It is a commonplace today that trust between the world’s leading democracy and its allies has reached an unprecedented low point. Hardly anyone outside America (and Israel) trusts the United States or its president. According to a recent Pew Center poll, the loss of trust in America varies little across continents: from Germany to Pakistan, the same (high) percentage of respondents expresses little or no confidence in American acts and motives....
Meanwhile, several Latin American countries pulled back from promises to join a multinational invasion team. Argentina last week warned it might not be part of a first wave of troops. And Jamaica said it would not participate at all.
Every parent knows about “strep”–the bacteria that causes sore throats, fevers and a rash called impetigo, mostly in children. But a mysteriously virulent strain of Group A strep has scientists worried. The bacteria has been linked to a return of rheumatic fever in parts of Utah, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri and California–and to the rare form of pneumonia that killed Muppet creator Jim Henson in May. Last year a study in the New England Journal of Medicine described 20 cases of toxic-shock-like syndrome in the Rocky Mountain area, all caused by strep....
News of the Rome summit has already had one important effect: U.S. cardinals who up till now have said little or nothing about the crisis have suddenly become clerical Chatty Cathys. In the nation’s capital last week, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick told the editors of The Washington Post that he hopes the Rome meeting will call for full disclosure of all the priests who have been removed for sexually abusing children and how much the various dioceses have paid in settling cases....
Miami is no stranger to crime, but the brutal murder of a young woman in plain sight of her family horrified the city. Worst of all, the killing theoretically shouldn’t have occurred at all. Jensen was the seventh foreigner slain in Florida in the past six months, but authorities were slow to implement long-discussed safety measures. In February, Gov. Lawton Chiles invoked his emergency powers to overturn a state law requiring all rental-car tags to begin with the letter Y or Z....
As well as suggesting the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ)—that rings the center of the Milky Way—is somehow blocking cosmic rays, the findings could indicate the presence of a massive high-energy natural particle accelerator at the heart of our galaxy. The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, could help researchers explain the origins of cosmic rays, high-energy particles that originate outside the solar system and bombard Earth causing high-energy particle collisions in the upper atmosphere....
FRBs are bright pulses of radio emissions—lasting milliseconds, or fractions of a millisecond—which appear to originate from far beyond our galaxy. To date, researchers have uncovered more than 100 FRBs since they were first identified in 2007. However, the origin of these extremely energetic radio bursts remains unknown. Most FRB sources emit a single one-off burst. But a minority—around 10—have been shown to repeat, although the bursts appear to be sporadic without a regular pattern....
With crime surging in the Big Apple and cities across America, both men stressed their opposition to the idea of defunding the police. In fact, Adams ran on a tough law and order message last spring to win a crowded Democratic primary, and Biden went out of his way to express a similar sentiment. Acknowledging the seriousness of the problem that is destroying families and communities is a positive start....
All three studies tackled the same basic question. To see if healthy people harbor the amyloid protein, teams based in Boston, Cleveland and San Francisco tested a range of cells and body fluids with newly developed molecular probes. To their surprise, they found the molecule everywhere they looked-in plasma, in spinal fluid, even in fetal neurons. No one knows what natural function the amyloid protein performs. Nor is it clear that the brain deposits associated with Alzheimer’s disease result directly from a bodywide amyloid overload....
Disney was in last place among Hollywood studios when Katzenberg and Eisner took over in 1984. By 1988 they were No. 1. The pair reinvented the studio and stunned skeptics with new animated blockbusters. Last year the studio made $3.6 billion, up from $244 million in 1984. Disney has now achieved a triple crown: “Beauty and the Beast” is the hottest ticket on Broadway; “The Lion King” may be the most profitable movie ever, and “Home Improvement” is No....
First of the G-agent gases discovered by German scientist Gerhard Schrader and developed by the Nazis. Colorless liquid and vapor with a faint odor. Colorless, odorless, more volatile vapor. Saddam is believed to have used it to kill Kurdish civilians in northern Iraq. Heavier, more toxic and more persistent than sarin. Mass-produced by the Soviets during the cold war, though no battlefield use has ever been recorded. Unlike G-agents, an oily liquid that does not readily evaporate....
You are not comfortable with Hillary Clinton, the Democrat. You can’t get behind Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. So now there’s another candidate out there, someone who already rules a red-and-blue state and claims he has just the background to be your next President. MORE: Duke’s Harry Giles needs a time to heal, not a place to hide til NBA draft Kansas head coach Bill Self wants your vote....
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says all permit decisions are based on the “impact on the functioning of the city,” not on the content of protesters’ shouts. “The vast majority of groups that come here will protest peacefully. We’re interested in facilitating it,” says Kelly. The NYPD has set an informal deadline of June 15 for permit requests, and says it won’t make decisions until then. (Boston police haven’t granted any of their 12 requests for the July Democratic convention yet, either, but they’re providing a large stage near the site for protesters....
NEWSWEEK: Why don’t drug companies drop the price of AIDS drugs in Africa? STURCHIO: Five companies, including Merck, have made a strong public commitment to lower prices to make them affordable in the developing world. That will make a huge difference for people living with HIV in Africa. But even if the drugs were free, there would still be a tremendous problem in providing access for everyone, which is why we need to work on sustainable financing and AIDS prevention....
The corporate version of that story unfolded in Houston earlier this month when an investor group led by controversial moneyman Charles Hurwitz made a $350 million bid for Continental Airlines, the nation’s fifth largest carrier. The overture came 23 months after corporate raider and former Continental chief executive Frank Lorenzo parted ways with Continental; the airline filed for bankruptcy protection in December 1990. If the buyout bid is successful, it could make Continental Airlines, which lost $340 million last year, the first carrier of the decade to survive Chapter 11 proceedings....
Eli Manning and Pete Davidson’s new joint Instagram account, ostensibly created to promote … something … seems to be an example of that. The unassuming Manning and the brash Davidson have a bizarrely charming dynamic, which comes through in the way they interact. Their first post together really sets the tone, with the two of them lying on a bed together in “Davidson’s room.” Davidson’s room is in quotes because it’s unlikely Davidson is actually decorated to the gills with Giants stuff....
In which case, the timing of the 2022 recession could hardly be worse for President Joe Biden. With the second quarter of consecutive negative GDP growth marking what most economists and pundits consider a recession, Biden has only one more GDP reading before voters go to the polls on Tuesday, November 8. On July 28, GDP for the second quarter was given as -0.9 percent, following the previous quarter’s reading of -1....
Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez extended his MLB record with the 25th grand slam of his career Tuesday to give the Yankees a lead in the seventh inning of an eventual 8-4 win over the Twins. The go-ahead homer was also A-Rod’s 25th of the season and No. 679 of his career. The estimated 420-foot blast was the first long ball for Rodriguez since his 40th birthday on July 27, a span of 72 at-bats....
The museum is the dream of Christina Cox, founder of the little-known American Spirit Foundation. Five years ago, she rode up Fifth Avenue as “Miss Liberty” in the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. There she met Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who, because of Cox’s vision, now stands to gain an unlikely new title: patron of the arts.
