text string | url string | crawl_date timestamp[ms] | label int64 | id string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NJ Transit is busted, has been for a long time. The fleet is old, delays are rampant and they’re expecting a billion-dollar budget gap over the next two years. One would think that perhaps now is not the time to spend $400 million on swanky new digs. Well, optics be damned, that’s just what NJ Transit is doing.
Despite several cheaper options, NJ Transit has decided to move its HQ to Two Gateway Center in Newark. The old HQ is apparently in comparable condition to the buses and in need of repair. Rather than shell out for paint and sparkle, the powers that be have decided a change of address is in order. The nature of the move is shady as well. Apparently, the agency’s board wasn’t informed of the move until it was a done deal. Officials pulled the trigger on a 25-year lease and told the board after the fact. | https://www.nj.com/opinion/2023/07/nj-transit-getting-swanky-new-hq-sheneman.html | 2023-07-30T12:28:43 | 0 | https://www.nj.com/opinion/2023/07/nj-transit-getting-swanky-new-hq-sheneman.html |
Rare Beauty products by Selena Gomez are going viral
Since its debut in 2019, Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty company has taken the makeup industry by storm, mostly by dominating social media. The brand offers tinted moisturizer, bronzer, highlighter, setting powder, blush and other facial products; eye makeup such as eyeshadow, mascara and eyebrow pencils; products to enhance the lips, including lipstick, lip liner, lip oil and more. We researched the trendiest, most popular products from this celebrity-owned beauty brand worth adding to your makeup routine.
Shop this article: Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush, Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Brightening Concealer, and Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara
About Rare Beauty
Selena Gomez’s vision for Rare Beauty breaks down unrealistic standards of perfection in the makeup industry. The brand’s mission is to help wearers celebrate the rarity that is their individuality, the main objective being “to create a safe, welcoming space in beauty — and beyond — that supports mental well-being across age, gender identity, sexual orientation, rare, cultural background, physical or mental ability and perspective,” according to the Rare Beauty site.
Rare Beauty products are cruelty-free, meaning they were developed without experimentation on animals. Depending on the product type, they’re also ophthalmologist- and/or dermatologist-tested. Many of the products have noncomedogenic ingredients that won’t clog or block pores, and there are various options for sensitive skin. Rare Beauty has a selection of vegan products, as well. They’re a skin-friendly, self-aware brand that wants to make the world a better place.
Top Rare Beauty products, according to customers
Rare Beauty Kind Words Matte Lipstick
This buttery matte lipstick comes in 10 pigment-rich shades ranging from natural to bold. Suitable for sensitive skin, the creamy formula lasts all day while keeping lips soft and moisturized throughout wear.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Kind Words Matte Lip Liner
This creamy, waterproof lip liner defines and shapes the lips while staying put all day — it’s perfect for outlining the lips or coloring them in. The lightweight formula keeps the lips feeling soft and won’t smudge. It features a built-in sharpener and comes in the same 10 shades as the Kind Words Matte Lipstick for effortless color matching.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush
This lush liquid blush is Rare Beauty’s top-seller, having received Allure’s Best of Beauty award in 2022. The lightweight, buildable formula gives you a soft flush of color with long-lasting pigments for all-day wear. It’s suitable for sensitive skin and has 13 beautiful matte and dewy finishes.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Brightening Concealer
This medium-coverage concealer hides blemishes, dark circles, redness and fine lines while evening out skin texture. It’s made with botanical ingredients that soothe and nourish the skin. The creamy formula is lightweight, buildable and sweat-resistant, with 48 shades to match virtually every skin tone.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation
This liquid foundation feels like a serum with a layerable, medium-coverage formula and a blend of botanical ingredients that soothe and nourish the skin. It’s best used with normal and combination skin types, available in 48 shades that accommodate nearly every skin tone.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Positive Light Liquid Luminizer
This silky liquid highlighter feels like a second skin, creating a dewy, healthy-looking glow with superfine, light-catching pearls. Botanical ingredients have a soothing and nourishing effect on the skin. It layers well over makeup and provides all-day coverage with seven luminous shades.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Warm Wishes Effortless Bronzer Stick
This cream bronzer gives you a sun-kissed glow and adds gentle warmth to the skin with its natural finish. The formula is buildable, water-resistant and won’t clog your pores. It features Rare Beauty’s signature botanical ingredients for a calming and hydrating effect on the skin. The brand sells seven natural-looking shades, and the stick application makes it easy to use.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Always an Optimist Soft Radiance Setting Powder
This loose setting powder smooths skin texture, blurring the look of pores and controlling shine for a radiant yet natural finish. It helps makeup stay in place all day and is especially useful for those who struggle with oily skin. The container has a locking sifter for keeping the application process and storage mess-free. This setting powder comes in five sheer shades.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara
This volumizing mascara was created for all lash types, featuring castor oil that conditions and nourishes your lashes. The unique curvy brush design combines long bristles that add length and short bristles for increasing volume. It’s an ultra-black, buildable, water-resistant formula that performs well all day. This mascara is safe for those with sensitive eyes and contact lenses.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Positive Light Under Eye Brightener
If you struggle with dark circles or discoloration under the eyes, this liquid brightener will visibly brighten and smooth out the under-eye area for a refreshed look. The lightweight formula is enriched by hydrating white peony and vitamin E extracts. It’s easy to blend and layer using your fingertip, with six shades covering various skin tones.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer
This tinted moisturizer blurs and evens skin tone while minimizing the look of pores and fine lines. It offers glowy, light to medium coverage, with a hydrating formula containing vitamin E and SPF 20 broad-spectrum sunscreen. The long-lasting moisturizer is nongreasy and comes in 24 flexible shades.
Sold by Sephora
Rare Beauty Always an Optimist 4-In-1 Mist
This unique facial mist contains a layer of water-based active ingredients and another with nourishing oils that work together to hydrate, prime and set the skin. The refreshing mist boosts the foundation’s performance, and the natural, radiant finish won’t feel greasy. Suitable for sensitive skin, this versatile product comes in 0.12- and 2.87-fluid-ounce bottles.
Sold by Sephora
Worth checking out
- With a glossy finish and gentle plumping effect on the lips, the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Tinted Lip Oil is a beauty-lover favorite.
- If you prefer using a powder highlighter, the Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter is an excellent option for a soft, natural-looking glow.
- The award-winning Rare Beauty Stay Vulnerable Melting Blush offers a natural satin finish with a subtle blurring effect.
- The Rare Beauty Perfect Strokes Longwear Gel Eyeliner is a waterproof product that will stay in place — even on the waterline — with a built-in sharpener for precise application.
- The waterproof Rare Beauty Brow Harmony Precision Pencil is another stellar pick among fans for fuller-looking, more defined brows.
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Amy Evans writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.wivb.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/makeup-palettes-sets-br/these-are-the-most-popular-rare-beauty-products/ | 2023-07-30T12:28:46 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/makeup-palettes-sets-br/these-are-the-most-popular-rare-beauty-products/ |
Robin Cogan and Beth Raff
Imagine finding a Winnie-the-Pooh book in your child’s backpack on the last day of school but instead of reading a typical Pooh story, your child was being instructed to “run, hide, fight” in the face of potential threats of gun violence. This happened in a suburb of Dallas, Texas at the end of this school year. The book has sent shockwaves through the school district, raising justified concerns among parents and teachers. | https://www.nj.com/opinion/2023/07/winnie-the-pooh-gun-violence-pamphlet-exploits-a-cherished-character-opinion.html | 2023-07-30T12:28:49 | 1 | https://www.nj.com/opinion/2023/07/winnie-the-pooh-gun-violence-pamphlet-exploits-a-cherished-character-opinion.html |
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The fight itself didn’t match the hype, but Terence Crawford’s performance exceeded it.
He knocked down Errol Spence Jr. three times Saturday night before finally ending the fight at 2:32 of the ninth round on a technical knockout to cement himself as one of the greatest welterweights in history.
The fight, the most-anticipated boxing match in several years, made Crawford the first undisputed champion in the 147-pound division in the four-belt era that began in 2004.
Crawford (40-0, 31 knockouts) already owned the WBO belt, and took the WBC, WBA and IBF titles from Spence (28-1). Crawford also ran his KO streak to 11 matches, the second-longest active stretch.
Crawford, 35, has won titles at super lightweight and lightweight in addition to welterweight, capturing the latter after moving up in 2018. The Omaha, Nebraska, fighter became the first male boxer to become the undisputed champion in two divisions in the four-belt era.
“I only dreamed of being a world champion,” Crawford said. “I’m an over-achiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up, but I made everybody a believer. I want to thank Spence and his team because without him none of this would have been possible.”
A big fight night on the Strip still brings out the stars, with recording artist Andre 3000 of Outkast, NBA star Damian Lillard and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at T-Mobile Arena. They were among the celebrities that also included former boxing champions such as Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
Eminem introduced Crawford and his song “Lose Yourself” played as he walked into the ring before a sellout crowd of 19,990 at T-Mobile Arena.
Spence was the aggressor early on, but Crawford sent him to the floor with a right hand with 20 seconds left in the second round. Then Crawford went after Spence, but time ran out before he could finish him off.
Crawford, a minus-154 favorite, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, then took control of the fight, landing several major blows, often on counters. But Crawford also picked his spots to go after Spence, his punching power taking a heavy toll.
“He was just better tonight,” Spence said. “I make no excuses. He was throwing a harder jab. He was timing with his jab, and he had his timing down on point.”
In the seventh round, Crawford knocked down Spence twice — with a short right at 1:02 and with another right with just a second left.
The fight was essentially over at that point, though Crawford backed off in the eighth round. He came roaring back in the ninth to end it for sure.
Crawford didn’t waste the chance to gloat afterward, directly responding to his critics.
“They said I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t beat these welterweights,” Crawford said. “I just kept my head to the sky and kept praying to God that I would get the opportunity to show the world how great Terence Crawford is. Tonight, I believe I showed how great I am.”
Spence, however, said he would be up for a rematch, but wants to move up to the 154-pound division.
“We’ve got to do it again,” Spence said. “I would be a lot better.”
Crawford said he would have no problem moving up a weight class.
“I’m in the hurt business,” Crawford said. “Forty-seven is kind of hard for me, too. I was already talking about moving up in weight and challenging (champion Jermell) Charlo.”
The 33-year-old Spence, who lives in DeSoto, Texas, won the IBF title in 2017, claimed the WBC championship in 2019 and took the WBA championship last year.
In the co-main event, Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (25-2-1) of Mexico beat Chicago resident Giovanni Cabrera (21-1) by split decision in a WBC and WBA lightweight match. Judges Benoit Roussel (114-113) and Don Trella (115-112) scored the fight in favor of Cruz, and Glenn Feldman gave Cabrera the fight by a 114-113 score. Cruz had a point deducted because of a head butt.
Also, Alexandro Santiago (28-3-5) of Mexico won the vacant WBC bantamweight title with a 115-113, 116-112, 116-12 decision over Nonito Donaire (42-8), who lives in Las Vegas.
___
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/hub/boxing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-crawford-unifies-welterweight-division-with-9th-round-tko-in-dominant-performance-over-spence/ | 2023-07-30T12:28:52 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-crawford-unifies-welterweight-division-with-9th-round-tko-in-dominant-performance-over-spence/ |
The following is a listing of all real estate transfers in these New Jersey counties reported from July 17 to July 23.
NJ.com publishes weekly reports on recent real estate sales across the Garden State, as well as top sales by county and other real estate news, from unique homes for sale to trends.
See all homes sold in Atlantic County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Bergen County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Burlington County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Camden County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Cape May County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Cumberland County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Essex County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Gloucester County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Hunterdon County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Mercer County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Middlesex County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Monmouth County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Morris County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Ocean County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Passaic County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Salem County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Somerset County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Sussex County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Union County, July 17 to July 23
See all homes sold in Warren County, July 17 to July 23
Real Estate Wire is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to generate analysis of data from Propmix, an aggregator of national real-estate data. | https://www.nj.com/realestate-news/2023/07/see-all-homes-sold-in-these-new-jersey-counties-july-17-to-23.html | 2023-07-30T12:28:55 | 0 | https://www.nj.com/realestate-news/2023/07/see-all-homes-sold-in-these-new-jersey-counties-july-17-to-23.html |
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Justin Gaethje knocked out Dustin Poirier with a head kick one minute into the second round to win the main event lightweight bout at UFC 291 on Saturday night.
The third-ranked Gaethje (26-4) celebrated his victory by climbing to the top of the Octagon fence and doing a backflip off it. His perfectly timed headshot helped him avenge a loss to Poirier in 2018 when he suffered a fourth-round technical knockout via strikes.
“This chance at redemption was amazing,” Gaethje said. “It drove me to work harder to be ready.”
It was Gaethje’s 20th win by knockout or TKO and his seventh victory in his last nine fights. He also scored his first knockout win since UFC 249 in 2020.
“I was surprised by myself and how good I fought,” Gaethje said.
Second-ranked Poirier (29-8) entered the rematch between the two former interim lightweight champions as a minus-152 favorite according to FanDuel. He matched Gaethje blow for blow in the first round – earning a 10-9 advantage on two of three scorecards – before being quickly dispatched in the second.
The decisive high kick from one former champ caught the other by surprise because it wasn’t a move that he expected to see from Gaethje.
“I thought I had four more rounds,” Poirier said. “I didn’t know I had two more minutes.”
With the victory, Gaethje earned a BMF belt – the second UFC fighter to be awarded that belt.
Beating Poirier opens the door for Gaethje to have a potential title bout against the winner of Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira, who are set to square off at UFC 294 in October.
Gaethje’s BMF win over Poirier headlined five main card bouts.
Alex Pereira defeated Jan Blachowicz by split decision in a light heavyweight bout billed as the co-main event for his eighth win in his last nine fights.
Pereira (8-2), ranked second as a middleweight, made his debut in the light heavyweight division at UFC 291 after losing the middleweight title belt via knockout to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287 in April. Blachowicz (29-10-1) did not make the transition in weight class a smooth one for the former champion.
He weathered early takedowns in the first two rounds and rallied in the third round.
Derrick Lewis earned a record 14th knockout win over Marcos Rogerio de Lima just 33 seconds into the first round of the heavyweight bout. The No.10-ranked Lewis (27-11) scored an immediate takedown with a flying knee and pummeled 15th-ranked Rogerio de Lima (21-10-1) with repeated punches to score the early finish. He celebrated snapping a three-fight slide by stripping off his shorts and dancing around the Octagon.
“The win means a lot to me,” Lewis said. “I had a lot of pressure on me coming into this fight and I just wanted to prove to everyone I’m still one of the best fighters in the world.”
Bobby Green beat Tony Ferguson by submission via choke with six seconds left in the third round of the lightweight bout. Green (30-14-1) dominated the final two rounds to earn his second career submission, scoring takedowns in both rounds while raining repeated blows that left his opponent battered. He denied Ferguson (26-9) a shot at earning his first UFC victory since 2019, sending the 39-year-old fighter home with his sixth straight loss.
Kevin Holland made quick work of Michael Chiesa to win the welterweight bout. Holland (25-9) beat the 12th-ranked Chiesa — fighting for the first time following a two-year hiatus — by submission at 2:39 in the first round. He used his length and striking abilities to trap Chiesa (18-7) in a D’arce choke, forcing a quick tap out.
Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, Jazz coach Will Hardy, and former Jazz stars Deron Williams and Karl Malone were among those in attendance at the second UFC pay-per-view event in 11 months in the Beehive State.
UFC reported a live gate of $6.5 million, breaking the previous venue record set at UFC 278 in August 2022. A sellout crowd of 18,467 was in attendance.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-gaethje-knocks-out-poirier-in-second-round-to-win-ufc-291-lightweight-bout/ | 2023-07-30T12:28:59 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-gaethje-knocks-out-poirier-in-second-round-to-win-ufc-291-lightweight-bout/ |
ORLANDO, Fla. — Oh, sweet day!
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
Sunday is National Cheesecake Day, and to celebrate the iconic creamy treat, we have gathered nine places in Central Florida where you can enjoy a slice (or maybe two) of the tasty dessert.
- Better Than Sex - A Dessert Restaurant: One of the highlights of this menu is their Red Velvet cheesecake with a silky chocolate frosting and a soft dark chocolate cookie crust.
- Cheesecake Factory: There are so many options on this menu if you are looking for a slice of cheesecake- it’s hard to pick one! Those that sign up for their rewards program by July 30 can get any slice half price on July 31 and Aug 1.
- Sister Honey’s: Located on Michigan Street, this bakery has all types of sweets. As fall approaches, their Pumpkin Mousse Cheesecake is a must-try with a graham cracker crust, caramel candy drizzle, and honey-roasted pecans.
- Publix: The bakery in this supermarket offers a variety of cheesecakes: banana cream, triple berry, brownie crunch, and more.
Read: Sip & Savor: Foodie festival coming to Icon Park
- Charlie’s Bakery & Creamery: The bakery is known for its Turtle Cheesecake topped with caramel and milk chocolate -- The best thing: it sits on a slice of vanilla cake.
- Soco Restaurant: Located in the Thornton Park district, it is known for its Key Lime Cheesecake topped with berries.
- TooJay’s: The restaurant & bakery has several locations in Central Florida and is known for its classic Strawberry Cheesecake.
- Mecatos Bakery & Café: The Colombian bakery features a variety of sweet & salty treats, but on this day, you should try their traditional cheesecake infused and topped with guava.
- Light On The Sugar Bakery Café: The cozy café in Winter Park is a perfect spot to try a slice of New York cheesecake.
Read: College Park’s Turci Pasta celebrates soft opening of its new panini shop with BOGOs
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2023 Cox Media Group | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/national-cheesecake-day-2023-here-are-9-places-central-florida-enjoy-this-sweet-treat/R5XSHRDO4FAA3HDWOSF7LOPHWE/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:00 | 0 | https://www.wftv.com/news/local/national-cheesecake-day-2023-here-are-9-places-central-florida-enjoy-this-sweet-treat/R5XSHRDO4FAA3HDWOSF7LOPHWE/ |
Gov. Phil Murphy was standing in the Hudson County municipality affectionately known as “Soccer Town, U.S.A.,” footsteps from a new schoolyard soccer pitch he helped dedicate with a collection of soccer players and soccer executives from European soccer powerhouses, talking about his favorite topic these days.
No, no, we kid — he was talking about soccer, of course. What else? Murphy was still buzzing from the U.S. team’s opening victory in the Women’s World Cup, which happened on the same night that superstar Lionel Messi scored the winning goal in his American debut for MLS team Inter Miami. And, he wanted to know, did you catch the scene at MetLife Stadium a few nights ago?
That was when Manchester United beat Arsenal in a friendly, 2-0, with 82,500 fans will a building that usually only draws crowds that size for the other football.
“It was a holy cow event,” Murphy told NJ Advance Media last week after an event in Kearny to celebrate the opening of a “mini pitch” at a grammar school. “I mean, this is New Jersey? It just was stunning. Both teams, by the way, played real players and coached hard. There was a fight between the teams! You knew they weren’t just mailing it in.”
That night, English journalists asked him about bringing more Premier League and Champions Leagues games to New Jersey — and not just the ones that don’t count, either. Real games. His comments made headlines in tabloids over in London, where the idea is not exactly popular among fans.
“I can’t imagine the demand,” Murphy said. “Look at American football. The Patriots are playing the Colts, there are 50,000 seats and there was demand for 700,000. I used that as an example. If you had a game that mattered in the season or the Champions League, you wouldn’t be able to get NEAR it. I don’t know what the likelihood is, but ... it’s a no brainer for them.”
That remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that soccer is having another moment here — the kind that tend to come around every so often and change entrenched views about the sport’s place in this country. And Murphy is working to ensure that New Jersey stays at the center of that when the World Cup comes to North America in 2026.
He has practically added “U.S. soccer diplomat” to his LinkedIn page with the goal of bring the World Cup Final to MetLife in three years. FIFA is expected to announce the destination for the massive quadrennial soccer match in early autumn, with New York/New Jersey vying against Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston.
Unless Cowboys owner Jerry Jones delivers a saddlebag filled with euros — hey, it’s FIFA we’re talking about, people — MetLife Stadium has to be considered the favorite. But we’ll let Murphy make his pitch.
“We think New Jersey, with New York City, is unbeatable,” Murphy said. “Biggest media market in the world. Great stadium. We’ll be able to get people traveling back and forth easily. I feel like we’re really well positioned. We’ll see.”
Murphy isn’t worried about NJ Transit’s (ahem) less than stellar performance when the Super Bowl was held in East Rutherford in 2014 because, he said, “we’re a long way from that.” He also isn’t worried that Los Angeles, with the gleaming SoFi Stadium, and Dallas, with massive AT&T Stadium, have better venues.
“(MetLife) stacks up well,” he said. “SoFi is, ‘wow,’ but it’s much smaller, with 69,000 versus our 82,500, and it’s got — I’ve been told — more field vs. stands issues. Dallas is a bigger stadium, at 100,000, but frankly — and this is nothing again Dallas — but I think folks expect the finals of the World Cup to be New York or LA.
“It was LA last time (in 1994 when the U.S. last hosted the World Cup), I think it should be New York and New Jersey this time.”
The key part here is making sure that New Jersey gets more than just Route 3 traffic headaches the night of the game. Sure, it was nice that Super Bowl XLVIII was here, but nearly every single event leading up to the big game was held in Manhattan. Murphy insists that won’t be the case in three years.
“I feel really good about that,” Murphy said. “First of all, (NYC mayor) Eric Adams and his team has been an extraordinary partner. I think the fact that it’s eight or nine games in warm weather, and the economy is getting built up all around MetLife. This is all going in the right direction. I think New Jersey will get at least its fair share of commerce and visitors.”
He is certain about this: The World Cup, even if FIFA awards the final to another city, will eclipse the Super Bowl as the biggest sporting event staged in the state. He has a point, too, given that soccer bonanza will last several weeks during the warmer weather rather than just one when it was too cold to gather outdoors.
If MetLife is packed for a Man U friendly in July, imagine the scene if, say, England is playing Argentina in a World Cup quarterfinal. Yes, we’re having a soccer moment now, but it will pale in comparison to what’s coming.
“It’s an enormous wave right now,” Murphy said, and our self-appointed U.S. soccer diplomat wants to make sure it crashes on our shores. Namely, the Jersey Shore.
MORE STEVE POLITI COLUMNS:
The untold story of how Rutgers crashed the Big Ten
How an ex-Rutgers athlete ended up charged with murder in Tijuana
I was a bird-flipping Little League menace — and it’s time to come clean
The search for Luther Wright, once N.J.’s greatest hoops talent
I played Augusta National and had my own Masters meltdown
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. | https://www.nj.com/sports/2023/07/gov-murphy-new-jersey-is-having-a-soccer-moment-with-a-bigger-wave-to-come-politi.html | 2023-07-30T12:29:01 | 1 | https://www.nj.com/sports/2023/07/gov-murphy-new-jersey-is-having-a-soccer-moment-with-a-bigger-wave-to-come-politi.html |
COLUMBIA, S.C. — (AP) — With less than a month to go until the first Republican presidential debate of the 2024 campaign, seven candidates say they have met qualifications for a spot on stage in Milwaukee.
But that also means that about half the broad GOP field is running short on time to make the cut.
To qualify for the Aug. 23 debate, candidates needed to satisfy polling and donor requirements set by the Republican National Committee: at least 1% in three high-quality national polls or a mix of national and early-state polls, between July 1 and Aug. 21, and a minimum of 40,000 donors, with 200 in 20 or more states.
A look at who's in, who's (maybe) out and who's still working on making it:
The current front-runner long ago satisfied the polling and donor thresholds. But he is considering boycotting and holding a competing event.
Campaign advisers have said the former president has not made a final decision about the debate. One noted that “it’s pretty clear,” based on Trump's public and private statements, that he is unlikely to appear with the other candidates.
“If you’re leading by a lot, what’s the purpose of doing it?” Trump asked on Newsmax.
In the meantime, aides have discussed potential alternative programming if Trump opts for a rival event. One option Trump has floated is an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who now has a program on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
The Florida governor has long been seen as Trump's top rival, finishing a distant second to him in a series of polls in early-voting states, as well as national polls, and raising an impressive amount of money.
But DeSantis' campaign has struggled in recent weeks to live up to the sky-high expectations that awaited him when he entered the race. He let go of more than one-third of his staff as federal filings showed his campaign was burning through cash at an unsustainable rate.
If Trump is absent, DeSantis may be the top target on stage at the debate.
The South Carolina senator has been looking for a breakout moment. The first debate could be his chance.
A prolific fundraiser, Scott enters the summer with $21 million cash on hand.
In one debate-approved poll in Iowa, Scott joined Trump and DeSantis in reaching double digits. The senator has focused much of his campaign resources on the leadoff GOP voting state, which is dominated by white evangelical voters.
She has blitzed early-voting states with campaign events, walking crowds through her electoral successes ousting a longtime incumbent South Carolina lawmaker, then becoming the state's first woman and first minority governor. Also serving as Trump's U.N. ambassador for about two years, Haley frequently cites her international experience, arguing about the threat China poses to the United States.
The only woman in the GOP race, Haley has said transgender students competing in sports is “the women’s issue of our time” and has drawn praise from a leading anti-abortion group, which called her “uniquely gifted at communicating from a pro-life woman’s perspective.”
Bringing in $15.6 million since the start of her campaign, Haley's campaign says she has “well over 40,000 unique donors" and has satisfied the debate polling requirements.
The biotech entrepreneur and author of “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam” is an audience favorite at multicandidate events and has polled well despite not being nationally known when he entered the race.
Ramaswamy's campaign says he met the donor threshold earlier this year. He recently rolled out “Vivek's Kitchen Cabinet" to boost his donor numbers even more, by letting fundraisers keep 10% of what they bring in for his campaign.
The former New Jersey governor opened his campaign by portraying himself as the only candidate ready to take on Trump. Christie called on the former president to “show up at the debates and defend his record.”
Christie will be on that stage, even if Trump isn't, telling CNN this month that he surpassed “40,000 unique donors in just 35 days.” He also has met the polling requirements.
Burgum, a wealthy former software entrepreneur now in his second term as North Dakota’s governor, has been using his fortune to boost his campaign.
He announced a program this month to give away $20 gift cards — “Biden Relief Cards,” as a critique of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy — to as many as 50,000 people in exchange for $1 donations. Critics have questioned whether the offer violated campaign finance law.
Within about a week of launching that effort, Burgum announced he had surpassed the donor threshold. Ad blitzes in the early-voting states also helped him meet the polling requirements.
Trump's vice president has met the polling threshold but has yet to amass a sufficient number of donors, raising the possibility that he might not qualify for the party's first debate.
Pence and his advisers have expressed confidence he will do so, noting that most other Republican hopefuls took a month or two of being active candidates to meet the mark. Pence entered the race on June 7, the same day as Burgum and one day after Christie.
“We’re making incredible progress toward that goal. We’re not there yet,” Pence told CNN in a recent interview. “We will make it. I will see you at that debate stage."
According to his campaign, the former two-term Arkansas governor has met the polling requirements but is working on satisfying the donor threshold. As of Wednesday, Hutchinson marked more than 11,000 unique donors.
Hutchinson is running in the mold of an old-school Republican and has differentiated himself from many of his GOP rivals in his willingness to criticize Trump. He has posted pleas on Twitter for $1 donations to help secure his slot.
The Miami mayor has been one of the more creative candidates in his efforts to boost his donor numbers. He offered up a chance to see Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi’s debut as a player for Inter Miami, saying donors who gave $1 would be entered in a chance to get front-row tickets.
Still shy of the donor threshold, he took a page from Burgum’s playbook by offering a $20 “Bidenomics Relief Card” in return for $1 donations. A super political action committee supporting Suarez launched a sweepstakes for a chance at up to $15,000 in tuition, in exchange for a $1 donation to Suarez’s campaign.
Suarez's campaign did not return a message seeking details on his number of donors or qualifying polls.
The conservative radio host wrote in an op-ed that the RNC “has rigged the rules of the game by instituting a set of criteria that is so onerous and poorly designed that only establishment-backed and billionaire candidates are guaranteed to be on stage.”
His campaign last week declined to detail its number of donors, saying only that there had been "a strong increase the last few weeks.” He has not met the polling requirements.
Johnson, a wealthy but largely unknown businessman from Michigan, said in a recent social media post that he had notched 23,000 donors and was “confident” he would make the debate stage. He added that all donors were “eligible to attend my free concert in Iowa featuring” country duo Big & Rich next month.
Johnson, who has reached 1% in one qualifying poll, has also offered to give copies of his book “Two Cents to Save America” to anyone who donated to his campaign.
The former Texas congressman — the last candidate to enter the race, on June 22 — has said repeatedly that he would not pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee, a stance that would keep him off the stage even if he had the qualifying donor and polling numbers.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wftv.com/news/politics/whos-whos-out-look/HQWDEEGTRAAM5SC4CS32BIQ7NU/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:06 | 0 | https://www.wftv.com/news/politics/whos-whos-out-look/HQWDEEGTRAAM5SC4CS32BIQ7NU/ |
FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — The American swim team has had a so-so meet at the world championships in Japan. Meanwhile, Australia and China have been pouring it on.
The American gold-medal count at the worlds is the lowest in at least two decades, although the overall medal count of gold, silver, and bronze, is similar to most years.
“Obviously, we’d like to win more gold medals and I think we will,” American coach Bob Bowman said going into Sunday’s final day.
The slight predicament for Bowman is that two of the swimmers he coaches at Arizona State University, Leon Marchand of France and Hungary’s Hubert Kos, have won four gold medals. Marchand has three, and he’s sure to be a star in next year’s Paris Olympics, and Kos has one.
That’s the same gold-medal total for the entire American team through seven of eight days — four gold. The average for the Americans over the last nine championships has been about 15 golds.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, two of the first three questions Bowman fielded were about Marchand and Kos, from French and Hungarian news outlets.
“If you look at swimming, every coach on the U.S. team is coaching a foreign swimmer, an international swimmer. There’s always that dynamic,” said Bowman, who has legendary status for helping Michael Phelps win 23 Olympic gold medals.”
Bowman was cautious about taking credit for Kos, who came to Arizona State late last year. He went from being a good individual medley swimmer to a world champion a few days ago in the 200-meter backstroke.
“I think it’s just the Bob Bowman effect,” said Kos, son of an American father and Hungarian mother. ”That’s as simple as it is.”
He said Bowman had a “magic” touch.“
Bowman played down his role.
“He (Kos) had an excellent coach at home for 10 years before me,” Bowman said. “He deserved the credit for this. I just helped a little bit at the end.”
Bowman compared Marchand to Phelps. But can he produce and endure the pressure, particularly with the Olympics in his home country.
“It remains to be seen what he can do next year. It’s going to be a lot of expectations,” Bowman said. “But I feel like he’s done a very good rehearsal this year and last year. They’ve been good preparations for what will happen next year and we’ll try to carry that over to Paris.”
Swimming is an individual sport, separate from team sports like soccer. It would be unthinkable for the coach of Real Madrid to be also coaching Barcelona players on the side. But it’s normal in swimming, and Bowman said he was “ethically” comfortable with it.
“I mean, the bottom line is I get paid to coach these guys at ASU,” he said. “I’m representing my country for the love of my country and happy to do that. I don’t think there’s an ethical question. It’s not a zero-sum. I’m not taking away from the U.S. guys.”
He said he was interested in coaching the Americans at next year’s Olympics, but suggested any decision was still pending.
“I don’t think we know yet,” he said. “I have to go through this week, get home, think about what the scenarios look (like) and then we’ll decide. I always want to do. But we’ll see how it goes.”
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-legendary-coach-bob-bowman-keeps-turning-out-winning-swimmers-and-not-just-americans/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:05 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-legendary-coach-bob-bowman-keeps-turning-out-winning-swimmers-and-not-just-americans/ |
After a stormy Saturday night knocked out power to more than 36,000 homes and business across the state, New Jersey is waking up to a calmer and cooler Sunday morning.
The strong storms and high winds brought an end to a three-day heat wave and sent overnight temperatures dropping into the 60s. | https://www.nj.com/weather/2023/07/nj-weather-power-restored-to-most-after-strong-storms-usher-in-cooler-temps.html | 2023-07-30T12:29:07 | 0 | https://www.nj.com/weather/2023/07/nj-weather-power-restored-to-most-after-strong-storms-usher-in-cooler-temps.html |
BEIRUT — (AP) — Overnight clashes Sunday in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left 5 dead and 6 others wounded, Palestinian officials said.
The ongoing clashes are taking place as Palestinian factions in Ein el-Hilweh for years have cracked down on militant Islamist groups and fugitives seeking shelter in the camp's overcrowded neighborhoods. In 2017, Palestinian factions engaged in almost a week of fierce clashes with a militant organization affiliated with the extremist Islamic State group.
The Palestinian officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the clashes broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead.
Factions used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the overcrowded camp, as ambulances zoomed through its narrow streets to take the wounded to the hospital. Several residents fled the crossfire to nearby neighborhoods in the camp.
According to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, six people were wounded in the overnight clashes, including two children. The clashes stopped for several hours in the morning, though state media said there was still sporadic sniper fire.
Clashes renewed after Islamist militants assassinated a Palestinian military general from the Fatah group and three escorts, another Palestinian official told the AP.
Ein el-Hilweh is notorious for its lawlessness and clashes are not uncommon. The U.N. says it is home to some 55,000 people.
It was established in 1948 to host Palestinians displaced by Israeli forces during the establishment of Israel.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wftv.com/news/world/5-killed-6-wounded/32UW322SNEN5NEBNQH34UNJFC4/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:12 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/world/5-killed-6-wounded/32UW322SNEN5NEBNQH34UNJFC4/ |
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Megan Rapinoe is adjusting to her new role at the Women’s World Cup, even if it means she’s not on the field as much as she’d like to be.
The outspoken 38-year-old known for her eclectic hair colors and the iconic victory pose she struck at the 2019 World Cup is the oldest player on the team. She already announced that her fourth World Cup would be her last.
“Ultimately, we’re at the World Cup. This is where everybody wants to be, whether you’re playing 90 minutes, whether you’re a game changer, whatever,” she said Sunday. “I think it’s a lot similar to what I thought it would be — bringing all the experience that I can, all the experience that I have, and ultimately being ready whenever my number is called up.”
Rapinoe has played limited minutes so far, coming in as a substitute in the 3-0 victory over Vietnam in the tournament opener, which was her 200th career appearance for the team.
She was available but didn’t play in the disappointing 1-1 draw with the Netherlands on Thursday in Wellington. U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski made just one substitution in the match, bringing in midfielder Rose Lavelle after the first half.
“I think all of us on the bench, it’s like we think we should be on the field as much as the players on the field believe that they should be on the field,” Rapinoe said. “Every player on the field that starts the game thinks that they should play 90 minutes, and every player who doesn’t, who is a sub, thinks that they should be on at some point.”
The United States has won the last two World Cups, but the players find themselves in a more precarious position as they chase an unprecedented third consecutive title. The Americans need at least a draw going into the final group match against Portugal on Tuesday at Eden Park in Auckland.
The Americans top Group E, even on points with the Netherlands, but hold the edge because of goal difference. Portugal, which beat Vietnam, could send the United States home early with a win over the Americans.
“We’re unsatisfied with the way we played, but we know there are areas that we can be better and I think there’s some really simple fixes we can do to put ourselves in a better position to have more joy on the ball, especially in the final third,” Rapinoe said. “I think everybody’s looking at this like `Let’s go.’”
At the 2019 World Cup in France, Rapinoe scored six goals over the course of the tournament, including a penalty in a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final. She also finished with three assists and claimed both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball for the best overall player.
Rapinoe, who is engaged to former WNBA star Sue Bird, has been a leader on and off the field.
She made headlines during the 2019 tournament when she said she wouldn’t visit the White House if the United States won. Her decision was based on her disdain for then-President Donald Trump, and the team did not go to the White House after winning its second World Cup.
And in the midst of a dispute with U.S. Soccer over equal pay with the men’s national team, Rapinoe helped the women hold firm on their position.
“I just think back to 2019 in particular. We didn’t really talk about it a lot as a group but we were like, `Well, we have to win. This is kind of like a must-win World Cup for us.’ And I think it did give us confidence,” she said. “It pressured us, but I think we also knew that we could handle it and it was almost a mandatory upping of our level to be able to match everything that we were saying off the field. I think in so many ways we were betting on ourselves.”
Rapinoe has won two Women’s World Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal with the United States. She also took home the Ballon d’Or and the Best FIFA Women’s Player awards — the game’s top individual honors — for her play in 2019.
As a fierce advocate for social justice issues, including gender equity and LGBTQ rights, she was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Joe Biden last year.
The team also won a new contract that pays the players the same as their male counterparts.
“I’ve always tried to use whatever platform we have, and this platform was built long before I got here. We just continue to add to to it, to grow the game, to make the world a better place, to use our voices, to advocate for more,” she said.
At this World Cup, she’s passing that legacy on to younger generation. Fourteen of the U.S. players are playing in their first World Cup. In 2019, Carli Lloyd was in a similar role of a player who was also something of a coach who led by example.
Rapinoe is doing that now.
“Still every day in training I’m like, `I’m gonna try to bust your ass,’ and that makes them better, that makes me better,” she said. “That makes the whole team better. So I think it’s been really rewarding. And I think ultimately, and I think that this gets lost, but I get to play in another World Cup.”
___
AP Women’s World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-megan-rapinoe-adjusts-to-new-role-at-womens-world-cup-while-still-savoring-final-days-in-spotlight/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:12 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-megan-rapinoe-adjusts-to-new-role-at-womens-world-cup-while-still-savoring-final-days-in-spotlight/ |
BALTIMORE — Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he wants Aaron Judge playing every game now that he’s back after almost two months on the injured list.
Wishful thinking.
BALTIMORE — Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he wants Aaron Judge playing every game now that he’s back after almost two months on the injured list.
Wishful thinking.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. | https://www.nj.com/yankees/2023/07/back-and-hot-aaron-judge-not-happy-yankees-planning-bunch-of-rest-days.html | 2023-07-30T12:29:13 | 1 | https://www.nj.com/yankees/2023/07/back-and-hot-aaron-judge-not-happy-yankees-planning-bunch-of-rest-days.html |
DUNEDIN, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand outshot Switzerland and even moved goalkeeper Victoria Esson into an attack position several times, but failed to break a 0-0 tie Sunday in the Women’s World Cup and became the first host nation to be eliminated in group play in tournament history.
The Football Ferns are co-hosting the World Cup with Australia, which must win Monday against Canada to avoid its own early elimination.
Switzerland advanced to the round of 16. The Swiss also played to a scoreless draw against Norway, but won the group with the draw against New Zealand, coupled with the Norwegians’ simultaneous 6-0 rout of the Philippines.
New Zealand controlled the pace for long stretches of the match and had its chances to score, outshooting Switzerland 12-3. Jacqui Hand knocked a shot off the right post in the 24th minute.
All 25,947 seats at Forsyth Barr Stadiums were filled — the only one of Dunedin’s six tournament matches to sell out. The raucous crowd stomped and cheered all night, to no avail.
The tournament began July 20 with New Zealand upsetting Norway 1-0, but the Ferns failed to score from the 48th minute of that match through two more games. They lost their previous match 1-0 against the Philippines.
KEY MOMENTS
Esson moved into an offensive position several times in the last minutes of the match as New Zealand pressed for a winner. She managed a header off a corner kick but was off target.
WHY IT MATTERS
Switzerland becomes one of two teams from Group A to advance to the round of 16. It’s only the team’s second time in the knockout round — the first was in the Swiss’ only previous Women’s World Cup in 2015.
The New Zealanders’ failure to score put an end to their Women’s World Cup run.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“Just gutted, I think. Obviously we talked and we were proud of ourselves and what we’ve been able to accomplish, but at the end of the day we wanted to get out of this group stage and we just didn’t. It’s just black and white. So, obviously gutted,” said New Zealand midfielder Malia Steinmetz of the elimination.
“We expected it to be really tough. New Zealand really tried everything they could, and I think we knew how to respond, especially defensively. We did a lot right,” said Inka Grings, Switzerland’s coach.
WHAT’S NEXT
Switzerland will play either Spain or Japan from Group C, pending a match between those teams on Monday to decide the top two places in that group.
New Zealand is done for the Women’s World Cup.
__
Ellen McIntyre is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
—-
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-new-zealand-out-of-womens-world-cup-following-0-0-draw-with-switzerland-as-swiss-advance/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:18 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-new-zealand-out-of-womens-world-cup-following-0-0-draw-with-switzerland-as-swiss-advance/ |
Voters must create political will to address nuclear weapons
“This is a film about terrible risks and a planet likely destined to destroy itself someday,” writes film critic Michael Phillips (”Oppenheimer review,” July 24). “And we see it, and feel it.”
Well, he’s half right and half wrong. The very existence of nuclear weapons creates terrible risks for every one of us and all life on earth. But it is people, not the planet, who are likely to destroy life on earth. There are steps we mere mortals can take to avoid this horrific calamity, but they all require us as voters to speak up and create the political will to take action.
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, by the U.S. on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, killed between 100,000 and 200,000 people, most of them civilians. Most of the U.S. nuclear weapons poised in five European ally countries are much more sophisticated and powerful than those of eight decades ago, and the Pentagon is primed to spend $1.7 trillion over the next decade to “upgrade” this doomsday arsenal. We simply must reverse the course of this new arms race.
Sixty-eight nations have signed and ratified the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and 24 more have signed it with ratification now in the pipeline. The U.S. has not signed, and it simply must take a lead role in bringing all nine nuclear nations to the TPNW table — we owe it to humanity.
The Back From The Brink (BFTB) grassroots coalition urges that our government take five simple steps now to minimize the chances of unintentionally unleashing a nuclear exchange:
- Renounce First Use as a policy (these are ostensibly “defensive” weapons at very best);
- End the sole authority of the U.S. president, whomever that may be, to order a nuclear attack;
- Take all nuclear weapons off of hair-trigger alert;
- End the plan to spend $1.7 trillion to upgrade our nukes (we can do so much more with that in domestic and diplomacy spending, including reducing our national debt, to create genuine security at home); and
- Lead multilateral arms control treaty discussions with all nuclear nations, now.
Baltimore and Frederick city councils and Montgomery and Prince George’s county councils are among the dozens of U.S. political bodies to have debated and passed BFTB resolutions. We need Congress to pay attention to us and act accordingly.
House Resolution 77 is pending in Congress. It urges the president to embrace the goals of the TPNW (work toward abolition of all nuclear weapons) and the BFTB. Already, 36 representatives have co-sponsored this common-sensical response to our nuclear existential crisis, including Maryland’s Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey, but we need every representative to take this stand. Like poison gas, land mines and cluster bombs, nukes indiscriminately slaughter civilians and have no place in the human military weapons toolbox. H. Res. 77 doesn’t immediately solve everything — or require unilateral disarmament — but it is a fundamental first step, a recognition of the ghastly problem we face and a path forward.
On Aug. 6 of this year, Prevent Nuclear War Maryland will be holding a 7th Congressional District Nuclear War Awareness Town Hall at Homewood Friends Meeting, 3107 N. Charles St., Baltimore, from 6 to 9 p.m. On Aug. 9, we’ll hold a 2nd Congressional District Nuclear War Awareness Town Hall at First and St. Stephen’s United Church of Christ, 6915 York Road in Stoneleigh, also from 6 to 9 p.m. These events will feature simple factual information about nuclear weapons, their costs, their effects, the treaties and alternative uses of the money involved. Our representatives are invited to attend and respond to constituent concerns, and to announce support for House Resolution 77.
We voters need to wake up and generate the political will to find a way out of this deadly jam. Please call your Representative (202-224-3121) or write them at the House of Representatives, Washington D.C. 20515, and urge them to co-sponsor H. Res. 77 today. We need to know that they are literally with us, not against us, and they need to know what we need and want them to do!
— Louis Brendan Curran, Baltimore
The writer is a retired Baltimore assistant public defender, co-conveyor of Baltimore Peace Action, and a volunteer with Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland and Veterans For Peace.
Prevention is the only cure for nuclear attack
As we approach the anniversary of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, what will be the public impact of the new movie “Oppenheimer” about the father of the atomic bomb?
Since the events chronicled in the movie, which is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning book, “American Prometheus,” little has changed regarding the place nuclear weapons have in our war-fighting plans. Sure, there are 13,000 worldwide nuclear weapons instead of 60,000 at its craziest height, enough to destroy life as we know it many times over. But that’s no reason to celebrate. The Doomsday Clock of the Federation of Atomic Scientists, around since 1947, put us closer to doomsday this year than ever before due to dangerous technologies of our own making. The war in Ukraine has caused relations between Russia and the U.S. to be at a new low with Putin threatening to use tactical (not necessarily small) nuclear weapons.
Though never publicly acknowledging regret for the 200,000 lives lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of the bombs he was instrumental in creating, theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer foresaw a time when “mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima …. People of the world must unite or they will perish.” With other scientists, he opposed the rush to develop the hydrogen bomb, believing there was no way for a nation to defend against it, and argued atomic bombs should be under international control. He carried this message to the highest authorities, including the secretary of defense, and tried ineffectively to influence President Harry S. Truman.
He was not a whistleblower. He believed his insider status and fame would allow him to affect policy. In devastating hearings, he was brought crashing down and was emotionally crushed because of his ties to friends in the Communist Party (this was the McCarthy era). In addition to making enemies of some who subsequently became powerful, it is possible his real crime was opposition to Cold War policies that American leadership wanted to pursue. The last scene in the movie is a flashback to 1947. Oppenheimer and Einstein are having a conversation. They are discussing their earlier fears that the Manhattan Project could start a never-ending chain reaction that might destroy the world. Oppenheimer ends with these words “I believe we did.”
In November 1983, “The Day After,” the most viewed ever made-for-TV movie, followed several families in Kansas and Missouri before the day of and after nuclear war suddenly and unexpectedly breaks out between the Soviet Union and the U.S. over events in West Berlin. One hundred million people watched in horror a dramatized depiction of what nuclear war would do to the lives of ordinary people, and the stories were terrifying. The producers of the movie acknowledged that they were influenced by the Nuclear Freeze movement which had been responsible for the largest ever U.S. peace rally on June 12, 1982, in New York City. For many, seeing “The Day After” brought Americans face to face with the total devastation a nuclear war would bring to their lives. They mailed letters and furiously made calls to the presidential switchboard. Whether public concern or his own reaction was responsible, President Ronald Reagan changes his tone in a speech January 1984, from threatening the Soviet Union to interest in nuclear disarmament. In 1987, Reagan and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev successfully negotiated the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which may have prevented nuclear war in the ‘80s.
Was the Reagan administration influenced by the New York City rally and the movie “The Day After?” We will never know for sure, but if people are moved after seeing the “Oppenheimer” movie, they should let their elected officials know. The anthropologist Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Once the bombs go off, it is too late. Prevention is the only cure.
— Gwen L. DuBois, Baltimore.
The writer is president of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility. | https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/readers-respond/bs-ed-rr-oppenheimer-reader-roundup-20230730-ekjrdwvlgjgblol44bvwzlu6sq-story.html | 2023-07-30T12:29:20 | 1 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/readers-respond/bs-ed-rr-oppenheimer-reader-roundup-20230730-ekjrdwvlgjgblol44bvwzlu6sq-story.html |
St. Lucie County - Sunday July 30, 2023: Cool down and wrap up the summer with Back-to-School Splash Jams hosted by St. Lucie County’s Parks & Recreation Department.
St. Lucie County will be hosting free pool parties for all ages with free food, music and pirate-themed games.
- Wednesday, Aug. 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Arthur Lee Boatwright Pool, 1200 Ave. M, Fort Pierce
- Thursday, Aug. 3 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Lakewood Park Regional Park, 5990 Emerson Ave., Fort Pierce
- Friday, Aug. 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ravenswood Pool, 400 SW Ravenswood Lane, Port St. Lucie.
Note that the hours are subject to change based on weather conditions.
The Back-to-School Splash Jams will replace the last two Mobile Rec and Roll events that were originally scheduled for Aug. 2 – 3 at Pepper Park Beach and Lawnwood Stadium.
For more details about St. Lucie County pools, visit: www.stlucieco.gov/aquatics or call 772-871-2183. | https://www.wqcs.org/wqcs-news/2023-07-30/st-lucie-countys-parks-rec-host-back-to-school-splash-jam-aug-2-4 | 2023-07-30T12:29:24 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/wqcs-news/2023-07-30/st-lucie-countys-parks-rec-host-back-to-school-splash-jam-aug-2-4 |
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Sophie Roman Haug’s hat trick kick-started Norway’s dormant offense and sparked a 6-0 blowout win over the Philippines on Sunday that moved the Norwegians into to the knockout stage of the Women’s World Cup.
The Philippines’ debut run in the tournament came to an end as Norway scored early and often, netting three goals in the first 31 minutes.
Norway’s spot in the round of 16 was secured when Switzerland and New Zealand simultaneously played to a 0-0 draw and the Norwegians. Norway and New Zealand were tied in Group A but Norway advanced on goal differential. New Zealand became the first host country to be eliminated in the group stage in tournament history.
Before the game, Norway had not scored in three consecutive Women’s World Cup matches dating to the quarterfinals of the 2019 tournament.
But Roman Haug one-timed a ball into the net in the sixth minute, and scored again 11 minutes later. Caroline Graham Hansen added a long-distance shot in the 31st minute.
Roman Haug completed the hat trick in injury time.
In the second half, an Alicia Barker own goal in the 48th minute and Guro Reiten’s penalty kick in the 53rd minute extended Norway’s lead to 5-0. Filipina defender Sofia Harrison received a red card in the 67th minute for using excessive force, and the Philippines played the rest of the match a player down.
Eden Park was turned into a makeshift home match for the Philippines, as the Filipina fans screamed in unison any time the Philippines touched the ball, even as the deficit grew.
The Philippines were fresh off of a historic 1-0 win over co-host New Zealand that marked the first Women’s World Cup win for the debutantes.
KEY MOMENTS
Roman Haug got the Norwegians off to a hot start. The first of her two goals was a left-footed volley from inside the six-yard box in the sixth minute. Eleven minutes later, Roman Haug scored a header delivered by a Vilde Boe Risa cross. Roman Haug’s header flew over the reach of Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel.
Graham Hansen scored on a long-distance strike that curled into the bottom left corner in the 31st minute to give Norway its third goal of the half.
From that point on, Norway was in control.
WHY IT MATTERS
The win advances Norway to the knockout stage after the Norwegians found themselves in last place in Group A heading into the Philippines match.
The Norwegians had yet to score in 2023 before their six-goal eruption.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
“They showed some of their class today with their skill. They picked us apart and won a couple of battles in the air in the box early. We really released the pressure early and allowed them to, sort of, be a little more creative as the game went on,” Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic said.
“We’ve been talking quite a bit about having the first goal, then it will give us energy. We know in our attack, we are strong and have good combination play both on the right side and left side. Today was the day that, when we had the first one, we knew there could be more,” Norway head coach Hege Riise said.
__
WHAT’S NEXT
Norway will play either Japan or Spain in the round of 16 next Saturday, depending on the results of a game between those Group C teams on Monday.
The inaugural tournament run ends for the Philippines, who needed at least a draw to have a chance of moving on.
__
Zach Allen is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
—-
AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-norway-moves-into-the-knockout-round-at-womens-world-cup-with-6-0-rout-over-the-philippines/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:24 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-norway-moves-into-the-knockout-round-at-womens-world-cup-with-6-0-rout-over-the-philippines/ |
The Texas Rangers agreed to acquire three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer in a blockbuster trade with the New York Mets on Saturday night, an all-in move for the surprise leaders in the AL West, a person with knowledge of the deal said.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced.
The Rangers will be adding the 39-year-old Scherzer with another former Mets pitcher with Cy Young credentials, two-time winner Jacob deGrom, sidelined by Tommy John elbow surgery, possibly all the way through the end of next season.
According to multiple reports, the deal nets New York one of the top Texas prospects in infielder Luisangel Acuña, the younger brother of Atlanta star Ronald Acuña Jr.
As part of the deal, Scherzer agreed to opt in on the final year of his contract in 2024 at $43 million, according to reports that also said the Mets were paying about $35 million of the remaining $58 million on the right-hander’s contract.
The Mets, one of baseball’s biggest disappointments, unloaded Scherzer two days after sending closer David Robertson to Miami for two minor leaguers.
New York began the season with the highest payroll in baseball at $353 million but started the day 17 games behind Atlanta in the NL East and 6 1/2 games back in the wild-card race.
The next question is what the Mets will do with Justin Verlander, another three-time Cy Young winner signed through next season. There should be plenty of suitors for the 40-year-old right-hander.
Texas has emerged from six consecutive losing seasons to lead the AL West all but one day in three-time World Series champion Bruce Bochy’s first season as manager.
The Rangers made the first notable move of this trading season by getting once-dominant closer Aroldis Chapman from Kansas City in June. Chapman has stayed in a setup role with Will Smith handling most of the closing duties.
Now Texas has bolstered the rotation knowing deGrom might be out until Scherzer’s contract expires at the end of next season.
The trade for Scherzer came on the same day the Rangers said they were again bumping back the next start for All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. Bochy said Eovaldi had a sore elbow, but the club doesn’t think it’s serious.
The Rangers added deGrom in the offseason on a $185 million, five-year contract, knowing there was risk in signing the oft-injured right-hander.
He lasted just six starts — all Texas wins — before elbow issues sidelined deGrom for a month. It took multiple MRIs to determine the extent of the damage to his elbow, and the Tommy John procedure in June was the second of his career. The other was in rookie ball with the Mets in 2010.
“I think we need to improve as a starting rotation,” Bochy said before the Rangers’ game at San Diego on Saturday night, as reports of the trade were circulating. “I think that’s fair to say.”
Scherzer (9-4) was leading the Mets in victories but had his highest ERA (4.01) since 2011 with Detroit. The eight-time All-Star started Friday at home against Washington, allowing one run in seven innings in a 5-1 New York victory.
With 210 career victories, Scherzer is third among active pitchers behind Verlander and Kansas City’s Zack Greinke.
___
AP Sports Writer Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-rangers-get-scherzer-from-mets-in-all-in-blockbuster-from-surprise-al-west-leaders/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:31 | 0 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-rangers-get-scherzer-from-mets-in-all-in-blockbuster-from-surprise-al-west-leaders/ |
SYDNEY (AP) — Some of the biggest names in soccer have yet to show up at the Women’s World Cup.
That’s literally been the case of Australian star Sam Kerr, who missed the first two games with a calf injury.
Kerr has recovered in time to play for Australia in a crucial final Group B game against Canada on Monday. The Matildas need to beat the Canadians to ensure they advance to the knockout round, and the Chelsea striker’s return to the lineup brings needed energy to the team.
“Mentally, it’s massive. It brings so much to our team and obviously also a lot to the opposition knowing that we have Sam available for this game,” Australia defender Ellie Carpenter said.
Kerr’s injury on the eve of Australia’s opening game against Ireland set the tone for a tournament that hasn’t been kind to some of its biggest stars. She was the face of co-host Australia’s preparations for the tournament, which is also being staged in New Zealand.
She dominated the covers of magazines across newsstands, while the autobiography she released late last year chronicled her rise to become arguably the best player in the women’s game right now. Kerr’s popularity transcends women’s soccer and she is considered a national icon.
So the disappointment was palpable when news broke about an hour before the opening match that Kerr was going to be sidelined at least two games in this tournament.
Kerr’s absence was felt in the 3-2 loss to Nigeria in Australia’s second game, a loss that put the Matildas in danger of elimination. It is not known what her role will be against Canada, but Australia needs Kerr to deliver in the final game of group play.
“I’m definitely going to be available, but how we decide to use that is not to be given to the opposition,” said Kerr.
The World Cup is supposed to be a showcase for the finest talent and biggest names, but injuries have always robbed the tournament of some its star players.
Norway forward Ada Hegerberg has had her playing time curtailed. Often referred to as “the Lionel Messi of women’s soccer,” Hederberg was part of a Norway’s 1-0 upset loss to New Zealand in the opening game of the World Cup.
It got worse for the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner when she suffered a groin injury in the warm-up ahead of Norway’s game against Switzerland, and she’s been ruled out of the final Group A game against the Philippines.
Keira Walsh of England suffered a knee injury against Denmark that will sidenline her for the Lionesses’ final Group D game against China. Described as irreplaceable, it is not known how much she will be able to play.
Even for some stars who have seen plenty of playing time, it has been difficult to make an impact.
American icon Alex Morgan has underwhelmed so far at her fourth World Cup, where she is hoping to help the United States to an unprecedented third consecutive title.
Morgan, the co-leading scorer at the last World Cup, has yet to score at this year’s event and missed a penalty in the 3-0 win against Vietnam. U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said Morgan was adapting to playing in a forward line with Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman.
“I think it’s not hard to realize that Alex’s role is slightly different than the Alex that we’re used to maybe in the past,” Andonovski said. “She does set up the other two forwards a lot more. It’s not that she’s not capable of scoring goals or getting behind crosses, but we can also see her playing balls to Trinity and Soph, but also getting crosses for them as well.”
Morgan, at 34, is now one of the older players at the tournament.
Christine Sinclair of Canada is also searching for first goal of the tournament. Sinclair is highest scorer in international soccer — men or women — with 190 goals.
Like Morgan, she also missed a penalty, in a 0-0 draw with Nigeria that could still prove costly. She was benched for Canada’s second game against Ireland before coming in as a substitute at halftime as the gold medalist from the Tokyo Olympics logged a come-from-behind 2-1 win.
At 40 years old, Sinclair is having to accept a more limited role for Canada.
Brazil great Marta, at 37, has also been used sparingly in her sixth World Cup.
Her teammate, Debinha, who is also an iconic figure to Brazil fans, has been one of the standout players for her country so far. But she wasn’t able to stop a 2-1 loss to France on Saturday despite scoring in that match.
The gap appears to be closing in the women’s game, with underdogs proving more of a test for the more established nations. That’s one reason some of the big name stars have yet to impress in tournament.
One of the few standouts who has not disappointed so far has been Alexandra Popp, who scored twice in Germany’s 6-0 rout of Morocco.
Major tournaments are traditionally a mix of rising talents coming to the surface, while established stars have the chance to confirm their status among the greats.
Linda Caicedo of Colombia, Lauren James of England and Melchie Dumornay of Haiti have proven their worth as some of the brightest prospects in the game. But as the second round of games nears its completion, it feels like the tournament is still waiting for many of its big hitters to make an impact.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
More AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-some-of-soccers-biggest-stars-are-struggling-to-make-an-impact-at-the-womens-world-cup/ | 2023-07-30T12:29:37 | 1 | https://www.wivb.com/sports/ap-sports/ap-some-of-soccers-biggest-stars-are-struggling-to-make-an-impact-at-the-womens-world-cup/ |
The House Republicans who craft the conference’s government funding bills are showing signs of frustration as hard-line conservatives pressure leadership for further cuts to spending that some worry could be too aggressive.
Some of the 12 Appropriations subcommittee chairs — the so-called cardinals — told reporters that they are struggling to see where those additional cuts could come from, as September’s shutdown deadline looms.
“I just don’t see the wisdom in trying to further cut to strengthen our hand. I don’t know how that strengthens our hand,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a House Appropriations subcommittee chairman, said of conservatives’ push to further cut the already-scaled-back spending bills.
“I do think it puts some of our members in a very difficult spot, particularly those in tough districts, because they’re going to be taking some votes that become problematic,” he added.
The House left Washington for a long summer recess Thursday after being forced to punt a bill to fund agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.
Conservatives are dug in on their demand for steeper spending cuts, to the chagrin of moderates who are wary of slashing funding even more. The chamber has passed just one appropriations bill, funding military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The internal divisions are gripping the party as time is running out: The House has just 12 days in September to move the remaining 11 appropriations measures and hash out their disagreements with the Senate, which is marking up its spending bills at higher levels, setting the scene for a hectic fall that could bring the U.S. to the brink of a shutdown.
Those dynamics are putting GOP appropriators in a bind, leaving them searching for ways to appease conservative requests without gutting their spending bills.
“We’ve done a lot of cuts, a lot of cuts,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas) told The Hill this week. “And so if it’s cuts just for cut’s sake, I don’t agree with it. But if it’s something that we can do without, that’s fine.”
‘Not a lot of wiggle room left’
Republican appropriators in the House announced earlier this year that they would mark up their bills for fiscal 2024 at fiscal 2022 levels, as leaders sought to placate conservatives who thought the debt ceiling deal struck by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this year didn’t do enough to curb spending.
The Senate is crafting its bills more in line with the budget caps agreed to in the deal, but House Republicans are already fuming about a bipartisan deal in the upper chamber that would allow for more than $13 billion in additional emergency spending on top of those levels.
House GOP negotiators also said they would pursue clawing back more than $100 billion in old funding that was allocated for Democratic priorities without GOP support in the previous Congress.
While that move drew support from hard-line conservatives, the right flank was far from pleased when it heard appropriators planned to repurpose that old funding — known as rescissions — to plus-up the spending bills.
In a letter to McCarthy earlier this month, a group of hard-line conservatives called for all 12 appropriations bills to be in line with fiscal 2022 spending levels “without the use of reallocated rescissions to increase discretionary spending above that top-line.”
Otherwise, the 21 lawmakers threatened, they would vote against the measures. But that request could prove difficult for GOP appropriators to fulfill.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), chairman of the panel that proposes funding for the Department of State and foreign operations, said that appropriators are already “dramatically reducing spending,” suggesting that there are not too many remaining areas to trim from.
“My bill is below the 2016 levels,” he said, later adding, “When you’re below the 2016 level — and we’re still confronting China — I think there’s not a lot of wiggle room left.”
“It’s a challenge, but I think we’ll get through it. I really do,” he added.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who heads the subcommittee that oversees funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior, scoffed at the idea of even steeper cuts to his bill.
“Then you just drop it on the floor and stomp on it. What else do you do with it?” he told reporters. “You can’t make logical cuts in there.”
Republicans appropriators are voicing optimism that the conference will be able to sort out its differences on spending, but some also hope their levels will stick — even though they include rescissions.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) — whose panel handles funding for the Department of Energy, which is proposing offsetting billions of dollars in spending with clawbacks — said it would be “extremely difficult” to craft his bill without the rescinded funds.
“And given our priorities in my bill, national defense with the nuclear weapons portfolio, nuclear cleanup, Army Corps including, all the community-directed fundings, I feel good about my bill, and I hope my numbers hold,” he said.
“Because it’s gonna have to be in negotiations with the Senate and the White House as well,” he added.
Womack — whose subcommittee crafts funding for the IRS and the Treasury Department — said he doesn’t think “moving the goalposts on these numbers is helpful in strengthening our ability to negotiate with the Senate.”
August preparations for a busy September
Frustrations among appropriators are bubbling up as Congress inches closer to the fall, when lawmakers are facing a Sept. 30 deadline to approve funding or risk a government shutdown.
With time running out, some House lawmakers say conversations may continue over the long August recess to try to hash out remaining differences.
“We’ll have to see,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said when asked about potential plans for talks between leaders and House Freedom Caucus members over the break. “I mean, we got a lot of work to do.”
“I think a lot of work [has] got to be done behind the scenes,” he said. “If not, you know, here — You gotta beg the question about whether we should be gone for six weeks. We should be getting our job done.”
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) echoed that sentiment, saying “I would think so” when asked if lawmakers will have conversations over the break.
Adding to the August workload, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) suggested earlier this week that bicameral negotiations could take place over the weeks-long recess as lawmakers stare down the shutdown deadline.
Not all Republicans, however, are viewing a shutdown as a risk.
During a House Freedom Caucus press conference this week, Good said “we should not fear a government shutdown,” claiming that “most of what we do up here is bad anyway; most of what we do up here hurts the American people.”
But that perspective does not jive with the view of McCarthy, who declared Thursday: “I don’t want the government to shut down.”
Multiple Republicans are ultimately expecting Congress to eventually pass what’s known as a continuing resolution (CR), or a measure that temporarily allows the government to be funded at the previous fiscal year’s levels, to prevent a lapse at the end of September.
But they also understand the task could be difficult in the GOP-led chamber, where Republicans aren’t happy about the idea of continuing funding at the current levels — which were last set when Democrats held control of Congress.
“I think there’s a very good chance that we’ll see a CR, but I know there’s a lot of work to get a CR done,” Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), another appropriator, said Thursday, noting there are “a lot of members that don’t want CRs that are tired of them.”
But Aderholt suggested a CR could notch sufficient GOP backing if there’s a larger plan in sight that the party can support.
“The Speaker’s been very good about having a plan,” he said, adding, “I think that’s what he’s good at, and I’m optimistic that he can come up with something.”
Emily Brooks contributed. | https://www.wfla.com/hill-politics/frustration-emerges-among-gop-spending-cardinals-as-conservatives-push-for-cuts/ | 2023-07-30T12:30:19 | 1 | https://www.wfla.com/hill-politics/frustration-emerges-among-gop-spending-cardinals-as-conservatives-push-for-cuts/ |
BEIRUT (AP) — Clashes Sunday in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left five people dead and seven others wounded, Palestinian officials said.
The officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the fighting broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead.
Later, Islamist militants assassinated a Palestinian military general from the Fatah group and three escorts, another Palestinian official told the AP.
Factions used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the overcrowded Ein el-Hilweh camp as ambulances zoomed through its narrow streets to take the wounded to the hospital. Several residents fled the crossfire.
Palestinian factions in the camp for years have cracked down on militant Islamist groups and fugitives seeking shelter in the camp's overcrowded neighborhoods. In 2017, Palestinian factions engaged in almost a week of fierce clashes with a militant organization affiliated with the extremist Islamic State group.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two children were among those wounded.
The clashes stopped for several hours in the morning, though state media said there was still sporadic sniper fire. But they began again after the killing of the Palestinian general and his escorts.
The Lebanese Army in a statement said a mortar shell landed in a military barracks outside the camp wounding one soldier, whose condition is stable.
Ein el-Hilweh is notorious for its lawlessness and violence is not uncommon. The U.N. says it is home to some 55,000 people.
It was established in 1948 to host Palestinians displaced by Israeli forces during the establishment of Israel. | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/5-killed-6-wounded-in-overnight-clashes-in-crowded-palestinian-refugee-camp-in-lebanon/C63A3PFD5NHNPHQU6XFEW2U6IQ/ | 2023-07-30T12:30:30 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/nation-world/5-killed-6-wounded-in-overnight-clashes-in-crowded-palestinian-refugee-camp-in-lebanon/C63A3PFD5NHNPHQU6XFEW2U6IQ/ |
BEIRUT — (AP) — Clashes Sunday in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon left five people dead and seven others wounded, Palestinian officials said.
The officials, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the fighting broke out after an unknown gunman tried to assassinate Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead.
Later, Islamist militants assassinated a Palestinian military general from the Fatah group and three escorts, another Palestinian official told the AP.
Factions used assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the overcrowded Ein el-Hilweh camp as ambulances zoomed through its narrow streets to take the wounded to the hospital. Several residents fled the crossfire.
Palestinian factions in the camp for years have cracked down on militant Islamist groups and fugitives seeking shelter in the camp's overcrowded neighborhoods. In 2017, Palestinian factions engaged in almost a week of fierce clashes with a militant organization affiliated with the extremist Islamic State group.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two children were among those wounded.
The clashes stopped for several hours in the morning, though state media said there was still sporadic sniper fire. But they began again after the killing of the Palestinian general and his escorts.
The Lebanese Army in a statement said a mortar shell landed in a military barracks outside the camp wounding one soldier, whose condition is stable.
Ein el-Hilweh is notorious for its lawlessness and violence is not uncommon. The U.N. says it is home to some 55,000 people.
It was established in 1948 to host Palestinians displaced by Israeli forces during the establishment of Israel.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.wpxi.com/news/world/5-killed-7-wounded/32UW322SNEN5NEBNQH34UNJFC4/ | 2023-07-30T12:30:53 | 0 | https://www.wpxi.com/news/world/5-killed-7-wounded/32UW322SNEN5NEBNQH34UNJFC4/ |
Consumer demand for speed and convenience drives labor unrest among workers in Hollywood and at UPS
NEW YORK (AP) — Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single-digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers.
But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed drastically as companies scramble to meet customer expectations for speed and convenience in industries transformed by technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated those changes, pushing retailers to shift online and intensifying the streaming competition among entertainment companies. Now, from the picket lines, workers are trying to give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a show that can be binged any time or get dog food delivered to their doorstep with a phone swipe.
Overworked and underpaid employees is an enduring complaint across industries — from delivery drivers to Starbucks baristas and airline pilots — where surges in consumer demand have collided with persistent labor shortages. Workers are pushing back against forced overtime, punishing schedules or company reliance on lower-paid, part-time or contract forces.
At issue for Hollywood screenwriters and actors staging their first simultaneous strikes in 40 years is the way streaming has upended entertainment economics, slashing pay and forcing showrunners to produce content faster with smaller teams.
“This seems to happen to many places when the tech companies come in. Who are we crushing? It doesn’t matter,” said Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, a screenwriter and showrunner on the negotiating team for the Writers Guild of America, whose members have been on strike since May. Earlier this month, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined the writers’ union on the picket line.
Actors and writers have long relied on residuals, or long-term payments, for reruns and other airings of films and television shows. But reruns aren’t a thing on streaming services, where series and films simply land and stay with no easy way, such as box office returns or ratings, to determine their popularity.
Consequently, whatever residuals streaming companies do pay often amount to a pittance, and screenwriters have been sharing tales of receiving single-digit checks.
Adam Shapiro, an actor known for the Netflix hit “Never Have I Ever,” said many actors were initially content to accept lower pay for the plethora of roles that streaming suddenly offered. But the need for a more sustainable compensation model gained urgency when it became clear streaming is not a sideshow, but rather the future of the business, he said.
“Over the past 10 years, we realized: ‘Oh, that’s now how Hollywood works. Everything is streaming,’” Shapiro said during a recent union event.
Shapiro, who has been acting for 25 years, said he agreed to a contract offering 20% of his normal rate for “Never Have I Ever” because it seemed like “a great opportunity, and it’s going to be all over the world. And it was. It really was. Unfortunately, we’re all starting to realize that if we keep doing this we’re not going to be able to pay our bills.”
Then there’s the rising use of “mini rooms,” in which a handful of writers are hired to work only during pre-production, sometimes for a series that may take a year to be greenlit, or never get picked up at all.
Sanchez-Witzel, co-creator of the recently released Netflix series “Survival of the Thickest,” said television shows traditionally hire robust writing teams for the duration of production. But Netflix refused to allow her to keep her team of five writers past pre-production, forcing round-the-clock work on rewrites with just one other writer.
“It’s not sustainable and I’ll never do that again,” she said.
Sanchez-Witzel said she was struck by the similarities between her experience and those of UPS drivers, some of whom joined the WGA for protests as they threatened their own potentially crippling strike. UPS and the Teamsters last week reached a tentative contract staving off the strike.
Jeffrey Palmerino, a full-time UPS driver near Albany, New York, said forced overtime emerged as a top issue during the pandemic as drivers coped with a crush of orders on par with the holiday season. Drivers never knew what time they would get home or if they could count on two days off each week, while 14-hour days in trucks without air conditioning became the norm.
“It was basically like Christmas on steroids for two straight years. A lot of us were forced to work six days a week, and that is not any way to live your life,” said Palmerino, a Teamsters shop steward.
Along with pay raises and air conditioning, the Teamsters won concessions that Palmerino hopes will ease overwork. UPS agreed to end forced overtime on days off and eliminate a lower-paid category of drivers who work shifts that include weekends, converting them to full-time drivers. Union members have yet to ratify the deal.
The Teamsters and labor activists hailed the tentative deal as a game-changer that would pressure other companies facing labor unrest to raise their standards. But similar outcomes are far from certain in industries lacking the sheer economic indispensability of UPS or the clout of its 340,000-member union.
Efforts to organize at Starbucks and Amazon stalled as both companies aggressively fought against unionization.
Still, labor protests will likely gain momentum following the UPS contract, said Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, which released a report this year that found the number of labor strikes rose 52% in 2022.
“The whole idea that consumer convenience is above everything broke down during the pandemic. We started to think, ‘I’m at home ordering, but there is actually a worker who has to go the grocery store, who has to cook this for me so that I can be comfortable,’” Campos-Medina said.
___
Associated Press video journalist Leslie Ambriz contributed from Los Angeles.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/30/consumer-demand-speed-convenience-drives-labor-unrest-among-workers-hollywood-ups/ | 2023-07-30T12:30:53 | 1 | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/30/consumer-demand-speed-convenience-drives-labor-unrest-among-workers-hollywood-ups/ |
Consumer demand for speed and convenience drives labor unrest among workers in Hollywood and at UPS
NEW YORK (AP) — Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single-digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers.
But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed drastically as companies scramble to meet customer expectations for speed and convenience in industries transformed by technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated those changes, pushing retailers to shift online and intensifying the streaming competition among entertainment companies. Now, from the picket lines, workers are trying to give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a show that can be binged any time or get dog food delivered to their doorstep with a phone swipe.
Overworked and underpaid employees is an enduring complaint across industries — from delivery drivers to Starbucks baristas and airline pilots — where surges in consumer demand have collided with persistent labor shortages. Workers are pushing back against forced overtime, punishing schedules or company reliance on lower-paid, part-time or contract forces.
At issue for Hollywood screenwriters and actors staging their first simultaneous strikes in 40 years is the way streaming has upended entertainment economics, slashing pay and forcing showrunners to produce content faster with smaller teams.
“This seems to happen to many places when the tech companies come in. Who are we crushing? It doesn’t matter,” said Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, a screenwriter and showrunner on the negotiating team for the Writers Guild of America, whose members have been on strike since May. Earlier this month, the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists joined the writers’ union on the picket line.
Actors and writers have long relied on residuals, or long-term payments, for reruns and other airings of films and television shows. But reruns aren’t a thing on streaming services, where series and films simply land and stay with no easy way, such as box office returns or ratings, to determine their popularity.
Consequently, whatever residuals streaming companies do pay often amount to a pittance, and screenwriters have been sharing tales of receiving single-digit checks.
Adam Shapiro, an actor known for the Netflix hit “Never Have I Ever,” said many actors were initially content to accept lower pay for the plethora of roles that streaming suddenly offered. But the need for a more sustainable compensation model gained urgency when it became clear streaming is not a sideshow, but rather the future of the business, he said.
“Over the past 10 years, we realized: ‘Oh, that’s now how Hollywood works. Everything is streaming,’” Shapiro said during a recent union event.
Shapiro, who has been acting for 25 years, said he agreed to a contract offering 20% of his normal rate for “Never Have I Ever” because it seemed like “a great opportunity, and it’s going to be all over the world. And it was. It really was. Unfortunately, we’re all starting to realize that if we keep doing this we’re not going to be able to pay our bills.”
Then there’s the rising use of “mini rooms,” in which a handful of writers are hired to work only during pre-production, sometimes for a series that may take a year to be greenlit, or never get picked up at all.
Sanchez-Witzel, co-creator of the recently released Netflix series “Survival of the Thickest,” said television shows traditionally hire robust writing teams for the duration of production. But Netflix refused to allow her to keep her team of five writers past pre-production, forcing round-the-clock work on rewrites with just one other writer.
“It’s not sustainable and I’ll never do that again,” she said.
Sanchez-Witzel said she was struck by the similarities between her experience and those of UPS drivers, some of whom joined the WGA for protests as they threatened their own potentially crippling strike. UPS and the Teamsters last week reached a tentative contract staving off the strike.
Jeffrey Palmerino, a full-time UPS driver near Albany, New York, said forced overtime emerged as a top issue during the pandemic as drivers coped with a crush of orders on par with the holiday season. Drivers never knew what time they would get home or if they could count on two days off each week, while 14-hour days in trucks without air conditioning became the norm.
“It was basically like Christmas on steroids for two straight years. A lot of us were forced to work six days a week, and that is not any way to live your life,” said Palmerino, a Teamsters shop steward.
Along with pay raises and air conditioning, the Teamsters won concessions that Palmerino hopes will ease overwork. UPS agreed to end forced overtime on days off and eliminate a lower-paid category of drivers who work shifts that include weekends, converting them to full-time drivers. Union members have yet to ratify the deal.
The Teamsters and labor activists hailed the tentative deal as a game-changer that would pressure other companies facing labor unrest to raise their standards. But similar outcomes are far from certain in industries lacking the sheer economic indispensability of UPS or the clout of its 340,000-member union.
Efforts to organize at Starbucks and Amazon stalled as both companies aggressively fought against unionization.
Still, labor protests will likely gain momentum following the UPS contract, said Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, which released a report this year that found the number of labor strikes rose 52% in 2022.
“The whole idea that consumer convenience is above everything broke down during the pandemic. We started to think, ‘I’m at home ordering, but there is actually a worker who has to go the grocery store, who has to cook this for me so that I can be comfortable,’” Campos-Medina said.
___
Associated Press video journalist Leslie Ambriz contributed from Los Angeles.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/07/30/consumer-demand-speed-convenience-drives-labor-unrest-among-workers-hollywood-ups/ | 2023-07-30T12:30:53 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/07/30/consumer-demand-speed-convenience-drives-labor-unrest-among-workers-hollywood-ups/ |
FIRST ALERT WEATHER DAY Forecast: Tracking dangerous heat levels and high humidity over the next few days! Highs reaching triple digits today and Monday!
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Sunday: A First Alert Weather Day is in place as humidity is expected to increase on top of already above-average temperatures. Temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid 90s by lunchtime and continue warming with highs expected to reach 100 degrees in the afternoon. Peak heat indices are expected to range anywhere between 105 and 110 degrees. Because of this, it is important to stay hydrated and take frequent breaks from the outdoors. Temperatures will slowly cool off into the mid-70s overnight.
Extended forecast: Another First Alert Weather Day is in place for Monday as dangerous heat conditions are expected to continue for the beginning of next week. Forecast highs are expected to reach 100 degrees Monday with feels like temperatures still in the triple digits due to the increased moisture that moves in over the weekend. Temperatures will continue to be in the upper 90s throughout most of the week but we may see a little bit of a cool by next weekend. Looking at the tropics, the disturbance in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean has a 70% chance of forming over the next 7 days but won’t be affecting us here at home. We’ll keep an eye on the tropics as we get closer to peak hurricane season.
Want more WLBT news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please click here to report it and include the headline of the story in your email.
Copyright 2023 WLBT. All rights reserved. | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/30/first-alert-weather-day-forecast-tracking-dangerous-heat-levels-high-humidity-over-next-few-days-highs-reaching-triple-digits-today-monday/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:00 | 0 | https://www.wlbt.com/2023/07/30/first-alert-weather-day-forecast-tracking-dangerous-heat-levels-high-humidity-over-next-few-days-highs-reaching-triple-digits-today-monday/ |
Five people shot in Michigan
LANSING, Mich. (WILX/Gray News) - Five people were shot in Lansing, Michigan, WILX reports.
Lansing Police officers responded to a shooting in the 1300 block of W. Holmes Road around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday.
When officers arrived, they found a large crowd of people and multiple shooting victims.
The Lansing Fire Department responded to treat and transport several of the victims to a local hospital. Due to the size of the crowd, the Lansing Police Department requested assistance from neighboring jurisdictions.
Five shooting victims were identified ranging in age from 16 to 26 years old. Two of the victims are listed in critical condition.
Police detained several suspects and recovered multiple firearms from the scene.
This is an active investigation and Lansing Police Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators are at the scene working to determine the events which led up to the shootings.
Copyright 2023 WILX via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/07/30/five-people-shot-michigan/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:00 | 0 | https://www.wagmtv.com/2023/07/30/five-people-shot-michigan/ |
Braves vs. Brewers Predictions & Picks: Odds, Moneyline, Spread - July 30
Sunday's game between the Atlanta Braves (66-36) and Milwaukee Brewers (57-48) matching up at Truist Park has a projected final score of 6-4 (according to our computer prediction) in favor of the Braves, who is listed as a slight favorite by our model. The game will begin at 1:35 PM ET on July 30.
This contest's pitching matchup is set, as the Braves will send AJ Smith-Shawver to the mound, while Colin Rea (5-4) will answer the bell for the Brewers.
Braves vs. Brewers Game Info & Odds
- When: Sunday, July 30, 2023 at 1:35 PM ET
- Where: Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia
- How to Watch on TV: MLB Network
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
Bet on this matchup with BetMGM Sportsbook and use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Braves vs. Brewers Score Prediction
Our pick for this matchup is Braves 6, Brewers 4.
Total Prediction for Braves vs. Brewers
- Total Prediction: Under 11.5 runs
New to BetMGM Sportsbook? We've got the best offer for new users when they use promo code "GNPLAY"! Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers. to get this great bonus for first-time depositors.
Discover More About This Game
Braves Performance Insights
- The Braves have played as the favorite in 10 of their past 10 games and won five of those contests.
- In its last 10 games with a total, Atlanta and its opponents have failed to hit the over five times.
- Bookmakers have not set a spread for any of the Braves' last 10 games.
- The Braves have won 58, or 65.2%, of the 89 games they've played as favorites this season.
- This season Atlanta has won 20 of its 28 games, or 71.4%, when favored by at least -210 on the moneyline.
- The Braves have a 67.7% chance to win this game based on the implied probability of the moneyline.
- Atlanta has scored the third-most runs in the majors this season with 575.
- The Braves' 3.87 team ERA ranks sixth among all MLB pitching staffs.
Put your picks to the test and bet on with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Braves Schedule
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wlbt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/braves-brewers-mlb-picks-predictions/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:06 | 0 | https://www.wlbt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/braves-brewers-mlb-picks-predictions/ |
MLB Games Tonight: How to Watch on TV, Streaming & Odds - Sunday, July 30
Today's MLB schedule has plenty of quality competition on the docket. Among those games is the Texas Rangers squaring off against the San Diego Padres.
You will find info on how to watch today's MLB action right here.
Watch MLB games and tons of other live sports without cable! Use our link to get a free trial to Fubo..
How to Watch Today's MLB Games
The Toronto Blue Jays (59-46) take on the Los Angeles Angels (54-51)
The Angels hope to get a road victory at Rogers Centre against the Blue Jays on Sunday at 12:05 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- TOR Key Player: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.268 AVG, 17 HR, 65 RBI)
- LAA Key Player: Shohei Ohtani (.302 AVG, 39 HR, 81 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Atlanta Braves (66-36) face the Milwaukee Brewers (57-48)
The Brewers will hit the field at Truist Park versus the Braves on Sunday at 1:35 PM ET.
How to Watch
- TV Channel: MLB Network
- Stream Live: Fubo (regional restrictions may apply)
- Game Time: 1:35 PM ET
Hitters to Watch
- ATL Key Player: Ronald Acuña Jr. (.333 AVG, 24 HR, 61 RBI)
- MIL Key Player: Christian Yelich (.286 AVG, 15 HR, 58 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Watch live MLB games on all your devices! Sign up now for a free trial to Fubo!
The Pittsburgh Pirates (46-58) play host to the Philadelphia Phillies (56-48)
The Phillies will look to pick up a road win at PNC Park versus the Pirates on Sunday at 1:35 PM ET.
How to Watch
- TV Channel: MLB Network
- Stream Live: Fubo (regional restrictions may apply)
- Game Time: 1:35 PM ET
Hitters to Watch
- PIT Key Player: Bryan Reynolds (.255 AVG, 11 HR, 47 RBI)
- PHI Key Player: Bryson Stott (.306 AVG, 9 HR, 37 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Miami Marlins (56-49) play the Detroit Tigers (47-58)
The Tigers will take to the field at LoanDepot park against the Marlins on Sunday at 1:40 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- MIA Key Player: Luis Arraez (.381 AVG, 3 HR, 51 RBI)
- DET Key Player: Spencer Torkelson (.230 AVG, 15 HR, 58 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Buy gear from your favorite teams and players NOW at Fanatics!
The New York Mets (49-55) play the Washington Nationals (44-61)
The Nationals will hit the field at Citi Field versus the Mets on Sunday at 1:40 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- NYM Key Player: Pete Alonso (.217 AVG, 30 HR, 73 RBI)
- WSH Key Player: Lane Thomas (.286 AVG, 16 HR, 55 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Chicago White Sox (43-63) take on the Cleveland Guardians (52-53)
The Guardians will look to pick up a road win at Guaranteed Rate Field against the White Sox on Sunday at 2:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- CHW Key Player: Luis Robert (.270 AVG, 29 HR, 60 RBI)
- CLE Key Player: José Ramírez (.288 AVG, 16 HR, 60 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Kansas City Royals (31-75) face the Minnesota Twins (54-52)
The Twins will hit the field at Kauffman Stadium against the Royals on Sunday at 2:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- KC Key Player: Bobby Witt Jr. (.263 AVG, 18 HR, 60 RBI)
- MIN Key Player: Carlos Correa (.228 AVG, 12 HR, 45 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Houston Astros (59-46) take on the Tampa Bay Rays (63-44)
The Rays will take to the field at Minute Maid Park versus the Astros on Sunday at 2:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
- TV Channel: SportsNet SW
- Stream Live: Fubo (regional restrictions may apply)
- Game Time: 2:10 PM ET
Hitters to Watch
- HOU Key Player: Kyle Tucker (.299 AVG, 18 HR, 69 RBI)
- TB Key Player: Wander Franco (.267 AVG, 12 HR, 49 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The St. Louis Cardinals (46-60) face the Chicago Cubs (53-51)
The Cubs will hit the field at Busch Stadium versus the Cardinals on Sunday at 2:15 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- STL Key Player: Nolan Arenado (.282 AVG, 22 HR, 77 RBI)
- CHC Key Player: Nico Hoerner (.278 AVG, 7 HR, 57 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Colorado Rockies (40-64) host the Oakland Athletics (30-76)
The Athletics will take to the field at Coors Field against the Rockies on Sunday at 3:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
- TV Channel: SportsNet RM
- Stream Live: Fubo (regional restrictions may apply)
- Game Time: 3:10 PM ET
Hitters to Watch
- COL Key Player: Ryan McMahon (.255 AVG, 16 HR, 48 RBI)
- OAK Key Player: Brent Rooker (.248 AVG, 17 HR, 47 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The San Francisco Giants (57-48) play the Boston Red Sox (56-48)
The Red Sox will look to pick up a road win at Oracle Park versus the Giants on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- SF Key Player: LaMonte Wade Jr (.269 AVG, 9 HR, 29 RBI)
- BOS Key Player: Justin Turner (.288 AVG, 16 HR, 68 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Los Angeles Dodgers (59-44) take on the Cincinnati Reds (57-49)
The Reds will look to pick up a road win at Dodger Stadium versus the Dodgers on Sunday at 4:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
- TV Channel: SportsNet LA
- Stream Live: Fubo (regional restrictions may apply)
- Game Time: 4:10 PM ET
Hitters to Watch
- LAD Key Player: Freddie Freeman (.328 AVG, 21 HR, 73 RBI)
- CIN Key Player: Spencer Steer (.276 AVG, 15 HR, 57 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The San Diego Padres (51-54) play host to the Texas Rangers (60-45)
The Rangers will look to pick up a road win at PETCO Park versus the Padres on Sunday at 4:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- SD Key Player: Juan Soto (.265 AVG, 20 HR, 63 RBI)
- TEX Key Player: Marcus Semien (.275 AVG, 15 HR, 64 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Arizona Diamondbacks (56-49) host the Seattle Mariners (53-51)
The Mariners will take to the field at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks on Sunday at 4:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- ARI Key Player: Corbin Carroll (.288 AVG, 21 HR, 57 RBI)
- SEA Key Player: Julio Rodríguez (.252 AVG, 17 HR, 55 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
The Baltimore Orioles (63-41) play the New York Yankees (55-49)
The Yankees will look to pick up a road win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards against the Orioles on Sunday at 7:10 PM ET.
How to Watch
Hitters to Watch
- BAL Key Player: Adley Rutschman (.267 AVG, 14 HR, 46 RBI)
- NYY Key Player: Gleyber Torres (.258 AVG, 16 HR, 44 RBI)
Check out the latest odds and place your bets with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/mlb-odds-how-to-watch/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:07 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/mlb-odds-how-to-watch/ |
The House Republicans who craft the conference’s government funding bills are showing signs of frustration as hard-line conservatives pressure leadership for further cuts to spending that some worry could be too aggressive.
Some of the 12 Appropriations subcommittee chairs — the so-called cardinals — told reporters that they are struggling to see where those additional cuts could come from, as September’s shutdown deadline looms.
“I just don’t see the wisdom in trying to further cut to strengthen our hand. I don’t know how that strengthens our hand,” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a House Appropriations subcommittee chairman, said of conservatives’ push to further cut the already-scaled-back spending bills.
“I do think it puts some of our members in a very difficult spot, particularly those in tough districts, because they’re going to be taking some votes that become problematic,” he added.
The House left Washington for a long summer recess Thursday after being forced to punt a bill to fund agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.
Conservatives are dug in on their demand for steeper spending cuts, to the chagrin of moderates who are wary of slashing funding even more. The chamber has passed just one appropriations bill, funding military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The internal divisions are gripping the party as time is running out: The House has just 12 days in September to move the remaining 11 appropriations measures and hash out their disagreements with the Senate, which is marking up its spending bills at higher levels, setting the scene for a hectic fall that could bring the U.S. to the brink of a shutdown.
Those dynamics are putting GOP appropriators in a bind, leaving them searching for ways to appease conservative requests without gutting their spending bills.
“We’ve done a lot of cuts, a lot of cuts,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas) told The Hill this week. “And so if it’s cuts just for cut’s sake, I don’t agree with it. But if it’s something that we can do without, that’s fine.”
‘Not a lot of wiggle room left’
Republican appropriators in the House announced earlier this year that they would mark up their bills for fiscal 2024 at fiscal 2022 levels, as leaders sought to placate conservatives who thought the debt ceiling deal struck by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) earlier this year didn’t do enough to curb spending.
The Senate is crafting its bills more in line with the budget caps agreed to in the deal, but House Republicans are already fuming about a bipartisan deal in the upper chamber that would allow for more than $13 billion in additional emergency spending on top of those levels.
House GOP negotiators also said they would pursue clawing back more than $100 billion in old funding that was allocated for Democratic priorities without GOP support in the previous Congress.
While that move drew support from hard-line conservatives, the right flank was far from pleased when it heard appropriators planned to repurpose that old funding — known as rescissions — to plus-up the spending bills.
In a letter to McCarthy earlier this month, a group of hard-line conservatives called for all 12 appropriations bills to be in line with fiscal 2022 spending levels “without the use of reallocated rescissions to increase discretionary spending above that top-line.”
Otherwise, the 21 lawmakers threatened, they would vote against the measures. But that request could prove difficult for GOP appropriators to fulfill.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), chairman of the panel that proposes funding for the Department of State and foreign operations, said that appropriators are already “dramatically reducing spending,” suggesting that there are not too many remaining areas to trim from.
“My bill is below the 2016 levels,” he said, later adding, “When you’re below the 2016 level — and we’re still confronting China — I think there’s not a lot of wiggle room left.”
“It’s a challenge, but I think we’ll get through it. I really do,” he added.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who heads the subcommittee that oversees funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Interior, scoffed at the idea of even steeper cuts to his bill.
“Then you just drop it on the floor and stomp on it. What else do you do with it?” he told reporters. “You can’t make logical cuts in there.”
Republicans appropriators are voicing optimism that the conference will be able to sort out its differences on spending, but some also hope their levels will stick — even though they include rescissions.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) — whose panel handles funding for the Department of Energy, which is proposing offsetting billions of dollars in spending with clawbacks — said it would be “extremely difficult” to craft his bill without the rescinded funds.
“And given our priorities in my bill, national defense with the nuclear weapons portfolio, nuclear cleanup, Army Corps including, all the community-directed fundings, I feel good about my bill, and I hope my numbers hold,” he said.
“Because it’s gonna have to be in negotiations with the Senate and the White House as well,” he added.
Womack — whose subcommittee crafts funding for the IRS and the Treasury Department — said he doesn’t think “moving the goalposts on these numbers is helpful in strengthening our ability to negotiate with the Senate.”
August preparations for a busy September
Frustrations among appropriators are bubbling up as Congress inches closer to the fall, when lawmakers are facing a Sept. 30 deadline to approve funding or risk a government shutdown.
With time running out, some House lawmakers say conversations may continue over the long August recess to try to hash out remaining differences.
“We’ll have to see,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said when asked about potential plans for talks between leaders and House Freedom Caucus members over the break. “I mean, we got a lot of work to do.”
“I think a lot of work [has] got to be done behind the scenes,” he said. “If not, you know, here — You gotta beg the question about whether we should be gone for six weeks. We should be getting our job done.”
Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) echoed that sentiment, saying “I would think so” when asked if lawmakers will have conversations over the break.
Adding to the August workload, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) suggested earlier this week that bicameral negotiations could take place over the weeks-long recess as lawmakers stare down the shutdown deadline.
Not all Republicans, however, are viewing a shutdown as a risk.
During a House Freedom Caucus press conference this week, Good said “we should not fear a government shutdown,” claiming that “most of what we do up here is bad anyway; most of what we do up here hurts the American people.”
But that perspective does not jive with the view of McCarthy, who declared Thursday: “I don’t want the government to shut down.”
Multiple Republicans are ultimately expecting Congress to eventually pass what’s known as a continuing resolution (CR), or a measure that temporarily allows the government to be funded at the previous fiscal year’s levels, to prevent a lapse at the end of September.
But they also understand the task could be difficult in the GOP-led chamber, where Republicans aren’t happy about the idea of continuing funding at the current levels — which were last set when Democrats held control of Congress.
“I think there’s a very good chance that we’ll see a CR, but I know there’s a lot of work to get a CR done,” Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), another appropriator, said Thursday, noting there are “a lot of members that don’t want CRs that are tired of them.”
But Aderholt suggested a CR could notch sufficient GOP backing if there’s a larger plan in sight that the party can support.
“The Speaker’s been very good about having a plan,” he said, adding, “I think that’s what he’s good at, and I’m optimistic that he can come up with something.”
Emily Brooks contributed. | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/hill-politics/frustration-emerges-among-gop-spending-cardinals-as-conservatives-push-for-cuts/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:09 | 0 | https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/hill-politics/frustration-emerges-among-gop-spending-cardinals-as-conservatives-push-for-cuts/ |
Braves vs. Brewers Probable Starting Pitchers Today - July 30
The Atlanta Braves (66-36) have a 2-0 series lead, hoping to sweep the Milwaukee Brewers (57-48) on Sunday at Truist Park, at 1:35 PM ET.
The probable starters are AJ Smith-Shawver for the Braves and Colin Rea (5-4) for the Brewers.
Bet Now: Get the latest odds for this matchup and pitcher props on BetMGM. New depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Braves vs. Brewers Pitcher Matchup Info
- Date: Sunday, July 30, 2023
- Time: 1:35 PM ET
- TV: MLB Network
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Venue: Truist Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Probable Pitchers: Smith-Shawver - ATL (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Rea - MIL (5-4, 4.53 ERA)
Watch live MLB games on all your devices! Sign up now for a free trial to Fubo!
Read More About This Game
Braves Probable Starting Pitcher Tonight: AJ Smith-Shawver
- The Braves will send out Smith-Shawver for his first start of the season.
- The 20-year-old right-hander will make his MLB debut.
Try FanDuel Fantasy today with our link and make your perfect team!
Brewers Probable Starting Pitcher Tonight: Colin Rea
- Rea makes the start for the Brewers, his 18th of the season. He is 5-4 with a 4.53 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 91 1/3 innings pitched.
- In his last time out on Tuesday, the right-hander tossed six innings against the Cincinnati Reds, giving up two earned runs while surrendering five hits.
- The 33-year-old has put up an ERA of 4.53, with 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 18 games this season. Opposing hitters have a .237 batting average against him.
- Rea has four quality starts this year.
- Rea will aim to go five or more innings for his third straight appearance. He's averaging 5.1 innings per outing.
- In two of his 18 total appearances this season he has not allowed an earned run.
Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wlbt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/braves-vs-brewers-mlb-probable-starting-pitchers/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:12 | 1 | https://www.wlbt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/braves-vs-brewers-mlb-probable-starting-pitchers/ |
MLB Probable Starting Pitchers Tonight: Sunday, July 30
Who are the probable pitchers lined up to start on Sunday? Below, we list every starting pitching matchup for the day, which includes Luis Castillo toeing the rubber for the Mariners, and Merrill Kelly getting the call for the Diamondbacks.
Keep reading to find the probable starters for every contest on the docket for July 30.
Watch MLB games and tons of other live sports without cable! Use our link to get a free trial to Fubo.
Today's Probable Starting Pitchers
Angels at Blue Jays Probable Pitchers
The Los Angeles Angels will send Tyler Anderson (5-2) to the hill as they play the Blue Jays, who will give the start to Jose Berrios (8-7) for the game between the clubs on Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Angels at Blue Jays
- TOR Odds to Win: -200
- LAA Odds to Win: +165
- Total: 9.5 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Angels at Blue Jays
- Game Time: 12:05 PM ET
- Streaming: Peacock (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Brewers at Braves Probable Pitchers
The Milwaukee Brewers will send Colin Rea (5-4) to the mound as they play the Braves, who will counter with AJ Smith-Shawver (0-0) for the game between the clubs on Sunday.
A different way to play! Build your best fantasy lineups for today's games and you could win cash prizes. Try FanDuel Fantasy today with our link for a first-time player bonus!
Live Stream Brewers at Braves
- Game Time: 1:35 PM ET
- Streaming: MLB Network (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Watch live MLB games on all your devices! Sign up now for a free trial to Fubo!
Phillies at Pirates Probable Pitchers
The Philadelphia Phillies will send Cristopher Sanchez (0-3) to the hill as they take on the Pirates, who will look to Rich Hill (7-10) when the teams face off Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Phillies at Pirates
- PHI Odds to Win: -150
- PIT Odds to Win: +125
- Total: 9 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Phillies at Pirates
- Game Time: 1:35 PM ET
- Streaming: MLB Network (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Tigers at Marlins Probable Pitchers
The Detroit Tigers will send Tarik Skubal (1-1) to the bump as they face the Marlins, who will counter with Jesus Luzardo (8-5) when the clubs face off on Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Tigers at Marlins
- MIA Odds to Win: -150
- DET Odds to Win: +125
- Total: 7 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Tigers at Marlins
- Game Time: 1:40 PM ET
- Streaming: BSFL (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Buy officially licensed gear for your favorite teams and players at Fanatics!
Nationals at Mets Probable Pitchers
The Washington Nationals will send Trevor Williams (5-5) to the hill as they face the Mets, who will look to Justin Verlander (5-5) for the matchup between the clubs on Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Nationals at Mets
- NYM Odds to Win: -275
- WSH Odds to Win: +220
- Total: 8.5 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Nationals at Mets
- Game Time: 1:40 PM ET
- Streaming: WPIX (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Guardians at White Sox Probable Pitchers
The Cleveland Guardians will send Aaron Civale (4-2) to the mound as they play the White Sox, who will counter with Michael Kopech (4-9) for the game between the clubs Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Guardians at White Sox
- CLE Odds to Win: -145
- CHW Odds to Win: +120
- Total: 9 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Guardians at White Sox
- Game Time: 2:10 PM ET
- Streaming: NBCS-CHI (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Twins at Royals Probable Pitchers
The Minnesota Twins will send Kenta Maeda (2-5) to the hill as they play the Royals, who will look to Ryan Yarbrough (3-5) for the game between the clubs Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Twins at Royals
- MIN Odds to Win: -185
- KC Odds to Win: +150
- Total: 9 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Twins at Royals
- Game Time: 2:10 PM ET
- Streaming: BSKC (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Rays at Astros Probable Pitchers
The Tampa Bay Rays will send Zack Littell (0-2) to the bump as they play the Astros, who will counter with Brandon Bielak (5-5) when the teams play on Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Rays at Astros
- HOU Odds to Win: -110
- TB Odds to Win: -110
- Total: 9 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Rays at Astros
- Game Time: 2:10 PM ET
- Streaming: SportsNet SW (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Cubs at Cardinals Probable Pitchers
The Chicago Cubs will send Kyle Hendricks (4-4) to the mound as they take on the Cardinals, who will counter with Steven Matz (1-7) when the teams play on Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Cubs at Cardinals
- STL Odds to Win: -145
- CHC Odds to Win: +120
- Total: 9 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Cubs at Cardinals
- Game Time: 2:15 PM ET
- Streaming: BSMW (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Athletics at Rockies Probable Pitchers
The Oakland Athletics will send Luis Medina (3-7) to the hill as they play the Rockies, who will counter with Ty Blach (0-0) when the clubs play Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Athletics at Rockies
- COL Odds to Win: -110
- OAK Odds to Win: -110
- Total: 12.5 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Athletics at Rockies
- Game Time: 3:10 PM ET
- Streaming: SportsNet RM (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Red Sox at Giants Probable Pitchers
The Boston Red Sox will send Brennan Bernardino (1-0) to the mound as they play the Giants, who will look to Scott Alexander (6-1) when the clubs meet on Sunday.
Live Stream Red Sox at Giants
- Game Time: 4:05 PM ET
- Streaming: NBCS-BA (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Reds at Dodgers Probable Pitchers
The Cincinnati Reds will send Graham Ashcraft (5-7) to the bump as they take on the Dodgers, who will give the start to Michael Grove (2-2) for the matchup between the clubs Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Reds at Dodgers
- LAD Odds to Win: -185
- CIN Odds to Win: +150
- Total: 10.5 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Reds at Dodgers
- Game Time: 4:10 PM ET
- Streaming: SportsNet LA (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Rangers at Padres Probable Pitchers
The Texas Rangers will send Cody Bradford (2-1) to the hill as they play the Padres, who will give the start to Blake Snell (7-8) for the game between the clubs Sunday.
Live Stream Rangers at Padres
- Game Time: 4:10 PM ET
- Streaming: SDPA (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Mariners at Diamondbacks Probable Pitchers
The Seattle Mariners will send Castillo (6-7) to the mound as they take on the Diamondbacks, who will counter with Kelly (9-4) when the teams play Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Mariners at Diamondbacks
- SEA Odds to Win: -120
- ARI Odds to Win: +100
- Total: 8.5 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Mariners at Diamondbacks
- Game Time: 4:10 PM ET
- Streaming: ARID (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Yankees at Orioles Probable Pitchers
The New York Yankees will send Luis Severino (2-4) to the bump as they play the Orioles, who will hand the ball to Dean Kremer (10-4) when the teams face off Sunday.
Vegas Odds for Yankees at Orioles
- BAL Odds to Win: -125
- NYY Odds to Win: +105
- Total: 9 runs
- Sign up with BetMGM Sportsbook, and new depositors can use bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Live Stream Yankees at Orioles
- Game Time: 7:10 PM ET
- Streaming: ESPN (regional restrictions may apply)
- Watch for free: Sign up today for a free trial to Fubo.
Not all offers available in all states, please visit BetMGM for the latest promotions for your area. Must be 21+ to gamble, please wager responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, contact 1-800-GAMBLER.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/mlb-probable-starting-pitchers/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:13 | 1 | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/mlb-probable-starting-pitchers/ |
How to Watch the Sun vs. Lynx Game: Streaming & TV Channel Info for July 30
Published: Jul. 30, 2023 at 7:30 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
DeWanna Bonner will lead the Connecticut Sun (18-6) into a matchup against the Minnesota Lynx (12-13) one game after scoring 32 points in an 88-83 win over the Wings. The matchup is on Sunday, July 30, 2023, at 1:00 PM ET on CBS Sports Network and NBCS-BOS.
Watch live WNBA games without cable on all your devices with a seven-day free trial to Fubo!
Check out the latest odds and place your bets on the Sun or Lynx with BetMGM Sportsbook. Use our link for the best new user offer, no promo code required!
Sun vs. Lynx Game Info
- Game Day: Sunday, July 30, 2023
- Game Time: 1:00 PM ET
- TV: CBS Sports Network
- Arena: Mohegan Sun Arena
- Live Stream: Watch on Fubo!
Rep your team with officially licensed Sun gear! Head to Fanatics to find jerseys, shirts, and much more.
Key Stats for Sun vs. Lynx
- The 84 points per game Connecticut records are only 1.4 fewer points than Minnesota allows (85.4).
- Connecticut makes 44.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 0.6 percentage points lower than Minnesota has allowed to its opponents (45.2%).
- The Sun are 9-1 when they shoot better than 45.2% from the field.
- Connecticut's 36.3% three-point shooting percentage this season is only 0.4 percentage points higher than opponents of Minnesota have shot from deep (35.9%).
- The Sun are 8-2 when they shoot better than 35.9% from distance.
- Connecticut and Minnesota rebound at about the same rate, with Connecticut averaging 0.7 fewer rebounds per game.
Sun Recent Performance
- The Sun have seen an uptick in scoring lately, putting up 85.2 points per game in their last 10 outings, 1.2 points more than the 84 they've scored this year.
- The past 10 games have seen Connecticut give up one more point per game (79.6) than its season-long average (78.6).
- The Sun are trending up from beyond the arc over their last 10 outings, making 7.9 threes per game and shooting 38.5% from long range in comparison to their season-long averages of 7.2 makes and 36.3% from distance in the 2023 season.
Sun Injuries
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/sun-vs-lynx-wnba-live-stream-tv/ | 2023-07-30T12:31:19 | 0 | https://www.wagmtv.com/sports/betting/2023/07/30/sun-vs-lynx-wnba-live-stream-tv/ |
She's one of India's biggest Barbie fans. When Vichitra Rajasingh was growing up, family and friends helped her build her collection of Barbie dolls until she had almost 80 of them. She once owned a Barbie camper, a speedboat, supermarket and post office. The mermaid Barbie and scuba-diving Barbie were her favorites.
Since her family ran a hotel, they put the dolls on display in the lobby in the late '90s. On Rajasingh's 14th birthday, her parents painted her room bright pink and hired artists to draw her favorite Barbie dolls on the walls.
All her Barbies were blond. She says she didn't like the Indian ethnic ones that came on the local market.
Living the pink life
"My love for the color pink began with my childhood passion for Barbie," she says. "And now it's become my identity." For her, the color represents love, joy, femininity and playfulness, everything she once associated with Barbie, she says.
Today Rajasingh lives in the southern Indian city of Madurai, where she drives a pink mini-Cooper and runs a bakery and lives in an apartment that are dominated by that color.
When the Barbie movie released in India on July 21, she gathered a bunch of friends, "everyone dressed to the nines in pink," and watched it on the day of its release. "I loved the movie. It was fun to watch and brought back many joyful childhood memories," she says.
While she no longer has her huge doll collection — having long since given it away to family and friends — Rajasingh is still a Barbie lover. She bakes six or seven Barbie-themed cakes a week, with an actual doll at the center of a cake that serves as her frothy dress, constructed around her in a swirl of sugar and cream.
Rajasingh saw Barbie as an aspirational figure — and grew up admiring the doll's freedom, confidence, globe-trotting lifestyle and even her arched feet in sassy stilettos.
But for others in India, Barbie has a far more complicated legacy.
The pressures Barbie can bring
Shweta Sharan, a writer who lives in Mumbai, admits to being conflicted about whether or not to watch the movie with her 13-year-old daughter, Laasya, who until a year ago ardently loved Barbie but then outgrew playing with dolls.
"I am aware that these dolls have many complicated associations," Sharan says. "Watching my daughter love a doll that looked nothing like her — with blond hair, blue eyes, perfect breasts — I worried if she would always strive to be someone else and feel inadequate."
These worries are valid in the opinion of ElsaMarie DSilva, a social entrepreneur from India and an Aspen fellow. "While Barbie is almost universally loved among girls of all ages, many do aspire to look like her, unconsciously pressurizing young girls to conform to unrealistic body shapes and expectations," she says — a common criticism aimed at Barbie.
Indian Barbie is not a rousing success
Mattel did make an effort to adapt the doll for an Indian market. When Mattel launched Barbie in India in 1991, it was the familiar Western-looking blond-haired blue-eyed Barbie. Then in 1996, they rolled out Indian Barbie, with brown skin. She came either wearing a bright sari or a salwar kameez — a knee-length tunic over fitted trousers.
But the Indian Barbie was not popular. "Indian kids gravitated toward the white-skinned Barbie instead of the brown-skinned one because light-skinned women were considered more beautiful in India and an automatic choice," DSilva says.
She points out how even in Indian clothes, Barbie still had a body that did not represent real women in India or anywhere else — she was way too tall and way too thin.
Priti Nemani, an Indian American attorney living in Chicago, analyzed why Barbie failed so spectacularly in the Indian market in a research paper published in 2011. In addition to the unrealistic, impossibly thin appearance of the doll, she points out how other cultural factors were at play.
"We weren't seeing Indian features on Barbie," she says. "We were seeing white Barbies dipped in brown. And even those brown Barbies didn't last long on the shelves. The latest versions of the Indian Barbie have much lighter skin tone.
Meanwhile, even though blond Barbies sold well, Ken tanked in India. "Indian parents who wouldn't want their daughters in romantic relationships at such an early age weren't going to buy the boyfriend," Nemani says.
In spite of her initial misgivings, Sharan enjoyed the Barbie movie with her daughter, now 13, who especially liked the feminist overtones. Laasya loved the beginning, when they were told "Barbie has a great day everyday. Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him."
Barbie inspires a poem
There are other issues about Barbie in India. For many kids, the doll is too expensive.
Ankita Apurva, 26, a writer who grew up in a farming family in Ranchi, a city in the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, recalls a childhood bereft of Barbies.
Her parents, who struggled to pay for a good education that they hoped would be her armor against bullying and discrimination, could not afford to buy their daughter a Barbie.
"They weren't in a position to splurge on fancy dolls like a Barbie," she says. She recalls feeling inferior for not owning one of these expensive dolls that would help her connect with other Barbie owners in her circle. It was especially hard for her at lunch when girls would boast about how many dolls they owned.
"I believe that even if children from marginalized communities manage to enter [private] institutions [for the privileged], there are certain social, cultural and economic symbols which are consciously and subconsciously deployed to mark them out, and Barbie, as loved as it is, is definitely one of them," she says.
Over the years, Apurva's family has grown stronger financially. When she saw the global resurgence of interest in Barbie now, she didn't feel angry or alienated, but it did bring back memories of desperately wanting to fit in – and not just because she didn't have a Barbie.
"Growing up, I rarely felt represented in literature or media. If pens or cameras turned toward us, they inadvertently counted us as data: dead bodies of farmers or survivors of violence of umpteen kinds."
As a girl from a farming family in Jharkhand, Apurva felt invisible. And so, she decided to express those emotions. She wrote a poem that she posted on Instagram, not to shame anyone who is privileged enough to own a Barbie but to comfort those who, like her, may have felt left out.
Here are some excerpts:
"Here's to the girls who do not get the Barbie craze,
...
girls who had parents who could not
or did not or choose not
to get them Barbie dolls
...
it's okay,
to not relate to any of it
...
what is not okay are friends ...
who intentionally make you
feel low by asking how many Barbies
you owned as a kid even as they
know you weren't privileged enough
to have them.
...
you are also not "too much" ...
if you feel
that Barbie is a colonial icon
legitimizing racial supremacy
while being a 'white feminist' trope
...
and once again
remember,
you are everything,
they are just Ken
Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, Southern India. She reports on global health, science, and development, and her work has been published in the New York Times, The British Medical Journal, BBC, The Guardian and other outlets. You can find her on twitter @kamal_t
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/barbie-in-india-a-skin-color-debate-a-poignant-poem-baked-in-a-cake | 2023-07-30T12:32:52 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-28/barbie-in-india-a-skin-color-debate-a-poignant-poem-baked-in-a-cake |
She's one of India's biggest Barbie fans. When Vichitra Rajasingh was growing up, family and friends helped her build her collection of Barbie dolls until she had almost 80 of them. She once owned a Barbie camper, a speedboat, supermarket and post office. The mermaid Barbie and scuba-diving Barbie were her favorites.
Since her family ran a hotel, they put the dolls on display in the lobby in the late '90s. On Rajasingh's 14th birthday, her parents painted her room bright pink and hired artists to draw her favorite Barbie dolls on the walls.
All her Barbies were blond. She says she didn't like the Indian ethnic ones that came on the local market.
Living the pink life
"My love for the color pink began with my childhood passion for Barbie," she says. "And now it's become my identity." For her, the color represents love, joy, femininity and playfulness, everything she once associated with Barbie, she says.
Today Rajasingh lives in the southern Indian city of Madurai, where she drives a pink mini-Cooper and runs a bakery and lives in an apartment that are dominated by that color.
When the Barbie movie released in India on July 21, she gathered a bunch of friends, "everyone dressed to the nines in pink," and watched it on the day of its release. "I loved the movie. It was fun to watch and brought back many joyful childhood memories," she says.
While she no longer has her huge doll collection — having long since given it away to family and friends — Rajasingh is still a Barbie lover. She bakes six or seven Barbie-themed cakes a week, with an actual doll at the center of a cake that serves as her frothy dress, constructed around her in a swirl of sugar and cream.
Rajasingh saw Barbie as an aspirational figure — and grew up admiring the doll's freedom, confidence, globe-trotting lifestyle and even her arched feet in sassy stilettos.
But for others in India, Barbie has a far more complicated legacy.
The pressures Barbie can bring
Shweta Sharan, a writer who lives in Mumbai, admits to being conflicted about whether or not to watch the movie with her 13-year-old daughter, Laasya, who until a year ago ardently loved Barbie but then outgrew playing with dolls.
"I am aware that these dolls have many complicated associations," Sharan says. "Watching my daughter love a doll that looked nothing like her — with blond hair, blue eyes, perfect breasts — I worried if she would always strive to be someone else and feel inadequate."
These worries are valid in the opinion of ElsaMarie DSilva, a social entrepreneur from India and an Aspen fellow. "While Barbie is almost universally loved among girls of all ages, many do aspire to look like her, unconsciously pressurizing young girls to conform to unrealistic body shapes and expectations," she says — a common criticism aimed at Barbie.
Indian Barbie is not a rousing success
Mattel did make an effort to adapt the doll for an Indian market. When Mattel launched Barbie in India in 1991, it was the familiar Western-looking blond-haired blue-eyed Barbie. Then in 1996, they rolled out Indian Barbie, with brown skin. She came either wearing a bright sari or a salwar kameez — a knee-length tunic over fitted trousers.
But the Indian Barbie was not popular. "Indian kids gravitated toward the white-skinned Barbie instead of the brown-skinned one because light-skinned women were considered more beautiful in India and an automatic choice," DSilva says.
She points out how even in Indian clothes, Barbie still had a body that did not represent real women in India or anywhere else — she was way too tall and way too thin.
Priti Nemani, an Indian American attorney living in Chicago, analyzed why Barbie failed so spectacularly in the Indian market in a research paper published in 2011. In addition to the unrealistic, impossibly thin appearance of the doll, she points out how other cultural factors were at play.
"We weren't seeing Indian features on Barbie," she says. "We were seeing white Barbies dipped in brown. And even those brown Barbies didn't last long on the shelves. The latest versions of the Indian Barbie have much lighter skin tone.
Meanwhile, even though blond Barbies sold well, Ken tanked in India. "Indian parents who wouldn't want their daughters in romantic relationships at such an early age weren't going to buy the boyfriend," Nemani says.
In spite of her initial misgivings, Sharan enjoyed the Barbie movie with her daughter, now 13, who especially liked the feminist overtones. Laasya loved the beginning, when they were told "Barbie has a great day everyday. Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him."
Barbie inspires a poem
There are other issues about Barbie in India. For many kids, the doll is too expensive.
Ankita Apurva, 26, a writer who grew up in a farming family in Ranchi, a city in the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, recalls a childhood bereft of Barbies.
Her parents, who struggled to pay for a good education that they hoped would be her armor against bullying and discrimination, could not afford to buy their daughter a Barbie.
"They weren't in a position to splurge on fancy dolls like a Barbie," she says. She recalls feeling inferior for not owning one of these expensive dolls that would help her connect with other Barbie owners in her circle. It was especially hard for her at lunch when girls would boast about how many dolls they owned.
"I believe that even if children from marginalized communities manage to enter [private] institutions [for the privileged], there are certain social, cultural and economic symbols which are consciously and subconsciously deployed to mark them out, and Barbie, as loved as it is, is definitely one of them," she says.
Over the years, Apurva's family has grown stronger financially. When she saw the global resurgence of interest in Barbie now, she didn't feel angry or alienated, but it did bring back memories of desperately wanting to fit in – and not just because she didn't have a Barbie.
"Growing up, I rarely felt represented in literature or media. If pens or cameras turned toward us, they inadvertently counted us as data: dead bodies of farmers or survivors of violence of umpteen kinds."
As a girl from a farming family in Jharkhand, Apurva felt invisible. And so, she decided to express those emotions. She wrote a poem that she posted on Instagram, not to shame anyone who is privileged enough to own a Barbie but to comfort those who, like her, may have felt left out.
Here are some excerpts:
"Here's to the girls who do not get the Barbie craze,
...
girls who had parents who could not
or did not or choose not
to get them Barbie dolls
...
it's okay,
to not relate to any of it
...
what is not okay are friends ...
who intentionally make you
feel low by asking how many Barbies
you owned as a kid even as they
know you weren't privileged enough
to have them.
...
you are also not "too much" ...
if you feel
that Barbie is a colonial icon
legitimizing racial supremacy
while being a 'white feminist' trope
...
and once again
remember,
you are everything,
they are just Ken
Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, Southern India. She reports on global health, science, and development, and her work has been published in the New York Times, The British Medical Journal, BBC, The Guardian and other outlets. You can find her on twitter @kamal_t
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-28/barbie-in-india-a-skin-color-debate-a-poignant-poem-baked-in-a-cake | 2023-07-30T12:32:52 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-28/barbie-in-india-a-skin-color-debate-a-poignant-poem-baked-in-a-cake |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with children's book author Matt de la Peña about summer reading recommendations for kids of all ages when they complain, "I'm bored!"
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with children's book author Matt de la Peña about summer reading recommendations for kids of all ages when they complain, "I'm bored!"
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/a-childrens-book-author-recommends-books-to-keep-your-kids-busy-this-summer | 2023-07-30T12:32:58 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/a-childrens-book-author-recommends-books-to-keep-your-kids-busy-this-summer |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with children's book author Matt de la Peña about summer reading recommendations for kids of all ages when they complain, "I'm bored!"
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with children's book author Matt de la Peña about summer reading recommendations for kids of all ages when they complain, "I'm bored!"
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/a-childrens-book-author-recommends-books-to-keep-your-kids-busy-this-summer | 2023-07-30T12:32:58 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/a-childrens-book-author-recommends-books-to-keep-your-kids-busy-this-summer |
Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure for traffic of one of four airports around the Russian capital.
It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow's vulnerability to attacks as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an "attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital.
Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack "insignificantly damaged" the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.
No flights went into or out of the Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the air space over Moscow and the outlying regions was temporarily closed for any aircraft. Those restrictions have since been lifted.
Moscow authorities have also closed a street for traffic near the site of the crash in the Moscow City area.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who rarely if ever take responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported shooting down a Ukrainian drone outside Moscow on Friday. Two more drones struck the Russian capital on Monday, one of them falling in the center of the city near the Defense Ministry's headquarters along the Moscow River about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Kremlin. The other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.
In another attack on July 4, the Russian military said four drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and a fifth was jammed by electronic warfare means and forced down.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/a-drone-attack-on-moscow-briefly-shut-one-of-its-airports-and-injured-one | 2023-07-30T12:33:04 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/a-drone-attack-on-moscow-briefly-shut-one-of-its-airports-and-injured-one |
Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure for traffic of one of four airports around the Russian capital.
It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow's vulnerability to attacks as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an "attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital.
Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack "insignificantly damaged" the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.
No flights went into or out of the Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the air space over Moscow and the outlying regions was temporarily closed for any aircraft. Those restrictions have since been lifted.
Moscow authorities have also closed a street for traffic near the site of the crash in the Moscow City area.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who rarely if ever take responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported shooting down a Ukrainian drone outside Moscow on Friday. Two more drones struck the Russian capital on Monday, one of them falling in the center of the city near the Defense Ministry's headquarters along the Moscow River about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Kremlin. The other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.
In another attack on July 4, the Russian military said four drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and a fifth was jammed by electronic warfare means and forced down.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/a-drone-attack-on-moscow-briefly-shut-one-of-its-airports-and-injured-one | 2023-07-30T12:33:04 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/a-drone-attack-on-moscow-briefly-shut-one-of-its-airports-and-injured-one |
Persian-American Chef Nasim Alikhani has published her first cookbook, based on her highly acclaimed restaurant in Brooklyn. She brought the feast to Los Angeles for a recent series of pop up dinners.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Persian-American Chef Nasim Alikhani has published her first cookbook, based on her highly acclaimed restaurant in Brooklyn. She brought the feast to Los Angeles for a recent series of pop up dinners.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/acclaimed-persian-american-chef-nasim-alikhani-has-published-her-first-cookbook | 2023-07-30T12:33:10 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/acclaimed-persian-american-chef-nasim-alikhani-has-published-her-first-cookbook |
Persian-American Chef Nasim Alikhani has published her first cookbook, based on her highly acclaimed restaurant in Brooklyn. She brought the feast to Los Angeles for a recent series of pop up dinners.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Persian-American Chef Nasim Alikhani has published her first cookbook, based on her highly acclaimed restaurant in Brooklyn. She brought the feast to Los Angeles for a recent series of pop up dinners.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/acclaimed-persian-american-chef-nasim-alikhani-has-published-her-first-cookbook | 2023-07-30T12:33:10 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/acclaimed-persian-american-chef-nasim-alikhani-has-published-her-first-cookbook |
An archeological dig in Turkey has uncovered artifacts dating back 1,000 years By Peter Kenyon Published July 30, 2023 at 8:02 AM EDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email In Turkey, what started out as an exploration of a Roman garrison has uncovered artifacts dating back to the time of the Assyrian empire. Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/an-archeological-dig-in-turkey-has-uncovered-artifacts-dating-back-1-000-years | 2023-07-30T12:33:16 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/an-archeological-dig-in-turkey-has-uncovered-artifacts-dating-back-1-000-years |
In Turkey, what started out as an exploration of a Roman garrison has uncovered artifacts dating back to the time of the Assyrian empire.
Copyright 2023 NPR
In Turkey, what started out as an exploration of a Roman garrison has uncovered artifacts dating back to the time of the Assyrian empire.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/an-archeological-dig-in-turkey-has-uncovered-artifacts-dating-back-1-000-years | 2023-07-30T12:33:16 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/an-archeological-dig-in-turkey-has-uncovered-artifacts-dating-back-1-000-years |
The U.S. auto industry is experiencing unanticipated stumbles and challenges as it pivots to producing more electric vehicles, even as it makes large profits.
Copyright 2023 NPR
The U.S. auto industry is experiencing unanticipated stumbles and challenges as it pivots to producing more electric vehicles, even as it makes large profits.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/auto-companies-are-making-big-profits-but-still-stumbling-when-it-comes-to-evs | 2023-07-30T12:33:22 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/auto-companies-are-making-big-profits-but-still-stumbling-when-it-comes-to-evs |
The U.S. auto industry is experiencing unanticipated stumbles and challenges as it pivots to producing more electric vehicles, even as it makes large profits.
Copyright 2023 NPR
The U.S. auto industry is experiencing unanticipated stumbles and challenges as it pivots to producing more electric vehicles, even as it makes large profits.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/auto-companies-are-making-big-profits-but-still-stumbling-when-it-comes-to-evs | 2023-07-30T12:33:22 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/auto-companies-are-making-big-profits-but-still-stumbling-when-it-comes-to-evs |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Professor Amit Bhasin of the University of Texas at Austin about constructing roads and railways that can withstand extreme heat.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Professor Amit Bhasin of the University of Texas at Austin about constructing roads and railways that can withstand extreme heat.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too | 2023-07-30T12:33:28 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Professor Amit Bhasin of the University of Texas at Austin about constructing roads and railways that can withstand extreme heat.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Professor Amit Bhasin of the University of Texas at Austin about constructing roads and railways that can withstand extreme heat.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too | 2023-07-30T12:33:28 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Morristown Medical Center sports cardiologist Matthew Martinez about why some young athletes suffer from sudden cardiac-related medical emergencies.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Morristown Medical Center sports cardiologist Matthew Martinez about why some young athletes suffer from sudden cardiac-related medical emergencies.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/cardiac-issues-among-young-athletes-are-rare-but-there-are-precautions-to-take | 2023-07-30T12:33:34 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/cardiac-issues-among-young-athletes-are-rare-but-there-are-precautions-to-take |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Morristown Medical Center sports cardiologist Matthew Martinez about why some young athletes suffer from sudden cardiac-related medical emergencies.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Morristown Medical Center sports cardiologist Matthew Martinez about why some young athletes suffer from sudden cardiac-related medical emergencies.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/cardiac-issues-among-young-athletes-are-rare-but-there-are-precautions-to-take | 2023-07-30T12:33:34 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/cardiac-issues-among-young-athletes-are-rare-but-there-are-precautions-to-take |
Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/d-smith-on-her-new-documentary-kokomo-city | 2023-07-30T12:33:40 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/d-smith-on-her-new-documentary-kokomo-city |
Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/d-smith-on-her-new-documentary-kokomo-city | 2023-07-30T12:33:40 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/d-smith-on-her-new-documentary-kokomo-city |
Is recent news about the economy so good that the U.S. can say it is coming in for a "soft landing," where inflation gets tamed without a recession?
Copyright 2023 NPR
Is recent news about the economy so good that the U.S. can say it is coming in for a "soft landing," where inflation gets tamed without a recession?
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/do-recent-positive-developments-qualify-as-a-soft-landing-for-the-economy | 2023-07-30T12:33:46 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/do-recent-positive-developments-qualify-as-a-soft-landing-for-the-economy |
Is recent news about the economy so good that the U.S. can say it is coming in for a "soft landing," where inflation gets tamed without a recession?
Copyright 2023 NPR
Is recent news about the economy so good that the U.S. can say it is coming in for a "soft landing," where inflation gets tamed without a recession?
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/do-recent-positive-developments-qualify-as-a-soft-landing-for-the-economy | 2023-07-30T12:33:46 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/do-recent-positive-developments-qualify-as-a-soft-landing-for-the-economy |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to a patron of the party, musician George Brown of the band Kool & The Gang, about his new book, new record, and the "Celebration" of a long and funky career.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to a patron of the party, musician George Brown of the band Kool & The Gang, about his new book, new record, and the "Celebration" of a long and funky career.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/george-brown-of-kool-the-gang-on-celebrating-the-bands-long-career | 2023-07-30T12:33:52 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/george-brown-of-kool-the-gang-on-celebrating-the-bands-long-career |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to a patron of the party, musician George Brown of the band Kool & The Gang, about his new book, new record, and the "Celebration" of a long and funky career.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks to a patron of the party, musician George Brown of the band Kool & The Gang, about his new book, new record, and the "Celebration" of a long and funky career.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/george-brown-of-kool-the-gang-on-celebrating-the-bands-long-career | 2023-07-30T12:33:52 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/george-brown-of-kool-the-gang-on-celebrating-the-bands-long-career |
After nearly five years, the Big Peanut statue has returned to Ashburn, Ga. The original roadside attraction went down during Hurricane Michael. The new one is stronger and locally crafted.
Copyright 2023 NPR
After nearly five years, the Big Peanut statue has returned to Ashburn, Ga. The original roadside attraction went down during Hurricane Michael. The new one is stronger and locally crafted.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/georgias-famous-corn-statue-has-been-rebuilt-after-the-hurricane | 2023-07-30T12:33:58 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/georgias-famous-corn-statue-has-been-rebuilt-after-the-hurricane |
After nearly five years, the Big Peanut statue has returned to Ashburn, Ga. The original roadside attraction went down during Hurricane Michael. The new one is stronger and locally crafted.
Copyright 2023 NPR
After nearly five years, the Big Peanut statue has returned to Ashburn, Ga. The original roadside attraction went down during Hurricane Michael. The new one is stronger and locally crafted.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/georgias-famous-corn-statue-has-been-rebuilt-after-the-hurricane | 2023-07-30T12:33:58 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/georgias-famous-corn-statue-has-been-rebuilt-after-the-hurricane |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with University of California, Berkeley, digital forensics expert Hany Farid about a recent political ad that used an AI-cloned vocal clip.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with University of California, Berkeley, digital forensics expert Hany Farid about a recent political ad that used an AI-cloned vocal clip.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/how-real-is-the-threat-of-ai-deepfakes-in-the-2024-election | 2023-07-30T12:34:04 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/how-real-is-the-threat-of-ai-deepfakes-in-the-2024-election |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with University of California, Berkeley, digital forensics expert Hany Farid about a recent political ad that used an AI-cloned vocal clip.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with University of California, Berkeley, digital forensics expert Hany Farid about a recent political ad that used an AI-cloned vocal clip.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/how-real-is-the-threat-of-ai-deepfakes-in-the-2024-election | 2023-07-30T12:34:04 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/how-real-is-the-threat-of-ai-deepfakes-in-the-2024-election |
Members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off on an annual intertribal canoe journey after a three-year hiatus due to COVID. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 28, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
Members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off on an annual intertribal canoe journey after a three-year hiatus due to COVID. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 28, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid | 2023-07-30T12:34:10 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid |
Members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off on an annual intertribal canoe journey after a three-year hiatus due to COVID. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 28, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
Members of the mid-Columbia River tribes set off on an annual intertribal canoe journey after a three-year hiatus due to COVID. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 28, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid | 2023-07-30T12:34:10 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/intertribal-canoe-trip-from-oregon-to-seattle-will-set-out-for-first-time-since-covid |
More than 1,100 people have already been charged for their actions around Jan. 6 and many of them invoked Former President Donald Trump, who may also be indicted.
Copyright 2023 NPR
More than 1,100 people have already been charged for their actions around Jan. 6 and many of them invoked Former President Donald Trump, who may also be indicted.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/over-1-100-rioters-have-been-charged-for-jan-6-many-name-trump-in-their-statements | 2023-07-30T12:34:16 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/over-1-100-rioters-have-been-charged-for-jan-6-many-name-trump-in-their-statements |
More than 1,100 people have already been charged for their actions around Jan. 6 and many of them invoked Former President Donald Trump, who may also be indicted.
Copyright 2023 NPR
More than 1,100 people have already been charged for their actions around Jan. 6 and many of them invoked Former President Donald Trump, who may also be indicted.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/over-1-100-rioters-have-been-charged-for-jan-6-many-name-trump-in-their-statements | 2023-07-30T12:34:17 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/over-1-100-rioters-have-been-charged-for-jan-6-many-name-trump-in-their-statements |
The new charges against former Pres. Trump in the classified documents case are in a different legal league and there are hints he is also not politically immune from them either.
Copyright 2023 NPR
The new charges against former Pres. Trump in the classified documents case are in a different legal league and there are hints he is also not politically immune from them either.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/politics-chat-trump-could-face-political-blowback-from-new-charges-after-all | 2023-07-30T12:34:22 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/politics-chat-trump-could-face-political-blowback-from-new-charges-after-all |
The new charges against former Pres. Trump in the classified documents case are in a different legal league and there are hints he is also not politically immune from them either.
Copyright 2023 NPR
The new charges against former Pres. Trump in the classified documents case are in a different legal league and there are hints he is also not politically immune from them either.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/politics-chat-trump-could-face-political-blowback-from-new-charges-after-all | 2023-07-30T12:34:23 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/politics-chat-trump-could-face-political-blowback-from-new-charges-after-all |
On-air challenge: I'm going to give you some words. For each one, think of something that starts with the first letter of my word ... and that fits in the category named by the rest of my word.
Example: Factor — (Morgan) Freeman, (Henry) Fonda, (Harrison) Ford [actor starting with F]1. Scar
2. Aisle
3. Crank
4. Broom
5. Thorn
6. Bride
7. Swine
8. Cape
9. Trapper
Last week's challenge: Name a classic TV show in two words, in which the respective words rhyme with the first and last names of a famous writer - four letters in the first name, five letter in the last name. Who is it?
Challenge answer: "Get Smart" --> Bret Harte
Winner: Mary Butler from Columbus, Nebraska
This week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Jim Vespe, of Mamaroneck, N.Y. Name a well-known U.S. city in nine letters. Change the third and fifth letters to get the name of a beverage. What is it?
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, August 3rd at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/sunday-puzzle-let-the-categories-guide-you | 2023-07-30T12:34:28 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/sunday-puzzle-let-the-categories-guide-you |
On-air challenge: I'm going to give you some words. For each one, think of something that starts with the first letter of my word ... and that fits in the category named by the rest of my word.
Example: Factor — (Morgan) Freeman, (Henry) Fonda, (Harrison) Ford [actor starting with F]1. Scar
2. Aisle
3. Crank
4. Broom
5. Thorn
6. Bride
7. Swine
8. Cape
9. Trapper
Last week's challenge: Name a classic TV show in two words, in which the respective words rhyme with the first and last names of a famous writer - four letters in the first name, five letter in the last name. Who is it?
Challenge answer: "Get Smart" --> Bret Harte
Winner: Mary Butler from Columbus, Nebraska
This week's challenge: This challenge comes from listener Jim Vespe, of Mamaroneck, N.Y. Name a well-known U.S. city in nine letters. Change the third and fifth letters to get the name of a beverage. What is it?
If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it here by Thursday, August 3rd at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: include a phone number where we can reach you.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/sunday-puzzle-let-the-categories-guide-you | 2023-07-30T12:34:29 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/sunday-puzzle-let-the-categories-guide-you |
NIAMEY, Niger — Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup earlier this week marched through the streets of the capital, Niamey, on Sunday waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France.
Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country's influence in the region, but it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders are going to move toward Moscow or stick with Niger's Western partners.
Days after after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger's democratically elected president, uncertainty is mounting about the country's future and some are calling out the junta's reasons for seizing control.
The mutineers said they overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected two years ago in Niger's first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France, because he wasn't able to secure the nation from growing jihadi violence. But some analysts and Nigeriens say that's just a pretext for a takeover that is more about internal power struggles than securing the nation.
"Everybody is wondering why this coup? That's because no one was expecting it. We couldn't expect a coup in Niger because there's no social, political or security situation that would justify that the military take the power," Prof. Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey, told The Associated Press.
He said Bazoum wanted to replace the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who also goes by Omar and is now in charge of the country. Tchiani was loyal to Bazoum's predecessor and that sparked the problems, Boubacar said. The AP cannot independently verify his assessment.
While Niger's security situation is dire, it's not as bad as neighboring Burkina Faso or Mali, which have also have been battling an Islamic insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Last year Niger was the only one of the three to see a decline in violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Niger until now has been seen as the last reliable partner for the West in efforts to battle the jihadists in Africa's Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence in the fight against extremism. France has 1,500 soldiers in the country who conduct joint operations with the Nigeriens, and the United States and other European countries have helped train the nation's troops.
Some taking part in Sunday's rally also warned regional bodies who have denounced the coup to stay away. "I would like also to say to the European Union, African Union and ECOWAS, please please stay out of our business," said Oumar Barou Moussa who was at the demonstration.
"It's time for us to take our lives, to work for ourselves. It's time for us to talk about our freedom and liberty. We need to stay together, we need to work together, we need to have our true independence," he said.
Conflict experts say out of all the countries in the region, Niger has the most at stake if it turns away from the West, given the millions of dollars of military assistance the international community has poured in. On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the continued security and economic arrangements that Niger has with the U.S. hinged on the release of Bazoum — who remains under house arrest — and "the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger."
France on Saturday suspended all development aid and other financial aid for Niger, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "France demands an immediate return to constitutional order under President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected by the Nigeriens," it said.
The African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the country's democratically elected government. On Sunday, the West African regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, is holding an emergency summit in Abuja, Nigeria.
However, in a televised address Saturday, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Bazoum, accused the meeting of making a "plan of aggression" against Niger and said it would defend itself.
Niger experts say it's too soon to know how things will play out.
"Tensions with the military are still ongoing. There could be another coup after this one, or a stronger intervention from ECOWAS, potentially military force, even if it is difficult to foresee how specifically that may happen and what form that may take," said Tatiana Smirnova, a researcher at the Centre FrancoPaix in conflict resolution and peace missions.
"Many actors are also trying to negotiate, but the outcome is unclear," she said.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/supporters-of-nigers-coup-march-waving-russian-flags-and-denouncing-france | 2023-07-30T12:34:34 | 1 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/supporters-of-nigers-coup-march-waving-russian-flags-and-denouncing-france |
Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/the-irs-will-no-longer-knock-on-doors-unannounced | 2023-07-30T12:34:35 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/the-irs-will-no-longer-knock-on-doors-unannounced |
Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/the-irs-will-no-longer-knock-on-doors-unannounced | 2023-07-30T12:34:40 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/the-irs-will-no-longer-knock-on-doors-unannounced |
Washington became the first state to start deducting money from workers' paychecks to fund long-term care benefits. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 25, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
Washington became the first state to start deducting money from workers' paychecks to fund long-term care benefits. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 25, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/washingtons-new-tax-could-be-a-solution-to-fund-long-term-care | 2023-07-30T12:34:41 | 1 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-30/washingtons-new-tax-could-be-a-solution-to-fund-long-term-care |
Washington became the first state to start deducting money from workers' paychecks to fund long-term care benefits. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 25, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
Washington became the first state to start deducting money from workers' paychecks to fund long-term care benefits. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 25, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/washingtons-new-tax-could-be-a-solution-to-fund-long-term-care | 2023-07-30T12:34:46 | 0 | https://www.wbaa.org/2023-07-30/washingtons-new-tax-could-be-a-solution-to-fund-long-term-care |
NEW YORK (AP) — Chatter on one of Prabha Rao’s WhatsApp groups exploded last week when India announced that it was severely curtailing some rice exports to the rest of the world, triggering worry among the Indian diaspora in the United States that access to a food staple from home might soon be cut off.
As in any crisis situation — think bottled water and toilet paper— some rushed to supermarkets to stock up, stacking carts with bags and bags of rice. In some places, lines formed outside some stores as panic buying ensued.
But Rao, who lives near Syracuse, New York, was reassured when the proprietor of her Indian market sent out an email to customers to let them know there was no need to worry: There was an ample supply of rice.
At least for now.
An earlier than expected El Niño brought drier, warmer weather in some parts of Asia and is expected to harm rice production. But in some parts of India, where the monsoon season was especially brutal, flooding destroyed some crops, adding to production woes and rising prices.
Hoping to stave off inflationary pressures on a diet staple, the Indian government earlier this month imposed export bans on non-Basmati white rice varieties, prompting hoarding in some parts of the world.
The move was taken “to ensure adequate availability” and “to allay the rise in prices in the domestic market,” India’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution announced July 20. Over the past year, prices have increased by more than 11%, and by 3% over the past month, the government said.
Non-Basmati white rice constitutes about a fourth of the rice exported by India.
“On WhatsApp, I got a lot of messages saying that rice was not going to be available. I think there was a lot of confusion in the beginning because, as you know, rice is very important for us,” Rao said.
“When we first heard the news, there was just mild confusion and people started panic buying because they thought that it may not be available,” she said.
There are scores of different varieties of rice, with people having their preference depending on taste and texture. India’s export ban does not apply to Basmati rice, a long-grain variety that is more aromatic.
The ban applies to short-grain rice that is starchier and has a relatively neutral flavor — which Rao says is preferable in some dishes or favored in specific regions of India, especially in southern areas of the country.
At Little India, a grocery store in New York City’s Curry Hill neighborhood in Manhattan, there was no shortage of Basmati rice and other varieties.
That wasn’t the case at other Indian groceries.
On its Facebook page, India Bazaar, an Indian grocery chain in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, told customers not to panic. “We are working hard to meet all our shoppers’ demands,” the post said.
Customers cleared shelves and waited in long lines to stockpile bags of rice, reported NBC Dallas affiliate KXAS.
“They really wanted to purchase ten, 12, 15 bags,” India Bazaar’s president, Anand Pabari, told the station. “It was a really crazy situation.”
India’s move came days after Russia backed out of a deal to allow Ukrainian wheat safe passage through the Black Sea, prompting warnings that the action could lead to surging prices.
Some economists say the ban might further hurt food supplies around the world, and some governments have urged the Indian government to reconsider the export ban.
At least in the United States, the supply of imported rice from India may not yet be a problem — despite the panic buying — but a long-term ban would certainly deplete that stock.
Roa says she and others will just have to adapt by purchasing rice grown in the United States or imported from other countries.
“I might have to substitute Basmati rice,” she said, “but it doesn’t taste that good, especially with South Indian dishes.”
A U.S. resident for three decades, Rao said she is accustomed to improvising.
“When we first came here, there was not even that much rice from India,” she said. “So I’ve learned to substitute, and I’m fine with the other brands that we get.” | https://www.wjhl.com/business/ap-business/ap-india-cuts-rice-exports-triggering-panic-buying-of-food-staple-by-some-indian-expats-in-the-us/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:19 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/business/ap-business/ap-india-cuts-rice-exports-triggering-panic-buying-of-food-staple-by-some-indian-expats-in-the-us/ |
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Saturday that Sri Lanka is a key partner in a Tokyo-led initiative aimed at building security and economic cooperation around the Indo-Pacific but also at countering an increasingly assertive China.
Sri Lanka, strategically located in the Indian Ocean, is integral to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, Hayashi said. He was speaking after a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ali Sabry, in the capital, Colombo.
The initiative, announced by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in March includes Japan’s assistance to emerging economies, support for maritime security, a provision of coast guard patrol boats and equipment and other infrastructure cooperation.
Last year Sri Lanka, which owed $51 billion in foreign debt, became the first Asia-Pacific country since the late 1990s to default, sparking an economic crisis.
While Japan is Sri Lanka’s largest creditor, about 10% of its debt is held by China, which lent Colombo billions to build sea ports, airports and power plants as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. In March, China agreed to offer Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on loan repayments.
Hayashi said that he conveyed expectations for further progress in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process. He welcomed Sri Lanka’s efforts under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which includes anti-corruption measures and transparency in the policy-making process.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Sabry said that he, along with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, invited Japan to resume investment projects already in the pipeline and to consider fresh investments in sectors such as power generation, ports and highways, and dedicated investment zones, as well as in the green and digital economy.
Over many decades, Japan became one of Sri Lanka’s key donors, carrying out key projects under concessionary terms. However, relations between the two countries came under strain after Wickremesinghe’s predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa unilaterally scrapped a Japan-funded light railway project following his election in 2019.
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has already approved a proposal to restart the railway project.
Rajapaksa was forced to resign in July 2022 amid angry public protects over the country’s worst economic crisis. | https://www.wjhl.com/business/ap-business/ap-with-one-eye-on-china-japan-backs-sri-lanka-as-a-partner-in-the-indo-pacific/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:26 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/business/ap-business/ap-with-one-eye-on-china-japan-backs-sri-lanka-as-a-partner-in-the-indo-pacific/ |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with children's book author Matt de la Peña about summer reading recommendations for kids of all ages when they complain, "I'm bored!"
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with children's book author Matt de la Peña about summer reading recommendations for kids of all ages when they complain, "I'm bored!"
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/a-childrens-book-author-recommends-books-to-keep-your-kids-busy-this-summer | 2023-07-30T12:35:31 | 0 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/a-childrens-book-author-recommends-books-to-keep-your-kids-busy-this-summer |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Professor Amit Bhasin of the University of Texas at Austin about constructing roads and railways that can withstand extreme heat.
Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too | 2023-07-30T12:35:31 | 1 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too |
Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range hosting first open house since pandemic
The sights and sounds of U.S. Air Force aircraft emanating from the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range will be back and open to the public for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic when the site hosts an open house next week.
The Kansas Air National Guard is hosting the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 5 at the range, 8429 W. Farrelly Road, southwest of Salina. According to the guard, the range usually hosts an open house every other year, depending on operational availability and weather conditions, but has not hosted such event since 2019 because of the pandemic.
Visitors to the open house will have the chance to see aerial gunnery demonstrations by Air Force fighters, bombers and other aircraft. Additionally, military equipment and vehicles will be on display on the ground at the range.
What is the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range?
The site, a 34,000-acre target range 10 miles southwest of Salina, is one of three Air National Guard air-to-ground training ranges in the Midwest and the largest and busiest range in the guard.
The site has served as a training location for the U.S. military since 1942, when it was constructed as Camp Phillips to prepare soldiers for combat in World War II.
Continuing as a training site after the war, the Air Force acquired the range, renaming it Smoky Hill Air Force Base, and maintained it from 1948 until it closed in 1965.
The national guard took over operations of the site in 1973 and it has since been assigned to the Kansas Air National Guard's 184th Wing out of McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita.
More:Kansas Highway Patrol needs dispatchers. Here's how to experience what it's like
Free and open to the public
Three gates, one located to the north along West Farrelly Road, to the east on Falun Road and to the south along Sundgren Road, will be open beginning at 8 a.m. with the demonstrations beginning at 10 a.m.
While admission to the open house is free, there will be food, refreshments and memorabilia available for purchase using cash only. Additionally, visitors can bring their own food or drinks in a cooler.
Visitors are also encouraged to bring their lawn chairs, sun screen and insect repellent as needed, but ear protection will be provided by the guard if requested.
Finally, weapons, alcohol, drones and pets are prohibited on site, but registered service animals are allowed. | https://www.salina.com/story/news/2023/07/30/kansas-air-national-guard-hosting-smoky-hill-range-open-house-2023/70456190007/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:31 | 0 | https://www.salina.com/story/news/2023/07/30/kansas-air-national-guard-hosting-smoky-hill-range-open-house-2023/70456190007/ |
Nearly two years after 10 people were crushed to death during the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival, no charges have been filed — even though some people, including event workers, expressed safety concerns.
Pinpointing “who exactly caused those deaths is not an easy question to answer,” said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a criminal law professor at the University of Houston Law Center.
“It’s a very difficult thing to say, unless you have some kind of clear evidence that somebody in charge, whose job it was to ensure safety and who should have known better, failed to take action,” she said.
A nearly 1,300-page report on the investigation into the tragedy released by Houston police Friday said contract worker Reece Wheeler told authorities that he saw a crush of people and warned an event organizer that people could die, shortly before rapper Travis Scott went onstage.
In the report, investigators wrote that Scott said he did see one person near the stage getting medical attention, but said that overall, the crowd seemed to enjoy the show. He said he did not see any signs of serious problems, nor did he hear anyone tell him to stop the show.
Hip-hop artist Drake, who also performed, told police it was difficult to see from the stage what was going on in the crowd and that he didn’t hear anyone call for the show to stop.
Despite no charges being filed, more than 500 lawsuits have been filed over the deaths and injuries at the concert, including many against concert promoter Live Nation and Scott. Some of those suits have since been settled.
Those who were killed ranged in age from 9 to 27, and all 10 people died due to compression asphyxia, according to medical examiners.
In June, a Texas grand jury declined to indict six people in the case, including Scott. Prosecutors said, then, that the circumstances of the deaths limited what charges they were able to present, eliminating potential counts such as murder, manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Thompson said the sheer number of people involved in putting on the event, the large scale of it, and the high bar for proving criminal negligence or recklessness are challenges for prosecutors in cases like this.
“It goes back to, who knows what’s going on, is that being communicated?” she said. “Were they being told that people have died, and they still wanted the concert to go on? Or, were they being told that ‘Hey, some people are getting hurt, which might not be that unusual at an event like that?”
Assistant Harris County District Attorney Alycia Harvey said after the grand jury declined to issue indictments that prosecutors were left with only possible counts of endangering a child in connection with the deaths of the two youngest concertgoers, ages 9 and 14.
Scott’s lawyer, Kent Schaffer, has said that the performer was not responsible for the tragedy.
“He never encouraged people to do anything that resulted in other people being hurt,” Schaffer said.
Scott has previously said he was unaware of the deaths until after the show. He has since created what he called Project HEAL, a $5 million initiative that includes funding for an effort to address safety challenges for festivals and large-scale events.
The police report said Scott told investigators that around the time Drake came onstage he was told to end the show after the performance, but that no one told him of an emergency.
Following the tragedy, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott formed a task force to study concert safety, and to recommend crowd control and security measures during mass gathering.
The task force in April 2022 reported that people without tickets entered the outdoor festival area hours before the performances began, overwhelming staff and leading to a variety of injuries. It also concluded that the process for issuing permits for mass gatherings is inconsistent statewide.
The task force recommended creating a command center that is authorized to pause or cancel a show in response to safety concerns.
“Sometimes, sadly, industries learn safety practices following disasters,” said Thompson, the law professor. “The standards for live concerts like this, I would imagine, are going to change.”
_____
Miller reported from Oklahoma City, Willingham reported from Charleston, West Virginia. | https://www.wjhl.com/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-10-people-died-at-the-astroworld-music-festival-two-years-ago-what-happens-now/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:34 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/entertainment/ap-entertainment/ap-10-people-died-at-the-astroworld-music-festival-two-years-ago-what-happens-now/ |
Persian-American Chef Nasim Alikhani has published her first cookbook, based on her highly acclaimed restaurant in Brooklyn. She brought the feast to Los Angeles for a recent series of pop up dinners.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Persian-American Chef Nasim Alikhani has published her first cookbook, based on her highly acclaimed restaurant in Brooklyn. She brought the feast to Los Angeles for a recent series of pop up dinners.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/acclaimed-persian-american-chef-nasim-alikhani-has-published-her-first-cookbook | 2023-07-30T12:35:37 | 0 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/acclaimed-persian-american-chef-nasim-alikhani-has-published-her-first-cookbook |
After nearly five years, the Big Peanut statue has returned to Ashburn, Ga. The original roadside attraction went down during Hurricane Michael. The new one is stronger and locally crafted.
Copyright 2023 NPR
After nearly five years, the Big Peanut statue has returned to Ashburn, Ga. The original roadside attraction went down during Hurricane Michael. The new one is stronger and locally crafted.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/georgias-famous-corn-statue-has-been-rebuilt-after-the-hurricane | 2023-07-30T12:35:37 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/georgias-famous-corn-statue-has-been-rebuilt-after-the-hurricane |
Tri-Rivers Fair back in Salina in August
Agriculture is a key part of rural American life, and along with it comes fair season, which is back in central Kansas, including the Tri-Rivers Fair, happening in Salina next month.
Taking place mainly at the grounds in and around the Saline County Livestock and Expo Center and Tony's Pizza Events Center (TPEC), the Tri-Rivers fair is coming to Salina from Aug. 8 to Aug. 12 with activities for people of all ages throughout the week.
Though fair judging begins earlier that day, things really get underway for the public with the Tri-Rivers Fair Parade at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 8 along Santa Fe Avenue in downtown Salina.
What can people expect to see at the fair?
The Tri-Rivers Fair has events and activities scheduled to show of the importance of agriculture, with exhibits, presentations and classes on a variety of topics, issues and having fun.
Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 9, the fair opens as early as 7:30 a.m. with exhibitors spread throughout the fairgrounds at places including the 4-H Building, Ag Hall, Kenwood Hall and the Great Plains Manufacturing Hall at TPEC. Each day, these exhibits are open until at least 9 p.m.
Other events throughout the week are highlighted by the FFA petting zoo, open at 9 a.m. on Wednesday to Saturday in Barn No. 1, presentations by local producers such as AJ Honey Farms, silent auctions and contests spread throughout the week.
A crowd favorite, the demolition derby is back again this year at 7 p.m. with gates opening at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Salina Speedway, 2841 S Burma Road. Tickets for this are $10 for adults and $4 for children ages six to 12.
Also back is the corn hole tournament, which will take place beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 11 in the fair's beer garden, located south of Ag Hall.
More:Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range hosting first open house since pandemic
Of course, no fair would be complete without carnival rides and food and the Tri-Rivers Fair is bringing back WEEE Entertainment this year. Carnival prices begin at $4 for single tickets all the way up to wristbands costing $30.
Finally, new events are included this year at the fair, with a kids storytime provided by the Salina Public Library at 3 p.m. on Aug. 10 at the south circle drive and the showcase and sale of local artists' work happening from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in the TPEC lobby.
More information online and Facebook
For more information about the Tri-Rivers Fair, including a schedule of events, list of exhibitors, map of the fairgrounds and more, visit the fair's website at tririversfair.org/.
More information about the fair and highlights of some of the activities, events and fun are also updated on the fair's Facebook page which can be found by searching for Tri-River Fair.
Finally, anyone looking for further information can contact the fair office by calling 785-827-4425, emailing fairoffice@salinecountyks.gov or filling out the contact form on the fair's website. | https://www.salina.com/story/news/2023/07/30/salina-celebrates-agriculture-and-more-at-tri-rivers-fair/70477382007/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:37 | 0 | https://www.salina.com/story/news/2023/07/30/salina-celebrates-agriculture-and-more-at-tri-rivers-fair/70477382007/ |
More than 1,100 people have already been charged for their actions around Jan. 6 and many of them invoked Former President Donald Trump, who may also be indicted.
Copyright 2023 NPR
More than 1,100 people have already been charged for their actions around Jan. 6 and many of them invoked Former President Donald Trump, who may also be indicted.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/over-1-100-rioters-have-been-charged-for-jan-6-many-name-trump-in-their-statements | 2023-07-30T12:35:41 | 1 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/over-1-100-rioters-have-been-charged-for-jan-6-many-name-trump-in-their-statements |
An archeological dig in Turkey has uncovered artifacts dating back 1,000 years By Peter Kenyon Published July 30, 2023 at 5:02 AM PDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email In Turkey, what started out as an exploration of a Roman garrison has uncovered artifacts dating back to the time of the Assyrian empire. Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/an-archeological-dig-in-turkey-has-uncovered-artifacts-dating-back-1-000-years | 2023-07-30T12:35:41 | 0 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/an-archeological-dig-in-turkey-has-uncovered-artifacts-dating-back-1-000-years |
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — The African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the country’s democratically elected government just as the coup leaders met with senior civil servants to discuss how they would run the country and as the U.S. and the European Union threatened sanctions against the regime.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday, told state television that the junta met with civil servants on Friday and asked them to continue their work as usual following the suspension of the constitution. “The message given was not to stop the processes underway, to keep on with things,” said Brig. Gen. Toumba.
“Everything that must be done will be done,” he said, signaling the intention of the regime led by Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who also goes by Omar, to remain in power.
After its meeting on Friday, the African Union Peace and Security Council said it was concerned by the “alarming resurgence” of coups that undermine democracy and stability on the continent. It asked the soldiers to “return immediately and unconditionally to their barracks and restore constitutional authority, within a maximum of fifteen (15) days.”
Bazoum, whose condition and that of his officials remains unknown since the government was overthrown, should also be released immediately and unconditionally, the AU said. Failure to do so would compel the bloc to take “necessary action, including punitive measures against the perpetrators.”
On the streets of the Nigerien capital Niamey on Saturday, things appeared to be returning to normal, though many in the international community were still on lockdown with hotels full of foreigners, many given instructions not to leave.
Locals say they’re waiting to see what unfolds, with many still in support of Bazoum who has not yet resigned. “I’m with him, he does a good work. (But) what can we do?” said Mohamed Cisse, a street seller. “This is (the new leader’s) time, Bazoum’s time is over,” he said.
Tchiani, the junta leader and commander of Niger’s presidential guard, is close to former Nigerien president Mahamadou Issoufou, who stepped down in 2021 after a decade in office. Tchiani’s takeover of power will reinforce speculation that Issoufou is behind the coup, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German think tank and consultancy.
The U.S. threatened to halt its economic support to Niger while the European Union announced the immediate indefinite suspension of budgetary support and security assistance.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who is in Australia as part of a Pacific tour, estimated America’s economic and security partnership with Niger at hundreds of millions of dollars and said its continuity depends on “the continuation of the democratic governance and constitutional order.”
“So that assistance, that support, is in clear jeopardy as a result of these actions, which is another reason why they need to be immediately reversed,” Blinken said.
While there are no signs of the junta backing down amid growing international pressure, analysts called for synergy in the interventions of the international community and continental organizations such as the AU and the regional bloc of ECOWAS, which is scheduled to meet over the coup on Sunday.
A successful coup in Niger and the sanctions in the aftermath could cause more hardship for millions of poor and hungry people in West Africa and could further threaten international relations with the region, which is seeing a resurgence of coups in recent years, according to Idayat Hassan, senior Africa program fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“A non-reversal of the coup also means that we are defining a new world order in West Africa in particular as you are pitching the west and other countries against few military regimes which may be backed by Russia,” said Hassan.
———
Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria. Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali contributed. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-african-union-gives-15-day-ultimatum-to-niger-junta-to-end-regime-but-soldiers-seek-continuity/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:41 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-african-union-gives-15-day-ultimatum-to-niger-junta-to-end-regime-but-soldiers-seek-continuity/ |
Salina Regional, Blue Cross reach impasse in negotiations over prices for services
Officials at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas announced this past week that they have reached an impasse with Salina Regional Medical Center amid ongoing negotiations over prices the insurer is willing to pay for medical services.
Over the course of three months, the insurance company and hospital have met in an attempt to thrash out a new agreement before their current contract ends in December. So far, these efforts have gone unsuccessful.
Tensions started off strong between the two parties when their online announcements of the issue in late April preceded the bargaining table. And in the months since, the public has been leveraged by the hospital and insurance company alike, both making appeals for patients to contact respective entities with their thoughts and concerns.
But the importance of high-quality medical care close to home and overall affordability has left patients waiting for answers.
Here's what to know about Blue Cross and Salina Regional's stalemate.
Blue Cross rejects Salina Regional's counteroffer
In a news release this week, Blue Cross said Salina Regional is asking for an additional increase than what was originally offered in the negotiations process.
Blue Cross said if it were to fulfill Salina Regional's proposal, the increased cost would inevitably fall on Blue Cross members and Salina Regional patients in the form of higher premiums, co-insurance and deductibles.
"What Salina Regional is demanding is unreasonable and unsustainable for the hard-working Kansans we serve,” said Matt All, BCBSKS president, in a news release. “When they demand more from us, they’re really demanding more from you and the employers in your community.”
Blue Cross notified Salina Regional that the hospital has a deadline of Sept. 3 to decide if they intend to go "out-of-network." In the release, Blue Cross said it will continue to leave lines of communication open in hopes of reaching an agreement.
Salina Regional claims Blue Cross can pay more without raising premiums
In response to Blue Cross' announcement Thursday, Salina Regional said it has consistently asked for an offer that mirrors hospitals similar to theirs.
The hospital holds that its offer in early July made "considerable concessions in the spirit of good faith negotiation" and countered Blue Cross' initial offer at less than parity.
"Unfortunately, BCBSKS has made it clear they are unwilling to compromise and will ultimately choose profitability over access for their customers," Salina Regional wrote on its website. "This is coming at a time of renewals for many employers in our communities."
The central part of Salina Regional's argument is that Blue Cross can afford to pay the hospital more while keeping premiums the same. This claim is rooted in newly available price transparency data that shows what insurers pay other hospitals for the same services. But since Salina Regional has not publicly stated which services they claim other hospitals are paid more for, this claim has not been substantiated.
What is price transparency?Here's how hospital price transparency is creating tension for Salina Regional
Quick facts: how going "out of network" might affect you if you carry Blue Cross Blue Shield or Medicare
- The hospital has until Sept. 3 to notify Blue Cross if it will go out of network, but patients can still receive in-network care at Salina Regional and its clinics through Dec. 31, when the current contract expires.
- Emergency care will always be covered by Blue Cross with no out-of-network penalties.
- If the hospital goes out of network, there would be no changes to the way Medicare supplement members access in-network care through Salina Regional.
- Members who purchased individual coverage on healthcare.gov will no longer have coverage at Salina Regional unless it is an emergency service.
- If members choose to receive care at Salina Regional for a non-emergency service, they would have to pay 100% of the cost of care.
- Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, some members may be able to continue regular care and services with their local hospital and providers, but the process for reimbursement would look different than it does today.
The quick facts above serve as a general guide. Individuals should contact their insurance company for specific details.
How does this affect me, a patient?What if Salina Regional goes 'out of network?' A guide to navigating health insurance
Negotiations between Salina Regional and Blue Cross are ongoing. The Salina Journal will provide additional coverage as more information comes available.
Kendrick Calfee has been a reporter with the Salina Journal since 2022, primarily covering government and education. You can reach him at kcalfee@gannett.com or on Twitter @calfee_kc. | https://www.salina.com/story/news/healthcare/2023/07/30/price-battle-leaves-blue-cross-salina-regional-hospital-negotiations-at-a-standstill/70481432007/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:43 | 0 | https://www.salina.com/story/news/healthcare/2023/07/30/price-battle-leaves-blue-cross-salina-regional-hospital-negotiations-at-a-standstill/70481432007/ |
The U.S. auto industry is experiencing unanticipated stumbles and challenges as it pivots to producing more electric vehicles, even as it makes large profits.
Copyright 2023 NPR
The U.S. auto industry is experiencing unanticipated stumbles and challenges as it pivots to producing more electric vehicles, even as it makes large profits.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/auto-companies-are-making-big-profits-but-still-stumbling-when-it-comes-to-evs | 2023-07-30T12:35:43 | 1 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/auto-companies-are-making-big-profits-but-still-stumbling-when-it-comes-to-evs |
NIAMEY, Niger — Thousands of supporters of the junta that took over Niger in a coup earlier this week marched through the streets of the capital, Niamey, on Sunday waving Russian flags, chanting the name of the Russian president and forcefully denouncing former colonial power France.
Russian mercenary group Wagner is already operating in neighboring Mali, and Russian President Vladimir Putin would like to expand his country's influence in the region, but it is unclear yet whether the new junta leaders are going to move toward Moscow or stick with Niger's Western partners.
Days after after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger's democratically elected president, uncertainty is mounting about the country's future and some are calling out the junta's reasons for seizing control.
The mutineers said they overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected two years ago in Niger's first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France, because he wasn't able to secure the nation from growing jihadi violence. But some analysts and Nigeriens say that's just a pretext for a takeover that is more about internal power struggles than securing the nation.
"Everybody is wondering why this coup? That's because no one was expecting it. We couldn't expect a coup in Niger because there's no social, political or security situation that would justify that the military take the power," Prof. Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey, told The Associated Press.
He said Bazoum wanted to replace the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who also goes by Omar and is now in charge of the country. Tchiani was loyal to Bazoum's predecessor and that sparked the problems, Boubacar said. The AP cannot independently verify his assessment.
While Niger's security situation is dire, it's not as bad as neighboring Burkina Faso or Mali, which have also have been battling an Islamic insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Last year Niger was the only one of the three to see a decline in violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Niger until now has been seen as the last reliable partner for the West in efforts to battle the jihadists in Africa's Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence in the fight against extremism. France has 1,500 soldiers in the country who conduct joint operations with the Nigeriens, and the United States and other European countries have helped train the nation's troops.
Some taking part in Sunday's rally also warned regional bodies who have denounced the coup to stay away. "I would like also to say to the European Union, African Union and ECOWAS, please please stay out of our business," said Oumar Barou Moussa who was at the demonstration.
"It's time for us to take our lives, to work for ourselves. It's time for us to talk about our freedom and liberty. We need to stay together, we need to work together, we need to have our true independence," he said.
Conflict experts say out of all the countries in the region, Niger has the most at stake if it turns away from the West, given the millions of dollars of military assistance the international community has poured in. On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the continued security and economic arrangements that Niger has with the U.S. hinged on the release of Bazoum — who remains under house arrest — and "the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger."
France on Saturday suspended all development aid and other financial aid for Niger, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "France demands an immediate return to constitutional order under President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected by the Nigeriens," it said.
The African Union has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the country's democratically elected government. On Sunday, the West African regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, is holding an emergency summit in Abuja, Nigeria.
However, in a televised address Saturday, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Bazoum, accused the meeting of making a "plan of aggression" against Niger and said it would defend itself.
Niger experts say it's too soon to know how things will play out.
"Tensions with the military are still ongoing. There could be another coup after this one, or a stronger intervention from ECOWAS, potentially military force, even if it is difficult to foresee how specifically that may happen and what form that may take," said Tatiana Smirnova, a researcher at the Centre FrancoPaix in conflict resolution and peace missions.
"Many actors are also trying to negotiate, but the outcome is unclear," she said.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/supporters-of-nigers-coup-march-waving-russian-flags-and-denouncing-france | 2023-07-30T12:35:43 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/supporters-of-nigers-coup-march-waving-russian-flags-and-denouncing-france |
Washington became the first state to start deducting money from workers' paychecks to fund long-term care benefits. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 25, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
Washington became the first state to start deducting money from workers' paychecks to fund long-term care benefits. (This story first aired on All Things Considered on July 25, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/washingtons-new-tax-could-be-a-solution-to-fund-long-term-care | 2023-07-30T12:35:44 | 1 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/2023-07-30/washingtons-new-tax-could-be-a-solution-to-fund-long-term-care |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Professor Amit Bhasin of the University of Texas at Austin about constructing roads and railways that can withstand extreme heat.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Professor Amit Bhasin of the University of Texas at Austin about constructing roads and railways that can withstand extreme heat.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too | 2023-07-30T12:35:44 | 0 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/battling-extreme-heat-isnt-just-personal-we-need-better-infrastructure-too |
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China accused the United States of turning Taiwan into an “ammunition depot” after the White House announced a $345 million military aid package for Taipei, and the self-ruled island said Sunday it tracked six Chinese navy ships in waters off its shores.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued a statement late Saturday opposing the military aid to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
“No matter how much of the ordinary people’s taxpayer money the … Taiwanese separatist forces spend, no matter how many U.S. weapons, it will not shake our resolve to solve the Taiwan problem. Or shake our firm will to realize the reunification of our motherland,” said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office.
“Their actions are turning Taiwan into a powder keg and ammunition depot, aggravating the threat of war in the Taiwan Strait,” the statement said.
China’s People’s Liberation Army has increased its military maneuvers in recent years aimed at Taiwan, sending fighter jets and warships to circle the island.
On Sunday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it tracked six Chinese navy ships near the island.
Taiwan’s ruling administration, led by the Democratic Progressive Party, has stepped up its weapons purchases from the U.S. as part of a deterrence strategy against a Chinese invasion.
China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, and Taiwan has never been governed by China’s ruling Communist Party.
Unlike previous military purchases, the latest batch of aid is part of a presidential authority approved by the U.S. Congress last year to draw weapons from current U.S. military stockpiles — so Taiwan will not have to wait for military production and sales.
While Taiwan has purchased $19 billion worth of weaponry, much of it has yet to be delivered to Taiwan. Washington will send man-portable air defense systems, intelligence and surveillance capabilities, firearms and missiles to Taiwan. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-china-says-us-military-aid-to-taiwan-will-not-deter-its-will-to-unify-the-island/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:48 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-china-says-us-military-aid-to-taiwan-will-not-deter-its-will-to-unify-the-island/ |
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Morristown Medical Center sports cardiologist Matthew Martinez about why some young athletes suffer from sudden cardiac-related medical emergencies.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Morristown Medical Center sports cardiologist Matthew Martinez about why some young athletes suffer from sudden cardiac-related medical emergencies.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/cardiac-issues-among-young-athletes-are-rare-but-there-are-precautions-to-take | 2023-07-30T12:35:51 | 0 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/cardiac-issues-among-young-athletes-are-rare-but-there-are-precautions-to-take |
She's one of India's biggest Barbie fans. When Vichitra Rajasingh was growing up, family and friends helped her build her collection of Barbie dolls until she had almost 80 of them. She once owned a Barbie camper, a speedboat, supermarket and post office. The mermaid Barbie and scuba-diving Barbie were her favorites.
Since her family ran a hotel, they put the dolls on display in the lobby in the late '90s. On Rajasingh's 14th birthday, her parents painted her room bright pink and hired artists to draw her favorite Barbie dolls on the walls.
All her Barbies were blond. She says she didn't like the Indian ethnic ones that came on the local market.
Living the pink life
"My love for the color pink began with my childhood passion for Barbie," she says. "And now it's become my identity." For her, the color represents love, joy, femininity and playfulness, everything she once associated with Barbie, she says.
Today Rajasingh lives in the southern Indian city of Madurai, where she drives a pink mini-Cooper and runs a bakery and lives in an apartment that are dominated by that color.
When the Barbie movie released in India on July 21, she gathered a bunch of friends, "everyone dressed to the nines in pink," and watched it on the day of its release. "I loved the movie. It was fun to watch and brought back many joyful childhood memories," she says.
While she no longer has her huge doll collection — having long since given it away to family and friends — Rajasingh is still a Barbie lover. She bakes six or seven Barbie-themed cakes a week, with an actual doll at the center of a cake that serves as her frothy dress, constructed around her in a swirl of sugar and cream.
Rajasingh saw Barbie as an aspirational figure — and grew up admiring the doll's freedom, confidence, globe-trotting lifestyle and even her arched feet in sassy stilettos.
But for others in India, Barbie has a far more complicated legacy.
The pressures Barbie can bring
Shweta Sharan, a writer who lives in Mumbai, admits to being conflicted about whether or not to watch the movie with her 13-year-old daughter, Laasya, who until a year ago ardently loved Barbie but then outgrew playing with dolls.
"I am aware that these dolls have many complicated associations," Sharan says. "Watching my daughter love a doll that looked nothing like her — with blond hair, blue eyes, perfect breasts — I worried if she would always strive to be someone else and feel inadequate."
These worries are valid in the opinion of ElsaMarie DSilva, a social entrepreneur from India and an Aspen fellow. "While Barbie is almost universally loved among girls of all ages, many do aspire to look like her, unconsciously pressurizing young girls to conform to unrealistic body shapes and expectations," she says — a common criticism aimed at Barbie.
Indian Barbie is not a rousing success
Mattel did make an effort to adapt the doll for an Indian market. When Mattel launched Barbie in India in 1991, it was the familiar Western-looking blond-haired blue-eyed Barbie. Then in 1996, they rolled out Indian Barbie, with brown skin. She came either wearing a bright sari or a salwar kameez — a knee-length tunic over fitted trousers.
But the Indian Barbie was not popular. "Indian kids gravitated toward the white-skinned Barbie instead of the brown-skinned one because light-skinned women were considered more beautiful in India and an automatic choice," DSilva says.
She points out how even in Indian clothes, Barbie still had a body that did not represent real women in India or anywhere else — she was way too tall and way too thin.
Priti Nemani, an Indian American attorney living in Chicago, analyzed why Barbie failed so spectacularly in the Indian market in a research paper published in 2011. In addition to the unrealistic, impossibly thin appearance of the doll, she points out how other cultural factors were at play.
"We weren't seeing Indian features on Barbie," she says. "We were seeing white Barbies dipped in brown. And even those brown Barbies didn't last long on the shelves. The latest versions of the Indian Barbie have much lighter skin tone.
Meanwhile, even though blond Barbies sold well, Ken tanked in India. "Indian parents who wouldn't want their daughters in romantic relationships at such an early age weren't going to buy the boyfriend," Nemani says.
In spite of her initial misgivings, Sharan enjoyed the Barbie movie with her daughter, now 13, who especially liked the feminist overtones. Laasya loved the beginning, when they were told "Barbie has a great day everyday. Ken only has a great day if Barbie looks at him."
Barbie inspires a poem
There are other issues about Barbie in India. For many kids, the doll is too expensive.
Ankita Apurva, 26, a writer who grew up in a farming family in Ranchi, a city in the Eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, recalls a childhood bereft of Barbies.
Her parents, who struggled to pay for a good education that they hoped would be her armor against bullying and discrimination, could not afford to buy their daughter a Barbie.
"They weren't in a position to splurge on fancy dolls like a Barbie," she says. She recalls feeling inferior for not owning one of these expensive dolls that would help her connect with other Barbie owners in her circle. It was especially hard for her at lunch when girls would boast about how many dolls they owned.
"I believe that even if children from marginalized communities manage to enter [private] institutions [for the privileged], there are certain social, cultural and economic symbols which are consciously and subconsciously deployed to mark them out, and Barbie, as loved as it is, is definitely one of them," she says.
Over the years, Apurva's family has grown stronger financially. When she saw the global resurgence of interest in Barbie now, she didn't feel angry or alienated, but it did bring back memories of desperately wanting to fit in – and not just because she didn't have a Barbie.
"Growing up, I rarely felt represented in literature or media. If pens or cameras turned toward us, they inadvertently counted us as data: dead bodies of farmers or survivors of violence of umpteen kinds."
As a girl from a farming family in Jharkhand, Apurva felt invisible. And so, she decided to express those emotions. She wrote a poem that she posted on Instagram, not to shame anyone who is privileged enough to own a Barbie but to comfort those who, like her, may have felt left out.
Here are some excerpts:
"Here's to the girls who do not get the Barbie craze,
...
girls who had parents who could not
or did not or choose not
to get them Barbie dolls
...
it's okay,
to not relate to any of it
...
what is not okay are friends ...
who intentionally make you
feel low by asking how many Barbies
you owned as a kid even as they
know you weren't privileged enough
to have them.
...
you are also not "too much" ...
if you feel
that Barbie is a colonial icon
legitimizing racial supremacy
while being a 'white feminist' trope
...
and once again
remember,
you are everything,
they are just Ken
Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, Southern India. She reports on global health, science, and development, and her work has been published in the New York Times, The British Medical Journal, BBC, The Guardian and other outlets. You can find her on twitter @kamal_t
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/barbie-in-india-a-skin-color-debate-a-poignant-poem-baked-in-a-cake | 2023-07-30T12:35:51 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-28/barbie-in-india-a-skin-color-debate-a-poignant-poem-baked-in-a-cake |
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia will host a Ukrainian-organized peace summit in early August seeking to find a way to start negotiations over Russia’s war on the country, an official said Saturday night. The kingdom and Kyiv did not immediately acknowledge the planned talks.
The summit will be held in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as no authorization had been given to publicly discuss the summit.
Those taking part in the summit will include Ukraine, as well as Brazil, India, South Africa and several other countries, the official said. A high-level official from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration also is expected to attend, the official said. Planning for the event is being overseen by Kyiv and Russia is not invited, the official said.
Details regarding the summit, however, remain in flux and the official did not offer dates for the talks. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the summit, said the talks would take place Aug. 5 and 6 with some 30 countries attending, citing “diplomats involved in the discussion.”
Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, nor did Ukraine’s Embassy in Riyadh. News of the summit comes after U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan visited the kingdom on Thursday.
The official who spoke to the AP said the summit would be the next step after talks that took place in Copenhagen in June.
Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the talks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May attended an Arab League summit in Jeddah to press those nations to back Kyiv. Arab nations largely have remained neutral since Russia launched the war on Ukraine in February 2022, in part over their military and economic ties to Moscow.
Saudi Arabia also has maintained a close relationship with Russia as part of the OPEC+ group. The organization’s oil production cuts, even as Moscow’s war on Ukraine boosted energy prices, have angered Biden and American lawmakers.
But hosting such talks also help raise the profile of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has sought to reach a détente with Iran and push for a peace in the kingdom’s yearslong war in Yemen. However, ties also remain strained between Riyadh and the West over the 2018 killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, which U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Prince Mohammed ordered.
___
Madhani reported from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-official-tells-ap-that-saudi-arabia-will-host-ukrainian-organized-peace-summit-in-august/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:55 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-official-tells-ap-that-saudi-arabia-will-host-ukrainian-organized-peace-summit-in-august/ |
Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/d-smith-on-her-new-documentary-kokomo-city | 2023-07-30T12:35:57 | 1 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/d-smith-on-her-new-documentary-kokomo-city |
Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure for traffic of one of four airports around the Russian capital.
It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow's vulnerability to attacks as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an "attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime" and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital.
Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack "insignificantly damaged" the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.
No flights went into or out of the Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the air space over Moscow and the outlying regions was temporarily closed for any aircraft. Those restrictions have since been lifted.
Moscow authorities have also closed a street for traffic near the site of the crash in the Moscow City area.
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who rarely if ever take responsibility for attacks on Russian soil.
Russia's Defense Ministry reported shooting down a Ukrainian drone outside Moscow on Friday. Two more drones struck the Russian capital on Monday, one of them falling in the center of the city near the Defense Ministry's headquarters along the Moscow River about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Kremlin. The other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.
In another attack on July 4, the Russian military said four drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and a fifth was jammed by electronic warfare means and forced down.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-30/a-drone-attack-on-moscow-briefly-shut-one-of-its-airports-and-injured-one | 2023-07-30T12:35:57 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-30/a-drone-attack-on-moscow-briefly-shut-one-of-its-airports-and-injured-one |
Three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, Russian authorities said, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure of traffic in and out of one of four airports around the Russian capital.
It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow’s vulnerability to attacks as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an “attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime” and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district.
Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack “insignificantly damaged” the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was injured, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.
No flights went into or out of Vnukovo airport on the southern outskirts of the city for about an hour, according to Tass, and the airspace over Moscow and the outlying regions was temporarily closed to all aircraft. Those restrictions have since been lifted.
Moscow authorities have also closed a street to traffic near the site of the crash in the Moscow City area.
Without directly acknowledging that Ukraine was behind the attack on Moscow, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian airforce said that the Russian people were seeing the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“All of the people who think the war ‘doesn’t concern them,’ it’s already touching them,” spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told journalists Sunday.
“There’s already a certain mood in Russia: that something is flying in, and loudly,” he said. “There’s no discussion of peace or calm in the Russian interior any more. They got what they wanted.”
Ihnat also referenced a drone attack on Russian-occupied Crimea overnight. Moscow announced Sunday that it had shot down 16 Ukrainian drones and neutralized eight more with an electronic jamming system. There were no casualties, officials said.
In Ukraine, the air force reported that it had destroyed four Russian drones above the country’s Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Information on the attacks could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, two people were killed and 20 wounded by a Russian missile strike late Saturday evening on the city of Sumy in northeast Ukraine. A four-story building belonging to a vocational college was hit, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said. Local authorities said that dormitories and teaching buildings were damaged in the blast and the fire that followed.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported shooting down a Ukrainian drone outside Moscow on Friday. Four days earlier, two drones struck the Russian capital, one of them falling in the center of the city near the Defense Ministry’s headquarters along the Moscow River about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Kremlin. The other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.
In another attack on July 4, the Russian military said four drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and a fifth was jammed by electronic warfare means and forced down.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-overnight-drone-attack-on-moscow-injures-1-prompts-temporary-airport-closure/ | 2023-07-30T12:35:59 | 1 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-overnight-drone-attack-on-moscow-injures-1-prompts-temporary-airport-closure/ |
Is recent news about the economy so good that the U.S. can say it is coming in for a "soft landing," where inflation gets tamed without a recession?
Copyright 2023 NPR
Is recent news about the economy so good that the U.S. can say it is coming in for a "soft landing," where inflation gets tamed without a recession?
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/do-recent-positive-developments-qualify-as-a-soft-landing-for-the-economy | 2023-07-30T12:36:03 | 1 | https://www.kvpr.org/2023-07-30/do-recent-positive-developments-qualify-as-a-soft-landing-for-the-economy |
People have asked me what I've learned so far through this series. Have I gotten any clarity on what makes up my own spiritual identity? And the answer is, not really. I'm still in the research phase of this project. I'm still collecting experiences and perspectives and I imagine I'll keep doing that forever, but it's too early to draw any definitive conclusions — except for one.
I believe each and every one of us is capable of making our own meaning. Some of us do that by living according to a set of religious principles. Or by feeling the beauty and sanctity of nature. Or by choosing to see spiritual connections in what others might call mere coincidence.
I don't need anyone to validate those experiences for them to be meaningful to me. But according to Lisa Miller, a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, having a spiritual life is good for your mental health.
Miller is a psychologist and has dedicated most of her career to the study of neuroscience and spirituality. Her newest book is called The Awakened Brain, and in it she makes some really bold claims about how holding spiritual beliefs can decrease our rates of anxiety and depression and generally make us most likely to lead happier lives. I can hear your skepticism already! I get it. I'm a spiritually inclined kind of person but it's still hard for me to understand how, scientifically speaking, believing in something bigger than yourself can make you healthier and happier.
I needed to understand how Miller came to these conclusions. But before she got to the actual science, she told me a story.
It was the mid '90s. Miller was in the early stages of her career and working at a residential mental health facility in New York City. After she'd been there a few months, Yom Kippur rolled around — the day of atonement, considered the most significant of the Jewish religious holidays. One of the older male patients with severe bipolar disorder asked if there were any plans to mark the day. The doctor in charge shrugged his shoulders and said, no — there's no service planned. The patient walked out of the room with his shoulders slumped and Lisa, who is Jewish, saw an opportunity.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Lisa Miller: I approached the unit chief and said, "I'm certainly not a rabbi, but I've been to two-and-a-half decades of Yom Kippur services. I'd be happy to facilitate if that might be OK with you." So I showed up on Yom Kippur and the patients had arrived early to the kitchen, which was to be our sanctuary. The fluorescent lights were quite strong and as we crowded around the linoleum table there was an extraordinary feeling of specialness.
As we started the prayers that we all knew from our childhood, joining together saying in Hebrew the prayers of Yom Kippur, I looked over and noticed that as the gentleman with bipolar was davening, he could not have been further from explosive. He was holding our group in the cadence of the prayers and we were actually following him.
I took a pause and I said, "I feel so grateful to be here today in our Yom Kippur ceremony. Would anyone like to say anything?" We went around the table and the first person to speak was a very otherwise withdrawn woman with recurrent depression. She said, "You know, I always knew on Yom Kippur we could ask for forgiveness. But sitting here now with you all, I'm aware that we can be forgiven. God can forgive us." And she looked liberated.
As I looked around the table at the patients, whatever their symptoms had been yesterday, they were free in that moment. They were free of suffering. They were free of the characteristic patterns that had dragged them down in a way that was equal and opposite to their main symptoms. And so I thought a mental health system minus spirituality made no sense, and that became my life's work, to understand the place of spirituality in renewal, in recovery, in resilience, and to put this in the language of science.
Rachel Martin: What happened when you brought these kinds of questions to your peers, to the other people in your scientific community? Like when you said for the first time, "Hey, I think we need to look at the effect of spirituality on mental health." What did people say to you?
Miller: Well, the vast majority were very respectful, nodded, and didn't pick up the thread. Some of them would say, "That's not psychology, that's not psychiatry." And in fact, I remember early on giving a grand rounds presentation and I opened up saying, "I'm going to speak today about a body of data using nationally representative samples on spirituality and mental health with all the gold standard methods." And about 10 people got up and walked out. It was absolutely not of interest.
Martin: Using the gold standard, what did that mean in terms of the experiments you were running and the studies and the data you were collecting? How did you make sure that it would hold water in the scientific community?
Miller: If I were to characterize the first five years of my investigation, I would say I used the data sets that everyone else knew and trusted. I only asked one new question, which was: "What's the impact of spirituality on the DSM diagnosis of addiction and depression?" The findings were jaw dropping.
The protective benefit of personal spirituality, meaning someone who says their personal spirituality is very important, is 80% against addiction. They have 80% decreased relative risk for the DSM diagnosis of addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Martin: Wait, so someone who self-identifies as having a meaningful spiritual life is 80% less likely to get addicted to drugs or alcohol than someone who says they don't?
Miller: Yes.
Martin: Wow. And how can you prove that it is a spiritual life that is doing that and not some external factor? Because you heard this from other critics, too, some of your peers said you can't attribute that to spirituality, it's gotta be some other social conditioning.
Miller: Well, that's a very important point because in every study we controlled for all of the usual interpretations about this being social support or having resources. So we plugged into our equation every other possible explanation that was generally taken in mental health to explain the road to depression. And nonetheless, it actually turned out that the more high risk we are, the more that there's stress in our lives, the more that we might be genetically at risk for depression, the greater the impact of spirituality as a source of resilience as preventative against major depression.
Martin: What does that look like in the brain?
Miller: One of the most beautiful findings in my 20 years as an investigator was from an MRI study conducted together with our colleagues at Yale Medical School. We looked at people of many different faith traditions and the first finding was that there is one neuro seat of transcendent perception and we share it. Now there's human variability of course, and we can strengthen components.
Martin: How are you actually doing that with people? Are you asking your subjects to pray? What are the spiritual inputs that are going into them so that you can measure it on their brains?
Miller: The very specific prompt was, "Tell us about a time where you felt a deep connection to God, your higher power, the source of life." Everyone had a story like that and as they told their story, we recorded them and it was then played back in their ears while they were inside the scanner.
Martin: Ah, they heard themselves recounting their spiritual experience.
Miller: It was tailor made to their own moment.
Martin: And you saw their brains light up?
Miller: Oh yes. Connecting to these memories, the bonding network comes up online just as when we were held in the arms of our parents or grandparents.
Martin: Wait, when you say the bonding network you mean you can literally see that the brain will respond to spiritual stimuli in the same way that it does to a hug from a family member when you're a baby?
Miller: Precisely.
Martin: Can you tell me how this manifests in the real world? I'm thinking about this anecdote you include in the book about a client of yours. A girl you refer to as Iliana.
Miller: Iliana adored her father, I mean, he was the sun and the moon and the stars to her. They were so close. And one night two men who her father knew, came into his corner store, robbed him and murdered him. And she was devastated. This was a grief that was so deep. She simply could not free herself from the grief that was shackling her heart.
One day, Iliana skips into my office. There's a levity and joy. She plops into the seat and says, "Dr. Miller, you're never gonna believe this. My cousin and my cousin's girlfriend chaperoned me so I could go to a party and I met the most wonderful boy. We talked so long, it must have been 20 minutes. He was so polite and so kind. But here's the best part, his name." Which was the same very usual name as her father.
She said, "Don't you see? My father sent him. My father is looking out after me." And from that day on she was in the world of the living. What changed everything for Iliana was the awareness that her father walked with her. She maintained a deep transcendent relationship with her father, as most people around the world do.
Iliana trusted her deep inner knowing that this was far too probabilistic to have happened by chance. That this very rare name held both by this new boy and her father could possibly mean nothing.
Martin: Can I ask, what are you thinking as you hear this? I mean, are you thinking that is just a crazy coincidence, but if she needs to believe that this is a sign from God, who am I to tell her otherwise? Because it seems to be working.
Miller: Well, at the time, that was certainly the most common interpretive framework amongst psychologists and psychiatrists. But I could see plain as day that this was a tremendously sacred moment. This was a living miracle. This was a gift.
For me to have treated it like some kind of cultural diversity variable or that it's just the meaning she makes would've actually taken all of the energy and spirit out of that transformative awakening moment. I joined her.
Now I did that authentically because it was my view as well that this is far too nonprobabilistic to have happened by chance, that there are very few people by that very same name and that the first boy she met in a year and a half since her father's passing should have the name of the father. It was a synchronicity. There was a deeper meaning being revealed.
Martin: When you're talking to people who aren't scientists, someone who's skeptical, someone who doesn't have faith, who doesn't have what they define as a spiritual life, what do you want them to take away from your research and your message?
Miller: I've given a number of talks to audiences who, prior to seeing the science, would not necessarily consider themselves spiritual people. And, in fact, I oftentimes hear from people who consider themselves skeptics and very left-brained and when they see the peer reviewed science that says we're naturally spiritual beings, that when we cultivate our spirituality we're 80% less likely to be addicted, 82% less likely to take our lives, it speaks to the left side of their brains long enough that it quiets down the skepticism.
In other words, three cheers for the skeptic. Here is published, peer reviewed science for skeptical audiences to begin to explore, to be curious about our spiritual nature. You know, at the inner table of human knowing we all have an empiricist, a logician, an intuitive, a mystic, and a skeptic. And the skeptic is very welcome, but the skeptic is not the bouncer at the door.
It is not scientific to put a skeptic as a bouncer at the door. It is not more rigorous to toss out an idea before being examined in every way. We are wired to be able to investigate. So I simply say to the biggest skeptic of all, you are most welcome to your own inner table of inquiry, but be sure to invite everyone else.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-30/this-ivy-league-researcher-says-spirituality-is-good-for-our-mental-health | 2023-07-30T12:36:03 | 0 | https://www.kunm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-30/this-ivy-league-researcher-says-spirituality-is-good-for-our-mental-health |
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) —
A 9-year-old girl and her 10-year-old brother have been called as witnesses in a criminal case against their mother after she was accused of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian army.
Lidia Prudovskaya and her two children were summoned by investigators in the northern Russian region of Arkhangelsk on Friday to give testimony in the case, Russian news outlet Sota reported.
Prudovskaya previously faced administrative charges on similar allegations after sharing anti-war posts on Russian social media platform VKontakte in September 2022.
Discrediting the Russian military is a criminal offense under a law adopted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. The law is regularly used against Kremlin critics.
In April, Russian authorities petitioned to restrict the parental rights of a single father convicted of discrediting the army following an anti-war sketch drawn by his daughter at school.
Alexei Moskalyov, 54, was sentenced to two years in prison for social media comments he had made criticizing Moscow’s war in Ukraine, while his daughter Maria was placed in an orphanage.
The 13-year-old was later moved to live with her mother. | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-russian-investigators-call-children-as-witnesses-against-their-mother-accused-of-discrediting-army/ | 2023-07-30T12:36:06 | 0 | https://www.wjhl.com/news/international/ap-russian-investigators-call-children-as-witnesses-against-their-mother-accused-of-discrediting-army/ |
Aultman, Cleveland Clinic Mercy births for July 9-15
AULTMAN HOSPITAL
July 9, 2023
Carissa Smitley and Loren Lanning of Canton, girl
Tiffany Mixon and Gary Allen Miller of Alliance, girl
July 10, 2023
Jordyn and Lake Kuczirka of Canton, boy
Rachel Davis and Taylor Freed of Alliance, boy
July 11, 2023
Courtney Spahr and Thomas Kelly of Alliance, girl
Crystal Moore and Andrew Spindler of Canton, boy
July 12, 2023
Angel and Jacob Lovejoy of Malvern, boy
Kayleigh and Cody Habrun of Bolivar, boy
Michelle Loomis and Brian Henning of Canton, boy
Jayna and Adam Brately of Canton, boy
July 13, 2023
Ashley and Jason Holderbaum of Canton, boy
Rachel and Brian Gill of Magnolia, boy
Christine Babcock and Anthony Morgan of Louisville, girl
Tiffany McCallister and Joshua Bee of Canton, girl
July 14, 2023
Paula and Ryan Smith of Canton, girl
Meredith and Ryan Cutlip of Dalton, girl
Khloye and Patrick Fitzgerald of Massillon, boy
Rachele and Steve Cresanto Jr. of Mogadore, girl
July 15, 2023
Haylee Bruce of Alliance, boy
Melissa and David Carlton of Canton, boy
Megan Berlin and Michael Polverine of Alliance, girl
Kaylee and Michael Birtalan of East Sparta, girl
CLEVELAND CLINIC MERCY HOSPITAL
July 9, 2023
Leah-Richelle Robinson of Canton, boy
July 10, 2023
Hannah Ray and Bryce Passwaters of Massillon, boy
July 11, 2023
Morgan Thompson and Daryl Sanders Jr. of Massillon, girl
Corrine Sanders and Russell Walker Jr. of Canton, boy
July 12, 2023
Tayla Tenney and Cameron Donohoe of Alliance, boy
Kimberly Derflinger of Dalton, boy
July 13, 2023
Cheville Smith and Christin Smith of Canton, girl
Tristan Eford and David Wingfield of North Canton, girl
Amanda Ashton and Jordan Wade of North Canton, girl
July 14, 2023
Marie and Jacob Doane of Robertsville, girl
Kristin Donaldson and Austin Wenger of Louisville, girl
McKenzie Leaf and Matthew Allen Garrod of Salem, boy | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/lifestyle/2023/07/30/aultman-cleveland-clinic-mercy-births-for-july-9-15/70457283007/ | 2023-07-30T12:36:08 | 1 | https://www.cantonrep.com/story/lifestyle/2023/07/30/aultman-cleveland-clinic-mercy-births-for-july-9-15/70457283007/ |