World News
The European Union continues to consult on possible measures targeting Chinese tourists
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Eva Deschamps / December 30, 2022
European Union member states met Thursday with the European Commission to discuss possible Covid precautionary measures for tourists arriving from China.
Beginning January 8, China will once again issue visas to its nationals who wish to travel abroad. The easing follows Beijing’s decision to abandon its “zero Covid” policy, practiced since early 2020, in the face of growing public anger. It triggered a rush of international flights after three years of isolation. However, the abrupt abandonment of the “zero Covid” policy is accompanied by a major wave of contamination in China.
Several countries such as the United States, Italy, Japan and South Korea have already announced that they will require a negative Covid test for Chinese tourists entering their territory.
In Belgium, such a measure is not on the agenda, Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) said Wednesday: there are no indications of new variants in China and the Belgian population is well protected against the current variants thanks to vaccination and immunity from previous infections, according to the cabinet.
Belgium is therefore looking to Europe. At this level, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) maintains its assessment of the situation and advocates against travel restrictions. Belgium was also expecting a meeting this morning of the EU Health Security Committee, where the health ministries of the EU and European Economic Area countries meet under the presidency of the Commission, but this consultative body agreed to continue the consultation.
In a tweet, the Commission stressed the “crucial” importance of coordinating national responses to serious cross-border health threats. “We must act jointly and will continue our discussions.”
In Italy, no new Covid variants have been detected at this stage in travelers arriving from China. Travelers testing positive are carrying Omicron variants already present in Italy, according to the government.
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World News
At least 63 employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees killed in Gaza

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Eva Deschamps / October 31, 2023
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 63 employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have already lost their lives in the Gaza Strip. Ten aid workers have been killed in the last 72 hours, according to this new toll released by the agency on its website on Monday.
At least 22 UNRWA staff were also injured. Since October 7, 44 UNRWA facilities have also been destroyed. Of its 22 health centers, only nine are still operational, the UN agency said, warning that the provision of health care is made even more difficult by the very low fuel supply.
The UN agency had previously reported that several of its warehouses had been looted. “Due to the very limited aid available and overcrowded shelters, growing tensions are being reported within the displaced communities,” it stressed. Some 672,000 refugees are living in 149 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip, “in increasingly difficult conditions”. “The ability to provide vital assistance was further hampered by the 36-hour communications blackout between October 27 and 29”, UNRWA added.
In all, an estimated 1.4 million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip. Over 120,000 of them have taken refuge in public buildings such as hospitals and schools.
“The aid currently available is insufficient to meet the most basic needs of displaced people and the communities hosting them”, warns the UN agency.
World News
Mouse embryos grown in space for the first time

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Sylvie Claire / October 31, 2023
This research into mammal reproduction in space could prove crucial for future solar system exploration missions.
Mouse embryos were grown on board the International Space Station (ISS) and developed normally, according to a Japanese study published in the scientific journal “iScience” on Saturday, October 28.
This is “the very first study to show that mammals might be able to thrive in space”, claim Yamanashi University and the Riken National Research Institute.
The researchers, including Teruhiko Wakayama, a professor at Yamanashi University’s Center for Advanced Biotechnology, and a team from the Japanese space agency Jaxa, sent frozen mouse embryos aboard a rocket to the ISS in August 2021. The astronauts thawed the embryos at an early stage, using a specially designed device, and cultured them on board the station for four days.
The experiment “clearly demonstrated that gravity had no significant effect”, noted the researchers. After analyzing the blastocysts (cells that develop into fetuses and placentas) that were returned to their laboratories on Earth, they observed no particular changes in the state of DNA and genes.
“In the future, it will be necessary to transplant blastocysts grown in microgravity on the ISS into mice to see if the mice can give birth,” in order to confirm that the blastocysts are normal, say Yamanashi University and the Riken Institute.
This research could prove crucial for future space exploration and colonization missions. As part of its Artemis program, NASA plans to send humans back to the Moon to learn how to live there in the long term, and to prepare for a trip to Mars in the late 2030s.
World News
Bobi, the world’s oldest dog, died aged 31

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Steph Deschamps / October 25, 2023
The world’s oldest dog died last weekend in Portugal. Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro de l’Alentejo, was 31 years and 165 days old, reports the British public broadcaster BBC on Monday.
Last February, Bobi entered the Guinness Book of Records as not only the oldest living dog, but also the oldest dog of all time.
The old record had been held for almost 100 years by Bluey from Australia. He died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.
Bobi has spent his entire life with the Costa family in the village of Conqueiros, near the west coast of Portugal.