New ‘kraken’ mutation of the COVID-19 virus is most contagious subvariant yet
Medical experts say the new COVID-19 mutation dubbed “kraken” is the most contagious subvariant of the virus to emerge since the pandemic began — and it’s becoming the dominant strain in the United States.
As cases of this latest subvariant, known as XBB.1.5, surge across the northeastern section of the nation, physicians are urging residents to get their booster shots and stock up on COVID tests. They are predicting that a wave will soon hit the Midwest.
“We are seeing the emergence of more infectious omicron subvariants and XBB.1.5. ... It is the most contagious of COVID yet,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, during a Facebook Live session earlier this week. “Given prior experience, I expect that this ... will probably be getting into the Midwest and Chicago over the next few weeks, and we probably will see an increase in cases.”
The Biden administration on Wednesday extended the COVID-19 public health emergency another 90 days, amid the spread of this highly infectious subvariant; the White House has renewed the COVID emergency declaration every 90 days since January 2020.
—Chicago Tribune
ExxonMobil publicly denied global warming for years but quietly predicted it
In perhaps one of the most cynically ironic twists in the field of climate science, new research suggests ExxonMobil may have had keener insight into the impending dangers of global warming than even NASA scientists but still waged a decades-long campaign to discredit research into climate change and its connection to the burning of fossil fuels.
Despite its public denials, the major oil corporation worked behind closed doors to carry out an astonishingly accurate series of global warming projections between 1977 and 2003, according to a study published Thursday in Science.
“Exxon didn’t just know some climate science, they actually helped advance it,” said Geoffrey Supran, lead author of the study and former researcher in the department of the history of science at Harvard University. “They didn’t just vaguely know something about global warming decades ago, they knew as much as independent academics and government scientists did. And arguably, they knew all they needed to know.”
In a review of archived documents and memos, researchers found that scientists for then-Exxon had completed a set of 16 models that predicted global temperatures would rise, on average, about 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) per decade. Since 1981, Earth’s global average temperature has risen about 0.32 degrees (0.18 Celsius) per decade, according to NASA.
—Los Angeles Times
Berkeley's People's Park is again in a fight for the ages, now over UC student housing
People's Park — among California's most contested and colorful patches of public land and a '60s era symbol of free speech and community power — is again embroiled in a battle for the ages, this time involving the University of California, Berkeley, a key environmental law and the acute student housing shortage.
A state appellate court heard oral arguments Thursday over its tentative ruling last month that could delay UC Berkeley's plan to build badly needed student dorms. If the tentative ruling is made final, it is likely to open controversial new paths that stand to obstruct housing developments statewide, legal experts said.
The tentative ruling stunned the university and drew condemnation from student leaders, lawmakers, Bay Area business executives and progressive law professors. In it, the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco found that the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, required developers to analyze and mitigate a project's potential "social noise'' — in this case the noise generated by students who may drink, yell and hold loud "unruly parties," as some neighbors have complained in documents submitted to the court.
UC Berkeley failed to adequately assess this potential impact, the court said in its tentative ruling.
—Los Angeles Times
3 Palestinian men killed in confrontations with Israeli military
Two Palestinian men were shot dead in Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, officials said on Thursday, while a third later died of his injuries.
One of the victims was a 41-year-old man, who was killed by gunfire in Kalandia near the city of Ramallah in the morning, said the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said stones had been thrown at soldiers during a raid in the town after which they opened fire. Six suspects were arrested during the raid, according to the army. The Palestinian Health Ministry also said a 25-year-old man was shot in the head near the town of Jenin in the afternoon.
A third Palestinian man, aged 19, later died of gunshot wounds. The Israeli army said the police had apprehended a man suspected of involvement in terrorist activity and planning attacks.
—dpa
