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Ione Gamble signs with Dialogue Books

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Ione Gamble signs with Dialogue Books

Dialogue Books is publishing Poor Little Sick Girls, Ione Gamble’s debut non-fiction book about “what it’s like to be at the centre of a feminist movement that has no real place for you”.

Gamble is the founder and editor of the feminist and queer independent zine Polyester. In Poor Little Sick Girls, slated for summer 2022, she turns her “sharp, pop-culture obsessed eye” to “our current fixation on identity politics, personal branding, productivity, and #LivingYourBestLife” in a collection of essays.

The book’s synopsis reads: “From her complex relationship with self-care to our fetishisation of the right kind of female illness (thin, pale, white, submissive), to the dark side of coping mechanisms and why it is in fact okay to spend a lot of time in bed… Poor Little Sick Girls picks apart the apparently benign threads of a very troubled cultural moment and charts the history of how we got there.”

Publisher Sharmaine Lovegrove acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, in the book from literary agent Kate Evans at PFD.

Gamble, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, said: “Having the opportunity to tell my story as a chronically ill woman but also provide my perspectives of modern feminism is an absolute dream. I hope Poor Little Sick Girls will be a bible for all those unable to fit within our optimisation obsessed world, searching to find their place within it. I am so thrilled to be working with Dialogue Books, their relentless support of marginalised talent makes them the perfect publisher for this book, and feels completely aligned with my publication, Polyester.”

Lovegrove commented: “I’ve been following Ione’s journey for a while and have been captivated by her ability to tell her truths and break through the noise of normal and create a space that is inclusive, inspiring and individual. Ione is a real talent and generous in bringing women together to explore sexuality, identity, class, illness and broaden the notions of success. Poor Little Sick Girls promises to give the next generation a different feminist perspective while asking the questions of how we got here. As an activist imprint, Ione’s voice is a perfect match for Dialogue and I am proud to be her publisher.”

In what nation are people most likely to say pandemic has bolstered their faith?

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In what nation are people most likely to say pandemic has bolstered their faith?

COVID-19 has shut down church gatherings in many countries, but Americans are most likely in developed countries to say that the pandemic has strengthened their religious faith, a new Pew Research Center survey conducted in the summer of 2020 reveals.

(Wonderful photo from: Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash)

Nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults say the outbreak has boosted their faith; about four-in-ten say it has tightened family bonds says the research on Jan. 27.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause deaths and disrupt billions of lives globally, people may turn to religious groups, family, friends, co-workers or other social networks for support, said Pew.

The Pew Research Center survey conducted mid-year in 2020 reveals that more Americans than people in other economically developed countries say the outbreak has bolstered their religious faith and the faith of their compatriots.

Nearly three-in-ten Americans (28 percent) report stronger personal faith due to the pandemic, and the same share think the religious faith of Americans overall has strengthened, according to the survey of 14 economically developed countries.

Far smaller shares in other parts of the world say religious faith has been affected by the coronavirus.

For example, just 10 percent of British adults report that their own faith is stronger as a result of the pandemic, and 14 percent think the faith of Britons overall has increased due to COVID-19.

In Japan, 5 percent of people say religion now plays a stronger role in both their own lives and the lives of their fellow citizens.

Majorities or pluralities in all the countries surveyed do not feel that the pandemic has strengthened their religious faith.

That includes 68 percent of U.S. adults who say their own faith has not changed much and 47 percent who say the faith of their compatriots is about the same.

Some previous studies have found an uptick in religious observance after people experience a calamity.

And a Pew Research Center report published in October 2020 showed that just over a third (35 percent) of Americans say the pandemic carries one or more lessons from God.

When it comes to questions about strength of religious belief, the wide variation in responses across countries may reflect differences in the way people in different countries view the role of religion in their private and public lives.

European countries experienced rapid secularization starting in the 19th century, and today, comparatively few people in Italy (25 percent), the Netherlands (17 percent) or Sweden (9 percent) say that religion is very important in their lives.

East Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea have low rates of religious affiliation and observance – at least by Western-centric measures.

Questions raised in European Parliament about Indian govt’s links to disinformation campaign

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Questions raised in European Parliament about Indian govt’s links to disinformation campaign

The European Parliament (EP) this week held hearings on the possible threats of interference from third countries in a geopolitical context, and raised the question of whether the Indian government was linked to the massive disinformation campaign uncovered by EU Disinfolab last year.

The hearings were part of the EP’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference which discussed the issue virtually with experts from China, Iran, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The discussion was chaired by Member of European Parliament (MEP) Raphaël Glucksmann.

Last year, a European group EU Disinfolab through an investigation titled Indian Chronicles exposed an Indian network that systematically worked to reinforce pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan and anti-Chinese feelings in Europe.

One member of the committee, V Bilcik, highlighted that disinformation is an important political issue and that the EU “shouldn’t shy away from it” at the India-EU summit coming up in May this year.

“I have questions about how much these attempts are linked to state sponsorship,” he asked the experts, which included members of the EU Disinfo team that lead the investigation.

“Do we have in-depth data on this? Some may not be under direct control [of the Indian government] but perhaps there are some links? Is it possible that this network operated independent of the state?”

He also asked if there is “any evidence that India could go beyond” toundermine democratic processes.

Member E Jamet, another MP, took exception to the topic being discussed.

She questioned who financed the EU Disinfolab inquiry. “I find it difficult to understand why we needed this committee on interference. State services have this task. I am surprised India is on the agenda – the truth is that this inquiry is levying criticism at India because it is a shame India is a strategic partner for France and the biggest democracy in the world,” she said.

Mr Glucksmann responded by saying, “We are talking about very real things.

Here we are absolutely not talking about issuing any geopolitical judgement on countries we study. We are just trying to find out how we can fight attemptsat interference in debates in Europe.”

Executive Director EU DisinfoLab Alexandre Alaphilippe said it is difficult to formally identify the person or a state behind this. “Indian Chronicles is an operation ongoing for 15 years. It pushed things in the interest of India. This is not something someone dreams up in a back bedroom. It requires a lot of coordination and a lot of means. There are certain coincidences we are seeing, clear will to act and be resilient, strong will and a lot of support behind it.” Roman Adamczyk who is part of the EU Disinfolab research team, maintained that his group’s investigation focused on tactics deployed by some actors to influence the EU and UN and is in no way a judgement f the situation of human rights and minorities in Pakistan nor of the geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan Mr Adamczyk outlined that the study ‘Indian Chronicles’ took place over several months by the whole team.

“When you try to disable misinformation networks, targets are not always clear. Im Indian Chronicles our dossier doesn’t look at networks in the Indian state but more private actors in India.”

He added that the study is focused on misinformation and manipulation and the use of false media outlets to influence Brussels political ecosystem to shape the narrative in favour of India.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2021

Buddhist Times News – Ladakh makes R-Day debut in style

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Buddhist Times News – Ladakh makes R-Day debut in style

By  —  Shyamal Sinha

The young Union Territory of Ladakh on Tuesday made its debut in the Republic Day parade on the Rajpath with a beautiful tableau depicting the iconic Thiksey  Monastery and its cultural heritage.

Until 2019, Ladakh was a region of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir. In August 2019, the Parliament of India passed an act by which Ladakh became a union territory on 31 October 2019.

Located to the North of the Indus River on a hilltop, less than 20km from Leh town, Thiksey Monastery built in 1430 AD belongs to the Gelukpa Order of Buddhism.

India displayed its military might and vibrant cultural heritage on the Rajpath on the 72nd Republic Day, with the ceremonial event this year being drastically scaled down in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was a palpable excitement among members of the Ladakh contingent, who received applause from many audience when their float rolled down the ceremonial boulevard.

‘The Ladakh tableau highlights the vision for Ladakh to be carbon-neutral, and exemplary for the world. It also showcases the Indian Astronomical Observatory, located in Hanle near Leh, one of the world’s highest sites for optical, infrared an gamma-ray telescopes,’ according to the tableaux details shared by the officials.

Ladakh region is known for its unique cultural and beautiful architectural heritage and vibrant costumes and festivals and delicious food, besides scenic beauties dotted with monasteries.

The tableau depicted an avatar of Lord Buddha in the front portion of the float and the Thiksey  monastery in the rear side. A group of artists from the contingent, colourful traditional Ladakhi ‘gunchas’, performed on folk music, while accompanying the float.

‘Our tableau was showcased for the first time on Rajpath in the grand parade. We had struggled to get a separate UT status and that aspiration was fulfilled in 2019 and we had celebrated it in Ladakh. And, now as an independent UT, with our own identity, we took part in the ceremonial event. We are feeling very happy,’ said Diksit Palmo, who hails from Leh.

She is one of the five women in the 11-member contingent led by a government official.

Palmo says she also was part of the contingent of the then state of Jammu & Kashmir in 2015, but this time, ‘our identity is our own’.

Thiksey  Monastery is located on top of a hill in Thikse in Leh district and is one of the most-visited tourist sites in the region.

Rinchen Dolma, another member of the contingent, said, ‘We are proud to represent our region with our own name — Ladakh, and not as a constituent of J&K, which also has a different identity now.’ A total of 17 states and UTs were represented on the Rajpath in this year’s parade through their vibrant tableaux, besides that of various ministries and the defence arm.

Jammu and Kashmir, however, did not figure in the tableaux list released by the government earlier.

Sarabjeet Kaur, a Jammu native, felt sad that the new UT of J&K was not represented this year during the Republic Day parade.

‘I am part of the Ministry of Culture’s tableau which depicted the heralding of 75th year of our Independence Day, and I am happy to be part of it. But, a bit unhappy that my state, now a UT, is not there in the tableaux parade,’ said Kaur, an artiste who will depict herself as a Kashmiri woman, dressed in a traditional costume while accompanying the ministry’s tableau.

The Ministry of Culture’s tableau also carries a giant bust of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and men and women dressed as INA soldiers, and the models of the old Parliament House and the proposed new Parliament building here.

Source  — PTI

Scientologists organized blood drive in California

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Church of Scientology Los Angeles Organizes Blood Drive to Help Children’s Hospital Save Young Lives

Church of Scientology Los Angeles Organizes Blood Drive to Help Children’s Hospital Save Young Lives

Blood donation plays a vital role in the L.A. Children’s Hospital’s ability to serve the community—even more now with the pandemic than in previous years.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, January 27, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of the biggest hospitals for children in the nation. Each year:

* Some 14,600 inpatients are admitted
* More than 343,700 outpatients visit
* Some 72,000 seek the help of the Emergency Department

The hospital depends on the community to save young lives.

“Our patients need approximately 2,000 units of blood and blood components each month as part of the life-saving care,” the hospital states on its website.

To provide these units to their patients:

* The hospital needs to collect blood from approximately 800 blood donors per month.

* Nearly 90 percent of the blood transfused at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles comes from its donor center.

Learning of a shortage, in part caused by the pandemic, the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles hosted the hospital’s bloodmobile for remote donation collection.

“We put the word out to the local community in East Hollywood,” says Susanna Johansson, Public Relations Director at the Church of Scientology. “So many people took part—our own parishioners and many East Hollywood neighbors—there was terrific community support. By the late afternoon with all volunteer donators showing up like clockwork, socially distanced, we were proud to make the quota set by Children’s Hospital. It’s so important to us to support what they do.”

Rocio Hernandez, blood recruitment coordinator for Children’s Hospital, thanked the team. “The Church of Scientology has been really supportive in raising awareness for blood drives. I am grateful for this partnership and looking forward to continue the collaboration in this new year.”

The Church of Scientology Los Angeles urges anyone who can to organize Childen’s Hospital blood donations. Anyone wishing to do so is welcome to contact the Church for tips on how to make it successful and safe.

The iconic headquarters of the Church of Scientology on Sunset Boulevard is configured to serve Scientologists in their ascent to higher states of spiritual freedom, and as a home for the entire community and a meeting ground of cooperative effort to uplift people of all denominations.

The Church of Scientology Los Angeles was featured in the first episode of Inside Scientology on the Scientology Network. It premiered in March 2018, when Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige launched the network that airs on DIRECTV 320 and it is available on-demand there and through Scientology.tv.

AstraZeneca says it will be at supply talks after EU claimed firm had pulled out

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AstraZeneca says it will be at supply talks after EU claimed firm had pulled out
AstraZeneca has pulled out of a meeting with the European Union (Picture: PA/ Getty )

AstraZeneca has denied pulling out of vaccine talks with the European Union and said they plan to meet officials from the bloc later today in Brussels.

The comments came after EU officials said the pharmaceutical company would not be attending the meeting to discuss delayed vaccine supplies to the bloc. AstraZeneca said on Friday it would not meet its contractual delivery commitments to the EU due to ‘reduced yields’ in the supply chain.

In response, the EU Commissioner for health, Stella Kyriakides blasted the announcement as ‘not acceptable’, and added that the EU would ‘take any action required to protect its citizens and rights’.

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AstraZeneca’s chief executive Pascal Soriot later hit back at Kyriakides, and argued that ‘glitches’ in the EU’s supply chain were due to the bloc signing its vaccine contract three months behind the UK.

He told Italian newspaper La Repubblica: ‘The UK contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal, so with the UK we have had an extra three months to fix all the glitches we experienced.

‘As for Europe, we are three months behind in fixing those glitches.’

A comparison of the EU and UK vaccine supply (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
The vaccine has been under increased scrutiny this week (Picture: PA)

The EU has now said all companies within the bloc creating Covid vaccine will need to provide ‘early notification’ when exporting to third countries. This could threaten the UK’s supply of the Pfizer vaccine, which is made in Belgium.

On Tuesday, Boris Johnson said he expected the EU to ‘honour all contracts’ for the Covid vaccine, adding it’s delivery had been a ‘multinational effort’. He added: ‘The delivery of the vaccine is multinational as well, because the virus knows no borders.’



Barrister calls pupil sent home for Afro hair ‘stroppy teenager of colour’

The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has also been the subject of scrutiny this week, after it was falsely suggested that the jab is only 8% effective in the over-65s by the German media.

The ‘completely incorrect’ figure actually referred to the number of people in an AstraZeneca study aged between 56 and 69, the German Health Ministry said.

Vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi also said the report was ‘complete nonsense’, confirming that the Oxford vaccine offers ‘almost 100% protection from severe infection’.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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Boeing 737 Max given green light to fly in the EU

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Boeing 737 Max given green light to fly in the EU
The Boeing 737 Max can safely return to service, the boss of the EU’s air safety regulator has said.

Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), said: “We have reached a significant milestone on a long road.

“Following extensive analysis by EASA, we have determined that the 737 Max can safely return to service.”

The latest version of the world’s biggest-selling aircraft was involved in two fatal crashes that cost 346 lives.

In October 2018, 189 people died when Lion Air flight 610 came down in the Java Sea shortly after take off from Jakarta. The following March, 157 passengers and crew lost their lives aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 after it crashed in very similar circumstances soon after departing from Addis Ababa.

Both crashes were attributed to software known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which is intended to make the plane easier to handle in certain conditions. In each tragedy, a faulty sensor caused the software to kick in repeatedly, pushing the nose of the aircraft down.

In each accident, the pilots finally lost control of the plane.

Within days of the second crash, the Max was banned from passenger flights worldwide. After being grounded for 20 months, the plane resumed domestic services in Brazil and the US last month.

It will now be able to fly in Europe after what EASA calls a package of software upgrades, electrical working rework, maintenance checks, operations manual updates and crew training which will allow the plane to fly safely in European skies after almost two years on the ground.

Flight crew will be required to undergo improved procedures to equip pilots to understand and manage all relevant failure scenarios.

The EASA stresses: “This assessment was carried out in full independence of Boeing or the Federal Aviation Administration and without any economic or political pressure – we asked difficult questions until we got answers and pushed for solutions which satisfied our exacting safety requirements.

“We carried out our own flight tests and simulator sessions and did not rely on others to do this for us.”

Earlier this week a former Boeing 737 manager, Ed Pierson, wrote a paper in which he portrayed “a chaotic and dangerously unstable production environment” in the aircraft factory.

Mr Ky said: “Let me be quite clear that this journey does not end here. 

“We have every confidence that the aircraft is safe, which is the precondition for giving our approval. But we will continue to monitor 737 Max operations closely as the aircraft resumes service.”

An Airworthiness Directive, specifying changes and crew training requirements, must be carried out before each individual plane returns to service.

Each plane must also undergo an operational readiness flight, without passengers.

Following Brexit, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the UK is responsible for signing off the plane for operation in British skies. 

The Independent has asked the CAA when it expects to approve the aircraft.

EU demands access to AstraZeneca Covi…

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EU demands access to AstraZeneca Covi...
A member of staff holding a dose of the Oxford/Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine

The European Union has demanded access to AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in UK plants as the bloc’s row with the pharmaceutical giant over a shortage of doses intensified.

Boris Johnson insisted the Government is “very confident in our contracts” after European health commissioner Stella Kyriakides told the firm on Wednesday it is contractually obliged to send jabs produced in the UK to EU member states.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot argued supply chain “teething issues” were fixed in the UK ahead of the bloc because Britain signed a contract three months earlier.

But Ms Kyriakides said: “We reject the logic of first come first served. That may work at the neighbourhood butchers but not in contracts.”

She denied the bloc would impose an export ban on vaccines leaving the EU but said the contract signed with AstraZeneca, which worked with Oxford University on its vaccine, contains two factories in the UK.

“There is no hierarchy of the factories. You are aware in the contracts there are four factories listed but it does not differentiate between the UK and Europe. The UK factories are part of our advance purchase agreements and that is why they have to deliver,” she added.

“We expect the doses that are in an advance purchase agreement to be delivered to the European Union.”

There were concerns that the UK could face supply issues for the Belgium-manufactured Pfizer jab if the EU imposed export controls, as previously suggested.

But Ms Kyriakides said: “Let me be absolutely clear, the European Union is not imposing an export ban on vaccines or restricting the export of vaccines to third countries.

“What we have proposed as a commission is an export transparency mechanism. What it will do is bring clarity on the production capacity of manufacturers.”

(PA Graphics)

During a Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson declined to get drawn into the row but said the vaccine is being produced in “ever growing quantities in the UK”, adding: “That will accelerate, the production schedules will continue to improve.”

He added: “All I can say is we’re very confident in our supplies, we’re very confident in our contracts and we’re going ahead on that basis.”

In an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, Mr Soriot said “we are basically two months behind where we want to be” in supplies due to manufacturing issues in Europe, citing problems in a Belgian plant.

He said there had been “teething issues” in the UK supply chain as well but that the deal with Britain was signed three months ahead of the EU’s.

“So with the UK we have had an extra three months to fix all the glitches we experienced,” he said.

He rejected the suggestion the firm was selling to the highest bidder “because we make no profit everywhere” under the agreement signed with Oxford University.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that he had “total confidence” in the UK’s supply of jabs.

MEPs: Hold companies accountable for harm caused to people and planet | News | European Parliament

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MEPs: Hold companies accountable for harm caused to people and planet | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20210122IPR96215/

NX Prenatal Expands Leading Patent Position in Exosome-Based Liquid Biopsy Tests in Maternal- Fetal Medicine

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NX Prenatal Expands Leading Patent Position in Exosome-Based Liquid Biopsy Tests in Maternal- Fetal Medicine


NX Prenatal Expands Leading Patent Position in Exosome-Based Liquid Biopsy Tests in Maternal- Fetal Medicine – Book Publishing Industry Today – EIN Presswire

























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