A federal appeals panel says a Missouri lawsuit accusing China of hoarding masks and other protective gear during the COVID-19 pandemic can move forward. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Eighth District Court of Appeals panel, however, otherwise agreed Wednesday with a lower court’s 2022 ruling that tossed out Missouri’s case entirely. The court found that federal rules prohibit a sovereign foreign entity from being sued in American courts. The state had alleged that China’s officials were to blame for the pandemic because they didn’t do enough to slow its spread. The appeals panel found that only the claim regarding personal protective equipment can proceed.

About 21 million children are likely to receive food benefits this summer through a newly permanent federal program. Thirty-five states, all five U.S. territories and four tribes opted into the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, known as Summer EBT. Families at or below 185% of the federal poverty line will receive $120 per child total during the summer months. Some states that opted out say there wasn't enough time to implement the program.

A woman who dominated discussion about abortion during Kentucky’s campaign last year has stepped forward again. She is now calling on lawmakers to relax the state’s near-total abortion ban. Hadley Duvall on Tuesday endorsed a bill that would add exceptions to the state's anti-abortion law. The measure would allow abortions when pregnancies are caused by rape or incest, or when pregnancies are deemed nonviable or medical emergencies threaten the mother. She teamed with Gov. Andy Beshear and the bill’s lead sponsor to try to generate momentum for the bill. It comes months after she revealed the trauma of being raped and impregnated in a powerful campaign ad.

More women have joined a Tennessee lawsuit challenging the state’s broad abortion ban that went into effect shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Three of the women added Monday to the Tennessee suit were denied abortions while experiencing severe pregnancy complications, forcing them to travel out of state to get the procedure. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the plaintiffs, has also tweaked their complaint to also request an temporary injunction as the court case proceeds. The legal challenge is part of a handful lawsuits filed across the U.S. in Republican-dominant states seeking clarity on the circumstances that qualify patients to legally receive an abortion.

Georgia’s General Assembly begins its 2024 regular session Monday and the top intrigue is whether Republicans may agree to a further expansion of health care under the state’s Medicaid program. Another key issue is whether the state will create new educational vouchers. It's an election year for all 180 House members and 56 senators. With state coffers bulging, lawmakers are likely to seek a further pay increase for public employees and teachers, as well as additional tax cuts. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has said he wants new limits on lawsuits, while other GOP leaders say they plan to revive a commission to discipline prosecutors.

The flu season in the U.S. is getting worse with 38 states reporting high or very high levels for respiratory illnesses. That’s up from 31 states the week before. But it’s too soon to tell how much holiday gatherings contributed to a likely spike in illnesses. The government data posted Friday is for the week after Christmas. That measure likely includes people with COVID-19, RSV and other winter viruses, and not just flu. But officials say flu seems to be increasing most dramatically and will for another few weeks. So far, it has been deemed a moderate flu season.

A petition initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida constitution has reached the necessary number of verified signatures to qualify for the 2024 ballot. More than 911,000 signatures have been verified by the Florida Division of Elections, surpassing the more than 891,500 petition signatures required by the state to put a ballot initiative before voters. If the measure ultimately makes it on the fall ballot, Florida voters could join citizens in other states in deciding what, if any, abortion protections there should be in the third-largest state in the U.S. following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says access to medical marijuana in the state should expand to include more health conditions. He says the change would make 437,000 more Kentuckians eligible for treatment when the program begins next year. The measure passed by lawmakers in 2023 specified that eligible conditions include cancer, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, epilepsy, chronic nausea and post-traumatic stress disorder. Beshear said Thursday that the list of conditions should grow to include ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Chron’s disease, sickle cell anemia, cachexia or wasting syndrome, neuropathies, severe arthritis, hepatitis C, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, HIV, AIDS, glaucoma and terminal illness.

A Connecticut woman who pushed for expanded access to Vermont’s law that allows people who are terminally ill to end their lives has died in Vermont. Lynda Bluestein, who had terminal cancer, ended her life by taking prescribed lethal medication on Thursday. Her husband says her last words were that she was so happy that she didn't have to suffer anymore. The group Compassion & Choices filed a lawsuit against Vermont in 2022 on behalf of Bluestein. She claimed Vermont’s residency requirement in its medically assisted suicide law violated the U.S. Constitution. The state settled the case last year, allowing Bluestein and then anyone else in her circumstances to take advantage of the law.

Crib cameras are offering a clue to a rare but devastating tragedy _ when seemingly healthy young children suddenly die in their sleep and autopsies can’t tell why. Similar to SIDS in babies, it’s called sudden unexplained death in childhood, or SUDC, when it happens after age 1. In a small study, researchers analyzed video that captured the deaths of seven toddlers and found seizures sometimes play a role. Now they must figure out why. Researchers from NYU Langone Health reported the findings Thursday in the journal Neurology.

Pregnant people in New York would have 40 hours of paid leave to attend prenatal medical appointments under a new proposal by Gov. Kathy Hochul. The Democrat’s plan to expand the state’s paid family leave policy was announced Thursday. It would need to be approved by the state Legislature. The plan aims to expand access to high-quality prenatal care and prevent maternal and infant deaths in New York. The issue especially affects low-income and minority communities. The U.S. infant mortality rate is worse than other high-income countries. The state Legislature would have to approve the proposal before it goes into effect.

More U.S. hospitals are requiring masks and limiting visitors as health officials face a post-holiday spike in flu and other illnesses. New York City last week instituted a mask mandate for the city’s 11 public hospitals. Similar measures were ordered at some hospitals in Los Angeles and Massachusetts. Flu and COVID-19 infections have been increasing for weeks, with high levels of flu-like illness reported in 31 states just before Christmas. Updated national numbers are to be released Friday, but health officials predict infections will grow in many states well into January.

Flooding from a burst water main at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital has disrupted services for about 200 patients seeking to have children through in vitro fertilization. Alexis Goulette runs a private IVF support group on Facebook. She said Wednesday that a lot of the women were informed of cancellations by voicemail and hadn’t been offered emotional support or been given explanations for alternative timelines or cost reimbursements. Hospital spokesperson Jessica Pastore says all frozen embryos and eggs remain safe inside cryogenic tanks in the lab, but that lab staff can’t open the tanks until the risk of mold growth inside damp walls is mitigated. She said the process would likely take a month.

Suicide-prevention barriers at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge have been completed more than a decade after officials greenlighted a project to install stainless-steel mesh nets on both sides of the 1.7-mile bridge. The iconic bridge with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay has long been a destination for people seeking to end their lives, with nearly 2,000 plunging to their deaths since it opened in 1937. City officials approved the project more than a decade ago, and in 2018 work began on the 20-foot-wide nets. But the efforts to complete them were repeatedly delayed.