भारतीय रोज़ नई ख़बरें – Page 2 – भारतीय रोज़ न्यूज़ भारत की सबसे अधिकारपूर्ण, समय पर और विश्वसनीय समाचार सलाहकार वेबसाइट है

Ceasefire talks advance as Hamas delegation engages in Cairo

A senior Hamas official said on Friday that a delegation will arrive in Cairo on May 4 to negotiate a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

According to the official, the Hamas delegation, upon arriving, will respond in writing to Israel’s latest proposals for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of detainees. Various Egyptian government sources also confirmed this and said the Egyptian side would meet with Hamas to discuss the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations.

Displaced Palestinians shelter from the sun beside a makeshift tent at a camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, May 3, 2024. /CFP

In a statement, Hamas officials said they had recently examined the negotiated agreement and are committed to reaching an agreement that would benefit Palestinians.

Local media reported that it demonstrated Hamas’s “positive spirit” towards the negotiations.

Israel gave Hamas a week to accept the ceasefire agreement proposal or it would begin a military operation in Rafah, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an Egyptian official.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a ground offensive in Rafah will proceed regardless of any potential truce deal with Hamas.

Children sit on the ruins of a building in Sheikh Zayed City, Gaza, May 3, 2024. /CFP

Türkiye halts trade with Israel

Türkiye said on Friday it will not resume trade with Israel, worth $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza, becoming the first of Israel’s key commercial partners to take such a step.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media following the Friday noon prayer in Istanbul, Türkiye, May 3, 2024. /CFP

Israel’s “uncompromising attitude” and the worsening situation in Gaza’s Rafah region prompted Ankara to halt all exports and imports, Omer Bolat, Türkiye’s trade minister, said.

Following Türkiye’s decision, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday it would work towards reducing economic connection between Türkiye and the West Bank and Gaza.

Additionally, the ministry said it would take action in international economic forums to explore sanctions against Türkiye for violating trade agreements, create an alternative list of partners for the Israeli economy across various sectors and products, and support affected Israeli export sectors.

A displaced Palestinian woman shelters from the sun beside a makeshift tent at a camp in Rafah, southern Gaza, May 3, 2024. /CFP

Prominent Gazan doctor dies in Israeli prison

A senior Palestinian doctor died in an Israeli prison after more than four months of detention, two Palestinian prisoner associations said on Thursday, blaming Israel for his death.

The associations said in a joint statement that Adnan Al-Bursh, head of orthopedics at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, had been detained by Israeli forces while temporarily working at Al-Awada Hospital in north Gaza.

The death of a prominent Gazan doctor in Israeli custody has heightened concerns over the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

An Israeli incursion into the southern city of Rafah in Gaza could lead to a “slaughter” and worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in the region, the UN’s humanitarian office and health agency warned on Friday.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Al-Bursh’s death raises the number of medical sector workers killed by Israel since October 7 to 496. It added that 1,500 others had been wounded, while 309 had been arrested.

Only 33 percent of Gaza’s 36 hospitals and 30 percent of primary health care centers are partially functional amid repeated attacks and shortages of vital medical supplies, fuel and staff, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

WHO is making contingency plans to ensure the health system can continue providing care, but these plans would only be a “band-aid,” said Richard Peeperkorn, representative in WHO’s office for the West Bank and Gaza.

With more than 1.2 million people crammed into Rafah, the city’s ailing health system could not withstand the potential devastation if Israel launches an incursion into the region, Peeperkorn said.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza would be at imminent risk of death in case of an assault, warned Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at a press briefing on Friday in Geneva.

(With input from agencies)

Rains in southern Brazil kill at least 39, some 70 still missing

Aerial view shows a flooded area of Capela de Santana, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, May 2, 2024. /CFP

Heavy rains battering Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed 39 people, local authorities said on Friday, and the death toll is expected to rise as dozens still have not been accounted for.

Rio Grande do Sul’s civil defense authority said 68 people were still missing and at least 24,000 had been displaced as the storms affected more than half of the 497 cities in the state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.

Source(s): Reuters

Conference promotes Emei martial arts legacy

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The 4th Emei Martial Arts Inheritance Conference kicked off with a bang on April 29 in the Mount Emei Scenic Area in Sichuan Province. From Emei Spear to Emei Sword, Emei Fist, and beyond, practitioners young and old showcased their prowess. Let’s salute these fierce warriors!

Labour Day: Who are the ‘model workers’ in the animal world?

The 1st of May, or first Monday in May, is a national public holiday in many countries commonly known as “International Workers’ Day.” But humans aren’t the only workers on Earth.

Worker bees swarm outside a hive at an apiary in Kuwait City, February 5, 2024. /CFP

The life of a worker bee can be divided into three stages. The main responsibility of the youngest is to raise larvae. In this stage they are called nurse bees. When worker bees enter the youth stage, their glands begin to secrete beeswax and they become responsible for building the nest and collecting honey. When the worker bees stop secreting beeswax, they become full-time foragers.

Ants show off their super strength as they each hold colorful fruits while balanced on the stem of a plant. /CFP

Ants are social insects with a clear and orderly division of labor. Worker ants are mainly responsible for building nests. They are strong, safe and intricate constructions. In addition to this, worker ants must constantly forage for food, defend their homes, and take care of both the larvae and queens.

Baya Weavers, native birds across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, fly while building nests at a park in Navi Mumbai on August 2, 2022. /CFP

Weaver birds are the master architects of the animal kingdom. Although they are small in size, they are very powerful at building! When constructing a nest, some are responsible for commanding and assigning tasks, while others are responsible for specific areas of construction. All the birds work hard to complete their tasks. They use grass, leaves or branches to build residential areas that can accommodate hundreds.

A beaver swims in Napa Creek, July 19, 2023, Napa, Calif. /CFP

Beavers also have a unique knack for building dams. When they move to a new river, they build dams first. They chew up small trees, drag them to their destination, and then fill the trunks with mud, stones and twigs. This dam will block the water flow and form a small pond where they then build a nest. This can help them hide from natural predators, allowing them to thrive safely.

Generation Z Exploring diverse paths of ambition

LIANG GUOXIU/CHINA DAILY

Over a century ago, Chen Duxiu (1879-1942), one of the key founders of the Communist Party of China, likened youth to early spring, the morning sun, the budding of countless flowers, and a sharp blade freshly honed on a whetstone. He referred to youth as the most valuable phase of life.

Fast forward to today, where the current generation of youth has truly entered an era of profuse blooming, as evidenced by the many members of Generation Z (those born after 1995 and into the 2000s) who have joined the workforce, thereby becoming the backbone of our society, each person playing a unique societal role in their own ways.

Automation adds new flavors to catering biz

A robot serves tea to visitors during a tea expo in Beijing in April. [WU CHANGQING/FOR CHINA DAILY]

China’s pursuit of new quality productive forces, which are characterized by innovation, digitalization and high-end technology, is injecting new momentum into the country’s catering industry.

Evidence of this was found on a recent morning at the entrance/exit of Niujie subway station in Beijing, where a pancake vending machine busily made and served jianbing (savory pancakes). Passengers, passersby and local residents lined up to place orders using the machine’s screen and scanned the QR code to pay.

After payment was done, a pancake-making robot at the back of the vending machine automatically spread the pancake, added a fried egg, turned the pancake over, dabbed the sauce using a brush and added the seasoning. Some three minutes later, the hot pancake was packed into a bag and delivered to the consumer. The entire process is automated.

“The jianbing tastes fine, almost like the handmade ones,” said a consumer. “But there are places where the sauce is not evenly spread.”

By 11 am, the pancakes were all sold out and a staff member appeared on the scene to carry out maintenance work on the machine.

“The pancake vending machine is still in trial operations, and the daily yield rate is limited. The pancake-making robot can analyze and learn from existing data after work every day. When the vending machine is officially put into full-fledged use, it should be capable of making 400 pancakes a day,” said the staff member.

Easier to spread? A new form of mpox found in Congo’s biggest outbreak

A family nurse practitioner prepares a syringe with the mpox vaccine for inoculating a patient at a vaccination site in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., August 30, 2022. /AP file photo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is struggling to contain its biggest mpox outbreak, and scientists said a new form of the disease detected in a mining town might more easily spread among people.

Since January, the country has reported more than 4,500 suspected mpox cases and nearly 300 deaths, numbers that have roughly tripled from the same period last year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The DRC recently declared the outbreak across the country a health emergency.

An analysis of patients hospitalized between October and January in Kamituga, eastern DRC, suggests recent genetic mutations in mpox are the result of its continued transmission in humans; it’s happening in a town where people have little contact with the wild animals thought to naturally carry the disease.

“We’re in a new phase of mpox,” said Dr Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, the lead researcher of the study, who said it will soon be submitted to a journal for publication. Mbala-Kingebeni heads a lab at the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research, which studies the genetics of diseases.

The lesions reported by most patients are milder and on the genitals, Mbala-Kingebeni said, making the disease trickier to diagnose. In previous outbreaks in Africa, lesions were mostly seen on the chest, hands and feet. He also said that the new form seems to have a lower death rate.

‘Silent transmission’

In a report on the global mpox situation this week, WHO said the new version of the disease might require a new testing strategy to pick up the mutations.

With experts pointing out that fewer than half of people with mpox in the DRC are tested, Mbala-Kingebeni said: “The risk is that unless patients themselves come forward, we will have a silent transmission of the disease and nobody will know.”

Mbala-Kingebeni said most people were infected via sex, with about a third of mpox cases found in sex workers. It was not until the 2022 global emergency of mpox that scientists established the disease was spread via sex, with most cases in gay or bisexual men. In November, WHO confirmed sexual transmission of mpox in the DRC for the first time.

There are two kinds, or clades, of mpox, which is related to smallpox and endemic to central and west Africa. Clade 1 is more severe and can kill up to 10 percent of people infected. Clade 2 triggered the 2022 outbreak; more than 99 percent of people infected survived.

Mbala-Kingebeni and colleagues said they have identified a new form of clade 1 that may be responsible for more than 240 cases and at least three deaths in Kamituga, a region with a significant transient population traveling elsewhere in Africa and beyond.

Dr Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases expert at Emory University who is not connected to the research, said the new mutations are concerning.

“This suggests the virus is adapting to spread efficiently in humans and could cause some pretty consequential outbreaks,” she said.

Looking for help

Although the mpox epidemics in the West were contained with the help of vaccines and treatments, barely any have been available in the DRC. The country’s minister of health has authorized the use of vaccines in high-risk provinces, said Cris Kacita Osako, coordinator of the DRC’s Monkeypox Response Committee. He said officials are in talks with donor countries like Japan to help buy the shots.

“Once a sufficient quantity of vaccines is available … vaccination will be implemented as part of the response,” Kacita Osako said.

Dr Dimie Ogoina, an mpox expert at Niger Delta University, said the new research is an unsettling reminder of an earlier – but different – outbreak.

“The notable spread among sex workers is reminiscent of the early stages of HIV,” he said, explaining that prejudices attached to treating sexually transmitted infections and the reluctance of people with mpox to come forward were worrying.

WHO’s emergencies chief, Michael Ryan, said last week that despite the ongoing spread of mpox in Africa and elsewhere, “there has not been a single donor dollar invested.”

Source(s): AP

Han Dynasty exhibition marks 75th anniversary of Hungary-China ties

An exhibition featuring artifacts from China’s Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D.), jointly organized by the Shanghai Museum, the Xuzhou Museum, and the Chengdu Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, is currently being held at the Szent Istvan Kiraly Museum in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary.

An undated photo shows an artifact collected by the Shanghai Museum, currently on display at the Szent Istvan Kiraly Museum in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. /CFP

Featuring a collection of over 100 pieces or sets of artifacts – including jade, lacquerware, pottery, bronzeware, seals, stone carvings, and coins – the exhibition offers Hungarian audiences a multidimensional insight into the political, economic, social life, cultural arts, and ritual beliefs of the Han Dynasty. The exhibition also explores the continuity of Chinese civilization and the historical exchanges between East and West.

An undated photo shows a jade burial suit from the Han Dynasty, collected by the Xuzhou Museum, currently on display at the Szent Istvan Kiraly Museum in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. /CFP

At the exhibition, several exquisite Western Han (202 B.C.- 25A.D.) lacquerware pieces from the Shanghai Museum are displayed. An interactive corridor dedicated to the history and culture of the Han Dynasty and Chinese characters has been set up, providing Hungarian visitors with background knowledge about the exhibition, thus deepening their understanding and appreciation of ancient Chinese art and culture.

An undated photo shows the view of the Shanghai Museum in China. /CFP

The Shanghai Museum has been one of the most dedicated museum institutions for international exchanges and cooperation, serving as a crucial window for the world to see China, and also for China to see the world. In 2023, the first stop of this exhibition tour in Szeged, Hungary, was a tremendous success, attracting over fifty thousand visitors, with much enthusiastic feedback.

At the beginning of 2024, the exhibition moved to the historic city of Szekesfehervar, Hungary, aiming to enable more Hungarian audiences to experience the unique charm of Chinese culture and art and further promoting the dissemination of traditional Chinese culture in Hungary.

The exhibition runs until June 28, 2024.

Take a stroll through ‘water town’ of Suzhou

Catch a glimpse of Suzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province, in this photo taken on April 26, 2024. /CGTN

Much of Suzhou incorporates murmuring tiny rivers, bridges, and homes featuring white walls and grey titles.

Suzhou is a visual expression of the culture of Jiangnan, the southern part of the Yangtze Delta.

The city embodies the unique Chinese elements with the colors of white and gray, akin to a poem sung by rivers and black-awning boats.

Celebrity chef blends French and Chinese cuisine

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Corentin Delcroix is a French chef known to many Chinese as Chef Guangtan. With his creative recipes blending French and Chinese cuisine, he has taken China’s online culinary scene by storm, capturing the hearts and palates of millions of foodies.