The soaring post-COVID cost of rent rose nearly 10 percent in the first half of 2021 as the country continues pulling out of the pandemic that has gripped the country—and stagnated housing costs—since the spring of 2020. Real estate experts and research analysts at Apartment List said summer lease renewals this year will lock millions of already-struggling Americans into even higher monthly rent bills. The Apartment List national rent report for the first half of 2021 showed much of the rent increase reflects bounce-back pricing, but the cost of rent has skyrocketed so quickly that the national average is now higher than it was before the pandemic....

Players Conventional Wisdom Earthquake A warm-up for the Big One. CW scouting beachfront lots in Vegas. Cold Kills more than quake. Will Clinton/Gore take credit for ending global warming? Inman Old CW: Brilliant savvy insider. New CW: Wacky thin-skinned outsider. Russia Who lost Russia? Yeltsin or Strobe Talbott? Russkies say Strobe. Nukes CW worried about N. Korea. But at least Inman can’t nuke The New York Times. Lorena Demure Ecuadoran manicurist seeks SWM for new attachment....

The match, which was being played behind closed doors as punishment for alleged racist chanting by Croatia fans in a meeting with Norway in March, ended in a 1-1 draw. But Croatia could be in hot water with European football’s governing body again due to this latest controversy. MORE: Stephen A. Smith makes sexist joke about WWC goal | The hypocrisy about Hope Solo The symbol was visible in Croatia’s half in the opening 45 minutes, with ground staff failing to cover it up despite their best efforts during the halftime interval....

The ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Sunday shows approval for Biden’s handling of the pandemic is now at 52 percent—down from 62 percent in June. While 41 percent said they disapprove of Biden’s COVID-19 response, the remaining respondents surveyed were undecided. The poll surveyed “a random national sample” of 1,006 people, and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points. Americans are also now more concerned about contracting COVID-19 than they were earlier this year, the new study also found....

Overall, the number of Americans saying Trump is doing a “bad job” handling the pandemic has increased by 10 points since March, polling by CBS News has shown. When CBS News first conducted the poll in March, only 47 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s response to the crisis. In April, that number increased by 5 points, rising to 52 percent. Now, at the beginning of May, the percentage of Americans saying Trump has done a “bad job” has again risen by 5 points, growing to 57 percent overall....

West Ham confirmed the trio’s departures on Thursday, with former Real Madrid defender Arbeloa’s one-year contract coming to an end after a season in which he only played three Premier League games. The club are reportedly close to signing Pablo Zabaleta, who is leaving Manchester City, as they go in a different direction at right-back. Mourinho showing Pep how it’s done Forward Calleri’s loan from Deportivo Maldonado ends after he scored once in 16 Premier League appearances, just four of which were starts....

Bloodless triumph at the Berlin Wall was followed swiftly by the Highway of Death in Kuwait. The United States may have been both morally and strategically correct in ejecting Iraqi forces from Kuwait, but the crushing victory presaged more wars to come. President George H. W. Bush was jubilant, exulting to a group of lobbyists, “by God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all.” Armed interventions in Somalia, Haiti and the Balkans helped fill the ’90s....

Video surfaced Wednesday of the injured first baseman taking grounders at third, seeming to indicate the team is moving forward with this drastic switch that manager Brian Snitker legitimized to reporters Tuesday in the context of exploring all options to keep slugger Matt Adams in the lineup once Freeman returns from a broken left wrist. Or maybe they just want the appearance of legitimacy to gain greater leverage with teams who might covet Adams at the trade deadline....

RealGM.com got their hands on what appears to be a new secondary logo for the downtrodden team. Yes, that is Ben Franklin dribbling a basketball. It’s not an awful logo, but it’s not exactly awesome. Nonetheless, it is a nice tip of the tri-cornered hat to the one of city’s most important historic figures. UPDATE: Sadly, it looks as though the team will NOT be implementing the logo, according to Delaware Online reporter Jason Wolf....

This is a good thing; once Sacramento initially got away from the Jason Williams/Chris Webber-era scheme, things went downhill. There’ve been a lot of different fonts and too many different secondary logos floating around, and it was time to clean it up. If their European trademark filing is any indication, they’ve nailed it. Sportslogos.net posted the whole set, but the primary one is nice enough: MORE: The ugliest NBA jerseys of all time | Ranking the newest NBA uniforms...

NBA League Pass: Sign up to unlock live games (7-day free trial) It didn’t take much time for DeRozan to dispel notions that he wouldn’t be able to thrive in his new situation. After opening the season with four wins to get out to the team’s best start in 25 years, the new-look Bulls have proven that their early-season success was sustainable, and much of it can be credited to DeRozan....

The user posted in r/AmITheA**hole and received a certified “Yes.” The post starts with an description of the couple on a hike. As they walked along, the girlfriend brought attention and excitement to everything she saw, from ducks to the height of the grass. The girlfriend exclaimed that nature was “healing her soul.” “She was obviously having the time of her life. I get it,” the user wrote. “There is a duck, there is some green grass and some hills where we were walking....

After a 1-1 opening draw with Iceland on June 15, Jorge Sampaoli’s men had their bid to reach the knockout phase hanging on the balance as they bowed 3-0 to Croatia six days later. The South American side are fully aware that a draw with the Super Eagles will see them crash out of the tournament, and the former Juventus marksman insists the Argentines must find an ‘alternative solutions’ - against Gernot Rohr’s side - to avoid an early exit....

Senate President Karen Fann announced the decision in a letter Friday, after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) expressed concerns two days earlier that canvassing door to door could violate federal laws aimed at preventing voter intimidation. The DOJ’s concern came after the Arizona Senate and Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm it hired to manage the county’s audit, said it planned to “identify voter registrations that did not make sense, and then knock on doors to confirm if valid voters actually lived at the state address....

Trey Grayson, a Republican who served as Kentucky’s Secretary of State from 2004 to 2011, dismissed the trustworthiness of the audit in remarks to the Associated Press published on Sunday. “There are too many flaws in the way this review was conducted to trust it,” Grayson said. Arizona’s state Senate Republicans had used biased and inexperienced contractors to carry out the audit, he said, adding that they often used unusual and unreliable methods to conduct the process....

Ugenti-Rita, a Republican, was immediately met with a chorus of loud boos after taking the stage at a “Protect Our Elections” rally hosted by Turning Point Action in Phoenix on Saturday. “Why don’t you listen to what I have to say?” Ugenti-Rita, who is running for Arizona secretary of state, asked the crowd after several failed attempts to get her speech going. “Listen. Fine, OK… I am running to be your next Secretary of State....

Baseball responded by limiting the number of times a manager or coach could visit the mound, found in MLB books as Rule 8.06. Back then, games were usually played in about 2½ hours. Williams was viewed as a human rain delay. Now, even with the 8.06 provisions, games frequently push four hours. According to MLB, average game time is three hours, two minutes. There are many reasons, not limited to limiting mound visits by managers or coaches....

The Sun Devils freshman tweeted the news Monday. AZ Central reported Justice suffered a broken foot in Saturday’s loss to Stanford. Justice started seven games for ASU (10-10, 2-5) this season and is averaging 4.6 points and 1.6 assists in 18 total games.

It is beyond dispute that the situation at the southern border is a crisis of monumental proportions. In 2021, an estimated 2 million people crossed the southern border illegally. Experts say 2022 is shaping up to be far worse. Many have hesitated to call this disaster an “invasion.” But to quote Congressman Chip Roy, “You’re damn right that’s an invasion. What else do you call it?” Most Texans would agree....

This Arizona, the one the NCAA Tournament selection committee will judge most closely, won its first game without starting forward Brandon Ashley over Oregon, 67-65, Thursday night at the McKale Center. FIELD OF 68: Lots of movement after wild week | DeCOURCY: Ashley in unwanted company As they pursue a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the second-ranked Wildcats (22-1, 9-1 Pacific-12 Conference) will not lose the credit for all they accomplished before Ashley was lost for the season with a broken foot....