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International News

IAEA breaks ground for new facility to help countries tackle nuclear terrorism

The Centre will provide more than 2000 square meters of specialized technical infrastructure and equipment. Hands-on training will be conducted on demonstration systems and virtual reality environments. These platforms will emulate security systems used at nuclear power plants, research reactors and border crossings.
Participants will practice procedures on access and alarm controls, inspect physical protection systems, better understand computer security risks, and learn how to sweep an area for radioactive material during major public events, among other activities. Exercises at the training centre will also strengthen capabilities in radiological crime scene management and nuclear forensics.

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Strong rise in political risk globally:Coface Political Risk Index

Inflationary risks have been in the news in recent months. In this context, the annual update of the Coface Political Risk Index shows a strong rise in political risk across the world, and particularly in the emerging countries. Indeed, figures show a deterioration in living standards and purchasing power, as well as a rise in inequalities observed following the COVID-19 crisis. At this stage, these conditions are not necessarily leading to popular uprisings, which remain limited by people’s capacity to mobilise.

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J&J recalls Aveeno, Neutrogena sunscreens after carcinogen found in sprays

After internal testing identified low levels of benzene in some samples, J&J said it has decided to recall these products from the market.

Benzene is classified as a human carcinogen, a substance that could potentially cause cancer depending on the level and extent of exposure.

“While benzene is not an  ingredient in  any of our  sunscreen products, it was detected in some samples of the impacted aerosol sunscreen finished products,” the company said.

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Sharp rise in Africa COVID-19 deaths, WHO reports

The rising caseload comes amid inadequate vaccine supplies. So far, 52 million people in Africa have been inoculated, which is just 1.6 per cent of total COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide.

Meanwhile, roughly 1.5 per cent of the continent’s population, or 18 million people, are fully vaccinated, compared with over 50 per cent in some high-income countries.

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Amazon HealthLake service now generally available

Using the HealthLake APIs, healthcare organizations can easily copy health data, such as medical reports or patient notes, from on-premises systems to a secure data lake in the cloud, and analyze it at a petabyte scale. HealthLake uses machine learning (ML) models to automatically understand and extract meaningful medical information from the raw data, such as medications, procedures, and diagnoses.

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EU urged to consider impact of new climate mechanism on developing countries

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) comes into force in 2023 as part of new measures to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, including taxes on imports such as oil, coal and gas.

“Climate and environmental considerations are at the forefront of policy concerns, and trade cannot be the exception. CBAM is one of these options, but its impact on developing countries also needs to be considered,” said Isabelle Durant, the UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General.

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