TOKYO: Two Japanese firms claimed today [Feb 26] that they had successfully used artificial blood in tests with animals. Dai Nippon Ink and Chemicals of Tokyo and Midori Juji Pharma­ce­u­tical of Osaka are jointly developing artificial blood using fluorocarbon — a chemical compo­und of fluorine, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

A Midori Juji executive said a dog weighing 6.5 kilos … had lived for more than seven months after most of its blood was replaced with the artificial product. He said numerous tests must be made before ascertaining the safety of the blood for human use. — Agency

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies in Cairo] Palestinian guerrilla leaders began to pour into Cairo yesterday [Feb 25] to attend a conference of the Palestine National Council tomorrow aiming to unify their ranks. Hamid Abu Sitta, member of the 27-man Executive Committee said in an interview that he is “optimistic” about unification. He said before coming up to Cairo he had several coming meetings with guerrilla fighters including the extremist group of George Hab­bash and “they all sincerely hope the Palestine leaders can find an acceptable formula for their unification. I think we can manage to unify our ranks,” Abu Sitta said. …

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2021