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Estimates show one in five new mothers or about 800,000 mothers in America are experiencing anxiety disorders during the pregnancy or a year after giving birth. Mental health disorders are now the leading cause of maternal death, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The US is the only high income nation in the world without paid maternity leave and this increases risks of mental health. About one in four women return to work within 4 weeks of giving birth. This report shows the work done by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hills's Center for Women Mood Disorders, one of only 3 inpatient facilities for mental health in the US. 

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The effects of climate change that are the biggest issue facing both America and China and the need for cooperation on this vital issue is underscored by the floods in China and the fires in the US and Canada, the heat waves affecting both regions and the rest of the world. Even during the war in Eastern Europe one should never lose sight of the major issues that bind the major population regions of Asia in India and China with Europe and the US, and Africa, Latin America- climate change and food security, development finance and cost of living, helping workers and families in these regions.

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Remote learning during the pandemic left students with a lack of basic skills. Companies are now working to address these skill issues and training is provided on the job. The scores on tests for students in all professions from nursing and medical to engineering have fallen with remote learning.

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Trump asked him to put him above the Constitution of the United States of America. He refused, making clear his overriding commitment to the Constitution of the United States, says former vice president Mike Pence. More clearly one sees a different understanding and grasp of the meaning of the Constitution of the US by the two individuals. This is what is at stake in what Peter Baker in the NYT calls an issue that will decide the future of America as a strong democracy. Deeper still are the questions of education and culture that this has raised that will not go away even then. How do you build a democracy when as a people, as a political class, or as groups of people one is not jolted by the fact that two thirds of American fourth graders fail the reading comprehension test, an indication of the deep lack of knowledge of the basic history, geography and political structure of the Untied States of America across broad sections of the people.

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Former Vice president Mike Pence says he told president Trump after the election that the claims about the election results not being correct were false. In making his decision Pence says he put his loyalty to the Constitution above the interests of the career of any one man.

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The hybrid Toyota Land Cruiser is an iconic brand that will be brought back in the US in 2024 in the $50,000 price range as a raw and utilitarian vehicle for off road adventure. By 2023 11.3 million were sold globally. It was discontinued in the US in 2021 with few design changes and lack of sales in the $80,000 price range.

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The bursting of a dam on the Guadalupe river in Texas shows the problems of aging infrastructure in the US. The Lake Dunlap dam was built in the 1920's to generate electricity for rural homes in the state, and is one of six dams on the Guadalupe river. There are 91,815 dams in the US with an average age of 61 years, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers. It would cost $157 billion to repair and build new dams to replace these aging dams.

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At its core what Peter Baker of the NYT calls a question that settles the future of American democracy-Mr. Trump's indictment for efforts to reverse 2020 election result- is a question of culture, of American culture and education having deteriorated in profound and unthinkable ways. Peter Baker who has covered 5 American presidents writes in the NYT that the fourth indictment gets to the heart of the matter, which will define the future of American democracy. This indictment asks whether a sitting president can spread lies to hold on to power when the election shows voters have rejected him. The indictment says that Mr. Trump "knew that his claims were false," yet he "made them anyway to create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger and erode public faith in the administration of the election."  Baker also points out that one third of the electorate still believes this to be true as a result of the claims Trump made. And 75% of the Republicans in NYT-Siena poll think Mr. Trump was simply acting in good faith to question election results in some states and it was nothing more than pursuing his legitimate legal options. This is about 40% of the American electorate. How is this possible unless the education and culture of the country has been allowed by successive failed administrations to deteriorate to an extent never before seen in this way since the country's independence in 1776. Even recent reports that two thirds of America's fourth graders fail basic reading comprehension tests have not jolted the nation out of its tech based glorification of a failing culture and education. ...

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It is a summer of surprises, Germany loses to Columbia, Brazil loses to Panama, Italy loses to South Africa, and the American team barely gets away with a draw after an excellent performance by Portugal.

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China has banned crypto currency firms including Binance. Yet the ban is not fully enforced leading to about $90 billion in transactions in China in May 2023. The first and second biggest market for the Binance crypto exchange is China with 900,000 users, followed by South Korea and Turkey. In China about 100,000 Binance users are considered "politically exposed persons." 

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The US women's soccer team fails to score and Portugal comes close to winning in the final minutes with a shot that come off the goal post.

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Fitch Ratings drops US top credit rating for "erosion of governance." This happens as Mr. Trump runs for the 2024 election after a series of indictments for election interference.

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Former president Trump is indicted by a federal grand jury for his efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election. Charges in this criminal case include attempt to defraud the US, obstructing an official proceeding, and conspiring against the rights of voters. The 45 page indictment by special counsel Jack Smith says Trump leaned on election officials in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan to support his efforts to overturn election results, and later on vice president Mike Pence. WSJ shows a graph of the series of indictments Mr. Trump now faces including payments to a porn star, Georgia election interference, handling of classified documents, Jan. 6 violence, and in other cases.

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A sluggish economic recovery in China after the pandemic.

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Sam Bowman, economist and editor of magazine Works in Progress, says one reason Britain is lagging behind other EU countries, is that it's insular political and media class are rarely serious about anything else except managing public opinion. They have lost sight of economic growth led by investment and productivity. Poland, Slovenia and South Korea may soon surpass Britain in GDP per capita. The productivity rate in Poland is expected to surpass British productivity, this report in The Times shows.

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The Colombian women's soccer team's win 2-1 over Germany in World Cup 2023 shows how much has changed in women's soccer worldwide. WIth only about 30% of the possession the Colombian team dominated the game. The winning goal came in the 89th minute of the game from a stunning header by Manela Vanegas. Colombia led for most of the game. Linda Calcedo scored first for Colombia. The last time Germany lost a game in global games was in 1995 against Sweden. 

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NYT looks at the movies "Oppenheimer" and "The Day after Trinity." Christopher Nolan's film about the scientist who spearheaded the development of the atomic bomb was at theaters July 21. Else's documentary "The Day after Trinity," was made in 1981 and shown again by the Criterion Channel without a subscription to a new generation of viewers to keep alive its message and its relevance. The war in Eastern Europe and nuclear threats have created a surging interest in how the world entered a new era after Hiroshima. Else, now a professor at UC Berkeley, says this story needs to be told to a new generation, and by a new group of storytellers. It also shows the paradox of a thoughtful soul in Oppenheimer who never intended for his invention to be used and the savage nature of this creation.

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The NYT looks at the role of a prominent Democrat in rebuilding the NRA, National Rifle Association, as a powerful lobbying group in Congress and in the US. The role of gun rights and gun violence is leading to new questions about gun ownership.