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Major recession looms over UK households, worst since records began
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended the government's actions to ease the cost-of-living crisis for Britons. (Reuters) The UK is heading for a "major recession for households" amid the spiralling cost-of-living crisis, a top economist has said. Jack Leslie, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, told Yahoo News UK that people will see a "substantial" fall in their real incomes amid soaring energy bills, rising inflation, and tax hikes. A country is in recession when it experiences two consecutive quarters of negative growth in gross domestic product (GDP). In practical terms, a "household recession" means a significant hit to living standards, risking pushing vast numbers of families into fuel stress, and some into absolute poverty.
https://www.sott.net/article/467030-Major-recession-looms-over-UK-households-worst-since-records-began
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Ukraine accuses mayor of treason for accepting Russian 'occupation' and humanitarian aid
Ukrainian authorities have cited the acceptance of humanitarian aid from Russia as one of the grounds to charge the mayor of a town in Kharkov Region with treason on Friday. Ivan Stolbovoy, the mayor of Balakleya, is accused of urging the city council to cooperate with Russian troops and announcing that they would be distributing food. The office of the prosecutor general of Ukraine charged Stolbovoy, alleging that he "chose to side with the enemy" when the Russian military took control of Balakleya on March 28. He agreed to continue as mayor under the "occupation regime" and accepted humanitarian aid from Russian troops, the prosecutors said.
https://www.sott.net/article/467031-Ukraine-accuses-mayor-of-treason-for-accepting-Russian-occupation-and-humanitarian-aid
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A social credit system aimed at modifying climate change behaviors is being deployed in Italy
Italy will become the first European nation to implement a social credit system - where citizens will be rewarded for their "good behavior". Starting in the fall of 2022, the city of Bologna will begin a new pilot project. Citizens who display good behavior such as correctly recycling or using public transportation will be rewarded. The Bologna municipality is deploying a "Smart Citizen Wallet" which will be the primary method for citizens to collect digital coins in exchange for behavioral changes. Based on the given scores, a person can also receive discounts for local shops. The primary argument for this program is to "save resources" and promote climate friendly behavior. As reported by Bologna Today, Massimo Bugani, the councilor for the digital agenda in the northern city, said that while no one will be forced to use this application, he expects a high user uptake. In its current state, the system will not be tied to others, such as online identification and social media...
https://www.sott.net/article/467032-A-social-credit-system-aimed-at-modifying-climate-change-behaviors-is-being-deployed-in-Italy
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An ocean in your brain: interacting brain waves key to how we process information
For years, the brain has been thought of as a biological computer that processes information through traditional circuits, whereby data zips straight from one cell to another. While that model is still accurate, a new study led by Salk Professor Thomas Albright and Staff Scientist Sergei Gepshtein shows that there's also a second, very different way that the brain parses information: through the interactions of waves of neural activity. The findings, published in Science Advances on April 22, 2022, help researchers better understand how the brain processes information. "We now have a new understanding of how the computational machinery of the brain is working," says Albright, the Conrad T. Prebys Chair in Vision Research and director of Salk's Vision Center Laboratory. "The model helps explain how the brain's underlying state can change, affecting people's attention, focus, or ability to process information." Researchers have long known that waves of electrical activity exist in...
https://www.sott.net/article/467033-An-ocean-in-your-brain-interacting-brain-waves-key-to-how-we-process-information
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Shanghai lockdown: Officials install door alarms to prevent escapes
Shanghai's government on Thursday began installing electronic door alarms on some residences to prevent people from leaving their homes while the city's entire populace remains under a state-mandated Chinese coronavirus lockdown, China's state-run Global Times reported on Friday. "Those who are required to quarantine at home will have sensors placed on their doors," Shanghai's government said on April 21. The stipulation was made in a municipal notice issued late Thursday night that went into immediate effect upon its release. The BBC on Friday also reported on Shanghai's newly escalated lockdown measures, noting they would "include placing electronic door alarms to prevent those infected from leaving." The door alarms are part of the Shanghai government's newly tightened rules for the urban center's ongoing lockdown, which began on April 5 and applies to all of the city's nearly 26 million residents.
https://www.sott.net/article/467034-Shanghai-lockdown-Officials-install-door-alarms-to-prevent-escapes
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Newly-released documents shed light on government-funded research into worm Holes, anti-gravity, and invisibility cloaks
Since its existence was revealed by the New York Times in 2017, the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, which was funded by the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, has been the subject of fervent curiosity from UFO disclosure advocates, government transparency activists, and journalists alike. The now formally defunct program was studying UFO-related phenomena, according to a landmark 2020 investigation by Popular Mechanics; the DIA's public explanations on just what that involved have ranged over the years from unsatisfying to obfuscatory. Namely, the agency has insisted in recent years that AATIP was not looking at UFO-related phenomena, which former employees working on the program say is simply not true. Now, a new tranche of documents released by the DIA to Motherboard based on a FOIA request filed four years ago shows, in detail, the exotic and occasionally downright weird research priorities of the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Application Program...
https://www.sott.net/article/467035-Newly-released-documents-shed-light-on-government-funded-research-into-worm-Holes-anti-gravity-and-invisibility-cloaks
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Lightning strike kills two farmers in Bangladesh
Two farmers were killed by lightning strike while working at a Haor in Dhitpur village in Dirai upazila on Friday afternoon. The deceased were identified as Rabindra Das, 55 and Tipu Das, 25 of the village. The two farmers died on the spot when a streak of thunderbolt struck them while they were covering their harvested paddy at Dabhanga Haor around 5:30pm, said Ekbar Hossain, chairman of Kulonja Union.
https://www.sott.net/article/467036-Lightning-strike-kills-two-farmers-in-Bangladesh
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This tiny island nation proves that the West only believes in its own 'spheres of influence'
Australia and the US believe the Solomon Islands must not be allowed to partner up with China, showing a selective respect for self-determination Russia is bad. There is no excuse for attacking Ukraine, and the argument that it was a strategic imperative to stop NATO's encroachment is just propaganda, right? That's what every source in the mainstream media will tell you. But oddly enough, that logic never seems to apply when western countries perceive rival states to be encroaching on their own peripheries, and there's been no bigger example of that than as to how American and Australian political classes have reacted to the now signed "Bilateral security agreement" between China and the Solomon Islands, a small archipelago which exists not far from Papua New Guinea. The deal was confirmed this week, despite Australia and the US having piled on scores of official visits in a bid to try and halt it. This has been combined with a media narrative of extreme paranoia claiming, without...
https://www.sott.net/article/467037-This-tiny-island-nation-proves-that-the-West-only-believes-in-its-own-spheres-of-influence
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Woman attacked, killed by her own dog in Newberry, South Carolina
A woman in South Carolina died after she was attacked by her own dog Thursday, according to the coroner's office. The Newberry County coroner said 45-year-old Erin Beach was killed in the attack. Police received a 911 call from the home Thursday afternoon. When deputies and EMS arrived on scene, the coroner's office said the dog was aggressive toward them as well, resulting in the death of the dog. Investigators said they do not yet know what prompted the dog to attack its owner.
https://www.sott.net/article/467038-Woman-attacked-killed-by-her-own-dog-in-Newberry-South-Carolina
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'This is not typical': Arizona wildfire fighters brace for threat 'on steroids'
Firefighters working to keep more homes from burning on the edge of a mountain town in northern Arizona were treated to scattered showers and cooler temperatures early on Friday, but the favorable weather was not expected to last as more ferocious winds were forecast to batter parts of Arizona and all of New Mexico through the weekend. The combination of high winds, warmer temperatures and extremely dry conditions will make for an atmosphere that's "pretty much on steroids", said Scott Overpeck, with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "This is not typical," he said, looking ahead to what could be explosive fire growth on Friday. "This is really one of those days we need to be on our toes and we need to be ready." The weather conditions will complicate the firefight on a half-dozen large wildfires burning in the American south-west.
https://www.sott.net/article/467039-This-is-not-typical-Arizona-wildfire-fighters-brace-for-threat-on-steroids
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BEST OF THE WEB: Philippines - 224 killed, 147 missing in floods after rain from Tropical Storm Megi (Agaton) - 10 inches of rainfall in 24 hours (UPDATES)
Heavy rainfall from a tropical depression has caused severe flooding, mudslides and landslides in the Philippines, displacing thousands of people and causing at least 20 fatalities. A Low Pressure Area brought heavy rainfall in areas of the country from 04 April. Flooding struck in Davao region after heavy rainfall from 06 April. Authorities said 1,040 families in 22 villages have ben affected. One person died in flooding in Cateel in Davao Oriental province. Two others were reported missing after floods in Monkayo in Davao de Oro province Since then the Low Pressure Area developed into Tropical Depression Megi (locally named Agaton) and made landfall in Calicoan Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar, on 10 April 2022. In 24 hours to 10 April, Maasin, province of Southern Leyte, recorded 254.0 mm of rain and Guiuan, province of Eastern Samar, 236.0 mm. The following day Masbate in the Province of Masbate, recorded 171.0 mm.
https://www.sott.net/article/466626-Philippines-224-killed-147-missing-in-floods-after-rain-from-Tropical-Storm-Megi-Agaton-10-inches-of-rainfall-in-24-hours-UPDATES
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Spinmeister: Germany's Scholz explains why it opposes Russia gas embargo
Crashing the German economy would also mean less money to rebuild Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz argued A ban on Russian gas will not stop the conflict in Ukraine but will cause an economic crisis in Germany and the EU, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published on Friday. Embargoing Russian gas would cost millions of jobs and crash the German economy, making it more difficult for Berlin to fund Ukraine's war effort and reconstruction, the chancellor argued. Comment: Well-played, Scholz. "Firstly, I don't see at all that a gas embargo would end the war," Scholz told the German weekly Der Spiegel, adding that if Russian President Vladimir Putin "were open to economic arguments, he would never have started this insane war."
https://www.sott.net/article/467040-Spinmeister-Germanys-Scholz-explains-why-it-opposes-Russia-gas-embargo
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Russia issues warning to Israel over providing military aid to Ukraine
Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov condemned the decision of the Israeli regime to send military equipment to Ukraine amid the special military operation launched by Russia on February 24. "We are carefully reviewing this information and will respond accordingly, if it is confirmed," Viktorov said. In a telephone conversation, Israeli media reported on Wednesday that Israel's Minister of Military Affairs, Benny Gantz, told his Ukrainian counterpart, Alki Ruznikov, of Israel's decision to send military equipment to Ukraine.
https://www.sott.net/article/467041-Russia-issues-warning-to-Israel-over-providing-military-aid-to-Ukraine
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Shocker: Florida prosecutor reduced violent crime through crackdown on repeat offenders
Progressive criminal justice reforms have coincided with rising violence in big US cities By targeting known violent criminals and seeking stiff penalties for the worst offenders, a Republican Florida prosecutor has reduced violent crime in her community as big cities with Democratic district attorneys around the country, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, are witnessing crime spikes. "In 2021, Jacksonville's murders were down 30% and overall shootings down 17% from the year prior, according to [Jacksonville Sheriff's Office] data for non-domestic shooting incidents," David Chapman, a spokesperson for the Fourth Circuit State Attorney's Office, told Fox News Digital. "Given last year's downturn, our numbers to date aren't far off the mark and thankfully have not spiked like other cities." The Fourth Circuit covers Clay, Nassau and Duval counties and the city of Jacksonville and is led by State Attorney Melissa Nelson, who made waves for finding new ways to prosecute known...
https://www.sott.net/article/467042-Shocker-Florida-prosecutor-reduced-violent-crime-through-crackdown-on-repeat-offenders
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Florida releases four examples from the 54 math textbooks rejected for containing banned CRT topics
The Florida Department of Education released four examples of banned material from the 54 math textbooks it rejected from its curriculum on Thursday, including one that shows a bar graph measuring racial prejudice. The state DOE had garnered criticism for tossing out 41 percent of the 132 math textbooks submitted for the next school year last week without listing the rejected books, more than half of which the agency said referenced Critical Race Theory (CRT) with the rest containing Common Core and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Of the lessons considered unacceptable in the state was the use of bar graphs that measures levels of racial prejudice based on age and political identity and asks students to solve equations based on the findings.
https://www.sott.net/article/467043-Florida-releases-four-examples-from-the-54-math-textbooks-rejected-for-containing-banned-CRT-topics
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26 Governors create 'border strike' force "In the absence of federal leadership"
Twenty-six governors, all Republican, announced the creation of a Border Strike Force to "disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations" on April 19. The group of governors signed a Memorandum of Understanding, pledging to work together to "serve as a force multiplier to target cartels and criminal networks financially and operationally." "Together, governors will improve public safety, protect victims from horrific crimes, reduce the amount of drugs in our communities, and alleviate the humanitarian crisis at the Southern Border," the agreement states.
https://www.sott.net/article/467044-26-Governors-create-border-strike-force-In-the-absence-of-federal-leadership
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New discovery sheds light on the peopling of the Pacific
Scientists think they may have found the smoking gun that explains why humans colonised the thousands of scattered islands of the South Pacific - and it lies in a sherd of pottery found hidden on a small island in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The peopling of the Pacific islands is one of humanity's most epic migration stories. In just three millennia, an ancestral cultural group called the Lapita spanned a third of the Earth's surface, reaching some of the most isolated landmasses on the planet. As they moved, these ancestral Pacific Islanders are thought to have brought with them Austronesian languages, new domestic animals species like pigs, dogs and chickens, and a distinctive kind of pottery. "For a long time it was thought Lapita groups avoided most of Papua New Guinea because people were already living there," says Ben Shaw, lead researcher of the new study published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution. But, as this new research shows, that wasn't always the case. Brooker Island...
https://www.sott.net/article/467045-New-discovery-sheds-light-on-the-peopling-of-the-Pacific
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Russia reveals crew losses from sunken warship 'Moskva'
During the struggle to save the ship, one soldier died and another 27 crew went missing, the Ministry of Defense has said As a result of a fire on April 13, the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva was seriously damaged due to a detonation of ammunition, Russia's Ministry of Defense outlined on Friday. One serviceman died and another 27 crew members went missing, and attempts by the crew to put out the fire were not successful, the statement added. Ukraine has claimed that the ship was struck by its missiles. "In the course of the struggle for the ship's survival, one serviceman was killed and another 27 crew members went missing. The remaining 396 crew members were evacuated from the cruiser to other ships of the Black Sea Fleet, in the area, and taken to Sevastopol [a major Russian port city]," the ministry explained.
https://www.sott.net/article/467046-Russia-reveals-crew-losses-from-sunken-warship-Moskva
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Bill Gates-funded biotech firm claims GMO mosquito project a 'success,' but critics cite lack of proof
Oxitec this week announced results of the first open-air study of genetically engineered mosquitoes in the U.S. The U.K.-based firm described the results as "positive," but said, "Larger tests are still needed to determine whether the insects can achieve the ultimate goal of suppressing a wild population of potentially virus-carrying mosquitoes." The company's self-reported results are not yet independently confirmed or peer-reviewed. Oxitec, the recipient of a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for "self-limited mosquito field trials," in April 2021 launched its pilot project in the Florida Keys.
https://www.sott.net/article/467047-Bill-Gates-funded-biotech-firm-claims-GMO-mosquito-project-a-success-but-critics-cite-lack-of-proof
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DeSantis signs 'Stop WOKE Act' into law to restrict race discussions in Florida
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed into law what he has branded the "Stop WOKE Act," which restricts how race is discussed in schools, colleges and workplaces, and sparked a nationwide debate over censorship, critical race theory and diversity training. The Legislature approved the measure in March along mostly party-line votes. The bill (HB 7) prohibits any teaching that could make students feel they bear personal responsibility for historic wrongs because of their race, color, sex or national origin. It also blocks businesses from using diversity practices or training that could make employees feel guilty for similar reasons. "We believe an important component of freedom in the state of Florida is the freedom from having oppressive ideologies imposed upon you without your consent," DeSantis said. "Whether it be in the classroom or in the workplace. And we decided to do something about it."
https://www.sott.net/article/467048-DeSantis-signs-Stop-WOKE-Act-into-law-to-restrict-race-discussions-in-Florida
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Russia to investigate alleged UK SAS activities in Ukraine
At least two British special ops groups have reportedly been deployed in the Lviv region Russia's Investigative Committee said on Saturday that it will look into media reports that sabotage experts from the British Army's special forces have been deployed in western Ukraine. "This data is going to be checked thoroughly," especially considering the fact that Special Air Service (SAS) forces have established themselves as "experts in organizing mass protests, assassinations of political figures as well as preparing terrorist attacks," the agency said in a statement. This comes after a security source told RIA Novosti earlier in the day that at least two groups of British servicemen had arrived at a Ukrainian Air Force base in the town of Brody in the Lviv region. They traveled all the way from "the city of Hereford in the UK, where SAS headquarters is located," the source said.
https://www.sott.net/article/467049-Russia-to-investigate-alleged-UK-SAS-activities-in-Ukraine