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Sheppie Abramowitz, a seasoned political insider who became a powerful ally for refugees around the world, died April 7 in Washington. He was 88 years old.Her death was confirmed by her son, Michael Abramowitz, who said his mother died at Sibley Memorial Hospital, due to an infection and an aortic aneurysm.For more than five decades, Abramowitz has been active in movements to resolve refugee crises – in Vietnam, Thailand, Turkey and Kosovo. With a steady, persuasive and unusually effective hand, she used her intimate knowledge of government officials, logistics and the struggles of those fleeing war and oppressive governments to secure real relief.She was the wife of a diplomat — her husband, Morton I. Abramowitz, was a U.S. ambassador — and became his humanitarian assistant, putting her...

Antidepressants are among the most prescribed medications in the United States. This is due, in part, to the fact that the number of people diagnosed with depression and anxiety is rising and prescriptions have increased sharply in some age groups during the pandemic.Despite the prevalence of these drugs, some patients have "significant misconceptions" about how the drugs work, said Dr. Andrew J. Gerber, a psychiatrist and president and medical director of Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut.About 80% of antidepressants are prescribed by primary care physicians who have not had extensive training in the management of mental illnesses.Dr. Paul Nestadt, an associate professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said patients tell him, "'You know, doctor, I'...

The Moulin Rouge's bright red windmill has been a ubiquitous sign atop the famous cabaret venue for more than a century.But on Thursday, Parisians woke up to an alarming sight: the windmill's blades bent and fell to the ground after breaking loose and falling overnight.Footage circulated in local media on Thursday showed the blades tangled on the ground in front of the building. Three letters from the illuminated “Moulin Rouge” sign also appear to have fallen.Firefighters were called to the scene after 2 a.m., a Paris fire brigade spokeswoman said, and examined the structure to make sure nothing else threatened to fall. With the area secured and with no injuries, firefighters quickly left. The workers were clean up debris Thursday morning.A Moulin Rouge spokeswoman said via text...

One afternoon last month, Chad Nedohin, a part-time pastor and staunch supporter of Donald J. Trump, donned a pirate costume, set up his microphone and said a prayer.Nedohin was opening his latest live stream on the right-wing video site Rumble, where he has about 1,400 followers who share devotion to Trump Media & Technology Group, the former president's social media company.“Faith comes from listening, that is, hearing the good news about Christ,” said Mr. Nedohin, 40, his face framed by fake dreadlocks under a pirate-style hat.Nedohin and his viewers were awaiting the results of a merger vote that would determine whether Trump's company could start selling shares on Wall Street. Soon the news on Trump Media arrived via an audio feed: it would be made public.Mr. Nedohin raised h...

On a Monday morning last month, tech executives, engineers and sales representatives from Amazon, Google, TikTok and other companies endured a three-hour traffic jam as their cars crawled toward a mammoth conference at an event space in the desert, 50 miles outside Riyadh.The lure: billions of dollars in Saudi money as the kingdom seeks to build a tech industry to complement its oil dominance.To bypass the congestion, frustrated eventgoers drove onto the highway shoulder, kicking up plumes of desert sand as they sped past those following traffic rules. A lucky few took advantage of a special freeway exit dedicated to “V.V.I.P.s” — very, very important people.“To the Future,” a sign read on the approach to the event, called Leap.More than 200,000 people converged at the conference, includin...

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the sale of an antibiotic to treat urinary tract infections in women, giving U.S. health care providers a powerful new tool to fight a common infection that is increasingly resistant to the existing suite of antimicrobial drugs .The drug, pivmecillinam, has been used in Europe for more than 40 years, where it is often first-line therapy for women with uncomplicated urinary tract infections, meaning the infection is confined to the bladder and has not reached the kidneys. The drug will be marketed in the United States as Pivya and will be made available by prescription to women aged 18 and older.It's the first time in two decades that the FDA has approved a new antibiotic for urinary tract infections, which affect 30 million Americ...

As the largest and deadliest war in Europe since the end of World War II enters its third year, the scale of the devastation caused by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to grow. The front line is a place of appalling violence where hundreds of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded, by more conservative Western estimates. The list of Ukrainian cities and towns largely razed by Russian bombs and artillery grows with each passing month.Russian forces advanced in small increments, suffering staggering casualties to capture cities like Avdiivka, which Moscow captured in February. Away from the front lines, millions of Ukrainians have spent hours in bomb shelters as Russia continues to fire missiles and drones at both military units and civi...

Meta reported a 27% increase in revenue and profit on Wednesday, more than doubling in the first quarter, as the company said it plans to spend billions of dollars more than expected on infrastructure to support its artificial intelligence efforts.Revenue at the company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, was $36.5 billion in the first quarter, up from $28.6 billion a year ago and slightly above estimates. Wall Street by $36.1 billion, according to data compiled by FactSet. Profit was $12.4 billion, up from $5.7 billion a year earlier.“It's been a good start to the year,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, referring to the company's efforts in artificial intelligence and the "healthy growth of our apps."But Meta's AI efforts, which require s...

When Maryam Arafat, her husband and their three young children fled their home in Gaza City under Israeli bombardment, it was the dead of winter. Forced to take shelter in a ramshackle tent in Deir al Balah, the family shivered during the bitterly cold nights, as there was no fuel to heat them and not enough clothes to stay warm.Since then, the climate has become hot and humid on the coast of the Gaza Strip, and that tent itself has become unbearable and suffocating.“The tent looks like it's on fire,” said Ms. Arafat, 23. “It's so hot you can't stand it, especially with little kids.” On her lap, one-year-old Yahya screamed in discomfort.Nearly two million Palestinians in Gaza were forced to flee their homes under Israeli shelling and military evacuation orders when the weath...

School meals will soon contain less salt and sugar, but can still include chocolate milk, according to new nutritional guidelines released by the Biden administration.The Agriculture Department on Wednesday finalized the regulation it first proposed in February 2023, having weakened several provisions after feedback from food companies, school nutrition professionals and more than 136,000 public comments.“All of this is designed to ensure that students receive quality meals and that we meet parents' expectations that their children receive healthy, nutritious meals at school,” Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, said in a call to reporters Tuesday .The new guidelines, which seek to better align school meals with federal dietary standards, build on a 2010 law that aimed to make cafet...