CDC: Deadly Fungus Spreading at 'Alarming Rate'
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has called the fungus Candida auris an “urgent threat” after a new study showed it has been spreading at an “alarming rate” through healthcare facilities.
According to the study, US cases of the fungus more than tripled over just three years. Researchers say that the pandemic likely drove an increase in cases, as health workers already swamped with COVID likely shifted their focus away from disinfecting other types of germs.
Healthy people aren't at risk from Candida auris, but those with weak immune systems, diabetes, who take a lot of antibiotics, or who use medical devices like ventilators, feeding tubes, or catheters face higher risk of suffering severe illness or dying.
Narrative A
The rise in cases of Candida auris fungus is extremely alarming. While dealing with one public health crisis, medical workers failed to prevent another. There is a reason why infection protocols exist and must be strictly adhered to regardless of wider developments in public health, even the emergence of pandemics.
Narrative B
While news of a new "dangerous" fungus sounds very worrying, the majority of people need not be concerned about Candida auris. Although medical professionals should be aware about the potential for infection and need to effectively diagnose this fungus, the CDC doesn't need to panic the majority in the US who won't be affected by this development.
At Least 13 Killed After Powerful Earthquake Shakes Afghanistan, Pakistan, India
On Tuesday night, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck the Hindu Kush region near the remote northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, killing four people and injuring over 70.
The quake also claimed nine lives in northwest Pakistan, where it also caused landslides, damaged buildings, and left over 200 injured, forcing hospitals in the region to declare a state of emergency.
Pakistan's Meteorological Department put the magnitude slightly higher at 6.8 and later reported the occurrence of a 3.7 magnitude aftershock along the border with Afghanistan.
Narrative A
Afghanistan has a long history of earthquakes, many of which occur in the mountainous Hindu Kush region that borders Pakistan. Afghanistan and the larger part of south Asia along the Hindu Kush mountains are seismically active because two tectonic plates — known as the Indian and Eurasian plates — are pushing into each other. Not much can be done to protect the country and its neighbors from this unfortunate geographical feature which puts the lives of those living in the area at risk.
Narrative B
People don't usually associate earthquakes with climate change, but they are intimately connected. Scientists are warning that the impacts of global warming could make earthquakes more damaging and deadly. The climate crisis may not directly cause earthquakes, but it has caused more extreme weather over the years, and it's this intensity that puts stress on fault lines. By doing more about climate change, it is possible that this aggravating factor of the severity of quakes could be tempered in the future.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that at least 83K will die as a result of the most deadly earthquake between 2029, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
US Court Rules Against Ex-Haitian Mayor for $15M
A US District Court in Boston, Mass. ruled on Tuesday that former Haitian mayor Jean Morose Viliena must pay more than $15.5M in damages for waging a campaign against political opponents that included a killing, attempted murder, and torture.
The jury ruled in favor of a 2017 civil lawsuit filed against Viliena by David Boniface, Juders Ysemé, and Nissage Martyr, alleging that he and his political allies were persecuting them or their relatives. Martyr died after the filing and was replaced by his son Nissandere Martyr as a plaintiff.
The former mayor of the small Haitian town of Les Irois was accused of leading a group of armed men who shot Boniface's younger brother in his absence in 2007 as part of a political persecution campaign and assaulted Ysemé and Nissage Martyr in 2008, causing Ysemé to go blind in one eye and Martyr to lose a leg.
Pro-establishment narrative
The ruling is both a relief for the plaintiffs and a sobering reminder of the lawlessness that has long prevailed in Haiti, with its notoriously weak and dysfunctional rule of law. Add to this the rampant gang violence, with hundreds of deaths this year alone, which has further exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis. It's time for the international community to intervene to protect Haiti from itself.
Establishment-critical narrative
While the ruling is a stark reminder of the lawlessness that prevails in Haiti, the fact that the Caribbean island has never had a real chance to develop as a sovereign nation since the 1804 revolution is readily ignored. It is the West that has always interfered in Haiti's internal affairs and destabilized the country in order to determine its fate. Only as a truly independent nation will Haiti be able to protect its own citizens.
Israel Allegedly Strikes Syria’s Aleppo Airport Again
The Syrian defense ministry said Wednesday that Israel launched an air attack on Aleppo International Airport at around 3:55 a.m. local time, causing some "material damage" in reportedly the second strike this month.
The UK-based war monitor, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that the attack was aimed at a weapons and ammunition warehouse, which two Israeli intelligence sources claim is associated with the Nairab military airport suspected of housing equipment delivered by Iran.
Israel has, in recent years, carried out hundreds of attacks against what it says are Iran-linked targets in Syria, where Tehran's influence has grown since it began supporting Pres. Bashar al-Assad in the civil war beginning in 2011. Wednesday's missile strike was the third such attack on Aleppo airport in six months.
Establishment-critical narrative
Israel has been carrying out air strikes against suspected Iranian weapons transfers and personnel and its proxies in Syria for almost a decade. Though the strikes are part of a low-intensity conflict to slow Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, the West has seemingly dropped its previous plan of diplomacy to allow Israel and other allies to, instead, use military force to settle its grievances with Tehran — a risky strategy that underestimates the magnitude and repercussions of a military escalation.
Pro-establishment narrative
Syria is a conflict zone with many actors, all of which can cause this "shadow war" to go hot, and Iran — with its coordinated effort with Russia, which controls much of the Syrian airspace — risks pushing it over the edge. Israel has been clear that it will not permit Iran to freely move weapons and fighters through Syria if such activities threaten Israeli security, and is right to target Iranian assets in any of the countries into which Tehran has dug its tentacles.
Nerd narrative
There's a 15% chance that a state-based conflict between Israel and Iran will cause at least 1K deaths before 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Google Launches AI Chatbot Bard in US, UK
On Tuesday, Google announced that its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Bard, will be available to the public on a rolling basis in the US and UK. The company, which has been developing Bard for years, said it’s still an “early experiment.”
Bard can give creative responses to detailed questions in English and engage in back-and-forth conversations. Examples have included helping plan a birthday party and a vacation with children to Tokyo.
Bard was designed by Google's LaMDA language model, and the company says it would work particularly well with "NORA" queries — ones to which there’s "no one right answer."
Narrative A
Google might be rushing out Bard too soon because of pressure from its competitors. It was already walking a fine line, hoping it doesn’t lose users of its profitable search business to the AI bot. Now it also has to worry about a misinformation problem that could tarnish the company’s reputation. Google might regret not waiting for Bard to be near-perfect while the other companies struggle through their AI rollouts.
Narrative B
Google may as well get out in front of the AI race because it has something the other companies don’t – a leading search engine that can be a backup for mistakes Bard makes or information it can’t find. For now, Bard is a complement to search. But as it works out the kinks, Google may have just started the future of search.
At Least 4 Killed in Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv Region
A day after Ukraine launched a drone attack on Crimea, at least four civilians were killed and seven more were injured after Russia launched a drone attack on the city of Rzhyshchiv in the wider Kyiv region in the early hours of Wednesday.
Ukrainian officials also said four civilians were killed and five more were injured in Russian attacks on the Donetsk region in the past day. A missile attack was also reported in Odesa, causing an unspecified number of injuries, as well as in the region of Khmelnytskyi, though officials said missile defenses had repelled the attack there; Russian attacks were also recorded in the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded his state visit to Russia on Wednesday morning. Before his departure, he held a press conference with Russian Pres. Putin in which Putin welcomed China's proposals for a peace plan for the war in Ukraine, stating it "correlates to the point of view of the Russian Federation." The plan calls for dialogue, respect for all countries’ territorial sovereignty, an end to economic sanctions, as well as avoiding nuclear escalation, but did not suggest that Russia should withdraw its forces from the country.
Anti-Russia narrative
Russia and Putin are spreading disinformation about depleted uranium shells. These are standard components in modern militaries and have nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities. The health risks associated with these weapons are low.
Pro-Russia narrative
The UK plan to ship depleted uranium shells risks an escalation of the conflict. These shells have well-documented health repercussions for the local population, and Russia will have to recalculate its approach accordingly. The UK is urged to reconsider its decision.
Nerd narrative
There's a 20% chance that Russia will use at least one nuclear weapon on Kyiv before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
UN Warns Against 'Vampiric' Global Water Use
Ahead of the first global water summit since 1977 a UN report released Monday says that the world is "blindly traveling a dangerous path" of "vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment."
According to the report, 2B people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water and 3.6B don't have access to proper sanitation.
Lead author of the report Richard Connor said that "up to 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month a year" and "uncertainties are increasing."
Pro-establishment narrative
This global crisis hurts areas with both too much and too little water. In countries like the US, where water is abundant, flooding causes catastrophic infrastructure and economic damage; in other countries, a lack of clean water causes health risks on an endemic scale. As water is difficult to ship from abundant regions to water-scarce regions, the global community must come together in sharing existing analytical data to develop programs to reverse scarcity and slow overuse.
Establishment-critical narrative
Governments and NGOs have understood the dangers of unsustainable living since the 1950s, but despite countless UN summits and White House conferences, these so-called leaders and experts have remained under the thumb of the big businesses that own them. The clock is ticking for many environmental issues, but the UN is unlikely to reverse course and implement the global action plan it's been promising for over half a century.
Narrative C
Talk of an impending global water crisis mirrors talk of an impending climate catastrophe — there is an "Incredible Disappearing Doomsday Effect." All too often, science remains the same, but the interpretation of data and public discourse walks a tightrope between apocalypse and hope. The truth is nuanced and somewhere in the middle — Doomsday scenarios simply haven't materialized.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that humans will be able to capture water from volatile sources in the inner solar system by September 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Uganda Passes Sweeping LGBTQ+ Bans
Uganda's parliament on Tuesday passed a bill that criminalizes identifying as LGBTQ+ and proposes punishments for homosexual relationships.
The bill — which now goes to Pres. Yoweri Museveni to be signed into law — would see anyone openly identifying as gay, lesbian, transgender, or queer face up to 20 years in prison. Same-sex intercourse is already unlawful in the country and punishable by life in prison.
Under the new legislation, the death penalty can be invoked for people convicted of "aggravated homosexuality" — defined in the bill as homosexual acts involving minors, people with disabilities, HIV-infected persons, or same-sex offenses committed without consent or under duress.
Pro-establishment narrative
The draconian legislation promotes hatred and homophobia and seeks to strip LGBTQ+ individuals of their fundamental rights — including freedom of expression, privacy, and equality guaranteed under international human rights instruments to which Uganda is a party. The government must protect all people from violence and discrimination, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. To criminalize people simply for being who they are is morally repugnant.
Establishment-critical narrative
The West is quick to condemn anything that goes against its cultural imperialism but fails to realize that this bill is the direct result of its meddling. Shadowy international forces continue to promote and impose their morals on Africans, who have been forced to respond in kind. It's essential to protect Uganda's traditional family values, diverse culture, and the future of its children, even in the face of the West's financial blackmail.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that at least 16.2% of the world's population will live in countries where same-sex marriage is legal in 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
Beijing's Population Falls, First Time Since 2003
Official data released on Tuesday revealed that China’s capital Beijing experienced its first population decline since 2003 as the city’s death rate surpassed its birth rate in 2022.
Beijing remains one of the country's most populous urban centers with 21.84M people, but its death rate rose to 5.72 deaths per 1k people, while its birth rate fell to 5.67 births per 1k people.
The population decline was in line with China’s national trend, as the country saw its first national population decline in six decades last year. Several factors attributed to the decline are rising costs of living, weak economic growth, and changing attitudes toward raising a family.
Anti-China narrative
China is in the throes of demographic and economic crises of its own making. After its brutal and failed one-child policy, China is trying to reverse startling trends of population decline, but it cannot reverse this unavoidable demographic disaster. China is at risk of losing its economic power as its labor-age population dwindles, and there's no quick fix for this problem.
Pro-China narrative
Some are all too eager to count on China’s economic demise amid decreasing birth rates, but China’s modernization efforts were built to withstand a shrinking population and maintain a strong economy into the future. In the short term, China will not feel the effects of its aging population, and it's already on the path to developing long-term solutions to modernize and strengthen its population and economy.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that China’s fertility rate will be at least 1.25 births per woman in 2031, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
US Home Prices Fell in February 2023
US home prices fell year-over-year for the first time in more than 10 years in February 2023, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. The median existing-home price decreased by 0.2% to $363K.
The Association also reported that lower prices, in addition to lower mortgage rates from mid-November 2022 to this February, led to the largest jump in the sale of previously owned homes in 2.5 years, ending a 12-month streak of declines.
Existing home sales jumped 14.5% last month from January, bringing the annual rate to 4.58M — the largest increase since July 2020.
Narrative A
The housing market is coming back thanks to buyers who are conscious of changing mortgage rates and taking advantage of even the slightest dip, even as the spring buying season is just beginning. Prices could become even more affordable moving forward, but the lack of inventory means it’s still a good time to sell a home. Everybody’s winning in this recovery.
Narrative B
Don’t uncork the champagne yet. This data was computed before Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank’s collapses, which are causing unrest throughout the banking sector. There should be less consumer demand and tightened lending standards from banks for a while now, and there’s also a chance the Fed will do another major rate hike. The housing market, like the economy as a whole, is too unstable to celebrate.