October 20th, 2022 • 2h 59m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
Great Reset
Exchange rates nearing parity - Great Currency Reset for Global CBDC?
Liz Truss Lettuce cam - lettuce lasted longer than Liz
Portland BOTG
Hey Adam. This is Liam with an ACTUAL substantive email. The Starbucks closing in the "Pearl" district. Here is why - The "Pearl" is where you have Whole Foods, Lululemon, World Famous "Powell's Books" - it is the "high rent" retail area of downtown Portland - and it is a fucking SHITHOLE now. I previously had a location of my restaurant in the neighborhood next to the Pearl but got tired of cleaning up human waste and constantly dealing with panhandlers harassing outdoor diners so I sold the lease. Ironically, just this morning, I got a message from my opening kitchen manager that my store in SE Portland had the door smashed open - this is the THIRD time in less than 3 months and it costs $725 a pop to repair the door - insurance deductible is $1,000. I am not whining but the cops are so understaffed we just file a police report and never hear anything. There are homeless camps - mostly disabled RV's converted into shelter combined with the FREE tents/tarps that were handed out by city/county last year. We have had the covers removed from the outdoor dining structure we built when we were not allowed to have customers dine inside and we saw it converted into a tarp/tent just a few blocks away by some homeless folks. I feel bad for these folks and their situation but just ignoring it and pretending that ANY action taken is "inhumane" IS NOT WORKING. Oh well. Glad you got outta Austin - if you know any libtards that wanna buy a restaurant in Portland send em my way! lol.
--
Liam
Ministry of Truthiness
AJ lawsuit and now Ye - Must twitter set-up
Energy & Inflation
Big Pharma
VAERS
Vape Wars
Ukraine & Russia
Climate Change
Mandates & Boosters
MIC
STORIES
Kanye West agrees to buy Parler, company says
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:33
Kanye West, the superstar rapper who has made several inflammatory and antisemitic comments in recent weeks, has agreed in principle to buy conservative social media platform Parler, the app's parent company said in a statement Monday.
"In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves," said West, who now goes by Ye, in a statement released by Parler.
Financial terms of the deal weren't announced. The company previously said it had raised $56 million in funding from outside investors.
Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Evan Agostini | Invision | AP
The move comes after Ye was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts for making antisemitic remarks. In one post, Ye played into a long-standing antisemitic conspiracy theory that fellow rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs is being controlled by Jewish people. On Twitter, meanwhile, Ye's account was restricted after he said he would go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE."
A representative for Ye didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Ye told Bloomberg News that he was motivated to buy Parler after Instagram and Twitter penalized him. He also declined to reveal the terms of the deal to the outlet.
Ye's net worth is reportedly $2 billion. Much of his fortune comes from his Yeezy sneakers brand and partnerships with Gap and Adidas. However, Ye severed business ties with Gap recently, and Adidas said it's also reviewing its business relationship with him. JPMorgan Chase also cut ties with the rapper.
Parler is one of several right-wing-friendly platforms to emerge during the Donald Trump era, as the former president's supporters claim unfair treatment by Twitter and other apps. There's also Gettr, which is run by former Trump advisor Jason Miller, and Trump's own app, Truth Social, whose parent company is under federal investigation as it seeks to go public. Conservative-friendly video platform Rumble went public last month.
Parler, which initially launched in 2018, was swept up in controversy last year over the role it played in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol building. That led a slew of tech companies, including Google and Amazon , to blacklist the service, rendering its app and website inaccessible.
In September, however, Google reinstated the app on its Play Store, stating the company changed some of its content moderation policies and enforcement. Apple restored the app on its App Store platform earlier, in April 2021.
Parler has sought to reduce its dependence on technologies from other firms by establishing its own cloud infrastructure in-house. The company set up a new parent company in September, called Parlement Technologies, aimed at providing its own cloud service for online business. "The future is uncancelable," the company said at the time.
Ye and Parler's parent company expect to finalize the deal before the end of the year, the company said. The terms of the deal include technical support for Parler from its parent company, as well as the use of its private cloud services.
After Ye's suspension from Instagram, the rapper turned to Twitter, posting for the first time since 2020. "Look at this Mark How you gone kick me off instagram," he wrote, referring to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Instagram parent Meta.
Elon Musk, a friend of Ye's, responded saying, "Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!"
Ye was then locked out of his Twitter account for a violation of its policies, after which Musk tweeted he had talked to Ye and "expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart."
Musk is currently pursuing an acquisition of Twitter. That takeover was revived last week after the Tesla CEO said he would buy the social media platform at the $54.20 a share price they initially agreed on in April. The billionaire, who calls himself a "free speech absolutist," has said he wants to make Twitter a "digital town square" that promotes free expression.
Commenting on the agreement Monday, Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer said it "will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech."
"Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again," Farmer said in a statement. "Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals."
Farmer is married to American conservative activist Candace Owens, one of Ye's advocates on social media. He is also the son of Michael Farmer, a British Conservative politician who sits in the upper chamber of the U.K. Parliament.
George Farmer was named CEO of the conservative-leaning social app in May of last year, after a dispute between its early investor Rebekah Mercer and ex-Parler chief John Matze led to Matze's ousting. Mercer, the heiress daughter of hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, is Parler's controlling shareholder.
Air pollution is making women fat: new study
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:33
Looks like all that water weight might actually be from the air.
A new study suggests that long-term air pollution exposure is linked to women gaining weight '-- particularly ladies in their late 40s and 50s, EurekAlert reported.
Observed women who were exposed to poor air quality, specifically higher levels of fine particles, such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone, had seen increases in their body size, according to study author Xin Wang, an epidemiology research investigator at the University of Michigan.
The exposure to air pollution was tied to higher body fat, fat proportion and lower lean mass for middle-aged women. EurekAlert noted that ''body fat increased by 4.5%, or about 2.6 pounds.''
The data came from a mix of 1,654 white, black, Chinese and Japanese women whose median age was 50. They had been tracked for eight years from 2000 to 2008.
A new study suggests that air pollution is linked to women gaining weight. Getty Images/iStockphoto Air pollution is a factor in women gaining weight, new research suggests. Getty ImagesTheir residential addresses were used to measure the relative air pollution surrounding their homes as well, looking for connections between the two entities.
However, exercise and physical activity acted as a deterrent to the effects in these findings, according to the outlet.
Wang also said that because the study had focused solely on middle-aged women, these findings can't be generalized to younger '-- or older '-- women or men.
Lafarge Cement pleads guilty to paying ISIS as terror group killed Westerners
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:32
Lafarge SA on Tuesday pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $777.8 million to resolve a U.S. federal criminal charge related to the French company's payments to ISIS and another terror group to keep a cement plant operating in Syria.
The $10.24 million in payments to ISIS, the al-Nusrah Front and intermediaries were made from August 2013 through October 2014, and occurred even as the terror group was kidnapping and killing Westerners.
"Lafarge has admitted and taken responsibility for its staggering crime," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement. "Never before has a corporation been charged with providing material support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations."
Eastern District of New York US Attorney Breon Peace speaks during a press conference in New York City on October 18, 2022.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
Peace's office said Lafarge Cement Syria executives bought materials needed for their cement plant in the Jalabiyeh region of northern Syria from ISIS-controlled suppliers, and paid monthly "donations" to ISIS and ANF, so that employees, customers and suppliers could cross checkpoints around the plant.
Lafarge Cement Syria "eventually agreed to make payments to ISIS based on the volume of cement that LCS sold to its customers, which Lafarge and LCS executives likened to paying 'taxes,'" Peace's office said.
An indictment against Lafarge and its defunct Syrian subsidiary was unsealed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, charging them with one count of conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, Lafarge pleaded guilty and was sentenced at a hearing there.
No individuals have been charged in the case, but authorities said their investigation is ongoing.
"In the midst of a civil war, Lafarge made the unthinkable choice to put money into the hands of ISIS, one of the world's most barbaric terrorist organizations, so that it could continue selling cement," Peace said.
"Lafarge did this not merely in exchange for permission to operate its cement plant '' which would have been bad enough '' but also to leverage its relationship with ISIS for economic advantage, seeking ISIS's assistance to hurt Lafarge's competition in exchange for a cut of Lafarge's sales," Peace said.
Lafarge was purchased by Switzerland-based Holcim in 2015.
In a statement, Lafarge said, "Lafarge SA and [Lafarge Cement Syria] have accepted responsibility for the actions of the individual executives involved, whose behavior was in flagrant violation of Lafarge's Code of Conduct.
"We deeply regret that this conduct occurred and have worked with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve this matter," Lafarge said.
Holcim in a statement to CNBC said it supports the plea agreement that Lafarge reached with the DOJ.
CNBC PoliticsRead more of CNBC's politics coverage:
A national 'Don't Say Gay' law? Republicans introduce bill to restrict LGBTQ-related programsJohn Fetterman 'has no work restrictions' as he recovers from stroke, PA Senate hopeful's doctor saysBiden says oil companies should ramp up production and cut prices at the pump instead of buying back stock, paying dividendsBiden administration awards $2.8 billion in grants for electric vehicle battery manufacturingTrump set to be deposed in rape defamation lawsuit by writer E. Jean CarrollMillions at risk of losing health insurance if U.S. ends Covid public health emergency in JanuaryGeorgia breaks first-day early voting record, nearly doubles figure from last midtermsHere are the top Senate races to watch in the 2022 midtermsDemocrats in key Senate races have more cash to spend than Republicans in the final midterm pushDOJ seeks 6 months in jail, $200,000 fine for Steve Bannon for contempt of CongressTransUnion, Equifax, Experian may have violated credit reporting rules, Rep. Jim Clyburn saysTrump won't be the Republican nominee in 2024, ex-GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan predictsJan. 6 Capitol riot probe obtained records showing multiple calls between Secret Service and Oath KeepersSupreme Court denies Trump bid to void ruling in Mar-a-Lago raid documents caseTreasury's Yellen says Russia's war has weakened its economy 'for years to come'North Korea flies warplanes near border and tests another ballistic missileTreasury investigates whether Florida used Covid aid to fly migrants to Martha's VineyardJury recommends life in prison without parole for gunman, rejects death penaltyBiden's national security plan identifies Russia as imminent danger, China as long-term threat"None of the conduct involved Holcim, which has never operated in Syria, or any Lafarge operations or employees in the United States, and it is in stark contrast with everything that Holcim stands for," Holcim said in that statement.
"The DOJ noted that former Lafarge SA and [Lafarge Cement Syria] executives involved in the conduct concealed it from Holcim before and after Holcim acquired Lafarge SA, as well as from external auditors," Holcim said.
"When Holcim learned of the allegations from media reports in 2016, Holcim proactively and voluntarily conducted an extensive investigation, led by a major U.S. law firm and overseen by the Board of Directors. It publicly disclosed the principal investigative findings in 2017 and separated from former Lafarge SA and LCS executives who were involved in these events."
Magali Anderson, CEO of LaFarge stands, flanked by her attorneys David Sarratt and Douglas Zolkind, during the sentencing of La Farge in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Elizabeth Williams
Lafarge was indicted by French authorities in 2018 in connection with the ISIS payments on charges of being complicit in crimes against humanity.
In its statement Tuesday, Lafarge said it "continues to cooperate fully with the French authorities in their investigation of the conduct and will defend itself against any judicial actions that it regards as unjustified in the French proceedings."
Holcim said in its statement that the DOJ has determined that it is not necessary to appoint an independent compliance monitor for Lafarge because Holcim has effective compliance and risk management controls to detect potential similar conduct.
Correction: Lafarge SA pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $777.8 million to resolve a U.S. federal criminal charge. An earlier version misstated the figure.
Foreign governments reportedly hire more than 500 retired US DOD personnel since 2015, | Daily Mail Online
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:32
More than 500 retired US military personnel have taken lucrative jobs working for foreign governments '' with generals and admirals landing roles in Saudi Arabia.
At least 15 high ranking officials from the military have worked as paid consultants for the Defense Ministry of Saudi Arabia since 2016.
It was revealed after a judge forced the military to hand over documents detailing the jobs, but allowed some information - such as payments - to be redacted.
The ministry is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA say approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Most personnel have taken jobs in countries known for human rights abuse and political repression, according to an investigation by the Washington Post.
Saudi Arabia's paid advisers include two retired four-star Generals - Marine Gen. James Jones and retired Army Gen. Keith Alexander, who both worked with President Obama.
Alexander led the National Security Agency under Obama and President George W. Bush, while Jones was a national security adviser - and has also taken work from the Government of Libya.
Retired four-star Marine Gen. James Jones, has worked with both the Saudi Defense Ministry and the Government of Libya since stepping down
The ministry is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the FBI say approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018
Retired Army Gen. Keith Alexander led the National Security Agency under Obama and President George W. Bush and has worked for the Mohammed bin Salman College of Cyber Security
Others who have worked as consultants for the Saudis since the murder of Khashoggi include a retired four-star Air Force general and a former commanding general of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
It is unclear exactly how much the former high-ranking personnel are being paid per job, but it is more than what most American service members earn on active duty.
Those serving as an active four-star general earns $203,698 a year in basic pay, while former military officials have been given consulting deals worth more than $10million.
Australia's government has given consulting deals worth more than $10 million to several former senior U.S. Navy officials.
A retired US Air Force general was offered a consulting gig in Azerbaijan at a rate of $5,000 a day, with retired generals and admirals being offered the most money.
Saudi Arabia hired a former Navy SEAL as a special operations adviser for $258,000 a year, while the UAE offered packages of up to $200,000.
A consulting firm owned by six retired Pentagon officials and military officers negotiated a $23.6 million contract with Qatar '' which later fell through.
The majority of the personnel have worked as civilian contractors for Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Persian Gulf monarchies.
Retired Army Lt. Gen Michael Flynn, 63, was investigated by the Defense Departments inspector after collecting $449,807 from Russian and Turkish interests in 2015 a year after his retirement
Those serving as an active four-star general earns $203,698 a year in basic pay, while former military officials have been given consulting deals worth more than $10million in Australia
A consulting firm owned by six retired Pentagon officials and military officers negotiated a $23.6 million contract with Qatar '' which later fell through
They are understood to be playing a critical role in upgrading their militaries behind the scenes, despite the gulf countries security forces being accused of continually breaching human rights.
United Nations investigators found that with shared intelligence, aerial refuelling and other support from the US government contractors, the Saudis and UAE intervened in Yemen's civil war.
Documents show that 25 retirees from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps were granted permission to take jobs in Saudi Arabia.
Congress gives permission for retired troops and reservists to work for foreign governments so long as they have approval from their branch of the armed forces and state department.
But the US government fought to keep the hirings secret, until a judge ruled that 4,000 pages of documents should be handed over to the Washington Post in a two-year legal battle.
Military officials redacted the pay packages for retired generals and admirals, as well as names of lower-ranking personnel.
The US has accused the crown prince in a declassified CIA report of having approve the killing of Khashoggi, pictured, '' something that they have always denied
United Nations investigators found that with shared intelligence, aerial refuelling and other support from the US government contractors, the Saudis and UAE intervened in Yemen's civil war
They argued that releasing the information would violate their privacy and subject them to 'embarrassment and harassment' as well as 'unfairly harming their public reputation.'
U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that the 'public has a right to know if high-ranking military leaders are taking advantage of their stations '-- or might be perceived to be doing so '-- to create employment opportunities with foreign governments in retirement.'
Retired Jones owns two Virginia-based consulting firms '-- Ironhand Security LLC and Jones Group International LLC '-- that have held contracts to advise the Saudi Defense Ministry.
He received authorization to work for the Saudis in November 2016 and received the approval four months later.
The commandant of the Marine Corps told the Washington Post that he agree to conduct an organizational basement of the Saudi armed forces starting in 2017, after getting permission.
In a statement he said: 'The crown prince basically said that he was concerned about the amount of money that Saudi Arabia was spending on military hardware and equipment, as opposed to capabilities.
'He was wondering if there was something that we could do to help them in transforming their Ministry of Defense and the armed forces into something that would be more useful and less expensive.'
The US government fought to keep the hirings secret, until a judge ruled that 4,000 pages of documents should be handed over to the Washington Post in a two-year legal battle
Michael Barbero, a three-star Army general, was one of four other high-ranking officials involved in Jones Group International LLC's work in Saudi Arabia
Four other retired generals obtained US permission in 2017 to work with Jones's team; Charles Wald, a four-star Air Force general; Michael Barbero, a three-star Army general; Arnold Punaro, a two-star Marine general; and John Doucette, a one-star Air Force general.
Lower-ranking retired officers working for Jones earned salaries ranging from $200,000 to $300,000 to advice the Saudi Defence Ministry, with military officials redacting the officers' identities.
Jones's companies continue to advise the Saudi's on how to reorganise their military command structures, according to documents.
However Jones said his company stopped working in Libya at the State Department's request because of the country's political instability.
Keith Alexander's consulting firm, IronNet Cybersecurity, signed a partnership agreement in July 2018 with the Saudis to develop a new institution: the Prince Mohammed bin Salman College of Cyber Security.
It is billed as the kingdom's first training program for cyberwarfare and has been established under influential aide to the crown prince - Saud al-Qahtani.
In November 2018, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Qahtani, declaring that he 'was part of the planning and execution of the operation that led to the killing' of Jamal Khashoggi.
Despite this Alexanders request to help develop the cyberwarfare college was approved by the Trump administration.
Alexander has also undergone work for the Japanese Ministry of Economy and had advisory roles with in Singapore
He also served as a cybersecurity consultant to other foreign governments, seeking approval for four deals to advise both Singapore and Japan's governments.
Retired military personnel are restricted from receiving anything of value from foreign governments that could compromise their sworn allegiance to the US, but they can do so with the consent of Congress.
Those seeking authorization for foreign work must also pass a background check and counterintelligence review '' and must self-report their intent to work.
Many veterans don't bother to report their intent, as there is no criminal penalty for violating the law.
The Defense Department can withhold retirement pay from those who ignore the rules, but a spokesman confirmed that they have docked the pensions of 'fewer than five' people.
Retired Army Lt. Gen Michael Flynn, 63, was investigated by the Defense Departments inspector after collecting $449,807 from Russian and Turkish interests in 2015 a year after his retirement.
Flynn, who served as national security adviser to President Trump, failed to clear his work with US officials and was pictured next to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a gala in Moscow.
Retired military personnel are restricted from receiving anything of value from foreign governments hat could compromise their sworn allegiance to the US, but they can do so with the consent of Congress.
He was celebrating the 10th anniversary of Russia Today, and was paid $38,557 to travel to the event, and in 2017 pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US.
The inspector general ordered him to forfeit the cash that he had received from the Moscow trip, but was not penalized further for the remaining $411,250 he collected from Russia and Turkey.
Following the transgression Congress passed legislation in 2019 and 2020 forcing the pentagon to submit annual reports about retired generals and admirals working for foreign powers.
The Pentagon has since compiled but only reports a few lines of information, and does not name the retired officials.
Only one of the 500 reported to the armed forces and State Department since 2015 involved Russia, with a retired Air Force colonel receiving permission in March 2020 to take a $300k job with a company based in the US by majority owned by the Russian Government.
No other instances of retired military personnel seeking to work for 'foreign adversaries' were included in the 500.
Did You Hear That Right? Hearing Aids Without a Prescription? - Liberty Nation
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:32
You'll likely notice a deluge of ads about hearing aids, which are available for the first time this week without a doctor's prescription or a consultation with an audiologist. The current rule has been five years in the making after former President Donald Trump signed the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act in August 2017. It's at least a minor win for deregulation, but controversy abounds over the elimination of professional tuning of the devices.
Hearing Aids Just Amplifiers? The Bose company, based in Massachusetts, is mainly responsible for the change in the federal government's policy on this issue. Famous for making speakers and headphones, Bose is ready to exploit its technology and manufacturing capacity to sell these new hearing devices. Campaign cash records show Bose spent generously to support Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA). Was the law changed to profit the few, benefit the many, or both?
Adam Curry, former MTV VJ and current No Agenda Show podcast host, has been an outspoken critic of such direct-to-consumer sales. A longtime user of hearing aids, Curry thinks the new devices will result in a negative experience for many. In an exclusive statement to Liberty Nation, he spoke against the updated regulations and Warren's involvement. Curry said:
''Elizabeth Warren took big campaign donations from Bose among others to introduce the OTC legislation '... She is actually hurting her beloved consumers with this. They get shitty hearing 'amplifiers.' That's the real change. These Silicon Valley 'amplifiers' may now be marketed as 'hearing aids.'''
Curry concluded with ''Words matter.''
The legislation prompting the change was introduced in 2017 by Kennedy in the House and Warren in the Senate, passing without opposition as a rider to an FDA reauthorization act. Why would Americans need a prescription for a contraption that has a microphone and a speaker at its core? Its use is not dangerous or habit-forming.
(Photo Illustration by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
When such a product is designed and sold to correct or cure a medical problem, it becomes a ''medical device'' under the law, and the FDA has vast control over it. Ask anyone who needs the most commonly used medical device, eyeglasses, which still require a prescription for purchase in the United States. The issue here concerns amplification devices for people with normal hearing acuity and processing, and hearing aids required for more profound hearing difficulty. The FDA said the rule ''applies to certain air-conduction hearing aids intended for people 18 years of age and older who have perceived mild to moderate hearing impairment. Hearing aids that do not meet the requirements for the OTC category (for example, because they are intended for severe hearing impairment or users younger than age 18) are prescription devices.''
Promises Made or Bought?President Joe Biden spurred his FDA to make a final rule on the topic as part of an executive order issued last year. Curry said the most important thing going forward is to make sure companies' desire for recurring revenue models doesn't impose harsh outcomes for users. ''What is also important is that ALL companies, including the legit [hearing aid] manufacturers, stop tying everything to their cloud.'' He said centralizing any medical device where it is ''almost impossible to use '... without being tethered to their infrastructure'' is a horrible idea.
BBC prepares secret scripts for possible use in winter blackouts | BBC | The Guardian
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:32
The BBC has prepared secret scripts that could be read on air if energy shortages cause blackouts or the loss of gas supplies this winter.
The scripts, seen by the Guardian, set out how the corporation would reassure the public in the event that a ''major loss of power'' causes mobile phone networks, internet access, banking systems or traffic lights to fail across England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland would be unaffected because its electricity grid is shared with the Republic of Ireland.
The public would be advised to use car radios or battery-powered receivers to listen to emergency broadcasts on FM and long-wave frequencies usually reserved for Radio 2 and Radio 4.
One draft BBC script warns that a blackout could last for up to two days, with hospitals and police placed under ''extreme pressure''.
Another says: ''The government has said it's hoped power will be restored in the next 36 to 48 hours. Different parts of Britain will start to receive intermittent supplies before then.''
It is understood they were written by BBC journalists as part of routine emergency planning to deal with hypothetical scenarios. They include local details for the different regions and nations of Britain.
In a national emergency, the BBC has a formal role in helping to spread information across the country, as part of the government's civil contingencies planning. The broadcaster's governance framework states: ''If it appears to any UK government minister that an emergency has arisen, that minister may request that the BBC broadcast or otherwise distribute any announcement or other programme.''
The government works with the BBC as part of its emergency planning process, although it is unclear whether it had any input on these scripts. A spokesperson said: ''The government is confident that this is not a scenario we will face this winter.''
The BBC said it did not comment on its emergency broadcasting plans.
Ministers have been at pains to reassure businesses and householders that blackouts are unlikely. However, National Grid, which oversees electricity supplies in Great Britain, has issued a rare warning that power supplies could be at risk. The organisation said that in a worst-case scenario it could order planned blackouts for up to three hours a day if Russia cuts off all gas supplies to Europe.
On Monday, National Grid's chief executive, John Pettigrew, went further and said that if everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong, there could be rolling blackouts between 4pm and 7pm on ''really, really cold'' days in January and February, when wind speeds are too low to power turbines.
The BBC's draft scenario suggests that in a national blackout it would run a greatly reduced temporary radio service from the UK's emergency broadcasting centre, called the EBC, based in a rural location not acknowledged by the BBC.
This would provide half-hourly news bulletins on Radio 4's FM and long-wave frequencies and a ''music service'', with news updates on the FM spectrum used by Radio 2.
One scenario used in some of the scripts assumes that mains electricity is available in only a few lightly populated parts of Scotland '' the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland, and some parts of the Highlands.
The draft scripts for on-air news bulletins include space for a quote from a Cabinet Office minister, given the fictitious name Jose Riera.
The scripts report that these blackouts would affect gas supply systems, and knock out mobile phone networks, cashpoints and internet access. Traffic lights would stop working, causing disruption on the roads.
One script, written for a hypothetical news bulletin, warns: ''The emergency services are under extreme pressure. People are being advised not to contact them unless absolutely necessary.''
It states that in Wales an emergency coordination centre has been set up, while in Scotland the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is chairing the devolved government's emergency planning meeting. It adds: ''Officials are saying there is no current risk to food supply and distribution. But they're asking people to look out for vulnerable neighbours and relatives.''
Ukraine war: Meet Father Grigory, Russia's most prominent anti-war priest | Euronews
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:31
When the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church supports Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and calling the conflict "war" can land you in jail, it takes courage to speak out.
But that is what Father Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko has been doing ever since the Kremlin first set its sights on its western neighbour.
Father Grigory, who was once a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church, has set out to prove that not everyone in the country stands behind President Vladimir Putin's act of aggression. Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the church, is among the war's most vocal supporters.
Helping the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees who found themselves stuck across Russia since February is Grigory's number one priority.
His religious organisation, the Russian Apostolic Church, has assisted some 7,000 refugees over the past eight months.
''By the time April came around, our religious organisation and the St Petersburg parish, we opened a centre for helping [Ukrainian] refugees because many of them need different types of help," Father Grigory told Euronews.
"Some need tickets (to leave Russia), some need clothes or different kinds of medicine.
''So we do what we can do, all we can do to help, we try to do that.
"If we talk about medicine, there are a lot of documents for every person. And this is just the last couple of weeks,'' he said, waving hefty stacks of pale blue papers bearing official Russian government inscriptions.
'It is necessary to stop the war'When the war started, Grigory reached out to his Ukrainian peers and, together with other international clergies, wrote a letter demanding the invasion be stopped.
Calling the aggression against Ukraine a ''war'' has been criminalised in Russia ever since the very beginning. Yet Grigory is defiant. ''We are united in these ideas. It's necessary to stop the war.''
''I understand that political negotiations might be difficult. But it's necessary to go back to the borders that were established and internationally recognised in 1991 by the whole world,'' he says, referring to Ukraine's borders established when it broke from the Soviet Union and declared independence.
These borders include the Crimean peninsula and eastern and southern Ukrainian regions '-- Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson '-- which were recently declared annexed by the Russian president.
''We can talk about the economy and pipelines and language and citizenship and all these things. But we all know what the borders are. So why do we need to discuss this again and again '-- especially with the help of weapons?''
These opinions have already landed many people in jail across Russia.
So, is Father Grigory worried about this?
''It's nothing to be afraid of,'' Grigory said. ''It's like the weather. Sometimes the day starts off sunny, but by the afternoon it might rain.''
Son of dissidents who discovered his true callingBorn in Moscow as the son of a painter famous for her work in theatre and film and an even more well-known poet and playwright '-- both dissidents '-- Father Grigory discovered Christianity while serving in the Soviet army in the 1980s.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Grigory, a trained film director, became disillusioned with work in television which was being increasingly co-opted by Kremlin elites as the key vessel for outright propaganda being served to the public.
He sought answers elsewhere, becoming a priest soon after leaving TV.
''In the beginning of the 2000s, I understood I achieved all I wanted to do in television, and television began being something very strange for me,'' Grigory said.
''I didn't expect things to get as bad as they are now, but it was enough for me, I can say.''
Russian TV channels are a crucial source of anti-Ukrainian and pro-government propaganda and serve as incubators for conspiracy theories about Russia's perceived enemies while glorifying the government's decisions and especially those made by Putin.
''With the help of my friends who also were and are priests, I decided to become a priest and so for seven years I was a priest in Staraya Russa. It's a small town in the Novgorod district, well-known as the town of (Fyodor) Dostoevsky.''
Tax-free cigarettes and blaming invasion on 'gay parades'Orthodox Christians in both Russia and Ukraine trace their faith back to the 988 AD conversion of Volodymyr I, the Grand Prince of Kyiv.
Known as Vladimir by Russians and Volodymyr by Ukrainians, the pagan grand prince was baptised by missionaries from Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the centre of Eastern Orthodoxy. Kyiv became the most important religious centre for eastern Slavs at that time.
Destroyed in 1240 by the Mongols, Kyiv fell into decline as its northern neighbour, Moscow, became increasingly powerful.
By 1686, Russia had conquered eastern Ukraine and Kyiv. In that year, the patriarch of Constantinople formally transferred his spiritual authority over Ukraine to the patriarch of Moscow.
Ukrainians decry the decision as having opened up their ancestors to religious blackmail by Russia, while the official perception of the Russian church '-- and Putin '-- is that there is an unbroken continuity from the baptism of Kyiv until today.
In modern Ukraine, Orthodox Christianity is the largest religious denomination and is divided between churches that fall under the Moscow Patriarchate and those under a separate ecclesiastical body.
Historically, Ukraine was home to two-thirds of all Orthodox Christian parishes in the Soviet Union, earning the moniker of being the ''USSR's Bible Belt'' by the likes of historian Serhiy Plokhy.
In late May, the leaders of Ukraine's Orthodox church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate adopted measures declaring the church's full independence from Moscow and Kirill.
Patriarch Kirill's vocal support for Putin's war has drawn criticism from the likes of Pope Francis and was dubbed a ''heresy'' by other religious authorities.
Dubbed the Tobacco Metropolitan for his alleged profiteering off of duty-free cigarettes in the 1990s, Patriarch Kirill fiercely maintains his pro-war stance, blaming the invasion on "gay parades" and making unproven claims that Ukrainians have been "exterminating" Russian civilians in the Donbas.
It is estimated that the wealth Kirill began to accrue even before coming to power in 2009 is worth between '¬4-8 million.
Kirill was infamously photographed wearing a '¬30,000 gold-plated watch in 2009, which church officials airbrushed out while leaving its reflection on a glossy table.
Although at first Kirill claimed the image was doctored to defame him, he later admitted to owning the watch after all.
In early May, attempts by Brussels to add Kirill to the list of Russians sanctioned by the EU led to tensions amongst European leaders after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked the move.
'Russian society is not religious at all'The Russian church and its leader's outright support for Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and involvement in the violent separatism in the Donbas was the straw that broke the camel's back for Grigory.
He left the Russian Orthodox Church and eventually joined the Russian Apostolic Church '-- a recognised religious organisation founded by other dissident priests, such as Father Gleb Yakunin.
After working for years with the most downtrodden members of Russian society, such as inmates in its prison system, he made it his mission in life to have people live according to the true virtues of the faith.
''The problem of religious organisations in Russia is that, in fact, all of them are fake,'' Father Grigory said. ''The Russian society is not religious at all.''
''If we look at how many people go to church anywhere in Europe '-- in Belarus, in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, etc. '-- we see that a minimum of 10-15% of people are religious. That's the lowest. But in Russia, on the main Christian holidays, such as Christmas or Easter, we see no more than 3% of people present in churches.''
''The picture we see in television or any media show is that the church plays a big, important part of the Russian society. Unfortunately, it's fake,'' Father Grigory explained.
''So our role is not to take people out of the Russian Orthodox Church. We work with the vast majority who don't know what Christianity is, who think it's just going around with the long beard and strange clothes and saying these strange words.''
''We want to show that a true Christian must be present at the epicentre of any problems. And that a Christian must help.''
One segment of disappointment with the Russian Orthodox Church and its leadership stems from the fact that it has long been considered compromised by the Kremlin.
The Soviet Union initially fully eliminated organised religion, confiscated church property and persecuted priests and the faithful in the 1920s. The Orthodox Church, however, was partially revived in World War II by Joseph Stalin.
Stalin, a hardline communist, felt he needed the support of the local population for his wide-reaching goals of both reforming society and fighting external enemies.
Documents released in the post-Soviet years claimed to prove that NKVD '-- the KGB's violent predecessor '-- was heavily involved in church matters and that the baton was passed on, using the clergy as both domestic informants and agents of influence abroad.
Father Gleb Yakunin '-- a pro-democracy activist and member of the Moscow Helsinki Group '-- was the vice chairman of a Russian parliamentary commission investigating the KGB's involvement in the church, famously releasing Politburo documents said to prove the existence of an extensive link between the two.
The commission implicated Patriarch Alexy II as a collaborator, but it was a KGB archive recovered in Estonia in 1999 showing that his involvement with the Soviet intelligence agency went even beyond what was initially assumed.
According to the files, the patriarch was a full-fledged KGB agent. He had a codename, Drozdov, and was at some point even decorated by the Soviet intelligence agency.
The church claimed the documents were forged but did not go beyond that, rejecting to show proof to the contrary and exculpate its leader.
None of this was ever reported in Russian state-owned and mainstream outlets.
Yet Putin's critics, like the late Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, long maintained that the Russian president and his closest allies, such as Dmitry Medvedev, have shown time and again that their purported religiousness is superficial, if altogether non-existent.
Their involvement in displays of religious fervour and closeness to the church were instead meant to mobilise the support of those Russians who felt a traditional belonging to '-- or consolation in '-- the church in post-Soviet times.
As Politkovskaya, who was assassinated in 2006, pointed out, the Kremlin has often committed faux pas when attending masses and other church processions, while Patriarch Alexy II addressing Putin as ''Your Most High Excellency'' showed that the highest religious authority in the country bows to the authority of the president.
It has long been alleged that Patriarch Kirill's appointment in 2009 after Alexey II's death was also done with the involvement of the intelligence agencies and Putin himself.
In turn, Kirill has showered Putin with unwavering praise, most recently saying that "God put (Putin) in power so that (he) could perform a service of special importance and of great responsibility for the fate of the country" on the occasion of his 70th birthday on 7 October.
Russian dreams of empire and ultimate down fall''The official religious organisation is not a religious organisation at all. It's a part of the empire-building project,'' Grigory said.
In other conflicts, religious authorities were critical of wars, even in the most autocratic regimes, he explained.
''Elsewhere, the church was at least a little bit independent. If the authorities did any sort of mistakes, the church would say it was a mistake and that things should be done differently. But in Russia, a church official all the time says, 'You're a genius, you're doing everything so well, it's so important,' and that's all.''
''The church now works like the commissars did in the Soviet Union. And people of course see it. People don't like it. Especially after February, a lot of people have left the church, both priests and people who were there for years.''
''They simply can't stay in a church which says that war is a good thing,'' Grigory said.
As the war nears its ninth month, Grigory is even more adamant that any form of support for a war of aggression goes against the tenets of true faith.
''I can see a Christian saying that under very difficult circumstances, people need to defend their nation or their country. 'It's such a pity, but there is no other way.'''
''But when the church starts to say that it's a good thing, that we need to go and kill them all, what are we talking about? You must say you are not Christians, or any sort of other religious person.''
To Grigory, Russian society has found itself on the wrong side of history after neglecting to address the social changes brought on by the new reality of living in a transitional society.
''Russia still lives inside the idea of the empire. The main problem is that this idea kills you.''
''So we finally got what we had coming for us,'' he explained. ''Russia as a state is really against the whole world. And there is of course no chance to win this war.''
Although he does not dismiss the possibility that Russia will recover from becoming the world's pariah state, Father Grigory is adamant the path will be long and arduous.
''After we lose, it will be necessary to do the hard labour, and not just in the economy. It has to be with our minds and hearts. And many people will have to come to terms with what happened and how we came into such a terrible situation.''
''It's very difficult and arduous work. It might take a century and it will be necessary to do so. But I am sure that it's possible.''
Netherlands shuts down rich natural gas field amid energy crisis '' HotAir
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:31
By this point, most of you are likely aware that Europe is facing an even more dire energy crisis than the one threatening the United States. The loss of natural gas supplies from Russia is one of the primary drivers of this issue, with sanctions cutting off some avenues of access and mysteriously exploding pipelines impacting others. The good news is that northern Europe has a vast trove of natural gas supplies available in the Groningen field, located in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. It contains enough natural gas to meet nearly all of the region's needs for some time to come. The bad news is that they are shutting down all gas drilling in the Groningen field, but it's not because of climate change concerns or protests by Greta Thunberg. They are terminating all natural gas extraction because the process has produced earth tremors. And no'... you can't even make this sort of thing up. (Liberty Unyielding)
Europe faces a critical shortage of energy this winter. It has a big gas field that could replace the natural gas supply it lost due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But it won't use that rich gas field and is shutting it down. Instead, Europe is burning more coal '-- including dirty lignite coal '-- and even that won't be enough to fill unmet needs, due to supply bottlenecks. Coal generates much more pollution than natural gas.
The sprawling Groningen field, beneath the windmill-dotted marshlands of the Netherlands, is Europe's largest natural gas reserve. It holds enough fuel to replace what Germany once imported from Russia, reported Bloomberg News.
But instead of supporting Europe, as a brutal winter approaches, the field is being shut down, merely because of tremors similar to the tremors that fracking for natural gas produces all the time in states like Oklahoma.
Over'... tremors? (No, not the movie about the giant worms.) Apparently so. The Netherlands is citing the measurement of minor tremors in the region where drilling was taking place as a reason to pull the plug.
To be sure, tremors generated by oil and gas extraction '' particularly following fracking operations '' are a real phenomenon. The extraction of the fuel can leave voids deep under the ground that sometimes collapse, leading to a small tremor. Also, some wells are drilled to dispose of wastewater from the drilling process. The introduction of that water can have a lubricating effect on naturally occurring faults, leading them to slip and create a tremor.
But the reality is that few of the drilling-induced tremors are ever large enough to notice without a sensitive seismometer. The vast majority are lower than magnitude 3. The United States Geological Service notes that a couple of rumblers of this sort have reached above 4.0, but that's relatively rare and a magnitude 4 tremor is still not likely to do much damage beyond knocking a few glasses off the shelves.
Is that really a reason to shut down one of the richest natural gas reserves in all of Europe? Apparently, it is, at least in the eyes of the European Union. But what are they doing for energy if the Russian supplies are cut off and they refuse to drill for their own supplies? Never fear! They've already come up with an answer. They've gone back to burning coal.
Yes, that's right. The coal-fired power plants are being brought back online and they're even burning lignite coal, which is among the ''dirtiest'' types of coal in terms of carbon emissions. This is some awfully rich irony. Long before the entire mess with Russia and Ukraine began, the EU was already moving to do away with fossil fuels because of climate change. Coal was among the first sources to go. But now they will shut down their own supplies of natural gas (which is vastly cleaner) and return to burning coal because of a lack of other options. The other choice is to freeze in the dark this winter.
Alexander Bethe, chairman of the Board of the Berlin-based Association of Coal Importers, is quoted as saying that they estimate they will be bringing in at least 33 million tons of coal over the winter. Congratulations, everyone. You wanted to save the planet. And now you've clearly hit upon the magic formula to do so. Well done!
FBI raided ABC News journalist over classified info. Then he "fell off the face of the earth" | Salon.com
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:31
This article originally appeared on Raw Story
On Tuesday, Rolling Stone reported that an Emmy-winning ABC News producer James Gordon Meek has withdrawn from public and professional life following an FBI search at his home that allegedly turned up classified information on his laptop.
"To his detractors within ABC, Meek was something of a 'military fanboy,'" reported Tatiana Siegel. "But his track record of exclusives was undeniable, breaking the news of foiled terrorist plots in New York City and the Army's coverup of the fratricidal death of Pfc. Dave Sharrett II in Iraq, a bombshell that earned Meek a face-to-face meeting with President Obama. With nine years at ABC under his belt, a buzzy Hulu documentary poised for Emmy attention, and an upcoming book on the military's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the 52-year-old bear of a man seemed to be at the height of his powers and the pinnacle of his profession."
According to the report, FBI agents allegedly found classified information on Meek's laptop in the search, which was approved by a federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Virginia one day prior.
"In the raid's aftermath, Meek ... has made himself scarce," said the report. "None of his Siena Park neighbors with whom Rolling Stone spoke have seen him since, with his apartment appearing to be vacant. Siena Park management declined to confirm that their longtime tenant was gone, citing 'privacy policies.' Similarly, several ABC News colleagues '-- who are accustomed to unraveling mysteries and cracking investigative stories '-- tell Rolling Stone that they have no idea what happened to Meek. 'He fell off the face of the Earth,' says one. 'And people asked, but no one knew the answer.'"
The search raises questions about whether the Biden administration is targeting a journalist for actions done in the course of their reporting '-- a controversial move that has occurred under multiple presidents over the years.
This also comes amid the much higher-profile FBI investigation into boxes of highly classified documents found at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, Florida, which may include foreign nuclear secrets and clandestine human sources. This investigation is currently tied up as Trump and the DOJ battle in federal court over which documents seized in the FBI's recent search can be reviewed by federal investigators.
Trending Articles from Salon
'Devastating consequences' as new Swedish government scraps environment ministry | Euronews
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 17:30
By
David Mac Dougall ' Updated: 19/10/2022 - 12:23 Family picture of the new Swedish government on Lejonbacken's terrace at Stockholm Palace, Sweden, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, -
Copyright
AP PhotoSweden's new right-wing government has sparked an outcry after scrapping the Ministry of Environment in a move the opposition has branded "devastating".
Previously, the ministry was a high-profile stand-alone department with a minister in the cabinet, but now it will operate as part of another ministry instead.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson unveiled his new cabinet on Tuesday, and although he did appoint a Minister of Climate and Environment -- 26-year-old Liberal MP Romina Pourmokhtari-- she will work under Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch, the new Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, rather than lead her own ministry.
The leader of the Swedish Greens, Per Bolund, noted that for the first time in 35 years Sweden would have no dedicated environment ministry.
"It is impossible to describe more clearly how little this government values ''the environment and the climate. This is a historic decision with devastating consequences for environmental issues", said Bolund.
P¤r Holmgren, a Swedish Green Party MEP, said, "expect huge cuts in green funding leading to a devastating impact on climate policies that we, the Greens, worked so hard to put in place."
Isabella L¶vin, chairperson of the board at the Stockholm Environmental Institute and herself a former minister of environment, said that green issues in Sweden had been "set back 35 years".
It's not the first time that environmental issues in Sweden have been handled by other ministries.
Before the first dedicated environment ministry was established in 1987, the Ministry of Agriculture and then the combined Ministry of Environment and Energy dealt with those policy matters.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, one of the first in the world, was established back in 1967.
What is the new Swedish government doing about the climate crisis?In the Swedish government's new programme, unveiled last week, the environment is flagged as one of the seven key priority areas to tackle in the first year of office, although many initiatives are more closely linked with the energy crisis.
The policy agenda, outlined in a 62-page document, committed Sweden to meet current national and international goals - like the Paris Agreement - on reducing carbon emissions.
The government has also earmarked more money for nuclear power, with '¬36 billion credit guarantees to build new nuclear power stations, and also plans to introduce rules to make it more difficult to shut down existing nuclear plants.
And to ensure the safety of electricity supply in the shorter term (and to keep prices low), the government will investigate whether it's viable to reopen two nuclear power stations in the south of the country which were closed over the last few years.
A price cap for energy bills, funded by the government, will be introduced by November, and the country's network of charging points for electric vehicles will be expanded.
Doug Brignole (1960 - 2022) R.I.P
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 14:19
Doug Brignole , former Mr America and Mr Universe winner, author of ''The Physics of Resistance Exercise,'' lecturer, educator and coach offered his life as a test case for whether the COVID vaccines are safe or dangerous.
The clear conclusion: the vaccines are unsafe. I was right.
Please let's not have any more challenges like this.
According to Doug, those who have been saying the ''vaccines are safe and effective'' should now admit that they were misled, tell the world who misled you, so that other people can benefit by ignoring those fear mongers.
See the tweet below:
80 Canadian doctors have now ''died suddenly.'' An interview with Dr. Makis is taking place Monday, Oct 17 at 9:30am.
Remember when it was just 32 ? Seems like only yesterday (it was a month ago).
I still haven't heard back from the CMA on their comments from my earlier article on the excess deaths .
The Nightmare XBB COVID Variant That Beats Our Immunity Is Finally Here
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 14:17
A new subvariant of the novel-coronavirus called XBB dramatically announced itself earlier this week, in Singapore. New COVID-19 cases more than doubled in a day, from 4,700 on Monday to 11,700 on Tuesday'--and XBB is almost certainly why. The same subvariant just appeared in Hong Kong, too.
A highly mutated descendant of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that drove a record wave of infections starting around a year ago, XBB is in many ways the worst form of the virus so far. It's more contagious than any previous variant or subvariant. It also evades the antibodies from monoclonal therapies, potentially rendering a whole category of drugs ineffective as COVID treatments.
''It is likely the most immune-evasive and poses problems for current monoclonal antibody-based treatments and prevention strategy,'' Amesh Adalja, a public-health expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Daily Beast.
That's the bad news. The good news is that the new ''bivalent'' vaccine boosters from Pfizer and Moderna seem to work just fine against XBB, even though the original vaccines are less effective against XBB. They won't prevent all infections and reinfections, but they should significantly reduce the chance of severe infection potentially leading to hospitalization or death. ''Even with immune-evasive variants, vaccine protection against what matters most'--severe disease'--remains intact,'' Adalja said.
As the novel-coronavirus evolves to become more contagious and more resistant to certain types of drugs, keeping current on your boosters is ''the most impactful thing you can do in preparation for what might come,'' Peter Hotez, an expert in vaccine development at Baylor College, told The Daily Beast.
Scientists first identified XBB in August. It's one of several major subvariants that have evolved from the basic Omicron variant, piling on more and more mutations on key parts of the virus'--especially the spike protein, the part of the virus that helps it grab onto and infect our cells.
XBB has at least seven new mutations along the spike. Mutations that, taken together, make the subvariant harder for our immune systems to recognize'--and thus more likely to evade our antibodies and enter our cells to cause infection.
This accumulation of mutations isn't surprising. Changes along the spike protein have characterized most of the major new variants and subvariants of SARS-CoV-2 as the pandemic grinds toward its fourth year.
What is surprising is how much competition XBB has as it fights to become the next dominant form of the novel-coronavirus. Several other Omicron subvariants are also in circulation. All of them are highly evolved. Many of them actually share a subset of key mutations, especially on the spike.
So while XBB appears to be gaining traction in Asia, a close cousin of XBB called BQ.1.1 is spreading fast in Europe and some U.S. states. There are others in contention, too, including BA.2.75.2. Hotez calls these viral cousins the ''Scrabble'' subvariants, a nod to the classic word game and the jumble of scientific designations of closely related viruses.
The Scrabble variants are indicative of what scientists call ''convergent evolution.'' That is, separate viral sublineages that are picking up more and more of the same mutations. It's as though Omicron's children are all separately learning how to be a better virus than their parent, and becoming more like each other in the process.
Immune-escape is the common quality. At least two of the Scrabble subvariants'--XBB and BQ.1.1'--are pretty much unrecognizable to existing antibody therapies and somewhat less recognizable to the antibodies produced by the prime doses of the leading messenger-RNA vaccines.
In evading some of our therapies and, to a lesser extent, our original vaccines, XBB and its cousins are showing us where the novel-coronavirus is heading, genetically speaking. The current surge in infections in places like Singapore is a preview of a potential global surge, this coming winter or spring, as XBB or one of its relatives becomes dominant everywhere.
It's possible to mitigate the worst outcomes. Natural antibodies from past infection are still the best and most durable antibodies. They don't last forever. But while they do last'--a few months or potentially a whole year'--the chance of catching a bad case of COVID is pretty low.
So if you had an earlier form of Omicron'--say, during the wave of infections that started last Thanksgiving and peaked around February'--you might still have good antibodies for a few months. More than enough time to reinforce those fading natural antibodies with a dose of the latest mRNA boosters.
Pfizer and Moderna formulated these new boosters to include some genetic instructions specifically for attacking the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron, which is still the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2 but is disappearing fast as XBB and the other Scrabble subvariants outcompete it.
A pharmacist gives a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot during an event hosted by the Chicago Department of Public Health at the Southwest Senior Center on Sept. 9, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. The recently authorized booster vaccine protects against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the more recent omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
The bivalent boosters should work pretty well against forms of the virus that are closely related to BA.5, including the Scrabbles. ''That is because one of the two components [in the boosters] induces an immune response to BA.5, and most of the new Scrabble variants look more BA.5 like than [the] original China lineage,'' Hotez told The Daily Beast.
The implication, of course, is that we're eventually going to need another new booster in order to keep pace with the fast-evolving virus. Sure, the bivalent boosters work against BA.5 and BA.5's immediate descendants. But what about the next generation of Omicron subvariants, the one after XBB and its cousins?
More and more health officials are coming around to the idea of an annual COVID booster. U.S. president Joe Biden even endorsed the idea in a statement last month. ''As the virus continues to change, we will now be able to update our vaccines annually to target the dominant variant,'' Biden said. ''Just like your annual flu shot, you should get it sometime between Labor Day and Halloween.''
But one booster a year might not be enough if, as some epidemiologists fear, natural antibodies fade faster and the novel-coronavirus mutates at an accelerating rate. One concern, if it turns out we need twice-a-year new boosters, is whether industry can develop fresh jabs fast enough and health agencies can swiftly approve them.
There's an even bigger question, however. ''The more important factor is just having folks get a more recent booster,'' James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told The Daily Beast.
Even if a new booster is available every six months or so, will enough people get it to make a difference in the overall rates of severe illness and death? Booster uptake is declining globally, but especially in the United States, where just 10 percent of people have gotten the bivalent booster since federal regulators approved them in August.
XBB is a nasty little subvariant. But it's not the final word on COVID. The novel-coronavirus will keep mutating, and finding new ways to evade our antibodies, whether or not many people are paying attention.
The virus isn't done with us. Which means we can't be done with it. Get boosted. And be prepared to get boosted again in 2023.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER LOWEST IN 20 YEARS - The New York Times
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 14:14
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September 16, 1976
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MEMPHIS, Tenn., Sept. 15'--The drought'starved Mississippi River a major inland waterway, has ebbed to its lowest point in 20 years in the last month, spawning a rash of groundings, dangerous barge breakaways and costly delays just as the river moves into its period of heaviest traffic.
The Army Corps of Engineers has declared a state of ''emergency'type operations'' along a 400 mile stretch of the river north and south of Memphis, the stretch considered the most difficult to navigate in periods of low water. The corps reports that six to eight barges run agrovnd each day, compared to one week in normal times.
''We've got deep serious problems,'' said Col. Robert W. Lockridge, district engineer for the Memphis region, the area with the most serious problems. ''Well, not deep, and that's the problem. And we're not even into the dry season. That's just beginning, normally it's at its worst in December, a little in November.
The water level gage at Memphis registered minus 4.7 feet today, meaning the river is that far below what is considered normal. Yesterday the gage registered five feet below normal, just inches below the record of minus 5.4 feet registered in the dry season of 1956.
''I have no doubt at all we'll reach that figure, based on the forecasts, within the next few days, by next Sunday,'' Colonel Lockridge said.
Nine'Foot Channel Required
Barge operators are operating with limited loads, down to half what is normal, in some cases offloading onto shore for transport by truck around the worst sections of the river, adding millions of dollars to the cumulative cost of important products, such as grain, petroleum and steel.
''This low water this time of year very very unusual,'' said Colonel Lockridge. ''We just don't have the water we should.
The Corps is required to maintain channel nine feet deep and 300 feet wide at a minimum.
This is necessary because most fully loaded barges need the depth to clear bottom. The width is necessary because maneuverability is needed to follow the deepest channel, avoiding shifting sandbars on the bottom. The barges normally move on the river in ''tows'' '--a number of barges lashed together with steel cables and moved from behind by a large, blunt'nosed tug.
Now Employed Fewer Barges
A tow in normal times may have six or seven barges across and about eight deep. However, shippers are now using fewer barges in a tow to decrease maneuvering room needed in narrow, shallow channels.
''The worst problem is when you have a tow break up,'' said a corps official. ''What happens is that a tow, a cluster of barges, will run up on a sandbar that just shifted into being and if the wrench is strong enough, it will break apart, the cables snap'--and then you have a barge loaded with maybe 1,500 tons of steel floating out of control it can flip over, ram a bridge, anything. We have'nt had any flip over, but a number have broken in the last month, sometimes one a day.
Colonel Lockridge said that in the 400 mile stretch of river in the Memphis region, from Cairo, III. to Vicksburg, Miss., there were 19 sections now regarded as ''dangerous'' because of low water.
The company, he said, still has to pay the normal rate for each barge, fully loaded or not, thus its shipping costs are double.
Fewer Problems at St. Louis
To the north, in the St. Louis region, Col. Lee McKinney of the Corps of Engineers reported, ''some grounding,'' but generally fewer problems than in the Memphis region, though ''we're getting about half the water flow we normally get this time of year.
''We're coming into the heaviest time for shipping,'' he said. ''October is our heaviest month, when the grain goes south and fuel '--coal and oil '--for the winter heating, picks up going north in both regions, along some 700 miles of the river, the corps is using its available dredges, as well as those contracted from private companies, to clear sand bars that pop up because of silting and shifting of the bottom. ''We're using the dredges to put our fires,'' Colonel McKinney said. However, he added, the river in his region could drop three feet or more without creating extreme hazards.
In Memphis, however, Colonel Lotkridge said that if the river dropped to below minus 5.4 on the gage, ''we'll be in totally new territory. It's never been below that before.
Radio Station Issues Apology Statement for Playing Steel Panther
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:48
Steel Panther are one hell of a great time live, but some of their overtly sexual innuendos might not always fly over the heavily regulated airwaves. Yet somehow the sounds of the band's song "Glory Hole" found its way to the South African listening audience of LM Radio, leading the station to issue an apology.
So how did a song about a particular public restroom delight make its way to the airwaves of a station that touts playing "the smoothest tunes from the 70s to today?" The apology statement, which appears to have now been taken down but we managed to grab a screen shot of just prior, attempts to clarify.
"On behalf of LM Radio. I want to apologise unreservedly for the song 'Glory Hole' by Steel Panthers that was played just after 2pm yesterday (Sunday). This song, together with others from Steel Panthers, was inadvertently backed up onto our Server following the cyber-attack on our systems earlier this year. When an Hour is short-scheduled, the system automatically includes songs to fill the hour. 'Glory Hole' was unfortunately the song picked by the system," revealed the station in their statement.
They went on to add, "We have immediately deleted ALL Steel Panther songs from our Servers. I again apologise for this and assure you that the content of that song does not resonate with who we are as a radio station and as individuals. - Lyndon Johnstone."
lm radio statement on playing steel panther
Facebook: LM Radioloading...
The apology yielded a mix of responses, from those celebrating the station's decision to address the mishap ("The fact that you took time out of your day to apologize to your listeners, says a lot about you, and what you stand for," stated one commenter) to others who found the joy of a little Steel Panther inadvertently inserted into the station's playlist. "Thx for that LM Radio, in this day and age of PC and WOKE attitude you just marketed a lekker song that I would never have listened to. Brilliant stuff, Glory Hole rocks your c$*¥s!," wrote another commenter.
And yet another comically summed up the situation with their own humorous innuendo - "So an empty space was filled with a glory hole? Didn't think that one through either."
News of the mishap made its way back to Steel Panther who responded in a typically humorous way, commenting, "They say, 'We're sorry.' We say, 'You're welcome.'"
steel panther response to LM Radio
Facebook: Steel Pantherloading...
For all the new Steel Panther fans out there as a result of this miscue, well, you can find them on tour in the U.S., Canada and Australia to finish out the year. See dates and get details here. There's also a new album, On the Prowl, coming in 2023 and you can watch the always-NSFW video for the first new single, "It's Never Too Late (To Get Some Pussy Tonight)" here.
Best Rock + Metal Albums of 2022 (So Far)More albums have been released in 2022 than there are grains of sand on the world's beaches. Here's the best so far!
Starbucks Shop in the Pearl District Will Close Permanently on Friday, Citing Safety Concerns
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:25
A Starbucks shop in the heart of the Pearl District will close permanently come Friday, Oct. 21.
The closure is posted on the coffee shop's door at the corner of Northwest 11th Avenue and Lovejoy Street. Reached by phone and then in person on Monday, two baristas confirmed the impending closure to WW, saying management told them the closure is due to safety concerns. Starbucks' corporate office did not respond to WW's request for comment.
It is perhaps yet another signal of a city reeling from homelessness, mental illness and addiction. Those social ills regularly confront workers at retail establishments like Starbucks. But the closure of a location in the city's prime shopping neighborhood is significant.
This July, Starbucks announced a slate of 16 store closures in big cities across the county, citing safety issues, including two in Portland: one in downtown Portland and another in deep Southeast in the Gateway neighborhood. At the time, union organizers accused the company of union-busting. (While only 1% of stores nationwide are unionized, 19% of the stores that shuttered were union shops.)
The Pearl storefront closing this week was not included in that batch of summer shutterings. And there's no indication it is part of a national wave of closures.
Deze foto is geen bewijs dat Zelensky zijn video's in sc¨ne zet met behulp van green screens '' Nieuwscheckers
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:21
Let op: Deze factcheck is uitgevoerd op basis van de beschikbare informatie op de datum van publicatie. Lees hier over onze werkwijze.
BeweringZelensky doet alsof hij in Kiev is en zet zijn video's in sc¨ne met behulp van green screens.
OordeelOnwaar.
Bron van de beweringOnder andere in deze en deze tweets van 12 oktober 2022 wordt de suggestie gewekt dat Zelensky zijn video's, die hij met regelmaat op sociale media post, in sc¨ne zet met behulp van green screens. Er is een foto te zien waarop Zelensky omgeven wordt door groene schermen en opnameapparatuur. Green screens worden veelal gebruikt in de filmindustrie. De groene achtergrond kan met special effects worden bewerkt om bijvoorbeeld met de computer gegenereerde beelden op de achtergrond te plaatsen. De tweet hieronder suggereert dat de video van Zelensky in Kiev op die manier is gensceneerd.
Bron: Twitter. Waarom is dit onwaar?Er zijn twee elementen in de tweet die we kunnen onderzoeken. Allereerst is er de foto waarop Zelensky ogenschijnlijk voor een green screen staat met allerlei opnameapparatuur om hem heen. Als we de foto terugzoeken met Tineye , komen we een artikel van The New York Times van 16 juni 2022 tegen. Daarin verschijnt de foto met een onderschrift dat meldt dat de foto afkomstig is van Founders Forum.
De foto met onderschrift in het artikel van The New York Times.In het artikel staat een link naar een webpagina van Founders Forum . Daarop is de originele foto te zien. Daar wordt ook het bedrijf Evercoast genoemd. Evercoast verzorgde de digitalisering van Zelensky , waardoor hij als hologram kon verschijnen op verschillende digitale festivals, waaronder Founders Forum in Londen en The Next Web in Amsterdam. Op de Instagrampagina van Founders Forum is bijvoorbeeld een foto te vinden van het hologram in actie.
De foto zoals die verschijnt op de webpagina van Founders Forum. Het hologram van Zelensky op Founders Forum.In de video van de tweet is een Telegram-watermerk te zien. Op Telegram kunnen we zoeken naar ''RVvoenkory''. We komen dan verschillende kanalen tegen met die term in de naam, maar slechts (C)(C)n met die exacte naam . Als we door de media die op het kanaal zijn gepost scrollen, komen we de video van de tweet tegen. Die werd op het Telegramkanaal gepost op 10 oktober 2022 . De foto van Zelensky omgeven door green screens en opnameapparatuur heeft dus niets te maken met de video's die hij met regelmaat maakt voor zijn socialemediakanalen.
De Telegrampost waar de video van Twitter vandaan is gehaald.Als we de Instagrampagina van Zelensky bezoeken, komen we dezelfde video tegen. Ook deze is gepost op 10 oktober 2022. De video gaat over de recente bombardementen die Rusland uitvoerde op verschillende Oekra¯ense steden, waaronder de hoofdstad Kiev. Zelensky draagt andere kleren dan op de foto met de green screens.
Ook postte Zelensky al lang voordat zijn hologram werd opgenomen soortgelijke video's, zoals in deze tweet van 26 februari 2022. Daarnaast zijn er tal van video's waarop te zien is dat Zelensky met bijvoorbeeld vooraanstaande politici door Kiev loopt, zoals deze video met voormalig premier van het Verenigd Koninkrijk Boris Johnson. Hier is dus geen sprake van trucage.
De originele video van de Instagrampagina van Zelensky. Een video van Zelensky die hij op Twitter postte begin 2022, kort na de Russische invasie. ConclusieZelensky heeft een holografische opname van zichzelf gemaakt om te vertonen op verschillende digitale festivals. Daarvoor heeft hij voor green screens gestaan. Dat heeft verder niets te maken met de video's die hij met regelmaat op zijn socialemediakanalen post vanuit Kiev. Dergelijke video's maakte hij al vanaf het begin van de Russische invasie. Er is hier dus geen sprake van trucage.
Altria sells U.S. IQOS rights to Philip Morris for $2.7 bln | Reuters
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:12
Oct 20 (Reuters) - U.S. cigarette maker Altria Group Inc said on Wednesday industry peer Philip Morris International Inc (PM.N) has agreed to pay $2.7 billion for the exclusive right to sell IQOS heated tobacco products in the United States.
IQOS is a smokeless tobacco heating device that was developed by Philip Morris and sold in the United States by Altria until the U.S. trade regulator banned the import and sale of the product last year following patent claims from rival R.J. Reynolds.
Philip Morris is looking to overturn the ban.
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Altria, which sells cigarette brands like Marlboro in the United States, was spun off from Philip Morris International in 2008 when the company wanted to separate its U.S. and overseas businesses.
Altria said one of its subsidiaries had an option to extend the IQOS contract until April 2029 after it had reached certain milestones. However, Philip Morris disagreed with Altria's position.
"The parties were unable to reach a long-term agreement and decided to enter into the Agreement to transition and ultimately conclude their relationship," Altria said in a statement.
Philip Morris, which reports quarterly results later on Thursday, aims to resume supply of IQOS products in the United States by the first half of 2023.
Altria still holds the rights to sell IQOS in the United States until May 2024, after which it transitions to Philip Morris.
"We are ready to invest behind IQOS to bring it to market at scale across the U.S.," Philip Morris Chief Executive Officer Jacek Olczak said.
Altria said it has already received $1 billion from Philip Morris and will receive the remainder by July 2023.
Separately, Philip Morris raised its buyout offer for Swedish Match AB in a last-ditch effort to get shareholder support for its $16 billion move into the fast-growing market for cigarettes alternatives.
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Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama, Deborah Sophia, Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and in Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Juby Babu; Editing by Stephen Coates and Christopher Cushing
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Philip Morris sweetens buyout bid for Swedish Match | Reuters
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:12
Moist powder tobacco "snus" cans are seen on shelves at a Swedish Match store in Stockholm, Sweden October 24, 2018. REUTERS/Anna Ringstrom
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Marlboro maker Philip Morris International Inc on Thursday raised its buyout offer for Swedish Match AB in a last-ditch effort to get shareholder support for its $16 billion move into the fast-growing market for alternatives to cigarettes.
Philip Morris (PM.N) increased its bid by more than 9% to 116 Swedish crowns per share and said that the offer was its "best and final price".
Swedish Match (SWMA.ST) shares rose 1.5%, but were still 4 crowns short of the offer price, indicating that some investors were holding out for more as the total value of the new offer remained unchanged from the original one due to the appreciation in the U.S. currency against the Swedish krona.
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DNB Markets analyst Jesper Ingildsen said some investors may also be waiting for EU antitrust approval, which Philip Morris expects in late October.
The revised bid comes as Philip Morris bought rights to sell its IQOS heated tobacco products in the United States from Altria Group Inc for $2.7 billion. read more
The company, which was spun off from Altria in 2008, has said it wants smoke-free products to account for more than half of sales by 2025.
Philip Morris made an all-cash offer of 106 crowns per share for Stockholm-based Swedish Match in May. Since then, the company has been under pressure to increase the offer as hedge funds, including Elliott Management Corp, have bolstered their stakes in Swedish Match in anticipation of a sweetened bid.
Bloomberg reported in July that Elliott, which raised its stake in Swedish Match to 7.25% from 5.5% in September, was planning to oppose the deal as it was not in favor of the offer terms, when the bid was first revealed.
A source told Reuters last month that Elliott was also considering taking a seat on the board of the Stockholm-based maker of Zyn nicotine pouches.
Elliott declined to comment on Philip Morris' revised offer.
John Hempton, co-founder of Sydney-based Bronte Capital that owns 1% of Swedish Match, said he was still not intending to accept the bid, despite the increased offer price
"It is wonderful news. Philip Morris has announced that they are not waiving the 90 percent acceptance condition. The deal will fail and Swedish Match will remain an independent company," Hempton said.
By Swedish law, 90% of Swedish Match shareholders need to approve the offer before Nov. 4.
Pontus Dackmo, CEO of Protean Funds who has 500,000 shares in Swedish Match, said he was still not impressed by Philip Morris' latest offer.
"Let's just say it's silly on an almost biblical scale not to neither compensate for the USD/SEK appreciation since the launch of the bid, nor the ongoing inflation," Dackmo said.
He, however, declined to comment on whether the fund would tender its shares in light of the increased offer.
Swedish Match did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the revised offer.
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Reporting by Akriti Sharma, Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru and Marie Mannes in Gdansk; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Anil D'Silva
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Marie MannesThomson Reuters
Gdansk-based reporter covering the nordic stock markets and general business news.
A global epidemic of cancer among people younger than 50 could be emerging | CNN
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:38
CNN '--
Iana dos Reis Nunes was 43 when she told her husband that she could feel something like a bubble in her abdomen when she lay on her side.
An ultrasound scan found spots on her liver, which led to blood tests and a colonoscopy.
''There was a tumor the size of your fist, and she had no pain and no problems with bowel movements or anything like that,'' recalled Brendan Higgins, her husband, who works as an artist in New York City.
By the time doctors found it, dos Reis Nunes' colon cancer had spread. It was stage 4, meaning it had reached other parts of her body.
The family was blindsided.
''She had had a baby 15 months prior to her diagnosis, so she'd had a million blood tests, you know, care from doctors and sonograms '... and there was no indication of anything, nothing whatsoever.''
When cancer strikes an adult under the age of 50, doctors call it an early-onset case. These cancers at younger ages are becoming more common.
A new review of cancer registry records from 44 countries found that the incidence of early-onset cancers is rising rapidly for colorectal and 13 other types of cancers, many of which affect the digestive system, and this increase is happening across many middle- and high-income nations.
The review's authors say the upswing in younger adults in happening in part because of more sensitive testing for some cancer types, such as thyroid cancer. But testing doesn't completely account for the trend, says co-author Shuji Ogino, a professor of pathology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Ogino says the spike is due to an unhealthy stew of risk factors that are probably working together, some which are known and others that need to be investigated.
He notes that many of these risks have established links to cancer like obesity, inactivity, diabetes, alcohol, smoking, environmental pollution and Western diets high in red meat and added sugars, not to mention shift work and lack of sleep.
''And there are many unknown risk factors as well, like a pollutant or like food additives. Nobody knows,'' he said.
Ogino thinks the fact that so many of these cancers '' eight out of 14 studied '' involve the digestive system points to a big role for diet and the bacteria that live in our gut, called the microbiome.
''I think this actually is an important piece because what it's pointing to is changing exposure prevalences at early ages, that are producing earlier-onset cancers,'' says Dr. Elizabeth Platz, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who also edits the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, who was not involved in the review.
Take obesity. Once, it was rare. Not only has it become more common to have a dangerously high body mass index, but people are becoming obese earlier in life, even in childhood, so these cancer risks are building decades earlier than they did for previous generations.
The surge in early-onset colorectal cancer '' the cancer dos Reis Nunes had '' has been particularly steep.
Ogino's review found that across the years of the study, the average yearly climb in colorectal cancer in young adults was about 2% in the US, Australia, Canada, France and Japan. In the UK, it's almost 3% per year in England, Scotland and Wales. In Korea and Ecuador, it is roughly 5% per year.
''It doesn't seem big, but you can think about inflation: If it's 2% every year, it's going to be a big change in 10 years or 20 years, you know?'' Ogino said. ''It's not trivial.''
Between 1988 and 2015, those yearly upticks pushed the rates of early colorectal cancers from nearly 8 per every 100,000 people to almost 13 per 100,000 '' a 63% increase, according to another recent review published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Studies show that about 1 in 10 colorectal cancers in the US is diagnosed in someone who is between the ages of 20 and 50.
Ogino's review found something called a cohort effect, meaning the risk of an early-onset cancer has increased for each successive group of people born at a later time. Those born the 1990s have a higher risk of developing an early-onset cancer in their lifetime than those born in the 1980s, for example.
Other malignancies going up in younger Americans include those in the breast, endometrium, gall bladder and bile duct, kidney, pancreas, thyroid, stomach and plasma cells in the blood '' a cancer called myeloma.
Dr. Karen Knudsen, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, calls the review ''a call to arms.''
Cancer is a serious diagnosis at any age, but when it shows up in younger adults, the tumors are typically more aggressive, and they often go undetected for longer because routine cancer screening isn't recommended for some of the most common cancer types, such as breast and prostate, until age 50.
''Not only were these early-onset type of cancers more likely to be diagnosed when the tumor is at a more advanced stage, it was also in some of the reports that were tabulated here associated with worse survival outcome,'' Knudsen said.
Dos Reis Nunes started treatment in 2017 at Sloan Kettering and Mount Sinai cancer centers in New York.
Her husband remembers the doctors explaining that she was one of a growing number of younger patients they were seeing.
''I recall it being a point of discussion in both hospitals that people getting colon cancer were getting younger and younger, more and more, and they couldn't explain it,'' Higgins said.
Higgins says he spent a lot of time in online support groups, looking for answers and comfort.
''And there were a lot of young people in those groups,'' he said. ''It wasn't populated by people in their 50s and 60s. It's like 30s, 40s, 50s. So I was very conscious that this wasn't an old person's disease anymore,'' he said.
In fact, routine screening '' with colonoscopies and tests that check for blood in stool '' has driven down cases of colorectal cancer and made it less fatal in older adults, even as cases have soared in those under 50.
Knudsen says three things should happen in the wake of large, definitive reviews like this one.
''One is a call for research so that we truly do understand some of the specific trends that we are seeing,'' she says.
Second, she wants to see more awareness of the risks, which will hopefully help people modify their behavior to control what risks they can.
Third, she says, groups that make recommendations for cancer screenings should re-evaluate when those screenings should start. It could be that some should start at younger ages.
In fact, that's already happening.
Last year, the rising incidence of colon cancer in younger adults prompted the US Preventive Services Task Force to lower the age at which it recommends doctors start screening people for colon cancer to 45.
''If you're heading to 45, you should really be thinking about this and not waiting until 50 or 55,'' Higgins said.
Higgins said his wife's first 12 months of cancer treatment were almost miraculous, ''like remarkable reactions to the chemo.''
''And then '' I read about this actually '' it can unravel really quickly,'' he said. ''And once it started unraveling, it just went downhill extremely quickly.''
His wife died in 2019, leaving behind their daughter, Maeve, who had not yet turned 4, an 11-year-old and a 20-year-old.
''We had a great love story,'' he said. ''I'm still bitter. Still angry.
''Life is OK. Everybody is fine. But I'm like, deep down, I'm seething that it happened to her. She was a really good person.''
Cheaper hearing aids hit stores today, available over the counter for first time | Ars Technica
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 12:27
Volume up '-- Often thousands of dollars and prescription only, aids now start at $199 at Walmart. Beth Mole - Oct 17, 2022 10:41 pm UTC
Enlarge / In this photo illustration, a Lexie Lumen hearing aid rests on a pharmacy counter at a Walgreens store on October 17 in Los Angeles. Walgreens is making Lexie Lumen hearing aids available for sale over the counter for adults beginning today following an FDA ruling allowing over-the-counter sales for hearing devices.
Today, Americans can buy cheaper hearing aids for mild-to-moderate hearing loss from a range of common retailers, including Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart, without a prescription'--finally making the critical health devices more affordable and accessible to the estimated 28.8 million adults who could benefit from them.
The US Food and Drug Administration estimates the change could lower the average cost of obtaining a hearing aid by as much as $3,000. As of today, Walgreens is selling an over-the-counter model similar to hearing aids that range from $2,000 to $8,000 per pair at specialty retailers for just $799 per pair on its shelves, the White House said Monday. Likewise, Walmart said that, as of today, it is selling over-the-counter hearing aids ranging from $199 to $999 per pair, which are comparable to prescription hearing aids priced at $4,400 to $5,500 per pair.
The move is years in the making. In 2017, Congress passed a bipartisan proposal directing the FDA to set rules for selling over-the-counter devices. But the rules were slow to come. In July 2021, President Biden signed an executive order spurring the FDA to produce the rules, which the agency finalized in August of this year.
"Hearing loss is a critical public health issue that affects the ability of millions of Americans to effectively communicate in their daily social interactions," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in August. "Establishing this new regulatory category will allow people with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss to have convenient access to an array of safe, effective and affordable hearing aids from their neighborhood store or online."
Advertisement In the past, the barriers to hearing aids were high for many Americans. They required a medical exam and for patients to obtain a prescription or be fitted by an audiologist.
The Hearing Industries Association, a trade group that represents hearing aid manufacturers, previously worked to undermine the effectiveness of new over-the-counter devices, according to a congressional investigation. Though HIA now says it supports the rule, it still pushes for people to seek specialty care for diagnosing hearing impairments and fitting and using devices.
"Hearing loss is unique to each person, and most do not know if their condition is mild, moderate, or greater, caused by another medical issue or something as simple as ear wax," HIA President Kate Carr said in an August statement. "HIA supports the final rule and recommends that the best treatment for hearing loss involves seeing a hearing professional."
While independent experts noted that there's nothing wrong with consulting an expert for those who can, they also said consumers could navigate the situation on their own. There are also resources online to help people through the process. For instance, the Hearing Loss Association of America, a consumer advocacy group, provides a tip sheet on who might consider an over-the-counter hearing aid and what features to look for when buying one. Tips for the latter include looking for generous return policies, convenient connectivity, adjustable amplification, water/sweat resistance, and a long-lasting or rechargeable battery.
Parenting Young Kids Is Grueling Up Close but Precious in Retrospect - The Atlantic
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 00:19
Older parents are always telling parents of young children to cherish every second; it will be gone in a flash. But it's very difficult advice to follow in the thick of it.
Christopher Anderson / MagnumOctober 19, 2022, 1:35 PM ETMost trips to the grocery store are not particularly memorable, but there's one I'll never forget. It was the spring of 2019, and my then-four-month-old was in a car seat nestled into the shopping cart while her sister squirmed in the built-in seat. I was going about my usual business as a newly minted stay-at-home mom of two under 2'--desperately cramming my to-do list into the brief and unpredictable windows between nursing sessions, diaper changes, and temper tantrums'--when an older woman cut into my bleary-eyed view. ''Enjoy it,'' she told me. I nodded, smiled, and turned away to reach for something on a shelf, and she doubled down: ''I'm serious, enjoy it. It goes so fast.''
This is something parents of young children hear ad nauseam and in a variety of ways: Don't blink; cherish every second; it will be gone in a flash. It's simple-enough advice'--so simple that it hardly seems worth saying at all. Yet people feel compelled to give it, perhaps because it's very difficult advice to follow.
Read: Becoming a parent during the pandemic was the hardest thing I've ever done
I'll stop to make the usual caveats: I love my daughters. I wouldn't trade them for the world. But there's no question that the first few years of their lives have been the hardest of mine. Some stretches, particularly at the height of the pandemic, were nothing short of grueling. Things have gotten more manageable since, but I've never turned down an opportunity to get away from my kids for a couple of hours. I rejoiced when my 3-year-old started preschool this fall. I wouldn't say I'm cherishing every second.
It is a small comfort that I am not alone in struggling to relish this phase of parenthood. Research on parenting and happiness is mixed, but much of it suggests that child-rearing isn't particularly enjoyable. In the United States (and in some but not all other advanced industrialized nations), becoming a parent takes a toll on well-being, which doesn't recover until the kids leave the house. Nevertheless, if my elders are any indication, many people come to recall the chaotic early years of parenting very fondly. There is even some data to back this up: In a study published last year, researchers asked people over the age of 50 in several European countries to retrospectively assess when they were happiest. Respondents consistently pointed to their early 30s'--a finding partially explained, for those who had kids, by the fact that those years lined up with when their kids were born.
It's hard to know what to make of the knowledge that in time, I'll pine for these days I often find myself laboring through. By some accounts, the me of the future will simply misremember what life is like right now. The sociologist Daniel Gilbert once likened a day spent caring for a 3-year-old to a baseball game that remains scoreless until the bottom of the ninth. Fans remember the thrilling moments of the game-winning home run and not much else. According to that theory, I'll forget the screeching and the mess of getting my 3-year-old out the door in the morning, and remember only the delight that passes across her face when we first make eye contact at school pickup.
But conversations with parents of children who have flown the nest suggest it's more complicated than that. Most of those I consulted had not forgotten the crushing difficulty of that era. Yet they found themselves longing for it anyway.
Alison Woods, a children's-book author and mother of three, told me that when her kids were small, she once told her own mother that she wished she could run away. Christine Hohlbaum, an author and a mother of two, has spent much of her writing career calling attention to the chaos and strain of caring for small children. Still, they and other parents I spoke with admitted that as their roles and relationships with their kids evolved over time, they came to view those early years in a new light.
For one thing, as parenting gets easier in some ways, it gets harder in others. The earliest years of parenting are most demanding of time and energy, most likely to cause ''role overload,'' and most disruptive to one's sleep, work, and marriage. Yet they are not necessarily the worst for well-being. According to some research, parental satisfaction and fulfillment declines, and stress rises slightly, as children age into school and then adolescence. This makes some sense: Although the duties of caring for a small child who can do nothing for himself are all-encompassing and relentless, they are also fairly straightforward. But as children age, their problems become more complex. ''Instead of 'I have a boo-boo; I need a kiss,' you're looking at 'I'm not sure what I want to do with my life' and 'My crush doesn't love me back,''' Vered DeLeeuw, a food blogger with two grown daughters, told me. And while a parent's responsibility to solve their children's problems diminishes as those kids approach adulthood, the desire to do so never does; the pressure of tending to their children's every need is supplanted by the helplessness of being unable to do so. ''All you can do is give advice when they ask for it, then step aside and let them deal with life's challenges,'' DeLeeuw said. That means watching your kids make mistakes and accepting that there is suffering in this world from which we are unable to shield them.
Read: There is no road map for the longest phase of parenthood
Other parents note that the nature of the relationship between parent and child changes over time in ways that are hard to stomach. One of the reasons parenting gradually gets less demanding is that parents become less central to a child's happiness. School and friends, and eventually partners and work, take precedence, and parents shift into the child's periphery. Although the utter physical dependency of a small child on their parents can be overwhelming, it comes with an intimacy that is impossible to preserve as the child matures. ''I have a great relationship with my daughter now,'' Marie Graham, a mother of one from Salford, England, who runs a wellness company, told me. ''But the intensity of the relationship you have with your young child, you're never going to re-create.'' Regardless of how close my daughter and I remain, there will come a time when she no longer seeks comfort by crawling into my lap. Whatever liberation comes with that transition will be bittersweet.
All of this is difficult to appreciate as it happens, for various reasons. Beyond the particular financial and logistical strains of raising kids in modern industrialized economies, early parenting is physically uncomfortable, Hohlbaum pointed out. It's hard to admire the curl taking shape in a child's hair when you haven't had a full night's rest in months and are covered in another human's bodily fluids. Likewise, the joys of parenthood can be overshadowed by the fear of screwing it up. ''We're really trying not to make any life-defining mistakes,'' Woods said. Graham suspects that the singularity of the bond between a parent and a young child gets lost in the overwhelm and monotony of living it every moment of every day.
Only with distance from the minute-to-minute anxieties of caring for a small child does its sweeping beauty come into full view. But this isn't so much a shortcoming of youth as it is a gift of age. The experiences that follow early parenthood enrich our understanding of it, allowing us to ponder it anew. Hindsight allows us to put suffering into context and recognize the purpose it served in our lives. Hohlbaum likened it to laying bricks in a road: Only after we find out where the path leads are we able to see the purpose each brick served in getting us there. People with grown children have a deeper appreciation for the initial years of parenthood, because they are observing it from a perspective that only time can grant.
There's no sense in trying to cherish every moment of early parenting as it happens, Graham told me. Too much is going on, and much of it isn't enjoyable. But keep an eye out for the precious moments amid the tumult and chaos, she said. Do what you can to imprint them in your memory'--write them down, or share them with friends. Collect them like gems, so that when your arms are finally free and your eyes are a little clearer, you can turn them over in your hand.
Bond Market Woes Keep Mounting, Spreading Pain to Stocks - WSJ
Wed, 19 Oct 2022 04:20
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled above 4% last week for the first time since 2008 following another hot inflation reading
Updated Oct. 17, 2022 1:13 pm ETPressure on beaten-down U.S. bonds is showing few signs of relenting, driving Treasury yields to new highs and threatening further pain across financial markets.
With bond investors already confronting their worst returns in living memory, Treasury yields kept on climbing last week in response to more bad news on inflation, stubbornly strong economic-activity data and continuing turmoil in overseas markets. Yields rise when bond prices fall.
By...
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Pressure on beaten-down U.S. bonds is showing few signs of relenting, driving Treasury yields to new highs and threatening further pain across financial markets.
With bond investors already confronting their worst returns in living memory, Treasury yields kept on climbing last week in response to more bad news on inflation, stubbornly strong economic-activity data and continuing turmoil in overseas markets. Yields rise when bond prices fall.
By the end of Friday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was 4.005%. That marked its 11th straight week of gains and first time it had closed above 4% since October 2008, around the height of a financial crisis that ushered in a new era of ultralow interest rates. The yield edged up to 4.012% Monday.
Tumbling bond prices and surging yields have hurt not only bonds but stocks this year. The ability to earn a better forward-looking return on Treasurys'--which are seen as essentially risk-free if held to maturity'--has caused a sharp decline in the prices that investors will pay for riskier assets.
The big problem for investors is that the forces that have battered bonds all year aren't obviously easing, even as additional challenges mount.
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Last Thursday's consumer-price index report joined a recent litany showing inflation being even hotter than economists had expected. That drove investors to once again lift their expectations for how high the Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark interest rate'--the trajectory of which plays a decisive role in determining the level of Treasury yields.
Investors, meanwhile, have been encouraged by moves by the U.K. government to reverse most of its proposed tax cuts'--the source of a huge selloff in U.K. bonds that has sent shock waves globally. But they remain generally nervous about foreign demand for Treasurys, as interest rates rise sharply overseas, potentially drawing money away from the U.S.
''The fundamental issue is still one of unprecedented tightening by central banks, as a response to inflation and the fact that inflation is broad-based [and] persistent,'' said Priya Misra, head of global rates strategy at TD Securities in New York.
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Investors have already made a historic adjustment to their interest-rate bets.
Coming into 2022, most Wall Street banks and investors believed that the Fed would raise its federal-funds rate no more than three times, in traditional 0.25 percentage point increments, to around 0.75% by the end of the year. Now, that rate is above 3%, and interest-rate derivatives show that investors believe that there is a meaningful chance it could reach 5% by March.
Investors' expectations for the so-called terminal fed-funds rate are especially important for shorter-term Treasurys, such as two-year notes, since the Fed is likely to leave rates at that level for at least several months.
The anticipated terminal rate, however, still powers moves in longer-term Treasurys such as the 10-year note, which tend to have a larger impact on household and business borrowing costs.
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Given the high probability of a recession and rate cuts in the next decade, shorter-term yields are currently higher than longer-term yields. Nonetheless, many analysts say, it could be hard for that gap to expand much further, because investors are generally reluctant to buy lower-yielding bonds when they can own higher-yielding ones.
Illustrating this point, the two-year note went from yielding 0.9 percentage point less than the 10-year note in early January to yielding 0.5 percentage point more in early August, according to Tradeweb. Since then, however, the additional yield on the two-year note hasn't increased even as interest-rate expectations have climbed substantially.
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For investors, that means a major debate remains about where interest rates will peak, regardless of what happens afterward.
Treasury yields, more than the fed-funds rate, help determine borrowing costs across the economy. Forecasting the terminal fed-funds rate, therefore, requires determining whether current yields are sufficient to tame inflation, or whether Fed officials will start to project even higher rates to tighten financial conditions further.
Humbled by recent experience, many investors are prepared for the latter outcome, implying an extension of the turmoil in both bond and stock markets.
One reason is recent economic data, which have provided minimal evidence that either economic growth or inflation is subsiding.
As of Friday, a closely watched economic model run by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta suggested that real U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.8% pace in the three months ended Sept. 30, a substantial uptick over the previous quarter. According to the Labor Department, core consumer prices rose 0.6% in September from the previous month'--keeping annualized inflation far above the Fed's 2% target.
There is a real risk that the fed-funds rate doesn't ''peak at 5'--maybe it's 5.5, maybe it's a bit beyond that, and that would be because inflation is enduring, and that's because consumer spending is holding up and that's because the labor market is still too strong,'' said Christopher Sullivan, chief investment officer at the United Nations Federal Credit Union.
Mr. Sullivan said he has remained conservative in the funds he manages, protecting against the risk of rising yields by investing more in cash and floating-rate debt.
Still, other investors say Treasury yields are attractive at current levels, arguing that current economic data can be misleading because of the lagged effects of monetary policy. Any stabilization in yields would help support equities, leaving stock prices to be mainly dictated by the outlook for corporate earnings.
The Fed is doing a lot, but ''all of this takes time to make its way into the inflation figures,'' said Pramod Atluri, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Capital Group.
Mr. Atluri said bond prices could decline in the near term as the inflation outlook remains uncertain but should rebound over the next 12 months.
The Fed, he added, is unlikely to raise rates much above 5%, but if it did signal that it was moving there, it would likely deepen recession fears, keeping longer-term yields relatively anchored.
Write to Sam Goldfarb at sam.goldfarb@wsj.com
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VIDEO - EU proposes joint gas purchasing and 'dynamic' cap to curb prices | Euronews
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:31
The European Commission has proposed an EU-wide cap to rein in surging gas prices, but the measure will apply only in cases of extreme volatility and speculation.
President Ursula von der Leyen also put forward plans to set up joint purchases of gas and establish solidarity rules among member states to cope with potential shortages.
The proposed cap will act as an emergency tool and be triggered when gas prices across Europe's trading hubs pass a certain threshold, which is yet to be defined.
The measure falls short of the forceful intervention advocated by some EU countries, including Italy, Greece, Poland and Belgium, who had called for a broader price cap on all gas imports and all gas transactions.
A more targeted price cap on the gas used for power generation was equally excluded from the Commission's new package, as the executive continues to examine the potential risks of this measure.
"We believe it merits to be considered for introduction at EU level," von der Leyen said, leaving the door open.
Here's a round-up of the latest energy measures proposed by the European Commission.
A cap to tame speculationBrussels intends to set up a new mechanism to contain excessive volatility at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), Europe's leading trading hub, and other similar venues.
The TTF is a virtual marketplace where providers and clients trade gas supplies. Although not every company uses the TTF, its prices serve as the main reference for Europe's entire energy sector.
Since Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine, the platform has seen abrupt ups and downs in gas prices, as uncertainty over security of supplies fuelled speculation.
In August, the TTF reached an all-time record price of '¬339 per megawatt-hour, driving electricity bills along the way. After the peak, prices began a steady downward trend, hitting a three-month low in early October.
Monday closed at '¬128 per megawatt-hour.
The proposed cap will act as a ceiling and effectively limit the maximum gas price at which the TTF is allowed to trade. It will be a dynamic cap, rather than fixed, and will mimic market trends.
The actual range is still up in the air and will be discussed among capitals in the coming days. Since the cap will be triggered only in situations of extreme volatility, the range is expected to be wide.
In parallel, the European Commission plans to establish another cap to contain price spikes of energy derivatives, the financial assets that companies use to secure fuel supplies in the medium and long term.
"Having a price cap as a backstop solution in case of an emergency situation is a good way forward that can bring some calm to the market, as extreme volatility will not be tolerated any longer," Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at Bruegel, told Euronews in reaction to the announcement.
A new market, but just for LNGThe European Commission says both caps will be a temporary solution while the EU works to build a new trading hub, distinct from the TTF, that will be dedicated solely to liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Despite being expensive, LNG has become the go-to commodity to replace Russian pipeline gas. Since January, the EU has been breaking records of LNG imports, mainly from the US, as a period of economic slowdown in China frees up international competition.
But this huge LNG boost has not been properly reflected at the TTF because this hub continues to be overly influenced by pipeline supplies and is therefore vulnerable to Russia's manipulation.
A brand-new benchmark will offer "fairer" and more "transparent" LNG prices, the Commission says.
The goal is to have the LNG hub up and running by April. However, its success will depend on the reaction of market operators, who might reject or embrace the new platform.
Joint purchasesAlso by April, the Commission intends to have in place a proper system that will allow member states to buy gas supplies as one single client.
"We know that we are strong when we act together," von der Leyen said.
The idea of joint procurement has been touted since mid-2021 but gained traction in recent weeks as countries rushed to fill their underground stages and drove prices further up.
The next filling season is projected to be arduous and expensive because the EU will no longer rely on Russian pipeline gas. The Commission estimates there is a gap of "un-contracted" gas demand of up to 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) '' around 25% of what the EU consumed before Russia launched a war.
Joint procurement could help bridge the gap and ensure all countries, regardless of their purchasing power, have access to gas supplies at affordable '' or at least tolerable '' prices.
As a first step, member states will be asked to pool their gas demand to identify their main needs and seek more attractive offers from international suppliers.
Then, on a voluntary basis, European companies will be permitted to join forces as a consortium and buy gas collectively, in line with competition rules.
Russia will be excluded from the joint procurement.
At the same time, the European Commission will intensify bilateral negotiations with its main suppliers, such as the US, Norway, Canada and Azerbaijan, to secure lower tariffs.
Solidarity rulesIn its latest package, the Commission urges member states to sign so-called solidarity deals between each other. These agreements allow gas to flow across borders from one country with enough gas to another one suffering from acute shortages.
As of today, out of 40 possible solidarity deals, only six have been signed.
The Commission proposes default solidarity rules that will automatically apply in all the cases where a deal is not in place. Solidarity will be extended to ensure critical gas-fired power plants keep running and to facilitate the distribution of LNG supplies across the bloc.
The rules will compel neighbouring states to respond to a request of help within 12 hours and deliver the necessary supplies within three days.
The assisted country will have to paid a financial compensation based on average market prices.
Financial supportOn top of these exceptional market instruments, the Commission is proposing measures to provide greater financial support for companies facing liquidity issues.
EU rules for state aid will be amended to ensure governments can inject the necessary funds into businesses that face bankruptcy or insolvency.
The threshold for energy derivatives will be raised from '¬3 billion to '¬4 billion while the list of eligible assets will be expanded to include non-cash collateral. This will alleviate the pressure for energy companies who need to secure expensive supplies for the medium and long term.
Notably, the Commission plans to turn nearly '¬40 billion in cohesion funds, which are traditionally used to finance development projects in poorer regions, into economic support to help vulnerable households and SMEs under stress.
The new energy package will be discussed by EU leaders at a two-day summit later this week and further fleshed out by energy ministers on Tuesday.
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VIDEO - After Forcing The CDC To Release V-SAFE Data, Excessive COVID Vaccine Injuries Are Made Public!
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:08
On behalf of ICAN, vaccine and civil rights attorney Aaron Siri sued the CDC to get their V-SAFE data. V-Safe is a new smartphone-based CDC program that allows users to register after getting a Covid-19 vaccine and provide health check-ins. Why did it take 463 days for the CDC to release this important data?
"Now that we have [the V-SAFE data] and we've looked at that data, of the 10 million users within V-SAFE, 7.7 percent of them had to seek medical care after vaccination. This is an incredibly high percentage!"
''Now that we have the data we can see that getting the vaccine caused 25 percent of people who got the shot, within this dataset of 10 million people, to miss work.''
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Check out the alarming V-SAFE data here:
https://www.icandecide.org/v-safe-data/
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VIDEO - Italy's Meloni scolds ex-PM Berlusconi over 'sweet letters' to Putin | Euronews
Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:00
By Andrea Carlo with Joshua Askew ' Updated: 19/10/2022 - 21:35
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi visit a memorial to the soldiers from Sardinia killed in the Crimean War, near Mou -
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Credit: APItaly's PM-to-be Giorgia Meloni issued a stark warning to Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday over his alleged friendship with Vladimir Putin.
The far-right leader said the former Italian prime minister risked losing influence in any new government, amid controversy sparked by a leaked recording in which Berlusconi says he has ''rekindled'' ties with the Russian President.
Berlusconi's team deny these allegations.
''Italy will never be the weak link of the West with us in government,'' Meloni said in a statement late Wednesday, putting forward a strong pro-Nato, pro-European position.
The leaked audio was allegedly taken from a meeting in which Berlusconi -- recently elected Senator -- was talking to his party's new parliamentarians.
''Russian ministers have said on several occasions that we are at war with them because we are providing arms and funding to Ukraine,'' he reportedly said.
''I can't personally give my opinion because if it is told to the press it will turn out to be a disaster, but I am very, very, very worried. I rekindled relations with President Putin, a little bit. I knew him as a peaceful and sensible person.''
The controversial ex-premier -- nicknamed 'il Cavaliere' (''the Knight'') -- currently leads the Forza Italia party, which is part of the Giorgia Meloni-led right-wing coalition that emerged victorious in the country's snap general election on 25 September.
The audio file further suggests Putin - whose invasion of Ukraine and human rights record has made him a pariah among European leaders - gifted Berlusconi 20 bottles of vodka for his 86th birthday on 29 September along with a ''very sweet letter'', to which the latter returned the favour by sending Lambrusco wine.
Berlusconi added that Putin deemed him ''the first of his five true friends''.
Berlusconi's team have denied the allegations. Nevertheless, the two leaders have engaged in a widely-publicised, decades-long friendship, with various exchanges of gifts.
On Putin's 65th birthday in 2017, the Italian ex-PM sent the Russian President a duvet cover which depicts the two leaders shaking hands.
More recently, Berlusconi gave a televised interview -- days before the September election -- where he claimed Putin had been ''pushed'' into invading Ukraine, and wanted to replace President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with ''decent people''.
The new recording, published by news agency La Presse on Monday, has rocked the right-wing bloc, which is currently in the process of forming a government.
The coalition has already been scrutinised for its bubbling tensions and rivalries, especially between Berlusconi himself and the leader, Meloni - whom he was recently caught calling ''patronising, overbearing, arrogant and offensive''.
Moreover, other members of the rightist bloc, namely Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, have been criticised for their stances on Russia, including their former endorsement of Moscow.
Giorgia Meloni, who is set to become Italy's new and first female prime minister, has taken a pro-NATO and strongly anti-Putin stance. Following the leaked recording, she has affirmed that Italy's stance on Russia would not change.
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