Author: KnowledgeHippo

On San Andres, a small Colombian island in an archipelago off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, counting the blues in the famous “Sea of ​​Seven Colors” is on every visitor’s to-do list. It’s a midday activity done en route as you cruise between the valleys, or keys, that dot the eastern side of San Andres: low (mostly) uninhabited spots that are little more than palm-fringed coral and surrounded by sandbars.From my perch, I counted six: a deep sapphire, a dark azure, streaks of teal, turquoise, and cerulean, and, in the distance, a strip of brilliant blue at the edge of…

Children in the Gaza Strip are facing severe and rapidly worsening food deprivation and an alarming number are suffering from the most life-threatening form of malnutrition, United Nations experts said on Friday in their most dire assessment yet of the unfolding crisis.About one in 20 children in shelters and health centers in northern Gaza experience “severe wasting,” the most critical sign of malnutrition, defined as dangerously thin for their height, according to UNICEF, the UN children’s agency. The findings were based on screenings conducted by the agency and were released on Friday.Among children under the age of 2, acute malnutrition,…

Maria and her husband, Aleksandr, are confident that President Vladimir V. Putin will secure a fifth term as Russia’s leader in this weekend’s presidential election.But the couple, who live in Moscow with their three children, are not so sure about what will come next. Foremost on their minds are fears that Mr Putin, emboldened by winning a new six-year term, may call for another mobilization of troops to fight in Ukraine. Aleksandr, 38, who left Russia shortly after Mr Putin announced the first mobilization in September 2022 but recently returned, is even considering leaving the country again, his wife said.”I…

The Supreme Court, in two unanimous decisions Friday, added some clarity to a vexing constitutional puzzle: how to decide when elected officials violate the First Amendment by blocking people from their social media accounts.Judge Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the court in the main case, said two things are required before officials can be sued by people who have blocked them. Officials must have been authorized to speak for the government on the issues they addressed on their websites, he wrote, and must have used that authority in those posts.The court did not apply the new standard to the cases…

It was a blue-green morning at Alta Ski Resort and Carol Bowling, 76, was looking for fresh powder.Her husband, Nick, 83, and his cousin, Bob Phillips, 84, shouted over the hum of the elevator, deciding where to go. “Something like this can be skied,” Mr. Phillips said of the black-diamond run down the lift.At the top, the trio strapped on their boots and waited for a few more friends. It was a Wednesday in late February at the Utah resort, one of the nation’s oldest. The morning was cold and crisp with a few inches of new snow.It was time…

Officers asked the man what he meant when he said an Australian minister’s participation in a charity event could benefit “us Chinese”. Was he talking about mainland China and the Chinese Communist Party or the local Australian Chinese community? Depending on the answer, he faced up to 10 years in prison.“You understand that the Chinese are China. We always say, ‘I’m Chinese,’ that doesn’t mean ‘I’m mainland China,'” said the man, Di Sanh “Sunny” Duong, who was brought in for questioning.The officer pushed, according to a tape played for a jury. Was Mr. Duong effectively building a relationship with the…

Since three media titans announced a new sports-focused streaming service last month, key details of the project have been shrouded in mystery. How much would it cost? Where would it be based? And who would head the new company?Now, some of the details are starting to come into focus.On Friday, the companies behind the service — Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery – said it will be led by Pete Distad, a former Apple executive who was in charge of distributing the tech giant’s Apple TV+ streaming service. Mr. Distad, 50, will be responsible for strategy, distribution, marketing and sales…

Uber and Lyft are threatening to pull out of Minneapolis after a City Council vote guaranteed a minimum hourly wage for drivers.The council voted 10-3 Thursday to override the mayor’s veto of an ordinance requiring ride-hailing services to pay drivers a minimum rate of $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute to ensure they earn the equivalent of local minimum wage of $15.57 per hour.The wage ordinance was first approved last week, but was vetoed by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.Both Uber and Lyft have said they will stop operating in the city when the law takes effect on May…

New cars are more available this spring, and manufacturers are starting to offer deals to entice buyers.But at the same time, lenders have tightened the terms of car loans as they face a growing number of delinquencies. This has made it more difficult for some people to get financial loans.Access to auto loans for both new and used cars was generally worse in January than in December and down year-over-year, according to Dealertrack, a Cox Automotive service that tracks credit availability based on factors such as loan approvals , the terms and the advances. The impact was seen in banks,…

The letter came from the state Department of Human Services in July 2021. It expressed condolences for the loss of the recipient’s mother, who had died a few weeks earlier at age 88.He then explained that the decedent had incurred more than $77,000 in Medicaid debt and provided instructions on how to repay the money. “I was stunned,” said the woman’s 62-year-old daughter.At first, he thought the letter might be some kind of scam. It was not.She asked not to be named because the case is unsolved and she doesn’t want to jeopardize her chances of getting the bill reduced.…