Urdu News

WhatsApp’s chief has recently revealed that they are in favour of releasing an iPad app. "People have wanted an iPad app for a long time," Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp at its parent company Meta, told The Verge during an interview this week. Like Instagram for the iPad, a version of WhatsApp for Apple’s tablet has long eluded users despite being a heavily requested feature. While Cathcart wouldn’t go so far as to commit to the release of an iPad version, his comments suggest it’s possible that one will be built in the near future, especially now that WhatsApp has built the underlying technology needed for such a client to work. "We did a lot of work on the technology for supporting multiple devices," Cathcart said, referencing the rollout of opt-in, multi-device support for WhatsApp last year. "Our web and our desktop apps now have that. If I have multi-device on, I can turn my phone off or lose my network connection and still get messages on my d...

China has selected 15 pilot zones and identified several areas of application to "carry out the innovative application of blockchain" technology, according to a joint government statement on Sunday. The pilot zones include areas in China’s major cities of Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou and Chengdu in the southern Guangdong and Sichuan provinces respectively, according to statement on the Cyberspace Administration s official Wechat social media account. Apart from the pilot zones, 164 entities, including hospitals, universities and companies such as SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., China National Offshore Oil Corp, Beijing Gas Group Co. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd were selected to carry out blockchain pilot projects. The entities will conduct the projects in fields such as manufacturing, energy, government and tax services, law, education, health, trade and finance, and cross border finance. "Each area’s cyberspace administration and re...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his administration to consider an apparent new system to ban "toxic" internet content, although details were not released. The new system, contained in a list of presidential orders on the Kremlin website, was described as a "self-regulated register of toxic content" which would be used "to protect minors". The Kremlin would review it by June 1. Putin has hinted at plans for a more sweeping crackdown on online content, blaming the internet for corrupting youth and for fuelling street protests by political opponents branded extremists by the authorities. Russia stepped up pressure last year on foreign tech companies, imposing punishments including a nearly $100 million fine against Google (GOOGL.O) for failing to delete banned content. In December, Putin signalled support for a proposal from a member of his human rights council for a new voluntary mechanism to ban toxic content, which Russian online platfor...

Chinese authorities summoned officials of AstraZeneca China regarding an investigation of suspected medical insurance fraud by the company's employees, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said on Saturday. The regulator of the state medical insurance fund said authorities ordered the arrest of all suspects, but did not give details of the suspected violations or the size of funds involved. It demanded that AstraZeneca China close loopholes in supervision of marketing activities, the NHSA added. In a statement on Friday, the company said some employees in the southern city of Shenzhen had altered or participated in altering patients' testing reports, and were suspected of medical insurance fraud. The NHSA and public security ministry held a meeting with company officials in December to brief them on the investigation, it added. "AstraZeneca China takes such employee misconduct seriously and welcomes the recommendations by the NHSA and MOPS," i...

World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday announced an investigation into a "senior staff" member, the UN agency's Western Pacific chief, over claims of racism and misconduct. "We have been aware of some concerns since late 2021 and have been following due process. With the cooperation of the staff member, an investigation process is underway," Tedros said on the final day of the WHO's executive council meeting in Geneva. The WHO chief didn't say when the enquiry opened, adding that "there is a limit to what we can say at this time". However, Tedros added that "we take these allegations seriously". The serious accusations, detailed in an email seen by AFP after the affair was revealed on Thursday by the Associated Press, target the head of the agency's Western Pacific region Japanese doctor Takeshi Kasai, who has already said he is ready to cooperate in any investigation. According to AP, dozens ...

People who have been using Face ID to unlock their iPhones before the COVID-19 pandemic faced the hassle to remove their masks and then unlocking the phones. But now, since the pandemic is not showing signs of going away anytime soon and masks have become an essential "accessory" for people across the globe, Apple has added a new feature in iOS 15.4 (currently in beta) which has the ability to use Face ID even when someone is wearing a mask.  However, Apple suggests using a full-face scan because it's a lot more secure than the new mask Face ID update. But even then, it is an excellent solution to the "new normal" lifestyle. An iOS update would be needed if you don't have iOS 15.4. By following simple three steps, you can access the "mask on Face ID feature," the report said. 1. Open the Settings. 2. Tap on Face ID & Passcode, then you’ll have to enter your passcode to access this menu. 3. Scroll down to Use Face ID With a Mask and togg...

Preventing sexual abuse in humanitarian settings is a top priority for the World Health Organisation, its chief insisted Friday, amid pressure from donors over an abuse scandal in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Speaking before the WHO executive board, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that he and the UN health agency he leads are "committed to zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and for inaction against it." He described how the organisation had dramatically scaled up its efforts to root out the problem since allegations surfaced in 2020 of rape and other sexual abuse by humanitarian workers, including WHO employees, in the DR Congo. An independent commission released a devastating report last September which found that 21 WHO employees participating in the response to a 2018-20 Ebola outbreak in the DRC had committed abuses against dozens of people. A wide range of countries, including the WHO's top donors, voiced outrage at the scand...

French officials were scrambling to deal with a cyberattack on Friday after hackers claimed to have broken into the justice ministry's computer systems. A group known as LockBit 2.0 posted a message saying they had locked the ministry's files and would publish them on February 10 if the government failed to pay a ransom. The extent of the attack was not clear and no information was released about the ransom demand. "Something has happened but it is not on a significant scale, it did not target criminal court cases," a source close to the investigation told AFP. Experts say ransomware attacks on central government ministries are rare. The LockBit 2.0 group and its predecessor LockBit have been blamed in the past for attacks on companies, reportedly including a high-profile attempt to extort consultancy firm Accenture last year. The French ministry said on Thursday it had "immediately organised to carry out the necessary checks" when it was notified of...

NUS research team have created a device called a shadow-effect energy generator (SEG), which plays on the contrast between light and shadow to generate electricity. According to the research, published in the scientific journal Energy and Environmental Sciences, the device uses contrast in illumination to induce a voltage difference between shadow and illuminated areas, thus generating electricity. Wearable devices like smartwatches and mobile phones can easily use this innovative technology to harness energy for continuous functionality. To allow convenience, the team developed a low=cost, easy-to-fabricate SEG to convert illumination and shadow to generate electricity and to serve as a self-powering proximity sensor to monitor passing objects. The SEG cells are arranged on a flexible transparent plastic film, where each cell is a thin film of gold placed on a silicon wafer. Professor Andrew Wee, co-team leader says,"When the whole SEG cell is under illumination or in shadow...

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that it was dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would herald the end of COVID-19's acutest phase, exhorting nations to stay focused to beat the pandemic. "It’s dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last variant and that we are in the end game," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a WHO executive board meeting of the two-year pandemic that has killed nearly 6 million people. "On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge." Though Omicron has sent total cases soaring to nearly 350 million, its less lethal impact and the increasing prevalence of vaccines has led to optimism in some parts that the worst of the pandemic may have passed. Tedros, the WHO's first African head who is running unopposed for a second term, urged discipline and unity in combatting the coronavirus. "The COVID-19 pandemic is now entering its third year and we are at a critic...

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc said on Monday that its research team has built a new artificial intelligence supercomputer that it thinks will be the fastest in the world when completed in mid-2022. Meta said in a blog post that its new AI Research SuperCluster (RSC) would help the company build better AI models that can learn from trillions of examples, work across hundreds of languages, and analyze text, images and video together to determine if content was harmful. "This research will not only help keep people safe on our services today, but also in the future, as we build for the metaverse," the company said in a blog post. The social media company changed its name in October to Meta to reflect its focus on the metaverse, which it thinks will be the successor to the mobile internet. The metaverse, a broad term which has generated a lot of Silicon Valley buzz in recent months, refers to the idea of shared virtual environments which people can access through diffe...

The Omicron variant has moved the Covid-19 pandemic into a new phase and could bring it to an end in Europe, the WHO Europe director said on Sunday. “It’s plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame,” Hans Kluge said in an interview, adding that Omicron could infect 60 percent of Europeans by March. Once the current surge of Omicron currently sweeping across Europe subsides, “there will be for quite some weeks and months a global immunity, either thanks to the vaccine or because people have immunity due to the infection, and also lowering seasonality.” “So we anticipate that there will be a period of quiet before Covid-19 may come back towards the end of the year, but not necessarily the pandemic coming back,” Kluge said. The Omicron variant, which studies have shown generally leads to less severe infection among vaccinated people than Delta, has raised long-awaited hopes that Covid-19 is starting to shift from a pandemic to a more manageable endemic ill...

Scientists are keeping a close watch on a recently-discovered sub-variant of the Omicron version of the COVID-19 virus to determine how its emergence could effect future pandemic spread. The initial Omicron variant has become the dominant virus strain in recent months but British health authorities have notably identified hundreds of cases of the latest version, dubbed BA.2, while international data suggest it could spread relatively quickly. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified more than 400 cases in Britain in the first ten days of this month and has indicated the latest variant has been detected in some 40 other countries, accounting for a majority of most recent cases in some nations including India, Denmark and Sweden. The UKHSA indicated Friday it had designated the BA.2 sub-lineage as a variant under investigation (VUI) as cases of it were on the increase even if, in Britain, the BA.1 lineage currently remains dominant. The authority underlined that "there...

Samsung Newsroom released a new teaser for an upcoming Galaxy phone, a combination of S and Note Series. The upcoming February Unpacked event this year hasn't confirmed a date or products to be launched, but the company seems confident that its new Samsung Galaxy S22 will be a different and new standard for all previous phones. According to the company's blog, the February Unpacked event will "introduce you to the most noteworthy S series device we’ve ever created." The expected phone will be able to create the "best and brightest photos and videos you've ever captured". The speed, power, and tools of the upcoming device will be unfathomable with "cutting edge innovations". The new event aims to "break the rules" of the industry but hasn't provided its audience with specific details regarding the event or the launch of its new products. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.t...

WhatsApp on Friday submitted a new update through the TestFlight beta Programme, which would allow users to move their chat history from Android to iOS once approved. “WhatsApp is officially working on the ability to migrate your chat history from WhatsApp for Android to iOS, for a future update!” read a post on WABetainfo.com. According to the platform that keeps an update about the instant-messaging app, users would be able to migrate their chat history from iOS to Samsung devices. “WhatsApp and Google have already enabled the support for migrating your chat history from iOS to Pixel phones,” WABetainfor said, adding that Android 12 devices will be supported to receive the chat history from iOS at a later date. Sharing screenshots of the development, the portal noted that they had already spotted the ability to move chat history from Android to iOS, “available in a future update, but there was no news on iOS.” “As you can see in this screenshot, WhatsApp will ask for your perm...

Popular messaging app WhatsApp is now rolling out a useful feature for users across the globe, which will make their day-to-day messaging easier, WABetaInfo reported. According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has already rolled out the option to listen to your voice note before sending it. Now, it has introduced an update allowing you to pause and resume voice notes. "As you can see in this screenshot, there is a new pause button (in the previous version, there was a stop icon) that allows you to pause the voice note. In this situation, you can listen to the voice note before sending it, you can delete the voice note or you can resume the recording!" WABetaInfo said the feature is already available on WhatsApp for iOS and it is expected to be rolled out on WhatsApp beta for Android as well. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3FNUWH0 https://ift.tt/3H2NitT

The chief executives of major US passenger and cargo carriers on Monday warned of an impending “catastrophic” aviation crisis in less than 36 hours, when AT&T and Verizon are set to deploy new 5G service. The airlines warned the new C-Band 5G service set to begin on Wednesday could render a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable, “could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas” and cause “chaos” for US flights. “Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,” wrote the chief executives of American Airlines , Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others in a letter. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that potential interference could affect sensitive airplane instruments such as altimeters and significantly hamper low-visibility operations. “This means that on a day like yesterday, more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers would ...

Google will now let you share files with yourself. You no longer need to email yourself. Google has updated its Nearby Share feature and will now allow users to share files with their other devices, Chromium Gerrit noted. The Self Share feature will be integrated into Nearby Share and is to be launched soon. Nearby Share allows users to instantly transfer files, music, videos, to other Android and Chrome OS devices. Nearby Share works similarly to Apple's AirDrop feature. However, Self Share will focus on sending files across your own devices without cables, online services, or third-party software. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/33OfC4p https://ift.tt/351WKzq

Majority of health experts have, till now, described the Omicron offshoot of the coronavirus as “mild”, with studies suggesting that the variant doesn’t affect the lungs the way the other variants did. A large-scale study conducted in South Africa, the country which first alerted the world about the new variant, states that the fourth wave of the coronavirus in the country, driven by Omicron, has seen fewer hospitalizations and respiratory diagnoses. The study further noted that there was also a decrease in severity and mortality too, compared to earlier waves of the virus in South Africa. But does that mean there is nothing to worry about? How “mild” is mild really? Neil Lewis, a behavioural scientist at Cornell University, told The Atlantic that the word “mild” is a “slippery and pernicious term” that “doesn’t mean what people think it means.” In the same article, Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist at Yale University, warned against not taking the variant seriously. Iwasaki worr...

Popular daily use messaging application WhatsApp offers a feature that can take your WhatsApp account security to the next level. This two-step verification feature involves an additional PIN code which will be required whenever a user logs into the application after putting the 6-digit registration code, WABetaInfo reported. The feature also gives the users of the Meta-owned app a choice to enter their email addresses to help them restore their WhatsApp account in case they forget the PIN. With this, the users can reset the PIN immediately by requesting a reset link. However, there are some other ways that someone may access your WhatsApp account. According to the WhatsApp news tracker, "criminals", using techniques of SIM swapping, are able to steal a phone number and assign it to a new SIM card if they get their hands on the private information of a user. Though the two-step verification prevents unauthorised access into WhatsApp, this is how the users can prevent a...

Pakistan logged more than 4,000 COVID-19 cases for the second straight day, as the Omicron variant of the virus continues to push infection rates across the country amid the fifth wave of the pandemic, data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) showed Sunday morning. As per the latest statistics of the NCOC, a total of 51,236 tests were conducted in the country during the last 24 hours, of which 4,027 came back positive. The country’s positivity rate now stands at 7.8%. Statistics 16 Jan 22: Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 51,236 Positive Cases: 4027 Positivity %: 7.8% Deaths :9 Patients on Critical Care: 752 — NCOC (@OfficialNcoc) January 16, 2022 Meanwhile, nine more patients succumbed to the virus during the same period and the condition of 752 patients was stated to be critical. A day earlier, Pakistan had reported 4,286 daily COVID-19 cases — the highest number of cases since August 25, 2021. The positivity ratio also shot up to 8.16%, the highest since...

The informing stage, which has multiple billion clients internationally, is wanting to carry out new future for the drawing supervisor, which have effectively been given in the Android 2.22.3.5 update. "The changes are under development, but we can give you a good preview of what will happen after installing a future update: WhatsApp is planning to add new different pencils to draw on your images and videos!" WABetaInfo said. Unfortunately, these new drawing tools are under development, and there is no date for the release to beta testers, WABetaInfo added.   admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3tCJPxU https://ift.tt/3A1pOSS

Meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin jumped on Friday after Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk said the electric carmaker will accept it as payment for merchandise. "Tesla merch buyable with Dogecoin," Musk tweeted. His mid-December tweet saying such use of dogecoin will be allowed on a test basis sent the cryptocurrency up more than 20%. Dogecoin, popular among retail investors, raced up 18% to above $0.2 after Friday's tweet. Musk's tweets on the cryptocurrency, including the one where he called it the "people's crypto", buoyed the meme coin and caused it to soar roughly 4,000% in 2021. admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) from Science & Technology - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3I9nXhX https://ift.tt/3K7VRFw

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is dangerous -- and especially so for those who have not been vaccinated against the disease, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday. The WHO said the global surge in cases was being driven by Omicron, which is more transmissible than the previously dominant Delta variant. More than 15 million cases were reported to the WHO last week -- with millions more cases thought to have gone unrecorded. But the UN health agency insisted there should be no surrender to the variant, dismissing the notion that it could be a welcome conduit to ending the pandemic. "While Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, it remains a dangerous virus -- particularly for those who are unvaccinated," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference. "We mustn't allow this virus a free ride or wave the white flag, especially when so many people around the world remain unvaccinated." The "overwhelming majority" of p...

Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp has rolled out a global voice note player for the iOS platform. However, the update is still under development for WhatsApp beta for Android. The global voice note player is a new feature that allows listening to voice notes even when you switch to a different chat. The feature has been rolled out for some beta testers today on iOS platform, including WhatsApp Business beta. WhatsApp update: Whats new about the voice note feature? As the above screenshot suggests, the user is listening to a voice note from the chats list. Under the new feature, the voice note you’re listening to won’t be dismissed even when you swipe back or open a different chat. If you can't hear the voice note from the chat list, your WhatsApp account is not ready to let you test the feature. So, what you are to do is just wait for a future update that will release the feature for more users soon. For WhatsApp beta for Android users, the feature is still under de...

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is on track to infect more than half of Europeans, but it should not yet be seen as a flu-like endemic illness, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Europe saw more than seven million newly-reported cases in the first week of 2022, more than doubling over a two-week period, WHO's Europe director Hans Kluge told a news briefing. "At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecasts that more than 50% of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next 6-8 weeks," Kluge said, referring to a research centre at the University of Washington. Fifty out of 53 countries in Europe and central Asia have logged cases of the more infectious variant, Kluge said. Evidence, however, is emerging that Omicron is affecting the upper respiratory tract more than the lungs, causing milder symptoms than previous variants. But the WHO has cautioned more studies are still needed to prove this. On Mon...

A racecar with nobody at the wheel snaked around another to snatch the lead on an oval track at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Friday in an unprecedented high-speed match between self-driving vehicles. Members of Italian-American team PoliMOVE cheered as their racecar, nicknamed "Minerva," repeatedly passed a rival entered by South Korean team Kaist. Minerva was doing nearly 115 miles per hour (185 kilometers per hour) when it blew past the Kaist car. Every racer was deemed a winner by organizers who saw the real victory as the fact that self-driving algorithms could handle the high-speed competition. "It's a success," Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) co-organizer Paul Mitchell said to AFP before the checkered flag was waved. The race pitted teams of students from around the world against one another to rev up the capabilities of self-driving cars, improving the technology for use anywhere. In October, the IAC put the brakes on self-driving ca...

Secretary for Health Services Punjab Doctor Nausheen Hamid has said that covid is spreading quickly so going for a smart lock down would be a superior decision. she said that provisional governments did not implement on suggestion of NCOC regarding school vacations.” If schools would not have closed in December then the process of vaccination process would have expedited.” Meanwhile, PML-N leader Talal Chaudhry has said that our motive is to eradicate thinking of maligning the respect of vote. Each party of opposition should be a part of PDM. If PPP becomes a part of PDM then it will gain political benefit. from Health - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3K0adaU https://ift.tt/3tm7Fho admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) https://ift.tt/3K0adaU

Pfizer expects a Covid-19 immunization focusing on the Omicron variation to be prepared in March, the organization's head said Monday. Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla told CNBC that Pfizer is already manufacturing doses due to keen interest from governments, as authorities contend with huge Covid-19 infection counts, including large numbers of "breakthrough" Omicron cases in vaccinated populations. "This vaccine will be ready in March," Bourla told the network. "I don't know if we will need it. I don't know if and how it will be used." Bourla said the existing regime of two vaccine shots and a booster has provided "reasonable" protection against serious health effects from Omicron. But a vaccine focused directly on the Omicron variant would also guard against breakthrough infections of a strain that has proven highly contagious, but has also resulted in many mild or asymptomatic cases. In a separate interview with ...

Gmail for Android has crossed 10 billion installs on the Google Play Store. Gmail is the goto email app for majority of users around the world, the milestone is therefore not surprising at all. It is however surprising that it took so long, considering the app comes pre-installed on nearly all Android phones. Gmail launched as just a platform fpr sending and receiving emails. It has now evolved to include chat and video meetings with Google Meet. That said, Gmail's popularity is not without consequences. Scammers are increasingly using Gmail for baiting attacks, to steal user data.These attacks sometimes come with payloads or embedded links in emails, while some attackers might include questions that might have a higher chance of receiving a response. A report by Baracudda found that 35% of the 10,500 organizations they surveyed received bait attack emails in just one month of September this year. Barracuda's research depicts that 91% of these emails are sent from newly-...

More than 100,000 people across France protested Saturday over what they say are government plans to further restrict the rights of the unvaccinated, days after French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to "piss off" those refusing the jab. The turnout was four times higher than the numbers who answered the December 18 call to protest, when 25,500 people marched across the country, according to government estimates. The protests oppose a planned law that will require individuals to prove they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus before they can eat out, travel on inter-city trains or attend cultural events. On Thursday, France's lower house of parliament passed the controversial bill in a first reading. The government has said it expects the new requirements to be implemented by January 15, although lawmakers in the Senate could now delay the process. Interior ministry officials said 105,200 people participated in Saturday's protests across France, 18,000 o...

According to the National Command and Control Center, Corona's positive case rate is 3.6 percent, while 604 patients are in critical condition. According to the NCOC, 49,658 COVID-19 were tested in one day while a total of 325 patients recovered from the deadly disease. During the first 24 hours, 310,114 people were vaccinated against the deadly corona virus, while 76,192 people were vaccinated. Corona rate in Lahore was recorded at more than 5%. More than 26 female students of Nursing College Lahore fell victim to corona. In Karachi, 938 more corona patients have been confirmed in the last 24 hours. from Health - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/31FQrQP https://ift.tt/332Sa3h admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) https://ift.tt/31FQrQP

The James Webb Space Telescope completed its two-week-long deployment phase on Saturday, unfolding the final mirror panel as it readies to study every phase of cosmic history. Engineering teams cheered back at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) announced on Twitter that the final wing was deployed. “I'm emotional about it — what an amazing milestone,” Thomas Zurbuchen, a senior Nasa engineer, said during the live video feed as stargazers worldwide celebrated. Because the telescope was too large to fit into a rocket's nose cone in its operational configuration, it was transported folded-up. Unfurling has been a complex and challenging task — the most daunting such project ever attempted, according to Nasa. “We've still got work to do,” NASA said as the wing was latched into place. “When the final latch is secure, Nasa Webb will be fully unfolded in space.” The most powerful space te...

The more infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19 appears to produce less severe disease than the globally dominant Delta strain, but should not be categorised as "mild", World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Thursday. Janet Diaz, WHO lead on clinical management, said early studies showed there was a reduced risk of hospitalisation from the variant first identified in southern Africa and Hong Kong in November compared with Delta. There appears also to be a reduced risk of severity in both younger and older people, she told a media briefing from WHO headquarters in Geneva. The remarks on the reduced risks of severe disease chime with other data, including studies from South Africa and England, although she did not give further details about the studies or ages of the cases analysed. The impact on the elderly is one of the big unanswered questions about the new variant as most of the cases studied so far have been in younger people. "While Omicron does app...

Cryptocurrency-linked crime surged to a record high last year in terms of value, with illegal addresses receiving $14 billion in digital currencies, up 79% from $7.8 billion in 2020, according to a blog from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis released on Thursday. As of early 2022, Chainalysis said illicit addresses already hold over $10 billion worth of cryptocurrencies, with the majority of this held by wallets associated with crypto theft. Illicit addresses are defined as wallets tied to criminal activities such as ransomware, Ponzi schemes and scams. That said, illicit activities' share of total crypto transaction volume remained low at just 0.15% in 2021. Total transaction volume surged to $15.8 trillion last year, up more than 550% from 2020 levels. Chainalysis, however, said the 0.15% figure could still rise as the firm identifies more addresses tied to illegal transactions and incorporates that into the total volume. In its last crypto crime report, Chainalysis had...

Germany's BioNTech and US pharma giant Pfizer, which together developed a COVID-19 vaccine in record time, said Wednesday they are working on a shingles shot using the same mRNA technology. Moderna meanwhile announced it had dosed its first volunteer for a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), the cause of mononucleosis. The three companies are leveraging the same mRNA technology they used to develop highly successful COVID-19 vaccines towards other diseases, in a potential breakthrough moment for modern medicine. Pfizer and BioNTech signed a partnership deal and are aiming for clinical trials to start in the second half of 2022, they said in a joint statement. "The collaboration aims to develop a new mRNA-based vaccine against shingles, leveraging the expertise and resources of both companies," said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech. The messenger RNA method made its debut with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which was the first jab against C...

More evidence is emerging that the Omicron coronavirus variant is affecting the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms than previous variants, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday. "We are seeing more and more studies pointing out that Omicron is infecting the upper part of the body. Unlike the other ones, that could cause severe pneumonia," WHO Incident Manager Abdi Mahamud told Geneva-based journalists, saying it could be "good news". However, he added that Omicron's high transmissibility means it will become dominant within weeks in many places, posing a threat in countries where a high portion of the population remains unvaccinated. His remarks on the reduced risks of severe disease chime with other data including a study from South Africa which was one of the first countries where Omicron was detected. However, Mahamud also sounded a note of caution, calling South Africa an "outlier" since it has a young population ...

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is likely to post a record fourth-quarter profit thanks to solid demand for server memory chips and higher margins in contract manufacturing, analysts' estimates showed. Operating profit for the world's biggest memory chip and smartphone maker likely hit 15.2 trillion won ($12.7 billion) in the quarter ended December, according to a Refinitiv SmartEstimate from 14 analysts, weighted toward those who are more consistently accurate. That would be up 68% from 9.05 trillion won a year earlier and narrowly beat the previous Q4 record profit of 15.15 trillion won reported in 2017. Samsung Electronics' shares have climbed about 12% in the last two months in anticipation of higher memory chip prices this year, boosted by new data centres and demand for videos, games, conferencing and other streaming services. "Contrary to previous concerns, the semiconductor industry is likely to see demand increase significantly from customers in both memory a...

Apple Inc on Monday become the first company to hit a $3 trillion stock market value, before ending the day a hair below that milestone, as investors bet the iPhone maker will keep launching best-selling products as it explores new markets such as automated cars and virtual reality. On the first day of trading in 2022, the Silicon Valley company's shares hit an intraday record high of $182.88, putting Apple's market value just above $3tr. The stock ended the session up 2.5 per cent at $182.01, with Apple's market capitalization at $2.99tr. The world's most valuable company reached the milestone as investors bet that consumers will continue to shell out top dollar for iPhones, MacBooks and services such as Apple TV and Apple Music. "It's a fantastic accomplishment and certainly worthy to be celebrated," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "It just shows you how far Apple has come, and how d...

French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Sunday the isolation period for fully vaccinated people who test positive for COVID-19 would be cut to seven days from 10 days. French authorities followed other countries such as the United States, which this week cut the isolation period to prevent disruptions in industries for lack of staff. "This isolation could be lifted after five days in case of a negative test. Those who are not vaccinated will have to self-isolate for 10 days, with a possibility to come out of isolation after seven days under the same terms", Veran told newspaper le Journal du Dimanche published on Sunday. He also said the new COVID-19 Omicron variant was too contagious to be stopped unless a "strict lockdown" was re-imposed. In his New Year's Eve address, French President Emmanuel Macron said the next few weeks would be difficult but he stopped short of imposing new restrictive measures to contain the virus. "We will remain vigil...

Ngram is a tool launched by Google in 2009 as part of Google Books, aiming to show how words and phrases have been used and developed in literature and books over time. The data goes back to the 1800s and is updated to the current year, revealing how old popular words have slowly come back and become popular within society. This year, according to Google's The Keyword, 'The new normal' has been the most used phrase. The phrase dates back to the mid 19th century but had faded away with time until recently when the world affairs changed completely. Another popular word of this year, as noted by the author, is 'vaccine' whose popularity has risen and fallen since the 1800s with respect to outbreaks of epidemics. The word had slightly fallen off until 2019 and has started faring ever since. 'Hybrid' is another popular yet old word that has slowly risen and spiked in the 1980s. Even though the word's meaning hasn't changed, the situations it has been...

Pakistan has started Covid-19 booster dose for all people who are over 30 years old. National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), in a tweet, announced that citizens over 30 years will be eligible for booster dose of their choice. However, the booster will be administered after 6 months gap from last dose. Amid rising threat of Omicron variant of coronavirus, the forum has also urged people to follow SOPs, wear mask and ensure complete vaccination if eligible. On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 2 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 1,297,235. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 28,943 on Monday. According to the latest figures by the NCOC, 708 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. from Health - SUCH TV https://ift.tt/3EMM0kI https://ift.tt/3zloM3T admin.web@suchtv.pk (Web Desk) https://ift.tt/3EMM0kI