survival | Common News Update

Jan202021 by adminNo Comments

Pressure mounts on UK and France to agree on financial aid for Eurostar as it fights for survival

Business

Pressure is mounting on the UK and French governments to agree financial aid for Eurostar, the cross-Channel rail operator, as it fights for survival.The company admitted late last year that the continuing COVID-19 crisis, which has forced it to slash services from a normal level of more than 50 trains a day to just four, had taken a 95% toll on its revenues. It appealed at the time for UK government aid, arguing that it was being treated unfairly as airports had secured tax relief to help them cope with the collapse in demand for overseas travel. Image: Eurostar currently runs a daily train in each direction between London and Paris and London and Amsterdam via Brussels Eurostar is majority-owned by the French state rail firm SNCF - ...

Aug152020 by adminNo Comments

Venezuelans brave open sea on tubes, fishing for survival

World

Venezuelans desperate to feed their families amid the coronavirus pandemic are heading out to the open sea on inner tubes armed with a hook and lineBy MATIAS DELACROIX and JUAN PABLO ARRÁEZ Associated PressAugust 15, 2020, 9:30 PM3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleLA GUAIRA, Venezuela -- The biggest fear is a fishhook puncturing the inner tube that keeps them afloat far from shore. Then come sharks grabbing their catch and maybe biting their legs. And the current that threatens to pull them out to sea. A small but growing number of people in the coastal town of La Guaira, just a few minutes from the capital of Caracas, have turned to the sea for sustenance since the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down the Caribbean nation’s already miserable economy. "If we had stead...

Dec92019 by adminNo Comments

Grandmother killer whales boost survival of calves

Science

Grandmother killer whales boost the survival rates of their grandchildren, a new study has said.The survival rates were even higher if the grandmother had already gone through the menopause.The findings shed valuable light on the mystery of the menopause, or why females of some species live long after they lose the ability to reproduce.Only five known animals experience it: killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, belugas, narwhals and humans.With humans, there is some evidence that human grandmothers aid in the survival of their children and grandchildren, a hypothesis called the "grandmother effect".These findings suggest the same effect occurs in orcas."If a grandmother dies, in the years following her death, her grand-offsp...

Sep272019 by adminNo Comments

Study: Cancer drug may cause metabolic imbalance, shorter survival

Health

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- A new study suggests that the cancer drug nivolumab, a checkpoint blocker drug, may trigger a metabolic imbalance in patients treated with the drug. This imbalance, researchers say in the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, may trigger resistance to immunotherapy agents, leading to shorter overall survival times. For the study, scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, collaborating with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, analyzed blood samples from three independent immunotherapy trials. The analysis was designed to measure changes in chemicals involved in the body's metabolic reactions. Researchers found that 78 percent of melanoma patients experienced an increase in the tryptophan to kynurenine conversion, and 26.5 percent showing increa...

Sep172019 by adminNo Comments

Netanyahu fights for political survival as Israel goes to the polls

World

Israelis have begun voting in their second general election of 2019, which will decide if long-time leader Benjamin Netanyahu can stay in power despite corruption allegations.Mr Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history, and is looking for his fourth consecutive term in office. He was prime minister from June 1996 until July 1999 and has held the post since March 2009. The election comes amid heightened tensions in the gulf after Saudi Arabia's biggest oil facilities were attacked, with Iran being blamed. Tehran denies the claim. Image: Israelis are voting in their second election of the year The Knesset, or parliament, voted to dissolve itself in May, just one month after the election, because nobody co...