The Omicron tsunami: Analysis of data from blood testing suggests over 17 million Canadians were infected with Omicron in only 5 monthsCOVID-19 Immunity Task Force

Wed, July 6, 2022 

COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

Figure 1.

Anti-nucleocapsid seroprevalence (infection-acquired seropositivity) for all Canadian provinces for all age groups, combined

Figure 2.

Anti-nucleocapsid seroprevalence (infection-acquired seropositivity) estimates by province

Figure 3.

Anti-nucleocapsid seroprevalence (infection-acquired seropositivity) estimates by median age

MONTREAL, July 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An analysis of data from 21 studies, funded by the Government of Canada through its COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) and that relied on blood testing, provides a clearer picture of the massive scale of the Omicron wave in Canada. Before the arrival of the Omicron variant, approximately 7% of Canadians had infection-acquired antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Between December 2021 and May 2022, the proportion rose by 45% of Canadians having antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 infection (see Figure 1 below). A fuller account of the analysis can be found online here.

“Omicron has been a tsunami,” states CITF Executive Director Dr. Tim Evans. “Across the country, our analysis of the data suggests that 17 million Canadians had an Omicron infection in the period December to May, for an average of more than 100,000 infections per day. New sublineages in the Omicron line have been continuing to spread since then, and the percentage of Canadians who have had a SARS-CoV-2 infection is now likely well above 50%.”

All provinces affected

The number of people with signs of a previous infection in their blood (infection-acquired seroprevalence) has increased steeply during the Omicron wave in every province (Figure 2). By the end of May, the proportion of people with evidence of previous infection was 50-60% in the Western and Central provinces. Although Atlantic Canada retained the lowest seropositivity due to infection, it had the largest relative increase in seroprevalence and reached over 35%.

Omicron affected all ages — but the younger and less vaccinated populations most!

Analysis of blood donations made to Canadian Blood Services (which provides the CITF an update every two weeks) showed that the highest levels of seropositivity due to infection were in young adults, with about 65% having antibodies by the last week of May. Rates of seropositivity due to infection decreased with increasing age: 25-39 (57%), 40-59 (51%), and 60+ (31%) (Figure 3).

“Through sheer numbers of infections, the Omicron variant exacted a substantial toll in services and lives disrupted, as well as hospitalizations and deaths. It clearly did not spare healthy young Canadians,” says CITF Co-Chair Dr. Catherine Hankins. “As well, we’re still learning about who gets a post COVID-19 condition or long COVID, why, and the repercussions. This summer may be free of public health restrictions, but Omicron is still spreading so masking and distancing are smart in risky settings. To minimize further disruptions to our lives, Canada has to track the situation closely as it evolves. We all need to respond in a timely way as this virus does not have a seasonal pattern, like the other respiratory viruses we expect when everyone heads back to work or school in the autumn.”

“Millions of Canadians now have hybrid immunity from a combination of COVID-19 vaccines and an infection. Unfortunately, emerging evidence suggests that most of these individuals remain at risk of re-infection with viruses in the Omicron lineage,” explains CITF Co-Chair Dr. David Naylor. He adds “Newer vaccines may improve coverage against infection. However, we still have millions of adults who haven’t had a third shot and should get one to consolidate their protection against serious disease. More generally, all Canadians should stay alert for the latest public health guidance on COVID-19 vaccines and make sure their coverage is up to date for the fall season.”

About the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

The Government of Canada established the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) in late April 2020 to catalyze, support, and harmonize research on SARS-CoV-2 immunity for federal, provincial, and territorial decision-makers in their efforts to protect Canadians and minimize the impact of the COVID-19. The Task Force and its Secretariat work closely with a range of partners, including governments, public health agencies, institutions, health organizations, research teams, and other task forces, engaging communities and stakeholders. To date, the CITF has supported over 100 studies across Canada that are generating insights on the levels, trends, nature, and duration of immunity arising from SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination. The CITF is overseen by an Executive Committee of volunteers that includes leading scientists and policymakers from across Canada.

Media contact

Rebecca Burns
media@covid19immunitytaskforce.ca
Cell: +1.438.871.8763

Figure 1. Anti-nucleocapsid seroprevalence (infection-acquired seropositivity) for all Canadian provinces for all age groups, combined

COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

Figure 2. Anti-nucleocapsid seroprevalence (infection-acquired seropositivity) estimates by province

COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

Figure 3. Anti-nucleocapsid seroprevalence (infection-acquired seropositivity) estimates by median age

COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Graphics accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/05d26673-aef7-4abe-b9bc-ee0f2323c3a0

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f6133b43-7c1b-4c20-8981-4ddeb45f9b62

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/59b4bf01-6c9f-4df9-bad6-32e2088d3dae

The Many Faces Of Omicron

William A. Haseltine
Jul 6, 2022,

FORBES

This is part of a continuing series describing antiviral antibodies to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infections. In this series, we will discuss the fundamental nature of virus evolution, how SARS-CoV-2 has mutated to evade neutralizing antibodies, and our latest attempts to fight against these mutations with more recent and improved antibody candidates.

The latest versions of Omicron leading the charge of recent new cases are BA.4, BA.5, and BA.2.75. Since its discovery in late 2021, dozens of variants of the original Omicron strain have caused hundreds of millions of infections. Every strain carries a slightly different genetic sequence due to mutations developed over time. These mutations are sometimes inconsequential but often impact major viral characteristics including infectivity and immune evasion.

Omicron BA.1 contains 30 mutations in the Spike protein alone. Later versions of Omicron expand on this vast array. These mutations were a significant factor in Omicron’s rapid rise this past winter, infecting roughly one million people in the United States daily at its peak. These mutations increase the transmission of the virus in the population, whether vaccinated or not, by more than tenfold as compared to the original Wuhan strain.

FIGURE 1: Cryo-EM structure of the Omicron BA.1 spike protein. (A) A schematic diagram illustrating ... [+]

 MANNAR ET AL.

It is worth noting that Omicron has a number of mutations outside the Spike protein as well. These impact viral characteristics including replication efficiency, pathogenesis, and virulence. There are 19 mutations in proteins other than the Spike throughout the genome, including Orf1a, Orf1b, E, M, Orf8, and N.

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FIGURE 2: BA.1 Non-Spike mutations.

 ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL

On top of its infectivity is Omicron’s immune evasion of natural immunity, vaccine-induced immunity, and monoclonal antibody immunity, notably for this discussion. Monoclonal antibodies target specific structures, often in the Spike protein. For the first year of the pandemic, scientists made antibodies for the original Wuhan version of SARS-CoV-2. However, with every Spike mutation, the structure of Spike slightly changes.

Think of a key in a lock. They made a key for the lock, but the lock changed shape in the meantime. Then the scientists created a new key for the new lock, but the lock was constantly shifting, and the cat-and-mouse game continued.

An early study on the neutralization of Omicron BA.1 by various approved and in-progress monoclonal antibodies found that 26 of 29 lost some or all neutralizing potency against the new strain. Later Omicron subvariants likely have increased immune escape and may reduce the potency of these antibodies even further.

Neutralizing efficiency only seems to be growing worse as Omicron evolves into more mutated strains such as the latest BA.4 and BA.5. These later variants are more heavily mutated in the receptor-binding domain than BA.1, meaning antibodies that target the receptor-binding domain will have a tougher time binding and neutralizing the new variants.

FIGURE 3: Omicron BA.1, BA.4, BA.5, and BA.2.75 Spike proteins compared.

 ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL

The continued mutation of Omicron is also leading to lower vaccine potency against later strains. For instance, three doses of Pfizer vaccination is almost 3x less effective against BA.4 or BA.5 than it is against BA.1, BA.2, or BA.3.

FIGURE 4: IC50 values for the indicated viruses using serum obtained from vaccinees 4 weeks after ... [+]

 TUEKPRAKHON ET AL.

All is not lost. Among those that can neutralize Omicron was 35B5, a potent, broadly-neutralizing monoclonal antibody effective against all known variants. Rather than making a new key for the lock, 35B5 essentially blows the lock off the door. This antibody targets specific amino acids in the N-terminal domain of the Spike that are regularly unmutated. This indicates that the unmutated structure at those positions is critical for virus function, such as N165 and N234, which act together as a molecular switch for the Spike’s changing up and down conformations.

By targeting unmutated positions in not only Omicron but all variants, 35B5 breaks the lock off the door, future-proofing against more heavily mutated variants that may come our way in the coming months or years. In our opinion, all monoclonal antibodies should pursue the broad-neutralization strategy. Three more recently unveiled antibodies have shown promise in early in vitro testing.

The first two, Cv2.1169 and Cv2.3194, were isolated by researchers at the Pasteur Institute in recent months. Both antibodies are notable because they cross neutralize both BA.1 and BA.2, indicating a wide net of neutralization. Cv2.1169, specifically, demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in animal models as well.

The third, SP1-77, was recently detailed by a team of researchers at the Harvard Medical School and Duke University Medical School. This antibody also cross-neutralizes BA.1 and BA.2, as well as all other variants of concern. The unique antibody was generated via humanized mouse model and blocks membrane fusion rather than RBD-binding. The more weapons in our arsenal, the better.

We will also describe the latest in the Omicron family: BA.2.75. You may find descriptions for other notable Omicron family members, such as BA.4, BA.5, and BA.2.12.1 in previous articles.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. 

William A. Haseltine

I am a scientist, businessman, author, and philanthropist. For nearly two decades, I was a professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health where I founded two academic research departments, the Division of Biochemical Pharmacology and the Division of Human Retrovirology. I am perhaps most well known for my work on cancer, HIV/AIDS, genomics and, today, on COVID-19. My autobiography, My Lifelong Fight Against Disease, publishes this October. I am chair and president of ACCESS Health International, a nonprofit organization I founded that fosters innovative solutions to the greatest health challenges of our day. Each of my articles at Forbes.com will focus on a specific healthcare challenge and offer best practices and innovative solutions to overcome those challenges for the benefit of all.

WHO tells Pfizer to make oral COVID-19 antiviral available worldwide

Confirmed coronavirus cases jumped nearly 30 per cent in the past two weeks, with increased infections in four out of six regions of the world.


NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA • JULY 7, 2022

Antiviral Covid-19 pill used to illustrate the story [Credit: Fabian Sommer / picture-alliance/dpa/ AP file]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on drug manufacturer Pfizer to do more to ensure that its new COVID-19 oral antiviral medication is available quickly to provide effective treatment to countries that may struggle to afford it.

WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus made the appeal as confirmed coronavirus cases jumped nearly 30 per cent in the past two weeks, with increased infections in four out of six regions of the world.

“Our organisations are still trying to finalise with Pfizer the appropriate terms and conditions for low and middle-income countries”, he told journalists, at his regular weekly briefing in Geneva on Wednesday. “This is delaying access and some countries may choose to wait for a generic version of the antiviral, probably available only early 2023 and this will cost lives.”

Mr Ghebreyesus added, “I call on Pfizer to work closely with health agencies and countries to ensure its new oral antiviral is available quickly and effectively.”

The UN health agency has been working with the Global Fund and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to help countries source antivirals when they become available. These include allocations of Molnupiravir, which 20 countries have secured, and Nirmatrelvir-Ritonavir, or Paxlovid, which 43 countries have expressed an interest in obtaining.

Overall, he said in Europe and America, the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants were “driving waves” of new infections, while in some countries, including India, “a new sub lineage of BA2.75 has also been detected, which we are following.”

Four of six of the WHO subregions saw cases rise last week, and increasing the challenge beyond access to new treatments, is a fall in testing across many nations, and the simple fact that vaccine protection “does wane.”

According to him, each wave of the virus, even if hospitalisations and deaths are down, leaves more people with long-COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 conditions, putting an extra burden on patients and loved ones.

It is essential to accelerate research and development into the “next generation of vaccines, tests and treatments,” he said, and WHO is working with scientists around the world to make it happen.

Mr Ghebreyesus said there had been more than 6,000 cases recorded in 58 countries, noting that it was “highly probable” that a significant number of cases were not being picked up because of limited testing.

Europe is the current epicentre of the outbreak, with more than 80 per cent of cases globally.

In Africa, cases are appearing in countries not previously affected, and record numbers have been confirmed in places which have seen monkeypox previously.

The WHO chief added that the agency was working with countries and vaccine manufacturers to coordinate the sharing of vaccine shots, which are currently scarce and need to be accessible to the most at-risk people.

(NAN)

Florida once again has giant calamitous snails that spew parasitic brain worms

This is the third time the state has tried to eliminate the giant snails.

BETH MOLE - 7/6/2022,

Enlarge / Mary Yong Cong, a Florida Department of Agriculture scientist, holds a giant African snail in her Miami lab on July 17, 2015.

Officials in Florida are again battling a highly invasive, extraordinarily destructive giant snail species that also happens to be capable of spreading parasitic worms that invade human brains.

The giant African land snail (GALS)—aka Lissachatina fulica—can grow up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) long and is considered "one of the most invasive pests on the planet," according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It ravenously feasts on over 500 plant species—including many valuable fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals—while prolifically spawning, pushing out several thousand eggs in its multiyear life span.

In late June, Florida state officials confirmed the presence of GALS on a property in Pasco County, on the west-central coast of the state, just north of Tampa. They have since set up a quarantine zone around the property and began snail-killing pesticide treatments last week.

While the snails are a grave threat to agriculture and natural vegetation in the state, the invasive mollusks also pose a health risk. They're known to transmit rat lungworm parasites, which can invade the human central nervous system and cause a type of meningitis. For this reason, officials warn people not to handle the mammoth snails without gloves.
Brain invasion

You may recall that rat lungworm made headlines a few years ago when Hawaii's health department tallied more than a dozen cases in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also published data on several unconnected cases from eight continental states between 2011 and 2017, suggesting a widespread presence.

FURTHER READING Hawaii warns tourists of parasitic worm that can burrow into human brains

The rat lungworm—aka Angiostrongylus cantonensis—gets its name by primarily infecting the lungs of rats and other rodents. In the lungs, adult worms mate and females lay eggs, which develop into larvae. The rats then cough up those young parasites and end up swallowing them, then pooping them out.

From those laden logs, the larvae infect snails and slugs (intermediate hosts), via burrowing into their soft bodies or in the event that the mollusks feast on infected feces. In the last steps of this gut-turning life cycle, rats nosh on the infected snails and slugs, delivering late-stage larvae that migrate from the rodent's stomachs to their brains, where the worms develop into young adults. Those mature worms then migrate back to the rats' lungs for breezy breeding time.Advertisement

Humans are accidental hosts in this cycle. People pick up an infection by eating undercooked snails or slugs; eating fruits and vegetables contaminated by infected snails or slugs; or eating undercooked animals that may have eaten snails and slugs, such as frogs or crabs. Just like in rats, when the worms are ingested by humans, they make their way to the central nervous system.
Third eradication effort

But, in humans, they don't generally make it out. They die in the CNS somewhere. Sometimes, this results in a symptomless infection—the worms die quietly and no treatment is needed. In other cases, the worms wriggle through the brain, wreaking havoc before kicking the bucket and causing a wide range of symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, neck stiffness, eye problems, abnormal sensations in the arms and legs, and headaches that are often global and severe, according to the CDC. Severe cases can lead to nerve damage, paralysis, coma, and death.

For all of the above reasons, officials in Florida are eager to stamp out these slimy scourges. But, it's sadly not the first time Florida has battled the mollusks. Giant African land snails were declared eradicated from the state in 1975 and again in 2021. They were initially thought to be introduced to Flordia in the 1960s when a child brought three back from Hawaii as pets, which were eventually released into the wilds. It's unclear how they were brought back more recently, but some believe they may have hitched rides on cargo or were brought into the state by religious groups for use in healing rituals.

BETH MOLE is Ars Technica’s health reporter. She’s interested in biomedical research, infectious disease, health policy and law, and has a Ph.D. in microbiology.

NASA’s lunar CAPSTONE satellite back in touch with Earth

By Trevor MoggJuly 6, 202

Following its successful launch and deployment last week, NASA lost its communications link with the CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) satellite, which is heading toward a lunar orbit.

However, Colorado-based Advanced Space, which built CAPSTONE, said on Wednesday that its team and mission partners had managed to pinpoint the cause of the anomaly and had now reestablished contact with the satellite.

“The signal confirmed the location of the spacecraft,” Advanced Space said on Wednesday. It added that “initial indications suggest the spacecraft systems are functioning properly” and that it is “happy and healthy.”

The company explained that, after confirming the system’s return to operational capacity, “the team has generated updated navigation solutions and a new state estimate and future prediction has been delivered. This provides the needed information for the team to design an updated trajectory correction maneuver which is currently being reviewed with a planned execution on the satellite [Thursday] morning.”

It said the team has “high confidence” that the issue has been resolved though cautioned that it is still a “very dynamic situation.” Updates on the situation will be coming soon, the company confirmed.

The CAPSTONE satellite was launched by New Zealand spaceflight company Rocket Lab on June 28. CAPSTONE is a key part of NASA’s preparations for a new era of moon exploration. The satellite will test the proposed lunar orbit for the Gateway, a multipurpose space station that will offer support for long-term crewed missions on the surface of the moon.

The first crewed mission to the moon in five decades could take place as soon as 2025. When it does happen, it will put the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface. In the years to come, NASA wants to build bases on the moon where astronauts can live and work for extended periods, with the Gateway functioning as a link between those bases and Earth. Now that CAPSTONE is back in touch with its mission controllers, it shouldn’t be long before it enters the targeted lunar orbit, giving NASA vital information that will help it plan the Gateway’s deployment.

Ukraine tensions run high as Lavrov flies into Bali for G20 foreign ministers summit

Meeting in Indonesia will be the first with the Russian envoy since the Kremlin invaded its neighbour, triggering global food and energy crises

G20 foreign ministers are gathering in Bali for talks bound to be dominated by the conflict in Ukraine. Photograph: Dita Alangkara/AP


Rebecca Ratcliffe and agencies

THE GUARDIAN

Thu 7 Jul 2022 07.04 BST

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has flown into the Indonesian island of Bali for a gathering of G20 foreign ministers, which is likely to be overshadowed by Moscow’s war in Ukraine and deep divisions within the bloc over how to respond to the crisis.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Lavrov and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi are all due to attend the gathering as concern among western governments mounts about the war’s impact on the cost of food and fuel, which has prompted the UN to warn of an “unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution”.

The gathering will mark the first time that Lavrov has met counterparts from nations that are strongly critical of the war.


‘Putin rubbing hands with glee’ after EU votes to class gas and nuclear as green

Analysts question how much can be achieved by the G20, which is fraught with rifts over how to manage the war in Ukraine and its global impacts. While western members have accused Moscow of war crimes and imposed unprecedented sanctions, others – such as China, Indonesia, India and South Africa – have not adopted the same critical stance.

On Wednesday, Lavrov called on all parties in the world to make efforts to protect international laws, saying: “The world is evolving in a complicated manner.”

Earlier in the week, China attacked the US and Nato, stating that Washington “observes international rules only as it sees fit”. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing that the “so-called rules-based international order is actually a family rule made by a handful of countries to serve the US self-interest”.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi after arriving in Bali.

 Photograph: Dita Alangkara/EPA

Speaking ahead of Thursday’s meeting, German foreign ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said it would not be a “normal summit” nor “business as usual”.

Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for south-east Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, who is hosting the meeting, is likely hoping to avoid a “disastrous meeting”.

There is such a diverse range of countries and viewpoints around the table, that it is “almost unmanageable”, said Kurlantzick. “The divides are too big between some of the G20 countries to come to any conclusions really about almost anything. It’ll be miraculous simply if no one walks out, as happened during the finance ministers meeting.”

In April the UK, US and Canada staged a coordinated walkout of a G20 meeting in protest against Russia’s invasion.

Some western countries had threatened to boycott G20 meetings, but the US state department said on Tuesday that Blinken would be a “full and active participant”. There would not be a formal meeting between the US and Lavrov, it said, adding that Russian was not “serious about diplomacy”.

“We have not seen that yet,” said state department spokesperson Ned Price. “We would like to have the Russians give us a reason to meet on a bilateral basis with them, with foreign minister Lavrov, but the only thing we have seen emanate from Moscow is more brutality and aggression against the people and country of Ukraine.”

Blinken will hold separate talks with Wang “to discuss having guardrails” on US-China relations so that competition “does not spill over into miscalculation or confrontation”, said US assistant secretary of state Daniel Kritenbrink.

“This will be another opportunity ... to convey our expectations about what we would expect China to do and not to do in the context of Ukraine,” he said.

The global crisis in the cost of food and energy will feature prominently at the G20 meeting, US officials said.

Ukraine is a major supplier of sunflower oil and corn, and grows enough wheat to feed 400 million people. However, its exports have been severely disrupted by the Russian invasion and Moscow’s blockade of its sea lanes.

Jokowi, as the Indonesian president is widely known, recently visited both Ukraine and Russia, calling for measures to allow for the resumption of exports – which Indonesia, like many nations, relies upon heavily.

Indonesia maintains an “independent and active” approach to foreign policy, and has sought to appear as a neutral actor that could aid negotiations.

Jokowi is likely hoping “to show himself as a world leader and to simply avoid a disastrous meeting”, said Kurlantzick.

“He probably hopes for some kind of situation in which no one walks out of the meeting, he avoids a complete disaster, and he helps keep dialogue going between all the various actors, perhaps with one goal being to get Russia to begin exporting grain again to many countries, maybe they can achieve some other minor goal as well,” Kurlantzick added.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report

US hopes for G20 action on Ukraine even with Russia presence


By AFP
Published July 7, 2022

The United States believes Group of 20 talks in Bali can make progress related to the Ukraine crisis despite the participation of Russia, a senior official said Thursday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive Thursday on the Indonesian resort island for talks of the club of major economies — with the State Department saying he will not meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

A senior US official expected that “virtually all the G20 countries” would agree on initiatives to address global food insecurity and energy volatility triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The official acknowledged that joint G20 statements would be impossible on Ukraine due to Russia’s participation.

“Whether or not the G20 as an entity endorses or doesn’t endorse something is less important than whether most if not all of the G20 countries put their weight behind something that we’re trying to do,” the official told reporters on a refuelling stop in Tokyo.

“You’ll see that we will have an ability as necessary to make clear Russia’s responsibility for some of the very problems that the G20 is going to be tackling,” he said.

Despite shunning Russia, Blinken will meet separately on Saturday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to address high tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

The official said not to expect a keenly awaited announcement on whether President Joe Biden will ease tariffs on China, which he said was an issue for the US Trade Representative’s office.

Blinken’s talks with Wang are among a series of recent engagements between the United States and China which included a meeting last month in Singapore between the two powers’ defence chiefs.

Host Indonesia has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit later this year despite US-led efforts to isolate him.

But in a compromise, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also invited.

Inflation Pushed 71 Million People Into Poverty Since Ukraine War

A staggering 71 million more people around the world are experiencing poverty as a result of soaring food and energy prices that climbed in the weeks following Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Russia Ukraine war AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

UPDATED: 07 JUL 2022 11:46 AM

A staggering 71 million more people around the world are experiencing poverty as a result of soaring food and energy prices that climbed in the weeks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Programme said in a report Thursday.

The UNDP estimates that 51.6 million more people fell into poverty in the first three months after the war, living off $1.90 a day or less.

This pushed the total number globally at this threshold to 9% of the world's population. An additional 20 million people slipped to the poverty line of $3.20 a day.



In low-income countries, families spend 42% of their household incomes on food but as Western nations moved to sanction Russia, the price fuel and staple food items like wheat, sugar and cooking oil soared.

Ukraine's blocked ports and its inability to export grains to low-income countries further drove up prices, pushing tens of millions quickly into poverty.

“The cost of living impact is almost without precedent in a generation... and that is why it is so serious,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said at the launch of the report.

The speed at which this many people experienced poverty outpaced the economic pain felt at the peak of the pandemic.

The UNDP noted that 125 million people experienced poverty over about 18 months during the pandemic's lockdowns and closures, compared with more than 71 million in just three months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February.

“The speed of this is very quick,” said George Molina, UNDP chief economist and author of the report.

Some of the countries hardest hit by inflation include Haiti, Argentina, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sudan, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

In countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria and Yemen, the impacts of inflation are even harder for those already at the lowest poverty line.

The total number of people living in poverty, or are vulnerable to poverty, stands at over 5 billion, or just under 70% of the world's population.

Another U.N. report released Wednesday said world hunger rose last year with 2.3 billion people facing moderate or severe difficulty obtaining enough to eat — and that was before the war in Ukraine.

There is a need for the global economy to step up, Steiner said, adding that there is enough wealth in the world to manage the crisis, “but our ability to act in unison and rapidly is a constraint”.

The UNDP recommends that rather than spending billions on blanket energy subsidies, governments instead target expenditure to reach the most impacted people through targeted cash transfers that can prevent a further 52.6 million people from falling into poverty at $5.50 a day.

For cash-strapped and debt-laden developing countries to achieve this, the UNDP called for an extension of debt payments that had been in place during the pandemic among the world's richest nations.

Steiner said doing so is not only an act of charity but is also “an act of rational self interest" to avoid other complex trends, such as economic collapse in countries and popular protests already taking place in communities across the world.

The war in Ukraine has roiled a region known as the world's bread basket. Before the war, Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas and the second biggest exporter of crude oil.

Russia and Ukraine combined accounted for almost a quarter of global wheat exports and more than half of sunflower oil exports.

'Children of the KKK': White supremacist Patriot Front marches through Boston, attacks Black artist

Amy Goodman,

 Democracy Now!
July 06, 2022


Boston officials claim they had no prior knowledge of a march through the city by about 100 members of the white supremacist group Patriot Front on Saturday. Local anti-fascist organizers contronted the marchers, who also attacked a local Black artist named Charles Murrell. We speak to Boston civil rights activist Reverend Kevin Peterson, who is an adviser to Murrell; investigative journalist Phillip Martin, who has documented the rise of the neo-Nazi movement in Massachusetts; and Michael Edison Hayden with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Peterson is calling for an internal investigation into the Boston police over its response to Saturday’s violence. His group, the New Democracy Coalition, is also calling for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to develop a race commission to explore what would constitute reparations for Black people.

"Children of the KKK": White Supremacist Patriot Front Marches Through Boston, Attacks Black Artist

twww.youtube.com

Transcript This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, as we turn to Boston, where Mayor Michelle Wu joined federal officials Tuesday to respond to the march through downtown Boston Saturday led by a hundred members of the white supremacist Patriot Front carrying shields and a banner that read “Reclaim America.” Officials claim the Boston Regional Intelligence Center had no warning they were coming. Local anti-fascist activists confronted the marchers. Mayor Wu also said the Boston police Civil Rights Unit is investigating how Patriot Front members were seen attacking a local Black artist and musician named Charles Murrell as police looked on.

Charles Murrell posted online about the attack, writing, quote, “Just another day in the office. Yesterday as I was walking to work, a group of white men wearing masks and holding military weapons were marching on the sidewalk. I was walking past the historic Copley Hotel. I thought it was odd that a protest was happening on the sidewalk and not the street. When I tried to get my phone to record the masked mob, this happened (see photos),” he said. He went on, “Now, fake bot accounts are in my DM and on my social media pages trying to instill fear into myself and community. I assume these are the same masked white men. I share this to first say, things have not changed much. Secondly, this is why I do the work that I do with passion,” Charles Murrell wrote.
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Charles is not doing interviews while he seeks legal advice, but he did speak out Monday.
CHARLES MURRELL: I am appalled that even as a healer, I have to get my cup poured into in this incident. But in this incident, I will continue to pour into other people’s cup as a way to pour into my own cup.


AMY GOODMAN: For more, we’re joined by three guests. In Boston, Reverend Kevin Peterson, longtime civil rights activist, founder of the New Democracy Coalition, adviser to Charles Murrell, is with us. In Cambridge, Phillip Martin, an award-winning journalist and senior investigative reporter for GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting, where he recently wrote a piece headlined “It is happening here: Massachusetts has a growing neo-Nazi movement.” And still with us, Michael Edison Hayden, senior investigative reporter with the Southern Poverty Law Center, who focuses on internet radicalization and far-right extremism.

We welcome you all to Democracy Now! Reverend Peterson, let’s begin with you. Explain — I’m sorry we can’t have Charles Murrell on today, but you are his close friend and adviser. Can you tell us more about what happened on Saturday?


REV. KEVIN PETERSON: I’m not sure if I can tell you more about what happened beyond what you’ve already said, but we do know that Mr. Murrell is currently traumatized. He has a focus around racial healing in this city. He uses it through the arts. He believes that this is an opportunity where he can redirect the trauma that he experienced in terms of engaging these children of the KKK on Saturday, use that experience to engage the city, particularly Mayor Wu, in terms of changing things around, changing the narrative of the city.

Boston is not unlike other places across the United States with regard to endemic racism. Boston was founded during the slave trade. The legacy of slavery and systemic oppression towards Black people persists even into 2022. Just two weeks ago, the Boston City Council apologized for its complicity in the slave trade and ongoing systemic oppression.

Mr. Murrell’s experience is reflective of that systemic oppression, that this environment in Boston, I believe, provided a way through which — or rationale through which the children of the KKK came into Boston to try to spew their toxin and their hate.


AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Peterson, how did the police respond? Where were they when Charles was being attacked?

REV. KEVIN PETERSON: Well, Mr. Murrell’s narrative is that the police were in close proximity to him. And in fact, Mr. Murrell suggests that he engaged the police for help, but that help at that point wasn’t forthcoming. So, we have at this point different narratives coming from the administration, from the police, from Mayor Wu, and Mr. Murrell’s account. I’m confident to say that I’ve had a number of conversations with Mr. Murrell, and he’s clear that the police were present, he asked for help, the police officer, or one of them, claimed that they were overwhelmed and they couldn’t respond to the assault that took place on him. That’s disturbing.

Even more disturbing is the fact that such an organized group of white supremacists, the children of the KKK, descended on the city and marched through the streets with brazen activity, unmonitored for the most part by law enforcement. It left thousands of Black citizens, of course, vulnerable to any kind of racial violence that they would have fostered. And in fact, Mr. Murrell became a victim of that racial violence.


AMY GOODMAN: And we’re showing video from Twitter of these people, who have khaki pants, which of course reminds me of the University of Virginia “Unite the Right” rally —

REV. KEVIN PETERSON: It does.


AMY GOODMAN: — and dark shirts, either long-sleeve or short-sleeved, and then white masks over their faces, and baseball caps. Phillip Martin, you’re with GBH News. You wrote an extended piece in May called “It is happening here: Massachusetts has a growing neo-Nazi movement.” Now, the mayor, Michelle Wu, said they had no idea these people were coming this weekend. But this is the third march this year. Explain how you see this movement growing. What’s happening? Why Boston?

PHILLIP MARTIN: First of all, thank you for having me here, Amy.

And I find it — I’m a bit incredulous that the Boston [inaudible] the mayor, others seem to have been taken by surprise. Granted that this was a [inaudible] demonstration. They should not have been surprised [inaudible] taking part in flash [inaudible] exits on freeways, holding banners over freeways, leaving graffiti everywhere, defacing Black Lives Matter signs. Across the state, including Brockton not long ago, there have been reported assaults by this group and a similar group, NSC-131, for a long time. And so, I can see this as a — without question, they did not know about this, it seems, but to be taken by surprise is — I mean, I’m incredulous over that, given the growing activity of these organizations over the past few years.


And you have cited it correctly with the Unite the Right rally that you mentioned. That’s where the Patriot Front began, by this individual, Thomas Rousseau. And what’s happening in Boston is not that dissimilar from what’s happening around the country. But a Unicorn Riot treasure trove of documents revealed that Massachusetts, New England are the areas that they consider prime recruiting grounds, despite the region’s reputation for liberalism. As Reverend Peters was just pointing out, there are multiple contradictions that make their presence here [inaudible] this community, though there’s also, I should point out, massive pushback against these groups, against Patriot Front, by people on the ground — Jewish organizations, Black organizations, anti-fascists, academics, others. So they are not getting a warm reception.

That’s the reason I believe they decided to descend on the area over the weekend. It gave them the attention they wanted. They are in competition with NSC-131 but also in collusion with them. NSC-131 has had a presence in the area, protesting at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in January, taking part in a demonstration at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in March, where they displayed a Boston is — “Return Boston to the Irish” sign, or something to that effect.

And so, again, this, Amy, is something that has been taking place. It is a growing movement, growing, as ascertained by observation from those who study fascism, that these are groups that had two or three people at rallies maybe a year ago, three years ago, and now are able to get 30 people at rallies, people largely from this area, though this 100 who had descended on Boston over the weekend, without question, they came from various parts of the country. And it’s believed that Thomas Rousseau was among them.


AMY GOODMAN: That Rousseau was among them, which brings me back to Michael Edison Hayden. Michael, you’re with the Southern Poverty Law Center. We last had you on giving us background on the Patriot Front. So, talk more about who Rousseau is, how this group was founded, what it’s doing, why in Boston, and before that, what, there were protests in Philadelphia, these historic American cities.

MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN: [inaudible] —

AMY GOODMAN: Michael —


MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN: I like that — yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Go ahead.

MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN: Oh, sure. Yeah, I like that phrase, “children of the KKK.” That was great. You know, I think that they are not the KKK yet, but they — in its heyday, but, boy, do they want to be.

And, you know, there was a group called Vanguard America that marched at Unite the Right, and you may remember James Fields, who murdered Heather Heyer. He actually marched with that group. And they kind of rebranded under this veil of patriotism, and kind of to try to pull from the Republican Party shtick and make a more marketable version of what is essentially neo-Nazism.

And they have had some success at building a movement across the country. They’ve had people across the country. They have absolutely, you know, been successful at doing these marches where there are about, you know, anywhere between 30 and 100 people marching on the street.

But yeah, they did something also on July Fourth last year, or in the July Fourth weekend, regarding — like in Philadelphia, for example. They are picking these places that have historical importance in the United States. You know, their slogan is “Reclaim America,” and it’s this idea of restoring America to their imagined past, this — well, certainly America does have a deeply racist past, but they envision this perfect version of the United States that is going to come from their activism, that’s going to be essentially just a white supremacist ethno-state.

AMY GOODMAN: And how do they organize online?

MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN: Yeah, I mean, they — you know, they’re all over Telegram. They were using Discord. They are essentially building little cells across the country and communicating with each other this way. They don’t often reveal their names to one another until they get to know each other in person. They are trying to lock down their communications, but, quite frankly, they’ve been poor at it, because they are frequently getting ID’d by anti-fascist activists all over the country and also by our organization.

AMY GOODMAN: And their connection to January 6th, the Patriot Front members marching, part of President Trump’s insurrection?

MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN: No, they — so, they are superficially anti-Trump. They’re superficially anti-Republican Party. But they work kind of in tangent with the Republican Party, in the sense that they run parallel to them. You know, for people that believe that Trump is too cozy with Jewish people, the Patriot Front is there to kind of recruit you. It is their — they do essentially the same things. You know, you see Stephen Miller’s America First Legal is going to be attacking all kinds of things that he describes as “woke.” What does that really mean? It’s LGBTQ+ rights, stuff like, you know, this critical race theory bogeyman that they keep trotting out, whatever else. It’s sort of the same stuff that Patriot Front is talking about, but this is for people who are further along the line of radicalization and don’t want to associate themselves with the Republican Party. But they absolutely work in tandem with them, and they run parallel to them.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Phillip Martin of GBH News, you report about this, that members were represented in D.C. during the insurrection.

PHILLIP MARTIN: That’s right. This is, of course, before they branded themselves — rebranded themselves as Patriot Front. And you had members of NSC-131 present. They, of course —

AMY GOODMAN: What does ”NSC” stand for?

PHILLIP MARTIN: Nationalist Social Club, and the 131 is alphanumeric code for anti-communism. They consider, of course, anyone anti — they consider anyone communist, whether they be a liberal, a moderate, a so-called RINO within the Republican Party, people advocating for equality. The notion of communism [inaudible] they have incorporated into their talking points, in which they see anyone, again, who oppose fascism as communist. But they are neo-Nazis. They are described as a small army of neo-Nazis by both the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League.

And so, yes, they started off in Charlottesville. They have — Thomas Rousseau has attempted to grow this movement based on some of the grievances that were — my colleague from Southern Poverty Law Center was just talking about, within — that have been amplified by the Republican Party. They have been amplified and animated by the so-called [inaudible] theory of — and believing that that is something that people are in fact reacting to.

And you can see some of the comments that appear on social media, where, in fact, here in Boston, you found individuals who were condemning the Patriot Front, but you also found comments on Twitter and Facebook, folks were saying, “Well, what about the communists? What about the Democratic Party? What about the antifa? What about Black Lives Matter?” where they basically try to create this false equivalency that these groups, the Patriot Front and others, are simply the flip side, and thus they have — and it’s mythical, the whole notion of bothsidesisms in the context of fascism.

AMY GOODMAN: And —

PHILLIP MARTIN: But, anyway, the point is — I’m sorry. Go on.

AMY GOODMAN: And, Phillip, the role of the police, the reverend describing — or, actually, Charles Murrell himself saying they didn’t help him, and the mayor saying they had no idea this was happening? I think we’re going to have — we will end it there.

PHILLIP MARTIN: We have to be incredulous of whether — if the police were nearby and they did nothing, that’s a problem. If the police were not in the proximity to where this man was being beaten, then that’s a problem also. It means that they really weren’t monitoring well this procession of neofascists through downtown Boston on Fourth of July weekend.

AMY GOODMAN: And finally, Reverend Kevin Peterson, you know, a news conference was called with Black leaders. You were among them.

REV. KEVIN PETERSON: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: What are you calling for now?

REV. KEVIN PETERSON: Well, we’re calling for a couple things. One is, as much as the police department is investigating what crime occurred, what civil rights were violated against Mr. Murrell, we’re also calling for Boston, the police or the mayor, to conduct an internal investigation in terms of police activities on that day on site. Were there police present? We asked for the release of videotape from Starbucks, which captured the incident, can perhaps identify more succinctly if the police were present. We’re asking for any body-camera visuals that might be present.

Beyond that, Amy, we’re asking the mayor to take a deep dive into engaging in more robust conversations around race in a city that has been dogged by race for so long. Those pictures of Mr. Murrell are reflective of the racial legacy in the city of Boston that persists. Beyond the conversation, we also call for a race commission, where the city of Boston will bring to fore the enormous resources in the city of Boston in terms of the academic and legal community to explore the legacy of racism up until 2022, provide information, perhaps throughout the schools, but throughout the neighborhoods, of course, so that the residents of Boston can learn more about what racism is and how it is impactful in its subtle and most obvious ways.

And then we ask for the commission to look into what would constitute repair or reparations in the city of Boston. How do we address the historic wrongs fostered upon Black people as it relates to the legacy of slavery and systemic oppression? How do we address those issues of unequal housing situations with relation to Blacks? How do we address the unequal health morbidities? How do we address income inequality with regard to Blacks and whites in the city of Boston? Those things are enormous. They reflect an incredible gap in terms of how Blacks maintain their lives in Boston against the privilege of white lives or how whites are privileged.

So we ask for something comprehensive, something carefully thought through. We ask the mayor to move beyond the soothing words and apologies and get to some substantive policies and actions that brings Boston into the current situation where we’re trying to address the issue of racism in a more substantive way.

AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Kevin Peterson, we want to thank you so much for being with us, founder of the New Democracy Coalition, speaking to us from Boston. Phillip Martin, investigative reporter with GBH News, we’ll link to your pieces, “It is happening here: Massachusetts has a growing neo-Nazi movement” and your latest piece. And Michael Edison Hayden with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Coming up, “A new Supreme Court case threatens another body blow to our democracy.” We’ll speak with the former law clerk for the retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Yes, we’ll speak with Carolyn Shapiro, professor. Stay with us.