National Senior Citizens Day has been celebrated in America since 1988, but often flies under the country's radar. The day was created by President Ronald Reagan when he put forth a presidential proclamation recognizing August 21st as a day to honor the contributions of older Americans to their communities.President Reagan's sentiment that “……
With the delicate birds just hours old, the president of Murray McMurray Hatchery hit the road around 1 a.m. on a Saturday to drive through the night to a friend's farm in Texas “just to have them in a safe place,” he said. Breeding chickens that are the valuable genetic source for egg-laying hens have gone into hiding as the outbreak of bird flu in poultry has developed into the worst animal-health emergency in U.S. history. Wood's breeding stock includes chickens with genetic lines that date back to the early 1900s.
As President Obama proclaimed diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba for the first time in 50 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) was simultaneously celebrating Cuba Wednesday as the first country ever to eliminate mother-to-child transmissions of HIV/AIDS and congenital syphilis. Dr. Roberto Morales, minister of public health and the first Cuban minister to come to the United States since 1952, visited Washington, D.C., to discuss the historic success. While the monumental public health achievement was the intended focus of his news conference, Obama’s news was critical to the process.
Shells fired by Yemen’s dominant Houthi group killed 18 people near the southern port city of Aden early on Wednesday, local officials and witnesses said, while the United Nations warned a dengue fever outbreak in Aden was rapidly gaining pace. Yemen, which has long struggled with poverty and hunger, has descended into a fullblown humanitarian crisis since a war erupted between the Houthis and allies of the exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, drawing in neighboring Saudi Arabia. The United Nations said in a report on Tuesday that an average of 150 new cases of dengue fever and around 11 deaths were being reported daily.
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations' top human rights official called on Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate and prosecute “horrifying” allegations of executions, rape and amputations of children by Islamist insurgents Boko Haram. Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein also said reports of violations committed by Nigerian armed forces should be investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. “Civilians in northeast Nigeria have been living through horrifying acts of cruelty and violence by Boko Haram. …
By Clement Manirabarusha and Njuwa Maina BUJUMBURA (Reuters) – A Burundi opposition figure and his bodyguard were shot dead in the capital by gunmen on Saturday, a civil society activist and residents said, adding to tensions after a month of protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term. Zedi Feruzi, the head of opposition party UPD, and his bodyguard were killed in the Ngagara district, Anshere Nikoyagize, the head of the civil society group Ligue ITEKA, told Reuters. Burundi is facing its deepest crisis since the end of an ethnically fueled civil war in 2005.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 16 million Americans have gained insurance coverage as a result of President Barack Obama’s health care law, the administration said Monday as the White House prepares to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the law’s signing.
(Reuters) – Former U.S. Senator Bob Bennett, the Utah Republican who was one of the first, high-profile political casualties of a 2010 Tea Party insurgency, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and will begin treatment later this week, Utah media reported on Wednesday. Bennett, 81, said in a statement quoted by the Salt Lake Tribune that doctors were hopeful that a “combination of chemotherapy and radiation can shrink the tumor to a point where it will become operable.” The Utah Deseret News further quoted the former senator as saying there was “no firm prognosis” for him at this point. Both newspapers said he planned to begin treatment on Friday at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Bennett’s bid for a fourth Senate term in 2010 foundered on a conservative backlash over the healthcare overhaul pushed through Congress by President Barack Obama, leading to a revolt against the Republican Party establishment by state Tea Party activists.
By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Five Republican state governors say they will not rescue a crucial part of Obamacare if it is struck down by the Supreme Court, underlining the prospect for a chaotic aftermath to a ruling that could force millions of Americans to pay much more for coverage or lose their health insurance. The Supreme Court is due to hear opening arguments in the case known as King v. Burwell on March 4, marking the second major challenge to President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) after the justices ruled in 2012 against a claim that it was unconstitutional. In response to Reuters' queries, spokespeople for the Republican governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina and Wisconsin said the states were not willing to create a local exchange to keep subsidies flowing. Republicans argue that Obamacare is unacceptable government intervention that raises costs for consumers and businesses.
(Reuters) – Doctors in Houston will keep former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in the hospital through the weekend since his bout with shortness of breath, though doctors “have begun discussing dates for his discharge,” his office said Saturday. Bush, 90, was taken by ambulance to Houston Methodist Hospital on Tuesday night and admitted for observation after experiencing breathing difficulties earlier that evening, according to his spokesman, Jim McGrath. There has been no word on whether the nation's 41st president is suffering from any particular ailment. …