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News That Matters

12/08/2022 ---- 13/08/2022

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) announced today that they will honour the life and legacy of 11-time NBA champion and civil rights pioneer William Felton Russell by permanently retiring his uniform number 6 throughout the league. The iconic Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer will be the first player to have his number retired across the NBA. Born in Louisiana in 1934, Russell's life was marked by an uphill battle against racism and controversial actions and statements in response to racism. His life was impacted by racism since he was a child. Later, his basket skills earned him a place in the Boston Celtics where he won 11 championships and became the league's first black (playing) coach, marking several NBA records. He leveraged this unique position in favour of civil rights and he was active in the Black Power movement. A prominent civil rights activist, he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, condemned racial segregation and advocated for Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted in the Vietnam War. Ex US president Barak Obama awarded to him the Medal of Freedom in 2011.

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In the last month several articles reported record atmospheric events. Experts say that these are linked to the ongoing climate change effects, and that in the future such events will be the "new normal". Reported events include arctic melting faster than predicted, record high temperatures in England and China, arctic storms, record rainfalls in Korea, extreme drought in EU. As pointed out by some articles, the climate risks are expected to have effects much worse than the recent economic crisis seen in the past (including pandemic and the energy crisis caused by war).

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Researchers tested 288 foods bought at stores and farmers markets across the United States including grains, fruits, vegetables, snacks, teething foods, and family items that babies eat, such as cereals and rice cakes for lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. Those heavy metals are among the World Health Organisation’s top 10 chemicals for infants and children. Results showed 94% of manufactured baby foods, family foods and homemade purees made from purchased raw foods contained detectable amounts of one or more heavy metals. So… what can we do to avoid that? The pediatrician Dr. Mark Corkins, chair of the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests to feed baby with as many different types of foods as possible. “If you spread foods out, and offer a wide variety of options, you'll have less toxicity," Corkins said. "And nutritionally that's always been the right thing to do to get the most micronutrients from the food you eat."

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