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<title>16 February, 2024</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Viral Automation: The Case of COVID-19</strong> -
<div>
Manuscript of editor’s introduction to forthcoming special issue for New Media &amp; Society on legacies of the COVID-19 pandemic for automated decision-making.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/u6fht/" target="_blank">Viral Automation: The Case of COVID-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>UBA1-CDK16: A Sex-Specific Chimeric RNA and Its Role in Immune Sexual Dimorphism</strong> -
<div>
RNA processing mechanisms, such as alternative splicing and RNA editing, have been recognized as critical means to expand the transcriptome. Chimeric RNAs formed by intergenic splicing provide another potential layer of RNA diversification. By analyzing a large set of RNA-Seq data and validating results in over 1,200 blood samples, we identified UBA1-CDK16, a female-specific chimeric transcript. Intriguingly, both parental genes, are expressed in males and females. Mechanistically, UBA1-CDK16 is produced by cis-splicing between the two adjacent X-linked genes, originating from the inactive X chromosome. A female-specific chromatin loop, formed between the junction sites, facilitates the alternative splicing of its readthrough precursor. This unique chimeric transcript exhibits evolutionary conservation, evolving to be female-specific from non-human primates to humans. Furthermore, our investigation reveals that UBA1-CDK16 is enriched in the myeloid lineage and plays a regulatory role in myeloid differentiation. Notably, female COVID-19 patients who tested negative for this chimeric transcript displayed higher counts of neutrophils, highlighting its potential role in disease pathogenesis. These findings support the notion that chimeric RNAs represent a new repertoire of transcripts that can be regulated independently from the parental genes, and a new class of RNA variance with potential implications in sexual dimorphism and immune responses.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580120v1" target="_blank">UBA1-CDK16: A Sex-Specific Chimeric RNA and Its Role in Immune Sexual Dimorphism</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey of healthy, privately owned cats presenting to a New York City animal hospital in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021)</strong> -
<div>
Both domestic and non-domestic cats are now established to be susceptible to infection by SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While serious disease in cats may occur in some instances, the majority of infections appear to be subclinical. Differing prevalence data for SARS-CoV-2 infection of cats have been reported, and are highly context-dependent. Here, we report a retrospective serological survey of cats presented to an animal practice in New York City, located in close proximity to a large medical center that treated the first wave of COVID-19 patients in the US in the Spring of 2020. We sampled 79, mostly indoor, cats between June 2020 to May 2021, the early part of which time the community was under a strict public health lock-down. Using a highly sensitive and specific fluorescent bead-based multiplex assay, we found an overall prevalence of 13/79 (16%) serologically-positive animals for the study period; however, cats sampled in the Fall of 2020 had a confirmed positive prevalence of 44%. For SARS-CoV-2 seropositive cats, we performed viral neutralization test with live SARS-CoV-2 to additionally confirm presence of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies. Of the thirteen seropositive cats, 7/13 (54%) were also positive by virus neutralization, and 2 of seropositive cats had previously documented respiratory signs, with high neutralization titers of 1:1024 and 1:4096; overall however, there was no statistically significant association of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity with respiratory signs, or with breed, sex or age of the animals. Follow up sampling of cats, while limited in scope, showed that positive serological titers were maintained over time. In comparison, we found an overall confirmed positive prevalence of 51% for feline coronavirus (FCoV), an endemic virus of cats, with 30% confirmed negative for FCoV. We demonstrate the impact of SARS-CoV in a defined feline population during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection of humans, and suggest that human-cat transmission was substantial in our study group. Our data provide a new context for SARS-CoV-2 transmission events across species.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580068v1" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey of healthy, privately owned cats presenting to a New York City animal hospital in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A single-dose MCMV-based vaccine elicits long-lasting immune protection in mice against distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> -
<div>
Current vaccines against COVID-19 elicit immune responses that are overall strong but wane rapidly. As a consequence, the necessary booster shots have led to vaccine fatigue. Hence, vaccines that would provide lasting protection against COVID-19 are needed, but are still unavailable. Cytomegaloviruses (CMV) elicit lasting and uniquely strong immune responses. Used as vaccine vectors, they may be attractive tools that obviate the need for boosters. Therefore, we tested the murine CMV (MCMV) as a vaccine vector against COVID-19 in relevant preclinical models of immunization and challenge. We have previously developed a recombinant murine CMV (MCMV) vaccine vector expressing the spike protein of the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 (MCMVS). In this study, we show that the MCMVS elicits a robust and lasting protection in young and aged mice. Notably, S-specific humoral and cellular immunity was not only maintained but even increased over a period of at least 6 months. During that time, antibody avidity continuously increased and expanded in breadth, resulting in neutralization of genetically distant variants, like Omicron BA.1. A single dose of MCMVS conferred rapid virus clearance upon challenge. Moreover, MCMVS vaccination controlled two immune-evading variants of concern (VoCs), the Beta (B.1.135) and the Omicron (BA.1) variants. Thus, CMV vectors provide unique advantages over other vaccine technologies, eliciting broadly reactive and long-lasting immune responses against COVID-19.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.25.517953v2" target="_blank">A single-dose MCMV-based vaccine elicits long-lasting immune protection in mice against distinct SARS-CoV-2 variants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Infer metabolic directions and magnitudes from moment differences of mass-weighted intensity distributions</strong> -
<div>
Metabolic pathways are fundamental maps in biochemistry that detail how molecules are transformed through various reactions. Metabolomics refers to the large-scale study of small molecules. High-throughput, untargeted, mass spectrometry-based metabolomics experiments typically depend on libraries for structural annotation, which is necessary for pathway analysis. However, only a small fraction of spectra can be matched to known structures in these libraries and only a portion of annotated metabolites can be associated with specific pathways, considering that numerous pathways are yet to be discovered. The complexity of metabolic pathways, where a single compound can play a part in multiple pathways, poses an additional challenge. This study introduces a different concept: mass spectra distribution, which is the empirical distribution of the intensities times their associated m/z values. Analysis of COVID-19 and mouse brain datasets shows that by estimating the differences of the point estimations of these distributions, it becomes possible to infer the metabolic directions and magnitudes without requiring knowledge of the exact chemical structures of these compounds and their related pathways. The overall metabolic momentum map, named as momentome, has the potential to bypass the current bottleneck and provide fresh insights into metabolomics studies. This brief report thus provides a mathematical framing for a classic biological concept.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/jmgea/" target="_blank">Infer metabolic directions and magnitudes from moment differences of mass-weighted intensity distributions</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>“Some distance between us:” a mixed methods study exploring experiences of remote care for eating disorders during COIVD-19</strong> -
<div>
Introduction: COVID-19 necessitated a rapid move from face-to-face services to remote care for eating disorders/eating distress (EDs). This study explores the advantages and challenges of remote care, identifying future implications for service provision. Methods: Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected from 211 people with lived experience (PWLE); 27 participating in semi-structured interviews/workshops and 184 via an online survey. Participants reported on their ED status; the impact of the pandemic on symptoms; benefits and challenges of remote care (and type of support accessed); any reasons for not accessing support; and future recommendations. Participation was open to PWLE with and without formal diagnosis. Results: ED symptoms were reported as worsening during the pandemic with contributing factors including isolation, lack of routine, negative emotions, and feeling like the external situation was outside of one’s control. Exercise was reported as a coping mechanism (although it is noted that responses did not allow for clarifications of respondents’ understanding of what constitutes healthy or unhealthy exercise). Remote care was positively attributed to increased flexibility and facilitation of social connection. However, identified barriers to access included a lack of awareness about support availability, digital access and/or literacy, and competing commitments (e.g., childcare). Further challenges included approaches being perceived as too clinical; uncertainty around remote care quality, and concerns that remote platforms may facilitate masking of symptoms. Participants also reflected heavily upon distress caused by default self-view during video calls. Participants expressed a need for more holistic approaches including “real stories” of recovery, and hybrid (online and offline) options for greater flexibility and widening of access choices; complimented by appropriate training to mitigate digital literacy barriers. Discussion: Future recommendations emphasise user-centered holistic, hybrid approaches to ED remote support, supported by training to address digital literacy barriers and facilitate user control of platform functionalities (e.g., self-view). The study underscores the need for continued remote care with a focus on inclusivity and user empowerment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/5rpg3/" target="_blank">“Some distance between us:” a mixed methods study exploring experiences of remote care for eating disorders during COIVD-19</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Broad-Spectrum Multi-Antigen mRNA/LNP-Based Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine Induced Potent Cross-Protective Immunity Against Infection and Disease Caused by Highly Pathogenic and Heavily Spike-Mutated SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in the Syrian Hamster Model</strong> -
<div>
The first-generation Spike-alone-based COVID-19 vaccines have successfully contributed to reducing the risk of hospitalization, serious illness, and death caused by SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, waning immunity induced by these vaccines failed to prevent immune escape by many variants of concern (VOCs) that emerged from 2020 to 2024, resulting in a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesize that a next-generation Coronavirus (CoV) vaccine incorporating highly conserved non-Spike SARS-CoV-2 antigens would confer stronger and broader cross-protective immunity against multiple VOCs. In the present study, we identified ten non-Spike antigens that are highly conserved in 8.7 million SARS-CoV-2 strains, twenty-one VOCs, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Common Cold CoVs, and animal CoVs. Seven of the 10 antigens were preferentially recognized by CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells from unvaccinated asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, irrespective of VOC infection. Three out of the seven conserved non-Spike T cell antigens belong to the early expressed Replication and Transcription Complex (RTC) region, when administered to the golden Syrian hamsters, in combination with Spike, as nucleoside-modified mRNA encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNP) (i.e., combined mRNA/LNP-based pan-CoV vaccine): (i) Induced high frequencies of lung-resident antigen-specific CXCR5+CD4+ T follicular helper (TFH) cells, GzmB+CD4+ and GzmB+CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (TCYT), and CD69+IFN-g+TNF-a+CD4+ and CD69+IFN-g+TNFa+CD8+ effector T cells (TEFF); and (ii) Reduced viral load and COVID-19-like symptoms caused by various VOCs, including the highly pathogenic B.1.617.2 Delta variant and the highly transmittable heavily Spike-mutated XBB1.5 Omicron sub-variant. The combined mRNA/LNP-based pan-CoV vaccine could be rapidly adapted for clinical use to confer broader cross-protective immunity against emerging highly mutated and pathogenic VOCs.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.14.580225v1" target="_blank">A Broad-Spectrum Multi-Antigen mRNA/LNP-Based Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine Induced Potent Cross-Protective Immunity Against Infection and Disease Caused by Highly Pathogenic and Heavily Spike-Mutated SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in the Syrian Hamster Model</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Probability Discounting and Adherence to Preventive Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> -
<div>
This brief communication reports preliminary findings of a study conducted to investigate the relationship between probability discounting and people’s adherence to preventive behaviors recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 112 adults living in Brazil completed an online survey composed of a Probability Discounting Questionnaire (PDQ) and a 10-item assessment of how often they complied with the health authorities’ recommendations (e.g., wash the hands frequently, practice social distancing, stay at home as much as possible, wear a mask when in public). Data analysis included the participants who showed higher (n = 40) and lower (n = 40) adherence to preventive behaviors. Results revealed that probability discounting measures are related to people’s preventive actions. Participants in the higher adherence group present significantly larger risk aversion indices (i.e., larger h values) than participants in the lower adherence group. Also, participants who showed lower adherence to preventive behaviors were more likely to perform risky choices in the PDQ than participants who demonstrated higher compliance with health authorities’ recommendations. These preliminary results suggest that probability discounting can play an essential role in people’s self-protective decisions during a global health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/p4a76/" target="_blank">Probability Discounting and Adherence to Preventive Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Pooled PPIseq: screening the SARS-CoV-2 and human interface with a scalable multiplexed protein-protein interaction assay platform</strong> -
<div>
Protein-Protein Interactions (PPIs) are a key interface between virus and host, and these interactions are important to both viral reprogramming of the host and to host restriction of viral infection. In particular, viral-host PPI networks can be used to further our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of tissue specificity, host range, and virulence. At higher scales, viral-host PPI screening could also be used to screen for small-molecule antivirals that interfere with essential viral-host interactions, or to explore how the PPI networks between interacting viral and host genomes co-evolve. Current high-throughput PPI assays have screened entire viral-host PPI networks. However, these studies are time consuming, often require specialized equipment, and are difficult to further scale. Here, we develop methods that make larger-scale viral-host PPI screening more accessible. This approach combines the mDHFR split-tag reporter with the iSeq2 interaction-barcoding system to permit massively-multiplexed PPI quantification by simple pooled engineering of barcoded constructs, integration of these constructs into budding yeast, and fitness measurements by pooled cell competitions and barcode-sequencing. We applied this method to screen for PPIs between SARS-CoV-2 proteins and human proteins, screening in triplicate &gt;180,000 ORF-ORF combinations represented by &gt;1,000,000 barcoded lineages. Our results complement previous screens by identifying 74 putative PPIs, including interactions between ORF7A with the taste receptors TAS2R41 and TAS2R7, and between NSP4 with the transmembrane KDELR2 and KDELR3. We show that this PPI screening method is highly scalable, enabling larger studies aimed at generating a broad understanding of how viral effector proteins converge on cellular targets to effect replication.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580123v1" target="_blank">Pooled PPIseq: screening the SARS-CoV-2 and human interface with a scalable multiplexed protein-protein interaction assay platform</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Single-cell Masked Autoencoder: An Accurate and Interpretable Automated Immunophenotyper</strong> -
<div>
High-throughput single-cell cytometry data are crucial for understanding immune system's involvement in diseases and responses to treatment. Traditional methods for annotating cytometry data, specifically manual gating and clustering, face challenges in scalability, robustness, and accuracy. In this study, we propose a single-cell masked autoencoder (scMAE), which offers an automated solution for immunophenotyping tasks including cell type annotation. The scMAE model is designed to uphold user-defined cell type definitions, thereby facilitating easier interpretation and cross-study comparisons. The scMAE model operates on a pre-train and fine-tune approach. In the pre-training phase, scMAE employs Masked Single-cell Modelling (MScM) to learn relationships between protein markers in immune cells solely based on protein expression, without relying on prior information such as cell identity and cell type-specific marker proteins. Subsequently, the pre-trained scMAE is fine-tuned on multiple specialized tasks via task-specific supervised learning. The pre-trained scMAE addresses the shortcomings of manual gating and clustering methods by providing accurate and interpretable predictions. Through validation across multiple cohorts, we demonstrate that scMAE effectively identifies co-occurrence patterns of bound labeled antibodies, delivers accurate and interpretable cellular immunophenotyping, and improves the prediction of subject metadata status. Specifically, we evaluated scMAE for cell type annotation and imputation at the cellular-level and SARS-CoV-2 infection prediction, secondary immune response prediction against COVID-19, and prediction the infection stage in the COVID-19 progression at the subject-level. The introduction of scMAE marks a significant step forward in immunology research, particularly in large-scale and high-throughput human immune profiling. It offers new possibilities for predicting and interpretating cellular-level and subject-level phenotypes in both health and disease.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580114v1" target="_blank">Single-cell Masked Autoencoder: An Accurate and Interpretable Automated Immunophenotyper</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A spring-loaded and leakage-tolerant synthetic gene switch for in-vitro detection of DNA and RNA</strong> -
<div>
Nucleic acid tests (NATs) are essential for biomedical diagnostics. Traditional NATs, often complex and expensive, have prompted the exploration of Toehold-Mediated Strand Displacement (TMSD) circuits as an economical alternative. However, the wide application of TMSD-based reactions is limited by leakage-the spurious activation of the reaction leading to high background signals and false positives. Here we introduce a new TMSD cascade that recognizes a custom nucleic acid input and generates an amplified output. The system is based on a pair of thermodynamically spring-loaded DNA modules. The binding of a predefined nucleic acid target triggers an intermolecular reaction that activates a T7 promoter, leading to the perpetual transcription of a fluorescent aptamer that can be detected by a smartphone camera. The system is designed to permit the selective depletion of leakage byproducts to achieve high sensitivity and zero-background signal in the absence of the correct trigger. Using Zika virus (ZIKV)- and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-derived nucleic acid sequences, we show that the assay generates a reliable target-specific readout. Native RNA can be directly detected under isothermal conditions, without requiring reverse transcription, with a sensitivity as low as 200 attomole. The modularity of the assay allows easy re-programming for the detection of other targets by exchanging a single sequence domain. This work provides a low-complexity and high-fidelity synthetic biology tool for point-of-care diagnostics and for the construction of more complex biomolecular computations.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.12.579921v1" target="_blank">A spring-loaded and leakage-tolerant synthetic gene switch for in-vitro detection of DNA and RNA</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Data mining antibody sequences for database searching in bottom-up proteomics</strong> -
<div>
Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics allows identifying and quantifying thousands of proteins but suffers from challenges when measuring human antibodies due to their vast variety. The mainly used bottom-up proteomics approaches rely on database searches that compare experimental values of peptides and their fragments to theoretical values derived from protein sequences in a database. While the human body can produce millions of distinct antibodies, the current databases for human antibodies such as UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot are limited to only 1095 sequences (as of 2024 Jan). This limitation may hinder the identification of new antibodies using mass spectrometry. Therefore, extending the database for mass spectrometry is an important task for discovering new antibodies. Recent genomic studies have compiled millions of human antibody sequences publicly accessible through the Observed Antibody Space (OAS) database. However, this data has yet to be exploited to confirm the presence of these antibodies. In this study, we adopted this extensive collection of antibody sequences for conducting efficient database searches in publicly available proteomics data with a focus on the SARS-CoV-2 disease. Thirty million heavy antibody sequences from 146 SARS-CoV-2 patients in the OAS database were digested in silico to obtain 18 million unique peptides. These peptides were then used to create new databases for bottom-up proteomics. We used those databases for searching new antibody peptides in publicly available SARS-CoV-2 human plasma samples in the Proteomics Identification Database (PRIDE). This approach avoids false positives in antibody peptide identification as confirmed by searching against negative controls (brain samples) and employing different database sizes. We show that the found sequences provide valuable information to distinguish diseased from healthy and expect that the newly discovered antibody peptides can be further employed to develop therapeutic antibodies. The method will be broadly applicable to find characteristic antibodies for other diseases.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580076v1" target="_blank">Data mining antibody sequences for database searching in bottom-up proteomics</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants from farmed mink to humans and back during the epidemic in Denmark, June-November 2020.</strong> -
<div>
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has not only caused the COVID-19 pandemic but also had a major impact on farmed mink production in several European countries. In Denmark, the entire population of farmed mink (over 15 million animals) was culled in late 2020. During the period of June to November 2020, mink on 290 farms (out of about 1100 in the country) were shown to be infected with SARS-CoV-2. Genome sequencing identified changes in the virus within the mink and it is estimated that about 4000 people in Denmark became infected with these mink virus variants. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the generation of multiple clusters of the virus within the mink. A detailed analysis of the changes in the virus during replication in mink and, in parallel, in the human population in Denmark, during the same time period, has been performed here. The majority of cases in mink involved variants that had the Y435F substitution and the H69/V70 deletion within the Spike (S) protein; these changes emerged early on during the outbreak. However, further introductions of the virus, with variants lacking these changes, from the human population into mink also occurred. Based on phylogenetic analysis of the available viral genome data, we estimate that there were a minimum of about 17 separate examples of mink to human transmission of the virus in Denmark, using a conservative approach, but up to 60 such events (95% credible interval: (35-77)) were identified using parsimony to count cross-species jumps on transmission trees inferred using a Bayesian method. Using the latter approach, it was estimated that there were 136 jumps (95% credible interval: (112-164)) from humans to mink. Thus, transmission of these viruses from humans to mink, mink to mink, from mink to humans and between humans were all observed.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.02.13.580053v1" target="_blank">Emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants from farmed mink to humans and back during the epidemic in Denmark, June-November 2020.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Evolving Trends in Neuropsychological Profiles of Post COVID-19 Condition: A 1-Year Follow-up in Individuals with Cognitive Complaints</strong> -
<div>
Background: Cognitive difficulties are reported as lasting sequelae within post COVID-19 condition. However, the chronicity of these difficulties and related factors of fatigue, mood, and perceived health have yet to be fully determined. More longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the trends of cognitive test performance and cognitive domain impairment following COVID-19 onset, and whether hospitalization influences outcomes. Methods: 57 participants who reported subjective cognitive difficulties after confirmed COVID-19 infection were assessed at baseline (~6 months post COVID-19) and follow-up (~15 months later) visits. Assessments included measures across multiple cognitive domains and self-report questionnaires of fatigue, mood, and overall health. Analyses were conducted in three stages: at the test score level (raw and adjusted scores), at the cognitive domain level, and stratified by hospitalization status during infection. Results: Impacts on cognitive test scores remain stable across assessments. Cognitive domain analyses indicate significant reductions in attention and executive functioning impairment, while memory impairment is slower resolve. On self-report measures, there was a significant improvement in overall health ratings at follow-up. Finally, those hospitalized during infection performed worse on timed cognitive measures across visits and accounted for a larger proportion of cases with short-term and working memory impairment at follow-up. Conclusions: Cognitive difficulties persist both at test score and cognitive domain levels in many cases of post COVID-19 condition, but evidence suggests some improvement in global measures of attention, executive functioning and overall self-rated health. An effect of hospitalization on cognitive symptoms post COVID-19 may be more discernible over time.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/bwgx8/" target="_blank">Evolving Trends in Neuropsychological Profiles of Post COVID-19 Condition: A 1-Year Follow-up in Individuals with Cognitive Complaints</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The Your COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool and the Accompanying Open Access Data and Materials Repositories</strong> -
<div>
In March 2020, the Your COVID-19 Risk tool was developed in response to the global spread of SARS-CoV-2. The tool is an online resource based on key behavioural evidence-based risk factors related to contracting and spreading SARS-CoV-2. This article describes the development of the tool, the produced resources, the associated open repository, and initial results. This tool was developed by a multidisciplinary research team consisting of more than 150 international experts. This project leverages knowledge obtained in behavioural science, aiming to promote behaviour change by assessing risk and supporting individuals completing the assessment tool to protect themselves and others from infection. To enable iterative improvements of the tool, tool users can optionally answer questions about behavioural determinants. The data and results are openly shared to support governments and health agencies developing behaviour change interventions. Over 60 000 users in more than 150 countries have assessed their risk and provided data.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/b8n5g/" target="_blank">The Your COVID-19 Risk Assessment Tool and the Accompanying Open Access Data and Materials Repositories</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Correlation of Antibody Response to COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnant Woman and Transplacental Passage Into Cord Blood.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Covid-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: COVID-19 Spike Protein IgG Quantitative Antibody (CMIA) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Vachira Phuket Hospital <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>UNAIR Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine as Homologue Booster (Immunobridging Study)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 Pandemic; COVID-19 Vaccines; COVID-19 Virus Disease <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: INAVAC (Vaksin Merah Putih - UA- SARS CoV-2 (Vero Cell Inactivated) 5 μg <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Dr. Soetomo General Hospital; Universitas Airlangga; Biotis Pharmaceuticals, Indonesia; Indonesia-MoH <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity of a Sub-unit Protein CD40.RBDv Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted or Not, as a Booster in Volunteers.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: CD40.RBDv vaccin (SARS-Cov2 Vaccin) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: ANRS, Emerging Infectious Diseases; LinKinVax; Vaccine Research Institute (VRI), France <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ADJUVANT TREATMENT TO REDUCE CARDIOVASCULAR RISK IN PATIENTS WITH LONG COVID: HIGH-DEFINITION TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION (HD-TDCS) AND CHLORELLA PYREINOIDOSA</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Cardiovascular Diseases; Long Covid19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: High Definition-transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; Dietary Supplement: Chlorella Pyreinodosa <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Federal University of Paraíba; City University of New York <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SGB for COVID-induced Parosmia</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19-Induced Parosmia <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Stellate Ganglion Block; Drug: Placebo Sham Injection <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Washington University School of Medicine <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effects of Physiotherapy Via Video Calls in Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; Long COVID-19; Cardiopulmonary Function; Physical Function <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Exercise training <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Chulabhorn Hospital <br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Investigating the Effectiveness of Vimida</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; Post COVID-19 Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: vimida <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Gaia AG; Medical School Hamburg; Institut Long-Covid Rostock <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Acute Cardiovascular Responses to a Single Exercise Session in Patients With Post-COVID-19 Syndrome</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Exercise session; Behavioral: Control session <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Nove de Julho <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reducing Respiratory Virus Transmission in Bangladeshi Classrooms</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS-CoV2 Infection; Influenza Viral Infections; Respiratory Viral Infection <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: Box Fan; Device: UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Unit; Device: Combined: Box Fan and UV Germicidal Irradiation Lamp Units <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Stanford University; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SMILE: Clinical Trial to Evaluate Mindfulness as Intervention for Racial and Ethnic Populations During COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Anxiety; COVID-19 Pandemic <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Mindfulness <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD); RTI International <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Effect of rifampicin administration on CYP induction in a dermatomyositis patient with vasospastic angina attributable to nilmatrelvir/ritonavir-induced blood tacrolimus elevation: A case report</strong> - Ritonavir (RTV), which is used in combination with nilmatrelvir (NMV) to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), inhibits cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A, thereby increasing blood tacrolimus (TAC) levels through a drug-drug interaction (DDI). We experienced a case in which a DDI between the two drugs led to markedly increased blood TAC levels, resulting in vasospastic angina (VSA) and acute kidney injury (AKI). Rifampicin (RFP) was administered to induce CYP3A and promote TAC metabolism. 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>SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain promotes IL-6 and IL-8 release via ATP/P2Y<sub>2</sub> and ERK1/2 signaling pathways in human bronchial epithelia</strong> - The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 as well as its receptor binding domain (RBD) has been demonstrated to be capable of activating the release of pro-inflammatory mediators in endothelial cells and immune cells such as monocytes. However, the effects of spike protein or its RBD on airway epithelial cells and mechanisms underlying these effects have not been adequately characterized. Here, we show that the RBD of spike protein alone can induce bronchial epithelial inflammation in a manner 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>Targeting mevalonate pathway by zoledronate ameliorated pulmonary fibrosis in a rat model: Promising therapy against post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis</strong> - CONCLUSION: ZA in a dose-dependent manner prevented the pathological effect of CCl4 in the lung by targeting mevalonate pathway. It could be promising therapy against PCPF.</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>Methotrexate Inhibits the Binding of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Receptor Binding Domain to the Host-Cell Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2) Receptor</strong> - As the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus mutates, finding effective drugs becomes more challenging. In this study, we use ultrasensitive frequency locked microtoroid optical resonators in combination with in silico screening to search for COVID-19 drugs that can stop the virus from attaching to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor in the lungs. We found 29 promising candidates that could block the binding site and selected four of them that…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluating NSAIDs in SARS-CoV-2: Immunomodulatory mechanisms and future therapeutic strategies</strong> - Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely recognized for their analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. Amidst the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the role of NSAIDs in modulating viral and bacterial infections has become a critical area of research, sparking debates and necessitating a thorough review. This review examines the multifaceted interactions between NSAIDs, immune responses, and infections. Focusing on the immunomodulatory mechanisms of NSAIDs in SARS-CoV-2 and their…</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>Molecular docking of bioactive compounds extracted and purified from selected medicinal plant species against covid-19 proteins and in vitro evaluation</strong> - Bioactive compounds are secondary metabolites of plants. They offer diverse pharmacological properties. Peganum harmala is reported to have pharmaceutical effects like insecticidal, antitumor, curing malaria, anti-spasmodic, vasorelaxant, antihistaminic effect. Rosa brunonii has medicinal importance in its flower and fruits effective against different diseases and juice of leaf is reported to be applied externally to cure wounds and cuts. Dryopteris ramosa aqueous leaf extract is used to treat…</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>Asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 promotes SARS-CoV-2 infection of human normal hepatocytes</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes multi-organ damage, which includes hepatic dysfunction, as observed in over 50% of COVID-19 patients. Angiotensin I converting enzyme (peptidyl-dipeptidase A) 2 (ACE2) is the primary receptor for SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells, and studies have shown the presence of intracellular virus particles in human hepatocytes that express ACE2, but at extremely low levels. Consequently, we asked if hepatocytes might express receptors…</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>SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-ACE2 interaction increases carbohydrate sulfotransferases and reduces N-acetylgalactosamine-4-sulfatase by p38 MAPK</strong> - Immunostaining in lungs of patients who died with COVID-19 infection showed increased intensity and distribution of chondroitin sulfate and decline in N-acetylgalactostamine-4-sulfatase (Arylsulfatase B; ARSB). To explain these findings, human small airway epithelial cells were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (SPRBD) and transcriptional mechanisms were investigated. Phospho-p38 MAPK and phospho-SMAD3 increased following exposure to the SPRBD, and their inhibition…</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>Investigating vulnerability of the conserved SARS-CoV-2 spike’s heptad repeat 2 as target for fusion inhibitors using chimeric miniproteins</strong> - Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 membrane fusion is a highly desired target to combat COVID-19. The interaction between the spike’s heptad repeat (HR) regions 1 (HR1) and 2 (HR2) is a crucial step during the fusion process and these highly conserved HR regions constitute attractive targets for fusion inhibitors. However, the relative importance of each subregion of the long HR1-HR2 interface for viral inhibition remains unclear. Here, we designed, produced, and characterized a series of chimeric…</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>TYPE I INTERFERON PATHWAY GENETIC VARIANTS IN SEVERE COVID-19</strong> - Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been over 760 million reported cases and over 6 million deaths caused by this disease worldwide. The severity of COVID-19 is based on symptoms presented by the patient and is divided as asymptomatic, mild, moderate, severe, and critical. The manifestations are interconnected with genetic variations. The innate immunity is the quickest response mechanism…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inhibition of CD40L with Frexalimab in Multiple Sclerosis</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: In a phase 2 trial involving participants with multiple sclerosis, inhibition of CD40L with frexalimab had an effect that generally favored a greater reduction in the number of new gadolinium-enhancing T1-weighted lesions at week 12 as compared with placebo. Larger and longer trials are needed to determine the long-term efficacy and safety of frexalimab in persons with multiple sclerosis. (Funded by Sanofi; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04879628.).</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>Hyperacetylated microtubules assist porcine deltacoronavirus nsp8 to degrade MDA5 via SQSTM1/p62-dependent selective autophagy</strong> - The microtubule (MT) is a highly dynamic polymer that functions in various cellular processes through MT hyperacetylation. Thus, many viruses have evolved mechanisms to hijack the MT network of the cytoskeleton to allow intracellular replication of viral genomic material. Coronavirus non-structural protein 8 (nsp8), a component of the viral replication transcriptional complex, is essential for viral survival. Here, we found that nsp8 of porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), an emerging…</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>An isothermal calorimetry assay for determining steady state kinetic and enzyme inhibition parameters for SARS-CoV-2 3CL-protease</strong> - This manuscript describes the application of Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) to characterize the kinetics of 3CL ^(pro) from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its inhibition by Ensitrelvir, a known non-covalent inhibitor. 3CL ^(pro) is the main protease that plays a crucial role of producing the whole array of proteins necessary for the viral infection that caused the spread of COVID-19, responsible for millions of deaths worldwide as well as global…</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 new pharmacophore against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by multi-fold computational and biochemical techniques</strong> - COVID-19 appeared as a highly contagious disease after its outbreak in December 2019 by the virus, named SARS-CoV-2. The threat, which originated in Wuhan, China, swiftly became an international emergency. Among different genomic products, spike protein of virus plays a crucial role in the initiation of the infection by binding to the human lung cells, therefore, SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein is a promising therapeutic target. Using a combination of a structure-based virtual screening 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>Calpain-2 mediates SARS-CoV-2 entry via regulating ACE2 levels</strong> - Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, much effort has been dedicated to identifying effective antivirals against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A number of calpain inhibitors show excellent antiviral activities against SARS-CoV-2 by targeting the viral main protease (M^(pro)), which plays an essential role in processing viral polyproteins. In this study, we found that calpain inhibitors potently inhibited the infection of a…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Trump’s Threat to NATO Is the Scariest Kind of Gaffe: It’s Real</strong> - Consider yourself warned. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/trumps-threat-to-nato-is-the-scariest-kind-of-gaffe-its-real">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is the Media Prepared for an Extinction-Level Event?</strong> - Ads are scarce, search and social traffic is dying, and readers are burned out. The future will require fundamentally rethinking the press’s relationship to its audience. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-weekend-essay/is-the-media-prepared-for-an-extinction-level-event">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Friendship Challenge</strong> - How envy destroyed the perfect connection between two teen-age girls. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/the-friendship-challenge">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Art World Before and After Thelma Golden, by Calvin Tomkins</strong> - When Golden was a young curator in the nineties, her shows, centering Black artists, were unprecedented. Today, those artists are the stars of the art market. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/the-art-world-before-and-after-thelma-golden">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Teen’s Fatal Plunge Into the London Underworld</strong> - After Zac Brettler mysteriously plummeted into the Thames, his grieving parents were shocked to learn that he’d been posing as an oligarch’s son. Would the police help them solve the puzzle of his death? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/12/a-teens-fatal-plunge-into-the-london-underworld">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>The looming ground assault on the last “safe” zone in Gaza</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A child walks over muddy ground between rows of tents." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1-iMkuhJnMEs-v8XUz7Ajs1ddZ8=/225x0:3806x2686/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73143801/2006151973.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Palestinian children are seen among tents as they struggle with strong winds, downpours, and floods while Israeli attacks continue in Rafah of Gaza on February 15, 2024. | Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Voices from a besieged Rafah.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AMLFXf">
More than four months into the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/7/23907683/israel-hamas-war-news-updates-october-2023">Israel-Hamas war</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a> residents are <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/deadly-attacks-gaza-cold-weather-making-it-uninhabitable-un-2024-01-26/">struggling to survive winter conditions</a> with insufficient food, drinking water, medicine, and clothing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kUWRMg">
The majority of them have fled to Rafah, a city in the south bordering Egypt. With a prewar population of about 280,000 residents, Rafah is now housing nearly 1.5 million refugees, according to the United Nations agency for <a href="https://www.vox.com/palestine">Palestinian</a> refugees (and confirmed by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2024/02/09/gaza-war-rafah-tent-city-palestinians-israel-invasion/d0271be6-c776-11ee-bbc9-9b5ca9b20779_story.html">satellite images</a>).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LTE0VL">
It was, theoretically, a refuge from the intense shelling and ground operation <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a> launched after Hamas brutally attacked the country on October 7. That sense has been shattered this week. <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/2/12/24071274/israel-rafah-gaza-strikes-hostages-ground-invasion">Israeli airstrikes on Monday</a> killed about 100 people, and Israeli Prime Minister <a href="https://www.vox.com/23910085/netanyahu-israel-right-hamas-gaza-war-history">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> has indicated a ground offensive might be imminent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WWnIzd">
Meanwhile, <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/israel-hamas-ceasefire-hostage-release/14424010/">negotiations have stalled</a> on discussions of a ceasefire deal and a hostage and prisoner swap between Israel and <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y8ZJKm">
The negotiations, helmed by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/gaza-cease-fire-talks-appear-to-stall-as-netanyahu-calls-hamas-demands-delusional">ground to a halt</a> Wednesday after Netanyahu called his delegates back from a summit in Cairo, accusing Hamas of presenting “delusional” demands in order to avoid a deal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xFY5e2">
The relatives of the estimated 130 remaining hostages said the decision amounts to a “death sentence” for their family members languishing in Hamas captivity, about a quarter of whom are presumed dead.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3fJXb2">
And it leaves the Palestinians sheltering in Rafah feeling <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/15/israel-rafah-gaza-war-displaced/">even more hopeless</a>. The <a href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast"><em>Today, Explained</em> podcast</a> team spoke with <a href="https://twitter.com/aselmousa">Aseel Mousa</a>, a Palestinian freelance journalist who grew up in Gaza, about how we got here, what it’s like on the ground right now, and what happens next.
</p>
<h3 id="pRXQbB">
How so many Palestinians ended up in Rafah
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hWjH2N">
As Israel started its aerial bombardment — following the October 7 Hamas attacks, which killed about 1,200 Israelis, with more than 240 people taken hostage — it directed Gazans to flee south to avoid the fighting. That was always a fraught directive in a territory <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-hamas-war-90e02d26420b8fe3157f73c256f9ed6a">the size of Detroit but almost four times its population</a>. But as the war has progressed, more than 85 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4nPr2J">
Mousa’s family is among them. On October 13, her family <a href="https://twitter.com/aselmousa/status/1756586795779707071/photo/1">left their home</a> outside Gaza City and sought shelter in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ztAe4X">
For <a href="https://twitter.com/aselmousa/status/1741364574815736151">about 80 days</a>, they stayed in her grandfather’s house along with about 40 other displaced people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qK2Yta">
“The situation there was dire,” Mousa said. “We faced severe shortages of food, running water, and even drinkable water. And also Israel cut off electricity, communication lines, and internet access.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ybE3QV">
“And even though Israel claimed that area as a safe area, I lost 10 people of my family,” she added. “Israel targeted the house of my cousins. And as a result, 10 of my relatives were killed. Seven of them were children. And one of them was a woman. And the others were young men.”
</p>
<h3 id="gNA5zf">
Rafah, refuge no more
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hw8jTu">
Mousa’s childhood home and her grandfather’s home in al-Maghazi were both bombed. As Israeli airstrikes intensified, her family fled farther south, to Rafah.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zWAApz">
Now, she and over a million other Palestinians are trapped. <a href="https://twitter.com/WFP_MENA/status/1758064166697382380">A sense of despair</a> pervades Rafah, said Matthew Hollingworth of the World Food Programme, where people are scavenging for food, fuel, and shelter amid “damp, cold, and miserable” conditions. Mousa has been <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/02/13/gaza-rafah-displaced-israel/">documenting</a> their stories.
</p>
<aside id="pBao9M">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cYqQDT">
She called Monday’s assault “a night of terror beyond description” but said compounding the fear of death is the lack of basic supplies:
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MQXKVZ">
“The Israeli bombardment is hard in itself, being under fire, under bombardment, she said. “But being under bombardment without even the essential needs — such as food, water, medical supplies, medicines — is making the problem or the tough time harder than enduring it with only bombing.”
</p>
<h3 id="WoAWlz">
Is a ground offensive coming?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u0IWHo">
Israeli officials say Rafah is Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza, and that a ground offensive is needed to defeat Hamas and bring an end to the war.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w8AbOd">
The UN <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146452">warned</a> that such an operation would lead to “carnage.” But Netanyahu brushed aside concerns in a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/netanyahu-declares-victory-within-reach-hamas-reduced-last-remaining-bastion">Fox News interview</a>, saying, “I think the people who are telling you, ‘Oh, you can’t do it, you can’t go into Rafah under any conditions,’ are basically saying ‘Don’t win, lose.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bgh36t">
Moussa says Rafah’s displaced population is dreading a ground invasion, which she said would be “a catastrophe, as … the people now have no place to go to.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hjvG4D">
“What can we do?” she said. “We stay. We stay in the houses. In the tents. In the streets. In the shelters, waiting to be killed. We don’t have a plan F. We made the plan A, plan B, plan C. And we have no more plans.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="riqmjW">
The threat of an invasion has increased pressure on US and other officials to get diplomatic negotiations back on track — for both an immediate deal and a longer-term solution.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K3WCOE">
Arab states insist that after a ceasefire deal is reached, a two-state solution is a prerequisite to normalizing relations with Israel and rebuilding a devastated Gaza Strip.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zhspjj">
But Mousa and others like her in Rafah have more immediate concerns:
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TVJ15k">
“We don’t have the luxury to think of the aftermath. We only think how to survive day by day. We think of how to flee from being killed.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5RA2W6">
<em>This story appeared originally in </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/today-explained-podcast"><em><strong>Today, Explained</strong></em></a><em>, Vox’s flagship daily newsletter. </em><a href="https://www.vox.com/pages/today-explained-newsletter-signup"><em><strong>Sign up here for future editions</strong></em></a><em>.</em>
</p></li>
<li><strong>Dakota Johnson’s aloof appeal, explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Johnson in the woods looking through a spider web." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/raI86cvmFmH9A6kj2L5Gddfg10U=/442x0:1559x838/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73143776/cla_dtlr1_t_4k_rec709_full_13_2000x838_thumbnail.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Dakota Johnson as Cassandra “Cassie” Webb in <em>Madame Web.</em> | Sony Pictures
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The star of Madame Web is a charming terror.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yG2AfG">
To love Dakota Johnson is to understand that Dakota Johnson probably hates you for it a little bit.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K4Kwaw">
When she was in <em>50 Shades of Grey</em>, all anyone could talk about was Johnson’s sheer <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/03/fifty-shades-of-grey-jamie-dornan-dakota-johnson">lack of chemistry</a> with (and perhaps even strong distaste for) handsome costar Jamie Dornan. For a movie that’s supposed to be all about mutual appeal, the press tour lacked even the faintest suggestion of it. If you found their onscreen relationship at all convincing, Johnson would probably politely say, “I love that for you!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k0ouAw">
Even bigger than her open embrace of the<em> 50 Shades </em>stiffness<em> </em>came from <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/12/2/20991074/dakota-johnson-ellen-birthday-feud">Johnson’s run-in with Ellen DeGeneres</a>. The actor confronted the terminally amicable talk show host, who had until that point held the mantle of the nicest person on TV, calling Ellen out as a liar. Technically, it was DeGeneres who snubbed Johnson’s birthday party invite, Johnson explained, not a lack of invitation. DeGeneres’s saccharine empire crumbled soon after and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ellen-degeneres-dakota-johnson-interview-anniversary-fan-tweets-memes-reactions-2020-11">Johnson was cheered</a> as the people’s princess. “It will haunt me,” <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/dakota-johnson-madame-web-movie-interviews">she said to L’Officiel</a> this month of the interaction, telling the publication that journalists as a whole do not understand sarcasm.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eVqeBU">
Johnson’s unrelenting dryness is her hallmark, like when she famously claimed to love limes. “I love them so much. They’re great, and I love them so much, and I like to present them like this in my house,” she said, pointing to a pyramid of limes during her house tour with <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/step-inside-dakota-johnsons-midcentury-modern-home">Architectural Digest</a>. There was an uncanniness to her delivery; something was endearingly off. Later, on <em>The Tonight Show, </em>she revealed that she was actually allergic to limes, and they were planted by a set designer. “It was hard to just ignore them, so I just lied,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5CrDpew7EQ">she said</a>, of the citric flourish. Later, she <a href="https://twitter.com/FallonTonight/status/1470617094555422720?s=20">doubled down</a>, saying “I don’t really care about limes.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YVdtpm">
As a media personality, Johnson is organic and truly unrehearsed. But when she does or says something fascinating or amusing, she seems to think you’re the weird one for liking it. Being charming is just normal for her. Being charmed by her normality is, to her, a little silly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fuBa3W">
Putting her front and center in <em>Madame Web</em>, a Spider-Man-based superhero movie, is an inspired but counterintuitive choice. Superheroes are built on winning an audience over. People root for superheroes. Dakota Johnson doesn’t seem to ever want you rooting for her. And if Dakota Johnson doesn’t really care about limes, why would Johnson care about a tertiary Spider-Man character?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gQ0ruW">
That’s the magic of the gloriously clumsy, terrifically absurd <em>Madame Web</em>, a movie that <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/dakota-johnson-absolutely-psychotic-madame-web-blue-screen-1235889691/">Johnson herself said</a> was maybe, probably, going to be kind of terrible. And if Dakota Johnson says something is kind of terrible, don’t you kind of want to see what she means? After all, it could just be an unenthusiastic illusion, like the limes.
</p>
<h3 id="bEgG3Q">
Don’t take <em>Madame Web</em> too seriously. Don’t take any superhero movie too seriously.
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vk38Ob">
In <em>Madame Web</em>, Johnson plays Cassandra “Cassie” Webb, the Spider-Lady at the heart of the movie. Even though her arthropod-esque, prophetic name kinda gives everything away, Cassie thinks she’s just a New York City EMT. What Cassie doesn’t fully know is that she has powers thanks to her late mother, an intrepid amateur arachnologist.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IyvIK0">
Constance Webb (Kerry Bishé) believed spiders could cure disease, specifically that there was a special spider in the Peruvian Amazon whose venom and cell structure could yield special benefits. Even seven months pregnant with Cassie, she considered that spider worth risking a jungle adventure. To communicate this potential to the audience, Constance and other characters just say “peptides” over and over, waving away technicalities, science, and logic.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Johnson as Webb in an EMT uniform with windblown hair. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UHoTxukgBZ67zSU-fhG0e5ez0cU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25286698/DF_34381_r_2000x1333_thumbnail.jpg"/> <cite>Jessica Kourkounis/Sony Pictures</cite>
<figcaption>
Cassie Webb is an EMT who hates people! Representation matters!
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7bkTnH">
If you take umbrage with that kind of storytelling, I have no idea what to tell you. That’s your own problem. This is no bait and switch. This is a movie with Dakota Johnson playing an EMT who is also a psychic Spider-Lady. This isn’t an exegesis on the themes of Foucault, but you should already know that.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T4WVew">
The writing duo behind <em>Madame Web</em> also gave us <a href="https://www.vox.com/23005376/morbius-review-jared-leto-mcu"><em>Morbius</em></a>, a Spider-verse story about an antihero vampire in STEM<em>,</em> and the doomed 2017 <em>Power Rangers</em> reboot. Their continued Hollywood employment despite consistent clunkerdom is a feat. Like those “<a href="https://www.vox.com/movies">movies</a>,” <em>Madame Web</em> isn’t so much a film but rather a 116-minute collection of 13-second intervals where characters tell you how they feel (usually one of sad, happy, or scared), who they are (their names, what they’re good at, and where they live), or exactly what they’re gonna do next (going to a diner, going to Peru, going to kill some people in Peru).
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m1wRTZ">
Unfortunately for Constance, she’s not the only one who’s on the hunt — her bodyguard Ezekiel (Tahar Rahim) has been searching for the rare arachnids too, which is why he sadly needs to shoot her. Ezekiel believes in the myths of Arañas, people with spider-granted super strength who can zip through jungle trees. As Constance bleeds out in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon, she discovers that the Arañas are real. They compel their magical medical spider to sink its fangs into her, which doesn’t save Constance’s life but does save Cassie’s. It also imbues her with the power to see the future. The Arañas, thankfully, for some reason, speak English, which makes this entire kidnapping-spider-biting ritual feel less hostile, as they tell the dying Constance they’re saving her unborn baby.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Is2rYm">
Like the audience watching, Constance is encouraged to just go with it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aPXHml">
It’s unclear who named Cassie or how adoption works in the Peruvian Amazon. Being so far from civilization, the Arañas ostensibly had to care for this newborn orphan for some amount of time. Yet, Adult Cassie tells us she’s the product of the American foster care system and also somehow has a trunk full of her mom’s spider research, a series of notebooks that undoubtedly has the word “peptides” underlined over and over. Perhaps the Arañas’s real superpower was finding a way to get baby Cassie, a Peruvian immigrant, to the United States with her mom’s scientific research intact and dropping her right into the hands of CPS.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dvgZJX">
Raising Cassie as an Araña would surely have been an easier time for everyone involved. But like Cassie, we cannot change what’s already been decided for us. This is <em>Madame Web,</em> not <em>Señora Araña</em>!
</p>
<h3 id="vQeKKf">
Cassie Webb kind of sucks, and that rules
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K9lmSB">
According to Spider-Man lore, a radioactive eight-legged arachnid<strong> </strong>bit Peter Parker and gave him “Spidey sense” plus enhanced agility, super strength, and wall-climbing abilities. Similarly, the itsy-bitsy that bit Miles Morales activated those gifts plus invisibility and bioelectric venom strike. In the Spider-Verse, spiders bite people and grant them the powers they share.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q8zkKR">
Going by this logic, the spider that bit Cassie’s mom could see the future and maybe, was kind of a jerk.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Johnson and Sweeney in look back toward the camera in a scene in Madame Webb." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ymr2F0HQnsjDDgaNicxQKpEIMjY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25286699/V1_0024_cla_dtlr1_2_itlr_abcde_stringout_4k_rec709_full_2000x836_thumbnail.jpg"/> <cite>Sony Pictures</cite>
<figcaption>
Unfortunately, there aren’t many memorable scenes between Johnson and costar Sydney Sweeney. A DGAF-off that I would have loved to witness.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T5HgVR">
In this world, spiders have some kind of foresight that allows them to glimpse the future — but a very specific and localized peek and not, like, a profound understanding of the fullness and fabric of time. The power functions like déjà vu, as the spider would ostensibly fully live through one version of the future and snap back to 30 seconds before it all happened. Given that a spider’s life in the Peruvian Amazon is probably filled with all kinds of threats, this way of living would probably make it a little bit supernaturally cranky. This heightened anticipation also explains how the spider managed to elude humans for so long.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TCZIe2">
Like the spider that bit her mom, Adult Cassie doesn’t particularly enjoy human interaction. This might seem at odds with Cassie’s vocation as a post-9/11 first responder — the movie is set in 2003 — until you remember that Cassie helps people who are usually extremely injured and unconscious.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PUpZkt">
Cassie dodges her own captain’s baby shower with a Johnson-esque “I don’t want to get roped into that.” She’s mostly okay with only one coworker, her partner Ben Parker (Adam Scott). Yes, that name is supposed to raise all kinds of alarms, as does the fact that Ben has a pregnant sister named Mary (Emma Roberts). That sure would make him an uncle named Ben.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GyyNVP">
Johnson delivers all of Cassie’s lines — from saying “you’re welcome” to the loved ones of her patients to telling party attendees that her dead mom was probably irresponsible — with weaponized uptalk. Uptalk, some <a href="https://nytimes.com/2012/02/28/science/young-women-often-trendsetters-in-vocal-patterns.html">researchers say</a>, is designed to slyly announce dominance in a submissive way; it’s an assertion disguised as a question.<strong> </strong>In Cassie’s voice, it feels like she’s asking the audience to empathize with the dolts around her.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Celeste O’Connor as Mattie Franklin, Johnson as Cassie Webb, Isabela Merced as Anya Corazon, and Sweeney as Julia Cornwall look concerned on a subway platform." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r6Ssmpe6C6iHZ1V8cWaR1W33Ido=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25286708/V1_0012_cla_dtlr1_t_4k_rec709_full_2000x836_thumbnail.jpg"/> <cite>Sony Pictures</cite>
<figcaption>
Madame Web and her spider-teen charges.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Zoikay">
This isn’t that different from how the real <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23327493/nepotism-baby-meaning-dakota-johnson-zoe-kravitz-maude-apatow">Dakota Johnson</a>, daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson and granddaughter of Tippi Hedren, speaks: fearless deadpan combined with condescending inquisitiveness to create an undertone of cool menace. Johnson is not a chameleon, and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22869285/lost-daughter-netflix-review-explained">her best roles</a> have tapped into that unreadable opacity, making use of her ability to turn others into the inconsequential lime sitting on her counter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Yt8Kqj">
In <em>Madame Web</em>, Johnson’s delivery often feels like she’s making fun of the movie she’s in. Every line has a wink, a vague suggestion to the audience that she can’t believe she’s saying things like “The best part of the future is that it hasn’t happened yet” either. Yet her half-hearted commitment to the bit is endearing because maybe superhero movies are made to be laughed at. Extremely stupid and extremely fun are not mutually exclusive.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i6NB4O">
Instead of her power allowing her to win the lottery or at least invest in pre-iPhone <a href="https://www.vox.com/apple">Apple</a>, Cassie has to use her power to protect three teenage girls — played by Sydney Sweeney, Isabel Merced, and Celeste O’Connor — from Ezekiel, who is back from his own trip to the Amazon. She’s extremely annoyed that her precognitive abilities have turned her into a very powerful au pair.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yNTRrG">
“Don’t do dumb stuff,” she tells the girls. Unfortunately, teenage girls aren’t easily frightened by uptalk inflection. They continue to do dumb stuff, and Cassie considers abandoning them. Cassie Webb is perhaps the most relatable superhero in the Spider-Verse.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Thafa8">
Ezekiel has foreseen, via spider bite, that these teens will eventually become superhero Spider-Women and kill him. He’s hired a woman named Amaria (Zosia Mamet, another talented nepo baby) to hack into the NSA and track the girls, an extraneous plot device but one that allows Mamet to shine as a snarky lady computer genius in a room of screens and monitors.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QwjQE6">
Like its superhero movie brethren, one of the huge reasons <em>Madame Web</em> exists is to lock in IP and tease out the possibility of more superhero movies. The girls in the film will grow up to be <a href="https://www.vox.com/comic-books">comic book</a> superheroes known as <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Julia_Carpenter_(Earth-616)">Spider-Woman</a>, <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/A%C3%B1a_Coraz%C3%B3n_(Earth-616)">Spider-Girl</a>, and also <a href="https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Martha_Franklin_(Earth-616)">Spider-Woman</a> (titles in comics get passed around a lot). Cassie becomes the psychic, future-manipulating powerhouse known as Madame Web. Given <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/23612887/ant-man-quantumania-marvel-flop-era">Marvel’s compulsion</a> to drive superheroes into the realm of cinematic anesthesia, Sony, perhaps unintentionally, making a movie as clumsily fun as <em>Madame Web</em> is refreshing. I would see at least two more of these at the theater.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fqBI8Z">
That’s a testament to Johnson’s innate ability to charm despite the material. Her performance feels like an inside joke that you’re lucky to be privy to. It’s as though she’s acknowledging that this whole thing — the peptides, the Arañas, the ability to read the future, this loser who wants to kill teenage girls — is all rather absurd. And that’s okay because it’s a superhero movie, but she’ll think you’re weird for liking it.
</p></li>
<li><strong>US officials are always talking about “deterring” Iran. What does that really mean?</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="An armored vehicle flying an American flag traveling down a desert road." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GblbwTeHXTySsAUzXs3mop766Xo=/334x0:5667x4000/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73143723/1601100543.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
US military vehicles in Syria on August 13, 2023. | Omer Al Diri/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Adversaries keep chipping away at America’s military credibility. Trump isn’t helping.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9KUvQz">
Does the US still have the power to deter its adversaries?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jpn6yA">
When the US <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-launches-retaliatory-strikes-iraq-syria-nearly-40-reported-killed-2024-02-03/">launched airstrikes earlier this month</a> against the proxy militias linked to <a href="https://www.vox.com/iran">Iran</a>’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in retaliation for the attack that killed three US soldiers at a base in Jordan, <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> noted that while the US would continue to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/02/02/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-u-s-military-operation-in-the-middle-east/">respond to Iran-linked attacks</a> “at times and places of our choosing,” it “does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else.” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s statement on the strikes <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3665642/statement-from-secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-on-us-strikes-in-iraq-an/">used almost identical language</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6IVzMm">
Readers of these statements might reasonably wonder how one can <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us-launches-retaliatory-strikes-iraq-syria-nearly-40-reported-killed-2024-02-03/">bomb 85 targets and kill nearly 40 people</a> without “seeking conflict.” B-1 bombers are not exactly an instrument of Gandhian nonviolent resistance. Officially, the motivation for the strikes, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/02/04/letter-to-the-speaker-of-the-house-and-president-pro-tempore-of-the-senate-consistent-with-the-war-powers-resolution-public-law-93-148-13/">according to the letter</a> the White House sent to notify <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a> in accordance with the War Powers Resolution, was to “deter the IRGC and affiliated militia groups from conducting or supporting further attacks on United States personnel and facilities.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="foom0m">
Since the October 7 terrorist attacks in <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a> and the war in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/20/18080046/gaza-palestine-israel">Gaza</a> that followed, “deterrence” — specifically deterring Iran and its various proxies from initiating a wider regional war — has been the guiding concept behind US policy. “<a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3566193/centcom-bound-defense-systems-convey-deterrence-message/">Deterring a broader conflict</a>” was cited by Pentagon officials as the motivation for deploying more US military assets, including aircraft carriers, to the Middle East last fall. In January, the US launched military strikes in Yemen with <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/11/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-coalition-strikes-in-houthi-controlled-areas-in-yemen/#:~:text=Today%2C%20at%20my%20direction%2C%20U.S.,the%20world's%20most%20vital%20waterways.">the goal</a> of “deterring <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24010092/houthis-red-sea-shipping-yemen-israel-gaza">Houthi attacks in the Red Sea</a>.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QzJHNk">
This sort of language is not new. Establishing a “strong deterrent” against chemical weapons use was <a href="https://www.vox.com/donald-trump">President Donald Trump</a>’s stated <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-syria/#:~:text=THE%20PRESIDENT%3A%20My%20fellow%20Americans,Syrian%20dictator%20Bashar%20al%2DAssad.">motivation for launching airstrikes </a>against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria in 2018. President Barack Obama <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/4/22/obama-vows-to-deter-any-iran-aggression-on-gulf-states">assured wary American allies in the Persian Gulf</a> in 2016 that despite his attempts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, he would not hesitate to use military force to “deter” Iranian aggression.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UctgdS">
In recent cases, at least, the effectiveness of all this deterrent activity has been decidedly mixed. Iran has not yet directly attacked Israel or US military targets with its own forces. Lebanon-based Hezbollah, Iran’s most powerful proxy, has not yet launched a full-scale war with Israel, as many feared earlier in the conflict. But at the same time, US troops in the region have been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-backed-attacks-us-troops-middle-east-since-oct-7-2024-01-28/#:~:text=They%20have%20attacked%20U.S.%20troops,Israel%20that%20killed%20about%201%2C200.">targeted in dozens of attacks</a> that have resulted in those three deaths and dozens of wounded; the exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/13/world/middleeast/hezbollah-israel-strikes-talks.html">has been intensifying</a>, even if it’s still short of all-out war; and the Iran-backed Houthis have continued their attacks on shipping, declaring that Western airstrikes “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/houthis-say-us-british-strikes-on-targets-in-yemen-will-not-deter-us/">will not deter us</a>.” Just two days after the US strikes in early February, a drone attack claimed by Iran-linked militias against a US base in Syria killed <a href="https://apnews.com/article/syria-iraq-sdf-islamic-resistance-us-c621972db21d6b3db7ca1bccd50ce6ef">six Kurdish fighters</a>, who are allied with US forces in the region.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qn7HTM">
At press briefings, US government spokespeople <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3671411/pentagon-press-secretary-air-force-maj-gen-pat-ryder-holds-a-press-briefing/">now regularly face questions</a> about whether US deterrence in the Middle East has failed. But with <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/1/25/24049551/war-increasing-ukraine-gaza-sudan-ethiopia">conflicts on the rise</a> globally and many longtime partners starting to question the value of US security guarantees, it’s a question that has ramifications beyond just this region. In today’s world, is the US still able to deter its adversaries?
</p>
<h3 id="ruPJgT">
Carrying a big stick
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5cnkAH">
The concept of deterrence — dissuading an adversary from carrying out some action through the threat of punishment — has been a feature of international relations and military strategy since at least the ancient Greeks. The concept was fleshed out at the height of the Cold War by theorists like the Nobel Prize-winning economist Thomas Schelling, whose 1966 book <em>Arms and Influence </em>examined how countries can use military power — including, in the nuclear age, the power to kill millions almost instantaneously — to influence each other’s behavior.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jMjGJf">
Schelling portrayed superpower competition in the nuclear era as a “competition in risk taking, characterized not so much by tests of force as by tests of nerve.” In other words, the measure of a country’s power to deter or coerce its adversaries was not just the number of troops, guns, and bombs at its disposal but its ability to create the impression that it is willing to use them, a dynamic he refers to as the “manipulation of risk.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ARwJbO">
The ongoing <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia-invasion-ukraine">war in Ukraine</a> has been a textbook lesson in the manipulation of risk. Throughout the conflict, <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a> has had to tolerate billions of dollars worth of Western military aid flowing into Ukraine, significantly bolstering that country’s ability to fight. Critically, this aid is flowing from NATO countries like Poland, which are <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_110496.htm#:~:text=In%201949%2C%20the%20primary%20aim,other%20parts%20of%20the%20continent.">covered by a treaty</a> that declares an attack on any member of the alliance to be an attack on all. Vladimir Putin evidently considers that guarantee credible and wants to avoid getting into a shooting war with the entire alliance by attacking the aid shipments.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H8GT6x">
But deterrence cuts both ways. NATO countries want to avoid a direct war with Russia, too, particularly in light of Putin’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/10/5/23387707/russia-ukraine-nuclear-weapons-tactical-us-nato">frequent threats to use nuclear weapons</a>. This has limited the types of assistance they have provided to Ukraine: <a href="http://authory.com/JoshuaKeating/The-US-wont-send-troops-to-Ukraine-to-prevent-a-Russian-invasion-but-heres-what-it-might-do-afda56e8ba62f431d9ae65d30e172a174">no NATO troops on the ground,</a> no NATO planes enforcing a <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/2/27/22952220/ukraine-russia-no-fly-zone-nuclear-war">no-fly zone</a> over Ukraine.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qXeziq">
Over time, though, the West has gradually increased the amount of aid it has provided to Ukraine, with no catastrophic nuclear response from Russia, undermining the credibility of Putin’s threats. So Ukraine is now receiving forms of aid — targeting assistance, tanks, fighter jets — that would have been unthinkable in the early days of the war, when according to many accounts keeping the fighting contained within Ukraine <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/interactive/2022/ukraine-road-to-war/">was a bigger priority</a> for US security officials than Ukrainian victory. This type of escalation — gradual but without ever doing anything dramatic enough to put your adversary in a position where they feel compelled to respond — is referred to, by Schelling at others, as “Salami tactics,” meaning cutting off one thin slice at a time, eroding your opponent’s red lines without provoking them into a major response.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jmVtd3">
What has not been deterred, of course, is Russia’s willingness to prosecute ongoing, extraordinarily destructive war within Ukraine itself.
</p>
<h3 id="iSqYDv">
The limits of deterrence
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xUiUA9">
<a href="https://www.mei.edu/profile/bilal-y-saab">Bilal Saab</a>, a former Pentagon official now with the Middle East Institute, says it’s not accurate or fair to say that the ramped-up US military presence in the Middle East has failed to deter Iran. “If there weren’t that forward deployed immediate deterrence in the region, you probably would have seen a whole lot more activity from Iran to spread its influence without being checked,” he told Vox. Saab pointed out some far more provocative actions that Iran could have taken, including an attack that killed dozens rather than just a few US soldiers or shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, which would have an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-12-19-2023/card/red-sea-disruptions-aren-t-expected-to-have-a-big-effect-on-oil-prices-goldman-sachs-fW0RaRftlWdALtOP7AgP">even more significant impact</a> on global energy supplies than the disruptions the Houthis have caused in their attacks on Red Sea shipping.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q7Utpz">
Saab acknowledged that it’s difficult to “prove that deterrence is working because at the end of the day, you can’t prove something that didn’t happen.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yFr8mm">
At the same time, the frequent attacks by Iranian proxy groups against US military targets in the Middle East — <a href="https://www.fdd.org/iranattacksusforces/">more than 160 strikes since October,</a> according to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies — show that there are some activities Tehran has definitely not been deterred from carrying out.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OMGpip">
“It’s basically become the status quo: a proxy group lobs rockets at US bases, then US forces bomb and kill the proxies,” said <a href="https://www.stimson.org/ppl/emma-ashford/">Emma Ashford</a>, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GgR8Eu">
Even if this state of affairs avoids a catastrophic regional war, it leaves US troops in the region — notably the roughly 2,500 in Iraq and 900 in Syria who are ostensibly there to defeat ISIS — in the crossfire. As <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2024/02/06/why-iran-is-hard-to-intimidate?utm_content=article-link-2&amp;etear=nl_today_2&amp;utm_campaign=r.the-economist-today&amp;utm_medium=email.internal-newsletter.np&amp;utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&amp;utm_term=2%2F6%2F2024&amp;utm_id=1850615">the Economist recently noted</a>, these troops constitute a “military presence big enough to present a menu of targets but too small actually to constrain Iran.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k1e8b1">
<a href="https://www.cnas.org/people/jonathan-lord">Jonathan Lord</a>, a former Defense Department official who now directs the Middle East program at the Center for a New American Security, said the attacks on these targets seem calculated to “inject uncertainty into either US or Israeli decision making” but “avoid putting the US to a decision point where it has to respond forcefully.” Both sides are trying to influence the other’s behavior without sparking a conflict they can’t control. Using proxies makes it easier to maintain this balance than it would be if Iran were directly attacking the US military with its own military.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JKSkLE">
Of course, even “controlled” tit-for-tat exchanges of potentially deadly fire can easily lead to unintended escalation. The strike in late January that killed three US troops may have been a case of the “dog that caught the car,” Lord said, in that it prompted the US to take much more serious action in retaliation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1emd2V">
Some Republican critics <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/29/lawmakers-demanding-biden-strike-iran-after-us-troop-deaths-in-jordan-.html">have called for</a> the Biden administration to take even more aggressive action to deter Iran, including striking within the country itself. Given the track record of US military interventions in the region over the past 20 years, the administration has very good reason to avoid getting involved in a direct conflict with Iran. (For what it’s worth, Trump also stopped short of striking within Iran itself, despite <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/21/us/politics/trump-iran-decision.html">coming very close to doing so</a>.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0j0XEw">
Lord said that the US reluctance to escalate is “coming from a good place and well-intentioned,” but that the strategy has essentially given Iran the message that a certain amount of violence targeting US troops will be tolerated, or at least that the response to it will be measured and limited. “[Iran] has a freer hand, knowing that we’re going to be moderating our actions,” he said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sYFKGQ">
The US retaliation to the Jordan strike that killed three troops does appear to have had some effect. Iran has reportedly instructed the militia behind the attack, Kataib Hezbollah, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-an-iranian-ally-iraq-was-made-stand-down-2024-01-31/">to stand down,</a> and the number of <a href="https://www.fdd.org/iranattacksusforces/">overall strikes has since decreased.</a> But it’s far from clear how long this will last. The US drone strike in 2020 that killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force and architect of its proxy network, was also supposed to restore “deterrence” against Iran. In fact, it may have made some of the proxy groups <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-deterrence-restored-with-iran/">more aggressive and less predictable</a> since Tehran’s direct control over them does not appear to be as strong as it once was. It’s another factor that makes deterrence less reliable — proxy forces may not operate under the same assumptions as their sponsors.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rnVHQz">
Ashford was skeptical of the notion that military strikes against these groups constitute “deterrence” at all, in the traditional definition, noting that the whole point of deterrence is to <em>prevent</em> your opponent from taking some action, not responding to them after they already have. Once you’re exchanging fire with your adversary, that adversary has, by definition, not been deterred.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OvnJzh">
“Either have deterrence or you don’t,” she said. “It’s either succeeding or it’s failed. Maybe you could have deterrence again in the future, but there’s no such thing as ‘restoring’ deterrence.”
</p>
<h3 id="Ue4ObH">
The future of deterrence
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1DfVNR">
The Middle East is not the only place where US deterrence has been called into question in recent days. At a rally in South Carolina last week, former President and current candidate Trump said he would <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-nato-foreign-aid-russia-2b8054a9fe185eec34c2c541cece655d">encourage Russia</a> to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that failed to meet the alliance’s defense spending targets. Trump is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/11/obama-and-bush-also-pressed-nato-allies-to-spend-more-on-defense.html">not alone</a> in calling for some European countries to meet those targets, but NATO isn’t like a country club where you have to pay your dues to get your service. With his comments, Trump fundamentally called into question the very mutual defense guarantee that has, so far, successfully deterred Russia from directly attacking NATO states.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XnuCtR">
The ability to use the threat of military force to prevent an ally from attacking not only your own territory but the territory of your allies is often called “extended deterrence,” but it only works if those allies and adversaries are certain you will live up to your commitments. That credibility is <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/05/trump-foreign-policy-broken-trust-america.html">tough to maintain</a> in today’s hyperpartisan US, where — as shown by Congress’s current inability to pass aid packages for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel — there’s little consensus on basic <a href="https://www.vox.com/defense-and-security">national security</a> priorities or continuity between administrations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XmTvcA">
“Any country that’s in a treaty relationship, or in a treaty alliance with the United States can no longer treat Washington as a somewhat predictable being,” said <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1860">Ankit Panda</a>, a senior fellow in the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Allies know that Biden will, as he promised, <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/02/12/europe-must-hurry-to-defend-itself-against-russia-and-donald-trump?utm_medium=social-media.content.np&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=editorial-social&amp;utm_content=discovery.content">defend</a> “every inch” of NATO territory — as President Obama and every other postwar president before would have done. But they also know now that what the US might do in the future will depend on who sits in the White House — and which party controls Congress — in 2025 and beyond.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y9xW4G">
In that context, it’s not surprising to hear serious discussion in countries that have highly adversarial neighbors, like <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-south-korea-nuclear-arms-race-543e85e5e6832c50ba9dc26a91ef071b">South Korea</a> or <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/poland-general-russia-nuclear-kraszewski-1869036">Poland</a>, about obtaining nuclear weapons of their own.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rkqxNo">
Even though nuclear weapons are not a failsafe guarantee against any military action, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/1/19/24044479/iran-pakistan-strikes-gaza-israel">Iran’s recent missile strikes</a> on the territory of nuclear-armed Pakistan demonstrate, “what nuclear weapons are good at doing is deterring existential threats or major wars,” said Panda.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wWD0yx">
For all that deterrence often fails, we shouldn’t overlook that since 1945, no country has used a nuclear weapon on the battlefield and only a small handful of new countries have obtained them, something that would likely have come as a surprise to leaders at the dawn of the nuclear era. But a future in which numerous countries feel so unsafe that they choose to obtain nuclear weapons is precisely the future that decades of postwar US security policy dedicated to nuclear nonproliferation sought to prevent. Averting that future is, as President John F. Kennedy said in a <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2003/11/17/jfk-on-nuclear-weapons-and-non-proliferation-pub-14652">famous speech to the UN in 1963</a>, “a practical matter of life or death.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zmA2yJ">
Whether it can still be averted may come down to whether other countries — both friends and enemies — still believe the US will make good on its word.
</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>Irish Gold and Lord Eric catch the eye</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Adapting to different conditions will be key to retaining WPL title: Harmanpreet</strong> - The Mumbai Indians captain said hopes the upcoming WPL edition will bring out new talent</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ind vs Eng | R. Ashwin becomes 2nd Indian to take 500 Test wickets</strong> - The 37-year-old reached the milestone on day two of the third Test against England at Rajkot</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ind vs Eng 3rd Test | India all out for 445 in first innings on Day 2</strong> - Debutant Dhruv Jurel batted very well for a neat 46 off 104 balls, sharing a 77-run partnership with R. Ashwin</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>NZ vs SA | Williamson shines as New Zealand grind out first Test series win over Proteas</strong> - Williamson’s 133, his 32nd Test century, mostly came in a partnership of 152 with Will Young (60 not out) that got the Black Caps over the line in what was a record fourth-innings run chase in a Test at Seddon Park.</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>CAG expresses concern over OBBs by Telangana Government</strong> - The off-budget borrowings will take the State’s debt to GSDP ratio to 37.77%, 12.77% higher than TSFRBM target, says CAG report of 2021-22</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Jolt to BRS: No confidence motion passed against Manthani municipal chairperson, vice-chairman</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Telangana CM accuses BRS members of trying to create doubts in the minds of people on caste survey</strong> - Revanth says similar survey conducted by the BRS Govt was used for political gains</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>Passengers want Tambaram-Nagercoil Antyodaya Express to stop at Papanasam station</strong> - Papanasam, a taluk headquarter, is surrounded by several agrarian villages and famous temples</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>Academic overcomes cerebral palsy to achieve great heights</strong> - S. Vinoth Kumar, a lecturer at Alagappa University, spoke on the employment challenges faced by persons with disability</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>Russian opposition leader Navalny has died, prison service says</strong> - Jailed Russian politician and Putin critics Alexei Navalny has died, Russia’s prison service says.</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>US warns key Ukrainian town could fall to Russia</strong> - The US and Ukraine admit Ukrainian troops are running out of ammunition in the eastern town of Avdiivka.</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>McCann suspect in German trial for unrelated rape</strong> - Christian Brückner faces five charges including rape attacks between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal.</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 KGB spy who rubbed shoulders with French elite for decades</strong> - Philippe Grumbach worked for the KGB for 35 years - while rubbing shoulders with the crème de la crème of French society.</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>South Korea sack Klinsmann after a year in charge</strong> - Jurgen Klinsmann is sacked as head coach of South Korea after just 12 months in the role following their Asian Cup exit.</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>Rocket Report: Falcon 9 flies for 300th time; an intriguing launch from Russia</strong> - Starship is fully stacked in South Texas for the rocket’s third test flight. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2003908">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Doing DNS and DHCP for your LAN the old way—the way that works</strong> - Are you a sysadmin with control issues who needs a weekend project? Look no further! - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2001156">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>It’s a fake: Mysterious 280 million-year-old fossil is mostly just black paint</strong> - The long bones of the hind limbs appear to be genuine. The rest? Not so much. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2003228">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Scientists aghast at bizarre AI rat with huge genitals in peer-reviewed article</strong> - It’s unclear how such egregiously bad images made it through peer-review. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2003885">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After a decade and $1.2 billion, NASA reveals its booty from Bennu: 121 grams</strong> - A long way, and a lot of money, for half a cup. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2003870">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>Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Officer asks a young engineer fresh out of university, “what starting salary are you expecting?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The engineer replies, “$200,000 a year, depending on the benefits package.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The interviewer says, “Well, what would you say to a package of five weeks vacation, full medical and dental, gym membership, all meals provided and a Lamborghini company car to use?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The engineer sits up straight and says, “Wow, are you kidding?!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The interviewer says, “Yeah, but you started it.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JustOurKind"> /u/JustOurKind </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as11ws/reaching_the_end_of_a_job_interview_the_human/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as11ws/reaching_the_end_of_a_job_interview_the_human/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My wife asked me what “mansplaining” means</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
…now what am I supposed to do?
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Candidate-Amusing757"> /u/Candidate-Amusing757 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as4k8f/my_wife_asked_me_what_mansplaining_means/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as4k8f/my_wife_asked_me_what_mansplaining_means/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Three people from the UK, the US, and Japan are stranded on a deserted island</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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Three people from the UK, the US, and Japan are stranded on a deserted island with no rescue in sight. The Brit suggests dividing tasks: “I’ll handle building, the American can take care of food, and the Japanese will handle supplies.” After a few hours, the Brit finishes building a house, the American prepares a great dinner, but the Japanese is nowhere to be found. As they search, the Japanese suddenly jumps out from behind a big tree, exclaiming, “Supplies!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Pinksmurf_04"> /u/Pinksmurf_04 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aryqd1/three_people_from_the_uk_the_us_and_japan_are/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aryqd1/three_people_from_the_uk_the_us_and_japan_are/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Daffy Duck is staying at the Hilton with Daisy Duck, and calls down to the desk.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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“Can you thend up a condom?”
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“Why, yes sir! Should we put that on your bill?”
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“What are you? Thupid? I’d thuffocate!”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Major_Independence82"> /u/Major_Independence82 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as23hk/daffy_duck_is_staying_at_the_hilton_with_daisy/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1as23hk/daffy_duck_is_staying_at_the_hilton_with_daisy/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A priest is sitting next to a drunk on a bus</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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On a bus, a Christian priest sat next to a drunk who was struggling to read the newspaper.
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Suddenly, in a slurred voice, the drunk asked the priest: “Do you know what arthritis is?”
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The priest thought of taking the opportunity to lecture the drunk and replied:
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“It’s a disease caused by sinful living: excess consumption of alcohol, drugs, marijuana, crack, and certainly prostitutes, promiscuity, sex, binges and other things I dare not say.”
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The drunk looked unsatisfied and continued reading the newspaper.
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A little later the priest, asked the drunk: “How long have you had arthritis?”
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“I don’t have arthritis. It says here in the paper that the Pope has it.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ikickrobots"> /u/ikickrobots </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aril7t/a_priest_is_sitting_next_to_a_drunk_on_a_bus/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1aril7t/a_priest_is_sitting_next_to_a_drunk_on_a_bus/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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