Author: KnowledgeHippo

The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it has opened an investigation into the Oklahoma school district where a 16-year-old student, Nex Benedict, died a day after an altercation in a high school bathroom.The department said in a letter Friday that it is investigating whether Owasso Public Schools, outside Tulsa, “failed to respond appropriately to the alleged harassment of students” in violation of federal law, including Title IX. He said the investigation was in response to a complaint filed by the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group.The death of Nex, a non-binary Owasso High School sophomore, drew national…

The newsInflation rates in most economies in Europe continued their decline last month. Consumer prices in the 20 countries that use the euro as their currency rose at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in February, up from 2.8 percent in January, the European Commission’s statistics office said on Friday.Why it matters: Interest rates won’t go down until inflation goes down.The faster inflation rates fall closer to the European Central Bank’s 2% target, the faster the bank can move to lower interest rates, which stand at 4%. Christine Lagarde, the bank’s president, said she expected inflation to continue to moderate…

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday vetoed a sweeping social media bill that would have effectively banned Florida residents under the age of 16 from opening accounts on services like TikTok and Instagram, even if their parents gave them permission. .In a post on X, Mr. DeSantis said he had vetoed the bill to ban social media for teenagers because the state legislature was going to create a different, superior bill that recognized parents’ rights. Last week, the governor suggested the measure went too far, superseding parental authority.Shortly after the news of the veto, Paul Renner, a Republican who is the…

Six years ago, Dr. Elizabeth Komen, a breast cancer specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in Manhattan, held the hand of a patient who was hours before death.As Dr. Komen leaned in for a final goodbye, she pressed her cheek to her patient’s wet face. “Then he said it,” Dr. Komen recalled.””I’m so sorry to make you sweat.”In her two decades as a doctor, Dr. Komen has found that women are constantly apologizing to her: for the sweating, for the follow-up questions, for failing to detect their cancer earlier.“Women are apologizing for being sick or seeking care or advocating for…

The magic of Miami is that “you can still discover places,” said writer and producer Eric Newman. “I don’t feel like people have a chip on their shoulder. There is a healthy civic pride and gratitude.”Mr. Newman, who created the Netflix show “Narcos” and produced “Griselda,” starring Sofia Vergara, has spent months on location in Miami over the years. For Mr. Newman, a California resident, the appeal of this south Florida playground isn’t just what it is — it’s also what it isn’t. “There’s an appreciation in Miami that you don’t see in other places,” he said. “Maybe it’s because…

The House this week overwhelmingly passed legislation aimed at speeding up the development of a new generation of nuclear power plants, the latest sign that a once-controversial energy source is now attracting broad political support in Washington.The 365-36 vote Wednesday reflected the bipartisan nature of the bill, known as the Atomic Energy Promotion Act. It won support from Democrats who support nuclear power because it emits no greenhouse gases and can generate electricity 24 hours a day to supplement solar and wind power. He also received support from Republicans who downplayed the dangers of climate change but say nuclear power…

Although it has just 215 students, kindergarten through 12th grade, Franklin Central School is the heart of the northern Catskills community.The three Main Street restaurants in Franklin Village, New York rely on the work of students, staff and their families to stay afloat, and nearly every community event—from the annual senior luncheon to the farmers market—is held with the help of student volunteers.”The village and the school just tie together,” said Amanda Groff, 44, who has three children enrolled in the district. “I can’t imagine one without the other.”But the school’s future is uncertain, its superintendent, Bryan Ayres, said in…

For decades, California’s behemoth economy has outstripped that of most nations, playing a huge role in shaping global trends in technology, entertainment and agriculture.While that reputation remains, the state has a less enviable distinction: one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.Nationally, the rate is 3.7 percent, and in January, the country added 353,000 jobs. California’s job growth has been slower than the national average over the past year, and the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high — 5.1 percent in the latest figures, a percentage point higher than a year ago and just above the Nevada’s 5.4 percent.With layoffs…

Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, accusing them of breaching a contract by putting profits and commercial interests in AI development ahead of the public good.Mr. Musk, who helped create OpenAI with Mr. Altman and others in 2015, said the company’s multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft represented an abandonment of its founding promise to carefully develop artificial intelligence and make technology available to the public.”OpenAI has become a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company, Microsoft,” said the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court.The lawsuit is the latest chapter in a feud…

Formula 1 has two new team names this season, following a trend in the sport to focus on marketing: Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.Sauber Motorsport has been racing since 1993 under various names, most recently as Alfa Romeo. For this season and next it will be called Stake, with Audi taking over in 2026.”Prior to the arrival of Audi, we felt it was important to present ourselves with this new identity and to create a commercial partnership,” said Alessandro Alunni Bravi, spokesman for the Stake team. “The Sauber Group has been in…