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The ruble, the national currency of Russia, has been depreciating the whole week. At midday on Friday, the dollar was trading at 83 rubles, the euro — 91 rubles. These are the lowest values that the ruble has hit since last spring when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was just beginning. At the time, the currency markets were in full-blown panic, the dollar soared to 130 rubles, while the exchange rate fluctuations reached 10% a day. There are now far fewer causes for worry. Following the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production, the Brent crude price rose to $85, a comfortable...

The number of immune cells in and around kidney tumors, the amount of dead cancer tissue, and mutations to a tumor suppressor gene called PBRM1 form a biomarker signature that can predict how well patients with kidney cancer will respond to immunotherapy, according to research. In reviews of kidney tumor biopsies, investigators found that patients who had three positive factors—presence of immune cells in and around tumors, known as tumor-infiltrating immune cells, absence of dead cancer tissue, called necrosis, and a mutation in the PBRM1 gene—had the best overall survival at five years compared with patients who did not have...

Russia lost elections to three United Nations bodies this week, a sign that opposition to its invasion of Ukraine over a year ago remains strong. The votes in the 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council follow approval of six non-binding resolutions against Russia by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. The latest — on Feb. 23, the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion — called for Moscow to end hostilities and withdraw its forces and was adopted by a vote of 141-7 with 32 abstentions. In the ECOSOC votes, Russia was overwhelmingly defeated by Romania for a seat on...

Ukraine is able to export electricity for the first time in six months as its energy infrastructure recovers from months of repeated Russian attacks. Russia began its lengthy and deliberate assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure last October. It led to power cuts and scheduled blackouts, leaving towns and cities in darkness during winter. Ukraine was forced to stop electricity exports - but will now be able to sell its excess power again. Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko signed an executive order authorising the exports, although local customers remain the priority. He said the system had been producing extra capacity for almost...

This Holy Week, Gaudix Cathedral in Granada, Spain, is hosting the exhibition of the first hyper-realistic recreation of the body of Christ based on data obtained from the Shroud of Turin.The exhibit first opened at Salamanca Cathedral in central Spain and will remain in Granada until June 30, after which it will tour Europe for the remainder of 2023.The sculpture, made of latex and silicone, weighs about 165 pounds.The posture is of the deceased Christ in rigor mortis. The legs are somewhat bent, hands crossed at the level of the pubis. There is no false modesty in the figure. The...

Ten years ago Angel Cabrera was battling for his second Masters title in a sudden death playoff. This year, he has swapped the Green Jacket for prison scrubs. **SNIP** However, his last win came at the 2014 Greenbrier Classic and his performances steadily declined. But his fall from grace really took a plummet in 2021, when his former girlfriend Cecilia Torres Mana made accusations of assault, intimidation and causing injuries against Cabrera. Cabrera denied the accusations but two women, his former wife, Silva Rivadero, and former partner Micaela Escudero, also filed charges, according to reports. 'I couldn't go to the...

Switzerland stops the Covid vaccinations: all vaccination recommendations have been withdrawn, doctors can only administer the controversial vaccines in individual cases under certain conditions - but then bear the risk of liability for vaccination damage. When will countries like Germany and Austria follow this example?

CINCINNATI, Tuesday, April 7. A special dispatch from Helena, dated the 3d inst., says that advices from Gen. QUIMBY's Expedition to the 30th ult., state that no progress had been made in the reduction of Fort Pemberton, at Greenwood. Our forces were still in front of the enemy, and there had been considerable skirmishing between the pickets on shore. The rebels were improving the time by greatly increasing the strength of their works. They have received and mounted more heavy guns, and are well supplied with ammunition. The country along the Tallahatchie is occupied by two regiments of Confederate cavalry,...

Alexander Soros — ...who likes to boast about his relationships with world leaders on social media — scored at least a dozen meetings with White House officials in 2022, according to recently updated White House visitor logs. Soros, 37, also participated in two other confabs there in late 2021... His latest trips include visiting Dec. 1 with then-White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain’s advisor Nina Srivastava... Later...the younger Soros was one of 330 people who attended a lavish state dinner on the White House South Lawn hosted by the president and First Lady Jill Biden honoring French President Emmanuel...

Wyoming state Democrat lawmaker Rep. Karlee Provenza @Provenza4Wyomin posted a video on TikTok where a voiceover calls for politically-motivated murders. She also posted a graphic from an Antifa group on her Instagram suggesting Antifa supporters carry out gun violence against…

More than two dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Thursday urging him to address racial inequality in traffic enforcement.

According to federal court documents filed by the U.S. Virgin Islands and shared by Inner City Press, Jeffrey Epstein’s estate has discovered a cache of photos and videos. The images could be used in an ongoing lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank for allegedly enabling Jeffrey Epstein by providing him with the funds to support his illegal lifestyle. New York Federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote in a recent ruling regarding the photos and videos, “If during the course of that review, the Estate sees a particular recording that appears to contain possible CSAM [Child Sexual Abuse Material],...

Many national groups on the right were caught snoozing until near the end. At that point, it was almost impossible to counter the months of attack ads.In addition, Justice Kelly was insistent on running a traditional campaign on his merits as a jurist.

In his annual letter to shareholders, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon suggested that the U.S. government and climate conscious corporations may have to seize citizen’s private property to enact climate initiatives while there still time to stave off climate disasters.

The Air Force is reportedly loosening its body composition requirements and allowing recruits to have higher percentages of body fat. "The Air Force is looking to open the aperture on qualifying a broader pool of young Americans for service in the Air Force. These changes bring the Air Force in line with DOD policy," Air Force Recruiting Service spokeswoman Leslie Brown said in a statement. "While recruits will be allowed to join with greater body fat percentages, they will still be expected to meet the same fitness standards as everyone else to stay in the service," she added. "That means...

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No country in the world had more of tanks than Russia. But after a year of all-out war in Ukraine, analysts believe Putin may have lost up to two thirds of his tanks in the largest obliteration of Russian armour since World War Two. This is the story of how the world’s largest tank army was decimated on the killing fields of Ukraine, and what it means for the future of the war. Video @ the link.

San Francisco Police Officers Association's vice president, Lt. Tracy McCray, has said the neighborhood where Cash App founder Bob Lee was murdered has already witnessed at least 12 homicides this year alone. The city's Southern and Tenderloin Districts which have experienced rising crime rates this year have seen four stabbing incidents in the last week alone, including Lee's. McCray says the police force is understaffed and the entire neighborhood is now at a tipping point. 'We are short staffed so just our presence in patrolling is severely lacking right now. To see a certain uptick in crime is to be...

“The Supreme Power cannot take from any Man any part of his Property without his own consent. For the preservation of Property being the end of Government, and that for which Men enter into Society, it necessarily supposes and requires, that the People should have Property, without which they must be supposed to lose that by entering into Society, which was the end for which they entered into it, too gross an absurdity for any Man to own. Men therefore in Society having Property, they have such a right to the goods, which by the Law of the Community are...

I recently turned 65 and became eligible for Medicare. Like other medical insurance, Medicare requires providers who accept reimbursement to agree to a set rate for the services they provide. Since Medicare is one of the largest healthcare payers in the country, it uses its size to negotiate very low reimbursement rates, sometimes even lower than the cost to provide services. Capping reimbursements for services is one of the reasons people have health insurance; the leverage of a big insurance provider helps to keep costs low. If Medicare paid whatever the provider billed, the system would soon go bankrupt. And...