Month: August 2022

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US

Biden signs executive order paving way for Medicaid to pay for out-of-state abortions

Biden signs executive order paving way for Medicaid to pay for out-of-state abortions

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that paves the way for Medicaid to pay for abortion services for people having to travel out of state.

Speaking from the White House virtually, Biden continued to criticize the Supreme Court’s June 25 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Today, I’m signing the second executive order that responds to the healthcare crisis that has unfolded since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, and that women are facing all across America,” he said.

The executive order comes just one day after abortion rights activists secured a major win in Kansas, where voters on Tuesday rejected removing the right to abortion from the state constitution.

Biden said the Supreme Court “practically dared women in this country go to the ballot box and restore the right to choose that the Court just ripped away after 50 years.”

“The voters of Kansas sent a powerful signal that this fails the American people will vote to preserve and protect the right and refuse to let it be ripped away from politicians,” Biden said.

The new directive allows the secretary of health and human services to “invite states to apply for Medicaid waivers, so that states where abortion is legal could provide services to people traveling from a state where abortion may be illegal to seek services in their state,” the official said. Technically, these states would apply through what’s known as a “Medicaid 1115 waiver,” according to a senior administration official.

The official noted that when the White House looked into declaring a public health emergency for abortion and what that would allow the federal government to do, this change to Medicaid — an assistance program for low-income patients’ medical expenses — was one of the options. But the White House realized the president could also do it through an executive order instead, which he plans to do Wednesday, the official said.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks virtually during the first meeting of the interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access at the White House complex in Washington, DC, Aug. 3, 2022.

President Joe Biden speaks virtually during the first meeting of the interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access at the White House complex in Washington, DC, Aug. 3, 2022.

Susan Walsh/AP

But the timeline for these changes remains unclear.

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday for more details on the implementation of the executive order for women who want to seek abortion care soon.

“Are we talking about days, are we talking about weeks, are we talking about six months?” Vega asked.

Jean-Pierre said the administration didn’t “have the details to share today but [Health and Human Services] will soon have more on what a waiver could look like and the timeline.”

Biden’s order also directs the health and human services secretary to make sure “health care providers comply with federal non-discrimination laws so that women receive medically necessary care without delay,” according to the White House. That could include “providing technical assistance for health care providers who may be confused or unsure of their obligations in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs,” or providing other info and guidance to providers about their obligations and consequences of not complying with non-compliance. -discrimination laws.

The order also directs the health and human services secretary to improve research and data collection on maternal health outcomes, according to the White House.

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Business

A ‘graphite battery’ in Wodonga will be Australia’s first commercial thermal energy storage

Graphite Energy's thermal energy storage unit

When Finland recently unveiled the world’s first “sand battery”, there was speculation that Australian manufacturers would soon be rolling out their own versions, as they looked to burn less gas.

Now, a pet food factory in Wodonga has announced it’s doing just that.

The Mars Petcare facility, one of the largest pet-food makers in the country, will take delivery of a “graphite battery” later this year, as part of a trial to reduce emissions and ultimately save money.

From the outside, the orange container won’t look like much, but experts say the system’s installation is an important moment in the country’s clean energy transition, and such thermal energy storage (TES) facilities will become a common sight over the next decade.

“It will be the first major commercial application of thermal energy storage to displace gas in Australia, so it’s a big deal,” said Dominic Zaal, director of the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute (ASTRI), which is funded through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

“It will be the first of many. Within 10 years this will be widespread.”

So, how does it work, and what can it be used for?

Water goes in, steam comes out

Like the Finnish sand battery, the Wodonga TES system purchases renewable electricity from the grid when it’s cheapest and converts this to heat through resistive heating (like an electric bar-heater).

This heat is then stored in the graphite blocks at temperatures of up to 900C.

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Technology

Nintendo Switch Online Has a Surprise for Mario Kart Fans

Nintendo Switch Online Has a Surprise for Mario Kart Fans

Nintendo has a special surprise for Mario Kart fans subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online on Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED. Nintendo fans haven’t gotten a proper Mario Kart game since 2014 when mario kart 8 was released via the Wii U. And with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe selling like hotcakes on Switch, and mario kart tour and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit bolstering this offering, it may be a while before “Mario Kart 9” is released. Unfortunately, today’s new surprise doesn’t change this disappointing reality, but those subscribed to either tier of Nintendo Switch Online will be delighted to know that the latest free icons coming to subscribers are Mario Kart 8 Deluxe themed.

The new icons come alongside the new wave of Booster Course Pass DLC, and feature the likes of Mario, Dry Bowser, Yoshi, and more. Unfortunately, the game’s best characters — Waluigi and Black Shy Guy — are not included. As you may know, this isn’t the first time the game has been included in the promotion, but all of the icons themselves are new. These particular designs will be available until August 8, with new designs replacing the previous designs every week for the month of August.

In addition to being limited to Nintendo Switch Online users, each icon requires Platinum Points. More specifically, each character is 10 points a pop, while frames and backgrounds are 5 points a pop. That said, this shouldn’t be a problem for most Switch Online users.

Nintendo Switch Online on Switch Lite, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite runs at $20 a year. Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, you need to fork over $50 a year. For an extra $30 a year, these subscribers get a range of additives, with the most notable of these additives being access to N64 and Sega Genesis games.

For more Nintendo coverage — including the latest on Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch Online specifically — be sure to check out all of our previous articles on it by clicking right here or, alternatively, check out the links right below:

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Categories
Australia

Police release CCTV vision amid investigation into Sydney shooting murder

Shady Kanj was gunned down in Chester Hill, in Sydney’s west last August in what police believe is a “targeted attack”.

As part of ongoing investigations, Homicide Squad detectives conducted a secondary canvass of the area in Sydney’s west and unearthed the vision.

Shady Kanj was shot in Chester Hill, in Sydney's west last August.
Shady Kanj was shot in Chester Hill, in Sydney’s west August 6, 2021. (Supplied)

It shows a man and woman in a white Audi Q5 at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Lidcombe prior to the murder.

Police do not believe the man and woman were involved in Kanj’s murder but may have information that could assist with inquiries.

Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty urged the man and woman, or those with knowledge of their identities, to come forward.

The white Audi was seen at a McDonald's drive-thru prior to the shooting murder of Granville man Shady Kanj.
The white Audi was seen at a McDonald’s drive-thru prior to the shooting murder of Granville man Shady Kanj. (NSW Police)
Police do not believe the man and woman were involved in Kanj's murder.
Police do not believe the man and woman were involved in Kanj’s murder. (NSW Police)

“Detectives have released CCTV in the hope of identifying the occupants of a white Audi captured on the night of Shady’s murder, as we suspect they have information of value to our investigation,” he said.

“That vehicle is captured at the fast-food restaurant in Lidcombe before the shooting, then again on the corner of Mona Street and Clyde Street at South Granville later that night.

“Given the vehicle traveled in the vicinity of the murder around the time of the shooting, it is possible the occupants saw something suspicious that may further our inquiries.”

Doherty said police believe the individuals involved in the murder visited Miller Street before and after the shooting.

“As part of ongoing investigations, detectives returned to Miller Street at South Granville to conduct further canvasses of the area,” he said.

“It is believed that those involved in Shady’s murder visited Miller Street before and after the incident and may have even disposed of evidence in the vicinity.”

The release of the CCTV comes months after police seized a white Lexus hatchback, which was believed to be disguised and used in the murder.

The disguised Lexus was shown traveling to and from the Chester Hill area on the night of Shady Kanj's murder.
The disguised Lexus was shown traveling to and from the Chester Hill area on the night of Shady Kanj’s murder. (Supplied)
In CCTV vision the Lexus is seen traveling to and from the Chester Hill area on the night of Shady Kanj's murder.
The Lexus CT200H hatchback was taken from an Auburn home, in the city’s west, in April. (Supplied)

It’s suspected the Lexus CT200H hatchback was “wrapped” in black nylon film to disguise its true colour.

The vehicle has since undergone extensive forensic examination.

Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online here.
Categories
US

CDC expected to ease Covid-19 recommendations, including for schools, as soon as this week

CDC expected to ease Covid-19 recommendations, including for schools, as soon as this week

A preview of the plans obtained by CNN shows that the updated recommendations are expected to ease quarantine recommendations for people exposed to the virus and de-emphasize 6 feet of social distancing.

The agency is also expected to de-emphasize regular screening testing for Covid-19 in schools as a way to monitor the spread of the virus, according to sources who were briefed on the agency’s plans but were not authorized to speak to a reporter. Instead, it says it may be more useful to base testing on Covid-19 community levels and whether settings are higher-risk, such as nursing homes or prisons.

The changes, which may be publicly released as early as this week, were previewed to educators and public health officials. They are still being deliberated and are not final.

In a statement to CNN, the agency said, “The CDC is always evaluating our guidance as science changes and will update the public as it occurs.”

As part of the expected changes, the CDC would also soon remove a recommendation that students exposed to Covid-19 take regular tests to stay in the classroom. The strategy, called “test to stay,” was recommended by the agency in December, during the first Omicron wave, to keep unvaccinated children who were exposed but didn’t have symptoms in the classroom instead of quarantining at home.
Millions of US children remain unvaccinated as BA.5 spreads and new school year looms

Test-to-stay was resource-intensive for schools, and some districts had voiced concerns about having enough money to continue, one source said.

In schools and beyond, the agency will no longer recommend staying at least 6 feet away from other people as a protective measure. Instead, the new guidelines aim to help people understand which kinds of settings are riskier than others because of things like poor ventilation, crowds and personal characteristics like age and underlying health.

The CDC is also set to ease quarantine requirements for people who are unvaccinated or who are not up to date on their Covid-19 vaccines. Currently, the agency recommends that people who aren’t up to date on their shots stay at home for at least five days after close contact with someone who tests positive for Covid-19. Going forward, they won’t have to stay at home but should wear a mask and test at least five days after exposure.

Most US public schools plan to keep masks optional for starting classes

People who are sick with Covid-19 should still isolate, the agency is expected to say.

The agency also plans to re-emphasize the importance of building ventilation as a way to help stop the spread of many respiratory diseases, not just Covid-19. It plans to encourage schools to do more to clean and refresh their indoor air.

Sources say the tweaks reflect both shifting public sentiment toward the pandemic — many Americans have stopped wearing masks or social distancing — and a high level of underlying immunity in the population. Screening of blood samples suggests that as December, 95% of Americans have had Covid-19 or been vaccinated against it, reducing the chances of becoming severely ill or dying if they get it again.

The CDC’s recommendations are not legally binding. Many cities, states and school districts will review them but may ultimately follow different strategies.

One example of this is masks in schools.

More than 200 million people — about 60% of the total population — live in a county with a “high Covid-19 community level” where the CDC warns of a risk of strain on the health care system and recommends universal indoor masking.
Yet most schools have kept masks optional for students this year. Among the top 500 K-12 school districts, based on enrollment, about 98% do not require masks, according to the data company Burbio’s school policy tracker.

Still, the agency’s guidance continues to be important as a baseline. When cities or states try to go beyond what the CDC recommends, they may face pushback.

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Categories
Business

How a little-known stock soared 21,000 per cent to overtake Costco

A little-known Hong Kong-based company appears to have become the latest obsession of traders on the popular Reddit forum WallStreetBets, helping its stock shoot up 21,000 per cent since its IPO less than a month ago.

Shares of AMTD Digital have spiked nearly 3,000 per cent over the past week, and were up 126 per cent on Tuesday alone.

The company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on July 15, listing its shares at US$7.80 ($11.24) apiece. Since then, the price has jumped to US$1,679 ($2,419).

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

AMTD Digital is a financial services startup that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol “HKD”.

The company is an arm of AMTD Idea Group, an investment bank based in Hong Kong that is also listed in New York and Singapore. The unit was founded in 2019, and provides fintech services in Asia, including a virtual bank called Airstar.

AMTD Digital brought in just over US$25 million in revenue last year, according to a regulatory filing. And yet this week its market cap is more than US$310 billion, surpassing that of Shell and Costco and putting it closer to the size of Walmart and Exxon.

Even the company was scratching its head over the sudden surge.

“To our knowledge, there are no material circumstances, events nor other matters relating to our company’s business and operating activities since the IPO date,” the company said in a statement.
Even AMTD Digital managers were scratching their heads over the sudden surge. (Google Maps)

Its parent company has also benefited from the mania. AMTD Idea Group was the number one trade on Fidelity’s platform on Tuesday, and its stock jumped nearly 237 per cent in New York.

The frenzy is reminiscent of the January 2021 run-up in shares of GameStop and AMC, which both saw historic upticks after retail investors on the WallStreetBets subreddit seized on what they saw as the companies’ undervalued stocks.

One user on the forum pointed to the similarities Wednesday, asking whether this was “another GameStop AMC situation.”

“Where did AMTD Digital come from,” they wrote.

There appeared to be no specific reason for the rally, other than online users in recent days calling for people to pile into the shares.

It worked: on Tuesday, the company was one of the most traded stocks on Fidelity, according to the investment firm.

Categories
Technology

Porsche 911 GT3 R Race Car Revealed

Motoroids

Porsche has revealed the new 911 GT3 R at the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps which is based on the 992-generation of the 911 GT3. This GT3 racing series car has a larger engine, a more advanced aerodynamics package as well an optimized weight balance. After the introduction of a professional category for the GT3 class in 2024, the Porsche 911 GT3 R will be competing in the North American IMSA series as well as FIA WEC World Endurance Championship.

The power of the 911 GT3 R comes from a water-cooled, flat-six engine which has now been bored out to 4.2-litres from the road car’s 4.0-litre. This 992-gen-based engine produces 585 hp and is mated to a six-speed sequential constant-mesh gearbox. According to Porsche, this engine is better suited for gentleman racers. Power is sent to the rear wheels and it has steering-mounted paddles for quick shifts. The sports brake calipers by AP Racing have 390 mm front discs and 370 mm rear discs.

The altered suspension of the 911 GT3 R features heavy inspiration from the suspension set-up of the outgoing 911 RSR. Other features include a double-wishbone set-up in the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear. It also has KW shock absorbers with five adjustment settings. While the wheelbase is now 48mm longer. The car also comes equipped with 18-inch single-piece alloy wheels.

The body kit of the 911 GT3 R is balanced in terms of aerodynamics and style. The rear features a massive wing with a huge diffuser housing the exhaust in the center. Huge air intakes can also be seen next to the front and rear wheel arches. The front of the GT3 R is covered with a big splitter with two canards on each side of the bumper. The LED headlights of this car were developed for the 963 LMDh prototypes and the collimator technology of this light works as magnifying glass while in reverse.

The interior of the 911 GT3 R features inward racing seats for an improved roll cage design and FIA’s newly developed side impact protection. Features include a 10.3-inch display behind the steering wheel with a multi-switch concept of the Le Man’s class winner. Debuted at the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the 911 GT3 R will participate in the 24 hours of Le Mans, as the FIA ​​WEC World Endurance Championship has made the GT3 class a professional category from 2024. It will also compete in the North American IMSA’s GT3 racing series.

Categories
Sports

Eileen Cikamatana makes history with weightlifting gold for Australia | Commonwealth Games 2022

At the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Eileen Cikamatana won weightlifting gold for Fiji. Four years later in Birmingham she repeated the achievement, this time for Australia.

Cikamatana represented her adopted country with a bang in Birmingham, setting new Commonwealth Games records in the women’s 87kg on Wednesday morning (AEST) and becoming the first woman to win gold medals for two different nations.

The 22-year-old made light work of her competition with incredibly heavy lifts. That included a Games-record snatch of 110kg and a second clean-and-jerk lift of 137kg, which was also a Games record.

Her total at that point was an overall Games record in the event and enough to win her the gold medal. But she went on to top that performance with a third clean and jerk of 145kg to bring her combined total to 255kg.

“I don’t know how to describe it… I can’t fit it into words,” Cikamatana told AAP afterwards. “I think it’s floating somewhere. I will need to grab it then I will let you know.”

Cikamatana grew up in a small village in Fiji, the country of her birth. As a child she helped her father de ella carry feed for the pigs he was looking after, and would lift 50kg sacks of meal mix and gas cylinders off and onto his truck.

She started weightlifting on the suggestion of a school teacher, and realized she also had the mental strength to match her physical strength.

“In training, it’s your mind that takes over the body, and you really need to focus because you’re lifting weights,” she told the ABC last week. “You really need to get into that relationship with you and the bar. Because weights are dead weight, they don’t have feelings, but you have feelings.”

Cikamatana’s rise as a teenager was swift, and at 15 she moved to New Caledonia to train with other top Pacific athletes. At 18, she burst onto the international scene with gold for Fiji in the 90kg. But the following year, after a dispute with Fiji’s weightlifting governing body over where she should train, she switched allegiances to Australia.

Visa red tape meant she wasn’t able to represent her new country at the Tokyo Olympics, but the signs in Birmingham point to good things for Australia at Paris 2024.

“If I miss out on this one, we can always go to the next one, which is 2024, and that’s our main goal,” she told the ABC. “This has been the greatest opportunity I’ve ever had, and to me it’s a dream come true,” she said. “To be representing Australia in green and gold is just beyond my imagination.”

Categories
Australia

Record coral cover on parts of Great Barrier Reef at risk from global heating, scientists warn | Great Barrier Reef

Marine scientists monitoring the Great Barrier Reef say they have recorded the highest levels of coral cover in 36 years in the north and central areas, but warned any recovery could be quickly overturned by global heating.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science’s annual long-term monitoring report says the fast-growing corals that have driven coral cover upwards are also those most at risk from marine heatwaves, storms and the voracious crown-of-thorns (COTS) starfish.

Global heating is accepted by scientists as the reef’s biggest long-term threat.

Earlier this year, unusually hot ocean temperatures caused the first ever mass bleaching during a La Niña year – a natural climate phase that should have given corals a respite.

The first ever mass bleaching on the reef was recorded in 1998, but since then corals were hit in 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and again earlier this year.

The prognosis for the reef’s future under climate change, the report said, was one of increasingly frequent and longer lasting marine heatwaves, with the ongoing risk of COTS outbreaks and tropical cyclones.

“Mitigation of these climatic threats requires immediate global action on climate change,” the report said.

A diver is towed over a reef as part of the monitoring program
A diver is towed over a reef as part of the Great Barrier Reef monitoring program. Photograph: Australian Institute of Marine Science

Dr Mike Emslie, who leads the Australian Institute of Marine Science monitoring program, told the Guardian: “The fact that we have had four bleaching events in the last seven years and the first one in a La Niña year is really concerning.”

Surveys are carried out by towing divers over reefs at a standardized rate, recording corals, bleaching levels, COTS and the number of coral trout and sharks.

About half of the 87 reefs surveyed for the report were carried out before the most recent bleaching event unfolded in February and March this year.

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“The effects of the 2022 mass bleaching event are still unfolding, and its impact will only be known over the coming months,” the report said.

Aerial surveys carried out in March by the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority covered 750 individual reefs.

The fast-growing acropora Species of branching and plate-like corals that were pushing coral cover up were also preferred prey for COTS, he said.

Image captured by marine scientists during monitoring of Hyde Reef
Image captured by marine scientists during monitoring of Hyde Reef. Photograph: Australian Institute of Marine Science

In the northern parts of the reef, the monitoring data showed coral cover averaged 36% – a record high, with the lowest levels in the region at 13% recorded in 2017.

Coral cover averaged 33% in the central area – another record high compared to the 2019 low of 14%.

In the southern region, the average coral cover dropped from a 2021 estimate of 38% to 34%.

While bleaching was widespread across the reef in February and March, Emslie said the heat stress had not reached levels likely to cause corals to die.

“To get at the impacts [of the latest bleaching] we won’t know until we do in-water surveys over the next few weeks.

“But bleaching does have sublethal affects and will affect the physiology of the corals because while they bleach they have been starving.”

He said there was evidence that even when corals did not die from bleaching, the phenomenon could reduce their ability to reproduce, slow their growth and make them more susceptible to coral disease.

He said it could take a year or more for those sublethal effects to become apparent.

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As bleaching events were happening more often, future bleaching events could “reverse the observed recovery in a short amount of time”, he said.

The most recent mass bleaching coincided with a UN monitoring mission to the reef that had been requested by the Morrison government as it attempted to fight a recommendation to place the reef on a list of world heritage sites in danger.

The status of the reef will be discussed at the next world heritage meeting, but a date has not yet been set after a scheduled June meeting was canceled due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was due to host the meeting.

Categories
US

Jackie Walorski, Indiana Congresswoman, Is Dead at 58

Jackie Walorski, Indiana Congresswoman, Is Dead at 58

WASHINGTON — Representative Jackie Walorski, Republican of Indiana, was killed in a car accident in her district on Wednesday, according to her office. She was 58.

Ms. Walorski’s husband, Dean Swihart, was informed of her death by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Office, her office said in a statement. “She has returned home to be with her de ella Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” the statement said ella. “Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Ms. Walorski was traveling with two aides who were also killed in the crash, when a passenger car and a sport utility vehicle collided head on: Zachery Potts, 27, her district director, and Emma Thomson, 28, her communications director, according to the Elkhart County sheriff.

The House is in its summer recess, a period when lawmakers often return to their district to meet with constituents.

“Jackie was an instrumental member of our conference, serving as a member of my deputy whip team for several years,” Representative Steve Scalise, Republican of Louisiana, said in a statement. “Jackie and her staffers died serving her constituents. They will be missed, and our nation will miss their service.”

First elected to Congress in 2012, Ms. Walorski served on the House Ways and Means Committee and as the top Republican on the House Ethics Committee.

Before she was elected to Congress, she served three terms in the Indiana State House, spent four years as a missionary in Romania and worked as a television reporter in South Bend, Ind.