Sen.Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he’s looking forward to questioning former pandemic chiefAnthony Fauci over the origins of COVID-19 during acongressional hearingscheduled for next month.
Paul has been the loudest voice calling for investigations into government action surrounding COVID-19 origins, specifically into U.S. government funding of biotech research in China. He’s a major proponent of the “lab leak” theory of COVID, but the disease’s exact origin is still unknown.
“What we discovered is everything Anthony Fauci was saying in private, he was saying the opposite in public,” Paul said in a Fox News interview Friday. “So when he came to Congress, he basically lied to Congress and said that they weren’t funding dangerous gain-of-function research in Wuhan, research that in all likelihood led to the virus.”
Paul’s theory is that dangerous research at a Chinese-run lab in Wuhan, China — which received some U.S. funds — created the COVID pandemic through a lab mishap. He claims that Fauci and the U.S. government then executed a cover-up to hide involvement.
“This may be the worst medical decision ever made by a scientist or physician in government, not to review [Wuhan lab tests] for safety before allowing this money to go to China,” Paul continued.
The senator, also a COVID vaccine skeptic, has openly called for Fauci to be jailed for his involvement in the pandemic. Fauci served as the head of pandemic response during both the Trump and Biden administrations.
“But the real question is, was the top of the food chain of the cover-up Anthony Fauci?” Paul questioned on Friday.
Paul also alleged that the CIA may have been involved in such a cover-up, an unproven conspiracy theory.
On Thursday the US House of Representatives in a 307-119 vote passed a bill that would force the White House to permanently freeze $6 billion in Iranian funds released back in September as part of a successful prisoner exchange deal.
"Giving Iran access to these funds for any purpose frees up money for its malign activities, including its support to proxies, like we saw on 7 October, like Hamas," Representative Michael McCaul – who introduced the bill – told reporters.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) speaks in support of the "No Funding For Iranian Terror Act" on the House floor on Nov. 30, 2023. Credit: YouTube/House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans.
The US Senate has introduced similar legislation to freeze the Iranian funds but has yet to pass it out of committee.
Despite the accusations from western officials, Iranian authorities maintain they had no previous knowledge of the plans by Hamas to launch Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and have repeatedly stressed Tehran has no interest in seeing the hostilities expand into a regional war.
In September, Tehran and Washington completed a landmark prisoner exchange deal brokered by Qatar that also saw the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds seized by South Korea due to US sanctions.
The billions were transferred by Seoul to the Qatari accounts of several Iranian banks using the SWIFT system, thanks to a sanctions waiver provided by Washington.
Despite US officials claiming in the wake of the deal that they would police the use of the funds, Iranian authorities stressed these would be used to acquire "whatever the Iranian people need."
At the time, Washington-based think tanks considered the deal a softball maneuver by the White House to publicly kickstart the easing of tensions with Tehran. This move was seen as a way to navigate around the resistance of congressional representatives and pressure from Israeli hawks against reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The Neocon wing of the Republicans have long sought to block the Biden move to free up the $6BN, but Thursday's vote had bipartisan support...
Nonetheless, days after the start of the Gaza-Israel war on 7 October, the White House announced Iran "would not be getting the money for the time being." At the time, State Secretary Anthony Blinken said Tehran had not "touched the money yet."
The authors of a new study are warning people with type 1 diabetes to use fitness video games with caution.
The study by Staffordshire University and Federal University of Vale do Sao Francisco has found that 'exergames' can change people's perceptions of how fatigued they are—which is potentially harmful to those with the condition.
Dr. Pooya Soltani, Senior Lecturer in Games Technology at Staffordshire University, explained: "Type 1 diabetes patients need to control their blood glucose regularly, both before and after exercise, to prevent complications. As part of this, it is important to regulate the intensity of exercise, whether real or virtual.
"Most patients use a simple chart to measure how exerted they feel on a scale of 1—10, from hardly at all to using maximum effort. While this has proven to be effective for traditional exercise, we wanted to investigate whether this scale can also be used when exercising with video games."
The trial assessed correlations between physiological measurements of exercise intensity, including metabolic equivalent (MET), oxygen consumption, and heart rate in both real and virtual sessions.
Type 1 diabetes patients performed two 30-minute sessions of moderate-intensity exercise, either running or playing the Kinect Adventures! video game. A rate of perceived exertion (RPE) was measured on the 6—20 point Borg scale after the sessions.
The study's co-author Jorge Luiz de Brito Gomes, from the Federal University of Vale do Sao Francisco, said, "The RPE and MET values were strongly correlated in real exercise but were moderately correlated during the virtual exercise session. Other metabolic and physiological variables were mostly low and lacked statistical significance during the virtual exercise."
"This highlights that it is crucial to exercise caution when extending the use of the 6—20 point RPE scale to other types of exercise, especially virtual sessions, as they may not accurately reflect the physiological and metabolic intensity of the exercise."
The researchers recommend that older measurement tools, such as the 6—20 point RPE scale, should be adapted to newer types of virtual game platforms.
Dr. Soltani added, "Active video games and virtual reality are recent exercise trends that can provide motivation to participants and might increase their adherence to physical activity. Light to vigorous-intensity exergaming sessions may also benefit people with type 1 diabetes."
"But our research shows that the current 6—20 RPE scale needs to be updated so that everyone can safely benefit from using immersive games. In the meantime, health care professionals who want to incorporate virtual sessions with exergames into their practice should cautiously use methods like this, which subjectively measure physical activity."
More information: Jorge Luiz de Brito Gomes et al, Is rating of perceived exertion a valid method for monitoring exergaming intensity in type-1 diabetics? A cross-sectional randomized trial, Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2023.05.018
Preeclampsia is a mysterious condition that occurs in about one of 10 pregnancies without any early warning signs. After 20 weeks or more of normal blood pressure during the pregnancy, patients with preeclampsia will begin to experience elevated blood pressure and may also have increased levels of protein in their urine due to hypertension reducing the filtering power of the kidneys. Prolonged hypertension due to preeclampsia can lead to organ damage and life-threatening complications for mothers and fetuses.
There is no cure for the underlying causes of preeclampsia, so physicians focus on managing and monitoring patients' blood pressure to allow for as close to a full-term gestation as possible.
With severe disease, pre-term deliveries are necessary.
"For some patients who can make it to full term, a preeclampsia diagnosis is scary at first but ultimately a bump in the road," says Jennifer McIntosh, DO, MS, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). "For those who get it earlier on, it can be terrifying and life-changing, potentially including a long hospital stay before delivery and significant supportive care for the infant in the NICU afterwards."
More research is needed into what causes preeclampsia to guide the development of potential new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent this common yet cryptic condition.
"The worldwide incidence of preeclampsia is rising, so research grows more important by the day," Dr. McIntosh says.
"Preeclampsia has existed for as long as women have been giving birth, and yet the only cure for it is delivering the baby. I believe we can be innovative and do better for our patients."
MCW scientists published results on a study of one of the emerging theories for what causes preeclampsia in Science Advances in December 2023.
The experiments focus on a particular layer of cells of the placenta called the syncytiotrophoblast (STB), which is a key part of the barrier between the mother and developing fetus.
This blockade helps keep a mother's fully formed immune system from reacting to the fetus and potentially responding as if the fetus was a foreign threat such as a viral or bacterial invader.
The barrier also works in reverse to keep the fetus's growing immune system from reacting to its mother's cells and tissues.
The study's authors investigated the hypothesis that an abnormal amount of cellular and molecular stresses to the STB can damage the placenta and lead to preeclampsia.
"There is considerable evidence that these stresses accumulate, however, how and why it happens continues to be an open question," says Justin Grobe, PhD, MCW professor of physiology and biomedical engineering and the co-corresponding author on the Science Advances manuscript with Dr. McIntosh.
"We felt it was important to continue to validate the STB stress findings before advancing work on our hypothesis that elevated hormones of pregnancy contribute to the accumulation of stress by overstimulating the STB."
The research team began by studying placentas donated for research purposes through the MCW Maternal Research Placenta & Cord Blood Bank.
By comparing "normal" placentas with placentas from pregnancies where patients suffered from preeclampsia, investigators demonstrated that preeclampsia was associated with higher levels of cellular stresses in the STB layer on the placenta.
Additionally, the researchers found a hyperactive level of activity of the G?q protein known to play a role in transmitting signals related to the levels of several hormones present in excessive amounts during preeclampsia.
"The donated human placenta samples were critical to identifying potential mechanisms of STB stress," says Megan Opichka, PhD '23, research and development scientist at BioSpyder Technologies and first author on the publication.
"Because these samples are collected upon delivery, we then needed to develop an animal model to determine if these sources of stress may actually be causative."
Based on the findings of hyperactive signaling through G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in samples from patients with preeclampsia, the scientists developed a new mouse model genetically engineered to enable the precise manipulation of GPCR signals within specific cell types.
This allowed the researchers to activate the signaling pathways associated with preeclampsia within the STB layer of the mouse's placenta.
The team demonstrated that even a very brief activation of the identified signaling cascades during the early or middle portions of gestation led to significant consequences during the mouse pregnancy.
These mice developed all the signature signs of preeclampsia, including high blood pressure, kidney damage and other anatomical and cellular changes.
In some mice exposed to the preeclampsia inducing signals, the scientists tested the effects of a medicine that reduces stress on the mitochondria that generate energy within each cell.
The drug provided substantial protection against developing the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia.
"With our unique model, we can study the effects of contributing factors to preeclampsia throughout pregnancy," Dr. Grobe says.
"We can test specific signaling cascades in specific cells and tissues at specific times to observe their effects. We have only scratched the surface on what we can learn."
"This will absolutely be a springboard for future research," Dr. McIntosh adds.
"Because the drug we tested, MitoQ, is generally known to be safe, we're working on plans for a clinical pilot study to test appropriate dosage and efficacy in advance of pursuing larger clinical studies of preeclampsia in the future."
So, can preeclampsia be prevented? While today the answer is no, MCW scientists now are one step closer with these experimental results.
And they are continuing to work as a team to achieve this goal through additional studies.
"What drives my research is my frustration about the lack of understanding of what causes preeclampsia," says Dr. McIntosh. "We need to continue linking the bench and the bedside together so that we can understand the causes and use them to bring a cure to the bedside."
Journal Reference:
Megan A. Opichka, M. Christine Livergood, Kirthikaa Balapattabi, McKenzie L. Ritter, Daniel T. Brozoski, Kelsey K. Wackman, Ko-Ting Lu, Kaleigh N. Kozak, Clive Wells, Agnes B. Fogo, Katherine N. Gibson-Corley, Anne E. Kwitek, Curt D. Sigmund, Jennifer J. McIntosh, Justin L. Grobe. Mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant attenuates preeclampsia-like phenotypes induced by syncytiotrophoblast-specific Gαq signaling. Science Advances, 2023; 9 (48) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg8118
Anorganization with ties to the Chinese Communist Party helped organize a massive anti-Israel student walkout with support from a Brooklyn parent council, and even filmed student participation to use on its propaganda channels.
The People’s Forum, an organization primarily funded by Neville Roy Singham, a China sympathizer and donor to socialist causes, co-organized the Nov. 9 nationwide walkouts, including in Brooklyn, where the Community Education Council for District 14, headed by president Tajh Sutton, promoted the event.
A toolkit with protest signs, chants and media talking points was circulated by CEC 14, which covers Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
They included templates for social media posts that recommended tagging the People’s Forum.
The media platform for the People’s Forum, BreakThrough News – which has posted YouTube videos including “Israel’s Goal Was Always Ethnic Cleansing” and “Journalist Rips Palestinian ‘Terrorism’ Narrative to Shreds” – made its way to Brooklyn for the event, filming Fort Hamilton High School students in Bay Ridge who utilized protest toolkits and participated in the walkout.
Among the organizations that promoted a national walkout for Palestine event in NYCwas the CCP-allied People’s Forum and CEC 14 in Brooklyn, headed by Tajh Sutton, above.tajhsutton.com
“We looked at the toolkit provided to us and we decided 11:30 would be probably the best time, and then I decided that I really wanted to make it bigger so I spread it to the clubs,” explained one Fort Hamilton High School student in the BreakThrough News video covering the protest.
The video, which was also shared by the People’s Forum, received over 1.7 million views.
Chants of, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — which were among the toolkit slogans — left one Jewish student from Fort Hamilton too afraid to go to school the next day.
The People’s Forum hosts classes like “Lenin and the Path to Revolution” and the mediacompany it funds posts videos including “Israel’s Goal Was Always Ethnic Cleansing.”peoplesforum.org
The anti-Israel sentiment was heightened in Bensonhurst, where students protesting at Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School yelled, “F–k the Jews!”
“If you look at the teaching materials and talking points they give students, you see that they’re telling them what to think,” said Ted Oehmke, a freelance writer currently focused on Chinese disinformation.
The market for GLP-1 weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic have captured Wall Street's attention. A consumer survey carried out by Stifel Financial (SF) found 15% of respondents currently use a GLP-1 drug while an additional 21% said they would be interested if it were FDA approved with proven results.
Stifel Analyst Jim Duffy joins Yahoo Finance to discuss how the uptake of weight loss drugs could prompt a shift in spending trends and the greater impact of GLP-1's across industries.
"We do expect that there will be less calories consumed, by the projections of our food & beverage team, get to 4% less calories consumed with this adoption. We do think that there's going to be more apparel spend," Duffy says. "Consumers are losing significant amounts of weight on these drugs, some clinical trials, including one released recently from Mounjaro, speaks to greater than 40% of consumers losing more than 10% of their body weight."
Duffy names Lululemon (LULU), Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) and Levi's (LEVI) as potential winners.
The new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Nov. 30 defended COVID-era policies like vaccine mandates in her first appearance before Congress.
"I'm very proud of the work we did in North Carolina," Dr. Mandy Cohen, the new director, told Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) after he asked if she regretted any of the policies put into place in North Carolina, such as school closures, when she was the state's health secretary.
"I feel like we did that in a way that was very inclusive," she added.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen testifies in Washington on Nov. 30, 2023. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
When Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) noted that Dr. Cohen supported harsh measures as health secretary, including vaccine mandates, Dr. Cohen said it was time to "look forward" and start a "new chapter."
"You have to remember, at different moments in time, we needed different solutions," she said in response to how Americans would know whether the new director will support the same measures at the federal level.
"The good news is that we're in a different place than we were before. We both have different tools and have different mechanisms to respond," she said to another question, about whether she'd shut down schools if a pandemic happened again. "I can't really address a hypothetical but I think we've learned a lot about how to approach things."
Did closing schools harm students?
"We always knew in-person instruction was incredibly beneficial," Dr. Cohen said.
"You'd be great in the sales department," Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) said, prompting a rare smile from the new director.
Dr. Cohen replaced Dr. Rochelle Walensky, President Joe Biden's first CDC director, over the summer. Dr. Walensky was an advocate for COVID-19 vaccines, masks, and school closures.
Dr. Cohen also indicated she supports mask mandates, saying all masks, including cloth masks, worked as a "barrier" and protected against COVID-19. The CDC recommends wearing "well-fitting" masks for protection.
Dr. Cohen's answers sparked frustration from lawmakers of both parties.
"My neighbor would say, should I wear a cloth mask? I don't know from your answer what I should tell them," Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) said.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said that Dr. Cohen was in the perfect place to help the CDC reestablish credibility.
"If the CDC wants its credibility back, you've got to have a mea culpa moment. You're in the perfect position to do it, because you had nothing to do with their decisions at the time. So there's no reason to defend it," he said.
"It's ok to say 'it didn't make any sense to shut down schools.' The data shows that now. 'It didn't make sense to do major lockdowns.' The data shows that now. 'It doesn't make sense to mask kids.' The data shows that now. It's okay to say it. And the public will reward you for it," he added later.
But Dr. Cohen refused to say authorities in North Carolina or at the CDC did anything wrong, repeatedly steering the discussion back to the future, not the past.
She did refer broadly several times to lessons learned during the pandemic, including being more transparent.
Answers on Illness in China, Lab in California
Dr. Cohen also answered questions about other topics, including a bout of illness in China.
Dr. Cohen said that the CDC was in touch with counterparts in China, where the agency has an office, and that the surge in respiratory infections in China was not, based on current information, from "a new or novel pathogen."
The World Health Organization and Chinese officials have also said the illnesses are from existing illnesses such as influenza.
"The Chinese officials have shared with us that there are no novel pathogens, and we were able to corroborate that information across other sources from our European Union partners and others to make sure that we're getting a complete picture," Dr. Cohen said.
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said the situation in China "brings us back, sadly, to the early days of COVID-19" when there was a "lack of reliable information coming out of China."
“We are hoping that you can put some pressure in an attempt to try to get China to not mislead the world as they did with COVID-19,” Rep. H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) said.
Some lawmakers pressed Dr. Cohen on a laboratory in China that was operating without permission, after a House report said the CDC refused to speak for months to local officials who raised the alarm.
Dr. Cohen said the CDC investigated quickly and found no indications the lab was experimenting with Ebola or other select agents.
She echoed an earlier CDC statement that said the report "includes numerous inaccuracies, including both the charge that CDC did not respond to local requests for aid and the false implication that CDC had the authority to unilaterally investigate or seize samples from" the lab. The agency said it was actively engaged in the investigation into the facility.
