Iran said it has not decided to send a delegation to Pakistan for talks with the United States, stressing negotiations will not take place while a US naval blockade remains in effect, Tasnim News Agency reported on Sunday.
The agency added that exchanges of messages with Washington have continued through a Pakistani intermediary following the first round of negotiations.
The stance comes as US President Donald Trump said his representatives "will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations," while warning the US is offering a "very fair and reasonable DEAL" and adding "if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran."
A proposed deal between CVS and Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham to expand primary care access could result in higher healthcare costs for some patients, according to areportfrom the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.
In summer 2025, Mass General Brigham and CVS submitted plans to transform 37 MinuteClinic locations into MinuteClinic Primary Care sites and place those facilities in Mass General Brigham’s network of providers and participate in the system’s payer contracts. The deal would enable referrals to the system’s hospitals, specialists, diagnostic services and laboratories for follow-up care.
In a 66-page report published April 16, the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission Board analyzed how the potential collaboration can affect the state’s healthcare market. According to the commission’s preliminary findings, the proposed collaboration could raise annual healthcare spending by $40 million after the first three years of implementation.
In response to the report, CVS and Mass General Brigham said their proposed affiliation will expand access and decrease total costs of care over time.
The commission calculated the $40 million increase in annual spending based on the CVS primary care clinics serving 35% of their capacity. A majority of that estimate relies on the claim that the new primary care patients — who otherwise would not receive care — will be referred to “higher-priced MGB specialists and hospitals,” the report said.
“This includes increased spending as new primary care patients join [MinuteClinic Primary Care] and adopt care patterns similar to existing patients of other MGB affiliates ($27.7 million) and higher prices for both MCPC’s continuing convenience care services ($6.6 million) and the convenience care services that would need to move to other providers ($5.9 million),” according to an April 16 statement from the commission.
“We appreciate the continued collaboration of the parties during this review and public accountability process, and look forward to their forthcoming responses to the questions raised by commissioners as we issue this preliminary report,” Massachusetts Health Policy Commission Board Chair Deborah Devaux said.
A CVS spokesperson said the commission’s report “appears to overstate the potential impact on healthcare spending.”
“A strong and consistent body of evidence demonstrates that expanding access to primary care reduces total healthcare costs for patients over time, which should be considered fully when evaluating the potential collaboration,” CVS told Becker’s in an April 17 statement.
The company said it plans “to share more detailed feedback” on the report within the MHPC’s 30-day comment period.
Mass General Brigham shared a similar statement.
“The new Health Policy Commission report frames the MinuteClinic affiliation as a $40M+ cost increase,” the health system said. “However, we have questions about the methodology used, with the majority of this analysis based on an assumption of increased spending in the first two years for patients newly accessing primary care. This does not account for the longer-term reduction in total cost of care that typically follows as preventive and coordinated care take effect. The [Health Policy Commission] has offered us an opportunity to have further conversation, which we look forward to.”
Oakland-based University of California Healthlauncheda tool in its EHR to help treat hypertension in patients systemwide.
The UC Way Hypertension Medication Algorithm uses a stepwise approach to increasing medication types and doses, according to a March 18 system news release. The tool allows clinicians to adjust treatment for individual factors and special populations.
It was developed by a team of cardiologists, internists, primary care physicians, nurses, pharmacists and data scientists. The tool was launched at all six of the system’s academic medical centers in 2023.
University of California Health saw improved blood pressure control rise from 68.5% of patients to nearly 74%, according to a study published March 18 in BMJ Open Quality.
“This improvement amounts to about 4,860 people who now have controlled blood pressure, which translates to 72 strokes, 48 heart attacks and 38 deaths averted,” lead author Sandeep Kishore, MD, PhD, an internist and associate professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, said in the release.
Casey Mulligan, PhD, has been appointed chief economist and chief regulatory officer at HHS, according to his LinkedInpage.
Axios reported the news April 16, noting Dr. Mulligan will advise HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other agency leaders on affordability issues.
His appointment comes as the availability and affordability of healthcare top the list of Americans’ concerns about key issues, according to a March 31 Galluparticle. The findings are based on telephone interviews conducted with 1,000 U.S. adults.
Dr. Mulligan most recently served as chief counsel for advocacy at the U.S. Small Business Administration. He also served as chief economist on the Council of Economic Advisers during the first Trump administration.
She accused the political establishment of shielding predators to protect their own power and introduced a resolution to stop it.
Mace joined “Saturday in America” to discuss the resolution she put forward for the House Ethics Committee to release its records on sexual harassment by lawmakers.
“I think there should be an avalanche of resignations,” Mace said, adding, “I want every single predator that’s in Congress now to be forced to resign. I don’t care how long it takes. If we can do it fast, let’s do it now, regardless of party.”
Mace’s renewed action comes after Swalwell resigned from Congress and ended his California gubernatorial bid earlier this month following multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
At least five women have accused him of misconduct, including Lonna Drewes, who alleges he drugged and raped her in a hotel room in 2018.
Since the allegations surfaced, some journalists and political operatives have said Swalwell’s behavior was widely known on Capitol Hill.
Mace said she wants to end the culture of silence on both sides of the political aisle.
“Both parties decided that they would vote against revealing the sexual harassment records of their own party,” Mace said of a previous vote that failed on the issue.
Rep. Nancy Mace has called for Congress to release its records on sexual harassment by lawmakers.Getty Images
“What happens is both parties will protect the other because they don’t want their skeletons out there,” she added.
Not long after Swalwell’s resignation, Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales also announced his resignation from Congress.
He admitted earlier this year to an inappropriate sexual relationship with a staffer.
Mace said she raised concerns about Gonzales with colleagues after hearing rumors about him, adding the resolution is meant to hold all members of Congress to the same standard.
Mace made the comments on Fox News’s “Saturday in America” program in the wake of ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell resigning from Congress while also ending his campaign to run for governor of California.Instagram/@ericswalwell
“We need to clean up our own party because if we’re [going to] attack Democrats for their behavior, we have to be willing to acknowledge when we have someone that needs to be kicked out,” Mace said.
In a statement posted Monday, Swalwell vowed to fight the “serious, false allegations made against me.”
“Expelling anyone from Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But, it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” Swalwell said.
A glamorous Iranian businesswoman with a US green card was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport for allegedly trafficking armson behalf of Tehran.
Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills, was taken into custody on Saturday night and charged with brokering deals for Iranian drones, bombs, and millions of rounds of ammunition bound for Sudan, according to the office of the US Attorney for the Central District of California.
Iranian businesswoman Shamim Mafi was arrested at LAX Saturday night.Facebook/Shamim Mafi
“She is charged with a violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705 for brokering the sale of drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and millions of rounds of ammunition manufactured by Iran and sold to Sudan,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said Sunday, announcing the arrest.
Mafi posted glam pics of herself traveling the world — including posing in a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz roadster.
Mafi, who left Iran in 2013 and became a permanent resident of the US in 2016 under the Obama administration, allegedly used an Oman-registered company, Atlas International Business, to broker weapons deals as recently as 2025, according to court records.
Among the sales was a contract for more than $70 million for Iranian-made Mohajer-6 armed drones from Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.
The drones, along with 55,000 bomb fuses, were transferred in deals with the Sudanese Ministry of Defense, which has been fighting in a bloody civil war since 2023.
Mafi was charged with brokering deals for Iranian drones, bombs and ammunition for Sudan.X/@USAttyEssayli
Iran has been repeatedly accused of violating a United Nations arms embargo amid the Sudanese civil war, with its drones spotted in use by the government forces.
The civil war has claimed between 61,000 to hundreds of thousands of lives as it enters its fourth year, with the UN’s fact-finding mission identifying the recent mass deaths in Darfur as having the “hallmarks of genocide.”
The conflict has also displaced nearly nine million people, making it one of the worst displacement crises on the planet.
Mafi allegedly brokered arms deals for Tehran, according to the office of the US Attorney for the Central District of California.X/@USAttyEssayli
Phone records indicate that Mafi had direct contact with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) between December 2022 and June 2025.
Prosecutors say Mafi had no legal requisites to oversee such dangerous sales.
Mafi and her company were also accused of purposefully going through channels in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to conduct the sales so as to skirt US detection.
Mafi showed off her luxurious lifestyle across social media.Facebook/Shamim Mafi
Mafi’s social media accounts show her living the lap of luxury in California and showing off her business trips in Turkey.
Mafi told investigators that she has never been tasked by the MOIS to conduct any activities for Tehran in the US.
A probe into Mafi’s past showed that Tehran had seized properties that she inherited from her father in 2020, with MOIS then directing her to open a business in the US to buy the properties back from the Iranian government, according to the court records.
Mafi could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of violating the Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.X/@USAttyEssayli
Mafi is ultimately accused of violating the Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which if convicted of, would lead to a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
The suspect is scheduled to appear at the US District Court in downtown LA on Monday, prosecutors said.
A representative for Mafi could not be immediately reached for comment.
HCA Healthcare warned that full-year 2026 profits would land at the low end of its prior range after Hurricanes Helene and Milton disrupted operations, forcing procedure cancellations, facility repairs, and an estimated $200–300 million combined hit in lost revenue and extra costs. This update, referenced in early-to-mid April reports and analyst commentary, has kept pressure on the stock by highlighting near-term margin and volume risks even as the company maintains longer-term resiliency programs. The move builds on that earlier announcement and coincides with a recent Robert W. Baird price target cut (from $450 to $442, neutral rating issued mid-week), adding to concerns ahead of Q1 2026 earnings on April 24. High trading volume on recent down days reflects investors repositioning on these quantifiable headwinds. (No major new company-specific release appears tied precisely to the April 17 premarket window.)
