7/09/2023 – FOLLOW THE MONEY
Will the new European Media Freedom Act keep its teeth?
The European Commission has proposed a law to ensure media freedom. Facing opposition from the publishing industry, member states in the Council have moved to weaken the draft regulation. Perhaps surprisingly, it was not Hungary or Poland acting as the proposal’s prime opponent. Negotiation minutes show that German negotiators have pushed back, and have been lending a willing ear to German publishing giants. The usual glamour shot on the cover of Paris Match was missing, on July 7 last year. The French weekly magazine usually applies a light touch and marries profiles of politicians with royalty scoops. But this week’s top spot was dedicated to the sober figure of Cardinal Robert Sarah, wearing a long black robe adorned with a large pectoral cross, hands piously folded. Read more.

6/09/2023 – THE NEW EUROPEAN
When the BBC’s disinformation correspondent lied on her CV
We all make mistakes when we are young, and sometimes they grow in irony as time passes. Case in point: Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation correspondent who, I can reveal today, was once caught red-handed lying in her CV to win a job. Only this week, Spring was the focus of a laudatory profile piece by the Guardian‘s Zoe Williams for her role on the front line when it comes to exposing fabrications across social media. Yet the high standard of integrity and honesty Spring today demands of others has not always been entirely consistent with her own behaviour. Read more.

6/09/2023 – THE KOREA HERALD
Seoul to pay up to W30m each for post-COVID jab deaths
Lawmakers and government officials on Wednesday agreed to increase the amount of condolence money to families of those who died following COVID-19 vaccinations, regardless of whether the vaccination itself was confirmed to be the cause of death. From September, families will be eligible to get up to 30 million won ($22,500) in condolence money if a family member dies within 90 days of having received the COVID-19 vaccine, even if the cause of death can not be identified in an autopsy. Since July 2022, 10 million won had been given if the death occurred within 42 days of having received the shot. Families can now get up to 20 million won even if autopsies were not conducted. Separately, families of those who died within three days of inoculation but had not been eligible for any government aid previously can now get at least 10 million won, while the amount could go up to 30 million won depending on the severity of the side effects. These measures also apply retroactively, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Read more.

5/09/2023 – EUGYPPIUS: A PLAGUE CHRONICLE
German health authorities plead to parliamentary committee that they have yet to evaluate adverse vaccine events because there are too many of them
The major German political parties will never investigate the pandemic response, because they are all complicit in it. Across the entire political landscape of the Federal Republic, the right-populist Alternative für Deutschland stands alone in its critical stance towards lockdowns and mass vaccination, and only in the state parliament of Brandenburg do they have sufficient seats to gather an investigatory committee on the transgressions of the Corona era. On Friday, 1 September, the AfD-convened Brandenburg Corona Committee summoned Robert Koch-Institut Chief Lothar Wieler (the German counterpart to Anthony Fauci) and Brigitte Keller-Stanislawski, head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Safety and Diagnostics at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut. They were questioned for six hours on the Covid vaccines. Read more.

1/09/2023 – THE TELEGRAPH
Secretive Covid disinformation unit worked with security services
A government unit accused of seeking to suppress free speech during the pandemic worked with Britain’s intelligence agencies, senior civil servants have confirmed. Documents submitted to the Covid inquiry and marked “official sensitive” reveal that the “UK intelligence community” has been involved in the Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU) since it was founded in 2019. The unit was set up by ministers to tackle disinformation – false information that is deliberately spread – and initially focused on foreign interference in the European elections. However, in 2020 it turned its attention to the pandemic and collected social media posts by members of the British public. The intelligence community – which includes MI6, MI5 and GCHQ – continued “working closely” with the CDU “where appropriate” during this time, documents show. Read more.

31/08/2023 – THE DAILY SCEPTIC
The Green Globalists Behind Ulez – and What They Have Planned Next
The United Nations needs a revamp. There can be little dispute about that. And the UN’s September 2024 Summit for the Future is an ideal opportunity for this upgrade. The people of the world expect a global form of governance that can confront the unique challenges of the 21st century. The UN’s creaking, post-World War II structures have been struggling to meet the challenges of the modern world for a long time. The many crises we face demand that the UN evolves to meet these challenges. Read more.

29/08/2023 – FOX NEWS
Why should taxpayers be paying for more vaccines?: Dr. Houman Hemmati
Dr. Houman Hemmati discuss how the Biden admin is encouraging the use of the next COVID booster on ‘Fox News @ Night.’ Watch the video.

27/08/2023 – WASHINGTON POST
5,000 pilots suspected of hiding major health issues. Most are still flying.
Federal authorities have been investigating nearly 5,000 pilots suspected of falsifying their medical records to conceal that they were receiving benefits formental health disorders and other serious conditions that could make them unfit to fly, documents and interviews show.
The pilots under scrutiny are military veterans who told the Federal Aviation Administration that they are healthy enough to fly, yet failed to report — as required by law — that they were also collecting veterans benefits fordisabilities that could bar them from the cockpit.
Veterans Affairs investigators discovered the inconsistencies more than two years ago by cross-checking federal databases, but the FAA has kept many details of the case asecret from the public. Read more.

25/08/2023 – WASHINGTON POST
This latest covid variant could be the best yet at evading immunity.
A highly mutated form of the coronavirus that threatens to be the most adept yet at slipping past the body’s immune defenses is capturing the attention of virologists and health officials. While only about a dozen cases of the new BA.2.86 variant have been reported worldwide — including three in the United States — expertssay this variant requires intense monitoring and vigilance that many of its predecessors did not. That’s because it has even greater potential to escape the antibodies that protect people from getting sick, evenif you’ve recently been infected or vaccinated.
The latest variantdoes not appear to make people sicker than earlier iterations of the virus; antiviral treatments should still work against it and tests should still detect it, according to a risk assessment published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s too soon to knowwhether the updated booster formula expected to come out next month that targets a different subvariant would be effective against this highly mutated one. If this feels familiar, it should. Read More.

24/08/2023 – FINANCIAL TIMES
Tech giants race to alter online operations as EU digital rules bite
Nineteen platforms, including Instagram, Google and TikTok, face special obligations under the Digital Services Act, landmark legislation that is designed to police content online that was approved in April last year. The sweeping rules include banning the targeting of ads to users based on religion, gender or sexual preferences; mechanisms to force platforms to disclose what steps they are taking to tackle misinformation or propaganda; and new protections for minors. The first test comes on August 25, when companies will start having to submit risk assessments of how they plan to meet the new requirements. The deadline has led to a scramble to alter business practices across online groups. Elon Musk’s X Corp, formerly Twitter, responded by introducing a hate speech policy that prohibits users from targeting anyone with “hateful imagery”, such as the Nazi swastika. …There are still efforts to push back against the rules, however. Amazon and German internet retailer Zalando have launched legal challenges, arguing that they should not be considered “very large online platforms”. Read more.

19/08/2023 – REUTERS
Eris, BA.2.86: Do I need to worry about COVID again?
Aug 19 (Reuters) – The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are tracking a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19. Six cases in four countries have been detected since late July. Scientists are keeping an eye on the new lineage, named BA.2.86, because it has 36 mutations that distinguish it from the currently-dominant XBB.1.5 variant. So far there is no evidence that BA.2.86 spreads faster or causes more serious illness than previous versions. The CDC said its advice on protecting yourself from COVID remains the same. Read more.

11/08/2023 – USA TODAY
More young Americans are dying – and it’s not COVID. Why aren’t we searching for answers?
Life insurance actuaries are reporting that many more people are dying – still – than in the years before the pandemic. And while deaths during COVID-19 had largely occurred among the old and infirm, this new wave is hitting prime-of-life people hard. No one knows precisely what is driving the phenomenon, but there is an inexplicable lack of urgency to find out. A concerted investigation is in order. 
Deaths among young Americans documented in employee life insurance claims should alone set off alarms. Among working people 35 to 44 years old, a stunning 34% more died than expected in the last quarter of 2022, with above-average rates in other working-age groups, too.“COVID-19 claims do not fully explain the increase,” a Society of Actuaries report says. Read more.

9/8/2023 – THE DAILY SCEPTIC
Covid Vaccines Are “Disproportionately” Harmful and Up to 98% of Injuries Are Being Missed, Says Senior Conservative MP
Speaking to the Pandemic Response and Recovery All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), former Government Minister and APPG Co-Chair Esther McVey said: “A reporting system that misses as many as 98 out of 100 adverse reactions, inevitably misses safety signals.” The APPG heard about the failings of the Yellow Card system, set up to act as an early warning system for unexpected adverse drug reactions, and the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), the main source of vaccine injury compensation.
Professor Carl Heneghan described how under-reporting of adverse drug reactions to the Yellow Card system could be as high as 98%, meaning the ability to detect signals and assign causation is substantially hindered. Peter Todd, the solicitor acting for 43 individuals who suffered blood clots as a result of AstraZeneca vaccination, talked about his previous experience dealing with cases of adverse reactions to vaccines and vaccine damage claims. He told MPs that the VDPS is letting down those with injuries and families of those who died as a result of their injury, with some applications taking more than 18 months. Read more.

8/8/2023 – BBC
Winter Covid vaccines scrapped for healthy under-65s
Covid boosters will not be routinely offered to healthy under-65s in Scotland this winter, following advice from UK immunisation experts. Last autumn all over-50s were invited for a booster jab to protect them during the winter months. But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said only over-65s should get the option this year. Despite the change the flu vaccination will still be offered to over 50s.Health boards across the country will start rolling out their autumn vaccination programme from 4 September. The flu programme is also being extended to secondary school pupils. Read more.

3/8/2023 – ALJAZEERA
A corporate takeover of the UN must be stopped
The United Nations needs a revamp. There can be little dispute about that. And the UN’s September 2024 Summit for the Future is an ideal opportunity for this upgrade.
The people of the world expect a global form of governance that can confront the unique challenges of the 21st century. The UN’s creaking, post-World War II structures have been struggling to meet the challenges of the modern world for a long time. The many crises we face demand that the UN evolves to meet these challenges. But Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s vision for that evolution – as set out in his report to the General Assembly, Our Common Agenda – is ill-conceived and underwhelming. Read more.

24/07/2023 – PRECISION VACCINATIONS
$9 Billion RSV Vaccine Market Share Battle Begins
After several years of development, various countries will offer infants, pregnant women, and seniors therapeutic options to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in 2023.
Driven by recent governmental authorizations, sales of RSV drugs are estimated to surpass $9 billion by 2029, a sizeable increase from the $1 billion forcasted by GlobalData plc in 2023. However, this forecast may change since each RSV season’s duration is a variable. In the U.S., RSV seasons generally start in Florida. According to this leading data and analytics company, May 2023 saw the world’s first approval of two RSV vaccines, Arexvy™ and Abrysvo™.
The U.S. CDC now recommends that adults 60 and older may receive an RSV vaccine using shared clinical decision-making. Additionally, AstraZeneca’s Beyfortus™ monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy was recently approved. Read more.

21/07/2023 – EURO NEWS
EU regulators back authorisation of first RSV vaccine for infants
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended authorisation on Friday of a vaccine for infants against Respiratory Syncytial Virus, or RSV, which is a leading cause of paediatric hospitalisation in Europe. If authorised by the European Commission, Abrysvo would be the first RSV vaccine that can be administered to infants from birth to six months of age after the mother is vaccinated during pregnancy. RSV is a common respiratory illness that causes cold-like symptoms but can be serious for children and adults aged 50 and older. It can cause bronchiolitis and pneumonia and lead to fatal respiratory distress, the EMA said in a statement.
The vaccine authorisation was based on the results of two randomised studies which included thousands of pregnant participants and older adults.
“When a person is given the vaccine, their immune system generates specific antibodies and T cells (immune system cells) that help prevent RSV infection,” the EMA said in a press release.
Common side effects for pregnant individuals who received the jab during the study included muscle pain, vaccination site pain and headache. For older adults, vaccination site pain was the single common side effect. Read more.

21/12/2022 – THE DAILY SCEPTIC
The Fake ‘Tripledemic’ That Was 90% RSV and Almost Zero COVID-19
Already by the last week of October 2022, continuing through November and early December, local Rhode Island media were amplifying clinician and public health official warnings about a paediatric respiratory illness ‘tripledemic’. The ‘tripledemic’ that prompted this tocsin of looming calamity in children was an alleged convergence of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Serious paediatric illness is best gauged by the actual number of children hospitalised, as opposed to ‘respiratory virus test positivity’. The latter is especially misleading because of the unique, ongoing phenomenon of continued mass COVID-19 testing for minimal symptoms. Curiously, almost two months later, I could find no local media follow-up coverage elucidating the feared paediatric ‘tripledemic’ by this most germane metric: a direct comparison of children hospitalised for COVID-19, influenza or RSV. Read more.