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<title>30 October, 2023</title>
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<title>Covid-19 Sentry</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Selected Laboratory Equipment and Kitchen Utensils as an Alternative Sterilization Method for Sterilizing Plant Tissue Culture Media</strong> -
<div>
Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) is defined as a technique in culturing different plant parts in vitro under sterile conditions, and supplemented with optimum nutrients. Due to COVID-19 pandemic which forced everyone to isolate and lock up themselves inside their respective homes, this PTC, which is a heavily laboratory-dependent activity of the students, professors, researchers, and other PTC enthusiasts, was halted. As a response to continuing the PTC remotely, the alternative options for sterilizing PTC media using inexpensive and commercially available laboratory equipment (UV ray and microwave) and kitchen utensils (steamer and casserole) were explored in this study. The commercially available 30mL hinge sauce cup was selected as an in vitro media container. The addition of the autoclavable plastic or ziplock significantly reduced the deformity of the containers, and contamination rate of the media. Among the laboratory set-up, the two-minute exposure of PTC media to the microwave produced almost the same sterile media in the autoclave method (control). On the other hand, both boiling, and steaming methods had no significant difference compared with the control. Among all the treatments, the steaming method for 20 min had maintained sterile cultures for 3 weeks, and consistent pH like in the control, making it highly recommended for sterilizing PTC media at remote places, particularly at home. Thus, the alternative sterilization protocol of PTC media has been established through this study.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.26.564287v1" target="_blank">Selected Laboratory Equipment and Kitchen Utensils as an Alternative Sterilization Method for Sterilizing Plant Tissue Culture Media</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Association between vaccination rates and COVID-19 health outcomes in the United States: a population-level statistical analysis</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Population-level vaccine efficacy is a critical component of understanding COVID-19 risk, informing public health policy, and mitigating disease impacts. Unlike individual-level clinical trials, population-level analysis characterizes how well vaccines worked in the face of real-world challenges like emerging variants, differing mobility patterns, and policy changes. In this study, we analyze the association between time-dependent vaccination rates and COVID-19 health outcomes for 48 U.S. states. We primarily focus on case-hospitalization risk (CHR) as the outcome of interest, using it as a population-level proxy for disease burden on healthcare systems. Performing the analysis using Generalized Additive Models (GAMs) allowed us to incorporate real-world nonlinearities and control for critical dynamic (time-changing) and static (temporally constant) factors. Dynamic factors include testing rates, activity-related engagement levels in the population, underlying population immunity, and policy. Static factors incorporate comorbidities, social vulnerability, race, and state healthcare expenditures. We used SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance data to model the different COVID-19 variant-driven waves separately, and evaluate if there is a changing role of the potential drivers of health outcomes across waves. Our study revealed a strong and statistically significant negative association between vaccine uptake and COVID-19 CHR across each variant wave, with boosters providing additional protection during the Omicron wave. Higher underlying population immunity is shown to be associated with reduced COVID-19 CHR. Additionally, more stringent government policies are generally associated with decreased CHR. However, the impact of activity-related engagement levels on COVID-19 health outcomes varied across different waves. Regarding static variables, the social vulnerability index consistently exhibits positive associations with CHR, while Medicaid spending per person consistently shows a negative association. However, the impacts of other static factors vary in magnitude and significance across different waves. This study concludes that despite the emergence of new variants, vaccines remain highly correlated with reduced COVID-19 harm. Therefore, given the ongoing threat posed by COVID-19, vaccines remain a critical line of defense for protecting the public and reducing the burden on healthcare systems.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.14.23291388v2" target="_blank">Association between vaccination rates and COVID-19 health outcomes in the United States: a population-level statistical analysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Psychological Research on the COVID-19 Crisis in Japan: Focusing on Infection Preventive Behaviors, Future Prospects, and Information Dissemination Behaviors</strong> -
<div>
The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious problem all over the world in 2020. In this study, a large-scale online survey was conducted in Japan to explore the determinants of infection preventive behaviors. In addition, this survey collected data on various attitudes and behaviors in this pandemic situation, including optimistic/pessimistic views and information dissemination behavior on social networking sites (SNS). The results showed that the infection risk perception of self and others were both associated with the preventive behaviors, but the social pressure was not. The results were unclear in regard to optimistic/pessimistic views for infection risk perception and prospect for the end of coronavirus outbreak. Surprisingly, information spreading via SNS was negatively associated with knowledge of COVID-19, which calls attention to the credibility of information on SNS. In addition, subjective evaluation of achievement in regard to preventive behaviors was higher for self than for other people. This suggests that a self-enhancement tendency may contribute to the evaluation of preventive behaviors. Despite limitations such as employing a cross-sectional survey design and using data collected only in Japan, our study provides useful insights into the determinants of infection preventive behaviors, information dissemination, and the self-enhancement tendency in the evaluation of preventive behaviors. These findings should be useful in preventing the spread of COVID-19 around the world and in preparing for a possible future pandemic.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/97zye/" target="_blank">Psychological Research on the COVID-19 Crisis in Japan: Focusing on Infection Preventive Behaviors, Future Prospects, and Information Dissemination Behaviors</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Streamlined DNA template preparation and co-transcriptional 5’ capped RNA synthesis enabled by solid-phase catalysis</strong> -
<div>
The success of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines demonstrated that rapid, large-scale manufacturing of synthetic mRNA is necessary for an effective and timely response to a pandemic. Innovations in areas such as template design and manufacturing processes are being implemented to facilitate more simple, cost-effective and scalable mRNA synthesis. In this study, for the first time, we demonstrate that the enzymatic steps in mRNA production (including DNA template linearization, RNA synthesis, 5' capping and methylation) can be carried out using enzymes immobilized to a solid support. Specifically, we demonstrate efficient IVT template DNA linearization using immobilized BspQI, where the linearized template DNA can be directly used in IVT without the need of purification. We also showed that immobilized T7 RNA polymerase, Faustovirus RNA capping enzyme (FCE), vaccinia cap 2'-O-methyltransfease (2'OMTase) and a novel FCE::T7RNAP fusion enable efficient enzymatic synthesis of Cap-1 RNA in a one-pot format. This solid-phase enzymatic platform may enable highly efficient, seamless and continuous mRNA synthesis workflows that minimizes sample loss and units of operation in biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.28.564520v1" target="_blank">Streamlined DNA template preparation and co-transcriptional 5’ capped RNA synthesis enabled by solid-phase catalysis</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Exploring the Accuracy of Differentiation-Based Regressive Models in Disease Forecasting</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Predictive models have been able to foresee outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and map Ebola outbreaks. This has allowed health organizations to plan the amount of resources and the number of healthcare workers n eeded more effectively, on top of finding out other useful data such as the locations most vulnerable to the disease and the demographics most affected. It can therefore be assumed that predictive analytics can reduce the amount of economic and non-economic burden caused by other epidemics as well, with COVID-19 being an obvious example.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.26.23297654v1" target="_blank">Exploring the Accuracy of Differentiation-Based Regressive Models in Disease Forecasting</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Loneliness Online: Social media interaction decreased loneliness in young adults during recommended social isolation.</strong> -
<div>
The recent COVID-19 pandemic and periods of recommended social isolation has led to a rise in questions regarding the role of Social media as a mean of limiting feelings of loneliness. Loneliness is described as a disparity between an individual’s desired social relations and their present relations and while social media supports in building social connections, there is limited understanding of loneliness in relation to social media use, especially in the Middle East. Taking these contexts into consideration, the current study hypothesized that greater social media addiction, increased passive browsing, decreased interaction such as posting and tagging friends, and broadcasting such as status updates and going live would significantly increase loneliness in young adults during the pandemic in the UAE. In order to test this, data was collected online from 177 young adults in the UAE during recommended social isolation, and was analysed using hierarchical regression. Results indicated that only social media interaction significantly decreased feelings of loneliness amongst the participants. Browsing, broadcasting, and addiction however did not significantly impact levels of loneliness in young adults during recommended social isolation, which contradicts the majority of the past findings. The findings show that interactions with others on social media facilitate much needed connections, especially during a health emergency and recommended isolation.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/b549s/" target="_blank">Loneliness Online: Social media interaction decreased loneliness in young adults during recommended social isolation.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Echocardiographic characterisation in severe Covid-19 with respiratory failure - an observational study.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Objective: We aimed to investigate cardiac effects of severe SARS-CoV-2 and the importance of echocardiography-assessment and biomarkers. Methods: This is an observational study of the first patients admitted to intensive care due to SARS-CoV-2-respiratory failure. Thirty-four underwent echocardiography of which twenty-five were included, compared to forty-four non-echo patients. Exclusion was based on absence of normofrequent sinus rhythm and/or mechanical respiratory support. Biomarkers were analysed on clinical indication. Results: Mortality was higher in the echo- compared to non-echo group (44 % vs. 16%, p&lt;0.05). Right-sided parameters were not under significant strain. Tricuspid valve regurgitation velocity indicated how increased pulmonary pressure was associated with mortality (survivors: 2.51 +/- 0.01 m/s vs. non-survivors: 3.06 +/- 0.11 m/s, p&lt;0.05), before multiple comparison-correction. Setting cut-off for pulmonary hypertension to 2.8 m/s generated p&lt;0.01 using frequency distribution testing. Cardiac markers, high sensitivity cardiac troponin I and N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide, and D-dimer were higher in the echocardiography group. (hs-TnI (ng/L): echo : 133 +/- 45 vs. non-echo: 81.3 +/- 45, p&lt;0.01; NT-proBNP (ng/L): echo: 2959 +/- 573 vs. non-echo: 1641 +/- 420, p&lt;0.001; D-dimer (mg/L): echo: 16.1 +/- 3.7 vs. non-echo: 6.1 +/- 1.5, p&lt;0.01) and non-survivor group (hs-TnI (ng/L): survivors: 59.1 +/- 21 vs. non-survivors: 211 +/- 105, p&lt;0.0001; NT-proBNP (ng/L): survivors: 1310 +/- 314 vs. non-survivors: 4065 +/- 740, p&lt;0.0001; D-dimer (mg/L): survivors: 7.2 +/- 1.5 vs. non-survivors: 17.1 +/- 4.8, p&lt;0.01). Tricuspid regurgitation velocity was positively correlated with cardiac troponin I (r=0.93, r2=0.74, p&lt;0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest there is no negative effect on cardiac function in critical SARS-CoV-2. Pulmonary pressure appears higher amongst non-survivors indicating pulmonary disease as the driver of mortality. Echocardiography was more commonly performed in the non-survivor group, and cardiac biomarkers as well as D-dimer was higher in the non-survivor group suggesting they carry negative prognostic values.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.27.23297666v1" target="_blank">Echocardiographic characterisation in severe Covid-19 with respiratory failure - an observational study.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Mental health conditions and COVID-19 vaccine outcomes: a scoping review</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health of people worldwide. Mental health also impacts on physical health. In the context of viral illnesses, viral challenge studies have shown that indices of mental health are associated with susceptibility to viral infections, including coronaviruses. Research conducted during the pandemic has shown that people with a history of mental health conditions were at increased risk of infection, hospitalisation, and mortality. However, the relationship between mental health conditions and vaccine outcomes such as vaccine intentions, uptake, and vaccine breakthrough is not yet well-understood. Methods: We conducted a systematic search on the topics of COVID-19 vaccine intentions, vaccine uptake, and vaccine breakthrough, in relation to mental health conditions, in four databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and PsychINFO, as well as the publication lists of Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), The Health Improvement Network (THIN), OpenSAFELY, and QResearch. Inclusion criteria focus on studies reporting either of the aforementioned COVID-19 vaccine outcomes among people with mental health conditions. Results: Thirty-three out of 251 publications met our inclusion criteria for this review. Overall, the evidence is inconclusive regarding the level of intention to accept the COVID-19 vaccine among people with mental health conditions. However, people with mental health conditions were more likely to have lower uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to people without. Common barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake include concerns about the safety, effectiveness, and side effects of the vaccines. Limited evidence also suggests that vaccine breakthrough may be a particular risk for those with substance use disorder. Conclusions: Our findings revealed a possible intention-behaviour gap for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine among people with mental health conditions, yielding interventions to encourage vaccine uptake in this population. There is also the need to enhance our understanding of COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough in people with mental health conditions.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.27.23297663v1" target="_blank">Mental health conditions and COVID-19 vaccine outcomes: a scoping review</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>ChineseCVD: first-in-world, web-based, Chinese-specific Cardiovascular Risk Calculator incorporating long COVID, COVID-19 vaccination, SGLT2i and PCSK9i treatment effects</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Web-based risk prediction tools for cardiovascular diseases are crucial for providing rapid risk estimates for busy clinicians, but there is none available specifically for Chinese subjects. This study developed ChineseCVD, first-in-world web-based Chinese-specific Cardiovascular Risk Calculator incorporating long COVID, COVID-19 vaccination, SGLT2i and PCSK9i treatment effects. Methods: Adult patients attending government-funded family medicine clinics in Hong Kong between 1st January 2000 and 31st December 2003 were included. The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) defined as a composite of myocardial infarction, heart failure, transient ischaemic attacks/ischaemic strokes, and cardiovascular mortality. Results: A total of 155,066 patients were used as the derivation cohort. Over a median follow-up of 16.1 (11.6-17.8) years, 31,061 (20.44%) had MACE. Cox regression identified male gender, age, comorbidities, cardiovascular medications, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and laboratory test results (neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, creatinine, ALP, AST, ALT, HbA1c, fasting glucose, triglyceride, LDL and HDL) as significant predictors of the above outcomes. ChineseCVD further incorporates the impact of smoking status, COVID-19 infection, number of COVID-19 vaccination doses, and modifier effects of newest medication classes of PCSK9i and SGLT2i. The calculator enables clinicians to demonstrate to patients how risks vary with different medications. Conclusions: The ChineseCVD risk calculator enables rapid web-based risk assessment for adverse cardiovascular outcomes, thereby facilitating clinical decision-making at the bedside or in the clinic.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.27.23297656v1" target="_blank">ChineseCVD: first-in-world, web-based, Chinese-specific Cardiovascular Risk Calculator incorporating long COVID, COVID-19 vaccination, SGLT2i and PCSK9i treatment effects</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Complement dysregulation is a predictive and therapeutically amenable feature of long COVID</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Long COVID encompasses a heterogeneous set of ongoing symptoms that affect many individuals after recovery from infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The underlying biological mechanisms nonetheless remain obscure, precluding accurate diagnosis and effective intervention. Complement dysregulation is a hallmark of acute COVID-19 but has not been investigated as a potential determinant of long COVID. Methods: We quantified a series of complement proteins, including markers of activation and regulation, in plasma samples from healthy convalescent individuals with a confirmed history of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and age/ethnicity/gender/infection/vaccine-matched patients with long COVID. Findings: Markers of classical (C1s-C1INH complex), alternative (Ba, iC3b), and terminal pathway (C5a, TCC) activation were significantly elevated in patients with long COVID. These markers in combination had a receiver operating characteristic predictive power of 0.794. Other complement proteins and regulators were also quantitatively different between healthy convalescent individuals and patients with long COVID. Generalized linear modeling further revealed that a clinically tractable combination of just four of these markers, namely the activation fragments iC3b, TCC, Ba, and C5a, had a predictive power of 0.785. Conclusions: These findings suggest that complement biomarkers could facilitate the diagnosis of long COVID and further suggest that currently available inhibitors of complement activation could be used to treat long COVID. Funding: This work was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (COV-LT2-0041), the PolyBio Research Foundation, and the UK Dementia Research Institute.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.26.23297597v1" target="_blank">Complement dysregulation is a predictive and therapeutically amenable feature of long COVID</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Immune Epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Considerations for Universal Vaccine Development</strong> -
<div>
Despite the success of global vaccination programs in slowing the spread of COVID-19, these efforts have been hindered by the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 strains capable of evading prior immunity. The mutation and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 have created a demand for persistent efforts in vaccine development. SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein has been the primary target for COVID-19 vaccine development, but it is also the hotspot of mutations directly involved in host susceptibility and immune evasion. Our ability to predict emerging mutants and select conserved epitopes is critical for the development of a broadly neutralizing therapy or a universal vaccine. In this article, we review the general paradigm of immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines, highlighting the immunological epitopes of Spike protein that are likely associated with eliciting protective immunity resulting from vaccination. Specifically, we analyze the structural and evolutionary characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein related to immune activation and function via the toll-like receptors (TLRs), B cells, and T cells. We aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of immune epitopes of Spike protein, thereby contributing to the development of new strategies for broad neutralization or universal vaccination.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.26.564184v1" target="_blank">Immune Epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Considerations for Universal Vaccine Development</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Impact of Memory T Cells on SARS-COV-2 Vaccine Response in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant</strong> -
<div>
During the COVID-19 pandemic, hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients faced an elevated mortality rate from SARS-CoV-2 infection, ranging between 10-40%. The SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines are important tools in preventing severe disease, yet their efficacy in the post-transplant setting remains unclear, especially in patients subjected to myeloablative chemotherapy and immunosuppression. We evaluated the humoral and adaptive immune responses to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination series in 42 HSCT recipients and 5 healthy controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear nuclear cells and serum were prospectively collected before and after each dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Post-vaccination responses were assessed by measuring anti-spike IgG and nucleocapsid titers, and antigen specific T cell activity, before and after vaccination. In order to examine mechanisms behind a lack of response, pre- and post-vaccine samples were selected based on humoral and cellular responses for single-cell RNA sequencing with TCR and BCR sequencing. Our observations revealed that while all participants eventually mounted a humoral response, transplant recipients had defects in memory T cell populations that were associated with an absence of T cell response, some of which could be detected pre-vaccination.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.26.564259v1" target="_blank">Impact of Memory T Cells on SARS-COV-2 Vaccine Response in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Overcoming antibody-resistant SARS-CoV-2 variants with bispecific antibodies constructed using non-neutralizing antibodies</strong> -
<div>
A current challenge is the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as BQ.1.1 and XBB.1.5, that can evade immune defenses, thereby limiting antibody drug effectiveness. Emergency-use antibody drugs, including the widely effective bebtelovimab, are losing their benefits. One potential approach to address this issue are bispecific antibodies which combine the targeting abilities of two antibodies with distinct epitopes. We engineered neutralizing bispecific antibodies in the IgG-scFv format from two initially non-neutralizing antibodies, CvMab-6 (which binds to the receptor-binding domain [RBD]) and CvMab-62 (targeting a spike protein S2 subunit epitope adjacent to the known anti-S2 antibody epitope). Furthermore, we created a bispecific antibody by incorporating the scFv of bebtelovimab with our anti-S2 antibody, demonstrating significant restoration of effectiveness against bebtelovimab-resistant BQ.1.1 variants. This study highlights the potential of neutralizing bispecific antibodies, which combine existing less effective anti-RBD antibodies with anti-S2 antibodies, to revive the effectiveness of antibody therapeutics compromised by immune-evading variants.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.26.564289v1" target="_blank">Overcoming antibody-resistant SARS-CoV-2 variants with bispecific antibodies constructed using non-neutralizing antibodies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Eviction Moratorium Litigation: What Courts Said, and What Courts Missed</strong> -
<div>
In 2020, federal, state, and local governments imposed eviction moratoriums to prevent mass homelessness and limit the spread of COVID-19. Landlords responded to this unprecedented action by filing lawsuits around the country. This Article analyzes the litigation. It examines the claims of landlords, defenses raised by the government, and how courts dealt with each of them. It also highlights the ways that courts misunderstand the rental market and devalue tenants. The Article shows that, before the Supreme Court intervened in mid-2021, most landlord suits failed, either because courts rejected their claims or governments ran out the clock, demonstrating that mass eviction moratoriums can protect the most vulnerable in times of crisis.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/zumw2/" target="_blank">Eviction Moratorium Litigation: What Courts Said, and What Courts Missed</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Peripheral Transcriptomics in Acute and Long-Term Kidney Dysfunction in SARS-CoV2 Infection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV2 infection despite vaccination and leads to long-term kidney dysfunction. However, peripheral blood molecular signatures in AKI from COVID-19 and their association with long-term kidney dysfunction are yet unexplored. Methods. In patients hospitalized with SARS-CoV2, we performed bulk RNA sequencing using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). We applied linear models accounting for technical and biological variability on RNA-Seq data accounting for false discovery rate (FDR) and compared the functional enrichment and pathway results to a historical sepsis-AKI cohort. Finally, we evaluated the association of these signatures with long-term trends in kidney function. Results. Of 283 patients, 106 had AKI. After adjustment for sex, age, mechanical ventilation, and chronic kidney disease (CKD), we identified 2635 significant differential gene expressions at FDR&lt;0.05. Top canonical pathways were EIF2 signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, mTOR signaling, and Th17 signaling, indicating mitochondrial dysfunction and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Comparison with sepsis associated AKI showed considerable overlap of key pathways (48.14%). Using follow-up estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) measurements from 115 patients, we found that 164/2635 (6.2%) of the significantly differentiated genes were associated with overall decrease in long-term kidney function. The strongest associations were autophagy, renal impairment via fibrosis and cardiac structure/function. Conclusions. We show that AKI in SARS-CoV2 is a multifactorial process with mitochondrial dysfunction driven by ER stress whereas long-term kidney function decline is associated with cardiac structure and function, and immune dysregulation. Functional overlap with sepsis-AKI also highlights common signatures indicating generalizability in therapeutic approaches.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.25.23297469v2" target="_blank">Peripheral Transcriptomics in Acute and Long-Term Kidney Dysfunction in SARS-CoV2 Infection</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pharmacokinetics and Safety of GST-HG171 Tablets in Subjects With Impaired and Normal Renal Function</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 Pneumonia <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: GST-HG171 Tablets <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd. <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>Preoperative Educational Videos on Maternal Stress Whose Children Received Congenital Heart Disease Surgery: During COVID-19 Panic</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; Educational Videos; Maternal; Uncertainty; Anxiety; Depression; Congenital Heart Disease; Children <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Preoperative educational videos plus routine education; Other: Preoperative routine education <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Chung Shan Medical University <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pharmacokinetics and Safety of GST-HG171 Tablets in Subjects With Impaired and Normal Liver Function</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 Pneumonia <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: GST-HG171 Tablets <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd. <br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of Concordance Between Exhaled Air Test (eBAM-CoV) and RT-PCR to Detect SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS-CoV-2 Infection; COVID-19; Coronavirus <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: eBAM Cov Testing <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes; University of Nimes; brains’ laboratory sas, FRANCE <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study to Safety, Tolerability and Immunogenicity of EG-COVII in Healthy Adult</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: EG-COVII <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: EyeGene Inc. <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>Pharmacokinetics and Bioequivalence of Aterixen 100 mg Tablets and Aterixen 100 mg Film-coated Tablets in Healthy Volunteers</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Viral Infection COVID-19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Aterixen <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Valenta Pharm JSC <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Long COVID Brain Fog: Cognitive Rehabilitation Trial</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; Brain Fog; Cognitive Impairment; Cognitive Dysfunction; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Speed of Processing Training; Behavioral: In-lab Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Training; Behavioral: In-lab Brain Health Training; Behavioral: Transfer Package; Behavioral: Follow Up Phone Calls; Behavioral: Vocational Rehabilitation; Behavioral: Peer Mentoring <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Alabama at Birmingham; National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Paradoxical Response to Chest Wall Loading in Mechanically Ventilated Patients</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: ARDS; COVID-19; Mechanical Ventilation Pressure High; Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Diagnostic Test: Manual loading of the chest wall <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: HealthPartners Institute <br/><b>Withdrawn</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Practical RCT of TCM in the Treatment of LCOVID and Analysis of Syndrome Types and Medication Characteristics.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Drug: Traditional Chinese medicine treatment; Drug: Western medicine treatment <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Chinese University of Hong Kong <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Narrative Intervention for Long COVID-19 (NICO)</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID; Long Covid19 <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: Narrative Intervention for Long COVID-19 (NICO) <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Colorado, Denver <br/><b>Active, not recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Immunogenicity of Concomitant Administration of COVID-19 Vaccines With Influenza Vaccines</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: COVID-19; Influenza; Vaccine Reaction; Contaminant Injected <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Biological: Omicron-containing COVID-19 vaccine; Biological: influenza vaccine <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Catholic Kwandong University; Korea University Guro 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>Inspiratory Muscle Training in People With Long COVID-19- A Pilot Investigation.</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Long COVID <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: PrO2 <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of Bath; Swansea University <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training in Post-Covid Syndrome</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Cardiovascular Abnormalities; Post-COVID-19 Syndrome; Physical Exercise <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Other: Inspiratory muscle strength training <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: D’Or Institute for Research and Education <br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Home-Based Respiratory Muscle Strength Training Program for Individuals With Post-COVID-19 Persistent Dyspnea</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: Post-COVID-19 Syndrome; Dyspnea <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Device: Respiratory Muscle Strength Trainers <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: University of South Florida <br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rural Tailored Communication to Promote SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Testing in Saliva</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>: SARS-CoV2 Infection <br/><b>Interventions</b>: Behavioral: General SARS-CoV-2 Communication; Behavioral: Rural-Targeted SARS-CoV-2 Communication <br/><b>Sponsors</b>: Michigan State University; National Cancer Institute (NCI); Johns Hopkins University <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>Identifying the Potential of miRNAs in <em>Houttuynia cordata</em>-Derived Exosome-Like Nanoparticles Against Respiratory RNA Viruses</strong> - INTRODUCTION: Pathogenic respiratory RNA viruses, including influenza A virus (IAV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2, are major causes of causes of acute respiratory infection globally. Plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles containing miRNAs have shown substantial cross-kingdom regulatory effects on both viral and human transcripts. Houttuynia cordata (H. cordata), a traditional Chinese medicine frequently used to treat respiratory diseases. However, the role of H….</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>Hypercapnia increases ACE2 expression and pseudo-SARS-CoV-2 entry in bronchial epithelial cells by augmenting cellular cholesterol</strong> - Patients with chronic lung disease, obesity, and other co-morbid conditions are at increased risk of severe illness and death when infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Hypercapnia, the elevation of CO(2) in blood and tissue, commonly occurs in patients with severe acute and chronic lung disease, including those with pulmonary infections, and is also associated with high mortality risk. We previously reported that hypercapnia increases viral replication 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>Clinical and Immunological Impacts of Latent Toxoplasmosis on COVID-19 Patients</strong> - Background Parasites are well-known immune-modulators. They inhibit some aspects of the immune system to ensure persistence inside the host for a long time; meanwhile, they stimulate other immune aspects to assure the survival of the host. Wide variations in the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among developed and developing countries were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parasitic infections, including Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), were claimed to contribute to such…</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>IgG antibody levels against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in mother-child dyads after COVID-19 vaccination</strong> - CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 mRNA vaccines induce high anti-SARS-CoV-2 S titers in pregnant women, which can inhibit the binding of ACE2 to protein S and are efficiently transferred to the fetus. However, there was a rapid decrease in antibody levels at 2 to 3 months post-partum, particularly in infants.</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>Neurotoxic effects of chloroquine and its main transformation product formed after chlorination</strong> - Pharmaceutical transformation products (TPs) generated during wastewater treatment have become an environmental concern. However, there is limited understanding regarding the TPs produced from pharmaceuticals during wastewater treatment. In this study, chloroquine (CQ), which was extensively used for treating coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infections during the pandemic, was selected for research. We identified and fractionated the main TP produced from CQ during chlorine disinfection 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>Development of Pan-Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Agents through Allosteric Inhibition of nsp14/nsp10 Complex</strong> - SARS-CoV-2 nsp14 functions both as an exoribonuclease (ExoN) together with its critical cofactor nsp10 and as an S-adenosyl methionine-dependent (guanine-N7) methyltransferase (MTase), which makes it an attractive target for the development of pan-anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs. Herein, we screened a panel of compounds (and drugs) and found that certain compounds, especially Bi(III)-based compounds, could allosterically inhibit both MTase and ExoN activities of nsp14 potently. We further demonstrated…</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>Unraveling bioactive metabolites of mangroves as putative inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro and RBD proteins: molecular dynamics and ADMET analysis</strong> - COVID-19 is a deadly pandemic caused by Corona virus leading to millions of deaths worldwide. Till today no medicine was available to cure this disease. This study selected 262 potential bioactive natural products derived from mangroves to inhibit the main protease (Mpro) and receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein of the COVID-19 virus. All the ligands were subjected to Adsorption Digestion Metabolism Excretion and Toxicity (ADMET) predictions and docking studies using AutodockVina. Among all the…</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>Immunogenicity of Co-Administered Omicron BA.4/BA.5 Bivalent COVID-19 and Quadrivalent Seasonal Influenza Vaccines in Israel during the 2022-2023 Winter Season</strong> - Vaccination against COVID-19 and influenza provides the best defense against morbidity and mortality. Administering both vaccines concurrently may increase vaccination rates and reduce the burden on the healthcare system. This study evaluated the immunogenicity of healthcare workers in Israel who were co-administered with the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 bivalent COVID-19 vaccine and the 2022-2023 quadrivalent influenza vaccine. SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titers were measured via microneutralization…</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>Longitudinal Analysis of SARS-CoV-2-Specific Cellular and Humoral Immune Responses and Breakthrough Infection following BNT162b2/BNT162b2/BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1/ChAdOx1/BNT162b2 Vaccination: A Prospective Cohort in Naive Healthcare Workers</strong> - Assessing immune responses post-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is crucial for optimizing vaccine strategies. This prospective study aims to evaluate immune responses and breakthrough infection in 235 infection-naïve healthcare workers up to 13-15 months after initial vaccination in two vaccine groups (108 BNT/BNT/BNT and 127 ChAd/ChAd/BNT). Immune responses were assessed using the interferon-gamma enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay, total immunoglobulin, and neutralizing activity through surrogate…</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>RSL3 Inhibits Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus Replication by Activating Ferroptosis</strong> - Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly contagious coronavirus that induces diarrhea and death in neonatal piglets, resulting in substantial economic losses to the global swine industry. The mechanisms of PEDV infection and the roles of host factors are still under exploration. In this study, we used the ferroptosis pathway downstream target activator (1S,3R)-RSL3 compound as a starting point, combined with the interactions of N-acetylcysteine and deferoxamine, to elucidate the…</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>Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Analysis of the 3CL Protease Inhibitor Ensitrelvir in a SARS-CoV-2 Infection Mouse Model</strong> - The small-molecule antiviral drug ensitrelvir targets the 3C-like protease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study evaluated its inhibitory effect on viral replication in a delayed-treatment mouse model and investigated the relationship between pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters and pharmacodynamic (PD) effects. SARS-CoV-2 gamma-strain-infected BALB/c mice were orally treated with various doses of ensitrelvir starting 24 h post-infection. Effectiveness 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>Viral Entry Inhibitors Protect against SARS-CoV-2-Induced Neurite Shortening in Differentiated SH-SY5Y Cells</strong> - The utility of human neuroblastoma cell lines as in vitro model to study neuro-invasiveness and neuro-virulence of SARS-CoV-2 has been demonstrated by our laboratory and others. The aim of this report is to further characterize the associated cellular responses caused by a pre-alpha SARS-CoV-2 strain on differentiated SH-SY5Y and to prevent its cytopathic effect by using a set of entry inhibitors. The susceptibility of SH-SY5Y to SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed at high multiplicity-of-infection,…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System Facilitates Membrane Fusion and Uncoating during Coronavirus Entry</strong> - Although the involvement of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in several coronavirus-productive infections has been reported, whether the UPS is required for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) infections is unclear. In this study, the role of UPS in the IBV and PEDV life cycles was investigated. When the UPS was suppressed by pharmacological inhibition at the early infection stage, IBV and PEDV infectivity were severely impaired. Further study showed…</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>Extracellular Vesicles as a Translational Approach for the Treatment of COVID-19 Disease: An Updated Overview</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused a global pandemic in the years 2020-2022. With a high prevalence, an easy route of transmission, and a long incubation time, SARS-CoV-2 spread quickly and affected public health and socioeconomic conditions. Several points need to be elucidated about its mechanisms of infection, in particular, its capability to evade the immune system and escape from neutralizing antibodies. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are phospholipid…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anti-Viral Activity of Bioactive Molecules of Silymarin against COVID-19 via In Silico Studies</strong> - The severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection drove the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, causing a huge loss of human life and a negative impact on economic development. It is an urgent necessity to explore potential drugs against viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. Silymarin, a mixture of herb-derived polyphenolic flavonoids extracted from the milk thistle, possesses potent antioxidative, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Accumulating…</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>Some Lasting Lessons from a Dramatic Week at Trump’s Civil Trial</strong> - Among them: the former President is trying to undermine the court system, and prosecutors shouldn’t put too much faith in Michael Cohen. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/some-lasting-lessons-from-a-dramatic-week-at-trumps-civil-trial">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Speaker Who?: The Rise of a G.O.P. Nobody in Trump’s House</strong> - On the election of Mike Johnson. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/speaker-who-the-rise-of-a-gop-nobody-in-trumps-house">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hurricane Otis and the World We Live in Now</strong> - The unexpected Category 5 storm is just the latest in a series of unprecedented climate disasters this year. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/hurricane-otis-and-the-world-we-live-in-now">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>An International Student on Lockdown During the Shooting in Lewiston, Maine</strong> - “When I saw how my American peers reacted and how I reacted, the contrast just blew my mind,” Alan Wang, a senior at Bates College, said. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/as-told-to/an-international-student-on-lockdown-during-the-shooting-in-lewiston-maine">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is There a Path Forward for Gaza and Israel?</strong> - David Remnick hears from two sources about how Israelis and Palestinians feel about the October 7th attacks, and what the future may hold for the region. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/is-there-a-path-forward-for-gaza-and-israel">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Israel’s ground assault of Gaza is happening. Here’s what we know.</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Smoke rising over buildings. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iXdqtQT9GnyADSjSOvWrhS1kdEQ=/459x0:4127x2751/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72807563/1752900284.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Israel accompanied its ground incursion of the Gaza Strip with increased bombardment, the result of which is seen here in an image taken from Israel’s southern city of Sderot. | Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The “new phase” of Israel’s war on Hamas, explained.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4jA5Sj">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a> has begun a prolonged ground operation in northern Gaza, accompanied by aerial bombardments throughout the territory and <a href="https://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/gaza-cut-off-from-world">a communications blackout</a> that lasted almost two days.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ChRB95">
Since <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a>, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, conducted <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/7/23907323/israel-war-hamas-attack-explained-southern-israel-gaza">a brutal <strong>terror </strong>attack on Israel three weeks ago that killed more than 1,400 people</a>, Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion meant to eliminate the group. That ground incursion is now underway — though for now it looks less like a full-on invasion and more <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/28/world/israel-gaza-news-hamas-war">like a phased assault</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0zT4NM">
While it may take some time for the assault’s full scope to become clear, this conflict has already dramatically exacerbated <a href="https://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/gaza-cut-off-from-world">a humanitarian crisis in Gaza</a>. Palestinians in Gaza, who for years have been subjected by Israel to living conditions likened to an “<a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/10/24/23930269/israel-hamas-gaza-palestine-occupation-zionism-displacement">open-air prison</a>,” and to political repression from Hamas, are weathering Israel’s devastating bombardment campaign. That bombardment, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/">human rights groups say, has likely included war crimes</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J64sUa">
Israel has thus far declined to call the new operation an invasion (though, to be sure, it has both political and tactical reasons to obfuscate). Instead, leaders have described this as a “<a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/gallant-says-israel-has-moved-to-new-phase-in-war-against-hamas-the-earth-in-gaza-shook/">new phase</a>.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address Saturday that the war had entered a “second phase,” and that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would “destroy the enemy above ground and below ground,” referring to Hamas. He warned the country to prepare for a “long and difficult” war.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bN03O7">
The IDF <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1718312436380340443">described the operation on X</a> (formerly Twitter), saying that combat forces including infantry had been involved in a ground operation in northern Gaza since Friday night local time. “This is a war with multiple stages,” IDF <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1718293784725762312">Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi</a> said in a video address posted to X. “Today we move to the next one.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uti00E">
Hamas confirmed that members of its armed wing were fighting IDF forces in the northern city of Beit Hanoun and in Al-Bureij in central Gaza, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/eu-calls-humanitarian-pauses-gaza-aid-israel-raids-enclave-2023-10-26/">according to Reuters</a>, and intended to fight the Israeli forces. “Al-Qassam Brigades and all Palestinian resistance forces are fully prepared to confront the aggression with full force and thwart the incursions,” Hamas’s armed wing said.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Paramedics are seen weeping next to an ambulance. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hQgQAQPtHWye-2gQVzb-_PzsJBM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25043336/1726780202.jpg"/> <cite>Dawood Nemer/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Palestinian paramedics cry outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City earlier this month.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kuzneu">
The escalation follows Israel’s highly criticized effort to evacuate civilians from northern Gaza and a weeks-long bombing campaign; then, earlier this week, <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/10/26/23933939/israel-gaza-hamas-limited-raid-ground-invasion-preparations">a series of nighttime raids</a> indicated that a ground assault was growing closer. The ground assault appears to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/28/world/israel-gaza-news-hamas-war">a phased assault</a>, in which the IDF will push increasing numbers of soldiers into Gaza over time to accomplish different military objectives.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cUN8K6">
At the same time, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening; Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 7,000 Palestinians so far, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. And supplies like fuel and clean water are running perilously low because so few aid trucks — <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-presses-ground-campaign-against-hamas-second-stage-gaza-war-2023-10-28/">94 since the beginning of the war</a>, compared with hundreds each day prior to the current conflict — have been able to enter the territory Israel has blockaded for 16 years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u4b42T">
This war will have lasting impacts on the relationship between Israel and the Gaza Strip, a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gaza-Strip">140-square-mile territory</a> of more than 2 million people that Israel has occupied in an outright or de facto capacity since claiming the territory after a 1967 war with Egypt and Syria.
</p>
<h3 id="QbGVqc">
Why details about the operation are so hard to come by
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZQbMTn">
Israeli military and political leaders have been circumspect about the details of the new operation, and that might not change anytime soon. “Israel has [an] interest to keep it vague,” Natan Sachs, director of the Middle East program at the Brookings Institution, told Vox.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gxgbuw">
After Hamas’s attack, which included widespread targeting of civilians, the mutilation of dead bodies, and the taking of over 200 hostages, Israeli officials repeatedly vowed to “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-vows-destroy-hamas-103967889">destroy</a>” Hamas. Netanyahu said Israel would turn Gaza into a “<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/7/world-is-watching-fears-grow-of-a-massive-gaza-invasion-by-israel">deserted island</a>,” for example; <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/netanyahu-gantz-agree-form-emergency-israel-government-statement-2023-10-11/">Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said</a> they would wipe Hamas “off the face of the earth.” That rhetoric and goals had not just human rights groups alarmed about the devastating consequences for civilians, but <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/27/us-urging-israel-rethinkg-gaza-ground-invasion/">even reportedly US officials</a> who <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67248457">worried that Israel was not adequately planning for a long-term stable future</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IwpaeV">
On Saturday, in his first press conference since the October 7 attack, Netanyahu continued to frame the war in existential terms, calling the operation Israel’s “second war for independence.” Even as he specified the goal was to destroy Hamas’s “military and political capabilities,” he still at other times used sweeping language, saying “our objective is singular: to defeat the murderous enemy. We declared ‘never again’, and we reiterate: ‘never again, now.’” Eventually, the Israeli government’s goal is to create “a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel and the residents of” the area surrounding Gaza, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/gallant-says-after-hamas-vanquished-israel-will-seek-new-security-regime-in-gaza/">Gallant</a> told a meeting of the Knesset’s foreign affairs committee on October 20.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O8eTrf">
In the short term, though, “Israeli leaders have publicly stated their goals are to destroy Hamas’s capacity to govern Gaza and attack Israel (which is not the same as destroying Hamas, of course), and to release the hostages,” Sachs said.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="netanyahu and gallant in front of israeli flags" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EML5jkHSNBro1jXYSpI1rStup0M=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25043325/1750156579.jpg"/> <cite>Abir Sultan/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Netanyahu, left, sitting beside Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, announced the country’s war on Hamas had entered its “second phase” at a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on October 28.
</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gv6oRG">
How the military plans to accomplish those objectives is tightly under wraps, though some details are emerging and analysts are better able to deduce the military’s activities, as well as short-term goals.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2rtHad">
So far, we know that the ground effort has grown since Friday. “We are gradually expanding the ground activity and the scope of our forces in the Gaza Strip,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters Sunday. Analysts told the<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/29/israel-ground-war-gaza/"> Washington Post</a> that forces in northern Gaza are likely moving slowly, dismantling booby traps, destroying Hamas’s tunnel network, and creating pathways for tanks and other military vehicles to get to Gaza City. They are also likely gathering intelligence about Hamas’s improved capabilities and tactics.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fJ9GZ1">
Mobile, landline, and internet services in Gaza were shut off starting Friday evening local time, not long before the invasion began, though service has been sporadically restored as of Sunday. But the blackout has made it extremely difficult for information not filtered through either the <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1718293784725762312">IDF</a> or Hamas to get out, and the Israeli government announced Friday that it <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-it-cant-guarantee-journalists-safety-gaza-2023-10-27/">could not guarantee the safety of journalists in Gaza who are covering the conflict</a>. Thus far in the war, 29 journalists have been killed, according to the<a href="https://cpj.org/2023/10/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/"> Committee to Protect Journalists</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5mcrOf">
The ambiguity caused by the communications blackout and the IDF’s circumspection also serves Israel internationally — in terms of both security and public perception.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JTTgsm">
“It’s not meeting … <a href="https://www.vox.com/media">the media</a> threshold of a ‘new Normandy invasion,’” <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/levant/invading-gaza-least-bad-option-israel">James Jeffrey</a>, former US special envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, told Vox in an interview. That strategy “poses a problem for <a href="https://www.vox.com/iran">Iran</a>,” he said, as Iran threatened to take hostile action against Israel in the case of a ground invasion. By not calling the operation in Gaza an invasion outright, Jeffrey said, Israel could ostensibly keep Iran guessing whether something bigger — the “real” invasion — is yet to come.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CDGDhG">
“They’re now doing it by stealth,” Jeffrey said of the Israeli invasion, “and it’s going to be hard for Iran to put a finger on things.” The communications blackout further complicates Iran’s calculus; without non-IDF images and video of the ground operation, it’s hard to tell the scale. “It’s going to be harder for Iran to say, ‘This is the moment.’”
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Tanks in a convoy." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nMJY_7Jx_P2xntZ7Wi5ttCzaBzQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25043332/1749126073.jpg"/> <cite>Dan Kitwood/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Israeli tanks and troops move near the border with Gaza on October 28, 2023, in Sderot, Israel.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ccZoZP">
According to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/10/07/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-maps.html">New York Times analysis </a>based on open source information, Israeli troops entered Gaza in two areas far to the northwest of the territory, as well as in central Gaza near the village of Juhor ad Dik, just north of the evacuation boundary.<a href="https://idfspokesperson.substack.com/p/mission-brief-dispatch-1?r=2xsknj&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web"> IDF troops remain in Gaza as of Sunday</a>, according to IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ttqlOH">
According to Hecht, “the IDF struck over 450 terror targets over the past day, including operational command centers, observation posts, and anti-tank missile launch posts.” Hecht also said that combined forces — ground and air — identified and struck Hamas fighters that “attempted to attack the forces. They also targeted terrorist cells planning to execute anti-tank missile launches.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rNhFSb">
Fighting is also <a href="https://aje.io/1otd6c?update=2447228">intensifying</a> somewhat between Israel and Hezbollah in the north. The <a href="https://twitter.com/IAFsite/status/1718648815433982173"> IAF also announced Sunday that</a> “warplanes attacked military infrastructure of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in response to launches carried out from Lebanese territory earlier today.” UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, announced via Telegram that shells have hit its facilities in southern Lebanon twice in recent days, and urged an immediate ceasefire.
</p>
<div class="c-float-right">
<div id="JxdRWS">
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h3 id="jIxRfT">
No matter what, the humanitarian consequences will be massive
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OHMoei">
Israel sees this war, and eliminating Hamas’s military capabilities, as an existential requirement — and trying to do that before Iran and Hezbollah open up a second front in the north or international calls for a ceasefire become difficult to ignore will be a challenge.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rqIge0">
What Israel has to balance is “as much military success as necessary to restore deterrence, to restore Israeli security — and within that necessity, as much hostage return and managing civilian casualties, and keeping … the Arab countries under control, and avoiding escalation as possible,” Jeffrey said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gnGEF9">
But there are also experts who argue that framing it as an existential fight is counterproductive.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NaJy1a">
“What led to October 7 had more to do with failures of Israeli intelligence and defenses than it did with Hamas,” Richard Haass, the former head of the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in the<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/779d082a-efdc-4ae4-86b4-aaebec88f810"> Financial Times</a>. “These failures can and should be learned from and rectified. Hamas will not change its ways, but what can and must change is Israel’s ability to curtail the ability of Hamas to inflict meaningful harm.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="opp23T">
Moreover, Netanyahu’s existential framing — and <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23933707/israel-palestine-hamas-gaza-nakba-displacement-refugees-history">statements from Israeli politicians and officials</a> both before and after the October 7 attack — raises fears among Palestinians that this war will lead to their permanent displacement. As <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23933707/israel-palestine-hamas-gaza-nakba-displacement-refugees-history">Vox’s Sigal Samuel explained</a>, the three factors together are leading to discussions of a “second Nakba.” (The <a href="https://youtu.be/rGVgjS98OsU?si=x-npgUPvyMFswB9C">Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic</a>, refers to the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians from “their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war that led to the country’s creation.”)
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="irhfFg">
Though Netanyahu and the Israeli government have declined to call this operation a ground invasion, it will still have dire consequences for Palestinians in Gaza. The lack of fuel in Gaza — which Israel has cut off during the siege because Hamas could use it for military purposes — means that hospital generators will soon be unable to power facilities where people are sheltering and the injured and sick desperately need care. People are <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-concern-for-humanitarian-situation-how-much-water-and-power-does-gaza-have/">already drinking untreated water with a high salinity</a>, which could spread diseases like cholera, because there’s not enough fuel for the territory’s six water filtration facilities. Some facilities have been able to operate in a limited capacity, and Israel has restored access to some of the clean water it pipes in to the region and said it will allow the flow of aid trucks into the territory to “<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/28/israel-hamas-war-live-invasion-under-way-as-gaza-cut-off-from-the-world?update=2446487">increase significantly</a>”— but it may not be enough to meet people’s basic needs.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sFwDlE4ekRmRYRRNscznQlRnbNo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25043320/1753037326.jpg"/> <cite>Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Palestinians perform funeral prayer for the deceased at the courtyard of Nasser Hospital as the Israeli attacks continue on the 23rd day in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on October 29, 2023.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YiQwFw">
Hamas likely has hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel, as well as stocks of weapons, food, medicine, and water hidden in its network of tunnels. It is probably using these supplies sparingly, in the hopes that its armed wing can sustain three or four months of fighting, a senior Lebanese official told<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/world/middleeast/palestine-gazans-hamas-food.html"> the New York Times</a>, and would not consider giving them to civilians facing humanitarian catastrophe, or to the aid organizations desperately trying to save people’s lives in shelters and hospitals.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OdYvk0">
“The Hamas movement cares only about the Hamas movement,” Samir Ghattas, an Egyptian strategic analyst focusing on Gaza, told the Times. “The public of Gaza mean absolutely nothing for Hamas.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zDMlY5">
The humanitarian situation in Gaza could potentially affect Israel’s ability to fight this war, Jeffrey said, because public opinion about the humanitarian toll on Gaza, as well as the safety of the more than 200 hostages Hamas is holding there, “is very important for Washington.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wpDH03">
Israel must, he said, “really care, as a strategic military issue, [about] civilian casualties and humanitarian issues because that will determine how long you have American support. They only have so much time, even if it’s an existential battle.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NooUNu">
Already, the images and stories trickling out of Gaza over the weekend are devastating. Emergency services said the communications blackout had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/29/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news/83ec4ce1-0bc6-5c2c-bf2a-548bf715d4eb?smid=url-share">prevented ambulances from effectively reaching the injured</a>; Palestinians resorted to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/28/israel-hamas-war-live-invasion-under-way-as-gaza-cut-off-from-the-world?update=2446651">digging through demolished buildings</a> with their bare hands to search for those trapped under the rubble; and people around the world<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/29/joy-and-horror-as-communications-come-back-on-in-the-gaza-strip"> mourned loved ones</a> they found out had been killed only after communications were restored.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7NGp8j">
US <a href="https://www.vox.com/joe-biden">President Joe Biden</a> called Netanyahu Sunday, reiterating the US’s firm support of Israel’s “right and responsibility” to pursue this war against Hamas, according to a White House summary of the call. Biden also “underscored the need to do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cTKJv9">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ePjGdG">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BlPFHB">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4ltuUR">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FSq45Z">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CnaAeN">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RimugE">
</p></li>
<li><strong>The world will see this as Biden’s war</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Biden sits at a desk with a video monitor visible in the front of the frame. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZgSgzlzDTlojuOhAG2OdVk0viv8=/495x0:4452x2968/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72806763/1734340280.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
President Joe Biden addresses the nation on the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 19, 2023. | Jonathan Ernst/AFP via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
While the Israeli military is carrying out this attack, much of the world views Israel’s assault on Gaza as enabled by the United States.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EMjNyx">
Even before Israel began its heavier ground incursion into Gaza on October 27, accompanied by accelerated bombings of the occupied territory, the situation on the ground was already severe.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KdemNU">
<a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-22">According</a> to the Gaza-based Ministry of Health, as of Saturday midday, there are 7,703 fatalities, 1.4 million internally displaced people, and more than 19,700 injuries. At least 29 <a href="https://cpj.org/2023/10/cpj-statement-on-news-blackout-in-gaza/">journalists</a> have died, along with at least 53 <a href="https://twitter.com/unrwa/status/1717878743681663457?s=46">United Nations employees</a>. The “<a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/9/23910159/israel-gaza-siege-palestinians-hamas-humanitarian-crisis">complete siege</a>” Israel declared on the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2023/10/9/23910159/israel-gaza-siege-palestinians-hamas-humanitarian-crisis">already blockaded territory</a> after Hamas’s October 7 attacks has resulted in three weeks rationing of food, water, medicine, and fuel for a population of 2.2 million people. As a Mercy Corps staffer in Gaza <a href="https://www.mercycorps.org/press-room/releases/gaza-cut-off-from-world">said</a> earlier this week, “know that we are dying here; if we are not dead physically, we are dead on the inside.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J7RFlB">
The toll from what Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called the war’s “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-10-28-23/h_3fc60f39fd2697cf54af4dc4179b3585">new phase</a>” is only starting to become clear. Israel appeared to have <a href="https://twitter.com/john_hudson/status/1718676405129478344?s=46">shut off communications in Gaza</a>. International aid groups and press organizations lost contact with their staff, creating a vacuum.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P0RJTW">
Beyond the numbers of the dead and wounded, the extent of the bombardment and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is best expressed so far by a handful of firsthand accounts that were able to reach outside the territory. “The amount of explosions is massive. Endless explosions. We’re talking about an explosion every single minute. The sky is orange,” journalist Hind Khoury said in a voice note from Gaza City shared with Vox via the nonprofit Institute for Middle East Understanding.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DnPFhQ">
Israel suffered tremendous atrocities at the hands of Hamas, with more than 1,400 people killed, while the militant group holds 229 hostages in Gaza. Rocket fire from the territory continues to target Israel. But the degree of Israel’s shelling of Gaza and the first indications of what may become a lengthy, intensive ground operation poses critical risks for the Middle East and the world. And among those dangers is a political one for the White House: It’s becoming clear that while the Israeli military is carrying out this attack, much of the world views Israel’s assault on Gaza as <a href="https://twitter.com/ShibleyTelhami/status/1718253754909147445">enabled by the United States</a> — as President Joe Biden’s war.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QJ4Fvk">
Biden has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/22/us/politics/us-hostages-israel-gaza.html">reportedly</a> counseled Israel behind the scenes to delay a ground assault, and in recent days the administration has been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/27/us-urging-israel-rethinkg-gaza-ground-invasion/">more forward</a> in its warnings that an open-ended full-scale invasion would be disastrous. America doesn’t have boots on the ground in Israel, and it’s not clear under what, if any, conditions the US would get involved. Marine Gen. James Glynn had been advising Israel’s operations and departed the country on the 27th. “Make no mistake: what is, has or will unfold in Gaza is purely an Israeli decision,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/JM_Szuba/status/1718059754172330057">told</a> reporters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tHQo3B">
But that is clearly not how the Middle East, and much of the world, sees it. The focus instead is on the decades of US backing for Israel, across administrations. It’s on the US-provided weapons that Israel is using, much of it purchased with the <a href="https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/ending-military-aid-to-israel-the-death-of-a-taboo/">$3.8 billion of annual<strong> </strong>aid</a> Washington provides, on the symbolism of two US aircraft carriers being dispatched to the Middle East, on how the US has used its veto to shield Israel from United Nations resolutions. Most striking is the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/20/the-biden-hug">image of the giant bear hug</a>, both actual and metaphorical, that President Biden gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Israel on October 18.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="US President Joe Biden in Tel Aviv" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L2i_AHBCt5cta30KdxYZ-g4Ov3g=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25042656/1730842175.jpg"/> <cite>GPO/Anadolu via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
President Joe Biden is welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 18, 2023.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2aITWd">
The perception of Biden’s ownership of this war will only grow as Israel expands and extends its siege of Gaza. That’s bad for Biden’s electability with so many young American voters <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/10/biden-polling-israel-palestine-gaza-hamas-war-youth.html">increasingly critical</a> of his unfettered backing of Israel. It’s bad for US influence when it comes to other hot and cold wars where the US <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-israel-ukraine-war-49354728b347178a4bf7508a0dc8f1d2">seeks the support of traditional allies</a>, including Ukraine. And it’s especially bad for Arab and Muslim states, as well as countries across the Global South, where <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/thousands-join-pro-palestinian-protest-london-demand-gaza-ceasefire-2023-10-28/">massive protests</a> against Israel’s military campaign have also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-protests-us-embassy-0a8d106163346b53c0125777e78e8e13">singled out</a> the president.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uQxeE8">
“From the US point of view, I think the real dilemma is, the Biden administration is effectively backing a partner state, an ally, who is facing this no-win situation,” Emma Ashford of the Stimson Center think tank <a href="https://quincyinst.org/event/the-gaza-war-and-u-s-middle-east-policy-appraising-the-biden-administration/">said</a> recently. “Whatever the Israeli government ends up doing, the US government is going to be tied to that.”
</p>
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Why the world sees this as Biden’s war
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The perception of US support for Israel has been built over a half-century of substantial American military and diplomatic backing.
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The United States has given Israel about <a href="https://usafacts.org/articles/how-much-military-aid-does-the-us-give-to-israel/">$243.9 billion over time</a>,<strong> </strong>adjusted for inflation. The advanced weaponry that the US has given Israel and the fact that it’s the single biggest beneficiary of US foreign aid contributes to the idea of the two countries being in lockstep.
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The US arms industry that enables the ongoing siege of Gaza is particularly close to Israel. On quarterly earnings calls this week, executives from the military contracting giants <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2023/10/24/rtx-rtx-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcript/">RTX</a>, <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2023/10/25/boeing-ba-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcript/">Boeing</a>, and <a href="https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2023/10/26/northrop-grumman-noc-q3-2023-earnings-call-transcr/">Northrop Grumman</a> acknowledged the heinous attacks on Israel and obliquely mentioned how geopolitical developments would contribute to bigger Pentagon budgets and product orders, but made no mention of the situation in Gaza other than anodyne calls for peace or vague concerns about the humanitarian situation. Wes Kremer, the president of RTX subsidiary Raytheon, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7123386763934384129/">announced</a> this week the construction of a new facility in Arkansas to build missiles for Israel’s Iron Dome system.
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It’s also the years of largely unquestioned US support for Israel, across administrations from both parties, while the country has engaged in policies in the occupied West Bank that human rights organizations describe as <a href="https://www.vox.com/23924319/israel-palestine-apartheid-meaning-history-debate">apartheid</a> and has squeezed Gaza with severe limits on aid. The US-led process toward a Palestinian state has been in formaldehyde since 2014.
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<img alt="Destruction in Nuseirat Camp After Israeli Strikes Amid Ongoing Conflict" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7j-MKuO6KYUPwv7FALKgU6WXMEs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25042664/1752677048.jpg"/> <cite>Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images</cite>
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People check the destruction following Israeli strikes in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on October 29, 2023.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6snhwU">
A prime example of how the US has supported Israel has played out at the UN Security Council. Numerous presidential administrations have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/26/how-the-us-has-used-its-veto-power-at-the-un-in-support-of-israel">used their veto</a> over the years to protect Israel from resolutions that condemn its policies. Most recently, on October 18, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142507">vetoed</a> a Brazil-led resolution that called for a humanitarian pause.
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On Friday, as Israel held Gaza in the dark, the UN General Assembly <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142847">overwhelmingly passed</a> a nonbinding resolution that called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities.” There were <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/un-resolution-calling-for-immediate-gaza-ceasefire-passes-with-overwhelming-majority/">120 countries</a> voting in favor of the measure led by Arab states, while the US was among the 14 votes against. (Others included Hungary, Austria, Czechia, and several Pacific Island countries.) The Biden administration said it was because the resolution did not condemn Hamas’s initial attack or mention the ongoing hostage situation.
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Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi of Jordan, one of the US’s closest Middle East partners, <a href="https://twitter.com/aymanhsafadi/status/1717974727631761528?s=46">put it bluntly</a>: that voting against the resolution “means approving this senseless war.”
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Massive protests against Israel’s actions — 3,000 people <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/10/28/Indonesians-call-for-end-to-Israel-Hamas-war-with-protest-at-US-embassy">marching to the US Embassy</a> in Jakarta, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/thousands-join-pro-palestinian-protest-london-demand-gaza-ceasefire-2023-10-28/">tens of thousands</a> in London on Saturday, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/muslims-protest-around-world-demand-end-israels-gaza-campaign-2023-10-20/">widespread protests</a> in the Arab world and in the occupied West Bank — don’t typically separate Israel from the US role. Arab leaders <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/opinion/hamas-war-gaza-israel.html">may say</a> they support Israel’s destruction of Hamas behind closed doors but are less likely to make such declarations aloud, because public attitudes count in undemocratic countries, too.
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The US is seen above and beyond as Israel’s most crucial backer. Jordanian cartoonist Emad Hajjaj <a href="https://twitter.com/EmadHajjaj/status/1714920013730025633">drew Netanyahu as a fighter jet</a> dropping bombs on mosques, hospitals, and civilians in Gaza, with Biden in aviators spreading his arms as if he were the plane’s wings.
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Could the US policy approach change from within or without?
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While Biden’s core team of advisers appear in alignment, signs of<strong> </strong>dissent within the Biden administration grow each day Israel’s intensive bombardment of Gaza continues. Josh Paul, a senior State Department official in the bureau that signs off on arms sales, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-resignation-gaza_n_65306079e4b00565b622b1fb">resigned</a> in protest on October 18. He acknowledged Biden’s efforts to deescalate Israel’s response and expressed frustration with “rushing more arms to one side of the conflict, that I believe to be shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse.”
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Other senior State Department employees reportedly plan to convey their concerns through the <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-gaza_n_6531a23ae4b0da897ab75ce4">dissent channel</a>. The White House has hosted <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/10/24/white-house-holds-staff-meetings-on-israel-hamas-war-00123148">listening sessions</a>, and senior administration leaders have started to adjust their rhetoric. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is <a href="https://twitter.com/statedept/status/1717995021117394948?s=46">tweeting</a> about Palestinian rights. “As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace,” President Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1715790062359593029">posted</a>. “We cannot give up on a two-state solution.”
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But how the administration is actually handling the situation in Gaza — not calling for a ceasefire and largely unable to ensure that even the basic minimum of humanitarian aid enters the territory — offers a more accurate display of its policy. The US may have pushed for a narrower ground assault, but it’s not opposed to one in general. Biden, for example, has said Israel has a right and an obligation to respond to Hamas’s October 7 attack.<strong> </strong>And the current policy has been criticized by the UN, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, Save the Children, and other groups, which have urged a ceasefire.
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Even leaders of loyal Democratic Party institutions in Washington have criticized Biden’s approach.<strong> </strong>“There’s nothing complicated about being able to say killing innocent people is wrong and needs to stop,” Patrick Gaspard, the president of the Center for American Progress, <a href="https://twitter.com/patrickgaspard/status/1718084716664864882?s=46">posted</a>. “We said it when it was Hamas. We can say it now that it’s Israel. This is wrong. This needs to stop.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ohnaua">
In foreign policy, perception can be reality, and at some point, US support for Israel will be seen as active participation. It may not matter that the US is not directly involved, or that Biden has taken steps to try to reduce the toll, or that a President Donald Trump would likely be putting no restraints on Israel, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/07/us/politics/republicans-israel-iran-hamas.html">much as current Republican candidates</a> have called for. There’s something different now that transcends US support for Israel over decades and several Gaza wars, with longtime US negotiator Aaron David Miller having famously called Washington “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2005/05/23/israels-lawyer/7ab0416c-9761-4d4a-80a9-82b7e15e5d22/">Israel’s lawyer</a>.” The scale of this invasion will almost certainly be lethal beyond the scope of previous wars, and many critics will say that the US has not done enough to stop the killing.
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The billions of dollars of high-tech weaponry has been thought to have bought the US some leverage over Israel. Now the limits of that influence are apparent. “If such leverage exists, yet isn’t employed to halt civilian bombings, it signals complicity, demanding accountability from those responsible,” Nancy Okail, the executive director of the Center for International Policy, a progressive foreign policy think tank, <a href="https://twitter.com/NancyGEO/status/1718293441510093203">posted</a>.
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Of course, the Biden administration does not want to be drawn into a larger war. The president has repeatedly warned the militant group Hezbollah and countries like Iran to stay out of it, and much of his focus in the moment is likely in employing US power in the region to ensure that remains the case.
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Last week, the US’s military bases in <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/3/16/23641929/congress-repeal-iraq-war-authorization">Iraq</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/6/15/23669622/syria-900-us-troops-forever-war-isis-assad">Syria</a>, and its aircraft carrier passing by <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/security-incident-involving-us-navy-destroyer-red-sea/story?id=104147141">Yemen</a>, came under rocket fire from militants. In response, Biden <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/26/politics/us-strikes-facilities-syria/index.html">authorized</a> “narrowly tailored” strikes on Iran-backed militias in Syria. Such <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/6/15/23669622/syria-900-us-troops-forever-war-isis-assad">tit-for-tats</a> have happened with some frequency in recent years, but the context of Israel’s Gaza incursion raises the stakes considerably.
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As Sarah Leah Whitson, a human rights lawyer who directs Democracy for the Arab World Now, <a href="https://twitter.com/sarahleah1/status/1715095048226759052">put it</a>, “This is now Biden’s war.”
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<em><strong>Correction, 9:15 pm ET: </strong></em><em>An earlier version of this story misstated Ukraine’s response on the UN General Assembly resolution. The country abstained from the vote. </em>
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<li><strong>“Lord of the Flies”: The House’s chaotic next era, explained</strong> -
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<img alt="Newly elected Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, adjusts his glasses while talking with to speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e3LRffxXcKEO56bS6XauFeRHBko=/0x0:1771x1328/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72806540/1756566881.0.jpg"/>
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Newly elected Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), left, speaks with Speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) | Win McNamee/Getty Images
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New House Speaker Mike Johnson faces a long to-do list and a caucus with short patience for compromise.
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On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.vox.com/congress">Congress</a> finally reopened. After more than three weeks without a speaker, the elevation of the previously obscure <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/house-speaker-mike-johnson-the-nice-guy-who-finished-first.html">Mike Johnson of Louisiana</a> to lead the House was a signal that finally the chamber could get back to governing. In the next day, members forced votes next week on two resolutions of censure and one of expulsion. In other words, things <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/23913171/congress-kevin-mccarthy-house-speaker-democracy">aren’t getting less weird </a>anytime soon.
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But they won’t be returning to the status quo under former Speaker <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/2022-midterms-kevin-mccarthy-is-the-man-in-the-maga-middle.html">Kevin McCarthy</a>, either. There will now be a new normal as Congress has to deal with pressing issues. The government will shut down at midnight on November 18, <a href="https://www.vox.com/israel">Israel</a> and <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/10/10/23911661/hamas-israel-war-gaza-palestine-explainer">Hamas</a> are at war after the horrific attack Hamas launched on<strong> </strong>October 7, much of Ukraine is still occupied by <a href="https://www.vox.com/russia">Russia</a>, and lawmakers are grappling with how to address the near-record numbers of undocumented immigrants entering the country.
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The House will face this new normal with a weak speaker in a scenario that one veteran Republican insider compared to “Lord of the Flies” after the defenestration spree of the past three weeks that led not only to McCarthy’s ouster but to Republicans electing and then rejecting three speaker-designates in turn.
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Pat Fallon of Texas expressed the hope that Johnson — whom he praised as having “a lot of likability, a lot of authenticity, he is honest, he’s talented”— would be successful. In his view, “if Mike Johnson succeeds, America succeeds. You know, we have a functioning House and a functioning government. We have a divided government, so nobody’s gonna get everything they want. But, you know, we need some conservative wins to make sure that the taxpayers’ money is well accounted for.”
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Then again, it could be argued under those circumstances that<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/debt-ceiling-vote-kevin-mccarthy-really-did-it.html"> McCarthy’s debt ceiling deal</a> in the spring was a win, as Republicans won spending caps and permitting reform in exchange for allowing the United States to pay its debts for the next 18 months. The result prompted an<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/06/kevin-mccarthy-punished-by-gop-rebels-over-debt-ceiling-deal.html"> immediate right-wing rebellion</a> and set the table for the California Republican’s ultimate downfall<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy-suffers-a-historic-humiliation.html"> earlier in October</a>.
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The challenge for Johnson is that he is going to face one tripwire with his conference even before he’s fully moved into his new office: the matter of Ukraine aid, opposition to which has become a shibboleth for many on the MAGA right. The Biden administration has proposed a major funding bill that would combine aid to Israel and Ukraine as well as funding for border security.
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Don Bacon of Nebraska, a moderate in the Republican conference, thought Johnson could win support for aid to the European nation from the House despite the widespread opposition from many House Republicans, including Johnson himself. “I think he’s gonna do it,” said Bacon. “But there’s gonna have to be some good take on the border. And I think the president just can’t say, ‘I want X amount of money.’ … He’s got to say why he wants it and make the case.”
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However, it seemed likely that, at the very least, the House would separate the aid to each individual US ally rather than combining, as the Biden administration proposed. Johnson told Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Thursday, “Our consensus among House Republicans is that we need to bifurcate those issues.”
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Johnson insisted that “we’re not going to abandon [Ukraine,] but we have a responsibility, a stewardship responsibility over the precious treasure of the American people, and we have to make sure that the White House is providing the people with some accountability for the dollars.”
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Already, he seemed to be getting slightly more breathing room from Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was the leader of the effort to oust McCarthy and has been an implacable opponent of aid to Ukraine. Gaetz left some wiggle room about whether it should receive a vote, saying, “They should definitely be separate questions. We have a lot of members who want to vote for Ukraine funding. And so that may be a vote that they are able to bring to bear through regular order.”
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However, Gaetz cautioned that because a recent amendment on Ukraine aid did not receive the support of a majority of House Republicans, future legislation on aid to the Eastern European country should not receive any consideration in the House because it violated the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/24/16916898/hastert-rule-daca-could-fail-house-ryan">Hastert Rule</a>, the recent tradition among House Republicans that all legislation should have the support of “a majority of the majority.” He noted that “the last time Ukraine funding was on the floor of the House … [a] majority of the majority voted against it. That usually ends a measure’s prospects for consideration.”
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Yet despite the drama around Ukraine, the fight over government funding is likely to be far less dramatic than past ones. McCarthy’s ouster was the result of his efforts to<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/10/kevin-mccarthy-traded-shutdown-crisis-for-a-leadership-one.html"> avoid a government shutdown</a> by simply continuing current funding levels for the next six weeks at the beginning of October. Not only is Johnson enjoying a honeymoon period among his colleagues after the weeks of internecine warfare among House Republicans, he also starts off with fresh credibility among those who were most opposed to McCarthy to keep the government open for at least a few more months.
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As Gaetz, the leader of the hard-right bloc that was opposed to the former speaker, put it, “Kevin McCarthy wanted to govern by continuing resolution to get us to the next continuing resolution. I think Mike Johnson has a lot more credibility [as a] … bridge to single-subject spending bills, not a bridge to just the old ways of Washington.”
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But, for whatever criticism that there was of the “old ways of Washington,” at least everyone knew what they were. Everyone was working from the same playbook, and there was at least a basic set of agreed-upon norms. All of that has frayed after the last few chaotic weeks, and the challenges have only grown more complex. It’s a recipe for more weirdness to come.
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</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>FIFA bans Luis Rubiales of Spain for 3 years for kiss and misconduct at Women’s World Cup final</strong> - FIFA has banned ousted former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales from the sport for three years</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>Sreenidi Deccan announces technical partnership deal with Portuguese giant SL Benfica</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>Champagne Smile and Wall Street 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>Pneuma and Amreli please</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>Visakhapatnam girl bags a gold and two silver in the Asian Roller-Skating Championship in China</strong> - 15-year-old Greeshma Dontara from Visakhapatnam has been invited as a brand ambassador of for the Aadudam Andhra Sports Tournament by the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh</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>Kodandaram extends TJS support to Congress in the elections</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>Commence process of general transfer within one month, Kerala Administrative Tribunal directs Cooperation department</strong> - KAT directs Registrar of Cooperative Societies to complete the process in two months</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>Passenger boats rams country boat, girl drowns</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>KCR blames Congress for the attack on Prabhakar Reddy</strong> - BRS chief calls the attack an act of cowardice</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>Dagestan: Mob storms Russian airport in search of Jews</strong> - Israel urges Russia to protect Jews after furious crowd confronts passengers arriving from Tel Aviv.</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>Fabio Grosso: Lyon manager ‘seriously injured’ as team bus attacked in Marseille</strong> - Lyon’s Ligue 1 match at Marseille is postponed after visiting manager Fabio Grosso is “seriously injured” when the team bus is attacked on the way to the ground.</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>Princess Leonor of Spain’s royal profile rises as she turns 18</strong> - Princess Leonor of Spain’s birthday is on Tuesday, prompting talk of what sort of royal she will be.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Moment Czech president knocks soldier’s hat off by striking him with flagpole</strong> - The officer later received an apology from President Petr Pavel who “simply underestimated the weight.”</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>Searching for our grandfathers’ skulls in a German museum</strong> - Descendants of 19 men hanged 123 years ago have spent decades searching for their remains.</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>The Daily Telescope: A new perspective on the power behind Psyche</strong> - Launch was awesome, but now comes a painfully long wait. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1977552">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Android 14 review: There’s always next year</strong> - Android 14 offers a lightly customizable lock screen and not much else. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1954547">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Where the heck did all those structures inside complex cells come from?</strong> - There are competing theories about the origin of the nucleus and endoplasmic reticulum. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1979428">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The UK’s problematic Online Safety Act is now law</strong> - The government says it will protect kids online; critics say it’s a threat to privacy. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1979426">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Jeff Bezos shows off new Moon lander design for NASA</strong> - “We’re building our landers to enable global landing capability on the Moon, day or night.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1979493">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My Palestinian Cousin’s favorite Arabic joke</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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Two criminals are given the death sentence. Before theyre executed, the warden asks the first man “What is your last request?”. The man says “Please, sir, could I see my mother one last time before I go?”. The warden turns to an officer and asks him to fetch the man’s mother. In the meantime, he asks the second man “And you? Any last requests?”.
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The man thinks for a moment, looks at the first guy, and finally answers “Nah, just don’t let that guy see his mom”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/The_Lonely_Mosquito"> /u/The_Lonely_Mosquito </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jeezh/my_palestinian_cousins_favorite_arabic_joke/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jeezh/my_palestinian_cousins_favorite_arabic_joke/">[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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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/haddock420"> /u/haddock420 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jg778/i_got_fired_from_my_job_because_i_kept_asking_my/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jg778/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>A friend recently gave me a What Would Jesus Do bracelet, and it really made a difference in my outlook.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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It was going great, until I got in a bit of an argument with some guy in a Starbucks line. It getting a bit heated, and I looked at my bracelet…. so I said unto him, “Be fruitful, and multiply.”
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But not in those words.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/mralex"> /u/mralex </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jaoqd/a_friend_recently_gave_me_a_what_would_jesus_do/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jaoqd/a_friend_recently_gave_me_a_what_would_jesus_do/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A English man, an Irish man and an American are stranded on an island, until they find a genie.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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The genie explains to them that usually he’d give them 3 wishes, but because there’s three people and they all found him equally, that everyone gets one wish.
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First, the English man makes his wish.
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“Well, I’ve been stranded on this island for 2 years now, so I wish to go back home to my family in England.”
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The genie grants his wish, and the English man disappears with a poof.
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Now, it’s time for the American to make his wish.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well, I’ve been stranded on this island for two years as well, so I wish to go back home to my family in America.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
And the genie grants his wish, and the American disappears with a poof.
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Next, the Irish man makes his wish.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Well, I’m real lonely on this island, so I wish my two buddies were back here with me!”
</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/RetardedGuava"> /u/RetardedGuava </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17j271k/a_english_man_an_irish_man_and_an_american_are/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17j271k/a_english_man_an_irish_man_and_an_american_are/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My buddy was caught stealing luggage from the airport, his trial didn’t last more than an hour</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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It was a brief case
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DerRaumdenker"> /u/DerRaumdenker </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jokri/my_buddy_was_caught_stealing_luggage_from_the/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/17jokri/my_buddy_was_caught_stealing_luggage_from_the/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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