April 18 — Putin in Ukraine, Covid Origins, and CRISPR vs. Cattle Emissions

Every day, I ask ChatGPT to read the top 1000 trending news and post only the important ones. No junk news, ever: if nothing important happens, nothing gets posted.

Today we have 8 articles with a score over 6.5:

After removing duplicates and repeats, here is today’s top 5:

Russian President Putin visits military headquarters in Ukraine. — ABC News

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited military headquarters in Russian-controlled Ukraine to discuss the war with a general from Russia's airborne troops. Putin attended a military command meeting in relation to the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, both of which Moscow has proclaimed part of Russia. The visit was not dated. Meanwhile, Poland and Ukraine are set to resume negotiations to reopen the transit of food and grains, according to the Polish agriculture minister. Some Black Sea ports were blocked after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, leaving large quantities of Ukrainian grain trapped in Central Europe because of logistical bottlenecks.

China's Q1 GDP growth surpasses expectations but faces an uneven recovery. — Reuters, Financial Times

China's economy grew by 4.5% YoY in Q1 2023, beating analyst forecasts and marking the strongest growth in a year, as the end of COVID curbs lifted businesses and consumers. Retail sales and exports expanded significantly in March, indicating China is on track to meet or exceed its 5% growth target for the year. However, economists warn of an uneven recovery with the property sector under pressure, record high youth unemployment, and headwinds from a global slowdown. Policymakers have pledged to step up support for the economy as China faces a weaker outlook due to declining global demand for exports and banking sector turmoil overseas.

Poor diet responsible for over 70% of new type 2 diabetes cases globally, study finds. — The Independent

Poor diet contributed to over 14.1 million cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018, more than 70% of new diagnoses worldwide, according to a study by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. The study analysed data from 1990 to 2018 to identify which dietary factors were driving the disease. The research model of dietary intake in 184 countries revealed that insufficient intake of whole grains, excesses of refined rice and wheat, and overconsumption of processed meat were the three main factors. Drinking too much fruit juice and not eating enough non-starchy vegetables, nuts or seeds had less of an impact.

US Senate report suggests Covid-19 pandemic was "research-related incident" at Wuhan lab. — The Telegraph

A US Senate report has concluded that the Covid-19 pandemic was probably the result of a "research-related incident" at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, and that the theory that the virus jumped from animals to humans in a market no longer deserved the "presumption of accuracy". The report suggested that advocates of the natural transmission theory "must provide clear and convincing evidence" for their argument. However, the report did not offer a "definitive" conclusion on the origin of the pandemic and said that more information was needed to arrive at a more precise understanding.

UC Davis scientists collaborate with UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco researchers on a $70-million donor-funded initiative to reduce cattle emissions using CRISPR genome-editing technology. — University of California, Davis

Scientists from the University of California, Davis, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco are collaborating on a $70m initiative to reduce climate change-causing emissions from cattle by using CRISPR genome-editing technology on microbes in cows' guts. The project, funded by TED's Audacious Project, will be led by UC Berkeley's Professors Jennifer Doudna and Jill Banfield, who will build a toolkit to address global problems in climate and human health by applying CRISPR genome editing and genome-resolved metagenomics to complex microbial communities known as microbiomes.

Thanks for reading us and see you tomorrow,
The News Minimalist