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Food Insecurity Shot Up Last Year With Inflation And The End Of Pandemic-Era Aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — An estimated 17 million households reported problems finding enough food in 2022 — a sharp jump from 2021 when boosted government aid helped ease the pandemic-induced economic shutdown. A new Department of Agriculture report, released Wednesday, paints a sobering picture of post-pandemic hardship with “statistically significant” increases in food insecurity across multiple categories. Using a representative survey sample of roughly 32,000 American households the report said 12.8% (17 million households) reported occasional problems affording enough food in ...

Hurricane Otis Unleashes Massive Flooding In Acapulco, Triggers Landslides Before Dissipating

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Otis tore across Mexico’s southern Pacific coast as a powerful and dangerous Category 5 hurricane Wednesday, unleashing massive flooding in the resort city of Acapulco and setting off looting as desperate relatives tired of waiting for help to arrive. While little is known about possible deaths or the full extent of the damage — Acapulco was still mostly inaccessible by road as of late Wednesday — experts are calling Otis the strongest storm in history to make landfall along the Eastern Pacific Coast. Many of the once sleek beach fronthotels ...

Demand For Private School Vouchers Exceeding Budgets

In some states, higher-income families can now use taxpayer money to cover private school tuition -- and more people than projected are taking the offer, which might force scrambles to shore up state budgets. It’s especially an issue in states like Arizona and Iowa, where at least some families whose children were already in private school can now take advantage of public funding. “It busts the budget because it’s taking on as a public expense what’s previously been a private cost,” said Josh Cowen, an education policy professor at Michigan State University. Advocates for ...

UN Warns Gaza Blockade Could Force It To Sharply Cut Relief

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The U.N. warned Wednesday that it is on the verge of running out of fuel in the Gaza Strip, forcing it to sharply curtail relief efforts in the territory blockaded and devastated by Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago. The warning came as hospitals in Gaza struggled to treat masses of wounded with dwindling resources. Meanwhile, the U.N.’s top official faced backlash from Israel after saying the Hamas massacre that sparked the fighting did not “take place in a vacuum.” Health officials said the ...

Trump Is Fined $10,000 Over A Comment He Made Outside Court In His New York Civil Fraud Trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump was abruptly called to the witness stand and then fined $10,000 on Wednesday after the judge in his civil fraud trial said the former president had violated a gag order. It was the second time in less than a week that Trump was penalized for his out-of-court comments. Before imposing the latest fine, Judge Arthur Engoron summoned Trump from the defense table to testify about his comment to reporters hours earlier about “a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside” the judge. Engoron had already ordered all participants in the trial not to ...

Shakespeare’s First Folio To Mark 400 Years

NEW YORK (AP) — On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio, rare originals are being displayed and publishers are offering collectors editions of Shakespeare’s plays, including one that sells for $1,500. Scholars believe that between 200-300 copies still survive from the late 1623 release of “Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies.” Presided over by two friends and former colleagues of Shakespeare, who had died in 1616, the Folio ensured that lasting texts existed for “Macbeth,” “Twelfth Night” and other cornerstones of Western literature. ...