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A top Justice Department official who spearheaded abortion access efforts will leave in February

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official who spearheaded legal work on access to abortion as part of a broad set of responsibilities will leave her job in February, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday.Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, the third-highest ranking official, also played key roles in efforts to address violent crime and gun violence as well as leading the Reproductive Rights Task Force after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Garland said in a statement. The Justice Department has defended access to the abortion pill mifepristone, sued over an abortion ban in Idaho and weighed in on an Alabama court case to underline its support for women’s ability to cross state lines to get abortions. “Vanita’s commitment to the pursuit of justice, and her relentless focus on bringing people together to find common ground, has made her an incredibly effective leader in dealing with some of the most complex challenges facing the American people,” Garland said....

Tim Hortons, Telus reinstate support for Hockey Canada following scandal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

TORONTO — Two sponsors who previously pulled support for Hockey Canada, when it was embroiled in scandal last year, say they are backing the organization once more.Fast food chain Tim Hortons and telecommunications firm Telus Corp. say they have reinstated their support for Hockey Canada which they withdrew when the organization was accused of mishandling sexual assault complaints.Tims spokesperson Michael Oliveira says the chain made it clear it would only reinstate funding for Canada’s men’s teams when they regained the confidence of Canadians.He says Tims reinstated its support because it appears Hockey Canada has made substantial progress toward that goal under new leadership.Telus spokesperson Saara Rahikka says the telecommunications giant decided to back the organization again because it wanted to support changes that make the sport safe and inclusive for all on and off the ice.The renewed support from Tims and Telus comes ahead of the men’s world junior hockey champion...

Older Americans to pay less for some drug treatments as drugmakers penalized for big price jumps

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of older Americans could pay less for some of their outpatient drug treatments beginning early next year, the Biden administration announced Thursday.The White House unveiled a list of 48 drugs — some of them injectables used to treat cancer — whose prices increased faster than the rate of inflation this year. Under a new law, drugmakers will have to pay rebates to the federal government because of those price increases. The money will be used to lower the price Medicare enrollees pay on the drugs early next year.This is the first time drugmakers will have to pay the penalties for outpatient drug treatments under the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress last year. The rebates will translate into a wide range of savings — from as little as $1 to as much as $2,700 — on the drugs that the White House estimates are used every year by 750,000 older Americans.The rebates are “an important tool to discourage excessive price increases and prote...

Premier League to have its first female referee when Rebecca Welch handles game on Dec. 23

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Rebecca Welch will become the first female referee in the Premier League when she takes charge of the match between Fulham and Burnley on Dec. 23, the competition said Thursday.Welch has already worked as the fourth official in the Premier League, for the match between Fulham and Manchester United on Nov. 4, and she was the first woman to referee matches in the second-tier Championship and FA Cup.Welch has been a referee since 2010, initially balancing the role with her job in the National Health Service before becoming a full-time match official.Other countries have been using female referees for years. In Germany, Bibiana Steinhaus was the first woman to referee a Bundesliga game, in 2017. Steinhaus is married to Howard Webb, who is the current chief refereeing officer of the top refereeing body in England.French referee Stéphanie Frappart became the first woman to take charge of a men’s World Cup game when she handled Germany vs. Costa Rica in November last year, ha...

Raja the elephant, a big draw at the St. Louis Zoo, is moving to Columbus to breed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Raja the elephant has been one of the biggest attractions — literally and figuratively — at the St. Louis Zoo for decades. Now, he’s moving away.The zoo announced Thursday that the male Asian elephant born at the zoo nearly 31 years ago will be relocated to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, probably in about a year. The hope is that he’ll bond with four females in Columbus, breed, and mentor a young male there.Raja was the first elephant ever born at the St. Louis Zoo, and the 10,000-pound animals’ birthday on Dec. 27 is a big deal each year, complete with treats, songs and lots of visitors signing an oversized birthday card.“This news is bittersweet for all of us,” Michael Macek, director of the St. Louis Zoo, said in a statement. “We know Raja is dear to his fans and to the Zoo family and he’ll be missed here, but we know this is for the best for Raja and the survival of this species.”The World Wildlife Fund says Asian elephants are en...

Top Polish leaders celebrate Hanukkah in parliament after antisemitic incident

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Top Polish leaders joined members of the Jewish community for a Hanukkah celebration in parliament Thursday after a far-right lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out burning candles on a menorah earlier this week.The attendance of the president, speaker of parliament and other top legislative officials sent the message that there is no tolerance in Poland for the kind of antisemitic behavior that erupted in parliament halls Tuesday, shocking the country and drawing widespread condemnation across the political spectrum. A woman was injured in the incident and was still in a hospital two days later.Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler of the Chabad community, who has organized the Hanukkah event in parliament for the 17th straight year, told those gathered that the candle lighting symbolized a celebration of tolerance and freedom of religion.“We will dispel darkness through light, and we are lucky that a little light can dispel a lot of darkness,” Stambler said.Preside...

Lawyer highlights Giuliani’s continued false claims as election workers’ damages trial nears a close

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — An attorney for two former Georgia election workers suing Rudy Giuliani for defamation highlighted during the trial’s closing on Thursday that the former New York City mayor has not stopped repeating the false conspiracy theory asserting the workers meddled in the 2020 presidential election. During his closing arguments, attorney Michael Gottlieb played a video of Giuliani outside the courthouse earlier this week repeating the false claims about his clients, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, who brought the action against Giuliani. Giuliani had previously conceded in court documents that he made public comments falsely accusing the women of ballot fraud. “Mr Giuliani has shown over and over again he will not take our client’s names out of his mouth,” Gottlieb said. “Facts will not stop him. He says he isn’t sorry and he’s telegraphing he will do this again. Believe him.”Gottlieb described Freeman and Moss as “heroes,” adding that “after every...

The average long-term US mortgage rate dips below 7% to its lowest level since early August

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 6.95% from 7.03% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.31%.Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, edged up this week, lifting the average rate to 6.38% from 6.29% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.54%, Freddie Mac said.The latest drop in rates is the seventh in as many weeks. Mortgage rates have been easing since late October, when they reached 7.79%, the highest level since late 2000.The pullback has echoed a decline in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. The yield, which in mid October surged to its hig...

Depressed or anxious about finances amid inflation and rising rates? You’re not alone

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

As rent, mortgage payments, grocery bills and the cost of just about everything else rises, more and more Canadians are feeling the weight — not just on their budgets, but also on their mental well-being. Canadians are grappling with what a November report from MNP Ltd. called “inflation isolation”: loneliness brought on when avoiding the expense of social events means less time with friends. Two in five are feeling stressed or anxious because of inflation and higher interest rates, the report found. But financial and mental health experts say it’s crucial to break out of the cycle of shame and avoidance that money struggles can cause and ask for help, whether from friends and families or from professionals. “The best thing that we can do for ourselves is to treat financial stress in the same way you would treat any other stress,” said Megan Rafuse, a registered social worker and psychotherapist, and CEO and co-founder of online mental health practice Shift Collab. “Ask ...

North Carolina Rep. Nickel won’t seek reelection due to remapping, will consider 2026 Senate bid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:14:00 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel said Thursday he won’t seek reelection to Congress next year, the result of congressional redistricting by Republican state legislators this fall that’s likely to shift North Carolina’s delegation to the right. And he said he’ll consider a U.S. Senate bid for an election that would be nearly three years away.The decision by the first-term congressman on the day before candidate filing ends for the March primary means three incumbent House Democrats from North Carolina won’t run in 2024. Each of them blamed the reconfigured lines by GOP lawmakers — now the subject of litigation — that they say make it futile for them to run.Democratic Reps. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte and Kathy Manning of Greensboro already said they wouldn’t seek reelection. Nickel’s decision should benefit national Republicans in their efforts to retain a U.S. House majority in 2025.“Republicans have rigged the system to favor ...