Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Fri, Feb 06, 2026 11:15 PM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Manavi Handa

Associate Professor, Midwifery Education Program, Ryerson University
Manavi is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Midwifery Education Program. She earned her Master of Health Sciences in Bioethics from the University of Toronto in 2006 and became an Assistant Professor at Ryerson’s MEP in 2009.

Manavi’s key area of research focuses on the health access and outcomes for pregnant women with precarious immigration status. She has conducted several research projects on issues facing uninsured pregnant women in Ontario. Manavi is part of a network of midwives who regularly volunteer their services in collaboration with a community health centre, to offer midwifery care to uninsured pregnant women.

Since 2009, she has been a founding member and practicing registered midwife at West End Midwives, which serves a high proportion of immigrants, refugees and uninsured women.

Manavi has played a leadership role as chair of the Diversity Working Group of the Association of Ontario Midwives from 2009 to 2014. She also contributed to developing clinical practice guidelines on Vaginal Birth After Caesarian Section for the Association of Ontario midwives, and she has examined the issue of Cesarean section on demand.

During coronavirus hospital surge, a midwife recommends home birth

Mar 23, 2020 07:38 am UTC| Life

For many health-care providers who worked through the 2003 SARS epidemic, especially in epicentres, like Toronto, the COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder of the many lessons health-care providers learned at that time. Social...

Economy

RBI Holds Repo Rate at 5.25% as India’s Growth Outlook Strengthens After U.S. Trade Deal

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday kept its key repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, a widely expected decision that reflects confidence in Indias strong economic growth and easing external pressures following a major...

Japan Economy Poised for Q4 2025 Growth as Investment and Consumption Hold Firm

Japans economy is widely expected to have returned to growth in the final quarter of 2025, supported by strong corporate investment and resilient consumer spending, according to a recent Reuters poll of economists. The...

Asian Stocks Slip as Tech Rout Deepens, Japan Steadies Ahead of Election

Asian stock markets mostly declined on Friday, tracking sustained losses in global technology shares and a weak lead from Wall Street, while Japanese equities managed to stabilize ahead of a closely watched national...

Japanese Pharmaceutical Stocks Slide as TrumpRx.gov Launch Sparks Market Concerns

Shares of major Japanese pharmaceutical companies fell sharply in early Tokyo trading on Friday after the launch of TrumpRx.gov, a new U.S. government-backed website offering discounted prescription medicines to American...

Global Markets Slide as AI, Crypto, and Precious Metals Face Heightened Volatility

Global financial markets extended their losses for a third straight session on Friday as a deepening Wall Street selloff rattled investor confidence across equities, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals. Rising concerns...

Politics

Norway Opens Corruption Probe Into Former PM and Nobel Committee Chair Thorbjoern Jagland Over Epstein Links

Norways economic crime police unit, Økokrim, has opened an investigation into former prime minister and former Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland on suspicion of aggravated corruption, authorities...

Iran–U.S. Nuclear Talks in Oman Face Major Hurdles Amid Rising Regional Tensions

Iran and the United States are preparing for high-stakes nuclear negotiations in Oman on Friday, but deep disagreements over the agenda and escalating regional tensions suggest that meaningful progress will be difficult....

Trump Allegedly Sought Airport, Penn Station Renaming in Exchange for Hudson River Tunnel Funding

U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly offered to release frozen federal funding for the $16 billion Gateway Hudson River tunnel project in exchange for Democratic Senator Chuck Schumers support for renaming Washington...

TrumpRx Website Launches to Offer Discounted Prescription Drugs for Cash-Paying Americans

U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a new website called TrumpRx, aimed at helping Americans lower their prescription drug costs by offering discounted prices for those who prefer to pay cash instead of using health...

Missouri Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Starbucks’ Diversity and Inclusion Policies

A federal judge in Missouri on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Republican-led state that accused Starbucks of using its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments as a pretext for unlawful discrimination...

Science

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Senate Sets December 8 Vote on Trump’s NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee announced it will vote on December 8 on President Donald Trumps renewed nomination of private astronaut and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman, known for his...

NASA Cuts Boeing Starliner Missions as SpaceX Pulls Ahead

NASA has significantly scaled back Boeings Starliner program after years of technical issues and delays, announcing that the next Starliner mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will fly without astronauts. The...

Technology

Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch

Major PC manufacturers including HP, Dell, Acer, and Asus are reportedly exploring the option of sourcing memory chips from Chinese semiconductor companies for the first time, as a prolonged global supply crunch continues...

OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering

OpenAI is significantly accelerating its enterprise AI strategy by hiring hundreds of new employees for its technical consulting division, according to a report by The Information, citing a person familiar with the...

SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off

SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) shares tumbled sharply on Thursday, tracking a steep decline in Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) after the UK-based chip designer reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the December quarter....

Nvidia, ByteDance, and the U.S.-China AI Chip Standoff Over H200 Exports

The U.S. government is prepared to allow Chinas ByteDance to purchase Nvidias advanced H200 AI chips, but negotiations remain stalled as Nvidia has not agreed to the proposed conditions governing their use. According to...

Sony Q3 Profit Jumps on Gaming and Image Sensors, Full-Year Outlook Raised

Sony Corp (TYO:6758) reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings, driven by solid performance in its gaming, music, and image sensor businesses. The Japanese conglomerate also raised its full-year forecast,...