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POLITICO Pro Morning Health Care: WHA wrap — UK trials boost — Cancer Plan project peek

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Presented by PPTABy HELEN COLLISwith ASHLEIGH FURLONG, CARLO MARTUSCELLI, ELISA BRAUN and JOANNA ROBERTSPRESENTED BY View in your browser or listen to audioSNEAK PEEK— As the World Health Assembly winds down, we look at the latest news out of Geneva.— The U.K. Treasury unveiled a raft of measures designed to boost the life sciences sector, including speeding up clinical trials.— Two years since Europe’s Cancer Plan launched and a suite of projects are now up and running.Welcome to Friday’s Morning Health Care! Today, we say a fond toodle-pip to our brilliant colleague Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif, who leaves us to take up another worthy cause, saving lives as a doctor. She will be very much missed on the team and, I’m sure, among our readers too. Interested in filling her shoes? Drop us a line. Second public service announcement: We have a newsletter holiday Monday, but we’ll land back in your inboxes on Tuesday.Mark your calendars: Our weekly health care calendar lands in your inb...

Celtics continue to stay alive with dominant Game 5 victory over Heat, force Game 6 in Miami

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

When the Celtics fell into a 3-0 series deficit in these Eastern Conference Finals, they looked disconnected. But when all hope looked lost, they stuck together.Their humiliating Game 3 loss could have easily led to a sweep, to a painfully long summer. But they stayed together. The Celtics gathered the eve before Game 4, looked each other in the eye and made sure they were on the same page. One of their assistant coaches put their predicament in perspective.“The seasons are like nine months long, and we just had a bad week,” Mazzulla said of the assistant’s message. “Sometimes you have a bad week at work. We obviously didn’t pick the best time to have a bad week, but we did. “And we’re sticking together and fighting like hell to keep it alive, and the guys are really coming together.”And now, it just got interesting.As slim as their chances looked – facing a task no team in NBA history has accomplished – the Celtics have still believed. They still believed they were the ...

Del Mar personal trainer's trademark challenged by Monster Energy drink

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

DEL MAR, Calif. -- A Del Mar personal trainer has been forced to go up against an energy drink giant. When filing for a registered trademark, Monster Squad Del Mar was stopped by Monster Energy.“I’m not advertising their drinks. No logos, my logo looks nothing like theirs,” said Herman Jones, owner of Monster Squad Del Mar mobile training.Jones is now prepared to fight for his business of more than 20 years after Monster Energy filed an objection to his trademark registration.“This is a big company chasing me for what reason,” Jones said.According to Jones’ lawyer Andrew Dhuey, the energy drink giant has a reputation of going after the little guy.“They’ve done this nine times in the last week. They are averaging about one every calendar day,” Dhuey said.Dhuey said every time a trademark application is filed with the word "monster" or even just the letter “m,” Monster Energy files an objection. Owners of San Diego restaurants charged with COVID-relief fraud “I’ve been watching trad...

Climbers celebrate Mount Everest 70th anniversary amid melting glaciers, rising temperatures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — As the mountaineering community prepares to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest, there is growing concern about temperatures rising, glaciers and snow melting, and weather getting harsh and unpredictable on the world’s tallest mountain.Since the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) mountain peak was first scaled by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay in 1953, thousands of climbers have reached the peak and hundreds of lost their lives.The deteriorating conditions on Everest are raising concerns for the mountaineering community and the people whose livelihoods depend on the flow of visitors.The Sherpa community, who grew up on the foothills of the snow-covered mountain they worship as the mother of the world, is the most startled.“The effects of climate change are hitting not just the fishes of Antarctica, the whales or the penguins, but it’s having a direct impact on the Himalayan mountains and the peo...

Members of polygamous group to appear in court on child sex abuse charges

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Members of a small polygamous group accused of child sex abuse of underage girls who the group’s leader claimed as brides are expected to appear in federal court on Friday.Sam Bateman and the three women followers scheduled to appear for their arraignment were arrested last year and charged with kidnapping and impeding a federal investigation. Prosecutors earlier this month expanded the group’s charges. Now 11 members of Bateman’s group face 51 felony counts for transporting children across state lines to facilitate sexual activity, recording it, destroying evidence and witness tampering.The group’s appearance in court is the latest development in a sprawling federal investigation spanning at least five states that became public last fall after authorities raided Bateman’s compound in Colorado City, Arizona. The site was long home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, known by its acronym FLDS.Colorado City and Hildale — ...

Rights groups slam severe Taliban restrictions on Afghan women as ‘crime against humanity’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Two top rights groups on Friday slammed the severe restrictions imposed on women and girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan as gender-based persecution, which is a crime against humanity.In a new report, Amnesty International and the International Commission for Jurists, or ICJ, underscored how the Taliban crackdown on Afghan women’s rights, coupled with “imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment,” could constitute gender persecution under the International Criminal Court.The report by Amnesty and ICJ, titled, “The Taliban’s war on women: The crime against humanity of gender persecution in Afghanistan,” cited the ICC statute, which lists gender-based persecution as a crime against humanity.The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after two decades of war.Despite initial promises of a more moderate rule, the Taliban started to enforce restrictio...

US, Chinese trade officials express concern about each other’s restrictions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, expressed concern Thursday about policies of each other’s governments following Chinese raids on consulting firms and U.S. curbs on exports of semiconductor technology, their governments said.The two sides announced no progress in disputes over technology and security but said Raimondo and Wang promised to strengthen exchanges on trade issues.Companies from both sides have been buffeted by tighter official controls on trade in semiconductors and other activity on security grounds. Political relations between the two governments are at their lowest level in decades following disputes over technology, security, China’s territorial claims and Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong and ethnic minorities.Raimondo “raised concerns” about Chinese actions against U.S. companies in China, her office said in a statement. It said they also discussed the trade and investment environment and “areas...

California’s epic melting snowpack means cold, deadly torrents ahead of Memorial Day weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California rivers fed by this winter’s massive Sierra Nevada snowpack have been turned into deadly torrents, drawing warnings from public safety officials ahead of the Memorial Day weekend’s traditional start of outdoor summer recreation.At least seven people, including two children, have died or gone missing this spring in the grasp of powerful rivers plunging down from California’s towering mountain range, and there have been numerous rescues.“This year we’re seeing higher water, faster water and colder water,” said Capt. Justin Sylvia, a fire spokesperson in Sacramento, which is crossed by the American River.Sacramento has already had 20 water rescues this year, nearly as many as all of 2022, Sylvia said Tuesday as crews practiced swift-water rescues on the lower American River near its confluence with the Sacramento River.Memorial Day weekend is typically one of the busiest, if not the busiest, times of the year, and “floating down the...

Residents cautioned not to swim at these L.A. beaches over the holiday weekend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

For Southern Californians opting to stay at home this Memorial Day weekend, a trip to the beach might be on the agenda, but health officials in Los Angeles are urging residents headed to select beaches to stay out of the water.  The ocean water use warnings were issued after tests concluded that bacterial levels prevalent in the water exceeded health standards, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Thursday. Officials are encouraging beachgoers to avoid swimming, surfing and playing in the ocean water at the following locations: Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach Topanga Canyon Beach in Malibu Latigo Shore Drive in Malibu Escondido Creek at Escondido State Beach Marie Canyon Storm Drain at Puerco Beach Las Flores Creek at Las Flores State Beach Pena Creek at Las Tunas County Beach Santa Monica Canyon Creek at Will Rogers State Beach Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica Pico-Kenter storm drain at Santa...

CCS softball playoffs: Santa Teresa survives TKA rally, advances to Division III final

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:57:00 GMT

Division IIINo. 3 Santa Teresa 8, No. 7  The King’s Academy 6The softball team may not have endured a 14-inning marathon like the baseball team did the day before, but its game on Thursday still provided plenty of excitement.When Santa Teresa led 7-0 to start the fifth inning, the Saints appeared to have a trip to the Division III title game vs. Everett Alvarez locked up. But the last three innings were anything but comfortable for the San Jose school, the third-seeded Saints escaping a King’s Academy rally that saw the Knights score six runs and come within one hit of taking the lead. The King’s Academy had the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the seventh, but Santa Teresa induced a popup to end the game. Santa Teresa first baseman Kierstin Wick was 2 for 3 with three RBIs, and pitcher Mariah Avalos was 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Left fielder Keira Leong was 2 for 2 with two RBIs. Shortstop Mia Bennette led TKA’s near-comeback, driving in three runs and scoring one too. Freshma...