Taliban Prepare Suicide Bombers in Water Dispute With Iran

In mid-May, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a warning to the Taliban: honor Afghanistan’s water-supply agreement or face the consequences.

A well-known Taliban figure offered a mocking gift of a 20-liter water container in response and told him to stop making terrifying ultimatums. About a week later, a skirmish erupted on the border, leaving two Iranian guards and one Taliban member dead. The Taliban sent thousands of troops and hundreds of suicide bombers to the area, according to a person familiar with the matter, who says the group is prepared for war.

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After two decades fighting the US, Taliban leaders now find themselves sparring with neighbors as the realities of global warming hit home. The dispute with Iran over depleted water resources is further destabilizing an already volatile region.

“The water shortages in the Helmand River basin are a result of climate change as the country heats up and suffers huge excesses of rainfall followed by terrible dry spells,” said Graeme Smith, a senior consultant on Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group, a non-profit organization. “Temperatures in the country are up 1.8C since 1950.”

Iran signed an agreement in 1973 for Afghanistan to supply a stipulated amount of water a year in “normal” climate conditions from the Helmand, a more than 1,000 kilometer (620 mile) waterway that runs from the Afghan Hindu Kush mountains through the country and into Iran.

Read More: How the Taliban Suppressed Opium in Afghanistan—and Why There’s Little to Celebrate

The water from Afghanistan’s longest river is critical for agriculture and consumed by millions of people on both sides of the border. 

Iran argues the Taliban reduced the water supply since it returned to power and isn’t keeping Afghanistan’s side of the bargain. 

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a press conference last week that “preliminary agreements are in place” with the Taliban government over Iran’s rights to water from the Helmand, without providing further details. 

“Take my words seriously,” Raisi, Iran’s president since 2021, said during a visit to Sistan and Baluchestan, the country’s poorest province, which was hit hard by the water shortage. “I warn the officials and rulers of Afghanistan that they should honor the water rights of the people of Sistan.”

Taliban spokesmen Zabihullah Mujahid and Bilal Karimi didn’t respond to calls and messages seeking comment.

Mujahid said in May Raisi’s comments were inappropriate and could harm ties. Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi contends the issue only occurred because of drought, and Afghanistan respects the agreement. 

The pact itself leaves room for interpretation. The water supply must be “adjusted” in times of drought, it says, and both countries must engage in “diplomatic negotiations” to resolve any issues.

But despite the call for diplomacy, the Taliban prepared for war. As well as soldiers and suicide bombers, its rare military deployment also included hundreds of military vehicles and weapons left behind by the US, the person said, asking not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the situation.

“Both sides can make a case to justify their positions,” said Omar Samad, a senior fellow at Washington-based think-tank the Atlantic Council and former Afghan envoy to Canada and France. He pointed to Afghanistan’s “protracted state of crisis” and Iran’s need for water at a time of drought.

If neither wants to resolve the issue through diplomatic channels, it will be “politically irrational and lead to regional destabilization at a time when neither side can afford conflict,” he said.

The agreement has been a source of tension for decades. Iran has long argued it doesn’t receive enough water. The situation worsened with the Taliban’s takeover, which came during years of drought.

And while it’s hard to analyze both sides’ claims as no water supply data is available, Fatemeh Aman, a non-resident senior fellow at Washington-based think-tank the Middle East Institute, says Iran has only itself to blame.

“The Iranian authorities had over 40 years to invest in water management or prepare the region for disaster,” she said. “They failed.”

Iranian lawmakers said in June the situation in Sistan and Baluchestan is so dire that a “humanitarian disaster” will occur if people don’t get access to water, according to local media. More than 10,000 families fled the province’s capital in the last year, according to a report.

At least 300 towns and cities in Iran face acute water stress as the planet gets hotter. Dams are evaporating, and more than 97% of the country is affected by drought, according to one estimate. Some 20 million people moved to cities because the land is too dry for farming, according to one academic.

Read More: The Women of Afghanistan Won’t Be Silenced Anymore

Some of the roughly 3 million Afghans who escaped to Iran to avoid decades of war at home are also affected. 

“We traveled for hours to reach another village and get 30 liters of drinking water,” said Sardar Ali, 45, who returned to Afghanistan this year with his family from Sistan and Baluchestan. “The heat and lack of water also killed many people’s livestock and forced many people to flee.”

Global temperatures hit records in July, with countries from Italy to China experiencing scorching heat as the emerging El Nino weather pattern helped push the mercury higher.

Afghanistan has been no outlier. 

The country is reeling from drought, with six times more households feeling the effect in 2022 compared to 2020, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Some 64% of Afghans were impacted by drought in 2022, while 30 of 34 provinces have extremely low water quality, it said.

It’s a trend that’s expected to continue over coming decades, when climate change is likely to have severe effects, according to the UN.

The water conflict comes as Afghanistan faces other emergencies. 

Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs since the Taliban’s return two years ago, with women bearing the brunt of it, the International Labour Organization said in a report. The economy remains crippled by sanctions and the international community doesn’t recognize the Taliban administration, cutting Afghanistan from the global financial system.

Read More: Taliban Militants Fed Up With Office Culture, Ready to Quiet Quit

The country’s hunger crisis is also worsening. Afghanistan needs $4.6 billion this year to support more than 20 million people facing acute hunger, about half the population, according to the UN.

But that hasn’t stopped the Taliban from responding aggressively over water.

Just two days after Raisi’s warning, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar ordered the restart of work on the controversial Bakhshabad Dam over the Helmand, a project that had been delayed for years due to conflict and Iran’s attempts to stop it.

And more than two months later, no progress has been made in resolving the issues with Iran. 

“We have seen nothing in the way of fulfilling commitments and securing Iran’s water rights,” Iran foreign ministry spokesman Kanaani said at a press conference July 10. “Talks are underway at various levels with the caretaker government of Afghanistan and we will continue to pursue this issue seriously.” 

The Taliban also created friction with other neighbors. It’s building a huge irrigation canal in its northern region to divert water from the Amu Darya basin that would otherwise flow into Uzbekistan and other central Asian nations. Uzbekistan has voiced concerns but also vowed not to hinder the project.

The Middle East Institute’s Aman says transboundary water should never be politicized. But she’s also realistic: The region should brace for further climate-induced strife ahead, she says.

“The two sides should sit down and hammer out a better understanding of the 1973 water treaty,” Smith of the International Crisis Group said of Iran and Afghanistan. Both countries “have isolated governments, but even pariah states need help with adapting to climate change. Survival on a heating planet will require cooperation with everyone, even the Taliban.”

—With assistance from Arsalan Shahla and Zulfugar Agayev.

source https://time.com/6302192/taliban-suicide-bombers-water-dispute-iran/

‘Barbie’ Joins $1 Billion Club and Breaks Another Record for Female Directors

Greta Gerwig should be feeling closer to fine these days. In just three weeks in theaters, “Barbie” is set to sail past $1 billion in global ticket sales, breaking a record for female directors that was previously held by Patty Jenkins, who helmed “Wonder Woman.”

“Barbie,” which Gerwig directed and co-wrote, added another $53 million from 4,178 North American locations this weekend according to studio estimates on Sunday. The Margot Robbie-led and produced film has been comfortably seated in first place for three weeks and it’s hardly finished yet. Warner Bros. said the film will cross $1 billion before the end of the day.

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In modern box office history, just 53 movies have made over $1 billion, not accounting for inflation, and “Barbie” is now the biggest to be directed by one woman, supplanting “Wonder Woman’s” $821.8 million global total. Three movies that were co-directed by women are still ahead of “Barbie,” including “Frozen” ($1.3 billion) and “Frozen 2” ($1.45 billion) both co-directed by Jennifer Lee and “Captain Marvel” ($1.1 billion), co-directed by Anna Boden. But, “Barbie” has passed “Captain Marvel” domestically with $459.4 million (versus $426.8 million), thereby claiming the North American record for live-action movies directed by women.

New competition came this weekend in the form of the animated, PG-rated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and the Jason Statham shark sequel, “Meg 2: The Trench,” both of which were neck-in-neck with Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” also in its third weekend, for the second-place spot.

“Meg 2” managed to sneak ahead and land in second place. It overcame its abysmal reviews to score a $30 million opening weekend from 3,503 locations. The Warner Bros. release, directed by Ben Wheatley, currently has a 29% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- CinemaScore from audiences. The thriller was released in 3D, which accounted for 22% of its first weekend business.

Third place went to “Oppenheimer,” which added $28.7 million from 3,612 locations in North America, bringing its domestic total to $228.6 million. In just three weeks, the J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic starring Cillian Murphy become the highest grossing R-rated film of the year (ahead of “John Wick Chapter 4”) and the sixth-biggest of the year overall, surpassing “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

“Oppenheimer” also celebrated a landmark, crossing $500 million globally in three weeks. Its worldwide tally is currently $552.9 million, which puts it ahead of “Dunkirk,” which clocked out with $527 million in 2017 and has become Nolan’s fifth-biggest movie ever. It’s now among the four top grossing biographies ever (company includes “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Passion of the Christ” and “American Sniper”) and the biggest World War II movie of all time.

Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was close behind in fourth place with an estimated $28 million from 3,858 theaters in North America. Since opening on Wednesday, the film, which is riding on excellent reviews and audience scores, has earned $43.1 million.

source https://time.com/6302133/barbie-joins-1-billion-club/

Teen Charged With Hate-Motivated Murder in Killing of O’Shae Sibley

NEW YORK — Police have arrested a 17-year-old high school student on a hate-motivated murder charge in the fatal stabbing of a professional dancer during an altercation between two groups of friends at a New York City gas station last weekend.

Police took the teenager into custody Friday in connection with the killing of the 28-year-old O’Shae Sibley, who was gay. Authorities declined to release the defendant’s name.

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“Parents lost a child, a child, to something that was clearly a hate crime,” Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, said Saturday during a news conference outside the Brooklyn gas station where Sibley was killed July 29.

The stabbing occurred after the two groups got into a confrontation at one of the gas pumps, where Sibley was dancing with his friends to a Beyoncé song. Authorities said Sibley’s group was being taunted by the other group before the confrontation ended in violence.

Beyoncé would later pay tribute to Sibley on her website.

Security camera video showed the two groups arguing for a few minutes. Both sides had walked away when Sibley and a friend abruptly returned and again confronted one of the young men, who had stayed behind recording on his phone.

In the video, Sibley could be seen following the teen and then lunging at him before the two disappeared out of the camera’s view. A moment later, he walks backward into view, checking his side, and then collapses to the sidewalk.

He was stabbed once in the left rib cage, according to Assistant Police Chief Joe Kenny.

“We can see on the video a heated verbal dispute quickly turns physical,” he said.

“As they waited to refuel their vehicle, Mr. Sibley and his group began dancing to music that was being played in their car. At this point, a male called out to Mr. Sibley and his group demanding that they stop dancing,” Kenny said. “As the group began to yell at Mr. Sibley and his friends, they began to call him derogatory names and use homophobic slurs against him.”

The initial encounter lasted about four minutes, police said, when Sibley and four other men stopped to refuel while traveling home to New York City from New Jersey.

Authorities said the suspect arranged for his surrender through his attorney.

Lee Soulja Simmons, the executive director for the NYC Center for Black Pride, also spoke at the news conference.

“We wrestle with people within our community constantly facing discrimination — not just because you’re Black but because you represent LGBT” communities, he said.

“The fact that he was doing nothing more but voguing and dancing here, he did not deserve to die in that way,” Simmons said.

One of Sibley’s friends who was there, Otis Pena, said in a Facebook video that Sibley was killed because he was gay, and “because he stood up for his friends.”

One witness, Summy Ullah, said in interviews that the men complained that their behavior offended them as Muslims.

Some leaders of the area’s Muslim community condemned the slaying.

“The weight of this loss is felt deeply, not just by the family and friends of O’Shae, but by all of us who value life, peace and justice,” Soniya Ali, the executive director of the Muslim Community Center, said Saturday.

“As Muslims, we are committed to stand up for justice, even if it means standing against our own selves,” she said. “We unequivocally condemn the unjust murder of O’Shae.”

Sibley performed with the dance company Philadanco in his native Philadelphia and in New York, where he took classes with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Ailey Extension program.

source https://time.com/6302123/teen-charged-with-hate-motivated-murder-in-killing-of-oshae-sibley/

The U.S. World Cup Campaign Ends in Historic Disappointment

A Sweden penalty shot on Sunday, after the U.S. and Sweden played to a 0-0 draw in regulation and extra time, barely crossed the goal line to give Sweden a dramatic victory over its longtime international nemesis, the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT), and send the USWNT home from the World Cup at the earliest stage in history.

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U.S. keeper Alyssa Naeher did almost everything correct the seventh round of the game’s penalty shootout; she had to make a save to keep the U.S. chances alive. She dove to her right as Lina Hurtig’s shot headed her way. Naeher got her hands up to stop it; the ball ricocheted into the air. Naeher, from her spot on the ground, crawled to desperately try to keep the ball from crossing the goal line as it came back down. 

But in actuality, there was absolutely nothing Naeher could do. Psychics had taken over: the ball was already over the line, by maybe a nanometer. An ant couldn’t fit through the space between the bottom of the ball and the goal line. 

In World Cup soccer, just like in every other space in which we live, the cameras catch everything. The proof was in the pictures. After a tortuous period of uncertainty, as officials took a look at the tech, the ref confirmed the outcome. Sweden goal. Game over. Sweden is into the quarterfinals. 

The Americans, meanwhile, were done. Sweden moves on to play Japan in the World Cup quarterfinals on Friday.  

The USWNT, however, will fly home having defied some expectations. Coming into this game, after playing to two straight draws in the group stage—with the Netherlands and Portugal—and after barely escaping from the preliminary round exit after a late Portugal shot struck the goal post—many fans and pundits offered the U.S. little hope. The Swedes swept through the group stage. The U.S. struggled to survive. 

Then, on Sunday in Melbourne, the U.S. went out and simply dominated the run of play. Metrics said that the Americans deserved to win. The U.S. controlled possession of the ball, 50%-34%. While the U.S. got off 21 shots, Sweden had just seven opportunities. Eleven of those U.S. shots were on target, while just one Swedish shot hit the mark.

Unfortunately for the Americans, Swedish keeper Zećira Mušović was flawless. She had a bunch of sweet saves, her best perhaps coming on a Linday Horan ripper in the second half: Musocvic dove to get a hand on it. 

Regulation, plus 30 minutes of extra time, produced another 0-0 draw for the U.S.  

Mušović was Sweden’s MVP.  But she didn’t make a single save in the penalty shootout, and still walked away from the victory. That’s because, on several key occasions, the U.S. missed far and wide. 

On the fourth penalty shot, with the U.S. up 3-2, Megan Rapinoe—who again entered the game in the second half to provide scoring spark— had a chance to give Americans a cushion and emerge a hero. She sailed her shot into the stands, ending her brilliant World Cup career on a down note. Naeher however, made a brilliant save on Sweden’s next attempt, stretching as far as she could, to her left, to stop it. 

This gave Sophia Smith, decked all game in cool black gloves, an opportunity to seal the win for the U.S. But a consecutive American attempt missed badly, very high, and very wide, to the right. Smith started out this tournament on such a high note, with two goals and an assist in that game against Vietnam. What an unfortunate ending for a future World Cup star. Just not a present one.

Sweden’s Hanna Bennison, a late-game sub and just 20-years-old, calmly kept Sweden alive on the next shot, to tie up the shootout at 3-3. Naeher scored a goal of her own, but Magadalena Eriksson matched her. On the seventh U.S. shot, however, Kelly O’Hara, the World Cup veteran leader who like Rapinoe was making her fourth appearance, got Mušović to dive the wrong way. She had the whole right side of the net to herself. 

But banged it against the post, which saved the Americans against Portugal, and broke their heart against the Swedes.

Hurting’s strike then ended the game, by far less than a hair.

Soccer is unfair like that. More than any other game, one side can control the attack. But one slip, or one unlucky bounce, can still cost you, despite your side running faster,  completing more passes, and thoroughly ourplating the opposition. While that outcome might seem unfair, a bad habit that reared its head in the opening game, against Vietnam, justifiably came back to haunt the U.S all World Cup long: the ability to do everything right, except the last part: putting the ball in the net. Trinity Rodman got loose a few times: she just couldn’t convert. Alex Morgan had her chances, all tournament long: America’s striker of the past decade didn’t strike. Lindsey Horan had her opportunities on Sunday.

She and her teammates won’t have any more. The better team on Sunday, the U.S., won’t advance. But the better team at this World Cup, Sweden, will. 

source https://time.com/6302113/the-u-s-world-cup-campaign-ends-in-historic-disappointment/

Gro Intelligence CEO Sara Menker on the Climate Data That’s Surprising Her

For the past few years, Sara Menker has been pushing one basic idea: that we can use technology and data to help manage the supply shocks and food shortages caused by global warming. It’s an alluring proposition, and one that has driven the growth of her commodities data platform Gro Intelligence. Co-headquartered in New York and Nairobi, with an office in Singapore, the company raised $85 million dollars in venture capital funding in 2021. Gro was also named as one of the TIME100 Most Influential Companies that year.

Menker says her focus on commodities and systemic risks was informed by her childhood growing up in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her family was middle class, but the setting exposed her to people living in extreme poverty, as well as to the way the society dealt with shortages in the aftermath of a devastating famine in the 1980s. She ended up attending college in the U.S., and then worked as a commodities trader for Morgan Stanley, before leaving to start Gro. From there, she says, a focus on climate change was a natural progression. “In building the world’s largest agricultural data platform, we ended up building the world’s largest climate data platform without even knowing it,” Menker tells TIME.

Menker and Gro have been leaning into climate data. This spring, the company partnered with investment advisor Kepos Capital to launch what they call their Carbon Barometer, a tool meant to help track and compare emissions policies around the world. TIME spoke with Menker in June about the new tool, and the broader trends they’re seeing in a warming world.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Can you explain what the carbon barometer is? How does it work?

The carbon barometer is basically a way of measuring the implied price of carbon emissions at a country level. It’s not a barometer to measure the emissions of specific companies, but really looking at essentially the price of CO2 as implied by the policies that have been adopted by [each] country, whether they’re incentives to produce more CO2 or reduce CO2. The carbon barometer covers the countries that emit about 80% of global emissions, so it does a pretty good job of getting to [the question of], what is the global price [of carbon], what’s the difference between countries, what policy levers exist to get to a higher or lower implied price, and how has the policy trajectory moved over time.

Can you give us an example of how the math works?

It’s actually quite simple in some ways. We partnered with Kepos on this. Kepos had spent a lot of time looking at this to [assess] how countries are transitioning. And then what we did as a data company was to take that logic to look at it over time in a systematic way that continuously updates as policies get adopted. Policies are either a [CO2] subsidy or an incentive to reduce [emissions]. We came up with different sorts of policy levers, so everything from actual outright fossil fuel subsidies, to whether a country has a carbon tax or not, [or] an emissions trading system, or fossil fuel taxes. Are there feed-in tariffs? Are there low-carbon fuel standards, and are there renewable portfolio standards? That’s not every lever there is. But these levers certainly represent the biggest chunk of what is actually measurable today by country. And then we created a way to weight those different levers and come up with a [carbon] price per country.

What’s interesting is that we talk about the E.U. as if every E.U. country is exactly in the same place in that journey, and one of the things that this barometer highlights is there’s actually a pretty decent difference between Spain and France, for example, or Spain and Germany, which has a bigger gap, where the implied carbon price in Spain is $129.47 per ton, whereas the implied price in Germany is $105, and the implied price in Italy is $100, which is a pretty substantial difference between countries that are part of the same policy framework but still have individualized levers that they’re still using or not using.

The U.S. numbers were interesting. Your barometer had a small amount of carbon subsidy, but more on the tax side. What are the policies in the U.S. that are creating that weight towards a carbon tax rather than a carbon subsidy?

The reason the U.S. fossil fuel subsidies are really low is because the government is at least not actively spending money in trying to increase fossil fuel production. It is charging taxes at the gas pump for that fuel that you are consuming. The thing that’s surprising to me is the global implied price for the 20-odd countries that we have in the barometer is about $18.52 a ton. And the U.S. is hovering at a little lower than the global average, [though] it’s meant to be a leader in the space. To see India actually have a slightly higher implied price than the U.S. is one of the more shocking things I saw. I didn’t realize India was that far ahead.

What were some of the other surprises in the data?

One was definitely the U.S., and I’m hoping that as the Inflation Reduction Act gets implemented some of that will start to change. Another surprise was the trajectories over time. If you look at a country like Brazil, in 2010, they had a carbon barometer price of essentially $72.77 as a subsidy. And it’s now a $9.54 [tax]. Like just the steep curve of change in the right direction is an important thing to look at. You see a country like Brazil and you see a really positive story. And then you see a country like Australia, and you see a lot of volatility because you’ve seen policy changes based on the political candidates actually reflected in the price.

Let’s talk about Gro. You spoke with the Leadership Brief about two years ago. What has changed since then?

What hasn’t changed? So when I first talked with TIME, we were just starting to step out into the world as a player at a bigger scale in terms of influencing public policy and having our data be used by governments for really big consequential decisions. The start of that journey was during COVID. It was at a time when people were very focused on food security, and we were really the one data provider that could provide that depth of knowledge for every part of the world. We were squarely focused on just the agricultural data side of it. One big change is we’re much bigger and we’ve made a much bigger impact, not just in the commercial world, but actually in the public sector world as well.

The second [change] has actually been climate. In building the world’s largest agricultural data platform, we ended up building the world’s largest climate data platform without even knowing it. So what has changed a lot has been the application of our climate data to so many more industries outside of just agriculture. It’s still the same product, but it’s making impacts in areas where two and a half years ago it felt like it could be possible, but it was not material. Whereas now it’s very real. [Clients] use our climate indices on the physical climate side, so measuring different climate risks like droughts and floods, [and] applying [them] to many more industries outside of the agricultural industry.

Is there one industry that’s using your data now that seems like it might have been least likely to do so two years ago?

We can now use our climate data to trade equities and fixed income instruments. That was not anywhere in the realm of possibility [two years ago]. We sold our data to financial institutions originally for them to trade commodities using our data. They were not using it to trade things like equities, fixed income securities, or macroeconomic policies, where some of our indices become predictive of things like a country’s actual inflation as opposed to just food inflation.

What are the biggest trends you’re watching now? You’ve spoken a lot about food inflation—are there other long term trends that you’re looking at ?

I think [the trends are] a continuation of what we’ve seen, and I think it is really linked to climate. When we talk about climate change and a warming planet, we think of it like it’s warming everywhere, not that it’s actually just becoming significantly more volatile. We just came out of three years of la Niña, which meant that there was basically excessive droughts in major agricultural regions like the U.S. and South America. And we’re about to go into El Niño, which is now going to make it more difficult [to grow crops] in Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. You’re seeing these weird cycles happening much faster. The disruptions are just more persistent.

Food inflation is [also] still a major issue in most parts of the world. Most people track prices on a dollar basis, not a local currency basis. But when you look at the price of products in many parts of the world on a local currency basis, which is how people live and eat, inflation is still a huge problem that we need to tackle. So it’s still very top of mind for us as a company to keep highlighting it. But I would say climate is going to continue to present really complicated challenges, not just for the agriculture industry, but really for industry as a whole, for anything from power production to being able to mine the minerals we need for electric vehicles. There are these deep interlinkages that are becoming clearer.

source https://time.com/6301777/sara-menker-gro-intelligence-interview/

Harvard Emphasizes Life Experiences After Affirmative Action Ban

Harvard College is changing its essay requirements for high school seniors applying for admission, nodding to the recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in college admissions.

Under the new guidelines, applicants will be required to answer five questions instead of the previous single optional essay. Students will be asked to share how their life experiences, academic achievements and extracurricular activities have shaped them, and describe their aspirations for the future, according to Harvard spokesman Jonathan Palumbo.

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US college admissions offices face a challenging task as the application period begins this month. School officials will need to juggle the Supreme Court’s ban on race-based admissions with still finding ways to promote diversity in the student population. 

Read More: Supreme Court Flexes Conservative Muscles in Term’s Final Days

The Supreme Court’s June ruling, delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts, said that universities could still take into account an applicant’s views of how race affected their life, as long as it was directly tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the applicant can contribute to the university’s community. Roberts cautioned that “universities may not simply establish through the application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.”

Harvard and the University of North Carolina were named defendants in the case.

The Harvard Crimson previously reported the changes to the school’s essay requirements. Versions of Harvard’s new format existed in previous applications. Now, all applicants will have to answer the same set of questions.

Read More: How Race in College Admissions Became a US Flashpoint: QuickTake

Other US colleges are also adapting their approach to admissions. The University of Virginia is offering applicants a chance to explain their backgrounds and how those experiences will contribute to the school. 

A revised application offers an optional essay opportunity that gives “all students – not only, for example, the children of our graduates, but also the descendants of ancestors who labored at the university, as well as those with other relationships – the chance to tell their unique stories,” President Jim Ryan and Provost Ian Baucom wrote in a letter this week.

Sarah Lawrence, a liberal arts college in Bronxville, New York, has even incorporated Roberts’s words into an essay prompt, requesting applicants to reflect on how they believe the court’s decision might impact or influence their goals for a college education.

source https://time.com/6302097/harvard-emphasizes-affirmative-action-ban/

7 Ways to Bring a Dead Friendship Back to Life

It might sound obvious, in the midst of a loneliness crisis, that having friends matters. But many of us “underestimate the very real impact our friendships can have on our life,” says Marisa Franco, a psychologist and author of Platonic: How The Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends. “Connection is the most important factor predicting our health, both physical and mental.”

A growing body of research supports that point: Healthy, stable friendships can protect against depression and anxiety, increase life satisfaction, extend longevity, and improve health metrics like blood pressure and body mass index. Friendships between men—or bromances—can provide an effective buffer against stress, and can even be more emotionally satisfying than romantic relationships. 

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Those who don’t have strong social connections, meanwhile, have an elevated risk of heart disease and stroke, Type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, addiction, and dementia. Some research suggests that loneliness is twice as harmful to physical and mental health as obesity. It’s concerning, then, that over the past few years, adult friendships have been on the decline, with men suffering the most: In one survey, 15% of men said they had no close friends at all, a fivefold increase since 1990.

While many people assume it’s the number of friends that count, research indicates that quality is more important—and having even a small selection of close friends is a stronger predictor of happiness than having lots of casual connections. Plus, those who think friendships happen organically are lonelier five years later than those who understand that platonic bonds take work.

Yet often people who feel disconnected focus on making new friends instead of nurturing existing connections. “There can be this feeling of, ‘I need to look elsewhere. I need to start a whole new circle of friends,’” says Miriam Kirmayer, a clinical psychologist who studies the science of friendship. “Sometimes there’s truth to that, but for many people, it’s helpful to think about the friendships we already have in our lives. Even if they feel a little stale, there are ways we can revive them.”

We asked experts to share their favorite ways to strengthen friendships and breathe new life into old bonds.

Consistently invest time.

Making time for the people we care about and having shared experiences plays an essential role in deepening friendships. Research suggests that it takes about 50 hours of time together to transform from acquaintances to casual friends, 90 hours to become regular friends, and more than 200 hours to solidify a best friendship.

Laura Tremaine figured out a solution after constantly “dropping the ball” on putting in time and effort with her friends. She would forget to wish them a happy birthday or go three months without returning a call. So she started adding a section for connection at the bottom of her to-do list, underneath her work tasks and family-oriented chores. “I just write down a few things, like ‘check if Bri is feeling better,’” says Tremaine, author of books including The Life Council: 10 Friends Every Woman Needs. “And when I started to be more consistent, my friends noticed.”

Add more positivity.

One way to grow any relationship is to foster positivity, which has to do with the way we leave each other feeling, says Shasta Nelson, the author of books including Friendships Don’t Just Happen. “It’s not always about saying positive things,” she clarifies. “It’s about leaving the other person feeling loved, supported, and accepted, and you walking away feeling loved, supported, and accepted.”

Often, this means using words of affirmation, giving our friends compliments, and making them laugh. If you’re feeling tired or depressed, or are in a bad mood, don’t feel pressure to entertain your friends or force jokes. Be open about how you’re feeling, and give them permission to feel differently while expressing curiosity, Nelson suggests. For example, you might acknowledge that you’ve been glum lately, and then note that you saw Instagram pictures of your friend hiking. Ask them to tell you all about it. Showing interest and asking questions helps promote positivity, even when that runs counter to your mood. “The goal is for our friends to walk away from us feeling better about themselves and their lives for having been in our presence,” she says.

Get vulnerable.

Another key to cultivating stronger friendships is allowing yourself to be vulnerable: opening up and showing your friends your true self, even if you’re worried they won’t like it. Research suggests that can be particularly difficult for men, who often avoid  expressing intimate feelings because they fear social rejection. “There’s no way around it,” Tremaine says. “There’s no loophole. You’re going to have to be at least a little vulnerable and share a little about who you are to connect with other humans.” However, she qualifies, that doesn’t mean you have to immediately reveal all your most personal traumas and secrets.

Tremaine suggests starting by sharing small opinions: Raise your hand in whatever room you’re in, whether it’s volunteering what you thought about your book club’s latest choice or how you would grill the steaks. “The more yourself you are, the more attractive you are to others as friends,” she says.

Challenge yourself to dive even deeper by telling your friends what you’re currently struggling with and what scares you, Franco advises. If it feels uncomfortable, remember that it’s better for you—and the other person—than staying silent. “When we’re vulnerable, we feel like we’re burdening people,” she says. “But being vulnerable conveys that we like them and trust them. And fundamentally, that brings people closer together.”

Mix in some novelty.

It might be time to inject a shot of new energy into your most familiar friendships. That goes for both conversations and activities: We tend to talk about the same topics over and over, and meet at the same places at the same times. There’s nothing wrong with that, Kirmayer notes, but novelty can open the door to deeper bonds. “Carve out moments of conversation where you can go off script,” she says. And brainstorm new adventures you can embark on together, whether that’s traveling to a bucket-list destination or working up the nerve to join a pickleball team together.

Express gratitude.

When’s the last time you told your friends how much you appreciate them? There’s good reason to do so the next time you talk: Research suggests that gratitude plays an important role in helping friendships grow.

Make it a point to show you’re thankful for who they are as a person—their core traits and values—and the big and little things they do. “Notice the moment when a friend says something really supportive, or when they initiate plans,” Kirmayer advises. You might phrase it like this: “Thank you so much for being the one to put together plans for this weekend. It really meant a lot.” If you’re feeling particularly inspired, you could even write what some experts call a “living eulogy,” or a letter that outlines everything you admire and appreciate about your friend.

Show up for the important moments.

Every friendship will inevitably arrive at what Franco describes as diagnostic moments: The highs and lows in life that “disproportionately affect” how we label our relationships. Was your friend there when you got a promotion, were diagnosed with something scary, went through a divorce, or met someone new? The answer plays a large role in determining how much we’ll value that friendship. 

Commit to improving your bond together.

If you’re feeling disconnected from a friend, bring it up in conversation. Tell them how much you care about them and let them know you’d like to find ways to stay connected or deepen your connection—and ask if they have any ideas that could help make that happen, Kirmayer suggests. The goal is to have a collaborative, productive conversation, while making it clear how much you value the friendship.

If you’re upset about something specific that happened, address it directly instead of simply withdrawing, Franco advises. “When you don’t bring things up, it’s like holding someone guilty before giving them a trial,” she says. “Healthy conflict can just look like, ‘Hey, I was hurt when this happened, and I hoped we could talk it out.’”

Some friends even go to therapy together, just like romantic partners might, Franco adds. That can be particularly helpful if you have a tendency to let little issues accumulate without addressing them. “Friendship is very important, and intimacy is intimacy,” she says. “If we need that tune-up for one type of relationship, we’re going to need it for another.”

source https://time.com/6301320/how-to-strengthen-friendships/