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London
CNN
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Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been found by a parliamentary committee to have deliberately misled parliament over breaches of Covid-19 lockdown rules.
This is a breaking story. More details soon…
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CNN
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Romania is recalling its ambassador to Kenya back to Bucharest and has apologized after its envoy in Nairobi allegedly compared a monkey to African diplomats.
Documents obtained by CNN showed African diplomats formally condemning Dragos Tigau’s comments during a meeting of eastern European envoys held in April at the UN’s office in the Kenyan capital.
“The African Group has joined us,” Ambassador Tigau allegedly said when a monkey appeared at a window in the conference room, according to the letter which demanded an apology.
“The African Group would like to condemn in strongest terms possible the insulting, racist and degrading utterances,” wrote Chol Ajong’o, South Sudan’s ambassador to Kenya who leads African diplomats in Nairobi.
Romania’s foreign ministry said that it only learned of the incident on June 8, even though it had taken place at the end of April.
CNN obtained two apology letters sent by Tigau to African diplomats four days apart. Tigau initially said that his comments came during “a long, heated and highly debated meeting” and were an attempt at “relaxing the atmosphere.” He later withdrew that section.
A statement from the Romanian foreign ministry said that it hoped the isolated incident would not affect its “deep relations” with African countries.
“The Romanian MFA deeply regrets this situation, conveys its apologies to all those affected and strongly rejects and condemns all behaviors and attitudes incompatible with mutual respect,” the statement read.
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CNN
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As horse racing’s elite saddle up for the final race of the coveted Triple Crown at New York’s Belmont Stakes, the sport’s top trainers will face off for their share of the $1.5 million purse at the lavish, star-studded event – amid growing scrutiny after a recent spate of horse deaths.
A CNN analysis of disciplinary records found that the top earning trainers in the sport – whose thoroughbreds win them millions of dollars – have all broken rules meant to keep their horses safe. Trainers slapped with violations have continued racing, pocketing winnings while paying minimal fines.
Records show that horse racing’s most successful trainers have violated the sport’s rules multiple times over the course of thousands of races across decades-long careers. The violations range from failed drug tests on race day to falsifying a trainer license. At least three of the trainers have horses competing at the Belmont Stakes this weekend.
Many of the violations center on the use of drugs that could mask pain prior to a race, potentially leading racehorses – bred for speed with spindly legs – to run on preexisting injuries that increase the risk of fatal breakdowns on the tracks. Researchers have found that about 90% of fatal horse injuries involve preexisting issues, such as small fractures that weaken horses’ bones.
While therapeutic medications are often legal for treating horses, several are banned on race day.
“If a horse has an anti-inflammatory, it could compromise an inspection,” said Dr. Jennifer Durenberger, a veterinarian with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the national regulatory body established in 2020. “It’s one of the reasons we do restrict medications in the pre-race period.”
In many ways, the violations say more about the sport than the trainers themselves. Historically, drug limits and rules have varied from state to state, and punishments, which typically led to fines of a few hundred dollars, seemed more like slaps on the wrists than true deterrents. Trainers suspended from one racetrack were still able to compete on others.
Horse racing reform advocates, and even some trainers, say that national standards for drug violations will help with compliance and improve horse safety.
Trainers and their representatives interviewed by CNN, however, largely dismissed their disciplinary records, citing unaccredited testing labs, sensitive testing which picks up on minute traces of medication and inconsistent rules among tracks that led to mistakes often beyond their control. They also say the violations must be placed in the context of the thousands of races their horses have started.
It was supposed to be a triumphant comeback for legendary horse trainer Bob Baffert, but his Preakness Stakes win was underscored by tragedy.
Just hours before a horse he trained, National Treasure, won the second-leg of the Triple Crown last month, Baffert’s powerful bay-colored colt, Havnameltdown, suffered an injury to its fore fetlock, the equivalent of an ankle, during an earlier race that day. A veterinarian deemed the injury “non-operable,” leaving the three-year-old horse to be euthanized on the track. The Maryland Racing Commission is investigating the death.
During his short life, Havnameltdown earned $708,000 in prize money for his handlers, including Baffert, who has said the horse got “hit pretty hard” by another horse coming out of the starting gate.
The Maryland race marked Baffert’s anticipated return to a Triple Crown race – the first since his 2021 Kentucky Derby win was disqualified after his horse, Medina Spirit, failed a post-race drug test. Baffert was cited by the state horse racing commission and Churchill Downs handed him a suspension that banned him from the next two Derby races.
The drug test revealed that Medina Spirit had betamethasone in his system. The drug is legal for horses in Kentucky, but state rules don’t allow any detectable levels on race day. Baffert disputed the test result and appealed the commission’s citation.
During his suspension, Baffert continued to race at other tracks and claimed his cut of millions in prize money. Months after the Derby, Medina Spirit died while training at California’s Santa Anita Park; the necropsy report was inconclusive.
Equine deaths are quite common – hundreds die on and off the track annually. The root cause of what can bring down a massive, muscular horse can range from the natural to the exploitive, including being overworked and overdrugged in the quest for winnings.
But while some deaths are difficult to prevent, the recent spate of tragedies, especially ones like the public euthanasia of Havnameltdown, have cast a dark shadow over the multi-billion-dollar industry.
In the span of a month, 12 horses died at Churchill Downs, Kentucky’s most prominent track, since the stable opened this season. The track has suspended racing there while the fatalities are investigated.
The deaths sparked public outrage and thrust the industry back into the national spotlight just a week after HISA rolled out regulations that include medication control.
But that’s done little to assuage critics’ concerns over the treatment of horses in what was once called the sport of kings.
“All of it sounds really impressive and it’s quite a show, but that’s all it is: A show. Meanwhile, the horses continue to die,” said Patrick Battuello, an advocate who has tracked horse deaths for the last decade. “The killing is built into the system. … In what other sport are the athletes drugged and doped without their consent?”
Defenders of the sport argue that the number of horse racing deaths have declined in recent years, and that the industry is safer than it ever was. They point to falling annual death counts collected by The Jockey Club, an influential industry organization, which reports the number of horses who die or are euthanized after racing injuries. The group has tallied several hundred racing deaths each year, with 328 in 2022, down from 709 a decade earlier.
But those numbers don’t include horses who die during training or between races, which critics argue leads to a severe undercounting of deaths in the sport. They also only include thoroughbred horses, not quarter horses and standardbred horses. Battuello has tallied more than 9,500 racehorses that died since 2014, largely based on death records he’s collected from state horse racing commissions – roughly 1,000 a year.
While the exact rules vary from state to state, trainers are generally required to report horse deaths that occur at racetracks or as a result of injuries sustained during races. Most deaths are categorized as racing-related or training-related.
In a statement, The Jockey Club argued that its numbers were “the most accurate data possible” and noted that it had different criteria for including racing-related deaths than Battuello.
The sport’s highest-earning trainers were among those who had the most horses die at racetracks or due to racing injuries, according to a CNN analysis of state records collected by Battuello over the last decade, as well as data from the horse racing website Equibase.
Some prominent trainers saw far more of their horses die during training than in actual races. CNN’s review found that Todd Pletcher, who’s earned more than any horse trainer in the industry over the course of his career, has trained at least 38 horses whose deaths were reported to state racing commissions since 2014.
More than three-fourths of those deaths were related to training, not racing, according to Battuello’s count – meaning that Pletcher largely avoided the national spotlight shone on deaths that took place during prominent races like the Preakness or Belmont.
Similarly, four of the seven deceased horses trained by Baffert that CNN documented did not die as a direct result of injuries sustained during races, and thus likely wouldn’t be included in the official tally of deaths counted by The Jockey Club.
CNN’s review is an undercount of deaths because it only counted deaths reportable to state commissions. The review connected horses to their most recent trainer of record as of their last race – so it’s possible that some of the horses could have moved to a different trainer before their deaths.
Horse trainers bear the ultimate responsibility for the wellbeing of the horse and adherence to the rules on the track, an industry standard known as the “absolute insurer rule.”
“We are completely responsible for the horses. When they arrive on the racetrack that day, we’re responsible for what’s going into that horse, whether it’s medication or feed,” said Graham Motion, a 30-year horse trainer in Maryland. “That has to be our responsibility. There’s no other way really to make it work.”
The most successful trainers in the sport have all been cited for medical or drug violations.
Pletcher has racked up nine drug-related violations throughout his career. On one occasion, regulators found he broke rules regarding Lasix – known as the “water drug” – which makes a horse urinate and potentially run faster. New regulations have banned the drug – though state commissions can apply for three-year exemptions – while the effect on horse safety is studied, according to HISA.
Pletcher was suspended for 10 days last month, after a delayed drug test showed that his horse, Forte, had elevated levels of a common pain-reliever and anti-inflammatory drug during a race he won in New York back in September.
“Forte came into our care on March 25, 2022, and he has never been prescribed or administered meloxicam,” Pletcher, who did not respond to CNN’s multiple requests for comment, told Bloodhorse.com. “We did an internal investigation and could not find an employee who had used the drug.”
Records show Pletcher plans to appeal the ruling.
Baffert, too, was suspended after his horse, Medina Spirit – who placed first in a 2021 race at Churchill Downs – tested positive for an anti-inflammatory. The suspension was one of about two dozen drug-related violations during Baffert’s career; the vast majority included anti-inflammatories like betamethasone and phenylbutazone.
One of the three highest earning trainers, Steve Asmussen, has been cited for violations of medication rules about 40 times, in many instances finding elevated levels of anti-inflammatories or thyroid medication, according to records from the Association of Racing Commissioners International, an umbrella organization of horse racing regulators. Research has shown thyroid medication in horses can cause cardiac arrythmias and new regulations ban its use in thoroughbreds, including on race day.
Clark Brewster, an attorney for both Baffert and Asmussen, said the tally of violations from ARCI data paints an unfair picture of his clients because many of those citations involved therapeutic medications that only slightly exceeded allowable limits in the rules, which he said have repeatedly shifted. “These guys are painstakingly trying to get it right.”
Motion, the veteran Maryland trainer, himself has been cited at least twice in his career for medication violations, once after one of his horses tested positive for methocarbamol – a muscle relaxer that is permissible to treat horses, but not allowed on race day.
“It was a very difficult time for me. And I fought it. And I almost regret fighting it now,” said Motion, adding that he felt his team “handled the medication the proper way.”
He said the new rules around when horses need to withdraw from such medication ahead of race day could have prevented this type of incident.
Some therapeutic drugs, including anti-inflammatories, are a big concern for the industry on race day. Before each race, horses are examined by veterinarians to determine their fitness and identify potential ailments. But medication in the horse’s system, like anti-inflammatories, can mask some of those preexisting injuries.
“The extent [of the preexisting injury] can change dramatically and it can go from something minor to something that is potentially serious, if not life threatening” when a horse bursts onto the track from the starting stall, said Dr. Mary Scollay, chief of science at the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit which oversees the new medication control regulations under HISA.
New HISA regulations, implemented last month, include strict rules about withdrawal times and allowable medication levels on race day.
“We want to make sure that there is no lingering effects from that medication that could mask a potential injury that would put that horse at risk to the horse, the rider, the others that are in that race,” said Dr. Will Farmer, equine medical director at Churchill Downs Incorporated. “That’s why we have very strict regulation around use of therapeutics in regards to a race specifically.”
For decades, a patchwork of local and state rules governed the racetracks in the United States, and trainers found in violation of the rules meant to keep their horses safe have been met with minimal repercussions.
Pletcher – whose horses have earned more than $460 million in almost 25,000 races – paid $5,000 in fines for drug-related citations over the course of his 27-year career. Baffert and Asmussen were each fined over $30,000 during their decades-long careers, according to records from the racing commissioners association. Those fines are offset by more than $340 million and $410 million in earnings, respectively, according to Equibase.
What’s more, suspensions only banned trainers from certain tracks, allowing them to continue racing – and pocketing earnings – in other states.
Since the 2022 New York race where Pletcher’s horse Forte had a post-race positive drug test, the horse won four more competitions for Pletcher, earning his handlers more than $2 million.
Forte is set to race this weekend and is one of the favorites to win the Belmont Stakes.
Baffert, too, was able to continue racing after he was hit with the suspension following Medina Spirit’s positive drug test. During that time, Baffert entered hundreds of races on other tracks, competing for purses totaling nearly $125 million, according to Equibase data. In 2022 alone, Baffert’s horses brought in nearly $10 million in prize money.
The biggest change in the governance of American horse racing was tucked into a 2020 federal spending bill. That proviso ultimately created the national Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, or HISA – a move that, after three previous legislative attempts, found support from federal lawmakers after a particularly deadly season at a California racetrack.
During the 2018-2019 season, a staggering 56 horses died at one of the most glamorous racetracks in the country, Santa Anita Park, once home to the famous 1940s thoroughbred Seabiscuit.
The California Horse Racing Board could not determine a common denominator for the fatalities but found that the vast majority of horses that died had preexisting injuries. And, while no illegal substances or procedures were found, many of the horses were on anti-inflammatories and various other medications.
“Horse racing must develop a culture of safety first,” the California board wrote in its investigative report. “A small number of participants refusing to change will harm the entire industry.”
Initially a local scandal, the deaths in Santa Anita Park would have national implications. The fatalities led not only to a complete overhaul of racing practices in Santa Anita – improved track maintenance, restrictions on the use of medications, and softer whips on race day – but also to new national rules under the new regulator, HISA.
As a private entity under the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission, HISA creates uniform regulations and penalties to govern racetracks throughout the country. The latest set of rules, implemented last month, include anti-doping and medication control programs. They also state that any suspension for a rule violation will carry across all tracks under HISA’s jurisdiction.
HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus said the goal is to ensure that “there is a level playing field, that the horses are treated properly, that there is built-in safety and integrity” in the sport.
But some pockets of the industry aren’t welcoming the changes – most notably the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, which has questioned the constitutionality of HISA and filed suits arguing regulatory overreach.
In an annual NHBPA conference held in March, trainers spoke out against HISA citing an increased administrative burden and added costs of higher fees and required veterinary checks.
“The whole thing is a façade. It’s been all smoke and mirrors,” said Bret Calhoun, a horse trainer and member of the Louisiana HBPA board, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News. “They sold this thing as the safety of the horse. It’s absolutely not about safety of horse. It’s a few people, with self-interest and they have their own personal agenda.”
There are several lawsuits challenging HISA’s legitimacy and authority in the sport, some backed by the NHBPA, making their way through courts across the country. But while legal battles are fought in the courts, horses keep dying on the tracks.
Last week, a horse death at Belmont Park meant that there have been fatalities around all three racetracks in the Triple Crown this season.
“There is risk in any sport. We cannot eliminate risk. We can continue to diminish risk as best we can. We are never going to eliminate a horse getting injured,” said Motion, adding “the most important thing is the welfare of the horse. It’s not winning at all costs. It’s winning with a healthy animal.”
To identify racehorses who died while being trained by the industry’s highest-earning trainers, CNN combined a list of dead horses compiled by activist Patrick Battuello with data from the horse racing website Equibase.
Since 2014, Battuello has collected state horse racing commission reports on horse deaths through public records requests and published a list of racehorses who died each year on his website. Most of the horse deaths Battuello has identified are based on state records, although a handful are based on news reports or verbal confirmation he received from racetrack officials.
CNN matched Battuello’s list of deceased horses with data downloaded from Equibase that listed each horse’s trainer as of its most recent race. For the top three trainers with the highest earnings, Pletcher, Asmussen and Baffert, CNN reviewed the original documents Battuello collected from the commissions, which he provided to reporters.
Because the Equibase data on trainers is based on each horse’s most recent race, some horses may have moved to other trainers before they died. In a handful of cases, when state death records listed a different trainer for a horse than Equibase does, CNN used the trainer listed in the records.
CNN’s review only included horse deaths that were required to be reported to state commissions, so it undercounts the total deaths associated with individual trainers. In addition, not all of the dead horses Battuello has documented were able to be reliably matched with Equibase’s data, so additional deaths may also be missing from the review.
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CNN
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California and Texas ranked highest on the United States Postal Service’s annual list of states with the most dog bites against its employees, the USPS announced.
The report calls attention to the aggressive dog behavior mail carriers often face as the USPS kicks off National Dog Bite Awareness Week.
In 2022, California had the highest number of dog bites with 675. Texas and New York were not far behind with 404 and 321 bites, respectively, the Postal Service reported.
“When our mail carriers are bitten, it is usually a ‘good dog’ that had not previously behaved in a menacing way,” USPS Occupational Safety and Health Senior Director Linda DeCarlo said in a news release.
Houston, Los Angeles and Dallas ranked highest among US cities with the most dog attacks against USPS workers last year, according to the USPS.
More than 5,300 USPS employees were attacked by dogs during mail deliveries last year, according to the Postal Service.
The annual public service awareness campaign, accompanied by the hashtag #dogbiteawareness, runs through next week.
“When letter carriers deliver mail in our communities, dogs that are not secured or leashed can become a nemesis and unpredictable and attack,” Leeann Theriault, USPS employee safety and health awareness manager, said in the release.
The USPS trains its mail carriers not to startle dogs, to avoid petting or feeding them and to place something between themselves and the animal – like their mail satchel – if a dog does attack, the postal said in a news release.
Since most people know the general time their mail arrives each day, the USPS advised keeping dogs secure before Postal Service employees stop by.
Other advice for dog owners, according to the USPS: Place pets on a leash, keep them in the house or behind a fence and make sure they’re away from the door.
The Postal Service also advises parents to not allow children to take mail directly from mail carriers, as the dog may view it as a threat to the child’s safety.
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CNN
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Hitting the campaign trail in Iowa on Wednesday for the first time as a presidential candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis road tested new policy ideas for handling student debt and boosting military morale.
In Salix, Iowa, DeSantis said universities should have to pick up the tab if a former student can’t pay back their loans. Later, in Council Bluffs, DeSantis said that he, if elected, would offer back pay to veterans who reenlist after leaving the military due to Covid-19 vaccine requirements.
For DeSantis, who provided few details on his first-term agenda in his official launch on Twitter last week and in Tuesday’s campaign kickoff event in Des Moines, Wednesday’s events offered an early glimpse into the ideas he will bring to the race as he seeks to convince Republicans he is best positioned to take on President Joe Biden in 2024. Both suggestions are near to issues DeSantis has championed as governor – overhauling higher education to remove perceived liberal influences and pushing back against coronavirus mitigation measures widely credited with ending the pandemic.
A DeSantis campaign spokesperson told CNN more specifics on all of DeSantis’ policy proposals will come as the campaign progresses.
DeSantis’ pitch to remedy the country’s mounting student loan debt – amassing $1.6 trillion nationwide as of last year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – he said will force universities to change their approach to preparing students for the workforce. The proposal comes as House Republicans negotiated for student loan payments to restart by the end of August as part of the debt ceiling deal with Biden – a pact DeSantis has criticized.
“If somebody defaults, the university should pick it up,” he said. “If they were on the hook for it, they would make sure the curriculum was designed to produce people that can be very productive. You’d have a heck of a lot less gender studies going on.”
DeSantis as governor has banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public colleges as well as gender studies majors. DeSantis added that “we do believe in universities, but they got to be done in a good way,” meaning “rooted in the traditional mission of the university classical education.”
Speaking from a welding warehouse in Western Iowa, DeSantis – himself a product of two Ivy League schools – also highlighted his administration’s efforts to emphasize trade and apprenticeships as an alternative to four-year degrees.
“It’s sending the message to young people that you’re not better because you got a four-year degree,” he said.
Later in the day, while touting his time in the US Navy as a JAG officer, DeSantis argued the US military is “indulging woke ideology” that negatively impacts recruitment.
“They’ve driven off some of our greatest warriors not just through that culture, but also through dumb policies like forcing m-RNA Covid shots on our service members,” DeSantis said.
In January, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin rescinded the military’s Covid-19 vaccination mandate for troops. The coronavirus vaccine was added to the list of required inoculations in August 2021, leading many conservatives to surmise it would hinder recruitment, a suggestion the Pentagon denied was occurring.
“Why would you want to drive them off by doing things like forcing them to take a shot that they don’t want and sure enough, many people left,” DeSantis said at the second of four stops across Iowa. “As president, we will restore everybody back who wants to come back and we will give them back pay as a result.”
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Giant panda Ya Ya has become an internet sensation again after Chinese state media showed images of her arriving at her new home in Beijing on Sunday, following an end to her quarantine since returning from the United States.
On Weibo, China’s heavily restricted version of Twitter, a hashtag tracking Ya Ya’s return quickly gained over 230 million views, topping the trending charts on Monday.
Ya Ya was loaned to Memphis Zoo back in 2003 at a high-point in US-China relations. But her scheduled return last month came to symbolize deteriorating relations between the world’s two superpowers, which have fallen to their lowest point in half a century.
Ya Ya was transported to Shanghai on April 4 after months of heated discussion on Chinese social media about whether she had received adequate care and attention while in the US – accusations first levied by animal advocates in 2021, and denied repeatedly by the Memphis Zoo.
Her return was huge news in China with an outpouring of nationalist sentiment online and her arrival heralded as a patriotic homecoming.
And the elderly panda blew up China’s internet again this week after she ended her month long quarantine on Sunday.
She was ferried on a China Southern Airlines chartered flight to the capital and placed in the care of Beijing Zoo, state news agency Xinhua reported.
A video of Ya Ya in Beijing posted by state broadcaster CCTV gained more than 200,000 likes as of Monday morning, with many social media users applauding her return.
In a statement posted online, Beijing Zoo said Ya Ya was in “stable condition” and they had prepared a special feeding ground for her.
Upon her return, however, Ya Ya will not be put on public display due to her old age, the zoo said, citing her need to adapt to a new environment.
For curious fans, regular updates will be posted on the zoo’s official Weibo page, it added.
Videos from the Beijing Zoo showed the aging panda surrounded by bamboo while staff prepared a lavish all-bamboo feast.
Many online comments praised Ya Ya’s new caretakers, while claiming the panda looked healthier than before.
“Her condition has improved a lot apparently!” read one top post liked by other users. “It’s only been a month and the panda looks like a different one now,” another user wrote.
Since at least 2019, Memphis Zoo has faced concerns from visitors and panda fans that Ya Ya looked thin and discolored. Concerns for her health were intensified after her male counterpart, Le Le, died in February 2023 just months before the pair were scheduled to return to China.
Memphis Zoo repeatedly dismissed speculations the aging bear was sick or malnourished. Instead, zoo officials and vets maintained Ya Ya was simply small framed but healthy, and attributed her fur loss to hormones.
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Editor’s Note: The following contains major spoilers about the “Succession” series finale, “With Open Eyes.”
CNN
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The Roy children took a pleasant swim together in the “Succession” finale, which turned out to be a perfect prelude to the show’s parting demonstration of the perils of swimming with sharks, and the fact their imperious father left shoes, ultimately, that they couldn’t fill. In the process, fans were treated to laughter, tears, and two of the lamest fights in the history of television.
All the key relationships played out in ways that felt perfectly attuned to where the show had been building over the course of this extraordinary season, down to the haunting final shot of Kendall (Jeremy Strong) alone and from behind, an echo of his father without the status and family around him. If that met skipping a few things – like spelling out the fate of the presidential election – the show’s focus has always been on the family dynasty, with politics and democracy as just one of the precious resources in which it traffics.
The finish was set up in part by the realization that spouses Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) were both willing to throw the other under the bus in order to gain the US CEO title at Waystar Royco from Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård), with Shiv dismissively referring to her husband and the father of her yet-to-be-born child as “a highly interchangeable modular part.”
For his part, Tom sat through an uncomfortable (OK, cringe-worthy) exchange with Matsson regarding Shiv before readily agreeing to serve as his “front man,” the smiling face of the company who would operate as a figurehead in order to secure approval of the deal.
Matsson’s betrayal ultimately helped put the three Roy siblings in alignment in an effort to block the GoJo acquisition, paving the way for a scene in which they laughed and joked together in their mother’s kitchen that recalled the bond they shared, fleetingly, after their father’s death. Those interactions represented one of those occasional moments when you realize they’re siblings with lifelong ties, despite having grown up in the most dysfunctional and ruthless of families.
Then there was Greg (Nicholas Braun), using his translator app in order to learn that Matsson intended to betray Shiv, peddling that information in the hope of saving himself, and triggering the first of the night’s two hilariously awful slap contests with Tom.
Everything built, ultimately, toward the boardroom meeting to approve or vote down the GoJo deal, which featured a sequence packing the kind of punch that went far beyond any of the tepid fisticuffs between Kendall and Roman (Kieran Culkin): Shiv balking at anointing Kendall as CEO, flatly telling him, “I don’t think that you would be good at this,” before reminding him that he was responsible for the death of the young waiter that called back to the first season.
Realizing he was having his victory – and his “birthright,” as he put it earlier – snatched out from under him, Kendall blurted out, in almost childlike fashion, “I am the eldest boy!”
Yet if “Succession” has demonstrated anything over its four seasons, it was the fact that the Roy name only went so far, and the children could never fully escape their father’s oversized shadow.
That left Shiv and Tom in what appeared to be an alliance of stated convenience – with all the affection of a corporate merger – and Kendall a broken man, rich, surely, but never to rule his father’s kingdom or anything close to it. As he had said, in a rare instance of self-awareness, “I am like a cog built to fit only one machine.”
Unlike some great TV shows, “Succession” didn’t have to stick the landing to cement its legacy. But it did anyway.
That didn’t mean answering every unspoken question, perhaps, but delivering a level of drama and humor that stands among the best shows ever made. And as Tom observed early on regarding Shiv, series creator Jesse Armstrong clearly doesn’t like to fail a test.
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Vinícius Jr., Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward, was subjected to racist chanting during his team’s defeat to Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium in Spain’s La Liga, according to club manager Carlo Ancelotti.
The flashpoint of the game came in the second half, where after a stoppage in play, an animated Vinicius Jr. pointed out a fan in the stands for the alleged abuse before engaging with the fans in the section of the crowd in question.
La Liga TV broadcasters said there was an announcement in the stadium calling on fans to not insult the players or throw objects onto the pitch.
The referee’s official report from the game described the incident.
“Racist insults: in the 73rd minute, a spectator from the southern ‘Mario Kempes’ tribune directed himself towards player No. 20 of Real Madrid CF Mr. Vinicius José De Oliveira Do Nascimiento, screaming at him: ‘Monkey, monkey’ which led to the activation of the racism protocol, notifying the pitch delegate so that a corresponding warning over the loudspeaker would be made. The match was halted until said announcement was aired over the loudspeaker of the stadium,” it reads.
Vinícius Jr. was sent off in the final minutes of the game for his involvement in an altercation with Valencia player Hugo Duro.
Ancelotti addressed the situation after the game to Movistar Plus, saying, “I don’t want to talk about football today … when a whole stadium is chanting ‘monkey’ at a player and the manager has to think about taking off a player because of it, there is something bad happening in this league.”
In a separate interview with reporters, Ancelotti suggested referees should call off matches in other instances of racism in the league. The Italian said, “I’m very sad because La Liga is a league with big teams with a good atmosphere. This we have to get rid of. We are in 2023, racism does not have to exist … the only way for me is to stop the game.”
On his personal Instagram account, Vinícius Jr. posted a story saying, “The prize that racists won was my expulsion! ‘This isn’t football, this is @LaLiga’”
The Real Madrid player then posted a longer statement on his Twitter. “It was not the first time, nor the second, nor the third,” it said. “Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it’s normal, the Federation does too and the opponents encourage it. I’m so sorry. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi today belongs to racists.
“A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which agreed to export the image of a racist country to the world. I’m sorry for the Spaniards who don’t agree, but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists.
“And unfortunately, for everything that happens each week, I have no defense. I agree. But I am strong and I will fight to the end against racists. Even if that is far from here.”
Real Madrid quoted Ancelotti on its official social media but offered no official statement immediately in the wake of the match.
Valencia issued a statement shortly after the conclusion of the match on its website.
“Valencia CF wishes to publicly condemn any type of insult, attack or downgrading in football,” it reads. “The club, in its dedication to the values of respect and sportsmanship, reaffirms publicly its position against physical and verbal violence in stadiums and regrets the events which occurred during the game of Matchday 35 of La Liga against Real Madrid.
“Although it is an isolated incident, insults towards any footballer of the rival team have no place in football and do not fit with the values and identity of Valencia CF. The club is investigating the events and will take the most severe measures. In the same vein, Valencia CF condemns whichever offense and asks for the maximum respect towards our own fans.”
Despite other Real Madrid players also saying that monkey chants were made towards Vinícius Jr., including goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Valencia rejected Ancelotti’s claim that the stadium was chanting ‘monkey’. “Valencia CF can’t tolerate someone accusing our fans of being racist, we strongly reject Ancelotti’s comments,” the post said.
La Liga issued a statement of their own, announcing an investigation into events at the Mestalla.
“In the face of the incidents which took place during Valencia CF vs Real Madrid CF in the Estadio de Mestalla, LaLiga wishes to inform that it has requested all the available images to investigate what happened,” it said. “LaLiga will also investigate the images in which racist insults were allegedly uttered towards Vinicius Jr. outside of the grounds of Mestalla.”
Vinícius Jr. has been subjected to racism repeatedly this season, as noted by the La Liga statement. The league’s authorities told CNN in March they do not have the power to punish fans or clubs for racist abuse. Instead, La Liga can only pass on any incidents of abuse to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) or regional prosecutors, who deal with them as legal cases before sporting punishments are handed out.
“LaLiga has been proactive against all racist incidents against the Real Madrid CF player Vinicius Jr,” the league’s statement continued, before listing nine separate incidents from the past two seasons it had reported to the Competition Committee of RFEF, the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport, the hate crimes prosecutors and the courts.
Several prominent names in football offered their support to Vinícius Jr. Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said on his Instagram, “Bro you need protecting….who is protecting @vinijr in Spain?
“How many times do we need to see this young man subjected to this s***?? I see pain, I see disgust, I see him needing help…and the authorities don’t do s*** to help him. People need to stand together and demand more from the authorities that run our game. No one deserves this, yet you are allowing it. There needs to be a unified approach to this otherwise it will be swept under the carpet AGAIN.”
Milan forward Rafael Leão tweeted, “When will it end?” in response to the incident.
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One of the horses in an undercard race before today’s Preakness Stakes, the Bob Baffert-trained Havnameltdown, has been euthanized, after suffering a serious injury this afternoon, officials said.
The news comes just hours before the running of the second leg of the Triple Crown, and in the wake of the deaths of eight top racehorses in the past month.
“During the Chick Lang Stakes at Pimlico, the number one horse, Havnameltdown, sustained an injury and immediately received on-track medical attention from an expert team of veterinarians, led by Dr. Dionne Benson,” said 1/ST Racing, who own and operate Pimlico Race Course, in a news release, per CNN affiliate WMAR.
“During the subsequent evaluation, she observed a non-operable left fore fetlock injury. Due to the severity and prognosis of the injury, Dr. Benson and her counterparts made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize Havnameltdown.”
Jockey Luis Saez was transported to a hospital for further evaluation, but he was stable and conscious, according to the Preakness Stakes organizers.
“We are just devastated,” Baffert said in a post on Twitter. “This is a shock to everyone at our barn who love and care for these horses every day. Hanvameltdown was obviously hit pretty hard coming out of the gate.”
“We don’t know if that contributed to the injury, but we will be fully transparent with those reviewing this terrible accident. Right now, our thoughts are with Luis Saez and we are hopeful he will be okay.”
Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer, returns to this year’s Preakness Stakes after serving a lengthy suspension from the sport.
The 70-year-old was banned from all three Triple Crown races last year after his horse, Medina Spirit, tested positive for betamethasone – an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid sometimes used to relieve joint pain – during the Kentucky Derby in 2021.
The two-time Triple Crown winner has been tangled in a legal battle ever since, but his horses are once again eligible to participate in the 148th running of the Preakness.
However, Baffert’s return coincides with a difficult time for the sport.
Eight horses died at Churchill Downs – home of the Kentucky Derby – last month, with questions around animal welfare overshadowing this year’s middle jewel of the Triple Crown – which consists of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
The Preakness Stakes will take place on Saturday at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.
It will air in the US on NBC, Peacock, the NBC website and its app with coverage of all of Saturday’s races.
The big race will start at 6:50 p.m. ET.
The odds are from the Preakness official website and are correct as of 7 a.m. ET on May 20.
Any notion that this would be a triumphant return for Baffert were squashed by the trainer himself, who said the last year had been very difficult.
In an interview with The Athletic, Baffert said he wasn’t bitter from his suspension but argued that authorities “hung me out to dry.”
“What I went through, it wasn’t fun, but I just move forward. I don’t look back,” he said.
“We throw the word ‘doping’ around so loosely and no one corrects anyone. No one says anything. We don’t push back.
“We didn’t inject the horse. It was in an ointment. People in the industry understand, but we use that word, and no one corrects them.”
The controversy started after Medina Spirit, who died in December 2021, won the Kentucky Derby two years ago.
After the race, Baffert revealed that the horse had tested positive for elevated levels of betamethasone.
Betamethasone is an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid that is allowed in horse racing at a certain level but that threshold had been crossed in Medina Spirit’s case.
In February 2022, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced its decision to disqualify Medina Spirit.
In total, Baffert received a two-year suspension from Churchill Downs, a one-year suspension from the New York Racing Association, and was suspended from the 147th running of the Preakness Stakes in Maryland.
However, Baffert is now eligible to compete in what he says is his favorite race.
Baffert’s horse, National Treasure, is among the favorites for this year’s spectacle but was drawn in the unfavored No. 1 post position.
If it can overcome the odds, though, Baffert will win a record-breaking eighth Preakness Stakes.
National Treasure’s biggest obstacle will come in the form of race favorite Mage.
Ridden by jockey Javier Castellano, the three-year-old chestnut colt won the Kentucky Derby in April and looks well placed to take the next step towards a coveted Triple Crown.
“Everything that he did prior to the Derby has continued all the way through, so that type of consistency merits a shot at the Preakness,” Mage’s co-owner Ramiro Restrepo told reporters ahead of the race.
It was announced Friday that First Mission, one of the other favorites in the field, would be scratched from the race after owners Godolphin consulted the veterinary team.
“We are obviously very disappointed, but the welfare of the horse is our utmost concern, and we are going to take the necessary steps to determine the best course of action to get him back on the track,” Godolphin Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said.
Correction: This story was updated to reflect Havnameltdown was competing in an undercard race before the Preakness Stakes.
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As peak vacation season sails into view and the world shakes off the last shackles of the pandemic, it feels like the appetite for hitting the road has never been greater.
International tourism reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2023, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, with an estimated 235 million tourists traveling internationally in January, February and March. And experts are cautiously optimistic about a continued travel rebound.
Demand is high, with many popular destinations booking out earlier in the year.
Thankfully, there’s so much out there still to see and do.
Travel expert explains why you should book your dream vacation now
Here are 23 destination ideas from CNN Travel to get you started:
We could list new openings in Poland – such as Hotel Verte, the new Autograph Collection property in Warsaw, which threw open its gilded doors (it’s in a humongous Baroque palace) last August. But the reason you should visit Poland in 2023 isn’t for the chance to stay in a place fit for royalty. It’s to show solidarity with a country which has, in turn, shown solidarity to the people of Ukraine.
Sharing a 300-plus-mile border with a country under attack has meant that Poland has taken in more Ukrainian refugees than anywhere else. Add to that plummeting tourist numbers (though they’re on the rise again), and you have a tricky situation.
So whether you fancy that Warsaw palace, a city break to the likes of Krakow, Gdansk, Wrocław or Poznań – all hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border – or to get away from it all in the forests, lakes and mountains of the countryside – now’s your chance to do some good by taking a vacation. – Julia Buckley
Back in April, thousands of people descended on the town of Exmouth and the greater Ningaloo Peninsula, to witness a rare total solar eclipse as it became visible over the northwestern edge of Australia.
Organizers spent more than a year planning for the event, which lasted about a minute, and featured musical performances, educational opportunities to learn about science and astronomy, and a three-day festival.
But the state of Western Australia offers much more than some 60 seconds of wonder.
Spanning one-third of the entire continent of Australia, it stretches from the lively, growing state capital of Perth across deserts including the Great Victoria and Great Sandy to the wine country of Margaret River, the dramatic clifftops of the Kimberley and the quokka-covered Rottnest Island. – Lilit Marcus
England’s port city of Liverpool, best known around the world as the birthplace of The Beatles, has added another chapter to its musical legacy.
It’s the host city of Eurovision 2023, the spangly extravaganza of song that brings an influx of thousands of flag-waving fans from across the continent. The annual event is an opportunity for the city to bounce back after the ignominy of being stripped of its UNESCO World Heritage status in 2021.
In June, the city will celebrate 25 years of the Liverpool Biennial contemporary visual arts festival, as more than 30 international artists and collectives take over spaces in the city until September.
England is also marking the Year of the Coast in 2023, with food festivals and beach cleans taking place along the country’s shores. Just a half hour from Liverpool city center by train, Crosby Beach is the permanent home of sculptor Antony Gormley’s “Another Place,” where 100 cast-iron figures stand facing out to sea. – Maureen O’Hare
Charleston parades its past like no other US city, but it often glossed over the history of its Black residents. It’s been taking steps to fix that.
Enter the much-delayed International African American Museum, which is now expected to open in late June.
Located on the shoreline of the Cooper River in the spot where many Africans first set foot in North America, it will explore the lives of slaves and their descendants.
Visitors in late May and early June can enjoy the world-renowned Spoleto Festival featuring opera, theater, dance, musical acts and artist talks.
In March, foodies headed to the Charleston Wine and Food Festival to sample Lowcountry favorites.
For fancy Southern fare, try Magnolias. Opened in 1990, it helped spur the city’s culinary renaissance. For something informal, try Bertha’s Kitchen in North Charleston, where red rice with sausage, fried chicken and lima beans rule. The eatery even caught attention of “Roadfood” author Michael Stern. – Forrest Brown
Self-effacing Vilnius admitted in an ad campaign this year that nobody really knows where it is. If their brilliant video didn’t make you want to book a trip there immediately, perhaps this will: the capital of Lithuania celebrated its 700th anniversary on January 25, 2023.
To mark the milestone, a packed program of events, including music festivals and exhibitions, are being held throughout the year. But use the anniversary as a push to visit rather than following a program religiously.
The entire city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – putting it up there with its fellow V-cities, Venice and Vienna. Vilnius makes it on the list thanks to its Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings, all sitting on a medieval street plan, but it’s best known for its Baroque architecture.
Don’t miss the frothy bell tower of St. John’s church (you can climb it for sweeping city views) or the church of St. Casimir, topped by a giant crown. Got an eye for social media? This is Europe’s only capital city that allows hot air balloons to cruise over the city skyline. – JB
Brilliant blue waters, expansive coral reefs and hundreds of peaceful islands: Fiji is not a hard sell. But why go there in 2023? For one, the country only reopened post-Covid at the end of 2021, meaning that visitor numbers to the South Pacific paradise have yet to fully rebound.
While the country is spoiled for underwater beauty, take an opportunity to explore its above-ground treasures, too. The country’s lone UNESCO World Heritage site is the town of Levuka, a former capital and an important port, which is studded with British colonial-era buildings amid coconut and mango trees.
To learn about the local Indigenous communities, travelers can take part in a kava welcoming ceremony – named for the traditional drink at its center – or enjoy a lovo, a meal cooked by hot coals in an underground pit covered with banana leaves.
Fiji Airways now has direct flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco, making it relatively easy to get to the islands. As the Fijians say, bula! – LM
As the fate of the Amazon rainforest hangs in the balance, two eco-lodges around Manaus – the capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state, and gateway to the river – have used their pandemic pause to get even more environmentally friendly.
Juma Amazon Lodge, about 50 miles south of the city, is now fully powered by a new $400,000 solar plant, whose 268 double panels swagger nearly 40 feet into the air above the canopy (meaning no trees had to be cut). They’ve also built a biogas system to increase the efficiency of organic waste treatment, reducing annual carbon emissions by eight tons.
Meanwhile, Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge, northwest of Manaus on the Rio Negro river, opened an off-grid “advanced base” during the pandemic that’s 30 miles from the main lodge and accessible only via river.
Guests can take long jungle hikes through territory home to jaguars, pumas and giant armadillos in what’s one of the Amazon region’s most remote hotel facilities, then spend the afternoon in a hammock or by the pool. For 2023, the lodge is planning overnight stays in a creekside tent for small groups.
Don’t miss Manaus itself – eating behemoth Amazonian fish outside the pink 1896 opera house is a bucket list experience. – JB
There’s been no shortage of reasons to visit Greece’s second city in recent times, with a UNESCO-endorsed local food scene that recently celebrated the refurb and reopening of its century-old Modiano food market.
Throw in a popular waterfront and proximity to beautiful beaches and inland mountains, Thessaloniki is surely a contender for one of Europe’s best city-break destinations.
What could make it even better? How about a gleaming new metro system? All being well, November 2023 should see the opening of the main line of an infrastructure megaproject that will eventually connect the city’s downtown to its international airport. Driverless trains will whisk passengers through tunnels whose excavation has added to Thessaloniki’s already rich catalog of archeological discoveries, many of which will be on display in specially created museum stations. – Barry Neild
January 2023 saw the official opening of Rwanda’s most exciting hotel yet: Sextantio Rwanda, a collection of traditionally crafted huts on an island on Lake Kivu, one of Africa’s largest lakes.
It’s the first project outside Italy for Daniele Kihlgren, whose part-hotel, part-living history projects keep local tradition alive. A nonprofit delivering money straight to local communities, Sextantio sees guests fishing on the 1,000-square-mile lake, paddling in dug-out canoes, trying local banana beer and wildlife-spotting – and not just the chickens, cows, pigs and goats that roam around the property.
Of course, you’ll want to see gorillas. Adjoining Volcanoes National Park, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund opened the 4,500-square meter Ellen DeGeneres Campus in 2022. Its visitor center includes exhibits, virtual reality gorilla “encounters” and nature trails.
Over in Akagera National Park, white rhinos – transferred from South Africa in 2021 to aid conservation – are already calving. It’s easier to get there, too. A new route from London joins Brussels, Dubai, Guangzhou and Mumbai as the only direct flights to Kigali from outside the African continent. – JB
Voted the world’s most sustainable destination in the world for six years running, Sweden’s second-biggest city is finally emerging from the shadow of Stockholm.
Once a major trading and shipping town, Gothenburg is now considered to be one of the greenest destinations in Europe, with 274 square meters (2,950 square feet) of green space per citizen, while 95% of its hotels are certified as eco-friendly.
Although Gothenburg officially turned 400 in 2021, the celebrations were put on ice because of the global pandemic. But they’re finally taking place in 2023, so it’s a great time to visit.
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustav, who celebrates 50 years on the throne this year, will be in town on June 4, Gothenburg’s official birthday, and the city’s major anniversary festival is being held in the Frihamnen port district from June 2 to 5, with concerts and art events among the activities on offer.
The festivities will continue throughout the summer until the September 3 kick off of Göteborgsvarvet Marathon, a new 26-mile race following on from the city’s popular half marathon on May 13. – Tamara Hardingham-Gill
When travelers think of the United Arab Emirates, the dazzling skyline of Dubai is usually what springs to mind.
But the UAE has a lot to offer nature lovers too – particularly the northernmost emirate Ras al-Khaimah, which is aiming to become the Middle East’s most sustainable destination by 2025 thanks to a new “Balanced Tourism” strategy.
Just 45 minutes from Dubai, it’s often called the “adventure Emirate,” and for good reason. Offering beaches, deserts and mountains, outdoor attractions abound, such as sand boarding, trekking, wakeboarding, skydiving, scuba diving and even the world’s longest zipline.
But it’s not all about the adrenaline rush. Ras Al Khaimah is where you’ll find the highest restaurant in the United Arab Emirates, 1484 by Puro, which sits in the emirate’s Jebel Jais Mountains. Culture seekers can head for the historic Dhayah Fort, which dates back to the Late Bronze Age (1600-1300 BC).
Where to stay? Luxury hospitality brand Anantara is opening a fabulous new resort there later this year that will offer 174 guestrooms, suites and overwater villas along with specialty restaurants and a spa. – Karla Cripps
Sharing borders with Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Myanmar, landlocked Laos has long been a must-hit spot for time-rich travelers making their way through the Southeast Asia circuit.
But now, thanks to the 2021 opening of a semi-high-speed railway, it’s easier than ever to get around the country at a quicker pace, shaving hours off journeys that previously took full days to travel.
You’re still going to have to make some hard choices – there’s a lot to see in Laos.
Towering karst peaks await visitors to adventure-haven Vang Vieng, while UNESCO-listed Luang Prabang is filled with French-colonial heritage, Buddhist ritual and natural beauty. (Luxury seekers will want to check into the Rosewood Luang Prabang, with its stylish hilltop tents)
The mysterious Plain of Jars, a megalithic archaeological site, can be found in the Xiangkhoang Plateau. For a once-in-a-lifetime experience that makes a difference, head for Bokeo Province and join one of the Gibbon Experience’s overnight treks. Guests of this tourism-based conservation project spend the night in the world’s tallest treehouses – only accessible by zipline – among wild, black-crested gibbons. – KC
Rolling hills, medieval buildings – and the officially crowned world’s best cheese. Welcome to Gruyères, Switzerland.
Everywhere you look in this tiny, hilltop town, there’s a different picture-perfect view – from the medieval market square to the turreted 13th-century castle. A doable day trip from Geneva, summer promises hiking opportunities aplenty, while winter allows for venturing to the nearby Moléson-sur-Gruyères ski resort.
To taste Gruyères’ namesake fromage, stop off at the wood-lined Chalet de Gruyères. And to learn how cheesemakers perfect this creamy goodness, head to La Maison du Gruyère factory. For further foodie delights, there’s the Maison Cailler chocolate factory – from the outside it looks like something from a Wes Anderson movie, inside it offers a glimpse into the secrets of Swiss chocolate making.
Gruyères is also home to the surreal HR Giger Museum, celebrating the work of the acclaimed Swiss artist behind the eponymous alien in the 1979 movie “Alien.” A drink at the museum’s bar, designed by Giger in an eerie skeletal aesthetic, offers an antidote to Gruyères’ fairytale vibe. – Francesca Street
A modern Indigenous restaurant in Minneapolis has earned one of the culinary world’s highest honors, and it’s not alone in shining light on Native communities in the area.
At Owamni, a James Beard Award winner for best new restaurant, Indigenous ingredients – trout, bison, sweet potatoes and more – make up “decolonized” menus where ingredients such as wheat flour and beef are absent. The restaurant is a partnership between chef Sean Sherman, Oglala Lakota and Dana Thompson, who is a lineal descendant of the Wahpeton-Sisseton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes.
Earlier this year, one of the pair’s community-owned initiatives, Indigenous Food Lab, opened a market in Minneapolis’ Midtown Global Market, a former Sears building housing businesses that represent more than 22 cultures.
The open-air Four Sisters Farmers Market (Thursdays June through October) also focuses on Indigenous products. And at the Minnesota History Center in neighboring St. Paul, the exhibit “Our Home: Native Minnesota” looks at thousands of years of Native history in the state. – Marnie Hunter
Caribbean coast destinations such as the Rosario archipelago or the UNESCO heritage list city of Cartagena are rightly top of most Colombia travel wish lists, but also deserving a look-in is the country’s somewhat unsung capital of Bogotá.
Yes, it’s a messy, traffic-snarled urban sprawl, but it’s also a high-altitude crucible of culture and cuisine. There are tours that chart the city’s transformation from graffiti wild west to incredible street art gallery.
Equally colorful are the restaurants that make the most of Colombia’s diverse natural larder of flora on menus that range from delicious peasant dishes to mind-blowing Michelin-level gastronomy. And then there’s the coffee!
The congestion (except on regular cycle-only days) thins quickly on its outskirts, allowing day trips to see historic and modern treasures. Itineraries include Lake Guatavita, where conquistadors once plundered sunken gold offerings left by indigenous Muisca people, or the majestic subterranean Zipaquirá salt cathedral. – BN
Famed for its mountain treks through ancient trails that once facilitated trade between the Himalayas and India, Nepal’s stunning Mustang Valley sits on the doorstep of Tibet.
Expect to hear a lot more about this remote destination in the coming months thanks to the arrival of the soon-to-open Shinta Mani Mustang. Part of the Bensley Collection, this all-inclusive resort perched above the small town of Jomsom in the Lower Mustang will offer luxury seekers 29 suites inspired by traditional Tibetan homes.
In addition to trekking, Mustang visitors can explore ancient villages and Buddhist monasteries. Also not to be missed, the man-made Mustang Caves sit above the Gandaki River and are filled with 2,000-year-old Buddhist sculptures and paintings.
Getting to the Mustang Valley is part of the adventure. Travelers will need to take a 25-minute flight from capital Kathmandu to Pokhara then hop on another plane for the 20-minute journey to Jomsom. The views alone might make this option more pleasing to some than the alternative – a 12-hour drive from Kathmandu. – KC
From the spectacular wildlife to the beautiful national parks and beaches, Tanzania is absolutely bursting with visual splendor.
The East African country holds a seemingly endless list of incredible sights, with Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, UNESCO world heritage site Serengeti National Park, and the Zanzibar Archipelago, among its many highlights.
This year, flag carrier Air Tanzania will launch new routes to West and Central Africa, along with the UK, in a bid to transform the country’s largest airport in Dar es Salaam into a transport and logistics hub, while construction on the country’s first toll expressway is also scheduled to begin.
Meanwhile, the Delta Hotels by Marriott brand made its Africa debut with the opening of its Dar es Salaam Oyster Bay property earlier this year. –– THG
Could this finally be the year tourists can see the Grand Egyptian Museum? After delay upon delay, the museum is expecting a 2023 opening.
GEM will be the largest museum dedicated to a single civilization, costing around $1 billion and holding the entire King Tut collection. See video here of a CNN insider visit.
If you arrive in Cairo before it opens, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square can still scratch your antiquity itch.
While the Pyramids of Giza are the city’s tour-de-force, there’s still more to see. Start with Islamic Cairo. This area has one of the largest collections of historic Islamic architecture in the world. While there, visit the Al-Azhar mosque, which dates back to 970.
The city also has a rich Christian tradition. Coptic Cairo, part of Old Cairo, has a concentration of Christian sites that pre-date the arrival of Islam.
If you need a respite from Cairo’s cacophony, Al Azhar Park has a nice expanse of greenery and a design inspired by historic Islamic gardens. And the affluent neighborhood of Zamalek, which sits on an island in the Nile River, serves up restaurants, antique stores and swanky hotels. – FB
Yayoi Kusama has the distinction of being the best-selling living female artist on the planet. In particular, she has become a global icon for her sculptures of giant polka-dotted pumpkins, one of which was reinstalled at the pier of Naoshima, one of Japan’s “art islands,” in 2022 after being swept into the sea the year before.
However, Naoshima is so much more than its famous yellow gourd or its works by Kusama.
There are five small, walkable “art islands” in the Seto Inland Sea, which is located between the main islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku in southeastern Japan. The largest collection of things to see – not to mention the only hotel – is on Naoshima. Together, the five champion modern and contemporary art, with emphasis on Japanese artists.
Don’t come here expecting calligraphy and other classical forms. Instead, be awed by Tadao Ando’s massive stone monoliths, a tiny gallery where patrons can listen to nothing but the beats of human hearts, a makeshift thunderstorm created inside a wooden house and an exhibit where jumping in and taking a bath is intended to be part of the artistic experience. – LM
With direct flights to Belize City from about a dozen North American airports, this Central American country is a low-hassle hop for many travelers during the November to April high season.
Most visitors head directly to Belize’s Caribbean coastline. The country’s largest island, Ambergris Caye, sits next to Belize Barrier Reef – the world’s second largest coral reef system. Margaritaville Beach Resort opened on the island in March, and “eco-luxury” resort Alaia Belize opened in 2021.
Farther south, the Great Blue Hole – a massive underwater sinkhole – is an aquatic magnet for both scuba divers and aerial photographers.
But Belize offers way more than its enticing islands.
Lush rainforests, cave networks, winding rivers and rich Mayan archaeological sites invite exploration in a country that’s had an evolving sustainable tourism master plan since 2012. Ruins of the Mayan city of Altun Ha are just about an hour north of Belize City. Or farther west, Lamanai is one of Belize’s largest and most fascinating Mayan sites. – MH
Mexico is arguably as rich in culinary heritage as it is in Mesoamerican archaeological treasures, and Eva Longoria explores many distinctive flavors in her series “Searching for Mexico,” which aired on CNN this year.
The state of Oaxaca, which Longoria visits, has an especially deep well of culinary traditions. Plus, Oaxaca produces most of the world’s mezcal.
Tlayudas, known as Oaxacan pizzas, are a street food staple. A large corn tortilla is typically layered with lard, beans, traditional Oaxacan cheese, pork and other toppings such as avocado and tomato. The state is also renowned for its seven mole sauces, with recipes that may call for dozens of ingredients from chiles and sesame seeds to chocolate and dried fruit.
In the city of Oaxaca, Mercado Benito Juárez is one of many markets across the state selling items such as dried chiles, fresh produce, handicrafts and crunchy grasshoppers. To sample the state’s increasingly popular beverage, the town of Santiago Matatlán is the place for mezcal distillery tours and tastings. – MH
It doesn’t have Montreal’s French flair or Toronto’s international oomph, so the Canadian capital can get overlooked. That would be a mistake. Graceful and understated, Ottawa has its own draws.
Music lovers should take note of two Ottawa Jazz Festivals. The winter edition took place in February, and the summer edition will run from June 23-30.
If you love hockey, watch the Ottawa Senators do their NHL thing at the Canadian Tire Centre in the western suburbs. If that ticket is too pricey, check out the Ottawa 67’s, a more affordable option of junior men’s hockey games at downtown’s TD Place Arena.
The Rideau Canal turns into the world’s largest skating rink from sometime in January to late February or early March, depending on ice thickness. It’s free and accessible 24/7. When it’s warmer, it’s a great spot for people and boat watching.
A don’t-miss is Parliament Hill, home to Canada’s federal government and the visually striking Parliament buildings on a promontory overlooking the Ottawa River. – FB
There’s considerable change brewing in Uganda’s travel offerings at the moment with the East African country looking beyond the traditional staples of safari and wildlife spotting to appeal to both regional and international visitors.
Keen to revitalize post-Covid tourism in all corners of the country, not just the big-ticket businesses offering wealthy visitors a glimpse of the Big Five beasts or mountain gorillas, it’s turned to marketing its other attributes.
And why not? From the expansive shores of Lake Victoria to the snowy Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda is a beautiful wilderness playground, with opportunities for adventure including treks through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or up to the craters of the Virunga volcano chain or whitewater rafting along the Victoria Nile.
There’s also an emphasis on connecting visitors with Ugandan communities – promising tastes of Ugandan food, music and culture. Last year saw the launch of the Uganda Cycling Trail, a 1,600-kilometer mainly unpaved 22-stage route designed to appeal to all levels of cyclist from hardcore solo bikepackers to fully-guided easy riders. – BN
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A frog that looks like it’s made of tempered chocolate. A rainbow-colored fish that dwells in the ocean’s “twilight zone.” A hairy sloth with a coconut-shaped head.
These are just a few of the hundreds of newfound species that scientists described in 2022. The animals join a growing list of more than 1.25 million species that have been scientifically described and cataloged since the 18th century.
But what defines an organism as a species that’s new to science? And what exactly is a species, for that matter?
Biologists have wrestled with the concept for about as long as the field of biology has existed. Renowned naturalist Charles Darwin wrote in 1859: “No one definition has as yet satisfied all naturalists; yet every naturalist knows vaguely what he means when he speaks of a species.”
Fast-forward to the present, and the debate hasn’t changed much. “There are many definitions, and none of them applies broadly to all life on the planet,” said Bruno de Medeiros, assistant curator of insects at the Field Museum in Chicago.
And yet, recognizing and distinguishing between species is vital — and not only for biologists. It’s also necessary for cultivating the food we eat, treating diseases caused by different pathogens, and conserving endangered animals, plants and habitats.
The concept is also a critical part of understanding our own evolutionary history and defining our relationship to all life on the planet.
Teeming with life, Earth is covered with organisms of all shapes and sizes. Some are too small to see without a microscope. Others may tower hundreds of feet tall. Myriad life forms may gestate in a womb or sprout in soil, hatch from an egg or germinate in a corpse. They could be scaly, chitinous, furry or feathered; perhaps they are leafy, dotted with cilia or slick with slime. They might roam for thousands of miles or spend their lifetimes rooted in one spot.
Scientists make sense of all this biological diversity by classifying organisms based on shared ancestry and features such as physical appearance, internal structures and reproduction. A universal, hierarchical classification system was proposed in 1753 by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus, and it’s still generally followed today. This branch of science is known as taxonomy.
The broadest categories for all life on Earth are the domains. There are three domains — Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota — and they organize life based on cellular structure. Eukaryotes have cells that typically contain a single nucleus housing DNA: All multicellular life — animals, plants and fungi — as well as some types of unicellular life, are eukaryotes. Bacteria and Archaea are single-celled microorganisms that don’t have a nucleus, and they are evolutionarily distinct from one another.
The next category is kingdoms. In each kingdom, there are subcategories: phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. With each subcategory, the criteria for grouping organisms become progressively more specific and selective.
For example, humans are animals. That means we’re eukaryotes in the Animalia kingdom. Our phylum is Chordata, which includes any animal with a spinal cord. We are part of the class Mammalia. Within mammals, we are primates, sharing ancestry with apes, monkeys and lemurs. Our branch of the primate family tree is Hominidae, which includes our closest relatives: the great apes, such as gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.
Finally, we arrive at our genus and species — and our scientific name — Homo sapiens. We are the only surviving lineage in the Homo genus. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), our last remaining relatives in the Homo group, went extinct about 40,000 years ago.
Theoretically, “a species is a set of populations or one population of organisms that shares a common evolutionary history and reproduces with one another but not outside that group,” according to Nancy Simmons, curator-in-charge of mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
If an animal population in a certain locale looks more or less the same, behaves the same, and mates and generates fertile offspring only with each other, “usually, we call this a species,” de Madeiros added.
But color, markings and even size can vary widely within a species; this is true for many species of spiders. Not all life reproduces sexually, so that criteria isn’t universal for defining a species, either. And in some organisms that sexually reproduce, closely related species may interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Coydogs, for example, are fertile hybrids of coyotes (Canis latrans) and dogs (Canis familiaris). Humans and Neanderthals interbred, and portions of Neanderthal DNA linger in the human genome, in people of non-African descent.
It can take millions of years for new species to evolve; often, what biologists are observing is evolution in progress. Closely related species can differ from each other a lot or a little — anatomically and genetically — depending on environmental circumstances and when they diverged from a shared ancestor.
In the best-case scenarios for describing new species, there are many data sources, Simmons explained. A candidate typically differs physically from its close relatives, with different measurements, different morphology (anatomical structures), or different colors or patterns.
“But then ideally we’d have other lines of evidence too — different genetic code or some sort of DNA variation,” Simmons told CNN. Behavior can also distinguish between species. In bats, for example, echolocation calls are often species-specific.
All these criteria — anatomy, genetics, behavior and location — enabled Simmons and her colleagues to describe a newfound orange-and-black bat species, Myotis nimbaensis, in 2021.
In recent decades, genetic data has transformed classification. Genomic analysis can reveal species-defining differences in near-identical organisms, as de Madeiros discovered while analyzing DNA sequences for palm flower weevils — a type of beetle with an elongated snout — that he had collected in Brazil in 2013 and 2014.
Initially, he thought there was a mistake in the data. “I had identical beetles that were clearly very distantly related species,” he said. But when he reexamined the insects, which belonged to the genus Anchylorhynchus, he noticed subtle differences in concave depressions in the males’ undersides. These indentations help the males fit snugly on top of females while mating, and likely are important for helping beetles identify and mate with females from the correct species, de Madeiros said.
In many ways, genetic data has made it easier for scientists to tell species apart — but it has also raised its own set of issues, particularly when closely related organisms that look alike and exhibit similar behavior are also very similar genetically.
“We get into questions of how much of a percentage of a difference in the genetic code do you have to have to be a distinct species — and people disagree on that, too,” Simmons said. “So, even when we have genetic data, you don’t find complete agreement about how to interpret it.”
However difficult it might be to define a species, scientists won’t be running out of new discoveries anytime soon. By some estimates, Earth is home to approximately 8.7 million species — about 6.5 million living on land and 2.2 million in the oceans, which means that roughly 86% of land species and 91% of marine species are yet to be found and described.
“We have a great challenge ahead to keep describing this diversity — how it evolves and how it will continue existing on our planet,” de Madeiros said.
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy rolled the dice.
As he took his short walk from the speaker’s suite to the House floor on Wednesday evening, the California Republican wasn’t entirely sure he would have the votes on the most important bill of his young speakership: To raise the $31.4 trillion national debt limit on Republican support alone.
McCarthy knew he was close but couldn’t guarantee it, according to a person familiar with the matter.
After months of internal discussions, the speaker had been engaged in round-the-clock talks with pockets of dissident members, cutting deals and horse-trading to pick off one GOP vote after another in his high-stakes fight – all an attempt to show the White House and the country that his party speaks with one voice on the consequential economic battle.
But one Republican member was absent on Wednesday – and some hard-right members would not explicitly say how they’d vote, forcing the speaker to make a risky bet. In the end, it was two Democratic absences that helped McCarthy: Allowing him to pass the bill on the narrowest of margins, 217-215, and now shifting the focus to the White House and Senate Democrats.
“We are the only ones to lift the debt limit to make sure this economy is not in jeopardy,” McCarthy beamed in the Capitol’s ornate Statuary Hall moments after the gavel came down, calling on President Joe Biden to negotiate a spending-cut deal he has resisted for months. He added: “You’ve underestimated us.”
It was an effort that was months in the making. Immediately after securing the speakership in a messy, 15-ballot race, McCarthy made the concerted decision to avoid the pitfalls of a predecessor, John Boehner, and allow rank-and-file members to feel like they could shape the ultimate package rather than being steamrolled by leadership. A dozen listening sessions were held by two members of his whip team, Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, starting in February and continuing with them calling every member through this past weekend. Then there were regular meetings of the so-called “five families” – nicknamed after the mob families in “The Godfather” – that represent various ideological factions of the conference and were led by Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana.
But even after they had agreed to an outline of their deal last week, McCarthy continued to run into pitfalls. In a meeting last week in the basement of the Capitol, he and his team moved to appease conservatives who wanted to target tax breaks for biofuels in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. McCarthy agreed, prompting a furious pushback by Iowa Republicans, including a tense phone call between Gov. Kim Reynolds and McCarthy.
It was an issue that could have derailed the bill and one that put McCarthy in familiar crosshairs between competing factions of his conference. But he ultimately cut a deal past 2 a.m. on Wednesday and helped move closer to securing the votes more than 15 hours later.
“They realized that you were not going to be able to steamroll four people from Iowa,” said Rep. Zach Nunn, an Iowa freshman, referring to the four GOP members of the delegation.
Yet more problems emerged, and McCarthy moved to head them off. Rep. Nancy Mace told reporters Wednesday morning she was ready to vote against the plan over her concerns it didn’t go far enough to balance the budget. But after an afternoon meeting in his office, the South Carolina Republican said she would back the plan. The promise, according to a source familiar with the matter: Votes on bills dealing with women’s access to reproductive health care and a vote on a bill dealing with active shooter alerts.
“I haven’t gotten rolled yet by the leadership on anything,” Mace said, defending her deal-cutting.
The ultimate plan would raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion and propose to implement a slew of spending cuts to domestic programs, in addition to new work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries and provisions targeting Biden’s domestic and regulatory agenda. It would save $4.8 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But the $1.5 trillion increase would only last through March 2024 at the latest.
In a private meeting in the Capitol, GOP leaders debated how high of a debt limit increase they should seek. Some had floated odd numbers because it sounded more intentional than an even number. One member suggested $1.69 trillion, but that was rejected because of the innuendos associated with such a figure, according to three GOP sources. Ultimately, a $1. 5 trillion increase was the number they settled on.
Republicans say the deal-cutting that has since transpired was the result of new relationships forged from McCarthy’s drawn-out fight for the speaker’s gavel in January.
“Absolutely, it has reaped benefits to everyone in the conference,” Rep. French Hill, a Republican of Arkansas, said of the relationships that were formed.
But passing the bill was never a sure bet – something McCarthy sensed last week as he moved to appease conservatives and push for a repeal of energy tax breaks.
“This is going to come back to bite us,” McCarthy warned conservatives last week, according to a person in the room, as they demanded the bill repeal green energy tax credits and other provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. McCarthy feared taking that step would unlock a process allowing the Senate to later jam the House on thorny tax-related provisions.
But he had a more immediate problem: The governor of Iowa.
A fired-up Reynolds, the two-term Republican governor, was on the phone with McCarthy on Tuesday, relaying concerns over the provision in his debt ceiling plan to repeal tax breaks for ethanol use, according to people familiar with the call, warning it would be detrimental to farmers in her state.
All four GOP members of the Iowa delegation, who were also in constant communication with the governor, informed leadership in a Tuesday night meeting that clawing back the tax credits was a “red line” for them, according to sources in the room.
McCarthy now had a math problem. His allies had believed that the Iowa Republicans, some of the closest allies of leadership, would swallow the provisions and ultimately side with their party in their high-stakes fight with the White House. But they had miscalculated, forcing the speaker to cut a last-ditch deal after repeatedly insisting they would not open the bill to changes.
Nunn, the Iowa Republican, told CNN he learned about the deal at around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, when Graves came to his office along with Rep. Michelle Fischbach, a Minnesota Republican who had similar issues with the ethanol provisions.
“We had been in conversation throughout the entire day, but by Tuesday, we had really ratcheted up,” Nunn told CNN. “Iowa nice also means Iowa stubborn.”
It was an issue that GOP leaders had sought to avoid. They had worried that if they cut a deal with the Iowa delegation, they would have to make similar deals with members from fossil-fuel heavy districts in order to make them happy.
And the leadership knew if they were going to make 11th-hour changes to appease Midwestern Republicans, they’d have to offer some concessions to conservatives as well, and ultimately agreed to a faster implementation of the Medicaid work requirements. Yet even that wasn’t enough to satisfy some conservatives who had been pushing for that change – namely GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was upset that the deal was cut at the last minute after the leaders said they wouldn’t change the bill, according to people familiar with the matter. He was one of four who later voted against the plan.
Rep. Ken Buck, a member of the whip team, said in the end, he voted “no” because the GOP bill didn’t do enough to reduce the deficit. The Colorado Republican told CNN, “$58 trillion with Biden’s numbers and $53 trillion, it’s just too much debt.”
But one member that McCarthy had been lobbying came through: freshman Rep. Eli Crane. The Arizona Republican had been wavering on the bill and was being heavily whipped by leadership, but said he ultimately backed the legislation because of his constituents.
“We conducted a poll at a teletown hall last night and the people that responded overwhelmingly supported this bill,” he told CNN. “It kind of surprised me, honestly.”
With this victory secured, McCarthy could later have an even bigger test on his hands: If he is forced to ask his conference to get behind any deal with Biden to raise the debt limit – something that almost certainly wouldn’t go as far as the House plan for spending cuts.
His members are watching him closely.
“What Kevin has assured us is he’s not coming back and presenting a watered-down version,” said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the House Freedom Caucus.
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It all seems so daunting: plastics in the ocean, dying coral reefs, entire species being wiped out – but don’t click away in despair!
There really are things everyone can do to help make the ocean cleaner and keep our environment healthier.
Here are some easy (or mostly easy) life changes that have a big impact on our environment.
Whenever you eat fish, make sure you choose a sustainable variety that isn’t endangered.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Seafood Watch” program has online guides detailing which fish are your best bets. All of these directories, broken up by region, can be downloaded into a printable pocket guide – so if you’re a seafood lover, it’s a handy resource to keep nearby.
The most consumed seafoods in the US are shrimp, salmon and tuna. If those are among your go-to choices, some more environmentally responsible options to look for include shrimp from the US or Canada; salmon caught in the US Pacific or Canada; and canned tuna labeled “pole-caught,” “pole-and-line-caught,” or “troll-caught.”
How your fish is caught is important. You want to make sure you’re not consuming fish caught in nets that are notorious for trapping “bycatch” – turtles, seabirds and whales often get caught in those lines and die.
And since whales do an excellent job trapping planet-warming carbon emissions – even better than trees – keeping them in the ocean helps us all.
This is a big one…and one of the worst problems facing the ocean, landfills and even our bodies!
Jennifer Savage of Surfrider Foundation suggests supporting businesses that avoid single-use plastics.
If your favorite restaurant still uses plastics, she tells diners to refuse the plastic forks and gently suggest the management move to a more sustainable takeaway option (like bamboo utensils and paper containers and straws) or – even better – go with washable plates and cutlery.
“It saves money, too. If they’re spending all this money buying single-use plastic, a small investment in a dishwasher and reusable cutlery will save money in the long run.”
Also, she says, consumers are realizing they prefer the less-disposable options.
“People love it, people are so much happier. Think about how much better it feels to have a meal with metal utensils and a real plate.”
As consumers begin to worry about things like microplastics making their way into their bodies, this is a “no-brainer” for restaurants, she says.
“They found plastic in our bodies…people don’t want to eat off plastic plates with plastic utensils.”
Surfrider Foundation even has a helpful online guide, highlighting ocean-friendly restaurants.
It’s important to realize that most plastic doesn’t get recycled, according to Savage. She says the US rate of plastic recycling is only about 5% to 6%.
The number system on the bottom of plastic items are not a guarantee they will be recycled. Things marked 1 and 2 — and on rare occasion, 5 — are your best bets, experts told CNN, depending on what your municipality can handle.
“Things that have a number on them … that’s just a fallacy. That stuff just gets sorted out and put into the landfill,” Savage says. Ditto for that “chasing arrow” symbol you see on the bottom of many plastic containers, she says. Most of it still isn’t recyclable.
Some states, including California, are starting to crack down on that misleading labeling and aren’t allowing the symbol to appear on plastic that isn’t recyclable.
So whenever you can: skip single-use plastic and Styrofoam. Support businesses that are part of the solution. And talk to your representatives about phasing it out.
Picking up trash on the beach won’t solve the problem on its own, but it is really important, says Savage.
“At that moment in time, you’re going to have a cleaner beach. You will have less plastic in your environment. Cleaning it up and leaving it better than you found it makes you feel good.”
And that “feeling good” often leads to activism. “Next thing you know, they’re going to city council meetings, contacting their representatives.”
Another bonus of participating in a beach clean-up? It allows organizations to gather data about the most common items that end up as beach litter.
“In California, you don’t see as many single-use plastic bags, so you don’t see them [on the beach as often] anymore. It helps people to see what the biggest problems are. Whether it’s plastic chip bags, or cigarette butts, or whatever.”
Autumn Blum is a cosmetic chemist by day, and a shark-obsessed scuba diver on the weekends.
She spent years formulating skin products for other companies before striking out on her own to create a mineral sunscreen business. Her inspiration? Seeing a group of snorkelers surrounded by a circle of oily film on the water, formed by the chemical sunscreens they had slathered on. She was horrified, knowing the chemicals were deadly for coral and many fish.
“There are so many things that impact our waters. Something that we use on our bodies should not be one of them. Period,” says Blum. “That’s an easy piece that we can change to make a positive impact.”
Blum says recent chemical sunscreen bans are already making a difference in places like Hawaii, with reefs coming back to life. She’s also encouraged by efforts to renew coral reefs via coral planting.
There’s still no mutually agreed-upon term to describe what’s “reef-safe,” so what you really need to do is avoid certain ingredients that are known to be harmful, Blum says.
Avoid microbeads
Blum also encourages consumers to make sure they don’t buy products that contain microbeads.
After you wash them off your face or body, those microbeads go down the drain, pass right through your local wastewater plant, and dump into the ocean. From there, they can be eaten by fish.
Humans then eat the fish that have eaten the microbeads…and that’s another way we end up with microplastics in our bodies.
Shark-friendly moisturizer
Many new moisturizers are touting “squalane” as their new miracle ingredient.
“Squalane is considered a bio-mimic ingredient, which means your body recognizes it,” Blum tells CNN.
It is a common ingredient in sunscreens, cosmetics, and high-end skin products. “The unfortunate thing about squalane is that it’s frequently obtained from shark livers,” says Blum.
Many species of sharks are facing extinction, and several of those species are considered “critically endangered.”
Plant-based squalanes work just as well as shark-based ones, Blum says. So when reading your ingredient label, make sure it says “vegan squalane” or “plant-based squalane.” Otherwise, advises Blum, assume it comes from sharks.
Now for the good news: Materials are being developed that could revolutionize all our packaging, Blum says.
Mycelium, made from mushrooms, performs a lot like current plastics.
Meanwhile, researchers at Yale have discovered a separate fungus with tantalizing abilities to break down polyurethane. It will be awhile, Blum says, but “really cool” technology based on plastic-eating mushrooms could be in our future.
“It’s not commercial-ready, but it’s on the horizon,” she says.
So forget “The Last of Us.” The mushrooms may save us all.
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President Joe Biden’s campaign didn’t respond to the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign kick-off because, though there is now a major donor summit on the books for next week, there still technically is no Biden campaign.
What there is instead is an acceptance among most Democratic leaders that they may still have to wait a while for Biden to make it official – and a grudging embrace of that.
To the confident advisers in the Biden orbit and their wider circle of supporters, the Kennedy challenge only serves to reinforce the president’s strength. Kennedy and spiritual author Marianne Williamson – mocked at a daily White House press briefing after her primary campaign launch – are the extent of the challenge Biden has drawn.
The Democratic National Committee has made very clear, meanwhile, that the party apparatus is aligned with Biden. No plans for primary debates are underway. A White House aide did not respond when asked for comment about Kennedy’s kick-off.
The furthest that New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley, who has been critical of Biden’s efforts to stop his state from holding its traditional first-in-the-nation primary, would go when asked about Kennedy’s candidacy was to say, “You just never know what catches the fancy of the voters.”
“I think the president’s done a fantastic job. The amount of accomplishments is simply breathtaking,” Buckley said. “I don’t see a singular issue galvanizing opposition to him.”
For at least a few hours on Wednesday, though, it looked like a real challenge. Like the bar across Boston Common that has the iconic “Cheers” sign but doesn’t actually look much like the set of the sitcom inside, Kennedy launch event at the Boston Park Plaza – with the “I’m a Kennedy Democrat” signs waving, the security with earpieces buzzing around – could, with a squint, look like any of the many campaigns from his famous family, including two against incumbent Democratic presidents, both of which ended with Republican wins.
What many attendees were there for, they said, was Kennedy-style truth telling. What many of them cheered most loudly for through his meandering speech – “this is what happens when you censor somebody for 18 years,” he joked with an hour left to go – were the oblique references to his Covid-19 vaccine skepticism. That skepticism has ostracized Kennedy from nearly every scientist, most Democratic leaders and many members of his family.
Kennedy acknowledged that distance from his family, previously reported by CNN, by naming those family members who did attend the event, as well as others he said had written him “beautiful letters of love” about his launch even though they are opposed to him running.
Inside the crowded ballroom on Wednesday, Kennedy told hundreds of supporters he knows he’s already being counted out.
That, he said, was part of the point, and what made him just like his father and namesake, whose 1968 primary campaign took on Lyndon Johnson.
“He was running against a president in his own party. He was running against a war. He was running at a time of unprecedented polarization in our country,” Kennedy said, calling his father getting into the 1968 race feeling like he had no chance to win.
“That hopelessness of his campaign,” Kennedy said, “freed him to tell the truth to the American people.”
Former Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a two-time presidential candidate from the left, compared Kennedy to Paul Revere in his own introduction of the candidate. Kennedy noted that he’d timed his campaign launch to the anniversary of that ride, even reciting a bit of the famous Henry Longfellow poem, which he noted his grandmother Rose had made all her 29 grandchildren memorize.
A new American Revolution is coming, he said, calling his campaign a mission to “end the corrupt merger of state and corporate power.”
But much of Kennedy’s speech returned to themes of how he had been trying to tell people what he thought was right, despite the government working against him – whether in his environmental work or when he called for an end to Covid-19 lockdowns.
As a corner of Twitter lit up with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” jokes following the introduction of his wife Cheryl Hines (a star in the show), Kennedy plowed through his concerns at length. There were mentions of the CIA. There were mentions of the butterflies he worried his grandchildren would never get to see because of environmental degradation and the songbirds they’d never get to hear. There was an extended critique of the American health care system, which he said has failed in not effectively treating chronic diseases. “If I have not significantly dropped the number of children with chronic disease by the end of my second term, I do not want to get reelected,” he said. There were questions about whether the war in Ukraine is in the national interest.
Kennedy knows he gets dismissed as a purveyor of misinformation, he said in his speech, but “a lot of the misinformation is just statements that depart from government orthodoxy.”
More than an hour into his speech, the crowd erupted as he spoke about the rise in autism diagnoses since 1989, arguing that he has never met someone his age with autism.
“Why aren’t we asking the question – what happened?” Kennedy asked.
Over two hours – including when a fire alarm briefly interrupted the speech – Kennedy never explicitly said the word “vaccine” once.
“He’s a truth teller,” said Rich Prunier, a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, who remembered meeting John F. Kennedy during his 1956 Senate campaign and attended Wednesday’s event.
Asked what he felt Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. tells the truth about, Prunier said, “name a subject.” His wife – wearing a matching “I’m a Kennedy Democrat” 2024 T-shirt – held up her copy of Kennedy’s book about “The Real Anthony Fauci.”
Prunier, who said he has received other vaccines but none of the Covid-19 shots, said he had voted for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020, but abstained in the 2020 general election because he didn’t like Biden or Donald Trump. He said he just peeled his Sanders bumper sticker off and will soon be replacing it with the Kennedy one he just picked up.
Elsewhere in the crowd, a small group posed for an iPhone photo while saying, “Freedom!”
Karen Huntley, a 60-year-old bookkeeper who’d come from Connecticut after reading about the launch from a well-known vaccine skeptic, said she wasn’t ready to commit but that Kennedy “sounds like a good candidate” because of his position on vaccines.
Huntley said she’d voted for Trump twice, but wouldn’t again – because of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration effort that helped accelerate development of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“I consider Trump the father of the vaccine,” she said.
His opposition to the vaccine, many leading Democrats say, disqualified Kennedy immediately.
“Being a vaccine denier and causing harm to public health is not progressive,” California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, one of the newest progressive leaders elected to Congress, told CNN. “The Democratic Party – and the progressive wing – will be solidly behind President Biden. There is no support or appetite for a challenger.”
Vaccine skepticism led Kennedy to a meeting at Trump Tower during the 2016 transition, after which he said the then-president-elect asked him to chair a commission on vaccines (the Trump transition later denied this, and the commission never came to be).
Asked back then what his father or late uncles Ted Kennedy or John F. Kennedy would think of Trump as president, Robert F. Kennedy said, “He’s probably come into office less encumbered by ideology or by obligations than anybody who’s won the presidency since Andrew Jackson. We’ll see what happens.”
By 2020, he said he had fully turned on Trump.
“He’s a bully, and I don’t like bullies, and that’s part of American tradition. I think in many ways he’s discredited the American experiment with self-governance,” Kennedy told Yahoo News three years ago.
While Kennedy says he’s running as a progressive, his first interview after declaring his candidacy was with Fox’s Tucker Carlson, in which he insisted that the American government is lying about the casualty rate in Ukraine.
Roger Stone, the longtime Trump adviser and proud dirty trickster, wrote up his own thoughts about a campaign he called “intriguing and potentially substantially impactful on the 2024 presidential race.”
“I believe that if he can pull together a minimally effective campaign, he could garner as much as a third of the Democrat primary vote,” Stone argued about Kennedy.
Stone predicted that Democratic Party leaders would try to block that from happening, but if he turns out to be wrong, “Given America’s state of peril, if RFK performs better than expected, the former President should consider the drafting of RFK as the Republican vice presidential candidate in a ‘bipartisan’ unity ticket.”
But though he and Kennedy were in a photo together backstage at an event last July, as part of the far-right Reawaken America tour, Stone said he has nothing to do with this campaign.
“We are acquaintances,” Stone told CNN about Kennedy. “I met him once. I have no idea who is running his campaign, and therefore no contact with them.”
In a long tweet last week, Kennedy denied speculation that has circulated in news reports that ties him to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
“Is it a sign of my campaign’s strength that the Elite of DC’s establishment media simultaneously and shamelessly published an orchestrated and baseless lie to smear me, even before I announce my presidential campaign?” Kennedy wrote. “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with my presidential campaign. I have never discussed a presidential run with Mr. Bannon.”
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A contest planned for children in New Zealand to hunt and kill feral cats as part of a drive to protect native species has been axed following backlash from the public and animal rights groups.
The event would have been part of a fundraiser organized by the North Canterbury Hunting Competition for the Rotherham School, located in the Canterbury region of South Island.
Organizers on Saturday had announced a new junior category for children under 14 in the annual competition – to hunt feral cats for a top prize of 250 New Zealand dollars ($150).
The announcement drew public anger leading organizers to withdraw the event on Monday.
In a statement issued Wednesday, organizers said “vile and inappropriate emails and messages had been sent to the school and others involved.”
“We are incredibly disappointed in this reaction and would like to clarify that this competition is an independent community run event,” the statement read.
While cats are a popular and beloved pet among many New Zealanders, feral cats have been a long-standing issue between animal lovers and authorities because of the impact they can have other wild animals.
In neighboring Australia, authorities say feral cats threaten the survival of more than 100 native species. Feral cats are blamed for killing millions of birds, reptiles, frogs and mammals, every day, prompting authorities to arrange regular culls.
Organizers of the contest in Canterbury maintained that the junior hunting tournament to kill feral cats, using a firearm or other means, was about “protecting native birds and other vulnerable species.”
“Our sponsors and school safety are our main priority, so the decision has been made to withdraw this category for this year to avoid further backlash at this time,” it said.
“To clarify, for all hunting categories, our hunters are required to abide by firearms act 1983 and future amendments as well as the animal welfare act 1999.”
Addressing concerns from the public, organizers had earlier announced rules to discourage young participants from targeting pets.
Any child who brought in a microchipped cat would have been disqualified, organizers said.
The group also noted that scheduled hunts for other categories like local pigs and deer would still proceed.
The New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was “both pleased and relieved” that the cat-killing contest for children had been removed. “Children, as well as adults, will not be able to tell the difference between a feral, stray or a frightened domesticated cat,” the SPCA said.
“There is a good chance someone’s pet may be killed during this event. In addition, children often use air rifles in these sorts of event which increase the likelihood of pain and distress and can cause a prolonged death,” it added.
Animals rights group PETA also welcomed the decision to cancel the event.
In a statement,Jason Baker, the group’s Asia Vice President said,”Encouraging kids to hunt down and kill animals is a sure-fire way to raise adults who solve problems with violence … We need to foster empathy and compassion in kids, not lead them to believe animals are ‘less than’ humans while rewarding them for brutality.”
The event attracted significant overseas attention, including from British comedian Ricky Gervais, a known animal lover with more than 15 million followers on Twitter.
He slammed the proposed cat hunt in a sarcastic tweet, saying: “Right. We need some new PR ideas to make the world love New Zealand. Maybe something involving kids & kittens. Yes, Hargreaves?”
New Zealand is one of the world’s last remote island nations and has no native land mammals besides bats.
There have been official campaigns against cats in previous years – including one that encouraged cat lovers to avoid replacing their pets when they die.
“Cats are the only true sadists of the animal world, serial killers who torture without mercy,” said then-Prime Minister John Key, who himself had a cat named Moonbeam.
“Historically, we know that feral cats were responsible for the extinction of six bird species and are leading agents of decline in populations of birds, bats, frogs and lizards,” Helen Blackie, a biosecurity consultant at Boffa Miskell told CNN affiliate RNZ.
Blackie, who has studied feral cats for two decades, said numbers had exploded in the last decade, and in some areas where pests were tracked by camera, feral cats outnumbered other species like possums.
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CNN
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the terms of its emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent vaccines on Tuesday, allowing people ages 65 and older and certain people with weakened immunity to get additional doses before this fall’s vaccination campaigns.
The bivalent vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna carry instructions for fighting both the original strain of the Covid-19 virus as well as Omicron and its spinoffs.
They have been available in the United States since September under emergency use authorizations, or EUAs, which tightly restrict how the vaccines may be given.
On Tuesday, the FDA changed the terms of the authorizations for those vaccines so that certain individuals could get an additional dose ahead of most others.
Namely, adults ages 65 and older who have received a single dose of a bivalent vaccine may receive an additional dose at least four months following their first dose.
Most individuals with certain degrees of immunocompromise who have received a first dose of a bivalent vaccine can get a second at least 2 months later. Additional doses may be administered at the discretion of their healthcare provider.
Dr. Peter Hotez, who co-directs the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, has been calling on the FDA to increase access to the bivalent boosters for those who want them. He says for the most part, today’s guidance from the agency makes sense.
“My only question is why the 65 year age cutoff? What was that based on? Ordinarily I would have preferred that it be brought down to 60 or even 50,” Hotez said in an email to CNN.
“For those Americans who understand its importance, we should make second bivalent boosters available. Finally, we’ll soon need guidance about another annual fall booster. Presumably that information comes sometime this summer,” he added.
For immunocompromised children ages 6 months through 4 years, eligibility for additional bivalent doses will depend on the vaccine previously received, the FDA said in a news release.
Another big change is that most unvaccinated individuals may now receive a single dose of a bivalent vaccine, rather than mutiple doses of the original single-strain vaccines, the agency said. The FDA simplified its recommendation for unvaccinated individuals after recognizing that most Americans now have some immunity against Covid-19, even if its just through past infections.
“Evidence is now available that most of the U.S. population 5 years of age and older has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, either from vaccination or infection that can serve as a foundation for the protection provided by the bivalent vaccines. COVID-19 continues to be a very real risk for many people, and we encourage individuals to consider staying current with vaccination, including with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. The available data continue to demonstrate that vaccines prevent the most serious outcomes of COVID-19, which are severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” said Dr. Peter Marks, head of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a news release.
Children ages 6 months through 5 years who have not yet been vaccinated may now receive a two-dose series of the Moderna bivalent vaccine as their primary series, or a three-dose series of the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine if they are 6 months through 4 years of age. Children who are age 5 may receive two doses of the Moderna bivalent or a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine.
Children ages 6 months through 5 years who got started on their monovalent vaccines, can now get a dose of a bivalent vaccine, but the number of doses they qualify for will depend on the number of doses they’ve already had and what kind of vaccine they got.
The agency stressed that most people who have gotten one dose of a bivalent vaccine are not currently eligible for a second dose.
And they encouraged everyone who hasn’t yet gotten their first dose of a bivalent vaccine to do so, and many Americans are still in that bucket.
Only about 17% of those eligible, less than 1 in 5 Americans, has gotten a recommended dose.
As time has passed, adults with reduced immune function because of their age or an underlying health problem have been asking doctors whether they need another dose of the bivalent vaccines.
The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention has reported early data showing that the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccines, even against emergency room visits and hospitalizations, has already started to wane.
But the agency has not been free to make what’s known as a “permissive use” recommendation about the boosters, which would allow doctors to offer additional doses to vulnerable patients because of the terms of the EUA.
The updated terms give the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) greater freedom to recommend additional doses of the bivalent vaccines. The ACIP is holding a meeting on the Covid-19 vaccines Wednesday and is expected to endorse the FDA’s changes.
For everyone not covered by today’s changes, the FDA says it intends to make decisions about future vaccinations after receiving recommendations on the fall strain composition from its advisory committee in June.
Both Canada and the United Kingdom have offered another round of bivalent boosters to those at highest risk from Covid-19 this spring.
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CNN
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It’s sourdough bread and handstands for Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The two stars are talking about the time they spent together during the Covid-19 pandemic, telling People that the actor, who is Lee’s godson, and his girlfriend Jeanne Cadieu, lived in the house next door that Curtis owns. Curtis, who won best supporting actress Oscar at lthe 2023 Academy Awards, is friends with Gyllenhaal’s parents, director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner.
“We’ve just gotten to know each other,” Lee said while at the premiere of Gyllenhaal’s new thriller “The Covenant.” “He also lived with me during Covid for almost a year. He and Jeanne lived in the house next door that I have. And so there was also that. For a minute.”
Lee revealed that Gyllenhaal, like a lot of people, turned to bread baking during the time, and would act and sing and do handstands for the small group.
“He made a lot of sourdough bread, a lot,” Lee said. “So singing, acting, sourdough. And he did that test where you do a handstand against the wall and take your shirt off and put it back on.”
Gyllenhaal added the bread baking has stuck.
“I am still eating sourdough,” he said. “Yes. I haven’t stopped. Even though we’re out of the pandemic, I am still making sourdough.”
Gyllenhaal’s new film is a military thriller directed by Guy Ritchie. It also stars Alexander Ludwig, Antony Starr, Bobby Schofield and Jonny Lee Miller.
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Hong Kong
CNN
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China’s economy got off to a solid start in 2023, as consumers went on a spending spree after three years of strict pandemic restrictions ended.
Gross domestic product grew by 4.5% in the first quarter from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. That beat the estimate of 4% growth from a Reuters poll of economists.
But private investment barely budged and youth unemployment surged to the second highest level on record, indicating the country’s private sector employers are still wary about longer term prospects.
Consumption posted the strongest rebound. Retail sales jumped 10.6% in March from a year earlier, the highest level of growth since June 2021. In the January to March months, retail sales grew 5.8%, mainly lifted by a surge in revenue from the catering service industry.
“The combination of a steady uptick in consumer confidence as well as the still-incomplete release of pent-up demand suggest to us that the consumer-led recovery still has room to run,” said Louise Loo, China lead economist for Oxford Economics.
Industrial production also showed a steady increase. It was up 3.9% in March, compared with 2.4% in the January-to-February period. (China usually combines its economic data for January and February to account for the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday.)
Last year, GDP expanded by just 3%, badly missing the official growth target of “around 5.5%,” as Beijing’s approach to stamping out the coronavirus wreaked havoc on supply chains and hammered consumer spending.
After mass street protests gripped the country and local governments ran out of cash to pay huge Covid bills, authorities finally scrapped the zero-Covid policy in December. Following a brief period of disruption due to a Covid surge, the economy has started showing signs of recovery.
Last month, an official gauge of non-manufacturing activity jumped to its highest level in more than a decade, suggesting the country’s crucial services sector was benefiting from a resurgence in consumer spending after the end of pandemic restrictions.
As the economic recovery gains traction, investment banks and international organizations have upgraded China’s growth forecasts for this year. In its World Economic Outlook released last week, the International Monetary Fund said China is “rebounding strongly” following the reopening of its economy. The country’s GDP will grow 5.2% this year and 5.1% in 2024, it predicted.
However, some analysts believe the strong growth reported in the first quarter was the product of “backloading” of economic activity from the fourth quarter of 2022, which was weighed down by pandemic restrictions and then a chaotic reopening.
“Our core view is that China’s economy is deflationary,” said Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at ANZ Research, in a Tuesday research report.
If adjustments are made to account for the impact of delayed economic activity, GDP growth in the first quarter could have been just 2.6%, he said.
Some key data released on Tuesday support this idea. For example, private investment was extremely weak.
Fixed asset investment by the private sector increased a mere 0.6% from January to March, indicating a lack of confidence among entrepreneurs. (State-led investment, meanwhile, advanced 10%.) That’s even worse than the 0.8% growth recorded in the January-to-February period.
The Chinese government has resorted to surprising measures to restore confidence among private entrepreneurs, but the campaign has inspired more nervousness than optimism.
The all-important property industry is also mired in a deep downturn. Investment in property declined 5.8% in the first quarter. Property sales by floor area decreased by 1.8%.
“The domestic economy is recovering well, but the constraints of insufficient demand are still obvious,” said Fu Linghui, a spokesman for the NBS, at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday. “Prices of industrial products are still falling, and enterprises are facing many difficulties in their profitability.”
Unemployment continued to surge among the youth.
The jobless rate for 16- to 24-year-olds hit 19.6% in March, up for a third straight month. It was the second highest on record, only behind the 19.9% level reached in July 2022.
The high jobless rate among the youth suggests “slack in the economy,” Yeung said.
“By June, there will be a new batch of graduates looking for jobs. The jobless condition could worsen further if China’s economic momentum falters,” he added.
China’s education ministry has previously estimated that a record 11.6 million college graduates will be looking for jobs this year.
At last month’s meeting of the National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the government set a cautious growth plan for this year, with a GDP target of around 5% and a job creation target of 12 million.
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Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. CNN is showcasing the work of The Conversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics to provide news analysis and commentary. The content is produced solely by The Conversation.
CNN
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Wild swimming has grown massively in popularity in recent times. Not only is swimming outdoors a pleasant way to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and green leafy surroundings, it can also help to relieve stress and elevate our endorphins. This creates a sense of wellbeing as well as burning calories and exercising muscles.
But along with the joys of outdoor swimming come some dangers. Not only are wild swimmers more at risk from tides, currents and swells, there can also be nasty bugs and bacteria lurking in the water. And with untreated sewage regularly flowing into seas, rivers and lakes in my home country of the UK, it can be hard to find a safe spot for a paddle.
Of course, swimming in a pool comes with its own set of risks. Urinary tract infections, ear infections and tummy bugs are the most common illnesses caught here. Dirty pools can also cause your eyes to sting and harbor all sorts of bacteria and germs – including urine, faeces and sweat. In many ways, swimming pools are like a big bath filled with lots of strangers.
But while it’s clear that swimming in outdoor waters carries different risks from swimming in a pool, the question of where’s safest to swim may not seem immediately obvious. So where’s cleanest for a dip: swimming pools, or rivers, lakes, canals and the sea? Let’s look at the evidence.
Unlike swimming pools where waters are carefully monitored, outdoor waters are constantly changing in composition. This means that chemicals can leach into wild waters from nearby farms or industrial areas, animals can defecate in water, and in certain areas human sewage may be legally or otherwise dumped into the water (if you can see pipes, do not get in).
There may not be signposts warning of local dangers, and the presence of toxic agents might not be obvious. When in doubt about the chemical safety of outdoor waters, it’s better to not enter them. If the water doesn’t look or smell right, trust your instinct.
There are also natural hazards to outdoor waters compared with pools, especially in the summer. Blue-green algae is a type of bacteria naturally found in lake ecosystems. In warm summers, the algae tends to multiply and form a powdery green scum (known as a bloom) on the surface of the lake. This blue-green algae bloom can release toxins which are harmful to humans and occasionally lethal to pets.
Swimming in or swallowing water containing toxin-releasing algal blooms can lead to skin rashes, eye irritation, severe gastrointestinal upset, fever, and muscle and joint pain.
Diarrhea is the most common illness linked to open-water swimming, often due to sewage contamination. You become ill if you swallow contaminated water, which can contain bacteria and viruses such as E.coli and Norovirus.
Rats living in sewers adjacent to freshwater rivers or canals can also carry in their urine the bacterial pathogen Leptospira, which causes Leptospirosis (Weil’s disease). The infection occurs if soil or water from a lake, river or canal that contains urine from infected animals is swallowed, gets in a swimmer’s eyes or a cut.
Leptospirosis can cause liver and kidney damage, and may be fatal if left untreated. If you develop flu or jaundice symptoms up to two weeks after swimming in a river or canal, it may be a good idea to ask your doctor for a Leptospirosis test.
As for the sea, a 2018 study found that people swimming in seawater were more likely to experience infections of the ear, nose, throat and gastrointestinal system than those who stayed on the beach. So it’s a good idea to wash after swimming in any outdoor waters, and certainly before eating food.
When you add it all up, even with the possibility of people peeing and pooping in the pool, a managed swimming pool will always be a safer environment for a swim. Especially when you consider things like jellyfish stings and the additional risks that come with swimming in cold water.
Compared with a pool, wild swimmers are more likely to become unwell from swimming in outdoor water as there will always be potentially disease-causing microbes present.
Swimming pool water, with adequate chlorine disinfection levels and pH maintenance, is much less likely to contain infectious microorganisms and so represents a much safer environment for recreational swimming. Injuries and drowning are also much less likely in pools where trained lifeguards and safety equipment are present.
Perhaps, then, an outdoor managed swimming pool offers the best of both worlds – a swim with the sun on your back in a sanitary environment.
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CNN
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Fulton County, Georgia, Sheriff Patrick “Pat” Labat on Friday announced measures “to address an outbreak of infectious illnesses” at the county jail – including moving more than 600 inmates to other counties, a statement said.
The measures are the result of a “preliminary investigation” into the death of Lashawn Thompson – an incarcerated man who died in the jail last year, the announcement posted on Facebook said. Thompson’s family says his death was the result of unsanitary conditions at the facility and complications from insect bites, CNN has reported.
The sheriff said Friday that “an emergency expenditure of $500,000” has been approved to address the jail’s “infestation of bed bugs, lice and other vermin.”
The sheriff said protocols for security rounds will also be updated to help mitigate the outbreak as well as “transferring more than 600 inmates to other counties in an effort to help relieve overcrowding, at an average cost of approximately $40K/day.”
It’s unclear where or when the incarcerated persons will be moved.
The announcement began with the sheriff’s office expressing condolences to Thompson’s family and saying the sheriff has launched “a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.”
On Thursday, Thompson’s family held a news conference to demand a criminal investigation into his death and for the jail to be closed.
Thompson died while in custody last September. His family’s attorney, Michael Harper, blamed unsanitary conditions and complications from insect bites for Thompson’s death.
Holding up photos purporting to show conditions in Thompson’s jail cell, Harper said, “The cell he was in was not fit for a diseased animal. This is inexcusable and it’s deplorable.”
Harper said that Thompson had been in custody on a misdemeanor assault charge since June of 2022 and was housed in the psychiatric wing of the jail because he suffered from mental health issues.
Brad McCrae, Thompson’s brother, told reporters Thompson was 35 years old, was born in Winter Haven, Florida, and had been living in Atlanta on and off over the last couple of years.
When asked by a reporter what he thought when he saw images of his brother’s body and the conditions of his cell, McCrae said, “It was heartbreaking because nobody should be seen like that. Nobody should see that. But the first thing that entered my mind was Emmett Till.”
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Thursday, “The manner and cause of death was listed as ‘undetermined’ by the county medical examiner. A full investigation was launched into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Thompson’s death.”
The statement went on to say that the results of that investigation would determine if any criminal investigation is warranted.
The sheriff’s statement acknowledged the “dilapidated and rapidly eroding conditions” at the jail and said that Labat continues to call for the building of a new jail.
The family has not filed a lawsuit at this time.
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