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Washington’s new moves in Europe unnecessary
Mar 09, 2020 15:28The new US-led ‘Defender-Europe 20’ exercise, which is months long and lasts from February until July, involves 20,000 US troops - more than those of all its NATO allies put together, and more than at any time in the past quarter-century. Although US officials do not say it is designed to counter an alleged Russian threat, the demonstration of US force capability comes after years of piecemeal reinforcements of NATO's eastern flank following Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014.
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ECB joins central banks pledging coronavirus action if needed
Mar 06, 2020 20:10Finance ministers from the Group of Seven were expected to lead a global teleconference in the coming days to discuss their response to the economic threat posed by the coronavirus. The ministers were expected to be joined by their central bank governors. That could be the prelude to concerted action that might include a global series of interest rate cuts.
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Speaking against settlement expansion is just a chore for the EU
Mar 03, 2020 20:01Colonization is illegal under international law, and yet the European Union persists in supporting the Zionist regime of Israel by advocating the two-state paradigm and offering preferential trade and other deals. The extent to which settlement expansion has been dissociated from Israeli regime's illegal colonization has made it possible for the EU to condemn parts of colonization while obliterating the process.
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Permafrost is already thawing. Will it tip the scales in the climate crisis?
Feb 24, 2020 15:46Across vast swaths of the northern hemisphere’s higher reaches, frozen ground holds billions of tonnes of carbon. As global temperatures rise, this “permafrost” land is at increasing risk of thawing out, potentially releasing its long-held carbon into the atmosphere.
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Struggling to quit sugar? You might not be sleeping enough
Feb 19, 2020 11:08Levels of insomnia can influence the hippocampus, the region of your brain that regulates food intake. If intake of sugary and fatty foods leads to abnormal activity of the hippocampus, it might be harder to avoid cravings for unhealthy foods. The researchers said another potential explanation for the connection between poor sleep and poor dietary habits, is that consuming too much food can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, which can make it harder to fall or remain asleep.
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Astronomers to sweep entire sky for signs of extraterrestrial life
Feb 17, 2020 15:29Whether we are alone in the Universe or not, the truth is that both scenarios can be equally frightening. However, humanity has the duty to keep searching for alien life as much as it can. This has become the ultimate goal for space agencies like SpaceX and NASA, and hopefully, we will receive an irrefutable answer soon. With trillions of galaxies out there and each of them having billions of stars, it’s practically impossible for our planet to be the only one hosting life.
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Predicting autism risk may begin with a drop of blood
Feb 16, 2020 12:23Principal Investigator Robert Naviaux, professor of medicine and pathology at UC San Diego School of Medicine said “We know from the history of certain genetic diseases, such as PKU, that if children can be identified before the first symptoms have appeared, then the disease can be prevented, even though the children have the DNA mutations,” adding, “I believe that over half of autism cases may be preventable if only we had a way to identify the children at risk before the first symptoms appear.
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How the far-right became Europe’s new normal
Feb 07, 2020 17:50It was a scandal when a far-right party entered government two decades ago. Now it’s just routine. What happened? Twenty years ago, on Feb. 4, 2000, a shock wave reverberated from the heart of Europe: The far-right Freedom Party of Austria, founded in 1956 by National Socialist activists, entered government.
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UK’s Johnson talks tough on trade as EU demands fishing rights
Feb 07, 2020 17:48In their divorce agreement, Britain and the EU agreed to strike an “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership,” including a free trade deal and agreements for security and other areas. They gave themselves 11 months to do it. A post-Brexit “transition period,” in which relations stay essentially unchanged, runs until the end of 2020. For the rest of this year the UK will continue to follow EU rules, although it will no longer have a say in EU decision-making.
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Global survey: Capitalism doing ‘more harm than good’
Jan 23, 2020 13:29On a national level, lack of trust in capitalism was highest in Thailand and India at 75 percent and 74 percent, respectively, with France close behind at 69 percent.