Facing obesity stats, Louisiana lawmakers mull weight-loss drug coverage for Medicaid recipients

 The Senate Health and Welfare Committee debated a bill that would require Medicaid to cover FDA-approved weight-loss medications for its recipients.

Roughly 145,000 Medicaid adults in the state would qualify for coverage of the weight-loss medicines, according to the Louisiana Department of Health Medicaid Director Seth Gold.

Senate Bill 433, proposed by Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, was amended Wednesday and will be held to be revisited by the full committee.

Louisiana has a serious obesity problem, with approximately 40% of adults having a body mass index of 30 or higher, according to America’s Health Rankings from the United Health Foundation.

The state ranks third in the country in adult obesity and second in the country in childhood obesity.

LDH estimates that the total spending to cover these medications would be around $189 million for the first half of the fiscal year, a span covering the bill’s possible implementation on Jan. 1, 2027, through the next six months. The price tag for the following full fiscal year was estimated to be $296 million.

Federal spending would defray a huge portion of these estimated expenses, Gold said.

They estimate that about $35 million from the state general fund and $153 million in federal spending would cover the first fiscal year. For the second fiscal year, they estimate about $55 million from the state general fund and $240 million in federal spending would cover it.

The addition of rebates would also help to bring these numbers down, Gold adds. However, even with the aid, the state would still face a significant cost.

While it may be costly, some members agreed the issue should not be ignored.

“We have to find a way to pay for this,” said Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria. “I believe (this) is going to make a huge change over the state of Louisiana for the good. … We have to get serious about this if we’re going to make change.”

Luneau said using Medicaid to help recipients pay for weight-loss medication could help cut down cardiovascular issues such as strokes and heart attacks. He also said this could help reduce the occurrence of diabetes, which affects about 569,000 adults in Louisiana, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Louisiana currently pays about $2.1 billion a year for Medicaid to treat adults and children with obesity, according to Dr. Katie Queen, a pediatrician who specializes in obesity and weight-management nutrition.

The same report Queen used from Louisiana Medicaid indicated it would have cost the state $74 million to cover these weight-loss medications in 2023. Since then, Queen has heard that these costs have come down even more.

“Now we’re talking about less than $74 million, maybe $55 million, maybe even down to $11 million,” Queen said. “When you compare that to the cost of other drugs, that is not that much.”

Queen described the bill as an investment, implying that covering the costs of weight-loss medications would bring down the money spent to treat weight-related health issues because more individuals would become healthier.

The bill would cut overall costs by limiting the eligibility age to 18. However, Queen said she was concerned about excluding coverage for young people between 12 and 17 because obesity plagues this age group as much as it does for adults.

“These medications are FDA-approved for ages 12 and up, and they will go younger,” Queen said, referring to studies on the safety and effectiveness of the weight-loss drug for younger children.

https://www.aol.com/news/faced-obesity-stats-louisiana-lawmakers-144917408.html

Career US prosecutor removed from probe into ex-CIA chief Brennan

 A federal prosecutor investigating one of President Trump’s political enemies has reportedly been pulled off the case.

The Justice Department removed career Miami federal prosecutor Maria Medetis Long, who was leading the probe into John Brennan for months, after she resisted pressure to bring charges more quickly, CNN reported.

She reportedly notified attorneys representing people involved in the case that, as of Friday, she would no longer be handling the probe.

The investigation into Mr. Brennan, the former CIA director, revolves around a debunked 2017 finding that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to secure Mr. Trump’s win.

The president has long urged prosecutors to pursue Mr. Brennan, one of the instigators of the Russia probe that Mr. Trump calls a hoax.

Those handling the case have pushed back against demands to bring charges against Mr. Brennan faster, CNN reported, signaling to Justice Department officials that they don’t believe the case has a strong standing.

The case is reportedly moving ahead anyway, as investigators have recently conducted interviews with witnesses and issued a fresh round of subpoenas. Ms. Medetis Long’s team sent out several rounds of subpoenas and requests for documents from Congress, plus is seeking witness interviews.

The FBI also plans to question roughly a half-dozen witnesses in its criminal inquiry, Reuters reported.

Miami U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones reportedly told DOJ officials that charges could still be months away, which was unacceptable to the officials.

Prosecutors are focused on allegations that Mr. Brennan lied in his congressional testimony about the intelligence assessment.

He told House investigators that Russia “brazenly interfered” in U.S. elections, but did not label it “collusion.” An investigation did not find that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia.

Mr. Brennan’s lawyer wrote to the chief District Court judge in Miami in December that there was no “legally justifiable basis” for the investigation.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/apr/17/lead-prosecutor-john-brennan-removed-case/

'Significant differences remain between Iran-US, including on nuclear issues: senior Iranian official'

 Significant differences between Iran and the United States remain to reach a deal aimed at ending the war, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday, adding that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is "conditional on U.S. adherence to the terms of ceasefire".

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "no agreement has been reached on the details of the nuclear issues," and serious negotiations are required to overcome differences.

He said Tehran hoped that a preliminary agreement could be reached in the coming days with mediator Pakistan’s efforts, with the possibility of extending the ceasefire to "create space for more talks on lifting sanctions on Iran and securing compensation for war damages".

"In exchange, Iran will provide assurances to the international community about the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme," he said, adding that any other "narrative about the ongoing talks is a misrepresentation of the situation".

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/significant-differences-remain-between-iran-us-including-on-nuclear-issues-senior-iranian-official

Kailera surges in Nasdaq debut

 Biotech company Kailera Therapeutics made its debut on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday, opening at $26 per share under the symbol KLRA, jumping 63% from the initial public offering price (IPO) of $16 apiece.

The clinical-stage drug startup sold over 39 million American shares in its IPO, with a record-breaking $625 million raise, making it the largest biotech debut of all time, beating Moderna's $600 million raise in December 2018. The debut gave the obesity-care firm an estimated market valuation of about $2.06 billion.

The company, which develops a broad, advanced, and differentiated portfolio of injectable and oral therapies for the treatment of obesity, was founded in May of 2024 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Kailera-surges-63-to-dollar26-in-Nasdaq-debut/66095046

Iran vows to reciprocate if US naval blockade continues

 Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Friday that if the United States' naval blockade of the Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz continues, Tehran will take "necessary measures."

"The enemy has made contradictory statements many times in one day, with the aim of creating a media atmosphere. The Islamic Republic of Iran is also the guardian of the Strait of Hormuz and, wherever necessary, will take the necessary measures to protect the rights of the people. If the other party continues to breach its obligations, we will take countermeasures. If the naval blockade continues, the Islamic Republic will also take necessary countermeasures," Baghaei said.

The Iranian spokesman added that the decision to reopen the waterway to commercial vessels was not an agreement made today, but a consequence of Israel reaching a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Iran-vows-to-reciprocate-if-US-naval-blockade-continues/66095029

US Chemists Turn Natural Gas Into Liquid Fuel Without High Heat And Pressures

  by Prabhat Ranjan Mishra via Interesting Engineering,

Chemists in the United States have discovered a new way to turn natural gas into liquid fuel.

The team from Northwestern University has successfully converted methane directly into methanol in a single step. They harnessed tiny bursts of plasma — or mini “lightning bolts” — in glass tubes submerged in water.

Methanol is a versatile, high-demand industrial chemical used to make many products people use every day.Employee/Alexander/Driscoll

Using pulses of high-voltage electricity

“We’re using pulses of high-voltage electricity,” said Northwestern’s Dayne Swearer, the study’s corresponding author.

“If the electrical potential is high enough, lightning bolts form inside of our reactor the way they do during a summer thunderstorm. We’re taking advantage of that chemistry to break methane’s bonds without heating the entire system to extreme temperatures.”

While the current method is reliable, it’s energy intensive and emits millions of tons of carbon dioxide per year globally. Using just electricity, water and a copper-oxide catalyst, the new process could offer a cleaner, electrified path to producing one of the world’s most widely used chemical building blocks, according to a press release.

Methanol is a versatile, high-demand industrial chemical

The team also revealed that the methanol is a versatile, high-demand industrial chemical used to make many products people use every day. It also is commonly used as an industrial solvent and is gaining attention as a cleaner-burning fuel for ships and industrial boilers.

One of the world’s most used commodity chemicals, methanol is a key ingredient in plastics, paints and adhesives. More recently, researchers have explored methanol as a promising liquid fuel because its combustion produces lower sulfur emissions and particulate pollution than gasoline and diesel, as per the release.

Industry generates methanol through a multi-step process

The team also pointed out that currently, the industry generates methanol through a multi-step process, starting with steam reforming. First, methane is reacted with steam at temperatures exceeding 800 degrees Celsius to break it into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Then, those gases are recombined under extremely high pressures — 200 to 300 times standard atmospheric pressure — to form methanol. Tearing methane apart and rebuilding it consumes an enormous amount of heat and inherently generates carbon dioxide along the way.

“The extreme temperatures are needed to break the unreactive chemical bonds between carbon and hydrogen in methane,” Swearer said.

“Then, you must use high pressure to squeeze all those molecules together onto the catalyst in order to make the methanol molecule. It works, but it’s not the most straightforward path to making methanol from methane.”

For the new single-step process, James Ho, a Ph.D. candidate in Swearer’s lab and the study’s first author, built a plasma “bubble reactor,” which is essentially a porous glass tube coated with a copper oxide catalyst. Then, the team flowed methane gas through the tube while applying electrical pulses.

The electricity transformed the methane gas into plasma, splitting methane and water into highly reactive fragments. Those fragments then recombined to form methanol, which immediately dissolves into the surrounding water. That rapid “quenching” stopped the chemical reaction at the right moment, preventing the methane from decomposing into carbon dioxide.

“More than 99% of the observable universe is comprised of plasma,” said James Ho. “But even though it’s ubiquitous, it really is an untapped resource in the field of chemistry. The reason we use cold plasmas is because we can produce them at low temperatures and normal atmospheric pressure conditions.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/us-chemists-turn-natural-gas-liquid-fuel-without-high-heat-and-pressures

Microsoft Triples-Down On Data Centers, As Half Of Planned Projects Face Cancelations, Delays

 Microsoft unveiled plans to triple its data center footprint in Cheyenne, Wyoming, snapping up roughly 3,200 acres on the city's south edge. 

The deal covers a 200-acre parcel in Bison Business Park plus an adjacent 3,000-acre tract, turning what is already one of the company's longstanding hubs into a sprawling complex. 

With 11 data centers operational and three more under construction across four campuses, the tech giant is betting big on the Cowboy State's energy resources and workforce. 

A company spokeswoman called it a "commitment to continued growth," citing the area's skilled labor, solid infrastructure, and thriving energy sector.

The land grab hit the headlines amid a far less rosy picture for the data center frenzy in the United States and beyond. Announcements keep piling up at a disturbing clip, fueled by the AI “gold rush” and hyperscaler spending projected to top $700 billion this year alone. 

Earlier this week we reported that nearly half of the roughly 16 gigawatts of U.S. data-center capacity slated to come online in 2026 will likely face delays or outright cancellation. In fact, only about 5 gigawatts have even broken ground, according to Sightline Climate's latest outlook. Supply-chain gaps, transformer shortages, and grid constraints are turning ambitious blueprints into paper tigers.

Even in Cheyenne, not everyone is popping champagne. State Senator Cale Case voiced caution about future ratepayer impacts and grid congestion, 

“It looks good on paper,” Case said.

“But what happens down the road when those supplies become constrained? So, it’s not benign, and it takes a lot of thought. I don’t think you can ever say this is not going to impact other customers.”

In the UK, OpenAI recently paused its ambitious Stargate project over prohibitive energy costs and regulatory hurdles, as we recently highlighted. Wyoming's climate and energy edge may insulate Microsoft's Cheyenne bet for now, but the global wave of cancellations suggests many shiny press releases will never pour concrete. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/it-looks-good-paper-microsoft-tripling-down-data-centers-half-planned-projects-face-axe