A heat wave in parts of the South and Mississippi Valley is peaking and a new one is building in the West on Friday, putting more than 70 million people in those areas under heat alerts ahead of the holiday weekend.

More dangerous severe thunderstorms and areas of heavy rain along the northern side of the heat dome are forecast to track eastward from the Central Plains to the Ohio Valley and eventually the mid-Atlantic over the next couple of days, bringing some heat relief, but also the risk of damaging storms and additional power outages.

Oppressive heat smothers South

In the mid- to lower Mississippi River Valley and the Deep South, temperatures on Friday will again near or top 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Little Rock, Arkansas; and New Orleans are under excessive heat warnings, as heat and humidity may combine to make temperatures feel like 105 to 115 degrees.

This continues distressing, deadly heat that parts of the South have experienced for days. Eleven people died in recent days due to heat-related illnesses in Texas’ Webb County, which includes Laredo, and at least two people died from the heat in Louisiana’s Caddo Parish this month, officials said.

Parts of Texas have sweltered under triple-digit temperatures for more than two weeks – but the state is seeing signs of relief. Dallas was not under any heat alert Friday morning as temperatures there dip to more typical summer values.

“Although a few locations across Central and East Texas may reach advisory criteria, the prevalence of 105 heat indices will be far less widespread, and our protracted stretch of advisories/warnings for heat will come to an end,” the National Weather Service office in Dallas said.

Heat across the rest of the South is expected to follow a similar pattern to Dallas, with slight relief slowly occurring over the holiday weekend.

“An increase in showers and thunderstorms this weekend into next week during peak heating will bring some relief from the heat as the upper-level ridge weakens slightly across the region,” the National Weather Service office in Memphis said.

Storms will tame temps this weekend

Rounds of storms each day “will begin to erode the upper ridge (heat dome) responsible for the ongoing heat wave across the South and help bringing cooler air ever so slowly east across the Central Plains,” the Weather Prediction Center said Friday morning.

But the trade-off is rounds of dangerous storms.

Damaging winds and large hail are the main threats today as storms move around the periphery of the heat dome parked over the South. Denver, Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, are in a Level 1 of 5 risk on Friday.

A level 2 of 5 slight risk of severe storms stretches from Colorado to Kentucky on Friday, including Colorado Springs, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Nashville, Tennessee.

Thunderstorm complexes with heavy downpours, hail and damaging wind gusts will develop over the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys Saturday, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

On Saturday, a level 3 of 5 enhanced risk of severe storms covers portions of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky, including St. Louis and Louisville. Damaging winds and large hail are the most likely threat with these storms. A Level 2 of 5 risk stretches farther east to the Virginias, Carolinas and Georgia.

By Sunday, storms look to target the Ohio Valley into the mid-Atlantic where a Level 2 of 5 risk is already highlighted. Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Indianapolis are included.

Southwest bakes as new heat wave builds

As parts of the South begin to see some relief, heat in the West is building.

Millions across Las Vegas and Phoenix will be under excessive heat warnings beginning Saturday, with temperatures projected to soar above 110 degrees for both locations this weekend. And many parts of California are under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories.

Las Vegas has gone a record-breaking 293 consecutive days without reaching 100 degrees, but is forecast to top 100 degrees today, and shoot up to 110 degrees by Sunday and beyond.

“This heat should be taken seriously and precautions need to be taken to prevent heat-related illnesses,” the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas warned. “Avoid outdoor activity during the hottest parts of the day (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.), drink extra water, take breaks in cool or shady locations, and wear light colored, light weight clothing.”

More than 600 people in the US are killed by extreme heat every year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As human-induced climate change forces temperatures to rise around the globe, officials urge people to take safety precautions during heat waves, including staying hydrated, avoiding leaving pets and kids in cars unattended and finding cool, indoor spaces to wait out the high temperatures.

Summers are getting hotter than ever, shattering all-time high temperature records, straining the energy grid and damaging critical infrastructure.

Heat waves also are coming to include another increasingly dangerous element: overnight temperatures that don’t cool down enough to offer sufficient reprieve from oppressive heat, particularly for people without access to air conditioning.

Hotter nights are a consequence of the climate crisis, scientists have warned. On average, nights are warming faster than days in most of the United States, the 2018 National Climate Assessment found.

Increasing nighttime heat is even more common in cities because of the urban heat island effect, in which metro areas are significantly hotter than their surroundings.

Places with a lot of asphalt, concrete, buildings and freeways absorb more of the sun’s heat than areas with ample parks, rivers and tree-lined streets. At night, when temperatures are supposed to cool down, the retained heat is released back into the air, said University of Washington climate and health expert Kristie Ebi.

Areas with a lot of green space – with grass and trees that reflect sunlight and create shade – are cooler on summer’s hottest days, she said.

“It’s going to take a while for trees to grow, but we need tree-planting programs focusing on places that are particularly vulnerable, making sure that city planning takes into account that we’re heading into a much warmer future.”

Nighttime should be when our bodies get a break from the heat, Patel said. But with the climate crisis, it’s becoming less likely to happen. Heat-related deaths could increase sixfold by the end of the century due to warmer nighttime temperatures, unless planet-warming pollution is significantly curbed, a 2022 study in the Lancet Planetary Health found.

The climate crisis is already affecting people’s ability to sleep, said Minor, co-author of a study that found people living in warmer climates lose more sleep for each degree of temperature increase. It was published in May in the journal One Earth.

“We all know what it’s like to try to fall asleep on a hot night – it’s uncomfortable,” Patel said. “We often lose sleep. It is estimated that by the end of the century, we could lose about two days of sleep per year, and it will be worse for people without access to air conditioning.”

At its most extreme, when a human body does not get the chance to recover – typically at night – heat stress can progress to heat stroke, which is associated with confusion, dizziness and passing out, Patel explained.

People around the world are already losing roughly 44 hours of sleep every year on average due to warm nighttime temperatures during just the first part of the 21st century, Minor’s study estimated. He calls this “sleep erosion,” noting each person may lose up to 58 hours of sleep by the end of the century.

“People in our study did not appear to make up for lost sleep on hotter nights by napping during the day or by sleeping more during the days or weeks after,” Minor said. “In fact, they lost additional sleep over these periods due to a delayed temperature effect, possibly due to ambient heat being trapped indoors.”

And much like other social issues, the impacts don’t fall equally across communities, he said.

“For every degree of nighttime temperature rise, we found that the elderly lost over twice as much sleep as middle-aged adults, females lost slightly more sleep than males, and critically, residents of lower-middle-income countries lost three times as much sleep compared to people living in higher income countries,” Minor said.

Heat waves that go on for several days tend to be associated with more deaths as the body can no longer keep itself cool, Patel said.

And unless planet-warming pollution is curbed, the climate crisis is set to increase exposure to dangerous heat index levels by 50% to 100% in much of the tropics and by up to 10 times across much of the globe, according to a 2022 study published in Communications Earth & Environment.

“Living through a heat wave during the day can be like running a race,” Patel said. “We need a cool break to recover and recuperate, and when nighttime temperatures don’t drop, we don’t get that critical time we need to relieve the stress on our bodies from being overheated during the day.”

With violent and fiery protests gripping Paris and other cities across France in the wake of the fatal police shooting of a teenage boy, many of the millions planning a visit there this summer will be wondering if it’s safe to go ahead with their trip.

Chaos, destruction and confrontations have led to curfews in some towns around the capital. Bus and tram services faced disruptions with a nationwide shutdown ordered for 9 p.m. on Friday to try to stem another night of violence.

As peak travel season gets underway – further boosted by the start of the two-week Tour de France cycle race – the world’s most-watched sporting event – here are some answers to the questions that visitors may be asking.

What’s happening in France right now?

Areas within some of France’s major cities have erupted in violence for several successive nights after a teenager named Nahel Merzouk, reportedly of Algerian descent, was fatally shot by police — an incident caught on video.

Confrontations between police and protesters began on the night of June 27 in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre, where Merzouk was shot, and have since spread to other parts of the capital and several other cities.

More than 800 people were arrested the night of June 29, as outrage continued to intensify. Merzouk’s death appears to have become a flashpoint for anger about racial inequality in France and claims of police discrimination.

Buildings, vehicles and debris have been set alight during the turmoil. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has been holding crisis talks amid concerns that the country could see a replay of violence in 2005 that led to a state of emergency.

Which cities are affected?

Protests began in Nanterre, a suburb of northwestern Paris’ wider metropolitan area. Subsequently there have been protests in other areas around the capital: Bezons, Gennevilliers, Garges-lès-Gonesse, Asnières-sur-Seine, Montreuil, Neuilly-sur-Marne, Clamart and Meudon.

Further out, Trappes, Clergy, Guyancourt and Vigneux-sur-Seine have also been affected.

These are all beyond the “Periphique” ring road that encircles the central Paris “arrondissements,” where most of the main tourist attractions and accommodations are located.

Elsewhere in France, Elite RAID police have also been deployed to key tourist cities Marseille and Bordeaux in the south, as well as the northern cities of Lille — a stop for the Eurostar train from London — and Roubaix.

What about curfews?

Limited curfews have been imposed in two towns close to Paris at the center of some of the worst violence.

In Clamart, a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. was put in place on Thursday and is set to continue nightly until July 3. Restrictions from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. will be in place in Neuilly-sur-Marne.

How has transport been affected?

Transport networks have been severely affected. On Friday, France ordered the shutdown of all bus and tram services nationwide by 9 p.m.

The measure, announced by the Ministry of the Interior, came a day after some services in and around Paris were suspended as a direct result of the violence, some of which has targeted transport infrastructure.

In Clamart, one of the badly hit towns, a tram was set on fire. Several buses were torched in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers.

On Friday, some bus services were disrupted in Paris but the Metro system was operating as normal.

The Nanterre-Préfecture train station was closed.

In Lille, bus and tramways were shut down after 8 p.m. on Thursday. On Friday daytime, services were more or less running normally, with some diversions in place.

In the southern city of Marseille, public transport was due to stop services at 7 p.m.

There has been no disruption to the Eurostar service connecting London, Lille and Paris as a result of the protests. French intercity trains are also not affected.

It’s not clear if there will be any further shutdowns or disruptions if the protests continue in coming days and those using them are advised to check websites for updates before traveling.

Is it safe to visit?

While the teenager’s death and subsequent outrage has sent shockwaves across France, much of life continues as normal. The central areas of Paris, home to the Louvre Art Museum and the Eiffel Tower have been almost totally unaffected. Likewise the rural and coastal areas that host many visitors.

That said, it’s not clear at present how long the protests will continue and what further measures the French government will adopt to try to tackle them.

Travel advisories from several countries warn of the protests and urge people to monitor the news and check in with tour operators; none have advised against traveling to France altogether.

The US State Department issued a security alert on June 29 covering France that highlighted the violent fallout of the shooting of the teenager and warned its citizens to steer clear of trouble spots.

“These demonstrations, along with spontaneous protests, are expected to continue and may turn violent,” it said.

“US citizens should avoid mass gatherings and areas of significant police activity as they can turn violent and result in clashes.

“Some cities are imposing curfews. As always, it is a good practice to notify friends or family of your whereabouts. Note that public transportation is being affected.”

It suggested monitoring media outlets France24, RFI and The Local, for updates.

A US “level 2” advisory issued in October 2022 by the State Department remains in place urging travelers to “exercise increased caution in France due to terrorism and civil unrest.”

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office also issued warnings but stressed most visits to France were without incident.

“The protests may lead to disruptions to road travel or targeting of parked cars in areas where protests take place,” it said on its website.

“You should monitor the media, avoid protests, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities.”

It went on to advise travelers to get insurance and noted: “Around 17 million British nationals visit France every year. Most visits are trouble-free.”

Half of the top 10 beaches in the United States for 2023 are in Florida and Hawaii.

That’s according to the 2023 list of best US beaches released in May by “Dr. Beach,” aka coastal scientist Stephen Leatherman.

Florida’s St. George Island State Park earns the top slot. The barrier island park offers nine miles of pristine beaches along the Gulf Coast. With nature trails for biking and hiking, plus birding, fishing, boating and camping, St. George offers more than just excellent swimming and sunbathing. It’s also a prime spot for stargazing with limited light pollution and an observation platform for night sky exploration.

The beach has “some of the whitest, finest sand in the world,” said Leatherman, who is a professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University. “The water is crystal clear and clean, far from any sources of pollution on this offshore barrier island.”

Leatherman has been ranking America’s best beaches since 1991.

He uses 50 criteria to evaluate hundreds of public beaches in the United States. The criteria include beach width, sand softness, water temperature and color, wildlife and more.

The No. 2 beach for 2023, Duke Kahanamoku Beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, is on the west end of the famed Waikiki Beach with fewer visitors than the more crowded stretches. Diamond Head volcano rises in the distance, making for an especially stunning setting, and the beach is good for families with children thanks to a protective offshore coral reef.

Wailea Beach in Maui and Poipu Beach in Kauai are the other Hawaii beaches in this year’s top 10.

Florida’s Caladesi Island State Park in Dunedin/Clearwater also made the top 10. None of Florida’s Atlantic beaches appear in the 2023 top 10; Leatherman pointed out that the Atlantic coastline is being affected this year by sargassum seaweed.

The other five beaches are in New York, North Carolina, California, South Carolina and Massachusetts. Each state has one beach on the 2023 list.

Top 10 US beaches for 2023

1.    St. George Island State Park, Florida

2.    Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

3.    Coopers Beach, Southampton, New York

4.    Caladesi Island State Park, Dunedin/Clearwater, Florida

5.    Lighthouse Beach, Buxton, Outer Banks of North Carolina

6.    Coronado Beach, San Diego, California

7.    Wailea Beach, Maui, Hawaii

8.    Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, South Carolina

9.    Poipu Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

10. Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Sierra Leone’s President Maada Bio was sworn into a second term on Tuesday, just hours after the country’s electoral authority certified his victory at the polls over the protests of rivals.

Bio’s Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won nearly 1.6 million votes – 56.1% of the total ballots – to defeat his closest opponent, Samura Kamara of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party, who won a 41% share of the vote.

“By the powers vested in me… I hereby certify that Bio Julius Maada… [is] duly elected president,” declared Chief Electoral Commissioner Mohamed Konneh.

Just hours after the results was announced, Bio was sworn in at the State House where he gave a speech thanking citizens for their “trust and dedication.”

“Our triumph belongs to every Sierra Leonean,” he added.

Kamara however rejected the results and described it as a “frontal attack on our fledgling democracy.”

His APC party had on Monday rejected provisional results that showed an early lead for Bio, describing then as “cooked-up figures.”

APC alleged a lack of transparency by the electoral body in tallying the ballots, adding that its agents “were neither allowed access to participate (at tally centers) nor were they allowed to verify results prior to the announcement.”

The vote count was fraught with controversies and some international observers expressed concerns about the integrity of the process.

“Carter Center observers reported that the tabulation process lacked adequate levels of transparency,” the observer group said in a statement ahead of the declaration of the final results.

“Carter Center observers directly observed instances of broken seals and inappropriately open ballot boxes in three of the five tally centers,” it added in its preliminary report issued Tuesday.

The electoral commission described the weekend poll as relatively peaceful but acknowledged pockets of violence and delays in polling in some areas.

On Sunday, Kamara’s APC party accused the country’s security forces of laying siege to its head office in the capital Freetown, and firing live rounds into the property while it held a press conference after the polls.

He described it as an “assassination attempt,” however police denied firing live rounds.

The June 24 vote was the fifth election since the end of the country’s brutal civil war in 2002. Key among voter concerns were high inflation rates and unemployment levels, as well as political violence and corruption.

It’s a race that grips the world of cycling each year, but the prelude to the 2023 Tour de France, which starts on Saturday, has been overshadowed by concerns over safety that have raised existential questions for the sport.

In June, Swiss rider Gino Mäder died aged 26 following a crash on the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse.

Almost 200 kilometers into the race, Mäder crashed at high speed with American rider Magnus Sheffield, race organizers said after the incident. They were descending the Albula Pass towards La Punt, where the stage ended.

Mäder fell into a ravine and was found motionless in the water before being resuscitated and transported to hospital in the city of Chur by air ambulance.

His death sparked emotional tributes but also raised concerns about the safety measures around elite cycling.

From improving technology and a changing dynamic in the peloton, cycling is evolving and some are calling for it to change – and fast to ensure greater safety for the riders.

Adam Hansen, a former rider who competed in the Tour de France eight times, is the newly-elected president of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) – the organization tasked with looking after the interests of professional cyclists.

But it’s not just speed that’s the issue. In any bike race, much of the racing focuses on what’s happening in the peloton – the main body of cyclists – and how riders and teams jockey for position.

“You have probably heard this term in cycling, ‘there’s no more respect in the peloton.’ And what I believe this actually means is riders are being more dangerous in the peloton,” Hansen explained.

“In the first 150 kilometers of a 200-kilometer race, riders would respect each other, they won’t cut each other off, they won’t fight for a position when there’s more than 100 kilometers to go before the finish, they’re more relaxed. And now people are just fighting for every single spot and they’re sort of touching elbows and shoulders with other riders and just becoming more dangerous in that sense.”

Hansen says that riders won’t struggle for motivation in this year’s Tour, but Mäder’s death will likely be playing in their minds of some competitors at certain points.

“I know when there will be fast, high-speed descents, there’s definitely going to be some riders with let’s say that thought in the back of their head, and they’ll be a bit more nervous and a bit more cautious and maybe take less risk.”

Tom Pidcock, who rides for team Ineos, says Mäder’s death could result in some more cautious descending from riders.

“I think especially for everyone who was at the race [Tour de Suisse], that was pretty hard hitting,” the British rider told reporters on Wednesday. “I think I didn’t see a single rider take any risks on the last two stages after that incident.

“Personally, one of the things that hit me was it happened descending, which is something that I love. It showed me what the consequences can be when it goes wrong. I don’t take unnecessary risks but things can happen when we’re riding down a descent at 100kph in lycra.”

Hansen says that in his role as the president of the CPA, he has worked with riders to see how cycling could be made potentially safer.

From unified signage between races to help riders and safety nets on descents down to the minutia of how close a steward stands in front of a parked car, nothing is off the table for Hansen before he delivers his recommendations to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) – cycling’s world governing body.

There is a growing swell of advocates for the addition of safety nets on high speed corners in an effort to catch cyclists falling over a precipice.

“In the rare situation in which somebody goes over the edge, having a small amount of netting there could save lives,” Jonathan Vaughters, manager of the EF Education Easy Post team, told The Guardian. “Safety is a very difficult topic in cycling. I saw a lot of suggestions from people about limiting speed on descents and that doing that would make it safer.”

Hansen adds that educating an increasingly youthful peloton is an important factor in making the sport safer.

“Riders have to be aware that cycling is a dangerous sport. And I think sometimes they forget this and they have to be educated well in this,” he explained. “And also there’s a lot of young good riders at the moment where in the past, if you look at the average age of the Tour de France … [it] was quite old, where today we’ve got 20-year-old’s doing it.

“So what I felt is you’re getting these super young guys doing big races like Dauphine in Switzerland and the Giro [‘d’Italia], the Tour [de France].

“Like this year in the Giro, I think a 19-year-old has done it two times before. And normally you’d be 24 years old and you’ve done five years of professional racing before doing a grand tour. So maybe it’s inexperience.

“These are things we need to look into more and definitely educate the riders the dangers of it and it’s not worth taking massive risks.”

Structure

The 2023 Tour de France will see the famous race celebrate its 120th anniversary.

The first stage – called the Grand Départ – is 182 kilometers long and starts from Bilbao, Spain – the host country of the first three stages before the Tour moves to France. Since the 1950s, the Tour has often started in a different country as a way of allowing fans from other nations to experience the race.

In total, there will be 21 stages including eight flat stages, eight mountain stages, four hilly stages, one individual time trial, and two rest days. The race will finish in Paris on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday, July 23.

The famous yellow jersey will be awarded to the winner of the individual general classification, with the green jersey given to the points classification winner.

The polka dot jersey is given to the best climber and the white jersey goes to the best young rider.

An epic duel

Jonas Vingegaard is the Tour’s defending champion. The Danish rider had come close in years prior to the 2022 race, but eventually claimed the yellow in dramatic fashion last year and has continued to look strong this season, winning the Critérium du Dauphiné in June.

Vingegaard, who rides for team Jumbo–Visma, will have to fend off the challenge of Tadej Pogačar, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, if he wants to win a second title.

Pogačar had enjoyed a brilliant start to the season but broke his wrist two months ago, only returning to competitive racing earlier this month.

If the Slovenian looks anything close to his best, it could prove to be a fascinating battle between Pogačar and Vingegaard. Last year, the two went head-to-head with Vingegaard eventually pipping the UAE Emirates star and the pair look likely to lock horns once again this year.

Elsewhere, 2019 Tour de France champion Egan Bernal is competing in his first Grand Tour event since suffering serious injuries in a crash last year.

The Colombian collided with the back of a bus, suffering back, leg, knee and chest injuries but is now part of an Ineos team hoping to climb back to the summit of men’s cycling.

How to watch

Viewers in the US can tune into USA Network and NBC to watch the action, while in the UK, the Tour de France is being shown on Eurosport and ITV.

With the Super Bowl heading to Las Vegas next year, could Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce’s unlikely golfing victory in Sin City be an auspicious sign for the Kansas City Chiefs?

Mahomes and Kelce pulled off an upset 3 and 2 win against NBA stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in the eighth edition of “The Match” charity golf event, this year staged at Wynn Golf Club in Vegas.

Quarterback Mahomes and tight end Kelce entered Thursday’s 12-hole game against their NBA counterparts as heavy underdogs, particularly given Curry’s prowess on the golf course.

After the first hole was tied, the Chiefs pair won the next three to go three-up and didn’t look back from there, cruising to victory against the Golden State Warriors’ ‘Splash Brothers.’

Curry and Thompson briefly made things interesting on the ninth when the NBA duo were finally able to win a hole, though the comeback was short-lived.

Mahomes and Kelce completed their victory on the next hole as the tight end – despite heckles from the side of the green – drained his close-range putt.

“I’m new with how Trav is playing,” said Mahomes. “We knew coming into this that if I just played decent, we were going to have a chance. Steph’s a great golfer, I thought Klay did a good job out there today. But they didn’t have that team aspect that we had.

“Literally, I would hit a terrible shot, Trav would hit a great one and vice versa. That’s what it takes in a team event like that and I think we went out there and showed what we can do.”

This year’s competition, during which the players wore mics and trash-talked their way around the course, was once again taking place in the name of charity.

Contributions this year raised money for the “No Kid Hungry” campaign to end childhood hunger in the United States.

Over the previous seven editions, “The Match” had raised more than $35 million for various organizations and has donated more than 27 million meals.

This was the second time that no professional golfer has participated in the event after Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers defeated Mahomes and Josh Allen in a battle of the quarterbacks last year.

The series started in 2018 when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson went head-to-head at Shadow Creek Golf Course in North Las Vegas.

Thursday’s matinee MLB game between the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park was delayed for 45 minutes due to poor air conditions caused by the lingering smoke from the wildfires in Canada.

Originally scheduled to be played at 12:35 p.m. ET, the game was pushed back to a 1:20 p.m. ET start.

Following the announcement of the delay, the Pirates released a statement saying the team would move forward with the game after consulting with the league and expert medical providers, among others.

“After collaborative discussions between Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, our team of expert medical providers at Allegheny Health Network, our players and staff, we have made the decision to move forward with our game today,” the Pirates said in a statement.

“We will continue to closely monitor the air quality index levels around the ballpark and respond accordingly.”

After the game started, Pirates star Andrew McCutchen was shown on the broadcast putting on a mask while on first base after hitting a single in the first inning.

Some fans at the stadium were also shown on the broadcast wearing face masks.

The Pirates were victorious in the series finale, defeating the Padres 5-4. Pittsburgh will next host the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game series beginning on Friday.

The NFL has announced more suspensions for players violating the league’s gambling policy.

On Thursday, the league said Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry of the Indianapolis Colts and free agent Demetrius Taylor are suspended indefinitely through at least the end of the 2023 season for betting on NFL games in the 2022 season. They can request for reinstatement after the 2023 season is completed.

Shortly after Rodgers and Berry’s suspensions were announced, the Colts waived both players.

Additionally, the league announced Thursday Nicholas Petit-Frere of the Tennessee Titans is suspended for the team’s first six regular season games of the 2023 season for betting on non-NFL sports at the club facility. He is eligible to participate in all offseason and preseason activities, including preseason games.

The NFL’s gambling policy, which is annually reviewed with all league personnel, including players, prohibits anyone in the NFL from engaging in any form of gambling in any team or league facility or venue, including the practice facility. Any betting on the NFL is prohibited.

Earlier this month, Rodgers said he takes “full responsibility” while adding that he made an “error in judgment” after reports came out that he was being investigated by the NFL for possibly breaching the league’s gambling policy.

This came after ESPN and SportsHandle.com, citing unnamed sources, had reported that a sportsbook account was opened under the name of one of Rodgers’ associates, where approximately 100 bets were placed over an undisclosed amount of times.

“Addressing the current reports, I want to take full responsibility for my actions,” Rodgers said at the time in a statement on Twitter. “I know I have made mistakes and I am willing to do whatever it takes to repair the situation.

“The last thing I ever wanted to do was to be a distraction to the Colts organization, my coaches and my teammates. I’ve let people down that I care about. I made an error in judgment and I am going to work hard to make sure that those mistakes are rectified through this process. It’s an honor to play in the NFL and I have never taken that lightly. I am very sorry for all of this.”

On April 21, the NFL announced Quintez Cephus and C.J. Moore of the Detroit Lions and Shaka Toney of the Washington Commanders were suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games in the 2022 season. The league also said at the time Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams of the Lions would be suspended for the team’s first six regular season games of the 2023 season for violating the gambling policy.

The Lions subsequently released Cephus and Moore and said Berryhill and Williams’ suspensions are “for other gambling policy violations, including betting from an NFL facility on non-NFL games.” Berryhill was later waived by the team.

Cephus, Moore and Toney, like Rodgers and Berry, would be suspended through at least the end of the 2023 season and can petition for reinstatement after the season ends.

More than 100 million people are under air quality alerts Friday morning from Wisconsin to Vermont and down to North Carolina as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to waft south, though conditions are expected to improve slowly into the holiday weekend.

Storms Thursday brought some relief from the smoke in parts of the Midwest, and more rain there Friday should provide more. But smoke may dissipate less quickly in the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic, where Friday’s storms will be more isolated.

“Air quality is expected to improve in the short term as a combination of thunderstorm activity and dispersion of smoke will ultimately result in improving air quality conditions for much of the country heading into the weekend,” the National Weather Service said.

More than 500 active wildfires raging across Canada have tanked the air quality across parts of that country and the United States. As of early Friday, Toronto topped a list of the world’s major cities with the worst air quality, followed by Washington, DC, according to IQAir.

Detroit, which topped the same list on Thursday evening, ranked fourth early Friday, while New York City was sixth, the website showed.

On Friday, the United States’ worst air quality is expected to span from Michigan to Ohio and into the Mid-Atlantic, including Washington, DC.

The air in those areas is expected to be rated a level 3 of 6 “unhealthy for sensitive groups” or a level 4 of 6 “unhealthy” on the US Air Quality Index developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Current air quality ratings can be found on AirNow.gov, a partnership of agencies including the EPA.

“Unhealthy for sensitive groups” typically includes the elderly, young children, those with certain chronic illnesses and outdoor workers.

In New York, a statewide air quality health advisory will remain in effect through Friday, urging residents to take necessary preventative measures – like masking – to stay safe outdoors, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday. “With ground-level smoke more visible and air quality continuing to reach unhealthy levels in many parts of the state, we encourage New Yorkers to take precautions to protect their health,” she said.

The western and central parts of New York along with the eastern Lake Ontario region are forecast Friday to reach the “unhealthy” air quality threshold, the governor’s office said. Other areas in the state could see air rated in the less severe “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category.

Canada Day fireworks in Montreal canceled

Canada’s Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia provinces had some of that nation’s worst air quality Thursday night, according to IQAir.

The impacts of the fires have prompted Canadian officials to cancel Canada Day fireworks in Montreal scheduled for Saturday, though other festivities are planned.

While forecasters weren’t sure about Saturday’s air quality, the cancellation decision was “in solidarity,” said Stéphane Guertin, president of Tandem Communications, the event organizer.

Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season on record, with scientists warning such intense blazes are becoming more common as the planet warms. Smoke from the flames can travel thousands of miles, putting millions more people in harm’s way.

Wildfire smoke is particularly dangerous because it contains particulate matter, or PM2.5, a tiny but dangerous pollutant. When inhaled, it can travel deep into lung tissue and enter the bloodstream, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It comes from sources including the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires. The particulate matter has been linked to health problems including asthma, heart disease and other respiratory illnesses.