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☆ Palestinians Demand Israel Hand Over Body of Prominent Prisoner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since his death on Tuesday, Israel has not returned his body to his family and the government won’t say whether it intends to do so. “It’s collective punishment,” said Hassan Jabareen, the director of Adalah, a Palestinian human rights organization and legal center. Many other Palestinians along with international human rights groups have echoed this criticism, saying the withholding of bodies punishes the families of the dead collectively and could violate international law. Since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, Israeli authorities have retained the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians who either died in prison or were killed during security incidents. They keep some in freezers for years at the National Center of Forensic Medicine, or bury them in graves with no headstones in what Palestinians call “the cemetery of numbers,” according to the Jerusalem Legal Aid & Human Rights Center.

☆ Covid Remained a Leading Cause of Death Among Americans in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Roni Caryn Rabin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But the report’s authors noted that even now, Covid is killing Americans in large numbers. By contrast, Asian Americans and children ages 5 to 14 had the lowest death rates. Black Americans and Native American or Alaska Native people had the highest age-adjusted death rates from all causes. Death rates were lowest for multiracial and Asian individuals. Compared with the early days of the pandemic, Covid was less likely to be lethal last year.

☆ They've been beaten, trolled, threatened with sexual violence but refuse to be silenced
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Adie Vanessa Offiong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Ixchíu Hernández had already been the victim of years of online threats -- attempts to humiliate and silence her. Published in April 2021, it reveals: "Online attacks on women journalists appear to be increasing significantly, as this study demonstrates, particularly in the context of the 'shadow pandemic' of violence against women during COVID-19. "Online violence against women journalists is designed to: belittle, humiliate, and shame; induce fear, silence, and retreat; discredit them professionally, undermining accountability journalism and trust in facts; and chill their active participation...in public debate. Ricchiardi-Folwell explains that because of the often-sexualized nature of the attacks, women remain silent about their harassment, which leads them to believe they are alone. Editor's note: This story was originally published in 2021 and updated to reference the latest report by UNESCO.

☆ The World Wide Web Turns 30: A History of the Internet Technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Matthew Riva | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Mosaic browserThe most popular early browser was released eight days before CERN unleashed the web's source code. The move enabled people for the first time to see text and photos side-by-side, and encouraged growth of the fledgling web. One of Mosaic’s developers was Marc Andreessen, who went on to co-found Netscape and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. National Center for Supercomputing Applications/University of Illinois Board of Trustees

The Justice Department’s April 20 letter includes guidance for state and local police, prosecutors, judges and probation officers. Joanna Weiss, co-director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center, told me that the DOJ's voice is critical on these issues. The earlier memo included a section that laid out the principle that courts must not use bail practices that incarcerate people solely because they can’t afford a fee. The Justice Department didn't address my specific questions about why the section on bail was nixed. Lauren Jones, legal director at the National Center for Access to Justice, told me that there's clear overlap between cash bail practices and justice system fees.

☆ A drug company abandoned a treatment for ‘bubble boy disease.’ After a 5-year fight, this little girl is about to get it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Elizabeth Cohen Lauren Mascarenhas | Elizabeth Cohen | Lauren Mascarenhas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +29 min

The Sulacks weighed their options: Have a transplant with a match that was less than ideal – far less – or wait for gene therapy to become available. The news release didn’t say anything else about the SCID gene therapy. Or was the company abandoning its plans for SCID gene therapy altogether? In February, 2021, the parents of more than 20 children who were waiting for the gene therapy treatment, including the Sulacks, wrote a letter to Gaspar. Insurance companies have sometimes balked at paying for gene therapy, which is typically given in one treatment.

☆ Supreme Court decision on Biden's student loan forgiveness plan is key for those who never finish college
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"Growing numbers of stop-outs and fewer returning students have contributed to the broader enrollment declines in recent years," said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. "There's a variety of issues students face in college, many unexpected," said Rick Castellano, a spokesperson for Sallie Mae. Students with 'some college' more likely to defaultIf Biden's plan to cancel $400 billion in student loans is blocked, default rates may spike, the U.S. Department of Education has warned. But the borrowers most in jeopardy of defaulting are those who start college but never finish. The default rate among borrowers who leave with student debt but no degree is three times higher than the rate for borrowers who have a diploma.

☆ A 13-year-old boy was groomed publicly on Twitter and kidnapped, despite numerous chances to stop it
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ben Goggin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

On the Hunter Fox Twitter account, the adult interacted directly with the boy's account, where he posted selfies of himself on a school bus and in other locations. Their teen son had plenty of friends, his parents said, and liked to play golf and build Legos. Heather McConney's teen son communicated with the man accused of grooming him through an Apple iPhone. The suspect's primary Twitter account appears to have been @HunterFloofyFox. After the worst day of their lives, the McConneys' son was recovered early on the morning of Dec. 28 in Nebraska.

☆ Sleep gummies: Possibly harmful doses of melatonin, CBD found
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Testing of over two dozen melatonin “gummies” sold as sleep aids found some had potentially dangerous amounts of the hormone that helps regulate sleep, according to a new study. “Four of the tested products contained levels of CBD that were between 4% and 18% higher than on the label,” Cohen said. “We choose gummies over other products because we thought parents would chose edibles to give to their children,” Cohen said. Gummies sold as sleep aids had much higher levels of melatonin than stated on the label, as well as CBD, according to the study. “However, that doesn’t mean melatonin products are going to work or they’re a good idea to take.

☆ New study suggests Black women should be screened earlier for breast cancer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —A new study on breast cancer deaths raises questions around whether Black women should screen at earlier ages. Even though Black women have a 4% lower incidence rate of breast cancer than White women, they have a 40% higher breast cancer death rate. “When the breast cancer mortality rate for Black women in their 40s is 27 deaths per 100,000 person-years, this means 27 out of every 100,000 Black women aged 40-49 in the US die of breast cancer during one year of follow-up. They also wrote that health policy makers should pursue equity, not just equality, when it comes to breast cancer screening as a tool to help reduce breast cancer death rates. Having dense tissue in the breast can make it more difficult for radiologists to identify breast cancer on a mammogram, and women with dense breast tissue have a higher risk of breast cancer.

Land temperatures across the northern hemisphere were +2.02°C higher than the long-term average (1901-2000) between October and March. But Europe’s temperatures were +2.42°C above the long-term average, making it the second-warmest winter ever recorded in the area. By contrast, Asia’s winter temperatures were +2.07°C warmer over the six months as a whole and North America’s temperatures were only +1.23°C above the long-term seasonal average. Chartbook: Winter temperatures 2022-2023Facing pressure on gas and electricity supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe’s gas and electricity consumption was suppressed in large part by warm weather, helping stretch gas inventories and avoid shortages. Europe’s policymakers, businesses and households were extraordinarily fortunate this winter; that should not make them complacent about winter 2023/24.

☆ 35 Ways Real People Are Using A.I. Right Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Francesca Paris | Larry Buchanan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +24 min

People are using ChatGPT and other A.I. Here’s how 35 real people are using A.I for work, life, play and procrastination. People are using A.I to …Plan gardens. Chris Norn Researcher at the University of Washington Two years ago researchers cracked the code on using A.I. When you run a Dungeons & Dragons game, Mr. Green says, you have to be creative, but that almost always means pulling from existing fantasy literature.

☆ Exclusive: Mexican firm seeks $380 million from Honduras over blocked unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Valentine Hilaire | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MEXICO CITY, April 14 (Reuters) - Mexican investment firm JLL Capital, whose Honduran operation has been blocked since 2018 in a local dispute, is seeking some $380 million from the Central American country in arbitration proceedings, claiming that it violated foreign investment protections, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The invitations were properly handled, countered Daniel Garcia Barragan of the law firm Garcia Barragan Abogados representing JLL last week. This is the second claim against Honduras submitted to World Bank's ICSID this year, its website shows. Some analysts say this casts doubt on the Central American nation's ability to attract foreign investment. Executives had planned to expand operations to Guatemala, but pulled the plug due to its legal troubles in Honduras.

☆ Healthcare, college education, and childcare started getting worse decades ago. Now we're all finally feeling it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Americans are accruing billions in debt to pay for things like education and healthcare. But that would require shifting the idea of childcare, education, and healthcare and thinking of them as public goods — not businesses. That ultimately meant millions in funding for public childcare. "If the US health system was a country, it would be about the fourth-largest country in the world," Cooper said. There's much less government involvement in the US healthcare system than in other countries, Cooper said.

☆ 29-year-old earns $187,000 and only works 9 months a year — and his job doesn't require a bachelor's degree
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"I absolutely love living in Spartanburg and being a travel nurse. I'm able to have a high salary as a travel nurse, but come back to where the cost of living is low." Tucker began his career as a travel nurse after earning an associate's degree. "I'm away from home, I'm away from family, I'm away from my dog," says Tucker. CHECK OUT: 29-year-old travel nurse seized a chance to make $187,000 and only work 9 months a year: It’s ‘a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’

☆ Top 10 colleges to attend if you want to make a lot of money—Harvard and Yale didn't make the list
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Kamaron Mcnair | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Former Caltech attendees earn a median income of $112,166 a decade after starting school, making them the highest earners among the nearly 900 colleges ranked. California Institute of Technology Median income 10 years after attendance: $112,166Median debt among graduates: $17,747 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Median income 10 years after attendance: $111,222Median debt among graduates: $13,418 3. Stevens Institute of Technology Median income 10 years after attendance: $98,159Median debt among graduates: $27,000 8. Princeton University Median income 10 years after attendance: $95,689Median debt among graduates: $10,450 It shouldn't be too surprising to see several technical colleges make the list.

College enrollment has declined over the last decade. Here are three reasons why college enrollment may have collapsed. Why learn when you can earnThe robust labor market may have also contributed to college enrollment falling. Such attacks on colleges over the years might have caused Republicans to question the skill benefits of a college education. Did you get a job without a college degree?

Working stocks in underground storage amounted to 1,900 billion cubic feet on March 17, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the highest for the time of year since 2020 and before that 2017. Stocks were 242 billion cubic feet (+15% or +0.54 standard deviations) above the prior ten-year seasonal average (“Weekly natural gas storage report”, EIA, March 23). The seasonal storage surplus was a total transformation from a deficit of 263 billion cubic feet (-8% or -0.98 standard deviations) on Jan. 1 and 427 bcf (-13% or -1.52 standard deviations) on Sept. 9. But liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports increased to a record 3,866 billion cubic feet, an even faster increase of 8.6% compared with 2021. Related columns:- U.S. gas prices near record low amid over-production (Feb. 22)- U.S. gas prices slump to maximise power burn (Feb. 10)- U.S. gas prices slump on production surplus (Jan. 12)John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst.

The sun is sporting a giant coronal hole that could fit 20-30 Earths across, back-to-back. Coronal holes blast rapid solar winds into space that travel 500-800 kilometers per second. Coronal holes are cooler in temperature, so they don't glow as bright and therefore look black against the rest of the sun. In this case, the solar winds from this coronal hole are scheduled to reach Earth by the end of this week. But coronal holes — even large ones like this — are far less violent.

☆ U.S. Maternal Mortality Hits Highest Level Since 1965
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Sarah Toy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Maternal-death rates are higher in the U.S. than in any other high-income country. Maternal deaths surged to the highest rate in nearly 60 years, data showed, exacerbating a yearslong trend that has made the U.S. the most dangerous place among high-income countries to give birth. The number of women who died during pregnancy or shortly after rose 40% to 1,205 in 2021, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019, the National Center for Health Statistics said Thursday. The increase pushed the maternal-mortality rate to 33 deaths per 100,000 live births, the highest since 1965, compared with 24 in 2020 and 20 in 2019.

☆ Pregnancy-related deaths in US surged during pandemic - CDC
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Mariam Esunny | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The United States has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths among developed countries. It recorded more than 1,200 deaths in pregnant women in 2021, compared with 861 in 2020 and 754 in 2019, according to CDC data. About 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births were reported in 2021, compared with 23.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020 and 20.1 in 2019. The mortality rate for Black women in the United States was at 69.9 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021, about 3 times higher than white and Hispanic women. UN agencies reported last month that nearly all parts of the world saw a spike in maternal mortality rates in 2020.

The core winter season of 2022/23 was the second warmest on record, after the winter of 2019/20, when temperatures were 3.32 C above average. Chartbook: Europe winter temperaturesTemperature records display a clear warming trend for the last four decades, and clusters of warmer-than-normal or colder-than-normal years have been common in the long-term record. From a prudent planning perspective, Europe must prepare for next winter to be colder, putting more stress on gas supplies and prices. Related columns:- With winter almost over, Europe’s gas stocks are at seasonal record high (March 3, 2023)- Europe faces more high gas prices next winter (January 20, 2023)- Crisis over? Europe’s gas stocks at seasonal record high (January 17, 2023)- Europe should thank mild autumn for averting gas crisis this winter (December 16, 2023)John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst.

☆ This Texas crisis center fields half the state's 988 suicide hotline calls. Their VP describes how they handle it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

After rolling out in July 2022, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Support Line has seen a rise in calls, per federal data. Here's how one Texas crisis center is handling the increase in calls. The Harris Center, based in Houston, is one of the over 200 crisis centers fielding calls all across the country. The center, which has been working in partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline since 2007, has fielded about half the crisis line calls in the state. The center is the largest crisis center in the state and has fielded a majority of the crisis line calls in Texas.

☆ How Can We Measure Droughts and Deluges? Weigh the Planet.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Mira Rojanasakul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +15 min

Scientists have long cautioned that warming temperatures would lead to wetter and drier global extremes — increasingly severe rainfall, more intense droughts. km3/month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 km3/month 30,000 Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 km3/month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 km3/ month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 km3/ month Global intensity of wet and dry extremes 30,000 20,000 Wet extremes 10,000 -10,000 Dry extremes -20,000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 Source: Rodell and Li, Nature Water (2023), based on analysis of NASA Grace and Grace-FO data. Europe July 2018–April 2021 Drought across Europe returned with the La Niña that lasted through 2022. Central Africa 2. Central Africa 2.

☆ An ex-Pornhub moderator said some videos that should've been taken down were missed and 'stayed up for months'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A former Pornhub video moderator said content that should've been removed "stayed up for months." The ex-MindGeek worker made the claims in the new Netflix documentary Money Shot: The Pornhub Story. If you're a victim of exploitation and in need of support please contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children online at https://www.missingkids.org/A former MindGeek moderator said many Pornhub videos that should've been taken down remained on the platform for months. "Many videos that should have been taken down stayed up for months," he said in a new Netflix documentary, Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, which is being released Wednesday. "Any insinuation that we do not have enough moderators to thoroughly review all uploaded content is categorically false.

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