Source: Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, to exit Russia | Business and Economy News | Al Jazeera

“Without our active engagement and tangible support for the European conservative parties, their popularity and influence in Europe will continue to wane,” stated an internal document created by Yakushev and circulated among Tsargrad’s officers.

The document cited the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, problems with mass vaccination programs in Europe and stalled attempts to get European licenses for Russian vaccines as the reasons to “resume steps to restore contacts with Euroskeptic parties.”

“We believe that at the moment there is still a possibility of restoring contacts for systematic work with Euroskeptics to counter Brussels’ sanctions policy,” the Tsargrad text read. “However, the resumption of work with them requires a fundamentally different level of confidentiality in connection with the strengthening of opposition to Russian influence on the part of Western intelligence services.”

The connections between Malofeev and Europe’s far right are well attested and go back years.

“Malofeev has carried out the Kremlin’s tasks, which have included interfering in the Bosnian and Polish elections,” according to Kalev Stoicescu, a researcher of Russian affairs at the International Centre for Defence Studies, a think tank in Tallinn, Estonia. “He has organized the meetings of European far rightists. He has mediated an 11 million euro [$12 million] loan from Russian banks to Marine Le Pen’s party.”

Source: Exclusive: Russia Backs Europe’s Far Right – New Lines Magazine

Initial jobless claims fell 28,000 to 187,000 in the week ended March 19, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s the lowest level since 1969.

Source: U.S. jobless claims plunge to lowest level since 1969 – MarketWatch

School districts with mandatory masking had 7.3 cases of in-school infection for every 100 community-acquired cases. Districts with optional masking had 26.4 cases of in-school infection for every 100 community-acquired cases. The results were similar when the researchers adjusted for district size and weeks of reporting data.

This study was conducted when Delta was the dominant variant. The team didn’t obtain data on how school masking affected the spread of Omicron. However, based on all available data, the CDC recommends indoor masking whenever there are high community levels of COVID-19.

“These findings show that school masking remains a critical preventive measure in times with high community infection rates, as we observed with Omicron, or if a variant emerges that escapes immunity,” Benjamin says.

Source: Mandatory masking in schools reduced COVID-19 cases | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

After just two hours of deliberation, a California jury found Congressman Jeff Fortenberry guilty on all three charges: one count of scheming to falsify or conceal material facts and two counts of making a false statement to a government agency.

Fortenberry is out on bond until sentencing on June 28 in California. Fortenberry faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. He could also face no jail time at all.

Jury selection in the trial began March 16. The defense called its final witnesses Thursday, including Fortenberry’s wife, Celeste. The jury heard closing arguments Thursday afternoon.

Fortenberry accepted money from a foreign national for his 2016 campaign and then lied to the FBI in their investigation into foreign donations.

Source: Jury finds Fortenberry guilty on all three charges

all of the Republican critics had previously voted to confirm judges who had given out prison terms below prosecutor recommendations, the very bar they accused Judge Jackson of failing to clear.

Just 30 percent of offenders who possessed or shared images of child sex abuse received a sentence within the range suggested by nonbinding federal guidelines in the 2019 fiscal year, and 59 percent received a sentence below the guideline range. And in general, it is not uncommon for judges to impose shorter sentences than what prosecutors have recommended.

Exclusive: The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs

Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people tested.

The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown. But researchers are concerned as microplastics cause damage to human cells in the laboratory and air pollution particles are already known to enter the body and cause millions of early deaths a year.

Source: Microplastics found in human blood for first time | Plastics | The Guardian