BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona lost at home for the first time this season when the Liga leader was stunned by Las Palmas 2-1 on Saturday. Sandro Ramirez and Fábio Silva scored for the Canary Islands club on either side of Raphinha’s equalizer to give Las Palmas its first win at Barcelona in more than 50 years. Barcelona played superbly in the first three months under new coach Hansi Flick and was flying high after convincing victories over Real Madrid in the domestic competition and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. It had won all eight of its home games. But it has gone three rounds of La Liga without a win. Before Las Palmas, it fell at Real Sociedad 1-0 and drew at Celta Vigo 2-2 after squandering a two-goal lead in the final minutes. The dropped points mean Madrid, despite its own troubles , especially in the Champions League, can move ahead of Barcelona in La Liga. It trails Barcelona by four points with two games in hand. “I don’t care about scoring, I care about winning,” Raphinha said after his standout performance was unable to end Barcelona's slump. “We have to take a hard look at what we are doing wrong. We have slipped in our form and are letting games get away form us. We have our next game on Tuesday (at Mallorca), and we need to turn this around so we can win the league.” Atletico Madrid was only two points behind Barcelona in second place — and with the same number of games played — after Antoine Griezmann scored a gem of a goal in a 5-0 demolition of last-placed Valladolid. Las Palmas savored its first victory at Barcelona since the 1971-72 season and just its third victory at the Catalan club overall. The other visits by the modest side that wears all yellow uniforms to Barcelona have ended in 34 defeats and three draws. “We are thrilled because we have made history,” Sandro said. “When you start the season you think that these games are usually going to end in wins for the bigger side, but if there is one thing we believe in is our capacity to work hard all week to get results like this.” Barcelona's Lamine Yamal returned from a right ankle injury that sidelined him for three weeks. Yamal appeared as a halftime substitute and Jasper Cillessen saved his best shot. The Las Palmas goalkeeper also palmed a Raphinha free kick over his bar in the final minutes. Sandro, a former Barcelona youth player, capped a fine five-pass buildup by Las Palmas from its own box as it masterfully undid Barcelona’s high pressure in the 49th minute. Raphinha had already hit the crossbar in the first half before he equalized in the 61st. The Brazil forward took a short pass from Pedri just outside the area, skirted across the edge and drilled a shot between two defenders. But Barcelona was caught pushing forward for a second goal when Silva controlled a ball from Javi Muñoz and sent in a shot bouncing past Iñaki Peña in the 67th. The unexpected loss dampened Barcelona’s celebration of its 125th anniversary, which included the debut of its new mascot “Cat,” a large, yellow feline wearing its team kit. Barcelona lost left back Alejandro Balde early in the game when he couldn’t continue after he crashed into Sandro at full speed. Balde appeared to hurt his upper chest or neck area when he ran into Sandro’s shoulder. He was carried off on a stretcher and replaced by Gerard Martín. Griezmann scored one of the goals of the season when the forward exchanged a quick one-two with Julián Alvarez and used a sleek touch of the inside of his boot to roll the ball with him as he spun before dinking it over the Valladolid goalkeeper. That was the visitor's fourth goal. Shortly after, Valladolid fans stood up and applauded when Griezmann was substituted. “That is what every players wants, to make people enjoy what we do. So I appreciate their warmth,” Griezmann said. Atletico also got goals from Alvarez, Clement Lenglet, Rodrigo de Paul, and Alexander Sorloth. Espanyol beat Celta 3-1 to end a streak of four losses in the league and relieve pressure on coach Manolo González. Alaves also drew with Leganes 1-1 at home. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
When Susannah Morgan learned that an operation to remove a benign tumour in her neck could leave her with a crooked smile she was "frantic". The 45-year-old was advised to have it removed in case it turned cancerous but she was warned the surgery would also leave her with a dent in her neck and possible paralysis. Desperate to avoid being permanently disfigured, she researched alternatives and discovered a new technique using a hologram which could save her smile. Last month the mother-of-one, from Edinburgh, became the first person to undergo the pioneering operation in Scotland. She was initially told that, to remove the pleomorphic adenoma, surgeons would have to cut out her largest salivary gland, which contains the facial nerve. But the new hologram technique allows surgeons to pinpoint the exact location of the facial nerve, leaving less chance of it being severed. It also allows surgeons to open up the salivary gland, rather than remove it. Susannah paid to have a hi-tech MRI scan in London, which produced a hologram. It was then used by Iain Nixon, the surgeon who performed the operation, in Livingston, West Lothian, last month. "Iain has saved my smile, I'm so thankful to him" Susannah told BBC Scotland News. "I feel on top of the world, I'm on a high and it's giving me a real buzz." When she woke from surgery, Susannah's smile was crooked - but medics explained this was temporary because the facial nerve had to be moved to get to the tumour. "I cried when I saw my squint smile straight after the surgery so to think it could have been permanent if Iain hadn't used this pioneering technique doesn't bear thinking about," she said. "He had to lift the facial nerve, which is like a fine bit of spaghetti, to get to the tumour and because he had to man-handle it they say it gets bruised so that weakens it temporarily." She said if it had been cut by accident during the operation then she would have had permanent paralysis in her face. The new hologram technique made it less likely for the surgeon to have an accident. Susannah first went to the doctor at the end of November 2022 after finding a lump under her ear. However the training doctor thought it was just a salivary stone and she was told to eat sour sweets to get the salivary juices going. "It's such a rare thing I've got that a lot of GPs don't know about it and I had bloods taken and they were all fine so it was just dismissed. "I didn't think too much of it because I just thought it was a bit swollen and didn't think it was a tumour." But then it started growing and she could see it bulging out of her neck until it reached 3.5cm (1in) so she returned to the doctor a year later. "I was really shocked when I was told it was a tumour. I was relived to hear it was benign but he told me if I don't get it out it could turn cancerous." "Some people chose not to have surgery because it's really scary to have surgery on your facial nerve because there is a lot of risk to it." Mr Nixon, Susannah's surgeon, said people have six major saliva glands and Susannah's tumour was on the largest one under the ear. "This is pioneering technology and is allowing a more minimally invasive approach to tumour surgery which can be quite disfiguring and this heralds the possibility of surgery with a lower side effect profile as a result. "With a traditional operation you lift up the skin and you've got to be careful so that you don't damage the nerve because you know it must be close. "But if you know where it is before you start you can be much more confident and more targeted. "That is the advantage of this pioneering technology and it makes it even safer." He added that the operation had saved her smile and stopped her having a dent in her neck. "It is very exciting and I think this will become standard procedure in the future."
Ohio State, Michigan players involved in postgame scuffleThe Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka (SEC), in association with the stockbroker industry, will host the ‘Invest Sri Lanka’ Capital Market Investor Forum on 27 and 28 March 2025 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo. It is aimed at promoting investment in the Sri Lankan capital market among institutional investors and fund managers based both locally and internationally. This flagship forum will bring together key stakeholders from Sri Lanka’s capital market ecosystem to showcase the country’s investment potential. It will highlight Sri Lanka as an attractive investment destination, especially in light of recent economic reforms and the latest upgrade from Fitch Ratings, which has raised Sri Lanka’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) from Restricted Default (RD) to CCC+. This upgrade reflects the country’s significant progress in stabilising its economy and signals that the risk of imminent default has eased, fostering growing confidence in Sri Lanka’s financial recovery. It is a crucial milestone in the country’s efforts to rebuild credibility and regain investor trust, playing an essential role in attracting both domestic and international investors, particularly through debt restructuring efforts, fiscal reforms, and securing international support, such as the ongoing IMF program. This improvement is expected to provide an important boost to investor sentiment, as it demonstrates Sri Lanka’s commitment to addressing its economic challenges and taking necessary steps to ensure long-term fiscal stability. The ‘Invest Sri Lanka’ Capital Market Investor Forum 2025 will feature leaders in Government, financial, and capital market sectors, including regulators, market intermediaries, and listed companies, to make a collective case for Sri Lanka as an attractive investment destination. The forum will provide networking opportunities, fostering meaningful connections and promoting synergies that highlight the investment potential within Sri Lanka’s dynamic capital market. Pre-scheduled one-on-one discussions between international fund managers and Sri Lankan companies will facilitate further investment partnerships. The Capital Market Investor Forum 2025 comes at a time of continued positive growth for Sri Lanka’s stock market, offering an attractive environment for investors through the country’s economic reforms and financial market liberalisation. This forum will build on previous initiatives aimed at driving foreign investment and positioning Sri Lanka as a leading frontier market in Asia.Clippers vs. Pelicans Prediction & Picks: Line, Spread, Over/Under – December 30
Canada drafts border security plan after Trump threatens steep tariffsItanagar: Criticising the frequent disruptions of proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar Saturday said the mother of democracy cannot afford to have this "kind of spectacle". Dhankhar, who is also the chairman of the upper house, was addressing a special session of the Arunachal Pradesh assembly . He said, "We cannot afford this kind of spectacle in a country that is the mother of democracy. How can we go against the spirit of the Constitution?" "I am happy to know your assembly is otherwise. It's a shining example of a beacon of hope," he said. Dhankhar said political parties have to understand that ultimately the interest of all converges in the prosperity of a nation. "We cannot, under any situation, keep any interest above our national interest," he said. On the development front, Dhankhar said the NE has captured the imagination of the country with the govt formulating the Look East Policy . Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt Gen KT Parnaik (retd) thanked Dhankhar for participating in the special session. He said Dhankharembodies the highest ideals of our democracy.OnePlus Open 2 Might Debut During THIS Time Next Year With Snapdragon 8 Elite Chipset
Trump taps Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, as envoy to France
B.C. Premier David Eby said he supports the proposed “all-of-Canada approach” to respond to president-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs threat. Trump has said both Canada and Mexico need to address illegal migration and fentanyl trafficking into the U.S. or face tariffs on all American imports. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a second virtual First Ministers’ Meeting on the Canada-U.S. relationship. In the past, Eby has had some strong words about the proposed tariffs and the impact they could have in British Columbia. That did not change following the meeting on Wednesday. “President-elect Trump’s unjustified threat of tariffs on Canadian goods would be a disaster for workers and businesses on both sides of the border, and we support the proposed all-of-Canada approach to respond to this threat,” Eby said in a statement. “At (Wednesday’s) national meeting, I brought forward the issues and the solutions I have been hearing from people and businesses in British Columbia. We will keep doing our part in B.C. to bring together business and labour leaders to safeguard local industries against Trump’s tariffs, and keep good jobs right here in B.C.” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said after the meeting that the federal government has agreed to his “specific asks” to add police resources to the border and have Health Canada share data on where fentanyl found in Canada is originating from. “They have a plan, but it’s one thing to have a plan. Now we have to implement it,” he told reporters at Queen’s Park. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who also co-chairs the revived cabinet committee on U.S. relations with LeBlanc, told reporters several premiers spoke “strongly in favour of a robust Canadian response to unjustified tariffs” if Trump follows through on his threat in January.PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Corey McKeithan scored 28 points as La Salle beat Temple 83-75 on Saturday night. McKeithan shot 10 of 19 from the field, including 3 for 6 from 3-point range, and went 5 for 5 from the line for the Explorers (6-2). Demetrius Lilley added 13 points while shooting 5 for 12, including 2 for 4 from beyond the arc while he also had six rebounds. Jahlil White shot 3 of 13 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line to finish with 11 points, while adding 12 rebounds. Quante Berry led the Owls (4-3) in scoring, finishing with 18 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks. Temple also got 15 points from Jamal Mashburn Jr.. William Settle had 13 points and seven rebounds. La Salle took the lead with 14:45 to go in the first half and did not relinquish it. The score was 42-33 at halftime, with McKeithan racking up 16 points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
Minutes after the University of North Carolina announced it had hired Bill Belichick as its next head football coach, the Tar Heels’ Instagram account posted a photo of the legendary NFL coach — at no more than 3 years old — sitting in the UNC bleachers. “Welcome home, Coach,” the post reads , dredging up the memory of when the young Belichick shadowed his father, Steve, who was a UNC assistant from 1953 to 1955. As news of his hiring spread around the NFL world, the reaction ranged from excitement at seeing him back on the sideline to disbelief. The most decorated coach in NFL history after earning six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, and two more as the defensive coordinator with the New York Giants, Belichick is officially making his next challenge college football after agreeing to a five-year deal with UNC. “I will have to see him on the sideline to believe that’s happening,” Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury joked Thursday. “We’ll see how the NFL job search goes and all that. I will have to see him on the sideline coaching in Chapel Hill to believe that’s happening." While Belichick’s knowledge of the sport, and his success, are unquestioned, there has been debate among those who have played for the 72-year-old coach during his 40-plus years in football about how well his style will translate to the college game. Some of his former players believe his skill set will work at any level. That list apparently includes Tom Brady, the quarterback during all six of Belichick’s Super Bowl wins with New England. “Congrats, coach. The Tar Heel way is about to become a thing,” Brady posted on Instagram on Thursday, referencing “The Patriot Way” that he popularized in New England. Some cautioned that the players he brings into the UNC program should prepare to have their limits tested like never before. “I think he’s going to do good,” said Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne, who played under Belichick during his final three years in New England. “Bill does a good job of developing players, developing young men. I think it will be a challenge for the young man. He’s a tough coach, which we all know. But I think it will be good for certain players that have the right mindset.” Bourne's advice? Always stay locked in mentally. “Just stay tough,” Bourne said. “Have a gritty mindset because it’s not going to be easy, but in the end, it’s going to be worth it." Though some have questioned why the Tar Heels would even consider hiring Belichick after parting ways with 73-year-old Mack Brown this season, current Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said good coaching is ageless. “To me, it doesn’t matter if you’re a young man or a 10-year vet in the league, he’s a great teacher,” said Mayo, who played eight seasons under Belichick, winning a Super Bowl during the 2014 season, and then succeeded him as head coach after last season. "I wish him nothing but the best. It doesn’t really matter what level, I think he’ll be successful.” NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders is a relative newcomer to the college game himself. He spent three seasons at Jackson State before going to Colorado in 2023. In a message posted to the X social media platform, he welcomed Belichick as a competitor. “Coach Bill Belichick is a coaches coach to all us Coaches along with my man coach (NIck) Saban,” Sanders posted. “They’re game changers and they know how to move people forward. I know this is a great thing for College Football & for North Carolina. God bless u Coach, if you’re happy I am 2.” But former Patriots defensive back Je’Rod Cherry wonders how well Belichick’s old-school coaching style will be received in an era in which in-your-face methods don't always fly as well as they did when Belichick began his career. “You can’t coach hard anymore,” Cherry said during an appearance on ESPN GameNight. “You can’t yell at guys, curse at guys and that’s what he does. You are going to have to find guys who are going to accept that brand of coaching and will accept someone constantly getting on them." New York Jets safety Jalen Mills, who played for Belichick with the Patriots from 2021 to 2023, said he was surprised by the news. “I thought he definitely was going to try to wait it out until after the season and come back to the NFL,” Mills said. "But I think it’s gonna be a good thing for him because now you get a guy who has won and, of course, he’s going to try to turn that program around. But he also gets to connect with the younger generation and kind of modify and adjust to this younger generation of football on top of what he already knows. So I think that’ll just help him as far as coaching. And then, of course, he’ll give those guys, those young guys, structure as far as what the NFL looks like, too.” Just how much the Belichick on the college sidelines will resemble the one in the cutoff hooded sweatshirt who patrolled NFL sidelines is unclear. Belichick hinted they will be one and the same. During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN prior to agreeing to the UNC job, Belichick laid out what his approach at the college level would be. “The program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players than have the ability to play in the NFL,” Belichick said. “It would be a professional program — training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques — that would transfer to the NFL. It would be an NFL program at a college level.” ___ AP National Writer Howard Fendrich and Pro Football Writer Dennis Waszak contributed to this report. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Judith Graham | (TNS) KFF Health News Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern. “What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program. “I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the bathroom or the door, I get really winded. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last breath.” Dickens, a lung cancer survivor, lives in central Harlem, barely getting by. She has serious lung disease and high blood pressure and suffers regular fainting spells. In the past year, she’s fallen several times and dropped to 85 pounds, a dangerously low weight. And she lives alone, without any help — a highly perilous situation. This is almost surely an undercount, since the data is from more than a dozen years ago. It’s a population whose numbers far exceed those living in nursing homes — about 1.2 million — and yet it receives much less attention from policymakers, legislators, and academics who study aging. Consider some eye-opening statistics about completely homebound seniors from a study published in 2020 in JAMA Internal Medicine : Nearly 40% have five or more chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Almost 30% are believed to have “probable dementia.” Seventy-seven percent have difficulty with at least one daily task such as bathing or dressing. Almost 40% live by themselves. That “on my own” status magnifies these individuals’ already considerable vulnerability, something that became acutely obvious during the covid-19 outbreak, when the number of sick and disabled seniors confined to their homes doubled. “People who are homebound, like other individuals who are seriously ill, rely on other people for so much,” said Katherine Ornstein, director of the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “If they don’t have someone there with them, they’re at risk of not having food, not having access to health care, not living in a safe environment.” Related Articles Health | Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy are all the rage. Are they safe for kids? Health | Rural governments often fail to communicate with residents who aren’t proficient in English Health | Some breast cancer patients can avoid certain surgeries, studies suggest Health | Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid Health | Baseball Sports Performance: Run Fast, Throw Hard, and Hit Far with Combination Training Research has shown that older homebound adults are less likely to receive regular primary care than other seniors. They’re also more likely to end up in the hospital with medical crises that might have been prevented if someone had been checking on them. To better understand the experiences of these seniors, I accompanied Gliatto on some home visits in New York City. Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program, established in 1995, is one of the oldest in the nation. Only 12% of older U.S. adults who rarely or never leave home have access to this kind of home-based primary care. Gliatto and his staff — seven part-time doctors, three nurse practitioners, two nurses, two social workers, and three administrative staffers — serve about 1,000 patients in Manhattan each year. These patients have complicated needs and require high levels of assistance. In recent years, Gliatto has had to cut staff as Mount Sinai has reduced its financial contribution to the program. It doesn’t turn a profit, because reimbursement for services is low and expenses are high. First, Gliatto stopped in to see Sandra Pettway, 79, who never married or had children and has lived by herself in a two-bedroom Harlem apartment for 30 years. Pettway has severe spinal problems and back pain, as well as Type 2 diabetes and depression. She has difficulty moving around and rarely leaves her apartment. “Since the pandemic, it’s been awfully lonely,” she told me. When I asked who checks in on her, Pettway mentioned her next-door neighbor. There’s no one else she sees regularly. Pettway told the doctor she was increasingly apprehensive about an upcoming spinal surgery. He reassured her that Medicare would cover in-home nursing care, aides, and physical therapy services. “Someone will be with you, at least for six weeks,” he said. Left unsaid: Afterward, she would be on her own. (The surgery in April went well, Gliatto reported later.) The doctor listened carefully as Pettway talked about her memory lapses. “I can remember when I was a year old, but I can’t remember 10 minutes ago,” she said. He told her that he thought she was managing well but that he would arrange testing if there was further evidence of cognitive decline. For now, he said, he’s not particularly worried about her ability to manage on her own. Several blocks away, Gliatto visited Dickens, who has lived in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment for 31 years. Dickens told me she hasn’t seen other people regularly since her sister, who used to help her out, had a stroke. Most of the neighbors she knew well have died. Her only other close relative is a niece in the Bronx whom she sees about once a month. Dickens worked with special-education students for decades in New York City’s public schools. Now she lives on a small pension and Social Security — too much to qualify for Medicaid. (Medicaid, the program for low-income people, will pay for aides in the home. Medicare, which covers people over age 65, does not.) Like Pettway, she has only a small fixed income, so she can’t afford in-home help. Every Friday, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that prepares medically tailored meals for sick people, delivers a week’s worth of frozen breakfasts and dinners that Dickens reheats in the microwave. She almost never goes out. When she has energy, she tries to do a bit of cleaning. Without the ongoing attention from Gliatto, Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she said. “And I have the fear of falling.” The next day, Gliatto visited Marianne Gluck Morrison, 73, a former survey researcher for New York City’s personnel department, in her cluttered Greenwich Village apartment. Morrison, who doesn’t have any siblings or children, was widowed in 2010 and has lived alone since. Morrison said she’d been feeling dizzy over the past few weeks, and Gliatto gave her a basic neurological exam, asking her to follow his fingers with her eyes and touch her fingers to her nose. “I think your problem is with your ear, not your brain,” he told her, describing symptoms of vertigo. Because she had severe wounds on her feet related to Type 2 diabetes, Morrison had been getting home health care for several weeks through Medicare. But those services — help from aides, nurses, and physical therapists — were due to expire in two weeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do then, probably just spend a lot of time in bed,” Morrison told me. Among her other medical conditions: congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, an irregular heartbeat, chronic kidney disease, and depression. Morrison hasn’t left her apartment since November 2023, when she returned home after a hospitalization and several months at a rehabilitation center. Climbing the three steps that lead up into her apartment building is simply too hard. “It’s hard to be by myself so much of the time. It’s lonely,” she told me. “I would love to have people see me in the house. But at this point, because of the clutter, I can’t do it.” When I asked Morrison who she feels she can count on, she listed Gliatto and a mental health therapist from Henry Street Settlement, a social services organization. She has one close friend she speaks with on the phone most nights. “The problem is I’ve lost eight to nine friends in the last 15 years,” she said, sighing heavily. “They’ve died or moved away.” Bruce Leff, director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading advocate of home-based medical care. “It’s kind of amazing how people find ways to get by,” he said when I asked him about homebound older adults who live alone. “There’s a significant degree of frailty and vulnerability, but there is also substantial resilience.” With the rapid expansion of the aging population in the years ahead, Leff is convinced that more kinds of care will move into the home, everything from rehab services to palliative care to hospital-level services. “It will simply be impossible to build enough hospitals and health facilities to meet the demand from an aging population,” he said. But that will be challenging for homebound older adults who are on their own. Without on-site family caregivers, there may be no one around to help manage this home-based care. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Judith Graham | (TNS) KFF Health News Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern. “What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program. “I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the bathroom or the door, I get really winded. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last breath.” Dickens, a lung cancer survivor, lives in central Harlem, barely getting by. She has serious lung disease and high blood pressure and suffers regular fainting spells. In the past year, she’s fallen several times and dropped to 85 pounds, a dangerously low weight. And she lives alone, without any help — a highly perilous situation. This is almost surely an undercount, since the data is from more than a dozen years ago. It’s a population whose numbers far exceed those living in nursing homes — about 1.2 million — and yet it receives much less attention from policymakers, legislators, and academics who study aging. Consider some eye-opening statistics about completely homebound seniors from a study published in 2020 in JAMA Internal Medicine : Nearly 40% have five or more chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Almost 30% are believed to have “probable dementia.” Seventy-seven percent have difficulty with at least one daily task such as bathing or dressing. Almost 40% live by themselves. That “on my own” status magnifies these individuals’ already considerable vulnerability, something that became acutely obvious during the covid-19 outbreak, when the number of sick and disabled seniors confined to their homes doubled. “People who are homebound, like other individuals who are seriously ill, rely on other people for so much,” said Katherine Ornstein, director of the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “If they don’t have someone there with them, they’re at risk of not having food, not having access to health care, not living in a safe environment.” Related Articles Health | Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy are all the rage. Are they safe for kids? Health | Rural governments often fail to communicate with residents who aren’t proficient in English Health | Some breast cancer patients can avoid certain surgeries, studies suggest Health | Weld Trust awards more than $3.6 million in final grant cycle of 2024 Health | Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid Research has shown that older homebound adults are less likely to receive regular primary care than other seniors. They’re also more likely to end up in the hospital with medical crises that might have been prevented if someone had been checking on them. To better understand the experiences of these seniors, I accompanied Gliatto on some home visits in New York City. Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program, established in 1995, is one of the oldest in the nation. Only 12% of older U.S. adults who rarely or never leave home have access to this kind of home-based primary care. Gliatto and his staff — seven part-time doctors, three nurse practitioners, two nurses, two social workers, and three administrative staffers — serve about 1,000 patients in Manhattan each year. These patients have complicated needs and require high levels of assistance. In recent years, Gliatto has had to cut staff as Mount Sinai has reduced its financial contribution to the program. It doesn’t turn a profit, because reimbursement for services is low and expenses are high. First, Gliatto stopped in to see Sandra Pettway, 79, who never married or had children and has lived by herself in a two-bedroom Harlem apartment for 30 years. Pettway has severe spinal problems and back pain, as well as Type 2 diabetes and depression. She has difficulty moving around and rarely leaves her apartment. “Since the pandemic, it’s been awfully lonely,” she told me. When I asked who checks in on her, Pettway mentioned her next-door neighbor. There’s no one else she sees regularly. Pettway told the doctor she was increasingly apprehensive about an upcoming spinal surgery. He reassured her that Medicare would cover in-home nursing care, aides, and physical therapy services. “Someone will be with you, at least for six weeks,” he said. Left unsaid: Afterward, she would be on her own. (The surgery in April went well, Gliatto reported later.) The doctor listened carefully as Pettway talked about her memory lapses. “I can remember when I was a year old, but I can’t remember 10 minutes ago,” she said. He told her that he thought she was managing well but that he would arrange testing if there was further evidence of cognitive decline. For now, he said, he’s not particularly worried about her ability to manage on her own. Several blocks away, Gliatto visited Dickens, who has lived in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment for 31 years. Dickens told me she hasn’t seen other people regularly since her sister, who used to help her out, had a stroke. Most of the neighbors she knew well have died. Her only other close relative is a niece in the Bronx whom she sees about once a month. Dickens worked with special-education students for decades in New York City’s public schools. Now she lives on a small pension and Social Security — too much to qualify for Medicaid. (Medicaid, the program for low-income people, will pay for aides in the home. Medicare, which covers people over age 65, does not.) Like Pettway, she has only a small fixed income, so she can’t afford in-home help. Every Friday, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that prepares medically tailored meals for sick people, delivers a week’s worth of frozen breakfasts and dinners that Dickens reheats in the microwave. She almost never goes out. When she has energy, she tries to do a bit of cleaning. Without the ongoing attention from Gliatto, Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she said. “And I have the fear of falling.” The next day, Gliatto visited Marianne Gluck Morrison, 73, a former survey researcher for New York City’s personnel department, in her cluttered Greenwich Village apartment. Morrison, who doesn’t have any siblings or children, was widowed in 2010 and has lived alone since. Morrison said she’d been feeling dizzy over the past few weeks, and Gliatto gave her a basic neurological exam, asking her to follow his fingers with her eyes and touch her fingers to her nose. “I think your problem is with your ear, not your brain,” he told her, describing symptoms of vertigo. Because she had severe wounds on her feet related to Type 2 diabetes, Morrison had been getting home health care for several weeks through Medicare. But those services — help from aides, nurses, and physical therapists — were due to expire in two weeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do then, probably just spend a lot of time in bed,” Morrison told me. Among her other medical conditions: congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, an irregular heartbeat, chronic kidney disease, and depression. Morrison hasn’t left her apartment since November 2023, when she returned home after a hospitalization and several months at a rehabilitation center. Climbing the three steps that lead up into her apartment building is simply too hard. “It’s hard to be by myself so much of the time. It’s lonely,” she told me. “I would love to have people see me in the house. But at this point, because of the clutter, I can’t do it.” When I asked Morrison who she feels she can count on, she listed Gliatto and a mental health therapist from Henry Street Settlement, a social services organization. She has one close friend she speaks with on the phone most nights. “The problem is I’ve lost eight to nine friends in the last 15 years,” she said, sighing heavily. “They’ve died or moved away.” Bruce Leff, director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading advocate of home-based medical care. “It’s kind of amazing how people find ways to get by,” he said when I asked him about homebound older adults who live alone. “There’s a significant degree of frailty and vulnerability, but there is also substantial resilience.” With the rapid expansion of the aging population in the years ahead, Leff is convinced that more kinds of care will move into the home, everything from rehab services to palliative care to hospital-level services. “It will simply be impossible to build enough hospitals and health facilities to meet the demand from an aging population,” he said. But that will be challenging for homebound older adults who are on their own. Without on-site family caregivers, there may be no one around to help manage this home-based care. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — Marcus Adams Jr. had 21 points in CSU Northridge's 72-69 overtime win against Montana State on Saturday night. Patrick McMahon split a pair of free throws to pull Montana State to 70-69 with 18 seconds left in overtime. Jordan Brinson made two free throws on the ensuing possession for the Matadors before Brian Goracke missed a 3-point attempt for the Bobcats to end it. McMahon also split a pair of free throws with two seconds left in regulation to tie it 64-all. Scotty Washington missed a 3 for the Matadors to force overtime. Adams also grabbed seven rebounds for the Matadors (6-2). Keonte Jones added 11 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and four blocks. Washington finished with nine points. Agbonkpolo led the Bobcats (3-5) with 21 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Tyler Patterson added 12 points for Montana State. Brandon Walker also had 11 points and five assists. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Jimmy Carter: A brief bioJimmy Carter: A brief bio
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WASHINGTON: Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk’s net worth has surpassed $400 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, setting a new milestone Wednesday for the world’s richest person. The jump in wealth, the business news outlet reported, came after SpaceX and its investors agreed to purchase as much as $1.25 billion of insider shares in a transaction that valued the rocket and satellite company at about $350 billion. The transaction increased Musk’s personal wealth by about $50 billion to $440 billion, Bloomberg said. Musk’s wealth, largely based on the share price of Tesla and the valuation of SpaceX, already took a huge leap after Donald Trump won last month’s US presidential election. Tesla’s share price is up by about 65 percent since the vote in November. “What’s really crazy about this is that almost no investors wanted to sell shares even at a $350B valuation!” Musk wrote in a reply to a post on X referring to the Bloomberg report. He added that SpaceX has reduced the number of shares it bought back from employees in order to bring in some new investors. Musk has been a prominent political donor and advocate for Trump, pumping a staggering $270 million into the Republican’s campaign. He has been an ever-present sidekick for Trump since his election victory, inviting him to watch a rocket launch in Texas by his SpaceX company. Musk’s businesses all have varying degrees of interactions with US and foreign governments, and his proximity to Trump has raised concerns that Musk will be able to give advantage to his own interests. Musk is also expected to secure a reduction in regulations for Tesla as well as elimination of tax credits on electric vehicles that will punish the car-maker’s rivals. Trump has selected Musk to co-head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is set to deliver billions of dollars of cuts in federal spending and slash government red tape. Besides Tesla, Musk also heads brain technology startup Neuralink. Both SpaceX and Neuralink rely heavily on government regulation and policy and could benefit from a business-friendly administration. Musk also owns social media site X and tunnel builder The Boring Company. Musk is followed on the billionaires list by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos – with a net worth of $243.7 billion, while Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is in the third spot with a net worth of $223.4 billion. — Agencies