You all probably know that the concept comes from Venice. But what I just learnt today, at the exhibition on Venice's 1600 year anniversary at the Palazzo Ducale, was that the traders objected to the restrictions and quarantine was lifted on two separate occasions.

Both times, capitalism won. And about a quarter of the population died.

Not to mention improving their arithmetical skills. Remember when primary school was devoted to exercises in converting sixpences to guineas?

Canadian PM Trudeau says detained citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have left China [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) September 25, 2021

Huawei boss Meng Wanzhou 'grateful' after US fraud charges dropped [_link]

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 25, 2021

Genome-Wide Analysis of Experimentally Evolved #CandidaAuris Reveals Multiple Novel Mechanisms of Multidrug Resistance [_link] pic.twitter.com/9sxwtPqVWb

— MSGERC (@MSG_ERC) April 6, 2021

Mucormycosis - the rare fungal infection maiming Covid patients in India | BBC News - May 2021 |

Drug-resistant fungal infections pose threat to India Covid patients [_link]

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 1, 2021

CDC reports two outbreaks of pan-resistant Candida auris

Uttering mangled "franglais" expressions that don't really make sense in either language, is part of Johnson's trademark evasive maneuver. This, and French bashing, which Johnson is using each time he needs to divert attention to the fact that there is no glorious trade deal with the US in sight, UKAUS notwithstanding.

It doesn't matter that the French don't care, let alone notice: the clownish antics are purely for domestic consumption.

Thereby proving the point of all of those who were calling these two men "hostages".

This will sure put Global Britain on the map (and boost British exports).

England doesn't think itself as "England", but as "Great Britain", as in "Kingdom of" and a legitimate claim of ownership to everything that lays under it.

Also, its unlikely that an independent Scotland, should it ever come to pass, would be interested in becoming a nuclear power, with a permanent seat at the UNSC.

Macron Initiatives as France Takes EU Presidency

After Merkel, France could try to edge out Germany as Europe's `superpower' | CNBC |

Macron is likely to attempt to become Europe's central figurehead once Merkel leaves, analysts say, and has been positioning himself to achieve that for a while.

...
One thing that might mollify Germany, Brzeski noted, was that it knows that Macron has his own presidential battles to come, with a French presidential election due next April.

"This will leave less time for strong European leadership initiatives, even though France will have the EU presidency next year," Brzeski said.

France will use its EU presidency in the first half of 2022 to promote its ideas on Europe. Fortunately for Macron, many of the key people in Brussels are sympathetic to France. Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission president, Charles Michel, the European Council president, and Josep Borrell, the High Representative for foreign policy, owe their jobs to Macron's support. They are at the very least open to French thinking. In Frankfurt the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, happens to be French.

Analysts say Macron would likely favor working with Scholz over Laschet, the candidate put forward by the ruling conservative CDU-CSU bloc as a successor to Merkel.

"Of the two leading Chancellor-candidates, sources in the Elysee suggest Macron would be comfortable with either man, but has a slight preference for Scholz, who has already, as federal finance minister, worked closely with Paris on the ground-breaking EU post-Covid recovery fund."

Economic clout

While Macron might find he's compatible with the next German chancellor when it comes to a common approach to EU policy, one area where France would find it hard to equal Germany is in terms of economic clout.

In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, almost a quarter of the EU's gross domestic product (24.7%) was generated by Germany, followed by France (17.4%) and Italy (12.8%), ahead of Spain (8.9%) and the Netherlands (5.8%), according to Eurostat.

Dutch PM Mark Rutte has a dented ego after a number of domestic political failures. He was not well liked by both Merkel and Macron and attempts to be the liberal voice for the "smaller" EU States. The Dutch are seen as the Anglo-American doormat into the EU. However, the Dutch are very dependent on Germany's economic power.

The UK led the EU's economic liberals in resisting France's penchant for protectionism and an active industrial policy. Now the Dutch sometimes try to lead the Nordic, Baltic and other pro-market countries, but with less authority than did the British.

Dutch-German relations under Merkel: achievements & threats

That's what Norway's sovereign fund has been put in place for: a giant egg nest for when the North Sea oil revenues dry up.

Trudeau Reveals Two Detained Canadians Have Been Released After Wanzhou Departure
oh

I thought this was going to be about airplane engines

Half measures. The monetary system should go back to pounds, shillings, and pence, as God and Charlemagne intended.

How does England justify her ownership of the subs? Seems to me that it would be something like "all government assets located on Scottish territory as of <date of secession vote> become the property of the Scottish government."

Does England also propose to repossess bridges, post offices, fishing boat inspectors' cars, etc.?

Can Norway hope to sustain a socialist system without the benefit of North Sea oil?

The R-22 refrigerant used in older cars and home A/C systems is recovered if the system is replaced. (If the contractor is honest.) My home A/C guy doesn't check the system pressures, which is a normal part of annual servicing, because the system is old and when you connect to it to do the test, some of the freon leaks out.

#BREAKING: Huawei's Meng Wanzhou has been freed after a B.C. court adjourned her U.S. extradition case. [_link]

— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) September 24, 2021

B.C. court drops extradition case after Meng Wanzhou enters deferred prosecution agreement in U.S. | CBC News |

Chinese scientists for the first time synthesize starch from carbon dioxide

receives new batch of 3 mln doses of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine

To date, Cambodia has received a total of 32.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from friendly countries and the World Health Organization (WHO)'s COVAX Facility, of which 29.8 million doses, or 91.4 percent, are from China, she said.

The Southeast Asian nation launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive in February. As of Sept. 23, the kingdom has administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 12.8 million people, or 80 percent of its 16-million population, the MoH said. Of them, 10.7 million, or 67 percent, have been fully vaccinated with both required shots, and 855,045 people, or 5.34 percent, have received a booster dose, it added.
[...]
Cambodia on Friday reported a daily record of 822 new COVID-19 cases, lifting the national total caseload to 107,441, the MoH said, adding that 21 more fatalities have been registered, taking the overall death toll to 2,197.

the East India Tea Company

All migrants are gone from Texas border camp

Mallorkas said about 2,000 Haitians have been rapidly expelled on 17 flights since Sunday and more could be expelled in coming days under pandemic powers that deny people the chance to seek asylum.

He said the U.S. has allowed about 12,400 to enter the country, at least temporarily, while they make claims before an immigration judge to stay in the country under the asylum laws or for some other legal reason. They could ultimately be denied and would be subject to removal.

Mayorkas said about 5,000 are in DHS custody and being processed to determine whether they will be expelled or allowed to press their claim for legal residency. Some returned to Mexico.
[...]
In Mexico, just over 100 migrants, most of them single men, remained Friday morning in the riverside camp in Ciudad Acuña.

wut "The Trump administration enacted the policy, called Title 42"

Is It Genocide? "Funeral Directer John O'Looney Blows the Whistle on Covid"
< wipes tears >
THE 'DELTA STRAIN' IS THE VACCINE

WHO approves Regeneron drug ["]cocktail["] for treatment

The WHO announced Friday it was recommending a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies manufactured by the US biotech firm Regeneron and marketed by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche to treat COVID-19 in certain patients. ... The cocktail, marketed as REGEN-COV in the US and Ronapreve elsewhere, was recommended only for certain patients, namely those who had a previous illness or are at risk of falling seriously ill from COVID-19 and facing time in intensive care.

like

US President Donald Trump when he had COVID-19.

for a weekend in October 2020

The WHO was joined by Doctors Without Borders in expressing concerns about the high cost of the treatment. ["]Global public health["] will depend on pharmaceutical manufacturers and governments working together to bring costs down, especially in the developing world, the UN health agency said, adding other agencies were involved in talks with Roche.

Doctors Without Borders said Regeneron has filed patent applications in at least 11 impoverished nations. Japan was first to authorize its use last July. The European Union, US, India, Switzerland and Canada have already approved the drug combination for emergency use.

archived Fri Aug 6th, 2021, Sat Oct 31st, 2020, Wed Oct 7th, 2020, Tue Aug 13th, 2019

Ex-French ambassador takes swipe at Blinken after submarine snub - The Hill

Former French Ambassador Gérard Araud took a swipe at U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Thursday after he said France was still a "vital partner" amid the fallout from a new western security alliance.  

Blinken's comment was an attempt to ease France's anger after the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom established a nsecurity partnership that excluded France, and scrapped a $40 billion security deal between Australia and France.

"We are deeply moved..." the former ambassador sarcastically wrote on Twitter after the Agence France-Presse, a French news agency, tweeted Blinken's statement.

We are deeply moved... https://t.co/Bp539WNSUu

— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) September 16, 2021

plea deal

It removes one of several major disputes between the US and China.

The details of the deal are expected to be presented to a federal court on Friday. If prosecutors drop fraud charges against Meng,she would be freed immediately.

It would Meng to leave Canada, where she has been detained since 2018, and return to China without facing US jail time, her lawyer said.

What are the charges against Meng?

Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada in 2018 on a US-issued warrant while en route to Mexico City in a move that angered Beijing.

Italy delays €15 million `dementia fund' while disease costs billions

Another aspect to consider, according to Vanacore, is the fragility of the diagnostic category of `mild cognitive impairment' (MCI), the condition of the patients on which aducanumab focuses.

The registration studies of the drug [Biogen Aduhelm (aducanumab)], in fact, involve 80% of patients diagnosed with MCI and 20% of patients with mild dementia.

MCI is a clinical condition characterised by a slight difficulty in one or more cognitive domains (for example, memory, attention or language): those affected face difficulties in delivering complex tasks that before they always performed without difficulty, such as managing their financial affairs. But day-to-day activities are not compromised.

Whatever it takes
"For this reason we have decided to eliminate for the last quarter of the year the system costs for gas for everyone, and for electricity for families and small companies."

Ireland's decision to export live pigs, sheepmeat to China sparks backlash

While a ​​number of technical steps remain before trade can commence, the minister said in an online statement that he expected that once the remaining steps were completed, exports will "grow gradually over time, as Chinese consumers become familiar with the quality and taste of our Irish sheepmeat offering."

China is a substantial importer of sheepmeat, accounting for 38% of the global sheepmeat import market. In 2020, China's sheepmeat imports amounted to 365,000 tonnes and were valued at €1.47 billion at current exchange rates.

Imports account for 8% of total sheep meat consumed in China and the supply gap is growing annually, with average prices for imported sheep meat in China more than doubling over the last decade.

Ireland draws a red line on country of origin principle in [Digital Services Act ] DSA
another "non-paper" signed by (tax sovereigns) Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Sweden

Taliban official: Strict punishment, executions will return

"Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments," Turabi told The Associated Press, speaking in Kabul. "No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran."
[...]
Executions of convicted murderers were usually by a single shot to the head, carried out by the victim's family, who had the option of accepting "blood money" and allowing the culprit to live. For convicted thieves, the punishment was amputation of a hand. For those convicted of highway robbery, a hand and a foot were amputated.

Trials and convictions were rarely public and the judiciary was weighted in favor of Islamic clerics, whose knowledge of the law was limited to religious injunctions.

Turabi said that this time, judges -- including women -- would adjudicate cases, but the foundation of Afghanistan's laws will be the Quran. He said the same punishments would be revived.
[...]
"We are changed from the past," he said.

He said now the Taliban would allow television, mobile phones, photos and video "because this is the necessity of the people, and we are serious about it." He suggested that the Taliban saw the media as a way to spread their message. "Now we know instead of reaching just hundreds, we can reach millions," he said. He added that if punishments are made public, then people may be allowed to video or take photos to spread the deterrent effect.

Oklahoma set to resume capital punishment with 7 execution dates scheduled