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SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific declined in Monday morning trade as oil prices surged, with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war continuing to weigh on investor sentiment globally. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 led losses regionally as it tumbled 3.39%, with shares of robot maker Fanuc plunging 7.4%, while the Topix index shed 3.19%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong also saw heavy losses, dropping 3.29% in early trade as shares of HSBC plummeted 6.21%. Mainland China’s Shanghai composite shed 0.47% and the Shenzhen component slipped 1.108%.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday that masking will continue in "all settings with children under 5 years of age," including in classrooms. Adams previously announced that masking would no longer be required for children in schools K-12 starting March 7. The mayor also revealed a new COVID-19 "alert level" system, which concludes that New York is currently at low-risk for community spread. Many on Twitter said the decision was "child abuse." Joel Petlin, a school superintendent who has been outspoken on the matter, pointed to World Health Organization (WHO) guidance that came out 18 months ago, which...

1) Vaccines do next to nothing to curb Omicron transmission Remember in the good old altruistic days, vaccines were not primarily for self-protection, but for the safety of others? “Your actions have consequences for other people’s health,” was the undefeatable argument. Failing to contribute to community health and safety was a socially criminal offense. It often sowed bitter division among families, friends, and employees. Those at the time reasonably suggesting (based on Israeli data) that vaccine efficacy may wane were considered fringe, selfish, science-denying quacks that must be censored. Well, Pfizer is now on the side of the quacks. Here’s...

What an immense boon to our troubled republic that we have clear-sighted, selfless public servants of the quality of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Make Mine A Double), who keeps us all on the straight and narrow with her eternal vigilance in the cause of truth, justice, and the socialist internationalist way. AOC, like all Leftists, sees racism everywhere, in every conceivable situation and has just found some more: she claims that the welcome that is being accorded to Ukrainian refugees is more wholehearted and comprehensive than what was accorded to earlier waves of refugees. And why? Because they’re white, of course,...

The White House is hopeful for a rebound after a strong week, with bipartisan support for backing Ukraine, a strong jobs report, COVID-19 restrictions eased and the confirmation process for its Supreme Court nominee underway. President Biden, who has been plagued by low approval over high inflation and pandemic fatigue, saw his numbers rise in at least one poll after his first State of the Union address.

Ukraine war 'catastrophic for global food' By Emma Simpson Business correspondent, BBC News The boss of one of the world's biggest fertiliser companies has said the war in Ukraine will deliver a shock to the global supply and cost of food. Yara International, which operates in more than 60 countries, buys considerable amounts of essential raw materials from Russia. Fertiliser prices were already high due to soaring wholesale gas prices. Yara's boss, Svein Tore Holsether, has warned the situation could get even tougher. "Things are changing by the hour," he told the BBC.

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows." "And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my...

[Catholic Caucus] Argentina: Archbishop Deplores Devastating Francis EffectCatholicism in Argentina “is in full retreat,” former La Plata Archbishop Hector Aguer writes on InfoCatolica.com (March 2). Here his assessment:• many churches are depopulated,• the liturgy has “fallen into banality if not worse,”• seminaries half-empty,• religious houses decimated,• decrease in the number of marriages and baptisms,• there is no widespread Catholic youth movement,• the bishops submit to the “New World Order” and the “money imperialism”In some dioceses, there are still some “very active people” which Aguer calls “small groups," stuck with a devastated liturgy, “The lack of precision, solemnity and beauty in...

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation announced on Sunday that several banks will switch to the Chinese card system following the suspension of Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal in Russia. It can be recalled that Visa, Mastercard, and Paypal announced on Saturday they will suspend all operations in Russia. “We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” said Al Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of Visa Inc. On Sunday, several banks in Russia will start to issue new cards with the new Russian payments system “Mir” and China’s...

Tacoma police is placing an officer on administrative leave, forcing him to surrender his badge and gun, after he referred to city leaders as “spineless and tyrannical” and called for police to disobey orders in a video he filmed while on duty in his patrol car.“This message is for the police in DC and other cities that have spineless and tyrannical leaders such as mine,” Patrol Officer Robert Hollingsworth says in the video. Hollingsworth goes on to say the “freedom convoy” is coming and urges officers not to violate people’s rights due to the orders of “some liberal tyrant.”Hollingsworth ends...

First of all, your correspondent is a trained forecaster and provides daily forecasts to various users. Also, I have specific past experience with air quality forecasting which may assist with the questions raised by limited or not so limited nuclear exchanges. The weather situation for the conflict zone looks grim for embattled civilians. It may not play well for the Russian forces either. Much colder air is moving southwest from the Urals region and has already begun to spread into northeast Ukraine overnight. Temperatures have fallen to -10 C (14 F) in some of the conflict zones and will fall...

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~ Leslie H. Sabo, Jr. Info from here. Leslie Halasz Sabo, Jr. (Hungarian: ifj. László Halász Szabó) (22 February 1948 – 10 May 1970) was a soldier in the United States Army during the Vietnam War. Sabo received the highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Cambodian Campaign in 1970. Born in Kufstein, Austria, Sabo's family immigrated to the United States...

[H/T MomwithHope]Today’s Guest: Dr. ZelenkoDr. Zelenko Board Certified Family Physician with over 20 years experience. Dr. Zelenko was nominated for the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Nobel Prize , Dr. Zelenko’s team was one of the first in the country to successfully treat thousands of Covid-19 patients in the prehospital setting. Dr. Zelenko developed his now famous “Zelenko Protocol,” which has saved countless lives worldwide. Dr. Zelenko recommended that President Trump take hydroxychloroquine. Dr. Zelenko begins the conversation explaining that the death jab will have medical problems because the death jab was not a vaccine, it was to reduce...

The labs in question are part of a network of facilities linked to the Biological Threat Reduction Program, a US-government-funded effortA Twitter thread has gone viral after making eyebrow-raising claims that the Russian government is taking down American biolabs in Ukraine under the pretext of the "special military operation" that has pushed the world to the brink of an all-out war.The claims surfaced shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping met recently and issued a joint statement slamming US bioweapons activities. It's worth noting that both Russia and the Soviet Union have a long history of...

During his presentations of a bill that would enter the state of Mississippi into an interstate compact with Arkansas and Tennessee, the Senate sponsor completely omitted that, if passed, the law would create an unelected quasi-governmental entity with very broad powers, including eminent domain. The bill went on to pass the state Senate unanimously on February 3. SB2716, sponsored by Republican Senator David Parker (R-DeSoto), is a 17-page document that creates the RegionSmart Development District (District) and the RegionSmart Development Agency of the Greater Memphis Region (RegionSmart Development).

By late 1933, the worst of the famine had run its course. There’s no definite estimate of how many people died. But most scholars agree that at least 2 million Ukrainians died of starvation between 1930 and 1933. However, during any famine, the number of people who die from starvation isn’t the best way to determine the total death toll. The stress of long-term hunger makes people more likely to develop deadly illnesses like typhus and cholera. These diseases were prevalent in Ukraine during the famine and killed millions of additional people.

Russian news director and anchor, Ekaterina Kotrikadze, speaks to CNN's Fareed Zakaria about the state of the country's news media after her station, TV Rain, shut down due to the Russian government's crackdown on local media over unfavorable coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Explanation: This was a very unusual type of solar eclipse. Typically, it is the Earth's Moon that eclipses the Sun. In 2012, though, the planet Venus took a turn. Like a solar eclipse by the Moon, the phase of Venus became a continually thinner crescent as Venus became increasingly better aligned with the Sun. Eventually the alignment became perfect and the phase of Venus dropped to zero. The dark spot of Venus crossed our parent star. The situation could technically be labeled a Venusian annular eclipse with an extraordinarily large ring of fire. Pictured here during the occultation, the Sun...

The Felicity Ace, the cargo ship carrying cars and SUVs from brands including Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini, has now sunk. It had caught fire on February 16 and its crew abandoned the ship. The largely burned out ship was being towed back to a safe port when it sank yesterday, according to a report provided by the salvage team to MOL Ship Management of Singapore, which operates the Panama-flagged ship. A spokesperson for Volkswagen Group confirmed that the automaker was aware of the vessel sinking. The Felicity Ace had been carrying nearly 4000 vehicles from various Volkswagen Group brands....

Russian Ministry of Defense — “Ukraine’s SBU along with Azov have booby trapped a nuclear reactor at Kharkov institute of physics and plan to blow it up & accuse Russia of carrying out a missile strike onto it.”— ASB News / MILITARY〽️ (@ASBMilitary) March 7, 2022