WHAT’S THE GOLD STANDARD, AND WHY DOES THE US BENEFIT FROM A DOLLAR THAT ISN’T TIED TO THE VALUE OF A GLITTERY HUNK OF METAL?

Thu 11 January 2024: Note: This article Published on November 19, 2020. The phrase “the gold standard” means, in common parlance, the best available benchmark – as in double-blind randomized trials are the gold standard for determining the efficacy of a vaccine. Its meaning likely comes from my world of economics and refers to what was once […]

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RUSSIA EMBOLDENED BY THE WEST’S HESITATION ON AID, ZELENSKY WARNS

Thu 11 January 2024: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Western hesitation on aid is emboldening Russia – comments he made during a visit to Lithuania as he embarked on a previously unannounced tour of three Baltic states. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy told his Lithuanian counterpart that Ukraine must strengthen its air defences and replenish […]

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MORE THAN HALF OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CRIMES IN UK COMMITTED BY UNDER-18S, SAYS NEW DATA

Wed 10 January 2024: More than half of the reports of child sexual abuse in England and Wales in 2022 were made against people aged under 18, according to police figures. According to police, the increase in child-on-child abuse is due to children’s easy access to smartphones and violent pornography. According to data collected from […]

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US REGULATOR DENIES APPROVING BITCOIN ETFS, SAYS ACCOUNT ON X WAS HACKED

Wed 10 January 2024: The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Tuesday that it had not yet granted approval of spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), despite a post appearing on its official X account saying it had done so. “The @SECGov X account was compromised, and an unauthorized post was posted. The SEC has not […]

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ARRESTS MADE AFTER ILLEGAL TUNNEL FOUND UNDER NEW YORK SYNAGOGUE

Tue 09 January 2024: Police in New York have arrested at least ten Orthodox Jews after clashes broke out at a well-established synagogue in Brooklyn yesterday, after attempts by construction workers to fill an illegal tunnel with cement were disrupted by a group of young students. According to reports, the secret passageway was dug underneath […]

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ONE IN THREE UN COUNTRIES OPTING FOR DE-DOLLARIZATION

Tue 09 January 2024: A third of UN member states have already opted for de-dollarization and decided to rely on national currencies to conduct payments, Sputnik’s analysis found. The analysis, which looked into statements made by officials from 193 UN countries in international and Russian media, showed that representatives of at least 68 UN nations […]

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FAR-RIGHT DUTCH POLITICIAN WITHDRAWS ANTI-ISLAMIC BILL AMID COALITION TALKS

Tue 09 January 2024: Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, seeking to woo partners for a coalition government after the Nov. 22 elections in the Netherlands, has withdrawn an anti-Islamic bill, local media reported on Monday.  Wilders sent a letter to Martin Bosma, head of the lower house of the parliament, seeking to withdraw a 2018 […]

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POPE CALLS FOR GLOBAL BAN ON “DESPICABLE” PRACTICE OF SURROGACY

Mon 08 January 2024: Pope Francis called Monday for a global ban on surrogacy, calling the practice “deplorable.” “A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract. Consequently, I express my hope for an effort by the international community to prohibit this practice universally,” he told ambassadors accredited to the […]

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HEALTH INEQUALITIES ‘CAUSED 1 MILLION EARLY DEATHS IN ENGLAND IN LAST DECADE’

Mon 08 January 2024: More than 1 million people in England died prematurely in the decade after 2011 owing to a combination of poverty, austerity and COVID, according to “shocking” new research by one of the UK’s leading public health experts. The figures are revealed in a study by the Institute of Health Equity at University College […]

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