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More free COVID-19 tests from the government are available for home delivery through the mail

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can order more free COVID-19 tests online for home delivery.The U.S. government is offering to send another round of four at-home virus tests ahead of the typical surge in cases during the winter holiday season.Anyone who did not order a batch of four COVID-19 tests in September can secure up to eight of them this time around starting Monday at COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver them for free.The government is mailing out the coronavirus tests as the the flu season kicks off and a spike in RSV cases has been reported in some spots around the country. COVID-19 hospitalizations were on the rise this fall but have stayed steady in recent weeks. Immunity from previous vaccinations and infections has kept case counts lower compared with other years.The new release of free COVID-19 nasal swab tests also comes ahead of the first winter since the pandemic started that insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of them. On average, at-home...

German security officials say they foiled an alleged far-right attack by an 18-year-old

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — An 18-year-old right-wing extremist was arrested in central Germany on suspicion that he was planning a “serious act of violence endangering the state,” security officials said Monday.The man, whose identity was nor given in line with German privacy rules, is accused of having an “established violent, antisemitic and right-wing extremist attitude,” investigators said.He was arrested last week by special forces in the state of Hesse.“The 18-year-old had repeatedly threatened in relevant forums to kill people in pursuit of his political goals,” Hesse criminal police and local prosecutors said in a statement. He is also suspected of having violated the Weapons Act.The suspect’s home was searched last week, too, and computers and cell phones as well as weapons and ammunition were seized.“Initial evaluations of the search confirmed the suspicion,” security officials said. “Further evaluation and the weapons investigation are ongoing.”The authorities did not give any d...

Nearly 1,000 Rohingya refugees arrive by boat in Indonesia’s Aceh region in one week

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP) — Almost 1,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have arrived by boat in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh in the last six days, officials said Monday. They included five groups with women and children who were afloat for days. One batch of more than 240 people was twice denied landing by residents in Aceh Utara district, sparking concerns from human rights organizations. The group finally disembarked in Bireuen district on Sunday morning. “We thank the authorities and local communities who have received and granted landing permits for them and in the future we hope that this spirit of solidarity and humanity will continue to be extended to refugees who need assistance and protection,” the the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.The refugees arriving in Aceh had endured a difficult sea journey. Most of them left refugee camps in Bangladesh, where more than 700,000 had fled following a crackdown by Myanmar’s army in August 201...

Affordability crisis putting Canadian dream at risk: poll

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

An affordability crisis is putting the Canadian dream at risk for immigrants, according to a new Leger poll done exclusively for OMNI News.   The survey finds two-in-five (42 per cent) immigrant households are struggling to make ends meet, with the number increasing to 54 per cent when surveying those who moved to Canada within the last five years. It’s not a surprise to Mary Ann Llanera and Vanessa Viloria. Factory workers by day and cleaners by night, they each work two jobs to afford living in Canada – 13 years after arriving from the Philippines. On top of this, they also do what many immigrants do: send money back home. “Monday to Friday, you’re going from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., five hours of sleep,” said Viloria. “Time is precious now that you have to be awake because one day you’ll sleep forever.”The Leger-OMNI poll, one of the largest polling samples of immigrants in recent years, surveyed 1,522 immigrants across Canada between Oct. 18 and 25. It is one of the few poll...

First Quantum reduces operations at Cobre Panama further as blockade continues

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

TORONTO — First Quantum Minerals Ltd. says it has reduced operations at its Cobre Panama copper mine further and warns if a blockade of small boats at the mine’s port continues it will have to temporarily halt production.The company says it is down to one remaining ore processing train and that without shipments arriving at the mine’s port, it expects to run out of supplies for the on-site power plant later this week.People in Panama have been protesting an operating agreement between the company and the government for the mine that has raised nationalist anger as well as environmentalist objections.First Quantum says the blockade by the boats has affected the delivery of supplies for the mine’s on-site power generation plant, which is necessary for full operations.It has also affected the loading of copper concentrate onto ships. The company says if the blockade continues it will have to ramp down the remaining processing train this week and temporarily halt produ...

Airbnb names Klain, former White House Chief of Staff, as chief legal officer

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

Airbnb has named Ron Klain, former White House Chief of Staff for President Joe Biden, as its chief legal officer. Klain was President Biden’s chief of staff during his first two years in office. He was previously chief of staff to then-Vice President Biden. He held the same position under Vice President Al Gore at 34 years old, making him the youngest chief of staff to a vice president in American history. Klain was also chief legal officer at venture capital firm Revolution, which was started by AOL founder Steve Case. Klain’s appointment takes effect at the start of the year. He will report to Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky. The Associated Press

Italy is outraged by the death of a young woman in the latest suspected case of domestic violence

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italy has erupted in outrage over the death of a young woman, allegedly at the hands of her possessive ex-boyfriend, with the Italian premier vowing to crack down further on domestic violence that has claimed the lives of more than 50 women so far this year.Police in Germany over the weekend arrested Filippo Turetta, who had been on the run since Nov. 11, when he was last seen fighting with 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin, hitting her in a physical attack that was captured by roadside video cameras. Cecchettin’s body, reportedly with multiple stab wounds, was found wrapped in plastic on Saturday in a ditch near Lake Barcis, in the province of Pordenone north of Venice.Italian newspapers had been consumed with the search for them both, given multiple reports from friends and family that Turetta had refused to accept Cecchettin’s decision to end the relationship. Cecchettin’s sister, Elena, had said she had been concerned about Turetta’s possessiveness of her sis...

Live updates | Shell hits Gaza hospital, killing 12, as heavy fighting breaks out

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

A shell hit the second floor of a hospital in northern Gaza, killing at least 12 people, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry and a medical worker, as Israeli troops focus on clearing medical facilities where they say Hamas militants take cover. Heavy fighting broke out around the Indonesian Hospital, which has housed thousands of patients and displaced people for weeks.The fighting came a day after the World Health Organization evacuated 31 premature babies from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the territory’s largest, where they were among more than 250 critically ill or wounded patients stranded there days after Israeli forces entered the compound.Israel says Hamas uses civilians and hospitals as shields, while critics say Israel’s siege and relentless aerial bombardment amount to collective punishment of the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians after Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel.More than 11,500 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors — have been kille...

Kimberly Palmer: Taking these financial steps could help post-divorce recovery

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

Jamie Lima remembers his divorce six years ago as one of the most emotionally draining and financially challenging experiences of his life. As a result, he resolved to use his professional background as a certified financial planner to help other people going through similar situations.“I want to make sure other people don’t step on the same land mines and be an advocate for them,” says Lima, founder of the Ramona, California-based Allegiant Divorce Solutions, a financial planning company that helps people going through divorce.While the financial aspect of divorce is often overshadowed by the emotional impact, rebuilding finances after the dissolution of a marriage can be an integral part of overall recovery. Lima and other financial experts recommend following these steps to navigate the financial challenges post-divorce:ADJUST TO YOUR NEW CASH FLOWA separation of finances after a divorce may mean you have to do more with less. “You want to start to look at, ‘If I walk away with h...

Some nurse practitioners in Canada not being paid for administering MAID

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:10:45 GMT

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — For the past year, Ellen Gretsinger, a nurse practitioner in Ontario’s Niagara region, has been providing patients with medically assisted deaths — and not getting paid for it.She has a full-time nursing job and a side gig offering virtual care, and in the evenings and on weekends, assesses patients for medical assistance in dying — known as MAID — and delivers the procedure. Like many provinces, Ontario does not have a mechanism for nurse practitioners to take on independent work and be paid for it, like a fee-for-service structure often in place for doctors.And demand for MAID is growing across the country. So Gretsinger does the work for free. She believes in it, especially after watching her mother suffer before she died of cancer.“I just feel that when people are suffering, and this is something that they’ve been told that they can access, then access needs to be there,” Gretsinger said in a recent interview. “So that’...