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<title>29 March, 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>A qualitative exploration of triggers for alcohol use and access to alcohol services during the COVID-19 pandemic among people identifying as problem drinkers.</strong> -
<div>
Introduction A polarisation of drinking behaviour was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic with some people reported to be drinking more alcohol and others less. We aimed to understand how and why the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions impacted alcohol use and access to support and services during this time. Methods We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with 27 participants, including 20 people identifying as problem drinkers and seven alcohol service providers. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results We identified two main triggers for alcohol use during the pandemic: i) loss of daily routine and activity resulted in drinking to cope with social isolation and boredom and ii) drinking alleviated feelings of fear, anxiety and anger over the imposition of pandemic restrictions. Regarding access to services, two main themes were generated: i) remote service provision was perceived as inferior to in-person services and ii) the need to offer choice and flexibility in how services were provided, with service providers reporting more positive experiences of online and telephone service delivery than service users. Discussion and Conclusions This study provides new insights into potential triggers for alcohol use among people identifying as problem drinkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The acceptability of remote forms of service provision were dependent on service user access to and comfort with using technology. Hybrid delivery models may therefore be suitable in some but not all circumstances, and efforts should be made to promote equitable access to services.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/k67zs/" target="_blank">A qualitative exploration of triggers for alcohol use and access to alcohol services during the COVID-19 pandemic among people identifying as problem drinkers.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Does behavior mediate the effect of weather on SARS-CoV-2 transmission? Evidence from cell-phone data</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: There is growing evidence that weather alters SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but it remains unclear what drives the phenomenon. One prevailing hypothesis is that people spend more time indoors in cooler weather, leading to increased spread of SARS-CoV-2 related to time spent in confined spaces and close contact with others. However, the evidence in support of that hypothesis is limited and, at times, conflicting. Objectives: We aim to evaluate the extent to which weather impacts COVID-19 via time spent away-from-home in indoor spaces, as compared to a direct effect of weather on COVID-19 hospitalization, independent of mobility. Methods: We use a mediation framework, and combine daily weather, COVID-19 hospital surveillance, cellphone-based mobility data and building footprints to estimate the relationship between daily indoor and outdoor weather conditions, mobility, and COVID-19 hospitalizations. We quantify the direct health impacts of weather on COVID-19 hospitalizations and the indirect effects of weather via time spent indoors away-from-home on COVID-19 hospitalizations within five Colorado counties between March 4th 2020 and January 31st 2021. Results: We found evidence that changes in 12-day lagged hospital admissions were primarily via the direct effects of weather conditions, rather than via indirect effects by which weather changes time spent indoors away-from-home. Sensitivity analyses evaluating time at home as a mediator were consistent with these conclusions. Discussion: Our findings do not support the hypothesis that weather impacted SARS-CoV-2 transmission via changes in mobility patterns during the first year of the pandemic. Rather, weather appears to have impacted SARS-CoV-2 transmission primarily via mechanisms other than human movement. We recommend further analysis of this phenomenon to determine whether these findings generalize to current SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics and other seasonal respiratory pathogens.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.26.24304854v1" target="_blank">Does behavior mediate the effect of weather on SARS-CoV-2 transmission? Evidence from cell-phone data</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Strengthening access to and confidence in COVID-19 vaccines among equity-deserving populations across Canada: An exploratory qualitative study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Introduction: There is a need to reflect on the COVID-19 vaccine distribution across Canada and the extent to which they considered equity-deserving populations. This paper examined and compared strategies implemented by six Canadian provinces to increase access and promote the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among selected priority populations. We also explored the factors that impacted the implementation of these strategies. Methods: In six provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec), we conducted an environmental scan of provincial rollout documents and media sources reporting vaccine distribution among selected priority populations:First Nations, Inuit, and Metis; Black communities; essential workers; people experiencing homelessness; and people with disabilities. We subsequently interviewed 39 key informants to validate the environmental scan results, identify additional strategies to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake, and uncover perceptions of the facilitators and challenges that influenced the strategies’ implementation. Results: Through the environmental scans and key informant interviews, we identified that provincial health authorities employed a panoply of strategies to overcome geographic, financial, and attitudinal barriers to COVID-19 vaccines experienced by the priority populations. Most provinces implemented walk-in, mobile, and pop-up vaccination clinics, mobilized public and private health workforce, and designed multilingual communication materials. Facilitators in implementing COVID-19 vaccination strategies included fostering inter-governmental cooperation, harmonizing communication efforts, leveraging existing relationships and networks, and ensuring representation and leadership of community partners. Challenges to implementing COVID-19 vaccination strategies included uncoordinated communication efforts, inadequate distribution of vaccines to areas with the greatest need, mistrust in the government and healthcare system, vaccine hesitancy, and lack of cultural competence by vaccine providers.   Conclusions: This study highlights the divide between well-intentioned strategies and interventions and the reality of on-the-ground implementation. The findings offer valuable insights and can inform the implementation of strategies to distribute vaccines equitably in future large-scale vaccination efforts in Canada and globally.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.27.24304984v1" target="_blank">Strengthening access to and confidence in COVID-19 vaccines among equity-deserving populations across Canada: An exploratory qualitative study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>COHORT PROFILE: IMMUNE RESPONSES TO SARS-COV-2 VACCINATION AND INFECTION IN A LONGITUDINAL SAMPLING AMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC (LONGTONG-SARS2) IN MALAYSIA</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Purpose: This prospective, longitudinal study aims to evaluate the durability and functionality of SARS-CoV-2 Ancestral strain (Wuhan-Hu-1)-specific immune responses induced by COVID-19 vaccination and natural infection over a 12-month period. This article reviews the study protocol, design, methodology, ongoing data collection, analysis procedures, and demographic characteristics of the cohort enrolled. Participants: Between March 2021 and May 2022, 400 participants were enrolled with a 12-month follow-up, concluding in May 2023. Two main groups of participants: (1) serologically SARS-CoV-2-naive individuals receiving the BNT162b2 primary series vaccination (referred to as VAC) and (2) those who recently recovered from COVID-19 infection within 30 days, regardless of vaccination history (referred to as COV). Additionally, a subset of 45 participants with selected COVID-19 exposure histories provided peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for cross-sectional analysis six months after enrollment. Findings to date: Out of 400 participants, 66.8% (n=267) completed the follow-up. Among them, 52.8% (n=141) were in VAC, and 47.2% (n=126) were in COV. As the study progressed, we acknowledged cross-over between initial groups, leading to restructuring into five revised groups based on sequential exposure events. Sociodemographic factors revealed statistically significant age distribution differences (p=0.001) in both initial and revised groups, with no significant differences observed for sex. Future plans: LONGTONG-SARS2 assesses the host-pathogen interactions central to the development of COVID-19 immunity. With enrollment spanning two years of the pandemic, most participants exhibited mixed SARS-CoV-2 exposures-via vaccination and infection-resulting in diverse subgroups of interest. Notably, the inclusion of SARS-CoV-2-naive, pre-exposure serum samples allowed for robust comparator and reduced potential biases. Ongoing analyses will include serology kinetics, memory cells ELISpots, B cells repertoire analysis, cytokine/chemokine profiling, and proteomic pathway to comprehensively examine the immune response against the SARS-CoV-2, thus informing and potentially predicting dynamic longitudinal responses against new more transmissible, immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.26.24304850v1" target="_blank">COHORT PROFILE: IMMUNE RESPONSES TO SARS-COV-2 VACCINATION AND INFECTION IN A LONGITUDINAL SAMPLING AMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC (LONGTONG-SARS2) IN MALAYSIA</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The 10-year health impact, economic impact, and return on investment of the South African molecular diagnostics programme for HIV, Tuberculosis and SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
To ensure there is adequate investment into diagnostics, an understanding of the magnitude of impact and return on investment is necessary. We therefore sought to understand the health and economic impacts of the molecular diagnostic programme in South Africa, to deepen the under-standing on the broad value of diagnostics and guide future healthcare investments. We calcu-lated the 10-year (where data were available) total cost and DALYs averted associated with molecular diagnosis of molecular TB testing (2013-2022), HIV viral load monitoring (2013-2022), early infant diagnosis of HIV infection (2013-2022), and SARS-CoV-2 testing (2020-2022). We then calculated the economic value associated with those health gains and subsequent return on investment. Since the inception of the molecular diagnostics programme in South Africa, 3,035,782 DALYs have been averted as a direct consequence of this pro-gramme. This has generated an estimated $20.5 billion in economic value due to these health gains. The return on investment varied by specific diagnostic test (19.0 for tuberculosis, 1.4 for HIV viral load testing, 64.8 for early infant diagnosis of HIV, and 2.5 for SARS-CoV-2), for an average of 9.9 for the entire molecular diagnostics programme between 2013 and 2022- or $9.9 of value for each $1 invested. The molecular diagnostics programme in South Africa gen-erated a significant amount of health gains and economic value associated with these health gains, and the return-on-investment rivals other high-impact public health interventions such as childhood vaccination. Consequently, the molecular diagnostics programme in South Africa is highly impactful, and will continue to be an excellent investment of South African public health expenditure.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.27.24304888v1" target="_blank">The 10-year health impact, economic impact, and return on investment of the South African molecular diagnostics programme for HIV, Tuberculosis and SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A nationwide Guillain-Barré syndrome epidemiological study in Spain during the COVID-19 years</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
OBJECTIVE: To perform a nationwide epidemiological study of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in Spain, analysing background incidences and seasonal variation and trying to identify incidence changes during the COVID-19 years. METHODS: Observational study collecting all GBS diagnoses from National Epidemiological Surveillance Network (RENAVE) collected by the Ministry of Health. Patients discharged with GBS as main diagnosis and admitted during 2018-2021 were included. Data on the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and vaccinations were obtained from the National Epidemiology Centre. RESULTS: In total, 3147 cases were included, 832 in 2018, 861 in 2019, 670 in 2020 and 784 in 2021. Nationwide hospital incidence was 1.78 in 2018, 1.71 in 2019, 1.41 in 2020 and 1.66 in 2021, with an increased frequency in males, elderly population, and in the winter season. Eleven percent of GBS patients needed ventilatory support. GBS and SARS-CoV-2 incidences did not correlate with one another (r=-0.29, p=0.36). GBS incidence decreased during 2020 and during COVID-19 lockdown period in comparison to the same months of 2018-2019. No relationship was found between vaccines and GBS cases during vaccination roll-out in 2021. INTERPRETATION: Incidence of GBS in Spain is similar to that of other countries. Despite prior reports describing a significant increase in COVID-19-associated GBS in Spain, we detected a significant drop of GBS incidence during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, probably due to prevention measures. No relationship was found between SARS-CoV-2 or vaccinations and GBS incidences at the population level but data on relationship of vaccinations and GBS at the individual level were not available.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.27.24304897v1" target="_blank">A nationwide Guillain-Barré syndrome epidemiological study in Spain during the COVID-19 years</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Time-varying reproduction number estimation: Fusing compartmental models with generalised additive models</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The reproduction number, the mean number of secondary cases infected by each primary case, is a central metric in infectious disease epidemiology, and played a key role in the COVID-19 pandemic response. This is because it gives an indication of the effort required to control the disease. Beyond the well-known <i>basic </i> reproduction number, there are two natural versions, namely the <i>control</i> and <i>effective </i> reproduction numbers. As behaviour, population immunity and viral characteristics can change with time, these reproduction numbers can vary over time and in different regions. Real world data can be complex, for example with daily variation in numbers due to weekend surveillance biases as well as natural stochastic noise. As such, in this work we consider a Generalised Additive Model to smooth real data through the explicit incorporation of day-of-the-week effects, to provide a simple measure of the time-varying growth rate associated with the data. Converting the resulting spline into an estimator for both the control and effective reproduction numbers requires assumptions on a model structure, which we here assume to be a compartmental model. The reproduction numbers calculated are based on both simulated and real world data, and are compared with estimates from an already existing tool. The derived method for estimating the time-varying reproduction number is effective, efficient and comparable to other methods. It provides a useful alternative approach, which can be included as part of a toolbox of models, that is particularly apt at smoothing out day-of-the-week effects in surveillance.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.26.24304928v1" target="_blank">Time-varying reproduction number estimation: Fusing compartmental models with generalised additive models</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>East-West mortality disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic widen the historical longevity divide in Europe: an international comparative study.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
For over half a century, life expectancy in Eastern European (former communist) countries has been appreciably lower than in Western Europe, although this difference has been narrowing since 2000. We investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these differences. The pandemic reversed the recent convergence and widened the gap to levels observed more than two decades ago (7.9 years for males and 4.9 for females in 2021). Moreover, the trajectory of excess mortality in the pandemic differed between East and West, with the first major peaks in Eastern Europe occurring on average six months after the first peaks seen in Western countries. Despite this, the East suffered greater losses in life expectancy, especially in 2021. This was due to larger relative mortality increases in the East rather than greater frailty of the Eastern European populations as indexed by higher pre-pandemic mortality levels. East-West differences in life expectancy losses in 2021 were substantially explained by COVID-19 vaccination, which together with trust in government accounted for half the gap. We conclude that the East-West differences in life expectancy losses are associated with structural and psychosocial traits that have their roots in the communist era. This includes differences in the connectivity of populations (which drives the differences in timing), as well as profound contrasts in levels of trust in science, authorities, and their capacity to enforce lockdowns and other regulatory measures (driving the huge differences in excess mortality from autumn 2020 onwards).
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.08.23298275v2" target="_blank">East-West mortality disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic widen the historical longevity divide in Europe: an international comparative study.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Emotional Contagion in Scandinavia during the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis</strong> -
<div>
In this article we present the findings of social media analysis of the spread of misinformation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and outline how analyses of the psychological properties of a text can be used to optimize strategic messaging online. Our data used Twitter data, collected during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyzed using a suite of AI based analytical tools, which provided data for further empirical analysis. The analysis yielded insights related to the differences in the dynamics of the spread of misinformation within (and outside of) Scandinavian countries. Analysing this data enabled us to explore three hypotheses: (1) Misinformation will be associated with specific moral signatures, which will differ between Scandinavian and non-Scandinavian samples, (2) Levels of engagement will be associated with specific themes and moral concerns, which will differ between Scandinavian and non-Scandinavian samples, and (3) Within Scandinavia, similar unique signatures will be discernible at the country level, with Sweden driving significant differences. These specific results provide guidance for healthcare professionals responsible for communicating information and crafting messages that are more resonant with their target population and more generally demonstrate the ability for social media analysis to be useful in strategic decision making when going beyond focusing on engagement metrics or sentiment alone.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/9e5f7/" target="_blank">Emotional Contagion in Scandinavia during the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The inflammatory microenvironment of the lung at the time of infection governs innate control of SARS-CoV-2 replication</strong> -
<div>
SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to vastly divergent clinical outcomes ranging from asymptomatic infection to fatal disease. Co-morbidities, sex, age, host genetics and vaccine status are known to affect disease severity. Yet, how the inflammatory milieu of the lung at the time of SARS-CoV-2 exposure impacts the control of viral replication remains poorly understood. We demonstrate here that immune events in the mouse lung closely preceding SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly impact viral control and we identify key innate immune pathways required to limit viral replication. A diverse set of pulmonary inflammatory stimuli, including resolved antecedent respiratory infections with S. aureus or influenza, ongoing pulmonary M. tuberculosis infection, ovalbumin/alum-induced asthma or airway administration of defined TLR ligands and recombinant cytokines, all establish an antiviral state in the lung that restricts SARS-CoV-2 replication upon infection. In addition to antiviral type I interferons, the broadly inducible inflammatory cytokines TNF and IL-1 precondition the lung for enhanced viral control. Collectively, our work shows that SARS-CoV-2 may benefit from an immunologically quiescent lung microenvironment and suggests that heterogeneity in pulmonary inflammation that precedes or accompanies SARS-CoV-2 exposure may be a significant factor contributing to the population-wide variability in COVID-19 disease outcomes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.27.586885v1" target="_blank">The inflammatory microenvironment of the lung at the time of infection governs innate control of SARS-CoV-2 replication</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5.2.48</strong> -
<div>
With the prevalence of sequentially-emerged sublineages including BA.1, BA.2 and BA.5, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection has transformed into a regional epidemic disease. As a sublineage of BA.5, the BA.5.2.48 outbreak and evolved into multi-subvariants in China without clearly established virological characteristics, especially the pathogenicity. Though reduced airborne transmission and pathogenicity of former Omicron sublineages have been revealed in animal models, the virological characteristics of BA.5.2.48 was unidentified. Here, we evaluated the in vitro and in vivo virological characteristics of two isolates of the prevalent BA.5.2.48 subvariant, DY.2 and DY.1.1 (a subvariant of DY.1). DY.2 replicates more efficiently than DY.1.1 in HelahACE2+ cells and Calu-3 cells. The A570S mutation (of DY.1) in a normal BA.5 spike protein (DY.2) leads to a 20% improvement in the hACE2 binding affinity, which is slightly reduced by a further K147E mutation (of DY.1.1). Compared to the normal BA.5 spike, the double-mutated protein demonstrates efficient cleavage and reduced fusogenicity. BA.5.2.48 demonstrated enhanced airborne transmission capacity in hamsters than BA.2. The pathogenicity of BA.5.2.48 is greater than BA.2, as revealed in K18-hACE2 rodents. Under immune selection pressure, DY.1.1 shows stronger fitness than DY.2 in hamster turbinates. Thus the outbreaking prevalent BA.5.2.48 multisubvariants exhibites divergent virological features.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.26.586802v1" target="_blank">Virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5.2.48</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>CCQM-P199b: Interlaboratory comparability study of SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy number quantification</strong> -
<div>
Nucleic acid amplification tests including reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) are used to detect RNA from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Standardized measurements of RNA can facilitate comparable performance of laboratory tests in the absence of existing reference measurement systems early on in a pandemic. Interlaboratory study CCQM-P199b 'SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy number quantification' was designed to test the fitness-for-purpose of developed candidate reference measurement procedures (RMPs) for SARS-CoV-2 genomic targets in purified RNA materials, and was conducted under the auspices of the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance: Metrology in Chemistry and Biology (CCQM) to evaluate the measurement comparability of national metrology institutes (NMIs) and designated institutes (DIs), thereby supporting international standardization. Twenty-one laboratories participated in CCQM-P199b and were requested to report the RNA copy number concentration, expressed in number of copies per microliter, of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) gene partial region (NC_045512.2: 28274-29239) and envelope (E) gene (NC_045512.2: 26245-26472) (optional measurement) in samples consisting of in vitro transcribed RNA or purified RNA from lentiviral constructs. Materials were provided in two categories: lower concentration (approximately 10 x 1 - 10 x 4/uL in aqueous solution containing human RNA background) and high concentration (approximately 10 x 9/uL in aqueous solution without any other RNA background). For the measurement of N gene concentration in the lower concentration study materials, the majority of laboratories (n = 17) used one-step reverse transcription-digital PCR (RT-dPCR), with three laboratories applying two-step RT-dPCR and one laboratory RT-qPCR. Sixteen laboratories submitted results for E gene concentration. Reproducibility (% CV or equivalent) for RT-dPCR ranged from 19 % to 31 %. Measurements of the high concentration study material by orthogonal methods (isotope dilution-mass spectrometry and single molecule flow cytometry) and a gravimetrically linked lower concentration material were in a good agreement, suggesting a lack of overall bias in RT-dPCR measurements. However methodological factors such as primer and probe (assay) sequences, RT-dPCR reagents and dPCR partition volume were found to be potential sources of interlaboratory variation which need to be controlled when applying this technique. This study demonstrates that the accuracy of RT-dPCR is fit-for-purpose as a RMP for viral RNA target quantification in purified RNA materials and highlights where metrological approaches such as the use of in vitro transcribed controls, orthogonal methods and measurement uncertainty evaluation can support standardization of molecular methods.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.27.584106v1" target="_blank">CCQM-P199b: Interlaboratory comparability study of SARS-CoV-2 RNA copy number quantification</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>TCR transgenic clone selection guided by immune receptor analysis and single cell RNA expression of polyclonal responders</strong> -
<div>
Since the precursor frequency of naive T cells is extremely low, investigating the early steps of antigen-specific T cell activation is challenging. To overcome this detection problem, adoptive transfer of a cohort of T cells purified from T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic donors has been extensively used but is not readily available for emerging pathogens. Constructing TCR transgenic mice from T cell hybridomas is a labor-intensive and sometimes erratic process, since the best clones are selected based on antigen-induced CD69 upregulation or IL-2 production in vitro, and TCR chains are PCR-cloned into expression vectors. Here, we exploited the rapid advances in single cell sequencing and TCR repertoire analysis to select the best clones without hybridoma selection, and generated CORSET8 mice (CORona Spike Epitope specific CD8 T cell), carrying a TCR specific for the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Implementing newly created DALI software for TCR repertoire analysis in single cell analysis enabled the rapid selection of the ideal responder CD8 T cell clone, based on antigen reactivity, proliferation and immunophenotype in vivo. In contrast, a traditional method based on hybridoma technology was unsuccessful. Identified TCR sequences were inserted as synthetic DNA into an expression vector and transgenic CORSET8 donor mice were created. After immunization with Spike/CpG-motifs, mRNA vaccination or SARS-CoV2 infection, CORSET8 T cells strongly proliferated and showed signs of T cell activation. Thus, a combination of TCR repertoire analysis and scRNA immunophenotyping allowed rapid selection of antigen-specific TCR sequences that can be used to generate TCR transgenic mice.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.27.586931v1" target="_blank">TCR transgenic clone selection guided by immune receptor analysis and single cell RNA expression of polyclonal responders</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>In-silico docking platform with serine protease inhibitor (SERPIN) structures identifies host cysteine protease targets with significance for SARS-CoV-2</strong> -
<div>
Serine Protease Inhibitors (SERPINs) regulate protease activity in various physiological processes such as inflammation, cancer metastasis, angiogenesis, and neurodegenerative diseases. However, their potential in combating viral infections, where proteases are also crucial, remains underexplored. This is due to our limited understanding of SERPIN expression during viral-induced inflammation and of the SERPINs full spectrum of target proteases. Here, we demonstrate widespread expression of human SERPINs in response to respiratory virus infections, both in vitro and in vivo, alongside classical antiviral effectors. Through comprehensive in-silico docking with full-length SERPIN and protease 3D structures, we confirm known inhibitors of specific proteases; more importantly, the results predict novel SERPIN-protease interactions. Experimentally, we validate the direct inhibition of key proteases essential for viral life cycles, including the SERPIN PAI-1’s capability to inhibit select cysteine proteases such as cathepsin L, and the serine protease TMPRSS2. Consequently, PAI-1 suppresses spike maturation and multi-cycle SARS-CoV-2 replication. Our findings challenge conventional notions of SERPIN selectivity, underscore the power of in-silico docking for SERPIN target discovery, and offer potential therapeutic interventions targeting host proteolytic pathways to combat viruses with urgent unmet therapeutic needs.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.18.517133v2" target="_blank">In-silico docking platform with serine protease inhibitor (SERPIN) structures identifies host cysteine protease targets with significance for SARS-CoV-2</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Inference of epidemic dynamics in the COVID-19 era and beyond</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the key role that epidemiology and modelling play in analysing infectious threats and supporting decision making in real-time. Motivated by the unprecedented volume and breadth of data generated during the pandemic, we review new analytic opportunities and methodological developments available to address questions that emerge during a major modern epidemic. Following the broad chronology of insights required - from understanding initial dynamics to retrospective evaluation of interventions, we describe the theoretical foundations of each approach and the underlying intuition. Through a series of case studies, we illustrate real life applications, and discuss implications for future work.
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<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/bmjxf/" target="_blank">Inference of epidemic dynamics in the COVID-19 era and beyond</a>
</div></li>
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<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>Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercises for Post-COVID-19 Diaphragmatic Dysfunction (DD)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Usual care of traditional treatment; Other: Specific DB program/Diaphragmatic manipulation program <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Minnesota <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>Valacyclovir Plus Celecoxib for Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; PASC Post Acute Sequelae of COVID 19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Valacyclovir celecoxib dose 1; Drug: Valacyclovir celecoxib dose 2; Drug: Placebo <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Bateman Horne Center <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Supervised Computerized Active Program for People With Post-COVID Syndrome (SuperCAP Study)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-COVID Condition <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: SuperCAP Program <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Fundación FLS de Lucha Contra el Sida, las Enfermedades Infecciosas y la Promoción de la Salud y la Ciencia; Institut de Recerca de la SIDA IrsiCaixa; Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Utilizing Novel Blood RNA Biomarkers as a Diagnostic Tool in the Identification of Long COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: RNA Biomarker Blood Test <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: MaxWell Clinic, PLC <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
</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>Intranasal boosting with RBD-HR protein vaccine elicits robust mucosal and systemic immune responses</strong> - The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants has decreased the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in containing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) over time, and booster vaccination strategies are urgently necessitated to achieve sufficient protection. Intranasal immunization can improve mucosal immunity, offering protection against the infection and sustaining the spread of SARS-CoV-2. In this study, an intranasal booster of the RBD-HR vaccine after two…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Investigation of phytochemicals isolated from selected Saudi medicinal plants as natural inhibitors of SARS CoV-2 main protease: In vitro, molecular docking and simulation analysis</strong> - The escalation of many coronavirus variants accompanied by the lack of an effective cure has motivated the hunt for effective antiviral medicines. In this regard, 18 Saudi Arabian medicinal plants were evaluated for SARS CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) inhibition activity. Among them, Terminalia brownii and Acacia asak alcoholic extracts exhibited significant Mpro inhibition, with inhibition rates of 95.3 % and 95.2 %, respectively, at a concentration of 100 µg/mL. Bioassay-guided phytochemical study…</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 CoronaVac and ChAdOx1 heterologous prime-boost vaccines in an overweight population in Chiang Mai, Thailand</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: The heterologous CoronaVac-ChAdOx1vaccination was safe, well-tolerated and able to induce humoral immunity against wild-type and Delta variants but not against the Omicron variant in overweight population.</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>Design of a SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease inhibitor with antiviral efficacy in a mouse model</strong> - The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and drug-resistant mutants calls for additional oral antivirals. The SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PL^(pro)) is a promising but challenging drug target. We designed and synthesized 85 noncovalent PL^(pro) inhibitors that bind to a recently discovered ubiquitin binding site and the known BL2 groove pocket near the S4 subsite. Leads inhibited PL^(pro) with the inhibitory constant K(i) values from 13.2 to 88.2 nanomolar. The co-crystal structures of PL^(pro)…</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>On parrots, delay of gratification, executive function, and how sometimes we do the best we can</strong> - Engaging executive functions provides an individual with the means to engage in cognitive control by adjusting to the environment and processing information in a way that leads to optimal outcomes. There are some claims that explicit training on certain executive functioning abilities provides benefits beyond the training tasks, but other studies indicate that this may not be true or may be limited based on age and other factors. This same mixed pattern has been reported with nonhuman species,…</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>Role for CCN1 in lysophosphatidic acid response in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells</strong> - Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) are bioactive phospholipids that act as mitogens in various cancers. Both LPA and S1P activate G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). We examined the role of CCN1/CYR61, an inducible matricellular protein, in LPA-induced signal transduction in PC-3 human prostate cancer cells. We found that both LPA and S1P induced expression of CCN1 and CCN2 within 2-4 h. CCN1 was induced by 18:1-LPA, but not by 18:0-, 18:2-, or 18:3-LPAs. A free fatty…</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>Fungal metabolite 6-pentyl-alpha-pyrone reduces canine coronavirus infection</strong> - Canine coronavirus (CCoV) can produce a self-limited enteric disease in dogs but, because of notable biological plasticity of coronaviruses (CoVs), numerous mutations as well as recombination events happen leading to the emergence of variants often more dangerous for both animals and humans. Indeed, the emergence of new canine-feline recombinant alphacoronaviruses, recently isolated from humans, highlight the cross-species transmission potential of CoVs. Consequently, new effective antiviral…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pilot Study on Evaluating the Impact of Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis (Tdap), Influenza, and COVID-19 Vaccinations on Antibody Responses in Pregnant Women</strong> - This study assessed IgG levels to influenza/pertussis and neutralizing antibody (Nab) responses of COVID-19 vaccines in blood of pregnant women following immunization with pertussis (Tdap), influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines. We prospectively collected 71 participants categorized by the following vaccine combinations: 3TI, 4TI, 3T, and 4T groups (three and four doses of COVID-19 vaccines plus Tdap/influenza or Tdap vaccines alone). Our findings have indicated that the 3TI group exhibited elevated…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Recent Advances on Targeting Proteases for Antiviral Development</strong> - Viral proteases are an important target for drug development, since they can modulate vital pathways in viral replication, maturation, assembly and cell entry. With the (re)appearance of several new viruses responsible for causing diseases in humans, like the West Nile virus (WNV) and the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), understanding the mechanisms behind blocking viral protease’s function is pivotal for the development of new antiviral drugs 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>A Pseudovirus-Based Neutralization Assay for SARS-CoV-2 Variants: A Rapid, Cost-Effective, BSL-2-Based High-Throughput Assay Useful for Vaccine Immunogenicity Evaluation</strong> - Neutralizing antibody responses from COVID-19 vaccines are pivotal in conferring protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Effective COVID-19 vaccines and assays measuring neutralizing antibodies against emerging variants (i.e., XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16, and XBB.2.3) are needed. The use of biosafety level (BSL)-3 laboratories for live virus assays results in higher costs and a longer turnaround time; therefore, a BSL-2-based pseudovirus neutralization assay (PNT)…</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>Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Coumarin Analogs Targeted against SARS-CoV-2</strong> - SARS-CoV, an RNA virus, is contagious and displays a remarkable degree of adaptability, resulting in intricate disease presentations marked by frequent genetic mutations that can ultimately give rise to drug resistance. Targeting its viral replication cycle could be a potential therapeutic option to counter its viral growth in the human body leading to the severe infectious stage. The M^(pro) of SARS-CoV-2 is a promising target for therapeutic development as it is crucial for viral transcription…</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>Saponins from <em>Allium macrostemon Bulbs</em> Attenuate Endothelial Inflammation and Acute Lung Injury via the NF-κB/VCAM-1 Pathway</strong> - Endothelial inflammation is a multifaceted physiological process that plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis and progression of diverse diseases, encompassing but not limited to acute lung infections like COVID-19, coronary artery disease, stroke, sepsis, metabolic syndrome, certain malignancies, and even psychiatric disorders such as depression. This inflammatory response is characterized by augmented expression of adhesion molecules and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In this study,…</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>Factors Facilitating and Inhibiting the Implementation of Telerehabilitation-A Scoping Review</strong> - Due to the coronavirus pandemic, telerehabilitation has become increasingly important worldwide. While the effectiveness of telerehabilitation is considered proven for many indications, there is comparatively little knowledge about the implementation conditions. Therefore, this scoping review summarises the current state of facilitating and inhibiting factors that may influence the uptake of telerehabilitation. The review follows the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The article search was…</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>Agonists or positive allosteric modulators of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor prevent interaction of SARS-Cov-2 receptor-binding domain with astrocytoma cells</strong> - SARS-Cov-2, the virus causing COVID-19, penetrates host target cells via the receptor of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Disrupting the virus interaction with ACE2 affords a plausible mechanism for prevention of cell penetration and inhibiting dissemination of the virus. Our studies demonstrate that ACE2 interaction with the receptor binding domain of SARS-Cov-2 spike protein (RBD) can be impaired by modulating the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) contiguous with ACE2. U373…</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>Correction: Selective Inhibition of the Interaction between SARS-CoV-2 Spike S1 and ACE2 by SPIDAR Peptide Induces Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutic Responses</strong> - Paidi, R. K., M. Jana, R. K. Mishra, D. Dutta, and K. Pahan. 2021. Selective inhibition of the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 and ACE2 by SPIDAR peptide induces anti-inflammatory therapeutic responses. J. Immunol. 207: 2521-2533.In the original Supplemental Fig. 2C, the “Control” image was duplicated from the “Spike S1 (heat inactivated)” image due to an error during figure preparation. The supplemental figure has been corrected in the online version of the article.</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>The Aftermath of China’s Comedy Crackdown</strong> - Standup flourished during the pandemic. Now performers fear the state—and audience members. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/the-aftermath-of-chinas-comedy-crackdown">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Have Fourteen Years of Conservative Rule Done to Britain?</strong> - Living standards have fallen. The country is exhausted by constant drama. But the U.K. can’t move on from the Tories without facing up to the damage that has occurred. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/what-have-fourteen-years-of-conservative-rule-done-to-britain">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Lila Neugebauer Interrogates the Ghosts of “Uncle Vanya”</strong> - A director of the modern uncanny steers the first Broadway production of Chekhov’s masterpiece in twenty years. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/lila-neugebauer-profile-theatre">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bryan Stevenson Reclaims the Monument, in the Heart of the Deep South</strong> - The civil-rights attorney has created a museum, a memorial, and, now, a sculpture park, indicting the city of Montgomery—a former capital of the domestic slave trade and the cradle of the Confederacy. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/bryan-stevenson-reclaims-the-monument-in-the-heart-of-the-deep-south">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Dutch Architect’s Vision of Cities That Float on Water</strong> - What if building on the water could be safer and sturdier than building on flood-prone land? - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/a-dutch-architects-vision-of-cities-that-float-on-water">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>3 Body Problem’s most mind-bending question isn’t about aliens</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A woman puts a virtual-reality headset on her head, holding it with both hands." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1TvhblK9gLg-_snTYyMiNK5aqm4=/574x0:2617x1532/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73240995/auggie_3_Body_Problem_n_S1_E3_00_05_44_06RC.jpg_3_Body_Problem_n_S1_E3_00_05_44_06RC.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Auggie enters the virtual reality game in <em>3 Body Problem</em>. | Courtesy of Netflix
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Would you swear a loyalty oath to humanity — or cheer on its extinction?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QSIAuJ">
Stars that wink at you. Protons with 11 dimensions. Computers made of rows of human soldiers. Aliens that give virtual reality a whole new meaning.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jKjzib">
All of these visual pyrotechnics are very cool. But none of them are at the core of what makes <em>3 Body Problem</em>, the new <a href="https://www.vox.com/netflix">Netflix</a> hit <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24083744/netflix-3-body-problem-trailers-review-interview">based on Cixin Liu’s sci-fi novel</a> of the same name, so compelling. The real beating heart of the show is a philosophical question: Would you swear a loyalty oath to humanity — or cheer on its extinction?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EJP5FJ">
There’s more division over this question than you might think. The show, which is about a face-off between humans and aliens, captures two opposing intellectual trends that have been swirling around in the zeitgeist in recent years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kz2tgo">
One goes like this: “Humans may be the only intelligent life in the universe — we are incredibly precious. We must protect our species from existential threats at all costs!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mCIgt8">
The other goes like this: “Humans are destroying the planet — causing <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a>, making species go extinct. The world will be better off if <em>we</em> go extinct!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sNhH1H">
The first, pro-human perspective is more familiar. It’s natural to want your own species to survive. And there’s lots in <a href="https://www.vox.com/media">the media</a> these days about perceived existential threats, from <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/6/13/18660548/climate-change-human-civilization-existential-risk">climate change</a> to <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/3/29/23660833/ai-pause-musk-artificial-intelligence-moratorium-chatgpt-gpt4">rogue AI</a> that one day could wipe out humanity.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c8PF69">
But <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/01/anthropocene-anti-humanism-transhumanism-apocalypse-predictions/672230/">anti-humanism has been gaining steam</a>, too, especially among <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/2/13/21132013/climate-change-children-kids-anti-natalism">a vocal minority of</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/mar/12/birthstrikers-meet-the-women-who-refuse-to-have-children-until-climate-change-ends">environmental activists</a> who seem to welcome the end of destructive Homo sapiens. There’s even a <a href="https://www.vhemt.org/">Voluntary Human Extinction Movement</a>, which advocates for us to stop having kids so that humanity will fade out and nature will triumph.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YB93kN">
And then there’s transhumanism, the Frankensteinish love child of pro-humanism and anti-humanism. This is the idea that we should use tech to evolve our species into Homo sapiens 2.0. Transhumanists — who span the gamut from <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23779413/silicon-valleys-ai-religion-transhumanism-longtermism-ea">Silicon Valley tech bros</a> to <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/5/7/23708169/ask-ai-chatgpt-ethical-advice-moral-enhancement">academic philosophers</a> — do want to keep some version of humanity going, but definitely not the current hardware. They imagine us with chips in our brains, or with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/4/28/23702644/artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-technology">AI</a> telling us how to make moral decisions more objectively, or with digitally uploaded minds that live forever in the cloud.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Hgl3E6">
Analyzing these trends in his book <a href="https://globalreports.columbia.edu/books/the-revolt-against-humanity/"><em>Revolt Against Humanity</em></a>, the literary critic Adam Kirsch writes, “The anti-humanist future and the transhumanist future are opposites in most ways, except the most fundamental: They are worlds from which we have disappeared, and rightfully so.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="awH2bv">
If you’ve watched <em>3 Body Problem</em>, this is probably already ringing some bells for you. The Netflix hit actually tackles the question of human extinction with admirable nuance, so let’s get into the nuance a bit — with some mild spoilers ahead.
</p>
<h3 id="clEg09">
What does <em>3 Body Problem</em> have to say about human extinction?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Tr1O5A">
It would give too much away to say who in the show ends up repping anti-humanism. So suffice it to say that there’s an anti-humanist group in play — people who are actually trying to <em>help </em>the aliens invade Earth.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vv75gf">
It’s not a monolithic group, though. One faction, led by a hardcore environmentalist named Mike Evans, believes that humans are too selfish to solve problems like biodiversity loss or climate change, so we basically deserve to be destroyed. Another, milder perspective says that humans are indeed selfish but may be redeemable — and the hope is that the aliens are wiser beings who will save us from ourselves. They refer to the extraterrestrials as literally “Our Lord.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="w21kgn">
Meanwhile, one of the main characters, a brilliant physicist named Jin, is a walking embodiment of the pro-human position. When it becomes clear that aliens are planning to take over Earth, she develops a bold reconnaissance mission that involves sending her brainy friend, Will, into space to spy on the extraterrestrials.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aoR4Bb">
Jin is willing to do whatever it takes to save humanity from the aliens, even though they’re traveling from a distant planet and their spaceships won’t reach Earth for another 400 years. She’s willing to sacrifice Will — who, by the way, is madly in love with her — for later generations of humans who don’t even exist yet.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A man and a woman are seen from the side, each holding a folded piece of paper in one hand and looking toward each other. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sG_EE7fiJiY-dU38CmuRtefhAN8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360378/3_Body_Problem_n_S1_E6_00_25_39_21R.jpg_3_Body_Problem_n_S1_E6_00_25_39_21R.jpg"/> <cite>Courtesy of Netflix</cite>
<figcaption>
Will and Jin, star-crossed lovers (literally) in <em>3 Body Problem</em>.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8vFOxK">
Jin’s best friend is Auggie, a nanotechnology pioneer. When she’s asked to join the fight against the aliens, Auggie hesitates, because it would require killing hundreds of humans who are trying to help<em> </em>the aliens invade. Yet she eventually gives in to Jin’s appeals — and lots of people predictably wind up dead, thanks to a lethal weapon created from her nanotechnology.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eIuJC6">
As Auggie walks around surveying the carnage from the attack, she sees a child’s severed foot. It’s a classic “do the ends justify the means?” moment. For Auggie, the answer is no. She abandons the mission and starts using her nanotech to help people — not hypothetical people 400 years in the future, but disadvantaged people living in the here and now.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vayJPM">
So, like Jin, Auggie is also a perfect emblem of the pro-human position — and yet she lives out that position in a totally different way. She is not content to sacrifice people today for the mere chance at helping people tomorrow.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qi11Y4">
But the most interesting character is Will, a humble science teacher who is given the chance to go into space and do humanity a major solid by gathering intel on the aliens. When the man in charge of the mission vets Will for the gig, he asks Will to sign a loyalty oath to humanity — to swear that he’ll never renege and side with the aliens.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7KQX5X">
Will refuses. “They might end up being better than us,” he says. “Why would I swear loyalty to us if they could end up being better?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KP9wYm">
It’s a radical open-mindedness to the possibility that we humans might really suck — and that maybe we don’t deserve to be the protagonists of the universe’s story. If another species is better, kinder, more moral, should our allegiance be to furthering those values, or to the species we happen to be part of?
</p>
<h3 id="U6xJPK">
The pro-humanist vision
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oHfJST">
As we’ve seen, there are different ways to live out pro-humanism. In philosophy circles, there are names for these different approaches. While Auggie is a “neartermist,” focused on solving problems that affect people today, Jin is a classic “longtermist.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9QIg3g">
At its core, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23298870/effective-altruism-longtermism-will-macaskill-future">longtermism</a> is the idea that we should care more about positively influencing the long-term future of humanity — hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years from now. The idea emerged out of <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/8/8/23150496/effective-altruism-sam-bankman-fried-dustin-moskovitz-billionaire-philanthropy-crytocurrency">effective altruism</a> (EA), a broader social movement dedicated to wielding reason and evidence to do the most good possible for the most people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7IUez6">
Longtermists often talk about existential risks. They care a lot about making sure, for example, that runaway AI doesn’t render Homo sapiens extinct. <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/5/11/23064319/longtermism-sophie-howe-future-generations-wales">For the most part</a>, Western society doesn’t assign much value to <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22552963/how-to-be-a-good-ancestor-longtermism-climate-change">future generations</a>, something we see in <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22643358/social-cost-of-carbon-mortality-biden-discounting">our struggles</a> to deal with long-term threats like climate change. But because longtermists assign future people as much moral value as present people, and there are going to be way more people alive in the future than there are now, longtermists are especially focused on staving off risks that could erase the chance for those future people to exist.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FNPxqI">
The poster boy for longtermism, Oxford philosopher and founding EA figure Will MacAskill, published a book on the worldview called<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/william-macaskill/what-we-owe-the-future/9781541618633/"><em>What We Owe the Future</em></a>. To him, avoiding extinction is almost a sacrosanct duty. He writes:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JWN1Xm">
With great rarity comes great responsibility. For thirteen billion years, the known universe was devoid of consciousness … Now and in the coming centuries, we face threats that could kill us all. And if we mess this up, we mess it up forever. The universe’s self-understanding might be permanently lost … the brief and slender flame of consciousness that flickered for a while would be extinguished forever.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qk2z8Y">
There are a few eyebrow-raising anthropocentric ideas here. How confident are we that the universe was or would be barren of highly intelligent life without humanity? “Highly intelligent” by whose lights — humanity’s? And are we so sure that the universe would be meaningless without human minds to experience it?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ELFi8T">
But this way of thinking is popular among tech billionaires like <a href="https://www.vox.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>, who talks about the need to colonize Mars as <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-09/twitter-deal-collapse-makes-musk-a-hot-ticket-at-sun-valley?sref=fqqmZ8gi">“life insurance”</a> for the human species because we have “a duty to maintain the <a href="https://aeon.co/essays/elon-musk-puts-his-case-for-a-multi-planet-civilisation">light of consciousness</a>” rather than going extinct.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LVIu0n">
Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1554335028313718784">describes</a> MacAskill’s book as “a close match for my philosophy.”
</p>
<h3 id="o0ZpOu">
The transhumanist vision
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IDUMdC">
A close match — but not a perfect match.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V73FPY">
Musk has a lot of commonalities with the pro-human camp, including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pronatalism-elon-musk-population-tech-2022-11">his view</a> that we should make lots of babies in order to stave off civilizational collapse. But he’s arguably a bit closer to that strange combo of pro-humanism and anti-humanism that we know as “transhumanism.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A1zUEl">
Hence <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23899981/elon-musk-ai-neuralink-brain-computer-interface">Musk’s company Neuralink</a>, which recently implanted a brain chip in its first human subject. The ultimate goal, in <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/7/17/20697812/elon-musk-neuralink-ai-brain-implant-thread-robot">Musk’s own words</a>, is “to achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence.” He wants to develop a technology that helps humans “merg[e] with AI” so that we won’t be “left behind” as AI becomes more sophisticated.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2TxbCy">
In <em>3 Body Problem</em>, the closest parallel for this approach is the anti-humanist faction that wants to help the aliens, not out of a belief that humans are so terrible they should be totally destroyed, but out of a hope that humans just might be redeemable with an infusion of the right knowledge or technology.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kE1Gxm">
On the show, that technology comes via aliens; in our world, it’s perceived to be coming via AI. But regardless of the specifics, this is an approach that says: Let the overlords come. Don’t try to beat ’em — join ’em.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="28ZFU6">
It should come as no surprise that the anti-humanists in <em>3 Body Problem</em> refer to the aliens as “Our Lord.” That makes total sense, given that they’re viewing the aliens as a supremely powerful force that exists outside themselves and can propel them to a higher form of consciousness. If that’s not God, what is?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vausb6">
In fact, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23779413/silicon-valleys-ai-religion-transhumanism-longtermism-ea">transhumanist thinking has a very long religious pedigree</a>. In the early 1900s, French Jesuit priest and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin argued that we could use tech to nudge along human evolution and thereby bring about the kingdom of God; melding humans and machines would lead to “<a href="https://www.religion-online.org/book-chapter/chapter-4-some-reflections-on-progress/">a state of super-consciousness</a>” where we become a new enlightened species.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dqqS7c">
Teilhard influenced his pal Julian Huxley, an evolutionary biologist who popularized the term “transhumanism” (and the brother of <em>Brave New World </em>author Aldous Huxley). That influenced the futurist Ray Kurzweil, who in turn shaped the thinking of Musk and many Silicon Valley tech heavyweights.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jrlpcr">
Some people today have even formed explicitly religious movements around worshiping AI or using AI to move humanity toward godliness, from <a href="https://terasemmovementfoundation.com/mission">Martine Rothblatt’s Terasem movement</a> to the <a href="https://www.transfigurism.org/library/primers/1-what-is-mormon-transhumanism">Mormon Transhumanist Association</a> to <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/18/anthony-levandowski-closes-his-church-of-ai/">Anthony Levandowski’s short-lived Way of the Future church</a>. “Our Lord,” indeed.
</p>
<aside id="CS0Wt4">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<h3 id="QNgO4I">
The anti-humanist vision
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fBeuNS">
Hardcore anti-humanists go much farther than the transhumanists. In their view, there’s no reason to keep humanity alive.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VHffnG">
The philosopher Eric Dietrich, for example, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242929339_Homo_sapiens_20_Why_we_should_build_the_better_robots_of_our_nature">argues</a> that we should build “the better robots of our nature” — machines that can outperform us morally — and then hand over the world to what he calls “Homo sapiens 2.0.” Here is his modest proposal:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7ZBWUc">
Let’s build a race of robots that implement only what is beautiful about humanity, that do not feel any evolutionary tug to commit certain evils, and then let us — the humans — exit stage left, leaving behind a planet populated with robots that, while not perfect angels, will nevertheless be a vast improvement over us.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9eLhlT">
Another philosopher, David Benatar, argued in his 2006 book <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/12476/9780199549269"><em>Better Never to Have Been</em></a>, that the universe would not be any less meaningful or valuable if humanity were to vanish. “The concern that humans will not exist at some future time is either a symptom of human arrogance … or is some misplaced sentimentalism,” he wrote.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RSGECH">
Whether or not you think we’re the only intelligent life in the universe is key here. If there are lots of civilizations out there, the stakes of humanity going extinct are much lower from a cosmic perspective.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2XKWIH">
In <em>3 Body Problem</em>, the characters know for a fact that there’s other intelligent life out there. This makes it harder for the pro-humanists to justify their position: on what grounds, other than basic survival instinct, can they really argue that it’s important for humanity to continue existing?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y0vcuU">
Will might be the character with the most compelling response to this central question. When he refuses to sign the loyalty oath to humanity, he shows that he is neither dogmatically pro-humanist nor dogmatically anti-humanist. His loyalty is to certain values, like kindness.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uS8lOA">
In the absence of certainty about who enacts those values best — humans or aliens — he remains species-agnostic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p6FAKs">
</p></li>
<li><strong>Why fossil fuel producers are oddly optimistic in the climate change era</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="The sun sets behind a pumpjack during a gusty night on March 24, 2024, in Fort Stockton, Texas." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X_JTmW1Ovismrffr2NcoF5MXTzU=/0x0:7339x5504/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73240976/GettyImages_2111031755.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
The coal, oil, and gas industries are embracing clean energy but preparing for more fuel demand. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Coal, oil, and natural gas producers have found their vision for a low-carbon world.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kPAOs1">
HOUSTON, Texas — In a video message projected onto massive screens in a packed conference hall, <a href="https://www.iea.org/contributors/dr-sultan-al-jaber">Sultan al-Jaber</a>, the president of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/24000157/cop28-climate-conference-uae-dubai-winners-losers-fossil-fuels-methane">COP28 climate conference</a> held in the United Arab Emirates last year, graciously accepted a leadership award from one of the world’s biggest energy industry conventions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qz0ajL">
Al-Jaber, who when not running UN climate summits is also the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, faced <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cop28-un-climate-talks-sultan-al-jaber-women-comments-94495fe0317f405933966c677c101f56">criticism from environmental groups</a> for inviting major oil and gas companies to participate in the international climate negotiations. He also faced scrutiny for his comments that it’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2023/dec/04/cop28-president-sultan-al-jaber-hits-back-after-outcry-remarks-fossil-fuels-video-report">not necessary to eliminate fossil fuels</a> to meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming this century to less than 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century. But here in Houston, before a much friendlier crowd, he remained defiant.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="REnQvg">
“If the world is going to meet its climate goals, every stakeholder has to act,” al-Jaber said, with a model of a wind turbine on his desk. “Everyone had a seat at the table, everyone was invited to contribute, and everyone did contribute.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z7ezQf">
CERAWeek by S&amp;P Global — an annual conference of oil, gas, coal, renewable, and nuclear energy industries — returned the invitation, putting the once taboo topic of <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate">climate change</a> in its headline.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0QiX6U">
“It is no exaggeration to say that [al-Jaber] helped the global community chart pathways to a sustainable future,” said Daniel Yergin, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning oil history <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Prize/Daniel-Yergin/9781439110126"><em>The Prize</em></a> and the founder of CERAWeek.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="505h5p">
The conference isn’t meant to produce any formal agreements or treaties, but what attendees say on stage and behind closed doors often ripple through the global energy industry.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jElICt">
While only a sliver of the size of the last climate meeting — more than <a href="https://ceraweek.com/about/index.html">8,000 delegates</a> were at CERAWeek compared to more than <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/24000157/cop28-climate-conference-uae-dubai-winners-losers-fossil-fuels-methane">80,000 attendees at COP28</a> — the conference represents some of the most powerful companies in the world with trillions of dollars at their disposal to shape the future of global energy and the climate. The theme this year was “Multidimensional Energy Transition: Markets, climate, technology and geopolitics.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LA2eyn">
The unwieldy title is an example of how the convention has grown in scope since it <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN20O23L/">started in 1981</a> and how the industries it represents have begun to redefine their roles in a world constrained by rising average temperatures, yet still primarily dependent on <a href="https://www.vox.com/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>. What was once a low-key meeting of oil and gas executives and analysts to talk frankly and cut deals has become a slick news-making tech conference where attendees are well fed and, after hours, well lubricated by sponsors. Think of it as Davos for the oil and gas set, hosted in the energy capital of the US.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm delivers a keynote address at CERAWeek on March 18, 2024 in Houston." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/w-P7sMl4w9gAED3trnR8qxbmDLc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360690/GettyImages_2096633583.jpg"/> <cite>Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the “momentum of the energy transition is undeniable.”
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GGU3RG">
“Twenty years ago you could not have a conversation here about climate change. Full stop,” <a href="https://www.edf.org/people/mark-brownstein">Mark Brownstein</a>, senior vice president for energy transition at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), who has attended the conference for decades, told Vox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="R942QJ">
By now everyone at CERAWeek has gotten the memo on global warming and understood the assignment, at least in rhetoric. The world’s largest energy firms have come to a general consensus that the world is shifting toward <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy">clean energy</a> — but that fossil fuels are still going to be necessary for the foreseeable future. “These truths are not in conflict,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. “The momentum of the clean energy transition is undeniable, even as we are the largest producer of oil and gas in the world.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kvHjJg">
Every talk and panel discussion nodded to the energy transition, toward carbon management, efficiency, and clean tech. When it comes to energy sources — wind, solar, hydropower, natural gas, oil, hydrogen, coal, nuclear, geothermal, and even fusion — CERAWeek has truly embraced diversity, equity, and inclusion.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uSQtg6">
But even with greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere reaching <a href="https://attheu.utah.edu/science-technology/geoscientists-map-changes-in-atmospheric-co2-over-past-66-million-years/">levels not seen in eons</a> and after the <a href="https://www.vox.com/23969523/climate-change-cop28-paris-1-5-c-uae-2023-record-warm">hottest year humans have ever measured</a>, the fossil fuel industry whose products are driving climate change sees a bright future for itself. After all, despite the <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/2/21/23594544/europe-electricity-natural-gas-renewable-energy-russia">extraordinary expansion of clean energy generation</a>, fossil fuels have <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-energy-substitution?stackMode=relative">only lost a small share</a> of the global energy mix and are still expecting more growth.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uPZ9oC">
The majors believe that technologies like carbon capture and storage will allow them to continue selling their wares as emissions regulations ratchet down, and that <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2024/3/28/24111721/ai-uses-a-lot-of-energy-experts-expect-it-to-double-in-just-a-few-years">power-devouring technologies like artificial intelligence</a> and growing markets in developing countries will continue to raise demand. By some estimates, data center electricity use is on track to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/24066646/ai-electricity-energy-watts-genrative-consumption">more than double by 2026</a>. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/global-coal-exports-power-generation-hit-new-highs-2023-2024-01-18/">Coal</a>, <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/08/11/crude-oil-demand-opec-price-increase-china-saudi-arabia-russia/">oil</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-natural-gas-supplies-drop-record-demand-forecast-due-extreme-cold-2024-01-15/">natural gas</a> consumption are at or near record highs in many parts of the world and their emissions are currently on track to grow through 2050, according to the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/pressroom/releases/press542.php">Energy Information Administration</a>. The world is hungry for BTUs and watts, and the energy industry is eager to serve them.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wy7NEZ">
“I’m actually more optimistic today than I’ve ever been in this job,” ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told attendees, noting that COP28 was the first climate conference he has ever attended.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A renewable fuel gas pump on display at CERAWeek." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IAIyelyCFWiIyNm3_v6i-J7ksdM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360707/PXL_20240318_212622155.MP.jpg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
Oil companies like Chevron highlighted their efforts to decarbonize their products like gasoline at CERAWeek.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TlJj93">
But that optimism hasn’t been matched with urgency on climate change, and the industry has a long history of slowing progress. While the language has changed more recently, the oil and gas industry has spent decades thwarting action on climate change, with lobbying, litigation, and misinformation. Exxon’s own scientists produced accurate internal forecasts of rising average temperatures as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/12/1148376084/exxon-climate-predictions-were-accurate-decades-ago-still-it-sowed-doubt">early as the 1970s</a> while the company published full-page ads in newspapers casting doubt on warming into <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/the-forgotten-oil-ads-that-told-us-climate-change-was-nothing">the late 1990s</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ujlA2p">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a>’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has also put energy security back on the front burner. For some countries, energy security today matters more than climate change tomorrow, leading them to prioritize secure sources, including <a href="https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/germanys-dependence-imported-fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a> in some cases. (Energy security wasn’t the only echo of the war — CERAWeek also helpfully reminded participants in its registration form not to attend if they are subject to sanctions.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1ImYFi">
So while appetites for cleaner energy sources are growing, the stalwarts of the global energy industry have made it clear they aren’t letting go of the fuels that powered their rise. As these companies have grudgingly come to acknowledge climate change, many concerned about global warming have also begun to grapple with the likelihood that fossil fuels aren’t fading away anytime soon. And while most energy companies do envision reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, the current pace is <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/23648274/climate-change-report-ipcc-ar6-warming-overshoot">nowhere near fast enough</a> to bend the curve to meet climate goals. The future for the global energy industry is not just brighter, but hotter.
</p>
<h3 id="RU919c">
There is a lot money to be made in new clean energy
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5QDNuF">
Across the skybridge from the hotel in the neighboring convention center, CERAWeek hosts what it calls Innovation Agora, where tech entrepreneurs and energy startups pitch their solutions to climate change in glass-walled booths under purple lights. It was once the kids’ table of the conference when it <a href="https://cdn.ihs.com/www/CERAweek/2018/website/Agora-in-Review-2017.pdf">launched in 2017</a> but has since evolved into a parallel production, a clear reflection of clean energy’s massive growth and immense potential.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A conference schedule on display at the CERAWeek Innovation Agora conference. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2SAggcmMbfLG0IpNquXfeA3Yt64=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360701/PXL_20240321_200928207.MP.jpg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
CERAWeek’s Innovation Agora prominently features solutions to climate change.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OOggCo">
“Globally, clean energy investment has overtaken fossil fuel investment every year since 2016, according to the IEA,” Granholm said. “In the US, clean energy investment has tripled since 2018.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ixG4jw">
The fossil fuel industry talks less about competition between conventional sources and <a href="https://www.vox.com/renewable-energy">renewables</a> and more about collaboration between the “molecule” and the “electron” solution set, as Exxon’s Woods described it. The molecules are the hydrocarbons of coal, oil, and gas and increasingly, hydrogen, while the electrons are those generated by <a href="https://www.vox.com/solar-energy">solar panels</a> and wind turbines.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lUs2gz">
“I’m not suggesting one’s better than the other one,” Woods said. “What I’m suggesting is, we need both, and you need companies who have our scale, our capabilities.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4FO0QT">
Unsurprisingly, the “molecule” companies have their eyes set on the technologies that play to their strengths. <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/22973204/hydrogen-energy-power-toyota-mirai-climate-change">Hydrogen</a>, a gas most commonly produced by reforming methane, fits well into the fossil fuel industry’s existing refining, pipeline, storage, and retail infrastructure. Geothermal, which <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23825844/geothermal-enhanced-fervo-demonstration-superhot">harnesses heat from beneath the Earth’s surface</a>, draws on the sector’s expertise in geology and drilling. Carbon capture — from smokestacks, from the ocean, from the air — gives fossil fuels a way to zero out their emissions, at least on paper, extending them a lifeline in a world where emissions must ratchet down. In the US, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">Biden administration</a> has set a <a href="https://www.vox.com/22397364/earth-day-us-climate-change-summit-biden-john-kerry-commitment-2030-zero-emissions">target of cutting national greenhouse gas emissions</a> in half compared to 2005 levels by 2030 and achieving <a href="https://www.vox.com/22737140/un-cop26-climate-change-net-zero-emissions-carbon-offsets">net zero emissions</a> by 2050.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8cxSDm">
US government incentives are sweetening the deal for cleaner energy technologies. The trio of the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22772701/biden-infrastructure-law-environmental-funding">Bipartisan Infrastructure Law</a>, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/7/27/23277664/chips-act-solve-chip-shortage-biden-manufacturing">CHIPS and Science Act</a>, and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/8/8/23296951/inflation-reduction-act-biden-democrats-climate-change">Inflation Reduction Act</a> have mobilized billions of dollars to research, build, and deploy low-emissions energy systems and the products that enable them. Unlike past legislative attempts to tackle climate change, these laws are almost all incentives, with no restrictions or caps on greenhouse gases baked in.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aJnCHZ">
“I am very supportive of the IRA, because, as legislated, the IRA focuses on carbon intensity and in theory, [is] technology agnostic,” Woods said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mueBze">
As for the villains, the energy industry as well as environmental groups a common adversary in methane. It’s about <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials">30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide</a> when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. It’s the dominant component of natural gas, so producers do have an incentive to limit its leaks since it’s a salable product. At COP28, dozens of oil and gas firms committed to <a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/news/2023/12/Oil-Gas-Decarbonization-Charter-launched-to--accelerate-climate-action">ending their methane pollution by 2050</a>. Simply reducing methane output by 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030 could <a href="https://www.globalmethanepledge.org/">avert 0.2°C of warming</a> (0.36°F) by 2050. But methane is colorless and odorless, making it hard to detect where it’s escaping, and estimates of its emissions <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2022/methane-and-climate-change">vary widely</a>.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A digital ad display on a sidewalk" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sBRxufBttxiXSWSsaPoIi5KkF48=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360824/PXL_20240323_001535142.MP.jpg"/> <cite>Umair Irfan/Vox</cite>
<figcaption>
An advertisement for EDF’s new methane-tracking satellite on the streets of Houston.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qT2Y0J">
These concerns have fertilized the growth of the carbon accounting and verification business. <a href="https://contextlabs.com/">Context Labs</a>, one of the companies presenting at the Agora, has developed software so companies can track emissions across their facilities, sometimes down to individual pieces of hardware like generators or furnaces. The goal is to give companies actionable information about where they need to cut pollution, how they can route their operations to be more carbon efficient, and what assets will be at risk when emissions regulations get stricter.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DVLvsS">
Not everyone is ready to take these companies at their word, though. The Environmental Defense Fund <a href="https://www.edf.org/methanesat/how-this-satellite-different">launched a satellite</a> to track global methane emissions just a few days before CERAWeek began and advertised it on the streets of Houston. EDF plans to <a href="https://www.edf.org/methanesat/data-holds-polluters-accountable">publish its findings publicly</a> to spur polluters to act.
</p>
<h3 id="KbgFMB">
Major oil producers warn of “hard realities” for the switch to clean energy
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fzJqrj">
There were still points of friction at the oil-soaked conference, as laid out by Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco. It’s not just the <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/010715/worlds-top-10-oil-companies.asp">world’s largest oil company</a>, with nearly four times the market capitalization of ExxonMobil; it’s the <a href="https://www.fool.com/research/largest-companies-by-market-cap/">fourth-mightiest of all companies</a>, shaping <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/saudi-arabia-tries-thread-needle-between-crude-output-prices-russell-2024-01-09/">economies around the world</a>. And as a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/saudi-arabia-aramco-shares-pif-adf6b2e41e4f0b70863f99126bba5365">mostly state-run enterprise</a> under an autocratic regime, Saudi Aramco isn’t as swayed by activists or shareholders as a fully investor-owned company like Exxon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eocjQt">
Nasser laid out what he called five “hard realities” for the energy transition.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ovelSy">
The first is that alternatives to hydrocarbons like wind and solar energy have received decades of research and development and billions of dollars in investment, but still hold <a href="https://www.iea.org/energy-system/renewables">single-digit market shares</a>. Second, reducing the carbon intensity of fossil fuels — particularly through energy efficiency and switching from coal and oil to natural gas — has delivered greater greenhouse gas emissions reductions than the rise of clean energy. Third is that many alternative energy strategies like <a href="https://www.vox.com/electric-vehicles">electric vehicles</a> are unaffordable for a majority of people around the world. That ties into the fourth point, that most of global energy demand growth in the coming years will occur in developing countries. But despite representing <a href="https://www.worlddata.info/developing-countries.php">85 percent of the world’s population</a>, these countries receive a <a href="https://unctad.org/news/unctad-calls-urgent-support-developing-countries-attract-massive-investment-clean-energy">tiny fraction</a> of clean energy investment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V4MoGa">
Nasser concluded with his fifth point: that the energy transition strategy of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy needs a reset. “We should abandon the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas and instead invest in them adequately, reflecting realistic demand assumptions,” Nasser said to widespread applause. “We should ramp up our effort to reduce carbon emissions, improve efficiency and introduce lower carbon solutions. And we should phase in new energy sources and technologies when they are genuinely ready, economically competitive, and with the right infrastructure.”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin Nasser speaks during the CERAWeek oil summit in Houston, Texas, on March 18, 2024." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_xAYN6pySqMfFotEmYDOu-Uh2Mk=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360697/GettyImages_2087326377.jpg"/> <cite>Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Amin Nasser, president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, said that phasing out oil and gas was a “fantasy.”
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EwuGok">
Many activists and other in the energy industry <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28032024/inside-clean-energy-saudi-aramco-executive-energy-transition/">disagree with Nasser’s assessment</a>. However, his comments echo the ongoing rifts at COP meetings between major fossil fuel-producing countries that became rich off oil and those often poorer countries facing the immediate effects of climate change like sea level rise, who want to see fossil fuel consumption zeroed out. It’s led to long, tortuous negotiations over language like <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23464353/cop27-egypt-outcome-climate-change-agreement-result-loss-damage">“phase down” versus “phase out”</a> and “<a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/11/27/23970847/climate-change-glossary-net-zero-carbon-capture-finance-cop28">unabated</a>” emissions from fossil fuels.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aWU1YC">
But while many zero-carbon technologies are still expensive, so too are the systems required to keep burning coal, oil, and gas in a world where emissions must halt by the middle of the century to meet climate targets. Some of the cheapest carbon capture technologies to date still cost about <a href="https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/scientists-unveil-least-costly-carbon-capture-system-date">$40 per metric ton of carbon dioxide</a>, adding up to billions of dollars to capture any meaningful share of the <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/co2-emissions-in-2023/executive-summary">37.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted last year</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="13y0oQ">
The US, now the <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/24098983/biden-oil-production-climate-fossil-fuel-renewables">world’s largest oil producer</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/03/climate/us-lng-natural-gas-leader.html">natural gas exporter</a>, is also in an awkward spot. While pledging to reduce its own emissions, the US is anticipating more fossil fuel exports and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/climate/lng-terminals-financing-cp2.html">financing import facilities</a> in other countries. That includes a doubling of liquefied natural gas shipments abroad by 2030, despite the White House’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/24055711/lng-export-pause-biden-liquefied-natural-gas-climate-change">pause on new export terminals</a>. “The whole world needs to transition away from fossil fuels, but in the meantime, we still have to support our friends and allies in their energy needs,” John Podesta, the White House climate adviser who also leads climate diplomacy, told reporters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QxLJTL">
Now in an election year, the Biden administration is trying to walk the line between taking credit for <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1550113365019746309">low gasoline prices</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/3/14/23637780/willow-project-biden-oil-drilling-climate-change">facilitating more fossil fuel extraction</a> as it faces a challenger who wants to ramp up coal, oil, and natural gas, potentially adding another <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-trump-election-win-could-add-4bn-tonnes-to-us-emissions-by-2030/">4 billion metric tons</a> by 2030 to the US’s already massive greenhouse gas emissions tally.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zsrFv4">
All the while, the era of low interest rates that drove the massive expansion of both renewables and natural gas in the US in the past decade is ending just as the country needs a massive new buildout of energy production and infrastructure. Financing expenses are getting higher while <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/federal-energy-permitting-reform-doe-ferc-congress/705818/">permitting time and costs</a> remain an obstacle, slowing down the shift to cleaner energy. So while the threats from climate change are more apparent than ever, it’s getting harder to wield the tools to keep it in check, and that means the fuels of the industrial revolution will continue to light the road ahead, for a while at least.
</p></li>
<li><strong>A very bad year for press freedom</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1C9Fep1JNPFTgH-ElE8G7i7pRAQ=/0x0:7339x5504/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73240964/GettyImages_2016722208.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
US journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested on espionage charges, stands inside a defendants’ cage before a hearing. | AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Russia’s year-long detention of Evan Gershkovich is one part of a very grim picture for journalism.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qv9JUS">
This morning, Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter and the first American journalist to be <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/3/30/23663270/wall-street-journal-american-reporter-evan-gershkovich-arrested-russia-first-since-cold-war">arrested in Russia on espionage charges</a> since the Cold War, woke up to his second year in prison.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bwUc7b">
After five years of covering Russia, he was arrested in March 2023. It came as a shock: Though Russian journalists have long faced increasing repression and even <a href="https://cpj.org/data/killed/europe/russia/?status=Killed&amp;motiveConfirmed[]=Confirmed&amp;motiveUnconfirmed[]=Unconfirmed&amp;type[]=Journalist&amp;type[]=Media%20Worker&amp;cc_fips[]=RS&amp;start_year=1992&amp;end_year=2023&amp;group_by=location">deadly peril</a>, international journalists “were generally a somewhat protected class,” as my former <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/3/30/23663270/wall-street-journal-american-reporter-evan-gershkovich-arrested-russia-first-since-cold-war">colleague Jonathan Guyer wrote one year ago</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZY7cg7">
One thing Gershkovich had in common with many Russian journalists who have run afoul of the state: His arrest was bogus. Within two weeks, the US government <a href="https://www.state.gov/russias-wrongful-detention-of-journalist-evan-gershkovich/">officially designated</a> him as “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-sign-executive-order-americans-held-hostage-wrongfully/story?id=87050103">wrongfully detained</a>.” Reporters Without Borders (RSF), meanwhile, considers him a “<a href="https://rsf.org/en/us-journalist-detained-moscow-clearly-russian-state-hostage">Russian state hostage</a>.” Despite a year of pre-trial hearings and extensions on his detention, Russia has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-wall-street-journal-gershkovich-jail-27ec0cdb332b4899bf882ba423899dfb">publicly provided no clear evidence</a> to substantiate its allegations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="898PWH">
For the media that remains in the country, it has also “had a huge chilling effect, with further self-censorship,” Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said over email.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MkPGXF">
That all serves Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aims amid the <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia-ukraine">ongoing war in Ukraine</a>. But what’s happened to Gershkovich isn’t just about Putin.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pYYUbp">
Yes, his government was already particularly bad on press freedom and has only gotten <a href="https://rsf.org/en/us-reporter-s-arrest-steps-pressure-foreign-correspondents-russia">worse since Russia invaded Ukraine</a>: Over 30 journalists in Russia are currently imprisoned because of their reporting, and “between 1,500 to 1,800 Russian journalists were forced into exile” over the last two years, <a href="https://jx-fund.org/pressreleases/sustaining-independence-the-current-state-of-exiled-media-from-russia/">according to a report by the RSF’s JX Fund</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RoBeG5">
“Russia is ranked 164th out of 180 countries in the last <a href="https://rsf.org/en/index">Press Freedom Index</a>,” Cavelier pointed out. “It dropped another nine places last year, in the worst category of the ranking where the press freedom situation is classified as ‘very serious.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Qe768g">
But it would be short-sighted to think that brazen attacks on the media stop at Russia’s borders.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Murtaja’s body, covered in a Palestinian flag and a “Press” vest, is carred through a crowd." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SQZc8AKVs9tMsDEmK6ScStWqS2o=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360764/GettyImages_942902308.jpg"/> <cite>Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
The 2018 funeral ceremony for Yassser Murtaja, a Palestinian news reporter, who was shot by Israeli forces while covering a rally within the “Great March of Return.”
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3 id="nL3QVn">
Impunity in action
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9amJo1">
The most egregious example of what happens when there’s a sense of impunity over attacks on journalists is the Israel-Hamas war.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0yjOq4">
As the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/12/israel-gaza-war-takes-record-toll-on-journalists/">noted in December</a>, 68 journalists were killed in the first 10 weeks of the war — more “than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XYfAyV">
That tally has only <a href="https://cpj.org/2024/03/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/">grown since</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RlRWlU">
Gaza was already a difficult place to conduct independent journalism, given <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/08/30/palestine-crackdown-journalists-activists">Hamas’s harassment, intimidation, and physical abuse of reporters</a>. And war zones are obviously dangerous for all civilians, reporters included.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qztGQQ">
But Israel has said it <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-it-cant-guarantee-journalists-safety-gaza-2023-10-27/">cannot guarantee journalists’ safety in Gaza</a> and has <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-top-court-rejects-foreign-media-appeal-for-journalists-access-to-gaza/">denied international reporters access to the territory</a>. Even more concerning: Critics say the Israel Defense Forces also appear to have a <a href="https://www.vox.com/23972456/journalists-killed-gaza-israel-press-freedom">pattern of targeting journalists</a>.
</p>
<aside id="W7cdYt">
<div>
</div>
</aside>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B46eNP">
“In at least <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/12/cpj-calls-for-accountability-after-reports-find-israel-likely-targeted-journalists-in-lebanon/">one case</a>, a journalist was killed while clearly wearing press insignia in a location where no fighting was taking place,” CPJ <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/12/israel-gaza-war-takes-record-toll-on-journalists/">reported</a>. “In at least two other cases, journalists reported receiving threats from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/21/israel-hamas-war-is-deadliest-conflict-on-record-for-reporters-says-watchdog#:~:text=Days%20after%20the%20report%2C%20the,whether%20Israel%20launched%20the%20strike">Israeli officials</a> and <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/12/father-of-al-jazeeras-anas-al-sharif-killed-in-gaza-after-journalist-receives-threats/">IDF officers</a> before their family members were killed.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="h6IRDL">
This builds on years of broader restrictions and harassment of the media, including <a href="https://cpj.org/reports/2023/05/deadly-pattern-20-journalists-died-by-israeli-military-fire-in-22-years-no-one-has-been-held-accountable/">20 killings of journalists by Israeli fire</a> over the last two decades. Israel has opened investigations into many of these deaths, to be sure, but no one has ultimately been <a href="https://cpj.org/reports/2023/05/deadly-pattern-20-journalists-died-by-israeli-military-fire-in-22-years-no-one-has-been-held-accountable/">held accountable</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mXSpPY">
One notable example: In 2022, Palestinian-American <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/5/11/23067365/shireen-abu-akleh-palestinian-journalist-killed-israel">journalist Shireen Abu Akleh</a> was killed as she was reporting for Al Jazeera on an IDF raid in the West Bank. Independent media investigations indicated it was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/24/middleeast/shireen-abu-akleh-jenin-killing-investigation-cmd-intl/index.html">a deliberate attack by IDF soldiers</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="95kfAb">
Israel <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/05/middleeast/idf-shireen-abu-akleh-investigation-intl/index.html">says</a> there is a “high possibility” a soldier shot Abu Akleh but there was “no suspicion that a bullet was fired deliberately.” (The US <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/06/palestinian-shireen-abu-akleh-journalist-investigation-us/661201/">response</a> to the killing of one of its citizens was slow to materialize; only six months after her death did <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/middleeast/shireen-abu-akleh-israel-us-investigation-intl/index.html">reports break</a> that the US had opened an investigation into her killing.)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dlWQwM">
Yes, wars are dangerous to report from. With <a href="https://cpj.org/2010/02/makings-of-a-massacre/">one exception</a>, “the countries with the highest number of journalists killed for their work in any given year” — Syria in 2012, Afghanistan in 2018, Ukraine in 2022, and Somalia in 2012 — were at war or amid an insurrection, <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/12/israel-gaza-war-takes-record-toll-on-journalists/">per CPJ data</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gQkzXM">
But this isn’t exclusive to war zones.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A sign saying “Justica Para Dom &amp;amp; Bruno” is held in front of a tree." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2So-wDG8kgPztlfYtGlAzo1JMzE=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25360765/GettyImages_1258460787.jpg"/> <cite>Joao Gabriel Alves/Picture Alliance via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were murdered in the Amazon.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3 id="wcpSML">
The broader picture
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uYenSO">
Anywhere there’s a struggle for power or even just a lot of money at stake, the media is at risk — be that from the state, non-state actors (like cartels, terrorist groups, or business interests), or an unholy union of the two.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oSMRQc">
Nowhere is that clearer than in Latin America and the Caribbean.
</p>
<ul>
<li id="kPzYHN">
<strong>In Guatemala,</strong> for example, <a href="https://elfaro.net/en/202403/centroamerica/27287/%E2%80%9CDespite-the-new-government-the-advance-of-mining-in-Guatemala-is-already-decided%E2%80%9D.htm?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email">Q’eqchi’ Mayan journalist Carlos Choc</a> has been subjected to years of legal intimidation and persecution in response to his reporting on the country’s mining industry.
</li>
<li id="z6LVMC">
<strong>In Haiti,</strong> there are questions over whether a powerful prosecutor covered up — or even ordered — the <a href="https://cpj.org/2024/03/powerful-enemies-did-a-prosecutor-order-the-murder-of-haitian-journalist-garry-tesse/">murder of a popular radio journalist</a>.
</li>
<li id="qI9Fc0">
<strong>In Ecuador,</strong> where gangs have been fighting over a newly <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/1/11/24034891/ecuador-drugs-cocaine-cartels-violence-murder-daniel-naboa-columbia-crime">lucrative narco industry</a> and defying the government with increasing impunity, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/news-stations-letter-bombs-ecuador-one-explodes-clear-message-to-silence-journalists/">letter bombs</a> were delivered last year to at least five TV and radio journalists. (Thankfully, no serious injuries were reported.)
</li>
<li id="NJGsQK">
<strong>In Mexico,</strong> right before Abu Akleh’s killing, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/10/1097821325/mexico-journalists-killed-sinaloa-veracruz-attorney-general">three journalists were killed in the span of three days</a>. I’m highlighting it as a stark example of the dangers that reporters, especially those who cover politics or organized crime, face in Mexico — the <a href="https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/rsfroundup_2021.pdf">most dangerous country for media workers for three years running</a> before the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
</li>
<li id="IiCxjn">
<strong>In Brazil, </strong>British journalist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/26/murdered-british-journalist-dom-phillips-laid-to-rest-in-brazil">Dom Phillips</a> was murdered in 2022 alongside a Brazilian activist while reporting for a book on the destruction of the Amazon. It is part of what <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/17/dom-phillips-bruno-pereira-final-journey">the Guardian described</a> as “the increasingly violent atmosphere that has gripped Brazil since the 2018 election of a president who has overseen what activists call <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/02/war-for-survival-brazils-amazon-tribes-despair-as-land-raids-surge-under-bolsonaro">a historic assault on Indigenous rights and the environment</a>.”
</li>
</ul>
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At the risk of making your eyes glaze over, I’ll stop there.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DCTspv">
This profession has never been <em>safe. </em>But until a decade ago or so, there was at least a sense that journalists had a recognized role in reporting from even the world’s worst conflicts — and that role afforded them some protection.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gIbL1j">
The last couple of years have felt particularly grim, and the outbreak of two wars by two governments, both known to operate with impunity toward reporters, is an obvious turn for the worse.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DrZNw6">
<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>
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</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>Rasputin and Portofino Bay show out</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>Andy Murray to miss Monte Carlo and Munich tournaments because of ankle injury</strong> - The Monte Carlo Masters begins April 7, and the BMW Open in Munich is the following week.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IPL-17 | Anrich Nortje will take time to get better after injury lay-off: DC bowling coach Hopes</strong> - Nortje was taken to the cleaners by Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag at the death as he went for 48 in his four overs on March 28.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IPL-17: LSG vs PBKS | Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants eye all-round effort against Punjab Kings</strong> - Rahul-led LSG faltered in the opening game against Rajasthan Royals, losing by 20 runs while PBKS has won one and lost one</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>Dimitrov stuns Alcaraz to reach Miami Open semi-finals</strong> - Dimitrov won 77% of his first-serve points compared to just 56% for Alcaraz, turned aside four of the five break points he faced and broke the Spaniard four times during the 92-minute encounter</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>Railways closes 12 manned level crossing gates in Vijayawada Division</strong> - The move is being made at critical locations to increase operational feasibility and sectional speed, says official</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>Marginalised communities reaching top govt positions due to ‘affirmative action’: Justice B.R. Gavai</strong> - Justice Gavai was speaking at a cross-cultural discussion hosted by the New York City Bar Association</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Here are the big stories from Karnataka today</strong> - Welcome to the Karnataka Today newsletter, your guide from The Hindu on the major news stories to follow today. Curated and written by Nalme Nachiyar.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sunita Kejriwal preparing to hold CM’s post like Rabri Devi did in Bihar: Hardeep Puri</strong> - Earlier in the day, Sunita Kejriwal launched a WhatsApp campaign.</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>‘Maharally’ at Ramleela | Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav among INDIA bloc leaders to join</strong> - AAP has received permission of the authorities concerned for holding the rally</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>War a real threat and Europe not ready, warns Poland’s PM</strong> - Donald Tusk warns of a “pre-war era” and speaks of the most critical moment since World War Two.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Waiting for Evan, Putin’s ‘bargaining chip’ in Russian jail</strong> - It has been one year since US journalist Evan Gershkovich was arrested in Russia and accused of spying.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia shuts down UN tracking of N Korea sanctions</strong> - The group was investigating Russia’s reported violations in using North Korean weapons in Ukraine.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Stay! Germany denies reports of sausage dog ban</strong> - The government moves to reassure dachshund fans after a petition was launched against a draft law.</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>Russian propaganda network that ‘paid MEPs’ busted</strong> - Polish and Czech police say network used Russian money and popular website to push anti-Ukraine narratives.</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: Will Northrops rocket be reusable? Fourth Starship gets fired twice</strong> - “So don’t have that expectation, please. It’s not going to be perfect.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2013108">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After the Concorde, a long road back to supersonic air travel</strong> - Supersonic flight without loud booms? NASA is working on that. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2012990">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Apple’s first new 3D Vision Pro video since launch is only a few minutes long</strong> - Major League Soccer highlight reel is the first Immersive Video since launch. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2013280">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Getting a charge: An exercise bike that turns your pedaling into power</strong> - LifeSpan’s Ampera offers a solid workout, but it has a lot of quirks. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2005793">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy: Lawsuit</strong> - Facebook Watch, Netflix were allegedly bigger competitors than they let on. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2013174">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>Three engineers and three accountants are traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three accountants each buy a ticket and watch as the three engineers only buy one ticket.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?” asks an accountant. “Watch and you’ll see,” answered an engineer. They all board the train. The accountants take their respective seats but all three engineers cram into a rest room and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the restroom door and says, “Tickets, please!” The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on. The accountants see this and agree it is a clever idea. So after the conference, the accountants decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money. When they get to the station, they buy one ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers don’t buy a ticket at all. “How are you going to travel without a ticket?” says one perplexed accountant. “Watch and you’ll see,” answered an engineer. When they board the train all three accountants cram into a restroom and the three engineers cram into another one nearby. The train departs. Shortly afterward, one of the engineers leaves his restroom and walks over to the restroom where the accountants are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, “Tickets, please!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/YZXFILE"> /u/YZXFILE </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq4hes/three_engineers_and_three_accountants_are/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq4hes/three_engineers_and_three_accountants_are/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Huge ass</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
James comes home from work and finds his wife in the master bedroom standing naked in front of a full length mirror intently looking at her reflection.
</p>
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“Clara, what the hell is going on and why isn’t my dinner ready yet?” he demands loudly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh James, you scared me! I went to the doctor for a full physical exam today. He told me that I have the skin of a woman ten years younger.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He replies, “Money’s tight and I’m not paying a doctor bill for something like that!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She says, “You don’t understand, he just happened to notice while he was examining me. He also told me that my breasts are perfectly shaped and not sagging at all and look like the breasts of a woman ten years younger.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He roars back angrily, “You don’t need to be spending my money for the doctor to leer at your breasts!” and then yells her, “So what did the doctor say about that huge ass you have?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Oh, honey, he didn’t even mention your name!”
</p>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/slovester"> /u/slovester </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bqilsf/huge_ass/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bqilsf/huge_ass/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>To be 8 again</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A man asked his wife what she’d like for her birthday. “I’d love to be eight again.” she replied. On the morning of her birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her off to the local theme park. What a day! He put her on every ride in the park: the Death Slide, the Wall of Fear, the Screaming Monster Roller Coaster, every thing there was. Five hours later she staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down. Right away, they journeyed to a McDonald’s where her loving husband ordered her a Happy Meal with extra fries and a refreshing chocolate shake. Then it was off to the movies: the latest Star Wars epic, a hot dog, popcorn, all the Coke she could drink, and her favorite M&amp;M’s. What a fabulous adventure! Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted. He leaned over his precious wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, Well, Dear, what was it like being eight again?” Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed. “I meant my dress size!!!!!!!
</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/Azurebluenomad"> /u/Azurebluenomad </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq52a2/to_be_8_again/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq52a2/to_be_8_again/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I got fired from my job because I kept asking my customers whether they would prefer “Smoking” or “Non-smoking”.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Apparently the correct terms are “Cremation” and “Burial”.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/mrwawe01"> /u/mrwawe01 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq984b/i_got_fired_from_my_job_because_i_kept_asking_my/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq984b/i_got_fired_from_my_job_because_i_kept_asking_my/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My Dad’s Favorite Joke…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A few years back the head writer for a global greeting card company passed away. The company decided to search the globe for a replacement. After months of screening, the list was narrowed down to 2 candidates. One, an award winning poet from London, and the other, surprisingly, a fraternity brother from an American university.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
They brought both candidates in and told them, “For your final test, we want you both to come up with a short poem ending with Timbuktu. You have one week.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Back in the office a week later the CEO of the greeting card company asked both candidates to come forward and share, starting with the poet.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She stepped forward and said, “Surrounded by miles of sun of sand, Comes a traveling caravan. Dressed in finery, walking 2 by 2, The destination, Timbuktu”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The selection panel clapped and praised. It was clear that this poem would be tough to beat.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The college student laughed and stepped forward: “Tim and I, a hunting we went. We came upon 3 maidens in a tent. Them of 3 and us of 2. I bucked one and Tim bucked 2!”
</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/studsterkel117"> /u/studsterkel117 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq48p3/my_dads_favorite_joke/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1bq48p3/my_dads_favorite_joke/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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