03 World
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Researchers are one step closer to developing a gel that can be used to repair and regenerate tissue.
The team from Columbia University in the US has created an injectable hydrogel using a by-product of milk and yoghurt – extracellular vesicles (EVs).
Experiments in mice showed that within one week the yoghurt EV hydrogel promoted the formation of new blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis which is required for effective tissue healing and regeneration.
“Being able to design a material that closely mimics the body’s natural environment while also speeding up the healing process opens a new world of possibilities for regenerative medicine,” says Artemis Margaronis, a graduate research fellow at Columbia Engineering.
Extracellular vesicles are tiny sacs that are secreted by cells and carry important materials like proteins, DNA and mRNA. EVs allow cells to communicate and transport complex materials, something scientists have found difficult to replicate in the lab.
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The New Zealand government has been accused of covering up data on the nation’s Covid “vaccine” deaths in order to support its own narrative that the mRNA injections are “safe and effective.”
The government’s Royal Commission has been tasked with investigating the nation’s COVID-19 response.
However, the body is facing intense criticism for ignoring key scientific data and creating a narrative that unquestioningly supports government policies and the “safety” of mRNA “vaccines.”
The inquiry, now in Phase Two, is focusing on the mass “vaccination” campaign.
However, the Commission is being accused of dismissing credible concerns and cherry-picking evidence to back its conclusions, sidelining any serious scrutiny of vaccine safety.
The Commission received extensive briefings from groups like Voices for Freedom and New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out on Science (NZDSOS).
The briefings included peer-reviewed studies and official data.
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Israeli authorities have arrested and indicted a woman in her 70s, described as a terminally ill anti-government activist, for conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu using a rocket-propelled grenade or explosive device according to KAN public broadcaster.
The suspect, a resident of Tel Aviv, was detained approximately two weeks ago following intelligence gathering and a police investigation led by the Shin Bet security service. Police say she sought help from fellow activists to acquire weapons and gather detailed information about Netanyahu’s security arrangements.
The indictment states the suspect “was involved in political protest activities against the Israeli government” and, after receiving a terminal diagnosis, decided to attempt assassination as a “sacrifice” to save the state.
She revealed her assassination plan to another activist and asked him to assist her in acquiring a rocket-propelled grenade for the attack.
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Less than a day after the Trump administration announced its ambitious plan to lead the world in the AI industry, news broke that China has accessed high-tech AI chips on the black market despite U.S. industry protections, threatening America’s competitive advantage in the cutthroat industry.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that China has been selling and receiving cutting-edge AI chips on the black market despite Trump’s export controls and tariffs to curb Chinese access to leading technologies.
‘Trying to cobble together data centers from smuggled products is a losing proposition, both technically and economically.’
The report went on to say that more than $1 billion worth of NVIDIA B200 chips has been sold on the black market in China. Lawyers familiar with the trade rules told FT that while it is legal to sell and receive restricted chips within China, on the condition that the proper tariffs are paid, entities selling and sending them to China would be violating U.S. regulations.
The report indicated that NVIDIA was not aware of these illegal sales by third parties.
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U.S. military personnel carried out a raid in Aleppo, Syria, overnight that resulted in the deaths of a “senior ISIS leader” and his two sons who had affiliations with the Islamic State, according to U.S. Central Command.
The leader targeted and killed in the raid was Dhiya’ Zawba Muslih al Hardani, and his two sons were Abdallah Dhiya al Hardani and Abd al Rahman Dhiya Zawba al Hardani. A CENTCOM statement said they were with three women and three children who were not harmed in the mission.
“We will continue to relentlessly pursue ISIS terrorists wherever they are. ISIS terrorists are not safe where they sleep, where they operate, and where they hide,” CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said. “Alongside our partners and allies, U.S. Central Command is committed to the enduring defeat of ISIS terrorists that threaten the region, our allies, and our homeland.”
The raid is notable because it put U.S. troops in harm’s way to carry out the mission, compared to drone strikes, which forces in the region also rely on because they pose little risk to the service members who launch them.
The U.S. military has had a footprint in Iraq and Syria for about a decade to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS and has worked with its partners in the Iraqi Army, the Peshmerga security forces representing the Kurds, and the Syrian Democratic Forces.
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Columbia University’s famed pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil said it is “absurd” and “disingenuous” to ask him if he condemns the terrorist group Hamas.
Khalil repeatedly avoided answering the direct question during a recent interview on CNN. The Trump administration tried to deport Khalil and accused him of lying on his visa application after he omitted his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The Trump administration is also seeking to deport Khalil, an Algerian national, on the grounds he is sympathetic to Hamas and is promoting antisemitism.
“Just to be clear here, do you specifically condemn Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the United States, not just for their action on Oct. 7?” CNN’s Pamela Brown asked Khalil on Tuesday.
“I condemn the killing of all civilians, full stop,” Khalil said. Brown asked again, but Khalil kept talking.
“To me, it‘s always, as I said, disingenuous and absurd to ask such questions when literally 62,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel,” he said. “And that‘s why I wouldn‘t really engage much into such questions on condemnation or not. Because selective condemnation wouldn‘t get us anywhere. It’s just like [hypocritical] to be honest.”
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A fleet of junta military vessels moving upstream along the Ayeyarwady River resumed its journey from Htigyaing Township on the morning of 23 July, according to the Htigyaing Revolution (TR) group.
The fleet, composed of cargo ships and river warships enroute to Bhamo, halted overnight in Htigyaing on 22 July before continuing its advance. As of 11:15 am on 23 July, the vessels were reportedly near Dingyi Kya village in Htigyaing Township.
“They’ve already left. The situation hasn’t changed much yet. They’re near Dingyi Kya village in Htigyaing Township. There hasn’t been any airstrike so far,” a TR official told reporters.
In anticipation of possible conflict, the Bhamo District People’s Defence Force Battalion 1 issued a public warning on 22 July, urging residents of riverside villages to evacuate immediately. The group also cautioned against traveling along the river, holding festivals, or attending public gatherings due to the risk of air and naval attacks as the fleet approaches.
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On Monday the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USPOC) posted an updated policy stating that it will follow President Donald Trump’s Executive Order banning men from women’s sports.
While the committee updated the policy on June 18, it was not made public until this week.
The change was made with little publicity, and the policy update was so understated it would be difficult to detect without it being pointed out.
In Section 3.3 of the 27-page document, the committee added an addendum entitled “Additional Requirements” which states:
“The USOPC is committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport. The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities, e.g., IOC, IPC, NGBs, to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act.”
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In just a few days, an asteroid the size of an airplane will pass by Earth, but there’s no need to ring the alarm bells. That’s because the asteroid, named 2025 OW, is sure to miss our planet as it makes its closest approach on Monday, July 28, 2025.
While some may break out in a cold sweat hearing about a passing asteroid, astronomers are almost never flustered by this kind of event. With the help of data collected by observatories, they know that 2025 OW — and thousands of other asteroids coursing through space right now — pose no threat to our planet. Even though 2025 OW won’t impact Earth, the need to keep a close eye on similar asteroids remains a round-the-clock priority.
An Asteroid Approach Forecast
It should come as comforting news that asteroid approaches happen all the time with no repercussions. In fact, multiple asteroids are approaching within the next week. But with the exception of 2025 OW, they’ll all be more than a million miles away from Earth. Also, none of the asteroids are large enough to raise concern.
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During a June 17 speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Steve Koehler declared that despite an ongoing campaign of intimidation against its smaller neighbors in the South China Sea, “China’s pressure is not working well. It has failed to intimidate Southeast Asian claimants and make them surrender their sovereign rights.”
Koehler detailed examples of Chinese harassment and violence over the last year against Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and especially the Philippines, but noted that in each case, the Southeast Asian states have refused to back down. The admiral echoed this assessment the following month in a speech in Manila on the anniversary of the Philippines’ 2016 arbitral victory in The Hague, which ruled most of Beijing’s maritime claims in the South China Sea illegal.
That China is faltering might surprise casual observers of the South China Sea disputes, but it matches the available evidence. China’s efforts to establish control over the sea have plateaued over the last four years. That came after nearly a decade of steady gains. The strategy that won Beijing control over much of the body of water, despite the illegality of its claims, was centered on a campaign of intimidation and non-lethal force, often dubbed “gray zone” coercion. That campaign is no longer working but the Xi Jinping regime is unwilling, and likely unable, to accept that reality and seek compromise with its Southeast Asian neighbors. The result is a dangerous cycle of brinksmanship, but one that is not delivering results for Beijing. To help Southeast Asian partners, especially the Philippines, remain resilient and deter Beijing from military escalation, the United States should follow through with plans to strengthen force posture and support the military modernization of partners in the region.
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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A raid by U.S.-led forces in northwestern Syria on Friday killed a senior leader in the Islamic State militant group, the U.S. military said Friday.
The U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it had killed IS leader Dhiya Zawba Muslih al-Hardan and his two adult sons, who were also affiliated with the group, early Friday in a raid in the town of al-Bab, in Syria’s Aleppo province.
It said the men “posed a threat to U.S. and Coalition Forces, as well as the new Syrian Government,” adding that three women and three children at the site were not harmed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the raid was carried out through an airdrop of forces, the first of its kind to be carried out by the U.S.-led coalition against IS this year, and that ground forces from both the Syrian government’s General Security forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces participated.
The observatory said the operation was “preceded by a tight security cordon around the targeted site, a heavy deployment of forces on the ground, and the presence of coalition helicopters in the airspace of the area.”
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A stage of the Tour de France has been shortened to avoid a herd of diseased cows, organisers said.
Stage 19 of the 21-stage competition through the mountains from Albertville to La Plagne was cut from nearly 130km to 95km (81 miles to 59 miles), eliminating two of the five planned climbs.
Organisers shortened the stage due to an outbreak of “contagious nodular dermatitis” found in a herd of cows in Col des Saisies, a 13.7km (8.5-mile) climb.
“The discovery of an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis affecting cattle in a herd located specifically in the Col des Saisies has necessitated the culling of the animals,” the organisers of the Tour de France, ASO, said in a statement late Thursday.
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In brief: There’s a strange situation occurring in China: despite Nvidia’s high-end AI chips being restricted from export to the country, businesses that repair these GPUs are experiencing a boom in demand. One company now handles up to 500 AI chip repairs every month.
The US has restricted the export of Nvidia’s most powerful AI chips to China since 2022 over fears that they could be used for military purposes.
Although these chips aren’t officially available in the Asian nation, a booming repair business has emerged. Reuters reports that one firm in the country, which began fixing gaming GPUs 15 years ago and started including AI chips in 2024, created a new company to handle all accelerator-related customer repairs, which now account for 500 repairs per month.
The company has been advertising its extensive facilities on social media. It even boasts a room that can pack 256 servers to simulate customers’ data center environments.
It’s a lucrative business, with the firm charging between 10,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan ($1,400 to $2,800) to fix one of these GPUs depending on the complexity of the repair.
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A worker performs a final check on new Volkswagen ID.3 electric cars at the Volkswagen plant on May 14, 2025 in Dresden, Germany.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Germany’s Volkswagen on Friday lowered its full-year guidance and reported a sharp drop in second-quarter profit, as the auto giant navigates the disruptive impact of U.S. tariffs.
Europe’s biggest carmaker posted operating profit of 3.83 billion euros ($4.49 billion) for the three months through June, down 29% from 5.4 billion euros a year ago.
Analysts had expected second-quarter profit to come in at 3.94 billion euros, according to a Factset-compiled consensus.
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Romualdez told CNA’s Asia First: “Obviously, the special relations that we have with the United States on our defence alliance is an important part of this whole equation.
“However, like I said, it is still not a completely done deal as pointed out, because we still have time to be able to look into possibilities of bringing it lower.”
In terms of how Manila’s security cooperation with Washington influenced the economic terms of the deal, as well as the meeting between Trump and Marcos, Romualdez noted that both countries have inked several security agreements with commercial components.
“The US Congress had just approved that an ammunition manufacturing facility will be established in the Philippines. That … will create jobs,” he said.
Mexico doing ‘everything’ to avoid 30% US tariffs: Thursday’s mañanera recapped– mexiconewsdaily.com
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At her Thursday morning press conference, President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke about her government’s efforts to stave off new U.S. tariffs that are due to take effect next week.
She also spoke about two significant reductions: one in the amount of fentanyl seized by U.S. authorities at the Mexico-U.S. border and another in the prevailing inflation rate in Mexico.
Here is a recap of the president’s July 24 mañanera.
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President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state — a notably gentler response than the sharp condemnation from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top Republicans, who blasted the move a day earlier.
“What he says doesn’t matter,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “He’s a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn’t carry weight.”
Macron took to X on Thursday to announce his intention for France to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next September.
Macron took to X on Thursday to announce France’s formal recognition of the Palestinian State at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
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Excerpt:Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorney David Oscar Markus has said the deputy attorney general has finished his questioning for the day, NBC News reports.
“We started this morning right around 9 o’clock, and went to now lunchtime, and we’re finished after all day, yesterday and today, Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half, she answered those questions honestly, truthfully, to the best of her ability. She never invoked a privilege. She never refused to answer a question,” Markus told reporters as he left the federal courthouse in downtown Tallahassee, Florida.
“They asked about every single, every possible thing you could imagine. Everything.”
The justice department has not said whether Blanche intends to question Maxwell further. Markus said he did not know whether the discussions would have any impact on her case.
“We don’t know how it’s going to play out. We just know that this was the first opportunity she’s ever been given to answer questions about what happened and so the truth will come out about what happened with Mr Epstein, and she’s the person who’s answering those questions,” he said.
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As Taiwan concluded its largest-ever Han Kuang military exercise, annual war games designed to test the island’s ability to repel a Chinese invasion, China simultaneously launched a series of back-to-back drills, overtly simulating an attack and applying strategic pressure. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command issued daily updates detailing synchronized maneuvers designed to mirror and counter Taiwan’s activities.
The 2025 Han Kuang exercise, held from July 9 to 18, was the longest and most comprehensive iteration since its inception in 1984. It marked a significant shift toward whole-of-society defense, emphasizing joint combat operations and responses to “grey zone” threats. The drills featured over 22,000 reservists and incorporated both domestically developed and U.S.-supplied weapons, including Sky Sword II missiles, Abrams M1A2T tanks, and HIMARS rocket systems. For the first time, Han Kuang was paired with the Urban Resilience Exercises, a multi-month campaign held from April through July to test Taiwan’s ability to withstand a prolonged conflict through full societal participation.
The computer-aided phase of the drill was extended from 8 to 14 days, while the live-fire segment doubled from 5 to 10. Key focus areas included electronic warfare, rapid mobilization, integrated air and missile defense, maritime security, and ground operations. The traditionally scripted exercises were replaced with 24/7 unscripted scenarios simulating combat in urban areas, civil-military coordination, and mass evacuation drills in real-world locations such as hypermarkets.
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Last month, the Department of Justice charged two Chinese nationals for smuggling a scientifically classified potential agroterrorism fungus into the United States. They were allegedly receiving funding from China to research the pathogen for potential future attacks, highlighting the dangers China could pose to the U.S. food supply in the future at a time it has already effectively infiltrated American agriculture through land acquisition.
China’s acquisition of U.S. land is a well-documented national security threat, especially as it continues to purchase land in suspicious proximity to U.S. military bases. This strategic investment by China has rapidly developed, with China only owning approximately 13,720 acres in 2010 growing to the 277,336 acres it owned as of Dec. 2023.
Despite the number of acres reported in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act Dec. 2023 report, this data “should be interpreted as a minimum.” The data disclosed to the USDA is collected through voluntary reporting. This creates gaps in the database, with 3.1 million acres unaccounted for. Additionally, there is a caveat in the reporting, as entities can list “no predominant country” in their filing. Roughly 2.3 million acres account for no foreign investor and no predominant country listed. The number of Chinese-controlled acreage is highly likely to be far larger than reported.
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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that his government is considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with Hamas after Israel and the US recalled their negotiating teams from Qatar, throwing the future of the negotiations into further uncertainty.
Netanyahu’s statement came as a Hamas official said negotiations were expected to resume next week and portrayed the recall of the Israeli and American delegations as a pressure tactic.
The teams left Doha on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas’ latest response to proposals for a deal showed a “lack of desire” to reach a truce.
Witkoff said the US would look at “alternative options,” without elaborating.
In a statement released by his office, Netanyahu echoed Witkoff, saying, “Hamas is the obstacle to a hostage release deal.”
“Together with our US allies, we are now considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas’s terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region,” he said.