🌎 Millions infected with dengue this year in new record as hotter temperatures cause virus to flare

Dengue is sweeping across the Western Hemisphere in numbers not seen since record-keeping began more than four decades ago, with experts warning that rising temperatures and rapid urbanization are accelerating the pace of infections.

A record more than 4 million cases have been reported throughout the Americas and Caribbean so far this year, surpassing a previous record set in 2019, with officials from the Bahamas to Brazil warning of crowded clinics and new infections daily. More than 2,000 deaths in that region also have been reported.

Poor sanitation and a lack of robust health systems have contributed to a rise in cases, but experts say droughts and floods linked to climate change are causing greater transmission of the virus, with stored water and heavy rains attracting mosquitoes.

🔎 Source
#LatAm #Caribbean

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇨🇳 China went from a 7nm break through in August to a 5nm break through in November to a 3nm break through this week in December

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tech-war-china-memory-chip-093000390.html

📎 Jason Smith

Presidents of Guyana and Venezuela are already in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

https://elpublicotv.com/presidentes-de-guyana-y-venezuela-ya-estan-en-san-vicente-y-las-granadinas/

Ledger update.
My recommendation: DON'T USE LEDGER https://twitter.com/Ledger/status/1735326240658100414?t=HJYtBeJ8MVZgSQ1Z5UiD6A&s=19

— 🇮🇷/🇮🇱 Iranian Defense Minister: 'The Red Sea is under our control and no one can maneuver in it without our permission'

@Middle_East_Spectator

NEW - The sun emitted an X2.8 solar flare today, the strongest solar flare of the current solar cycle.

@disclosetv

Tether claims that it has voluntarily frozen 161 sanctioned USDT addresses as part of a new policy introduced to help it work with regulators and law enforcement agencies.

Specifically, it’s complying with the sanctions list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) drawn up by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

It’s also going along with a number of other law enforcement seizure requests.

However, skeptics doubt that its new policy is voluntary given that a few weeks prior to the action, US Secret Service and FBI agents began surveilling the firm.

https://protos.com/tether-rarely-minded-law-enforcement-now-it-suddenly-does/

— 🇺🇸/🇮🇱/🇱🇧 BREAKING: The U.S. National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan has told Israeli Officials that Washington will back an Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah if a diplomatic deal fails - Ynet

@Middle_East_Spectator

🇨🇦 🇭🇰 A rising trend of immigrants leaving Canada risks undermining one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's signature policies, which granted permanent residency to a record 2.5 million people in just eight years

🔶️ Hong Kong people and other immigrants are fleeing Canada because of the high cost of living. In just the first six months of 2023, about 42,000 individuals of various origins left the country, the Canadian government reported. This was on top of 93,818 people who left in 2022 and 85,927 who headed for the exit in 2021, said Statistics Canada.

🔶️ Reuters interviewed a Hong Kong woman named Cara, 25, who came to Canada in 2022. She pays C$650 (US$474 or HK$3,700) in monthly rent for a single-room basement apartment in Scarborough, north of Toronto, which is about 30 per cent of her monthly take-home salary. “I never realized that living in a Western country, you can only afford renting a room in the basement,” she said.

📎 Reuters

⚔️ 🇹🇩 🌍 Will Africa’s Next Coup Be in Chad?

🔶️ "Chad is holding a constitutional referendum on Sunday, the outcome of which could further destabilize the Sahel."

https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/12/13/africa-deby-coup-chad-sudan-darfur

https://archive.ph/mS7G9