Author: KnowledgeHippo

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Friday that the U.S. government now considers new Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories to be “incompatible with international law,” marking a reversal of a policy put in place under the Trump administration and a return to a decades-old . The US position on the issue at issue.Mr. Blinken spoke at a press conference in Buenos Aires after Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, made an announcement on Thursday, saying thousands of new homes would be added to the settlements. Mr Blinken said he was “disappointed” with the announcement.”It has been long-standing US policy…

In his three years as Oklahoma’s public schools constable, Ryan Walters, a former high school history teacher, has transformed himself into one of the most forceful culture warriors in a state known for its staunchly conservative politics.After the death earlier this month of a 16-year-old non-binary student a day after a fight in a high school girls’ bathroom, gay and transgender advocates accused Mr. Walters of fomenting an atmosphere of dangerous intolerance in public schools.In his first interview reacting to the death of the student, Nex Benedict, Mr Walters told The New York Times that the death was a tragedy…

A day after its historic landing, the first private spacecraft on the moon is in good condition but has tipped over, the company that built it said Friday.The spacecraft, named Odysseus, crashed into the moon’s south pole region Thursday night, the first American vehicle to land softly on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.”The vehicle is stable near or at our intended landing site,” Steve Altemus, the CEO of Intuitive Machines, said during a NASA press conference on Friday. “We have communications with the ground.He added: “This is amazing to begin with.”But the landing did not go well. Because…

Florida’s legislature has passed a sweeping social media bill that would make the state the first to effectively ban youth under the age of 16 from maintaining accounts on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.The measure — which Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would “fight” over the weekend and has yet to sign — could potentially upend the lives of millions of young people in Florida.It will also face constitutional challenges. Federal courts have blocked less restrictive youth social media laws enacted last year by Arkansas and Ohio. Judges in those cases said the new statute likely violated social media companies’…

Jennifer Caldwell was active and energetic, working two jobs and caring for her daughter and parents, when she developed a bacterial infection followed by severe dizziness, fatigue and memory problems.That was almost a decade ago, and since then she has been battling the condition known as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS. Ms Caldwell, 56, of Hillsborough, NC, said she went from being able to ski, dance and work two jobs as a clinical research coordinator and caterer to having to stay in bed most times every day.”I haven’t been right since and I haven’t worked a day since,” said…

Apart from Brazil, no nation produces more coffee than Vietnam. Introduced by French settlers in the 19th century, the country’s coffee cultivation is now a $3 billion business and accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global market, making Vietnam the java giant of Southeast Asia.Quality, however, has only recently begun to catch up with quantity, largely because farmers have begun to augment the long-term cultivation of cheaper, easy-to-grow robusta beans in Vietnam with its connoisseur favorite, arabica.A major beneficiary has been the cafe scene in the country’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). Thanks to direct farm-to-shop…

Gabriel Attal, 34, is a new type of French prime minister, more inclined to Diet Coke than good Burgundy, at home with social media and revelations about his personal life, a natural communicator who gets off the press “France rhymes with power” to assert his “authority,” a favorite word.Since taking office in early January, the boyish Mr. Attal has taken to the countryside, far from his familiar haunts in Paris’ posh districts, muddied his shoes, rested his notes on a choreographed hay bale and calmed down protests farmers through skilful negotiations leavened by multiple concessions.He told rail workers threatening to…

A woman’s body was found Thursday in a wooded area on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, according to university officials, who said her death was suspected to be foul play.The victim, Laken Riley, was an undergraduate student at the school until spring 2023 and then enrolled in Augusta University’s nursing program, which has a campus in Athens, school officials said.Shortly after noon, a friend reported to campus police that Ms. Riley was missing after she did not return from a run near the university’s intramural fields, the University of Georgia Police Department said.At 12:38 p.m., officers found her…

There’s an easy knock on the space dreams of Jeff Bezos and his rocket company, Blue Origin: In its 24th year of existence, the company has yet to launch a single thing into orbit.Blue Origin’s achievements to date have been modest — a small vehicle known as New Shepard carrying space tourists and experimenting with short suborbital excursions. In contrast, SpaceX, the rocket company started by another high-profile space billionaire, Elon Musk, dominates the launch market today.On Wednesday, Blue Origin hopes to change the narrative by throwing a party for its new big rocket.In the morning, at Launch Complex 36…

Reddit, the community-focused message board site, filed for a public offering on Thursday, paving the way for it to be the first major social media company to debut publicly in years and a test for private companies after a drought in the initial public offerings.In an offering prospectus, Reddit revealed its financial performance in preparation for selling shares to investors. The San Francisco-based company reported revenue rose more than 20 percent as losses narrowed last year. He added that it had 73 million daily users and more than 100,000 active communities.The prospectus kicks off an IPO process, with the 18-year-old…