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New BPEA Research on Partisanship, Poverty, Unemployment, Homebuyer Perceptions and Capital Controls


BPEA co-editor Justin Wolfers describes new research that found: people dropped out of the labor force before the recession started; there are better ways to forecast unemployment; homebuyer expectations helped inflate the bubble; the U.S. is not actually as politically polarized as most people think; central banks’ recent experiments with capital controls haven’t delivered results; and the U.S. is making inroads fighting poverty.

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The World Bank Group’s Mission to End Extreme Poverty: A conversation with President Jim Yong Kim

Ahead of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund annual meetings being held in Washington, DC from October 7 to 9, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim set out his vision for ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity. He spoke about the links between growth, poverty and inequality, the changing face of […]

      
 
 




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An accident of geography: Compassion, innovation, and the fight against poverty—A conversation with Richard C. Blum

Over the past 20 years, the proportion of the world population living in extreme poverty has decreased by over 60 percent, a remarkable achievement. Yet further progress requires expanded development finance and more innovative solutions for raising shared prosperity and ending extreme poverty. In his new book, “An Accident of Geography: Compassion, Innovation and the […]

      
 
 




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An agenda for reducing poverty and improving opportunity


SUMMARY:
With the U.S. poverty rate stuck at around 15 percent for years, it’s clear that something needs to change, and candidates need to focus on three pillars of economic advancement-- education, work, family -- to increase economic mobility, according to Brookings Senior Fellow Isabel Sawhill and Senior Research Assistant Edward Rodrigue.

“Economic success requires people’s initiative, but it also requires us, as a society, to untangle the web of disadvantages that make following the sequence difficult for some Americans. There are no silver bullets. Government cannot do this alone. But government has a role to play in motivating individuals and facilitating their climb up the economic ladder,” they write.

The pillar of work is the most urgent, they assert, with every candidate needing to have concrete jobs proposals. Closing the jobs gap (the difference in work rates between lower and higher income households) has a huge effect on the number of people in poverty, even if the new workers hold low-wage jobs. Work connects people to mainstream institutions, helps them learn new skills, provides structure to their lives, and provides a sense of self-sufficiency and self-respect, while at the aggregate level, it is one of the most important engines of economic growth. Specifically, the authors advocate for making work pay (EITC), a second-earner deduction, childcare assistance and paid leave, and transitional job programs. On the education front, they suggest investment in children at all stages of life: home visiting, early childhood education, new efforts in the primary grades, new kinds of high schools, and fresh policies aimed at helping students from poor families attend and graduate from post-secondary institutions. And for the third prong, stable families, Sawhill and Rodrique suggest changing social norms around the importance of responsible, two-person parenthood, as well as making the most effective forms of birth control (IUDs and implants) more widely available at no cost to women.

“Many of our proposals would not only improve the life prospects of less advantaged children; they would pay for themselves in higher taxes and less social spending. The candidates may have their own blend of responses, but we need to hear less rhetoric and more substantive proposals from all of them,” they conclude.

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Campaign 2016: Ideas for reducing poverty and improving economic mobility


We can be sure that the 2016 presidential candidates, whoever they are, will be in favor of promoting opportunity and cutting poverty. The question is: how? In our contribution to a new volume published today, “Campaign 2016: Eight big issues the presidential candidates should address,” we show that people who clear three hurdles—graduating high school, working full-time, and delaying parenthood until they in a stable, two-parent family—are very much more likely to climb to middle class than fall into poverty:

But what specific policies would help people achieve these three benchmarks of success?  Our paper contains a number of ideas that candidates might want to adopt. Here are a few examples: 

1. To improve high school graduation rates, expand “Small Schools of Choice,” a program in New York City, which replaced large, existing schools with more numerous, smaller schools that had a theme or focus (like STEM or the arts). The program increased graduation rates by about 10 percentage points and also led to higher college enrollment with no increase in costs.

2. To support work, make the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) refundable and cap it at $100,000 in household income. Because the credit is currently non-refundable, low-income families receive little or no benefit, while those with incomes above $100,000 receive generous tax deductions. This proposal would make the program more equitable and facilitate low-income parents’ labor force participation, at no additional cost.

3. To strengthen families, make the most effective forms of birth control (IUDs and implants) more widely available at no cost to women, along with good counselling and a choice of all FDA-approved methods. Programs that have done this in selected cities and states have reduced unplanned pregnancies, saved money, and given women better ability to delay parenthood until they and their partners are ready to be parents. Delayed childbearing reduces poverty rates and leads to better prospects for the children in these families.

These are just a few examples of good ideas, based on the evidence, of what a candidate might want to propose and implement if elected. Additional ideas and analysis will be found in our longer paper on this topic.

Authors

Image Source: © Darren Hauck / Reuters
     
 
 




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Innovative Foot-Powered Washing Machine Could Alleviate Poverty for Millions (Video)

Born out of first-hand research in a Lima slum, this time and water-saving device is targeted at families that live without electricity or running water.




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URIDU fights poverty & empowers rural illiterate women with solar powered MP3 players

The MP3ForLife device is loaded with 400+ answers to common questions about health, nutrition, family planning, and more, translated into more than 100 languages.




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How Better Conservation Measures Can Help Reduce Poverty

A landmark report released by The Nature Conservancy has demonstrated that effective conservation measures - far from simply benefiting the local biota - can also help alleviate poverty. The study, co-authored by Nature Conservancy policy advisor




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Help End Energy Poverty, Take the Power the World Pledge

Power the World has already brought solar lights to Haiti, now it's working to bring solar powered healthcare kits to Uganda + get a million signatures so that policymakers know we care about ending energy poverty.




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How We Can End Energy Poverty & Bring Sustainable Energy to All

Access to reliably electricity is what defines civilization in the 21st century, but in many parts of the world, and for a shockingly large number of people, even basic access to electricity is rare, unstable, or nonexistent. This has to change.




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Supergoop! Co-Owner Maria Sharapova and Founder & CEO Holly Thaggard Announce the Launch of Project Black Dot - Call to Action: Project Permission

Sunscreen is FDA regulated as an over the counter drug and thus restricted from schools, playgrounds & practice fields. Give your child the right to bring sunscreen to school with a simple permission slip.




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Zimbabwe urged to prioritise children as record poverty causes food shortages

Researchers sound the alarm after statistics reveal almost half of impoverished children in rural areas do not have enough to eat

Poverty has reached unprecedented levels in Zimbabwe, with more than 70% of Zimbabwean children in rural areas living in poverty, a UN study has found.

The report, compiled by Unicef and the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, shows high levels of privation in rural areas, where 76.3% of children live in abject poverty. Statistics seen by the Guardian suggest that almost half of these children do not have enough of the right food to eat.

Related: Zimbabwe on verge of 'manmade starvation', warns UN envoy

Continue reading...




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Birthday begins early for Maria Sharapova

Russian tennis beauty Maria Sharapova turns 33 on Sunday, but the celebrations already began for the former World No. 1, a day earlier. On Saturday, she shared this picture of a cake with her four million Instagram followers and captioned it: "This little piece of cake goodness arrived at our doorstep this morning [happy early birthday to meeee] and didn't make it past noon."

 
 
 
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) onApr 17, 2020 at 5:18pm PDT

Originally known as a German tree cake, the Japanese got some skin in the game and crafted several versions of their own. It's one of my favourite morning coffee indulgences. Thank you, Yutaka!!"

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news




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Maria Sharapova and boyfriend break lockdown rules to visit friends

Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova has allegedly flouted the strict Coronavirus-caused lockdown rules in the US, where over 55,000 have died due to the pandemic.

According to British tabloid, The Sun, Maria, 32, recently visited some friends around Los Angeles with boyfriend Alexander Gilkes, 41, whom she has been dating since 2018.

Maria was photographed on Friday, relaxing on a balcony alongside another couple at a Manhattan beach pad.

The quartet were in clear breach of the two-metre social distancing norm that has been laid down by the authorities in LA where there have been 850 COVID-19 deaths
till date.

A few days ago, Maria had announced on Instagram that she was heading to a friend's beach house. "Last night, we took a sunset road trip along PCH, picked up lobster brioche rolls from @broadstreetoysterco drive thru and made our way to a friend's beach house," the 2004 Wimbledon champion wrote.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news




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Ex-rivals Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova come together for virtual charity tennis tournament

Tennis stars like Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Naomi Osaka, Kei Nishikori and others will participate in a virtual charity tennis tournament. IMG is the company coordinating the tournament titled "Stay at Home Slam" and it will be streamed on Sunday on Facebook Gaming and on the tennis Facebook page of IMG. Two-person teams will compete using the Mario Tennis Aces game on Nintendo Switch.

Competitors will play the video game from their homes across the country, and each will receive $25,000 donated to the charity of their choice, with the winner of the tournament receiving an additional $1 million in donation. "I am proud our IMG tennis clients came together so quickly to support a multitude of great causes," said Max Eisenbud, SVP of tennis clients at IMG as per the official website. "It is a testament to the people we work with across all our divisions that we were able to bring this to life in such a short amount of time."

"It's been incredible to see the creative ways athletes are using social media to support people during this difficult time," said Evan Shugerman, Facebook Athlete Partnerships Lead. "We're excited to be partnering with IMG to contribute to those efforts, which will bring some of the world's top athletes together on Facebook for an entertaining and impactful competition."

Legendary tennis player John McEnroe and popular YouTube personality iJustine (Justine Ezarik) will be commentating the matches.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever




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Watch video: Maria Sharapova recalls fun dinner outing with Novak Djokovic

Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova has revealed that fellow tennis star and World No.1 Novak Djokovic was once fanboying on her over dinner. During an Instagram Live chat with the Serbian ace, Sharapova, who called time on her illustrious career in February, said: "I remember we played this little exhibition. I was young, you were young, way before you had any Grand Slam titles. I don't know if you'd even won a tournament at that point," said Sharapova. This part of the chat was shared by ATP Tour on their official Twitter handle.

"You said that if you'd win (in a mixed doubles match), I would have to pay dinner. I was like, ‘Okay, whatever, who is this kid?'" Sharapova recalled. "You won and you were like, ‘We have dinner tonight. We're going to the Japanese place!' I was like, ‘Are you serious? You and me, going to dinner, tonight?' So we did. We ended up going to dinner and it was so funny because you pulled out I think it was an old Kodak camera and you asked the waiter to take a photo of us… and here we are," she further said.

"It's actually what happened. Maria is saying the truth," Djokovic said, laughing. "I think you were fanboying," Sharapova replied. Djokovic recently said that he was "mentally empty" and "confused" at the beginning of the ongoing freeze of the tennis calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The sport has been on a full stop for over a month due to the pandemic outbreak.


Novak Djokovic

Djkovic has enjoyed a revival in form after a slump in late 2017 and most of 2018. He was set to defend his Wimbledon title this year before the grass court Grand Slam was cancelled for the first time since the Second World War.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever




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Millions affected, billions at stake: Scientists urge ‘wiser’ use of wetlands to tackle poverty and conserve ecosystems

2nd February 2014 – Colombo, Sri Lanka Agriculture and wetlands should be managed in unison in order to conserve vital ecosystems and support the livelihoods of millions of people, according to a new report published to coincide with World Wetlands Day, today. Download the full media release Download the report




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Nurses and Combating the Societal Stigma of Poverty

Poverty takes a toll on health in many ways. It often causes malnutrition and hunger, creates barriers to access basic resources, and can also impact




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Persistent Poverty affects 1 in 5 UK Children

One in five children in the UK are affected by persistent poverty, and is associated with poor physical and mental health in early adolescence, reveals




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A Sure Roadmap to Reduce Indian Poverty – Part-2

  Some Projects with Spectacular Results!   1. Elappulli Panchayat (Palakkad Dt.): Area: 49.09 sq.km; projects: Ksheera-Gramam (Milk-village), full water supply and total sanitation (Samagra Sanitation).   Milk-Farming: The Elappully...




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Competition and poverty reduction

Competition authorities are investigating how competition can help lower the prices of essential goods and services for the poor and what competition authorities can do to help, as well as examining how competition policy can help reduce poverty by stimulating employment, innovation and growth.




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Income inequality and poverty in Colombia. Part 1. The role of the labour market

Income inequality in Colombia has declined since the early 2000s but remains very high by international standards. Income dispersion largely originates from the labour market, which is characterised by a still high unemployment rate, a pervasive informal sector and a wide wage dispersion reflecting a large education premium for those with higher education.




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Income inequality and poverty in Colombia. Part 2. The redistributive impact of taxes and transfers

Income inequality in Colombia has declined since the early 2000s but remains very high by international standards. While most of the inequality originates from the labour market, wealth – and thus capital income – is also highly concentrated and the tax and transfer system has little redistributive impact.




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Inequality and poverty in the United States: public policies for inclusive growth

Income inequality and relative poverty in the United States are among the highest in the OECD and have substantially increased over the past decades. These developments have been associated with a number of other worrying statistics, including low intergenerational social mobility and weak real income growth for many households.




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Reducing income inequality and poverty and promoting social mobility in Korea

To strengthen social cohesion, a top government priority, it is essential to address the labour market roots of inequality by breaking down dualism to reduce the share of non-regular workers and to boost the employment ratio toward the government’s 70% target.




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Reducing the high rate of poverty among the elderly in Korea

One-half of Korea's population aged 65 and over lives in relative poverty, nearly four times higher than the OECD average of 13%. Elderly poverty is thus an urgent social problem.




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Israel’s economy is sound but it urgently needs to address productivity, inequality and poverty

Israel’s economy has strong fundamentals, but the country needs to address productivity, inequality and poverty if it wants to improve well-being and reduce socio-economic divides, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Israel.




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Tackling poverty and inequality in Greece is crucial to recovery from crisis

Boosting economic growth and investment to create jobs, improve the stability of public finances and provide an effective social safety net are crucial to help Greece recover from the profound social costs of the economic crisis, says the OECD in its latest report.




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The effects of reform scenarios for unemployment benefits and social assistance on financial incentives to work and poverty in Lithuania

In 2015 the Lithuanian government launched an ambitious Social Model reform agenda aimed at balancing flexibility of the labour market and security provided through the system of social protection.




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The effects of reform scenarios for unemployment benefits and social assistance on financial incentives to work and poverty in Lithuania

In 2015 the Lithuanian government launched an ambitious Social Model reform agenda aimed at balancing flexibility of the labour market and security provided through the system of social protection.




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India: Strong growth has raised incomes and reduced poverty, but challenges remain

The Indian economy is expanding at a fast pace, boosting living standards and reducing poverty nationwide. Further reforms are now necessary to maintain strong growth and ensure that all Indians benefit from it, according to a new report from the OECD.




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Reducing poverty durably is a key challenge in Spain

Poverty has risen in Spain in the wake of the crisis, mainly due to lack of quality jobs that provide enough hours of paid work to support decent incomes.




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Do government transfers reduce poverty in China? Micro evidence from five regions

This paper estimates urban and rural poverty rates across five Chinese administrative regions (Shanghai, Liaoning, Guangdong, Henan and Gansu) in 2014 using representative household level data from the China Family Panel Studies survey.




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The key to breaking cycle of poverty in Israel lies in education

Inequality and relative poverty in Israel remain high, particularly among Arab-Israelis and Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox).x




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The Greek economy is recovering. Improving debt sustainability, tackling poverty and boosting investment are vital to sustaining the positive momentum.

Greece’s recovery from deep economic depression is finally gaining traction, according to the OECD. Economic growth has started to pick up led by a rise in exports while labour market reforms have improved competitiveness and are helping to create jobs.




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Generating employment, raising incomes and addressing poverty in Greece

Employment is pivotal to strengthening Greece’s economic recovery, increasing social welfare and redressing poverty.




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Reducing inequality and poverty in Portugal

Portugal has one of the most unequal income distributions in Europe and poverty levels are high. The economic crisis has halted a long-term gradual decline in both inequality and poverty and the number of poor households is rising, with children and youths being particularly affected. Unemployment is one of the principal reasons why household incomes declined.




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Further reforms needed to tackle growing risk of pensioner poverty

Recent reforms have made pension systems more financially sustainable and pensioners have higher living standards than ever before. But future generations are likely to find their pension entitlements much less generous than today’s and many may face a serious risk of pensioner poverty, according to a new OECD report.




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Poverty, priests and politics: why Peronism is back in Argentina

As ‘slum priests’ try to fill the gap left by the state, the populist movement is on the rise again




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Coronavirus set to push 29m Latin Americans into poverty

Social damage could take 2 decades to repair, warns top UN official




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Lebanese riots over economy and soaring poverty leave one dead and dozens hurt

Demonstrators defy coronavirus lockdown and set fire to banks amid mounting currency crisis and joblessness




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Novak Djokovic eases past Denis Shapovalov in straight sets in Shanghai

Djokovic, who had a bye into round two, took his record over Shapovalov to 3-0 and has now won 22 straight sets in Asia - dating back to his title in Shanghai last year and last week's Japan Open.




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Novak Djokovic wins fifth Paris Masters after cruising to straight sets win over Denis Shapovalov

After beginning the week under the weather, Djokovic has looked stronger with each match and he was just too good for 20-year-old Shapovalov, appearing in his first Masters final.




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Johnny Depp 'is producing an unauthorized musical' about Michael Jackson from the POV of MJ's glove

As if this international film star didn't have enough legal troubles on his plate already, he's taking on the legacy of a particularly embattled music legend with an unauthorized new project.




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Life in the Bangkok slums: Children play on rail tracks in poverty-stricken settlements

The pictures were taken by photographer Sam Gregg, 30, in the Klong Toey slums in the country's capital which are home to around 100,000 people.




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Maria Sharapova bounces back from injury with comfortable victory over Viktoria Kuzmova

Maria Sharapova launched her comeback from a six-month injury layoff with a 7-6(8) 6-0 first-round victory over Viktoria Kuzmova at the Mallorca Open grasscourt tournament on Tuesday.




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Maria Sharapova launches candy collection in London ahead of Wimbledon

The tennis star, 32, maintained her busy schedule as she launched hew new candy collection Sugarpova at Kingdom of Sweets in London on Thursday evening.




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Maria Sharapova retires from first-round Wimbledon clash against Pauline Parmentier with injury

KIERAN GILL ON COURT NO 2 AT WIMBLEDON: Sharapova was trailing 4-6, 7-6, 5-0 when she decided to call it a day, complaining about a left arm injury.




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Maria Sharapova sizzles in a red bikini while vacationing in Italy after wrist injury at Wimbledon 

Maria Sharapova found a good way to recover as she set off for a Mediterranean vacation on the coast of Italy. The tennis star 32, was seen lounging sea side in a red string bikini on Thursday.




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Prince Harry's pal Alex Gilkes celebrates his 40th birthday with girlfriend Maria Sharapova

Showcasing their weekend of fun on Instagram,Prince Harry's friend Alex Gilkes and his tennis ace girlfriend Maria Sharapova marked his 40th birthday with a flamenco-themed bash in Andalusia, Spain.