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Women’s World Cup 2023: Breaking down barriers toward equity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

Patrick Ridge, Virginia Tech associate professor of Spanish, studies the impact of soccer for a living. His connection to the game is strong, having grown up a fan, played himself and even attended World Cup matches in Latin America as part of his research.“Soccer is a cultural phenomenon that is so important,” Ridge told WTOP. “The influence of the women’s game is also growing.”As the 2023 Women’s World Cup kicks off, Ridge says, the world is at a tipping point of sorts.“A lot of the countries have started to more heavily invest into women’s soccer,” he explained, citing immense growth in Mexico, Germany, Spain, Argentina, England and of course — the U.S.“The U.S. does have a leg up on the rest of the world when it comes to women’s soccer,” Ridge said. “Historically, soccer, it’s been seen as ‘a man’s game,’ right? That is changing. Title IX is one of the most important pieces of l...

Unrelenting, Dangerous Heat Continues this Weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

The relentless heat wave this July continues into this weekend across South Florida as we mark the 19th consecutive day of Heat Advisories in effect for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. These advisories will remain in place through Sunday evening for feels-like temperatures up to 109F, but it could be extended into portions of next week, too.The Florida Keys are also under a Heat Advisory for today along for peak heat indicies of up to 112F.The big story this weekend will indeed be the heat courtesy of a heat dome parked right over South Florida, which traps and generates lots of heat, while our wind flow veers out of the southwest. This wind direction is a classic setup for hot temperatures across the metro and could lead to record heat today and tomorrow.This will drive high temperatures up and into the mid to upper 90s across most of South Florida Saturday through Monday. This heat will also be worsened thanks to Saharan dust filling our skies, allowing more sunshine. This dust w...

French rejection of top American economist is a blow to liberal Europe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

Lionel Barber is former editor of the Financial Times (2005-20) and Brussels bureau chief (1992-98)Nobody does “No” better than the French. Charles De Gaulle said “Non” twice to Britain’s bid to join the European Economic Community; Jacques Chirac said “Non” to the Iraq war; and Emmanuel Macron this week gave a thumbs down to Fiona Scott Morton, the American Yale academic selected for the post of top economist at the EU’s powerful competition directorate in Brussels.L’affaire Scott Morton may seem trivial in comparison to the (still unresolved) debate over Britain’s place in Europe or armed conflict in the Middle East, but the French veto of the first foreigner to take up the post says an awful lot about the European Union’s current paranoia about America’s influence and power.As Macron has pushed a vision of Europe that stands up to the U.S., resisting pressure to become “America’s followers,” as he put it in April, such thinking has strengthened in Brussels.The S...

Man dead, four others injured after shooting in North Lawndale

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

CHICAGO -- A man is dead and four others are injured after two men opened fire on a group in in North Lawndale overnight. According to police, the men were standing in the 1600 block of North Spaulding Avenue around 12:19 a.m. when two men approached and fired shots at them.Police said a 40-year-old man sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body and was pronounced dead. 1 in grave condition after being pulled from water at North Avenue Beach in Chicago Another 40-year-old man sustained a gunshot wound to the face and is in good condition. Another man was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition with gunshot wounds to the neck and head. A 44-year-old man was transported to Mount Sinai Hospital with gunshot wounds to the body. He is listed in good condition. A 50-year-old man sustained a graze wound to the right arm and refused medical attention.There is currently no one in custody and police are investigating the incident.

No fruit on your healthy plants? This could be why

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

(WKBN) -- You've spent countless hours planting, watering, weeding and yes, even talking to your garden, and it is now lush and green, but your plants aren't producing any fruit -- why is that? There is a collection of reasons that plants may not be baring fruit, including an imbalance in nutrient levels, a lack of pollination or high temperature, among others.How soil, nutrients and pH affect plant growth and fruit productionDifferent nutrients in the soil lead to different outcomes in terms of plant growth, and different plants react differently to those nutrients.Smithsonian Environmental Research Center details the three most important mineral nutrients found in soil: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These minerals can sometimes be lacking in soil since the plants absorb so much of them. To avoid depleting your garden of these nutrients, it is important to rotate your plants year by year since different plants absorb different levels of different nutrients. Nitrogen is part o...

VIDEO: Doorbell camera captures dust devil in Georgetown

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — A doorbell camera belonging to Meghan Varghese in Georgetown caught incredible footage of a dust devil coming up to her front door.Dust devils happen when intense surface heat causes a column of rising air, which then starts spinning due to the rotation of the earth.They can reach speeds of up to 75 miles per hour, but form when there aren't any clouds in the sky.If you want to know more about dust devils, check out our explainer.

Towering buildings could be coming to ‘Dirty 6th’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Austin City Council voted Thursday in favor of allowing taller buildings to be constructed on a portion of the Sixth Street Historic District, affectionately referred to as “Dirty 6th.” The change in zoning was needed by Stream Realty, which already owns more than 40 properties on the iconic street between Interstate 35 and Brazos. The developers want to transform the strip between Neches and Sabine Streets on Sixth into a place where people go during the day and not just at night.  MORE: Stream Realty pitches vision for bigger, safer 6th Street “Sixth Street has become a real problem,” Richard Suttle, an attorney for Stream Reality, told the Historic Landmark Commission in June. “It’s in a death spiral because you’re not going to get anyone in there…knowing they’re walking into a shooting ally.” Suttle said they plan to erect buildings that would ideally be mixed-use – such as resident, office or retail spaces – and hopefully break the cycle of new b...

Minnesota artist brings metal to life with Reelistic Replicas fish art

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

GNESEN TOWNSHIP — Brian Luoma can’t fish any more like he used to. Muscular dystrophy has robbed him of that passion, but he still remembers what they look like.Now the longtime avid angler has taken his interest in piscatorial pursuits and funneled it into art, creating incredibly lifelike images etched on steel that look like painted fish or fish photographs.“I’ve always thought the true colors of fish are just incredible. But they’re really hard to reproduce,” Luoma said.Artist Brian Luoma talks about some of his work that hangs on the walls in his Duluth home on Friday, July 7, 2023. Luoma creates the lifelike images on his computer that are etched on steel. (Jed Carlson / Forum News Service)They aren’t decals or actual photos, Luoma, 56, is quick to point out, but images he created on his computer. Another artist finishes the details and the images are transferred to a company that infuses the image onto a steel plate that has been laser-cut into the lifelike shape of a f...

Possible rainy weekend ahead for central Missouri

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

ST. LOUIS -- There is a moderate possibility of showers and thunderstorms in central and northeast Missouri, along with west central Illinois, during this afternoon and tonight. On Sunday afternoon, the chance of precipitation extends to cover the entire area. Following a relatively cool day on Friday, temperatures are expected to rise back to near normal levels by Sunday.

Broncos position preview: Specialist overhaul just one part of trying to improve ST units overall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:14:49 GMT

Editor’s note: Eleventh and final in a series previewing the Broncos’ position groups entering training camp. Today, special teams. On the roster (four): P Riley Dixon, LS Mitchell Fraboni, PK Elliott Fry, PK Brett Maher.How many on the 53?: Three.Most impactful offseason move: Releasing veteran kicker Brandon McManus.The Broncos released McManus, the last remaining player on the roster who was on the Super Bowl 50 team, in late May. The move created salary cap flexibility but also ended an era after McManus held the franchise’s kicking duties for the better part of a decade. After working out a handful of options, Denver signed Elliott Fry to the roster. Then Friday the Broncos also signed veteran Brett Maher, setting up a potential camp competition. Change is constant in the NFL, but to give an idea of how big of an adjustment this is for the Broncos, consider that McManus — now in Jacksonville — has 274 career NFL field goal attempts. Fry has six and Maher 116.Biggest question to...