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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 lineage assignments using phylogenetic placement/UShER are superior to pangoLEARN machine learning method</strong> -
<div>
With the rapid spread and evolution of SARS-CoV-2, the ability to monitor its transmission and distinguish among viral lineages is critical for pandemic response efforts. The most commonly used software for the lineage assignment of newly isolated SARS-CoV-2 genomes is pangolin, which offers two methods of assignment, pangoLEARN and pUShER. PangoLEARN rapidly assigns lineages using a machine learning algorithm, while pUShER performs a phylogenetic placement to identify the lineage corresponding to a newly sequenced genome. In a preliminary study, we observed that pangoLEARN (decision tree model), while substantially faster than pUShER, offered less consistency across different versions of pangolin v3. Here, we expand upon this analysis to include v3 and v4 of pangolin, which moved the default algorithm for lineage assignment from pangoLEARN in v3 to pUShER in v4, and perform a thorough analysis confirming that pUShER is not only more stable across versions but also more accurate. Our findings suggest that future lineage assignment algorithms for various pathogens should consider the value of phylogenetic placement.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.26.542489v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 lineage assignments using phylogenetic placement/UShER are superior to pangoLEARN machine learning method</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The experiences of COVID-19 preprint authors: A survey of researchers about publishing and receiving feedback on their work during the pandemic</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a rise in preprinting, triggered by the need for open and rapid dissemination of research outputs. We surveyed authors of COVID-19 preprints to learn about their experiences with preprinting their work and also with publishing their work in a peer-reviewed journal. Our research had the following objectives: 1. to learn about authors experiences with preprinting, their motivations, and future intentions; 2. to consider preprints in terms of their effectiveness in enabling authors to receive feedback on their work; 3. to compare the impact of feedback on preprints with the impact of comments of editors and reviewers on papers submitted to journals. In our survey, 78% of the new adopters of preprinting reported the intention to also preprint their future work. The boost in preprinting may therefore have a structural effect that will last after the pandemic, although future developments will also depend on other factors, including the broader growth in the adoption of open science practices. 53% of the respondents reported that they had received feedback on their preprints. However, more than half of the feedback was received through “closed” channels privately to the authors. This means that preprinting was a useful way to receive feedback on research, but the value of feedback could be increased further by facilitating and promoting “open” channels for preprint feedback. Almost a quarter of the feedback received by respondents consisted of detailed comments, showing the potential of preprint feedback to provide valuable comments on research. Respondents also reported that, compared to preprint feedback, journal peer review was more likely to lead to major changes to their work, suggesting that journal peer review provides significant added value compared to feedback received on preprints.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/d96yj/" target="_blank">The experiences of COVID-19 preprint authors: A survey of researchers about publishing and receiving feedback on their work during the pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The new normal: changed patterns of dwelling demand and supply</strong> -
<div>
This research assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patterns of housing supply and demand and how the Australian housing market has changed over recent time (including between the 2016 and 2021 Censuses). The pandemic showed just how quickly demand for housing can change and how prices and rents can rise rapidly as a result. The COVID-19 period, defined as mid-2020 to mid-2022 for the purposes of this study, saw robust price growth within Australian capital cities and even stronger growth in regional areas. In the rental market, vacancy rates fell across the country and rents rose sharply. COVID changed what households want from their dwelling: predominantly it was about having more space, both inside and out, and that was linked with the ability to work more from home. Overall, consumers continue to prefer houses over units in metropolitan areas. COVID-19 also created significant and distinct changes to population dynamics with low or negative growth within inner urban areas; growth in regional towns and cities, particularly those associated with sea and tree changes; and strong growth in traditional first home buyer areas, primarily on the urban periphery. Property sales in high-growth regions came significantly from investors who sold stock from the rental market (generally to first home buyers and second home buyers). This, in turn, reduced rental availability and vacancy rates and displaced private renters. Where investors did buy into the regional areas studied, these were at higher prices which were in turn reflected in higher rents. The research reiterates that increases in housing supply need to be carefully managed by governments, including the supply of social and affordable housing in regional areas.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/t85rj/" target="_blank">The new normal: changed patterns of dwelling demand and supply</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Household Hardships during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examining Household Vulnerability and Responses to Pandemic Related Shocks in Eastern Ethiopia</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
COVID-19 is associated with one of the largest disturbances to life in the 21st century. To quell disease spread, governments implemented lockdowns that likely created hardships for house-holds. To improve knowledge of consequences, we examine how the pandemic period was associ-ated with household hardships and assess factors associated with these hardships. We conducted a cross-sectional study using quasi-Poisson regression to examine factors associated with house-hold hardships. Data were collected between August and September of 2021 from a random sam-ple of 880 households living in a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) located in the Harari Region and the District of Kersa, both in Ethiopia. Having a head of household with no education, residing in a rural area, larger household size, lower income and/or wealth, and community responses to COVID-19 including lockdowns and travel restrictions were inde-pendently associated with experiencing household hardships. Our results identify characteristics of groups at-risk for food insecurity during the pan-demic; households that were already strug-gling prior to the onset of the pandemic were at greatest risk of adverse consequences during the pandemic period. These findings may inform future efforts to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 and future disease out-breaks.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.02.01.23285322v3" target="_blank">Household Hardships during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Examining Household Vulnerability and Responses to Pandemic Related Shocks in Eastern Ethiopia</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Food Insecurity amid COVID-19 Lockdowns: Assessing Sociodemographic Indicators of Vulnerability in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objective The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with widespread social disruptions, as governments implemented lockdowns to quell disease spread. To advance knowledge of consequences for households in lower-income countries, we examine food insecurity during the pandemic period. Design Cross-sectional study using logistic regression to examine factors associated with food insecurity. Data were collected between August and September of 2021 through a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) using a survey instrument focused on knowledge regarding the spread of COVID-19; food availability; COVID-19 related shocks/coping; under-five child healthcare services; and healthcare services for pregnant women. Setting The study is set in two communities in Eastern Ethiopia, one rural and one urban. Participants A random sample of 880 households residing in Kersa and Harar. Results Roughly 16% of households reported not having enough food to eat during the pandemic, an increase of 6% since before the pandemic. After adjusting for other variables, households were more likely to report food insecurity if they were living in an urban area, were a larger household, had a family member lose employment, reported an increase in food prices, or were food insecure before the pandemic. Households were less likely to report food insecurity if they were wealthier or had higher household income. Discussion After taking other characteristics into consideration, households in urban areas were at higher risk for food insecurity. These findings point to the need for expanding food assistance programs to more urban areas to help mitigate the impact of lockdowns on more vulnerable households.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.31.23284545v3" target="_blank">Food Insecurity amid COVID-19 Lockdowns: Assessing Sociodemographic Indicators of Vulnerability in Harar and Kersa, Ethiopia</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>What can New Zealand bats tell us about Coronaviruses?</strong> -
<div>
The current Covid-19 pandemic emphasizes the dramatic consequences of emerging zoonotic pathogens and stimulates the need for an assessment of the evolution and natural cycle of such microbes in a One Health framework. A number of recent studies have revealed an astonishing diversity of bat-borne Coronaviruses, including in insular environments, which can be considered as simplified biological systems suited for the exploration of the transmission cycles of these viruses in nature. In this work, we present two new lineages of alpha Coronaviruses detected by screening the only two extant New Zealand bat species: the lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) and the long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus). Infection prevalence reaching 60% in long-tailed bats makes this host-pathogen model relevant for the investigation of maintenance mechanisms in a bat reservoir with peculiar physiological adaptations to temperate climates. A phylogenetic analysis shows that these viral lineages do cluster with Coronaviruses hosted by bat sister species from Australia, supporting co-diversification processes and confirming that the evolution of these viruses is tightly linked to that of their hosts. These patterns provide an interesting framework for further research aiming at elucidating the natural history and biological cycles of these economically-devastating zoonotic viruses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.26.542035v1" target="_blank">What can New Zealand bats tell us about Coronaviruses?</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Multi-omic Profiling Reveals Early Immunological Indicators for Identifying COVID-19 Progressors</strong> -
<div>
The pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a rapid response by the scientific community to further understand and combat its associated pathologic etiology. A focal point has been on the immune responses mounted during the acute and post-acute phases of infection, but the immediate post-diagnosis phase remains relatively understudied. We sought to better understand the immediate post-diagnosis phase by collecting blood from study participants soon after a positive test and identifying molecular associations with longitudinal disease outcomes. Multi-omic analyses identified differences in immune cell composition, cytokine levels, and cell subset-specific transcriptomic and epigenomic signatures between individuals on a more serious disease trajectory (Progressors) as compared to those on a milder course (Non-progressors). Higher levels of multiple cytokines were observed in Progressors, with IL-6 showing the largest difference. Blood monocyte cell subsets were also skewed, showing a comparative decrease in non-classical CD14-CD16+ and intermediate CD14+CD16+ monocytes. Additionally, in the lymphocyte compartment, CD8+ T effector memory cells displayed a gene expression signature consistent with stronger T cell activation in Progressors. Importantly, the identification of these cellular and molecular immune changes occurred at the early stages of COVID-19 disease. These observations could serve as the basis for the development of prognostic biomarkers of disease risk and interventional strategies to improve the management of severe COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.25.542297v1" target="_blank">Multi-omic Profiling Reveals Early Immunological Indicators for Identifying COVID-19 Progressors</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evolution of transient RNA structure-RNA polymerase interactions in respiratory RNA virus genomes</strong> -
<div>
RNA viruses are important human pathogens that cause seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics. Examples are influenza A viruses (IAV) and coronaviruses (CoV). When emerging IAV and CoV spill over to humans, they adapt to evade immune responses and optimize their replication and spread in human cells. In IAV, adaptation occurs in all viral proteins, including the viral ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex. RNPs consists of a copy of the viral RNA polymerase, a double-helical coil of nucleoprotein, and one of the eight segments of the IAV RNA genome. The RNA segments and their transcripts are partially structured to coordinate the packaging of the viral genome and modulate viral mRNA translation. In addition, RNA structures can affect the efficiency of viral RNA synthesis and the activation of host innate immune response. Here, we investigated if RNA structures that modulate IAV replication processivity, so called template loops (t-loops), vary during the adaptation of pandemic and emerging IAV to humans. Using cell culture-based replication assays and in silico sequence analyses, we find that the sensitivity of the IAV H3N2 RNA polymerase to t-loops increased between isolates from 1968 and 2017, whereas the total free energy of t-loops in the IAV H3N2 genome was reduced. This reduction is particularly prominent in the PB1 gene. In H1N1 IAV, we find two separate reductions in t-loop free energy, one following the 1918 pandemic and one following the 2009 pandemic. No destabilization of t-loops is observed in the IBV genome, whereas analysis of SARS-CoV-2 isolates reveals destabilization of viral RNA structures. Overall, we propose that a loss of free energy in the RNA genome of emerging respiratory RNA viruses may contribute to the adaption of these viruses to the human population.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.25.542331v1" target="_blank">Evolution of transient RNA structure-RNA polymerase interactions in respiratory RNA virus genomes</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The lasting effects of the pandemic: A time series analysis of first-time speech delays in kids under 5 years of age</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Given the profound effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the way individuals interact, we sought to understand if there was an increase in pediatric first-time speech and language delay diagnoses in. We identified children under five years of age with a first-time speech delay diagnosis between January 1, 2018 and February 28, 2023, in Truveta Data. We calculated the monthly rate of first-time speech delay diagnoses per children with an encounter within the last year and no previous speech delay diagnosis. The Seasonal-Trend decomposition using LOESS (STL) method was used to adjust for seasonality. We also compared the difference in means between the 2018/2019 and 2021/2022 time periods. Significant increases in the mean of rates between 2018/2019 and 2021/2022 exist for the overall population and each age strata (p&lt;0.001). Likely the causes of these trends are multifaceted and future research is needed to understand the specific drivers at play.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.18.23290122v1" target="_blank">The lasting effects of the pandemic: A time series analysis of first-time speech delays in kids under 5 years of age</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The secretory IgA (sIgA) response in human milk against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike is highly durable and neutralizing for at least 1 year of lactation post-infection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Although in the early pandemic period, COVID-19 pathology among young children and infants was typically less severe compared to that observed among adults, this has not remained entirely consistent as SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged. There is an enormous body of evidence demonstrating the benefits of human milk antibodies (Abs) in protecting infants against a wide range of enteric and respiratory infections. It is highly plausible that the same holds true for protection against SARS-CoV-2, as this virus infects cells of the gastrointestinal and respiratory mucosae. Understanding the durability of a human milk Ab response over time after infection is critical. Previously, we examined the Abs present in milk of those recently infected with SARS-CoV-2, and concluded that the response was secretory IgA (sIgA)-dominant and that these titers were highly correlated with neutralization potency. The present study aimed to monitor the durability of the SARS-CoV-2 IgA and secretory Ab (sAb) response in milk from COVID-19-recovered lactating individuals over 12 months, in the absence of vaccination or re-infection. This analysis revealed a robust and durable Spike-specific milk sIgA response, that at 9-12 months after infection, 88% of the samples exhibited titers above the positive cutoff for IgA and 94% were above cutoff for sAb. Fifty percent of participants exhibited less than a 2-fold reduction of Spike-specific IgA through 12 months. A strong significant positive correlation between IgA and sAb against Spike persisted throughout the study period. Nucleocapsid-specific Abs were also assessed, which revealed significant background or cross reactivity of milk IgA against this immunogen, as well as limited/inconsistent durability compared to Spike titers. These data suggests that lactating individuals are likely to continue producing Spike-specific Abs in their milk for 1 year or more, which may provide critical passive immunity to infants against SARS-CoV-2 throughout the lactation period.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.19.23290192v1" target="_blank">The secretory IgA (sIgA) response in human milk against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike is highly durable and neutralizing for at least 1 year of lactation post-infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evaluation of the implementation and effects of management through care and services pathways: A protocol study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: In 2015, the Government of Quebec undertook a vast reorganization of its health and social services network. This reform mainly aimed to promote and simplify access to services for the population, contributing to the improvement of the quality and safety of care, and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the network. Since 2016, several health care organizations (HCOs) have pushed reform even further by developing management through care and service pathways (MCSP). This study aims to identify, in a processual manner, the different factors involved in implementing MCSP in different HCOs, in the turbulent context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The methodology of this research project is based on developmental evaluation. The objective of developmental evaluation is to guide organizations and actors in the adaptation and development of innovations in complex and turbulent environments. Data will be collected over a three-year period using five strategies: i) organizational questionnaires; ii) analysis of clinical-administrative databases; iii) documentary analysis (grey and scientific literatures); iv) participant observations and v) semi-structured interviews with key actors involved in the implementation of MCSP. Discussion: In addition to the operationalization of pathways, the implementation of MCSP i) involves transforming the governance of the health care organization both at the strategic and operational levels and ii) is a demanding process that requires changes in practices, modifications in the allocation and configuration of resources and the development of new collaborations between the different actors in the organization, the partners and the users involved in this transformation. Several studies claim that governance innovations can create conditions that are favourable to the emergence of innovations in terms of available services and responding to the needs of populations. This research will develop knowledge of the factors involved in implementing MCSP in complex and turbulent contexts and propose scale-up across the province.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.25.23290549v1" target="_blank">Evaluation of the implementation and effects of management through care and services pathways: A protocol study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>An Open One-Step RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in millions of deaths globally, and while several diagnostic systems were proposed, real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) remains the gold standard. However, diagnostic reagents, including enzymes used in RT-PCR, are subject to centralized production models and intellectual property restrictions, which present a challenge for less developed countries. With the aim of generating a standardized One-Step open RT-qPCR protocol to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in clinical samples, we purified and tested recombinant enzymes and a non-proprietary buffer. The protocol utilized M-MLV RT and Taq DNA pol enzymes to perform a Taqman probe-based assay. Synthetic RNA samples were used to validate the One-Step RT-qPCR components, and the kit showed comparable sensitivity to approved commercial kits. The One-Step RT-qPCR was then tested on clinical samples and demonstrated similar performance to commercial kits in terms of positive and negative calls. This study represents a proof of concept for an open approach to developing diagnostic kits for viral infections and diseases, which could provide a cost-effective and accessible solution for less developed countries.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.11.29.21267000v2" target="_blank">An Open One-Step RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The German Job Search Panel 2.0: The Pandemic Cohort</strong> -
<div>
The German Job Search Panel (GJSP) comprises survey data from workers who registered as jobseekers expecting the termination of their jobs. The data include an exceptionally broad range of measures of health and well-being, among other information. A first cohort was invited to participate between November 2017 and May 2019 (Hetschko et al., 2022). In 2020, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic drastically changed the macroeconomic environment of the German labor market and, in the process, the challenges associated with job search. We therefore decided to sample a second cohort of initially employed jobseekers from July 2020 to February 2021 (GJSP 2.0). Combining the two GJSP cohorts allows researchers to examine if and how the pandemic altered the experience of job search. This data report describes the pandemic cohort of the GJSP, changes to sampling, recruitment and questionnaires compared to the first cohort and documents determinants of participation and panel attrition.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/szjrx/" target="_blank">The German Job Search Panel 2.0: The Pandemic Cohort</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Multi-Epitope/CXCL11 Prime/Pull Coronavirus Mucosal Vaccine Boosts the Frequency and the Function of Lung-Resident CD4+ and CD8+ Memory T Cells and Protects Against COVID-19-like Symptoms and Death Caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> -
<div>
The pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created the largest global health crisis in almost a century. Following exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus particles replicate in the lungs, induce a cytokine storm and potentially cause life-threatening inflammatory disease. Low frequencies of function SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the lungs of COVID-19 patients were associated with severe cases of COVID-19. The apparent low level of T cell-attracting CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11 chemokines in infected lungs may not be sufficient enough to assure the sequestration and/or homing of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from the circulation into infected lungs. We hypothesize that a Coronavirus vaccine strategy that boosts the frequencies of functional SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the lungs would lead to better protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID19-like symptoms, and death. In the present study, we designed and pre-clinically tested the safety, immunogenicity, and protective efficacy of a novel multi-epitope//CXCL11 prime/pull mucosal Coronavirus vaccine. This prime/pull vaccine strategy consists of intranasal delivery of a lung-tropic adeno-associated virus type 9 (AAV-9) vector that incorporates highly conserved human B, CD4+ CD8+ cell epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 (prime) and pulling the primed B and T cells into the lungs using the T cell attracting chemokine, CXCL-11 (pull). We demonstrated that immunization of HLA-DR<em>0101/HLA-A</em>0201/hACE2 triple transgenic mice with this multi-epitope//CXCL11 prime/pull Coronavirus mucosal vaccine: (i) Increased the frequencies of CD4+ and CD8+ TEM, TCM, and TRM cells in the lungs; and (ii) reduced COVID19-like symptoms, lowered virus replication, and prevented deaths following challenge with SARS-CoV-2. These findings discuss the importance of bolstering the number and function of lung-resident memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells for better protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19-like symptoms, and death.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.23.542024v1" target="_blank">A Multi-Epitope/CXCL11 Prime/Pull Coronavirus Mucosal Vaccine Boosts the Frequency and the Function of Lung-Resident CD4+ and CD8+ Memory T Cells and Protects Against COVID-19-like Symptoms and Death Caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Modifications to the SR-Rich Region of the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Regulate Self-Association and Attenuate RNA Interactions</strong> -
<div>
The nucleocapsid protein (N) of SARS-CoV-2 is essential for virus replication, genome packaging, and maturation. N is comprised of two folded domains that are separated by a highly conserved, disordered, Ser/Arg-rich linker, and flanked by disordered tails. Using NMR spectroscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation we identify an alpha-helical region in the linker that undergoes concentration dependent self-association. NMR and gel shift assays show that the linker binds viral RNA but this binding is dampened by both phosphorylation and a naturally occurring mutation, whereas in contrast, RNA binding to the full-length protein is not affected. Interestingly, phase separation with RNA is significantly reduced upon phosphorylation but enhanced with the mutation. We attribute these differences to changes in the linker helix self-association which dissociates upon phosphorylation but forms more stable higher order oligomers in the variant. These data provide a structural mechanism for how the linker region contributes to protein-protein interactions, RNA-protein interactions, liquid-liquid phase separation and N protein regulation.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.26.542392v1" target="_blank">Modifications to the SR-Rich Region of the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Regulate Self-Association and Attenuate RNA Interactions</a>
</div></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Utilization of Marine Seaweeds as a Promising Defense Against COVID-19: a Mini-review</strong> - COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which mainly affects the respiratory system. It has been declared as a “pandemic” in March 2020 by the World Health Organization due to the high spreading rate. SARS-CoV-2 binds with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors on the cell surface which leads to the downregulation of ACE2 and upregulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) receptors. The elevated level of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of Host Proteins Interacting with IBV S1 Based on Tracheal Organ Culture</strong> - Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) belongs to the gamma-coronavirus genus of Coronaviridae and causes serious infectious diseases in the poultry industry. However, only a few IBV strains can infect avian passage cell lines, seriously hindering the progress of basic research on IBV pathogenesis. Whereas IBV field strains can replicate in tracheal ring organ culture (TOC) without any previous adaptation in chicken embryos or primary cells. In this study, to investigate the potential use of TOC as…</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>Transcription Factor Driven Gene Regulation in COVID-19 Patients</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 and its many variants have caused a worldwide emergency. Host cells colonised by SARS-CoV-2 present a significantly different gene expression landscape. As expected, this is particularly true for genes that directly interact with virus proteins. Thus, understanding the role that transcription factors can play in driving differential regulation in patients affected by COVID-19 is a focal point to unveil virus infection. In this regard, we have identified 19 transcription factors which…</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>Genes Involved in miRNA Biogenesis Are Not Downregulated in SARS-CoV-2 Infection</strong> - miRNAs, small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression, are involved in various pathological processes, including viral infections. Virus infections may interfere with the miRNA pathway through the inhibition of genes involved in miRNA biogenesis. A reduction in the number and the levels of miRNAs expressed in nasopharyngeal swabs of patients with severe COVID-19 was lately observed by us, pointing towards the potential of miRNAs as possible diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>In Silico and In Vitro Evaluation of Some Amidine Derivatives as Hit Compounds towards Development of Inhibitors against Coronavirus Diseases</strong> - Coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and influenza A virus, require the host proteases to mediate viral entry into cells. Rather than targeting the continuously mutating viral proteins, targeting the conserved host-based entry mechanism could offer advantages. Nafamostat and camostat were discovered as covalent inhibitors of TMPRSS2 protease involved in viral entry. To circumvent their limitations, a reversible inhibitor might be required. Considering nafamostat structure and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Dimeric Peptide (KKYRYHLKPF)<sub>2</sub>K Shows Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Activity by Inhibiting Different Steps of Chikungunya and Zika Virus Infection</strong> - Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) are important disease-causing agents worldwide. Currently, there are no antiviral drugs or vaccines approved to treat these viruses. However, peptides have shown great potential for new drug development. A recent study described (p-BthTX-I)(2)K [(KKYRYHLKPF)(2)K], a peptide derived from the Bothropstoxin-I toxin in the venom of the Bothrops jararacussu snake, showed antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we assessed the activity of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>GRP78 Inhibitor YUM70 Suppresses SARS-CoV-2 Viral Entry, Spike Protein Production and Ameliorates Lung Damage</strong> - The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, has given rise to many new variants with increased transmissibility and the ability to evade vaccine protection. The 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) is a major endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone that has been recently implicated as an essential host factor for SARS-CoV-2 entry and infection. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of YUM70, a small molecule inhibitor of…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IgG4 Antibodies Induced by Repeated Vaccination May Generate Immune Tolerance to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein</strong> - Less than a year after the global emergence of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, a novel vaccine platform based on mRNA technology was introduced to the market. Globally, around 13.38 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses of diverse platforms have been administered. To date, 72.3% of the total population has been injected at least once with a COVID-19 vaccine. As the immunity provided by these vaccines rapidly wanes, their ability to prevent hospitalization and severe disease in individuals with…</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>Long COVID and Hybrid Immunity among Children and Adolescents Post-Delta Variant Infection in Thailand</strong> - This study aimed to assess long COVID, and describe immunogenicity against Omicron variants following BNT162b2 vaccination. A prospective cohort study was conducted among children (aged 5-11) and adolescents (aged 12-17) who had SARS-CoV-2 infection from July to December 2021 (Delta predominant period). Long COVID symptoms were assessed by questionnaires at 3 months after infection. Immunogenicity was evaluated by using a surrogate virus-neutralizing antibody test (sVNT) against the Omicron…</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>Natural Product-Based Screening for Lead Compounds Targeting SARS CoV-2 M<sup>pro</sup></strong> - Drugs that cure COVID-19 have been marketed; however, this disease continues to ravage the world without becoming extinct, and thus, drug discoveries are still relevant. Since M^(pro) has known advantages as a drug target, such as the conserved nature of the active site and the absence of homologous proteins in the body, it receives the attention of many researchers. Meanwhile, the role of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the control of epidemics in China has also led to a focus on natural…</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>Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin Depletes Membrane Cholesterol and Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Entry into HEK293T-ACE<sup>hi</sup> Cells</strong> - Vaccination has drastically decreased mortality due to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), but not the rate of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Alternative strategies such as inhibition of virus entry by interference with angiotensin-I-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors could be warranted. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides that are able to deplete cholesterol from membrane lipid rafts, causing ACE2 receptors to relocate to areas devoid of lipid…</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>Discovery of Chalcone-Based Hybrid Structures as High Affinity and Site-Specific Inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2: A Comprehensive Structural Analysis Based on Various Host-Based and Viral Targets</strong> - Previous studies indicated that natural-based chalcones have significant inhibitory effects on the coronavirus enzymes 3CLpro and PLpro as well as modulation of some host-based antiviral targets (HBATs). In this study, a comprehensive computational and structural study was performed to investigate the affinity of our compound library consisting of 757 chalcone-based structures (CHA-1 to CHA-757) for inhibiting the 3CLpro and PLpro enzymes and against twelve selected host-based targets. Our…</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>Drug Potency Prediction of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors Based on a Graph Generative Model</strong> - The prediction of a ligand potency to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M-pro) would be a highly helpful addition to a virtual screening process. The most potent compounds might then be the focus of further efforts to experimentally validate their potency and improve them. A computational method to predict drug potency, which is based on three main steps, is defined: (1) defining the drug and protein in only one 3D structure; (2) applying graph autoencoder techniques with the aim of generating a…</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>Novel Polymyxin-Inspired Peptidomimetics Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Spike:hACE2 Interface</strong> - Though the bulk of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind, the search for effective and safe anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs continues to be relevant. A highly pursued approach for antiviral drug development involves targeting the viral spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 to prevent its attachment to the cellular receptor ACE2. Here, we exploited the core structure of polymyxin B, a naturally occurring antibiotic, to design and synthesize unprecedented peptidomimetics (PMs), intended to target contemporarily two…</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>Structure-Based Design of Potent Peptidomimetic Inhibitors Covalently Targeting SARS-CoV-2 Papain-like Protease</strong> - The papain-like protease (PL^(pro)) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) plays a critical role in the proteolytic processing of viral polyproteins and the dysregulation of the host immune response, providing a promising therapeutic target. Here, we report the structure-guide design of novel peptidomimetic inhibitors covalently targeting SARS-CoV-2 PL^(pro). The resulting inhibitors demonstrate submicromolar potency in the enzymatic assay (IC(50) = 0.23 μM) and…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Can Ron DeSantis Do Now?</strong> - It isnt that the Florida governor is charmless—or its not only that. Its that his career has been spent on a charmlessness offensive. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/06/05/what-can-ron-desantis-do-now">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>E. Jean Carroll Discusses Trumps Comeuppance</strong> - Since losing a civil case to the journalist, who accused him of sexual abuse and defamation, Trump has doubled down on his attacks. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/e-jean-carroll-discusses-trumps-comeuppance">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Is a Weed?</strong> - The names we call plants say more about us than they do about the greenery that surrounds us. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/what-is-a-weed">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>E. Jean Carroll on Defamatory Trump, and Rob Marshall on “The Little Mermaid”</strong> - Carroll and her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, on their next move against Donald Trumps campaign of defamation. Plus, the director of Disneys new film on bringing the mermaid to life. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/e-jean-carroll-on-defamatory-trump-and-rob-marshall-on-the-little-mermaid">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How Andy Warhol Turned the Supreme Court Justices Into Art Critics</strong> - Justice Elena Kagans dissent reads as strenuously as a vintage piece by, say, Clement Greenberg, slamming Harold Rosenberg. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-warhol-turned-the-supreme-court-justices-into-art-critics">link</a></p></li>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<li><strong>A guide to meditation for people who think they cant meditate</strong> -
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<img alt="A silhouette cutout of a face leads into a tunnel showcasing a serene setting of water and clouds. A man looks out onto the water." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-xjG-41bGNMDatmMqWtAOnhbCnc=/844x0:5511x3500/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72319988/GettyImages_1353767792.0.jpg"/>
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The no-rules approach to building a meditation practice.
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If youve ever, in an anxiety-induced haze, googled ways to reduce your stress, its quite possible the internet has suggested you meditate. A regularly discussed antidote to our demanding times, meditation is a mental and physical <a href="https://www.vox.com/fitness">exercise</a> meant to help cultivate qualities like mindfulness, inner peace, or spiritual enlightenment. You may have even scoffed at the idea: Who has time for meditation, anyway? Who can possibly quiet their mind for that long?
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A common meditation misconception, according to <a href="https://www.uclahealth.org/programs/marc/about-us/faculty-and-staff">Marvin G. Belzer</a>, an associate professor of psychiatry at UCLA, is that you must totally clear your mind to reap the benefits of the practice. “The mind, at times, will be racing,” says Belzer, who is also the associate director of the <a href="https://www.uclahealth.org/programs/marc">UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center</a>. “If we try to fight the thoughts to make them stop, thats a losing battle.” Instead of squashing a wandering mind, Belzer says to focus thoughts elsewhere: on the breath, the body, ambient sounds.
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At its core, meditation is fairly straightforward. While there are many <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/types-of-meditation">types of meditation</a> — like transcendental meditation, mindfulness meditation, and spiritual meditation — most have a central similarity: focusing your attention on your breath, the sounds around you, or your body movements.
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Meditation doesnt need to be an inherently spiritual practice, says <a href="https://dawnmauricio.com/">Dawn Mauricio</a>, a Buddhist and mindfulness meditation teacher. Many people are drawn to meditation for the benefits beyond the spiritual. Regular meditation has been linked to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24395196/">improved anxiety and depression</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27658913/">chronic pain</a>, and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25142566/">insomnia</a>, according to research. Over time, youll develop more mindfulness, too, Belzer says. Mindfulness, he says, is the ability to be aware of whats happening in the present moment and can be applied not only to meditation but to other areas of life, from conversations to household tasks.
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“Mindfulness is the byproduct of our meditation practice,” says <a href="https://www.shawnjmoore.com/">Shawn Moore</a>, a meditation teacher and mindfulness educator. “You cultivate mindfulness from your meditation practice and you can carry that mindfulness into the things that you do every day.”
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Those looking to dip a toe into the pool of mindfulness shouldnt worry about dedicating a lot of time or space — physically and mentally — to meditation. (Or feel overwhelmed by the plethora of meditation apps out there.) All you need is a few minutes, a little bit of focus, and maybe an app (if you want), experts say.
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Before you start, determine when, where, why, and for how long youll be meditating
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The best meditation practice is a consistent one, Moore says. “Its better to meditate in smaller increments more consistently,” he says, “than to inconsistently meditate for a really long time.” Figure out what time of day makes the most sense for you to meditate. Moore dedicates time in the early morning; you might want to settle in for a few minutes after lunch or before bed. Think about what works best with your schedule and routine.
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Meditation doesnt need to be a huge time suck to be effective. Belzer recommends setting aside three to five minutes every day to the practice. Even if youre stretched for time, just a few minutes a day can help cultivate mindfulness, experts say. The days youre feeling the most frazzled and short on attention are probably the moments when you need to take a step back and meditate. “Our meditation practice creates that opportunity for us to slow down and get an aerial view of whats happening in our mind,” Moore says, “to start to make more conscious choices around what were observing, what were seeing, and what were experiencing.”
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As for the location, experts stress that you can meditate anywhere — on a bus, at your desk during the workday, in your bed, while you wait for a pot of pasta to boil. However, it can be helpful to have a dedicated space for meditation, says Andre Humphrey, the founder of <a href="https://www.inner-citybliss.org/">Inner City Bliss</a>, an organization providing trauma-informed mindfulness and meditation programs in the Bay Area. “Its good for habit-building,” Humphrey says. Whether its a corner of your childs nursery or your garage, you can create a calming scene with pillows, a blanket, candles, sage, incense, crystals — whatever makes you feel calm. Youll want this place to be relatively quiet and free of distractions, Belzer says. If this sounds like too much work, thats fine; a dedicated meditation space is a nice-to-have, not a prerequisite.
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You may be more inclined to stick with a meditation practice if you can articulate why you want to meditate, Humphrey says. Do you want to be more mindful in conversations with loved ones? Are you looking to minimize anxiety? Do you need help falling asleep? “Once you figure out your why, youll be more motivated to continue to meditate,” Humphrey says.
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As a result, you may become a better listener, avoid freakouts while driving, or not let feelings of anxiety cloud your thoughts. “Its not that the anxiety gets any less intense, but sometimes we can see more clearly,” Mauricio says. “Suddenly, we can see the thoughts that are spiraling that are making us more anxious. Then we realize, wait a second, I dont have to buy into all of these.”
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You dont need much to meditate — but apps can help
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Just as a meditation space isnt essential, you dont need any fancy cushions, yoga mats, or special clothes to effectively meditate. You can grab a pillow from your couch or bed if you want to sit on the floor or use other items in your home, like a chair or your bed. “Do you have a favorite hoodie? Do you have a favorite blanket?” Moore says. “Bringing those things into your practice really helps ground you.”
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Beginners will find meditation much more accessible when theyre being guided either by a teacher or by a recording. “If someone just sits down to [meditate], it can seem like how in the world could this possibly help?” Belzer says. “Thats where the impact of a teacher or a group can be good, just to help us feel confident.” Belzer recommends the <a href="https://www.uclahealth.org/programs/marc/free-programming-resources/ucla-mindful-app">UCLA Mindful app</a>, with free recordings walking you through each meditation. Other meditation apps like <a href="https://www.calm.com/">Calm</a>, <a href="https://www.tenpercent.com/">Ten Percent Happier</a>, and <a href="https://www.headspace.com/">Headspace</a> offer guided meditations but require a yearly subscription. <a href="https://www.vox.com/youtube">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/spotify">Spotify</a> are also good options for free meditations, but make sure youre choosing one from a trusted channel, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Getsomeheadspace">Headspace</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQiGxGHwiuD1kdxsWKFuhE0rITIXe-7yC">Goodful</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgdxvG3Ulbidz8n_l3rZdcAADnDJ6NFHO">Calm</a>. If youd rather have an instructor in the room with you, you can search for local meditation or yoga studios for group classes.
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What to do when youre meditating
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Youve set aside time to meditate in your bedroom after dinner and chose a guided meditation. Now what? First, tell the people you live with — roommates, partner, children, parents — not to disturb you for a few minutes. Make sure the room is relatively quiet and free of distractions — that means turning off notifications on your phone, closing the door so pets cant get in, and keeping the TV off.
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Popular culture frequently depicts meditation posture as sitting on the ground cross-legged. But this can be uncomfortable, and chances are youll focus on your discomfort instead of your breath, Mauricio says. The best meditation posture is one that is comfortable: standing up, lying down, sitting in a chair. “When I first started meditating,” Humphrey says, “I meditated lying down for years.”
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Begin the meditation session and follow the instructions. If you feel your mind wandering — to your to-do list, to a twinge in your side, to birds chirping — simply acknowledge whatever has caught your attention and then focus again on your breath, Belzer says. This is what helps build mindfulness: simply addressing whats happening without judging it or trying to change it.
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Remember, the goal isnt to turn off your brain, but to let go of thoughts as they arise. “Its about not getting caught up in the content of thoughts,” Mauricio says. “Were not trying to stop thinking, but just dont get caught in them.”
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Dont worry if your thoughts diverge multiple times or you dont feel calm. Just like with any hobby or activity, there will be some days that feel better than others, Moore says. “If you sit and you get frustrated, cool, that was Mondays practice,” he says, “What does it feel like Tuesday? What does it feel like Wednesday?”
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Falling asleep while meditating is completely normal, Humphrey says. “If you fall asleep during a meditation, thats an even better meditation because you were in deep relaxation,” he says, “and ultimately, thats the goal.” However, those prone to dozing off while meditating might not want to practice in the middle of the workday.
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What to do if you get frustrated and want to quit
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Belzer frequently encounters people who tried meditation in the past but gave it up because they couldnt clear their mind and believed they were not meditating correctly. “Youve had a false belief about meditation, that you were failing and that you couldnt do it,” he says. “Because you were trying to do something impossible and something that we dont really need to do.”
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If you think you lack the time or concentration to dedicate to meditation, try focusing on an object in the distance. Belzer instructs students to keep their attention on his hand should they claim they cant focus.
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Mauricio recommends trying a specific meditation practice for 10 to 14 days. If you still dont feel calm or centered, try changing the time of day, location, or duration of your meditation.
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While meditation can minimize depression and anxiety, its not a panacea for all that ails you. You may still feel anxious or agitated after a session and perhaps need to pair meditation with therapy, Moore says.
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Give yourself credit for showing up and focusing on your breathing for a few minutes. Any new hobby can be difficult at times, especially one that requires mental focus. Be kind to yourself throughout the process. “We might hold ourselves to a high standard in our practice, because that is what helps us succeed in our daily life,” Mauricio says. “In our practice, the mind will wander — that is not a problem.”
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<li><strong>17 Cannes movies worth watching for</strong> -
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<img alt="Johannson sits looking at the sunset out her bathroom window." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hxRNLx8wzfrAXcNYVkAJmlptS5c=/2347x0:5699x2514/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72319928/asteroid.0.jpg"/>
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Scarlett Johansson in <em>Asteroid City.</em> | Focus Features
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The buzziest movies we saw at the festival, from blockbusters to world cinema epics.
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The Cannes Film Festival is the worlds most prestigious, and serves as a launchpad for some of the most important films of the year, from Hollywood blockbusters to masterpieces from filmmakers all over the globe. This years Cannes, which concluded on May 27, is no exception.
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Its impossible to see every film at Cannes, of course, but what I saw was mostly great. Heres a list of films worth watching for, culled from the sample I saw at the festival — a feast of riches from around the world.
</p>
<h3 id="uLFJbU">
<em>About Dry Grasses</em>
</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FyJPoG">
In a remote village in the Eastern Anatolian steppes, Samet (Deni̇z Celi̇loğlu) teaches art to schoolchildren, pursues a girlfriend and a transfer to a better locale, and is shocked to find that he and his fellow teacher Kenan (Musab Eki̇ci̇) are the target of accusations from several girls in their classes. The story unfolds over a languid but engrossing 197 minutes, with the eminent director Nuri Bilge Ceylan exploring Samets misery and unlikeability with a wry and even generous eye. Its a gorgeous film, in Ceylans typical naturalistic style, and one that follows the novelistic impulse, complete with a self-absorbed antihero at its center.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zBRNPv">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>About Dry Grasses</em> is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="h3RrXq">
<em>Acid</em>
</h3>
<div id="ehiuJx">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZExkAV">
In the very near future, climate change and environmental degradation have left the world terrified of a roving cloud of highly acidic rain. But this threat is in the background for much of Just Philippots thriller <em>Acid</em>, in which a teenager and her divorced parents find themselves thrown together in a race to survive. Its climate-change fiction, and thus its bleak; this is the kind of thriller without a heartwarming moment, instead reminding us that a future in which humanity is slowly exterminated by an unfeeling outside force isnt one given to generating heartfelt Hollywood moments of connection and solace. In <em>Acid</em>s future world, you cant hide, and you sure cant run, either.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="60QC8Z">
<strong>How to watch it: </strong><em>Acid</em> is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="Ief0Qk">
<em>Anatomy of a Fall</em>
</h3>
<div id="7YK7yt">
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hyCTDD">
Justine Triets courtroom drama stars the great Sandra Huller as a writer whose son discovers his father lying on the ground outside their chalet near Grenoble with blood seeping from a head wound. What happened here? Thats the question, and the film slowly peels apart its layers, exploring how truths and facts become fictions in the retellings, whether theyre told in a courtroom or in a novel. Nothing is as objective and straightforward as our enlightened modern legal systems like to pretend, and our cultural prejudices about gender, emotion, and memory are all part of the story we tell. <em>Anatomy of a Fall</em> turns that fact into a scintillating, provocative thriller.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bUwS9Y">
<strong>How to watch it: </strong><em>Anatomy of a Fall</em> will be released in the US this year by Neon.
</p>
<h3 id="xD38rQ">
<em>Asteroid City</em>
</h3>
<div id="sFvsbg">
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</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c1hEOp">
Wes Andersons style (recently an internet fixation) is on full display in <em>Asteroid City</em>, which is ostensibly a background look at the production of a play about a group of people who accidentally end up stranded in a remote desert city around 1955. In actuality, its a movie about grief and the ways we try to process it: through anger, through acting, through magical thinking. But its also a movie about space, both outer and inner, and how and why artists keep trying to explore it. Anderson isnt for everyone — frankly, hes not for me — but this is a movie for the Wes-heads, and Jeff Goldblums role alone makes it worth watching.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f0yusS">
<strong>How to watch it: </strong><em>Asteroid City</em> opens in theaters on June 16.
</p>
<h3 id="lLyl0T">
<em>The Breaking Ice</em>
</h3>
<div id="3SXRcK">
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</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EoiiB0">
<em>The Breaking Ice</em> sneaks up on you, a drama about three young people — a finance worker (Liu Haoran), a tour guide (Zhou Dongyu), and a local who works in his familys restaurant (Qu Chuxiao) — who find themselves spending a weekend together in a Chinese village near the North Korean border. As they roam and see the sights, they discover they have more in common than they expected. Anthony Chen crafts a meditation on trauma and depression, the kind that comes from deferred dreams, lost love, and an evaporated passion for life. The film borders on the sentimental, but never grows too cloying, in large part due to its light touch and charming performances.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yEn68g">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>The Breaking Ice</em> is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="30D8Lu">
<em>Close Your Eyes</em>
</h3>
<div id="eCiBFc">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vFA6JE">
Fifty years ago, the venerable and venerated director Victor Erice made his debut, <em>The Spirit of the Beehive</em>, perhaps the greatest Spanish film in history. <em>Close Your Eyes</em> certainly feels like his way of bidding goodbye to the medium. Its the story of Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo), a filmmaker whose last production was abruptly halted when his friend and lead actor suddenly disappeared without a trace. Now, after years of living in a sleepy seaside village, he has set off on a quest to figure out what happened, and the result is a moving mediation on existence, memory, and cinemas potential to preserve them both.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T3k012">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>Close Your Eyes</em> is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="ubm5XC">
<em>Club Zero</em>
</h3>
<div id="FLVMNO">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qa7HOM">
Strange things are afoot at an exclusive prep school, where a new teacher (Mia Wasikowska) has been hired to teach a course on “conscious eating” to a group of teens. But as the students fall under her sway, the “conscious” eating rapidly turns disordered and things get extremely culty. Jessica Hausners mannered, deadpan film buries body horror inside a satirical facade, using smart ideas about disordered eating — that its frequently a response to lack of control rather than about body size — to tell a story about grasping for transcendence in a frightening, confusing world. A few gross-out moments and its generally off-putting demeanor make it not for everyone, but it shouldnt be ignored.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1HKD5d">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>Club Zero</em> is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="OoxIvo">
<em>How to Have Sex</em>
</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A young woman in a bright green outfit looks sweaty." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nZT2WYfqK8iRGolCjQrTl0dYI5k=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24684890/howtohavesex.jpg"/> <cite>Mubi</cite>
<figcaption>
Mia McKenna-Bruce in <em>How to Have Sex.</em>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jtzVWG">
The title of Molly Manning Walkers debut film is bleakly ironic. <em>How to Have Sex </em>starts out as a freewheeling party movie about three English girls on holiday in Crete, but it takes a gutting turn when a fun encounter with a cute guy becomes something much darker. The blurry lines of consent, and the way that “good guys” manipulate them, is the subject of <em>How to Have Sex</em>. But it avoids simple didacticism with Walkers kinetic direction and appealing performances, particularly from lead Mia McKenna-Bruce, whose pain is easily shared. <em>How to Have Sex</em> is all too authentic and believable, and its a terrifically assured first feature from Walker, too.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tvKkNN">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>How To Have Sex </em>will be released in the US by Mubi.
</p>
<h3 id="467m3J">
<em>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</em> (<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2023/5/25/23732860/indiana-jones-dial-destiny-review-cannes-harrison-ford">review</a>)
</h3>
<div id="tr98gN">
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</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z5hBN1">
Harrison Fords famously adventuring archaeologist returns for a fifth and almost certainly final installment — Ford turns 81 this summer, after all. A pleasantly goofy plot anchored by Ford and his wisecracking goddaughter (played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) explores aging, the passage of time, and regret, in a film that feels like an at least sideways commentary on Hollywoods age of IP recycling. There have been better Indiana Jones movies, but its good to see one more romping send-off for the character.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KwExR8">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</em> opens in theaters on June 30.
</p>
<aside id="g0Y47Z">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<h3 id="RJpYaD">
<em>Killers of the Flower Moon</em>
</h3>
<div id="xmWVvZ">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KKw4Ay">
Ernest Burkhardt (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns from war in the 1920s to an Oklahoma farm owned by his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro), a kingpin of a sort. Burkhardt marries Mollie (an exceptional Lily Gladstone) and lives among the Osage, who have been made fabulously wealthy by the discovery of oil on the lands the US government shoved them onto years earlier. But then Osage people start dying, one by one, and nobody seems to be able to figure out why. For <em>Killers of the Flower Moon</em>,<em> </em>Martin Scorsese adapts David Granns stunning work of historical nonfiction with his own particular touch: This is in part a movie about how the bootstrapping American ethic lends itself to organized crime among the enterprising, and in part an uneasily self-reflective questioning of turning peoples real-life trauma into entertainment. Its magnificent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="v8m5xk">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>Killers of the Flower Moon</em> opens in theaters on October 6.
</p>
<aside id="lxI9d4">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<h3 id="yYj7RD">
<em>May December</em>
</h3>
<div id="8R5LUk">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UyHbOZ">
Todd Haynes tells you early on that <em>May December</em> is camp, but the kind that conceals a queasy heart. He loosely bases the story on the infamous case of Mary Kay Letourneau; here, Julianne Moore plays Gracie Atherton, who went to jail after having sex with 12-year-old Joe Yoo at the pet store where she works, then had his children and married him. Now, 20 years on, theyre still married, but their life together — marked by Gracies insistence that she never really did anything wrong — takes a strange turn when an actress (Natalie Portman) whos going to play Gracie in a movie visits to do research and gets interested in Joe (Charles Melton). Its sort of a movie about guilt, sort of about conscience, sort of about exploitation, but Hayness wrapping it in camp trappings reminds us that this is the stuff of tabloids, and the lightness of touch makes it entertaining and uncomfortable all at once.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TpSut5">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>May December</em> will be released in the US by Netflix.
</p>
<h3 id="5BGwcW">
<em>Monster</em>
</h3>
<div id="wFZov5">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4g2PHM">
You cant really guess where <em>Monster</em> is going. Ultimately a story about a Japanese pre-teen who feels disconnected from the world around him, Hirokazu Kore-edas lyrical film comes at the tale from different directions, building out a world where the childs mother, teacher, school principal, and friends are all oblivious to some degree. Kore-eda is a master of directing childrens performances, so its no wonder that <em>Monster</em> is at its best when there are no adults onscreen, the children living in their own world of fantasy and adventure and emotion. Yet the world of adults — the language they use, the unthinking labels they apply — seep into childrens consciousness; <em>Monster</em> asks whether theres ever an escape.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XEvmub">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>Monster</em> is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="v1D8kb">
<em>The Mother of All Lies</em>
</h3>
<div id="WLWJdz">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u0izxv">
Asmae El Moudir grew up in Casablanca, in a house full of secrets, and she is not really sure why. For instance, why are there no photos of her in her parents house except one, and shes pretty sure thats not even her in the picture? <em>The Mother of All Lies</em> is El Moudirs documentary attempt to make sense of her familys web of falsehoods and myths, anchored by her grandmother. To get at the real stories, she constructs with her father a miniature puppet-sized replica of her childhood neighborhood and coaxes family members into telling the real tales, but the truth is not easy to hear.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CwjPmy">
<strong>How to watch it: </strong><em>The Mother of All Lies</em> is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="MevcMw">
<em>The Nature of Love (Simple comme Sylvain)</em>
</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A man and a woman embrace." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/W7FVnbPDm8I4qjeiuG5xLjFlC3k=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24684877/simple.jpg"/> <cite>Metafilms</cite>
<figcaption>
Magalie Lépine Blondeau and Pierre-Yves Cardinal in <em>The Nature of Love.</em>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p7AKTu">
Monia Chokris limpid and charming comedy plays like a rom-com, until its not. Sophia (Magalie Lépine Blondeau), a 40-ish philosophy professor, lives with her longtime partner Xavier (Francis-William Rhéaume) in Quebec. She loves him, but the spark has gone out. Then she meets Sylvain (Pierre-Yves Cardinal), the handyman repairing their vacation home, and sparks fly. But <em>The Nature of Love</em> — sprinkled with Sophias lectures on various philosophers ideas about love — never quite promises a happily ever after. Instead, it leaves Sophia (and us) wondering about what love is, how it persists, and whether our search for it is simply an exercise in constant self-delusion.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fFS41I">
<strong>How to watch it:</strong> <em>The Nature of Love </em>is awaiting a US release date.<em> </em>
</p>
<h3 id="03ToAZ">
<em>Strange Way of Life</em>
</h3>
<div id="o1F4Ap">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9dbzY9">
Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke star as two cowboys, Silva and Jake, in this hotly anticipated 31-minute short directed by Pedro Almodovar. They havent seen one another in decades, since the two months in which they were passionate lovers in Mexico. In the meantime, life has gone by; Jake is now a sheriff who is, coincidentally, trying to hunt down Silvas son, who in turn murdered Jakes sister-in-law. Silva turns up and sparks fly again. <em>Strange Way of Life</em> is not really a very good film; Hawke and Pascal deliver the mannered lines with discomfort, and theres not much to grab onto. But the film was financed by fashion house Yves St. Laurent, and the cowboys wear the designs of designer Anthony Vaccarello, which helps to explain why it exists. They — the men and the clothes — are, at least, very nice to look at.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yvd2mZ">
<strong>How to watch it: </strong><em>Strange Way of Life</em> will be released in the US this year by Sony Pictures Classics.
</p>
<h3 id="VQZx15">
<em>Youth (Spring)</em>
</h3>
<div id="EohioM">
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;">
</div>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UO6Wlm">
Wang Bings extraordinary documentary, which runs over three and a half hours, captures the lives of migrant Chinese garment factory workers in their late teens and early 20s. They flirt, fight, eat, dream, and sew at a remarkable speed, turning out fast fashions and then negotiating rates with the factory owners, who put them up in barely livable conditions and demand long hours with little room for life. This is less a social-issue documentary and more about an extreme existential poignance, encapsulated in the title: These are young people in the prime years of their lives, but without the means or mobility to move forward, living years of monotony without a break. That doesnt mean their lives cant be rich, but it does call into question the rapacious appetite for cheaply made clothing and the system that enables it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5ZI9ud">
<strong>How to watch it: </strong><em>Youth (Spring) </em>is awaiting a US release date.
</p>
<h3 id="Ca3R96">
<em>The Zone of Interest</em> (<a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23733985/zone-interest-arendt-banality-review-canes-jonathan-glazer">review</a>)
</h3>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A family picnic on the bank of a river." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ahqNEB_VGveqObllwbomtXBmsRQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24675621/zone.jpg"/> <cite>A24</cite>
<figcaption>
A scene from <em>The Zone of Interest.</em>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lYMrNc">
The years most terrifying horror film comes from Jonathan Glazer — his first feature in 10 years, since the eviscerating <em>Under the Skin</em>. This film, loosely adapted from the late Martin Amiss novel, is the story of a family living in blissful tranquility right outside the walls of Auschwitz, where the father is commandant. Glazer keeps the familys home life in the frame, but its everything going on just beyond that wall that nauseates the audience, and the film never lets you forget it. Its formally brilliant in its evocation of the mental distance the family has put between themselves and the atrocities, making the audience feel that discomfort and terror. <em>The Zone of Interest</em> is undoubtedly one of 2023s best films, and instantly ranks among the greatest films about the Holocaust.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TCUuKu">
<strong>How to watch it: </strong><em>The Zone of Interest</em> will be released in the US by A24.
</p>
<aside id="LIlxpG">
<div>
</div>
</aside></li>
<li><strong>Why dont more voters care about the debt ceiling?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/W6oak4g4pfUk1wP91avfMih_kfY=/334x0:5667x4000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72319872/1492463313.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) talks to reporters outside his office at the Capitol following a meeting with President Joe Biden on May 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Even with a possible debt ceiling deal, the US has come perilously close to a default. No one seems to care.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FBXyfK">
Though there are reports that an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/us/politics/debt-limit-deal.html">agreement is near</a>, a lot <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/5/6/23707949/debt-ceiling-crisis-budget-deal-questions">could go wrong</a> if congressional Republicans and the White House are unable to work out a deal to raise the debt ceiling by late next week. At some point in the next few weeks, checks from the federal government would stop going out since the country wouldnt be able to pay its bills. Interest rates would rise, the stock market would fall, and the country would likely enter a recession potentially resulting in millions of job losses.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vZNA33">
But do most Americans know this? And who would they blame for the economic calamity that would ensue?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pFPi8E">
The answer to the first question is easy: Most Americans dont seem to view the debt ceiling threat as that big of a deal, or they dont seem to view a potential default on debt as a crisis. The second question is more complicated and will depend on just how badly the economy craters if a deal isnt reached in the next week.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z4hSKz">
The chaos could start as early as June: A little more than a week remains until we hit the June 5 “X-date,” when the Treasury Department has said the US would begin to be unable to pay its debts and could have to prioritize which bills go unpaid. The debt ceiling is the legal limit on how much the US can borrow in order to pay for a large portion of government spending. The US, in fact, hit <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/us/politics/debt-ceiling-economy-congress.html">the debt ceiling</a> in January; The Treasury is using “extraordinary measures” to keep the government afloat, but those will soon be exhausted as well.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bkwvvc">
Congressional Republicans and the White House remain in negotiations. Though members of Congress have already left the capital for their Memorial Day weekend break, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/slimmed-down-us-debt-ceiling-deal-takes-shape-sources-2023-05-25/">recent reporting</a> suggests that a deal might be in sight — but the most conservative members of the House<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/25/house-conservatives-mccarthy-biden-debt-talks-00098821"> dont seem to like</a> some of the details. (House Democrats, for their part, also <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/25/house-democrats-debt-ceiling-disagreement-fight-00098764">dont seem thrilled</a>.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8LMVRd">
Most<a href="https://apnorc.org/projects/few-are-following-the-debate-closely-but-most-want-congress-to-increase-the-debt-limit-with-deficit-reduction-conditions/?doing_wp_cron=1684589990.0328559875488281250000"> public polling</a> shows a core challenge for Biden and the Democrats: The majority of Americans dont seem to understand the technical details of the debt ceiling, or what a default would mean. Many voters view the future of the debt limit as contingent on some kind of spending cuts, and many seem willing to consider a default if Congress does not cut some spending.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LIqjbL">
That voters see a connection between spending cuts and the debt ceiling is already a huge win for Republicans — the White House and House Democratic leaderships opening position had always been to pass a “clean” debt ceiling increase, keeping debates over budgets and spending separate. Democrats were partially counting on Republicans never getting on the same page with their list of demands; but since House Republicans passed their own debt ceiling bill last month, Biden and Democrats have had to engage on spending cut negotiations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S60Udm">
Now that Biden and Democrats are negotiating, a default would likely not be viewed as the fault exclusively of Republicans demands: Most recent polls show nearly even splits in blame for both parties. A <a href="https://maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/raising-the-u-s-debt-ceiling/">Marist poll from last week</a>, for example, shows 45 percent of Americans would blame Republicans, 43 percent would blame Biden, and 7 percent would blame both.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OKft8y">
These polls also show a related problem for Biden and Democrats — Americans might not get the severity of a default.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ozG7QV">
CNNs most<a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23822858/cnn-poll-debt-ceiling-biden-border-security.pdf"> recent polling</a> from last week, for example, shows that only 26 percent of Americans see a default as a “crisis.” That same poll found that only 24 percent of Americans think Congress should raise the debt ceiling no matter what — while 60 percent of Americans want to see spending cuts before Congress raises the debt ceiling. A recent Economist/YouGov poll<a href="https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/qsy7ekuxik/econTabReport.pdf"> shows something similar</a>: Half of Americans see a default as either a minor or major problem, but not a full-blown crisis.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mNK4Y3">
In other words, as it stands, Americans dont seem to understand that the stability of the global economy and the imperative for America to avoid a recession are different issues from the political debates over the governments budgeting and spending priorities.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tBnLXM">
House Republicans cuts-or-default strategy includes calls for more than $4 trillion in reductions to government spending. Republicans want to claw back unspent Covid relief money, rescind money meant to modernize the IRS, cancel student loan debt relief, and implement work requirements for certain food stamp and Medicaid recipients — which could leave millions without health insurance.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H1swqz">
This confusion — and general voter apathy on the issue — has complicated Democratic groups efforts to try to keep pressure on House Republicans and avoid blame shifting onto Democrats and the White House for the political brinkmanship happening in DC.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QbXh2s">
“Were talking about real draconian cuts to benefits that people in my rural community depend on,” Santos Garcia, the mayor of Madera, in Californias agricultural breadbasket, told me recently during a rally organized by the anti-MAGA Republican group Courage for America. “Thats why Im trying to get the word out.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VHILoo">
Garcia told me that his constituents have a hard time understanding the stakes of a default, and of the cuts that Republicans are trying to implement, because a lot of news coverage tends to cover these negotiations as standard political debate that happens on Capitol Hill. Regular folks, he said, dont understand the severity of these deliberations until you start to talk to them about the things that might be lost if the country defaults — and also if Republicans proposed spending cuts to social programs like Pell Grants for low-income college students.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lJgM3M">
“So much of the news and the media dont talk to people in a way that theyll understand. These issues get so partisan, and people tune them out on that part,” Garcia said. When he gets back to the Central Valley, currently represented by Republican Rep. John Duarte, he said hes going to tell his constituents “to pick up the phone and talk to their congressman about passing a bipartisan bill to eliminate any notion of a default or these drastic cuts. We need to pay our bills, so that the federal government does not default.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lpPW3o">
Maryam Idowu, one of Garcias constituents who joined him in DC for the rally, echoed some of that theory for how “real America” is feeling: “Some people are in tune to [the threat of default] but it just kind of depends on how much is something going to affect me? And some people — they dont think theyre going to be affected.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XfVwqC">
That distance from DC deliberations has also complicated outreach efforts for some of Courage for Americas partners, including influencers like Carlos Eduardo Espina, a law student from College Station, Texas and a Spanish-language creator. He posts frequent news updates about immigration along with his own analysis, but has noticed a difference in how his 6 million TikTok followers and 360,000 Instagram followers engage with his posts about the debt ceiling — they simply dont understand the issue. “Even for myself, its a very complex issue and thats even with me completely understanding English,” he said. “I think that the closer it gets to the actual deadline to find a solution, well start getting a lot more interest.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k2GpqX">
And as voters get more informed and feel the effects of a default if it happens, its likely that theyll want to assign blame to everyone in DC — but theyll likely especially blame Joe Biden. The president doesnt have the same good will Democrats had the last time a debt limit default nearly happened in 2011, or was threatened in 2013. A Fox News poll<a href="https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/05/Fox_May-19-22-2023_Cross-Tabs_May-24-Release.pdf"> from this month</a> shows that more Americans are willing to blame Biden (47 percent) for a default than were willing to blame President Barack Obama in 2011 (32 percent). In fact, Biden seems to be the focus of more blame than Obama ever was in 2011 or 2013, according to an<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/24/biden-hakeem-jeffries-debt-ceiling/"> analysis</a> by the Washington Posts Aaron Blake.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Lcyer9">
There are a few possible explanations for this difference. While Americans were generally sour about the economy during the 2011 and 2013 debt ceiling fights, the country was recovering from the Great Recession, the economy felt like it was improving, and inflation was low.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ON8HIQ">
In 2023, voters in both parties are sour about the economy. And even if unemployment is historically very low, inflation remains high and Americans mostly blame Biden and Democrats for the economy. Forty-one percent of Americans say their views on the economy align closer to Republicans, compared to 29 percent who align with Democrats, <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23745836/cnn-poll-americans-views-of-the-economy-have-improved-but-overwhelming-majority-still-say-its-in-poor-shape.pdf">according to a March CNN poll</a>. Neither party really benefited from the debt ceiling fights of the last decade — but Republicans stand to gain a lot politically if the economy unravels under an unpopular Democratic president right before an election year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N39sbB">
Brookings Institution fellow William Galston is one<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2023/05/15/what-americans-think-about-the-debt-ceiling-fight/"> outspoken proponent of this theory</a>. Theres pretty good evidence the budget disputes that result in government shutdowns tend to hurt Republicans politically, but the same isnt true of defaults, since the country has never defaulted. It did come close in 2011, when the USs credit rating was downgraded and the country came within 72 hours of defaulting.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yYVa3J">
“The actual economic effects of a government shutdown are almost nil on the public — but no one thinks that would be true about a debt ceiling breach,” Galston told me. “Im convinced that, were a debt ceiling breach to have measurably negative consequences on the American public, President Biden would be negatively judged.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IzYtL5">
During the 2022 midterms, Biden and congressional Democrats were largely able to resist one of the basic rules of politics: that American voters punish the party in power for negative economic conditions. Democrats expanded their majority in the Senate, won key governors races, and minimized Republican gains in the House. But in presidential elections, voters hold presidents responsible for the economy. “Since the New Deal, whether rightly or wrongly, presidents have been held principally liable for the state of the economy,” Galston said. “If we do tip over, I dont think people are going to like it at all.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iImbML">
</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>English Premier League: Manchester City striker Erling Haaland wins “Player of the Season” award</strong> - Haaland has 36 goals in 35 games this season, breaking Andy Cole and Alan Shearers previous record of 34 in a single Premier League season</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>Malaysia Masters badminton | Prannoy claims maiden BWF World Tour title</strong> - The 30-year-old Indian showed great composure and resolve during a 94-minute battle to notch a 21-19 13-21 21-18 victory against Chinas world number 34 Weng Hong Yang.</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>World Test Championship final | Hard to see past Kohli: Hussey on Indias key players</strong> - Besides Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma will be key to Indias chances in the WTC final, the former Australia batter said.</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>Wrestlers detained while trying to march towards new Parliament building, Delhi police clears Jantar Mantar protest site</strong> - Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia detained for violation of law and order after they breached the security cordon while trying to move towards the new Parliament building for a womens Mahapanchayat</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 Final 2023 | Shubman Gill will perform as Virat, Rohit, Dhoni, says Suresh Raina</strong> - Shubman Gill set the ground ablaze with his electric 129-run performance in the first inning against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2</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>Stalin takes Bullet train ride in Japan; bats for “equivalent” service in India</strong> - The Tamil Nadu CM travelled from Osaka to Tokyo.</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>Woman from Nigeria held with ₹30 crore worth cocaine</strong> - The accused was caught as soon as she landed at the Kempegowda International Airport from Addis Ababa</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>Parliament building inauguration: Focus now shifts to VP Enclave, new PMO, Common Central Secretariat</strong> - Under the Common Central Secretariat, the government plans to construct 10 buildings that will house Ministries and other offices</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>PM Modi holds meeting with CMs of BJP-ruled States on partys good governance agenda</strong> - The meeting is part of the BJPs good governance agenda in which Chief Ministers share their best practices in governance and implementation of various welfare schemes</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>Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam not a new concept: Governor</strong> -</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>Ukraine war: Kyiv hit by new massive Russian drone attack</strong> - One man is killed in Ukraines capital as the country is hit by a record 54 drones launched by Russia.</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>Turkey presidential election decides if Erdogan should have five more years</strong> - Turks are voting in a presidential run-off to decide on their countrys future path.</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>Hundreds of expelled Germans set to leave Russia</strong> - The expulsions follow increasingly strained relations between Russia and Germany over 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>Extinction Rebellion protest in Netherlands ends with 1,500 arrested</strong> - Officers used water cannon to try to disperse the crowds at the Extinction Rebellion protest</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>UK launches ad campaign to deter Albanians</strong> - The adverts will say people face being detained and removed if they come to the UK by small boat.</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>Is cybersecurity an unsolvable problem?</strong> - Ars chats with law philosopher Scott Shapiro about his new book, <em>Fancy Bear Goes Phishing</em>. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1937362">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The lessons of a wildfire that destroyed a town and burned for 15 months</strong> - Until it hit, the local firefighters couldnt conceive of something that ferocious. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1942536">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inner workings revealed for “Predator,” the Android malware that exploited 5 0-days</strong> - Spyware is sold to countries including Egypt, Indonesia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1942660">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>No A/C? No problem, if buildings copy networked tunnels of termite mounds</strong> - “For the first time, it may be possible to design a true living, breathing building.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1942139">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>HP printers should have EPEAT ecolabels revoked, trade group demands</strong> - Complaint to EPEAT organizers spells out why Dynamic Security, HP+ suck. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1941600">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>Girl: “Forgive me Father for I have sinned”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “What did you do Child?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “I called a man a son of a bitch.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Why did you call him a son of a bitch?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “Because he touched my hand.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Like this?” (as he touches her hand)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “Yes father.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Thats no reason to call a man a son of a bitch.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “Then he touched my breast.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Like this?” (as he touched her breast)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “Yes father.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Thats no reason to call him a son of a bitch.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “Then he took off my clothes, father.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Like this?” (as he takes off her clothes)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “Yes father.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Thats no reason to call him a son of a bitch.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “Then he stuck his you know what into my you know where.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Like this?” (as he stuck his you know what into her you know where)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “YES FATHER, YES FATHER, YES FATHER!!!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: (after a few minutes): “Thats no reason to call him a son of a bitch.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Girl: “But father he had AIDS!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Priest: “Son of a bitch!!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Built4thekill"> /u/Built4thekill </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tva4h/girl_forgive_me_father_for_i_have_sinned/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tva4h/girl_forgive_me_father_for_i_have_sinned/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A bus stops and two Italian men get on. They sit down and engage in an animated conversation.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The lady sitting behind them ignores them at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of he men say the following:
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Emma come first. Den I come. Den two asses come together. I come once-a-more. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I come one lasta time.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“You foul mouthed swine,” retorted the lady indignantly. “In this country we dont talk about our sex lives in public!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Hey, coola down lady,” said the man. “Who talkin abouta sexa? Im just tellin my frienda how to spella Mississippi.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/tyrantlubu2"> /u/tyrantlubu2 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tpqjo/a_bus_stops_and_two_italian_men_get_on_they_sit/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tpqjo/a_bus_stops_and_two_italian_men_get_on_they_sit/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Whats worse than waking up with a dick drawn on your face?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Someone telling you it was traced on.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Acrobatic-Ad6846"> /u/Acrobatic-Ad6846 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tp05q/whats_worse_than_waking_up_with_a_dick_drawn_on/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tp05q/whats_worse_than_waking_up_with_a_dick_drawn_on/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I was driving trough a neighborhood and saw a sign that said “Drive like your kids live here.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
So I left.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/CTFDYDB"> /u/CTFDYDB </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tldg7/i_was_driving_trough_a_neighborhood_and_saw_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tldg7/i_was_driving_trough_a_neighborhood_and_saw_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>If I had a nickel for every bread pun</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Id have a pun-per-nickel.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/rumblefish65"> /u/rumblefish65 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tqz9m/if_i_had_a_nickel_for_every_bread_pun/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/13tqz9m/if_i_had_a_nickel_for_every_bread_pun/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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