what is online games Pep Guardiola’s side avoided the indignity of a sixth successive defeat in all competitions and looked on course for a welcome victory thanks to a double from Erling Haaland – the first from the penalty spot – and a deflected effort from Ilkay Gundogan. Yet Guardiola was left with his head in hands as Feyenoord roared back in the last 15 minutes with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Sergio Gimenez and David Hancko, two of them after Josko Gvardiol errors. Arsenal delivered the statement Champions League win Mikel Arteta had demanded as they swept aside Sporting Lisbon 5-1. Arteta wanted his team to prove their European credentials, and goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Gabriel, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard got their continental campaign back on track in style following the 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan last time out. A memorable victory also ended Sporting’s unbeaten start to the season, a streak of 17 wins and one draw, the vast majority of which prompted Manchester United to prise away head coach Ruben Amorim. Paris St Germain were left in serious of danger of failing to progress in the Champions League as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Kim Min-jae’s header late in the first half was enough to send PSG to a third defeat in the competition this season, leaving them six points off the automatic qualification places for the last 16 with three games to play. Luis Enrique’s side, who had Ousmane Dembele sent off, were deservedly beaten by Bayern who dominated chances and possession. Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid were 6-0 winners away to Sparta Prague, Julian Alvarez and Angel Correa each scoring twice whilst there were also goals from Marcos Llorente and Antoine Griezmann. Barcelona ended tournament debutants Brest’s unbeaten start with a 3-0 victory courtesy of two goals from Robert Lewandowski – one a penalty – and Dani Olmo. Lewandowski’s first was his 100th Champions League goal, only the third man to reach the mark after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. A Castello Lukeba own goal saw Inter Milan go top of the standings with a narrow 1-0 win over RB Leipzig at San Siro, whilst Bayer Leverkusen were emphatic victors against Red Bull Salzburg, Florian Wirtz scoring twice to move Xabi Alonso’s side into the automatic qualification places. Atalanta continued their strong start, albeit whilst conceding a first goal in Europe this season in a 6-1 win away to Young Boys, whilst Tammy Abraham scored the decisive goal as AC Milan beat Slovan Bratislava 3-2.By SAMY MAGDY CAIRO — Famine is spreading in Sudan due to a war between the military and a notorious paramilitary group that has devastated the country and created the world’s largest displacement crisis, a global hunger monitoring group said Tuesday. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said it detected famine in five areas, including in Sudan’s largest displacement camp, Zamzam , in North Darfur province, where famine was found for the first time in August. The report said the war has triggered unprecedented mass displacement and a collapsing economy. It said hostilities can result in farmers abandoning their crops, looting and stock destruction. FILE – People gather to collect water in Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) FILE – Sudanese Khadiga Omer adam sits by her sick child in an MSF-run clinic in the Aboutengue displacement site near Acre, Chad, Friday, Oct 4. 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File) FILE – Sudanese refugees arrive in Acre, Chad, Sunday, Oct 6. 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File) File – A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, an area torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, April 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) FILE – Residents displaced from a surge of violent attacks squat on blankets and in hastily made tents in the village of Masteri in west Darfur, Sudan, on July 30, 2020. (Mustafa Younes via AP, File) FILE – A World Food Programme (WFP) truck backs up to load food items from a recently landed UN helicopter, in Yida camp, South Sudan, Sept. 14, 2012. (AP Photo/Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin) FILE – Sudanese refugee girls carry water supplies near a polling station in the refugee camp of Zamzam, on the outskirts of El Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, on April 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File) FILE -People line up in front of a bakery during a cease-fire in Khartoum, Sudan, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) This grab from video shows smoke rising over Khartoum, Sudan on Thursday Sept. 26, 2024, after Sudan’s military started an operation to take areas of the capital from its rival, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. (AP Photo/Rashed Ahmed) File – A man walks by a house hit in recent fighting in Khartoum, Sudan, an area torn by fighting between the military and the notorious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, April 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) FILE – People gather to collect water in Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) FILE – Sudanese refugees displaced by the conflict in Sudan gather to receive food staples from aid agencies at the Metche Camp in eastern Chad Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jsarh Ngarndey Ulrish, File) Women who fled war in Sudan rest in a refugee camp in Adre, Chad, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) A woman who fled war in Sudan and requested anonymity because she feared retribution after reporting sexual exploitation, holds her baby in a refugee camp in Adre, Chad, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) People cross into Chad from Sudan in Adre, Chad, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) A woman who fled war in Sudan digs in a refugee camp in Adre, Chad, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) Patients are treated in an MSF-run clinic in the Aboutengue displacement site near Acre, Chad, Friday, Oct 4. 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) Halima Habdullha holds her 7-month-old severely malnourished daughter Kaltum Abakar in an MSF-run clinic in the Aboutengue displacement site near Acre, Chad, Friday, Oct 4. 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) Ousmane Taher and his family cross from Sudan into Chad near Acre Sunday, Oct 6. 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) Sudanese refugees arrive in Acre, Chad, Sunday, Oct 6. 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick) FILE – People gather to collect water in Khartoum, Sudan, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File) Along with the Zamzam camp, which has more than 400,000 people, famine was also detected in two other camps for displaced people, Abu Shouk and al-Salam in North Darfur, and the Western Nuba Mountains, the IPC report said. Five other areas in North Darfur are projected “with reasonable evidence” to experience famine in the next six months, including el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur, it said. Seventeen areas in the Nuba Mountains and the northern and southern areas of Darfur are at risk of famine, it added. The report also said some areas in the capital, Khartoum, and the east-central province of Gezira “may be experiencing” famine-like conditions. It said experts were unable to confirm whether famine threshold has been surpassed due to lack of data. “It is not merely a lack of food but a profound breakdown of health, livelihoods and social structures, leaving entire communities in a state of desperation,” it said. There is widespread hunger, with food in markets scarce and prices high. Aid groups say they struggle to reach the most vulnerable as warring parties limit access, especially in North Darfur province. Ahead of the IPC’s report, Sudan’s government said it had suspended its participation in the global monitoring system, according to a senior United Nations official with knowledge of the move. In a letter dated Dec. 23, Agriculture Minister Abu Baker al-Beshri accused the IPC of “issuing unreliable reports that undermine Sudan’s sovereignty and dignity,” said the U.N. official, who spoke in condition of anonymity to discuss the letter. Sudan’s 20-month war has killed more than than 24,000 people and driven over 14 million people — about 30% of the population — from their homes, according to the United Nations. An estimated 3.2 million Sudanese have crossed into neighboring countries including Chad, Egypt and South Sudan. The war began in April 2023 when tensions between its military and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded into fighting in Khartoum before spreading to other areas. The conflict has been marked by atrocities including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to the U.N. and rights groups. The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Dervla Cleary, a senior emergency and rehabilitation officer at the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, said 638,000 people are experiencing famine. “The situation in Sudan is just awful. It is unacceptable in a world like today,” she said. The IPC report called for a ceasefire, calling it the only way to reduce the risk of famine spreading further.” Sudan is the third country where famine was declared in the past 15 years, along with South Sudan and Somalia. The IPC comprises more than a dozen U.N. agencies, aid groups and governments that use its monitoring as a global reference for analysis of food and nutrition crises. The organization has also warned that large parts of Gaza’s Palestinian population face the threat of famine.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Front Row Motorsports, one of two teams suing NASCAR in federal court, accused the stock car series Thursday of rejecting the planned purchase of a valuable charter unless the lawsuit was dropped. Front Row made the claim in a court filing and said it involved its proposed purchase of the charter from Stewart-Haas Racing. Front Row said the series would only approve it if Front Row and 23XI Racing dropped their court case. “Specifically, NASCAR informed us that it would not approve the (charter) transfer unless we agreed to drop our current antitrust lawsuit against them,” Jerry Freeze, general manager of Front Row, said in an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina. The two teams in September refused to sign NASCAR’s “take-it-or-leave-it” final offer on a new revenue sharing agreement. All other 13 teams signed the deal. Front Row and 23XI balked and are now in court. 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan has said he took the fight to court on behalf of all teams competing in the top motorsports series in the United States. NASCAR has argued that the two teams simply do not like the terms of the final charter agreement and asked for the lawsuit be dismissed. Earlier this week, the suit was transferred to a different judge than the one who heard the first round of arguments and ruled against the two teams in their request for a temporary injunction to be recognized in 2025 as chartered teams as the case proceeds. The latest filing is heavily redacted as it lays out alleged retaliatory actions by NASCAR the teams say have caused irreparable harm. Both Front Row and 23XI want to expand from two full-time cars to three, and have agreements with SHR to purchase one charter each as SHR goes from four cars to one for 2025. The teams can still compete next season but would have to do so as “open” teams that don’t have the same protections or financial gains that come from holding a charter. Freeze claimed in the affidavit that Front Row signed a purchase agreement with SHR in April and NASCAR President Steve Phelps told Freeze in September the deal had been approved. But when Front Row submitted the paperwork last month, NASCAR began asking for additional information. A Dec. 4 request from NASCAR was “primarily related to our ongoing lawsuit with NASCAR,” Freeze said. “NASCAR informed us on December 5, 2024, that it objected to the transfer and would not approve it, in contrast to the previous oral approval for the transfer confirmed by Phelps before we filed the lawsuit,” Freeze said. “NASCAR made it clear that the reason it was now changing course and objecting to the transfer is because NASCAR is insisting that we drop the lawsuit and antitrust claims against it as a condition of being approved.” A second affidavit from Steve Lauletta, the president of 23XI Racing, claims NASCAR accused 23XI and Front Row of manufacturing “new circumstances” in a renewed motion for an injunction and of a “coordinated effort behind the scenes.” “This is completely false,” Lauletta said. Front Row is owned by businessman Bob Jenkins, while 23XI is owned by retired NBA Hall of Famer Jordan, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and longtime Jordan adviser Curtis Polk. NASCAR had been operating with 36 chartered teams and four open spots since the charter agreement began in 2016. NASCAR now says it will move forward in 2025 with 32 chartered teams and eight open spots, with offers on charters for Front Row and 23XI rescinded and the SHR charters in limbo. The teams contend they must be chartered under some of their contractual agreements with current sponsors and drivers, and competing next year as open teams will cause significant losses. “23XI exists to compete at the highest level of stock car racing, striving to become the best team it can be. But that ambition can only be pursued within NASCAR, which has monopolized the market as the sole top-tier circuit for stock car racing,” Lauletta said. “Our efforts to expand – purchasing more cars and increasing our presence on the track – are integral to achieving this goal. “It is not hypocritical to operate within the only system available while striving for excellence and contending for championships,” he continued. “It is a necessity because NASCAR’s monopoly leaves 23XI no alternative circuit, no different terms, and no other viable avenue to compete at this level.”Kaizer Chiefs talisman Ranga Chivaviro is making headlines against the backdrop of his birthday. The star recently turned a year older, and fans quickly flooded their social media feeds with warm birthday wishes for the Limpopo-born forward. KAIZER CHIEFS STAR RANGA CHIVAVIRO’S AGE REVEALED Taking to social media, the Soweto giants also penned a heartfelt birthday post for the star. Kaizer Chiefs posted, ”Happy birthday Ranga! We hope that you will have an amazing day!” Back home Ranga Chivaviro was surprised with a new PlayStation by his wife. In a now-viral clip, his wife recorded, the star smiled as he arrived home to a new console. Against the backdrop of his birthday, the publication has since connected the dots about his age, which he has kept under wraps for years. Like those before him, he has kept his private life under wraps, leaving many to guess even about his age. The 32-year-old Kaizer Chiefs star was born on 21 November 1992 in Limpopo. MZASI REACTS : PAST HIS PRIME? Against the posts, fans quickly flooded his comments with warm birthday wishes. However, some were quick to implicate Ranga Chivaviro’s stint with Amakhosi in the mix. The former Marumo Gallants star has failed to impress as many thought he would. He has been receiving backlash from fans who often boo him, but Kaizer Chiefs coach Nabi has urged fans to be patient not only with Chivaviro but rest of the team. Despite looking sharp and fit, fans were convinced he had passed his prime. Others seemingly urged Kaizer Chiefs to get rid of Chivaviro, who has struggled on goal. Some made it known he had passed his prime. In August, PSL legend Collins Mbesuma made it known that Ranga Chivaviro was not Kaizer Chiefs material. Mbesuma questioned whether Chivaviro is the calibre of striker needed at the Chiefs during his interview on Josta Dladla’s YouTube channel, Izinja ze Game. Little is known about his youth career; however, he made his senior debut with Witbank Spurs in 2013. After three seasons, he left the club and made over 30 appearances for Cape Town All-Stars in 2016. However, Ranga Chivaviro switched the floor to Ubuntu Cape Town that same year just after ten appearances with All-Stars. The Kaizer Chiefs star went on to star for Baroka. He joined the club in 2018 but was later loaned to TS Sporting. From Baroka, he joined Trepca in ‘89 before settling for Venda FA. In 2022 Ranga Chivaviro joined Marumo Gallants. After a season with the club, he joined Kaizer Chiefs. Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below this article or by emailing info@thesouthafrican.com or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. You can also follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest news.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Ian Schieffelin had 18 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in leading Clemson to a 75-67 win over Penn State on Tuesday and the championship of the Sunshine Slam Beach Division. Chase Hunter added 17 points, Chauncey Wiggins 14 and Del Jones 10 for the Tigers (6-1), who shot 44% and made 9 of 19 3-pointers led by Hunter's three. Ace Baldwin Jr. scored 20 points and had 11 assists, Yanic Konan Niederhauser added 14 points and Nick Kern Jr. 11 for the Nittany Lions (6-1), who shot 46% and were just 4 of 18 from the arc. Neither team had a double-digit lead in the game and it was tied with seven minutes to go. But Penn State had a six-minute drought without a field goal while committing three turnovers and the Tigers went up by six. A hook shot from Schieffelin with a minute to go made it a five-point lead and free throws sealed it from there. The eight-point final margin was the largest of the game. Konan Niederhauser's dunk to open the second half tied the game but a Hunter 3-pointer gave the lead back to Clemson. Penn State took its first lead of the second half on a 9-0 run, seven coming from Baldwin, to go up 57-54 with midway through the period. Penn State had its largest lead of seven in the first half but three consecutive 3s put Clemson ahead with three minutes to go and the Tigers led at 38-36 at halftime. Clemson had a 16-9 edge on points off turnovers. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Ravens WR Zay Flowers (shoulder) questionable vs. TexansA judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women’s volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender. Monday’s ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to continue competing in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship scheduled for later this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed by nine current players who are suing the Mountain West Conference to challenge the league’s policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans women’s volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Judge Crews referred to the athlete as an “alleged transgender” player in his ruling and noted that no defendant disputed that San Jose State rosters a transgender woman volleyball player. He said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting that the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a forfeit in league standings. He also said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 – making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season’s awareness of her identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a political campaign year. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. San Jose State is seeded second. The judge’s order maintains the seedings and pairings for the tournament. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada’s players stated they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details. Crews served as a magistrate judge in Colorado’s U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him to serve as a federal judge in January of this year. ____ Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Hanson from Helena, Montana. Mead Gruver And Amy Beth Hanson (), The Associated Press

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Princely Umanmielen’s return to the Swamp ends with a loss and a police escort

Schieffelin has 18 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists as Clemson hands Penn State first loss 75-67

“Wanted” posters with the names and faces of health care executives have been popping up on the streets of New York. Hit lists with images of bullets are circulating online with warnings that industry leaders should be afraid. The apparent targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the menacing threats that followed have sent a shudder through corporate America and the health care industry in particular, leading to increased security for executives and some workers. In the week since the brazen shooting , health insurers have removed information about their top executives from company websites, canceled in-person meetings with shareholders and advised all employees to work from home temporarily. An internal New York Police Department bulletin warned this week that the online vitriol that followed the shooting could signal an immediate “elevated threat.” Police fear that the Dec. 4 shooting could "inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence," according to the bulletin, which was obtained by The Associated Press. “Wanted” posters pasted to parking meters and construction site fences in Manhattan included photos of health care executives and the words “Deny, defend, depose” — similar to a phrase scrawled on bullets found near Thompson’s body and echoing those used by insurance industry critics . Thompson's wife, Paulette, told NBC News last week that he told her some people had been threatening him and suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage. Investigators believe the shooting suspect, Luigi Mangione , may have been motivated by hostility toward health insurers. They are studying his writings about a previous back injury, and his disdain for corporate America and the U.S. health care system. Mangione’s lawyer has cautioned against prejudging the case. Mangione, 26, has remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Monday . Manhattan prosecutors are working to bring him to New York to face a murder charge. UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, said this week it was working with law enforcement to ensure a safe work environment and to reinforce security guidelines and building access policies, a spokesperson said. The company has taken down photos, names and biographies for its top executives from its websites, a spokesperson said. Other organizations, including CVS, the parent company for insurance giant Aetna, have taken similar actions. Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. has announced that its investor day will be held online, rather than in-person as originally planned. Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm, said last week it was temporarily closing its six offices for security reasons and would have its employees work from home. Heightened security measures likely will make health care companies and their leaders more inaccessible to their policyholders, said former Cigna executive Wendell Potter. “And understandably so, with this act of violence. There’s no assurance that this won’t happen again,” said Potter, who’s now an advocate for health care reform. Private security firms and consultants have been in high demand, fielding calls almost immediately after the shooting from companies across a range of industries, including manufacturing and finance. Companies have long faced security risks and grappled with how far to take precautions for high-profile executives. But these recent threats sparked by Thompson's killing should not be ignored, said Dave Komendat, a former security chief for Boeing who now heads his own risk-management company. “The tone and tenor is different. The social reaction to this tragedy is different. And so I think that people need to take this seriously,” Komendat said. Just over a quarter of the companies in the Fortune 500 reported spending money to protect their CEOs and top executives. Of those, the median payment for personal security doubled over the last three years to just under $100,000. Hours after the shooting, Komendat was on a call with dozens of chief security officers from big corporations, and there have been many similar meetings since, hosted by security groups or law enforcement agencies assessing the threats, he said. “It just takes one person who is motivated by a poster — who may have experienced something in their life through one of these companies that was harmful," Komendat said. Associated Press reporters Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York and Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco, contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Companies tighten security after a health care CEO's killing leads to a surge of threats

Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern. “What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program. “I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the bathroom or the door, I get really winded. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last breath.” Dickens, a lung cancer survivor, lives in central Harlem, barely getting by. She has serious lung disease and high blood pressure and suffers regular fainting spells. In the past year, she’s fallen several times and dropped to 85 pounds, a dangerously low weight. And she lives alone, without any help — a highly perilous situation. This is almost surely an undercount, since the data is from more than a dozen years ago. It’s a population whose numbers far exceed those living in nursing homes — about 1.2 million — and yet it receives much less attention from policymakers, legislators, and academics who study aging. Consider some eye-opening statistics about completely homebound seniors from a study published in 2020 in : Nearly 40% have five or more chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Almost 30% are believed to have “probable dementia.” Seventy-seven percent have difficulty with at least one daily task such as bathing or dressing. Almost 40% live by themselves. That “on my own” status magnifies these individuals’ already considerable vulnerability, something that became acutely obvious during the covid-19 outbreak, when the number of sick and disabled seniors confined to their homes doubled. “People who are homebound, like other individuals who are seriously ill, rely on other people for so much,” said Katherine Ornstein, director of the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “If they don’t have someone there with them, they’re at risk of not having food, not having access to health care, not living in a safe environment.” Research has shown that older homebound adults are less likely to receive regular primary care than other seniors. They’re also more likely to end up in the hospital with medical crises that might have been prevented if someone had been checking on them. To better understand the experiences of these seniors, I accompanied Gliatto on some home visits in New York City. Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program, established in 1995, is one of the oldest in the nation. who rarely or never leave home have access to this kind of home-based primary care. Gliatto and his staff — seven part-time doctors, three nurse practitioners, two nurses, two social workers, and three administrative staffers — serve about 1,000 patients in Manhattan each year. These patients have complicated needs and require high levels of assistance. In recent years, Gliatto has had to cut staff as Mount Sinai has reduced its financial contribution to the program. It doesn’t turn a profit, because reimbursement for services is low and expenses are high. First, Gliatto stopped in to see Sandra Pettway, 79, who never married or had children and has lived by herself in a two-bedroom Harlem apartment for 30 years. Pettway has severe spinal problems and back pain, as well as Type 2 diabetes and depression. She has difficulty moving around and rarely leaves her apartment. “Since the pandemic, it’s been awfully lonely,” she told me. When I asked who checks in on her, Pettway mentioned her next-door neighbor. There’s no one else she sees regularly. Pettway told the doctor she was increasingly apprehensive about an upcoming spinal surgery. He reassured her that Medicare would cover in-home nursing care, aides, and physical therapy services. “Someone will be with you, at least for six weeks,” he said. Left unsaid: Afterward, she would be on her own. (The surgery in April went well, Gliatto reported later.) The doctor listened carefully as Pettway talked about her memory lapses. “I can remember when I was a year old, but I can’t remember 10 minutes ago,” she said. He told her that he thought she was managing well but that he would arrange testing if there was further evidence of cognitive decline. For now, he said, he’s not particularly worried about her ability to manage on her own. Several blocks away, Gliatto visited Dickens, who has lived in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment for 31 years. Dickens told me she hasn’t seen other people regularly since her sister, who used to help her out, had a stroke. Most of the neighbors she knew well have died. Her only other close relative is a niece in the Bronx whom she sees about once a month. Dickens worked with special-education students for decades in New York City’s public schools. Now she lives on a small pension and Social Security — too much to qualify for Medicaid. (Medicaid, the program for low-income people, will pay for aides in the home. Medicare, which covers people over age 65, does not.) Like Pettway, she has only a small fixed income, so she can’t afford in-home help. Every Friday, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that prepares medically tailored meals for sick people, delivers a week’s worth of frozen breakfasts and dinners that Dickens reheats in the microwave. She almost never goes out. When she has energy, she tries to do a bit of cleaning. Without the ongoing attention from Gliatto, Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she said. “And I have the fear of falling.” The next day, Gliatto visited Marianne Gluck Morrison, 73, a former survey researcher for New York City’s personnel department, in her cluttered Greenwich Village apartment. Morrison, who doesn’t have any siblings or children, was widowed in 2010 and has lived alone since. Morrison said she’d been feeling dizzy over the past few weeks, and Gliatto gave her a basic neurological exam, asking her to follow his fingers with her eyes and touch her fingers to her nose. “I think your problem is with your ear, not your brain,” he told her, describing symptoms of vertigo. Because she had severe wounds on her feet related to Type 2 diabetes, Morrison had been getting home health care for several weeks through Medicare. But those services — help from aides, nurses, and physical therapists — were due to expire in two weeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do then, probably just spend a lot of time in bed,” Morrison told me. Among her other medical conditions: congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, an irregular heartbeat, chronic kidney disease, and depression. Morrison hasn’t left her apartment since November 2023, when she returned home after a hospitalization and several months at a rehabilitation center. Climbing the three steps that lead up into her apartment building is simply too hard. “It’s hard to be by myself so much of the time. It’s lonely,” she told me. “I would love to have people see me in the house. But at this point, because of the clutter, I can’t do it.” When I asked Morrison who she feels she can count on, she listed Gliatto and a mental health therapist from Henry Street Settlement, a social services organization. She has one close friend she speaks with on the phone most nights. “The problem is I’ve lost eight to nine friends in the last 15 years,” she said, sighing heavily. “They’ve died or moved away.” Bruce Leff, director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading advocate of home-based medical care. “It’s kind of amazing how people find ways to get by,” he said when I asked him about homebound older adults who live alone. “There’s a significant degree of frailty and vulnerability, but there is also substantial resilience.” With the rapid expansion of the aging population in the years ahead, Leff is convinced that more kinds of care will move into the home, everything from rehab services to palliative care to hospital-level services. “It will simply be impossible to build enough hospitals and health facilities to meet the demand from an aging population,” he said. But that will be challenging for homebound older adults who are on their own. Without on-site family caregivers, there may be no one around to help manage this home-based care. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Small, luxury foods are great as stocking stuffers or other gifts. Ideas for under $50

FanSided’s Wynston Wilcox believes Texas QB Quinn Ewers’ potential exit from Austin via the transfer portal after the College Football Playoff could lead the Longhorns into a Jackson Arnold situation with Arch Manning. “It’s a real possibility Ewers departs to another program and is the missing piece to get them over the hump. If Ewers enters the transfer portal his phone would blow up from all the calls he’s going to be getting to lure him to a prospective program. And he could very well pull a Dillon Gabriel and prove why it was a mistake to force him out. I’m sure when Texas got Arch Manning they were planning for Ewers to enter the draft. So with that philosophy, it made sense to usher Manning in as the incumbent,” Wilcox wrote. “But with Ewers’ draft stock falling to the wayside, it wouldn’t benefit him to leave now. And now that Texas is sending subliminal signs that they’re ready to turn to Manning, it could come back to haunt them. Oklahoma turned to Jackson Arnold and that was a mistake. At one point, Arnold was benched this season for a true freshman to replace him. That’s not quite what the Sooners envisioned when they groomed him to replace Gabriel. Texas could have that same fate. Arnold, too, was a five-star prospect in high school like Manning. For what it’s worth, Manning is better than Arnold, at least he’s shown more potential. But there’s still the chance he’s not better than what Ewers would have been.” Manning, like Arnold, is a threat with his legs. Oklahoma’s QB1 just went for 131 rushing yards in a shocking Week 13 win over Alabama. Manning, though, already has more 300-yard passing games than Arnold, who has yet to have one. The Arnold situation in Norman has a lot to do with the Denton, Texas native not gelling with Seth Littrell and the Sooners’ offensive staff. Manning brings a different dynamic to the Longhorns and has an exponentially higher ceiling. He also is a proven success working with Texas offensive coordinator Kyle Flood. Don’t expect anything close to an Arnold situation in Austin. The ingredients just aren’t there.

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