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First malaria vaccine approved by W.H.O. The vaccine which could potentially save the lives of tens of thousands of children in Africa stimulates a child’s immune system into defeating Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of five malaria pathogens and the most widespread in Africa. It was made by GlaxoSmithKline and had an efficacy of around 50% in clinical trials.

Canada issues Covid-19 vaccine mandate for travelers 12 or older on trains and planes. The mandate announced by the Canadian Prime Minister will take effect from the end of October with a short grace period in which unvaccinated passengers or staff can present a negative Covid-19 test. A strict vaccine requirement is also expected for cruise ships before the commencement of the 2022 season.

Mountain gorilla whose photobomb went viral dies aged 14. Ndakasi died on September 26 after a prolonged illness in the Senkekwe Center located inside the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park. Her photo went viral in 2019 when a park ranger took a selfie with her and another female gorilla, Ndeze which he uploaded on Facebook and captioned ‘Another day at the office’.

Il est temps de raconter le monde

📵 Razzia sur nos data. Nos données personnelles sont recueillies chaque jour par Facebook ou Google, mais aussi par des entreprises qui sont beaucoup plus proches de nous, comme Coop, Migros, la Poste ou les CFF. Que font ces sociétés de cette montagne d’informations? Où ces données sont-elles stockées? Jusqu’où peut aller cette curiosité pour nos comportements? Heidi.news a mené l’enquête.

On the radar today

Nobel Prize in literature winner to be announced. The ceremony is expected to hold digitally with French writer, Annie Ernaux and Kenyan Novelist, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o mentioned as strong contenders. Last year, American writer Louise Glück won the prize and was praised for her writing ‘that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal’.

Biden visits Chicago to boost vaccine mandate. The US president whose original visit to Chicago on the 29th of September was cancelled is expected in the suburbs today and will highlight his order to require large employers to mandate Covid-19 vaccines for their workers. It will be his second visit to the Chicago area since he became president.

A protester runs from tear gas fired by police during a July 2020 demonstration against police brutality in Kenya. Image: Keystone

‘They wanted to kill me’: the lawyer taking on police brutality in Kenya. Almost 20 years ago, a police shooting left David Makara without an arm and facing jail. Inspired by the blind lawyer who saved him, Makara went ahead to study law and was admitted to the Kenyan bar in 2017. He now defends others facing injustice.

In the African lab

Blockchain payments platform, Bitmama raises $350k pre-seed. The round was led by San Francisco-based VC, Flori Ventures and participated in by Nigeria-based VCs, Emergence Capital, Fedha Capital, and a host of other Angels and VCs. Bitmama based in Delaware and Neuss, Germany was founded in 2019 and is one of the foremost crypto exchanges catering to the Nigerian and Ghanian market.

Resistance to crucial antimalarial drugs emerging in Africa. A new study has revealed that Plasmodium falciparum, the pathogen behind most of Africa’s malaria cases, has developed resistance against a crucial family of front-line malaria drugs. The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine also noted key mutations in the falciparum which is responsible for 99.7% of malaria cases in Africa.

Tunisian data management startup Biware raises $1.2m funding round. Founded in 2011, Biware helps companies extract value from their data for strategic purposes such as increasing revenues, saving costs, and reducing losses. The seed round was led by CDC Gestion and Zitouna Capital and will be used to grow the startup’s team and open new branches.

Sur Heidi.news aujourd’hui

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China blocks Wikimedia accreditation once again. China has for the second time blocked the accreditation of the Wikimedia foundation within the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), writes Wikimedia CH in a statement. China’s veto prevents the foundation from joining the PMOI observer group which has a direct impact on the ability of Wikipedia to provide hundreds of millions of people with information in their own language.

Sweden suspends Moderna vaccine for under 30s. Sweden suspends «as a precaution» the Moderna vaccine for children under 30, because of a risk of heart inflammation in young people. A decision that is valid until December 1, 2021. Denmark and Norway have also advised against the Spikevax vaccine - the name of Moderna’s vaccine - for children under 18. As a result, young Swedes 30 years of age or younger will have to turn to the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine to get vaccinated.

Disappointed, Michel Matter renounces the vice-presidency of the FMH. Michel Matter is resigning from his post of vice-president of the FMH (umbrella of doctors), a development that is expected to spark reactions in the medical community of Romandie. The Geneva ophthalmologist will officially announce his decision on Thursday, October 7. As the only Romand within the committee of the FMH, his resignation raises the question of the representation of French-speaking doctors within the organization.

It may surprise you

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Can your dog recognize the names of 100 toys? These ‘genius’ dogs can. Researchers in Hungary have completed a study of six ‘genius dogs’ who can recognize the names of more than 100 toys taught to them by their owners. The dogs which were border collies recognized these names even one to two months later, suggesting they possess an extraordinary understanding of the human language.

Investors spent millions on ‘Evolved Apes’ NFTs. But the game was a scam. Evolved Apes was marketed as ‘a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs trapped inside a lawless land’, fighting and in which only the strongest ape will prevail. But a week after the project launch, the anonymous developer behind the project known as Evil Ape vanished, taking with them the game’s official Twitter account, website, and $2.7m (798 ether).

Lonely and want to have a chat as you checkout of a store? It’s possible. Jumbo, a Dutch supermarket chain will introduce 200 ‘chat registers’ in its stores across the Netherlands and Belgium for customers who want to have a chat during checkout. Inspired to combat loneliness, Jumbo first piloted the chat register in 2019 and received positive reactions from customers.