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<title>03 December, 2023</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>High-throughput ML-guided design of diverse single-domain antibodies against SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
Treating rapidly evolving pathogenic diseases such as COVID-19 requires a therapeutic approach that accommodates the emergence of viral variants over time. Our machine learning (ML)-guided sequence design platform combines high-throughput experiments with ML to generate highly diverse single-domain antibodies (VHHs) that bind and neutralize SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. Crucially, the model, trained using binding data against early SARS-CoV variants, accurately captures the relationship between VHH sequence and binding activity across a broad swathe of sequence space. We discover ML-designed VHHs that exhibit considerable cross-reactivity and successfully neutralize targets not seen during training, including the Delta and Omicron BA.1 variants of SARS-CoV-2. Our ML-designed VHHs include thousands of variants 4-15 mutations from the parent sequence with significantly improved activity, demonstrating that ML-guided sequence design can successfully navigate vast regions of sequence space to unlock and future-proof potential therapeutics against rapidly evolving pathogens.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.01.569227v1" target="_blank">High-throughput ML-guided design of diverse single-domain antibodies against SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Shifts in Emancipative Values during Times of Crises: Longitudinal Evidence from the Covid-19 Pandemic in Russia</strong> -
<div>
This study explores the dynamics of emancipative value orientations (EV) in Russia throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, using data for the period from June 2020 until December 2021 based on three panel waves of the international longitudinal survey “Values in Crisis”. Despite the profound impact that the pandemic has had on Russian society, we dont find any substantial decline in EV among our sample, in line with the “baseline stability theorem” in value research. However, we observe opposite trends for two components of EV: mean scores on choice values have been negligibly increasing over time, whereas the scores on equality values have been negligibly decreasing. Also, in line with the “baseline stability theorem”, we interpret these subtle value shifts as a periodic situational adjustment to Corona-specific infringements into peoples daily lives. As for within-individual dynamics, such indicators of the personal pandemic experience as (1) encountering the disease personally or in family; (2) losing а job/business, or (3) health-related anxiety, do not have any effect on choice values, although we find a weak positive association between equality values and (4) worries about a potential economic recession. In addition, latent growth mixture modelling suggests that considerable changes in EV occurred only among a very small fraction of the population (about 2% of the panel sample). Overall, our results are the first to demonstrate that the “baseline stability theorem” in value research holds even in the face of a most dramatic external shock, with radically new threats to the economic sustenance and physical health of everyone.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/xc53a/" target="_blank">Shifts in Emancipative Values during Times of Crises: Longitudinal Evidence from the Covid-19 Pandemic in Russia</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Homeworking and Division of Domestic Work: the Role of Gender Role Attitudes in Germany</strong> -
<div>
Homeworking is often portrayed as a work-life balance measure. Though in theory homeworking can provide workers with more time for leisure and family, due to the boundary blurring between work and life spheres, it can exacerbate gender inequalities. Empirically, the evidence is mixed whether homeworking increases womens time in domestic labour and mens time in paid labour. We extend the debate by exploring how individuals gender role attitudes moderate the relationship between homeworking and the division of domestic work. We apply hybrid models to the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics Survey. The data covers from 2008 to 2021 which includes the unique COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that gender role attitudes matter. When gaining access to homeworking egalitarian men increased their contribution to childcare, while traditional men did not. Similarly, homeworking traditional women increased their childcare contribution. During the pandemic, only traditional women did even more childcare, while men contributed more regardless of their gender role attitudes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/85b23/" target="_blank">Homeworking and Division of Domestic Work: the Role of Gender Role Attitudes in Germany</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 suppresses the Hippo pathway downstream effector YAP</strong> -
<div>
The Hippo pathway plays critical roles in tissue development, regeneration, and immune homeostasis. The widespread pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a global healthcare crisis and strained health resources. How SARS-CoV-2 affects Hippo signaling in host cells has remained poorly understood. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 infection in patient lung cells and cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS-CMs) suppressed YAP target gene expression, as evidenced by RNA sequencing data. Furthermore, in a screening of nonstructural proteins from SARS-CoV-2, nonstructural protein 13 (NSP13) significantly inhibited YAP transcriptional activity independent of the YAP upstream suppressor kinase Lats1/2. Consistent with this, NSP13 suppressed active YAP (YAP5SA) in vivo, whereby NSP13 expression reverted the phenotype of YAP5SA transgenic mice. From a mechanistic standpoint, NSP13 helicase activity was shown to be required for its suppression of YAP. Furthermore, through the interaction of NSP13 with TEAD4, which is the most common YAP-interacting transcription factor in the nucleus, NSP13 recruited endogenous YAP suppressors such as CCT3 and TTF2 to inactivate the YAP/TEAD4 complex. These findings reveal the function and mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 helicase NSP13 in host cells and partially explain the toxic effect of SARS-CoV-2 in particular host tissue with high YAP activity.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.30.569413v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 NSP13 suppresses the Hippo pathway downstream effector YAP</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Gut Microbiome Dynamics and Predictive Value in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Comparative Analysis of Shallow and Deep Shotgun Sequencing</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has led to a wide range of clinical presentations, with respiratory symptoms being common. However, emerging evidence suggests that the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is also affected, with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, a key receptor for SARS-CoV-2, abundantly expressed in the ileum and colon. The virus has been detected in GI tissues and fecal samples, even in cases with negative respiratory results. GI symptoms have been associated with an increased risk of ICU admission and mortality. The gut microbiome, a complex ecosystem of around 40 trillion bacteria, plays a crucial role in immunological and metabolic pathways. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, characterized by a loss of beneficial microbes and decreased microbial diversity, has been observed in COVID-19 patients, potentially contributing to disease severity. We conducted a comprehensive gut microbiome study in 204 hospitalized COVID-19 patients using both shallow and deep shotgun sequencing methods. We aimed to track microbiota composition changes induced by hospitalization, link these alterations to clinical procedures (antibiotics administration) and outcomes (ICU referral, survival), and assess the predictive potential of the gut microbiome for COVID-19 prognosis. Shallow shotgun sequencing was evaluated as a cost-effective diagnostic alternative for clinical settings.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.29.568526v1" target="_blank">Gut Microbiome Dynamics and Predictive Value in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Comparative Analysis of Shallow and Deep Shotgun Sequencing</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Persistent immune imprinting after XBB.1.5 COVID vaccination in humans</strong> -
<div>
Immune imprinting - also known as original antigenic sin describes how the first exposure a virus shapes the immunological outcome of subsequent exposures to antigenically related strains. SARS-CoV-2 Omicron breakthrough infections and bivalent COVID-19 vaccination were shown to primarily recall cross-reactive memory B cells and antibodies induced by prior mRNA vaccination with the Wuhan-Hu-1 spike rather than priming naive B cells that recognize Omicron-specific epitopes. These findings underscored a strong immune imprinting resulting from repeated Wuhan-Hu-1 spike exposures. To understand if immune imprinting can be overcome, we investigated memory and plasma antibody responses after administration of the updated XBB.1.5 COVID mRNA vaccine booster. Our data show that the XBB.1.5 booster elicits neutralizing antibody responses against current variants that are dominated by recall of pre-existing memory B cells previously induced by the Wuhan-Hu-1 spike. These results indicate that immune imprinting persists even after multiple exposures to Omicron spikes through vaccination and infection, including post XBB.1.5 spike booster mRNA vaccination, which will need to be considered to guide the design of future vaccine boosters.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.569129v1" target="_blank">Persistent immune imprinting after XBB.1.5 COVID vaccination in humans</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Antiviral humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants induced by XBB.1.5 monovalent vaccine in infection-naive and XBB-infected individuals</strong> -
<div>
To control infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB subvariants, the XBB.1.5 monovalent mRNA vaccine has been available since September 2023. However, we have found that natural infection with XBB subvariants, including XBB.1.5, does not efficiently induce humoral immunity against the infecting XBB subvariants. These observations raise the possibility that the XBB.1.5 monovalent vaccine may not be able to efficiently induce humoral immunity against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, including a variety of XBB subvariants (XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, XBB.2.3, EG.5.1 and HK.3) as well as BA.2.86. To address this possibility, we collected two types of sera from individuals vaccinated with the XBB.1.5 vaccine; those who had not been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 and those who had been infected with XBB subvariants prior to XBB.1.5 vaccination. We collected sera before and 3-4 weeks after vaccination, and then performed a neutralization assay using these sera and pseudoviruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.29.569330v1" target="_blank">Antiviral humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants induced by XBB.1.5 monovalent vaccine in infection-naive and XBB-infected individuals</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Mechanistic insights into ligand dissociation from the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic, driven by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spurred an urgent need for effective therapeutic interventions. The spike glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for infiltrating host cells, rendering it a key candidate for drug development. By interacting with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, the spike initiates the infection of SARS-CoV-2. Linoleate is known to bind the spike glycoprotein, subsequently reducing its interaction with ACE2. However, the detailed kinetics underlying the protein-ligand interaction remains unclear. In this study, we characterized the pathways of ligand dissociation and the conformational changes associated with the spike glycoprotein by using ligand Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (LiGaMD). Our simulations resulted in eight complete ligand dissociation trajectories, unveiling two distinct ligand unbinding pathways. The preference between these two pathways depends on the gate distance between two -helices in the receptor binding domain (RBD) and the position of the N-linked glycan at N343. Our study also highlights the essential contributions of K417, N121 glycan, and N165 glycan in ligand unbinding, which are equally crucial in enhancing spike-ACE2 binding. We suggest that the presence of the ligand influences the motions of these residues and glycans, consequently reducing accessibility for spike-ACE2 binding. These findings enhance our understanding of ligand dissociation from the spike glycoprotein and offer significant implications for drug design strategies in the battle against COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.29.569184v1" target="_blank">Mechanistic insights into ligand dissociation from the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Generalizable features for the diagnosis of infectious disease, autoimmunity and cancer from adaptive immune receptor repertoires</strong> -
<div>
Adaptive immune receptor repertoires (AIRRs) have emerged as promising biomarkers for disease diagnosis and clinical prognosis. However, their high diversity and limited sharing between donors pose unique challenges when employing them as features for machine learning based diagnostics. In this study, we investigate the commonly used approach of representing each receptor as a member of a "clonotype cluster". We then construct a feature vector for each donor from clonotype cluster frequencies (CCFs). We find that CCFs are sparse features and that classifiers trained on them do not generalize well to new donors. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a novel approach where we transform cluster frequencies using an adjacency matrix built from pairwise similarities of all receptors. This transformation produces a new feature, termed paratope cluster occupancies (PCOs). Leveraging publicly available AIRR datasets encompassing infectious diseases (COVID-19, HIV), autoimmune diseases (autoimmune hepatitis, type 1 diabetes), and cancer (colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer), we demonstrate that PCOs exhibit lower sparsity compared to CCFs. Furthermore, we establish that classifiers trained on PCOs exhibited improved generalizability and overall classification performance (median ROC AUC 0.893) when compared to CCFs (median ROC AUC 0.714) over the six diseases. Our findings highlight the potential of utilizing PCOs as a feature representation for AIRR analysis in diverse disease contexts.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.569125v1" target="_blank">Generalizable features for the diagnosis of infectious disease, autoimmunity and cancer from adaptive immune receptor repertoires</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Human Cytokine and Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Protein Interactivity Using Large-Scale Virtual Screens</strong> -
<div>
In the battle against the ever-changing SARS-CoV-2 landscape, understanding the interactions between viral proteins and the human immune system is paramount as it helps to explain potential factors contributing to diverse immunological responses in infected individuals. In this study, we employed state-of-the-art molecular docking tools to conduct large-scale virtual screens, predicting the binding affinities between 64 human cytokines against 17 coronavirus nucleocapsid proteins. Our comprehensive in silico analyses reveal specific changes in cytokine-nucleocapsid protein interactions, shedding light on potential modulators of the host immune response during infection. These findings offer valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying viral pathogenesis and may guide the future development of targeted interventions. This manuscript serves as insight into the comparison of deep learning based AlphaFold2-Multimer and the semi-physicochemical based HADDOCK for protein-protein docking. We show the two methods are complementary in their predictive capabilities. We also introduce a novel algorithm for rapidly assessing the binding interface of protein-protein docks using graph edit distance: graph-based residue assessment function (G-RAF). The high-performance computational framework presented here will not only aid in accelerating the discovery of effective interventions against emerging viral threats, but extend to other applications of high throughput protein-protein screens.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.569056v1" target="_blank">Human Cytokine and Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Protein Interactivity Using Large-Scale Virtual Screens</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Mechanism-based classification of SARS-CoV-2 Variants by Molecular Dynamics Resembles Phylogenetic Tree</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemics has demonstrated the vulnerability of our societies to viral infectious disease. The mitigation of COVID-19 was complicated by the emergence of Variants of Concern (VOCs) with varying properties including increased transmissibility and immune evasion. Traditional population sequencing proved to be slow and not conducive for timely action. To tackle this challenge, we introduce the Persistence Score (PS) that assesses the pandemic potential of VOCs based on molecular dynamics of the interactions between the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) and the ACE2 residues. Our mechanism-based classification approach successfully grouped VOCs into clinically relevant subgroups with higher sensitivity than classical affinity estimations and allows for risk assessment of hypothetical new VOCs. The PS-based interaction analysis across VOCs resembled the phylogenetic tree of SARS-Cov-2 demonstrating its predictive relevance for pandemic preparedness. Thus, PS allows for early detection of a variant's pandemic potential, and an early risk evaluation for data-driven policymaking.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.568639v1" target="_blank">Mechanism-based classification of SARS-CoV-2 Variants by Molecular Dynamics Resembles Phylogenetic Tree</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Functional and antigenic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 spike fusion peptide by deep mutational scanning</strong> -
<div>
The fusion peptide of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is functionally important for membrane fusion during virus entry and is part of a broadly neutralizing epitope. However, sequence determinants at the fusion peptide and its adjacent regions for pathogenicity and antigenicity remain elusive. In this study, we performed a series of deep mutational scanning (DMS) experiments on an S2 region spanning the fusion peptide of authentic SARS-CoV-2 in different cell lines and in the presence of broadly neutralizing antibodies. We identified mutations at residue 813 of the spike protein that reduced TMPRSS2-mediated entry with decreased virulence. In addition, we showed that an F823Y mutation, present in bat betacoronavirus HKU9 spike protein, confers resistance to broadly neutralizing antibodies. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity and also highlight a potential challenge in developing broadly protective S2-based coronavirus vaccines.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.569051v1" target="_blank">Functional and antigenic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 spike fusion peptide by deep mutational scanning</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>copepodTCR: Identification of Antigen-Specific T Cell Receptors with combinatorial peptide pooling</strong> -
<div>
T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire diversity enables the orchestration of antigen-specific immune responses against the vast space of possible pathogens. Identifying TCR/antigen binding pairs from the large TCR repertoire and antigen space is crucial for biomedical research. Here, we introduce copepodTCR, an open-access tool for the design and interpretation of high-throughput experimental assays to determine TCR specificity. copepodTCR implements a combinatorial peptide pooling scheme for efficient experimental testing of T cell responses against large overlapping peptide libraries, useful for "deorphaning" TCRs of unknown specificity. The scheme detects experimental errors and, coupled with a hierarchical Bayesian model for unbiased results interpretation, identifies the response-eliciting peptide for a TCR of interest out of hundreds of peptides tested using a simple experimental set-up. We experimentally validated our approach on a library of 253 overlapping peptides covering the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. We provide experimental guides for efficient design of larger screens covering thousands of peptides which will be crucial for the identification of antigen-specific T cells and their targets from limited clinical material.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.569052v1" target="_blank">copepodTCR: Identification of Antigen-Specific T Cell Receptors with combinatorial peptide pooling</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Reasons for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in German-speaking Switzerland: An online survey among vaccine hesitant 16-60 year olds</strong> -
<div>
Background: Several research studies have examined the reasons why people are hesitant to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, there is no published data to date on Switzerland. Identifying these reasons among the Swiss population who are vaccine hesitant may help inform campaigns to encourage vaccine confidence. Aims: The primary aim of this study is to identify the reasons for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 among Swiss residents who are vaccine hesitant. The secondary aim is to examine whether reasons differ by age, gender, education, and likelihood of accepting a vaccination to better target campaigns and design interventions. Design: An online survey asked participants to indicate the reasons why they were hesitant to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Setting: German-speaking Swiss Cantons, the survey was administered online between 5 May 2021 and 16 May 2021. Participants: The participants in this analysis were a sample of (N=1191) Swiss residents age 16-60 years old from German-speaking Cantons, who could answer an online survey in German, who had yet not been vaccinated, who had not yet registered for a vaccination appointment, and who did not indicate that they would definitely be vaccinated if offered the chance. Findings: Among people who are vaccine hesitant in Switzerland, the most common reasons for being hesitant were side-effect, safety, and effectiveness concerns. It was also common for people to indicate that they were healthy/at low risk, would decide later, and that they wanted to build immunity naturally. Less common, but still prevalent concerns included wanting more information, thinking COVID-19 was not a real threat, and concerns that the vaccine may serve another purpose. Differences in reasons for being vaccine hesitant were found by age, gender, education, and likelihood of accepting a vaccination if offered. Conclusions: To increase the likelihood of accepting a vaccination, vaccination campaigns should address side-effect, safety, and effectiveness concerns. Campaigns could also consider informing people why it is necessary for people in lower risk groups to be vaccinated, and why vaccination is preferable to infection for building immunity. While campaigns may be effective in reaching some of the population, alternative strategies might be necessary to strengthen the trust relationship with vaccines and vaccine providers in some groups. Less prevalent concerns, such as not liking needles, could be addressed through individual level interventions.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/hnzke/" target="_blank">Reasons for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in German-speaking Switzerland: An online survey among vaccine hesitant 16-60 year olds</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Expression and fusogenic activity of SARS CoV-2 Spike protein displayed in the HSV-1 Virion.</strong> -
<div>
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is a zoonotic pathogen that can cause severe respiratory disease in humans. The new SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of the current global pandemic termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has resulted in many millions of deaths world-wide. The virus is a member of the Betacoronavirus family, its genome is a positive strand RNA molecule that encodes for many genes which are required for virus genome replication as well as for structural proteins that are required for virion assembly and maturation. A key determinant of this virus is the Spike (S) protein embedded in the virion membrane and mediates attachment of the virus to the receptor (ACE2). This protein also is required for cell-cell fusion (syncytia) that is an important pathogenic determinant. We have developed a pseudotyped herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) recombinant virus expressing S protein in the virion envelop. This virus has also been modified to express a Venus fluorescent protein fusion to VP16, a virion protein of HSV-1. The virus expressing Spike can enter cells and generates large multi-nucleated syncytia which are evident by the Venus fluorescence. The HSV-1 recombinant virus is genetically stable and virus amplification can be easily done by infecting cells. This recombinant virus provides a reproducible platform for Spike function analysis and thus adds to the repertoire of pseudotyped viruses expressing Spike.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.28.568860v1" target="_blank">Expression and fusogenic activity of SARS CoV-2 Spike protein displayed in the HSV-1 Virion.</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Randomized Trial Evaluating a mRNA VLP Vaccines Immunogenicity and Safety for COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2 Infection <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: AZD9838; Biological: Licensed mRNA vaccine <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: AstraZeneca <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of Metformin in Reducing Fatigue in Long COVID in Adolescents</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Metformin; Other: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Trust for Vaccines and Immunization, Pakistan <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“The Effect of Aerobic Exercise and Strength Training on Physical Activity Level, Quality of Life and Anxiety-Stress Disorder in Young Adults With and Without Covid-19”</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Aerobic Exercise and Strength Training <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Pamukkale University <br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vale+Tú Salud: Corner-Based Randomized Trial to Test a Latino Day Laborer Program Adapted to Prevent COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: COVID-19 Group Problem Solving; Behavioral: Standard of Care; Behavioral: Booster session <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston; National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety Study of SLV213 for the Treatment of COVID-19.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Placebo for SLV213; Drug: SLV213 <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Collection of Additional Biological Samples From Potentially COVID-19 Patients for Monitoring of Biological Parameters Carried Out as Part of the Routine</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS CoV 2 Infection <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: RIPH2 <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: CerbaXpert <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Development and Qualification of Methods for Analyzing the Mucosal Immune Response to COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Certain Disorders Involving the Immune Mechanism <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Sampling; Biological: PCR (polymerase chain reaction) SARS-CoV-2 <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University Hospital, Tours <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Promoting Engagement and COVID-19 Testing for Health</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: COVID-19 Test Reporting; Behavioral: Personalized Nudges via Text Messaging; Behavioral: Non-personalized Nudges via Text Messaging <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Emory University; National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK); Morehouse School of Medicine; Georgia Institute of Technology <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mitigating Mental and Social Health Outcomes of COVID-19: A Counseling Approach</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Social Determinants of Health; Mental Health Issue; COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Individual counseling; Behavioral: Group counseling; Other: Resources <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Idaho State University <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Water-based Activity to Enhance Recovery in Long COVID</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: WATER+CT; Behavioral: Usual Care <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: VA Office of Research and Development <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Performance Evaluation of the Lucira COVID-19 &amp; Flu Test</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; Influenza <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: Lucira COVID-19 &amp; Flu Test <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Lucira Health Inc <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of Two Therapeutic Exercise Modalities for Patients With Persistent COVID</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Persistent COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: exercise programe <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Facultat de ciencies de la Salut Universitat Ramon Llull <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Broad-spectrum antiviral activity of two structurally analogous CYP3A inhibitors against pathogenic human coronaviruses in vitro</strong> - Coronaviruses pose a permanent risk of outbreaks, with three highly pathogenic species and strains (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2) having emerged in the last twenty years. Limited antiviral therapies are currently available and their efficacy in randomized clinical trials enrolling SARS-CoV-2 patients has not been consistent, highlighting the need for more potent treatments. We previously showed that cobicistat, a clinically approved inhibitor of Cytochrome P450-3A (CYP3A), has direct antiviral…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Protection effects of mice liver and lung injury induced by coronavirus infection of Qingfei Paidu decoction involve inhibition of the NLRP3 signaling pathway</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: To sum up, our current study demonstrated that QFPD treatment has the capacity to alleviate infection-related symptoms, mitigate tissue damage in infected organs, and suppress viral replication in coronavirus-infected mice. The protective attributes of QFPD in coronavirus-infected mice are plausibly associated with its modulation of the NLRP3 signaling pathway. We further infer that QFPD holds substantial promise in the context of coronavirus infection therapy.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A broadly reactive antibody targeting the N-terminal domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike confers Fc-mediated protection</strong> - Most neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) target the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S) protein. Here, we characterize a panel of mAbs targeting the N-terminal domain (NTD) or other non-RBD epitopes of S. A subset of NTD mAbs inhibits SARS-CoV-2 entry at a post-attachment step and avidly binds the surface of infected cells. One neutralizing NTD mAb, SARS2-57, protects K18-hACE2 mice against SARS-CoV-2 infection in an Fc-dependent manner. Structural analysis…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chemical Composition of Thyme (<em>Thymus vulgaris</em>) Extracts, Potential Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein-ACE2 Binding and ACE2 Activity, and Radical Scavenging Capacity</strong> - Water and ethanol extracts of dried thyme (Thymus vulgaris) were analyzed for chemical composition, inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-ACE2 interaction, inhibition of ACE2 activity, and free radical scavenging capacity. Thirty-two compounds were identified in water extract (WE) and 27 were identified in ethanol extract (EE) of thyme through HPLC-MS. The WE (33.3 mg/mL) and EE (3.3 mg/mL) of thyme inhibited the spike protein-ACE2 interaction by 82.6 and 86.4%, respectively. The thyme WE…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pre-pandemic Executive Function Protects Against Pandemic Anxiety in Children with and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated depression, anxiety, and executive function (EF) difficulties in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). EF skills have been positively associated with mental health outcomes. Here, we probed the psychosocial impacts of pandemic responses in children with and without ASD by relating pre-pandemic EF assessments with anxiety and depression symptoms several months into the pandemic. We found that pre-pandemic inhibition and shifting difficulties,…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Implementing PCR testing in general practice-a qualitative study using normalization process theory</strong> - CONCLUSION: In its current form, the added diagnostic value of using POC PCR testing in general practice was not sufficient for the professionals to justify the increased work connected to the usage of the diagnostic procedure in daily practice.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inhibition of bradykinin in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a randomised, double-blind trial of icatibant compared with placebo (ICASARS)</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 binds to ACE2 receptors and enters cells. The symptoms are cough, breathlessness, loss of taste/smell and X-ray evidence of infiltrates on chest imaging initially caused by oedema, and subsequently by a lymphocytic pneumonitis. Coagulopathy, thrombosis and hypotension occur. Worse disease occurs with age, obesity, ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.These features may be due to abnormal activation of the contact system. This triggers coagulation and the kallikrein-kinin…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Antiviral peptides inhibiting the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 investigated by computational screening and in vitro protease assay</strong> - The main protease (Mpro) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) plays an important role in viral replication and transcription and received great attention as a vital target for drug/peptide development. Therapeutic agents such as small-molecule drugs or peptides that interact with the Cys-His present in the catalytic site of Mpro are an efficient way to inhibit the protease. Although several emergency-approved vaccines showed good efficacy and drastically dropped the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Plant-Derived Natural Compounds as an Emerging Antiviral in Combating COVID-19</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a human virus that burst at Wuhan in China and spread quickly over the world, leading to millions of deaths globally. The journey of this deadly virus to different mutant strains is still ongoing. The plethora of drugs and vaccines have been tested to cope up this pandemic. The herbal plants and different spices have received great attention during pandemic, because of their anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties in…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Enumeration of olive derived lignan, pinoresinol for activity against recent Omicron variant spike protein for structure-based drug design, DFT, molecular dynamics simulations, and MMGBSA studies</strong> - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first found in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Because the virus spreads quickly, it quickly became a global worry. Coronaviridae is the family that contains both SARS-CoV-2 and the viruses that came before (i.e., MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV). Recent sources portray that the COVID-19 virus has affected 344,710,576 people worldwide and killed about 5,598,511 people in the last 2 years. The B.1.1.529 strain, later called “Omicron,” was named a Variant of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Amplification of poly(I:C)-induced interleukin-6 production in human bronchial epithelial cells by priming with interferon-γ</strong> - Proinflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-6 was associated with disease severity in patients with COVID-19. The mechanism underlying the excessive IL-6 production by SARS-Cov-2 infection remains unclear. Respiratory viruses initially infect nasal or bronchial epithelial cells that produce various inflammatory mediators. Here, we show that pretreatment of human bronchial epithelial cells (NCl-H292) with interferon (IFN)-γ (10 ng/mL) markedly increased IL-6 production induced by the toll-like…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Diabetic individuals with COVID-19 exhibit reduced efficacy of gliptins in inhibiting dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4). A suggested explanation for increased COVID-19 susceptibility in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)</strong> - AIMS: Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) has been proposed as a coreceptor for SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry. Considering that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been identified as the most important risk factor for SARS-CoV-2, and that gliptins (DPP4 inhibitors) are a prescribed diabetic treatment, this study aims to unravel the impact of DPP4 in the intersection of T2DM/COVID-19.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Engineering irradiated tumor-derived microparticles as personalized vaccines to enhance anti-tumor immunity</strong> - The inadequate activation of antigen-presenting cells, the entanglement of T cells, and the highly immunosuppressive conditions in the tumor microenvironment (TME) are important factors that limit the effectiveness of cancer vaccines. Studies show that a personalized and broad antigen repertoire fully activates anti-tumor immunity and that inhibiting the function of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β facilitates T cell migration. In our study, we introduce a vaccine strategy by engineering…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Willow (<em>Salix</em> spp.) bark hot water extracts inhibit both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses: study on its anti-coronavirus and anti-enterovirus activities</strong> - CONCLUSION: Salix spp. bark extracts contain several virucidal agents that are likely to act synergistically and directly on the viruses.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Unveiling the role of PUS7-mediated pseudouridylation in host protein interactions specific for the SARS-CoV-2 RNA genome</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a positive single-stranded RNA virus, engages in complex interactions with host cell proteins throughout its life cycle. While these interactions enable the host to recognize and inhibit viral replication, they also facilitate essential viral processes such as transcription, translation, and replication. Many aspects of these virus-host interactions remain poorly understood. Here, we employed the catRAPID algorithm and utilized the…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Was the Point of George Santos?</strong> - Washington finally rediscovers how to give a grifting congressman the boot. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/what-was-the-point-of-george-santos">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bidenomics Is a Political Bust for Biden</strong> - On the perils of running a feel-good tour of America when the country is down in the dumps. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/bidenomics-is-a-political-bust-for-biden">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Dead Children We Must See</strong> - Its time for Americans to rethink their squeamishness about releasing the photos of the youngest victims of mass violence. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-dead-children-we-must-see">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Columbia Suspended Pro-Palestine Student Groups. The Faculty Revolted</strong> - Like other universities, the school has cracked down on activism among students, citing fears of antisemitism. Some professors think its gone too far. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/columbia-suspended-pro-palestine-student-groups-the-faculty-revolted">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Washington Couldnt Quit Kissinger</strong> - Despite his controversial record, the former Secretary of State never fell out of the good graces of the D.C. establishment. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-washington-couldnt-quit-kissinger">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Its okay to suck when you try something new</strong> -
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<img alt="An illustration of a shadowed hand holding a blue tangled thread. Another shadowed hand holds a red thread neatly arranged in rows. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AXV9Ai-rBZc1mjEKjPQW5gpOcQU=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72925705/EDIT_GettyImages_1466789163.0.png"/>
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Getty Images
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
You dont need to be good at a hobby to enjoy it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aU74ET">
Allow me to list the short-lived pastimes I attempted and promptly deserted when I didnt immediately excel: Pottery, softball, field hockey, surfing, violin, dance, designing novelty T-shirts, knitting, yoga, and, most recently, meditation. Easily embarrassed and uncomfortable asking for help, Id rather drop a hobby than give myself time to improve. Mediocrity — or worse, actively sucking at something — feels gross.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KU5SHc">
“It shouldnt,” says <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/People/Dr-Thomas-Curran">Thomas Curran</a>, an associate professor in the department of psychological and behavioral science at the London School of Economics and author of <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/447202/the-perfection-trap-by-curran-thomas/9781847943842"><em>The Perfection Trap</em></a>, “because thats the normal and natural part of the learning process.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ehUhBB">
Babies and children suck at, well, everything, because each experience is novel and perfection is hardly expected of infants making their way in the world. Kids also (ideally) exist in supportive environments where failure is encouraged and adults are quick to offer support, both literally and emotionally. Not yet burdened with self-consciousness or perfectionism, children try, fail, and try again.
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Adults, on the other hand, are pressured to optimize their time and performance: <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/11/25/20975946/hobby-what-should-i-try-how-to">Side hustles replaced hobbies</a>, while <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/11/27/20975989/perfect-mental-health-perfectionism">social media perpetuates the myth of perfection</a>. Anything less than excellence can be seen as failure. If youre at all like me, you protect yourself from this vulnerability and avoid pursuits that might show a lack of competence.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CJ78EG">
Although sucking feels uncomfortable, we shouldnt shy away from activities we enjoy simply because we arent great at them. As the season for new habits and hobbies approaches, put your self-esteem to the side, experts say, and embrace the suck. “You can do something for beauty and pleasure,” says <a href="http://krinaldi.com/">Karen Rinaldi</a>, the author of <a href="https://suckatsomething.com/"><em>(Its Great to) Suck at Something</em></a>, “that doesnt suit your ego.”
</p>
<h3 id="puuNtZ">
If you enjoy it, its worth doing — even if you suck
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aiTRva">
Despite surfing for over two decades, Rinaldi says she didnt catch her first wave until five years in. What kept her going was her joy in surfing. If you find delight and satisfaction in an endeavor, a lack of progress shouldnt prevent you from continuing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ot8Jgv">
Consider your motivations for picking up a new hobby, Curran says. Are you looking to project a certain image by learning to play guitar? Or do you have a passion for music? When you inevitably encounter hiccups in your burgeoning rock career, a genuine interest in the practice will be more motivating than how it looks to other people. “It shouldnt really be about whats the outcome,” Curran says. “Whats most important is you throwing yourself into the activity and you really engaging and embracing the learning process, the good and bad.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zVPE8X">
Theres freedom in openly sucking, unencumbered by others opinions. Very rarely are <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.81.1.44">outsiders thinking about your failures</a> as much as you suspect they are, studies show. And if they are, they may offer support and assistance, Rinaldi says. “People are really generous, and they want to help you,” she says. Bullies and jerks will always exist, but dont discount the kindness of others within the hobbys community to come to your aid.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8kdBkb">
Partaking in an activity purely for the love of it helps you become less judgmental — of yourself as well as of others. “When you really are in the practice of sucking at something,” Rinaldi says, “it is very hard to look at other people around you and judge them.”
</p>
<h3 id="SvHXnK">
Just because you suck now doesnt mean youll always be terrible
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PSajgA">
How you think about your abilities can affect your performance. There are two perspectives people take when it comes to success: <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means">growth mindset and fixed mindset</a>. If you have a fixed mindset, you may believe you already possess all the skills and talent you will ever have and you may never improve regardless of your effort. Growth mindset is the belief that you can advance through hard work, support, and a different strategy. You may have a growth mindset in one area of your life (say, in regard to work tasks) but a fixed mindset in another (believing you arent creative). To foster a growth mindset, remind yourself that the first time you began any endeavor, you probably sucked, says <a href="https://www.dayagrant.com/">Daya Grant</a>, a certified mental performance consultant and neuroscientist. Then you got better.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T1Hu8y">
As you learn and build skills, however slowly, celebrate those little wins, Grant says. Mastered a beginner stitch? Finally got your bread to rise after many attempts? Sketched a picture of your dog that actually resembles your dog? Take a moment to marvel at your improvements. “A win is a win is a win,” Grant says. “It doesnt really matter to the brain how big or small it is.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qKJg3Q">
Set yourself up for these incremental successes by creating more “gentle environments” for hobbies, says <a href="https://psychology.yale.edu/people/julia-leonard">Julia Leonard</a>, an assistant professor of psychology at Yale University. In a performance-based culture where effort is praised but not actually rewarded (for example, you can study hard for an exam and still fail), give yourself permission to start a new activity not because you want to be the best, but because making progress is inherently satisfying. Handle your ego with kid gloves and encourage yourself the same way you would a child. “I have work showing little kids are way more optimistic about their abilities than older kids and adults,” Leonard says. “Theyre in contexts that everyone is just cheering them on all the time because theyre just so excited about growth. Thats the mindset we need.”
</p>
<h3 id="oc82Ta">
Feeling challenged isnt a weakness, its an opportunity
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xpth0V">
A common perfectionist tendency is avoiding potentially challenging activities out of a fear of being seen as incompetent or less-than, Curran says. “The first instinct is to not show vulnerability, just in case other people are there, theyre watching or waiting to pounce,” he says. “So we play it safe, dont we? We stick to what we know. We stick to what we feel like were good at.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PG8GEr">
Discomfort when challenged is a <a href="https://www.vox.com/even-better/23785695/learn-something-new-every-day-retrieval-practice">sign of learning</a>, Grant says. But if you love the challenge, enjoy the struggle, or find the repeated attempts at success meditative, embrace the fact that you may be doing the thing, whether its karaoke or surfing, well enough.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7jAJhF">
This reminder is one Ill take with me as I embark on future endeavors where I may lack natural ability. Catch me at a pottery wheel or in the solace of my bedroom strumming my guitar. Or dont. The results may not be pretty — and I do not care.
</p></li>
<li><strong>Israel moves into southern Gaza after a week-long truce — and its goals are murkier than ever</strong> -
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<img alt="Gaza Ceasefire Ends, Israel Resumes Strikes" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dzZ01RzXQr6-X-2hluEfw2JgrkE=/389x0:3500x2333/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72924622/1817397793.0.jpg"/>
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Amir Levy/Getty Images
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Seven weeks into the war, 15,000 Palestinians have been killed and theres no end in sight
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CJnOrJ">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a> have resumed hostilities after a week-long pause — and now the fighting is moving into southern <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a>, where most of the regions more than 2 million residents are living in overcrowded conditions without adequate access to food, medicine, clean water, and other basic necessities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1myMij">
What this means for the people of Gaza and the militant group Hamas is more open-ended death and destruction, while Israel chases an ambiguous goal that may not have any realizable markers to define success. While Israel wants the complete destruction of Hamas, the US has signaled that removing senior leadership would be acceptable. Meanwhile, the destruction and death on the ground, especially without a political future for <a href="https://www.vox.com/palestine">Palestinians</a> — or a Palestinian state — virtually guarantees further radicalization.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bzDdqO">
Israel Defense Forces have killed 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza over the past two months of fighting and destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of buildings in the north during its campaign there. But despite the destruction, its not clear to what extent the military campaign is effectively rooting out Hamas — or how much more devastation the campaign will cause.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IghBE5">
The pause in hostilities ended just before 7 am local time on Friday in Israel, when it was due to expire after two extensions, with both sides trading blame for breaking it. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67589259">According to the BBC</a>, the IDF reported it intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza around that time, and later both sides accused each other of not abiding by the conditions under which Hamas would exchange hostages it took October 7 for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TQUHbY">
During the pause, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/world/middleeast/palestinian-prisoners-released-gaza.html#:~:text=Israel%20released%20a%20total%20of,into%20fighting%20on%20Friday%20morning.">240 Palestinians </a>were released from Israeli jails, many of them minors and women, except for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/world/middleeast/palestinian-prisoners-released-gaza.html#:~:text=The%20240%20Palestinian%20Prisoners%20and,led%20attack%20on%20Oct.%207.&amp;text=Five%20of%20the%20detainees%20released%20were%2014%20years%20old.&amp;text=The%20youngest%20girls%20were%2016%20and%2017%20years%20old.">64 18-year-old boys and one 19-year-old.</a> Hamas released 105 hostages, primarily Israelis but also Thai, Filipino, and Russian nationals, and an American child. The pause also briefly allowed for desperately-needed humanitarian aid to come into southern Gaza, though the number of trucks allowed in is still a fraction of what came in before the war — 160 to 200 trucks per day over the course of the pause versus <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/11/1143347">500 per day before the conflict</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bE45Wz">
Now that the fighting has resumed, the Israeli military has <a href="http://reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-army-publishes-map-it-says-advises-gazans-safe-evacuation-areas-2023-12-01/">divided Gaza into small districts where civilians are to evacuate</a> if and when the IDF attacks the area they are located in. This comes after increasing pressure from the international community, and particularly from Israels ally the United States, that Israel must change its tactics and do everything in its power to minimize civilian deaths.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EYe9P7">
There is little indication thus far that Israel is taking those warnings to heart, though; since early Friday morning when the hostilities were resumed, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-negotiators-try-get-israel-hamas-agree-extend-truce-again-2023-12-01/">Israel has bombed around 200 sites</a>, according to the IDF, while Gaza health officials said that 184 people had been killed during the renewed bombings. And given that theres little information available about Israels success in its objective to degrade Hamas military capabilities and its governing power in Gaza, its difficult to see how the war ends.
</p>
<h3 id="ppHeLv">
What we know about tactics in the north — and what it could tell us about the south
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y5JOxY">
Most residents of northern Gaza have evacuated to the south — as have, presumably, many Hamas fighters — which is overcrowded and where people are struggling to access the basics of daily life like water, food, and shelter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FkRsQU">
Continued, widespread bombing of civilian buildings to get at the tunnels underneath, where Hamas protects fighters and its supplies, has already caused thousands of deaths, but <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2023/11/the-wests-incoherent-critique-of-israels-gaza-strategy.html">Raphael Cohen</a>, director of the strategy and doctrine program with RAND Project AIR FORCE told Vox theres no real alternative.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XRjWOJ">
“Israels been seized with the tunnel issue since Operation Protective Edge, so at least since 2014, at least the past decade, and has invested a lot of time and energy into … how you detect these things, but hasnt figured out a foolproof way of finding them, particularly without being there on the ground,” he said. “Theres no silver bullet to detect them, and once you find them, then you have to destroy the tunnel, and theres no clean way to do it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="77yCgM">
But an investigation by the <a href="https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/">Israeli outlets +972 and Local Call</a> this week indicates that in northern Gaza, the IDF was far less precise in its operations than necessary to keep from harming civilians — backing up what <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/10/right-now-it-is-one-day-at-a-time-life-on-israels-frontline-with-gaza">Israeli officials</a> have already said about their approach being destructive rather than surgical. According to the investigation, based on interviews with current and former Israeli intelligence operatives, the military “has files on the vast majority of potential targets in Gaza — including homes — which stipulate the number of civilians who are likely to be killed in an attack on a particular target.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rU0ILD">
Some of those targets, which the military calls “power targets” are “not distinctly military in nature,” according to the investigation, and “include private residences as well as public buildings, infrastructure, and high-rise blocks.” The investigation found that the military has stepped up its attacks on power targets in the latest conflict, dubbed “Operation Swords of Iron.” That, in turn, has exponentially increased the number of civilian casualties, as has the use of artificial intelligence to generate Hamas targets, according to the report.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RGFhhL">
“When a 3-year-old girl is killed in a home in Gaza, its because someone in the army decided it wasnt a big deal for her to be killed — that it was a price worth paying in order to hit [another] target,” one source told the outlet. “We are not Hamas. These are not random rockets. Everything is intentional. We know exactly how much collateral damage there is in every home.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gV0iFb">
The IDF has destroyed much of northern Gazas infrastructure — <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67565872">around 98,000 buildings </a>have been demolished or damaged in the north, according to a BBC review of satellite imagery. Throughout the region, about 60 percent of the housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2023/11/29/as-truce-holds-people-in-gaza-venture-out-to-survey-destruction">Al Jazeera</a> reported.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q2hQjg">
But despite US officials urging to use smaller bombs and mitigate civilian risk, the US has sent Israel around 15,000 bombs and 57,000 artillery shells, according to reporting in the Wall Street Journal, including the so-called “bunker buster” bomb, which holds 2,000 pounds of explosives and is meant to penetrate underground concrete structures like the tunnels Hamas uses to operate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q4kQWD">
However, the transfer of the bunker-busters and other large-scale munitions “seems inconsistent with reported exhortations from Secretary Blinken and others to use smaller-diameter bombs,” Brian Finucane, a senior adviser at theInternational Crisis Group, and a former attorney-advisor at the US State Department told the Journal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lQBL06">
Using explosives in populated areas is extremely dangerous for civilians — the <a href="https://www.unocha.org/explosive-weapons-populated-areas">UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs</a> has found that 90 percent of casualties from explosives in populated areas are civilians. And because Palestinians in Gaza cannot feasibly go elsewhere, more civilian deaths and injuries are all but certain.
</p>
<h3 id="NdnPd2">
What is Israel trying to accomplish — and is it working?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sGUSGX">
As the IDF pushes into the south toward the cities of<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-offensive-crowded-south-gaza-will-put-civilians-crosshairs-2023-11-18/"> Khan Younis and Rafah,</a> “it gets a lot more complicated,” Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Vox. “And its partly complicated by the fact that they havent scored a lot of victories in the north, either in terms of capturing people or revealing infrastructure. A lot of buildings have been destroyed and a lot of people have been displaced, but in terms of genuinely hurting Hamas, the Israelis are not able to point to a lot of successes, and that will lead people to focus on the humanitarian consequences rather than the embedded capabilities of Hamas.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oUPRny">
From the beginning of the war, Israel has said it intends to wipe out Hamas ability to operate militarily and to govern the Gaza Strip. But for all the destruction its wrought, its not clear how much progress the IDF is making, partly because Gaza is such a dangerous environment for journalists — making independent verification of the situation on the ground extremely difficult.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fk44OT">
Robert Blecher, director of the Future of Conflict program at International Crisis Group, told Vox that Israel could significantly degrade Hamas military capabilities, “but not at a cost that would be humanly or politically acceptable.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8vpTLG">
The IDF has not been forthcoming about how many Hamas leaders are part of the death toll in Gaza. The IDF claims to have <a href="https://www.inss.org.il/publication/war-data/">approximately 4,000 Hamas fighters total as of November 19, including 68 “high-profile” Hamas operatives.</a> Some estimates are as high as 5,000, but the true number is unknown. <a href="https://idfspokesperson.substack.com/p/we-tried-to-tell-them-about-shifa">Three hundred suspected Hamas militants</a> have been taken into Israel for interrogation, according to IDF international spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. The IDF has claimed to have destroyed about 400 tunnel shafts in northern Gaza as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MY68aY">
Amid such destruction, the three Hamas officials the IDF reportedly most desperately wants to kill are still at large. Killing those men, Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told Reuters, could provide “a very clear, symbolic and substantive achievement” for Israel — but even achieving that goal would inflict devastating tolls. “What if they cant get the guys? Do they keep fighting until they get them? And what if what if they just prove elusive?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lZ3mx4">
Hamas, for its part, is not known for advanced military maneuvers, Blecher said — primarily, their tactics are “hiding in tunnels and popping up behind forces after they advance,” picking off soldiers that way rather than inflicting mass casualties. However, according to the<a href="https://www.inss.org.il/publication/war-data/"> Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University</a>, Hamas still has as many as 15,000 rockets, as well as the thousands of militants still alive.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SxiRgW">
“Theres not only the question of 30,000 militants in the Qassam Brigades, there is also the membership of the movement, which is at least an order of magnitude bigger, hundreds of thousands of people,” Blecher said. “That includes doctors, and lawyers, and professionals, and a whole bunch of civil society.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RFL9xL">
It will be impossible to eliminate Hamass ideological impact on Gaza, and the massive civilian death toll could lead to further radicalization, especially absent any conversation about a political future for Palestinians or a Palestinian state. That, according to Ami Ayalon, the former head of Israels Shin Bet intelligence service, is a massive failure of the entire project. “Now that it is obvious that the whole political concept and the policies that [were] led by <a href="https://www.vox.com/23910085/netanyahu-israel-right-hamas-gaza-war-history">Netanyahu</a> of managing the conflict — not to try to solve it — but managing, or the nonsense of shrinking the conflict collapsed,” he told the <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/podcasts/missing-israeli-endgame-gaza-ayalon">Foreign Affairs</a> podcast. So I think it is irresponsible for us to send our military, our people, to the battlefield without defining a political goal,” that enables Israel and the Palestinian people to live in peace.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w5p1U2">
But, as Alterman told Vox, Israels strategy for achieving military victory, whatever that looks like, is murky.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A1hCJk">
“What does victory look like? To me thats an important question, where Israelis have put forward some pretty maximalist ideas, but its unclear what the pathway looks like.”
</p></li>
<li><strong>Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, briefly explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Israeli soldiers in uniforms walk with and push people out of a street, with others standing nearby watching." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3NJb48DgOMxSSO5mHgx9etKACLc=/146x0:2475x1747/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72923310/1760199994.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Israeli soldiers restrain Jewish settlers after they stormed the Palestinian West Bank village of Dayr Sharaf following the death of an Israeli man on November 2, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.  | Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
With the world focused on Gaza, Israeli settlers and soldiers are increasing attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KvVTJf">
The worlds eyes have been on <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/7/23907683/israel-hamas-war-news-updates-october-2023">Gaza</a> since <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a>s brutal attack on Israeli citizens on October 7 and <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a>s retaliatory invasion that has killed thousands of <a href="https://www.vox.com/palestine">Palestinian</a> civilians.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kHVfP4">
But another front in this long-running conflict is the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Bank">West Bank</a>, a kidney-bean shaped piece of land on the west bank of the Jordan River and to the east of Israel that is home to nearly 3 million Palestinians and would make up the heart of any future Palestinian state. Alongside those Palestinian cities and villages, however, are Jewish settlements.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FG37D6">
Since the Six-Day War of June 1967, the state of Israel has planned and funded Jewish <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65031877">outposts</a> throughout the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080034/west-bank-israel-palestinians">West Bank</a>; other settlers have moved in without the states explicit backing. The settlers believe they have a right to be there, even though <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-dispossession/">most of the international community</a> views the settlements as illegal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="keuFio">
These populations are largely separated by Israels complex security infrastructure, including military checkpoints, armed patrols, a <a href="https://www.btselem.org/topic/separation_barrier">separation barrier</a>, and color-coded identification cards and license plates. This system dictates all aspects of daily life for West Bank residents.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="icU0PX">
Some settlers have for years <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/9/23945651/west-bank-israeli-settler-palestine-gaza-war-violence">harassed and attacked</a> the Palestinians living there, often <a href="https://www.yesh-din.org/en/law-enforcement-against-israeli-soldiers-suspected-of-harming-palestinians-and-their-property-summary-of-figures-for-2017-2021/">with impunity</a> and occasionally with the support of Israeli soldiers. In the weeks since October 7, however, the rate of violence has <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/israelpalestine/settler-violence-rises-west-bank-gaza-war">significantly increased</a>. It is already the deadliest year since the Second Intifada, and is getting bad enough for the eyes of the world to occasionally leave <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a> and look to the West Bank.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BRCzem">
“I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/10/25/remarks-by-president-biden-and-prime-minister-anthony-albanese-of-australia-in-joint-press-conference/#:~:text=I%20continue%20to%20be%20alarmed,have%20to%20be%20held%20accountable.">said</a> in late October, comparing the attacks to “pouring gasoline on fire.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kIwzzS">
Meanwhile, popular support for Hamas has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/29/world/middleeast/west-bank-hamas-prisoners.html">surged</a> among Palestinians in the West Bank as faith in the Palestinian Authority <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231022-gaza-war-heaps-pressure-on-palestinian-president-abbas">plummets</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3wkD2R">
This escalation of settler violence could, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/9/23945651/west-bank-israeli-settler-palestine-gaza-war-violence">Voxs Zack Beauchamp explains</a>, “lead to a deeper entrenchment of Israels occupation and, quite possibly, a violent Palestinian response that brings outright war to the West Bank.” That would in turn “weaken the already-slim prospects of a negotiated solution to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18079996/israel-palestine-conflict-guide-explainer">Israeli-Palestinian conflict</a> in the foreseeable future,” he writes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ygYHKT">
The writer <a href="https://www.nathanthrall.com/">Nathan Thrall</a> is well acquainted with the dual lives of Palestinian and Israeli residents of the West Bank. Thrall spent a decade at the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/">International Crisis Group</a> covering Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. In his new book <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250291530/adayinthelifeofabedsalama"><em>A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy</em></a>, he tells the story of a Palestinian father from the West Bank searching for his son whos gone missing after a school bus accident.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JETUN7">
Thrall spoke with <a href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast"><em>Today, Explained</em></a> host Noel King about the history of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and why Israel faces strong criticism for its support of settlers, not just from Palestinians but also from some Israelis and the international community. Read on for an excerpt of the conversation that aired on November 20, edited and condensed for length and clarity, and listen to the full conversation <a href="https://link.chtbl.com/TEXWestBank">wherever you find podcasts</a>.
</p>
<div id="CdYAkS">
</div>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="RmIZxj"/>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jUiFGs">
<strong>Help situate us: What does the West Bank look like? And who lives there?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xMMSJY">
The West Bank is quite hilly. It has a mountain ridge running through the middle of it, north to south. And it is <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/human-rights-council-hears-that-700000-israeli-settlers-are-living-illegally-in-the-occupied-west-bank-meeting-summary-excerpts/">covered</a> with Israeli settlements. These settlements in the popular imagination are a set of caravans haphazardly erected on a hilltop. [Some newer outposts, particularly illegal ones, do consist largely of portable buildings.] But in fact, [many] are towns and cities that look <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/annexation-residents-of-ariel-settlement-prefer-that-old-time-status-quo/">identical</a> to the communities of similar size within Israel proper. And they are connected seamlessly to Israel proper. The <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/06/10/531777973/after-six-day-war-an-american-became-a-west-bank-settler">residents</a> of these communities include Israels elite. They include Supreme Court <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2016-06-10/ty-article/.premium/israels-settler-on-the-supreme-court-only-bodes-ill/0000017f-dc17-df9c-a17f-fe1f61d10000">justices</a>. They include ministers in the Israeli government and many, many other government employees and leaders in industry.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xj5Atf">
These people are able to live in these communities precisely because they have been <a href="https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/in-the-west-bank-segregated-roads-displace-palestinians/index.html">segregated</a> from the Palestinian population that surrounds them. They have been given roads that cut through these Palestinian communities without having exits or entrances for the Palestinian communities that these highways pass through. This whole architecture, this infrastructure, gives the Jewish residents of these settlements the illusion that they are living in a Jewish-only zone where they dont really have to confront or think about the Palestinians who are just beside them, and they can go very easily to their workplaces in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem and believe that they are living in a suburb just like any other.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="43W5MM">
<strong>How long have the Israeli settlements been in the West Bank?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aZzjOz">
The settlement project began, really, as soon as Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Those settlements were <a href="https://www.wrmea.org/1994-november-december/speaking-out-israeli-labor-party-s-cleverly-concealed-west-bank-settlements.html">created</a> by the Israeli center left that had been in power since the establishment of the state in 1948 and remained in power until 1977. So for the first decade of the settlement project, it was driven by center-left governments. And its important to stress it was driven by the government. This is not a story of a bunch of radicals twisting the arm of the state against its will, which is how its often depicted. This is a state-driven project and it is in fact the greatest project, the <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/budget-dedicates-billions-for-west-bank-roads-settlements-and-illegal-outposts/">largest and most expensive project</a>, that the state of Israel has undertaken.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ntBlsh">
<strong>As the settlers have moved in, how have they justified this?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KJnLJ7">
There are a number of different motivations for moving to the settlements. Broadly speaking, there are three groups of settlers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RP5bLC">
There are ideologically driven settlers who believe that the West Bank is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and that they <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-extreme-ambitions-of-west-bank-settlers">have every right</a> to build homes and establish Israeli sovereignty in these areas, no less so than Israel had a right to establish settlements in 78 percent of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/5/23/the-nakba-did-not-start-or-end-in-1948">historic Palestine</a>, the borders of Israel prior to 1967. And this is an argument that they make to their detractors in Israeli politics.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Wn3Dr3">
The second type of settler is just an ordinary middle-class or upper middle-class person who is moving there because there are financial incentives to do so. You can have a nicer home, a larger home, a less expensive home. And because it has all been set up in a way that makes it painless to live there and gives you the sense that this is really no different than any other suburb, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629819302094">members of the middle class</a> do move there. What happens over time is they often start to shift ideologically after moving there because every human being naturally wants to feel justified in what theyre doing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QQhI0u">
The third type are ultra-Orthodox Jews, and they historically had <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9734595/#:~:text=Though%2C%20in%20contrast%20to%20militant,for%20the%20fast%20growing%20population">avoided</a> living in settlements. But that <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/black-is-the-new-orange-30-of-settlers-are-now-haredim/">changed</a>. And they live in a few settlements, but theyre very <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20180509-ultra-orthodox-population-grows-israeli-settlements">large and dense</a>. And those settlements are, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/world/middleeast/27settlers.html">for the most part</a>, closer to the edge of the West Bank, closer to the boundary with pre-1967 Israel.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UKbQNq">
<strong>How do Palestinian and Jewish residents of the West Bank interact with each other? Do they interact with each other, typically?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fGlyh5">
The Palestinian and Jewish communities in the West Bank are <a href="https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/in-the-west-bank-segregated-roads-displace-palestinians/index.html">entirely segregated</a> and the settlements have gates at their entrances and <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/2013-04-03/ty-article/.premium/outposts-illegal-no-mind-army-will-guard-it/0000017f-dbd6-db22-a17f-fff78de80000">security guards</a> at those gates. Palestinians are not allowed to enter them unless they are coming as pre-approved workers, as cleaners or gardeners or construction workers. Thats the degree of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/12/19/israel/west-bank-separate-and-unequal">segregation</a> that exists in the West Bank. [Israel justifies these measures as necessary for the security of both Jewish and Palestinian populations, but human rights groups like BTselem say these tactics are <a href="https://www.btselem.org/publications/202111_state_business">entirely geared</a> toward making Palestinians lives unbearable and forcibly driving them off their land.]
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p5Zxs3">
<strong>So this is a highly unequal situation. If you are Palestinian in the West Bank, you are subject to restrictions. You are subject to inequities. But then on top of that, Nathan, we hear about settler violence. What does this refer to? What does that mean?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="obGgil">
So settler violence is a broad term that includes everything from settlers going and <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2013-11-02/ty-article/.premium/scorched-earth-in-palestinian-olive-groves/0000017f-ed07-d0f7-a9ff-efc721890000">burning down olive trees</a> of Palestinians who live nearby. It includes <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/6/palestinian-killed-as-israeli-settlers-attack-west-bank-town-of-huwara">raids</a> on Palestinian communities in the middle of the night. It includes activities that Israeli officials even have referred to as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/15/middleeast/huwara-west-bank-settler-attack-cmd-intl/index.html">pogroms</a>, such as the burning of all kinds of property in the town of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hawara-settlers-west-bank-234e49a04f712bab11aa236db0f784fb">Huwara</a> earlier this year or in the town of <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjy2e00gdn">Turmus Ayya</a> last June.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tFn0pd">
The Palestinians who are attacked are entirely defenseless in this situation. [Israel points to terror attacks by Hamas, including a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/30/jerusalem-bus-stop-shooting-attack-killed-injured">November 30 shooting</a> at a bus stop in west Jerusalem, as a reason to maintain security measures.] They know that if they lay a single finger on an armed settler who enters their home, they can be arrested and put in jail and locked up in what is known as <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/11/22/23972908/palestinian-prisoners-israel-administrative-detention">administrative detention</a>, which is detention without trial or charge. Israel can do that for six months to somebody, and then extend it indefinitely.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FHn1wE">
And so when a Palestinian encounters a settler militia, they know that putting their finger on that settler is not putting their hand on an individual. Its putting their hand on the entire state of Israel, this enormous machine that controls their every movement and that can arrest them and their family members at any moment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M0LXAQ">
<strong>How is it that the settlers can commit such violence without legal repercussions? Where does the law fit in here?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lKaJER">
The law doesnt fit in here because there is total impunity for the settlers. When there are cases filed against settlers for attacks on Palestinians, fewer than 10 percent result in an indictment and only 3 percent result in a conviction. Thats <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/07/27/israel-settlers-rampage-palestinian-americans-west-bank-hometown">data</a> from the last 18 years. And now after October 7, when most of the regular army is <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/11/how-big-is-israels-military-and-how-much-funding-does-it-get-from-the-us">off in Gaza</a> or on the border with Lebanon, you have those same settlers who were attacking the Palestinian communities several months ago, now in uniform [called up from the reserves], with <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/west-bank-israeli-settler-attacks-palestinians/">full authority</a> to do those same attacks as the army.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CW87Er">
<strong>We know that there will be an end in Gaza. We dont know what it is. And it sounds as though the </strong><a href="https://www.vox.com/23910085/netanyahu-israel-right-hamas-gaza-war-history"><strong>Netanyahu</strong></a><strong> government and the international community are actively debating, discussing, what the end in Gaza will look like. But in the West Bank, it seems as though there is no end in mind. How do you envision this playing out? Where do you think this is all leading, Nathan?</strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KUnhls">
No matter how long this war in Gaza lasts, whether its weeks or months or years, at the end of it, we are going to be in the situation that we were in on October 6, which is 7 million Palestinians, 7 million Jews, <a href="https://imeu.org/article/what-every-new-member-of-congress-needs-to-know-about-palestine-israel-poli">all living under Israeli rule</a>. And the vast majority of those Palestinians dont have <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/12/17/qa-born-without-civil-rights">basic civil rights</a>. Thats the situation that the international community and the United States will need to address if they want to see an end to this recurrent bloodshed.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Vijay Hazare Trophy 2023 | Bowlers set up Keralas win over Pondicherry; Tripura beats Mumbai</strong> - Kerala is now tied on points with Mumbai at the top of Group A (20 points) after the latter suffered a 53-run defeat (VJD) method to Tripura at the Kini Sports Arena Ground</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Chennai races for Dec. 8 postponed to Dec. 14</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Judy Blue Eyes, Sovereign Grey and Magileto catch the eye</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IND vs AUS T20Is | The last match in Garden City is expected to reach a crescendo</strong> - A young and energetic side, led by the experienced Suryakumar, has not only sealed the series 3-1, but also provided enough cues to a bright future; Australias target will be to finish its India sojourn on a high</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Warner included in settled Australia squad for first Pakistan test</strong> - The Australian cricket squad named on December 3, which includes David Warner, is only for the first test at Perth from Dec.14.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Positive signal for national politics: key aide of Nitish Kumar on assembly polls outcome</strong> - A key aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday saw a “positive signal for national politics” from the assembly elections, in which the BJP has come out with flying colours, much to the disappointment of the Congress.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Over a dozen defectors have the last laugh</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Telangana Assembly elections 2023 results | BJP first-timer humbles CM KCR, Congress Chief Revanth in Kamareddy</strong> - The BJP candidate won by a margin of 5,810.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Telangana Assembly elections 2023 | Police prepare for swearing-in ceremony of new regime</strong> - The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on either December 4 or December 9, according to the DGP</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Congress will get back its glory in Andhra Pradesh too very soon: Srikakulam DCC president</strong> - Speaking to The Hindu, he said that people of all sections of the society were keen to vote for the Congress again as the regional parties — Telugu Desam Party and YSRCP — had done maximum injustice to the State.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Paris attack near Eiffel Tower leaves one dead and two injured</strong> - The suspect tells police he was upset by “so many Muslims dying in Afghanistan and in Palestine”.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Paris Olympics 2024: Locals ask if theyre worth the trouble</strong> - Metro tickets will cost more, rentals are soaring and Paris faces months of disruption.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia LGBT: Police raid Moscow gay clubs, media say</strong> - The reported raids come a day after the countrys Supreme Court outlawed the “LGBT movement”.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Flights grounded and trains cancelled as snow paralyses Europe</strong> - Train and flight cancellations cause disruption to travellers in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bolognas leaning tower sealed off over fears it could collapse</strong> - Work has begun on a barrier around the Garisenda Tower and authorities say the situation is “critical”.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tensions rise between Targaryens in first teaser for House of the Dragon S2</strong> - “There is no war so hateful to the gods as a war between kin.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1988151">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>No further investments in Virgin Galactic, says Richard Branson</strong> - Bransons business empire “no longer has the deepest pockets.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1988153">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>New algorithm finds lots of gene-editing enzymes in environmental DNA</strong> - Some are related to DNA-cutting enzymes. Others are a complete mystery. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1987932">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Porsche summons old-school cool with the 2024 911 Sport Classic</strong> - The limited-production model focuses on driver involvement, not performance stats. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1987979">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Roar of cicadas was so loud, it was picked up by fiber-optic cables</strong> - Brood X made itself known in a way that could change how we monitor insect populations. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1987931">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two Southern bells are talking, and the one says to the other….</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“In some states, men like to have intercourse with other men!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The 2nd lady exclaims "Oh my gosh! What do they call them?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She replies “They call them homosexuals.” Then she says “In some states, women like to have intercourse with other women!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Again, the second lady exclaims “Oh my gosh! What do they call them?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She replies “They call them lesbians. In some states, men like to lick women in their private regions!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The second lady exclaims “Oh my gosh! What do them call them?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The first lady replies “As soon as I catch my breath, I call em precious!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Clazzo524"> /u/Clazzo524 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/189o0hc/two_southern_bells_are_talking_and_the_one_says/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/189o0hc/two_southern_bells_are_talking_and_the_one_says/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A detective was once called to a farm in rural Tennessee to investigate a murder. [OC]</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Upon arriving, he asked the farmer what had happened.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well” the farmer said, “I was working in my barn, replacing the oil filter on the tractor when I heard somebody scream, then a loud wham, and then silence. I rushed outside and saw my farmhand, dead in the middle of the yard, with a pool of blood forming around his head”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Hmmm” said the detective, “any witnesses who might have seen what happened?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“There werent any people around, but there was my old faithful cow Mary, my trusty farm dog Darren, my horse, Geoffrey, and a couple of sheep, Michael and George. When I asked them who did it, they just looked accusingly at each other”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Right” the detective said, jumping to his feet “Theres only one way to get to the bottom of this - a battle of the bands”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The farmer was perplexed, but the detective had a fearsome reputation in the area for solving the hardest of crimes, where everyone else had given up. So, a few hours later, they reconvened in the yard where the farmer had built a makeshift stage as the animals bemusedly looked down at their instruments.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Mary the cow and Darren the dog were up first, with Mary singing so beautifully that the farmer and detective were brought to tears, while Darren accompanied on guitar.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Next, Geoffrey the horse strode onto stage and performed a flawless rendition of Bachs Cello Suite No. 1. The farmer turned to the detective with tears in his eyes and said “surely, something so beautiful couldnt have come from a murderer”.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Finally, at their turn, the sheep leapt onto stage, resplendent in sequinned jumpsuits and started tap dancing with incredible zeal. They leapt through the air, their sequins spinning like a rainbow in the night sky, tumbled, turned and kicked with unimaginable agility. But yet… something wasnt right. Their movements didnt match the music - sometimes they were ahead of the beat, sometimes behind.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Stop!” yelled the detective. “We have our murderers! George, Michael - youre never going to dance again!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“But… how… how did you know?” asked the farmer incredulously.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Quite simple really” said the detective and then, turning back to the sheep “Guilty sheep have got no rhythm”.
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/thatsalovelyusername"> /u/thatsalovelyusername </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/189pk8s/a_detective_was_once_called_to_a_farm_in_rural/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/189pk8s/a_detective_was_once_called_to_a_farm_in_rural/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A little girl says to her mother: “Mummy, when you were away at work a strange lady came around”…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Not now,” says Mummy. “Wait until Daddy gets home.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
So they wait until Daddy gets home, and then Mummy says “Now dear, what were you saying about Daddy and the strange lady?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
And Daddy starts to say something but Mummy says, “You keep quiet - Ill be talking to my attorney in the morning. Carry on, dear.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well,” says the little girl, “Daddy told me to stay downstairs while they went upstairs, but I followed them without Daddy seeing me, and I saw them hugging and kissing at the top of the stairs. Then they went into your bedroom and shut the door, but I went up and looked through the keyhole.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Clever girl,” purrs Mummy. “What could you see through the keyhole?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I saw them hugging and kissing some more, and then they started to take each others clothes off, and they carried on until they had nothing on, and then the lady got on the bed and Daddy got on top of her.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Yes?” says Mummy. “And then what happened?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Then they did what you and Uncle Jack did when Daddy was in Vancouver last year,” says the little girl confidently.
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/arztnur"> /u/arztnur </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1899zqz/a_little_girl_says_to_her_mother_mummy_when_you/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1899zqz/a_little_girl_says_to_her_mother_mummy_when_you/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An interviewer once asked me. “I heard you were very fast at math”.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Me: “yes, as a matter of fact I am” Interviewer: “Whats 14x27” Me: “49” Interviewer: “thats not even close” me: “yeah, but it was fast”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/myvotedoesntmatter"> /u/myvotedoesntmatter </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/189mjgn/an_interviewer_once_asked_me_i_heard_you_were/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/189mjgn/an_interviewer_once_asked_me_i_heard_you_were/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A married couple and a single man are stranded on a deserted island after their cruise ship sinks. [Long] [NSFW]</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
After serveral weeks with no rescue, the married woman and the single guy grew fonder of each other. They wanted to hook up, but the husband was always close by on the small island. Their desire only grew, and they knew that they had to figure out a way to have sex.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One day the single guy climbed up a tree to search for a resuce ship. The couple were laying on the beach, minding their own business. Suddenly they heard the man yell down at them “Hey! Stop fucking down there!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“What?” The husband replied back.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“You heard me! Stop screwing down there! Get a room!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The couple, startled, only looked at each other in disbelief. “What are you on about up there?” he yelled back.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“I can see you two fucking down there, plain as day!” the man replied.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Were laying next to each other. Were not even touching!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The man climbed down from the tree. “Huh. Ill be damned. From up there it looks like you guys are having a go at it. Climb up and have a look for yourself if you dont believe me.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well, alright then.” the husband said. “Ill put an end to this foolishness.” As he climbed up the tree, his wife and the other guy tore their clothes off and began screwing on the beach under the tree.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Holy shit!” the said the husband. “It really does look like youre screwing down there!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit: TIL that this joke I first heard 30 years ago is actually 700 years old!
</p>
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Grocery_Getter"> /u/Grocery_Getter </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1894gpv/a_married_couple_and_a_single_man_are_stranded_on/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1894gpv/a_married_couple_and_a_single_man_are_stranded_on/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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