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‘The person becomes a commodity’: Funeral directors seek law to regulate ‘body brokers’

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

The death of a loved one can spark a torrent of emotions, amid shock and sadness — and often a flurry of money-making activities by “body brokers.”The National Funeral Directors Association is lobbying to have Congress establish a law that would regulate the activities of people or companies that target those who may want to donate their loved one’s body to science, or may not be able to afford the expense of a funeral.Jon Milton, director of Laurel Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and other funeral directors said demand for human cadavers for use in medical research is higher than the number of families who would reach out to have their loved one’s remains be donated for medical research.“Body brokers market themselves as working on behalf of research facilities,” said Milton. “They’re the ones who are approaching the families, either through hospice, or funeral homes, or in the hospital, to have f...

Wawrinka beats Ivashka after rain delay at Italian Open

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

ROME (AP) — Stan Wawrinka wasted little time securing a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ilya Ivashka in the first round of the Italian Open on Wednesday after the start was delayed for 90 minutes due to rain.At age 38, Wawrinka is the oldest man in the tournament but he dominated Ivashka by hitting more than twice as many winners as his opponent, including one on his first match point to close it out in little more than an hour.“This year I am playing much better, but I need to win more matches. That is what I am missing a bit, the confidence to win more matches,” said Wawrinka, who had two surgeries on his left foot in 2021 and two operations on his left knee in 2017. “But in general the level is great.”Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, next faces 26th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, with the winner potentially meeting top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the third round.“My dream is to win another trophy, another tournament,” Wawrinka said. “Of course I’m getting older, it’s getting more ...

Doctor Reddy’s: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (RDY) on Wednesday reported net income of $117 million in its fiscal fourth quarter.On a per-share basis, the Hyderabad, India-based company said it had profit of 70 cents.The pharmaceutical posted revenue of $766 million in the period.For the year, the company reported profit of $548 million, or $3.30 per share. Revenue was reported as $2.99 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on RDY at https://www.zacks.com/ap/RDYSource

Coach K to the NBA: Mike Krzyzewski joins league as special adviser

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

Mike Krzyzewski is coming out of retirement and heading to the NBA — as an adviser, not a coach.The league said Wednesday that Krzyzewski, the Hall of Famer and all-time men’s college Division I coaching wins leader, is its new special adviser to basketball operations. He will be present next week at the league’s general managers meeting in Chicago, coinciding with the draft lottery and combine there.“We are honored to have Coach K join the NBA family and share his vast experience and expertise with the league and our teams,” said Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president of league operations. “As a preeminent coach and renowned leader who cares deeply about the game of basketball, he is uniquely suited to drive discussions and offer insights about the present and future of the NBA.”The former Duke coach “will provide counsel to the league office, NBA team executives and other leaders across the league on a host of issues related to the game,” the league said.Krzyzewski r...

FRP Holdings: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — FRP Holdings Inc. (FRPH) on Wednesday reported earnings of $565,000 in its first quarter.The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said it had net income of 6 cents per share.The real estate company posted revenue of $10.1 million in the period._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on FRPH at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FRPHSource

USAID chief pledges US support to Serbia, Kosovo in talks

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The United States’ top international development official, Samantha Power, on Wednesday pledged U.S. support to Serbia and Kosovo as the two former wartime enemies work to stabilize relations at a time of heightened tensions.“It will take political courage to find a durable solution, acceptable to both sides, but the support from the U.S. will be steadfast in the coming weeks as Serbia and Kosovo work to take next steps,” Power told reporters in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital.Power spoke after meeting Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic earlier on Wednesday. From Serbia, Power will travel to Kosovo, a former Serbian province which declared independence in 2008. Washington and most European Union countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state but Serbia, along with Russia and China, has not. Washington and Brussels have stepped up efforts to help solve the dispute, fearing further instability in Europe as the wa...

Momentum for EU ethics cop sags despite scandal

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

BRUSSELS — Sacks of cash and free flights from autocratic governments don’t seem to have been enough to save the EU’s flagship integrity initiative from political inertia.A forthcoming Commission blueprint for an overarching and independent ethics panel will not include the power to investigate wrongdoing by EU officials, Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová told top MEPs in a closed-door meeting last week, according to a confidential readout obtained by POLITICO.Her plans to limit the scope of the inter-institutional ethics body to a “general framework on ethics and standards” common to all institutions — while then leaving those institutions to decide for themselves how the framework applies to them — drew sharp condemnation from advocates of a stronger enforcement mechanism.“What Jourová outlines has nothing to do with previous debates on the [ethics] body,” said German Green MEP Daniel Freund in a statement. He slammed it as “label fraud.”...

EU riles Portugal by teeing up June dates for 2024 elections

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

STRASBOURG — Thirteen months to go. The European Union is poised to pencil in June 6 to 9 next year as the date of the next EU elections, which will usher in a major changing of the guard in the bloc’s most powerful institutions. But the imminent move by EU governments gathered in Brussels is enraging Portugal — because a national holiday falls on Monday, June 10. “This would be terrible in terms of electoral participation, and the risk of abstention picking up and going through the roof,” Portugal’s secretary of state for Europe, Tiago Antunes, told POLITICO. The Portuguese government fears that voters taking advantage of a long weekend will be less inclined to cast their ballots, and is trying to pull off a somewhat doomed diplomatic coup to change the election dates to May.“We’re trying to build a coalition of other member states trying to gather support for an alternative date,” Antunes said. Voters will determine who wins seats for the European Par...

‘Not acceptable’: EU agri chief rapped for missing big farm debate

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

STRASBOURG — As the European Parliament debated farming and the Green Deal on Wednesday morning, the EU’s agriculture chief Janusz Wojciechowski was nowhere to be seen.One by one, MEPs turned instead to Mairead McGuinness, the EU finance commissioner, who was there in his place.“I’m just wondering where the agriculture commissioner is and why he wanted to avoid this debate,” said Norbert Lins, a German MEP from the center-right European People’s Party and chair of the Parliament’s agriculture committee. “Where is he hiding this morning?”Wojciechowski did attend a later plenary debate on the ongoing crisis in the EU’s Eastern member countries that has been caused by a Ukrainian grain glut and a Polish-led import ban. But by then the damage was done: EPP leader Manfred Weber confronted Wojciechowski over his absence, leaving the farm chief red-faced.“Let me make it very clear: We expect the agriculture commissioner to show respect and be present when we debate agricultu...

‘I’m ashamed’: UK Labour MPs call for action over party aide harassment case

Published Thu, 13 Feb 2025 11:28:19 GMT

LONDON — Senior women in the Labour Party have demanded extra protection for staff after an adviser who sexually harassed a young intern was allowed to keep his job. POLITICO reported Wednesday that a party aide will remain in post despite a groping complaint against him being upheld twice — by parliamentary investigators and, separately, by Labour after a probe which ran for three years.The case again shines a spotlight on the way misconduct allegations are handled in Westminster, following a series of episodes in which complainants expressed dissatisfaction with the process.The outcome of the parliamentary investigation involving the aide was made known to his employer, who is a member of Keir Starmer’s front bench team, according to two people close to the process. Labour declined to say whether the aide’s boss was informed that its own internal investigation had also upheld the complaint, and the employer’s office declined to comment.MP Stella Creasy, a prominent...