Free Republic

As Singapore eases an indoor mask mandate this week, some residents like Tao, 50, will continue keeping their masks on. While Tao, a naturalised Singapore resident originally from China's Wuhan city, believes the city state's decision to relax its pandemic restrictions is based on scientific evidence, he still fears his family will catch Covid-19 again. More from AsiaOne Read the condensed version of this story, and other top stories with NewsLite. "Singapore's epidemic control has achieved remarkable success, but I still hope there are stricter regulations," says Tao, who asked for his surname to be used. "I will insist on...

Video

For boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), vamorolone, a structurally unique dissociative steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is effective and safe over a 24-week period, according to a study. Michela Guglieri, M.D., from the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined whether vamorolone is able to retain efficacy while reducing safety concerns in DMD in a randomized, double-blind, multicenter study including boys aged 4 to younger than 7 years. The study included four treatment groups: placebo; prednisone 0.75 mg/kg/day; vamorolone 2 mg/kg/day; and vamorolone 6 mg/kg/day. One hundred twenty-one boys were randomly assigned to...

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last ruler of the USSR, has died at 91. On the one hand, that sounds pretty good. A long life, a long career, world fame, a one-time politician, then a popular public speaker and leader of a think tank. He outlived his wife by over 20 years, and stayed active and vocal until the end. In many ways, it sounds like a life that one would envy, doesn't it? However… What kind of a politician was he? And what kind of think tank did he run? What did he stand for in life? What did he advocate...

Researchers have found a link between a common back ailment and a type of heart failure. Once considered rare, the heart disease, called transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, is now thought to be a more common but underdiagnosed cause of heart failure. The disease is caused by proteins called transthyretin that can clump together and create amyloid deposits in the heart, the spine, ligaments, and other tissues. In the heart, the deposits stiffen the walls and reduce the amount of blood the heart can pump. Until recently, no treatment was available for this type of heart failure. But in 2019, the FDA...

While they might not be the super records of years past, guns and overall firearms sales are still going through the roof. According to newly released FBI data, background checks exceeded 2.51 million in August, which was consistent with the previous two summers. However, Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting (SAAF) estimates August 2022 U.S. firearms unit sales were at about 1.4 million units, a year-over-year decrease of 3.8 percent relative to August 2021. The decrease affected the handgun segment (−2.7 percent) significantly less than it did the long-gun segment (−7.2 percent). SAAF’s firearms unit sales estimates and forecasts are based...

The legal fight between former President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice escalated Friday morning when the DOJ released a detailed inventory of the documents seized in last month's Mar-a-Lago raid. The inventory list comes following an order from Florida Federal Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who is deciding whether to appoint a "special master" to the case. On "America Reports" on Friday, former Attorney General Bill Barr criticized Trump's push for a "special master" as a distraction from the details of the case and argued it is not likely to be granted.

Set aside the creepy red lighting, the curious pre-Labor Day timing and the callous attempt to condemn half of America in a "basket of deplorables" that would make Hillary Clinton proud. The better question is why President Joe Biden decided to step into the national conversation at all when he fired the opening political salvo of the midterm elections in Philadelphia last night. After all, the prevailing narrative heading into the last official weekend of summer was one of Democratic momentum. Gas prices were "down" to $3.80. Inflation had been "tamed" to 8.5 percent. Senate Democrats had resuscitated their legislative...

Thousands of dead fish and other marine life carcasses are washing ashore in the San Francisco Bay Area, creating a foul smell. Experts point to an unprecedented "red tide" algae bloom as the mostly likely cause. Abnormal numbers of dead crabs, bat rays, striped bass, white sturgeon and more have been spotted throughout the Bay area over the last week, officials say, notably at Oakland's Lake Merritt. The start of the fish die-off could date back even further—as the harmful algae bloom has been spreading since late July. The carcasses are worrying environmental scientists, as they mark a devastating loss...

It's no secret that we are in the midst of a cultural slump rife with bad films, television, music, and books. Fortunately, there hasn't been a complete absence of great modern art, as evidenced by these three films.

Dolutegravir-based antiretroviral therapies (ART) for HIV-1 are more effective for pregnant people than some other ART regimens commonly used in the U.S. and Europe, according to researchers. The study showed that pregnant people who took dolutegravir-based regimens had a high probability of being virally suppressed at delivery. There were no observed differences in the risks of adverse birth outcomes (preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age, or neonatal death) between dolutegravir-based regimens and the other contemporary regimens. "Globally, a dolutegravir-based regimen is currently recommended for treating HIV, and this is the first study to directly compare regimens including...

The White House on Friday defended the presence of U.S. Marines at President Biden’s speech in Philadelphia the previous evening, arguing their positioning during the prime-time speech was to demonstrate the president’s respect for service members. “The presence of the Marines at the speech was intended to demonstrate the deep and abiding respect the president has for these service members to these ideals and the unique role our independent military plays in defending our democracy no matter which party is in power,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Is there an amount of military aid for Ukraine the U.S. won’t approve? Within the past two weeks alone, the Biden administration has committed nearly $4 billion in security assistance by allocating $3 billion and $775 million in separate packages. The grand total of military aid delivered to Ukraine since President Biden took office in January 2021 is a whopping $13.5 billion, and that number is only set to increase. What is particularly pernicious about the weapons gravy train is the lack of a clear endgame in the conflict itself, an ugly feature of U.S. engagement in proxy wars. When...

President Joe Biden wants to spend $13.7 billion more in aid to Ukraine as his massive slush fund already approved by Congress earlier this year is running dry. Biden’s request to Congress is part of an overall $47.1 billion emergency spending package of more funds to fight the coronavirus and monkeypox, according to the Associated Press, citing anonymous sources.

The White House announced Friday that President Joe Biden has tapped John Podesta, a Democratic operative and campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, to serve as senior adviser to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. Podesta will be tasked with implementing the climate measures in Democrats' historic climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed in August. He will also "chair the President's National Climate Task Force in support of this effort," the White House said in a statement. "We are fortunate that John Podesta will lead our continued innovation and implementation," Biden said in a...

Description (UNSEALED) Notice by Investigative Team of Status of Review by United States of America (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A) (pcs) Modified to Unsealed PER DE# 62 on 9/2/2022 (cds). (Entered: 08/30/2022)

"Under the title "Holy Hydra", the Linz Youth Church "Grüner Anker" will once again open its sacred space for the two-day light and sound art festival for all age groups. It will take place on Thursday, 8 September (6.30 pm) and Friday, 9 September (7 pm). The aim is to make the space experienceable for people, regardless of their faith, as places of encounter and cultural exchange. Out of fascination for special places and a passion for techno, people will dance at the interface of club culture, religion and society. Sacred architecture is enchanted with spherical sounds and hard beats....

Video

Amid growing opposition toward the project, Gov. Doug Burgum, and North Dakota U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer — all Republicans — pressed the U.S. government in July to expedite a review to ensure it doesn’t pose a risk to national security. Feland has said the company, which is privately owned, voluntarily submitted a formal request for a review in July. The Grand Forks City Council in February gave initial approval to the Chinese agribusiness for its proposed corn-milling facility that officials said could be the largest private sector investment in the community’s history. Fufeng makes products for the...

Bill Barr appeared on Fox News today and what he had to say is already trending on Twitter. The whole interview doesn’t appear to be on YouTube yet but Justin Baragona from the Daily Beast has posted it in segments on Twitter. First up, Barr was asked about the pending decision to appoint a special master to review the seized documents. Barr did allow that any private communications between Trump and his attorney need to be sorted out but said he mostly saw it as a “red herring” since it appears the documents have already been reviewed by the DOJ....