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Commission’s patents proposal doesn’t have to be so damaging

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

On April 27 2023, the European Commission proposed regulations which would transform the licensing of standard-essential patents (SEPs). This far-reaching and very flawed proposal is now pending before the European Council and the European Parliament.There are plenty of reasons why the European Commission’s proposed SEP Regulation should be withdrawn and reconsidered. These include: the lack of empirical evidence justifying regulatory intervention; the lack of evidence that the proposed SEP Regulation will achieve its goals; the clear lack of balance; the failure to consult with industry and Commission stakeholders; the fact that it is not proportionate.The very premise of the proposed SEP Regulation is also flawed. The are four main elements to the proposed SEP Regulation. First, there is a SEP register to count SEPs. Second, there are essentiality checks to eliminate false SEPs. Third, there is a process for aggregate royalty determinations. Finally, there are FRAND determinations...

How the world gets Universal Health Coverage back on track

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

In a tiny village along the Peruvian Amazon, women line up on a warm, rainy August morning to protect themselves against cervical cancer, a disease that claims the lives of six women in Peru every day.News had spread throughout nearby villages of a pilot screening project for human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. Midwives were arriving in Comunidad El Salvador to show women how to collect their own vaginal samples. The women in line would be joining more than 100,000 others in getting tested as part of the wider screening program, involving Peru’s Ministry of Health, government organizations, patient advocates and other groups including Roche.[1]While it is well understood that HPV screening is vital to preventing cervical cancer, the lack of access in many remote or low-income parts of the world still leaves many women at a level of risk that should be unacceptable in the modern age.       Joanna Sick...

One person in custody after Boston police cruiser hit during chase

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

One person was in custody Monday night after a police chase that ended in South Boston. Police were spotted on scene on East First Street around 11:15 p.m. near a heavily damaged car with flat tires. A gun was also spotted on the ground at the scene. Officials told 7NEWS a Boston police cruiser was hit during the preceding chase and confirmed that one person was in custody. Though the cruiser was hit, officials said no one was inside at the time. No further information was immediately available. This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Car crashes into Charles River in Newton

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

Emergency crews responded in Newton Monday night after a car crashed into the Charles River. The car appeared to have crashed through an area of brush before traveling into the water off Washington Street in town. Police on scene said they had to pull a woman out of the car through its passenger-side. Though the woman was taken to the hospital, police said she is expected to be OK. No one else was in the car at the time of the crash. There was no word as of Monday night on what caused the driver to go into the water. Initially seen in the water, the car was seen being towed away shortly before 11 p.m.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Chicago Bulls reportedly scour potential landing spots for Zach LaVine while weighing options for DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

The Chicago Bulls are seeking out potential landing spots for Zach LaVine. But the wheels of change keep grinding slowly as executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas appears to be set on a careful and steady approach.The Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers are the two teams most interested in obtaining LaVine through a trade, according to a new report from The Athletic. But only days away from the Dec. 15 threshold — when the majority of players in the league become tradable — there isn’t much movement apparent in the Bulls front office.It’s always been clear the Bulls wouldn’t make a trade until January at the earliest. And with LaVine likely sidelined until the new year with a foot injury, it can be difficult to gauge the market. But that won’t stop the steady flow of trade gossip from now until the Feb. 8 deadline.One key piece of chatter gives important insight into the front office’s next s...

No victims found in huge debris pile after corner of Bronx apartment building collapses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

By JOSEPH B. FREDERICK, JENNIFER PELTZ and JAKE OFFENHARTZ (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Firefighters said they didn’t find anybody trapped in an enormous mound of rubble Monday after a corner of a seven-story Bronx apartment building collapsed, leaving apartments exposed like a stack of shelves and a convenience store partly buried under bricks and wood.Firefighters spent hours searching a pile of debris that was 12 feet (3.6 meters) high in spots, the fire department reported on social media late Monday night. No victims were found but two people received minor injuries while evacuating the damaged building, the department said.The proprietor of the ground floor shop said the people inside got out safely, city officials said. During the search, firefighters used buckets, power tools and heavy equipment while officials kept a watchful eye on the portions of the building that remained standing.“Our main objective is to get to the bottom of that pile,” Fir...

Climate talks enter last day with no agreement in sight on fossil fuels

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hopes for finishing a critical climate summit on time were fading early Tuesday as countries were still far apart on key issues, including an agreement on what to do about the fossil fuels that are causing dangerous global warming.The United Nations-led summit known as COP28 was scheduled to end around midday after nearly two weeks of speeches, demonstrations and negotiations. But the climate talks often run long, and Monday’s release of a draft agreement angered countries that insist on a commitment for rapid phase-out of coal, oil and gas.Instead, the draft called for countries to reduce “consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”Tina Stege, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, ridiculed the document as “a meaningless wish list” that “questions the science” and said it doesn’t address the Paris agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) to stave off the wors...

Miss Nicaragua pageant director announces her retirement after accusations of ‘conspiracy’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The director of the Miss Nicaragua pageant, Karen Celebertti, on Monday announced her retirement from the organization, nine days after the Nicaraguan police accused her of “conspiracy” and other crimes along with her husband and son, who are detained.“The time has come for my retirement,” Celebertti wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I know that there will always be more opportunities for us.”It was Celebertti’s first public statement after the scandal that followed the coronation of Sheynnis Palacios as Miss Universe on Nov. 18 in El Salvador.The businesswoman said that she worked for 23 years “with zeal and effort” until Nicaragua won the world beauty crown this year, which she described “as an achievement for everyone” and “for every Nicaraguan, without political distinction.”Palacios’ surprise victory in the contest unleashed demonstrations of joy in the streets of Nicaragua, prompting criticism by the government of Daniel Ortega.According to the local press, imm...

War-wracked Myanmar is now the world’s top opium producer, surpassing Afghanistan, says UN agency

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar, already wracked by a brutal civil war, has regained the unenviable title of the world’s biggest opium producer, according to a U.N. agency report released Tuesday.The Southeast Asian country’s opium output has topped that of Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban imposed a ban on its production, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in its “Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2023.”The Taliban’s ban has led to a 95% drop in the cultivation of opium poppies, UNODC said last month. Opium, the base from which morphine and heroin are produced, is harvested from poppy flowers.From 2022 to 2023, Myanmar saw the estimated amount of land used to grow the illicit crop increase 18% to 47,100 hectares (116,400 acres), the new UNODC report said.“Although the area under cultivation has not returned to historic peaks of nearly 58,000 ha (143,300 acres) cultivated in 2013, after three consecutive years of increases, poppy cultivation in Myanmar is expan...

Missile strikes Norwegian-flagged tanker in Red Sea off Yemen in apparent expansion of rebel attacks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:00:12 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A missile suspected to have been fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen near a key maritime chokepoint, authorities said Tuesday.The assault on the oil and chemical tanker Strinda expands a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait into apparently now striking those that have no clear ties to Israel. That potentially imperils cargo and energy shipments coming through the Suez Canal and further widens the international impact of the Israel-Hamas war now raging in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, though rebel military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said an important announcement would be coming from them soon. The U.S. military’s Central Command issued a statement Tuesday saying an anti-ship cruise missile “launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen” hit the Strin...