Thursday, May 15, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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Spanish scientists breed and sterilize mosquitoes

Published 19 August 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Among other things, the tiger mosquito can spread dengue fever - a disease that can be fatal.

A laboratory in Spain is breeding and sterilizing thousands of tiger mosquitoes every week. The goal is to prevent the invasive species from spreading disease in Europe.

The Asian tiger mosquito, described as the world’s most invasive mosquito species, has reportedly spread across Europe, becoming established in Austria, Bulgaria, France, Germany and Greece, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). It has also been spotted in Belgium, Cyprus, the Netherlands and Sweden. The Aedes aegypti mosquito spreads dengue fever, a disease that has been on the rise worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The disease causes flu-like symptoms, but can be more severe and, in the worst cases, fatal

The Spanish city of Valencia has begun breeding and sterilizing tiger mosquitoes to combat dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases. Each week, 45,000 sterilized tiger mosquitoes are released in the city. The mosquitoes then attempt to mate with other mosquitoes, but since these mosquitoes cannot reproduce, it is hoped that the population will eventually be significantly reduced.

–There is a favorable environment for most of the year and the population is growing all the time, Vicente Dalmau of the Valencia health department told the Guardian.

There are various sterilization techniques used in other parts of the world, but the Spanish laboratory is the leader in using it on tiger mosquitoes in Europe. The technique, which involves exposing the mosquitoes to ionizing radiation, follows previous experience with fruit flies.

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Sweden stands out in new global mapping of economic power

Published today 7:13
– By Editorial Staff
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are usually considered three of the richest - and most powerful - men in the world.

A new international database maps the world’s most economically influential power brokers – and Sweden stands out. In contrast to many other countries, outstanding academic credentials are rarely required to reach the top of the financial ladder here.

Who really controls the global economy? A group of 70 researchers has collected data on over 3,500 people from 16 countries who together account for a majority (54 percent) of the world’s GDP.

The results, presented in the new World Elite Database (WED), reveal both global similarities and national differences in terms of age, education, and background, with Sweden deviating significantly in one respect. Here, only five percent of the richest power holders have a doctorate the lowest figure among all countries surveyed.

These are CEOs and board members of large companies, those with the greatest wealth and people with the power to regulate the economy. The median age varies greatly: the American financial aristocracy is the oldest (62), while China and Poland have the youngest top echelons (55).

Place of birth also differs: in China, almost half of the elite were born in small villages, but only 1 percent were born abroad. In the UK, on the other hand, 45 percent of the richest were born outside the country, often in India.

– It is interesting to see that as much as 20 percent of the UK’s economic elite comes from the country’s former colonies, notes Håkan Johansson, professor at Lund University and one of the researchers behind WED.

“Not highly valued in Sweden”

Sweden’s economic ruling class is distinguished by its low level of education, even when compared to neighboring countries. In Germany, just over a third of those with economic power have a doctorate or equivalent, compared to one in twenty power holders in Sweden.

– It is quite clear that a doctorate is not highly valued in Sweden and is not necessary to reach the top of society, Johansson continues.

A master’s degree is most common among the elite, except in Argentina, Italy, and the UK, where a bachelor’s degree is more common. Those who have inherited their wealth have the lowest level of education.

To become part of the financial elite, a degree in economics is otherwise the most common route – except in China and Finland, where it is more common for those who have reached the “top” to be civil engineers.

In the UK, Poland, and Switzerland, law and the humanities are also highly valued at least 20 percent of the “top tier” have studied these subjects compared to less than 10 percent in the Nordic countries.

“Have enormous power”

Some may wonder why it is important for researchers to map the backgrounds and qualifications of those in power, but Håkan Johansson points out that this is a group that has an extremely large influence and that it is important to try to understand how and why they make their decisions.

– Economic elites are interesting because they have enormous power. They influence people’s working conditions, countries’ prosperity, and financial development. This is the first database of its kind, and many researchers will use it in their studies.

One example of research that would be interesting to do using the database is to link it to what economic elites actually do with their power, for example in studies of the climate impact of elites, he continues.

The World Elite Database (WED) is the result of an international collaboration between some 70 researchers from Chile, Denmark, Italy, France, Finland, China, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.

The database is currently only available to researchers and contains more than 3,500 names from 16 countries that together account for 54% of the world's gross domestic product.

The first scientific article based on the material was published recently in the British Journal of Sociology.

Lithuanian ex-president: “No need to fear Russia’s nuclear weapons”

The new cold war

Published yesterday 10:48
– By Editorial Staff
Dalia Grybauskaité was one of the voices calling for NATO to attack Russia as early as 2022.

Lithuania’s former president Dalia Grybauskaité rejects Vladimir Putin’s proposal for peace talks with Ukraine as disingenuous, claiming that it is merely a tactical maneuver aimed at buying time.

Despite widespread concerns that the war will escalate into a large-scale European nuclear conflict, Grybauskaité argues that the threat of weapons of mass destruction is greatly exaggerated and asserts that “there is no reason to fear nuclear weapons”.

– I believe these are games for the time being, an attempt to stall for time, an attempt to shift the blame to the Ukrainian side, but in fact they are stalling for time and are unwilling to end the war now, at least in the near future as they want to occupy as much of Ukraine as possible, the former president said in a press statement on Monday.

Her statement came after four European leaders visited Kiev over the weekend and appealed for a temporary ceasefire as a basis for peace talks. Putin responded with a counterproposal for direct negotiations in Istanbul – an initiative that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has shown some openness to, but only after a ceasefire is in place.

Most notable, however, was how Grybauskaité downplayed the risk of nuclear weapons being used in the conflict – describing Russian nuclear deterrence as “an obsolete doctrine” and claiming that weapons of mass destruction should no longer be considered a relevant threat in modern warfare.

– Nuclear deterrence was effective after World War Two, during the Cold War, but not now. No umbrella will help because now we have completely different weapons, a completely different nature of war. Nuclear weapons will not scare anybody.

“An obsolete instrument”

As recently as November, Russia updated its nuclear doctrine and opened the door to using tactical nuclear weapons in response to large-scale conventional military attacks a move that has led to increased concern in several European capitals.

Despite this, Grybauskaité tried to downplay fears of nuclear weapons as completely unfounded – and instead turned the threat back on Moscow:

– There is no need to fear and there is no need to pay attention as it is an obsolete instrument and there is nothing to fear. The Russians may be afraid of nuclear weapons themselves, so let them be afraid.

It should be noted that Dalia Grybauskaité has long been one of the most vocal advocates in Europe for a more confrontational line toward Russia. Throughout the war in Ukraine, she has repeatedly criticized the West’s stance in the conflict and called for more direct military involvement from NATO including attacks on Russian targets. According to Grybauskaité, the only way to stop Putin is to meet him with military force, not diplomacy.

War can only be stopped by a war”, she has declared, arguing that “if we do not stop Putin in Ukraine, we will still have to fight a war, but in our countries”.

White South Africans granted refuge in Trump’s US: “Genocide is taking place”

Donald Trump's USA

Published yesterday 8:17
– By Editorial Staff
The first 59 white South Africans are welcomed by the US State Department.

The Trump administration has begun relocating white South Africans to the US. The president himself defends the decision by saying that the group is being subjected to genocide – but that this is being hushed up because it is white people who are affected.

Fifty-nine white South Africans have already been flown into the country and, according to the Trump administration, are the first in a larger relocation of Afrikaners – a white minority group subjected to widespread violence, persecution, and discrimination in their homeland.

The program, which was presented in February, prioritizes Afrikaners who are considered to be in constant danger due to violence and harassment in predominantly black South Africa.

– Because they’re being killed. And we don’t want to see people be killed… it’s a genocide that’s taking place. Farmers are being killed. They happen to be white, Trump said in a press statement when a journalist demanded an answer as to why the president wanted to help white refugees in particular.

Afrikaners – mainly descendants of Dutch and French settlers who came to South Africa hundreds of years ago – make up about 2.7 million of South Africa’s 62 million inhabitants.

Many live in rural areas, where violent crime against farmers is common, and although there are no longer any official statistics, it is clear that thousands of white South Africans have been murdered in recent decades.

South African government denies persecution

Trump and several of his advisers, including South African Elon Musk, have pointed out that the murders are often motivated by racial hatred and that the victims are targeted because they are white.

However, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola rejects the accusations and claims that “there is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans”.

– White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans, he claims.

The South African government further claims that Afrikaners are better off than most people in the country and that misinformation and inaccurate reporting are behind the perception that the group is particularly vulnerable.

Journalists, lobby organizations promoting mass immigration, and political opponents have also reacted with dismay to Trump’s decision to focus on helping white refugees rather than people of non-European descent.

“Brutally killed”

However, Trump stands his ground and emphasizes that he is not helping the Afrikaners because of their skin color, but because they are suffering from something horrific something that is being silenced by Western media.

– Whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me, but white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.

– The newspapers and the media, television media, doesn’t even talk about it. If it were the other way round, they’d talk about it, that would be the only story they talk about. I don’t care who they are. I don’t care about their race, their color, I don’t care about their height, their weight, I don’t care about anything, I just know that what is happening is terrible.

Earlier this year, The Nordic Times highlighted the lives and history of the Afrikaners in a lengthy cultural article.

Top EU court rules on von der Leyen’s secret Pfizer messages

The criticized covid vaccinations

Published 13 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
According to critics, transparency in the EU has decreased significantly under von der Leyen's rule.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s handling of secret text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is now under scrutiny in a court case that threatens to destroy her political legacy and further erode confidence in the EU’s decision-making process.

Tomorrow, the EU General Court will rule on whether the European Commission broke the law by refusing to release text messages exchanged between von der Leyen and Bourla during negotiations on a controversial COVID-19 vaccine deal worth billions.

The ruling is expected to further undermine confidence in von der Leyen’s leadership, which is already heavily criticized for its abuse of power and centralization of decision-making. Among other things, the case concerns whether text messages should be classified as official documents and thus subject to EU transparency rules.

The case was initiated by The New York Times and its former Brussels correspondent, who took the matter to court after the Commission’s decision to refuse to publish the text messages in 2022.

In an interview with the NYT in 2021, Bourla revealed that he and von der Leyen had built up a “deep trust” through their text message negotiations. The agreement, which was concluded in May 2021, meant that the EU purchased up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID vaccine – the largest single vaccine purchase during the COVID crisis.

– This court ruling could mark a turning point for transparency in the EU. When it comes to key decisions, particularly those affecting public health, secrecy should be avoided, said Shari Hinds, EU policy director at Transparency International.

“The elephant who wasn’t in the room”

In 2022, EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly (2013–2025) ruled that the Commission had committed serious administrative errors by not even searching for the text messages. She called it a “wake-up call” for the EU institutions and said that transparency had declined during von der Leyen’s tenure.

– Information is being held back for political reasons and that culture comes from the top, O’Reilly told Politico in 2023, also criticizing von der Leyen’s absence during the trial:

– The elephant who wasn’t in the room. The one person who could tell us everything wasn’t there.

The European Commission has repeatedly refused to comment on the case, but an official claimed at a press conference that the vaccine agreements were negotiated with the full support of the member states.

“Transparency must be a priority”

The court has previously criticized the Commission’s censorship of the vaccine contracts, large parts of which have been classified as confidential on the grounds of commercial interests.

Tilly Metz, a Green MEP, was one of many who soon wondered who or what was behind von der Leyen’s reluctance to share the information.

– She gets bad advice there. If you want the public to be confident and trust the politicians and what they do – and the contacts they do with industry – you have to put the focus on transparency.

“Confused” dossier

During a hearing in November 2023, judges expressed skepticism about the Commission’s refusal to hand over the text messages. When the Commission’s lawyers finally acknowledged that the messages existed, they were met with laughter in the courtroom.

– We do not deny that they exist, said Commission lawyer Paolo Stancanelli during the hearing. He defended the Commission’s actions by arguing that the text messages were not relevant to the contract negotiations – a claim that the judges sharply questioned.

One judge, José Martín y Pérez de Nanclares, ruled that the Commission had not taken “adequate and diligent measures” to justify the secrecy, while another, Paul Nihoul, criticized the “relatively confused” dossier.

The pressure on von der Leyen is increasing further through an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), which is looking into how the vaccine purchases were handled. In March, EPPO chief Laura Codruța Kövesi also confirmed that Commission officials had been questioned.

The EPPO is refraining from commenting on ongoing investigations, but the case risks further increasing mistrust in von der Leyen’s leadership and is expected to make it even more difficult for her to hold together an already deeply divided EU alliance.

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