House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that the House will try again this week to pass a military aid pack package for Israel‚ following this weekend's drone and missile launches from Iran.

Leaders of the G7 nations condemned Iran's attack on Israel and said on Sunday they would work to try to prevent an &;quot;uncontrollable regional escalation&;quot; in the Middle East.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine needed help from its allies to fend off air attacks‚ just as Israel had relied on its allies to destroy enemy threats.

The conflict in the Middle East could widen if the United States responds weakly to Iran's missile and drone attack against Israel‚ Rep. Don Bacon‚ R-Neb.‚ warned Sunday. &;quot;I think there's a bigger risk if you respond weakly or if Israel responds weakly‚&;quot; the Nebraska...

Evian‚ Fiji‚ Voss‚ SmartWater‚ Aquafina‚ Dasani—it's impressive how many brands we have for something humans have been consuming for millennia. Despite years of studies showing that bottled water is no safer to drink than tap water‚ Americans are more consuming more bottled water than ever‚ to the tune of billions of dollars in bottled water sales. People cite convenience and taste in addition to perceived safety for reasons they prefer bottle to tap‚ but the fear factor surrounding tap water is still a driving force. It doesn't help when emergencies like floods cause tap water contamination or when investigations reveal issues with lead pipes in some communities‚ but municipal water supplies are tested regularly‚ and in the vast majority of the U.S.‚ you can safely grab a glass of water from a tap. And now‚ a new study on nanoplastics found in three popular bottled water brands is throwing more data into the bottled vs. tap water choice.Researchers from Columbia University used a new laser-guided technology to detect nanoplastics that had previously evaded detection due to their miniscule size. The new technology can detect‚ count and analyze and chemical structure of nanoparticles‚ and they found seven different major types of plastic: polyamide‚ polypropylene‚ polyethylene‚ polymethyl methacrylate‚ polyvinyl chloride‚ polystyrene‚ and polyethylene terephthalate. In contrast to a 2018 study that found around 300 plastic particles in an average liter of bottled water‚ the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in January of 2024 found 240‚000 nanoplastic particles per liter bottle on average between the three brands studied. (The name of the brands were not indicated in the study.)As opposed to microplastics‚ nanoplastics are too small to be seen by microscope. Their size is exactly why experts are concerned about them‚ as they are small enough to invade human cells and potentially disrupt cellular processes. Columbia researchers found that bottled water contains hundreds of thousands of previously uncounted plastic particles\u2014particles small enough to pass into the bloodstream and travel directly into our organs.\nhttps://t.co/NoC70dLakV — (@) “Micro and nanoplastics have been found in the human placenta at this point. They’ve been found in human lung tissues. They’ve been found in human feces; they’ve been found in human blood‚” study coauthor Phoebe Stapleton‚ associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers University’s Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy told CNN Health‚ We know that nanoplastics are making their way into our bodies. We just don't have enough research yet on what that means for our health‚ and we still have more questions than answers. How many nanoplastics does it take to do damage and/or cause disease&;#63; What kinds of damage or disease might they cause&;#63; Is whatever effect they might have cumulative&;#63; We simply don't have answers to these questions yet. That's not to say there's no cause for concern. We do know that certain levels of microplastic exposure have been shown to adversely affect the viability of cells. Nanoplastics are even smaller—does that mean they are more likely to cause cellular damage&;#63; Science is still working that out. According to Dr. Sara Bened&;eacute; of the Spanish National Research Council’s Institute of Food Science Research‚ it's not just the plastics themselves that might cause damage‚ but what they may bring along with them. “[Microparticles and nanoparticles] have the ability to bind all kinds of compounds when they come into contact with fluids‚ thus acting as carriers of all kinds of substances including environmental pollutants‚ toxins‚ antibiotics‚ or microorganisms‚” Dr. Bened&;eacute; told Medical News Today.Where is this plastic in water coming from&;#63; This study focused on bottled water‚ which is almost always packaged in plastic. The filters used to filter the water before bottling are also frequently made from plastic.Is it possible that some of these nanoplastics were already present in the water from their original sources&;#63; Again‚ research is always evolving on this front‚ but microplastics have been detected in lakes‚ streams and other freshwater sources‚ so it's not a big stretch to imagine that nanoplastics may be making their way into freshwater ecosystems as well. However‚ microplastics are found at much higher levels in bottled water than tap water‚ so it's also not a stretch to assume that most of the nanoplastics are likely coming from the bottling process and packaging rather than from freshwater sources. The reality is‚ though‚ we simply don't know yet. “Based on other studies we expected most of the microplastics in bottled water would come from leakage of the plastic bottle itself‚ which is typically made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic‚” lead author Naixin Qian‚ a doctoral student in chemistry at Columbia University‚ told CNN Health. “However‚ we found there’s actually many diverse types of plastics in a bottle of water‚ and that different plastic types have different size distributions. The PET particles were larger‚ while others were down to 200 nanometers‚ which is much‚ much smaller.”We need to drink water‚ and we need to drink safe water. At this point‚ we have plenty of environmental reasons for avoiding bottled water unless absolutely necessary and opting for tap water instead. Even if there's still more research to be done‚ the presence of hundreds of thousands of nanoplastics in bottled water might just be another reason to make the switch. This article originally appeared on 2.2.24

Devyn Hales‚ 22‚ from California‚ recently moved to Sydney‚ Australia‚ on a one-year working visa and quickly learned that her name wouldn’t work Down Under. It all started when a group of men made fun of her on St. Patrick’s Day. After she introduced herself as Devyn‚ the men laughed at her. &;quot;They burst out laughing‚ and when I asked them why‚ they told me devon is processed lunch meat‚” she told The Daily Mail. It's similar to baloney‚ so I introduce myself as Dev now‚” she said in a viral TikTok video with over 1.7 million views.For those who have never been to Australia‚ Devon is a processed meat product usually cut into slices and served on sandwiches. It is usually made up of pork‚ basic spices and a binder. Devon is affordable because people buy it in bulk and it’s often fed to children. Australians also enjoy eating it fried‚ like spam. It is also known by other names such as fritz‚ circle meat‚ Berlina and polony‚ depending on where one lives on the continent. It's like in America‚ where people refer to cola as pop‚ soda‚ or Coke‚ depending on where they live in the country.So‚ one can easily see why a young woman wouldn’t want to refer to herself as a processed meat product that can be likened to boloney or spam. &;quot;Wow‚ love that for us‚&;quot; another woman named Devyn wrote in the comments. “Tell me the name thing isn't true‚” a woman called Devon added. @dhalesss #fypã‚· #australia #americaninaustralia #sydney #aussie Besides changing her name‚ Dev shared some other differences between living in Australia and her home country.“So everyone wears slides. I feel like I'm the only one with 'thongs'—flip-flops—that have the little thing in the middle of your big toe. Everyone wears slides‚” she said. Everyone wears shorts that go down to your knees and that's a big thing here.”Dev also noted that there are a lot of guys in Australia named Lachlan‚ Felix and Jack.She was also thrown off by the sound of the plentiful magpies in Australia. According to Dev‚ they sound a lot like crying children with throat infections. “The birds threw me off‚” she said before making an impression that many people in the comments thought was close to perfect. &;quot;The birds is so spot on‚&;quot; Jess wrote. &;quot;The birds‚ I will truly never get used to it‚&;quot; Marissa added.One issue that many Americans face when moving to Australia is that it is more expensive than the United States. However‚ many Americans who move to Australia love the work-life balance. Brooke Laven‚ a brand strategist in the fitness industry who moved there from the U.S.‚ says that Aussies have the “perfect work-life balance” and that they are “hard-working” but “know where to draw the line.”Despite the initial cultural shocks‚ Devyn is embracing her new life in Australia with a positive outlook. “The coffee is a lot better in Australia‚ too‚” she added with a smile‚ inspiring others to see the bright side of cultural differences.