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Dubai to Host Arab Documentary Photography Exhibition

A general view of Dubai. (AFP)
A general view of Dubai. (AFP)
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Dubai to Host Arab Documentary Photography Exhibition

A general view of Dubai. (AFP)
A general view of Dubai. (AFP)

The Gulf Photo Plus Center for photography in Dubai announced its main exhibition held as part of the Photography Week 2019.

Curated by Jessica Murray from Al-Liquindoi Foundation, "The Shorter Distance between us: stories from the Arab Documentary Photography Program" will be held at the Concrete Building, Alserkal Avenue, on February 4-9.

The exhibition is funded by the Arab Fund of Arts and Culture – AFAC, and Alserkal Avenue in cooperation with the Prince Claus Fund and the Magnum Foundation.

The exhibition will display the works of seven photographers who have received scholarships from the Arab Documentary Photography Program.

The displayed works includes "a targeted area" by the Lebanese Photographer Elsie Haddad, who used her photographs to document the life of prisoners in Lebanon after their release and their attempt to reintegrate in their community.

They also feature "Intersections" by Hisham Jardaf who highlights the impact of urban development in Morocco on the society and the national identity.

"The Infertile Crescent" by Nadia Bseiso features a pipeline that transmits water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, with obvious war marks and pollution in the crescent which was once fertile in Iraq.

In his photograph "Live, Love Refugee", Omar Imam prompts refugees to imagine their dreams and to revive them again.

Zayd bin Ramadan's "on the life's west" displays scenes from the phosphate mining villages in Tunisia, showing that poverty still exists despite the phosphate's contribution in the Tunisian economy.

"The Moon's Dust" by Mohamed Mahdi is a project from the Moon Valley in Alexandria, in which the photographer highlights the impact of toxic dust emitted by cement's factories on the urban environment surrounding the valley.

Hiba Khalifo partakes in the exhibition with a work dubbed "homemade", which represents a true study of the female body and all the sorts of abuse endured by women in Egypt just because they are women.

The documentary photography projects allow visitors to watch and experiment factors affecting the region without the frills that usually transform stories into statistics.

Along with "the shorter distance between us" exhibition, the Documentary Photography Program's photography week will include art interviews and a new edition of "Slide Fest" on February 5.

It will bring together participants from the four previous editions, which will give visitors the chance to see a wide range of documentary photography projects from the Arab world.

Talking about the event, Vilma Jurkute, director of Alserkal Avenue, said: "Alserkal Avenue aims at sponsoring young talents in the Arab world by launching artistic initiatives and programs.”

“Today, we are proud of taking part in this exhibition in partnership with the Arab Fund of Arts and Culture, Prince Claus Fund, and Magnum Foundation, which has always been leading in highlighting, guiding, and supporting bright Arab photographers."

Rima Mesmar, head of the Arab Fund of Arts and Culture – AFAC, said: "Through our photography scholarships, we aim at helping the participants achieving their projects, and supporting them to create works that are able to revive communication with the audience and open conversations to improve our understanding of the region we live in.”

“Dubai is the best place to display these works, as it links different regions in in the Arab world. This exhibition, which displays works from Egypt, the Levant, North Africa, will be able to reach a wide audience in Dubai."

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Varieties

India Moves Closer to Dengue Vaccine as Final Trials Underway

Patients suffering from dengue fever receive medical treatment at Civil Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, 05 November 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Patients suffering from dengue fever receive medical treatment at Civil Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, 05 November 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
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India Moves Closer to Dengue Vaccine as Final Trials Underway

Patients suffering from dengue fever receive medical treatment at Civil Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, 05 November 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Patients suffering from dengue fever receive medical treatment at Civil Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, 05 November 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

As dengue surges globally, an Indian vaccine candidate has entered the final stage of testing, raising hopes for one of the world's first single-dose shots against the deadly mosquito-borne disease.

Dengue, which causes severe flu-like symptoms and debilitating body aches, has exploded globally, fueled by rising temperatures and densely populated cities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that almost half the world's population is now at risk, with 100-400 million infections every year. India alone has recorded over one million cases and at least 1,500 deaths since 2021.

Hoping to stem the global epidemic, Panacea Biotec has begun final Phase III trials of its vaccine, DengiAll, which has been pursuing for nearly 15 years.

More than 10,000 volunteers across the country are enrolled in the study, overseen by the Indian Council of Medical Research, with the vaccine on track for rollout as early as next year if the trial results are favorable.

"We will try to get this vaccine out there as soon as possible," Syed Khalid Ali, chief scientific officer of Panacea, told AFP in New Delhi.

Doctor Ekta Gupta, professor of clinical virology at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi, said dengue was now considered hyperendemic in India, with all four virus serotypes circulating simultaneously.

"This vaccine is very much needed right now to control the occurrence of these cases, or at least prevent the severity."

- Climate change -

Monsoon outbreaks regularly push Indian hospitals to their limits, crowding urban wards and leaving rural regions grappling with late diagnoses and poor access to care.

Higher temperatures and changing rainfall patterns create ideal conditions for Aedes mosquitoes -- the vectors of dengue -- to reproduce and spread the virus.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the more severe form, called dengue hemorrhagic fever, as they are more likely to suffer low platelet counts and shock.

Participants in Phase III trials, which started in 2024, were randomly assigned to receive either the vaccine or a placebo, with the results expected later this year.

Vaccines against all four dengue serotypes have long posed a scientific challenge. Immunity to one strain does not protect against others, and secondary infections can be more severe.

Most existing candidates require multiple doses.

If approved, DengiAll would become one of the world's first single-dose dengue vaccines, following Brazil's approval of a similar shot last year.

It would also be the first such vaccine available in India, where no dengue shot is currently licensed for public use.

"We will be the second (single-dose) vaccine to come out... But in India and several lower-middle-income countries, we will be the first ones to roll out the dengue vaccine," Ali said.

The candidate is based on a tetravalent strain originally developed by the US National Institutes of Health.

- 'Hope for future' -

Panacea is the most advanced of three Indian firms licensed to use the strain, having developed its own formulation and secured a process patent.

Inside the company's research labs, doctor Priyanka Priyadarsiny, head of biological R&D, said vaccine development involves several steps, from proof-of-concept studies to regulatory checks.

"We are extremely cautious about purity, safety and adverse effects," she said. "Only after meeting regulatory specifications can a product be considered safe for public use."

At present, the WHO recommends only one dengue vaccine, Qdenga, produced by Japan's Takeda for children aged six to 16 in high-transmission settings.

Qdenga, which requires two doses administered three months apart, is not currently available in India.

Ali said DengiAll could be given to people aged one to 60 and is expected to offer long-term protection.

In India, final approval would come from the Drug Controller General of India, while WHO prequalification would be required for large-scale international use.

Experts say a successful Indian-made vaccine could be key to affordability and mass rollout in lower-income countries.

Virologist and Oxford University fellow Shahid Jameel -- who is not connected with the trial -- warned dengue incidence could rise by 50-75 percent by 2050 under current climate change trends.

Still, he cautioned that only Phase III results would determine whether a candidate meets the criteria for a safe and effective dengue vaccine.

"Phase III testing and follow-up are needed to show if the above conditions are met," he told AFP.

"Only then can we have a useful dengue vaccine. It is still early days, but there is hope for the future."

Varieties

Oil Spill from Cargo Ship Washes up on Thai Tourist Islands 

People walk along Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand, June 29, 2021. (AFP)
People walk along Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand, June 29, 2021. (AFP)
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Oil Spill from Cargo Ship Washes up on Thai Tourist Islands 

People walk along Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand, June 29, 2021. (AFP)
People walk along Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand, June 29, 2021. (AFP)

An oil spill from a capsized cargo ship in the Indian Ocean is washing ashore on the pristine beaches of Thailand's most famous resort island, a lawmaker told AFP Friday.

The Panama-flagged Sealloyd Arc sank off Phuket on February 7 while sailing for Chattogram in Bangladesh, Thai authorities said, spilling around 1,700 liters of oil.

The coagulated residue has begun washing up on the island's Ya Nui Beach, as well as a smattering of smaller islands in Phuket province, local lawmaker Chalermpong Saengdee told AFP.

The oil has tainted Koh Hey's Banana Beach -- a popular destination for island-hopping tourists seeking turquoise clear waters -- and is expected to keep spreading, he said.

"It's very worrying because the incident happened two weeks ago, but the situation is not improving and it poses a threat to marine life and coastal reefs," he said.

"We are also concerned it could affect Thailand's tourism and economy."

The ship lies at a depth of about 60 meters (197 feet), making it difficult for divers to contain the leak, Chalermpong said.

Footage on public broadcaster Thai PBS showed locals combing beaches with rakes and buckets to collect globs of the oil.

While the Thai Navy has been using dispersants to treat the spillage, Chalermpong has called for government funding to salvage the wreck.

Thailand suffered 130 oil spills affecting more than 23 provinces between 2017 and 2021, according to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.

Environmental organizations warn oil spills cause severe and long-lasting damage to ecosystems -- coating wildlife, contaminating food sources and releasing toxic chemicals.

Varieties

How The Brains of ‘Super Agers’ Stay Young

Human brain with flower colors (Shutterstock) 
Human brain with flower colors (Shutterstock) 
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How The Brains of ‘Super Agers’ Stay Young

Human brain with flower colors (Shutterstock) 
Human brain with flower colors (Shutterstock) 

The secret of how “super agers” have the mental agility of people decades younger has been discovered, according to The Telegraph.

Scientists have found that some elderly people are able to regenerate brain cells twice as quickly as healthy adults of the same age.

It has only recently been shown that people continue creating brain cells throughout their life, with researchers previously believing that humans were born with all the brain cells they will ever have.

The new research suggests that some people age without any signs of cognitive decline because their bodies are much better at renewing brain cells – a process known as neurogenesis – which protects them from diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

“Super agers had twice the neurogenesis of the other healthy older adults,” said Professor Orly Lazarov, of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

“Something in their brains enables them to maintain a superior memory. I believe hippocampal neurogenesis is the secret ingredient, and the data support that,” she said.

Lazarov added that, “This is a big step forward in understanding how the human brain processes cognition, forms memories and ages.”

A super ager is someone aged 80 or older who exhibits cognitive function that is comparable to an average person who is middle-aged.

To find out why their brains were still so nimble, scientists looked at donated brain samples from five groups: healthy young adults; healthy older adults; older adults with exceptional memory – or super agers; individuals with mild or early dementia; and those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers searched for three stages of developing brain cells; neuroblasts – the most primitive cells; adolescent stem cells on their way to neuronhood; and immature neurons, which are just shy of becoming functional.

They found that brains of older adults with super healthy cognition grow more new neurons than those of their peers, while those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease generated almost no new neurons.

Scientists hope that if they can find out what is driving the extra brain-cell development, they can create drugs or lifestyle interventions to boost healthy ageing and prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

For example, previous research has shown that exercise produces a protein called cathepsin B which travels to the brain and triggers neuron growth.

“What’s exciting for the public is that this study shows the ageing brain is not fixed or doomed to decline,” said Ahmed Disouky, the first author of the study from UIC.

“Understanding how some people naturally maintain neurogenesis opens the door to strategies that could help more adults preserve memory and cognitive health as they age,” he said.