Day: April 19, 2023

Qatar Stock Exchange index started trading Wednesday, down by 2.43 points, or 0.02% to reach the level of 9950 points, compared to the close of Tuesday’s trading.

Data issued by Stock Exchange showed a negative performance for the industrial sector by 0.48%, the insurance sector by 0.12% and the bank, and financial services sector by 0.07%. On the other hand, the performance was positive in the telecommunications sector by 0.96%, followed by the transportation sector by 0.78%, the real estate sector by 0.35%, and the consumer goods and services sector by 0.16%.

At 10:00 am, Qatar Stock Exchange recorded transactions worth QR 43.519 million, distributed among 14.055 million shares, with the implementation of 1772 transactions.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Basra, Mahdi Al-Tamimi, discussed with the President of Basra University, Dr. Saad Shaheen, the launch of a project to raise awareness about the danger of the drug phenomenon, under the title (We will stop drugs).

Al-Tamimi told the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /: “Today, we discussed with the president of the university joint cooperation, specifically in the awareness and education file, and it was agreed to launch a major awareness campaign to combat the danger of the drug phenomenon, in cooperation with the cultural center of the university and the Faculty of Fine Arts.”

He added: “The campaign targets all Basra University students, and the program does not adopt the mechanism of regular programs for awareness, and will adopt inclusion and include many paragraphs.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Director of the West Asia Office at the Iranian Trade Development Organization, Farzad Beltin, confirmed that merchandise exports to Iraq on March 20, 2023 exceeded the level of 10 billion dollars.

According to Fars News Agency, Beltin considered that the export of more than 10 billion dollars of goods to Iraq in the aforementioned year is a new, unprecedented level.

He indicated that exports to Iraq witnessed an increase of about 15 % over the previous year, March 20, 2022, as about $8.2 billion of them were related to 100 items of main commodities exported to Iraq.

He went on, saying: “Commodities such as natural gas, steel alloys, dairy products, plastics, urea, oranges, eggs, sponge iron, pipes, profile iron, types of electrical transformers, and metal industries witnessed an increase over the previous year.”

On the other hand, he confirmed that Iran’s imports from Iraq recorded about $200 million in the fiscal year ending March 20, 2023, stressing that Iraq is one of Iran’s strategic partners with regard to foreign trade, especially exports.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Dr. Jawaher Alharthi, a Saudi researcher from Taif University and the University of Sydney, has made a breakthrough in medical research that could help prevent fatty liver disease and coronavirus complications.

Alharthi’s study identified the factors that increase the risk of complications from fatty liver disease and the possibility of targeting these factors to develop innovative treatments. She published her research in the scientific journal Nature Communications to document her rare findings.

In an interview with the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Alharthi explained that her research could protect against fatty liver disease and reduce the risk of coronavirus complications in patients with the condition. She identified pivotal genes that, when reduced, cause severe imbalances in bodily functions and increase immune activity due to inflammatory cytokines.

With her research team, Alharthi managed to carry out modifications that contribute to bringing the gene back to normal levels in the cell. “This discovery would make a major shift concerning treating the aforementioned diseases and achieving a qualitative and new medical breakthrough,” Alharthi added.

Fatty liver disease is prevalent worldwide, affecting nearly a quarter of the world’s population. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf countries are among the states with high rates of the disease. Alharthi’s study found that a gene-related factor is behind the increased deaths among fatty liver patients who also suffer from coronavirus. “The coronavirus has shown an ability to alter the genetic makeup of the infected person in a way that enhances the spread of the fatty liver disease and hence a deterioration of the patient’s health condition and also causes other related diseases and disorders,” she explained.

Alharthi identified the pivotal gene (MBOAT7), whose level drops severely when a person suffers from both fatty liver disease and coronavirus. This drop leads to severe disruption in the functions of human body cells and an increase in immune activity, resulting in the surge of production of inflammatory cytokines.

“Praise be to God; this discovery has helped to protect the fatty liver patient from complications of the coronavirus and delayed recovery” Alharthi stated.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

A security source announced that a person was killed and another was injured in an exchange of gunfire, as a result of an armed conflict in the Old Diyala Bridge area, southeast of Baghdad.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The US Special Envoy to Libya, Richard Norland, renewed the United States’ full support for the international envoy to Libya, Abdullah Batili, who continues to engage fully with Libyan leaders and interested international parties to develop a roadmap for holding elections on time in Libya.

Norland said in a US Embassy tweet on Twitter that the UN mediation coupled with a strong and sincere political will by the Libyan leaders is the key to laying a foundation for the elections, calling on the Libyan leaders to respect the desire of the Libyan people to elect their leaders.

Source: Libyan News Agency