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The United States on Thursday blocked the U.N. Security Council from pursuing a Palestinian bid to be recognized as a full member state of the United Nations, quashing an attempt by Palestinian allies to persuade the world body to support the effort. There were 12 votes in favor of the resolution, while the United States opposed it, with Great Britain and Switzerland abstaining.The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, had described the bid for full member status as an effort "to take our rightful place in the community of nations."After the vote, a visibly upset Mansour gave an impassioned speech affirming the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.“Our right to self-determination is a natural right – a historical right – to live in our homeland Palestine a...

Last spring, Tia Washington, 52, a mother of three in Dublin, California, received a stern warning from her doctor: If she didn't quickly get her high blood pressure back under control, she would likely end up in the emergency room. .He wrote her a prescription for blood pressure medication and urged her to also see a health coach. Mrs. Washington reluctantly agreed.“I didn't want to die,” he said.To his surprise, the health coach wanted to talk about more than just vital signs. Ms. Washington found herself admitting that she didn't like doctors (and medications). How she tended to address work or family needs before her own. How her job had created "tremendous stress".Together, they decided that Ms. Washington would attend two weekly exercise classes, consult regularly wi...

The mother of one of the suspects in the bloody attack at a concert hall near Moscow last month cried as she spoke about her son.How, he wondered, did he go from the bumpy dirt roads of their village in Tajikistan, Central Asia, to sitting, bruised and battered, in a Russian courtroom accused of terrorism? Although he spent five years in Tajik prisons as a teenager, he said he never showed signs of violent extremism.“We need to understand: who is recruiting young Tajiks, why do they want to highlight us as a nation of terrorists?” said her mother, Muyassar Zargarova.Many governments and terrorism experts ask the same question.Tajik adherents of the Islamic State – especially within its affiliate in Afghanistan known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), or ISIS-K – have taken in...

Consumers have become accustomed to the prospect of their personal data, such as email addresses, social contacts, browsing history and genetic ancestry, being collected and often resold by the apps and digital services they use.With the advent of consumer neurotechnology, the data collected is becoming increasingly intimate. A headband acts as a personal meditation coach by monitoring the user's brain activity. Another claims to help treat anxiety and symptoms of depression. Another reads and interprets brain signals as the user scrolls through dating apps, presumably to provide better matches. ("'Listen to your heart' isn't enough," the producer says on his website.)The companies behind such technologies have access to recordings of users' brain activity: the elec...

A relentless deluge of rain hit the United Arab Emirates and Oman this week, killing at least 20 people, causing dozens of delays and cancellations at Dubai airport and shutting down other cities in what experts described as an enhanced weather system from climate change. .The storm first hit Oman on Sunday, killing 19 people, causing widespread flash flooding and turning roads into raging rivers in Muscat, the capital. In the United Arab Emirates, which recorded its heaviest rainfall in 75 years, one person died in the city of Ras Al-Khaimah and authorities urged residents to stay at home as videos showed submerged cars on clogged highways and planes taxiing on flooded runways. The rains had eased by Thursday and Dubai International Airport, one of the world's busiest, resumed some ...

Navigating the healthcare system in the United States can often feel like getting lost in a maze. What kind of doctor should I see? Who takes my insurance? What is a co-payment anyway?For this reason, Chris Hamby, an investigative journalist, has dedicated much of his five-year career at the New York Times to guiding readers through such dizzying questions. His latest article, published online this month, explores the complex topic of insurance bills.Last year, Hamby began investigating MultiPlan, a data company that partners with several major health insurance companies, including UnitedHealthcare, Cigna and Aetna. After a patient goes to an out-of-network medical provider, the insurer often uses MultiPlan to recommend the amount to reimburse the provider.Mr Hamby's investigation...

European leaders visit Israel, seeking restraint on IranDavid Cameron, the British foreign secretary, acknowledged that Israel seemed certain to retaliate against Iran, despite calls for restraint from Israel's allies.“It's clear that the Israelis are making the decision to act,” Cameron told the BBC shortly before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We hope they do it in a way that does as little as possible to aggravate the situation.”Israel's allies have joined other world leaders in repeatedly pressuring Netanyahu to avoid taking any action that could increase tensions with Iran, which fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel over the weekend. Israel's war cabinet has met several times since then to discuss when and how to respond, and official...

“Have an abortion with me,” says a Brooklyn single mother named Sunni as she twirls around her kitchen to the sound of jazz piano, before walking TikTok viewers through the steps she took to end her pregnancy at home.With states expanding abortion restrictions and the issue likely to be at the forefront of presidential elections, women are creating videos on social media describing their abortions and sharing practical information on how to get one.Sunni explained to viewers that she wanted information as she was planning the abortion. “This is the video I was looking for,” she said.The reaction to his video, which has been viewed more than 400,000 times and sparked comments of both commiseration and condemnation, shows how deeply personal and controversial the issue remains in the run-up...

For days, Israel's closest Western allies have implored the country's wartime government not to risk triggering a wider war by responding too forcefully to last weekend's barrage of Iranian missiles and drones. And top German and British diplomats delivered this message in person to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday.But Netanyahu emerged from those talks determined that his country would not bow to any outside pressure in choosing its response. Before a cabinet meeting he declared that Israel "will do whatever is necessary to defend itself" and warned allies that "we will make our own decisions," according to his office.British Foreign Secretary David Cameron acknowledged shortly before meeting the prime minister that Israel was unlikely to heed the ...

A pill to be taken once a week. An injection given at home once a month. Also a vaccination administered in a clinic every six months.In the next 5 to 10 years, these options may be available to prevent or treat HIV. Instead of drugs that must be taken daily, scientists are moving towards longer-acting alternatives – perhaps even a future where HIV might require attention only twice a day. year, inconceivable in the darkest decades of the epidemic.“This period represents the next wave of innovation, new products are meeting people's needs, particularly in prevention, in ways we've never had before,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the HIV prevention organization AVAC .Long-acting therapies can obviate the need to remember to take a daily pill to prevent or treat HIV...