UPS Cuts Forecast With Labor Costs Set to Rise After Union Deal
United Parcel Service Inc. lowered its full-year profit forecast as the courier contends with shifting consumer habits and
1970-01-01 08:00
The Unlikely Cuisine Now Starring on World’s Best Restaurants Lists
When Mohamad Orfali, the head chef and co-owner of Orfali Bros. Bistro in Dubai, received an email in
1970-01-01 08:00
Marketmind: China trade data disappoints, again
A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets by Alun John. U.S. equity markets saw their first
1970-01-01 08:00
South Africa’s $8.5 Billion Climate Pact Hit by Further Delays
South Africa’s government will need another two to three months to complete an energy transition implementation plan, further
1970-01-01 08:00
Tributes pour in after Cha Cha Slide creator DJ Casper dies age 58
Tributes have poured in for DJ Casper, who died aged at the age of 58 on Monday (7 August) after his battle with cancer. The Chicago legend – whose real name is Willie Perry Jr – was famed for his classic 'Cha Cha Slide' that topped the charts in 2000. Speaking to ABC7, he spoke about the success of the track, saying he never expected it to be an international phenomenon. "When I first did it, I did it as an aerobic exercise for my nephew at Bally's," Casper said. "From there, it just took off. Elroy Smith from WGCI grabbed ahold of it," he said. "I have one of the biggest songs that played at all stadiums: hockey, basketball, football, baseball; they played it at the Olympics," Casper said. "It was something that everybody could do." He went on to discuss his health after being diagnosed in 2016 with two forms of cancer, "renal and neuroendocrine, which is kidney and liver." "They went in to try to do surgery, and they found out the kidney was connected to the main artery, so they decided not to do it," he said, adding they decided to "just treat it" instead. "I used to weigh 236 pounds, and I think I'm about 60 pounds less," he said at the time. "If you know me, you know I'm not going to stop. I'm going to continue to go. I'm going to continue to go until I can't go." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The sad news has prompted a flood of emotional messages online, with one person writing: "RIP DJ Casper, whose 'Cha Cha Slide' has been an immeasurable and integral part of seemingly every inter-generational celebration I’ve ever attended." Another added: "DJ Casper brought joy to so many with the 'Cha Cha Slide'. His legacy will live on through the countless celebrations and events where his music continues to unite people in dance. My condolences to his loved ones." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
1970-01-01 08:00
Man Utd give Rasmus Hojlund injury update
Manchester United have confirmed that new signing Rasmus Hojlund will be out of action for a "few weeks" due to an injury sustained in pre-season.
1970-01-01 08:00
Scientists make disturbing discovery at the bottom of Belize's Giant Blue Hole
The ocean is home to all manner of mysteries, from “alien” shape-shifters to ancient shipwrecks. And so, when Richard Branson and a team of scientists took a submersible down to the bottom of Belize’s iconic Giant Blue Hole, they were braced for some truly extraordinary sights. The Blue Hole is the largest sinkhole in the world, measuring 300m (984 feet) across and around 125m (410 feet) deep but, until Branson’s expedition in 2018 its depths had not been fully explored. The British billionaire was joined on his groundbreaking journey by Fabien Cousteau – the grandson of pioneering underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau – and oceanographer Erika Bergman. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Their mission was to create a 3D map of the hole’s interior but, when they reached the bottom, they were met by some disturbing discoveries. To be fair, they got off to a good start. The first thing they encountered as they edged down the hole was a wall of giant stalactites, which were “breathtakingly beautiful,” according to Branson. Then, at around 300 feet, they pierced a thick layer of toxic hydrogen sulphide, plunging them into darkness and cutting out the oxygen from the water around them. In an interview with CNN, Bergman explained that once you pierce that layer, which forms naturally over centuries, “you lose all of that Caribbean sunlight and it just turns completely black.” Elsewhere, Branson described it as “extremely eerie,” saying: “We didn’t expect to see any creatures below. But when we got to the bottom we could see crabs, conches and other creatures that had fallen into the hole, arrived on the bottom and then ran out of oxygen and died.” As the team continued to travel further down into the abyss, they were faced with the remains of a tragedy. In an interview with Business Insider back in July 2020, Bergman revealed that they found the bodies of two people who have “been lost in the Blue Hole”. “We found the resting place of a couple [of] folks,” she said. “And we just sort of very respectfully let the Belize government know where we found them.” She added that “everyone decided that we would just not attempt any recovery”, noting: “It's very dark and peaceful down there, [so we] just kind of let them stay.” As they reached the bottom, the team found something else unexpected, and very much unwelcome: human rubbish. It came in the form of a 2-litre Coke bottle and a lost GoPro containing some holiday snaps, according to Business Insider. “As for the mythical monsters of the deep? Well, the real monsters facing the ocean are climate change – and plastic,” Branson lamented following the discovery. “Sadly, we saw plastic bottles at the bottom of the hole, which is a real scourge of the ocean.” The business magnate said the expedition had offered “one of the starkest reminders of the danger of climate change [he had] ever seen.” He pointed out: “The Blue Hole is made of a complex system of caves that once formed on dry land. It is proof of how oceans can rise quickly and catastrophically. “Sea levels were once hundreds of feet lower. 10,000 years ago the sea level rose by about 300 feet when a lot of ice melted around the world. At 300 feet down you could see the change in the rock where it used to be land and turned into sea.” He added in his blog: “Hopefully by this trip taking place we have raised even more awareness of the need to protect the ocean and tackle climate change now – before it is too late.” He stressed that he didn’t want his grandchildren to “grow up in a world without corals, without the wonders of the ocean”. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
1970-01-01 08:00
The US Lures Top Companies from Allies with ‘Made In The USA’ Push: Big Take Podcast
Listen to The Big Take podcast on iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Terminal. The Inflation Reduction Act has given
1970-01-01 08:00
NBA’s Local TV Rights Draw Interest From Tech Giants, Disney
Walt Disney Co., Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and YouTube have expressed interest in streaming local NBA games, potentially
1970-01-01 08:00
Lula Enlists Neighbors Into Brazil’s Battle to Save the Amazon
The leaders of South America’s Amazon nations will gather in Brazil this week as President Luiz Inacio Lula
1970-01-01 08:00
Jonnie Irwin shares emotional milestone with son Rex amid terminal cancer diagnosis
Jonnie Irwin has shared an emotional milestone as he cycled with his four-year-old son Rex, on what appeared to be Rex’s last day at nursery. The TV presenter, 49, who is best known for hosting property show A Place in the Sun and Escape to the Country, publicly revealed his diagnosis in November 2022 after his lung cancer spread to his brain. He has previously said he “doesn’t know how long” he has to live. Irwin, who has been receiving palliative care for the past three years, posted an update on Monday (8 August) as he accompanied Rex on his way to nursery. “Last EVER ride to nursery with Rex,” wrote Irwin in a new Instagram post, sharing a series of pictures of himself and Rex on their bicycles as Irwin’s two-year-old son, Rafa, played with a spade. “Suitably waved off by Rafa and his spade and Rex with his game face on!” added Irwin. Irwin, who shares his three boys Rex and twins Rafa and Cormac with his wife Jessica Holmes, detailed his experience of palliative hospice care in a recent interview with BBC Morning Live. The property expert described his hospice experience as a “delight”, adding that his initial perception of such facilities were that they were “very much a boiling hot room full of people who looked frail and towards the end of their days”. However, it was “nothing of the sort” when he did actually go in. “It’s spacious, energised, comfortable,” Irwin told the show, adding: “I’ve had a really, really good experience at my hospice.” He urged anyone who is facing a terminal diagnosis to “embrace” end-of-life care and to try going to a hospice if they have been offered the choice. “My first experience of palliative care and hospice was blood transfusions,” he explained. “I had my first blood transfusion in hospital and then was invited to use the hospice, so I have it a go as a day patient and went into a lovely room. “I implore people to check out hospices. If you’ve got the choice of using it, then use it… I encourage people to explore that option because it’s not the doom and gloom operation you might think it was.” Irwin recently revealed that sometimes he has to “remove himself” from his family home to go to a hospice when he is in a lot of pain because it makes him “not good to be around”. He told Hello! magazine: “I’m like a bear with a sore head and I don’t want [my family] to be around that.” In another appearance with podcast OneChat previously, he said that being in pain affects his mood, explaining: “I have been close to death’s door, twice at least. You lose your memory, you lose your patience. I have got a very short temper. It’s not made me a better person, that’s for sure.” Read More King’s Guard shares sweet exchange with young boy wearing royal uniform ‘Oblivious’ woman defended after walking through beach wedding: ‘They don’t own the beach’ Sandra Bullock’s sister praises actor for being an ‘amazing caretaker’ to late partner Bryan Randall What is ALS and what are the causes? Brain’s appetite control centre different in overweight or obese people – study Areas with lower bird diversity ‘have more mental health hospital admissions’
1970-01-01 08:00
What is ALS and what are the causes?
Sandra Bullock’s longterm partner Bryan Randall has died at the age of 57 after a three-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ASL). His family shared a statement confirming that Randall “passed away peacefully” on Saturday (5 August), adding that he “chose early to keep his journey with ALS private and those of us who cared for him did our best to honour his request”. The statement, sent to People magzine, continued: “We are immensely grateful to the tireless doctors who navigated the landscape of this illness with us and to the astounding nurses who became our roommates, often sacrificing their own families to be with ours.” Bullock and Randall first met in 2015 and made their first public appearance together the following year. The model-turned-photographer’s family has asked for donations to be made to the ALS Association and the Massachusetts General Hospital. ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, its name coming from the Greek and referring to a wasting away of the muscles responsible for controlling voluntary movement caused by a lack of nourishment, the fault of a genetic mutation. As the ALS Association explains: “Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their demise. “When the motor neurons die, the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost. When voluntary muscle action is progressively affected, people may lose the ability to speak, eat, move and breathe. “The motor nerves affected when you have ALS are the motor neurons that provide voluntary movements and muscle control. Examples of voluntary movements are making the effort to reach for a smartphone or step off a curb. These actions are controlled by the muscles in the arms and legs.” Early symptoms of the disease, according to the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS), include: muscle twitches in the arm, leg, shoulder or tongue; cramps; tight or stiff muscles; muscle weakness; slurred or nasal speech; and difficulty chewing and swallowing. “The first sign of ALS usually appears in the hand or arm and can show as difficulty with simple tasks such as buttoning a shirt, writing, or turning a key in a lock,” the NINDS explains. “In other cases, symptoms initially affect one leg. People experience awkwardness when walking or running, or they may trip or stumble more often.” There is currently no cure for ALS but the US Food and Drug Administration has approved four drugs to treat the condition and ease the discomfort of sufferers: Riluzole, Nuedexta, Radicava and Tiglutik. It was first discovered by French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot in 1869 and is also commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in memory of the celebrated New York Yankees baseman (1903-41) who also suffered from it. While ALS affects all demographics, it is most common among people aged between 55 and 75 and, according to some studies, disproportionately affects former members of the armed forces, perhaps because of exposure to harmful toxins during their service careers although this has not been definitively substantiated. The ALS Association reports that, in 90 per cent of cases of ALS, there is no family history of the genetic mutation that causes the disease and, in the 5-10 per cent of cases in which there is, only a 50 per cent possibility exists of its being passed on. For more information, please visit the websites of the ALS Association or the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes. Read More Roberta Flack announces she has ALS and finds it ‘impossible to sing’ NIH to fund unproven ALS drugs under patient-backed law ALS drug wins FDA approval despite questionable data Brain’s appetite control centre different in overweight or obese people – study Areas with lower bird diversity ‘have more mental health hospital admissions’ Greg Rutherford rushed to hospital ‘screaming and clawing at his skin’
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