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Kim Kardashian is leaning on loved ones after taking a stand in court.Days after the Kardashians star testified about the events of her 2016 Paris Robbery, in which a group of men stole over $10...
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Two Learning Systems in the Brain Reveal How Habits Are Formed Neuroscience NewsDopaminergic action prediction errors serve as a value-free teaching signal NatureNeuroscientists reveal insights into how the brain forms habits and why they are so hard to break Medical XpressWhy Do We Keep Doing Things That Don’t Feel Rewarding? Technology NetworksResearchers decode the brain mechanism that links repeated actions and reward to form stable habits Hospital Clínic Barcelona
The post Denon and Marantz just made Qobuz too hot to ignore appeared first on Android Headlines.
Star Wars Outlaws' Latest DLC Episode Launches Alongside Lots Of Fixes GameSpotStar Wars Outlaws: A Pirate’s Fortune Is a Love Letter to Hondo Ohnaka IGNIt's taken nine months, but one of the worst problems in Star Wars Outlaws has finally been fixed PCGamesNStar Wars Outlaws Title Update 1.16 Introduces Welcome Gameplay Upgrades, RTXDI and Ray Reconstruction Improvements WccftechWith its 1.6 update, Star Wars Outlaws has finally fixed its janky as hell speeder combat PC Gamer
On this episode of First Ring Daily, Bugs, Bing, and Brad.The post First Ring Daily 1788: Bugs N Bing appeared first on Thurrott.com.
Today we're tracking a pair of big sales from Verizon and Samsung, which are offering great deals on products including Apple's MagSafe iPhone cases, iPad Smart Folio, computer monitors, storage accessories, and much more.VerizonNote: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.Verizon today kicked off its annual "Red Hot Deal Days" event, offering deals on everything from smartphones to wearables, headphones, soundbars, and first-party Apple accessories. This includes up to $18 off Silicone Cases with MagSafe for iPhone and up to $20 off Smart Folio for various iPad models.SITEWIDE SALERed Hot Deal Days at VerizonVerizon is also offering the iPhone 16 Pro, Apple Watch Series 10, and iPad all for no cost, with multiple stipulations. You'll need to buy or upgrade to the new iPhone on the Unlimited Ultimate Plan and trade in an existing device from Apple, Google, Motorola, or Samsung. You'll receive promo credits for these devices over the course of 36 months.Apple Silicone Cases with MagSafe - Get 20% offApple Smart Folio - Get 20% offBelkin charging accessories - Get 20% offXbox accessories - Get up to 50% offMeta Quest 3S and Ray-Ban Meta glasses - Get $100 off when bought togetherSamsungOver at Samsung, the retailer is hosting a couple of new special discounts on monitors and various storage devices. For the ViewFinity monitors, if you log in with Samsung's Education Offer Program membership, you can save an extra 10 percent as a teacher.SITEWIDE SALESamsung Spring SalePortable 1TB SSD T7 - $99.99 ($10 off)Portable 4TB SSD T5 - $229.99 ($128.99 off)34-inch ViewFinity S6 Curved Monitor with USB-C - $399.99 ($300 off)34-inch ViewFinity S6 Curved Monitor With Thunderbolt 4 - $499.99 ($300 off)49-inch Odyssey G9 Curved Gaming Monitor - $849.99 ($450 off)27-inch ViewFinity S9 Smart Monitor - $979.99 ($620 off)49-inch Odyssey G9 Curved Smart Gaming Monitor - $1,149 ($650 off)49-inch Odyssey OLED G9 Gaming Monitor with 4TB SSD - $1,386.98 ($788 off)If you're on the hunt for more discounts, be sure to visit our Apple Deals roundup where we recap the best Apple-related bargains of the past week.Deals NewsletterInterested in hearing more about the best deals you can find in 2025? Sign up for our Deals Newsletter and we'll keep you updated so you don't miss the biggest deals of the season!Related Roundup: Apple DealsThis article, "Verizon and Samsung Kick Off New Sitewide Sales With Savings on iPhone/iPad Cases, Monitors, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
This is what you get if you take an ergonomic, vertical mouse shell and stuff ultra-fast gaming hardware inside it.
Garmin's brightest displays and a built-in speaker and microphone adorn two new watches.
Fresh off his family's dip in Washington, DC's sewage-contaminated Rock Creek, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is reminding us that he is no expert when it comes to healthcare, the thing he was nominated to run. When speaking to the House of Representatives — his first appearance before Congress since his confirmation hearings in January — the allegedly brainwormed Health and Human Services secretary said the quiet part out loud when attempting to weasel out of questions about vaccines. "I don't want to seem like I'm being evasive," Kennedy told the House Appropriations Committee, "but I don't think people should be [...]
Rumors suggest an imminent release of AirTag 2. With that in mind, Apple has quietly discontinued one of the few AirTag accessories it has offered ...The post Apple just gave us a big hint that the AirTag 2 will launch soon appeared first on BGR.
A Google DeepMind system improves chip designs and addresses unsolved math problems but has not been rolled out to researchers outside the company
In the sports industry, non-fungible tokens offer fans, clubs, and athletes unprecedented opportunities for interaction and monetization.
Nestled in dark burrows, with a limited sense of vision, mice brush their whiskers against their environment to navigate and to detect objects around them. This behavior, termed whisking, has been extensively studied in the past few decades and has traditionally been viewed as purely an act of touch.
Language processing in humans depends on the neuronal connection between language areas in the brain. Until recently, this language network was thought to be uniquely human.
Oldest fossil footprints from reptile found in Australia CBCEarliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution NatureReptiles evolved earlier than we thought, newly discovered claw-mark fossils suggest Live ScienceOldest footprints of first ‘reptile’ found by fossil hunters The Washington Post‘Turning point’: claw print fossils found in Australia rewrite story of amniotes by 40 million years The Guardian
Scientists in Australia have identified the oldest known fossil footprints of a reptile-like animal, dated to around 350 million years ago. Previously the earliest known reptile footprints, found in Canada, were dated to 318 million years ago.
Sea level rise will cause large areas of land to be flooded in the coming century. We could use these future sea-landscapes for the production of seagrass grains, argues environmental scientist Marieke van Katwijk in the journal Ambio.
When trees and soil fungi form close associations with each other, both partners benefit. Many tree species have further enhanced this cooperation by forming a concurrent symbiosis with two different groups of mycorrhizal fungi. Those trees cope better with water and nutrient scarcity, which is an important trait for forestry in the face of climate warming.
Slicing an onion releases tear-inducing chemicals into the air, but the sharpness of the knife and the speed of the cut can affect how these droplets are expelled
Kurt the CyberGuy explores how hackers exploit data broker files to access personal information and explains services available to protect your privacy.
Science in Space: May Crew members on the International Space Station periodically conduct spacewalks to perform a variety of tasks such as installing, upgrading, and repairing equipment. During a spacewalk on May 1, astronauts installed hardware to support the planned addition of a seventh roll-out solar array on the exterior of the space station. Each [...]
Comedian says the CBS 'The Late Show' host's 2018 grilling made her cry: 'What a d---.'
Thomas Hall checks in with his review of this week's WWE Evolve.The post Hall’s WWE Evolve Review 5.14.25 appeared first on 411MANIA.
411's Thomas Hall Checks Out This Week's Evolve!The post Hall’s Evolve Review – 5.14.25 appeared first on 411MANIA.
At 13-0, West Genesee is the only undefeated boys lacrosse team in Section III.
ORLANDO, Florida--(BUSINESS WIRE)--may. 14, 2025--
It may be a long time before Celtics fans see Jayson Tatum back on the court, but he had a message to those watching Boston’s 127-102 win over the Knicks in Game 5.
The Los Angeles Angels' closer used to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
BALTIMORE, Maryland — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested 27-year-old Javid Ahmadi, an Afghani national, in Elkridge, Maryland, following his conviction for second-degree assault. Ahmadi's arrest underscores the ongoing threat posed by individuals who violate immigration laws and...
Gabe Kidd made an appearance on this week's AEW Dynamite to help Jon Moxley retain the World Championship.The post Gabe Kidd Helps Jon Moxley Retain AEW World Title On AEW Dynamite appeared first on 411MANIA.
Indigenous women in India have watched their villages’ common areas under threat from climate change. Now they are leading their communities’ most significant effort yet to speak up for their needs. Armed with “dream maps” of how their lands should...
CIF Southern Section high school boys' tennis playoff results and updated matchups.
The New England Patriots announced they have signed running back Trayveon Williams and released veteran defensive tackle Eric Johnson.
The legendary singer-songwriter signed copies of his book 'Sweet Baby James' as a gift
The opening week of the 2025 regular season features spotlight games in Philadelphia, Sao Paulo, Buffalo and Chicago, and oddsmakers generally leaned
Amherst Police ask for help finding missing 11-year-old Ryder Reed last seen Wednesday morning.
(MENAFN - PR Newswire) Up to 300 R&D jobs could initially be created in Japan, highlighting the country's strategic importance to Ericsson Investment to support Japan's connectivity ecosystem of ...
Jack Reyes struck out 10 and gave up two hits over seven shutout innings, and Andrew Daley recorded his 95th career hit with an RBI double as Weymouth defeated Braintree 4-0 in Bay State Conference baseball action. Max Boehm pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing four hits while coming through with [...]
(MENAFN - EIN Presswire)STR Talk Officially Launches - The Next-Gen Encrypted Messaging App for the Web3 EraSTR Talk empowers users to connect through encrypted conversations built on blockchain ...
The Los Angeles Dodgers have called up top prospect Dalton Rushing and let veteran catcher Austin Barnes go
James Wood’s eighth-inning double drove in the go-ahead run and the Washington Nationals rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves 5-4 and end their seven-game losing streak
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Demi Lovato and Jordan Lutes are on the brink of a new chapter, with whispers of a Memorial Day weekend wedding.
The 23-year-old model and beauty influencer was inside a beauty salon in the municipality of Zapopan, the fringes of Guadalajara, when it happened.
CRTC kicks off Canadian content hearing as big streamers cancel appearances CityNews VancouverView Full Coverage on Google News
Sean 'P Diddy' Combs has been around for many years, so it's not a shock that he was name dropped in songs before he became embroiled in his recent legal drama
Lala Kent is being treated for a health scare. Kent, 34, took to her Instagram Story on Wednesday, May 14, to address the scary growth on her right eye. “Alright, you guys, I have an update on the eye,” the Vanderpump Rules alum shared in a video message while holding her infant daughter Sosa. “So [...]
The Indiana Pacers will open the Eastern Conference Semifinals on the road in New York or Boston on Wednesday, May 21.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is treading a fine line on UK-EU relations as hard-right populists make gains at a time when Brexit and immigration remain toxic issues in Britain.
John Cena made a surprise appearance at the Warner Bros. Discovery upfronts event on Wednesday to promote the newest season of Peacemaker, but took a tumble as he went to join costar Tim Meadows on stage.
- XCMG Machinery publica el Informe ESG 2024: pioneros en innovación sostenible en el desarrollo de la industria global de maquinaria de construcción Nuevo liderazgo energético, transformación digital y alianzas globales hacia la neutralidad de carbono XUZHOU, China, 15 de mayo de 2025...
The $30 Ticket to Summer sale includes dozens of shows that are scheduled from May through October at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre and Meadow Brook Amphitheatre.
The Pandemic Agreement: Surveillance, 'One Health', & A New Industry Of Government Grift Authored by REPPARE (REevaluating the Pandemic Preparedness And REsponse agenda) via The Brownstone Institute,After three years of negotiation, the delegates of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) agreed on the text of the Pandemic Agreement, which now goes for vote at the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) at the end of May 2025. This text comes after the negotiations were extended for an additional year due to ongoing disagreements about intellectual property and technology transfers (Article 11), access to ‘pandemic-related health products’ (Article 12), and One Health.After extending the negotiations into a series of last-minute 24-hour sessions in April 2025, a draft was ‘greenlined’ with many countries suggesting that they had gone as far as they could via negotiation, and it was now time to bring it to vote. There are several interesting elements within the new draft of the Pandemic Agreement. For example, the Pandemic Agreement foresees ‘participating manufacturers’ (yet to be determined) to make 20% of their related pharmaceutical production available to the WHO, half as a donation, and half at ‘affordable prices’ (also to be determined). The expectation is that the WHO and other international partners will pool these and other resources for distribution (in an improved COVAX-like mechanism yet to be determined). In addition, a still relatively undefined ‘Coordinating Financial Mechanism’ (CFM) will be established to support the implementation of both the Pandemic Agreement and the amended International Health Regulations (IHRs), as well as to disburse surge funding to developing countries in the event of a pandemic.These commitments build on the IHR amendments that come into force in September 2025, which authorise the WHO Director-General to declare a ‘Pandemic Emergency.’ This represents an escalation of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), with a ‘Pandemic Emergency’ now representing ‘the highest level of alarm,’ which is meant to trigger a host of national and international responses. The PHEIC has been declared eight times since 2005, including for the ongoing Mpox outbreak in Central Africa, and there remains ambiguity about whether an outbreak like Mpox would now also qualify as a Pandemic Emergency. The Pandemic Agreement also now defines the first somewhat tangible effects of declaring a Pandemic Emergency, although these triggering effects are currently most clear regarding the mobilization of ‘pandemic-relevant health products.’In general, the text reads as one might expect when diplomats from almost 200 countries spent years negotiating and scrutinising every sentence. Although the United States and Argentina withdrew from these negotiations earlier this year, the document still had to navigate the manifold and often conflicting interests of delegates from Russia and Ukraine, Iran and Israel, India and Pakistan; not to mention members of the Africa Group who largely saw the Pandemic Agreement as a raw deal for Africa (see below). The result is therefore 30 pages full of vague declarations of intent, often qualified by references to the preservation of national sovereignty in an attempt to neutralize opposition. As it stands, the ‘Agreement’ looks primarily of symbolic importance, since a failure to reach an agreement would have been embarrassing for everyone involved.Yet, it would be churlish not to understand that the Pandemic Agreement consolidates ‘pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response’ as a definitive ‘space’ of global political action, for the purpose of which numerous new institutions and funding streams have already been created. Its potential passage into international law is unusual in global health and represents only the second time such a global health covenant has been created (the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control being the first), with the potential to mobilize substantial resources and policies.For example, according to estimates by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), expenditure on preparing for future pandemics had already more than quadrupled between 2009 and 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic unmistakably moved the topic into international ‘high politics.’ In the Agreement, governments pledge to ‘maintain or increase’ this funding for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response and to support mechanisms for its execution. As reported elsewhere by REPPARE, the requested funds for pandemic preparedness are $31.1 billion a year (for comparison, about 8 times global expenditure on malaria), of which $26.4 billion must come from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), while $10.5 billion in new overseas development assistance (ODA) would need to be raised. Presumably, the WHO’s preferred mechanism for the distribution of this ODA is via the yet-to-be-defined CFM.Vaccine EquityThe declared guiding principle of the Pandemic Agreement is ‘equity.’ The focus on ‘equity’ is driven largely by the WHO and associated philanthropists, NGOs, scientific advisers, and several LMICs (particularly in Africa), who view a lack of equity, primarily ‘vaccine equity,’ as the main failure of the Covid response. Representatives of poorer countries, but also important donors, have criticised the inequitable access to vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 as a key failure of the Covid response and the reason for increased Covid mortality. This inequitable access has been labelled ‘vaccine nationalism,’ which refers to the stockpiling of Covid vaccines in high-income countries (HICs) during the pandemic, limiting availability to vaccines by LMICs. The World Economic Forum, for example, claims that a fairer distribution of vaccines would have saved over a million lives. While enough Covid vaccine doses were ordered in Europe to immunise the entire population from infants to the elderly more than three times over, and are now being destroyed, many African countries were denied access. In fact, developing countries only received large quantities of coronavirus vaccines months after richer countries had been ‘fully vaccinated.’ Even after vaccination had been universally available in most HIC countries by summer 2021, under 2% in low-income countries had been vaccinated, many of them with Chinese vaccines that Western countries deemed inferior and thus not qualifying for travel clearance.The proponents of the Pandemic Agreement do not question the success of universal vaccination despite its limited and rapidly declining protective effect, nor the numerous reported adverse effects. But even if we assume that coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective, global comparisons of vaccination rates remain nonsensical. In HICs, most Covid-19 deaths occurred in people over 80, suggesting the need for context-specific interventions in the case of the most vulnerable.In most low-income countries (LICs), this risk group comprises only a tiny fraction of the population. For example, the average age in Africa is 19, presenting an entirely different pandemic risk and response profile. In addition, a meta-analysis of blood tests by Bergeri et al. suggests that by mid-2021 most Africans had already had post-infection immunity to SARS-CoV-2. Yet, despite these variables, the manufacturers of the vaccines were encouraged to mass produce vaccines for global rollout, were given emergency authorisation, were released from liability, cashed in on advanced purchasing commitments, and were able to make record profits at the expense of taxpayers.As reported elsewhere, committing large resources to pandemic preparedness, particularly expensive surveillance, diagnostic, R&D, and the manufacturing of biomedical countermeasures, threatens to produce high opportunity costs since many LMICs must confront other more pressing and destructive disease burdens. This was at least implicitly recognised by many African countries during the Pandemic Agreement negotiations. Many resisted the inclusion of One Health into the Agreement, arguing that it was unaffordable and not a priority within their national strategic health plans.To paraphrase an African delegate on the INB, ‘We have difficulty doing coordinated surveillance within the health sector, let alone integrated surveillance across sectors.’ This concern not only suggests the need for more locally owned strategies to assure the efficient use of scarce resources, but also the need for strategies that better capture contextualised need to deliver greater effectiveness and true health equity, not just ‘product equity.’ Yet, even if product equity is a desired and justified outcome in particular cases, there is nothing in the Pandemic Agreement that guarantees this, since, in practice,e poor countries without their own production capacities will always be last in line. Although the ‘pathogen access and benefit system’ (PABS) in Article 12 of the Pandemic Agreement seeks to improve product equity, it is reasonable to expect wealthy countries to meet their own demand before making larger quantities available to LICs or the WHO for distribution (leaving it reliant on donations – which proved problematic during COVAX). As a result, it is hard to see what the Pandemic Agreement has improved in this regard, other than the codification of extremely loose normative commitments aiming to improve equitable access to pandemic products – an area on which countries would already broadly agree. The Pandemic Agreement also calls for more transparency for contracts between countries and manufacturers. This measure is seen as a mechanism that can expose rampant vaccine nationalism and profiteering, albeit only ‘as appropriate’ and ‘in accordance with national regulations.’ Thus, it is questionable whether such flimsy wording would have stopped EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from fixing billion-dollar deals with the Pfizer CEO through undisclosed text messaging nor stopped other countries from engaging in their own bilateral pre-purchasing and stockpiling activities.Of course, LMIC negotiators in the INB were aware of all this, which is why the fault line in the Pandemic Agreement negotiations mainly centred on issues of intellectual property and technology transfer. In essence, developing countries do not want to rely on handouts and want to produce vaccines and therapeutics themselves without having to pay expensive licensing fees to the pharmaceutical giants of the North. In contrast, the North has been steadfast in their commitments to intellectual property protections as outlined in TRIPS and TRIPS-Plus, seeing these legal mechanisms as important protections for their pharmaceutical industries. As a ‘compromise,’ the Pandemic Agreement contains provisions for ‘geographically diversified local production’ of pandemic products and closer international cooperation in research and development, with simplified licensing procedures intended to ensure technology transfer. However, the wording within the Pandemic Agreement is nonspecific and the EU insisted on adding last-minute footnotes to the technology transfer provision to ensure they only take effect ‘as mutually agreed.’ Thus, the Pandemic Agreement looks like the solidification of business as usual. Surveillance and One HealthWhereas a lack of ‘equity’ is understood by advocates of the Pandemic Agreement as the main failure of the Covid response, a ‘failure of preparedness’ is also seen as allowing the emergence and subsequent global spread of the novel coronavirus in the first place. The goal of eliminating the ‘existential threat’ of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) is dominant within the policy lexicon, endorsed by the G20 High Level Independent Panel, the World Bank, the WHO, The Elders’ Proposal for Action, and the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board. As we have argued elsewhere, these assessments are largely based on weak evidence, problematic methodologies, the use of political eminence over expertise, and simplified modelling, yet they remained unquestionable mainstays within INB negotiations. In response to future zoonoses, the Pandemic Agreement calls for a ‘One Health’ approach. In principle, One Health reflects the self-evident fact that human, animal, and environmental health are closely connected. Yet, in practice, One Health requires the targeted monitoring of soil, water, domestic animals, and farm animals with the view to identifying possible spillover to humans. As highlighted above, implementing One Health necessitates integrated systems across sectors with sophisticated laboratory capacities, processes, information systems, and trained personnel. As a result, the costs of implementing One Health are estimated by the World Bank to be approximately $11 billion a year, which would be in addition to the $31.1 billion currently estimated as required to finance the IHRs and Pandemic Agreement. With more laboratories looking for pathogens and their mutations, it is guaranteed that more will be found. Given the current practice of over-securitized knee-jerk risk assessments, it is foreseeable that more discoveries will be deemed ‘high risk,’ even though humans have coexisted with many of these pathogens without major incident for centuries, and even though the risk of geographical spread is low (e.g., reactions to Mpox). The logic of the Pandemic Agreement is that, based on genomic advancements, ‘pandemic-related health products’ can then be quickly developed and distributed via the ‘WHO Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing System’ (PABS). This is disquieting for at least three reasons. First, large resources will be poured into responding to these low-burden potential risks while everyday killers like malaria will continue to receive an underwhelming response. Second, this aspect of the Pandemic Agreement will undoubtedly engross under its own momentum, where new perceptions of threat legitimate ever-more surveillance, which will uncover even more potential threats in a self-perpetuating regress of securitization and over-biomedicalization. Lastly, nowhere in the Pandemic Agreement is there any mention of the fact that dangerous gain-of-function research will continue to be conducted to develop the ‘pandemic benefits’ expected under PABS, although biosafety and biosecurity obligations are mentioned in passing.This suggests that the risk assessments associated with the Pandemic Agreement are singularly focused on natural zoonosis spillover events, ignoring an area of risk that may have actually been responsible for the worst pandemic in the last 100 years. Thus, the recent Covid-19 pandemic is likely irrelevant to the Pandemic Agreement in terms of pandemic preparation and prevention.InfodemicsThe calamities of the Covid response have eroded trust in the WHO and other public health institutions. This has manifested in a clear scepticism of pandemic preparedness. For example, hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions warning of the WHO’s ‘power grab’ to undermine national sovereignty. These messages arose primarily after the proposed amendments to the IHR started to circulate, which contained original language allowing the WHO to issue binding recommendations to national governments during a pandemic. Ultimately, such plans did not materialise.The drafters of the Pandemic Agreement have seemingly agreed with such concerns. Article 24.2 states in unusually clear terms: ‘Nothing in the WHO Pandemic Agreement shall be interpreted as providing the WHO Secretariat, including the WHO Director-General, any authority to direct, order, alter or otherwise prescribe the national and/or domestic laws, as appropriate, or policies of any Party, or to mandate or otherwise impose any requirements that Parties take specific actions, such as ban or accept travellers, impose vaccination mandates or therapeutic or diagnostic measures or implement lockdowns.’ In practice, this clause has no effect, as there is no way of arriving at the interpretations Article 24.2 rules out, since the WHO simply does not have legal jurisdiction to force compliance. Regarding non-pharmaceutical measures, the signatories to the Pandemic Agreement merely agree to conduct research into their effectiveness and adherence. This includes not only epidemiology, but also ‘the use of social and behavioural sciences, risk communication and community engagement.’In addition, states agree on taking ‘measures to strengthen science, public health, and pandemic literacy in the population.’ Here, nothing is binding nor specified, leaving sufficient room for countries to determine how and to what degree to deploy non-pharmaceutical measures (for better or worse). It is just putting (again) in writing what States are already doing – an arguably pointless exercise.That said, references to the behavioural sciences are likely to trigger suspicion from those critical of the WHO. In particular, those concerned about the Covid response remember how behavioural scientists advised the British government to make people feel ‘sufficiently personally threatened’ and how UK Secretary of Health Matt Hancock shared WhatsApp chats about how he planned to ‘deploy’ the announcement of a new variant to ‘frighten the pants off everyone.’ Although it is the job of public health authorities to issue recommendations to guide the public, there are honest and more effective methods of doing so. Otherwise, public perceptions of disingenuousness undermine trust, something advocates of the Pandemic Agreement suggest is crucial for an effective pandemic response.In some ways, the explicit ruling out of WHO-imposed lockdowns or vaccine mandates is an excellent example of what the WHO calls ‘infodemic management.’ In the WHO’s ‘Managing Epidemics’ handbook, an infodemic is defined as ‘an overabundance of information, accurate or not, in the digital and physical space, accompanying an acute health event such as an outbreak or epidemic.’ Infodemic management also made it into the revised IHR, where “risk communication, including addressing misinformation and disinformation” is defined as a core capacity of public health. It is understandable that critics of infodemic management understand ‘addressing misinformation’ as a euphemism for censorship, especially given how scientists who spoke against mainstream narratives during Covid were sidelined and ‘cancelled.’ However, the first principle of infodemic management highlighted in ‘Managing Epidemics’ is ‘listening to concerns,’ which the Pandemic Agreement appears to have done by proactively ruling out lockdowns that they could not legally impose anyway. While the ‘zero draft’ three years ago still foresaw countries being expected to ‘tackle’ misinformation, this is now only mentioned in the preamble, where the timely sharing of information is said to prevent the emergence of misinformation. Nonetheless, the language around infodemics raises several concerns that remain unaddressed and require greater reflection. First, the criteria by which information is meant to be judged as accurate, and by whom, are unclear. Although this leaves the process undefined, allowing countries to design their own control mechanisms, it also leaves room for abuse. It is entirely feasible that some countries (with WHO support) could silence dissenting views under the guise of infodemic management. It is also not beyond imagination that mission creep will occur, where non-health-related information is also controlled under the pretext of ‘maintaining peace and security’ during a health or other emergency. Second, there is a serious risk that the poor management of information will exclude good science by accident, undermining overall public health. As witnessed during Covid, messages proclaiming that ‘the science is settled’ proliferated, and were often used to discredit credible science. Third, there is an underwritten presumption within the logic of infodemics that public health authorities and their affiliates are correct, that policies are always based entirely on the best evidence available, that those policies are free of conflicts of interest, that information from these authorities is never filtered nor distorted, and that people should not expect reason-giving from authorities via immanent critique or self-reflection. Clearly, public health institutions are like any other human institution, subject to the same potential biases and pitfalls. The Future of Pandemics and This AgreementWenham and Potluru from the London School of Economics estimate that the protracted negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement had already cost over $200 million by May 2024. Of course, this is only a fraction of the public expenditure on preparing for hypothetical future pandemics. The amount of ODA that the WHO, World Bank, and G20 have called for annually would correspond to about five to ten times the annual expenditure on combating tuberculosis – a disease that, according to WHO figures, has killed about as many people in the last five years as Covid-19, and at a much lower average age (representing higher years of life lost).Although the $10.5 billion a year in development aid for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response is unlikely to materialise, even a more cautious increase will come with opportunity costs. Moreover, these financial demands come at an inflection point in global health policy, where development assistance for health (DAH) is under massive pressure from serious stoppages and reductions from the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan. Thus, increase in scarcity requires the better use of health financing, not simply more of the same. Furthermore, as REPPARE has shown, the alarming statements of pandemic risk by the WHO, World Bank, and G20 are not well-grounded in empirical evidence. This means that the entire basis for the Pandemic Agreement is questionable. For example, the World Bank claims millions of annual deaths from zoonotic diseases, although the figure is less than 400,000 per year in the half-century before the Covid-19 pandemic, extrapolated to the current world population, 95% of which is attributable to HIV. The fact that many more new pathogens are being found today than just a few decades ago is not necessarily evidence of an increased risk, but rather the consequence of increased interest in research and, above all, the use of modern diagnostics and reporting processes.In many ways, the Pandemic Agreement is just a figurehead of a new pandemic industry that has already grown more robust in the last five years. This includes, for example, projects for pathogen surveillance, for which the Pandemic Fund set up at the World Bank in 2021 has already received $2.1 billion in donor commitments while raising almost seven billion for implementation (when additionality is calculated). In 2021, the WHO Pandemic Hub was opened in Berlin, where data and biological material from all over the world are collated as an early warning system for pandemics. In Cape Town, the WHO mRNA hub seeks to promote international technology transfer.And the 100 Days Mission, driven primarily by the public-private partnership CEPI, aims to ensure that vaccines are available in just 100 days during the next pandemic, which not only requires substantial investment in R&D and production facilities, but also a further speeding up of clinical trials and emergency use authorisation, posing potential risks regarding vaccine safetyTo coordinate the complex ecosystem of different pandemic initiatives, the signatories to the Pandemic Agreement will need to develop ‘whole-of-society’ pandemic plans that will presumably be ignored in the event of a real crisis, as happened with the existing plans in 2020. They are further expected to ‘report periodically to the Conference of the Parties, through the Secretariat, on their implementation of the WHO Pandemic Agreement.’ The WHO Secretariat, in turn, publishes ‘guidelines, recommendations and other non-binding measures.’ This suggests that the Pandemic Agreement will set global norms and seek compliance through the usual mechanisms of nudging, naming, and shaming, and through conditionalities imposed by the CFM or through other World Bank development loans. It is in the case of the latter where policy choices designed within the Conference of Parties could become more coercive on low-income countries.However, the importance of this new global pandemic bureaucracy should also not be overestimated, and the potency of the Pandemic Agreement is not immediately clear. After all, it is just one in a long list of United Nations agreements, only a few of which, such as the Climate Change Conference or the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, receive any broader attention. Thus, it is feasible that both the Conference of Parties and Pandemic Agreement will become politically inert. Nevertheless, what tempers this moderate view is a key similarity between the three aforementioned policy areas. Namely, nuclear proliferation, climate change, and pandemics are all continually presented as an ‘existential threat,’ which drives media coverage, consequent political motivation, and continued investment. In the case of pandemic risk, the official narratives project an apocalyptic vision of ever-increasing pandemics (e.g., every 20 to 50 years), with ever-increasing severity (2.5 million dead per year on average), and ever-increasing economic costs (e.g,. $14 to $21 trillion per pandemic if investments are not made). Therefore, it is to be expected that the Pandemic Agreement will continue to enjoy a status of high politics and increased investment through perpetual fear and vested interests. Consequently, if the draft Pandemic Agreement is adopted at the 78th WHA and subsequently ratified by the required 60 countries, the key to its potency will be how various legal obligations, governance processes, financial instruments, and ‘partner’ commitments are defined and implemented into policy via the Conference of Parties (COP). In many ways, the drafters of the Agreement merely ‘kicked the can down the road’ regarding the most difficult and contentious disagreements in hopes that future consensus will be found during the COP.Here, comparisons and contrasts between the Climate COP and Pandemic COP could help to glean some useful insights on how the politics of the Pandemic Agreement might play out. Both have become industries with significant levels of vested governmental and corporate interest, both use fear to motivate political and fiscal action, and both rely heavily on the natural proclivities of the media to propagate fear and justify states of exception as dominating narratives. Tyler DurdenWed, 05/14/2025 - 22:35
MUNICH, 15 de mayo de 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- CHINT Global cerró tres días vibrantes en Intersolar Europe 2025, una de las principales exposiciones mundiales para la industria solar y el almacenamiento de energía, reafirmando su posición como proveedor confiable de soluciones de cadena...
Despite being an omega-level practitioner of the reality-television arts and sciences, Lindsay is playing this breakup all wrong.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose on Wednesday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell. Nvidia shares are back in positive territory for the year after climbing 4% on Wednesday. Boeing and Qatar Airways announced a deal for the Middle Eastern airline to buy up to 210 jets. U.S. President Donald Trump gave a speech at U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum praising Saudi Arabia and its crown prince. Steve Cohen, founder of investment firm Point72, said he thinks stocks could “go back toward the lows” in April.The “Magnificent Seven” group of stocks — comprising Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — drove much of the S&P 500’s sterling 23.31% gain in 2024.They have also been some of the hardest stocks hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Those that rely heavily on global supply chains and export markets, such as Apple and Nvidia, suffered the most. By contrast, Meta and Microsoft, which derive more of their revenue from digital services, such as ad sales or enterprise software, actually saw their shares head upward this year.On Wednesday, Nvidia joined Meta and Microsoft to become the third member of the Magnificent Seven to trade in the green year to date. It’s a significant move because the chipmaker — as the word suggests — doesn’t deal in intangible products that can slip through trade barriers.Nvidia’s recovery suggests that deal-making under Trump — in terms of tariff agreements and broad bilateral ties, such as those he is forging with Saudi Arabia on his state visit — is providing businesses with a better environment. But it also emphasizes how volatile the market can be this year, when the engine behind 2024’s blistering rally can sputter out within the weeks surrounding Trump’s “Liberation Day.”What you need to know todayThree-day winning streak for S&P 500U.S. markets traded mixed Wednesday. The S&P 500 ticked up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.72%. The tech-heavy index was lifted by a 4.7% rise in AMD shares after the chip company announced a $6 billion share buyback as well as a jump in Nvidia shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.21%. Asia-Pacific stocks fell Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined around 0.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped nearly 1%.Nvidia is back in the greenNvidia on Wednesday climbed more than 4% on the back of news that it would sell more than 18,000 of its top artificial intelligence chips to Saudi Arabia. The share move puts Nvidia into positive territory for the year, becoming the latest “Magnificent 7” member stock to return to the green amid the for broader market’s recovery. Amazon, Alphabet, Tesla and Apple are still facing year-to-date losses in their share prices.Largest deal for Boeing and Qatar AirwaysBoeing and Qatar Airways on Wednesday announced a deal for the Middle Eastern airline to buy up to 210 jets during Trump’s state visit with the emir of Qatar. The order, which is the biggest in Qatar Airways’ history — and for Boeing, according to Trump — is a boost to the beleaguered planemaker, which hasn’t posted a profit since 2018.‘I like you too much’: Trump to Saudi crown princeAt the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum on Tuesday that was attended by CEOs such as Tesla’s Elon Musk, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Trump gave a speech in which he praised Saudi Arabia and told the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who was in the audience — “I like you too much.” Trump also met with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia the same day.[PRO] Stocks could retest April lows: Steve CohenSteve Cohen, founder of investment firm Point72, said he thinks stocks could “go back toward the lows” in April and that there’s a 45% chance of a recession. Cohen, however, said a decline in the stock market would not necessarily be a “calamity.”And finally...Pallava Bagla | Corbis News | Getty ImagesCritical minerals such as cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese can be found in potato-sized nodules at the bottom of the seafloor.Trump’s critical minerals drive paves the way for a deep-sea gold rushSeeking to counter China’s mineral dominance, the Trump administration in April signed a sweeping executive order to fast-track deep-sea mining within U.S. and international waters.The move is designed to help private companies access billions of tons of potato-sized rocks known as polymetallic nodules, which are rich in strategically important minerals.The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a government agency, appeared to welcome Trump’s announcement, saying the executive order heralds “the next gold rush” and lays the ground for “a thriving domestic manufacturing industry.”
Keep your expectations low, boy.Kratos has an epic history on PlayStation but some of the older entries in the series could benefit from a refresh.Read the full article on pushsquare.com
Stocks drift, dollar wobbles as markets bide time ahead of US data Yahoo FinanceStocks ease, dollar wobbles as markets bide time ahead of US data ReutersGlobal Markets Lower as Trade Deal Optimism Loses Steam; U.S. Data Eyed WSJEconomy: Asia Gains Altitude, Dollar Loses Ground CointribuneMarket Stalemate: US Debt Woes And Trade Policy Jitters Finimize
Elon Musk was part of the Trump coterie who flew to meet with the Saudis this week. The planned series of forums and spectacles was a way for Musk, who runs his own artificial intelligence (AI) company, xAI, to position himself within fierce peer competition for funding from the Saudis. ... [continued]The post Musk Visits With The Saudis — With US Citizens’ Private Data In His Pocket appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Clover Health is betting its future financial standing on its artificial intelligence subsidiary, Counterpart Health. Here's what the company had to say to its investors about its direction, the company's financial standing and why AI is the future.
European ports face an increasingly urgent mandate to reduce carbon emissions across their landside and waterside operations, driven not only by climate policies but also by local air quality concerns. The scale of the challenge is enormous yet manageable, provided clear strategies and timelines are established. My perspective is straightforward. ... [continued]The post Powering the Future: A 30-Year Roadmap to Zero-Emission Port Operations appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Compared with March 2025, plug-in vehicle sales dropped slightly in both New Zealand and Australia in April. In New Zealand, 649 cars with a plug were sold, approximately 10% of the market (7.3% BEV — 442 units, 3% PHEV — 207 units). In Australia, 8,628 cars with a plug were ... [continued]The post EV Sales in New Zealand — April Update appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Justin Baldoni’s lawyer is alleging that Blake Livel's lawyer “demanded” Taylor Swift release a statement supporting her in the latest development involving the legal battle between the two “It Ends With Us” stars.
Hailey Bieber is giving a glimpse into her world 2.0.On May 14, the Rhode Skin founder posted a picture of what appeared to be a handwritten message found in a notebook from her childhood."Cry...
Peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are set to begin in Turkey Thursday, but Russia's president won't be there. The Kremlin confirmed that rather than Vladimir Putin, it will be sending Vladimir Medinsky to head up its delegation. The Guardian refers to Medinsky as a "hardline" Putin aide who also...
Kathy Griffin recalls Stephen Colbert making her cry over Trump interview: 'He came for me' ew.comView Full Coverage on Google News
Updated on May 15th, 2025 - Version: 1.14.0 - Added: Mad Scientist ValentiWant to add the best heroes in the game to your team, or simply want to know who is worth investing in? Look no further, because the Seven Deadly Sins Idle tier list will give you a clear idea of all that, and much more. ... [MORE]
Scarlett Johansson doesn’t feel the Academy properly considered Avengers: Endgame, lamenting that the blockbuster only received a Visual Effects nomination and not a Best Picture nod. “How did this film not get nominated for an Oscar?” she stated recently to Vanity Fair in a new cover story promoting her forthcoming directorial debut Eleanor the Great, [...]
Australia's oldest prehistoric tree frog hops 22 million years back in time ScienceDailyFossils Show That These Ancient Frog Families Split Apart at Least 55 Million Years Ago Discover MagazineEarliest tree frog in Australia challenges understanding of divergence with South American species cosmosmagazine.com
It will be the second time in five years the club is relocating.
The Game 6 recap for Jeopardy Masters 2025.The post Jeopardy Masters Game 6 (May 14, 2025) – Final Jeopardy Clue, Answer, Wagers & Winner appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Being a superhero is a demanding job, and the challenges only intensify when you are someone like Superman. Indeed, Superman’s position as the strongest arbiter of truth, justice, and the rule of law means that his every move will be scrutinized, every comment dissected, and every perceived failure shared widely online. It’s a role that [...]The post 16 Years Before the Fortress of Solitude, Superman Had a Very Different Secret Lair appeared first on ComicBook.com.
Tom Cruise brings 'Final Reckoning' to Cannes, but won't bid 'Mission: Impossible' adieu yet
Updated on May 15, 2025 - new code addedBoth humans and monsters have invaded your home, and as the lone capybara left, you must take up arms and defend your homeland from these nasty evildoers. Do you rise to the challenge? Of course, you do - and we've got a handy list of Capybara Go codes to help you do just that. ... [MORE]
Looking for some help with today's NYT Mini crossword? In that case, extra clues and the answers are right here for you.
Join 411’s Live AEW Dynamite Coverage 411MANIAAEW Dynamite Jon Moxley Samoa Joe Will Ospreay Adam Page Konosuke Takeshita Josh Alexander TSNAEW Dynamite Beach Break Results 5/14 - AEW World Championship Steel Cage Match, Women's World Title Eliminator Wrestling Inc.AEW Dynamite Results, Recap: May 14, 2025 — Mox vs. Joe Leads to Anarchy, MJF Gets His Answer, Toni Storm Loses Title Eliminator AEWAnarchy in the Arena AEW Double or Nothing challenge issued F4W/WON
SpaceX chief Elon Musk has strongly suggested that the ninth test flight of the massive Starship rocket will take place next week. “Just before the Starship flight next week, I will give a company talk explaining the Mars game plan in Starbase, Texas, that will also be live-streamed on X,” Musk said in a social [...]
If you talk about Starlink, you are usually talking about the satellites that orbit the Earth carrying data to and from ground stations. Why not? Space is cool. But there’s ...read more
Everything you need to solve 'Connections' #704Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of ...
Here are some tips and tricks to help you find the answer to "Wordle" #1426.Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for ...
SINGAPORE, May 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- GTN, a global fintech redefining investing and trading for all, has announced the launch of fractional shares trading for Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan stocks, further opening investors' access to these attractive markets. These latest additions...
Every hint, nudge and outright answer you need to complete today's NYT Strands puzzle.If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words ...
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) ("Akamai"), the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online, today announced that it has priced its private offering of $1.5 billion in aggregate principal amount...
OpenAI says GPT-4.1 model is now available in ChatGPT SiliconANGLEOpenAI adds GPT-4.1 to ChatGPT amid complaints over confusing model lineup Ars TechnicaOpenAI Introduces GPT‐4.1 Family with Enhanced Performance and Long-Context Support infoq.comOpenAI brings its GPT-4.1 models to ChatGPT TechCrunchOpenAI rolls out GPT-4.1 to all ChatGPT paying subscribers Engadget
Is frozen water scattered in systems around other stars? Astronomers have long expected it is, partially based on previous detections of its gaseous form, water vapor, and its presence in our own solar system. Now there is definitive evidence: Researchers confirmed the presence of crystalline water ice in a dusty debris disk that orbits a [...]The post Webb Identifies Frozen Water in Young Star System HD 181327 appeared first on Astrobiology.
The next hardware hog. | Recently, there has been an increasing number of games with system requirements that exceed what is reasonable (e.g. Indiana Jones & Stars Wars Outlaws). The remastered version of Oblivion also challenges even the most modern computers, as our measurements show.
Fossil tracks show reptiles appeared on Earth up to 40 million years earlier ScienceDailyAncient reptile footprints upend theories about when animals evolved to live on land NBC NewsEarliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution Nature‘Turning point’: claw print fossils found in Australia rewrite story of amniotes by 40 million years The GuardianFossil tracks rewrite history of animals leaving water to live on land New Scientist
On April 28th, Vital Aging, along with many other Pee Dee area non-profit organizations, received a contribution from the St. Luke Lutheran Church Endowment Fund in support of its home delivered meal program. Robert Welch, Executive Director, accepted the donation...
This 16g Titanium Blade Might Be the Most Compact, Versatile EDC Tool Ever MadeForget everything you know about mini cutting tools – those are the words the folks behind CUTTIX lead with. To be frank, when I saw...
A luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily's coast last August , resulting in the deaths of UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and six others, was toppled by extreme winds and capsized within seconds, according to an interim investigation report. The UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) said the Bayesian, a 184-foot...
Written by Alex Jones, Ph.D. candidate at Imperial College London After a busy few months exploring the outer slopes of the Jezero crater rim at an area named “Witch Hazel Hill,” the Perseverance Science Team was eyeing another sample of these truly ancient rocks, which likely predate Jezero crater itself. The target? A rock containing [...]
NASA’s nearly complete yet canceled lunar rover VIPER isn’t going to get carried to the moon by a private space exploration company—but it’s also not quite dead yet
The 22nd-ranked University of Nebraska at Kearney women's tennis team won four singles matches in straight sets to upset 14th-ranked Washburn, 4-2, in an NCAA Central Regional second-round match Tuesday in Topeka, Kansas.
Jannik Sinner had an audience with Pope Leo XIV a few days after the new pontiff joked the tennis star could not visit
Interstate 25 is closed northbound from Graneros Road to Colorado 165 near Colorado City Wednesday morning due to a single-vehicle rollover crash.
Savannah Chrisley is looking to the future.While her parents Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley are serving their respective 10-year and 7-year prison sentences after being convicted of tax fraud ,...
LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gavin Newsom's 2025-26 revised budget proposal reneges on his signature policy to provide free healthcare coverage to all low-income undocumented immigrants as costs exceed expectations and the state anticipates challenging economic times ahead. Newsom's office said...
Interstate 25 is closed northbound from Graneros Road to Colorado 165 near Colorado City Wednesday morning due to a single-vehicle rollover crash.
Beam Global to Release Q1 2025 Operating Results, Conference Call Scheduled for Thursday, May 15, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. ET.