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AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine to Be Tested on Children

Kathryn R. Bown
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AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine to Be Tested on Children
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine will be tested on children aged between 6 and 17 in a new trial.

Some 300 volunteers will take part, with the first vaccinations in the trial taking place later in February.

Researchers say they will assess whether the vaccine produces a strong immune response in children aged between six and 17.

The vaccine is one of two being used to protect against serious illness and death from Covid-19 in the UK, along with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

As many as 240 children will receive the vaccine – and the others a control meningitis vaccine – when the trial gets under way.

Volunteers who live near one of the four study sites – the University of Oxford, St George’s University Hospital, London, University Hospital Southampton and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children – are being asked to sign up.

Those interested in taking part must complete a short questionnaire.

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Andrew Pollard, professor of pediatric infection and immunity, and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, noted that most children were relatively unaffected by Covid and were unlikely to become unwell with the virus.

However, Prof. Pollard said it was important to establish the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and young people as some children might benefit from vaccination.

There are currently no plans for children to be vaccinated with the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine in the UK, as it has only been authorized to prevent Covid-19 in people aged 18 or over.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is only authorized in those aged over 16. The vaccine priority list also excludes anyone under the age of 16, even the clinically extremely vulnerable.

The University of Oxford said it was the first trial of a Covid vaccine in the 6 to 17 age group. It said other trials had begun but only measuring efficacy in those aged 16 and 17.

Biden Administration to Allow In 25,000 Asylum Seekers Waiting in Mexico

Roy Siemens
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Biden Administration to Allow In 25,000 Asylum Seekers Waiting in Mexico
Image source Pixabay

The Biden administration will start gradually allowing into the US tens of thousands of asylum seekers currently forced to wait in Mexico.

It will begin next week processing about 25,000 people with active cases.

Asylum seekers will first be required to register and pass a Covid-19 test, before being allowed in via one of three border crossings.

The move reverses the much-criticized policies of ex-President Donald Trump.

The Migrant Protection Protocols program was enacted in 2019, deterring would-be asylum seekers from coming to the US.

It required migrants entering through the southern border to wait in Mexico while their cases were being heard by US immigration courts.

However, on his first day in office since winning last year’s election, President Joe Biden suspended the policy.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said: “As President Biden has made clear, the US government is committed to rebuilding a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system.

“This latest action is another step in our commitment to reform immigration policies that do not align with our nation’s values.”

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According to the Associated Press, the Biden administration plans to start with two border crossings each processing up to 300 people a day and a third crossing taking fewer numbers.

The authorities say asylum seekers will be released with notices to appear in court in cities close to or in their final destinations, typically with family.

At the same time, Alejandro Mayorkas stressed that “individuals who are not eligible under this initial phase should wait for further instructions and not travel to the border”, amid concerns that many people would try to cross the border illegally.

February 12 announcement was welcomed in a sprawling migrant camp in the Mexican city of Matamoros, just across the border from Texas.

The border cities where migrants wait for months are suffering from growing crime rates.

In 2020, charity Human Rights First said “returned families, children and adults are being sent to highly dangerous situations where many suffered kidnappings, attacks, sexual assaults, threats and other incredible cruelty”.

White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo Suspended After Allegedly Threatening Politico Reporter

Diane A. Wade
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White House Deputy Press Secretary TJ Ducklo Suspended After Allegedly Threatening Politico Reporter
Image source: Twitter

President Joe Biden’s deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after allegedly threatening to “destroy” a female reporter who was asking questions about his private life.

The White House spokesman reportedly threatened Politico reporter Tara Palmeri, who was investigating his relationship with another journalist.

On February 12, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced that TJ Ducklo had apologized to Tara Palmeri.

TJ Ducklo has not commented independently.

Some observers have criticized President Biden for failing to take stronger action. He has previously said he would fire “on the spot” any staff speaking disrespectfully to colleagues.

The suspension of TJ Ducklo came after Vanity Fair magazine reported on his alleged threats to Tara Palmeri.

The Politico reporter had been investigating TJ Ducklo’s relationship with Alexi McCammond, a journalist with Axios who had covered Joe Biden’s election campaign.

He allegedly rang her and said: “I will destroy you.”

TJ Ducklo also made other derogatory and misogynistic comments, Vanity Fair reports.

Jen Psaki tweeted on February 12 that TJ Ducklo was “the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President”.

The White House spokeswoman said that as well as being suspended without pay for a week, TJ Ducklo would no longer work with Politico reporters when he returned to the White House.

President Biden told his staff on his first day in office that he would not tolerate bullying behavior.

He said: “I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.”

President Biden Rescinds National Emergency Order Used to Fund Trump’s Border Wall

Diane A. Wade
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President Biden Rescinds National Emergency Order Used to Fund Trump’s Border Wall
Image source: White House

President Joe Biden has decided to rescind the national emergency order used to fund Donald Trump’s border wall.

In a letter to Congress on February 11, President Biden wrote that the order was “unwarranted” and said that no further tax dollars will be spent on the wall.

The former president declared a state of emergency over the southern border in 2019, which allowed him to bypass Congress and use military funds for its construction.

When Donald Trump left office, about $25 billion had been spent on the project.

The announcement from President Biden is the latest in a series of executive orders that have rolled back key parts of the former president’s agenda.

Last week, Joe Biden signed orders seeking to reunite migrant families split up by Trump-era policies, and ordered a probe of his predecessor’s immigration agenda.

In a letter on February 11, President Biden wrote that he would also seek a review of “all resources appropriated or redirected” to the construction of the wall.

Building a border wall was a signature pledge of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

However, the project faced strong opposition in the Democratic-controlled House, and the Republican president announced he would use emergency powers to fund its construction.

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An emergency declaration allows US presidents to circumvent the usual political process and to access military funding.

Various types of fencing totaling 654 miles were already in place before Donald Trump became president in 2017.

During his time in office, 80 miles of new barriers were built where there were none before, and almost 400 miles replaced existing parts of the structure.

Former Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller took to Twitter to comment on the decision, writing “Biden loves illegal immigration”.

However, some parts of the Trump administration’s immigration policy will be left in place.

At a press conference on February 10, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki appeared to confirm the new administration would keep a Trump-era policy that allowed border officials to summarily expel undocumented immigrants amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “Due to the pandemic and the fact that we have not had the time, as an administration, to put in place a humane, comprehensive process for processing individuals who are coming to the border.

“Now is not the time to come, and the vast majority of people will be turned away.”

South Africa Considering Swaping or Selling AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine

Kathryn R. Bown
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South Africa Considering Swaping or Selling AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

South Africa is considering swapping or selling the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the health minister announces.

The African country has 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

However, plans to use it to vaccinate health workers have been put on hold after a small study suggested a “minimal” effect against the South African new variant in young people.

South Africa now intends to use a vaccine from Johnson & Johnson instead.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told at a news conference: “There are already some countries that are asking that we must sell it to them.

“Our scientists will continue with further deliberations on the AstraZeneca vaccine used in South Africa and depending on their advice, the vaccine will be swapped before the expiry date.”

Zweli Mkhize added that he was due to speak with the WHO shortly after the news conference.

South Africa has recorded almost 1.5 million cases of coronavirus, and 47,000 deaths – far more than anywhere else on the continent.

Researchers from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the UK’s Oxford University carried out the trial, which has not yet been published or peer-reviewed, on around 2,000 healthy, young people with an average age of 31.

They found that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine offered “minimal protection” against mild and moderate cases of the South Africa variant of coronavirus in that low-risk group.

This means that even in people who’ve been vaccinated, the virus could still spread from person to person.

However, the research did not look at the impact of the vaccine on severe disease from Covid-19 because there was no-one in the study who was in a high-risk category (over 50) or had an underlying health condition.

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Oxford University researchers say promising results from other trials using similar vaccines in South Africa suggest their shot should be effective at preventing severe cases – the main aim of all Covid vaccines.

South Africa now plans to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to a group of 100,000 older nurses and healthcare workers.

That’s to see if it is effective against the new variant and in preventing severe illness in an older age group.

The South Africa variant carries a mutation that appears to make it more contagious or easy to spread.

However, there is no evidence that the variant causes more serious illness for the vast majority of people who become infected.

As with the original strain, the risk is highest for people who are elderly or have significant underlying health conditions.

Scientists say the variant accounts for 90% of new Covid-19 cases in South Africa.

At least 20 other countries, including the UK, Austria, Japan, Kenya and Norway have found cases of the variant.

The health minister for neighboring Eswatini, previously known as Swaziland, said on February 9 that it would no longer use the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The health authorities in Malawi have said they still plan to use the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Negotiations are still going on over the amount and the price South Africa will pay for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is made by Belgian pharmaceutical firm Janssen.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has not yet been approved for use in South Africa.

The first of the nine million doses it has ordered are due to arrive next week.

The South African health minister said these would be provided to some 500,000 health workers as “an implementation study”, possibly starting as early as next week, but this was still to be confirmed.

He also promised to explain next week just how much of the vaccine will be coming to South Africa.

Zweli Mkhize said that South Africa had already secured vaccine doses from Pfizer which it has agreed to bring in earlier than originally agreed.

South Africa is also in discussions with other manufactures, including the makers of Sputnik V, Sinovac and Moderna vaccines, he added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1nTZCmqQYA

Donald Trump Impeachment: Second Trial Begins in Senate

Diane A. Wade
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Donald Trump Impeachment: Second Trial Begins in Senate

The impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional, the US Senate has found on February 9.

Therefore, the Senate is allowing full impeachment proceedings to begin.

Donald Trump’s defense team argued that he could not face trial after leaving the White House.

A 56-44 majority voted in favor of continuing, with a handful of Republicans backing the measure.

Donald Trump is accused of “inciting insurrection” when Congress was stormed on January 6.

Thousands gathered in support of claims that widespread electoral fraud denied Donald Trump victory in the presidential election.

However, Donald Trump is almost certain to be acquitted because only six Republican senators voted to move forward with impeachment, well short of the 17 Republicans whose votes would be needed to convict the former president.

Democrats prosecuting the case opened the proceedings by showing a dramatic video montage of Donald Trump’s January 6 speech and the deadly rioting by some of his supporters.

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said of the footage: “If that’s not an impeachable offence, then there’s no such thing.”

Donald Trump’s lawyers argued it was unconstitutional to put a former president through the process at all and accused Democrats of being politically motivated.

A two-thirds majority is required to convict Donald Trump in the evenly split 100-seat Senate. February 9 vote implies loyalty toward Donald Trump in the Republican Party remains high enough to avoid a conviction.

However, if convicted, the former president could be barred from holding office again.

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Proceedings opened with impeachment managers – the Democrats tasked with leading the prosecution – arguing their attempts were legitimate.

In the 10-minute video used in their presentation, Donald Trump was shown telling his supporters to “fight like hell” before they stormed the Capitol in violence that resulted in five deaths – including a police officer.

Rep. Jamie Raskin was brought to tears as he recounted fear for his own family’s safety during the riot after he was separated from his visiting daughter.

“This cannot be the future of America,” he told senators, who act as jurors for impeachment.

“We cannot have presidents inciting and mobilizing mob violence against our government and our institutions because they refuse to accept the will of the people under the Constitution of the United States.”

Rep. Raskin argued there could be no “January exception” to impeaching outgoing officials without risking a dangerous precedent.

Donald Trump’s lawyers then took the stand to outline their arguments with detailed complaints and allegations about due process and the constitutionality of proceedings.

Former Pennsylvania prosecutor Bruce Castor opened the defense with a meandering presentation that was met with a critical reception by even allies of the former president.

A second lawyer, David Schoen, was more pointed. He showed videos dating back to 2017 as evidence of what he labeled as an “insatiable lust for impeachment” among Democratic lawmakers.

He told senators: “What they really want to accomplish here in the name of the Constitution is to bar Donald Trump from ever running for political office again, but this is an affront to the Constitution no matter who they target today.”

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the six to vote with Democrats, said after that the House prosecution had “made a compelling, cogent case and the president’s team did not”.

Media reports suggest Donald Trump – whose Twitter account has been banned – expressed anger at his lawyers’ performance while watching on TV from Florida.

Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Investigation Finds Pilot Ara Zobayan Was Disoriented Amid Fog

Nancy Clayson
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Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash Investigation Finds Pilot Ara Zobayan Was Disoriented Amid Fog

Ara Zobayan, the pilot of the helicopter which crashed killing Kobe Bryant, his young daughter, and seven other people had probably become disorientated amid fog, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators have said.

The helicopter smashed into a hillside near Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020.

Ara Zobayan was among the dead.

Investigators also said the pilot may have felt “self-induced pressure” to complete the flight for Kobe Bryant.

The NTSB has been investigating the circumstances around the crash, and met on February 9 to vote on the probable cause. It is an independent federal agency with no enforcement powers.

In its official finding, the NTSB said the main cause of the crash was most likely the pilot’s decision to keep flying in inclement conditions, “which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control”.

During the flight, Ara Zobayan told air traffic controllers the helicopter was climbing out of heavy cloud when it was actually descending.

“This maneuver is consistent with the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation in limited visibility conditions,” said NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt.

“We are talking about spatial disorientation where literally the pilot may not know which way is up or down, whether he or she is leaning left or right.”

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The NTSB added that “inadequate review and oversight” of safety management processes by the helicopter charter company, Island Express, may have also contributed to the crash.

However, the board did not find that the Sikorsky S-76B had experienced any mechanical problems. The helicopter was not required to have “black box” recorders, which capture flight data and voices in the cockpit, and was not carrying any.

Ara Zobayan violated federal rules and went against his own flight training by flying into thick clouds, safety officials said.

The pilot “was flying under visual flight orders or VFR which legally prohibited him from penetrating the clouds”, but he did so anyway, said Robert Sumwalt.

Investigators also criticized the pilot for banking the helicopter to the left, instead of bringing the aircraft straight up while trying to escape the bad weather.

Ara Zobayan was an experienced pilot who had often flown for Kobe Bryant. The widely respected pilot had logged more than 1,200 hours in the Sikorsky-76 helicopter.

Disorientation can set in when pilots can’t see the sky or landscape, making it harder to judge an aircraft’s altitude and acceleration.

Investigators also said that the close relationship between Kobe Bryant and Ara Zobayan may have compelled the pilot to fly even in unsafe conditions.

In text messages on the eve of the crash released by the NTSB, Ara Zobayan wrote that the forecast seemed to be “not the best”. The next morning, the pilot wrote that the conditions were “looking ok”.

At the time of the crash, retired NBA legend Kobe Bryant, 41, was travelling to a youth basketball tournament with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, two of her teammates, and several other friends.

The fatal crash prompted a global outpouring of support for Kobe Bryant’s family – as well as a number of lawsuits.

Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa Bryant, sued Ara Zobayan and the companies that owned and operated the helicopter for alleged negligence and wrongful death. Families of the other victims sued the helicopter companies – but not the pilot.

In September, Vanessa Bryant sued the LA County Sheriff’s Department after officers shared unauthorized photos of the crash site. California now has a state law prohibiting first responders from taking unauthorized pictures of people who died at the scene of an accident or crime.

Alex Kearns: Family Set to Sue Robinhood App over Son’s Suicide

Clyde K. Valle
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Alex Kearns: Family Set to Sue Robinhood App over Son’s Suicide
Image source: robinhood.com

The family of Alex Kearns, who killed himself last year, have filed a lawsuit against trading app Robinhood over his death.

The lawsuit, first reported by CBS News, said the 20-year-old mistakenly believed he owed $730,000 when he took his own life.

Alex’s parents, Dan and Dorothy Kearns, say their son was unable to get help or support from customer services before he died.

Robinhood, which allows anyone to buy and trade stocks, says on its website that it is “on a mission to democratize finance” and is currently running an advertising campaign under the slogan of “We are all investors”.

The app recently made headlines for limiting sales of some shares to users after US retailer GameStop saw its stock surge.

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Speaking to CBS, the parents of Alex Kearns say he began using Robinhood just before he graduated high school.

Dan and Dorothy Kearns say they did not know the app had also approved him to buy and sell options – a risky financial instrument – despite a lack of financial experience.

They say their son realized on June 11, 2020, that his account had been restricted by Robinhood amid what appeared to be a negative balance of more than $700,000 on his account.

CBS reports Alex Kearns received an automated email at 03:26 early the next morning asking him to take “immediate action” to pay more than $170,000 within days.

The family say the student emailed customer service several times asking for support and help understanding the figures on his trading account, but only received stock response messages saying they would get back to him.

“They provide no mechanism through a telephone call, through live email service, to get live answers to questions,” a lawyer for the family told CBS.

Alex’s parents were told by police later that day, on June 12, that their son had died.

“He thought he blew up his life. He thought he screwed up beyond repair,” Dan Kearns said in the interview, in which he said his son had “just needed a little help”.

Dan and Dorothy Kearns say an email from Robinhood, received the day after his death, clarified that trading restrictions had been lifted and the trade resolved.

The lawsuit, filed in California state court, said the loss had been covered by other options in Alex’s account and accuses Robinhood’s “misleading communications” of leading to “panic and confusion”.

According to media reports, the wrongful death lawsuit accuses Robinhood of unfair business practices and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

If you’re in an emergency, please call 911. You can contact the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

South Africa Suspends Rollout of AstraZeneca Vaccine over New Covid Variant

Kathryn R. Bown
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South Africa Suspends Rollout of AstraZeneca Vaccine over New Covid Variant
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

South Africa has decided to suspend its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on hold after a study showed “disappointing” results against its new Covid variant.

According to scientists, the new variant accounts for 90% of new Covid cases in South Africa.

The trial, involving some 2,000 people, found that the vaccine offered “minimal protection” against mild and moderate cases.

However, experts are hopeful that the vaccine will still be effective at preventing severe cases.

South Africa has recorded almost 1.5 million coronavirus cases and more than 46,000 deaths since the pandemic began – a higher toll than any other country on the continent.

South Africa has received one million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and was preparing to start vaccinating people.

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On February 8, the WHO warned against jumping to conclusions about the efficacy of Covid vaccines.

Dr. Katherine O’Brien, the WHO’s director of immunization, said it was very plausible that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would still have a meaningful impact on the South African variant, especially when it came to preventing hospitalizations and death.

She stressed that the WHO’s expert panel held “a very positive view” of proceeding with the use of the vaccine, including in areas where variants were circulating, but that more data and information would be needed as the pandemic continued.

South Africa’s Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said his government would wait for further advice on how best to proceed with the AstraZeneca vaccine in light of the findings.

In the meantime, he said, the government would offer vaccines produced by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer in the coming weeks.

Early results from Moderna suggest its vaccine is still effective against the South Africa variant, while AstraZeneca has said its vaccine provides good protection against the UK variant first identified late last year.

Early results also suggest the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine protects against the new variants.

Myanmar Coup: Military Junta Blocks Internet Access as Protests Grow

Roy Siemens
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Myanmar Coup: Military Junta Blocks Internet Access as Protests Grow
Image source: AP

Myanmar’s internet has been shut down as thousands of people joined the largest rally yet against February 1 coup.

A near-total internet blackout is in effect with connectivity falling to 16% of ordinary levels, said the monitoring group NetBlocks Internet Observatory.

In Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, crowds chanted “Military dictator, fail, fail; Democracy, win, win”.

Police with riot shields have blocked the main roads into the city center.

The internet shutdown happened hours after the military blocked access to Twitter and Instagram to stop people mobilizing for protests. Facebook had been banned a day earlier.

Many users had evaded the restrictions on social media by using virtual private networks (VPNs) but the more general blackout severely disrupted that.

Civil society organizations urged internet providers and mobile networks to challenge the blackout order, Reuters reported.

Human rights group Amnesty International called the shutdown “heinous and reckless” and warned it could put the people of Myanmar at risk of human rights violations.

The military has not commented. It temporarily blocked access to the internet following the coup.

On February 6, protesters – including factory workers and young students – called for the release of those detained by the army, including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

They marched through the streets of Yangon as city buses sounded their horns in support.

Bystanders flashed the three-finger Hunger Games salute, which has become a symbol of defiance against authoritarianism, while residents clapped or banged pots and pans on their doorsteps.

Police with riot shields used barbed wire to block roads and water cannon were put in place in some areas as a precaution, but the demonstration reportedly remained peaceful, with no attempt by protesters to pass police lines.

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Demonstrators gave police roses and bottles of drinking water, calling on them to support the people not the new regime.

Another demonstration took place in Myanmar’s second city, Mandalay.

Myanmar – also known as Burma – has remained mostly calm in the aftermath of the coup, and there were no immediate reports of violence after Saturday’s protests. More demonstrations were expected to be held later.

The military authorities are hunkered down in the capital, Nay Pyi Daw, and have so far avoided direct engagement with the protesters.

Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest, according to her lawyer. Police documents show she is accused of illegally importing and using communications equipment – walkie-talkies – at her home in the capital.

The coup took place as a new session of parliament was set to open, following November’s landslide election win by the NLD party.

Many Burmese watched the events unfold in real time on Facebook, which is the country’s primary source of information and news. But three days later, internet providers were ordered to block the platform for stability reasons.

Following the ban, thousands of users were active on Twitter and Instagram using hashtags to express their opposition to the takeover. By 22:00 local time on February 5 access to those platforms had also been denied.

There was no official word from the coup leaders but AFP reported it had seen an unverified ministry document that said the two social media sites were being used to “cause misunderstanding among the public”.

3 Simple Ways to Express Sympathy

Kathryn R. Bown
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3 Simple Ways to Express Sympathy

When someone you care about loses someone they love, the feelings that the death can dredge up can be extremely difficult to manage and highly complex. You are likely to feel highly helpless, as the person you care about may be in a great deal of pain, leaving you feeling utterly helpless to help them. It’s important to remember that you aren’t supposed to be able to remove that individual’s grief, only be there for them as best you can. As such, here are three easy ways to express sympathy to someone who lost someone.

Gift Baskets

If you feel compelled to buy something for this person who lost something, sympathy gift baskets from Hickory Farms may be the perfect present. After all, these gift baskets can be useful on many levels. These baskets can be customized to be more than just a thoughtful thought, as they can contain a variety of useful foods or presents that may be able to bring a smile to the face of someone who is in pain. However, more importantly, it is a gesture that shows you care. These gift baskets are high end presents designed to help someone in pain. It is an extremely thoughtful gesture, one that the individual in question is sure to appreciate.

Get A Service

Someone who lost someone is likely to be overwhelmed by the array of newfound responsibilities in front of them. They now have to plan for a funeral, arrange for an estate to be disposed of, and embrace a whole new array of responsibilities that they had never previously used. That’s why the nicest thing to do for the person you care about may also be the simplest: Get them a service that they can use. Arrange for a handyman to take care of any of their needs. Get a chef to cook them meals for a couple of weeks. Call a housekeeper and buy them a month’s worth of visits. Just do something that will ease their burden and make their lives easier, particularly during the adjustment period, as they figure out how to live a new life.

Ask

Sometimes, the simplest thing to do is also the best. As you can, talk to the person who lost someone, and ask them a very simple question: What do they need? Or, more specifically, what do they need help with? They may reveal that they want everyone to go away and let them grieve in peace. They may also say that they have a few specific items that they need help with, like arranging the funeral home or disposing of the possessions of the deceased. Regardless, there’s only one way to find out what they truly need: Ask them.

When someone you care about loses someone they love, it can be a nightmare. The best thing you can do is help that person by getting them something thoughtful or asking them how you can be most helpful.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Regrets QAnon Posts

Diane A. Wade
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Regrets QAnon Posts
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has expressed regret for past incendiary comments and support for the QAnon conspiracy claims.

Her comments at the House of Representatives come as lawmakers gather for a vote today on whether to strip her of committee assignments.

She said: “I was allowed to believe things that weren’t true.

“And that is absolutely what I regret.”

However, Marjorie Taylor Greene, 46, stopped short of an apology, and cast blame on the media.

She said: “The media is just as guilty as QAnon for promoting lies.”

The Qanon conspiracy theory claims that former President Donald Trump was waging a clandestine war on a cabal of child-abusers.

Before taking office, Marjorie Taylor Greene liked posts calling for violence against Democratic lawmakers, claimed that school shootings and the 9/11 terror attack were staged events, and suggested Muslims should not serve in government, among other comments online.

Just hours before the Republican took to the floor, Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was “profoundly concerned” by Republicans’ “acceptance of an extreme conspiracy theorist.”

“If any of our members threatened the safety of other members, we’d be the first ones to take them off a committee,” Nancy Pelosi said.

Twitter Bans 7,000 QAnon Accounts and Shuts Down Topics Related to Conspiracy Theory

On February 4, Marjorie Taylor Greene sought to distance herself from some of these past remarks, saying they were made before she ran for office.

“I want to tell you 9/11 absolutely happened,” she said.

“I do not believe that it’s fake.”

“These were words of the past. These things do not represent me,” she said.

Marjorie Taylor Greene said she had been “upset about things” happening in the US and did not trust the government when she came upon conspiracy theories online in 2018.

However, she did not specifically apologize for past rhetoric widely seen as racist and anti-Semitic, or for comments suggesting support for violence against Democrats.

Marjorie Taylor Greene doubled down on other beliefs about abortion and immigration, expressing disgust at the “millions of Americans…murdered in the womb”, and saying that her friends had had loved ones “murdered by illegal aliens”.

Nancy Pelosi said the House would proceed with a vote on February 4 to expel Marjorie Taylor Greene from the education and budget committees.

The measure requires a simple majority to pass.

Committees assignments are typically the job of party leaders and are a vital channel for lawmakers to advance legislation. There’s also the symbolic value: veteran lawmakers may be rewarded with a position on the more prestigious committees.

Republicans condemned Marjorie Taylor Greene’s past comments but warned that Democrats were setting a dangerous precedent by sanctioning a lawmaker for things said and done before she entered Congress.

Dogecoin Jumps 50% After Tip by Elon Musk

Clyde K. Valle
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0
Dogecoin Jumps 50% After Tip by Elon Musk

Dogecoin has jumped in value by 50% after inventor Elon Musk dubbed it “the people’s crypto”.

Cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin and Bitcoin are generated by computers. Their supposed value comes from the finite number that can be computed.

Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency which started off as a joke, uses a Shiba Inu dog as its mascot and is based on a meme featuring the animal.

The currency has risen more than 800% in the year so far.

After reaching a high of $0.058, each dogecoin is currently changing hands for about $0.046, suggesting a total value for all 128 billion coins of about $5.89 billion.

According to an interview with Vice, dogecoin was created in 2013 by a pair of software workers after one of them made a joke about the next big cryptocurrency.

However, with no intrinsic value like gold or land, and no ability to generate an income like a company or bond, cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and can crash as fast as they rise.

This makes them hard to value and makes their prices susceptible to tips from backers or sudden panics.

Critics point out that while any given cryptocurrency may have a finite supply of units, the number of cryptocurrencies is ever-growing and potentially limitless.

People have lost large amounts of money in steep drops in the value of cryptocurrencies and in hacks and corrupted or lost hard drives.

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Bitcoin’s value dropped by $5,000 on January4 to about $29,000 before recovering the lost ground. On January 11, it dropped $9,000 to $32,000.

Because the cryptocurrencies can pass international borders quickly and are not regulated like cash or regular investments, investigating thefts is hard.

Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a stark warning to investors in so-called cryptoassets.

The financial watchdog said investors should be “prepared to lose all their money” should their investment’s value collapse.

Myanmar Coup: Aung San Suu Kyi Charged with Breaching Import-Export Laws and Others

Diane A. Wade
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0
Myanmar Coup: Aung San Suu Kyi Charged with Breaching Import-Export Laws and Others

Several charges has been filed against Myanmar’s elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi following February 1 military coup.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been remanded in custody until February 15, police documents show.

The charges include breaching import and export laws, and possession of unlawful communication devices.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s whereabouts are still unclear, but it has been reported that she is being held at her residence in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw.

Deposed President Win Myint has also been charged, the documents show – in his case with violating rules banning gatherings during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has also been remanded in custody for two weeks.

Neither the president nor Aung San Suu Kyi have been heard from since the military seized power in the early hours of February 1.

The military coup, led by armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing, has seen the installation of an 11-member junta which is ruling under a year-long state of emergency.

The military sought to justify its action by alleging fraud in last November’s elections, which Auung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won decisively.

The accusations are contained in a police document – called a First Initial Report – submitted to a court.

The document alleges that Aung San Suu Kyi illegally imported and used communications equipment – walkie-talkies – found at her home in Nay Pyi Taw.

She was remanded in custody “to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel after questioning the defendant”, the document says.

Myanmar Military Coup After Aung San Suu Kyi and Leaders Detained

President Win Myint is accused, under the National Disaster Management Law, of meeting supporters in a 220-vehicle motorcade during the election campaign in breach of Covid-19 restrictions.

Activists in Myanmar, also known as Burma, are calling for civil disobedience.

Many hospital doctors are either stopping work or continuing but wearing symbols of defiance in simmering anger over the suppression of Myanmar’s short-lived democracy.

Protesting medical staff say they are pushing for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

They are wearing red, or black, ribbons and pictured giving the three-fingered salute familiar from the Hunger Games movies and used by demonstrators last year in Thailand.

Online, many changed their social media profile pictures to one of just the color red.

A Facebook group has been set up to co-ordinate the disobedience campaign.

Jeff Bezos Stepping Down as Amazon CEO

Clyde K. Valle
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0
Jeff Bezos Stepping Down as Amazon CEO
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Jeff Bezos is to step down as chief executive of Amazon, the e-commerce giant that he founded in his garage nearly 30 years ago.

The Amazon founder will become executive chairman, a move he said would give him “time and energy” to focus on his other ventures.

Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, will be replaced by Andy Jassy, who currently leads Amazon’s cloud computing business.

The change will take place in the second half of 2021, the company said.

In a letter to Amazon staff on February 2, Jeff Bezos said: “Being the CEO of Amazon is a deep responsibility, and it’s consuming. When you have a responsibility like that, it’s hard to put attention on anything else.”

“As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions.”

“I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have,” he added.

Jeff Bezos, 57, has led Amazon since its start as an online bookshop in 1994. The firm now employs 1.3 million people globally, and saw its already explosive growth skyrocket last year, as the pandemic prompted a surge in online shopping.

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Amazon reported $386 billion in sales in 2020, up 38% from 2019. Profits almost doubled, rising to $21.3 billion.

In announcing the plans, Jeff Bezos said he would continue to focus on new products and early initiatives.

“When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention,” he said.

“Right now I see Amazon at its most inventive ever, making it an optimal time for this transition.”

The move comes as Jeff Bezos has taken on an increasingly public profile.

He has endured a public divorce, become a target for labor and inequality activists, and got involved in other businesses, such as space exploration firm Blue Origin and the Washington Post newspaper.

Amazon also faces increasing scrutiny from regulators, who have questioned its monopoly power. And its dominance in cloud computing is being increasingly challenged by other tech firms, such as Microsoft and Alphabet, parent company of Google and YouTube.

Jeff Bezos’s decision to hand over the day-to-day operation of the company came as a surprise. But investors appeared unfazed, with little change in the company’s share price in after-hours trade.

Andy Jassy, a Harvard graduate, has been with Amazon since 1997 and helped develop Amazon Web Services, which has long been seen as the profit engine of the company.

Alexei Navalny Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Jail Despite Protests

Roy Siemens
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0
Alexei Navalny Sentenced to 3.5 Years in Jail Despite Protests

Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for violating the conditions of a suspended sentence, a Moscow court ruled on February 2.

The prominent Putin critic has been in detention since returning to Russia last month. He had been treated in Germany for a near-fatal nerve agent attack against him in August.

Thousands of supporters have rallied across Russia in support of Alexei Navalny.

His suspended sentence for embezzlement has been converted into a jail term.

Alexei Navalny has already served a year under house arrest which will be deducted from the total.

He greeted the news with a resigned shrug. In court he called President Vladimir Putin a “poisoner”, blaming him for the attack.

Alexei Navalny’s supporters called for an immediate protest and tried to gather outside court but the whole area was overrun with riot police. More than 300 have been detained, according to monitors.

His lawyer said they would appeal against the ruling.

Strong international reaction to the sentence came quickly, with the Council of Europe – the continent’s leading human rights body – saying the judgement “defied all credibility”.

The council’s human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, said in a statement: “With this decision, the Russian authorities not only further exacerbate human rights violations as already established by the European Court of Human Rights, they also send a signal undermining the protection of the rights of all Russian citizens.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for Alexei Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release, and said he would work closely with allies to hold Russia accountable for “failing to uphold the rights of its citizens”.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded by telling Western countries to focus on their own problems.

She said on Russian TV: “You should not interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.”

Alexei Navalny has been accused of breaking the terms of a 2014 suspended sentence for embezzlement that required him to report regularly to Russian police. His lawyers say the accusation is absurd as the authorities knew he was recovering in Berlin from the nerve agent attack that nearly killed him in Russia.

Addressing the court before the sentencing, Alexei Navalny said the case was being used to frighten the opposition: “This is how it works: they send one to jail to intimidate millions.”

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On the Novichok chemical attack, Alexei Navalny said: “Using the FSB [Federal Security Service of Russia], Putin attempted to commit murder. I’m not the only one – many know this already and many others will. And this is driving the thieving little man in the bunker crazy.

“No matter how much he tries to look like a geopolitician, he took offence at me because he will go down in history as a poisoner.”

His return to Russia on January 17 triggered mass protests in support of him, many of them young Russians who have only ever experienced President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the attack on Alexei Navalny, and rejects the conclusion by Western experts that Novichok – a Russian chemical weapon – was used.

Alexei Navalny accuses President Putin of running an administration riddled with corruption, and recently released a YouTube video featuring an opulent Black Sea palace which, he alleged, was a Russian billionaires’ gift to the president.

On January 30, Arkady Rotenberg, a billionaire businessman close to President Putin, said he owned the palace and had bought it two years ago.

On January 31, some protesters brandished gold-colored toilet brushes, a symbol of their anger about the palace. For a second weekend, crowds defied bitter cold and a massive deployment of riot police, and more than 5,000 were arrested, according to OVD-Info group.

OVD-Info says it is an independent Russian media project, which gets crowd-funding in Russia and its donors include the Memorial human rights group and the European Commission.

Alexei Navalny is already serving a 30-day sentence in connection with the embezzlement case, which he denounces as politically motivated.

In recent days police have arrested many of Navalny’s top aides, who assist him in his Anti-Corruption Network (FBK).

Sputnik V: Russian Vaccine Shows 92% Protection Against Covid-19

Kathryn R. Bown
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0
Sputnik V: Russian Vaccine Shows 92% Protection Against Covid-19
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The Russian coronovirus vaccine showed around 92% protection against Covid-19, late stage trial results published in The Lancet reveal.

Sputnik V vaccine has also been deemed to be safe – and offer complete protection against hospitalization and death.

The vaccine was initially met with some controversy after being rolled out before the final trial data had been released.

However, scientists said the Russian vaccine’s benefit has now been demonstrated.

Sputnik V joins the ranks of proven vaccines alongside Pfizer, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen.

It works in a similar way to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine developed in the UK, and the Janssen vaccine developed in Belgium.

Sputnik V uses a cold-type virus, engineered to be harmless, as a carrier to deliver a small fragment of the coronavirus to the body.

Safely exposing the body to part of the virus’s genetic code in this way allows it to recognize the threat and learn to fight it off, without risking becoming ill.

After being vaccinated, the body starts to produce antibodies specially tailored to the coronavirus.

This means the immune system is primed to fight coronavirus when if it encounters it for real.

The Russian vaccine can be stored at temperatures of between 2 and 8C degrees (a standard fridge is roughly 3-5C degrees) making it easier to transport and store.

But unlike other similar vaccines, Sputnik V uses two slightly different versions of the vaccine for the first and second dose – given 21 days apart.

They both target the coronavirus’s distinctive “spike”, but use different vectors – the neutralized virus that carries the spike to the body.

The idea is that using two different formulas boosts the immune system even more than using the same version twice – and may give longer-lasting protection.

As well as proving effective, it was also safe with no serious reactions linked to the vaccine during the trial.

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Some side effects to a vaccine are expected but these are usually mild, including a sore arm, tiredness and a bit of a temperature.

There were no deaths or serious illness in the vaccinated group linked to the Russian vaccine.

As well as Russia, Sputnik V is being used in a number of other places, including: Argentina, Venezuela, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Palestinian territories.

The authors of the Lancet paper pointed out the analysis only included symptomatic cases of Covid, and more work would need to be done to understand whether it stops even asymptomatic cases, and prevents the virus from being passed on by vaccinated people.

France Approves AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Only for People Under 65

Kathryn R. Bown
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0
France Approves AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Only for People Under 65
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

France has restricted the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to people under age of 65.

The move is the latest recommendation from an EU member state approving the vaccine with such restrictions, citing insufficient data on its efficacy for older people.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EU drugs regulator, has approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults, but it is up to each member to set its own rollout policy.

Germany and Austria have already recommended the vaccine be limited to under-65s.

There has been criticism of the slow pace of vaccinations in the EU and the campaign has been hit by delays to deliveries of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, among others.

The European Commission – the EU executive – was caught up in a row with AstraZeneca last week, after the company said it could not supply the expected doses on time.

The president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in particular, has been under fire for her own handling of the rollout, but she defended her stance on February 2.

Ursula von der Leyen told France’s Le Monde: “I am convinced that the European strategy on vaccination is the right one.”

AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Approved for EU Market

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also backed the EU’s approach in a TV interview.

France’s health regulator said there was still not enough data about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine for patients over 65 years of age.

“These data will arrive in the coming weeks. In the meantime we recommend its use for people under 65 years old,” it said.

It recommended the vaccine for health workers and vulnerable people between the ages of 50 and 65.

More than 1.5 million people have received a Covid vaccine so far in France.

Last week Germany’s vaccine commission said it could not recommend the use of the vaccine in people aged over 65.

On February 2, health authorities in Sweden and Poland made similar announcements and Belgium’s health minister said the vaccine, for the moment, would only be given to people below the age of 55. Italy’s medicines agency on Saturday also approved the jab for all adults under 55.

In a study yet to be formally published, scientists at Oxford University have said the vaccine could lead to a “substantial” fall in the spread of the virus.

Individual EU countries are free to decide who vaccines should be given to once they have been approved at EU level.

In her TV interview on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “every vaccine is welcome in the European Union”, adding that good data had emerged for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

In her interview with Le Monde, Ursula von der Leyen admitted that the EU had made missteps.

She said: “When you make urgent decisions – and in this year of crisis we’ve taken around 900 – there’s always the chance of missing something.”

However, Ursula von der Leyen said 18 million vaccine doses had been delivered across the EU so far and many more would follow over the next two months.

No-one who received the Oxford vaccine in trials was hospitalized or became seriously ill due to Covid-19.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine is given via two injections to the arm, the second between 4 and 12 weeks after the first.

When it approved it last week, the EMA noted that most participants in test studies were under 55 years of age.

The agency said that while there were not yet enough results to show how well the vaccine will work in older people, “protection is expected, given that an immune response is seen in this age group and based on experience with other vaccines”.

AstraZeneca has said a US study will shortly provide additional data on the vaccine’s efficacy in older adults.

Screech: Saved by the Bell Actor Dustin Diamond Dies from Lung Cancer

Sonia Pantiss
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0
Screech: Saved by the Bell Actor Dustin Diamond Dies from Lung Cancer
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Actor Dustin Diamond, who played Screech in the popular sitcom Saved by the Bell, has died from cancer at the age of 44, his representative has said.

Dustin Diamond had recently completed a first round of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with lung cancer last month.

The actor’s condition had deteriorated fast in the last week, said agent Roger Paul.

“Dustin did not suffer. He did not have to lie submerged in pain. For that, we are grateful,” he said on February 1.

Saved by the Bell, a sitcom about a high school friends and their headmaster, ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993 and was a global hit series. Dustin Diamond played Samuel “Screech” Powers.

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Co-stars have been paying tribute.

Mario Lopez, who played AC Slater in the sitcom, said: “Dustin, you will be missed, my man. The fragility of this life is something never to be taken for granted. Prayers for your family will continue on.”

Mark-Paul Gosselaar, known to fans of the show as Zack Morris, tweeted that Dustin Diamond was “a true comedic genius” and said he “will miss those raw, brilliant sparks that only he was able to produce”.

Dustin Diamond reprised his role in follow-up series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years. But he did not appear in the recent revival series.

He was also a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother in 2013.

Dustin Diamond served three months in jail after he stabbed a man during an altercation at a bar in Wisconsin in 2014.

Myanmar Military Coup After Aung San Suu Kyi and Leaders Detained

Roy Siemens
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0
Myanmar Military Coup After Aung San Suu Kyi and Leaders Detained

Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected leaders have been detained as the military seized power in the Asian country.

Troops are patrolling the streets and a night-time curfew is in force, with a one-year state of emergency declared.

President Joe Biden raised the threat of new sanctions, with the UN also condemning the coup.

The army alleges the recent landslide election win by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party was marred by fraud. She urged supporters to “protest against the coup”.

In a letter written in preparation for Suu Kyi’s impending detention, she said the military’s actions would put the country back under a dictatorship.

The military has already announced replacements for a number of ministers.

On the streets of Myanmar’s main city, Yangon, people said they felt their hard-fought battle for democracy had been lost.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by the armed forces until 2011, when democratic reforms led by Aung San Suu Kyi ended military rule.

Aung San Suu Kyi spent nearly 15 years in detention between 1989 and 2010. She was internationally hailed as a beacon of democracy and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

However, her international reputation suffered severely following an army crackdown on the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority. Former supporters accused Aung San Suu Kyi of refusing to condemn the military or acknowledge accounts of atrocities.

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In the early hours of February 1, the army’s TV station said power had been handed over to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested in a series of raids. It is not clear where they are being held.

No major violence has been reported. Soldiers blocked roads in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, and the main city, Yangon. International and domestic TV channels, including the state broadcaster, went off air. Internet and phone services were disrupted. Banks said they had been forced to close.

Later, the military announced that 24 ministers and deputies had been removed, and 11 replacements had been named, including in finance, health, the interior and foreign affairs.

A curfew is now reportedly in effect from 20:00 local time to 06:00.

The army takeover follows weeks of tensions between the armed forces and the government following parliamentary elections lost by the army-backed opposition.

The opposition had demanded a re-run of the election, raising allegations of widespread fraud that were not backed by the electoral commission.

GameStop: Elon Musk Questions Robinhood Founder Vladimir Tenev on Clubhouse

Clyde K. Valle
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0
GameStop: Elon Musk Questions Robinhood Founder Vladimir Tenev on Clubhouse
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk has grilled trading app Robinhood’s co-founder, Vladimir Tenev, about why it limited users to only being able to buy a small number of shares in some companies.

The move came after GameStop’s stock surged amid a campaign to cause hedge funds large losses.

Vladimir Tenev denied “conspiracies” that he was trying to help the hedge funds.

Instead he blamed a demand that Robinhood provide a $3 billion security deposit at short notice.

The interview was conducted on the audio-only social network Clubhouse.

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Tesla boss’ 90-minute appearance was a major coup for Clubhouse, which is currently in a “beta” testing phase and requires users to be invited to access its platform.

It allows people to join private rooms for conversations, but participants are capped at 5,000.

However, fans streamed the interview on YouTube and overflow rooms on the platform, as Elon Musk’s appearance attracted unprecedented attention.

Elon Musk also spoke about travel to Mars, Bitcoin and brain implants during his session.

Robinhood curbed buying of GameStop and some other shares last week.

Unlike most trading platforms, it does not charge a commission for letting users buy and sell shares. Instead it makes money by selling data on those deals to others before they go through.

Some hedge funds have lost out on the rise in GameStop’s shares because they had shorted the stock. This is where an investor tries to make money by betting a company’s share price will fall.

Elon Musk questioned to what degree Robinhood was “beholden to” Citadel Securities, which is its biggest client. Citadel has suffered losses as a result of an investment in a hedge fund that had taken a large short position on GameStop.

He has previously been critical of short selling, claiming it to be a “legal” scam.

Vladimir Tenev acknowledged that there had been “a rumor that Citadel or other market makers kind of pressured us into” putting restriction on trades, but added the claim was “just false”.

“Robinhood stands for, you know, democratizing access to stocks,” he said on Clubhouse.

“We want to give people the access… but we had no choice in this case, we had to conform to our regulatory capital requirements.”

Elon Musk asked in response: “Did you sell your clients down the river, or [did] you have no choice?”

Vladimir Tenev repeated that Robinhood had to comply with financial requirements.

He said this involved an order from the National Securities Clearing Corporation – a clearing house used by the company – to provide “around $3bn” to back up its trades. He added the demand was later reduced to $700 million.

Vladimir Tenev conceded, however, that Robinhood needed to be more transparent.

“We were able to open and serve our customers,” he said, adding that Robinhood had raised more than $1bn within 24 hours.

“When we do open [on Monday]… we’ll be able to kind of relax the stringent position limits that we put on these securities on Friday.”

Elon Musk also came out in support of Bitcoin, saying he thought it was on “the verge of getting a broad acceptance” by conventional finance.

Bitcoin has surged in value in recent months, but some experts say it is volatile and will crash soon.

Elon Musk also said human travel to Mars will be possible within five-and-a-half years – and outlined his vision to relocate some humans there from Earth.

He also said he believed he could get the journey time to the Red Planet down from six months to one month.

Another of Elon Musk’s projects, Neuralink, received attention in the interview.

The start-up explores ways to connect the human brain to a computer interface.

Elon Musk said he hoped the technology could be used, in early applications, for humans with serious brain injuries.

How To Avoid Injuries During Workout

Kathryn R. Bown
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0
How To Avoid Injuries During Workout

Regular workout and sport are essential for us. It keeps us physically as well as mentally fit. However, in these activities, there are some chances of getting hurt, which can be very critical at times. A study shows that around 41% of Gym users get injured while working out. But you can make sure to not become one of them by planning little and following simple things. What are they? Follow through the post and you’ll find out.

Have a Routine Checkup
You don’t have to be an Olympic-level athlete to go see a doctor for your fitness test. It’s essential to have a routine physical. It can minimize the chances of workout injuries to a minimum.

Hire a Personal Trainer
Many people ignore the importance of a personal trainer and find it unnecessary to hire one. Googling everything is good to an extent but taking assistance from the professional is another thing. So, don’t put your health at stake and if you’re just starting out the gym, get a good personal trainer for yourself. It surely would cost you additional bucks with the gym membership, but a qualified trainer would eliminate all the chances of workout injuries and help you achieving fitness goals fast, be it muscle building, weight loss, or merely fitness.

Don’t Miss the Warm-Up
One of the major causes of sports or workout injuries is not warming up well before starting out. You can see many people just start running on the treadmill or lifting weights right after entering the gym. This habit causes severe muscle and joint injuries in people. That’s why it’s essential to stretch the muscle and warm up the body a little before doing any exercise.

Workout Gears are Must
Lack of workout equipment causes most of the injuries that could’ve been avoided merely by wearing them. The safety equipment for sports includes clothing, protective guards, and most importantly, footwear. Yes, you heard it right. Footwear is a crucial part of the workout equipment that boosts performance and minimizes the risk of injuries during workouts. People usually go for cheap footwear due to high prices, but instead, you can use finish line discount codes to get huge discounts on the footwear of all the famous sports brands.

Don’t Exercise on Empty Tank.
It’s a very common myth that staying on an empty stomach is healthy and causes weight loss. Many people follow this myth in the gym routine, which is very harmful to the body. You need to fuel your body for exercise, which also includes water intake. Because during workout our body burns the calories and lose fluids through sweat. However, one should workout immediately after eating. There should be a minimum hour or more gap between the last meal and workout.

Remember to still take care of your body post workout too. A protein shake is a fast and easy addition at the end of your training so that you cannot only provide your body the necessary nutrients to build muscle and strength but to also recover quickly after a workout or injury.  Look for a high quality, pure supplement like Naked Whey Grass Fed Protein Powder  which is completely free of additives, artificial sweeteners and only one ingredient – grass fed whey protein. 

Respect your Body
Our body communicates with us through the pain. One must not idolize giving extreme pain to the body for any fitness goal. Pain doesn’t necessarily mean gain. Workouts can be hard, but they should never ever in pain. When you’re feeling extreme pain during a workout, it’s your body asking, giving your signal about the injury, and you should listen to your body. This intense pain can cause permanent injuries to the body internally. If you feel any sort of pain, leave the workout and rest until your body gets ready to handle the stress again.

AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Approved for EU Market

Kathryn R. Bown
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0
AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine Approved for EU Market
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

The use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for people aged over 18 has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The EU’s drugs regulator said the AstraZeneca vaccine was about 60% effective in the trials on which it based its decision.

The move comes amid a dispute over whether Anglo-Swedish drug-maker is breaking its vaccine delivery commitments to the EU.

The European Commission has published its contract with Astra-Zeneca, hoping to show a breach.

Last week, AstraZeneca said vaccine supplies would be reduced because of problems in one of its EU factories.

The shortfall is expected to be about 60% in the first quarter of 2021. The EU has also received fewer than expected doses of the two other vaccines it has approved – from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

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The EU has said AstraZeneca must honor its commitments and deliver the doses it ordered by diverting doses manufactured in the UK. However, the company said its contract for UK supplies prevents this.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told German radio on January 29 that the EU contract signed in August contained “binding orders”, and called for an explanation.

The commission later said it had agreed a plan to introduce export controls on coronavirus vaccines. It means individual member states will decide whether to allow the export of vaccines produced in their territory. It will be in place until the end of March.

A European Commissioner said it was being introduced to enhance transparency and to ensure that all EU citizens had access to vaccines.

Germany’s vaccine commission said this week that it could not recommend the use of AstraZeneca vaccine in people aged over 65, citing a lack of data on how it affected this age group.

The UK has been using the AstraZeneca vaccine in its mass immunization program for weeks now, and public health officials say it is safe and provides “high levels of protection”.

Confirming it had approved the vaccine, the EMA said that most participants in the test studies were between 18 and 55 years old. It said that while there were not yet enough results to show how the vaccine will work in older people, “protection is expected, given that an immune response is seen in this age group and based on experience with other vaccines.”

Individual EU countries can still decide who vaccines should be given to, once they have been approved.

Single-Dose Janssen Vaccine Shows 66% Effectiveness Against Covid-19

Kathryn R. Bown
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Single-Dose Janssen Vaccine Shows 66% Effectiveness Against Covid-19

Janssen’s single dose Covid-19 vaccine is 66% effective, the Belgian company has announced.

However, nobody needed hospital treatment or died from coronavirus after the vaccine took effect in the international trial.

Crucially, the trial looked at giving just one dose of the vaccine, which makes it significantly easier to roll out than those requiring two.

Although there are also signs the vaccine is less effective against the new variant that is spreading in South Africa.

The news comes shortly after Novavax announced their vaccine was 89% effective overall in the UK and 60% in South Africa. Both new vaccines will need to be reviewed by regulators before they can be used.

Janssen, a pharmaceutical company owned by Johnson & Johnson, is also investigating whether giving two doses will give either stronger or longer-lasting protection.

The fact the vaccine works as a single dose and can be kept in a standard fridge, while others need super-cold storage, means the vaccine could have a significant role around the world.

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Dr. Paul Stoffels, the chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, said: “A one-shot vaccine is considered by the World Health Organization to be the best option in pandemic settings.”

He added the vaccine could “potentially protect hundreds of millions of people from serious and fatal outcomes of Covid-19”.

Janssen is aiming to make one billion doses in 2021.

The Janssen vaccine uses a common cold virus that has been engineered to make it harmless.

The vaccine then safely carries part of the coronavirus’s genetic code into the body. This is enough for the body to recognize the threat and then learn to fight coronavirus.

This trains the body’s immune system to fight coronavirus when it encounters the virus for real.

This is similar to the approach used by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

Dr Mathai Mammen, from Janssen, said: “A single dose regimen with fast onset of protection and ease of delivery and storage provides a potential solution to reaching as many people as possible.

“The ability to avoid hospitalizations and deaths would change the game in combating the pandemic.”

The results are based on nearly 44,000 people who took part in the trial and 468 cases of Covid-19.

However, the Janssen vaccine was just 57% effective in the South African part of the trial, where a new version of the coronavirus is spreading, compared with 72% in the US.

GameStop Stocks Fall 60 Percent After Restrictions

Clyde K. Valle
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GameStop Stocks Fall 60 Percent After Restrictions
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Amateur investors are responding with outrage after trading platforms restricted buying of shares in GameStop and other companies.

The moves by Robinhood and Interactive Brokers follow days of frenzied trading that led to massive gains for some stocks.

Shares in GameStop dived by as much as 60% after the restrictions.

It is the latest twist in a battle that has pitted amateur investors against Wall Street giants.

Major hedge funds had bet billions of dollars that GameStop’s shares would fall.

They have faced major losses after amateurs, swapping tips on social media sites such as Reddit, drove up the share price by more than 700% in a week.

Other firms, such as AMC Entertainment, Koss Corp and BlackBerry, also saw sharp gains. They were embraced by day traders after hedge funds bet against them.

The activity has drawn questions from regulators, who are monitoring trading amid fears of illegal actions.

But the amateur investors say they are just playing Wall Street at its own game.

In online forums they discussed legal action and accused Robinhood and other brokerages enacting their own form of market manipulation by restricting purchases of certain shares.

Why have GameStop shares surged?

Key to what’s going on is “short selling” or “shorting”, where a big investment company such as a hedge fund tries to make money by betting that a company’s share price will fall.

The hedge fund borrows shares in a company from other investors (for a fee) and sells the shares on the markets at, for example, $10 each, waits until they fall to $5, and buys them back. The borrowed shares are returned to the original owner, and the hedge fund pockets a profit.

GameStop – which saw heavy losses last year and was described as “failing” by one big investor – is the most shorted stock on Wall Street. Some 30% of its shares are thought to be in the hands of hedge fund borrowers.

However, in the last week, amateur investors who follow the Wall Street Bets forum on Reddit have poured money into buying the company’s stock with the aim of pushing up the price.

If the price rises dramatically, short sellers face big losses and they need to buy back the shares they have borrowed quickly to prevent bigger losses – a process known as covering.

However, buying back the shares only adds to demand for the stock and pushes its price higher still.

Amateurs aren’t the only ones getting in on the action.

This week, for example, private equity firm Silver Lake Group, which had loaned money to AMC Entertainment, converted its bonds to shares after the surge in the firm’s prices, a swap worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the US, anger over the trading restrictions united politicians whose stances typically sharply diverge.

Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who is taking over as chair of the banking committee, said he would hold a hearing about the “state of the stock market”.

He said: “People on Wall Street only care about the rules when they’re the ones getting hurt.”

What is GameStop?

GameStop is an American high street shop that sells games, consoles and other electronics.

With fewer people out shopping due to the Covid-19 pandemic and most games being sold online, things weren’t looking great for GameStop.

People who buy and sell stocks often bet on which companies won’t do well in the future.

They borrow shares in the company and sell them, with a promise to buy them back at a later date.

If you’re sure the company will lose value, you’d make a profit when you buy them back and the price has fallen.

This is a massively simplified explanation of something called shorting, or short selling – words you might’ve seen cropping up in your feeds in the last few days.

GameStop was one of the companies that loads of hedge funds (companies who do these bets) had bet on to lose a lot of value.

More than four million people are on Reddit, usually discussing stocks and shares and where they’re going to invest money.

But huge numbers of people in the wallstreetbets Reddit forum swapped tips and bought shares in GameStop.

The demand raised its share price massively, which nobody saw coming, and everyone who had banked on it dropping in value had to buy their shares back.

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