Author Archives: Larry Sanderson

2025.04.29

Jeremy Olsen at the Star Tribune reports: “Minnesota is entering a bittersweet phase in its fight against HIV: Improved treatments have helped people with the disease live so long that they are dying of other age-related causes.” Via MinnPost

100 days of Trump
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/29/trump-100-days-president

Trump’s first 100 days – in numbers
We measure this presidency so far on polling, actions, economy and immigration.
https://www.bbc.com/news/resources/idt-17e9c07b-93f4-45b3-9558-7590b9eaf3ad

Trump 100 days: delusions of monarchy coupled with fundamental ineptitude
Trump has wasted no time in trying to remake the US in his image – with results that are sweeping, vengeful and chaotic
David Smith in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/29/trump-100-days-doge-trade-wars-economy

How much has Elon Musk’s Doge cut from US government spending?
Lucy Gilder, Jake Horton and the Data Science team
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4j33klz33o

Irish woman living in US for decades detained by immigration officials
Cliona Ward, who had returned from trip to Ireland, held over criminal record from almost 20 years ago
Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/irish-woman-cliona-ward-us-detained-immigration

‘I didn’t know they existed’: US exhibition highlights rarely seen Picasso artwork
Gagosian, New York
Veronica Esposito
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/apr/29/picasso-gagosian-exhibition-new-york

Drinking champagne could reduce risk of sudden cardiac arrest, study suggests
Maintaining a positive mood and eating more fruit may also help lower risk, researchers find
Andrew Gregory Health editor
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/29/drink-champagne-reduce-risk-sudden-cardiac-arrest-study-suggests

2025.04.28

Sarah Ritter at the Star Tribune is reporting: “The National Weather Service is advising Twin Cities residents to have plans in place in case they need to take shelter on Monday due to a threat of strong thunderstorms and tornadoes.” Via MinnPost

Dustin Nelson at Bring Me the News reports: “President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee raised a record $239 million for his January inauguration, which included a sizable donation from Minneapolis-based Target, according to new filings from the Federal Election Commission.” Via MinnPost
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-business/target-donated-1m-to-trump-inauguration-before-backing-away-from-dei-initiatives

Twin Cities metro fails air pollution report card
Alex Fitzpatrick, Torey Van Oot
https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2025/04/25/twin-cities-air-quality-report-2025

Mercado Central, one of Minnesota’s oldest Latino markets, weathers another storm
Three decades ago, the market helped lead a revival on Lake Street. Vendors hurt by the current immigration crackdown say city efforts — and their own creativity — will help them bounce back.
by Alfonzo Galvan
https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/mercado-central-lake-street-minneapolis-loan-forgiven-immigration/

What your earwax can reveal about your health
Jasmin Fox-Skelly
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250424-what-your-earwax-can-reveal-about-your-health

Ultra-processed foods may be linked to early death
Philippa Roxby Health reporter
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crm30kwvv17o

Spain and Portugal hit by massive power outage causing blackouts
Phones, traffic lights, Spanish parliament and newsrooms all reportedly affected as metro stations plunged into darkness
Jon Henley, Ashifa Kassam, Sam Jones and agencies
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/28/spain-portugal-power-outage

‘I wish I’d never written that damn movie’: Rust director Joel Souza on finishing his film after the fatal on-set shooting
Ryan Gilbey
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/28/rust-joel-souza-alec-baldwin-halyna-hutchins-shooting

Greta Garbo documentary reveals star as ‘a relaxed, silly, funny person’
Exclusive: Previously unseen footage of actor larking about with friends at home upends Garbo’s aloof image
Dalya Alberge
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/28/greta-garbo-documentary-reveals-star-as-a-relaxed-silly-funny-person

No more ‘subway spaghetti’! New Yorkers adjust to first new transit map in 50 years
The first major overhaul since 1979 seeks to simplify the map’s old illegible squiggles – but faces opposition from change-averse New Yorkers
Matthew Cantor
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/nyc-new-york-subway-map

Watch: Londoner creates live 3D Tube map https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cd6jlvev478o

Sea bass in space: why fish farms on the moon may be closer than you think
The Lunar Hatch project aims to blast eggs into space, hoping that aquaculture will provide protein for astronauts on missions
Kim Willsher in Palavas-les-Flots
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/28/sea-bass-in-space-lunar-hatch-fish-farms-moon-aquaculture

Chicago: security truck drops money bags worth $300,000 on its rounds
People found scrambling away with the money after it fell when the back door of a truck opened
Guardian staff
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/28/chicago-security-truck-money

Two suspects arrested for theft of Kristi Noem’s purse, Secret Service says
Noem’s purse was nabbed on Easter Sunday and reportedly contained about $3,000 in cash, her keys and identification
Guardian staff and agencies
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/27/kristi-noem-purse-suspects-arrested

Uncovering a hangar full of rare historic campervans
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0l5rbbx/uncovering-a-hangar-full-of-rare-historic-campervans

2025.04.27

Tyrants like Trump always fall – and we can already predict how he will be dethroned
Simon Tisdall
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/27/donald-trump-us-constitution-president

Chaos unleashed by Musk’s Doge is starting to wane – what does that mean?
David Smith in Washington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/27/elon-musk-doge-trump

Volunteers rush to send abortion pills to US women in need as ‘war between the states’ looms
Massachusetts abortion project pushes for access across country as controversial shield laws are put to legal test
Carter Sherman
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/26/abortion-clinic-pills-shield-laws

I used to laugh at my Chilean father’s paranoia about life in the US – not any more
Stacy Torres
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/27/chile-trump-pinochet-authoritarianism

‘It makes me sick’: the Amsterdam shops closing because of soaring rents
As Dutch capital prepares to celebrate 750th anniversary, small business owners fear for independent retail
Jennifer Rankin in Amsterdam
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/27/it-makes-me-sick-the-amsterdam-shops-closing-because-of-soaring-rents

‘It’s done wonders’: trading card game featuring middle-aged men revives Japanese town
Ojisan trading cards bear the faces of real people – local men whose competing professional qualities determine the outcome of each game
Justin McCurry in Kawara
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/27/its-done-wonders-trading-card-game-featuring-middle-aged-men-revives-japanese-town

Rattlesnake venom evolves and adapts to specific prey, study finds
An animation of a snake
Surprising new evidence challenges longstanding ideas about evolution
Richard Luscombe in Miami
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/apr/27/rattlesnake-venom-evolves-study

Bestselling German novelist found killed on Hamburg houseboat
Police launch murder inquiry after Alexandra Fröhlich is found dead on her boat on the Elbe
Kate Connolly in Berlin
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/27/alexandra-frohlich-bestselling-german-novelist-murder-inquiry-hamburg

How did Hitler’s film-maker hide her complicity from the world?
A new documentary delves into controversial German film-maker Leni Riefenstahl’s private archive to uncover a director who spent a lifetime covering up her central role in the Nazi propaganda machine
Eliza Apperly
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/27/leni-riefenstahl-nazi-hitler-film-maker-documentary

Chè trôi nước in Vietnamese, tangyuan (汤圆) in Chinese, glutinous rice balls to the rest of us

Preserving English eccentricity: 20 years of the World Marmalade Awards
The contest now draws in more than 3,200 entries from as far afield as the Czech Republic and South Korea
Oranges are not the only fruit: Cumbrian marmalade awards offer blend of fruits
Hannah Al-Othman
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/26/preserving-english-eccentricity-20-years-of-the-world-marmalade-awards

2025.04.26

A Minnesota driver who is a citizen of Red Lake Nation was ticketed recently for speeding and driving with “fake plates” in Georgia. “Johnathon Carlson, a Red Lake Nation member, was driving home after a family vacation in Florida when he was pulled over on the interstate. … Carlson’s license plates are issued by Red Lake Nation, a tribal nation in the northwest corner of the state,” according to MPR News. After the story broke, Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock has said that he is withdrawing the two citations issued to Carlson and will train deputies to recognize tribal plates. Via MinnPost
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/04/25/citations-issued-to-red-lake-nation-citizen-driving-through-georgia-have-been-withdrawn

US to miss out on billions as Trump’s policies deter overseas tourists
Number of visitors sinks 11.6% in March as deportations and tariffs make US a less appealing destination
Adam Gabbatt
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/26/trump-tariffs-trade-war-tourism

I left behind an authoritarian state to move to the US. Now I see my new home falling to the same dark forces
Mona Eltahawy
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/26/us-egypt-authoritarian-dictatorship-donald-trump

Residents of New Orleans comeback district fear port development could kill the renaissance
Residents of the Lower Ninth Ward say a huge industrial project will imperil its recovery from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina
Jason Berry in New Orleans
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/26/new-orleans-port-development-lower-ninth-ward

Explainer
‘Worked perfectly’: how wildlife team finally caught Valerie the dachshund after 529 days on the lam
Kangala Wildlife Rescue revealed the strategies and remote-controlled trap that secured the capture of tiny 4kg sausage dog

Valerie the dachshund safe and well after 529 days on the run on South Australian island
Petra Stock
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/26/worked-perfectly-how-wildlife-team-finally-caught-valerie-the-dachshund-after-529-days-on-the-lam

‘Now we have options’: the scientists trying to cure our allergies
This week’s oral immunotherapy breakthrough is part of wider surge of interest in developing treatments
Hannah Devlin Science correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/26/now-we-have-options-the-scientists-trying-to-cure-our-allergies

Do twins become allergic to the same things?
Breanne Hayes Haney
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250425-do-twins-become-allergic-to-the-same-things

How space exploration can improve life on Earth
illustration of side-profile silhouettes of people filled in with space-related art
There is a cynical, ‘anti-space’ ideology emerging, especially on some parts of the left. But this is misguided
Leigh Phillips
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2025/apr/26/space-exploration-life-on-earth

Archaeologists find wreck of large medieval boat in Barcelona
Experts hope vessel’s old timbers and nails will help shed light on how boats were built during medieval period
Sam Jones
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/apr/25/archaeologists-find-wreck-of-large-medieval-boat-in-barcelona

Historians dispute Bayeux tapestry penis tally after lengthy debate
Two Bayeux scholars at loggerheads over whether dangling shape depicts dagger or the embroidery’s 94th phallus
Kim Willsher
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/25/bayeux-tapestry-historian-genitalia-dispute

Meera Sodha’s recipe for red rice and green bean salad with feta and pomegranate molasses
A colourfully jewelled and relatively faff-free weeknight spring meal inspired by the Camargue region of southern France
Meera Sodha
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/26/meera-sodha-recipe-red-rice-bean-salad-feta-pomegranate-molasses

Tim Dowling: it’s the last date of my band’s tour – do I risk telling my Italian sausage joke?
There is one story I’ve prepared but never used. Is the world ready for it?
Tim Dowling
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/26/tim-dowling-last-date-of-my-bands-tour-do-i-risk-telling-my-italian-sausage-joke

2025.04.25

Katy Read at the Star Tribune reports: “(The) first hotel built on Lake Minnetonka in a century opens May 1.” Via MinnPost

Dustin Nelson at Bring Me the News reports: “Chef Yia Vang’s Vinai has acquired another accolade. The Minneapolis restaurant has been named among the best new restaurants in the world by Condé Nast Traveler in its newly released 2025 Hot List.” Via MinnPost
https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-lifestyle/minneapolis-eatery-named-one-of-the-best-new-restaurants-in-the-world

May the force be with you! How to save every tired TV superfranchise, from Star Wars to Game of Thrones
Does anyone know what Marvel multiverse we’re in? And will anything ever happen in Westeros again? The world’s biggest fantasy franchises are in trouble … but we have ways to make them must-see TV once more
Luke Holland
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/apr/25/may-the-force-be-with-you-how-to-save-every-tired-tv-superfranchise-from-star-wars-to-game-of-thrones

Warfare to Sinners: 10 of the best films of 2025 so far
Nicholas Barber and Caryn James
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250423-the-best-films-of-2025

Tom Hardy Netflix thriller ‘puts Wales on world map’
Rebecca Miles & Gareth Bryer
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dg7zrvdj2o

Han Kang Nobel prize lecture book sells 10,000 copies in first day online in South Korea
Korean retailers report strong sales for Light and Thread, featuring speeches, essays and poems by novelist
Ella Creamer
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/25/han-kang-nobel-prize-lecture-book-sells-10000-copies-in-first-day-online-in-south-korea

California passes Japan as fourth largest economy
Christal Hayes
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly80zlk1lyo

Warhol print accidentally thrown away by Dutch town hall
Vicky Wong
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnv58ejyrpzo

Inside the fortress that inspired Hamlet
Laura Hall
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250416-inside-the-fortress-that-inspired-hamlet

Exploring the desert secrets of a lost Nabataean world
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0l621p6/exploring-the-desert-secrets-of-a-lost-nabataean-world

2025.04.24

Trump denies aid for Arkansas after storms that killed more than 40 people
Latest denial of disaster funding comes as Trump has repeatedly stated he wants to eliminate Fema
Gloria Oladipo
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/24/trump-denies-aid-arkansas-tornados

Non-hormonal male contraceptive implant lasts at least two years in trials
Product known as Adam implanted in sperm ducts could offer a reversible alternative to condoms and vasectomies
Nicola Davis Science correspondent
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/apr/24/non-hormonal-male-contraceptive-implant-lasts-two-years-trials

Meet the new American refugees fleeing across state lines for safety
Americans have often moved between states for opportunities. Now they’re being forced to uproot themselves to escape hostile forces under Trump
Ed Pilkington
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/apr/24/american-refugees-escape

What to do if your phone is lost or stolen: practical steps to restore peace of mind
From remotely locking your phone to changing passwords, do this quickly to protect yourself and restore peace of mind
Samuel Gibbs Consumer technology editor
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/apr/23/what-to-do-phone-lost-stolen-change-passwords

K-pop singer Bain of Just B comes out during US concert
Fan Wang
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd6jzd6g9nwo

The eight Asian sauces to keep in your pantry
Doris Lam
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250423-the-eight-asian-sauces-to-keep-in-your-pantry

‘Its strength is its simplicity’: The benefits of cleaning with vinegar
Katarina Zimmer
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250423-is-vinegar-safer-and-more-sustainable-than-other-cleaning-products

2025.04.23

Uptown vote to preserve parking is another failure by the Minneapolis Park Board
The choice of surface parking over green space ignored five years of community engagement and planning.
by Bill Lindeke
https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2025/04/uptown-vote-to-preserve-parking-is-another-failure-by-the-minneapolis-park-board/

Not to quibble, he said quibbling, but ain’t this green space parallel to a train track that’s been turned into a bicycle lane on one side? Ain’t the other side lined with, err, older apartment buildings that a few people live in? You know — old — back when the city had public transportation? Don’t it run into a maze of roads running around a couple of large ponds? Ain’t the biggest use of it the dearly lamented and departed annual Uptown Art Fair (for some values of art, err, tat).

Russia? China?
Fears grow that Signal leaks make Pete Hegseth top espionage target
Experts say Pentagon chief has endangered secrets of US defense department and given assistance to foreign spies
Ben Makuch
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/23/pete-hegseth-pentagon-espionage

Meta ‘hastily’ changed moderation policy with little regard to impact, says oversight board
Facebook and Instagram owner also criticised for leaving up posts inciting violence during UK riots
Dan Milmo Global technology editor
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/apr/23/meta-hastily-changed-moderation-policy-with-little-regard-to-impact-says-oversight-board

Say, ain’t he got a birthday any day now real soon?
Shakespeare did not leave his wife Anne in Stratford, letter fragment suggests
Professor says text shows Hathaway lived with playwright in London, upending the established idea of an unhappy marriage
Dalya Alberge
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/apr/23/shakespeare-did-not-leave-his-wife-anne-in-stratford-letter-fragment-suggests

Cluster headaches are ‘the most painful condition on the planet’. Sufferers are going to extreme – and secretive – measures for relief
An illustration of a person standing at a window in a field. The sky is dark and filled with lightning, but through the window frame the skies are bright and clear and light streams in. Mushrooms grow around the base.
The condition is more excruciating than childbirth or gunshot wounds, but little understood. An online community of ‘clusterheads’ are self-experimenting with psilocybin – with promising results
Sammie Seamon
https://www.theguardian.com/science/ng-interactive/2025/apr/23/cluster-headaches-magic-mushrooms-psilocybin

The wholegrain revolution! How Denmark changed the diet – and health – of their entire nation
Is it possible to make a country healthier one slice of rye bread at a time? If the rocketing wholegrain consumption of the Danes is anything to go by, absolutely
Rachel Dixon
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/apr/23/the-wholegrain-revolution-how-denmark-changed-the-diet-and-health-of-their-entire-nation

Please, yell at my kids! Five lessons I’ve learned about good parenting from around the world
I traveled from Mozambique to Finland to learn parenting hacks, and came away with the same lesson: parenting is hard everywhere, but nowhere is it as lonely as it is in the US
Marina Lopes
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/apr/23/parenting-tips-around-the-world

Are breakfast cereals really good for us?
Jasmin Fox-Skelly
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250422-are-breakfast-cereals-really-good-for-us

Why should I care if the US dollar falls?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyn1egyn4xo

2025.04.22

Northfield residents warned of elevated levels of manganese in drinking water, advised to use bottled water or filter
Emily Baude KSTP
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/northfield-residents-warned-of-elevated-levels-of-manganese-in-drinking-water-advised-to-use-bottled-water-or-filter/

Rice crisis: Japan imports grain from South Korea for first time in more than 25 years
Japanese consumers who used to treat foreign-grown rice with scepticism have been forced to develop a taste for it amid domestic shortage
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/22/japan-south-korea-rice-import-crisis

Experts talk realism of Conclave movie: ‘Gets a lot of the details right’
After the death of Pope Francis, experts weigh in on how much the real-life papal election will mirror the hit Oscar-winning movie
Adrian Horton
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/22/conclave-movie-pope-francis

How an American businessman lost his job and found himself in an old French vineyard
One day, life as a finance consultant stopped making sense for Peter Hahn, so he took to organic winegrowing in the Loire instead
Genevieve Fox
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/22/how-an-american-businessman-lost-his-job-and-found-himself-in-an-old-french-vineyard

US to impose tariffs of up to 3,521% on south-east Asia solar panels
Ahead of a global summit in London comes a warning that lessons on energy security have not been learned
Julia Kollewe
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/22/us-huge-tariffs-south-east-asian-solar-panels-energy-summit

Gold hits $3,500 for first time as US dollar sinks to three-year low
With many stock markets in the red and Dow Jones headed for worst April since 1932, gold could even reach $4,000
Julia Kollewe and Graeme Wearden
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/apr/22/gold-hits-3500-us-dollar-sinks-three-year-low-stock-markets

Ex-US senator’s wife convicted in gold bars bribery scheme
Brandon Drenon
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70zlj8dpn8o

Show us your mussels! A mouthwatering trip to Vigo, Spain’s seafood capital
The Galician city on the Atlantic coast has the EU’s largest fishing port, which provides its many bars and restaurants with a spectacular trawl of oysters, clams and mussels
Fiona Dunlop
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/apr/22/food-trip-to-vigo-galicia-spain-seafood-capital

The extraordinary rise of bakery tourism: ‘People travel from all over the world. It’s mind-blowing!’
Beer crawls are out and bakery crawls are in, with people arranging whole days, weekends or even holidays around the search for the perfect loaf or croissant
Chris Marshall
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/apr/22/the-extraordinary-rise-of-bakery-tourism

2025 Sony World Photography Awards: Winners revealed

2025.04.21

What did JD Vance have to do with the Pope’s demise? — You decide!

Mars King at the Pioneer Press reports: “Whether you have an official autism diagnosis or an inkling that you could be on the spectrum, you are invited to a happy hour on Wednesday. Happy Hour for Adults with Autism kicks off at 4 p.m. April 23 and will give attendees the chance to socialize without the stigma, according to event sponsors Fraser, a provider of autism and early childhood mental health services, and Sheletta Brundidge, a local business owner and mother of three children who are on the spectrum.” Via MinnPost
https://www.twincities.com/2025/04/19/happy-hour-adults-with-autism-minneapolis-rfk-jr/

The Star Tribune’s Jon Bream reports: “Monday marks the ninth anniversary of Prince’s passing. As Paisley Park has done previously on April 21, it will be open for free for people to pay their respects.” Via MinnPost
https://www.startribune.com/prince-anniversary-death-paisley-park-chanhassen-concert-film-greensboro-candle-lighting/601335340

Amy Klobuchar calls on supreme court to hold Trump officials in contempt
Senator warns of US getting ‘closer to a constitutional crisis’ as Samuel Alito’s dissent signals deference to Trump
Edward Helmore
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/20/amy-klobuchar-samuel-alito-trump-immigration

How the Fuck Do Some Democrats Not Get That Due Process Is the Fight?
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

The ancient history of Iceland’s warring Viking families
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0l4kk08/the-ancient-history-of-iceland-s-warring-viking-families