Reuters: The contrast between the vibrant green of a cannabis field and the arid land nearby in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley has for years raised a dilemma for the area’s impoverished farmers. Cannabis is hardier, less thirsty and cheaper to grow than the region’s other main crops like apples and potatoes, but it is also illegal…
MEMO: Israeli Prison Services yesterday transferred Palestinian female writer, Lama Khater, from the Ashkelon prison to the Hasharon prison, after detaining her for 34 days. Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) lawyer, Firas Al-Sabbah, said in a statement that 42-year-old Khater will attend an eighth court hearing session tomorrow under the pretext of completing judicial proceedings. Khater…
Desk Report: Chatbots are being taught to assist people in dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. The bots do not treat or diagnose – but human therapists have some reservations about the tech. A chatbot (sometimes referred to as a chatterbot) is a computer program that attempts to simulate the conversation…
Ramzy Baroud/Middle East Monitor Hanan al-Khoudari resorted to Facebook in a cry for help when Israeli authorities rejected her request to accompany her three-year-old son, Louay, to his chemotherapy treatment in East Jerusalem. The boy is suffering from an ‘aggressive soft tissue sarcoma’. Israeli authorities then justified their decision based on a vague claim that…
AFP: More than 1,200 people have been killed across South Asia in monsoon storms so far this year, according to figures collected by AFP as India counts the rising toll from floods that have devastated southern Kerala state. The monsoon, which lasts from June to September, causes widespread death and destruction across South Asia each…
Desk Report: A new study conducted by a researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has revealed that milk consumption has a large impact on linear growth in the crucial first 1,000 days of an infant’s life, potentially reducing stunting by as much as 10.4 point among children in Bangladesh, reports Asian Age….
Azeem Ibrahim, Senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy/Channel NewsAsia Over the past year, more than 700,000 people have fled their homes in Myanmar in the face of a sustained and coordinated campaign directed by the state and aided by nationalist hardliners. The crisis is highly visible, with the Rohingya people largely living in…
AFP: Dumped prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will quit parliament this week, reports said Tuesday, in another headache for Australia’s rattled government which will temporarily lose its tiny one-seat majority. The moderate was deposed in a Liberal party coup last week driven by a hardline conservative faction. After being knifed, he indicated would leave parliament rather…
Arab News: Women’s rights campaigners have expressed concern over the minimal female presence in the new Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf government’s cabinets in the center, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, urging the party to review its appointments. “Pakistan’s politics and political parties are unfortunately male dominated and that’s why women lawmakers are not given the importance they deserve…
Sky News: Parrots can make complex economic decisions, at least according to German scientists. 33 macaws and African grey parrots were taught to recognise the value of tokens which could be exchanged for food as part of the experiment at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. The birds then had to invest their tokens, either…