SYDNEY, July 3 (Xinhua) — Australian scientists have identified a group of proteins that could transform approaches to treating cancer and age-related diseases.
Researchers at the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in Sydney have discovered that these proteins play a crucial role in controlling telomerase, an enzyme responsible for protecting DNA during cell division, according to a recent statement by the CMRI, which led the research.
This breakthrough clarifies how telomerase both supports healthy aging and fuels cancer cell growth, highlighting new possibilities for treatments that slow aging or stop cancer by targeting these newly identified proteins.
Telomerase helps maintain the ends of chromosomes, known as telomeres, which are vital for genetic stability. While telomerase is essential for the health of stem cells and certain immune cells, cancer cells often exploit this enzyme to grow uncontrollably, said the study published in Nature Communications.
The team discovered that three proteins — NONO, SFPQ, and PSPC1 — guide telomerase to chromosome ends; disrupting them in cancer cells prevents telomere maintenance, potentially stopping cancer cell growth.
“Our findings show that these proteins act like molecular traffic controllers, making sure telomerase reaches the right destination inside the cell,” said Alexander Sobinoff, the lead author of the study.
Hilda Pickett, head of CMRI’s Telomere Length Regulation Unit and the study’s senior author, noted that understanding how telomerase is controlled opens new possibilities for developing treatments targeting cancer, aging, and genetic disorders linked to telomere dysfunction. Enditem
Kate Middleton, months after announcing she was in remission, following abdominal surgery and a subsequent cancer diagnosis in early 2024, has revealed
Kate Middleton discusses the emotional challenges of her cancer recovery, emphasizing the difficulty of adjusting post-treatment.(AFP)
The Daily Beast reported that in her first public remarks since abruptly pulling out of the Royal Ascot in June, which caused “a real sense of panic” within the palace, Kate’s team explained at the time that she skipped Ascot in the interest of “balance.”
During a hospital garden visit on Wednesday, the Princess of Wales didn’t directly address her absence, but expressed, “You put on a sort of brave face, stoicism through treatment. Treatment’s done, then it’s like, ‘I can crack on, get back to normal,’ but actually, the phase afterwards is really, really difficult,” per People Magazine.
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“You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer, but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to. And actually, someone to help talk you through that, show you and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment, I think is really valuable.”
“You have to find your new normal and that takes time… and it’s a rollercoaster, it’s not smooth, like you expect it to be. The reality is you go through hard times,” she added.
Kate Middleton reassesses life after cancer
Kate finished chemotherapy in September 2024 and confirmed remission in January 2025. Her office said her latest garden visit was meant to “celebrate the incredible healing power of nature and raise awareness of the important role that spending time in nature plays in bringing us joy and supporting our mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.”
“Kate is recalibrating her entire life, her entire work-life balance,” one insider told The Daily Beast. “Ascot was a wakeup call, not a one-off.”
“The last few years have been horrific; the disgusting things that Harry said about her and William and her family, the relentless speculation about her and William, the queen’s death, the king’s diagnosis which had them both thinking they were going to have to take over and then her own cancer diagnosis and treatment,” the source claimed.
ALSO READ| Kate Middleton emotionally reflects on hardships after cancer treatment, admits she’s ‘not able to…’
“It’s all taken its toll, and if she needs more time to recover, William will fight tooth and nail to see she is given it.”
India’s rising batting stars Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal lit up Edgbaston on Day 1 of the second Test against England – and their efforts drew a flood of praise from some of cricket’s biggest names, led by Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The duo’s commanding display helped India recover from early jolts to finish 310/5 at stumps, with Gill remaining unbeaten on 114 and Jaiswal striking a fluent 87 off 107 balls.
EXCLUSIVE | David Gower on Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and India’s England tour
Tendulkar took to X to laud the young guns, highlighting their contrasting yet complementary styles.“@ybj_19 set the tone from ball one. He was positive, fearless and smartly aggressive. @ShubmanGill was cool as ever, calm under pressure, solid in defence and in total control. Classy knocks from both. Well played, boys!” the batting legend wrote.
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Gill, who now has back-to-back hundreds as India’s new Test captain, also earned plaudits from Mohammad Kaif, who hailed his emergence at the coveted No. 4 spot.“Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and now Shubman Gill… India is always blessed to have a solid world-class batsman at No. 4. May this continue forever,” Kaif posted.Yuvraj Singh, who has long mentored Gill, was equally effusive.“When responsibility calls, some rise and some soar! @ShubmanGill just became one of the rare few to score consecutive hundreds as Test captain! A calm head, a bold bat and a hunger to lead by example,” he wrote.Former opener Wasim Jaffer praised Gill’s poise under pressure. “Being India’s number 4 and Test captain comes with a different pressure altogether. Really good to see it has not affected his batting one bit, in fact it’s elevated it,” Jaffer wrote.All-rounder Irfan Pathan, meanwhile, underlined the duo’s role in shaping India’s Test future.“I have no doubt in my mind two batters from this young Indian team will take test team forward. YASHASVI JAISWAL & SHUBMAN GILL,” he posted.Despite minor setbacks – KL Rahul and debutant Nitish Reddy falling cheaply – India’s commanding partnership between Gill and Ravindra Jadeja (41*) ensured the team closed the day on top, with the skipper once again leading from the front.
Modern large language models (LLMs) have made interactions with AI feel surprisingly natural. Apps like Replika and Character.ai are gaining popularity among young people, letting them chat with AI versions of their favorite fictional or real-life figures. However, as neuroscientist Ziv Ben-Zion notes in an article for Nature, people react even to the smallest emotional cues, despite knowing they’re interacting with a program.
This sense of “human-likeness” comes from the fact that AI is trained on vast amounts of emotionally rich language. Its responses sound convincingly natural not because it understands emotions, but because it mimics the patterns of human speech.
Ben-Zion’s research showed that ChatGPT scored higher on anxiety scales after being prompted with emotionally intense tasks, such as describing traumatic events like car accidents or ambushes.
However, calming prompts related to meditation or imagining sunsets did lower these anxiety scores, though not back to baseline. As researchers emphasize, these are not real feelings, but when a chatbot responds with apparent empathy or distress, users can easily perceive it as genuine.
Such imitation of empathy can have serious consequences. In Belgium in 2023, a man died by suicide after six weeks of conversations with a chatbot that allegedly encouraged suicidal thoughts, suggesting his death could help save the planet from climate change and that death would lead to a “life in paradise together.” In 2024, a Spanish-Dutch artist married a holographic AI after five years of cohabitation. Back in 2018, a Japanese man wed a virtual character, only to lose contact with her when the software became obsolete.
To prevent tragedies like these, Ziv Ben-Zion proposes four key safeguards for emotionally responsive AI:
Clear identification. Chatbots should continuously remind users that they are programs, not humans, and cannot replace real human support.
Monitoring psychological state. If a user shows signs of severe anxiety, hopelessness, or aggression, the system should pause and suggest professional help.
Strict conversational boundaries. AI should not simulate romantic intimacy or engage in conversations about death, suicide, or metaphysical topics.
Regular audits and reviews. Developers should involve psychologists, ethicists, and human–AI interaction specialists to assess chatbot safety.
Ben-Zion notes that the technical groundwork for these safeguards already exists; what remains is to enforce them through legislation. He emphasizes that AI’s emotional influence is not a bug, but a built-in feature that requires clear limits.
Earlier, Kazinform News Agency reported on how ChatGPT may be weakening our minds.
Before the first whistle blows on a massive 2025 season, take a step inside the world of the All Blacks and meet the people behind the jersey.
Following the release of Behind the Fern: Black Ferns in May, Behind the Fern – All Blacks is a brand-new documentary series offering unprecedented access to one of the most iconic teams in world sport.
Streaming from Thursday, July 3 at 6pm on NZR+ and YouTube
Across the series, you’ll go beyond the game to get to know your favourite players, not just as athletes, but as people. From first caps to personal challenges, team culture to pre-game rituals, this is a revealing look at what it truly means to be part of the All Blacks.
In Episode 1, fans are introduced to two of the newest faces in camp, Hurricanes loose forward Du’Plessis Kirifi and Dutch-born Highlanders lock Fabian Holland. From very different backgrounds, both players have taken unique paths to earn their place in the black jersey. You’ll hear their stories in their own words, the setbacks, the sacrifices, and the moments that made it all worth it.
Also featured in the premiere is the return of Jordie Barrett, who joins the squad following his sabbatical with Irish club Leinster. In conversation, he shares his excitement for the 2025 season and his eagerness to get back in the black jersey.
From inside the team hotel to on-field preparation, Episode 1 captures the energy and intensity of a group coming together ahead of a high-stakes opening series against France. You’ll see how leadership is lived daily, how new players are brought into the fold, and how the legacy of the black jersey is passed on.
Whether you’ve followed the All Blacks for decades or you’re just getting started, Behind the Fern offers something fresh: real stories, raw moments, and a deep sense of what it means to walk together, as teammates, as brothers, and as All Blacks.
Episode 1 premieres Thursday, July 3 at 6pm on NZR+ and YouTube. Tune in, and take your place Behind the Fern.
G-SHOCK introduces the latest MTGB4000 watch, which is made with human input and generative AI technology throughout the design process. It is the newest design to join the premium MT-G series. It comes in two versions: the MTGB4000-1A and the MTGB4000B1A2. The models are made with a process which integrates human creativity with generative AI.
The initial sketches are created by designers and then further optimized by AI with the focus of improving structural performance. These feature a bold new frame structure while preserving the rugged elegance of the signature look. It was also important to have the ecolced Dual Core Guard system which allows the grame to absorb external impact at the inner case.
THE chairman FBR has been in the news lately, as the fiscal year closes and we tally up the revenue performance of his department to see how much blood they were able to draw from the stone that is this country’s base of compliant taxpayers. A few things stand out.
First is the sharp increase in tax collections in FY25 despite very heavy headwinds. Revenue increases in a year of anaemic growth and slowing inflation are very hard to fetch, but they seem to have found a way to do it nonetheless, a fact the chairman went to great pains to highlight. In one of his public presentations, he showed that FBR tax collection increased by Rs2.4 trillion from last year.
The final figure was still below the target, despite the latter having been revised downward multiple times during the year. But that is not the big story here. That is a matter between the government and the IMF and does not really concern the rest of us.
What we have to ask is this: where did all this incremental tax revenue come from? The chairman has emphasised that this year much of the revenue increase was not due to what they call ‘autonomous growth’, which is revenue increase that comes from raw inflation and economic growth alone. That revenue increase does not lead to an increase in the ‘purchasing power’ of the government, since its spending rises correspondingly, especially when inflation is the driver of revenue growth.
This year, according to him, the bulk of the revenue increase came from what they call ‘new tax measures and rates’, as well as ‘improved compliance’. Between these two heads, something like Rs1.67tr was collected, according to FBR figures, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total incremental revenue collection.
Even the ‘people’s representatives’ were more worried about the rights of non-filers and fraudsters than of compliant taxpayers.
So far so good. New tax measures and heightened tax rates alone brought in something like Rs805 billion, but nowhere can one find a breakdown of this figure to learn which revenue heads contributed the bulk of this increase. But take a quick look at the July to March figures released by the finance ministry on its website. In the July to March period, the data there shows an increase of Rs1.7tr in FBR tax collection, of which Rs863bn comes from ‘direct taxes’. Based on reporting from earlier this year, you can be certain that an appreciable portion of this increase comes from taxes paid by salaried individuals.
And therein lies the rub. The chairman is keen to tell us that he has performed a great feat and raked in incremental revenues under very difficult conditions. But he is not willing to give us a breakdown of where this money has come from. If he were to do so, the data would most likely show that the FBR has pulled off this great feat by squeezing more from a few, rather than increasing the base of taxation. They have succeeded in pulling blood from a stone. If this is not the case, they should release a breakdown, which shows the largest revenue heads that have contributed to the Rs805bn increase in collection from ‘new taxes and rates’.
Their one initiative to try and broaden the base was the so-called Tajir Dost Scheme, and although the finance minister went on record as late as February saying that he stood by the scheme, despite its rather dismal performance till then, they had to admit defeat and abandon it barely a month later. Revenue collection under that scheme was then replaced with withholding taxes on unregistered retailers, which they say led to a large increase in retailers registering themselves, and in some cases even a net positive tax liability.
This is the crux of the problem that needs to be highlighted over and over again. Salaried people have seen their purchasing power burn in the inflationary fire that raged ferociously from 2021 to 2024. As soon as that fire was doused they saw a raft of taxes. First, they had to pay for the state’s excesses in pushing growth via reckless money supply creation. Then they had to pay for bridging the state’s fiscal deficit.
At least some of the money they have been forced to contribute has gone to increase compensation for government servants (including military officers) and ministers. The state shields itself and its personnel from the effects of its own excesses and incompetence. And compliant salaried people, who belong to all sections of the middle class, have to foot the bill.
What makes this possible is the near total absence of any voice that salaried people have in the country’s policy conversation. When the Finance Bill 2025 came up for discussion in the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, objections were raised on the tax on solar panels, the powers of arrest for FBR officers and the provisions that would make it more difficult for non-filers to buy and sell high-value assets.
But there was barely a whisper about salaried people or taxes on business income, which hits small and medium enterprises harder than large manufacturers. Even the so-called people’s representatives were more worried about the rights of non-filers and tax fraudsters than the massive burden placed on compliant, honest payers.
Now begins round two of this charade. For the fiscal year which began this week, they have to pull this feat off one more time. FBR revenues have to rise by Rs2.4tr all over again, but already, the stone has nearly been bled to death. Some amount of this will come from ‘autonomous growth’ though that amount will be smaller due to lower inflation. And the rest, dear reader, will land on your doorstep, regardless of how you feel, and irrespective of what magic trick they are claiming they intend to pull off next year. Happy new fiscal year to all my readers.
Google Southeast Asia has taken a fresh, humorous approach to marketing its ads solutions with the launch of its first-ever YouTube creator series Marketing unfiltered with Aunty M.
The series stars Singaporean YouTube personality Annette Lee in her alter ego role as Aunty M, a straight-talking, no-nonsense host who breaks down complex marketing jargon while learning to promote her fiery sambal belacan business.
This marks a strategic shift for Google, moving beyond traditional, often dry B2B content to engage marketers and entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia in a format that’s relatable, entertaining and culturally relevant.
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The series, created by The Carrot Collective with creator strategy support from VIRTUE Asia, debuts across Google’s regional YouTube channels in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, backed by a paid social media campaign.
The first episode showcases Aunty M’s regional journey, where she chats with marketing professionals on how to get the most out of Google and YouTube ads solutions. By blending character-driven storytelling with practical insights, the series demystifies digital advertising in a way that resonates with Southeast Asia’s diverse entrepreneurial community.
“Marketers don’t need more boring B2B content,” said Samit Malkani, group marketing creative manager at Google Southeast Asia and South Asia frontier.
“Our products are constantly evolving, so it was time our storytelling did too. This series lets us speak to marketers and entrepreneurs on their terms, in ways that feel accessible, local, and culturally relevant,” added Samit.
The content format takes inspiration from US talk shows, mixing full episodes to drive engagement, mid-form segments to build relevance, and short-form highlights to increase frequency and reach.
David Webster, CEO and co-founder of The Carrot Collective, said the goal was to reframe B2B marketing content from product explainers to a narrative universe rooted in the real frustrations and ambitions of regional entrepreneurs. “By anchoring the series in character, humour and cultural insight, we’ve created a platform that doesn’t just inform, it builds affinity, earns attention, and drives deeper engagement at scale,” said Webster.
In tandem, VIRTUE Asia’s strategy director Zoe Chen highlighted the importance of authenticity and regional relevance in the series, praising Annette Lee’s role in bringing Aunty M to life. “Annette is beloved across Southeast Asia for her relatable comedic characters that capture the cultural diversity of the region. As an entrepreneur herself, she was the perfect bridge between complex ad solutions and entertainment,” Chen said.
Marketing unfiltered with Aunty M will roll out episodes throughout 2025, marking Google’s bold move to reshape how ad products are presented in the region, combining education with entertainment to better connect with marketers and SMEs navigating the digital economy.
This new series aligns with a growing trend in Southeast Asia where brands are shifting from traditional product-heavy messaging to purpose-driven, creator-led content that resonates culturally and emotionally with audiences.
In a similar move, Samsung Singapore last year leveraged local comedy legends Jack Neo, Mark Lee and Henry Thia in a series of humorous shorts showcasing its AI-powered features in its Galaxy S24 campaign. The shorts see the three artists leveraging different functions of Galaxy AI to break the boundaries of communication and creation.
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