Author: admin

This year at least 1,300 people have died during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. It is unclear whether the death toll was higher than usual, as pilgrims die each year from heat stress, illness and chronic illnesses. But the toll has raised questions about whether Saudi Arabia has adequately prepared for intense heat and the influx of unregistered pilgrims who, authorities say, have relied on illicit tour operators to bypass the official authorization process.Here's what to know about this year's Hajj.What is Hajj?The hajj, a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, is one of the five pillars of Islam and all physically and economically able Muslims are obliged to perform it at least once in their lives.People spend years saving to travel to Mecca, Islam's holiest city, to undertake the fi...

Apple is imposing unfair restrictions on application developers for its App Store in violation of a new European Union law intended to encourage competition in the technology sector, regulators in Brussels said Monday.The allegations have further intensified the tussle between Apple, which says its products are designed in the best interests of customers, and EU regulators, who say the company is unfairly using its size and considerable resources to stifle competition.Apple is the first company to be accused of violating the Digital Markets Act, a law passed in 2022 that gives European regulators broad authority to force the largest "online gatekeepers" to change their business practices.After launching an investigation in March, EU regulators said Apple was imposing illegal restrictions o...

Israeli troops tied a wounded Palestinian to the roof of a military vehicle on Saturday morning during an operation in the occupied West Bank, a scene that was captured on video and quickly went viral, sparking outrage and promises of an investigation by of the Israeli army.Israeli soldiers raided Wadi Burqin, a Palestinian town on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jenin, on Saturday morning to arrest Palestinians suspected of involvement in militant groups. Jenin, a long-time stronghold of loosely organized armed groups, has suffered repeated crackdowns by the Israeli army in recent months.A firefight broke out between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers, the military said. Israeli troops arrested a Palestinian wounded in the shooting. The man's family later identified ...

Immunotherapy has transformed cancer treatment. It tinkeres with the immune system to attack malignant tumors that have evaded the body's natural defenses. This advancement offers an alternative to treating cancer with surgery or chemotherapy and radiation, which can attack healthy tissue and cause extreme side effects.The treatment is not only scientifically complex but also expensive. The investment of time and money makes sense when it comes to saving humans. But what about when it comes to dogs?Dr. Hans Klingemann has worked and researched cancer immunotherapy for decades, leading departments at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Now he is the chief scientific officer of cellular products at ImmunityBio, which develops immunotherapy d...

Benjamin Netanyahu said the intense phase of Israel's war against Hamas "is coming to an end."

Apple, Microsoft and Google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. The devices, they say, will automate tasks such as editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday.But for this to work, these companies need something from you: more data.In this new paradigm, your Windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. An iPhone will combine information from many apps you use. And an Android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam.Is this information you are willing to share?This change has significant implications for our privacy. To provide new tailored services, companies and their devices need more persistent and intimate access to our data than before. In the past, t...

The deaths of more than a thousand pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for the hajj has shone a spotlight on an underworld of illicit tour operators, smugglers and scammers who profit from Muslims desperate to fulfill their religious duty to travel to Mecca.While registered pilgrims are shuttled around shrines in air-conditioned buses and rest in air-conditioned tents, undocumented ones are often exposed to the elements, making them more vulnerable to extreme heat. Some pilgrims this year described seeing people fainting and passing bodies in the street as temperatures reached 120 degrees or more.In an interview on state television on Sunday, Saudi Health Minister Fahd al-Jalajel said 83% of the more than 1,300 deaths occurred among pilgrims who did not have official permission.“The rising temperatu...

Pharmacy benefit managers are driving up drug costs for millions of people, employers and the government. New York Times pharmaceutical reporter Rebecca Robbins explains how.

Tens of thousands of meteorites have been found on Earth, but the vast majority remain shrouded in mystery. These rocks obviously come from space, but pinpointing their exact origin, in the solar system or beyond, is difficult without knowing their flight paths.But researchers now believe they have linked a meteorite discovered in the Austrian Alps decades ago with bright flashes of light from a space rock hurtling through our planet's atmosphere. It's rare to link a meteorite with its parent "fireball," and these findings demonstrate the utility of comparing old data sets, the research team suggests. Their findings were published in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science in May.In 1976, Josef Pfefferle, a forest ranger, was clearing the remains of an avalanche near the Aus...

Heather Massey took Ladybird to the vet when the 9-year-old mutt he began to have convulsions. A scan from an MRI machine revealed some bad news: brain cancer.Given the poor prognosis, Ms. Massey decided not to undergo further treatment at the animal hospital near her home in Athens, Georgia, and Ladybird died four months later. Her MRI scan and related care had cost nearly $2,000, which Ms. Massey had put on a special credit card that she had learned about during an earlier veterinary visit.This was in 2018. He is still paying off the debt, with over 30% interest.“Could I afford to do this? Not really,” said Ms. Massey, 52, who is disabled and doesn't work. “Was it worth it for me? YES."Ms. Massey's experience illustrates the new, expensive realities of owning a pet. For dec...