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US government to relaunch free Covid-19 home test program

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

(CNN) — The US government will relaunch a program to provide free Covid-19 home tests to Americans, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Wednesday.“We will once again begin our program to provide Americans with an opportunity to request tests,” Becerra said during an event at a Washington, D.C., CVS Pharmacy, where he was vaccinated against Covid-19 and flu. More information on the Covid-19 testing program is coming soon, he said.Becerra said HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response “has been resupplying our stockpile” and some of those tests would be made available for the respiratory virus season.Previously, the US government has offered multiple rounds of free Covid-19 tests to people who requested them through Covidtests.gov. The program was suspended at the end of May, after the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency, to preserve supply.Covid-19 hospitalizations have been on the rise in the United States...

Stellantis and GM furlough dozens of workers, warns hundreds more could come as strike continues

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

(CNN) — Stellantis is immediately laying off 68 employees at the Toledo Machining Plant in Perrysburg, Ohio, due to the impact from the United Auto Workers union’s targeted strike at the Toledo Assembly Complex, the company said Wednesday.The layoffs will be temporary and are due to storage constraints, Stellantis said in a statement, adding that it had run out of space to store the parts made at the plant. Production at the rest of the facility will continue. More layoffs are anticipated at Kokomo Transmission and Kokomo Casting in Kokomo, Indiana, impacting an additional 300 employees there, the company said.This is the first layoff announcement by Stellantis. Ford and General Motors already laid off or warned of idling employees at two of their plants because of the targeted strikes.About 600 employees at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant’s body construction department and south sub-assembly area of integrated stamping were laid off in Wayne, Michigan on Friday. The p...

Fed keeps rates unchanged but signals likelihood of another hike this year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday for the second time in its past three meetings, a sign that it’s moderating its fight against inflation as price pressures have eased. But Fed officials also signaled that they expect to raise rates once more this year.Consumer inflation has dropped from a year-over-year peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.7%. Yet it’s still well above the Fed’s 2% target, and its policymakers made clear Wednesday that they aren’t close to declaring victory over the worst bout of inflation in 40 years. The Fed’s latest decision left its benchmark rate at about 5.4%, the result of 11 rate hikes it unleashed beginning in March 2022.The Fed’s hikes have significantly raised the costs of consumer and business loans. In fine-tuning its rate policies, the central bank is trying to guide the U.S. economy toward a tricky “soft landing” of cooling inflation without triggering a deep rece...

Orioles place Ryan Mountcastle on 10-day IL with left shoulder injury, hope slugger returns before playoffs

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

The Orioles waited a week to see if Ryan Mountcastle’s left shoulder would improve enough to get the first baseman back on the field and avoid a stint on the injured list, but it hasn’t.Manager Brandon Hyde said before Wednesday’s series finale against the Houston Astros that Mountcastle hadn’t progressed the way the Orioles hoped, forcing them to place the slugger on the 10-day IL with left AC joint inflammation.Even though he hasn’t played since Sept. 13, Mountcastle’s IL trip can only be backdated three days. Hyde said the goal is for Mountcastle to return as soon as his stint ends next Wednesday. Outfielder Ryan McKenna was recalled from Triple-A to replace Mountcastle on the 28-man roster.Mountcastle suffered the injury on a swing in the first inning of last Wednesday’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Hyde had said several times in the past week that the middle-of-the-order bat wasn’t a candidate to go on the IL, but that his bat...

Top 10 sailing destinations around the world

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

If your idea of the perfect vacation involves sea breezes and flapping sails, you’ve got a fellow sailing aficionado over at the travel advice site, TripsToDiscover.com. The site offers travel tips and “best of” lists for destinations around the world, from luxury beach house rentals in California to beautiful beaches in the South of France and top sailing adventure destinations.The latter is written by K.C. Dermody and offers 17 enticing possibilities from French Polynesia to Turkey, Croatia and Zanzibar. You’ll find destinations where you can hire a barefoot charter or cruise aboard a traditional dhow, snorkel, dive or simply sail.A general view of people kite surfing in Paje, Zanzibar, on January 12, 2022. During high season, Zanzibars beaches attract thousands of people for kite surfing, economically benefitting local businesses. (Sumy Sadurni/AFP via Getty Images)The Grenadines, a chain of tiny Caribbean islands, tops the list, thanks to their beautiful views, pristine beaches,...

A new COVID booster is here. Will those at greatest risk get it?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

Amy Maxmen | (TNS) KFF Health NewsThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends new COVID-19 booster vaccines for all — but many who need them most won’t get them. About 75% of people in the United States appear to have skipped last year’s bivalent booster, and nothing suggests uptake will be better this time around.“Urging people to get boosters has really only worked for Democrats, college graduates, and people making over $90,000 a year,” said Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist at Yale University. “Those are the same people who will get this booster because it’s not like we’re doing anything differently to confront the inequities in place.”As the effects of vaccines offered in 2021 have diminished over time, boosters have been shown to strongly protect people against severe COVID and death, and more modestly prevent infection. They can have a dramatic impact on those most likely to die from COVID, such as older adults and immunocompromised people. Public health expert...

High school football returns to Fenway Park

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

High school football will return to Fenway Park once again as the Boston Red Sox announced the four matchups to be played on November 21-22 of Thanksgiving Day week.The Boston City League gets the ball rolling on Tuesday as Tech Boston and Brighton kick things off at 5 p.m. The nightcap should be a doozy as Hockomock League powers King Philip and Franklin, both teams currently ranked in the Boston Herald EMass Top 10, square off.The Merrimack Valley Conference takes over on Wednesday as Chelmsford and Billerica meet at 4 p.m. Followed by the long-standing Central Mass. rivalry between Leominster and Fitchburg.General admission tickets are available for purchase at redsox.com/highschoolfootball starting at $20/ticket for each day, providing access to both games. Twenty-five percent of every ticket sold will be given back to the school being supported. Dell Technologies Level Suites will be available for all matchups starting at $50/ticket and can be purchased by contacting Ben Morse ...

Maryland apologizes to man wrongly convicted of murder, agrees to $340K payment for years in prison

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

By BRIAN WITTE (Associated Press)ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A man wrongly convicted of two separate violent crimes will be compensated by the state of Maryland after spending years behind bars, including over a year after he had been proven innocent.A Maryland board approved more than $340,000 for a settlement on Wednesday in compensation for Demetrius Smith who was wrongly convicted of murder and first-degree assault and spent more than five years in prison.Gov. Wes Moore, who chairs the three-member Board of Public Works, apologized to Smith before the board approved the settlement, noting that it’s been more than a decade since his release in 2013.“We’re here today more than 10 years after he was released from incarceration, providing Mr. Smith with long overdue justice that he was deprived of, an apology from the state of Maryland that until today he’s never received,” Moore told Smith, who attended the hearing in person.Smith was 25 in 2008 when h...

Ukraine’s president, at Security Council, lashes out at Russia but avoids face-to-face encounter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

By EDITH M. LEDERER and JENNIFER PELTZ (Associated Press)UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Ukraine’s president accused Russia of waging “a criminal and unprovoked aggression” that undermines all norms of war and the U.N. Charter at a meeting Wednesday of the U.N. Security Council that started with a clash over his speech.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the council that he would not have come if he did not have a proposal to end the 19-month war, starting with adherence to the charter that ensures the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all 193 U.N. member nations. He stressed that restoration of all Ukrainian territory is the key to peace.Before the meeting started, there was intense speculation about whether Zelenskyy and Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, would clash, speak or totally avoid each other. But no confrontation happened because Zelenskyy left the council soon after his address.The verbal fireworks began at the start of the meeting, before L...

Elijah McClain died after a police stop and ketamine injection. Now, 2 officers are on trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:15:24 GMT

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — The trial of two suburban Denver police officers was set to open Wednesday in the killing of Elijah McClain, a Black man put in a neck hold and injected with a powerful sedative whose 2019 death later became a rallying cry for nationwide protests and spurred police reform in Colorado.In the first of several trials stemming from the death of McClain, lawyers for the two sides are expected to paint contrasting pictures of the deadly struggle between the officers and the 23-year-old massage therapist. McClain was stopped by police in the city of Aurora while walking home from a convenience store carrying only a plastic bag and his phone. One question jurors could be asked to decide is whether it was lawful for officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt to detain and use force against McClain, who a 911 caller reported as suspicious. If prosecutors can convince jurors the stop was unjustified, that would undermine any argument that McClain’s injuries were a resul...