The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 may spread through the lungs by turning previously resistant cells into targets for infection, a finding that helps explain the widespread inflammation and organ damage seen in severe cases and points to a potential new treatment. Lung cells release tiny particles that carry the key proteins the virus uses to enter cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medi...
The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 may spread through the lungs by turning previously resistant cells into targets for infection, a finding that helps explain the widespread inflammation and organ damage seen in severe cases and points to a potential new treatment. Lung cells release tiny particles that carry the key proteins the virus uses to enter cells, researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York found. When those particles are taken up by other cells, including immune and blood vessel cells, they can make them newly vulnerable to infection, according to a study published Friday in Nature Communications . That process could help explain a longstanding puzzle in Covid: how the virus affects a wide range of tissues, even those that don’t appear to produce the necessary entry proteins on their own. Damage to blood vessels and immune cells has been linked to complications including clotting, inflammation and multi-organ failure in severe cases. Read more: All the Covid-19 Symptoms You Didn’t Know About The particles, known as extracellular vesicles , appear to act as delivery vehicles for the proteins, effectively expanding the number of cells the virus can infect. In laboratory models, cells exposed to these vesicles were more susceptible to infection, while blocking key components reduced viral spread. The findings add to growing evidence that the body’s own cell-to-cell communication systems may help viruses propagate once infection takes hold, revealing a previously unrecognized route of infection that could extend beyond Covid. While the research was conducted in lab-grown lung models rather than patients, it highlights a potential new strategy for treatment: targeting the transfer of these proteins between cells. Drugs that interfere with that process could help limit how far the virus spreads within the body and reduce the severity of disease. Further research is needed to determine how important this pathway is in patients and whe...
Ship unloaders discharge ore imported from Africa from a cargo vessel at Yantai Port in Shandong province. Photo: VCG China will eliminate tariffs on all products imported from 53 African nations starting May 1 as Beijing moves to further open its massive domestic market to the continent. The sweeping tariff exemption aims to deepen economic ties and secure resilient supply chains in Africa amid r...
Ship unloaders discharge ore imported from Africa from a cargo vessel at Yantai Port in Shandong province. Photo: VCG China will eliminate tariffs on all products imported from 53 African nations starting May 1 as Beijing moves to further open its massive domestic market to the continent. The sweeping tariff exemption aims to deepen economic ties and secure resilient supply chains in Africa amid rising global trade protectionism. The initiative builds on a December 2024 policy that granted zero-tariff treatment to all least developed countries, which included 33 African nations. The upcoming expansion broadens that scope to all African countries with which Beijing maintains diplomatic relations, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of China-Africa ties in 2026.
UniqueMotionGraphics/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis I believe that Uber Technologies ( UBER ) is still a compelling Buy since my last update on the company. And I am saying this because there are multiple growth drivers that justify its current valuation. I will be discussing these growth drivers in detail later on. In my last piece, the core argument was straightforward. UBER looked un...
UniqueMotionGraphics/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis I believe that Uber Technologies ( UBER ) is still a compelling Buy since my last update on the company. And I am saying this because there are multiple growth drivers that justify its current valuation. I will be discussing these growth drivers in detail later on. In my last piece, the core argument was straightforward. UBER looked undervalued relative to it long term growth potential. And I still believe that was the right call. What has changed now is that the business is no longer just proving it can grow and generate cash. But it is also positioning itself as the demand, routing and customer acquisition layer for autonomous mobility, while the legacy mobility and delivery engines keep compounding in the background. Uber finished 2025 with 202Mn monthly active platform consumers. They also did 13.6Bn trips for the year, $193.5Bn in gross bookings and $52Bn in revenue. I also note that UBER did $8.7Bn in adjusted EBITDA and $9.8Bn in free cash flows FCFs. What actually caught my attention was the sentiment around autonomy during the earnings call. The CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi said that UBER now serves more than 200Mn clients and has a clear path to become the largest facilitator of AV trips globally. Now this is important because, UBER is not trying to win the robotaxi race by building the whole car stack itself. Because that would be capital heavy chess move with too many pieces hanging. Instead, I would say UBER is trying to own the marketplace, the routing engine, the consumer relationship and fleet onboarding. This is in addition to the insurance workflow and the city to city operating muscle. To me, that is a better seat at the table because it lets UBER benefit whether the winning AV stacks comes from Waymo ( WAYMO ), Wayne, Motional, Nuro, Volkswagen ( VWAGY ), Rivian ( RIVN ) or someone else entirely. I believe that great platform businesses usually win when they sit between demand and supply. A...