House passes bill to limit cost of insulin to $35 a month
A bill to limit the cost of insulin to $35 a month for most Americans who depend on it passed the House Thursday, raising Democrats’ hopes that the party could take at least one step toward fulfilling its promise of lowering drug costs. The bill attracted unanimous support from Democrats who voted, as well as from 12 Republicans, making it a rare piece of bipartisan policy legislation. To become law, it will need at least 10 Republican votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster. Some lawmakers have expressed optimism that such a coalition might be possible, but few Republican senators have publicly endorsed the bill.
Many teens report emotional and physical abuse by parents during lockdown
New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on adolescents’ mental health during the coronavirus pandemic suggests that for many teenagers who were ordered to stay at home, home was not always a safe place. A nationwide survey of 7,705 high school students conducted in the first half of 2021 built on earlier findings of high levels of emotional distress. It also found high rates of reported abuse, with 55.1% of teenage respondents saying they suffered emotional abuse from a parent or another adult in their house in the preceding year, and 11.3% saying they suffered physical abuse.
Judge rules parts of Florida voting law are unconstitutional
A federal judge in Florida ruled Thursday that sections of the state’s year-old election law were unconstitutional and racially motivated, and barred the state from making similar changes to its laws in the next decade without approval of the federal government. The order, issued by Judge Mark Walker of U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, targets portions of the law that limited the use of drop boxes, placed strict rules on voter-registration organizations and forbade some kinds of assistance to Floridians waiting to vote. Walker’s decision is certain to be appealed and likely to be overturned by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta or the Supreme Court.
Arizona passes proof-of-citizenship law for voting in presidential elections
Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona has signed legislation requiring voters to prove their citizenship in order to vote in a presidential election, drawing a legal challenge from voting rights activists who argued that it could keep tens of thousands of voters from voting. The measure, passed Wednesday, also requires newly registered voters to provide proof of address, which could have a disproportionate effect on students, older voters who no longer drive, low-income voters and Native Americans. Legal experts said the rules might run afoul of federal law and recent Supreme Court decisions. On Wednesday, Mi Familia Vota, a voting rights group, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law.
State Dept. will allow Americans to mark their gender as ‘X’ on passports
The Biden administration on Thursday announced several measures intended to make federal forms of identification, applications for federal programs and travel documents more inclusive for Americans who identify as transgender or nonbinary, or who otherwise do not conform to traditional gender roles. One long-awaited change will give Americans the option of indicating their gender with an “X” on passports starting April 11. The plan was announced last summer, shortly after the State Department rescinded a rule requiring a certificate from a doctor stating that an applicant had transitioned or was in the process of transitioning in order to change their gender on their passport.
North Korean ICBM launch may have been fake
When North Korea conducted its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile test to date last week, it said it launched the Hwasong-17, its newest and biggest ICBM. South Korea now says it may have been a ruse. In a report to the National Assembly on Tuesday, the South Korean Defense Ministry endorsed what some analysts had already suspected: North Korea actually fired its older Hwasong-15 ICBM — which was tested in 2017 — and exaggerated North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s weapons achievements by falsely claiming a successful Hwasong-17 launch.
Shanghai says it was not ‘sufficiently prepared’ for virus
A top Shanghai official on Thursday acknowledged shortcomings in the local government’s handling of a surge of coronavirus cases, a rare admission of mistakes in China’s economic and financial powerhouse. Officials in the metropolitan area of 26 million have imposed tough restrictions that have rattled many, first locking down individual neighborhoods before reversing course and imposing a staggered lockdown across the city that they said would allow them to conduct mass testing. In response, multiple banks and investment companies in the country’s financial hub are keeping traders and fund managers at their offices to keep business going.
By wire sources
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