SANATU ZAMBANG STUDIOS (Podcast)

The world's first malaria vaccine has received a green light from European drugs regulators who recommended it should be licensed for use in babies in Africa who are at risk of the mosquito-borne disease. The shot, called RTS,S or Mosquirix, would be the first licensed human vaccine against a parasitic disease and could help prevent millions of cases of malaria in countries that use it. The vaccine was developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, Recommendations for a drug licence made by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are normally endorsed by the European Commission within a couple of months. Mission Malaria Mosquirix, also part-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will also now be assessed by the World Health Organisation, which has promised to give its guidance on when and where it should be used before the end of this year. Malaria killed an estimated 584,000 people in 2013, the vast maj...

Raising questions over 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's expected hanging, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said Memon is being punished because of his religion. Addressing a public gathering in Hyderabad, Owaisi said Memon, who is likely to be hanged on July 30, accused the Centre of indulging in religious discrimination and said the government should execute all death row convicts. Owaisi said killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh are not being executed because of political pressure. "The killers of Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh have the backing of political parties in Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Which political party is backing Yakub Memon? Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab has gone to the extent of pardoning Balwant Singh Rajoana," Owaisi said. Raking up the Babri Masjid issue, the Hyderabab MP said thousands of people were killed in communal riots following the demol...

It is a universally acknowledged fact that a woman in her 30s has, at least, once been propositioned by a married man. Whether men do this out of plain boredom or pent-up sexual frustration, lust for a younger woman or genuine attraction, the fact is they do. Ever since I read about the news of hijacking of Ashley Madison – a website for cheating spouses – by a group of hackers who threatened to publish names and salacious client details unless the portal shut down, I couldn’t help but wonder if among the 2.75 lakh Indians who faced the risk of being exposed, were there more women than men? And if nude photos, kinky fetishes, real names and credit card information were to be leaked – how many Savita bhabhis (read Indian housewives and horny singles game to hook up with married men) would be exposed? In 2013, a study conducted by America’s Journal of Marital and Family Therapy revealed that 41 per cent of marriages had one or both spouses admitting to either physical or emotional infi...

Earth 2.0: NASA finds planet that matches our own Space agency's Kepler mission finds planet outside solar system that may have volcanoes, oceans and sunshine like Earth. Astronomers hunting for another Earth have found the closest match yet, a potentially rocky planet circling its star at the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun, NASA has said. Named Kepler 452b, the planet is about 60 percent larger than Earth. It could have active volcanoes, oceans and sunshine like ours, twice as much gravity and a year that lasts 385 days, scientists said on Thursday. Scientists discover 'new moon' around Pluto "Today we are announcing the discovery of an exoplanet that, as far we can tell, is a pretty good close cousin to the Earth and our Sun," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "This is about the closest so far, and I really emphasize the 'so-far,'" he added, describing Keple...

An American news network’s report labelling Kenya a “hotbed of terror” ahead of the US President’s visit has sparked ridicule on Twitter. “President Barack Obama is not just heading to his father's homeland, but to a hotbed of terror,” the CNN report read, raising concerns about al-Qaeda affiliated terror group al-Shabaab. The militants are based in neighbouring Somalia but have crossed the border for terror attacks including the massacre at Garissa University College that killed 152 people in April and the Westgate shopping mall attack in 2013. The headline of the story sparked criticism US security officials have insisted there is no risk to the President, who is due to arrive tomorrow for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Mr Obama’s arrival has been highly anticipated by many Kenyans, who greeted CNN’s headline - “Security fears as Obama heads to terror hotbed” – with disbelief and anger. People have been using the hashtag #SomeoneTellCNN – which has appeared in 75,000 tw...

Ghana’s senior national team once played against the world’s biggest football club, a fact that many Ghanaians seem oblivious of. That is probably because details regarding the match – especially from a Ghanaian perspective – are quite sparse. On its latest ‘anniversary’, however, Goal tried, not without great difficulty, to eke some of those. In times when belief in, and affection for, the Black Stars is at an all-time low [following the team’s spectacular implosion at Brazil 2014], perhaps this could be a reminder that things haven’t always been this bad. The Match It all transpired 52 (or 50, as other sources put it) years ago, on August 19. And it wasn’t at Madrid’s hallowed Santiago Bernabeu or some other exotic arena. It was right here in Ghana – at our good old Accra Sports Stadium. CK Gyamfi and team-mates back in the 50s The Ghanaian national side wasn’t such a big deal back then. The country hadn’t yet featured at a major international tournament (no, not even the Africa...

Chen Xiaotian was only 5-years old when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. While his mother, Zhou Lu, carefully looked at him and gave him all the support she could. It didn’t last long. A few months later, she was diagnosed with a kidney disease. The two slept side-by-side at the hospital for years. Zhou needed dialysis, while Chen needed constant attention. Doctors believed Chen would recover, but then his cancer returned. The cancer eventually blinded and paralyzed Chen, but his mother never gave up hope. However, Zhou was facing issues of her own. Her kidney began to weaken, and it was evident that only a kidney transplant could save her. That’s when the doctors intervened. They talked with Zhou’s mother. “They told me that my grandson would not survive,” she told Daily Mail, “but his kidneys could help his mother, and also save two other lives as well.” Zhou refused. “She absolutely didn’t want to hear any talk of that happening.” But when 7-year-old Chen ...