YOUR WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE
- David Bennet, 57, died two months after becoming the first person in the world to receive a heart from a genetically modified pig. His condition started deteriorating a few days ago. Mr. Bennett suffered from an incurable heart disease, but was ineligible for a human transplant. On this basis, and knowing that his condition was fatal, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Centre in Baltimore received special permission to perform the experimental surgery on him. Mr. Bennett was fully aware of the risks attached to the surgery.
- Ryan Coogler, director of the superhero movie ‘Black Panther’, was briefly detained after a teller in an Atlanta bank suspected him of attempting to rob the bank. Mr. Coogler was trying to withdraw $12,000 (£9,100) from his own bank account at the time, according to a police report of the January incident. A spokesperson from Bank of America told Variety magazine that they deeply regret the incident. Bank of America has also apologised to Mr. Coogler.
- A 30-year-old American citizen was arrested on suspicion of illegal wildlife smuggling last month as he was crossing into the US from Mexico at the San Ysidro border crossing near San Diego. When US Border Patrol agents pulled him over for inspection, they found 43 horned lizards and nine snakes in plastic bags in his jacket, pants pockets and groin area. Officials said some of the animals were endangered and have been relocated and quarantined for their protection.
- The Amazon rainforest, suffering serious damage from droughts, fires and deforestation, is approaching a critical point where it may no longer be able to recover from such damage. According to researchers, trees could then begin to die in large numbers. Large areas of former tropical forest may then become sparsely wooded savannah, which has a much lower capacity to absorb carbon dioxide than tropical forests, accelerating global warming. Sections of the Amazon have already been shown to be producing more carbon dioxide than it can absorb.
- Facebook has reacted angrily to the banning of its platforms by the Russian communications regulator on Friday. The regulator, Roskomnadzor, said that the ban was imposed after Facebook placed restrictions of its own on its platforms in Russia. Roskomnadzor noted that, since October 2020, there had been 26 instances of Facebook discriminating against Russian media. Further reports on Friday also noted restrictions on the use of Twitter. Facebook stated that the ban may result in Russian citizens being severed from “reliable information”.
- Since the capture of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant by Russian forces, monitoring stations have recorded a 20-fold increase in radiation levels in its vicinity. Ukraine’s State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate reported that this was caused by heavy military vehicles disturbing heavily contaminated soil around the now-abandoned plant. Chernobyl is the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, and it has been surrounded by a 4,000-sq-km exclusion zone since.
NEWS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMELA MOORE
Date: 11/03/22
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