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The wild NFC East will largely shape crowded conference playoff race

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A blockbuster Facebook office deal is a make-or-break moment for the future of commercial real estate. 3 leasing experts lay out the stakes.

  • Facebook has been in negotiations for months to lease over 700,000 square feet at the Farley Building on Manhattan's West Side. 
  • Office leasing activity in the city has plummeted, giving the blockbuster deal even more importance as a sign of life in a suddenly lethargic market.
  • The coronavirus has spurred a deep downturn in the economy that is already being felt in the city's commercial real-estate market, prompting a big slowdown in leasing activity.  
  • The rapid expansion of tech in recent years has propelled the city's office market. Real estate execs say that Facebook's big deal is a key barometer. 
  • The crisis also raises questions whether tenants will ever occupy office space the same way as companies and their workforces around the world grow familiar with remote work. 
  • Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Leasing activity in New York City's multi-billion-dollar commercial office market has dropped precipitously as the coronavirus has battered the market and raised questions of when — and even if — tenants can return to the workplace in a post-Covid world.

Amid the growing concerns the crisis will smother what had been robust demand for office space, eyes in the city's real estate industry have turned to a pending blockbuster deal on the West Side that could offer a signal of confidence to the market.

Facebook is in talks to take over 700,000 square feet of space in the Farley Building, a block-long property across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station.

"If that deal happens, then this market will be just fine," said Peter Riguardi, the New York area chairman and president of JLL. "If the deal happens but it's renegotiated, it will be fine, but it will be a trend that every tenant can follow. And if it doesn't happen, I would be very concerned about the market."

Read More: Inside the drama over control of the iconic Chrysler Building: A real-estate tycoon and a prestigious college are renegotiating a critical $150 million deal.

Facebook's NYC real-estate footprint

Last year, Facebook signed on for 1.5 million square feet in the Hudson Yards mega-development just west of the Farley Building, taking space in three new office towers at the project.

For months the $600 billion Silicon Valley-based social media giant has been in negotiations for even more space at the nearby Farley Building, whose interior landlord Vornado Realty Trust is redeveloping to include newly built office and retail space.

Vornado had originally expected to complete the deal with Facebook in early March, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The talks have continued on as the virus pandemic has brought commerce and social life to a virtual halt. The source expected the lease, which will commit Facebook to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in rent for the space over the life of the lease, to soon be completed.

In a conference call with investors and analysts on Tuesday to discuss Vornado's first-quarter earnings, the company's CEO Steve Roth also hinted that the Facebook deal was still on track.

"There's another large tenant that has been rumored to be that we've been in dialogue with," Roth said, not directly naming the company. "That conversation is going forward aggressively and hopefully maybe even almost complete."

Rapid growth in Big Tech leasing before coronavirus

Recent real-estate decisions by Facebook and other tech companies have worried real-estate executives that they may reconsider their footprint after years of dramatic growth. Facebook on Thursday revealed that the bulk of its over 40,000-person workforce will be asked to work remotely for the remainder of the year, a timeline that appears to show the company is using caution in returning to its footprint.

Read More: Neiman Marcus just filed for bankruptcy, and it could mark a major blow to NYC's glitzy Hudson Yards — one of the most expensive mega-malls in US history. Here's why.

Real-estate executives have expressed concern that tenants may become accustomed to offloading a portion or even the bulk of their workforce to a remote-working model, leading them to drastically reduce their office commitments.

At a minimum, the economic upheaval has appeared to spur a newfound sense of caution in tech companies that have grown rapidly in recent years. Alphabet called off negotiations to expand its San Francisco offices by over 2 million square feet in recent weeks, according to a report from The Information.  

Tech has been a big driver of demand for office space

In recent years the tech industry had become one of the most voracious takers of space in the city, helping to push up commercial rents and spur the construction of new office space.

In 2019, tech firms accounted for 24.5% of the 31.6 million square feet of leasing activity in Manhattan, eclipsing the financial industry as the city's biggest space-taking sector for the first time, according to data from the real estate services and brokerage firm CBRE.

In 2010 tech leasing comprised just 4% of the 24.2 million square feet that was leased in the Manhattan market that year, CBRE said.

"Nothing has buoyed the confidence of landlords more in recent years than tech tenants," said Sacha Zarba, a leasing executive at CBRE who specializes in working with tech firms. "It didn't matter where your building was. If it was attractive to tech, you would stand a good chance to lease your space. If that industry retrenches a bit, it removes a big driver of demand."

The Manhattan office market has slowed rapidly in recent weeks as the virus crisis has battered the economy and shut down daily life.

About 844,000 square feet of space was leased in Manhattan in April, according to CBRE, 64% lower than the five-year monthly average. In the first four months of the year, nearly seven million square feet was leased, a decline of 30% for the same period a year ago. 

So far, however, there are signs that tech continues to snap up space.

After scuttling plans to develop a 25,000 person second headquarters space in Long Island City last year, Amazon purchased 424 Fifth Avenue, a former flagship department store for Lord & Taylor, for nearly $1 billion in March. That property totals about 660,000 square feet. Late last year, before the pandemic hit U.S. shores but had flared in China, Amazon also leased 335,000 square feet at 410 Tenth Avenue.

The commitments of major tech companies absorb millions of square feet in the city, but they also help fuel a larger ecosystem of tenants that occupies an even larger footprint. That means that a decrease in the real estate of just a few big tech players could be multiplied across the market as smaller players in the sector follow suit.

"Those big tech firms do a fantastic job of training and credentialing tech talent on the city," said Matt Harrigan, a co-founder of Company, a space incubator at 335 Madison Avenue that provides offices and community for both startups and more established tech firms. "Google and Facebook spin off talent who start or join other tech ventures that take space. That's what's so important about having the large presence of those companies here."

Have a tip? Contact Daniel Geiger at dgeiger@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 352-2884, or Twitter DM at @dangeiger79. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

SEE ALSO: What to expect when you're back in the office: 7 real-estate experts break down what the transition will look like, and why the workplace may never be the same

SEE ALSO: Major tenants are delaying big leases in NYC as they re-think their office space needs for the post-coronavirus world

SEE ALSO: As WeWork and flex-space rivals stumble, 18 million square feet of space in NYC is at risk. Here's what that means for the real-estate market.

SEE ALSO: BI Prime Edit in Viking Neiman Marcus just filed for bankruptcy, and it could mark a major blow to NYC's glitzy Hudson Yards — one of the most expensive mega-malls in US history. Here's why.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tested a machine that brews beer at the push of a button




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Dock workers in Belgium are wearing monitoring bracelets that enforce social distancing — here's how they work

  • Dockworkers in Belgium are wearing bracelets to enforce social distancing.
  • The bracelets were already used to detect if someone fell into the water, but now they will sound an alarm if workers get to close to each other.
  • Manufacturers say there is no privacy issue and the bracelets don't track workers' locations, despite concerns.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Quarantine and social distancing are going high-tech as countries and companies embrace wearables. In Antwerp, Belgium, dockworkers are instructed to wear bracelets that enforce social distancing rules while they work.

Europe, where more than 100,000 people have died from COVID-19, is slowly starting to reopen in some places. Stay at home orders are expiring in many countries, while nonessential travel has stopped across the EU, and countries look towards the summer to anticipate what kind of travel might be possible. 

People are beginning to go back to work, which in some sectors means inevitable close contact, especially in many essential jobs. Social distancing bracelets in Belgium are one idea bing tested to see what the future of work might look like after coronavirus.

Here's how it works. 

SEE ALSO: People arriving in Hong Kong must wear tracking bracelets for 2 weeks or face jail time. Here's how they work.

The black, plastic bracelets are worn on the wrist like a watch.



They're made by Belgian company Rombit, which says that they are "a fully integrated personal safety and security device, specifically designed for highly industrial environments."

Source: Romware



Rombit already made bracelets useful in the port setting, which could be used to call for help if a worker fell into the water or another accident occurred.



Europe is slowly starting to go back to work, but fears of a second wave are making officials cautious.



Contact tracing is one solution being explored around the world, and the manufacturers of the bracelet believe it could also be used for contact tracing.

Source: The Associated Press



European health guidances say to wash hands, wear masks, and keep at least 1.5 meters, or about five feet, apart.



When two workers are less than five feet apart, the bracelets will sound warnings.



Rombit CEO John Baekelmans told Reuters that the bracelets won't allow companies to track employees' locations, because the devices are only connected to each other. He says there is no central server.

Source: Reuters



Workers in the control tower will be the first to test the bracelets early this month.



Then, the Port of Antwerp will likely expand the devices to tug boat workers.



Baekelmans told Reuters that Rombit already had hundreds of requests in 99 countries, and is hoping to ramp up production to 25,000 in a few weeks.






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Facebook's fight against coronavirus misinformation could boost pressure on the company to get more aggressive in removing other falsehoods spreading across the social network (FB)

  • Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation related to coronavirus than it has on other health topics in the past.
  • This decision may increase the pressure on the company to act more decisively against other forms of harmful falsehoods that spread on its social networks.
  • Facebook is banning events that promote flouting lockdown protests, and is removing the conspiracy theory video "Plandemic."
  • But false claims that vaccines are dangerous still proliferate on Facebook — even though they contribute to the deaths of children.

Amid the pandemic, Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation than it has in the past. That decision may come back to haunt it.

As coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the globe, forcing lockdowns and disrupting economies, false information and hoaxes have spread like wildfire on social media. Miracle cures, intentional disinformation about government policies, and wild claims that Bill Gates orchestrated the entire health crisis abound.

In the past, Facebook has been heavily criticised for failing to take action to stop its platform being used to facilitate the spread of misinformation. To be sure, coronavirus falsehoods are still easily found on Facebook — but the company has taken more decisive action than in previous years:

But Facebook's actions to combat COVID-19 misinformation may backfire — in the sense that it has the potential to dramatically increase pressure on the company to take stronger action against other forms of misinformation.

The company has long struggled with how to handle fake news and hoaxes; historically, its approach is not to delete them, but to try to artificially stifle their reach via algorithmic tweaks. Despite this, pseudoscience, anti-government conspiracy theories, and other falsehoods still abound on the social network.

Facebook has now demonstrated that it is willing to take more decisive action on misinformation, when the stakes are high enough. Its critics may subsequently ask why it is so reticent to combat the issue when it causes harm in other areas — particularly around other medical misinformation.

One expected defence for Facebook? That it is focused on taking down content that causes "imminent harm," and while COVID-19 misinformation falls into that category, lots of other sorts of falsehoods don't.

However, using "imminence" as the barometer of acceptability is dubious: Vaccine denialism directly results in the deaths of babies and children. That this harm isn't "imminent" doesn't make it any less dangerous — but, for now, such material is freely posted on Facebook.

Far-right conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, and more recent, Qanon, have also spread on Facebook — stoking baseless fears of shadowy cabals secretly controlling the government. These theories don't intrinsically incite harm, but have been linked to multiple acts of violence, from a Pizzagate believer firing his weapon in a pizza parlour to the Qanon-linked killing of a Gambino crime boss. (Earlier this week, Facebook did take down some popular QAnon pages — but for breaking its rules on fake profiles, rather than disinformation.)

And Facebook is still full of groups rallying against 5G technology, making evidence-free claims about its health effects (and now, sometimes linking it to coronavirus in a messy web). These posts exist on a continuum, with believers at the extreme end attempting to burn down radio towers and assault technicians; Facebook does take down such incitements to violence, but the more general fearmongering that can act as a gateway to more extreme action remains.

This week, Facebook announced the first 20 members of its Oversight Board — a "Supreme Court"-style entity that will review reports from users make rulings as to what objectionable content is and isn't allowed on Facebook and Instagram, with — in theory — the power to overrule the company. It remains to be seen whether its decisions may affect the company's approach for misinformation, and it still needs to appoint the rest of its members and get up and running.

For now, limits remain in place as to what Facebook will countenance in its fight against coronavirus-specific misinformation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would immediately take down posts advertising dangerous false cures to COVID-19, like drinking bleach. It is "obviously going to create imminent harm," he said in March. "That is just in a completely different class of content than the back-and-forth accusations a candidate might make in an election."

But in April, President Donald Trump suggested that people might try injecting a "disinfectant" as a cure, which both has the potential to be extremely harmful, and will not cure coronavirus.

Facebook is not taking down video of his comments.

Do you work at Facebook? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

SEE ALSO: Facebook announced the first 20 members of its oversight board that will decide what controversial content is allowed on Facebook and Instagram

Join the conversation about this story »

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Alyssa Milano faces backlash for supporting a Marianne Williamson fundraiser: ‘I know. I know.’

The "Charmed" actress defended her decision to help raise money for the controversial Democratic candidate, saying Williamson is addressing the "soulful ache of the nation."




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During the Mueller hearing, the hallway was really the place to be

Outside the committee room Wednesday, several lawmakers got to see and be seen.




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Kacey Musgraves, the rare country singer to address gun control, says ‘hold your politicians accountable’

The musician pointed out that she hails from Texas and is familiar with hunting and gun culture, but she said the recent tragedies deserve a different response.




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James Comey and Trump will face off again in new miniseries starring Jeff Daniels and Brendan Gleeson

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Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle face a barrage of tough questions on ‘The View’

During a somewhat combative episode, Megan McCain asked the president's son about the "pain" his family has caused.




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Money needs to get spent fast. Money needs to get spent well. To some extent, those objectives are in tension.




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States and cities should brace themselves for a downward spiral

Some states still haven’t recovered from the last recession. They could face worse now.




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How to Make a Face Mask

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends wearing cloth face masks in public when it is difficult to maintain proper distance from other people, such as when walking in a busy part of town or at the grocery store. They […]




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How to Make Video Calls with Facebook Messenger

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Fin24.com | WATCH | Facebook tries again with its Bitcoin rival

Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency could now launch in mid-November after a revamp aimed at mollifying its many critics.




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This Week in Apps: WWDC goes online, Android 11 delays, Facebook SDK turns into app kill switch

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News24.com | SONA: Slow pace of implementation eroding public’s confidence in the government




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News24.com | Measures in place to avoid the coronavirus are not practical for disadvantaged South Africans

It is at times like these that we as a country rely on the relevant stakeholders to take care of our people and put into action the promises made in the preamble of our Constitution, particularly where it is stated that through our freely elected representatives, the quality of life of all citizens is to be improved.




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AT#387 - Travel to Macedonia

Hear about travel to Macedonia as the Amateur Traveler talks to Kelsey of CineTraveler.com about her recent trip to this country in the Balkans. Macedonia is just north of Greece and probably best known as the home for Alexander the Great but Kelsey found much more to recommend in this much too overlooked country. In a week they were able to see much of the country.




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AT#458 - Volunteer Travel with Peace Corp Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet

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AT#697 - Travel to the Alsace Region of France

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Academic Who Infamously Mocked Barron Trump Gets Censorship Gig from Facebook

A powerful player on Facebook’s new content oversight board infamously mocked Barron Trump during last year’s impeachment hearings, sowing doubt in the social media platform’s promises of unbiased moderation. The selection of Pamela Karlan, a professor at Stanford Law School, was announced Wednesday by Facebook, according to CNBC. Karlan will sit alongside 19 other experts…

The post Academic Who Infamously Mocked Barron Trump Gets Censorship Gig from Facebook appeared first on The Western Journal.




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Predictions 2020: Facebook Caves, Google Zags, Netflix Sells Out, and Data Policy Gets Sexy

A new year brings another run at my annual predictions: For 17 years now, I’ve taken a few hours to imagine what might happen over the course of the coming twelve months. And my goodness did I swing for the fences last year — and I pretty much whiffed. Batting .300 is great in the majors, but it … Continue reading "Predictions 2020: Facebook Caves, Google Zags, Netflix Sells Out, and Data Policy Gets Sexy"




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"Leopards ate my face" subreddit bans posts about coronavirus scoffers who later die of it

The Leopards Ate My Face subreddit is dedicated to mocking people who thought the Republican party would hurt their enemies only to be surprised to find that it hurts them, too. Inspired by a tweet by Adrian Bott—'I never thought leopards would eat MY face,' sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party—it has now banned posts about people who claimed Covid-19 was bullshit only to die of Covid-19. There are simply too many, and it's getting depressing.

"We've seen a billion of them in the past two weeks and the vast majority of them don't fit the subreddit," writes moderator u/ROBOT_OF_WORLD. "People dying from their decisions isn't justice, karmic, or funny." Read the rest




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Watch Other Space Full Episodes Online | Season 1 Video Streaming & Torrent Search

Other Space Synopsis Other Space is a Science Fiction comedy television series produced by Yahoo that premiered in April of 2015. Created by Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks) Other Space is set in the early 22nd century and follows the story of the inexperienced crew aboard UMP Cruiser on a routine space exploratory mission. In […]




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Social Learning as a Way to Foster Productivity in the Workplace

In one way or another, social learning has been part of our lives for a long time. We spend a large amount of time at work. During this time, we are bound to learn from our colleagues and get a chance to talk on mutual topics of interest. Moreover, social media has given an outlet […]

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Article: How Artificial Intelligence Can Transform the Digital Out-of-Home Marketplace

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Newsroom: Twitch on Pace to Surpass 40 Million Viewers by 2021

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Sheltering in Place in Mexico City

This is not where I thought I’d be. If things had gone to plan, I would now be on a bus moving through the Peruvian countryside, smiling at the memory of my meals at Central and Maido, looking forward to sandboarding in Huacachina, seeing Machu Picchu, and exploring the Galapagos a few weeks after that. …

Sheltering in Place in Mexico City Read More »

The post Sheltering in Place in Mexico City appeared first on Adventurous Kate.




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Oscars race wide open

Part of the Going for gold promo for the BBC UK Homepage




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BREAKING: 43-Yr-Old Father Of 9, Dollar Store Sec Guard, Shot DEAD While Allegedly Trying To Enforce MI Gov Whitmer’s Face Covering Exec Order

The following article, BREAKING: 43-Yr-Old Father Of 9, Dollar Store Sec Guard, Shot DEAD While Allegedly Trying To Enforce MI Gov Whitmer’s Face Covering Exec Order, was first published on 100PercentFedUp.com.

Will the mainstream media report about the senseless death of a 43-year-old father of nine, who would have been alive today if it were not for VP wannabe, Gretchen Whitmer's executive order that forced him to respond to a customer not wearing a face mask? 

Continue reading: BREAKING: 43-Yr-Old Father Of 9, Dollar Store Sec Guard, Shot DEAD While Allegedly Trying To Enforce MI Gov Whitmer’s Face Covering Exec Order ...




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Texas Gov Abbott Frees Salon Owner Shelley Luther: “Criminals shouldn’t be released to prevent COVID-19 just to put business owners in their place”

The following article, Texas Gov Abbott Frees Salon Owner Shelley Luther: “Criminals shouldn’t be released to prevent COVID-19 just to put business owners in their place”, was first published on 100PercentFedUp.com.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott just changed the coronavirus order to free Salon A La Mode owner Shelley Luther from jail. Abbott tweeted out a comment about the poor treatment of the business owner: Throwing Texans in jail whose biz’s shut down through no fault of their own is wrong. I am eliminating jail for violating […]

Continue reading: Texas Gov Abbott Frees Salon Owner Shelley Luther: “Criminals shouldn’t be released to prevent COVID-19 just to put business owners in their place” ...




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BREAKING: New Docs Prove Obama Knew Details Of Flynn Wiretapping…Newly Surfaced Video Shows Obama Explaining How He Stays Out Of FBI Investigations

The following article, BREAKING: New Docs Prove Obama Knew Details Of Flynn Wiretapping…Newly Surfaced Video Shows Obama Explaining How He Stays Out Of FBI Investigations, was first published on 100PercentFedUp.com.

Barack Obama knew. Documents released yesterday that were used to exonerate President Trump’s new NSA General Flynn, prove that President Barack Obama was aware of the details of Michael Flynn’s intercepted phone calls on December 16 with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. On January 5, 2017, then-Deputy Attorney General, Sally Yates attended an Oval Office meeting […]

Continue reading: BREAKING: New Docs Prove Obama Knew Details Of Flynn Wiretapping…Newly Surfaced Video Shows Obama Explaining How He Stays Out Of FBI Investigations ...




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Empty restaurant space could be turned into women's support centre

The empty space next to Winnipeg City Hall that once housed restaurants could be turned into a place to help exploited women.




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N{alpha}-Acetylation of the virulence factor EsxA is required for mycobacterial cytosolic translocation and virulence [Molecular Bases of Disease]

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence factor EsxA and its chaperone EsxB are secreted as a heterodimer (EsxA:B) and are crucial for mycobacterial escape from phagosomes and cytosolic translocation. Current findings support the idea that for EsxA to interact with host membranes, EsxA must dissociate from EsxB at low pH. However, the molecular mechanism by which the EsxA:B heterodimer separates is not clear. In the present study, using liposome-leakage and cytotoxicity assays, LC-MS/MS–based proteomics, and CCF-4 FRET analysis, we obtained evidence that the Nα-acetylation of the Thr-2 residue on EsxA, a post-translational modification that is present in mycobacteria but absent in Escherichia coli, is required for the EsxA:B separation. Substitutions at Thr-2 that precluded Nα-acetylation inhibited the heterodimer separation and hence prevented EsxA from interacting with the host membrane, resulting in attenuated mycobacterial cytosolic translocation and virulence. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that at low pH, the Nα-acetylated Thr-2 makes direct and frequent “bind-and-release” contacts with EsxB, which generates a force that pulls EsxB away from EsxA. In summary, our findings provide evidence that the Nα-acetylation at Thr-2 of EsxA facilitates dissociation of the EsxA:B heterodimer required for EsxA membrane permeabilization and mycobacterial cytosolic translocation and virulence.




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How Donald Trump’s Peace Plan Looks to the Gulf and Europe

19 February 2020

Dr Neil Quilliam

Associate Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme

Reni Zhelyazkova

Programme Coordinator, Middle East and North Africa Programme
Neil Quilliam and Reni Zhelyazkova examine how the GCC states and the EU have reacted to the US president’s proposed plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

2020-02-19-Gaza.jpg

Palestinians watch the televised press conference of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu on 28 January 2020 at a barber shop in Gaza City. Photo: Getty Images.

The view from the Gulf

Neil Quilliam

There has been no coordinated response among states of the GCC, but the messages have been universal, and surprisingly each one has welcomed US efforts to restart peace talks and praised this particular US administration for doing so. But in each case, the same set of issues and concerns has been highlighted, namely the status of Jerusalem, the situation of refugees and ultimately a simple absence of a revival contiguous Palestinian state.

While much has been made of younger Gulf generation’s apparent disconnect from the emotive issues around Palestinian statehood, the state of Jerusalem and the larger refugee issue, older leaders in the Gulf continue to pay them heed. And despite a desire to coordinate with Israel on matters of security, intelligence sharing and tech, they will not advance the relationship under the terms of the so-called ‘deal of the century’.

Put simply, the deal forces Palestinians to concede ground on all matters of importance. And should the Arab Gulf states sign up to it, they will be judged harshly by history for not only selling out Palestine for $50 billion, but also footing the bill. As such, they all feel compelled to hedge and pay salutary lip-service to US efforts but know quietly they will die on the vine and that the Arab Peace Initiative is the only viable framework for advancing talks.

Even younger leaders know that the greater risk will come from signing up to the deal rather than twitter wrath of the US president.

Kuwaiti Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim threw a copy in the bin, emphasizing that it ‘was born dead’ and ‘should be thrown in the dustbin of history’.

While the Saudi official position towards the deal was one of qualified support, the Saudi press reported that King Salman had spoken with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has rejected the plan, to ‘stress to him the Kingdom's steadfast position vis-à-vis the Palestinian cause and the rights of the Palestinian people’. The king reportedly added: ‘The Kingdom stands alongside the Palestinian people and supports its choices and what[ever] will actualize its hopes and aspirations.’

Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi intelligence chief, described the deal’s idea of a Palestinian state as ‘a brutal conception’ and the deal itself as a ‘modern-day Frankenstein’. ‘For Palestine, it is definitely a step back,’ Al-Faisal said. ‘[The Trump administration has] given up the legitimate history and weight of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and adopted a unilateral path.’

The view from Europe

Reni Zhelyazkova

The initial EU response to President Trump’s ‘Peace to Prosperity’ plan was one of caution. An official statement soon after the announcement declared that the proposal needs to be studied and assessed but only a few days later the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, condemned the plan for being out of line with internationally agreed parameters.

Some member states like Luxembourg have expressed support for the foreign policy chief’s position. Ireland, historically a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, and Sweden, the only country to recognize the Palestinian state after becoming an EU member, have responded negatively to the US proposal, expressing concern over mentions of Israeli annexation of Palestinian land and stating that it falls short from previous international agreements.

Other EU countries, however, have been much more guarded in their reactions. Responses from Germany and France have so far been lukewarm – on the one hand, welcoming US attempts at re-igniting peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, and, on the other, warning that any future negotiations and agreements must be carried out in accordance with internationally established parameters and legal frameworks.

A strong voice of support for Trump’s proposal was that of Hungary, whose minister of foreign affairs and trade, Péter Szijjártó, commended White House adviser Jared Kushner on the plan during a meeting in Washington last week. Other EU countries are yet to respond publicly to the proposal but unity among all EU countries is far from certain.

The EU’s official position is that a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders and in line with previous agreements and UN resolutions is the only viable option for lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

However, Israeli foreign policy under Netanyahu has focused on strengthening bilateral relations with countries in eastern and central Europe. Cooperation with Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and most recently Slovakia and Hungary has improved in all areas – from security and trade to tourism and cultural exchanges.

Five of these countries, namely, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria recognized the State of Palestine prior to joining the EU, but the rise of populist nationalism, concerns over migration and terrorism, and improving relations with the Trump administration in the US have contributed to an alignment in views between Israel and the right-leaning governments in southern and eastern Europe, as well as those in Italy and Austria.

Improved bilateral relations have translated into political acts of good will towards Israel with a number of EU countries expressing support for Israel in the United Nations and other international forums. Austria, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic defied official EU position and attended the US embassy opening in Jerusalem in May 2018.

In this sense, Israel’s strategy in eastern and central Europe can be seen as a deliberate effort to break up consensus within the EU, and, ideally, reverse the bloc’s position towards the Middle East conflict, but also towards Iran. 

At a time when the EU is managing Brexit, a complex internal agenda, including arguments over the EU budget, and with its relationship with the US strained over Iran, trade and other issues, it is unlikely that the bloc will contribute significant efforts to the Middle East Peace Process. It is even more difficult to see the EU coming up with its own proposal and even less likely that all member states will be able to agree on such an initiative given internal divisions. 

Under the EU Neighbourhood Policy, the European Joint Strategy in Support of Palestine for the period 2017-20 has focused on supporting the Palestinian Authority (PA) with institutional reform, economic development and service delivery. Progress, however, has been limited as the success of programming is dependent on Israeli policy towards the West Bank and Gaza. This has hardened under Netanyahu, who enjoys the full support of the current US administration and sees the EU as biased towards the Palestinians. 

Any plan that replaces the 2017-20 joint strategy will most likely be a continuation of the current approach which focuses on conflict management and supporting the already crumbling two-state solution by keeping the PA alive. 

Some room for cautious hope remains, as much depends on the outcome of the Israeli election on 2 March and the US presidential election in November. Changes in leadership could open up space for EU to actively support the reinvigoration of peace talks and regain its relevance as a mediator in the Middle East Peace Process.




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Radical new business model for pharmaceutical industry needed to avert antibiotic resistance crisis

7 October 2015

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High-level complex of physiologically active antibiotic substance extracted from blastema at the Arctic Innovation Center (AIC) of Ammosov, North-Eastern Federal University (NEFU) in Yakutsk. Photo: Yuri Smityuk/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis.

Revenues for pharmaceutical companies need to be 'delinked' from sales of antibiotics to avoid their over-use and avert a public health crisis, says a new report from the think-tank Chatham House.

Over-use of antibiotics is contributing to the growing resistance of potentially deadly bacteria to existing drugs, threatening a public health crisis in the near future. The report notes that, by 2050, failing to tackle antibiotic resistance could result in 10 million premature deaths per year.                                       

Novel antibiotics to combat resistant pathogens are thus desperately needed, but market incentives are exacerbating the problem. Towards a New Global Business Model for Antibiotics: Delinking Revenues from Sales states that,                                       


'The current business model requires high levels of antibiotic use in order to recover the costs of R&D. But mitigating the spread of resistance demands just the opposite: restrictions on the use of antibiotics.'

                                       

To tackle this catch-22 problem, the Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House recommends the establishment of a global body to implement a radical new business model for the industry, which would encourage investment and promote global access to - and conservation of - antibiotics.      

The current business model has several perverse effects. As R&D is an inherently risky and costly endeavour, the industry is chronically under-investing in new treatments. Today, few large pharmaceutical companies retain active antibacterial drug discovery programmes. Re-stoking the industry's interest in antibiotics would be one of the primary roles of the new body.   

Secondly, the need to recover sunk cost under the current business model encourages both high prices and over-marketing of successful drugs, making potentially life-saving treatments unaffordable to many in developing countries, while simultaneously encouraging over-use in developed markets and increasing resistance.   

The new global body would address these challenges by ‘delinking’ pharmaceutical revenues from sales of antibiotics. It would do this by directly financing the research and development of new drugs, which it would then acquire at a price based on production costs rather than the recovery of R&D expenses. Acquisition could take the form of procurement contracts with companies, the purchase of full IP rights or other licensing mechanisms.                                       

This would enable it to promote global access to antibiotics while simultaneously restricting over-use. Conservation would be promoted through education, regulation and good clinical practice, with the report recommending that 'proven conservation methods such as antibiotic stewardship programmes… be incentivized and implemented immediately.'

Priorities for R&D financing would be based on a comprehensive assessment of  threats arising from resistance. Antibiotics would qualify for the highest level of financial incentives if they combat resistant pathogens posing a serious threat to human health.                                       

Finance for the new body would come from individual nation states, with the report noting that this could 'begin with a core group of countries with significant research activity and large antibiotic markets, (though) it is envisaged that all high income countries should make an appropriate financial contribution.'                                 

It is not yet clear exactly how much funding would be necessary to combat resistance, but with inaction expected to cost $100 trillion in cumulative economic damage, the report argues that 'an additional global investment of up to $3.5 billion a year (about 10 per cent of the current value of global sales of antibiotics) would be a bargain.'

Editor's notes

Towards a New Global Business Model for Antibiotics: Delinking Revenues from Sales, is a Chatham House report edited by Charles Clift, Unni Gopinathan, Chantal Morel, Kevin Outterson, John-Arne Røttingen and Anthony So.

The report is embargoed until 00.01 GMT Friday 9 October.

For more information, or to request an interview with the editors, contact the press office.

Contacts

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+44 (0)20 7957 5739




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The histone H4 basic patch regulates SAGA-mediated H2B deubiquitination and histone acetylation [DNA and Chromosomes]

Histone H2B monoubiquitylation (H2Bub1) has central functions in multiple DNA-templated processes, including gene transcription, DNA repair, and replication. H2Bub1 also is required for the trans-histone regulation of H3K4 and H3K79 methylation. Although previous studies have elucidated the basic mechanisms that establish and remove H2Bub1, we have only an incomplete understanding of how H2Bub1 is regulated. We report here that the histone H4 basic patch regulates H2Bub1. Yeast cells with arginine-to-alanine mutations in the H4 basic patch (H42RA) exhibited a significant loss of global H2Bub1. H42RA mutant yeast strains also displayed chemotoxin sensitivities similar to, but less severe than, strains containing a complete loss of H2Bub1. We found that the H4 basic patch regulates H2Bub1 levels independently of interactions with chromatin remodelers and separately from its regulation of H3K79 methylation. To measure H2B ubiquitylation and deubiquitination kinetics in vivo, we used a rapid and reversible optogenetic tool, the light-inducible nuclear exporter, to control the subcellular location of the H2Bub1 E3 ligase, Bre1. The ability of Bre1 to ubiquitylate H2B was unaffected in the H42RA mutant. In contrast, H2Bub1 deubiquitination by SAGA-associated Ubp8, but not by Ubp10, increased in the H42RA mutant. Consistent with a function for the H4 basic patch in regulating SAGA deubiquitinase activity, we also detected increased SAGA-mediated histone acetylation in H4 basic patch mutants. Our findings uncover that the H4 basic patch has a regulatory function in SAGA-mediated histone modifications.