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A few months ago, we learned that if you eat food that’s been sitting out too long, it could lead to serious health complications. And, in rare cases, it could cause death. It is a phenomenon that some medical experts refer to as “Fried Rice Syndrome”:

Now people across the internet are pointing out another important aspect to keep in mind: Even if you don’t leave your rice out at room temperature for very long, simply keeping it in your fridge for more than a day can be harmful.

Some people are even sharing how reheated, leftover rice has landed them in the hospital with food poisoning.

BuzzFeed found one expert who experienced this firsthand — and her story went viral. Dr. Lauren DeDecker is a resident physician in internal medicine who got so ill from rice she had to be transported to a hospital via helicopter.

She told BuzzFeed that while visiting the Himalayas, she ordered a “traditional sweet rice dish from Nepal.” However, after a few hours, she became violently ill. “The following day I was too dehydrated and weak to leave. I had to be helicoptered to the nearest bigger town to get IV fluids,” she shared.

Luckily, Dr. DeDecker was fine after she received medical care. “Before I left, I asked how had they prepared my dinner. They told me openly that the rice dish had been made in a large pot that morning, had been out at room temperature all day, then reheated and served that night for dinner. So, it hadn’t been refrigerated. While I can’t know for certain that it was the B. Cereus food poisoning — or Fried Rice Syndrome — based on what I ate and that history, it’s very likely that that’s what it was,” she explained. You can listen to her story about it on TikTok here.

Dr. DeDecker said the safest recommendation is to put any rice that you’re not going to consume immediately in the fridge within one to two hours of cooking (but one hour is safer). The most important thing to note, however, is that you should only reheat rice ONCE. “Let’s say you have leftovers. You would not want to take some of that rice, reheat it, not finish it, put it back in the fridge, and then reheat that same portion of rice again.”

Reheating rice more than once, according to Dr. DeDecker, increases the risk that you could get B. Cereus because you’re increasing the time that it’s not properly cooled or heated. “Bacteria is ubiquitous in the environment, it’s not rare, but it’s not going to be in all rice and green products. You’re not going to know if it is in the rice or not because it’s microscopic. And this goes for white, fried rice, any rice,” she explained.

However, many people on TikTok are saying this phenomenon isn’t real because they’ve reheated rice a million times and it has never happened to them…but Dr. DeDecker said it is very real. “The bacteria is not going to be in every single vat or package of rice. It also takes a certain amount of bacteria to make you sick. When cooked rice is out at room temperature for too long, the bacteria and the spores can multiply and increase in number and so the load can get high enough to make you ill,” she added.

So, let’s go over Dr. DeDecker’s safest practices so that we can do our best to prevent this illness from happening in our own lives: “To prevent getting sick, serve rice as soon as it has been cooked. Then, put the leftover rice in the fridge within one hour of cooking it. Keep the rice in the fridge no longer than one day. Do not reheat the same portion of rice more than once. Rice should be stored below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.”

You can read more about how to prevent Bacillus cereus here.

Outspoken finance personality Dave Ramsey kicked up a fiery debate on TikTok recently when he described a caller to his show as “dumber than crap” for paying too much in child care.

“Are they going to Harvard?” he asked, aghast at the astronomical costs. “They’re not even in school and you’re already paying $25,000 a head?”

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Altogether, the caller, Dave from Philadelphia, pays a total of $80,000 a year for his kids’ daycare and to hire a nanny in the summer, admitting, “it is a pretty fancy daycare.”

“There’s cheaper routes,” said co-host Jade Warshaw. “You can downgrade.”

However, viewers watching a short clip of the original interview from last year, posted on TikTok in January, were unconvinced, calling Ramsey “out of touch.”

Here’s why younger parents believe older generations are likely unaware of the rapidly escalating costs of child care.

Child-care payments have surged

Child-care payments have surged 32% since pre-pandemic levels, reports the Bank of America Institute.

As of September 2023, the average household spent over $700 a month on child care, but this figure can vary widely depending on where the family lives. In New York City, for instance, sending an infant to daycare full-time could cost as much as $2,854, according to child-care platform Care.com.

To keep up with the rising costs, some parents are taking up additional jobs and side hustles, while others have left the workforce entirely. A 2023 report by ReadyNation even says the country’s child care “crisis” costs the economy $122 billion in lost earnings, productivity and revenue every year.

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In this context, Ramsey’s caller doesn’t seem unreasonable. “Dave owes this guy an apology,” says one commenter.

Parenting and career influencer Paige Turner reacted to Ramsey’s video in her own TikTok video.

“It never ceases to amaze me how out of touch some people are with the lived experiences of parents here in the United States,” Turner says.“Dave is supposed to be an expert in his field so you would think he would know that child care is the number one rising cost for families here in our country.”

Turner goes as far as saying Ramsey shouldn’t be giving financial advice if he doesn’t recognize this key piece of the current financial reality for many Americans. She believes the government needs to step in and help subsidize the cost.

Read more: Unlocking financial prosperity: Jeff Bezos shares the path to prime earnings through hassle-free real estate investment — don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your financial future

Subsidized child care could be the answer

American child care costs are substantially higher than the rest of the developed world.

Net child care costs are about 32% of the average wage in the U.S., while countries that belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average out closer to 11%, according to the latest data.

Canada is working toward lowering child-care costs to CA$10 ($7.44) a day, while in some parts of Europe early child care is free.

The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) directed nearly $40 billion to child care centers across the U.S., but that program ended in September 2023. Experts warned the country was headed for a “child care cliff” and recommended another subsidy program to ease the burden on parents and the economy.

There may be other options

While many Americans must make the difficult choice between expensive daycare centers or unpaid labor at home, there may be a few other options that parents can look into as well.

Some employers may include child care subsidies as part of their benefits package, or offer discounted on-site daycare centers. They could also offer a flexible spending account (FSA) to help cover services like preschool, daycare and before or after school programs.

Depending on your income, you could be eligible for certain tax credits as well. The child and dependent care tax credit helps parents cover care for children under 13 while they work, or look for work. You could also qualify for the child tax credit even if you haven’t paid for care services.

Or, consider reaching out to people in your community. You can talk to other parents about sharing a nanny or starting a child care co-op, in which parents take turns watching each other’s children.

What to read next

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Former President Trump revealed his criteria for a running mate on Sunday, but he told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo that he won’t announce a vice presidential pick “for a little while.”

Trump made the comments in an interview with Bartiromo that aired on “Sunday Morning Futures.” He said the most important factor is to ensure his running mate would be able to step up and handle the presidency in the case of an emergency.

“What criteria are you using to identify who your running mate is?” Bartiromo asked.

“Always, it’s got to be who is going to be a good president. Obviously, you always have to think that because in case of emergency. Things happen, right? No matter who you are, things happen. That’s got to be No. 1,” Trump said.

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“Who is your running mate?” Bartiromo said.

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“Well, I have a lot of good people. I have a lot of good ideas,” he added, saying he “talks to everybody.”

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“You know, I called [South Carolina Sen.] Tim Scott and people like Tim Scott, and I said you’re a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself,” Trump said. “When I watched him, he was fine. He was good, but he was very low-key.”

“I watched him in the last week, defending me and sticking up for me and fighting for me. I said, ‘Man, you’re a much better person for me than you are for yourself,'” he continued.

Trump went on to praise South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as well, noting that she said publicly that she would never run against him “because I could never beat him.”

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT

Trump denied reports that his campaign reached out to independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to explore a potential ticket with him early on in the campaign season. Trump said the interaction “never happened.”

Original article source: Trump reveals criteria for running mate; name-drops 2 top Republicans

SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco swimmer is in the hospital after he was badly beaten by carjackers Friday morning.

San Francisco police said he was attacked by two unknown suspects after he parked his car at Hyde and Beach Streets. Police and paramedics responded just before 6:00 on Friday morning, and found the victim injured. He was taken to the hospital.

The victim was identified by family and friends as Andrew Cotter, a well-known swimmer at the South End Rowing Club who frequently volunteers at the club.

Members at the Club received an email notifying them of the attack, which read, one of their members was “”badly beaten after parking his car… and he was robbed and his car was stolen.”

“I am shocked that this happened,” said club member Christian Einfeldt.

Joyce Shanahan, another swimmer at the club, arrived just after the attack. “I was walking in from the museum parking and I just saw a bunch of police cars,” she said. “I didn’t think much of it until I heard what happened.”

“He was trying to hold his face together,” she added.

Other club members came to his aid.

“It’s really a tragedy because he’s a great volunteer for the south end rowing club, he’s very kind, he never has a bad word for anyone and he’s one of the fastest swimmers in the south end rowing club, which really says a lot,” said Einfeldt.

Swimmers at both the South End Rowing Club and the Dolphin Club often arrive in the early morning hours for a swim.

“We start out with blinkers when we swim because it’s dark,” said Shanahan. “I’m hoping the police will take this seriously and do a little patrolling.”

The Club announced they would be hosting a public safety meeting with police for their members in the near future.

Andrew’s father, Tom Cotter, told KTVU that Andrew is going to be okay, but he would be needing surgery for injuries to his face.

In the meantime, the swimming community has started a GoFundMe to help Andrew cover medical expenses in his recovery.

“Andrew, if you’re seeing this, I hope you get well soon. We miss you and we really love you,” said Einfeldt.

SFPD said no arrests have been made at this time. Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. You may remain anonymous.

Bald eagle dad Shadow has been anxiously waiting for his turn to tend to eggs in a snow-covered nest in California, a nonprofit said.

When Shadow finally got his moment, he was greeted with a big surprise: There were now three eggs, Friends of Big Bear Valley executive director Sandy Steers said in a Facebook post.

Jackie laid her third egg before 6 p.m. Feb. 1 in Big Bear. But she spent the entire night incubating the eggs as snow piled onto the nest and covered her wings, a video shows.

“No matter how many times Jackie got covered with snow during the storm, she simply stood up, shook it off, rolled her eggs and settled back down to incubate them,” Steers said in the post.

Shadow had been spotted nearby, but the nonprofit said Jackie wasn’t ready to give up her turn tending to the eggs.

However, by the next afternoon Jackie flew off, and “within seconds” Shadow landed on a branch near the nest, the video shows.

He curiously approached the eggs and tried to settle over them, but he had to keep readjusting so they would all fit under his brood patch, the video shows.

Eventually he lowered down successfully.

Jackie laid her first egg Jan. 25, and her second egg followed three days later, McClatchy News previously reported.

Hundreds of people commented their excitement for the eagles on the Facebook post.

“So cute how he was navigating the three to position over and rocking so proud back and forth like ‘I’ve got three eggs here!!!’” one person commented.

“What a privilege to be part of this incredible story,” another person wrote.

Eagles lost two eggs in 2023

Last year, Jackie and Shadow weren’t so lucky. They abandoned their nest with two unhatched eggs, McClatchy News previously reported.

Jackie laid her first egg of 2023 on Jan. 11, then her second one three days later in the middle of a storm.

The two protected the eggs from predators, cold weather and snow. But the eggs never hatched and eventually became a snack for a hungry raven.

The bald eagles have been successful in the past, though. In 2022, one of their two eggs hatched and was named Spirit, according to the nonprofit.

The baby eagle was believed to be a female by the nonprofit and fledged that year.

Big Bear Lake is about 95 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

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JERUSALEM (AP) — He’s viewed by some Palestinians as their Nelson Mandela, and he’s a prime candidate to become their president in the future. He’s also the highest-profile prisoner held by Israel.

Now Marwan Barghouti‘s freedom is at stake in cease-fire negotiations between Hamas and Israel. Hamas leaders demanded Friday that Israel release Barghouti, a leader of the militant group’s main political rival, as part of any deal to end the fighting in Gaza.

The demand brings new attention to Barghouti, who plays a central role in Palestinian politics even after spending more than two decades behind bars. His release could lay the groundwork for his eventual election to national office.

Hamas’ gambit to free him appears to be an attempt to rally public support for the militant group as well as a recognition of his status as a uniquely unifying Palestinian figure.

“Hamas wants to show to the Palestinian people that they are not a closed movement. They represent part of the Palestinian social community. They are trying to seem responsible,” said Qadoura Fares, who heads the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoner Affairs in the occupied West Bank and has long been involved in negotiations over prisoner releases.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan called for Barghouti’s release as international mediators try to push Israel and Hamas toward an agreement after nearly four months of war.

Israel is seeking the release of more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas is demanding an end to Israel’s devastating military offensive and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

The war broke out Oct. 7, when Hamas fighters crossed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people and dragging 250 hostages back to Gaza. The Hamas attack triggered an Israeli ground and air campaign that has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and triggered a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Over 100 hostages were released during a weeklong truce in November. Israel estimates 136 hostages remain in captivity, though 20 have been pronounced dead. With protests calling for the hostages’ immediate release sweeping Israel, and fears that time is running out to bring them home safely, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal.

For Palestinians, the plight of their imprisoned loved ones is deeply emotional. While Israel considers “security prisoners” to be terrorists, Palestinians widely see them as heroes battling Israeli occupation. Virtually every Palestinian has a friend, relative or acquaintance who has been imprisoned.

The Israeli human rights group HaMoked says Israel is currently holding nearly 9,000 security prisoners. Hamas seeks the release of all of them. But in his remarks Friday, Hamdan mentioned only two by name — Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat.

Saadat heads a small faction that killed an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001 and is serving a 30-year sentence for allegedly participating in attacks.

Palestinians see the 64-year-old Barghouti, a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, as a natural successor to the 88-year-old Abbas, who leads the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, the self-ruled government that administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbas, whose forces in Gaza were overrun by Hamas in 2007, hopes to regain control of the territory after the war. But he is deeply unpopular because of corruption within the authority and because of his security coordination with the Israeli army.

Palestinians have not held elections since 2006, when Hamas won a parliamentary majority.

Fares, a Barghouti supporter, said that if Barghouti is released, he could become a consensus candidate in a round of new elections that Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian factions could rally behind. A wartime opinion poll published in December showed Barghouti to be the most popular politician among Palestinians, ahead of both Abbas and Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

Israelis see Barghouti as an arch-terrorist, and convincing Israel to free him will be an uphill battle.

Barghouti, a leader in the West Bank during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s, is serving five life terms for his role in several deadly attacks. During that uprising, Palestinian militants carried out deadly suicide bombings and shooting attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories, targeting buses, restaurants, hotels and Israelis driving in the West Bank, eliciting crushing Israeli military reprisals.

In 2002, Barghouti was arrested on multiple counts of murder. He did not offer a defense, refusing to recognize the court’s authority. Since then, he has repeatedly thrust himself into the spotlight.

In 2021, he registered his own list for parliamentary elections that were later called off. A few years earlier, he led more than 1,500 prisoners in a 40-day hunger strike to call for better treatment in the Israeli prison system. From jail, he has continued to call for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — lands Israel seized in the 1967 war.

Barghouti was born in the West Bank village of Kobar in 1962. While studying history and politics at Bir Zeit University, he helped spearhead student protests against the Israeli occupation.

He emerged as an organizer in the first Palestinian uprising, which erupted in December 1987, but Israel eventually deported him to Jordan. He returned to the West Bank in the 1990s, as part of interim peace agreements that were meant to pave the way for a Palestinian state but got bogged down by the end of the decade when a second uprising erupted.

Barghouti was seen as political leader of the armed wing of Fatah at the time.

Israel has previously rejected calls to free him. It refused to include him in a 2011 exchange of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for a single soldier held captive in Gaza by Hamas, said Fares, who was party to the negotiations. Yehya Sinwar, the current Hamas leader in Gaza and a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack, was freed in that exchange.

The 2011 negotiations revolved around the release of a single hostage. With the lives of over 100 hostages now hanging in the balance, there is more pressure than ever on Israel to release Palestinian prisoners. That may make conditions ripe for a deal that could simultaneously win Barghouti’s release and bolster Hamas’ standing among Palestinians.

“Hamas is more strong and more clever than ever before,” Fares said. “They understand how necessary it is for the Palestinian people to have consensus.”

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Video released to the FOX 8 I-Team shows Cleveland police uncovering a secret doorway to a hidden nightclub.

So, we investigated the story behind it.

The video takes you inside a hidden world police didn’t even know existed until one officer took a few extra steps and pushed open a door.

The case started with police checking out a coffee shop where workers were suspected of selling alcohol. Officers went to a building at East 186th and St. Clair.

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“We’re getting a lot of complaints for this place.” one officer told people there.

“Complaints?” a man responded.

“Open late. Large crowds. I’m like, a coffee shop, open late?” the officer continued.

“I think you all have the wrong place,” another man answered.

Police discovered the coffee shop had no permits to sell liquor or food.

Meanwhile, an officer said, “let me do a quick check.”

Then, when one officer takes a walk to the back, she goes through a door to the bathrooms and pushes open another dor. Turns out, that door leads to a bar.

“There’s another bar in here,” that officer said. “This separate from that over there?”

“Yeah, I’m the owner. This is called Lovey’s,” a woman responded.

Through the door, 5th district officers uncovered a bar with a full kitchen, but the bar had no permits either.

So, police shut down the bar and the coffee shop, all in the same building. It happened last year, and the police video has now been released to the I-Team.

As officers took action, they learned how the two operations were connected.

You hear police saying to a woman in the bar, “How you get in here?… Back door, maybe?”

“We share the bathrooms,” the woman explained.

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We wondered what has happened since then. So, we went back for a look. We found no activity.

Police say they also went back to make sure liquor sales hadn’t started up again. One night, they watched liquor being packed up and hauled out.

Back to the video, a police supervisor tells the woman at the bar, “you guys can’t be open at all, OK?”

Police did not file any charges. They say the people running those two businesses did shut down as soon as they were ordered to do it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.

Read the full story on The Auto Wire

One of our favorite things to do back in the day was to watch an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard. At the time we didn’t know our viewership was helping to make those Dodge Chargers far rarer. Instead, we were just having fun. Apparently, some people thought the show was a bit of a documentary or at least a how-to guide on getting away from the law as the Duke boys ditched Boss Hogg at the county line over and over again.

Watch teenagers laugh after crashing a car into a storefront.

At least, we think that might be why this guy tried outrunning Arkansas State Police to the Oklahoma state line like somehow once he got over that he was on home base and couldn’t be tagged. If someone’s told you that’s how things work in these modern times of ours, we’re here to tell you they don’t know what they’re talking about.

While it’s not always clear-cut, typically neighboring states have an understanding that they can chase suspects across the state line an apprehend them. Call it a common courtesy, but they of course need to let the local law enforcement agencies they’re in the area and why. But that doesn’t mean if you don’t want to get a speeding ticket and you’re near another state, you can just haul across that line and you’re off the hook.

This guy blasted past an ASP trooper at 117 mph, so he was definitely going to get a big, fat ticket. We just naturally assumed when he didn’t pull over that the guy had warrants, was driving a stolen vehicle, or had illegal stuff in his car. Boy were we wrong.

After he crossed the state line, the guy started slowing down. Perhaps he realized ASP absolutely would cross into Oklahoma and arrest him. However, as he was getting cuffed he told the trooper he was speeding because he thought he was having a heart attack. We’re sure cops have heard this before, but what do you all think of that?

LONDON (AP) — A British aircraft carrier that had been set to lead the largest NATO exercises since the Cold War will not set sail Sunday after a problem with its propeller was discovered during final checks, the Royal Navy said.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth will not join the exercises off Norway’s Arctic coast and will be replaced by the HMS Prince of Wales.

The change of plans is almost a reverse scenario of what happened in August 2022 when the Prince of Wales broke down with a propeller problem on its way to carry out training exercises with the United States and Canada off North America. The carrier had to be towed back to port from the Isle of Wight and the HMS Queen Elizabeth took its place in the exercises.

With the HMS Queen Elizabeth sidelined, the navy may not be able to deploy an aircraft to the Red Sea — as armed forces minister James Heappey has suggested — where hostilities have been heating up with Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting cargo ships in the waters connecting Asia with Europe and the U.S.

The U.K. joined the U.S. Saturday in striking 36 Houthi targets in Yemen in a second wave of assaults meant to further disable Iran-backed groups that have relentlessly attacked American and international interests.

The propeller problem is the second setback for the Royal Navy in less than three weeks, following a collision by two warships in a harbor in Bahrain, causing damage to the vessels but no injuries.

Military officials said they were investigating the cause of the collision in which the HMS Chiddingfold appeared to reverse into the HMS Bangor as it was docked. The two minehunters were based in the Middle East to help protect merchant vessels.

The HMS Prince of Wales will now lead Exercise Steadfast Defender with a carrier strike of eight ships, four British, along with U.S., Spanish and Danish vessels.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) —

A diplomatic rift between Ecuador and Russia appeared to intensify over the weekend after the European nation decided to ban some imports of bananas from Ecuador.

The two countries have been at loggerheads recently after Ecuador decided to transfer some of its old Russian military equipment to the United States, in exchange for $200 million in new military gear.

On Saturday, Russia’s federal agency for veterinary and phytosanitary controls announced it was banning imports from five Ecuadorian banana companies, claiming that a disease had been found in previous shipments of their fruits.

Ecuador is the world’s leading banana exporter, with sales worth around $3.5 billion in 2022. Around a fifth of its annual sales goes to Russia.

Russia’s decision to ban some banana imports came after President Daniel Noboa announced in January that Ecuador would transfer several tons of old Russian-made military equipment to the United States.

Noboa said the equipment was no longer usable, and described it as “scrap metal” that would be replaced with new equipment needed to fight the drug gangs which have been terrorizing the country.

Russia’s foreign ministry protested Noboa’s decision, saying that it violated a contract which stipulated that Ecuador could not sell the equipment to third parties without Russia’s consent.

Carlos Estarellas a former Ecuadorian vice minister for foreign affairs said that Russia’s decision to ban some banana imports could be in retaliation for the decision to send the old military equipement to the U.S.

“One would hope that this impasse can be solved through diplomatic talks,” Estarellas said.

Richard Salazar, the director of ACORBANEC, one of Ecuador’s main associations of banana exporters, said that he was “surprised” by Russia’s “drastic” decision, though he added that at least 15 companies continue to export bananas to Russia.

“It’s a very important market for us,” he said, “and a market that would be difficult to replace.”

Salazar said his association hadn’t been officially notified of the ban, but was seeking a meeting with authorities in Russia to address the problem and try to get the ban overturned.