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Biden launches a new push to limit health care costs hoping to show he can save money for families

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

By JOSH BOAK (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday rolled out a new set of initiatives to reduce health care costs: a crackdown on scam insurance plans, new guidance to prevent surprise medical bills and an effort to reduce medical debt tied to credit cards.Biden’s remarks will build on previous initiatives to limit health care costs, with the Department of Health and Human Services releasing new estimates showing 18.7 million older adults and other Medicare beneficiaries will save an estimated $400 per year in prescription drug costs in 2025 because of the president placing a cap on out-of-pocket spending as part of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.Gearing up for his 2024 reelection campaign as inflation remains a dominant concern for voters, the Democratic president has emphasized his policies to help families manage their expenses, as well as a spate of government incentives to encourage private sector development of electric vehicles, clean energy ...

Battenfeld: Fractured Boston City Council breaks out into open warfare

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

The fractured Boston City Council is breaking out into open warfare as the liberals and conservatives fight for power in the out-of-control institution.At stake is nothing less than the reins of the council, which now has budgetary authority, can pass ordinances and make life difficult for Mayor Michelle Wu.Far-left liberals now have a slight majority edge on the council now but their power could increase with the pending departures of moderates Frank Baker and Michael Flaherty.The latest shot came from President Ed Flynn as he took indirect aim at Councilor Kendra Lara after she crashed her car into a Jamaica Plain house. The Herald has also reported that Lara was driving an unregistered car and a revoked driver’s license.Lara told police she swerved to avoid a car entering the street from the curb and then couldn’t brake in time before she crashed into the house, according to a police report. The driver of the second vehicle disputed that and told police Lara was traveling at a hi...

Howie Carr: Flaherty bails just in time

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

Can you really blame City Councilor Michael “Flats” Flaherty for throwing in the towel?Seriously, who in his or her right mind would want to be on the Boston City Council these days?Consider where Flats sits on the Council floor during those appalling Wednesday meetings.To his right is Tania Fernandes Anderson, who a few months back began screaming at the top of her lungs:“What the bleep does a black woman have to do on this bleeping Council to get some respect as a black woman?”To his left (in more ways than one) is Kendra Lara. Exactly one week ago she was charged with smashing into a house while driving an unregistered, uninsured, uninspected vehicle with a revoked driver’s license while not having her child in a booster seat as required by law.This is your modern Boston City Council. If you were riding on a bus with the 12 current members of the body, once you glanced around at your fellow passengers, you would immediately get off at the next stop – as three of the 13 councilors...

Yellen appeals to China to revive talks and not let technology tensions disrupt ties

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

By JOE McDONALD (AP Business Writer)BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen appealed to China’s No. 2 leader not to let frustration over U.S. curbs on access to processor chips and other technology disrupt economic cooperation during a visit Friday aimed at improving strained relations.Meeting with Premier Li Qiang, Yellen said Washington and Beijing have a duty to cooperate on issues that affect the world. She appealed for “regular channels of communication” at a time when relations are at their lowest in decades due to disputes over technology, security and other irritants.Yellen is one of several senior U.S. officials due to visit Beijing to encourage Chinese leaders to revive interactions between governments of the two largest economies. Treasury officials said earlier she wouldn’t meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and no breakthroughs were expected.Yellen defended “targeted actions,” a reference to curbs on Chinese access to ad...

Blast at a Russian explosives plant kills 6 and injures 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A blast at a Russian explosives plant on Friday killed six people and injured two more, emergency officials said. The explosion occurred as workers were dismantling equipment at one of the workshops of the Promsintez plant in Russia’s Samara region, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Moscow, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported, citing emergency officials. The blast didn’t start a fire, the report said. Promsintez is one of the main producers of industrial explosives in Russia. It is located in the town of Chapayevsk in the Samara region. The Associated Press

Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinian militants in shootout in the occupied West Bank

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank Friday, days after Israel concluded a major two-day offensive meant to crack down on militants.The persistent violence raised questions about the effectiveness of the raid earlier this week in the Jenin refugee camp, which saw Israel launch rare airstrikes on militant targets, deploy hundreds of troops and cause widespread damage to roads, homes and businesses. As a result of the raid, 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed.The Israeli domestic security agency Shin Bet said Friday the two men, who it said were behind a shooting attack this week on a police vehicle, were killed in a gun battle with Israeli forces in the heart of the city of Nablus, the West Bank’s commercial capital.The Palestinian Health Ministry said two men were killed by Israeli fire, identifying them as Khayri Mohammed Sari Shaheen, 34, and Hamza Moayed Mohammed Maqbool, 32. ...

NHL great Hašek demands Russians openly condemn war against Ukraine or be banned from Paris Olympics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Russian and Belarusian athletes must state loud and clear they condemn Russia for the war in Ukraine or be banned from next year’s Paris Olympics, hockey gold medalist Dominik Hašek told The Associated Press.Hašek, who won gold with the Czech Republic team at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, said he is certain their presence at the Paris Games would otherwise result in “a huge promotion of the Russian war.”The NHL great has been a prominent and vocal critic of the International Olympic Committee’s recommendation that Russians and Belarusians compete in international competitions as neutral athletes.“Everybody knows where those athletes are from,” Hašek told the AP in an interview. ”They would represent the aggressive, imperialistic war and the crimes and killings linked to it.”He said it would be like supplying Russia with tanks, aircraft and ammunition.The IOC and president Thomas Bach have shaped the definition of neutrality — not publicly supporting the war...

Amsterdam court gives green light to plan to reduce flights at busy Schiphol Airport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Appeals court judges in Amsterdam ruled Friday that the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000.The Amsterdam Court of Appeal overturned a lower court that concluded in April the government of the Netherlands did not follow the correct procedure when it told Schiphol last year to cut flights.The airport, civil aviation organizations and airlines that included Dutch flag carrier KLM challenged the government’s order. Friday’s decision can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court.The Amsterdam appeals court said in a statement Friday that it “attaches considerable weight to the interests of local residents” in the densely populated region where people have complained for years about noise pollution from the airport.In a written response, Schiphol said it accepted the ruling and hopes for a new aviation traffic order from Dutch autho...

Protesters arrested in Kenya as the opposition rallies against new taxes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — More than 20 anti-government protesters were arrested in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on Friday as other parts of the country also witnessed demonstrations called by the opposition against newly imposed taxes.Hundreds of protesters turned up in Nairobi, as well as in the coastal city of Mombasa and the lakeside city of Kisumu where the opposition enjoys huge support, but were dispersed by police who fired tear gas canisters at them. The protesters had lit bonfires and barricaded some major roads.Nairobi police commander Adamson Bungei told The Associated Press on Friday that “more than 20 people had been arrested by midday” but did not disclose what charges they will face.The opposition had called for the demonstrations to protest the newly imposed taxes on petroleum products, salaried workers and businesses.Opposition leader Raila Odinga last week announced “civil disobedience” asking his followers not to pay the new taxes.The implementation of the newly signed l...

Countries agree to slash shipping emissions but not enough to stay within warming limits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:07:11 GMT

Maritime nations agreed Friday to slash emissions from the shipping industry to net zero by about 2050 in a deal that some experts and nations say falls short of what’s needed to curb warming to agreed temperature limits. Negotiators at the meeting of the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization in London, seen as key to curb global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, rubber-stamped a deal for shipping emissions to reach net zero “by or around” 2050.The plan also calls for shipping emissions to be slashed by at least 20% but aiming for 30% by 2030 and at least 70% but working toward 80% by 2040 despite a push from Pacific nations for more ambitious targets. Experts calculate the industry must cut its emissions by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to keep on track with 1.5 C temperature goal.Environmentalists and some nations pushing for more ambitious targets are unhappy with the deal, which doesn’t se...