More than a decade’s worth of stagnant health packages lead to the build-up of PhilHealth’s idle funds, according to the government corporation’s chief. 

Huge crowds of antigovernment protesters Saturday encircled the Serbian state television building in downtown Belgrade to press their demand for autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic to ease his tight grip on the mainstream media and allow alternative voices. Tens of thousands of opposition supporters, some chanting slogans urging Vucic's resignation, streamed into the rain-drenched streets a day after the president's followers staged an equally big rally in the capital. Most of his supporters were bused into the capital from all over Serbia and some neighboring states. Outside the RTS TV headquarters, the crowds blew whistles and booed loudly. They say that according to the laws, state TV should be unbiased as a public broadcaster, but that it has been openly pro-government. Held for the fourth time since the early May shootings, the opposition-led protests appear to be shaping up into the biggest revolt against Vucic's autocratic rule during his over 10 years in power. The rallies initially erupted in response to two back-to-back mass shootings earlier this month that left 18 people dead and 20 wounded, many of them children from an elementary school. Other protest demands include the resignations of top officials and the revoking of licenses for pro-government media that air violent content and host crime figures and war criminals. Vucic has accused the opposition of abusing the shooting tragedy for political ends. Earlier Saturday, he stepped down from the helm of his populist party amid plans to form a wider political movement. Vucic named his close ally, Milos Vucevic, the current defense minister, as his successor. Holding umbrellas amid heavy rain Saturday, the protesters walked slowly around the RTS television building in central Belgrade, completely covering the streets in the entire area. Many held flowers in memory of the slain children and wore badges reading "vulture" or "hyena," mocking the expressions that officials used to describe the protesters. Vucic has said the new, national movement will be formed in June to include other parties, experts and prominent individuals and promote unity. Analysts say it is a bid to regroup amid mounting public pressure. Critics say the movement could lead to single-party rule, more or less as the case in Vladimir Putin's Russia, which Vucic supports. During the rally Friday, Vucic offered dialogue as he seeks ways to ease mounting public pressure. Opposition parties have pledged to press on with the demonstrations until their demands are fulfilled. They include the ouster of the interior minister and the intelligence chief; the revocation of nationwide broadcast licenses for two pro-government TV stations; and the dismissal of a media-monitoring body. "If they don't fulfill (the demands) we are not leaving from here," said Milica Tomic, a Belgrade resident. "We will be here, if it need be, every day, every week, whenever."

Christian Tiambo has always wished to uplift local farmers’ communities through cutting-edge science. As climate change wreaked havoc on local agriculture, Tiambo, a livestock scientist at the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) and at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), focused on conserving and developing livestock that could withstand environmental stress. Genomics, […]

While the expansion of democracy is a key condition for peace, the Achilles’ heel of democracies is that their leaders are constrained by electoral calendars, forcing them to push for peace or delay, whereas autocracies can afford to play the long game to achieve the favorable outcomes they desire. Take, for example, the current wars […]

According to Iranian media, the tunnel, located near Tehran's city center, will link a station on the Tehran metro to the Imam Khomeini Hospital.

Rubbish build up after Spanish floods leads to health issues as search for missing people continues

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Most Christians are familiar with Romans 3:23—perhaps too familiar. Many of us have quoted it while sharing the “Roman Road” gospel presentation. It also serves as a quick-fire explanation for why we can never find any sinless people. But how many of us have truly comprehended the devastating truth of our universal guilt?

Romans 3:23 is the go-to verse for a concise explanation of the human problem: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We need to remember that in it, the apostle Paul wasn’t announcing some early church discovery. Romans 3:23 is merely a summary statement of what has been true since Adam’s fall.

Mongolia's nomadic herders, reliant on fragile ecosystems, are facing increasing challenges from climate change. The Asian Development Bank is empowering these communities with small grants and targeted initiatives to build climate resilience.

Cities are engines of economic growth, generating over 80% of the global gross domestic product. As centers of innovation and technological development, they play a crucial role in creating jobs, driving commerce, and providing social services.

Overcoming poor market depth and liquidity is crucial for Asia's capital markets to grow and remain attractive to investors. A coordinated approach addressing regulatory frameworks, market infrastructure, and risk management is essential for building resilient, diverse, and efficient markets.

Research on ICT and capacity building for poverty reduction, focusing on lessons learned from a distant learning course in microfinance.

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The proposed project will expand a targeted, nutrition-sensitive conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to up to 30,000 poor households in areas with high rates of poverty, malnutrition, and climate risks, and make social protection systems more adaptive and shock-responsive. The CCT targets poor pregnant women and mothers of children under two as adequate nutrition is critical during the first 1,000 days of a child's life.

An estimate of annual bird fatalities due to building collisions in the US brings the figure to more than 1 billion – it is the first to include deaths from injuries after the strike

When worker ants are exposed to a pathogenic fungus, they build nests that are more compartmentalised to reduce the risk of an epidemic

The natural motors that power tail-like appendages in bacteria seem to have a single evolutionary origin, allowing parts from different species to be combined to create a tiny new engine

Research has found the universe is remarkably similar in structure to the human brain. But does this mean the cosmos has a consciousness of its own?

Alex Lupsasca plans to extend Earth's largest telescope network beyond the atmosphere with a space-based dish. It could spot part of a black hole we've never seen before – and perhaps discover new physics

Confidence in politics is falling around the world. Can scientific insights help us create a fairer, smarter foundation for government?

Research has found the universe is remarkably similar in structure to the human brain. But does this mean the cosmos has a consciousness of its own?

An AI-assisted robot can listen to spoken commands and assemble 3D objects such as chairs and tables out of reusable building blocks

Ancient Egyptians may have relied on a vertical shaft that could be filled with water, along with a network of water channels and filtration structures, to build the Step Pyramid of Djoser 4500 years ago

A monument in southern Spain that dates to between 3600 and 3800 BC appears to have been built with an understanding of geology and physics

Title: Feel Guilty About 'Useless' Leisure Time? Your Mental Health Might Suffer
Category: Health News
Created: 8/26/2021 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/26/2021 12:00:00 AM

Title: Fatal ODs From Illicit Tranquilizers Jumped 6-Fold During Pandemic
Category: Health News
Created: 8/26/2021 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 8/27/2021 12:00:00 AM

ABSTRACTTraining health workers is one of the biggest challenges and cost drivers when introducing a new contraceptive method or service delivery innovation. PATH developed a digital training curriculum for family planning providers who are learning to offer subcutaneous DMPA (DMPA-SC), including through self-injection, as an option among a range of contraceptive methods. The DMPA-SC eLearning course for health workers includes 10 lessons with an emphasis on informed choice counseling and training clients to self-inject. In partnership with Ministries of Health in Senegal and Uganda, the course was rolled out in select areas in 2019–2020, including during the COVID-19 pandemic when physical distancing requirements restricted in-person training. We conducted evaluations in both countries to assess the practical application of this digital training approach for contraceptive introduction. The evaluation consisted of a post-training survey, an observational assessment conducted during post-training supportive supervision, and an estimation of training costs.In both countries, a majority (88.6% in Uganda and 64.3% in Senegal) scored above 80% on a DMPA-SC knowledge test following the training. In Senegal, where there was a comparison group of providers trained in person, those providers scored similar on the post-test to eLearners. Providers in both groups and in both countries felt more prepared to administer DMPA-SC or offer self-injection to clients after receiving a supervision visit (93%–98% of eLearners felt very prepared after supervision as compared to 45%–72% prior). The evaluation results suggest that digital approaches offer a number of benefits, can be cost-effective, and are most optimal when blended with in-person training and/or supportive supervision.

Comprehensive maps of neuronal connectivity provide a foundation for understanding the structure of neural circuits. In a circuit, neurons are diverse in morphology, electrophysiology, gene expression, activity, and other neuronal properties. Thus, constructing a comprehensive connectivity map requires associating various properties of neurons, including their connectivity, at cellular resolution. A commonly used approach is to use the gene expression profiles as an anchor to which all other neuronal properties are associated. Recent advances in genomics and anatomical techniques dramatically improved the ability to determine and associate the long-range projections of neurons with their gene expression profiles. These studies revealed unprecedented details of the gene–projection relationship, but also highlighted conceptual challenges in understanding this relationship. In this article, I delve into the findings and the challenges revealed by recent studies using state-of-the-art neuroanatomical and transcriptomic techniques. Building upon these insights, I propose an approach that focuses on understanding the gene–projection relationship through basic features in gene expression profiles and projections, respectively, that associate with underlying cellular processes. I then discuss how the developmental trajectories of projections and gene expression profiles create additional challenges and necessitate interrogating the gene–projection relationship across time. Finally, I explore complementary strategies that, together, can provide a comprehensive view of the gene–projection relationship.

A rural housing project branded as ‘truly transformative’ has been completed

One of my favourite satires is the Screwtape Letters, an epistolary novel by Narnia scribe C.S. Lewis. It consists of messages from an oily elder demon to his nephew about how to correctly groom the soul of an unsuspecting human being. It's a claustrophobic send-up of managerial politics and nepotism, with World War 1 unfolding in the background. A real pick-me-up. Sintopia is the Two Point incarnation of that premise - in other words, brighter and breezier and definitely more slapstick than Christian. It puts you in charge of a world divided between Earth and hell, and challenges you to ensure a steady movement of optimally sinful souls between one and the other. Say your prayers and watch the trailer.

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Steam's built-in game recording feature has been usable in beta since the summer, but it has now been properly launched for every user, following a client update to Steam yesterday. It's basically another method of capturing funny ragdoll glitches and posting them on the "lol-games-are-dumb" channel of your friend's Discord. Or for posting that flukey knife throw in Call Of Duty to Twitter, as if you really meant to kill the man from across the map all along. Or saving a clip for your personal records, like the footage of that time you yeeted an innocent citizen off the 50-foot wall of a castle town in Dragon's Dogma 2. We all do that, right? Right?

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A 61-year-old San Antonio man pleaded guilty to two federal charges in the human smuggling incident that led to the deaths of 10 undocumented immigrants this summer.

James Matthew Bradley Jr., who appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge Monday, pleaded guilty to “one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death and one count of transporting aliens resulting in death,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

The office added that Bradley’s “admission of guilt” meant he packed dozens of unauthorized immigrants into a tractor-trailer for financial gain, adding that the suspect confirmed that details from court documents were “factually correct.”

On July 23, San Antonio Police Department officers responded to a call from a Walmart employee shortly past midnight. Once officers arrived, they found 39 immigrants at the scene. Of those carried in the tractor-trailer, eight were found dead in the rear of the trailer, while two died later at nearby hospitals, the statement said.

Survivors of the incident said there was no air conditioning in the overheated trailer and had to take turns to breath through a hole in the back of the truck for air. Bradley also initially told investigators that he was unaware of the immigrants in the trailer until he had stopped at the Walmart in San Antonio for bathroom break.

The attorney’s office also said Bradley faces up to life in prison with the charges and that he is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2018. Immigrants said there were up to 200 people transported on the trailer and that different fees were quoted to them for the ride north from the U.S.-Mexico border, the statement added.

Jason Buch of San Antonio Express-News told the NewsHour earlier this year that Border Patrol agents in Laredo, Texas, reported an uptick of immigrants using tractor-trailers to get pass checkpoints at the border.

“People are usually going on to major metropolitan areas or regions of the country that employ a lot of immigrant laborers, so, areas with large agriculture industries or construction booms,” Buch said.

The NewsHour’s John Yang learned more about the July human smuggling case and immigration politics from Jason Buch of San Antonio Express News.

Shane M. Folden, special agent in charge of homeland security investigations in San Antonio, said in the statement that the proceeding “helps to close the door on one of the conspirators responsible for causing the tragic loss of life and wreaking havoc on those who survived this horrific incident.”

“This case is a glaring reminder that alien smugglers are driven by greed and have little regard for the health and well-being of their human cargo, which can prove to be a deadly combination,” he added.

Bradley’s co-defendant Pedro Silva Segura was also indicted last month with faces two counts of conspiracy and two counts of transporting undocumented immigrants resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy.

Segura, 47, is an undocumented immigrant who resides in Laredo, Texas.

The post San Antonio truck driver pleads guilty in fatal human smuggling case appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

An AI-assisted robot can listen to spoken commands and assemble 3D objects such as chairs and tables out of reusable building blocks

Friday on the RealClearPolitics radio show -- weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM's POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, and here on our website -- Tom Bevan, Andrew Walworth, and Carl Cannon look at the latest count to determine the final popular vote and House majority.

And the Epic Games Achievements system will start to roll out next week.

The former soldier Daniel Khalife has changed his plea to guilty and admitted escaping from Wandsworth prison.

"A satellite is always coming over an area within a given reasonable amount of time."

The California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies published research this week that showed China has constructed a prototype nuclear reactor that could fit aboard a large surface vessel - a sign that China is making progress toward building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

The post Report: China Builds ‘Prototype’ Nuclear Reactor for Aircraft Carrier appeared first on Breitbart.

Your only mission in this dark, futuristic sandbox? Make cool skylines.

DID you ever really believe that the Netflix launch coinciding with the beginning of winter was just a coincidence? Surely those execs weren’t insinuating that you were going to be ...

The post Summer bodies are built in winter appeared first on Star Observer.

Building trust while simultaneously building products, selling, recruiting, and fundraising can feel impossible. But it’s required whether you have the time or not, and it doesn’t stop no matter how big you grow.

The post The Trust-Building Playbook: 5 Tips Every Digital Health Marketer Needs to Know appeared first on MedCity News.

This paper provides a high-level tour of five modern approaches to model building that are available in recent releases of SAS/STAT.

Jul 16, 2024

In June, Ukraine’s most powerful backers met at the G7 summit before attending Ukraine’s peace conference in Switzerland, which hosted representatives from nearly eighty countries. For one week, they met to discuss Volodymyr Zelensky’s ten-point peace plan, announced a plan to fund Ukraine using frozen Russian assets, and introduced a U.S.-Ukraine bilateral security agreement. As the United States and its allies are working to put Ukraine in the best position possible for eventual ceasefire negotiations, what should their top priority be?

John Sculley introduces his new multimedia business learning series �How to Build a Successful Business�

This hyper-connected group uses mobile to manage every part of life.

The Patriot offers modern amenities along with brand-name appliances. For each unit sold, Clayton will donate $100 to Hope for the Warriors�.

Lee and Lucille Allen share the story of how their Clayton Home changed their lives.

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