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As Ukraine claims a strategic victory in a long, grinding counteroffensive, its troops say they need more long-range weapons to fight increasingly entrenched Russian troops.
Copyright 2023 NPR
As Ukraine claims a strategic victory in a long, grinding counteroffensive, its troops say they need more long-range weapons to fight increasingly entrenched Russian troops.
Copyright 2023 NPR
This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.
We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.
Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-31/ukraines-troops-are-slowly-pushing-russian-forces-out-of-occupied-ukrainian-land | 2023-07-31T09:51:11 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-31/ukraines-troops-are-slowly-pushing-russian-forces-out-of-occupied-ukrainian-land |
Clark County officials have identified an expressway into the criminal justice system for young people: underage driving without a license.
Teens who need or want to drive must contend with driver’s education class fees. For those who cannot afford to spend up to $500 on a course but still choose to drive, the consequences can affect much of their future.
Mike Calabrese, OIC executive director, said getting the charges can be a gateway to a “criminogenic lifestyle.”
“The way that happens is that a kid gets pulled over for driving without a license. He’s pulled over for an infraction, and he doesn’t go to court,” Calabrese said. “So then a warrant is issued, and now he may be an adult — he may now be 18 years old and not in the juvenile system, but that follows him.”
Clark County Juvenile Court Judge Katrine Lancaster said “the fastest way into the criminal justice system” is driving without a license. She said it can act as a “gateway” into the adult court system.
How pervasive is the issue?
From January to June of this year, 30 minors were charged with driving without a license. In 2022, there were 54 for the whole year, and in 2021, there were 52. In 2020, 91 minors faced the charge.
Fewer teens teens were charged with driving with a suspended license, with three in 2020, there in 2021, two in 2022 and one so far this year.
Under Ohio law, teens must obtain their instruction permit, which is allowed for people 15 1/2 and older, by passing a written test and registering for a licensed driving education class, before they become eligible to take their driving license test. They must obtain at least 50 hours of supervised driving with a licensed guardian, with 10 hours at night.
After at least six months, they can take an on-the-road driving test to receive a probationary license, which allows a teen driver to drive alone with several restrictions. This license is in effect until a driver turns at 18, when they can obtain their full license.
Adults becoming licensed drivers are still required to obtain a temporary permit, but they can drive with a licensed adult over the age of 21 and do not have to wait six months before taking the road test. They can take the road test without driver’s education classes.
Some individuals may need to drive in order to get to jobs necessary to support their families, but once caught and found responsible for driving without a valid license, they must pay expensive fines and later higher costs to obtain valid licenses once the law allows after such an offense, Lancaster said.
People faced with these charges have to attend court hearings, where they may also be held responsible for court costs. She said those who cannot afford driving school can afford being caught driving illegally even less.
“If you don’t show up for court hearings with those you can end up with warrants,” Lancaster said. “If you end up with a warrant, and then you’re detained in the jail, that then reduces your ability to get employment. It just becomes a spiral.”
Calabrese said he noticed this was a common occurrence when OIC, a nonprofit that aims to address the needs of community members at or below the poverty line, operated the Clark County Reentry Coalition.
Driving school prohibitively expensive for many teens
At Springfield’s School of Driving, all driving courses for teens cost at least $495. According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s website, this is the only certified school in Clark County. A certified school in Urbana appears to be closed.
“When you look at a kid where they’re from a marginalized income household, $500 is almost impossible to come up with,” Calabrese said.
Lancaster said illegal driving is often a teen’s first offense. She said most of the minors who she works with at the juvenile court do not have their driver’s licenses.
“You put that on the parent because the child typically isn’t able to afford it,” Lancaster said. “Some of them might be working, but that’s still a lot to have to pay for that.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Some of the individuals that Lancaster sees in court cannot legally obtain their driver’s licenses because their parents cannot teach them to drive due to issues with their own licenses or not having the time to teach their child on the road, she said.
Teens driving without a license can have more serious immediate consequences as well, Lancaster said. Many individuals are speeding or driving unsafely because they have not learned best practices, and they may end up injuring or killing someone or themselves, she said.
“I have three boys and I helped teach them how to drive, and it was my first one that definitely taught me that just because you sit in the car and you’re sitting in the front doesn’t mean you know what the rules are,” Lancaster said. “Like you can’t turn left on a light where there’s other people. You don’t have that right-of-way. If you don’t know that, you don’t learn those rules ... one of the benefits of having gone through and taken the test as a younger person (is) you know what the rules are.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, new teen drivers are twice as likely as adults to be involved in a fatal crash. From 2012 to 2021, there was a 13% increased in passenger vehicle driver deaths of 15- to 18-year-olds.
Should governments fund driving schools?
A nonprofit driving school funded by the Springfield and Clark County governments would be a good solution for the issue, Calabrese said. It would be difficult to find the right funding source that would allow the majority of teens to participate, though, he said.
“What OIC proposed was that the city and the county consider jointly funding a nonprofit driving school for low-income kids and it would be based on the federal poverty guidelines,” Calabrese said. “It could be on a sliding scale; the more income, the more the child would have to pay, all the way down to if they were far below the poverty guideline, then there would be no charge.”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recognized the challenges driving school costs can create for many teens, creating a scholarship program in December to send minors to driving school at low or no cost. The Springfield-Clark County Career Technology Center received $30,000 for Clark County teens.
Most high schools in Ohio no longer offer driver’s education courses, largely due to budget cuts, but this would be the best solution for the problem, Lancaster said.
Lancaster said it’s critical for teens to learn to drive through an experienced expert to avoid legal or devastating life consequences.
“You’ve got the gateway into the criminal side, but then you also have that safety component, and that’s really important — particularly when we’re talking about the younger kids I’m working with,” Lancaster said. “And the ones I’m working with, there’s I think a lack of understanding of the power of the vehicle. They may recognize (it) but then they see some movie with a big car chase and think ‘That looks pretty exciting.’”
About the Author | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/teens-driving-illegally-the-fastest-way-into-the-criminal-justice-system/Z2XBQYU25BAOPC6UCI5PMARCDY/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:14 | 1 | https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/teens-driving-illegally-the-fastest-way-into-the-criminal-justice-system/Z2XBQYU25BAOPC6UCI5PMARCDY/ |
NEWARK, N.J. and NANJING, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Biosion USA, Inc. (Biosion), a global clinical-stage R&D biotechnology company, today announced the phase 2 study initiation for the evaluation of BSI-045B, an anti-TLSP mAb, in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) .
"We are pleased to have initiated this important Phase 2 trial, which brings us closer to delivering a new treatment option for patients with atopic dermatitis," said Hugh M. Davis, Ph.D. Chief Business and Development Officer & President, Biosion USA. "This marks another important clinical milestone for Biosion in our effort to develop more high value treatment options for patients."
The phase I study of BSI-045B demonstrated its potential to be a first-in-class treatment for AD due to its single dose activity in a cohort of AD patients, excellent PK and favorable safety profile. The phase II study is designed to assess the efficacy of BSI-045B as monotherapy as well as in combination therapy with Dupixent® to further increase therapeutic effectiveness for patients who are suffering from AD.
For additional information on this trial (NCT05114889), please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov
About BSI-045B
BSI-045B is a high-affinity, humanized monoclonal antibody, targeting thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a cytokine that is implicated in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis, asthma and other eosinophilic and Th2 immune-related diseases. Biosion's collaboration partner - CTTQ, a China-based pharmaceutical company with rights to BSI-045B (TQC2731) for China development and commercialization, is currently conducting a Phase II clinical trial of BSI-045B in China for the treatment of severe uncontrolled asthma.
About Biosion
Biosion is a global, clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to developing antibody-based therapies to improve patient outcomes for the treatment of immune and oncologic diseases. Established in 2017, Biosion has built a pipeline of innovative biologics through its internally derived proprietary technologies including the H³ antibody discovery platform, SynTracer® high-throughput endocytosis platform, and Flexibody® bispecific platform. Biosion's lead asset, BSI-045B (anti-TSLP mAb), is currently in phase-II for severe asthma and phase-I for atopic dermatitis. Biosion and partners have plans to progress the immune-oncology and antibody drug conjugate-based portfolio into clinical trials for oncology indications over the next year. Biosion has operations in the US, Australia, and China.To learn more about Biosion, please go to www.biosion.com.
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SOURCE Biosion, Inc. | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/biosion-announces-phase-ii-study-start-anti-tslp-mab-bsi-045b-atopic-dermatitis-adamant/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:14 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/biosion-announces-phase-ii-study-start-anti-tslp-mab-bsi-045b-atopic-dermatitis-adamant/ |
After police hauled away a computer programmer, his wife was left to discover who her husband really was — a mysterious political blogger. (Story aired on All Things Considered on July 27, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
After police hauled away a computer programmer, his wife was left to discover who her husband really was — a mysterious political blogger. (Story aired on All Things Considered on July 27, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.
We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.
Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-31/woman-in-china-learned-about-her-husbands-secret-identity-after-police-grabbed-him | 2023-07-31T09:51:17 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-31/woman-in-china-learned-about-her-husbands-secret-identity-after-police-grabbed-him |
If you're feeling a bit brain-fogged these days, you might not be wrong to blame it on the heat.
Several summers back, researchers in Boston studied young adults living in college dorm rooms during a heat wave. Some had central AC, and slept at a cool 71 degrees Fahrenheit. But others slept in rooms without air-conditioning, where the temperature hovered around 80 degrees.
Each morning for nearly two weeks the students took a few tests, administered on their cell phones. The people who slept in the hotter dorm rooms performed measurably worse on the tests.
The tests included a math test requiring simple addiction and subtraction and a second test, the Stroop test, that jumbles colors and words. "So, if I show the word 'red' in the color blue, participants have to respond 'blue'," says study author Jose Guillermo Cedeño Laurent, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
It's easy to get tripped up if your attention or reaction time is slowed, he says, and that's exactly what heat appears to be doing. "The magnitude of the effect was really striking," Cedeño Laurent says. "We saw reductions in the order of 10% in their response times and also their accuracy."
Part of this effect may be explained by interrupted sleep. It can be hard to get a good night's rest if you're not accustomed to the heat, and a lack of sleep could certainly impair reaction time and focus. But there's a body of evidence suggesting it may be something about the heat itself that interferes with cognition.
A similar study published in 2021 also documented a dip in cognitive performance at air temps of 79 degrees. Researchers found that as the temperature rose, activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, the anti-stress system that can help us stay calm and relaxed, was lowered. Plus oxygen saturation levels in the blood were lower at the elevated temperatures as well, which the researchers said could be expected to result in reduced cognitive performance.
Other studies have found an effect from heat on office workers and on standardized test score performance, says Caleb Dresser, an emergency medicine physician who also serves as the director of health care solutions at the Harvard Chan Center for Climate, Health and Global Environment.
One of these studies showed that productivity in the workplace is highest when the air temperature is about 72 degrees, and productivity starts to drop off in the mid-70s. And another shows that for high school students, taking a standardized test on a hot day is linked to poorer performance.
Dresser says the evidence suggests that heat can influence us in sometimes indiscernible ways. "All of these [studies] seem to point to a reduced ability to think clearly and quickly and efficiently when the body is too hot," he says.
There's also research to suggest that heat can make you moodier or irritated, in part, perhaps, by raising cortisol levels, and inducing a stress response.
Of course, you can acclimate to heat after several days of exposure, and our bodies have several built-in coping mechanisms that help us cool down. For instance, you'll begin to sweat sooner and blood flow to the skin increases, which can carry heat away from the body's core.
But, given the extreme heat waves that are becoming more common, there's increasing interest in better understanding the mechanisms by which heat may exacerbate or set off mood and anxiety-related problems. Dresser points to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2022 that found hospital ER visits, for mental health conditions, rise during extremely hot days.
"I think this is consistent with what a lot of physicians will tell you if they have worked during hot conditions," Dresser says. Mental health is a concern all of the time, "but it can become a bigger concern during really hot conditions," he says.
Multiple factors likely explain how heat exacerbates the risks, beyond changes in stress hormones and sleep disturbances. Dresser points out that there's an overlap between populations who are vulnerable to mental health issues and populations that are unhoused or have intermittent access to housing.
And, clearly, if someone is living outside during a heat wave, there's a greater likelihood of significant impact. "There may be complicated social issues going on," he says.
A better understanding of all of these factors could help inform strategies to prevent or manage the challenges. "As we learn to live in a warming world where the summers are getting hotter, we need to be extra alert to recognize when conditions are dangerous and take steps to stay safe," Dresser says.
One of the key strategies is to stay well hydrated. This may sound obvious, but dehydration is common in the summer, and many people underestimate how much fluid they need to replace when they're sweating a lot or spending time outdoors.
In fact, the participants in the college dorm study benefited from staying well-hydrated. During the study, the researchers sent text messages asking all the participants how much liquid they'd consumed, and it turned out that the participants who slept in the hot dorm rooms, and drank less than 6 glasses of liquid per day, performed worse on the tests. And prior research has shown that being even a little dehydrated can impair cognitive performance.
It's a reminder that a simple step – remembering to drink plenty of water – can help protect not just our physical health, but our mental wellbeing, too.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why | 2023-07-31T09:51:18 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why |
A year after the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline was launched, calls have surged in Connecticut and across the country.
“We’ve actually seen a 125% increase in calls” in Connecticut over the past year, said Lisa Tepper Bates, president and CEO of the United Way of Connecticut, which responds to the 988 calls coming in through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Previously, the center responded to the harder-to-remember 1-800 number, which is still operational.
Meanwhile, United Way is working to expand its call center capacity in Connecticut.
Currently, callers access a chat and text capability for 988 nationally. An effort is underway to have Connecticut call-takers assist with locally-based chats and texts.
“We're building out [our] local response capacity starting this year to respond to chat and text with Connecticut level specialists,” Tepper Bates said. “Having that local response, we believe, will be a superior way to provide connection to the local resources.”
Officials say that 4% of the calls – or nearly 6,800 calls – were from people who were planning to die by suicide. Tepper Bates said the rest were from those with substance use disorder and mental illness, including anxiety and panic attack. They needed someone to talk to, she said, and to connect with resources.
According to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, between October 2022 and March 2023, Connecticut ranked within the top six states nationally in terms of call response rates. Several of the higher-ranking states, like Rhode Island, had lower call volumes.
A note to readers: If you're in crisis, you can call 988. Learn more here. | https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2023-07-31/after-988-crisis-line-is-launched-calls-have-spiked-ct-is-expanding-its-call-center-capability | 2023-07-31T09:51:24 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2023-07-31/after-988-crisis-line-is-launched-calls-have-spiked-ct-is-expanding-its-call-center-capability |
LOGAN, Utah, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyrusher, the professional e-bike producer, will launch pre-sales of the Nitro, the company's first mid-motor model, in late-July. This is an ebike with great comfort and speed for your 2023 riding adventure. Riders will enjoy a pleasant and effortless ride on the Nitro, as well as greater power, speed and control compared to a hub motor electric bike.
The Nitro, appearing as the first mid-motor model, integrates design aesthetics, technological innovation and a variety of other factors to ensure riders have a pleasant and smooth riding experience that exceeds expectations.
An attractive aesthetic design style - three color options
The Nitro follows the color-rich design style of the Cyrusher models while incorporating its own design aesthetics, making it a colorful option for many riders. The Nitro has a color-blocking design that keeps the black color of the rear frame while varying the fork gradient colorways to create a unique frame style. The Nitro is available in three color options, black red, and blue, to suit different rider preferences.
The ultimate speed experience - the mid-motor configuration
There is no doubt that this mid-motor Nitro was developed to meet the needs of the rider. The highly effective mid-mounted motor, which has been improved to provide an unprecedented level of power, is the most significant addition to the updated Nitro. The utterly improved 1000W Bafang mid-drive motor makes the e-bike's ride feel more dynamic responding readily to the rider even at maximum speed. To optimise the bike's balance, the mid-mounted motor is incorporated directly into the pedals and cranks. This also results in more efficient power transmission from the motor and higher climbing ability and weight lifting capability.
In addition, unlike other hub motor categories, the Nitro delivers 160 Nm of torque power, offering more flexibility for speed variation and a genuinely powerful speed sensation.
Powerful energy supply - 48V 20Ah Samsung Li-battery
The battery that powers the mid-mounted engine on the Nitro is still as secure, water-resistant and durable as the usual model. In combination with the mid-motor's more efficient power transmission, the 48V 20Ah battery allows the bike to cover up to 85 miles with its reliable capacity. Along with extending the vehicle's lifespan and durability, it can efficiently charge up to 800 cycles, making it an extremely cost-effective option.
Safe braking capability - hydraulic brakes
To improve braking power, Nitro chose twin-piston calipers. The twin-piston calipers allow for a larger surface area of contact with the brake rotors which increases the friction when the brakes are applied. Hydraulic brakes enable quicker braking reactions and improved traffic safety. The extra engine cut-off feature ensures that the brakes can be applied quickly and effectively in the event of an emergency, providing an extra layer of safety and security. The Nitro helps the rider cycle freely on the road and stop easier, achieving a better balance between thrill and safety.
Solid road pioneering - puncture-resistant fat tires
Nitro, with a 26*4 fat tire, is developed to be a powerful means of transportation. Fat tires offer much better traction and cushioning than regular tires, allowing you to easily navigate through difficult terrains like sand and mud. Therefore, Nitro is a great tool for exploring the city and the outdoors, with the ability to twist and turn through crowded streets, climb steep slopes and ride along soft beaches. Besides providing stability on slippery surfaces, Nitro can handle higher speeds with less chance of blowouts.
The top comfort escort - front and rear air shock absorption
The powerful Nitro is a full suspension electric bike with front and rear air suspension, guaranteeing maximum comfort. It offers better cushioning than previous generations. The adjustable front and rear air suspension features the highest configuration, allowing it to take on more challenging terrain without sacrificing comfort. It offers 135mm of thread that can be adjusted separately for terrain variations, boosting the damping effect for an enjoyable riding experience.
Reliable load capacity - upgraded to 200kg load capacity
The Nitro was designed with a mid-motor that reduces the bike's center of gravity, giving it outstanding balance. This allows the bike to carry up to 200kg of cargo. Additionally, its high load capacity ensures that the bike's weight doesn't negatively impact its performance.
Smooth gear transport - Shimano 10-speed transmission
The drive system's reliability is essential in order to ensure that the Nitro will be able to take full advantage of its improved high torque capabilities. The Shimano transmission helps to reduce wear and tear on the chain, making it more durable and efficient. The 10-speed pedal assist mode option gives riders the flexibility to choose the speed setting that perfectly suits their needs, ensuring that the bike can be tailored to meet the requirements of any type of rider.
All the details are there - the accessories
The Nitro comes with its own Led front and rear tail lights which provide excellent illumination and make sure that the rider is able to ride in dimly lit conditions. And, the Nitro has an updated Bafang back-lit display that allows the rider to more clearly track data such as speed, battery life, range and pedal assist levels.
Reliable after-sales service
The Cyrusher team consistently prioritizes the customer's needs and provides them with outstanding service. The team is available for customer inquiries and feedback 24/7 and offers fast and efficient response times. A long-term guarantee with a two-year product warranty backs the Nitro. The reliable customer service demonstrates Cyrusher's commitment to customer satisfaction, giving Cyrusher a distinct competitive edge.
Price tag
Priced at $4499, the powerful Nitro opens up even more riding possibilities for riders. The Nitro is equipped with a powerful engine and advanced features such as an adjustable suspension and quick brakes. This makes it a great choice for riders looking for a performance-oriented ride. If you are interested in the powerful Nitro, you can find more details on the official website.
What is the significance of the development of a Nitro?
Sustainable energy solution for a greener planet
Cyrusher has always been committed to green and sustainable development, exporting green travel vehicles worldwide and launching high-quality electric mobility tools to support sustainable development. By developing Nitro, Cyrusher demonstrates its commitment to its original goal. Nitro is an innovative and powerful electric bike that offers riders the ultimate convenience, comfort and performance. The company is helping to reduce carbon footprints and support a green earth by encouraging more people to cycle.
Leading the industry to new heights
A healthy competitive relationship provides a favourable opportunity for the industry to upgrade and change. The Cyrusher e-bike has been designed to maintain its own unique characteristics while responding to the changing market trends and offering more competitive value-for-money models to meet the needs of cyclists of all ages and performance levels. The launch of the Nitro is Cyrusher's newest work in the mid-motor field. With high quality range, powerful running ability and ultimate comfort, it is undoubtedly the most competitive product of its kind. Cyrusher will keep improving its technology and services in the future to offer better value to more riders and set a new benchmark for the sector.
A constant insight into customer needs
The Nitro is based on the company's insights into user needs and changing industry standards. Cyrusher insists on being user-centred, with high-quality components that have been repeatedly researched, tested and polished over a long period of time. The Nitro integrates comfort, safety and stability to bring riders the ultimate rewarding experience beyond expectations. The Nitro can be used freely on any road and with the wind blowing gently in your face, you'll have a more comfortable and enjoyable riding experience. Cyrusher is always moving forward and making great strides.
About Cyrusher
Cyrusher is a reputable producer of electric bicycles for professionals that have been successfully marketed in more than 10 nations worldwide. The brand's electric bicycles pass rigorous international quality tests and meet CE, UL, Rhos and FCC requirements. Additionally, Australia, China, the EU, Japan, Korea and the USA have registered and approved the brand. An offline store test-ride service has also been introduced in a number of nations, including the USA, UK and France. Cyrusher will keep expanding its range of vehicles to satisfy the needs of more riders, offering a solution for zero-carbon, fast and convenient urban commuting.
Cyrusher Contact:
UK official website: www.cyrusher.co.uk
US official website: www.cyrusher.com
French official website: www.cyrusher.fr
German official website: www.cyrusher.de
Phone: 01134900889
Email: support@cyrusher.com
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SOURCE cyrusher | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:26 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ |
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China Digital Entertainment Congress commenced on Thursday alongside ChinaJoy, the country's largest gaming event. Lu Xiaoyin, Co-CEO and President of Perfect World Co., Ltd, as well as the CEO of Perfect World Games, was among the esteemed guests in attendance.
During his keynote speech, Lu emphasized the rapid development of the Chinese gaming industry, which has greatly benefited from the country's "digitalization" strategies. He highlighted the industry plays a crucial role in promoting digitalization across various sectors, including empowering the real economy, driving technological innovation, and preserving cultural heritage.
Lu lauded Chinese games for their exceptional ability to embody the essence of Chinese culture, offering a wealth of inspiration for game development. In line with this approach, Perfect World integrates elements of China's cultural heritage into its games. For instance, the company has artfully incorporated China's intangible cultural heritage, Suzhou embroidery, into its mobile game "Tower of Fantasy", and showcased the beauty of Chinese traditional opera Huangmei Opera in another mobile game "Zhuxian".
Lu highlighted the inseparable connection between technology and the gaming industry. Specifically, he emphasized the pivotal role of digital intelligence technologies like generative AI in optimizing game content creation and production methods.
Perfect World recognized the potential of AI technology several years ago and took significant steps by establishing an AI center. This center serves as a hub for applying AI across different production chains, including NPC creation, modeling, painting, and story development.
The gaming industry is driven by technologies like VR, AR, and AI, which inject vitality into the broader economy. Perfect World has collaborated with local governments and scenic spots to incorporate digital scenes into tourism to offer tourists a captivating experience.
Lu emphasized Perfect World is a R&D-oriented enterprise, with high-quality products serving as the cornerstone of the company's growth. The company focuses on two main categories: "MMO+" and "card+". On one hand, it upgrades classic MMORPG genres, introducing mobile games like "New Swordsman", "World of Jade Dynasty", "Fantasy New Jade Dynasty", and "Perfect New World". On the other hand, it creates games of different genres, such as "One Punch Man: World", "Persona 5: The Phantom X" and "Kai-Ri-Sei Million Arthur: Ring".
Additionally, Perfect World actively pursues the distribution of its games overseas, with "Tower of Fantasy" achieving remarkable success since its release in August 2022, and soon to be launched on PlayStation.
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SOURCE Perfect World | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:27 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ |
July’s hot, humid and wet weather is causing The Sharon Audubon Center to be overrun with chimney swift chicks.
The migratory birds build their nests inside chimneys. Their saliva hardens like glue when it dries, so the birds use it to stick their tiny nests to the chimney walls. But the heat, humidity and recent rains soften and weaken that saliva, causing nests to break or fall.
“People hear their little chirping, chattering noises, go over to their fireplace and they find these birds,” said Sunny Kellner, a wildlife rehabilitation and outreach specialist at the center.
When homeowners call, wildlife experts evaluate the situation over the phone. By using pictures sent to them by the homeowners, they determine if the chicks need to come to the center for treatment or if they can try and be re-nested.
Audubon's rehabilitation center received its first chimney swifts on July Fouth. Within less than a month, it had more than 80 chimney swifts in its care.
“It’s literally raining swifts for us," Kellner said. "They’re dropping like crazy."
In addition to Connecticut, the center receives birds from New York and Massachusetts.
“Our volunteers spend 14 hours a day, every day feeding these swifts every hour. They eat a lot of live insects,” she said.
The birds in their care will be released in late summer or early fall, when the species gathers into large flocks to migrate to South America. | https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2023-07-31/its-raining-chimney-swifts-for-one-ct-bird-rescue-center | 2023-07-31T09:51:30 | 0 | https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2023-07-31/its-raining-chimney-swifts-for-one-ct-bird-rescue-center |
- Back to Hogwarts returns on 1st September, inviting Harry Potter fans from all over the world to mark the moment the Hogwarts Express departs from King's Cross for the start of term
- Fans can join themed events, watch parties, digital and real-life celebrations that promise to be bigger and better than ever
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, on Harry Potter's birthday, Wizarding World announces the return of its Back to Hogwarts celebrations, alongside a search for the UK's most enthusiastic Harry Potter fan to lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
The Harry Potter books, written by J.K. Rowling have had a huge impact on fans around the globe, having sold over 600 million copies worldwide, been distributed in more than 200 territories and translated into over 85 languages since they were first published by Bloomsbury and Scholastic 25 years ago.
Beginning as a fan celebration, Back to Hogwarts is recognised as one of the biggest days in any Harry Potter fan's calendar – marking the moment when students would board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dressed in their finest cosplay, thousands of fans make the trip to London's King's Cross station each year and more come together online to raise their wands for the countdown and share their love of the stories.
Bringing Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs together, this year celebrations are bigger than ever with the launch of a UK competition for one lucky fan between age five and seventeen years old to get the chance to travel to King's Cross and help host the countdown on 1st September. The competition is live and young wizards and witches wishing to enter can submit a video of their best countdown online (via a parent or guardian) by 11.59pm on 7th August.
The magic doesn't stop there! This lucky winner (plus a parent or guardian) will get the chance to pack their trunks once again to come back to the capital with a complete package of Harry Potter experiences. The ultimate Harry Potter London Breaks Experience gives this fan the opportunity to discover the filmmaking magic of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter and see the critically acclaimed stage production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. To top it off, the winner will receive an incredible merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop. Full details on prize entry can be found here.
Until 3rd September an array of magical experiences awaits at King's Cross as fans get the chance to sip on Butterbeer, play Hogwarts Legacy on PlayStation®5 courtesy of Warner Bros. Games, and enjoy LEGO® Harry Potter giveaways and photo opportunities. Additionally, in celebration of the publication of The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, fans will also be able to spin Bloomsbury's giant wand spinner and find out whose wand they are best suited to, with free gifts up for grabs for those taking part.
Festivities aren't contained to the station… why not relive the movie magic on the big screen? Theatres around the world will be putting on special Harry Potter screenings for Back to Hogwarts. In the UK, Everyman will screen all eight films at Everyman Kings Cross and select Harry Potter movies at their cinemas nationwide. ODEON will present Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets nationwide over the course of the weekend. US fans can get their fix at Cinemark where more than 250 theatres will be showing an exclusive re-release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1&2. Down Under? Join in the fun at 15 locations of Village Cinemas across Victoria, Australia as they host screenings of the final two Deathly Hallows films in the iconic series. Further theatres and locations will be announced soon, including screenings in Barcelona and Madrid.
Pam Lifford, President, Global Brands, Franchises and Experiences, at Warner Bros. Discovery, said: "Back to Hogwarts is a day cherished by Harry Potter fans of all ages, from all over the world. Just like their passion for the magic of the stories, their celebrations grow every year! 2023 is set to be a year like no other – we will see fan world record attempts in Germany, high octane quiz competitions in France and of course, the UK's search to find the perfect person to join that amazing countdown. We are so proud to offer new and exciting ways to bring fans together and give them new ways to celebrate the Harry Potter magic – there's nothing quite like Back To Hogwarts!"
Check out Wizarding World Digital at www.wizardingworld.com for all the Back to Hogwarts updates, including the latest UK activity and info on what's happening in Italy, Germany, France, Japan, China and more. Look out for news too on how to get involved with Harry Potter Watch Parties (MAX US subscribers will be able to join and watch-along on 1st September) and when to tune into the Back to Hogwarts Digital Showcase.
Join the global community of millions of members following the fun on social and don't forget to sign up to the Harry Potter Fan Club!
Website: www.wizardingworld.com/harry-potter-fan-club.
Instagram: @wizardingworld https://www.instagram.com/wizardingworld/?hl=en
Hashtag: #BacktoHogwarts
About The Wizarding World
In the years since Harry Potter was whisked from King's Cross station onto Platform nine and three quarters, his incredible adventures have left a unique and lasting mark on popular culture. Eight blockbuster Harry Potter films based on the original stories by J.K. Rowling have brought the magical stories to life and today, the Wizarding World is recognised as one of the world's best-loved brands.
Representing a vast interconnected universe, it also includes three epic Fantastic Beasts films, Harry Potter & The Cursed Child – the multi-award-winning stage-play, state-of-the-art video and mobile games from Portkey Games, innovative consumer products, thrilling live entertainment (including four theme park lands) and insightful exhibitions, as well as a forthcoming Harry Potter TV series.
This expanding portfolio of Warner Bros. Discovery owned Wizarding World experiences also includes Harry Potter New York – the iconic flagship store, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo, and the Harry Potter Shop online and retail shops.
The Wizarding World continues to evolve to provide Harry Potter fans with fresh and exciting ways to engage. For the worldwide fan community, and for generations to come, it welcomes everyone in to explore and discover the magic for themselves.
About Back to Hogwarts
On 1st September, fans from all generations and corners of the globe come together to celebrate a very special day in the wizarding world calendar: Back to Hogwarts. Having started as an organic fan celebration many years ago, today Back to Hogwarts is an annual tradition recognised as one of the biggest moments in the Harry Potter fan's calendar when wizards and witches board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for a year of magical adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a unique celebration, each year fans come together online and in real life to celebrate the magic of these beloved stories and unite with their community.
UK Activity - About The Competition
Parents and guardians can enter their child by 7th August to help lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown at 11.00am on 1st September 2023 at King's Cross station and win a bundle of Harry Potter prizes.
The Wizarding World is searching for an enthusiastic, confident young fan to lead all the young wizards, witches and Muggles in the countdown moment. For the opportunity to lead the countdown, the parent or guardian of the applicant must send a video lasting no longer than 20 seconds, counting down from ten, showing how they would lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
Entrants must be based in the UK and Northern Ireland, aged between 5 and 17 years old, and details for entering the competition are detailed at https://www.wizardingworld.com/terms/back-to-hogwarts-2023-uk-countdown-competition-terms
Entries must be sent via email to BackToHogwarts@premiercomms.com and must be sent via a file sharing platform such as WeTransfer or DropBox.
The opportunity to enter opened at 12.00am on 31st July and will close at 11.59pm on 7th August. The successful applicant will be informed by 18th August.
The Competition Prize
- Lead the fans in a countdown at 11.00am BST to launch the Hogwarts Express announcement on 1st September 2023
- First to enter Back to Hogwarts fan zone at King's Cross station
- Wizarding World London Breaks - Ultimate Experience: 1 nights' accommodation, 2x tickets to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, 2x tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for winner and one parent/guardian – to be redeemed at a later date
- A Wizarding World merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop
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SOURCE Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:34 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ |
BlackBerry QNX and BlackBerry IVY to serve as the software foundation for alliance's EV projects
WATERLOO, ON and TAIPEI, Taiwan, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced that the Mobility in Harmony (MIH) Consortium, a Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, (Foxconn)-initiated group, that seeks to create an open ecosystem to transform and accelerate innovation within the electric vehicle industry, has selected BlackBerry to provide the foundation for its next-generation platform.
MIH will use a range of BlackBerry software and services to serve as the safe and secure software foundation for the consortium's open and agnostic electric vehicle platform with a unique modular design approach. Project X, one of the MIH EV projects, will be a single-row three-seater geared towards Asian consumers, and is set to be unveiled in Japan in late 2023. MIH will also release six-seater and nine-seater vehicle platforms in the coming years to provide more vehicle segment choices, and to enable greater innovation.
As part of the agreement, MIH will utilize the company's trusted, safety-certified BlackBerry® QNX® product portfolio and award-winning cloud-connected, automotive AI platform, BlackBerry IVY™, including QNX Software Development Platform (SDP 7.1) licenses, QNX middleware technologies, as well as engineering professional services for system-level integration, performance optimization, and solution validation.
"MIH is committed to driving an open and agnostic ecosystem, with a focus that goes beyond just electric vehicles. Our ambition lies in crafting intelligent user experiences that enhance smart living and redefine the future of mobility and green logistics. BlackBerry's alignment with MIH's vision makes them the perfect partner for our goals. We anticipate deeper collaboration to realize our shared vision to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry and we're thrilled about our partnership with BlackBerry," said Jack Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at MIH Consortium.
Mattias Eriksson, President, BlackBerry IoT commented: "The Foxconn-led MIH Consortium has articulated an ambitious and compelling vision focused on accelerating innovation in the EV ecosystem. As the leading foundational software for the intelligent edge, BlackBerry QNX helps our customers and partners turbocharge their software development efforts. Companies all over the world, deploy BlackBerry's high-performance, safe and secure foundational software to allow their own internal resources to focus on layers higher up in the software stack. They trust us for the 'plumbing,' so they can confidently dedicate their work to software directly impacting their customers' experiences. This accelerates development, improves safety and security, while reducing overall costs. We are excited to join the MIH consortium and look forward to helping them execute on their vision of transforming the overall EV industry."
For more information about the MIH Consortium please visit: MIH | Mobility in Harmony (mih-ev.org).
For more information on how BlackBerry QNX can help with building the safe and secure vehicles of tomorrow, please visit: BlackBerry.QNX.com.
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 235M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint management, endpoint security, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.
For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.
Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.
About MIH Consortium
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), a global leader in smart manufacturing, introduced MIH, its software and hardware open platform for EVs, in 2020 and initiated the formation of the MIH Consortium in 2021. Foxconn aims to position MIH as the "Android system of the EV industry." Foxconn is inviting automakers, manufacturers, and supply chain partners to join the MIH to collaborate. MIH's mission is to lower barriers to entry into the EV industry, accelerate innovation, and shorten development cycles by realizing key technologies and developing reference designs and standards. Currently, the MIH has more than 2,600 members.
For More: https://www.mih-ev.org/
Media Contacts:
BlackBerry Media Relations
+1 (519) 597-7273
mediarelations@BlackBerry.com
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SOURCE BlackBerry Limited | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:40 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ |
Australia: No hope for survivors in military chopper crash
Australian authorities said Monday that there is no chance crew members survived the "catastrophic impact" of a military helicopter crash last Friday.
Four Australian army crew members were missing after their "Taipan" helicopter crashed into the sea off of Queensland state during multinational "Operation Talisman Sabre" military exercises.
What do we know about the crew members?
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Monday that initially rescuers had hoped they would find the four crew members alive.
"There was a catastrophic impact, and that forms part of why we are now transferring this from an activity of search and rescue, to one of recovery," Marles told reporters.
The crew members were identified on Sunday as Captain Daniel Lyon, Lieutenant Maxwell Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs.
"The loss of these four men is as significant and meaningful as the loss of anyone who has worn our nation's uniform," Marles said, adding he was "deeply sorry" for their families.
Chief of the Defense Force Angus Campbell said authorities would exert every effort to recover the bodies and the remainder of the wreckage.
"We'll be bringing our mates home to their families and to their regiments," he said, adding that the search efforts have been complicated by "strong currents and tidal movements" in the area.
Grounding the Taipan helicopters
On Sunday, Australian army chief Lieutenant General Simon Stuart said that Australia's 45-strong fleet of MRH-90 Taipan helicopters would cease flying until further notice.
Stuart said the army was planning to keep the Taipans in service until 2024, but that the crash might cause some reconsideration.
"What happens between now and then, from what we learn from this incident, [has] yet to be determined," he said.
The ageing Taipans have repeatedly been grounded in the past, with officials complaining that they are difficult to maintain and that spare parts are not readily available.
The crash was the second emergency involving an Australian Taipan this year. In March, a helicopter of that type ditched into the sea off the coast of the state of New South Wales during a training exercise. All 10 people on board were rescued.
rmt/wmr (AFP, Reuters) | https://www.dw.com/en/australia-no-hope-for-survivors-in-military-chopper-crash/a-66392571 | 2023-07-31T09:51:46 | 1 | https://www.dw.com/en/australia-no-hope-for-survivors-in-military-chopper-crash/a-66392571 |
HOUSTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nutex Health Inc. ("Nutex Health" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: NUTX), a physician-led, technology-enabled integrated healthcare delivery system comprised of 21 state-of-the-art micro hospitals in 8 states and primary care-centric, risk-bearing physician networks, today announced that its Clinigence Health advanced population health analytics platform has been selected by Varmed Management, a Puerto Rico-based medical management company, to enhance its population health capabilities and patient care.
Clinigence Health's partnership with Varmed Management honors the company's commitment to improving quality of life and health outcomes through implementing advanced analytics and cutting-edge technology. Together, they aim to deliver unparalleled solutions to patients, ensuring seamless, whole-person care while reducing costs.
Clinigence Health is thrilled to assist Varmed Management in its mission. Sophisticated population health management requires a platform like Clinigence Health that helps organizations enhance the care delivered to their patients by identifying opportunities to engage its physicians and its patients with data to drive continued quality improvement.
"The partnership creates an environment where high-quality care is accessible and affordable to everyone in our community. By integrating Clinigence Health's advanced analytics into our population health management strategy, we can provide even more personalized patient care," stated José J. Vargas, Chief Executive Officer of Varmed Management.
"The healthcare industry continues to experience the loss of billions of premium dollars to overutilization and inappropriate use of services to the detriment of patient care. The transition to value-based care models requires organizations to understand the patterns of care and best medical practices that allow quality care to be delivered cost-effectively," stated Lawrence Schimmel, M.D., Chief Medical Information Officer of Nutex Health, Inc.
"Clinigence is a pioneer in clinical data integration, clinical quality reporting and population health analytics. Our scalable, purpose-built cloud-based platform has clinical and claims data on over 3 million patients and is in use by multiple independent practice associations ("IPAs"), medical groups, accountable care organizations ("ACOs"), hospitals and physicians. We look forward to partnering with the talented team at Varmed," stated Warren Hosseinion, M.D., President of Nutex Health.
For more information, visit Clinigence Health at www.clinigencehealth.com or email info@clinigence.com for personalized information requests.
About Nutex Health Inc.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas and founded in 2011, Nutex Health Inc. (NASDAQ: NUTX) is a healthcare management and operations company with two divisions: a Hospital Division and a Population Health Management Division.
The Hospital Division owns, develops and operates innovative health care models, including micro-hospitals, specialty hospitals, and hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). This division owns and operates 21 facilities in 8 states.
The Population Health Management division owns and operates provider networks such as Independent Physician Associations (IPAs). Through our Management Services Organization (MSO), we provide management, administrative and other support services to our affiliated hospitals and physician groups. Our cloud-based proprietary technology platform aggregates clinical and claims data across multiple settings, information systems and sources to create a holistic view of patients and providers, allowing us to deliver greater quality care more efficiently.
About Varmed Management
Varmed Management is a fully integrated healthcare solutions provider. As a population health management organization, we are committed to providing cutting-edge solutions to our clients, improving quality of life through patient empowerment, improving healthcare outcomes and reducing costs. www.varmedmanagement.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements and information included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words or phrases "will", "will likely result," "expected to," "will continue," "anticipated," "estimate," "projected," "intend," "goal," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks, known and unknown, and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy, changes in laws or regulations, including the interim final and final rules implemented under the No Surprises Act , economic conditions, dependence on management, dilution to stockholders, lack of capital, the effects of rapid growth upon the Company and the ability of management to effectively respond to the growth and demand for products and services of the Company, newly developing technologies, the Company's ability to compete, conflicts of interest in related party transactions, regulatory matters, protection of technology, lack of industry standards, the effects of competition and the ability of the Company to obtain future financing. An extensive list of factors that can affect future results are discussed in the Current Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023 under the heading "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item IA thereof, and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors could materially adversely affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed within this press release.
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SOURCE Nutex Health, Inc. | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:48 | 0 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ |
China: Heavy rain from Doksuri forces thousands to evacuate
After wreaking havoc in the Philippines and Taiwan, the remnants of typhoon Doksuri passed through China's capital city on Monday, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
Beijing has recorded its heaviest rainfall for the year so far. Authorities warned of swelling rivers, floods, landslides and mudslides in the capital and surrounding regions.
Some 170.9 millimeters (roughly 6.7 miles) of rain inundated Beijing between Saturday night and Monday noon, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau said. This is the amount of rainfall for the entire month of July, as per official records.
The torrential rainfall has forced authorities to issue the highest level of alert in northern China, covering millions of people. The alert includes 22 million people in Beijing and 14 million in Tianjin. According to local media, this is the first time such a heavy rainfall warning has been issued since 2011.
As a precaution, residents have been asked to stay indoors. Offices have been asked not to force their employees to come to the office while public spaces and recreational centers remain closed.
2 deaths reported in Beijing, thousands evacuated
Chinese state media reported two bodies were pulled from a river in Beijing’s western Mentougou district during an emergency patrol.
Hundreds of roads in the capital are also reported flooded in Beijing, with cars being swept away and subway stations filled with water.
Over 31,000 people were evacuated from their homes in high-risk areas in Beijing, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Another 20,000 people were relocated from the neighboring Hebei province's capital, Shijiazhuang, state media reported on Sunday evening.
The storm has been felt in China since Friday , first hitting the southern Fujian province with heavy rainfall . China's meteorological agency warned that Doksuri's impact was far from over despite the reduced intensity.
In 2021, heavy rainfall and severe flooding resulted in the death of 300 people in central China's Zhengzhou city.
As a precaution, residents have been asked to stay indoors. Offices have been asked not to force their employees to come to the office while public spaces and recreational centers remain closed.
Another typhoon named Khanun — the sixth one this year according to Xinhua news — is expected to reach China this week. Authorities said it could further damage crops that have been affected by Doksuri.
mk/jsi,wmr (Reuters, AFP) | https://www.dw.com/en/china-heavy-rain-from-doksuri-forces-thousands-to-evacuate/a-66391616 | 2023-07-31T09:51:48 | 0 | https://www.dw.com/en/china-heavy-rain-from-doksuri-forces-thousands-to-evacuate/a-66391616 |
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Talking Tom and MrBeast just announced a unique collaboration for Talking Tom's 10th birthday party! Starting today, players of My Talking Tom 2, the popular virtual pet game, can unwrap an exclusive surprise from MrBeast himself — a one-of-a-kind outfit. Additionally, Talking Tom and MrBeast are also joining forces with a contribution to the Tebow CURE Hospital for underprivileged children in the Philippines.
"Our collaboration with MrBeast for Talking Tom's 10th anniversary demonstrates our commitment to delivering unforgettable experiences to our players," said Xinyu Qian, CEO of Outfit7. "By offering an exclusive MrBeast outfit and extending our support to the Tebow CURE Hospital, we aim not only to enhance the excitement within the game but also to make a meaningful difference in the lives of underprivileged children."
For a limited time of two weeks, the exclusive MrBeast outfit for Tom can be found in the bedroom wardrobe, or claimed through a pop-up gift box, either on the porch or in the bathroom. As part of the 10th birthday celebration, Tom has also given users a generous gift of 100,000 in-game gold coins, which are still attainable in the game.
In addition to the in-game collaboration, Talking Tom and MrBeast have joined forces to support the Tebow CURE Hospital, which provides assistance to underprivileged children in the Philippines. Together they will support the hospital's activities for a month, enabling them to carry out over 150 surgeries. To ensure sustainable care for the children, the hospital will also receive a year's supply of essential orthopaedic supplies.
Download My Talking Tom 2 now and claim the exclusive MrBeast outfit! It will be available for free in My Talking Tom 2 for a limited time, from July 30 to August 13, 2023.
ABOUT OUTFIT7: Outfit7 Limited is a dynamic force in mobile gaming, reaching a global audience of billions with its award-winning games. Powered by creativity and industry-leading expertise, the company's talented international team of around 400 people pushes the boundaries of the possible every day. Outfit7's 20+ games have now been downloaded worldwide over 21 billion times and up to 470 million fans play with them every month. Its portfolio also includes numerous chart-topping animated series, theme parks, and a licensing program. You can find more information at www.outfit7.com.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2164951/Outfit7.jpg
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SOURCE Outfit7 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ | 2023-07-31T09:51:54 | 1 | https://www.1011now.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ |
The man cured of HIV and leukemia
Marc Franke, a 54-year-old from western Germany, was dealt his first blow in 2008, when he learned he had HIV — a diagnosis that "ripped his world apart," he said.
"I had always used protection, but apparently one time I didn't and it got me," he told DW in his home in the German region of North Rhine Westphalia. Thankfully, HIV isn't the death sentence it used to be. After decades of medical progress, patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) have the same life expectancy as those without the infection.
But three years later, when Franke was only 42, he started feeling sick again. He thought he'd come down with pneumonia. But days after checking into the hospital, he was dealt his second blow: a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia, and moreover, at an abnormally young age — people are typically diagnosed around age 69.
Meeting Ingo
His hospital stay in 2011 proved life-changing, and not just because it was then that Franke found out he had leukemia. It also marked his first meeting with his future husband, Ingo, a schoolteacher from Dusseldorf.
"We chatted online and he came to visit," said Franke. "He didn't care about the HIV. He didn't care about the problem with my blood. He didn't care about my sickness. He cared about me as a human being."
Franke said the prospect of a future relationship with Ingo — the "power of love", as he called it — kept him going that winter, despite his double diagnosis.
"I had to look good when Ingo came to visit," said Franke. "The doctors were saying, with the HIV and the chemotherapy for leukemia, 'Marc, you must be feeling horrible.' But I wasn't. I knew I wanted to live with him and that's what got me through it all."
Relapse brings hope
After undergoing chemotherapy, Franke went into remission, but relapsed just one year later, in August 2012. The leukemia started spreading aggressively in his body, leaving him with few options for treatment. The only possibility left was a stem cell transplant, an invasive procedure only recommended to some patients with certain types of deadly cancers — like leukemia — that haven't responded to chemotherapy.
The doctors were keen to try the treatment on Franke. They knew of other cases when transplants of this sort — using stem cell donations from people with a specific genetic mutation that means they lack what is called the "CCR5-Delta 32 receptor" — had "healed" HIV patients, and wanted to see if the same could work for him.
Timothy Ray Brown, who was known as the "Berlin patient", was the first person to be healed of HIV using this method. His cure was announced in 2008. Adam Castillejo – the "London patient" – became the second. His cure was announced in 2019. Two others are considered "possibly" cured of the virus.
People with the CCR5-Delta mutation are essentially immune to HIV, because the virus has to dock onto the CCR5 receptor in order to live in the body. Without the receptor, the virus cannot survive.
The doctors started looking for a donor. Fortunately, they were able to locate one with the mutation quickly — former flight attendant Anja Prause, also from the west German region North Rhine Westphalia. The transplant using Prause's bone marrow took place on Valentine's Day in February 2013, and would cure Franke of HIV. But it would be years until either of them would find out it had worked.
Stem cell transplants not a scalable treatment
Stem cell transplants for leukemia patients like Franke work like this: First, intensive chemotherapy essentially wipes out the patient's old immune system.
Then doctors facilitate the stem cell transplant, inserting the donor's cells into the patient's bloodstream. If everything goes right, these cells will find the patient's bone marrow and start producing new, altered blood cells.
It's a high-risk procedure that ends in death up to 15% of the time, doctors say. Because this treatment can only ethically be offered to patients like Franke who need a stem cell transplant in order to survive, cancer-free HIV patients aren't eligible.
"The people are at very high risk of infections, of bleeding and so on and so on," said Björn Jensen, Franke's doctor. "And this is why people die from this procedure and this is why you can't just use it for, you know, diseases that are not deadly. Even if they would be willing to take that risk, it's just unethical from a physician's point of view to take a risk of killing somebody with 15% probability when you have combination antiretroviral therapy."
Do we need a cure?
With the seeming ubiquity of antiretroviral therapies in the developed world — which, if taken daily, can render a person's HIV more or less void — one may wonder whether an HIV cure is even worth it at this point.
Interviews with HIV-positive patients show it is.
"I've been living with HIV for the past 15 years," Patrick McGregor, an HIV patient from South Africa, told DW. "Finding a cure...I think that will be imperative for us to prevent unnecessary death for our brothers and sisters, because HIV still kills a lot of people, particularly in our country, and in my province in South Africa. Many of my comrades that I know have defaulted on treatment and then they end up dying."
Studies show that, globally, 25% of people with HIV aren't taking ART medications because they don't have access to them. This doesn't include the many who merely forget to take their pills, which can cause complications.
Genetic modification a possible solution
So if stem cell transplants won't ever offer a scalable cure, what will? Doctors are looking at other ways to cure HIV through the modification of patients' CCR5 receptors — without wiping out their entire immune system — through genetic modification.
Monique Nijhuis, who researches HIV cures at the AI System headquarters in Utrecht in the Netherlands, which oversees patients who have undergone procedures like Franke's, said scientists have already successfully facilitated what it takes to "cure" HIV in lab settings.
"I can very easily cure cells infected with HIV using these different techniques…The thing is that we have to translate this to an individual with HIV in a way that is not harming the individual with HIV," she told DW.
Although genetic modification isn't as risky as stem cell transplants, in order to offer the therapy at a population level, scientists need to make sure that the "scissors" involved in the therapy only cut out the intended receptor – CCR5 – and nothing else, Nijhuis said.
"I'm not really 100% sure whether these scissors that we have trained so much in the lab to recognize CCR5 are not by mistake are also recognizing something else," she said. "Because that would be harmful if those scissors would go and go and react against CCR2 or any other chemokine receptor."
More research has to be done to ensure the scissors only cut out the one specific reactor, CCR5, and not reactors essential to people's health. There are research institutes currently doing this work, like Tulane University in the US state of New Orleans, as well as US-based company American Gene Technologies, which is about to publish phase one clinical trials on human beings.
Franke meets his donor
Two years after Franke received the stem cell transplant, he met Prause. The contact between the two started with a letter from Prause, who'd been informed by doctors that everything had gone well with Franke.
"Hello, you," she wrote. "I guess with us being pretty much a bullseye in genetic terms, I think I can use the informal pronoun ‘du' here. We're almost family. From what I've been able to hear, you are doing better. It will, of course, be a long way to full recovery. But I am overjoyed that you have successfully taken on my transplanted cells. My thoughts are with you often. I close my eyes for a short moment and hope to hear from you soon that you are okay. With love from all my heart."
A few years later, in 2018, Franke discontinued his use of antiretroviral therapy for HIV under medical supervision. He continued testing for the virus twice a week — he still tests now, but only once every two months.
"When people call Dr. Jensen a healer, he's still very careful with the term 'cure'," said Franke. "But when he writes an article in Nature Medicine about how I've been cured of HIV, I think that's all the proof I need."
This story has been adapted from a DW Science Unscripted podcast published July 13. To hear from Marc Franke and others featured in this story, click here:
Edited by: Jane Paulick | https://www.dw.com/en/cured-of-hiv-dusseldorf-patient-makes-history/a-66368371 | 2023-07-31T09:51:55 | 0 | https://www.dw.com/en/cured-of-hiv-dusseldorf-patient-makes-history/a-66368371 |
EU, Philippines to reopen trade talks, deepen security ties
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday in a bid to improve ties that had soured in recent years over human rights issues.
Von der Leyen said in a joint statement that the first visit of a EU commissioner to the Philippines in 60 years of diplomatic relations would help to "accelerate a new era of cooperation."
At the top of the agenda was an agreement to relaunch stalled free trade negotiations.
"I am very glad that we have decided to relaunch negotiations for a free-trade agreement. Our teams will get to work right now on setting the right conditions so that we can get back to the negotiations. A free-trade agreement has huge potential for both of us in terms of growth and jobs," von der Leyen said.
She stressed that the EU wants to diversify supply lines and "de-risk" trade relations. This comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has exposed Europe's dependency on Russian fossil fuels, which in turn has led to questions over trade and supply chain dependencies involving China.
"We have all learnt the hard way the cost of economic dependencies. We need to diversify our supply lines and make them resilient," von der Leyen said.
Von der Leyen added that the EU would provide €466 million ($514 million) in funding to for the "transition to a circular economy, and the generation of green energy" through the Global Gateway sustainable investment plan. The EU is also set to launch a "digital economy package" to improve connectivity and make the Philippines more attractive for European businesses.
The EU is the Philippines' fourth-largest trading partner.
Tensions over human rights abuses
The EU currently has a special trade agreement with the Philippines known as the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), allowing for tax-free export of around 6,270 products to the EU.
The cuts on import duties are in exchange for implementing conventions on human rights, environmental protection and good governance. This arrangement is set to expire in December 2023, but the Philippines could apply for an extension.
Free trade talks began in 2015 under former President Benigno Aquino, but stalled under the administration of his immediate predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
The "drug war" carried out by Duterte, during which more than 6,000 suspects were killed, drew heavy criticism from the EU. Duterte responded with a profanity-laced tirade, which frayed relations.
The alleged human rights violations sparked an investigation in the International Criminal Court (ICC) court for possible crimes against humanity. In 2018, Duerte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC, worsening ties.
In 2017, he also imprisoned opposition leader, and then-senator, Leila de Lima on drug charges, which were allegedly fabricated by Duterte's officials in in response to her criticism.
The EU has repeatedly demanded the release of de Lima and Philippine accountability in the drug-related killings. In February, a group of EU lawmakers said that Manila's chances of GSP+ renewal depended on whether the country rejoined the ICC.
"The European Parliament has been quite clear that whoever wants to have preferential access to the European market needs to uphold social standards, human rights standards, environmental standards," said Hannah Neumann, leader of the EU delegation to Philippines in February. "This is not going to go away."
Von der Leyen on Monday did not address whether or not there had been progress on the EU's human rights concerns. Marcos said earlier this month that he would not cooperate with the ICC probe. Marcos has argued that the crimes should be prosecuted in the Philippines and his Justice Ministry has said it will carry out a fair investigation.
South China Sea security
Apart from discussing the free trade agreement, the two leaders also agreed to strengthen cooperation on maritime security in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entirety of the sea as its territory, and has built military installations while dispatching coast guard vessels to harass Philippine fishing boats. The EU has said it wants to play a great role in ensuring security in the Indo-Pacific.
"We are ready to strengthen the cooperation with the Philippines on maritime security in the region by sharing information, conducting threat assessment and building the capacity of your coast guard," she said in a joint statement.
The Philippines plays a central role in the geopolitical rivalry in the South China Sea amid tension between the US and China. In April, the US and Philippines carried out their largest joint military exercises to date, which were seen as a signal to Beijing.
mk/wmr (Reuters, AP) | https://www.dw.com/en/eu-philippines-to-reopen-trade-talks-deepen-security-ties/a-66392149 | 2023-07-31T09:52:01 | 0 | https://www.dw.com/en/eu-philippines-to-reopen-trade-talks-deepen-security-ties/a-66392149 |
Eurozone inflation dips again in July
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Inflation in the 20-nation eurozone fell to 5.3% in July, down almost a percentage point from May, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said on Monday.
In June, the rate of inflation was 5.5%, as compared with 6.1% in May.
The lower July rate is largely down to sinking energy prices, which sank by 6.1%, according to Eurostat.
The figures mean inflation in the eurozone is at its lowest since early 2022.
More to follow.
tj/wmr (AFP, dpa) | https://www.dw.com/en/eurozone-inflation-dips-again-in-july/a-66394109 | 2023-07-31T09:52:08 | 0 | https://www.dw.com/en/eurozone-inflation-dips-again-in-july/a-66394109 |
Linda Caicedo: Colombian superstar lighting up World Cup
There are moments in football when the world stops and takes notice. And Linda Caicedo single-handedly turning the tide against Germany in a 2-1 victory will hold iconic status until the end of history.
The 18-year-old hadn't been in the game, but one sign of a generational talent is the ability to turn on the magic in an instant.
Her debut tournament has started with a bang, two games, two victories and two eye-catching goals. Caicedo's name is currently the hottest in women's football.
"She's a very special player, she just blows you away," Colombia goalkeeper Catalina Perez told DW.
Caicedo's sudden explosion is reminiscent of Brazilian legend Marta's own debut World Cup, when the then 18-year-old also announced herself with two goals in her first two matches.
Such a comparison with one of football's greatest ever players is indicative of the buzz surrounding Caicedo, whose background makes her incredible rise even more extraordinary.
"She's a very strong person," Perez said.
"A lot of people don't know all that she's been through and all that she's overcome. To see her really glowing and bringing so much light, it's awesome. She really deserves it."
Fighting cancer amid breakout accolades
The fact that Caicedo has been able to exhibit her skills on the world stage is already a miracle. At just 15, when most teenagers are stressing about acne, her world in the town of Candelaria was turned upside down.
She'd already finished atop the goalscoring charts on the way to lifting the Liga Aguila Femenina title with America de Cali in 2019 and made her international debut, still aged just 14. But in March 2020 she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
"At the time, I didn't think I could play professionally again because of all the treatments and surgeries I had to go through," Caicedo told FIFA.
She underwent surgery to remove a tumour and one of her ovaries before undergoing six months of chemotherapy.
"Mentally, it was a very difficult moment in my life. I'm forever grateful that it happened when I was very young. I was able to recover, I also had my family's support. And I feel very good now, what happened made me grow. I feel thankful and happy to be here."
Days after Caicedo was declared cancer-free, she was already back in training with new club Deportivo Cali and won the club's first title in 2021 alongside national teammates Maria Usme and Daniela Arias.
And in February this year, shortly after her 18th birthday, the pint-sized dynamo secured a life-changing move to Real Madrid following a whirlwind tour on the international scene.
Three World Cups in one year
Colombia may be playing a World Cup in Australia, but given the rousing reception they've received at both their games so far at the Sydney Football Stadium they can't have felt too far away from home.
"Colombians are everywhere, Colombians unite and they're just super supportive," Perez told DW.
About 25,000 fans flocked to the SFS at midday on a Monday for the Korea match and more than 40,000 packed it out against Germany. The majority were Colombians and the largest cheers for both matches were reserved for Caicedo.
There's good reason for her popularity in her home nation. Her stock has skyrocketed in the past 12 months, ever since she truly burst into public consciousness with her performances in the 2022 Copa America Femenina on home turf in July.
Colombia lost 1-0 in the final against Brazil, but Caicedo was named player of the tournament after netting two goals, including the winner against Argentina in the semifinals. A moment she described as "unforgettable."
A month later, she was at the under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica, scoring another two goals before Colombia again lost 1-0 to Brazil, this time in the quarterfinals.
Next up, she was joint top-scorer with three goals at October's under-17 World Cup in India, where Colombia fell 1-0 in the final against Spain.
And now, the real deal at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Football fanatic from 'another planet'
After her goal against South Korea, where she cut inside from the left and sent a fierce shot through the fumbling hands of goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul, assistant coach Mario Abadia claimed she was "from another planet."
"She wants the ball, she never hides. She brings joy to everyone, it's great seeing players like her evolving and taking ownership of games," he said.
Caicedo herself showed her maturity and humbleness in the same press conference.
"I've always said that I'm very young, extremely young, in fact," Caicedo said.
"It's my first World Cup with the senior team and I want to savor every moment with no pressure. I know how young I am and that I still have much to learn and the experience I have to get."
But the goal against Germany is the one that will be re-broadcast across the world for years to come. The moment a star was born as she bamboozled Germany's defense and curled a stunning effort into the top corner.
Burnout concerns amid hyped future
For all her talent, however, there are concerns over how that heavy physical toll will affect her still developing body. Caicedo went down in training before the Germany game clutching her chest before being cleared to play.
"She was fine, that was just a miscommunication," a tight-lipped Perez told DW of the training incident.
But in the 85th minute against Germany she went down again, first to her knees, then full stretch with her face nestled in the turf.
Colombia's medics wanted her off the field, signaling to the coaching bench that she should be substituted. However, Caicedo herself produced a thumbs up and subsequently re-entered the pitch.
"We know that Linda has had some problems in the past but nothing to be worried about," assistant coach Angelo Marsiglia told the post-match presser.
"She was very tired of course. She had a bit of acceleration in her heart but it wasn't a problem and she decided to continue and finish the game."
At such an age, and considering her intense workload, it raises concerns over management and burnout. Questions should be asked whether Colombian football really needed their star player to appear in four major tournaments within the space of 12 months across three different age groups.
In September, she'll start her first full season of European football with Real Madrid, which will include midweek games in the Champions League. In an era where injuries in women's football are piling up, Caicedo may have to manage her own expectations.
Of course, the player herself just wants to do what she loves the most – play football. And given her own perspective-shifting scrap with cancer she's in the best position to determine her own path.
"I believe my strengths are my humility and joyfulness," Caicedo told FIFA. "My strengths in the field are being able to be myself with the gift God gave me, having fun, which is the most important thing, and from that point, letting my game flow.
"I try to see everything that has happened to me as a good thing and try to have fun, because playing football is my passion."
That passion and drive should see her delighting fans across the globe for many more years to come.
Edited by Matt Ford | https://www.dw.com/en/linda-caicedo-colombian-superstar-lighting-up-world-cup/a-66392289 | 2023-07-31T09:52:15 | 1 | https://www.dw.com/en/linda-caicedo-colombian-superstar-lighting-up-world-cup/a-66392289 |
Triple digit heat could lead to several records falling this week
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An Excessive Heat Warning is in effect for the vast majority of our viewing area.
High temperatures are expected to climb into the low 100s and heat index values could peak near or a little above 113°, the local threshold for the issuance of an Excessive Heat Warning.
There is some potential that a few storms could develop this afternoon and evening, but rain chances are only posted around 20%.
Rest of This Week
The song remains the same as dangerous heat continues to plague the area. Additional Heat Advisories and/or Excessive Heat Warnings will likely be needed through the week and into the weekend. In fact, my current forecast shows record highs being set daily for Baton Rouge through Friday. Should that occur, it would make it a somewhat remarkable 7 straight days of record heat when accounting for records that already fell on both Saturday and Sunday. Rain chances will continue to be limited, generally running around 20% on any given day.
Extended Outlook
The forecast continues to point toward dangerous heat into the weekend, with highs topping out near or a little above 100 degrees. Rain chances get a slight bump up to 30% by Sunday.
Into next week, there are some signs that the high pressure system plaguing our area may weaken enough to allow for the return of scattered t-storms, but highs will continue to reach the upper 90s.
Tropical Update
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two areas of potential development over the Atlantic, but neither appears to be much threat to land. NHC does expect a tropical depression to develop within the next few days from an area of low pressure located over the central Atlantic. But that system is forecast to move generally northward over the open ocean.
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Copyright 2023 WAFB. All rights reserved. | https://www.wafb.com/2023/07/31/triple-digit-heat-could-lead-several-records-falling-this-week/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:18 | 0 | https://www.wafb.com/2023/07/31/triple-digit-heat-could-lead-several-records-falling-this-week/ |
FRANKFURT, Germany — (AP) — The European economy grew modestly in the most recent quarter, breaking out of a months of stagnation or contraction as higher interest rates designed to fight inflation make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, invest and spend.
The 20 countries that use the euro currency and their 346 million people saw 0.3% growth in the April-to-June period, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Monday. That’s an improvement over zero growth in the first quarter of this year and a slight decline in fourth quarter of last year, but not by much.
A revision raised figures for the first quarter from a decline of 0.1%, wiping out two straight quarters of declining output. Inflation in the eurozone, meanwhile, continued its gradual decline, falling to 5.3% in July from 5.5% in June.
Europe's economic growth got a boost by 0.5% growth in France and 0.4% in Spain, where lower inflation has helped lift consumer spending power.
The French figure, however, was increased by a one-off: the delivery of one very large manufactured item, a cruise ship. That statistical quirk flattered the French growth figure but does little to disguise weak demand for goods in the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
The most growth was posted by Ireland at 3.3%. The country's growth figures often show large swings due to major international companies locating their headquarters there.
Europe's largest economy, Germany, struggled in the second quarter, recording zero growth after two straight quarters of falling output as it grappled with high energy costs tied to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Europe is still struggling with the aftershocks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow cutting off most of its natural gas to the continent, sharply raising prices for the fuel and the electricity it generates. In Germany, Europe’s manufacturing powerhouse, Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck has proposed capping energy prices for industry with government help.
The worst of the price spike is over, but costs are still higher than before the war began. Energy has faded as a main driver of inflation, but price rises are hitting Europeans when they shop for groceries, clothes and more, and the rebound for services companies such as hotels and restaurants that suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic has mostly run its course.
Rebounding travel, especially in the Mediterranean countries that heavily rely on tourism, is expected to support growth in the third quarter as people flock to the beach for their summer holidays in Greece, Spain and Italy, despite recent heat waves and wildfires.
Other than that, prospects for the rest of the year are muted. Another drag on the economy is the rapid series of interest rate increases that the European Central Bank has unleashed to knock down inflation.
The ECB made its ninth straight hike Thursday, bringing its key deposit rate from minus 0.5% to 3.75% in just one year, a record pace since the creation of the euro in 1999. The result has been higher mortgage rates and canceled construction plans due to expensive or unavailable credit.
The central bank’s lending survey shows the lowest level of business loans and credit lines since the statistics started in 2003. Bank President Christine Lagarde left open whether the bank will keep hiking rates at its next meeting on Sept. 14, saying the decision will depend on incoming inflation data at the time.
Since the rate hikes began, inflation has steadily fallen from a peak of 10.6% in October to 5.5% in June, still well above the ECB’s 2% target. Bank officials say tough action now will spare even more painful restriction of credit later if inflation gets completely out of control.
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/europes-economy/T5M5RQF5OXWI5Y7WFKYA2M4PZU/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:19 | 0 | https://www.wftv.com/news/europes-economy/T5M5RQF5OXWI5Y7WFKYA2M4PZU/ |
What are the Niger coup leaders' intentions?
There was initially a power vacuum in the Sahel after the leaders of the uprising in Niger read out their declaration that President Mohamed Bazoum had been deposed on Wednesday. The soldiers left the public in the dark as to whom they had chosen to lead the country. It apparently took two days of internal wrangling for them to reach a decision.
It wasn't until midday on Friday that General Abdourahmane Tchiani, who goes by the name Omar, appeared on state television with the title "president of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Fatherland." Tchiani, the long-standing head of the presidential guard, was reportedly involved in an unsuccessful coup attempt shortly before the democratic transfer of power in 2021.
Observers believe that other senior generals had also sensed an opportunity to seize power. Prior to Tchiani's appearance on TV, DW correspondent Gazali Abdou reported a degree of anxiety in Niger's capital, Niamey: "If, after a few days, they can't agree on the leadership, there's a risk that the situation among them will escalate." It remains to be seen whether Tchiani will now stabilize things as the new and undisputed ruler.
Security 'extremely worrying'
One key question about the coup is what has motivated its leaders. Daniel Kere is the executive director of the association Cercle d'Etudes Afriques-Mondes in neighboring Burkina Faso, a country that experienced two coups in 2022. Kere told DW that the demands that Niger's insurgents made shortly after the coup on Wednesday were not clear.
"The political situation there is not nearly as threatening as in other countries," Kere said. "Even the challenge to imperialism was not in fact sufficiently developed in Niger to justify this coup. And, if we analyze the coup plotters' explanation of their takeover, we don't see any fundamental motive that could justify this takeover."
In his televised statement, Tchiani repeated that the coup was motivated by the "ongoing deterioration of the security situation."
Close observers of Niger disagree with that statement. "Compared to 2021 and 2022, we can say that 2023 is one of the best years in terms of security policy," the political analyst Alkassoum Abdourahmane told DW. "This spurious argument, as used in other Sahelian countries in relation to coups d'etat, is, I believe, inadequate in the case of Niger."
The security researcher Moussa Zangarou also told DW that the situation had improved so far in 2023. However, he said, 12 people were killed last week in various places in the triborder region with Mali and Burkina Faso. "So the security situation is extremely worrying," Zangarou said. "Whoever comes to power will ultimately fail if they don't take the security issue seriously."
Military governments are in power in both neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso following coups. And, while Kaou Abdrahamane Diallo, the party secretary of the junta-affiliated PACP in Mali, condemns the coup in Niger, he also told DW that there could be advantages to a military government in Niger. "Burkina Faso and Mali are already working hand in hand," he said, "and we can only hope that the new Nigerien rulers share our view of the situation, and that together we can overcome the challenge of terrorism."
EU's Sahel partner
Niger's EU allies do not share this optimism. They saw Bazoum as a reliable and, above all, democratically legitimate partner in the Sahel, especially after the coups in Mali and Burkina Faso. In 2022, France transferred its remaining soldiers from Mali to Niger. Germany is also organizing for Bundeswehr troops to withdraw from Mali by the end of this year, and had been collaborating on the establishment of a new training mission in Niger. These plans are now likely to be reassessed. Furthermore, France needs Niger as a supplier of uranium for its nuclear power plants.
After the coup, the French and German governments repeatedly positioned themselves on the side of Bazoum and called for the return of the constitutional order. It is notable that Russia, which was able significantly to expand its influence in the wake of the other coups, particularly in Mali, has also called for the constitutional order to be restored. The West African alliance ECOWAS, the AU and a number of African heads of state, as well as the US, have expressed similar views.
Remy Arsene Diousse, program manager at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Peace and Security Centre of Competence Sub-Saharan Africa in Dakar, told DW that such statements are a "warning to the coup leaders that the country will lose the benefits of cooperation if they persist." They would lose logistical support, intelligence exchange and strategic cooperation, he said: "This would have a serious negative impact."
Indeed, Josep Borrell, the EU's representative on foreign affairs and security policy, was quick to warn that the coup would have consequences for Niger's cooperation with the bloc, "including the immediate suspension of all budgetary assistance." ECOWAS states may also decide to impose sanctions on Sunday, as they did after the coups in Niger's neighbors.
The plotters seem willing to factor in a further deterioration of the economic situation, having said from the start that they would not tolerate foreign interference. The armed forces of Germany and other partners have also been affected by the closure of Nigerien airspace. It remains unclear whether Tchiani and his followers intend to break with the West entirely, as the junta in Mali did.
There does seem to be some support for this among the Nigerien population, if the burning of French flags at a rally in the capital, Niamey, is anything to go by. "The French army base must leave," one demonstrator told the AFP news agency: "We don't need the French to keep us safe."
Charles Bako, Gazali Abdou, Carole Assignon, Dirke Köpp and Mahamadou Kane contributed to this report.
The article has been translated from German. | https://www.dw.com/en/niger-coup-whats-next-for-sahel/a-66384330 | 2023-07-31T09:52:21 | 0 | https://www.dw.com/en/niger-coup-whats-next-for-sahel/a-66384330 |
Updated July 31, 2023 at 5:30 AM ET
Pakistan held funerals Monday for victims of a massive suicide bombing that targeted an election rally for a pro-Taliban cleric the previous day, as the death toll climbed to at least 54 and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggested that the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be behind the attack.
The victims were attending a rally organized by the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
Rehman, who has long supported Afghanistan's Taliban government, escaped at least two known bomb attacks in 2011 and 2014, when bombings damaged his car at rallies.
Victims of the bombing were buried in Bajur on Monday.
As condolences continued to pour in from across the country, dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the provincial capital of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll rose to 46 on Monday as two critically wounded people died in hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
On Monday, police recorded statements from some of the wounded at a hospital in Khar, Bajur's largest town. Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were "investigating this attack in all aspects."
At least 1,000 people were gathered under a large tent Sunday as their party prepared for parliamentary elections, expected in October or November.
"People were chanting God is Great on the arrival of senior leaders, when I heard the deafening sound of the bomb," said Khan Mohammad, a local resident who said he was standing outside the tent.
Mohammad said he heard people crying for help, and minutes later ambulances started arriving and taking the wounded away.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman's party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that "such attacks cannot deter our resolve."
Islamist groups have long had a presence in Bajur. The district was formerly a base for Al Qaida and a stronghold of the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The army declared the district clear of the group in 2016 following a series of offensives.
The IS regional affiliate, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaida.
Pakistani security analyst Mahmood Shah told The Associated Press that breakaway factions of the TTP could also be behind the attack. He said some TTP members have been known to disobey their top leadership to carry out attacks, as have breakaway factions of the group.
Shah said such factions could have perpetrated the attack to cause "confusion, instability and unrest ahead of the elections."
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve Pakistan's parliament in August.
Rehman's party is part of Sharif's coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Khan condemned the bombing Sunday.
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack, saying that the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, wrote in a tweet that "such crimes cannot be justified in any way."
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/the-death-toll-in-the-pakistan-suicide-bombing-rises-as-families-hold-funerals | 2023-07-31T09:52:23 | 0 | https://www.nprillinois.org/2023-07-31/the-death-toll-in-the-pakistan-suicide-bombing-rises-as-families-hold-funerals |
HONG KONG — (AP) — Fans of singer and songwriter Coco Lee, who was known for her powerful voice and live performances, were gathering with flowers to pay their respects to their idol at her funeral in Hong Kong on Monday.
The evening services were expected to be attended by her family, friends and supporters. Lee died July 5 at age 48.
She was born in Hong Kong and attended school in San Francisco before releasing her first album in 1994 at age 19. She began her career as a Mandopop singer but branched out to release albums in Cantonese and English.
She was the first Chinese singer to break into the American market, and her English song “Do You Want My Love” climbed to #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Breakouts chart in December 1999. In 2001, she sang “A Love Before Time” from Ang Lee’s movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” at the Academy Awards, becoming the first Chinese American to perform at the Oscars.
Lee was also the voice of heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of Disney’s “Mulan,” and sang the Mandarin version of the movie’s theme song “Reflection.”
Lee was married to Bruce Rockowitz, former CEO of Hong Kong supply chain company Li & Fung. She had two stepdaughters.
Her death had shocked fans. Her siblings posted on Facebook that she had depression for years and had attempted suicide at home on July 2. She died a few days later.
On Monday afternoon, more than 100 fans dressed in black were waiting outside the funeral home.
Lin Jing, a fan from Fujian province in the southeast, said she admired Lee's smile and appearance, adding: “She was really talented. She always tried to improve and she inspired women to feel independent."
In a video for her memorial service, actors and singers from Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan recalled their memories with Lee and mourned her death.
Action star Jackie Chan said in the video that everyone was proud of her when she sang at the Oscars.
“To friends like us, Coco was a passionate and kind friend who showed care to us. She was really a good person. That's why we are so reluctant to accept she has left us,” he said.
Award-winning director Ang Lee recalled his exchanges with the late singer before the Oscars and said it was a pity she died so young. “We miss her very much. Coco, rest in peace," he said in the video.
In Coco Lee's recent social media posts, she kept spreading positivity. In March, she posted about having to relearn how to walk after undergoing surgery for an old leg injury.
“Successful surgery. Even though I’m in a lot of pain and I have to re-learn how to walk again, I know I can do it,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “Yes I can and I will!”
___
Associated Press video journalist Alice Fung and news assistant Annie Cheung contributed to this report.
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/fans-pay-tribute/UDYPEPK6ELOKQFSJFYO4TR733E/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:25 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/fans-pay-tribute/UDYPEPK6ELOKQFSJFYO4TR733E/ |
UK to grant new oil, gas licences despite zero-carbon aim
The UK is to grant hundreds of new licences to seek and drill for gas and oil in the North Sea as it tries to bolster its energy security, the government said on Monday.
The announcement would appear to jeopardize the government's declared intention to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with climate scientists in wide agreement that an end to new fossil fuel projects is necessary to meet net-zero goals.
The plans by the Conservative-led government are in stark contrast to pledges from the opposition Labour Party to ban new oil and gas projects in the North Sea.
What did the government say?
"Now more than ever, it's vital that we bolster our energy security and capitalize on that independence to deliver more affordable, clean energy to British homes and businesses," the office of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement.
"Investment in the North Sea will continue to unlock new projects, protect jobs, reduce emissions and boost UK energy independence," the statement said.
"As the UK is a rapidly declining producer of oil and gas, new oil and gas licenses reduce the fall in UK supply in order to ensure vital energy security, rather than increase it above current levels — so that the UK remains on track to meet net zero by 2050," it added.
It also said that two new carbon capture usage and storage clusters would be set up in North East Scotland and the Humber regions.
The oil and gas industry regulator expects the first of the new licenses to be awarded in the fall, the government said.
Many European nations have been seeking to diversify their energy supplies particularly amid fallout from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which has seen the supply of Russian oil and gas to several countries curbed or completely cut.
Sunak is due to visit a critical energy infrastructure site in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on Monday.
tj/wmr (AFP, Reuters) | https://www.dw.com/en/uk-to-grant-new-oil-gas-licences-despite-zero-carbon-aim/a-66392414 | 2023-07-31T09:52:28 | 1 | https://www.dw.com/en/uk-to-grant-new-oil-gas-licences-despite-zero-carbon-aim/a-66392414 |
NIAMEY, Niger — (AP) — West African nations have given Niger's coup leaders one week to reinstate the country's democratically elected president and have threatened to use force if the demands aren't met.
The announcement came at the end of an emergency meeting of West African countries Sunday in Nigeria, where the regional bloc, known as ECOWAS, convened to respond to last week's military takeover. President Mohamed Bazoum remains under house arrest and has yet to resign.
“In the event the authority’s demands are not met within one week, (the bloc will) take all measures necessary to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger. Such measures may include the use of force,” said the statement.
The bloc also imposted strict sanctions, including suspending all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Niger and freezing of assets in regional central banks.
Economic sanctions could have a deep impact on Nigeriens, who live in the third-poorest country in the world, according to the latest U.N. data. The country relies on imports from Nigeria for up to 90% of its power, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
The sanctions could be disastrous and Niger needs to find a solution to avoid them, Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou told French media outlet Radio France Internationale on Sunday.
“When people say there’s an embargo, land borders are closed, air borders are closed, it’s extremely difficult for people ... Niger is a country that relies heavily on the international community,” he said.
The 15-nation ECOWAS bloc has unsuccessfully tried to restore democracies in nations where the military took power in recent years. Four nations are run by military governments in West and Central Africa, where there have been nine successful or attempted coups since 2020.
In the 1990s, ECOWAS intervened in Liberia during its civil war. In 2017, it intervened in Gambia to prevent the new president’s predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, from disrupting the handover of power. Around 7,000 troops from Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal entered, according to the Global Observatory, which provides analysis on peace and security issues.
If the regional bloc uses force, it could trigger violence not only between Niger and ECOWAS forces but also civilians supporting the coup and those against it, Niger analysts say.
“While this remains to be a threat and unlikely action, the consequences on civilians of such an approach if putschists chose confrontation would be catastrophic," said Rida Lyammouri, senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Morocco-based think tank.
“I believe economic sanctions are the ones to be imposed, but don’t see a military intervention happening because of the violence that could trigger," he said.
The military junta, which seized power on Wednesday when members of the presidential guard surrounded Bazoum's house and detained him, is already cracking down on the government and civil liberties.
On Sunday, junta spokesman Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane said on state television that all government cars need to be returned by midday Monday and banned the use of social media to diffuse messages against state security. He also claimed that Bazoum’s government had authorized the French to carry out strikes to free Bazoum. The Associated Press can't verify his allegations.
In anticipation of the ECOWAS decision Sunday, thousands of pro-junta supporters took to the streets in the capital, Niamey, denouncing its former colonial ruler, France, waving Russian flags and telling the international community to stay away.
Demonstrators in Niger are openly resentful of France, and Russia is seen by some as a powerful alternative. The nature of Moscow's involvement in the rallies, if any, isn't clear, but some protesters have carried Russian flags, along with signs reading "Down with France" and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The situation of this country is not good ... It’s time for change, and change has arrived," said Moussa Seydou, a protester. "What we want from the putschists — all they have to do is improve social conditions so that Nigeriens can live better in this country and bring peace,” he said.
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/west-african-nations/PNJPVAGKJR4VGWUSTE4I6ANEQM/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:31 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/west-african-nations/PNJPVAGKJR4VGWUSTE4I6ANEQM/ |
NICOSIA, Cyprus — (AP) — A Cyprus court on Monday sentenced a British man who killed his ailing wife in their retirement home to two years in prison, rejecting a defense request to hand down a suspended sentence after convicting him earlier of manslaughter.
State prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou said the three-judge bench imposed the prison term as a “deterrent,” although the judges had earlier ruled that David Hunter’s decision to suffocate his wife Janice in December 2021 was made on the spur of the moment because he could no longer stand seeing her weeping in pain.
Hadjikyrou told The Associated Press the court took into account that Hunter, 76, acted “out of love” to save his wife, who was suffering from a blood ailment when he closed her mouth and nose with his hands as she sat in a recliner in their Paphos home.
It also took into consideration Hunter’s advanced age and that he had no previous criminal record.
Justice Abroad, a group that defends Britons facing legal troubles in foreign countries, said in a statement that Hunter could be released by Aug. 18 after already having spent more than 18 months in custody.
“This has been a tragic case and difficult for all of those involved with it, but today’s decision was the right one and allows David and his family to grieve together,” said Michael Polak from Justice Abroad.
Hunter had faced a charge of premeditated murder, but the court found in its July 21 ruling that the prosecution didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was premeditation in his actions.
The court had accepted witness testimony that Janice feared her blood ailment would develop into full-blown leukemia and had repeatedly pleaded with her husband to take her life because she didn’t want to share the fate of her sister, who died of the disease.
Hunter attempted to take his own life by consuming a large amount of pills after suffocating his wife, but medical staff saved his life.
The court cited expert testimony that Janice Hunter suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer which “to a large degree” — as much as 45% — could turn into leukemia, although there was no proof that she had indeed developed the disease because no definitive tests were conducted.
But the court said both husband and wife believed that Janice would develop it because of her sister’s fate.
David Hunter’s earlier assurances to Janice that he would help her fulfill her wish to end her life and not suffer anymore didn’t indicate any premeditation, the court said.
Hadjikyrou said defense lawyers had rejected a plea deal in December 2022 for the defendant to plead guilty to manslaughter because they insisted the facts of the case include an agreement Hunter and his wife allegedly made for him to take her life.
The state prosecutor said the court didn’t accept that such an agreement had indeed been made. He said the Cyprus attorney-general has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the sentence.
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/cyprus-court-hands/EPYLEYHRQ5N5LE2KCJ7S5BYAHY/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:37 | 1 | https://www.wftv.com/news/world/cyprus-court-hands/EPYLEYHRQ5N5LE2KCJ7S5BYAHY/ |
KHAR, Pakistan — (AP) — The death toll from a massive suicide bombing that targeted an election rally for a pro-Taliban cleric rose to 54 Monday, as Pakistan held funerals and the government vowed to hunt down those behind the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing, which also wounded nearly 200 people. Police said their initial investigation suggested that the Islamic State group's regional affiliate could be responsible.
The victims were attending a rally organized by the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, headed by hard-line cleric and politician Fazlur Rehman. He did not attend the rally, held under a large tent close to a market in Bajur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.
Rehman, who has long supported Afghanistan's Taliban government, escaped at least two known bomb attacks in 2011 and 2014, when bombings damaged his car at rallies.
Victims of the bombing were buried in Bajur on Monday.
As condolences continued to pour in from across the country, dozens of people who received minor injuries were discharged from hospital while the critically wounded were taken to the provincial capital of Peshawar by army helicopters. The death toll continued to rise as critically wounded people died in hospital, physician Gul Naseeb said.
On Monday, police recorded statements from some of the wounded at a hospital in Khar, Bajur's largest town. Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, said police were “investigating this attack in all aspects.”
At least 1,000 people were gathered under a large tent Sunday as their party prepared for parliamentary elections, expected in October or November.
“People were chanting God is Great on the arrival of senior leaders, when I heard the deafening sound of the bomb,” said Khan Mohammad, a local resident who said he was standing outside the tent.
Mohammad said he heard people crying for help, and minutes later ambulances started arriving and taking the wounded away.
Abdul Rasheed, a senior leader in Rehman’s party said the bombing was aimed at weakening the party but that “such attacks cannot deter our resolve.”
Islamist groups have long had a presence in Bajur. The district was formerly a base for Al Qaida and a stronghold of the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The army declared the district clear of the group in 2016 following a series of offensives.
The IS regional affiliate, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, is based in neighboring Afghanistan's Nangarhar province and is a rival of the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaida.
Shaukat Abbas, a senior police officer, said that police have made progress in their investigation, but did not provide details.
Pakistani security analyst Mahmood Shah told The Associated Press that breakaway factions of the TTP could also be behind the attack. He said some TTP members have been known to disobey their top leadership to carry out attacks, as have breakaway factions of the group.
Shah said such factions could have perpetrated the attack to cause “confusion, instability and unrest ahead of the elections.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to dissolve Pakistan's parliament in August.
Rehman’s party is part of Sharif’s coalition government, which came to power in April 2022 by ousting former Prime Minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence vote in the legislature.
Sharif called Rehman to express his condolences and assure the cleric that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished. The bombing has also drawn nationwide condemnation, with ruling and opposition parties offering condolences to the families of the victims. The U.S. and Russian embassies in Islamabad also condemned the attack.
Khan condemned the bombing Sunday.
The Pakistani Taliban also distanced themselves from the attack, saying that the attack aimed to set Islamists against each other. Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, wrote in a tweet that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way.”
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where on Monday he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. Some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Sunday's bombing was one of the four worst attacks in northwestern Pakistan since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar.
In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. And in February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
___
Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this story from Islamabad.
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/death-toll-pakistan/NRVTT2XDIBTUM2UKTE3TR3FUNI/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:43 | 0 | https://www.wftv.com/news/world/death-toll-pakistan/NRVTT2XDIBTUM2UKTE3TR3FUNI/ |
Highly experienced Corporate Financier and Business Builder Will Partner with René Obermann to Further Accelerate the Growth and Momentum of the Firm's European Business
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Warburg Pincus, a leading global growth investor, today announced the appointment of Andrew Sibbald as a Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe. Mr. Sibbald will work alongside veteran investor and current Co-Head of Europe, René Obermann, based in Berlin. Mr. Sibbald will succeed Adarsh Sarma, who will remain a Managing Director and Partner with the Firm, focusing on his existing portfolio. Jim Neary, Co-Head of U.S. Private Equity, will work closely with Andrew, René and the European team to support the firm's global strategy, portfolio management and new investments.
Based in London, Mr. Sibbald joins Warburg Pincus from Evercore, where he most recently served as Chairman and Senior Managing Director of Evercore's European investment banking business. He was previously the Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Lexicon Partners which was acquired by Evercore in 2011. With over 35 years of financial services experience, Mr. Sibbald has advised on many notable M&A and corporate finance transactions including recently: Arcmont on its sale to Nuveen; Global Risk Partners on its sale to Brown & Brown; and AA on its sale to Warburg Pincus and TowerBrook Capital.
"Andrew's impressive expertise and deep-rooted experience, particularly in Europe, advising leading companies on a variety of sophisticated transactions will serve our portfolio and investing teams well as we continue to navigate complex market dynamics," said Chip Kaye, CEO, Warburg Pincus. "We look forward to welcoming Andrew to Warburg Pincus and want to thank Adarsh for his 18+ years of service in the US and Europe," continued Jim Neary, Managing Director, Co-Head of U.S. Private Equity, Warburg Pincus.
"I have long admired the success and culture of Warburg Pincus and I'm thrilled to be joining the firm. I have enormous respect for René and look forward to working closely with him and the team in Europe to drive further positive momentum in the business here. Warburg Pincus has an incredibly strong reputation for creating effective partnerships with management teams all over the world to deliver sustainable value and growth, as well as attractive returns for its investors. I strongly believe that the firm's long established global platform together with its local networks and insights provide real advantages to the management teams and businesses that partner with us," said Andrew Sibbald.
Warburg Pincus is one of the leading private equity investors in Europe. Since the firm's first European transaction in 1983, the firm has invested more than $15B in over 130 companies in 23 European countries. The firm has one of the largest pools of available private equity capital in Europe and seeks to partner with management teams that are building, transforming or acquiring businesses with the potential to be market leaders with enduring value.
Prior to founding Lexicon Partners in 2000, Mr. Sibbald was a Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he led a team specializing in M&A in the financial institutions sector. He was previously a Partner in The Phoenix Partnership.
About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global growth investor. The firm has more than $83 billion in assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 250 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 21 private equity and 2 real estate funds, which have invested more than $112 billion in over 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.
Contact
Kerrie Cohen | Managing Director, Head of Communications
T: +1 212 878 9207
E: kerrie.cohen@warburgpincus.com
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SOURCE Warburg Pincus | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/andrew-sibbald-joins-warburg-pincus-co-head-europe/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:47 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/andrew-sibbald-joins-warburg-pincus-co-head-europe/ |
KYIV, Ukraine — (AP) — Russian missiles slammed into the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing at least one person and likely trapping others beneath rubble, an official said Monday.
The two missiles struck an apartment building, destroying a section of it between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, and a university building. Ten people were wounded, he said.
Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region and has seldom been targeted by the Kremlin's forces since the war began in February 2022.
But bombardment with missiles, artillery and drones has been a hallmark of Moscow’s tactics since the full-scale invasion, with some aerial attacks hitting civilian areas. Russian officials insist they only take aim at legitimate military targets.
That approach has continued during Kyiv's recently launched counteroffensive that is trying to drive Russian forces out of occupied areas.
Commenting on the attack, Ukraine’s president said that “in recent days, the enemy has been stubbornly attacking cities, city centers, shelling civilian objects and housing.”
“But this terror will not frighten us or break us,” Zelenskyy said in a social media statement.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has sought to take the war deep into Russia, reportedly using drones to hit targets as far away as Moscow. The latest strike, on Sunday, damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometers) from the Kremlin.
___
Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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/ukraine-says-russian/UAN3SRIW33CWD42EBFI6PYAGUU/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:50 | 0 | https://www.wftv.com/news/world/ukraine-says-russian/UAN3SRIW33CWD42EBFI6PYAGUU/ |
After hearing from a low-wage worker in California, NPR's A Martinez talks to Rev. William Barber of the Poor People's Campaign about why the federal minimum wage hasn't gone up in more than a decade.
Copyright 2023 NPR
After hearing from a low-wage worker in California, NPR's A Martinez talks to Rev. William Barber of the Poor People's Campaign about why the federal minimum wage hasn't gone up in more than a decade.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/14-years-ago-the-federal-minimum-wage-was-raised-to-7-25-an-hour-it-hasnt-changed | 2023-07-31T09:52:55 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/14-years-ago-the-federal-minimum-wage-was-raised-to-7-25-an-hour-it-hasnt-changed |
NEWARK, N.J. and NANJING, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Biosion USA, Inc. (Biosion), a global clinical-stage R&D biotechnology company, today announced the phase 2 study initiation for the evaluation of BSI-045B, an anti-TLSP mAb, in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) .
"We are pleased to have initiated this important Phase 2 trial, which brings us closer to delivering a new treatment option for patients with atopic dermatitis," said Hugh M. Davis, Ph.D. Chief Business and Development Officer & President, Biosion USA. "This marks another important clinical milestone for Biosion in our effort to develop more high value treatment options for patients."
The phase I study of BSI-045B demonstrated its potential to be a first-in-class treatment for AD due to its single dose activity in a cohort of AD patients, excellent PK and favorable safety profile. The phase II study is designed to assess the efficacy of BSI-045B as monotherapy as well as in combination therapy with Dupixent® to further increase therapeutic effectiveness for patients who are suffering from AD.
For additional information on this trial (NCT05114889), please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov
About BSI-045B
BSI-045B is a high-affinity, humanized monoclonal antibody, targeting thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a cytokine that is implicated in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis, asthma and other eosinophilic and Th2 immune-related diseases. Biosion's collaboration partner - CTTQ, a China-based pharmaceutical company with rights to BSI-045B (TQC2731) for China development and commercialization, is currently conducting a Phase II clinical trial of BSI-045B in China for the treatment of severe uncontrolled asthma.
About Biosion
Biosion is a global, clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to developing antibody-based therapies to improve patient outcomes for the treatment of immune and oncologic diseases. Established in 2017, Biosion has built a pipeline of innovative biologics through its internally derived proprietary technologies including the H³ antibody discovery platform, SynTracer® high-throughput endocytosis platform, and Flexibody® bispecific platform. Biosion's lead asset, BSI-045B (anti-TSLP mAb), is currently in phase-II for severe asthma and phase-I for atopic dermatitis. Biosion and partners have plans to progress the immune-oncology and antibody drug conjugate-based portfolio into clinical trials for oncology indications over the next year. Biosion has operations in the US, Australia, and China.To learn more about Biosion, please go to www.biosion.com.
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SOURCE Biosion, Inc. | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/biosion-announces-phase-ii-study-start-anti-tslp-mab-bsi-045b-atopic-dermatitis-adamant/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:54 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/biosion-announces-phase-ii-study-start-anti-tslp-mab-bsi-045b-atopic-dermatitis-adamant/ |
BRIGHTON, Iowa (AP) — You-pick farms are struggling through heat, drought and haze as customers cancel picking appointments and crops across Iowa refuse to grow.
These farms offer visitors the chance to harvest their own produce straight from the tree, bush or ground.
But this summer marks Iowa’s third year in a row of drought. And that is hurting farmers who grow water-intensive crops like blueberries and strawberries that are particularly sensitive to heat and drought, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported.
Kim Anderson told The Gazette that her well started faltering during last summer’s heat and drought at her 5-acre Blueberry Bottom Farm near Brighton in southeastern Iowa.
Many of her blueberry bushes became parched. And recently, for the first time in the farm’s five-season history, she had to cancel a day of picking appointments because there weren’t enough ripe berries.
“I just never anticipated something like this, that the well wouldn’t have enough water,” she said.
Similarly, Dean Henry told The Gazette that these are the worst conditions he has seen in his 56 years of operating the Berry Patch Farm in Nevada in central Iowa.
Henry said the Iowa Department of Natural Resources restricted his well water usage from 20 acres a day to 1 acre a day. But his strawberry plants need lots of water.
This year, his entire crop failed.
The heat has affected customers too. Some you-pick farms reported a decrease in customer visits, according to The Gazette. If people do come, they aren’t staying as long as normal to take in the entertainment at the farms, like picnic tables or games.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires also caused Iowa skies to grow hazy and air quality to be poor several times this summer. Customers canceled their appointments on especially hazy days, Anderson said. | https://www.qcnews.com/business/ap-you-pick-farms-lose-customers-and-crops-through-heat-drought-and-haze-in-iowa/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:55 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/business/ap-you-pick-farms-lose-customers-and-crops-through-heat-drought-and-haze-in-iowa/ |
LOGAN, Utah, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyrusher, the professional e-bike producer, will launch pre-sales of the Nitro, the company's first mid-motor model, in late-July. This is an ebike with great comfort and speed for your 2023 riding adventure. Riders will enjoy a pleasant and effortless ride on the Nitro, as well as greater power, speed and control compared to a hub motor electric bike.
The Nitro, appearing as the first mid-motor model, integrates design aesthetics, technological innovation and a variety of other factors to ensure riders have a pleasant and smooth riding experience that exceeds expectations.
An attractive aesthetic design style - three color options
The Nitro follows the color-rich design style of the Cyrusher models while incorporating its own design aesthetics, making it a colorful option for many riders. The Nitro has a color-blocking design that keeps the black color of the rear frame while varying the fork gradient colorways to create a unique frame style. The Nitro is available in three color options, black red, and blue, to suit different rider preferences.
The ultimate speed experience - the mid-motor configuration
There is no doubt that this mid-motor Nitro was developed to meet the needs of the rider. The highly effective mid-mounted motor, which has been improved to provide an unprecedented level of power, is the most significant addition to the updated Nitro. The utterly improved 1000W Bafang mid-drive motor makes the e-bike's ride feel more dynamic responding readily to the rider even at maximum speed. To optimise the bike's balance, the mid-mounted motor is incorporated directly into the pedals and cranks. This also results in more efficient power transmission from the motor and higher climbing ability and weight lifting capability.
In addition, unlike other hub motor categories, the Nitro delivers 160 Nm of torque power, offering more flexibility for speed variation and a genuinely powerful speed sensation.
Powerful energy supply - 48V 20Ah Samsung Li-battery
The battery that powers the mid-mounted engine on the Nitro is still as secure, water-resistant and durable as the usual model. In combination with the mid-motor's more efficient power transmission, the 48V 20Ah battery allows the bike to cover up to 85 miles with its reliable capacity. Along with extending the vehicle's lifespan and durability, it can efficiently charge up to 800 cycles, making it an extremely cost-effective option.
Safe braking capability - hydraulic brakes
To improve braking power, Nitro chose twin-piston calipers. The twin-piston calipers allow for a larger surface area of contact with the brake rotors which increases the friction when the brakes are applied. Hydraulic brakes enable quicker braking reactions and improved traffic safety. The extra engine cut-off feature ensures that the brakes can be applied quickly and effectively in the event of an emergency, providing an extra layer of safety and security. The Nitro helps the rider cycle freely on the road and stop easier, achieving a better balance between thrill and safety.
Solid road pioneering - puncture-resistant fat tires
Nitro, with a 26*4 fat tire, is developed to be a powerful means of transportation. Fat tires offer much better traction and cushioning than regular tires, allowing you to easily navigate through difficult terrains like sand and mud. Therefore, Nitro is a great tool for exploring the city and the outdoors, with the ability to twist and turn through crowded streets, climb steep slopes and ride along soft beaches. Besides providing stability on slippery surfaces, Nitro can handle higher speeds with less chance of blowouts.
The top comfort escort - front and rear air shock absorption
The powerful Nitro is a full suspension electric bike with front and rear air suspension, guaranteeing maximum comfort. It offers better cushioning than previous generations. The adjustable front and rear air suspension features the highest configuration, allowing it to take on more challenging terrain without sacrificing comfort. It offers 135mm of thread that can be adjusted separately for terrain variations, boosting the damping effect for an enjoyable riding experience.
Reliable load capacity - upgraded to 200kg load capacity
The Nitro was designed with a mid-motor that reduces the bike's center of gravity, giving it outstanding balance. This allows the bike to carry up to 200kg of cargo. Additionally, its high load capacity ensures that the bike's weight doesn't negatively impact its performance.
Smooth gear transport - Shimano 10-speed transmission
The drive system's reliability is essential in order to ensure that the Nitro will be able to take full advantage of its improved high torque capabilities. The Shimano transmission helps to reduce wear and tear on the chain, making it more durable and efficient. The 10-speed pedal assist mode option gives riders the flexibility to choose the speed setting that perfectly suits their needs, ensuring that the bike can be tailored to meet the requirements of any type of rider.
All the details are there - the accessories
The Nitro comes with its own Led front and rear tail lights which provide excellent illumination and make sure that the rider is able to ride in dimly lit conditions. And, the Nitro has an updated Bafang back-lit display that allows the rider to more clearly track data such as speed, battery life, range and pedal assist levels.
Reliable after-sales service
The Cyrusher team consistently prioritizes the customer's needs and provides them with outstanding service. The team is available for customer inquiries and feedback 24/7 and offers fast and efficient response times. A long-term guarantee with a two-year product warranty backs the Nitro. The reliable customer service demonstrates Cyrusher's commitment to customer satisfaction, giving Cyrusher a distinct competitive edge.
Price tag
Priced at $4499, the powerful Nitro opens up even more riding possibilities for riders. The Nitro is equipped with a powerful engine and advanced features such as an adjustable suspension and quick brakes. This makes it a great choice for riders looking for a performance-oriented ride. If you are interested in the powerful Nitro, you can find more details on the official website.
What is the significance of the development of a Nitro?
Sustainable energy solution for a greener planet
Cyrusher has always been committed to green and sustainable development, exporting green travel vehicles worldwide and launching high-quality electric mobility tools to support sustainable development. By developing Nitro, Cyrusher demonstrates its commitment to its original goal. Nitro is an innovative and powerful electric bike that offers riders the ultimate convenience, comfort and performance. The company is helping to reduce carbon footprints and support a green earth by encouraging more people to cycle.
Leading the industry to new heights
A healthy competitive relationship provides a favourable opportunity for the industry to upgrade and change. The Cyrusher e-bike has been designed to maintain its own unique characteristics while responding to the changing market trends and offering more competitive value-for-money models to meet the needs of cyclists of all ages and performance levels. The launch of the Nitro is Cyrusher's newest work in the mid-motor field. With high quality range, powerful running ability and ultimate comfort, it is undoubtedly the most competitive product of its kind. Cyrusher will keep improving its technology and services in the future to offer better value to more riders and set a new benchmark for the sector.
A constant insight into customer needs
The Nitro is based on the company's insights into user needs and changing industry standards. Cyrusher insists on being user-centred, with high-quality components that have been repeatedly researched, tested and polished over a long period of time. The Nitro integrates comfort, safety and stability to bring riders the ultimate rewarding experience beyond expectations. The Nitro can be used freely on any road and with the wind blowing gently in your face, you'll have a more comfortable and enjoyable riding experience. Cyrusher is always moving forward and making great strides.
About Cyrusher
Cyrusher is a reputable producer of electric bicycles for professionals that have been successfully marketed in more than 10 nations worldwide. The brand's electric bicycles pass rigorous international quality tests and meet CE, UL, Rhos and FCC requirements. Additionally, Australia, China, the EU, Japan, Korea and the USA have registered and approved the brand. An offline store test-ride service has also been introduced in a number of nations, including the USA, UK and France. Cyrusher will keep expanding its range of vehicles to satisfy the needs of more riders, offering a solution for zero-carbon, fast and convenient urban commuting.
Cyrusher Contact:
UK official website: www.cyrusher.co.uk
US official website: www.cyrusher.com
French official website: www.cyrusher.fr
German official website: www.cyrusher.de
Phone: 01134900889
Email: support@cyrusher.com
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SOURCE cyrusher | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:55 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ |
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China Digital Entertainment Congress commenced on Thursday alongside ChinaJoy, the country's largest gaming event. Lu Xiaoyin, Co-CEO and President of Perfect World Co., Ltd, as well as the CEO of Perfect World Games, was among the esteemed guests in attendance.
During his keynote speech, Lu emphasized the rapid development of the Chinese gaming industry, which has greatly benefited from the country's "digitalization" strategies. He highlighted the industry plays a crucial role in promoting digitalization across various sectors, including empowering the real economy, driving technological innovation, and preserving cultural heritage.
Lu lauded Chinese games for their exceptional ability to embody the essence of Chinese culture, offering a wealth of inspiration for game development. In line with this approach, Perfect World integrates elements of China's cultural heritage into its games. For instance, the company has artfully incorporated China's intangible cultural heritage, Suzhou embroidery, into its mobile game "Tower of Fantasy", and showcased the beauty of Chinese traditional opera Huangmei Opera in another mobile game "Zhuxian".
Lu highlighted the inseparable connection between technology and the gaming industry. Specifically, he emphasized the pivotal role of digital intelligence technologies like generative AI in optimizing game content creation and production methods.
Perfect World recognized the potential of AI technology several years ago and took significant steps by establishing an AI center. This center serves as a hub for applying AI across different production chains, including NPC creation, modeling, painting, and story development.
The gaming industry is driven by technologies like VR, AR, and AI, which inject vitality into the broader economy. Perfect World has collaborated with local governments and scenic spots to incorporate digital scenes into tourism to offer tourists a captivating experience.
Lu emphasized Perfect World is a R&D-oriented enterprise, with high-quality products serving as the cornerstone of the company's growth. The company focuses on two main categories: "MMO+" and "card+". On one hand, it upgrades classic MMORPG genres, introducing mobile games like "New Swordsman", "World of Jade Dynasty", "Fantasy New Jade Dynasty", and "Perfect New World". On the other hand, it creates games of different genres, such as "One Punch Man: World", "Persona 5: The Phantom X" and "Kai-Ri-Sei Million Arthur: Ring".
Additionally, Perfect World actively pursues the distribution of its games overseas, with "Tower of Fantasy" achieving remarkable success since its release in August 2022, and soon to be launched on PlayStation.
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SOURCE Perfect World | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:56 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ |
- Back to Hogwarts returns on 1st September, inviting Harry Potter fans from all over the world to mark the moment the Hogwarts Express departs from King's Cross for the start of term
- Fans can join themed events, watch parties, digital and real-life celebrations that promise to be bigger and better than ever
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, on Harry Potter's birthday, Wizarding World announces the return of its Back to Hogwarts celebrations, alongside a search for the UK's most enthusiastic Harry Potter fan to lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
The Harry Potter books, written by J.K. Rowling have had a huge impact on fans around the globe, having sold over 600 million copies worldwide, been distributed in more than 200 territories and translated into over 85 languages since they were first published by Bloomsbury and Scholastic 25 years ago.
Beginning as a fan celebration, Back to Hogwarts is recognised as one of the biggest days in any Harry Potter fan's calendar – marking the moment when students would board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dressed in their finest cosplay, thousands of fans make the trip to London's King's Cross station each year and more come together online to raise their wands for the countdown and share their love of the stories.
Bringing Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs together, this year celebrations are bigger than ever with the launch of a UK competition for one lucky fan between age five and seventeen years old to get the chance to travel to King's Cross and help host the countdown on 1st September. The competition is live and young wizards and witches wishing to enter can submit a video of their best countdown online (via a parent or guardian) by 11.59pm on 7th August.
The magic doesn't stop there! This lucky winner (plus a parent or guardian) will get the chance to pack their trunks once again to come back to the capital with a complete package of Harry Potter experiences. The ultimate Harry Potter London Breaks Experience gives this fan the opportunity to discover the filmmaking magic of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter and see the critically acclaimed stage production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. To top it off, the winner will receive an incredible merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop. Full details on prize entry can be found here.
Until 3rd September an array of magical experiences awaits at King's Cross as fans get the chance to sip on Butterbeer, play Hogwarts Legacy on PlayStation®5 courtesy of Warner Bros. Games, and enjoy LEGO® Harry Potter giveaways and photo opportunities. Additionally, in celebration of the publication of The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, fans will also be able to spin Bloomsbury's giant wand spinner and find out whose wand they are best suited to, with free gifts up for grabs for those taking part.
Festivities aren't contained to the station… why not relive the movie magic on the big screen? Theatres around the world will be putting on special Harry Potter screenings for Back to Hogwarts. In the UK, Everyman will screen all eight films at Everyman Kings Cross and select Harry Potter movies at their cinemas nationwide. ODEON will present Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets nationwide over the course of the weekend. US fans can get their fix at Cinemark where more than 250 theatres will be showing an exclusive re-release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1&2. Down Under? Join in the fun at 15 locations of Village Cinemas across Victoria, Australia as they host screenings of the final two Deathly Hallows films in the iconic series. Further theatres and locations will be announced soon, including screenings in Barcelona and Madrid.
Pam Lifford, President, Global Brands, Franchises and Experiences, at Warner Bros. Discovery, said: "Back to Hogwarts is a day cherished by Harry Potter fans of all ages, from all over the world. Just like their passion for the magic of the stories, their celebrations grow every year! 2023 is set to be a year like no other – we will see fan world record attempts in Germany, high octane quiz competitions in France and of course, the UK's search to find the perfect person to join that amazing countdown. We are so proud to offer new and exciting ways to bring fans together and give them new ways to celebrate the Harry Potter magic – there's nothing quite like Back To Hogwarts!"
Check out Wizarding World Digital at www.wizardingworld.com for all the Back to Hogwarts updates, including the latest UK activity and info on what's happening in Italy, Germany, France, Japan, China and more. Look out for news too on how to get involved with Harry Potter Watch Parties (MAX US subscribers will be able to join and watch-along on 1st September) and when to tune into the Back to Hogwarts Digital Showcase.
Join the global community of millions of members following the fun on social and don't forget to sign up to the Harry Potter Fan Club!
Website: www.wizardingworld.com/harry-potter-fan-club.
Instagram: @wizardingworld https://www.instagram.com/wizardingworld/?hl=en
Hashtag: #BacktoHogwarts
About The Wizarding World
In the years since Harry Potter was whisked from King's Cross station onto Platform nine and three quarters, his incredible adventures have left a unique and lasting mark on popular culture. Eight blockbuster Harry Potter films based on the original stories by J.K. Rowling have brought the magical stories to life and today, the Wizarding World is recognised as one of the world's best-loved brands.
Representing a vast interconnected universe, it also includes three epic Fantastic Beasts films, Harry Potter & The Cursed Child – the multi-award-winning stage-play, state-of-the-art video and mobile games from Portkey Games, innovative consumer products, thrilling live entertainment (including four theme park lands) and insightful exhibitions, as well as a forthcoming Harry Potter TV series.
This expanding portfolio of Warner Bros. Discovery owned Wizarding World experiences also includes Harry Potter New York – the iconic flagship store, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo, and the Harry Potter Shop online and retail shops.
The Wizarding World continues to evolve to provide Harry Potter fans with fresh and exciting ways to engage. For the worldwide fan community, and for generations to come, it welcomes everyone in to explore and discover the magic for themselves.
About Back to Hogwarts
On 1st September, fans from all generations and corners of the globe come together to celebrate a very special day in the wizarding world calendar: Back to Hogwarts. Having started as an organic fan celebration many years ago, today Back to Hogwarts is an annual tradition recognised as one of the biggest moments in the Harry Potter fan's calendar when wizards and witches board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for a year of magical adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a unique celebration, each year fans come together online and in real life to celebrate the magic of these beloved stories and unite with their community.
UK Activity - About The Competition
Parents and guardians can enter their child by 7th August to help lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown at 11.00am on 1st September 2023 at King's Cross station and win a bundle of Harry Potter prizes.
The Wizarding World is searching for an enthusiastic, confident young fan to lead all the young wizards, witches and Muggles in the countdown moment. For the opportunity to lead the countdown, the parent or guardian of the applicant must send a video lasting no longer than 20 seconds, counting down from ten, showing how they would lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
Entrants must be based in the UK and Northern Ireland, aged between 5 and 17 years old, and details for entering the competition are detailed at https://www.wizardingworld.com/terms/back-to-hogwarts-2023-uk-countdown-competition-terms
Entries must be sent via email to BackToHogwarts@premiercomms.com and must be sent via a file sharing platform such as WeTransfer or DropBox.
The opportunity to enter opened at 12.00am on 31st July and will close at 11.59pm on 7th August. The successful applicant will be informed by 18th August.
The Competition Prize
- Lead the fans in a countdown at 11.00am BST to launch the Hogwarts Express announcement on 1st September 2023
- First to enter Back to Hogwarts fan zone at King's Cross station
- Wizarding World London Breaks - Ultimate Experience: 1 nights' accommodation, 2x tickets to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, 2x tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for winner and one parent/guardian – to be redeemed at a later date
- A Wizarding World merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop
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SOURCE Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ | 2023-07-31T09:52:58 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ |
Some Latinos in Colorado say one barrier to enjoying outdoor recreation is a lack of maps and signage in Spanish. An organization near Aspen is trying to fix that.
Copyright 2023 Aspen Public Radio
Some Latinos in Colorado say one barrier to enjoying outdoor recreation is a lack of maps and signage in Spanish. An organization near Aspen is trying to fix that.
Copyright 2023 Aspen Public Radio | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/bilingual-maps-help-get-latinos-in-colorado-enjoying-roaring-fork-valleys-trails | 2023-07-31T09:53:01 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/bilingual-maps-help-get-latinos-in-colorado-enjoying-roaring-fork-valleys-trails |
NEW YORK (AP) — A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
“Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”
“Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other’s fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don’t know if there’s a comp for this in the annals of box-office history,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s really no comparison for this.”
Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of “Barbie” saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
“Barbie” has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it’s played, “Barbie” has made at least $20 million.
And the “Barbie” effect isn’t just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It’s the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
“That’s a crazy number,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “There’s just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world.”
Amid the frenzy, “Barbie” is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has been trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have showed what’s possible when everything lines up just right.
“Post-pandemic, there’s no ceiling and there’s no floor,” Goldstein said. “The movies that miss really miss big time, and the movies that work really work big time.”
Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan’s drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, “Oppenheimer” has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. “Oppenheimer” has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film’s run through Aug. 13.
The week’s top new release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Haunted Mansion,” an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the “Barbenheimer” blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. “Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
“Talk to Me,” the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it’s been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I,” which debuted the week before the arrival of “Barbenheimer,” grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million oveseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom” has been the best performing non-“Barbenheimer” release in theaters. The Angel Studios’ release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Barbie,” $93 million.
2. “Opppenheimer,” $46.2 million.
3. “Haunted Mansion,” $24.2 million.
4. “Sound of Freedom,” $12.4 million.
5. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” $10.7 million.
6. “Talk to Me,” $10 million.
7. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $4 million.
8. “Elemental,” $3.4 million.
9. “Insidious: The Red Door,” $3.2 million.
10. “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” $1.6 million.
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP | https://www.qcnews.com/entertainment/ap-the-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-the-no-2-spot/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:02 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/entertainment/ap-the-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-the-no-2-spot/ |
NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Ashley Hemmers who lives on the Fort Mojave reservation, which encompasses areas of Arizona, Nevada and California, about climate change's impact on Indigenous communities.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Ashley Hemmers who lives on the Fort Mojave reservation, which encompasses areas of Arizona, Nevada and California, about climate change's impact on Indigenous communities.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/extreme-heat-is-a-problem-for-native-americans-in-the-southwest | 2023-07-31T09:53:07 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/extreme-heat-is-a-problem-for-native-americans-in-the-southwest |
BlackBerry QNX and BlackBerry IVY to serve as the software foundation for alliance's EV projects
WATERLOO, ON and TAIPEI, Taiwan, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced that the Mobility in Harmony (MIH) Consortium, a Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, (Foxconn)-initiated group, that seeks to create an open ecosystem to transform and accelerate innovation within the electric vehicle industry, has selected BlackBerry to provide the foundation for its next-generation platform.
MIH will use a range of BlackBerry software and services to serve as the safe and secure software foundation for the consortium's open and agnostic electric vehicle platform with a unique modular design approach. Project X, one of the MIH EV projects, will be a single-row three-seater geared towards Asian consumers, and is set to be unveiled in Japan in late 2023. MIH will also release six-seater and nine-seater vehicle platforms in the coming years to provide more vehicle segment choices, and to enable greater innovation.
As part of the agreement, MIH will utilize the company's trusted, safety-certified BlackBerry® QNX® product portfolio and award-winning cloud-connected, automotive AI platform, BlackBerry IVY™, including QNX Software Development Platform (SDP 7.1) licenses, QNX middleware technologies, as well as engineering professional services for system-level integration, performance optimization, and solution validation.
"MIH is committed to driving an open and agnostic ecosystem, with a focus that goes beyond just electric vehicles. Our ambition lies in crafting intelligent user experiences that enhance smart living and redefine the future of mobility and green logistics. BlackBerry's alignment with MIH's vision makes them the perfect partner for our goals. We anticipate deeper collaboration to realize our shared vision to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry and we're thrilled about our partnership with BlackBerry," said Jack Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at MIH Consortium.
Mattias Eriksson, President, BlackBerry IoT commented: "The Foxconn-led MIH Consortium has articulated an ambitious and compelling vision focused on accelerating innovation in the EV ecosystem. As the leading foundational software for the intelligent edge, BlackBerry QNX helps our customers and partners turbocharge their software development efforts. Companies all over the world, deploy BlackBerry's high-performance, safe and secure foundational software to allow their own internal resources to focus on layers higher up in the software stack. They trust us for the 'plumbing,' so they can confidently dedicate their work to software directly impacting their customers' experiences. This accelerates development, improves safety and security, while reducing overall costs. We are excited to join the MIH consortium and look forward to helping them execute on their vision of transforming the overall EV industry."
For more information about the MIH Consortium please visit: MIH | Mobility in Harmony (mih-ev.org).
For more information on how BlackBerry QNX can help with building the safe and secure vehicles of tomorrow, please visit: BlackBerry.QNX.com.
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 235M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint management, endpoint security, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.
For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.
Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.
About MIH Consortium
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), a global leader in smart manufacturing, introduced MIH, its software and hardware open platform for EVs, in 2020 and initiated the formation of the MIH Consortium in 2021. Foxconn aims to position MIH as the "Android system of the EV industry." Foxconn is inviting automakers, manufacturers, and supply chain partners to join the MIH to collaborate. MIH's mission is to lower barriers to entry into the EV industry, accelerate innovation, and shorten development cycles by realizing key technologies and developing reference designs and standards. Currently, the MIH has more than 2,600 members.
For More: https://www.mih-ev.org/
Media Contacts:
BlackBerry Media Relations
+1 (519) 597-7273
mediarelations@BlackBerry.com
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SOURCE BlackBerry Limited | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:07 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — When viewed through a wide lens, renters across the U.S. finally appear to be getting some relief, thanks in part to the biggest apartment construction boom in decades.
Median rent rose just 0.5% in June, year over year, after falling in May for the first time since the pandemic hit the U.S. Some economists project U.S. rents will be down modestly this year after soaring nearly 25% over the past four years.
A closer look, however, shows the trend will likely be little comfort for many U.S. renters who’ve had to put an increasing share of their income toward their monthly payment. Renters in cities such as Cincinnati and Indianapolis are still getting hit with increases of 5% or more. Much of the new construction is located in just a few metro areas, and many of the new units are luxury apartments, which rent for well north of $2,000.
Median U.S. rent has risen to $2,029 this June from $1,629 in June 2019, according to rental listings company Rent, which tracks rents in 50 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas. Demand for apartments exploded during the pandemic as people who could work remotely sought more space or decided to relocate to another part of the country.
The steep rent increases have left tenants like Melissa Lombana, a high school teacher who lives in the South Florida city of Miramar, with progressively less income to spend on other needs.
The rent on her one-bedroom apartment jumped 13% last year to $1,700. It climbed another 6% to $1,800 this month when she renewed her lease.
“Even the $1,700 was a stretch for me,” said Lombana, 43, who supplements her teaching income with a side job doing educational testing. “In a year, I will not be able to afford living here at all.”
Lombana’s rent is now gobbling up nearly half her monthly income. That puts her in a category referred to as “cost-burdened” by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, denoting households that pay 30% or more of their income toward rent. Last year, the average rent-to-income ratio per household rose to 30%. This March, it was 29.6%.
Lombana hasn’t had any luck finding a more affordable apartment. While South Florida is one of the metropolitan areas seeing a rise in apartment construction, the units are mostly high-end and not a viable option.
That scenario is playing out across the nation. Developers are rushing to complete projects that were green-lit during the pandemic-era surge in demand for rentals or left in limbo by delays in supplies of fixtures and building materials. Nearly 1.1 million apartments are currently under construction, according to the commercial real estate tracker CoStar, a pace not seen since the 1970s.
Increasing the supply of apartments tends to moderate rent increases over time and can give tenants more options on where to live. But more than 40% of the new rentals to be completed this year will be concentrated in about 10 high job growth metropolitan areas, including Austin, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta and New York, according to Marcus & Millichap. In many areas, the boost to overall inventory will be barely noticeable.
Even within metros where there’ll be a notable increase in available apartments, such as Nashville, most of it will be in the luxury category, where rents average $2,270, nationally. Some 70% of the new rental inventory will be the luxury class, said Jay Lybik, national director of multifamily analytics at CoStar.
That will leave most tenants unlikely to see a big enough reduction in rent to make a difference, industry experts and economists say.
“I think we’re in a period of rent flattening for 12 or 18 months, but it’s certainly not a big rent decline,” said Hessam Nadji, CEO of commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap.
“We’re building a multi-decade record number of units,” Nadji said. “It’s going to cause some softening and some pockets of overbuilding, but it’s not going to fundamentally resolve the housing shortage or the affordability problem for renters across the U.S.”
The surge in rents has made it difficult for workers to keep up with inflation despite solid wage gains the past few years and exacerbated a long-term trend. Between 1999 and 2022, U.S. rents soared 135%, while income grew 77%, according to data from Moody’s Analytics.
Realtor.com is forecasting that rents will drop an average of 0.9% this year. But while down nationally, rents are still rising in many markets around the country, especially those where hiring remains robust.
In the New York metro area, the median rent climbed 4.7% in June from a year earlier to $2,899, according to Realtor.com. In the Midwest, rents surged 5.6% in the Cincinnati metro area to $1,188, and 6.9% to $1,350 in the Indianapolis metro area.
The current spike in apartment construction alone isn’t going to be enough to address how costly renting has become for many Americans.
“For the rest of the 2020s rents will continue to grow because millennials are such a big generation and we’re very much in the hole in terms of building housing for that generation,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. “It will take many good years of new construction to build adequate housing for millennials.”
The bigger challenge is building more work force housing, because the cost of land, labor and navigating the government approval process incentivize developers to put up luxury apartments buildings.
Expanding the supply of modestly priced rentals would help alleviate the strain from so many new apartments targeting renters with high incomes, “although additional subsidies will be needed to make housing affordable to households with the lowest incomes,” researchers at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies wrote in a recent report.
Despite the overall pullback in U.S. rents, Joey Di Girolamo, in Pembroke Pines, Florida, worries that he’ll face more sharp rent increases in coming years.
Last year, the web designer left a two-bedroom, two-bath townhome he rented for $2,200 a month to avoid a $600 a month increase. This year, his rent went up by $200, a nearly 10% jump.
“That blew me away,” said Di Girolamo, 50. “I’m just kind of dreading what it’s going to be like next year, but especially 3 or 4 years from now.” | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-a-boom-in-apartment-construction-is-helping-to-curb-rents-but-not-all-renters-will-benefit/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:08 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-a-boom-in-apartment-construction-is-helping-to-curb-rents-but-not-all-renters-will-benefit/ |
Trucking company Yellow is shutting down after taking a $700 million federal pandemic loan three years ago. The closure would mean the loss of approximately 30,000 jobs — 22,000 of them Teamsters.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Trucking company Yellow is shutting down after taking a $700 million federal pandemic loan three years ago. The closure would mean the loss of approximately 30,000 jobs — 22,000 of them Teamsters.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/its-the-end-of-the-road-for-yellow-one-of-the-nations-largest-freight-carriers | 2023-07-31T09:53:13 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/its-the-end-of-the-road-for-yellow-one-of-the-nations-largest-freight-carriers |
HOUSTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nutex Health Inc. ("Nutex Health" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: NUTX), a physician-led, technology-enabled integrated healthcare delivery system comprised of 21 state-of-the-art micro hospitals in 8 states and primary care-centric, risk-bearing physician networks, today announced that its Clinigence Health advanced population health analytics platform has been selected by Varmed Management, a Puerto Rico-based medical management company, to enhance its population health capabilities and patient care.
Clinigence Health's partnership with Varmed Management honors the company's commitment to improving quality of life and health outcomes through implementing advanced analytics and cutting-edge technology. Together, they aim to deliver unparalleled solutions to patients, ensuring seamless, whole-person care while reducing costs.
Clinigence Health is thrilled to assist Varmed Management in its mission. Sophisticated population health management requires a platform like Clinigence Health that helps organizations enhance the care delivered to their patients by identifying opportunities to engage its physicians and its patients with data to drive continued quality improvement.
"The partnership creates an environment where high-quality care is accessible and affordable to everyone in our community. By integrating Clinigence Health's advanced analytics into our population health management strategy, we can provide even more personalized patient care," stated José J. Vargas, Chief Executive Officer of Varmed Management.
"The healthcare industry continues to experience the loss of billions of premium dollars to overutilization and inappropriate use of services to the detriment of patient care. The transition to value-based care models requires organizations to understand the patterns of care and best medical practices that allow quality care to be delivered cost-effectively," stated Lawrence Schimmel, M.D., Chief Medical Information Officer of Nutex Health, Inc.
"Clinigence is a pioneer in clinical data integration, clinical quality reporting and population health analytics. Our scalable, purpose-built cloud-based platform has clinical and claims data on over 3 million patients and is in use by multiple independent practice associations ("IPAs"), medical groups, accountable care organizations ("ACOs"), hospitals and physicians. We look forward to partnering with the talented team at Varmed," stated Warren Hosseinion, M.D., President of Nutex Health.
For more information, visit Clinigence Health at www.clinigencehealth.com or email info@clinigence.com for personalized information requests.
About Nutex Health Inc.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas and founded in 2011, Nutex Health Inc. (NASDAQ: NUTX) is a healthcare management and operations company with two divisions: a Hospital Division and a Population Health Management Division.
The Hospital Division owns, develops and operates innovative health care models, including micro-hospitals, specialty hospitals, and hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). This division owns and operates 21 facilities in 8 states.
The Population Health Management division owns and operates provider networks such as Independent Physician Associations (IPAs). Through our Management Services Organization (MSO), we provide management, administrative and other support services to our affiliated hospitals and physician groups. Our cloud-based proprietary technology platform aggregates clinical and claims data across multiple settings, information systems and sources to create a holistic view of patients and providers, allowing us to deliver greater quality care more efficiently.
About Varmed Management
Varmed Management is a fully integrated healthcare solutions provider. As a population health management organization, we are committed to providing cutting-edge solutions to our clients, improving quality of life through patient empowerment, improving healthcare outcomes and reducing costs. www.varmedmanagement.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements and information included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words or phrases "will", "will likely result," "expected to," "will continue," "anticipated," "estimate," "projected," "intend," "goal," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks, known and unknown, and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy, changes in laws or regulations, including the interim final and final rules implemented under the No Surprises Act , economic conditions, dependence on management, dilution to stockholders, lack of capital, the effects of rapid growth upon the Company and the ability of management to effectively respond to the growth and demand for products and services of the Company, newly developing technologies, the Company's ability to compete, conflicts of interest in related party transactions, regulatory matters, protection of technology, lack of industry standards, the effects of competition and the ability of the Company to obtain future financing. An extensive list of factors that can affect future results are discussed in the Current Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023 under the heading "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item IA thereof, and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors could materially adversely affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed within this press release.
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SOURCE Nutex Health, Inc. | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:14 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ |
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The discovery of four dead women in a drainage ditch just outside Atlantic City was shocking news in 2006.
International media flocked to the seaside gambling resort. More than 100 detectives and prosecutors were assigned to investigate. Casino guests worried about safety, and the victims’ fellow sex workers began carrying hidden knives.
But as the years passed, the public’s attention and fear faded, and the case of the “Eastbound Strangler” – so named for the direction the victims’ heads were facing – remained unsolved.
The arrest earlier this month of a man charged with killing three women whose remains were found on a Long Island beach in 2010 has breathed fresh life into another long-dormant case with obvious parallels; the Gilgo Beach serial killings involve a total of 11 victims, most of whom were young, female sex workers. Yet the recent breakthrough, and the rekindling of public interest, only highlights a painful truth: Many similar cases – like the one in Atlantic City — remain open.
The FBI would not say how many killings of sex workers in the U.S. remain unsolved. Media accounts and statements from local authorities show a long trail of open cases, from nine women whose bodies were found along highways in Massachusetts, to 11 found dead in New Mexico, and eight more found amid the crawfish farms and swamps of southern Louisiana. The killings of other sex workers in Chicago, New Haven, Connecticut and Ohio, among other places, also remain mysteries.
From the days of London’s Jack The Ripper in the 1880s, serial killers, particularly those preying on sex workers, have often gotten away with it, in part because their victims were easy targets living on the margins of society.
Gary Ridgway, the so-called Green River killer convicted of 49 killings in Washington state, said at during a 2003 court hearing in which he pleaded guilty that he chose sex workers as victims because he knew they would not be missed quickly, if at all.
“I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught,” he said.
Two women were out for an afternoon walk near Atlantic City in November 2006 when they found a body in a ditch. They called police, who quickly found three others nearby.
The $15-a-night motel in Egg Harbor Township behind which the four bodies were found is long gone. It was torn down in an attempt to clear a seedy area known for crime, drugs and disturbances – and the murders of Barbara Breidor, 42, Molly Jean Dilts, 20, Kim Raffo, 35, and Tracy Ann Roberts, 23.
Because it is near the ocean, like Gilgo Beach, the location has prompted much speculation by amateur detectives about a single killer, but some other online sleuths have pointed out that oceanside areas are often the remotest locations after hours on the densely packed East Coast. Gilgo Beach is about 3.5 hours drive from Atlantic City.
Gone in New Jersey are the four small wooden crosses someone erected on the site, along with the folded-up paper note bearing a Biblical quote promising justice that someone left there on one of the anniversaries of the discovery of the bodies.
For families left behind, each new day without word in the case of their loved one brings fresh pain.
“I kind of lost hope that anyone was even searching for the killer anymore,” said Joyce Roberts, whose daughter Tracy Ann was one of the four Atlantic City-area victims. “The first six months, the prosecutor did get on the phone with me and told me they were working on it.
“Then it just fell off the radar,” she said. “It was like nobody cared anymore.”
That is a sentiment echoed by Phoenix Calida, a former sex worker from Chicago who now advocates for them through the Sex Workers Outreach Project.
“Police departments often refer to it as an ‘NHI’ case: No humans involved,” she said. ”You feel like the only way you’ll be remembered is when they catch the serial killer who killed you, and then they’ll make five movies about him and no one will remember your name.”
Massachusetts State Police are investigating “nine unsolved homicides possibly committed by the same person,” said David Procopio, a spokesperson for the agency. He said two additional missing persons cases may be homicides related to the other nine.
Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said the New Mexico cases remain actively investigated, with “multiple detectives” working them. The 11 victims were all involved in drugs and prostitution, police said.
A reward of $100,000 has been offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case, which involved two victims who were just 15 years old.
Despite the decade-long efforts of a local, state and federal task force, Louisiana has at least eight unsolved apparent homicide cases involving sex workers between the ages of 17 and 30. Their bodies were found in marshy areas in Jennings, a small town in the area known as Cajun Country, between 2005 and 2009.
Prosecutors in New York’s Suffolk County investigating the Gilgo Beach cases have been in touch with multiple law enforcement agencies, but District Attorney Ray Tierney would not say which ones.
“Everything is being examined and looked at, and this is an active investigation,” said Anthony Carter, Suffolk County’s deputy police commissioner. He would not say if his agency was investigating any connection between Heuermann and the Atlantic City murders.
Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said the four cases from the drainage ditch outside Atlantic City remain active, with detectives assigned to them, but would not say how many. He declined comment on the Long Island case “as we are not involved.”
Joyce Roberts, the victim’s mother, said no one from law enforcement has called her since the arrest was made in the Long Island cases.
Police in Las Vegas, where Heuermann owns a time share, said they are investigating whether Heuermann may be involved in cases involving the killings of sex workers there.
In the months immediately after the bodies’ discovery near Atlantic City, the local prosecutor’s office and a dozen other law enforcement agencies had 140 people assigned to the cases, Ted Housel, who was prosecutor at the time, said in 2008. By the first anniversary, the total had fallen to 85, and those investigators were also working other cases.
Calida, the former sex worker from Chicago, said women involved the sex trade are frequently robbed by people who know they’re carrying cash, and are sometimes coerced into sexual activity by police in return for not being arrested.
She said an attacker “knows you can’t or won’t report it. You’re an easy target and they know it.”
Three of her friends who were also sex workers in Chicago also turned up dead.
“You see someone, you become friends with them and then one day they’re suddenly just not there,” she said. “We’d all go out asking around and looking for them, and then a few days later a body would be found. There’s always this specific fear that it’s a serial killer. Sometimes we never even get a body back to bury. And we wonder: Will law enforcement take it seriously because it’s ‘just another sex worker?’”
___
AP writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque; Steve LeBlanc in Boston; Julie Walker and Robert Bumsted in Suffolk County, New York; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this story.
Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-breakthrough-in-long-island-serial-killings-shines-light-on-the-many-unsolved-murders-of-sex-workers/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:15 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-breakthrough-in-long-island-serial-killings-shines-light-on-the-many-unsolved-murders-of-sex-workers/ |
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Talking Tom and MrBeast just announced a unique collaboration for Talking Tom's 10th birthday party! Starting today, players of My Talking Tom 2, the popular virtual pet game, can unwrap an exclusive surprise from MrBeast himself — a one-of-a-kind outfit. Additionally, Talking Tom and MrBeast are also joining forces with a contribution to the Tebow CURE Hospital for underprivileged children in the Philippines.
"Our collaboration with MrBeast for Talking Tom's 10th anniversary demonstrates our commitment to delivering unforgettable experiences to our players," said Xinyu Qian, CEO of Outfit7. "By offering an exclusive MrBeast outfit and extending our support to the Tebow CURE Hospital, we aim not only to enhance the excitement within the game but also to make a meaningful difference in the lives of underprivileged children."
For a limited time of two weeks, the exclusive MrBeast outfit for Tom can be found in the bedroom wardrobe, or claimed through a pop-up gift box, either on the porch or in the bathroom. As part of the 10th birthday celebration, Tom has also given users a generous gift of 100,000 in-game gold coins, which are still attainable in the game.
In addition to the in-game collaboration, Talking Tom and MrBeast have joined forces to support the Tebow CURE Hospital, which provides assistance to underprivileged children in the Philippines. Together they will support the hospital's activities for a month, enabling them to carry out over 150 surgeries. To ensure sustainable care for the children, the hospital will also receive a year's supply of essential orthopaedic supplies.
Download My Talking Tom 2 now and claim the exclusive MrBeast outfit! It will be available for free in My Talking Tom 2 for a limited time, from July 30 to August 13, 2023.
ABOUT OUTFIT7: Outfit7 Limited is a dynamic force in mobile gaming, reaching a global audience of billions with its award-winning games. Powered by creativity and industry-leading expertise, the company's talented international team of around 400 people pushes the boundaries of the possible every day. Outfit7's 20+ games have now been downloaded worldwide over 21 billion times and up to 470 million fans play with them every month. Its portfolio also includes numerous chart-topping animated series, theme parks, and a licensing program. You can find more information at www.outfit7.com.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2164951/Outfit7.jpg
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SOURCE Outfit7 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:21 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ |
MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. (AP) — A massive wildfire burning out of control in California’s Mojave National Preserve was spreading rapidly amid erratic winds, while firefighters reported progress against another major blaze to the southwest that prompted evacuations.
The York Fire that erupted Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the vast wildland preserve crossed the state line into Nevada on Sunday and sent smoke further east into the Las Vegas Valley.
Wind-driven flames 20 feet (6 meters) high in some spots charred more than 110 square miles (284 square kilometers) of desert scrub, juniper and Joshua tree woodland, according to an incident update. There was zero containment.
“The dry fuel acts as a ready ignition source, and when paired with those weather conditions it resulted in long-distance fire run and high flames, leading to extreme fire behavior,” the update said. No structures were threatened.
To the southwest, the Bonny Fire was holding steady at about 3.4 square miles (8.8 square kilometers) in rugged hills of Riverside County. More than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate their homes Saturday near the community of Aguanga that is home to horse ranches and wineries.
Gusty winds and the chance of thunderstorms into Monday will heighten the risk of renewed growth, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement.
One firefighter was injured in the blaze, which was 5% contained. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-erratic-winds-challenge-firefighters-battling-two-major-california-blazes/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:22 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-erratic-winds-challenge-firefighters-battling-two-major-california-blazes/ |
Morning news brief By A Martínez, Leila Fadel Published July 31, 2023 at 5:09 AM EDT Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Listen • 11:10 A bombing kills dozens on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Ukraine retakes a small village from Russia. Some 30,000 people are losing their jobs as trucking company Yellow shuts down. Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/morning-news-brief | 2023-07-31T09:53:25 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/morning-news-brief |
Bengals Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
The Cincinnati Bengals have +900 odds to win the Super Bowl, fourth-best in the NFL as of December 31.
Watch the Bengals this season on Fubo!
Bengals Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the AFC North: +150
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +900
Looking to place a futures bet on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Cincinnati Betting Insights
- Cincinnati covered 12 times in 16 matchups with a spread last season.
- A total of six Bengals games last season went over the point total.
- Cincinnati put up 360.5 yards per game on offense last season, which ranked it eighth in the . On the other side of the ball, it ranked 16th, allowing 335.7 yards per contest.
- The Bengals had a 6-1 record at home and were 6-3 on the road last season.
- Cincinnati won once as an underdog (1-1) a year ago, and went 11-2 as the favored team.
- In the AFC North the Bengals were 3-3, and in the conference as a whole they went 8-3.
Bengals Impact Players
- In 16 games last year, Joe Burrow threw for 4,475 yards (279.7 per game), with 35 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 68.3%.
- On the ground, Burrow scored five touchdowns and accumulated 257 yards.
- Joe Mixon rushed for 814 yards (58.1 per game) and seven touchdowns in 14 games.
- Mixon also had 60 catches for 441 yards and two TDs.
- In the passing game a season ago, Ja'Marr Chase scored nine TDs, catching 87 balls for 1,046 yards (87.2 per game).
- Tee Higgins had 74 catches for 1,029 yards (64.3 per game) and seven touchdowns in 16 games.
- In 15 games last year, Logan Wilson collected 2.5 sacks to go with 3.0 TFL, 123 tackles, and one interception.
Bet on Bengals to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Bengals NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 31 at 5:24 AM ET. 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.wkyt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/bengals-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:27 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/bengals-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix sizzled through its 31st consecutive day of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) and other parts of the country grappled Sunday with record temperatures after a week that saw significant portions of the U.S. population subject to extreme heat.
The National Weather Service said Phoenix climbed to a high of 111 F (43.8 Celsius) before the day was through.
July has been so steamy thus far that scientists calculate it will be the hottest month ever recorded and likely the warmest human civilization has seen. The World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service on Thursday proclaimed July beyond record-smashing.
The historic heat began blasting the lower Southwest U.S. in late June, stretching from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert.
On Sunday, a massive wildfire burning out of control in California’s Mojave National Preserve spread rapidly amid erratic winds, while firefighters reported progress against another major blaze to the south that prompted evacuations.
The York Fire that erupted Friday near the remote Caruthers Canyon area of the preserve sent up a huge plume of smoke visible nearly 100 miles (160 kilometers) away across the state line in Nevada.
Flames 20 feet (6 meters) high in some spots have charred more than 110 square miles (284 square kilometers) of desert scrub, juniper and Joshua tree woodland, according to a Sunday update.
“The dry fuel acts as a ready ignition source, and when paired with those weather conditions it resulted in long-distance fire run and high flames, leading to extreme fire behavior,” authorities said. No structures were threatened, but there was also no containment.
To the southwest, the Bonny Fire was holding steady at about 3.4 square miles (8.8 square kilometers) in rugged hills of Riverside County. More than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate their homes Saturday near the remote community of Aguanga, California.
Triple-digit heat was expected in parts of the central San Joaquin Valley through Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
And in Burbank, California, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, the summer heat may have been responsible for some unusual behavior in the animal kingdom: Police in the city responded to a report of a bear sighting in a residential neighborhood and found the animal sitting in a Jacuzzi behind one of the homes.
As climate change brings hotter and longer heat waves, record temperatures across the U.S. have killed dozens of people, and the poorest Americans suffer the most. Air conditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments.
“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health. “Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours.”
It’s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 U.S. metro areas.
Back in Phoenix, slight relief may be on the way as expected seasonal thunderstorms could drop temperatures Monday and Tuesday.
“It should be around 108 degrees, so we break that 110 streak,” meteorologist Tom Frieders said. “Increasing cloud cover will put temperatures in a downward trend.”
The relief could be short-lived, however. Highs are expected to creep back to 110 F (43.3 C) Wednesday with temperatures reaching 115 F (46.1 C) by the end of the week.
Phoenix has also sweated through a record 16 consecutive nights when the lows temperature didn’t dip below 90 F (32.2 C), making it hard for people to cool off after sunset.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas continues to flirt with its hottest July ever. The city is closing in on its 2010 record for the average of the high and low each day for July, which stands at 96.2 F (35.5 C).
The extreme heat is also hitting the eastern U.S, as soaring temperatures moved from the Midwest into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, where some places recorded their warmest days so far this year. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-july-keeps-sizzling-as-phoenix-hits-another-110-degree-day-and-wildfires-spread-in-california/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:28 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-july-keeps-sizzling-as-phoenix-hits-another-110-degree-day-and-wildfires-spread-in-california/ |
Pakistan is vowing to hunt down those behind a massive suicide bombing on Sunday that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric. Dozens of people were killed and nearly 200 wounded.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Pakistan is vowing to hunt down those behind a massive suicide bombing on Sunday that targeted a rally of a pro-Taliban cleric. Dozens of people were killed and nearly 200 wounded.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/pakistans-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T09:53:31 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/pakistans-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
Titans Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 5:26 AM EDT|Updated: 25 minutes ago
The Tennessee Titans right now have +6600 odds of winning the Super Bowl.
Watch the Titans this season on Fubo!
Titans Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the AFC South: +325
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +6600
Looking to place a futures bet on the Titans to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Tennessee Betting Insights
- Tennessee put together an 8-6-0 ATS record last year.
- Last season, the combined scoring went over the point total five times in Titans games.
- Tennessee was a bottom-five offense last season, ranking third-worst with 296.8 yards per contest. On defense, it ranked 23rd in the (351.6 yards allowed per game).
- At home last year, the Titans were 3-5. Away, they were 4-5.
- Tennessee won just twice when favored (2-3) and went 4-5 as underdogs.
- The Titans were 5-7 in the AFC, including 3-3 in the AFC South.
Titans Impact Players
- On the ground, Derrick Henry had 13 touchdowns and 1,538 yards (96.1 per game) last year.
- Also, Henry had 33 catches for 398 yards and zero touchdowns.
- In 12 games, Ryan Tannehill passed for 2,536 yards (211.3 per game), with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions, and a completion percentage of 65.2%.
- In addition, Tannehill ran for 98 yards and two TDs.
- DeAndre Hopkins had 64 catches for 717 yards (79.7 per game) and three touchdowns in nine games a season ago with the Cardinals.
- In the passing game for the Texans, Chris Moore scored two TDs, catching 48 balls for 548 yards (34.3 per game).
- On defense last year, Kevin Byard helped lead the way with four interceptions to go with 106 tackles and six passes defended in 17 games.
Bet on Titans to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Titans NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 31 at 5:27 AM ET. 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.wkyt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/titans-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:33 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/titans-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
A study examines the toll of silicosis on stone workers. Dozens of young Latino men in California developed severe lung disease and at least 10 died. (Story aired on ATC on July 24, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
A study examines the toll of silicosis on stone workers. Dozens of young Latino men in California developed severe lung disease and at least 10 died. (Story aired on ATC on July 24, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/stone-countertop-workers-are-getting-sick-and-dying-due-to-exposure-to-silica-dust | 2023-07-31T09:53:35 | 0 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/stone-countertop-workers-are-getting-sick-and-dying-due-to-exposure-to-silica-dust |
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A “mass shooting” at a large party in Indiana early Sunday morning left one person dead, police said. A hospital said 19 people were being treated for injuries at its facility.
Muncie police responded to multiple reports of gunfire on the city’s east side just after 1 a.m., The Star Press reported. Police said in a news release that there was no active threat to the community and that “multiple” victims were injured, including some critically.
“Due to the number of victims and nature of the incident, multiple agencies were contacted to assist,” Muncie Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell said in a statement sent to The Star Press.
Many police officers from the nearby town of Eaton were among those who provided assistance, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page. Eaton Police Chief Jay Turner called the incident a “mass shooting.”
Police did not say how many people were injured, but officials at Indiana University Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie told The Associated Press that 19 victims were treated in their emergency department for injuries related to the shooting, and 13 remained at the hospital in stabilized condition Sunday morning. Criswell said some victims sustained critical injuries and were transferred by medical helicopter to other facilities.
Delaware County Coroner Gavin Greene identified the man who died as 30-year-old Joseph E. Bonner III, The Star Press reported. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-one-person-is-dead-and-multiple-were-wounded-in-indiana-shooting-police-say/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:35 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-one-person-is-dead-and-multiple-were-wounded-in-indiana-shooting-police-say/ |
Two new surveys from the CDC reveal a rising number of patients with an allergy to meat caused by tick bites. Called alpha-gal syndrome, it's far from the superpower the name suggests.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Two new surveys from the CDC reveal a rising number of patients with an allergy to meat caused by tick bites. Called alpha-gal syndrome, it's far from the superpower the name suggests.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/the-cdc-says-millions-of-americans-might-be-living-with-an-allergy-to-meat | 2023-07-31T09:53:41 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/the-cdc-says-millions-of-americans-might-be-living-with-an-allergy-to-meat |
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Voting rights activists are returning to court to fight Alabama’s redrawn congressional districts, saying state Republicans failed to follow federal court orders to create a district that is fair to Black voters.
Plaintiffs in the high-profile redistricting case filed a written objection Friday to oppose Alabama’s new redistricting plan. They accused state Republicans of flouting a judicial mandate to create a second majority-Black district or “something quite close to it” and enacting a map that continues to discriminate against Black voters in the state.
A special three-judge panel in 2022 blocked use of the the state’s existing districts and said any new congressional map should include two districts where “Black voters either comprise a voting-age majority” or something close. That panel’s decision was appealed by the state but upheld in June in a surprise ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, which concurred that having only one Black-majority district out of seven — in a state where more than one in four residents is Black — likely violated federal law.
The plaintiffs in the case, represented by the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund and other groups, asked the three-judge panel to step in and draw new lines for the state.
“Alabama’s new congressional map ignores this court’s preliminary injunction order and instead perpetuates the Voting Rights Act violation that was the very reason that the Legislature redrew the map,” lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the case wrote.
The new map enacted by the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature maintained one-majority Black district but boosted the percentage of Black voters in the majority-white 2nd Congressional District, now represented by Republican Rep. Barry Moore, from about 30% to 39.9%
Lawyers representing plaintiffs in the case wrote Friday that the revamped district “does not provide Black voters a realistic opportunity to elect their preferred candidates in any but the most extreme situations.” They accused state Republicans of ignoring the courts’ directive to prioritize a district that would stay under GOP control “pleasing national leaders whose objective is to maintain the Republican Party’s slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Alabama has maintained the new plan complies with the Voting Rights Act, and state leaders are wagering that the panel will accept their proposal or that the state will prevail in a second round of appeals to the Supreme Court. Republicans argued that the map meets the court’s directive and draws compact districts that comply with redistricting guidelines.
The state must file its defense of the map by Aug. 4. The three judges have scheduled an Aug. 14 hearing in the case as the fight over the map shifts back to federal court.
The outcome could have consequences across the country as the case again weighs the requirements of the Voting Rights Act in redistricting. It could also impact the partisan leanings of one Alabama congressional district in the 2024 elections with control of the U.S House of Representatives at stake.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said in a statement that Alabama’s new map is a “brazen defiance” of the courts.
“The result is a shameful display that would have made George Wallace—another Alabama governor who defied the courts—proud,” Holder said in a statement. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-plaintiffs-in-voting-rights-case-urge-judges-to-toss-alabamas-new-congressional-map/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:42 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-plaintiffs-in-voting-rights-case-urge-judges-to-toss-alabamas-new-congressional-map/ |
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Leslie Rasmussen about her new novel, The Stories We Cannot Tell, in which two women navigate pregnancy, infertility, relationships and family.
Copyright 2023 NPR
NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Leslie Rasmussen about her new novel, The Stories We Cannot Tell, in which two women navigate pregnancy, infertility, relationships and family.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/the-inspiration-behind-leslie-rasmussens-the-stories-we-cannot-tell | 2023-07-31T09:53:47 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/the-inspiration-behind-leslie-rasmussens-the-stories-we-cannot-tell |
DENVER (AP) — As Denver neared triple-digit temperatures, Ben Gallegos sat shirtless on his porch swatting flies off his legs and spritzing himself with a misting fan to try to get through the heat. Gallegos, like many in the nation’s poorest neighborhoods, doesn’t have air conditioning.
The 68-year-old covers his windows with mattress foam to insulate against the heat and sleeps in the concrete basement. He knows high temperatures can cause heat stroke and death, and his lung condition makes him more susceptible. But the retired brick layer, who survives on about $1,000 a month largely from Social Security, says air conditioning is out of reach.
“Take me about 12 years to save up for something like that,” he said. “If it’s hard to breathe, I’ll get down to emergency.”
As climate change fans hotter and longer heat waves, breaking record temperatures across the U.S. and leaving dozens dead, the poorest Americans suffer the hottest days with the fewest defenses. Air conditioning, once a luxury, is now a matter of survival.
As Phoenix weathered its 27th consecutive day above 110 degrees (43 Celsius) Wednesday, the nine who died indoors didn’t have functioning air conditioning, or it was turned off. Last year, all 86 heat-related deaths indoors were in uncooled environments.
“To explain it fairly simply: Heat kills,” said Kristie Ebi, a University of Washington professor who researches heat and health. “Once the heat wave starts, mortality starts in about 24 hours.”
It’s the poorest and people of color, from Kansas City to Detroit to New York City and beyond, who are far more likely to face grueling heat without air conditioning, according to a Boston University analysis of 115 U.S. metros.
“The temperature differences … between lower-income neighborhoods, neighborhoods of color and their wealthier, whiter counterparts have pretty severe consequences,” said Cate Mingoya-LaFortune of Groundwork USA, an environmental justice organization. “There are these really big consequences like death. … But there’s also ambient misery.”
Some have window units that can offer respite, but “in the dead of heat, it don’t do nothing,” said Melody Clark, who stopped Friday to get food at a nonprofit in Kansas City, Kansas, as temperatures soared to 101, and high humidity made it feel like 109. When the central air conditioning at her rental house went on the fritz, her landlord installed a window unit. But it doesn’t do much during the day.
So the 45-year-old wets her hair, cooks outside on a propane grill and keeps the lights off indoors. She’s taken the bus to the library to cool off. At night she flips the box unit on, hauling her bed into the room where it’s located to sleep.
As far as her two teenagers, she said: “They aren’t little bitty. We aren’t dying in the heat. … They don’t complain.”
While billions in federal funding have been allocated to subsidize utility costs and the installation of cooling systems, experts say they often only support a fraction of the most vulnerable families and some still require prohibitive upfront costs. Installing a centralized heat pump system for heating and cooling can easily reach $25,000.
President Joe Biden announced steps on Thursday to defend against extreme heat, highlighting the expansion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which funnels money through states to help poorer households pay utility bills.
While the program is critical, said Michelle Graff, who studies the subsidy at Cleveland State University, only about 16% of the nation’s eligible population is actually reached. Nearly half of states don’t offer the federal dollars for summer cooling.
“So people are engaging in coping mechanisms, like they’re turning on their air conditioners later and leaving their homes hotter,” Graff said.
While frigid temperatures and high heating bills birthed the term “heat or eat,” she said, “we can now transition to AC or eat, where people are going to have to make difficult decisions.”
As temperatures rise, so does the cost of cooling. And temperatures are already hotter in America’s low-income neighborhoods like Gallegos’ Denver suburb of Globeville, where people live along stretches of asphalt and concrete that hold heat like a cast-iron skillet. Surface temperatures there can be roughly 8 degrees hotter than in Denver’s wealthier neighborhoods, where a sea of vegetation cools the area, according to the environmental advocacy group American Forests.
This disparity plays out nationwide. Researchers at the University of San Diego analyzed 1,056 counties and in over 70%, the poorest areas and those with higher Black, Hispanic and Asian populations were significantly hotter.
About one in 10 U.S. households have no air conditioning, a disparity compounded for marginalized groups, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. Less than 4% of Detroit’s white households don’t have air conditioning; it’s 15% for Black households.
At noon on Friday, Katrice Sullivan sat on the porch of her rented house on Detroit’s westside. It was hot and muggy, but even steamier inside the house. Even if she had air conditioning, Sullivan said she’d choose her moments to run it to keep her electricity bill down.
The 37-year-old factory worker pours water on her head, freezes towels to put around her neck, and sits in her car with the air conditioner on. “Some people here spend every dollar for food, so air conditioning is something they can’t afford,” she said.
Shannon Lewis, 38, lived in her Detroit home for nearly 20 years without air conditioning. Lewis’s bedroom was the only place with a window unit, so she’d squeeze her teenager, 8-year-old and 3-year-old-twins into her queen-size bed to sleep, eat meals and watch television.
“So it was like cool in one room and a heat stroke in another,” Lewis said. For the first time, Lewis now has air conditioning through a local non-profit, she said. “We don’t have to sleep or eat in the same room, we are able to come out, sit at the dining room table, eat like a family.”
After at least 54 died during a 2021 heat wave, mostly elderly people without air conditioning, in the Portland area, Oregon passed a law prohibiting landlords from placing blanket bans on air conditioning units. By and large, however, states don’t have laws requiring landlords to provide cooling.
In the federal Inflation Reduction Act, billions were set aside for tax credits and rebates to help families install energy-efficient cooling systems, but some of those are yet to be available. For people like Gallegos, who doesn’t pay taxes, the available credits are worthless.
The law also offers rebates, the kind of state and federal point-of-sale discounts that Amanda Morian has looked into for her 640-square-foot home.
Morian, who has a 13-week-old baby susceptible to hot weather, is desperate to keep her house in Denver’s Globeville suburb cool. She bought thermal curtains, ceiling fans and runs a window unit. At night she tries to do skin-to-skin touch to regulate the baby’s body temperature. When the back door opens in the afternoon, she said, the indoor temperature jumps a degree.
“All of those are just to take the edge off, it’s not enough to actually make it cool. It’s enough to keep us from dying,” she said.
She got estimates from four different companies for installing a cooling system, but every project was between $20,000 and $25,000, she said. Even with subsidies she can’t afford it.
“I’m finding that you have to afford the project in the first place and then it’s like having a bonus coupon to take $5,000 off of the sticker price,” she said.
Lucy Molina, a single mom in Commerce City, one of Denver’s poorest areas, said her home has reached 107 degrees without air conditioning. Nearby, Molina’s two teenage children slurped popsicles to cool off, lingering in front of the open freezer.
For Molina, who bustled around her kitchen on a recent day when temperatures reached 99 degrees outdoors, it’s hard to see any path to a cooling respite.
“We’re just too poor,” she said.
____
Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Kansas, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
——
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-of-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:49 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-record-heat-waves-illuminate-plight-of-poorest-americans-who-suffer-without-air-conditioning/ |
For the first time since 1991, the U.S. could miss making the Women's World Cup knockout round. NPR's A Martinez talks to Alicia DelGallo of USA Today Sports about the reasons why.
Copyright 2023 NPR
For the first time since 1991, the U.S. could miss making the Women's World Cup knockout round. NPR's A Martinez talks to Alicia DelGallo of USA Today Sports about the reasons why.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/the-u-s-is-at-risk-of-heading-home-early-from-the-fifa-womens-world-cup | 2023-07-31T09:53:53 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/the-u-s-is-at-risk-of-heading-home-early-from-the-fifa-womens-world-cup |
A woman from New Hampshire who works for a nonprofit organization in Haiti and her young daughter have been reported as kidnapped as the U.S. State Department issued a “do not travel advisory” in the country and ordered nonemergency personnel to leave there amid growing security concerns.
Alix Dorsainvil, a nurse for El Roi Haiti, and her daughter were kidnapped on Thursday, the organization said in a statement Saturday. El Roi, which runs a school and ministry in Port au Prince, said the two were taken from campus. Dorsainvil is the wife of the program’s director, Sandro Dorsainvil.
“Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family,” El Roi president and co-founder Jason Brown said in the statement. “Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus.”
A State Department spokesperson said in a statement Saturday is it “aware of reports of the kidnapping of two U.S. citizens in Haiti,” adding, “We are in regular contact with Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and our U.S. government interagency partners.”
In its advisory Thursday, the department said that “kidnapping is widespread, and victims regularly include U.S. citizens.”
It said kidnappings often involve ransom negotiations and U.S. citizen victims have been physically harmed.
Earlier this month, the National Human Rights Defense Network issued a report warning about an upsurge in killings and kidnappings and the U.N. Security Council met to discuss Haiti’s worsening situation.
WMUR-TV reported that Dorsainvil is from Middleton, New Hampshire, and went to Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, which has a program to support nursing education in Haiti.
“It doesn’t surprise me that Alex chose to get involved in this type of service work,” Regis College president Toni Hays told the station. “She was amazing. She was passionate, she was compassionate.” | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-us-mother-daughter-reported-kidnapped-in-haiti-people-warned-not-to-travel-there/ | 2023-07-31T09:53:55 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/national-news/ap-us-mother-daughter-reported-kidnapped-in-haiti-people-warned-not-to-travel-there/ |
As Ukraine claims a strategic victory in a long, grinding counteroffensive, its troops say they need more long-range weapons to fight increasingly entrenched Russian troops.
Copyright 2023 NPR
As Ukraine claims a strategic victory in a long, grinding counteroffensive, its troops say they need more long-range weapons to fight increasingly entrenched Russian troops.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/ukraines-troops-are-slowly-pushing-russian-forces-out-of-occupied-ukrainian-land | 2023-07-31T09:53:59 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/ukraines-troops-are-slowly-pushing-russian-forces-out-of-occupied-ukrainian-land |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.”
___
AP polling director Emily Swanson in Washington contributed to this report. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-joe-biden-americas-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-to-win-again-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:02 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-joe-biden-americas-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-to-win-again-will-his-age-matter/ |
After police hauled away a computer programmer, his wife was left to discover who her husband really was — a mysterious political blogger. (Story aired on All Things Considered on July 27, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR
After police hauled away a computer programmer, his wife was left to discover who her husband really was — a mysterious political blogger. (Story aired on All Things Considered on July 27, 2023.)
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/woman-in-china-learned-about-her-husbands-secret-identity-after-police-grabbed-him | 2023-07-31T09:54:05 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/woman-in-china-learned-about-her-husbands-secret-identity-after-police-grabbed-him |
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:
DONALD TRUMP
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.
RON DESANTIS
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.
TIM SCOTT
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.
NIKKI HALEY
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.
VIVEK RAMASWAMY
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.
CHRIS CHRISTIE
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.
DOUG BURGUM
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.
MIKE PENCE
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.”
ASA HUTCHINSON
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.
FRANCIS SUAREZ
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.
LARRY ELDER
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.
PERRY JOHNSON
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.
WILL HURD
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.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-whos-in-whos-out-a-look-at-which-candidates-have-qualified-for-the-1st-gop-presidential-debate/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:10 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/politics/election/ap-whos-in-whos-out-a-look-at-which-candidates-have-qualified-for-the-1st-gop-presidential-debate/ |
If you're feeling a bit brain-fogged these days, you might not be wrong to blame it on the heat.
Several summers back, researchers in Boston studied young adults living in college dorm rooms during a heat wave. Some had central AC, and slept at a cool 71 degrees Fahrenheit. But others slept in rooms without air-conditioning, where the temperature hovered around 80 degrees.
Each morning for nearly two weeks the students took a few tests, administered on their cell phones. The people who slept in the hotter dorm rooms performed measurably worse on the tests.
The tests included a math test requiring simple addiction and subtraction and a second test, the Stroop test, that jumbles colors and words. "So, if I show the word 'red' in the color blue, participants have to respond 'blue'," says study author Jose Guillermo Cedeño Laurent, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
It's easy to get tripped up if your attention or reaction time is slowed, he says, and that's exactly what heat appears to be doing. "The magnitude of the effect was really striking," Cedeño Laurent says. "We saw reductions in the order of 10% in their response times and also their accuracy."
Part of this effect may be explained by interrupted sleep. It can be hard to get a good night's rest if you're not accustomed to the heat, and a lack of sleep could certainly impair reaction time and focus. But there's a body of evidence suggesting it may be something about the heat itself that interferes with cognition.
A similar study published in 2021 also documented a dip in cognitive performance at air temps of 79 degrees. Researchers found that as the temperature rose, activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, the anti-stress system that can help us stay calm and relaxed, was lowered. Plus oxygen saturation levels in the blood were lower at the elevated temperatures as well, which the researchers said could be expected to result in reduced cognitive performance.
Other studies have found an effect from heat on office workers and on standardized test score performance, says Caleb Dresser, an emergency medicine physician who also serves as the director of health care solutions at the Harvard Chan Center for Climate, Health and Global Environment.
One of these studies showed that productivity in the workplace is highest when the air temperature is about 72 degrees, and productivity starts to drop off in the mid-70s. And another shows that for high school students, taking a standardized test on a hot day is linked to poorer performance.
Dresser says the evidence suggests that heat can influence us in sometimes indiscernible ways. "All of these [studies] seem to point to a reduced ability to think clearly and quickly and efficiently when the body is too hot," he says.
There's also research to suggest that heat can make you moodier or irritated, in part, perhaps, by raising cortisol levels, and inducing a stress response.
Of course, you can acclimate to heat after several days of exposure, and our bodies have several built-in coping mechanisms that help us cool down. For instance, you'll begin to sweat sooner and blood flow to the skin increases, which can carry heat away from the body's core.
But, given the extreme heat waves that are becoming more common, there's increasing interest in better understanding the mechanisms by which heat may exacerbate or set off mood and anxiety-related problems. Dresser points to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2022 that found hospital ER visits, for mental health conditions, rise during extremely hot days.
"I think this is consistent with what a lot of physicians will tell you if they have worked during hot conditions," Dresser says. Mental health is a concern all of the time, "but it can become a bigger concern during really hot conditions," he says.
Multiple factors likely explain how heat exacerbates the risks, beyond changes in stress hormones and sleep disturbances. Dresser points out that there's an overlap between populations who are vulnerable to mental health issues and populations that are unhoused or have intermittent access to housing.
And, clearly, if someone is living outside during a heat wave, there's a greater likelihood of significant impact. "There may be complicated social issues going on," he says.
A better understanding of all of these factors could help inform strategies to prevent or manage the challenges. "As we learn to live in a warming world where the summers are getting hotter, we need to be extra alert to recognize when conditions are dangerous and take steps to stay safe," Dresser says.
One of the key strategies is to stay well hydrated. This may sound obvious, but dehydration is common in the summer, and many people underestimate how much fluid they need to replace when they're sweating a lot or spending time outdoors.
In fact, the participants in the college dorm study benefited from staying well-hydrated. During the study, the researchers sent text messages asking all the participants how much liquid they'd consumed, and it turned out that the participants who slept in the hot dorm rooms, and drank less than 6 glasses of liquid per day, performed worse on the tests. And prior research has shown that being even a little dehydrated can impair cognitive performance.
It's a reminder that a simple step – remembering to drink plenty of water – can help protect not just our physical health, but our mental wellbeing, too.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why | 2023-07-31T09:54:11 | 1 | https://www.wqcs.org/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why |
BEIRUT (AP) — Fighting raged Sunday in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, killing at least five people and wounding seven, Palestinian officials said.
UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, put the death toll at six, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two children were among those wounded.
The Palestinian 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 kill Islamist militant Mahmoud Khalil, killing a companion of his instead.
Later, Islamist militants shot and killed a Palestinian military general from the Fatah group and three escorts as they were walking through a parking lot, another Palestinian official told AP.
Ein el-Hilweh is notorious for its lawlessness and violence is not uncommon. The U.N. says about 55,000 people live in the camp, which was established in 1948 to house Palestinians displaced by Israeli forces during the establishment of Israel.
On Sunday, factions blazed away with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers and lobbed hand grenades in the camp as ambulances zoomed through its narrow streets to take the wounded to the hospital.
The fighting stopped for several hours in the morning, though state media said there was still sporadic sniper fire, but fighting erupted again after the killing of the Palestinian general and his escorts.
Some residents in Sidon neighborhoods near the camp fled their homes as stray bullets hit buildings and shattered windows and storefronts. The public Sidon General Hospital evacuated its staff and patients.
The Lebanese army said in a statement that a mortar shell hit a military barracks outside the camp and wounded one soldier, whose condition is stable. Military commandos deployed near the camp’s entrances as clashes continued into the night.
UNRWA said two of its schools that serve some 2,000 students were damaged in the fighting. It said it suspended all its operations in Ein el-Hilweh.
Fatah in a statement condemned the killing of its security official, saying the attack was part of a “bloody scheme that targets the security and stability of our camps.” It vowed to hold the “perpetrators accountable.”
In Ramallah, the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement decrying violence in a camp for Palestinian refugees.
“No one is allowed to intimidate our people and tamper with their security,” it said. “We support what the Lebanese government is doing to impose law and order, and we affirm our commitment to Lebanon’s sovereignty, including the Palestinian refugee camps, and maintaining security and the rule of law.”
Late in the day, the factions said in a joint statement that they had agreed to a ceasefire during a mediation meeting hosted by the Lebanese Shiite Amal movement and militant Hezbollah group in Sidon. But local media said fighting continued. A spokesperson from the Palestinian militant group Hamas told AP that the groups were working to implement the truce.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the clashes. “We call on the Palestinian leadership to cooperate with the army to control the security situation and hand over those meddling with security to the Lebanese authorities,” Mikati said in his statement.
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.
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Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-1-killed-6-wounded-in-overnight-clashes-in-crowded-palestinian-refugee-camp-in-lebanon/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:17 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-1-killed-6-wounded-in-overnight-clashes-in-crowded-palestinian-refugee-camp-in-lebanon/ |
KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up at a political rally in a former stronghold of militants in northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 44 people and wounding nearly 200 in an attack that a senior leader said was meant to weaken Pakistani Islamists.
The Bajur district near the Afghan border was a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban — a close ally of Afghanistan’s Taliban government — before the Pakistani army drove the militants out of the area. Supporters of hard-line Pakistani cleric and political party leader Fazlur Rehman, whose Jamiat Ulema Islam generally supports regional Islamists, were meeting in Bajur in a hall close to a market outside the district capital. Party officials said Rehman was not at the rally but organizers added tents because so many supporters showed up, and party volunteers with batons were helping control the crowd.
Officials were announcing the arrival of Abdul Rasheed, a leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, when the bomb went off in one of Pakistan’s bloodiest attacks in recent years.
Provincial police said in a statement that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives vest close to the stage where several senior leaders of the party were sitting. It said initial investigations suggested the Islamic State group — which operates in Afghanistan and is an enemy of the Afghan Taliban — could be behind the attack, and officers were still investigating.
“There was dust and smoke around, and I was under some injured people from where I could hardly stand up, only to see chaos and some scattered limbs,” said Adam Khan, 45, who was knocked to the ground by the blast around 4 p.m. and hit by splinters in his leg and both hands.
The Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that the bombing was aimed at setting Islamists against each other. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban, said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “such crimes cannot be justified in any way.”
The Afghan Taliban’s seizure of power in Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 emboldened the TTP. They unilaterally ended a cease-fire agreement with the Pakistani government in November, and have stepped up attacks across the country.
The bombing came hours before the arrival of Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Islamabad, where he was to participate in an event to mark a decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, a sprawling package under which Beijing has invested billions of dollars in Pakistan.
In recent months, China has helped Pakistan avoid a default on sovereign payments. However, some Chinese nationals have also been targeted by militants in northwestern Pakistan and elsewhere.
Feroz Jamal, the provincial information minister, told The Associated Press that so far 44 people had been “martyred” and nearly 200 wounded in the bombing.
The bombing was one of the four worst attacks in the northwest since 2014, when 147 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed in a Taliban attack on an army-run school in Peshawar. In January, 74 people were killed in a bombing at a mosque in Peshawar. n February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Arif Alvi condemned the attack and asked officials to provide all possible assistance to the wounded and the bereaved families. Sharif later, in a phone call to Rehman, the head of the JUI, conveyed his condolences to him and assured him that those who orchestrated the attack would be punished.
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad also condemned the attack. In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, it expressed its condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims killed in the attack..
Maulana Ziaullah, the local chief of Rehman’s party, was among the dead. JUI leaders Rasheed and former lawmaker Maulana Jamaluddin were also on the stage but escaped unhurt.
Rasheed, the regional chief of the party, said the attack was an attempt to remove JUI from the field before parliamentary elections in November, but he said such tactics would not work. The bombing drew nationwide condemnation, with the ruling and opposition parties extending condolences to the families of those who died in the attack.
Rehman is considered to be a pro-Taliban cleric and his political party is part of the coalition government in Islamabad. Meetings are being organized across the country to mobilize supporters for the upcoming elections.
“Many of our fellows lost their lives and many more wounded in this incident. I will ask the federal and provincial administrations to fully investigate this incident and provide due compensation and medical facilities to the affected ones,” Rasheed said.
Mohammad Wali, another attendant at the rally, said he was listening to a speaker address the crowd when the huge explosion temporarily deafened him.
“I was near the water dispenser to fetch a glass of water when the bomb exploded, throwing me to the ground,” he said. “We came to the meeting with enthusiasm but ended up at the hospital seeing crying, wounded people and sobbing relatives taking the bodies of their loved ones.”
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Riaz Khan reported from Peshawar. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmad contributed from Islamabad. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-a-bomb-at-a-political-rally-in-northwest-pakistan-kills-10-people-and-wounds-more-than-50/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:24 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-a-bomb-at-a-political-rally-in-northwest-pakistan-kills-10-people-and-wounds-more-than-50/ |
BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The Central African Republic went to the polls Sunday in a highly anticipated vote on a new constitution, which would remove presidential term limits.
President Faustin Archange Touadera wants to extend presidential terms from five to seven years and remove the previous two-term limit, enabling him to run again in 2025.
The new constitution would replace the one adopted at Touadera’s inauguration in 2016, when the country was in a civil war and 80% of it was not under state control. If the new constitution is passed, it could entrench the ruling party’s power indefinitely, analysts say.
“This referendum basically confirms the fears of authoritarian drift (in CAR),” said Enrica Picco, Central Africa project director with the International Crisis Group. The new constitution would weaken checks on the executive by opposition parties, closing the space for Central Africans to participate in democratic decision-making, she said.
The proposed changes also would lift requirements that executive decisions be debated by the legislative and permit Central Africans with dual nationalities to vote.
The mineral-rich but impoverished nation has faced intercommunal fighting since 2013, when predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power and forced then-President Francois Bozize from office. Mostly Christian militias later fought back, also targeting civilians in the streets. The United Nations, which has a peacekeeping mission in the country, estimates the fighting had killed thousands and displaced over a million people, one fifth of the country’s population.
When Touadera won re-election in 2020, barely a third of Central Africans made it to the polls, largely due to threats of violence by rebel groups. Touadera’s government has relied on support from UN peacekeepers, soldiers from neighboring Rwanda and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group to keep rebels out of the capital Bangui.
“Now that there is peace … the time has come for us to take action,” said Fidel Gouandjika, a presidential advisor.
Opposition groups accuse the ruling party of making a draft of the new constitution publicly available too late for people to make informed decisions, less than three weeks before the referendum, said Picco.
Together with opposition parties they are calling on Central Africans to vote against the proposed constitution, or abstain from the referendum.
“Touadera wants to see himself as an emperor, and he wants to make our country what he wants, not what Central Africans want,” said former Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-constitutional-referendum-to-remove-presidential-term-limits-divides-central-african-republic/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:31 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-constitutional-referendum-to-remove-presidential-term-limits-divides-central-african-republic/ |
HELSINKI (AP) — Denmark’s foreign minister said Sunday the government will seek to make it illegal to desecrate the Quran or other religious holy books in front of foreign embassies in the Nordic country.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in an interview with the Danish public broadcaster DR that the burning of holy scriptures “only serves the purpose of creating division in a world that actually needs unity.”
“That is why we have decided in the government that we will look at how, in very special situations, we can put an end to mockery of other countries, which is in direct conflict with Danish interests and the safety of the Danes,” he said.
A recent string of public Quran desecrations by a handful of anti-Islam activists in Denmark and neighboring Sweden have sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.
Løkke Rasmussen said the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is determined to find “a legal tool” to prohibit such acts without compromising freedom of expression, but he acknowledged that would not be easy.
“There must be room for religious criticism, and we have no thoughts of reintroducing a blasphemy clause,” he told DR. “But when you stand up in front of a foreign embassy and burn a Quran or burn the Torah scroll in front of the Israeli embassy, it serves no other purpose than to mock.”
His comments followed a statement issued late Sunday by the Danish government saying freedom of expression is one of the most important values in Danish society.
But, it added, the descreation of the Muslim holy book in Denmark has resulted in the nation being viewed in many places around the world “as a country that facilitates insult and denigration of the cultures, religions, and traditions of other countries.”
The government repeated its condemnation of such descecrations, say they are “deeply offensive and reckless acts committed by few individuals” and “do not represent the values the Danish society is built on.”
In Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sunday on Instagram that his government is analyzing the legal situation regarding desecration of the Quran and other holy books, given the animosity such acts are stirring up against Sweden.
“We are in the most serious security policy situation since the Second World War,” Kristersson said.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has called an emergency remote meeting Monday to discuss the Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-denmark-seeks-to-legally-prevent-burnings-of-quran-or-other-religious-scriptures/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:38 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-denmark-seeks-to-legally-prevent-burnings-of-quran-or-other-religious-scriptures/ |
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Salvage crews started towing a burning cargo ship loaded with thousands of cars to a temporary anchorage location off the northern Dutch coast on Sunday after smoke pouring from the stricken vessel eased, authorities said.
On Saturday night, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management had said the Fremantle Highway was unlikely to be moved because of a southeasterly wind blowing smoke from the days-old fire over tugboats.
But that changed Sunday.
“The smoke from the cargo ship subsided considerably this afternoon and the salvage combination Multraship/Smit Salvage immediately made use of this,” the ministry said in a statement referring to two salvage companies involved in the operation.
The ship was being slowly towed by two tugs to a temporary anchor point about 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of the Dutch islands of Schiermonnikoog and Ameland.
Experts are continuously monitoring the ship’s stability and a specialized boat used to clean up oil is nearby in case there is a spill, the ministry added.
The salvage teams ultimately want to tow the stricken ship to a port but it is not yet clear where or when that will happen.
The crews on Saturday attached a second towing cable to the ship, which was transporting 3,783 new vehicles, including 498 electric vehicles, from the German port of Bremerhaven to Singapore.
The ship has been burning since Tuesday. Firefighters decided not to douse the flames with water for fear of making the nearly 200-meter (219-yard) ship unstable as it floats close to North Sea shipping lanes and a world-renowned migratory bird habitat.
One crew member died and others were injured after the fire broke out. The crew was evacuated in the early hours of Wednesday.
The cause of the fire has not been determined. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-high-winds-stall-efforts-to-tow-a-burning-cargo-ship-packed-with-cars-off-northern-dutch-coast/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:44 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-high-winds-stall-efforts-to-tow-a-burning-cargo-ship-packed-with-cars-off-northern-dutch-coast/ |
CAIRO (AP) — Palestinian factions met Sunday in Egypt to discuss reconciliation efforts as violence in the occupied West Bank surged between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The main groups, Hamas and Fatah, have been split since 2007 and repeated reconciliation attempts having failed, so expectations for the one-day meeting were low.
Participants at the closed-door meeting gave no indication of what was discussed. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who initiated the session in the Egyptian city of el-Alamein on the Mediterranean Sea, said at its conclusion only that the meeting was a “first and significant step” in efforts to end the long-running division.
It came amid soaring violence in the West Bank, where Abbas and his Fatah group are based and exert limited self-rule. Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in Palestinian areas of the territory in what it says is an attempt to stamp out militancy, especially in areas where Abbas’ security forces have less of a foothold.
Those raids have led to some of the worst fighting in nearly two decades in the West Bank. Palestinians also say the Israeli raids undermine their own security forces and weaken their leadership.
The meeting in Egypt was chaired by Abbas, presenting the aging and longtime Palestinian leader with a chance to portray an image of control and statesmanship to both Palestinians and the international community at a time when he is deeply unpopular at home and his room for maneuver is constrained by the Israeli incursions.
The meeting was attended by other Palestinian leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. Fatah and Hamas have been rivals since Hamas violently routed forces loyal to Abbas in Gaza in 2007, taking over the impoverished coastal enclave. Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on the territory.
For Hamas, joining the meeting was an opportunity to show Gazans that it is making an effort to mend the rift, even if nothing changes as a result.
Another key group playing a central role in the fighting with Israel, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, boycotted the gathering to protest the detentions by the Palestinian Authority of its members, said to the group’s leader, Ziyad al-Nakhala.
Egypt has for years acted as a mediator in trying to end the infighting between Palestinian factions. It also helped broker truces in multiple rounds of fighting between Israel and Hamas. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-palestinian-factions-meet-in-egypt-to-try-to-reconcile-as-violence-surges-in-the-west-bank/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:51 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-palestinian-factions-meet-in-egypt-to-try-to-reconcile-as-violence-surges-in-the-west-bank/ |
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish government researchers said Sunday they had identified 357 foreign fighters who went missing during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), the conflict that foreshadowed World War II.
Researchers confirmed the names of 212 fighters from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, according to a statement from the government Sunday. Some 102 are of German origin, 70 Austrian and 40 Dutch. It gave no information on how many people of other nationalities had been identified.
The identified combatants fought within the International Brigades, military units set up by the Communist International to fight against General Francisco Franco’s fascist forces. Some 40,000 foreign men and women joined up as volunteers, fighting alongside the forces of the democratic Second Spanish Republic and against the rise of fascism in Europe in late 1930s.
The findings are based on a year of research in records held in documentary archives in Spain and Russia. Researchers combed through the daily lists of casualties and missing soldiers compiled by officers in the International Brigades.
The names of private soldiers were frequently omitted from the lists, making the research process more difficult. These lists are held in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, in Moscow. Researchers also dipped into the main archives on the Spanish Civil War located in Spain.
By cross-referencing documents, researchers were also able to identify the likely area where the soldiers died or were badly wounded. It is an important step toward locating their remains inside mass graves scattered across the country.
This research provides “very valuable information that gives us the opportunity to contact the families of the missing combatants and, in the future, to intervene in the mass graves that have been located,” said Alfons Aragoneses, head of the project.
All those identified were part of the Thälmann Brigade, a Communist unit made up largely of anti-Nazi Germans. The battalion was active on the Ebro River front in northeastern Spain between March and September 1938, the site of the longest and deadliest battle of the war.
The research is ongoing and it is funded by Catalan regional government, with the aim of contributing to the country’s historical memory. The second phase of the project will try to identify missing militiamen from Great Britain, Ireland, Canada and the United States. The final step would require opening the graves in search of bodies.
Historians estimate nearly 10,000 foreign volunteers died in combat on Spanish soil during the war. How many are still unidentified, buried inside graves, remains unknown.
The Spanish Civil War served as a testing ground for Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy prior to World War II. This triggered an international outcry to try to save the Republic’s democratic government, which eventually succumbed to Franco in 1939. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-spain-identifies-212-german-austrian-and-dutch-fighters-who-went-missing-during-spanish-civil-war/ | 2023-07-31T09:54:58 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-spain-identifies-212-german-austrian-and-dutch-fighters-who-went-missing-during-spanish-civil-war/ |
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Several thousand people briefly took to the streets across the Gaza Strip on Sunday to protest chronic power outages and difficult living conditions, providing a rare public show of discontent with the territory’s Hamas government. Hamas security forces quickly dispersed the gatherings.
Marches took place in Gaza City, the southern town of Khan Younis and other locations, chanting “what a shame” and in one place burning Hamas flags, before police moved in and broke up the protests.
Police destroyed mobile phones of people who were filming in Khan Younis, and witnesses said there were several arrests. Dozens of young supporters and opponents of Hamas briefly faced off, throwing stones at one another.
The demonstrations were organized by a grassroots online movement called “alvirus alsakher,” or “the mocking virus.” It was not immediately known who is behind the movement.
Hamas rules Gaza with an iron fist, barring most demonstrations and quickly stamping out public displays of dissent.
The Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007 from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, prompting Israel and Egypt to impose a crippling blockade on the territory. Israel says the closure is needed to prevent Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, from building up its military capabilities.
The closure has devastated Gaza’s economy, sent unemployment skyrocketing and led to frequent power outages. During the current heat wave, people have been receiving four to six hours of power a day due to heavy demand.
“Where is the electricity and where is the gas?” the crowds shouted in Khan Younis. “What a shame. What a shame.”
Protesters also criticized Hamas for deducting a roughly $15 fee from monthly $100 stipends given to Gaza’s poorest families by the wealthy Gulf state of Qatar.
There was no immediate comment from the Hamas authorities. | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-thousands-take-to-streets-in-gaza-in-rare-public-display-of-discontent-with-hamas/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:04 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/news/world-news/ap-thousands-take-to-streets-in-gaza-in-rare-public-display-of-discontent-with-hamas/ |
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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.
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/makeup-palettes-sets-br/these-are-the-most-popular-rare-beauty-products/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:12 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/beauty-personal-care-br/makeup-palettes-sets-br/these-are-the-most-popular-rare-beauty-products/ |
Bouldering equipment for beginners
Bouldering is gaining in popularity throughout the world. It’s an exciting and rewarding way to strengthen your muscles, increase flexibility and improve coordination. It lets you explore new locations and meet new people. Though it may seem intimidating when starting out, one of the best aspects of bouldering is the minimal equipment required. By investing in a few core pieces of climbing gear, you can tackle your next adventure and work your way up a challenging route.
Shop this article: La Sportiva Men’s TarantuLace Climbing Shoe, Black Diamond Circuit Crash Pad and Sukoa Chalk Bag
Bouldering vs. rope climbing: what’s the difference?
There are a few main differences between bouldering and traditional rock climbing. Most importantly, bouldering doesn’t require the use of any ropes since most routes are less than 15 feet in height. If you do happen to fall, you land on either a cushioned gym floor or a crash pad in outdoor situations. Traditional climbing requires the use of ropes, a harness, carabiners and often a partner to help belay while you make your ascent.
Bouldering also often uses different techniques and climbing moves compared to big wall climbs. It can be a great way for beginner climbers to build up their stamina and endurance before attempting longer routes or “boulder problems.”
Bouldering tips to get started
Here are five tips for bouldering.
- Know the scales: Most bouldering routes have a rating that corresponds to their difficulty. The two most common grading scales are V-scale and Font scale. V-scale is the system most commonly used in the United States and grades the difficulty on a scale of V0 to V16. While V0 is usually considered the easiest, you may sometimes encounter a route rated as VB, meaning it is for beginners.
- Start slow: As with most new sports or athletic activities, it’s always a good idea to start off slow and work your way up as you gain strength and experience. While it may seem tempting to tackle a hard boulder problem right out of the gate, overdoing it can lead to an increased risk of injury.
- It’s fine to fall: Always take all safety precautions seriously and always use proper safety gear, such as a crash pad when bouldering outdoors. However, the occasional fall while attempting a climb is only natural. As long as you have the proper safety equipment, each fall can be a learning experience, helping you improve your climbing abilities.
- Practice different moves: Don’t get stuck climbing in one style. Trying out different moves and varying your grip can help improve your skills. This is especially important for beginners starting out in a gym setting before transitioning to outdoor climbs.
- Legs are important: It may seem like bouldering is all about arm strength for beginners, but that isn’t the case. Your legs and core muscles are equally important. Your legs can help tightly grip footholds and push your body upwards without relying solely on arm strength.
Beginner bouldering gear
The three main pieces of gear you need to start bouldering are climbing shoes, a crash pad and a chalk bag to keep your hands dry. Besides the big three, there are several accessories that can improve your bouldering experience.
Best climbing shoes
La Sportiva Men’s TarantuLace Climbing Shoe
These bouldering shoes are perfect for both beginner and intermediate climbers. The high-traction Frixion sole means you can grip the rock face with confidence. The quick-lacing system provides a comfortable fit.
Sold by Amazon
Scarpa Origin Women’s Climbing Shoe
These women’s climbing shoes are a great beginner option. They use a flat last and heel system that reduces pressure and tension so they aren’t painful on your feet after a full day spent bouldering.
Sold by Backcountry
Best crash pads
Black Diamond Circuit Crash Pad
This crash pad is great for transporting to your favorite bouldering spot without being too heavy or bulky. The closed-cell PE foam is ideal for cushioning falls from various heights. It has backpack straps and easy-to-carry handles.
Sold by Amazon
This protective crash pad features 5 inches of padding and can even serve as a comfortable chair when not in use. You can choose between several fun colors.
Sold by Amazon
Best chalk bags and chalk
This budget-friendly chalk bag is great for beginners. It features two built-in pockets, letting you store important items while bouldering. The main compartment uses water-resistant materials. It’s spacious enough to accommodate larger hands.
Sold by Amazon
This simple chalk bag with a drawstring closure makes it easy to access your chalk with one hand. It is also available in several color options.
Sold by Amazon
This non-toxic chalk prevents any type of moisture from interfering with your climb, keeping your hands dry and your mind focused.
Sold by Amazon
Best climbing accessories
Using climbing tape can be helpful when getting your fingers and hands used to rough rock surfaces. This tape uses durable cotton and can prevent painful scrapes and scratches while building up callouses.
Sold by Amazon
Metolius Simulator 3D Training Board
An at-home training board can help you practice your grips on days when the weather isn’t cooperating, and you can’t make it to the gym. This Metolius model can be installed above your door frame and features a variety of holds in different sizes.
Sold by Amazon
PETZL Unisex Boreo Climbing Helmet
Not all people who boulder choose to wear a helmet, but they can help prevent a serious head injury in the event of an unexpected fall. This helmet has ventilation holes for breathability and sports a soft, comfortable headband.
Sold by Backcountry
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/camping-outdoors-br/gear-br/beginners-guide-to-bouldering-equipment-what-you-need-to-get-started/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:19 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/camping-outdoors-br/gear-br/beginners-guide-to-bouldering-equipment-what-you-need-to-get-started/ |
Which product helps prevent thigh chafing best?
Do you find your sense of style forever or athletic endeavors in conflict with the possibility of uncomfortable thigh chafing? You’re not alone. Sometimes a great outfit can be rendered completely unusable because you know your thighs will be left feeling red and raw after a little while. The same goes for people who do a lot of running or swimming. Fortunately, you no longer have to choose between what you want to do or wear and the toll it will take on your skin. There are creams, clothes and even creative accessories designed to soothe skin and prevent thigh chafing so you can live your life comfortably.
Shop this article: Monistat Care Chafing Relief Powder Gel, Body Glide Skin Glide Anti-Friction Cream and Undersummers by CarrieRae Women’s Shortlette
What causes thigh chafing?
The friction produced between the thighs when they rub together causes thigh chafing. It can make the skin red and cause irritation or even pain. Chafing, in general, is often considered an athlete concern, but it can be especially problematic for anyone during seasons when skirts and dresses are popular. Long pants usually lessen friction by providing a barrier of fabric between your thighs, which is why it’s often less of a problem when temperatures drop. Though inconvenient and uncomfortable, you can address thigh chafing and lessen or prevent it in a variety of ways.
What solutions are available?
These days, there are a few preventative measures you can take to avoid thigh chafing. There are rub-in creams or roll-on palms designed to do the trick, but if you’d prefer something wearable, there are shorts and bands that serve the same purpose.
Best rub-in thigh chafing preventatives
Monistat Care Chafing Relief Powder Gel
This is a non-greasy, fragrance-free formula that’s gentle on sensitive skin and combines the best of lotion and powder care. It protects skin, relieves irritation and is reliable for everyday use. It can be used for thigh chafing as well as underarm or breast chafing.
Sold by Amazon
Body Glide Skin Glide Anti-Friction Cream
This hypoallergenic hydrating cream doesn’t leave a greasy residue and creates a smooth barrier that protects sensitive skin. It won’t clog pores and washes off easily in the bath or shower. The cream prevents thigh chafing in both humid and dry climates.
Sold by Amazon
Though Aquaphor is mostly used for cracked skin, chapped lips and even tattoo care, it also makes for an excellent thigh chafing preventative. It’s incredibly nourishing for sensitive skin and it’s fragrance-free. A little goes a long way, and so a large jar like this one will last a while.
Sold by Amazon
Chamois Butt’r Original Anti-Chafe Cream
This anti-chafe cream is great for athletes or anyone experiencing uncomfortable thigh chafing. It’s gluten-free, paraben-free and has no artificial fragrances or colors in it. It also rubs into the skin smoothly and evenly.
Sold by Amazon
Blue Steel Sports Anti-Chafe Cream
This anti-chafing cream is called a “sports” cream but is made for anyone and includes natural tea tree oil. It’s water/sweat resistant, making it great for those planning on swimming or even just walking around on a hot day. It’s not greasy and won’t stain your clothes either.
Sold by Amazon
Best stick/roll-on thigh chafing preventatives
Vaseline All Over Body Balm Jelly Stick
This anti-friction jelly stick really nourishes dry skin. It can prevent chafing before it happens or soothes skin already sore from it. You can even use it on chapped lips or dry, cracked hands.
KT Tape KT Performance+ Anti-Chafing Stick
Here is a gel stick that is sweat-resistant, water-resistant and made to last up to 24 hours. It’s not sticky and holds up in both humid and dry climates. There are no sulfates, parabens, petroleum or dyes included in this formula.
Sold by Amazon
Zone Naturals Chub Rub All Natural Anti-Chafing Stick
This anti-chafing stick is made with all-natural ingredients that include coconut oil, Shea butter and aloe. It helps to protect and hydrate skin with the bonus of being paraben-free and fragrance-free.
Sold by Amazon
Squirrel’s Nut Butter All Natural Anti Chafe Salve Stick Applicator
Here is a salve popular with men and women for dry/sensitive skin. It’s in stick applicator form and great at preventing thigh chafing but can also be used for eczema, dry skin, diaper rash, razor burn and tattoo recovery.
Sold by Amazon
This anti-friction stick is designed specifically for thighs but you can use it anywhere to prevent chafing. It is made with aloe, pomegranate seed extract, Vitamin E and other natural ingredients. It’s sulfate, aluminum, paraben and phthalates-free.
Sold by Ulta Beauty
Best wearable thigh chafing preventatives
Hanes Men’s Comfort Flex Fit Total Support Pouch 3-Pack
Available in long leg or regular leg sizes, this package comes with three comfortable and breathable boxer briefs in assorted colors. They are made from a polyester/spandex blend and won’t ride up the thigh even after going through the washing machine.
Sold by Amazon
Wirarpa Women’s Anti Chafing Cotton Underwear
This set of three comes available in several color combinations and provides a comfortable fit for chafe-free thighs. The underwear is made from a cotton/spandex blend and it’s machine washable (though you should hang dry).
Sold by Amazon
Bandelettes Patented Trademarked Original Elastic Anti-Chafing Thigh Bands
Available in several colors and styles, this set of nylon/spandex blend bands is perfect for those who want their thighs protected but don’t want to wear long underwear or shorts beneath their clothes. They look delicate and flirty but are hand-wash only and line dry.
Sold by Amazon
Undersummers by CarrieRae Women’s Shortlette
This stretchy polyester/spandex shortlette protects thighs without causing extra friction that can be painful to the skin. It doesn’t ride up and comes in three colors (ecru, beige and black).
Sold by Amazon
Chicky Chaps Stretch-Mesh Breathable Thigh Bands
These mesh and lace thigh bands clip onto underwear to not fall and come in seven colors and styles. They aren’t the most durable chafe preventative, but if you’re looking for something sexier that looks like lingerie, these bands fit the bill. They are hand-wash only and line dry.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/health-wellness-br/medical-supplies-equipment-br/15-products-that-help-prevent-thigh-chafing/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:25 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/health-wellness-br/medical-supplies-equipment-br/15-products-that-help-prevent-thigh-chafing/ |
Smart thermostats
Smart thermostats save you time, money and energy by creating heating and cooling schedules and monitoring your usage. You can even make adjustments from your phone. But these aren’t the only features of smart thermostats.
Shop this article: Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Thermostat, Ecobee SmartSensor Two-Pack and Nest Thermostat Wall Plate
How does a smart thermostat work?
Smart thermostats use Wi-Fi connectivity to connect to your smart home network. They can also connect to your smartphone, laptop, tablet or smartwatch. This lets you use those devices to monitor, make adjustments to and set schedules for the temperature in your home. This is usually through a smart thermostat’s companion app. They can also adjust temperatures with algorithms that track your routines, lifestyle and the weather.
For example, a smart thermostat can learn that you come home at 5 p.m. every day. It can then adjust your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system to ensure your home is at a comfortable temperature when you arrive. Some smart thermostats can also turn off your heat or AC when you depart each day.
How can a smart thermostat save me money?
Some manufacturers claim their smart thermostats can save you up to 25% on utility bills. This is partly accomplished by improving your heating, ventilation and AC system’s performance and reducing energy consumption. Another way is by letting you monitor and make adjustments to temperature settings remotely. If you forget to turn off your heat before leaving, for example, you could use your smart thermostat’s companion app to turn it off without returning. Being able to set schedules and take advantage of algorithmic learning also helps.
Many smart thermostats, such as the Nest Learning Thermostat or Honeywell Home Wi-Fi Thermostat, also generate reports on energy usage and heating and cooling patterns. By reviewing your usage data you can make informed decisions about how you consume energy.
What do I need to consider when choosing a smart thermostat?
Existing heating, ventilation and AC system
The smart thermostat you buy must be compatible with your home’s existing heating, ventilation and AC system. Many popular smart thermostat models include compatibility checkers on their websites. Smart thermostats also often require a C-wire, enabling the continuous flow of power to the thermostat. This is necessary for features like Wi-Fi connectivity and touch screens. Some thermostat ports aren’t equipped with C-wires because many older thermostats don’t need them.
If you don’t have a C-wire, you can hire an electrician to install one. You can also choose a smart thermostat designed to work without a C-wire, such as the Emerson Sensi. Alternatively, you can buy a C-wire adapter to install near your heating, ventilation and AC system’s control board.
Compatibility with your existing smart home system
If you already have smart home devices, select a smart thermostat that is compatible with your system. If you use Apple HomeKit, for example, select a model you can control from the platform such as the Carrier Cor or the Hive. For an IFTTT smart home system, consider the Google Nest Learning Thermostat.
What you need to buy to go with your smart thermostat
These sensors work with the Ecobee Smart Thermostat to detect motion to adjust the temperature in rooms that are in use.
Sold by Amazon
Match your Nest Thermostat to the other design elements of your living space. Wall plates come in a variety of colors including white, silver, black and bronze.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/heating-cooling-air-quality-br/how-do-smart-thermostats-work/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:33 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/heating-cooling-air-quality-br/how-do-smart-thermostats-work/ |
Bat-proofing your house
Bats are pretty incredible creatures, but that doesn’t mean we should have to coexist with them.
No matter your personal feelings about bats, it’s probably safe to say that most would find it unpleasant to share a space with them. Sure, they do a lot for our gardens and other outdoor spaces, but those with attics or old construction may be susceptible to bats nesting inside their homes.
In addition to being unsettling, bats living in your home can also present health hazards to you and your family. Fortunately, there are several ways to help get bats out of your home and keep them away in the future without doing any harm to them.
Shop this article: Evergreen Natural Wooden Bat House, Outer Trails Two-Chamber Wooden Outdoor Bat House and Woodlink Audubon Light Brown Wooden Bat Shelter Model
What to know about bats
Regional
It’s important to note that many species of bats exist, even in the U.S. They can range significantly in size and behavior, so it’s important to note where you live and what kinds of bats are nearby. Then, you’ll be able to choose the right solution for the types of bats in the area, such as what size of bat house to get or what kinds of repellents might work best.
Endangered pollinators
Many bat species are endangered, so evacuating them from your home may not be as cut-and-dry as other types of pests. Also, bats are pollinators and eat thousands of insects every night, so they’re worth keeping around, just not in your house. There are many solutions that pest control experts use to vacate bats from homes that don’t harm the mammals while still getting them to nest somewhere other than your attic.
Main strategies for avoiding bats
Sealing entry points
The only surefire way to keep bats out of your home is to seal any entry points in ceilings, roofs, walls or other locations. Most pest-repellant professionals dealing with bats use copper mesh material or steel wool to seal up hard-to-fill holes. When sealing entry points, it’s also vital to ensure you’ve already helped any bats in your space escape, or else you could trap them inside your home.
Bat houses or boxes
It’s important to give bats a place to go while also sealing any entry points is key to keeping bats out. The most effective solution is to use bat houses, which encourage bats to relocate while providing them a new place to live outside your home. Bat houses, sometimes called bat boxes, usually offer enough space for several bats to nest in. It’s important to mount bat houses high off the ground and facing a direction that gets at least a few hours of sunlight per day.
Bat repellents
Those with bats actively in their homes will need to evict bats, which you can do in a few different ways. Some use natural bat repellents to create an environment that bats don’t want to stay in, using mint oils and other essential oils. You can also use moth balls to repel both bats and the insects they like to eat. Other tools such as bat exclusion cones can help bats exit without returning inside. Additionally, you can use ultrasonic auditory systems that make spaces unbearable for bats and their sensitive hearing.
Bat attractants
You can also use bat attractants to encourage bats to nest elsewhere. If there’s a nearby area outside of your home where bats can nest, you can spray bat attractants on them to help bats find and utilize the space. Additionally, bat attractants work great when used in tandem with bat houses, as they can bring bats to their new nests of your making.
Sound and light-based bat repellents
Other bat repellent options use things such as sound light to help make your home annoying or unbearable for bats. Ultrasonic bat repellents use frequencies of sounds that bats can’t stand to drive them away, and they do so at frequencies that humans and most other animals can’t hear at all. Some also use floodlights to drive insects and bats away, as bats are hunters that catch their prey in darkness.
What you need to keep the bats out of your home
Evergreen Natural Wooden Bat House
This simple bat house is a great affordable option that works well for most bat types. It’s made from pine and features grooved walls to invite bats in, especially when mounted up high.
Sold by Amazon
Outer Trails Two-Chamber Wooden Outdoor Bat House
This two-chamber bat house can fit up to 20 bats of smaller sizes, and it offers better airflow and moisture-repellent features than most others. You can buy this bat house in brown, black or a natural wood color with a bark finish that can help bats feel more comfortable around it.
Sold by Amazon
Woodlink Audubon Light Brown Wooden Bat Shelter Model
This is a high-quality bat shelter made from cedar, and it comes with everything you need to mount it right out of the box. You can buy this bat house in packs of one, two, three or four, and each one offers space for up to 20 bats of certain breeds.
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Uncle Dunkels Batnip Bat House Attractant
This attractant is ammonia-free and biodegradable. It encourages bats to go to a bat house rather than your own. It comes with four ounces of attractant at a great price point, and the seller offers a 60-day money-back guarantee for effectiveness.
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Donaldson Farms Bat House Attractant
This attractant is made in the U.S. and comes with two ounces of spray. Spraying this attractant on a bat house or a nearby area where bats can nest can prevent them from returning to your house.
Sold by Amazon
Wildlife Control Supplies Batcone II Reusable Bat Exclusion Cone
This bat cone is another one-way exit for bats that you can use to encourage them to leave your property, using a small enough hole on the exit side that they won’t want to re-enter. This is another tool often used by pest specialists.
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AWF Pro Copper Mesh Material For Blocking Entry Points
This copper mesh material is what many pest-removal specialists suggest for sealing entry points. This pack comes with three rolls of 20-foot, 4-inch wide copper mesh material, meant for use in sealing off gardens or household ceilings and walls.
Sold by Amazon
Oiyeefo Steel Wool For Filling Holes In Walls, Attics, Roofs
In addition to copper mesh, some professionals use steel wool for filling holes in the ceiling, walls or roof. You can purchase this pack with either two or four rolls of steel wool, each of which is 10 feet long.
Sold by Amazon
Bonide Bat Magic Four-Pack Of Bat Repellent Scent Packs
These scented bat repellent packs use only natural ingredients such as peppermint and spearmint oil. Each pack is rated for use in an area of up to 150 square feet, and can easily be set near entrances, in attics or even tacked to walls.
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Enoz 20-Ounce Bag Of Moth Balls With No Clinging Odor
Moth balls are made with naphthalene, which repels bats and the insects and bugs they eat. This is a great solution for helping bats exit your house before you seal off entrances to avoid letting them come back.
Sold by Amazon
Bird B Gone Clear Swallow And Bat Shield
While these swallow shields are designed for birds, they can also be useful for preventing bats from nesting. These work especially well in attics, awnings and other open overhangs, and they’re so thin and visually low-key they’re almost invisible.
Sold by Amazon
Briidea Ultrasonic Pet- And Human-Safe Bat Removal System
This ultrasonic bat repellent projects sounds inaudible to humans and house pets while driving bats away from the area. This unit features three separate modes and only requires a power outlet to run, covering spaces up to 7,000 square feet.
Sold by Amazon
CleanRTH Advanced Ultrasonic Bat Repelling System
This unit has dual speakers producing varying ultrasonic sounds to target bats and their strong sense of hearing. It comes with multiple modes and is also unable to be heard by humans or house pets.
Sold by Amazon
Amico Three-Head LED Security Lights With Motion Sensors
Motion-sensor lights around potential entry points are another way some keep bats out of your home. This particular unit comes in white, black and brown.
Sold by Amazon
Sengled A19 Motion Sensor Light Bulbs
If you already have a light fixture, you can upgrade outdoor lights to become motion-sensor lights with these bulbs. This is a pack of two motion-activated bulbs that can help deter bats as they prefer to hunt in darkness.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/safety-security-br/its-almost-bat-season-heres-what-you-need-to-keep-the-bats-out-of-your-home/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:40 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/safety-security-br/its-almost-bat-season-heres-what-you-need-to-keep-the-bats-out-of-your-home/ |
HOUSTON — Over the past three days, Callie Clemens, her dog Giselle -- who is a fantastic puppy sniffer -- and a group of volunteers have been scouring storm drains near the Spring Branch area looking for dogs she says are trapped.
Why is she doing this?
"Because I can’t sleep knowing there are puppies in there going to die,” Clemens said.
Since the search effort started, the group has managed to save two of the lost litter. She said there are two others underground that she can still hear.
The volunteers have been using dog sounds on their phones in hopes that they can get some type of response from the remaining puppies.
“I know they’re still in there, I just think they’re further down," she said.
Volunteers spent Friday night searching after dark for the remaining litter, wading through nasty water and fighting through nests of cockroaches, looking for the lost puppies that they say they hear crying.
The group hopes it won't be too much longer before the puppies are found. | https://www.fox43.com/article/life/animals/houston-puppies-stuck-in-storm-drain/285-f8b32d33-edf3-4616-b137-ae7fd612ecb2 | 2023-07-31T09:55:41 | 1 | https://www.fox43.com/article/life/animals/houston-puppies-stuck-in-storm-drain/285-f8b32d33-edf3-4616-b137-ae7fd612ecb2 |
Highly experienced Corporate Financier and Business Builder Will Partner with René Obermann to Further Accelerate the Growth and Momentum of the Firm's European Business
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Warburg Pincus, a leading global growth investor, today announced the appointment of Andrew Sibbald as a Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe. Mr. Sibbald will work alongside veteran investor and current Co-Head of Europe, René Obermann, based in Berlin. Mr. Sibbald will succeed Adarsh Sarma, who will remain a Managing Director and Partner with the Firm, focusing on his existing portfolio. Jim Neary, Co-Head of U.S. Private Equity, will work closely with Andrew, René and the European team to support the firm's global strategy, portfolio management and new investments.
Based in London, Mr. Sibbald joins Warburg Pincus from Evercore, where he most recently served as Chairman and Senior Managing Director of Evercore's European investment banking business. He was previously the Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Lexicon Partners which was acquired by Evercore in 2011. With over 35 years of financial services experience, Mr. Sibbald has advised on many notable M&A and corporate finance transactions including recently: Arcmont on its sale to Nuveen; Global Risk Partners on its sale to Brown & Brown; and AA on its sale to Warburg Pincus and TowerBrook Capital.
"Andrew's impressive expertise and deep-rooted experience, particularly in Europe, advising leading companies on a variety of sophisticated transactions will serve our portfolio and investing teams well as we continue to navigate complex market dynamics," said Chip Kaye, CEO, Warburg Pincus. "We look forward to welcoming Andrew to Warburg Pincus and want to thank Adarsh for his 18+ years of service in the US and Europe," continued Jim Neary, Managing Director, Co-Head of U.S. Private Equity, Warburg Pincus.
"I have long admired the success and culture of Warburg Pincus and I'm thrilled to be joining the firm. I have enormous respect for René and look forward to working closely with him and the team in Europe to drive further positive momentum in the business here. Warburg Pincus has an incredibly strong reputation for creating effective partnerships with management teams all over the world to deliver sustainable value and growth, as well as attractive returns for its investors. I strongly believe that the firm's long established global platform together with its local networks and insights provide real advantages to the management teams and businesses that partner with us," said Andrew Sibbald.
Warburg Pincus is one of the leading private equity investors in Europe. Since the firm's first European transaction in 1983, the firm has invested more than $15B in over 130 companies in 23 European countries. The firm has one of the largest pools of available private equity capital in Europe and seeks to partner with management teams that are building, transforming or acquiring businesses with the potential to be market leaders with enduring value.
Prior to founding Lexicon Partners in 2000, Mr. Sibbald was a Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he led a team specializing in M&A in the financial institutions sector. He was previously a Partner in The Phoenix Partnership.
About Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global growth investor. The firm has more than $83 billion in assets under management. The firm's active portfolio of more than 250 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 21 private equity and 2 real estate funds, which have invested more than $112 billion in over 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information, please visit www.warburgpincus.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.
Contact
Kerrie Cohen | Managing Director, Head of Communications
T: +1 212 878 9207
E: kerrie.cohen@warburgpincus.com
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SOURCE Warburg Pincus | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/andrew-sibbald-joins-warburg-pincus-co-head-europe/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:41 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/andrew-sibbald-joins-warburg-pincus-co-head-europe/ |
BOWIE, Maryland — With back to school season right around the corner, you may be wondering is it too late to pursue a higher education? A 72-year-old woman from Maryland is proving it's never too late.
Diane Allen Tate went back to school at age 65, but kept her education journey a secret from even her family and friends for the last seven years.
In those years, Tate served as a primary caregiver for her mother while secretly balancing higher education classes online.
But now the secret is out of the bag--and Tate's family couldn't be prouder of her.
Tate graduated with honors and a PsyD in Behavioral Health Leadership from Walden University on Saturday.
This was the first time Tate attended an official graduation despite having an undergraduate and masters degree. She gradated Boston University in 1972 with a psychology degree. Three years later, she took home a masters degree in development psychology from Boston University. But because of the Vietnam War and her romantic pursuits, Tate was unable to walk across the stage.
Dr. Tate's family shared a few photos from the celebration, which they said they wanted to "make a big deal out of" since she kept it a secret for so long. | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/education/senior-citizen-receives-doctorate-keeps-education-secret-from-family/65-d1b76026-8705-42ba-a4d0-a6288ce7c023 | 2023-07-31T09:55:46 | 1 | https://www.fox43.com/article/news/education/senior-citizen-receives-doctorate-keeps-education-secret-from-family/65-d1b76026-8705-42ba-a4d0-a6288ce7c023 |
What do you need to start crocheting?
Crocheting is a calming activity you can do alone or with others. It provides you with a skill that gives you a creative edge and even promotes positive well-being, according to the National Institutes of Health.
If you want to start crocheting at home, put yarn, needles and several other supplies on your shopping list. You’ll be making quality, love-filled gifts for your friends and relatives in no time.
Shop this article: Lion Brand Landscapes Yarn, Be Craftee Best Crochet Hook Set and iBayam 2 Pack Tape Measure
What is crocheting?
Crocheting is a crafting skill that involves weaving yarn into patterns and designs. You use a hook to loop yarn and create colorful designs, clothing and blankets. With certain styles like amigurumi, you can even crochet stuffed animals from yarn.
How to make a slip knot
Most crochet patterns start with a slip knot, which is a specific kind of knot. You use this to attach to your hook to begin a new design.
- Create an arch using the tail end of your yarn ball, at least 4 to 6 inches from the end.
- Pinch the arch and twist it clockwise once, creating a loop.
- Spread the loop open with two fingers.
- Reach through the loop to pull the piece of yarn attached to the ball back through.
- Pinch the end of the loop with one hand and the ends with the other to tighten slightly.
- Put your hook through the loop and pull the yarn ends to tighten around the hook or needle.
What do you need to buy for crocheting?
To begin crocheting, you need yarn, a hook and scissors at a minimum. To be fully prepared, gather the supplies needed to develop your skill safely.
Yarn
An essential tool for crocheting, yarn comes in many colors and sizes. There are also multiple thicknesses of yarn. Beginners should try using a middle-level thickness.
This is quality acrylic yarn that is available in a variety of lively colors. You can machine wash anything you’ve created with warm water and lay it flat to dry.
Sold by Amazon
Crochet hook set
If you are a beginner, you may want to start with a crochet kit that includes all of your basic needs in a handy storage container.
Be Craftee Best Crochet Hook Set
This is a portable, full hook set ideal for beginners. It comes with soft grip hooks in multiple sizes and includes yarn needles, stitch markers, stitch holders, scissors, measuring tape, a ruler and a role counter.
Sold by Amazon
Tapestry needle
If you don’t purchase a kit or want to get extra needles, get some that will last. Metal needles are less likely to bend or break compared to plastic needles.
CuteDIY Yarn Darning Tapestry Needles
This is an eight-pack of yarn needles with curved tips. They have large eyes, are metal and come in multiple colors.
Sold by Amazon
Craft scissors
There are specific kinds of scissors designed for crafting. They can have serrated blades or flattened loops. Some crafting scissors are made with blunt blade tips to ensure kids can use them safely.
Karen Kay Buckley 6-Inch Perfect Scissors
The serrated blades help give you a more accurate cut by gripping the yarn. They have soft, plastic handles that make them easy to hold.
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Stitch markers
These are small clips that often look like large, colorful paper clips. They can easily clip into place to hold your spot or mark the beginnings or endings of a pattern.
Meikeer Crochet Stitch Markers
This 150-piece kit has stitch markers in 10 different colors. The package is easy to store with your other crochet supplies.
Sold by Amazon
Measuring tape
Many crochet projects require your materials to be measured. You can use a fabric ruler or any measuring tape you have available. The compact, retracting measuring tape has the benefit of staying organized in your kit.
A set of two measuring tapes with accurate, large and clear markings. One has a retract button in the center while the other is soft It is easy to read and operate.
Sold by Amazon
Swatch ruler
A swatch ruler has several purposes in crafting, including crochet. It helps to measure the smaller bits like the stitch patterns, needles and hooks.
This gauge has a 4-inch ruler with needle and hook sizes. It lists sizes in metric, U.S. and Japanese standards.
Sold by Amazon
Yarn storage
Keep your yarn neatly stored for easy access each time you get ready to pick up your craft. Yarn bowls, storage organizers, bags and boxes help to keep your things sorted when not in use.
This is a portable yard storage organizer ideal for any situation. It is a zippered bag with a long strap for easy transportation and several pockets for other supplies.
Sold by Amazon
Blocking mat
Blocking mats let you hold a safe space for your ongoing project. They are prickable board pieces that are customizable. Some have grid lines to let you outline your project more accurately.
This set of blocking mats includes grid lines and a carry bag. It includes T-pins and plenty of room to store yarn, swatches and other supplies.
Row counter
To keep track of your crochet rows, use a counter. There are manual and digital counters available to help you keep track of your pattern.
Koicaxy Digital Finger Counter
This is a small digital counter ideal for crochet. It comes in several colors and is easy to read or reset.
Sold by Amazon
Crochet book
There are a variety of books on the different aspects of crochet. Stitch pattern books can help you with new ideas and how-to books can help you learn the art of the slip knot. You can even find an assortment of amigurumi books that show you how to make adorable crocheted animals.
This is a popular book for beginners due to its clear instructions and pictures. It is a thin, spiral-bound book, which lets the pages lay flat while you follow the directions.
Sold by Amazon
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Erica Redding 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.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/sewing-craft-supplies-br/everything-you-need-to-start-crocheting-at-home/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:46 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/home-br/sewing-craft-supplies-br/everything-you-need-to-start-crocheting-at-home/ |
NEWARK, N.J. and NANJING, China, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Biosion USA, Inc. (Biosion), a global clinical-stage R&D biotechnology company, today announced the phase 2 study initiation for the evaluation of BSI-045B, an anti-TLSP mAb, in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) .
"We are pleased to have initiated this important Phase 2 trial, which brings us closer to delivering a new treatment option for patients with atopic dermatitis," said Hugh M. Davis, Ph.D. Chief Business and Development Officer & President, Biosion USA. "This marks another important clinical milestone for Biosion in our effort to develop more high value treatment options for patients."
The phase I study of BSI-045B demonstrated its potential to be a first-in-class treatment for AD due to its single dose activity in a cohort of AD patients, excellent PK and favorable safety profile. The phase II study is designed to assess the efficacy of BSI-045B as monotherapy as well as in combination therapy with Dupixent® to further increase therapeutic effectiveness for patients who are suffering from AD.
For additional information on this trial (NCT05114889), please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov
About BSI-045B
BSI-045B is a high-affinity, humanized monoclonal antibody, targeting thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), a cytokine that is implicated in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis, asthma and other eosinophilic and Th2 immune-related diseases. Biosion's collaboration partner - CTTQ, a China-based pharmaceutical company with rights to BSI-045B (TQC2731) for China development and commercialization, is currently conducting a Phase II clinical trial of BSI-045B in China for the treatment of severe uncontrolled asthma.
About Biosion
Biosion is a global, clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to developing antibody-based therapies to improve patient outcomes for the treatment of immune and oncologic diseases. Established in 2017, Biosion has built a pipeline of innovative biologics through its internally derived proprietary technologies including the H³ antibody discovery platform, SynTracer® high-throughput endocytosis platform, and Flexibody® bispecific platform. Biosion's lead asset, BSI-045B (anti-TSLP mAb), is currently in phase-II for severe asthma and phase-I for atopic dermatitis. Biosion and partners have plans to progress the immune-oncology and antibody drug conjugate-based portfolio into clinical trials for oncology indications over the next year. Biosion has operations in the US, Australia, and China.To learn more about Biosion, please go to www.biosion.com.
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SOURCE Biosion, Inc. | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/biosion-announces-phase-ii-study-start-anti-tslp-mab-bsi-045b-atopic-dermatitis-adamant/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:46 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/biosion-announces-phase-ii-study-start-anti-tslp-mab-bsi-045b-atopic-dermatitis-adamant/ |
PITTSBURGH — The Philadelphia Phillies designated Navy veteran Noah Song for assignment Saturday.
The 26-year-old right-handed pitcher was taken by the Phillies from Boston in the Rule 5 draft during the league's winter meetings in December with hopes he would play after completing his military service.
If Song clears waivers, Boston will have the option of taking him back to its organization.
Song reported to major league spring training on Feb. 23 after the Navy granted his transfer from active duty to the reserves. Song hadn’t pitched in a professional game since Aug. 29, 2019, for Class A Lowell.
Song went 1-0 with a 7.36 ERA in eight games in stints with three of Philadelphia’s minor league teams while on the major league injured list with a lower-back strain. Song’s 30-day rehab assignment ended this week, forcing the Phillies to decide whether to add him to the active roster or expose him to waivers and offer him back to the Red Sox if he is not claimed.
The Phillies are in the thick of the NL wild-card race and opted not to use a roster spot on a pitcher who had not pitched in any baseball game before this season since 2019.
“(The major-league coaching staff) hasn’t really seen him,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Song before his team played the Pirates on Saturday night. “We trust the people who have seen him and if they think it can work then we try to make it work. There just wasn’t enough there.”
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Song was picked from the Red Sox in the draft for unprotected minor league players. Philadelphia put him on the military list while he continued active duty. The Red Sox drafted Song in the fourth round — he likely would’ve gone much higher, but his impending military service caused teams to back off.
Song impressed in his only pro season, making seven starts for Boston’s Class A Lowell affiliate in 2019, with a 1.06 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 17 innings. With a fastball clocked in the upper 90s mph, he dominated that year as a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, going 11-1 with a 1.44 ERA and 161 strikeouts in 94 innings.
In November 2019, Defense Secretary Mark Esper signed a memo clearing the way for athletes at military academies to delay service commitments and play pro sports after graduation. Song’s request to have those rules retroactively applied to him was denied.
Song began school as a flight officer in the summer of 2020 and finished that phase last April. He started additional aviation training the next month. | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/baseball/phillies-designate-pitcher-noah-song-for-assignment/521-64244234-5f0c-4520-b592-f5c7fc9e8e50 | 2023-07-31T09:55:48 | 0 | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/baseball/phillies-designate-pitcher-noah-song-for-assignment/521-64244234-5f0c-4520-b592-f5c7fc9e8e50 |
LOGAN, Utah, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyrusher, the professional e-bike producer, will launch pre-sales of the Nitro, the company's first mid-motor model, in late-July. This is an ebike with great comfort and speed for your 2023 riding adventure. Riders will enjoy a pleasant and effortless ride on the Nitro, as well as greater power, speed and control compared to a hub motor electric bike.
The Nitro, appearing as the first mid-motor model, integrates design aesthetics, technological innovation and a variety of other factors to ensure riders have a pleasant and smooth riding experience that exceeds expectations.
An attractive aesthetic design style - three color options
The Nitro follows the color-rich design style of the Cyrusher models while incorporating its own design aesthetics, making it a colorful option for many riders. The Nitro has a color-blocking design that keeps the black color of the rear frame while varying the fork gradient colorways to create a unique frame style. The Nitro is available in three color options, black red, and blue, to suit different rider preferences.
The ultimate speed experience - the mid-motor configuration
There is no doubt that this mid-motor Nitro was developed to meet the needs of the rider. The highly effective mid-mounted motor, which has been improved to provide an unprecedented level of power, is the most significant addition to the updated Nitro. The utterly improved 1000W Bafang mid-drive motor makes the e-bike's ride feel more dynamic responding readily to the rider even at maximum speed. To optimise the bike's balance, the mid-mounted motor is incorporated directly into the pedals and cranks. This also results in more efficient power transmission from the motor and higher climbing ability and weight lifting capability.
In addition, unlike other hub motor categories, the Nitro delivers 160 Nm of torque power, offering more flexibility for speed variation and a genuinely powerful speed sensation.
Powerful energy supply - 48V 20Ah Samsung Li-battery
The battery that powers the mid-mounted engine on the Nitro is still as secure, water-resistant and durable as the usual model. In combination with the mid-motor's more efficient power transmission, the 48V 20Ah battery allows the bike to cover up to 85 miles with its reliable capacity. Along with extending the vehicle's lifespan and durability, it can efficiently charge up to 800 cycles, making it an extremely cost-effective option.
Safe braking capability - hydraulic brakes
To improve braking power, Nitro chose twin-piston calipers. The twin-piston calipers allow for a larger surface area of contact with the brake rotors which increases the friction when the brakes are applied. Hydraulic brakes enable quicker braking reactions and improved traffic safety. The extra engine cut-off feature ensures that the brakes can be applied quickly and effectively in the event of an emergency, providing an extra layer of safety and security. The Nitro helps the rider cycle freely on the road and stop easier, achieving a better balance between thrill and safety.
Solid road pioneering - puncture-resistant fat tires
Nitro, with a 26*4 fat tire, is developed to be a powerful means of transportation. Fat tires offer much better traction and cushioning than regular tires, allowing you to easily navigate through difficult terrains like sand and mud. Therefore, Nitro is a great tool for exploring the city and the outdoors, with the ability to twist and turn through crowded streets, climb steep slopes and ride along soft beaches. Besides providing stability on slippery surfaces, Nitro can handle higher speeds with less chance of blowouts.
The top comfort escort - front and rear air shock absorption
The powerful Nitro is a full suspension electric bike with front and rear air suspension, guaranteeing maximum comfort. It offers better cushioning than previous generations. The adjustable front and rear air suspension features the highest configuration, allowing it to take on more challenging terrain without sacrificing comfort. It offers 135mm of thread that can be adjusted separately for terrain variations, boosting the damping effect for an enjoyable riding experience.
Reliable load capacity - upgraded to 200kg load capacity
The Nitro was designed with a mid-motor that reduces the bike's center of gravity, giving it outstanding balance. This allows the bike to carry up to 200kg of cargo. Additionally, its high load capacity ensures that the bike's weight doesn't negatively impact its performance.
Smooth gear transport - Shimano 10-speed transmission
The drive system's reliability is essential in order to ensure that the Nitro will be able to take full advantage of its improved high torque capabilities. The Shimano transmission helps to reduce wear and tear on the chain, making it more durable and efficient. The 10-speed pedal assist mode option gives riders the flexibility to choose the speed setting that perfectly suits their needs, ensuring that the bike can be tailored to meet the requirements of any type of rider.
All the details are there - the accessories
The Nitro comes with its own Led front and rear tail lights which provide excellent illumination and make sure that the rider is able to ride in dimly lit conditions. And, the Nitro has an updated Bafang back-lit display that allows the rider to more clearly track data such as speed, battery life, range and pedal assist levels.
Reliable after-sales service
The Cyrusher team consistently prioritizes the customer's needs and provides them with outstanding service. The team is available for customer inquiries and feedback 24/7 and offers fast and efficient response times. A long-term guarantee with a two-year product warranty backs the Nitro. The reliable customer service demonstrates Cyrusher's commitment to customer satisfaction, giving Cyrusher a distinct competitive edge.
Price tag
Priced at $4499, the powerful Nitro opens up even more riding possibilities for riders. The Nitro is equipped with a powerful engine and advanced features such as an adjustable suspension and quick brakes. This makes it a great choice for riders looking for a performance-oriented ride. If you are interested in the powerful Nitro, you can find more details on the official website.
What is the significance of the development of a Nitro?
Sustainable energy solution for a greener planet
Cyrusher has always been committed to green and sustainable development, exporting green travel vehicles worldwide and launching high-quality electric mobility tools to support sustainable development. By developing Nitro, Cyrusher demonstrates its commitment to its original goal. Nitro is an innovative and powerful electric bike that offers riders the ultimate convenience, comfort and performance. The company is helping to reduce carbon footprints and support a green earth by encouraging more people to cycle.
Leading the industry to new heights
A healthy competitive relationship provides a favourable opportunity for the industry to upgrade and change. The Cyrusher e-bike has been designed to maintain its own unique characteristics while responding to the changing market trends and offering more competitive value-for-money models to meet the needs of cyclists of all ages and performance levels. The launch of the Nitro is Cyrusher's newest work in the mid-motor field. With high quality range, powerful running ability and ultimate comfort, it is undoubtedly the most competitive product of its kind. Cyrusher will keep improving its technology and services in the future to offer better value to more riders and set a new benchmark for the sector.
A constant insight into customer needs
The Nitro is based on the company's insights into user needs and changing industry standards. Cyrusher insists on being user-centred, with high-quality components that have been repeatedly researched, tested and polished over a long period of time. The Nitro integrates comfort, safety and stability to bring riders the ultimate rewarding experience beyond expectations. The Nitro can be used freely on any road and with the wind blowing gently in your face, you'll have a more comfortable and enjoyable riding experience. Cyrusher is always moving forward and making great strides.
About Cyrusher
Cyrusher is a reputable producer of electric bicycles for professionals that have been successfully marketed in more than 10 nations worldwide. The brand's electric bicycles pass rigorous international quality tests and meet CE, UL, Rhos and FCC requirements. Additionally, Australia, China, the EU, Japan, Korea and the USA have registered and approved the brand. An offline store test-ride service has also been introduced in a number of nations, including the USA, UK and France. Cyrusher will keep expanding its range of vehicles to satisfy the needs of more riders, offering a solution for zero-carbon, fast and convenient urban commuting.
Cyrusher Contact:
UK official website: www.cyrusher.co.uk
US official website: www.cyrusher.com
French official website: www.cyrusher.fr
German official website: www.cyrusher.de
Phone: 01134900889
Email: support@cyrusher.com
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SOURCE cyrusher | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:48 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ |
PITTSBURGH — Josh Palacios hit a two-run home run in the 10th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied twice from two runs down to beat the Phillies 6-4 on Sunday and clinch the three-game series.
With Jared Triolo on as the automatic runner, Palacios led off the 10th by driving a slider from Andrew Vasquez (2-1) 367 feet to right. He celebrated his 28th birthday with his second homer of the season as the Pirates (47-58) took two of three from the Phillies (56-49), who fell a half-game behind in the hunt for the third NL wild card.
Palacios, who went 3 for 5, is the first Pirates player to hit a walkoff home run on his birthday, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
“After I hit that ball, I think I blacked out,” Palacios said. “I don't know. I still might be blacked out right now. ... Best birthday I can ask for, aside for probably my first birthday, coming into this Earth.”
Alec Bohm singled to start the 10th for Philadelphia and went to second on a throwing error by Triolo, putting automatic runner Bryce Harper on third. Harper hesitated to run when Trea Turner flew out to right, ultimately charging home when catcher Endy Rodriguez threw to second with Bohm scrambling back to the base. Nick Gonzales’ throw back to Rodriguez beat Harper for the second out. Angel Perdomo (2-1) struck out Edmundo Sosa to end the threat.
“I’ve seen us play better, that’s for sure," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "We have to clean it up. We made some fundamental mistakes. ... We have to clean it all up and we will.”
With two outs in the seventh, Harper bounced a 2-2 pitch down the first-base line that kicked off the glove of Connor Joe, who attempted a diving stop at first. Backup catcher Garrett Stubbs scored to break a 2-2 tie before Bohm tacked on another run with an RBI single.
“When talent doesn’t play well or play smart, you get beat,” Harper said. "It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it’s still professional baseball.”
Bryan Reynolds cut the deficit to 4-3 on a single in the seventh, with Joe scoring on an error by rookie Johan Rojas in center. Triolo singled off Yunior Marte to start the eighth before advancing to third on Palacios’ double and scoring the tying run on a sacrifice to right from Nick Gonzales.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez did not allow a hit in five innings, lowering his ERA to 2.66 this season. The 26-year-old left-hander struck out three, walked two and hit three others before being pulled after 73 pitches (46 strikes) with an upset stomach.
“I had a little stomachache going on. I didn’t feel like I had much energy today," Sánchez said. "I think I did a good job. Even if I don’t feel well because I have something going on, I’m going to go out and compete.”
After Sánchez exited, Joe sent a leadoff single trickling through the right side of the infield off Seranthony Domínguez. Reynolds followed with his 12th home run of the season, belting a fastball 418 feet to right-center field to tie it 2-all.
“Our guys kept going,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We were getting no-hit through five. We get the base hit, Bryan gets the homer. We just continued to play and made good plays.”
Bohm had three RBIs, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead with a two-run homer in the fourth that went 396 feet to right-center field off a first-pitch changeup from Rich Hill, who gave up five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in five innings.
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Phillies: RHP Taijuan Walker (11-4, 4.06) will be called upon Monday to start a four-game road series against the Marlins. Walker is 0-1 in his past two starts since winning seven straight.
Pirates: RHP Johan Oviedo (4-11, 4.60) will take the mound Tuesday in the first of a two-game series against the Tigers. Oviedo has allowed one run in two of his past three starts after surrendering 13 combined his previous two outings. | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/baseball/pirates-phillies-series-score-result/521-5fc2a309-7807-47f2-b0df-86501173f45a | 2023-07-31T09:55:48 | 1 | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/baseball/pirates-phillies-series-score-result/521-5fc2a309-7807-47f2-b0df-86501173f45a |
Make your own pasta at home
Making pasta by hand looks impressive, but the truth is, homemade pasta is surprisingly simple to create. You can get started with just three ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen. Even if the only tools you have are a rolling pin and a chef’s knife, you can feed your family and friends a satisfying and delicious meal made entirely from scratch. All you’ll need is a recipe, a couple of hours, and just a little bit of practice.
Shop this article: Fox Run Polished Marble Rolling Pin with Wooden Cradle, Spring Chef Bench Scraper and OXO Good Grips 3-in-1 Egg Separator
Is homemade pasta better?
You won’t just get a sense of accomplishment from making your own pasta — it tastes better, too. Fresh pasta has a more tender texture and a more pronounced eggy flavor than commercial-dried pasta. The pasta’s springiness holds up equally well, whether it goes into lasagna or straight onto the plate with some butter. You can even try making pasta dough with unusual ingredients like spinach or saffron for an extra-special meal.
How to get started making pasta
Hamilton Beach Stack & Snap Food Processor
Making the pasta dough
There are as many fresh pasta recipes as there are people who make pasta, but to get started, it’s best to stick with a simple pasta dough that uses just a few ingredients: unbleached all-purpose flour, eggs, and a bit of salt.
If you want, you can use semolina durum flour, which is a more authentic pasta flour with a higher protein content and a coarser texture that helps sauces stick. However, if all-purpose flour is all you have in your pantry, it’ll turn into wonderful pasta.
Place 10 ounces of flour on a clean work surface and make a well. Add two eggs plus four egg yolks to the well and gently start incorporating the flour using a fork, gradually scraping in flour from the sides of the well. Switch to a bench scraper when it becomes too difficult to use a fork and mix until it’s fully combined by scraping and folding over the dough, turning it 45 degrees each time.
Kneading and rolling the pasta dough
You’ll know the dough is ready for kneading when it stops sticking to your hands and holds its shape when rolled into a ball. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until it’s smooth and satiny, then shape it into a ball. Let it rest, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 30 to 60 minutes to let gluten develop.
Use the bench scraper to cut the ball into four equal portions and cover them with a towel to keep them from drying out. Working with one portion at a time, roll out the dough into an oblong shape between a quarter-inch and half-inch thick.
Making pasta by hand vs. using a stand mixer
If your arms aren’t up to the task of all that kneading, you can use a powerful food processor or a stand mixer. Simply place all the ingredients in the work bowl and run the machine (using a dough hook if you’re using a stand mixer) until a large, smooth ball forms.
How to shape homemade pasta
CucinaPro Pasta Maker Deluxe Set
Making pasta shapes with a pasta machine
Roll out your dough by hand or use a pasta maker. Some pasta machines can create extruded shapes like penne, while others deliver smooth sheets and strands of lasagna or fettuccine. Following the manufacturer’s instructions for the type of pasta you want to make, feed your rolled-out dough between the rollers until it reaches the right thickness.
At this point, you can trim it by hand to make filled pasta or lasagna or run it through the pasta machine to cut it into strands. As the cut pasta strands emerge from the machine, carefully catch them, dust them with flour, shape them into nests, and keep them covered until you’re ready to cook or dry them.
A stand mixer offers another advantage here: after you’ve whipped up a batch of pasta dough in the bowl, use the mixer’s pasta-making attachment to roll out, cut, or shape pasta.
How to make filled pasta
For filled pasta, make sure your filling is relatively dry so you can seal up your pasta and avoid leaking or soggy dough. Avoid the temptation to overload your pasta — follow your recipe’s guidance for the amount of filling to use in each pasta shape.
Depending on the type of stuffed pasta you’re making, you can use a pasta stamp, a pastry wheel, biscuit cutters, or even a chef’s knife to create rounds or squares. Seal the pasta by brushing the edges with a little water, then using gentle pressure to close the shapes. Make sure the filling is fully enclosed and that no air is trapped inside.
How to cook homemade pasta
Weston Bamboo Pasta Drying Rack
Cooking fresh pasta
Homemade pasta cooks very quickly — depending on the shape, it will need only two to four minutes in boiling water, and slightly longer for stuffed pasta. Salt your cooking water generously to amplify your pasta’s flavor, especially if your dough recipe doesn’t call for salt. Serve it immediately.
How to dry fresh pasta
Alternatively, you can dry your uncooked pasta to serve at a future date. Leaving egg-based food out in the open can feel counterintuitive, but when properly dried and stored, there should be no moisture remaining to encourage bacteria.
Toss the pasta shapes in flour, then lay the strands in a single layer on a drying rack or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let the pasta dry uncovered and away from heat and sunlight, or use a food dehydrator for more consistency, especially if it’s a humid day. When the pasta snaps instead of bending, it’s ready for storage. Keep it in a dry, airtight container in your pantry or freezer.
FAQ
Q. How long does homemade pasta last?
A. Homemade pasta has a much shorter shelf life than commercially made pasta. Uncooked pasta can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for just one day. Properly dried homemade pasta can be stored in your pantry for up to six weeks. Alternatively, before you cut your pasta shapes, you can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to one month.
Q. What sauces go with homemade pasta?
A. How you serve your pasta may come down to personal preference, but the shape of the pasta is a contributing factor. Pair fettuccine or tagliatelle with a homemade alfredo sauce or pesto. Wider pasta like pappardelle is great with slow-simmered meat sauces. You can also highlight the flavor of your fresh pasta (especially ravioli) by simply tossing it in browned butter and high-quality Parmesan.
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/utensils-gadgets-br/how-to-make-homemade-pasta/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:53 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/kitchen-br/utensils-gadgets-br/how-to-make-homemade-pasta/ |
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tyler Kennedy is ready to embark on his MLB Journey.
The Midlands native and right handed pitcher was taken in the 19th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in this year's draft.
"Just overwhelmed with emotions because there has been a lot of sacrifice that has gone into this process." Kennedy said.
It wasn’t that long ago that Kennedy had zero college offers as a Sophomore at AC Flora before transferring to Georgia Premier Academy.
It was there that he hit his stride and earned a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh.
But things didn’t’ go as planned.
"I just kind of went through some freshman struggles, playing on the ACC level, it was just a lot to take in." Kennedy said.
After a disappointing freshman season at Pitt, Kennedy transferred to Florida Southwestern State, a Junior College.
This forced him to start from the bottom which added fuel to his fire.
"It fueled me a good bit because it forced me to come and prove myself and get back to what I was.” Kennedy said.
This past season, Kennedy did just that.
He threw a team high 59 strikeouts and was second on the team in wins.
Those numbers and a reshaped mindset led him right back to the city that he left one year ago.
"Once it settled in, I was like, that’s crazy I went to school there and now I got drafted by Pittsburgh.” Kennedy said.
As he did at Georgia Premiere and Florida Southwestern State, Kennedy is ready to work his way up the Pirate organization.
"They’re getting someone who is a workaholic and a great person, as well as a great ball player.” Kennedy said.
From JUCO to the MLB, Kennedy hopes his journey serves as inspiration.
"There was a time where I thought this isn’t it but I had a strong support system so I hope people get to see that life is not easy you just have to battle through it.” Kennedy said.
Kennedy has signed his contract and over-slot deal with the Pirates and is in Florida working with Pittsburgh's rookie level affiliate the FCL Pirates. | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/from-juco-to-the-mlb-tyler-kennedys-unique-journey-to-being-a-pittsburgh-pirate/101-6610460c-d3aa-42b5-8149-6dcb5060652d | 2023-07-31T09:55:54 | 0 | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/from-juco-to-the-mlb-tyler-kennedys-unique-journey-to-being-a-pittsburgh-pirate/101-6610460c-d3aa-42b5-8149-6dcb5060652d |
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China Digital Entertainment Congress commenced on Thursday alongside ChinaJoy, the country's largest gaming event. Lu Xiaoyin, Co-CEO and President of Perfect World Co., Ltd, as well as the CEO of Perfect World Games, was among the esteemed guests in attendance.
During his keynote speech, Lu emphasized the rapid development of the Chinese gaming industry, which has greatly benefited from the country's "digitalization" strategies. He highlighted the industry plays a crucial role in promoting digitalization across various sectors, including empowering the real economy, driving technological innovation, and preserving cultural heritage.
Lu lauded Chinese games for their exceptional ability to embody the essence of Chinese culture, offering a wealth of inspiration for game development. In line with this approach, Perfect World integrates elements of China's cultural heritage into its games. For instance, the company has artfully incorporated China's intangible cultural heritage, Suzhou embroidery, into its mobile game "Tower of Fantasy", and showcased the beauty of Chinese traditional opera Huangmei Opera in another mobile game "Zhuxian".
Lu highlighted the inseparable connection between technology and the gaming industry. Specifically, he emphasized the pivotal role of digital intelligence technologies like generative AI in optimizing game content creation and production methods.
Perfect World recognized the potential of AI technology several years ago and took significant steps by establishing an AI center. This center serves as a hub for applying AI across different production chains, including NPC creation, modeling, painting, and story development.
The gaming industry is driven by technologies like VR, AR, and AI, which inject vitality into the broader economy. Perfect World has collaborated with local governments and scenic spots to incorporate digital scenes into tourism to offer tourists a captivating experience.
Lu emphasized Perfect World is a R&D-oriented enterprise, with high-quality products serving as the cornerstone of the company's growth. The company focuses on two main categories: "MMO+" and "card+". On one hand, it upgrades classic MMORPG genres, introducing mobile games like "New Swordsman", "World of Jade Dynasty", "Fantasy New Jade Dynasty", and "Perfect New World". On the other hand, it creates games of different genres, such as "One Punch Man: World", "Persona 5: The Phantom X" and "Kai-Ri-Sei Million Arthur: Ring".
Additionally, Perfect World actively pursues the distribution of its games overseas, with "Tower of Fantasy" achieving remarkable success since its release in August 2022, and soon to be launched on PlayStation.
View original content to download multimedia:
SOURCE Perfect World | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:54 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ |
Can you fertilize a lawn in the summer?
Few things can add or detract as much from a home’s curb appeal as the landscaping, and your grass is a significant aspect of that. Healthy and well-manicured grass gives a home a welcoming feeling, while a dead or overgrown yard makes everything look unkempt.
Fertilizing is vital to keeping your lawn looking its best, but it must be done correctly and at the right time of the year. Many people often wonder if they can fertilize their yard in the summer. To clear up that confusion once and for all, we’ve put together this handy guide that covers everything you need to know.
Shop this article: Scott’s Natural Lawn Food, Scotts EdgeGuard Mini Broadcast Spreader and Flexzilla Garden Hose
What is the best time to fertilize your lawn?
You should be fertilizing your lawn at least twice a year. However, if you pick the wrong season or the wrong fertilizer, you can cause excessive weed growth or even burn the grass. Part of knowing when to fertilize your yard is about knowing what type of grass you have. You should fertilize your lawn when it is actively growing. If you have cool-season grass, early spring, when the temperatures are between 60-75 degrees is the optimal time for the first feeding.
Warm-season grasses tend to start sending up green shoots a bit later in the spring when the temperatures reach 80 degrees or higher. When you see this start happening, it’s time to sprinkle your fertilizer.
You should also fertilize both cool- and warm-season grasses in the fall. This helps ensure healthy roots during the winter months, which results in healthier, greener grass the following spring.
How often should you fertilize your lawn in the summer?
While the most important times to fertilize your lawn are the spring and fall, these shouldn’t necessarily be the only times. For both types of grasses, a second feeding should follow about six weeks after the first. Depending on the date of your first round of fertilizing, this might be very late spring or early summer. However, make sure to read the manufacturer’s guidelines on the fertilizer you use, as the recommended interval between feedings may be longer or shorter.
It is usually best to avoid fertilizing during the hottest months, but if you have to do it, make sure to use the correct fertilizer type.
Choosing the right fertilizer
Synthetic fertilizers come in slow- and fast-release formulas. In addition to the essential nutrients of nitrogen, potassium and phosphate, they may also contain calcium, magnesium, sulfur and other ingredients.
While synthetic fertilizers are a good choice for spring and fall use, you should avoid them during the summer. This is because they typically have a very high nutrient content and are likely to burn the grass.
Organic fertilizers are made from fish meal, compost, manure and other natural ingredients. It has a lower nutrient content, which makes it gentler and ideal for summer use. Organic fertilizer tends to break down slowly too, so it will continue feeding the grass for months after application.
Fertilizing your lawn in the summer heat
Prepare your yard in advance
To get the best results, mow your lawn a day or two before you plan on applying the fertilizer. This helps ensure the fertilizer spreads evenly and falls to the soil, rather than sitting atop the blades of grass where it can potentially burn them. After the mowing, heavily water your lawn to saturate the soil thoroughly.
Do it at the right time of day
Later afternoon or early evening is the best time to apply fertilizer. Never do it in the middle of the day under direct sun, or you may burn the grass.
Use the right equipment
It is essential to spread fertilizer evenly across the yard. Too little in one place, and it won’t grow as well as the rest of the lawn. Too much in one spot, and it can harm or even kill the grass. The best way to ensure an even spread is by using a broadcast spreader.
Water after fertilizing
After applying fertilizer, lightly water your lawn. This is to wash any fertilizer that may have landed on the blades of grass down to the soil. Make sure not to overly saturate the soil, though, as you want to give it some time to absorb the nutrients. If you water it too heavily, you run the risk of washing the fertilizer away.
What you need to buy for fertilizing
This all-natural fertilizer is safe to use around kids and pets and is suitable for all grass types and seasons. A single bag covers a 4000-square-foot lawn.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Scotts EdgeGuard Mini Broadcast Spreader
A reliable and reasonably-priced model, this broadcaster spreader is a good choice for many homeowners. It offers easy-to-use rate control and doesn’t require any assembly.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Scotts Wizz Hand-held Spreader
If your yard is too small for a wheeled broadcast spreader, or you simply find a handheld model to be more convenient, the Wizz is a suitable option. It is lightweight and features 23 flow-rate settings.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
The Flexzilla garden hose comes in several lengths ranging from 10-100 feet, so there is certainly one that will perfectly fit your needs. It retains its flexibility in all weather conditions and has a rugged build that should last through many seasons.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Test Kit for Soil
Though unnecessary for fertilizing your lawn, having a soil test kit like this is a brilliant idea. It helps you identify what nutrients your soil is lacking, or has an excess of, so you can make sure to buy the right fertilizer.
Where to buy: Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/fertilizers-br/should-i-fertilize-my-lawn-in-the-summer/ | 2023-07-31T09:55:59 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/fertilizers-br/should-i-fertilize-my-lawn-in-the-summer/ |
ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. — Some people frown when presented with handicapped shows, but if the racing surface is on point, it can bring on quite the event.
At Lincoln Speedway, the Pigeon Hills were rocking all Saturday night.
They used an Australian scramble, one versus one, to figure out the top 12 starting positions in the A-Main.
It was a two-lap shoot-out, starting at the flag stand, and whoever won stayed alive and stayed out on the track, able to improve their starting position. However, whoever lost the battle was knocked out and kept their same starting position.
The most invigorating battle was between Danny Dietrich and Freddie Rahmer. Rahmer lead going into turn one, but Dietrich ultimately passed him in turns three and four, while managing to keep the lead to the finish.
After bringing out the red in the heat race action, Chase Dietz and the team got right to work.
After a wire snapped and needed to be reconnected to turn on some of the front stretch lights, there was an open red while repairs were made to the track. The team made it back out to finish the final two laps of the heat race, just before Dietz went on to win the B-Main and finish eighth in the feature.
Dietrich was running away with it until the caution flag flew with five laps left, which put Rahmer right in striking distance.
With two laps left, Rahmer was able to squeeze beside the rail, allowing him easy access to sneak in front of Dietrich; this race continued Rahmer's streak as the winningest driver as he picked up his ninth win at Lincoln this season!
In the 358 feature, Frank Herr jetted to the front to lead every lap, quickly landing himself in the victory lane.
With the potential of stormy weather in the area on Friday night, many tracks were forced to cancel. Fortunately, Williams Grove had a quick shower early in the day and was able to let the racing commence.
There was a dangerous moment when TJ Stutts and Justin Whittall touched wheels during the race, which caused Stutts to go tumbling into turn one as Whittall went over the wall and into a tree, outside the race track.
Whittall was able to get out from underneath the crash and was then taken on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital. The team announced he was released from the hospital with minor injuries around 3 a.m. Saturday morning.
Steve Buckwalter paced the field; he wired the field for his 13th career win at the track, but the 358 feature stole the show.
The race gave quite the show during its final laps. From seventh, Cody Hartlaub slid Zach Newlin for the lead. In the next corner, Newlin got Hartlaub back for his second feature win at the Grove.
One door closes, another one opens
More news when it comes to seat changes: Kreitz Racing has found their driver for the Speed Palace, just a week after parting ways with Lance Dewease last Sunday.
Logan Wagner left the Zemco No. 1 to race for Donny Kreitz Jr. Wagner is set to race the rest of the Port Royal schedule in the No. 69k. Kreitz expressed that they are still waiting to announce who will race the National Open at Williams Grove.
Wagner is the only driver with five consecutive track championships at the Speed Palace. He was racing a limited schedule at Port Royal this season and just won a feature with his former team at the track on July 15.
There hasn't been confirmation on who will be the next driver to jump in the Zemco car.
Living Like Outlaws program
Tytan Deal is a member of the Hummelstown junior firefighter program, but that’s not all he does; he has a need for speed as a racer.
He’s been brought into the national spotlight by being involved in a program called "Living Like Outlaws."
Most Friday nights, you can find Deal racing at Linda’s Speedway in Lebanon County. This is nothing new for the driver, as he has been racing for five years, moving up from quarter midgets to all-star slingshots.
When he’s not training to be a junior firefighter, he’s living out his dream on the track.
“It’s good to see the kids grow here, at the firehouse, as well as now racing. He’s one of three racers we have in the department," said Steve Kienzle, Hummelstown Chemical Fire Chief.
Deal is one of 15 young drivers participating in the "Living Like Outlaws" program.
“It’s one big family. It’s a hobby that’s expensive but you just get hooked to it really easily,” Deal expressed.
Linda’s is a track World of Outlaws employee Wes Irwin remembers fondly; it’s the track he began racing.
For nine months out of the year, Fredricksburg’s Wes Irwin is on the road with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.
He’s in his sixth season running the Outlaws souvenir trailer and pretty quickly into it, he knew he wanted to do more.
“I thought, man, I have this opportunity to be in front of a lot of people, thanks to the World of Outlaws," said Irwin. "So, they gave me a big stage to personally perform from. Why not share the experiences, places to visit and track to see with fans. A little more of an inside look."
And since then, he’s grown his platform to more than 23,000 followers. During it all, that’s when the idea of launching the "Living Like Outlaws" program was born.
Eight girls and seven boys ages 9-18 from all over the country, from flat karts to 305 sprint cars and everything in between, are in the program.
Irwin shares his platform with the young drivers that have a unique story as they try to grow a name for themselves.
“[I'm] excited because I knew he wants me to get somewhere, in my racing career and not just stay in these cars," said Deal.
“These kids are rock stars," said Irwin. "If we don’t have kids like Tytan, there [are] no firefighters later in life and that’s not good. We need them to be race car drivers and we need them to be firefighters and those are the kids I like to represent."
The platform helps the kids with their communications skills while increasing their online presence and opening doors to possible sponsors.
“I know a few of them have gotten sponsors from doing videos on my page, which is really cool when you think about it at the end of the day," said Irwin. "It was just one of those things, why not share my page? These kids are our future and we want to keep these kids into racing. All my kids, and I call them my kids, are very unique people and are very goal driven and do a lot of things outside of racing." | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/sunday-frenzy/freddie-rahmer-lincoln-speedway-fast-lane-williams-grove-steve-buckwalter-410-sprint-car-dirt-track-racing-pa-posse/521-0c21c0a3-fdaa-40aa-8cd8-cdb6cc6b2c84 | 2023-07-31T09:56:01 | 0 | https://www.fox43.com/article/sports/sunday-frenzy/freddie-rahmer-lincoln-speedway-fast-lane-williams-grove-steve-buckwalter-410-sprint-car-dirt-track-racing-pa-posse/521-0c21c0a3-fdaa-40aa-8cd8-cdb6cc6b2c84 |
- Back to Hogwarts returns on 1st September, inviting Harry Potter fans from all over the world to mark the moment the Hogwarts Express departs from King's Cross for the start of term
- Fans can join themed events, watch parties, digital and real-life celebrations that promise to be bigger and better than ever
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, on Harry Potter's birthday, Wizarding World announces the return of its Back to Hogwarts celebrations, alongside a search for the UK's most enthusiastic Harry Potter fan to lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
The Harry Potter books, written by J.K. Rowling have had a huge impact on fans around the globe, having sold over 600 million copies worldwide, been distributed in more than 200 territories and translated into over 85 languages since they were first published by Bloomsbury and Scholastic 25 years ago.
Beginning as a fan celebration, Back to Hogwarts is recognised as one of the biggest days in any Harry Potter fan's calendar – marking the moment when students would board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dressed in their finest cosplay, thousands of fans make the trip to London's King's Cross station each year and more come together online to raise their wands for the countdown and share their love of the stories.
Bringing Gryffindors, Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs together, this year celebrations are bigger than ever with the launch of a UK competition for one lucky fan between age five and seventeen years old to get the chance to travel to King's Cross and help host the countdown on 1st September. The competition is live and young wizards and witches wishing to enter can submit a video of their best countdown online (via a parent or guardian) by 11.59pm on 7th August.
The magic doesn't stop there! This lucky winner (plus a parent or guardian) will get the chance to pack their trunks once again to come back to the capital with a complete package of Harry Potter experiences. The ultimate Harry Potter London Breaks Experience gives this fan the opportunity to discover the filmmaking magic of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter and see the critically acclaimed stage production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. To top it off, the winner will receive an incredible merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop. Full details on prize entry can be found here.
Until 3rd September an array of magical experiences awaits at King's Cross as fans get the chance to sip on Butterbeer, play Hogwarts Legacy on PlayStation®5 courtesy of Warner Bros. Games, and enjoy LEGO® Harry Potter giveaways and photo opportunities. Additionally, in celebration of the publication of The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, fans will also be able to spin Bloomsbury's giant wand spinner and find out whose wand they are best suited to, with free gifts up for grabs for those taking part.
Festivities aren't contained to the station… why not relive the movie magic on the big screen? Theatres around the world will be putting on special Harry Potter screenings for Back to Hogwarts. In the UK, Everyman will screen all eight films at Everyman Kings Cross and select Harry Potter movies at their cinemas nationwide. ODEON will present Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets nationwide over the course of the weekend. US fans can get their fix at Cinemark where more than 250 theatres will be showing an exclusive re-release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Parts 1&2. Down Under? Join in the fun at 15 locations of Village Cinemas across Victoria, Australia as they host screenings of the final two Deathly Hallows films in the iconic series. Further theatres and locations will be announced soon, including screenings in Barcelona and Madrid.
Pam Lifford, President, Global Brands, Franchises and Experiences, at Warner Bros. Discovery, said: "Back to Hogwarts is a day cherished by Harry Potter fans of all ages, from all over the world. Just like their passion for the magic of the stories, their celebrations grow every year! 2023 is set to be a year like no other – we will see fan world record attempts in Germany, high octane quiz competitions in France and of course, the UK's search to find the perfect person to join that amazing countdown. We are so proud to offer new and exciting ways to bring fans together and give them new ways to celebrate the Harry Potter magic – there's nothing quite like Back To Hogwarts!"
Check out Wizarding World Digital at www.wizardingworld.com for all the Back to Hogwarts updates, including the latest UK activity and info on what's happening in Italy, Germany, France, Japan, China and more. Look out for news too on how to get involved with Harry Potter Watch Parties (MAX US subscribers will be able to join and watch-along on 1st September) and when to tune into the Back to Hogwarts Digital Showcase.
Join the global community of millions of members following the fun on social and don't forget to sign up to the Harry Potter Fan Club!
Website: www.wizardingworld.com/harry-potter-fan-club.
Instagram: @wizardingworld https://www.instagram.com/wizardingworld/?hl=en
Hashtag: #BacktoHogwarts
About The Wizarding World
In the years since Harry Potter was whisked from King's Cross station onto Platform nine and three quarters, his incredible adventures have left a unique and lasting mark on popular culture. Eight blockbuster Harry Potter films based on the original stories by J.K. Rowling have brought the magical stories to life and today, the Wizarding World is recognised as one of the world's best-loved brands.
Representing a vast interconnected universe, it also includes three epic Fantastic Beasts films, Harry Potter & The Cursed Child – the multi-award-winning stage-play, state-of-the-art video and mobile games from Portkey Games, innovative consumer products, thrilling live entertainment (including four theme park lands) and insightful exhibitions, as well as a forthcoming Harry Potter TV series.
This expanding portfolio of Warner Bros. Discovery owned Wizarding World experiences also includes Harry Potter New York – the iconic flagship store, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo, and the Harry Potter Shop online and retail shops.
The Wizarding World continues to evolve to provide Harry Potter fans with fresh and exciting ways to engage. For the worldwide fan community, and for generations to come, it welcomes everyone in to explore and discover the magic for themselves.
About Back to Hogwarts
On 1st September, fans from all generations and corners of the globe come together to celebrate a very special day in the wizarding world calendar: Back to Hogwarts. Having started as an organic fan celebration many years ago, today Back to Hogwarts is an annual tradition recognised as one of the biggest moments in the Harry Potter fan's calendar when wizards and witches board the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9 ¾ for a year of magical adventure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a unique celebration, each year fans come together online and in real life to celebrate the magic of these beloved stories and unite with their community.
UK Activity - About The Competition
Parents and guardians can enter their child by 7th August to help lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown at 11.00am on 1st September 2023 at King's Cross station and win a bundle of Harry Potter prizes.
The Wizarding World is searching for an enthusiastic, confident young fan to lead all the young wizards, witches and Muggles in the countdown moment. For the opportunity to lead the countdown, the parent or guardian of the applicant must send a video lasting no longer than 20 seconds, counting down from ten, showing how they would lead the Hogwarts Express' departure countdown.
Entrants must be based in the UK and Northern Ireland, aged between 5 and 17 years old, and details for entering the competition are detailed at https://www.wizardingworld.com/terms/back-to-hogwarts-2023-uk-countdown-competition-terms
Entries must be sent via email to BackToHogwarts@premiercomms.com and must be sent via a file sharing platform such as WeTransfer or DropBox.
The opportunity to enter opened at 12.00am on 31st July and will close at 11.59pm on 7th August. The successful applicant will be informed by 18th August.
The Competition Prize
- Lead the fans in a countdown at 11.00am BST to launch the Hogwarts Express announcement on 1st September 2023
- First to enter Back to Hogwarts fan zone at King's Cross station
- Wizarding World London Breaks - Ultimate Experience: 1 nights' accommodation, 2x tickets to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, 2x tickets for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for winner and one parent/guardian – to be redeemed at a later date
- A Wizarding World merchandise bundle from the Harry Potter Shop
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SOURCE Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:01 | 1 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ |
Become a lawn master
Knowing how to plant a new lawn is a useful skill to have, no matter if you’re moving into a new house, sprucing up your current one, or you just want to develop your green thumb. A lush green lawn is often the first thing people notice about your home, and well-manicured grass can greatly increase the value of your property. With a few personal touches, you can make it your own.
While it may seem like a daunting task at first, planting or renovating your lawn is relatively simple when broken down into a few easy-to-follow steps.
Shop this article: Tillers, Fertilizers and Lawn Rollers
Sod vs. seed
First, you must decide whether you want to use grass seed or sod on your lawn.
Let’s start with sod, as grass seed is relatively self-explanatory. Sod, also known as instant lawn or turf grass, is rolled grass that offers several benefits over grass seed. The most obvious is that it’s much faster to establish and gives the look of a finished lawn instantly. In addition, quality sod has few or no weed seeds present, which can save major headaches (and backaches) down the road. Also, because it’s heartier than young grass, sod can be installed nearly any time of year, so long as the ground isn’t frozen or exposed to extreme heat. However, it’s not without disadvantages.
Due to its convenience, sod is initially more expensive than grass seed and requires labor to install. Your grass choices are restricted as well, because most sod farmers grow their products in full sun. That means if your lawn is shaded by houses or large trees, sod may not thrive as well as seed designed for those environments. Shade blend sod is available in some areas, but it’s not always easy to find.
By contrast, grass seed is simpler, cheaper, less labor-intensive at the onset, and offers more choice when it comes to grass variety. It requires more consistent maintenance, though, and the chance for weed contamination is higher. Perhaps the most notable drawback is this method has a defined window for success, as extreme temperatures can lead to patchy results or complete seed failure.
How to prepare lawn for new grass
No matter which method you choose to grow your new lawn, the initial preparation is relatively consistent. Follow these steps:
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First, remove debris and any existing vegetation, i.e. weeds and grass. You can do this physically, with a flame torch, using a home remedy, or with a non-selective herbicide. If you use chemicals, remember to wait for the compounds to become inert before planting (check product labels for this info).
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Repeat the first step, till the soil, and check it again to make sure all remaining seeds are gone. Doing this will ensure a weed-free lawn in the long term.
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Once the area is free of vegetation, you are ready to plant.
How to plant a lawn with sod
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Till the first two inches of soil with a tiller or rake. If needed, add seeding soil to the top of your existing soil.
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Level soil. Any dips or bumps could stay there for years and can look unsightly.
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If you do not use seeding soil (these generally have starter fertilizer mixed in), apply a starter fertilizer, water, and till in.
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Roll out sod. Keep edges snug against each other but don’t overlap them.
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Use a lawn roller to smooth out and firm the sod, connecting it with the ground below and facilitating root contact. Keep sod moist for the first two weeks after application to further assist root growth.
How to plant a lawn with seed
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Till the first two inches of soil with a tiller or rake. If needed, add seeding soil to the top of your existing soil.
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Level soil. Any dips or bumps could stay there for years and can look unsightly.
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If you do not use seeding soil (these generally have starter fertilizer mixed in), apply a starter fertilizer, water, and till in.
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Divide your seed into two equal portions. Spread one half going one direction, with the other half going at a right angle in the other direction. This crisscross pattern guarantees even coverage across your lawn. For higher accuracy, use a drop spreader.
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Tamp seed down with a lawn roller. For added protection, cover the seeds with 1/4 inch of peat moss or compost. This prevents the seeds from washing away, stops birds from eating them, and also holds in moisture.
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Gently soak the soil about six inches deep after seeding, and keep the seeds moist until grass has germinated. This should take approximately two weeks. Continue to lightly water three to four times a day until the grass is about a half-inch high, then maintain as normal.
How to take care of new grass
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A watering rule of thumb: Once the grass is high enough to mow, water at approximately one inch per week.
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Water your lawn early in the morning. Doing it at night keeps the water stagnant, which raises the risk for mold and fungus, and watering midday increases evaporation risk. In addition, water deeply and infrequently as opposed to lightly and more often, as this improves root health.
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Keep your mower blades sharp, and don’t cut more than a third of the grass blade at a time to prevent shocking the grass.
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Fertilize every four to six weeks with lawn fertilizer.
Lawn care shopping list
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Planting a new lawn is incredibly rewarding, but it takes a toll on your hands. Invest in some high-quality gardening gloves to stay safe from thorns, sharp sticks, sunlight, and abrasions.
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A sturdy rake or cultivator will help you till your lawn before planting. This is a necessary step to remove unwanted vegetation, loosen up dirt, and aerate the soil.
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A lawn roller is the most efficient way to both tamp down new grass seeds and secure sod to the soil below. Fill your lawn roller with water if more weight is needed to finish the job. Choose between tow models that hook up to powered equipment or simple push/pull versions.
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Drop spreaders are extremely helpful in evenly distributing grass seed over an area. Available in rolling and handheld versions, these spreaders are adjustable for different drop rates. Great for grass seed or fertilizer!
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Fertilizer is necessary to keep a lawn healthy and full. Lawn fertilizers are typically rich in nitrogen, which is very water-soluble and promotes green, leafy growth.
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Your lawn won’t survive without water, and an adjustable rotating sprinkler helps it stay irrigated at the seedling stage as well as when it’s fully developed. Interested in even more control? Consider a multi-zone irrigation controller.
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/lawn-care-br/how-to-plant-a-new-lawn/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:05 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/lawn-care-br/how-to-plant-a-new-lawn/ |
BlackBerry QNX and BlackBerry IVY to serve as the software foundation for alliance's EV projects
WATERLOO, ON and TAIPEI, Taiwan, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) today announced that the Mobility in Harmony (MIH) Consortium, a Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd, (Foxconn)-initiated group, that seeks to create an open ecosystem to transform and accelerate innovation within the electric vehicle industry, has selected BlackBerry to provide the foundation for its next-generation platform.
MIH will use a range of BlackBerry software and services to serve as the safe and secure software foundation for the consortium's open and agnostic electric vehicle platform with a unique modular design approach. Project X, one of the MIH EV projects, will be a single-row three-seater geared towards Asian consumers, and is set to be unveiled in Japan in late 2023. MIH will also release six-seater and nine-seater vehicle platforms in the coming years to provide more vehicle segment choices, and to enable greater innovation.
As part of the agreement, MIH will utilize the company's trusted, safety-certified BlackBerry® QNX® product portfolio and award-winning cloud-connected, automotive AI platform, BlackBerry IVY™, including QNX Software Development Platform (SDP 7.1) licenses, QNX middleware technologies, as well as engineering professional services for system-level integration, performance optimization, and solution validation.
"MIH is committed to driving an open and agnostic ecosystem, with a focus that goes beyond just electric vehicles. Our ambition lies in crafting intelligent user experiences that enhance smart living and redefine the future of mobility and green logistics. BlackBerry's alignment with MIH's vision makes them the perfect partner for our goals. We anticipate deeper collaboration to realize our shared vision to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry and we're thrilled about our partnership with BlackBerry," said Jack Cheng, Chief Executive Officer at MIH Consortium.
Mattias Eriksson, President, BlackBerry IoT commented: "The Foxconn-led MIH Consortium has articulated an ambitious and compelling vision focused on accelerating innovation in the EV ecosystem. As the leading foundational software for the intelligent edge, BlackBerry QNX helps our customers and partners turbocharge their software development efforts. Companies all over the world, deploy BlackBerry's high-performance, safe and secure foundational software to allow their own internal resources to focus on layers higher up in the software stack. They trust us for the 'plumbing,' so they can confidently dedicate their work to software directly impacting their customers' experiences. This accelerates development, improves safety and security, while reducing overall costs. We are excited to join the MIH consortium and look forward to helping them execute on their vision of transforming the overall EV industry."
For more information about the MIH Consortium please visit: MIH | Mobility in Harmony (mih-ev.org).
For more information on how BlackBerry QNX can help with building the safe and secure vehicles of tomorrow, please visit: BlackBerry.QNX.com.
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including over 235M vehicles. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint management, endpoint security, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry's vision is clear - to secure a connected future you can trust.
For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.
Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.
About MIH Consortium
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), a global leader in smart manufacturing, introduced MIH, its software and hardware open platform for EVs, in 2020 and initiated the formation of the MIH Consortium in 2021. Foxconn aims to position MIH as the "Android system of the EV industry." Foxconn is inviting automakers, manufacturers, and supply chain partners to join the MIH to collaborate. MIH's mission is to lower barriers to entry into the EV industry, accelerate innovation, and shorten development cycles by realizing key technologies and developing reference designs and standards. Currently, the MIH has more than 2,600 members.
For More: https://www.mih-ev.org/
Media Contacts:
BlackBerry Media Relations
+1 (519) 597-7273
mediarelations@BlackBerry.com
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SOURCE BlackBerry Limited | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:07 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ |
Tips and tricks for protecting your home from the elements
If you like learning new skills and having a to-do list that never ends, there’s no better investment than purchasing a home. But becoming a homeowner isn’t just the biggest financial commitment you’ll ever make, it’s also a pledge to take care of something, for better or worse, as long as you both shall live. Or at least until you decide it’s time to move.
Along with the bills, repairs, and perpetual upkeep, one of the biggest tasks you face as a homeowner is your never-ending battle with Mother Nature. Just when you think you’ve reshingled your last roof and can rest easy when it comes to leaks, you find a small pond in the basement after the latest storm. This list will walk you through everything you need to know in order to best protect your home from the elements.
But first, it’s important to review your insurance policy so you are aware of what is and isn’t covered. Your homeowner’s insurance policy might not cover floods and damage caused by the elements. Take a few minutes, read over your policy, call your agent and make the needed changes to get the peace of mind you deserve.
Shop this article: Tempera 9′ Outdoor Market Patio Table Umbrella, Deconovo Blackout Curtains and Jegs 3-Drawer Toolbox
What are the elements?
It’s not just water — which causes mold and rot — that you have to worry about. Wind, snow, hail, cold and heat can also do substantial damage to your home. Here are just a few examples of the havoc the elements can wreak on your home.
Wind
A gentle breeze is refreshing, but a gale-force wind? Anything over 50 or 60 mph can be devastating. From hurling projectiles and prying loose shingles to stripping away siding and shearing off the entire roof, strong winds can dismantle a house in a matter of minutes.
Snow
It’s pristine, and it twinkles as if infused by magic. Snow is beautiful. But it’s also heavy. On average, a square foot of snow weighs a little over 12 pounds. If you have a house that’s 2,000 square feet and it snows 12 inches, that’s roughly an extra 24,000 pounds — 12 tons — on your roof. See how this could cause a little trouble? Especially if the snow is resting on large tree branches or that evergreen that’s already leaning toward your house.
Hail
Hail is Mother Nature’s mischievous child. They enjoy causing trouble. Got cracked shingles? Divots in the lawn? Broken windows? Dents in your car? Damaged outdoor furniture? You’ve got hail!
Cold
Cold is the silent destroyer of homes. If you’ve ever had a pipe burst, you already know this. But beyond that, cold can create ice dams in your gutters that force water beneath your shingles, thereby ruining the items under your roof. And if water gets into any tiny crack, be it in your driveway or your foundation, it will expand when it freezes, turning that tiny crack into a crevasse.
Heat
Excessive moist heat can warp hardwood floors and accelerate deterioration in other areas, such as your attic and roof. Excessive dry heat can suck the moisture out of the ground, making it shrink and taking away some much-needed support from your home’s foundation.
Best strategies for keeping your home safe
Indeed, the elements can be devastating to your home. Thankfully, there are a number of quick and easy things you can do to protect it from the elements. Following is a list of the best (and most effortless) strategies.
Strategy 1: Bring items inside
Tempera 9′ Outdoor Market Patio Table Umbrella
Lawn chairs, watering cans, bicycles, scooters, patio umbrellas, and other loose items that you keep outside need to be brought inside before a storm. After all, the wind can turn anything that’s not fastened down into a destructive projectile.
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Strategy 2: Close the curtains
If anything flies into your window during a storm, having your blinds drawn and your drapes closed can help block some of the broken glass and other debris from entering your home.
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Strategy 3: Use your garage
If you don’t want dings in your car, put your vehicle in the garage before all hail breaks loose — along with anything else that could be damaged should the sky begin to pelt ice at your property. If your garage is full of clutter, however, this might not be as simple as it is supposed to be. Take time to organize and store your tools before the storm, and you could be thanking yourself later.
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Strategy 4: Rake the roof
When snow piles up on your house, it can get beneath your shingles as it melts, damaging your roof. When it’s safe to do so, grab a roof rake and clear your roof so melting snow can flow away without much damage. Note: always leave a thin layer of snow on your roof, because too much scraping could damage your shingles.
Strategy 5: Seal your driveway
Those tiny cracks in your driveway become bigger cracks when they fill with water which then freezes. Be proactive and seal your driveway — or at the very least, fill those cracks in with gravel — before winter arrives.
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Strategy 6: Run a dehumidifier
All that humidity in the summer can really mess with the wood in your house. It can also make everything feel quite sticky. To remedy the situation (and save your hardwood floors), turn on a dehumidifier and let it work its magic.
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Strategy 7: Use a sprinkler
During those hot, rainless periods of summer when the ground dries up and pulls away from your house, weakening its foundation, don’t fret. Instead, turn on your sprinkler and put some moisture back into the soil. Don’t add too much, though, because excess water near your home’s foundation has a way of seeping into your basement or crawlspace.
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Extra tips for protecting your home from weather damage
The following tips involve a little more than a quick fix, but they are much cheaper than full-blown repairs.
Anchor down your large items
If you have a storage shed, a grill, trash cans, or any large item that doesn’t have a permanent foundation or isn’t securely fastened, anchor it down. You can use straps, anchors, or bolts. In strong winds, this will help minimize dangerous projectiles. In a flood, it will help keep your valuables from drifting away.
Remove trees that pose a threat
Rain can make the ground soggy, allowing trees to lean. Once tilted, wet snow or strong winds can be all it takes to topple even the mightiest oak. Consider having any trees within striking distance of your home taken down before the next storm.
Bring in the reinforcements
A home is only as safe as its weakest spots. If you live in an area prone to severe weather, you need to do something about those spots. Get a professional out to reinforce your garage door, and consider installing storm shutters over your windows and glass doors.
The elements can be brutal on your home. From minor inconveniences to major repairs, Mother Nature really knows how to dish out the damage. But you aren’t helpless. Your best defense is a strong offense. Stay vigilant, smart, and proactive, and your home will be able to weather any storm.
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/tools-br-lawn-garden-br/safety-equipment-br/how-to-protect-your-home-from-harsh-weather/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:12 | 0 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/lawn-garden-br/tools-br-lawn-garden-br/safety-equipment-br/how-to-protect-your-home-from-harsh-weather/ |
HOUSTON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nutex Health Inc. ("Nutex Health" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: NUTX), a physician-led, technology-enabled integrated healthcare delivery system comprised of 21 state-of-the-art micro hospitals in 8 states and primary care-centric, risk-bearing physician networks, today announced that its Clinigence Health advanced population health analytics platform has been selected by Varmed Management, a Puerto Rico-based medical management company, to enhance its population health capabilities and patient care.
Clinigence Health's partnership with Varmed Management honors the company's commitment to improving quality of life and health outcomes through implementing advanced analytics and cutting-edge technology. Together, they aim to deliver unparalleled solutions to patients, ensuring seamless, whole-person care while reducing costs.
Clinigence Health is thrilled to assist Varmed Management in its mission. Sophisticated population health management requires a platform like Clinigence Health that helps organizations enhance the care delivered to their patients by identifying opportunities to engage its physicians and its patients with data to drive continued quality improvement.
"The partnership creates an environment where high-quality care is accessible and affordable to everyone in our community. By integrating Clinigence Health's advanced analytics into our population health management strategy, we can provide even more personalized patient care," stated José J. Vargas, Chief Executive Officer of Varmed Management.
"The healthcare industry continues to experience the loss of billions of premium dollars to overutilization and inappropriate use of services to the detriment of patient care. The transition to value-based care models requires organizations to understand the patterns of care and best medical practices that allow quality care to be delivered cost-effectively," stated Lawrence Schimmel, M.D., Chief Medical Information Officer of Nutex Health, Inc.
"Clinigence is a pioneer in clinical data integration, clinical quality reporting and population health analytics. Our scalable, purpose-built cloud-based platform has clinical and claims data on over 3 million patients and is in use by multiple independent practice associations ("IPAs"), medical groups, accountable care organizations ("ACOs"), hospitals and physicians. We look forward to partnering with the talented team at Varmed," stated Warren Hosseinion, M.D., President of Nutex Health.
For more information, visit Clinigence Health at www.clinigencehealth.com or email info@clinigence.com for personalized information requests.
About Nutex Health Inc.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas and founded in 2011, Nutex Health Inc. (NASDAQ: NUTX) is a healthcare management and operations company with two divisions: a Hospital Division and a Population Health Management Division.
The Hospital Division owns, develops and operates innovative health care models, including micro-hospitals, specialty hospitals, and hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). This division owns and operates 21 facilities in 8 states.
The Population Health Management division owns and operates provider networks such as Independent Physician Associations (IPAs). Through our Management Services Organization (MSO), we provide management, administrative and other support services to our affiliated hospitals and physician groups. Our cloud-based proprietary technology platform aggregates clinical and claims data across multiple settings, information systems and sources to create a holistic view of patients and providers, allowing us to deliver greater quality care more efficiently.
About Varmed Management
Varmed Management is a fully integrated healthcare solutions provider. As a population health management organization, we are committed to providing cutting-edge solutions to our clients, improving quality of life through patient empowerment, improving healthcare outcomes and reducing costs. www.varmedmanagement.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements and information included in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words or phrases "will", "will likely result," "expected to," "will continue," "anticipated," "estimate," "projected," "intend," "goal," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks, known and unknown, and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Such uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy, changes in laws or regulations, including the interim final and final rules implemented under the No Surprises Act , economic conditions, dependence on management, dilution to stockholders, lack of capital, the effects of rapid growth upon the Company and the ability of management to effectively respond to the growth and demand for products and services of the Company, newly developing technologies, the Company's ability to compete, conflicts of interest in related party transactions, regulatory matters, protection of technology, lack of industry standards, the effects of competition and the ability of the Company to obtain future financing. An extensive list of factors that can affect future results are discussed in the Current Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023 under the heading "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item IA thereof, and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors could materially adversely affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed within this press release.
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SOURCE Nutex Health, Inc. | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:14 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ |
Finding the best kitchen cabinets for your home
Many factors are involved in finding the best kitchen cabinets for your home, such as the overall aesthetic, placement and storage capacity. Whether you choose a classic or modern design, the right cabinets should fit into your space. Here’s a rundown of what you need to know.
Shop this article: Giantex Buffet Sideboard Storage Credenza Cabinet, HORSTORS Kitchen Cabinet and Hampton Bay Designer Series Elgin Assembled Wall Kitchen Cabinet With Glass Door
Determine the kitchen size
Before you get kitchen cabinets, plan out your space. Start by taking measurements of the kitchen and determine your preferred layout for the cabinets, counters and appliances. When doing this, consider the following:
- Plumbing and electrical outlets
- Location of windows and doors
- Appliances, such as refrigerators, stoves or dishwashers
Make sure you leave enough space to move around in the kitchen. Also, consider how high your ceilings are. If you have a lot of vertical space, account for this since you might not be able to reach the uppermost shelves of your new cabinets if they’re mounted too high up.
Be careful when planning your cabinetry, especially if you have corners or an oddly shaped kitchen. For example, if you have a wall-mounted cabinet in one corner, make sure you can access it without hitting a wall, another cabinet or an appliance.
When in doubt, consult a professional for advice. Keep in mind any limitations you have, such as space or budget.
Pick the cabinet type
There are two main types of kitchen cabinets:
- Base cabinets: These sit on the floor and are usually around 24 inches in depth and 36 inches tall. Most can support a countertop on them. Due to their size and shape, many also come with drawers.
- Wall cabinets: These are typically smaller and go on the wall. On average, they’re 12 to 24 inches deep and 12 to 42 inches tall. They go above the countertops and other appliances, sometimes including the refrigerator.
Most kitchens have a combination of both types of cabinets. If you want to get creative, you could also use base cabinets to form an island in the center of the room for additional storage and counter space.
Figure out storage and organization
Cabinets for the kitchen are a great storage and organization solution. They usually come with two to five shelves, each placed at a different level, and can vary in size and capacity. Some have adjustable shelves, which you can use to store items of any size.
If you have limited floor space, here are a few ways to optimize it:
- Take advantage of vertical space with wall cabinets.
- Use cabinets that have drawers to store smaller items.
- Get equipment or accessories such as a silverware organizer or a wall-mounted spice rack to free up room for larger or more important items.
Select the design and material
The overall design and material are both key considerations when settling on a kitchen theme. Here are some common styles:
- Wooden cabinets for a classic aesthetic
- Flat-front cabinets for a midcentury modern look
- Handle-free cabinets for a minimalistic or modern style
- Polyethylene cabinets with glass faces for a contemporary look
- Stainless steel cabinets for outdoor or commercial kitchens
Choose the colors
Once you have settled on an overall theme and material, consider the colors and final finish you want. To figure this out, consider the color and design of the following:
- Appliances
- Countertops
- Walls
- Floors
- Backsplash
- Lights
Each of these elements plays a major role in the overall theme and look you can achieve. Whether you’re remodeling or designing a kitchen from scratch, your cabinets should either match or complement these features.
Choose two or three main colors and stick with them. That way, you can emphasize certain aspects of the room without going overboard. Here are some options:
- Black or white cabinets with granite countertops
- Dark wood cabinetry with light-colored walls and floors
- Bright or light cabinets and backsplash with black appliances or darker walls
Keep in mind that most wood cabinets have a stained finish. If you’re using wood grain for the cabinets, though, you can paint them to either hide or emphasize their original aesthetic. You can also use laminate to freshen the cabinets and make them more durable.
Add any hardware
Also called fittings, the hardware for kitchen cabinets includes:
- Knobs
- Bars
- Handles
- Pulls
These all are used to open and close the cabinets, but the type you choose contributes to the overall theme of any kitchen. Some modern cabinets don’t have fittings at all. Instead, they use a touch-to-open system.
Best kitchen cabinets and accessories
Giantex Buffet Sideboard Storage Credenza Cabinet
These wall-mounted kitchen cabinets are made with sturdy plywood and come with two main compartments and an open middle shelf that can store items where they’re easy to reach. They come in white or gray and are available in 9- to 60-inch widths and 12- to 42-inch heights.
This easy-to-assemble base cabinet is constructed from durable plywood. It comes with a single shelf and a full-extension drawer. Since it doesn’t have fittings, it’s designed to flush with other appliances.
Haotian FRG231-W, White Kitchen Wall Cabinet
This durable wall cabinet features two sturdy adjustable shelves. It comes in 9- to 36-inch widths and 30- to 42-inch heights. It’s available in satin white, cognac, medium oak and natural hickory. There’s also an option for base cabinets.
NewAge Stainless Steel Four-Piece Outdoor Kitchen Cabinet Set
Measuring 97 inches wide by 36.5 inches high and 24 inches deep, these metal cabinets come fully assembled. They have a soft-closing mechanism that lets the drawers and cabinet doors retract quietly and seamlessly. They also come with a sink.
Sold by Home Depot
Elegant Home Fashions Madison Wooden Floor Cabinet with 2 Glass Doors, White
These modern cabinets are made-to-order and offer a lot of storage. They have frameless construction and an elegant design. They also have two shelves each and soft-close glass doors.
Ravinte 30-Pack Kitchen Cabinet Knobs
If you want sleek knobs for your cabinets, this pack comes in four colors, including black and brass. They’re easy to install and don’t come off easily.
Sold by Amazon
Goldenwarm 10-Pack Black Cabinet Pulls
These durable matte black pulls are made of stainless steel and zinc alloy and work well with most modern kitchen cabinets and drawers. They’re available in small and large packs, making them ideal for kitchens of any size.
Sold by Amazon
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Copyright 2023 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved. | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/tools-br/how-to-choose-the-best-kitchen-cabinets/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:19 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/reviews/br/tools-br/how-to-choose-the-best-kitchen-cabinets/ |
LONDON, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Talking Tom and MrBeast just announced a unique collaboration for Talking Tom's 10th birthday party! Starting today, players of My Talking Tom 2, the popular virtual pet game, can unwrap an exclusive surprise from MrBeast himself — a one-of-a-kind outfit. Additionally, Talking Tom and MrBeast are also joining forces with a contribution to the Tebow CURE Hospital for underprivileged children in the Philippines.
"Our collaboration with MrBeast for Talking Tom's 10th anniversary demonstrates our commitment to delivering unforgettable experiences to our players," said Xinyu Qian, CEO of Outfit7. "By offering an exclusive MrBeast outfit and extending our support to the Tebow CURE Hospital, we aim not only to enhance the excitement within the game but also to make a meaningful difference in the lives of underprivileged children."
For a limited time of two weeks, the exclusive MrBeast outfit for Tom can be found in the bedroom wardrobe, or claimed through a pop-up gift box, either on the porch or in the bathroom. As part of the 10th birthday celebration, Tom has also given users a generous gift of 100,000 in-game gold coins, which are still attainable in the game.
In addition to the in-game collaboration, Talking Tom and MrBeast have joined forces to support the Tebow CURE Hospital, which provides assistance to underprivileged children in the Philippines. Together they will support the hospital's activities for a month, enabling them to carry out over 150 surgeries. To ensure sustainable care for the children, the hospital will also receive a year's supply of essential orthopaedic supplies.
Download My Talking Tom 2 now and claim the exclusive MrBeast outfit! It will be available for free in My Talking Tom 2 for a limited time, from July 30 to August 13, 2023.
ABOUT OUTFIT7: Outfit7 Limited is a dynamic force in mobile gaming, reaching a global audience of billions with its award-winning games. Powered by creativity and industry-leading expertise, the company's talented international team of around 400 people pushes the boundaries of the possible every day. Outfit7's 20+ games have now been downloaded worldwide over 21 billion times and up to 470 million fans play with them every month. Its portfolio also includes numerous chart-topping animated series, theme parks, and a licensing program. You can find more information at www.outfit7.com.
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SOURCE Outfit7 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:20 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ |
Idaho mom Lori Vallow Daybell faces sentencing in deaths of 2 children and her romantic rival
ST. ANTHONY, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell faces up to life in prison without parole Monday as she is sentenced in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.
Vallow Daybell was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife.
The husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell also faces two other cases in Arizona — one on a charge of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and one of conspiring to kill her niece’s ex-husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece’s ex survived an attempt later that year.
Monday’s sentencing will take place at the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho. Judge Steven W. Boyce is expected to hear testimony from several representatives of the victims, including Vallow Daybell’s only surviving son, Colby Ryan.
The case began in July 2019, when Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, in a suburban Phoenix home. Cox told police he acted in self defense. He was never charged in the case and died later that year of what authorities determined were natural causes.
Vallow Daybell was already in a relationship with Chad Daybell, a self-published author who wrote doomsday-focused fiction loosely based on Mormon teachings. She moved to Idaho with her kids and brother to be closer to him.
The children were last seen alive in September 2019. Police discovered they were missing a month later after an extended family member became worried. Their bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell’s yard the following summer.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married in November 2019, about two weeks after Daybell’s previous wife, Tammy, was killed. Tammy Daybell initially was described as having died of natural causes, but an autopsy later showed she had been asphyxiated, authorities said.
Defense attorney Jim Archibald argued during the trial that there was no evidence tying Vallow Daybell to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met Chad Daybell and fell for his “weird” apocalyptic religious claims. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.
Daybell told her they had been married in several previous lives and she was a “sexual goddess” who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.
Vallow Daybell’s former friend Melanie Gibb testified during the trial that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had been taken over by evil spirits and turned into “zombies,” including JJ and Tylee.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.kswo.com/2023/07/31/idaho-mom-lori-vallow-daybell-faces-sentencing-deaths-2-children-her-romantic-rival/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:20 | 0 | https://www.kswo.com/2023/07/31/idaho-mom-lori-vallow-daybell-faces-sentencing-deaths-2-children-her-romantic-rival/ |
TORONTO (AP) — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward was placed on the 10-day injured list with facial fractures on Sunday, a day after he was hit by a 91 mph pitch from Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah.
Ward was taken to a Toronto hospital after being struck in the fifth inning of Saturday’s 6-1 loss. He was released from hospital Saturday evening.
Before Sunday’s game, Angels manager Phil Nevin said Ward did not have vision damage. Surgery is an option for Ward, but no decision has been made. It was not clear when Ward would be able to return to California. The Angels play a three-game series at Atlanta this week before returning home Thursday to host Seattle.
To replace Ward, the Angels selected the contract of infielder Kevin Padlo from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Batting with the bases loaded, Ward was hit by a 2-0 pitch from Manoah. The ball appeared to strike Ward next to his next left eye, knocking off his batting helmet.
Plate umpire Andy Fletcher motioned to the Angels’ dugout for the trainer as Ward went down, blood running down his face. Angels staff rushed to the plate and held a towel to Ward’s face. After a couple of minutes, Ward got to his feet and left the field on a cart. His left eye appeared to be swollen shut.
A six-year veteran who has spent his entire career with the Angels, Ward is batting .253 with 14 home runs and 47 RBI in 97 games.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-angels-outfielder-taylor-ward-placed-on-il-with-facial-fractures-after-being-hit-in-head/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:25 | 1 | https://www.qcnews.com/sports/ap-angels-outfielder-taylor-ward-placed-on-il-with-facial-fractures-after-being-hit-in-head/ |
Cowboys Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 4:30 AM CDT|Updated: 25 minutes ago
Currently the Dallas Cowboys have been given +1600 odds of winning the Super Bowl.
Watch the Cowboys this season on Fubo!
Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC East: +170
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +1600
Looking to place a futures bet on the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Dallas Betting Insights
- Dallas went 9-7-0 ATS last season.
- Last season, nine Cowboys games hit the over.
- Dallas ranked 11th in total offense (354.9 yards per game) and 12th in total defense (330.2 yards allowed per game) last season.
- Last year the Cowboys were 8-1 at home and 4-4 on the road.
- Dallas collected eight wins as the favorite (in 11 games) and three wins as an underdog (five games).
- The Cowboys were 4-2 in the NFC East and 8-4 in the NFC overall.
Cowboys Impact Players
- On the ground, Tony Pollard had nine touchdowns and 1,007 yards (62.9 per game) last year.
- In the passing game, Pollard scored three touchdowns, with 39 receptions for 371 yards.
- In 12 games, Dak Prescott passed for 2,860 yards (238.3 per game), with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, and a completion percentage of 66.2%.
- On the ground, Prescott scored one touchdown and picked up 182 yards.
- In 17 games a season ago, CeeDee Lamb had 107 catches for 1,359 yards (79.9 per game) and nine touchdowns.
- In the passing game for the Texans, Brandin Cooks scored three TDs, catching 57 balls for 699 yards (53.8 per game).
- Micah Parsons posted 65 tackles, 14.0 TFL, 13.5 sacks, and three passes defended in 17 games last year.
Bet on Cowboys to win the Super Bowl and plenty more with BetMGM. Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
2023-24 Cowboys NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 31 at 5:31 AM ET. 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.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/cowboys-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T09:56:27 | 0 | https://www.kbtx.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/cowboys-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |