According to the WHO’s Global TB Report, over 7.5 million people were diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2022. This is the highest number since WHO began global TB monitoring in 1995. The net reduction from 2015 to 2022 was 8.7%, which is far from the WHO End TB Strategy milestone of a 50% reduction by 2025.
The High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) payload onboard India’s first space-based mission to study the sun, Aditya L-1, has captured the first high-energy X-ray glimpse of solar flares. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), “During its first observation period on October 29, the [HEL1OS] on board Aditya-L1 recorded the impulsive phase of solar flares.”
A Russian fibre optic cable under the Baltic Sea was completely damaged last month when a Chinese container vessel passed over it, as reported by state company Rostelecom. A Rostelecom spokesperson stated that the double armoured fibre optic cable, with a thickness of 40.4 mm (1.6 inches), had been completely severed. “At the time of the damage to the fibre optic cable, the Chinese ship NewNew Polar Bear was at a point with coordinates coinciding with the route of the communication line,” the spokesperson said.
Saudi Arabia’s investment minister, Khalid Al-Falih, said on Wednesday that the country plans to host summits of Arab and Islamic nations in the coming days to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. At the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, Al-Falih stated, “In the short term, the objective of bringing these three summits and other gatherings under the leadership of Saudi Arabia would be to drive towards peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
Australian PM Anthony Albanese met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Tuesday, restarting an annual leaders’ dialogue that Albanese said will continue, as relations between the two countries are on the mend. “The fact that these meetings are now going to continue is very important for our relations,” the Australian PM told Li.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to arrive in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, for talks with his counterpart, as the allies strengthen cooperation to deal with growing threats from North Korea’s closer military ties with Russia. Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will also visit South Korea this week on a trip that will include stops in Indonesia and India.