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  • Amazon Prime Day is a big event for scammers, experts warn

    Amazon Prime Day is a big event for scammers, experts warn

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon Prime Day is here, and experts are reminding consumers to be wary of scams.

    Deceptions such as phony emails from people impersonating online retailers like Amazon are nothing new. But phishing attempts increase amid the heavy spending seen during significant sales events, whether it’s Black Friday or Prime Day, according to the Better Business Bureau.

    “This is a huge moment on the retail calendar,” Josh Planos, vice president of communications and public relations at the Better Business Bureau, previously told The Associated Press. “And because of that, it represents an enormous opportunity for a scammer, con artist or even just an unethical business or organization to capitalize on the moment and separate folks from their hard-earned money.”

    Prime Day, a two-day discount event for Amazon Prime members, kicks off on Tuesday and runs through Wednesday. In updated guidance published last week, the Better Business Bureau reminded consumers to watch out for lookalike websites, too-good-to-be-true social media ads, and unsolicited emails or calls during sales events this month.

    Consumers might need to be more vigilant this year than ever before. In June, the Better Business Bureau published a report that said it received a record number of phishing reports in 2023. Reports are also trending up so far this year, the organization said.

    Meanwhile, in a report released this month, the Israel-founded cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies said more than 1,230 new websites that associated themselves with Amazon popped up in June. The vast majority of them were malicious or appeared suspicious, according to Check Point.

    Scott Knapp, director of worldwide buyer risk prevention at Amazon, identifies two areas that the company has seen hoaxes around come Prime Day in recent years: Prime membership and order confirmations.

    Last year, for example, more than two-third of scams reported by Amazon customers claimed to be related to order or account issues, Knapp wrote in an emailed statement. People reported getting unsolicited calls or emails saying there was something wrong with their Prime membership and seeking bank account or other payment information to reinstate the accounts, Knapp explained.

    Urging consumers to confirm an order they didn’t place is also a common tactic at this time of year, he added. Scammers might pick something expensive, like a smartphone, to get attention — and again ask for payment information or send a malicious link. They might also try to lure in consumers with promises of a giveaway, or by using language that creates a false sense of urgency.

    Amazon is attempting “to ensure scammers are not using our brand to take advantage of people who trust us,” Knapp wrote, adding that customers can confirm their purchases and verify messages from the company on its app or website.

    Additional scams are probably out there, but it’s hard to know what form they might take before this year’s Prime Day begins. Still, experts note that the same shopping scams tend to resurface year after year.

    “Typically, the bones remain the same,” Planos said, pointing to fake delivery scams, email phishing and other repeated methods. “It’s always a ploy to separate consumers from (their) personal and payment information.”

    But online hoaxes are also constantly evolving to become more sophisticated, Planos and others warn. That means images might look more legitimate, text messages may sound more convincing and fake websites that look very similar to real shopping destinations.

    Amazon’s Knapp has said that with artificial intelligence “starting to leak in,” the scams targeting e-commerce shoppers follow the same approach but with a machine populating an email or text instead of a person.

    According to data from the Federal Trade Commission, consumers reported losing about $10 billion to fraud in 2023, a 14% jump from 2022. Online shopping scams were the second most-reported form of fraud, following impostor scams, the FTC said.

    Both the FTC and Better Business Bureau provide consumers with tips to avoid scams year-round. Guidance includes blocking unwanted messages, not giving financial information to unsolicited callers and checking links before clicking — secure websites, for example, will have “HTTPS” in the URL, Planos notes, never “HTTP.”

    Scammers will often pressure you to act immediately, experts say. It’s important to pause and trust your gut. Experts also urge consumers to report scams to regulators.

    Beyond scams that impersonate companies or retailers, it’s also important to be cautious of counterfeit products and fake reviews on the sites of trusted retailers. Just because you’re shopping on Amazon, for example, doesn’t mean you’re buying from Amazon. The online shopping giant, like eBay, Walmart and others, has vast third-party marketplaces.

    The quality and look of counterfeit products has significantly increased over recent years, Planos notes, making the activity difficult to police. A good rule of thumb is looking at the price tag — if the product is being sold for less than 75% of its year-round market rate, “that’s a pretty big red flag,” he says.

    Sketchy sellers can show up on different platforms, including sites like Amazon, “all the time” Planos said, urging consumers to check out companies on the Better Business Bureau’s website. Like other scams, counterfeit products may increase around high spending periods.

    Amid increasing pressure to tackle counterfeit products, Amazon has reported getting rid of millions of phony products in recent years. The company said it also blocked billions of bad listings from making it on to its site. In 2023, Amazon said more than 7 million counterfeit items were “identified, seized and appropriately disposed of.” The online retailer has also filed multiple lawsuits against fake review brokers.

    Amazon notes customers can also report fake reviews and other scams on its website. If a shopper purchases a counterfeit item detected by the company, Amazon has said it will “proactively contact” the customer and provide a refund.

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  • Federal appeals court says there is no fundamental right to change one’s sex on a birth certificate

    Federal appeals court says there is no fundamental right to change one’s sex on a birth certificate

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    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal appeals court panel ruled 2-1 on Friday that Tennessee does not unconstitutionally discriminate against transgender people by not allowing them to change the sex designation on their birth certificates.

    “There is no fundamental right to a birth certificate recording gender identity instead of biological sex,” 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for the majority in the decision upholding a 2023 district court ruling. The plaintiffs could not show that Tennessee’s policy was created out of animus against transgender people as it has been in place for more than half a century and “long predates medical diagnoses of gender dysphoria,” Sutton wrote.

    He noted that “States’ practices are all over the map.” Some allow changes to the birth certificate with medical evidence of surgery. Others require lesser medical evidence. Only 11 states currently allow a change to a birth certificate based solely on a person’s declaration of their gender identity, which is what the plaintiffs are seeking in Tennessee.

    Tennessee birth certificates reflect the sex assigned at birth, and that information is used for statistical and epidemiological activities that inform the provision of health services throughout the country, Sutton wrote. “How, it’s worth asking, could a government keep uniform records of any sort if the disparate views of its citizens about shifting norms in society controlled the government’s choices of language and of what information to collect?”

    The plaintiffs — four transgender women born in Tennessee — argued in court filings that sex is properly determined not by external genitalia but by gender identity, which they define in their brief as “a person’s core internal sense of their own gender.” The lawsuit, first filed in federal court in Nashville in 2019, claims Tennessee’s prohibition serves no legitimate government interest while it subjects transgender people to discrimination, harassment and even violence when they have to produce a birth certificate for identification that clashes with their gender identity.

    In a dissenting opinion, Judge Helene White agreed with the plaintiffs, represented by Lambda Legal.

    “Forcing a transgender individual to use a birth certificate indicating sex assigned at birth causes others to question whether the individual is indeed the person stated on the birth certificate,” she wrote. “This inconsistency also invites harm and discrimination.”

    Lambda Legal did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment on Friday.

    Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement that the question of changing the sex designation on a birth certificate should be left to the states.

    “While other states have taken different approaches, for decades Tennessee has consistently recognized that a birth certificate records a biological fact of a child being male or female and has never addressed gender identity,” he said.

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  • Delta flight diverts to New York after passengers are served spoiled food

    Delta flight diverts to New York after passengers are served spoiled food

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    NEW YORK (AP) — A Delta flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was diverted to New York’s Kennedy Airport on Wednesday after passengers were served spoiled food, airline officials said.

    The redeye flight took off from Detroit around 11 p.m. Tuesday and landed in New York at 4 a.m. “after reports that a portion of the Main Cabin in-flight meal service were spoiled,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement.

    A spokesperson for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, said 14 of the plane’s 277 passengers as well as 10 crew members were treated by medical personnel when the flight landed. None of them required hospitalization.

    It was not clear how many people in total ate the spoiled food.

    Delta said it would investigate the incident.

    “This is not the service Delta is known for and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay in their travels,” the Delta spokesperson said.

    The Port Authority said passengers were being provided with hotel rooms and that all would be rebooked to continue to their destinations.

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  • 1 dead, 2 missing after tourist helicopter crashes off Hawaiian island of Kauai

    1 dead, 2 missing after tourist helicopter crashes off Hawaiian island of Kauai

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    HONOLULU (AP) — A tour company helicopter crashed off the Hawaiian island of Kauai, police said, killing one person and leaving two missing in the latest in a series of crashes to plague the industry in recent years.

    A hiker on the Kalalau trail reported seeing the helicopter crash into the water about a quarter of a mile (0.4 kilometers) off the Na Pali Coast on Thursday afternoon and contacted the fire department, officials said.

    The Robinson R44 helicopter was part of Ali’i Kauai Air Tours & Charters, authorities said.

    The company bills itself as the only Hawaiian-family-owned and -operated air tour company on Kauai, and its website said it has more than three decades of flying experience. It offers private tours by plane or helicopter.

    “Preliminary information indicates that the pilot on board was a local resident, and the two passengers on board are believed to be visitors from the mainland,” Kauai Police Chief Todd Raybuck said at a news conference Friday. Authorities did not provide their identities.

    Kauai lifeguards on personal watercraft recovered one body from the water Thursday. They also saw what appeared to be an oil slick on the water, along with some small pieces of floating debris, Kauai Fire Chief Michael Gibson said.

    The U.S. Coast Guard and Kauai crews continued searching Friday for the two people in the water.

    The weather at the time was normal for this time of year with winds of about 15 mph to 25 mph, light clouds and scattered showers, Gibson said: “We do not believe the weather was a concern.”

    The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate. Once the aircraft is recovered, an NTSB investigator will begin documenting the scene and examining the aircraft, the agency said Friday. The aircraft will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation.

    Last year the Federal Aviation Administration established a new process for air tour operators in Hawaii to be approved to fly at lower altitudes following other fatal crashes.

    Tour operators can fly at 1,500 feet (460 meters) unless they have authorization to go lower. The FAA said it would review each operator’s safety plan before issuing permission.

    The move came after three deadly crashes in 2019, including one that killed a pilot and six passengers on the Na Pali Coast. The NTSB blamed the crash on the pilot’s decision to continue flying in bad weather.

    Three people died when a tour helicopter crashed in a Honolulu suburb, and 11 were killed when their skydiving plane went down after takeoff on Oahu’s North Shore. Federal investigators blamed that crash on the pilot’s aggressive takeoff.

    Another helicopter crashed into a remote Big Island lava field during a sunset tour in June 2022, injuring the six people on board.

    Ladd Sanger, a Texas-based aviation attorney and helicopter pilot, has handled air tour crash litigation in Hawaii and has flown a helicopter over Kauai.

    The latest crash shows it’s not prudent to be flying single-engine helicopters over Hawaii, including off Kauai’s rugged coastline, he said.

    “If there is an engine problem on Kauai, it is very likely going to be a terrible outcome,” he said. “It is a really rough island, and there are so few places to land a helicopter.”

    A Robinson R44 is also more susceptible to Hawaii’s often-changing climates, he said.

    “Kauai is gorgeous, and there is no way to see the beauty of Kauai but from a helicopter,” he said. “But it needs to be the right helicopter.”

    Not many Hawaii tour companies operate twin-engine turbine helicopters because they’re more expensive, Sanger said.

    “Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those affected,” David Smith, president and CEO of Robinson Helicopter Company, said in a statement. “Safety is our highest priority, and we are cooperating fully with all investigating authorities to understand the circumstances surrounding this event.”

    Robinson helicopters, including the R44 model, “have a proven track record of safe operation across diverse and challenging environments, from the mountainous terrain of Switzerland to the tropical climate of Hawaii,” the company said. “Robinson helicopters have been operating safely in Hawaii since the 1980s, with some operators flying up to 16,000 flight hours a year without incident.”

    While the federal government generally controls air safety measures, Hawaii lawmakers have tried to indirectly make helicopter tours safer, said state Rep. Nadine Nakamura, whose Kauai district includes the Na Pali Coast.

    But a bill last session attempting to increase aircraft liability insurance didn’t make it to the governor’s desk, she said.

    She noted that past crashes have been due to a variety of issues including weather and mechanical problems.

    “And that’s what visitors have to weigh — that there have been crashes in the past,” she said. “People have to balance their desire to see remote and exotic places, from a vantage point that is quite stunning, to the risks involved.”

    ___

    Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.

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  • How to keep guns off Bourbon Street? Designate a police station as a school

    How to keep guns off Bourbon Street? Designate a police station as a school

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    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A police station in New Orleans’ French Quarter will be designated a vocational technical school in a move that will instantly outlaw gun possession in the surrounding area — including a stretch of bar-lined Bourbon Street — as a new Louisiana law eliminating the need for concealed carry firearm permits takes effect.

    Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick announced the measure at a Monday news conference at the 8th District police station on the Quarter’s Royal Street. However, the move may face legal challenges. The state attorney general raised doubts about the plan.

    State law forbids carrying concealed weapons within 1,000 feet (305 meters) of such a facility, Kirkpatrick said. That radius from the station will cover a large section of the Quarter, including several blocks of Bourbon Street.

    Kirkpatrick said the station includes a classroom and is used for training. She described the station as a “satellite” of the city’s police academy.

    “I wouldn’t call it a work-around,” District Attorney Jason Williams told reporters gathered in the lobby of the two-story, 19th century building. “It’s using laws that have always been on the books to deal with a real and current threat to public safety.”

    Designating the 8th District station a school is just one way of giving police officers more leeway to stop and search people suspected of illegally carrying a weapon in the Quarter, Kirkpatrick said.

    She also listed other facets of state law that could allow the arrest of someone carrying a weapon in the tourist district. They include bans on carrying a gun in a bar or by anyone with a blood alcohol level of .05%. That’s less than the .08% considered proof of intoxication in drunk-driving cases.

    State lawmakers earlier this year passed legislation to make Louisiana one of the latest states to do away with a permit requirement for carrying a concealed handgun. Past efforts to do so were vetoed by former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. But the new Republican governor, Jeff Landry, supported and signed the new law.

    Twenty-eight other states have similar laws, according to the National Council of State Legislatures.

    Lawmakers rejected repeated pleas from police and city officials to exempt New Orleans entirely or to carve out the French Quarter and other areas well-known for alcohol-fueled revelry. Their refusal set city officials to work finding ways to deal with a possible proliferation of guns in high-traffic areas, said City Council President Helena Moreno.

    “Ultimately what we realized was, ‘You know what? What we need is a school,’” Moreno said.

    Late Monday, Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill issued an emailed statement critical of the plan.

    “I’m working hard to help keep New Orleans safe, but the City cannot avoid state law by unilaterally designating police stations ‘vo-tech locations’ — that’s just not how our community college and vocational-technical system is set up,” Murrill said.

    Murrill also criticized city officials’ announcement that the law, which takes effect Thursday, won’t be enforced in New Orleans until Aug. 1, when an existing city firearms ordinance expires. “As to the delay, state law preempts municipal ordinances which conflict so the ordinance yields to state law,” Murrill said.

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  • The best concerts of 2024 so far: AP’s picks include Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Bunny, George Strait, SZA

    The best concerts of 2024 so far: AP’s picks include Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Bunny, George Strait, SZA

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    As The Associated Press’ music writer, Maria Sherman has seen more than 40 concerts during the first half of 2024. Here are some picks for the best shows … so far, excluding any one-off performances that cannot be repeated, and where you too can catch these artists.

    Bad Bunny, “The Most Wanted Tour”

    March 14, Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena

    Bad Bunny’s show begins with a symphony, transitioning into the unmistakable strings of his monster hit, “Monaco.” “The Most Wanted Tour” highlights El Conejo Malo’s fifth solo album “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana” (“Nobody Knows What Will Happen Tomorrow”) and his past reggaetón hits, too.

    HIGHLIGHT: There is one moment that can only be described as equine.

    OPENER: When you’re one of the biggest artists on the planet, do you really need an opener? Bad Bunny didn’t.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: This particular run of shows has come to an end, but here’s a reminder to catch him next time he’s in town.

    Bad Bunny performs during “The Most Wanted Tour” at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on May 15, 2024. (Photo by Paul R. Giunta/Invision/AP, File)

    Olivia Rodrigo, “GUTS World Tour”

    April 5, New York’s Madison Square Garden

    Rodrigo’s spirited punky-pop warms an arena, as does her irreverent charms and Disney-informed dancing. If women performing their rage has fallen out of vogue, Rodrigo has brought it back, full force.

    HIGHLIGHT: For the fans of her big-hearted ballads — in one moment, she’s lifted into the air and circles the arena in a purple crescent moon to slow things down.

    OPENER: The Breeders — fronted by the Pixies’ Kim Deal — legends of ’90s college radio and indie rock. There’s something completist about hearing an arena discover “Cannonball” for the first time, a song that no doubt inspired Rodrigo’s music.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: Rodrigo heads back to the U.S. this month with a new opener, the U.K. hyperpop producer PinkPantheress, before the Breeders return for two final nights in Los Angeles.

    Brutalismus 3000, “AMERIKATRÄUME”

    April 11, New York’s Knockdown Center

    Every generation gets the Crystal Castles it deserves. Or in less niche language: This Berlin duo brings humor to their music, which veers from hyperactive techno to German Neue Deutsche Welle in their acquired-taste electronica. The shows are sweaty, and no matter your age, you will be the oldest person in attendance.

    HIGHLIGHT: The duo samples Dido’s soft-pop hit “White Flag,” while waving a white flag. It works.

    OPENER: The techno-punk LustSickPuppy, whose abrasive rave music is presented as a kind of nightmarish clown show.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: Brutalismus will be hitting a few festivals in Europe this summer and fall.

    Nicki Minaj, “Pink Friday 2 World Tour”

    May 1, New York’s Barclays Center

    She will run on club time, and she will not disappoint. Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday 2” is almost a retrospective of her chart-toppers, shifting alter-egos with incredible ease.

    HIGHLIGHT: At this particular show, Minaj brought out Cyndi Lauper to duet “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” after 1 a.m.

    OPENER: Monica has joined Minaj for this tour, and in Brooklyn, Pepa of Salt-N-Pepa opened the show.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: Minaj is hitting the European festival circuit this summer, then heading back to the U.S. in September.

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    Nicki Minaj performs during the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

    Sum 41, “Tour of the Setting Sum”

    May 6, New York’s Brooklyn Paramount

    Canadian pop-punk band Sum 41 has called it quits — and they’re going out in a blaze of glory, a farewell tour that has the immediacy of their youth.

    HIGHLIGHT: Sum 41 does not want to exit quietly — they prove their endurance with an explosive set, fireworks and mosh pits and all. There’s also a giant, blow-up skull.

    OPENER: The Interrupters, a ska-punk band that revitalized the genre, are worth arriving early for. At future dates, Sum 41 will be joined by Gob, Pup, Neck Deep and the Bronx.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: Sum 41 is zigzagging across Europe and North America through early 2025.

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    Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 performs during Sonic Temple Art and Music Festival on Friday, May 17, 2024, at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)

    Megan Thee Stallion, “Hot Girl Summer Tour”

    May 21, Madison Square Garden

    Not every artist can sell out Madison Square Garden on her first tour, but Megan Thee Stallion is not every artist. On her stage, Megan is an athlete and a dancer who delivers her fierce bars with an incredible crispness.

    HIGHLIGHT: “WAP” is a can’t miss moment, of course — particularly if Cardi B makes a surprise appearance, like she did at MSG.

    OPENER: Tennessee rapper GloRilla, who was most recently featured on the great, braggy “Accent” from the headliner’s third album, “Megan.”

    SEE IT YOURSELF: Europe will get to catch her in July, before she heads back home for a few festivals.

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    Megan Thee Stallion performs during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

    The Rolling Stones, “Stones Tour ’24 Hackney Diamonds”

    May 23, East Rutherford, New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium

    The Rolling Stones ran through 60 years of hits across two hours, including cuts from their first album of new material in nearly two decades, “Hackney Diamonds.”

    HIGHLIGHT: When it comes to The Rolling Stones, the entire show is the highlight — but for this audience, it was likely the rollicking rendition of “Wild Horses.”

    OPENER: The soulful Jon Batiste, an award-show staple for a reason.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: The Stones’ North American tour continues through July.

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    Ronnie Wood, from left, Mick Jagger, Steve Jordan, and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones perform during the “Hackney Diamonds” tour at Soldier Field on Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Chicago. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP, File)

    George Strait

    June 8, MetLife Stadium

    They call him the King of Country for a reason. Live, George Strait can transform his one-off stadium shows into a honky-tonk; he performs with a big band and a lot of heart.

    HIGHLIGHT: The closest a person can get to levitation is singing along to “Amarillo by Morning” in a stadium of tens of thousands.

    OPENER: Chris Stapleton and Little Big Town, with Stapleton joining Strait for a new song called “Honky Tonk Hall of Fame.”

    SEE IT YOURSELF: Strait has a two more stadium dates in July — in Detroit and Chicago — and another in December, in Las Vegas.

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    George Strait performs at the iHeartCountry Festival on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)

    Governors Ball: Chappell Roan, Sexyy Red, SZA, Peso Pluma

    June 7-9, New York’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park

    Summer festivals across the United States tend to have similar lineups. Governors Ball, arriving early in the season, sets the tone.

    HIGHLIGHT: Now is the time to run, don’t walk, to see Chappell Roan. And learn the “Hot to Go” dance.

    OPENER: Sexyy Red’s frisky rap is hard to deny.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: Many of these artists will be hitting festivals in North American and Europe this summer. In fact, if you want to catch SZA, Sexyy Red and Chappell Roan in one go, consider Lollapalooza in August. Pluma is currently on his “Éxodo Tour” across North America, running through October.

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    Chappell Roan performs during the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

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    Sexyy Red performs during the Governors Ball Music Festival on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

    CLAMM

    Feb. 18, Melbourne, Australia’s Northcote Social Club

    In the search for thrilling, cathartic underground music — particularly of the indie variety — look no further than the rich scene of Melbourne, Australia. CLAMM, the punk trio, brings a controlled aggression to their live show. It is ferocious noise punk that hits like inhaling hand sanitizer — stinging alert their audience with clever agitation.

    HIGHLIGHT: Later this month, CLAMM will release a new record, “Disembodiment.” Live, they’ve begun performing the chant-along opening cut, “Change Enough.”

    OPENER: At this particular show, the Aussie indie band Scott and Charlene’s Wedding and the rapper Mulalo. A genre-diverse club show is a life-affirming club show.

    SEE IT YOURSELF: CLAMM are headed to Europe for a series of dates this July, and back to Australia in August.

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  • Protein per target bodyweight (1.6g/Kg) (0.7g/lbs)

    Protein per target bodyweight (1.6g/Kg) (0.7g/lbs)

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    Morton RW, Murphy KT, McKellar SR, Schoenfeld BJ, Henselmans M, Helms E, Aragon AA, Devries MC, Banfield L, Krieger JW, Phillips SM. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Mar;52(6):376-384. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608. Epub 2017 Jul 11. Erratum in: Br J Sports Med. 2020 Oct;54(19):e7. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608corr1. PMID: 28698222; PMCID: PMC5867436.

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  • Explore Downtown Chicago’s Luxurious New Korean Steakhouse

    Explore Downtown Chicago’s Luxurious New Korean Steakhouse

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    While it’s not as rare for a Chicago hotel to provide a memorable dining experience anymore, there’s still a status quo. But as hotels and real estate change hands, new owners are more apt to take risks, departing from the tired troupe of a serviceable restaurant that may offer a menu that caters to a wide variety of tastes without serving up anything exceptional.

    An opportunity popped up in 2022 when Seoul-based Lotte Group purchased the 13-story former Kimpton Hotel Monaco Chicago. They needed restaurant operators and picked Andrew Lim and Thomas Oh of Perilla Korean American Fare, one of the city’s best Korean spots, a restaurant known for Korean barbecue and its contemporary vision. In turn, the new Perilla Korean American Steakhouse hopes to upset that status quo, leading with items like wagyu bavette — perhaps chef Andrew Lim’s answer to LA kalbi; Chicago is known for butcher’s cuts.

    Though every table at the 111-seat restaurant inside the newly opened L7 Chicago hotel — near the corner of Wacker Drive and Wabash — is outfitted with a grill top, this new endeavor is different from the Korean barbecues that Chicagoans would expect in Koreatown in Albany Park. Partner Thomas Oh admits there is some overlapping between his River West restaurant — they’re “honoring and showcasing” a few traditional items. Oh and Lim see this as a Korean-infused spin on Gold Coast steakhouses like Morton’s or Gibsons.

    Oh senses America has an appetite “for something new and exciting.” Places like Cote in New York have proven that, and Bonyeon in West Loop — while not 100 percent Korean — showcases plenty of aspects of a Korean steakhouse. Oh is eager to see folks walk away blown away after their first bite of marinated meat or exploring the various permutations that can enjoy their meal using different sauces and ssam. A prix-fixe menu is on its way, too.

    Still, steaks can be finished with au poivre, bone marrow butter, or bordelaise sauces. Grilled mushrooms and broccolini would fit in at those iconic steakhouses. But there’s also a tteokbokki (Korean rice cake) cooked in the style of cacio e pepe. Kimchi fried rice is made with guanciale. Look for a mac and cheese with a little bit of heat and smoked cheddar. Lim calls those items “playful and exciting.” And they complement a la carte chops, including a 60-day dry-aged ribeye or a 30-ounce A5 Miyazaki New York strip. Of course, diners could pick a steakhouse set that includes a variety of meats served with banchan. They’re also swapping out traditional blinis with Korean crepes to be served with caviar.

    The noodles will be made in the kitchen, which is a rarity at Korean restaurants in Chicago. While Parachute, the lauded Michelin-starred Korean restaurant, searches for a new home, fans who miss the restaurant’s monkey bread may find solace in Perilla’s version.

    “We are very much Korean as much as we are American,” Lim says. “I think you know, our upbringing, we were exposed to, ironically, a lot of Italian dishes growing up — just because my dad really loved pasta. I’ve always grown up eating noodles, spaghetti, and things like that at home, and it’s just something I’ve always loved.”

    The restaurant will also be open in the morning and afternoon, serving hotel guests, tourists, and office workers: “I live down here. I live downtown, and finding breakfast and lunch in some of these areas can be quite a challenge,” Oh says.

    There are both traditional American options, like pancakes, omelets, and breakfast sandwiches. A Korean option includes rice, soup, white kimchi, and omelet and a choice of skirt steak, chicken thigh, grilled mackerel, or roasted veggies.

    The space was designed in conjunction with AvroKo, and Oh says observant customers will spot plenty of nods to traditional Korean architecture. Oh and Lim are again partnering with Alvin Kang, their collaborator at their River West restaurant. The biggest party involved is Lotte and the company is a household name in the Korean community.

    “It was an immense amount of pressure, not just for how our excitement at being able to expand this brand and what we’re doing here in Chicago, but the fact that it was for a company of this magnitude,” Oh says, adding how excited they are to bridge South Korea with Chicago: “This is something that we’re incredibly passionate about.”

    Check out the breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch menus in the links, and look at the photos below.

    Perilla Korean American Steakhouse, inside the L7 Chicago Hotel, 225 N. Wabash, opening Wednesday, July 3, reservations available via OpenTable.

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • ‘Shogun’ and ‘The Bear’ News, the Disney-Hulu-Max Bundle, and ‘Everybody’s in L.A.’

    ‘Shogun’ and ‘The Bear’ News, the Disney-Hulu-Max Bundle, and ‘Everybody’s in L.A.’

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    Netflix

    Plus, Chris and Andy remember the legendary engineer and producer, Steve Albini, who passed away this week

    Chris and Andy remember the legendary engineer and producer, Steve Albini, who passed away this week (1:00). They then talk of news that the third season of The Bear will be out this June (13:25) and that Shogun will be getting a second season (18:30). Next, they talk about Disney and Warner Bros. reaching a deal to offer a Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle (28:44), before diving into their new favorite delight on Netflix: John Mulaney’s quasi-late-night show, Everybody’s in L.A. (36:33).

    Hosts: Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald
    Producer: Kaya McMullen

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS

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    Chris Ryan

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  • ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Episode 1, With Creator Issa López

    ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Episode 1, With Creator Issa López

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    Chris and Andy talk about the first episode of True Detective: Night Country. They discuss how it differs from the past True Detective iterations (1:00) and how the setting’s constant nighttime affects the story (24:56). Then Chris is joined by creator Issa López to talk about how she came up with the idea for the show and working with Jodie Foster (35:37).

    Hosts: Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald
    Guest: Issa López
    Producer: Kaya McMullen

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS

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    Chris Ryan

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  • Bear Grylls goes into the wild with a new batch of celebrities, from Bradley Cooper to Rita Ora

    Bear Grylls goes into the wild with a new batch of celebrities, from Bradley Cooper to Rita Ora

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    NEW YORK (AP) — For his latest role, Bradley Cooper leapt onto a hovering helicopter, rappelled down a 400-foot cliff and pulled himself across a 100-foot ravine in one of the harshest climates in North America.

    His reward wasn’t an Oscar nomination or a big box office hit. It was a hug from adventurist Bear Grylls and some words of encouragement.

    “He smashed it,” Grylls says.

    Cooper is one of several celebrities — including Benedict Cumberbatch, Cynthia Erivo, Russell Brand, Troy Kotsur, Rita Ora, Daveed Diggs and Tatiana Maslany — who put their survival skills to the test in a new season of Nat Geo’s “Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge,” premiering Sunday.

    “I’m really proud of this season. We’ve had incredible guests who pushed the boundaries in terms of terrain and the challenge,” Grylls told The Associated Press. “When there’s real tough weather with fun people, it’s often really compelling TV.”

    The series pairs Grylls with a celebrity for 48 hours in a harsh environment. The first day, Grylls teaches key skills — climbing techniques, water-finding tips and fire-setting, among them — and then the guest must do them alone the second day.

    Kotsur, who won an Oscar for “CODA,” was tested in the Scottish Highlands, descending 2,500 feet (760 meters) across eight miles (13 kilometers) of harsh terrain and freezing rivers, including a 150-foot (45-meter) rappel down a waterfall. Because Kotsur is deaf, the two men used rope tugs to communicate. Kotsur’s reward: haggis, a Scottish delicacy in which organ meat is put inside a sheep’s stomach and cooked.

    Diggs, a city kid, finds himself in the inhospitable Great Basin Desert in Nevada.

    “I don’t know how this is going to go and that’s why I’m doing it,” he says. Diggs learns how to use anchor points, track a target and make a signal fire. His dinner is a tarantula.

    “It’s not what I was hoping for, I’m not going to lie to you,” Diggs says.

    Grylls told the AP the best guests are always those who come with a willingness to go with it, not to look good.

    “The wild is so unpredictable and stuff is always happening. You can’t look cool all the time in the wild,” he said.

    The show is not just about survival. Grylls’ guests usually open up and show a different side. Ora talks about her ties to Kosovo, Cooper seems unfazed eating mule deer tongue and Cumberbatch reveals stories about his grandfather. Over a campfire, Grylls goes deeper than many TV interviewers.

    “It’s as much about the stars and their own personal journeys and struggles and battles as it is about the adventure and the places,” he says. “I think that combination works well because it doesn’t feel like a performance, like a chat show does, where you’re dressed up and made up and you get three minutes.”

    Cumberbatch is taken to the Isle of Skye, where his grandfather trained as a submariner. He learns how to use climbing talons and how to tie an Italian hitch knot.

    “It’s not the same as doing a stunt on a Marvel film. It’s a lot more real,” Cumberbatch says. His meal is seaweed and limpets — “Definitely al dente,” he jokes — and his bed is a wet field.

    Ora arrives at the Valley of Fire in Nevada following a 15,000-foot (4,570-meter) skydive, learns a chimney climb, butchers a dead pigeon, sacrifices her lip balm to make a fire and uses a sock to soak up water. She and Grylls even dance on a rock ledge, casting their shadows tall.

    “The wild strips us all bare, doesn’t it?” Grylls told the AP. “It’s like a grape when you squeeze us, you see what we’re made of. And that’s always the appealing part of ‘Running Wild’ — getting to know the real people.”

    One commonality among the guests is that viewers will often hear it was the celebrity’s parents who instilled in them a sense of adventure and testing themselves.

    “It’s a reminder just how important parenting is,” Grylls said. “Almost invariably when I ask stars, ‘Where does it come from?’ they go, ‘Oh, my dad was amazing when I was really struggling at school.’ Or, ‘My mum was just such inspiration holding down three jobs.’”

    “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” is only one of several shows the adventurist is juggling. On TBS this year, he debuted “I Survived Bear Grylls,” a competition series that bridges the survival and game show genres by having regular contestants recreate some of Grylls’ stunts — like digging through poop or drinking urine. Younger fans can also enjoy “You vs. Wild,” an interactive Netflix show that asks viewers to choose how Grylls will make it out of the wilderness alive.

    “I’m not going to be doing these shows forever but hopefully having an adventurous spirit and knowing the value of great friends and the power of a never-give-up attitude in the world — hopefully those things will keep going,” the 49-year-old said.

    He seems to have tapped into something deep in the human DNA — a need to be able to start a fire, use tools and master the wild. But Grylls thinks it’s more than that.

    “I really believe it’s a state of mind. We don’t have to be in the wild to live an adventurous life,” he said. “It’s how we live our life, how we approach our work, our relationships, our dreams, our aspirations, our interactions with people. Are we leaning on the adventure side? Are we always pushing the boundaries, taking a few risks?”

    ___

    Mark Kennedy can be reached at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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  • Grand Canyon gets $27.5 million federal grant for greener shuttle buses

    Grand Canyon gets $27.5 million federal grant for greener shuttle buses

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    GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Grand Canyon National Park is getting $27.5 million in federal highway money to upgrade its aging fleet of shuttle buses, which help the more than 4 million annual visitors get around the huge park.

    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration announced the grant at an event Thursday on the canyon’s south rim.

    The replacement project includes 30 new buses — 20 that run on compressed natural gas and 10 electric buses. Charging stations will be installed for the electric buses. The new buses are expected to reduce pollution and ease the overcrowding of vehicles at the park.

    U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says an American push to establish “green shipping corridors” is key to reducing carbon emissions from the shipping industry.

    FILE - This photo taken with a drone shows portions of a Norfolk and Southern freight train that derailed the night before in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 4, 2023. The Federal Railroad Administration recently completed a review of Norfolk Southern's safety culture done in the wake of the fiery Feb. 3 derailment in Ohio, and officials plan to follow up with similar investigations of all the major freight railroads over the next year. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

    Officials say they plan to conduct safety investigations of all the major freight railroads over the next year.

    Sadaf Zahoor sits in a Bay Area Rapid Transit train Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Oakland, Calif. Zahoor has used public transit her whole life and relies on it to get to work. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

    California’s transit agencies are asking Democrats who control the state’s government to rescue them like Democrats in New York recently did.

    FILE - A Norfolk Southern freight train rolls through downtown Pittsburgh, on March 26, 2018. Norfolk Southern became the first major freight railroad with deals to provide sick time to all of its workers Monday, June 5, 2023 but the other railroads are making progress with nearly 60% of all rail workers securing this basic benefit. All of the major freight railroads have said they're committed to resolving this key issue that nearly led to a strike last year. But most of those railroads are still negotiating with a number of their unions. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

    Norfolk Southern has become the first major North American freight railroad with deals to provide sick time to all of its workers.

    The park has over 270 miles of paved and unpaved roads.

    The Grand Canyon project is one of seven to receive grants totaling $130.5 million under a Federal Highway Administration program that recognizes transportation projects of national significance that serve federal and tribal lands.

    Officials from the Department of Transportation, Interior Department, the park and surrounding communities attended Thursday’s event.

    “With this National Park Service grant that is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we’re helping to deliver safe, sustainable and reliable transportation investments that help families and visitors explore the Grand Canyon National Park and surrounding communities,” Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said.

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  • Manhattanhenge is a bust as clouds hide NYC sunset. Last chance this year is Thursday

    Manhattanhenge is a bust as clouds hide NYC sunset. Last chance this year is Thursday

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    NEW YORK (AP) — There’s only one more chance this year to possibly take in Manhattanhenge, the biannual alignment of the setting sun with the city’s east-west streets that brings New Yorkers out of their apartments to watch it bathe the urban canyons in a rosy glow.

    With gray, gloomy weather socking in the horizon at Wednesday’s sundown, fans of the spectacle will have to hope the clouds part Thursday.

    “I tried but it’s not going to happen today,” said Kevin Andrade, a restaurant server who had the day off and waited in hopes of a fiery sky show on West 23rd Street. “I’m so sad about it.”

    Vermonters are working to dry out homes and businesses damaged by this week’s historic flooding and keeping a wary eye on the horizon with another round of storms on the horizon.

    FILE - A Suffolk County Police Department officer and dog search the Gilgo Beach area on New York's Long Island for human remains, March 29, 2011. A suspect has been taken into custody on New York’s Long Island in connection with a long-unsolved string of killings, known as the Gilgo Beach murders. That's according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Jim Staubitser/Newsday via AP, File)

    Authorities in New York have arrested a man in connection with some of the killings on Long Island known as the Gilgo Beach murders.

    This image made from drone footage provided by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets shows flooding in Montpelier, Vt., Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets via AP)

    Vermonters are working to dry out homes and businesses damaged by this week’s historic flooding and keeping a wary eye on the horizon, with another round of storms in the forecast this weekend.

    In this courtroom sketch Mozambique's former finance minister Manuel Chang, center, pleaded not guilty in a U.S. federal court, in New York, Thursday, July 13, 2023, in connection with a $2-billion corruption and money laundering scandal that prosecutors said defrauded American investors and threatened to further destabilize the economy of one of the world's poorest countries. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

    Mozambique’s former finance minister has pleaded not guilty in U.S. federal court in connection with a $2 billion corruption and money laundering scandal.

    It was Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the museum’s Hayden Planetarium, who coined the term Manhattanhenge to describe the phenomenon. He was inspired by Stonehenge, where tourists and modern-day Druids camp out on the summer solstice to watch the rising sun align with the prehistoric stones.

    Manhattanhenge attracts its own Druids when it happens for two nights around Memorial Day and another two in mid-July. Devotees line thoroughfares like 42nd and 34th streets to watch the sun’s disc sink below the horizon, perfectly framed by the gleaming towers.

    “We have had luck in the past when the weather clears,” said Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History whose sold-out lecture on Manhattanhenge on Thursday will be followed by a free public viewing party. “All we need is for it to be clear at sunset.”

    There are are also sunrise Manhattanhenge days in December and January, but those have not drawn crowds for reasons including the hour and the chill, Faherty said.

    Other cities where streets align with the sun on certain days include Boston and Toronto. The best-known urban “henge” other than New York’s is Chicagohenge, which happens during the spring and fall equinox.

    Faherty said she prefers Manhattanhenge because New York has more iconic skyscrapers and the Hudson River to the west provides “a visual break in the landscape of buildings.”

    Weather permitting, fans will flood the streets and point their phones and cameras at the fading light.

    “In this era of social media, it’s a gorgeous picture,” Faherty said. “I often call it the Instagram holiday for New York City.”

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  • Kobe’s legacy in the NBA lives on in a new way. Two players bear his name

    Kobe’s legacy in the NBA lives on in a new way. Two players bear his name

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    LAS VEGAS (AP) — There’s Kobe, wearing the uniform of a team from Los Angeles. There’s Kobe, the last one on the court at practice and getting yelled at because the buses are waiting for him.

    How fitting. Just like old times.

    There will never be another Kobe Bryant, of course. And make no mistake — Kobe Brown and Kobe Bufkin would be the first two players at NBA Summer League to insist that there will never be another Bryant. They would never pretend otherwise. But for the first time since the Hall of Famer retired in 2016, the NBA is about to have fans watching guys named Kobe again.

    Brown is in Summer League with the Los Angeles Clippers. Bufkin is entering his rookie year with the Atlanta Hawks. Both were named for Bryant, who — for now — is the only player named Kobe to make it to the NBA. In a couple of months, that seems likely to change.

    “It means a lot,” Brown said. “There’s definitely a target on my back, I feel like. A lot of guys, when they hear the name Kobe, they think of Kobe Bryant. Obviously, I’m not him, by any means. But I try to keep that edge and play as hard as I can, just like he did.”

    It’s impossible to know exactly how many people are named Kobe. It remains relatively unusual.

    According to the Social Security Administration, there was a six-year stretch — 1998 through 2003, coinciding with Bryant’s early years in the NBA and first three championship seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers — when the trend of giving babies that name peaked; the most was in 2001, when 1,552 baby boys had Social Security card applications filed for them with that name.

    The name still had a small following, maybe a few hundred babies each year, until 2020, the year that Bryant, daughter Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter crash on a foggy Sunday in Southern California. Another 1,500 boys were given that name that year, surely many in tributes to Bryant’s life and career; the most popular name that year for newborn boys, according to the government data, was Liam, which was used about 20,000 times. (There were also variations, such as Kobee and Kobey, and a few dozen American newborn girls were given the name as well in 2020.)

    “It’s never affected me too much when it comes to playing ball,” said Bufkin, who was born in 2003. “I try not to think about it as much when I’m actually on the court. But obviously carrying the name comes with a certain work ethic that you’ve got to try to match. And it’s hard as hell to match it. If I get halfway there, I’ll be all right.”

    Case in point: The Hawks had a Summer League practice this week that was scheduled to go for 45 minutes, with a bit of shooting afterward. Most players were off the court after about an hour and 15 minutes. Almost all of them had their sneakers off and were ready to head to the bus a few minutes after that, but Bufkin was still on the court, working on drives from half-court against a defender.

    “Just trying to follow the blueprint,” Bufkin said.

    The popularity of the Los Angeles Lakers great remains overwhelming 3 1/2 years after his death.

    Bryant jerseys are still extremely common among Lakers fans. Nike plans to re-relaunch the Kobe brand this summer, and Bryant is the cover athlete for two editions of NBA 2K24 — “NBA 2K24: Kobe Bryant Edition” and “NBA 2K24: Black Mamba Edition,” with the tie-in there being the 24 that was one of Bryant’s two NBA jersey numbers. And there is another tribute of sorts coming at the Basketball World Cup; Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards is set to wear No. 10 for USA Basketball this summer, the number Bryant donned when he played for the national team.

    “It just shows how much he inspired generations,” Bufkin said. “I was kind of part of the first generation to come behind him, and it’s crazy that our parents were willing enough to name us after him.”

    Brown has never been inside Crypto.com Arena, the building that the Clippers call home, as do the Lakers. It’s the arena — then called Staples Center — where Bryant played half his games in his 20 seasons with the Lakers, scored his career-best 81 points against Toronto in 2006 and called home for five championship runs and 18 All-Star campaigns.

    “It’s definitely a blessing,” Brown said. “I’m excited to go inside the building, see it, actually play where he played all those years and did so much for the city of Los Angeles.”

    Given that they’re both first-rounders, Bufkin and Brown seem like locks to be in the NBA when the new season opens this fall. Bufkin was drafted No. 15 overall out of Michigan by the Hawks — and also has a brother named for an NBA player in Isaiah Thomas. Brown was selected No. 30 overall out of Missouri by the Clippers.

    They’re not Kobe Bryant. But they do represent a new way for the Kobe Bryant legacy to live on.

    “It’s an honor, just that so many people have been impacted, like all of us, by Kobe, that people are honoring their children and choosing that name,” said Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, who was Bryant’s agent. “And we’ll probably see more and more of that, because it’s such a special thing.”

    ___

    AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • FACT FOCUS: A story about a deadly TikTok boat-jumping challenge went viral. Then it fell apart

    FACT FOCUS: A story about a deadly TikTok boat-jumping challenge went viral. Then it fell apart

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    As the July 4 holiday approached, a local news report in Alabama warned of a deadly TikTok challenge that involved jumping from a speeding boat.

    “Last six months we have had four drownings that were easily avoidable,” Jim Dennis, captain of the Childersburg Rescue Team, told the local ABC affiliate station in Birmingham, Alabama, in a story that aired July 3. “They were doing a TikTok challenge.”

    National and international news outlets snapped up the report, cautioning about the trend. But Alabama’s main public safety agency says while there have been boating fatalities this year, no such deaths have been reported. A spokesperson for TikTok also says no boat jumping challenge is trending on its platform.

    President Joe Biden says it is “irresponsible” of an Alabama senator to block confirmation of military officers in protest of a Defense Department policy that pays for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get an abortion or reproductive care.

    Police say an initial investigation shows the man who shot two on-duty firefighters at an Alabama firehouse had a personal conflict with one of them.

    FILE - Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., talks during a television interview before former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., June 13, 2023. Tuberville is backing off his defense of white nationalists, telling reporters in the Capitol that white nationalists "are racists." Tuberville's brief comment Tuesday, July 11, follows several media interviews in which he has repeatedly declined to describe white nationalists as racist. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

    Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is backing off his defense of white nationalists, telling reporters in the Capitol that white nationalists “are racists.”

    FILE - People wait to vote on Super Tuesday in the gymnasium at Cleveland Park Community Center, Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. While most GOP presidential candidates are focused only on early states like Iowa and New Hampshire, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis also are looking ahead to Super Tuesday. March 5, 2024 is when the largest number of of delegates are up for grabs of any single day in the primary cycle. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

    As the Republican presidential primary intensifies this summer, most White House hopefuls are devoting their time to events in Iowa and New Hampshire, the states that will kick off the nomination process early next year.

    Here’s a closer look at the facts.

    CLAIM: Four people attempting a viral TikTok challenge have died jumping from moving boats in Alabama recently.

    THE FACTS: The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which oversees the state’s public safety agencies, tweeted on Monday to dispel the viral rumors.

    The agency said its Marine Patrol Division had “no records of boating or marine-related deaths that could be directly linked to TikTok or a trend on TikTok.”

    It noted that one person was fatally injured after jumping from a moving boat in 2020 and a similar case happened in 2021, but that neither death was linked to TikTok.

    In a follow up email to The Associated Press, the agency provided details about six water-related deaths marine patrol investigated so far this year. None of the incident reports mentions TikTok or any such challenge.

    On July 8, for example, a 79-year-old man drowned after falling off his boat without a life vest while fishing overnight on a river. A day earlier, a 65-year-old man drowned after he got off a pontoon boat to help a dog in a lake.

    The other fatalities included a 19-year-old who crashed his jet ski into a tree in May and a man who apparently drowned in January after the vessel he was on struck a bridge and capsized.

    People magazine, the New York Post and a number of other major outlets that initially reported on the TikTok challenge deaths have since updated their stories to include the state’s response.

    But social media users, in English and in Spanish, are still sharing the claims as accurate. Some even include videos purporting to show the victims.

    “Police say at least 4 people have died doing the TikTok boat jumping challenge,” wrote one Twitter user in a widely shared post that included various video clips of people diving off moving boats. “When they jumped out of the boat, they literally broke their neck … instant death.”

    Meanwhile Dennis, the local first responder quoted in the original story, walked back his comments after state officials weighed in this week.

    He told AL.com, another local news outlet in Alabama, that his remarks during an interview about boating safety were taken out of context, but he maintained that his organization has responded to reports of people who jumped off boats this year.

    “It got blown way out of proportion,” said Dennis, who didn’t respond to requests for additional comment this week.

    The ABC affiliate in Birmingham also declined to comment, but in a story Monday about the state’s response, the station included Dennis’ full, unedited interview.

    Ben Rathe, a spokesperson for TikTok, stressed “boat jumping” has never trended on platform, echoing a statement the company’s office in Mexico City previously provided in Spanish.

    TikTok also said it does not comment on things that are “not part (of the platform) / are not trending on the platform.”

    Like other social media companies, TikTok has seen any number of “challenges” go viral over the years, from the potentiallyhazardous and destructive to the outright criminal and deadly.

    Elizabeth Losh, an American Studies professor at William & Mary, a university in Williamsburg, Virginia, who has studied TikTok trends, confirmed some posts featuring people jumping off boats are visible on the site — including one from 2019 with the hashtag #boatjumpchallenge — but don’t appear to be particularly viral or widespread.

    She also noted TikTok has placed warning labels over some of the posts.

    The social network’s community guidelines prohibit users from showing or promoting “ dangerous activities and challenges,” which includes “dares, games, tricks, inappropriate use of dangerous tools, eating substances that are harmful to one’s health, or similar activities that may lead to significant physical harm.”

    ___

    Ramirez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press reporter Karena Phan in Los Angeles also contributed to this story.

    ___

    This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

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  • High times in Thailand: New weed laws draw tourists from across Asia

    High times in Thailand: New weed laws draw tourists from across Asia

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    BANGKOK (AP) — A Japanese tourist reaches into a baggie of cannabis he’s just bought in a central Bangkok weed shop, pulling out a gram of buds to chop down in a small black grinder, before rolling them neatly into a joint.

    Only the slight spillage onto the smoking lounge’s table — and his cough as he lights up and inhales deeply — betray the fact that until two weeks ago, he’d never tried marijuana.

    Most Asian nations have strict drug laws with harsh penalties, and Thailand’s de facto legalization of marijuana last year has brought a wave of tourists from the region like the visitor from Japan, intrigued by the lure of the forbidden leaf.

    The candidate who led his party to first place in Thailand’s general election in May says he’s open to bowing out of contention for new prime minister if he can’t win in a second round of voting in Parliament.

    Pita Limjaroenrat, center, the leader of Move Forward Party and top winner in the May's general election, gestures after the vote counting at the Parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, July 13, 2023. Pita, whose Move Forward Party ran first in Thailand's May 14 general election, was nominated to be prime minister at a joint session of Parliament's Upper and Lower House on Thursday, but failed to attain the majority vote needed to win the job, necessitating a new round of voting expected next week. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

    The political party that captured first place in Thailand’s general election two months ago — only to see the country’s unelected Senators block it from taking power — is fighting back.

    FILE - Leader of Move Forward Party Pita Limjaroenrat arrives before the signing of a memorandum of understanding on attempt to form a coalition government between Move Forward Party and other parties during a news conference in Bangkok, Thailand on May 22, 2023. Thailand's state Election Commission announced Wednesday, July 12, it has concluded there is evidence that the top candidate to become the country's next prime minister, Move Forward party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, has violated election law, and has referred his case to the Constitutional Court for a ruling. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

    Thailand’s Election Commission says there is evidence that the top candidate to become the country’s next prime minister, a reformist with strong backing among progressive young voters, violated election law.

    A Thai reporter takes a photo of an empty freezer at the Nong Prue police station in Pattaya, Chonburi province, Thailand, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. The dismembered body of a 62-year-old German businessman Hans-Peter Mack who has been missing for a week has been found in the freezer of a house in southern Thailand, police said Tuesday. (AP Photo)

    Thai police say they have found the dismembered body of a missing German businessman inside a freezer inside a house in southern Thailand.

    “I was curious about how I would feel after smoking,” said the 42-year-old tourist who spoke on condition that his name not be used, for fear his experimentation in Bangkok could lead to legal issues at home.

    “I wonder why Japan bans it?” he pondered. “I wanted to try it.”

    Even as more countries around the world legalize marijuana, Thailand has been the outlier in Asia, where several countries still have the death penalty for some cannabis offenses. Singapore has already executed two people this year for trafficking marijuana and its Central Narcotics Bureau has announced plans to randomly test people returning from Thailand.

    Japan does not have the death penalty for drug offenses, but has warned that its laws on cannabis use may apply to its nationals even when they are abroad.

    China’s embassy in Thailand has warned that if Chinese tourists consume marijuana abroad and are “detected upon returning to China, it is considered equivalent to using drugs domestically. As a result, you will be subject to corresponding legal penalties.” It issues similar warnings for travel to other countries where marijuana is readily available, such as the United States, Canada and the Netherlands.

    On a recent flight from the Chinese city of Shanghai, passengers were cautioned not to “accidentally” try marijuana in Bangkok, with an announcement that in Thailand “some food and drink can include cannabis, so please pay attention to the leaf logo on the package of food.”

    Neither Chinese nor Singaporean authorities would detail how frequently they test citizens returning from countries where marijuana has been decriminalized, responding to queries from the AP simply by reiterating their previously announced policies.

    It’s no wonder that weed dispensaries in Bangkok say that customers from Singapore and China are among the most cautious, asking questions about how long traces of the drug remain in the system and whether there are detox products.

    But many remain undeterred, and Thailand’s cannabis industry has grown at lightning speed, with weed dispensaries now almost as common as the ubiquitous convenience stores in some parts of the capital. Through February, nearly 6,000 licenses for cannabis-related businesses have been approved, including more than 1,600 in Bangkok alone, according to official figures.

    There are no government figures on how many tourists come specifically to smoke marijuana, but Kueakarun Thongwilai, the manager of a weed shop in central Bangkok, estimates at least 70%-80% of his customers are foreigners, primarily from Asian countries like Japan, Malaysia, China and Philippines, and some from Europe.

    Most cannabis shops, including his, now only hire employees who speak English, the lingua franca of the industry.

    “You don’t need to speak perfect English, but you need to communicate with foreigners,” Thongwilai said.

    About half of his customers are first-time weed users and most of them are Asians, he said.

    Some want to try edible cannabis products, but Thongwilai said he tries to steer them toward smoking.

    “Edibles take more time to take effect, and during that time people may eat more and more, leading to an excessive experience for beginners,” he said.

    Not all are new to the drug, said Thongwilai, remembering a Malaysian customer who snuck away from a meal with his wife and daughter at a nearby restaurant. The man said he smoked marijuana secretly at home, but had heard the Thai product was better quality and wanted to try it.

    “He bought the cheapest weed in our shop and tried it in a mall, and then he came back and bought more,” Thongwilai recalled.

    Not far from Thongwilai’s shop at Dutch Passion, a newly opened retail branch of a Netherlands seed distributor that has been in business for more than three decades, about half the customers are also first-time users, said Theo Geene, a Dutch shareholder in the business.

    Cannabis has been available in coffee shops in the Netherlands since the 1970s, and Geene said he has used his experience to train his staff how to serve those unfamiliar with the drug.

    “For beginners, it’s not good to use a bong,” he said. “It’s too much for them. We don’t want anyone to pass out here.”

    Most customers refused to talk about their experiences, with the Japanese tourist in Geene’s shop the only one who agreed to — and only on the condition his name not be used.

    Most of the shop’s Asian customers are similarly discreet, choosing to smoke their purchases inside rather than on the streets like many Westerners do, which is common but a violation of Thai regulations, Geene said.

    “They are more cautious and afraid,” he said. “They don’t want to be seen when they smoke weed.”

    Before he embarked on his trip to Thailand, the 42-year-old Japanese tourist said he researched extensively online and determined that while customs might randomly check bags and luggage for marijuana being smuggled into Japan, there was no testing going on in line with government policy.

    Since his first puff two weeks ago, he said he’s been smoking every day, visiting different shops, comparing prices and trying different strains.

    Dispensary staffers taught him how to grind buds and roll a joint and he’s been having fun perfecting the technique.

    “I practice it every day,” he said, looking down at the joint he was rolling and repeating the word “practice” twice before bursting into laughter.

    _____

    AP journalist David Rising contributed to this story.

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  • Tourists are packing European hotspots, boosted by Americans

    Tourists are packing European hotspots, boosted by Americans

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    VENICE, Italy (AP) — Tourists are waiting more than two hours to visit the Acropolis in Athens. Taxi lines at Rome’s main train station are running just as long. And so many visitors are concentrating around St. Mark’s Square in Venice that crowds get backed up crossing bridges — even on weekdays.

    After three years of pandemic limitations, tourism is expected to exceed 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations this summer, from Barcelona and Rome, Athens and Venice to the scenic islands of Santorini in Greece, Capri in Italy and Mallorca in Spain.

    While European tourists edged the industry toward recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, boosted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. Many arrive motivated by “revenge tourism” — so eager to explore again that they’re undaunted by higher airfares and hotel costs.

    Lauren Gonzalez, 25, landed in Rome this week with four high school and college friends for a 16-day romp through the Italian capital, Florence and the seaside after three years of U.S. vacations. They aren’t concerned about the high prices and the crowds.

    “We kind of saved up, and we know this is a trip that is meaningful,” said Gonzalez, who works at a marketing agency. “We are all in our mid-20s. It’s a (moment of) change in our lives. … This is something special. The crowds don’t deter us. We live in Florida. We have all been to Disney World in the heat. We are all good.”

    Tourists visit the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Friday, June 30, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

    Americans appear equally unperturbed by recent riots in Paris and other French cities. There was a small drop in flight bookings, but it was mainly for domestic travel.

    “Some of my friends said, ‘It’s a little crazy there right now,’ but we thought summer is really a good time for us to go, so we’ll just take precautions,” Joanne Titus, a 38-year-old from Maryland, said while strolling the iconic Champs-Elysees shopping boulevard.

    The return of mass tourism is a boon to hotels and restaurants, which suffered under COVID-19 restrictions. But there is a downside, too, as pledges to rethink tourism to make it more sustainable have largely gone unheeded.

    “The pandemic should have taught us a lesson,” said Alessandra Priante, director of the regional department for Europe at the U.N. World Tourism Organization.

    Instead, she said, the mindset “is about recuperating the cash. Everything is about revenue, about the here and now.”

    “We have to see what is going to happen in two or three years’ time because the prices at the moment are unsustainable,” she said.

    Tourists stabd behind a fence, visit the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

    Tourists stabd behind a fence, visit the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

    The mayor of Florence is stopping new short-term apartment rentals from proliferating in the historic center, which is protected as a UNESCO heritage site, as mayors of Italy’s other art cities call for a nationwide law to manage the sector.

    Elsewhere, the anti-mass tourism movements that were active before the pandemic have not reappeared, but the battle lines are still being drawn: graffiti misdirected tourists in Barcelona away from — instead of toward — the Gaudi-designed Park Guell.

    Despite predictable pockets of overtourism, travel to and within Europe overall is still down 10% from 2019, according to the World Tourism Organization. That is partly due to fewer people visiting countries close to the war in Ukraine, including Lithuania, Finland, Moldova and Poland.

    In addition, Chinese visitors have not fully returned, with flights from China and other Asia-Pacific countries down 45% from 2019, according to travel data company ForwardKeys.

    Tourism-dependent Greece expects 30 million visitors this year, still shy of 2019’s 34 million record. Still, the number of flights are up so far, and tourist hotspots are taking the brunt.

    The Culture Ministry will introduce a new ticketing system for the Acropolis this month, providing hourly slots for visitors to even out crowds. But no remedy is being discussed for the parking line of cruise ships on the islands of Mykonos and Santorini on busy mornings.

    Tourists visit the Acropolis ancient hill, in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
    Tourists visit the Acropolis ancient hill, in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) –

    Thanassis Stavrakis/AP

    Revellers, mostly tourists, look on from balconies at the running of the bulls during the San Fermín fiestas in Pamplona, Spain, Saturday, July 8, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
    Revellers, mostly tourists, look on from balconies at the running of the bulls during the San Fermín fiestas in Pamplona, Spain, Saturday, July 8, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) –

    Alvaro Barrientos/AP

    Spain’s tourism minister, Héctor Gómez, called it “a historic summer for tourism,” with 8.2 million tourists arriving in May alone, breaking records for a second straight month. Still, some hotel groups say reservations slowed in the first weeks of summer, owing to the steep rise in prices for flights and rooms.

    Costs are growing as flights from the U.S. to Europe are up 2% from 2019 levels, according to ForwardKeys.

    “The rising appetite for long-haul travel from America is the continued result of the ‘revenge travel’ boom caused by the pandemic lockdowns,” said Tim Hentschel, CEO of HotelPlanner, a booking site. “Big cities within these popular European countries are certainly going to be busy during the summer.”

    Americans have pushed arrivals in Italian bucket-list destinations like Rome, Florence, Venice and Capri above pre-pandemic levels, according to Italy’s hotel association, Federalberghi.

    Here’s the latest for Thursday July 13th: New attack on Kyiv, Ukraine; Two Birmingham, Alabama firefighters shot; Tornado strikes Chicago area; US heat wave not cooling off.

    They bring a lot of pent-up buying power: U.S. tourists in Italy spent 74% more in tax-free indulgences in the first three months of the year, compared with same period of 2019.

    “Then there is the rest of Italy that lives from Italian and European tourism, and at the moment, it is still under 2019 levels,” Federalberghi president Bernabo Bocca said.

    He expects it will take another year for an across-the-board recovery. An economic slowdown discouraged German arrivals, while Italians “are less prone to spending this year,” he said.

    And wallets will be stretched. Lodging costs in Florence rose 53% over last year, while Venice saw a 25% increase and Rome a 21% hike, according to the Italian consumer group Codacons.

    Even gelato will cost a premium 21% over last year, due to higher sugar and milk prices.

    Perhaps nothing has encouraged the rise in tourism in key spots more than a surge in short-term apartment rentals. With hotel room numbers constant, Bocca of Federalberghi blames the surge for the huge crowds in Rome, inflating taxi lines and crowding crosswalks so that city buses cannot continue their routes.

    Tourists on a boat sail the Seine River in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

    Tourists on a boat sail the Seine River in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

    –

    In Rome and Florence, “walking down the street, out of every building door, emerges a tourist with a suitcase,” he said.

    While Florence’s mayor is limiting the number of short-term rentals in the historic center to 8,000, no action has been taken in Venice. The canal-lined city counts 49,432 residents in its historic center and 49,272 tourist beds, nearly half of those being apartments available for short-term rental.

    Inconveniences are “daily,” said Giacomo Salerno, a researcher at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University focusing on tourism.

    It difficult to walk down streets clogged with visitors or take public water buses “saturated with tourists with their suitcases,” he said.

    Students cannot find affordable housing because owners prefer to cash in with vacation rentals. The dwindling number of residents means a dearth of services, including a lack of family doctors largely due to the high cost of living, driven up by tourist demand.

    Venice has delayed plans to charge day-trippers a tax to enter the city, meant to curb arrivals. But activists like Salerno say that will do little to resolve the issue of a declining population and encroaching tourists, instead cementing Venice’s fate as “an amusement park.”

    “It would be like saying the only use for the city is touristic,’’ Salerno said.

    ____

    AP reporters Aritz Parra in Rome, Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Ciaran Gilles in Madrid, Angela Charlton in Paris and Kelvin Chan in London contributed.

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  • Little-known but efficient, a different way to heat and cool your house

    Little-known but efficient, a different way to heat and cool your house

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    Summers are famously humid in New York State, but life in the Maioli household has gotten more comfortable since the couple installed a new heating and cooling system — one that isn’t well known yet in the U.S.

    “My wife is pretty happy because in the summer we can keep it to as cold as we like,” typically 69 or 70 F, said Joe Maioli, in Ontario, New York. In 2021, the couple installed a geothermal or ground source heat pump.

    The units you see that look like box fans outside homes and businesses are the more common air-source heat pumps. They wring energy out of outdoor air for heat and soak up excess heat indoors and move it out when they’re cooling. Geothermal heat pumps use underground temperatures, instead of outdoor air.

    A major push is now underway to get people to consider ground-source heat pumps because they use far less electricity than other heating and cooling methods. “Ground-source heat pumps average about 30 percent less electricity use than air-source heat pumps over the course of the heating season,” said Michael Waite, senior manager in the buildings program at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

    “Cooling the house for a month is maybe $10 worth of electricity, and this is the most efficient way to do it,” said Maioli. During the coldest winter month, their highest heating bill was around $70, he said.

    To install ground-source systems, contractors bring in heavy equipment and drill to bury a loop of flexible piping several hundred feet deep in your yard. Water flowing through the loop takes advantage of the underground temperature, a pretty stable 55 F.

    Indoors, often in the basement, a unit contains refrigerant — a fluid that can easily absorb a lot of heat. In summer, the water in the loop dumps heat into the ground. In winter, it pulls heat from the earth with amazing efficiency and moves it indoors.

    “We really feel like we’re on the right side of a megatrend,” said Tim Litton, director of marketing communications for WaterFurnace, a geothermal manufacturer in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

    Groundwater empties into a dumpster while workers drill a hole for a geothermal heat pump system at a home in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    Groundwater empties into a dumpster while workers drill a hole for a geothermal heat pump system at a home in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    With the better known air-source heat pumps, Litton said, outdoor parts can ice over in winter. Then the system has to pull heat from indoors to thaw them. There’s also dirt, animals and debris.

    WaterFurnace systems can be put in yards as small as 15 by 15 feet, he said. But the drilling rigs can’t get in where homes are really close together.

    There is “a lot of demand for geothermal right now,” Mark Schultz, president of Earth River Geothermal in Maryland said, and the interest in reducing carbon emissions is a big motivator for customers. “They have electric vehicles in the driveway and solar panels on the roof,” he said of the sites he goes out to bid.

    In the Midwest, Litton sees a broad range of buyers. “We kind of span the entire political spectrum — whether you’re a progressive environmentalist or a fiscal conservative,” he said. “It’s kind of nice in these divisive times to have something to agree on,” he said.

    The sticker prices for ground-source are higher than traditional systems. But in a stamp of approval for their efficiency, last year’s Inflation Reduction Act highly incentivizes them, with a 30% tax credit. So a customer purchasing a $30,000 system would end up paying $21,000. If someone doesn’t owe enough taxes in one year to benefit from that, they can carry it over to the next year. Nor is there any dollar limit on the credit, unlike for air-source units, which are capped at a $2,000.

    Some states are offering credits on top of that. In South Carolina, residents get another 25% credit, meaning a homeowner there could end up with a 55% discount off the initial cost. Some utilities offer incentives, too. South Carolina customers who have Blue Ridge Electric Co-op as their utility can get up to $1,600 per ton for the system they install. A 5-ton heat pump installed in a 2,000 square foot home, for example, would get $8,000 back from the utility.

    People who live in places with cold winters and hot summers reap the biggest savings. Still, leaders at three companies interviewed cited initial cost as a barrier.

    Corey Roberts lives on Long Island, NY, and installed a geothermal system made by Dandelion Energy last July. He was renovating and needed a new heater and AC. He was also interested in sustainability. He opted for Dandelion after comparing the costs with a natural gas system.

    “I can tell you the house is the coolest it’s ever been and the heating is the steadiest we’ve ever had since we’ve been living here. We are very happy,” Roberts said.

    A Dandelion Energy employee inserts a drill extension while putting in a geothermal heat pump system at a home in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. A water-filled loop of flexible piping is run several hundred feet deep, and either carries heat away from, or into the house, depending on the season. Industry experts see the technology becoming increasingly popular in the coming years. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    A Dandelion Energy employee inserts a drill extension while putting in a geothermal heat pump system at a home in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    Groundwater squirts up during drilling for a geothermal heating and cooling system at a home in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. A water-filled loop installed several hundred feet deep either carries heat away from, or into the house, depending on the season. Industry experts see the technology becoming increasingly popular in the coming years. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    Groundwater squirts up during drilling for a geothermal heating and cooling system at a home in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    The upfront cost was an eye-popping $63,500, far more than the $27,000 natural gas option. But after the 30% federal tax credit plus a $5,000 state tax credit for geothermal plus a rebate from his electric company, it was about $32,000.

    “Dandelion was only a $5,000 difference to a conventional system. If you think about how long it takes to recover the costs in savings, it’s quite quick,” Roberts said.

    The new system has attracted the interest of friends and neighbors.

    “We have a lot of people on the street asking us how it works and we say it’s just like magic. Water moves around a pipe in the ground and voilà, here we are heating and cooling. It’s amazing,” he said.

    Dandelion, born out of a Google innovation lab in 2017, designs, installs, and maintains its own systems in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. CEO Michael Sachse said the inspiration for the company was finding an affordable way to control temperature in the home without contributing to climate change.

    “There are three main ways that individuals can reduce their carbon emissions: change what you drive, how much you fly, and how you heat and cool your house,” said Sachse. “Particularly if you’re in a place where the winters are cold, how you heat your home is going to have an enormous impact.”

    A drill rig sits outside a home during installation of a geothermal heat pump system in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. A water-filled loop runs several hundred feet deep in the yard and either carries heat away from, or into the house, depending on the season. Industry experts see the technology becoming increasingly popular in the coming years. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    A drill rig sits outside a home during installation of a geothermal heat pump system in White Plains, N.Y., Monday, May 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

    Dandelion is currently working on a partnership with Lennar Corp, one of the largest home builders in the country and thinks in the future, new homes will be built with geothermal instead of natural gas. He said Dandelion is currently identifying a community “where we can work on 100 or 200 homes at a time.”

    Litton also sees growth for WaterFurnace. Residential geothermal heat pumps currently make up just 1% of the U.S. heating and cooling market. But they’re 20% of the European market, due to a long history of higher fossil fuel prices and more incentives.

    Besides the cost, and the yard disruption, there can be permitting delays, partly because some jurisdictions aren’t used to geothermal.

    One further challenge is invisibility.

    “You probably drove by several geothermal installations today and don’t even know it because it’s all underground,” said Litton.

    ___

    Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Hungary slams hefty fine on bookstore chain over LGBTQ+ graphic novel, says it violated law

    Hungary slams hefty fine on bookstore chain over LGBTQ+ graphic novel, says it violated law

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    BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A government office in Hungary on Thursday levied a hefty fine against a national bookseller over a LGBTQ+ graphic novel, saying it violated a contentious law that prohibits the depiction of homosexuality to minors.

    The bookseller, Lira Konyv, is Hungary’s second-largest bookstore chain. It was fined 12 million forints ($35,930) for placing the popular “Heartstopper” by British author Alice Oseman in its youth literature section, and for failing to place it in closed packaging as required by a 2021 law.

    The Budapest Metropolitan Government Office, which issued the consumer protection fine, told state news agency MTI that it had conducted an investigation into the store’s selling of the title.

    “The investigation found that the books in question depicted homosexuality, but they were nevertheless placed in the category of children’s books and youth literature, and were not distributed in closed packaging,” the office said.

    The fine is based on Hungary’s 2021 “child protection” law, which forbids the display of homosexual content to minors in media, including television, films, advertisements and literature. It also prohibits LGBTQ+ content in school education programs, and forbids the public display of products that depict or promote gender deviating from sex at birth.

    Hungary’s government insists that the law, part of a broader statute that also increases criminal penalties for pedophilia and creates a searchable database of sex offenders, is necessary to protect children. But it is seen by critics of the country’s right-wing government as an attempt to stigmatize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

    In April, 15 countries of the European Union backed legal action against the law in the European Court of Justice, and the bloc’s top executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has called it “a disgrace.”

    The fine against Lira Konyv comes just two days before the Budapest Pride march, an annual event that draws thousands of LGBTQ+ people and their supporters in Hungary’s capital.

    In a statement, the Budapest Metropolitan Government Office said it had ordered Lira Konyv to ensure the lawful distribution of the book, and that it “will always take strict action against companies that do not comply with the law.”

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  • With player stylists and Gucci collabs, MLB eyes a fresh look with younger fans

    With player stylists and Gucci collabs, MLB eyes a fresh look with younger fans

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    SEATTLE (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. topped off a Barbiecore ’fit with a jeweled chain of his own likeness. Adley Rutschman leaned more “Kenergy” in a leafy gold ensemble. Though there were some flashy standouts, many of the suits were safe and serious at Major League Baseball’s red carpet show on Tuesday.

    The event came hours before the All-Star Game and featured baseball’s top players strutting through Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market with their spouses, kids and moms in tow, and giving their best looks to the hundreds of adoring fans gathered.

    Yet what was really on display was MLB’s quest for the crown of cool.

    Baseball’s All-Star Game drew a record low in viewers for the second straight year. The National League’s 3-2 win over the American League in Seattle on Tuesday night was seen by 7,006,000 viewers on Fox, down from 7.51 million last year.

    National League's Elias Díaz (35), of the Colorado Rockies, holds up his MVP award after the MLB All-Star baseball game in Seattle, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. The National League won 3-2. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

    Elias Díaz may be the most unlikely All-Star MVP. Just 3 1/2 years after Pittsburgh failed to offer a contract and allowed him to become a free agent, his go-ahead, two-run homer off Félix Bautista in the eighth inning lifted the National League over the American 3-2.

    Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker warms up barefoot on the field before a baseball game between the Diamondbacks and the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Friday, June 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Janie McCauley)

    Across baseball, players are embracing practices like barefoot walking and breathing sessions to keep their minds as healthy as their bodies for the long haul of a pressure-packed baseball season.

    American League's Shohei Ohtani, of the Los Angeles Angels, swings at a pitch in the fourth inning during the MLB All-Star baseball game in Seattle, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    Shohei Ohtani was the biggest star of the All-Star Game even if his appearance was rather uneventful.

    The fan-friendly event is as much an homage to baseball’s iconic place in street style — from the game’s signature caps and jerseys to the classic tees — as it is an indication that MLB is increasingly staking its claim on fashion as an entry to new audiences and pop culture reverence.

    “MLB gave me a stylist for this game,” said Corbin Carroll, a 22-year-old Seattle native turned Arizona Diamondbacks’ breakout rookie. “The outfit’s kind of cool. Definitely, it’s not something I would pick out for myself, but I’m kind of excited to show that off.”

    Like a good many Gen Zer — which includes those born in the late 1990s and early 2000s — Carroll described his off-duty style as more casual than high fashion: “Athleisure, not too many logos, plain, a nice good fit.”

    On the red carpet — which was actually a hot magenta pink — Carroll stuck with neutral colors, wearing a white blazer, black shirt and tan pants, styled with Nikes, sunglasses and a mullet.

    But it’s no coincidence that MLB is tapping the young, mixed-race player as a style ambassador for its All-Star Red Carpet Show.

    The league has for years suffered from the same audience problem. There is a perception that baseball is so steeped in American tradition that it may be a stodgy game targeted to old-timers — namely, white fans — who still track scores by hand in the stands.

    “Sometimes perception becomes reality, but it’s just never been accurate. Look at the young people — they’ve always been here,” said Noah Garden, MLB’s chief revenue officer. “We always want to attract younger fans. It’s the foundation of any business.”

    So MLB has been trying to liven up its image for years, watching with wonder as the NBA’s cultural dominance grew alongside the basketball stars who have been cemented as style kings among celebrity athletes, along with their sneakers, suits and streetwear.

    The NBA is the No. 1 brand preference for Gen Z across sports institutions, said Brandon Brown, a sports management professor at New York University, in part because the game and its savvy players are so heavily tied to urban hip-hop culture and self-representation — things this generation so identifies with.

    Not since the Seattle Mariners’ own Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. — with his signature and very ‘90s backwards baseball cap — has there truly been an MLB player seen as a cross-cultural superstar who could make a splash with just his outfits, Brown said.

    “He (was in) a bunch of different mediums to speak to a multitude of audiences,” Brown said. “MLB is probably still looking for their next superstar in modern culture.”

    Today, baseball officials are keen to encourage their players to shine in the same way, too, knowing the ticket to loyal fans can be found off the field — perhaps at a much-hyped red carpet show built to pop on social media.

    “It’s a really important event. The players really embrace it, too,” Garden said. “It’s to highlight our best players and bringing them closer to the fans.”

    Among the league’s most fashion-forward players: Mariners star Julio Rodríguez, 22, whose red carpet outfit for Tuesday was handmade in Italy and paid tribute to Seattle. The reigning American League Rookie of the Year works with a personal shopper.

    “What do you think about when you think about Seattle? You think a little bit about the trees, the lakes and all those things — the beautiful summer. So, it’s going to go towards that,” Rodríguez said.

    The look, complete with a pair of exclusive Alexander McQueen sneakers, was crafted by Ethan Weisman, the founder of Pantheon Limited Custom Clothiers. Sports fans have certainly seen Weisman’s looks before. He’s the man behind Ezekiel Elliott’s head-turning crop-top tuxedo at the 2016 NFL draft.

    Garden said MLB’s forays into fashion are not really about merchandising revenue, as its high-end collaborations with the likes of Gucci don’t sell for volume.

    “There’s very limited quantities. It allows us to reach out to a very specific part of the fan base,” Garden said. “It’s a closer association with non-traditional brands.”

    It’s such a coveted supply that some players have even called the front office asking for a piece of MLB’s limited edition Gucci collection, Garden said.

    So lest you believe the unstylish rumors, there actually has been many short stops in baseball’s history with fashion.

    There’s been official collaborations with brands ranging from preppy Ralph Lauren to niche streetwear label Supreme. Baseball’s long-established role as fashion inspiration is thanks in part to the league’s pioneering sale of replica jerseys. It was a socially-conscious decision to celebrate the league-wide No. 42 jersey on Jackie Robinson Day.

    And the strategic licensing of the famous New York Yankees logo globally has arguably, to borrow the words of iconic rapper Jay-Z, “made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.” In fact, MLB’s fashion efforts are a major part of their international marketing plan, lately leaning into France’s affinity for fashion to break into the wider European market.

    “What they’re tapping into is a kind of a cultural capital that’s not financial. It’s about the fans. It’s about nostalgia,” said Erin Corrales-Diaz, a Toledo Museum of Art curator who wrote a book about the baseball jersey and the sport’s influence on fashion. “Fashion has always been a part of the sport, even if it hasn’t always been articulated.”

    Even so, MLB may still have its work cut out for it as several All-Star players acknowledged they were less than fluent in fashion ahead of Tuesday’s show. Houston Astros’ Kyle Tucker and Los Angeles Dodger Clayton Kershaw were among the many ballplayers sporting the safest of suits and who said they weren’t big into fashion.

    “It’s not my forte,” Kershaw said.

    Carroll of the Diamondbacks also flashed a shy smile describing his first time working with a stylist and first time doing any red carpet event.

    “I might be more nervous for that than the game,” Carroll said.

    ___

    AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken contributed.

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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