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New York lawmakers approve bill that would allow medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill

New York lawmakers approve bill that would allow medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill

Toronto Star2 days ago

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Terminally ill New Yorkers would have the legal ability to end their own lives with pharmaceutical drugs under a bill passed Monday in the state Legislature.
The proposal, which now moves to the governor's office, would allow a person with an incurable illness to be prescribed life-ending drugs if he or she requests the medication and gets approval from two physicians. A spokesperson for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would review the legislation.

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EDITORIAL: Greta's flotilla needs a moral compass
EDITORIAL: Greta's flotilla needs a moral compass

Toronto Sun

time43 minutes ago

  • Toronto Sun

EDITORIAL: Greta's flotilla needs a moral compass

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg talks to journalists as she arrives at Stockholm Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday June 10, 2025. Photo by Anders Wiklund / AP The hypocrisy of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was once again on full display this week as she set off for Gaza with 11 other celebrity protesters. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account As a teenage climate activist, Greta irresponsibly urged students around the world to skip school on Fridays to demonstrate against global environmental policies. Now she's moved on to geopolitics. With a boatload of high-profile activists, Thunberg claimed she was going to deliver aid to Gaza from a sailboat, Madleen. The boat was intercepted by Israeli forces on Monday. They arrived at the port of Ashdod and were taken to Tel Aviv, given sandwiches and water and Thunberg was deported. She later claimed to have been 'kidnapped,' a loathsome allegation, given that, according to the BBC, there are an estimated 54 Israeli hostages believed to be in Gaza, 31 of whom are believed to be dead. There would be no conflict in Gaza if Hamas returned them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Israel has dismissed the so-called Freedom Flotilla as a 'selfie yacht.' Israeli spokesman David Mencer said the boat was carrying only a 'meagre' amount of aid, which he said would 'of course be sent into Gaza.' He had some pointed questions: 'To poor Greta, we say, who is really feeding Gaza and who is feeding their own ego?' Israeli authorities urged Thunberg to watch a video of the hideous attacks on the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, in which young women were brutally raped and hundreds of people murdered. In other attacks on Israeli communities, babies and old people were slaughtered. Thunberg refused to watch. So much for getting both sides of the story. Meanwhile, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories used social media to urge other boats to join the flotilla. 'While Madleen must be released immediately, every Mediterranean port should send boats with aid, solidarity and humanity to Gaza. They shall sail together — united, they will be unstoppable,' Francesca Albanese posted on X. It's highly irresponsible for a representative of an organization that seeks to find consensus and world peace to take such a one-sided view of the conflict. Who started the war anyway? It's time to call out Thunberg for what she is: A self-serving publicity-seeker, and her mission for what it was: A stunt. Celebrity NHL Editorial Cartoons Toronto Maple Leafs Music

Missouri approves stadium aid for Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and disaster relief for St. Louis
Missouri approves stadium aid for Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and disaster relief for St. Louis

Winnipeg Free Press

time43 minutes ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Missouri approves stadium aid for Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and disaster relief for St. Louis

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers on Wednesday approved hundreds of millions of dollars of financial aid to try to persuade the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to remain in the state and help the St. Louis area recover from a devastating tornado. House passage sends the legislative package to Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, who called lawmakers into special session with a plea for urgent action. Kehoe is expected to sign the measures into law. Missouri's session paired two otherwise unrelated national trends — a movement for new taxpayer-funded sports stadiums and a reevaluation of states' roles in natural disasters as President Donald Trump's administration reassess federal aid programs. The stadium subsidies already were a top concern in Missouri when a deadly tornado struck St. Louis on May 16, causing an estimated $1.6 billion of damage a day after lawmakers had wrapped up work in their annual regular session. The disaster relief had widespread support. Lawmakers listened attentively on Wednesday as Democratic state Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins described with a cracking voice how she witnessed the tornado rip the roof off her house and damage her St. Louis neighborhood. Collins said she has no home insurance, slept in her car for days and has accepted food from others. 'Homes are crumbled and leveled,' said Collins, adding: 'It hurts me to my core to see the families that have worked so hard, the businesses that have worked so hard, to see them ripped apart.' Lawmakers approved $100 million of open-ended aid for St. Louis and $25 million for emergency housing assistance in any areas covered under requests for presidential disaster declarations. They also authorized a $5,000 income tax credit to offset insurance policy deductibles for homeowners and renters hit by this year's storms — a provision that state budget director Dan Haug said could eventually cost up to $600 million. The Chiefs and Royals currently play football and baseball in side-by-side stadiums in Jackson County, Missouri, under leases that expire in January 2031. Jackson County voters last year defeated a sales tax extension that would have helped finance an $800 million renovation of the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City. That prompted lawmakers in neighboring Kansas last year to authorize bonds for up to 70% of the cost of new stadiums in Kansas to lure the teams to their state. The Royals have bought a mortgage for property in Kansas, though the team also has continued to pursue other possible sites in Missouri. The Kansas offer is scheduled to expire June 30, creating urgency for Missouri to approve a counter-offer. Missouri's legislation authorizes bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, plus up to $50 million of tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments. If they choose to stay in Missouri, the Chiefs plan a $1.15 billion renovation of Arrowhead Stadium. Though they have no specific plans in the works, the St. Louis Cardinals also would be eligible for stadium aid if they undertake a project of at least $500 million. Many economists contend public funding for stadiums isn't worth it, because sports tend to divert discretionary spending away from other forms of entertainment rather than generate new income. But supporters said Missouri stands to lose millions of dollars of tax revenue if Kansas City's most prominent professional sports teams move to Kansas. They said Missouri's reputation also would take a hit, particularly if it loses the Chiefs, which have won three of the past six Super Bowls. 'We have the chance to maybe save what is the symbol of this state,' Rep. Jim Murphy, a Republican from St. Louis County, said while illustrating cross-state support for the measure. The legislation faced some bipartisan pushback from those who described it as a subsidy for wealthy sports team owners. Others raised concerns that a property tax break for homeowners, which was added in the Senate to gain votes, violates the state constitution by providing different levels of tax relief in various counties while excluding others entirely. 'This bill is unconstitutional, it's fiscally reckless, it's morally wrong,' said Republican state Rep. Bryant Wolfin.

Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated
Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated

Winnipeg Free Press

time44 minutes ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Hundreds of laid-off CDC employees are being reinstated

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 460 laid-off employees at the nation's top public health agency received notices Wednesday that they are being reinstated, according to a union representing the workers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed reinstatement notices went out to the former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees, but provided few details. About 2,400 CDC employees lost their jobs in a wave of cuts across federal health agencies in early April, according to a tally at the time. Whole CDC programs were essentially shut down, including some focused on smoking, lead poisoning, gun violence, asthma and air quality, and workplace safety and health. The entire office that handles Freedom of Information Act requests was shuttered. Infectious disease programs took a hit, too, including programs that fight outbreaks in other countries, labs focused on HIV and hepatitis in the U.S., and staff trying to eliminate tuberculosis. An estimated 200 of the reinstated workers are based in the CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, HHS officials confirmed. Staffers at a CDC lab that does testing for sexually transmitted diseases are being brought back, said one CDC employee who wasn't authorized to discuss what happened and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Also reinstated are an estimated 150 employees at the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, including people staffing a lab that works on lead poisoning, according to the union and employees. Layoffs at federal agencies were challenged in lawsuits, with judges in some cases ordering federal agencies to halt terminations of employees. Officials at HHS have never detailed how they made the layoff decisions in the first place. And they did not answer questions about why the notices went out, or how decisions were made about who to bring back. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the agency was streamlining operations and that 'the nation's critical public health functions remain intact and effective.' 'The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services — whether it's supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases,' he said. This is not the first time that employees at the Atlanta-based agency were told they were being terminated only to then be told to come back. After an earlier round of termination notices went out in February, about 180 CDC employees in March were told to come back. __ 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.

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