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Vermont governor signs 1st-in-nation shield bills that include medicated abortion

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

Vermont’s Republican governor signed abortion and gender affirming shield bills into law Wednesday that are the first in the country to include protecting access to a medication widely used in abortions even if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration withdraws its approval of the pill, mifepristone.Vermont is the first state to protect access to medication abortion in a shield law, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which describes itself as a research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. The bills protect providers from discipline for providing legally protected reproductive and gender affirming health care services.“Today, we reaffirm once again that Vermont stands on the side of privacy, personal autonomy and reproductive liberty, and that providers are free to practice without fear,” Republican Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement.In the identical bills passed by the House and Senate, “reproductive health care services”...

India’s Modi to visit White House in June as Biden seeks stronger ties amid competition with China

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House next month, courting an Indo-Pacific leader with whom he has sought stronger ties as the United States looks to blunt China’s growing assertiveness in the region. Modi’s visit June 22 “will affirm the deep and close partnership between the United States and India and the warm bonds of family and friendship that link Americans and Indians together,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday in announcing the Indian leader’s official state visit. Biden and Modi will focus on their countries’ commitment to a free and secure Indo-Pacific region, as well as on their technology partnerships, including in defense, clean energy and space, she said. They will also discuss common challenges, including climate change, health security and developing the workforce.India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the visit will “underscore the gro...

Defying the state, Kansas City would be a sanctuary for people seeking gender-affirming health care

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials in Missouri’s largest city are moving to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state officials who are intent on banning it for minors and restricting it for adults.A Kansas City Council committee approved such a resolution Wednesday. The full council will now consider it Thursday. The council members acted as the Republican-controlled Missouri Legislature gave final approval to a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors, sending it to GOP Gov. Mike Parson, who is expected to sign it into law. At least 16 other states have enacted laws restricting or banning such care for minors. The resolution also comes as a judge considers a proposed emergency rule from Republican state Attorney General Andrew Bailey that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatment.“This resolution ...

Wildfire evacuation order over for hamlet of Evansburg in west-central Alberta

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

Officials have lifted an evacuation order for the hamlet of Evansburg, Alta., about 120 kilometres west of Edmonton.Residents were told to leave on May 1 as dry and windy conditions fuelled wildfires that put the hamlet and surrounding rural area at risk.Some nearby communities remain under a mandatory evacuation order, including Wildwood, Lobstick Resort and Hansonville.Alberta’s wildfire status dashboard is reporting 76 active wildfires today, 26 of which are out of control.Firefighters from Yukon, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have arrived in Alberta to help, and the government said late Tuesday that crews were also expected from New Brunswick, Oregon and Alaska.Some areas in central Alberta have experienced cooler temperatures and rain, but the government says a return to hot and windy conditions is expected in the coming days.This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2023.The Canadian Press

MPs to vote on House probe into Chinese envoy’s alleged targeting of Michael Chong

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

OTTAWA — The House of Commons is set to vote this afternoon on whether a committee should probe allegations of an intimidation campaign by the Chinese government against Conservative MP Michael Chong. Debate on the motion has taken priority in the chamber since it was tabled on Monday, and a vote has been scheduled to take place after today’s question period. Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat this week over a newly surfaced 2021 report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which alleged that the Toronto consular officer sought to intimidate Chong and his relatives in Hong Kong because of the MP’s criticism of China’s human-rights record. China responded by expelling a Canadian diplomat from its territory, with the Liberals warning that the move could also inspire economic retaliation — leaving industries bracing for blowback. Yet Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a China expert at the University of Ottawa, says the government should instead assume that Beijing i...

FDA panel backs over-the-counter birth control pill

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a decades-old birth control pill should be sold without a prescription, paving the way for a likely U.S. approval of the first over-the-counter contraceptive medication. The panel of FDA advisers voted unanimously in favor of drugmaker Perrigo’s request to sell its once-a-day medication over the counter. The recommendation came at the close of a two-day meeting focused on company research into whether women could safely and effectively take the pill without professional supervision. A final FDA decision is expected this summer.If the FDA follows the nonbinding recommendation, Perrigo’s drug, Opill, would become the first contraceptive pill to be moved out from behind the pharmacy counter onto store shelves. Currently, a prescription is required in the U.S.The outside experts said they were confident that women of all ages could use the drug appropriately without seeing a health provider first. “I do believe th...

Quebec government rejects Trudeau’s immigration plan, fears decline of French

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

MONTREAL — Canada’s plan to increase immigration is stoking fears among Quebec’s political class, who say the changes would reduce the province’s influence in the country and make it harder to protect French.Provincial legislature members today adopted a motion declaring Canada’s plan incompatible with the protection of French in Quebec and that the province must have complete control over its immigration. Premier François Legault said Tuesday that Quebec would not accept a big rise in immigration because of the need to properly integrate, house and educate newcomers.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, has maintained that his government’s plan to take in 500,000 permanent immigrants a year by 2025 — up from 437,000 in 2022 — is necessary to ease labour shortages and create growth.But while Legault is tangling with Ottawa over immigration powers, the premier is facing criticism at home over soaring numbers of temporary immigrants who aren’t i...

FDA advisers endorse over-the-counter birth control pill

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

A panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously voted Wednesday that the benefits of making a birth control pill available over the counter outweigh the potential risks.The vote represents a major step forward in the decades-long push to make birth control pills available without a prescription for the first time ever.The FDA is expected to make a final decision later this summer. The agency does not have to follow the panel's recommendation.Members of the agency's advisory board said the risks of unintended pregnancy were far greater than any risks associated with the drug, called Opill.Making it available over the counter would significantly expand access to contraception, especially for younger women and those in rural and underserved communities who currently need to overcome logistical barriers to get their birth control.

Here's how to get a free Original Rainbow Cone on Mother's Day

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

CHICAGO — The Original Rainbow Cone is joining in on Mother's Day celebrations!The Chicago staple is offering a free iconic Rainbow Cone with any purchase of $5 or more on Sunday, May 14. The offer will be available at all locations — excluding Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, and Lincoln Park Zoo.After opening in 1926 in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, the Rainbow Cone quickly became famous and known as one of the most unique ice cream cones anyone has ever seen.The famous five-flavor "Rainbow Cone" features chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House, Pistachio, and orange sherbet sliced (not scooped) into a cone. It’s been a Chicago staple now for over 97 years. For more information, check out rainbowcone.com

Chicago man sentenced to up to 92 years in prison for shooting Iowa deputy during robbery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:44 GMT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A Chicago man who was convicted of shooting and seriously wounding an Iowa sheriff’s deputy during a convenience store robbery in 2021 has been sentenced to up to 92 years in prison.Thirty-eight-year-old Stanley Donahue will have to serve at least 60 years before he is eligible for parole. He was sentenced Friday on multiple charges including attempted murder of a peace officer related to the shooting in Coggon, a town about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.Prosecutors said Donahue robbed two employees at a Casey’s store and confined them in a cooler before shooting Linn County deputy Will Halverson seven times on June 20, 2021.SEE ALSO: 4 charged with murder of CPD officer Aréanah PrestonDonahue fled and was later arrested after a more than 12-hour manhunt that ended when he was spotted by a television news crew.Halverson said at the sentencing hearing that the shooting had permanently affected his life even though he was able to re...