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Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd launches 2024 bid for GOP presidential nomination

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

(CNN) — Former Texas Rep. Will Hurd on Thursday launched a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, joining a crowded field looking to challenge front-runner former President Donald Trump.“This is a decision that my wife and I decided to do because we live in complicated times and we need common sense,” Hurd, who was an undercover CIA officer before entering politics, said on CBS.“There are a number of generational defining challenges that we’re faced with in the United States of America – everything from the Chinese government trying to surpass us as the global superpower, the fact that inflation is persistent at a time when technologies like artificial intelligence is going to upend every single industry, and our kids, their scores in math, science and reading are the lowest they’ve ever been in this century,” the former congressman said.“These are the issues we should be talking about. And to be frank, I’m pissed that we’re not talking about these thing...

Red Rocks Amphitheater hail storm injures nearly 100 ahead of planned Louis Tomlinson concert

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

(CNN) — Nearly 100 people attending a planned concert Wednesday evening at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver were injured after being pelted with large hail during severe storms that moved across the area, the West Metro Fire Department said.At least seven people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, the fire department said in a tweet. Up to 90 people were treated on scene, the department said. Injuries included cuts and broken bones, it said.Bella Oliveira said she was almost trampled as she and others ran from the falling hail.“I managed to hide where they were selling drinks and I used my backpack to protect myself and another girl,” she said, adding that she hurt her head and shoulder during the incident.The National Weather Service office in Boulder first issued a severe thunderstorm warning around 9:04 p.m. Wednesday that included the amphitheater. The weather service warned the storm was capable of producing winds up to 50 mph a...

The Titan submersible imploded, killing all 5 on board, the US Coast Guard says

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

By PATRICK WHITTLE and HOLLY RAMER (Associated Press)A submersible carrying five people to the Titanic imploded near the site of the shipwreck and killed everyone on board, authorities said Thursday, bringing a tragic end to a saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search and a worldwide vigil for the missing vessel.Coast Guard officials said during a news conference that they’ve notified the families of the crew of the Titan, which had been missing since Sunday.The sliver of hope that remained for finding the five men alive was wiped away early Thursday, when the submersible’s 96-hour supply of oxygen was expected to run out and the Coast Guard announced that debris had been found roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic in North Atlantic waters.“This was a catastrophic implosion of the vessel,” said Rear Adm. John Mauger, of the First Coast Guard District.After the submersible was reported missing Sunday, the U.S. Navy went back and analyzed ...

Massachusetts law allowing state to keep foreclosed home sale profits unconstitutional, AGs office says

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

The state can no longer take your home, sell it and keep the profits, representatives from the Attorney General’s office told a joint committee of the Legislature.On Thursday, the Joint Committee on Revenue heard testimony from advocates speaking in favor or against more than 60 bills, most dealing with property tax. One of the proposals, offered by state Sen. Mark Montigny, aims to bring Massachusetts into compliance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision which declared that the practice of confiscating real estate property to make up for missed taxes and keeping any profits from any following sale is no longer allowed.“The message from our office is that the time is now to fix this statute, we look forward to working with the committee to do so,” First Assistant Attorney General Pat Moore told the committee. “The tax lien foreclosure process set forth in Chapter 60 of the General Laws is now unconstitutional.”In May, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a state governm...

Wyoming’s first-in-the-nation abortion pill ban blocked before it was set to take effect

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

By MEAD GRUVER (Associated Press)CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Abortion pills will remain legal in Wyoming for now, after a judge ruled Thursday that the state’s first-in-the-nation law to ban them won’t take effect July 1 as planned while a lawsuit proceeds.Attorneys for Wyoming failed to show that allowing the ban to take effect on schedule wouldn’t harm the lawsuit’s plaintiffs before their case is resolved, Teton County Judge Melissa Owens ruled after hearing arguments from both sides.Meanwhile, those plaintiffs “have clearly showed probable success on the merits,” Owens said in granting their request to temporarily block the pill ban.While other states have instituted de facto bans on the medication by broadly prohibiting abortion, Wyoming in March became the first U.S. state to specifically ban abortion pills.Two nonprofit organizations, including an abortion clinic that opened in Casper in April; and four women, including two obstetricians, h...

First gene therapy for deadly form of muscular dystrophy gets FDA approval for young kids

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

By MATTHEW PERRONE (AP Health Writer)WASHINGTON (AP) — The first gene therapy for a deadly form of muscular dystrophy received preliminary U.S. approval on Thursday despite concerns from some government scientists about the treatment’s ability to help boys with the inherited disease.The Food and Drug Administration approval provides a new option for some patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare muscle-wasting disease that causes weakness, loss of mobility and early death. It almost always affects males.Drugmaker Sarepta Therapeutics said it would charge $3.2 million for the one-time treatment, slightly less than a $3.5 million gene therapy for hemophilia launched last year. Like most medicines in the U.S., the cost will be mostly paid by insurers — not patients — including private plans and government programs.The FDA OK’d the treatment only for children ages 4 and 5, based on study results showing the therapy helped produce a protein needed fo...

Live updates | Titanic salvage rights owner mourns expert killed aboard Titan

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

By The Associated PressFollow along for live updates on the submersible that vanished while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.___TITANIC SALVAGE RIGHTS OWNER MOURNS LOSS OF SHIPWRECK EXPERTRMS Titanic, Inc., the company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck, is mourning the loss of Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who was among five people killed aboard the Titan submersible when it imploded this week.Nargeolet — known as “PH” — was a long-term employee of the company.“The maritime world has lost an iconic and inspirational leader in deep-sea exploration, and we have lost a dear and treasured friend,” the company said in a statement Thursday.Friend and former colleague Matthew Tulloch said Nargeolet loved his work from the time they collaborated in the 1990s up until Nargeolet’s death.“I never got the impression that he was looking forward to retirement,” Tulloch said with a small laugh. R...

Yankees Notebook: Giancarlo Stanton returns to OF as Aaron Judge eyes end-of-week baseball activities

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

After a few days of consideration, Giancarlo Stanton finally returned to the outfield on Thursday against the Mariners.Stanton, penciled into right, hasn’t played the outfield since April 12 or since coming back from a hamstring injury on June 2. His defensive workload has been a talking point throughout his Yankees career, but Aaron Boone is not sure how often he’ll use the slugger in the field.“Hopefully, it remains in place throughout the year,” Boone said, adding that he’ll discuss it with Stanton. “It’s kind of something that we’ll tackle week by week and day by day.”Stanton has said in the past that he believes playing the outfield helps his swing, and Boone has said that it’s good for the oft-injured player to stay active.But with Stanton in the middle of a slump, Boone has also tried to get ahead of narratives should the former MVP start to hit now that he’s using his glove again.“If he goes out and bang...

Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman advances to next phase in MLB’s All-Star voting, with chance to start for AL

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

The first phase of All-Star fan voting ended Thursday, and Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman is one step closer to potentially starting the Midsummer Classic for the American League.Rutschman will face Texas Rangers catcher Jonah Heim in the second phase of voting, during which fans will determine who will start July 11 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park.Although Rutschman led Heim by a significant margin in the latest update, the vote totals from the first phase don’t carry over to the second. Voting will restart at noon Monday and end at noon Thursday, with fans allowed to vote once per 24-hour period.Rutschman, 25, is slashing .272/.382/.425 — good for an .808 OPS — with 10 home runs, 32 RBIs and an AL-leading 49 walks. Heim, 27, has the same number of home runs as Rutschman (10) with 22 more RBIs as part of the Rangers’ MLB-best offense. Heim’s .792 OPS is slightly worse than Rutschman’s, but his 2.6 WAR ranks best among AL catchers.Rutschman, in ...

North Carolina GOP legislators making changes to new abortion law days before enforcement

Published Tue, 18 Feb 2025 23:34:44 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican legislators rolled out on Thursday adjustments to the state’s new abortion restrictions that are set to take effect in days, addressing some provisions that litigation seeking to block the law’s enforcement calls confusing and inconsistent.GOP senators said the changes offered on the Senate floor were small, designed to affirm the intent of the measure enacted last month over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto that in part would ban starting July 1 nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. “We very much see it as something that is technical and clarifying,” Sen. Ralph Hise, a Mitchell County Republican, told reporters after the Senate voted for the abortion alterations, tacked on to another pending state health agency bill. “It makes no substantive changes.”But the language appears to attempt to thwart a federal lawsuit filed last week by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and a doctor who performs abortions that...