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Head of Presidential Guard Claims Power in Niger Coup

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The commander of Niger’s presidential guard claimed the leadership of the West African country with a televised address on Friday, two days after his military unit detained the democratically elected president and threw the future of a key Western ally in the region into uncertainty.

“We have decided to intervene and seize our responsibilities,” Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who goes by the first name, Omar, said on state television. “We can’t continue with the same approaches.”

Niger, a poor country rich in uranium, lies in the Sahel, the arid region south of the Sahara that has faced growing insecurity amid the worsening effects of climate change, political instability and armed insurgencies. The United States has 1,100 troops and two drone bases in Niger. France, the former colonial power, more than 1,500 troops.

The military takeover in Niger is the sixth in West Africa in less than three years, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali, and threatening to upend regional efforts to fight Islamist insurgencies by groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The coup, Niger’s fifth since gaining independence from France in 1960, could deal a fatal blow to the country’s nascent democracy: It had its first peaceful, democratic transition of power only a few years ago when President Mohamed Bazoum was elected.

An aide to Mr. Bazoum and analysts said in interviews in the last two days that the president had been planning to remove General Tchiani as the presidential guard’s leader.

General Tchiani, however, said his soldiers had unseated Mr. Bazoum because of poor management of the economy and the fight against militants.

While saying he appreciated the “support of our external partners” — an apparent reference to the United States and European countries — he also faulted Niger’s leadership for not partnering with the military juntas in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, which have moved close to Russia in recent years.

“The current security approach hasn’t enabled us to secure our country,” he said.

A military officer later announced on Friday that Niger’s Constitution had been suspended and that a new transitional body was taking charge of executive and legislative powers. The officer said General Tchiani would be the president of the new body.

The general himself briefly appeared on national television, standing in a group of military officers in the new transitional council, with cheerful music in the background.

A source close to Mr. Bazoum, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was in good health despite three days in detention, and that he still had access to his telephone.

“He and his family are a bargaining chip now,” said Nathaniel Powell, an Africa analyst with Oxford Analytica, a risk analysis firm based in Britain.

Niger, a country of 26 million and the world’s third poorest, according to the United Nations, has also been a favored recipient of humanitarian aid and Western funding as one of the last democracies run by a civilian president in the region.

The future of these efforts now appears to be in doubt. An influential official, General Tchiani had been named as the head of the presidential guard in 2011 by Mr. Bazoum’s predecessor, Mahamadou Issoufou.

The general was accused of participating in a coup attempt in 2015, but denied any involvement and ultimately remained close to Mr. Issoufou, who stayed in power until 2021, when Mr. Bazoum took office.

The presidential guard comprises hundreds of well-equipped and -trained troops, according to Nigerien and Western security analysts, with more funds allocated to its officers than other military branches.

The United States, the United Nations and the West African economic bloc, known as ECOWAS, have all condemned the military takeover, and the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday afternoon that it did not recognize new leaders of Niger.

A senior White House spokesman, John Kirby, warned Friday that the United States could end financial support and security cooperation for Niger if diplomacy is not able to reverse the military takeover of the African nation. He said the United States and its allies were “doing everything we can” to ensure that Mr. Bazoum remains the leader of Niger.

The streets of Niamey, the capital, remained mostly calm following General Tchiani’s television address, with banks closed but many businesses open. The generals supporting the coup had closed the country’s borders, ordered political activities suspended and imposed a nighttime curfew.

Residents appeared divided over the takeover. Salifou Mahamdou, a clothes seller, said that he welcomed the coup because insecurity had long slowed development. “Even if the military stays in power forever, who cares, as long as they grant us security,” he said.

Aïcha Habibou, a 20-year-old nurse, said she thought little would change. “Whenever there’s a coup,” she said, “the officers give us the same speech about change, but they also come to steal public money.”

In Niamey on Thursday, hundreds of demonstrators had gathered in support of the military. Some shouted “Bazoum has fallen, we’re free.” Others waved Russian flags in a scene reminiscent of recent coups in Burkina Faso and Mali.

Military officers in Mali have partnered with Russia’s Wagner mercenary company to fight Islamist insurgents, and Burkina Faso’s prime minister traveled to Moscow a few months after a military junta.

A shift in alliances could have major implications for Western countries and international bodies. The United Nations has planned to use Niger as a logistical hub for the withdrawal of its 13,000-personnel peacekeeping operation in Mali, which is scheduled to depart at the end of the year. France depends on Niger’s uranium mines for about 15 percent of the resources to fuel its nuclear power plants.

Mr. Powell called Mr. Bazoum’s leadership one of the best in the region, mixing a strong military response to security crises with development projects and partnerships with Western countries.

Niger had taken advantage of the collapses of civilian order in Burkina Faso and Mali, he said, to strengthen ties with the West. But he added that Western countries working with Niger had turned a blind eye to long-running dysfunctions within the country’s military.

Michael D. Shear contributed reporting from Washington.

Russia Says It Shot Down 2 Ukrainian Missiles Over Border Cities: Live Updates

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The groom could not wait to kiss the bride.

He kissed her when she walked down the aisle, and during the ceremony. He kissed her after his vows, after hers, and again when they finally said “I do.”

Maksym Merezhko, 43, and the bride, Yuliia Dluzhynska, 39, both serve in Ukraine’s military and had traveled to Kyiv the night before from the eastern Donetsk region. They had no time to lose.

After a three-day honeymoon in the Carpathian Mountains, Ms. Dluzhynska said, “We will go to war.”

The celebration was provided free of charge by Zemliachky, roughly translated as “Women Compatriots,” a charity group that provides uniforms, boots and other essentials to female soldiers but, because of demand, recently started to organize their weddings. The couple had been officially married days before, signing a marriage license in a stuffy room in Sloviansk. But they wanted a true celebration.

“It takes a lot of time to organize a wedding, and when you are on the front line, you don’t have that free time,” said Kseniia Drahaniuk, Zemliachky’s co-founder.

Everything is donated — the dress, venue, photography, flowers, hair, makeup, rings, cake, lingerie and the honeymoon, too — saving couples significant expense and the stress of planning.

On the day of her wedding, earlier this month, Ms. Dluzhynska picked out white peonies for her bouquet before heading to a brightly lit salon.

Wearing a camouflage windbreaker and sipping a “NonStop Military Edition” energy drink, she emanated composure as two women pinned her blond hair into an updo.

Credit…Laura Boushnak for The New York Times
Credit…Laura Boushnak for The New York Times

“He has never seen me like this,” Ms. Dluzhynska said of the groom. “It is his dream to see me in a dress with makeup on.”

Asked what she loved most about her soon-to-be husband, she melted.

“Everything,” she said, her eyes welling, sending the beauticians into a tizzy of touch-ups.

They met three years ago through a dating website and were soon planning a life together. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Mr. Merezhko rejoined the military to fight. About a month later, Ms. Dluzhynska followed, as a medic, to be near him.

“She left everything and went to war with me,” he said.

At the wedding ceremony, in an event space with a roof deck overlooking Kyiv, cloth azaleas formed a white arch. Thirteen white chairs were arranged in neat rows, though the only guests were Zemliachky volunteers.

Ukrainian music played until the bride started down the aisle in a white, off-the-shoulder gown. Then John Legend’s “All of Me” came on — and the kisses followed.

In his vows, Mr. Merezhko drew laughs describing how he had worn dirty shorts to their first meeting.

Everything for the wedding was organized by Zemliachky, a charity group that provides uniform and essentials to female soldiers, and recently started to host their weddings.Credit…Laura Boushnak for The New York Times

Her vows were shorter, under a minute, and barely audible.

“When you said: ‘I want to grow old with you,’ I realized that this is great love and this is the man I asked God for,” she whispered, through tears.

Even on their special day, the war was not far from their minds.

The ceremony ended with a cry of “Slava Ukraini” — Glory to Ukraine! The cake was decorated like a Ukrainian flag. The champagne, a 2021 vintage from the ravaged eastern city of Bakhmut.

“We will live,” Mr. Merezhko said, beaming after the ceremony. “We will have children, then grandchildren, and we will babysit the grandchildren. I will teach my grandchildren to fish and plant potatoes.”

After their honeymoon, they would head to Donetsk, back toward the front line. Ms. Dluzhynska had a simpler wish for their future. “The main thing is to survive,” she said.

Stanislav Kozliuk and Daria Mitiuk contributed reporting.

— Cassandra Vinograd reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine

My Friend Is Trapped in a Nursing Home. What Can I Do?

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Five years ago, I began volunteering as a bill payer for a legally blind, 95-year-old woman on public assistance. The job involved handling paperwork that clients could no longer handle themselves, thus helping enable them to remain at home. I came to learn that this woman had no family or friends left, and she came to think of me as her only friend. During my time with her, she was also put under the care of Adult Protective Services (A.P.S.), because one of her caregivers was fraudulently using her credit card.

Last August, she fell out of bed in the middle of the night. A caregiver found her the next morning and called 911. She was taken to the hospital, treated and then sent to a rehabilitation center in a nursing home. After 100 days, as per her insurance, she was now considered a long-term patient.

She is now 100 years old, blind and lying in bed 24 hours a day, except when I visit her and take her to the patio in a wheelchair. She is in an unfamiliar place and hears screaming, crying and cursing all night from other patients. She is relatively lucid despite her circumstances, and the only thing that is keeping her alive is the hope that she can go back to her small studio apartment soon, a place where she has lived for 50 years. She has said she wants to die if she can’t go home.

Because she was protected by A.P.S. and is now in a guardianship arrangement under the care of the nursing home, I can no longer legally pay her bills or take care of any paperwork. This has meant that her rent has not been paid, and eviction proceedings are in the works. I have tried to get myself listed as a contact for her, to at least be able to advocate for better services but have come up against a wildly frustrating Catch-22 situation. She has been deemed incompetent by the nursing home and therefore can’t name me as a contact. I requested to have her evaluated again, because I don’t believe she is incompetent, and the answer was that only her contact can make that request.

My question to you is, Do I tell her the truth, that she is never going home? Will taking away that hope make her give up her will to live? And should her will to live be based on a false premise? The social worker at the nursing home won’t even talk to me, because I am not a legal contact, and so the decision to tell her the truth lies with me; she has no one else. — Name Withheld

From the Ethicist:

This story is heartbreaking and, I fear, all too common, as “kinless” older adults grow in number. All sorts of factors play a role, some benevolent. These include an attitude toward elder care that puts safety ahead of freedom, and the well-intended use of provisions, like the guardianship process, that deny people their autonomy.

Nursing homes aren’t always unaffected by financial incentives, either: the hundred days of rehabilitation that Medicare can mostly cover followed by the Medicaid-funded long-term care that, at a lower rate, still keeps a bed filled. Petitioning to have patients deemed incapacitated, with guardianship assigned to a third party, can make bill collection easier, too. What’s unusual here, I suspect, is mainly that you’re around to bear witness to it.

There might be an institutional temptation to keep her in the dark so that she will be easier to manage. But it’s her life. She has a right to know as much of what is happening to her as she can understand and a right to respond accordingly. First, though, be sure that she has exhausted her options.

You can try to convey your concerns to a long-term-care ombudsman, who, by federal law, serves as an advocate for residents. Your state probably also has an elder-abuse center and elder-advocacy groups that you could consult. This woman simply wants to live out her days in her own home. That shouldn’t be too much to ask.

Yet her options, and yours, are sadly limited. There’s a need for systemic reform here. “We are too easily willing and able to justify radical measures such as guardianship and do not yet have more humane, dignified solutions in place,” Laura Mosqueda, an elder-care and elder-abuse expert at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, tells me about cases like the one you describe. As our bodies and minds grow frail, conflicts arise between protecting us and respecting us; institutional arrangements meant to save us from misery can end up inflicting it.

The previous column’s question was from a reader whose nanny had informed her that a close friend was mistreating her own nanny by underpaying her, withholding food and reneging on promised benefits. Our reader wondered what her ethical obligations were in this situation. She wrote: “This friend introduced me to her circle of friends a few years ago, and it’s because of her that I am part of a great group of women. Should I intervene and risk her behaving even worse toward her nannies and creating a rift in the friend circle? Or do I say nothing and continue with business as usual?”

In his response, the Ethicist noted: “If you bring up what you’ve heard with your friend, she will know that her nanny has been complaining about her — and may retaliate. Because her nanny is vulnerable here, make sure that whatever you do has her approval. … If she doesn’t want you to speak up, you could wait until the next transition. If that’s not going to happen soon, you may feel you have to distance yourself from your friend without saying why. Abusive behavior makes someone unappealing company.” (Reread the full question and answer here.)

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Do you want to look the other way, knowing this person is abusing her power over her employee? If your friend gets mad at you for speaking up, it says more about her. You should be able to live with a smaller circle of friends who treat all people with dignity, rather than a larger group who do not. — Richard

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I appreciated how the Ethicist responded to the greater possible legal ramifications of the situation for nannies and other domestic workers, since they are a group often overlooked due to classism, racism, sexism and the isolating conditions of the job itself. His advice was spot on about going through the nanny before taking any action to avoid unwanted retaliation. — Courtney

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The Ethicist’s advice to not jeopardize the current nanny’s job is so important. This job, despite the alleged abuse, may be a critically valuable source of income. Waiting to bring it up until the next “nanny transition” is good idea. At the very least, getting the current nanny’s approval is essential. — Tom

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The letter writer could talk to her friend about how much she values and appreciates her own nanny and how protective she feels toward her. She could give examples of different ways that nannies get exploited and share her disgust that people behave in such awful, inequitable ways. This would serve the same purpose of providing a moral compass without risking the career of the friend’s nanny. — Deborah

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This is an opportunity to help your entire circle of friends appreciate the importance of how we treat those who have less power than us. You can provide other examples and avoid having your abusive friend trace this back specifically to her and her nanny. The goal is for her to see her own behavior deemed inappropriate by you and all your mutual friends. — John

Garrett Wilson Can Be a Key to Aaron Rodgers’s Jets Success

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The diner resembled so many others peppering New Jersey. Garrett Wilson held high expectations as he climbed from an idling S.U.V. This was Sopranos country, after all, where bottomless menus and bustling service await every eager lunchtime patron.

“You know it’s good if cops eat here,” Wilson said, motioning to a police vehicle stationed outside the Hackensack restaurant. Wilson walked inside, where he was quickly greeted by a lengthy sit-down counter, checkered floors and the sound and scent of sizzling meat.

In last year’s whirlwind of a rookie season, Wilson established himself as a rarity — a young, dynamic Jets wide receiver who possesses the type of sticky hands unseen since the days of Keyshawn Johnson. Jets Coach Robert Saleh describes Wilson as a “juicy route-runner,” one who finds open space because of his sharp breaks and cuts. “He’s so powerful that when he is running his routes, it looks like he can break four different ways and he gets people on his heels,” Saleh said.

He had not, during his debut year, stopped at a signature New Jersey diner.

Wilson, 23, regiments his life around football, opting to live a short drive from the Jets’ facility in Florham Park, N.J., and, in an unusual move for a new pro, settling in without any family members or friends as roommates.

“The reality of it is, that stuff is a distraction,” he said. “I got a big family, so if I bring my family in the house, all of a sudden, I got six people in the house and six different minds in the house, who want to, maybe want to go out on this day, maybe want to have someone over on this day.”

But that unpredictability intruded on the field last year, as the Jets shuffled through Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco and Mike White at quarterback. (And who can forget the indomitable Chris Streveler?)

Garrett Wilson, whom the organization plucked with the 10th overall pick in the 2022 draft, was a dependable target no matter who lobbed him the ball, spiraling or fluttering. He listened to veteran stewardship, adjusting as defenses keyed on him, and earned first downs on 56 of his 83 receptions. His 83 receptions and 1,103 yards helped him become the first Jet to earn offensive rookie of the year honors.

“He’s one of those guys who’s intrinsically motivated,” Saleh said of Wilson. “He’s got a great head on his shoulders. Everything for him is all ball, all day, every day, and he’s just one of those kids, everything he does in life is to be the best version of himself every day.”

The Jets surged before stumbling and slipping out of the playoff race. When the Sacramento Kings clinched an N.B.A. playoff spot in March, the Jets’ 12-year postseason drought became the longest across all four major men’s North American professional sports. But Aaron Rodgers saw enough in the Jets to wrest himself free of the Packers, who in the past drew the quarterback’s ire for not drafting a young receiver like Wilson.

In Green Bay, Rodgers once formed a dynamic pairing with Davante Adams, the receiver who was named an All-Pro in 2020 and 2021, seasons in which Rodgers won the Most Valuable Player Award. Wilson and Adams share the same jersey number and possibly more.

“Davante is in a class by himself,” Rodgers said. “But that 17 reminds me of the other 17.”

Adams, entering his second year with the Las Vegas Raiders, chimed in after Rodgers and Wilson connected on a training camp reception. Rodgers, scrambling, found Wilson at the back of the end zone. Wilson, his back turned to Rodgers, plucked the ball from the sky with his right hand before collapsing to the ground. “These 2 bouta act up this year,” Adams commented in a social media repost of the video.

A waitress approached Wilson’s booth. He ordered a chicken wrap.

No one at the diner recognized the budding star, the player key to unlocking many of the expectations swirling around the Rodgers-led Jets. Wearing a Lifted Research Group T-shirt and Billionaire Boys Club shorts, Wilson said he has come to understand the nonchalance of fans in the New York area. “They probably seen Leonardo DiCaprio 30 minutes ago walking through so they ain’t studying me,” he said.

Wilson had arrived at the diner following an appearance at nearby Hackensack High School, where he surprised its football team by donating equipment and helping to design an alternate jersey. The teens, lulled into thinking they were sitting through another film session, stirred inside the auditorium when their coach, Brett Ressler, invited Wilson from backstage.

Wilson, wearing their jersey, mingled among them, and soon the teenagers had him pinned against a far wall, the coverage cozier than most defensive backs managed last season, asking him about the Jets and Rodgers. A couple boasted that they could defend Wilson.

He just smiled, posed and agreed to come to one of the team’s games this fall.

Though he grew up in a large family, with three older brothers and a younger sister, Wilson is most at ease by himself, alone with his thoughts and with his dog, Melo, a Shiba Inu named in honor of the former Knicks star. He listens to Sade and Marvin Gaye on his way to training camp as he settles into the day.

The waitress dropped off Wilson’s wrap. “Got that out with quickness,” he said. “Thank you.”

Wilson recalled a formative trip when, as a 12-year-old, he flew from Columbus, Ohio, to Austin, Texas, by himself to join his father, Kenny, who had started a new job there. His older brothers were close to starting college or already away at school, and his mother, Candace, had remained in Ohio with his sister for a while, but Garrett went solo in order to make it to spring football practices.

The boy had thought that he would never make another friend, that leaving Ohio meant his life was over. Most days Garrett roamed the hotel while Kenny was at work.

“If you told him to do something, he did it,” Kenny said. “He followed instructions. We knew he would be right where he said he was supposed to be.”

His dad remembers being amazed to find that while he’d been gone, Garrett compiled fruit and candy from staff he had charmed at the pool during the day.

Garrett Wilson likes to think he played a part in luring Rodgers, the four-time M.V.P., to New Jersey. Back in March, he and other second-year Jets, Sauce Gardner and Breece Hall, recorded a pitch video to Rodgers that showed them burning a cheesehead, the symbol of Packers fandom.

“He’s so cerebral and so smart and knows ball to the point where whatever he tells you to do out on that field is the right thing to do,” Wilson said of Rodgers over lunch. “And a lot of times it is about ball. We haven’t graduated to the point where we talk about anything yet, but I’d like to think we’ll get there.”

“He saw something in us,” Wilson added. “That’s Aaron Rodgers. I trust what he sees. I trust his eyes.”

He also trusts his own. Wilson started picking at his chicken wrap, unfurling a wiry trespasser from it.

A long hair?

“Nah, like a little scruff,” Wilson said. “I’d rather it be the long hair. Now I got to guess what this is. You see it right there? It was curled up though.”

He picked at some fries. The waitress returned.

“Do you need a box or anything?” she asked.

Wilson, kindly, politely, said his food had not turned out to his liking even as he moved the wrap a little farther away.

Expectations can sometimes fall short, as they have for the Jets many times. Wilson, with Rodgers as slinging mate, hopes to change that.

Santul Nerkar contributed reporting from Florham Park, N.J.

Vived-Mota Set to Disrupt The Men’s Fashion Sector With Their Soft-Launch In Fall/Winter 2023 – High-End Clothing That Embodies The Spirit of Hard Work, Dedication, and Success

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The main essence behind the brand lies in celebrating successful individuals who
personify a relentless work ethic and dedication to their craft, regardless of their field.

Lincoln, Rhode Island, July 27, 2023, Vived-Mota is a men’s premium wear line based in Rhode Island. To introduce themselves, they will begin with a soft launch, offering a limited collection featuring elegant polos, V-neck shirts, premium crew neck shirts, and more. Anticipating high demand, they expect this exclusive collection to sell out quickly.

They will be announcing their collection launch date soon. But they highly encourage those who are interested in updates such as this to subscribe to their newsletter through the website at VivedMota.com or by following them on Instagram @vivedmota where they also share updates and fashion advice.

The main essence behind the brand lies in celebrating successful individuals who exemplify a relentless work ethic and dedication to their craft, regardless of their field. They honor those who exhibit remarkable talent and pursue their passions with a clear sense of purpose.

Vived-Mota spotlights everyone from athletes, to entrepreneurs, artists, performers, medical workers, etc. They firmly believe that everyone should experience a profound sense of satisfaction and pride when wearing their clothing, symbolizing the essence of their achievements.

Following the winter/fall collection, their objective is to broaden both their product offerings and services. Among these expansions is the introduction of an optional subscription service, allowing subscribers to receive thoughtfully curated outfits each month. This service won’t be limited to their brand alone; it will also include collaborations with other brands and like-minded partners. Embracing the opportunity to explore a diverse and ever-evolving range of stylish choices.

Vived-Mota believes in giving back to the community. With that in mind, one of their major goals in the near future is to provide support/donations to local initiatives and organizations dedicated to helping underprivileged children and young adults in their pursuit of a college education.

For complete information, visit: https://vivedmota.com/

Media Contact:

Vived-Mota Clothing
Attn: Media Relations
Lincoln, Rhode Island
401-533-3947
Themotacompany@gmail.com

Tips for Taking a Solo Trip

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Solo travel has the power to transform: Think of the memoirs “Eat Pray Love” or “Wild.” But you don’t have to circumnavigate the globe or hike 1,100 miles to see why some people choose to go it alone. The freedom to explore at your own pace, open to connecting with people you meet along the way, can feel as intoxicating as a tropical breeze. But solo travel can be daunting, too, especially when problems arise. And of course, solo travelers need to keep certain safety considerations in mind.

So, are you ready to plan your adventure for one? Here’s how to get the most out of it.

“Keep your first trip simple,” said Carolyn Ray, who runs JourneyWoman, a website for solo travelers, and has visited more than 40 countries on her own. Overcome your trepidation by picking a destination in your own country or at least where people speak your language, she advises. Also, choose accommodations with communal spaces where you can meet others and that are close to the sites you want to see.

At even the hottest restaurants, solo diners without reservations can sometimes squeeze in at the bar. And singles can often snag discounted seats at shows and performances by looking for just one ticket close to showtime, says Kat Fleischman, 36, an American public relations professional who has been taking international solo trips since she was 18. She also advises travelers to inquire about single-occupancy discounts at hotels. Travelers on their own can also hop into faster-moving singles lines at amusement parks, filling in spots left empty by groups. Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain, near Los Angeles, and Disney World, in Orlando, Fla., all have a handful of rides with singles lines.

Websites like Meetup and Fun JetSetter can help break the ice with others who share your interests. An internet search can reveal an array of options: Book dinners with locals and other travelers on the website Eatwith. Find fellow nature lovers through local groups like Alaska Outdoors, in Anchorage, which organizes hikes. Find new places to enjoy your favorite activities through sites like Pickleball NSW in New South Wales, Australia. Facebook groups devoted to people living abroad, like Spain’s Expats of Málaga group, can offer local advice and people to meet.

Some hostels and guesthouses also organize outings. You might find yourself going to a kayaking lesson, a singalong, a drag show or a dance club. The hotel chain Selina, for example, offers co-working spaces along with group outings in more than 100 locations in countries such as Peru, Israel and Thailand.

If you are eating alone, sit at the bar, where you are more likely to strike up a conversation with those around you. One trick: “Sit with an English-language book to attract other English speakers,” Ms. Ray said. Some dating apps have “friend” settings that solo travelers can use — take the usual precautions, of course, by meeting in a public place and telling others where you’re going and with whom.

Be cautious about sharing personal information, accepting invitations or leaving your belongings with someone you just met. And consider packing a rubber doorstop to add an extra layer of security to your hotel room or Airbnb, and a loud key chain alarm, Ms. Ray said.

If you’re lost, Ms. Fleischman advises, instead of standing on the street to consult your phone, step into a cafe or a store. And rather than looking at your route on your phone as you’re walking, use your earbuds to get directions from mapping apps.

Come up with a term that only you and a chosen few people back home know, so that if you are genuinely in trouble and need money, they’ll know it’s not a criminal impersonating you. Leave an electronic copy of important documents like your passport, health or travel insurance, and itinerary with those people, too. You may also want to share your location with them using a cellphone app.

“Stepping out of your comfort zone and embracing the unusual can lead to some of the most memorable experiences during your solo travels,” Ms. Ray said. Make plans that you can choose to change.

Solo travel is an opportunity to “foster and cultivate your own sense of empowerment,” said Ms. Ray, and it will help to understand what you’ve learned if you keep a record — written, audio or video — of your goals, setbacks and triumphs.

A High-Water Year for River Rafting

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Midmorning on the Dolores River, you could feel how recently the water had been snow. “It’s probably about 48 degrees right now,” our guide Samy said, as she carefully angled the boat so the paddlers in front got wet and she stayed dry in the back. The white water was splashy and rolling without being scary, but it picked up speed as we headed downstream.

We were in Colorado’s Ponderosa Gorge, along the line where the Rockies slip into the red edge of the desert. Sky-scraping pines sent off a dusty cinnamon smell, and there was a shock of new green growth on the red-rock cliffs. The canyon got deeper, redder and more angular as the day went on. I kept taking off my sunglasses to make sure the colors were real.

We were on a single-day trip with Mild2Wild Rafting, based in Durango, Colo., but from the launch where we pushed our rafts into the river, you can float for 173 miles, and 10-ish days, uninterrupted, until the Dolores, named the River of Sorrows by the Spanish explorers who came across it in 1776, runs into the Colorado River, right over the Utah state line.

In the rapid-strewn red-rock canyon, boaters float past the remnants of granaries built by Ancestral Puebloans and panels of petroglyphs and pictographs. There are bear scratches on the big ponderosas and river otters in the eddies. Threatened native fish thread up into the headwaters, and blooming fendlerbush dot the banks. The river is a ribbon of connectivity, and it carves through one of the largest untouched landscapes left in Colorado. In 1975 it was the first waterway in the state to be studied for Wild and Scenic designation.

But it’s runnable only when there’s enough water, and these days the river channel is dry more often than it’s not. Because of over-allocated water rights, McPhee Dam, upstream of the gorge, releases water only in years when there’s more than enough inflow to fulfill legal obligations to rights holders. Before this spring, the river last ran in 2019, and conditions are predicted to keep getting hotter and drier.

“Any time you can get on the Dolores it’s special,” said Alex Mickel, 53, the president of Mild2Wild Rafting. “There’s no other river I know that offers so many different environments; it makes for a pretty unparalleled multiday trip. It breaks your heart that it only runs rarely.”

My trip was in June, and the Dolores’s season was over by early July.

But after an exceptionally snowy winter across most of the West, rivers that don’t normally run at raftable levels this late in the year — or run at all — are cranking this summer. And as heat domes sit across much of the country, breaking temperature records, it’s a relief to be able to get wet. Here are five rivers that are having notable seasons, and which you’ll still be able to run into the fall.

California

After a three-year stretch when it was impossible to run the Kern River — “Covid then drought then more drought,” said Matt Volper, 35, who runs Kern River Outfitters — this season’s high flow broke the benchmark set 40 years ago, and the river is still running.

“We will have good river flows on the Kern River until Thanksgiving and possibly even later this year,” Mr. Volpert said. “We’ve never seen anything like this season; it’s been pretty remarkable.”

The river, which is within easy driving distance of Los Angeles, runs out of the southern end of the Sierra Nevada, and cuts through glacier-carved granite canyons. In white-water sports, rapids are graded between Class 1 and Class 6, with 1 being flat water and 6 being too dangerous to run. Experienced paddlers can raft the 17-mile, Class 5 Forks of the Kern section into August this year, which is notable because the stretch typically stops being runnable by early June. The more moderate Lower Kern, where swimming holes and rocks to jump off are interspersed between the rapids, will be running through August, too. Mr. Volper said the company’s two-day Lower Kern trip is its most popular option, starting at $419.

“I think the big news from this season is how long the rivers without upstream dams will continue to be raftable this year,” said Bob Ferguson, 76, owner and founder of Zephyr Whitewater Expeditions, based in Columbia, Calif. Dam releases can give rafters steady flows over the summer, while flows in undammed rivers are at the mercy of upstream weather. Mr. Ferguson said that his company will be paddling free-flowing rivers like the Merced, which flows through Yosemite Valley, into September, thanks to the record-breaking snowpack that’s still melting out of the mountains.

Mr. Ferguson said that’s extremely special and rare. The company’s last trip on the Merced in 2022 was in mid-June, because the river was so low, while this year, the National Park Service had to close the gates of Yosemite National Park because the river peaked high above its banks. Now it’s back down to safe rafting flows, and there’s still water coming downstream.

The river is so beautiful that Congress designated it as Wild and Scenic in 1987, but its value is more than just visual. It’s also home to abundant wildlife, including the limestone salamander, which isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Half-day trips are $113.

Oregon

This season is bittersweet on the upper Klamath River, according to Pete Wallstrom, 50, owner of Momentum River Expeditions. After more than 20 years of negotiations, four dams on the Klamath are coming down in 2024, restoring fisheries and tribal water rights, but rendering the popular Hell’s Corner section unraftable because the water flow will be inconsistent. This will be the last season for trips on it.

“It’s the right thing to do. The dam removal will create a healthier ecosystem, but it’s also one of the best rivers in the country to introduce people to white water, so we’re sad to lose it. Rarely are things black and white,” Mr. Wallstrom said. The upper Klamath carves through a high-desert basalt canyon, and the 17-mile Hell’s Corner section starts with mellow Class 2 rapids before escalating into continuous Class 4 white water. It covers 30 rapids over the course of a single-day trip. Your last chance to run Hell’s Corner is this summer, and there are guaranteed flows through Labor Day. Day trips start at $220.

Utah

The Grand Canyon might have better name recognition, but clued-in boaters know that some of the biggest rapids on the Colorado River are upstream, in 46-mile Cataract Canyon, which runs out of Canyonlands National Park and flows into the north end of Lake Powell. The sky-high red-rock walls hold the infamous Big Drop Rapids, which include Satan’s Gut and Little Niagara. John Wesley Powell is said to have named the canyon Cataract, because the rapids looked like waterfalls.

Because Cataract is upstream of the biggest dams and reservoirs on the river, flows can be seasonally variable, and this year they’ve been running high after a winter in which Utah broke its 40-year snowpack record and received as much snow in one season as the past two years combined. Companies like Mild2Wild will run trips through at least October, and you can spend up to six days in the canyon for $1,499.

Colorado

Blue Mesa Reservoir, outside Gunnison, Colo., is up nearly 50 feet from last year, and the water level is 20 percent higher than average, which is a welcome reprieve for the area, and for the Gunnison River downstream. The spectacular 14-mile Gunnison Gorge, just downstream from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, holds 1.7 billion years of geologic history in its dark, narrow walls.

The trip would be worth it for the scenery alone, but the gorge is also home to world-famous trout fishing, and the river hits more than one rapid per mile as it flows downstream. Despite its highlights, it tends to be uncrowded, thanks in part to a short hike to the put-in, but the reward is well worth the walk. Guided trips will run through September with outfitters like Gunnison River Expeditions, and day trips start at $155.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2023.

Opinion | What Happened With the Citi Bike Karen?

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But it cannot be the case, morally or logically, that it’s impossible for a white woman to have a justifiable complaint and impermissible for her to speak up if she thinks she’s been wronged. Yet that is what the term “Karen” implies: that if you are a white woman, your relative privilege renders suspect any complaint you might have; if you try to defend yourself, you thereby prove the case against you.

The same goes true for any woman who, whether out of female solidarity or because she believes an individual doesn’t deserve the slur, speaks up on behalf of a named “Karen.” To give the benefit of the doubt to the accused, let alone to defend her, is to become a Karen by association. When the head of diversity at Uber, Bo Young Lee, convened a forum called “Don’t Call Me Karen,” for an “open and honest conversation about race,” some employees complained on Slack, and one Black employee later suggested at an employee town hall that those types of conversations were “tone-deaf, offensive and triggering.” Uber suspended Lee.

The choice for a white woman is stark: either to not have any complaints or to shut up about those you do have. This is a far cry from the lessons of the women’s movement, the #MeToo movement and a basic sense of justice.

The Karen trope reflects a pervasive strain of misogyny in our culture. “Karen has become synonymous with woman among those who consider woman an insult,” Helen Lewis wrote in The Atlantic in a detailed anatomy of the slur. The journalist Nina Burleigh has also observed the term’s distinct tilt toward white women over 40, long a punching bag in popular culture: “White middle-class women of a certain age are among the last groups one can hurl targeted abuse online without being canceled.” Moreover, she writes, “the fact is, it has never been politically incorrect to trash women as women — that is, women who cannot also claim to belong to another disadvantaged group by virtue of race, body weight, sexual preference or disability.”

No one, regardless of sex, race or age, deserves to be reduced to a negative stereotype. When people — men or women, Black or white or of any other ethnicity — do bad things, they do them as individuals, not as representatives of a demographic group.

Conservatives Are Furious That Nancy Mace’s Has Premarital Sex

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Whomst among us hasn’t forgone a morning quickie to make it to work on time? On Thursday morning, Rep. Nancy Mace’s (R-S.C.) told attendees at Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) prayer breakfast about her own dilemma.

“When I woke up this morning at seven,” Mace explained, “Patrick, my fiancé, tried to pull me by my waist over this morning in bed and I was like ‘no baby we don’t got time for that this morning, I’ve gotta get to the prayer breakfast.’”

“He can wait, I’ll see him later tonight,” she added.

While the comment may have been a little TMI, conservative influencers reacted with wholehearted disgust. You see, Mace, 45, made the grave mistake of admitting that she, an adult woman, has a sex life outside of the confines of matrimony. A thing we’re 100 percent sure no other right-wing commentator has ever done.

“That’s some hoe talk,” tweeted Florida Congressional candidate Lavern Spicer in response to a video of the moment.

“Here’s your daily reminder that Nancy Mace is trash,” wrote Tim Young, a conservative comedian boasting more than 800,000 followers.

“How thoughtful for @NancyMace to delay fornication so she could show up on time for

@votetimscott’s prayer breakfast. Reminds me of a line from that old song, “E’rybody talkin’ ’bout heaven ain’t going there,” wrote Pastor Tom Ascol.

“Mace just said she turned down sex from her NOT husband but her fiancé this morning,” wrote podcaster Graham Allen. “I’ll take ‘what is a sin for $500 Alex’💀💀.”

Mace herself seems unruffled by the incident, tweeting on Thursday afternoon that she goes “to church because I’m a sinner not a saint!”

“Glad those in attendance, including [Senator Tim Scott] and my pastor, took this joke in stride,” she wrote “Pastor Greg and I will have extra to talk about on Sunday.”

Conservatives may be busy working themselves into a rage over Mace’s comments at the prayer breakfast, but it seems like she has better things to do at home.

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A Half-Million Americans May Have Tick-Linked Meat Allergy, C.D.C. Says

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In total, more than 90,000 people received positive tests over that time period, and the number of people with positive tests increased annually, from about 13,000 in 2017 to nearly 19,000 in 2021. Roughly 20,000 cases had been identified in an earlier study, yielding a total of 110,000 suspected cases from 2010 to 2022. A Half-Million Americans May Have Tick-Linked Meat Allergy

The rising number of cases identified annually could stem from increasing awareness, an increase in the true prevalence of the syndrome or a combination of both. Lone star ticks are expanding their range, likely as a result of climate change, and other diseases they carry, such as ehrlichiosis, have also become more common in recent years.

Alpha-gal syndrome was most common across a large swath of Southern, Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states, where the lone star tick is known to live, the researchers found.

But there were also clusters in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, which are not known to be homes for the ticks. Although some of the people who tested positive may have acquired the disease elsewhere, the results also highlight how much remains unknown about alpha-gal syndrome. “I don’t think that the lone star tick is the full story,” Dr. Jerath said.

In a second study, researchers surveyed 1,500 clinicians, including doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants using an online survey. They found that 42 percent of participants had not heard of alpha-gal syndrome. An additional 35 percent said they were “not too confident” that they could diagnose the illness or manage patients who had it. Of the clinicians who did know about the syndrome, 48 percent said they did not know what test they should order to diagnose it.

Dr. Salzer stressed the importance of tick bite prevention, noting that unlike some other tick-borne diseases, alpha-gal syndrome has no treatment or cure. “Alpha-gal syndrome can be a lifelong condition,” Dr. Salzer said. “It definitely needs to be a part of the conversation of why tick prevention is so important for public health.”

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