AP – A measles outbreak in Kansas doubled in less than a week to 23 cases and has “a possible link” to outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico that have sickened more than 370, the state health department said Wednesday.
And health officials in Ohio say a single case identified in Ashtabula County has spread to nine others. Even before these two growing clusters were reported, the number of measles cases in the U.S. had already surpassed the case count for all of 2024, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment put doctors on high alert on Monday and recommended early vaccination for infants 6 to 11 months old who live in outbreak counties or near them. Usually, children get the measles, mumps and rubella shot after they turn 1. In outbreaks, early vaccination can be an option.
The state’s last count Friday included 10 cases across three southwestern counties: Grant, Morton and Stevens. Now, the outbreak includes Haskell, Gray, and Kiowa counties. All but two of the cases are in people younger than 18, state data shows. The outbreak started with a measles case in Stevens County identified March 13.
In Ohio, 10 cases are in Ashtabula County and a separate visitor in Knox County exposed people there and in several other counties, the state health department said. A measles outbreak in central Ohio sickened 85 in 2022.
A vial of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is on display at the Lubbock Health Department Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Lubbock, Texas. PHOTO: AP
“Given the measles activity in Texas, New Mexico, and other states around the country, we’re disappointed but not surprised we now have several cases here in Ohio and known exposure in some counties,” said Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff. “This disease can be very serious, even deadly, but it is almost entirely avoidable by being properly vaccinated.”
New Mexico had 43 outbreak-associated cases Tuesday and Texas had 327. The Oklahoma outbreak “associated” with Texas and New Mexico has 9 cases.
Public health experts say the outbreak that started in Texas in late January could last for months. If it affects other unvaccinated communities across the U.S., as may now be the case in Kansas, the outbreak could last for a year and threaten the nation’s status as having eliminated local spread of the vaccine-preventable disease, they said.
Experts consider communities protected from measles outbreaks if they have an MMR vaccination rate of 95 per cent or higher. The two-shot series is required before entering public kindergarten and is 97 per cent effective at protecting against measles.
Several of the Kansas counties seeing measles spread have much lower vaccination rates, including: 82 per cent in Morton County, 83 per cent in Stevens County, 58 per cent in Haskell County, and 66 per cent in Gray County, according to state health department data from the 2023-2024 school year. Statewide, 89 per cent of kindergarteners in Ohio were vaccinated against measles in the 2023-24 school year, CDC data shows.
“Due to the highly contagious nature of measles, additional cases are likely to occur within the current outbreak area and the surrounding counties, especially among those who are unvaccinated,” said Jill Bronaugh, the Kansas state health department’s spokeswoman.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American robotics companies are pushing for a national robotics strategy, including establishing a federal office focused on promoting the industry at a time when China is making intelligent robots a national priority.
Representatives of companies — including Tesla, Boston Dynamics and Agility Robotics — on Wednesday met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to show off products and push for the United States to adopt policies that would boost American companies in a global race to develop the next generation of robots.
Jeff Cardenas, co-founder and CEO of humanoid startup Apptronik, of Austin, Texas, pointed out to lawmakers that it was American carmaker General Motors that deployed the first industrial robot at a New Jersey assembly plant in 1961. But the U.S. then ceded its early lead to Japan, which remains a powerhouse of industrial robotics, along with Europe.
The next robotics race will be powered by artificial intelligence and will be “anybody’s to win,” Cardenas said in an interview after the closed-door meeting. “I think the U.S. has a great chance of winning. We’re leading in AI, and I think we’re building some of the best robots in the world. But we need a national strategy if we’re going to continue to build and stay ahead.”
The Association for Advanced Automation said a national strategy would help U.S. companies scale production and drive the adoption of robots as the “physical manifestation” of AI. The group made it clear that China and several other countries already have a plan in place.
Without that leadership, “the U.S. will not only lose the robotics race but also the AI race,” the association said in a statement.
The group also suggested tax incentives to help drive adoption, along with federally-funded training programs and funding for both academic research and commercial innovation. A new federal robotics office, the association argued, is necessary partly because of “the increasing global competition in the space” as well as the “growing sophistication” of the technology.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, said he believes the U.S. is ahead in the game but that the Chinese companies are “very good” and that China is “devoting a lot of resources very quickly.”
Jonathan Chen, manager of carmaker Tesla’s Optimus Engineering, which is developing a humanoid robot that CEO Elon Musk hopes to one day send to Mars, said manufacturing capabilities will be key to national competition.
A Tesla robot is displayed as U.S. robotics companies look for congressional support to compete with Chinese companies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. PHOTO: AP
China is the world’s largest market for robots that work in factories and other industrial environments, with about 1.8 million robots operating in 2023, according to the Germany-based International Federation of Robotics.
China now aims to integrate robotics with other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, as the country is positioning humanoid robots as a frontier technology and has approved a state-backed venture capital fund of USD138 billion to focus on robotics, AI and other cutting-edge innovations.
Earlier this year, the state broadcaster showcased dancing robots at the annual Chinese New Year gala. The army of humanoid robots by the Chinese robotics company Unitree, a Boston Dynamics rival, waved arms and twirled handkerchiefs, boosting national pride that China has taken great strides in the development of humanoid robots to rival those in the United States.
In an annual work report, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the country would prioritise combining digital technologies and the country’s manufacturing and market strengths, including developing intelligent robots along with connected electric vehicles.
In both the U.S. and China, humanoid robots that combine artificial intelligence with a human-like body have attracted public interest. But they also invite skepticism from some who follow the robotics industry.
“We don’t like humanoid robots very much because they’re silly,” said Bill Ray, a UK-based analyst for market research group Gartner. “They look fantastic, but they’re not very practical.”
Ray instead is looking for more applications of what he describes as “polyfunctional robots” like wheeled machines capable of lifting and carrying heavy packages at airports but not resembling humans at all. He doesn’t think government support will make much of a difference in which country takes the lead.
Cardenas, whose company and its Apollo robot has backing from tech giants Nvidia and Google, said a national strategy in the U.S. could help in incentivising robot adoption, while also promoting the education of a new generation of robotics engineers and scientists.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was placing 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports, a move the White House claims would foster domestic manufacturing but could also put a financial squeeze on automakers that depend on global supply chains.
“This will continue to spur growth,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll effectively be charging a 25 per cent tariff.”
The tariffs, which the White House expects to raise USD100 billion in revenue annually, could be complicated as even US automakers source their components from around the world. The tax hike starting in April means automakers could face higher costs and lower sales, though Trump argues that the tariffs will lead to more factories opening in the United States and the end of what he judges to be a “ridiculous” supply chain in which auto parts and finished vehicles are manufactured across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
To underscore his seriousness about the tariffs directive he signed, Trump said, “This is permanent.”
Shares in General Motors fell roughly 3 per cent in Wednesday trading. Ford’s stock was up slightly. Shares in Stellantis, the owner of Jeep and Chrysler, dropped nearly 3.6 per cent.
Trump has long said that tariffs against auto imports would be a defining policy of his presidency, betting that the costs created by the taxes would cause more production to relocate to the United States while helping narrow the budget deficit. But US and foreign automakers have plants around the world to accommodate global sales while maintaining competitive prices — and it could take years for companies to design, build and open the new factories that Trump is promising.
New Toyota vehicles are stored at the Toyota Logistics Service, their most significant vehicle imports processing facility in North America, at the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., Wednesday, March 26, 2025. PHOTO: AP
“We’re looking at much higher vehicle prices,” said economist Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “We’re going to see reduced choice. … These kinds of taxes fall more heavily on the middle and working class.”
She said more households will be priced out of the new car market — where prices already average about USD49,000 — and will have to hang on to aging vehicles.
The tariffs on autos would start being collected on April 3, Trump said. If the taxes are fully passed onto consumers, the average auto price on an imported vehicle could jump by USD12,500, a sum that could feed into overall inflation. Trump was voted back into the White House last year because voters believed he could bring down prices.
Foreign leaders were quick to criticise the tariffs, a sign that Trump could be intensifying a broader trade war that could damage growth worldwide.
“This is a very direct attack,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said. “We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country.”
In Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed regret at the US decision to target auto exports from Europe and vowed that the bloc would protect consumers and businesses.
“Tariffs are taxes — bad for businesses, worse for consumers equally in the US and the European Union,” she said in a statement, adding that the EU’s executive branch would assess the impact of the move, as well as other US tariffs planned for coming days.
As Trump announced the new tariffs, he indicated that he would like to provide a new incentive to help car buyers by allowing them to deduct from their federal income taxes the interest paid on auto loans, so long as their vehicles were made in America. That deduction would eat into some of the revenues that could be generated by the tariffs.
The new tariffs would apply to both finished autos and parts used in the vehicles, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the taxes on a call with reporters. The tariffs would be on top of any existing taxes and were legally based on a 2019 Commerce Department investigation that occurred during Trump’s first term on national security grounds.
For autos and parts under the USMCA trade pact applying to the United States, Mexico and Canada, the 25 per cent tariffs would only apply to non-US content.
The administration is reasoning that there is excess capacity at US automakers that will enable them to ramp up production to avoid the tariffs by manufacturing more domestically, with the official noting that automakers have known since the Trump campaign that tariffs were coming.
The auto tariffs are part of a broader reshaping of global relations by Trump, who plans to impose what he calls “reciprocal” taxes on April 2 that would match the tariffs, sales taxes charged by other nations.
Trump has already placed a 20 per cent import tax on all imports from China for its role in the production of fentanyl. He similarly placed 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, with a lower 10% tax on Canadian energy products. Parts of the Mexico and Canada tariffs have been suspended, including the taxes on autos, after automakers objected and Trump responded by giving them a 30-day reprieve that is set to expire in April.
The president has also imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, removing the exemptions from his earlier 2018 taxes on the metals. He also plans tariffs on computer chips, pharmaceutical drugs, lumber and copper.
His taxes risk igniting a broader global trade war with escalating retaliations that could crush global trade, potentially hurting economic growth while raising prices for families and businesses as some of the costs of the taxes get passed along by importers. When the European Union retaliated with plans for a 50 per cent tariff on US spirits, Trump responded by planning a 200 per cent tax on alcoholic beverages from the EU.
Trump also intends to place a 25 per cent tariff on countries that import oil from Venezuela, even though the United States also imports oil from that nation.
Trump’s aides maintain that the tariffs on Canada and Mexico are about stopping illegal immigration and drug smuggling. But the administration also wants to use the tariff revenues to lower the budget deficit and assert America’s preeminence as the world’s largest economy.
The president on Monday cited plans by South Korean automaker Hyundai to build a USD5.8 billion steel plant in Louisiana as evidence that tariffs would bring back manufacturing jobs.
Slightly more than 1 million people are employed domestically in the manufacturing of motor vehicles and parts, about 320,000 fewer than in 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An additional 2.1 million people work at auto and parts dealerships.
The United States last year imported nearly 8 million cars and light trucks worth USD244 billion. Mexico, Japan and South Korea were the top sources of foreign vehicles. Imports of auto parts came to more than USD197 billion, led by Mexico, Canada and China, according to the Commerce Department.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki are all back in the Avengers ensemble, where they’ll be joined by several of cinema’s original X-Men.
The five veterans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are in the cast of 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” Marvel announced in a series of social media videos that the company rolled out slowly on Wednesday.
Patrick Stewart, 84, who played Professor X in the Fox’s early 2000s “X-Men” films, and 85-year-old Ian McKellen, who played his arch-nemesis Magneto, are also in the “Doomsday” cast as Disney and Marvel seek to take advantage of the acquisition of Fox’s movie library. Kelsey Grammer, who played Hank “Beast” McCoy, was also announced, as was Rebecca “Mystique” Romijn, James “Cyclops” Marsden and Alan “Nightcrawler” Cumming.
Their characters were taken on by younger actors in the 2010s “X-Men” series reboot, and their inclusion is sure to cause serious fan speculation about the direction and timelines of “Avengers: Doomsday.”
The more senior superheroes will be joined by more recent additions, including some who have yet to make their MCU debuts.
Vanessa Kirby, set to play the Invisible Woman Sue Storm in this July’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps,” is also set for “Avengers: Doomsday.” Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards will join the Avengers too. And they’ll be joined in both movies by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who is playing Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Joseph Quinn, who plays Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch.
This combination of photos shows Chris Hemsworth at the London premiere of “Transformers One” on Sept. 19, 2024, from left, Vanessa Kirby at the London premiere of “Napoleon,” on Nov. 15, 2023, Anthony Mackie at a screening of “Captain America: Brave New World” in New York on Feb. 13, 2025, and Sebastian Stan at the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Oct. 19, 2024. PHOTO: AP
Simu Liu, who played the title character in 2021’s “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” is also in the newly announced cast, as is Tenoch Huerta Mejía, who played the aquatic antagonist Namor in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri in the “Black Panther” films, will also be back among the Avengers, as will her “Black Panther” castmate Winston Duke.
Florence Pugh, who will reprise her MCU role as Yelena Belova in the forthcoming “Thunderbolts” will reprise her again in “Doomsday.” David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman will also be in both films.
Danny Ramirez, who has assumed the Marvel mantle of Falcon, is also in the cast.
Some of the biggest and most anticipated names were not among the 27 names announced, though Marvel and Disney could be sitting on them for now.
There was no mention of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine or Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, though the announcement did include Channing Tatum, who played the X-Men’s Gambit in last year’s “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Nor did the name Tom Holland appear. His Spider-Man became an Avenger in previous films on loan from owner Sony, whose complicated relationship with Marvel has made the character a sticking point.
Robert Downey Jr. revealed last summer that he’ll be returning to the MCU to play the villain Doctor Doom in the next set of “Avengers” films.
“Avengers: Doomsday,” set for release in May 2026, will be the fifth “Avengers” movie, and the first since 2019’s “Avengers Endgame” became one of the highest grossing films of all time.
BANGKOK (ANN/THE NATION) – A 50-year-old woman in Ratchaburi’s Ban Pong district spent around THB6 million to clone a dog she loved and considered her child.
A female French bulldog named Paphaeng, now five months old, is Thailand’s first cloned dog. Despite a slight difference in the left ear pattern, she appears healthy and cheerful.
Kancharat Sakdikonthanasiri, Paphaeng’s owner, revealed that the original Paphaeng had died from canine Cushing’s syndrome. She then contacted Supasek Sarachitti, a stem cell expert known for successfully cloning dogs.
Supasek agreed but set two conditions: Kancharat had to appoint someone to care for the cloned dog after her passing and be prepared for criticism about cloning being unnatural.
Kancharat included the cloned dog and her 16 other dogs in her will. She acknowledged that while the cloning process cost THB6 million, she valued the emotional bond over money.
“Paphaeng gave me strength to fight through life’s struggles,” she said.
Kancharat Sakdikonthanasiri with the cloned Paphaeng. PHOTO: ANN/THE NATION
Supasek collected cells from the original Paphaeng’s ear and sent them to South Korea, where cloning expert Hwang Woo-Suk successfully cloned the dog after five attempts throughout a year.
The cost included cloning and genetic modification, with the latter alone surpassing THB20 million. Nonetheless, Hwang waived the genetic modification fee upon witnessing Kancharat’s deep attachment to Paphaeng.
When the cloned Paphaeng met Kancharat at four months old, she gazed at her owner before displaying signs of recognition. To Kancharat’s amazement, the cloned dog understood Thai commands.
This corresponds with the doctor’s comment that cloned dogs will not only share the same shape, colour, and gender, but may also retain memories—except for their body markings, which might vary.
Kancharat acknowledged criticism about cloning being unnatural but sees it as a scientific advancement that reunited her with her beloved pet without harming others.
As for the original Paphaeng’s remains, Kancharat has preserved them in refrigeration and plans to bury them at her home when the time comes.
Kancharat Sakdikonthanasiri, Paphaeng’s owner, revealed that the original Paphaeng had died from canine Cushing’s syndrome. She then contacted Supasek Sarachitti, a stem cell expert known for successfully cloning dogs. PHOTO: ANN/THE NATION
MADRID (AFP) – At a bustling square in Madrid’s multicultural Lavapies neighbourhood, Baye Serigne, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant from Senegal, broke his Ramadhan fast with a few friends on a recent evening.
“It fills your stomach,” he said as he ate a yassa sandwich, a speciality made with marinated beef and onions after spending more than an hour on public transport to reach the square from the migrant shelter where he lives.
“Here it is a bit like my Dakar, where you can find ways to get by,” said Serigne, a mechanic by training who arrived in the Spanish capital in October and is spending his first Ramadhan alone in Spain, far from his family.
During the month of Ramadhan, which this year runs through March, observant Muslims do not eat between sunrise and sundown, breaking their fast with a meal known as iftar.
Since 2018 a group of Senegalese have distributed iftar meals in the square during Ramadhan to anyone, whether they are Muslim or not.
Fewer than 30 people turned up in the early days, but on some nights this year the group hands out more than 400 sandwiches, said one of the organisers of the meal distribution Aliou Badara Wagnan.
This year between 50 and 200 people gather in the square every evening for an iftar meal under the watchful eye of the police, he added. “For those who have just arrived in Spain, it’s very complicated,” the 33-year-old said.
ABOVE & BELOW: Immigrants receive an iftar meal during the food distribution organised by a group of Senegalese during Ramadhan in Lavapies Square in Madrid; and a person holds a bowl with the money collected during the food distribution PHOTO: AFPPHOTO: AFPImmigrants during the iftar meal. PHOTO: AFPAliou Badara Wagnan, one of the organisers of the meal distribution, stands next to food and hot drink containers. PHOTO: AFP
“They are staying in shelters, they don’t have enough to buy what they need or to cook. We are simply trying to make sure that everyone can eat.”
For many west African migrants without papers, the gathering is about more than just free food – it is a chance to exchange survival tips or to talk about the disappointments of their lives as undocumented immigrants. “I try to come every day. It feels good to have a good time and forget about the problems. We talk and laugh with each other,” said Assana, a 23-year-old former fisherman from Saint-Louis, a coastal city in northern Senegal.
Like Serigne, Assana, who did not want to give his surname, is spending his first Ramadhan far from his homeland. He scrapes by on the little more than EUR1,000 (USD1,080) a month he earns doing odd jobs.
“The biggest problem is not the work, but the lack of papers,” Assana said.
Without permission to work, many young migrants like Assana – who cannot stay in their shelters during the day – wander aimlessly around Lavapies, with its narrow streets filled with Bangladeshi fruit shops and African restaurants.
“We do nothing all day. If someone gave me money to leave, I think I would,” said one migrant who declined to be named.
Most still hope to become legal residents.
All of the undocumented migrants interviewed by AFP in Lavapies, aged 18 to 30, risked their lives to reach Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic from Africa in precarious boats.
Last year a record 46,843 migrants illegally reached the archipelago off the northwestern coast of Africa, often the first port of call for people quitting the continent hoping for a better life in Europe.
Spain needs “more hands” to work, said Wagnan, who has lived in Spain for the past seven years where he says he has easily found work on building sites.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez seems to agree.
Unlike the bulk of his counterparts in Europe, the Socialist premier argues immigration is needed to fill workforce gaps and counteract an ageing population that could imperil pensions and the welfare state.
Spain’s economy expanded by 3.2 per cent in 2024, far outperforming its eurozone peers due to a booming tourism sector and a rising population as a result of immigration.
CAIRO (AP) – When the first explosions in Gaza this week started around 1.30am, a visiting British doctor went to the balcony of a hospital in Khan Younis and watched the streaks of missiles light up the night before pounding the city. A Palestinian surgeon next to him gasped, “Oh no. Oh no.”
After two months of ceasefire, the horror of Israeli bombardment was back. The veteran surgeon told the visiting doctor, Sakib Rokadiya, they’d better head to the emergency ward.
Torn bodies soon streamed in, carried by ambulances, donkey carts or in the arms of terrified relatives. What stunned doctors was the number of children.
“Just child after child, young patient after young patient,” Rokadiya said. “The vast, vast majority were women, children, the elderly.”
This was the start of a chaotic 24 hours at Nasser Hospital, the largest hospital in southern Gaza. Israel shattered the ceasefire in place since mid-January with a surprise barrage that began early Tuesday and was meant to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and accepting changes in the truce’s terms. It turned into one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.
The aerial attacks killed 409 people across Gaza, including 173 children and 88 women, and hundreds more were wounded, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, whose count does not differentiate between militants and civilians.
More than 300 casualties flooded into Nasser Hospital. Like other medical facilities around Gaza, it had been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war, leaving it without key equipment. It was also running short on antibiotics and other essentials. On March 2, when the first, six-week phase of the ceasefire technically expired, Israel blocked entry of medicine, food and other supplies to Gaza.
Nasser Hospital’s emergency ward filled with wounded, in a scene described to TheAssociated Press (AP) by Rokadiya and Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American pediatrician – both volunteers with the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. Wounded came from a tent camp sheltering displaced that missiles set ablaze and from homes struck in Khan Younis and Rafah, further south.
Smoke rises from a building after it was targeted by an Israeli army strike in Gaza City. PHOTO: APInjured Palestinians wait for treatment at the hospital following Israeli army airstrikes in Khan Younis. PHOTO: APA man holds the body of a child, who was killed in Israeli army airstrikes, at Nasser Hospital morgue in Khan Younis. PHOTO: AP
TRIAGE
One nurse was trying to resuscitate a boy sprawled on the floor with shrapnel in his heart.
A young man with most of his arm gone sat nearby, shivering. A barefoot boy carried in his younger brother, around four-years-old, whose foot had been blown off. Blood was everywhere on the floor, with bits of bone and tissue.
“I was overwhelmed, running from corner to corner, trying to find out who to prioritise, who to send to the operating room, who to declare a case that’s not salvageable,” said Haj-Hassan.
“It’s a very difficult decision, and we had to make it multiple times,” she said in a voice message.
Wounds could be easy to miss. One little girl seemed okay – it just hurt a bit when she breathed, she told Haj-Hassan – but when they undressed her they determined she was bleeding into her lungs. Looking through the curly hair of another girl, Haj-Hassan discovered she had shrapnel in her brain.
Two or three wounded at a time were squeezed onto gurneys and sped off to surgery, Rokadiya said.
He scrawled notes on slips of paper or directly on the patient’s skin – this one to surgery, this one for a scan. He wrote names when he could, but many kids were brought in by strangers, their parents dead, wounded or lost in the mayhem. So he often wrote, “UNKNOWN”. Dr Feroze Sidhwa, an American trauma surgeon from California with the medical charity MedGlobal, rushed immediately to the area where the hospital put the worst-off patients still deemed possible to save.
IN THE OPERATING ROOM
But the very first little girl he saw – three or four years old – was too far gone. Her face was mangled by shrapnel. “She was technically still alive,” Sidhwa said, but with so many other casualties “there was nothing we could do”.
He told the girl’s father she was going to die. Sidhwa went on to do some 15 operations, one after another.
Khaled Alserr, a Palestinian surgeon, and an Irish volunteer surgeon were doing the same.
There was a 29-year-old woman whose pelvis was smashed, the webbing of veins around the bones was bleeding heavily. They did what they could in surgery, but she died 10 hours later in the intensive care unit (ICU).
There was a six-year-old boy with two holes in his heart, two in his colon and three more in his stomach, Sidhwa said. They repaired the holes and restarted his heart after he went into cardiac arrest.
He, too, died hours later.
“They died because the ICU simply does not have the capacity to care for them,” Sidhwa said.
Head of the pediatric and obstetrics department Ahmed al-Farra said that was in part because the ICU lacks strong antibiotics.
Sidhwa recalled how he was at Boston Medical Center when the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing happened, killing three people and sending some 260 wounded to area hospitals.
Boston Medical “couldn’t handle this influx of cases” seen at Nasser Hospital, he said.
THE STAFF
Rokadiya marveled at how the hospital staff took care of each other under duress. Workers circulated with water to give sips to doctors and nurses. Cleaners whisked away the bloody clothes, blankets, tissues and medical debris accumulating on the floors.
At the same time, some staff had their own family members killed in the strikes. Alserr, the Palestinian surgeon, had to go to the morgue to identify the bodies of his wife’s father and brother.
“The only thing I saw was like a packet of meat and bones, melted and fractured,” he said in a voice message, without giving details on the circumstances their deaths.
Another staffer lost his wife and kids. An anesthesiologist – whose mother and 21 other relatives were killed earlier in the war – later learned his father, his brother and a cousin were killed, Haj-Hassan said.
AFTERMATH
Around 85 people died at Nasser Hospital on Tuesday, including around 40 children from ages one to 17, al-Farra said.
Strikes continued throughout the week, killing several dozen more people. At least six prominent Hamas figures were among those killed on Tuesday.
Israel said it will keep targeting Hamas, demanding it release more hostages, even though Israel has ignored ceasefire requirements for it to first negotiate a long-term end to the war.
With Tuesday’s bombardment, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also secured the return to his government of a right-wing party that had demanded a resumption of the war, solidifying his coalition ahead of a crucial budget vote that could have brought him down.
Haj-Hassan keeps checking in on children in Nasser’s ICU. The girl with shrapnel in her brain still can’t move her right side. Her mother came to see her, limping from her own wounds, and told Haj-Hassan that the little girl’s sisters had been killed. “I cannot process or comprehend the scale of mass killing and massacre of families in their sleep that we are seeing here,” Haj-Hassan said. “This can’t be the world we’re living in.” – Samy Magdy & Lee Keath
ANN/THE STAR – A total of 176 Filipino human trafficking victims in Myanmar were successfully repatriated yesterday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
In a statement, the DFA said the successful repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) comes after a week-long shuttle visit of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega to Myanmar and Thailand.
The DFA said De Vega’s representation prompted swift action from Myanmar and Thai authorities, allowing the Filipinos to safely cross from Myawaddy, Myanmar, to Mae Sot, Thailand.
“The Philippine government is unwavering in its commitment to protecting Filipinos abroad.
This successful operation reaffirms the country as the gold standard in migration protection mechanisms, ensuring that overseas Filipinos, particularly those identified as alleged victims of human trafficking, receive the prompt support and assistance needed,” said the DFA.
“At the same time, the government wishes to reiterate its advice to all Filipinos to pass through the proper deployment procedures of the concerned government agencies, such as the Department of Migrant Workers, before leaving the country for overseas employment,” it added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) provided medical and psychosocial services to the repatriated OFWs.
In a Facebook post, DOH said that its personnel from San Lorenzo Ruiz General Hospital, Las Pinas General Hospital, and the National Center for Mental Health attended to the medical needs of the repatriates.
Returnees being assessed by San Lorenzo Ruiz General Hospital, Las Pinas General Hospital and National Center for Mental Health staff upon arrival. PHOTO: THE STAR
UPI – A tiny goat from Kerala, India, made history by earning the title of the world’s shortest living goat, as recognised by Guinness World Records.
Karumbi, a four-year-old female black pygmy goat, stands at just one foot, three inches tall, making her a rare and record-breaking farm animal. She belongs to farmer Peter Lenu, who had never considered her unusually small size to be record-worthy until a visitor to his farm pointed out that his pygmy goats appeared much smaller than others they had seen.
Among the 23 goats on Lenu’s farm, Karumbi is by far the tiniest. Intrigued by the guest’s observation, Lenu decided to have her officially measured by a veterinarian, who confirmed her diminutive height and paved the way for her Guinness World Record recognition.
“I take special care to maintain the genetic quality of all the animals I have,” Lenu shared with Guinness World Records.
Despite her small size, Karumbi is thriving. She has already given birth to one kid and is currently expecting another, proving that even the smallest of goats can have a big impact.
Karumbi, the shortest living goat, next to a bucket. PHOTO: GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS
AP – Japan’s official cherry blossom spotters confirmed the first blooming of the country’s favourite flower, declaring the official start of the festive season in the Japanese capital.
An official from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) carefully examined the specimen tree of Somei Yoshino variety at Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine and announced that more than five blossoms – the minimum required for the announcement – were flowering
on it. The opening matched the average year and was five days earlier than last year, according to the JMA.
Cherry blossoms, or sakura, are Japan’s favourite flower and usually reach their peak in late March to early April, just as the country celebrates the start of a new school and business year. Many Japanese enjoy walking or picnicking under the trees.
Sakura have deeply influenced Japanese culture for centuries and have regularly been used in poetry and literature, with their fragility seen as a symbol of life, death and rebirth.
The announcement in Tokyo, which is enjoying warmer-than-usual temperatures of around 19 degree Celsius, comes just one day after the blooming of the nation’s first cherry blossom was confirmed in the southwestern city of Kochi on the island of Shikoku.
The JMA tracks more than 50 “benchmark” cherry trees across the country.
The trees normally bloom for about two weeks each year from first bud to all the blossoms falling off. They are expected to reach their peak in about 10 days.
The blooming Somei Yoshino cherry tree at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. PHOTO: APVisitors taking photos of the cherry tree. PHOTO: AP
