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Many other hospitals were also reported to have come under attack on Monday, the third day of fighting in Sudan. Russia has also been trying to make inroads in Sudan, and members of the Kremlin-affiliated Wagner private military company are posted there. Leaders from around the world called for a cease-fire, but it was not clear who, if anyone, was in control of Sudan, Africa’s third-largest country, by area. “Everyone is afraid,” said Ahmed Abuhurira, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer who went out to try to charge his cellphone. “The humanitarian situation in Sudan was already precarious and is now catastrophic,” he said.

Stringer/ReutersThe RSF denied those reports, telling CNN in a statement that it “will never assault any UN staff or employees. Meanwhile, tense efforts to establish a ceasefire have ramped up, with the UN calling for rival factions to end their hostilities. Satellite imagery of the smoke plume at Khartoum International Airport on Sunday. The Sudanese Armed Forces later issued conflicting statements on a proposed 24-hour ceasefire, intended to go into effect later on Tuesday. Both sides had previously agreed to a three-hour ceasefire on Sunday, and again on Monday, with fighting resuming afterward, Perthes said.

☆ Meet the typical CVS shopper: a white, Gen X, college-educated city dweller earning a high income
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CVS's average customer is a white, urban Gen Xer earning a high annual income. Numerator found that CVS's typical shopper is a white, urban Gen Xer who has a college education and an annual income of more than $80,000. In addition to OTC pain medication and cough remedies, the typical retail shopper often prefers to buy candies, chocolates, and bottled water. Just 1.6% of a CVS shopper's total dollars are spent at CVS, compared with 6.8% of their spending on Amazon. At other retailers, the CVS shopper buys more fresh garlic, hand sanitizer, bar soap, and non-dairy milk alternatives than the national average shopper.

☆ More women become truckers as the industry tries to overcome a shortage of drivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

She's one of many in the trucking industry leading efforts to bring more women into the fold. Associations like Women In Trucking work to increase the rate of women drivers, technicians and executives, particularly younger women or those switching careers, like Johnson. Now, with the industry facing a daunting driver shortage, initiatives to bring in women drivers from other industries have escalated. The share of women truckers has increased significantly in recent years: Women now make up almost 8% of truck drivers and sales delivery drivers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Navigating shortagesThough many women joined the industry during the pandemic, Covid-19 lockdowns stalled training and testing for truck drivers.

☆ China to promote vaccine development, new medicines
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - China will prevent and control health outbreaks in a more scientific, precise and efficient way, and upgrade vaccines and develop new medicines to ensure enough supply for the public, Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday. Last month, China's top leaders declared a "major victory" over COVID, claiming the world's lowest fatality rate, although experts have questioned that data. During last year's parliament meeting, the government said the country would speed up research and development of vaccines and drugs. On Sunday, the NDRC also said China will make continuous efforts to ensure the production, distribution and supply of key medical supplies. Reporting by Ethan Wang and Bernard Orr; Editing by William Mallard and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU releases funds, prepares aid flight for eastern Congo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 4 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Saturday it is releasing over 47 million euros ($49.97 million) for humanitarian aid for Congo's North Kivu and plans to send a flight with medical supplies and food to the conflict-stricken eastern province. “The EU stands ready to mobilise all the necessary means to support humanitarian workers, including logistics and air, to meet the needs of the population in Democratic Republic of Congo," European Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said. The flight will head to Goma, the capital of North Kivu, and deliver aid including medical and nutritional supplies, the statement said. The funds will "be channelled through humanitarian partners to cover immediate needs such as nutrition, healthcare, water and sanitation, shelter and protection", the EU said. ($1 = 0.9406 euros)Reporting by Andrew Gray Editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukrainian army medics fight to save lives near frontline
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Marko Djurica | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Filed: February 21, 2023, 8 a.m. GMTIn a dingy medical outpost near eastern Ukraine’s front lines, army medic Viktor battles to save lives on a daily basis. Nearly a year into Russia’s invasion, fighting now amounts to attritional duels of artillery and infantry assaults, with neither side making significant gains. The costs of that deadly grind are clear to Viktor’s team of seven medics and six nurses as it toils away, hemmed in by racks of medical supplies and portable heaters, at this “stabilisation point” in the Donetsk region, where battles are fierce.

☆ Blinken to talk aid, Nordic NATO bid in visit to quake-hit Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Humeyra Pamuk | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives for a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, February. Since the earthquake, the United States has sent a search and rescue team to Turkey, medical supplies, concrete-breaking machinery, and additional funding of $85 million in humanitarian aid that also covers Syria. While the United States has praised Turkey for some of its actions during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it remains worried over its close relationship with Moscow, experts say. "There will be no transfer of F-16s if Erdogan continues to deny admission to Finland and Sweden ... Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan's chief foreign policy advisor, said last month he hoped the F-16 deal would not become "hostage" to the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland.

The combined death toll in Turkey and Syria has climbed to more than 41,000, and millions are in need of humanitarian aid, with many survivors having been left homeless in near-freezing winter temperatures. It asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to open more border crossing points with Turkey to allow aid to get through. "I shouted, shouted and shouted. Civil war hostilities have obstructed at least two attempts to send aid to the northwest from elsewhere in Syria, but an aid convoy reached the area overnight. "The children and I, by some miracle, we ended up in this small space that I had left empty."

☆ The pilot shortage is slowly easing — but isn't going away anytime soon. Autonomous planes could fill the gap.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The pilot shortage is estimated at 18,000 commercial aviation pilots in 2023, and 17,000 in 2030. An autonomous urban mobility flight is estimated to cost half of a piloted urban mobility flight. Sign up for our newsletter for the latest tech news and scoops — delivered daily to your inbox. Previous estimates had put the shortage closer to 65,000 — before updates put the number at around 17,000 earlier this year. According to the report, the total cost per passenger-seat-kilometer of an autonomous urban mobility flight is half the cost of a piloted urban mobility flight, making a case for developing pilot-less technologies.

☆ Quarter of Ukrainians at risk of severe mental health conditions - adviser
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A quarter of Ukraine's population is at risk of developing a severe mental health condition as the country grapples with the year-long Russian invasion, a senior health official said on Thursday. The World Health Organization "estimates that at this time, one out of four people in Ukraine is at risk of severe mental health conditions," Kazatchkine, who also serves as special adviser to the WHO's Regional Office for Europe, said. "Mental health is becoming a predominant public health issue in Ukraine," he told reporters in Geneva. "The economic downturn comes on a background of fragile health systems and very constrained health budgets," he added. Reporting by Cécile Mantovani; Writing by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Andrew HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cruz Foam makes styrofoam alternative from shrimp shells and food waste
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meanwhile, companies that ship or sell fragile goods, food or medical supplies that need to stay cold during shipping still need materials with the lightweight, insulating qualities and manufacturability of styrofoam. That's where startup Cruz Foam comes in. Cruz Foam is made from naturally occurring materials including chitin (pronounced like "kite-in") along with starches and fibers diverted from agricultural waste streams. Chitin is a polymer contained in the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans, as well as insect exoskeletons. Besides that, styrofoam products are usually treated with flame retardants and can absorb other pollutants from water around them, increasing the threat to any wildlife that eats or lives amid the discarded styrofoam.

☆ Relief Efforts in Turkey, Syria Face Logistical Hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Aid groups and logistics operators worldwide are ramping up urgent relief efforts for victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria but say moving supplies through the region’s devastated infrastructure will be a major challenge. Mr. Hovey said Direct Relief plans to fly supplies to airports at Istanbul in northwestern Turkey and at Adana in southeastern Turkey, close to the disaster zone. Many U.S. charities without aid operations in Syria and Turkey are now planning relief efforts, said Kathy Fulton, executive director of American Logistics Aid Network, which coordinates aid efforts among logistics operators following disasters. Aid groups are mostly focused on getting relief to Turkey and Syria by plane. He said the demand for air charters is also starting to make it harder and more expensive to secure space for aid and relief efforts in other parts of the world, such as Ukraine.

☆ More than 3,000 dead as two massive earthquakes rock Turkey and Syria
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Aina J. Khan | Mithil Aggarwal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Just hours later, a 7.5-magnitude quake hit the same area, raising the specter of a new humanitarian crisis in a region devastated by years of conflict. A massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey on Monday , killing more than 3,000 people in the country and neighboring Syria with scores more trapped in the rubble as another huge temblor hit the region. People search for survivors under the rubble following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. The quake hit an area of Syria's northwest that is divided between government-held territory and the country's last remaining rebel-controlled enclave. Turkey sits on top of major fault lines and is frequently shaken by earthquakes; 18,000 people were killed in powerful earthquakes that hit northwest Turkey in 1999.

☆ Powerful quake rocks Turkey and Syria, kills more than 3,400
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A man carries a girl following an earthquake, in rebel-held town of Jandaris, Syria February 6, 2023. People search through rubble following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. Rescuers carry out a girl from a collapsed building following an earthquake in Diyarbakir, Turkey February 6, 2023. He said their shared four-story building collapsed just as he, his wife and three children ran toward the exit. Rescuers stand on rubble of a collapsed building, following an earthquake, in Latakia, Syria, February 6, 2023 in this handout image.

☆ Meet the typical Amazon customer, a college-educated married woman in the Southeast earning $80,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Eight in 10 US shoppers are Amazon customers, and they place an average of 74 orders per year. Amazon's average customer is a white woman in the Southeast who earns more than $80,000 per year. Meanwhile, eight out of 10 US shoppers are Amazon customers, according to data from the analytics firm Numerator prepared for Insider. The typical customer orders just one or two items per transaction, but she makes a comparatively high number of transactions per year, with 83 orders at an annual cost of $2,969, Numerator found. Amazon customers are also highly likely to compare prices on Amazon, even when shopping elsewhere.

☆ Longer-range rockets included in $2 bln U.S. pledge for Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

USAI stands for Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). Friday's aid pledge opens the door to many more deliveries of the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB). When the new rockets arrive, it will mark the first time Ukraine has seen its rocket range grow exponentially since U.S. furnished HIMARS in late-June 2022. HIMARS have a 77 km (48 mile) range and were instrumental in Ukraine's counter offensive against Russian forces, which invaded on Feb. 24, 2022. Reuters was first to report on a Boeing Co (BA.N) proposal to field GLSDB for Ukraine in November.

☆ NATO Chief Presses South Korea to Provide Arms to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

After his meeting Monday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised continued support to Ukraine, without saying whether that might include arms. SEOUL—NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged South Korea to provide military support to Ukraine, saying the country is in urgent need of ammunition. South Korea has sent materials such as gas masks, bulletproof vests and medical supplies to Ukraine, but has declined to provide lethal weapons, citing a law that prevents it from arming countries engaged in conflicts.

☆ My wife and I are raising 2 daughters with type 1 diabetes. It can be overwhelming at times.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Joelle Speranza | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Val Emmich felt powerless when his elder daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. My daughters, 11-year-old Harper and 7-year-old Lennon, have Ttype 1 diabetes, a chronic condition in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin. That next day, Jill took Harper straight to the doctor. After examining Harper and running tests, the pediatrician took Jill aside and told her to bring Harper to the ER immediately. Raising two young children with type 1 diabetes is overwhelming.

☆ EU plans changes to pharmaceuticals law to avoid medicine shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Proposed changes to a European Union pharmaceuticals law will include stronger obligations for the supply of medicines and earlier notifications of shortages, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Tuesday. Kyriakides told a session of the European Parliament that shortages of antibiotics are a growing problem for many European countries. "Our objective is and remains to secure access to medicines for all patients in need and to avoid any market disruption of medicines in the EU," Kyriakides said. Shortages of antibiotics have been reported in 26 European countries, the European Medicines Agency says. The unseasonably early upsurge in respiratory infections in Europe this winter and insufficient production capacity are the root causes of the shortages, Kyriakides said.

☆ Barclays cuts Apple price target on concerns over demand weakness, slowing services growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Barclays recently cut its Apple price target from $144 per share to $133 per share, noting it's concerned that Apple Services estimates are "at risk." The firm lowered its revenue estimate by 7% for the quarter to account for slowing services growth, production problems and weakening demand. "What started out as production driven cuts has moved to demand weakness across product categories," they wrote in a Tuesday note. Apple struggled with iPhone 14 Pro shipments during the holiday season because of Covid restrictions on its primary factory in China. Foxconn has attempted to entice workers back with bonuses, and Reuters reported that Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is almost back to full production.

☆ China is still racing to develop its own mRNA jabs. But they won't use foreign vaccines to fight COVID because of 'national pride,' says South Korea's top vaccine maker.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It hasn't yet approved any mRNA vaccines. But SK Bioscience says China is unlikely to source foreign COVID-19 vaccines, due to "national pride." SK Bioscience has developed its own COVID-19 vaccine, which is now being used in South Korea. "China has administered 3.4 billion doses of COVID vaccines for its people, covering over 90% of its population," said Liu. Even so, Chinese drugmakers are racing to produce mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

☆ China’s Covid wave threatens another snarl of U.S. medical supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

“We’re looking a lot for potential early warning signs in the medical supply chain for any kinds of disruptions,” said an administration official. “One major concern throughout the entire pandemic has been that because of China’s zero Covid policy, shutdowns greatly reduced manufacturing capacity in China. Despite efforts over the past two years by the Biden administration to bolster the country’s domestic medical supply chain, the complexity, costs and regulations involved in health care manufacturing has limited companies’ ability to shift production. I think that would be a natural response,” said Douglas Kent, executive vice president of corporate and strategic alliances at the Association for Supply Chain Management. Health care officials say they hope that the U.S. is in a better place to withstand any shocks from China.

☆ China risks loom over U.S. tech giants Tesla and Apple as share prices plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

But in October, the world's biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China, was hit with a Covid outbreak. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is almost back to full production. In early November, after Foxconn imposed Covid restrictions at the factory, Apple said the plant was operating at a "significantly reduced capacity." The world's biggest iPhone factory, located in China and run by Foxconn, faced disruptions in 2022. Apple could report a 1% annual decline in revenue in the December quarter, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates.

"More fundamental, and more subtle and more important is the social contract and social trust in China. COVID CZAROver the past three years, Vice Premier Sun, 72, has been the face of China's COVID fight, a mother-like figure who has executed Xi's zero-COVID policy with a firm hand. In April this year, Sun rushed to Shanghai as the city went under lockdown, according to state media reports. During the Shanghai lockdown, while also on an inspection tour, Sun was bombarded by pleas from residents shouting from their windows: "No more rice! How the current infections are tackled remain a key near-term challenge to COVID czars.

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