#senior-fellow

#senior-fellow

Image Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park and Hostel near Pescadero.Credit...Jason Henry for The New York Times It was big news a few years ago when, for the first time in more than a century, California's population shrank.The small but still startling decline in 2020 was driven by Covid-19 deaths and falling immigration and birth rates, and it was something of a turning point for a huge state founded on rapid growth and long accustomed to it.

Here's a look at the life of Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania congressman.Birth date: May 10, 1958 Birth place: Winchester, Virginia Birth name: Richard John Santorum Father: Aldo Santorum, a psychologist Mother: Catherine (Dughi) Santorum, a nurse Marriage: Karen (Garver) Santorum (1990-present) Children: Isabella, 2008; Patrick, 2001; Peter, 1999; Sarah, 1998; Gabriel, born and died in 1996; Daniel, 1995; Richard Jr., 1993; Elizabeth, 1991 Education: Pennsylvania State University, B.A., Political Science, 1980; University of Pittsburgh, M.B.A., 1981; Dickinson School of Law, J.D., 1986 Religion: Roman Catholic Member of the Gang of Seven, a group that exposed and condemned scandals in congress, when in the House of Representatives.

Satisfaction with the NHS has plummeted to a record low of just 29% amid intense public frustration with long waits for care, understaffing and lack of government funding.The striking picture of deep and growing disenchantment with the health service is mirrored by a recent spike in dissatisfaction with the NHS overall to 51% double what it was in just 2020 as well as a range of key services including GP care (42%), dentistry (42%) and A&E (40%).

This article is from Big Technology, a newsletter by Alex Kantrowitz.TikTok CEO Shou Chew had one mission as he appeared before a House of Representatives committee on Thursday: Convince U.S. lawmakers that TikTok had some separation from its China-based parent company, ByteDance.Chew was there because worries over China's ability to access TikTok user data, or influence its content filtering, has U.S. lawmakers, regulators, and the White House considering a ban or forced sale.

MOSCOW President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and China's top leader, Xi Jinping, declared an enduring economic partnership on Tuesday, promising to bring more Russian energy to China and more Chinese companies to Russia as the two leaders sought to insulate their countries from Western sanctions and other consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Community college enrollment took a steep dive during the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting its lowest numbers in 30 years.Now, colleges across the Bay Area are trying to lure students back with a tactic that might be hard to resist: free tuition.When I first started, it was like a ghost town, said Omolola Atolagbe, who began at Oakland's Laney College in 2021.

Certain phrases cause alarm bells to ring.When it comes to the Chicago Public Schools, "soft accountability" is one of them.The phrase showed up in stories about the decision last week by the Chicago Public Schools to nix its prior School Quality Rating Policy (commonly known as the SQRP) that judged and graded CPS campuses into numerical buckets (1, 2, 2+ and so on).

The extension of the CTA Red Line south to 130th Street was recommended to get $350 million in President Joe Biden's next budget, signaling a move by the federal government to support a project that is expected to rely heavily on federal funding.The money, which was announced Thursday and is pending both congressional approval and CTA's progression through a grant program, is a small piece of what CTA is seeking for the $3.6 billion project.

Ukraine is appealing for Germany to quickly send more air defense systems, tanks and ammunition, Kyiv's top diplomat to Germany said in an interview published on Saturday.Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev said the heavy weapons and equipment are needed as Ukraine's military prepares to launch a counteroffensive to retake territory seized by Russian troops.

In a first since the 1990s, Russia is planning to station nuclear weapons outside the country.In a March 25 announcement, President Vladimir Putin said Russia plans to deploy nuclear missiles to Belarus, along with a missile system capable of carrying the weapons.From April 3, we start crew training, and on July 1 we are finishing the construction of a special repository for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus, said Putin.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez begins Thursday a visit to China he hopes will show Spain has gained global influence under his watch ahead of a tight year-end general election.Published: 29 March 2023 15:35 CEST The two-day visit comes as Spain is gearing up to take over the European Union's rotating presidency in July which will also serve to project the country on the world stage.

The two-day visit comes as Spain is gearing up to take over the European Union's rotating presidency in July which will also serve to project the country on the world stage.Sanchez will attend the high-profile Boao Forum for Asia on the Chinese island of Hainan on Thursday before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

The UK's leader has been negotiating with the European Union to replace the Northern Ireland Protocol.UK and EU leaders have clinched a new deal for Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements.Customs checks and paperwork for goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK began after Brexit.

Many within the European Union probably view its new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as an enormous step forward in the fight against climate change and for the EU's own global prestige.And it is true that the EU has achieved internal consensus - always a difficult process - surprisingly quickly.

An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia, Oct. 11, one of the largest facilities for oil and petroleum products in southern Russia.The deadline is looming for Western allies to agree on a price cap on Russia oil.

Whether Leopard 2 battle tanks from Norway, or MiG-29 fighter jets from Slovakia, Ukraine receives pledges for the delivery of heavy weapons from its international allies almost daily.On March 20, the United States announced a new military aid package worth $350 million (325 million).But the M1 Abrams main battle tanks previously promised were not included.

Whether Leopard 2 battle tanks from Norway, or MiG-29 fighter jets from Slovakia, Ukraine receives pledges for the delivery of heavy weapons from its international allies almost daily.On March 20, the United States announced a new military aid package worth $350 million (325 million).But the M1 Abrams main battle tanks previously promised were not included.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast Sunday that after Russia suspended its participation in the last arms control agreement with Washington, it would "take into account" the nuclear weapons capabilities not only of the United States but of other NATO countries such as France and Britain.

A Justice Department task force targeting Kremlin-aligned Russian oligarchs has seized more than $500 million of their riches including everything from luxury yachts to opulent homes.LEILA FADEL, HOST: A year ago, the Justice Department unleashed a task force to target allies of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and their riches, from luxury yachts to opulent homes.

(Extreme-Photographer/Getty Images)It's a question that philosophers, economists and social scientists have grappled with for decades: Can money buy happiness?For most people in the United States, the answer is, seemingly, yes.Two prominent researchers, Daniel Kahneman and Matthew Killingsworth, came to this conclusion in a joint study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, overturning the dominant thinking that people are generally happier as they earn more, with their joy leveling out when their income hits $75,000.

One year of Russia's war against Ukraine has seen Germany upend decades of military restraint and a soft approach to the former Soviet power.Foreign policy experts say the German public has risen to the challenge.The country's politicians though, get more mixed reviews.Has the country had a Zeitenwende' or sea change' in how it thinks about foreign policy and security in Europe?

Character.AI, a 16-month-old start-up that builds online chatbots, said it had raised $150 million in a recent funding round that valued the company at $1 billion.Character.AI is among a tiny group of small companies along with the tech industry's giants that are building technology that could one day rival the systems under development at OpenAI, the San Francisco start-up that incited the A.I. boom with the release of an online chatbot called ChatGPT.

Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire is built on billions of users and the advertisers who pay vast sums to grab their attention.But that business model is under pressure on several fronts.It is against this backdrop that Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, said on Sunday it is trialling subscriptions for both social media platforms.

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Public attitudes towards immigration are becoming more positive despite record high levels of arrivals, a think tank has said.Net migration to the UK reached 504,000 people last year, the highest figure since records began in the 1960s, as the world opened up after the pandemic.

The number of permanent GPs in England has dropped year on year for the seventh month in a row, new figures show.There were 26,706 permanent qualified GPs working in England in December 2022, down 1.3% from 27,064 in December 2021, NHS Digital said.It is the seventh consecutive month the number of family doctors has fallen year on year, including a similar drop of 1.3% in November.

The agency notes that if a more dangerous COVID variant were to emerge, it might reconsider the vaccine strain at other times of the year on an "as-needed and emergent basis."Some immunologists and vaccine researchers say simplifying the process along the lines of the flu vaccine is appropriate at this point in the pandemic.

Summer heatwaves and low levels of flu last winter are among factors that may have contributed to almost 5,000 more deaths than usual in England in 2022 where symptoms included old age and frailty, new figures suggest.Health experts warned that urgent action is needed to halt the trend, which also shows the total number of deaths has been above average for eight months in a row.

Aquatic plants and debris are exposed by the falling water levels at the Kakhovka Reservoir.Researchers say that the draining of the reservoir by Russian forces are but one example of the war's effect on Ukraine's water supply.Dmytro Smoliyenko / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty At the massive Kakhovka Reservoir in southern Ukraine, water levels should be rapidly rising.

When Ted Page became a grandfather in 2014, he wanted to hear other men's stories, real experiences that hopefully would guide newcomers, he recalled.We're shifting into a different part of our lives, said Mr. Page, a 63-year-old from Lexington, Mass.I was trying to picture what it would be like.Mr. Page, a co-founder of a marketing consulting firm, wondered whether it was wise to pass around photos of his family, including his grandchildren, at meals with clients.

MOSCOW Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, sought to project a sense of unity and normalcy on Tuesday, during the second day of Mr. Xi's grand state visit, which included the signing of 14 agreements.We signed a statement on deepening the strategic partnership and bilateral ties, which are entering a new era, Mr. Xi said, following talks with Mr. Putin in the Kremlin.

President Vladimir Putin was not waiting at the end of the red carpet to greet Chinese leader Xi Jinping when he arrived in Russia for a high-profile visit on Monday, but it was not a snub.ussia's standard protocol for visiting dignitaries calls for them to be welcomed at the airport by a lower-ranking Cabinet official.