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COP26 Diplomatic Briefing: Climate Ambition in Europe and its Potential Global Impact

17 February 2020 - 8:30am to 10:00am

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Jacob Werksman, Principal Adviser to Directorate General for Climate Action, European Commission
Imke Lübbeke, Head of EU Climate and Energy Policy, WWF European Policy Office 
Simon Petrie, Head of International Climate Strategy - Europe, UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Jen Austin, Policy Director, We Mean Business Coalition
Chair: Jill Duggan, Associate Fellow, Chatham House

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has declared that she wants Europe to become ‘the first climate-neutral continent by 2050’, and in December 2019, the Commission presented the European Green Deal in order to achieve this objective. However, even though greenhouse gas emissions from the EU have fallen by more than 20 per cent since 1990, the Union remains the third largest emitter in the world, after the United States and China.

What are the opportunities and challenges for raising climate ambition in Europe?  Will the EU increase its Nationally Determined Contribution and what impact might this have globally? How might Brexit affect climate action in the EU and the UK?  The second event in the Chatham House COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series will address these critical questions.

Anna Aberg

Research Analyst, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme
020 7314 3629




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COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series: Climate Change and National Security

Research Event

25 March 2020 - 9:00am to 10:30am

Event participants

Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, Departmental Lead for Climate Change and Sustainability in the UK Ministry of Defence
Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, Vice Dean (Public Policy) Engineering Sciences at the University College London and Associate Fellow at Chatham House
Dr. Patricia Lewis, Research Director for Conflict, Science and Technology, and Director of the International Security Programme at Chatham House
Professor Yacob Mulugetta, Professor of Energy and Development Policy at the University College London
Chair: Glada Lahn, Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House
Extreme weather, rising sea levels and a melting Arctic - the effects of climate change are posing an increasingly large threat to national security worldwide. Although the issue has gained traction within the international community in recent years, including within the UN Security Council, it is urgent that governments act more decisively to mitigate and respond to the threat, not least given that climate change is happening faster and in a more powerful way than originally anticipated.
 
The third event in the Chatham House COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series – 'Climate Change and National Security' - will analyze how climate change acts as a threat multiplier, fuelling instability and endangering economic, social and political systems across the globe. The briefing will also provide recommendations of what governments and other stakeholders should do to develop effective responses.
 

Anna Aberg

Research Analyst, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme
020 7314 3629




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Webinar: Director's Briefing – China's Economic Outlook

Corporate Members Event Webinar Partners and Major Corporates

8 April 2020 - 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Online

Event participants

Dr Yu Jie, Senior Research Fellow on China, Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House
James Kynge, Global China Editor, Financial Times; Editor, Tech Scroll Asia
Chair: Dr Robin Niblett, Director and Chief Executive, Chatham House

Only a few months into 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has presented a huge challenge for China’s ruling party against an already tumultuous 12 months of economic slowdown coupled with an increasingly hostile international environment. The crisis looks set to worsen a deteriorating relationship between the US and China as the two countries battle to avoid further economic ramifications. It has also undermined President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party’s domestic political legitimacy and economic growth.

The panellists will examine the wider geopolitical fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and discuss China’s future economic planning. How will the COVID-19 outbreak further strain the US-China relationship? What effect will this have on global trade and vulnerable supply chains at a time when cooperation is needed more than ever? And to what extent is the ruling party addressing growing concerns over job losses, wealth inequality and a lack of social mobility?

This event is only open to Major Corporate Member and Partner organizations and selected giving circles of Chatham House. If you'd like to attend, please RSVP to Linda Bedford.




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CBD News: Statement by Dr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, at the occasion of the DPI Briefing for the Community of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) on Biodiversity - The Basis for Human Well-Being: Cele




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CBD News: Statement Delivered by Ms. Gabrielle Obermayr, Member of the Bureau of CBD SBSTTA-14, on the occasion of the UNFCCC SBSTA-32 on 31 May 2010, Bonn, Germany.




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CBD Communiqué: Convention Secretariat Briefs Parliament of Botswana on the Role Parliamentarians Should Play in Biodiversity Management.




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CBD Press Release: Policy makers and senior officials briefed on the coherent implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Nagoya Protocol




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CBD News: Biodiversity at the centre of sustainable development: CBD Executive Secretary Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias briefs UN Secretary-General, senior UN officials.




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CBD News: I would like to thank Ms. Naoko Ishii for inviting me to brief the Council on the recent developments under the Convention on Biological Diversity. As you may be aware, I started my tenure as the Executive Secretary of the Convention just two mo




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CBD Notification SCBD/OES/EM/DC/JMF/88496 (2019-104): Informal briefing by the Co-chairs of the Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, 24 November 2019 - Montreal, Canada




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CBD Notification SCBD/IMS/JMF/88658 (2020-015): Time Slots for Regional Briefings on the Zero-Draft




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A Brief History of the Development of Diabetes Medications

John R. White
May 1, 2014; 27:82-86
From Research to Practice




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Newsbriefs




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Congressional Briefing: Diagnostic Imaging and Alzheimer Disease




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Business Briefs

Branson Centre goes digital The Caribbean branch of Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship has shifted fully to online delivery of its services. This includes online training and support in three business development areas: finance, strategic...




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COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series: Outcomes of COP25 and What It Means for 2020

Invitation Only Research Event

22 January 2020 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

HE Raffaele Trombetta, Italian Ambassador to the UK, Co-Host, COP 26
Archie Young, UK Lead Climate Negotiator, Cabinet Office 
Peter Betts, Associate Fellow, Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House
Chair: Professor Tim Benton, Research Director, Energy, Environment and Resources, Chatham House  

The UK will host the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) in November 2020 in Glasgow. In the run up, Chatham House is organizing a monthly briefing series targeted to:

  • The diplomatic service based in London, in particular, staff of the London embassies who are reporting on climate change issues.
  • Senior UK government civil servants, officials and politicians engaged in climate change.
  • Academics, experts, business representatives and NGOs.

The first briefing in the series focuses on the results from COP25 held in Madrid in December 2019 and what this means for 2020.

This briefings series offer an opportunity to discuss, in an informal setting, the most pressing and complex climate issues of the day with UK and international government officials and experts.

Johanna Tilkanen

Project Manager, Energy, Environment and Resources Department

Event attributes

Chatham House Rule




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COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series

In the run-up to COP26 in Glasgow, Chatham House is organizing monthly briefings about the UN climate negotiations and climate change more broadly. The events provide an excellent opportunity to discuss the most pressing and complex climate issues of the day with government officials, renowned experts and members of the London-based diplomatic community.

In 2021 the UK is hosting the 26th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP26, in partnership with Italy. The meeting constitutes a particularly important COP, given its strong focus on raising climate ambition. It is expected that COP26 will be the largest conference the UK has ever hosted, with up to 200 world leaders attending the final weekend.
 
London is host to one of the world’s largest diplomatic communities, with over 180 embassies and 4000 diplomatic staff. In the run-up to COP26, Chatham House is organizing monthly briefings on key issues related to the COP negotiations and climate change more broadly. The events, which currently take the form of webinars due to COVID-19, are open to members of the London-based diplomatic community and representatives from the UK Government. Reports from the events are published on the event pages below.
  
Would you like to attend or learn more about the diplomatic briefings? Please contact Anna Aberg on AAberg@chathamhouse.org.

Department contact

Anna Aberg

Research Analyst, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme
020 7314 3629




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COP26 Diplomatic Briefing: Climate Ambition in Europe and its Potential Global Impact

17 February 2020 - 8:30am to 10:00am

Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

Jacob Werksman, Principal Adviser to Directorate General for Climate Action, European Commission
Imke Lübbeke, Head of EU Climate and Energy Policy, WWF European Policy Office 
Simon Petrie, Head of International Climate Strategy - Europe, UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Jen Austin, Policy Director, We Mean Business Coalition
Chair: Jill Duggan, Associate Fellow, Chatham House

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has declared that she wants Europe to become ‘the first climate-neutral continent by 2050’, and in December 2019, the Commission presented the European Green Deal in order to achieve this objective. However, even though greenhouse gas emissions from the EU have fallen by more than 20 per cent since 1990, the Union remains the third largest emitter in the world, after the United States and China.

What are the opportunities and challenges for raising climate ambition in Europe?  Will the EU increase its Nationally Determined Contribution and what impact might this have globally? How might Brexit affect climate action in the EU and the UK?  The second event in the Chatham House COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series will address these critical questions.

Anna Aberg

Research Analyst, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme
020 7314 3629




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COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series: Climate Change and National Security

Research Event

25 March 2020 - 9:00am to 10:30am

Event participants

Lieutenant General Richard Nugee, Departmental Lead for Climate Change and Sustainability in the UK Ministry of Defence
Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, Vice Dean (Public Policy) Engineering Sciences at the University College London and Associate Fellow at Chatham House
Dr. Patricia Lewis, Research Director for Conflict, Science and Technology, and Director of the International Security Programme at Chatham House
Professor Yacob Mulugetta, Professor of Energy and Development Policy at the University College London
Chair: Glada Lahn, Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House
Extreme weather, rising sea levels and a melting Arctic - the effects of climate change are posing an increasingly large threat to national security worldwide. Although the issue has gained traction within the international community in recent years, including within the UN Security Council, it is urgent that governments act more decisively to mitigate and respond to the threat, not least given that climate change is happening faster and in a more powerful way than originally anticipated.
 
The third event in the Chatham House COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series – 'Climate Change and National Security' - will analyze how climate change acts as a threat multiplier, fuelling instability and endangering economic, social and political systems across the globe. The briefing will also provide recommendations of what governments and other stakeholders should do to develop effective responses.
 

Anna Aberg

Research Analyst, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme
020 7314 3629




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COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series: Money Matters: Climate Finance and the COP

Research Event

20 April 2020 - 9:00am to 10:30am

Event participants

Tenzin Wangmo, Lead Negotiator of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group 
Mattias Frumerie, Director at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Rachel Ward, Programme Director and Head of Policy at the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change
Iseoluwa Akintunde, Mo Ibrahim Academy Fellow at Chatham House
Chair: Kirsty Hamilton, Associate Fellow, Chatham House

Finance plays a key role in enabling climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is also a contested issue in the UN climate negotiations. The fourth event in the Chatham House COP26 Diplomatic Briefing Series will explore the politics of climate finance in the context of the COP, and provide a comprehensive update of the main climate finance-related negotiation items and processes. The topic is particularly timely given that the UK Government has made climate finance one of its top thematic priorities for COP26 and that 2020 constitutes the deadline for developed countries to mobilise USD 100 billion per year to support climate action in developing countries.

Anna Aberg

Research Analyst, Energy, Environment and Resources Programme
020 7314 3629




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As Global Refugee Forum approaches, MPI Europe brief offers a road map for smart investment in refugee sponsorship programmes

BRUSSELS — Even as the number of refugees in need of protection has reached an all-time high, the resettlement spots offered by countries in 2018 were less than half the level in 2016—and future commitments may shrink further. With refugee needs high and generosity dimming, there is increasing urgency for humanitarian actors to find new ways to bring refugees to safety as well as to rebuild public interest and consensus around the importance of protection.




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As European policymakers take stock of seasonal worker programmes, MPI Europe brief outlines principles to improve these schemes for all parties

Findings will be discussed during 25 February MPI Europe – SVR webinar




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Helping Patients Make and Sustain Healthy Changes: A Brief Introduction to Motivational Interviewing in Clinical Diabetes Care

Michele Heisler
Oct 1, 2008; 26:161-165
Practical Pointers




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Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed

A collection of short news stories from this week.




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Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed

A collection of short news stories from this week.




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Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed

A special state panel in Wisconsin has rejected a financially strapped district's request to dissolve.




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Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed

Education Week catches you up on the week gone by with a thoughtful look at recent news in K-12 education.




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Gabriel Jesus on Football in Brazil

Gabriel Jesus breaks down football in Brazil.




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How to Brief a Barrister.




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Forensic Biology and DNA: A brief intro to the basics and the issues.




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How to brief a barrister




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Rusted off : why country Australia is fed up / Gabrielle Chan.

Country life -- Australia.




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Homo deus : a brief history of tomorrow / Yuval Noah Harari.

Technological forecasting.




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Die Menstruation in ihren physiologischen, pathologischen und therapeutischen Beziehung / von A. Brierre de Boismont ; aus dem Franzosischen von J.C. Krafft ; mit Zusatzen versehen von A. Moser.

Berlin : T. Trautwein, 1842.




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Domestic medicine : plain and brief directions for the treatment requisite before advice can be obtained / by Offley Bohun Shore.

Edinburgh : W.P. Nimmo, [1867]




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Electricity : its application in medicine and surgery : a brief and practical exposition of modern scientific electro-therapeutics / by Wellington Adams.

Detroit, Mich. : G.S. Davis, 1891.




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Alaska: A Brief History of the State and Its Schools

Alaskan schooling developed on many fronts. An illustrated timeline adds historical context for the growth of the state's education system, from the territory’s earliest Native inhabitants to today.




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Les oeuures du R. P. Gabriel de Castaigne, tant medicinales que chymiques, : diuisées en quatre principaux traitez. I. Le paradis terrestre. II. Le grand miracle de la nature metallique. III. L'or potable. IV. Le thresor philosophique de la medec

A Paris : Chez Iean Dhourry, au bout du Pont-Neuf, près les Augustins, à l'Image S. Iean, M. DC. LXI. [1661]




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Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed

Education Week catches you up on the week gone by with a thoughtful look at recent news in K-12 education.




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Briefly Stated: Stories You May Have Missed (Nov. 13, 2019)

A collection of short news stories from the last week.




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NBCSN’s Hockey Happy Hour: Hecht, Briere lead Sabres in most recent playoff win

Led by Hecht’s two goals and Briere’s three assists, the Sabres emerged with a 5-4 victory to claim what remains their most recent playoff series win.




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Echelet picumne and echelet grimpeur, male / by Jean Gabriel Prêtre, 1824




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A brief review of optimal scaling of the main MCMC approaches and optimal scaling of additive TMCMC under non-regular cases

Kushal K. Dey, Sourabh Bhattacharya.

Source: Brazilian Journal of Probability and Statistics, Volume 33, Number 2, 222--266.

Abstract:
Transformation based Markov Chain Monte Carlo (TMCMC) was proposed by Dutta and Bhattacharya ( Statistical Methodology 16 (2014) 100–116) as an efficient alternative to the Metropolis–Hastings algorithm, especially in high dimensions. The main advantage of this algorithm is that it simultaneously updates all components of a high dimensional parameter using appropriate move types defined by deterministic transformation of a single random variable. This results in reduction in time complexity at each step of the chain and enhances the acceptance rate. In this paper, we first provide a brief review of the optimal scaling theory for various existing MCMC approaches, comparing and contrasting them with the corresponding TMCMC approaches.The optimal scaling of the simplest form of TMCMC, namely additive TMCMC , has been studied extensively for the Gaussian proposal density in Dey and Bhattacharya (2017a). Here, we discuss diffusion-based optimal scaling behavior of additive TMCMC for non-Gaussian proposal densities—in particular, uniform, Student’s $t$ and Cauchy proposals. Although we could not formally prove our diffusion result for the Cauchy proposal, simulation based results lead us to conjecture that at least the recipe for obtaining general optimal scaling and optimal acceptance rate holds for the Cauchy case as well. We also consider diffusion based optimal scaling of TMCMC when the target density is discontinuous. Such non-regular situations have been studied in the case of Random Walk Metropolis Hastings (RWMH) algorithm by Neal and Roberts ( Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability 13 (2011) 583–601) using expected squared jumping distance (ESJD), but the diffusion theory based scaling has not been considered. We compare our diffusion based optimally scaled TMCMC approach with the ESJD based optimally scaled RWM with simulation studies involving several target distributions and proposal distributions including the challenging Cauchy proposal case, showing that additive TMCMC outperforms RWMH in almost all cases considered.




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Gabrielle Union's Mesmerizing Tie Dye Activewear Set Is On Sale for Black Friday

The rainbow sports bra and leggings set from Splits59 is a must-have for anyone craving a pop of color in their workout wardrobe.




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BIS Quarterly Review, September 2019 - media briefing

On-the-record remarks of the September 2019 Quarterly Review media briefing by Mr Claudio Borio, Head of the Monetary and Economic Department, and Mr Hyun Song Shin, Economic Adviser and Head of Research, 20 September 2019.




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BIS Quarterly Review, December 2019 - media briefing

On-the-record remarks of the December 2019 Quarterly Review media briefing by Mr Claudio Borio, Head of the Monetary and Economic Department, and Mr Hyun Song Shin, Economic Adviser and Head of Research, 6 December 2019.




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The Frog Motor Nerve Terminal Has Very Brief Action Potentials and Three Electrical Regions Predicted to Differentially Control Transmitter Release

The action potential (AP) waveform controls the opening of voltage-gated calcium channels and contributes to the driving force for calcium ion flux that triggers neurotransmission at presynaptic nerve terminals. Although the frog neuromuscular junction (NMJ) has long been a model synapse for the study of neurotransmission, its presynaptic AP waveform has never been directly studied, and thus the AP waveform shape and propagation through this long presynaptic nerve terminal are unknown. Using a fast voltage-sensitive dye, we have imaged the AP waveform from the presynaptic terminal of male and female frog NMJs and shown that the AP is very brief in duration and actively propagated along the entire length of the terminal. Furthermore, based on measured AP waveforms at different regions along the length of the nerve terminal, we show that the terminal is divided into three distinct electrical regions: A beginning region immediately after the last node of Ranvier where the AP is broadest, a middle region with a relatively consistent AP duration, and an end region near the tip of nerve terminal branches where the AP is briefer. We hypothesize that these measured changes in the AP waveform along the length of the motor nerve terminal may explain the proximal-distal gradient in transmitter release previously reported at the frog NMJ.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The AP waveform plays an essential role in determining the behavior of neurotransmission at the presynaptic terminal. Although the frog NMJ is a model synapse for the study of synaptic transmission, there are many unknowns centered around the shape and propagation of its presynaptic AP waveform. Here, we demonstrate that the presynaptic terminal of the frog NMJ has a very brief AP waveform and that the motor nerve terminal contains three distinct electrical regions. We propose that the changes in the AP waveform as it propagates along the terminal can explain the proximal-distal gradient in transmitter release seen in electrophysiological studies.




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A Brief History of Smokey Bear, the Forest Service's Legendary Mascot

How the beloved figure has become a lightning rod in a heated environmental debate




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The Dwight Ball Show: How the COVID-19 briefings took a political turn

The COVID-19 briefings started out as an urgent response to a public health crisis. As John Gushue writes, Premier Dwight Ball has grown comfortable in the role of hosting a program focused on government programs.



  • News/Canada/Nfld. & Labrador

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Stop Airing Trump’s Briefings!

The media is allowing disinformation to appear as news.