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The recently authorized booster vaccine protects against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the more recent omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5. But there's a new batch of so-called "Scrabble" variants circulating globally. But experts still expect the shots to ramp up your immunity against all Covid variants, to some degree. The Scrabble variants are descendants of omicronThe new variants are descendants of omicron, which is a promising initial sign for the boosters. That can "restore a level of immunity and patch up the holes that some of these new Scrabble variants have found," she explains.

Fueled by a post-lockdown buying frenzy, the average UK house price hit a record £275,000 ($315,474) in December, a £27,000 increase on the previous year’s high. UK mortgage rates have been ticking upwards since spring, in line with rising interest rates. UK house prices fell 0.9% between September and October, the first decline in 15 months, according to data from Nationwide. A drop in buying power makes a significant drop in house prices inevitable, according to Andrew Wishart, a senior economist at Capital Economics. When house prices fall, homeowners feel less confident about their personal finances, causing them to cut back on spending and hold off on making additional investments.

☆ ‘Scrabble variants’ now cause the majority of new Covid-19 infections in the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Omicron BA.5 subvariant is no longer the dominant cause of Covid-19 infections in the United States, according to estimates released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The gaggle of new variants have been gaining ground against BA.5, which has dominated Covid-19 infections in the United States since July. Together, they now account for more than 1 in 4 new Covid-19 infections nationwide, according to CDC data. BQ.1.1 is now causing about 1 in 5 new Covid-19 infections in the Northeast, where cases and hospitalizations are rising. But that strain is causing just 3% of new Covid-19 infections in the Pacific Northwest.

☆ Dr. Jha: A 'tripledemic' could hit the U.S., but 'we're not powerless against it'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A "tripledemic" also involving flu and RSV may soon unfold, says Dr. Ashish Jha. But there's good news: "We're not powerless against it," Jha, the White House's Covid response coordinator, said in a Tuesday interview with CBS News. Jha pointed to the widely available vaccines targeting two of the three respiratory viruses: the flu shot and the new omicron-specific Covid booster. "If people went out and got their vaccines, we could really get through this without getting into a lot of trouble," Jha said. Getting those shots is the key to combatting all three viruses because it'll help keep hospital beds open for potential patients across the country, Jha added.

☆ How concerned should you be about Covid-19 ‘Scrabble' variants? Here's what we know so far
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Though BA.5 still accounts for most U.S. Covid-19 cases, percentages are rising for the other omicron variants circulating throughout the country, per the CDC. "The ones that are particularly concerning are BQ.1 and another related one called BQ.1.1. Internationally, another concerning variant, XBB, which first emerged in Singapore and hasn't been detected in the U.S., is being closely watched worldwide as it spreads quickly in other countries. The new variants were coined the "Scrabble" variants by Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, during an interview with the Houston Chronicle. The nickname refers to the letters that are used to define the variants like B, X and Q, which would rack up many points in a game of Scrabble.

☆ Quick and stealthy new Covid-19 variants are poised to drive a winter surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —A flurry of new Covid-19 variants appears to be gaining traction globally, raising fears of a winter surge. As the US moves into the fall, Covid-19 cases are dropping. But virus experts fear that the downward trend may soon reverse itself, thanks to this gaggle of new variants. Lumped together, the variants accounted for almost 1 in 3 new Covid-19 infections nationwide last week, according to the latest estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The updated bivalent booster vaccines and antiviral drugs like Paxlovid are expected to continue to be protective against severe outcomes from Covid-19 infections caused by the new variants.

☆ Meet the Nigerian board game creator trying to change an industry
▼ + stars: | 2021-09-22 | by ( Aisha Salaudeen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Created in 2017, "Homia" is a memory and recognition game card game where players race to build their Nigerian home to win. "Wan wan touch" is a football-based board game. But in Nigeria, there is hardly any data about the tabletop game industry. There is also no access to tabletop games cafes and other value chains surrounding these games," he explains. People can come there to play," he says, with 60 Nigerian-made board games and another 300 non-Nigerian games.

☆ Denmark's most popular eToro trader breaks down how his time as an elite chess player helped shape the strategy that made him 400% returns on bitcoin this year and led 20,000 people to copy his portfo
▼ + stars: | 2021-07-29 | by ( Tom Turula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

His portfolio generated 44% in returns in 2020.Insider asked Jain Kongsted how he invests and why he thinks his portfolio is so popular. His background as an elite chess player gives him a leg up in investing"The best chess players know thousands of patterns on a chess board," Jain Kongsted said. Elite chess also taught Jain Kongsted to "keep his head cool" when trades go bad. Besides chess, Jain Kongsted is also champion of Scrabble. And he spent thousands of hours studying stock charts, "until they took on a life of their own."

Persons: Jain Kongsted, eToro, Jain, Jain Kongsed, they've, —, Elon Musk, Jain Kongsted didn't, Tesla, It's, That's Organizations: Business, Visa, Gamestop Locations: Denmark, Europe, Danish, bitcoin, cryptocurrencies

☆ 'OK' was just added to the Scrabble dictionary, and experts are saying it could change how Scrabble is played
▼ + stars: | 2018-09-24 | by ( Mark Abadi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The two-letter word is one of 300 new additions to the latest version of the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, which Merriam-Webster released on Monday. But of all those words, it's the inclusion of "OK" that has some Scrabble players divided. Not all Scrabble players are OK with OK, however, especially at the game's highest levels. Regardless of its merits as a word, there's no question OK will change the way Scrabble is played from a strategic standpoint. After all, any expert player will tell you that two-letter words are the most important words in the entire game.

Persons: —, Webster, it's, Merriam, Emily Brewster, Jackson Smylie, Judy Cole, Ben Schoenbrun Organizations: Service, Merriam, Business Locations: North America

☆ Shelley Duvall, An Unlikely Star
▼ + stars: | 1977-03-23 | by ( Judy Klemesrud | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“One of the stories is that two girls from Texas [Miss Duvall and Miss Spacek] meet in Palm Springs and undergo a metamorphosis. She's a product of everything she watches and she reads, such as her favorite magazines—McCall's, Redbook and Apartment Life. It's really sort of a mundane existence until Pinky [Miss Spaeel() comes along and answers her ad for a roommate.”And the other levels? “I put so much of myself into Millie, especially the parts I don't care to see, all the vanities and the mundane things, such as Millie's fondness for tuna‐melt sandwiches, and Scrabble, and the color yellow. She lives in a fantasy, writing in her diary things that don't really happen to her, and totally ignoring the truth—that she really isn't popular.”

Persons: ” Miss Duvall, Paul Simon, ”, Miss Duvall, Miss Spacek, —, Pinky, Miss Spaeel, Sissy, Janice, I'm, Bob ’, “ Organizations: Cafe Des Artistes, Park Locations: “, Texas, Palm Springs

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