MercoPress https://en.mercopress.com/ South Atlantic News Agency en Copyright 2026, MercoPress. https://en.mercopress.com/web/img/en/mercopress-logo.gif MercoPress http://en.mercopress.com/ <![CDATA[A personalized mRNA therapy passes a phase 3 melanoma trial for the first time]]> Despite the vaccine label used in much of the coverage, this is not a preventive measure but a treatment Pharmaceutical companies Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Moderna announced on Wednesday that their individualized neoantigen therapy, intismeran autogene, met its endpoints in a phase 3 trial in melanoma patients. It is the first positive result at that stage for an mRNA-based cancer treatment.

]]> Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:47:00 GMT <![CDATA[Australia launches program to vaccinate colonies of little penguins against avian influenza]]> Operations will be conducted at night when the penguins return from the sea and are directed to a special area where they will receive the first dose According to ABC News Australia wildlife conservation agencies in the state of Victoria have launched a program to vaccinate little penguins against the H5 strain of avian influenza. Over the next few weeks, experts plan to capture and vaccinate more than 5,000 birds in colonies on Philip Island and St. Kilda.

]]> Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:45:00 GMT <![CDATA[Colombia asks for supplies but not foreign rescue personnel after the earthquake]]> The Colombian government issued a diplomatic note on Tuesday requesting support from the international community with specific requirements Colombia's government has requested international aid in the form of supplies for those affected by Monday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake, but has not called for foreign rescue teams, despite offers from at least six countries and multilateral bodies.

]]> Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:05:00 GMT <![CDATA[SpaceX rocket stage crashes into the Moon after 18 months adrift]]> The object, weighing around 4,000 kilograms and catalogued as 2025-010D, hit at approximately 06:35 UTC at a speed close to 2.4 kilometers per second The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket struck the lunar surface on Wednesday near the Einstein crater, in an unplanned impact that NASA described as safe and posing no risk to Earth or to missions operating on the Moon.

]]> Wed, 05 Aug 2026 21:44:00 GMT <![CDATA[Scientists begin first study of whisky matured in Antarctica]]> Isla Marambio spent three years on the ice at an Argentine research station and is now one of eight single malts being analyzed to see how extreme climates shape whisky A team of scientists has begun the first analysis of a whisky matured in Antarctica, aiming to determine what three years at temperatures as low as -35°C did to the spirit's maturation, chemistry and taste.

]]> Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:01:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela raises official death toll from June double earthquake above 5,000]]> The true scale of the disaster remains surrounded by uncertainty The official death toll from the double earthquake that struck northern Venezuela on June 24 rose on Friday to 5,069, after 139 new fatalities were added, according to the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez. The tally, released via Telegram, keeps the number of injured at 16,740 and of people left homeless at 17,907. Authorities present these figures as provisional, more than three weeks after the disaster.

]]> Fri, 17 Jul 2026 22:25:00 GMT <![CDATA[British Antarctic Survey confirms Antarctica's first dinosaur fossil, 40 years on]]> The fossil was collected in December 1985 by geologist Mike Thomson, of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), during an expedition to James Ross Island, on the Antarctic Peninsula A bone collected in Antarctica four decades ago has been identified as the first dinosaur fossil found on the continent, according to a study published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. It is a tail vertebra from a titanosaur, the group of long-necked sauropods that includes the largest land animals that ever lived.

]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:51:00 GMT <![CDATA[PAHO warns Venezuela quake health emergency has entered critical phase]]> Photo: Maxwell Briceno / REUTERS The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned on Thursday that the health emergency stemming from the earthquakes that struck north-central Venezuela on June 24 has entered a critical stage and is "far from over," with the focus on preventing disease outbreaks among the displaced population. According to the official toll cited by the organization, as of July 8 the quakes had left 3,811 people dead and 16,740 injured.

]]> Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:55:00 GMT <![CDATA[Venezuela's quake toll passes 2,295 a week on, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for]]> Search efforts continued in the coastal state of La Guaira, the hardest hit, where most of the victims are concentrated A week after the twin earthquake that struck north-central Venezuela, the official toll rose to at least 2,295 dead and 11,267 injured, according to National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, who has been the main voice for the figures since the disaster. The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the country, Gianluca Rampolla, warned that the number "will keep growing" as rescue and debris-removal work advances.

]]> Thu, 02 Jul 2026 08:51:00 GMT <![CDATA[Collapsed hospitals and morgues raise health fears in Venezuela's earthquake zone]]> Authorities have restricted access to La Guaira to ease the entry of heavy machinery and specialized teams The emergency caused by the twin earthquake that struck north-central Venezuela on Wednesday is beginning to turn into a health risk, given the bodies that remain under the rubble and the collapse of hospitals and morgues in the worst-hit areas, particularly the coastal state of La Guaira. Authorities this weekend raised the toll to at least 1,450 dead and some 3,150 injured, a figure they warned would keep rising.

]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2026 20:31:00 GMT