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Canadian fire smoke threatens air quality in Canada, US as it reaches Europe

Canadian fire smoke threatens air quality in Canada, US as it reaches Europe

Yahoo04-06-2025
Parts of Canada and the US received alerts for hazardous air quality as hundreds of wildfires spread throughout Canada, forcing 26,000 people to evacuate and spewing smoke across the Atlantic in Canada's latest extreme weather event.
Canada's wildfires, which have already forced evacuations of more than 26,000 people, continued their stubborn spread Tuesday, with heavy smoke choking millions of Canadians and Americans and reaching as far away as Europe.
Alerts were issued for parts of Canada and the neighboring United States warning of hazardous air quality.
A water tanker air base was consumed by flames in Saskatchewan province, oil production has been disrupted in Alberta, and officials warned of worse to come with more communities threatened each day.
"We have some challenging days ahead of us," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told a news conference, adding that the number of evacuees could rise quickly.
Every summer, Canada grapples with forest fires, but an early start to the wildfire season this year and the scale of the blazes -- over two million hectares (494,000 acres) burned -- is worrying.
Read moreClimate change made LA wildfires worse, says study
The provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been hardest hit. Both declared wildfire emergencies in recent days.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:South Korea firefighters deploy helicopters as country's largest wildfires reigniteWildfire on remote French island threatens wildlife and research station
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5 things to know for July 25: Thailand-Cambodia, France, AI, Sanctuary city lawsuit, Skydance-Paramount merger
5 things to know for July 25: Thailand-Cambodia, France, AI, Sanctuary city lawsuit, Skydance-Paramount merger

CNN

timean hour ago

  • CNN

5 things to know for July 25: Thailand-Cambodia, France, AI, Sanctuary city lawsuit, Skydance-Paramount merger

In addition to telling time, smartwatches can track your steps, heart rate, blood pressure and sleeping patterns. Now, a smartwatch has helped search and rescue teams locate a small plane after it crashed into the dense forests near West Yellowstone, Montana. Here's what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day. More than 100,000 civilians have been displaced following a second day of violence along the disputed 500-mile land border between Thailand and Cambodia. At least 16 people were also reportedly killed, officials from both countries said. Tensions between the Southeast Asian neighbors have been boiling for months. Around 4:30 a.m. local time on Friday, clashes broke out with Cambodian troops using small arms and heavy weapons and Thai troops responding with artillery fire. On Thursday, when Thailand deployed fighter jets to attack Cambodian military targets, Cambodia vowed to 'respond decisively.' French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France will recognize a Palestinian state in an announcement at the UN General Assembly in September. France will be the first member of the UN Security Council and the G7 nations to do so. 'We must build the state of Palestine, ensure its viability, and ensure that by accepting its demilitarization and fully recognizing Israel, it contributes to the security of all in the Middle East. There is no alternative,' he wrote on X. Macron also called for an immediate ceasefire, access to humanitarian aid for the population of Gaza, the release of all hostages and the demilitarization of Hamas. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US 'strongly rejects' Macron's plan. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has started using artificial intelligence, and behind the scenes, the practice has caused some alarm. An AI project known as Elsa is supposed to help speed up drug and medical device approvals at the FDA, a division of HHS. Six current and former FDA officials told CNN that Elsa can be useful for generating meeting notes and summaries, or email and communique templates, but it also invented studies and misrepresented research. In at least one instance — when an employee asked Elsa to generate something for a project — it insisted that the research area was not in the FDA's purview, even though it was. Elsa also cannot help with the lengthy assessment process that agency scientists undertake to determine whether drugs and devices are safe and effective because it can't access many of the files needed to answer basic questions. The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against New York City over its so-called 'sanctuary city' policies. 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Voting 2-1 along party lines, the commissioners gave the go-ahead to the $8 billion deal, which has been mired in allegations of political interference stemming from President Trump's scathing criticism and his lawsuit against Paramount's CBS News division. But on July 1, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million toward Trump's future presidential library to resolve his legally dubious suit about an edit made to a '60 Minutes' interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris before the November presidential election. Although Paramount and the FCC both insisted that the payout was unrelated to the merger review process, many likened it to a 'bribe.' GET '5 THINGS' IN YOUR INBOX If your day doesn't start until you're up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix. Sign up here for the '5 Things' newsletter. 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Republicans are split on extending Obamacare tax breaks as higher costs loom
Republicans are split on extending Obamacare tax breaks as higher costs loom

NBC News

timean hour ago

  • NBC News

Republicans are split on extending Obamacare tax breaks as higher costs loom

WASHINGTON — Republican leaders are facing growing calls from their members to extend a bucket of funding for the Affordable Care Act that is slated to expire at the end of this year as some look to avert insurance premium hikes and millions of Americans losing health coverage. But the cause faces opposition from conservatives who detest 'Obamacare,' as the law is nicknamed, and don't want to lift a finger to protect it. Some argue it'd be too expensive to continue the premium tax credits, which cost over $30 billion per year and were initially adopted as part of a Covid-19 response. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects that about 5 million Americans will lose their insurance by 2034 if the money expires. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., the chair of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said 'a lot of people' are discussing how to address the ACA subsidies. But the party is torn. 'I'm not saying where I am on that issue, but it's definitely part of the conversation,' Smith told NBC News. 'There's some interest to do something. There's some interest to do nothing. So it's threading that needle.' Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who represents a swing district that President Donald Trump lost in 2024, said in an interview that Congress should continue those ACA tax credits in order to avoid price increases. He said he's involved in an effort to offer a legislative fix. 'I think we gotta be doing everything to keep costs low across the board — health care, groceries, energy, all of the above. So I am currently working on addressing that as we speak,' he said. Trump pollster warns of 'political penalty' Last week, Trump's longtime pollster Tony Fabrizio co-authored a memo with Bob Ward warning that extending the health care tax credits is broadly popular, even with 'solid majorities of Trump voters and Swing voters.' They warned that the GOP will pay a 'political penalty' in the competitive districts in the 2026 midterm elections if the funding expires on schedule. It's not just centrists or Republicans in competitive areas who want to keep the funds flowing. The appetite has grown among others in deep-red states as insurers threaten to raise premiums in anticipation of the funds going away. GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, who faces re-election next year in ruby-red South Dakota, also backed the idea. 'I think that they should be extended. I think there's plans in place right now to try to extend them,' he said. 'The goal would be to try to find some offsets that would be amenable to Democrats as well. But I don't think it's fair to the people that have been stuck with Obamacare and have no place else to go.' Rounds said he expects GOP support to grow for a path that 'takes care of these folks that literally have no place else to go to get their health insurance.' 'They would be losing it through no fault of their own,' he said. The funds were adopted by Democrats as part of a Covid-19 stimulus bill in 2021 and extended the following year through 2025. This policy seeks to address the 'subsidy cliff' where ACA funding dries up for people above 400% of the federal poverty level. The subsidy enhancement caps premiums at 8.5% of income for individuals and families above that level. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chair of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said he 'absolutely' wants that funding to end. 'It'll cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Can't afford it,' he said. 'That was a Covid-era policy. Newsflash to America: Covid is over.' Tuberville: 'We need health care' The CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation project that it would cost $335 billion over a decade to make the subsidies permanent. Even Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who is running for governor, is calling on his party to consider an ACA funding extension, but he said the cost of a long-term fix is a concern. 'It's all got to be evaluated,' he said. 'I live in a state where people — we need health care. But only if we can afford it.' Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said: 'Good luck finding a pay-for or math that works on that. Nonstarter for me.' Some Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees taxes and health care policy, chafe at the cost. 'The extension is very expensive, so we got to look at what the options are. But it's an expensive proposition,' said Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., responded with a flat 'no' when asked if he favors preserving the ACA money. Asked about colleagues who worry about coverage losses and premium hikes, Johnson replied, 'I think they're way overblowing those concerns.' And Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said Congress should use the opportunity to move beyond the ACA. 'I'm a lean-no on doing anything to help subsidize the ACA,' he said. 'There's just much better ways to handle this.' Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is a member of the Finance Committee and chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, punted on the ACA subsidies question. 'I think it needs to be studied,' he said. Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who is running for re-election to his Texas seat, didn't close the door to an ACA funding extension, but said he's open to modifying the thresholds. 'We need to have a discussion about what level is appropriate,' Cornyn said, while adding that it could be paired with policies to 'eliminate the waste and fraud' in health care. 'It's on the radar,' Speaker Johnson says Democrats slammed Republicans for declining to include an extension of the ACA funding in Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' claiming the GOP will be responsible for the coverage losses. 'Republicans have plenty of time to ram through tax cuts for billionaires — but they literally haven't even talked about extending health tax credits for working-class families,' Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said on X. 'Republican indifference is a major reason why your premiums will be spiking dramatically THIS YEAR.' GOP proponents say there are other opportunities to extend the funds — including a stand-alone bill or a year-end package of various health care provisions and tax extenders. One thing is clear: Republicans will need Democratic support, given the divisions in their own ranks. And they may need to modify the existing version to make it palatable in the party. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., an early proponent of continuing the funds, said this week that 'there's a question about whether or not it's the current program straight up, or some modification to get Republicans on board.' For now, top Republican leaders are keeping their powder dry about whether — or how — they will take up the issue. 'I think that goes to the end of the calendar year, so we'll have discussion about the issue later. But it hasn't come up yet,' House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Tuesday when asked about an ACA subsidy extension. 'But it's on the radar.' Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said he hasn't seen the Fabrizio Ward polling memo but didn't shut the door to an extension, saying, 'Everything is for negotiation, of course.' But he criticized the Democrats' decision to boost that funding in the Biden administration. 'I think what Joe Biden and his administration have done went way beyond the original intent of the legislation,' Barrasso said. 'So I think that was done poorly and wrongly.'

States, cities face loss of vaccination programs and staff after ‘baffling' cuts to federal funding
States, cities face loss of vaccination programs and staff after ‘baffling' cuts to federal funding

CNN

timean hour ago

  • CNN

States, cities face loss of vaccination programs and staff after ‘baffling' cuts to federal funding

Vaccines Federal agencies Children's healthFacebookTweetLink Follow Millions of dollars have been pulled from state and local vaccination programs with no explanation, after a review of the funding agreements by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Affected programs say they will probably have to cut staffers and services because of the shortfall, and they worry that vaccination rates will also drop as they lose the ability to assist people who are low-income or uninsured. Immunization programs across the country are already struggling to address an increase in vaccine-preventable diseases. These include pertussis – also known as whooping cough – which has sickened more than 10,000 Americans and killed five children this year, as well as a smoldering outbreak of measles that has killed three people in the US and threatens to end the country's elimination status. 'That's the baffling part,' said one policy expert who spoke to CNN on the condition that they not be named for fear of government retaliation. 'Why anyone would create this disruption in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in 30 years.' Most money spent by states on vaccination comes from the federal government. The grant money, which is appropriated by Congress under Section 317 of the Public Health Services Act, enables states, territories and some large cities to collect data on vaccination, as well as provide shots to underserved children and adults. The funds also help monitor the safety of vaccines and fight misinformation. The money is doled out in five-year grants overseen by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the most recent awards were due to states on July 1. This year, however, HHS conducted lengthy reviews of the awards, which delayed their arrival in some cases. HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said the reviews were part of agency cost-cutting efforts. 'The Defend the Spend initiative is a department-wide effort to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used effectively, transparently, and in alignment with this administration,' Nixon said in a statement to CNN. 'As part of this oversight, grant recipients may be asked to provide additional information, which is essential to preventing waste, fraud, and abuse. HHS is committed to working all grantees to resolve outstanding issues as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest standards of accountability.' Public health advocates say the latest funding cuts appear to be part of a larger pattern of efforts by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to disrupt and dismantle the America's vaccination infrastructure. 'Millions of children missed their routine vaccinations during the pandemic,' and never caught back up said Dr. Caitlin Rivers, director of the Center for Response Outbreak Innovation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Vaccine hesitancy has also increased, driven by a deluge of misinformation, some of it now coming from official channels. As a result, vaccination rates have dropped, and some communities are no longer protected by herd immunity, the threshold of vaccination required to prevent certain infectious diseases from easily spreading. If state vaccination programs are not adequately resourced, 'we're just going to continue to fall further and further behind, and that sets the stage for things like measles and pertussis outbreaks, which we're seeing,' Rivers said. Public health programs often become victims of their own success, she said. 'When there is a large public health emergency … there are huge investments made in public health, because we can see very clearly what the consequences are of having inadequate resourcing and inadequate infrastructure. But over time, those investments begin to work, and the threats recede, and we start to forget why it's so important to maintain those defenses,' Rivers said. 'And I think now, five years out of Covid, we're very clearly in the neglect cycle, and we're seeing a lot of the investments we made during the pandemic be pulled back,' she added. Of 66 jurisdictions awarded federal immunization funding this year, about 40 received awards lower than their funding targets. And more than a dozen states and cities received lower awards this year than they did in 2019, just before the Covid-19 pandemic began, the last time these awards were offered through the CDC, according to a CNN analysis of federal data. Massachusetts, New York, Indiana, California and Arizona were among those awarded less this year than in 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic began. 'That's really, really unbelievable to us,' said one public health advocate who asked not to be named for fear of political retaliation for speaking out against the cuts. 'How could we come out of a pandemic with half of states being less prepared?' Other states found that their awards were far lower than they'd been told to expect. In January 2025, the CDC sent out a Notice of Funding Opportunity – essentially an invitation – to states, territories and certain large cities. It came with a funding target: the amount they could expect if their grant proposals were accepted. Washington, for example, was told it could expect about $9.5 million, so the Department of Health planned for that amount for the 2026 fiscal year. When the state got its Notice of Award on July 1, however, it was for $7.8 million, an 18% reduction. Massachusetts was told it could expect $7.7 million for the upcoming fiscal year, already a 20% reduction from its 2025 budget. When the award arrived, it was $1 million under the targeted amount, at $6.7 million, which means the department expects to operate with about 30% less funding next year than it has this year. Colorado received almost $500,000 less than it expected, a decrease of about 5% from the amount it budgeted for, according to federal data California, Illinois, Michigan and New York also received lower-than-expected funding awards, according to a CNN analysis of federal data. Sometimes, the delays and errors in funding caused chaos: At least one state, Idaho, furloughed its immunization program staff with no notice after the money didn't arrive when expected. When the award did come through a day later, they were put back to work, but medical providers who reached out in the interim to submit their regular data updates had no one to help them and didn't know when services would be restored. The cuts didn't just affect state health departments. The city of New Haven, Connecticut, had to lay off immunization positions that were supported by subawards it receives from the state grant. When the grant didn't arrive in time, the state directed the city not to incur any more expenses, and when the federal money did come through, it was 20% less than anticipated. Chicago is also preparing to lay off immunization workers, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the city's plans, who asked not to be named because they feared retaliation by the Trump administration. Not all awardees saw reductions, however. About two dozen jurisdictions, including Alabama, Idaho and Wyoming and Montana, got significant funding increases over their award targets for this year. State officials who spoke to CNN for this story say they were given no explanation for why the awards were reduced or increased this cycle. The cuts come on top of the loss of billions in unspent Covid relief funding that was being used by states, in part, to help staff immunization programs. In late March, HHS directed the CDC to roll back about $11.4 billion in Covid-era funding granted to state and local health departments. Another $1 billion was reclaimed from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. A survey conducted by the Association of Immunization Managers found that the Covid money clawback alone has led to the elimination 579 staff positions in state vaccination programs. After the new grant cuts, some jurisdictions said they would probably need to lay off even more workers but were trying to assess the changes that would be needed. Some programs said they hoped state funding could help fill the gaps. In the past, the funding amounts that jurisdictions were told they could expect have been determined by a relatively simple formula that primarily relied on an area's population. This year, however, federal officials deployed a more complicated formula that took into account population levels as well as how much of a state was rural and how many providers participate in the Vaccines for Children program compared with the overall population, according to a public health advocate familiar with the awards who asked not to be named for fear of political retaliation. Immunization programs were told they could expect about $418 million in funding. All told, what they were awarded totaled roughly $398 million. Changes to the funding formula don't appear to account for the reductions, however. The formula was applied to the target amounts that were distributed in January. Instead, changes to the awards came after the HHS review, which in some cases delayed the release of the money and left programs hanging. Hawaii, for example, received authorization to borrow up to $100,000 from the state government to pay salaries and cover operational expenses until its award came through, about two weeks late. Public health advocates blasted the funding decision. 'Stripping 317 waiver funds combined with other losses is starving state and local public health budgets and is not just short-sighted, it's reckless,' said Dr. Brian Castrucci, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit deBeaumont Foundation, which advocates for the public health workforce. 'We're watching the deliberate dismantling of the public health safety net in real time,' Castrucci said.

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