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FDA says it will finalize ban on menthol tobacco products ‘in coming months’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration says it still plans to finalize rules that would prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars this year, but the agency is running behind schedule.In April 2022, when the FDA initially announced that it was going to ban the popular flavor, it set a deadline of August 2023 to work out the details. That deadline is still listed online, but a spokesperson said it will instead complete work on the rule “in the coming months.”Flavors in cigarettes were banned in 2009, but after serious lobbying from the industry, menthol was left out of the ban. Many public health leaders say that regulations on the last flavor allowed in cigarettes can’t come soon enough.“The law passed in 2009 and we’re here in 2023, 14 years later, so while we worked very closely with FDA on this issue, we’re pretty unhappy that they’ve taken such a long time to get this done,” said President and CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Ki...

Two ex-Proud Boys leaders get among the longest sentences in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group were sentenced to more than a decade each in prison Thursday for spearheading an attack on the U.S. Capitol to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.The 17-year prison term for organizer Joseph Biggs and 15-year sentence for leader Zachary Rehl were the second and third longest sentences handed down yet in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. They were the first Proud Boys to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who will separately preside over similar hearings of three others who were convicted by a jury in May after a four-month trial in Washington that laid bare far-right extremists’ embrace of lies by Trump, a Republican, that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Enrique Tarrio, a Miami resident who was the Proud Boys’ national chairman and ...

Ohio police release video showing officer’s fatal shooting of pregnant Black woman Ta’Kiya Young

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON (Associated Press/Report For America)COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio authorities on Friday released bodycam video showing a police officer fatally shooting Ta’Kiya Young in her car in what her family denounced as a “gross misuse of power and authority” against the pregnant Black mother.Sean Walton, an attorney representing Young’s family, said the video clearly shows that the Aug. 24 shooting of the 21-year-old woman was unjustified and he called for the officer who shot her to be fired immediately and charged in her death. Walton also criticized police for not releasing the video footage for more than a week after the shooting.“Ta’Kiya’s family is heartbroken,” Walton said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The video did nothing but confirm their fears that Ta’Kiya was murdered unjustifiably. Ta’Kiya and her young daughter were murdered unjustifiably, and it was just heartbreaking fo...

A nanoengineer teamed up with Rihanna’s tattoo artist to make smarter ink

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

By Rae Ellen Bichell, KFF Health NewsBOULDER, Colo. — Mad-scientist kind of moments happen fairly often for nanoengineer Carson Bruns. A few months ago in his lab at the University of Colorado-Boulder, he tested his latest invention on his own arm and asked a colleague for help.“We were like, ‘OK, we’re going to tattoo ourselves. Can you help us today?’” he said.The tattoo is like a freckle, a little blue dot. But he can turn it on and off. Like the way a mood ring changes color with temperature, this tattoo changes with light: Ultraviolet light to turn it on, daylight (or even a flashlight) to turn it off.“You can go to court and turn it off, and then go to the party and turn it on. And then go to Grandma’s house and turn it off,” said Bruns, who is affiliated with the university’s ATLAS Institute, which prides itself on fostering out-of-the-box ideas.Bruns started a company with tattoo-artist-to-the-stars Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy, along with a former doctoral student. Early next ...

It may have just gotten harder to protect minority communities from pollution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

By Alex Brown, Stateline.orgIn recent years, some states have invested in air quality monitoring, applied extra scrutiny to permitting decisions and steered cleanup funding to minority communities that have borne the brunt of pollution for decades.Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down race-conscious college admissions policies, state lawmakers are facing a new conundrum: Can they remedy environmental racism without mentioning race?“The [Supreme Court] majority really reinforced the idea that a generalized government policy of rectifying past discrimination would not pass constitutional muster,” said Emily Hammond, an environmental law expert and professor at the George Washington University Law School.Lawmakers are scrambling to figure out what the ruling will mean for their environmental justice efforts. In some states, legislators expect lawsuits to threaten their policies. The question is whether they can defend those measures in court, or if ...

The best time to book holiday travel is very soon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

By Meghan Coyle | NerdWalletIf your swimsuit is still drying from your last trip or you’re packing for a Labor Day getaway, traveling for Thanksgiving or the winter holidays probably isn’t top of mind. After all, it’s not even September.And remember last year when people were procrastinating and finding last-minute holiday travel deals? Well, the surge in air travel this year has changed all that.The most recent data from Google Flights shows the lowest average price for flights starting in mid-December (around Christmas) are usually available around 71 days before departure. That’s a whopping six weeks earlier than Google’s findings last year when holiday prices were lowest about 22 days before departure.So now, the best time to book your end-of-December flights is by mid-October. And if you apply the same thinking to Thanksgiving flights, you’ve got just a few weeks until you should book.Thanksgiving flights will probably be cheapest around mid-September. Wait too long, and you mi...

Dairy Queen to sell Blizzards for 85¢ for 2 weeks in September

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

By Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily NewsFor two weeks in September, Dairy Queen customers will get the chance to buy its signature dessert at a deep discount.The fast food chain, known for its twisty soft-serve and mixed ice cream treats, announced this week it will sell its Blizzards for just 85 cents.From Sept. 11-24, customers who use the DQ mobile app at participating Dairy Queen restaurants across the U.S. can get in on the sweet deal.The special promotion is to celebrate the 1985 introduction of the Blizzard and the launch of new fall menu — including flavors such as pumpkin pie, snickerdoodle cookie dough, caramel fudge cheesecake, choco-dipped strawberry, Oreo hot cocoa, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup pie, and royal Reese’s fluffernutter — which arrived in stores on Monday.

Somerville’s Dragon Pizza owner and Barstool’s Dave Portnoy trade ‘F’ bombs, flip each other off in Davis Square

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

People all over the internet have been introduced to Somerville’s Dragon Pizza after its owner ripped into Barstool’s Dave Portnoy, and the pair exchanged “F” bombs and flipped each other off in a viral video.The fiery interaction between the owner of Dragon Pizza in Davis Square and Portnoy has led to a spike of Yelp comments for Dragon Pizza — and an “Unusual Activity Alert” notice on the eatery’s Yelp page.During one of Portnoy’s recent pizza reviews in Davis Square, Dragon Pizza owner Charlie Redd stepped outside his establishment and approached Portnoy on the Elm Street sidewalk.“Dave, enjoy your pizza as any customer, but I don’t appreciate what you do, coming in and judging a business with one bite,” Redd told Portnoy.“Well, we do more,” Portnoy responded.“I hope you enjoy your pizza, but I don’t appreciate what you do to small businesses,” Redd said before walking back into ...

More than 150 migrants in small boats rescued off Greece’s Aegean Sea islands

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities on Friday rescued more than 150 people, including several children, who were heading in small boats from Turkey to the nearby eastern Aegean Sea islands, the coast guard said.The rescues came amid a rise in crossings to European Union member Greece by people from the Middle East and Africa seeking a better life in the wealthy 27-country bloc.The coast guard said 101 people were picked up from boats off the island of Lesbos in three separate instances Friday, and another 53 were found on two vessels off Samos.All were taken to reception centers for asylum-seekers.The coast guard also said another 35 people were picked up from two small boats off Lesbos late Thursday.That raises the total number of rescues on Wednesday and Thursday to almost 500.Despite the increase in migration to Greece, Italy is the main entry point in the EU for migrants with about 113,000 arrivals so far this year and Spain follows with more than 21,000, according to United...

Traffickers plead guilty to smuggling over $10,000 in endangered sea cucumbers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 23:55:52 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wildlife traffickers pleaded guilty this week in federal court in California to illegally importing endangered sea cucumbers — which are prized in China for food and medicine and as a reputed aphrodisiac — from Mexico.Zunyu Zhao and Xionwei Xiao were charged with conspiracy and illegal importation of brown sea cucumbers worth over $10,000 from 2017 to 2019 and are scheduled to be sentenced in September and November, respectively. Prosecutors haven’t said where in the ocean the sea cucumbers were obtained. But the defendants were allegedly found with the smuggled bottom-feeders as they crossed from Mexico into the U.S. at Calexico. Zhao and Xiao agreed to pay restitution to the Mexican government’s environmental protection agency. They could get up to 25 years in prison.Attorneys for Zhao and Xiao did not respond to requests for comment.After seizing the sea cucumbers at the border, investigators found text messages and images sent between Zhao and Xiao...