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First thing: Harris tries to rally the votes of Michigan youth | American news
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First thing: Harris tries to rally the votes of Michigan youth | American news

Good morning.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz appeared together in the hometown of Michigan’s largest university, trying to burnish their credentials with young voters and calm Democrats who have grown nervous as the apparent deadlock in the race for the White House drags on.

Much of the rhetoric at the evening meeting in Ann Arbor, a city synonymous with the University of Michigan and its student population of nearly 53,000, was aimed squarely at the new voters who have traditionally been a source of votes for Democrats .

“I want to speak specifically to all the young leaders, all the students who are here today,” Harris said. “So I love your generation. I really do, and one of the things about that is that you are rightly impatient for change.’

  • Is Kamala Harris Alienating Progressives While Courting Anti-Trump Republicans? The vice president is banking on support from high-profile Republicans as she moves to the center, despite warnings from progressives. “I don’t think it helps at all to have Liz Cheney on the team because she doesn’t bring a lot of votes,” said Democratic National Committee member James Zogby.

Jeff Bezos defends decision to end Washington Post endorsements

Jeff Bezos speaks at an event in Washington, in 2019. Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of the Washington Post, has written a column in his own newspaper defending the decision not to endorse a candidate in the US presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, widely seen as a crucial stress test for American democracy.

“What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias,” the Amazon founder wrote. “A perception of non-independence. Ending it is a decision of principle, and it is the right one.”

The decision not to support it has rocked the Post, one of the most storied names in American journalism since the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon broke. Unrest in the editorial office, dismissal from the editorial staff and the loss of 200,000 subscribers followed.

Fears for aid to Gaza after Unrwa ban, while Guterres tells Israel there is no alternative

An Unrwa worker looks at the destruction after an Israeli attack on a UN agency school in Gaza in May 2024. Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

World leaders and international aid agencies have expressed fears about the delivery of crucial aid to Gaza following the Israeli parliament’s vote to ban the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa). The Secretary General, António Guterres, said on Monday evening: “There is no alternative to Unrwa.”

Guterres said the UN agency would be prevented from carrying out work mandated by the UN General Assembly if Israel were to implement the laws, which would prohibit the agency from carrying out “any activity” or providing any service within Israel. including the areas of annexed East Jerusalem, Gaza and Israel. the West Bank. Guterres called on Israel to “act consistently on its obligations” under the UN Charter and international law, saying: “National legislation cannot change these obligations.”

  • Why did the Israeli parliament vote to ban Unrwa? Israel has long complained that Unrwa is outdated and that its continued support for the descendants of those initially displaced in 1948 is an obstacle to a peace settlement.

  • What’s happening in Gaza? The intensifying Israeli siege of Jabaliya and several other parts of northern Gaza – reinforced by tanks and ground troops – has meant that civil protection teams and medics have been unable to rescue those trapped under the rubble.

Other news…

A news broadcast in Seoul shows a satellite image of the Russian military facility Ussuriysk, where intelligence officials said North Korean personnel had gathered at the training ground. Photo: Kim Jae-Hwan/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock
  • North Korea has sent about 10,000 troops to Russia within “the coming weeks” to train and fight in the war in Ukraine. The Pentagon said so, in a move that Western leaders say will intensify the nearly three-year war and shake up relations in the region.

  • Iran executed a 69-year-old German-Iranian political scientist after years of captivity. Berlin warned of “serious consequences” for Iran’s “inhuman regime” after Jamshid Sharmahd was killed. Sharmahd was accused of leading the Tondar group, which aims to overthrow the Islamic Republic.

  • Britain’s former colonies should be grateful for the legacy of empire and not demand reparations, Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has said. “The British Empire broke the long chain of violent tyranny when we introduced – gradually and imperfectly – Christian values,” he wrote.

  • Minneapolis police have apologized for failing to respond to a local black man’s complaints about repeated, racist harassment by his white neighbor until the neighbor shot the victim in the victim’s own yard.

Statistic of the Day: Pollutants in the atmosphere that cause global warming have increased by 10% in just two decades

The increase in pollutants and CO2 in the atmosphere is caused by humanity’s ‘stubbornly high’ burning of fossil fuels, the WMO has found. Photo: Mark Waugh/Alamy

The concentration of pollutants clogging the atmosphere will reach record levels in 2023, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said. It found that carbon dioxide is accumulating faster than ever before in human history, with concentrations rising by more than 10% in just two decades. “Another year, another record,” said Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the WMO. “This should set off alarm bells for decision makers.”

Don’t Miss: What Happens When People With Acute Psychosis Encounter the Voices in Their Heads?

Digital avatars can help people with psychosis hear voices less often and reduce the distress caused. Illustration: Nick Kempton

A new therapy requires listening intently to the voices people hear in their heads and responding to them as if they were spoken by completely real external beings. With the help of a therapist, the goal is to have a dialogue with the voice – in the hopes of gaining control over it. New research suggests that the method, which involves creating digital avatars, could help people with psychosis hear voices less often and reduce the distress caused.

…or this: the strange story of the Elizabeth Holmes of yoga

The four-part docuseries, which began airing last week on HBO, features new interviews with those who fell under Griggs’ spell as they sought community, ritual and spiritual fulfillment outside established religion. Photo: Anna Berkut/Alamy

How did Katie Griggs, aka Guru Jagat, go from YouTube astrologer to yoga master, spiritual guru and wellness girl boss with celebrity followers like Russell Brand, Kate Hudson and Alicia Keys? “Reality is a trance,” she once said. “Your reality is a trance of your own making. Or someone else does who does not have your greatest good in mind.”

Climate check: five ways a Trump presidency would be disastrous for the climate

Donald Trump’s climate denial could worsen the already devastating impact of wildfires. Composite: Getty Images, AP

During his run for the White House, Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and “one of the biggest scams of all time” while vowing to scrap clean energy spending, the “insane” incentives for Americans to drive electric cars abolish various environmental regulations and unleash a ‘drill, baby, drill’ wave of new oil and gas.

Last thing: how games can change your life

Check yourself… we should be playing for the game. Illustration: Elia Barbieri/The Guardian

Games are an invitation to break free from the tyranny of efficiency, writes Tim Clare. “Playing is important because it is not necessary. We play because we like joy, and because we like to feel free. We play because the experience – including the delicious, pinching frustration of a dilemma, or the shock of betrayal – increases our sense of self.”

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