A team of Canadian scientists may have discovered the first case of deer spreading the coronavirus to humans, according to a new preprint study that hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed. Typically, humans spread the virus to deer, and then deer spread it to other deer. But new evidence suggests that the virus could spill over from deer into humans. The researchers identified a COVID-19 case in someone from Ontario who had recently been in contact with deer.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has declared that it will suspend the country’s “observer” status at its facilities and freeze new agreements with Russian scientific institutes. The 23 member states of CERN resolved to discontinue all collaboration with Russia at a meeting of the CERN Council, following a request from Ukrainian scientists. CERN also stated that it will support “initiatives to support Ukrainian collaborators and Ukrainian scientific activity in the field of high-energy physics.”
Roskosmos, in full Russian Federal Space Agency, Russian Federalnoye Kosmicheskoye Agentsvo, Russian government organization founded in 1992 that is responsible for managing the Russian space program.
The first person to receive a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig has died two months after the medical milestone, the hospital that carried out the surgery said on 9 March 2022. The procedure raised hopes that advances in cross-species organ donation could one day solve the chronic shortage of human organs available for donation, and the team behind the operation says they still remain optimistic about its future success. David Bennett, 57, received his transplant on Jan 7 and passed away on March 8, the University of Maryland Medical System said in a statement.
Iran claimed responsibility for a missile strike on March 13, 2022, on the northern Iraqi city of Arbil
, saying it targeted an Israeli strategic center and warning of more attacks. Authorities in Iraq`s autonomous Kurdish region said 12 ballistic missiles rained down on Arbil in a pre-dawn cross-border attack targeting US interests that slightly wounded two civilians and caused material damage.
Mohammad Rizwan’s stunning and consistent performance earned him another rich reward when he was adjudged the Player of HBL PSL 7. Rizwan remained a reliable top-order batter for Multan Sultans when he finished the tournament with 546 runs at a strike rate of 126.68 and inspired his side to the final after winning nine out of 10 league matches. Rizwan also collected the Wicketkeeper of the HBL PSL 2022 award. In 12 matches, he accounted for nine batters behind the stumps. Earlier in the year, Rizwan was declared the Most Valuable Cricketer as well as T20I Cricketer as part of the PCB Awards 2021.
Canada became the first country in the world that have authorized the use of a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine. The two-dose vaccine of Medicago Inc. (a biopharma company owned by Mitsubishi Chemical and Philip Morris), can be given to adults who are aged between 18 to 64, but little data is available on the shots received by people aged 65 and above.
European External Action Service (‘EEAS’) announced a joint declaration by the EU, Australia, Comoros, India, Japan, Mauritius, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. The ‘Declaration on Privacy and the protection of personal data’-Strengthening trust in the digital environment aim to improve international cooperation to promote high data protection and privacy standards.
The 2021-2022 elections in Palestine’s municipalities and local authorities were divided into two phases according to a decision taken by the Palestinian Authority (PA) Council of Ministers. The first round of voting took place on 11 December 2021, in 376, mostly rural, local authorities in the West Bank. The second round place occurred on 26 March 2022 and include the remaining 66 local authorities in Gaza and larger municipalities in the West Bank. Independent candidates dominated the Palestinian local elections, winning 64 percent of seats, up from just 37 percent five years ago, according to official results released on March 27, 2022.
North Korea likely has more in store after successfully test-firing its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile this week, a top White House official said on March 25, 2022. The missile reportedly flew for 1,090km (681 miles) to a maximum altitude of 6,248.5km (3,905 miles) and hit a target in the sea. The Hwasong-17 is the largest liquid-fuelled missile ever launched by any country from a road-mobile launcher, analysts said.
Six Pakistani peacekeeper were martyred in the Democratic Republic of Congo on March 28, 2022, when rebels shot down a United Nations helicopter. One Russian and one Serbian peacekeeper also died in the crash. The helicopter was among two carrying out reconnaissance for the UN mission in DR Congo, according to a statement by the country`s army on Tuesday. Those on the helicopter were assessing the movements of communities that had been attacked by a rebel group in order to coordinate humanitarian assistance. The M23 rebel group attacked several villages in DR Congo`s east, according to the statement.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
launched the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite GOES-T satellite. It was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. GOES-T is the latest spacecraft of the GOES- R series. It will be used by the researchers to study Earth’s weather and climate.
5th BIMSTEC Summit on 30 March 2022 which is being held in virtual mode, will be hosted by Sri Lanka, the current BIMSTEC chair. To prepare for the Summit, meetings of BIMSTEC Senior Officials (SOM) will take place on 28 March 2022 followed by meetings of the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers (BMM) on 29 March 2022. The Covid pandemic-related challenges, and the uncertainties within the international system that all BIMSTEC members are facing, imparts greater urgency to the goal of taking BIMSTEC technical and economic cooperation to the next level. This is expected to be the main subject of deliberations by Leaders at the Summit. Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand brings together 1.5 billion people – 21% of the world population, and a combined GDP of over US$ 2.5 trillion.
