DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ A gold miner found a mysterious grapefruit-sized fur ball. It turned out to be a 'perfectly preserved' 30,000-year-old squirrel.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Chris Panella | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But X-ray scans have revealed this grapefruit-sized lump is actually a 30,000-year-old mummified ground squirrel from the Ice Age. A ground squirrel for the agesAn illustration of the mummified ground squirrel curled up in its burrow during hibernation. "I study bones all the time and they're exciting, they're really neat. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images"Some people get really, really excited when they find that giant woolly mammoth leg or, you know, the big tusks or the big skulls. But for me, the Arctic ground squirrel fossils, the nests, and now this mummified squirrel, are really the coolest things that we do have.

☆ Trump's 'hush money' grand jury may have already voted. But the DA can slow-walk filing an indictment, experts say.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It's possible the Trump 'hush-money' grand jury has already voted to indict, ex-prosecutors say. NBC reported Tuesday that the grand jury is not meeting for the rest of this week. The grand jury last met on Monday afternoon, hearing testimony from former Trump ally and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. And already, the office of District Attorney Alvin Bragg has had to deal with hoax bomb threats and an anthrax scare. The post was soon deleted and Trump attorney Joe Tacopina has said the image was posted by a staffer, not by Trump himself.

☆ Candida auris is just one infection fueled by rising temperatures. See how extreme climate helps spread disease, in 3 simple charts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Climate change may be driving the rapid spread of Candida auris, a deadly fungus, across the US. Three charts show how extreme weather and environmental changes help spread disease. Nicolas Armer/picture alliance via Getty ImagesA leading theory on this fungus's sudden emergence and wide spread is that it's fueled by climate change. Whatever survives, however, is adapted to extreme heat — including the fever our bodies produce to kill off pathogens. David Ryder/Getty ImagesHumans and their infrastructure are more vulnerable to the devastating impacts of disease when they're compromised by extreme weather.

☆ Factbox: Iraq War: quotes from the conflict and its aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

BAGHDAD, March 15 (Reuters) - Here are some notable quotes from before, during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein. - U.S. President George W. Bush referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea in his State of the Union Address. - Saddam Hussein in message to U.N. General Assembly. - Saddam Hussein on first day of invasion. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said the weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein," - Bush.

☆ Scientists revived a 'zombie' virus frozen for 48,500 years in ice. They learned it could still infect other cells.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Chris Panella | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Scientists revived a 48,500-year-old 'zombie' virus from permafrost and found it was still infectious. Some scientists are concerned that climate change thawing permafrost could reawaken ancient viruses. A carcass of an Ice Age cave bear found on Great Lyakhovsky Island, in northern Russia, unearthed by thawing permafrost. How 'zombie' viruses could infect hosts once they emergeThis isn't the first time Claverie has revived ancient viruses, or "zombie viruses" as he calls them. The current research on frozen viruses like Claverie's 'zombie' virus is helping scientists understand more about how these ancient viruses function and whether, or not, they could potentially infect animals or humans.

☆ How the market has changed in the 20+ years I’ve covered it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Eastman Kodak (KODK) was a Dow stock. I’ve written about B2B (aka business-to-business) software companies, cloud computing firms, IPOs and SPACs, and cannabis/pot stocks. There have been more flavors of the month in the stock market during my CNN career than at your local Baskin-Robbins. It’s fine to have a lot of your money in S&P 500 ETFs and other funds that will track the broader market. “We still continue to believe that over long periods of time, stocks provide a reasonable hedge against inflation,” Patterson said.

☆ Conditions for China to downgrade its management of COVID-19 maturing - state media
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Thomas PeterBEIJING, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Conditions for China to downgrade its management of COVID-19 as a serious contagious disease improving as the coronavirus weakens, state media outlet Yicai reported, among the first to float the idea. Category A diseases in China include bubonic plague and cholera, while SARS, AIDS and anthrax fall under Category B. Infectious diseases such as COVID-19 that have strong pathogenicity, a high fatality rate and strong infectivity are classified as Class A or Class B but managed as Class A. COVID-19 could be downgraded to Category B management or even Category C, the expert told Yicai. Any adjustment to the management of infectious diseases by the National Health Commission, China's top health authority, requires the approval of the State Council, or cabinet.

HONG KONG, Dec 5 (Reuters) - China may announce 10 new COVID-19 easing measures as early as Wednesday, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, supplementing 20 unveiled in November that set off a wave of COVID easing steps nationwide. Management of the disease may be downgraded as soon as January, to the less strict Category B from the current top-level Category A of infectious disease, the sources said on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity. China will allow home quarantine for some of those testing positive, among the supplementary measures set to be announced, two sources told Reuters last week. COVID-19 could be downgraded to Category B management or even Category C, the expert told Yicai. read moreWriting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Alison Williams and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The U.S. is 'certainly' still in a Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor, speaks during a briefing on COVID-19 at the White House on November 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the U.S. is "certainly" still in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic and he is "very troubled" by the divisive state of American politics. "I don't care if you're a far-right Republican or a far-left Democrat, everybody deserves to have the safety of good public health and that's not happening." The 81-year-old became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic, battling back against misinformation — sometimes from the highest levels of government. White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said Sunday he knows it has been a long two years for Americans, but that it is still "incredibly important" to get vaccinated ahead of the holiday season.

☆ Factbox: Threats and attacks on members of Congress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Oct 28 (Reuters) - The assault on U.S. businessman Paul Pelosi, the husband of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in their San Francisco home early on Friday morning comes amid a rising number of reported threats against members of Congress. According to data provided by the United States Capitol Police, a law enforcement agency charged with protecting members of Congress, cases related to "concerning statements and threats" jumped from 3,939 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021. Aug. 29, 2022 - A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to threatening to shoot and kill an unnamed member of Congress, federal prosecutors said. Four of the people who stormed the Capitol died on the day of the attack. June 14, 2017 - U.S. Republican Representative Steve Scalise, then-Majority Whip, was shot in the hip and taken to the hospital after a gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress at a baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, for their annual congressional charity game with Democratic members.

☆ Threats against judges skyrocketed during the Trump era, and experts are now fearing for the worst
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Federal judges involved in matters related to the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago have also faced threats. The number of logged threats to judges and other officials nearly doubled early in the Trump era. He's a hater," Trump said of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, a 2012 appointee to the federal trial court in San Diego. But, as the threats to the federal judges in South Florida showed, the trend is extending down through the lower courts. It declined to give a broader assessment for the increase in threats to judges and other Marshals Service protectees.

☆ Suspicious packages, white powdery substances, and a 'swatting': Inside the threats federal judges are facing across the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

The US Marshals Service has been responding to a remarkable rise in threats against federal judges. At least three times this year, the federal court in Washington, DC, received suspicious packages. Arriving just months apart, the packages sent to DC's federal courthouse served as reminders of threats judges are increasingly facing across the country. Lawmakers have blamed Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, for blocking legislation to help protect federal judges. Greg Nash/AP ImagesCongressional solutionsCongress has approved additional funding for bolstering the security of federal judges.

☆ Prison escapee accused of sending threatening letter containing powder to Jan. 6 committee chair
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

SCRANTON, Pa. — Federal prosecutors have accused a Pennsylvania prison escapee of sending a letter with threats to kill President Biden and the chairman of the Jan. 6 committee, among others, and containing a white powder with an allusion to anthrax. Robert Maverick Vargo, 25, of Berwick is charged with making threats against the president and a federal official and with interstate communications with a threat. Vargo made headlines over the summer when he ran away from a clean-up detail operated out of the Luzerne County jail’s minimal offenders unit on July 17. Court documents indicate that Vargo pleaded guilty to an escape charge Friday in Luzerne County and awaits sentencing Dec. 27. He was also awaiting trial on burglary, weapons and other counts in Columbia County; his attorney in that case declined comment.

Oct 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. grand jury has indicted a jailed Pennsylvania man for threatening to kill the chair of the congressional committee investigating the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Robert Vargo, 25, of Berwick, Pennsylvania, also threatened to kill the committee chair's family and President Joe Biden, prosecutors said. He was charged with threatening the president of the United States, threat by interstate communications, and influencing a federal official by threat, the U.S. Attorney's office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said in a statement. Prosecutors allege Vargo sent a threatening letter and white powder to the congressional office of U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the committee that is investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The letter, which referenced the congressional probe and anthrax, also threatened U.S. District Court Judge Robert Mariani, according to prosecutors.

☆ 3 charts show how extreme climate helped spread 218 infectious diseases, from leprosy to COVID-19
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-01 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A new study shows extreme weather, ocean changes, and land disruption have already helped spread more than 200 pathogens. That's an extreme case of climate change creating new contact between humans and infectious diseases, but the phenomenon is widespread. Extreme heat waves, for example, can kill off many infectious viruses, bacteria, fungi, and the creatures that spread them. Whatever survives, however, is adapted to extreme heat — including the fever our bodies produce to kill off pathogens. David Ryder/Getty ImagesHumans and their infrastructure are more vulnerable to the devastating impacts of disease when they're compromised by extreme weather.

☆ Ce presupune parteneriat și cooperare cu NATO și de ce neutralitatea Republici Moldovei nu ar trebuie să reprezinte un impediment
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-18 | by ( Onixmedia Srl | ) diez.md time to read: +24 min

Ce presupune parteneriat și cooperare cu NATO și de ce neutralitatea Republici Moldovei nu ar trebuie să reprezinte un impedimentCu siguranță ai auzit despre NATO, dar și despre colaborarea Republicii Moldova cu această organizație. Diferența dintre statele membri NATO și statele partenere NATOEste foarte important să cunoaștem diferențele dintre statelele membre NATO și statele partenere NATO. Acest lucru este posibil datorită unui Document Cadru semnat între statele partenere și NATO. „În condițiile globalizării și a caracterului transnațional al amenințărilor hibride, un stat mic nu poate individual să contracareze amenințările și riscurile în adresa securității. Neutralitate și cooperare în secolul XXI: Statele neutre și NATOIar acum ne întoarcem la neutralitate.

Persons: Pace, Elena, Moldova îşi, Solidaritatea, Elena ., Elena Mârzac, NATO Elena Mârzac Organizations: NATO, Atlanticului, Nord NATO, Alianței, Uniunea Europeană, Organizația Națiunilor Unite, Uniunea Africană, OSCE, Republica, Euro, Armatei Naționale, Ministerului, Moldovei, CSI, Anthrax, Moldova NATO, KFOR, Organizației Națiunilor Unite, ONU, Alianța Nord, UE Locations: Moldova, Republicii Moldova, Nord, Atlanticului, Washington, Atlantic, Statele, Europa, America de Nord, Republica Macedoniei de Nord, Unite, Suedia, Finlanda, Irlanda, Austria, Elveția, Germania, Elveției, Suediei, Republica Moldova, Kosovo, URSS, României, Statelor Unite, Germaniei, Ungariei, UE, România, Federației Ruse, Viena, Paris, Finlandei, finlandez, Rece, Alianța Nord - Atlantică, Irlandei, Irlandei de Nord, Transnistria, Moldovei, Chişinău

☆ Christopher Columbus brought a host of terrible new diseases to the New World
▼ + stars: | 2015-10-12 | by ( Julia Calderone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Wikimedia CommonsWhen Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean and touched down in North America in 1492, he changed the world forever. He bridged the "old" world in Europe, Africa, and Asia with the "new" world in the Americas. Along with their own set of diseases at the time, Columbus' arrival created a devastating concoction of maladies. "But it also launched a clash of infectious diseases." AdvertisementOf the estimated 250,000 natives in Hispaniola, Columbus' first stop in the Americas in 1492, new infectious diseases wiped out a staggering 236,000 Indigenous people by 1517 — nearly 95% of their population.

Persons: Christopher Columbus, Stephen Prescott, — Organizations: Wikimedia, Stephen Prescott , Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Malaria Locations: West Indies, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Americas, Columbus, Stephen Prescott , Oklahoma, Hispaniola, Lyme

Search resuls for: "Anthrax"

17 mentions found