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Biden meets Congress leaders in urgent debt ceiling talks, weighs cutting short foreign trip

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and top congressional leaders opened their second meeting Tuesday in talks over raising the nation’s debt limit as the White House said it was reevaluating parts of Biden’s overseas trip that is scheduled to begin later this week. Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Unlike last week’s meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris was participating in Tuesday’s session. “We’re just getting started,” Biden said in brief remarks to reporters ahead of the meeting, being held in the Oval Office. Biden has remained optimistic on the talks, while McCarthy has said publicly that the negotiators have made little progress ahead of a June 1 deadline, which is when the Treasury Department says the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debts. White House National Security Council ...

Infertility is common in the US, but insurance coverage remains limited

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

Jessica Tincopa may leave the photography business she spent 14 years building for one reason: to find coverage for fertility treatment. After six miscarriages, Tincopa and her husband started saving for in vitro fertilization, which can cost well over $20,000. But the pandemic wiped out their savings, and they can’t find coverage for IVF on their state’s health insurance marketplace. So, the California couple is saving again, and asking politicians to help expand access. “No one should ever have to go through this,” Tincopa said.Infertility, or the inability to get pregnant after a year or more of trying, is a common problem. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that it affects nearly one in five married girls or women between the ages of 15 and 49. Yet coverage of fertility treatments can be hard to find in many corners of health insurance even as it grows briskly with big employers who see it as a must-have benefit to keep workers. It’...

Suspects arrested in Yuma house party shooting that left 2 dead, 5 wounded

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Two suspects have been arrested in connection with a shooting at a party in southwestern Arizona last weekend that left two men dead and five other people wounded, Yuma police said Tuesday.They said detectives served a search warrant at a home Monday and arrested 18-year-old Jose Lopez on suspicion of first-degree murder and disorderly conduct with a weapon while 19-year-old Aden Arviso was taken into custody on suspicion of false reporting and disorderly conduct with a weapon.It was unclear Tuesday if either suspect had a lawyer yet who could speak on their behalf.Police said there was a party at a private residence Saturday when the shooting occurred around 11 p.m. and more than 30 rounds were fired.Investigators still are trying to determine a motive, but said it doesn’t appear to be a random act and that the people at the party knew each other.Yuma police spokesperson Sgt. Lori Franklin said officers found seven people with gunshot wounds when they arrived at ...

Negotiators finalize details of bill to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — House and Senate negotiators wrapped up work Tuesday on the details of a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adults in Minnesota, setting the stage for final votes in the closing days of the legislative session.It will still take staffers a day or two to prepare the final bill language, the Democratic chairs of the cannabis conference committee, Rep. Zack Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, and Sen. Lindsey Port, of Duluth, said as they closed out their final meeting. The bill can then go to the House and Senate floors, where final approval is expected.“It has been an incredible journey,” Stephenson said, recalling the more than 30 committee hearings held between the both chambers this year to get the bill into its final shape. “Minnesota will be better because of it.”Conference committees are finishing work on the major budget bills of the 2023 session this week as the adjournment deadline of Monday approaches. House Democratic leaders hope to finish earlier,...

YouTube sends gun videos to 9-year-olds: ‘It’s not the kids. It’s the algorithms,’ study finds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — When researchers at a nonprofit that studies social media wanted to understand the connection between YouTube videos and gun violence, they set up accounts on the platform that mimicked the behavior of typical boys living in the U.S.They simulated two nine-year-olds who both liked video games, especially first-person shooter games. The accounts were identical, except that one clicked on the videos recommended by YouTube, and the other ignored the platform’s suggestions.The account that clicked on YouTube’s suggestions was soon flooded with graphic videos about school shootings, tactical gun training videos and how-to instructions on making firearms fully automatic. One video featured an elementary school-age girl wielding a handgun; another showed a shooter using a .50 caliber gun to fire on a dummy head filled with lifelike blood and brains. Many of the videos violate YouTube’s own policies against violent or gory content.The findings show that d...

Parliamentary committee calls for modernized Safe Third Country Agreement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

OTTAWA — A parliamentary committee is calling for Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States to include new exemptions allowing some asylum seekers to make claims in Canada after arriving south of the border.The agreement, first signed in 2004, means asylum seekers must make their claim wherever they arrive first — and they are turned away if they try to cross the border to make a claim in the other country.But the House of Commons immigration committee tabled a report today that calls for Canada to negotiate exceptions to that rule, particularly when it comes to people who have experienced gender-based violence. Immigration lawyer Maureen Silcoff told the committee in November that claimants who seek asylum due to female genital mutilation, domestic violence or the fear of sexual assault face more-restrictive laws in the U.S. and are more likely to be offered protection in Canada.U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to restore asylum provisions for domestic viol...

Former DuPage County corrections officer accused of having sex with inmate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. — A former DuPage County deputy corrections officer is accused of having sexual contact with an inmate. Prosecutors allege that Ricardo Hardy, 52, of Elgin had inappropriate sexual contact with a female inmate at the DuPage County Jail on at least two occasions, from March 13 through April 26.SEE ALSO: Second man charged in robbery, shooting that critically injured Dakotah Earley last yearRicardo Hardy, 52, of ElginHardy, who was assigned to the Corrections Bureau but dismissed from his role on Monday, allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse and other sexual acts in the prisoner’s cell as well as a shower and bathroom area, according to authorities.Hardy also arranged for $300 to be put on the prisoner's commissary, prosecutors added. Prosecutors charged Hardy with 10 felony counts, including five felony counts of custodial sexual misconduct and five counts of official misconduct. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesHardy was issued a $300,000 bond. His next ...

After a year out, White Sox get one of their best young pitchers back Tuesday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

CHICAGO — One of the White Sox best young pitchers is ready to return to the major league team for the first time in a year and a half.Pitcher and 2020 White Sox first round pick Garrett Crochet is back on the team’s major league roster after rehabbing in Birmingham and Charlotte..He had Tommy John surgery on April 5, 2022 and will pitch for the first time with the White Sox since the 2021 season. .@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/BZYxoTG4xz— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) May 16, 2023Garrett Crochet was called up to the team on Tuesday, 13 months after he underwent Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2022 season. The left-handed pitcher, who was used as a reliever in his first two seasons, joins the White Sox as they start a three-game series with Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday.After a full year out of the team's system to recover from his ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery, Crochet made six rehab appearances with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charl...

Citizens urge passage of Healthy Illinois for All bill as deadline looms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

CHICAGO — Several groups in Illinois are pushing for an expansion of a healthcare program approved by state lawmakers last year. In 2022, every person in Illinois ages 42 and up, became covered by a Medicaid-like program. Most of the money comes from the federal government, with a smaller portion from the state.The Healthy Illinois Initiative is heading down to Springfield on Wednesday to ask lawmakers and Governor JB Pritzker to expand the program to cover all age groups, including about 116,000 low-income residents, ranging from 19 to 41, who are not covered. Pritzker, state health officials call attention to Medicaid change Advocates say the expansion would cost a maximum of $200 million annually.Healthy Illinois says uninsured people now cost upwards of $800 million a year to the healthcare system in the state. Expanding Medicaid-like coverage would save money in the long run and help get those with illnesses back on their feet and able to work, supporters added."We need to sa...

IRS will launch test run of free online tax-filing system

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:49:10 GMT

(The Hill) -- The IRS announced Tuesday it will launch a test run of a direct, free online tax-filing system for the 2024 tax season, citing high levels of taxpayer interest in such a system and relatively low cost. In a highly anticipated Tuesday report, the IRS announced it forged ahead and built a prototype of a system that will be deployed in a pilot program.The pilot program will involve a select number of taxpayers and have a limited scope and functionality to allow the Treasury Department to gauge how taxpayers would interact with it, IRS and Treasury officials said Tuesday.“Dozens of other countries have provided free tax filing options to their citizens, and American taxpayers who want to file their taxes for free online should have an acceptable option,” said Laurel Blatchford, who heads the Treasury Department’s office for implementing the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act boosted IRS funding by $80 billion and ordered that agency to issue a report on t...