"The Power of Social Media": More than $2M crowdfunded for medicine to save a little girl's life
CBSN
Cairo — Roqaia Reda was born on July 13, 2020, in Alexandria, Egypt. She seemed a happy and healthy baby girl for her first six months, but then her parents started noticing some unusual symptoms. After a series of tests, Roqaia was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare degenerative neuromuscular disorder that leaves patients without control of their bodies.
In the most severe cases, which are generally those that manifest in early childhood, patients often die before they reach their second birthday. Most people with moderate cases live into adulthood, but they're often left unable to walk.
There are a couple drugs to treat SMA in young children, the most effective being a single-dose, intravenous treatment of Zolgensma. The gene therapy, which was only approved for use on young SMA patients in the United States in 2019, is often referred to as the most expensive drug in the world. Manufacturer Novartis puts the price tag for a treatment at about $2.1 million.
A popular Japanese actor hired to be the wholesome face of a low-alcohol beer has been fired after getting drunk and breaking into his neighbor's home, officials said.
Paris — Jean-Marie Le Pen, the historic leader of France's far-right political movement, died Tuesday at the age of 96, the French news agency AFP said, citing his family. Le Pen, who had been in a care facility for several weeks, died Tuesday "surrounded by his loved ones," the family said in a statement.
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea said Tuesday its latest weapons test was a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to strike remote targets in the Pacific as leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further expand his collection of nuclear-capable weapons to counter rival nations.
Beijing — A strong earthquake killed at least 53 people in Tibet on Tuesday and left many others trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the region of western China and across the border in Nepal.
Brazilian police have arrested a woman facing charges of triple homicide after several members of her family were poisoned by an arsenic-laced Christmas cake, police said Monday.
The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market said they paid $1.3 million for a tuna on Sunday, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer hit back at Elon Musk on Monday after the world's richest man repeatedly lobbed a host of inflammatory allegations at the country's leader over his government's record on a long-running national child grooming scandal.
Thirty-two dolphins have died since fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, which separates the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia's southern Krasnodar region, an animal rescue group said Sunday.
Seoul — North Korea on Monday test fired a ballistic missile as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited South Korea, where he warned that Pyongyang was working ever closer with Russia on advanced space technology. Blinken also said that while he believed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would end the war in Gaza, it may not happen until after President Biden's term, under returning President-elect Donald Trump.
A soccer-loving nun from Brazil is believed to have become the world's oldest living person at nearly 117 following the recent death of a woman from Japan.
Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack in the western border region of Kursk, warning that Russia was "getting what it deserves."