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For many people, the winter holiday period is their favorite time of the year. Its weeks full of family, friends, gifts, and cozy indoor get-togethers. But those social gatherings are among the main reasons why the flu spreads so readily at this time of year. And this year, a so-called superflu variant known as subclade K is set to make things even worse. Heres what you need to know. When is flu season? Flu season is officially in full swing. Its the time of year when flu viruses are most rampant, and infections tend to spike before finally decreasing and leveling off. Most people know that flu season usually occurs in the winter months, but the period actually lasts for longer. According to the Cleveland Clinic, in the northern hemisphere, the flu season starts in October. However, its worst period encompasses December to February, which is when the highest number of cases occur. Cases usually begin to decline after February, and flu season is typically considered over by May. But besides its conventional start date, theres another way to measure when flu season is underway. As CNN reports, health professionals often use the epidemic threshold to measure when flu season is underway. When that threshold, which measures the percentage of visits to a healthcare provider for respiratory illness, rises above 3.1%, flu season is here. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States passed that threshold last week when it hit 3.2%. And that number is likely to rise in the coming weeks, thanks to a new flu variant circulating the globe called subclade K. What is the subclade K influenza variant? The common seasonal flu going around this year is part of the H3N2 family, a strain that has been circulating for decades, notes Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. However, a new H3N2 variant has arisen with enough mutations to make it materially different, from a genetic perspective, from the reference strains scientists chose earlier this year to make this years flu vaccine. This variant is called subclade K. Because it has enough genetic differences, the subclade K variant is more resistant to this years flu vaccine than other strains. However, that doesnt mean this years flu vaccine cant help protect you against subclade K or other flu strains. As CNN reports, despite this years flu vaccine failing to neutralize subclade K viruses as well as other flu strains, the flu vaccine still cuts hospital visits for H3N2 strains in children by 75%. For adults, the vaccine appears to be less effective, but data shows that it can still cut hospital visits by 30% to 40%. Where in America is the flu most widespread? According to CDC data for the week ending December 6, the flu virus, including subclade K, is present in most of the United States. The CDCs Influenza Divisions Weekly Influenza Surveillance report shows that the states with the highest level of flu activity include: New York Colorado Louisana New Jersy Conneticut Idaho Screenshot via CDC. What are the symptoms of the flu? Common symptoms of the flu include the following, according to the CDC: fever or feeling feverish/chills cough sore throat runny or stuffy nose muscle or body aches headaches fatigue (tiredness) some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults. How can I protect myself against the flu over the holidays? In winter, people tend to spend more time indoors with windows closed, which allows flu viruses to spread more easily between people. Holiday gatherings can accelerate this spread as many spend more time socializing during the period than they usually do. But just because it’s flu season doesn’t mean you cant enjoy the holidays. The CDC offers several bits of advice on how to reduce your risk of seasonal flu, including: Getting vaccinated Avoiding contact with people who are sick Cleaning your hands regularly Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes And if you think you are sick, you can help protect others by staying home and covering your nose and mouth when you sneeze.
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President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices.The 33-page lawsuit accuses the BBC of broadcasting a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump,” calling it “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 U.S. presidential election.It accused the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021” in order to “intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said.”The lawsuit, filed in a Florida court, seeks $5 billion in damages for defamation and $5 billion for unfair trade practices.The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.The broadcaster apologized last month to Trump over the edit of the Jan. 6 speech. But the publicly funded BBC rejected claims it had defamed him, after Trump threatened legal action.BBC chairman Samir Shah had called it an “error of judgment,” which triggered the resignations of the BBC’s top executive and its head of news.The speech took place before some of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress was poised to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election that Trump falsely alleged was stolen from him.The BBC had broadcast the hourlong documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” days before the 2024 U.S. presidential election. It spliced together three quotes from two sections of the 2021 speech, delivered almost an hour apart, into what appeared to be one quote in which Trump urged supporters to march with him and “fight like hell.” Among the parts cut out was a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.Trump said earlier Monday that he was suing the BBC “for putting words in my mouth.”“They actually put terrible words in my mouth having to do with Jan. 6 that I didn’t say, and they’re beautiful words, that I said, right?” the president said unprompted during an appearance in the Oval Office. “They’re beautiful words, talking about patriotism and all of the good things that I said. They didn’t say that, but they put terrible words.”The president’s lawsuit was filed in Florida. Deadlines to bring the case in British courts expired more than a year ago.Legal experts have brought up potential challenges to a case in the U.S. given that the documentary was not shown in the country.The lawsuit alleges that people in the U.S. can watch the BBC’s original content, including the “Panorama” series, which included the documentary, by using the subscription streaming platform BritBox or a virtual private network service.The 103-year-old BBC is a national institution funded through an annual license fee of 174.50 pounds ($230) paid by every household that watches live TV or BBC content. Bound by the terms of its charter to be impartial, it typically faces especially intense scrutiny and criticism from both conservatives and liberals. Associated Press
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If you want to recycle an old electric toothbrush or pair of headphones with a lithium battery embedded inside, it can be hard to find a place to do itand many existing battery collection boxes are fire risks. Thats why Redwood Materials, the battery recycling and energy storage company founded by ex-Tesla engineer J. B. Straubel, just redesigned the collection bin. The new bins, rolling out first in San Francisco stores in partnership with the citys environmental department, can accept any type of rechargeable device, from phones to electric razors, earbuds, and loose lithium batteries. When someone drops a battery or device into a slot, the bin automatically lowers it into a sealed 50-gallon drum and coats it in fire suppressant. The bin also uses sensors to monitor itself to prevent fires. [Photo: Redwood Materials] Consumer recycling has been incredibly challenging, says Alexis Georgeson, Redwoods vice president of external affairs and consumer recycling programs. I think some of the issues and lack of technology to enable frictionless, free, visible collection points for consumers have contributed to the abysmal collection rates that were at right now. Only around 16% of electronics are recycled in the U.S. right now. Most batteries end up in junk drawers or landfills, because fundamentally consumers just dont understand how to get them recycled, Georgeson says. [Photo: Redwood Materials] Redwood launched to handle battery recycling for businesses in 2017, but people who heard about the startup almost immediately began dropping off their own batteries at the companys front door or shipping them in. The company started working with nonprofits and communities trying to make recycling easier, and previously placed standard collection bins at some locations. But those bins didnt solve the challenge of fire risk, so they had to be monitored by staff. [Image: Redwood Materials] The new bins manage fire risk without human intervention, so they can scale up much more easily. Theyre also secure, so someone could feel safe dropping in an old phone or laptop, unlike in the open cardboard boxes that exist in some other stores. When the drums are full, Redwood adds them to pallets that are shipped back to its Nevada facility for recycling. (The fire suppressant is also reused.) EV batteries still make up a bigger volume of the companys recycling; a single Tesla Model 3 battery is equivalent to several thousand iPhone batteries. But as the number of battery-filled devices keeps proliferating, and consumers quickly get rid of them, the potential scale is large. Redwood plans to install the bins in other parts of the Bay Area, then Nevada, and then deploy them nationally. Even before the official launch in San Franciscoand without any promotion or signagethe bins are already popular. We actually rolled the bins out very quietly a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve already filled several of them up, Georgeson says.
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