Added daily report
This commit is contained in:
Navan Chauhan
parent
2ba69ca272
commit
28b6a5381e
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
|
||||||
|
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
||||||
|
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
|
||||||
|
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
|
||||||
|
<title>25 March, 2024</title>
|
||||||
|
<style>
|
||||||
|
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
|
||||||
|
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
|
||||||
|
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
|
||||||
|
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
|
||||||
|
div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;}
|
||||||
|
ul.task-list{list-style: none;}
|
||||||
|
</style>
|
||||||
|
<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
|
||||||
|
<body>
|
||||||
|
<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>A human commons cell atlas reveals cell type specificity for OAS1 isoforms</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
We describe an open source Human Commons Cell Atlas comprising 2.9 million cells across 27 tissues that can be easily updated and that is structured to facilitate custom analyses. To showcase the flexibility of the atlas, we demonstrate that it can be used to study isoforms of genes at cell resolution. In particular, we study cell type specificity of isoforms of OAS1, which has been shown to offer SARS-CoV-2 protection in certain individuals that display higher expression of the p46 isoform. Using our commons cell atlas we localize the OAS1 p44b isoform to the testis, and find that it is specific to round and elongating spermatids. By virtue of enabling customized analyses via a modular and dynamic atlas structure, the commons cell atlas should be useful for exploratory analyses that are intractable within the rigid framework of current gene-centric cell atlases.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.23.586412v1" target="_blank">A human commons cell atlas reveals cell type specificity for OAS1 isoforms</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Do abortion bans somehow save pregnant people’s lives? A cautionary research note on trends in maternal death post-Dobbs</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The National Center for Health Statistics’ published provisional monthly estimates of maternal death (12-month ending counts) appear to demonstrate that the end of federal protection for abortion rights in June 2022 was associated with an immediate and dramatic decline in maternal deaths. In this research note we investigate this apparent association by comparing the 12-month ending counts with monthly counts of maternal death. We decompose change in the 12-month ending counts into change due to months leaving the sum and change due to the current month entering the sum and conclude that the rapid decline in the 12-month ending counts is driven by events in 2021, specifically the shock to maternal deaths during the Delta and Omicron waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Actual monthly final and provisional maternal deaths from the National Vital Statistics Surveillance System did not decline after June 2022. We caution that any analysis of change in maternal deaths should exercise extreme caution when using summed measures in general and the 12-month ending counts in particular.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/jtkqe/" target="_blank">Do abortion bans somehow save pregnant people’s lives? A cautionary research note on trends in maternal death post-Dobbs</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Online Data Collection in Applied Linguistics</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers became resourceful and many transitioned to online methods for remote data collection, suddenly bringing many platforms and methods to prominence in new experimental contexts. As in-person data collection resumed, online data collection remained as these methods have proven particularly useful in the field of applied linguistics and especially Second Language Acquisition (SLA), which often requires researchers to recruit participants who are inherently difficult to find (e.g., individuals proficient in less-commonly taught languages or living in a context far from the researcher’s university). In this chapter, we highlight factors that researchers should consider when implementing online research along with a high-level troubleshooting guide. We cover recruitment, enhancing participant performance, implementation, and deployment. Within these topics, we highlight important technological, procedural, and participant privacy recommendations for visual, aural, and oral online data collection designs specially tailored for applied linguists.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/pxfc4/" target="_blank">Online Data Collection in Applied Linguistics</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Identification of Novel Allosteric Sites of SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like Protease (PLpro) for the Development of COVID-19 Antivirals</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 encode a conserved papain-like protease (PLpro) that is crucial for viral replication and immune evasion, making it a prime target for antiviral drug development. In this study, three surface pockets on SARS-CoV-2 PLpro that may function as sites for allosteric inhibition were computationally identified. To evaluate the effects of these pockets on proteolytic activity, 52 residues were separately mutated to alanine. In Pocket 1, located between the Ubl and thumb domains, the introduction of alanine at T10, D12, T54, Y72, or Y83 reduced PLpro activity to <12% of that of WT. In Pocket 2, situated at the interface of the thumb, fingers, and palm domains, Q237A, S239A, H275A, and S278A inactivated PLpro. Finally, introducing alanine at five residues in Pocket 3, between the fingers and palm domains, inactivated PLpro: S212, Y213, Y251, K254, and Y305. Pocket 1 has a higher druggability score than Pockets 2 and 3. MD simulations showed that interactions within and between domains play critical roles in PLpro activity and thermal stability. The essential residues in Pockets 1 and 2 participate in a combination of intra- and inter-domain interactions. By contrast, the essential residues in Pocket 3 predominantly participate in inter-domain interactions. The most promising targets for therapeutic development are Pockets 1 and 3, which have the highest druggability score and the largest number of essential residues, respectively. Non-competitive inhibitors targeting these pockets may be antiviral agents against COVID-19 and related coronaviruses.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.16.540953v3" target="_blank">Identification of Novel Allosteric Sites of SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like Protease (PLpro) for the Development of COVID-19 Antivirals</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Neural networks built from enzymatic reactions can operate as linear and nonlinear classifiers</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The engineering of molecular programs capable of processing patterns of multi-input biomarkers holds great potential in applications ranging from in vitro diagnostics (e.g., viral detection, including COVID-19) to therapeutic interventions (e.g., discriminating cancer cells from normal cells). For this reason, mechanisms to design molecular networks for pattern recognition are highly sought after. In this work, we explore how enzymatic networks can be used for both linear and nonlinear classification tasks. By leveraging steady-state analysis and showing global stability, we demonstrate that these networks can function as molecular perceptrons, fundamental units of artificial neural networks-capable of processing multiple inputs associated with positive and negative weights to achieve linear classification. Furthermore, by composing orthogonal enzymatic reactions, we show that multi-layer networks can be constructed to achieve nonlinear classification.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.23.586372v1" target="_blank">Neural networks built from enzymatic reactions can operate as linear and nonlinear classifiers</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Neutralisation sensitivity of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.87.1 variant</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Against the backdrop of the rapid global takeover and dominance of BA.1/BA.2 and subsequently BA.2.86 lineages, the emergence of a highly divergent SARS-CoV-2 variant warrants characterization and close monitoring. Recently, another such BA.2 descendent, designated BA.2.87.1, was detected in South Africa. Here, we show using spike-pseudotyped viruses that BA.2.87.1 is less resistant to neutralisation by prevailing antibody responses in Sweden than other currently circulating variants such as JN.1. Further we show that a monovalent XBB.1.5-adapted booster enhanced neutralising antibody titers to BA.2.87.1 by almost 4-fold. While BA.2.87.1 may not outcompete other currently-circulating lineages, the repeated emergence and transmission of highly diverged variants suggests that another large antigenic shift, similar to the replacement by Omicron, may be likely in the future.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.21.586176v1" target="_blank">Neutralisation sensitivity of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.87.1 variant</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Design of Antigen-Specific Antibody CDRH3 Sequences Using AI and Germline-Based Templates</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Antibody-antigen specificity is engendered and refined through a number of complex B cell processes, including germline gene recombination and somatic hypermutation. Here, we present an AI-based technology for de novo generation of antigen-specific antibody CDRH3 sequences using germline-based templates, and validate this technology through the generation of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. AI-based processes that mimic the outcome, but bypass the complexity of natural antibody generation, can be efficient and effective alternatives to traditional experimental approaches for antibody discovery.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.22.586241v1" target="_blank">Design of Antigen-Specific Antibody CDRH3 Sequences Using AI and Germline-Based Templates</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>The influence of COVID-19 fear beliefs on the relationships between positive mood and loss-of-control eating: a ten-day diary study</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Loss-of-control eating (LOCE) is driven by mood, and prevalence increased following onset of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-19 is associated with many stressors, including fear of illness, which could potentiate a relationship between mood and LOCE. Additionally, daily protective strategies to prevent contagion may be associated with LOCE, in line with ego depletion theory. Adults (N = 108) completed a 10-day diary study regarding LOCE, positive and negative mood, and protective behaviors. Participants rated COVID fear beliefs at a baseline assessment, hypothesized to predict LOCE directly between-subjects and have a cross-level interactive effect within-subjects. Data were analyzed with a multilevel model. Negative mood was associated with LOCE at both levels, although protective behaviors evinced no significant associations. Positive mood lacked significant direct association with LOCE, although there was an interactive effect such that there was an inverse association at low fear beliefs. Directions for future research and clinical implications are discussed.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/ta659/" target="_blank">The influence of COVID-19 fear beliefs on the relationships between positive mood and loss-of-control eating: a ten-day diary study</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines boost the capacity of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific memory B cells to cross-recognize Omicron subvariants</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines comprising ancestral Wuhan-Hu-1 (WH1) and the Omicron BA.1 or BA.5 subvariant elicit enhanced serum antibody responses to emerging Omicron subvariants. We characterized the memory B-cell (Bmem) response following a fourth dose with a BA.1 or BA.5 bivalent vaccine, and compared the immunogenicity with a WH1 monovalent fourth dose. Healthcare workers previously immunized with mRNA or adenoviral vector monovalent vaccines were sampled before and one-month after a monovalent, BA.1 or BA.5 bivalent fourth dose COVID-19 vaccine. RBD-specific Bmem were quantified with an in-depth spectral flow cytometry panel including recombinant RBD proteins of the WH1, BA.1, BA.5, BQ.1.1, and XBB.1.5 variants. All recipients had slightly increased WH1 RBD-specific Bmem numbers. Recognition of Omicron subvariants was not enhanced following monovalent vaccination, while both bivalent vaccines significantly increased WH1 RBD-specific Bmem cross-recognition of all Omicron subvariants tested by flow cytometry. Thus, Omicron-based bivalent vaccines can improve recognition of descendent Omicron subvariants by pre-existing, WH1-specific Bmem, beyond that of a conventional, monovalent vaccine. This provides new insights into the capacity of variant-based mRNA booster vaccines to improve immune memory against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.20.585861v1" target="_blank">Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines boost the capacity of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2-specific memory B cells to cross-recognize Omicron subvariants</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Power users: Technology and Canadian sex workers during COVID-19</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
The transition from physical to online advertising by sex workers in Canada has been well documented. However, few studies use rigorous sampling methods. This study considers how a technically sophisticated group of advertisers from a large Canadian sex work classifieds site used multiple online resources to promote or provide services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advertisers qualified for the study if they used a URL as part of their contact information and were actively advertising between August 23 and September 22, 2022. A random sample of 1000 qualifying advertisers were selected of which 783 had accessible contact URLs. Themes were identified in downloaded website texts using grounded theory analysis. Ad metadata was used to identify demographic and behavioral distinctions between the sample and other advertisers. Almost all sampled advertisers (99%) provided in person services and most (70%) provided online services. The sample advertised more frequently, were more affluent and were more likely to be Anglophone, White, trans-female, or provide BDSM services. Themes of security, health, identity, and social networks were identified. Advertisers emphasized physical, emotional, and financial security. Most workers did not work in isolation and many participated in extensive social networks.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/u5kd2/" target="_blank">Power users: Technology and Canadian sex workers during COVID-19</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Predictive validity of the simplified Radiographic Assessment of Lung Edema score for the mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients with the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant in Vietnam: a single-centre, cross-sectional study</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Background Evaluating the prognosis of COVID-19 patients who may be at risk of mortality using the simple chest X-ray (CXR) severity scoring systems provides valuable insights for treatment decisions. This study aimed to assess how well the simplified Radiographic Assessment of Lung Edema (RALE) score could predict the death of critically ill COVID-19 patients in Vietnam. Methods From July 30 to October 15, 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional study on critically ill COVID-19 adult patients at an intensive care centre in Vietnam. We calculated the areas under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve (AUROC) to determine how well the simplified RALE score could predict hospital mortality. In a frontal CXR, the simplified RALE score assigns a score to each lung, ranging from 0 to 4. The overall severity score is the sum of points from both lungs, with a maximum possible score of 8. We also utilized ROC curve analysis to find the best cut-off value for this score. Finally, we utilized logistic regression to identify the association of simplified RALE score with hospital mortality. Results Of 105 patients, 40.0% were men, the median age was 61.0 years (Q1-Q3: 52.0-71.0), and 79.0% of patients died in the hospital. Most patients exhibited bilateral lung opacities on their admission CXRs (99.0%; 100/102), with the highest occurrence of opacity distribution spanning three (18.3%; 19/104) to four quadrants of the lungs (74.0%; 77/104) and a high median simplified RALE score of 8.0 (Q1-Q3: 6.0-8.0). The simplified RALE score (AUROC: 0.747 [95% CI: 0.617-0.877]; cut-off value >=5.5; sensitivity: 93.9%; specificity: 45.5%; PAUROC <0.001) demonstrated a good discriminatory ability in predicting hospital mortality. After adjusting for confounding factors such as age, gender, Charlson Comorbidity Index, serum interleukin-6 level upon admission, and admission severity scoring systems, the simplified RALE score of >=5.5 (adjusted OR: 18.437; 95% CI: 3.215-105.741; p =0.001) was independently associated with an increased risk of hospital mortality. Conclusions This study focused on a highly selected cohort of critically ill COVID-19 patients with a high simplified RALE score and a high mortality rate. Beyond its good discriminatory ability in predicting hospital mortality, the simplified RALE score also emerged as an independent predictor of hospital mortality.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.20.24304599v1" target="_blank">Predictive validity of the simplified Radiographic Assessment of Lung Edema score for the mortality in critically ill COVID-19 patients with the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant in Vietnam: a single-centre, cross-sectional study</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Greater Role of Cognitive Impairment Over Fatigue in Post-COVID-19 Quality of Life: A Post-Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Background Post COVID-19 Condition (PCC) is a common and debilitating condition with significant reports of fatigue and psychosocial impairment globally. The extent to which cognitive symptoms and fatigue contribute to reduced quality of life in affected individuals remains clear. Methods This is a post-hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that evaluated the effect of vortioxetine on cognitive function in adults with PCC. The post-hoc analysis herein aimed to determine the overall effect of baseline cognitive function [as measured by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST)] and baseline fatigue severity [as measured by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS)] on baseline health-related quality of life (HRQoL) [as measured by the 5-item World Health Organisation Well-Being Index (WHO-5)]. Results A total of 200 participants were enrolled in the primary trial. Due to missing baseline data, our statistical analysis included baseline measures of 147 individuals. Our generalized linear model analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between DSST-measured objective cognitive function and self-reported WHO-5-measured HRQoL (beta; = 0.069, 95% CI [0.006, 0.131], p = 0.032). In contrast, our analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between FSS and WHO-5 scores (beta; = -0.016, 95% CI [-0.021, -0.011], p < 0.001). The beta-coefficient ratio (beta;DSST / beta;FSS = 0.069 / 0.016) is calculated as 4.313. Conclusions Overall, we observed that increased cognitive function was associated with increased HRQoL at baseline in adults with PCC. Moreover, we observed that increased severity of fatigue symptoms was associated with decreased HRQoL at baseline in adults with PCC. Furthermore, we observed that an improvement in cognitive function would have a four-fold greater impact on HRQoL than the effect generated by improvement in fatigue.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.20.24304411v1" target="_blank">Greater Role of Cognitive Impairment Over Fatigue in Post-COVID-19 Quality of Life: A Post-Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Improved diagnosis of COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis with cardiac scarring identified by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Aims Myocarditis is a rare but potentially serious complication of COVID-19 vaccination. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging can identify cardiac scar, which may improve diagnostic accuracy and prognostication. We sought to define the incidence of long-term LGE post COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis (C-VAM) and to establish the additive role of CMR in the diagnostic work up. Methods and Results Patients with Brighton Collaboration Criteria Level 1 (definite) or Level 2 (probable) C-VAM were prospectively recruited from the Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC) database to undergo CMR at least 6 months after diagnosis. As there were limited patients with access to baseline CMR, prior CMR results were not included in the initial case definition. The presence of LGE at follow-up CMR was then integrated into the diagnostic algorithm and the reclassification rate (definite vs. probable) was calculated. Sixty-seven patients with C-VAM (mean age 30 +/- 13 years, 72% male) underwent CMR evaluation. Median time from vaccination to CMR was 548 (range 398-603) days. Twenty patients (30%) had persistent LGE. At diagnosis, nine patients (13%) were classified as definite and 58 (87%) as probable myocarditis. With integration of CMR LGE data, 16 patients (28%) were reclassified from probable to definite myocarditis. Conclusion Persistent LGE on CMR occurs in one third of patients with C-VAM. Without CMR at the time of diagnosis, almost one third of patients are misclassified as probable rather than definite myocarditis, indicating a diagnostic strategy using echocardiography alone is insufficient.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.20.24304640v1" target="_blank">Improved diagnosis of COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis with cardiac scarring identified by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Modulation of Biophysical Properties of Nucleocapsid Protein in the Mutant Spectrum of SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
Genetic diversity is a hallmark of RNA viruses and the basis for their evolutionary success. Taking advantage of the uniquely large genomic database of SARS-CoV-2, we examine the impact of mutations across the spectrum of viable amino acid sequences on the biophysical phenotypes of the highly expressed and multifunctional nucleocapsid protein. We find variation in the physicochemical parameters of its extended intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) sufficient to allow local plasticity, but also exhibiting functional constraints that similarly occur in related coronaviruses. In biophysical experiments with several N-protein species carrying mutations associated with major variants, we find that point mutations in the IDRs can have nonlocal impact and modulate thermodynamic stability, secondary structure, protein oligomeric state, particle formation, and liquid-liquid phase separation. In the Omicron variant, distant mutations in different IDRs have compensatory effects in shifting a delicate balance of interactions controlling protein assembly properties, and include the creation of a new protein-protein interaction interface in the N-terminal IDR through the defining P13L mutation. A picture emerges where genetic diversity is accompanied by significant variation in biophysical characteristics of functional N-protein species, in particular in the IDRs.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.21.568093v2" target="_blank">Modulation of Biophysical Properties of Nucleocapsid Protein in the Mutant Spectrum of SARS-CoV-2</a>
|
||||||
|
</div></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 infection activates inflammatory macrophages in vascular immune organoids</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
SARS-CoV-2 provokes devastating tissue damage by cytokine release syndrome and leads to multi-organ failure. Modeling the process of immune cell activation and subsequent tissue damage is a significant task. Organoids from human tissues advanced our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanisms though, they are missing crucial components: immune cells and endothelial cells. This study aims to generate organoids with these components. We established vascular immune organoids from human pluripotent stem cells and examined the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We demonstrated that infections activated inflammatory macrophages. Notably, the upregulation of interferon signaling supports macrophages role in cytokine release syndrome. We propose vascular immune organoids are a useful platform to model and discover factors that ameliorate SARS-CoV-2-mediated cytokine release syndrome.
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
|
||||||
|
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.20.585837v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 infection activates inflammatory macrophages in vascular immune organoids</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>Reducing Chronic Breathlessness in Adults by Following a Self-guided, Internet Based Supportive Intervention (SELF-BREATHE)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Advanced Respiratory Disease; Chronic Breathlessness Due to Advanced Respiratory Disease; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; Bronchiectasis; Interstitial Lung Disease; Lung Cancer; Asthma; Chronic Fibrotic Lung Disease Following SARS-CoV2 Infection <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: SELF-BREATHE <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: King’s College Hospital NHS Trust <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>Valacyclovir Plus Celecoxib for Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; PASC Post Acute Sequelae of COVID 19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Valacyclovir celecoxib dose 1; Drug: Valacyclovir celecoxib dose 2; Drug: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Bateman Horne Center <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>Supervised Computerized Active Program for People With Post-COVID Syndrome (SuperCAP Study)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-COVID Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: SuperCAP Program <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Fundación FLS de Lucha Contra el Sida, las Enfermedades Infecciosas y la Promoción de la Salud y la Ciencia; Institut de Recerca de la SIDA IrsiCaixa; Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital <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>Utilizing Novel Blood RNA Biomarkers as a Diagnostic Tool in the Identification of Long COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: RNA Biomarker Blood Test <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: MaxWell Clinic, PLC <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>Home-Based Circuit Training in Overweight/Obese Older Adult Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis and Type 2 Diabetes</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Aerobic Exercise; Strength Training; Glycemic Control; Blood Pressure; Oxidative Stress; Metabolic Syndrome <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: 12-week home-based circuit training (HBCT); Behavioral: Standard of care (CONT) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman 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>SVF for Treating Pulmonary Fibrosis Post COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Pulmonary Fibrosis <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Autologous adipose-derived SVF IV administration <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Michael H Carstens; Ministerio de Salud de Nicaragua; Wake Forest University; National Autonomous University of Nicaragua <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>RECOVER-AUTONOMIC Platform Protocol</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; Long Covid19; Long Covid-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: IVIG + Coordinated Care; Drug: IVIG Placebo + Coordinated Care; Drug: Ivabradine + Coordinated Care; Drug: Ivabradine Placebo + Coordinated Care; Drug: IVIG + Usual Care; Drug: IVIG Placebo + Usual Care; Drug: Ivabradine + Usual Care; Drug: Ivabradine Placebo + Usual Care <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Kanecia Obie Zimmerman <br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</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>RECOVER-AUTONOMIC: Platform Protocol, Appendix B (Ivabradine)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; Long Covid19; Long Covid-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Ivabradine; Drug: Ivabradine Placebo; Behavioral: Coordinated Care; Behavioral: Usual Care <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Kanecia Obie Zimmerman <br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</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>RECOVER-AUTONOMIC: Platform Protocol, Appendix A (IVIG)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; Long Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid19); Long Covid-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin); Drug: IVIG Placebo; Behavioral: Coordinated Care; Behavioral: Usual Care <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Kanecia Obie Zimmerman <br/><b>Enrolling by invitation</b></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>
|
||||||
|
|
@ -0,0 +1,513 @@
|
||||||
|
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
||||||
|
<html lang="" xml:lang="" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head>
|
||||||
|
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="pandoc" name="generator"/>
|
||||||
|
<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
|
||||||
|
<title>25 March, 2024</title>
|
||||||
|
<style>
|
||||||
|
code{white-space: pre-wrap;}
|
||||||
|
span.smallcaps{font-variant: small-caps;}
|
||||||
|
span.underline{text-decoration: underline;}
|
||||||
|
div.column{display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; width: 50%;}
|
||||||
|
div.hanging-indent{margin-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;}
|
||||||
|
ul.task-list{list-style: none;}
|
||||||
|
</style>
|
||||||
|
<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
|
||||||
|
<body>
|
||||||
|
<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 Have Fourteen Years of Conservative Rule Done to Britain?</strong> - Living standards have fallen. The country is exhausted by constant drama. But the U.K. can’t move on from the Tories without facing up to the damage that has occurred. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/what-have-fourteen-years-of-conservative-rule-done-to-britain">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lila Neugebauer Interrogates the Ghosts of “Uncle Vanya”</strong> - A director of the modern uncanny steers the first Broadway production of Chekhov’s masterpiece in twenty years. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/lila-neugebauer-profile-theatre">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bryan Stevenson Reclaims the Monument, in the Heart of the Deep South</strong> - The civil-rights attorney has created a museum, a memorial, and, now, a sculpture park, indicting the city of Montgomery—a former capital of the domestic slave trade and the cradle of the Confederacy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/bryan-stevenson-reclaims-the-monument-in-the-heart-of-the-deep-south">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Dutch Architect’s Vision of Cities That Float on Water</strong> - What if building on the water could be safer and sturdier than building on flood-prone land? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/a-dutch-architects-vision-of-cities-that-float-on-water">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Quinta Brunson Hacked the Sitcom with “Abbott Elementary”</strong> - With “Abbott Elementary,” the comedian and writer found fresh humor and mass appeal in a world she knew well. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/25/quinta-brunson-profile">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Gaza’s risk of famine is accelerating faster than anything we’ve seen this century</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="Two men, their faces not shown, ladle food from a large metal pot into a small plastic container held by a child in a pink jacket. Behind the child, many wait in line for food." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iv-TbOEqHKXbQ2ZXcXq5FwJXazI=/160x0:2720x1920/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73230792/2097701469.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Displaced Palestinians collect food donated by a charity before an iftar meal, the breaking of the fast during Ramadan, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on March 22, 2024. | Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Everyone in Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger. It’s entirely preventable.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DElPIW">
|
||||||
|
Every resident of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a> is at risk of crisis levels of food insecurity — and half are at risk of famine.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GKMGoV">
|
||||||
|
Yes, you read that right: Nearly six months into the Israeli invasion after the October 7 attacks, every single Gaza resident is at risk of at least crisis-level food insecurity — defined as households having high levels of malnutrition or resorting to “irreversible” coping mechanisms like selling livestock or furniture to afford even an insufficient diet.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qnFbiS">
|
||||||
|
It’s a crisis that has unfolded at a speed utterly unprecedented this century — and also one that was <a href="https://www.wfpusa.org/news-release/gaza-grapples-catastrophic-hunger-new-report-predicts-famine/">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/lack-of-food-in-gaza-creating-risk-of-famine/">predicted</a> and entirely avoidable if <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a> were not placing <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-agrees-to-finally-release-american-flour-shipment-for-gaza-says-us-official/">severe</a> <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-israels-inspection-process-is-obstructing-aid-delivery">restrictions on aid</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t7CDba">
|
||||||
|
It comes as the United Nations Security Council vetoed yet another <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/03/22/us-ceasefire-resolution-veto-un-security-council">draft resolution</a> calling for an immediate ceasefire on Friday that, for the first time since the start of the war, had the backing of the US.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="moOGIR">
|
||||||
|
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the primary organization tracking food insecurity worldwide, defines five levels of food insecurity: Phase 1 (minimal), Phase 2 (stressed), Phase 3 (crisis), Phase 4 (emergency), and finally, Phase 5 (famine). More than 1 million people in Gaza could face famine by mid-July if a Rafah escalation occurs, according to a <a href="https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-97/en/">new IPC report</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Luwm49">
|
||||||
|
Soon, “more than 200 people [will be] dying from starvation per day,” a UN aid spokesperson <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-human-rights-chief-israels-extensive-restrictions-on-gaza-aid-may-be-war-crime/">told reporters last week</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sPJNn4czuZjmZNjlYpfsjMUouZc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25350437/oyk9t_famine_is_looming_in_gaza__1__720.png"/>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k2P7yq">
|
||||||
|
Prior to the October 7 attacks on Israel, the Israeli government tightly controlled the flow of goods entering Gaza, having ramped up oversight since <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a> took over the territory in 2007 and created what many <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/gaza-israel-occupied-international-law/">international law experts call a de facto occupation</a>. Then, two days after the Hamas attacks, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/09/middleeast/israel-gaza-hamas-fighting-monday-intl-hnk/index.html">ordered a “complete siege” on Gaza</a>, barring fuel, food, water, and <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/page/gaza-strip-electricity-supply">electricity</a> from entering the territory. (Siege warfare against an occupied territory is <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/10/24/23930269/israel-hamas-gaza-palestine-occupation-zionism-displacement">illegal under international law</a>.) While Israel later allowed limited <a href="https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZTVkYmEwNmMtZWYxNy00ODhlLWI2ZjctNjIzMzQ5OGQxNzY5IiwidCI6IjI2MmY2YTQxLTIwZTktNDE0MC04ZDNlLWZkZjVlZWNiNDE1NyIsImMiOjl9&pageName=ReportSection3306863add46319dc574">supplies, including food</a> and <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/medical-aid-for-hostages-gazans-to-be-inspected-in-israel-after-pm-sparks-firestorm/">medical aid</a>, to enter Gaza, and <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/siege-gazas-water">minimal sources of clean water</a> have been restored, none of these necessities are near the level that they were before the war started.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2mCeUO">
|
||||||
|
Though the Israeli government, through its official channels and to Vox, <a href="https://twitter.com/cogatonline/status/1770163231090196680">denies the possibility of famine in Gaza and disputes numbers released in the IPC report</a>, facts on the ground show increasing desperation for the people of Gaza.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8V2nyU">
|
||||||
|
“If you cut off food, water, and power to a population that is fully dependent on importing, this is what you get,” Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, told Vox in an interview. “I mean, that is just math.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="KtsqT2">
|
||||||
|
Experts have warned about this crisis since the beginning of the war
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="01NGqO">
|
||||||
|
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/25/un-report-80-per-cent-of-gaza-inhabitants-relied-on-international-aid-before-war">Around 80 percent of people in Gaza relied on humanitarian aid</a> prior to the invasion, putting them in an already vulnerable position.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VHlYQ2">
|
||||||
|
And even a month into the Israeli invasion, there were many indications that hunger was spreading very rapidly in Gaza, Konyndyk said. According to reports from <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/wfp-palestine-emergency-response-external-situation-report-9-18-november-2023">the World Food Program</a>, by mid-November only 10 percent of the necessary food items were reaching Gaza through the Rafah border with Egypt, which at the time was the only open border crossing.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Ny7tM">
|
||||||
|
The amount of aid that has entered since has been irregular and is not nearly enough to sustain the population regardless.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CdQ8hK">
|
||||||
|
“One-fourth of calories needed is what’s getting in,” <a href="https://engineering.jhu.edu/faculty/takeru-igusa/">Tak Igusa</a>, professor of civil and systems engineering at Johns Hopkins University, a contributor to a <a href="https://gaza-projections.org/">joint Johns Hopkins and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine report</a> on death projections in Gaza due to the war, told Vox. “So just imagine having one-fourth of what you usually eat for such a long duration. And it’s getting worse.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3tyHHB">
|
||||||
|
The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military unit charged with overseeing civilian matters in Gaza and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080034/west-bank-israel-palestinians">West Bank</a>, told Vox in a statement that it does not block entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pDQ00C">
|
||||||
|
While Israel is no longer maintaining an all-out blockade as a matter of policy, accounts from NGOs on the ground show that in practice Israel prevents huge amounts of aid from entering.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TPnc8T">
|
||||||
|
Oxfam <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/18/israel-deliberately-blocking-medical-aid-from-gaza-oxfam-report-warns#:~:text=Aid%20trucks%20are%20waiting%20an,warnings%20of%20impending%20famine%20rise.&text=Israel%20is%20using%20bureaucracy%20to,into%20Gaza%2C%20Oxfam%20has%20claimed.">published a report</a> this week accusing Israel of deliberately doing so, with aid trucks waiting an average of 20 days to enter and Israel rejecting a warehouse’s worth of supplies, including oxygen, incubators, water, and sanitation equipment.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UhHN8W">
|
||||||
|
<a href="https://twitter.com/1james_elder?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">James Elder</a>, a spokesperson for UNICEF, described to Vox witnessing plentiful aid, ready and waiting to cross into the region — then seeing only a dozen trucks cross through.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<aside id="QLjogN">
|
||||||
|
<div>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
</aside>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NzmSWc">
|
||||||
|
Ciarán Donnelly, the International Rescue Committee’s senior vice president for crisis, response, recovery, and development, told Vox that the organization’s partners on the ground tasked with delivering medical supplies and food to Gaza have experienced delays due to Israel’s “<a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/siege-and-starvation-how-israel-obstructs-aid-to-gaza/">complicated, burdensome system of often arbitrary checks</a> on supplies that are being brought in across the land border through Rafah.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SylipZ">
|
||||||
|
“It has taken us an inordinate amount of time to be able to get those supplies in,” he said, even if the process has sped up somewhat recently.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3cm0Hq">
|
||||||
|
COGAT said that it requires a permit to bring in certain “dual-use equipment” intended for civilian use but that could be repurposed for military purposes. Food products are not included in the list of such equipment and are admitted to Gaza after screening without a permit, the agency said. But <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-96-enarhe">water testing kits and chlorine</a>, which is necessary for treating water, have been restricted, and there are reports that at least some food items, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/01/middleeast/gaza-aid-israel-restrictions-investigation-intl-cmd/index.html">including dates</a>, have also been caught in bureaucratic limbo.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lOsZr7">
|
||||||
|
COGAT said that Israel has worked hard to improve its security screening capacity, but that “it appears that the most significant hurdle in the way of delivering the humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip residents is the United Nations organizations’ capacity to collect and distribute the humanitarian aid inside the Gaza Strip.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zh1mHh">
|
||||||
|
But the UN, and particularly the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, has been a target of Israel for years for its perceived anti-Israel bias. UNWRA has recently been <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/21/us-congressional-leaders-propose-spending-bill-that-would-cut-unrwa-funding#:~:text=The%20funding%20bill%20says%20US,has%20been%20UNRWA's%20largest%20donor.">defunded by the US</a> and other major donor countries over allegations that some of its workers participated in the October 7 attacks. That has real consequences: UNWRA is the “mainstay of aid administration in Gaza and it’s not possible to replace it,” Donnelly said, adding that any of the organization’s workers suspected of engaging in violence should be investigated.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EFWDma">
|
||||||
|
The fighting has also made distribution difficult, with the bombardment of infrastructure — including food infrastructure such as bakeries and flour mills — and the attacks on civilians and aid operations, Donnelly said. Israel has also accused Hamas of stealing aid; however, the US envoy overseeing the delivery of aid <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-envoy-israel-hasnt-provided-specific-evidence-hamas-is-stealing-aid-shipments/#:~:text=The%20top%20US%20diplomat%20involved,diversion%20or%20theft%20of%20assistance.%E2%80%9D">said in February</a> that Israel had provided “no specific evidence of diversion or theft of assistance.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="CmOTav">
|
||||||
|
Famines were supposed to be in decline worldwide — but not in Gaza
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1SdNxJ">
|
||||||
|
The speed at which Gaza has reached its current depth of food insecurity is practically unheard of in the 21st century.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1GIDCv">
|
||||||
|
“I can’t think of another situation in which you have the entire population of an area in this level of food insecurity in such a short space of time,” Donnelly said.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fnce9E">
|
||||||
|
Famines have become rarer because the world produces far more food than is necessary to feed the global population, and humanitarian networks have stepped up to address gaps in access. Though the world is starting to see the effects of <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a> driving global hunger, most modern famines <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/2/1/24055829/gaza-israel-conflict-hunger-famine-starvation-sudan">tend to have political causes</a>. Those include wars and authoritarian rule, which can magnify the destructive effects of <a href="https://www.vox.com/natural-disaster">natural disasters</a> on the food supply.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a1ch3g">
|
||||||
|
The IPC has only officially <a href="https://www.ipcinfo.org/famine-facts/en/">designated two famines</a> since its founding in 2004: the 2011 famine in Somalia and the 2017 famine in South Sudan. But there have also been more recent food crises that threatened to become famines.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TqB9UL">
|
||||||
|
Somalia, for example, was again on the brink of famine in 2022 and 2023. An escalating decades-long conflict made the country increasingly reliant on grain imports from <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a> and Ukraine, where <a href="https://www.vox.com/23171151/ukraine-grain-wheat-russia-black-sea-odesa-food-crisis">supply chains have been disrupted</a> due to the ongoing war there. Humanitarian workers have faced difficulty reaching certain parts of Somalia controlled by armed insurgent groups where there were reports of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/al-qaida-africa-somalia-shabab-877f395a05f4f7c7e4cc6233fb9dafe9">food deliveries being burned</a> and water sources being poisoned or eliminated.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HxtwGA">
|
||||||
|
Those human-made problems compounded the effects of Somalia’s <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/somalia-in-need-of-humanitarian-aid-as-it-faces-worst-drought-in-decades">worst drought in 40 years</a> and the later <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/death-toll-flooding-somalia-climbs-nearly-100-2023-11-25/">severe flooding</a> that displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Though the situation has improved, nearly a quarter of Somalia’s population is still facing <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-monthly-humanitarian-update-january-2024#:~:text=While%20the%20number%20of%20food,acutely%20food%20insecure%20in%202024.">acute food insecurity in 2024</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ph4nFl">
|
||||||
|
Unlike in Somalia, however, the looming famine in Gaza has no natural causes.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZB53AW">
|
||||||
|
The share of <a href="https://www.vox.com/palestine">Palestinians</a> in Gaza facing the highest levels of food insecurity as defined by the IPC system makes this one of the worst acute hunger crises in recent memory. Even at the peak of the crisis in Somalia and amid the ongoing <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-yemen">civil war in Yemen</a>, there was not such a high concentration of people experiencing crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity and famine.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
||||||
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lyJ_1oq5vrEsbpY0nLcHt9PbuT8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25350454/6mdUJ_food_insecurity_in_gaza_is_already_exceptionally_dire__1_.png"/>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="Y3jdBg">
|
||||||
|
Famine in Gaza would lead to even more death
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VdPN4h">
|
||||||
|
If the food insecurity crisis continues on its current trajectory, more Palestinians in Gaza will die of hunger. There is also the threat of infectious diseases, which should be easily preventable, attacking the weakened immune systems of hungry people.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2g6oAT">
|
||||||
|
“What happens after famine is really simple: People die in very large numbers,” Donnelly said. “The cause of deaths will start to shift. Whereas the majority of the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/29/1234159514/gaza-death-toll-30000-palestinians-israel-hamas-war#:~:text=Gaza's%20health%20ministry%20said%20Thursday,the%20most%20reliable%20one%20available.">31,000 deaths</a> so far have been from the conflict, what we will see is not just large numbers of people dying of hunger, but dying of preventable diseases, particularly children.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SDzskH">
|
||||||
|
Those diseases include diarrhea, pneumonia, measles, cholera, and meningitis — “diseases that people don’t need to be dying from in the 21st century,” he added. Similarly, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/report-43-000-died-in-2022-somalia-droughts-/7013766.html">some of the 43,000 excess deaths</a> that occurred during Somalia’s droughts in 2022 were likely from such diseases.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QdL7so">
|
||||||
|
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University <a href="https://gaza-projections.org/gaza_projections_report.pdf">project</a> that by August, absent a ceasefire, the number of excess deaths in Gaza — including from disease outbreaks — could reach 67,000 and potentially exceed 85,000 if there’s an escalation in the conflict. And an escalation seems likely: Israeli Prime Minister <a href="https://www.vox.com/23910085/netanyahu-israel-right-hamas-gaza-war-history">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> claims he has no choice but to order an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/19/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-rafah-offensive.html">imminent ground invasion</a> of Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost region.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fbkxhk">
|
||||||
|
The Johns Hopkins researchers also estimate that as many as 46 percent of children in Gaza between the ages of 6 months and 5 years could suffer from malnutrition by August. That would represent a nearly 16-fold increase from the prewar rate of malnutrition.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Xzamva">
|
||||||
|
NGOs, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/19/un-israeli-restrictions-gaza-food-aid-war-crime-hunger">the United Nations</a>, and <a href="https://time.com/6552740/gaza-israel-starvation-hunger/">international law experts</a> have warned that Israel’s direct role in Gaza’s acute hunger crisis <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/89403/the-siege-of-gaza-and-the-starvation-war-crime/">could amount to a war crime</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JBlUvj">
|
||||||
|
The <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Biden administration</a> has insisted to its ally Israel that more humanitarian aid must be allowed into Gaza and, absent its cooperation, is coordinating airdrops of food into Gaza and <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3702071/dod-to-construct-pier-to-deliver-humanitarian-aid-to-gaza/#:~:text=The%20Department%20of%20Defense%20will,day%2C%20the%20Pentagon%20announced%20today.">constructing a port</a> on the coast to facilitate international aid shipments by sea — moves that will provide some small help, but that some critics say simply cannot match the scale and immediacy of the need.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sOHAlm">
|
||||||
|
“The airdrops and the recent amount of food coming in through World Central Kitchen — every little bit helps,” <a href="https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/664/paul-b-spiegel">Paul Spiegel</a>, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, told Vox. But “the US plan to have a pier — that may take another four to six or even eight weeks to develop that. It’s too long. And so to address the extreme situation right now, there needs to be a massive amount of trucks coming in and it can only be through land.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C7GdZm">
|
||||||
|
After vetoing multiple ceasefire proposals in the UN Security Council, the US on Thursday <a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-us-vote-gaza-ceasefire-resolution-f6453803b3eacc9fbaa2ce5a025e2a94">proposed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire</a>; it failed during a Friday vote, vetoed by Russia and <a href="https://www.vox.com/china">China</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LEmLbL">
|
||||||
|
While that presents a significant shift in US policy over the nearly six months of the war, the White House has failed to use the real, powerful leverage it has to push for a ceasefire or even more aid — leverage that could include curtailing weapons shipments and funding to Israel, as many advocates have pointed out.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VGWqSn">
|
||||||
|
“The US has resorted to these expensive, complicated, frankly desperate workarounds to get aid into Gaza and to be seen as getting aid into Gaza,” <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/93589/no-military-assistance-to-states-restricting-aid/">Brian Finucane</a>, senior adviser for the US program at the International Crisis Group, told Vox.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z3taKU">
|
||||||
|
And what limited pressure the US has put on Israel does not appear to be dissuading Netanyahu’s government from proceeding with a likely incursion into Rafah. If that does happen, things are only likely to get worse, meaning more preventable deaths.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SoMSB5">
|
||||||
|
“So many, many warnings have been made,” Elder said. “And history will judge very, very poorly those who had the decision-making power — and we must be very clear, children are suffering, children are dying, dehydrating to death, because of decisions made by those in power. Children’s pain is avoidable. Their loss is avoidable.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="72xJBF">
|
||||||
|
<em>A version of this story was featured in Vox’s daily flagship newsletter, </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast"><em>Today, Explained</em></a><em>. If you’re interested in receiving more stories like it — plus all the day’s key news — </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/pages/today-explained-newsletter-signup"><em><strong>sign up here</strong></em></a><em>.</em>
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sANmNw">
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ArNb5b">
|
||||||
|
</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>The Supreme Court will weigh in on the January 6 insurrection. What could possibly go wrong?</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="People yelling and running down a hall inside the Capitol." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wWK_UOMz3qLHe2OpSotxWyxxxrg=/300x0:5096x3597/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73230762/GettyImages_1230455089.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Trump supporters attack the US Capitol during the January 6, 2021, insurrection. | Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
The Court’s decision could potentially undermine over 300 January 6 prosecutions, including Trump’s.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zxcdKD">
|
||||||
|
According to the Justice Department, Joseph Fischer texted his boss before the January 6 insurrection to tell him that he might need to post bail. The accused insurrectionist also allegedly warned that the protest at the US Capitol “might get violent,” and he allegedly wrote that “they should storm the capital and drag all the democrates [sic] into the street and have a mob trial.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B2DvPK">
|
||||||
|
When the day of the insurrection came, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-5572/301794/20240228194101353_23-5572bsUnitedStates.pdf">Fischer allegedly yelled “Charge!”</a> before running and crashing into a line of police inside the Capitol. The Justice Department says that video footage “shows at least one police officer on the ground after [Fischer’s] assault.” Fischer was only in the Capitol for four minutes, according to the DOJ, before he was “forcibly removed.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zsZvhg">
|
||||||
|
Fischer was arrested after the FBI identified him based on a video he posted on <a href="https://www.vox.com/facebook">Facebook</a> that showed him inside the Capitol on January 6.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ok3mJe">
|
||||||
|
More than three years later, however, Fischer has yet to be tried. The criminal proceeding against him has been tied up in appeals after a Trump-appointed trial judge ruled that one of the criminal laws Fischer is charged with violating must be read very narrowly. That ruling is now being reviewed by the <a href="https://www.vox.com/scotus">Supreme Court</a>, in a case called <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/fischer-v-united-states/"><em>Fischer v. United States</em></a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="olBukV">
|
||||||
|
The Supreme Court will hear this case next month.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1izQHE">
|
||||||
|
The statute at issue in <em>Fischer</em> provides that anyone who “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64">obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so</a>” commits a serious federal crime and can be imprisoned for up to 20 years. (In practice, someone convicted under this statute will likely receive far less than a 20-year sentence. Federal judges normally <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/5/2/5672196/congress-reduce-drug-sentences-inaction-sentencing-commission-guidelines-reform">rely on guidelines written by the US Sentencing Commission</a> when handing down criminal penalties, rather than mechanically issuing the maximum sentence.)
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BndXgT">
|
||||||
|
According to the Justice Department, “<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-5572/301794/20240228194101353_23-5572bsUnitedStates.pdf">approximately 330 defendants have been charged with violating</a>” this statute after the January 6 insurrection. <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf">One of them is Donald Trump</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VuQW9z">
|
||||||
|
Many of these defendants, including Fischer and Trump, have also been charged under other criminal statutes. And the approximately 330 defendants charged with obstructing an official proceeding are <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-5572/301794/20240228194101353_23-5572bsUnitedStates.pdf">only about a quarter of all January 6 defendants</a>. So, if the Supreme Court embraces <em>Fischer</em>’s narrow reading of the obstruction law, that would undermine many January 6 prosecutions, but it is unlikely to sabotage the entire effort to bring the insurrectionists to justice.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="28Wd9l">
|
||||||
|
The overwhelming majority of judges have read the obstruction statute broadly enough to encompass the January 6 defendants. As the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64">noted in its opinion</a> saying that Fischer could be charged under this statute, several federal appellate courts “have applied the statute to reach a wide range of obstructive acts.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jx1EM3">
|
||||||
|
Similarly, of the 15 federal trial judges who’d heard January 6 cases, “no fewer than fourteen district judges in this jurisdiction have adopted the broad reading of the statute urged by the government to uphold the prosecution of defendants who allegedly participated in the Capitol riot.” Of these 15 judges, only Judge Carl Nichols, the judge who heard Fischer’s case, disagreed with this consensus view.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JVsrtx">
|
||||||
|
Meanwhile, one other judge, <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64">Trump appointee Gregory Katsas</a>, dissented from the DC Circuit’s decision. So that’s two judges against the overwhelming consensus of their colleagues. Katsas’s and Nichols’s view is hard to summarize, but they argue that the obstruction statute applies “only to acts that affect the integrity or availability of evidence,” such as if Fischer had impeded a government proceeding by destroying a document.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3Pofmt">
|
||||||
|
In any event, a critical mass of the justices apparently felt that the Katsas and Nichols arguments were persuasive enough that this question should be reviewed by the Supreme Court. And so the Court will now weigh whether to accept the mainstream view of the obstruction statute or the outlier view embraced by two of Trump’s judges.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="6OQzmM">
|
||||||
|
The two competing readings of the obstruction statute, explained
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mwTveA">
|
||||||
|
To understand the two competing interpretations of the obstruction statute, it’s helpful to be familiar with its <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1512">full text</a>. It provides that:
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oyTVL3">
|
||||||
|
</p><ol start="3" type="a">
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">Whoever corruptly—
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QUIOpu">
|
||||||
|
</p><ol type="1">
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding; or
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5zpilp">
|
||||||
|
</p><ol start="2" type="1">
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so,
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"></p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sxoPSJ">
|
||||||
|
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</li></ol></li></ol></li></ol></blockquote>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kJHBtm">
|
||||||
|
Much of the disagreement between judges who read the statute broadly and judges like Nichols and Katsas turns on the proper meaning of the word “otherwise.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EPGjto">
|
||||||
|
As the DC Circuit held in its opinion adopting DOJ’s reading of the statute, “the word ‘otherwise’ has been given its common meaning of ‘<a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64">in a different manner</a>’ when used in similarly structured statutes.” So subsection (1) covers obstruction of a government proceeding involving documents, while subsection (2) covers obstruction of such a proceeding that is achieved through some means other than destroying or manipulating a document.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jmO9zX">
|
||||||
|
Judge Katsas, meanwhile, <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64">read the word “otherwise” to mean the opposite</a>. In his dissent, he accuses the Justice Department of “dubiously read[ing] <em>otherwise</em> to mean ‘in a manner different from,’ rather than ‘in a manner similar to.’” So, under Katsas’s reading of this word, subsection (2) only covers obstruction that is similar to destruction or manipulation of a document. It doesn’t cover a violent attempt to shut down a congressional proceeding by storming the Capitol.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LiOkZc">
|
||||||
|
As Judge Florence Pan, the author of the DC Circuit’s <em>Fischer</em> decision, notes in her opinion, Katsas’s reading of this word “otherwise” is <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64">at odds with at least two dictionaries</a>. She quotes from the <em>Oxford English Dictionary</em>’s definition of the word (“[i]n another way or ways; in a different manner; by other means; in other words; differently”) and from <em>Black’s Law Dictionary’s </em>definition (“[i]n a different manner; in another way, or in other ways”).
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vW3DZ1">
|
||||||
|
Yet, while Katsas’s reading of the obstruction statute is counterintuitive, it is less ridiculous than it might seem. The Supreme Court has sometimes said that seemingly unambiguous statutes can be read in ways that are, well, not the same way that an ordinary English speaker would read the law’s text. In their <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-5572/299098/20240129162026723_Fischer%20Opening%20Merits%20Brief.pdf">brief</a>, Fischer’s lawyers rely heavily on a Supreme Court decision that did so.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="22PjHd">
|
||||||
|
<a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3213681007315665467&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr"><em>Yates v. United States</em></a> (2015) concerned a criminal statute that targets anyone who “knowingly alters, destroys, mutilates, conceals, covers up, falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record, document, or tangible object” with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation or proceeding.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gjp5yn">
|
||||||
|
The defendant was a commercial fisherman who caught undersized red groupers, then ordered a crew member to toss these fish overboard “to prevent federal authorities from confirming that he had harvested undersized fish.” The question in <em>Yates</em> was whether these undersized fish are a “tangible object” within the meaning of the federal statute.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qpqf04">
|
||||||
|
This question divided the justices into three different camps, and not along familiar partisan lines. Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, wrote a dissent for herself and three of her Republican colleagues, arguing that the term “tangible object” should be given its ordinary meaning: “physical objects,” including fish.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9ciycY">
|
||||||
|
Meanwhile, liberal <a href="https://www.vox.com/21446222/ruth-bader-ginsburg-death-dead-supreme-court">Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg</a> wrote the Court’s lead opinion for herself and a bipartisan group of three other justices, arguing that the words accompanying “tangible object,” which deal with records and documents, matter.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EPB1dT">
|
||||||
|
According to Ginsburg, a court should “avoid ascribing to one word a meaning so broad that it is inconsistent with its accompanying words,” and thus the term “tangible object” should be read “to refer, not to any tangible object, but specifically to the subset of tangible objects involving records and documents.” (Justice Samuel Alito wrote a brief tiebreaking opinion, which concluded that the question in <em>Yates</em> “is close” but that largely agreed with Ginsburg’s reading of the statute.)
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8j3ULe">
|
||||||
|
In any event, Fischer’s lawyers <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-5572/299098/20240129162026723_Fischer%20Opening%20Merits%20Brief.pdf">argue that his case is similar to <em>Yates</em></a>. So, just as Justice Ginsburg determined that the term “tangible object” must be read similarly to “its accompanying words,” Team Fischer argues that the phrase “otherwise obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding” must be read similarly to subsection (1)’s reference to “a record, document, or other object.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="edrMJC">
|
||||||
|
Is that a persuasive argument? Well, again, the overwhelming majority of judges to consider the obstruction statute have rejected a narrow reading and have read subsection (2) in the same way an ordinary English speaker would read it.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6lkgB1">
|
||||||
|
But <em>Yates</em>, at least, demonstrates how courts can sometimes read seemingly unambiguous statutory provisions in counterintuitive ways. And it potentially provides a roadmap for justices who want to write an opinion giving aid and comfort to the January 6 defendants.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<h3 id="Ye6bj7">
|
||||||
|
The Supreme Court may also home in on the obstruction statute’s use of the word “corruptly”
|
||||||
|
</h3>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OeWXxW">
|
||||||
|
The third judge on the DC Circuit panel was also a Trump appointee, Justin Walker. Unlike Katsas, however, Walker did not attempt to read the obstruction statute to exonerate January 6 defendants. Instead, Walker focused on the statute’s language saying that it only applies to someone who “corruptly” seeks to obstruct an official proceeding.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K1hp1r">
|
||||||
|
Walker worried that, if the word “corruptly” were read too broadly, then the obstruction statute could potentially be read to encompass “lawful attempts to ‘influence’ congressional proceedings,” such as “protests or lobbying.” To prevent this outcome, Walker argued that the word “corruptly” should be defined to mean that a defendant acted “with an intent to <a href="https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-fischer-64">procure an unlawful benefit either for himself or for some other person</a>.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ypaZJz">
|
||||||
|
This interpretation should not hinder any January 6 prosecutions as the whole point of the January 6 insurrection was to procure an unlawful benefit for <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>: a second presidential term. But it is possible that some of the justices will share Walker’s concern that the obstruction statute can be read too broadly and interpret the word “corruptly” to eliminate this problem.
|
||||||
|
</p></li>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<li><strong>Congress can’t get anything done. Except on foreign aid.</strong> -
|
||||||
|
<figure>
|
||||||
|
<img alt="U.S. Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz (R-FL) talks to Reps.-elect Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Joe Neguse (D-CO) and other Democratic members in the House Chamber during the third day of elections for Speaker of the House at the US Capitol Building on January 5, 2023 in Washington, DC" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mLAY04RD71f_cMtLDeuA3Lm4iog=/613x0:5525x3684/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73229121/1454483238.0.jpg"/>
|
||||||
|
<figcaption>
|
||||||
|
Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA), center, is sponsoring the Locally-Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act, which passed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 20. | Win McNamee/Getty Images
|
||||||
|
</figcaption>
|
||||||
|
</figure>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Major reform on how the US gives money to other countries is breezing through the House with bipartisan support.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sVYc5c">
|
||||||
|
Today’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a> is not exactly a well-oiled machine. Even <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/12/27/24012615/house-republicans-humiliating-year-speaker-mccarthy">picking a speaker</a> has proven to be incredibly difficult for the House, which took as many floor votes on the matter in 2023 alone as in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections">previous 36 years combined</a>.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="61MZVB">
|
||||||
|
But there’s one issue in which Congress has shown a surprising facility for bipartisan, bicameral cooperation: foreign aid.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xH9SgY">
|
||||||
|
Last year saw a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/1/13/23544865/congress-hiv-malaria-global-fund-replenishment">historic deal to greatly increase funding</a> for global health efforts, especially those targeting AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis — which together kill some 2.5 million people a year — as well as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/4/25/23692700/usaid-foreign-aid-joaquin-castro-young-kim">new bipartisan legislation</a> introduced to reform the way the US Agency for International Development (USAID), America’s leading foreign aid agency, works.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J42f15">
|
||||||
|
2024 promises more bipartisan collaboration on the issue. This past week, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7710?s=1&r=1">Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Cory Mills (R-FL)</a> and <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3994/cosponsors?s=1&r=1">Sens. Christopher Coons (D-DE), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE)</a> introduced the <a href="https://sarajacobs.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=910">Locally-Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act</a>, another measure to reform USAID. Introduced in the House on March 19, it already passed the Foreign Affairs Committee by a unanimous voice vote on March 20.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TSWPXQ">
|
||||||
|
The bill is meant to push USAID to distribute more of its budget to local groups in the countries where it works. The basic case for using more local groups is simple. US aid spending currently goes largely to a <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23274306/usaid-foreign-aid-effectiveness-evidence-grants">small group of very large contractors</a> that are insulated from evaluation and tend toward bloated programs.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Fvg1pJ">
|
||||||
|
Giving the money instead to small local organizations would not only help develop civil society in developing countries, but likely achieve better outcomes at a lower cost. A recent review by development research group the Share Trust estimated that <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b2110247c93271263b5073a/t/6377d05b92d652286d6720e5/1668796508981/Passing+the+Buck_Report.pdf">funding aid through local groups is roughly 32 percent more cost-effective</a> than funding groups based in rich countries, largely because salaries and overhead in rich countries are significantly higher.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="X8IAUl">
|
||||||
|
This isn’t new: USAID administrators going back decades have promised more funding for local programs. Raj Shah, Obama’s first USAID administrator, had a push called <a href="https://www.cgdev.org/blog/usaid-didnt-hit-its-30-percent-target-local-solutions">“Local Solutions.”</a> Mark Green, who led the agency under Trump, had the <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/npi/npi-awards">New Partnership Initiative</a>, with similar goals.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nu4qGe">
|
||||||
|
Local funding, however, is still the exception. The agency distributed <a href="https://www.foreignassistance.gov/agencies">$38.8 billion in fiscal year 2022</a>, or about $30 billion excluding Ukraine aid. But that same year, <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/jun-12-2023-usaid-releases-localization-progress-report">only 10.2 percent of funds went to local partners</a>: “organizations, firms, and individuals based in the countries in which we work.” Current administrator Samantha Power has <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/speeches/nov-04-2021-administrator-samantha-power-new-vision-global-development">pledged to increase that share</a> to 25 percent by next year and 50 percent by 2030, ambitious targets that will be challenging to hit.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P8mEvA">
|
||||||
|
The Locally-Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act is meant to move toward that goal by clearing out red tape, some of it imposed by past acts of Congress, to make it easier for small local organizations to apply for support from USAID. Specifically, it:
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KOf8W2">
|
||||||
|
Lets groups apply for money in languages other than English, sparing them translation costs
|
||||||
|
</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6RzVTr">
|
||||||
|
Grants more flexibility in accounting systems, so groups using systems common outside the US can still apply
|
||||||
|
</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5igIiY">
|
||||||
|
Allowing late registrations on the System for Award Management, a federal government-wide platform for paying vendors
|
||||||
|
</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8mnweg">
|
||||||
|
Lets USAID missions restrict bids to local groups on projects costing up to $25 million; currently only projects under $5 million can be restricted to local groups
|
||||||
|
</li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KOe3RW">
|
||||||
|
Increases the share of grants allowed to be spent on administrative costs/overhead from 10 percent to 15 percent
|
||||||
|
</li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RhxyVS">
|
||||||
|
The last bit, allowing higher overhead charges, may seem on its face like a problem. After all, money spent on overhead is money not spent on direct aid. But the change is meant to address an inequity in how local organizations are currently treated compared to big contractors.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uXo0kk">
|
||||||
|
Right now, small local groups “only really get 10 percent of the contract for overhead,” Rep. Jacobs said in an interview, “whereas big organizations negotiate larger overhead costs and get more money for overhead.” Boosting the share to 15 percent is meant to provide an equal playing field.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HF1Q5U">
|
||||||
|
Erin Collinson, director of policy outreach at the Center on Global Development and a development policy expert not involved in drafting the bill, argues it would be a real step forward, highlighting the changes to the overhead rate (technically called the “de minimis indirect cost rate”) as significant. “These are very much things that the agency is trying to work through,” she said of the bill’s provisions. “It sends the right kinds of signals that Capitol Hill is on board with this.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mw7hd4">
|
||||||
|
The bill has considerable civil society backing from groups like <a href="https://www.crs.org/media-center/news-release/crs-urges-passing-locally-led-development-and-humanitarian-response-act">Catholic Relief Services</a> and the <a href="https://www.modernizeaid.net/press-room/mfan-applauds-congressional-action-on-bipartisan-legislation-to-advance-locally-led-development">Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network</a> and is recent enough that I was not able to find any outright opponents. Existing vendors have natural reasons to fear the legislation, but they could also scheme to work around it.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uwUIMe">
|
||||||
|
Jacobs raised the prospect of large contractors hiring a token number of foreign workers, changing their names, incorporating small subsidiaries, and similar moves, to try to claim money being reserved for local groups. She concedes that USAID and Congress will have to exercise constant oversight to prevent these incumbent firms from undermining the reform.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O1seOk">
|
||||||
|
But with the bill already through its House committee and garnering the backing of liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans in both houses already, Jacobs is optimistic. “We think it has a really good shot of becoming law this year,” Jacobs said. “I know many people don’t think we can get anything done. Hopefully, this is one proof point that we can still do some big things.”
|
||||||
|
</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>Star Prosperity, Son Of A Gun and Jendaya catch the eye</strong> -</p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia extended to 5 Tests</strong> - The schedule for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be released soon</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>IPL 2024 | Rajasthan’s Sandeep, Lucknow’s Pooran back two-bouncer rule</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>FIFA World Cup qualifier: IND vs AFG | India eyes goals in Sunil Chhetri’s 150th international appearance</strong> - India fired a blank in a disappointing draw in the away leg Group A match in Abha, Saudi Arabia on March 22</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>BAN vs SL first Test | Kasun Rajitha’s five-wicket haul helps Sri Lanka to a 328-run win over Bangladesh</strong> - Bangladesh was set an improbable 511-run victory target after Sri Lanka rode on centuries in each innings from Kamindu Mendis and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva.</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>Lok Sabha polls: childcare facilities proposed in selected polling station locations</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>Dogs understand more than they let on, create mental images of known words: Study</strong> - The researchers said it did not matter how many object words a dog understood — known words activated mental representations anyway.</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>Here are the big stories from Karnataka today</strong> - Welcome to the Karnataka Today newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories to follow today. Curated and written by Nalme Nachiyar.</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>College dropout arrested for harassing student in Bengaluru</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>Congress takes serious view of open criticism by party leaders</strong> - VHR, G.Niranjan and Bakka Zudson’s criticism draws the ire of the leadership</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>Four in court as Moscow attack death toll nears 140</strong> - The suspects, showing signs of being beaten, are charged with terrorism over Friday’s concert hall massacre.</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>Dani Alves set to leave prison pending appeal</strong> - The footballer, who was jailed for rape last month, is temporarily released after posting €1m bail.</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>Several injured as Russian missiles target Kyiv</strong> - A three-storey building is badly damaged in the attack, as Russia steps up air strikes against Ukraine.</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>Apple, Meta and Google to be investigated by the EU</strong> - If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms could be fined up to 10% of their annual turnover.</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>Rosenberg: As Russia mourns, how will Putin react to concert attack?</strong> - More than 130 people were killed when gunmen entered a packed Moscow venue and opened fire.</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>Testing the 2024 BMW M2—maybe the last M car with a manual transmission</strong> - We’ve tested the three-pedal, stickshift BMW M2 on the road and on track. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012238">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reddit faces new reality after cashing in on its IPO</strong> - Reddit must now answer to its shareholders as well as its vocal users. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012282">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dragon’s Dogma 2 is gritty, janky, goofy, tough, and lots of fun</strong> - This epic RPG reminds us of <em>Skyrim</em>’s ambitious jank, but with way better combat. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012266">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It’s a few years late, but a prototype supersonic airplane has taken flight</strong> - “This milestone will be invaluable to Boom’s revival of supersonic travel.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012264">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>GM stops sharing driver data with brokers amid backlash</strong> - Customers, wittingly or not, had their driving data shared with insurers. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012276">link</a></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
|
||||||
|
<ul>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reagan’s joke.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Two men, an American and a Russian were arguing. One said,
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“in my country I can go to the white house walk to the president’s office and pound the desk and say”Mr president! I don’t like how you’re running things in this country!"
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“I can do that too!”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Really?”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“Yes! I can go to the Kremlin, walk into the general secretary’s office and pound the desk and say, Mr. secretary, I don’t like how Reagan is running his country!”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/heckingheck2"> /u/heckingheck2 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bmsy1k/reagans_joke/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bmsy1k/reagans_joke/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>When I asked my pregnant wife what she wanted for dinner, she replied…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
“No thanks, I gestate.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/madazzahatter"> /u/madazzahatter </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bnab4t/when_i_asked_my_pregnant_wife_what_she_wanted_for/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bnab4t/when_i_asked_my_pregnant_wife_what_she_wanted_for/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I told my 94 year old mother a joke last night and I think it was TOO funny…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
She was laughing really hard at my joke, then she suddenly said, “Uh oh…” and immediately jumped up and hobbled off to the bathroom. Oops.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Here’s the joke (one of my all-time favorites):
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
A young woman was waiting at a bus stop. After a few minutes the bus arrived and the woman tried to step onboard. Unfortunately, her skirt was extremely tight and she couldn’t get her leg up high enough for the step.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
She quickly reached behind her and unzipped her skirt a little, but she STILL couldn’t step up. She unzipped her skirt a little more. Still no luck. So she tried a THIRD time. Nope.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Suddenly, she felt a strong pair of hands grab her by the waist and lift her onto the step. Well, she was having NONE of that.
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
She turned around and saw a tall cowboy standing behind her. She got in his face and yelled, “How dare you! I didn’t give you permission to touch me like that! I don’t even KNOW you!”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
The embarrassed cowboy looked down at his boots and said, “I’m sure sorry, mam. I just assumed we was friends after the third time you reached back and unzipped my fly.”
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/TurkMcGill"> /u/TurkMcGill </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bmqyr0/i_told_my_94_year_old_mother_a_joke_last_night/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bmqyr0/i_told_my_94_year_old_mother_a_joke_last_night/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What do you call a game about running a sperm bank?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
Need for Seed
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/thegreatprawn"> /u/thegreatprawn </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bn8pqw/what_do_you_call_a_game_about_running_a_sperm_bank/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bn8pqw/what_do_you_call_a_game_about_running_a_sperm_bank/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The man who invented the Knock Knock joke is finally being recognised</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
|
||||||
|
<div class="md">
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
||||||
|
He’s getting a no-bell prize
|
||||||
|
</p>
|
||||||
|
</div>
|
||||||
|
<!-- SC_ON -->
|
||||||
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Wallygonk"> /u/Wallygonk </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bnam50/the_man_who_invented_the_knock_knock_joke_is/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bnam50/the_man_who_invented_the_knock_knock_joke_is/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
||||||
|
</ul>
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
<script>AOS.init();</script></body></html>
|
||||||
File diff suppressed because one or more lines are too long
Loading…
Reference in New Issue