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Worldwide, there is a growing concern about the negative effects of infectious medical waste produced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the contamination risks associated with waste management. Therefore, measures to ensure that medical waste is managed safely and in an environmentally sound manner will avoid negative health and environmental effects from such waste, thus protecting the health of patients, health workers and the public in general. Despite that infectious medical waste generation rate is important for management planning and policy development, there is a limitation on national data availability and its accuracy, particularly in developing economies. This study analyses the infectious healthcare waste generation rates and management patterns in Lebanon before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The estimated average of COVID-19-related infectious healthcare waste generation in this study is 39,035 kg per month or 1.3 tonnes per day, which constitute between 5% and 20% of total infectious healthcare waste in Lebanon. This study illuminates on the impact of COVID-19 on the existing challenges of waste management in Lebanon. It highlights the need for proper management and disposal of the amounts of medical waste generated to reduce contamination risks or related environmental threats, particularly during the pandemic. It also shows that Lebanon has a defective system for monitoring of waste from healthcare institutions and gaps in waste statistics. Finally, the study summarizes recommendations related to medical waste management, which can provide valuable insight for policymakers.

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is on the table now as a new global energyfrontier accelerator laboratory taking data in the 2030's. The ILC addresses key questions for our current understanding of particle physics. It is based on a proven accelerator technology. Its experiments will challenge the Standard Model of particle physics and will provide a new window to look beyond it. This document brings the story of the ILC up to date, emphasizing its strong physics motivation, its readiness for construction, and the opportunity it presents to the US and the global particle physics community.

Spontaneous gastric intramural hematoma is a rare disease. Herein, we present a case of a previously healthy 28-year-old male patient who presented with diarrhea and diffuse abdominal pain of one-week duration. The patient was diagnosed with spontaneous gastric intramural hematoma post urgent partial gastrectomy for a bleeding gastric tumor. Six other cases of spontaneous gastric intramural hematoma are published in the literature; therefore, when encountering a case of intra-abdominal mass attached to the gastric wall, gastric intramural hematoma should be considered in the differential even when no cause is present.