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The Vatican on Monday released a new document endorsed by Pope Francis saying the Church believes gender fluidity and transition surgery, as well as surrogacy, amount to an affront to human dignity.The sex with which a person is born, the document claims, is an "irrevocable gift" from God and "any sex change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity that the person has received from the moment of conception". Those who desire "personal self-determination, as prescribed by gender theory", risk giving in to "the ancient temptation to make themselves God".The document also unequivocally states the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to surrogacy, whether the woman carrying a child "is forced to do so or chooses to submit freely" because the child "becomes a mere means ...

Online data has long been a valuable commodity. For years, Meta and Google have used data to target their online advertising. Netflix and Spotify have used it to recommend more movies and music. Political candidates have turned to data to understand which groups of voters to target.Over the last 18 months it has become increasingly clear that digital data is also crucial for the development of artificial intelligence. Here's what to know.The more data, the better.The success of AI depends on data. This is because AI models become more accurate and more human-like with more data.In the same way that a student learns by reading more books, essays, and other information, large language models – the systems that underpin chatbots – also become more accurate and more powerful if they a...

Nicaragua, a longtime supporter of the Palestinian cause, is expanding its legal battle over the Gaza conflict at the International Court of Justice by bringing a case against Germany, a major arms supplier to Israel.Nicaragua claims that “Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide” in Gaza and violating the Genocide Convention by providing Israel with military and financial aid. He calls for emergency measures ordering Berlin to suspend its wartime support for Israel.In hearings opening on Monday at the Hague court, Nicaragua is also expected to argue that Germany allows serious violations of the Geneva Conventions by Israel, in particular the obligation to protect civilians during armed conflicts. The case brought by Nicaragua raises new questions about the responsibility of the...

Patti Sietz-Honig, a video editor at Fox 5 in New York, filed a complaint in 2022. The cost of seeing a specialist for chronic back pain had skyrocketed, and she faced about $60,000 in bills.Ms. Sietz-Honig pressed for updates on her complaint and submitted articles critical of MultiPlan from Capitol Forum, a site focused on antitrust and regulatory news. Last March, the agency sent her an email informing her that her employer and her insurer, Aetna, had agreed to a “temporary exception” and made additional payments.“Unfortunately,” the agency writes, the law “does not prohibit the use of third-party vendors” to calculate payments.Meanwhile, her longtime pain specialist began requiring advance payment. To save money, Ms. Sietz-Honig spaced out her appointments.“I've been in a lot of ...

Margaret Tynes, an American soprano acclaimed in Europe but overlooked in the United States at a time when black singers were just breaking into the world of opera, died March 7 in Silver Spring, Maryland, at age 104.Her nephew Richard Roberts said she died in a nursing home.In the 1960s and 1970s Ms. Tynes's incendiary, full voice was heard in roles such as Aida and Salomé in the opera houses of Vienna, Prague and Budapest, earning her high praise on the continent - "an exceptional, intense voice in every colour, vibrant and dramatic,” wrote Milan's Corriere della Sera, although American critics were colder. Munich's Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote of her performance in Benjamin Britten's “The War Requiem” that “what Britten expected from a woman's voice can only be achieved...

The Maryland Legislature this weekend passed two sweeping privacy bills that aim to limit how powerful tech platforms can collect and use the personal data of consumers and young people, despite strong objections from industry trade groups they represent giants like Amazon, Google and Meta.One bill, the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act, would impose far-reaching restrictions on how companies can collect and use consumers' personal data in the state. The other, the Maryland Kids Code, would prohibit some social media, video game and other online platforms from tracking children under 18 and using manipulative techniques – such as autoplaying videos or bombarding children with notifications – to keep young people glued online.“We are making a statement to the tech industry and to Maryla...

The Israeli army said it withdrew a division of ground troops from southern Gaza on Sunday, raising questions about its plans as the war reached six months.In recent months, Israel has significantly reduced the number of its troops on the ground in Gaza. Only a fraction of the soldiers who deployed to the territory at the start of the war remain.The army said the 98th Division had left Khan Younis in southern Gaza to "recover and prepare for future operations". Israeli media reported that the 98th's withdrawal meant there were no Israeli troops actively maneuvering in southern Gaza.It is unclear what the latest withdrawal of forces means for the timing of an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, where more than a million people have sought refuge.Israeli De...

Large health insurers are partnering with a little-known data company to boost their profits, often at the expense of patients and doctors, according to a New York Times investigation. A private equity-backed company called MultiPlan has helped reduce payments to health care providers and increase patient bills, earning billions of dollars in commissions for itself and insurers.To investigate this largely hidden aspect of the healthcare industry, the Times interviewed more than 100 patients, doctors, billing specialists, health plan consultants and former MultiPlan employees and reviewed more than 50,000 pages of documents, including confidential documents made public by two federal agencies. judges after the Times petitions.Here are five takeaways.The lower the compensation for doctors,...

In the spring of 585 BC in the eastern Mediterranean, the moon came out of nowhere to hide the face of the sun, turning day into night.Back then, solar eclipses were shrouded in frightening uncertainty. But a Greek philosopher is said to have predicted the disappearance of the sun. His name was Thales. He lived on the Anatolian coast - now in Turkey but then the cradle of the first Greek civilization - and was said to have acquired his unusual power by abandoning the gods.The eclipse had an immediate worldly impact. The kingdoms of the Medes and Lydians had fought a brutal war for years. But the eclipse was interpreted as a very bad omen and the armies quickly laid down their weapons. The terms of the peace included the marriage of the daughter of the king of Lydia to the son of the ...

Insurance companies have long accused privately owned hospitals and medical associations of exorbitant billing that drives up healthcare costs. But a private equity-backed tool is helping insurers make billions of dollars and shift costs to patients.The tool, Data iSight, is the flagship offering of a cost-containment company called MultiPlan that has attracted continued private equity investment since it positioned itself as a central player in the lucrative field of medical payments. Today Hellman & Friedman, the California-based private equity giant, and the Saudi Arabian government's sovereign wealth fund are among the company's largest investors.The evolution of Data iSight, which recommends the amount to pay for each medical bill, is an untold chapter in the story of privat...