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POLITICO Pro Morning Health Care: WHO replenishment model? — US hoarding Ebola drugs — Barriers to care

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

Presented by PPTABy HELEN COLLISwith ASHLEIGH FURLONG, CARLO MARTUSCELLI, SARAH-TAÏSSIR BENCHARIF and JOANNA ROBERTSPRESENTED BY View in your browser or listen to audioSNEAK PEEK— At the World Health Assembly today, countries will speak about how to more sustainably finance the World Health Organization. — The U.S. has stockpiled Ebola treatments, preventing access in countries that desperately need them, argues Doctors without Borders.— Access to health care varies across Europe, but the Czech Republic is doing well on several fronts, the EU Observatory on Health Systems and Policies says.Welcome to Thursday’s Morning Health Care! We all try to live sustainably. Now you can continue in the afterlife. A Dutch company is growing coffins in a mold with mycelium — the root-like structure of mushrooms — and hemp fiber. They take just a week to grow and, once six feet under, 45 days to biodegrade – compared with years to grow and rot for wooden coffins. Nearing the end? AP has more...

James Paxton falters, Angels sweep Red Sox

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

The Red Sox need a reset button like no other.After winning their last two series against the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, they paid a visit to Anaheim and allowed themselves to be swept by the home team.The Angels officially won the season series on Wednesday night with a commanding 7-3 victory.After allowing just three earned runs over his first two starts (11 IP), James Paxton finished the night in Anaheim charged with five. He lasted just three innings, which another surprise, given that he’d gone at least five in each of his first two out games.The night started off promising enough for the veteran lefty. He got the Angels 1-2-3 in the first, finishing with back-to-back strikeouts, but it was all downhill from there. He gave up four in the second inning, including a three-run homer to Zach Neto, let Shohei Ohtani take him deep in the third, and that was all she wrote.Paxton only threw 59 pitches, and his fastball velocity was solid, but he wasn’t getting s...

Hong Kong-flagged vessel briefly runs aground in Egypt’s vital Suez Canal, later refloated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Hong Kong-flagged ship briefly ran aground Thursday in Egypt’s vital Suez Canal, though authorities said they were able to refloat it after it momentarily disrupted the waterway. The Xin Hai Tong 23 ran aground at the southern mouth of the Suez Canal, tracking data showed. Leth Agencies, which oversees traffic in the canal, acknowledged the grounding. Over two hours later, Leth said they were able to refloat it.Egyptian authorities did not immediately acknowledge the ship running aground. It wasn’t immediately clear what affect the grounding would have on traffic in the canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. However, tracking data showed no shipping vessels moving around that area of the canal when the ship was stuck. Tracking data showed the vessel, describing its condition as “not under command.” Tug boats surrounded it to get it refloated.The ship is a bulk carrier, which typically carries cargo. The ship measu...

Cambodian union chief who led long-running casino strike gets 2-year prison sentence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A labor union leader who led a long-running strike against Cambodia’s biggest casino was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for incitement to commit a felony, while eight fellow union members received lesser terms that do not include time behind bars.Chhim Sithar, president of the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, has been leading a strike that began in December 2021 in protest of mass layoffs and alleged union-busting at the NagaWorld casino in the capital, Phnom Penh. She was convicted on a charge for leading a January 2022 demonstration of nearly 400 other dismissed employees who were demanding to be rehired.NagaWorld in late 2021 had dismissed 373 employees amid financial struggles related to the coronavirus pandemic.NagaWorld is owned by a company controlled by the family of Malaysian billionaire Chen Lip Keong. His company received its casino license in 1994 and the property is now a huge integrated hotel-casino en...

State lawmakers want children to fill labor shortages, even in bars and on school nights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — As the federal government cracks down on child labor violations, some state lawmakers are embracing legislation to let children work longer hours and in more hazardous occupations.The legislators, mostly Republicans, argue that relaxing child labor laws could ease nationwide labor shortages.But child welfare advocates worry the measures represent a coordinated push to scale back hard-won protections for minors.“The consequences are potentially disastrous,” said Reid Maki, director of the Child Labor Coalition, which advocates against exploitative labor policies. “You can’t balance a perceived labor shortage on the backs of teen workers.”Lawmakers proposed loosening child labor laws in at least 10 states over the past two years, according to a report published last month by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Some bills became law, while others were withdrawn or vetoed.Legislators in Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa are actively considering relaxing child l...

Chirping sounds lead airport officials to bag filled with smuggled parrot eggs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

LOXAHATCHEE, Fla. (AP) — The 24 bright green baby parrots began chirping and bobbing their heads the second anyone neared the large cages that have been their homes since hatching in March.The Central American natives, seized from a smuggler at Miami International Airport, are being raised by the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation — a round-the-clock effort that includes five hand feedings a day in a room filled with large cages. At just 9 weeks old, these parrots have already survived a harrowing journey after being snatched from their nests in a forest. They are almost fully feathered now and the staff has started transitioning them from a special formula to a diet of food pellets and fruit.“You ready to meet the children?” asked Paul Reillo, a Florida International University professor and director of the foundation, as he led visitors Friday into a small building tucked behind a sprawling house in Loxahatchee, a rural community near West Palm Beach. “They are hand-raised babie...

Pending abortion restrictions strain providers in US Southeast

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A wave of newly approved abortion restrictions in the Southeastern United States has sent providers scrambling to reconfigure their services for a region with already severely limited access.Pending bans at varying stages of pregnancy in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida — states that had been holdouts providing wider access to the procedure — are threatening to further delay abortions as appointments pile up and doctors work to understand the new limitations.“There’s really going to be no way for the whole abortion-providing ecosystem to manage it all,” said Jenny Black, the president of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.Black, who oversees the organization’s work in North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and parts of Virginia, said providers have had to quickly determine how to comply with the pending laws amid the “decimation of abortion access across the South.” She expects new restrictions will compound the stressors on a system that ...

Aging America: Baby boomers push nation’s median age higher as fewer children are born

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

The United States grew older, faster, last decade.The share of residents 65 or older grew by more than a third from 2010 to 2020 and at the fastest rate of any decade in 130 years, while the share of children declined, according to new figures from the most recent census.The declining percentage of children under age 5 was particularly noteworthy in the figures from the 2020 head count released Thursday. Combined, the trends mean the median age in the U.S. jumped from 37.2 to 38.8 over the decade.America’s two largest age groups propelled the changes: more baby boomers turning 65 or older and millennials who became adults or pushed further into their 20s and early 30s. Also, fewer children were born between 2010 and 2020, according to numbers from the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident. The decline stems from women delaying having babies until later in life, in many cases to focus on education and careers, according to experts, who noted that birth rates never rec...

Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming steps down as head of national league

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has stepped down as head of China’s struggling national basketball league. An eight-time NBA All-Star, Yao had been leading efforts to commercialize the top-tier 20-team Chinese Basketball Association Management Company since his appointment in 2017. A notice on the CBA’s website thanked Yao for his service. It gave no indication of the reason behind Yao’s departure other than that the board of directors had determined it was time for new leadership. Yao was one of the first Chinese athletes to become an international household name when the Houston Rockets drafted him with the first pick in 2002. The 2.29-meter (7-foot-6) center played for eight seasons in the NBA before retiring in 2011, citing chronic injuries.Allegations of corruption have dogged the league in recent years. Two teams, the Jiangsu Dragons and Shanghai Sharks, were ejected from the league finals last month after being found to have engaged in unsporti...

Colorado Rapids knocked out of U.S. Open Cup at home by Real Salt Lake, miss chance to reach quarterfinals for first time since 2007

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:47:37 GMT

COMMERCE CITY — Real Salt Lake is the Colorado Rapids’ bogeyman. Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup defeat in the Round of 16 only confirmed it.Looking to reach the Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2007, Colorado instead lost to its rival for the second straight match, 1-0. Jefferson Savarino’s game-winning curling effort in the 30th minute was the difference at DSGP. More sleepless nights could be ahead, as the teams will face off twice more in the 2023 season.“I mean, without talking very candidly and explicitly, it makes you lose sleep at night,” defender Keegan Rosenberry said after the game. “You don’t like losing to teams in this league in general, but RSL is a team that just eats at you a little bit more. It’s been interesting to learn from the supporters about how much it means to them as well, and it hurts us just that more to feel that for them.”In the 24th minute, Colorado had its best chance of the first ...