On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden signed democrat's landmark climate change and health care bill into law. As he aims to boost his party's standing with voters less than three months from the midterm elections, he called it the "final piece" of his pared-down domestic agenda. Over the next decade, the government will invest $375 billion in fighting climate change. Prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients would also be capped at $2000 per year out of pocket. By extending subsidies provided during the Coronavirus pandemic, an estimated 13 million Americans would be able to purchase h
8-year-old Ayaan Saboor Mendon created history on August 4 as he summited Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. With frozen and cramped limbs, he unfurled the flags of UAE and India from the top. He became the youngest human from the GCC to summit the mountain. The biting -10 degrees did not prove an impediment to the determined youngster who inherited his passion for adventure from his parents, Vani Mendon and Saboor Ahmed, who accompanied him on the demanding 7-day trek to the peak. “We were preparing (to summit) Mount Elbrus before Covid. He tried convincing us to take him bu
On Monday, Sierra Leone's parliament enacted two laws said to empower the rights of rural landowners and women. The Customary Land Rights Act and the Land Commission Act, both passed on the same day, give rights to local landowners to negotiate the value of their land with investors. The laws also entitle them to prevent the land from being leased out without their prior informed consent. It was reported by Ngo Action for Large-Scale Land Acquisition Transparency (ALLAT) that between 2009 and the end of 2012, foreign agribusiness investors had obtained 50-year leases with possible exten
UAE’s first used battery recycling centre will open in Ras Al Khaimah with help from an investment of a whopping Dh62.4 million by Royal Gulf Industries. Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) has welcomed the recycling company to its industrial ecosystem. The automotive battery recycling centre will be built on approximately 110,000 ft2 of land at Al Ghail Industrial Zone and more than 150 people will be employed in its facility. The centre is likely to be ready by the end of the year. The aim of the company is to recycle up to 35,000 metric tonnes of used lead acid batteries annually,
On Tuesday, The inaugural African Regional Roundtable on Climate Initiatives began in Adis Ababa, Ethiopia, and discussions are focused on developing a new, sustainable economic framework. Among the participants at the meeting are African finance and trade ministers as well as Vera Songwe, the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). She said ''Africa COP is not just a COP where we go and meet and talk, but that it has to be a club that delivers. We're looking at this COP being really the clarion call, the wake-up post-COVID recover
On Tuesday, UN agencies, civil society groups, governments, and international partners announced a new Global Alliance for ending AIDS in children by 2030. An announcement was made at the landmark International AIDS Conference, which is coming to end in Montreal, Canada. Speaking at the conference, Limpho Nteko of Lesotho shared her journey from a surprise HIV diagnosis to pioneering a mothers-to-mothers program to combat gestational transmission of HIV. Despite being pregnant when diagnosed, Ms. Nteko stressed the importance of community leadership in the fight against HIV. She s
A rare pure pink diamond, believed to be the largest found in three centuries, has been excavated by miners in Angola. A 170-carat pink diamond–named the Lulo Rose — was dug out at the Lulo mine in the country's northeast, which is plentiful in diamond and is among the largest pink diamonds ever discovered the Lucapa Diamond Company remarked in a statement to investors. The "historic" discovery of the Type IIa diamond, one of the most uncommon and purest forms of natural stones, was reacted by pleasure by the Angolan government, which is also the mine’s partner. "This record an
Dubai developers are attracting more Indian by holding property expos in India to enlighten buyers regarding the new rules and benefits of investing in Dubai’s property market. According to Real estate experts, the recent changes to the UAE's golden visa regulations have increased the demand for upscale homes since an increasing number of Indians are purchasing second homes in Dubai and other emirates. Rich Indians are now more inclined to adopt a longer-term strategy and invest in real estate in Dubai as a result of the most recent revisions to the golden visa regulations. The minimum i
The European Medicines Agency said on Friday that the smallpox vaccine developed by Bavarian Nordic should also be used against monkeypox, as the breakout of the once-rare disease continues to affect people across the continent. The European Union drug regulator said its suggestion was based on animal studies that testify that the vaccine protects primate animals from monkeypox. It is now the decision of the EU's executive arm to formally approve the vaccine based on the EMA's suggestion. “To confirm the effectiveness of the vaccine against monkeypox, the company will collect data fro
The United Kingdom records the highest temperature ever at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Heatwaves left Heathrow Airpot in west London in scorching conditions and fueled fierce wildlife and taxed emergency services by recording the UK’s warmest night with 40.2C. The last all-time high temperature recorded in the UK was 38.7C in Cambridge 2019. The Met Office meteorology agency said, “For the first time ever 40 Celsius has provisionally been exceeded in the UK with the temperature still climbing in many places”. According to the Met Office, the heatwave will cause te