Gunmen kill police officer assigned to guard polio workers in northwestern Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected militants riding on a motorcycle shot and killed on Wednesday a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in a region in northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, the latest in a string of deadly attacks on polio workers.
The attack in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, came just days after authorities launched the vaccination drive. Police official Nasir Khan said an investigation was underway.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
More than 200 polio workers and police assigned for their protection have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to health officials and authorities.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio has not been eradicated. Pakistan reported at least 74 cases in 2024 and two cases since January.
Pakistan regularly launches campaigns against polio despite attacks on the workers and police assigned to the inoculation drives. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
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Hamilton Spectator
29 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Takeaways from AP's report on financial interests of RFK Jr. adviser who runs wellness platform
ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) — Calley Means has built a following by railing against the U.S. health system, often hammering on alleged financial conflicts within the medical establishment. Means, a top aide to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was hired as a White House adviser in March. He has used that position to accuse physician groups, federal agencies and government scientists of financial interests that bias their work. Means, however, has his own stake in the sprawling health system. He's the co-founder of an online platform that offers dietary supplements, herbal remedies, exercise equipment, light therapy lamps and other wellness products. The Associated Press found that Means' heated rhetoric against the medical mainstream dovetails with the interests of his company TrueMed, which features vendors who are prominent supporters of Kennedy's 'Make America Healthy Again' movement. Because of his status as a temporary government employee, Means is exempt from publicly disclosing his financial details. The AP reviewed more than two dozen interviews, speeches, articles and podcast appearances by Means both before and after he joined the government. Here are some takeaways from the AP's reporting : Attacking prescription drugs, promoting wellness alternatives Means' company, Truemed, helps users take tax-free money out of their health savings accounts, or HSAs, to spend on things that wouldn't normally qualify as medical expenses, such as meal delivery services and homeopathic products — remedies based on a centuries-old, debunked theory of medicine. As a top messenger for the administration, Means has been promoting a new government report that calls for scaling back prescription drugs for depression, weight loss and other conditions. By criticizing the use of drugs and other rigorously tested products, health experts say Means is furthering the interests of his company, which offers alternatives to traditional medicine. 'It reeks of hypocrisy,' said Dr. Reshma Ramachandran, a health researcher at Yale University. 'In effect, he is representing another industry that is touting nonregulated products and using his platform within the government to financially benefit himself.' In a written statement, Means said his government work has not dealt with matters affecting Truemed and has focused on issues like reforming nutrition programs and pressuring companies to phase out food dyes. 'Pursuing these large-scale MAHA goals to make America healthy has been the sole focus in my government work,' Means said. Undisclosed interests The full extent of Means' potential financial conflicts are unclear because of his status as a special government employee . Unlike presidential appointees and other senior officials, special government employees do not have to leave companies or sell investments that could be impacted by their work. Also, their financial disclosure forms are shielded from public release. 'It's a big problem,' says Richard Painter, former White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush. 'I think it's a loophole.' Plugging products and business associates While promoting the administration's accomplishments, Means has not shied away from plugging his own brand or those of his business partners. When asked to offer health advice to listeners of a sports podcast, Outkick The Show, in April, Means suggested they read his book 'Good Energy,' which he co-authored with his sister, Dr. Casey Means. He also recommended blood tests sold by Function Health, which provides subscription-based testing for $500 annually. The company was cofounded by Dr. Mark Hyman, a friend of Kennedy and an investor in Truemed, which also offers Hyman's supplements through its platform. Like dietary supplements, the tests marketed by Function Health are not clinically approved by the Food and Drug Administration. 'It ends up favoring these products and services that rest on flimsy grounds, at the expense of products that have actually survived a rigorous FDA approval process,' said Dr. Peter Lurie, a former FDA official who is now president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Steering medical dollars into health savings accounts Means says he has not worked on issues impacting HSAs since joining the federal government. Federal ethics laws forbid government employees from taking part in decisions that could impact their financial situation. But before joining government, Means said the mission of his company 'is to steer medical dollars into flexible spending.' 'I want to get that $4.5 trillion of Medicare, Medicaid, everything into a flexible account,' he told fitness celebrity Jillian Michaels, on her podcast last year. Truemed collects fees when users and partnering companies use its platform. Means also founded a lobbying group, made up of MAHA entrepreneurs and TrueMed vendors, that listed expanding HSAs as a goal on its website. Means said in a statement that the group focused only on broad topics like 'health care incentives and patient choice — but did not lobby for specific bills.' Benefits of HSAs questioned Expanding HSAs has been part of the Republican health platform for more than 20 years. The tax-free accounts were created in 2003 to encourage Americans in high-deductible plans to be judicious with their health dollars. But HSAs have not brought down spending, economists say. They are disproportionately used by the wealthiest Americans, who have more income to fund them and bigger incentives to lower their tax rate. Americans who earn more than $1 million annually are the group most likely to make regular HSA contributions, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Most Americans with HSAs have balances less than $500. HSA expansions in Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' are projected to cost the federal government $180 billion over the next 10 years. 'These are really just tax breaks in the guise of health policy that overwhelmingly benefit people with high incomes,' said Gideon Lukens, a former White House budget official during the Obama and Trump administrations. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
AP reporters go behind the story in discussing coverage of the Sean 'Diddy' Combs case
NEW YORK (AP) — Hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been charged in federal court with sex trafficking and racketeering and has pleaded not guilty. The trial has generated salacious headlines and massive coverage. In this episode of 'The Story Behind the AP Story,' reporters Larry Neumeister and Michael Sisak share their coverage of the case as the trial unfolds and witnesses take the stand. The episode contains sound and descriptions that some listeners may find graphic or violent. Listener discretion is advised. ___ Julie Walker, Host: I'm Julie Walker. On this episode of 'The Story Behind the AP Story,' we go inside the Sean 'Diddy' Combs case. He's charged in federal court with sex trafficking and racketeering and has pleaded not guilty. The trial has generated salacious headlines and massive coverage. (SOUND OF AP RADIO REPORTS ABOUT THE TRIAL) The trial began in May, and the judge has said he expects to wrap up the case by July 4th. We'll hear from AP reporters who have been in court with Combs as the trial unfolds and witnesses take the stand. To kick us off Larry Neumeister explains what the case is about. Larry Neumeister, reporter: So, when the feds go after somebody, they look for what kind of charges are federal crimes. And in this case, sex trafficking, bringing people across state lines to do illegal sex acts, or racketeering, which can involve many different things, including that 2016 tape of Cassie being beat up by Sean Combs by the elevator bank in that Los Angeles hotel. That, actually, is a centerpiece of the evidence against Combs in this case. And a lot of charges like domestic violence are all kind of things they could have brought against Sean Combs years ago. Well, there's a statute of limitations that would rule out certain charges, and certain charges just — there is no federal domestic violence charge. That's something that is brought more locally or statewide. WALKER: So the prosecution alleges that Combs used violence to keep people quiet and compliant and further his own interests., and while he was not charged with domestic abuse, prosecutors argue it is wrapped into the overall picture of this case. One reason one of the first things jurors were shown as evidence was the 2016 hallway tape from the LA hotel where Combs is seen dragging and kicking Cassie Ventura. AP reporter Mike Sisak. Michael Sisak, reporter: The refrain from the defense has been that, if anything, there could have been domestic violence charges brought against Sean Combs back in 2016. Those charges would have been brought in a California court by Los Angeles police. There has not been any real discussion of an investigation in 2016 of any effort to charge Sean Combs with domestic violence at that time. So, in some sense, while it's a thread that the defense is pulling, that he's actually charged with sex trafficking and racketeering in this federal case, it almost is a bit of apples and oranges in the sense that the violence that the defense is conceding to, prosecutors allege, was part of the mechanism of the racketeering, of the sex trafficking. WALKER: Besides seeing that video of Cassie jurors were also shown photos of her with bruises she said Combs gave her. We also got some pretty explicit and explosive testimony from the singer. She was called to the witness stand early in the trial, in part, because she was about to give birth, which she ended up doing shortly after her testimony concluded. SISAK: We've heard from Cassie about the freak-offs. We've heard from some of the male sex workers that were involved. And then we're seeing other pieces of evidence that prosecutors say show the depravity of these events and then also the network of people that Combs relied on to keep them secret. I recall being in the courtroom earlier in the trial when some images were shown from some of the videotapes at issue here with these sex marathons. And there was a binder of some of these images, and Combs was sitting next to his lawyer and waved over, 'Hey, I want to see those,' and he's looking through them and he's holding — the press, the public, we were not allowed to see these images, they were graphic images. The defendant, of course, was allowed to see them and he held them in a way that we could not see what he was looking at. And then he passed it back. And then other times he's hunched over a laptop computer looking at exhibits that are showing text messages and emails that were exchanged over the years with various people involved in the case. WALKER: So how is the jury taking all of this all in. We've got eight women and four men, plus the six alternates. NEUMEISTER: One thing I've seen with this jury that I've hardly ever seen with a jury is incredible attention to every witness. They turn in their chairs, they're pointed toward the witness, they're scribbling notes like mad. I've never seen so much as a juror yawn, although I did see Kid Cudi — he was yawning several times. WALKER: Because cameras are not allowed in the courtroom, the only thing that those not attending the trial can see are sketch artists' depictions of Combs, and we see a very different Diddy. SISAK: Sean Combs, according to his assistant who testified, was using just for men to hide gray hair. And he had jet black hair up until the time he was arrested and put in jail last year. And then we also learned that hair dye is not allowed in jail. So in court, he has had this gray salt and pepper hair, goatee. He has been allowed to wear for the trial, sweaters, button-down shirts, khakis and the like. It's a stark difference in look. NEUMEISTER: You can't have dye, right, Mike? I'll tell you though, the guy is so involved with his defense, it's like off the charts, kind of amazing. I don't think I've ever seen this to this degree before. There was a witness, it was Kid Cudi, where at the end of his testimony, the prosecutors got him to say he believed Sean Combs was lying when he said he didn't know anything about his car when he brought it up. Kid Cudi's car was exploded in his driveway one day with a Molotov cocktail and absolutely destroyed. And so he had a meeting with Sean Combs some weeks after that and at the very end of the meeting, he said, brought up the car. And Sean Combs said, 'Oh, what are you talking about? I don't know anything about that.' And after, as soon as that, the prosecutor finished asking the questions, got that response, then two lawyers, one on each side of Combs, looked to him, Combs said no, and only then did the lawyers inform the judge that there would be no more questioning. SISAK: And then when there are breaks, we see him standing up, stretching, turning around, looking at his supporters in the gallery. His mother has been there. Some of his children have been there. Some of his daughters have left the courtroom during the especially graphic testimony. But at other times, when his children are there, when his supporters are there, he's shaping his hands in the shape of a heart. He's pointing at them. He's saying, 'I love you.' He's whispering. There was a moment when another reporter and I were sitting in the courtroom during a break, and Sean Combs turns around — there's nobody in front of us — and he asks us how we're doing. We say hi back to him because you're in such close proximity. We're only 10 feet apart or so. WALKER: In the end it's all going to come down to the jury deciding whether the prosecution has proved their case or whether Combs' defense team has been able to sow doubt in their minds. NEUMEISTER: One thing is very unusual on this trial is there are six prosecutors. That is almost unprecedented. I've seen terrorism trials that only had four prosecutors. I think Combs has like eight lawyers and one defense lawyer who consults with the defense team but isn't part of the in-court trial team. WALKER: Sean 'Diddy' Combs is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His attempts to get out on bail have been rejected. If convicted on all charges, the 55-year-old faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison. The sex trafficking charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life. Racketeering also carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, while transportation to engage in prostitution carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. This has been 'The Story Behind the AP Story.' For more on AP's coverage of the Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial, visit
NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
NCAA says online abuse related to sports betting declined during this year's March Madness
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Online abuse related to sports betting decreased during the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournaments compared with the prior year, but people involved in the competition still received more than 3,000 threatening messages, the NCAA said Tuesday. The NCAA hired Signify Group to monitor messages directed at athletes, coaches, game officials, selection committee members and others with official roles in the tournament. Signify used both artificial intelligence and human analysts to confirm the threats and, when necessary, report them to law enforcement. Overall, abuse related to sports betting was down 23%, the NCAA said in a news release. The men's March Madness bracket was notable this year for the scarcity of upsets, with all four No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four and Florida, a popular pick to win it all, claiming the national title. On the women's side, three top seeds made the national semifinals and No. 2 seed UConn, among the pre-tournament favorites, won the championship. The NCAA's analysis found that overall, abusive statements directed at people involved in the men's tournament increased by 140% — much of it directed at the selection committee and coaches — while abuse related to sports betting was down 36%.
