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www.aljazeera.com
1 year ago
Europe news

Russia pockets $24bn from selling energy to China, India

Russia has pocketed $24 billion from selling energy to China and India in just three months following its invasion of Ukraine, showing how higher global prices are limiting efforts by the US and Europe to punish President Vladimir Putin.
China spent $18.9 billion on Russian oil, gas and coal in the three months to the end of May, almost double the amount a year earlier, latest customs data show.
Meanwhile, India shelled out $5.1 billion in the same period, more than five times the value of a year ago.
That's an extra $13 billion in revenue from both countries compared to the same months in 2021.
Social Media Today
1 year ago
Privacy professionals

TikTok Looks to Reassure US Authorities that US User Data is Not Being Shared with the CCP

So theoretically, US user data is accessible, in some form, by TikTok's China-based staff, which could be a security vulnerability, under China's strict cybersecurity laws.But TikTok's working to assure US users, and authorities, that such access is very limited, and does not pose a risk, as such, based on how that information could be used.
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To be clear, there is no evidence that the CCP has called upon TikTok to share US user data in any capacity, and it may never do so, while TikTok's advanced measures to separate region-specific data do go some way towards alleviating concerns.
 @beckslechat1 year ago
Kinda nice to see lawmakers turn on their party's leader if they think they're doing a bad job...
France 24
1 year ago
Europe politics

Live: UK's Johnson says 'no' to quitting amid intensifying calls for him to go

Boris Johnson on Wednesday pledged to fight on against snowballing pressure to resign as British prime minister, but his defiance was met with yet more ministerial resignations and derision from a growing number of his own Conservative PMs.
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The Conservative Party's 1922 Committee has changed the rules to remove Johnson's year-long immunity from facing another vote of confidence in his leadership after he won such a vote in June, a reporter at the Sun newspaper said on Twitter.
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Johnson told a parliamentary committee it wouldn't be "responsible" for him to resign amid the war in Ukraine: "I look at the the issues that this country faces [...] I look at the biggest war in Europe for 80 years," he said."And I cannot, for the life of me, see how it is responsible just to walk away from that."
Truthout
1 year ago
Left-wing politics

With Food Prices Up, a "Bean New Deal" May Be Part of the Answer

In order to prosper on American farmland and in American stockpots, however, beans are going to need a lot more help from the US government.What the agriculture sector needs right now is a Bean New Deal - large scale investment in legume production, and a snazzy brand campaign to boot.
Beans are a staple of diets across the globe.They're rich in protein, use far less water and land than other crops, and even act as a natural fertilizer to replenish the soil they're grown in.The United Nations went so far as to call pulses, a legume's dry seed, the " food of the future " because of their low carbon footprint and high nutritional value.
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That is, unless the government steps in to incentivize bean growth for the benefit of the planet and for consumer's pocketbooks.
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While the Netherlands, Israel, and China invest billions of dollars in finding the food of the future, the US spends billions propping up an industry responsible for 20 percent of global emissions.
 @beckslechat1 year ago
A solution and a crutch...
Futurism
1 year ago
OMG science

MIT Scientists Want to Put a Barrier Between Earth and Sun to Fight Climate Change

One such emergency measure, the consortium suggests in a press release, includes what they call "solar geoengineering," a very theoretical and understudied field of research "aiming to reflect a fraction of sunlight coming to the Earth."
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These bubbles, the researchers note, could likely be made out of a thin, transparent film of "silicon melts" and another material, and would be best placed at the Lagrange Point [like the james webb!]between the Sun and Earth, allowing them to remain at a stable orbit relative to the Earth.
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As the researchers note, "if we deflect 1.8 percent of incident solar radiation before it hits our planet, we could fully reverse today's global warming."
This method is not intended to be a catch-all solution to climate change, but rather meant to supplement or compliment other mitigation efforts, the researchers noted.
Nytimes
1 year ago
US politics

'I took an oath,' Rusty Bowers, Arizona House speaker, says of rejecting efforts to overturn the election.

Over nearly an hour, Rusty Bowers, a Republican who is the speaker of the House of Representatives in Arizona, testified on Tuesday in painstaking and emotional detail about the pressure campaign he faced over several weeks after the Nov. 3, 2020, election, in which President Donald J. Trump lost the state.
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Mr. Bowers, who spoke about the Constitution in reverential and spiritual terms, had tears in his eyes as he described his gravely ill daughter enduring some of the harassment outside their house.
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Mr. Bowers described Ms. Ellis asserting that they had evidence of widespread voter fraud, only to provide none.
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Mr. Bowers again rejected the push, saying, "I took an oath - for me to take that, to do what you do would be counter to my oath."
 @beckslechat1 year ago
LOCK. HIM. UP.
Axios
1 year ago
US news

Jan. 6 committee hearing reveals extent of Trump's pressure campaign

Driving the news: Rep Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the vice chair on the panel, opened the hearing by arguing Trump knew his claims that the 2020 election was rife with fraud were "nonsense."
"As you listen to these tapes, keep in mind what Donald Trump already knew at the time he was making those calls - he had been told over and over again that his stolen election allegations were nonsense," Cheney said."Donald Trump did not care about the threats of violence.He did not condemn them, he made no effort to stop them; he went forward with his fake allegations anyway."
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Raffensperger also testified that Trump supporters repeatedly threatened his life and his family, and some eventually broke into his daughter-in-law's home.
 @beckslechat1 year ago
Mind blowing! Goes to show not all treatments need to be so "advanced."
Boston.com
1 year ago
Boston

Tufts doctors, staff were out of options. Then they brought in the maggots.

To help heal a wound that almost cost a man his life, doctors and staff at Tufts Medical Center turned to a method often used long ago, but is unusual today: maggot therapy.
It was a last-ditch effort to heal a large ulcer on a man's backside that had gotten progressively worse despite doctors' surgical efforts to remove dead tissue and help it to heal.
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Gale said he consulted Dr. Ron Sherman, who specializes in maggot therapy.Roughly 3,000 maggots were brought in.The type used are sterile, and only eat dead tissue.
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Along with eating away the dead tissue, the maggots help to "stimulate granulation tissue," according to Gale.
Los Angeles Times
1 year ago
Los Angeles

Extreme drought prompts closure of Joshua Tree trail to ensure water for bighorn sheep

Extreme drought conditions prompted the open-ended closure of a popular hiking trail in Joshua Tree National Park to ensure water access for bighorn sheep.
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Bighorn sheep, with their iconic curled horns, increasingly must rely on an oasis spring in the trail area as drought has made surface water more difficult to find in other areas of the park.
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But the sheep are not the only desert dwellers put at risk by climate change - desert tortoises, reptiles and birds are also facing habitat loss and increased temperatures could make the park uninhabitable for them.
Los Angeles Times
1 year ago
Los Angeles

Cancer groups raise alarm about losing funds to track California cases

The California Cancer Registry gathers information about cancer cases diagnosed in the state, providing crucial information for researchers.
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"Without it, we're just going to be blindfolded in our ability to push back against this disease," saidMatthew Marsom, senior vice president for program and public policy at Public Health Institute, which operates one of the regional registries in the state program.
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If state funding falls, Liu said her program might have to slash hours for its staff.Those employees identify cancer cases that need to be reported to the registry for some medical facilities that contract with the L.A. program; they also make sure that when one cancer patient visits more than one hospital, the registry doesn't end up with duplicate reports for their case, Liu said.
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Faulty or incomplete data could also compromise research that relies on the registry.
 @beckslechat1 year ago
See kids...I'm cool ????
New York Daily News
1 year ago
Left-wing politics

Biden set for 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' in first in-person late-night appearance as president

"Our very elected President @JoeBiden visits @JimmyKimmelLive Wednesday night.No malarkey," host Jimmy Kimmel tweeted.
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His appearance on "Kimmel" marks his latest crossover with the entertainment world since beginning his presidency.Last week, Biden met with the seven-member Korean-pop group BTS to discuss anti-Asian hate crimes and inclusion.
And last year, Biden welcomed pop star Olivia Rodrigo to the White House to encourage young people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
 @beckslechat1 year ago
You've done this job for 8 years and THIS is how you handle someone in an emergency situation?!
Nytimes
1 year ago
New York City

Dispatcher Fired Over Mishandling 911 Call During Buffalo Shooting

An emergency services dispatcher in Buffalo who was accused of hanging up on a 911 call from a supermarket employee during the racist shooting rampage last month was fired on Thursday, an official said.
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"She was yelling at me, saying, 'Why are you whispering?You don't have to whisper,'" Ms. Rogers told The News, "and I was telling her, 'Ma'am, he's still in the store.He's shooting.I'm scared for my life.I don't want him to hear me.Can you please send help?'She got mad at me, hung up in my face."
New York Post
2 years ago
OMG science

Strange 'alien stone' found in Egypt may be evidence of ancient space explosion

An extraterrestrial stone uncovered decades ago in Egypt may be evidence of an ancient stellar explosion, according to a new study.
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Scientists now think Egypt's Hypatia stone could be evidence of one of these supernovas that happened billions of years ago.
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A new study of its chemical makeup suggests it could have formed from bits of dust and gas surrounding a supernova.
It would take billions of years for dust and gas to fuse together and form a space rock.
Truthout
2 years ago
Left-wing politics

Warren Calls Out Tech Firms for Selling Abortion Clinic Patients' Location Data

Fourteen Senate Democrats sent a letter to tech firms Wednesday demanding answers to reports about the collection and sale of location data of people who have visited abortion clinics.
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"Especially in the wake of the Supreme Court's leaked draft opinion overturning , your company's sale of such data - to virtually anyone with a credit card - poses serious dangers for all women seeking access to abortion services," read addressed to SafeGraph.
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Earlier this month, that data firm SafeGraph is selling information about the whereabouts of people who have visited abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood, including their movement after the visit and how long they stay at the clinic.The publication that Placer.ai offered data for sale showing the approximate location of where Planned Parenthood clinic visitors live; it removed the listing for such data after reporters contacted the company for comment.
 @beckslechat2 years ago
A glimmer of bipartisanship. Thank god!
[ 1 reply ]
Independent
2 years ago
US politics

Senate backs huge military and economic aid package for Ukraine

The Senate has overwhelmingly approved a 40 billion dollar (£32bn) infusion of military and economic aid for Ukraine as both parties rallied behind America's latest financial salvo against Russia's invasion.
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Every Democrat and all but 11 Republicans - many of them supporters of former president Donald Trump's isolationist agenda - backed the measure.
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The vote was a glaring exception to the partisan divisions that have hindered work on other issues under Mr Biden and that promise to become only less bridgeable as November's elections for control of Congress draw closer.
Nytimes
2 years ago
New York City

Court Reinstates Ban on N.Y.P.D.'s Use of Holds That Restrict Breathing

An appeals court reinstated a New York City law forbidding police officers from compressing a suspect's diaphragm, the latest turn in a protracted legal struggle over the measure passed two years ago.
The law was part of a broader effort to limit the kinds of physical restraints police officers could use in detaining someone, including chokeholds.Police unions sued almost as soon as the statute was passed, saying it was overly broad and would deter officers from physically restraining suspects, even if it was necessary or done in good faith.
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The use of chokeholds by police officers is already a felony under New York State law, and New York City Police Department guidelines forbid their use.
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Even law enforcement officials who applauded banning chokeholds said at the time that they feared the law's provisions were too broad and could put officers at risk of unfounded prosecution.
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