“Going back is not an option,” Swaiman Singh said. The US-based cardiologist joined the movement in its early stages. He and his team run a clinic for protesters at Tikri, on the state border between Delhi and Haryana.

“This is unlike any protest the world has seen before. It is not a matter of days or months; the farmers are ready to stay here for years if that’s what it takes to preserve their livelihood,” he told DW.

Singh called for the government “to step up,” calling on them to “scrap the laws and let them go back home.”

Source: What happened to India′s farmer protests? | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW | 24.05.2021

What are the causes of covid-19 vaccine hesitancy?

Confidence in the importance of vaccines has the strongest association with vaccine uptake; however, confidence in the importance (necessity and value), safety, and effectiveness of vaccines fell in many countries between 2015 and 2019.21 WHO listed vaccine hesitancy among the top 10 global threats to health in 2019.22 Drivers of low confidence in covid-19 vaccination are listed in box 1. The ‘Understanding Society’ UK Household Longitudinal survey highlighted that the main reason for hesitancy was concerns about future unknown effects, with 42.7% of respondents specifying this.14 Less common reasons included those under the bracket of “other” (12.2%), worries about side effects (11.4%), concern that others are in more urgent need of the vaccine (7.7%), and lack of trust in vaccines (7.6%).14 However, the survey found that people of Black ethnicities were more likely to state that they “don’t trust vaccines” compared with White people (29.2% v 5.7%), and people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnicities often cited concerns about vaccine side effects (35.4% v 8.6%).14 Some reports indicate a rise in vaccine hesitancy following the AstraZeneca vaccine safety scare across Europe and Africa.2425 Historical precedents show that widely publicised safety scares can have profound and long-lasting effects on vaccine confidence.26

Source: Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy | The BMJ

The products bear establishment numbers “P-18237” or “P-45638” inside the USDA mark of inspection and were distributed by Big Daddy Foods, Inc., a Houston, Texas firm. These items were further distributed to consumers at local food banks in Florida through the USDA Farmers to Families Food Box program in individual food boxes. The products were distributed between Feb. 25, 2021 through March 1, 2021, and March 29, 2021 through April 8, 2021, at temporary locations. Source: FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Frozen, Cooked Diced Poultry Products Due to Possible Listeria Contamination | Food Safety and Inspection Service

Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, has unleashed a brutal campaign against his opponents. More than 35,000 people have been arrested, thousands have been tortured or abused, and 400 political prisoners are currently behind bars. Earlier this week a 50-year-old opposition activist, Vitold Ashurok, died in a penal colony. The official cause of death was “heart attack”. His widow believes he was murdered.

It is against this dark and repressive backdrop that the extraordinary events of Sunday took place. According to state media, Lukashenko personally authorised the forced downing of a Ryanair plane as it flew over Belarusian airspace between Greece and Lithuania – a real-time hijacking. He even dispatched a MIG-29 fighter jet to ensure the pilot complied after being informed of a fake bomb threat.

Source: Belarus ‘hijacking’ is test for international community | Belarus | The Guardian

Bitcoin took investors on another rollercoaster ride over the weekend after a top regulator in China announced a crackdown on mining, a new tack in the country’s ongoing fight against the cryptocurrency. The government will “crack down on bitcoin mining and trading behavior and resolutely prevent the transfer of individual risks to the society,” said the statement, which was issued by the Financial Stability and Development Committee of the State Council, the country’s cabinet equivalent. The committee is chaired by Vice Premier Liu He, who acts as President Xi Jinping’s top representative on economic and financial matters.

“The wording of the statement did not leave much leeway for cryptocurrency mining,” Li Yi, chief research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the South China Morning Post. “When all mining activities are banned in China, it will be a turning point for the fate of bitcoin, as a large chunk of its processing power is taken out of the picture.” The Chinese government isn’t just worried about financial stability, either. A commentary piece in Xinhua News, the Communist Party’s official media outlet, elaborated on the government’s stance, voicing concerns about bitcoin’s role in money laundering, drug trafficking, and smuggling. It also mentioned bitcoin’s profligate energy use. Last week, China warned financial institutions not to participate in crypto-transactions or related services. Source: China Will Likely Ban All Bitcoin Mining Soon – Slashdot