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Sleeping more flushes junk out of the brain

Sleeping more flushes junk out of the brain

Elizabeth Rayne writes: As if we didn’t have enough reasons to get at least eight hours of sleep, there is now one more. Neurons are still active during sleep. We may not realize it, but the brain takes advantage of this recharging period to get rid of junk that was accumulating during waking hours. Sleep is something like a soft reboot. We knew that slow brainwaves had something to do with restful sleep; researchers at the Washington University School of…

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U.S. tells Israel it won’t join counter-strike on Iran, urges caution

U.S. tells Israel it won’t join counter-strike on Iran, urges caution

Politico reports: President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States will not join an offensive counter-strike on Iran should Israel choose that road after Tehran attacked it this weekend, according to two people familiar with the conversation. U.S. officials, meanwhile, are urging Israelis to be measured in any response, two U.S. officials and a diplomat familiar with the issue said. The Biden administration is trying to defuse an armed confrontation that could drag the Middle…

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The staggering cost of Israel’s defense against Iran’s missile attack: $1.2 billion per night

The staggering cost of Israel’s defense against Iran’s missile attack: $1.2 billion per night

Ynet reports: Iran’s massive missile attack overnight between Saturday and Sunday on Israel was stopped by Israel’s sophisticated defense systems. It obviously cost a lot of money, and the question, among others that arise the next morning, is how much? Brig. Gen. Reem Aminoach, former financial advisor to the IDF chief of staff, tried to estimate. “The defense tonight was on the order of 4-5 billion shekels,” he said in a conversation with Ynet studio. “If we’re talking about ballistic…

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Iran attack was ‘declaration of war’, Israeli president says – but insists ‘we are seeking peace’

Iran attack was ‘declaration of war’, Israeli president says – but insists ‘we are seeking peace’

Sky News reports: Iran’s attack on Israel was a “declaration of war”, Israel’s president has told Sky News. Isaac Herzog said it was “about time the world faces this empire of evil in Tehran”. World leaders need to “make it clear” to the Iranian regime that its behaviour is “unacceptable”, Mr Herzog added. “We should be looking lucidly at the phenomena called Tehran and Iran.” Israel has not sought war since its creation in 1948, the president insisted. [Continue reading…]…

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Netanyahus hide in luxury villa with advanced missile shelter during Iranian attack

Netanyahus hide in luxury villa with advanced missile shelter during Iranian attack

The Jerusalem Post reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara stayed at the luxury villa of Simon Falic, an American Jewish business man, in Jerusalem, where they had resided at the start of the war. Reports suggest that, amidst concerns of an Iranian reaction to the assassination of a senior official in Damascus, the house includes an advanced missile shelter. Sources close to Netanyahu confirmed to Walla! News that he stayed there, though no response was provided by…

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Western governments increasingly concerned about their complicity in Israeli war crimes

Western governments increasingly concerned about their complicity in Israeli war crimes

The New York Times reports: For months, Western governments have provided military support for Israel while fending off accusations that their weapons were being used to commit war crimes in Gaza. But as a global outcry over the growing death toll in Gaza mounts, maintaining that balance is becoming increasingly difficult, as was clear on a single day this past week. On Tuesday, in a United Nations court, Germany found itself having to defend against accusations that it was complicit…

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World set to quadruple oil and gas production by 2030, led by new U.S. projects

World set to quadruple oil and gas production by 2030, led by new U.S. projects

Oliver Milman writes: The world’s fossil-fuel producers are on track to nearly quadruple the amount of extracted oil and gas from newly approved projects by the end of this decade, with the US leading the way in a surge of activity that threatens to blow apart agreed climate goals, a new report has found. There can be no new oil and gas infrastructure if the planet is to avoid careering past 1.5C (2.7F) of global heating, above pre-industrial times, the…

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Save our seabed – the bottom of the ocean needs to become a top priority, and the UN agrees

Save our seabed – the bottom of the ocean needs to become a top priority, and the UN agrees

Seagrass meadows are a hugely important store of blue carbon – and so is the rest of the ocean sea floor. Philip Schubert/Shutterstock By William Austin, University of St Andrews “The science we need for the ocean we want” – this is the tagline for the UN Ocean Decade (2021-2030), which has just held its first conference in Barcelona, Spain. Marine scientists from around the world, including me, gathered alongside global leaders to chart the progress of this ten-year mission…

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Is this Israel’s forever war?

Is this Israel’s forever war?

Keith Gessen writes: For many people, in Washington and beyond, the American response to the 9/11 attacks settled an old question about the U.S. and its commitment to human rights. Clearly, it seemed to them, the U.S. had no such commitment. It was happy to preach to other people—to Serbs, Russians, Chinese—about human rights. But, when it came under attack, it would do just about anything to wipe out the threat. Paradoxically, though, it could be argued that the American…

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Iran seizes cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz after threats to close waterway

Iran seizes cargo ship in Strait of Hormuz after threats to close waterway

Reuters reports: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, days after Tehran said it could close the crucial shipping route and warned it would retaliate for an Israeli strike on its Syria consulate. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that a Guards helicopter had boarded and taken into Iranian waters the Portuguese flagged MSC Aries, saying it was linked to Israel. MSC, which operates the Aries, confirmed Iran had seized the ship…

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Israeli photographer beaten by settlers while documenting attack of Palestinian town

Israeli photographer beaten by settlers while documenting attack of Palestinian town

The Times of Israel reports: Yedioth Ahronoth photographer Shaul Golan says he was attacked by a group of settlers after arriving at the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir to document the rampage unfolding there. “I was walking around the village taking pictures when I saw a group of masked Jews emerge from a nearby olive grove, walking around… as if they owned the town. I filmed as they torched homes,” he tells the Ynet news site. Golan says he hid under…

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Majority of voters think Trump committed ‘serious federal crimes,’ according to NYT poll

Majority of voters think Trump committed ‘serious federal crimes,’ according to NYT poll

Politico reports: A majority of voters believe former President Donald Trump has committed “serious federal crimes,” according to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll. Fifty-three percent of likely voters said they believe this, while 39 percent of those surveyed said they did not believe that Trump committed serious crimes. Nine percent said they didn’t know or didn’t answer the question. The numbers broken down by party affiliation show that 90 percent of Democrats believe he has committed serious crimes,…

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A legal process rigged in Trump’s favor

A legal process rigged in Trump’s favor

James Romoser writes: Nearly 500,000 people in America are in jail while they await criminal trials. Trump, obviously, is not one of them. In all four of his criminal cases, he was allowed to remain free with minimal conditions of release. One of the few conditions — perhaps the central one — is that he must refrain from saying anything that would threaten or harass potential witnesses, co-defendants or jurors. His Georgia bond order, for instance, states: “The Defendant shall…

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Young people are getting unhappier – a lack of childhood freedom and independence may be partly to blame

Young people are getting unhappier – a lack of childhood freedom and independence may be partly to blame

Africa Studio/Shutterstock By Fiorentina Sterkaj, University of East London Experts often highlight social media and harsh economic times as key reasons why young people are getting unhappier. And while those factors are important, I would like to emphasise another. Younger generations have less freedom and independence than previous generations did. The area where children are allowed to range unsupervised outside has shrunk by 90% since the 1970s. Parents increasingly organise entertainment – ranging from play dates and sports and music…

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