Green shoots: Rooftop farming takes off in Singapore

On the rooftop of a Singapore shopping mall, a sprawling patch of eggplants, rosemary, bananas and papayas stand in colourful contrast to the grey skyscrapers of the city-state's business district.

Belgium coronavirus death toll passes 10,000

Belgium, one of the European countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, on Wednesday reported its death toll from the pandemic had surpassed 10,000.

Even before pandemic struck, more US adults were uninsured

About 2.5 million more working-age Americans were uninsured last year, even before the coronavirus pandemic struck, according to a government report issued Wednesday.

Walmart looks to airports as inspiration of new store layout

Walmart is getting inspiration from the airport terminal as it revamps the layout and signage of its stores to speed up shopping and better cater to smartphone-armed customers.

Virus-hit Shell says cutting up to 9,000 jobs by 2022

Energy major Shell unleashed Wednesday a major restructuring to combat plunging oil prices driven by the coronavirus pandemic, warning it will also spark more asset writedowns in the third quarter.

Germany puts first auto boss on trial over 'dieselgate' fraud

Five years after "dieselgate" emissions cheating revelations rocked the car industry, ex-Audi CEO Rupert Stadler on Wednesday became the first top executive to stand trial in Germany.

US capital starts to come back to life after virus shutdown

Life is slowly restarting in Washington as many major attractions, including the Washington Monument, begin to reopen after a six-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Testing drive unveiled as virus deaths pass one million

Coronavirus tests that deliver results in 15-30 minutes are to be rolled out across the United States and in scores of poorer countries, as health authorities worldwide try to get a handle on a disease that has now killed more than a million people.

New clampdowns for Montreal, Quebec City as Covid-19 cases soar

Quebec, the province hardest hit by the pandemic in Canada, on Monday reintroduced restrictions to limit the spread of the COVID-19 illness in three regions including Montreal and Quebec City.

Millions in Chile capital emerge from lockdown

Chile on Monday lifted strict coronavirus lockdown measures for millions of people in the capital Santiago, a month ahead of a key referendum to amend the dictatorship-era constitution.

Mexico ups COVID-19 'estimate' to 89,612 deaths

Mexico upped its "estimated" COVID-19 deaths to 89,612 on Monday, and boosted estimates of its total number of cases to 870,699, almost 137,000 more than it previously recognized.

Brazil revokes mangrove protections, triggering alarm

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's government on Monday revoked regulations protecting mangroves and other fragile coastal ecosystems, in a measure environmentalists condemned as a "crime" that would lead to their destruction.

Google clamps down on apps dodging Play Store 30% cut

Google said Monday it plans to start enforcing a rule requiring Android apps in its Play store to use its payment system, which takes a 30 percent cut of transactions.

Weibo parent Sina to delist US stocks in $2.6 bn deal

Chinese internet giant Sina Corp, the parent company of the country's vast Twitter-like Weibo platform, plans to delist its US shares and go private, making it the latest mainland firm to withdraw from Wall Street as relations between Beijing and Washington sour.

A viral march across the planet, tracked by a map in motion

On a Thursday night in early January, the disease that would become known as COVID-19 claimed its first victim, a 61-year-old man who succumbed to the newly identified coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, in the People's Republic of China.

NYC elementary schools reopen in big back-to-school test

Hundreds of thousands of elementary school students are heading back to classrooms Tuesday as New York City enters a high-stakes stage of resuming in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic, which is keeping students at home in many other big U.S. school systems.

Purging water system of brain-eating microbe to take 60 days

A Houston-area official said Monday it will take 60 days to ensure a city drinking water system is purged of a deadly, microscopic parasite that doctors believed killed a boy and that led to warnings for others not to drink tap water.

United Arab Emirates to launch spacecraft to moon in 2024

A top official in the United Arab Emirates said Tuesday his country plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024.

500 years ago, another epidemic swept Mexico: smallpox

There were mass cremations of bodies; entire families died and the inhabitants of the city, afraid to pull their bodies out, simply collapsed their homes on top of them to bury them on the spot.

Dying winds give crews hope in Northern California fires

Firefighters say they hoped dying winds would enable them to bear down on a wildfire that exploded in the Northern California wine country, prompting tens of thousands of evacuations while a second blaze killed at least three people.

Cyberattack hobbles major hospital chain's US facilities

A computer outage at a major hospital chain thrust healthcare facilities across the U.S. into chaos Monday, with treatment impeded as doctors and nurses already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic were forced to rely on paper backup systems.

EPA ridicules California's proposed ban of new gas cars

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler on Monday ridiculed California Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, saying the proposal raises "significant questions of legality."

Preventing heart disease could keep more people employed and save billions for the economy

Preventing 10 years of coronary heart disease would save nearly USD $15 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) by keeping people gainfully employed. That's the finding of a study published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

China's air pollutant reduction success could make it tougher to control climate change

China's success in improving air quality by cutting polluting emissions may have a negative knock-on effect on climate change overall, a new study has found.

Plant droplets serve as nutrient-rich food for insects

Small watery droplets on the edges of blueberry bush leaves are loaded with nutrients for many insects, including bees, wasps and flies, according to a Rutgers-led study, the first of its kind.

Lung cancer screening a step closer to reality following combined study

Newly released study results present a strong case for lung cancer screening in New Zealand—particularly for Māori whose mortality rates are between three and four times higher than other ethnic groups.

New drug targeting DNA repair shows promise in range of advanced cancers

A new precision drug which stops cancer from repairing its DNA has shown promise in an early-stage clinical trial—highlighting the potential of a new class of drugs known as ATR inhibitors.

Understanding ghost particle interactions

Scientists often refer to the neutrino as the "ghost particle." Neutrinos were one of the most abundant particles at the origin of the universe and remain so today. Fusion reactions in the sun produce vast armies of them, which pour down on the Earth every day. Trillions pass through our bodies every second, then fly through the Earth as though it were not there.

Girls benefit from doing sports

Girls—but not boys—who participate actively in school sports activities in middle childhood show improved behavior and attentiveness in early adolescence, suggests a new Canadian study published in Preventative Medicine.

Neurological consequences of COVID-19: The 'Silent Wave'

Is the world prepared a wave of neurological consequences that may be on its way as a result of COVID-19? This question is at the forefront of research underway at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. A team of neuroscientists and clinicians are examining the potential link between COVID-19 and increased risk of Parkinson's disease, and measures to get ahead of the curve.

What have we learned from COVID-19 in persons with type 1 diabetes?

While diabetes is established as a risk factor for severe SARS-CoV2 infection several important specific aspects need to be considered for people with type 1 diabetes. In contrast to older persons with diabetes, children, adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes are not at risk for unfavourable outcomes.

COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes: do shared pathways have therapeutic implications?

During a special COVID-19 session at this year's online Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Prof. Daniel J. Drucker (Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada) will present a new review the latest clinical findings linking diabetes to risk of infection and differential outcomes in people with COVID-19 infection.

COVID-19 and diabetes: what is the evidence?

In the COVID-19 special session taking place at the online Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Prof. Juliana Chan, (The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong, China) will present a new review of the evidence on the devastating impact COVID-19 is having on people with diabetes.

Patients with type 1 diabetes that have adapted to remote medical appointments would continue this post COVID-19

A survey of more than 7,000 patients with type 1 diabetes from 89 countries, presented at this year's online Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) shows that three quarters of patients who have adapted to telemedicine appointments would consider continung the use of online or telephone appointments with their doctors, as has been happening during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the pandemic ends. The study is by Dr. Sam Scott and Prof Christoph Stettler, University of Bern, Switzerland, and colleagues, and will be published in the journal Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism.

Analysis reveals heart-related side effects of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine

As the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have drawn attention as potential therapies for COVID-19 and are being widely used off-label, it's now more important than ever to have a thorough assessment of the safety of these medications. A recent analysis published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology provides new insights.

Control of blood sugar levels improved among people with type 1 diabetes who stopped working during lockdown

New research presented at this year's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) shows that among people with type 1 diabetes who stopped working in the COVID-19 lockdown, blood sugar levels improved during the first week of lockdown despite having reduced opportunities for exercise and heightened psychological stress. The study was undertaken by Dr. Federico Boscari and colleagues at the Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Italy.

Risk of death may increase for successive generations of immigrants with type 2 diabetes

A 10-year nationwide study investigating survival rates in all people with type 2 diabetes in Sweden, to be published in Diabetologia, finds that non-Western immigrants experienced a higher risk of death with each generation born in the country.

People with 'silent' COVID-19 have as much coronavirus as those with symptoms

People with 'silent' COVID-19 infection have as much coronavirus in their noses and throats as those with symptoms, reveals research published online in the journal Thorax.

Genetic analysis links obesity to higher rheumatoid arthritis risk

An analysis of genetic data collected from more than 850,000 individuals of European ancestry has found a link between obesity-related genes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Prior abortion does not negatively affect feelings of parental competence

A recent study found that a prior induced abortion did not negatively impact a woman's psychological well-being or her thoughts about her competence as a parent when she later became a mother.

Caregiving factors may affect hospitalization risk among disabled older adults

Few studies have investigated the potential impact of caregivers and caregiver factors on older adults' likelihood of being hospitalized. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has now provided some insights.

Perspective on employment rates after spinal cord injury—30 years after the ADA

A team of experts in disability employment summarized advances in outcomes being achieved in individuals recovering from spinal cord injury. Their article, "30 Years after the Americans with Disabilities Act: Perspectives on employment for persons with spinal cord injury," was published online on June 7, 2020 in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America.

Children and schools during the COVID-19 pandemic: do school closures help?

A special session at this week's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Diseases (ECCVID, held online 23-25 September) will see a new review of the evidence presented to address the difficult issue of school closures and reopenings. The session has been co-organised with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden.

Lower zinc levels in the blood are associated with an increased risk of death in patients with COVID-19

New research presented at this week's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID, held online from 23-25 September) shows that having a lower level of zinc in the blood is associated with a poorer outcome in patients with COVID-19. The study is by Dr. Roberto Güerri-Fernández, Hospital Del Mar, Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues.

Study shows that 40% of healthcare workers asymptomatic when COVID-19 positive, raising risk of silent transmission

A review of studies (meta-analysis) presented at this year's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Diseases (ECCVID, online 23-25 September) shows that 40% of healthcare workers who test positive for COVID-19 were asymptomatic, raising the risk of silent transmission in healthcare settings.

Higher risk of death in cancer patients with COVID-19 may be due to advanced age and more pre-existing conditions

New research presented at this this week's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Diseases (ECCVID, online 23-25 September) suggests that the poor outcomes and higher death rates in cancer patients with COVID-19 could be due to them generally being older and having more underlying conditions, rather than due to the cancer itself. The study is by Dr. Maria Rüthrich, Jena University Hospital, Germany, and colleagues.

Analysis shows high level of SARS-CoV-2 contamination in patient toilets, staff and public areas in hosptials

A systematic review of evidence being presented at this week's ESCMID Conference on Coronavirus Disease shows that air around patients with COVID-19, as well as patients toilets, and staff and public areas in hospitals are all show significant levels of contamination with SARS-CoV-2. The study is by Dr. Gabriel Birgand, University Hosptial Centre Nantes, France, and colleagues.

As rich nations struggle, Africa's virus response is praised

At a lecture to peers this month, John Nkengasong showed images that once dogged Africa, with a magazine cover declaring it "The Hopeless Continent." Then he quoted Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah: "It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity."

Rescuers race to save 180 stranded whales in Australia

Rescuers faced a race against time to save nearly 200 whales stuck in a remote Australian harbour on Tuesday, hoping to prevent the toll of 90 dead from rising further after managing to free "a small number" of the stranded mammals.

CDC changes, then retracts, web posting on how virus spreads

The top U.S. public health agency stirred confusion by posting—and then taking down—an apparent change in its position on how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person through the air.