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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.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:36 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/cyrusher-first-mid-drive-e-bike-nitro-comes-out-redefining-speed-riding/ |
HOT SPRINGS -- A Hot Springs man was arrested Wednesday morning on multiple felony counts involving child pornography after an investigation by the Arkansas attorney general's Cyber Crimes Unit and the Hot Springs Police Department.
Nikolas Antonios Pandis, 40, was taken into custody around 9:45 a.m. at his residence and charged with 30 counts of possessing, distributing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Pandis, who lists no prior felony history, remained in custody Friday on a $105,000 bond and is set to appear Aug. 22 in Garland County District Court, although he will likely be arraigned before then if unable to post bond.
According to a news release Thursday by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, Pandis' arrest resulted from an investigation by his office's Special Investigations Division Cyber Crimes Unit in conjunction with Hot Springs police.
According to a probable cause affidavit, agents with Griffin's office and police executed a search warrant at Pandis's residence in reference to internet crimes against children.
During the search, several electronic devices and storage devices were found in a bedroom belonging to Pandis, authorities said. A forensic search of some of the devices turned up over 3,000 images or videos of "sexually explicit conduct involving children," authorities said.
In an audio-recorded interview, Pandis admitted he downloaded the images and videos located at his residence, authorities said.
"Our electronic detection K9, Lucy, and her handler, Special Agent Amber Kalmer, participated in this bust," Griffin said in the release. "Lucy assisted in the recovery of key evidence in the case. This is exactly how we envisioned her helping us bring criminals to justice. I am supremely proud of my entire SID team, led by Chief Wayne Bewley." | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/hot-springs-man-arrested-on-30-counts-of-child/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:38 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/hot-springs-man-arrested-on-30-counts-of-child/ |
ROANOKE, Va. – 10 News is working for you to help Clear the Shelters! During the month of August we will be featuring a a local adoptable shelter pet looking for it’s forever home.
According to Shelter Animals Count data, approximately 6.3 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.1 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats. Each year, approximately 920,000 shelter animals are euthanized (390,000 dogs and 530,000 cats). The number of dogs and cats euthanized in U.S. shelters annually has declined from approximately 2.6 million in 2011. The ASPCA said the decline can be partially explained by an increase in the percentage of animals adopted and an increase in the number of stray animals successfully returned to their owners.
August is normally one of the busiest months for animal shelters across the region, in part, due to kitten season.
Clear The Shelters is an annual, nationwide pet adoption and shelter donation campaign that is spearheaded by NBCUniversal Local.
Through this campaign, you can help local shelters in the region by finding rescues a loving home.
10 News will post a new animal each weekday for the Clear The Shelters campaign. Each post will feature a new animal, more information about the animal, and adoption information.
Even if you can’t adopt, you can help.
Share each pet on social media and help spread the word! You may not be looking for another pet, but someone out there is still searching.
You can also donate to local shelters. Most accept monetary online donations, have amazon wish lists or accept donations in person.
Find out how, and what each shelter needs:
Franklin County Humane Society/Planned Pethood
Galax Carroll Grayson Animal Shelter
Martinsville Henry County SPCA
Montgomery County Animal Care and Adoption Center
Regional Center for Animal Care and Protection (Roanoke)
You can find 10 News’ 2022 and 2023 Clear The Shelters story here. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/31/clear-the-shelters-help-10-news-find-loving-homes-for-local-adoptable-pets/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:40 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/31/clear-the-shelters-help-10-news-find-loving-homes-for-local-adoptable-pets/ |
We all know that first dates can be nerve-wracking, but they can also be really exciting.
By the second date, it can feel like everything is on the line!
Why else would people go scrambling for dating tips?
Second dates are when you discover if the chemistry you felt on date one was real, or if it was all powered by chardonnay and nerves.
If you want to make a second date go well, there are two things you absolutely have to do.
The first? BREATHE. Relax. Chill. Sure, you’re nervous and you’ve got those butterflies, but I promise you that if you go on a date and enjoying yourself is your only expectation, it will be so much easier than if you are going with husband-hunting on the mind. Be yourself, and have fun.
The second thing you need to do to ace a second date?
Read this list of things you absolutely shouldn’t say if you want to make it to date number three.
Here are 5 things you should never, ever say on a second date:
1. “What are your parents like?”
2. “I love babies!”
3. “How many women have you slept with?”
4. “Where do you see yourself in ten years?”
5. “Do you like me?”
If he likes you, you guys will go on a third date!
Promise!
All the DETAILS: HERE
Follow Warm 106.9 on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @warm1069 | https://warm1069.com/5-things-you-should-never-ever-say-on-a-second-date/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:40 | 1 | https://warm1069.com/5-things-you-should-never-ever-say-on-a-second-date/ |
Cardinals Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
As of December 31, the Arizona Cardinals' odds of winning the Super Bowl, +20000, are the worst in the NFL.
Watch the Cardinals this season on Fubo!
Cardinals Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC West: +2500
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +20000
Looking to place a futures bet on the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Arizona Betting Insights
- Arizona won eight games against the spread last season, failing to cover nine times.
- The Cardinals and their opponents combined to hit the over 10 out of 17 times last season.
- Arizona totaled 323.5 yards per game on offense last season, which ranked it 22nd in the . On defense, it ranked 21st, allowing 348.9 yards per contest.
- Last year the Cardinals picked up three wins away from home, but just one at home.
- As favorites last season Arizona picked up only one win (1-2), while posting a 3-11 record as the underdog.
- The Cardinals were 3-9 in the NFC, including 1-5 in the NFC West.
Cardinals Impact Players
- In 13 games last year, James Conner rushed for 782 yards (60.2 per game) and seven touchdowns.
- In the passing game, Conner scored one touchdown, with 46 catches for 300 yards.
- In the passing game, Marquise Brown scored three TDs, catching 67 balls for 709 yards (59.1 per game).
- In the passing game a season ago, Greg Dortch scored two TDs, catching 52 balls for 467 yards (29.2 per game).
- In the passing game, Rondale Moore scored one TD, catching 41 balls for 414 yards (51.8 per game).
- Isaiah Simmons had two interceptions to go with 99 tackles, 5.0 TFL, four sacks, and seven passes defended last year.
Bet on Cardinals 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 Cardinals NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 31 at 5:25 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.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/cardinals-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:42 | 1 | https://www.kold.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/cardinals-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
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.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:43 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/digital-intelligence-technology-fuelling-value-creation-reshaping-gaming-industry/ |
Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran brought their respective tours to stadiums over the weekend, and in addition to rocking thousands of fans, they also made time for some fun offstage moments.
On July 29, before he took the stage at Chicago’s Soldier Field, Ed manned the counter at a local place called The Weiners Circle, which serves up hot dog and abuse to customers. He posted video of himself handing out hot dogs to screaming fans, and captioned the post, “Served hot dogs at@wienerscircletoday. This place is legendary is Chicago for serving hot dogs and insulting their customers. I loved it.”
The restaurant’s Instagram reposted the video, with the caption, “Our newest trainee, a British lad by the name of Ed Sheeran, has a lot to learn, but he apparently has quite a following.”
Ed also broke the attendance record at Soldier Field and got a new tattoo: an acorn. He mysteriously noted, “Autumn is coming, tell a friend.”
As for Taylor, she played Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Ahead of the first show on July 28, Taylor posted a TikTok of her dad riding a Segway backstage at the stadium behind her and her pal Gigi Hadid, who were being driven in a golf cart. She captioned it, “my dads on his segway s*** again.”
Also on July 28, Taylor was joined onstage by her opening act, HAIM, who were all dressed in the outfits they wore in Taylor’s video for “Bejeweled.” The trio of sisters posted a TikTok of themselves on their way to the stage, and captioned it, “Us on our way to be evil and stepsisters.”
At that same show, Taylor brought Aaron Dessner onstage for the first ive performance of the evermore bonus track, “Right Where You Left Me.”
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. | https://warm1069.com/hot-dogs-haim-and-hijinks-a-busy-weekend-for-taylor-swift-and-ed-sheeran/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:43 | 1 | https://warm1069.com/hot-dogs-haim-and-hijinks-a-busy-weekend-for-taylor-swift-and-ed-sheeran/ |
Robert Chambers, 56, coined as the "Preppy Killer" in a 1986 murder case, was released four years early from the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in New York for drug and assault charges, according to online inmate records maintained by the New York Department of Corrections.
Dean Phillips, 54, Democratic congressman of Minnesota, confirmed to the New York Times that he was considering challenging 80-year-old President Joe Biden in the 2024 primary.
William Klare, 40, of New York City's Bronx borough, was arrested and faces charges including with hate crime charges of burglary, aggravated harassment, criminal mischief and criminal trespass, in connection with drawing a swastika on a chalkboard at a Brooklyn yoga studio, damaging a mezuzah and leaving the written message "Nazi punk f*** off," police said.
Lorenzo Lujan, a deputy in Larimer County, Colo., will not face criminal charges for tasing a man who was then hit and killed by an SUV along an interstate, Eighth District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin said in a letter.
Dianne Grossman and Seth Grossman will receive $9.1 million from Rockaway Township School District in New Jersey, ending a lawsuit in which they claimed middle-school administrators didn't take their daughter's bullying complaints seriously before the sixth grader committed suicide in 2017.
Robert Hernandez, president of Miami Beach's Fraternal Order of Police, said an officer "had to make a split-second decision" when he fatally shot an escaped New Hampshire inmate after holding a woman hostage at a Victoria's Secret store.
Andrew Giles Fay, the Florida Public Service Commission's chairman, said in a statement, Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys' adding the 645 area code is "a testament to South Florida's growing economy" and "will ensure that customer demand for new lines is met."
Steven Smiley, a staff sergeant who oversaw Marine training at South Carolina's Parris Island, was found innocent of charges in the 2021 death of a 19-year-old recruit, but the jury did find him guilty of calling recruits names.
Julia Lawson, an environmental scientist with California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said researchers are "coming up with nothing at this point" in their pursuit to track down a wolverine. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/in-the-news/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:44 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/in-the-news/ |
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. | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/europes-economy-shows-modest-growth-after-months-of-stagnation-as-rate-hikes-weigh-on-businesses/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2023-07-31T10:22:46 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/europes-economy-shows-modest-growth-after-months-of-stagnation-as-rate-hikes-weigh-on-businesses/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Lynchburg Police Department is searching for an armed man who they say fled from them on foot.
Authorities have asked those living in the area of Old Graves Mill Road, Willow Bend and Smoketree Lane to shelter in place.
He was last seen running from the 300 block of Old Graves Mill Road toward Smoketree Lane, according to police.
Police say the man is 30 years old, has shoulder-length black hair, is wearing a white and blue plaid shirt and is not wearing shoes. We’re told he is armed with a handgun.
At this time, Old Graves Mill Rd from Timberlake Rd to Fire Station #8 is closed to traffic.
Those with any information on his whereabouts are asked to contact the Lynchburg Police Department at 434-455-6041. | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/31/lynchburg-police-searching-for-armed-man-residents-asked-to-shelter-in-place/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:46 | 0 | https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2023/07/31/lynchburg-police-searching-for-armed-man-residents-asked-to-shelter-in-place/ |
STAMFORD, Conn., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Emeren Group Ltd ("Emeren" or the "Company") (www.emeren.com) (NYSE: SOL), a leading global solar project developer, owner, and operator, recently announced the successful sale of an 11.5 MWp PV project to the Swiss-based energy company MET Group. The project was sold at the Ready-to-Build ("RTB") stage and MET Group will complete the construction and operate the power plant. This is the first project developed to RTB stage by Emeren Germany GmbH, the Berlin-based subsidiary of Emeren Group, since its entry into the market in early 2021. Capcora, a German consulting company, acted as the exclusive sell-side M&A advisor to Emeren.
The new PV power plant will be located in Kentzlin nestled in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the commercial operations are expected to start in the second half of 2024.
Yumin Liu, CEO of Emeren Group, commented, "This project is an important milestone for our business in Germany and represents our commitment to developing renewable energy infrastructure in the region. We look forward to continuing to work with our local partners to build a more sustainable future."
Bernd Wollwerth-Carl, Director of Emeren Germany GmbH, added, "We are delighted to have sold our first RTB project in Germany. Starting from scratch in 2021, we managed to grow quickly in a competitive German PV market, establishing partnerships and building a pipeline of medium and large-scale ground mounted PV plants. With MET, we found a reliable and competent partner and we look forward to further expanding our cooperation."
Christian Hürlimann, Renewables CEO of MET Group, commented, "The Kentzlin project fits well into MET's strategic vision to enter the highly competitive German renewables market, as well as to further expand its renewables portfolio across Europe and particularly in Western Europe. Emeren Group's expertise in renewable energy was instrumental in achieving this milestone, and we anticipate future collaboration on additional projects."
Henning Prigge, Director at Capcora, adds: "We are delighted to have played a pivotal role in Emeren's successful project sale to MET Group, a prominent integrated European energy company. Our long-standing partnership with Emeren has allowed us to witness their growth and success, and we couldn't be happier to have been a part of this milestone. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to providing top-notch support and solutions to our valued clients."
About Emeren Group Ltd
Emeren Group Ltd (NYSE: SOL) is a leading global solar project developer, owner, and operator with a pipeline of projects and IPP assets totaling over 3 GW, as well as a storage pipeline of over 6 GWh across Europe, North America, and Asia. The Company focuses on solar power project development, construction management and project financing services with local professional teams across multiple countries. For more information, go to www.emeren.com.
About MET Group
MET Group is an integrated European energy company, headquartered in Switzerland, with activities and assets in natural gas and power markets. MET is present in 14 countries through subsidiaries, 30 national gas markets, and 22 international trading hubs. MET has extensive experience in operating green (renewable) and flexible (conventional) energy assets, thus providing the widest possible support to energy transition. In 2022, MET Group's consolidated sales revenue amounted to EUR 41.5 billion, the total traded volume of natural gas was 109 BCM including futures, total traded electricity 67 TWh including futures.
About Capcora
Capcora is an independent financial advisory boutique specializing in M&A and project finance services to accelerate the energy transition in Europe. Founded in 2015, the Frankfurt-based company helps its clients succeed in the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors by advising them on sell-side and buy-side transactions, and by raising mezzanine, unitranche or senior debt.
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SOURCE Emeren Group Ltd | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/emeren-group-announces-sale-first-rtb-solar-power-project-germany/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:47 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/emeren-group-announces-sale-first-rtb-solar-power-project-germany/ |
A month after she landed in the ICU with a “serious bacterial infection,” Madonna is celebrating being alive and thanking those who helped her get through that difficult time.
In an Instagram update posted on July 30, she shared three photos, two of which showed her with two of her six children: daughter Lourdes and son David. She wrote. “Love from family and friends is the best Medicine. One month out of the hospital and I can reflect.”
“As a Mother you can really get caught up In the needs Of your children and the seemingly endless giving,” she continued. “But when the chips were down my children really showed up for me. I saw a side to them I had never seen before.”
Madonna then wrote about the third photo on the post, which shows her holding a framed Polaroid photo — a gift from her manager, Guy Oseary.
“If you zoom into this Picture I am holding You will see A Polaroid taken by Andy Warhol of Keith Haring wearing a jacket with Michael Jackson’s face painted on it,” she wrote. “A perfect triangle of Brilliance. Artist[s] who touched so many lives including my own.”
Madonna befriended Warhol and Haring early in her career; she and Michael Jackson attended the Oscars together in 1991.
“I sobbed when I opened this gift because I realized how lucky I am to be alive,” she concluded. “And how fortunate I am to have known these people and so many others who are also gone. Thank you@guyoseary for this gift! And Thank you to all my angels who protected me and let me Stay to finish doing my work!”
Madonna has pushed back the North American leg of her Celebration tour; it will now start in Europe in October.
Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. | https://warm1069.com/thank-you-to-all-my-angels-madonna-says-shes-lucky-to-be-alive/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:48 | 0 | https://warm1069.com/thank-you-to-all-my-angels-madonna-says-shes-lucky-to-be-alive/ |
Who true racists are
Over the years I have observed a letter on average of perhaps once per month that directly asserts all Republicans are racist. This assertion is typically made with an assumption that this is factual. Yet these assertions are never, it seems, rebutted. In a conservative state that is surprising since it is easily rebutted.
I believe the idea that Republicans are racist is based in the Southern Strategy myth promoted by progressives. This strategy is alleged to have been what Nixon used to turn Dixiecrats into Republican voters in his 1968 presidential campaign. The reasoning is that the 1964 Civil Rights Act caused Southern Democrats, who had devised the Jim Crow laws that protected white supremacy, to turn to the Republican candidate in 1968. In fact, the 1964 Civil Rights Act would have been successfully filibustered by Democrats, as they had done in 1957, without the significant Republican vote in the Senate.
The myth further states that Republicans flipped Democrat seats in Congress and in state legislatures. The problem with this is that in the 1968 presidential election many Southern Democrats voted for George Wallace, not Nixon. Wallace was a Southern Democrat and a proud segregationist from Alabama. As governor of Alabama, he stood in the door to the registrar's office to block two Black students from attending the University of Alabama. The Democratic Party denied him approval to run as a Democrat. He formed the American Independent Party and won five states in the Deep South, including Arkansas.
Democrats remained in control of Southern state legislatures, governorships and congressional delegations in 1970. Republicans gradually replaced Democrats over the following 30 years.
I believe the Democratic Party dishonestly, but successfully, has transferred its racist legacy to the Republican Party. Generations have grown up without knowing the truth. Republicans have always stood up for civil rights.
MICHAEL SANDERS
Little Rock
Backbone of nation
The WPA (Washington, D.C., Protection Association) is in full swing. Listening to the news, one can only wonder about our future.
Almost everything we hear is distorted, half-truths or downright false. It is sad that the moral decay of honesty is allowed by us citizens. The elites have won and are in control. The wealthy/powerful in government, business, unions, media, and super-rich call the shots. They dance, control, and spend while we crawl and pay with our toil.
A very sad day for those who are the backbone of this great nation.
WILLIAM F. JEBB
Cabot | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/letters/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:50 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/letters/ |
LONDON (AP) — Britain said on Monday it will grant hundreds of new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea in a bid for energy independence, ignoring calls from the environmental campaigners and the United Nations to stop the development of new fossil fuel projects.
The plans announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak include a pledge to invest 20 billion pounds ($26 billion) in carbon capture and storage projects as Sunak maintained the government’s commitment to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2050.
Sunak, who is traveling to Scotland to formally unveil the package, said Britain will still need fossil fuels even after the country reaches its net zero target. He said it is better to produce oil and natural gas at home rather than rely on foreign leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine sent global energy prices soaring around the globe.
“We have all witnessed how Putin has manipulated and weaponized energy — disrupting supply and stalling growth in countries around the world,’’ Sunak said in a statement. “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 plan comes as Sunak faces pressure to roll back expensive environmental commitments as his Conservative Party scrambles to attract voters amid opinion polls showing that the party is likely toward a crushing defeat in the next general election.
But U.N. scientists and environmental campaigners are calling on government’s around the world to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels after a summer of record high temperatures, drought and floods linked to man-made climate change. Burning oil and gas to power vehicles, factories and electricity generating stations releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide, the main driver of global warming.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has raised concerns that governments were backtracking on their commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions at a time when they should accelerate their efforts.
“The problem is not simply fossil fuel emissions, it’s fossil fuels — period,” Guterres told reporters last month in New York.
“The solution is clear: The world must phase out fossil fuels in a just and equitable way — moving to leave oil, coal and gas in the ground where they belong — and massively boosting renewable investment in a just transition.” | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/uk-to-grant-hundreds-of-new-oil-and-gas-licenses-ignoring-calls-from-environmentalists/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2023-07-31T10:22:52 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/uk-to-grant-hundreds-of-new-oil-and-gas-licenses-ignoring-calls-from-environmentalists/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
NICOSIA – 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. | https://www.wsls.com/news/world/2023/07/31/cyprus-court-hands-british-man-a-2-year-prison-term-for-killing-his-ailing-wife-to-spare-her-pain/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:52 | 1 | https://www.wsls.com/news/world/2023/07/31/cyprus-court-hands-british-man-a-2-year-prison-term-for-killing-his-ailing-wife-to-spare-her-pain/ |
BEIJING, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc. ("GEHI" or the "Company") (NYSE: GEHI), a leading early childhood education service provider in China, today announced that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the "EGM") at 3/F, No. 28 Building, Fangguyuan Section 1, Fangzhuang Fengtai District, Beijing 100078, People's Republic of China, at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing time) on September 11, 2023, for the purposes of considering and, if thought fit, approving the transactions contemplated in the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement"), dated April 18, 2023, by and among the Company, Bright Sunlight Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of the Company ("Merger Sub"), Best Assistant Education Online Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company ("Best Assistant") and a controlled subsidiary of NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKEX: 0777, "NetDragon"), a Cayman Islands exempted company, and solely for purposes of certain named sections thereof, NetDragon. It is contemplated that Best Assistant will transfer the education business of NetDragon outside of the PRC to Elmtree Inc., a Cayman Islands exempted company limited by shares ("eLMTree") and currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Assistant. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will merge with and into eLMTree with eLMTree continuing as the surviving company and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the "Merger").
Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger (the "Effective Time"), each ordinary share of eLMTree issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (excluding the Dissenting Shares and the Excluded Shares, each as defined in the Merger Agreement) will be cancelled in exchange for the right to receive a number of validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable ordinary shares of the Company in a transaction exempt from the registration requirements under the Securities Act of 1933.
Shareholders of the Company will also be asked to consider and vote on certain additional Merger-related proposals at the EGM, including, among others:
- that, subject to and conditional upon the Merger becoming effective, the fifth amended and restated memorandum and article of association of the Company be amended and restated by their deletion in their entirety and the substitution of in their place of the sixth amended and restated memorandum and articles of association of the Company (the "A&R MAA") effective immediately prior to the Effective Time of the Merger;
- that, subject to and conditional upon the Merger becoming effective, the name of the Company be changed from "Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc." to "Mynd.ai, Inc." effective immediately prior to the Effective Time;
- that, subject to and conditional upon the Merger becoming effective, immediately prior to the Effective Time, the authorized share capital of the Company be varied as follows: (a) the authorized share capital of the Company shall be varied to US$1,000,000 divided into 1,000,000,000 shares comprising of (i) 990,000,000 ordinary shares of a par value of US$0.001 each (each a "ListCo Ordinary Share") and (ii) 10,000,000 shares of a par value of US$0.001 each of such class or classes (however designated) as the board of directors may determine in accordance with the A&R MAA, and (b) all Class A ordinary shares of the Company prior to the adoption of the A&R MAA, par value US$0.001 per share ("ListCo Class A Ordinary Shares") and all Class B ordinary shares of the Company prior to the adoption of the A&R MAA, par value US$0.001 per share ("ListCo Class B Ordinary Shares") in the authorized share capital of the Company (including all issued and outstanding ListCo Class A Ordinary Shares and ListCo Class B Ordinary Shares, and all authorized but unissued ListCo Class A Ordinary Shares and ListCo Class B Ordinary Shares) shall be re-designated as ListCo Ordinary Shares.
Holders of the Company's ordinary shares whose names are on the register of members of the Company at the close of business in the Cayman Islands on August 7, 2023, are entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the EGM or any adjournment or postponement thereof in person. Holders of the Company's American depositary shares ("ADSs") at the close of business in New York City on August 7, 2023, are entitled to exercise their voting rights for the underlying ordinary shares and must act through Citibank, N.A., the depositary of the Company's ADS program.
The notice of the EGM, which contains the detailed proposals to be presented at the EGM, and the proxy statement related to the EGM, are being filed today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and can be obtained without charge from the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov). These documents are also available in the "Financial Information" section of the Company's investor relations website at https://ir.geh.com.cn/. In addition, the proxy materials (including the proxy statement) will be mailed to the Company's shareholders and holders of ADSs.
SHAREHOLDERS AND ADS HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY THE PROXY MATERIALS AND OTHER MATERIALS FILED WITH OR FURNISHED TO THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, AS THEY CONTAIN VOTING INSTRUCTIONS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY, ELMTREE, THE MERGER AND RELATED MATTERS.
This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the transactions described above and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities of eLMTree or the Company, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements." These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the pending transactions described herein, and the parties' perspectives and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Merger, including the equity values, the benefits of the Merger, expected revenue opportunities, anticipated future financial and operating performance and results, including estimates for growth, the expected management and governance of the combined company, and the expected timing of the transactions. The words "will," "expect," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "plan" and similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements.
Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and shareholders and other potential investors must recognize that actual results may differ materially from the expectations as a result of a variety of factors. Such forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations and include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are hard to predict or control, that may cause the actual results, performance, or plans to differ materially from any future results, performance or plans expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) risks related to the expected timing and likelihood of completion of the Merger, including the risk that the transaction may not close due to one or more closing conditions to the transaction not being satisfied or waived, such as regulatory approvals not being obtained, on a timely basis or otherwise, or that a governmental entity prohibited, delayed or refused to grant approval for the consummation of the transaction or required certain conditions, limitations or restrictions in connection with such approvals; (ii) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the applicable transaction agreements; (iii) the risk that there may be a material adverse change with respect to the financial position, performance, operations or prospects of the Company or eLMTree; (iv) risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the Merger; (v) the risk that any announcements relating to the Merger could have adverse effects on the market price of the Company's securities; (vi) the risk that the Merger and its announcement could have an adverse effect on the ability of eLMTree to retain customers and retain and hire key personnel and maintain relationships with their suppliers and customers and on their operating results and businesses generally; (vii) any changes in the business or operating prospects of eLMTree or its businesses; (viii) changes in applicable laws and regulations; and (ix) risks relating to the combined company's ability to enhance its services and products, execute its business strategy, expand its customer base and maintain stable relationship with its business partners.
A further list and description of risks and uncertainties can be found in the proxy statement that will be filed with the SEC by the Company in connection with the Merger, and other documents that the parties may file with or furnish to the SEC, which you are encouraged to read. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate only to the date they were made, and eLMTree, the Company and their subsidiaries and affiliates undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made except as required by law or applicable regulation.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
The Company will file with the SEC and mail to its shareholders and ADS holders a proxy statement in connection with the Merger. Investors and security holders are urged to read the proxy statement when it becomes available because it will contain voting instructions and important information regarding the proposed arrangement. You may access the proxy statement (when available) and other related documents filed by the Company with the SEC at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. You also may obtain the proxy statement and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC relating to the proposed arrangement for free by accessing the Company's website at https://ir.geh.com.cn/ by clicking on the link for "Financial Information," and then clicking on the link for "SEC Filings."
CONTACT: Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc., Investor Relations, E-mail: ir@geh.com.cn
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SOURCE Gravitas Education Holdings Inc. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gehi-hold-extraordinary-general-meeting-shareholders-september-11-2023/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:54 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/gehi-hold-extraordinary-general-meeting-shareholders-september-11-2023/ |
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.wvasfm.org/2023-07-31/the-death-toll-in-the-pakistan-suicide-bombing-rises-as-families-hold-funerals | 2023-07-31T10:22:55 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/2023-07-31/the-death-toll-in-the-pakistan-suicide-bombing-rises-as-families-hold-funerals |
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. this month announced that he plans to reduce the number of officer vacancies in the Little Rock Police Department by about 40% by the end of the year, which would bring relief to a department that has suffered from staffing shortages like other agencies in the state and nation.
The department is short about 90 officers and has 30 more on extended leave, Chief Heath Helton told residents who attended quarterly meetings this month at the department's patrol division headquarters.
"I could do a lot of things" if more of those spots were filled, Helton said July 13.
Scott hopes to reduce the number of vacancies to between 52 and 58, he said July 20. The goal is part of his ongoing efforts to be "uber-aggressive" in police recruiting, he said.
He acknowledged that other law enforcement agencies in the state are competition for eligible applicants, pointing in particular to the raise offered to Arkansas State Police troopers last year, which made those positions competitive in pay and benefits to Little Rock police, Scott said.
"It's an arms race," he said.
While other cities in the state may not be able to keep up with the pay raises offered by state police, Scott said, Little Rock largely can. Although state police have a higher entry salary than Little Rock officers, those who stay with the department two years or longer will be making more than their state-employed counterparts, Scott said.
The hiring bonuses offered by the city, such as a $10,000 incentive paid to applicants who graduate from the police academy and a $5,000 moving bonus for some applicants, help attract fresh blood, Scott said.
Another way the city is trying to bring in trained officers is through so-called lateral hires, in which people who have worked for other policing agencies apply to work in Little Rock, limiting the amount of training they need to be qualified, Scott and Helton have said.
The department has hired around two officers through the lateral hire program so far, Helton said, but approximately 18 more have applied and are in the process of being evaluated.
"It hasn't been like I thought it would, but it's picked up," Helton said.
On Friday, a recruit class of 21 officers graduated, police spokesman Mark Edwards said. That class started with about 30 applicants, Helton said earlier this year.
Based on the estimates Helton and Scott gave for police vacancies and officers out on long-term leave, the department has around 80% of its allocated 594 sworn officers available for duty. That's about 85% if officers on leave are excluded.
Hiring rates have to keep up with the 35 to 45 officers who are set to retire each year on average, Scott said.
The exact number of sworn officers employed by the department was not available last week, Edwards said. He would be able to provide that number today, he said.
In a meeting with representatives of the Chenal Property Owners Association on Wednesday, Helton placed the number of vacancies at 90, according to the meeting minutes. He told them that part of the reason is that officers hired during the push to increase police numbers during the Clinton presidency have served for nearly 30 years and are eligible to retire.
In addition to referencing the recruit class graduating Friday, Helton told the representatives there are more than 40 applicants in the next recruit class. The classes take about six months to train.
Separately, a request made under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act on Tuesday for the department's strength at the start of 2023 and at the beginning and end of 2021 and 2020 was still being processed, officials said. Little Rock Human Resources employees on Friday requested additional time past the three-day deadline mandated by the law to process the requested data, which also included hiring and termination data.
The recruits from Friday's graduation bring the department to about 83% strength overall, and if Scott's goal is met, the agency would be at about 86% of allocated strength, or 91% if officers on leave are excluded.
That would be roughly on par with the strengths reported by other agencies in Pulaski County.
North Little Rock police last week had 172 sworn officers employed out of 188 sworn positions allocated to the department, department spokeswoman Sgt. Carmen Helton said, representing 91% of the allocated positions filled.
The department has hired 20 sworn officers so far this year while 14 have resigned or retired, she said. None have been fired.
At the Pulaski County sheriff's office, where the sworn personnel who operate the jail make up the majority of the force, 333 of the 392 sworn positions, or about 85%, were filled last week, spokeswoman Kristin Knox said.
The office's enforcement wing, encompassing deputies who are patrolling the county, was doing slightly better than the detention deputies, who run the jail, the data showed. Of the 127 sworn positions allocated to enforcement, 117, or 92%, were filled. In the detention division, 216 of 265 positions, or about 81%, were filled.
Seven sworn deputies had retired so far this year, Knox said, while 34 had resigned and nine more were terminated.
In Little Rock, one of the things that has affected the department's ability to patrol with a reduced workforce has been the continued strain caused by the tornado that struck the city on March 31, Chief Helton told residents earlier this month.
Officers have continued to patrol the affected areas, where people have sometimes attempted to steal belongings from residences and businesses damaged or destroyed by the tornado, he said, which has led to overtime for the officers.
"We're having a little activity with people pilfering through there," said Maj. Zac Farley, who leads the department's Northwest Patrol Division. "Some theft, but not a lot."
There are still officers on patrol in the storm-affected areas every night, Farley said on July 20, but the number has been reduced slightly so resources could be used elsewhere.
Seven of the newly graduated recruits will be bound for the Southwest Patrol Division, where Lt. C.P. Thomas was filling in for Maj. Cristina Plummer at Thursday's quarterly meeting.
"We really need those [officers]," Thomas said.
Thomas would like to have 13 patrol vehicles out every day, he said, but is currently only able to meet that goal on Thursdays, when the most officers are on the clock. Due to the shortage of officers, he said, he's asked the ones he has to take a certain amount of time in their shift to patrol through neighborhoods, sometimes even with their blue lights flashing, in an effort to make sure that residents see that police are present.
He was aware of six lateral officer hires who were in the process of completing their background checks, he said, although it was not clear if all of those officers were bound for the Southwest Patrol Division. Based on conversations with laterally hired officers on his staff, the background check process can take between 21/2 months to four months, Thomas said. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/little-rock-working-to-reduce-police-vacancies/ | 2023-07-31T10:22:56 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/little-rock-working-to-reduce-police-vacancies/ |
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. | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/west-african-nations-threaten-to-use-force-if-nigers-president-isnt-reinstated-within-a-week/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2023-07-31T10:22:58 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/business/west-african-nations-threaten-to-use-force-if-nigers-president-isnt-reinstated-within-a-week/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
- 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.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:00 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-celebrations-begin-back-hogwarts/ |
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.wvasfm.org/business/business/2023-07-31/14-years-ago-the-federal-minimum-wage-was-raised-to-7-25-an-hour-it-hasnt-changed | 2023-07-31T10:23:01 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/business/business/2023-07-31/14-years-ago-the-federal-minimum-wage-was-raised-to-7-25-an-hour-it-hasnt-changed |
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Marine leaders say they will make their recruiting goal this year, while the active-duty Army, Navy and Air Force all expect to fall short. The services have struggled in the tight job market to compete with higher-paying businesses for the dwindling number of young people who can meet the military's physical, mental and moral standards.
Brig. Gen. Walker Field, who heads the Eastern recruiting region, says the Corps has historically put an emphasis on selecting top-performing Marines to fill recruiting jobs. He says that has been a key to the Marines' recruiting success, along with efforts to increase the number of recruiters, extend those who do well and speed their return to high schools, where in-person recruiting stopped during the covid-19 pandemic.
He said his recruiters -- who cover the territory between Canada and Puerto Rico and as far west as Mississippi -- will meet their mission and expect to have 30% of their 2024 goal when they start the next fiscal year Oct. 1. More broadly, Marine officials say they expect the Corps to achieve its recruiting target of more than 33,000.
Last year, the Navy, Air Force and Marines had to eat into their pools of delayed-entry applicants in order to make their goals. The Marines will avoid that this year.
"That would be a great ending," said Field, speaking to The Associated Press on a recent steamy day at South Carolina's Parris Island, along the Atlantic Coast. "I'm bearish for not only concluding FY23 on a strong footing, but also how we set the conditions for FY24."
The Marine Corps may get some help from its small size. The Army, for example, has a recruiting goal of 65,000 this year, which is nearly double the Corps', and expects to fall substantially short of that. Air Force and Navy officials say they will also miss their goals, although the Space Force, which is the smallest service and does its recruiting within Air Force stations, is expected to meet its goal of about 500 recruits.
Sitting in the shadow of Parris Island's replica of the Iwo Jima monument, Field said his biggest challenge is that a number of Marine hopefuls cannot pass the military's academic test, known as the Armed Services Voluntary Aptitude Battery.
That is a widespread problem, but the Army recently set up a program that targets recruits who score below 30 on the test and provides schooling for several weeks to help them pass. Already more than 8,800 recruits have successfully gone through the classes, raised their scores and moved on to basic training.
The Navy is taking another route, with a pilot program that allows up to 20% of their recruits to score below 30 on the test, as long as they meet specific standards for their chosen naval job. Marine leaders, however, do not take those lowest-scoring recruits, and so far have no plans for any type of formal improvement program such as the Army's.
Field said the Marines are repositioning recruiting stations, moving them around based on where population totals have increased in the latest census. More important, he said, the Corps maintains its focus on choosing the right recruiters, encouraging successful ones to stay in the job and increasing the number of Marine reservists tapped for recruit duties from the current 31 to 96 by the end of next year.
Col. Jennifer Nash, who until last month was assistant chief of staff for the Eastern region, said Marines are hand-selected for recruiting command jobs.
"We put our best and brightest in those positions," said Nash, adding that those chosen for recruiting posts have a proven track record of success in previous assignments and have demonstrated critical leadership skills. "That's why they got selected, because they were above their peers."
She acknowledged that the first time she was picked for a recruiting job she was "voluntold." But now, recounting her sales pitch in Atlanta, her rapid-fire pitch comes without taking a breath.
"I say, 'Hey, ever thought about being a Marine? We're a bunch of Marines. And, you know, I think you potentially could be a good Marine. You ever thought about it?' And usually you get, 'Yeah, I thought about it.' And I'm, like, 'What's holding you back? Would you like to learn more about your opportunities?' 'Absolutely.' 'OK. Mind giving me your name and phone number? I'll have one of my recruiters give you a phone call.'" | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/marines-meeting-recruiting-goal/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:02 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/marines-meeting-recruiting-goal/ |
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United announced a 10-year extension to its partnership with Adidas that the English club said Monday will be worth more than $1 billion.
United’s deal with the German sportswear brand as its official uniform supplier runs to 2035 and “has a minimum cash guarantee of 900 million pounds ($1.15 billion), subject to certain adjustments,” the team said, making it the most lucrative in Premier League history.
“It is very natural for us to continue our cooperation,” Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said. “We will combine tradition and innovation to please both the players and the fans.”
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with one of the most iconic clubs in football.”
The deal for the club’s single biggest source of revenue provides stability at a time when it is up for sale, with United’s American ownership weighing up offers from Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and English businessman Jim Ratcliffe.
Adidas supplied United’s uniform from 1980-1992 and the partnership started again at the beginning of the 2015-16 season.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports | https://www.seattletimes.com/news/man-united-renews-adidas-partnership-by-10-years-in-deal-worth-more-than-1b/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business | 2023-07-31T10:23:04 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/news/man-united-renews-adidas-partnership-by-10-years-in-deal-worth-more-than-1b/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_business |
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.wvasfm.org/business/business/2023-07-31/its-the-end-of-the-road-for-yellow-one-of-the-nations-largest-freight-carriers | 2023-07-31T10:23:07 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/business/business/2023-07-31/its-the-end-of-the-road-for-yellow-one-of-the-nations-largest-freight-carriers |
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.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:07 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/mobility-harmony-mih-consortium-selects-blackberry-advance-its-next-generation-electric-vehicle-development-efforts/ |
Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports
Twitter, now rebranded as X, reinstated Ye's account Saturday about eight months after suspending him for violating the platform's rules. Ye, formerly named Kanye West, won't be able to monetize his account and advertisements won't appear next to his posts, the company told the Wall Street Journal. As of Saturday he had yet to post via his newly reopened handle, which has more than 31 million followers. The social media platform suspended Ye after he posted in December an image of a swastika combined with a Star of David. X's press office and representatives for Ye did not immediately respond to request for comment Saturday. "I tried my best. Despite that, the rapper again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended," the company's owner, Elon Musk, wrote to a user at the time. Ye's swastika post was one of several antisemitic comments he made last year, a pattern that cost him business deals and, until Saturday, his Twitter account. West also lost backers from the fashion world, including Adidas, Gap and Balenciaga, and he was dropped by talent agency CAA and Hollywood financier and producer MRC.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard shared that they dropped $600 buying pillows and blankets so their family could crash in Boston Logan International Airport after flight delays, but they were booted from the airport, despite it being open 24 hours a day. Bell said in a since-expired Instagram Story last week her husband and their two children, Lincoln, 10, and Delta, 8, were "stranded at the Boston airport" after hours of delays. Shepard posted that after seven hours of delays, the flight was "kicked to the next day all together" and there were "ZERO" hotel vacancies in the greater Boston area. Bell shared an update that after they'd taken their sleeping medicine, they were "kicked out" of the airport. "Thankfully we found friends of friends who offered us their attics and accepted us at 1am," Bell said on Instagram. "And then took us on a hike the next morning with a lot of dogs and it was heaven!" Delay or no delay, Boston Logan has a policy that states "travelers are not allowed to wait or sleep airside after security checkpoints have closed for the night." | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/names-and-faces/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:08 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/names-and-faces/ |
SEATTLE -- Nisqually elder Billy Frank Jr., who was a central figure in the fight for tribal fishing rights and environmental protections in the Pacific Northwest, will have a U.S. Navy ship named after him.
A future U.S. Navy Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship -- TATS-11 -- will be named the USNS Billy Frank Jr., officials announced this month.
"This is truly an honor for the Frank family, Wa-he-lut School and the Nisqually Nation," said Willie Frank III, the son of Billy Frank Jr. and chair of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, in a statement.
Starting in 2019, the Navy began naming a new class of ships after prominent Native Americans or Native American tribes in honor of their contributions to the armed forces -- American Indians and Alaska Natives serve in the U.S. military at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in the country. Frank served in the Marine Corps for two years.
The USNS Billy Frank Jr., the sixth ship in the class, is the first to be named after an individual.
"We have a chance to tell our story and educate a whole new audience about the Nisqually Tribe, Billy Frank Jr. and the 29 tribes in the state of Washington," Willie Frank III said.
William "Billy" Frank Jr. was born in 1931 as a member of the Nisqually tribe in Washington state and grew up fishing on his tribal land.
He began his long career as an activist in 1945 as a boy, when he was arrested for catching steelhead and chum with his net in the Nisqually River. Over the years, he would become the face of a defining civil rights movement in the Pacific Northwest.
After serving as a military policeman in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, Frank returned to Washington, where he continued to fight for the right to fish Chinook and other salmon in his tribe's historical waters.
Despite 19th-century treaties guaranteeing Northwest tribes access to historical waters, commercial and sport fishing had led to a drop in stocks at local salmon fisheries. In response, state game agents began harassing and targeting tribal fishermen, including Frank and his father.
Over the years, Frank and others staged "fish-ins" at the Washington state Capitol, protesting the arrests and raids against Indigenous fishermen blamed for the decline.
That organizing culminated in a landmark decision in 1974, when U.S. District Judge George Boldt affirmed the tribes' right to half of the fish harvest -- as well as the country's obligation to honor treaties. That ruling was expanded to the harvest of shellfish in 1993.
"He'll stand with all the great Indian names of the past two centuries in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation," his longtime friend Hank Adams told The Seattle Times in 2014. "His is a name that will stand out in the future for all he's given to Indians and the world."
Frank would go on to serve as chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission for more than three decades and he received numerous accolades. In the later half of his life, Frank turned his activism toward protecting forests and salmon streams from excessive timber harvest and development. He died in 2014 at age 83. A statue of Frank is set to be placed in the Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, a revered civic space where each state is represented by two figures deserving of national commemoration. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/navy-to-name-ship-after-tribal-elder/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:08 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/navy-to-name-ship-after-tribal-elder/ |
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles slammed into the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing two people, wounding at least 20 others and trapping up to seven beneath rubble, Ukraine’s interior minister 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. Part of a four-story university building also was destroyed, he said.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian artillery strike on partially occupied Donetsk province killed two people and wounded six in the regional capital, according to Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed leader of the llegally annexed province.
A bus was also hit as Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Donetsk multiple times Monday, Pushilin said.
Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.
In Kryvyi Rih, video showed rescue crews working through the wreckage from the part of the university building that was demolished. .
Black smoke billowed from corner apartments in the apartment building. Outside, debris was strewn across the tree-lined street. Parked cars were burned out or damaged.
The governor of Dnipropetrovsk province, Serhii Lysak, said the morning attack wounded 31 people, including four children. It was not possible to reconcile different casualty figures.
Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Kremlin’s forces have occasionally targeted the city since they invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Bombarding populated areas with missiles, artillery and drones has been a hallmark of Moscow’s tactics during the war, with some aerial attacks hitting civilian areas. The strategy has continued during a Ukrainian counteroffensive that is trying to drive Russian forces out of occupied areas.
Russian officials insist they only take aim at legitimate military targets.
Commenting on Monday’s 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.
In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russian shelling killed another civilian Monday, local authorities said. Several others were reported to be wounded.
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.
Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia and Moscow-annexed territory, especially Crimea, have become more frequent recently.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/ukraine-says-russian-missiles-hit-another-apartment-building-and-likely-trapped-people-under-rubble/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_world | 2023-07-31T10:23:11 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/ukraine-says-russian-missiles-hit-another-apartment-building-and-likely-trapped-people-under-rubble/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_world |
Business Morning news brief By A Martínez, Leila Fadel Published July 31, 2023 at 5:09 AM EDT 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.wvasfm.org/business/business/2023-07-31/morning-news-brief | 2023-07-31T10:23:14 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/business/business/2023-07-31/morning-news-brief |
Recruiting Season Is in Full Swing for Professional Football Players to Join Virtual Fan Engagement Channel
NAPLES, Fla., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Notable Live is announcing that it has added three more Pro Football Hall of Fame players to the Notable Live line-up for the upcoming season. In addition to existing players Emmitt Smith and Ray Lewis, Notable Live is excited to add Cris Carter, Champ Bailey and Ed Reed to the Notable Live team. This comes as a fast follow to Notable Live's recent multi-year commercial agreement with eBay and its Series A financing round led by eBay Ventures.
Notable Live is a tech-enabled virtual engagement platform that connects fans to teams, leagues and players in a way they have always dreamed about through an immersive experience. Notable Live, co-founded in 2018 by Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and entrepreneurial veteran Mike Antonucci, helps players monetize their image and personal brands not just on game day, but every day.
Through one set of login credentials, the Notable Live platform unlocks an expansive catalog of one-to-many engagement experiences, including live events and on-demand content. On the platform's commerce-enabled exchange, players, teams and leagues can activate live auction or marketplace functions to sell physical memorabilia, digital content, in-person experiences or other unique offerings. All items offered on the Notable Live platform and its associated channels can be authentically bought and sold across the growing and loyal community of Notable Live fans.
"The multi-billion annual sports memorabilia market is rapidly evolving to include new digital experiences, and Notable Live continues to grow its comprehensive platform for both the college and professional sports markets. We are pleased to announce the continued expansion of our roster of NFL athletes on our platform," said Mike Antonucci, co-founder and CEO of Notable Live.
"The fans bring their passion for the game and for their favorite players, ensuring the memorabilia space remains more about the fans than about the athletes," added Emmitt Smith, co-founder of Notable Live. "We are excited to continue expanding our platform with fellow Hall of Famers and other athletes."
About Notable Live
Notable Live was co-founded in 2018 by avid sports fan Mike Antonucci and Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith to create a unique platform providing sports fans with unparalleled access to their favorite notables via virtual interactive events. Notable Live, a mobile app available on the App Store and Google Play, grants fans real access to notables by putting them "in the room" together for memorable virtual experiences. Connect with Notable Live at www.notable.live or on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Threads for iOS and Threads for Google Play.
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SOURCE Notable Live | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/notable-live-adds-three-gold-jackets/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:14 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/notable-live-adds-three-gold-jackets/ |
Northwest Arkansas regional planners are pursuing $50 million worth of federal grants to help pay for two major transportation projects: another section of...
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NWA planners seek grants for road projects
Funding pursued for Springdale Northern Bypass, Arkansas 112 projects by Ron Wood | Today at 4:10 a.m.
Barricades stand Friday, July 28, 2023, at the western edge of the intersection of Arkansas 612 and Arkansas 112 north of Elm Springs in Springdale. Regional Planners are pursuing $50 million in federal grants to help pay for two major transportation projects, another section of the Springdale Northern Bypass and improvements to Arkansas 112. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Print Headline: NWA planners seek grants for road projects
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Can someone be too old to hold office?
That age-old question was front and center last week after awkward episodes from two of the oldest members of the U.S. Senate.
On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell, 81, abruptly froze for over 30 seconds during his weekly news conference. A day later, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, had to be reminded by a colleague to "Just say, 'Aye' " while casting her vote for the military budget.
Both incidents were brief, but chances are they won't be the last. The median age of U.S. senators is 65 — a record high — while the median age of representatives in the House is 58. In the White House, President Biden, 80, is the oldest president elected in U.S. history, and he hopes to remain in office until 86.
People age at different rates, but concerns over life expectancy and mental fitness will likely keep resurfacing as Congress gets older and there are few legal options to address gerontocracy.
Why do we have an age minimum but not an age maximum to hold office?
Maximum age limits are considered unconstitutional. Part of the reason that's true dates back to 1995. At the time, Arkansas attempted to deny ballot access to prospective U.S. representatives who had already served three terms and prospective U.S. senators who had already served two terms.
That case was argued in front of the Supreme Court in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton. The court ruled that the Framers could have created term limits for lawmakers in Congress but chose not to, suggesting that they did not intend for term limits to be part of the Constitution.
The same could be argued against maximum age limits, according to Jeremy Paul, who teaches at Northeastern University School of Law.
"Whether you're talking about adding term limits or whether you're talking about a maximum age, you're still changing the qualifications that are set out in the Constitution," Paul said.
Could there be age limits in the future for politicians in Washington?
The military, commercial pilots and, in some states, judges all follow a mandatory age for retirement. But imposing an age limit for the president or lawmakers serving in Congress would be a much harder lift.
Essentially, it would require Congress to add a new amendment to the Constitution. Doing so generally requires the support of two-thirds of both chambers of Congress, as well as three-quarters of the state legislatures. The last time Congress added an amendment was over 30 years ago.
Even if there was widespread support for setting a retirement age, Paul said it would be a complicated feat to settle on what age that should be.
"Whatever age you pick, there will be arbitrariness to it," he said.
Why do we keep electing older adults?
In elections, age does not tend to play a big, decisive role, according to Damon Roberts, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder who has researched whether voters prefer older or younger candidates.
In an online survey with 1,000 respondents, Roberts found that both young and older people were equally supportive of a 23-year-old candidate, a 50-year-old candidate and a 77-year-old candidate — even if they believed stereotypes that old age is associated with forgetfulness and closed-mindedness.
Instead, a candidate's political party, race, gender and where they stood on specific issues held more sway.
"We have other things that are really salient in American politics that people use quite strongly to base their voting decisions off," Roberts said.
The case for and against term limits
For some, being a senator or representative in Congress is a full-time career. That can be a good or bad thing, according to Northeastern University's Paul.
Some argue that term limits are the best way to address gerontocracy. With more turnover comes new ideas and a chance to challenge the status quo in Washington.
But critics say multiple terms help elected officials gain institutional knowledge and build relationships needed to become more effective in passing legislation. Paul said that seniority also plays a major role on Capitol Hill and that longtime lawmakers in Congress tend to be more influential in their party, as well as lead important committees.
"There's really no substitute for experience," Paul said.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/2023-07-31/after-mcconnells-and-feinsteins-episodes-should-age-limits-be-on-the-table | 2023-07-31T10:23:20 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/2023-07-31/after-mcconnells-and-feinsteins-episodes-should-age-limits-be-on-the-table |
100 years ago
July 31, 1923
FORT SMITH -- City, township and county officers staged three gambling raids yesterday, one among the "higher ups," the others on the boys of the lower social strata, arresting nearly a score of prisoners, all of whom paid fines or forfeited cash bonds in police court today. One dice game was raided on the river bank, and two of the players sought to escape by swimming the Arkansas River. They were "rescued" by the officers just as they were about to go under.
50 years ago
July 31, 1973
Stewart Long, vice president of the Little Rock division of Kroger Food Stores, said Monday that Kroger stores were facing a "drastic shortage of beef which, by this weekend, could lead to the disappearance of some cuts of meat from meat cases and, in some instances, no beef at all." Long [also] said, "The cattle are simply not being brought to market." He said Kroger was trying to find sources for additional beef, but had been able to confirm purchase of only about 15 percent of normal supplies. He said Kroger had an adequate supply of other meats to last through this weekend. Long's statement came on the heels of a statement by Clarence G. Adamy, president of the National Association of Retail Food Chains, who predicted a steadily worsening beef shortage.
25 years ago
July 31, 1998
CONWAY --Three e-mail messages sent by a Department of Human Services administrator and leaked to a judge and others prompted the judge Thursday to refer the messages to a prosecutor because they imply that the governor may have tried to interfere with a court order. Diane O'Connell, director of the department's Children and Family Services Division, stated in the messages that Gov. Mike Huckabee asked the Faulkner County sheriff's office to speed up the release of area manager Sandi Doherty, who earlier this month was serving a two-day jail sentence for contempt of court. The three messages, sent to division employees over the department's computer system on three separate days, also stated that O'Connell was working to prevent employees from going to jail in the future. She sought information about uncooperative judges.
10 years ago
July 31, 2013
TAVARES, Fla. -- A series of explosions rocked a central Florida propane-gas plant late Monday night, igniting a 200-foot-high fireball and sending the sound of "boom after boom after boom" through the neighborhood around it. Eight people were injured, with at least four in critical condition. John Herrell of the Lake County sheriff's office said early Tuesday that no one died despite blasts that ripped through the Blue Rhino propane plant property. Officials initially scrambled to find more than a dozen employees after the explosions. Neighboring houses were evacuated, but no damage to them was reported. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/other-days/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:21 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/other-days/ |
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.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:21 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/nutex-health-announces-that-its-advanced-population-health-analytics-platform-has-been-selected-by-varmed-management-enhance-patient-care/ |
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's recent health episodes have sparked concerns about his possible successor. NPR's A Martinez talks to Austin Horn, a reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's recent health episodes have sparked concerns about his possible successor. NPR's A Martinez talks to Austin Horn, a reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/politics/2023-07-31/kentucky-law-dictates-a-republican-would-replace-mcconnell-if-he-vacates-senate-seat | 2023-07-31T10:23:26 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/politics/politics/2023-07-31/kentucky-law-dictates-a-republican-would-replace-mcconnell-if-he-vacates-senate-seat |
In 2022, 21 percent of voters cast a Republican ballot in the May primary, while 5 percent participated on the Democratic side. A few weeks later, just 4 percent of eligible voters showed up for the primary runoffs. Yet it was this small minority who effectively decided the real outcomes. In November, when twice as many Arkansans vote, the general election is usually little more than a formality.
For a state whose motto boasts of popular sovereignty, only a quarter of the electorate really chooses who governs. But it doesn't have to be this way. Arkansas might soon have the opportunity to make its elected representatives much more representative, through a reform known as Final (or Top) Four.
In 2020, disputes over petition signatures led the state Supreme Court to remove a Final Four initiative from the ballot. But voters may get another opportunity to have their say next year, if proponents are successful with their renewed petition drive. That effort is worth supporting.
Under Final Four, all voters would be able to vote in a nonpartisan primary, choosing from among all the candidates running. But instead of being tantamount to election, the primary would only winnow the field down to the four candidates with the most support, regardless of party affiliation.
Candidates then advance to the general election, putting the final decision where it belongs, when most people go to the polls. As an additional benefit, the abysmally low-turnout primary runoffs could be eliminated, along with the cost to taxpayers.
To ensure a representative outcome, voters are allowed to rank the four finalists in an instant runoff. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, these preferences are taken into account to elect the candidate with the broadest support. This innovative feature avoids the problem of spoilers, where candidates opposed by a majority of voters can be elected with less than half the vote.
An instant-runoff ballot also discourages negative campaigning, because it rewards positive appeals for second-choice votes. Few would disagree that less mudslinging during campaign season would be an improvement. It's been the biggest benefit cited by voters and candidates in Utah, where several municipalities have recently adopted instant runoffs in their local elections.
The dominance of the primary casts a dark shadow in Arkansas history, hearkening back to the worst days of segregationist one-party rule. Turning a party primary into the de facto real election was one device, among others, for maintaining Jim Crow, insulating it from both disenfranchised Black citizens and white opponents.
Moving power out of the general election isn't just a theoretical problem. We have seen how it can, at worst, destroy the very foundations of representative government.
Today, Republicans have replaced Democrats as the state's dominant party, and vast strides have been made toward equality since the days of Orval Faubus. While the harms of an overpowered partisan primary are not as extreme as they once were, the problem has not gone away.
John Adams, contemplating the design of new states' constitutions in 1776, wrote that "the representative assembly should be an exact portrait, in miniature, of the people at large, as it should think, feel, reason and act like them. Great care should be taken in the formation of it, to prevent unfair, partial and corrupt elections."
One way to make those in power better resemble "the people at large" is to ensure elections are decided on Election Day, by the people at large. Regnat populus, the people rule. Not some of the people, but the whole people.
By reforming a broken electoral system, Arkansas can ensure every voice is heard and every vote counts.
Andy Craig is director of election policy at the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He is from White Hall and studied political science at Hendrix College. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/primary-problem/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:27 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/primary-problem/ |
BALTIMORE, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Opteev Technologies, Inc., a pioneering technology company at the forefront of diagnostics, has filed a patent (Patent Application #63/513,007) for a revolutionary multiplex biochip for respiratory infection diagnostics. The groundbreaking polymer-based biochip offers the potential to test multiple pathogens responsible for respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and Influenza, and precisely identify the specific virus or bacteria in under 1 minute. This game-changing technology paves the way for an ultra-rapid, portable, and accurate syndromic diagnostic device to empower healthcare providers with immediate results at their fingertips.
The tiny biochip can directly detect whole viruses in real-time in both processed and unprocessed samples such as saliva or nasal swab and has demonstrated an unprecedented accuracy rate of 99.49% with an impressive limit of detection in its analytical performance evaluation. Furthermore, the biosensor achieves fine-tuned specificity by carefully selecting specific virus-binding peptides, enabling accurate identification of target viruses in complex samples. To ensure precise and reliable virus detection, the biochip utilizes artificial intelligence to optimize the frequency range effectively mitigating the impact of interfering noise signals.
Unlike conventional respiratory panels that cost tens of thousands of dollars and take days to provide results, Opteev's multiplex biochip will offer healthcare providers affordable syndromic testing with the ability to process samples at the point of care, allowing for the simultaneous detection and specific identification of multiple pathogens instantaneously. This breakthrough technology will eliminate the need for speculation by providing healthcare providers with the critical information needed to deliver the most effective treatment options at the point of care.
"With the development of our multiplex biochip, we are revolutionizing point-of-care diagnostics," said Dr. Mesfin Meshesha, Vice President of Virology & Diagnostics at Opteev Technologies. "The potential of this technology to transform patient care, streamline operations, and reduce costs is truly remarkable."
As Opteev Technologies continues to push the boundaries of point-of-care diagnostics, the company welcomes potential collaborations and partnerships to further develop and commercialize its multiplex biochip. "Together, we can shape the future of diagnostics and unlock the massive potential of our game-changing multiplex biochip," said Conrad Bessemer, Opteev's Chairman and Co-founder.
For more information about Opteev Technologies and its groundbreaking multiplex biochip, please visit www.opteev.com.
Opteev Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, MD, is a pioneering technology company at the forefront of diagnostics. With a strong focus on respiratory pathogen detection, Opteev is committed to developing innovative solutions that revolutionize the field of point-of-care diagnostics. As a subsidiary of Novatec, Inc., a trusted manufacturer and supplier of machinery and sensor technology, Opteev leverages decades of experience to drive advancements in healthcare.
Media Contact:
Dana Gardner
Vice President
dgardner@opteev.com
Phone: 443-457-5214
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SOURCE Opteev Technologies, Inc | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/opteev-develops-worlds-first-multiplex-biochip-that-precisely-identifies-covid-flu-rsv-respiratory-pathogens-under-1-minute/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:27 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/opteev-develops-worlds-first-multiplex-biochip-that-precisely-identifies-covid-flu-rsv-respiratory-pathogens-under-1-minute/ |
Mobile Visual Processing Solutions Coupled with Dedicated Game Tuning Services Take Mobile Gaming Experience to a Brand-New Level
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pixelworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: PXLW), a leading provider of innovative visual processing solutions, today announced the official launch of its new IRX gaming experience brand. As a brand targeted at smartphone users, IRX is grounded on Pixelworks' mobile visual processing solutions and coupled with in-depth game tuning services. This combination leverages Pixelworks' expertise to achieve ultra-smooth gaming experience and the highest picture quality for different types of games on mobile devices. In addition, it exercises effective control of power consumption, latency and other performance variables to ensure stable and long-lasting gaming with optimal visual performance, providing end users with unparalleled mobile gaming experiences.
The IRX gaming experience is enabled by a portfolio of technology advantages and product application experiences based on the Company's innovative distributed rendering architecture. More specifically, Pixelworks' ultra-low latency MotionEngine® technology, low power super-resolution technology, AI Always-on HDR and other technologies bring optimized rendering capabilities to smartphones that exceed what can be achieved by a traditional chipset. Together with Pixelworks' profound tuning experience for different games on various mobile devices the result is a meaningfully enriched visual experience for smartphone users, which is the core foundation for the IRX gaming experience.
The IRX gaming experience brand will be supported by a certification program for mobile devices that incorporates Pixelworks visual processors. The certification program will be backed by a suite of visual quality evaluation systems agreed upon with smartphone manufacturers to ensure that Pixelworks powered smartphones provide the most outstanding gaming performance and utmost visual quality for consumers.
The IRX branded certification program is comprised of both device certification and game tuning services. Pixelworks will optimize the rendering capabilities and display quality of top games on mobile devices based on its visual processors' capabilities as well as the devices' performance characteristics. Smartphones that meet the technical requirements as well as Pixelworks' visual processing standards will be granted the IRX branded certification, and games that meet Pixelworks' visual quality requirements will be included in the IRX-supported game list. To date, there are 20 top games being enlisted on the IRX-supported game list, which can be found on Pixelworks' official IRX gaming experience website. Furthermore, Pixelworks plans to establish expanded communication channels with consumers to help further educate end users on the benefits of the IRX gaming experience.
"IRX is a gaming experience brand from Pixelworks targeted directly towards mobile device users." said Ting Xiong, President of Pixelworks China. "Pixelworks would like to empower smartphone manufacturers to break the ceiling of mobile gaming experience from content optimization to performance enhancement with its innovative rendering technologies and years of game tuning and optimization experience. Additionally, we are also aiming to develop and promote consumer awareness around how to better evaluate visual display quality and the mobile gaming experience, enabling them to make smarter choices when purchasing a smartphone. By utilizing professional technologies and services to build more links across both products and users, we hope to drive mutual growth through in-depth interactions while bringing display performance and the mobile gaming experience to a brand-new level."
About Pixelworks
Pixelworks provides industry-leading content creation, video delivery and display processing solutions and technology that enable highly authentic viewing experiences with superior visual quality, across all screens – from cinema to smartphone and beyond. The Company has more than 20 years of history delivering image processing innovation to leading providers of consumer electronics, professional displays and video streaming services.
For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.pixelworks.com.
Note: Pixelworks, MotionEngine and the Pixelworks logo are trademarks of Pixelworks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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SOURCE Pixelworks, Inc. | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/pixelworks-announces-launch-irx-gaming-experience-brand/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:28 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/pixelworks-announces-launch-irx-gaming-experience-brand/ |
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. will be featured in a national news broadcast Monday night focused on the challenges some American cities face regarding crime.
Scott will be one of the guests featured in a two hour town hall edition of "Cuomo" called "Crime in America" that airs at 7 p.m. CDT on News Nation.
In front of a live studio audience in New York City, host Chris Cuomo will interview Scott, other cities' mayors and law enforcement officials about crime in their respective cities.
The broadcast will also feature questions from viewers in Dallas, Texas and Chicago, Illinois.
In addition to Scott, the other guests include Wade Kapszukiewicz, mayor of Toledo, Ohio; Luke Bronin, mayor of Hartford, Conn.; and Elaine O'Neal, mayor of Durham, N.C.
"Mayor Scott is looking forward to the opportunity to talk to a national audience about Little Rock's comprehensive, holistic approach to reducing crime and the turnaround we've seen in our city over the last year," said Aaron Sadler, a spokesman for the mayor, in a statement. "Like other cities across the country, Little Rock experienced increased crime during the pandemic.
"However, with Little Rock's investment in targeted patrols, technology and new community programs, our crime rate has been trending downward for more than a year, and our homicide rate is currently 35 percent lower than in 2022. As we challenge a perception that doesn't match reality, it's important to use every opportunity to talk about what we're doing right, and continue to have constructive conversations about what we can improve."
The "Cuomo" program will also feature reporting from News Nation senior national correspondent Brian Entin on how crime is impacting cities like Little Rock.
Through the week of July 24, the Little Rock Police Department reported 31 homicides compared to 47 at the same point last year, a 34% decrease.
It's also down 5% from the five-year average of 33 homicides.
The police also reported 2,020 violent crimes, down 5% from the 2,120 seen through July 24, 2022.
However, there was a 2% increase in robberies with 248 vs 243 last year.
In the first half of 2023, law enforcement investigated 44 killings in Pulaski County, less than the 47 homicides reported by the end of June 2021 and the 62 investigated by that date last year.
In June, Little Rock police investigated six homicide deaths in four separate incidents, with one of them being a triple homicide, while Pulaski County deputies investigated one killing.
All of the victims in June's homicides died of gunshot wounds, authorities said.
The city's Real-Time Crime Center launched last August.
Earlier this year it entered its second phase, letting residents and businesses register or directly integrate their security cameras with the Little Rock Police Department's network, via a rollout plan called Connect Little Rock.
As of Sunday, the program's website connectlittlerock.org reported 818 registered cameras and 881 integrated cameras.
Police Chief Heath Helton previously said he hopes to have 4,000 cameras registered with the system by the end of the year. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/scott-to-appear-on-national-tv-to-discuss-little/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:28 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/scott-to-appear-on-national-tv-to-discuss-little/ |
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.wvasfm.org/science/science/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why | 2023-07-31T10:23:32 | 1 | https://www.wvasfm.org/science/science/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why |
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.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:34 | 0 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/talking-tom-mrbeast-celebrate-toms-birthday-with-an-exclusive-outfit-contribute-hospital-underprivileged-children/ |
With the help of rising interest rates and a larger investment portfolio, the Arkansas treasury's interest earnings skyrocketed to $254.5 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30 -- far exceeding the $69.9 million earned in the previous fiscal year -- state officials said.
The treasury's interest earnings total in fiscal 2023 was the highest amount since at least 2005. The next-highest since then was $116.9 million in fiscal 2019.
The treasury's investment portfolio in fiscal 2023 reached $10.9 billion, said Steve Pulley, senior investment manager for the treasurer's office.
The state treasury's increased interest earnings in fiscal 2023 are the result of the increased size of the overall investment portfolio and increases in yields.
The state treasurer oversees the state treasury's investment portfolio.
Benton Republican Dennis Milligan was state treasurer for the first half of fiscal 2023 and the late Maumelle Republican Mark Lowery held the office for the second half after he was sworn in on Jan. 10. Milligan was elected state auditor last year.
Lowery, 66, died on Wednesday. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will appoint the next treasurer to serve until January 2025, and a new treasurer will be elected in the 2024 general election to serve the final two years of Lowery's four-year term.
The day before Lowery was sworn in as state treasurer and Milligan was sworn in as auditor, Milligan announced that the state treasury earned $99.7 million from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2022 and is "on pace to exceed the highest fiscal year recorded in state treasury history."
At that point, Milligan said the highest investment receipts recorded, dating back to 2005, which he said was as far back as treasury records went, was $116.9 million in fiscal 2019.
Pulley said Friday that "I would say to [the] best of our knowledge that this year's receipted income is the largest recorded."
State Board of Finance Chairman Larry Walther said Friday in a written statement that "I appreciate the knowledgeable and talented investment team within the Treasurer's Office.
"These record earnings will benefit the state for years to come. From funding for highways to increasing our Catastrophic Reserve Fund, we are in a stronger position because of Treasury's work," said Walther, who also is secretary of the state Department of Finance and Administration.
Milligan, who serves on the state Board of Finance, said Friday in a written statement that "I'm so proud to see this year's investment returns of more than $250 million for the state of Arkansas.
"As interest rates have continued to climb and the office has been able to take advantage of higher yields, I'm not entirely surprised at such a high rate of return," he said. "Treasurer Lowery took the helm from me in January and finished the fiscal year strong.
"We created a stable foundation on which the state could rely in times of economic uncertainty, and I'm proud of the work they've accomplished," Milligan said. "The investment team that I hired at the Treasury is highly skilled at their jobs and the proof is in the pudding, as they say. These results are just as much a credit to Treasurer Lowery and his leadership as they are to me."
According to the treasurer's office, the state treasury's investment portfolio consists of mortgage-backed securities; U.S. Treasury, municipal and agency bonds; U.S. Small Business Administration loans; commercial paper; certificates of deposit; and demand and money market accounts.
In the quarter that ended March 31, the state treasury reported $71.9 million in interest earnings -- up from $17.5 million in the same quarter in 2022.
In the the quarter that ended June 30, the state treasury's interest earnings totaled $82.8 million -- up from $24.8 million in the same quarter in 2022, Pulley said.
Asked for the state treasury's investment return in fiscal 2023 compared with the target investment return, he said, "The target return is set each quarter at the SBOF [state Board of Finance meeting] not on an annual basis."
The state treasury's investment return in the last quarter of fiscal 2023 was 3.22%, with the state Board of Finance having a target range of 3% to 3.1%, said Heather McKim, a spokeswoman for the treasurer's office. The treasury's investment return in the last quarter of fiscal 2022 was 1.33 %, with the state Board of Finance having a target rate of 1% to 1.1%, she said.
The state treasury's interest earnings go into the state's securities reserve fund.
The largest recipient of funds from the securities reserve fund in fiscal 2023 is the state's catastrophic reserve fund, which received $166.4 million, according to information provided by Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the state finance department.
The state's catastrophic reserve fund balance is $1,529,616,019, Hardin said. The catastrophic reserve fund is a fund that could be tapped to shore up state programs in economic downturns.
Among other recipients of funding from the state's securities reserve fund in fiscal 2023, the Arkansas highway transfer fund received $20 million, the budget stabilization trust fund received $18.3 million, and the state Department of Transportation fund received $16.2 million, he said.
Arkansas Code 19-5-905(a)(10) requires an annual transfer of $20 million to the Arkansas highway transfer fund, Hardin said.
The state highway department fund receives monthly distributions of interest earnings based on fund balances under Arkansas Code 27-70-204, he said.
The Budget Stabilization Trust Fund receives $5 million, plus the reimbursement of transfers during the fiscal year for the Division of Correction farm fund, the Department of Military fund account, the disaster assistance fund, the miscellaneous revolving fund, the state Central Services fund, and the state Board of Election Commissioners under Arkansas Code 19-5-905(a)(9) and (11), Hardin said.
In August 2022, Milligan reported that the state treasury earned $69.9 million on its investment portfolio in fiscal 2022 with the help of rising interest rates and that nearly doubled the fiscal 2021 interest earnings of $35.4 million.
The treasury's interest earnings had peaked at $116.9 million in fiscal 2019 before dropping to $80.7 million in fiscal 2020 and to $35.4 million in fiscal 2021 amid declining interest rates. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/state-interest-earnings-hit-254m-in-fiscal-23/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:34 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/state-interest-earnings-hit-254m-in-fiscal-23/ |
With the 2023 Women's World Cup taking place on the other side of the world in Australia and New Zealand, it's not easy to sort out what time the teams are playing.
The U.S. has a crucial game against Portugal on Tuesday and it's particularly challenging to determine when the teams take the field. Why? The U.S. broadcaster Fox Sports touts its coverage begins at 1 a.m. ET — two hours earlier than the kickoff — but doesn't explicitly tell viewers what time the game actually begins.
Fox Sports paid a lot of money for the rights to broadcast the tournament and obviously wants as many people watching for as long as possible.
The first two U.S. World Cup games started at 9 p.m. ET — and the Fox Sports coverage started much earlier. With an evening kickoff, that's no problem. You probably were already awake.
But everything changes with a middle-of-the-night game. You need a plan. Stay up late? Get up early? There's a big circadian difference staying up for what you think is a 1 a.m. kickoff when the opening whistle happens hours later.
Just so we're clear — the final U.S. match in group play kicks off at 3 a.m. ET and will be televised on Fox Sports and Telemundo.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wvasfm.org/sports/2023-07-31/what-time-is-the-u-s-playing-portugal-in-the-womens-world-cup-not-when-you-think | 2023-07-31T10:23:38 | 1 | https://www.wvasfm.org/sports/2023-07-31/what-time-is-the-u-s-playing-portugal-in-the-womens-world-cup-not-when-you-think |
KHAR, Pakistan -- 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 Maulana 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.
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. In February, more than 100 people, mostly policemen, died in a bombing at a mosque inside a high-security compound housing Peshawar police headquarters.
Information for this article was contributed by Munir Ahmad of The Associated Press.
People transport an injured victim of a powerful bomb upon arrival at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Relative of an injured victim of a powerful bomb stand around his bed at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
An injured victim of a powerful bomb huge with his relative after upon arrival at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Health workers transport an injured victim of a powerful bomb upon arrival at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
An injured victim of a powerful bomb huge with his relative after upon arrival at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Relative of an injured victim of a powerful bomb stand around his bed at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
People transport an injured victim of a powerful bomb upon arrival at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
People transport an injured victim of a powerful bomb upon arrival at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)
Relatives of an injured victim of a powerful bomb stand around his bed at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, July 30, 2023. A bomb ripped through a rally by supporters of a hard-line cleric and political leader in the country's northwestern Bajur district that borders Afghanistan on Sunday, police and health officials said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad) | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/suicide-bombing-kills-44-at-rally-in-pakistan/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:40 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/suicide-bombing-kills-44-at-rally-in-pakistan/ |
16TH annual event features turtles named after characters in Disney's frighteningly fun adventure movie, "Haunted Mansion," now playing in theaters.
VERO BEACH, Fla., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the weekend at Disney's Vero Beach Resort, researchers from the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) and Disney Conservation released two sea turtles as part of the 16th annual Tour de Turtles "migration marathon." Tour de Turtles is a fun, educational event that follows the migration of sea turtles from their nesting beaches to their feeding grounds and, ultimately, provides scientific data on how best to protect their species.
The Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) and Disney Cruise Line are each sponsoring a turtle this year, whose names, Madame Leota and Harriet, are the names of characters in Disney's frighteningly fun adventure movie "Haunted Mansion," now playing in theaters. Not unlike Gabbie, another character in the film who enlists a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters – Tour de Turtles brings together a team of researchers from the STC and Disney Conservation annually to undertake a daunting mission - using satellite telemetry to track two female turtles to determine where and how far they swim during the migration season.
Each turtle swims to raise awareness about various threats to sea turtle survival. The turtle to swim the furthest distance will win the Tour de Turtles race.
"Disney's commitment to sea turtle conservation in Vero Beach spans 20 years, and we are very proud to have recently watched our 1.5 millionth sea turtle hatchling leave the nest and shuffle its way to the ocean," said Mark Penning, Vice President of Disney's Animals, Science and Environment. "Southeast Florida hosts one of the largest nesting aggregations of loggerhead sea turtles, making up to 40 percent of the global loggerhead population. The team has recorded more than 20,000 sea turtle nests on our survey route since the program began."
The data collected during Tour de Turtles helps researchers, conservationists and governing agencies make more informed decisions about sea turtle conservation and management. Since the launch of the event in 2008, STC and Disney have collaborated to study 29 sea turtles outfitted with satellite transmitters and released from Disney's Vero Beach Resort. Continuing its commitment to strengthen youth education programs in port communities around the world, Disney Cruise Line proudly supported local students from Club Esteem from Melbourne, Florida, to participate in this year's event. DCF also has directed more than $5.1 million to support global sea turtle conservation efforts.
"Disney is a fantastic collaborator," said David Godfrey, STC Executive Director. "Disney's commitment to conservation, passion for environmental education, and effectiveness at communicating with audiences have made the Tour de Turtles a fun and successful program since it was launched over a decade ago."
In addition to Tour de Turtles, the Disney Conservation team has dedicated nearly 19,000 hours to studying and monitoring sea turtle nests during the summer nesting season along the five-mile coastline at Disney's Vero Beach Resort. From approximately May to October, Disney Vacation Club members and resort guests also have the opportunity to assist the team by joining outings to observe real-time sea turtle research while learning how they can take action to protect sea turtles. So far this year, the Disney Conservation team has a record-breaking number of nests along their survey route – nearly 2,000 by August, well above the average 1,500 normally counted in an entire season.
Tour de Turtles is a research and education program of the Sea Turtle Conservancy and Disney's support is just one example of bringing Disney Planet Possible to life by taking action to make a happier, healthier planet possible for all. To learn more and follow the turtles' migration, visit the Tour de Turtles website at www.tourdeturtles.org
ABOUT DISNEY'S VERO BEACH RESORT
Disney's Vero Beach Resort, a Disney Vacation Club Resort, offers spacious vacation villas along the pristine Atlantic coastline. The resort is located less than a two-hour drive from the Walt Disney World Resort, and its design reflects the Treasure Coast region where it is situated. Disney Vacation Club, a leader in vacation ownership, debuted in 1991 with a flexible, vacation points-based system rather than the traditional fixed-week timeshare model. Disney Vacation Club Members are able to choose from among a variety of exciting vacation destinations, including a stay at any Disney Vacation Club Resort or one of thousands of other vacation options in destinations around the world.
ABOUT DISNEY'S "HAUNTED MANSION"
Inspired by the classic theme park attraction, Disney's "Haunted Mansion" is about a woman and her son who enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters.
Directed by Justin Simien, the film features an all-star cast ensemble including LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rosario Dawson, Chase W. Dillon and Daniel Levy, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Jared Leto as The Hatbox Ghost. The film's producers are Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich, with Nick Reynolds and Tom Peitzman serving as executive producers.
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SOURCE Walt Disney World | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/tour-de-turtles-celebrates-sea-turtles-supernatural-science-disneys-vero-beach-resort/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:40 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/tour-de-turtles-celebrates-sea-turtles-supernatural-science-disneys-vero-beach-resort/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/14-years-ago-the-federal-minimum-wage-was-raised-to-7-25-an-hour-it-hasnt-changed | 2023-07-31T10:23:43 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/14-years-ago-the-federal-minimum-wage-was-raised-to-7-25-an-hour-it-hasnt-changed |
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.wvasfm.org/sports/sports/2023-07-31/the-u-s-is-at-risk-of-heading-home-early-from-the-fifa-womens-world-cup | 2023-07-31T10:23:44 | 0 | https://www.wvasfm.org/sports/sports/2023-07-31/the-u-s-is-at-risk-of-heading-home-early-from-the-fifa-womens-world-cup |
I was driving west on Arkansas 10 at dusk, watching the sun begin its final genuflection to Pinnacle Mountain in front of me.
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Print Headline: Summer nights | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/summer-nights/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:47 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/summer-nights/ |
The Nation's Largest Network for Affordable Housing Protects Consumers from Unfair Fees and Costs
BOCA RATON, Fla., July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AffordableHousing.com today announced it will join the White House and a compendium of government agencies and other private sector companies in large-scale efforts to end junk fees and ensure that Americans are provided with honest, transparent pricing. More than 100 million property searches per year are performed on AffordableHousing.com–the largest platform for affordable housing in the nation.
"For decades, families have relied on us to help them find affordable housing," says Richard Cupelli, CEO at AffordableHousing.com. "We take pride in advocating for these families, so it was a natural fit for us to join forces with the Administration and other socially responsible companies to help protect consumers in our industry."
On July 19, 2023, the White House published a Fact Sheet announcing its crack-down on junk fees in the rental market, highlighting private-sector commitments supporting this initiative made by the three major rental housing platforms: AffordableHousing.com, Zillow, and Apartments.com.
Late last year, the President called on federal agencies, Congress, and private companies to take action to address junk fees across the economy. The initiative aims to ensure Americans are provided with honest, transparent pricing. By February 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced proposed rules limiting credit card late fees. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized a rule requiring cable and internet providers to list fees up front. And the Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed a requirement for airlines and booking services show the full price of a plane ticket, including baggage and other fees.
In March, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge released an open letter to housing providers and state and local governments, encouraging them to adopt policies promoting greater fairness and transparency of fees faced by renters. Substantial research shows such fees obstruct comparison shopping, impede competition, and lead to consumers paying more.
A long-standing resource for families seeking affordable housing, AffordableHousing.com has policies in place supporting this transparency and protecting its customers from unfair fees.
Renters can search available properties free on AffordableHousing.com, and property owners are required to be upfront about all refundable and non-refundable rental fees and costs. AffordableHousing.com also does not charge rental application fees.
"Our socially responsible technology platform has allowed us to establish the largest network of affordable housing in the nation," says Cupelli. "We understand the accountability that comes with our standing in the industry and the trust that our customers place in us."
As a hub for housing agencies across the nation, AffordableHousing.com also allows state and local governments to have their own customized website that serves their local community, enforces their specific regulatory requirements, centralizes all affordable housing, and simplifies the application and approval process.
"We are working with AffordableHousing.com to implement the Vermont Affordable Housing Hub, which will allow families to easily find and apply to all affordable housing in the state," says Kathleen Berk, Executive Director at Vermont State Housing Authority. "By utilizing AffordableHousing.com's custom housing hub to build our state-specific site, we can streamline compliance with state laws, which have strict application fee guidelines. We can also add safeguards to protect our families by providing the Clear and Fair Lease template for property owners to use. These leases will also comply with affordable housing programs, like Section 8."
AffordableHousing.com also rewards reputable property owners. Those with a history of good standing can qualify for a Trusted Owner Badge, which ensures their credibility to prospective renters on the site and increases consumer confidence. Trusted Owners also receive prominent listing status.
Earning and maintaining status as a Trusted Owner requires providing various levels of documentation to verify qualifications and authenticity, adhering to all relevant federal, state, and local laws, and complying with the site's reasonable fee guidelines.
Together with its research partner, Learning Collider (www.learningcollider.org), AffordableHousing.com is conducting research into the real cost of administrative fees, the impact of fee transparency in rental listings, and the effectiveness of platform features like the common application for rental and government programs—an endeavor that the company has been urging agencies to adopt for years.
"Our research partnership with AffordableHousing.com has allowed us to analyze the impacts of rental fees on low-income families in real-time," says Peter Bergman, Professor at UT Austin and Director of the Learning Collider research lab. "Together, we are advancing research to identify junk fees and establish transparent fee practices, easing the path to affordable rentals for families across the U.S."
The President announced in latest White House Fact Sheet, released on July 27, 2023, further plans to protect renters, naming AffordableHousing.com as an ally in the initiative and endorsing the site's plans to deploy additional consumer protection tools by the end of the year, including "Clear and Fair" digital leases, which will align with the principles outlined in the White House Blueprint for a Renter Bill of Rights. Property owners who use these "Clear and Fair" digital leases will be acknowledged on AffordableHousing.com.
About AffordableHousing.com: For more than 20 years, AffordableHousing.com has provided innovative technology and real solutions that help solve some of the most complex challenges impacting the availability of affordable housing in the United States. By simplifying access to available resources, AffordableHousing.com boosts participation in government programs, increasing the much-needed supply of affordable housing nationwide, and providing more homes to more families.
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SOURCE AffordableHousing.com | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/white-house-announces-partnership-with-affordablehousingcom-end-junk-fees/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:47 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/white-house-announces-partnership-with-affordablehousingcom-end-junk-fees/ |
NIAMEY, Niger -- Thousands of people backing the coup in Niger marched through the streets of the capital denouncing France, the country's former colonial power, waving Russian flags, and setting a door at the French embassy ablaze on Sunday before the army broke up the crowd.
Demonstrators in Niger are openly resentful of France, and Russia is seen by some as a powerful alternative. The nature of Russia'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 Russian mercenary group Wagner is operating in neighboring Mali, and under Putin Russia has expanded its influence in West Africa. The new junta's leaders have not said whether they intend to ally themselves with Moscow or stick with Niger's Western partners.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that attacks on France and its interests would not be tolerated and anyone who attacks French citizens will see an immediate response.
Niger, a French colony until 1960, had been seen as the West's last reliable partner battling jihadists in Africa's Sahel region. France has 1,500 soldiers in the country who conduct joint operations with the Nigeriens. The United States and other European countries have helped train the nation's troops.
At an emergency meeting Sunday, the West African bloc known as ECOWAS said that it was suspending relations with Niger, and authorized the use of force if President Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated within a week. The African Union has issued its own 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the democratically elected government.
Shortly after the ECOWAS meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, Chadian President Mahamat Deby arrived in Niger to lead mediation efforts, according to the Chad state radio station.
ECOWAS has struggled to make a definitive impact on the region's political crises in the past but Bazoum was democratically elected two years ago in Niger's first peaceful transfer of power since independence from France in 1960.
Members of the Niger military announced on Wednesday that they had deposed Bazoum and on Friday named Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as the country's new leader, adding Niger to a growing list of military regimes in West Africa's Sahel region.
Some leaders of the mutiny said they overthrew Bazoum because he wasn't able to secure the nation against growing jihadi violence. But some analysts and Nigeriens say that was a pretext for a takeover driven by internal power struggles.
"We couldn't expect a coup in Niger because there's no social, political or security situation that would justify that the military take the power," Prof. Amad Hassane Boubacar, who teaches at the University of Niamey, told The Associated Press.
He said Bazoum wanted to replace the head of the presidential guard, Tchiani. Tchiani, who also goes by Omar, was loyal to Bazoum's predecessor, and that sparked the problems, Boubacar said.
Niger's dire security situation is not as bad as that in neighboring Burkina Faso or Mali, which have also been battling an Islamic insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Last year, Niger was the only one of the three to see a decline in violence, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
Some taking part in Sunday's rally warned outside bodies to stay away.
"I would like also to say to the European Union, African Union and ECOWAS, please, please stay out of our business," Oumar Barou Moussa said at the demonstration. "It's time for us to take our lives, to work for ourselves. It's time for us to talk about our freedom and liberty."
Niger has the most at stake of any country in the Sahel if it turns away from the West, given the millions of dollars of military assistance it has received from abroad.
On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the continued security and economic cooperation with the U.S. hinges on the release of Bazoum -- who remains under house arrest -- and "the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger."
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 regimes in West and Central Africa, where there have been nine successful or attempted coups since 2020.
Information for this article was contributed by Angela Charlton, Chinedu Asadu and Edouard Takadji of The Associated Press. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/supporters-of-niger-coup-march/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:48 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/supporters-of-niger-coup-march/ |
The bear was spotted chilling in a Burbank jacuzzi while resting its paws on the side of the backyard spa. The California homeowners says the trespasser fled the scene as soon as the police showed up.
Copyright 2023 NPR
The bear was spotted chilling in a Burbank jacuzzi while resting its paws on the side of the backyard spa. The California homeowners says the trespasser fled the scene as soon as the police showed up.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/as-temperatures-climbed-into-the-90s-a-black-bear-cooled-off-in-a-jacuzzi | 2023-07-31T10:23:49 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/as-temperatures-climbed-into-the-90s-a-black-bear-cooled-off-in-a-jacuzzi |
Buccaneers Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
At +15000, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the third-worst odds of winning the Super Bowl as of December 31.
Watch the Buccaneers this season on Fubo!
Buccaneers Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the NFC South: +750
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +15000
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Tampa Bay Betting Insights
- Tampa Bay went 4-12-1 ATS last season.
- A total of six Buccaneers games last season went over the point total.
- On offense, Tampa Bay ranked 15th in the with 346.7 yards per game last season. Meanwhile, it ranked ninth in total defense (324.3 yards allowed per contest).
- Last year the Buccaneers were 5-4 at home and 3-5 away.
- When the underdog, Tampa Bay was winless (0-3). But as the favorite put together a 8-6 record.
- The Buccaneers were 8-4 in the NFC, including 4-2 in the NFC South.
Buccaneers Impact Players
- In 15 games last year, Mike Evans had 77 receptions for 1,124 yards (74.9 per game) and six touchdowns.
- In 12 games, Baker Mayfield passed for 2,163 yards (180.3 per game), with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions, and a completion percentage of 60.0%.
- In addition, Mayfield rushed for 89 yards and one TD.
- Chris Godwin had 104 receptions for 1,023 yards (68.2 per game) and three touchdowns in 15 games a season ago.
- On the ground, Rachaad White scored one touchdown and picked up 481 yards (28.3 per game).
- Devin White had 124 tackles, 8.0 TFL, 5.5 sacks, and five passes defended last year.
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2023-24 Buccaneers 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.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/buccaneers-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:54 | 1 | https://www.mysuncoast.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/buccaneers-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
Arkansas has a car problem.
More specifically, it has an unregistered car problem.
In 2022, the state saw 880,000 passenger vehicles, motorcycles and commercial trucks purchased, bringing the state's total to around 2.7 million.
That 880,000 is just new purchases and doesn't include annual renewals for already registered vehicles.
And according to stats provided by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, 31,997 of those new cars are running wild in the state without having been registered.
That number is up from the previous year, when 29,400 newly purchased cars in 2021 hadn't been registered by early 2022.
"I'm surprised that that many Arkansans are willing to gamble and drive every day knowing there's the potential of receiving a citation at any moment," said Scott Hardin, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. "Then add to that the penalties that apply from just the state level; that can add up quickly."
The Department of Finance sends out a notice when a car with temporary tags isn't registered by the designated time, which for years has been 30 days.
The financial burden includes a sales tax penalty that is 10% of the amount of tax due, plus a registration penalty of $3 for each 10-day period or "fraction thereof" during which the car is not properly registered.
"The strongest penalty is the 10% on sales tax," Hardin said. "If someone owes $5,000 in sales tax, that immediately becomes, on day [31], $5,500, which is a significant penalty."
Hardin added, "It would be so much easier simply to pay sales tax and then register within the required time frame. It seems like the simpler option to remain compliant."
There would be a financial benefit if all those who hadn't registered somehow did so at once.
Hardin said if you were to compute the average purchase price for a car last year, multiply that by sales tax and add the registration fee due, that would bring in between $25 million to $30 million in tax revenue for the state.
An effort to relieve this registration problem starts on Tuesday, when a new law goes into effect that increases the window allotted for new car owners to register their vehicles from 30 to 60 days.
The law, Act 41, was initially filed by state Rep. Frances Cavenaugh, a Republican out of Walnut Ridge.
Cavenaugh knows a thing or two about the car industry, having married a car dealer. Her husband, Donald, bought his first dealership in 1978.
Cavenaugh serves as chief financial officer of the Cavenaugh Auto Group and previously served as president of the Arkansas Independent Automobile Dealers Association.
"Over the years, 30 days used to be plenty of time," Cavenaugh said. "But I'll be honest with you, it used to be a lot of people didn't have their vehicles financed. But now you have the vast majority [of] people have lien holders on their vehicles. And between them, multiple have issues getting it processed through the lien holder; it just takes longer and to be honest with you, [stuff] gets lost in the mail."
There were two reasons Cavenaugh felt the need to introduce the bill that eventually became Act 41, which the Department of Finance and Administration estimated would result in a one-time loss of $42.6 million in revenue for the state in the 2024 fiscal year.
The first reason had to do with trading in cars at dealerships.
"A lot of times, they don't even have the title and there's a payoff on it. So we'll pay it off to the lien holder," said Cavenaugh.
Frequently, the lien holder isn't located in the state and it can take up to 50 days for the payoff to occur and the title to arrive. Cavenaugh noted customers don't have control over when the lien holder sends the title and the dealer receives it.
"Arkansas consumers were getting penalized and having to pay penalties and the state of Arkansas was making money off of something that they really didn't need to be making money off of it, because it wasn't anybody's fault," Cavenaugh said. "It was just the way that the industry has kind of changed."
Cavenaugh then turned to the desire to give low-income Arkansans "a little extra breathing room" when it came to what was likely "going to be their biggest purchase."
While Hardin would like people to simply pay the sales tax and register the car, the one-time cost of doing so may be a lot for some low-income residents.
"That 30 days to come up with a down payment, insurance and sales tax is just too much for them, they cannot do it," Cavenaugh said. "What it does is it forces them to drive around on expired tags. And that creates another whole issue."
Enter the justice system.
On the same notice the Department of Finance and Administration sends out about expired temporary tags, it lists off what would happen should a person be convicted of failing to register in time.
A first offense results in a fine between $50 and $100.
If a person is convicted under this statute twice in a year, the court can order the unregistered car be impounded until proof of registration is provided to the court.
A second offense and any after that results in a fine between $100 and $250.
According to the Arkansas State Police, from July 26, 2022, to July 26, 2023, it recorded 36,920 actions taken related to "failure to register in a proper time period," which covers expired temporary tags or someone who does not display paper tags, but instead uses tags originally registered to another vehicle and fails to register the new vehicle within the required time period.
This included 12,663 citations and 24,103 warnings being given out. Plus, 154 arrest warrants were issued, which a police spokesperson said is usually done when a person fails to appear in court for their original citation.
A spokesperson for the Pulaski County sheriff's office said it had issued 15 citations for expired temporary tags in the last 12 months.
How many citation cases in the Little Rock area make it to court?
According to the Little Rock District Court, second division -- otherwise known as Traffic Court -- cases for first and subsequent offenses totaled 348 in 2022. As of Thursday, it had seen 199 in 2023.
Say those people who appeared in Traffic Court had to pay the necessary fines. Where does the money go?
If they were arrested by a state trooper, it goes into the Arkansas State Police fund where it is used for the purchase and maintenance of state police vehicles.
If it was a Pulaski County or Little Rock police arrest, it goes into the county/city fund where the money is used on first responder vehicles, communications equipment, animals used by law enforcement and medical equipment.
Cavenaugh knows Act 41 isn't going to be a cure-all for the unregistered cars running rampant around the state.
"Is this going to stop people from not licensing their vehicle in the 60 days? No," Cavenaugh said. "There's always bad players. I can write a bill and say 'you got two years,' but there would still be somebody who wouldn't do it ... that's a symptom of a problem." | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/thousands-of-cars-left-unregistered-in-state/ | 2023-07-31T10:23:54 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/thousands-of-cars-left-unregistered-in-state/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/bilingual-maps-help-get-latinos-in-colorado-enjoying-roaring-fork-valleys-trails | 2023-07-31T10:23:55 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/bilingual-maps-help-get-latinos-in-colorado-enjoying-roaring-fork-valleys-trails |
Former president Donald Trump called on congressional Republicans to withhold military support for Ukraine until the Biden administration cooperates with their investigations into the president and his son Hunter Biden's business dealings.
The demand, delivered at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, echoed Trump's conduct at issue during his first impeachment, when Trump withheld aid from Ukraine while pressuring the country's president to announce an investigation of President Joe Biden.
"Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional shipment of our depleted weapons stockpiles ... to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime family's corrupt business dealings," Trump said at the rally. He added that any Republican lawmakers who didn't join the effort should face primary challenges, a tactic he used last year to unseat Republicans who voted to impeach him for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.
Republicans are investigating Hunter Biden's business dealings in China and Ukraine during the Obama administration, when his father was vice president. Hunter Biden held a high-paying board position at a Ukrainian energy company. The White House has said Republicans have failed to present evidence of wrongdoing by PresidentBiden.
Congressional Republicans have voiced frustration with the administration's responses to their demands for records, a common point of tension between lawmakers and administrations of opposing parties. The Oversight Committee has obtained thousands of pages of financial records, in addition to viewing bank activity reports from the Treasury Department and a sensitive internal FBI report.
Hard-liners have been raising pressure on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to escalate the probes to an impeachment inquiry. In a shift, last week McCarthy signaled openness toward starting impeachment proceedings, without specifying the evidentiary basis.
Democratic National Committee spokesman Ammar Moussa responded Saturday, saying, "Just like when he was impeached, Trump is using aid to Ukraine to play politics, which only serves to benefit one person: Vladimir Putin. MAGA Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kevin McCarthy are echoing Trump's baseless attacks, floating a political impeachment and wasting taxpayer dollars instead of working with President Biden on actually delivering lower costs, more jobs and safer communities for the American people."
In 2019, Trump spoke on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and responded to his plea for missiles to help the country resist Russia's invasion by saying, "I would like you to do us a favor though." Trump went on to ask Zelenskyy to assist in finding Democratic National Committee emails that were, without substantiation, purported to be in Ukraine. He also asked Zelenskyy to talk to his lawyer Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr about investigating Hunter Biden.
The phone call led to a whistleblower complaint that prompted an impeachment inquiry. Trump stonewalled the proceedings and was impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate acquitted him in February 2020, with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, joining the Democrats in voting to convict Trump.
Trump has insisted that his phone call with Zelenskyy was "perfect," a claim he repeated at Saturday's rally.
He also reprised his pledge, if reelected, to have a special prosecutor investigate the Biden family. On Wednesday a federal judge delayed a plea deal for Hunter Biden involving two tax misdemeanors.
Information for this article was contributed by Tyler Pager of The Washington Post. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/trump-calls-for-pause-in-ukraine-support/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:00 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/trump-calls-for-pause-in-ukraine-support/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/extreme-heat-is-a-problem-for-native-americans-in-the-southwest | 2023-07-31T10:24:01 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/extreme-heat-is-a-problem-for-native-americans-in-the-southwest |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/its-the-end-of-the-road-for-yellow-one-of-the-nations-largest-freight-carriers | 2023-07-31T10:24:07 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/its-the-end-of-the-road-for-yellow-one-of-the-nations-largest-freight-carriers |
Donald Trump's political action committee spent $40.2 million on legal costs in the first half of 2023 to defend the former president, his advisers and others, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The political group, Save America, is set to disclose the figure in a filing today, said the people who asked not to be identified before the information is released.
The figure is substantial enough that the PAC has requested a refund on a $60 million contribution it made to another group supporting Trump and signals a potential money crisis for the campaign, the New York Times reported late Saturday.
The disclosure is set to come as Trump, who's leading polls for the 2024 Republican nomination, braces for yet another indictment, this time in Special Counsel Jack Smith's probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election and the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump's already been indicted in a federal case over his handling of classified documents and in New York state court where he faces charges over alleged hush money payments to an adult film star.
Trump was hit Thursday with new obstruction charges in the criminal case over classified documents, including allegations that he and two employees tried to delete surveillance footage at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose standing in GOP primary polls has been dropping, criticized the spending. Communications director Andrew Romeo said the legal expenses wouldn't help Republicans retake the White House.
"Trump has spent over $60 million on 2 things: falsely attacking DeSantis and paying his own legal fees, not a cent on defeating Biden," Romeo posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Trump isn't turning down anyone ensnared in his legal troubles seeking help, particularly those who can't afford the expense, people close to him said. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/trump-pac-pays-402m-in-legal-fees/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:08 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/trump-pac-pays-402m-in-legal-fees/ |
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's recent health episodes have sparked concerns about his possible successor. NPR's A Martinez talks to Austin Horn, a reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Copyright 2023 NPR
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's recent health episodes have sparked concerns about his possible successor. NPR's A Martinez talks to Austin Horn, a reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Copyright 2023 NPR | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/kentucky-law-dictates-a-republican-would-replace-mcconnell-if-he-vacates-senate-seat | 2023-07-31T10:24:13 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/kentucky-law-dictates-a-republican-would-replace-mcconnell-if-he-vacates-senate-seat |
Critics of particular political proposals often accuse their sponsors of wishing "to turn back the clock," suggesting that their acceptance would somehow undo progress and take us back to a hazily remembered dark age.
Such claims illogically dismiss the possibility that the past could have ever been better in any respects than the present. While it would indeed be a tough slog to argue that human life was more pleasant 500 years ago than now, that the "arc of history" has failed to trend upward, a reasonable person might still suggest that, on balance, America was, for instance, a better place for the majority of its citizens in the first year of this century than in its 23rd.
When it comes to American politics, more precisely to the vitality of our institutions and faith in them, just about any time period you could hit on the dartboard (save 1861-1865) was probably better than the current one.
The quality of presidential candidates offered up by our political parties might be the most obvious area in which regression has occurred, such that it would be difficult to envision how turning the clock back wouldn't give us better choices than we get now.
For my part, I would set the dial in my time-traveling machine in that respect to just before the primary nominating system began to emerge (circa 1960).
The primaries were intended to make the nomination processes of our parties more "democratic," to shift power from party elites to rank and file, but in reality have only worked over time to hollow out those crucial institutions and turn out options that repulse much of the electorate.
As such, if forced to choose between the current primary system and the system it replaced--wherein things were largely decided by arm-twisting and horse-trading by party leaders in "smoke-filled back rooms" at party conventions--I wouldn't hesitate to choose the latter.
Reform wouldn't, in this case, mean something new but a return to something old.
That choice would entail shifting control of the parties back to those with actual skin in the game, to members of Congress, mayors, and governors; in other words, to people who knew something about winning elections.
The party leaders at those conventions, usually representing different party factions, would bargain among themselves and cut deals (patronage), with an eye toward selecting someone with good prospects of winning in November (the paramount goal of any political party). That candidate would invariably be a nationally known figure with an extensive resume--the presidency wasn't seen as an entry-level position and it would therefore have been unlikely for obscure peanut farmers from Georgia, first-term senators from Illinois, and reality TV stars from Queens to receive consideration.
The end result would usually be Republican and Democratic nominees that were both more qualified for the office of the presidency and more appealing in the eyes of those who decide who occupies it (i.e., moderates and independents).
Political campaigns were mercifully short back then, essentially a Labor Day to first Tuesday after the first Monday in November sprint, compared to the ugly two-year-long free-for-all marathons we now experience (we're still six months out from Iowa and New Hampshire).
Whereas the old system could "draft" candidates from among a pool of the "best and brightest" (because they wouldn't have to leave their jobs and families and discard their dignity), the primaries encourage at best those who have campaign skills but often little in the way of accomplishments or competence in governing; at worst, grifters, cranks, liars and braggarts of shockingly low character.
Ultimately, any party nominating process must be judged by the quality of candidates it produces, and it would be difficult to imagine what worse matchups than Clinton-Trump and Trump-Biden (twice?) would look like.
Those who defend the system that produced those results on the grounds that it is theoretically "more democratic" should consequently be reminded that democracy isn't an end in itself but merely the least bad means toward the end of individual freedom; such that, as Aristotle warned us, there can be both too little of it (tyranny) and too much (mob rule).
Because political parties are more akin to private clubs than governmental entities, they can choose their nominees any way they wish, and there is certainly no constitutional requirement for them to hold primaries nor a constitutional right for citizens to vote in any that are held.
With such caveats in mind, it is a fairly safe bet that party elites (yes, the dreaded "establishment") can choose better candidates who are also better prepared to govern if elected than today's primary voters do.
Returning the nomination process back to governors, mayors, and senators would also mean a return of our politics from the woke and MAGA fringes toward what Arthur Schlesinger called "the vital center": if anything, it would, as the convention-based nominating systems of the past did, beneficially marginalize such extremes.
It might be heretical to suggest it, but our efforts to make everything more democratic might be undermining the stability of democracy.
Just as government works best when it is kept limited, democracy works best when we recognize the limits of democracy.
Freelance columnist Bradley R. Gitz, who lives and teaches in Batesville, received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/turn-back-the-clock/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:15 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/turn-back-the-clock/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/morning-news-brief | 2023-07-31T10:24:20 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/morning-news-brief |
Two people died and another was injured in two separate incidents on Arkansas roads, according to preliminary reports from Arkansas State Police.
Allan Hickman, 21, of Mulberry, died shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday while riding as a passenger on a 2007 Harley Davidson with 53-year-old Jesse Lavielle, from Houston.
The motorcycle, police said, was heading south on Midland Boulevard in Fort Smith when a northbound vehicle crossed into the southbound lane while attempting a left turn onto North Street.
Lavielle struck the northbound vehicle -- a Ford F-550 -- on the passenger side, according to the report.
Fort Smith police said the 21-year-old was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment but later died from his injuries. Lavielle also was hospitalized for his injuries, police said, but his condition was not disclosed in the report.
The driver of the northbound Ford vehicle left the scene before police arrived, the report stated.
Shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday, an unidentified pedestrian died after lying in the 148 westbound on-ramp to Interstate 40 from Crystal Hill Road, reports from state police said.
The individual is said to have died after they were struck by a 2004 Saturn and a 2012 Nissan.
Weather conditions were clear and roads were dry during both incidents Saturday. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/two-die-in-separate-incidents-on-arkansas-roads/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:21 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/two-die-in-separate-incidents-on-arkansas-roads/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/pakistans-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing | 2023-07-31T10:24:26 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/pakistans-government-vows-to-find-those-behind-a-deadly-bombing |
FAYETTEVILLE -- Student success is one of three strategic priorities for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and faculty, staff and students were able...
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Caroline Wahlgreen (left), administrative assistant at the University of Arkansas Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research, speaks with visitors Thursday, July 27, 2023, during a show and tell for high-impact practices available to the campus community inside the Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence on the university campus in Fayetteville. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Print Headline: UA-Fayetteville getting HIP for student success
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ADVERTISEMENT | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/ua-fayetteville-getting-hip-for-student-success/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:27 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/ua-fayetteville-getting-hip-for-student-success/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/stone-countertop-workers-are-getting-sick-and-dying-due-to-exposure-to-silica-dust | 2023-07-31T10:24:32 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/stone-countertop-workers-are-getting-sick-and-dying-due-to-exposure-to-silica-dust |
Ukraine brought the war far from the front line into the heart of Russia again Sunday in drone penetrations that Russian authorities said damaged two office buildings a few miles from the Kremlin and a pig-breeding complex on the countries' border.
The attacks, which Ukraine didn't acknowledge in keeping with its security policy, reflected a pattern of more frequent and deeper cross-border strikes the Kyiv government has launched since starting a counteroffensive against Russian forces in June. A precursor and the most dramatic of the strikes happened in May on the Kremlin itself, the seat of power in the capital, Moscow.
Sunday's was the fourth such strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, showing Moscow's vulnerability as Russia's war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.
The Russian Defense Ministry said three drones targeted the city in an "attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime." Air defenses shot down one drone in Odintsovo in the surrounding Moscow region, while two others were jammed and crashed into the Moscow City business district.
Photos and video showed that a drone had ripped off part of the facade of a modern skyscraper, IQ-Quarter, located 4.5 miles from the Kremlin. When the drone hit, sparks, flames and smoke spewed from the building, with debris falling on the sidewalk and street. Windows were blown out and metal window frames were mangled. A security guard was injured, Russia's state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials. Russia's Ria-Novosti news agency reported that the building's tenants included several government agencies.
Flights were temporarily suspended at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, and the airspace over Moscow and the outlying regions was temporarily closed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in his hometown of St. Petersburg at the time of the attempted attacks for meetings with African leaders and a naval celebration, was briefed, his spokesman said.
Ukrainian officials didn't acknowledge the attacks but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address: "Gradually the war is returning to the territory of Russia -- to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process."
A Ukrainian air force spokesman also didn't claim responsibility but said the Russian people were seeing the consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine.
"All of the people who think the war 'doesn't concern them' -- it's already touching them," spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told journalists Sunday.
"There's already a certain mood in Russia: that something is flying in, and loudly," he said. "There's no discussion of peace or calm in the Russian interior any more. They got what they wanted."
Ihnat also referenced a drone attack early Sunday on Crimea, Ukrainian territory Russia occupied and illegally annexed in 2014. The Russian Defense Ministry announced it had shot down 16 Ukrainian drones and neutralized eight others through electronic jamming. No casualties were reported.
Zelenskyy has vowed to take back all land Russian forces have occupied, including Crimea, and his efforts have been strengthened by the receipt and deployment of increasingly advanced Western weapons.
In the earlier attacks on Moscow, Russia's Defense Ministry reported shooting down a Ukrainian drone outside the city Friday. Four days earlier, two drones struck the Russian capital, one of them falling in the center of the city near the Defense Ministry's headquarters along the Moscow River about 2 miles from the Kremlin. The other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.
Information for this article was contributed by Andrew Katell of The Associated Press. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/ukrainian-drones-hit-russian-buildings/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:33 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/ukrainian-drones-hit-russian-buildings/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/the-cdc-says-millions-of-americans-might-be-living-with-an-allergy-to-meat | 2023-07-31T10:24:38 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/the-cdc-says-millions-of-americans-might-be-living-with-an-allergy-to-meat |
Summer in Arkansas, ugh!
It's so hot that no matter how early you get up to go biking, walking or whatever, it's just not...
Summer in Arkansas, ugh!
It's so hot that no matter how early you get up to go biking, walking or whatever, it's just not...
Print Headline: Ditching heat and humidity | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/unwilling-to-be-broiled-alive-at-home-campers/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:39 | 0 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/unwilling-to-be-broiled-alive-at-home-campers/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/the-inspiration-behind-leslie-rasmussens-the-stories-we-cannot-tell | 2023-07-31T10:24:43 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/the-inspiration-behind-leslie-rasmussens-the-stories-we-cannot-tell |
A three-day operation ended in five child-exploitation arrests, helped three human-trafficking victims and rescued two endangered children in Northwest Arkansas, according to a news release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
The effort partnered more than 20 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations during a child exploitation and human trafficking recovery initiative.
The operation's first goal was to identify, locate and successfully prosecute individuals seeking to engage in criminal sexual acts with minors. The second was to identify sex workers being exploited, provide immediate support services and apprehend and prosecute those exploiting them for financial gain, according to the news release.
The news release did not say who was arrested or where the arrests occurred. | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/us-announces-five-arrested-in-child-exploitation/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:46 | 1 | https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jul/31/us-announces-five-arrested-in-child-exploitation/ |
Trucker injured Sunday night after high winds topple rig on I-35 in Franklin County
OTTAWA, Kan. (WIBW) - A truck driver suffered serious injuries Sunday night when high winds toppled his rig on Interstate 35 in Franklin County, authorities said.
The crash was reported at 8:35 p.m. Sunday on I-35 at Montana Road. The location was on the southeast side of Ottawa.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, a 2018 Kenworth semitrailer was southbound on I-35 when high winds caused the truck to overturn, coming to rest across both lanes of travel.
The trailer was hauling a 2022 Strickland semitrailer, the patrol said.
The driver, Dennis E. Pflaum, 58, of DeSoto, was transported to Olathe Medical Center with serious injuries.
The patrol said Pflaum, who was alone in the vehicle, was wearing his seat belt.
Copyright 2023 WIBW. All rights reserved. | https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/31/trucker-seriously-injured-sunday-night-after-high-winds-topple-rig-i-35-franklin-county/ | 2023-07-31T10:24:48 | 0 | https://www.wibw.com/2023/07/31/trucker-seriously-injured-sunday-night-after-high-winds-topple-rig-i-35-franklin-county/ |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/the-u-s-is-at-risk-of-heading-home-early-from-the-fifa-womens-world-cup | 2023-07-31T10:24:49 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/the-u-s-is-at-risk-of-heading-home-early-from-the-fifa-womens-world-cup |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/ukraines-troops-are-slowly-pushing-russian-forces-out-of-occupied-ukrainian-land | 2023-07-31T10:24:55 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/ukraines-troops-are-slowly-pushing-russian-forces-out-of-occupied-ukrainian-land |
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.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/woman-in-china-learned-about-her-husbands-secret-identity-after-police-grabbed-him | 2023-07-31T10:25:01 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/2023-07-31/woman-in-china-learned-about-her-husbands-secret-identity-after-police-grabbed-him |
Can someone be too old to hold office?
That age-old question was front and center last week after awkward episodes from two of the oldest members of the U.S. Senate.
On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell, 81, abruptly froze for over 30 seconds during his weekly news conference. A day later, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, had to be reminded by a colleague to "Just say, 'Aye' " while casting her vote for the military budget.
Both incidents were brief, but chances are they won't be the last. The median age of U.S. senators is 65 — a record high — while the median age of representatives in the House is 58. In the White House, President Biden, 80, is the oldest president elected in U.S. history, and he hopes to remain in office until 86.
People age at different rates, but concerns over life expectancy and mental fitness will likely keep resurfacing as Congress gets older and there are few legal options to address gerontocracy.
Why do we have an age minimum but not an age maximum to hold office?
Maximum age limits are considered unconstitutional. Part of the reason that's true dates back to 1995. At the time, Arkansas attempted to deny ballot access to prospective U.S. representatives who had already served three terms and prospective U.S. senators who had already served two terms.
That case was argued in front of the Supreme Court in U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton. The court ruled that the Framers could have created term limits for lawmakers in Congress but chose not to, suggesting that they did not intend for term limits to be part of the Constitution.
The same could be argued against maximum age limits, according to Jeremy Paul, who teaches at Northeastern University School of Law.
"Whether you're talking about adding term limits or whether you're talking about a maximum age, you're still changing the qualifications that are set out in the Constitution," Paul said.
Could there be age limits in the future for politicians in Washington?
The military, commercial pilots and, in some states, judges all follow a mandatory age for retirement. But imposing an age limit for the president or lawmakers serving in Congress would be a much harder lift.
Essentially, it would require Congress to add a new amendment to the Constitution. Doing so generally requires the support of two-thirds of both chambers of Congress, as well as three-quarters of the state legislatures. The last time Congress added an amendment was over 30 years ago.
Even if there was widespread support for setting a retirement age, Paul said it would be a complicated feat to settle on what age that should be.
"Whatever age you pick, there will be arbitrariness to it," he said.
Why do we keep electing older adults?
In elections, age does not tend to play a big, decisive role, according to Damon Roberts, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder who has researched whether voters prefer older or younger candidates.
In an online survey with 1,000 respondents, Roberts found that both young and older people were equally supportive of a 23-year-old candidate, a 50-year-old candidate and a 77-year-old candidate — even if they believed stereotypes that old age is associated with forgetfulness and closed-mindedness.
Instead, a candidate's political party, race, gender and where they stood on specific issues held more sway.
"We have other things that are really salient in American politics that people use quite strongly to base their voting decisions off," Roberts said.
The case for and against term limits
For some, being a senator or representative in Congress is a full-time career. That can be a good or bad thing, according to Northeastern University's Paul.
Some argue that term limits are the best way to address gerontocracy. With more turnover comes new ideas and a chance to challenge the status quo in Washington.
But critics say multiple terms help elected officials gain institutional knowledge and build relationships needed to become more effective in passing legislation. Paul said that seniority also plays a major role on Capitol Hill and that longtime lawmakers in Congress tend to be more influential in their party, as well as lead important committees.
"There's really no substitute for experience," Paul said.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2023-07-31/after-mcconnells-and-feinsteins-episodes-should-age-limits-be-on-the-table | 2023-07-31T10:25:07 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2023-07-31/after-mcconnells-and-feinsteins-episodes-should-age-limits-be-on-the-table |
With the 2023 Women's World Cup taking place on the other side of the world in Australia and New Zealand, it's not easy to sort out what time the teams are playing.
The U.S. has a crucial game against Portugal on Tuesday and it's particularly challenging to determine when the teams take the field. Why? The U.S. broadcaster Fox Sports touts its coverage begins at 1 a.m. ET — two hours earlier than the kickoff — but doesn't explicitly tell viewers what time the game actually begins.
Fox Sports paid a lot of money for the rights to broadcast the tournament and obviously wants as many people watching for as long as possible.
The first two U.S. World Cup games started at 9 p.m. ET — and the Fox Sports coverage started much earlier. With an evening kickoff, that's no problem. You probably were already awake.
But everything changes with a middle-of-the-night game. You need a plan. Stay up late? Get up early? There's a big circadian difference staying up for what you think is a 1 a.m. kickoff when the opening whistle happens hours later.
Just so we're clear — the final U.S. match in group play kicks off at 3 a.m. ET and will be televised on Fox Sports and Telemundo.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2023-07-31/what-time-is-the-u-s-playing-portugal-in-the-womens-world-cup-not-when-you-think | 2023-07-31T10:25:13 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/2023-07-31/what-time-is-the-u-s-playing-portugal-in-the-womens-world-cup-not-when-you-think |
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.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/the-death-toll-in-the-pakistan-suicide-bombing-rises-as-families-hold-funerals | 2023-07-31T10:25:19 | 1 | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/the-death-toll-in-the-pakistan-suicide-bombing-rises-as-families-hold-funerals |
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.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why | 2023-07-31T10:25:26 | 0 | https://www.wdiy.org/npr-news/npr-news/2023-07-31/yes-heat-can-affect-your-brain-and-mood-heres-why |
Donald Lawson, a sailor training for an ambitious attempt to break multiple sailing world records this fall, went missing in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Mexico around July 13.
Mexican Navy authorities located and searched his capsized sailboat Friday but did not find Lawson. Here’s what we know about the missing captain:
Latest developments
At this point, any hope for Lawson’s survival likely hinges on him being on a life raft.
The Defiant was equipped with a life raft, survival suit and other emergency gear, Lawson said last year. Mexican search crews found the survival suit, which would have kept him dry, on the sailboat Friday. A life raft that was on board when Lawson left Acapulco has not been found, said Ray Feldmann, a family spokesperson.
On Sunday, Lawson’s wife, Jacqueline, who also goes by Tori, said the missing life raft was “encouraging news,” noting she believes her husband used the raft and “is still out there somewhere.”
Defiant also had a small green dinghy attached to it, which was located by the Navy on Friday and found empty.
Who is searching for him?
Lawson’s 60-foot trimaran, Defiant, was found about 360 miles from the Mexican shore. The high-speed sailboat is prone to capsizing.
The Mexican authorities, who are in charge of the search for Lawson because of his last-known location in the Pacific, started searching July 21. They continued their efforts Sunday, according to a spokesperson for the Lawson family. A Mexican plane spotted what appeared to be a capsized sailboat July 23 but couldn’t locate it again or approach it until Thursday night. Jacqueline Lawson identified the boat as the Defiant.
Mexican authorities asked the U.S. Coast Guard to join the search Thursday. Coast Guard cutter Active deployed Thursday and searched the ocean Friday for any signs of Lawson. It suspended its efforts Friday evening.
Why was Lawson near Acapulco?
Lawson, 41, a Baltimore native who grew up in Woodlawn, was headed for Baltimore when he set out from Acapulco, Mexico. He planned to travel through the Panama Canal but lost engine power a few days into the journey.
He had spent months in Mexico repairing the ORMA 60 sailboat he acquired last year. The classification of the trimaran is fast but also extremely difficult to handle, sailors say. While sailing in the Pacific Ocean in January, Lawson and his wife collided with something — perhaps a whale or a tree trunk — damaging the boat and requiring more work to be done in Acapulco.
His goal was to depart from Baltimore this fall to embark on a record-setting solo circumnavigation of the globe covering at least 21,600 miles.
Lawson and his wife operate a nonprofit, the Dark Seas Project, which seeks to promote diversity in sailing and hosts sailing education events.
When was he reported missing?
Lawson left Acapulco on July 5 and last communicated with his wife July 12. Authorities have been searching for his sailboat and for him for the past week. His last known position, on July 13, was about 300 miles south of Acapulco.
He experienced problems with his hydraulic rigging beginning July 9 and was without engine power, relying solely on a wind generator, which converts wind into electricity. To make matters worse, a storm knocked out that generator July 12, his wife said. She last received a text from him that day.
The lack of power would have left him ill-equipped to navigate the tricky boat normally without the use of essential tools, such as autopilot.
Baltimore Sun reporters Hayes Gardner and Dan Belson contributed to this article. | https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bs-md-baltimore-sailor-missing-donald-lawson-faq-20230731-j6fy3wsofrdcpiymz25wijwihi-story.html | 2023-07-31T10:27:14 | 0 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bs-md-baltimore-sailor-missing-donald-lawson-faq-20230731-j6fy3wsofrdcpiymz25wijwihi-story.html |
Tyler Wells’ demotion would’ve been unfathomable three weeks ago. Sunday, it was barely a surprise.
Wells, the Orioles’ best starting pitcher in the season’s first half, was optioned to Double-A after his third straight poor start Saturday. Since the All-Star break, the 6-foot-8 right-hander has been almost unrecognizable to the reliable starting pitcher who was leading the majors in WHIP.
The increasing workload for Wells, who pitched just 163 total frames from 2019 to 2022, has been a question facing the club since he solidified his spot in the rotation and quickly approached his single-season innings high. The Orioles gave their answer Sunday, with manager Brandon Hyde explaining the demotion as a way to give Wells a “breather,” manage his workload and get him back to the consistent starter who was integral to Baltimore’s success in the first half.
There’s not much argument over the validity of the Orioles’ decision to option Wells, who suddenly lost his command during his past three starts to issue nine walks and 11 runs in just nine innings. But the same bill that came due for Wells could also for Dean Kremer and Grayson Rodriguez, two other young members of the rotation who have either surpassed their single-season innings marks or are about to.
How Baltimore handles those trains barreling down the tracks might determine whether it can maintain its standing as the American League’s best team — on pace to win 98 games — or contend for a World Series.
“When you have starters that are doing things that they’ve never done before, you’re obviously paying closer attention,” Hyde said.
Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Friday before Wells’ start that the organization is monitoring the workloads of its starting pitchers and will be “mindful of indicators” that could provide a “reason to pull back.”
“There’s really not a ton of science, or any science, there,” Elias said about innings limits. “We try to use common sense. We try to use our expertise. I don’t know that a single member of our rotation right now wants to go leave the rotation in some way shape or form. There’s that, too. They’re having the season of their lives, they’re competing, the team’s in first, they’ve got their whole careers ahead of them.”
Kremer, who was pulled with no outs in the fifth in Sunday’s win over the New York Yankees, is 14 2/3 innings away from matching his single-season high set last year. The 27-year-old right-hander leads the team with 10 wins, but he’s allowed four or more runs in eight of his 22 starts and owns a 4.66 ERA.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, has already surpassed his high-water mark of 103 frames from 2021 with 103 2/3 — nearly two-thirds of which in the majors. The 23-year-old spent six weeks in Triple-A after struggling in his first 10 starts, but he’s been sharp since returning to the rotation to begin the second half.
For Kremer, Rodriguez and, to a lesser extent, Kyle Bradish (who is 40 innings away from his single-season high), Hyde said they’ll be evaluated on a “case-by-case” basis. He’s also said in the past that evaluating the stress level of innings and pitches can be just as important as the total number of innings.
“It’s challenging,” Hyde said about managing workloads. “I’m so proud of all these guys. Tyler, he’s in uncharted waters right now. He’s not had experience of pitching like a normal starter in a full season since the minor leagues years ago. And all these guys are going to go through things for the first time, honestly, and that’s part of development and it’s part why they’re going to be really good down the road, too.
“We’re trying to win right now, and we’re going to try to win down the road and these guys have [taken] huge steps in their career this year. So we’re going to monitor things and we’ll see what happens, but we need all of them to go where we want to go.”
The workload conundrum doesn’t just apply to the rotation; it’s perhaps just as perilous for the Orioles’ two best relievers. Closer Félix Bautista and setup man Yennier Cano are both on pace to throw more innings than they did last season as Hyde has often tasked the two right-handers to finish games. Bautista has pitched in 43.8% of the Orioles’ games this season, while Cano, who was called up in mid-April, has appeared in 50.5% of contests for which he was on the roster.
Bautista, in his first full season as a closer, is at 50 innings and on pace for roughly 77 — more than the 65 2/3 he totaled last year. Cano, a rookie, is on pace for 84 innings — more than the 58 1/3 he covered last year and barely short of the 86 2/3 he managed in Cuba nearly a decade ago.
Unlike Wells and the starting pitchers, every pitch and inning Bautista and Cano throw are stressful. But similar to the starters, they could all be asked to pitch well into October.
“Bautista’s never closed for a full season before. Look at Cano’s last year, he’s never pitched in anything close to these sort of situations he’s being put in before,” Hyde said. “So all these guys are going to be better in the upcoming years for going through this year we’ve had up to this point, and hopefully we continue to keep it going. I’m incredibly impressed with how everybody’s handled it so far.”
It’s possible Wells returns to the rotation in August or September, although Hyde didn’t rule out using him in a relief role down the stretch. But at least for the short term, his demotion opens a spot in the rotation. The Orioles seemingly have two options: Move left-hander Cole Irvin back into the rotation or trade for a starting pitcher.
Baltimore is operating as a buyer at the trade deadline for the first time during Elias’ tenure, and he said it’s likely any additions would be for pitchers rather than position players. But Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline is approaching, and a few of the top starting pitchers on the market were dealt over the weekend.
“There’s a couple really interesting teams right now that still haven’t declared what they’re doing,” Elias said about the ever-evolving trade market. “We’re talking to a lot of them and kind of have some eyes on some stuff. We’ll see what they end up doing. We may end up having waited and they don’t sell.”
What’s to come?
The trade deadline, a pivotal AL East series and a reunion.
The last opportunity for Elias to bolster this roster via traditional trades this season is Tuesday, which comes in the middle of a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. While the top of the AL East has been occupied solely by Tampa Bay and Baltimore this season, the Blue Jays enter the series 5 1/2 games back of the Orioles. The last time the Orioles went to Rogers Centre, they swept the Blue Jays in Toronto for the first time since 2005.
When they return home, they’ll welcome Buck Showalter back to Camden Yards for the first time since the former Orioles skipper was fired after the 2018 season. Showalter, 67, is in his second season managing the New York Mets, who have disappointed this season with a 50-55 record.
What was good?
The fans.
The weekend series against the Yankees was the most-attended three-game set at Camden Yards in seven years. The announced attendance for the three games was a combined 114,816, including a sellout crowd Saturday. The average attendance this weekend was 38,272. The last time that many fans flocked to Oriole Park for a three-game series was July 2016 against the Los Angeles Angels (120,567). While a considerable amount of fans this weekend were wearing Yankee pinstripes, the last time a three-game Yankees series drew more fans than this weekend was in September 2014.
“The crowds have been unbelievable this weekend,” Hyde said. “We really appreciate the energy in the ballpark and how much our fans have showed up this weekend to support us and drowned out the Yankees fans, so that’s been great to see the energy in the ballpark.”
What wasn’t?
In the first half, All-Star Austin Hays slashed .314/.355/.498 — good for an .853 OPS. In the second half, he’s performed half as well, hitting .155 with three doubles and no home runs.
His struggles continued this week as the 28-year-old went 3-for-21 with one double and two walks. Hays’ batting average and OPS have fallen to .287 and .777, respectively.
On the farm
Luis Vicioso, a 20-year-old catching prospect, was named the Most Valuable Player of the Dominican Summer League All-Star Game on Sunday.
Vicioso, the younger brother of Orioles shortstop Jorge Mateo, hit a two-run single in the first to propel the AL to a 4-3 win over the NL. Vicioso, who Baltimore signed out of the Dominican Republic in January, is slashing .355/.412/.505 — good for a .917 OPS — in 31 DSL games this year. | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-reset-pitching-tyler-wells-demotion-workload-20230731-igngrtt5uzd37iv3vzo5ajvbxu-story.html | 2023-07-31T10:27:20 | 1 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-reset-pitching-tyler-wells-demotion-workload-20230731-igngrtt5uzd37iv3vzo5ajvbxu-story.html |
Death toll in Pakistan suicide bombing rises to 54 as families hold funerals, police say
Jul 31, 2023, 12:18 AM | Updated: 2:28 am
(AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)
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. | https://mynorthwest.com/3915067/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-government-vows-to-hunt-down-those-behind-the-weekends-suicide-bombing/ | 2023-07-31T10:28:32 | 0 | https://mynorthwest.com/3915067/pakistan-holds-funerals-as-government-vows-to-hunt-down-those-behind-the-weekends-suicide-bombing/ |
MUNCIE, Ind. — A street party on the south side of Muncie turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died, 19 others were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital’s emergency room and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remain hospitalized in stable condition.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there is no current danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd,” said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party’s disc jockey. “And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than a hundred people descending on the facility — many of which were victims that were transported by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence at South Hackley and East Willard streets while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
“It is too early in the investigation for me to say much,” Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman wrote in a statement. “I can say that I have been in contact with the Muncie Chief of Police, and I continue to get updates on the investigation. There are far too many guns on the street, and I certainly question the wisdom of someone having a huge outdoor party with several hundred people, including juveniles, carrying on into the early morning hours. Let’s take a dose of reality. This is not the Vegas strip or Times Square. This is a residential neighborhood.”
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee issued a statement on the shooting, noting that the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
“The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee, organizers and volunteers are saddened to hear of the senseless tragedy that occurred in our great city just shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday, July 30, 2023 at Hackley and Willard streets.
“The loss of life and multiple injuries occurred at a local block party that was not a part of the official MHF weeklong celebration events and programming, but has certainly left us all bereft as our community mourns together.
“We are praying for the families of the young man who passed away as well as the families who have relatives who were injured and remain hospitalized.
“This tragedy will not stop the hard work and dedication of those who endeavor to make Muncie a peaceful and loving community. Acts of violence will not be tolerated here, and we are united and moving forward in a positive manner, even in grief.”
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told CBS4 he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen,” said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes,” Malone said. “There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
The disk jockey’s uncle, whose sister was wounded, said there used to be certain unspoken rules about taking a personal beef into the streets.
”So, my sister, even though she was a gunshot victim, she was an innocent stand-by, and she was out here trying to help people,” he said. ”I know one thing … it shouldn’t have happened like this. You got a personal beef with someone, you take that with somebody’s person. You don’t take it up with other people’s kids and families. This ain’t that. I don’t understand what the rules are of this year’s game, but these ain’t the rules we live by.” | https://cbs4indy.com/indiana-news/one-dead-more-than-a-dozen-wounded-after-muncie-street-party-shooting/ | 2023-07-31T10:28:56 | 0 | https://cbs4indy.com/indiana-news/one-dead-more-than-a-dozen-wounded-after-muncie-street-party-shooting/ |
HANCOCK COUNTY, Ind. — The Hancock County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a deadly crash involving a motorcycle that happened Sunday afternoon.
Hancock County sheriff’s deputies, along with officers from the McCordsville and Fortville police departments, responded to the area of U.S. 36 and County Road 400 West on a reported crash around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
The crash involved a 2006 Kawasaki motorcycle and a 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup. The Kawasaki was driven by one male who died at the scene. The Chevy Silverado driver was not injured.
Investigators said witnesses told deputies that a motorcyclist was traveling at a very high rate of speed and passed several vehicles in a no-passing area. The motorcyclist was later identified as 30-year-old Robert Siuzdak of Avon.
Deputies said the truck was crossing both lanes of U.S. 36 to continue north on County Road 400 West. According to evidence at the scene, deputies believe the truck had crossed the eastbound lane of U.S. 36 and was crossing the westbound lane when the motorcycle crashed into it as it was trying to pass other vehicles.
Siuzdak was wearing a helmet, according to the sheriff’s department.
U.S. 36 was closed for two hours while officials investigated the scene. | https://cbs4indy.com/news/central-indiana-news/motorcyclist-killed-in-crash-in-hancock-county-sunday/ | 2023-07-31T10:29:02 | 0 | https://cbs4indy.com/news/central-indiana-news/motorcyclist-killed-in-crash-in-hancock-county-sunday/ |
The House and Senate left Washington for the month of August with a lengthy, time-sensitive to-do list waiting when they return, including multiple key health care priorities.
There will only be three weeks before the end of the fiscal year to get everything done, and just 11 legislative days when both chambers will be in session at the same time.
Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize a sweeping pandemic preparedness bill, fund community health centers and renew opioid addiction services.
But the largest looming deadline is the appropriations bills to fund the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which are tied up in the House amid disagreements over abortion and spending levels.
GOP leaders scuttled a vote planned for Friday on legislation funding the FDA and the Department of Agriculture after moderate Republicans objected to a provision that would reverse the FDA’s decision to allow the abortion pill mifepristone drug to be dispensed through the mail and in retail pharmacies.
House Freedom Caucus members have also been demanding even deeper spending cuts than agreed to in the bipartistan debt ceiling deal.
The Labor-HHS bill advanced through a House Appropriations subcommittee earlier this month, but hadn’t even made it to the full committee before recess. The Republican-led House bill would slash or eliminate funding from a range of programs that deal with everything from family planning to teen pregnancy and even HIV.
Both FDA and HHS funding bills face a major fight in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where the Appropriations Committee has already passed its own version by near unanimous margins, owing to an agreement by Democratic and Republican leaders not to insert “poison pill” amendments.
House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) argued in a floor speech that lawmakers should stay in Washington to strip out the “toxic, divisive, bigoted riders” in the bills, and ripped Republicans for delaying votes until September.
Pandemic preparedness
The House and Senate are taking different tracks in the reauthorization of the pandemic preparedness bill, complicating its path forward.
The Senate advanced a bipartisan version of the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act out of committee, but the House is divided. House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans advanced a bill on party lines after Democrats introduced their own version.
The primary disagreement is over drug shortages. Democrats are clamoring to give FDA more oversight authority to address the shortages, but Republicans are insisting on keeping the issues separate.
The Senate version contains some provisions addressing drug shortages, but only one involves beefing up FDA authority.
Congress is under pressure to stem drug shortages amid reports of doctors rationing cancer drugs and other medicine. Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee have said they are committed to dealing with the problems, but that it shouldn’t be part of the preparedness bill.
Energy and Commerce Committee GOP leaders released a discussion draft on Friday of drug shortage legislation focusing on the economic reasons for shortages, including giving some generic drug manufacturers the ability to raise the cost of their drugs if hospitals keep prices “artificially low” to the point where there’s no economic incentive.
Health centers
Legislation to reauthorize funding for community health centers also faces partisan challenges. But in this case, the House cleared its bill on a bipartisan basis, while the Senate is still working through disagreements, highlighting the work to be done.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, originally wanted tens of billions of dollars more for the centers. He was asking for $130 billion to fund the centers over the next five years as well as $60 billion to help grow the health care workforce.
But Sanders ended up canceling a planned markup during the last week of July. Raising some eyebrows, Sanders said he is working with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) to craft a bipartisan bill that will be “ready by the first week of September.”
Separately, Sanders and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued a joint statement pledging to partner and work towards legislation in the fall aimed at addressing primary care and other health care workforce shortages.
Opioids
At issue are several provisions of sweeping legislation signed into law in 2018 called the Support Act, which aimed to tackle the country’s drug overdose epidemic.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced a bipartisan reauthorization and expansion bill, but advocates are concerned the Senate is behind.
HELP Committee ranking member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced his own version of the bill on July 20, but hearings won’t be scheduled until September. Cassidy has warned that the committee is wasting time on partisan bills instead of easy bipartisan wins, such as the Support Act.
Insulin/PBM reform
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said for months that he wants to move legislation that would cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month for people with private insurance.
There’s hope to combine it with legislation reforming the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry into a package that could get bipartisan support.
But there’s no looming deadline and no guarantee it will get taken up in September.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who is a co-sponsor of one of the insulin bills with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), said she still has Schumer’s support heading into the fall, but has not heard anything about timing.
Multiple committees have advanced PBM reform bills in both the House and Senate, so they will all need to be combined into one floor-friendly package. | https://www.kark.com/hill-politics/lawmakers-set-to-face-ticking-clock-on-health-care-priorities/ | 2023-07-31T10:29:43 | 1 | https://www.kark.com/hill-politics/lawmakers-set-to-face-ticking-clock-on-health-care-priorities/ |
Police: 13-year-old girl shot on Cleveland’s East Side
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 6:14 AM EDT|Updated: 13 minutes ago
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A 13-year-old girl was hospitalized following a shooting on Cleveland’s East Side.
Cleveland Police dispatchers said the shooting happened at approximately 5 a.m. in the 16700 block of Quentin Road, in the city’s Euclid-Green neighborhood.
Cleveland Police confirmed she was shot in a possible connection to the string of Kia thefts.
CPD confirmed the girl’s family transported her via private auto to a local hospital.
The 13-year-old’s current condition is unknown.
19 News has reached out to Cleveland Police for more details.
This is a developing story. Return to 19 News for updates.
Copyright 2023 WOIO. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/police-13-year-old-girl-shot-clevelands-east-side/ | 2023-07-31T10:30:08 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/07/31/police-13-year-old-girl-shot-clevelands-east-side/ |
Browns Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
At +3500 as of December 31, the Cleveland Browns aren't among the favorites to win the Super Bowl this season.
Watch the Browns this season on Fubo!
Browns Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the AFC North: +400
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +3500
Looking to place a futures bet on the Browns to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Cleveland Betting Insights
- Cleveland compiled a 7-9-0 record against the spread last season.
- Last season, eight Browns games went over the point total.
- Cleveland put up 349.1 yards per game offensively last season (14th in ), and it gave up 331.5 yards per game (14th) on the other side of the ball.
- Last year the Browns were 4-4 at home and 3-6 away.
- Cleveland had three wins as the favorite (in seven games) and three wins as an underdog (nine games).
- In the AFC North the Browns were 3-3, and in the conference as a whole they went 4-8.
Browns Impact Players
- In 17 games last year, Nick Chubb ran for 1,525 yards (89.7 per game) and 12 touchdowns.
- In addition, Chubb had 27 catches for 239 yards and one touchdown.
- In the passing game, Amari Cooper scored nine TDs, hauling in 78 balls for 1,160 yards (68.2 per game).
- Donovan Peoples-Jones had 61 receptions for 839 yards (49.4 per game) and three touchdowns in 17 games a season ago.
- In six games, Deshaun Watson threw for 1,102 yards (183.7 per game), with seven touchdowns and five interceptions, and a completion percentage of 58.2%.
- On defense last year, Myles Garrett helped keep opposing offenses in check with 60 tackles, 18.0 TFL, 16 sacks, and four passes defended in 16 games.
Bet on Browns 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 Browns 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.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/browns-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T10:30:14 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/browns-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
Gabriel Arias Player Prop Bets: Guardians vs. Astros - July 31
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 5:28 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
Gabriel Arias -- with a slugging percentage of .261 in his past 10 games (including zero homers) -- will be in action for the Cleveland Guardians versus the Houston Astros, with J.P. France on the hill, on July 31 at 8:10 PM ET.
In his previous appearance, he went 1-for-4 against the White Sox.
Gabriel Arias Game Info & Props vs. the Astros
- Game Day: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Astros Starter: J.P. France
- TV Channel: SportsNet SW
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -139)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +575)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +250)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +180)
Looking to place a prop bet on Gabriel Arias? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Read More About This Game
Gabriel Arias At The Plate
- Arias is batting .195 with six doubles, four home runs and 23 walks.
- Arias has gotten at least one hit in 41.4% of his games this season (24 of 58), with multiple hits six times (10.3%).
- He has hit a long ball in 6.9% of his games this year, and 2.3% of his trips to the dish.
- In four games this season (6.9%), Arias has picked up an RBI, including two games with multiple runs batted in.
- He has scored in 12 of 58 games (20.7%), including multiple runs twice.
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Gabriel Arias Home/Away Batting Splits
Astros Pitching Rankings
- The 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings compiled by the Astros pitching staff ranks sixth in MLB.
- The Astros have the fourth-ranked team ERA among all MLB pitching staffs (3.82).
- Astros pitchers combine to surrender 126 total home runs at a rate of 1.2 per game (to rank 17th in baseball).
- France (6-3) takes the mound for the Astros in his 15th start of the season. He has a 2.87 ERA in 84 2/3 innings pitched, with 58 strikeouts.
- His last time out came on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, when the righty went seven innings, surrendering no earned runs while giving up five hits.
- In 14 games this season, the 28-year-old has an ERA of 2.87, with 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents are hitting .248 against him.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/gabriel-arias-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-31T10:30:20 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/gabriel-arias-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
Josh Bell Player Prop Bets: Guardians vs. Astros - July 31
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 5:33 AM EDT|Updated: 57 minutes ago
On Monday, Josh Bell (on the back of going 0-for-4) and the Cleveland Guardians face the Houston Astros, whose starting pitcher will be J.P. France. First pitch is at 8:10 PM ET.
He had a hitless showing in his last game (0-for-4) against the White Sox.
Josh Bell Game Info & Props vs. the Astros
- Game Day: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Astros Starter: J.P. France
- TV Channel: SportsNet SW
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -189)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +600)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +200)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +155)
Looking to place a prop bet on Josh Bell? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Explore More About This Game
Josh Bell At The Plate
- Bell is hitting .233 with 19 doubles, 11 home runs and 43 walks.
- In 63.5% of his 96 games this season, Bell has picked up at least one hit. He's also had 15 multi-hit games.
- Looking at the 96 games he has played this year, he's hit a home run in 11 of them (11.5%), and in 2.8% of his trips to the plate.
- Bell has an RBI in 37 of 96 games this season, with multiple RBI in nine of them. He has also driven home three or more of his team's runs in one contest.
- In 21.9% of his games this year (21 of 96), he has scored, and in three of those games (3.1%) he has scored more than once.
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Josh Bell Home/Away Batting Splits
Astros Pitching Rankings
- The 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings put together by the Astros pitching staff ranks sixth in the league.
- The Astros have the fourth-ranked team ERA across all MLB pitching staffs (3.82).
- Astros pitchers combine to allow 126 total home runs at a rate of 1.2 per game (to rank 17th in the league).
- France (6-3 with a 2.87 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 84 2/3 innings pitched) makes the start for the Astros, his 15th of the season.
- The right-hander last appeared on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, when he threw seven innings, allowing no earned runs while giving up five hits.
- The 28-year-old has an ERA of 2.87, with 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings, in 14 games this season. Opponents are batting .248 against him.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/josh-bell-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-31T10:30:29 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/josh-bell-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
Josh Naylor Player Prop Bets: Guardians vs. Astros - July 31
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 5:28 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
The Cleveland Guardians, including Josh Naylor (.366 slugging percentage in past 10 games, including no homers), take on starter J.P. France and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Monday at 8:10 PM ET.
In his last game he had a one-hit showing (1-for-4) against the White Sox.
Josh Naylor Game Info & Props vs. the Astros
- Game Day: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Astros Starter: J.P. France
- TV Channel: SportsNet SW
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -238)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +550)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +150)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +135)
Looking to place a prop bet on Josh Naylor? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Discover More About This Game
Josh Naylor At The Plate
- Naylor leads Cleveland in total hits (111) this season while batting .311 with 40 extra-base hits.
- Among qualified hitters, he ranks sixth in batting average, while his on-base percentage ranks 36th and he is 14th in slugging.
- Naylor will look to extend his five-game hitting streak. He's batting .400 in his last outings.
- Naylor has gotten a hit in 64 of 95 games this year (67.4%), including 34 multi-hit games (35.8%).
- In 14 games this season, he has hit a long ball (14.7%, and 3.9% of his trips to the plate).
- Naylor has had at least one RBI in 43.2% of his games this year (41 of 95), with two or more RBI 20 times (21.1%). He has also been responsible for three or more of his team's runs in 10 contests.
- In 33.7% of his games this year (32 of 95), he has scored, and in eight of those games (8.4%) he has scored more than once.
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Josh Naylor Home/Away Batting Splits
Astros Pitching Rankings
- The 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings compiled by the Astros pitching staff ranks sixth in the league.
- The Astros have the fourth-ranked team ERA across all league pitching staffs (3.82).
- Astros pitchers combine to give up 126 total home runs at a clip of 1.2 per game (to rank 17th in baseball).
- France gets the start for the Astros, his 15th of the season. He is 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 84 2/3 innings pitched.
- The righty's last appearance was on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, when he went seven innings, surrendering no earned runs while allowing five hits.
- The 28-year-old has a 2.87 ERA and 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 14 games this season, while giving up a batting average of .248 to his opponents.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/josh-naylor-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-31T10:30:49 | 0 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/josh-naylor-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
Oscar Gonzalez Player Prop Bets: Guardians vs. Astros - July 31
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 5:28 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
The Cleveland Guardians and Oscar Gonzalez, who went 0-for-2 last time in action, take on J.P. France and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Monday at 8:10 PM ET.
In his most recent game he had a hitless showing (0-for-2) against the White Sox.
Oscar Gonzalez Game Info & Props vs. the Astros
- Game Day: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Astros Starter: J.P. France
- TV Channel: SportsNet SW
- Hits Prop: Over/under 0.5 hits (Over odds: -227)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +625)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +195)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +160)
Looking to place a prop bet on Oscar Gonzalez? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Explore More About This Game
Oscar Gonzalez At The Plate
- Gonzalez is batting .200 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and three walks.
- Gonzalez has reached base via a hit in 13 games this season (of 26 played), and had multiple hits in three of those games.
- He has homered in just one game this year.
- In four games this season, Gonzalez has picked up an RBI, with more than one RBI once.
- He has scored in five of 26 games so far this year.
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Oscar Gonzalez Home/Away Batting Splits
Astros Pitching Rankings
- The pitching staff for the Astros has a collective 9.3 K/9, the sixth-best in MLB.
- The Astros have a 3.82 team ERA that ranks fourth across all MLB pitching staffs.
- Astros pitchers combine to surrender 126 total home runs at a clip of 1.2 per game (to rank 17th in baseball).
- France (6-3 with a 2.87 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 84 2/3 innings pitched) makes the start for the Astros, his 15th of the season.
- In his last appearance on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, the righty went seven innings, allowing no earned runs while surrendering five hits.
- The 28-year-old has amassed a 2.87 ERA and 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 14 games this season, while allowing a batting average of .248 to his opponents.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/oscar-gonzalez-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-31T10:30:56 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/oscar-gonzalez-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
Steven Kwan Player Prop Bets: Guardians vs. Astros - July 31
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 5:30 AM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
The Cleveland Guardians, including Steven Kwan (.413 on-base percentage in past 10 games, 63 points above season-long percentage), take on starting pitcher J.P. France and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, Monday at 8:10 PM ET.
He racked up two extra-base hits in his most recent game (2-for-4 with a double, a home run and an RBI) against the White Sox.
Steven Kwan Game Info & Props vs. the Astros
- Game Day: Monday, July 31, 2023
- Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- Live Stream: Watch this game on Fubo!
- Astros Starter: J.P. France
- TV Channel: SportsNet SW
- Hits Prop: Over/under 1.5 hits (Over odds: +190)
- Home Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 home runs (Over odds: +1250)
- RBI Prop: Over/under 0.5 RBI (Over odds: +275)
- Runs Prop: Over/under 0.5 runs (Over odds: +120)
Looking to place a prop bet on Steven Kwan? Check out what's available at BetMGM and use bonus code "GNPLAY" when you sign up with this link!
Read More About This Game
Steven Kwan At The Plate
- Kwan has an OPS of .738, fueled by an OBP of .350 and a team-best slugging percentage of .388 this season.
- Among the qualifying hitters in MLB, he ranks 30th in batting average, 36th in on-base percentage, and 109th in slugging.
- Kwan has had a hit in 72 of 104 games this season (69.2%), including multiple hits 34 times (32.7%).
- He has homered in 4.8% of his games in 2023 (five of 104), and 1% of his trips to the dish.
- Kwan has picked up an RBI in 23.1% of his games this season, with two or more RBI in 7.7% of his games. He has also driven in three or more runs in three contests.
- He has scored in 51.9% of his games this season, with more than one run scored in 11.5%.
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Steven Kwan Home/Away Batting Splits
Astros Pitching Rankings
- The Astros pitching staff ranks sixth in MLB with a collective 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings.
- The Astros have a 3.82 team ERA that ranks fourth across all MLB pitching staffs.
- Astros pitchers combine to rank 17th in baseball in home runs surrendered (126 total, 1.2 per game).
- France (6-3) gets the starting nod for the Astros in his 15th start of the season. He's put together a 2.87 ERA in 84 2/3 innings pitched, with 58 strikeouts.
- In his last outing on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, the right-hander threw seven innings, giving up no earned runs while surrendering five hits.
- In 14 games this season, the 28-year-old has an ERA of 2.87, with 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents are hitting .248 against him.
© 2023 Data Skrive. All rights reserved. | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/steven-kwan-mlb-player-prop-bets/ | 2023-07-31T10:31:02 | 1 | https://www.cleveland19.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/steven-kwan-mlb-player-prop-bets/ |
The brand featured in this article are partners of Amazon's Creator Connections program, which means E! may make an increased commission on your purchase if you buy something through our links. Prices are accurate as of publish time. Items are sold by retailer, not E!.
If your pets are your life, you probably take so many photos of them. Instead of keeping all those pictures on your phone, you may print some out and stick them on the fridge or frame them. If you want to honor your pet in a unique way, get a custom art print from Haus and Hues on Amazon.
They make it so easy for you. Just upload a photo of your pet and they do the rest. You can send photos of multiple pets, even if they aren't in the same picture together. There are lots of color options and font options to make the print complement your design aesthetic. There's an option to order a framed print or you can go for the unframed print and take care of that yourself.
This is personal addition to your home. It's also a thoughtful gift for birthdays, housewarmings, or other special occasions.
Haus and Hues Create Your Own Framed Wall Art Pet Portrait
Upload your favorite image of your pet, and you'll receive a gorgeous print in return. You can get it framed or choose the unframed option and frame it yourself. Add up to three pets and choose from vertical or horizontal prints.
If you need more info before you add new artwork to your home, check out some of the reviews.
Haus and Hues Create Your Own Framed Wall Art Pet Portrait Reviews
A shopper urged, "Just order it!! We just got a new puppy and wanted to have a picture of him at this age. This company did an amazing job and was able to capture my pup perfectly. I'm 100% going to order these as gifts for people. It's SO ADORABLE and I can't stop staring at it!!!"
Another said, "These turned out so great! I ordered these as gifts for two friends, then thought they turned out so cute that I had to order them for my dogs. Love them!!"
Someone shared, "Love it. My boy Vader passed on and his brother possum still here but I miss him terribly this helps to see my boys together again."
A reviewer wrote, "Turned out amazing. Was a little nervous but came out perfect!"
Still shopping for your pets? This stain and odor remover has 74,900+ 5-star Amazon reviews. | https://www.eonline.com/news/1381683/turn-your-favorite-pet-photos-into-a-pawfect-portrait-for-just-dollar20?cmpid=rss-syndicate-genericrss-us-top_stories | 2023-07-31T10:31:28 | 1 | https://www.eonline.com/news/1381683/turn-your-favorite-pet-photos-into-a-pawfect-portrait-for-just-dollar20?cmpid=rss-syndicate-genericrss-us-top_stories |
X, formerly known as Twitter, has reinstated Kanye West's account on the social media platform. West will not be able to monetize his account, and no ads will appear next to his posts, the company told the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.
The musician's account was suspended in December for violating the platform's rules on inciting violence. The suspension followed multiple antisemitic comments made by West - who has legally changed his name to Ye - including a threat to "Go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE." Those statements led to a swift disintegration of multiple business deals, including partnerships with Adidas and luxury fashion house Balenciaga.
Although CNN at the time was unable to determine which tweet had been the final straw, the day before his suspension West tweeted an altered image of the Star of David with a swastika inside.
Twitter has long been embroiled in questions surrounding moderation, with the platform's CEO Elon Musk describing himself as a "free speech absolutist." After agreeing to buy the company last October, he said Twitter would "be very reluctant to delete things" and "be very cautious with permanent bans."
But after West was suspended, Musk tweeted "I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence."
In April, Twitter's safety team launched a new content enforcement strategy called "Freedom of Speech, Not Reach," which focused on "restricting the reach of Tweets that violate our policies by making the content less discoverable."
This approach, in part, requires the team to "proactively prevent ads from appearing adjacent to content" labeled as violative.
In an update earlier this month, the safety team reported that these labeled tweets "receive 81% less reach or impressions" than non-restricted ones, and that "more than 99.99% of Tweet impressions are from ... content that does not violate our rules."
Twitter's Violent Speech Policy prohibits inciting and glorifying violence, wishing harm on other people, and threatening others. But it makes some exceptions, including for "figures of speech, satire, or artistic expression when the context is expressing a viewpoint rather than instigating actionable violence or harm."
"We make sure to evaluate and understand the context behind the conversation before taking action," the policy states, adding that if a user believes their account was wrongfully suspended, they can submit an appeal.
It's not clear whether West submitted an appeal, or if something else prompted his account's reactivation. The musician has yet to post on the platform. CNN has reached out to Twitter and a representative for West but has not received a response.
CNN contributed to this report. | https://abc7ny.com/kanye-west-x-twitter-elon-musk/13576627/ | 2023-07-31T10:31:37 | 1 | https://abc7ny.com/kanye-west-x-twitter-elon-musk/13576627/ |
MIDTOWN (WABC) -- The Roosevelt Hotel processing center for newly-arrived migrants has reached capacity in Midtown Manhattan.
Monday morning, asylum seekers were sleeping on the sidewalks winding around the hotel's block at 46th and Vanderbilt.
Mayor Eric Adams' office says scenes like this could be more common as the city continues to grapple with the number of migrants who are here and continue to arrive.
The mayor's office says more than 93,000 asylum seekers have come through the city's intake system since last spring.
The hotel is being used as an intake center, which means the majority of the people lined up will be taken to another shelter once they're done being processed.
Only migrant families have been staying at the hotel.
On Sunday morning, Eyewitness Newssaw asylum seekers leaving the hotel and getting on an MTA bus to go to a shelter in the Bronx.
"Children and families continue to be prioritized and are found a bed every night. While we at least offered all adults a temporary place to wait off the sidewalks last night, some may have chosen to sleep outside and, in all honesty, New Yorkers may continue to see that more and more as hundreds of asylum seekers continue to arrive each day," the mayor's office said in a statement.
Migrants say the journey has been exhausting and this situation is not ideal, but they're ready to start their new lives.
"Obviously we want to work, We just need permission to work," one man said.
"I don't want handouts," said Darlis Lopez, an asylum seeker from Venezuela. "I like to work."
The city has asked the federal government to speed up the work permit process so that migrants can get jobs legally and rely less on city resources.
Officials are encouraging migrants to take placements outside the city once they become available.
ALSO READ | City investigating 'unique' crane fire, collapse in Manhattan
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Apply for Mo. Dept. of Conservation managed deer hunts through July 31
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - Deer hunters have until July 31 to apply online for a shot at more than 100 managed deer hunts throughout the state.
The application process started on July 1.
The managed hunts are from mid-September through mid-January at conservation areas, state and other parks, national wildlife refuges and other public areas.
This includes the managed deer hunt in Cape Girardeau.
The hunts include archery, muzzleloading and modern firearms.
According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, some managed hunts are held specifically for youth or for people with disabilities.
Hunters are selected by a weighted random drawing.
Draw results will be available August 15 through January 15. Applicants who are drawn will receive area maps and other hunt information by mail.
Get more information on managed deer hunts, preview hunt details and apply starting July 1 at mdc.mo.gov/managedhunt.
Copyright 2023 KFVS. All rights reserved. | https://www.kait8.com/2023/07/31/apply-mo-dept-conservation-managed-deer-hunts-through-july-31/ | 2023-07-31T10:31:48 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/2023/07/31/apply-mo-dept-conservation-managed-deer-hunts-through-july-31/ |
July 31: What you need to know
JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - We’re helping you plan your day on Good Morning Region 8.
Weather Headlines
A complex of storms moved through western Region 8 overnight, bringing some rain and wind along and west of Highway 167.
We should dry out today and warm into the low-90s as the sun returns later this morning.
I cannot rule out a few thunderstorms in the heat of the afternoon due to the boundaries left behind by last night’s complex of storms.
With us being in northwest flow for the next few days, rain chances are a bit elevated.
We could see a few showers and storms tomorrow morning.
The ridge of high pressure builds back east by the middle and end of the week, bringing lower rain chances and higher temperatures.
More rain is possible by the weekend.
Meteorologist Aaron Castleberry has your forecast coming up on Good Morning Region 8.
News Headlines
A frightening scene for a teen who now faces a felony after rushing her mother to the hospital with her hazard lights on, she tells her story.
Tomorrow is the start of a new month and the beginning of several new laws in Arkansas; we’ll break a few of them down.
A federal judge puts a controversial library law on hold details on his ruling.
Chase Gage and Macy Davis will have details on these stories and more coming up at 6 a.m. on Good Morning Region 8.
Copyright 2023 KAIT. All rights reserved. | https://www.kait8.com/2023/07/31/july-31-what-you-need-know/ | 2023-07-31T10:31:49 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/2023/07/31/july-31-what-you-need-know/ |
Chiefs Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
The Kansas City Chiefs right now have the best odds in the entire league to win the Super Bowl at +600.
Watch the Chiefs this season on Fubo!
Chiefs Super Bowl Odds
- Odds to Win the AFC West: -165
- Odds to Win the Super Bowl: +600
Looking to place a futures bet on the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl this season? Head to BetMGM using our link and enter the bonus code "GNPLAY" for special offers!
Kansas City Betting Insights
- Kansas City won seven games against the spread last season, failing to cover 10 times.
- Last season, eight Chiefs games went over the point total.
- Kansas City sported the 11th-ranked defense last year (328.2 yards allowed per game), and it was better on offense, ranking best with 413.6 yards per game.
- The Chiefs picked up seven wins at home last year and seven away.
- As underdogs, Kansas City picked up only one victory (1-1) versus its 13-2 record as the favored team.
Chiefs Impact Players
- Patrick Mahomes II passed for 5,250 yards (308.8 per game), completing 67.1% of his passes, with 41 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 games last year.
- In addition, Mahomes ran for 358 yards and four TDs.
- Travis Kelce had 110 catches for 1,338 yards (78.7 per game) and 12 touchdowns in 17 games.
- In 17 games a season ago, Jerick McKinnon ran for 291 yards (17.1 per game) and one TD.
- In 17 games, Isiah Pacheco rushed for 830 yards (48.8 per game) and five TDs.
- Nick Bolton recorded two interceptions to go with 180 tackles, 9.0 TFL, two sacks, and three passes defended in 17 games last year.
Bet on Chiefs 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 Chiefs NFL Schedule
Odds are current as of July 31 at 5:25 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.kait8.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/chiefs-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T10:31:52 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/chiefs-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
Titans Odds to Make Playoffs and Win Super Bowl
Published: Jul. 31, 2023 at 4:26 AM CDT|Updated: 1 hour 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.kait8.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/titans-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ | 2023-07-31T10:31:58 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/sports/betting/2023/07/31/titans-nfl-playoffs-super-bowl-odds/ |
The Bismarck area can expect a hot day. The forecast calls for it to be a balmy 87 degrees. A 64-degree low is forecasted. We will see a mix of sun and clouds. Keep an eye on the radar before you head outside today, there is a slight chance of rain. Today's UV index is high. Be careful outside, especially during late morning through mid-afternoon. If your shadow is shorter than you, seek shade and wear protective clothing and generously apply sunscreen on exposed skin. The area will see gentle winds today, with forecast models showing only 12 mph wind conditions coming up from Southeast. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. Keep an eye on bismarcktribune.com for forecast information and severe weather updates.
Here is today's weather outlook for Jul. 31, 2023 in Bismarck, ND
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The forecast is showing a hot day in Bismarck. Temperatures are projected to be a scorcher today with temperatures reaching a high of 92 thoug…
Hot temperatures are predicted today. Temperatures are projected to be a steamy day today with temperatures reaching a high of 92. Expect a dr…
Hot temperatures are predicted today. It looks to reach a warm 82 degrees. Today's forecasted low temperature is 59 degrees. Expect periods of…
Hot temperatures are predicted today. It looks like it will be a balmy 87 degrees. Today's forecasted low temperature is 64 degrees. We will s…
Bismarck folks should be prepared for high temperatures. Temperatures are projected to be a steamy day today with temperatures reaching a high… | https://bismarcktribune.com/weather/here-is-todays-weather-outlook-for-jul-31-2023-in-bismarck-nd/article_81bafed7-779b-5cf5-b886-dc59cd069ede.html | 2023-07-31T10:32:00 | 1 | https://bismarcktribune.com/weather/here-is-todays-weather-outlook-for-jul-31-2023-in-bismarck-nd/article_81bafed7-779b-5cf5-b886-dc59cd069ede.html |
SHANGHAI, July 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 111, Inc. (NASDAQ: YI) ("111" or the "Company"), a leading tech-enabled healthcare platform company committed to digitally connecting patients with medicine and healthcare services in China, today announced that it will report its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, before the U.S. market opens on Thursday, August 24, 2023.
111's management team will host an earnings conference call at 7:30 AM U.S. Eastern Time on Thursday, August 24, 2023 (7:30 PM Beijing Time on the same day).
Details for the conference call are as follows:
Conference Topic: 111, Inc. Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call
Registration Link: https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10032701-ygfhis.html
All participants must use the link provided above to complete the online registration process in advance of the conference call. Upon registering, each participant will receive a set of participant dial-in numbers, the Direct Event passcode, and a unique Registration ID, which can be used to join the conference call.
Please dial in 15 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and provide the Direct Event passcode and unique Registration ID you have received upon registering to join the call.
A telephone replay of the call will be available after the conclusion of the conference call until August 31, 2023
United States: +1 855 883 1031
Mainland China: 4001 209 216
Hong Kong: 800 930 639
International: +61 7 3107 6325
Conference ID: 10032701
A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the website at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/iw7ck9oc
About 111, Inc.
111, Inc. (NASDAQ: YI) ("111" or the "Company") is a leading tech-enabled healthcare platform company committed to digitally connecting patients with medicine and healthcare services in China. The Company provides consumers with better access to pharmaceutical products and healthcare services directly through its online retail pharmacy, 1 Pharmacy, and indirectly through its offline virtual pharmacy network. The Company also offers online healthcare services through its internet hospital, 1 Clinic, which provides consumers with cost-effective and convenient online consultation, electronic prescription service, and patient management service. In addition, the Company's online platform, 1 Medicine Marketplace, serves as a one-stop shop for pharmacies to source a vast selection of pharmaceutical products. With the largest virtual pharmacy network in China, 111 enables offline pharmacies to better serve their customers with cloud-based services. 111 also provides an omni-channel drug commercialization platform to its strategic partners, which includes services such as digital marketing, patient education, data analytics, and pricing monitoring.
For more information on 111, please visit: http://ir.111.com.cn/.
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SOURCE 111, Inc. | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/111-announce-second-quarter-2023-unaudited-financial-results-august-24-2023-conference-call-follow/ | 2023-07-31T10:32:06 | 1 | https://www.ktre.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/111-announce-second-quarter-2023-unaudited-financial-results-august-24-2023-conference-call-follow/ |