Politics

Saudi Arabia’s Next Billion-Dollar Sports Play: A Boxing Takeover

Saudi Arabia’s Next Billion-Dollar Sports Play: A Boxing Takeover

Associated media - Associated media Each class would include around 15 fighters each, allowing top talent to face off against each other regularly. The move would effectively create a single boxing entity that would replace the sometimes chaotic and frustrating system of warring fight promoters and sanctioning bodies. The new entity would have the resources and fighters to stage high-profile cards around the world. And unlike many of the sports that Saudi Arabia has previously attempted to revolutionize, professional boxing may be ripe for reinvention. The sport has lost its luster and some of its allure in recent decades and…
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The mind is available, so the body doesn’t have much choice

The mind is available, so the body doesn’t have much choice

Connected media - Associated media Mike Duggan and his hockey buddies were strapping on their gear one recent morning when their banter turned, as it often does, to the topic of joint replacement surgeries. Duggan, 74, the proud owner of an artificial hip, marveled at the sheer number of titanium body parts in the locker room. He nodded toward Mitch Boriskin, who was putting on a pair of skates along the opposite wall. “I don’t think there’s an original part to you,” Duggan said. Boriskin, 70, smiled. “Two fake knees, a spinal cord stimulator, 25 surgeries,” he began, as if…
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are pharmacy benefit managers to blame?

are pharmacy benefit managers to blame?

Related media - Connected media For many Americans, the rising tide of prescription drug prices feels like a relentless force, threatening to drown household budgets and healthcare access. While pharmaceutical companies often take the brunt of public blame, the web of influences on drug costs is far more intricate. Today, we train our spotlight on a critical, yet typically shrouded, player in this system: pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. Rebecca Robbins, a leading investigative journalist specializing in pharmaceuticals for the New York Times, will take us on a deep dive into the world of PBMs. We’ll explore their role as…
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Julian Assange nears freedom after guilty plea in leaked documents case

Julian Assange nears freedom after guilty plea in leaked documents case

Associated media - Related media Ending a years-long legal saga, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is poised to return to Australia after pleading guilty to a single charge related to the publication of classified US documents. The 52-year-old Australian national avoided a lengthy prison sentence by admitting guilt in a remote court hearing on a US territory in the Pacific. This agreement marks a significant development in a case that has become a battleground for press freedom and national security concerns. From Celebrated Whistleblower to Legal Standoff Assange rose to prominence in the 2010s when WikiLeaks published a trove of sensitive…
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Caitlin Clark finally got it right, but she has to consider the agenda around her name

Caitlin Clark finally got it right, but she has to consider the agenda around her name

Connected media - Associated media INDIANAPOLIS — Athletes often speak in general terms as a defense mechanism. Rather than delve into a potentially controversial topic, or even address the issue, they provide non-answers, using clichés and pre-planned talking points to stay at a safe distance. Part of me would like to believe that this is what Caitlin Clark did Thursday morning when I asked her if she was bothered by fans using her name as a weapon in the culture wars dividing the country. The Indiana Fever’s star guard hasn’t closed the door on the topic; she refused to even…
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Gilead Shot provides total protection from HIV during a study of young African women

Gilead Shot provides total protection from HIV during a study of young African women

Related media - Connected media It can take years before generic drug makers are ready to produce a drug, and they need to have an idea of the potential market to commit to investing in production. So in the meantime, Gilead will aim to ship “sufficient volumes” of lenacapavir to low-income countries as soon as it wins regulatory approval, he said. Lenacapavir and the two pills studied are all known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, drugs. Another effective injectable PrEP drug is available in some African countries, but its introduction has been plagued by access problems. Long-acting cabotegravir, which is…
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How architecture became one of Ukraine’s essential defenses

How architecture became one of Ukraine’s essential defenses

Associated media - Linked media The Ukrainian government and army have already started major reconstruction projects. Bucha and Irpin, the devastated suburbs of Kiev, have become important construction sites. Architect Norman Foster has been hired for a new master plan for Kharkiv, whose extraordinary density of modern architecture is exposed to almost daily bombing. But this exhibition continues to focus on informal, bottom-up efforts in Ukrainian architecture. It showcases the work of architects inside and outside the country, but also some of Ukraine’s most notable artists, not to mention the ravers and DJs from Kiev’s world-leading electronic music scene, who…
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Israeli Defense Minister holds talks in Washington on next phase of war

Israeli Defense Minister holds talks in Washington on next phase of war

Related media - Associated media Last week, Israeli soldiers adjusted the tracks of a tank near the Gaza border in southern Israel.Credit…Jack Guez/Agency France-Presse — Getty Images The intense phase of Israel’s war against Hamas “is coming to an end,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Sunday evening interview on Israeli television, although he stressed that this does not mean the conflict is coming to an end.After the operation in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city and the latest hub of Israel’s ground offensive, the prime minister said, Israel will continue to “mow the lawn” – a term long used in…
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A strange rock in a box is linked to a shooting star that fell 54 years ago

A strange rock in a box is linked to a shooting star that fell 54 years ago

Linked media - Linked media She and her team hunted down image negatives containing fireballs stored at the German Aerospace Center in Augsburg. After digitizing the images, the researchers estimated various parameters related to the incoming meteors, such as their masses, shapes, speeds and entry angles. Using this data, the researchers identified a dozen events that most likely produced sizable meteorites. Before 1976 only three had occurred. The team reconstructed the trajectory of each of those three fireballs and calculated where the meteorites would most likely be found. There was only one match to the location where the Ischgl meteorite…
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