Comment on Improv, the morning after

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Wednesday the United States’ first “severe” human case of H5N1 avian influenza—or bird flu, a zoonotic infection which has stoked fears of becoming the next global pandemic. The severe case involves a resident of southwestern Louisiana who was reported as presumptively positive for infection last Friday.

AVIGNON, France — A court in France on Thursday sentenced the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot to a maximum 20 years of imprisonment for drugging and raping her and allowing other men to rape her while she was knocked out, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade. The sentence against Dominique Pelicot was declared after he was found guilty of all charges against him.

NEW YORK — Sure, it’s a family story they can chuckle about NOW. But Lisa Highfill wasn’t laughing that December day almost 20 years ago. She had just parked the car in the garage when her then-8-year-old son let loose with something he had found out while at school. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “My son looks at me, he goes, ‘There’s no Santa.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping.

President Joe Biden endorsed a ban on congressional stock trading in an interview released this week, belatedly weighing in on an issue that has been debated on Capitol Hill for years. Better late than never -- millionaire Congress members have fueled the cynicism of voters for decades. Via the AP: “Nobody in the Congress should be able to make money in the stock market while they’re in the Congress,” Biden said. [] It’s unclear what impact Biden’s statement could have, coming only a month before his term ends. The Democratic president spoke to Shakir about his economic legacy, which includes supporting unions, investing in clean energy projects and signing infrastructure.

Monica S. Aswani, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Paul Shafer, Boston University The U. S. has made great progress in getting more people insured since the Affordable Care Act took effect in 2014. The share of uninsured Americans ages 18 to 64 fell from 18% before the ACA to 9.5% in 2022.