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Published by Reuters By Natalie Grover LONDON (Reuters) -Increased drug resistance in bacteria causing bloodstream infections, including against last-resort antibiotics, was seen in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, a World Health Organization report based on data from 87 countries in 2020 showed. The overuse and/or misuse of antibiotics has helped microbes to become resistant to many treatments, while the pipeline of replacement therapies in development is alarmingly sparse. High levels (above 50%) of resistance have been reported in bacteria that typically cause life-threatening bloodstream infections in hospitals such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp, report authors highlighted on Friday. These infections often require treatment with ‘last-resort’ antibiotics, drugs that are used when all other antibiotics fail. About 8% of bloodstream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae grew resistant to a vital last-resort group of drugs called carbapenems, the report said. Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remain very high, but last-resort antibiotics are only just starting to lose potency, said Dr Carmem Pessoa-Silva, the lead for WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System, in a media conference. The message of hope, she said is, “we have a very narrow window of opportunity…for responding to the threat.” While there is a concerted push to limit the unbridled use of antibiotics, the pace of new research remains grim. The effort, cost and time it takes to get an antibiotic approved and the limited return on investment have deterred drugmakers, as treatments must be priced cheaply and are designed to be used as little as possible to limit drug resistance. As a result, the lion’s share of antibiotic development is taking place in a handful of labs of small biopharma companies as a majority of their larger counterparts focus on more lucrative markets. Only a few big pharmaceutical companies remain in the space — including GSK and Merck — down from more than 20 in the 1980s. A landmark global analysis published earlier this year found that 1.2 million people died in 2019 due to antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, making AMR a leading cause of death worldwide, higher than HIV/AIDS or malaria. “Political commitment (on AMR) must now urgently move from aspiration into action,” said Thomas Cueni, director general at International Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations. The authors of the WHO report said more research is needed to identify the reasons behind the jump in AMR in the period studied, and to what extent it is linked to the accelerated use of antibiotics during the pandemic. AMR rates also remain difficult to interpret due to insufficient testing and weak laboratory capacity, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, the authors wrote. (Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Arun Koyyur) View the full article

Published by The Seattle Times SEATTLE —The Archdiocese of Seattle has paid nearly $2.3 million since August to settle five claims brought by people who alleged they were sexually abused decades ago by clergy and parish school personnel. The settlements, for allegations of abuse occurring in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s, were announced by the archdiocese in November. Three of the five cases involve alleged perpetrators who have since died. They are the only individuals named in an archdiocesan news release. The settlements, collectively totaling $2,285,000, are the latest of more than 450 cases the archdiocese has paid more … Read More View the full article

Published by PsyPost A new study has uncovered a link between high levels of Catholic collective narcissism and acceptance of myths about child sexual abuse. The findings, which were published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, could help inform efforts to combat prejudice against underaged victims of sexual abuse. “Even though sexual relations between priests and minors have taken place inside the Catholic Church for centuries, the Catholic hierarchy was not always prone to fight against pedophilia in an official way,” said study author Marta Marchlewska, an associate professor and the head of the Poli… Read More View the full article

Published by OK Magazine mega Cher‘s mother, Georgia Holt, passed away at the age of 96-years-old. The “Turn Back Time” singer took to social media on Saturday, December 10, to confirm the heartbreaking news to friends and followers. “Mom is gone,” she wrote, followed by a sad face emoji. mega Celebrities and fans alike immediately flooded to the comments section to offer their condolences to the 76-year-old superstar during this difficult time. ‘SHE’S JUST NOT INTO MEN HER AGE’: CHER’S NEW ROMANCE WITH MUCH YOUNGER ALEXANDER EDWARDS HAS GIVEN HER A ‘BOOST’ Hillary Clinton replied, “So sorry for your loss, my friend. Sending you all the in the world,” while Perez Hilton said, “My deepest condolences. The biggest hug to you and your family! Your mother was a gem!” “It doesn’t matter how old we are… or they are, there’s nothing like losing your mother,” Wonder Woman voice actress Susan Eisenberg commented. “So very sorry for the loss of your amazing Mom.” mega Holt’s tragic passing comes three months after she was hospitalized with pneumonia. Cher updated her followers on her mother’s health in September, writing: “Sorry I’ve Been Mia. Mom’s Been Sick Off & On. She Just Got Out Of Hosp. She Had Pneumonia.” CHER REPORTEDLY SUING EX-HUSBAND SONNY BONO’S WIDOW OVER ROYALTIES, SEEKING AT LEAST $1 MILLION IN DAMAGES Two years prior, the multi Grammy Award winner opened up on the struggles of the pandemic and the steps she was taking to protect her elderly mother from Covid, including testing frequently and masking up. mega “We have a little bubble that we’ve had all this time,” she explained at the time. “We wear masks, and there’s not very many of us. It’s my sister, my brother-in-law, my mom, my assistant. And we stay far apart from each other.” “I have to be careful too because I have asthma,” she continued of their precautions. “I have different health problems.” Holt was born in Arkansas in 1926 and later became known as a singer, songwriter and actress. Other than Cher, she is survived by her daughter Georganne LaPiere, her grandchildren Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman, as well as her longtime partner, Craig Spencer. Cher spoke to People in 2020 on her mother’s health during the pandemic. View the full article

Published by uInterview.com On Monday morning, Selenis Levya and George Lopez‘s daughter, Mayan Lopez, announced the 2023 Golden Globe nominations. Mayan stepped in for George after the comedian tested positive for Covid-19. Dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin was the most nominated film of the year, receiving eight nods. Biopic Elvis, the popular sci-fi movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Steven Spielberg‘s coming-of-age drama, The Fabelmans, all followed close behind with several nominations. >WATCH KERRY CONDON’s uINTERVIEW NOW! As far as the TV portion of the awards, satirical drama The White Lotus, Quinta… Read More View the full article

Published by AFP Billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk (L) and Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease expert and chief medical advisor to the US president Washington (AFP) – The White House on Monday condemned billionaire Elon Musk’s call for Anthony Fauci, the US infectious disease expert who is a hate figure for many on the right, to be prosecuted over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. “These are incredibly dangerous, these personal attacks that we are seeing,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, in response to the weekend tweet by Musk that subsequently went viral. “They are disgusting and they are divorced from reality,” she said. Musk, the owner of Twitter, took to the site Sunday to urge punishment for Fauci, who led the government’s approach to the pandemic when it hit the country in early 2020. “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Musk said, tauntingly playing on the growing practice for people to indicate their preferred gender pronouns. Musk also posted a meme showing Fauci telling US President Joe Biden, “Just one more lockdown, my king,” in apparent criticism of the coronavirus mitigation measures initially taken in parts of the country in the first year of the pandemic. Conservatives including former president Donald Trump have made Fauci a focus of their criticisms of the government campaign to battle Covid, and he has faced death threats and had a security team assigned to protect him. “These personal attacks that we’ve been seeing are dangerous on Dr. Fauci and other public health professionals as well,” said Jean-Pierre. “Dr. Fauci has served under seven Republican and Democratic presidents. We cannot forget that…. His work on infectious disease from HIV Aids to COVID has saved countless lives,” she said. “We are fortunate, I should say, that he has devoted his career and his life and his exceptional talent to America’s public health.” Republican lawmakers have pledged to grill Fauci when they take control of the House of Representatives in January, after locking horns repeatedly with the top immunologist over Covid vaccines, mask mandates and other pandemic-related issues. Fauci, 81, is due to step down this month from his roles in government as Biden’s chief medical advisor, as well as director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, which he has headed since 1984. In what was likely his final White House appearance in November, Fauci slammed the proliferation of bad health advice online and said the most difficult thing he had to deal with while helming America’s fight against Covid was the country’s polarization along political lines. View the full article

Published by uPolitics.com New Twitter owner Elon Musk declared on Sunday, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” simultaneously swiping at the famous immunologist and offending Queer advocates. Musk made the jab on his social media site, where he has a history of lambasting Covid protocols and the expansion of pronoun use. Musk’s jab at Dr. Anthony Fauci was preempted by new CDC guidance to resume masking in public. “Truth resonates,” Musk tweeted on Monday, implying the outrage around his tweet indicates his accuracy. The tweet has 1.1 million likes and 176,000 retweets. “Elon, please don’t mock and promote hate toward al… Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — Broadway actor Jaquel Spivey has landed his first feature movie role. The Tony-nominated star of “A Strange Loop” has been cast to play the role of gay best friend Damian Hubbard in the film adaptation of the “Mean Girls” musical, based on Tina Fey’s 2004 high school comedy. Spivey will join Renée Rapp, who reprises her role as superficial teen queen Regina George during the musical’s Broadway run, which ended in March 2020, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Little Mermaid Live” star Auli’i Cravalho has been cast as Janis and “Spider-Man” movie franchise star Angourie Rice is se… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) A museum devoted to Russia’s LGBTQ history in St Petersburg has opened and closed in the space of a few days after Russia’s tough new ‘gay propaganda’ law came into force. Pyotr Voskresensky is the founder of the museum. He dedicated years to amassing the collection of Russian-made statues, jewellery, vases, books and other art objects that showcased the history of the country’s LGBTQ subculture However, the collection fell foul of the law that completely bans what the authorities regard as the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relations. On the 5th of December, Russian president Vladimir … Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) Indonesia’s new ban on extramarital sex has sent shockwaves through its digital nomad community. On Tuesday, Indonesia’s parliament approved a new criminal code banning sex outside of marriage, prohibiting unmarried couples from living together, and criminalising adultery. The laws – which take effect in three years – will apply to locals and tourists alike, with a punishment of up to one year in prison. Indonesia has long been the destination of choice for digital nomads – those who take advantage of remote working to head to another country. The community has had mixed reactions to the new … Read More View the full article

Published by Fadeaway World By Gautam Varier LeBron James reacted to the passing of journalist Grant Wahl, who had written the iconic “Chosen One” cover story on James for Sports Illustrated. The sports world suffered a devastating loss on the 10th of December when renowned journalist Grant Wahl passed away while covering the FIFA World Cup. Wahl had been in the business for over two decades and while he primarily covered soccer, he was very much into college basketball in his early years. It was, in fact, Wahl who wrote that iconic Sports Illustrated cover story of LeBron James as the “Chosen One” back in 2002. It is so… Read More View the full article

Published by Euronews (English) Day 11 of our Cultural Advent Calendar, in which we’re counting down our highlights of 2022 day-by-day all the way to Christmas and beyond. Our top TV and streaming picks continue with ‘And Just Like That…’, the revival and sequel of the HBO television series ‘Sex and the City’. There’s a certain generation of people for whom ‘Sex and the City’ was so formative that rewatching the show is like a journey deep into your own psyche. I’m talking about myself, obviously. When the sequel ‘And Just Like That…’ was announced, I was equal parts apprehensive and excited. After nearly two decades of … Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News NEW YORK — A Manhattan man who tangled with anti-Drag Story Hour protesters at a Midtown library was arrested after a confrontation with a cop, police said Sunday. Chase Catapano, 28, can be seen on video ripping a “Leave Our Kids Alone” sign out of the hands of one of the protesters at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on Fifth Avenue at West 40th Street. “You’re a f—ing disgrace, a f—ing disgrace,” he yells, video posted to Twitter shows. Moments later, a plain-clothed cop can be seen putting a finger to Catapano’s chest. Catapano then hits the cop in the chest before the officer leads… Read More View the full article

Published by The Kansas City Star Twenty-four hours after the tragic and shocking death of Grant Wahl, an American journalist who died while reporting on the World Cup in Qatar, his brother Eric is imagining a moment from their childhood — more specifically, the basement of the Mission, Kansas house in which they grew up. In the memory, Grant is sitting at a table, his ankles tied to his chair. He’d done it to himself, Eric clarifies quickly with a slight laugh. Grant had wanted to ensure that he wouldn’t stop working on his homework until it had all been completed, so he borrowed some twine from the garage and tied his feet t… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Daniel Craig is set to star in ‘Queer’. The ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ is attached to star in director Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ seminal 1985 novel of the same name, Deadline reports. ‘Queer’ follows the self-conscious and insecure Lee, who befriends and pursues a recently-discharged American Navy serviceman called Allerton. The novel is a sequel to the author’s semi-autobiographical novel ‘Junkie: Confessions of an Unredeemed Drug Addict’ and the writer – who penned the book between 1951 and 1953, decades before it was published – previously explained it represented his life off heroin. Steve Buscemi previously planned to direct a different adaptation of the book in 2011, which had Stanley Tucci, Ben Foster and John Ventimiglia in line to star. Meanwhile, Daniel recently admitted he knew he wanted James Bond to die as soon as he saw the “enormity” of his first outing of the spy, ‘Casino Royale’ in 2006. He said: “I was driving away from the Berlin premiere of ‘Casino Royale’ with Barbara Broccoli. “I had genuinely thought I would do one Bond movie, then it would be over. But by then we knew we had a hit on our hands. I realised the enormity of it, so I said to Barbara, ‘How many more? Three? Four?’ She said, ‘Four!’ I said, ‘OK. Then can I kill him off?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ “ Despite the agreement, Daniel returned for a fifth movie, 2021’s ‘No Time To Die’, but he admitted planning for Bond’s death had to be kept secret because studio bosses weren’t thrilled at the idea of killing off the iconic character. He recalled: “I said, ‘This is it. I don’t want to do any more.’ “If we kill Bond, we can begin again. I think Barbara thought that too. But, bless them, the studio, MGM, were, like, ‘What are you talking about? Are you out of your minds?’ There was reluctance. So we had to do it in secret, really.” View the full article

Published by The Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA — As a thumping bass beat shook the floor, Gregory Pierce praised the good people and good vibes at Level Up, a Center City club. The past two months, though, there’s been another attraction. On a recent visit, the DJ interrupted a set for a public service announcement: In a lounge, upstairs from the bar where beams of primary colored light swept over people drinking and dancing, health workers were delivering vaccines for mpox, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently renamed the virus long called monkeypox in an effort to reduce stigma associated with the n… Read More View the full article

Published by Computer World By Preston Gralla Back in April, two days after Elon Musk announced his plan to buy Twitter, Musk had a private phone call with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. One might have expected Musk to ask Nadella for advice on how to turn around the flailing Twitter — after all, Nadella had engineered perhaps the most successful tech turnaround in history. In 2014 he took the helm of a directionless Microsoft riven by discord and stagnation and whose stock price had dropped by more than half during what is generally called Microsoft’s lost decade. Today, thanks to Nadella’s guidance, Microsoft has the thi… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story On Monday, Mother Jones detailed the QAnon-linked conspiracy theory at the heart of why Florida’s chief financial officer just divested billions of dollars from the investment firm BlackRock. “The firm, Florida chief financial officer Jimmy Patronis alleged, didn’t have its investors’ best interests in mind,” reported Kiera Butler. “‘Florida’s Treasury Division is divesting from BlackRock because they have openly stated they’ve got other goals than producing returns,’ he told Reuters. He was referring to the company’s commitment to environmental, social, and governance principles, a collection… Read More View the full article

Published by Raw Story On Monday, writing for his Popular Information blog, investigative reporter Judd Legum outlined how Bruce Friedman, a far-right activist who recently moved from New York to Clay County, Florida, has gotten dozens of books banned from school libraries — and is planning to remove thousands more. “This year, at least 102 books have been removed from the shelves of school libraries in Clay County, Florida. Many of these books were pulled at the request of one man: Bruce Friedman,” wrote Legum. “And Friedman says he is just getting started. During a November 28 meeting of the Florida Department of … Read More View the full article

Published by New York Daily News With the midterm elections officially over, Republicans are pointing fingers over their disastrous performance — and the divisive role of former President Donald Trump. Herschel Walker’s loss in the closely watched Georgia Senate run off capped a campaign in which the GOP dramatically failed to engineer a sweeping red wave rebuke of President Joe Biden and the Democrats. Republicans across the political spectrum from MAGA loyalists to “Never Trump” conservatives agree that they flopped. But the party is bitterly divided about who should take the blame for the losses and even more deeply split … Read More View the full article

Published by AlterNet For decades, the U.S. Supreme Court was synonymous with social progress, and Republicans were part of that progress. Chief Justice Earl Warren was a Republican appointee of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1973, the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade was written by Justice Harry Blackmun, a Richard Nixon appointee. And Justice Anthony Kennedy, known for his unapologetically pro-gay rulings in Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges, was a right-wing libertarian appointed by President Ronald Reagan. But in 2022, the High Court has moved to the far right and has the low approval rat… Read More View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Luke Evans was “terrified” of coming out to his parents. The 43-year-old actor was worried telling his mum and dad he was gay would “damage [the] connection” he had with them, but though it was a “difficult” time, he was relieved at how accepting his family were. He admitted: “Coming out is a scary thing. I didn’t know one gay person when I was growing up. At 16, 17, the thought of telling the two people you love something that could damage your connection with them is terrifying. “But my parents were able to understand that this was who I was; I couldn’t really change who I was and they accepted that. It was very difficult, but we got through it.” The ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ actor has found seeing a therapist over the last decade very beneficial because he was too busy to process everything that was going on in his life. He told The Times magazine: “Therapy got me to process an awful lot of things. It took me a while to go but it’s something that I have benefited from over the past ten years. My workload is very large and I travel a lot. “I wasn’t processing because I was so busy. I detach from my real life very often. It took me a moment to breathe and to speak to somebody I can open up to.” And Luke also uses meditation to release his anxiety and stresses. He explained: “Meditation has really helped me. Not in a deep, ‘living on a mountain with wind chimes’ kind of way. “I use the apps and just do it in my bedroom, on my sofa, in a dressing room, for half an hour. Breathing is an incredible way of staying calm and releasing anxiety. I don’t panic about next week, next month. I deal with today.” View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English The Prince of Wales will reportedly be “furious” footage from Princess Diana’s infamous ‘Panorama’ interview has been included in his brother’s new Netflix series. He previously branded the sit-down “deceitful” and said it should never again shown due to the underhand tactics used by shamed BBC journalist Martin Bashir to land the exclusive chat in 1995. Sources told the Daily Mirror on Thursday (08.12.22) William and his father King Charles will be “dismayed” the Duke of Sussex has “blatantly” ignored their wishes. They added “it shows just how little regard there is from the Sussex camp”. One insider told the publication on Thursday: “He (William) will be rightly furious about it. “He couldn’t have been clearer in the past and this is one thing he would have thought he and Harry were aligned on. “Sadly once more it shows the gulf between the two brothers couldn’t be wider.” During the first episode of ‘Harry and Meghan’, released on Thursday alone with two other instalments, clips are seen of Diana speaking in her interview with Bashir, saying she hated being the “centre of attention”. Bashir has been shamed for faking bank statements and showing them to Diana’s brother Earl Spencer to help get the interview. He fraudulently claimed the documents showed senior royal courtiers were being paid for information on his sister. The false papers also gave the impression royal family associates were selling stories on Diana to the press. In September the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie promised the corporation would never show the programme or license it to other broadcasters. William said in a damning statement after the publication of a report into the scandal: “It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. “It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others. “It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. “The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others. “It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.” Prince Harry said in response to the report he was worried Bashir’s underhand practices were now “widespread” and “bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication”. He added: “The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her (Diana’s) life.” Royal expert Dickie Arbiter was among those who slammed Netflix for including footage from the Diana interview in ‘Harry and Meghan’, tweeting: “How come @netflix were allowed to use footage from #Diana #Panorama interview in documentary? “20 minutes into the first episode #Harry talks about mother and compares #Meghan to his mum saying she has the same confidence, passion and warmth.” The Sussexes’ Netflix show has made a number of claims about the royals, including that they had no protection from the Palace and accused aides of “planting” stories about them as part of a smear campaign. Sources have said King Charles and William are poised to respond to the show, but are unlikely to until the full series has been released, with another three episodes due on Netflix on December 15. View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Computers can detect cancer by listening to farts. An artificial intelligence prototype is able to recognise subtle changes after hearing trumps from healthy and unhealthy people. The developers believe that their system, Synthetic Human Acoustic Reproduction Testing (SHART), will one day be able to pick up signs of cancer. The technology can be used to detect tell-tale differences in the sound of both pooping and urinating. David Ancalle, a student at Georgia Tech University in the US, said: “We’re trying to find a non-invasive way where people can get a notification on whether or not they should go get checked out. “Like, ‘Hey, your urine is not flowing at the rate it should’ or ‘Your farts are not sounding the way they should.'” The AI prototype is yet to be tested on humans but Ancalle claims that it could identify which bodily function a sound was coming from 98 per cent of the time. The researchers hope that it will soon be accurate enough to pick up slight changes that occur when a disease is developing. View the full article