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Biden administration asks employers to give more help to workers who lose Medicaid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

The Biden administration on Thursday asked employers to give workers who lose Medicaid coverage more time to sign up for health insurance through their jobs.Medicaid is the state- and federally funded program that covers health care costs for people with low incomes. States have resumed checks for Medicaid eligibility this year after pausing the practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.Federal officials have estimated that about 3.8 million people who lose Medicaid coverage may qualify for health insurance through their employers, which is how most people in the U.S. get coverage.Employers typically give people 60 days to sign up for coverage offered through work after they lose Medicaid. The administration’s letter Thursday asked employers, insurers and plan sponsors to voluntarily extend that window to July 31, 2024.The letter notes that people on Medicaid may miss notices that their coverage is ending, and they might not realize this until they visit a doctor.People shopping f...

New US sanctions are aimed at choking off Russia’s access to battlefield supplies and revenue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on roughly 120 firms and people from Russia to the United Arab Emirates to Kyrgyzstan in an effort to choke off Moscow’s access to products, money and financial channels that support its invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions imposed by the Treasury and State departments target dozens of Russian mining, technology and munitions firms and commercial banks. In addition, a group of Kyrgyzstan-based electronics firms and its leadership were targeted as exporters of components and other technology to Russia. A UAE-based engineering company that sent dozens of shipments of electronics to Russia was also sanctioned. The latest sanctions build on those imposed on Russia when the U.S. and other Group of Seven nations rolled out a wave of global actions during a Japan summit in May.“Since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, the United States, working with our allies and partners, has taken unprecedented steps ...

Israel’s Netanyahu doubles down on judicial plan, rejects criticism and moves ahead toward key vote

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to press ahead with his contentious judicial overhaul, despite unprecedented mass protests at home, growing defections by military reservists and appeals from the U.S. president to put the plan on hold.Netanyahu’s message, delivered in a prime time address on national television, set the stage for stepped-up street protests in the coming days leading up to a fateful vote on Monday. Thousands of people marched through central Tel Aviv on Thursday night, while others continued the roughly 70 kilometer (roughly 45 mile) march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Netanyahu was at times conciliatory during his address, saying he understands the differences of opinion that have bitterly divided the country and offering to seek a compromise with his political opponents.But he was also defiant, saying his opponents were bent on toppling him and lashing out at the scores of military reservists who say they will stop reporting...

Ottawa working to prevent further wildfire tragedy after deaths: environment minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says the federal government is doing everything it can to prevent further tragedy after four recent wildfire-related deaths.On Thursday, a helicopter involved with firefighting operations crashed in northwestern Alberta, killing a pilot. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter that he was “heartbroken to hear that another Canadian fighting wildfires has lost their life.” Adam Yeadon, 25, also died last week while fighting a wildfire near Fort Liard, N.W.T. Family members have said he was injured by a tree, but officials have not yet provided details about what happened.Two days earlier, firefighter Devyn Gale, 19, died after a tree fell on her near Revelstoke, B.C. Her death is now under investigation by police, the BC Coroners Service, WorkSafeBC and the BC Wildfire Service.“Our thoughts go out to the family, friends and loved ones of the two firefighters who’ve lost their lives,” Guilbeault told re...

Quebec police looking for Ukrainian refugee missing after going for swim in river

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

MONTREAL — A Ukrainian refugee who recently arrived in Quebec has gone missing after he went swimming in a river southeast of Quebec City.Laura Torres, who works with a group that helps immigrants settle into the region, says the young man had fled the war in Ukraine and arrived in Quebec this month.Torres says she was with the man’s mother on Wednesday when the woman called police about her missing son.Quebec provincial police say they are looking for a man in his 20s who disappeared after going for a swim in a river in St-Anselme, Que., but they have not confirmed his identity.Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu says police received a call around midnight from family members who were concerned that he had not returned.Beaulieu says police searched the riverbanks early this morning with the help of local firefighters, adding that they were joined by divers and a helicopter later in the day.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2023. The Canadian Press

Pioneering hacker Kevin Mitnick, FBI-wanted felon turned security guru, dead at 59

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

Kevin Mitnick, whose pioneering antics tricking employees in the 1980s and 1990s into helping him steal software and services from big phone and tech companies made him the most celebrated U.S. hacker, has died at age 59.Mitnick died Sunday in Las Vegas after a 14-month battle with pancreatic cancer, said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of the security training firm KnowBe4, where Mitnick was chief hacking officer. His colorful career — from student tinkerer to FBI-hunted fugitive, imprisoned felon and finally respected cybersecurity professional, public speaker and author tapped for advice by U.S. lawmakers and global corporations — mirrors the evolution of society’s grasp of the nuances of computer hacking. Through Mitnick’s professional trajectory, and what many consider the misplaced prosecutorial zeal that put him behind bars for nearly five years until 2000, the public has learned how to better distinguish serious computer crime from the mischievious troublemaking of youths he...

1st Black woman named to full-time role as police chief of embattled force in Louisville, Kentucky

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The first Black woman has been named to lead the embattled Louisville Police Department in a full-time role, tasked with guiding a force under a federal consent decree and years of scrutiny since the police shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020.Louisville interim police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel is formally taking the job of new chief. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Thursday that she was chosen after a nationwide search. The city has gone through several chiefs and interim leaders since the death of Taylor, a Black woman shot dead in a police raid gone awry.Gwinn-Villaroel came to Louisville from the Atlanta Police Department in 2021 alongside former Chief Erika Shields, who hired her as a deputy chief. Greenberg, who was elected mayor last year, had said in December that Gwinn-Villaroel would become interim chief after Shields stepped down in January.“This is a challenging job,” Greenberg said at a news conference Thursday. “And over the last f...

Zoe Saldaña put self-doubt aside to star in new Taylor Sheridan series ‘Special Ops: Lioness’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

Zoe Saldaña has starred in three successful film franchises — “ Avatar ”, “ Guardians of the Galaxy ” and “ Star Trek ” — yet when Taylor Sheridan approached her to lead his new TV series, “Special Ops: Lioness,” she said no.“I have ADD and I’m dyslexic, so learning a lot of dialogue was always very daunting,” said Saldaña in an interview prior to the start of the actors strike. “I never thought that I would ever get to be a part of (projects) where the dialog and the writing is most important to the whole story. .. I tend to run away from that. I have a hard time focusing, which is why the action genre was always appealing to me.”She says Sheridan called her and was very complimentary, adding that he was writing a character with her in mind. As exciting as the project seemed, she passed.“I read the pilot, I loved it so much that I freaked out and I walked away from it.”A year later she was in Italy filming the limited-series “From Scratch” and found herself once a...

Turkish president doesn’t rule out Cyprus peace talks restart, but sticks to two-state stance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday didn’t rule out reviving deadlocked negotiations to resolve Cyprus’ nearly 50-year ethnic division, but again rejected any deal that wouldn’t offer Turkish Cypriots a state of their own.That position stands against a United Nations-sanctioned framework envisioning a federated island nation.Speaking at celebrations in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north on the 49th anniversary of a Turkish invasion that split the island along ethnic lines, Erdogan again poured cold water on Greek Cypriot hopes of forming a federation composed of Greek and Turkish speaking zones as has been the aim of talks for decades.“Everyone needs to understand now that a federal solution is not possible,” Erdogan said. He said that Turkey does not oppose fresh talks, but that negotiations cannot restart without recognizing the “sovereign equality and equal international status” of the Turkish Cypriots.Prompted by a coup in Cyprus aimed at u...

Citing mass of records, Nate Paul trial postponed 1 year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:12:04 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Citing mountains of documents to process, a federal judge and attorneys in the case of indicted real estate developer Nate Paul have agreed to push a trial date one year, to July 29, 2024, to provide sufficient time to prepare and analyze records, according to a hearing Thursday at Austin’s federal district courthouse.Paul, a 36-year-old linked to accusations against impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, was charged in June with 8 counts of making false statements and reports to lenders. He is accused of exaggerating his assets, undervaluing his liabilities and providing false records to obtain more than $172 million in loans for his businesses in 2017 and 2018.Paul did not attend the hearing, but his attorney E.G. Morris was present, and his attorney David Gerger participated telephonically. EXPLORE: Who is Nate Paul — the Austin real estate investor charged with 8 federal counts Paul pleaded not guilty to all counts in mid-June, and his trial was original...