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Donald Trump's potential re-election in 2024 could leave Europe "on its own", Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo warned on Tuesday. Speaking at the first plenary session of the year in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, De Croo said Europe should "not fear" the prospect of a Trump comeback. "If 2024 brings us America First again, it will be more than ever Europe on its own," De Croo said. "We should, as Europeans, not fear that prospect," he added. "We should embrace it by putting Europe on a more solid footing, stronger, more sovereign, more self-reliant." ... A Republican takeover in the US presidential elections in November - whether Trumpian or not - threatens to severely disrupt the West's tightly aligned policy on Ukraine. (more) https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/01/16/donald-trumps-return-could-leave-europe-on-its-own-de-croo-warns

‘Unprovoked violation’: Iran strikes Syria, Iraq and Pakistan as Middle East tensions spike DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Within 24 hours, Iran launched missile and drone strikes on targets in three countries — Iraq, Syria and Pakistan — and took the extraordinary step of announcing its responsibility for the attacks, triggering anger from its neighbors. The developments have heightened concerns over the possibility of a wider Middle East conflict, as the Israel-Hamas war and daily Israeli bombardment of the Gaza enclave passes the 100-day mark. Baghdad recalled its ambassador to Iran after the Monday night attack on its northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region killed four civilians and injured at least six. Tehran said the strike targeted an Israeli spy hub near the U.S. consulate in Erbil, the Kurdistan regional capital city. Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani rejected the Iranian claim, describing the attack as a “crime against the Kurdish people.” (more) https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/17/isolated-iran-strikes-syria-iraq-and-pakistan-further-sparking-middle-east-tensions.html

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — ABC News on Tuesday canceled the next Republican presidential debate after Nikki Haley said she wouldn't participate unless former President Donald Trump takes part in it, leaving Gov. Ron DeSantis as the only candidate committed to Thursday's event in New Hampshire. “We’ve had five great debates in this campaign,” Haley said in a statement, released as she campaigned in New Hampshire. “Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.” Her statement was released a day after the all-important Iowa caucuses, in which Trump marked a wide margin of victory over both Haley and DeSantis. With the two locked in a heated competition for second place in Iowa, Haley tried to make her electoral argument more about Trump than DeSantis, repeatedly echoing her refrain that her candidacy marks a turnabout from the “chaos” that follows the GOP front-runner. (more) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/next-republican-debate-canceled-after-nikki-haley-says-she-ll-only-participate-if-donald-trump-does/ar-AA1n4pJ0

Pfizer wants Texas AG lawsuit over vaccine moved out of Lubbock court Updated: Dec 29, 2023 LUBBOCK, Texas — A lawsuit filed against Pfizer filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the 99th Judicial Court for Lubbock County was requested to be moved to the federal district court, according to court documents obtained by EverythingLubbock.com. Federal court records showed Pfizer filed a notice of removal on December 28, which stated the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas should have jurisdiction. ... Pfizer also said it did not misrepresent any product or goods. The response stated Pfizer is “immune” from the claims since it was acting under authorization from the federal government. The response asked that all claims be dismissed, and that Pfizer recovers legal fees from the lawsuit. https://www.ktsm.com/news/pfizer-wants-texas-ag-lawsuit-over-vaccine-moved-out-of-lubbock-court/

The rising number of US citizens declining vaccinations is threatening population immunity to certain diseases, according to two US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) leaders. “The situation has now deteriorated to the point that population immunity against some vaccine-preventable infectious diseases is at risk, and thousands of excess deaths are likely to occur this season due to illnesses amenable to prevention or reduction in severity of illness with vaccines,” according to FDA Commissioner Dr Robert Califf and Dr Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research writing in the journal, JAMA. ... They cite a recent measles outbreak in central Ohio involving 85 children, 36 of whom (42%) had to be hospitalized for complications. In addition, only 35% of people older than 65 have had the updated COVID-19 vaccine (XBB.1.5 monovalent), which is about half the rate in this age group in the UK. (more) https://healthpolicy-watch.news/fda-chief-warns-us-immunity-is-at-risk-as-more-people-decline-vaccinations/ January 5, 2024 Is Vaccination Approaching a Dangerous Tipping Point? To counter the current trend, we urge the clinical and biomedical community to redouble its efforts to provide accurate plain-language information regarding the individual and collective benefits and risks of vaccination. Such information is now needed because vaccines have been so successful in achieving their intended effects that many people no longer see the disturbing morbidity and mortality from infections amenable to vaccines. For example, smallpox has been eradicated, and polio has been eliminated from the US, through effective vaccination campaigns. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2813910

A slightly different take on the original study report: Strenuous Exercise Can Trigger Severe Damage to Muscle Tissue, Long Covid Study Shows (Bloomberg) -- Exercise is good for health, but it can be harmful for some long Covid sufferers, new research shows. Those experiencing debilitating crashes after strenuous activity — a condition known as post-exertional malaise — risk severe tissue damage from hardcore exercise, scientists in the Netherlands found. ... The exercise test triggered post-exertional malaise in all of the patients and lasted for three weeks in some of them, said Rob Wust, an assistant professor in muscle physiology who co-led the study. All of the participants with long Covid, including former bodybuilders, taekwondo players, and professional athletes, have had to stop full-time work since developing the coronavirus-induced condition. ... In the meantime, long Covid patient support groups recommend a “stop, rest, pace” approach to avoid severe crashes triggered by certain levels of physical, mental or emotional activity. (more) https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/strenuous-exercise-can-trigger-severe-damage-to-muscle-tissue-long-covid-study-shows-1.2019465

As COVID cases rise over the winter, health experts are finding that it’s taking longer to figure out if someone is infected. When COVID-19 antigen tests — also known as rapid tests — first came out, it would take an average of one to two days after symptoms started for someone to test positive. Now health experts are finding that it’s taking as long as four days after symptoms appear for someone to test positive. ... The problem is: people who initially test negative and then don’t test later may be unknowingly spreading the virus. (more) https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/health/covid-rise-rapid-test-infection/3418057/

A large staggered cohort study from primary care patients in the UK, Spain, and Estonia finds that COVID-19 vaccination consistently reduced the risk of long-COVID symptoms. The study is published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. ... In total, more than 10 million vaccinated people and 10 million unvaccinated people from each of the three countries and four databases were compared, and effectiveness of vaccination with either ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) and BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) was assessed. ... Across all four staggered cohorts in all three countries, vaccination was associated with a lowered risk of developing long COVID. And a slightly stronger preventative effect was seen for the first dose of BNT162b2 than for ChAdOx1, the authors said. Vaccine efficacy (VE) against long COVID ranged from 29% to 52%. (more) https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/more-evidence-vaccination-reduces-risk-long-covid "In conclusion, our study shows the clinical effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to prevent long COVID, highlighting yet another benefit of vaccination, particularly for adults. These findings were consistent across three European countries and different populations, and were robust to multiple definitions of long COVID and sensitivity analyses." https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(23)00414-9/fulltext#seccestitle140

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea and called for rewriting the North’s constitution to eliminate the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided countries, state media said Tuesday. The historic step to discard a decades-long pursuit of a peaceful unification, which was based on a sense of national homogeneity shared by both Koreas, comes amid heightened tensions where the pace of both Kim’s weapons development and the South’s military exercises with the United States have intensified in a tit-for-tat. Some experts say Kim could be aiming to diminishing South Korea’s voice in regional security matters and communicate more clearly that he would seek to deal directly with the United States over the nuclear standoff, which has deepened amid disagreements over the stringent U.S.-led sanctions over his growing nuclear weapons program. (more) https://apnews.com/article/north-korea-kim-jong-un-abolish-south-relations-7773f5b39f6d4c5a52acf9fe8486fe04

(CNN) -- Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday launched ballistic missiles at what it said was a spy base for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad in northern Iraq, and at “anti-Iran terror groups” in Syria, in the latest escalation of hostilities that further risks spiraling into a wider regional conflict. The strikes were condemned by the United States as “reckless” and imprecise. Iranian forces said the midnight missile strike in Iraq destroyed “one of the main espionage headquarters” of Israel in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, in response to what they said were Israeli attacks that killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders and members of the Iranian resistance front. At least four civilians were killed and six others injured in the attack, according to a statement early Tuesday by the Security Council of the Kurdistan region. (more) https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/16/middleeast/iran-missiles-kurdistan-syria-israel-intl-hnk/index.html

(CNN) -- Donald Trump is expected back in a New York courthouse this week as he splits his time between the campaign trail and the courtroom with the 2024 presidential primary season officially underway. The former president will be back on trial beginning Tuesday in Manhattan federal court for a jury to determine how much he will pay in damages for defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll in 2019 statements he made denying her rape allegations. This is the second trial over Carroll’s allegations that Trump raped her in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996. In the first trial, a jury found Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll and awarded her $5 million for his statements in 2022 attacking her and denying the allegations. ... The defamatory statements at issue in this trial were made in June 2019, when Trump was president. Trump said in part, “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?” (more) https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/16/politics/trump-e-jean-carroll-what-to-watch/index.html

Vivek Ramaswamy dropping out of presidential race following Iowa caucuses Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is suspending his presidential campaign, ending his bid for the Republican nomination after coming in fourth in the Iowa caucuses. "As of this moment, we are going to suspend this presidential campaign," Ramaswamy told his supporters and reporters. Ramaswamy said he's offered former President Donald Trump his full endorsement, and said he would appear with Trump on Tuesday. CBS News projects Trump will win the Iowa caucuses. The news follows a lackluster performance in the Iowa caucuses and a failure to maintain the short-lived momentum he had garnered in the summer after the second Republican debate. (more) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vivek-ramaswamy-drops-out-2024-presidential-race-iowa-caucuses/

Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith defy prime minister by supporting rightwing challenges to legislation Rishi Sunak is facing a Conservative meltdown over the Rwanda deportation bill after two deputy chairs said they would support rebel amendments aimed at blocking international human rights laws. Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith have defied the prime minister by backing rightwing challenges to the bill, which will be debated by parliament on Tuesday. They will join as many as 70 other MPs said to be considering abstaining or opposing the controversial legislation. The high-profile rebellion on Monday evening of two “red wall” MPs will be regarded as a direct threat to Sunak’s authority. The prime minister will now have to contemplate sacking them from their party jobs. (more) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/15/sunak-faces-tory-meltdown-as-deputy-chairs-back-rwanda-bill-rebellion

A cold spell fuelled by wintry Arctic air is set to continue throughout Tuesday and into the week ahead. Met Office yellow warnings for snow and ice are in place for Scotland, Northern Ireland, much of northern England and north Wales throughout the day. Temperatures fell below freezing across the UK overnight as biting winds continued to blow in from the north. Travel disruption is likely, especially in north-west England and Scotland. (more) https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67986072

Experts have warned new Covid-19 variant Juno will surge as children go back to school More than 7,000 hospital admissions and deaths in the UK could have been avoided in summer 2022 if people had received all their Covid jabs, research shows. Experts found that between a third and a half of people had not had the recommended number of Covid vaccinations and boosters by 1 June, 2022: almost 27 million people in England alone. ... According to the findings, if the UK had been fully vaccinated in June 2022, there might have been 210 fewer five- to 15-year-olds being hospitalised or dying due to severe Covid illness; 1544 fewer 16- to 71-year-olds; and 5426 fewer over-75-year-olds. (more) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/vaccination-covid-deaths-uk-b2478783.html

A series of off-topic posts have been removed. The topic here is Yemen and Iran-related, not Afghanistan or other forum members.

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Another post with an unsourced and unsubstantiated claim has been removed. There is some scientific debate on the comparative protection levels conferred by COVID vaccines vs. the protections from prior COVID infections (which carry with them the health risks of having COVID). But I'm not aware of any credible research that suggests merely being healthy alone provides equal or greater protection against contracting COVID. Being generally healthy has been shown to somewhat lessen, but not eliminate, the risks of serious outcomes once someone contracts COVID.

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