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  • 31 dead after gas explosion at barbecue restaurant in China | CNN

    31 dead after gas explosion at barbecue restaurant in China | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    At least 31 people are dead and seven injured in the Chinese city of Yinchuan, in northwest Ningxia region, after a gas explosion at a barbecue restaurant Wednesday night, according to state media.

    The explosion was caused by a leak of a liquified gas tank inside the restaurant, and took place around 8:40 p.m., according to state broadcaster CCTV.

    Among the seven injured, one person is still in critical condition. The other six are being treated in the hospital for minor injuries, burns and glass cuts.

    Local fire authorities sent 20 vehicles and more than 100 personnel to the scene, with search and rescue operations lasting until 4 a.m. Thursday morning, according to state media.

    Photos posted by state media show the damaged building, with blackened exteriors, debris on the ground and smoke in the air. Firefighters are seen entering the second floor on a ladder and lifting people out on stretchers.

    Chinese leader Xi Jinping called the explosion “heartbreaking,” and said it was a “profound lesson.” He has issued instructions to authorities on the scene, requiring “all efforts” to treat the injured, strengthen safety supervision and protect residents’ safety, according to CCTV.

    The restaurant is located on a busy street, state media reported. The incident came just before China began its three-day national public holiday, from Thursday to Saturday, marking Dragon Boat Festival.

    The country has been rocked by a number of safety incidents this year. A coal mine collapse in Inner Mongolia in February left dozens dead; then in April, the deadliest fire to hit Beijing in two decades killed 29 people in a hospital.

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  • ‘Fruits, seeds and water’ were pivotal in keeping four children alive in the Amazon rainforest | CNN

    ‘Fruits, seeds and water’ were pivotal in keeping four children alive in the Amazon rainforest | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    When four young indigenous children were found last week after 40 days in the Colombian Amazon jungle, their rescuers noticed that the oldest, 13-year-old Lesly Jacobombaire Mucutuy, had something hidden between her teeth.

    “We found she had a couple of seeds slowly chewed between her cheeks and her jawbone,” said Eliecer Muñoz, one of the four indigenous guards who made the very first contact with the children.

    Muñoz told CNN the seeds were from a native Amazon palm tree called Oenocarpus Bataua, colloquially known as “milpesos” in Colombia.

    Its fruits are rich in fat and Amazon tribes use them to make a vegetable oil, but Leslie’s seeds were still unripe when she was found, Muñoz said.

    “She was keeping them so that the warmth of her mouth would open up the seeds and she could feed the pulp to her younger siblings,” Muñoz says. “That’s how they stayed alive.”

    Ever since the children were brought home, reporters and survival experts have been trying to answer this question: How did four children – the youngest just an infant – survive in the heart of the Amazon rainforest for so long?

    It took a team of over 130 special force commandos and some of the most skilled indigenous guides in the country to find them.

    The stretch of the jungle they were found in is one of the most remote and inhospitable in Colombia, where wild animals like jaguars, anacondas or poisonous bugs abound, rains can pour for over 15 hours a day and visibility is sometimes limited to 10 meters due to the thick vegetation.

    Lesly and her siblings were dangerously emaciated when they were finally found. In more than a month without adults, they appear to have survived on wild fruits and three pounds of cassava flour, a high-protein traditional staple of the Amazon diet, that they retrieved from the wreckage of the plane crash that stranded them in the forest.

    Part of the children's survival was down to knowledge of the native palm tree, the Oenocarpus Bataua.

    They had also found one of the hundreds of survival kits left in the jungle by the search and rescue operation, which included small rations of food, electrolytes, and lighters.

    “We understand they only used one of the kits of the Army, for the rest just fruits, seeds and water,” says Henry Guerrero, an indigenous elder who was also part of the team that found them.

    Only someone with deep knowledge of the forest and remarkable personal resilience could survive there for over a month – much less keep three other people alive too.

    Weeks ago, most of the Colombian public following their story could not have known the extent to which Lesly and her siblings possessed those skills. But their great-uncle, Fidencio Valencia, did not despair: “They already know the jungle… they are children, but we hope they are alive and that they have access to water,” he told reporters on May 19.

    His words have been vindicated.

    The children have not yet spoken publicly and are recovering in Colombia’s central military hospital in Bogota. On Thursday, a statement from the hospital said the children are out of immediate danger but still considered at high risk due to infectious diseases they contracted and serious malnourishment.

    The traces of their survival show impressive botanical knowledge and foresight.

    During the search, rescuers found discarded fruits like avichure, a wild plant similar to the passion fruit that the children ate while alone in the forest. Seeds of milpesos were also found along their footprints, and Colombian authorities believe Lesly took some baby’s formula from the discarded plane to feed Cristin, 11 months old, for a few days.

    The Cessna 206 plane wreckage that killed the four children's mother after it crashed in the jungles of Caqueta in Colombia.

    When found, the children had bottles they used to collect water, either from streams or from the rain, which was plentiful during the month of the search.

    The accomplishment feels like a moment of pride for the indigenous community of the Colombian Amazon. “Thanks to these kids we won over technology,” Guerrero gleamed at a recent press conference in Bogota. “Thanks to the kids we realized that we, the indigenous, we are important.”

    While their survival remains a marvel, it was no doubt facilitated by traditional knowledge of the forest they embraced from a remarkably young age, and while Colombia deployed its army, it was four local indigenous guides who first spotted the little ones.

    Lesly, in particular, is hailed for not only staying alive herself, but also making sure her younger siblings would survive following the loss of their mother in the plane crash.

    When found, one of the first sentences four-year-old Tien Ranoque Mucutuy whispered to the rescuers was “my mother is dead,” Muñoz told CNN.

    One of the traditional tasks of indigenous women is to look after one’s siblings as if they were your own children. An older sister is basically a second mother, and I think that is exactly how Lesly was brought up with,” says Nelly Kuiru, an indigenous activist from the murui settlement of La Chorrera.

    But Kuiru believes that that prowess goes far beyond botanical expertise: “Ancestral, traditional knowledge is not just that Lesly learnt to pick up fruits or so, but there’s something much deeper there, a spiritual connection with the forest surrounding us.”

    When the father of two of the children, Manuel Ranoque, learned the plane carrying his wife and their four children crashed on the way to San Jose del Guaviare, he requested the help of traditional elders and sages in his community, like Guerrero and Muñoz, who joined forces with the Colombian military to locate the children.

    The military brought GPS technology, advanced radio communications, and operated over four hundred flight-hours over the jungle.

    The indigenous murui searchers taught soldiers how to read tracks and move around the jungle. Traditional elders like Guerrero attempted to bridge a spiritual link with the children using traditional plants like tobacco, coca, and yagé, the sacred, hallucinogen plant also known as ayahuasca.

    In the end, it was a mix of the two worlds that saved the children: Muñoz and his team finally found them, all but starved to death, in an area clear of trees they had inspected in previous days. Within a few hours, they were taken out of the jungle on a Blackhawk military helicopter.

    Magdalena Mucutuy was a woman of the chagra – a sacred space that acts both as a harvesting garden and community school for traditional knowledge – who often brought her children to the forest, according to her husband.

    There, they likely learned the skills that allowed them to survive until rescuers came.

    “Traditionally, (indigenous) children’s upbringing takes place in the natural environment, in the forest, especially when they are very young,” says Kuiru. But she warns that intimate familiarity with the wild that allowed Leslie and her siblings to survive is under threat, she says.

    “Our traditions are being contaminated by deforestation, by the presence of external actors [like criminal syndicates] and in a way, assimilation. There’s not just a physical colonization, like for example the clothes we now wear, but a colonization of knowledge and ours is being lost,” Kuiru told CNN.

    In recent years, indigenous populations have abandoned the forest, pushed towards urban areas by the presence of criminal groups in the countryside and by lack of work and education opportunities, according to a 2010 study by the Colombian Amazon Institute of Scientific Research.

    Ranoque himself says he was forced to abandon their native settlement in Araracuara, Amazonas, due to threats from guerrilla groups. He said that his wife and her children had also been fleeing encroachment from armed groups when their plane crashed on May 1, killing Magdalena, the pilot, and an indigenous leader – and stranding the children.

    Kuiru would like the Colombian state to support and protect indigenous lifestyles and knowledges, while also offering opportunities to enter the mainstream economy. In education, that could mean allowing children to spend only half of the day in state schools and then go to the chagras to receive traditional education, she says. Or it could mean supporting local entrepreneurship to create jobs in the region and encourage young people to stay in the Amazon.

    In a way, just like the four children were saved by a mix of tradition and modernity, only the two sides together can bring real development to the region.

    “We should not fear modernization, but we must go back to our roots, what defines us and makes us different as indigenous people of the Amazon. If not, we will end up empty, like eggshells without filling,” she said.

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  • ‘Horrific bus tragedy’ in Australian wine region leaves multiple dead, police say | CNN

    ‘Horrific bus tragedy’ in Australian wine region leaves multiple dead, police say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    At least 10 people are feared dead after a late-night bus crash in the Australian state of New South Wales on Sunday, local police say.

    Emergency crews responded just before midnight to reports about a bus rolling over at a roundabout near the town of Greta, which is located in the wine growing Hunter region, New South Wales Police Force said in a statement.

    Authorities said initial reports indicate 10 people died and 11 others were hospitalized. Eighteen other passengers were uninjured.

    Police said multiple helicopters, highway patrol, as well as fire and ambulance responded to the crash.

    “The driver of the bus – a 58-year-old man – was taken to hospital under police guard for mandatory testing and assessment,” they said. Authorities are investigating the cause of the wreck and remained at the scene early Monday local time.

    Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted his condolences to those affected by the crash.

    “All Australians waking up to tragic news from the Hunter send our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of those killed in this horrific bus tragedy. For a day of joy to end in such devastating loss is cruel indeed. Our thoughts are also with those who have been injured,” Albanese said in the post.

    He also tweeted his thanks to the first responders saying, “Thank you to all the first responders who rushed to the scene, and those continuing to assist and care for those affected by this tragedy.”

    The Hunter region – also referred to as the Hunter Valley – is about two and a half hours northwest of Sydney.

    It is one of Australia’s leading wine regions and popular for weekend getaways and weddings.

    Australia’s local station Channel 9 reported the bus was transporting wedding guests back home when the crash happened.

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  • Why do businesses keep raising their prices? | CNN Business

    Why do businesses keep raising their prices? | CNN Business

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    Los Angeles
    CNN
     — 

    After two years of surging prices, economists still can’t agree on what has caused the world’s worst inflation crisis in decades.

    While the usual culprits cited by economists include pandemic-era supply chain bottlenecks, the war in Ukraine and various US economic policies, others say it’s due to “greedflation,” the idea that companies use higher inflation rates as an excuse to jack up prices and grow their margins.

    However, according to preliminary findings in a New York Federal Reserve survey, there might be something else at play.

    The survey of 700 businesses across New York, Atlanta and Cleveland found that strength of customer demand outranked all other factors that companies weigh when setting prices, including steady profit margins and overall inflation.

    That means a business can essentially set prices as high as it wants, as long as they aren’t so high that they drive away the customer base. In other words, it’s Econ 101: Good, old-fashioned supply and demand.

    More than 82% of businesses surveyed said demand factored into their pricing decisions, while only 52% of businesses said they take the overall rate of inflation into account when setting prices.

    Customers have become trained to tolerate price hikes, said John Zheng, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

    “As a consumer during inflation, you know the costs for companies are increasing, so, therefore, you become more receptive to a higher price,” he said.

    Approval of price increases could fuel even higher pricing in the future — a cycle that can be hard to break, said Zheng.

    Mr. Mac’s mac and cheese restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire tried boosting prices a little at a time to keep up with inflation in 2021, but it wasn’t enough to cover the cost increases to the business, vice president of operations Mark Murphy told CNN. Fearing customer backlash, the restaurant accepted smaller margins instead of pricing out their diners.

    When the business finally hiked prices, Murphy said the decision was “painful.”

    “We were looking at our sales and our orders daily, and we were checking every review to see what people were saying,” Murphy said. “It was very scary.”

    Despite those fears, Mr. Mac’s elevated prices did not cut into business.

    “What we ended up finding was customers may not have been happy about it, but they were not surprised. I think they kind of understood that prices are increasing. They see it everywhere they go,” he said.

    Murphy said the restaurant has since raised prices more than once to keep up with inflation.

    Multinational companies Colgate, Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo have raised prices by double-digit percentages over the past year, according to their first-quarter earnings reports, outpacing the US inflation rate.

    However, as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates and the economy slows down, customers may soon be less keen to pay through the nose for goods and services, Zheng said.

    Businesses may already be in tune with the change: Those surveyed by the New York Fed said they expect lower cost and price pressures in the coming year.

    Emily Netti, a wedding photographer in Syracuse, New York, said she has raised prices by a few hundred dollars multiple times over the past two years to pay competitive rates to the additional photographers and editors she hires. However, she said she is mindful that her local customer base may soon want to cut back on expenses.

    “I’ve started to slow down in my own market within Syracuse,” she said.

    “I do see myself raising by $100 rather than $300 for now, so I can match the market.”

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  • A ‘once-in-200 years’ heat wave caught Southeast Asia off guard. Climate change will make them more common | CNN

    A ‘once-in-200 years’ heat wave caught Southeast Asia off guard. Climate change will make them more common | CNN

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    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    Every day, countless mopeds criss-cross the congested city of Hanoi, in Vietnam, with commuters traveling to work or motorbike taxis dropping off everything from parcels to cooked food and clients.

    One of them is Phong, 42, who starts his shift at 5 a.m. to beat the rush hour, navigating the dense swarm of mopeds and drives for over 12 hours a day with little rest.

    But an unprecedented heat wave that engulfed his country in the past two months has made Phong’s job even more arduous. To get through the heat of the day, he equipped himself with a hat, wet handkerchiefs and several bottles of water – precautions that provided little relief as recorded daytime temperatures soared to more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

    The average May temperature in Hanoi is 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).

    “If I get a heatstroke, I would be forced to suspend driving to recover,” he told CNN. “But I cannot afford it.” 

    Phong, who declined to give his surname, said he carries a tiny umbrella to protect his phone, the main tool he uses for work as a driver for the ride-hailing platform Grab, along with his bike. If the phone breaks, he misses out on much-needed income. “I was worried that the battery would overheat once exposed to the sun,” he said.

    Nearby in the same city, sanitation worker Dinh Van Hung, 53, toils all day cleaning garbage from the bustling streets of Hanoi’s central Dong Da district.

    “It is impossible to avoid the heat, especially at noon and early afternoon,” Dinh told CNN. “Extreme temperatures also make the garbage smell more unpleasant, the hard work is now even more difficult, directly affecting my health and labor.”

    Dinh says “there is no other way” but to change when he starts and finishes his shift.

    “I try to work early in the morning or afternoon and evening,” he said. “During lunch break when the temperature is too high, I find a sidewalk in a small alley, spread out the cardboard sheets to rest for a while and then resume work in the afternoon.” 

    Phong and Dinh are among millions of drivers, street vendors, cleaners, builders, farmers, and other outdoor or informal economy workers across Southeast Asia who were hit the hardest during what experts called the region’s “harshest heat wave on record.” 

    Workers like them make up the backbone of many societies but are disproportionately affected by extreme weather events, with dangerously high temperatures greatly impacting their health and the already precarious nature of their professions.

    April and May are typically the hottest months of the year in Southeast Asia, as temperatures rise before monsoon rains bring some relief. But this year, they reached levels never experienced before in most countries of the region, including tourism hotspots Thailand and Vietnam. 

    Thailand saw its hottest day in history at 45.4 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit) on April 15, while neighboring Laos topped out at 43.5 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) for two consecutive days in May, and Vietnam’s all-time record was broken in early May with 44.2 degrees Celsius (112 degrees Fahrenheit), according to analysis of weather stations data by a climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera.

    Herrera described it as “the most brutal never-ending heat wave” that has continued into June. On June 1, Vietnam broke the record for its hottest June day in history with 43.8 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) – with 29 days of the month to go.

    In a recent report from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international coalition of scientists said the April heat wave in Southeast Asia was a once-in-200-years event that would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change.

    The scorching heat in Southeast Asia was made even more unbearable and dangerous due to high humidity – a deadly combination.

    Humidity, on top of extreme temperatures, makes it even harder for your body to try and cool itself down.

    Heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion, have severe symptoms and can be life-threatening, especially for those with heart disease and kidney problems, diabetes, and pregnant people.

    “When the surrounding humidity is very high, the body will continue to sweat trying to release moisture to cool itself, but because the sweat is not evaporating it will eventually lead to severe dehydration, and in acute cases it can lead to heat strokes and deaths,” said Mariam Zachariah, research associate in near-real time attribution of extreme events to climate change at World Weather Attribution initiative at Imperial College London. 

    “Which is why a humid heat wave is more dangerous than a dry heat wave,” she told CNN.

    To understand the health risks of humid heat, scientists often calculate the “feels-like” temperature – a single measure of how hot it feels to the human body when air temperature and humidity are both taken into account, sometimes alongside other factors such as wind chill.

    Perceived heat is usually several degrees higher than observed temperature and gives a more accurate reading of how heat affects people.

    CNN analysis of Copernicus Climate Change Service data found that between early April and late May, all six countries in the continental portion of Southeast Asia had reached perceived temperatures close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) or more every single day. This is above a threshold considered dangerous, especially for people with health problems or those not used to extreme heat.

    In Thailand, 20 days in April and at least 10 days in May reached feels-like temperatures above 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit). At this level, thermal heat stress becomes “extreme” and is considered life threatening for anybody including healthy people used to extreme humid heat.

    Throughout April and May, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia all had several days with potential to cause extreme heat stress. Myanmar had 12 such days – until Cyclone Mocha brought relative relief, but severe devastation, when it made landfall on May 14.

    The April-May heat wave in Southeast Asia caused widespread hospitalizations, damaged roads, sparked fires and led to school closures, however the number of deaths remains unknown, according to the World Weather Attribution report.

     The study found that, because of climate change, the heat was more than two degrees hotter in perceived temperature than it could have been without global warming caused by pollution.

    “When the atmosphere becomes warmer, its ability to hold the moisture becomes higher and therefore the chances of humid heat waves also increase,” Zachariah, one of the authors, told CNN.

    If global warming continues to increase to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), such humid heat waves could occur ten times more often, according to the study. 

    And if emissions continue to increase at the same pace, the next two decades could already see 30 more deaths per million from heat in Thailand, and 130 more deaths per million by the end of the century, according to the UN’s Human Climate Horizons projections.

    For Myanmar that number would be 30 and 520 more deaths per million respectively, for Cambodia – 40 and 270, data shows.

    Extreme weather events also expose systemic inequalities.

    “Occupation, age, health conditions and disabilities, access to health care services, socioeconomic status, even gender – these are all factors that can make people more or less vulnerable to heat waves,” said Chaya Vaddhanaphuti, one of the WWA report’s authors and lecturer at the department of geography at Chiang Mai University in Thailand.

    Marginalized members of society, those without adequate access to healthcare and cooling systems, and those in jobs that are exposed to extremely hot and humid conditions are most at risk of heat stress.

    “It’s important to talk about who can adapt, who can cope, and who has the resources to be able to do this,” Emmanuel Raju, also an author and director of the Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, said in a press conference on May 17.

    “For those working in the informal economy a lost day means a day lost in wages,” Raju said.

    More than 60% of the employed population in Southeast Asia work in informal employment, and over 80% in Cambodia and Myanmar, according to a 2018 International Labour Organization (ILO) report.

    Farmers and children harvest rice in a field in the southern Thai province of Narathiwat on March 27.

    In late April, Thai health authorities issued an extreme heat alert for the capital Bangkok and several other places across the country, warning people to stay indoors and of heat stroke dangers.

    But for migrant workers like Supot Klongsap, nicknamed “Nui,” who temporarily left his home to work in construction in Bangkok during the pre-monsoon season, staying indoors was simply not an option.

    He said that this year’s hot season was exceptional, causing him to sweat all the time and feel exhausted. “I started to sweat from 8 a.m., and it was difficult to work. I felt very exhausted from losing so much water.”

    Nui, who slept at the construction site, said even the nights were unbearable. “Water coming from the pipe even during nighttime remained very hot just like it was boiled. It was difficult to find comfort.” 

    He said the accommodation for construction workers is roofed and walled with corrugated sheets, and it barely protects from heat. Any access to air-conditioned rooms is a luxury Nui couldn’t afford. “We had to rely on buying ice and adding it to our drinks, our simple way to cool down,” he said.

    A 2021 study found that outdoor workers in developing countries have higher core body temperature than to those working indoors, and they are two to three times more at risk of dehydration, leading to a higher chance of reduced kidney function and other related conditions. 

    Pedestrians use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 25.

     In Thailand, the government recommends reactive measures, such as staying indoors, hydrating adequately, wearing light-colored clothes, and avoiding certain foods, Chaya told CNN. 

    “But that doesn’t mean that everybody has the same capacity to do so.” 

    The burden of cost often falls on individuals, Chaya said, making it their responsibility to cope with the heat.

    What is needed, he said, is a cohesive international plan that can protect the more vulnerable populations in the face of increasing climate change risks, and proactive measures to prevent potential health issues.

    Governments need to develop large-scale solutions, such as early warning systems for heat, passive and active cooling for all, urban planning, and heat action plans, World Weather Attribution scientists recommended in their report.

    Intensifying heat waves not only affect individuals’ health, but threaten the environment and people’s livelihoods, worsen air quality, destroy crops, increase wildfire risk, and damage infrastructure – so the need for government action plans on heat waves are vital.

     In Yotpieng and Phon villages in northeastern Laos, people’s livelihoods are intimately connected with weather patterns.

     Villagers’ lives here revolve around tea. For centuries, every day at 7 a.m. the tea farmers start collecting leaves, until 11 a.m. when they would bring the harvest back home. The survival of these communities depends on collecting tea leaves to generate income for whole families.

    But this year’s extreme heat is disrupting their ability to work according to their ancient working habits – they had to change from working in the morning to the afternoon during heat waves, and they are worried the quality and quantity of tea leaves will be affected, members of the local community told CNN.

     ”[The] weather is extremely hot for everyone this year and farmers are struggling,” according to Chintanaphone Keovichith, management officer at the Lao Farmer Network.

     “This year the weather is hotter than last year, and the tea leaves are dry,” said tea farmer, Boua Seng.

    The manager of a 1,000-year-old tea processing factory, Vieng Samai Lobia Yaw, said she is worried this year’s tea leaves have not grown enough, which decreases harvest by almost 50% daily.

    This photo taken on May 30 shows a woman watering her rooftop to cool it down in Hanoi, Vietnam.

    “It’s so wasteful – we spend more capital on laborers’ fees but getting less product,” she said.

    For now, tea farmers in Laos have invented solutions to protect their trees. Some have planted large fruit trees, such as peach or plum, to provide shade for tea plantations, while others added more compost to nourish their plants.

    “The tea [trees] in the shade will have a nice green leaf, but the ones without shade will have yellow leaf,” explained tea farmer Thongsouk. “We also collect additional income by selling fruit products.” 

    But they cannot do it alone.

    Without a comprehensive international approach to rapidly reduce planet-warming pollution and to address the interconnected impacts of extreme weather events on individuals, communities, and the environment, the health and economic costs from heat waves will only worsen as the climate crisis unfolds.

    As May turns into June, many are still waiting for some respite.

    “May was the worst month – that’s when the rain usually comes in, but this year [it] still hasn’t arrived yet,” said Chintanaphone.

    Data graphics
    Lou Robinson and Krystina Shveda

    Editing
    Helen Regan

    Photo editing
    Noemi Cassanelli

    Additional reporting
    Kocha Olarn in Bangkok

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  • Bud Light sales keep slipping. But it remains America’s top-selling beer | CNN Business

    Bud Light sales keep slipping. But it remains America’s top-selling beer | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Roughly two months after Bud Light endured a self-induced injury that torpedoed sales, the brand continues to lose ground to its competition. But there are signs the worst might be over.

    Sales for the week leading into Memorial Day weekend fell 23.9% from the same period a year ago. That constitutes a slight improvement compared to the week prior when sales were 25.7% lower than a year earlier. That could indicate that the “bottom has been hit and we are seeing a turn-around in performance,” according to Bump Williams, an alcohol industry expert.

    For the past several weeks, Bud Light sales declines have hovered around 25% weekly because of customer revolt following an Instagram partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. A single can bearing her face was given to her for a post, but some right-wing media attacked the brand, and some social media posts spewed transphobic comments.

    Anheuser-Busch’s tepid statement about the controversy also angered some LGBTQ+ groups.

    In response, Anheuser-Busch

    (BUD)     said it was bolstering marketing on Bud Light and would offer rebates to customers. Last weekend, the company offered $15 back on 15-packs of beer, leading to cases priced as low as $1.50 in some states, which Williams said contributed to part of its minor turnaround.

    Still, Bud Light remains the top-selling beer in America, according to NIQ data provided to CNN by Williams. NIQ measures sales at convenience, liquor and grocery stores across the United States. Bud Light has made up 35.1% of domestic beer sales this year (through May 27), according to NIQ. That easily beats No. 2 Coors Light, which controls 21.6% of the market.

    Although Bud Light’s share of the domestic beer market has slipped considerably over the past couple months, it remains in the lead. In the week ended May 27, Bud Light controlled 28.8% of the market, compared to Coors Light, which made up 25.6% of overall sales, NIQ reported.

    The biggest beneficiaries of Bud Light’s slipping sales continue to be MolsonCoors’ Miller Light and Coors Light, with sales up a whopping 26% and 23% respectively, according to NIQ. Beer Business Daily reported Monday that some distributors are reporting shortages, but a company spokesperson told CNN that its supply is strong for the summer.

    Another bright spot is Modelo, distributed by Constellation Brands

    (STZ)    . Sales of its Modelo Especial and its recently launched low-carb beer Modelo Oro are strong, with sales up 9.5% and its share of the total beer category surpassing Bud Light last week, Williams said. He added that it’s “not a surprise” because of a halo effect from Cinco de Mayo and heavy advertising supporting its Oro launch.

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  • Britain is getting so desperate to tame inflation it’s talking about food price caps | CNN Business

    Britain is getting so desperate to tame inflation it’s talking about food price caps | CNN Business

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    London
    CNN
     — 

    Brits woke up to yet more grim news on inflation Tuesday, with new data showing prices in UK stores are rising at a record pace. It’s the latest sign of a seemingly intractable cost-of-living crisis that has Prime Minster Rishi Sunak considering drastic measures, including price controls, to keep inflation in check.

    The cost of store items, known as shop price inflation, rose 9% through the year to May, a fresh high for an index that dates back to 2005, according to the British Retail Consortium. Food inflation dipped slightly to 15.4% in May, but that’s still the second-highest rate on record.

    Lower energy and commodity costs helped reduce prices of some staples, including butter, milk, fruit and fish. But chocolate and coffee prices are rising as global commodity prices soar, British Retail Consortium CEO Helen Dickinson said.

    The slight drop in food prices will give cold comfort to consumers, and piles the pressure on Sunak, who has promised to halve inflation this year as one of his five pledges to voters.

    The British public “are still wincing when their total comes up at the checkout… a weekly shop that cost £100 last year is now clocking in at £115,” Laura Suter, head of personal finance at stockbroker AJ Bell wrote in a note.

    Poor households are being hit the hardest because they spend more of their disposable income on food. More people are using food banks in the United Kingdom than ever before, eclipsing even the peak of the pandemic.

    The Trussell Trust, the UK’s biggest food bank network, handed out close to 3 million emergency food parcels over the 12 months to March 2023 — a 37% increase on the previous year.

    Even the Bank of England, tasked with keeping inflation at 2%, has been caught off guard by stubbornly high food prices, which seem to have barely responded to 12 successive interest rate hikes.

    Food prices have contributed to keeping inflation “higher than we expected it to be,” Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told a Treasury committee hearing last week. “We have a lot to learn about operating monetary policy in a world of big shocks,” he admitted.

    The United Kingdom’s inflation problem is now so dire that Sunak is considering asking retailers to cap the price of essential food items, in a throwback to the 1970s. Back then, governments in the United States and United Kingdom imposed wage and price controls to tame inflation, although the policies weren’t very effective at bringing inflation down and were later dropped.

    Economists say that capping prices encourages companies to produce less of a product, while making it more attractive to consumers. Supply goes down, and demand goes up, with shortages being the inevitable result.

    Price controls distort markets and should only be used “in extreme circumstances,” Neal Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a note Tuesday. “The current food price shock does not warrant such an intervention,” he added.

    The Sunday Telegraph was first to report the government’s proposal, which was quickly rejected by retailers.

    Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium said controls would not make a “jot of difference” to high food prices, which are the result of soaring energy, transport and labor costs.

    “As commodity prices drop, many of the costs keeping inflation high are now arising from the muddle of new regulation coming from government,” Opie added in a statement. These include tighter rules on recycling and full border controls on food imports from the European Union, due to be implemented by the end of this year.

    According to a government spokesperson, any price caps would not be mandatory. “Any scheme to help bring down food prices for consumers would be voluntary and at retailers’ discretion,” the spokesperson said in a statement shared with CNN.

    Sunak and Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt “have been meeting with the food sector to see what more can be done,” the spokesperson added.

    For Sunak, the pressure is on — particularly ahead of a general election widely expected to be held next year. Inflation was hovering above 10% when he made the promise to halve it in January. It dropped back to 8.7% in April, still well above his target. The Bank of England expects it to fall to “around 5%” by the end of this year, leaving little margin for error.

    According to Opie of the British Retail Consortium, the government should focus on “cutting red tape” rather than “recreating 1970s-style price controls.”

    At the top of the list of burdensome regulations are those introduced as a result of the country’s exit from the European Union, which is its main source of food imports.

    Brexit is responsible for about a third of UK food price inflation since 2019, according to researchers at the London School of Economics.

    New regulatory checks and other border controls added nearly £7 billion ($8.7 billion) to Britain’s domestic grocery bill between December 2019 and March 2023, or £250 ($310) per household, economists at the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance wrote in a recent paper.

    Food prices rose by almost 25 percentage points over this period. “Our analysis suggests that in the absence of Brexit this figure would be 8 percentage points (30%) lower,” the researchers wrote.

    Imports of meat and cheese from the European Union were now subject to high “non-tariff barriers.”

    — Mark Thompson contributed reporting.

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  • 20 classic French dishes everyone needs to try | CNN

    20 classic French dishes everyone needs to try | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The roots of French cooking run deep.

    The foundations of the country’s culinary empire were laid as early as the mid-1600s when chef François Pierre La Varenne penned his hugely influential “Le Cuisinier François” recipe book, which emphasized regional and seasonal ingredients and highlighted complementary flavors.

    “French cooking is, at its core, about making beautiful, refined food out of simple ingredients,” said Maryann Tebben, author of “Savoir-Faire: A History of Food in France.”

    “There is some mystery and magic to French cuisine that still draws people in. Even the basics – a perfect baguette, flaky pastry, potatoes simmered in cream – are astonishingly good even if we can’t quite figure out what makes them so delicious.”

    The cuisine of France “keeps inspiring people. It is entertaining. It is delicious. It is accessible. It is possible,” said Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud.

    Whether it’s country fare or haute cuisine that inspires, take a look at 20 classic French dishes:

    Is there possibly a more French way to prepare beef than to marinate it in red wine? Named boeuf Bourguignon after the famed red wine from the Burgundy region of France, this dish combines a nice, fatty cut of beef with a dry pinot noir and plenty of fresh vegetables to create a hearty and indulgent stew.

    It has been the focus of many discussions over which cuts of beef and types of wine create the best flavor profiles. But the most important ingredient for success is patience – like any good stew, boeuf Bourguignon is best when left overnight before serving.

    Not a fan of beef? Another French favorite, coq au vin, takes the Burgundian preparation and gives chicken the leading role instead.

    Bouillabaisse: This dish is an elevated take on the catch of the day.

    With a long name and an even longer list of ingredients, bouillabaisse is Marseille’s gift to France’s culinary canon. The soup, once a poor man’s dish and now a mainstay on many a Michelin-starred menu, elevates the catch of the day beyond your standard soupe de poisson.

    According to the Mediterranean port’s bouillabaisse charter, in an attempt to standardize the ingredients and preparation of the classic dish, the soup must include at least four of six specific fish selections that are cut up in front of the diners.

    Alongside optional crustaceans and a spicy broth, no self-respecting bouillabaisse is complete without a topper of croutons dipped in rouille, a peppery garlic sauce.

    Tarte Tatin: The rustic upside-down caramelized apple tart has deep, buttery flavor.

    This list of classic French dishes would be incomplete without the inclusion of something from the country’s extensive repertoire of patisserie. Though not as refined or architectural as some treats seen in the windows of French sweet shops, the buttery, simmering tarte Tatin, essentially an upside-down caramelized apple tart, is famous around the world for its rich flavor and unique history.

    Legend has it that sisters Stéphanie and Caroline Tatin were working in a restaurant in the Loire Valley of France in the late 19th century when Stéphanie was overwhelmed in the kitchen by the influx of customers during hunting season.

    She accidentally left the apples in her apple pie cooking too long and tried to salvage it by covering the apples in pastry and baking. The resulting dish – steaming apples under caramelized sugar with a flaky crust – was so popular it was eventually named after the sisters: la tarte des demoiselles Tatin.

    Though tarte Tatin is sure to be delicious anywhere you try it, it might be best sampled where it originated.

    “Northern France is very known for its apples,” said David Lebovitz, author of “The Sweet Life in Paris.” “They have spectacularly good cooking apples.”

    French onion soup: The cozy, brothy soup is topped with bread and melted cheese.

    Onion soup is not a new invention or even a dish that can be directly tied to France. Some of the earliest iterations of it can be traced back to ancient Rome. But the most famous version? The version you think of when you think “onion soup”? The version you order to start off your meal made with beef stock, onions, toasted bread and ooey-gooey Gruyère cheese?

    That’s all France.

    The element that really sets this soup apart from other, less indulgent onion-based options is the layer of cheese that tops the steaming broth. That comes from baking the soup in a broiler to melt the cheese and produce what the French call au gratin.

    The gratin “technique (is) about making something in a shallow dish that will bake and get croûte on top – which means creating a crust – and that crust can be cheese, can be bread, can be all kinds of things. But a nice crust,” explained Boulud, who opened Le Gratin, an entire restaurant dedicated to highlighting the technique, in New York.

    The most popular dish at the restaurant is another cheesy French favorite, gratin Dauphinois, or gratin potatoes.

    Escargot: Snails with parsley and garlic butter are a French delicacy.

    Escargot is perhaps one of the most famous – or infamous, depending on who you ask – French dishes around. The delicacy, which can be traced all the way back to the Roman Empire, might not be for everyone, but it’s definitely worth a try for the adventurous eater.

    The classic recipe involves snails with parsley and garlic butter. The snails are served warm either inside their shells or in a specific dish fashioned with six to 12 small compartments. Often the dish comes with some bread to help soak up the rich, buttery flavor.

    These aren’t your average backyard snails either. The most popular snail species for escargot are the particularly well-regarded Burgundy snail, which is highly protected in France.

    Chocolate soufflé: This rich yet lightweight dessert is a challenge to master but well worth the effort.

    Aptly named after the French term souffler, meaning “to puff up,” the experience of eating a chocolate soufflé or one of its savory counterparts is a bit like biting into a cloud. The rich yet lightweight dessert has been gracing French tables since the 18th century, but was really perfected by esteemed chef and arbiter of haute cuisine Marie-Antoine Carême in the mid-1800s.

    Though notoriously difficult to prepare, the soufflé has a relatively simple ingredient list.

    The distinctive airy texture comes from separating the egg whites from the yolk and whipping them into a stiff meringue before folding them back into the chocolate batter. The baking time and cooking temperature is specific, and easy to get wrong, but the payoff is immediate – soufflés are served hot and fresh from the oven.

    Crepes: Ultrathin pancakes can be filled with sweet or savory ingredients.

    Not every French dish can be served all day, but then again, the crepe isn’t just any French dish.

    As France’s biggest-hitting entry to the global pancake catalog, crepes have a uniquely versatile quality. They can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They can be made with buckwheat flour, the tradition of the Brittany region’s savory galettes, or with more widely used white flour. They can be folded into triangles or rolled into logs.

    The paper-thin pancake is prepared rather theatrically on large griddles at crêperies. You can now find crepes made with any combination of sweet or savory ingredients, but crêpes suzette are still a popular iteration, consisting of caramelized sugar, orange juice and, for a flash of drama, flambeed liqueur.

    Salade Niçoise: This dish is a celebration of fresh, colorful produce at its peak.

    Salade Niçoise is a celebration of the fresh, colorful produce available throughout the French Riviera, where the dish originated. Elegantly plated on a tray or large platter, the salad features a bed of lettuce and a simple olive oil dressing or vinaigrette that lets the real star of the dish truly shine – the crudités, or raw vegetables.

    A purist’s salade Niçoise might feature a seasonal selection of fresh tomatoes, black olives, capers and green beans, all served cold, with the optional addition of anchovies or tuna. But as the salad’s popularity has grown outside of Nice, a number of ingredients have become common additions, such as hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, red bell peppers, fava beans and cucumbers.

    The sandwich version of this salad, pan bagnat, is also worth a try. Picture all the delicious ingredients of a Niçoise salad tucked into pain de campagne, or French sourdough.

    Crème brûlée: Fire is required for this caramelized dessert.

    Every bite of a crème brûlée is an exercise in opposites. The sweet vanilla custard flavor contrasted with the almost bitter flavor of the bruléed topping; the crunch of the caramelized sugar against the smooth, creamy texture of the custard underneath; the gentle water bath used to bake the custard compared with the dramatic blowtorch flame used to melt the sugar – in this dish opposites definitely attract.

    It’s hard to pinpoint when and even where the first crème brûlée might have been made. There were similar recipes floating around France, Spain and England dating back as early as the fifth century. But one thing for sure is that humans throughout history have always loved a good, creamy dessert. And who are we to disagree with 1,500 years of good reviews?

    Cassoulet: The earthy stew is the heartiest of hearty French dishes.

    Perhaps the heartiest of hearty French dishes is the cassoulet.

    A bean-centric ragout that originated in the southern town of Castelnaudary, the cassoulet can have different ingredients, depending on the region. In Castelnaudary, the white beans are prepared with duck confit, pork and sausage. Carcassonne features gamey meat such as mutton. Toulouse adds a bread crumb topping.

    The general and historical premise is the same – take all the hearty and edible ingredients available and put them in a pot or, more specifically, an earthenware cassole.

    This dish is so beloved by the French, Castelnaudary has its own brotherhood to defend it – the Grande Confrérie du Cassoulet.

    “The purpose of the Grande Confrérie is to honor, disseminate and defend the reputation of Cassoulet de Castelnaudary, ensuring respect for traditions and quality,” a statement on the brotherhood’s website explains.

    Quiche Lorraine: A butter crust and savory egg custard make this a winning dish.

    Creamy eggs, smoky bacon, flaky pastry crust – the quiche Lorraine is the quintessential French brunch item. But what has become a staple item at any decent French bistro or boulangerie had a rather tumultuous start.

    The term quiche originates from the German word for cake – kuchen. This is because the first quiches were made in the Lotharingia kingdom of Germany which, during the Middle Ages, spanned several modern Western European countries.

    The egg-and-cream custard pie was beloved in the Lothringen region, which was later annexed by France to become, you guessed it, Lorraine. The borders changed, but the dish stuck around. Now, quiches are served worldwide with any number of delicious and inventive flavor combinations.

    Confit de canard: The slow-cooked duck will have meat so tender it falls off the bone.

    What was once a method of preserving meat or vegetables before the existence of refrigerators has become one of the most famous French food preparation methods. The confit process produces juicy, tender meat with crispy skin that’s been enriched with the flavors of salt, herbs and its own fat. What’s not to love?

    Confit certainly isn’t the easiest process, but it’s hard to conceive of a more delicious way to prepare duck. First, the raw meat is cured with salt and aromatics such as thyme or garlic, then it’s poached at a low temperature for several hours until the fat is fully rendered. The meat can then be stored with the fat in an airtight container for weeks or even months until you’re ready to fry it up and eat it.

    This technique can easily go awry, but when done right, it produces a cut of duck that’s nutty in flavor and fall-off-the-bone tender.

    Ratatouille: The colorful, tangy vegetable dish is a Provençal specialty (and also a great movie).

    Among so many heavy hitters featuring beef and poultry in the French culinary tradition, there is still one famous entrée suitable for vegetarians: ratatouille. From the French word touille, meaning “to toss,” ratatouille originated in the Provence region but quickly gained popularity throughout France for its use of fresh summer vegetables.

    Featuring a colorful collection of eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onion and tomatoes, ratatouille can be prepared by either baking all the vegetables like a casserole or sautéing them with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The resulting stew can be served hot or cold.

    It pairs great with a crusty baguette topped with an egg, Parmesan, or both, according to the James Beard Foundation.

    Profiteroles: What's better than a cream puff? A cream puff covered with chocolate.

    Beautiful, sweet and small enough to eat more than is probably advisable, profiteroles come in any assortment of flavors. Filled with vanilla custard, cream or even ice cream, these little cream puffs can be topped with chocolate sauce, fruit or just served plain.

    The airy, delicate pastry is pâte à choux, or choux pastry. One of the backbones of French patisserie, choux is the dough used for éclairs, beignets, the Paris-Brest and more. It’s made by cooking flour with water, milk and butter before mixing in the eggs. The resulting dough is wet and pipable and puffs up when baked.

    Because of their simplicity, profiteroles are a common dessert taught young in French homes, David Lebovitz explained. “French cooking is very technique oriented and pâte à choux is a very easy technique to master.”

    Sole meunière: This fish dish showcases one of France's most iconic ingredients: butter.

    This fish dish is fit for a king – literally. Sole meunière is said to have been a favorite of King Louis XIV during the late 1600s. The deceptively simple dish has few ingredients, but the flavor profiles are complex due to the specific techniques used to cook the fish.

    For the most classic preparation, the Dover sole is the fish of choice because of its firm flesh and fresh flavor. The sole is breaded with flour and sautéed in butter until delicately crisp and golden, then topped with parsley and sizzling brown butter, or beurre noisette, which has a rich, nutty flavor.

    “The flesh is transparent. It’s absolutely delicate. It’s one of the finest things in life,” said chef Danièle Mazet-Delpeuch, former personal chef to French President François Mitterrand, in “Julia,” the CNN Film documentary about Julia Child. “Perfect fish in butter. It’s perfect!”

    Terrine: A loaflike shape defines this dish, but you can experiment with many flavor combinations.

    A terrine is the great dish for the most creative of chefs. Named after the earthenware pot used to mold its distinctive, loaflike shape, this dish has a specific look, but the flavor combinations are almost limitless. Make a terrine rustic with ingredients such as pork and beans or go lavish with ingredients such as rare game and truffles. The dish can be made with poultry or fish, or even entirely of vegetables.

    The most important feature for any ingredient? Big flavor.

    Not to be confused with other popular charcuterie elements such as paté or rillettes, a terrine is made by layering forcemeat with any combination of additional ingredients in a terrine mold to cook slowly in a water bath. This dish can be dense enough to serve as an entrée or makes a great hors d’oeuvre with crusty bread and cornichons, which are tiny crisp pickles.

    Steak frites: This simple and universally loved meal of steak and fries pairs well with red wine.

    Try to name a more classic combination than steak and potatoes. Since its origins in France and Belgium, steak frites has been a centerpiece of brasserie and bistro menus throughout Europe – and for good reason. The elements are simple and universally loved: a sizzling cut of beefsteak with a side of piping-hot, crispy fries.

    The steak is often served with a side of creamy béarnaise. Made from clarified butter, herbs and egg yolks, the sauce creates a rich accompaniment to the juicy cut of rib eye or porterhouse.

    Paired with a nice red wine to cut through the heavy flavors, this dish becomes the ultimate casual dinner entrée.

    Jambon-beurre: Assemble good-quality ham, butter and a baguette -- nothing more and nothing less.

    The jambon-beurre is exactly what it claims to be: jambon, or ham, layered on a coating of beurre – butter – between two slices of bread, nothing more and nothing less. The simplicity of this sandwich forces its maker to use only the best ingredients because every element is as important as the last.

    The bread, always a baguette sliced neatly down the center, must be freshly baked to perfection with a crunchy crust and a chewy interior. The ham is best if it’s jambon de Paris, sourced directly from the French capital, sliced thin and free from additives and preservatives. The butter, ideally directly from the northwestern Normandy region, should be lightly salted and spread generously.

    Also known as the Parisien, the jambon-beurre is used as a marker of sorts for the popularity of classic French cuisine among the country’s residents. According to Maryann Tebben, an annual index measures the number of jambon-beurres purchased compared with the annual number of hamburgers, lest the country stray too far from its roots.

    Blanquette de veau: Tender meat in a creamy, comforting sauce is a go-to dish for French home cooks.

    A favorite of home cooks across France, blanquette de veau is a veal stew prepared en blanquette, meaning neither the meat or the butter is browned during cooking. This process produces a dish of tender meat and mellow flavors with a creamy, comforting sauce coating it all.

    The white sauce is made using one of France’s biggest contributions to cooking techniques worldwide – combining melted butter with flour to create a roux. The flour acts as a thickening agent, creating a denser base, and also acts as a bonding agent between the roux and other ingredients such as cheese or cream.

    You can thank this technique for creating the base of dishes such as gumbo, some curries and creamy mac and cheese.

    Pot-au-feu: The beef and vegetable stew is the perfect cold-weather dish.

    Move over chicken noodle soup. There’s another dish that makes a strong claim for the perfect cold-weather dish. Pot-au-feu (meaning “pot on fire”) is a warm, simple and flavorful slow-cooked meal.

    Considered a national dish of France, pot-au-feu has no definitive recipe, and many regions of France have their own versions.

    It’s generally made with meat, root vegetables, herbs, spices and bone marrow, which are prepared together but served in separate courses: the marrow starter, followed by the broth and then finally the meat and vegetables.

    A large helping of pot-au-feu is thought to epitomize the spirit of French cooking – that sharing food, wine and conversation with a table full of loved ones is what makes life worth living.

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  • Joel Dahmen gives golf fan $100 to buy beers after hitting him with errant ball at PGA Championship | CNN

    Joel Dahmen gives golf fan $100 to buy beers after hitting him with errant ball at PGA Championship | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    One golf fan has found an unusual way to bypass having to pay for beers at the PGA Championship this week – take a Joel Dahmen tee shot to the leg.

    Dahmen was at the first tee of his final practice round Wednesday when his wayward drive struck spectator Caleb McGuire, the spectator said in a tweet.

    Pictures showed a sizeable bruise on the fan’s calf, but his pain was eased when the American golfer subsequently asked about the cost of a beer at the major, hosted at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.

    When told each beer cost $17, Dahmen handed over $100 for some refreshments, McGuire said, with the tweet showing the duo posing for pictures with the bill.

    Dahmen’s act of generosity comes a year after two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas expressed his disbelief at the reported $18 cost of beer at the 2022 edition of the major in Tulsa.

    “Sorry about that! Hope you enjoyed the beers,” Dahmen tweeted in response.

    “It was a pleasure just to meet you!” McGuire replied. “We couldn’t stop talking about it for the rest of the day. Go ahead and win this week!”

    Reporter asks Justin Thomas about high concession stand prices

    Dahmen shot to fame following his starring role as the self-proclaimed, self-depreciating, “goofball” of the PGA Tour in “Full Swing”, Netflix’s fly-on-the-wall docuseries released earlier this year.

    In an episode titled “Imposter Syndrome,” the show offered a candid insight into the 35-year-old’s wrestles with self-belief.

    “I’m a middle of the road PGA Tour player,” Dahmen explained.

    Dahmen (L) won hearts after his appearance in Netflix's

    “The top players … they’re just built differently. They’re mentally just different. They hit it further and they chip and putt better. I’m not a threat when I walk into these things, really.

    “I am not going to be a hall of famer. When I retire from golf, no one’s going to remember who I am. I understand that, I’m fine with it. I’m not playing for legacy. Some people are like, ‘That’s why you’ll never be great Joel, coz you don’t believe it.’”

    However, the episode ended on a high note with Dahmen finishing inside the top 10 at the US Open in June last year, a career-best major performance.

    The world No. 108 enjoyed a strong end to 2022 but has endured a tough start to the current season, missing the cut in four of his last seven PGA Tour appearances.

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  • Where to travel in 2023: The best destinations to visit | CNN

    Where to travel in 2023: The best destinations to visit | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    As peak vacation season sails into view and the world shakes off the last shackles of the pandemic, it feels like the appetite for hitting the road has never been greater.

    International tourism reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2023, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, with an estimated 235 million tourists traveling internationally in January, February and March. And experts are cautiously optimistic about a continued travel rebound.

    Demand is high, with many popular destinations booking out earlier in the year.

    Thankfully, there’s so much out there still to see and do.

    Travel expert explains why you should book your dream vacation now

    Here are 23 destination ideas from CNN Travel to get you started:

    From the main square in Krakow, pictured, to forests, lakes and mountains, Poland invites exploration.

    We could list new openings in Poland – such as Hotel Verte, the new Autograph Collection property in Warsaw, which threw open its gilded doors (it’s in a humongous Baroque palace) last August. But the reason you should visit Poland in 2023 isn’t for the chance to stay in a place fit for royalty. It’s to show solidarity with a country which has, in turn, shown solidarity to the people of Ukraine.

    Sharing a 300-plus-mile border with a country under attack has meant that Poland has taken in more Ukrainian refugees than anywhere else. Add to that plummeting tourist numbers (though they’re on the rise again), and you have a tricky situation.

    So whether you fancy that Warsaw palace, a city break to the likes of Krakow, Gdansk, Wrocław or Poznań – all hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border – or to get away from it all in the forests, lakes and mountains of the countryside – now’s your chance to do some good by taking a vacation. – Julia Buckley

    A full solar eclipse will be visible in April in Exmouth, Western Australia. The landscape is worth a long look, too.

    Back in April, thousands of people descended on the town of Exmouth and the greater Ningaloo Peninsula, to witness a rare total solar eclipse as it became visible over the northwestern edge of Australia.

    Organizers spent more than a year planning for the event, which lasted about a minute, and featured musical performances, educational opportunities to learn about science and astronomy, and a three-day festival.

    But the state of Western Australia offers much more than some 60 seconds of wonder.

    Spanning one-third of the entire continent of Australia, it stretches from the lively, growing state capital of Perth across deserts including the Great Victoria and Great Sandy to the wine country of Margaret River, the dramatic clifftops of the Kimberley and the quokka-covered Rottnest Island. – Lilit Marcus

    Mersey paradise: Liverpool.

    England’s port city of Liverpool, best known around the world as the birthplace of The Beatles, has added another chapter to its musical legacy.

    It’s the host city of Eurovision 2023, the spangly extravaganza of song that brings an influx of thousands of flag-waving fans from across the continent. The annual event is an opportunity for the city to bounce back after the ignominy of being stripped of its UNESCO World Heritage status in 2021.

    In June, the city will celebrate 25 years of the Liverpool Biennial contemporary visual arts festival, as more than 30 international artists and collectives take over spaces in the city until September.

    England is also marking the Year of the Coast in 2023, with food festivals and beach cleans taking place along the country’s shores. Just a half hour from Liverpool city center by train, Crosby Beach is the permanent home of sculptor Antony Gormley’s “Another Place,” where 100 cast-iron figures stand facing out to sea. – Maureen O’Hare

    Charleston, a city of undeniable refined, historic beauty, is also looking more closely at its troubled past.

    Charleston parades its past like no other US city, but it often glossed over the history of its Black residents. It’s been taking steps to fix that.

    Enter the much-delayed International African American Museum, which is now expected to open in late June.

    Located on the shoreline of the Cooper River in the spot where many Africans first set foot in North America, it will explore the lives of slaves and their descendants.

    Visitors in late May and early June can enjoy the world-renowned Spoleto Festival featuring opera, theater, dance, musical acts and artist talks.

    In March, foodies headed to the Charleston Wine and Food Festival to sample Lowcountry favorites.

    For fancy Southern fare, try Magnolias. Opened in 1990, it helped spur the city’s culinary renaissance. For something informal, try Bertha’s Kitchen in North Charleston, where red rice with sausage, fried chicken and lima beans rule. The eatery even caught attention of “Roadfood” author Michael Stern. – Forrest Brown

    Self-effacing Vilnius admitted in an ad campaign this year that nobody really knows where it is. If their brilliant video didn’t make you want to book a trip there immediately, perhaps this will: the capital of Lithuania celebrated its 700th anniversary on January 25, 2023.

    To mark the milestone, a packed program of events, including music festivals and exhibitions, are being held throughout the year. But use the anniversary as a push to visit rather than following a program religiously.

    The entire city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – putting it up there with its fellow V-cities, Venice and Vienna. Vilnius makes it on the list thanks to its Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings, all sitting on a medieval street plan, but it’s best known for its Baroque architecture.

    Don’t miss the frothy bell tower of St. John’s church (you can climb it for sweeping city views) or the church of St. Casimir, topped by a giant crown. Got an eye for social media? This is Europe’s only capital city that allows hot air balloons to cruise over the city skyline. – JB

    Scenes like this await visitors to Fiji.

    Brilliant blue waters, expansive coral reefs and hundreds of peaceful islands: Fiji is not a hard sell. But why go there in 2023? For one, the country only reopened post-Covid at the end of 2021, meaning that visitor numbers to the South Pacific paradise have yet to fully rebound.

    While the country is spoiled for underwater beauty, take an opportunity to explore its above-ground treasures, too. The country’s lone UNESCO World Heritage site is the town of Levuka, a former capital and an important port, which is studded with British colonial-era buildings amid coconut and mango trees.

    To learn about the local Indigenous communities, travelers can take part in a kava welcoming ceremony – named for the traditional drink at its center – or enjoy a lovo, a meal cooked by hot coals in an underground pit covered with banana leaves.

    Fiji Airways now has direct flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco, making it relatively easy to get to the islands. As the Fijians say, bula! – LM

    As the fate of the Amazon rainforest hangs in the balance, two eco-lodges around Manaus – the capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state, and gateway to the river – have used their pandemic pause to get even more environmentally friendly.

    Juma Amazon Lodge, about 50 miles south of the city, is now fully powered by a new $400,000 solar plant, whose 268 double panels swagger nearly 40 feet into the air above the canopy (meaning no trees had to be cut). They’ve also built a biogas system to increase the efficiency of organic waste treatment, reducing annual carbon emissions by eight tons.

    Meanwhile, Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge, northwest of Manaus on the Rio Negro river, opened an off-grid “advanced base” during the pandemic that’s 30 miles from the main lodge and accessible only via river.

    Guests can take long jungle hikes through territory home to jaguars, pumas and giant armadillos in what’s one of the Amazon region’s most remote hotel facilities, then spend the afternoon in a hammock or by the pool. For 2023, the lodge is planning overnight stays in a creekside tent for small groups.

    Don’t miss Manaus itself – eating behemoth Amazonian fish outside the pink 1896 opera house is a bucket list experience. – JB

    Enticing flavors, history and proximity to beaches and mountains are just a few factors working in this Greek city's favor.

    There’s been no shortage of reasons to visit Greece’s second city in recent times, with a UNESCO-endorsed local food scene that recently celebrated the refurb and reopening of its century-old Modiano food market.

    Throw in a popular waterfront and proximity to beautiful beaches and inland mountains, Thessaloniki is surely a contender for one of Europe’s best city-break destinations.

    What could make it even better? How about a gleaming new metro system? All being well, November 2023 should see the opening of the main line of an infrastructure megaproject that will eventually connect the city’s downtown to its international airport. Driverless trains will whisk passengers through tunnels whose excavation has added to Thessaloniki’s already rich catalog of archeological discoveries, many of which will be on display in specially created museum stations. – Barry Neild

    January 2023 saw the official opening of Rwanda’s most exciting hotel yet: Sextantio Rwanda, a collection of traditionally crafted huts on an island on Lake Kivu, one of Africa’s largest lakes.

    It’s the first project outside Italy for Daniele Kihlgren, whose part-hotel, part-living history projects keep local tradition alive. A nonprofit delivering money straight to local communities, Sextantio sees guests fishing on the 1,000-square-mile lake, paddling in dug-out canoes, trying local banana beer and wildlife-spotting – and not just the chickens, cows, pigs and goats that roam around the property.

    Of course, you’ll want to see gorillas. Adjoining Volcanoes National Park, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund opened the 4,500-square meter Ellen DeGeneres Campus in 2022. Its visitor center includes exhibits, virtual reality gorilla “encounters” and nature trails.

    Over in Akagera National Park, white rhinos – transferred from South Africa in 2021 to aid conservation – are already calving. It’s easier to get there, too. A new route from London joins Brussels, Dubai, Guangzhou and Mumbai as the only direct flights to Kigali from outside the African continent. – JB

    Voted the world’s most sustainable destination in the world for six years running, Sweden’s second-biggest city is finally emerging from the shadow of Stockholm.

    Once a major trading and shipping town, Gothenburg is now considered to be one of the greenest destinations in Europe, with 274 square meters (2,950 square feet) of green space per citizen, while 95% of its hotels are certified as eco-friendly.

    Although Gothenburg officially turned 400 in 2021, the celebrations were put on ice because of the global pandemic. But they’re finally taking place in 2023, so it’s a great time to visit.

    Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustav, who celebrates 50 years on the throne this year, will be in town on June 4, Gothenburg’s official birthday, and the city’s major anniversary festival is being held in the Frihamnen port district from June 2 to 5, with concerts and art events among the activities on offer.

    The festivities will continue throughout the summer until the September 3 kick off of Göteborgsvarvet Marathon, a new 26-mile race following on from the city’s popular half marathon on May 13. – Tamara Hardingham-Gill

    The Dhayah Fort in Ras al-Khaimah is one of the few remaining hill forts in the United Arab Emirates.

    When travelers think of the United Arab Emirates, the dazzling skyline of Dubai is usually what springs to mind.

    But the UAE has a lot to offer nature lovers too – particularly the northernmost emirate Ras al-Khaimah, which is aiming to become the Middle East’s most sustainable destination by 2025 thanks to a new “Balanced Tourism” strategy.

    Just 45 minutes from Dubai, it’s often called the “adventure Emirate,” and for good reason. Offering beaches, deserts and mountains, outdoor attractions abound, such as sand boarding, trekking, wakeboarding, skydiving, scuba diving and even the world’s longest zipline.

    But it’s not all about the adrenaline rush. Ras Al Khaimah is where you’ll find the highest restaurant in the United Arab Emirates, 1484 by Puro, which sits in the emirate’s Jebel Jais Mountains. Culture seekers can head for the historic Dhayah Fort, which dates back to the Late Bronze Age (1600-1300 BC).

    Where to stay? Luxury hospitality brand Anantara is opening a fabulous new resort there later this year that will offer 174 guestrooms, suites and overwater villas along with specialty restaurants and a spa. – Karla Cripps

    Three-tiered Kuang Si Falls is just south of UNESCO-listed Luang Prabang.

    Sharing borders with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Myanmar, landlocked Laos has long been a must-hit spot for time-rich travelers making their way through the Southeast Asia circuit.

    But now, thanks to the 2021 opening of a semi-high-speed railway, it’s easier than ever to get around the country at a quicker pace, shaving hours off journeys that previously took full days to travel.

    You’re still going to have to make some hard choices – there’s a lot to see in Laos.

    Towering karst peaks await visitors to adventure-haven Vang Vieng, while UNESCO-listed Luang Prabang is filled with French-colonial heritage, Buddhist ritual and natural beauty. (Luxury seekers will want to check into the Rosewood Luang Prabang, with its stylish hilltop tents)

    The mysterious Plain of Jars, a megalithic archaeological site, can be found in the Xiangkhoang Plateau. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience that makes a difference, head for Bokeo Province and join one of the Gibbon Experience’s overnight treks. Guests of this tourism-based conservation project spend the night in the world’s tallest treehouses – only accessible by zipline – among wild, black-crested gibbons. – KC

    Rolling hills, medieval buildings – and the officially crowned world’s best cheese. Welcome to Gruyères, Switzerland.

    Everywhere you look in this tiny, hilltop town, there’s a different picture-perfect view – from the medieval market square to the turreted 13th-century castle. A doable day trip from Geneva, summer promises hiking opportunities aplenty, while winter allows for venturing to the nearby Moléson-sur-Gruyères ski resort.

    To taste Gruyères’ namesake fromage, stop off at the wood-lined Chalet de Gruyères. And to learn how cheesemakers perfect this creamy goodness, head to La Maison du Gruyère factory. For further foodie delights, there’s the Maison Cailler chocolate factory – from the outside it looks like something from a Wes Anderson movie, inside it offers a glimpse into the secrets of Swiss chocolate making.

    Gruyères is also home to the surreal HR Giger Museum, celebrating the work of the acclaimed Swiss artist behind the eponymous alien in the 1979 movie “Alien.” A drink at the museum’s bar, designed by Giger in an eerie skeletal aesthetic, offers an antidote to Gruyères’ fairytale vibe. – Francesca Street

    A modern Indigenous restaurant in Minneapolis has earned one of the culinary world’s highest honors, and it’s not alone in shining light on Native communities in the area.

    At Owamni, a James Beard Award winner for best new restaurant, Indigenous ingredients – trout, bison, sweet potatoes and more – make up “decolonized” menus where ingredients such as wheat flour and beef are absent. The restaurant is a partnership between chef Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota and Dana Thompson, who is a lineal descendant of the Wahpeton-Sisseton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes.

    Earlier this year, one of the pair’s community-owned initiatives, Indigenous Food Lab, opened a market in Minneapolis’ Midtown Global Market, a former Sears building housing businesses that represent more than 22 cultures.

    The open-air Four Sisters Farmers Market (Thursdays June through October) also focuses on Indigenous products. And at the Minnesota History Center in neighboring St. Paul, the exhibit “Our Home: Native Minnesota” looks at thousands of years of Native history in the state. – Marnie Hunter

    While Colomia's busy capital can be congested, it's also home to the historic neighborhood of La Candelaria.

    Caribbean coast destinations such as the Rosario archipelago or the UNESCO heritage list city of Cartagena are rightly top of most Colombia travel wish lists, but also deserving a look-in is the country’s somewhat unsung capital of Bogotá.

    Yes, it’s a messy, traffic-snarled urban sprawl, but it’s also a high-altitude crucible of culture and cuisine. There are tours that chart the city’s transformation from graffiti wild west to incredible street art gallery.

    Equally colorful are the restaurants that make the most of Colombia’s diverse natural larder of flora on menus that range from delicious peasant dishes to mind-blowing Michelin-level gastronomy. And then there’s the coffee!

    The congestion (except on regular cycle-only days) thins quickly on its outskirts, allowing day trips to see historic and modern treasures. Itineraries include Lake Guatavita, where conquistadors once plundered sunken gold offerings left by indigenous Muisca people, or the majestic subterranean Zipaquirá salt cathedral. – BN

    Famed for its mountain treks through ancient trails that once facilitated trade between the Himalayas and India, Nepal’s stunning Mustang Valley sits on the doorstep of Tibet.

    Expect to hear a lot more about this remote destination in the coming months thanks to the arrival of the soon-to-open Shinta Mani Mustang. Part of the Bensley Collection, this all-inclusive resort perched above the small town of Jomsom in the Lower Mustang will offer luxury seekers 29 suites inspired by traditional Tibetan homes.

    In addition to trekking, Mustang visitors can explore ancient villages and Buddhist monasteries. Also not to be missed, the man-made Mustang Caves sit above the Gandaki River and are filled with 2,000-year-old Buddhist sculptures and paintings.

    Getting to the Mustang Valley is part of the adventure. Travelers will need to take a 25-minute flight from capital Kathmandu to Pokhara then hop on another plane for the 20-minute journey to Jomsom. The views alone might make this option more pleasing to some than the alternative – a 12-hour drive from Kathmandu. – KC

    From the spectacular wildlife to the beautiful national parks and beaches, Tanzania is absolutely bursting with visual splendor.

    The East African country holds a seemingly endless list of incredible sights, with Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, UNESCO world heritage site Serengeti National Park, and the Zanzibar Archipelago, among its many highlights.

    This year, flag carrier Air Tanzania will launch new routes to West and Central Africa, along with the UK, in a bid to transform the country’s largest airport in Dar es Salaam into a transport and logistics hub, while construction on the country’s first toll expressway is also scheduled to begin.

    Meanwhile, the Delta Hotels by Marriott brand made its Africa debut with the opening of its Dar es Salaam Oyster Bay property earlier this year. –– THG

    Cairo is pulsing with life and a rich blend of cultures.

    Could this finally be the year tourists can see the Grand Egyptian Museum? After delay upon delay, the museum is expecting a 2023 opening.

    GEM will be the largest museum dedicated to a single civilization, costing around $1 billion and holding the entire King Tut collection. See video here of a CNN insider visit.

    If you arrive in Cairo before it opens, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square can still scratch your antiquity itch.

    While the Pyramids of Giza are the city’s tour-de-force, there’s still more to see. Start with Islamic Cairo. This area has one of the largest collections of historic Islamic architecture in the world. While there, visit the Al-Azhar mosque, which dates back to 970.

    The city also has a rich Christian tradition. Coptic Cairo, part of Old Cairo, has a concentration of Christian sites that pre-date the arrival of Islam.

    If you need a respite from Cairo’s cacophony, Al Azhar Park has a nice expanse of greenery and a design inspired by historic Islamic gardens. And the affluent neighborhood of Zamalek, which sits on an island in the Nile River, serves up restaurants, antique stores and swanky hotels. – FB

    Yayoi Kusama has the distinction of being the best-selling living female artist on the planet. In particular, she has become a global icon for her sculptures of giant polka-dotted pumpkins, one of which was reinstalled at the pier of Naoshima, one of Japan’s “art islands,” in 2022 after being swept into the sea the year before.

    However, Naoshima is so much more than its famous yellow gourd or its works by Kusama.

    There are five small, walkable “art islands” in the Seto Inland Sea, which is located between the main islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku in southeastern Japan. The largest collection of things to see – not to mention the only hotel – is on Naoshima. Together, the five champion modern and contemporary art, with emphasis on Japanese artists.

    Don’t come here expecting calligraphy and other classical forms. Instead, be awed by Tadao Ando’s massive stone monoliths, a tiny gallery where patrons can listen to nothing but the beats of human hearts, a makeshift thunderstorm created inside a wooden house and an exhibit where jumping in and taking a bath is intended to be part of the artistic experience. – LM

    With direct flights to Belize City from about a dozen North American airports, this Central American country is a low-hassle hop for many travelers during the November to April high season.

    Most visitors head directly to Belize’s Caribbean coastline. The country’s largest island, Ambergris Caye, sits next to Belize Barrier Reef – the world’s second largest coral reef system. Margaritaville Beach Resort opened on the island in March, and “eco-luxury” resort Alaia Belize opened in 2021.

    Farther south, the Great Blue Hole – a massive underwater sinkhole – is an aquatic magnet for both scuba divers and aerial photographers.

    But Belize offers way more than its enticing islands.

    Lush rainforests, cave networks, winding rivers and rich Mayan archaeological sites invite exploration in a country that’s had an evolving sustainable tourism master plan since 2012. Ruins of the Mayan city of Altun Ha are just about an hour north of Belize City. Or farther west, Lamanai is one of Belize’s largest and most fascinating Mayan sites. – MH

    Mexico is arguably as rich in culinary heritage as it is in Mesoamerican archaeological treasures, and Eva Longoria explores many distinctive flavors in her series “Searching for Mexico,” which aired on CNN this year.

    The state of Oaxaca, which Longoria visits, has an especially deep well of culinary traditions. Plus, Oaxaca produces most of the world’s mezcal.

    Tlayudas, known as Oaxacan pizzas, are a street food staple. A large corn tortilla is typically layered with lard, beans, traditional Oaxacan cheese, pork and other toppings such as avocado and tomato. The state is also renowned for its seven mole sauces, with recipes that may call for dozens of ingredients from chiles and sesame seeds to chocolate and dried fruit.

    In the city of Oaxaca, Mercado Benito Juárez is one of many markets across the state selling items such as dried chiles, fresh produce, handicrafts and crunchy grasshoppers. To sample the state’s increasingly popular beverage, the town of Santiago Matatlán is the place for mezcal distillery tours and tastings. – MH

    In the winter, the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottawa becomes the world's largest skaing rink.

    It doesn’t have Montreal’s French flair or Toronto’s international oomph, so the Canadian capital can get overlooked. That would be a mistake. Graceful and understated, Ottawa has its own draws.

    Music lovers should take note of two Ottawa Jazz Festivals. The winter edition took place in February, and the summer edition will run from June 23-30.

    If you love hockey, watch the Ottawa Senators do their NHL thing at the Canadian Tire Centre in the western suburbs. If that ticket is too pricey, check out the Ottawa 67’s, a more affordable option of junior men’s hockey games at downtown’s TD Place Arena.

    The Rideau Canal turns into the world’s largest skating rink from sometime in January to late February or early March, depending on ice thickness. It’s free and accessible 24/7. When it’s warmer, it’s a great spot for people and boat watching.

    A don’t-miss is Parliament Hill, home to Canada’s federal government and the visually striking Parliament buildings on a promontory overlooking the Ottawa River. – FB

    Treks through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest are among Uganda's highlights.

    There’s considerable change brewing in Uganda’s travel offerings at the moment with the East African country looking beyond the traditional staples of safari and wildlife spotting to appeal to both regional and international visitors.

    Keen to revitalize post-Covid tourism in all corners of the country, not just the big-ticket businesses offering wealthy visitors a glimpse of the Big Five beasts or mountain gorillas, it’s turned to marketing its other attributes.

    And why not? From the expansive shores of Lake Victoria to the snowy Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda is a beautiful wilderness playground, with opportunities for adventure including treks through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or up to the craters of the Virunga volcano chain or whitewater rafting along the Victoria Nile.

    There’s also an emphasis on connecting visitors with Ugandan communities – promising tastes of Ugandan food, music and culture. Last year saw the launch of the Uganda Cycling Trail, a 1,600-kilometer mainly unpaved 22-stage route designed to appeal to all levels of cyclist from hardcore solo bikepackers to fully-guided easy riders. – BN

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  • McDonald’s found liable after child suffers burns from ‘hot’ chicken nuggets, Florida jury finds | CNN Business

    McDonald’s found liable after child suffers burns from ‘hot’ chicken nuggets, Florida jury finds | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    A South Florida jury returned a split verdict in a civil lawsuit filed against McDonald’s and one of its franchisees that alleged “dangerously hot” chicken nuggets from a Happy Meal burned a toddler, according to CNN affiliate WPLG.

    The jury on Thursday found that McDonald’s and franchise owner Upchurch Foods liable for failing to properly warn or provide reasonable instructions on the possible harm from the hot McNuggets dispensed at a Tamarac, Florida, drive-thru, the news station reported. However, only Upchurch Foods was found to be negligent. Jurors also found there was no inherent defect in putting McNuggets on the market and no breach of implied warranty.

    The suit was filed in 2019 against McDonald’s and Upchurch Foods. The Fort Lauderdale jury said both were at some fault for the burns sustained by Philana Holmes and Humberto Caraballo Estevez’s daughter when the hot nuggets fell on to her lap, WPLG reported.

    The complaint said Holmes bought and paid for the Happy Meal from the drive-thru and then drove away. The nugget fell and became lodged between her 4-year-old daughter’s leg and car seat, the law firm representing the plaintiffs said.

    “The Chicken McNuggets inside of that Happy Meal were unreasonably and dangerously hot (in terms of temperature),” and caused her “skin and flesh around her thighs to burn,” the complaint alleged, leaving her “disfigured and scarred.”

    The complaint said the franchise should have known the nuggets were “unfit for human handling,” had a duty not to sell them, and it should have adequately trained and supervised its employees.

    The law firm representing the plaintiff, Fischer Redavid, said in a blog post that the case will go to a second trial to “determine the damages owed to our client.”

    The case echoes the infamous McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit of the ’90s, in which a woman spilled coffee on her lap and suffered third-degree burns. A jury agreed with her contention that the coffee was unreasonably hot. Fischer Redavid noted that the plaintiff in that case was initially awarded nearly $3 million, but she settled for less after an appeal.

    “This is not the infamous Hot Coffee case; this is Olivia’s case,” the law firm said in a statement to WPLG. “She’s an adorable, innocent child who was severely burned through no fault of her own.”

    In a statement, McDonald’s called it an “unfortunate incident” but that they “respectfully disagree with the verdict.” McDonald’s defense said it had no control over the injuries and damages.

    “Our sympathies go out to this family for what occurred in this unfortunate incident, as we hold customer safety as one of our highest priorities,” local McDonald’s owner and operator, Brent Upchurch, said in a statement. “That’s why our restaurant follows strict rules in accordance with food safety best practices when it comes to cooking and serving our menu items, including Chicken McNuggets.”

    Upchurch said the Tamarac location “did indeed follow” safety protocols.

    Fischer Redavid’s statement said the verdict “reflected the truth, the facts, and the law.”

    “We don’t view this as a ‘split verdict.’ Two defendants went to trial, denying liability. A jury found both liable.”

    – CNN’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner contributed to this report

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  • Mental illness may put people under 40 at a greater chance of heart attack and stroke | CNN

    Mental illness may put people under 40 at a greater chance of heart attack and stroke | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Adults in their 20s and 30s with mental disorders have a higher chance of having a heart attack or stroke, according to a new study.

    The study published Monday in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology looked at the health data of more than 6.5 million people through the Korean National Health Insurance Service database.

    The people included in the new study ranged in age from 20 to 39 and underwent health examinations between 2009 and 2012. Their health was monitored until December 2018 for new onset heart attacks and stroke.

    About 13% of participants had some type of mental disorder — which included insomnia, anxiety, depression, somatoform disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or a personality disorder, according to the study.

    Those people younger than 40 with a mental disorder were 58% more likely to have a heart attack and 42% more likely to have a stroke than those with no disorder, the study found.

    “We have known for some time that mental health and physical health are linked, but what I find surprising about these findings is that these links were observable at such a young age,” said Dr. Katherine Ehrlich, an associate professor of behavioral and brain sciences at the University of Georgia. Ehrlich was not involved in the research.

    Coronary arterial disease and heart attacks are rare before the age of 40, so a study as large as this one was needed to see the relationship between mental health and such an unusual occurrence in young people, she said.

    Ehrlich said she would like to know more about the physical activity and diets of the people involved to understand better if those factors have an influence on the relationship between mental health conditions and heart attack and stroke.

    “For example, if you are chronically depressed, you may struggle to maintain a healthy diet and get adequate physical activity, which might in turn increase your risk for cardiac events over time,” she said.

    But the increased risk could not be attributed to lifestyle differences alone, as the authors controlled for factors including age, sex, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, chronic kidney disease, smoking, alcohol, physical activity and income, the study said.

    That doesn’t mean lifestyle should be ignored, however, said study author Dr. Eue-Keun Choi, a professor of internal medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea.

    “While lifestyle behaviours did not explain the excess cardiovascular risk, this does not mean that healthier habits would not improve prognosis,” Choi said in a statement. “Lifestyle modification should therefore be recommended to young adults with mental disorders to boost heart health.”

    One in eight people between ages 20 and 39 studied had some sort of mental illness, meaning a substantial number of people could be predisposed to heart attack and stroke, study author Dr. Chan Soon Park, a researcher at Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea said in a statement.

    That could point to a greater need for managing psychological conditions and monitoring heart health in those at risk, Park added.

    “If we can reduce the number of people living with chronic mental illness, we may find secondary benefits in future years regarding the number of people managing cardiac-related conditions,” Ehrlich said.

    It is important to note that the findings do not show that mental illness causes heart attacks or stroke, she added. But the research does indicate a risk factor to watch out for.

    There may be benefit in preventive measures to minimize risks, Ehrlich said, which can include maintaining a healthy diet and incorporating physical activity.

    Choi recommends that people with mental health conditions receive regular checkups as well.

    These findings may also emphasize the importance of addressing loneliness, she added.

    “Many individuals with mental illness suffer from social isolation and loneliness, and for years researchers have been sounding the alarm that loneliness is detrimental for physical health,” Ehrlich said.

    “Efforts to improve social connectedness among young people may be critical to addressing the rising rates of cardiometabolic conditions in adulthood,” she added.

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  • A man is fatally shot near a popular New Orleans restaurant on first day of Jazz Fest | CNN

    A man is fatally shot near a popular New Orleans restaurant on first day of Jazz Fest | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A man was fatally shot and a woman wounded Friday night outside a New Orleans restaurant near the annual Jazz Fest, which started Friday.

    Officers responded to a call of shots being fired in the 3800 block of Canal Street about 8:20 p.m., the New Orleans Police Department said in a news release.

    They found a man dead at the scene near Mandina’s Restaurant, a 90-year-old institution. A woman was taken to a hospital where she was in stable condition, police said.

    A Mandina’s customer texted CNN affiliate WDSU that everyone inside dropped to the floor as gunshots were heard.

    A woman on the streetcar at the time told WDSU the streetcar was stopped and police told everyone to get off but did not say why.

    Customers left the restaurant after a 90-minute lockdown, the station reported.

    CNN has reached out to the restaurant. It has drawn generations of locals and visitors and is known for its Creole-Italian food and casual atmosphere, said Times-Picayune restaurant writer Ian McNulty, who lives in the area.

    “The neighborhood comes alive during Jazz Fest,” he said. “It would be busy on any Friday night, but especially after Jazz Fest.”

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  • Wrexham: An intoxicating tale of Hollywood glamor and sporting romance | CNN

    Wrexham: An intoxicating tale of Hollywood glamor and sporting romance | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    “It’s an underdog story,” says Gene Warman, an Ohio native sitting in a bar with his son in a city neither had heard of this time last year. “It’s a wonderful thing.”

    Warman and his 22-year-old son Andrew are on a four-day trip from the US to watch their new-found love, Wrexham AFC. They flew into London the previous day and embarked on a four-hour, 183-mile drive to the northeast of Wales. Jetlag cannot be countenanced on a sacred trip such as this.

    In an often brutal and bleak world, the recent resurgence of Wrexham, the city as well as the soccer club, lifts the soul. Tourists smile when asked for their thoughts on this small industrial city near the English-Welsh border, brought to the world’s attention by the soccer club’s owners, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

    Locals have always loved talking about their club, the beating heart of this working-class community, but now there’s a confidence and, crucially, optimism, when doing so.

    In loaning the club their money – over £3 million ($3.7 million) according to the club’s accounts – and the offshoots of their fame, Reynolds and McElhenney have brought hope to a city and its people. The future is exciting when you’re no longer fighting for survival.

    Grey clouds cocoon the city on the eve of the biggest match in the club’s recent history. The nearby mountains contributing to the rain threat that never materializes. It is not an April day for the outdoors, but a perfect one for what has arguably become the most well-known pub in Wales, the No. 1 stop on the Wrexham tourist trail.

    The Warmans have yet to venture into the center of the city, instead heading first to the Turf, a pub where the club was founded.

    Those who have watched “Welcome to Wrexham,” the TV documentary which follows the owners’ 2021 takeover and first season in charge, need no explanation as to why this pub a few steps away from the main entrance of the stadium is a must-see for visitors.

    From the first episode, landlord Wayne Jones and his customers are held as an example of how Wrexham AFC is woven into the fabric of people’s lives.

    The pub looks much like it does on television: the food van in the parking lot, the painted red-brick wall with fans’ signatures, framed football shirts and other soccer memorabilia hanging from walls and pictures of Reynolds and McElhenney dotted around.

    What has changed, as is the case for a lot of businesses in the city, is that there are more customers than ever. Trade has, Jones says, “practically doubled” since the documentary was first aired. A city that was struggling economically, especially when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, is now, he says, thriving.

    “I dread to think where we would’ve been had Ryan and Rob not come in,” says Jones, a man who has become accustomed to interviews, this being his fourth of a day that has just become afternoon.

    The Turf is full of life, locals mixing with tourists who want to drink at the pub they know from the show. Jones, a season ticket holder, says he scoffed at warnings from McElhenney to prepare for tourists once the documentary was aired. “As much as I love this town, we are just a small industrial town in northeast Wales,” he says. “But they’ve nailed it.”

    Andrew and Gene Warman from Ohio pictured with the Turf landlord Wayne Jones (center).

    Standing at the bar, sipping beers bought for them by a regular, are Los Angeles-based businessmen Rajat Bhattacharya and Arun Mahtani. The pair have tickets to watch Liverpool play the next day and felt they had to visit Wrexham. At a table a few meters away are husband and wife Thania and Jeff LaMirand from Washington, making Wrexham part of a short trip to Europe which will also encompass a few days in Madrid, Spain. There are no longer run-of-the-mill days at the Turf.

    Jones says on a quiet day about 20 to 30 tourists visit the pub. “It’s every day, without fail,” he says, breaking out into a disbelieving smile.

    “It’s a bit bonkers that we’re getting people from Colorado and Texas. There are five chaps just walked in now from Alabama. There’s a guy on the plane over from Alabama.

    “The people that I’ve spoken to have said they fell in love with the documentary.

    “The majority of them said they fell in love with the community, and it’s quite clever from Robert and Ryan because they could have just made another pure football documentary … But they focused on the town and Rob said to me, ‘I knew that if I could get Americans to see the town, they could relate to the people and then they’d want to be a part of it.’ And that’s exactly what’s happened.”

    Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney autographs can be seen on a wall at the Turf.

    Wales was conquered by England in the 13th century, but the two countries would not be united politically until the 16th century.

    It is a long, sometimes bloody history; 200 years of English invasions and Welsh revolts before the country was completely conquered and, though peaceful for hundreds of years, the relationship between the two neighbors is still complicated. They are different countries sharing common laws, friends for the most part despite cultural differences, yet like for many a once conquered nation, the past is not forgotten.

    Aerial view of Wrexham on May 12, 2018.

    For north Walians, there is an added twist. Not only have they often felt a shadow looming over them from the bigger, more powerful neighbor to the east, but a disconnect with compatriots in the south, too.

    There is a sense that the focus has always been on the south, almost everything is there: the capital city (Cardiff), the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament), the national stadium, the country’s two biggest cities and, in fact, most of the population. And there is no major highway from Cardiff to north Wales, just a winding trunk highway – an often-beautiful route, but not a quick one.

    But now, there’s Wrexham with a story that, in hindsight, feels as if it was just waiting for Hollywood. The oldest soccer club in Wales, the third-oldest professional club in the world, saved from the brink by its fans; the club that was once in the higher echelons of the English football league system before it tumbled into the fifth tier of the English game, its fortunes taking a downturn both on and off the pitch. Then came Reynolds and McElhenney, with money, a plan and stardust.

    “The searchlight has changed,” says Elen-Mai Nefydd, head of Welsh medium academic development at the city’s university, named after the medieval Welsh nationalist leader Owain Glyndwr.

    “There hadn’t been much interest in us, to the point where lots of people who live in Wrexham in the past would have preferred to say, ‘I live in northeast Wales, not far from Chester’ … to the point where people would almost bypass the name.”

    Nefydd talks of there being an “energy” among the locality, mainly thanks to the soccer club, but also because of the city status given to Wrexham in 2022, plans to redevelop the city center and the “Wrexham Gateway project,” which aims to regenerate an area of the city that includes building a new stand at the club’s Racecourse Ground, which will increase the stadium’s capacity to over 15,000.

    “There’s a proudness around saying now that you’re from Wrexham and that’s a huge shift, isn’t it, to be in a position where you’ve almost masked where you’re from to being proud of where you live and work,” she says.

    One of Wrexham city center's shopping areas, pictured on April 22.

    A Welsh speaker, Nefydd talks passionately about the language, which is spoken by nearly 30% of the population, according to the 2022 Annual Population Survey (APS), which is around 900,600 people.

    Throughout the documentary, soccer terminology is explained in English, American English and Welsh. One episode solely focuses on Wales’ history, all of which, says Nefydd, has “highlighted the importance of the language” and contributed to an “exceptional” confidence in the country for its language and culture.

    “What Rob and Ryan have done is they’ve opened people’s eyes to the fact that we are not a dying language,” she says. “We’re a language that’s alive. People socialize in Welsh, they are educated in Welsh, we work in Welsh. If it takes two Hollywood stars to do that, then fantastic.”

    Mark Griffiths is an English teacher and for nearly 40 years has been commentating on Wrexham games in his spare time. His voice can be heard on matchdays via the club’s website, and features in the podcast, ‘Final Whistle,’ and the local radio station, Calon FM.

    For years, Griffiths has been overseeing the hashtag ‘Ask Wrexham’ ‘#askwxm’ on Twitter to generate interaction with listeners. For the most part, the same diehard 20 fans would take part, he says, and on matchdays there would be no questions at all because everyone would be at the match. But now, times have changed.

    “The hashtag is completely out of control,” the 54-year-old says, explaining that he struggles to answer all the questions he receives even after introducing a one-hour weekly podcast specifically for that purpose.

    It will come as no surprise to read that Griffiths has featured in “Welcome to Wrexham.” In 18 episodes, the show has managed to get viewers “hooked” on the city, he says, describing the show as McElhenney’s “hymn to the working class.”

    Mark Griffiths, right, says Wrexham used to be a town that lacked confidence.

    “There was a concern … ‘Will we be made to look stupid?’ You know, the big-time guys coming in from civilization and pat the cave dwellers on their heads and save them and we all look like fools, and they haven’t,” he says.

    Griffiths was a member of the Wrexham Supporters’ Trust which helped raise money to stop the club from going out of business. He was one of the 98.4% who overwhelmingly voted in favor of the American-Canadian takeover.

    When Reynolds and McEllhenney put forward their proposal to the trust, Griffiths says they talked about having stewardship of the club, rather than ownership. They used, he says, “the right language.”

    “I’m very cynical,” says Griffiths. “I like the idea of fan ownership. I like the idea that we don’t end up at the whim of one or two wealthy people. But this is that rare occasion that they are just clearly in it for the right reasons.

    “I feel strongly about fans being the only people you can trust with a club, but these guys are for real. They’re amazing.”

    In the shadow of the Racecourse Ground is the city’s university campus and, every Friday evening, its sports center is bustling. Spirits are high tonight and laughter fills the air; coaches are yelling orders, sometimes they tease when a challenge doesn’t go quite to plan. Three coaches scoot around the perimeters of the court, chasing balls which go out of bounds, as the players, who are all in electric wheelchairs, move around at quite some speed.

    These are weekly sessions which have been made possible because of investment from the club.

    Kerry Evans, Wrexham AFC’s disability liaison officer, is on the sidelines every week, overseeing a junior and adult team. When the powerchair teams were formed last August, Evans had intended to play, but there is too much to organize, she says; always a call to make, or a ringing phone to pick up, questions to answer, plans to be made.

    The owners were, Evans says, “very prominent” in setting up powerchair football in the city and it has, she says, transformed lives.

    “We’ve got players that come that say it’s what gets them up on a Friday,” she says.

    Kerry Evans pictured with Reynolds and McElhenney.

    Evans jokes she is the club’s go-to person for media interviews because, she says, her role is wholly positive. She became a full-time employee at the club last March but prior to that had been volunteering for about six-and-a-half years, doing what she does now, which is making the stadium more accessible and welcoming for people with disabilities.

    Wrexham is the first club in Wales to fund a powerchair team, says Evans. Playing on an indoor court, a team consists of four players – a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder and an attacker – and they compete using a larger ball than your typical soccer ball, while goalposts are two upright posts six meters apart.

    Caio Jones is a 22-year-old wheelchair user from Bangor, a city in the northwest of the country, about 69 miles from Wrexham, or a 70-minute journey one way. He is one of a few in the group who is ready to play competitively from next season.

    For 12 months, Evans investigated the feasibility of bringing powerchair to Wrexham before making a proposal to the club’s board. Once approved, the club’s community trust coaches had to be trained, and chairs needed to be purchased. New, each chair – which have bumpers at the front to allow players to travel with the ball – costs about $5,000 to $7,500, says Evans.

    “Rob and Ryan offered brand new chairs, which I did turn down in the beginning … I felt we really needed to prove that this was going to take off and be a thing,” she says. “We’re now struggling to keep up with the level of demand with the chairs that we need. It’s grown and grown.”

    It is quite the change from the early 2000s when there were fears the club would be evicted from its stadium, or nearly 12 years ago when the Racecourse Ground and training facilities were sold to the university and fans raised more than £100,000 (almost $162,000 at August 2011’s exchange rate) in a day to save the club.

    “I was around when fans were bringing in deeds to their houses to keep our club alive … without those people many years ago, we wouldn’t have a club now to even be discussed with Hollywood owners,” says Evans.

    King Charles III visited Wrexham AFC last year and met the club's owners and players.

    No one speaks negatively about Reynolds and McElhenney because their investment has made a difference; to the women’s team which was promoted this season to the Welsh first division, to the fans in wheelchairs who can now go to some away games thanks to a wheelchair accessible bus the club provides, to families of children with autism who have a quiet zone in the stadium available to them on matchdays.

    “Wrexham football club would not have survived Covid due to the fan ownership,” says Evans. “Reading about people losing their business all across the UK [because of the impact of the pandemic] and Wrexham suddenly had this hope and excitement about it.

    “We were one of the luckiest towns, as it was then, to come out of Covid with so much to look forward to, and both owners brought that to our town.”

    Finally. Forty-four games into the season, and today is the day Wrexham could get promoted. No club has been stuck in the National League for longer. Fifteen often dreary years in the fifth tier; some nearly-there seasons, some never-come-close seasons.

    Five times Wrexham has qualified for the playoffs since 2011 but each occasion ended in failure, which explains why seeds of doubt are hard for some to rid. But Wrexham should beat its opponent Boreham Wood at home, which would secure automatic promotion and the league title.

    “Being an old-school Wrexham fan, I can’t get too carried away, I’ve seen a lot of disappointments over the years,” says Rob Clarke, the owner of mad4movies and another who features in the documentary.

    Rob Clarke, the owner of mad4movies in Wrexham.

    Clarke’s DVD shop is in the city’s market hall. About 10 stalls are in business – selling dog food, sweets, plastic flowers and such – while the rest are empty. There is a sadness to a silent shopping quarter on a Saturday afternoon. Not everywhere in the city can thrive.

    Clarke says he could make more money in another line of work, but over the last 17 years in business, his shop has become a hub for anyone wanting to talk about Wrexham AFC, and there’s nothing he loves doing more than that. “Usually put the world to rights on a Monday morning after the weekend results,” he says.

    The documentary was first aired last year, and Clarke is still struggling to come to terms with its impact. “It’s crazy,” he says with a shake of the head and a smile.

    “I’ve had people taking pictures of this place … Not even I take a picture of this place!” he says. “People are coming from all over, the American fans coming in and they’ve bought the DVDs. They know they can’t play them over there because it’s a different format, but they want a souvenir or something.”

    Magic can happen under floodlights. A pitch becomes a stage, providing vivid color to a dark night. Bright lights, big emotions. The atmosphere crackles.

    Wrexham is leading 3-1, the silence that greeted Boreham Wood’s first-minute goal long since replaced by over 10,000 delirious, singing fans. One delivers his farewell soliloquy to what he calls this “awful, awful, league,” with a few expletives thrown in for punctuation.

    Five minutes into stoppage time and fans are rising to their feet, increasing the decibels, preparing for the full-time roar. And then the whistle blows.

    Wrexham fans celebrate on the pitch after their team beat Boreham Wood at the Racecourse Ground.

    Thousands pour onto the pitch, even though they were warned not to before kick-off. The heart rules during an intoxicating hit to the senses such as this. Players disappear in the red mist of flares; some are carried on the shoulders of fans, and joyful chaos ensues.

    The pitch is now a metaphorical therapy couch, years of frustration and disappointment released and replaced with ecstasy.

    Cameras capture McElhenney crying in the stands. Reynolds embraces his friend, a moment captured by Paul Rudd, the star of Marvel’s “Ant-Man” franchise, another Hollywood A-lister visiting the city. McElhenney would later say he “blacked out” during that moment.

    The pair later joined the team on the pitch, jumping as if they were on pogo sticks when the trophy was lifted. Promotion to League Two achieved and done in style – over 100 points accumulated in a season for the first time in the club’s history, an unbeaten campaign at home, more than 100 goals scored and a record number of points collected in a single National League season.

    And for the first time since 1988, four Welsh clubs will now play in England’s football league, with these clubs competing in the English system by virtue of the Welsh football league system having not been created when they were founded.

    An end of a chapter, but not the story.

    McElhenney and Reynolds celebrate with the National League trophy.

    In its 158-year existence, the club has experienced nothing quite like these last two years. An unprecedented 24,000 of this season’s shirts sold by last December, turnover soaring, global sales accounting for 80% of merchandise sold. A (now former) National League team with a worldwide following. And not a negative to report, other than the £2.91 million ($3.61m) in losses for the year to June 2022, Reynolds and McElhenney’s first full season in charge.

    Wrexham’s owners have charmed the city and its inhabitants and, in turn, the earthiness of the city’s people and their passion for the club has captivated, seduced almost, the rest of the world.

    Celebrity combined with sporting romance is a heady mix. Season Two and League Two lie ahead.

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  • See pizza delivery guy take out suspect fleeing police | CNN

    See pizza delivery guy take out suspect fleeing police | CNN

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    See pizza delivery guy take out suspect fleeing police

    Pizza guy delivers more than a pie, taking out a fleeing suspect. CNN’s Jeanne Moos shows him putting his best foot forward.

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  • Refined carbs and red meat driving global rise in type 2 diabetes, study says | CNN

    Refined carbs and red meat driving global rise in type 2 diabetes, study says | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Eat, But Better: Mediterranean Style. Our eight-part guide shows you a delicious expert-backed eating lifestyle that will boost your health for life.



    CNN
     — 

    Gobbling up too many refined wheat and rice products, along with eating too few whole grains, is fueling the growth of new cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide, according to a new study that models data through 2018.

    “Our study suggests poor carbohydrate quality is a leading driver of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes globally,” says senior author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University and professor of medicine at Tufts School of Medicine in Boston, in a statement.

    Another key factor: People are eating far too much red and processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, salami and the like, the study said. Those three factors — eating too few whole grains and too many processed grains and meats — were the primary drivers of over 14 million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2018, according to the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.

    In fact, the study estimated 7 out of 10 cases of type 2 diabetes worldwide in 2018 were linked to poor food choices.

    “These new findings reveal critical areas for national and global focus to improve nutrition and reduce devastating burdens of diabetes,” said Mozaffarian, who is also the editor in chief of the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter.

    Mozaffarian and his team developed a research model of dietary intake between 1990 and 2018 and applied it to 184 countries. Compared with 1990, there were 8.6 million more cases of type 2 diabetes due to poor diet in 2018, the study found.

    Researchers found eating too many unhealthy foods was more of a driver of type 2 diabetes on a global level than a lack of eating wholesome foods, especially for men compared with women, younger compared to older adults, and in urban versus rural residents.

    Over 60% of the total global diet-attributable cases of the disease were due to excess intake of just six harmful dietary habits: eating too much refined rice, wheat and potatoes; too many processed and unprocessed red meats; and drinking too many sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice.

    Inadequate intake of five protective dietary factors — fruits, nonstarchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and yogurt — was responsible for just over 39% of the new cases.

    People in Poland and Russia, where diets tend to focus on potatoes and red and processed meat, and other countries in Eastern and Central Europe as well as Central Asia, had the highest percentage of new type 2 diabetes cases linked to diet.

    Colombia, Mexico and other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean also had high numbers of new cases, which researchers said could be due to a reliance on sugary drinks and processed meat, as well as a low intake of whole grains.

    “Our modeling approach does not prove causation, and our findings should be considered as estimates of risk,” the authors wrote.

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  • On one of the world’s most dangerous migrant routes, a cartel makes millions off the American dream | CNN

    On one of the world’s most dangerous migrant routes, a cartel makes millions off the American dream | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: “The Trek: A Migrant Trail to America” premieres on April 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CNN’s new Sunday primetime series, The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.

    Darién Gap, Colombia and Panama (CNN) — There is always a crowd, but it can feel very lonely.

    To get closer to freedom, they have risked it all.

    Masked robbers and rapists. Exhaustion, snakebites, broken ankles. Murder and hunger.

    Having to choose who to help and who to leave behind.

    The trek across the Darién Gap, a stretch of remote, roadless, mountainous rainforest connecting South and Central America, is one of the most popular and perilous walks on earth.

    Almost 250,000 people made the crossing in 2022, fueled by economic and humanitarian disasters – nearly double the figures from the year before, and 20 times the annual average from 2010 to 2020. Early data for 2023 shows six times as many made the trek from January to March, 87,390 compared to 13,791 last year, a record, according to Panamanian authorities.

    They all share the same goal: to make it to the United States.

    And they keep coming, no matter how much harder that dream becomes to realize.

    A team of CNN journalists made the nearly 70-mile journey by foot in February, interviewing migrants, guides, locals and officials about why so many are taking the risk, braving unforgiving terrain, extortion and violence.

    The route took five days, starting outside a Colombian seaside town, traversing through farming communities, ascending a steep mountain, cutting across muddy, dense rainforest and rivers before reaching a government-run camp in Panama.

    Along the way, it became evident that the cartel overseeing the route is making millions off a highly organized smuggling business, pushing as many people as possible through what amounts to a hole in the fence for migrants moving north, the distant American dream their only lodestar.

    At dusk, the arid, dusty camp on the banks of the Acandí Seco river near Acandí, Colombia, hums with expectation.

    Hundreds of people are gathered in dozens of tiny disposable tents on a stretch of farmland controlled by a drug cartel, close to the Colombian border with Panama. The route ahead of them will be arduous and life-threatening.

    But many are naïve to what lies ahead. They’ve been told that the days of trekking are few and easy, and they can pack light.

    But money, not prayer, will decide who will survive the journey.

    People are the new commodity for cartels, perhaps preferable to drugs. These human packages move themselves. Rivals do not try to steal them. Each migrant pays at least $400 for access to the jungle passage and absorbs all the risks themselves. According to CNN’s calculations, the smuggling trade earns the cartel tens of millions of dollars annually.

    The US, Panama and Colombia announced on April 11 that they will launch a 60-day campaign aimed at ending illegal migration through the Darién Gap, which they said “leads to death and exploitation of vulnerable people for significant profit.” In a joint statement, the countries added that they will also use “new lawful and flexible pathways for tens of thousands of migrants and refugees as an alternative to irregular migration,” but did not elaborate any further.

    A senior US State Department official declined to give a figure for cartel earnings. “This is definitely big business, but it is a business that has no thought towards safety or suffering or well-being… just collecting the money and moving people,” the official said.

    This cash has made an already omnipotent cartel even more powerful. This seems to be a no-go area for the Colombian government. Their last visible presence was in Necoclí, a tiny beachfront town miles away, packed with migrants, overseen by a few police.

    Migrants at the Acandí Seco camp are given pink wristbands – like those handed out in a nightclub – denoting their right to walk here. The level of organization is palpable and parading that sophistication may in fact be the reason the cartel has granted us permission to walk their route.

    CNN has changed the names of the migrants interviewed for this report for their safety.

    Manuel, 29, and his wife Tamara, finally decided to flee Venezuela with their children, after years scrabbling to secure food and other basic necessities. A socioeconomic crisis fueled by President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government, worsened by the global pandemic and US sanctions, has led one in four Venezuelans to flee the country since 2015.

    “It’s thanks to our beautiful president … the dictatorship – why we’re in this sh*t… We had been planning this for a while when we saw the news that the US was helping us – the immigrants. So here we are now. Living the journey,” Manuel said. But it was unclear what help he was referring to.

    “Trusting in God to leave,” interrupted Tamara. “It’s all of us, or no one,” added Manuel, on the decision to bring their two young children.

    Their fate will be impacted by Washington’s recent changes in immigration policy.

    Last October, the US government blocked entry to Venezuelans arriving “without authorization” on its southern border, invoking a Trump-era pandemic restriction, known as Title 42. The Biden administration has since expanded Title 42, allowing migrants who might otherwise qualify for asylum to be swiftly expelled, turned back to Mexico or sent directly to their home countries. The measure is expected to expire in early May.

    The government has said it will allow a small number to apply for legal entry, if they have an American sponsor – 30,000 individuals per month from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Haiti and Cuba.

    Like many others CNN interviewed, those policy changes had not impacted Manuel and Tamara’s decision to go north.

    The scramble of toddlers, parents and the vulnerable is harrowing, but there are also moments of hope, with many helping one another.

    Hundreds of thousands of people made the crossing last year, and they keep coming despite the dangers. (Natalie Gallón/CNN)

    As dawn drags people from their tents, the cartel’s mechanics pick up. Christian pop songs are played to rally those at the start line, where cartel guides dispense advice. “Please, patience is the virtue of the wise,” says one organizer through a megaphone. “The first ones will be the last. The last ones will be the first. That is why we shouldn’t run. Racing brings fatigue.”

    But no one is paying attention. Everyone is jostling as though they’re sprinters preparing to step into starting blocks. Small backpacks, one bottle of water, sneakers – what is comfortable to move with now, won’t suffice in the days of dense jungle ahead.

    There is a call for attention, a pause, and then they are allowed to begin walking.

    Sunlight reveals a crowd of over 800 this morning alone – the same as the daily average for January and February, according to the United Nation’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). These months in the dry season are normally the slowest on the route, because the rivers are too low to ferry migrants on boats, and the huge uptick is raising fears of more record-breaking numbers ahead.

    The volume of children is staggering. Some are carried, others dragged by the hand. The 66-mile route through the Darién Gap is a minefield of lethal snakes, slimy rock, and erratic riverbeds, that challenges most adults, leaving many exhausted, dehydrated, sick, injured, or worse.

    Yet the number of children is growing. A record 40,438 crossed last year, Panamanian migration data shows. UNICEF reported late last year that half of them were under five, and around 900 were unaccompanied. In January and February of this year, Panama recorded 9,683 minors crossing, a seven-fold increase compared to the same period in 2022. In March, the number hit 7,200.

    Jean-Pierre is carrying his son, Louvens, who was sick before he’d even started. Strapped to his father’s chest, he’s weak and coughing. But Jean-Pierre pushes on, their fee already paid. There is no going back. Their home of Haiti – where gang violence, a failed government and the worst malnutrition crisis in decades make daily life untenable – is behind them. And impossible choices lie ahead.

    Within minutes, the first obstacle is clear: water. The route, which crisscrosses the Acandí Seco, Tuquesa, Cañas Blancas and Marraganti rivers, is constantly wet, muddy, and humid. Most migrants wear cheap rain boots and synthetic socks, in which their feet slowly curdle. They provide little ankle support and fill with water, leading some to cut holes in the rubber to let it drain out.

    Physical distress is a business opportunity for the cartel. Once the riverbeds turn to an ascent up a mountain to the Panamanian border, porters offer their services. Each wear either the yellow or blue Colombian team’s national soccer jersey with a number, to ease identification, and charge $20 to move a bag uphill – or even for $100, a child.

    “Hey, my kings, my queens! Whoever feels tired, I’m here,” one shouts.

    The route they are walking is new, opened by the cartel just 12 days earlier. The main, older route, via a crossing called Las Tecas, had become littered with discarded clothes, tents, refuse and even corpses. The cartel, locals tell us, sought a more organized, less dangerous alternative – more opportunities to earn more cash.

    At one of several huts where locals sell cold soda or clean water with cartel permission at a mark-up, is Wilson. Aged about five, he has been separated from his parents. They gave him to a porter to carry, who raced ahead.

    Wilson shakes his head emphatically when asked if he is going to the US. “To Miami,” he says. “Dad is going to build a swimming pool.” Asked about his future there, he says: “I want to be a fireman. And my sister has chosen to be a nurse.” He calls back down the trail: “Papa, Papa!” His father is nowhere to be seen.

    A Peruvian woman and baby pause for a moment on the trek.

    In the background is the constant advice of the cartel guides. “Gentlemen take your time,” says one named Jose. “We won’t get to the border today. We have two hours of climbing left.” He urges them to make use of the stream nearby, already crowded with people. “Fill up your water. One bottle of water up there costs you five dollars,” he says pointing up the hill. “I know that a lot of you don’t have the money to buy that, so better to take your water here.”

    The terrain is unforgiving, and the steep climb is particularly punishing on Jean-Pierre and his sick son Louvens, for whom breathing is audibly hard work. Other migrants offer suggestions: “Perhaps he is overheating in his thick wool hat. Maybe he needs more water?” His father struggles to move even himself uphill.

    Six hundred meters up the slope, bright light pierces the jungle canopy. Wooden platforms cover the clearing floor, and the buzz of chainsaws blends with music better suited to a festival. Drinks, shoes, and food are on sale. The route is so new, the cartel is cutting space for its clients into the forest as fast as they can arrive.

    The Darién's rugged, mountainous rainforest made construction of the Pan-American Highway untenable, leaving a

    Tents are pitched on fallen branches. Gatorades are cheerfully sold for $4. “Keep a lookout for the snake,” one machete-wielding guide warns. Dusk is a clatter of late arrivals, new tents being pitched, and attempts to sleep. The next day, and those after it, will be arduous.

    The second dawn breaks and the hillside is a mess of tents and anticipation. Water, hot rice, coffee – people buy what they can, many still unaware this will be their last chance to get food on the route.

    The size of the group has swollen and there is a jostle to get into position, as they wait for the guide Jose’s signal to start. They have learned that being last means you have to wait for everyone ahead of you to clear any obstacles.

    Jose barks chilling advice: “Take care of your children! A friend or anyone could take your child and sell their organs. Don’t give them over to a stranger.”

    As the crowd moves up the slope, the mist clings to the trees, making the climb feel steeper still. Some children embrace the challenge, bounding upwards playfully.

    A group of three Venezuelan siblings make light work of the muddy slope together. “I have to hold the stick so that you guys can grab me,” says the youngest to her brother and sister. The older sister strips to her socks when the viscous mud starts claiming shoes. Their mother adds: “You’re my warrior, you hear baby?”

    This morning, Louvens is looking worse. The difficulty of the climb seems to have left Jean-Pierre too exhausted to fully intervene. “He’s sleeping,” he says of his slumped son, whose breathing is labored over the sound of boots in the mud.

    Some walkers appear to have come to the jungle with little bar their will to keep moving. One Haitian man is wearing only flimsy rubber shoes, a wool sweater draped across his shoulders, and carrying three ruffled trash bags.

    Others are propelled by the horrors of what they have fled. Yendri, 20, and her mother Maria, 58, left Venezuela when Yendri’s university friends were shot dead in criminal attacks commonplace in the country, where the murder rate is one of the highest in the world. “It’s so hard to live there. It’s very dangerous – we live with a lot of violence. I studied with two people that were killed.”

    Her mother Maria was a professor, earning $16 a month – barely enough to eat. “I’m going, little by little,” she says. “I sat down to rest and to eat breakfast so that we continue to have strength.”

    Another is Ling, from Wuhan, the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. He learned about the Darién Gap by evading the Chinese firewall, and then researching the walk on TikTok. “Hong Kong, then Thailand, then Turkey and then Ecuador,” he rattles off his route to the riverbank where we meet.

    “Many Chinese come here … Because Chinese society is not very good for life,” Ling adds while pausing to rest. He has also run out of food already. His move split his parents, he says. His father was for it; his mother wanted a traditional life and marriage for him. Around 2,200 Chinese citizens made the trek in January and February this year – more than in all of 2022, according to Panamanian government data.

    The last bit of Colombian territory grates, one father slipping as he carries his son on his back. Then the sky clears. The summit of the hill is the border between Panama and Colombia, marked with a hand-daubed sign of two flags. A canopy provides some shelter, and parents rest on logs. Younger walkers take smiling selfies. There is a sense of euphoria, which will evaporate within a few hundred yards.

    Most migrants are ill-equipped to hike the unforgiving terrain. It's dry season, yet the ground still sucks you in with every step.

    They are about to leave the grasp of the cash-hungry Colombian cartel and set off alone into Panama. The porters offer parting wisdom: “The blessing of the almighty is with you,” says one. “Don’t fight on the way. Help whoever is in need, because you never know when you’re going to need help.”

    During this pause they can take stock of who is suffering most acutely. Anna, 12, who is disabled and has epileptic convulsions, lies shaking on the chest of her mother, Natalia. “Her fever hasn’t dropped,” she says. “I didn’t bring a thermometer.”

    Like many here, Natalia says she was told the walk would be a lot shorter – only two hours’ descent ahead, she says. The scale of the deceit has begun to emerge, and the ground is about to literally turn on them.

    Once in Panama, the cartel falls away, reaching the end of their territory, as does the firm terrain. On the other side of the border lies a steep drop down the mountain, interrupted by roots, trees and rocks. Many stumble or slide uncontrollably. Mud grips your feet.

    Maria moves forwards slowly. “Don’t take me through the high parts,” she begs Yendri.

    Natalia has asked a Haitian migrant to carry her sick daughter ahead, but he soon tires. Anna sits by the side of the trail, alone, shivering.

    The man who was carrying her has started to make a stretcher from nearby canes cut from the jungle but needs help. They cannot move her further away from her mother, who is back down the trail and knows what Anna needs. But they cannot take her back to Natalia for help, as the climb up has already exhausted him.

    Although the trail has been open for less than two weeks, the path is already littered with refuse. An abandoned bow tie, empty tents, clothing, used diapers, personal documents – all scattered across the foliage, fragments of lives abandoned on the move.

    In one clearing, there is finally a moment of hope. Louvens, whose deterioration we had seen throughout the first days of the walk, is alert and smiling again after a miraculous recovery. He clambers over his father’s friends as they rest by the path.

    It is another two hours’ hard scrabble until the sound of the water surges. The forest opens, and the jungle floor is awash with tent poles, children, makeshift pots and stoves. People perch on every rock in the river, the sheer volume of migrants laid bare in one confluence. This is just the tail end of this morning’s group.

    There is a race to finish eating and washing before dark. Yet even in the night, new arrivals to the camp are cheered as they emerge from the path.

    On the third morning, the real length of the journey comes into focus.

    Jean-Pierre was told the whole walk would last 48 hours. “Right now, I don’t have enough food,” he says.

    Natalia, who has been reunited with her daughter, Anna, says she was told the descent to the boats from the summit would last only two days. It will be at least three. “‘No, your daughter can walk, this is easy,’” she says she was told by a Colombian guide. “But it’s not… since then, all I do is pay and pay,” she sobs. She and Anna are unable to move forward and are running short on food.

    On the winding route, chokepoints emerge at tree roots and pinnacles. Traffic jams form, with whole families spending hours on their feet waiting. In about an hour we move only a hundred meters.

    People pay around $400 to cross the Darién Gap, which is controlled by a local drug cartel. They bring little with them besides what they can carry on their backs.

    Tempers fray. “Why can’t you hurry the f**k up bitch,” a man shouts. He is reprimanded by an older lady in the same line, who reminds him a “proper father” would not talk that way.

    Yet at other moments, the sense of community – of spontaneous care for strangers – is startling. One river crossing is deep and marked by a rope. You must carry your bag overhead, and many stumble. Younger Haitian men stay behind to help others cross, forming a human chain.

    But this generosity can’t help with the physical pain or blunt the anxiety about what lies ahead.

    Standing on the riverbank, watching others stumble through the water, Carolina, from Venezuela, weeps. “Had I known, I would not have come or let my son come through here,” she says. “This is horrible. You have to live this to realize crossing through this jungle is the worst thing in the world.”

    Exhaustion is beginning to dictate every move. We stop next to the river to camp, and after an hour the site is overflowing with migrants, seeking safety in numbers and a pause. Dusk is setting in.

    In one of the tents is Wilson, the five-year-old. He has reunited with his parents again, who caught up with him on the route. His father says his son is in good health, despite having surgery nine months earlier.

    Outside another tent is Yendri, tending to her mother, whose right hand is raw with blisters after walking with a stick and wet leather gloves. She and Maria are also out of food, having given it away to other migrants, as they too thought the trek was just two or three days long.

    But deprivation is not new to so many on the riverbank. Venezuelans talk around the campfires of waiting in line from 1 a.m. to buy groceries but leaving empty-handed at 6 p.m.

    Stopping to camp overnight, people burn plastic to cook what they've carried with them. Many have fled countries where food and other basic goods are in short supply.

    “You’d get to the end of the line and there was no food. Nothing. We’d last two, three nights and that’s when I decided [to leave],” Lisbeth, a mother from Caracas says, as she begins to cry.

    Some even joke they are eating better in the jungle than in the Venezuelan capital.

    The next morning, the migrants pass a black plastic canopy stretched across four poles. Locals tell us that before this new route opened, it was an overnight stop for thieves. It’s close to Tres Bocas, a busy confluence in the rivers, where an old migrant route meets this new one.

    The two routes are now, it seems, competing, with safety and speed their rivaling commodities. Locals tell us the cartel has been fighting internally and fracturing. The new path was created as part of that fissure, but it is unclear whether it will be any more secure. Known as one of the world’s most dangerous migrant routes, the Darién Gap exposes those who cross it not only to natural hazards, but criminal gangs known for inflicting violence, including sexual abuse and robbery.

    The crowds fall away at the mouth of the old route, a riverbed leading to Cañas Blancas, a mountain crossing into Colombia. It’s lined with trash – ghostly plastic hangs from the trees, left there when the river flowed higher in rainy seasons past.

    Clothes are still hanging from hastily erected washing lines. A child’s doll and rucksack lie abandoned. The density of refuse reflects the number of people who’ve walked the route over the last decade – some of whom did not make it out.

    We soon stumble upon a few of them. A corpse wearing a yellow soccer jersey and wristband, his skull exposed. Further up the path, a foot can be seen sticking out from under a tent – a makeshift cross left nearby in hurried memorial. Elsewhere, the body of a woman, her arm cradling her head. According to the IOM, 36 people died in the Darién Gap in 2022, but that figure is likely only a fraction of the lives lost here – anecdotal reports suggest that many who die on the route are never found or reported.

    The old route, near Tres Bocas, is covered in garbage, camping tents and clothing abandoned by migrants.

    Another mile upstream is what appears to be a crime scene. Three bodies lie on the ground, each about 100 yards from each other. The first is a man, face down on the roots of a tree, rotting on a pathway. The other two are women. One is inside a tent, on her back, her legs spread apart. The third is concealed from the other two behind a fallen tree along the riverbank. She lies face down, found by migrants, according to photographs taken three weeks earlier, with her bra pushed up around her head. There are injuries around her groin and a rope by her body.

    A forensic pathologist who studied photographs of the scene at CNN’s request and didn’t want to be named discussing a sensitive issue, said there were likely signs of a violent death in the case of the one woman with a rope near her body, and the other two bodies – the man and woman – likely, “did not die of natural causes.”

    Yet there is unlikely to be an investigation. Panamanian authorities were told by journalists about the incident weeks prior, but there is no indication they have been here. Migrants just walk by the scene, a cautionary tale. No graves, just a moment of respect – afforded by discarded tent poles, fashioned into a cross.

    Known as one of the world’s most dangerous migrant routes, some never make it out of the Darién.

    Vultures circle above what appears to be a crime scene. Three bodies lying on the ground serve as a warning. (Natalie Gallón/CNN)

    Nearby is Jorge, who is on his second bid to cross into the US, where his brother lives in New Jersey. His first attempt ended with deportation back to Venezuela. Both of his journeys have been marred by violence. Just days earlier, further up the old route near the Colombian border, men in ski masks robbed his group.

    “When we were coming down Cañas Blancas, three guys came out, hooded, with guns, knives, machetes. They wanted $100 and those that didn’t have it had to stay. They hit me and another guy – they jumped on him and kicked him,” he said, adding the group had to borrow from other walkers to pay the $100. “That’s the story of the Darién. Some of us run with luck. Others with God’s will. And those that don’t pass, well they stay and that’s the way of the jungle.”

    At night, talk of the violence and robbery spreads through the group. Their tents are pitched closer together, and they burn plastic to heat food, choking the air, at times risking catching the trees alight.

    The closing hours of the walk, that next dawn, see great sacrifice among the migrants. And with the end in sight, nobody is willing to leave anyone else behind.

    Along one riverbed, a crowd has formed around a Venezuelan man in his early 20s, named Daniel. His ankle has swollen red from injury. Of the 10 days he’s spent in the wild, he’s been here for four.

    Other Venezuelans are busy around him, finding food and medicine. One injects him with antibiotics. Four other men, strangers to Daniel until 30 minutes earlier, fashion a stretcher from nearby branches, and carry him on, constantly joking among themselves. “That man is crazy. In the US, don’t they have psychologists to help this guy?” one says.

    A Venezuelan man, who was injured and stuck on the route for days, is carried on a makeshift stretcher made by other migrants.

    A woman from Haiti, Belle, is five months pregnant and quiet. She is shaking from hunger and thirst. She too gets help – food and water from other migrants.

    Anna, the 12-year-old girl who is disabled, and was stranded on a hillside after being separated from her mother, is still moving forwards. For a day now, she has been carried on the back of one man: Ener Sanchez, 27, from a Venezuelan-Colombian border town. Exhausted, he says: “I have to wait for her mother because we can’t leave her.”

    The heat is extreme, and the boats appear to always be further than imagined along the rocky, impassable riverbed. One Haitian woman lies on the path, water poured on her head by friends to cool her down.

    And when they finally reach the boats, their ordeal is not over, but extended. Lines curve along the riverbank for each canoe – wooden vessels known as “piraguas” crammed full of migrants each paying $20 a head. The boats arrive constantly, perhaps six at a time, to cater to the volume of migrants – each making $300 when full.

    Fights break out among the exhausted over who is first in line. A medical rescue helicopter passes overhead, the first sign of a government presence since we entered Panama three days earlier.

    Carolina is here, trying to board. Fatigue overshadows her relief. “Nobody knows but this jungle is hell; it’s the worst. At one point on the mountains, my son was behind me, and he would say, ‘Mom, if you die, I’ll die with you.’” She says she told her son to relax. “My legs would tremble, and I would grab on to tree roots. There was a moment when the river was too deep for me. I saw my son put a child on his shoulders and he told me, ‘Mom, I am going to help. Don’t worry, I am okay.’”

    “I regret putting my son through this jungle of hell so much that I have had to cry to let it all out because I risked his life and mine,” she adds, gazing toward the river.

    The boats struggle to float, each too weighed down by passengers in the shallow water of the dry season. Only when some migrants get out to push can they progress, and even that causes a jam. They pass a human skull on a log. And an hour down the river, they arrive in Bajo Chiquito, the first immigration station in Panama, where they are offered first aid, basic services and are processed by authorities.

    The government-run station is not designed for this many. Processing is meant to take a matter of hours before they are moved to camps while they await passage onwards to Costa Rica, Panama’s neighbor to the north. But many are stuck here with the backlog. Sodas cost $2. Some hurriedly buy new shoes or flip-flops for $5.

    Even if you are lucky enough to leave this crowded center, there is no respite. Panamanian authorities are keen to show us two migration reception centers, which wildly differ.

    One is San Vicente, a recently renovated facility with windows, clean beds, and plumbing, that separates women from men. Water springs from the faucets and shade from the sun is plentiful. The only complaints we hear are between different nationalities about who is treated better. But it hasn’t always been this nice.

    The camp was mentioned in a UN report released in December of last year, which strongly criticized the conditions in Panamanian immigration centers and even accused Panamanian officials of soliciting sexual favors from migrants in exchange for a seat on the buses headed north.

    According to the report, the UN received complaints that employees from the SNM [National Migration Service of Panama] and SENAFRONT, the Panamanian national border force, “requested sexual exchanges from the women and girls housed in the San Vicente Migration Reception Center who lack the money to cover the aforementioned transportation costs, with the promise of allowing them to get on the coordinated buses by the Panamanian authorities so that they can continue their journey to the border with Costa Rica.”

    The Panamanian government did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on allegations that SNM and SENAFRONT employees sexually exploited women and girls at San Vicente.

    The other camp, called Lajas Blancas, is an extension of the migrants’ suffering. There, the next day, we meet Manuel and Tamara again.

    Lajas Blancas also cannot cope with the numbers. Lines form for lunch, yet a loudspeaker soon says portions have finished. The couple got here early in the morning, walking at night from Bajo Chiquito. Now they are reeling from how poor the conditions are in this place they have fought to reach. Buses go from here to the border if you have the money.

    “When I got here in the early morning, only four buses left,” Manuel says. Next to him, one of his sons vomits onto the plastic mattress they are all trying to rest on. “The oldest, 5-year-old, has diarrhea, fever and [has been] throwing up since yesterday. Our 1-year-old has heat stroke. All that we want is a bus,” he says.

    Other migrants have endured weeks at the camp, some even working as cleaners in filthy conditions to earn a seat on a bus. “They put us to clean two weeks ago,” said a Colombian man of the camp, which is run by SENAFRONT. “But the buses came last night, and they took everyone with money.”

    SENAFRONT did not reply to CNN’s request for comment regarding the conditions at Lajas Blancas.

    A pregnant woman adds: “We’ve been here for nine days. I’ll be close to giving birth here. They don’t give us answers. They have us working and don’t give us a ‘yes, it’s [time] for you to leave.’ In the end, they lie to us.”

    Diarrhea, lice, colds – the complaints grow. They point towards the appalling hygiene of the shower blocks, where dirty water just drains onto the ground outside. The nearby wash basins are worse: no water and human feces on the floor.

    “The whole point of surviving the jungle was for an easier way forwards, and now all we are is stuck,” says Manuel. “I was starting to have nightmares. My wife was the strong one. I collapsed.”

    Their dream of freedom must wait, for now replaced by servitude to a system designed to make them pay, wait, and risk – each in enough measure to drain their cash slowly from them, and keep them moving forward to the next hurdle.

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  • The cream-cheese-stuffed bagel is here | CNN Business

    The cream-cheese-stuffed bagel is here | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    In the 1990s, Pizza Hut unveiled an important cheese-in-bread innovation, the stuffed crust pizza. Now, Philadelphia cream cheese and H&H Bagels, a New York City-based bagel shop, are trying to please the carbohydrate- and dairy-loving communities with a new and dubious spin on the stuffed crust: The bagel stuffed with cream cheese.

    But unlike stuffed-crust pizzas, the bagel is filled with cheese after it is baked, making it more of a cream cheese bagel donut, if not in spirit then at least in form.

    The bagels are “baked fresh daily and then cooled to be individually stuffed with Philly’s signature cream cheese one at a time,” according to Jay Rushin, CEO of H&H. “H&H Bagels use a pastry tool to pipe in the Philly cream cheese by hand,” he added. “The process leaves very small holes where the insertions are made, similar to a jelly donut.”

    The obvious question, as is often the case with food mash-ups, is why. What’s so wrong with slicing a bagel and slathering on a healthy amount of cream cheese? Why must we pre-cheese the bagel? Because, Philly owner Kraft Heinz and H&H say, the simple acts of cutting and spreading are taxed, at least in New York.

    “New York City may be the bagel capital of the world, but its residents incur a ludicrous ‘bagel tax’ each time they opt to purchase a bagel that’s sliced and schmeared with cream cheese,” the companies said in a release.

    That’s true, sort of. New York doesn’t have a specific bagel tax, explained Ryan Cleveland, a representative of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. But certain food products, including baked goods, are tax exempt, while prepared foods are not.

    “It’s when a bagel becomes a sandwich or a prepared food that it then becomes taxable,” he said. In New York City, food sold at restaurants is taxed at 8.875%.

    Philadelphia and H&H plan to skirt this rule with the stuffed bagel, which is available at H&H’s Manhattan locations for $1.90 each, from Friday through Tax Day on Tuesday, April 18; and also online.

    “In today’s landscape, people are juggling enough hurdles, and having to pay an extra tax to enjoy their favorite bagel with Philly cream cheese should simply not be one of them,” said Keenan White, senior brand manager of Philadelphia cream cheese, in a statement.

    White and Kraft Heinz

    (KHC)     may well care about their customers’ tax payments. But for food companies, marketing stunts are about creating buzz and staying at the forefront of customers’ minds when they visit the supermarket — or bagel shop.

    Kraft in particular has in recent years been leaning into questionable combinations, like the Velveeta Martini and a hot dog flavored popsicle, to promote its brands and get attention.

    Philadelphia cream cheese, which struggled with shortages in the past, turned that issue into a marketing opportunity as well. There’s no problem with supply now, according to the brand.

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  • Fuzzy first photo of a black hole gets a sharp makeover | CNN

    Fuzzy first photo of a black hole gets a sharp makeover | CNN

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    Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.



    CNN
     — 

    The first photo ever taken of a black hole looks a little sharper now.

    Originally released in 2019, the unprecedented historic image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87 captured an essentially invisible celestial object using direct imaging.

    The image presented the first direct visual evidence that black holes exist, showcasing a central dark region encapsulated by a ring of light that looks brighter on one side. Astronomers nicknamed the object the “fuzzy, orange donut.”

    Now, scientists have used machine learning to give the image a cleaner upgrade that looks more like a “skinny” doughnut, researchers said. The central region is darker and larger, surrounded by a bright ring as hot gas falls into the black hole in the new image.

    In 2017, astronomers set out to observe the invisible heart of the massive galaxy Messier 87, or M87, near the Virgo galaxy cluster 55 million light-years from Earth.

    The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, called EHT, is a global network of telescopes that captured the first photograph of a black hole. More than 200 researchers worked on the project for more than a decade. The project was named for the event horizon, the proposed boundary around a black hole that represents the point of no return where no light or radiation can escape.

    To capture an image of the black hole, scientists combined the power of seven radio telescopes around the world using Very-Long-Baseline-Interferometry, according to the European Southern Observatory, which is part of the EHT. This array effectively created a virtual telescope around the same size as Earth.

    Data from the original 2017 observation was combined with a machine learning technique to capture the full resolution of what the telescopes saw for the first time. The new, more detailed image, along with a study, was released on Thursday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

    “With our new machine learning technique, PRIMO, we were able to achieve the maximum resolution of the current array,” said lead study author Lia Medeiros, astrophysics postdoctoral fellow in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, in a statement.

    “Since we cannot study black holes up-close, the detail of an image plays a critical role in our ability to understand its behavior. The width of the ring in the image is now smaller by about a factor of two, which will be a powerful constraint for our theoretical models and tests of gravity.”

    Medeiros and other EHT members developed Principal-component Interferometric Modeling, or PRIMO. The algorithm relies on dictionary learning in which computers create rules based on large amounts of material. If a computer is given a series of images of different bananas, combined with some training, it might be able to tell if an unknown image does or doesn’t contain a banana.

    Computers using PRIMO analyzed more than 30,000 high-resolution simulated images of black holes to pick out common structural details. This allowed the machine learning essentially to fill in the gaps of the original image.

    “PRIMO is a new approach to the difficult task of constructing images from EHT observations,” said Tod Lauer, an astronomer at the National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, or NOIRLab. “It provides a way to compensate for the missing information about the object being observed, which is required to generate the image that would have been seen using a single gigantic radio telescope the size of the Earth.”

    Black holes are made up of huge amounts of matter squeezed into a small area, according to NASA, creating a massive gravitational field that draws in everything around it, including light. These powerful celestial phenomena also have a way of superheating the material around them and warping space-time.

    Material accumulates around black holes, is heated to billions of degrees and reaches nearly the speed of light. Light bends around the gravity of the black hole, which creates the photon ring seen in the image. The black hole’s shadow is represented by the dark central region.

    The visual confirmation of black holes also acts as confirmation of Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. In the theory, Einstein predicted that dense, compact regions of space would have such intense gravity that nothing could escape them. But if heated materials in the form of plasma surround the black hole and emit light, the event horizon could be visible.

    The new image can help scientists make more accurate measurements of the black hole’s mass. Researchers can also apply PRIMO to other EHT observations, including those of the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

    “The 2019 image was just the beginning,” Medeiros said. “If a picture is worth a thousand words, the data underlying that image have many more stories to tell. PRIMO will continue to be a critical tool in extracting such insights.”

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  • Whole Foods closes San Francisco flagship store after one year, citing crime | CNN Business

    Whole Foods closes San Francisco flagship store after one year, citing crime | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    An enormous Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco that opened just last year is temporarily closing. The company said rampant crime in the area forced it to shut down.

    The nearly 65,000-square foot location at Trinity Place in the city’s Mid-Market neighborhood shut its doors Monday to “ensure the safety” of its employees, a Whole Foods spokesperson said. Although Whole Foods did not share any additional information on the conditions that led to the store closing, the spokesperson added that it was a “difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being.” Affected employees will be transferred to nearby stores.

    The store at 8th and Market streets will not open Tuesday, the spokesperson said. The store’s website has also disappeared.

    Heralded as a “flagship store” following its March 2022 opening, the Whole Foods was one of the largest supermarkets in downtown San Francisco. The store sold 3,700 local products and was designed with “nods to classic San Francisco,” according to a news release.

    The San Francisco Standard, an independent news website, reported that this Whole Foods location had previously reduced operating hours last year because of theft and changed its bathrooms after employees found syringes and pipes.

    San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey said on Twitter that he was “incredibly disappointed” by the closure.

    “Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we’re also well aware of problems they’ve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them,” Dorsey wrote.

    Property crimes in San Francisco have garnered national attention because of several attention-grabbing videos of thieves in action. Though still well below 2017 levels, the city saw a 23% increase in property crimes between 2020 and 2022, with spikes in burglary and theft headlining the surge, according to San Francisco Police Department data.

    Meanwhile, violent crime statistics in San Francisco have remained relatively steady in recent years. Preliminary police data reports 12 homicides in San Francisco this year, an uptick of 20% compared to the same period in the previous year. In total, there were 56 homicides in San Francisco in 2022, which is the same number of homicides the city saw in 2021.

    In recent months, national retailers have been complaining about thefts affecting locations. Chains took action by locking up everyday products such as deodorant and toothpaste and added extra security guards. However, a Walgreens executive recently admitted that the impact of the thefts may have been overblown.

    A San Francisco Cotopaxi store temporarily closed in October 2022, citing theft and employee safety, reopening in mid-November.

    Cotopaxi CEO Davis Smith, in a LinkedIn post, said at the time that the “large-scale theft and raiding” put the store’s employees at risk. But he also said he regretted that the store’s closure became the subject of a political debate about crime in San Francisco and other cities.

    “We had many jumping to our support, some who felt offended by my post, and a few who politicized our store’s closure (because these are the times we live in, unfortunately),” Smith wrote. “To be clear, I never anticipated that our decision to close our Hayes Valley store would become entangled in political discourse.”

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