Author: Gulf News Week

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The Food and Drug Administration will consider whether to approve Moderna’s new flu vaccine after all, resolving a dispute that had blocked the company’s application for the first-of-its-kind shot.Moderna announced the change Wednesday, about a week after revealing that the FDA’s vaccine chief was refusing to review the new vaccine, made with Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology.The dispute centered over a 40,000-person clinical trial that concluded Moderna’s new vaccine was more effective in adults aged 50 and older than one of the standard flu shots used today. In the FDA’s rare “refusal to file” letter, vaccine director…

NASA’s new boss blasted Boeing and the space agency Thursday for Starliner’s botched flight that left two astronauts stuck for months at the International Space Station. Administrator Jared Isaacman said poor leadership and decision-making at Boeing led to Starliner’s troubles. He also blamed NASA managers for failing to intervene and get Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back more quickly. The two test pilots, now retired from NASA, spent more than nine months at the station before catching a lift back with SpaceX last March. Isaacman said Starliner’s problems must be better understood and fixed before any more astronauts strap in.In…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya will also temporarily become acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an administration official said Wednesday.The change was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the appointment hadn’t been made public.Bhattacharya will be the third leader of the embattled CDC, the nation’s top public health agency, during President Donald Trump’s second term. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly fired then-CDC Director Susan Monarez last summer, less than a month after the Senate confirmed…

NEW YORK (news agencies) — When household batteries die, it’s hard to know what to do with them. So they get shoved into a junk drawer or sheepishly thrown into the trash.But dead batteries aren’t quite finished. They can leak heavy metals like cadmium and nickel into soil and water once they reach the landfill. Some of them can also overheat and cause fires in garbage trucks and recycling centers.The good news is, safely disposing of your batteries takes just a few steps. They’ll get shipped to recycling centers that break down their contents to make new things.Battery recycling processes…

Worshippers gather under heavy military presence as hundreds of Jerusalemites barred from holy site LONDON — In a powerful display of faith amid political turmoil, approximately 50,000 Palestinian worshippers converged at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday evening to perform the Isha and Taraweeh prayers, marking the first nights of the holy month of Ramadan. The mass gathering unfolded despite stringent Israeli security measures, including military checkpoints and rigorous identity checks at the mosque’s gates, the Jerusalem Governorate reported. Worshippers navigated these obstacles to reach Islam’s third holiest site, underscoring the mosque’s enduring spiritual significance. Access denied While tens…

Islamabad says it targeted militant havens after suicide bombings; Kabul condemns ‘crime’ as 12 minors among dead in Nangarhar SHARJAH — Pakistan launched multiple air strikes inside Afghan territory overnight Sunday, killing dozens of people—including at least 12 children—in the most significant military escalation between the neighbouring countries since border clashes left more than 70 dead last October. Islamabad confirmed its forces struck seven sites along the border region in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, targeting what it described as hideouts of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), associated groups, and an Islamic State affiliate. The operation, the military said, came “in the aftermath…

Miller’s 63 and Jansen’s 4-22 headline statement win as defending champions suffer first defeat of tournament Ahmedabad — In a high-voltage rematch of the 2024 T20 World Cup final, South Africa delivered a resounding statement of intent, thrashing tournament co-hosts India by 76 runs in their Super Eight Group One clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. The Proteas not only avenged their final defeat but announced themselves as genuine title contenders in emphatic fashion, handing India their first loss of the campaign. Electing to bat first, South Africa recovered from a disastrous 20/3 to post a imposing 187/7, before…

World No. 5 draws inspiration from Flavia Pennetta, the only woman to win maiden major after turning 30 in Open Era Dubai — Jessica Pegula received an early birthday present in more ways than one. The American’s commanding 6-2, 6-4 victory over Elina Svitolina in Saturday’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final wasn’t just her third WTA 1000 title—it was a statement of intent from a player who refuses to let age define her ambitions. As Pegula prepares to turn 32 on February 24, the world No. 5 finds inspiration in an unlikely tennis footnote: Flavia Pennetta remains the sole player…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The Food and Drug Administration plans to drop its longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies to win approval for new drugs, the latest change from Trump administration officials vowing to speed up the availability of certain medical products.Going forward, the FDA’s “default position” will be to require one study for new drugs and other novel health products, FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and a top deputy, Dr. Vinay Prasad, wrote in a New England Journal of Medicine piece published Wednesday.The announcement is the latest example of Makary and his team changing longstanding FDA standards and…

Cnews agenciesE CANAVERAL, Fla. (news agencies) — Grounded until at least April, NASA’s giant moon rocket is headed back to the hangar this week for more repairs before astronauts climb aboard.The space agency said Sunday it’s targeting Tuesday for the slow, four-mile (6.4-kilometer) trek across Kennedy Space Center, weather permitting. NASA had barely finished a repeat fueling test Thursday, to ensure dangerous hydrogen fuel leaks were plugged, when another problem cropped up.This time, the rocket’s helium system malfunctioned, further delaying astronauts’ first trip to the moon in more than half a century. Engineers had just tamed the hydrogen leaks and…