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Texas judge strikes down preventative care requirements

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal judge in Texas who previously ruled the entire Affordable Care Act was illegal,  struck down a narrower but key part of the nation’s health law Thursday that requires most insurers to cover preventive services including screenings for cancer, diabetes and mental health.Other no-cost services, including HIV screenings, are also impacted under the ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor that opponents say will jeopardize preventive care for millions of Americans.Experts cautioned that insurers are unlikely to stop any coverage immediately. The Biden administration was expected to appeal and seek a stay of the ruling.“This is not the potential fatal blow to the ACA like previous court cases, but it would limit a very popular benefit that tens of millions of people use,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.The decision comes more than four years after O’Connor, a nominee...

Boston’s COVID data continues to fall, Massachusetts virus cases and hospitalizations trending down

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

Boston’s COVID cases, hospitalizations and wastewater keeps falling, as state health officials on Thursday also reported a dip in new virus cases and declining hospitalizations.In the city, the number of new COVID cases has decreased 17% over the past week, and virus hospitalizations have gone down 12%.The seven-day average of new virus cases is now 3.1 cases per 100,000, and Boston hospitals reported a weekly count of 95 new hospital admissions.Data from the Boston Public Health Commission’s wastewater surveillance program shows that the number of COVID particles in the wastewater declined 21% over the past week.Related ArticlesHealth | Franklin & Weinstein: Americans’ health big reason for high COVID death rate Health | Boston COVID wastewater data keeps dropping, Massachusetts virus cases down 20% Health | Gathering for St. Patrick’s Day? Boston health officials recommend wearing a mask as COVID cases go down ...

Bad Bunny says first onscreen kiss with a man ‘was very cool’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

By Karu F. DanielsKissing another man for the world to see wasn’t a thing for Bad Bunny with his upcoming role in the true life drama “Cassandro.”In fact, the Reggaetón superstar — whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — referred to it as “badass.”Gracing the very first cover of Time Magazine with all Spanish text, Bad Bunny opened up about his first onscreen movie kiss, which happened to be with the film’s leading man.“It was cabrón (badass). My first kiss for a movie and it was with a man,” he said.“That’s the penalty I get for being with so many women during my life,” Bad Bunny — currently romantically linked to model Kendall Jenner — then joked.In the Roger Ross Williams-directed film, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Festival in January, Bad Bunny portrays Gael García Bernal’s love interest in the story about the openly gay Mexican wrestler known as “Liberace of Lucha Libre.”And Bad Bunny took his part in “Cassandro” seriously.“If you’re acting, you’re being som...

Florida OKs bill to carry concealed guns without a permit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Floridians will be able to carry concealed guns without a permit under a bill the Legislature sent to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday. The governor said at a suburban Atlanta gun store that he will sign the bill.The Senate passed the bill on a 27-13 vote. It will allow anyone who can legally own a gun in Florida to carry one without a permit. It means training and a background check will not be needed for people to carry concealed guns in public.The arguments over the legislation were divided on political lines, with Republicans saying law-abiding citizens have a right to carry guns and protect themselves and Democrats saying a state that has seen horrific mass shootings such as the Parkland high school and Pulse nightclub massacres will become even more dangerous.“The second amendment of the Constitution gives its people the right to keep and bear arms. It doesn’t say if you have a permit; it doesn’t say if you’ve gone through tra...

Legal changes would require explanation for questionable wealth in B.C.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

VICTORIA — People or companies in British Columbia will need to explain how they obtained their cash, fancy homes, cars and luxury goods if there’s a suspicion they came from criminal activity. The provincial government has tabled changes to its Civil Forfeiture Act that would allow for the creation of unexplained wealth orders to help prevent money laundering by those who hide their assets in goods or through family members or associates. If there is reason to suspect property was used in or acquired through crime or the person doesn’t appear to have sufficient income to own what they have, a B.C. Supreme Court judge could require them to explain their income sources.Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Thursday organized crime and money laundering techniques have become increasingly sophisticated, so the province has to become more agile.“Too many people are recruited into organized crime with dreams of exotic cars, fancy homes and glamorous lifestyle. It i...

U.S. argues for immunity in MK-ULTRA mind-control case before Quebec Court of Appeal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

MONTREAL — A proposed class-action lawsuit over infamous brainwashing experiments at a Montreal psychiatric hospital was before Quebec’s highest court Thursday, as victims attempted to remove immunity granted to the United States government.The U.S. government successfully argued in Quebec Superior Court last August that the country couldn’t be sued for the project known as MK-ULTRA — allegedly funded by the Canadian government and the CIA. U.S. lawyers argued that foreign states had absolute immunity from lawsuits in Canada between the 1940s and 1960s, when the program took place.But survivors, and their families, of the experiments at Montreal’s Allan Memorial Institute — which included experimental drugs, rounds of electroshocks and sleep deprivation — appealed that decision.On Thursday, a lawyer representing the United States government told the Quebec Court of Appeal that the country should be immune from prosecution and that any lawsuit against the U.S. gover...

Toronto Star owner calls on Cdn companies to spend 20% of ad budget on local media

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

TORONTO — The publisher of the Toronto Star is calling on Canadian companies to dedicate at least 20 per cent of their advertising budgets to local media.Jordan Bitove made the request Thursday at a Canadian Club luncheon in Toronto, where he said convincing local companies to dedicate their ad spending within Canada is crucial because tech giants who link to articles published by his papers and others are “basically stealing the great work that our team does.”“The advertising revenue that once funded newsrooms has been moved ironically to companies that use our content for their own benefit … and those companies don’t want to pay us for it,” he said.“The result is we are seeing local news disappear at an alarming rate.”Bitove’s remarks come after years of media organizations laying off staff and closing papers to cope with shrinking subscriber counts and advertising revenues diminished by large tech companies such as Google, Twitter and Meta. A 2018 report from the Canadian Media C...

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark wins AP Player of the Year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Caitlin Clark has put together one of the greatest individual seasons in NCAA history with eye-popping offensive numbers.Iowa’s junior guard, though, saved her best performance for the game’s biggest stage, recording the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA history to get Iowa to the Final Four for the first time in 30 years.Clark was honored Thursday as The Associated Press women’s basketball Player of the Year. She received 20 votes from the 28-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. Voting was done before March Madness began.“It’s a huge honor,” Clark said. “I picked a place that I perfectly fit into and that’s allowed me to show my skill set. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t mean something. It’s not the reason you play basketball, it’s just something that comes along with getting to do what you love.”The Iowa coaching staff surprised Clark by sharing that she won the award while they were visiting the Iowa Children’s Hos...

Indiana’s Teri Moren wins AP Coach of the Year

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Teri Moren has led Indiana to some unprecedented heights this season.The team won its first Big Ten regular season championship in 40 years, rose to No. 2 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll and earned the school’s first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.Moren was honored Thursday as the AP women’s basketball Coach of the Year, the first time she has won the award. She received 12 votes from the 28-member national media panel that votes on the AP Top 25 each week. South Carolina’s Dawn Staley was second with eight votes. Utah’s Lynne Roberts received five and Virginia Tech’s Kenny Brooks three.Voting was done before the NCAA Tournament.“I think a lot of people were like this is going to be a year where Indiana is reloading, rebuilding, they won’t be as good as they had been the year prior. We were picked third in the Big Ten,” Moren said. Moren was surprised by her team, who told her she won in an elaborate ruse. “A...

Quebec pedophile hunters face child pornography distribution charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:53 GMT

GATINEAU, Que. — Members of a self-proclaimed group of Quebec pedophile hunters have been arrested and face 38 charges including distribution of child pornography.Gatineau police say six people were arrested Thursday as part of a crackdown on the vigilante group.Five of the suspects, four men and a woman aged 24 to 27, face charges of distributing child pornography.Some of them also face charges of intimidation and forcible confinement while a sixth suspect, a 40-year-old man from a nearby Western Quebec region, faces criminal harassment, intimidation and forcible confinement charges.Police say the group’s activities were widely advertised on social media with the alleged vigilantes filming their meetings with alleged pedophiles after contacting them online.Const. Andrée East, a Gatineau police spokeswoman, says the distribution of child pornography charges relate to the methods that are alleged to have been used to corner suspects, using explicit photos faked to make it look ...