Trial of COVID-19 blood plasma finds no benefit in severely ill patients

FILE PHOTO: Blood collection specialist Kathryn Severson holds a bag of convalescent plasma from a recovered coronavirus patient at the Central Seattle Donor Center of Bloodworks Northwest during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global outbreak, in Seattle, Washington, U.S. September 2, 2020. Photo Courtesy: Reuters

LONDON (Reuters): An international trial testing convalescent blood plasma on COVID-19 patients with moderate and severe illness has halted enrolment of severely ill COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care after it found no benefit, trial investigators said on Monday. “There was no evidence of harm associated with the administration of convalescent plasma” (and) the trial is… Continue reading Trial of COVID-19 blood plasma finds no benefit in severely ill patients

UK ramps up vaccine rollout, targets every adult by autumn

FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 file photo, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson watches as nurse Rebecca Cathersides administers the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to Lyn Wheeler at Guy's Hospital in London. Britain races to vaccinate more than 15 million people by mid-February, and in an effort to ensure vaccines get to the right places at the right times, along with the syringes, alcohol swabs and protective equipment needed to administer them, the government has called in the army. Photo Courtesy: AP

LONDON (AP): Britain’s health secretary said Sunday that every adult in the country will be offered a COVID-19 vaccine by the autumn as the U.K. ramps up its mass vaccination program amid a huge surge of infections and hospital admissions. More than 600,000 people age 80 and over will begin receiving invitations this week to… Continue reading UK ramps up vaccine rollout, targets every adult by autumn

Indonesian divers find parts of plane wreckage in Java Sea

An investigator of Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee inspects parts of Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 that crashed in the waters off Java Island, at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Indonesian rescuers pulled out body parts, pieces of clothing and scraps of metal from the Java Sea early Sunday morning, a day after the Boeing 737-500 with dozens of people onboard crashed shortly after takeoff from Jakarta, officials said.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP): Authorities said they determined the location of the crash site and black boxes of a Boeing 737-500 on Sunday, a day after the aircraft crashed into the Java Sea with 62 people on board shortly after taking off from Indonesia’s capital. The head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, Bagus Puruhito,… Continue reading Indonesian divers find parts of plane wreckage in Java Sea

New Zealand central bank says data system hacked

FILE - In this May 8, 2019, file photo, New Zealand's Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr speaks to the media in Wellington, New Zealand. New Zealand's central bank said, Sunday Jan. 10, 2021, that one of its data systems has been breached by an unidentified hacker who has potentially accessed commercially and personally sensitive information. Photo Courtesy: AP

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP): New Zealand’s central bank said Sunday that one of its data systems has been breached by an unidentified hacker who potentially accessed commercially and personally sensitive information. A third party file sharing service used by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to share and store sensitive information had been illegally accessed,… Continue reading New Zealand central bank says data system hacked

2nd GOP senator now urges Trump to resign over Capitol riot

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., speaks during a Congressional Oversight Commission hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday Dec. 10, 2020 (Alex Wong/Pool via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP): Two Republican senators now say President Donald Trump should resign as support for the drive to impeach him a second time is gaining momentum in his final days in office after the deadly riot at the Capitol by a violent mob of Trump supporters. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday joined Alaska… Continue reading 2nd GOP senator now urges Trump to resign over Capitol riot

National Assembly ended with a four-day meeting

Photo Courtesy: Rastriya Samachar Samiti

Kathmandu: The winter session of the National Assembly has come to an end. The winter session of the National Assembly had started on January 1 this year. The meeting has been held for four days in a period of 10 days. The duration of the meeting was seven hours and five minutes, said National Assembly… Continue reading National Assembly ended with a four-day meeting

Nepal Electricity Authority ask govt for free frequencies

Kathmandu: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has demanded free frequency from the government for the use of smart meters. NEA has demanded a frequency of 395 to 400 MHz band to bring the data of the customer’s connected smart meter to the data center of the authority. NEA needs radio frequency to bring the data of… Continue reading Nepal Electricity Authority ask govt for free frequencies

Nepali cricketers were not included in any of PSL teams

Kathmandu: No franchise team of Pakistan Super League (PSL) has signed a Nepali player this year. Leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, captain Gyanendra Malla, Paras Khadka and 10 other Nepali players were included in the draft. Sandeep was in the most expensive category Platinum while the other nine players were in the Silver category. But in… Continue reading Nepali cricketers were not included in any of PSL teams

Twitter bans Trump, citing risk of violent incitement

This Friday, Jan. 8, 2021 image shows the suspended Twitter account of President Donald Trump. On Friday, the social media company permanently suspended Trump from its platform, citing "risk of further incitement of violence." Photo Courtesy: AP

(AP): Twitter banned President Donald Trump’s account Friday, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence” following the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Twitter has long given Trump and other world leaders broad exemptions from its rules against personal attacks, hate speech and other behaviors. But in a detailed explanation posted on… Continue reading Twitter bans Trump, citing risk of violent incitement

Indonesia jet carrying 62 goes missing on domestic flight

This radar image shows the flight path of Indonesian Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 before it dropped off radar, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. The Sriwijaya Air passenger jet carrying 62 people lost contact with air traffic controllers after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on Saturday on a domestic flight, officials said. Photo Courtesy: AP

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP): A Sriwijaya Air passenger jet carrying 62 people lost contact with air traffic controllers after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on Saturday on a domestic flight, officials said. Indonesian Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said the Boeing 737-500 took off from Jakarta at about 1:56 p.m. and lost contact with the control… Continue reading Indonesia jet carrying 62 goes missing on domestic flight