In the aftermath of the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, McDonald’s franchises in Israel and across the Middle East have been …

A video went viral showing Egyptian protester Rahma Zein confronting CNN's Clarissa Ward at the Israel-Gaza border.

Zein accused Ward and Western media of biased, dehumanizing coverage favoring Israel over Palestinians.

Zein criticized Ward for not properly covering Palestinian deaths and the humanitarian crisis.

Many on social media supported Zein's critique of bias in CNN and Western outlets.

Ward and CNN defended their reporting, saying they are determined to present all sides and have extensively covered Palestinian voices.

A CNN spokesperson reiterated they are interviewing many perspectives, including dozens of Palestinians, to give audiences a full understanding.

by  hbrueck@businessinsider.com - (Hilary Brueck)  Eternal youth-seekers and investors alike are getting increasingly excited about a concept called "Longevity Escape Velocity." This hypothetical idea borrows its name from "escape velocity," the basic physics principle which states that objects can, at a certain speed, defy gravity's pull. Longevity escape velocity suggests, similarly, that at some point in the not-too-distant future people will be able to escape the debilitating pull of death — and live indefinitely. Longevity escape velocity is our ticket to immortality. If only science could figure out how to cash it in. While LEV is only a theory for now, its backers contend that it could be a reality in not too many decades, given the rapid advances in aging science. As we get better at rejuvenating our cells, we will be able to improve the quality of our lives so exponentially that people will be increasing their life expectancy faster than they're living, thus approaching a near-immortal state, or so the theory goes. There are several science-backed reasons why some people live longer, healthier lives than others. There are also a lot of scams out there claiming that they promote "antiaging" when they don't.

Here's what's really proven to increase your lifespan, and what's not. Harvard geneticist George Church has entertained the idea that maybe, just maybe, we'll reach this state within your lifetime, reader. Sourav Sinha, head of strategy at the Longevity Vision Fund, said much the same during a recent panel discussion about stopping age-related diseases in New York, suggesting LEV could be possible within a couple of decades, with the right kinds of investments. Longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey, one of the originators of the term, and perhaps its fiercest proponent, has put a very rosy, best-case scenario for LEV impossibly close — somewhere in the 2030s. Futurist Ray Kurtzweil has suggested an even earlier debut for LEV, perhaps by 2028 or 2029, which would not be enough time for authorities to approve any anti-aging drugs or treatments (we have none so far.)

And now, a growing number of leading pioneers in anti-aging research are signing on to a new "Dublin Longevity Declaration," which calls on their entire field of science to focus on reversing biological aging processes at the cellular level. Trying to improve aging the old-school way, by going after one disease at a time, is "overly pragmatic" and taking too long, the declaration says. "Everyone knows aging is bad, everyone says it's bad, but nobody does anything about it," de Grey said in a release when his new declaration was announced in early October. "Like bad weather – people are stuck in the assumption that nothing can be done, even if we try. We wanted to put that assumption to rest."

by Morgan Sung@morgan_sung -- techcrunch -- Earlier this year, Palestinian-American filmmaker Khitam Jabr posted a handful of Reels about her family’s trip to the West Bank. In the short travel vlogs, Jabr shared snippets of Palestinian culture, from eating decadent meals to dancing at her niece’s wedding. “I hadn’t been in a decade, so it’s just like, life abroad,” Jabr told TechCrunch. But then, she noticed something odd happening with her account. “I would get [anti-Palestine] comments,” she recalled. “And I couldn’t respond [to them] or use my account for 24 hours. I wasn’t even posting anything about the occupation. But fast forward to now and the same shit’s happening.” In the aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israelis, Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes and total blockade — cutting access to electricity, water and vital supplies — have devastated Gaza. In response to the escalating violence, Meta said that it is closely monitoring its platforms for violations and may inadvertently flag certain content, but it never intends to “suppress a particular community or point of view.” Content praising or supporting Hamas, which governs Gaza and is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, is expressly forbidden on Meta’s platforms.

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza grows more dire, many social media users suspect Instagram of censoring content about the besieged Palestinian territory, even if that content doesn’t support Hamas. Users have also complained that they’ve been harassed and reported for posting content about Palestine, regardless of whether or not it violates Meta’s policies. Jabr, for example, suspects that Instagram restricted her for 24 hours because other users reported her Palestine travel videos. Most recently, Instagram users accused Meta of “shadowbanning” their Stories about Palestine. It’s the latest in a lengthy history of incidents on Meta platforms that reflect an inherent bias against Palestinian users in its processes, as documented by years of complaints from both inside and outside the company. The company may not intentionally suppress specific communities, but its moderation practices often disproportionately affect Palestinian users.