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Reports of a surge in respiratory virus cases in China have evoked dark echoes of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic almost exactly five years ago.But despite the superficial similarities, medical experts say this situation is very different and much less worrisome.The Chinese cases are believed to be infections with human metapneumovirus, known to doctors as HMPV. Here's what we know so far:What is HMPV?It is one of several pathogens that circulate around the world every year, causing respiratory diseases. HMPV is common, so common that most people become infected as children and may get several infections over the course of their lives. In countries with cold months HMPV may have an annual season, much like influenza, while in places closer to the Equator it circulates at lower levels th...

President-elect Donald J. Trump said Tuesday that "all hell will break loose in the Middle East" if hostages held by Hamas are not released by Inauguration Day, repeating the threat four times during a wide-ranging news conference at his headquarters. Mar-a-Lago Estate in Florida.“If they don't come back when I take office, all hell will break loose in the Middle East,” he told reporters. “And it won't be good for Hamas, and frankly it won't be good for anyone. All hell will break loose. I don't have to say anything else, but that's how it is."Trump has not said what actions he might take if the hostages are not released before he takes office. And he declined to provide details about what he or his advisers are doing in the days leading up to the inauguration. Officials say about 100 host...

Over the past month, President-elect Donald J. Trump has repeatedly discussed his desire for the United States to acquire Greenland, and during a lengthy press conference Tuesday he refused to rule out using military force to achieve that goal.In a much more subtle geopolitical act that preceded Trump's remarks, Denmark's newly proclaimed king, Frederik X, implemented changes to the Danish royal coat of arms that reaffirm his kingdom's commitment to Greenland, a sovereign territory.The Danish royal coat of arms – a more elaborate symbol of the kingdom's national coat of arms – had previously featured a panel with three crowns representing the Kalmar Union between Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Those crowns have now been removed, with separate panels dedicated to Greenland (represented by a po...

Jan. 6, 2025, 6:35 pm ETDana White, left, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Mark Zuckerberg bonded over their passion for professional fighting. Credit...Jeff Bottari/Zuffa, via Getty ImagesMark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Monday that Meta has added Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White and two other executives to its board.Meta is adding White, a longtime friend of President-elect Donald J. Trump, to the social media company's leadership amid a series of moves to strengthen its ties with the incoming administration. Last week, the company shook up its top policy team, naming a longtime executive known for his Republican ties to head global policy. Meta also donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.In recent years, Mr. White and Mr. Zuckerberg, Meta's chief exec...

When Stephane Castel first met with a group of Maori and other Pacific Islanders in New Zealand to talk about his pharmaceutical company's plans for genetic research, locals feared he might be trying to profit from community members' genes without thinking too much.Instead, Dr. Castel and his colleagues explained, the goal was to strike an unconventional deal: in exchange for trusting them with their genetic heritage, participating communities would receive a share of the company's revenues. Dr. Castel also promised not to patent any genes – as many other companies had done – but rather the drugs his company would develop from the partnership.“Many people told us it was a crazy idea and that it wouldn't work,” Dr. Castel said. But five years after that first conversation at an Indigenous h...

A top U.S. envoy who helped broker the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah reassured Monday that Israel will fully withdraw from southern Lebanon, as called for in the fragile 60-day truce deal that put the bloodiest war on hold between the two sides in recent decades. .Speaking to reporters in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, envoy Amos Hochstein said Israeli troops had withdrawn from the southern city of Naqoura on Monday. In a statement, the Lebanese army said it had redeployed to the city following the Israeli withdrawal.“These withdrawals will continue until Israeli forces are completely out of Lebanon,” Hochstein said after meeting with senior Lebanese officials. “There has been a lot of progress in the last few days and I expect to see more progress in the days to come.”While the tr...

Austria's president on Monday tasked Herbert Kickl, the outspoken leader of the Alpine country's far-right Freedom Party, with the task of trying to form a governing coalition, three months after the party won the most votes in the general elections."Mr. Kickl is confident that he can find workable solutions in the context of government negotiations and wants this responsibility," President Alexander Van der Bellen said during a five-minute speech after meeting with Kickl.The president's request sets in motion a process that could make Kickl, an anti-immigrant firebrand who has vowed to make the country a "fortress," Austria's first far-right chancellor by the end of the year.What led to this?The Freedom Party came first in the September 29 elections, with almost 30% of the vote, but was w...

“A journalist finds himself in the woods.” Marc Da Costa, a digital artist with a Ph.D. in anthropology, spoke from the controls of an AI-driven video installation at the Onassis Foundation's ONX Studio, a high-tech multimedia laboratory in the Olympic Tower in Midtown Manhattan. He was talking to the computer running this installation. About me.“A huge fleet of food delivery bicycles appears,” Da Costa continued, telling a nonsensical story that AI would soon render on screen. “The heavens open and a friendly, galactic being descends with a scepter. Frank and the galactic being meet the delivery men and share a meal under the forest canopy. …”Moments later, a fleet of food delivery bikes actually appeared on the three enormous screens surrounding us, the entire scene rendered in a charmin...

Since being diagnosed with cancer last year, Kent Manuel has regularly visited an oncologist near his home in Indianapolis. It's been a difficult time: After spinal surgery for paralysis caused by cancer, he is regaining the use of his legs with physical therapy, but still uses a wheelchair.Now, Mr. Manuel said, “I'm dealing with the pain.” His oncologist recommended palliative care, a medical specialty that helps people with serious illnesses cope with discomfort and distress and maintain their quality of life.So in November, Mr. Manuel, 72, a semi-retired accountant, began seeing Dr. Julia Frydman, a palliative care doctor. “We talk about what works and what doesn't,” he said. “Listen to what I have to say. It's very flexible."The first two drugs prescribed to reduce pain had troublesome...

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had conducted "operational raids" in recent weeks on Syria's Mount Hermon, continuing a military campaign on Syrian soil that is drawing growing international condemnation.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based Syrian war watchdog, also reported airstrikes around the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday, attributing them to the Israeli army. The attacks targeted an ammunition depot used by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, ousted last month in a rebel offensive, the observatory said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the airstrikes.Israel's continued military operations in Syria, which it said on Sunday were intended to "strengthen the defense of Israeli citizens," have drawn accusations from the United Nation...