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Slowly but steadily, Marlene Nathanson was recovering. She had a stroke in November 2022 at her home in Minneapolis and spent a week in the hospital; Later, when she arrived at St. Paul's Episcopal Homes for rehabilitation, she could not walk. The weakness of her right arm and hand made her unable to feed herself and her speech remained somewhat slurred.But after three weeks of physical, occupational and speech therapy, "she was making good progress," said her husband, Iric Nathanson. “Her therapists were very encouraging.” Mrs. Nathanson, then 85, had begun getting around using a walker. Her arm was getting stronger and her speech was almost back to normal.Then, one Wednesday afternoon, one of his therapists told the Nathansons that their Medicare Advantage plan had denied a req...

A far-right group in the European Parliament announced Thursday that it had ousted the Alternative for Germany party from its coalition, dealing a blow to a key alliance just two weeks before European parliamentary elections.In a statement on its official accountIn an interview last week, Krah appeared to downplay crimes committed by the SS, the Nazi paramilitary force that killed millions of people during the Holocaust. “A million soldiers wore the SS uniform,” Krah told La Repubblica and the Financial Times in a joint interview. “Can you really say that because someone was a Waffen-SS officer, he was a criminal? Individual guilt must be established."In its statement, Identity and Democracy wrote that it "no longer wants to be associated with the incidents involving Maximilian Krah, he...

TikTok may add a new skill to its resume: the disco time machine.The social platform, normally populated by countless Gen Z dancers – mostly in short choreographed routines that have been practiced and perfected – has recently been infused with the energy of a surprising demographic: their Gen X parents.In the viral videos, adult children ask their parents to dance as they would have done to the 1984 sound bite “Smalltown Boy,” by British synth-pop band Bronski Beat. Most of the posts are tagged #momdancechallenge, #daddancechallenge or #80sdancechallenge and have amassed tens of millions of views.The reactions were perhaps unexpected, because instead of laughing, the videos are great, really great, and act as a portal to another time: when dance was more often improvised and spontaneous...

But in the bigger picture, said Gabi Siboni, a reserve colonel and fellow at the conservative-leaning Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, the main problem is that the army is only concerned with dismantling the Hamas military system and not of the civil one. Hamas's control over the civilian sphere will be the springboard for rebuilding its army, he said.In his view, there is no alternative to a transitional period of Israeli military rule in Gaza that could last several years.Hayman said that while the military effort to capture the city of Rafah at this pace could last another two to three weeks, the process of dismantling Hamas facilities could take much longer. "The choice is between withdrawing or strengthening control and trying to hide Hamas," she said. “You could ...

Bovine tissue from a sick dairy cow tested positive for the avian influenza virus, federal officials said Friday.According to the US Department of Agriculture, the cow was ordered to be slaughtered because it was sick and the meat was not included in the food supply. The department continued to emphasize that the commercial food supply remained secure.But the positive test, which is part of an ongoing federal study on the safety of beef, raises concerns that the virus could enter the commercial beef supply, posing a risk to human health.So far the virus, known as H5N1, has only been detected in dairy cattle and not in beef cattle raised for meat. But experts believe the outbreak is larger than the official count of 58 affected dairy farms in nine states.“It is clear that this situation i...

Just over an hour before kick-off, the gates outside the Johan Cruyff Stadium open and a thousand fans rush in. Some rush to the turnstiles. Others wait patiently at merchandise stalls, eager to buy a shirt, a scarf, a commemorative trinket.The longest and most crowded line, however, forms outside a booth that offers fans the chance to take a photo with their heroes. Within a couple of minutes, it winds its way to the entrance, populated by doting parents and enthralled preteens hoping to get there in time.They came to see the most dominant women's soccer team on the planet. Barcelona Femení have been champions of Spain every year since 2019. They have not lost a league match since last May, a run in which eight of their players also lifted the Women's World Cup. On Saturday t...

In its lawsuit accusing Live Nation Entertainment, the concert giant that owns Ticketmaster, of being an illegal monopoly, the Justice Department drew on a series of internal communications that offered a rare behind-the-scenes look at the industry.The Justice Department argued in a sweeping complaint filed Thursday that the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster had harmed competition, hindered innovation and resulted in increased ticket prices and fees for consumers. He asked for the company to be dissolved.In response, Live Nation, which is also the world's largest concert promoter, said it was not a monopoly and denied it had unilateral power to raise prices. Contrary to the government's arguments about its great power, Live Nation says it now faces more competition than...

Egypt has agreed to allow the transfer of fuel and humanitarian aid from its territory to Gaza through Israel, the White House and the Egyptian presidency announced on Friday, reopening a vital channel for aid into the devastated Palestinian enclave.The agreement was reached on Friday during a phone call between President Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, according to the White House readout, which states that fuel and humanitarian aid will be able to enter Gaza through an Israeli canal. managed crossing, Kerem Shalom, which is located at the crossroads of Egypt, Gaza and Israel. For months, Kerem Shalom was one of two main crossings into Gaza through which desperately needed food, medicine and fuel could enter the enclave. The other, between Egypt and Rafah, Gaza's ...

Countries around the world have failed to reach consensus on the terms of a treaty that would unite the world in a strategy against the inevitable next pandemic, overcoming the nationalist ethos that emerged during Covid-19.The deliberations, which were expected to form a central point of the weekly meeting of the World Health Assembly starting Monday in Geneva, aimed to correct inequalities in access to vaccines and treatments between richer and poorer nations that have become evident during the Covid pandemic. .While much of the urgency around Covid has disappeared since treaty negotiations began two years ago, public health experts are still keenly aware of the pandemic potential of emerging pathogens, familiar threats such as avian influenza and disease, and once eradicated diseases s...

If all goes well, Bayer Leverkusen will end this season with one record, two trophies and only three disturbing existential questions. They will all return on Wednesday, to Dublin, to the Europa League final, and they will all take on exactly the same, disastrous form: what if?What if Exequiel Palacios had seen Ademola Lookman coming? What if Granit Xhaka hadn't given the ball away? What if Edmond Tapsoba had extended his leg? Could the final have been different? Could Leverkusen have recovered to beat Atalanta? Could Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso have led his team to an undefeated treble?Of course it's cruel that things go this way. After all, Leverkusen has lit up the European season like no other team. He won his first German championship, after 120 years of trying. Th...