Governor Ron DeSantisas challenging of a acontinuous eligibilitya rule has booted over 22,000 children off insurance since January

Florida is continuing to acallouslya strip healthcare coverage from thousands of children in lower-income households in defiance of a new federal law intended to protect them.

Since 1 January, more than 22,500 children have been disenrolled from Florida KidCare, its version of the Childrenas Health Insurance Program (Chip) that is jointly subsidized by states and the US government for families with earnings just above the threshold for Medicaid.

In a first, researchers were able to compare records of people who drank polluted water in Veneto, Italy, with neighbors who did not

For the first time, researchers have formally shown that exposure to toxic PFAS increases the likelihood of death by cardiovascular disease, adding a new level of concern to the controversial chemicalsa wide use.

The findings are especially significant because proving an association with death by chemical exposure is difficult, but researchers were able to establish it by reviewing death records from northern Italyas Veneto region, where many residents for decades drank water highly contaminated with PFAS, also called aforever chemicalsa.

US secretary of state says Iran is biggest source of instability in region but adds many nations interested in apath of greater peacea

• Biden and Netanyahu speak amid pressure over Rafah and ceasefire

Antony Blinken has told a meeting of regional leaders in Riyadh that the most effective way to alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza is to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Speaking in Saudi Arabia, the US secretary of state said that there had been ameasurable progressa in delivering aid to Gaza, which Israel has beseiged for six months, but more is needed.

SNP leader, who was facing two confidence votes, announces resignation after one year in post

• UK politics a latest updates

Humza Yousaf has announced he is stepping down as first minister and Scottish National party leader, little more than a year since he was elected.

Yousaf told a press conference at Bute House, his official residence, on Monday he would remain in post until his successor was elected to ensure a asmooth and orderly transitiona.

Thousands of demonstrators including students and non-students showed up Sunday on campus for four different protests

Skirmishes broke out at the University of California, Los Angeles on Sunday as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters rallied on campus where a Palestinian solidarity encampment was set up earlier this week.

On Sunday, thousands of demonstrators including students and outside members from the wider Los Angeles community showed up on campus, with many waving Palestinian and Israeli flags as others chanted into microphones.

Under deal, ChatGPT users will receive summaries and quotes from Financial Times content and links to articles

The Financial Times has struck a deal with ChatGPT developer OpenAI that allows its content to be used in training artificial intelligence systems.

The FT will receive an undisclosed payment as part of the deal, which is the latest to be agreed between OpenAI and news publishers.

Russiaas defence ministry says it has taken control of Semenivka, following the capture of Novobakhmutivka at the weekend

Polish farmers stopped protesting at the last blocked border crossing with Ukraine on Monday, Kyiv and Warsaw said, suspending a blockade that has dragged on for months and soured bilateral relations, writes Reuters.

According to the news agency, Ukraineas farm minister hailed aconstructive worka by Poland to lift the blockade in a statement, saying negotiations with Warsaw and industry associations had not been easy but that athe main thing is that we have a resulta.

Deal to use mapping data from web search giant Baidu is a big step towards launching driver assistance tech in worldas biggest car market

Elon Muskas visit to China has reportedly reaped immediate rewards with a deal for Tesla to use mapping data provided by web search company Baidu, a big step in introducing driver assistance technology in the worldas largest car market.

Musk made an unannounced visit to China over the weekend. The billionaire posted a picture of his meeting with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, on X, the social network he took over in 2022.

Andrea Vidaurre helped persuade regulators to adopt rules that will improve air quality for millions in one of USas smoggiest areas

A grassroots organizer from one of the USas smoggiest communities has been awarded the prestigious Goldman prize for environmental activists, after leading a successful campaign to clean-up Californiaas trucking and railway sectors.

Andrea Vidaurre from Inland Empire, a sprawling metropolitan region in southern California, helped persuade state regulators to adopt two historic transport regulations that will improve local air quality for millions of people a and accelerate the countryas transition away from greenhouse gas spewing vehicles.

Planned memorial aims at adignified remembrancea of women of St Pauli detained as perverts under the Nazis

Sex workers in Hamburgas historic red-light district who were persecuted under Adolf Hitler are to get their own memorial at HerbertstraAe, a notorious street in Germanyas second city still blocked off to all but sex workers and their clients.

Few people, even residents, know that it was the Nazis who built the world-famous gates around the row of ahouses of pleasurea in an attempt to shame sex workers while discreetly keeping business going.

The search for song that has consumed thousands of Reddit users is over, with discovery that it was written for pornographic film

Itas a musical mystery that has been confounding the internet for years. But an ultra-catchy 80s-sounding song that seemingly no one could identify has finally been tracked down a in a 1986 adult movie.

A snippet of the song, known as Everyone Knows That a a low-quality, warped recording that nevertheless showed off the songas huge pop appeal a was uploaded to YouTube in 2021 and shared on Reddit, where it sparked a hunt for the creator. Some 47,000 people became dedicated to the quest in a subreddit community. Theories abounded that the song was a lost demo by artists including Roxette and Savage Garden, or had been written for a forgotten advertisement. The Guardian, Rolling Stone and Radio 4as Today programme were among those reporting on the search.

Legendary journalist makes remarks in advance of release of Netflix documentary about his life and work

Dan Rather said his dismissal from CBS News nearly two decades earlier aof course a| was the lowest pointa of his legendary journalism career as he returned to his former employeras airwaves for the first time Sunday.

aI gave CBS News everything I had,a the 92-year-old newsman said. aThey had smarter, better, more talented people, but they didnat have anybody who worked harder than I did.a

The Associated Press contributed reporting

Dan Osborn is challenging incumbent Deb Fischer in a along shota bid to prove the state still has an aindependent spirita

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada a these are the swing states most pundits expect will decide the 2024 election. No one has deep red Nebraska on that list. But a 48-year-old pipefitter and union organizer from Omaha is hoping to change that.

Three years ago, Dan Osborn led the Nebraska leg of a US-wide strike against cereal giant Kelloggas as the company pushed for concessions in a new union contract despite posting record profits during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the Georgian capital, 70-year-old Mzia Sabanadze manually operates the pay-as-you go elevator to the bridge connecting the once-futuristic Nutsubidze apartment blocks

The three blocks of flats which step up a Tbilisi hill, linked by a metal bridge, are a concrete reminder of Georgiaas Soviet past.

The state-owned Nutsubidze apartments and their skybridge opened in 1978, the 140 flats distributed to blue- and white-collar workers as part of a USSR effort to expand urban housing in its territories.

Illinoise sees the artistas 2005 album transform into an ambitious and eye-opening modern dance show like nothing else on Broadway

Justin Peck is spending the spring zigzagging between Times Square and the Upper West Side. The star choreographer of New York City Ballet has been biking between the spring season rehearsals at the Lincoln Center and the St James Theater on 44th street where Illinoise a a modern dance show which he choreographed to Sufjan Stevensas 2005-dated album Illinois a has moved after a three-week run at the Park Avenue Armory. The liminal time on his bicycle is what Peck calls aone of the few Zen moments of the daya, where his foremost rule is to avoid any distraction and just pedal. aI donat even listen to music, because even then I am doing something.a

Peck has been on the go for almost two decades now. In 2014, he was appointed the second resident choreographer in the history of NYCB and has over the years brought in a contemporary spin on the institutionas classical frame of ballet through original, upbeat a and occasionally sneaker-clad a shows and collaborations with established artists and fashion designers for set design and costumes, such as Jeffrey Gibson (who represents the US in this yearas Venice Biennale), Humberto Leon, Sterling Ruby, and Marcel Dzama. Peck has also helmed the choreography for Steven Spielbergas West Side Story and won a Tony award for best choreography for his work in the 2018 revival of Rodgers and Hammersteinas Carousel.

In her monthly column about beauty culture, our columnist takes on the power of perfume and how we should leave an impression beyond store-bought smell

Hi Ugly,

Iave recently undergone a hunt for a perfume, testing dozens of samples. While Iam aware this all started because I was seeing 20 TikToks a day dishing out scent recommendations mashed with beautifully aesthetic photos, thereas also something deeply appealing to be about having a asignature scenta.

From runneras knee to fraying cartilage, knees are involved in 40% of sports injuries. But it can be hard to pin down whatas wrong, or what to do about it. Hereas what the physios say

aI could talk for days about knees,a says physiotherapist Patricia Collins. aAfter backs, they are the most common area we treat.a According to a recent paper in the British Medical Journal, 41% of sports injuries are knee-related.

But just because knee issues are common, that doesnat mean we should ignore them and soldier on. These knobbly little joints bear a heavy load, and problems and solutions can take some untangling. aNot only does the knee have the two major leg bones, the femur and the tibia,a says Bhanu Ramaswamy, physio and visiting fellow at Sheffield Hallam University, abut youave got the kneecap, cartilage, tendons and ligaments, and any changes in those will make a knee prone to becoming more stiff or inflamed.a

Campaigners across Europe call on Kyiv to recognise contribution of marginalised community

• Ukraine war a live updates

Growing up in Ukraine, Arsen Mednik often found himself singled out a at school children would point at him, calling him agypsya, while employers were often reluctant to hire him when they learned he was Roma.

But in early 2022, as Russian forces began their savage occupation of his home town of Bucha, Mednik was among the first Ukrainian Roma to volunteer in the defence of the country.

Years of pressure by those fined for urinating in street due to lack of facilities pays off with a!4m plans

The need kicked in as Geerte Piening was on her way home from a bar one night in 2015. She swiftly weighed her options: it was past closing time in Amsterdamas lively Leidseplein area, meaning she could not duck into a bar to use their facilities, while the nearest public toilet was 2km away.

She resorted to squatting in an alleyway, coaxing her friends to cover her as she did so. Police soon turned up, handing her a a!140 (APS118) fine for public urination.

This legendary little featherball did impressions of my mum, refused to stay in his cage and even learned to play football.

Budgies are supposed to be boring, manageable pets. I have no doubt that when my extremely busy parents took me to the pet shop and let me pick out a bird for my seventh birthday, they imagined they were swerving the time commitment of looking after a cat, or a dog, or even a rabbit when I lost interest.

But the neon-yellow lutino budgerigar that I took home with me was not your average featherball. Brighton Yellow, as I named him with typical seven-year-old sophistication, was an absolute riot who would not be confined to his cage. He was proof that you often get more than you bargain for when you adopt a pet.

Live music venues, clubs and bars feed creativity and drive social change. But theyare increasingly in danger

A few weeks ago, I decided to walk from London Bridge, up through Soho, to Marylebone, to catch a train home to the West Midlands. It was late-ish on a Friday afternoon, early spring was in the air, and I had time to kill. I was expecting the familiar mass of people finishing work, spilling out of pubs, standing around on corners, but the city streets were dead. It felt more like an early Sunday morning than the start of a weekend in what still claims to be a 24-hour city.

I am not suggesting that a walk through central London is representative of the UK, or that it is even representative of London as a whole. I could write about how I went back a couple of weeks later and a pub just outside the centre was rammed, and getting busier, at midnight on a Wednesday. Or how in Sheffield recently on a cold, wet and dreary Saturday evening, it was almost impossible to find a place to sit in any of the packed-out and steamed-up pubs. Yet there is no denying that nightlife is in trouble. Last year, 125 grassroots music venues closed permanently and 1,293 pubs shut their doors across Britain. According to the Night Time Industries Association, more than 3,000 pubs, clubs and venues have closed down in London alone since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Busted for cruising in an LA toilet, he proudly turned his police documents into art. Now the Californian is bringing Being Alone a his elegant hymn to anonymous hookups a to Venice and London

Veer to your left in the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale and youall come across a painting bearing the words: aAnonymous Homosexual.a Round the corner, thereas a row of black-and-white pictures showing transfixed male viewers, seen from the back, watching a screen. Ah, the magic of cinema, you might think a except for all the boxes of tissues, indicating that this is a particular kind of cinema.

This is part of Being Alone, a body of work by the artist Dean Sameshima, an expanded version of which is also on show at Soft Opening in London. Sitting in an outdoor cafe in the Giardini, the Biennaleas main space, Sameshima says he visited five gay porn cinemas in Berlin, his adopted home, over a number of years, and decided to commemorate a culture that is disappearing due to hook-up apps. His pictures are enigmatic, melancholy and yet somehow seductive, the loitering silhouettes and shining screen expressing loneliness, escapism and perhaps a kind of defiance against the expectations of society.

The university has said it wonat give in to studentsa demands a but it has budged before

Rows of tents line the steps at Sproul Hall, the grand neoclassical administration building that soars up six stories near the main entrance to the University of California, Berkeley.

Thursday marked the fourth day of the Free Palestine camp, one of dozens of sit-ins that have sprung up on campuses across the US as symbols of protests for a student-led pro-Palestinian movement.

EV sales have plateaued across the world but the newfound glut of vehicles may just be temporary

Elon Musk became the worldas richest man by evangelising about electric cars a and delivering them by the million. Yet in recent months his company, Tesla, has struggled to maintain its momentum: sales have dropped this year, and so has its share price.

Those struggles have become emblematic of a broader reckoning facing the electric vehicle (EV) industry. After the soaring demand and valuations of the coronavirus pandemic years, the pace of sales growth has slowed. The industry has entered a new phase, with questions over whether the switch from petrol and diesel to cleaner electric is facing a troublesome stall or a temporary speed bump.

Police sound alarm after 13-month-old dies in Everett near Seattle and two other babies taken to hospital in past week

Officials in Washington are sounding alarms after a baby died, and two others apparently overdosed, in the past week in separate instances in which fentanyl had been left unsecured inside residences.

A 911 caller on Wednesday afternoon reported that a 13-month-old baby was not breathing in an apartment in Everett, a city near Seattle, the Daily Herald reported. The baby died later at a hospital, according to authorities. The Snohomish county medical examineras office will determine the babyas official cause and manner of death, officials said.

Over 100 firefighters, 30 lifeguards and 32 police officers called to help as flames tore through restaurant at end of California pier

A historic southern California pier caught fire on Thursday, burning for several hours until firefighters battling the blaze from boats were able to extinguish the flames.

Flames tore through a restaurant at the end of the Oceanside Pier, the longest wooden pier on the US west coast, and heavily damaged the closed diner and a neighboring business.

We are entwined and must be liberated together. We must work to end the war and bring safety and security to both peoples

Karl Marxas father, Heinrich, converted from Judaism to Protestantism in 1817 a later converting his eight children a because had he not done so, he would not have been allowed to practice law in Prussia. He wasnat alone in having to change or disguise his Judaism so that he could earn a living. There was practically no other way for Jews living in Europe in the 19th century to be part of the business class without renouncing their religion.

This practice actually harkened back for eons, at least two millennia to be precise, as Jews in Europe found other ways to live, always squeezed out of mainstream society, and especially so with emerging nation states (in contrast to when the Habsburg empire controlled much of Europe, where many Jews resided, and was more hospitable to Jews). Even farther back, during the Spanish Inquisition that began in the 1400s, at least 600,000 Jews either fled or hid their identities in response to new royal edicts. Russian-controlled Jewry was forced to settle in what became known as the apale of settlementa, todayas Ukraine, but still this didnat save them from state-sponsored pogroms and ostracism. These are just some historic examples about why Zionism evolved.

The State of Israel will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice, and peace taught by the Hebrew Prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed, or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education, and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

Jo-Ann Mort is co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Todayas Israel? She writes frequently about Israel for US, UK and Israeli publications

There is some truth to the popular protest slogan: aThey tried to bury us, but they didnat know we were seedsa

University students across the US have been protesting since 7 October 2023 with vigils, rallies and marches asking for a ceasefire in Gaza and for their universities to divest from Israel. While some of these protests led to heated fights about foreign policy, the most prominent events have involved university presidentsa abysmal congressional testimony. This weekas arrests of more than 100 Columbia students reinvigorated the student movement and now itas kicking off everywhere.

As a sociologist of social movements, I study how movements select and shift tactics to elicit a response from their opponents. Over the next few weeks, we will see dozens of other university encampments spring up because activists have found a tactic that gets the administrationas attention at a critical time: during finals and commencement.

The UN global plastic treaty could be as important as the 2015 Paris accords, if negotiators can stand up to industry lobbyists

Last week, in an enormous convention centre in downtown Ottawa, I joined delegates who have been negotiating over the most important environmental deal since the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change.

The global plastic treaty has a mandate to agree on a legally binding, international agreement to tackle plastic pollution across the entire plastics life cycle, from the initial extraction of fossil fuels for plastics production to the end-of-life disposal of plastic waste. The current meeting is the fourth of five scheduled negotiations and is critically important a without agreement on the objectives, structure and key measures, the prospect of agreeing on the final treaty text by the end of 2024 seems ambitious.

Yes, I revelled in the thrill of film-making, yet a fear of failure nagged at me. Behind it lay a truth Iad been ignoring

For just over a decade I lived on the edge of danger, leaping from cliffs, jumping out of the back of trains and even being set on fire. I was a television and film stunt performer. Think Tom Cruise without the credits, in sky-high heels and hotpants. Every job was a calculated risk, and every performance felt like a dance with death. My job demanded the spirit of a daredevil and the agility of an acrobat with the presence of an actor, tasked with bringing the heart-pounding thrills of Hollywood to life. But as my star rose and opportunities knocked on my door, I made a decision to step back, leaving behind bewildered friends and colleagues who couldnat understand why I was abruptly extinguishing my own flame.

While I revelled in the thrill of physical activity and globetrotting adventures, there was always a nagging sense of impostor syndrome gnawing at me. Despite my prowess in executing stunts, I felt like a fraud when it came to the craft of acting. I could execute flips, wield knives and brave fire-burns, but put a script in front of me and I faltered. No matter how much I trained or rehearsed, the moment the camera rolled my lines vanished, leaving me stranded in a sea of self-doubt. Whenever I found myself in a situation where I had to deliver lines, my anxiety would intensify. I would feel my breathing becoming rapid and shallow, making it difficult to focus. As I attempted to say the words, the buzzing of the room would overwhelm me and despite being in the spotlight, all I could see was darkness. It was a disorienting experience, and it further exacerbated my feelings of self-doubt and insecurity about my acting abilities.

Janine Parkinson is a writer and former stunt performer