By Michael Ollove, Stateline When a doctor recommended that Aidan Zingler undergo gender reassignment surgery, the 27-year-old hoped it would mean the end of a lifetime of anguish. A science fiction writer living in Des Moines, Iowa, Zingler was born into a female body, which caused increasing torment as the years passed. When Zingler experienced a period for the first time, “it came as a shock and felt like my body betrayed me.” Surgery promised a salvation. But Iowa’s Medicaid agency refused to cover the surgery, saying it was cosmetic and not the medical necessity that Zingler’s doctor said it was. “It made me feel like I wasn’t a person,” Zingler, who is now 34 and identifies as nonbinary, recalled recently in a phone interview. “It was disregarding what a doctor said were my medical needs. I felt like I wasn’t a person and my rights weren’t being regarded.” States are diverging on whether to provide gender … [Read more...] about Iowa, other states diverge on transgender health care
World
Swiss town may sell nine houses for one franc each
close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for July 17 Fox News Flash top headlines for July 17 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com A hamlet on Switzerland's Italian border could offer the deal of a lifetime for house flippers — it's considering selling nine houses for just one Swiss franc each. By offloading the broken-down stone dwellings and their properties for little more than a dollar, Monti Scìaga, which sits about 70 miles north of Milan and 125 miles south of Zurich, hopes to bring people back to the rustic municipality, The Local Switzerland reports. The catch is that prospective buyers would be required to renovate the properties to bring them up to code. "Scìaga is located on the left side of the upper Val Veddasca, a small hill in Indemini," the online plan says in Italian. "It is a mountain nucleus almost completely abandoned since the 1970s, but has maintained its original structure with … [Read more...] about Swiss town may sell nine houses for one franc each
How Notre-Dame Was Saved: 5 Things We Know
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Europe Subscribe Log In Log In Today’s Paper Europe | How Notre-Dame Was Saved: 5 Things We Know Advertisement Supported by ByElian Peltier July 17, 2019 How was it that fire ravaged Notre-Dame? And how was it saved? A New York Times investigation found that a miscommunication among security employees and flawed planning let the fire spin out of control in one of France’s most revered monuments on April 15. When the firefighters were called, it was already too late to stop it from spreading. Some 500 firefighters battled the blaze into the night. Some, at the peril of their own lives, went inside the northern tower to protect it from flames at a moment when it could have collapsed at any time. This decisive moment saved the structure. Here is what the investigation revealed about a foretold tragedy, and how the worst was averted. Security … [Read more...] about How Notre-Dame Was Saved: 5 Things We Know
A Prosperous China Says ‘Men Preferred,’ and Women Lose
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Asia Pacific Subscribe Log In Log In Today’s Paper Asia Pacific | A Prosperous China Says ‘Men Preferred,’ and Women Lose Advertisement Supported by ByAmy Qin July 16, 2019 TIANJIN, China — Bella Wang barely noticed the section on the application inquiring whether she was married or had children. Employers in China routinely ask women such questions, and she had encountered them before in job interviews. It was a surprise, though, after she accepted a position as a manager at the company, a big language-training business in the northern city of Tianjin, when she was told the job came with a condition. As a married woman without children, she would have to sign a “special agreement” promising not to get pregnant for two years. If she broke that promise, the company said, she could be fired, without compensation. Ms. Wang, … [Read more...] about A Prosperous China Says ‘Men Preferred,’ and Women Lose
Pirates take 10 Turkish sailors hostage off coast of Nigeria
close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for July 16 Fox News Flash top headlines for July 16 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com Ten Turkish sailors have been kidnapped by gunmen off the coast of Nigeria in what is presumed to be a hostage situation for ransom. Shipping company Kadioglu Denizcilik stated the sailors were attacked by “pirates” while heading from Cameroon to the Ivory Coast, in which the Turkish-flagged Paksoy-2 cargo ship was posted in the Gulf of Guinea without any freight on board. Turkey’s foreign ministry said the sailors were taken hostage Saturday evening when the vessel carried 18 Turkish crew members at the time of the attack; Turkish television news channel NTV said the pirates approached the ship on speed boats before seizing the sailors. The remaining eight crew members were rescued and taken to Ghana, the ministry stated, and the missing crew members have not been heard from since. TURKEY DENIES … [Read more...] about Pirates take 10 Turkish sailors hostage off coast of Nigeria