anadmin – Page 1668 – Angola Newswire

July 19, 2021

“UNITE BY EMOTION” to deliver cheers from all over the world to athletes online on the opening day of the world’s most attractive sporting event.

TOKYO, July 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — On July 23, 2021, as the international sports competition begins, I’mbesideyou Inc. will launch “UNITE BY EMOTION”, a service that will allow us to visualize the cheers of people around the world online through AI and deliver them to the athletes and people around the world. The aim is to create an opportunity for people around the world to connect with each other emotionally by providing a new experience for online spectators at the Games, which will be held without spectators for the first time in history, and to deliver cheers to the athletes.

・About “UNITE BY EMOTION”

“UNITE BY EMOTION” is a service that uses I’mbesideyou’s emotion recognition technology to visualize each individuals’ emotions and projects to the world, by people from all over the world posting videos and photos of themselves cheering on athletes.

Posted videos and photos will be randomly displayed on the site. Your support and feelings will be conveyed to people all over the world through “UNITE BY EMOTION”.

Anyone in the world can contribute. Send a message of support to your favorite athlete, or your favorite country!

Countries that have been supported will be displayed on the site. You can also send a message of support to a country other than the one you live in!

This service will be available worldwide, completely free of charge, and without any advertisements. It is an initiative to send our best wishes to the athletes who are competing without spectators.

UNITE BY EMOTION is scheduled to launch on the opening day of the Games. In the meantime, you can post your support on the teaser site, and register your e-mail address to receive information before the service starts. The illustration of the earth on the teaser site rotates with the movement of the mouse, so have fun playing!

Our thoughts : We were absolutely surprised that the world’s most famous athletic event, held in our own country, would be staged without spectators.What can we do for the athletes who will be competing under unusual circumstances? What can we do for the people around the world who are looking forward to watching the games at the venue? The result of our own thinking is “UNITE BY EMOTION”.

We are working on this service to turn the suffering caused by COVID-19 into hope for a new era. If you share our vision, please register your support and share the URL of the service site and the hashtag “#UNITEBYEMOTION”.

URL: https://world-emotions.imbesideyou.com/index.html

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1575037/UNITE_BY_EMOTION.jpg

July 19, 2021

Zoom to Acquire Five9

The combination of Zoom’s robust communications platform with Five9’s intelligent cloud contact center will enable organizations to reimagine the way they engage with their customers

SAN JOSE, Calif. and SAN RAMON, Calif., July 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Five9, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVN), a leading provider of the intelligent cloud contact center, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $14.7 billion. Combining Five9’s Contact Center as a Service (“CCaaS”) solution with Zoom’s broad communications platform will transform how businesses connect with their customers, building the customer engagement platform of the future.

The acquisition is expected to help enhance Zoom’s presence with enterprise customers and allow it to accelerate its long-term growth opportunity by adding the $24 billion contact center market. Five9 is a pioneer of cloud-based contact center software. Its highly-scalable and secure cloud contact center delivers a comprehensive suite of easy-to-use applications that allows management and optimization of customer interactions across many different channels.

“We are continuously looking for ways to enhance our platform, and the addition of Five9 is a natural fit that will deliver even more happiness and value to our customers,” said Eric S. Yuan, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Zoom. “Zoom is built on a core belief that robust and reliable communications technology enables interactions that build greater empathy and trust, and we believe that holds particularly true for customer engagement. Enterprises communicate with their customers primarily through the contact center, and we believe this acquisition creates a leading customer engagement platform that will help redefine how companies of all sizes connect with their customers. We are thrilled to join forces with the Five9 team, and I look forward to welcoming them to the Zoom family.”

“Businesses spend significant resources annually on their contact centers, but still struggle to deliver a seamless experience for their customers,” said Rowan Trollope, Chief Executive Officer of Five9. “It has always been Five9’s mission to make it easy for businesses to fix that problem and engage with their customers in a more meaningful and efficient way. Joining forces with Zoom will provide Five9’s business customers access to best-of-breed solutions, particularly Zoom Phone, that will enable them to realize more value and deliver real results for their business. This, combined with Zoom’s ‘ease-of use’ philosophy and broad communication portfolio, will truly enable customers to engage via their preferred channel of choice.”

Zoom’s acquisition of Five9 is complementary to the growing popularity of its Zoom Phone offering. Zoom Phone is a modern, cloud phone system that offers a digital alternative to legacy phone offerings, enabling organizations to connect and interact in new and convenient ways to keep businesses moving.

The combination also offers both companies significant cross-selling opportunities to each other’s respective customer bases. As a result of the acquisition, Zoom will play an even greater role in driving the digital future and bringing companies and their customers closer together.

Following the close of the transaction, Five9 will be an operating unit of Zoom and Rowan Trollope will become a President of Zoom and continue as CEO of Five9, reporting to Eric Yuan.

Details on the Proposed Transaction
As part of the agreement, Five9 stockholders will receive 0.5533 shares of Class A common stock of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. for each share of Five9, Inc. Based on the closing share price of Zoom Class A common stock as of July 16, 2021, this represents a per share price for Five9 common stock of $200.28 and an implied transaction value of approximately $14.7 billion.

The Boards of Directors of Zoom and Five9 have approved the transaction. The Board of Directors of Five9 recommends that Five9 stockholders approve the transaction and adopt the merger agreement. The transaction, which is anticipated to close in the first half of calendar year 2022, is subject to approval by Five9 stockholders, the receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Additional details and information about the terms and conditions of the acquisition will be available in current reports on Form 8-K to be filed by Zoom and Five9 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Advisors
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP is serving as legal counsel to Zoom. Qatalyst Partners is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Latham and Watkins LLP is serving as legal counsel to Five9.

Transaction Conference Call Information
Zoom and Five9 will host a Zoom Video Webinar for investors on Monday, July 19, 2021 at 5:30 am Pacific Time / 8:30 am Eastern Time. Investors are invited to join the Zoom Video Webinar by visiting: https://investors.zoom.us/. A replay will be available shortly after the call ends.

About Zoom
Zoom is for you. We help you express ideas, connect to others, and build toward a future limited only by your imagination. Our frictionless communications platform is the only one that started with video as its foundation, and we have set the standard for innovation ever since. That is why we are an intuitive, scalable, and secure choice for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises alike. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ: ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom.

About Five9
Five9 is an industry-leading provider of cloud contact center solutions, bringing the power of cloud innovation to more than 2,000 customers worldwide and facilitating billions of customer engagements annually. The Five9 Intelligent Cloud Contact Center provides digital engagement, analytics, workflow automation, workforce optimization, and practical AI to help customers reimagine their customer experience. Designed to be reliable, secure, compliant, and scalable, the Five9 platform helps increase agent and supervisor productivity, connects the contact center to the business, and ultimately deliver tangible business results including increased revenue and enhanced customer trust and loyalty.

Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains forward-looking information related to Zoom, Five9 and the acquisition of Five9 by Zoom that involves substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, among other things, statements about the potential benefits of the proposed transaction for Zoom, Five9 and their respective customers, Zoom’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to the combined company, the size of the opportunity for Zoom in contact centers, the financial condition, results of operations and business of Zoom or Five9, and the anticipated timing of closing of the proposed transaction.

Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to the ability of Zoom to consummate the proposed transaction on a timely basis or at all; Zoom’s ability to successfully integrate Five9’s operations and personnel; Zoom’s ability to implement its plan, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Five9’s business after the completion of the transaction and realize expected synergies; the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction; Zoom’s ability to secure regulatory approvals on the terms expected in a timely manner or at all, especially in light of recent regulatory developments in the United States and elsewhere; the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction, including the possibility that the expected benefits from the proposed transaction will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period; disruption from the transaction making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; any negative effects of the announcement or the consummation of the proposed transaction on the market price of Zoom’s Class A common stock or on Zoom’s operating results; the impact of significant transaction costs and unknown liabilities on Zoom’s operating results; the risk of litigation and/or regulatory actions related to the proposed transaction; the exertion of management’s time and Zoom’s resources, and other expenses incurred in connection with any regulatory or governmental consents or approvals for the transaction; the possibility that competing offers will be made to acquire Five9; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transaction on Zoom and Five9’s business relationships, operating results, and business generally; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures on Zoom and Five9’s businesses and general economic conditions; the impact of geopolitical events; Zoom’s service performance and security, including the resources and costs required to avoid unanticipated downtime and prevent, detect and remediate potential security breaches; cyberattacks and security vulnerabilities that could lead to reduced revenue, increased costs, liability claims, or harm to Zoom’s reputation or competitive position; excessive outages and disruptions to Zoom’s online services if Zoom fails to maintain an adequate operations infrastructure; competitive factors, including new market entrants and changes in the competitive environment and increased competition; customer demand for Zoom’s products and services; Zoom and Five9’s ability to attract, integrate and retain qualified personnel; Zoom’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights and develop its brand; Zoom’s ability to develop new services and product features; Zoom’s operating results and cash flow; the impact of the transaction on Zoom’s strategy of acquiring or making investments in complementary businesses, joint ventures, services, technologies and intellectual property rights; changes in tax and other laws, regulations, rates and policies; and the impact of new accounting pronouncements.

These risks, as well as other risks related to the proposed transaction, will be described in the registration statement on Form S-4 and proxy statement/prospectus that will be filed with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. While the list of factors presented here is, and the list of factors to be presented in the registration statement on Form S-4 are, considered representative, no such list should be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. For additional information about other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to Zoom’s and Five9’s respective periodic reports and other filings with the SEC, including the risk factors identified in Zoom’s and Five9’s most recent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Reports on Form 10-K.

The forward-looking statements included in this communication are made only as of the date hereof. Zoom assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

In connection with the proposed merger, Zoom intends to file with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4, which will include a document that serves as a prospectus of Zoom and a proxy statement of Five9 (the “proxy statement/prospectus”). After the registration statement has been declared effective by the SEC, the proxy statement/prospectus will be delivered to stockholders of Five9. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING OR INVESTMENT DECISION, SECURITY HOLDERS OF ZOOM AND FIVE9 ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS (INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE MERGER THAT WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED MERGER. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain copies of the proxy statement/prospectus (when available) and other documents filed by Zoom and Five9 with the SEC, without charge, through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Zoom will be available free of charge under the SEC Filings heading of the Investor Relations section of Zoom’s website at https://investors.Zoom.us/. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Five9 will be available free of charge under the Financials & Filings heading of the Investor Relations section of Five9’s website at https://investors.five9.com/.

Participants in the Solicitation

Zoom and Five9 and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information about Zoom’s directors and executive officers is set forth in Zoom’s Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the proxy statement for Zoom’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which were filed with the SEC on March 18, 2021 and May 5, 2021, respectively. Information about Five9’s directors and executive officers is set forth in Five9’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the proxy statement for Five9’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which were filed with the SEC on March 1, 2021 and March 29, 2021, respectively. Stockholders may obtain additional information regarding the interests of such participants by reading the registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC regarding the proposed merger when they become available. Investors should read the proxy statement/prospectus carefully when it becomes available before making any voting or investment decisions.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Zoom Press Relations
Colleen Rodriguez
Global Media Relations Lead
press@zoom.us

Zoom Investor Relations
Tom McCallum
Head of Investor Relations
investors@zoom.us

Five9 Press Relations
Allison Wilson
352-502-9539
allison.wilson@five9.com

Five9 Investor Relations
Barry Zwarenstein
Chief Financial Officer
925-201-2000 ext. 5959
ir@five9.com

The Blueshirt Group for Five9, Inc.
Lisa Laukkanen
415-217-4967
lisa@blueshirtgroup.com

July 19, 2021

CAMABATELA DISPLAYS AGRICULTURAL POTENTIALITIES IN FAIR

Camabatela – Over 100 farmers of Ambaca municipality, in Cuanza Norte province, participated this weekend in an agro-livestock fair to exhibit the region’s economic potentialities.

Farmers from the four communes of the municipality displayed various agricultural products, notably bananas, potatoes, yams, cassava, beans, okra, onions, avocados, palm fruit, citrus fruits, sugar cane and drinks such as maruvu and brandy.

According to a note from the Centre for Documentation and Image (CDI) of the Ambaca Municipal Administration, to which Angop had access today (Monday), the event was held to mark the 87th anniversary of the existence of Camabatela town (municipal capital), celebrated on 14 of this month.

According to the municipal director of Agriculture, Olídio Lucas, the fair achieved sales estimated at 5 million kwanzas.

Located 180 kilometres off Ndalatando, the capital of Cuanza Norte, the town of Camabatela was founded in 1611 by the Portuguese, and on 14 July, 1934 it was elevated to the category of town and municipal capital.

Before being named Camabatela, the town was known as Mufongo, terminology attributed to the existence in the region of a fruit tree called mufongos.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

July 19, 2021

ANGOLA MAY STOP IMPORTING SALT IN COMING YEARS

Benguela – With the start-up of three new salt pans and the supply of electricity to Cidade do Sal, in Benguela province, the country may stop importing this product, ANGOP learned.

This statement was made by the Benguela provincial director for Agriculture and Fishing, José Gomes, who said that there were high investment projects in the sector that would lead to an annual production of 350,000 tons of salt, which would stop the country from importing it.

According to the official, who was speaking to ANGOP, there is a strong focus by national business in terms of investments and noted that in 2014 production in Benguela was around 35,000 tons per year and in 2020 levels would rise to 110,000 tons.

Jose Gomes said that the lack of power from the public grid had been the main problem for the salt producers, given the high costs of acquiring fuel for the generators, an issue that may soon be overcome, with the start of operation of the thermal power plant that is being set up in the fishing municipality of Baía Farta.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Association of Salt Producers in Angola, Totas Garrido, said he was concerned about the lack of customers in this pandemic period, and that there were currently 20,000 tons in stock due to a lack of consumption.

According to Garrido, Luanda is the biggest consumer centre and restrictive measures on the movement of people, as well as the weak purchasing power of the population, are affecting the sale of salt inside and outside the country, particularly to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Even so, Totas Garrido made it known that in the first semester of this year 60,000 tons of salt were produced.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

July 19, 2021

MPS VOTE TUESDAY ON STATE GENERAL ACCOUNT

Luanda – Angolan deputies vote on Tuesday (20), at the 12th Ordinary Plenary Meeting of the National Assembly, on the General State Account (CGE) for the 2019 fiscal year.

The vote on the General State Account (CGE) will be preceded by political statements.

The head of the MPLA parliamentary group, Virgílio Fontes Pereira, said at the last meeting of the parliamentary leaders’ conference that the CGE will mark the high point of the supervision over the Government, as it is the first exercise of the deputies after the approval of the revision of the Constitution.

He said that the issue of oversight was one of the main concerns of the MPs during the specific revision of the Constitution.

The leader of UNITA’s parliamentary group, Liberty Chiaka, said that his party would examine the CGE with a “critical eye”, with a view to requiring the Government to ensure that the document presented had a reflection and impact on the lives of citizens.

This is the second time that a General State Account (CGE) will be considered by the AN plenary. The CGE for the 2011 financial year was the first of its kind to be considered by the National Assembly, in 2013.

The document comprises the accounts of all the bodies of the Central and Local State Administration and of the Services, Public Institutes and Autonomous Funds, as well as Social Security and the Sovereign Organs.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

July 19, 2021

AGREEMENT WITH SWITZERLAND ENABLES ASSET RECOVERY

The agreement was signed by the attorney general of the Republic, Hélder Fernando Pitta Grós, and by the ambassador of the Swiss Confederation in Angola, Nicolas Herbert Lang.

According to the attorney general, the agreement provides for cooperation in the areas of notification of judicial acts, taking statements, searches, spontaneous transmission of information, effective asset recovery and freezing assets.

He said that asset recovery had been one of the main priorities of the Angolan state’s criminal policy.

The ambassador of the Swiss Confederation expressed the interest of his country in helping to fight financial crime, especially embezzlement, bribery and money laundering, committed at the State’s expense and to the detriment of the people.

He explained that Swiss law provides that money of illegal origin, if proven, is returned on the basis of a legal assistance procedure.

He said that, with that protocol, it would be more difficult to profit from corruption and other criminal acts, both in Angola and Switzerland.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

July 19, 2021

Stocks Skid as Virus Fears Shake Markets; Dow Falls 2.1%

NEW YORK – Resurgent pandemic worries knocked stocks lower from Wall Street to Tokyo on Monday, fueled by fears that a faster-spreading variant of the virus may upend the economy’s strong recovery.

The S&P 500 fell 68.67, or 1.6%, to 4,258.49, after setting a record just a week earlier. In another sign of worry, the yield on the 10-year Treasury touched its lowest level in five months as investors scrambled for safer places to put their money.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 725.81, or 2.1%, to 33,962.04, while the Nasdaq composite lost 152.25, or 1.1%, to 14,274.98.

Airlines and other companies that would get hurt the most by potential COVID-19 restrictions took some of the heaviest losses, similar to the early days of the pandemic in February and March 2020. United Airlines lost 5.5%, mall owner Simon Property Group gave up 5.9%, and cruise operator Carnival fell 5.7%.

The selling also circled the world, with several European markets sinking roughly 2.5% and Asian indexes down a bit less. The price of benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, fell more than 7% after OPEC and allied nations agreed on Sunday to eventually allow for higher oil production this year.

COVID numbers

Increased worries about the virus may seem strange to people in parts of the world where masks are coming off, or already have, thanks to COVID-19 vaccinations. But the World Health Organization says cases and deaths are climbing globally after a period of decline, spurred by the highly contagious delta variant. And given how tightly connected the global economy is, a hit anywhere can quickly affect the other side of the world.

Even in the U.S., where the vaccination rate is higher than in many other countries, people in Los Angeles County must once again wear masks indoors regardless of whether they’re vaccinated following spikes in cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Across the country, the daily number of COVID-19 cases has soared by nearly 20,000 over the past two weeks to about 32,000. The vaccine campaign has hit a wall, with the average number of daily inoculations sinking to the lowest levels since January, and cases are on the rise in all 50 states.

Economic growth expected

That’s why markets are concerned, even though reports show the economy is still recovering at a fantastically high rate and the general expectation is for it to deliver continued growth. Any worsening of virus trends threatens the high prices that stocks have achieved on expectations the economy will fulfill those lofty forecasts.

Financial markets have been showing signs of increased concerns for a while, but the U.S. stock market had remained largely resilient. The S&P 500 has had just two down weeks in the past eight, and the last time it had even a 5% pullback from a record high was in October.

Several analysts pointed to that backdrop of high prices and very calm movements for weeks while dissecting Monday’s drop.

“It’s a bit of an overreaction, but when you have a market that’s at record highs, that’s had the kind of run we’ve had, with virtually no pullback, it becomes extremely vulnerable to any sort of bad news,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab. “It was just a matter of what that tipping point was, and it seems we finally reached that this morning” with worries about the delta variant.

He and other analysts are optimistic stocks can rebound quickly. Investors have been trained recently to see every dip in stocks as merely an opportunity to buy low.

Barry Bannister, chief equity strategist at Stifel, was more pessimistic. He said the stock market may be in the early stages of a drop of as much as 10% following its big run higher. The S&P 500 nearly doubled after hitting its bottom in March 2020.

“The valuations, they just got too frothy,” he said. “There was just so much optimism out there.”

The bond market has been louder and more persistent in its warnings. The yield on the 10-year Treasury tends to move with expectations for economic growth and for inflation, and it has been sinking since late March, when it was at roughly 1.75%. It fell to 1.20% Monday from 1.29% late Friday.

Analysts and professional investors say a long list of potential reasons is behind the sharp moves in the bond market, which is seen as more rational and sober than the stock market. But at the heart is the risk the economy may be set to slow sharply from its current, extremely high growth.

Risks to economy

Besides the new variants of the coronavirus, other risks to the economy include fading pandemic relief efforts from the U.S. government and a Federal Reserve that looks set to begin paring back its assistance for markets later this year.

Monday’s selling pressure was widespread, with nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 lower. Even Big Tech stocks fell, with Apple down 2.7% and Microsoft 1.3% lower. Such stocks seemed nearly immune to virus fears during earlier downturns, rising with expectations for continued growth almost regardless of the economy’s strength.

Across the S&P 500, analysts are forecasting profit growth of nearly 70% for the second quarter from a year earlier. That would be the strongest growth since 2009, when the economy was climbing out of the Great Recession.

But just like worries are rising that the economy’s growth has already peaked, analysts are trying to handicap by how much growth rates will slow in upcoming quarters and years for corporate profits.

Source: Voice of America

July 19, 2021

CATHOLIC CHURCH ROLE IN MORALIZING SOCIETY HIGHLIGHTED

Dondo – The governor of Cuanza Norte, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, this Sunday acknowledged the role of the Catholic Church in the moralization of society and in the process of citizens’ education.

Speaking at a thanksgiving mass, in reference to the 40 years of the presence of the Salesian Congregation in Angola, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho noted that the Catholic Church has contributed to the training of many children, adolescents and young people, as well as in adult literacy.

He also mentioned the Don Bosco professional training centres, owned by the Salesian Fathers, which have allowed the integral training of many young people in the province.

The provincial governor asked the Catholic Church to continue praying for peace and union within families, contributing to the construction of a just, cohesive and prosperous society for all Angolans.

“We ask that messages of love, forgiveness and good education be promoted, with a view to avoiding hatred, revenge and all kinds of division among citizens,” he added.

The thanksgiving mass, which took place on the Dondo riverside, had as its motto “Moved by hope”.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

July 19, 2021

Deadly Australia Spider Venom Could Save Heart Attack Victims

SYDNEY – Venom from an Australian spider that is one of the world’s deadliest could save the lives of heart attack victims.

A potentially life-saving treatment for victims of heart attacks has been found in a most unlikely source — the venom of one of the world’s deadliest spiders.

The World Health Organization says cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year.

Researchers from the University of Queensland have discovered that the poison from the Fraser Island funnel-web spider in eastern Australia contains what could be a life-saving molecule, or peptide.

Known as Hi1a, it could block so-called death signals sent to cells after a cardiac arrest, when blood flow to the heart is reduced. This results in a lack of oxygen to the heart muscles, causing cells to become acidic, and a message is sent for heart cells to die.

Despite decades of research, scientists have not been able to develop a drug that stops this death signal. Australian experts have said that is one of the reasons why heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death around the world.

Dr. Sarah Scheuer is a researcher at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, which is part of the spider venom study.

She says the discovery could also help transplant patients.

“We are using this special little peptide from a small portion of the funnel web spider venom,” she said. “Well, what we found is this peptide is able to help protect the heart where there is a lack of blood supply or blood flow. And we found that this can be used both not only in heart transplantation, so when the donor heart [is] out of the body during the transplant process. But potentially could also be used in heart attack victims to help minimize the damage that occurs.”

Australian researchers believe that the molecule from spider venom blocks the heart’s ability to sense acid after a cardiac arrest, disrupting the death message.

They have said their vision for the future was for Hi1a to be administered by first responders in the ambulance.

The discovery builds on earlier work that found a small protein in the venom of the Fraser Island funnel-web spider markedly improved patients’ recovery from a stroke.

The protein has been tested in human heart cells, and the Australian team is aiming to start clinical trials for both stroke and heart disease within two to three years.

Source: Voice of America

July 19, 2021

COVID-19: ANGOLA REPORTS 12 DEATHS, 101 NEW INFECTIONS

Luanda – The health authorities reported, this Monday, the registration of 12 deaths, 101 new cases and 35 recovered patients, in the last 24 hours.

According to the daily bulletin, five deaths were registered in Huila province, four in Cunene, two in Lunda Norte and one in Lunda Sul.

The new cases, the report said, were diagnosed in Cunene, with 42, Moxico with 28, Luanda with 11, Zaire with 8, Huambo with 6, Benguela with 2, Cabinda with 2 and Lunda Sul with 2 cases.

Aged between 1 month and 86 years, the list included 57 men and 44 women.

Of those recovered, 18 live in Luanda, 7 in Bié, 6 in Huambo, 3 in Huila and 1 in Zaire.

The laboratories processed 1,883 samples.

The authorities control 116 people in institutional quarantine centres, 2,387 under epidemiological surveillance and 108 patients in treatment centres.

Angola has 40,905 positive cases, with 969 deaths, 34,790 recovered and 5,147 active. Of those active, 6 are critical, 8 severe, 75 moderate, 9 mild and 5,049 asymptomatic.

Source: Angola Press News Agency