The protests, by followers of renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, came two days after a surprise visit to Baghdad by Vice President Biden, who praised the progress Iraqi leaders were making.
The incidents called into question Iraq's ability to effectively buffer and contain the Islamic State militant group and raised doubts about the country’s political stability 13 years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Q: How did this happen?
A: The protests were the culmination of months of street demonstrations incited by al-Sadr, the popular cleric who launched an uprising in 2004 against U.S. troops in Iraq. The protesters demand government reforms to stop corruption, wanting politically appointed ministers to be replaced with nonpartisan technocrats.
The incident also underscores long-simmering sectarian tensions that continue to brew since the 2003 invasion, said Steven Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council of Foreign Relations. Al-Sadr took advantage of political gridlock among the Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers, who share power, to forward his own agenda, Cook said.
“It’s not about this specific demand,” Cook said. “It’s about a seizing an opportunity.”
Q: Why this matters to the USA?
A: The U.S. military ousted former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein in 2003 and oversaw the formation of the current government. The U.S. wants a stable Iraqi government that will continue fighting the Islamic State, which has taken control of a swath of territory in Iraq and neighboring Syria. Iraqi troops have been fighting the extremists in Mosul and other parts of Iraq.
Baghdad’s unraveling could also return the country to the sectarian conflicts that flared earlier this decade, sparking instability in the region and potentially staunching the flow of Iraq’s more than 4 million barrels of oil a day, said Kenneth Pollack, senior fellow with the Brookings Institute.
“If there’s civil war in Iraq, it could spread: Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,” he said. “These are scenarios that the United States does not want to see happen.”
Q: How can this impact the war on the Islamic State?
A: Iraq needs a stable political system in Baghdad to keep troops motivated in places like Mosul and Anbar Province in their fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. The military has made strong gains but the political system continues to be in disarray and could threaten the overall strategy, Pollack said.
As the U.S. continues to scale back its presence in Iraq, less pressure is put on Iraqi lawmakers to work out their differences, he said.
“We now have a military campaign that’s doing quite well,” Pollack said. “The problem is the political side of this whole campaign is not making nearly the same progress.
This combo shows a file picture taken on April 15, 1992 of then-North Korean President Kim Il-Sung (L) during the celebration marking his 80th birthday at Kim Il-Sung stadium in Pyongyang and a file photo taken on April 15, 2012 of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un as he watches a military parade to mark 100 years since the birth of the country's founder and his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, in Pyongyang. (Photo: AFP/ JIJI PRESS; R-image, Ed Jones (R) JIJI PRESS/AFP/Getty Images)
The Musudan or BM-25 missiles have a range of just under 2,500 miles, enough to threaten not only South Korea and Japan but also Guam, where U.S. military forces are stationed, Yonghap says. It would be the first test-launch of this particular version of the weapon.
The source tells the news agency that the fact that the missiles have remained in place since last month points to a possible launch Friday to mark the 104th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea and the grandfather of Kim Jong-un. The North has celebrated this so-called "Day of the Sun" in the past with elaborate military events.
Last month, the U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea's most recent latest ballistic missile launches, calling them "unacceptable," a clear violation of U.N. resolutions banning such tests, and a threat to regional and international security, the Associated Press reported.
The council met March 18 hours after the North fired a medium-range missile from a site north of Pyongyang that flew about 500 miles before crashing into the sea off the country's east coast. The resolution also condemned the North's firing of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on March 10, in response to new sanctions from South Korea.
Pyongyang usually notifies the International Maritime Organization, a global shipping regulation body, in advance of a planned test launch but had not as of Thursday, the news agency says.
You’ve probably heard that about 60 percent of the human body is composed of water. So it’s no wonder hydration is so important — clearly, that beautiful body of yours needs plenty of water to do all the things it has to do to support you every day.
Hydration is key in supporting many of the body’s most essential functions. It helps your body assimilate the nutrients in your food; aids in cell regeneration; boosts your skin’s elasticity for a supple, youthful complexion; keeps your energy up; maintains healthy joints and muscles; and assists your kidneys in flushing out waste and toxins, to name just a few benefits.
It also helps you maintain your weight goals by staving off between-meal snacking (because we all know that sometimes when we think we’re hungry we’re really just thirsty) and is a key component of developing that connection to your body.
While we’re all for keeping a full water bottle on you at all times, sipping isn’t the only way to reach your daily H2O quota. In fact, guzzling too much water (especially cold water) could potentially disrupt your digestion. So what’s a health-conscious babe to do?
At the 2012 Democratic convention, President Obama was the candidate. This year, he will be a superdelegate. (Photo: Jae C. Hong, AP)
It is a bit of a challenge to comprehend Illinois Democrats' 91-page "delegate selection plan" for this year's national convention, but two words stand out among the list of officials who will be Illinois superdelegates: "The President."
That would be President Obama, the one-time U.S. senator from the Land of Lincoln, who also served as a superdelegate from the state in 2008, when he voted for himself. Then-Sen. HIllary Clinton was also a superdelegate that year and also backed Obama at the convention as part of her call for party unity.
Democrats have about 700 party leaders who serve as superdelegates who can cast their votes for whomever they like, regardless of the primary vote of the states they hail from. Members of Congress and other elected officials get to be superdelegates, as do former presidents. Bill Clinton is a New York superdelegate this year (guess which candidate he is backing) and Jimmy Carter is a superdelegate from Georgia.
Obama has remained non-committal about who he is backing this year, but one would have to assume he would be in Really Big Trouble if he backed someone other than Hillary Clinton after all they have been through.
It seems unlikely that Obama would put on a funny hat, wade into the crowd on the convention floor and caucus with the rest of the Illinois delegation, but he will have a ticket to do so if he so chooses.
Illinois has 26 superdelegates; Democrats vote Tuesday to select 156 other convention delegates from the state, which trivia buffs will recall is also where Hillary Clinton was born.
NEW YORK—I intentionally dropped a $672 Galaxy S7 phone into the toilet. I wasn’t expressing displeasure over Samsung’s newest flagship phone—in fact I really like this latest handset, along with its pricier sibling the Galaxy S7 edge. I dropped it in the toilet, and separately in the sink, to test the phone’s resistance to water. It came through unscathed.
The two new Galaxy’s measure up to a certification standard known as IP68, which means they can be submerged up to 5 feet for up to a half hour. They’re resistant to dust too.
What’s more, the phones don’t have awkward protective flaps covering the USB port like a prior water resistant model, the Galaxy S5. But don’t get carried away. The phones are water resistant, not waterproof. I wouldn’t swim with the device, take a long hot shower with it, or necessarily drop it into your own toilet. Yes, the phone will do fine with the water. I just wouldn’t want it to get flushed down the drain.
NASHVILLE — Hospitals and medical practices share a growing problem with those they treat: Patients aren’t paying their bills.
Working people are on the hook for an increasingly large portion of the cost of their care, as insurance policies pay for less. It’s a trend that is not reversing — and it’s causing financial distress for families and CEOs alike.
In health care, the billing process is called revenue cycle management. It’s a complex system of diagnostic codes, services, insurance benefit analysis, billing departments and software.
Hospitals and providers, historically, received 90% of the reimbursement from insurers, according to The Advisory Board. The patient portion was more of an afterthought.
That dynamic is shifting as more people come under high deductible health plans. The ratio could settle around 70-30 — with patients paying nearly a third of their bills, said Ken Kubisty, senior vice president at Advisory Board Consulting and Management.
For every patient dollar being billed, hospitals have historically failed to collect 65 cents.
Marco Rubio, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz take part in the March 3, 2016, Republican debate in Detroit. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
The Fox News debate in August, the first of the 2016 cycle, was just seven months ago, but it seems even longer. So much has happened since then — candidates have dropped out (remember when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was a leading candidate?), controversies have ensued, and 15 Republican contests have now been held. The one constant? Donald J. Trump was the focal point then, and he certainly was Thursday night.
Trump sat atop polls heading into that Fox debate, and the major question leading into the Cleveland face-off was, would that support hold once he was put through the rigors of a debate? Now, after 11 debates, countless polls and 10 wins, the answer is unquestionably yes.
No, his debate performances haven't always been the smoothest, but it hasn't mattered yet. He's consumed them, just as he has the GOP race, and Thursday night was no different. Just look at the social media stats released immediately after the debate was over: 62% of the Twitter discussion surrounding #GOPDebate candidates was about Trump (Ted Cruz was the next highest at 16%), and 73% of Facebook conversation was about Trump.
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz released summary pages of their recent tax filings on Saturday, seeking to capitalize on GOP front-runner Donald Trump’s refusal to release similar information.
Despite making promises to release his tax records, Trump has balked at doing so, saying he won’t disclose the filings until the IRS finishes auditing his returns.
“We’re putting these out today to put pressure on Trump and the other candidates to release theirs,” said Rubio campaign spokesman Alex Conant.
Fairfield University in Connecticut is announcing a set of actions in response to a racially insensitive party the school discovered students held off-campus over the weekend.
The private, Jesuit and Catholic school of about 5,100 is responding to the gathering that some news outlets dubbed a "ghetto-themed party." The campus about 60 miles northeast of New York City said that the following would take place this week:
The Office of Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs will hold extended evening hours to discuss the incident with students
Student leaders were holding an emergency meeting Monday night to plan a student forum focused on the incident
Faculty and administrators are planning a dialogue on the incident open to the campus community
"We expect that our students, faculty and staff maintain the highest level of respect for one another," the school said in a statement. "We will be investigating this matter immediately, and will take appropriate actions as soon as the facts have been determined."
The party took place at a house on the beach and and the school learned about it through social media, Jennifer Anderson, the school's vice president of marketing and communications, told the Connecticut Post. "We are working to understand the details," Allen said.
Sophomore Ammol Tabassum, a sophomore, told the Post that the party goes against Jesuit values. "It is truly disappointing to see my fellow students behave in such a manner," she said.
Junior Joe Harding told the Post the party was held at a residence where a number of lacrosse players live.
The U.S. Marshals Service used a cellphone tracking device commonly known as a stingray nearly 6,000 times, newly disclosed records show.
(Photo: Eileen Blass,
agency had made on its log of stingray uses. The agency described the log in a letter as “a listing of IMSI catcher use,” using another name for the technology that intercepts cellphone signals.
Stingrays are suitcase-sized devices that can pinpoint a cellphone’s location within a few yards by posing as a cell tower. In the process, they also intercept information about other cellphones that happen to be nearby, a fact that has raised concerns among privacy advocates and some lawmakers. Dozens of police departments use the devices, often concealing that fact from suspects and their lawyers.
The Marshals Service’s surveillance log lists 5,975 cases in which the Marshals Service used stingrays. The agency declined to say what time period the log covered, or where the suspects were arrested. It also declined to identify the suspects, to protect their privacy.
“Just that sheer number is significant,” American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Nathan Wessler said. “That’s a lot of deployments of a very invasive surveillance tool."
No other law enforcement agency is known to have used stingrays so often. The New York Police Department told the ACLU last month that it used the cell-tracking devices about 1,000 times since 2008; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it had used one about 1,800 times to conduct investigations throughout the state. Until now, Baltimore’s police force had been the most prolific known user; a detective there testified that city police had used their tracker 4,300 times.
Donald Trump addresses supporters celebrating his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary Saturday Feb. 20. (Photo: Richard Ellis, EPA)
Keen observers of the political landscape may have discerned this bit of information: The Republican establishment sort of hates its presidential front-runner Donald Trump. But very few of the party's moneyed elite have had the gumption to openly fund a mission to destroy the billionaire's chances of winning the nomination.
Until now.
New campaign-finance reports show that Marlene Ricketts, the wife of billionaire T.D. Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts, contributed $3 million to Our Principles PAC, a super PAC that blistered Trump with negative ads, voter guides and mailers ahead of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. Katie Packer, who helped manage Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, runs the group.
Virtually all the money the committee raised in January came from Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs.
Cape Town - Proteas captain Faf du Plessis believes that his side should have lost Friday night’s T20I against England at Newlands.
Having restricted the visitors to 134 in their 20 overs thanks largely to Imran Tahir’s 4-21, South Africa were heavily favoured at the halfway stage to canter to victory in front of a 19 000-strong Cape Town crowd.
But the run-chase never got going, and regular wickets meant that Chris Morris and Kyle Abbott went into the final over needing 15 for victory.
It may not have been the high-scoring affair that fans mostly want, but the match was laced in drama right up until the final ball when Reece Topley missed a fantastic chance to run out Abbott and send the game to a Super Over.
And while Du Plessis was honest about the fact that it appeared the match had gotten away from the Proteas, he said such results would build confidence ahead of next month’s ICC World Twenty20 in India.
“Successful teams get over the line even though at times they shouldn’t,” Du Plessis said.
“The trophy-winning teams that I’ve been involved in over the years … it becomes a habit when you can win games that the other team looks like they can win.
“We’ll definitely take a lot of confidence from that. We didn’t play the perfect game but to still get a cross the line is a huge credit to us.”
Du Plessis said he was not concerned over how the run-chase unfolded despite none of the top-order putting the game to bed.
“We sat down after halfway and we discussed that we would try and learn from the England batting,” Du Plessis said.
“We found that they possibly, for that surface, tried to go too hard and by doing that they offered us a lot of chances.
“We know with our batting line-up that if we can have wickets in hand in the last four or five overs we’ve got a very destructive line-up, so that was always the plan.
“Myself and JP were going really nicely there … one of us should have batted through and that’s possibly where we let them back into the game.
“But Morry (Morris) got a nice knock again tonight and he got us across the line when we shouldn’t have … England should have won that game.”
Bloemfontein – An eight-year-old Free State pupil, who was allegedly assaulted with a hosepipe after a dispute about homework, died from meningitis and not as a result of her injuries, local police said on Saturday.
Free State police spokesperson, Constable Peter Kareli, told News24 the pupil was allegedly assaulted on January 26 and her parents reported the case on February 9.
Nthabiseng Mtambo died at a hospital in Bethlehem on February 14.
It was believed the pupil had died as a result of the assault, but a post-mortem has revealed the pupil had contracted meningitis, said Kareli.
He said the Grade 3 teacher at the Reatile Primary School near Reitz in the Free State was initially charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but due to the post-mortem results, the charge was changed to common assault.
Spokesperson for the Free State department of education, Howard Ndaba, told News24 the teacher has since been suspended and faced an internal disciplinary hearing.
He said the department would also refer the matter to the South African Council for Educators for investigation.
“We are really disturbed and we want to send out a strong warning to teachers out there not to practice corporal punishment,” he said.
Just when it seemed the 2016 presidential race could not get any stranger, it took another sharp turn on Thursday as Pope Francis questioned Donald Trump’s Christian faith during a flight home from Mexico – and the GOP candidate fired back, calling the pope's comments “disgraceful.”
The pope, responding to a question aboard the papal plane about Trump’s promise to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall, said: "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel."Trump immediately responded: “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful,” he said.Pope Francis weighed in just hours after he prayed at the Mexico-U.S. border for migrants who died trying to reach the United States. The pope did not definitively say Trump is not a Christian. Not having heard Trump's border plans independently, Francis said he'd "give him the benefit of the doubt."
But he said: "I'd just say that this man is not Christian if he said it this way."
Hillary Clinton has the full support of America (Ferrera).
The “Superstore” actress is in Colorado this week stumping for the former Secretary of State as she pursues the White House for the second time.Ferrera, 31, will be joining Clinton’s daughter Chelsea in several events in both Boulder and Denver, where they are expected to motivate Latinos to let their voice be heard at the caucuses on March 1.They were holding events at the Agora and at the University of Denver on Thursday and sitting down for an informal “cafecito” with a multi-generational group of Latinas at 910Arts in Denver of Friday. Ferrera, best known for her award-winning role in “Ugly Betty,” has been an avid supporter of Clinton ever since her 2008 presidential run, so it’s no surprise that she is campaigning for her this time around.
Lorella Praeli, the Latino Outreach Director for the Clinton campaign, told Fox News Latino on Wednesday they are really excited to have Ferrera on board — especially leading up to the Nevada and Colorado caucuses.“(Ferrera has) been a strong supporter of HRC for a long time,” she said. “She brings a strong voice to the conversation and [for me, as] a young Latina, it’s important to have voices we can trust.”Praeli added: “When it’s America sitting across from you in a room full of Latinas talking about why it’s important to mobilize voters and how they will impact this election … it’s significant because she has been a prominent voice for Latinos.”She called Latino voters the “sleeping giants” of these elections and said that the Clinton campaign has committed to make sure they are fully engaged.
The “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” actress is not the only Latina celebrity to voice their support for Clinton.candidate in Iowa, adding on Instagram: “I couldn't have been more excited to support such a courageous, loving and # woman in Iowa... It was an honor to share the stage with you in your campaign to become the !!!!
The Canadian government has confirmed that the number of missing or murdered indigenous women in the country may be higher than the previously cited 1,200.
Ministers recently spoke to survivors across Canada to begin a government inquiry into the matter.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a key campaign pledge to address this.
Canada's minister for the status of women suggested on Tuesday the accurate number of missing and murdered women could be as high as 4,000.
Patty Hajdu said the government did not have an accurate figure but she indicated there was research from the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) that said there were about 4,000.
The often-cited 1,200 figure came from a 2014 Royal Canadian Mounted Policereport on the missing women, related to the period between 1980 and 2012.
"During those discussions, the ministers have heard from participants that they believe the number of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is higher than 1,200," said Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett.
President Barack Obama has urged the US Senate to act after he nominates a replacement on the Supreme Court for Justice Antonin Scalia.
"I expect them to do their job", he said, and consider the candidate as required by the US Constitution.
Scalia, a long-time conservative on the court, died on Saturday.
Leaders of the Republican-controlled Senate have said they would delay confirming any nomination until a new president is in power next year.
Republicans argue it should be up to the electorate to pick a president who can nominate the right candidate for the job.
Scalia's death leaves the court finely balanced with four judges appointed by Democratic presidents and four by Republican ones, so the new appointment would leave the court liberal or conservative leaning.
"The Constitution is clear about what is supposed to happen now, said Mr Obama, during a news conference at an economic summit in California for South-East Asian countries.
The president must nominate someone for the court and then it's up to the Senate to confirm or reject him or her, he said.
"There's no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off years. That's not in the constitutional text."
The president vowed to announce his preferred candidate "in due course" and called on Washington to employ "basic fair play" to get it done.
In recent years, the court has made key rulings on gay marriage, abortion and Mr Obama's key healthcare legislation.
Some big artists who’ve won Grammy Awards in the Best New Artist category have seen their careers fall by the wayside, leading some to believe the Best New Artist trophy is not always the most reliable predictor of music industry longevity.
Jazz singer Esperanza Spalding beat out a 17-year-old upstart by the name of Justin Bieber in 2011.
2016 Grammy Award Nominations Snubs and Surprises
Debbie Boone took home the trophy in 1978, beating out the band Foreigner, which would go on to sell 80 million records.
Milli Vanilli won in 1990. Their lip-syncing scandal broke just eight months later and their careers were over.
The band Afternoon Delight won the best new artist Grammy in 1977.
"That was basically the kiss of death," band member Taffy Danoff told VH1 in a "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders" special. "I feel sorry for everyone who's gotten it since."
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Other winners in the category have gone on to be superstars, including Adele, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Amy Winehouse.
The nominees for Best New Artist at tonight's 2016 Grammys are Meghan Trainor, Courtney Barnett, James Bay, Sam Hunt and Tori Kelly.
The families of indie band Viola Beach said they had been doing what they loved before they died in a car crash in Sweden.
Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and manager Craig Tarry, who were aged between 19 and 32, were killed when their car plunged more than 25m (82ft) from a bridge into a canal.
The band had hours earlier played their first gig outside the UK.
Swedish police are examining their car to try to find the cause of the crash.
President Obama remembered and honored Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia who died at the age of 79, and vowed to nominate a replacement. 2016
President Obama said Saturday he would attempt to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, defying Senate Republicans who have said he should leave that responsibility to the next president in 2017. "Obviously, today is a time to remember Justice Scalia's legacy. I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time," he said. "There will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote." Obama was informed of Scalia's death Saturday afternoon while golfing in Palm Springs, Calif. The president is in California for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit next week. Addressing reporters just hours later, Obama said Scalia was a "larger than life presence on the bench, a brilliant legal mind with an energetic style, an incisive wit and colorful opinions." "He will no doubt be remembered as one of the most consequential judges and thinkers to serve on the Supreme Court," Obama said. "Tonight we join his fellow justices in mourning this incredible man." But no sooner had Obama reacted to Scalia's death than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested the Senate would not consider any nominee Obama makes. “The American people? should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president," McConnell said.
was rushed back to Los Angeles on Thursday following complications from oral surgery he had earlier this week.
According to the 72-year-old's official website and Facebook page, Manilow performed a show in Memphis this week but will be rescheduling future concerts for medical reasons. For this reason, he might miss the Grammy Awards on Monday night. "Following a triumphant sold out concert in Memphis, Barry Manilow was rushed back to Los Angeles due to complications from emergency oral surgery that Manilow had on Monday," a statement posted Thursday on the singer's page said. "At this time it is unclear if Manilow will be able to attend the Grammy Awards on Monday, February 15th where he is nominated for his 15th Grammy Award for his latest album, 'My Dream Duets,'" the statement continued. "Manilow is currently on his One Last Time - One Last Tour throughout North America and the U.K."
Spokesperson for acting police commissioner, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said “A lead vehicle of the deputy president’s was hit by a bakkie which allegedly drove through a red robot [on Friday afternoon]”.
One of the bodyguard’s in Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s protection unit was injured in a car accident in Cape Town on Saturday.Spokesperson for acting police commissioner, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said “A lead vehicle of the deputy president’s was hit by a bakkie which allegedly drove through a red robot [on Friday afternoon]”.“It was at an intersection where you normally have the lead car blocking off the traffic for the flow and then this bakkie… hit it.”The bodyguard was taken to hospital.A case of negligent and reckless driving is being investigated.
Friday that a black sedan bearing a gold government seal saying “Presidential Protection Service” had allegedly driven through a red robot and crashed into their car, while they were driving over the Blaauwberg Road and the R27 intersection on the West Coast.
Commission gives support to health department needle exchange
ASHLAND Former city attorney Richard “Sonny” Martin was unanimously voted in by the Ashland commission as the interim city manager on Friday morning.
The Ashland Board of City Commissioners had a recessed meeting Friday at 9 a.m. to take care of old business mostly pertaining to the approval of construction and development projects.The board also took steps to move forward after voting 3-2 to terminate City Manager Ben Bitter during its regular meeting Thursday.Commissioner Larry Brown motioned to hire Martin as the new interim city manager at the same rate of pay as the previous chief administrator. The motion was met without any opposition or further discussion.Commissioner Marty Gute said the local board of health contacted him about governmental support for a needle exchange program at the Ashland-Boyd County Health Department.The goal of the program is to help limit the spread of disease, such as Hepatitis C and HIV through the use of dirty needles, which is something mostly associated with heroin use.In a previous report, Epidemiologist Kristy Bolen at the health department said the program would decrease the spread of disease while giving health-care officials the chance to educate drug users about treatment options.According to the Centers for Disease Control, 45 percent of Kentucky residents addicted to heroin also were addicted to opioid painkillers. Cases of Hepatitis C in Kentucky increased more than 50 percent from 2007 to 2011.Mayor Chuck Charles, who is the Foundation President at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, told the commission although controversy is associated with the program, it is a good tool to tackle the spread of dangerous diseases.
The commission unanimously supported allowing Charles to sign a letter of recommendation for the program. The health department also will seek support from Boyd County Fiscal Court.
An Air Force C-17 Globemaster returned to base at an undisclosed location in the Persian Gulf in January after delivering cargo to Baghdad. The United States and other coalition countries use bases in the region to transport troops and equipment for the fight against ISIS. Credit John Moore/Getty Images
BRUSSELS — All but a few of the 40 countries in the coalition now fighting the Islamic State have “stepped up to do more in the last months and days,†Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said on Thursday after a meeting here with defense ministers from the group.
Mr. Carter said 90 percent of the countries had made pledges, but he did not offer many specifics on what the contributions would be. It also remained unclear what effect any new assistance would have on the battlefield, or even how many ministers would be able to deliver on their commitments.
“There’s just a great deal going on,†Mr. Carter said at a news conference after the meeting. He added that he was “happy to see so much going on†but that “we’re also impatient.â€
Dr. Scott Y. H. Kim, a psychiatrist and bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, led a study of cases of doctor-assisted death for psychiatric distress in the Netherlands. At least three countries — the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland — allow assisted suicides for people who suffer severe psychiatric problems and others, like Canada, are debating such measures, citing the rights of people with untreatable mental illness. Laws in the United States, passed in five states, restrict doctor-assisted suicide to mentally competent adults with terminal illnesses only, not for disorders like depression and schizophrenia. Credit Nate Pesce for The New York Times
A new study of doctor-assisted death for people with mental disorders raises questions about the practice, finding that in more than half of approved cases people declined treatment that could have helped, and that many cited loneliness as an important reason for wanting to die. The study, of cases in the Netherlands, should raise concerns for other countries debating where to draw the line when it comes to people’s right to die, experts said.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, finds that cases of doctor-assisted death for psychiatric reasons were not at all clear-cut, even in the Netherlands, the country with the longest tradition of carefully evaluating such end-of-life choices. People who got assistance to die often sought help from doctors they had not seen before, and many used what the study called a “mobile end-of-life clinic†– a mobile team with a nurse and a doctor, funded by a local euthanasia advocacy organization.
“The criteria in the Netherlands essentially require that the person’s disorder be intractable and untreatable, and this study shows that evaluating each of those elements turns out to be problematic,†said Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry, medicine and law at Columbia University.
Dr. Appelbaum added, “The idea that people are leaving their treating physician and going to a clinic that exists solely for this purpose, and being evaluated not by a psychiatrist but by someone else who has to make these very difficult decisions about levels of suffering and disease – it seems to me like the worst possible way of implementing this process.â€
The study, led by Dr. Scott Y. H. Kim, a psychiatrist and bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, looked at records of most of the cases of doctor-assisted death for psychiatric distress from 2011 to mid-2014. In 37 of those 66 cases, people had refused a recommended treatment that could have helped. The study did not evaluate the cases of people who had been denied assistance.
Depression was the most common diagnosis, but loneliness was also a frequent theme. “The patient was an utterly lonely man whose life had been a failure,†read one account. In another, a woman in her seventies said she and her husband had decided years earlier that they would not live without one another. She had no health problems, but after her husband died, she described her life as “a living hell.â€
Five states in this country have laws allowing doctors to prescribe life-ending drugs to mentally competent, terminally ill adults: Oregon, Vermont, Montana, Washington, and California. The California law is expected to take effect later this year. By contrast, laws in several European countries allow such assistance for any competent person with “unbearable suffering†– regardless of the cause of that suffering.
Last year, a team of doctors in Belgium, where laws are similar to those in the Netherlands, reported that most people who sought doctor-assisted death for psychiatric problems had depression, personality disorders or both. The new study of the Netherlands fills out that picture considerably, detailing the agonizing decisions by both doctors and patients in cases that went forward, ending in voluntary death.
The researchers, who included Dr. John Peteet of Harvard Medical School and Raymond De Vries of the University of Michigan and Maastricht University in the Netherlands, found that 46 of the patients had been women, most 60 or older.
The depression was often mixed with other problems, like substance abuse, mild dementia or physical pain. More than half had received a diagnosis of a personality disorder, like avoidant or dependent personality, which are typically bound up with relationship problems. The group also included people with diagnoses of eating disorders and autism spectrum conditions. Many reported being intensely lonely.
“The Dutch system is really the idealized setting in which to try something like this,†said Dr. Kim, in an interview. “But still, you can see that there are many cases that make us question whether this is the right practice.â€
In the Dutch system, consulting doctors review petititions for assistance in dying. In one quarter of the cases, the study found, the doctors disagreed.
Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, which advocates for compassionate end of life care, said the debate over people with psychiatric conditions was not relevant to laws in this country, which have been modeled on Oregon’s 1997 Death With Dignity Act.
“I have seen no parallel movement or discussion at any level in this country,†Ms. Coombs Lee said. “I don’t know of anyone ever proposing this here, or of any poll supporting anything but self-administration by mentally competent, terminally ill adults.â€
