Report: COVID-19 death rate 10 times higher in countries where majority of adults are overweight
The death rate from COVID-19 is much higher in countries where the majority of adults are overweight, according to a new report.
The World Obesity Forum determined that, by the end of 2020, the mortality rate from the coronavirus was about 10 times greater in countries where more than 50% of the adult population is overweight compared with nations where less than half of adult residents met that criteria, the study released Wednesday shows.
Included in the study was data from more than 160 countries, researchers said.
“As we show in this report, increased bodyweight is the second greatest predictor of hospitalization and a high risk of death for people suffering from COVID-19,” the report reads. “Only old age rates as a higher risk factor.”
There have been more than 2.5 million deaths worldwide from COVID-19, including more than 500,000 fatalities from the virus in the United States, which is the most of any country.
Globally, there have been more than 115 million confirmed cases of coronavirus.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people with obesity are at an increased risk of experiencing severing illness from COVID-19.
In its new report, the World Obesity Forum stressed the need to recognize “overweight as a major risk factor for infectious diseases including respiratory viruses.”
— New York Daily News
US military’s defenses struck down 3 to 4 incoming rockets during Iraqi base attack
WASHINGTON — A U.S. artillery defensive system protecting U.S. and coalition forces at an Iraqi air base that came under attack this week struck down three or four incoming rockets before they hit, a defense official told McClatchy on Thursday.
Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq is a large training and logistics hub for U.S.and coalition forces. It was targeted by approximately 10 short-range rockets on Wednesday, resulting in the death of one U.S. contractor who had a heart attack while sheltering from the attack.
Al-Asad’s Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) missile defensive system “engaged” with the incoming rounds and early assessments indicate it hit three or four of the 122 mm rockets, the official said on condition of anonymity.
There were ten known locations where the base was hit, the official said, and it was not clear if more than ten rockets were fired, or if the rockets that were struck down by C-RAM were responsible for some of the ground damage.
The Defense Department has not said who is responsible for the attack, and Iraqi officials are still investigating it.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday pledged to identify who is responsible for the attacks and hold them responsible.
In the last several weeks attacks on Iraqi military bases housing U.S. and coalition troops, including a rocket attack in February at the U.S. military base in Erbil, that the Pentagon has attributed to Iranian-backed militias has spurred further U.S. military action.
Last week, two F-15E Air Force fighter jets dropped seven precision-guided munitions on known militia sites in Syria.
— McClatchy Washington Bureau
‘QAnon Shaman’ says he stormed Capitol to ‘bring God back into the Senate’
The man known as the “QAnon Shaman” said he was only trying to spread good vibes and the word of God when he broke into the Capitol — and even stopped a brazen thief from swiping muffins from the break room.
Jacob Chansley, 33, who made national headlines for donning horns, face paint and a fur hat during the Jan. 6 riot, said in his first interview from jail that he was hoping to “bring divinity, and to bring God back into the Senate.”
“I sang a song. And that’s a part of shamanism. It’s about creating positive vibrations in a sacred chamber,” the Arizona man said in an interview that aired Thursday on “CBS This Morning.”
“I also stopped people from stealing and vandalizing that sacred space, the Senate. OK? I actually stopped somebody from stealing muffins out of the, out of the break room,” he told correspondent Laurie Segall in the interview, which was recorded in mid-February.
Videos and photos from the deadly siege showed Chansley bare-chested and wielding a spear with an American flag fastened below the tip of the blade.
The accused rioter was famously photographed sitting in the Senate chamber seat of former Vice President Mike Pence, and he allegedly left a note threatening Pence.
Chansley somewhat apologized for his actions last month, asking people to “be patient with me and other peaceful people who, like me, are having a very difficult time piecing together all that happened to us, around us, and by us.”
He unsuccessfully sought a pardon from former President Donald Trump.
— New York Daily News
Meghan Markle accuses royal family of ‘perpetuating falsehoods’ against her and Prince Harry
With phrasing fit for a queen, Meghan Markle claims the royal family has been lying and spreading gossip about her and husband Prince Harry as the rift between the couple and Buckingham Palace keeps growing.
“I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time, we would still just be silent if there is an active role that the (family) is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us,” Meghan, 39, told Oprah Winfrey in a teaser of Sunday’s CBS prime-time special.
“And, if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, there is a lot that has been lost already.”
The clip was released hours after Buckingham Palace announced it would investigate claims in the Times of London that Meghan bullied royal aides, including driving two to quit and undermining a third.
Buckingham Palace said it was “very concerned” about the allegations.
“Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article. Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned,” it said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Meghan called the claims “a calculated smear campaign based on misleading and harmful misinformation.”
Prince Harry and Meghan, who were married in May 2018, stepped down from their royal duties in late March after rumors of a rift with his brother, William, and grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The couple welcomed son Archie in May 2019 and recently announced that Markle is pregnant with another child.
The two-hour prime-time special with Winfrey airs Sunday at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
— New York Daily News
2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.