Category: Science

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Study busts myth about alcohol

While an occasional glass of wine is unlikely to increase your chances of a trip to the emergency room, an extended analysis of close to five million people has concluded that even low levels of alcohol consumption offers next to no health benefits and can drastically increase the chances of developing serious health complaints.

A study published on Friday on the Jama Network Open, which compiled data collected from various studies between 1980 and 2021, debunks commonly held beliefs that moderate drinking can be good for the heart. Studies had in the past suggested that the Mediterranean diet, which traditionally includes regular intake of red wine, contributed to long and healthy lives – but this theory was built upon a foundation of flawed science according to a co-author of the study.

“The idea that alcohol is good for your health is ingrained in so many cultures,” said Tim Stockwell, former director at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. He added that the misconception that wine “somehow has magic properties” was a “publicity coup” for the alcoholic beverage industry.

The findings of the meta-analysis of 107 prior studies, which incorporated some 4.8 million people, concluded that prior research came with several blind spots: principally, that moderate drinkers are generally considered to engage in healthier activities than heavy drinkers. This, in turn, skewed previous results towards a conclusion that moderate drinking lowers the risk of developing health complaints.

The study also found that some people abstain from alcohol as a result of pre-existing health problems – leading to an analytical bias that not drinking leads to medical issues not present in those who consume alcohol.

“Being able to drink is a sign that you are still healthy,” Stockwell said. “Not the cause of it.”

However, researchers also found that people who had two drinks per day or less had no discernible increase in health risks compared to lifetime non-drinkers – but heavy drinkers, defined as three drinks per day or more, are subject to far higher mortality risks.

Excessive drinking is known to increase risk of various health maladies, such as cancer, liver disease, dementia and cardiovascular disease. Stockwell has also estimated that moderate drinkers lose about five minutes of their life expectancy with each daily drink.

Source: Russia Today

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Pope Francis to remain in hospital after suffering from respiratory illness

Pope Francis spent a calm night in hospital after being admitted for a respiratory infection and is expected to remain there for a few days for treatment, a Vatican source said Thursday.

“The pope spent a good night” at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the source said, adding that there would be an update on the 86-year-old pontiff’s condition later.

Pope Francis, who earlier this month marked 10 years as head of the Catholic Church, has suffered a number of health issues in recent years but normally has a busy schedule and continues to travel widely.

His admission to hospital on Wednesday, for what the Vatican initially said were pre-planned tests, forced him to cancel a number of engagements.

It also raises questions over his presence at services for the upcoming Holy Week and Easter, Christianity’s most important holiday.

But the Italian news agency ANSA reported that nursing staff “are very optimistic” that, barring surprises, the pope could be discharged in time for Palm Sunday celebrations on April 2.

The Vatican late on Wednesday said the pope had a respiratory infection that would require hospital treatment for “a few days”, adding that Covid had been excluded.

Over the past year Francis has suffered from chronic knee pain that has required him to use a wheelchair.

His postponement last year of a scheduled trip to Africa and various events at home fuelled intense speculation about his health, and in a July 2022 interview he acknowledged he needed to slow down.

At his weekly audience at the Vatican on Wednesday morning, just hours before his admission to hospital, the pope appeared in good spirits, smiling as he greeted the faithful from his “popemobile”.

But he was pictured wincing as he was helped getting onto the vehicle — a photo that made all the major front pages of Italy’s newspapers on Thursday.

Health issues

Francis was admitted in July 2021 to the same Rome hospital for 10 days for an operation on his colon after suffering from a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine.

In an interview in January, Francis said the diverticulitis had returned.

Francis has repeatedly said, most recently in February, that he would consider stepping down if his health required, following the example of his predecessor Benedict XVI.

He has cautioned, however, that papal resignations should not be the norm, and said in an interview last month that the idea was currently not “on my agenda”.

Asked by Italian Swiss television RSI in an interview broadcast on March 12 what condition would lead him to quit, Francis said: “A tiredness that doesn’t let you see things clearly. A lack of clarity, of knowing how to evaluate situations”.

Benedict, who died on December 31, shocked the world in 2013 by becoming the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign.

In 1957, at age 21, Francis had part of one of his lungs removed, but he has said he has made a full recovery.

Despite his health issues and advancing age, Francis — a Jesuit who seems most happy being among his flock — continues to travel internationally.

Earlier this year, he visited South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, drawing huge crowds.

Next month, he is due to visit Hungary and meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

In the past decade, Francis has sought to forge an image of a more open, compassionate Church, although has faced internal opposition, particularly from conservatives.

Source: TRT world

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US urges Americans to leave Russia ‘immediately’

Washington has called upon Americans who are traveling to or residing in Russia to leave the country “immediately” in the aftermath of the arrest of Wall Street Journal (WSJ) correspondent Evan Gershkovich. While Moscow said he was caught “red-handed” trying to obtain state secrets, the US has condemned the arrest as an assault on “press freedom.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was “deeply concerned” about the development, adding that “in the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices.”

“We reiterate our strong warnings about the danger posed to US citizens inside the Russian Federation. US citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately,” the top diplomat said in a statement.

A similar message was conveyed by the White House, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating that the “targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable.”

“We also condemn the Russian government’s continued targeting and repression of journalists and freedom of the press,” she added, urging Americans to “heed the US government’s warning to not travel to Russia” or leave should they happen to already be in the country.

The call was somewhat watered down by US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, who explained Washington was not actually calling upon all Americans to literally leave Russia and was not encouraging news outlets to withdraw their correspondents from the country.

Gershkovich, a WSJ correspondent who covers news from Russia, Ukraine, and the former USSR, was detained in the city of Ekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced earlier in the day. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the journalist was caught “red-handed” while trying to obtain Russian state secrets.

SOURCE: RUSSIA TODAY

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France’s protest scandal, India’s democracy and human empathy thanks to fish

IN THE PRESS – Thursday, 30.03.23: Multiple French papers are digging into audio recordings of Saturday’s protest against water reservoirs, namely of first responders saying they were told not to go in and help wounded protesters. We also look at the state of India’s democracy and if it could change the world in the next decade. Finally, we take a look at two ancestry stories, one that says that DNA proves Swahili oral history to be true and one that explains why human empathy may have originated from fish.

Source: France 24.com

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Pope Francis’ health improving after overnight stay in hospital

Pope Francis’ health is stabilising, according to a spokesperson for the Vatican. The Pontiff was admitted to hospital yesterday with a respiratory infection, sparking fears for his wellbeing. But he has reportedly had a good night’s rest and is now working from hospital. Nurses are optimistic that he could recover in time for Palm Sunday celebrations, but a discharge date has not yet been confirmed. FRANCE 24’s Charlotte Hughes tells us more.

Source: France 24.com

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King Charles visits Germany in first overseas trip as UK monarch

King Charles has spoken of the “enduring value” of the relationship between the United Kingdom and Germany, saying in his first state visit abroad since ascending the throne last year that he would do all he could to strengthen connections.

The King was greeted with military honours at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate earlier in the day on Wednesday as he began his visit to Germany, part of efforts to reset Britain’s relations with Europe after its 2020 departure from the European Union.

“I have been struck by the warmth of the friendship between our nations,” Charles said in a speech, delivered partly in German, at a state banquet in the German capital hosted by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier

In his ongoing focus on sustainability, Charles credited German expertise in organic farming as “greatly improving my own farms and soil”.

Charles, who succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth upon her death at 96 in September, had been due to travel first to France, but cancelled that part of the tour due to violent social unrest there.

The fact that Charles had picked European powers France and Germany for his first state visit, even before his coronation in May, was an important “European gesture”, said Steinmeier, who greeted Charles and his wife Queen Consort Camilla in Berlin.

“Today, exactly six years after Britain started its exit from the European Union, we are opening a new chapter in our relations,” Steinmeier said.

‘Deep our connection’

Over a three-day visit to Berlin, Brandenburg in the east and the northern port city of Hamburg, Charles will attend engagements reflecting issues facing both countries, such as environmental sustainability and the Ukraine crisis, and will also commemorate the past, according to Buckingham Palace.

Underscoring Charles’ interest in environmental causes, one of his first engagements in Berlin was a forum on sustainability, addressing matters from hydrogen and renewables to industrial decarbonisation, according to Buckingham Palace.

There, he met German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the Greens party, junior partner in the country’s three-way coalition, as well as business leaders, academics and civil society representatives.

“Today, we friends and partners, we are looking forwards – and that’s why we are starting this state visit very consciously with a topic that is decisive for our future on this planet,” said Steinmeier.

Charles will address the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on Thursday in Berlin, and meet some of the Ukrainians who have taken refuge in Germany from Russia’s offensive in their homeland.

“We are feeling just how deep our connection is especially in these times,” Steinmeier said in his speech at the banquet. “Germany and the United Kingdom are today, also militarily, the two biggest supporters of Ukraine in Europe.”

The trip was a clear sign of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s push to reset relations with Europe, said Anand Menon, director of academic think tank UK in a Changing Europe.

However, any warmer relations with Europe brought about by the visit could cool if other post-Brexit issues flare up.

Britain has slumped from Germany’s fifth most important trading partner to 11th in 2022, behind the Czech Republic.

Source: TRT world

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Russia detains Wall Street Journal reporter on spying charges

Following the arrest of WSJ Moscow correspondent Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges, Craig Copetas, Contributing Editor at The Daily Beast, spoke to FRANCE 24’s François Picard. With officials saying it’s too early to think about a prisoner swap, “all we can keep doing is beating the drum” says Copetas.

Source: France 24.com