The new variant is thought to have 32 mutations in its spike protein and is feared to be able to bypass vaccines and immunity gained from being infected before. The Omicron variant that first emerged in southern Africa, has been detected in Belgium, South Africa, Hong Kong and Israel. The variant has been described as “the worst one we’ve seen so far” and scientists are concerned about it spreading....
Officials in the Netherlands found that a total of 61 travelers who arrived on two flights from the African country on Friday had tested positive for COVID-19. Of those infected travelers, 13 were determined to have the new Omicron variant. The travelers flew into the Schipol airport in Amsterdam, which ranks among the busiest in all of Europe. Dutch authorities are now in the process of reaching out to individuals who arrived from other southern African nations where Omicron has been on the rise since Monday....
The study, undertaken by South Africa-based researcher Alex Sigal and colleagues, suggests that Omicron does not completely evade the protection offered by COVID vaccines. However, as many scientists had previously suggested, the study also showed that the Pfizer vaccine was much less effective at neutralizing Omicron than an older version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, showing a roughly 40-fold decline in neutralization activity. The results of the study have not yet been peer-reviewed....
For decades, Americans have overpaid for expensive prescription drugs available at significantly lower prices—an average 66 percent discount for brand-name originator drugs—right across the border in Canada. The pharmaceutical industry, or “Pharma,” wants to keep it that way, stymying any effort to give Americans access to drugs at those lower prices. Congress addressed this issue comprehensively in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, which authorized the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to approve plans for the safe and cost-effective importation of prescription drugs from Canada....
Maffeo, 20, is on a season-long loan at newly-promoted Girona, who are also owned by the City Football Group. 6/1 for Man City and Shakhtar to draw The Spaniard made 27 appearances for Girona last season as they secured promotion to La Liga for the first time in their history and Maffeo was quizzed by five-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi during Saturday’s clash at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi. “He [Messi] asked me a couple of things, like if I was loaned by City and how old I was,” Maffeo said....
Mehmedovic has begun rebuilding his house with donated materials–under the watchful eyes of American troops. “The windows and doors just arrived,” he tells Stapleton, as the lanky commander nods in approval. “The coal came last week. Everything is good.” Climbing back into the Humvee, Stapleton takes a bite of a sugar doughnut and a sip of coffee. “So few people are coming back to this area,” Stapleton tells a visitor....
Yesterday, O’Malley shared the artwork he did for the video game. He tweeted, “Some of my storyboards from the Scott Pilgrim game. I did a bunch of art and writing for it.” The Seconds writer/artist jokingly teased, “I still have the Scott Pilgrim game on my PS3 and my Xbox, but I have lost the ability to hook up a game system. I don’t know how cables work and now my arms have withered away....
In the 91 years since Mark Twain explained the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector-the taxidermist takes only your skin-Americans have become chronically angry about taxes. So how is a well-meaning president to pay for insuring the uninsured? Taxing cigarettes is popular enough, but a steep levy would lead to less smoking and, in short order, less money. The VAT, comfortingly close to the familiar sales tax, is another way to raise revenue without raising hackles....
The spirit of Reaganism was in the rubric that the federal government should “deliver the mail, defend the shores and get out of the way.” In Chicago Bush said “the role of government is not to manage or control the economy… but to remove obstacles standing in the way.” Reagan was told he could not have both his tax cuts and his military buildup. He replied: We’ll just see about that....
The 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances promised that the United States, Britain and Russia would “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and would “refrain from the threat or use of force” against the country. In exchange for such security assurances, Ukraine forfeited what was then the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, amounting to some 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads. In agreeing to the Budapest Memorandum, Ukraine had sought compensation for the highly-enriched uranium then lodged in its warheads and, most importantly, security assurances that it would not be invaded....
Surprisingly, Lieberfarb isn’t Hollywood’s most popular figure. And the cool feelings are mutual, since he’s never felt fully appreciated. He had braced himself for seeing his former detractors raise a glass to their own smarts. “You will see the peacocks strutting,” he had muttered. Within minutes he ran into a former colleague and started berating him for ignoring his calls. “I won’t forget this,” Lieberfarb barked, then abruptly left....
Enzymes are complex protein molecules produced by cells that set in motion specific biochemical reactions. Researchers have long known that CD 4, another HIV “receptor” enzyme, plays a role in letting the virus take over healthy cells. But CD 4 can’t do the job all by itself Since the late 1980s scientists worldwide have been racing each other to discover another “coreceptor” on the surface of T-cell lymphocytes (immune-system cells that are particular targets of HIV) and other cells....
Everything is golden, and nothing has been ruined by the cruel blanket of reality. So let’s take a few minutes and make some optimistic predictions about the 2023 baseball season. We’ll try to keep them rooted in reality, at least a little, but we’ll look at one aspect of every team with rose-colored glasses. MORE: One optimistic prediction for every National League team Up first, the American League, with teams listed alphabetically by nickname in divisions....
Word got out three years ago that New Line Cinema planned to film “The Lord of the Rings,” J.R.R. Tolkien’s sword-and-sorcery trilogy involving furry-footed hobbits, immortal elves, doughty dwarves, foul orcs, the dark Land of Mordor and a Ring so evil and powerful that it gives us the willies just to type the word. (“One Ring to rule them all… and in the darkness bind them.”) Since then Tolkien obsessives have been in a spiritual state equivalent to revving an engine in neutral....
Releasing figures for London, the Met said the Online Child Abuse and Exploitation Unit (OCSAE) has arrested 45 suspected offenders and safeguarded almost 100 children during the four weeks since the UK went into lockdown. The police force also said that the statistics showed that 92 children were protected and 68 warrants executed between March 23, when the government announced lockdown measures, to April 23. An average of 10 new live investigations launch every week as a result of the 45 arrests over the same period....
They just don’t. At least not very often. There have been two in the past 10 years — Casey Mears in 2007 and David Reutimann in 2009. Mears won on fuel mileage; Reutimann waited out a rain delay. MORE: Starting lineup | Teresa Earnhardt should drop family lawsuit | Drivers thrilled with better racing Before then, it had been a long, long time since an unexpected driver won NASCAR’s longest race, probably all the way back to the inaugural event in 1960, when Joe Lee Johnson lucked into the second and last victory of his career....
Experts worry that we could be heading into a big flu season, especially if enough Americans do not get their annual flu shot, which is now widely available. With over 700,000 deaths credited to COVID-19 in just 18 months, a rebound influenza epidemic is the last thing we need. All the talk about COVID-19 vaccines and boosters has caused an alarming shift in public focus—seasonal influenza has all but disappeared as a subject of discussion in the global sphere....
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Katrina’s violent winds and killing waters swept into the mainstream a stark realization: the nation’s poor had been abandoned by society and its institutions long before the storm. Since then, we have failed to acknowledge that grinding poverty is fueled by social choices and public-policy decisions that directly impact how many people are poor and how long they remain that way. There were 37 million people living in poverty in the United States in 2004, the last year for which U....
The former “YouTube brawler” last fought in a cage in May 2010 losing to Matt Mitrione at UFC 110. The UFC released Slice shortly thereafter and he decided to give boxing a try. He went undefeated in seven fights but has not fought since 2013. It came as the surprise of many when Bellator announced the singing of Slice in January. Then in February, it was announced Slice would Ken Shamrock in the main event of Bellator 138 on Friday night....
