• The Canadian Press

    New California rule aims to limit health care cost increases to 3% annually

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Doctors, hospitals and health insurance companies in California will be limited to annual price increases of 3% starting in 2029 under a new rule state regulators approved Wednesday in the latest attempt to corral the ever-increasing costs of medical care in the United States. The money Californians spent on health care went up about 5.4% each year for the past two decades. Democrats who control California's government say that's too much, especially since most people's

  • Associated Press

    Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations

    Tennessee’s Republican-dominant House on Wednesday spiked legislation that would have banned local governments from paying to either study or dispense money for reparations for slavery. It easily cleared the Republican-controlled Senate last April, but lawmakers eventually hit pause as the House became consumed with controversy over expelling two Black Democratic lawmakers for their participating in a pro-gun control protest from the House floor. Interest in the reparations bill emerged again this year, just as lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee were in the process of finalizing the removal and replacement of every board member of the state's only publicly-funded historically Black public university, Tennessee State University.

  • Reuters

    UPDATE 1-Vale's net profit down 9% in the first quarter

    Vale, one of the largest iron ore producers in the world, posted a $1.7 billion net profit for the quarter ended in March, while analysts polled by LSEG were expecting a $1.9 billion profit. The main impact on Vale's net profit when compared to the first quarter of last year came from lower realized prices of iron ore, nickel and copper, according to the company earnings release. Vale had already disclosed first-quarter output and sales figures last week.