Important Takeaways:
- Phoenix is forecast to hit a whopping 113 degrees Fahrenheit; Las Vegas may reach 112; and Death Valley, California, could be at 121 on Thursday amid an extreme heat wave.
- Twenty-seven million people are under heat warnings and advisories today, as a heat dome essentially traps warm air from the Golden State down to southern Texas.
- By Friday, the heat wave will expand north into Oregon and Washington on Friday and Saturday, and ease Sunday across the Southwest
- Heat will also impact the Florida peninsula from Thursday into the weekend with several high and low temperature records forecast to be tied or broken from Jacksonville down to Tampa and Miami.
- On Thursday, Miami has a forecast heat index of 105.
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Important Takeaways:
- The D.C. region is still recovering from storm and tornado damage after a wild weather event on Wednesday night.
- At least two likely tornadoes touched down in Montgomery County, Maryland, damaging several houses and injuring five people, county officials said Thursday morning.
- Director of the Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security Earl Stoddard said the damage could have been worse, with a total of about 15 tornadoes touching down across the state of Maryland Wednesday.
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Important Takeaways:
- The WHO said it wasn’t clear how the man became infected, although H5N2 has been reported in poultry in Mexico.
- There are numerous types of bird flu. H5N2 is not the same strain that has infected multiple dairy cow herds in the U.S. That strain is called H5N1 and three farmworkers have gotten mild infections.
- Mexican health officials alerted the WHO that a 59-year-old man who died in a Mexico City hospital had the virus despite no known exposure to poultry or other animals.
- Mexico’s public health department said in a statement that he had underlying ailments, including chronic kidney failure, diabetes and high blood pressure.
- The WHO said the risk to people in Mexico is low, and that no further human cases have been discovered so far despite testing people who came in contact with the deceased at home and in the hospital.
- Health authorities are closely watching for any signs that the viruses are evolving to spread easily from person to person, and experts are concerned as more mammal species contract bird flu viruses.
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Important Takeaways:
- Dwindling number of D-Day veterans mark anniversary with plea to recall WWII lessons in today’s wars
- The war in Ukraine shadowed the ceremonies, a grim modern-day example of lives and cities that are again suffering through war in Europe.
- “There are things worth fighting for,” said Walter Stitt, who fought in tanks and turns 100 in July, as he visited Omaha Beach this week. “Although I wish there was another way to do it than to try to kill each other. We’ll learn one of these days, but I won’t be around for that.”
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presence at the D-Day commemorations with world leaders who are supporting Ukraine fused World War II’s awful past with the fraught present.
- Feted everywhere they go in wheelchairs and walking with canes, veterans are using their voices to repeat their message they hope will live eternal: Never forget.
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Important Takeaways:
- Mortgage payment on a typical home nearly doubled in last 4 years, report finds
- In case you needed more evidence to explain why U.S. consumers aren’t exactly cheering in the stands for this all-in-all pretty-good economy, let’s look at exhibit one: housing affordability.
- The real estate firm Zillow reports that since January 2020, the monthly mortgage payment on a typical U.S. home has nearly doubled. It’s up 96% in just four years.
- According to Zillow, a typical buyer will now pay nearly $2,200 a month, with a 10% down payment. Meaning, homeownership now costs well above the 30% of median income that was once thought to equate to “affordable” housing cost in America.
- And with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovering around seven percent right now, there’s not a whole lot of light at the end of this tunnel.
- With prices rising by leaps and bounds, it’s been a good time to sell a home. But it’s not so great to try to buy, says Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow.
- “After the surge in home-buying demand and mobility during the pandemic, and the doubling of mortgage rates, home-shoppers now need to earn $106,000 to afford the median home in the United States,” said Divounguy.
- Back in 2020, the salary needed to afford the median monthly mortgage payment was just $59,000. Real estate broker Israel Hill has seen the affordability crunch in Portland, Oregon.
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Important Takeaways:
- US test launches hypersonic nuclear missile capable of reaching Moscow in 30 minutes amid rising threats of WW3
- The US military has conducted a test launch of a hypersonic nuclear missile which is designed to counter the rising military threat of China and Russia.
- Military officials said the purpose of the test was to show the ‘readiness of nuclear US forces’ and provide ‘confidence in the nation’s nuclear deterrence’ amid fears of the growing threat of the outbreak of World War III.
- The demonstration saw an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) blasted off at 12:56am PT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
- The weapon traveled more than 4,000 miles at speeds over 15,000 miles per hour to a test range on the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific Ocean.
- Bryan Titus, Space Launch Delta 30 vice commander, was the launch decision authority.
- ‘These tests hold immense significance, not only for our nation’s defense, but also serve as a pivotal moment in showcasing the exceptional capabilities and expertise of our dedicated team.’
- The missile is capable of reaching any target across the world in just 30 minutes after launch, Air Force Technology reports.
- While officials said the launch was nothing more than a test of the weapon, it came less than one week after Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev warned that the invasion of Ukraine may end up in a nuclear disaster.
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Important Takeaways:
- By Dmitry Suslov, member of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, deputy director of World Economy and International Politics at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, and Valdai Club expert.
- There’s every indication that the US and several of its allies may soon allow Ukraine to use Western weapons, including long-range missiles, to attack targets located within – how do we put this? – Russia’s internationally recognized borders. Or those that existed before the 2014 Maidan in Kiev.
- In America, as the New York Times recently reported, backers of the idea include Secretary of State Antony Blinken, most Republicans in Congress (including the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson), and many members of the foreign policy establishment, including Victoria Nuland, who recently resigned as deputy secretary of state. In Europe, Poland, the Baltic states, Germany’s main opposition party, the CDU/CSU, and some Western European figures, including the head of the UK Foreign Office, David Cameron, are agitating for the measure.
- Recently, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a similar appeal…
- Such a decision would take the conflict to a fundamentally different level, would mean the erasure of one of the brightest “red lines” that has existed since February 24, 2022, and signal the direct entry of the US and its NATO bloc into the war against Russia
- Accordingly, the worse the situation for Kiev at the front, the greater the risks of escalation that the West is willing to take.
- The voices of those who argue that even this time Moscow will not inflict direct military damage on Western countries are growing louder.
- This logic can inevitably lead to World War III. And if the West’s further involvement in the conflict in Ukraine is not stopped now, a full-scale “hot” war between Russia and NATO will become inevitable. Moreover, due to the superiority of the US and its 31 NATO members in the field of conventional weapons, this war will inevitably move to the nuclear level.
- [Russian response to US/NATO threats] we should first tell the US and NATO roughly what Moscow already told London after David Cameron’s words about Ukraine’s right to strike anywhere with British Storm Shadow missiles. Namely, that in the event of an attack on ‘old’ Russian territory, Moscow reserves the right to strike any facilities of the countries concerned, including the US, anywhere in the world. There are many American military bases dotted around the globe.
- Secondly, it is important to officially declare that if the US/NATO launches a non-nuclear strike on Russian territory in response to such a Russian strike, Moscow may in turn use nuclear weapons – in full accordance with the ‘Fundamentals of Russian State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence’.
- Thirdly, since there has been talk of possible attacks not only on British but also on American facilities (and of a possible direct military response from the US), it would be desirable to hold exercises on the use of strategic nuclear forces in addition to the current exercises on the use of tactical weapons.
- Finally, to confirm the seriousness of Russia’s intentions and to convince our adversaries of Moscow’s willingness to escalate, it is worth considering a demonstration (i.e. non-aggressive) nuclear explosion. The political and psychological effect of an atomic mushroom cloud, broadcast live on all the world’s television channels, will hopefully bring back to Western politicians the one thing that prevented wars between the great powers after 1945, and which they have now largely lost – the fear of nuclear war.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ukraine last night claimed it successfully hit a missile system inside Russia using U.S. weapons.
- It said the country’s forces destroyed Russian missile launchers with a strike in the Belgorod region.
- Senior politician Yehor Chernev claimed Ukrainian forces used a High Mobility Rocket Artillery System, or HIMARS, The New York Times reported.
- Meanwhile, Joe Biden has ruled out Ukraine joining NATO in a major policy shift. The development comes after the defense alliance’s members, including the US and Britain, released a communique last year declaring ‘Ukraine’s future is in NATO’.
- While his remarks were met with heavy criticism in Kyiv, analysts believe Mr. Biden’s comments could bring a settlement closer.
- Russia has repeatedly referred to Ukraine’s possible membership of NATO to justify its invasion and occupation of the country.
- It comes as NATO countries are set to collaborate to create a ‘drone wall’ on the security alliance’s eastern flank that aims to provide round-the-clock monitoring of threats across the border from Russia and Belarus.
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Important Takeaways:
- Now doctors face new cancer crisis – mystery rise of lung tumors in young people who’ve NEVER smoked
- As scientists work to unravel the mysterious rise in early-onset colon cancers, a new worrying trend has emerged.
- Lung cancer rates, which have been dropping for decades as the world weans off tobacco, are now rising in young, otherwise healthy people who’ve never smoked.
- One in 10 lung cancer diagnoses in the US are patients under 55, but the rate of early cases has been increasing for the past two decades. And the share of these young patients who have never smoked cigarettes is also growing.
- Researchers believe that the way new homes are built may be exposing residents to a poisonous gas. They also say vaping and cannabis could be factors.
- Lung cancer is the deadliest form of the disease, making up one in five US cancer deaths. Along with over 230,000 diagnoses, 125,000 Americans are expected to die of it this year.
- ‘Radon is the main cause of cancer in non-smokers,’ Dr Mezquita said. ‘Radon is a risk factor also in young populations.’
- She said this could be due to radon exposure in homes from birth, which could enter the home through contaminated soil.
- Additionally, a 2019 report in Nature found that radon exposure in homes is increasing due to modern construction being more airtight.
- Dr Mezquita also pointed toward vaping, which she noted ‘is very prevalent in younger populations.’
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Important Takeaways:
- The law is the first in Europe — and the world — to provide sex workers with social security provisions such as pensions and maternity leave, as well as an official employment contract.
- What does the new law mean in practice?
- The legislation, which was approved with 93 votes in favor, 33 abstentions and 0 votes against earlier this month, allows procurers to provide Belgian sex workers with an employment contract for the first time.
- The change gives sex workers access to social security provisions such as pensions, health insurance and annual vacation. It also gives sex workers protection from work-related risks, including implementing standards on who can become an employer.
- Daan Bauwens of the Belgian Union for Sex Workers UTSOPI explained that the new law places restrictions on who can hand out contracts to sex workers — limiting the possibility of exploitation.
- People who have previous convictions such as human trafficking and theft will not be able to become employers
- Belgium keeps being an outlier in the European context when it comes to answering the demands of sex workers’ unions.
- Just two years ago, it became the first country in Europe to decriminalize sex work in Europe.
- [Wine Press reported] Andrea Heinz, a prostitution abolition advocate, criticized the law on X, saying: “There is little chance this will (actually) favor women. Under legalization/full decrim, pimps become ‘managers’ with the backing of the state to further entrench and maintain their power. Pimps see women they sell as products, not people deserving of full dignity & respect.”
- One social media user replied, “So the govt helps pimps to coerce sex what a disgusting idea.”
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