MSF accuses Ethiopian soldiers of ‘targeted killing' of 3 staffers in Tigray in 2021
María Hernández Matas, a 35-year-old Spanish doctor, local colleague Yohannes Haleform Reda and driver Tedros Gebremariam were shot dead in June 2021, forcing the medical charity also known by its French acronym, MSF, to stop its services in Tigray despite conflict there.
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Winnipeg Free Press
15 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Takeaways from AP's report on water quality and safety at US mobile home parks
More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed to assure Americans of safe water, millions of people living in mobile home parks can't always count on those basic protections. The Associated Press examined an Environmental Protection Agency database on violations by water systems across the country, ranging from the tiniest up to major metropolitan areas. AP also surveyed states for their oversight of water systems. Here's a look at key findings from the AP report: Mobile home parks violate water rules more than cities and towns Nearly 70% of mobile home parks that run their own water systems violated safe drinking water rules over the past five years. That's well above the rate for cities (48%) and larger towns (57%), according to EPA data. The U.S. has some 50,000 water utilities, most serving small towns and rural areas. Many struggle to find expert staff and funding, and they violate clean water rules more often than the handful of large utilities that serve cities. But even among the hard-pressed small utilities, mobile home parks stand out. The AP analysis found that more than half these parks failed to perform a required test for at least one contaminant or failed to properly report the results, in the past five years. And they are far more likely to be repeat offenders of safe drinking water rules overall. Some mobile home parks go unmonitored The problems may go beyond what the figures show. Some parks don't appear in EPA's database at all and may go completely unregulated. For example, EPA officials were investigating high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in tap water at a Southern California mobile home park in 2021 when they realized there were several others in the area that weren't in their records, said Amy Miller, a former EPA head of enforcement in the region. Some were found to have high levels of arsenic that residents had been drinking for years. It's impossible to know how many under-the-radar parks there are. Most states aren't actively looking for them and say they don't find very many. There's another way that problems with mobile home park water can escape attention. Some mobile home parks get their water from an outside source — a nearby town, for example. That water can be safe when it reaches the park boundary but become contaminated if the park has substandard or poorly installed piping. The EPA doesn't generally track water once it's on private property, so those problems can go unseen. It may not be easy to escape bad water Bad water isn't always unsafe. Residents of mobile home parks in Michigan, Iowa and elsewhere reported taps that frequently ran dry or problems with discolored water that looked like coffee or tea, stained their laundry and made them fearful to open their mouths in the shower, for example. If residents are unhappy with management's response to such problems, it can be difficult to leave. That's because 'mobile' homes aren't all that mobile. Residents often own the home but rent the land they sit on, and it's difficult and expensive to move them. Esther Sullivan, a professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, calls residents 'halfway homeowners' because of this dynamic. She said they often put up with problems because of the difficulty in moving. Almost 17 million people in the U.S. live in mobile homes. What some states are doing Utah is the rare state that enforces safe drinking water standards even within parks that get their water from another provider, according to AP's survey of states. And Colorado passed a law in 2023 that requires testing the water in every mobile home park. It gives health officials the ability to go beyond federal law to address taste, color and smell that can make people afraid to drink their water, even when it's not a health risk. ___ The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP's environmental coverage, visit
Winnipeg Free Press
10 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The US fertility rate reached a new low in 2024, CDC data shows
NEW YORK (AP) — The fertility rate in the U.S. dropped to an all-time low in 2024 with less than 1.6 kids per woman, new federal data released Thursday shows. The U.S. was once among only a few developed countries with a rate that ensured each generation had enough children to replace itself — about 2.1 kids per woman. But it has been sliding in America for close to two decades as more women are waiting longer to have children or never taking that step at all. The new statistic is on par with fertility rates in western European countries, according to World Bank data. Alarmed by recent drops, the Trump administration has taken steps to increase falling birth rates, like issuing an executive order meant to expand access to and reduce costs of in vitro fertilization and backing the idea of 'baby bonuses' that might encourage more couples to have kids. But there's no reason to be alarmed, according to Leslie Root, a University of Colorado Boulder researcher focused on fertility and population policy. 'We're seeing this as part of an ongoing process of fertility delay. We know that the U.S. population is still growing, and we still have a natural increase — more births than deaths,' she said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the statistic for the total fertility rate with updated birth data for 2024. In the early 1960s, the U.S. total fertility rate was around 3.5, but plummeted to 1.7 by 1976 after the Baby Boom ended. It gradually rose to 2.1 in 2007 before falling again, aside from a 2014 uptick. The rate in 2023 was 1.621, and inched down in 2024 to 1.599, according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Birth rates are generally declining for women in most age groups — and that doesn't seem likely to change in the near future, said Karen Guzzo, director of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina. People are marrying later and also worried about their ability to have the money, health insurance and other resources needed to raise children in a stable environment. 'Worry is not a good moment to have kids,' and that's why birth rates in most age groups are not improving, she said. Asked about birth-promoting measures outlined by the Trump administration, Guzzo said they don't tackle larger needs like parental leave and affordable child care. 'The things that they are doing are really symbolic and not likely to budge things for real Americans,' she said. Increase in births in new data The CDC's new report, which is based on a more complete review of birth certificates than provisional data released earlier this year, also showed a 1% increase in births — about 33,000 more — last year compared to the prior year. That brought the yearly national total to just over 3.6 million babies born. But this is different: The provisional data indicated birth rate increases last year for women in their late 20s and 30s. However, the new report found birth rate declines for women in their 20s and early 30s, and no change for women in their late 30s. What happened? CDC officials said it was due to recalculations stemming from a change in the U.S. Census population estimates used to compute the birth rate. That's plausible, Root said. As the total population of women of childbearing age grew due to immigration, it offset small increases in births to women in those age groups, she said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
8 children taken to hospitals after seizure-like symptoms at Massachusetts church concert
Published Jul 23, 2025 • 1 minute read In this still image taken from video, and ambulance with working lights is parked in a street in Cambridge, Mass., on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. Photo by AP CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Eight children at a church near Harvard University where a French youth choir was holding a concert suffered seizure-like symptoms and were taken to hospitals, officials said. 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 The symptoms were not life-threatening, the Cambridge Fire Department said in a news release. About 70 other people in attendance at the concert Tuesday evening at St. Paul's Parish in Harvard Square were not affected. Crews first received a call about a child suffering from a seizure. When firefighters arrived, the child was sitting outside of the church but was not actively having a seizure, Fire Chief Thomas Cahill said. 'That quickly escalated into seven other people having seizure-like symptoms,' Cahill told WCVB-TV. The department's hazmat team 'completed a thorough survey of the St. Paul buildings utilizing several air sampling meters to ensure that no hazardous conditions were present,' the news release said. 'Results were negative and the buildings were ventilated.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. St. Paul's Facebook Page said a French youth choir, the Chœur d'Enfants d'Ile-de-France, was offering a free concert at the church on Tuesday night as part of its 2025 U.S. tour. 'Founded in 1970, the youth choir has travelled extensively and performed with some of the world's top conductors and soloists,' St. Paul's said. 'The concert will feature and exciting mix of sacred and secular repertoire, as well as popular French songs.' Messages seeking comment were emailed to St. Paul's and to the Harvard Catholic Center, the Catholic chaplaincy for Harvard University students and other academic institutions in the area. Canada Golf Toronto & GTA Ontario Sunshine Girls
