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<title>07 June, 2023</title>
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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>Early acquisition of S-specific Tfh clonotypes after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is associated with the longevity of anti-S antibodies</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have been used worldwide to combat COVID-19 pandemic. To elucidate the factors that determine the longevity of spike (S)-specific antibodies, we traced the characteristics of S-specific T cell clonotypes together with their epitopes and anti-S antibody titers before and after BNT162b2 vaccination over time. T cell receptor (TCR) {beta} sequences and mRNA expression of the S-responded T cells were investigated using single-cell TCR- and RNA-sequencing. Highly expanded 199 TCR clonotypes upon stimulation with S peptide pools were reconstituted into a reporter T cell line for the determination of epitopes and restricting HLAs. Among them, we could determine 78 S epitopes, most of which were conserved in variants of concern (VOCs). In donors exhibiting sustained anti-S antibody titers (designated as "sustainers"), S-reactive T cell clonotypes detected immediately after 2nd vaccination polarized to follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, which was less obvious in "decliners". Even before vaccination, S-reactive CD4+ T cell clonotypes did exist, most of which cross-reacted with environmental or symbiotic bacteria. However, these clonotypes contracted after vaccination. Conversely, S-reactive clonotypes dominated after vaccination were undetectable in pre-vaccinated T cell pool, suggesting that highly-responding S-reactive T cells were established by vaccination from rare clonotypes. These results suggest that de novo acquisition of memory Tfh cells upon vaccination contributes to the longevity of anti-S antibody titers.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.06.543529v1" target="_blank">Early acquisition of S-specific Tfh clonotypes after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is associated with the longevity of anti-S antibodies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Global Experiment on Motivating Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e. a controlling message) compared to no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly-internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared to the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly-internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing: Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/n3dyf/" target="_blank">A Global Experiment on Motivating Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A global test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy which modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries/regions (N = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vs. both control conditions) had consistent effects in reducing negative emotions and increasing positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world to build resilience during the pandemic and beyond.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/m4gpq/" target="_blank">A global test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>In COVID-19 health messaging, loss framing increases anxiety with little-to-no concomitant benefits: Experimental evidence from 84 countries</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., “If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others”) or potential gains (e.g., “If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others”)? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent across 84 countries, three variations of the message framing wording, and 560 data processing and analytic choices. Thus, results provide an empirical answer to a global communication question and highlight the emotional toll of loss-framed messages. Critically, this work demonstrates the importance of considering unintended affective consequences when evaluating nudge-style interventions.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/sevkf/" target="_blank">In COVID-19 health messaging, loss framing increases anxiety with little-to-no concomitant benefits: Experimental evidence from 84 countries</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Current Perception of Epidemic between Traditional and Social Media: an Italian Case Study</strong> -
<div>
Aim. More than two years after the beginning of the global epidemic period, most governments have adopted questionable strategies, aimed at the progressive reduction of the people freedom and pushing in a non-transparent way on the forced use of genic drugs, improperly called vaccines. The purpose of this work concerns the different way in which news relating to the epidemic reached citizens from traditional media (main TV channels and main national newspapers) and from social media, in particular from Telegram. Methods. The paper considers the situation perceived in Italy up to the first months of 2022 by analyzing the news appearing on mainstream TV channels and how they are described by national newspapers, as opposed to what can be deduced from some social media platforms who are still enough free from censorship. Results. The analysis underlines that there is a clear discrepancy between traditional and social media; the official narration of the traditional media is not only questionable, but does not give rise to the possibility of a free discussion on the hottest issues of this epidemic. Only Telegram appears to be the most censorship free channel among the studied traditional/social media in this paper. Conclusions. The attention placed on the official narrative of Covid-19, on the use of the methodology still in force in Italy for fighting the epidemic, on the strong nonsanitary limitation of individual freedom and on a possible underlying plan about what is globally happening leads to the conclusion that in Italy there is an attempt to give an ambiguous, equivocal and inconsistent version of the facts, contradicted by experimental data and scientific papers appearing more and more numerous in qualified international journals.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/mh37t/" target="_blank">Current Perception of Epidemic between Traditional and Social Media: an Italian Case Study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The Potential Role of ACEi and ARBs in COVID-19; A Perpsective</strong> -
<div>
COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant morbidity and mortality around the world. The disease severity ranges from mild upper respiratory infection to severe lower respiratory and cardiac illness. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the most serious complication and results in diffuse inflammatory alveolar damage, respiratory failure, and death. Components of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone-System (RAAS) are involved in an inflammatory reaction in the lungs. Various studies have shown that blocking RAAS peptides in the lungs especially angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and type-1 angiotensin receptor (ATR1) reduces lung injury, improves respiratory function, and is associated with better clinical outcomes in the COVID-19 patients. We suggest that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) – drugs that block RAAS peptides – be considered for a repurposed use in COVID-19 induced lung injury.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/4gfqu/" target="_blank">The Potential Role of ACEi and ARBs in COVID-19; A Perpsective</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Exploring psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 mandates in children with and without autism spectrum disorder</strong> -
<div>
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are particularly at risk for adverse psychosocial consequences as a result of unexpected challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. These children experience a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety, difficulties with cognitive flexibility, and a reduction in support services during the pandemic. Higher executive function (EF) has been previously found to be protective against negative mental health outcomes. Here we probed the psychosocial impacts of pandemic responses in children with ASD by relating pre-pandemic (EF) measures with mental health outcomes measured several months into the pandemic. We found that pre-existing inhibition and shift difficulties measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function predicted higher risk of anxiety symptoms, with shift difficulties also predicting elevated depressive symptoms during the pandemic. These findings are critical for promoting community recovery and maximizing clinical preparedness to support children at increased risk for adverse psychosocial outcomes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/rc8y9/" target="_blank">Exploring psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 mandates in children with and without autism spectrum disorder</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COVID-19 first lockdown as a window into language acquisition: associations between caregiver-child activities and vocabulary gains.</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting closure of daycare centers worldwide, led to unprecedented changes in children’s learning environments. This period of increased time at home with caregivers, with limited access to external sources (e.g., daycares) provides a unique opportunity to examine the associations between the caregiver-child activities and children’s language development. The vocabularies of 1742 children aged 8-36 months across 13 countries and 12 languages were evaluated at the beginning and end of the first lockdown period in their respective countries (from March to September 2020). Children who had less passive screen exposure and whose caregivers read more to them showed larger gains in vocabulary development during lockdown, after controlling for SES and other caregiver-child activities. Children also gained more words than expected (based on normative data) during lockdown; either caregivers were more aware of their child’s development, or vocabulary development benefited from intense caregiver-child interaction during lockdown or both. We discuss these results in the context of the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight limitations of the study.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/5ejwu/" target="_blank">COVID-19 first lockdown as a window into language acquisition: associations between caregiver-child activities and vocabulary gains.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>H3K4 methylation regulates development, DNA repair, and virulence in Mucorales</strong> -
<div>
Mucorales are basal fungi that opportunistically cause a fatal infection known as mucormycosis (black fungus disease), which poses a significant threat to human health due to its high mortality rate and its recent association with SARS-CoV-2 infections. On the other hand, histone methylation is a regulatory mechanism with pleiotropic effects, including the virulence of several pathogenic organisms. However, the role of epigenetic changes at the histone level never has been studied in Mucorales. Here, we dissected the functional role of Set1, a histone methyltransferase that catalyzes the methylation of H3K4, which is associated with the activation of gene transcription and virulence. A comparative analysis of the Mucor lusitanicus genome (previously known as Mucor circinelloides f. lusitanicus) identified only one homolog of Set1 from Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae that contains the typical SET domain. Knockout strains in the gene set1 lacked H3K4 monomethylation, dimethylation, and trimethylation enzymatic activities. These strains also showed a significant reduction in vegetative growth and sporulation. Additionally, set1 null strains were more sensitive to SDS, EMS, and UV light, indicating severe impairment in the repair process of the cell wall and DNA lesions and a correlation between Set1 and these processes. During pathogen-host interactions, strains lacking the set1 gene exhibited shortened polar growth within the phagosome and attenuated virulence both in vitro and in vivo. Our findings suggest that the histone methyltransferase Set1 coordinates several cell processes related to the pathogenesis of M. lusitanicus and may be an important target for future therapeutic strategies against mucormycosis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.05.543666v1" target="_blank">H3K4 methylation regulates development, DNA repair, and virulence in Mucorales</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Species and habitat specific changes in bird activity in an urban environment during Covid 19 lockdown</strong> -
<div>
Covid-19 lockdowns provided ecologists with a rare opportunity to examine how animals behave when humans are absent. Indeed many, sometimes contradicting, studies reported various effects of lockdowns on animal activity, especially in urban areas and other human-dominated habitats. We explored how Covid-19 lockdowns in Israel have influenced bird activity in an urban environment by using continuous acoustic recordings to monitor three common bird species that differ in their level of adaptation to the urban ecosystem: (1) the hooded crow, an urban exploiter, which depends heavily on anthropogenic resources; (2) the rose-ringed parakeet, an invasive alien species that has adapted to exploit human resources; and (3) the graceful prinia, an urban adapter, which is relatively shy of humans can be found urban habitats with shrubs and prairies. Acoustic recordings provided continuous monitoring of bird activity without an effect of the observer on the animal. We performed dense sampling of a 1.3 square km area in northern Tel-Aviv by placing 17 recorders for more than a month in different micro-habitats within this region including roads, residential areas and urban parks. We monitored both lockdown and no-lockdown periods. We portray a complex dynamic system where the activity of specific bird species decreases or increases in a habitat-dependent manner during lockdown. Specifically, urban exploiter species decreased their activity in most urban habitats during lockdown, while human adapter species increased their activity during lockdown especially in parks where humans were absent. Our results also demonstrate the value of different habitats within urban environments for animal activity, specifically highlighting the importance of urban parks. These species- and habitat-specific changes in activity might explain the contradicting results reported by others who have not performed a habitat specific analysis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.03.543542v1" target="_blank">Species and habitat specific changes in bird activity in an urban environment during Covid 19 lockdown</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Population age and household structures shape transmission dynamics of emerging infectious diseases: a longitudinal microsimulation approach</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Host population demographics and patterns of host-to-host interactions are important drivers of heterogeneity in infectious disease transmission. To improve our understanding of how population structures and changes therein influence disease transmission dynamics at the individual and population level, we model a dynamic age- and household-structured population using longitudinal microdata drawn from Belgian census and population registers. At different points in time, we simulate the spread of a close-contact infectious disease and vary the age profiles of infectiousness and susceptibility to reflect specific infections (e.g. influenza and SARS-CoV-2) using a two-level mixing model, which distinguishes between exposure to infection in the household and exposure in the community. We find a strong relationship between age and household structures, which, in combination with social mixing patterns and epidemiological parameters, shape the spread of an emerging infection. Disease transmission in the adult population in particular is explained by differential household compositions and not just household size. Moreover, we highlight how demographic processes alter population structures in an ageing population and how these in turn affect disease transmission dynamics across population groups.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.05.23290874v1" target="_blank">Population age and household structures shape transmission dynamics of emerging infectious diseases: a longitudinal microsimulation approach</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>How could a pooled testing policy have performed in managing the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic? Results from a simulation study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A coordinated testing policy is an essential tool for responding to emerging epidemics, as was seen with COVID-19. However, it is very difficult to agree on the best policy when there are multiple conflicting objectives. A key objective is minimising cost, which is why pooled testing (a method that involves pooling samples taken from multiple individuals and analysing this with a single diagnostic test) has been suggested. In this paper, we present results from an extensive and realistic simulation study comparing testing policies based on individually testing subjects with symptoms (a policy resembling the UK strategy at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic), individually testing subjects at random or pools of subjects randomly combined and tested. To compare these testing methods, a dynamic model compromised of a relationship network and an extended SEIR model is used. In contrast to most existing literature, testing capacity is considered as fixed and limited rather than unbounded. This paper then explores the impact of the proportion of symptomatic infections on the expected performance of testing policies. Only for less than 50% of infections being symptomatic does pooled testing outperform symptomatic testing in terms of metrics such as total infections and length of epidemic. Additionally, we present the novel feature for testing of non-compliance and perform a sensitivity analysis for different compliance assumptions. Our results suggest for the pooled testing scheme to be superior to testing symptomatic people individually, only a small proportion of the population (&gt;2%) needs to not comply with the testing procedure.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.05.23290956v1" target="_blank">How could a pooled testing policy have performed in managing the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic? Results from a simulation study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Rapid and Multiplexed Nucleic Acid Detection using Programmable Aptamer-Based RNA Switches</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Rapid, simple, and low-cost diagnostic technologies are crucial tools for combatting infectious disease. Here, we describe a class of aptamer-based RNA switches called aptaswitches that recognize specific target nucleic acid molecules and respond by initiating folding of a reporter aptamer. Aptaswitches can detect virtually any sequence and provide a fast and intense fluorescent readout, generating signals in as little as 5 minutes and enabling detection by eye with minimal equipment. We demonstrate that aptaswitches can be used to regulate folding of six different fluorescent aptamer/fluorogen pairs, providing a general means of controlling aptamer activity and an array of different reporter colors for multiplexing. By coupling isothermal amplification reactions with aptaswitches, we reach sensitivities down to 1 RNA copy/microL in one-pot reactions. Application of multiplexed one-pot reactions against RNA extracted from clinical saliva samples yields an overall accuracy of 96.67% for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in 30 minutes. Aptaswitches are thus versatile tools for nucleic acid detection that can be readily integrated into rapid diagnostic assays.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.02.23290873v1" target="_blank">Rapid and Multiplexed Nucleic Acid Detection using Programmable Aptamer-Based RNA Switches</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A prospective, single-center, randomized phase 2 trial of etoposide in severe COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The systemic inflammatory response seen in patients with severe COVID-19 shares many similarities with the changes observed in hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH); a disease characterized by excessive immune activation. Many patients with severe COVID qualify for a diagnosis of HLH. Etoposide, an inhibitor of topoisomerase II is used to control inflammation in HLH. This randomized, open-label, single center phase II trial attempted to determine whether etoposide can be used to blunt the inflammatory response in severe COVID. This trial was closed early after eight patients were randomized. This underpowered trial did not meet its primary endpoint of improvement in pulmonary status by two categories on an 8 point ordinal scale of respiratory function. There were not significant differences in secondary outcomes including overall survival at 30 days, cumulative incidence of grade 2 through 4 adverse events during hospitalization, duration of hospitalization, duration of ventilation and improvement in oxygenation or paO2/FIO2 ratio or improvement in inflammatory markers associated with cytokine storm. A high rate of grade 3 myelosuppression was noted in this critically ill population despite dose reduction, a toxicity which will limit future attempts to explore the utility of etoposide for virally-driven cytokine storm or HLH.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.05.23290969v1" target="_blank">A prospective, single-center, randomized phase 2 trial of etoposide in severe COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Association of Long COVID with housing insecurity in the United States, 2022-2023</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objectives. To assess the association of Long COVID with housing insecurity in the United States. Methods. To compare the prevalence of 3 binary indicators of housing insecurity between people with Long COVID (symptoms &gt; 3 months) and COVID-19 survivors who don9t report long-term symptoms, we used survey-weighted regression models on 203,807 responses from the Household Pulse Survey, a representative survey of US households collected September 2022 - April 2023. Among people with Long COVID, we assessed whether functional impairment, current COVID-19 related symptoms, and symptom impact on day-to-day life were associated with a higher prevalence of housing insecurity. Results. During the study period, 54,446 (27.2%) respondents with COVID-19 experienced symptoms lasting 3 months or longer, representing an estimated 27 million US adults. People with Long COVID were nearly twice as likely to experience significant difficulty with household expenses (Prevalence ratio [PR] 1.85, 95% CI 1.74-1.96), be behind on housing payments (PR 1.76, 95% CI 1.57-1.99), and face likely eviction or foreclosure (PR 2.12, 95% CI 1.58-2.86). Functional limitation and current symptoms which impact day-to-day life were associated with higher prevalence of housing insecurity. Conclusions. Compared with COVID-19 survivors who don9t experience long-term symptoms, people with Long COVID are more likely to report indicators housing insecurity, particularly those with functional limitations and long-term COVID-19 related symptoms impacting day-to-day life. Policies are needed to support people living with chronic illnesses following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.05.23290930v1" target="_blank">Association of Long COVID with housing insecurity in the United States, 2022-2023</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>Extracorporeal Photopheresis as a Possible Therapeutic Approach to Adults With Severe and Critical COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Procedure: Extracorporeal photopheresis<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Del-Pest Central Hospital - National Institute of Hematology and Infectious Diseases<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>A Clinical Trial on Booster Immunization of Two COVID-19 Vaccines Constructed From Different Technical Routes</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Prototype and Omicron BA.4/5 Bivalent Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine(Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) For Inhalation;   Biological: Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine;   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) For Inhalation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Zhongnan Hospital;   Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, PLA of China<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>Evaluation of Safety, Tolerability, Reactogenicity, Immunogenicity of Baiya SARS-CoV-2 Vax 2 as a Booster for COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19 Vaccine;   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: 50 μg Baiya SARS-CoV-2 Vax 2;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Baiya Phytopharm Co., Ltd.<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>Safety Study of COVID19 Vaccine on the Market</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Recombinant new coronavirus vaccine (CHO cell)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co., Ltd.;   Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention;   Guizhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention;   Hainan Center for Disease Control &amp; Prevention<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>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm B (Fluvoxamine)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Fluvoxamine;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<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>Physiotherapy in Mutated COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Pandemic<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Physiotherapy<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Giresun University<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>Evaluation of Home Use COVID-19 Frequent Antigen Testing and Data Reporting</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Respiratory Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: SARS CoV-2 antigen tests<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   IDX20 Inc;   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>Mitoquinone/Mitoquinol Mesylate as Oral and Safe Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   SARS-CoV Infection;   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Mitoquinone/mitoquinol mesylate;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center<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>Pycnogenol® in Post-COVID-19 Condition</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Post COVID-19 Condition;   Long COVID<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Pycnogenol®;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Zurich<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>To Explore the Regulatory Effect of Combined Capsule FMT on the Levels of Inflammatory Factors in Peripheral Blood of Patients With COVID-19 During Treatment.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Fecal Microbiota Transplantation;   COVID-19 Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Procedure: Fecal microbiota transplantation<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Shanghai 10th People’s Hospital<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 Bailing Capsule on Pulmonary Fibrosis After COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Pulmonary Fibrosis;   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Bailing capsule<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang 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>Evaluating Emetine for Viral Outbreaks (EVOLVE)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Emetine Hydrochloride;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Johns Hopkins University;   Nepal Health Research Council;   Bharatpur Hospital Chitwan;   Stony Brook University;   Rutgers 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>Phase 3 Study of Novavax Vaccine(s) as Booster Dose After mRNA Vaccines</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: NVX-CoV2373;   Biological: SARS-CoV-2 rS antigen/Matrix-M Adjuvant<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Novavax<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>A Study to Learn About How Loss of Liver Function Affects the Blood Levels of the Study Medicine Called PF-07817883.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: PF-07817883<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Pfizer<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>Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Monoclonal Antibodies for Long COVID (COVID-19)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Long COVID;   Post-Acute Sequela of COVID-19;   Post-Acute COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: AER002;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Michael Peluso, MD;   Aerium Therapeutics<br/><b>Not yet 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>Ebselen derivatives inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication by inhibition of its essential proteins: PL<sup>pro</sup> and M<sup>pro</sup> proteases, and nsp14 guanine N7-methyltransferase</strong> - Proteases encoded by SARS-CoV-2 constitute a promising target for new therapies against COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^(pro), 3CL^(pro)) and papain-like protease (PL^(pro)) are responsible for viral polyprotein cleavage-a process crucial for viral survival and replication. Recently it was shown that 2-phenylbenzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one (ebselen), an organoselenium anti-inflammatory small-molecule drug, is a potent, covalent inhibitor of both the proteases and its potency was evaluated 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>One Week of Oral Camostat Versus Placebo in Non-Hospitalized Adults with Mild-to-Moderate COVID-19: A Randomized Controlled Phase 2 Trial</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: In a phase 2 study of non-hospitalized adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, oral camostat did not accelerate viral clearance nor time to symptom improvement, nor reduce hospitalizations or deaths. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04518410.).</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 clinical pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction study between dextromethorphan and emvododstat, a potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitor</strong> - CONCLUSION: Emvododstat appears to be a strong CYP2D6 inhibitor. No drug-related treatment emergent adverse effects (TEAEs) were considered to be severe or serious.</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 PRMT5/WDR77 complex restricts hepatitis E virus replication</strong> - Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the main pathogenic agents of acute hepatitis in the world. The mechanism of HEV replication, especially host factors governing HEV replication is still not clear. Here, using HEV ORF1 trans-complementation cell culture system and HEV replicon system, combining with stable isotope labelling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and mass spectrometry (MS), we aimed to identify the host factors regulating HEV replication. We identified a diversity of host…</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>Gasdermin D-mediated pyroptosis: mechanisms, diseases, and inhibitors</strong> - Gasdermin D (GSDMD)-mediated pyroptosis and downstream inflammation are important self-protection mechanisms against stimuli and infections. Hosts can defend against intracellular bacterial infections by inducing cell pyroptosis, which triggers the clearance of pathogens. However, pyroptosis is a double-edged sword. Numerous studies have revealed the relationship between abnormal GSDMD activation and various inflammatory diseases, including sepsis, coronavirus disease 2019 (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>Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Activity of Adamantanes In Vitro and in Animal Models of Infection</strong> - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had devastating effects worldwide, with particularly high morbidity and mortality in outbreaks on residential care facilities. Amantadine, originally licensed as an antiviral agent for therapy and prophylaxis against influenza A virus, has beneficial effects on patients with Parkinson’s disease and is used for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, acquired brain injury, and various other neurological disorders. Recent observational data…</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>In <em>silico</em> evidence implicating novel mechanisms of <em>Prunella vulgaris</em> L<em>.</em> as a potential botanical drug against COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury</strong> - COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury (COVID-19 AKI) is an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality and has the potential to progress to chronic kidney disease. Prunella vulgaris L., a traditional Chinese herb that has been used for the treatment of a variety of kidney diseases for centuries, could have the potential to treat this complication. In this study, we studied the potential protective role of Prunella vulgaris in COVID-19 AKI and explored its specific mechanisms applied by…</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>Analyzing immune responses to varied mRNA and protein vaccine sequences</strong> - In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, different types of vaccines, such as inactive, live-attenuated, messenger RNA (mRNA), and protein subunit, have been developed against SARS-CoV-2. This has unintentionally created a unique scenario where heterologous prime-boost vaccination against a single virus has been administered to a large human population. Here, we aimed to analyze whether the immunization order of vaccine types influences the efficacy of heterologous prime-boost vaccination,…</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>Recent topics in the pathophysiology and treatment of immune thrombocytopenic purpura</strong> - Increased and impaired platelet productions via immunological abnormalities are the main pathophysiological mechanisms of primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Recent studies have revealed that platelet removal from circulation involves not only Fc receptor-mediated phagocytosis of immunoglobulin G autoantibodies-bound platelets but also complement-dependent mechanism and platelet glycoprotein desialylation. Understanding the molecular mechanism of ITP pathophysiology has helped develop many…</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>Prospective evaluation of the efficacy, safety, and optimal biomarker enrichment strategy for nangibotide, a TREM-1 inhibitor, in patients with septic shock (ASTONISH): a double-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 2b trial</strong> - BACKGROUND: Activation of the triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) pathway is associated with septic shock outcomes. Data suggest that modulation of this pathway in patients with activated TREM-1 might improve survival. Soluble TREM-1 (sTREM-1), a potential mechanism-based biomarker, might facilitate enrichment of patient selection in clinical trials of nangibotide, a TREM-1 modulator. In this phase 2b trial, we aimed to confirm the hypothesis that TREM1 inhibition might…</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>Isolation of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Natural Products Extracted from <em>Mentha canadensis</em> and the Semi-synthesis of Antiviral Derivatives</strong> - Traditional herbal medicine offers opportunities to discover novel therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 mutation. The dried aerial part of mint (Mentha canadensis L.) was chosen for bioactivity-guided extraction. Seven constituents were isolated and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). Syringic acid and methyl rosmarinate were evaluated in drug combination treatment. Ten amide derivatives of methyl rosmarinate were synthesized, and the dodecyl (13) and…</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>Computational design of medicinal compounds to inhibit RBD-hACE2 interaction in the Omicron variant: unveiling a vulnerable target site</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has globally affected both human health and economy. Several variants with a high potential for reinfection and the ability to evade immunity were detected shortly after the initial reported case of COVID-19. A total of 30 mutations in the spike protein (S) have been reported in the SARS-CoV-2 (BA.2) variant in India and South Africa, while half of these mutations are in the receptor-binding domain and have spread rapidly throughout the world. Drug…</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>In silico screening, ADMET analysis and MD simulations of phytochemicals of <em>Onosma bracteata</em> Wall. as SARS CoV-2 inhibitors</strong> - Being attracted with their cardiotonic, antidiabetic, cough relieving activity, treatment of fever, absorbent, anti-asthmatic, etc. activities reported in ancient Ayurvedic literature, phytochemicals of Onosma bracteata wall should be evaluated for their activity against SARS-CoV-2 virus. The main objective of this study is to identify a hit molecule for the inhibition of entry, replication, and protein synthesis of SARS CoV-2 virus into the host. To achieve given objective, computational…</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><em>In silico</em> Antivirus Repurposing and its Modification to Organoselenium Compounds as SARS-CoV-2 Spike Inhibitors</strong> - &lt;b&gt;Background and Objective:&lt;/b&gt; The COVID-19, which has been circulating since late 2019, is caused by SARS-CoV-2. Because of its high infectivity, this virus has spread widely throughout the world. Spike glycoprotein is one of the proteins found in SARS-CoV-2. Spike glycoproteins directly affect infection by forming ACE-2 receptors on host cells. Inhibiting glycoprotein spikes could be one method of treating COVID-19. In this study, the antivirus marketed as a database will be…</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>PACT inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 through the blockage of GSK-3β-N-nsp3 cascade</strong> - The protein activator of protein kinase R (PKR) (PACT) has been shown to play a crucial role in stimulating the host antiviral response through the activation of PKR, retinoic acid-inducible gene I, and melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5. Whether PACT can inhibit viral replication independent of known mechanisms is still unrevealed. In this study, we show that, like many viruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) hijacks GSK-3β to facilitate its replication….</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 if We’re Thinking About Inflation All Wrong?</strong> - Isabella Weber’s heterodox ideas about government price controls are transforming policy in the United States and across Europe. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/persons-of-interest/what-if-were-thinking-about-inflation-all-wrong">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Does the Debt-Ceiling Agreement Say About the U.S. Political System?</strong> - The bipartisan deal showed that the government is still capable of avoiding a self-inflicted disaster, but a credit-ratings agency warns it is suffering from slow rot. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/what-does-the-debt-ceiling-agreement-say-about-the-us-political-system">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Irrational Exuberance of a Non-Catastrophe</strong> - The bipartisan debt deal was a win for both Biden and McCarthy, but it might not have been the breakthrough Washington was waiting for. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/the-irrational-exuberance-of-a-non-catastrophe">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What I Learned at My Audience with the Pope</strong> - Addressing the group, Francis spoke about the role of the imagination in the life of Catholicism. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-i-learned-at-my-audience-with-the-pope">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is It Possible to Be Both Moderate and Anti-Woke?</strong> - A small nonprofit launched by the journalist Bari Weiss devolves into tribalism. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-activism/is-it-possible-to-be-both-moderate-and-anti-woke">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Finally, a solution to plastic pollution that’s not just recycling</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A fish stuck in a plastic can holder." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TvYjZ1_SMdNvGqZcWzLuSRgqkl0=/500x0:6327x4370/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72347754/GettyImages_1299735590.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Israel Sebastian/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Countries are negotiating a new global treaty to drastically reduce the plastic waste that has been poisoning the world.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xDZeMJ">
Plastic recycling doesn’t work, no matter how diligently you wash out your peanut butter container. Only about <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm">15 percent</a> of plastic waste is collected for recycling worldwide, and of that, about half ends up discarded. That means just 9 percent of plastic waste is recycled.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8UjZsB">
The rest — some <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41263/Plastic_Science_E.pdf">91 percent</a> of all plastic waste — ends up in landfills, incinerators, or as trash in the environment. One report estimated that <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41263/Plastic_Science_E.pdf">11 million metric tons</a> of plastic trash leaked into the ocean in 2016, and that number could <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_summary.pdf">triple</a> by 2040 as the global population rises and lower-income countries develop. Plastic is now simply everywhere: at the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/plastic-bag-found-bottom-worlds-deepest-ocean-trench/">deepest depths</a> of the ocean, on the <a href="https://www.snexplores.org/article/analyze-this-microplastics-mount-everests-snow#:~:text=Each%20year%20hundreds%20of%20climbers,of%20a%20plastic%20called%20polyester.">tallest mountains</a>, in <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abh0945">hundreds of species</a> of wildlife, and even in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33395930/">human placentas</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VPonqkdfvRpeInCuhDpTd-hXJiQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24705139/GettyImages_1258348665.jpg"/> <cite>Bhushan Koyande/Hindustan Times via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A man walks on a plastic-covered shore in Mumbai, India, on May 31.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="caHwAe">
It’s hard to imagine meaningful solutions to a problem of such epic proportions. Campaigns to ban things like plastic straws almost seem like a joke when compared to the staggering amounts of waste produced by everything else we use — including the plastic cups those straws go in.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e84rig">
Now, however, there might actually be a reason to feel hopeful. Late last year, world leaders, scientists, and advocates started working on a global, legally binding treaty under the United Nations to end plastic waste. The second round of negotiations concluded last week in Paris with a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/after-rough-start-un-plastic-treaty-talks-end-with-mandate-first-draft-2023-06-02/">plan to produce an initial draft</a> of the deal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7KTGv5">
This treaty could be huge. Although it will take months of negotiating for any of the details to become clear, the agreement — set to be finalized by the end of 2024 — will require countries to do far more than just fix their recycling systems. Negotiators will discuss a menu of options including a cap on overall plastic production, bans on certain materials and products including many single-use plastics, and incentives to grow an industry around reusable items. This treaty could literally transform entire chunks of the global economy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ld5aAf">
As with any global deal, an ambitious agreement will face several roadblocks, some of which have already appeared. Certain countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the US, for example, are pushing for voluntary terms that would allow them to continue investing in their petrochemical industries (plastic is a petrochemical).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DyOQiC">
Then again, the fact that global talks are happening at all is in itself a big deal and reveals a shift in the politics around waste. “There’s a true willingness to tackle this problem,” said Erin Simon, vice president and head of plastic waste at the World Wildlife Fund, a large environmental group. “We’ve never seen so much progress.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nxInpO">
Here’s what a global plastic treaty could do, and why anti-waste advocates are so hopeful.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A worker holding a bundle of long PVC pipes." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IuM5gm7vg8uGVFPIKEYc3s-HdLs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24705162/GettyImages_1445742586.jpg"/> <cite>Lan Zitao/VCG via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A worker at a PVC pipe factory in China’s Sichuan Province on November 30, 2022.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3 id="M4HeKL">
The plastic treaty will target the root of the problem
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6C22fK">
Even if recycling weren’t such a failure, it wouldn’t put an end to plastic waste. Many items can’t be — or are not meant to be — recycled.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MJIhp5">
There’s no real way to fix the plastic problem without simply producing less of it, said Nicky Davies, executive director of the Plastic Solutions Fund, a group that funds projects to end plastic pollution. “The first thing we need to do is turn off the tap,” Davies said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w1qcP8">
That’s why this treaty is so significant: By conception, the agreement is meant to focus on the design and production of plastics, not just on what happens to plastic items after we use them. In other words, the treaty targets the full life cycle of plastics.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4diIBW">
What does that mean in practice? The agreement could, for example, include an overall cap on plastic. This would be a global target for reducing the production of new, virgin plastic (which has no recycled content).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6bnpkB">
Such a target could mandate that, by a certain year, total annual plastic production cannot exceed the amount of plastic produced in some baseline year. It’d be kind of like targets to slash fossil fuel production in order to curb climate change — but for plastic polymers.
</p>
<h3 id="cfZKje">
Bye-bye plastic takeout containers, probably
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zMOBL9">
Regardless of whether or not the treaty includes an explicit limit on plastic production, it will almost certainly contain bans or restrictions on some materials.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cA6jrI">
Certain chemicals used in plastics are especially problematic and could be targeted by bans. Some flame retardants, for example, are linked to cancers and endocrine disruption; they can also make plastics hard to recycle. A number of other additives and materials are similarly dangerous to humans or ecosystems, or they make recycling difficult, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and various kinds of <a href="https://news.nd.edu/news/plastic-containers-can-contain-pfas-and-its-getting-into-food/">PFAS</a> (the so-called <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/8/25/23318667/pfas-forever-chemicals-safety-drinking-water">forever chemicals</a>).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WYmq2o">
The treaty may also ban or restrict a whole bunch of common, problematic products — namely, packaging and other single-use items, such as cups and cutlery.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mdGFox">
These are an enormous part of the plastic problem, said Carroll Muffett, president and CEO of the Center for International Environmental Law, an environmental advocacy group. Roughly 40 percent of all plastic waste comes from packaging alone, and nearly two-thirds of it is from plastics that have a lifespan of fewer than five years, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm">according to</a> the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jrvUSK">
“These are materials that come into people’s lives that are often unnoticed, and they have useful lives measured in minutes or moments or at best months,” Muffett told Vox.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2cCWmLZN0dH-FkIrojW4X2zmcEM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24705167/GettyImages_459352807.jpg"/> <cite>Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A biker in Neihuang, China, carries balloons to sell during a bout of heavy smog.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iVYUs0">
The most immediate bans or restrictions on single-use plastics, researchers say, should apply to products that are most likely to leak into the environment and cause harm and yet are relatively unnecessary. These include takeaway containers, chip bags, balloons, cotton swabs, disposable e-cigarettes, and tea bags. (A number of environmental organizations including WWF have <a href="https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_breaking_down_high_risk_plastic_products.pdf">lists of products</a> that the treaty should prioritize.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lIzc4W">
Speaking of unnecessary: The treaty may also restrict the use of certain microplastics. These are plastic pieces that are under <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html">5 millimeters</a> in length, which are either deliberately put in some products like face wash or are emitted unintentionally by things like <a href="https://microplastics.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43591-021-00008-w">car tires</a> and clothing. Scientists have found them everywhere they look including in <a href="https://phys.org/news/2022-03-scientists-microplastics-blood.html">our blood</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/06/1091246691/microplastics-found-in-human-lungs">lungs</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43388870">water bottles</a>, and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/10/microplastics-found-in-fresh-antarctic-snow-for-first-time-.html#:~:text=Scientists%20find%20microplastics%20in%20fresh%20Antarctic%20snow%20for%20the%20first%20time,-Published%20Fri%2C%20Jun&amp;text=Scientists%20have%20found%20microplastics%20in,most%20remote%20regions%20experience%20contamination.">Antarctic snow</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S0govd">
Restricting these sorts of plastics isn’t a far-fetched idea. <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/environment-and-natural-resources/state-plastic-bag-legislation#:~:text=Eight%20states%E2%80%94California%2C%20Connecticut%2C,bags%20at%20large%20retail%20stores.">Several US states</a> already ban some plastic bags, including New York and California. The <a href="https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/microbead-free-waters-act-faqs#:~:text=The%20Microbead%2DFree%20Waters%20Act%20of%202015%20prohibits%20the%20manufacturing,)%20drugs%2C%20such%20as%20toothpastes.">US</a>, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/chemical-substances/other-chemical-substances-interest/microbeads.html">Canada</a>, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-leading-microbeads-ban-comes-into-force#:~:text=From%20today%2C%20retailers%20across%20England,soaps%2C%20toothpaste%20and%20shower%20gels.">UK</a>, and other countries, meanwhile, prohibit companies from selling shower gels and many other personal care products with plastic “microbeads” in them. And the EU — home to some of the world’s strictest plastic regulations — prohibits a <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/plastics/single-use-plastics/eu-restrictions-certain-single-use-plastics_en#:~:text=The%20EU%20is%20acting%20against,of%20the%20EU%20Member%20States.">wide number</a> of single-use items from entering the market, including plastic cutlery and straws.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xrq80R">
Yet these bans are not global, they’re <a href="https://nysfocus.com/2022/10/12/plastic-bag-ban-enforcement-dec-family-dollar">not always enforced</a>, and they don’t go far enough, experts say. That’s where the treaty could help.
</p>
<h3 id="tj80tr">
Building out the “reuse economy”
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IsrEmC">
Plastic is widespread for a few obvious reasons. It’s lightweight, durable, and easily shaped, making it useful for a large number of applications. Plastic is also incredibly cheap (even if <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/energy-subsidies">government subsidies</a> help offset some of the costs).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HAwdEv">
Should countries try to phase out single-use plastics, whether by a treaty or not, a key question is: What will replace it? In some cases, other materials like paper might be appropriate, although, of course, they can produce waste as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XX2wk9">
A more sustainable solution, Davies said, is to build out what she calls the reuse economy: a system in which many single-use items, like plastic cups, are replaced by containers that are used over and over again.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WaYVTK">
This model offers clear value where consumers buy and eat food in the same place, such as food courts, movie theaters, or music festivals. In a reuse economy, vendors would give customers a reusable cup, which they would then place in a bin before leaving the venue, not unlike how you return trays at some food courts. There’d be central facilities on site to clean the cups and make them available to the next customer. (That means dishwashing would have to become more widespread.)
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dF9fKu-JFCcN2wphXe4jhuBhHo4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24705166/GettyImages_1492374558.jpg"/> <cite>Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A drain in Miami Beach, Florida, clogged with plastic waste.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l40nd1">
Transforming some other parts of the economy is more challenging, including the food delivery industry. Consider, however, that restaurants often use the same kinds of plastic food containers across large cities like New York. Imagine if those containers were meant to be truly reusable; instead of throwing them out or recycling them, consumers could return them (via some kind of bin, for example) to a central system that cleans the containers and restocks them at restaurants.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B0TnpH">
Obviously, this would require major <a href="https://www.no-burn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/UNEA-publication-packet_financing-for-ZW.pdf">investments</a> in infrastructure by governments, private funders, and companies — not to mention some changes in behavior among consumers — but there are plenty of examples of these sorts of reuse systems already working successfully. They’ve been around for decades. In Europe and parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, restaurants and other retailers commonly <a href="https://zerowasteeurope.eu/2010/09/beverage-packaging-and-zero-waste/">sell beer and soda in refillable glass containers</a>. Customers will typically get a small deposit back when they return those items.<strong> </strong>(An organization called Upstream maintains a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dVYkjRFhYoza1qGkPDphpnaZS-_JfjD9R-saNEUH8zQ/edit#gid=0">list of reuse policies</a> in the US and abroad.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JKKSF5">
The treaty could help fuel this approach by mandating global targets related to reusing containers, some of which already exist at a country level (<a href="https://zerowasteeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/zwe_11_2021_factsheet_france_en.pdf">in France</a> and elsewhere). For example, it could set a minimum percentage of drinks that must be sold in reusable containers. The treaty could also help set standards for what a good reusable system looks like and define what “reuse” actually means — considering that many plastic bags and other disposable items say they’re “reusable” even though most of us throw them out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t9Pv8H">
Davies says the reuse economy is essential to fixing the plastic problem — as essential as renewable energy is for curbing climate change. “We actually need to build the reuse economy in the same way as we have built the renewable energy economy,” Davies said.
</p>
<h3 id="Uav9R2">
Better recycling will help, but it’s only a small part of the solution
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kLoZPL">
The treaty won’t spell the end of recycling. Plenty of plastics aren’t easily cleaned or reused by other people, such as toothbrushes or plastics used in hospitals, so countries will still need recycling — but it requires major improvements.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="34VJK9">
Some cities and countries lack sufficient, conveniently located recycling bins or facilities to process plastic. Even where that infrastructure does exist, recycling runs into all kinds of problems. Plastics in a bin of recyclables typically contain a slew of polymers, dyes, and other chemicals that don’t necessarily mix well together or, when combined, form <a href="https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/04/22/infinitely-recyclable-plastic/">low-quality</a> plastic, according to a <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2020/07/breakingtheplasticwave_summary.pdf">report</a> by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a research organization. Some of those chemicals can also make the recycling process itself unsafe for waste workers, Davies said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n8frdM">
“Today’s plastic recycling system is failing us,” authors of the Pew report wrote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WghwSL">
Beyond eliminating harmful chemicals in plastics, a key solution is to encourage or mandate that companies design for recycling from the beginning. That means phasing out dyes and other additives that make recycled plastic worth less, using fewer types of polymers that can contaminate recycling streams, and so on. Better labeling is important, too: You shouldn’t have to spend time Googling to figure out how to recycle something.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SAI0sJ">
To encourage recycling, cities, and countries can also build out what are called “deposit return systems,” or DRS. In these schemes, customers pay a deposit when they buy a drink in a to-go bottle and get it back if they return the container (you may have seen these return machines by the entrance of some grocery stores). The treaty could mandate that countries require DRS for certain kinds of plastic containers.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ka-SyMkAiy4nXsupk2egQF3ix7Q=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24705168/GettyImages_1437961414.jpg"/> <cite>Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A customer places bottles in a recycling machine to receive her deposit in a grocery story in Slovakia.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oDdSWZ">
The treaty could also set a minimum percentage for the amount of recycled plastic in a given product. That would make recycled plastic more valuable and, in turn, encourage more recycling. Again, such targets are not unprecedented: The EU requires that, by 2025, PET plastic drink bottles are made with at least <a href="https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/plastics/single-use-plastics_en">25 percent</a> recycled plastic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VrXzrf">
(Treaty negotiators will consider a wide range of other ideas, such as eliminating subsidies for fossil fuels, setting standards for landfilling plastic, including those pertaining to the health of workers, and weeding out misleading claims about compostable or biodegradable plastics.)
</p>
<h3 id="iwYmpW">
What countries will fight about
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3iOfGd">
Treaty negotiations have only just begun, yet some issues are already a source of tension. Perhaps the biggest one is whether targets under the treaty should be globally mandated — and apply to all countries — or voluntary and set by each nation individually.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RQt104">
A group of countries including all members of the EU, Japan, and Chile, known as the high ambition coalition, is pushing for global targets, whereas the US, Saudi Arabia, and other big plastic-producing nations are advocating for national voluntary targets. (Those voluntary targets would be similar to those under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which set the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to combat climate change.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h8lVP7">
“The number one thing I want is global rules,” said<strong> </strong>Simon of WWF. “Plastic pollution is so integrated into all of our lives, and through these massive world markets. If we continue to address it in a fragmented way, we will never be successful.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WgjNfG7UIfC3Ot4QnPFClB-hFrA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24705169/GettyImages_1082167576.jpg"/> <cite>Mohd Samsul Mohd Said/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
A blue plastic polymer inside a factory near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qu8Gw3">
A number of other core issues will likely divide countries along similar lines, such as whether the treaty should cap virgin plastic production and what specific materials it should ban. Generally, major oil-producing nations and other petrochemical interests, such as chemical companies, like to talk up the benefits of recycling instead of taking steps to curb plastic production.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oCNXbn">
Funding will almost certainly be a divisive issue, as well. There’s a common tension during negotiations for global environmental treaties between wealthy and poor nations. In this case, lower-income countries are likely to argue that they should pay less — or be paid — to implement the treaty because they’ve contributed relatively little to the problem of plastic waste (and in some cases <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211339821000149">suffer most from it</a>).
</p>
<h3 id="hZKAs7">
Could this treaty really work?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3gXO5U">
Delegates from 175 countries finished up the last round of negotiations in Paris with a clear objective: To develop a draft of the plastic treaty before November, when they’ll meet again, in Nairobi, Kenya, for round three. The idea is to discuss the terms of the treaty in detail then, using the text (which they call a “zero draft”) as a starting point.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PdKzK3">
While UN treaty processes are often confusing and bogged down by bureaucracy, they’re one of our best defenses against global crises. And plastic pollution is indeed a global crisis. It’s everywhere — in our forests, our mountains, our oceans, our wildlife, our bodies, our children’s bodies. At least <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/pollution-solution-global-assessment-marine-litter-and-plastic-pollution">85 percent</a> of all marine waste is plastic. <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41263/Plastic_Science_E.pdf">Hundreds</a> of chemicals in plastics pose potential <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3299092/">risks to human health</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EzBS3u">
It remains unclear whether negotiators will be able to craft an ambitious treaty. Then there will be questions about implementation. But the good news is that something similar has been done before, albeit on a smaller scale.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cHs8AJ">
In 1987, nearly 200 countries agreed to a global deal called the Montreal Protocol designed to phase out chemicals called CFCs that were found in all sorts of products, from aerosol cans to refrigerators, which had put a hole in Earth’s ozone layer. The treaty worked. Today, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22686105/future-of-life-ozone-hole-environmental-crisis-united-nations-cfcs">99 percent</a> of ozone-destroying chemicals have been phased out and the ozone hole is almost fully repaired.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c1KJwM">
While the plastic problem is much bigger, global rules to phase out harmful materials can work. “This has been done before,” Muffett said. If world leaders take the problem of plastic pollution seriously, he said, “fundamental transformation is very, very possible.”
</p></li>
<li><strong>What to know about the major dam destruction in Ukraine</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4_LjNhYeUrN4IGm_xx5OBzT_1es=/193x0:1534x1006/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72347001/1258473534.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A screen grab captured from a video shows the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant after a blast occurred in the plant, which is in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Kherson, on June 6, 2023. The explosion unleashed floodwaters across the war zone. | Zelenskyy Social Media Account / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Did Russia do it?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w0l2Qt">
A large dam on the Dnipro River, in southern Ukraine, has been destroyed, leading to major flooding and putting thousands at risk of another catastrophe along the war’s front lines.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JGQC14">
Right now, both Ukraine and Russia are accusing the other of attacking the Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power plant, which sits about 20 miles from the city of Kherson.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GRkarp">
Ukraine blamed Russian “terrorists” for the explosion. “This is just one Russian act of terrorism,” <a href="https://t.me/V_Zelenskiy_official/6484">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.</a> “This is just one Russian war crime. Now Russia is guilty of brutal ecocide. Any comments are superfluous.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sbqShM">
Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukraine of staging an attack to cut off water to the Crimean peninsula and to distract from the start of its counteroffensive, <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/06/05/ukraines-counter-offensive-appears-to-have-begun">which may finally be underway</a>. “Apparently, this sabotage is also connected with the fact that, having started large-scale offensive actions two days ago, now the Ukrainian armed forces are not achieving their goals — these offensive actions are faltering,” <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kremlin-says-ukraine-sabotaged-dam-cut-crimeas-water-distract-own-failure-2023-06-06/">said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov</a>.
</p>
<div id="6kUoW9">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Satellite images from before and after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine.<a href="https://t.co/w4wIJdhX1X">https://t.co/w4wIJdhX1X</a><br/><br/> : Planet Labs <a href="https://t.co/sAHtxwaG0L">pic.twitter.com/sAHtxwaG0L</a>
</p>
— NBC News (<span class="citation" data-cites="NBCNews">@NBCNews</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1666103033762131969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2023</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OkkAd4">
US and Western officials have also not made any definitive assessments yet, though most are leaning toward Russia as the likely suspect, especially given its history of <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2022/11/18/23460933/ukraine-infrastructure-strikes-russia-blackouts-war">targeting Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure</a> intended to create humanitarian emergencies. Of course, Western leaders have been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nord-stream-german-lawmakers-point-finger-russia-sabotage-pipeline-leaks-2022-9">wrong before in attributing attacks to Russia</a>, as with the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/06/nord-stream-pipeline-explosion-ukraine-russia/">sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline</a>, which is why Western and NATO officials have not drawn firm conclusions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3JuVRm">
Russia also has controlled the Nova Kakhovka dam since the early days of the war, which means, even if this was somehow an accident or unintentional explosion, it’s happening on its watch. Ukraine has also been warning since last year that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/is-kakhovka-dam-ukraine-about-be-blown-2022-10-21/">Russia had mined the dam</a>, and previously claimed <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/10/22/23417785/russia-infrastructure-ukraine-kherson-oblast-dam">Moscow had plans to destroy it</a> ahead of its retreat from Kherson last fall.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JmBV4U">
And the dam explosion is happening against an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/05/world/europe/ukraine-war-counteroffensive-russia.html">uptick in Ukrainian attacks</a> that have some Western officials believing Ukraine’s<a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/4/22/2369a3259/ukraine-counteroffensive-russia-spring"> counteroffensive</a> is underway. Though a lot of that fighting is currently happening in the east, away from the dam, a disaster could tie up Ukrainian resources and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/06/nova-kakhovka-dam-russia-crimea/">potentially make it more difficult for troops to advance</a> in the future.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Map of the Ukrainian region of Kherson showing the Kakhovka dam." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OyMNHCVDZMMaUTMTFR6tCO1r-0c=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24706446/1258479280.jpg"/> <cite>Yasin Demirci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>
</figure>
<h3 id="G2iEPb">
The destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam is a massive disaster — now and in the future
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CEvrE2">
The Kakhovka reservoir and power plant was built in the Soviet era in 1956. The reservoir has about the same volume of water as Utah’s Great Salt Lake. The levels in the Dnipro River had been at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/nova-kakhovka-dam-everything-you-need-to-know-about-ukraines-strategically-important-reservoir">record-high water levels</a> in recent days<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/nova-kakhovka-dam-everything-you-need-to-know-about-ukraines-strategically-important-reservoir">,</a> so the possibility of mismanagement or some sort of accident can’t be ruled out, although that is harder to square with the scale of the damage (<a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/06/06/huge-explosions-breach-the-kakhovka-dam-in-southern-ukraine">and reports of explosions</a>).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HW486C">
And the dam is also right along the front lines of the war and had faced shelling and damage during the past year. Right now, the Dnipro is essentially the dividing line between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DbOUIw">
“This is a massive event, a huge story,” said Peter Gleick, co-founder and senior fellow at the Pacific Institute in California. “The Nova Kakhovka dam is one of the largest dams in Europe.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IeRndQ">
Early Tuesday local time, reports first emerged of a dam breach, and videos began surfacing of water rushing from the dam. The flooding immediately put communities downriver at risk, and Ukrainian authorities launched evacuation operations. Officials said about <a href="https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-06-06-23/">1,300 people had been evacuated</a> so far from Kherson city and other Ukrainian-held areas. About 80 communities total are at risk, including the city of Kherson, according to officials.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lOa5X8">
According to Ukrainian officials, about <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/06/russia-ukraine-war-news-dam/">40,000 people along the banks of the Dnipro must evacuate</a> — but that population is split between about 17,000 in Ukrainian-controlled territory and another 25,000 or so in the Russian-occupied side of the river.
</p>
<div id="HYoXiz">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
The Nova Kakhovka dam, a major hydroelectric power plant in southern Ukraine, was severely damaged by an explosion early Tuesday, unleashing flooding near the front lines.<br/><br/>Ukrainian officials said the torrent of water left thousands of people at risk and complicated evacuation… <a href="https://t.co/9Nc1DlzK4I">pic.twitter.com/9Nc1DlzK4I</a>
</p>
— The Washington Post (<span class="citation" data-cites="washingtonpost">@washingtonpost</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1666059379865530368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2023</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i4KXkc">
Russian officials, meanwhile, downplayed the emergency a bit, though evacuations have reportedly started in some Russian-controlled towns. Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-appointed governor of the Kherson region, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-06-06-23/index.html">said on Telegram that the dam breach</a> “will not greatly affect the situation in the Kherson region. Even a large-scale evacuation of people will not be required.”
</p>
<div id="fmE2Cp">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Russia-appointed Kherson oblast governor Saldo, speaking right in front of the flooded streets of Novaya Kakhovka:<br/><br/>“Everything is fine in Novaya Kakhovka, people go about their daily business like any day” <a href="https://t.co/oTZ8fxMY0O">pic.twitter.com/oTZ8fxMY0O</a>
</p>
— Max Fras (<span class="citation" data-cites="maxfras">@maxfras</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/maxfras/status/1666079339178500100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2023</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RKoOGa">
Water was quickly rushing out of the reservoir, with the peak of the flooding expected Wednesday, around noon local time, according to officials, adding urgency to evacuation efforts. Ukrainian officials <a href="https://t.me/mvs_ukraine/25984">accused Russia of continuing to shell flood-affected areas</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1d63nu">
Beyond the immediate emergency, the dam destruction poses risks to the environment, ecology, drinking supply, and energy infrastructure — all in different and complex ways.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K6rA7D">
The area near the Dnipro River is heavily mined, and flood waters could dislodge those explosives. Already there are reports of <a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1666020690217009152?s=20">contamination of industrial chemicals</a> in the Dnipro River. “The surrounding areas, in the Kherson region, Mykolaiv region, they rely on the water for irrigation purposes, for agricultural purposes, and of course, drinking water,” said Maksym Chepeliev, senior research economist at the Center for Global Trade Analysis at Purdue University.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ni5Aoo">
Another place at risk of losing access to a water supply is Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. At the time, Ukraine blocked off a canal that flowed to the peninsula. But after Russia’s invasion in 2022 and Moscow took control of the dam, it restarted the water supply to Crimea, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/06/nova-kakhovka-dam-russia-crimea/">at substantial cost</a>. Though most goes to agriculture and only a fraction goes to drinking water, Russian officials have already said that the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/world/europe/russia-ukraine-dam-crimea-water-supply.html">canal is at risk</a> because of the dam damage.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y0OxCu">
Ukrhydroenergo, the Ukrainian state-owned operator of Ukraine’s hydroelectric plants, said that the <a href="https://kyivindependent.com/ukrhydroenergo-kakhovka-dam-beyond-repair-after-explosion/">machine hall inside the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant was completely destroyed</a>, but so far, the threat to Ukraine’s power grid and electricity supply is pretty contained. Since the plant was seized by Russian forces in the early days of the war, it had not currently been supplying electricity to territory controlled by Ukraine, said Oleksandr Diachuk, leading researcher officer in the Department of Energy Sector Development and Forecasting at the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LOneM9">
But that power plant isn’t the one everyone is concerned about. That distinction goes to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fbbfdee1-f83c-46f1-b23a-a41df04390fc">Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant</a>, which is about 75 miles northeast of the dam. That plant relies on water from the reservoir to cool its nuclear reactors. Ukrainian and international nuclear officials have so far said that the dam break poses no <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fbbfdee1-f83c-46f1-b23a-a41df04390fc">“immediate risk”</a> to the plant. The reactors at the power plant have been shut down for many months because of the war, so although they still need to be cooled, they need less water than they would if they were active. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fbbfdee1-f83c-46f1-b23a-a41df04390fc">said</a> in a statement that the reservoir could supply water to the plant for “a few days” and that the cooling ponds were full, and could provide additional sources of water. (The power plant is also not at risk of flooding.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sSPFZs">
The <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fbbfdee1-f83c-46f1-b23a-a41df04390fc">Zaporizhzhia plant</a>, in the middle of a war zone, has remained a perpetual possible catastrophe throughout the war, and while those risks are contained now, they have not gone away. “The fact that things are under control now is great, but the situation is very volatile there [at the Zaphorizhia nuclear power plant]. And it’s just something that is an additional thing for us to worry about,” Gleick said.
</p>
<h3 id="YOFP9y">
So what does this mean for the war Russia is waging in Ukraine?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="g81yoo">
Experts I spoke to cited a litany of potential dire environmental, humanitarian, and ecological risks. Biodiversity destroyed as the reservoir empties. Chemicals leaching into the Dnipro River, polluting water that communities depend on. Those pollutants could travel downstream, into the Black Sea, and <a href="https://twitter.com/ces_ukraine/status/1666096129271013381?s=20">contaminate fishing waters</a>. It could affect irrigation levels for wheat and watermelon crops in the region, further choking off food supplies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KfqtEo">
It will also force the evacuation of thousands who survived a year and a half of artillery shelling, bombs, and war. This flooding would be a disaster at any time, but amid the conflict, it is a potential war crime, one more humanitarian crisis piled on top of all the others, and another years-long rebuilding project Ukraine must take on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v4Vk5o">
“It’s not necessarily easy to mobilize<strong> </strong>during peacetime,” said Nickolai Denisov, deputy director of the Geneva-based Zoï Environment Network, referring to the disaster response. “During wartime, it’s even more difficult, and it definitely distracts resources from other tasks.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OKJijp">
These kinds of disasters are omnipresent in war, but it has become something of a feature of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has systematically targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, and in this case, they had full access to the dam and its facilities. Ukraine has engaged in sabotage efforts against Russian <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65434772">infrastructure,</a> but usually on Russian soil or on strategic targets.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FDjIHy">
US and Western officials have not confirmed publicly who was behind the attack, though the statements have alluded to Russian responsibility. The US said it was aiming to declassify intelligence about the explosion soon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="emKE5L">
“All things considered, one must naturally assume that this was an aggression perpetrated by the Russian side in order to stop Ukraine’s offensive aimed at liberating its own land,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/major-dam-destroyed-in-russian-occupied-ukraine-8cd10725">said Tuesday</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EXpCmY">
The timing of this likely explosion is impossible to ignore. Ukraine has been planning to mount a counteroffensive to retake territory for months, and as spring inches into summer, it now seems as if Kyiv is at least laying the groundwork for that major assault.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1BbZ0t">
This week, Western officials said they noticed an increase in fighting in the past few days in the east, in Donetsk, with Ukrainian <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/politics/us-ukraine-counteroffensive/index.html">stepping up artillery attacks and ground assaults</a>, potentially to probe Russian fortifications.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bktNZF">
This isn’t close to the Nova Kakhovka dam, but many Ukraine observers have long pointed to areas in the south as a possible staging point for any operation because it would allow Ukraine to cut off the “land bridge” Russia has built from occupied territories to Crimea.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hy55EI">
The area now flooded out by the dam breach could potentially have been one attack point, and now it definitely cannot be. But it also probably wasn’t the most likely one, either. Russia was pretty well dug in on its side of the Dnipro, and crossing a river is not exactly an easy operation in the best of times. Ukraine’s forces are likely limited in their ability to conduct an operation like that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9mGRnV">
Which is also why, if Russia is responsible, this isn’t a hugely strategic move. The flood waters could wash away some of Russia’s fortifications in the Kherson region. And while it may consume Ukrainian resources and attention, it could do the same for Russia, which controls areas that will be affected by this catastrophe.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I8Km85">
“The motivations for both sides are lacking,” said Emil Kastehelmi, an open source intelligence and military analyst who has been following Russia’s war in Ukraine.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vfh4Mt">
But, Kastehelmi pointed out, that doesn’t always matter, especially when it comes to Moscow’s motivations. “As we have seen, they can make huge decisions that might not be beneficial to them. A good example is this whole war that they are waging.”
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>All the Republicans running for president in 2024, explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fRO_vTDQ1JCqfmlbAHVvi_9KE00=/0x0:2667x2000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72005471/1240734040.50.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at a campaign event for Gov. Brian Kemp on May 17, 2022, in Canton, Georgia.  | Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is joining the race.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zd6tIZ">
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the latest Republican to join a growing field of candidates challenging former President Donald Trump for the presidency in 2024.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pXywfi">
Christie <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/politics/chris-christie-2024-announcement/index.html">filed paperwork</a> to run for president Tuesday ahead of formally launching his candidacy at an event in New Hampshire. Once a Trump defender, he’s already proved willing to go head to head with the former president, offering criticism of his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/us/politics/chris-christie-trump-debates.html">reluctance to debate</a>, his unwillingness to accept the results of the 2020 election, and calling him a “<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/11/christie-trump-cnn-putin-00096393">coward</a>” and “puppet of Putin.” He’s said that he <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/03/28/chris-christie-trump-support-2024">wouldn’t support Trump</a> even if the former president wins the Republican nomination in 2024.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C4vFkU">
It’s a remarkable 180-degree turn for someone who was previously a close ally of Trump, briefly headed his White House transition team, and helped him prepare for debates in 2020. But it’s not clear how that turn will win him support among the many Republican voters who still approve of Trump’s performance in office and have rallied behind him since his <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/4/23648390/trump-indictment-supreme-court-stormy-daniels-manhattan-alvin-bragg">indictment in New York</a>, which they perceive as a politically motivated attack.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1sBYvP8LNLqAHRGPvpQk35dY_eM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24696948/1258300187.jpg"/> <cite>Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during the annual Republican Jewish Coalition leadership meeting at the Venetian on November 19, 2022, in Las Vegas.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FdvPI2">
If anything, Christie’s attacks on Trump might spare other GOP candidates from having to go on offense against the former president, who has been known to eviscerate his opponents with mud-slinging and name-calling. That’s what he did to Christie in the <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christophermassie/here-are-some-of-the-meanest-things-trump-and-christie-have">2016 presidential primary</a>, where the former governor finished sixth before ultimately endorsing Trump for the nomination.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wfszOP">
Christie is likely to run on his record as a moderate governor, though his<strong> </strong>tenure as New Jersey’s executive was marred by the “Bridgegate” scandal. His aides allegedly orchestrated a plot to close lanes at a bridge that serves as a main artery to New York City in retaliation against a local mayor who did not back his reelection campaign. He continues to deny any knowledge of the plot, despite witnesses in the criminal trial of his aides testifying to the contrary. By the end of his second term, his approval rating had fallen to <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/06/14/with-15-percent-approval-christie-is-now-new-jerseys-least-popular-governor-ever-112747#:~:text=The%20Quinnipiac%20University%20poll%20shows,in%20more%20than%2020%20years.">15 percent</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IFMMAF">
Christie’s entry nevertheless adds to the competition against Trump, who some Republicans see as a liability in a general election. Not only is Trump the subject of several ongoing civil and criminal investigations, but he’s <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favorability/donald-trump/">broadly unpopular</a>. He lost his reelection bid in 2020, and his chosen candidates broadly underperformed in the 2022 midterms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HBXzKe">
Still, it’s likely to be a tough primary for anyone who’s not Trump. The former president, who <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23436640/donald-trump-announce-run-presidential-campaign-2024">announced his candidacy in November</a>, has been <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2024-gop-primary-election-tracker/">increasingly dominant in polling</a>. His closest competitor,<strong> </strong>Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is trailing him by <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/2024_republican_presidential_nomination-7548.html">more than<strong> </strong>30 percentage points</a> on average as of early June.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6MburF">
Besides Trump and DeSantis, no other candidate has received double-digit support in recent weeks. That includes former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and right-wing activist Vivek Ramaswamy, who kicked off their campaigns in February. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who announced in May, has <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2024-gop-primary-election-tracker/">polled near the bottom of the pack</a>.<strong> </strong>But it’s early in the 2024 cycle, and those numbers could change as candidates consolidate donors, attract endorsements, and expand their campaigns.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KhEgJx">
A broad GOP field may in some ways strengthen Trump’s candidacy, however. The more candidates announce, the greater the competition in the alternative-to-Trump lane.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sf5w9v">
“Everybody sort of agrees we’re going to lose if we [run Trump] again,” said Patrick Hynes, a GOP strategist based in New Hampshire. “But with multiple candidates talking about getting into the race, it just fortifies Trump’s position. And so it’d be really nice if we could just have a united front.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N8bmv1">
Here are the contenders — besides Trump — so far.
</p>
<h3 id="3kmyAI">
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pLAIYS">
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is seen as the most viable challenger to Trump. He won reelection by nearly 20 points in 2022, helping usher a red wave into the once-swing state of Florida even though Republican candidates underperformed practically everywhere else in the midterms. But he’s running far behind Trump in the polls, and there are questions as to whether he can run a campaign that feels distinct from MAGA but still has <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/23736786/ron-desantis-2024-presidential-run">enough general appeal</a> to be successful.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis listens a his wife Casey speaks during a campaign rally at Port Neal Welding Company on May 31, 2023 in Salix, Iowa." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z_dePLkHQFKGie_gS-P0g36Wt4o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24698948/GettyImages_1494914230.jpg"/> <cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Ron DeSantis at a campaign rally in Salix, Iowa on May 31, 2023.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OJvNPe">
DeSantis has been carefully cultivating a national profile for years by making Florida a locus of conservative policymaking that has inspired copycat legislation across the US. He’s promoted popular conservative stances on nearly every culture war issue, including attacking LGBTQ rights, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/8/13/22622168/ron-desantis-florida-covid-response-failures">minimizing Covid-19</a>,<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/4/5/23668272/florida-abortion-desantis-republicans-six-weeks-gop"> curtailing abortion access</a>, and<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23593369/ron-desantis-florida-schools-higher-education-woke"> eliminating parts of school curriculums</a> deemed too liberal. He worked with the state legislature this session to <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/5/25/23736141/ron-desantis-2024-florida-legislature-policies">enact that agenda in Florida</a>, which he is touting as his “blueprint” for America.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jrYGh4">
Beyond just legislating to the right, DeSantis has ensured that Florida will likely stay red for the foreseeable future. In the 2022 redistricting cycle, he pushed for<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/ron-desantis-florida-redistricting-map-scheme"> a new, gerrymandered congressional map</a> that ultimately heavily benefited Republicans; the party flipped three House seats in the midterms. He expanded the base, winning counties like Miami-Dade that Republicans haven’t carried in decades, while appearing to<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/11/10/23451639/midterm-latino-vote-takes-2022"> make more headway with Latino voters</a>. He raised more than<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/03/desantis-record-breaking-haul-positions-him-for-2024-00065046"> $200 million last cycle</a>, breaking the record for gubernatorial races.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Gidhl">
Still, he has had a tough few months. He signed an ultra-restrictive <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/14/ron-desantis-florida-six-week-abortion-ban/?itid=lk_inline_manual_10">six-week abortion ban</a> in Florida that some GOP donors worry will be unpalatable to general election voters. He’s locked in a high-stakes <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/26/23699368/disney-ron-desantis-lawsuit-florida-central-tourism-oversight-board">fight with Disney</a> in which he’s suffered <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/3/30/23663345/disney-desantis-florida-board-reedy-creek">loss</a> after <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/4/20/23691341/ron-desantis-disney-world-board-reedy-creek-florida">loss</a> after <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/5/19/23730119/ron-desantis-disney-florida-investment-2024-election">loss</a>, neutralizing his ability to claim victory over “<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy">woke</a>” corporations. He has left Trump’s attacks <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/5/31/23744182/desantis-trump-2024-election-campaign-attacks-abortion-covid-republican-nominee">largely unanswered</a> for fear of alienating the base. He has already made a few gaffes on subjects from <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-ukraine-republicans-2024-f44acc03f772f393b7f8d452ee26508a">Ukraine</a> to <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/03/ron-desantis-chocolate-pudding">chocolate pudding</a> (<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/03/ron-desantis-chocolate-pudding-denial#:~:text=Earlier%20this%20month%2C%20the%20Daily,Washington%2C%20DC%2C%20in%202019.">allegedly</a>). And there are <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/ron-desantis-unlikeable">questions about his likability</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9rHc9v">
He’s trying to carve out his own lane in the primary by running to the right of Trump on issues like Covid-19 and abortion and attempting to draw a contrast with Trump’s bombastic leadership style. But in many ways, his candidacy doesn’t mark a departure from Trumpism. The Florida governor was once a protégé of the former president and employs the<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-desantis-rip-off-complaints-1234583383/"> same rhetoric</a> to articulate culture war grievances. Their campaign platforms also share many of the same policies. Certainly, DeSantis would have to contort himself to look like a moderate in a general election against President Joe Biden or another Democrat.
</p>
<h3 id="MBWHBp">
Former Vice President Mike Pence
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M5nGes">
After months of speculation, former Vice President Mike Pence has filed <a href="https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/P40013435/1706462/">paperwork for a run with the Federal Election Commission</a>. He is expected to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pence-announcement-2024-presidential-trump-iowa-35c99dfa2f4f265b346b1aeddb6d7cae">formally launch</a> his campaign June 7 in Iowa, home to many of the Christian right voters he’s hoping to court. His biggest challenge will be stepping out from the shadow of Trump, his one-time running mate from whom he has severed ties.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0uw6J5">
He previously told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/22/mike-pence-prefers-alternative-to-donald-trump-in-2024-presidential-election.html">CNBC</a> that the GOP is “going to have better choices” than the former president. And in an interview with <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/22/1138465389/mike-pence-2024-donald-trump-jan-6-abortion">NPR</a> last November, he said he thought Trump was “wrong” in insisting that he won the 2020 election and that he was “reckless” with his words and actions on the day of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WYcWOJ">
That might not win him any favor among Trump loyalists. But as a prominent evangelical, Pence is hoping to appeal to religious conservatives’ views on abortion, religious liberty, and education. He already seems to be doing so, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/10/politics/pence-2024-social-conservatives/index.html">promoting his memoir</a>, <em>So Help Me God</em>, at megachurches around the country.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VMGj-8m2IWyKrkmeO-SWy83s2R0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24454780/GettyImages_1244790474.jpg"/> <cite>Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Heritage Foundation on October 19, 2022, in Washington, DC.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S345Vi">
Though the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn <em>Roe v. Wade</em> dampened GOP gains in the midterms, Pence hasn’t tempered his anti-abortion rhetoric. He has called for a national abortion ban and has thrown his weight behind a proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and a<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/mike-pence-says-ban-abortion-194000537.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE9WV4CCYOG2S7eZg1NnLuoWhC7lVSGg-Kt5ZXqtvOBvjgmkFTI3uNDFS_ZoGyBjPQcmt_YycIaXKEMVAXmVjbkoCdkuZdG-jFiIITugNfgZlZqkqJdoudnkppsROoyBNYMs19DJ9F-uZzrh49KxmvghCWl7ZeBpEWp59BuoipUa"> ban on abortion pills</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Dk9sAb">
Beyond abortion, Pence’s policy group, Advancing American Freedom, has <a href="https://advancingamericanfreedom.com/issues/">laid out a platform</a> that includes an expansion of 529 college savings plans so they can be used for K-12 schools, promoting the rights of health care providers to decline to perform certain services on the basis of moral or religious objections, and rolling back climate change-related regulations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vXNmPq">
The question is whether that’s enough to distinguish him from Trump. His agenda touts many of the policies advanced by the Trump-Pence administration, including the still-incomplete construction of the border wall and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/3/17930092/usmca-mexico-nafta-trump-trade-deal-explained">United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement</a>.
</p>
<h3 id="9K1o5x">
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FGygSz">
Scott, the three-term South Carolina senator and only Black Republican in the chamber,<strong> </strong>has framed much of his candidacy around pushing back against Democrats’ views on systemic racism and other disparities in the US. Over the past few years, he’s repeatedly <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/8/25/21400661/tim-scott-rnc-speech-republican-trump">cited his own success</a> as negating the idea that Black Americans are disadvantaged by systematic racism and as proof that anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gdTl3-_1MezlJwjdLj01ImjKcxs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24696935/1257257698.jpg"/> <cite>Allison Joyce/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
US Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) announces his run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination at a campaign event on May 22, 2023, in North Charleston, South Carolina.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y9vCmX">
In an April video launching a committee to explore a potential 2024 run, Scott describes how he grew up in poverty, was raised by a single mother in South Carolina, and became a member of the US Senate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v4yoRU">
“They know the truth of my life disproves their lies,” Scott said of Democrats. “I know America is a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression. I know it because I’ve lived it.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eCsocD">
As a senator, Scott has struck a similar tone on race, simultaneously acknowledging its role in American life while arguing that racism is largely something that infects individuals rather than being something for society to grapple with. He has previously called out discrimination<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/tim-scott-wants-police-reform-because-hes-been-stopped-18-times-driving-while-black-1588150#:~:text=Senator%20Tim%20Scott%2C%20a%20South,for%20%22driving%20while%20Black.%22"> he’s faced by police</a>, including being pulled over at traffic stops, for example, while calling law enforcement<a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2021/0812/Q-A-Sen.-Tim-Scott-GOP-point-person-on-police-reform"> a “noble” profession</a>. Scott touched on these themes during a recent listening tour in Iowa and South Carolina, as well, urging audiences to acknowledge the progress that the US has made.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kkIsDO">
As an evangelical, Scott is also making abortion restrictions a pillar of his campaign. He recently voiced support for a six-week abortion ban in his home state that has now been blocked in court. He has also said that he would enact a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/05/31/tim-scott-2024-abortion-axios-event">15-week national ban </a>on abortion or “the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/tim-scott-2024/">most conservative pro-life legislation</a> Congress can pass” if elected president.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IsvaCs">
He’s also echoed standard Republican talking points criticizing “Biden liberals” and touting conservative positions on issues like immigration and crime. Legislatively, Scott is known for serving as the GOP’s lead negotiator on police reform and as the sponsor of bipartisan legislation to establish “opportunity zones”’ that intend to drive investment to low-income areas via tax incentives.
</p>
<h3 id="yPrjD8">
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BkTk2c">
In early April, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a longtime Trump critic, joined the GOP field.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="riGHp6">
Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor who worked on former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, previously <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video/asa-hutchinson-announces-2024-bid-republican-nomination-98299880">told ABC</a> that he thought Trump should withdraw from the race in light of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/3/30/23663972/trump-indicted-grand-jury-what-happens-next">criminal charges he’s facing</a> in connection to hush money payments made to the porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. But Hutchinson also acknowledged that Trump probably won’t do that and there’s nothing stopping him from carrying on.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jqmP6L">
“I mean, first of all, the office is more important than any individual person. And so for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that’s too much of a sideshow and distraction, and he needs to be able to concentrate on his due process,” Hutchinson said.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GpfF5Fs-jNy3F-NTW3_OiqlXd0w=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24556804/1214261153.jpg"/> <cite>Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
President Donald Trump meets with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (left) and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on May 20, 2020, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c2IDY1">
Hutchinson served eight years as Arkansas governor before stepping down in January because he was term-limited. While in office, he pushed a conservative agenda centered on a near-total ban on abortion without exceptions for cases involving rape and incest, a law banning trans women from participating in school sports teams, and bans on Covid-19 vaccine mandates and state and local mask mandates.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xB0GNu">
He later expressed regret at the lack of exceptions to the abortion ban and that he wanted to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/04/1024939859/arkansas-governor-reverse-law-let-schools-require-masks">reverse</a> the ban on mask mandates amid an August 2021 surge in coronavirus cases.
</p>
<h3 id="cCxD8E">
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eJkOig">
Though she had <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-orangeburg-south-carolina-united-nations-nikki-haley-fda929b5d69ab0a91b97edc62207bcfb">previously dismissed</a> the prospect of running against Trump if he sought reelection, Trump’s US ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley <a href="https://twitter.com/NikkiHaley/status/1625461899218280448?s=20&amp;t=Fp2zg3FGHUVRgQHqGVLtPA">announced</a> in mid-February that she’s running.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PP7O2X">
Haley framed herself as a moderate candidate relative to Trump who can win in a general election. “Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. That has to change,” Haley said in her announcement video. “It’s time for a new generation of leadership.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JvBf3H">
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is centering her pitch for the presidency on foreign policy. In particular, she’s suggested that she would take a hardline stance against America’s foes abroad. She had one of the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2018/04/25/nikki-haley-most-popular-trump-administration">highest approval ratings</a> of anyone in the Trump administration and was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-syria-ap-top-news-international-news-politics-84c3286dd449402e8b0be124252efb29">well-respected</a> by her peers on the UN Security Council even when espousing controversial policy decisions, such as Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accords, and the UN Human Rights Council.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rCBeMVzjbmun-P9VAMyTM0buO5o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24454777/GettyImages_1247370345.jpg"/> <cite>Greg Hauenstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty</cite>
<figcaption>
Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley listens to a question from the crowd at Urbandale, Iowa, town hall after announcing her candidacy for president.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JuoSJ7">
In an environment where most Americans cite <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/468983/cite-gov-top-problem-inflation-ranks-second.aspx">government and inflation</a> as the top issues facing the US, it’s not clear whether that foreign policy experience will resonate with voters. But Haley has conservative credentials, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eTVGAI">
She won the South Carolina governorship in 2011 with the support of the conservative Tea Party wing of the Republican Party and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. She went on to tighten <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/voter-ID-law">voter ID laws</a>, oppose Syrian refugee resettlement in the state, and earn bipartisan praise for signing a bill to take down the Confederate flag from the state capitol after a gunman killed nine Black churchgoers in Charleston in 2015. In her announcement video, she hit typical conservative priorities, railing against the “socialist left” while calling for securing the border and fiscal responsibility.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="adcczs">
But she’s also waded into culture war battles. At a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/2024-gop-presidential-candidate-nikki-haleys-anti-trans-dylan-mulvaney-rhetoric-falls-flat-in-new-hampshire">campaign event</a> in May, she went on a rant against a trans influencer who partnered with Bud Light, a collaboration that resulted in a widespread conservative boycott of the brand. She also declared herself to be “unapologetically pro-life” while avoiding questions about whether she would enact a national abortion ban.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zqBt4K">
If Haley prevails, she would be the first woman and first Asian American to win the GOP nomination for president, adding to the list of firsts she has already achieved: South Carolina’s first woman governor and the first Indian American to serve in a statewide office there.
</p>
<h3 id="wxBxnr">
Right-wing activist Vivek Ramaswamy
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3C88hJ">
The son of Indian immigrants, a former biotech founder, and author of the New York Times bestseller Woke, Inc., Ramaswamy made his name railing against socially responsible investing on cable news shows. Over the past few years, he’s been dubbed “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/12/19/the-ceo-of-anti-woke-inc">the CEO of Anti-Woke, Inc.</a>” by the New Yorker and has come out with a second book, Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit and the Path Back to Excellence. Recently, he’s been on a listening tour that included stops in New Hampshire, the second state to cast votes in the presidential primaries.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hSbcp3">
All that led to his announcement for president in February. In his<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l6EcHeBt8U"> announcement video</a>, he staked his candidacy on combating the “woke left” and what he referred to as “new secular religions like Covidism, climatism, and gender ideology.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D2fCOR">
“This is psychological slavery, and that has created a new culture of fear in our country that has completely replaced our culture of free speech in America,” he said in the video.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sarvlgl_wzzbCeJZVKBkqcGUCG8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24696944/1491590376.jpg"/> <cite>Scott Olson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks to residents during a town hall meeting in the South Shore neighborhood on May 19, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eI24ZJ">
His campaign appears as if it will center culture wars: He <a href="https://twitter.com/VivekGRamaswamy/status/1628203879639789568">told</a> former<strong> </strong>Fox News host Tucker Carlson after jumping into the race that his top priorities include ending affirmative action, “complete decoupling” from China, reenvisioning US immigration policy based on “merit,” and using the American military to combat drug cartels in Central America.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fpe1XG">
While well-known in conservative circles, Ramaswamy would need to find a way to pivot his message to make it more appealing to independents and moderates in a general election.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I2Le3o">
First, though, he will face rivals with far greater platforms, name recognition, donor networks, and war chests — many of whom have spent years developing their own brand of his politics. He’s making some headway in putting himself on the radar with a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/09/vivek-ramaswamy-2024-campaign-00095875">packed schedule of media appearances</a> that has forced some heavy hitters in the field to take him seriously.
</p>
<h3 id="MeRygF">
Radio host Larry Elder
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jEFhvg">
Conservative radio host Larry Elder, a frequent talking head on Fox News, announced his long-shot candidacy in May. He has never held political office but led the race to replace California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, in an unsuccessful recall campaign in 2021.<strong> </strong>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FyXkne">
“America is in decline, but this decline is not inevitable. We can enter a new American Golden Age, but we must choose a leader who can bring us there,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/larryelder/status/1649213455310942209">tweeted</a> of his decision to run for president.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j6x1IdHv3vhEPvsJalWGTgBGuTw=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24696946/1340438566.jpg"/> <cite>Mario Tama/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Then-gubernatorial recall candidate Larry Elder speaks to supporters at an election night event on September 14, 2021, in Costa Mesa, California.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bn93Pf">
Elder, a vocal Trump supporter, has espoused conservative stances on issues from abortion rights to pandemic restrictions, including mask mandates. And as a Black man, he has critiqued the Black Lives Matter movement and called the idea of systemic racism a “<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article253718008.html">lie</a>,” even though he had framed his policies in the recall election as benefiting Black people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MoFUE2">
He also attributed rising crime in 2021 to a policing pullback spurred by Democratic policies. “When you reduce the possibility of a bad guy getting caught, getting convicted and getting incarcerated, guess what? Crime goes up,” he <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-08-20/recall-candidate-larry-elder-is-a-threat-to-black-californians">told the Los Angeles Times</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kxJKbp">
He’s been <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/2024_republican_presidential_nomination-7548.html">polling below</a> potential candidates that haven’t yet entered the presidential race, however, so it’s hard to see a path forward for his candidacy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c9AlsA">
<em><strong>Update, June 6, 3:55 pm ET:</strong></em><em> This story was originally published on February 23 and has been updated multiple times, most recently to include Christie’s announcement.</em>
</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>ISSF Junior World Cup | India bags two more golds, medal tally reaches 11</strong> - India picked up two more golds at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Junior</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>‘Padel is a wonderful concept for anyone familiar with other racquet sports’</strong> - HYDERABAD</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>Domingo Oramas named Gokulam’s new coach</strong> - KOZHIKODE</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>Women’s Jr Asia Cup Hockey | India looks to draw against Chinese Taipei to make SF</strong> - Unbeaten India would look to seal their semifinal berth when they face Chinese Taipei in their final pool match</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>WTC Final Day 1 | Warner misses out on fifty, Australia 73/2 at lunch</strong> - India picked a lone spinner in all-rounder R. Jadeja, while K.S. Bharat retained his place as the wicketkeeper ahead of Ishan Kishan; R. Ashwin left out.</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>Autorickshaw drivers fleece commuters, flout norms in Kollam</strong> - With surge in customers after school reopening, most drivers refuse to follow fares approved by the State government and force passengers to pay exorbitant rates</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>Manipur women hold torchlight marches across valley districts</strong> - They called for the implementation of the National Register of Citizens, saying the territorial integrity of the State should never be compromised.</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>Kaziranga mahouts caught for consuming rare turtles</strong> - Action against the trio was taken under relevant sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972</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>Environment Day observed at Kollam school</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>India has one of the best airfare regimes; there should be no ‘gouging’: Akasa Air CEO</strong> - “Gouging is what the government is worried about… as an airline fraternity, we should ensure that there is no gouging,” Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube said</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>Ros Atkins unpacks the Ukraine dam breach</strong> - The BBC’s analysis editor looks at what we know about the Ukraine dam collapse at Nova Kakhovka.</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>Pope Francis, 86, to have abdominal surgery</strong> - The 86-year-old is being hospitalised for a third time in two years, amid persistent health issues.</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>Ukraine war: Wagner boss rubbishes Russian claims of Ukrainian casualties</strong> - Moscow says it inflicted 3,700 casualties on Kyiv on Monday, but Yevgeny Prigozhin calls the claim “absurd”.</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>Ukraine war: Kyiv says troops advance on eastern front</strong> - Ukraine says its has gained ground near Bakhmut, as Russia claims to have thwarted a new attack.</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>Ukraine war: Wagner detains Russian officer over ‘drunk’ attack</strong> - In a video posted online, the officer says he fired on a Wagner vehicle because he dislikes the group.</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>FBI warns of increasing use of AI-generated deepfakes in sextortion schemes</strong> - Deepfake videos show real people engaged in fake sex. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1945970">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>15-inch MacBook Air hands-on: Just what some folks were asking for</strong> - Apple hasn’t reinvented anything here, but we like options. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1945943">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hands-on with Apple Vision Pro: This is not a VR headset</strong> - This was the best headset demo I’ve ever seen. But there’s room for improvement. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1945928">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>J&amp;J’s COVID vaccine is dead in the US; FDA revokes authorization</strong> - The withdrawal leaves the two mRNA vaccines and the Novavax protein subunit vaccine. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1945919">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dell in hot water for making shoppers think overpriced monitors were discounted</strong> - It happened on Dell’s Australia website, but misleading sale claims are common. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1945814">link</a></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A man is walking home late at night when he sees a woman in the shadows. “Twenty bucks,” she says…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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He’s never been with a prostitute before, so excitedly he says, what the hell
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They are going at it for a minute when all of a sudden a light flashes on them—it’s a policeman.
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“What’s going on here, people?” asks the officer.
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“I’m making love to my wife,” the man answers indignantly.
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“Oh, I’m sorry,” says the cop, “I didn’t know.”
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“Well,” said the man, “to tell the truth neither did I until you flashed that light on her face.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HelpingHandsUs"> /u/HelpingHandsUs </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142zy8k/a_man_is_walking_home_late_at_night_when_he_sees/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142zy8k/a_man_is_walking_home_late_at_night_when_he_sees/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>If Stranger Things was British it’d be called</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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Bit Odd Innit?
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/original_don_dada"> /u/original_don_dada </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1434ozw/if_stranger_things_was_british_itd_be_called/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1434ozw/if_stranger_things_was_british_itd_be_called/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>As part of the merger, the PGA will control holes 1-8 and 12-18.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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The Saudis do 9-11.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Reg_Cliff"> /u/Reg_Cliff </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142n44o/as_part_of_the_merger_the_pga_will_control_holes/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142n44o/as_part_of_the_merger_the_pga_will_control_holes/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>When Bill and Hillary Clinton got married, Bill informed Hillary that he had a shoebox under the bed, and she was never to open it under any circumstances. Hillary agreed and promised to never open the box.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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Hillary respected his wish as the years went by and kept her promise. But after several years of marriage, Hillary’s curiosity got the best of her. She opened the box and found several hundred dollars in cash, and a couple of empty beer cans.
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She felt guilty, and confessed to Bill that she had opened the shoebox, apologizing profusely. Bill said it was okay, but Hillary asked him, “what are the beer cans for?”
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Bill replies “Hillary, every time I was unfaithful to you, I drank a beer and promised never to do it again.” Hillary is taken aback, but not surprised. She thought <em>well there was Monica, maybe one other woman, I guess that’s not too bad. It’s all good. He was the president and had some flings here and there.</em>
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She then asks Bill “what’s all the cash for?” Bill says “well, every time the box got full, I took it to the recycling center for the deposit.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/MaroonTrucker28"> /u/MaroonTrucker28 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142tle1/when_bill_and_hillary_clinton_got_married_bill/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142tle1/when_bill_and_hillary_clinton_got_married_bill/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Mexican man who spoke no English went into a department store to buy socks.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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He found his way to the menswear department, where a young lady offered to help him.
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“Quiero calcetines,” said the man.
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“I don’t speak Spanish, but we have some very nice suits over here,” said the salesgirl.
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“No, no quiero trajes. Quiero calcetines,” said the man.
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“Well, these shirts are on sale this week,” declared the salesgirl.
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“No, no quiero camisas. Quiero calcetines,” repeated the man.
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“I still don’t know what you’re trying to say. We have some fine pants on this rack,” offered the salesgirl.
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“No, no quiero pantalones. Quiero calcetines,” insisted the man.
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“These sweaters are top quality,” the salesgirl probed.
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“No, no quiero sueter. Quiero calcetines,” said the man.
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“Our undershirts are over here,” fumbled the salesgirl, beginning to lose patience.
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“No, no quiero camisetas. Quiero calcetines,” the man repeated.
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As they passed the underwear counter, the man spotted a display of socks and happily grabbed a pair. Holding them up he proclaimed, “Eso sí que es!”
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“Why didn’t you just spell it in the first place?!” yelled the salesgirl.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ThatOnePogger"> /u/ThatOnePogger </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142t3em/a_mexican_man_who_spoke_no_english_went_into_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/142t3em/a_mexican_man_who_spoke_no_english_went_into_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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