ability to release insulin in a controlled manner in response to elevated blood glucose levels- mimicking the natural insulin secretion process of healthy pancreatic cells.”Current insulin injection methods have…

London, Aug 21 (IANS) Nurse Lucy Letby, who has been found guilty of murdering seven babies making her the UK’s most prolific child serial killer in modern times, will be sentenced on Monday following a 10-month long trial, deemed to be the longest in the country.The 33-year-old ‘killer nurse’, who was also convicted of trying to kill six more babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, will not appear in person during the sentencing at the Manchester Crown Court, the BBC reported.Without giving a reason for her non-attendance at the court, her legal team said Letby also does not want…

New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) Iran and Saudi Arabia have started a new chapter of cautious and incremental diplomatic exchanges to revive the strained bilateral ties, which broke down in 2016. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on August 18 inRiyadh. The meeting was the first in a series of high-level talks since both countries reconciled in March this year, after years of bitter rivalry that destabilised the region, in a peace deal brokered by China.Saudi Arabia broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters attacked its embassy in Tehran in retaliation…

Washington, Aug 21 (IANS) Reiterating that India imposes high tariffs on American companies that manufacture motorcycles and cars, former US President Donald Trump has said he will slap reciprocal tax if voted to power in 2024.Referring to the import tariff on the Harley Davidson motorcycles, Trump has been wanting India to reduce the export duty to zero since 2019 when he was the president. In an interview on Fox Business News, Trump said: “What would happen if America imposes a similar tax on Indian products entering the US? The other thing I want to have is a matching tax where,…

Seoul, Aug 21 (IANS) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a navy unit and inspected a cruise missile test aboard a warship, as South Korea and the US began their annual joint military drills, Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday.Kim visited the Navy flotilla tasked with defending the east coast and watched the seamen on a patrol ship stage a launching drill of “strategic” cruise missiles, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, without disclosing the date of his visit.”At the drill aimed to reconfirm the combat function of the ship and the feature of its missile…

New York, Aug 21 (IANS) A former Bakersfield city council Sikh candidate, who allegedly threatened to burn down a gurdwara in the Californian city, will be making a court appearance at the end of this month for a preliminary hearing, a media report said.Rajvir Singh Gill, 60, was arrested in March on suspicion of trying to hire hit men to shoot members of Bakersfield Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji Khalsa Darbar, and burn down the property, the 23ABC News channel reported. Gill, charged with seven counts of soliciting specified criminal acts, is expected to be back in Kern County…

New Delhi, Aug 20 (IANS) Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Sunday denied having signed two crucial pieces of legislation — Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023 — claiming he had been betrayed by his staff, the media reported.The Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023 had been granted assent as they became law yesterday, Express Tribune reported.After the approval from the National Assembly, both bills were presented in the Senate. The treasury members criticised the bills, after which the Senate chairman referred the bills to the standing committee.Later, some…

New York, Aug 20 (IANS) In a suspected case of double suicide-murder, an Indian family of three, including their six-year-old child, has been found dead in their home in US state of Maryland, police said.The victims were identified as 37-year-old Yogesh H Nagarajappa, his 37-year-old wife Prathiba Y Amarnath and their six-year-old child Yash Honnal from Towson, The Baltimore Sun newspaper reported on Saturday.Police suspect that Yogesh killed his wife and child before killing himself.“Based on the initial investigation, this incident is believed to be a double murder-suicide that suspect Yogesh H Nagarajappa committed,” Baltimore County Police spokesperson Anthony Shelton…