Latest news with #easternMediterranean
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Energy find new natural gas deposit off Cyprus
NICOSIA, Cyprus — A consortium made up of ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Energy International has made a second natural gas discovery beneath the seabed south of Cyprus , the government said Monday, a find that bolsters the region's potential as an energy exporter. New natural gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean could help Europe lessen its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons by diversifying its energy supply and help buttress a budding energy partnership between Cyprus, Greece and Israel, said John Sitilides, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and geopolitical strategist at Trilogy Advisors in Washington.
South China Morning Post
19-06-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Nimbus: the Covid-19 variant that may cause ‘razor blade throat'
The Covid-19 variant that may be driving a recent rise in cases in some parts of the world has earned a new nickname: 'razor blade throat' Covid. Advertisement That is because the variant - NB.1.8.1. or 'Nimbus' - may cause painful sore throats. The symptom has been identified by doctors in the United Kingdom, India and elsewhere, according to media outlets in those countries. Other Covid-19 symptoms of any variant include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath or loss of taste or smell. Experts have said there is not a major cause for concern with the Nimbus variant. Where the variant is spreading The rise in cases late last month is primarily in the eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and western Pacific regions, the World Health Organization said on May 28. The new variant had reached nearly 11 per cent of sequenced samples reported globally in mid-May.
Al Arabiya
18-06-2025
- Health
- Al Arabiya
What to Know About the COVID Variant Causing 'Razor Blade' Sore Throats
The COVID-19 variant that may be driving a recent rise in cases in some parts of the world has earned a new nickname: 'razor blade throat' COVID. That's because the variant–NB.1.8.1. or Nimbus–may cause painful sore throats. The symptom has been identified by doctors in the UK, India, and elsewhere, according to media outlets in those countries. Other COVID-19 symptoms of any variant include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, or loss of taste or smell. Experts say there isn't major cause for concern with the Nimbus variant, but here's what else you need to know about it. Here's where the variant causing 'razor blade throat' is spreading. The rise in cases late last month is primarily in eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and western Pacific regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said May 28. The new variant had reached nearly 11 percent of sequenced samples reported globally in mid-May. Airport screening in the US detected the new variant in travelers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia, and New York. You aren't likely to get sicker from this variant than others. Not so far, anyway. The WHO said some western Pacific countries have reported increases in COVID cases and hospitalizations, but there's nothing so far to suggest that the disease associated with the new variant is more severe compared to other variants. COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Nimbus variant. Yes. The WHO has designated Nimbus as a variant under monitoring and considers the public health risk low at the global level. Current vaccines are expected to remain effective. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last month that COVID-19 shots are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women–a move immediately questioned by public health experts.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Most bugs can't see red—but these beetles can
Most insects have evolved to see the blue, green, and even ultraviolet spectrums. But most insects have trouble parsing one hue in particular: red. Even bees and other pollinators that visit traditionally vibrant poppies aren't attracted by the visible coloration, but by the UV light reflected from their petals. Now, an international zoology team has discovered that some insect species can manage to see what their relatives cannot. According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, at least two beetle species living in the eastern Mediterranean environments can actually see red. 'To our knowledge, we are the first to have experimentally demonstrated that beetles can actually perceive the color red,' said Johnnes Spaethe, paper co-author and chair of zoology at Germany's University of Würzburg. Both Pygopleurus chrysonotus and Pygopleurus syriacus are small, fuzzy beetles that belong to the Glaphyridae family, and mostly feed on pollen from red flowering plants like buttercups, anemones, and poppies. This led researchers to wonder how they developed their preferences. The team utilized a number of methods to determine the two beetles weren't traveling to the red flowers simply due to a UV sensory situation similar to bees. After using a combination of color trapping, behavioral experiments, and electrophysiology, Spaethe and colleagues clearly showed each species includes four types of photoreceptors in their retinas. Aside from UV light, the bugs are able to process blues, greens, and deep reds—although field observations indicated the insects used true color vision to identify and visit red flowers.'The prevailing opinion in science is that flower colors have adapted to the visual systems of pollinators over the course of evolution,' explained Spaethe. The team's latest findings may complicate this theory, however. In addition to Pygopleurus, two other genera in the larger beetle family (Eulasia and Glaphyrus) display widely different color preferences including red, white, violet, and yellow. This suggests the ability to see red—as well as nature's many other colors—may be relatively more malleable than previously thought.
Washington Post
28-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
A new variant of COVID-19 may be driving up cases in some parts of the world, WHO says
COVID-19 cases are rising again as a new variant begins to circulate in some parts of the world. The World Health Organization said Wednesday the rise in cases is primarily in the eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and western Pacific regions. Airport screening in the United States has detected the new variant in travelers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia and New York.
