The largest study so far on the mental repercussions of COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, shows that one in three people who overcome the disease suffer from a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis six months on.

Authors said the research, printed Wednesday in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, proved that COVID-19 patients were significantly more likely to develop brain conditions than those suffering from other respiratory tract infections.

Studying the health records of more than 230,000 patients who had recovered from COVID-19, they found that 34 % were diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition within six months.

The most common conditions were anxiety (17% of patients) and mood disorders (14%). For 13% of patients, the disorders were their first diagnosis of a mental health issue.

Incidence of neurological disorders such as brain hemorrhage (0.6%), stroke (2.1%) and dementia (0.7 %) was lower overall than for psychiatric disorders but the risk for brain disorders was generally higher in patients who had severe COVID-19.

The authors also examined data from more than 100,000 patients diagnosed with influenza and more than 236,000 diagnosed with any respiratory tract infection. They found there was overall a 44% greater risk of neurological and mental health diagnoses after COVID-19 than after flu, and a 16% higher risk than with respiratory tract infections.

Paul Harrison, the lead author from the University of Oxford, said that while the individual risk of neurological and psychiatric orders from COVID-19 was small, the overall effect across the global population could prove to be "substantial."

"Many of these conditions are chronic," he said. "As a result, health care systems need to be resourced to deal with the anticipated need, both within primary and secondary care services."

'Severe impact'

Patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 are at great risk of developing long-term conditions, according to the analysis.

For example, 46% of patients who needed intensive care were diagnosed with neurological or psychiatric conditions within six months of recovery. The data showed 2.7% of people needing intensive care suffered a subsequent brain hemorrhage, compared to 0.3 % of people who weren't hospitalized. And nearly 7% of those needing intensive care unit (ICU) care suffered a stroke, compared with 1.3% of patients who didn't.

Writing in a linked comment article, Jonathan Rogers from University College London, said further research was needed on the long-term neurological and psychiatric outcomes among COVID-19 patients.

"Sadly, many of the disorders identified in this study tend to be chronic or recurrent, so we can anticipate that the impact of COVID-19 could be with us for many years," said Rogers, who was not involved in the study.

"It is clear from this study that the impact COVID-19 is having on individuals' mental health can be severe," said Lea Milligan, CEO of the MQ Mental Health research group. "This is contributing to the already rising levels of mental illness and requires further, urgent research."/ Daily Sabah

Zionist entity informed the United States it attacked the Iranian ship Saviz in the Red Sea on Tuesday in retaliation for earlier Iranian strikes on Israeli vessels, the New York Times reported citing an American official.

Iranian cargo ship ‘Iran Saviz’ was attacked in the Red Sea by limpet mines attached to the hull, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

“The vessel Iran Saviz has been stationed in the Red Sea for the past few years to support Iranian commandos sent on commercial vessel (anti-piracy) escort missions,” Tasnim said.

The attack is the latest in a series of attacks on Zionist- and Iranian-owned cargo ships since late February in which the two arch-foes held the other responsible. It also happened on the day the US and Iran launched indirect talks in Vienna through European powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, a deal Zionist entity is strongly opposed to.

The New York Times report said Israel informed the US that it struck Saviz at about 7:30 a.m. local time.

“The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share private intelligence communications, said that the Zionists had called the attack a retaliation for earlier Iranian strikes on Zionist vessels, and that the Saviz had been damaged below the water line,” the report added.

‘Saviz’ is officially listed as a general cargo vessel. However, the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy (USMA) described the ‘Saviz’ in a report as the “Iranian mother ship on station located in Eritrea’s contiguous waters.”

It said: “The ship has signals intelligence domes and antennae. It is visited by all Iranian ships moving through the Red Sea, nominally to coordinate anti-piracy measures. At least three speedboats are based on deck, which are used to ferry personnel to Yemen.”/agencies

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Authorities in Myanmar arrested the country’s best-known comedian on Tuesday as they continue to crack down on people they accuse of helping incite nationwide protests against February’s military coup.

The comedian Zarganar was taken from his home in Yangon by police and soldiers who arrived in two army vehicles, fellow comedian Ngepyawkyaw said on his own Facebook page. Zarganar, 60, is a sharp-tongued satirist who has been in and out of prison since he was active in a failed 1988 popular uprising against a previous military dictatorship. He is also well known for his social work, especially arranging assistance for victims of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

In the past week, the junta has issued arrest warrants for about 100 people active in the fields of literature, film, theater arts, music and journalism on charges of spreading information that undermines the stability of the country and the rule of law. It was not immediately clear what Zarganar, whose real name is Maung Thura, has been charged with.

Many ordinary protesters and activists are also being arrested every day, according to numerous reports on social media.

In Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, security forces used stun grenades and fired guns Tuesday to break up a march by medical workers who have defiantly continued to protest almost every day against the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The army’s takeover set back Myanmar’s gradual return to democracy after five decades of military rule.

A participant who asked to remain anonymous for his own safety told The Associated Press that doctors, nurses and medical students were attacked as they gathered at about 5 a.m. by security forces who also used cars to run into protesters on motorbikes. The online news site The Irrawaddy reported that four doctors were arrested.

At least 570 protesters and bystanders, including 47 children, have been killed in the crackdown since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors casualties and arrests. The group says 2,728 people, including Suu Kyi, are in detention.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. officials in Myanmar are “deeply concerned” about the impact of the continuing violence on the country’s health system, pointing to at least 28 attacks against hospitals and health personnel since Feb. 1. And they are also concerned at violence against the education system, pointing to 7 attacks against schools and school personnel since the coup, he said.

“Health volunteers are attacked, and attacks against ambulances are preventing life-saving help reaching civilians wounded by security forces,” Dujarric said.

Activists have begun organizing a boycott of next week’s official celebration of Thingyan, the country’s traditional New Year, usually a time for family reunions and merry-making.

In leaflets and social media posts, they are imploring people not to hold any Thingyan celebrations, saying it would be disrespectful to “fallen martyrs” to enjoy the festival.

The leaders of Brunei and Malaysia announced Monday that leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will meet to discuss the situation in Myanmar.

No date was given in the announcement, issued during a visit by Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to Brunei. He and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said they “expressed serious concern on the ongoing crisis in Myanmar and the rising number of fatalities.” Indonesian President Joko Widido had proposed a summit on Myanmar last month.

There was no word on whether the ASEAN leaders would participate in person or by video, or if Myanmar, one of the group’s 10 members, would attend.

Myanmar’s junta also has been battling in some border areas where ethnic minority groups maintain their own armed forces. Several major groups, most notably the Karen and the Kachin, have expressed solidarity with the anti-coup movement and vowed to protect protesters in the territory they control.

The Kachin in the country’s north have engaged in combat with government forces, but the Karen in the east have borne the brunt of the junta’s military assaults.

The area where the Karen National Union holds sway has been subject to air attacks by the Myanmar military from March 27 through Monday, said David Eubank of the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian organization that has for many years provided medical assistance to Karen villagers. Burma is another name for Myanmar.

Eubank said his group has verified that 14 civilians died and more than 40 were wounded in the air strikes. He said Tuesday that Myanmar’s military is mounting a ground offensive into Karen territory, driving villagers from their homes and increasing the number of displaced people in the area to more than 20,000, many of whom have to hide in caves or the jungle and are in desperate need of food and other necessities.

“The situation now seems, from our perspective, to be all-out war to the finish,” Eubank wrote Monday in an emailed message. “Unless there is a miracle, the Burma Army will not hold back in their attempt to crush the Karen and any other ethnic group that stands against them, just as they have not held back killing their own Burman people in the cities and plains of Burma.”

China powers nearly 80% of the global cryptocurrencies trade, but the energy required could jeopardise its pledge to peak carbon emissions by 2030

China’s electricity-hungry bitcoin mines that power nearly 80% of the global trade in cryptocurrencies risk undercutting the country’s climate goals, a study in the journal Nature has said.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rely on “blockchain” technology, which is a shared database of transactions, with entries that must be confirmed and encrypted. The network is secured by individuals called “miners” who use high-powered computers to verify transactions, with bitcoins offered as a reward. Those computers consume enormous amounts of electricity.

About 40% of China’s bitcoin mines are powered with coal, while the rest use renewables, the study said. However, the coal plants are so large they could end up undermining Beijing’s pledge to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2060, it warned.

The Nature study on Tuesday found that unchecked, China’s bitcoin mines will generate 130.5m metric tons of carbon emissions by 2024 – close to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of Italy or oil-rich Saudi Arabia.

Chinese companies with access to cheap electricity and hardware handled 78.89% of global bitcoin blockchain operations as of April 2020, the study said. This involves minting new coins and keeping track of cryptocurrency transactions.

Co-author Wang Shouyang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said: “The intensive bitcoin blockchain operation in China can quickly grow as a threat that could potentially undermine the emission reduction effort.”

The government should focus on upgrading the power grid to ensure a stable supply from renewable sources, Wang said. “Since energy prices in clean-energy regions of China are lower than that in coal-powered regions … miners would then have more incentives to move to regions with clean energy.”

This year the crypto-mining industry is expected to use 0.6% of the world’s total electricity production, or more than the annual use of Norway, according to Cambridge University’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.

The price of a bitcoin has surged fivefold in the past year, reaching a record high of over $61,000 in March, and is now hovering just below the $60,000 mark.

Given the profits available, Wang said imposing carbon taxes was not enough to deter miners.

China banned trading in cryptocurrencies in 2019 to prevent money laundering, but mining is permitted.

Coal-rich regions are now pushing out bitcoin miners as they struggle to curb emissions. Last month, Inner Mongolia announced plans to end the power-hungry practice of cryptocurrency mining by the end of April after the region failed to meet annual energy consumption targets.

The region accounted for 8% of the computing power needed to run the global blockchain – the set of online ledgers that record bitcoin transactions. That is more than the amount of computing power dedicated to blockchain in the US.

Nasdaq-listed Bitmain, which operates one of the biggest cryptocurrency mining pools in the world, said it was shifting operations in Inner Mongolia to areas with more hydropower such as Yunnan.

A Turkish artist has learned how to turn waste materials such as stone, glass, bone and metal into works of art.

Ugur Caliskan, one of the practitioners of the "post-apocalyptic art movement" in Turkey, which has attracted interest in science fiction films and literature in recent years, told Anadolu Agency that the need for life is the basic and strongest instinct.

He said all living creatures struggle to survive, exist, regardless of the circumstances and that focus forms the base for his work.

Caliskan said he often creates sculptures with various objects like stone, glass, bone, waste metal and other technological waste materials he collects from different places.

The artist expressed hope that "post-apocalyptic art serves as an early warning to remind us both that the world is the only place in the universe that can be inhabited, and the value of life itself."

"I can express my work in the form of artistic fiction and structures that have been metamorphosed into an object of art using the mechanical structure of nature, the metal and technological materials that humanity has created by emulating the nature, natural materials and even contaminated air," he said.

He hopes his work will serve as a "packing needle" to remind people that the world and life are very valuable and said he will continue to do his best to achieve that goal.

Caliskan, who practices and also designs leather costumes for the Anatolian Fire Dance Ensemble, has 18 solo exhibitions./aa