Recovery efforts from the Beirut port explosion of 4 August must look beyond the reconstruction of buildings and infrastructure to ensure a people-centred response, according to a new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report launched today. The report argues that the response needs to be inclusive, addressing in just and ...

Caretaker Minister of Information, Dr. Manal Abdel Samad Najd, on Wednesday paid an inspection visit to Tele Liban’s transmission station in Naas-Bekfaya, in the company of Ministry of Information General Director and the Government’s Commissioner to Tele Liban, Dr. Hassan Falha, as well as a number of Tele Liban directors ...

World stocks nudged higher on Monday on hopes for a coronavirus vaccine after AstraZeneca resumed its phase-3 trial, but the gains were limited as caution prevailed before a host of central bank meetings this week. Sterling, which has been hurt by renewed Brexit turmoil, firmed before a key vote on ...

The detection of a gas in the planet’s atmosphere could turn scientists’ gaze to a planet long overlooked in the search for extraterrestrial life. High in the toxic atmosphere of the planet Venus, astronomers on Earth have discovered signs of what might be life. If the discovery is confirmed by ...

Scientists have been able to create an army of tiny, walking robots in a new breakthrough. The objects are the first microscopic robots that are made out of semiconductor components. That allows them to be controlled and forced to walk with standard electronic signals, allowing them to be integrated into more traditional ...

Safety of a prospective COVID-19 vaccine comes “first and foremost”, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said on Wednesday, as a trial of a leading candidate from AstraZeneca (AZN.L) was paused due to concerns over side effects. Rollout of an effective vaccine is seen as a crucial step in helping ...

Several missions this year are seeking out life on the red planet. But would we recognise extraterrestrials if we found them?   In July, three unmanned missions blasted off to Mars – from China (Tianwen-1), the US (Nasa’s Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover) and the United Arab Emirates (Hope). The Chinese and ...

Russia’s experimental coronavirus vaccine is set to be tested on more than 40,000 people across the country. The potential vaccine, called Sputnik V in homage to the world’s first satellite, has already been approved by Russian authorities following two months of small-scale human trials – the results of which have not been ...

German virologist says spikes inevitable for foreseeable future   Coronavirus is not disappearing and will still be here in three years, a leading German virologist has warned. Professor Hendrik Streeck, the director of the Institute of Virology at the University of Bonn who led the response to Covid-19 in one ...

Analysis of seven trials finds dexamethasone and hydrocortisone should be given in severe cases   Studies around the world have confirmed that steroids can save lives in the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to new recommendations from the World Heath Organization that doctors should give them to severely ill patients. In June, ...