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Rebuilding all the homes destroyed by Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip could take until the next century if the pace of reconstruction matches that seen after the 2014 and 2021 wars, according to a United Nations report released Thursday.Citing data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the UN report said that as of April 15, around 370,000 homes in Gaza had been damaged, 79,000 of which had been destroyed. If the destroyed homes were rebuilt at the same rate at which they were rebuilt after the previous two wars – an average of 992 per year – it would take 80 years, according to projections in the report by the United Nations Development Program and the Office economic and social issues of the United Nations. Social Commission for West Asia.The report detai...

Prairie voles are stocky, Olympic tunneling rodents that emerge into grassy areas to feast on grass, roots and seeds with their chisel-like teeth, causing migraines in farmers and gardeners.But for Larry Young they were the secret to understanding romance and love.Professor Young, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta, used prairie voles in a series of experiments that revealed the chemical process for pirouetting the throbbing emotions that poets have tried to put into words for centuries.He died on March 21 in Tsukuba, Japan, where he was helping to organize a scientific conference. He was 56 years old. The cause was a heart attack, said his wife, Anne Murphy.With their beady eyes, thick tails and sharp claws, prairie voles aren't exactly cuddly. But among rodents they a...

The Court is a court of the Council of Europe and rules on cases where there are allegations of violations of civil or political rights by member states that have agreed to accept its jurisdiction. Thursday's ruling was handed down by seven judges from different countries.In the ruling the Court found that there had been no violation by Italy.“It couldn't have gone any other way,” said Lorenzo D'Ascia, an Italian government lawyer involved in the case. He noted that the European Court has stated that there is international consensus on the need to protect cultural property from looting. The ruling also confirmed the legitimacy of the confiscation of works obtained illicitly and their return to the country of origin. "It's an important ruling," he said.The relationship b...

Paul Saladino, a doctor and author of “The Carnivore Code,” said that most plants are “inedible unless toxic to humans.” “Forget leaves and fibrous tubers, let's go hunting!” he rules in the book. (Since he published “The Carnivore Code” in 2020, Saladin has reintroduced carbohydrates into his diet, with fruit and honey.)However, as a 2023 New Yorker article detailing the carnivore craze pointed out, studies of Neanderthals have shown that their diet included dates, tubers, and other leafy foods in addition to meat. According to Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University quoted in the article, humans are "opportunistic omnivores" who "will eat whatever is available, which is almost always a mix of plants and animals (and honey)."The New Yorker also cited a st...

In the months following the start of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, thousands of musicians and fans from countries including Iceland, Ireland and Sweden signed petitions calling on Eurovision organizers to ban Israel from the event due to the high of civilian deaths and widespread destruction in the occupied territories. territory, where according to the United Nations the population is now on the brink of famine.Campaigners say Eurovision's ban on Russia taking part after it invaded Ukraine in 2022 set a precedent. But Eurovision organizers reject the comparison. “We understand the deeply held concerns and opinions about the current conflict in the Middle East,” the broadcasting union said in a January statement. However, he added, Eurovision “is not a competition between...

Scientists observed a wild male orangutan repeatedly rubbing chewed leaves of a medicinal plant on a facial wound in a forest reserve in Indonesia.It was the first known observation of a wild animal using a plant to heal a wound, and adds evidence that humans are not alone in using plants for medicinal purposes.The male orangutan, Rakus, lives in Gunung Leuser National Park on the island of Sumatra and is believed to be around 35 years old. For years, researchers have followed orangutans like him on his travels through the forest, picking his way through the canopy in search of fruit to eat.Scientists at the park's Suaq Balimbing research area first noticed a wound on his face on June 25, 2022, when they saw his self-medicating behavior begin.“When I heard about it, I was very excited...

The United States has accused Russia of using chemical weapons, including poisonous gases, “as a method of warfare” against Ukrainian forces, in violation of a global ban on the use of such weapons.The State Department said in a statement Wednesday that Russia had used chloropicrin, a “choking agent” widely used during World War I, as well as tear gas, against Ukrainian troops. The use of these gases in warfare is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty ratified by more than 150 countries, including Russia.“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is likely driven by the desire of Russian forces to remove Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and gain tactical advantages on the battlefield,” the State Department said. This year Russia has sl...

The United States' greatest challenge yet to the vast power of today's tech giants has reached its climax.On Thursday and Friday, lawyers from the Justice Department, state attorneys general and Google will present their closing arguments in a years-long case: US et al. against Google – over whether the tech giant broke federal antitrust laws to maintain its dominance in online search.The government alleges that Google competed unfairly when it paid billions of dollars to Apple and other companies to automatically handle searches on smartphones and web browsers. Google insists that consumers use its search engine because it is the best product.In the coming weeks or months, the judge who oversaw the trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Amit P. Mehta, wil...

Near the end of a whirlwind trip to the Middle East this week, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken finished meetings with the Israeli president and relatives of American hostages held by Hamas, left his beach hotel in Tel Aviv and shook hands with protesters gathered outside.He looked them in the eye and said there was a new ceasefire agreement on the table for the hostages that Hamas would have to take.“Bringing your loved ones home is at the heart of everything we are trying to do, and we will not rest until everyone – men, women, soldiers, civilians, young, old – has come home,” he said.That public display of empathy toward frustrated protesters is something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has avoided since the war began in October. And, of late, he has focused his recent public com...

A California company is recalling organic walnuts sold at health food stores and co-op retailers in 19 states because of an E. coli outbreak that has sickened 12 people and hospitalized seven, federal officials said.Gibson Farms, the Hollister, California-based company, is voluntarily recalling its shelled walnuts branded as Organic Light Halves and Pieces after discovering that the walnuts may contain the E. coli 0157:H7 strain that "causes an illness diarrhea often with bloody stools". " the Food and Drug Administration said in an advisory Tuesday.The recall came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified the company of 12 recorded illnesses linked to walnuts. They were distributed in more than 300 food retailers, including Whole Foods Market, New Seasons Market and ...