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Today: January 22, 2025
Today: January 22, 2025
The Los Angeles Post

The Los Angeles Post

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Political

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

President Joe Biden on Friday plans to roll 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 would 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

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

Chinese cities open air raid shelters for heat relief as extreme temperatures lead to deaths

Cities across China opened their air raid shelters to offer residents relief from the heat Friday as unusually high temperatures across parts of the country started claiming lives. Northern China is experiencing strings of days with record-high temperatures, compounded by drought. Earlier this week, Beijing reported more than nine straight days with temperatures exceeding 35 C (95 F), according to the National Climate Center — a streak unseen since 1961. Cities including Hangzhou on China’s east coast, Wuhan in the center of the country, and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province neighboring Beijing over the past week announced

Chinese cities open air raid shelters for heat relief as extreme temperatures lead to deaths
World

Muslims across Pakistan hold anti-Sweden rallies to denounce burning of Islam's holy book

Muslims in Pakistan were holding rallies on Friday to observe a “Day of the Sanctity of Quran” after the South Asian Islamic nation’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a call for anti-Sweden protests over last week’s burning of the Islamic holy book in Stockholm. The biggest anti-Sweden rallies were expected in the eastern city of Lahore and in Karachi, the largest city in the country. In the capital, Islamabad, lawyers holding copies of the Quran protested in front of the Supreme Court, while worshippers outside mosques held small rallies, demanding the severing of diplomatic ties with Sweden.

Muslims across Pakistan hold anti-Sweden rallies to denounce burning of Islam's holy book
World

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

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%

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dutch premier resigns because of deadlock on thorny issue of migration, paving way for new elections

The Dutch government collapsed Friday because of irreconcilable differences within the four-party coalition about how to rein in migration, a divisive issue that has split nations across Europe. The resignation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the longest-serving premier of the nation, means the country will face a general election later this year. Rutte and his government will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until a new ruling coalition is chosen. “It is no secret that the coalition partners have very different views on migration policy,” Rutte told reporters in The Hague. “And today, unfortunately,

Dutch premier resigns because of deadlock on thorny issue of migration, paving way for new elections
World

UN nuclear agency pushes for access to Zaporizhzhia plant roof after reports of Russian explosives

The head of the UN nuclear agency said Friday he was pushing for access to the roof of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, following reports from Ukrainian officials that the Russians had planted explosives there. The plant was seized by Russia, in March 2022, in the first weeks of the war in Ukraine, raising fears of a nuclear accident. The Russians have only granted limited access to officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency, citing the security situation. Wrapping up a four-day visit to Japan, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said his agency was

UN nuclear agency pushes for access to Zaporizhzhia plant roof after reports of Russian explosives
Political

The US will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package: AP sources

President Joe Biden’s administration has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine and is expected to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will send thousands of them as part of a new military aid package worth up to $800 million for the war effort against Russia, according to people familiar with the decision. The decision comes despite widespread concerns that the bombs can cause civilian casualties and sparked a call from the United Nations to both Russia and Ukraine to avoid using them. The Pentagon will provide munitions that have a reduced “dud rate,” meaning there will

The US will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package: AP sources
World

Robots take questions at Geneva press conference, say they could be better leaders than humans

Robots told reporters Friday they could be more efficient leaders than humans, but wouldn’t take anyone’s job away and had no intention of rebelling against their creators. Nine AI-enabled humanoid robots sat or stood with their creators at a podium in a Geneva conference center for what the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union billed as the world’s first news conference featuring humanoid social robots. Among them: Sophia, the first robot innovation ambassador for the U.N. Development Program; Grace, described as the world’s most advanced humanoid health care robot; and Desdemona, a rock star robot. Two, Geminoid and

Robots take questions at Geneva press conference, say they could be better leaders than humans
Education

Affirmative action lasted over 50 years: 3 essential reads explaining how it ended

Harvard students protesting on July 1, 2023, after the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action. Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Ever since U.S. President Lyndon Johnson enacted affirmative action in 1965, white conservatives have challenged the use of race in college admissions. Their arguments against such policies are typically based on the use of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which prohibits discrimination against American citizens on the basis of their race, religion or sexuality. According to this conservative thinking, race-based solutions are discriminatory by their very definition and, as such, are unconstitutional.

Affirmative action lasted over 50 years: 3 essential reads explaining how it ended
Political

China's ties to Cuba and growing presence in Latin America raise security concerns in Washington, even as leaders try to ease tensions

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, on July 6, 2023. Pedro Pardo/POOL/AFP via Getty Images There is a push by leaders in Washington and Beijing to get U.S.-China relations back on track. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with President Xi Jinping in China in June 2023 to reopen the lines of communication between the countries. And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is spending four days in China, beginning July 6, 2023, to try to stabilize U.S.-China economic ties. But work to steady security issues between the two countries, a longtime point

China's ties to Cuba and growing presence in Latin America raise security concerns in Washington, even as leaders try to ease tensions
Health

Tuberculosis on the rise for first time in decades after COVID-19 interrupted public health interventions and increased inequality

Tuberculosis is a dangerous bacterial infection of the lungs. Moyo Studio/E+ via Getty Images Before SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spread across the world in 2020, tuberculosis was responsible for more deaths globally than any other infectious disease. But thanks to targeted public health efforts in the U.S. and globally, tuberculosis cases had been steadily falling for decades. I am an infectious disease clinician and public health practitioner who has been caring for underserved communities in the U.S. for more than two decades. During the pandemic, it at first appeared that, as with many other common illnesses like the

Tuberculosis on the rise for first time in decades after COVID-19 interrupted public health interventions and increased inequality
Environment

Kakhovka Dam breach in Ukraine caused economic, agricultural and ecological devastation that will last for years

A well in Afanasyeva village, Mykolaiv region, damaged by flooding after the Kakhovka Dam breach. Anatolii Stepanov /AFP via Getty Images When an explosion breached the Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine on June 6, 2023, much analysis focused on near-term impacts, including the flooding of the city of Kherson, threats to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and consequences for Ukrainian military forces’ expected spring offensive against Russian troops. But the most severe long-term effects will fall on Southeast Ukraine’s farmers. Villages there were flooded. Roads, train tracks and irrigation canals were washed away. Crops in fields and orchards in the Kherson

Kakhovka Dam breach in Ukraine caused economic, agricultural and ecological devastation that will last for years
Education

Why putting off college math can be a good idea

Research shows that at least 17% of the population experiences high levels of math anxiety. Emilija Manevska/Moment via Getty Images The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Putting off college math could improve the likelihood that students remain in college. But that may only be true as long as students don’t procrastinate more than one year. This is what colleagues and I found in a study published in 2023 of 1,119 students at a public university for whom no remedial coursework was required during their first year. Enrolling in a math course during

Why putting off college math can be a good idea
World

2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advances to the 3rd round. Keys and Kostyuk also win

Petra Kvitova reached the third round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row, nine years after winning the second of her two titles at the All England Club. The 33-year-old Czech, who was injured in a knife attack at her home in 2016, beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-2 Friday on Day 5 of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. The left-handed Kvitova first won the Wimbledon title in 2011 and then added another in 2014. She has only reached one other Grand Slam final, losing to Naomi Osaka in the deciding match at the 2019

2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advances to the 3rd round. Keys and Kostyuk also win
World

Poland starts observances of WWII massacres by Ukrainians that have marred neighborly ties

Poland’s prime minister and Catholic church leaders opened several days of observances Friday to honor victims of World War II massacres of tens of thousands of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists, which have marred the tightening strategic relations between the neighboring nations. “We can say that for many years this has been an unhealed wound in Polish-Ukrainian relations,” said Rafal Bochenek, the spokesperson for Poland’s ruling right-wing party. “We would expect truth to be told and things to be called by their proper name,” Bochenek said. Poland says the 1943-44 massacre of some 100,000 Poles by Ukrainian

Poland starts observances of WWII massacres by Ukrainians that have marred neighborly ties
World

At least 1 dead, 5 wounded after shooting inside Lebanon mosque, security official says

A shooting inside a mosque during prayers left at least one person dead and five wounded Friday, a Lebanese security official said. The reason behind the shooting in the eastern town of Bar Elias was not immediately clear. The state-run National News Agency said more gunfire broke out later between Lebanese troops and the shooting suspect, who was wounded in that exchange. A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the man killed and the five wounded were all Syrian citizens. The town is home to many Syrian refugees who fled their

At least 1 dead, 5 wounded after shooting inside Lebanon mosque, security official says
World

Belarus shows off a military camp to host Russia's Wagner mercenaries after a failed mutiny

The Belarusian military on Friday showed off a field camp it has offered to Russia’s Wagner military contractor if it relocates to Belarus under a deal that ended its mutiny. Maj. Gen. Leonid Kosinsky, an assistant to Belarus’ defense minister, told international reporters that Wagner troops could use the former Belarusian army camp near Tsel, about 90 kilometers (about 55 miles) southeast of Minsk. Journalists were shown rows of empty tents that Kosinsky said could accommodate up to 5,000 troops at the camp in the Asipovichy district that was used by the Belarusian army before

Belarus shows off a military camp to host Russia's Wagner mercenaries after a failed mutiny
Arts

French actor Alain Delon's children accuse his companion of bullying, dog cruelty

The children of French actor Alain Delon accused a woman who lived with the 87-year-old movie star of bullying him and of mistreating his dog, and a French prosecutor directed police to investigate the legal complaints. The prosecutor, Jean-Cédric Gaux, said in a statement late Thursday that Delon’s family filed two legal complaints this week against Hiromi Rollin. Gaux said Rollin lived with the star of “The Samurai,” “The Leopard” and other movies at the Delon family home and described her as the actor’s companion. Rollin denies any wrongdoing, according to her lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou. A complaint

French actor Alain Delon's children accuse his companion of bullying, dog cruelty
World

UN report calls on Saudi Arabia to release 2 women jailed over tweets, alleging rights abuses

U.N. human rights experts on Friday called for the release of two Saudi Arabian women they say were arbitrarily detained and denied basic rights after tweeting criticism of the kingdom’s policies. Salma al-Shehab was sentenced to 34 years in prison and Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was sentenced to 45 years last summer after they were arrested in separate cases in 2021. They were found guilty by a special court originally established to try terrorists but which has broadened its mandate in recent years amid a heavy crackdown on dissent. The kingdom’s human rights record

UN report calls on Saudi Arabia to release 2 women jailed over tweets, alleging rights abuses
World

NATO leaders set to offer Ukraine major support package but membership is off the table for now

NATO leaders will agree next week to help modernize Ukraine’s armed forces, create a new high-level forum for consultations and reaffirm that it will join their alliance one day, the organization’s top civilian official said Friday. But the war-torn country will not start membership talks soon. At a two-day summit starting Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will also agree to boost defense spending as allies pour weapons, ammunition and other support like uniforms and medical equipment into Ukraine, 17 months into the war. They also hope to welcome Sweden

NATO leaders set to offer Ukraine major support package but membership is off the table for now
World

NATO leaders set to offer Ukraine major support package but membership is off the table for now

NATO leaders will agree next week to help modernize Ukraine’s armed forces, create a new high-level forum for consultations and reaffirm that it will join their alliance one day, the organization’s top civilian official said Friday. But the war-torn country will not start membership talks soon. At a two-day summit starting Tuesday in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will also agree to boost defense spending as allies pour weapons, ammunition and other support like uniforms and medical equipment into Ukraine, 17 months into the war. They also hope to welcome Sweden

NATO leaders set to offer Ukraine major support package but membership is off the table for now
World

Formula One welcomes Brad Pitt but is wary of protesters at British Grand Prix

Brad Pitt is joining the Formula One paddock for his new movie. He might stand as much chance as anyone else of beating Max Verstappen. Verstappen will be aiming for his eighth win in 10 races this year on Sunday as he surges toward winning the title for a third straight year. His Red Bull team has won 19 of the last 20 races going back to July 2022. As F1 welcomes Pitt for a weekend of filming around the British Grand Prix, race organizers and police are wary of possible environmental protests. PROTEST WARNINGS Activists

Formula One welcomes Brad Pitt but is wary of protesters at British Grand Prix
World

Iraq opens an investigation into the kidnapping of a missing Israeli-Russian academic

Iraq opened an investigation into the case of a dual Israeli-Russian academic who has been missing in Iraq since March, a government spokesman said Friday. Bassem al-Awadi’s comments were the first official Iraqi statements since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive “and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.” Netanyahu said Tsurkov is being held by the Shiite group Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, a powerful Iran-backed group that the U.S. government listed as a terrorist organization in 2009. Tsurkov, whose work focuses on the Middle East,

Iraq opens an investigation into the kidnapping of a missing Israeli-Russian academic

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