If court sinks Leandro, NC children will go down with it (Editorial)

By: Jonathan Sher ''Saturday Night Live's" Weekend Update" joked recently that the menu on the Titanic — the infamous, ill-fated luxury ocean liner — included not only gourmet foods, but also "bottomless water." Perhaps innocent joking about it has become acceptable. And yet, this preventable tragedy was no joke. The most fundamental lesson is that there's no such thing as sinking half a boat. Roughly two thirds of the Titanic's

DHHS putting $5.5 million into behavioral health program for formerly incarcerated people

BOSTON (AP) - Microsoft said Wednesday that U.S. adversaries - chiefly Iran and North Korea and to a lesser extent Russia and China - are beginning to use its generative artificial intelligence to mount or organize offensive cyber operations. The technology giant and business partner OpenAI said they had jointly detected and disrupted the malicious cyber actors' use of their AI technologies - shutting down their accounts. In a blog post, Microsoft said

Breast cancer cluster suspected at NC State’s Poe Hall, contaminated with PCBs; separate study shows those chemicals linked to that cancer

NC NEWSLINE - A 2020 study of nearly 800 North Carolina women found that PCBs might increase the risk death from breast cancer, raising questions about a suspected cluster at N.C. State's Poe Hall, which is contaminated with high levels of the toxic chemical. In addition, among women who already have breast cancer, the study found PCBs could contribute to deaths from all causes. PCBs are known to accumulate in breast tissue.

CVS Health grows more cautious about 2024 as it deals with rising Medicare Advantage costs

Busy Medicare Advantage businesses have CVS Health and other insurance providers spooked about the new year. The health care giant said Wednesday that it was scaling back already cautious expectations for 2024 as it tries to understand why costs keep rising from the privately run version of the government's Medicare program. Medicare Advantage plans cover people who are age 65 and older and others with severe disabilities or illnesses. CVS

Report finds 93 US deaths after cosmetic surgery in Dominican Republic since 2009

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. health officials say 93 Americans have died after cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic since 2009, with many of the recent deaths involving a procedure known as a Brazilian butt lift. The operation has grown in popularity recently and has led to deaths in other countries as well, including the U.S. A report issued Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could not say

Lupus and other autoimmune diseases strike far more women than men. Now there’s a clue why

WASHINGTON (AP) - Women are far more likely than men to get autoimmune diseases, when an out-of-whack immune system attacks their own bodies - and new research may finally explain why. It's all about how the body handles females' extra X chromosome, Stanford University researchers reported Thursday - a finding that could lead to better ways to detect a long list of diseases that are hard to diagnose and treat.

Mexico overtakes China as the leading source of goods imported to US

WASHINGTON (AP) - For the first time in more than two decades, Mexico last year surpassed China as the leading source of goods imported to the United States. The shift reflects the growing tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as U.S. efforts to import from countries that are friendlier and closer to home. Figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Commerce Department show that the value of goods imported to

NC Department of Public Instruction issues call for summer meal sponsors

NC Newsline - The N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is calling on schools and community organizations to sponsor Summer Nutrition Programs that provide meals and snacks to needy students when school is out of session. More than 1 million students in North Carolina rely on the meals from the school breakfast, school lunch and afterschool meals programs during the school year. The summer meals help fill the gap for

Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick rule at pre-Grammy gala hosted by Clive Davis

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The night began with a rare sight: tennis champion Serena Williams was flustered. "I'm a little nervous... I can't breathe," she said through an exasperated smile. "I'm usually really good at this." The overwhelming task was not opening the famed Clive Davis pre-Grammys gala at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California - though that no doubt comes with some social pressure. It was introducing its opening act,