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Europe’s new Marshall Plan: making a bet on Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Stitcher .st0{fill:#EB8A23;} .st1{fill:#FAC617;} .st2{fill:#612368;} .st3{fill:#3792C4;} .st4{fill:#C33727;} Acast This week’s EU Confidential episode comes to you from London, where the Ukraine Recovery Conference has just wrapped up. Ukraine may still be fighting a war, but already a conversation has started abo...

Debris has been found near the Titanic during search for submersible, US Coast Guard says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

The search for a missing submersible with five people aboard took a bleak turn Thursday when the U.S. Coast Guard said a debris field was found at the bottom of the ocean near the Titanic, and the critical 96-hour mark passed when breathable air could have run out.The Coast Guard’s post on Twitter did not say whether officials believe the debris is connected to the Titan, which was on an expedition to view the wreckage of the Titanic. It said the debris was discovered within the search area by a remotely operated underwater robot, and was being evaluated.The Titan was estimated to have about a four-day supply of breathable air when it launched Sunday morning in the North Atlantic — but experts have emphasized that was an imprecise approximation to begin with and could be extended if passengers have taken measures to conserve breathable air. And it’s not known if they survived since the sub’s disappearance.Rescuers have rushed ships, planes and other equipment&nbs...

US median age reached a record high in 2022, according to the US Census Bureau

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

(CNN) — The United States population has been aging for decades and is now older than it has ever been.The median age of the US population reached a record high of 38.9 years in 2022, according to new estimates from the US Census Bureau.That’s an increase of about 3.5 years since 2000, and a jump of 0.2 years in the past year alone.Births outnumbered deaths last year but not enough to shift the overall pattern of aging, according to the Census Bureau estimates. Other federal data shows that the US birth rate has been trending down for years. There was a steep drop in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic and only a slight increase the following year.“Without a rapidly growing young population, the US median age will likely continue its slow but steady rise,” said Kristie Wilder, a demographer with the Census Bureau.Nearly all states saw their population grow older between 2021 and 2022, according to the new Census Bureau data. In about a third of states, more than h...

Massachusetts Opioid Deaths Climbed To New High In 2022

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

The already-devastating opioid crisis is getting worse.Massachusetts experienced 2,357 confirmed and estimated fatal opioid-related overdoses in 2022, a new record high, according to data the Department of Public Health published Thursday. The fatality rate of 33.5 per 100,000 people reflects a 2.5 percent increase over 2021 and a 9.1 percent increase from 2016, the pre-pandemic peak.The crisis was especially pronounced among non-Hispanic Black residents, for whom overdose deaths increased 42 percent. The most rural areas of the state had the highest overdose death rate, compared to more densely populated regions.State public health officials said a major factor driving the jump in fatalities is the increasingly common presence of multiple substances, especially fentanyl, contaminating the drugs a person might use.DPH plans to release the latest opioid report at a Public Health Council meeting Thursday afternoon. Goldstein and other Healey administration officials briefed media...

Massachusetts opioid overdose deaths spike to a record-high: ‘A tragedy and alarming’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts continued to spike last year, yet again hitting a record-high with fentanyl present in 93% of fatal opioid ODs.There were 2,357 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in the Bay State last year, surpassing the previous peak in 2021 by 57 deaths. That’s a 2.5% increase year-over-year.Fatal OD rates among Black, non-Hispanic residents made up the largest increase, according to preliminary data released on Thursday by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.“The increase in opioid-related overdose deaths is a tragedy and alarming,” said DPH Commissioner Robert Goldstein. “We know overdose deaths are preventable.“The pandemic has had a devastating impact on mental health and substance use, especially among marginalized communities,” Goldstein added. “We are working to reverse these troubling trends by continuing to build on our data-driven and equity-based approaches toward re...

You’ll probably live longer than you think — what to know about life expectancy for retirement planning

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

Women often don’t score as well as men in surveys of financial literacy. One area where we seem to do better is “longevity literacy,” or understanding how long we’re likely to live.Longevity literacy is essential to smart retirement planning. Overestimate your longevity, and you could retire too late or scrimp too much. Underestimate it and you could run short of money.In a recent TIAA Institute study, 43% of women correctly estimated the life expectancy of 60-year-old women in the U.S. (The right answer was 85.) Only 32% of men chose the correct answer for the life expectancy for 60-year-old men, which was 82. Men also were far more likely than women to underestimate life expectancy — and that’s a huge potential problem for both sexes.A man who expects to die in his 70s might draw too much from retirement funds or start Social Security too early. That could leave him — and the spouse who may outlive him — with too little income later on.“A lot of people do OK in their first 10 year...

A ‘debris field’ was found in the search for the missing OceanGate Expeditions Titanic sub

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

A “debris field” has been found in the search area for the missing OceanGate Expeditions sub that explores the Titanic wreck site with five people aboard, according to the Coast Guard out of Boston.The 21-foot submersible has been missing in a remote area of the North Atlantic Ocean, about 900 miles off of Cape Cod, since Sunday. The 96-hour oxygen supply on board was expected to expire on Thursday.Early Thursday morning, a Canadian vessel Horizon Arctic deployed a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) — reaching the sea floor to search for the missing sub.“A debris field was discovered within the search area by an ROV near the Titanic,” the First Coast Guard District tweeted a few hours later on Thursday.“Experts within the unified command are evaluating the information,” the Coast Guard added.Related ArticlesLatest Headlines | Debris has been found near the Titanic during search for submersible, US Coast Guard says Lat...

King Charles III claims his 1st Royal Ascot winner; Dettori rides to victory in Gold Cup

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

ASCOT, England (AP) — King Charles III has claimed his first Royal Ascot winner as the reigning monarch.Watching the race alongside Queen Camilla from the Royal Enclosure, the king saw Desert Hero — wearing the royal silks and an 18-1 shot — win by a short head in the King George V Stakes on Thursday.“Royal winners at the royal meeting are extremely special, especially this one,” jockey Tom Marquand said. “It will live high in my career, probably at the top for the rest of my days in the saddle.”The king and queen were seen waving toward Marquand and Desert Hero after the race.Desert Hero’s trainer, William Haggas, said “the king and queen are absolutely thrilled.”“It is obviously very important for racing, but it is important that the king and queen enjoy it, which they clearly appear to do, and long may that continue,” Haggas said.The late Queen Elizabeth II was a big fan of horse racing and had 24 winners at Royal Ascot in her long reign.In the signature race of...

Hail injures dozens of concertgoers and forces cancellation of Louis Tomlinson show near Denver

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A storm pummeled concertgoers at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver with golf ball-sized hail, sending them scurrying for cover, injuring dozens and forcing the cancellation of the show’s headliner, former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson.Up to 90 people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries caused by Wednesday night’s storm, including seven who were taken to a hospital, West Metro Fire Rescue said. Some were hurt by the hail and others were hurt while trying to get away from the storm, sustaining injuries such as lacerations, bruises and broken bones, spokesperson Ronda Scholting said Thursday. The hail piled up like snow in some spots in the amphitheater. The show was initially delayed because of the weather, with fans told to take shelter in their vehicles, according to tweets from the venue, which was carved out of a sedimentary rock formation in the foothills. It was later canceled. Beth Nabi, 44, had flown to Denver from Dublin to watch o...

Transgender sports ban heads to North Carolina governor’s desk

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:44:00 GMT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Transgender girls in North Carolina would no longer be allowed to play on the school sports teams that align with their gender identity under a proposal that received final legislative approval on Thursday.The GOP-controlled state House voted 62-43 to send the bill to the desk of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who has little power to block it now that Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. House Republicans were joined by one Democrat — Rep. Michael Wray of Northampton County — in voting for the measure.Initial votes in the House and Senate indicate any veto from Cooper, a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, would likely be overridden in the final weeks of the session. Cooper’s office did not respond immediately Thursday to an email seeking comment.At least 22 other states have now banned trans athletes from participating in the school sports consistent with their gender identity. North Carolina, like many other Republican-led stat...