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FDA approves Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi; that means Medicare will pay for it

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials granted full approval to a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug on Thursday, clearing the way for Medicare and other insurance plans to begin covering the treatment for people with the brain-robbing disease.The Food and Drug Administration endorsed the IV drug, Leqembi, for patients with mild dementia and other symptoms caused by early Alzheimer’s disease. It’s the first medicine that’s been convincingly shown to modestly slow Alzheimer’s cognitive decline.Japanese drugmaker Eisai received conditional approval from the FDA in January based on early results suggesting Leqembi worked by clearing a sticky brain plaque linked to the disease.The FDA confirmed those results by reviewing data from a larger, 1,800-patient study in which the drug slowed memory and thinking decline by about five months in those who got the treatment, compared to those who got a dummy drug.“This confirmatory study verified that it is a safe and e...

Damian Lillard abandoning loyalty for South Beach: ‘Truthfully, he wants to play for Miami’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

The Portland Trail Blazers owe Damian Lillard over $175 million. But apparently, Lillard believes their obligation extends to something else:Making sure he goes to South Beach.The point guard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, has taken the trade demand to the next level by warning potential suitors that Lillard would become disgruntled if acquired by a team other than the Heat.“I do what I should for my client,” Goodwin told the Miami Herald. “Some teams I did call. Other teams have called me. It’s a respectful relationship with most teams.“Truthfully, he wants to play for Miami. Period.”The circumstances are troubling for a number of reasons. Mainly for the Blazers. On one hand, Lillard represents arguably the greatest player in franchise history and a symbol of commitment to a team that largely mismanaged the roster during his tenure.On the other hand, Lillard’s Miami-or-bust stance places the Blazers at a terrible disadvantage in negotiations...

A Texas man reported missing as a teen in 2015 was only missing for 1 day, police say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — The case of a Texas man who was reported missing as a teenager in 2015 and found alive last week at a church took an unexpected turn Thursday when police revealed it all was a hoax — the man was only gone for a day, but he and his mother maintained the ruse for eight years by using false names.Prosecutors did not file any charges against Janie Santana and her son, Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV, but the investigation is continuing, Houston police detectives said. They gave few other details about where they believe the case could lead.Santana’s family said they suspected Farias was not missing and blamed Santana for keeping him away from them all these years.“We’re upset that (authorities) are not going to do anything,” Pauline Sanchez Rodriguez, Farias’ aunt, said as she and other family members stood outside Houston police headquarters.Santana did not return a telephone call seeking comment Thursday.The announcement came a week after police said they found Farias after re...

Quebec only outlier on Ottawa health deal as Nunavut, Yukon and N.W.T. sign on

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

OTTAWA — All three territories signed on to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s health funding offer Thursday, leaving Quebec as the only holdout on the new accords.Trudeau presented his offer at a meeting with provincial and territorial premiers in Ottawa in February as local politicians, doctors, nurses and health advocates raised concerns about a national health-care crisis.The agreement would see the federal government shift $196 billion to the provinces and territories over the next 10 years in exchange for commitments to massively upgrade health-care data collection and digital medical records. The offer includes $17 billion in new spending over and above existing federal health transfers and $25 billion for agreements tailed to the specific needs of individual provinces. Following the meeting premiers signalled that they would agree, though the prime minister’s offer fell well short of what they had hoped for.The governments of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut...

Electricity being restored to Montreal after nearly 200K customers lost power

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

MONTREAL — Quebec’s hydro utility was working to restore electricity to clients in Montreal after a problem with a transmission line knocked out power to nearly 200,000 customers on Thursday.Montréal—Trudeau International Airport said some of its operations were disrupted due to what it called a major electrical failure. By Thursday evening several flights were still listed as delayed or cancelled, but it was unclear whether those problems were caused by the blackout.By 5:30 p.m. Hydro-Québec said about 20,000 customers in Montreal were still without power.Spokesperson Caroline Des Rosiers said authorities were investigating what happened and weren’t ruling out high temperatures in southern Quebec as the cause.She said affected clients would have power back by early evening.This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2023.The Canadian Press

Twitter threatens to sue Meta over Threads: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

Twitter is threatening to sue Meta, with the app’s legal team accusing the social media giant of “systemic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”The letter penned by Twitter’s lawyer Alex Spiro, first shared by news outlet Semafor, says Meta hired Twitter employees with the express knowledge that the employees “continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information.”Spiro says they have obligations to Twitter, adding they have “highly confidential information” improperly retained documents and electronic devices from Twitter.“With that knowledge, Meta deliberately assigned these employees to develop, in a matter of months, Meta’s copycat ‘Threads’ app with the specific intent that they use Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property in order to accelerate the development of Meta’...

Toronto Star owner pausing ads on Facebook, Instagram over Meta’s vows to block news

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

TORONTO — The company that owns the Toronto Star is joining other Canadian media companies in pausing all advertising on Facebook and Instagram.The immediate pause is in response to Meta’s plan to block access to content from Canadian news outlets on its platforms, Torstar Corp. said in a press release Thursday evening. “We vigorously object to Meta’s unprecedented plans to block our content on its platforms in protest against the federal government’s Online News Act,” said Torstar CEO Neil Oliver in the press release. “By its action, Meta will be deliberately closing one of the main ways that Canadians currently access news. Such access is critical for the long-term health of our democracy.”It’s the latest such move by a media company in Canada as tech giants respond in protest to the Canadian government’s Online News Act, which seeks to make them pay news outlets for sharing their content. Media companies Quebecor Inc. and Coge...

Twitter threatens legal action against Meta over Threads: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter has threatened legal action against Meta over its new, text-based app called Threads, according to a letter obtained by Semafor.In a Wednesday letter addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alex Spiro, an attorney representing Twitter, accused Meta of unlawfully using Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property by hiring former Twitter employees to create a “copycat” app.Since launching Threads Wednesday night, Meta’s new app has collected tens of millions of sign ups. The app, which was created by the company’s Instagram team, arrives at a time when many are looking for Twitter alternatives to escape Elon Musk’s raucous oversight of the platform since acquiring it last year for $44 billion.Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded to the report of Spiro’s letter on Threads Thursday afternoon, writing, “no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee — that’s just not a thing.”In the letter, which Semafor fi...

Judge orders arrest of gun training center owner in Vermont

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

A judge on Thursday ordered the owner of a controversial firearms training center in Vermont arrested until he proves that parts of the 30-acre facility have been removed or demolished.The property, known as Slate Ridge, includes multiple buildings and two firing ranges on land about the size of 30 football fields (12 hectares). Fueled by complaints from neighbors, the town of Pawlet has attempted unsuccessfully for several years to get the facility owner Daniel Banyai to remove structures he built without a permit. The order from the Vermont Environmental Court is the latest attempt to hold Banyai accountable, after he accrued more than $100,000 in fines so far this year. The arrest, which can be carried out by a constable or county sheriff, must happen in the next 60 days.Banyai could not be reached for comment, and his lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment. A lawyer for Pawlet would not comment on the order.Slate Ridge neighbors have long complained about the gu...

The UN chief issues a rare condemnation of excessive force by Israel in its Jenin raid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:11:17 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — In a rare condemnation of Israel, the U.N. chief on Thursday denounced the country’s excessive use of force in its largest military operation in two decades targeting a refugee camp in the West Bank.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, clearly angered by the impact of the Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp, said the operation had left over 100 civilians injured, forced thousands to flee, damaged schools and hospitals and disrupted water and electricity networks. He also criticized Israel for preventing the injured from getting medical care and humanitarian workers from reaching everyone in need.“I strongly condemn all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror,” Guterres told reporters.Asked whether this condemnation applied to Israel, he replied: “It applies to all use of excessive force, and obviously in this situation, there was an excessive force used by Israeli forces.”The U.N. chief again called on Israel “to abide by its...