World

Related media - Breaking news In the heavily blockaded Gaza Strip, cigarettes have become a rare commodity, often selling for $25-30 each. Both U.N. and Israeli officials have reported that coordinated attacks by groups seeking to profit from these contraband cigarettes are severely hampering the transportation of essential aid into southern Gaza. Israeli authorities carefully monitor all goods entering and leaving Gaza through checkpoints under their control. Despite these efforts, cigarettes have managed to pass for weeks inside aid trucks, mainly through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza. To evade Israeli controls, traffickers in Egypt hide cigarettes in sacks…

Related media - Breaking news Julien Bernard’s Tour de France journey took an emotional turn on Friday, but it came at a surprising price. Riding on his home turf of Burgundy during the stage seven time trial, Bernard veered off the course for a quick embrace with his cheering wife and son. The touching moment, greeted with cheers from the crowd, earned Bernard a 200 Swiss franc ($223) fine from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for "unsporting conduct." The governing body's decision sparked a debate online, with some questioning how a show of family support could tarnish the image of…

More news - Breaking news As President Biden and his team prepared to celebrate NATO’s 75th anniversary, starting Tuesday night in Washington, the goal was to project unity and confidence. The intention was to send a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin and other adversaries that, despite more than two years of war in Ukraine, NATO had become stronger and more resolute in its mission to deter aggression. But as 38 world leaders began arriving on Monday, that confidence seemed to be wavering. Even before the summit officially began, doubts were raised about Biden’s potential for a second term…

More news - News 24 hours After Sunday's snap legislative elections in France, the nation faces a deadlocked parliament and significant political uncertainty. No major political factions, left, center or right, have won an outright majority. The left-wing New Popular Front emerged as the leading group with 178 seats. President Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition followed with 150 seats, while Marine Le Pen's anti-immigration Rassemblement National party and its allies secured 142 seats. Contrary to expectations, the National Rally did not win a clear victory. A strategic move by centrists and leftists to form a "republican front" against the National Rally…

Related media - News 24 hours Climate change and contaminated water have triggered an epidemic of kidney disease. In Sri Lanka, a serene island nation in the Indian Ocean, a silent killer is claiming the lives of thousands of men. Statistics reveal an alarming spike in chronic kidney disease cases, and experts point to two main culprits: climate change and water pollution. In rural northern and eastern Sri Lanka, where agriculture is the backbone of the local economy, farmers face a daily struggle not only to cultivate their land but also to survive amid a growing health crisis. Extreme temperatures…

Related media - Breaking news About thirty minutes before a Brooklyn Cyclones game in mid-August, a family of three, a reporter, and a man in a Jedi robe stepped into an elevator at Maimonides Park. As the doors closed and the elevator ascended, the Jedi asked, "What planet are you from?" “Um, Brooklyn,” the family matriarch replied. The Jedi began humming “Mad About Me” by Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes, alluding to his Tatooine roots. As the elevator doors opened and they descended onto the field apron, they joined hundreds of other Jedi Knights and Padawan apprentices mingling with…

Related media - News 24 hours It can take years for generic drugmakers to be ready to produce a drug, and they need to have a sense of the potential market to commit to investing in production. So in the meantime, Gilead will aim to ship "sufficient volumes" of lenacapavir to low-income countries as soon as it gets regulatory approval, he said. Lenacapavir and the two pills studied are all known as pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs, or PrEP. Another effective injectable PrEP drug is available in some African countries, but its introduction has been plagued by access issues. Long-acting cabotegravir, which…