US – The first man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation, the hospital which carried out the procedure has said.
Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, was suffering with end-stage kidney disease before undergoing the operation in March.
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) said yesterday that there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.
Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman was hailed as a historic milestone.
In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.
Following his pig kidney transplant on 16 March, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.
“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.
Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.
MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.
Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.
“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.
“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.
“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.
While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.
Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.
In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants. (BBC)…[+]

CANADA – A fourth Indian national has been arrested and charged by the Canadian authorities over the killing of a separatist Sikh activist in Vancouver last year – a case that has strained diplomatic relations with India.
Amandeep Singh, 22, was already in custody for unrelated gun charges before being charged with “first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder” in the slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said.
Singh lived in the cities of Brampton, Surrey and Abbotsford.
Three other Indian nationals were arrested earlier this month in the city of Edmonton in Alberta, with the authorities saying they were investigating whether the men had ties to the Indian government.
Kamalpreet Singh, 22; Karan Brar, 22; and Karanpreet Singh, 28, appeared in court last Tuesday via videolink and agreed to a trial in English. They have also been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Sikh leaders in North America have welcomed the arrests, but allegations that the Indian government was involved have fuelled questions and unease.
Nijjar, 45, was shot dead in June outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. He was campaigning for the creation of Khalistan, an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India.
India has long been embittered by Sikh separatist groups in Canada and had deemed Nijjar a “terrorist”.
Shortly after his death, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was evidence of potential Indian government involvement in Nijjar’s murder, which led to a backlash from India.
New Delhi dismissed the allegations as “absurd” and responded furiously, briefly curbing visas for Canadians and forcing Ottawa to withdraw diplomats.
In November, the US Department of Justice charged an Indian citizen, Nikhil Gupta, living in the Czech Republic with plotting a similar assassination attempt on US soil.
Prosecutors said in unsealed court documents that an Indian government official was also involved in the planning to assassinate Sikh-American activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
The shock allegations came after US President Joe Biden hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a rare state visit as Washington seeks closer ties with India against China’s growing influence.
US intelligence agencies have assessed that the plot on US soil was approved by India’s top spy official at the time, Samant Goel, The Washington Post reported in April.
About 770,000 Sikhs live in Canada, nearly 2 percent of the country’s population and the largest number of the community outside India. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

US – Dozens of Virginia Commonwealth University students walked out of their graduation ceremony last Saturday, partly over a speaker’s response – the state governor – to campus protests.
It comes as US school officials brace for possible disruptions of commencement events over Israel-Gaza war protests.
Dozens of colleges roiled by protests are holding graduations this weekend.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested since protest began mid-April.
Social media posts on Saturday showed Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) students in caps and gowns leaving the room as Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin began his commencement address.
Some students had criticised the selection of Mr Youngkin as that year’s speaker, both for his opposition to a racial literacy requirement being considered by VCU as well as for saying that encampments on college campuses should not be allowed.
Video posted online show some of the VCU protesters chanting “disclose, divest – we will not stop we will not rest”.
Many students protesters in the US are demanding that their schools, many with massive endowments, financially cut ties from Israel.
People were clapping so loudly, members of the audience couldn’t hear Mr Youngkin speak, Sereen Haddad, a second-year VCU student who helped organise the protest, told the BBC last Saturday evening.
Ms Haddad said some 150 people marched outside the ceremony, including students who walked out.
Thirteen people, including six students, were arrested at VCU when the encampment there was cleared by police on 29 April.
Mr Youngkin’s speech went on as planned despite the walk-out. He later posted a message on social media congratulating graduates and did not comment on the protest.
At another commencement on Saturday, the University of California Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ opened the ceremony by acknowledging the weeks of demonstrations from protesters.
“I’m saddened by how this conflict has divided students, faculty and staff,” she said, according to the LA Times.
The remarks drew some applause as well as chants of: “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go”.
Some 20 students stood up and began waving signs, Palestinian flags and chanting, “Free Palestine” as during another speech, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, and they were later joined in chants by more graduates.
In a statement, UC Berkeley said that the event continued despite being “unfortunately disrupted” and that protesters who left the ceremony did so voluntarily. No one was arrested.
The protest came a day after eight students wore shirts spelling out “UC divest” during the law school graduation ceremony.
In the past month, the BBC has counted more than 130 US colleges and universities with protests against the ongoing war in Gaza.
Campus protests have led to some graduation ceremonies being cancelled, including at New York’s Columbia University, which said last week it was ditching its 15 May commencement in favour of smaller celebrations to focus on keeping students “safe”.
Many schools have brought in additional measures for the graduation events, such as requiring identification, instituting clear bag policies, and issuing warnings that people causing a disruption will be removed.
Some commencement speakers have also withdrawn, like author Colson Whitehead, who said he would no longer be the keynote speaker at the University of Massachusetts Amherst event after police cleared an encampment there.
Others have had their speeches cancelled.
The University of Vermont and Xavier University of Louisiana recently rescinded invitations to have the US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speak under students pressure to drop the Biden administration official from the line-up.
Some universities, including University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had police clear encampments and arrest protesters last Friday ahead of graduation ceremonies.
At the University of Arizona, police used “loud munitions” and “chemical munitions” to clear remaining protesters from an encampment, the university said.
While some universities have avoided clearing the protest camps, others have brought in police to help remove demonstrators.
Earlier this week, the chief of police at Arizona State University was placed on paid administrative leave “pending a review” after the school received a number of complaints about his handling of the campus protests in late April, ASU said. (BBC)…[+]

INDONESIA – At least 28 people, including several children, have been killed and many others are missing after flash floods and cold lava flow from a volcano hit western Indonesia, according to rescue officials.
Basarnas search and rescue agency said in a statement yesterday the disaster hit Agam and Tanah Datar districts in the West Sumatra province at about 10:30pm (15:30 GMT) last Saturday after hours of heavy rain, triggering a flash flood and a cold lava flow from Mount Marapi.
Cold lava, also known as lahar, is volcanic material like ash, sand and pebbles carried down a volcano’s slopes by rain.
Abdul Malik, head of the provincial rescue agency, told Reuters 28 people were killed, including a three-year-old and an eight-year-old.
Four other people are still being searched in Agam district, he said.
“Today, we will continue the search in the two districts.”
Photos and videos posted on social media showed large rocks and thick mud covering the streets of West Sumatra.
The disaster comes just two months after another deadly flooding hit the same island.
Authorities dispatched a team of rescuers and rubber boats to look for the missing victims and to transport people to shelters.
The local government set up evacuation centres and emergency posts in several spots in the two districts.
Indonesia is prone to landslides and floods during the rainy season.
Last week, 15 people were killed in South Sulawesi after landslides and flooding swept away homes and damaged roads.
In March, at least 26 people had been found dead after landslides and floods hit West Sumatra.
Last Saturday’s floods in Agam and Tanah Datar also carried cold lava down from Mount Marapi, the most active volcano in Sumatra and one of nearly 130 active volcanoes in the Indonesian archipelago.
In December, Marapi erupted and spewed an ash tower 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) into the sky, higher than the volcano itself.
At least 24 climbers, most of them university students, died in the eruption.
In a separate deadly incident last Saturday evening, at least 11 people were killed and dozens of others were injured when a bus carrying more than 60 high school students on a graduation trip and their teachers crashed on Indonesia’s biggest island of Java.(Al Jazeera)…[+]

BEIJING – President Xi Jinping has stressed efforts to continuously break new ground in ideological and political education at schools in the new era.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction on the development of ideological-political courses for schools.
Xi said that the CPC Central Committee has always made developing ideological-political courses in schools a priority for education since the 18th CPC National Congress and the Party’s leadership in this regard has been fully strengthened.
Developing ideological-political courses on the new journey of the new era should follow the guidance of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and the fundamental mission of fostering virtue should be carried out, Xi said.
He underscored the importance of developing a system of textbooks with a focus on the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, and integrating political education across all levels from elementary schools to universities.
Xi stressed the need for efforts to uphold fundamental principles and break new ground to develop ideological-political courses, and to make the courses more targeted and appealing.
He stressed that Party committees and leading Party members groups at all levels should make it a priority to develop ideological-political courses.
Schools of various types should consistently break new ground in ideological and political education in the new era, and foster talented individuals who are loyal to the Party, patriotic and dedicated, and capable of shouldering the mission of realizing national rejuvenation, he said.
Xi’s important instruction was conveyed at a meeting on boosting the development of ideological-political courses for schools held in Beijing on Saturday. Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech.
Ding, who is also vice premier, called for thorough study and implementation of Xi’s important instruction and urged continuous efforts to push forward the reform and innovation of ideological-political courses.
Stressing the importance of helping students better understand national conditions and consolidate their ideals and faith, Ding said the mechanism for guaranteeing proper status and salaries for teachers of the courses should be improved. (Xinhua)…[+]

GAZA – The Israeli military has ramped up its attacks in Rafah, southern Gaza, and hit Gaza City while crippling humanitarian aid operations across the Palestinian territory as ceasefire talks ended without a deal.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said yesterday that 110,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah. Israeli troops were advancing in the east of the city in close combat operations and conducting air raids.
“People are petrified. People have been fearing this for a long, long time and it is now upon us. There is constant bombardment. There is smoke on the horizon. There are people on the move,” Sam Rose, director of planning for the UNRWA, told Al Jazeera from Rafah.
He said Israel was subjecting Gaza to a “medieval siege” in a “scorched earth” war.
Israeli forces earlier this week seized control of the Rafah border crossing, sealing the crucial entry point for humanitarian aid.
“No aid has come into Gaza now since Sunday. No aid, no fuel, no supplies, nothing. And we really are now down to our last reserves,” Rose said.
“We have a few more days of flour that we can provide. But everything else will start to shut down very soon without fuel, without water. So the situation is really desperate,” he added.
Under heavy attack, patients and staff have been forced out of hospitals in Rafah, leaving many sick and wounded Palestinians with no way of being treated.
“Al-Najjar Hospital is out of service. And the Kuwaiti Hospital [in Rafah] is just for trauma and emergency,” said Palestinian doctor Mohammed Zaqout. “We have no beds, no hospitals to refer [people to], especially for critical patients.”
Further north, witnesses reported air strikes and fighting in neighbourhoods of Gaza City, targeting Zeitoun, Sabra, Nassr, Tal al-Hawa, and the Shati refugee camp. At least three people were killed and five wounded after Israeli strikes hit a family home in central Gaza City, according to the news agency.
The Israeli and Hamas delegations left the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after the latest round of ceasefire talks, mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt. Hamas said yesterday that the “ball is now completely” in Israel’s hands.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two sides must show “flexibility” in order to strike a deal for a ceasefire and an exchange of captives being held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas said a deal would involve a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war, and captives-for-prisoners swap, with the aim of a “permanent ceasefire”.
The group said it stood by the terms and that Israel had “raised objections to it on several central issues”.
Hamas’s demand for an initial 12-week pause in fighting was a major sticking point for Israel during this week’s ceasefire negotiations, broadcaster CNN reported, citing three sources familiar with the talks. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

URUMQI – Chinese Premier Li Qiang has stressed that Xinjiang should work to improve people’s wellbeing and promote long-term stability while striving for high-quality development.
Li made the remarks during his inspection tour in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from Tuesday to Thursday. Noting that Xinjiang is promoting the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Li said it should better link inland regions with countries along the route, and build itself into a bridgehead for opening up to the west.
After being told that the number of overseas visitors to Xinjiang has increased significantly following the implementation of the visa-free policy, the premier said that international exchanges should be strengthened in the fields of trade, education, medical care, culture and tourism.
When visiting local companies, Li said Xinjiang should support the development of competitive industries that take advantage of local strengths such as energy, farm produce processing and equipment manufacturing. (Xinhua)…[+]