Tuesday, June 27 — 4 significant news stories

Today ChatGPT read 1244 top news stories. After removing previously covered events, there are 4 articles with a significance score over 7.

[7.8] Global Women's Health Index reveals billions of women miss out on preventive care — Gallup Poll

A global survey on women's health, the Hologic Global Women's Health Index, has found that billions of women missed out on getting tested or screened for high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, and sexually transmitted diseases or infections (STDs/STIs) in both 2020 and 2021. The survey suggests that preventive care remains inaccessible to many women and girls globally, with 60% of women surveyed reporting they had not been tested for any of these four diseases and conditions in the past 12 months. Inequities in preventive care became worse in 2021, with testing rates for these four deadly diseases and conditions remaining low for women in all country income groups in the second year. The survey shows women living in low-income economies fell further behind their higher-income counterparts on preventive care.

[7.2] Pakistan raises key policy rate to record high 22% to meet IMF demands and avert default — The Express Tribune

Pakistan's central bank has raised its key policy rate by 100 basis points to a record high of 22% in an emergency meeting, in order to meet the demands of the International Monetary Fund to revive its loan programme. The State Bank of Pakistan said the increase was necessary as the outlook for inflation was deteriorating, with the country recording a six-decade-high inflation reading of 38% in May 2023. The move comes as Pakistan looks to revive the $6.5bn IMF programme, which is necessary to boost foreign exchange reserves and avert the imminent default on foreign debt repayments. 

[7.0] UN report accuses Russia of summarily executing 77 civilians in Ukraine conflict — RTE.ie

A United Nations report has accused Russia of summarily executing 77 civilians who were being held in arbitrary detention during its war in Ukraine. The report also documented more than 900 cases of arbitrary detention of civilians, including children and elderly people, with the vast majority of these cases perpetrated by Russia. The report’s findings were based on 1,136 interviews with victims, witnesses and others, plus 274 site visits and 70 visits to official places of detention run by Ukrainian authorities.

[7.0] AI system for analyzing eye scans could help reduce burden of chronic eye diseases — WIRED

Ophthalmology is the busiest medical specialty in the UK's National Health Service, with nearly 10 million appointments per year, and the number has risen by over a third in the past five years. The main cause of blindness between the ages of 18 and 65 is diabetic eye disease, but the population is getting older, and there is an increasing prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness. Ophthalmologists are struggling to see and treat all these patients, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment. However, new eye scanners called optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices can take high-resolution images of the retina in a noninvasive way, and AI can analyze OCT scans and assess them for more than 50 retinal diseases, with a level of performance on par with expert ophthalmologists. Once clinically validated, the AI system can be deployed at scale in the community, identifying and prioritizing people with the worst prognosis in local practices so that they can be treated first in hospitals, reducing the burden of chronic diseases like AMD.

Want to read more?

See additional news on newsminimalist.com.

Thanks for reading us and see you tomorrow,
News Minimalist