Headline News from The Associated Press
AP Headline News - Mar 18 2024 07:00 (EDT)
This is AP News. I'm Rita Falle. Critics are slamming this election, but Russia says President Putin has won another six years in office. The AP's Charles Deloresma. Russian President Vladimir Putin is basking in a victory that was never in doubt, as officials say, he's won re-election with an overwhelming number of votes after facing only token challenges and harshly suppressing opposition voices. Putin set to extend his nearly quarter century rule for six more years, even with little margin for protest, Russians crowded outside polling stations at noon on Sunday, apparently heeding an opposition call to express their displeasure with the president. Putin, though, has hailed the overwhelming early results as an indication of trust and hope in him. Critics see them as another reflection of the pre-ordained nature of the election. I'm Charles Deloresma. Israel's attacked Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip this morning. The Israeli army saying Hamas militants had regrouped inside the hospital and had fired on them. "You can only imagine the suffering in Haiti," said one American, who was among dozens of U.S. citizens flown out of that troubled nation yesterday, their chartered plane landing in Miami. The AP's Lawrence Brooks. Gangs have raged through Haiti in recent weeks, attacking key institutions and shutting down the main international airport. The chaos has pushed many Haitians to the brink of famine and left many more in increasingly desperate conditions. Three people were killed in a baby hospitalized. After an SUV crashed into a bus shelter in San Francisco over the weekend, the baby's in critical condition, the driver of the SUV among those hospitalized and investigations underway, into why this happened. As March Madness gets underway, more people than ever can now legally bet on sports. North Carolina is the latest state to allow online sports betting. This is AP News. To the White House now... At the White House today, Vice President Harris and the First Lady joined President Biden at a reception to mark Women's History Month, at which the President will sign an executive order aimed at advancing research into women's health. The executive order seeks to strengthen data collection and provide funding opportunities for biomedical research. The National Institutes of Health is also launching a new effort around menopause. For most of U.S. medical history, studies were based almost entirely on men until the 1990s, when the government mandated that women be included in federally funded studies. Dr. Caroline Mazur, the head of the White House Initiative on Women's Health, says we still know too little about how to effectively prevent, diagnose, and treat a wide array of health conditions in women. The announcement comes amid the ripple effects from changes in state laws on abortion and IVF treatments, and it's an election cycle. Women gave Joe Biden 55% of their vote in 2020, according to AP Votecast. Jennifer King, Washington. And I'm Rita Foley AP News.