WASHINGTON — Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on Thursday lashed out at critics of his non-response to the train derailment that released toxic chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio on Feb. 3.
Buttigieg Incredulous He’s Expected to Address Train Derailment
COVID Infection Provides Immunity Equal to Vaccination: Study
Feb. 17, 2023 — The natural immunity provided by a COVID infection protects a person against severe illness on a par with two doses of mRNA vaccine, a new study says.
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But protection against the BA.1 subvariant of Omicron was not as high – 36% at 10 months after infection, says the research team from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
The researchers examined 65 studies from 19 countries through Sept. 31, 2022. They did not study data about infection from Omicron XBB and its sub-lineages. People who had immunity from both infection and vaccination, known as hybrid immunity, were not studied.
The “humanitarian exemptions”, on Syrian sanctions, are conditional!
The U.S. Treasury announced a decision on February 9 claiming to allow an easing of sanctions imposed on Syria for the ensuing six months until August 8, as part of “earthquake relief efforts.”
Did the U.S. really lift sanctions off Syria temporarily?
The decision allows for “third parties” to transfer aid to Syria without fear of U.S. sanctions, but should only be intended for aid to earthquake-effected areas. Nonetheless, the sanctions programs applied to Syria for many years, the most severe of which are the Caesar Act (2019) and Captagon Act (2022), provide for “humanitarian exceptions,” but are conditional on U.S. approval.
Related:
Did the U.S. lift sanctions on Syria?
So any earthquake relief effort must take place away from the Syrian state. In other words, it must contribute to undermining the sovereignty of the Syrian state, or it will not take place.
It’s one of my thousands of favourite Pratchett quotes and, for a change, it is a quote by a baddie, who sincerely believes that the above makes lies more powerful than the truth. He is, of course, eventually proven wrong, much to his astonishment, and justice triumphs.
Truth’s boots
French President Emmanuel Macron has been looking for a successor to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, a French writer revealed on Sunday.
France looking for successor to PA President Abbas
Sebastien Lecornu took a swipe at the Black Panther film, but perhaps instead he could have learned something about France’s colonial past.
‘Wakanda Forever’ scene triggers French defense minister
Video via Wongel Zelalem
LONDON (AP) — Britain and the United States committed crimes against humanity when they forced the people of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean to leave their homes five decades ago to make way for a U.S. Navy base, a rights group charged Wednesday, calling on the two governments to let the Chagossians return.
Human Rights Watch condemns UK, US actions on Chagos Islands
UN experts said this week that US sanctions on Iran are causing more deaths of Iranians with thalassemia, a congenital blood disorder that requires specialized medicine.
UN Experts: Iranians With Blood Disorder are Dying Due to US Sanctions
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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