Rome (AP) -Papst Franziskus woke up with good news on Tuesday with his doctors: They improved his forecast and say that he was no longer in an immediate risk of death due to the double pneumonia, which he received in hospital for almost a month in the longest and adjacent threat to his 12-year-old paper.

However, the 88-year-old Pope is not yet out of the forest. The doctors are still cautious and have decided to keep him in the hospital for a few more days to maintain treatment, not to mention a rehabilitation period that he will probably need.

But the doctors said he was stable and, according to blood tests and his good response to treatment, improved in the past few days. Francis, who has a chronic lung disease, still uses additional oxygen during the day and a ventilation mask at night to help it.

In an early update on Tuesday, the Vatican said that Francis woke up after a quiet night around 8 a.m. The Argentine Jesuit regularly slept in the Gemelli Hospital. His usual wake -up time in the Vatican is around 4:30 a.m.

In the late Monday, the doctors raised their “guarded” forecast for the Pope, which means that due to the original respiratory infection with which he had arrived on February 14, it was no longer in direct danger. In view of the fragility of Francis and the risk of other complications, her caution remained.

“In view of the complexity of the clinical image and the important infectious image that is presented when admission, it is necessary to continue the drug drug therapy in a hospital for further days,” says the explanation of the Vatican.

In a sign of his improved health, Francis followed the weekly retreat of the Vatican spiritual retreat through video conference on Monday in the morning and afternoon sessions, which he would probably do until the week.

This week there are also some important anniversaries for Francis: Tuesday was the 67th anniversary of its entry into the novitiate of the Jesuit -religious medals, and Thursday the 12th anniversary of his election as a Pope.

Francis, who had removed part of a lung as a young man, had a bad case of bronchitis when he was hospitalized last month. The infection developed into a complex infection of the airways and a double pneumonia, which has raised questions about the future of his pontificate.

However, he still kept an eye on things. The Vatican said that he had been informed about the floods in his home country of Argentina, sent a telegram of condolences and expressed its proximity to the affected population. In addition, a Vatican Cardinal near Francis spoke on Monday to refuse some negative media reports that were spread in his absence.

The Vatican development office published a letter from Cardinal Michael Czerny to one of the close friends of Francis, the activists of Argentine social justice, Juan Grabois. Grabois had traveled to Rome to pray for Francis in the Gemelli Hospital, and some Italian media reported that he had tried to go to the 10th floor of Francis ’10. Stock Hospital Suite to get an assertion he denied.

In the letter dated March 6, Czerny Grabois said that Francis “knew about her presence in Rome and her daily vigils of prayer and spiritual solidarity at Gemelli Polyclinic, and I am sure that this gave him a real comfort and support.”

“I also know that with me you have strongly rejected the unfounded versions that were spread in some media about supposedly inappropriate behavior in the hospital,” wrote Czerny.

The Vatican is always full of rumors, but has exaggerated with speculation about Francis’ health and conversations about complics, although Francis is very lively and responsible. The fact that Czerny thought it was necessary to defend one from Francis’ friends indicated that the rumor and maneuvering in Francis had exceeded a line.

___

By Cathy Bussewitz

New York (AP) – As a citizen of France and America, Margaux Lantelme has noticed a difference in the best way how Keep cashers Work within the two countries: in France you do your job, sit down. In the USA, where Lantelme Working a register at ReiTreasurer normally spend eight hours a day on their feet.

For Lantelms, a former kayak instructor, an extended stand which have chronic pain that restricts their mobility. She asked a chair to make use of during her layer and got one. But after a change in management, she needed to fill out paperwork to maintain the chair that required several visits to the doctor and Insurance Over a period of months. She continues to be waiting for the ultimate approval.

“It is really ridiculous not to have access to a chair without the consent of a doctor who costs money, time and energy,” said Lantelme. “I personally think that people should be able to have access to seating at work if they need them.”

Pain, pain and complications

According to the review of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the chance of cardiovascular problems and pregnancy complications could be increased if it increases long pain, tiredness, muscle pain and leg swelling and pregnancy swelling and pregnancy complications for a very long time. The researchers there got here to the conclusion that the movement, whether walking or a shift from a position to a sitting or chic position, appeared to be one of the best technique to reduce these health risks.

To be in your feet for a very long time may result in chronic venous insufficiency, an illness through which damaged veins work BloodstreamAccording to the association of perioperative nurses, which represents operating room nurses.

The association recommends “tired techniques to be reduced, such as alternative support on a footstep, the use of anti-fatigue mats, the use of a sit standard chair and wearing supportive shoes,” said Lisa Spruce, Senior Director of Evision-based perioperative footwear “Exercises at Aorn.

The right to sit down

Many jobs also Care require extended position: Sales employee in the department storeHairdressers, surgeons, restaurant chefs and Airport worker Are just a few of the people who play their roles on their feet.

Cecilia Ortiz, 43, used to work as an airport wheelchair driver in Phoenix. “It requires a very hard tribute on your knees,” she said. The break room had three or four chairs, which was not enough for everyone, so that the workers often went to the hallway and sat on the floor, said Ortiz.

She said she was once written by her boss

Ortiz is now working for a warehouse that offers supplies to the airport, and if it has to sit, she can.

“It is not that strict over there. If we had to sit down for some reason, there would be no problem, ”said Ortiz.

Your former employer, Prospect Airport Services, said she is liable to all local, state and federal work regulations regarding breaks. “Our employees are cordially invited to take their breaks and meals in our designated break and in any area of ​​use throughout the airport,” said the corporate's spokeswoman, Jackie Reedy. “This guideline enables our employees to choose the place that best suits their requirements.”

Union employees within the Barnes & Nobles Store on the Manhattan Union Square have access to chairs and the Right to take a seat down Under certain conditions, a part of your negotiations to your first contract.

“The longer I was in the job, I started to notice knee problems, especially because we bow a lot and get up again when we regulate books and show the customers things and create displays,” said bookseller Bear Spiegel 28. “It would be very useful to have a stool available just so that I can rest my knees all day long while I do things on the computer while I'm in the register.”

Spiegel's colleagues suggested Solutions have helpedBut it’s difficult for him to predict on which days he’ll need the extra support because his symptoms vary on daily basis, he said.

“There were days when I requested a stool, and thankfully my managers allowed me to take them out and use them if necessary,” said Spiegel.

Barnes & Noble uses routine chairs or chairs for many who work out of the sales floor when it is smart, but lots of work by a bookseller is on the go, including unpacking, sorting and shelf books, said a spokesman for the corporate.

The retail, wholesale and department store union, which represents around 100,000 employees, has pushed to incorporate a guaranteed right to sitting during work that could be seen sitting, said Stuart, within the contracts that it’s going to be negotiating, including in Barnes & Noble Appelbaum, the President of the Union.

During a negotiating session, an employer leaned against demand. The Union's negotiators used a break through which the conference room was emptied to underline their position. “The employer came back and saw that we had removed all the chairs from the negotiating table,” said Appelbaum. “I think the point was made.”

In the top, the union got the chairs that she had written within the contract, he said.

Sitting once was a protected right

At the turn of the twentieth century, most states within the United States had laws that required seating for female employees. Women increasingly entered the workforce, and there was a fear that their jobs, in the event that they were too physically exhausting, didn’t develop into pregnant, Eileen said Boris, Labor historian and professor on the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Women were seen as “mothers of human breed, and so we have to protect motherhood,” added Boris. “Almost every state had laws, but they were not enforced.”

These laws have been canceled over time because they only apply to women. One reason was that the ladies's movement pushed for equal rights relatively than special treatment, said Boris.

Working movements in other countries were more successful in determining requirements over seats. “The English shop movement was much stronger and had more men than the USA,” said Boris.

In 1964, the international work organization, an UN agency, passed the job standards, in line with which employers had committed sufficient and suitable seats in addition to reasonable opportunities for the usage of employees. More than 50 countries ratified the agreement, however the United States was not from them.

Today, CaliforniaFlorida, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon and Wisconsin are among the many states with the “law” to oblige laws which have obliged employers to supply all employees suitable seats, no matter gender, in line with the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, approved a regulation in October, through which manufacturers, retail stores, laundry salon, hotels, restaurants, hairdressers, hairdressers and skincare professionals are required Let the employees sit down Because their duties will not be affected. Last autumn, a nationwide law was also introduced in Michigan.

Originally published: February 21, 2025 at 1:33 p.m. PST

What are the drivers of the youngest coupons in Africa?

One essential reason is guides who used the concept of ​​democracy to advance their very own economic profits. The result’s corruption that has deepened the gap between wealthy and poor.

While liberal democracy In the industrialized countries, the opportunities in Nigeria are expanding the case, which is primarily because of corruption and an absence of effective leadership.

Democracy in parts of Africa, including Nigeria, couldn’t drive the event and have a positive effect on people. In order to ring democracy through military intervention, it has to drive development for people.

Another factor is Africa's strategic importance that historically foreign powers attracted. With the division of Africa in Berlin in 1884, the European powers created areas of influence that continued to pursue many African countries.

These strategic interests proceed to infiltrate politics and cause instability On the continent.

In My recent workI argued that foreign influence and strategic importance appear in African countries like Nigeria.

Just like Putsche within the period after independence, some current coups in West Africa have the fingerprints of foreign powers. For example, Russia is involved within the Coups 2020 and 2021 in Mali and the Burkina Faso -Putsch.

Great Britain, the USA, China and France are thinking about Africa. Since France's expulsion from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the previous colonial power has been seek Another regional port in Nigeria. That grew up Suspicion In some quarters.

In addition, colonialism left the separation between the people of a rustic and their army. The recruitment distributed the previous warriors and enabled latest ones. The military under colonialism was perceived by civilians because the protection of the interests of the colonial ruling elite.

In the post -colonial period, the military is perceived as protection of the interests of the African ruling elite. This agreement takes as much as the military that was exposed to politics and decides to take power for itself. Citizens of this sort of coup often give legitimacy because they’ve at all times seen the political elite as self -services. Military coups in Sudan and Mali are examples of this.

Are these aspects present in Nigeria today?

The sociopolitical and economic conditions which have led to plus in other countries in West Africa can be found in Nigeria.

Nigeria continues to be largely divided into the areas of clans and religion. The uncertainty is at a high level across the country. Removing the gasoline subsidy has caused economic problems.

Have raw material prices pounded up. Inflation of food reached 40.75% in 2024 – the best level in 25 years.

The colonial heritage in Nigeria continues to be obvious within the north, against the South Divide that’s suffering from the country's politics. Bad leaders use the division for their very own selfish profit through the use of marginalization rhetoric.

Nigeria continues to be strongly tied to the apron of the western powers. This explains why Nigeria's President of Aspirants prefer To go to Chatham House, London, to talk as an alternative of talking to the people they need to steer.

The relationship between Nigerian President Bola Tinubu France lifting Eyebrow within the country. The President recently Signed latest offers With France within the areas of renewable energies, transport, agriculture and significant infrastructure. There are concerns because this is available in West Africa shortly after just about all former French allies in West Africa broken ties With the European country.

These aspects often result in increasing dissatisfaction, which in turn can stimulate a military takeover NigerPresent Guinea And Gabon.

How can a military comeback be prevented in Nigeria?

An effective leadership would help reduce the colonial legacies, to enhance democracy and to scale back foreign influence. This would promote trust in several ethnic communities, since politics was implemented in relation to inclusiveness and development of the country.

Military professionalism would further specialise in the military and provides them the main focus. The military in politics ought to be less involved.

In the period of peace, the military can be kept as a service provider in agriculture, health and social work, corresponding to in committed, corresponding to in the USA.

Regional organizations like them Economic community of West African countries and the African Union Should proactively condemn the condemnation of derailing democratic practices and values ​​of political actors. You shouldn’t only react by imposing sanctions after a military takeover.

Nigeria must think in regards to the development of A Local democracy As within the late supporters Claude AkeThe Nigerian political scientist.

The process and the strategy of democratization ought to be reasonably priced for everybody to participate. Democratic leaders should be checked and their front and output of the office should be determined.

Democratic institutions must be strengthened to stop corrupt people from taking off offices. Democratic leaders in Nigeria and other African countries must search for indigenous solutions for his or her challenges.

At a time when some events ban telephones to be sure that the audience is correctly employed in experience in Barcelona and Zagreb to see in the event that they had done the highest eight or play-offs.

The scenes on Wednesday in Villa Park and within the Etihad Stadium had a noticeable charm. Here was a contemporary twisting of the transistorradios followed by word of mouth, followed by cheers or curses, progress or elimination. This was presented as a welcome novelty, which didn’t occur within the group phase that replaced the league. Everyone greets the leagueapse!

The generally positive reception for the brand new formula remembered Harry Limes, immortal line within the third man. “In Switzerland they’d fraternal love, they’d 500 years of democracy and peace and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. “Lime won’t have been as contemptuous if he had known concerning the Swiss model, as the brand new Champions League format is thought.

But aside from the proven fact that the clubs have delivered more cash, more games for the transmitters and more income for themselves, have the overhaul of UEFA worked?

There were some great stories within the league, from Lille and Brest, which were over -performance to the unexpected psychodrama of Manchester City. Lille, for instance, lost her coach Paulo Fonseca against Milan in summer and sold her best young player, Leny Yoro, to Manchester United. They needed to undergo two preliminary rounds during which they eliminated Jose Mourinhos Fenerbahce to make the league phase.

When Ruben Amorim's Sport hit her on the opening evening of the Swiss model, most individuals had aroused the Lisbon page, not Lille to be the highest eight. But no. Lille stepped back to defeat the master Real Madrid, then the neighbor Atletico. They moved with Juventus and only lost to Liverpool after they’d dropped to 10 men.

But previously editions of the Champions League there have been no motion lines like Lilles from's, so it’s difficult to attribute them to the brand new format.

Brest may profit from playing eight games and eight different opponents as an alternative of six against three other clubs, as was the case in earlier seasons. It has been feeling for a very long time now, however the dynamics in your qualification for the upcoming play-off round comes from a slight introduction to the European Elite Club competition.

For the neutral, their games were fewer Champions League and more Austrian Bundesliga or Mitropa Cup in the primary few months once they defeated Sturm Graz and RB Salzburg, after which held Bayer Leverkusen to a tie before exceeding Sparta in Prague. It was a heart-warming story, even when Brests Cinderella story was a bit like giving Cinder a dating app with one of the best possible algorithm to search out her completely satisfied.

They became the second best newcomer within the Champions League trumpets. The other was the catchphrase of the last nightsimulcast.

When the competition got here along with the winter transfer window for the primary time, the concept of ​​one of the best recent commitment of the Champions League as a prospect that was in a position to attract more attention than the same old occupation of stars. But don't make a mistake, many smoke and mirrors were used here.

Part of the danger got here from missing the highest eight.

Atalanta and Milan fell out on Wednesday. Your punishment? Two more games in response to the schedule within the play-offs. Is that a punishment? They wish to see fans of clubs so far as possible in motion, especially within the Champions League, in order that this didn’t appear to be an enormous punishment. On the contrary, everyone may very well be interpreted as a bonus as a bonus, aside from the trainer and the players who should keep in mind more effort, preparation and reinforcement of the device.

At one end of the general rating, Liverpool was in a position to make the kids play in Eindhoven. At the opposite, nine teams were eliminated before the last week of the sport. The majority of the remainder were either secure or almost certain, which meant that the danger to the position in such a big table was urged because the midfield overtaking within the Indy 500.

As a spectator, it was difficult to stay awake to this point and stay on the fitting track.

The real drama got here from the accidental coincidence of the introduction of the brand new format with one season in Pep Guardiola's 17-year-old coaching profession when his team stuttered. In the top, the expansion of the opening phase of six games to eight large clubs comparable to City, which they left within the last minute in comparison with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, made enough rope to tug out of difficulties.

In the past, it was 10 or 11 points of the benchmark for the qualification of a gaggle with six games. Although 12 points for Napoli weren't enough in 2013. This time City, Sporting and Club Brugge achieved the play-offs with 11 points from two additional games in the primary league phase. Less of more representing progress by some means.

The tie breakers were also unsatisfactory.

While Brugge celebrated defeat in Manchester, Dinamo Zagreb in Maksimir was depressed in victory. They had hit Milan, but missed the play-offs in differences in goal. The query arose: Is the gate difference a good distinguishing feature should you played a distinct series of games in Dinamo's case, sport, sport and brugge?

Award goals would also not be an ideal solution, as they don’t play every team home and away.

By playing eight different teams, there’s more variety, more curiosity and fewer equality. However, the brand new format throws one other puzzle: When is a league not a league? If you don't play everyone, your club's games can feel abstract and this abstraction may very well be like lifting the lid to Pandora's box. Because if there is no such thing as a thing at home and outdoors, is it vital where these games are played? Could it open the door for the UEFA Champions League games in New York and Riad?

We should always remember that the heritage of this format change was the challenge for the UEFA of a Super League. The Swiss model is an open model. It just isn’t closed for entry. But it doesn’t secure clubs anymore. She keeps competition into the less lucrative, more strenuous Europe league as in previous years.

As with the illusion of the danger, the opposite trick here – a compromise is de facto – is that that is an excellent league that’s closely again under UEFA branding.

“Are you not entertaining?”

I’ll leave her with the image of Aleksander Ceferin, who’s bloody from the Super -League rebellion and throws his sword on the Colosseum gravel.

Is it a thumb, a thumb or still hovers your fist insecure within the air?

Ashley and Kyle were newly married in early 2022 and were excited to welcome their first child. However, Ashley suffered from bleeding from the start of her pregnancy and in July, at seven weeks, she suffered a miscarriage.

The couple's grief got here weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights in Wisconsin, their home state, after reinstating an 1849 law that allowed abortions only when the pregnant woman was near death.

Abortion insurance is a mixed bag within the United States. Patients often don't know if and when a procedure or abortion pill might be covered, and the proliferation of abortion bans has added to the confusion. Ashley says she's caught up within the tangle of uncertainties.

Ashley's life was not at risk throughout the miscarriage, however the state's abortion ban meant that even during a miscarriage, doctors in Wisconsin couldn’t perform a D&E (dilation and evacuation) until the embryo died. She went backwards and forwards from hospital to hospital, bleeding and on sick leave, until doctors could confirm the pregnancy had ended. Only then did doctors remove the pregnancy tissue.

“My first pregnancy was the first time I realized that something like this could affect me,” said Ashley, who asked to be identified only by her middle name and her husband by his first name. She works in a government agency with conservative colleagues and fears retaliation if she talks about her abortion care.

A 12 months later – the 1849 abortion ban was still in force in Wisconsin – Ashley was pregnant again.

“Everything was perfect. I started feeling kicks and movements,” she said. “It was the day I turned 20 weeks, a Monday. I went to work and then picked Kyle up from work. When I got up from the driver's seat, there was fluid on the seat.”

The amniotic sac had ruptured, a condition called previable PPROM. The couple headed straight to obstetric triage at UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital, the most important maternity hospital in Wisconsin. The fetus was deemed too underdeveloped to survive, and the ruptured membranes posed a serious risk of infection.

Gynecologists from across the state of Wisconsin had decided that “in cases of pre-existing PPROM, every patient should be offered an abortion because there is a significant risk of ascending infection and possible sepsis and death,” said Eliza Bennett, the gynecologist who treated Ashley.

Ashley needed an abortion to avoid wasting her life.

The couple called his parents; Ashley's mother got here to the hospital to comfort her. Because of Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban, Bennett, an associate clinical professor on the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, needed two other doctors to verify that Ashley was facing death.

But despite a wealth of medical documentation, Ashley's medical insurance, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, didn’t cover the fee of the abortion. Months later, Ashley logged into her medical billing portal and was surprised to search out that while the insurance had paid for her three-day hospital stay, it had not paid for the abortion.

“Every time I called the insurance company about my bill, I cried on the phone because it was so frustrating having to explain the situation and why I think it should be covered,” she said. “I feel like it's my fault and I should be ashamed of it,” Ashley said.

Eventually, Ashley spoke to a lady within the hospital's billing department, who passed on the insurance company's statement to her.

“She told me,” Ashley said, “quote: 'FEP Blue does not cover abortion costs. Period. It doesn't matter what it is. We do not cover abortion costs.'”

The University of Wisconsin Health, which manages billing for the UnityPoint Health-Meriter hospital, confirmed this exchange.

The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program has contracts with FEP Blueor the BlueCross BlueShield Federal Employee Program to supply medical insurance plans for federal employees. In response to an interview request, FEP Blue emailed an announcement saying it was “committed to complying with federal law that prohibits federal employee health insurance plans from covering procedures, services, drugs and supplies related to abortion, except when the life of the mother would be in danger if the fetus were carried to term, or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.”

These restrictions, generally known as the Hyde Amendment, have been passed by Congress yearly since 1976 and forestall abortion services from receiving federal funding.

In Ashley's case, doctors said her life was at risk and her bill must have been paid immediately, said Alina Salganicoff, director of ladies's health policy at KFF, a nonprofit health information organization that features KFF Health News.

What tripped up Ashley's bill was the word “abortion” and a billing code that’s kryptonite to insurance, Salganicoff says.

“Right now we're in a situation where there's really a heightened sensitivity about what is a life-threatening emergency and when it's a life-threatening emergency,” Salganicoff said. The same chilling effect that keeps doctors and hospitals from offering legal abortion care could also affect insurance coverage, she said.

In Wisconsin, Bennett said, underprovision of abortion services is widespread.

“Many of the patients I see who have a pregnancy complication or, more commonly, a severe fetal abnormality, are uninsured,” Bennett said.

Recently, the $1,700 bill disappeared from Ashley's online billing portal. The hospital confirmed that the insurer paid the claim eight months later after several appeals. When contacted again on August 7, FEP Blue responded that it will not “comment on the specifics of individual members' medical care.”

Ashley said battling together with her insurance company and experiencing the impact of abortion restrictions on her health care — just like other women across the country — gave her courage.

“I'm here with all these people now,” she said. “I feel much more connected to them, which wasn't the case before.”

Ashley is pregnant again, and he or she and her husband are hoping that this time her insurance will cover the medical care her doctor deems crucial.

What this implies

Application of the emergency procedure

A routine software update caused a record-breaking power outage in much of the world, the consequences of which were felt for days afterwards.

CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity provider deployed by Microsoft systems, installed an update on July 18 that analysts say likely skipped quality tests. The result disabled a estimated 8.5 million Computers in perhaps the most important cyber event in history.

Microsoft systems critical to the net operations of banks, hospitals, police forces, major airlines, television networks and government agencies were affected. Flights and operations were cancelled, courts and government offices were closed and latest hacker vulnerabilities were introduced, including for federal agencies.

The shutdown has highlighted Americans' collective vulnerability in cyberspace: Our dependence on trillion-dollar technology corporations could endanger national security.

Market dominance

The technology vendors that support the infrastructure that the private and non-private sectors depend on bear the responsibility for shielding our security. In 2023, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly proposed holding technology corporations chargeable for selling vulnerable products. Such liability measures could have prevented the worldwide outage of CrowdStrike.

The rapid concentration of power in tech corporations is posing challenges for presidency and society. Companies reaching unprecedented sizes and trillions of dollars in value control the digital infrastructure that folks rely upon at the very least as much because the post office and garbage collection. Tech corporations now operate or help operate communications, commerce and other services more flexibly than federal agencies do. But in addition they accomplish that with less regulation and public scrutiny – and a profit motive.

The technology sector's market dominance accounts for greater than 10% of the US economy. In 2024, Microsoft reported revenue of $211.91 billion. Other tech giants recorded even higher numbers: Amazon $574.78 billion, Apple $383.28 billion, and Alphabet (Google) $307.39 billion. (Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, recorded $134.90 billion.)

Some of those profits go toward lobbying and paying penalties for security and antitrust violations, quite than investing in cybersecurity and other improvements that would scale back harm to consumers. In 2023, the tech giants each spent at the very least $10 million on lobbying while receiving greater than $3 billion in fines and settlements for violating European digital antitrust laws and facing lawsuits from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

Meanwhile, the financial impact of poor software quality within the U.S. was at the very least $2.41 trillion in 2022, in response to the Consortium for Information & Software Quality.

Reducing risks

There are several ways to avoid software-related outages. Diversifying your technology vendors and options builds resilience and reduces risk. If everyone relies on just just a few vendors, each outage has huge consequences. CrowdStrike, certainly one of the most important cybersecurity corporations within the country, is an example of this problem; it counts greater than half of the Fortune 500 corporations amongst its customers.

Equally vital is redundancy in cybersecurity – multiple layers of security measures and backup systems that ensure continuous protection and functionality even when one layer fails or is compromised. Although creating these redundancies may cost corporations more initially, they’re investments in maintaining trust between corporations and their customers, Javad Abed, a cybersecurity expert and assistant professor of business administration at Johns Hopkins University, told USA Today.

About two-thirds of reported software vulnerabilities in commonly used programming languages ​​are resulting from security flaws related to memory, reminiscent of incorrect allocation or release of memory locations, which may allow unauthorized access or the execution of malicious code.

Earlier this 12 months, given how often the federal government lags behind on technical issues, the White House pushed for widespread adoption of “memory-safe” programming languages ​​reminiscent of Rust, Go, Python, and Java, which protect against certain sorts of bugs related to memory usage. Yet Microsoft and other major technology corporations proceed to depend on C/C++ and other languages ​​because they’re fast and are used to develop firmware, programs embedded in hardware memory to assist devices operate. It's price sacrificing some convenience to avoid devastating security flaws.

Nationwide standards designed to make sure software is secure by design would shift the onus on vendors to deliver secure products from the beginning. We may look to the European Union, where regulators are prioritizing cyber resilience through the Digital Operational Resilience Act, which is able to take effect in 2025. It is designed to set strict requirements to make sure the financial sector can withstand information and technology threats.

Only by demanding the very best standards from technology providers can we proceed to learn from the advances of a connected world without fear of avoidable – and potentially life-threatening – disruptions.

Two recent Supreme Court rulings on congressional district redistricting can have very different consequences for black voters within the 2024 election.

A ruling strengthened the black electorate in Louisianawhile one other decision upheld a congressional district map in South Carolina that a lower court had declared to be “illegal racial gerrymandering.”

Despite these seemingly contradictory results, there’s a standard thread.

In each cases, the judges gave partisan state legislatures more power to attract congressional districts, overriding lower federal court decisions that had ordered state legislatures to attract latest districts.

Taken together, these decisions represent a conservative shift by the Supreme Court on redistricting that might have significant implications for American democracy.

Acceptance of “good faith” in South Carolina

Every 10 years, the US states must to reorganize their constituencies to take population changes under consideration. The reorganization of electoral districts is often carried out by a state parliament or a commission. When electoral districts are divided for political reasons, often in an unusual way, this known as “gerrymandering.”

Gerrymandering is just not necessarily illegal. In 2019 The Supreme Court declared that partisan constituency manipulationor the drawing of electoral districts favoring one party over the opposite could not be challenged in federal courts, making them way more permissible.

However, gerrymandering—that’s, drawing districts in a way that reduces the voting share of minorities—is unlawful since it violates the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.

The Supreme Court’s central query of May 2024 Case concerning South Carolina's congressional districtsthat were modified in 2022 is whether or not the brand new boundaries were drawn based on race or party affiliation.

In Alexander vs. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACPthe NAACP and a black voter, Taiwan Scott, argued that the state legislature had illegally used race to attract the brand new district boundaries. The latest map excluded black-majority areas from the coastal 1st District, shifting 62% of black voters to other districts.

In South Carolina, black voters are overwhelmingly Democrats. Republican lawmakers in Columbia stressed that they focused on party, not race, in creating latest congressional districts that benefited Republicans.

In January 2023, a Federal District Court ruled in favor of NAACPA 3-judge panel ruled that the first District was an illegal racial gerrymandering scheme designed to weaken the black vote and ordered the state to redraw the districts.

The Supreme Court quickly took up the case. On May 23, 2024, the justices passed 6-3 selected ideological groundswith conservatives gaining the upper hand in overturning the lower court's ruling since it couldn’t be conclusively shown that race was the legislature's primary consideration in creating the map.

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Read more: Voting in unconstitutional districts: The U.S. Supreme Court overturned many years of precedent in 2022 by allowing voters to vote using gerrymandered maps as a substitute of drawing congressional districts first

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The majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, argued that the state legislature needs to be granted the “presumption of good faith” within the redistricting process. Alito laid out a conservative perspective on judicial redistricting motion based on the separation of powers and federalism, which dictate that States hold electionsnot the federal government.

“Redistricting is a traditional area of ​​state legislative power,” Alito wrote, while “federal court review of redistricting legislation represents a serious intrusion on essential local functions.”

As a result, Republicans are prone to win six of South Carolina's seven congressional seats within the November general election. South Carolina's black residents will forged their votes in districts where their overall vote share is proscribed.

In her dissent, Democratic-appointed Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the Supreme Court was required by precedent to defer to the lower court's decision – not the legislature's. She specifically questioned the presumption of excellent faith on the a part of the legislature, provided that the lower court had found that South Carolina's latest congressional map reflected race-based decision-making.

“Purcell Principle”

Lower federal courts have been actively involved within the redrawing of electoral districts because the Nineteen Sixties. my research has shownThey have played a vital role in promoting the best to vote.

The South Carolina ruling expressed the conservative majority's view that lower courts needs to be less lively and more deferential to state legislatures in certain redistricting cases. The justices reiterated this view in one other racial and reorganization decision from this term, this time in Louisiana.

Louisiana's Republican-drafted 2024 congressional redistricting plan strengthened black voting power, increasing the variety of black-majority congressional districts from one to 2 out of a complete of six.

Just as in South Carolina, a federal court declared this redistricting plan to be illegal racial gerrymandering. And again, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision.

In a temporary and unsigned order, the court allowed Louisiana to maintain its latest congressional apportionment, giving the state's black voters more electoral power in November and beyond.

justice Ketanji Brown Jackson disagreedShe would have let the case be heard within the lower court, she wrote. She also argued against the usage of the “Purcell principle' to overturn the lower court's ruling.

The Purcell principle, introduced in 2006, states that courts shouldn’t change election rules immediately before an election because doing so could cause confusion. This principle contradicts much of the federal courts' previous decisions on redistricting and potentially endangers voting rights by limiting judicial oversight of state legislatures.

Restriction of the lower courts

The implications of the court's decisions could possibly be profound. By granting more deference to state legislatures and limiting the involvement of lower federal courts in redistricting, the Supreme Court has given states more power to gerrymander their districts in recent months.

At the identical time, voters have less power than ever to fight back in the event that they consider that a brand new congressional reapportionment unfairly limits their power on the ballot box.

The court's conservative majority has already allowed partisan gerrymandering. Now, racist gerrymandering could also be harder to challenge in court – and voting rights could also be harder to implement.

Follow today's live coverage of the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands

We have to discuss Harry Kane.

England are within the semi-finals of one other major tournament, yet their captain, leader, talisman, frontman and all-time biggest goalscorer looks about as agile as an arthritic scarecrow.

OK. That's harsh. He's scored two goals in five games to this point on the European Championships, the general performance against him has been mediocre to non-existent and it looks like he's having problems along with his fitness. But clearly there are questions that must be asked here.

Questions like: How fit is he really? What does he currently bring to the team? And is he now England's Cristiano Ronaldo?

In previous years, that last query would have been a lavish compliment, but in 2024 it borders on criticism – suggesting that Kane is staying within the team based on status alone and that his manager lacks the courage to make a difficult decision. But could that actually be true?

The query of fitness appears to be probably the most relevant as Kane, fit and in form, is undoubtedly the most effective strikers on this planet.

Well, he was fit enough to start out all of England's games on the Euros, playing 464 minutes, making two appearances and being substituted in three (seventieth minute against Denmark of their middle group match, a hundred and fifth minute against Slovakia within the round of 16 and 109th minute against Switzerland in Saturday's quarter-final).

He got here into the tournament with a back injury sustained towards the top of the club season at Bayern Munich. Then-head coach Thomas Tuchel described the injury as a “complete blockage”, which was an apt description of England's current attack. “It has gotten worse and is affecting him in everyday movements,” Tuchel said in May.

Kane has been receiving treatment from his personal medical team to get fit for the tournament. Despite starting all five matches, the attention test suggests he continues to be removed from one of the best performance he has achieved, the time when he can seamlessly and elegantly turn out to be a team's playmaker and finisher in a split second. At the moment, he doesn't seem able to doing that.

In the England shirt this summer, his movements have been awkward, clumsy and stunted (his posture almost seemed distorted when attempting a volley in the ultimate group game against Slovenia), his combination play has been weaker because of this and he lacks the ability and momentum to beat defenders and deliver balls and crosses into the box.

England head coach Gareth Southgate apparently tried to injure Kane to provide him an excuse to take him out of the sport when the 2 collided late in the sport against Switzerland (that's a joke, don't shout swear words at me within the comments), causing Kane to suffer cramps. But despite being substituted soon after, he says he can be fit for Wednesday's semi-final against the Netherlands.

“I'm fine. I was just tired,” said Kane, who turns 31 later this month. “I had a bit of cramp there. I tripped over the water bottles and got cramps in both calves. The boss obviously made a quick decision as Ivan (Toney, who came on for him) is a proven penalty taker. He came in and did his job.”

For Portugal, 39-year-old Ronaldo proved indispensable and almost irreplaceable on this tournament (he was substituted within the 66th minute against Georgia, but along with his team already within the knockout phase before this final group match and eight other substitutions made, one may wonder why he played in any respect), as they too were eliminated within the quarter-finals by France, also on penalties.

While Kane may not have Ronaldo's ego, he has the same status in England – a standing underlined by his 44 goals in 45 appearances for his latest club Bayern last season (while Ronaldo was, in fact, playing within the Saudi Pro League). But Southgate has proven over time that he’s greater than capable of constructing daring decisions, corresponding to leaving out Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount, Jack Grealish and two of his former favourites, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson.

Not having Kane within the starting line-up on Wednesday can be a bombshell that might trump the entire above points combined.

It almost actually won't occur. But should it?

What was striking against Switzerland was how little Kane was involved in England’s build-up play.

Yes, he pulled the Swiss defence apart and yes, he went back to get the ball, but as this graphic of England's passing moves shows, Kane (you’ll find him near the centre circle) was clearly the underdog:

It just isn’t unusual for a team's centre-forward to not have a robust connection in these graphics, but it surely is telling how little Kane was involved in the sport against Switzerland.

In this respect, he resembled Ronaldo, who remained equally anonymous within the quarter-finals for Portugal on Friday:

Kane dropping deep is nothing latest – he has been doing it for years and with great success – but his low variety of touches within the opposition third against Switzerland is one other indication of his lack of accuracy:

He clearly drops deep at times, even into the full-back zone, and may get in the best way at times when England would surely be higher served with a more solid point of interest in attack, particularly when Kane's fitness levels are currently nowhere near what they typically are.

It can actually be argued that staying within the opposition's last line of defence is more helpful in pinning down the centre-backs and creating space between the lines for teammates corresponding to Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka to take advantage of – as in this instance against Denmark, where Foden and Bellingham can slip behind the midfield.

But if that’s to be Kane's principal task, there are other fitter and more energizing players within the squad who can tackle that role. And at the identical time they provide England more options by way of pressing and running.

“He will not drop Harry Kane,” former England international and now leading British pundit Gary Neville said of Southgate on Sky Sports after the sport against Switzerland. “He is one of his leaders, one of the greatest English footballers.rs we've ever had. There's no doubt he hasn't been at his absolute best in this tournament, but so has the team. The service to him hasn't been great.

“(Kane should) not sleep top, between the 2 centre-backs, after which drop back somewhat to try to attract the 2 centre-backs to enable runs back.

“He doesn't look like himself. He doesn't look as sharp when the ball is played to him, in and around the box. He doesn't seem to be able to get his touch and his shot like he normally would, but he won't be taken out of the squad unless he gets injured.”

Toney looked positive from the bench in each knockout games and Ollie Watkins can offer each Kane and Toney loads by way of pace, pressing and runs behind the defence, so there are arguments and debates.

Given Kane's status, his relationship with Southgate (he’s believed to have a sympathetic ear with the England manager and vice versa), his experience, temperament and obvious ability to attain goals, this point might be redundant, whether he’s 100 per cent fit or not.

There have been tournaments before which have been won by teams with ineffective strikers.

Portugal played with Ronaldo and Nani as shared strikers of their defensive-minded triumph at Euro 2016, France had a goalless Olivier Giroud as striker once they won the 2018 World Cup (he didn't even manage a single shot on goal despite playing in all seven games and starting six of them), and the very same thing happened with a lone, goalless striker Stephane Guivarc'h once they won the identical competition 20 years earlier.

The difference was that every one of those players were fit and made significant contributions to groups that, a minimum of in France's case, were still scoring goals.

But England have been slow to progress through games in Germany and haven’t looked prone to rating for long stretches. They lack momentum, their expected goals are low and so they depend on moments like Bellingham's overhead kick and Saka's perfect shot – the equalisers against Slovakia and Switzerland, which got here within the ninety fifth and eightieth minutes respectively and were England's first attempts on goal of the sport.

If these sentences don't read like a recipe for winning a tournament, they probably aren't.

England can have made it to the semi-finals, but to win the trophy in Berlin next Sunday, Kane will must be anywhere near his best. If he just isn’t, it might be sacrilege to say so, but they might probably be higher off with another person in attack, especially when the striker's principal job is to maintain the defence busy.

Bay Area meteorologists are urging residents to avoid direct sunlight Saturday because the powerful rays warn of excessive temperatures amid one among the region's most severe heat waves in living memory.

Saturday was widely expected to be the most well liked day through the persistent high pressure system, and morning temperatures didn’t disappoint: In areas between 2,500 and 5,000 feet above sea level, equivalent to many campgrounds on Mount Tamalpais, they reached between 90 and 350 degrees Celsius – the best since 1948.

San Jose is bracing for a dry day. Temperatures are expected to succeed in highs of 95 degrees, while expected lows of 64 degrees at night can be only a touch cooler than the historic nighttime temperatures reached in the town within the early twentieth century.

And a day after the Oakland Museum recorded record temperatures, temperatures almost as hot were expected within the East Bay: The high temperatures of 86 degrees Fahrenheit expected in Oakland would break a record set in 1985. In areas of Contra Costa County, equivalent to Concord, highs of 104 degrees Fahrenheit were expected.

“Overnight lows were most uncomfortable on the hilltops and mountains,” said Rick Canepa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Bay Area.

“Near the sea, some cooler air will move inland overnight,” Canepa added, “but as usual, this air will be overlaid during the day once the sun rises.”

The weather services hope that the warmth will ease from Sunday, although not significantly.

“It could cool down by 5 degrees,” said one other meteorologist, Nicole Sarment, on Friday. “Can you really tell if the temperature will go from 115 to 110 or from 110 to 105 degrees?”

Even before the apparent peak on Saturday, the intense weather in San José had led to the death of a homeless person, city officials said on Wednesday.

The scorching heat has increased the chance of fires inland, resulting from low humidity and dry fuels in vegetation created through the rainier winter.

Wildfire warnings issued by the National Weather Service, which warn against outdoor fires of any kind, including fireworks, were set to stay in effect across much of the Bay Area until 9 p.m., although the forecast of low wind speeds provided relief to meteorologists who had warned of greater wildfire risks.

Weather officials also warned residents that outdoor activities within the sun without proper precautions could quickly result in heat exhaustion or dehydration.

Still, recommendations urging residents to depend on air con are unlikely to resonate within the Bay Area: The San Francisco metropolitan area lags behind all other major U.S. metropolitan areas on the subject of air con equipment.

“Avoiding direct sunlight is absolutely essential,” said Canepa. “The sun's rays heat up the soil – there is a serious risk of sunburn or skin damage. Stay in the shade as much as possible.”