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Scars of December: A pivotal Cold War-era battle in Greece quietly passes its 80th anniversaryShare Tweet Share Share Email The rising cost of healthcare has been a pressing concern for many individuals and families worldwide. Traditional health insurance plans, often riddled with complex terms, high premiums, and out-of-pocket expenses, have left countless people searching for alternative solutions. Enter subscription-based healthcare services—an innovative model that aims to simplify medical costs while providing affordable and accessible care . What Are Subscription-Based Healthcare Services? Subscription-based healthcare services operate on a model similar to popular streaming platforms like Netflix or Spotify. Instead of paying for each service separately or navigating the complexities of traditional insurance, members pay a monthly or annual fee to access a predefined set of healthcare services. These services often include: Routine check-ups Preventive care Virtual consultations Diagnostic tests Chronic disease management This straightforward approach eliminates hidden fees and allows patients to plan their healthcare expenses better. Why Are Healthcare Costs So High? Understanding the need for subscription-based healthcare begins with examining why traditional healthcare costs are so high. Factors contributing to these costs include: Administrative Expenses: A significant portion of healthcare spending goes toward billing, insurance negotiations, and paperwork. Pharmaceutical Prices: Prescription drug costs in some countries, especially the United States, are among the highest in the world. Fee-for-Service Model: Traditional systems often incentivize quantity over quality, leading to unnecessary procedures. Lack of Transparency: Patients rarely know the cost of services upfront, resulting in surprise bills . These challenges have created a demand for simpler, more predictable payment models—a gap that subscription-based services aim to fill. Benefits of Subscription-Based Healthcare Services Cost Predictability One of the primary advantages of subscription-based healthcare is cost predictability. With a fixed monthly fee, patients can budget their medical expenses without worrying about unexpected charges. This transparency fosters trust between providers and patients. Accessibility to Care Subscription models often include telehealth services, making it easier for patients to access care from the comfort of their homes. This is especially beneficial for individuals in remote areas or those with mobility challenges. Focus on Preventive Care Preventive care is a cornerstone of subscription-based healthcare. Regular check-ups and early interventions can prevent minor issues from escalating into costly emergencies, ultimately reducing overall healthcare spending. Enhanced Doctor-Patient Relationships By eliminating the bureaucracy associated with insurance, doctors can spend more time focusing on patient care. Many subscription-based providers limit the number of patients they serve, ensuring personalized attention. No Surprise Bills Unlike traditional healthcare systems, where bills can be confusing and unpredictable, subscription models offer clear pricing structures. Patients know exactly what they are paying for. Examples of Subscription-Based Healthcare Services Several companies and healthcare providers have embraced the subscription model , offering services tailored to different needs: Direct Primary Care (DPC) DPC practices charge a monthly fee, typically ranging from $50 to $150, covering a variety of primary care services. These include office visits, basic lab tests, and chronic disease management. Telehealth Platforms Companies like Teladoc and MDLIVE offer virtual healthcare subscriptions, providing access to doctors, mental health professionals, and specialists via video or phone calls. Specialized Care Subscriptions Some subscription services focus on specific areas like mental health (e.g., BetterHelp) or women’s health (e.g., Maven Clinic), catering to niche patient needs. How Subscription-Based Healthcare Benefits Employers Employers are also recognizing the value of subscription-based healthcare services. Many companies are offering these plans as part of their employee benefits packages to: Reduce overall healthcare costs Enhance employee satisfaction and retention Improve workplace productivity by ensuring employees have access to timely care Subscription-based models are especially attractive to small businesses that may struggle to afford traditional group insurance plans. Challenges and Considerations While subscription-based healthcare services have numerous advantages, they are not without challenges. Here are a few considerations: Limited Coverage Subscription models often focus on primary care and may not cover specialized treatments or hospitalizations. Patients may still need traditional insurance for catastrophic events. Regulatory Hurdles In some regions, regulatory frameworks are not yet equipped to handle this new model, potentially limiting its adoption. Scalability As more patients adopt subscription-based services, providers may face challenges in maintaining the personalized care that sets this model apart. The Future of Subscription-Based Healthcare The subscription-based healthcare model is poised for significant growth, driven by technological advancements and shifting patient preferences. Innovations such as artificial intelligence, wearable health devices, and data analytics can further enhance these services, making care more proactive and personalized. Additionally, as more individuals prioritize transparency and affordability, the demand for subscription-based healthcare is likely to rise. Policymakers and healthcare providers will need to collaborate to address regulatory barriers and ensure that these services are accessible to all. Conclusion Affordable subscription-based healthcare services represent a promising solution to the challenges of traditional healthcare systems. By offering cost predictability, improved access, and a focus on preventive care, this model has the potential to revolutionize how we approach medical costs. While it may not replace traditional insurance entirely, it serves as a valuable complement, providing individuals and families with an alternative path to managing their health. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, subscription-based services will undoubtedly play a crucial role in shaping a more equitable and efficient system for all. Related Items: Healthcare Services , Simplifying Medical Costs , Subscription-Based Healthcare Share Tweet Share Share Email Recommended for you Medical Expense Management: Simplifying Payments for Healthcare Services 5G Technology Explained: What It Means for Consumers and Businesses Navigating the Complexities of Life Care Planning in San Diego Comments
Earlier today, Bloomberg detailed Apple’s multi-year plan to ditch Qualcomm and debut its own modem technology in the iPhone and iPad. In a follow-up report this afternoon, Bloomberg says that Apple is also “investigating the idea of bringing cellular connectivity to the Mac for the first time” as part of these efforts. Apple is expected to debut the first version of its cellular modem next year in the iPhone SE 4, the iPhone 17 Air, and the base model iPad. The following year, it will debut a higher-end version of the chip with faster 5G connectivity for the iPhone 18 Pro. As part of this transition, Apple is also investigating bringing cellular to the Mac as soon as 2026: With its own modem in the pipeline, Apple is investigating the idea of bringing cellular connectivity to the Mac for the first time. That means users wouldn’t need Wi-Fi to get online. To date, that capability has been reserved for the iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad. But cellular connections are unlikely to come to the Mac before 2026, when Apple is planning a second-generation modem that includes support for faster speeds. Also in consideration is a cellular-equipped version of the Vision Pro: The company is also discussing bringing cellular support to headsets, including future models of the Vision Pro. Someday, the technology may also be used in lightweight augmented reality glasses, though such a device is years away. Check out our coverage from earlier today for more details on Apple’s modem plans. My favorite Mac accessories : Magic Keyboard with Touch ID (USB-C) OWC 11-Port Thunderbolt 4 Dock Magic Trackpad (USB-C) Satechi 200W 6-Port Charging Station Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe
How Technology is Impacting Personal Injury Cases in GeorgiaIsrael said Tuesday it had bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the wave of airstrikes in neighboring Syria was necessary to keep the weapons from being used against Israel following the Syrian government’s stunning collapse . Israel also acknowledged its troops were pushing into a border buffer zone inside Syria, which was established after the 1973 Mideast war. However, Israel denied its forces were advancing Tuesday toward the Syrian capital of Damascus. Life in the capital was slowly returning to normal after jihadi-led Syrian insurgents ousted President Bashar Assad over the weekend. People celebrated for a third day in a main square, and shops and banks reopened. The United States said Tuesday it would recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Syria's nearly 14-year civil war killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s prewar population of 23 million, becoming a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers. Here's the Latest: SAYDNAYA, Syria — Tens of thousands came to Saydnaya Prison from all over Syria after the fall of former President Bashar Assad to search for their loved ones. The place so notorious for its horrors was long known as “the slaughterhouse.” For the past two days, all have been looking for signs of loved ones who disappeared years or even decades ago into the secretive, sprawling prison just outside Damascus. But hope gave way to despair Monday. People opened the heavy iron doors lining the hallways to find cells inside empty. With sledgehammers, shovels and drills, men pounded holes in floors and walls, looking for what they believed were secret dungeons, or chasing sounds they thought they heard from underground. They found nothing. Insurgents freed dozens of people from the Saydnaya military prison on Sunday when Damascus fell. Since then, almost no one has been found. “Where is everyone? Where are everyone’s children? Where are they?” said Ghada Assad, breaking down in tears. An estimated 150,000 people were detained or went missing in Syria since 2011 — and tens of thousands of them are believed to have gone through Saydnaya. WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was on the ground in Syria on Tuesday, meeting with a Kurish-led, U.S.-allied force at several bases in the country's east, U.S. Central Command said. Army Gen. Erik Kurilla visited with U.S. military commanders and troops as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, and U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for details about his visit or with whom he met. U.S. officials said they did not know what his message to the SDF was. The U.S has about 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group. In a press release, Central Command said Kurilla received an “assessment of force protection measures, the rapidly evolving situation, and ongoing efforts to prevent ISIS from exploiting the current situation.” Kurilla then went on to Iraq where he met with leaders in Baghdad. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says it still getting reports about the looting of warehouses with humanitarian aid in a number of areas in Syria, including around the capital Damascus. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday that U.N. agencies and their partners are working to identify the extent of looting at the warehouses, including those of U.N. agencies and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Dujarric said U.N. aid officials report that “the humanitarian situation remains volatile across Syria, with reports of people continuing to be displaced.” Humanitarian officials reported that 25 trucks carrying U.N. aid crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria, which the situation is now relatively calm, the U.N. spokesman said. All 11 receptions opened in Idlib in the northwest to host newly displaced families were empty as of Monday, Dujarric said. In the northeast, he said, authorities report that as of Tuesday 100,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in Tal Rifaat and other parts of Aleppo governorate. Dujarric said the U.N.’s partners report that “reception centers in Tabqa and Raqqa have reached full capacity, and more than 200 sites – including municipal buildings, schools, mosques, and stadiums – are being used to accommodate newly displaced people.” BEIRUT — The Lebanese army said Tuesday that “unidentified gunmen” crossed the border from Syria into eastern Lebanon's Bekaa province and approached a Lebanese border post. In a statement, the army said the gunmen fired into the air and seized equipment from an evacuated Syrian army post in the outskirts of Kfar Fouq, near Rashaya al-Wadi, in the western part of Bekaa province. Lebanese army personnel responded with warning shots, forcing the group to retreat back into Syrian territory. The Lebanese army did not report any injuries or provide further details about the identity of the gunmen. WASHINGTON — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched multiple drones and a missile at three commercial ships being escorted in the Gulf of Aden by U.S. Navy ships, a U.S. official said Tuesday. There was no damage and no injuries. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said U.S. Navy destroyers, and Navy helicopter and a French Air Force aircraft shot down four of the drones and the missile. The three U.S. affiliated flagged ships were sailing east toward Djibouti. The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted shipping through the key waterway for more than a year, attacks they say are meant to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said it bombed more than 350 sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. There is concern that, with the sudden collapse of the Syrian government, weapons stockpiles could be seized by jihadi militants. Warplanes hit what Israel said were Syrian air defense systems, military airfields, missile depots, and dozens of weapons production sites in the cities of Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra, the Israeli army statement said. In naval operations overnight Monday, Israeli missile ships struck two Syrian navy facilities simultaneously — Al-Bayda port and Latakia port — where the army said 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked. Israeli did not specify how many Syrian naval vessels were hit. The private security firm Ambrey said it had seen evidence that at least six Soviet-era Syrian navy missile ships were hit. Israeli officials said earlier that Israel also targeted alleged chemical weapons sites. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Tuesday that his country’s military launched a wave of airstrikes across Syria to destroy the toppled government’s leftover “military capabilities,” and said Israel wants relations with the new government emerging Syria. Hours after Israeli warplanes pounded Syria, Netanyahu said Israeli doesn’t want to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs, but would take necessary steps to protect Israel's security and prevent jihadi militants from seizing the Syrian army assets. He warned that if the new Syrian government “allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us -- we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it.” He spoke in a video statement recorded at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, after his first day of testimony in his corruption trial. DAMASCUS, Syria — In Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syrians celebrated the fall of President Bashar Assad for the third day on Tuesday despite Israeli airstrikes across the country. Insurgents who recently took control of the capital city tried to impose a new rule banning the celebratory gunfire. There were a few violators, and much less deafening gunfire. Protesters climbed the square's central monument to wave the Syrian revolutionary flag. On the ground, crowds chanted: “Out with Bashar! Out with Bashar!” Assad fled to Russia over the weekend after a lightning rebel offensive toppled his brutal police state. Demonstrators from different provinces marched in the square in groups, celebrating Assad's fall. Men on motorcycles and horses paraded into the square. One woman from Idlib province shouted that the Israeli strikes ruined the joy of ousting Assad. “Why are you striking us? We just deposed a tyrant,” she said. “Give us peace. Leave us alone,” said Ahmed Jreida, 22, a dentist student, when asked about the Israeli airstrikes. Hamzeh Hamada, 22, said this was the first time he had gone out to a demonstration. “We want the country to get better, to live in dignity and be like other countries that respect citizens’ rights and where there are no bribes,” he said. “We have suffered a lot from bribes. ... We had to bribe people for very minor things; things that should be our right.” Abdul-Jalil Diab was taking a stroll with his brothers in another square in western Damascus. He said he came back from Jordan the day Damascus fell. He was there studying German to prepare to move to Germany and said he is now reconsidering his plans. He was ecstatic, saying words can’t describe how he feels. “We are happy to get rid of the corrupt regime that was based on bribes. The whole country feels better. Everyone is happy and celebrating,” Abdul-Jalil Diab said. QAMISHLI, Syria — Residents of northeast Syria in the area around Qamishli airport said Tuesday they heard explosions overnight after an airstrike hit trucks loaded with rockets and ammunition that were heading to a military base in Tartab. “We don’t know the story. It was only in the morning when we realized they are trucks loaded with ammunition, leftovers of the former army, the regime,” said Ibrahim al-Thalaj, who lives near the base. He said residents assumed that the strikes were Israeli. Israel has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes across Syria targeting military infrastructure after Syrian insurgents toppled the government of Bashar Assad. However, Turkish security officials said Tuesday that the strike in Qamishli was carried out by Turkey, targeting weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian army and seized by Syrian Kurdish militants. The explosions lasted for over 20 minutes after the strike, and many houses in the surrounding area were damaged as a result, residents of the area said. “We just felt a strike hitting. It hit the first one (truck) and we saw the other trucks retreating back, and from there rockets and shells started flying over,” said Hamid al-Asaad, an eyewitness from Qub al-Zeki village in Qamishli. “We were sitting when these explosions started to hit the house,” said Mahmoud Hamza of Tartab. “It was hitting randomly and we didn’t know where it was coming from. ... Once we got out of our house, a rocket hit the house.” There were no details released by the local Kurdish administration regarding the explosions, but members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces blocked the road to the base. BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomat is concerned that Syria might violently fall apart like neighboring Iraq, or Libya and Afghanistan if its territorial integrity and the rights of minorities are not protected. “The transition will present huge challenges in Syria and in the region,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told European lawmakers on Tuesday during a special hearing. “There are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence, extremist resurgence and the governance vacuum, all of which must be averted. We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan,” she said. “The rights of all Syrians, including those of many minority groups, must be protected,” she said. “It is crucial to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria, and to respect its independence, its sovereignty, as well as the state institutions.” Kallas also said the collapse of the government has shown that Assad’s backers in Russia and Iran “could neither afford to do it any longer, nor had any interest of being present in the aftermath.” “They are weakened, distracted and overstretched in other theaters in the broader Middle East, but also in Ukraine,” she said. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s intelligence agency, MIT, has attacked a convoy of trucks that was allegedly carrying missiles, heavy weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian government and reportedly seized by Syrian Kurdish militias, Turkish security officials said Tuesday. The officials said 12 trucks, two tanks and two ammunition depots were “destroyed” in aerial strikes in the city of Qamishli, near the border with Turkey in northeast Syria. The officials provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish regulations. They did not say when the attack occurred. The officials said the intelligence agency detected that weapons left by the Syrian government forces were being moved to warehouses belonging to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Defense Units, or YPG. Turkey views the group as a terrorist organization because of its links to the banned Kurdish militants that have led a decadeslong insurgency in Turkey. According to the officials, he group was allegedly planning to use the equipment and supplies against Turkish security forces. By Suzan Fraser WASHINGTON — The White House is signaling its approval of Israel’s strikes against Syrian military and alleged chemical weapons targets and the seizure of a buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights after the fall of the Assad government. “These are exigent operations to eliminate what they believe are imminent threats to their national security,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday, saying the U.S. would leave it up to the Israelis to discuss details of their operations. “They have as always the right to defend themselves,” Kirby said. He declined to detail and U.S. intelligence cooperation with the Israelis that went into the strikes. Kirby said the White House was reasserting its support of the 1974 Golan Heights disengagement agreement, but didn’t criticize the Israeli seizure of the demilitarized zone. Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely , citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it will recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. would work with groups in Syria and regional partners to ensure that the transition from President Bashar Assad’s deposed government runs smoothly. He was not specific about which groups the U.S. would work with. Blinken says Syrians should decide their future and that other countries should “support an inclusive and transparent process” and not interfere. “The United States will recognize and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process,” he said. “We stand prepared to lend all appropriate support to all of Syria’s diverse communities and constituencies.” DAMASCUS, Syria — Jihad Mustafa Shibani was taking his new motorcycle for a spin with a friend around the house of the deposed Syrian president in western Damascus on Tuesday. Shibani was released from prison a week before the capital Damascus fell, after he served two years on charges of buying his motorcycle using foreign currency on accusations he was dealing in dollars. He was tortured for 15 days and and given a quick trial where he was sentenced for two years, he said. He was released the day Aleppo fell to the insurgents. “Everything was banned in Syria. The (Assad loyalists) only could use it,” Shibani said. He said he has never been to this neighborhood, because it was taken over by Assad, his family and supporters. “For 50 years, my family’s house is near here, and we don’t know anything about it. ... The Syrian people had been oppressed, you can’t imagine.” Shibani said he has no fear of the rebel newcomers who have taken control of the country. “We are not afraid. There can be no one more unjust than Bashar. Impossible.” BEIRUT — Lebanon’s prime minister is in contact with security and judicial officials to follow up on reports that senior members of President Bashar Assad’s government have fled to Lebanon. Najib Mikati’s office quoted him as saying that Lebanon abides by international laws regarding people who cross its borders. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said that several top security officials have entered Lebanon over the past two days. Abdurrahman added that Syria’s former intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, who is wanted in Lebanon over two bombings in 2012 in the northern city of Tripoli that killed dozens, was allegedly brought to Lebanon by the Hezbollah militant group and was staying in a southern suburb of Beirut where the group has deep support. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, whose ministry is in charge of border crossings, told reporters Tuesday that no person who is wanted in Lebanon entered the country through legal border crossings. There are dozens of illegal border crossings between Lebanon and Syria where people are usually smuggled in and out of Lebanon, but it was not possible to independently confirm whether Mamlouk had entered Lebanon. GENEVA — The United Nations says humanitarian operations in two major areas in northwestern Syria have resumed, deploying food, medical supplies, fuel and other needed services and supplies. Spokesman Jens Laerke of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that some health facilities were “overwhelmed” – in part due to staff shortages – and many border crossings have been closed, disrupting supply chains. OCHA said humanitarian operations in some parts of northwestern Syria were put on hold in the early days of the recent escalation, and resumed on Monday. “As of yesterday, all humanitarian organizations in Idlib and northern Aleppo have resumed operations,” Laerke told reporters at a U.N. briefing in Geneva. He said the three border crossings from Turkey used by the U.N. to deliver assistance into Syria remain open and “we are providing assistance in the northwest, including to those who have been newly displaced.” Even before the latest escalation, which led President Bashar Assad to flee the country, nearly 17 million people in Syria needed humanitarian assistance. More than 1 million have been displaced across Idlib, Aleppo, Hama and Homs since the escalation. JERUSALEM — Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel's military destroyed Syria’s fleet overnight and intends to establish a demilitarized zone “in southern Syria” to prevent attacks on Israel. He also issued a warning to Syria’s rebels, saying that “whoever follows Assad’s path will end up like Assad — we will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel across its border while putting its citizens at risk.” Speaking at a naval base in Haifa, Katz said the Israeli navy “operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet and with great success.” Video showing the smoking wreckage of what appeared to be small Syrian naval ships in the port at Latakia was broadcast by Saudi-owned television station Al-Hadath on Tuesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has closely tracked the conflict since the civil war erupted in 2011, said Israel targeted Syrian warships, military warehouses and an air-defense facility on the coast. Katz added that he had instructed the army to establish a “defense zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence, in order to prevent terrorism in Syria from taking root and organizing.” It was unclear if the demilitarized zone would reach beyond the buffer zone that Israel has taken over in the border area. Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely , citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. DAMASCUS, Syria — Members of the Syrian government under ousted President Bashar Assad will gradually transfer power to a new transitional cabinet headed by Mohammed al-Bashir. The departing government met with al-Bashir for the first time since Assad fled Damascus over the weekend. Al-Bashir had previously led the “salvation government” running the rebel stronghold in northwest Syria. Al-Bashir told reporters after the meeting that the ministers discussed transferring the portfolios to the interim government during the transitional period until the beginning of March. He said that in the coming days the new government will decide on each ministry. DAMASCUS, Syria — Banks and shops are reopening in Damascus after the chaos and confusion of the first two days following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Sadi Ahmad, manager of Syria Gulf Bank, said life is returning to normal. A customer who came to withdraw money from an ATM was surprised to see it functioning. At the historic Hamadiyeh market, fighters who seized power were still standing guard but shops had reopened — even an ice cream stand. Resident Maysoun Al-Qurabi said she was initially “against what happened,” referring to the insurgency, but changed her mind after seeing footage of rebels releasing inmates from the notorious Saydnaya prison. “People are at ease and secure now,” she said. “Before, people were hungry and scared.” DAMASCUS, Syria — Minority Christians in Syria have been living in a state of uneasy anticipation since insurgents headed by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham took control after ousting President Bashar Assad. Mazen Kalash, a resident of Bab Touma, a Christian neighborhood in Damascus, said he wants to know the plans of the new government that will be formed by the rebels. “The important thing is to feel safe, bring order, law and respect to the citizens,” he said. “We need to be able to work whatever we want and do whatever we want without any interference from anyone.” The insurgents have so far attempted to reassure minorities that they will be protected. Large numbers of Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population, fled after the civil war erupted in 2011. Many of those who stayed supported Assad out of fear they might be targeted by Islamist insurgents. TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at media during testimony at his corruption trial, which involves media moguls. “There has never been such a biased media in any democracy ... as there is in Israel,” Netanyahu told the court, describing his testy relationship with the press. He is accused of exchanging regulatory favors with media bosses for more positive coverage of himself and his family. He has denied wrongdoing. GENEVA — The U.N. envoy for Syria says armed groups that drove out President Bashar Assad have “been sending good messages” about national unity and inclusiveness but acknowledges that a Security Council resolution still counts the leading one as a terrorist group. With Syria’s future and stability still very much in flux since Assad’s departure over the weekend, Geir Pedersen suggested that the international community needs to help the country get through this turbulent moment. “We are still in what I would call a very fluid period. Things are not settled,” Pedersen told reporters at U.N. offices in Geneva on Tuesday. “There is a real opportunity for change, but this opportunity needs to be grasped by the Syrians themselves and supported by the U.N. and the international community.” Referring to Israeli military strikes in Syria, Pedersen said it was “extremely important that we now don’t see any action from any international country that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place.” The insurgents are led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which grew out of an al-Qaida-affiliate called the Nusra Front that the Security Council listed as a terror group in a 2015 resolution. “This is obviously a complicating factor for all of us,” Pedersen said. “But we also have to be honest, we have to look at the facts and to see what has happened during the last nine years.” “The reality so far is that the HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people,” he said. “They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness, and frankly speaking, also, we have seen in (the captured cities of) Aleppo and in Hama ... reassuring things on the ground." Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency and the founder of both groups Nusra and HTS, cut ties with al-Qaida in 2016 and says he is committed to pluralism and religious tolerance. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey has “strongly” condemned Israel’s advance into Syrian territory, saying it was in violation of a 1974 agreement on a buffer zone inside Syria. “We strongly condemn Israel’s violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, its entry into the separation zone between Israel and Syria, and its advance into Syrian territory,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry accused Israel of “displaying a mentality of an occupier” at a time when the possibility of peace and stability had emerged in Syria. The statement also reiterated Turkey’s support to Syria’s “sovereignty, political unity, and territorial integrity.” Israeli troops on Sunday entered the buffer zone that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war and the military said it would deploy in “several other places necessary for (Israel’s’) defense.” TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he works 17 to 18 hours a day and that he is engulfed in meetings, especially during the past year that Israel has been fighting wars. Netanyahu was testifying in his long-running corruption trial. He has denied charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. “If only I could steal away five minutes to enjoy some time with my wife,” he told the court Tuesday. TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli military official says troops plan to seize a buffer zone inside Syria as well as “a few more points that have strategic meaning.” The official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The official dismissed reports of a larger Israeli invasion as “rumors.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces were moving to control a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory. The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the U.N. after the 1973 Mideast war. Following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad, Israel sent troops into the buffer zone. It said the move was temporary and was aimed at preventing attacks. It said the 1974 agreement establishing the zone had collapsed and that Syrian troops had withdrawn from their positions. Israel has also carried out airstrikes across Syria in recent days targeting what it says are suspected chemical weapons and long-range rockets. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have condemned Israel’s incursion, accusing it of exploiting the disarray in Syria and violating international law. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community, except for the United States. The rest of the world views the strategic plateau as occupied Syrian territory. — By Joseph Krauss DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel’s air force has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in different parts of Syria as its ground forces move north of the Golan Heights along the border with Lebanon, according to an opposition war monitor. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that since the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government, Israel’s air force has carried out more than 300 airstrikes against research centers, arms depots and military infrastructure across Syria, as well as a naval base along the Mediterranean coast. Associated Press journalists in Damascus witnessed intense airstrikes on the city and its suburbs overnight into Tuesday morning. Photographs posted online by activists showed destroyed missile launchers, helicopters and warplanes. Meanwhile, Israeli troops marched along the border with Lebanon and now control a long stretch on the Syrian side facing Lebanon’s Rashaya region, according to the war monitor's head, Rami Abdurrahman, and the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Syria. Israeli troops are now about 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Damascus, according to the monitor. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia has condemned Israel’s incursion into a buffer zone in Syria and a wave of Israeli airstrikes launched after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that “the assaults carried out by the Israeli occupation government, including the seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, and the targeting of Syrian territory confirm Israel’s continued violation of the principles of international law and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity.” Israel sent troops into a buffer zone inside Syria that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war. It said the move was temporary and was taken to prevent any cross-border attacks after Syrian troops withdrew. Israel has also carried out heavy airstrikes that it says are aimed at preventing suspected chemical weapons and long-range rockets from falling into the hands of extremists. Saudi Arabia has been in talks with the United States in recent years over normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for a U.S. defense pact, American assistance in establishing a civilian nuclear program and a pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state. But the kingdom has also repeatedly condemned Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, where it is at war with the Hamas militant group. Last month, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and day-to-day ruler Mohammed bin Salman accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza , allegations Israel adamantly rejects.Manmohan Singh’s Vision Transformed AP Villages and Industrial Growth
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ENTRUSTED with our readers’ deep secrets, the Dear Deidre team really have a unique insight into what dilemmas the nation is grappling with. Of course, there are some constants — cheating, differing sex drives, low self-esteem and loneliness. But some issues loom larger in certain years as new problems come to the fore. As 2024 nears an end, we take a look at what exactly our readers have been writing in about. Every year, we help thousands of people by answering every single dilemma with a personalised answer, and we’ve kept a record of the issues we’ve tackled. Relationship issues consistently come out on top, with 23 per cent of the emails Dear Deidre receives focused on romantic problems. READ MORE DEAR DEIDRE Sex came a close second, with 19 per cent of readers writing in with a sexual dilemma. Interestingly, half of every single relationship message addressed cheating. Sometimes, the unfaithful party would be writing in, otherwise a suspicious or heartbroken partner worried about their relationship . Among the emails about cheating on partners, home surveillance and doorbell cameras featured more prominently, with some partners forgetting to turn off cameras before inviting flings to come back to their homes . Most read in The Sun A growing number of readers also wrote in because, although they were separated, financial constraints meant they could not move out of the marital home. The reluctant house sharers were frustrated at being unable to move on — a trend that reflects economic uncertainty in the UK. Notable developments this year have been new requests for support with quitting vaping . Another new issue came in the form of pensioners worrying about losing their winter fuel allowance. Social media has been a common theme in all the categories. It is impossible to quantify but has had a huge impact. So many of the relationship problems relate to partners ogling scantily clad influencers or flirting with others they have met online. Plenty don’t see this as cheating but the feeling of betrayal is real for those on the receiving end. And it’s not just cheating that worries people. Time spent watching endless videos encourages weird infatuations, with one woman complaining her husband had become obsessed with the French election. Opportunity for temptation He insisted they spend their family holiday in France watching speeches — and had previously had no interest in politics . The issue of phone addiction came up, particularly for parents fretting about not only what their children were being exposed to, but also how their mobile activity was affecting their own behaviour. They asked our team for help on how to manage this. And a huge number of adults wrote in fed up with their partner, who had little interest in them but spent all hours playing online games or scrolling through their socials. It’s clear that while technology enables us to do far more and do it efficiently, left unchecked it threatens our real-world connections and provides more opportunity for temptation. Next year, I will be recording when social media, phone usage and the internet are mentioned as part of the problem, and I predict this will be a huge growth area. Below is a reader’s letter about ogling, followed by one about winter fuel allowance. I also break down what percentages of our mail different types of letter make up. Mortified after ex saw me having sex on security cam (Letter from November 14) DEAR DEIDRE: MY ex saw me having sex with a one-night stand using the camera security system he’d installed as a favour to me. I was completely unaware that he was watching this, until he turned up the next morning and got very upset with me. Originally, I was grateful for his help setting up the system, but now I feel really uncomfortable. He said he’d received an alert on his phone and checked it by chance, but I can’t help worrying he’s keeping an eye on me. He insists he hasn’t been watching and that was a one-off, but the whole experience has really unsettled me. I’m 36, my ex is 39, and we were together for eight years before we broke up five months ago. Our split was both mutually agreed, and amicable, and we decided to remain friends. We still met up and sometimes even had sex, but as we didn’t discuss what this meant I thought we were simply friends with benefits . I really appreciated still having him in my life. When I was moving house, he offered to help, knowing how useless I am at DIY. He helped put up shelves, and installed security cameras which he set up online so I could view them through an app. I knew he had access to it all while he set it up but assumed he’d log out. So when I brought a man home, I didn’t think twice. Now I feel mortified. He says he didn’t mean to breach my privacy, but I feel so conflicted. DEIDRE SAYS: Watching you have sex with another man was a huge breach of your privacy, and you shouldn’t take it lightly. As a priority, please ensure that you are the only one with access to your security system. Make sure you’re the primary account holder and change your password so that he doesn’t have access. It’s completely understandable that this experience has made you question the sort of person he is. Unless you decide you can trust him completely, you would be wise to stay away. At the very least, it’s clear that the lines are blurred between you and your ex and some boundaries need to be re-established. As for your relationship with him, you need to decide if there’s any hope of a future together. If you decide there’s not, it would be best to step away so you can both move on. My support pack Moving On will help. Left freezing since losing fuel payment (Letter from December 18) DEAR DEIDRE : SINCE the Government cut my Winter Fuel Payment , I’ve been struggling to afford my bills . Now I’m forced to choose between putting my heating on or buying food, and the stress is making me unwell. I’m a 76-year-old pensioner, and live alone. Until this year, I was receiving £200 payments to cover the cost of my heating bills, and I heavily relied on it. So when the Government announced the change, I went into a complete panic. My pension is already low as it is, so without the extra payments I knew it was going to be a hard couple of months. When I contacted the council for help, they told me that, while I was eligible to apply, I had missed the deadline so now I’d have to go without. Ever since, my life has been an absolute nightmare. Now I wake up every morning to a freezing house – and no matter what I do, I can’t keep warm. The constant dread is getting me down, and I’m now struggling to cope. DEIDRE SAYS: I can only imagine how distressing this must be for you. While the qualifying week for this year’s Fuel Payment has now passed, you may still be eligible if you successfully apply for Pension Credit by December 21. READ MORE SUN STORIES Please note that you only have two days to do this, so please take action today. You may also be eligible for a £150 Warm Home Discount. You can find out more about this on the government website ( gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme ). TOP TOPICS: Relationships 23% Sex 19% Family 8% Parenting 7% Friendships 4% Workplace issues 5% Mental health 11% Health 5% Addictions 8% Bereavement 5% Sexuality 4% Other 1% SEX WOES Sex drive 43% Fetishes 16% Threesomes 12% Erection problems 11% Fantasies 7% Climaxing 4% Menopause 3% Other 4% LOVE Cheating 49% Domestic abuse 12% Addictive love 10% Broken heart 14% Online romance 6% Age gaps 5% Other 4% ADDICTION Alcohol 42% Porn 22% Drugs 13% Smoking 8% Vaping 5% Gambling 9% Shopping and spending 1%
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Chinese curbs on exports of three niche metals to the US have already rattled the market. Now, a bigger clampdown looks set to have far-reaching ramifications for supply chains feeding American defense and chip-making industries. Beijing this month slapped a ban on US-bound exports of gallium, germanium and antimony in a tit-for-tat move in a technology trade war. The metals are important because they have crucial uses in many Western industries from military tech to semiconductors to satellites. The ban may seem symbolic at first, given restrictions imposed more than a year ago had wiped out direct exports of Chinese gallium and germanium to the US. That pushed up prices and made it harder for traders to source buffer stocks. Yet panic levels are rising, because this time Beijing could crimp supplies further with rules prohibiting foreign companies and countries from helping US manufacturers to evade the controls. For instance, the measures could prevent international firms from reprocessing Chinese gallium, germanium and antimony in third countries, and then selling those products into the US. End buyers of those metals — such as the chip, aerospace and defence sectors — may have little choice but to try to use less, recycle more or strike deals with the few Western companies who can potentially start new production. There are also worries that other critical materials could be targeted if tensions escalate. Chinese metal that has been reprocessed elsewhere and re-routed to the US has offered a lifeline for American manufacturers, particularly in the gallium market. But those flows will probably dwindle as suppliers fear reprisals from Beijing, according to people with knowledge of the trade, who asked not to be identified due to the commercially sensitive nature of the matter. The tiny size of those markets and limited companies participating in them mean such sales would be easy to track, and being blacklisted by China would have huge repercussions for firms involved, the people said. It will be relatively easier for China to stop gallium shipments via third countries, given it’s a niche market, said Uchi Wakaaki, director of overseas business at Wing Co., Japan’s largest importer of the metal. Wing’s imports from China have halved this year due to the knock-on impact of trade curbs, he said. The impact on supply chains will vary, but traders, analysts and suppliers broadly expect Beijing’s ban to materially tighten global markets and boost metal prices in the coming months. Prices are already high. Germanium — which is over 300 times more expensive than copper — and antimony have hit records, while gallium is at a 13-year high , data from Fastmarkets show. Chipmaker Intel Corp. said the ban won’t significantly threaten production given its global supply sources. But since last year’s restrictions, several niche manufacturers in the sector have warned of risks for securing components or selling their products if they become more expensive to make. They include French night-vision technology company Exosens SAS and Lumentum Holdings Inc., which makes lasers for the semiconductor, defense and renewables sectors. AXT Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer that produces gallium products in China to supply US plants, said in some cases the government hasn’t issued export licenses, and shipments have been delayed. Exosens and Lumentum didn’t respond to requests for comment about the impact of this month’s ban. A spokesperson for AXT also didn’t respond to an email requesting comment, and a message left on the company’s general voicemail wasn’t replied to. In the longer term, industry insiders say the challenge will be securing new or alternative supplies, and finding refiners who can transform them into extremely pure forms that manufacturers need. There’s also the question of whether China could target other commodities. It’s the dominant supplier of dozens of critical minerals, but analysts and traders are focusing on ones that have key applications in the defense sector, and which the US doesn’t produce in meaningful volumes. Possible candidates include hafnium, zirconium, tungsten, titanium, and indium, they said. “Industries that have never had an issue around material availability are all of a sudden waking up to the fact that there might be one,” said Ionut Lazar, principal consultant at researcher CRU Group. “For the smaller manufacturers who are really heavily reliant on that material being available — almost regardless of the price — that’s the concern.” Drawing on views from producers, traders, manufacturers and consultants, here’s a metal-by-metal breakdown of how China is exposing pinch points in the West’s defense and chip-making supply chains — and the impact: Gallium Like fellow minor metals germanium and antimony, gallium is typically extracted as byproduct from mining and refining mainstream commodities like zinc, copper, aluminum and gold. Annual gallium output totals less than 1,000 tons, with China producing virtually all of it. To highlight the minuscule market, China’s aluminum industry — which pumps out gallium as a byproduct — makes more than 40 million tons each year. The nation is so dominant because in addition to being by far the top aluminum producer, its refiners are also required by law to recover gallium. “If you really wanted to throttle a market, it would make sense to start there,” said Jack Bedder, founder of critical minerals consultancy Project Blue. “We’re still nowhere near the levels of muscle that China could flex in this space if it really wanted to.” International producers could in theory raise gallium production by investing in ways to extract it as a byproduct. Rio Tinto Group last week said it’s looking into whether that’s worth doing in Canada, and Metlen Energy & Metals SA is exploring something similar in Greece. Despite gallium’s price, some prospective producers are hesitant to invest and have sought commitments from US and European governments to fund projects. Some refiners also want minimum-price guarantees from manufacturers in return for long-term deals, people familiar with the matter said. That’s because suppliers are worried that prices could collapse if China lifts export restrictions or metal flows though prohibited channels. That’s a particular concern for gallium since China produced more than the world needed before the ban, meaning it risks building a domestic glut. Germanium Germanium is one example of how trade restrictions — including sanctions affecting Russian metals and mining — are shutting international merchants out of the market, reducing their role as suppliers of last resort in times like this. Alongside a handful of Chinese producers and a few alternative ones overseas, supplies of minor metals have traditionally been controlled by a group of specialist traders primarily operating out of London, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. They’ve historically built inventories when supplies are ample, before waiting — sometimes for years — to sell them when metal becomes scarce. But since China’s restrictions last year, many have been frozen out of the affected metals, with customs officials only approving shipments to established end users, according to people familiar with the matter. Germanium and gallium exports to traders’ main storage hubs in the Netherlands and Hong Kong have collapsed to zero, trade data show. That means less available metal on hand. Take Suzannah Lipmann’s family owned firm, famous among London’s tight-knit network of minor metals traders for having virtually every rare mineral in stock. Lipmann Walton & Co. no longer includes germanium on its list, having stepped out of that market for now in response to tightening trade restrictions. “Normally, the trade would find a way to solve these types of shortages if you leave it be,” said Lipmann, whose family has traded minor metals for three generations. “In a geopolitical crisis, normally the one thing that keeps on flowing is metal.” With traders ill-equipped to plug the gap, manufacturers have been tapping their own buffer stocks, seeking to lock in additional supplies from a handful of alternative Western refiners and asking governments for help in building more resilient supply chains. Beijing’s grip on germanium is looser than it is for gallium, but is still a concern for the US as it seeks to become less reliant on Chinese supplies. After China’s curbs last year, the Biden administration sent diplomats to Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo to shore up critical mineral supplies for domestic manufacturers, including defense and aerospace contractors who need extremely pure forms of germanium to keep satellites in orbit and missiles on target. It’s only the beginning of China’s “attempts to assert its dominance on critical minerals,” Jose Fernandez, US under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment, said in Brussels this month. “I’m anticipating this will not be the last time we need to address this issue.” The US once dominated germanium supply more than China does today. Cold War-era scientists pioneered a process that made it one of the purest materials ever — with impurities reaching just one in every 10 trillion atoms. Umicore SA, which transforms germanium for use in high-tech products like thermal-imaging systems and radiation detectors, has partnered with Congo to process the metal from mine-waste dumps there in a deal brokered by US authorities. A key question is how quickly it can boost supplies. “This partnership is part of our overall strategy to diversify our supply sources and to strengthen the supply chain,” said Umicore, which has historically had agreements for large Chinese supplies. “We are confident that our sourcing strategy and our supply portfolio are sufficiently robust to secure continued operations and supplies to our customers.” Antimony Like many minor metals, antimony — widely used in munitions — has been oversupplied for much of this century as China’s rapid industrial expansion boosted output. But that has been changing in recent years as the county’s geological reserves shrink. While illicit exports via Vietnam in the past helped ease supply squeezes, better border monitoring and supply chain auditing by Western manufacturers have seen so-called border leakages drop in recent years, according to CRU. Looking ahead, such flows are “probably going to be more and more difficult,” said Willis Thomas, a principal consultant at CRU. The few deposits developed in countries like Tajikistan, Myanmar and Turkey aren’t large enough to make up for the shortfall in Chinese supply, and the big worry is when and where any new mines will be found. The only known US deposit sits in an abandoned gold mining region in Idaho and the US Defense Department has supported developer Perpetua Resources Corp. to help start production . That could reduce America’s antimony shortage, potentially contributing more than 30% of its needs. The problem is that development could take years and much more is needed to plug the global shortfall. Many end users remain worried about supplies. “At the time China made this announcement, we started getting an avalanche of calls from the Defense Department,” said Gary Evans, head of United States Antimony Corp, which runs a smelter in Montana that’s operating at about 50% of capacity due to a raw ore shortage. “The hard part is finding supply. We’ve been on the phone the last 120 days with companies trying to find supply.” Read More: China’s niche metals export ban lifts prospects for Canadian firmsBy HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, Associated Press For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhinoceros might come out as “rineanswsaurs” or sarcastic as “srkastik.” The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can sound out words, but her dyslexia makes the process so draining that she often struggles with comprehension. “I just assumed I was stupid,” she recalled of her early grade school years. But assistive technology powered by artificial intelligence has helped her keep up with classmates. Last year, Makenzie was named to the National Junior Honor Society. She credits a customized AI-powered chatbot, a word prediction program and other tools that can read for her. “I would have just probably given up if I didn’t have them,” she said. Artificial intelligence holds the promise of helping countless other students with a range of visual, speech, language and hearing impairments to execute tasks that come easily to others. Schools everywhere have been wrestling with how and where to incorporate AI , but many are fast-tracking applications for students with disabilities. Getting the latest technology into the hands of students with disabilities is a priority for the U.S. Education Department, which has told schools they must consider whether students need tools like text-to-speech and alternative communication devices. New rules from the Department of Justice also will require schools and other government entities to make apps and online content accessible to those with disabilities. There is concern about how to ensure students using it — including those with disabilities — are still learning. Students can use artificial intelligence to summarize jumbled thoughts into an outline, summarize complicated passages, or even translate Shakespeare into common English. And computer-generated voices that can read passages for visually impaired and dyslexic students are becoming less robotic and more natural. “I’m seeing that a lot of students are kind of exploring on their own, almost feeling like they’ve found a cheat code in a video game,” said Alexis Reid, an educational therapist in the Boston area who works with students with learning disabilities. But in her view, it is far from cheating : “We’re meeting students where they are.” Ben Snyder, a 14-year-old freshman from Larchmont, New York, who was recently diagnosed with a learning disability, has been increasingly using AI to help with homework. “Sometimes in math, my teachers will explain a problem to me, but it just makes absolutely no sense,” he said. “So if I plug that problem into AI, it’ll give me multiple different ways of explaining how to do that.” He likes a program called Question AI. Earlier in the day, he asked the program to help him write an outline for a book report — a task he completed in 15 minutes that otherwise would have taken him an hour and a half because of his struggles with writing and organization. But he does think using AI to write the whole report crosses a line. “That’s just cheating,” Ben said. Schools have been trying to balance the technology’s benefits against the risk that it will do too much. If a special education plan sets reading growth as a goal, the student needs to improve that skill. AI can’t do it for them, said Mary Lawson, general counsel at the Council of the Great City Schools. But the technology can help level the playing field for students with disabilities, said Paul Sanft, director of a Minnesota-based center where families can try out different assistive technology tools and borrow devices. “There are definitely going to be people who use some of these tools in nefarious ways. That’s always going to happen,” Sanft said. “But I don’t think that’s the biggest concern with people with disabilities, who are just trying to do something that they couldn’t do before.” Another risk is that AI will track students into less rigorous courses of study. And, because it is so good at identifying patterns , AI might be able to figure out a student has a disability. Having that disclosed by AI and not the student or their family could create ethical dilemmas, said Luis Pérez, the disability and digital inclusion lead at CAST, formerly the Center for Applied Specialized Technology. Schools are using the technology to help students who struggle academically, even if they do not qualify for special education services. In Iowa, a new law requires students deemed not proficient — about a quarter of them — to get an individualized reading plan. As part of that effort, the state’s education department spent $3 million on an AI-driven personalized tutoring program. When students struggle, a digital avatar intervenes. More AI tools are coming soon. The U.S. National Science Foundation is funding AI research and development. One firm is developing tools to help children with speech and language difficulties. Called the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, it is headquartered at the University of Buffalo, which did pioneering work on handwriting recognition that helped the U.S. Postal Service save hundreds of millions of dollars by automating processing. “We are able to solve the postal application with very high accuracy. When it comes to children’s handwriting, we fail very badly,” said Venu Govindaraju, the director of the institute. He sees it as an area that needs more work, along with speech-to-text technology, which isn’t as good at understanding children’s voices, particularly if there is a speech impediment. Sorting through the sheer number of programs developed by education technology companies can be a time-consuming challenge for schools. Richard Culatta, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, said the nonprofit launched an effort this fall to make it easier for districts to vet what they are buying and ensure it is accessible. Makenzie wishes some of the tools were easier to use. Sometimes a feature will inexplicably be turned off, and she will be without it for a week while the tech team investigates. The challenges can be so cumbersome that some students resist the technology entirely. But Makenzie’s mother, Nadine Gilkison, who works as a technology integration supervisor at Franklin Township Community School Corporation in Indiana, said she sees more promise than downside. In September, her district rolled out chatbots to help special education students in high school. She said teachers, who sometimes struggled to provide students the help they needed, became emotional when they heard about the program. Until now, students were reliant on someone to help them, unable to move ahead on their own. “Now we don’t need to wait anymore,” she said. The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.