A congregation based in New York City has filed a lawsuit against an entity of the Indiana-based Disciples of Christ, accusing it of refusing to provide $7.3 million in loan funding advances.

Frances Hall, former co-owner of Bill Hall Jr. Trucking, has been sentenced for her role in a scheme to avoid $9 million in workers’ compensation premiums.

Bones of unknown animals millions of years of age were found in Yakutia.  In the Churapcha region of Yakutia, archeologists found a Paleolithic human site that is believed to be at least 30,000 years old. Bones of unknown animals were found during excavation works.  The radiocarbon research of the finds revealed that the found remains were from the Neogene era - a period that began 23 million years ago and ended 2.58 million years ago.

Continued. Read Part I of the article here. Alexey Golubovich, Yukos's former director for strategic planning and corporate finance was one of the main witnesses in the case against Yukos. How can one determine the basis of his testimony? Was it a wish to help the Russian justice system or the subtle game of a "double agent"? In order to understand this, one may need to recall a few facts from his business biography. In the first part of our investigation, we talked about Alexey Golubovich's business projects and lawsuits in 2010–2022, in which one could see both the shadows of his former Yukos colleagues (for example, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yuri Beilin) ​and the non-systemic opposition.

Veracity Trust Network (Veracity) has been awarded the Cybersecurity Co-Innovation and Development Fund (CCDF) CyberCall grant of S$1 million by the Cyber Security Agency Singapore (CSA).

The premium quality barcode and RFID solutions provider inotec is currently producing 40 million RFID identification cards for a market-leading international discount supermarket chain. The exceptionally large RFID card order was placed after the discount supermarket’s strategic decision to install new crate track and trace systems. 

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has reached an exciting milestone in its Centennial Campaign, raising $203 million toward its overall campaign goal of $250 million by 2027. This represents the largest amount ever raised in a UA Little Rock campaign, exceeding the previous campaign by $100 million.

[Culture] :
In the six days after the announcement that Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature, sales of her books exceeded one million copies.  According to major bookstore chains Yes24 and Kyobo Book Center on Wednesday, the figure had surpassed one million as of 9 a.m.  Since Han’s Nobel Prize win, one ...

[more...]

The music video for girl group TWICE's 2015 song "Like Ooh-Ahh" has surpassed 500 million views on YouTube. The group's management JYP Entertainment said the video broke the 500 million mark...

[more...]

Italy-based unicorn Satispay has announced...

Zilch, a fintech company operating an ad-subsidised payments...

Germany-based fintech MODIFI has announced...

Saudi Arabia-based fintech infrastructure platform Lean Technologies has raised USD 67.5 million in a Series B funding round to scale its Pay-by-Bank and Open Banking offerings.

Metro Bank has been fined nearly GBP 17 million by the UK’s financial watchdog FCA for failings in its money-laundering controls over four years.

I didn't know anything about these topics until a couple of weeks ago. Now I can't stop thinking about them.... read more >>

Advocates for expanding Medicaid in Kansas staged a protest outside the entrance to the statehouse parking garage in Topeka in May 2019. Today, twelve states have still not expanded Medicaid. The biggest are Texas, Florida, and Georgia, but there are a few outside the South, including Wyoming and Kansas.; Credit: John Hanna/AP

There are more than 2 million people across the United States who have no option when it comes to health insurance. They're in what's known as the "coverage gap" — they don't qualify for Medicaid in their state, and make too little money to be eligible for subsidized health plans on the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges.

Briana Wright is one of those people. She's 27, lives near Jackson, Miss., works at McDonalds, and doesn't have health insurance. So to figure out her options when she recently learned she needed to have surgery to remove her gallbladder, she called Health Help Mississippi, a nonprofit that helps people enroll in health insurances.

Because she lives in Mississippi, "I wasn't going to be eligible for Medicaid — because I don't have children [and] I'm not pregnant," she tells NPR. When she had her income checked for Healthcare.gov, it was just shy of the federal poverty line — the minimum to qualify for subsidies. "It was $74 [short]. I was like, oh wow," she says.

Wright's inability to get a subsidized policy on Healthcare.gov is related to how the Affordable Care Act was originally designed. People needing insurance who were above the poverty line were supposed to be funneled via the federal and state insurance exchanges to private policies — with federal subsidies to help make those policies affordable. People who were under the poverty line were to be funneled to a newly-expanded version of Medicaid — the public health insurance program that is jointly funded by states and the federal government. But the Supreme Court made Medicaid expansion essentially optional in 2012, and many Republican-led states declined to expand. Today, there are 12 holdout states that have not expanded Medicaid, and Mississippi is one of them.

So, Wright is still uninsured. Her gallbladder is causing her pain, but she can't afford the surgery without shuffling household bills, and risking leaving something else unpaid. "I'm stressed out about it. I don't know what I'm going to do," she says. "I'm going to just have to pay it out of pocket or get on some payment plan until it all gets paid for."

Hoping to finally find a fix for Wright and the millions like her who are in Medicaid limbo, several teams of Democratic lawmakers have recently been hashing out several options — hoping to build on the momentum of the latest Supreme Court confirmation that the ACA is here to stay.

OPTION 1: Sweet-talk the 12 holdout states

The COVID-19 relief bill passed in March included financial enticements for these 12 states to expand Medicaid. Essentially, the federal government will cover 90% of the costs of the newly eligible population, and an additional 5% of the costs of those already enrolled.

It's a good financial deal. An analysis by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that the net benefit for these states would be $9.6 billion. But, so far — publicly, at least — no states have indicated they intend to take the federal government up on its offer.

"If that is not getting states to move, then that suggests that the deep root of their hesitation is not about financial constraint," says Jamila Michener, a professor of government at Cornell University and author of the book Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid Federalism And Unequal Politics.

Instead, Michener says, the reluctance among some Republican-led legislatures and governors to expand Medicaid may be a combination of partisan resistance to President Obama's signature health law, and not believing "this kind of government intervention for these groups of people is appropriate."

What's Next: When asked about progress on this front in an April press briefing, Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki said "the President is certainly supportive of — and an advocate for — states expanding Medicaid," but did not answer a follow up about whether the White House was directly reaching out to governors regarding this option.

OPTION 2: Create a federal public option to fill the gap

Some have advocated for circumventing these holdout states and creating a new, standalone federal Medicaid program that people who fall into this coverage gap could join. It would be kind of like a tailored public option just for this group.

This idea was included in Biden's 2022 budget, which says, in part: "In States that have not expanded Medicaid, the President has proposed extending coverage to millions of people by providing premium-free, Medicaid-like coverage through a Federal public option, paired with financial incentives to ensure States maintain their existing expansions."

But it wouldn't be simple. "That can be quite complex — to implement a federal program that's targeted to just these 2.2 million people across a handful of states," says Robin Rudowitz, co-director of the Medicaid program at the Kaiser Family Foundation, who wrote a recent analysis of the policy options.

It also may be a heavy lift, politically, says Michener. "Anything that expanded the footprint of the federal government and its role in subsidizing health care would be especially challenging," she says.

What's next: This idea was raised as a possible solution in a letter last month from Georgia's Democratic senators to Senate leaders, and Sen. Raphael Warnock said this week he plans to introduce legislation soon.

OPTION 3: Get around stubborn states by letting cities expand Medicaid

Instead of centralizing the approach, this next idea goes even more local. The COVER Now Act, introduced by Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, would empower local jurisdictions to expand Medicaid. So, if you live in Austin, Texas, maybe you could get Medicaid, even if someone in Lubbock still couldn't.

The political and logistical challenges would be tough, policy analysts say. Logistically, such a plan would require counties and cities to create new infrastructure to run a Medicaid program, Rudowitz notes, and the federal government would have to oversee how well these new local programs complied with all of Medicaid's rules.

"It does not seem feasible politically," Michener says. "The legislators who would have to vote to make this possible would be ceding quite a bit of power to localities." It also might amplify geographic equity concerns, she says. People's access to health insurance would not just "be arbitrarily based on what state you live in — which is the current state of affairs — It's also going to be arbitrary based on what county you live in, based on what city you live in."

What's next: Doggett introduced the bill earlier this month. There's no guarantee it would get a vote on the House floor and — even if it did — it wouldn't survive a likely filibuster in the evenly divided Senate.

OPTION 4: Change the ACA to open up the exchanges

A fourth idea, Rudowitz says, is to change the law to remove the minimum cutoff for the private health insurance exchanges, since "right now, individuals who are below poverty are not eligible for subsidies in the marketplace." With this option, states wouldn't be paying any of the costs, since the federal government pays premium subsidies, Rudowitz says, but "there are issues around beneficiary protections, benefits, out-of-pocket costs."

What's next: This idea hasn't yet been included in any current congressional bills.

Will any of these ideas come to fruition?

Even with a variety of ideas on the table, "there's no slam dunk option, it's a tough policy issue," Rudowitz says. All of these would be complicated to pull off.

It's possible Democrats will include one of these ideas in a reconciliation bill that could pass without the threat of a Republican filibuster. But that bill has yet to be written, and what will be included is anyone's guess.

Even so, Michener says she's glad the discussion of the Medicaid coverage gap is happening, because it's sensitizing the public, as well as people in power, to the problem and potentially changing the political dynamic down the line. "Even in policy areas where you don't have any kind of guaranteed victory, it is often worth fighting the fight," she says. "Politics is a long game."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation reduced the process time taken from planning the menu to delivery to schools by using mobility solution and automation.

Students carry sack lunches at Elk Ridge Elementary School in Buckley, Wash. On Monday, USDA unveiled a new program that would feed millions of children over the summer, when many schools are closed.; Credit: Ted S. Warren/AP

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new effort Monday to feed millions of children this summer, when free school meals traditionally reach just a small minority of the kids who rely on them the rest of the year. The move expands what's known as the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer, or P-EBT, program into the summer months, and USDA estimates it will reach more than 30 million children.

"If children and children's learning and children's health is a priority for us in this country, then we need to fund our priorities," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a Monday interview with NPR's All Things Considered. "I think it's an important day."

P-EBT takes the value of the meals kids aren't getting at school, about $6.82 per child per weekday, according to USDA, and puts it onto a debit card that families can use at the grocery store. Households already enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (once known as food stamps) can have the value placed directly onto their SNAP debit card.

Children are eligible for the new P-EBT summer expansion if they are eligible to receive free or low-cost meals during the school year. Children younger than 6 can also qualify if they live in a household that currently receives SNAP benefits. According to USDA, eligible families can expect to receive roughly $375 per child to help them through this summer.

"Families are still in crisis as a result of the pandemic and providing Pandemic EBT benefits this summer will help reduce childhood hunger and support good nutrition," said Crystal FitzSimons at the Food Research & Action Center, or FRAC.

P-EBT began in March 2020 as an emergency move to reach children whose schools had closed in response to the pandemic; it was extended as part of the American Rescue Plan, the massive COVID-19 relief package that President Biden signed this past March.

The summer months have traditionally been hard on children who depend on free or low-cost school meals. According to FRAC, in July 2019, just 1 in 7 children who ate at little or no cost during the school year was getting a subsidized school lunch at the height of summer.

Currently, at least 37 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have been approved by USDA to provide P-EBT since the program's inception. On Monday, Secretary Tom Vilsack told All Things Considered host Mary Louise Kelly that he's been on the phone with governors working to expand adoption.

"When I took this job, I think only 12 states were currently enrolled ... and we're continuing to get states in every day," Vilsack said. As for why some states hadn't yet signed on, he said, "I think the guidance that we were providing to states was a little bit murky ... There's no confusion about the simple plan here for the summer. Mom and Dad get a card. They are able to go to the grocery store. They now have more resources to be able to feed their family."

Monday's announcement is just the latest move by USDA to fight child hunger. The agency recently issued waivers that will allow school districts to offer free school meals to all children in the 2021-2022 school year. Schools will also be allowed to pack meals in bulk and deliver them to students still learning at home. The Biden administration also recently pushed a $1.1 billion monthly increase in SNAP benefits through September 2021.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, which has offered regular snapshots of families' wellbeing during the pandemic, food insecurity in the U.S. has been declining in recent months. As of the period from March 17-29, nearly 23% of households with children reported experiencing some food insecurity, down from a pandemic high of 31.4% in December 2020.

"Food insecurity rates are finally starting to come down," said Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. A host of federal programs to fight hunger and put money in the pockets of low-income Americans are "putting substantial downward pressure on food insecurity rates. It's a whole new world," Bauer said.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Nearly half of all American adults – 90 million people – have difficulty understanding and using health information, and there is a higher rate of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with limited health literacy, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

Medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced grant awards for seven new projects totaling $5.3 million.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced a new grant opportunity focused on enhancing coastal community resilience and well-being in the Gulf of Mexico region.

Recent gains against the burden of illness, injury, and disability and commitment to universal health coverage (UHC) are insufficient to close the enormous gaps that remain between what is achievable in human health and where global health stands today, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced awards for nine new grant projects totaling $3.2 million.

Following recommendations from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report released earlier this year, the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program (GRP) is developing a long-term research campaign to improve understanding and prediction of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System (LCS).

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced a new funding opportunity to provide up to $2.5 million in grants to foster innovative approaches that support its ongoing efforts to improve understanding and prediction of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System (LCS).

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced a new funding opportunity under its Healthy Ecosystems Initiative.

The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced $10.7 million in grant awards for four new projects focused on enhancing community resilience in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico region.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced $7.25 million in grant awards for eight projects focused on strengthening safety culture in the offshore oil and gas industry.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced $2 million in grant awards for seven new projects through its Understanding Gulf Ocean Systems (UGOS) Grants 2 competition.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced grant awards totaling $5.27 million for six new projects. These projects, planned to span two to three years, aim to improve understanding of how natural processes and human activities interact to affect coastal ecosystems in the U.S. Gulf Coast region.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced a $25 million funding opportunity for researchers interested in improving operational forecasts of ocean dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico for reduction of risk in offshore energy exploration and production.

The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced grant awards totaling $8.6 million for 11 new projects supporting health equity and community resilience.

The U.S. should establish a new coordinated research program to investigate the impacts of exposure to low doses of radiation on human health, says a new report estimating that $100 million in funding will be needed annually for the next 15 years to answer key research questions.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced grant awards for 13 new projects totaling $3.7 million.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced awards totaling $1,090,463 to support six projects that engage underserved children and youth in place-based educational activities.

The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced awards totaling $3.4 million to support four projects that reduce the burden of disaster-related mental health consequences with a focus on acute disasters.

With a $3 million donation from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, a high-level, international coordinating group of scientific organizations has been established to take concrete steps to support Ukraine’s scientists and research community with the aim of rebuilding a successful global science and innovation system in Ukraine.

Ticketmaster seems to have experienced a data breach, with the ShinyHunters hacker group claiming to have exfiltrated 560 million customer data

Business email compromise (BEC) has once again proven to be a costly issue, with a company losing $60 million in a wire transfer fraud scheme

The active internet user base aged 12 years and older has grown more than 20% year-on-year to reach 595 million in 2022.

Meta's Threads racked up more than 30 million sign-ups within about 18 hours of its launch, emerging as the first real threat to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, as it took advantage of its access to billions of Instagram users and a similar look to that of its rival.

TikTok has been fined $368 million by European regulators for breaching data privacy rules and failing to protect children's privacy. The investigation found that the app's sign-up process for teen users made their accounts public by default, posing a risk to underage users. The "family pairing" feature also allowed adults to turn on direct messaging for users aged 16 and 17 without their consent.

​​ Global IT Centre will focus on cutting-edge technologies such as cloud engineering, data platforms, digital health applications, hyper automation, and artificial intelligence and machine learning, it further said.

The gusting westerly winds that dominate the climate in central Asia, setting the pattern of dryness and location of central Asian deserts, have blown mostly unchanged for 42 million years. A University of Washington geologist led a team that has discovered a surprising resilience to one of the world's dominant weather systems. The finding could help long-term climate forecasts, since it suggests these winds are likely to persist through radical climate shifts.

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Google was fined 2 billion roubles in February 2022. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) at the time said Google's YouTube had a "non-transparent, biased and unpredictable" approach to "suspending and blocking users' accounts and content". The FAS said the previous fine it imposed on Google had been doubled due to non-payment.

In just four hours of its launch, the social media platform has recorded over five million signups, Zuckerberg announced on Thursday.

The upcycled tortilla chips reportedly save 20 gallons of water per bag.

Amy’s Kitchen, Petaluma, Calif., expects to break ground, early next year, on a 500,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Goshen, N.Y.

Growing demand for specialty ingredients is driving expansion of the ingredient-solutions provider’s manufacturing capacity.