Insiders reveal the food King Charles has BANNED from French state visit banquet – and the reasons why (but mushrooms are on the menu because they remind him of Queen Elizabeth II)

• Charles provided a strict list of culinary demands for meal at Palace of Versailles

By Peter Allen In Paris

Published: 03:03 EDT, 20 September 2023 | Updated: 04:56 EDT, 20 September 2023

Hurricane Lee to hit US TODAY with 80mph winds and 20ft waves: Maine declares state of emergency as Long Island homeowners batten down the hatches

• Lee will trigger potentially life threatening storm surges on Friday and Saturday 
• Category 1 storm sparked first hurricane warning in Maine in 15 years 
• Nantucket, Cape Cod and coastal Long Island also bracing for storm’s impact  

By Jen Smith, Chief Reporter and Associated Press

Published: 08:22 EDT, 15 September 2023 | Updated: 10:51 EDT, 15 September 2023

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A highly mutated variant feared to be better at infecting vaccinated people has now been detected in a third state.

The BA.2.86 strain was picked up via wastewater testing in Ohio, the state’s health department announced Wednesday, after the variant was detected in Virginia and Michigan over the past week.

Further analysis by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is ongoing to confirm the Ohio sample is the new strain, also known as ‘Pirola’.

The CDC announced Wednesday it believes ‘the large number of mutations in this variant raises concerns of greater escape from existing immunity from vaccines and previous infections compared with other recent variants.’

It comes as Covid hospital admissions across the US jumped 22 percent in a week, the fifth week in a row they have increased. The CDC is now forecasting an acceleration in new hospitalizations over the coming month.

The CDC’s forecast replaces a previous projection that admissions would ‘remain stable or have an uncertain trend.’

The forecast, released Monday, suggests around 2,000 Americans are being admitted to the hospital each day, the vast majority of whom are over 65.

Hospitalizations are still three times lower than they were this time last year, and death rates are still very low.

Doctors on the ground are also saying that the illness is the most mild they’ve seen in Covid patients during the pandemic. 

Still, concerns about the new variants have led to masks creeping back into daily life.

A Kaiser Permanente hospital in Santa Rosa, California and Upstate Community Hospital in Syracuse, New York, which serve millions of Americans, have brought back mandates for doctors, nurses, patients and visitors. 

Ken Gordon, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), told CBS News the department was ‘working with the CDC on further evaluation of the sample’ but added that the ‘preliminary detection has not [yet] been confirmed.’

Wastewater is tested as part of routine monitoring for the National Wastewater Surveillance System. 

Positive wastewater tests can pick up old cases, but may also signal new cases.

Since the pandemic was declared over, the number of people doing swab tests is very low, and only a handful of these are analyzed for variants.

The BA.2.86 strain is highly mutated, and is potentially more likely to infect vaccinated Americans, the CDC said yesterday. 

The stain has more than 30 mutations on its spike protein — the part the virus uses to infect people — that separates it from the currently dominant strains, which is feared to make it harder to recognize for the immune systems of vaccinated or previously infected people.

It may also be better at causing illness in people who’ve recently recovered from a Covid infection.

‘The large number of mutations in this variant raises concerns of greater escape from existing immunity from vaccines and previous infections compared with other recent variants,’ the CDC said in its risk assessment of BA.2.86, which has also been dubbed the ‘Pirola’ variant.

However, the agency said it was too soon to know if this will cause more severe infection than other variants and appears confident in its assessment that levels of immunity in the US population will still offer broad protection.

‘Nearly all the US population has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 from vaccination, previous infection, or both, and it is likely that these antibodies will continue to provide some protection against severe disease from this variant,’ the CDC said.

DailyMail.com revealed Tuesday that the variant had been detected in a patient in Virginia, which was the second official case after a resident in Michigan was diagnosed with it last week.

However, the CDC said that because so few swabs are being analyzed now, the strain is likely much more widespread than the official figures indicate.

And Covid positivity rates – the share of swabs that come back positive – have nearly doubled between July and August.

The CDC said the current increase in US hospitalizations is not likely driven by BA.2.86. because of the lag it takes for people to catch and then fall sick with Covid.

This new BA.2.86 strain is believed to be descended from the BA.2 ‘stealth’ variant that surged globally early last year, which itself is a spinoff of the original Omicron strain.

The updated Covid vaccines – due to be rolled out this fall – are targeted towards strains descending from the XBB Omicron subvariant, which have become the dominant type globally.

The CDC said researchers are evaluating the effectiveness of the updated shots, which are anticipated to reduce severe disease and hospitalizations.

Compared to other strains descended from the Omicron subvariant, BA.2.86 has many more mutations.

The CDC compared the differences between it and its likely ancestor BA.2 as being similar to the difference between the Delta and Omicron variants.

‘The large number of mutations in this variant raises concerns of greater escape from existing immunity from vaccines and previous infections compared with other recent variants,’ the CDC said.

‘For example, one analysis of mutations suggests the difference may be as large as or greater than that between BA.2 and XBB.1.5, which circulated nearly a year apart.’

‘However, virus samples are not yet broadly available for more reliable laboratory testing of antibodies, and it is too soon to know the real-world impacts on immunity.’

A judge has ruled in favor of youths who claimed Montana‘s use of fossil fuels contributed to the climate crisis and harmed their health.

The ‘monumental decision’ was based on the state’s policy in evaluating requests for fossil fuel permits – which does not allow agencies to assess the effects of greenhouse gas emissions – was found unconstitutional.

The youths, aged five to 22, did not seek a payout following a win but wanted defendants to ‘bring the state energy system into constitutional compliance.’

Experts said the plaintiffs had Montana’s constitution on their side, which likely helped with the ruling.

Article Nine reads: ‘The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.’

The trial convened in June, and plaintiffs spent five days sharing stories about injuries they claimed came from climate change and how their homes have been negatively impacted. 

District Court Judge Kathy Seeley wrote in the ruling that ‘Montana’s emissions and climate change have been proven to be a substantial factor in causing climate impacts to Montana’s environment and harm and injury’ to the youth. 

Now the ruling is in the hands of the state Legislature, which has to determine how to bring the policy into compliance. 

That leaves slim chances for immediate change in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse.

Montana has the nation’s largest recoverable coal reserves – over 74 billion tons – nearly one-third of the US total, according to MBMG Coal Program.

The state also ranks sixth in coal production, with about 30 million tons produced annually from 6 mines.

In 2022, coal generated 42 percent of Montana’s in-state electricity generation, but the resource supplied more than half until 2016.

This is compared with hydropower at 41 percent and wind power at 12 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). 

Part of the hearing heard the plaintiff’s attorneys state Montana has never denied a permit for a fossil fuel project, The Washington Post reports.

Judge Seeley heard from a 15-year-old plaintiff who has asthma.

He told the court how he felt like ‘a prisoner in my own home’ when isolated with COVID during intense wildfire smoke, which he said resulted from climate change.

Rikki Held, the 22-year-old plaintiff, has been vocal about her family-owned cattle ranch, which she claims was also destroyed by the climate crisis.

Held said her family ranch relied on the nearby Powder River to grow crops and hydrate cattle.

The river dried up in 2007, and then in the spring of 2017, ‘abnormally high temperatures linked to the climate crisis caused the frozen river to melt at a rapid rate and flood,’ the lawsuit claimed.

The state argued that even if Montana completely stopped producing carbon dioxide, it would not affect a global scale because states and countries worldwide contribute to the amount of C02 in the atmosphere. 

‘I know that climate change is a global issue, but Montana has to take responsibility for our part in that,’ Held said during the hearing.

The lawsuit, filed in March 2020, described how children are more vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, noting it ‘harms their physical and psychological health and safety, interferes with family and cultural foundations and integrity, and causes economic deprivations.’

 

NRL makes huge call on the future of State of Origin as non-rugby league state wins right to host showpiece for two more years

• NRL powerbrokers aim to expand the code’s reach 
• 60,000 fans expected at interstate Origins 
• Interstate teams on radar for NRL expansion 

By Ric Chapman For Daily Mail Australia

Updated: 02:16 EDT, 6 August 2023

Washington Wizards ‘finalize trade to send Chris Paul to the Golden State Warriors… with Jordan Poole and draft assets going the other way’

By Ben Nagle For Dailymail.Com

Published: 15:20 EDT, 22 June 2023 | Updated: 15:23 EDT, 22 June 2023

Queen Máxima of the Netherlands brought all the glamour to the red carpet as she attended a state dinner in Belgium this evening. 

The Dutch royal, 52, is currently on an official state visit to the country with her husband Willem-Alexander, 56. 

This evening, King Phillippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium hosted a state dinner for the visiting royal couple.

As she arrived for the occasion in Brussels, Máxima looked sensational in a one-shouldered pleated gold gown.

The sophisticated dress had a short train and was cinched in at the waist with a glistening belt. 

Off-setting the tone of her gown, Máxima wore a chunky diamond necklace with a large amber pendant.

The royal styled her blonde hair in lose waves and opted for her signature brown smokey eye. 

Braving the 24 degree heat this evening, Maxima carried a small white fan and finished off her outfit with a square gold clutch bag.

Meanwhile, Queen Mathilde, 50, opted for a glistening silver floor-length gown with floral appliques. 

The European royal swept her hair into a chic up-do and wore a pretty floral diamond necklace. 

What’s more, both King Phillipe and King Willem-Alexander looked dapper in black tuxedos for the occasion.

It comes as both Queen Máxima of the Netherlands and Queen Mathilde of Belgium were twinning in floral dresses as they attended the Climate Tech Forum earlier today. 

Both queens looked typically glamorous as they stopped to chat at the cafe in the Serre d’hiver.

Queen Mathilde looked chic in a green floral ensemble which she paired with a dusty pink hat.

She completed her ensemble with matching pink heels, gloves and a leather clutch bag.

Máxima’s stylish gown featured a colourful pattern and was paired with a sophisticated matching hat. 

The royal completed her look with beige heels and added a bit more glamour with gold earrings. 

The Queens were joined by their husbands Dutch King Willem-Alexander and King Philippe of Belgium for the tech forum.     

It comes after the royals attended a gala dinner in Brussels yesterday evening.

Hosted by the Belgian royals at their official residence, the Castle of Laeken, the gala dinner took place on the first night of Queen Máxima and King Willem-Alexander‘s three-day state visit to Brussels.

Looking effortlessly elegant, Queen Maxima sported a dusty pink gown, which featured a beaded bodice and a full, ruffled skirt.

With her hair brushed back, the Dutch Queen wore the Stuart Tiara dating back to 1897 for the momentous occasion. 

Queen Máxima previously wore the elaborate tiara for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in October 2018. 

The finishing touches of an ornate diamond necklace and matching diamond drop earrings made Queen Máxima dazzle. 

Meanwhile, her host, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, looked equally elegant in an embellished pale blue strapless gown. 

 The 50-year-old mother-of-three wore a long lace shawl draped over her shoulders and carried a small clutch bag.  

Also wearing a tiara, a diamond necklace and diamond earrings, Queen Mathilde’s jewellery was just as spectacular as Queen Máxima’s, 

The two Heads of State, King Phillipe and  King Willem-Alexander, both of whom were due to deliver speeches, looked smart in white tie and tails.

Later today, the King and Queen of the Netherlands will travel to Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Waterloo and Charleroi, before heading to Leuven and finishing in Antwerp.

The state visit aims to reaffirm the excellent ties between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong historical, social and economic links. 

Along the tour, the two royal couples will visit many different centres, museums and companies that are working towards a sustainable future in which energy is green and affordable. 

Silvio Berlusconi’s five children have united to bid a tearful farewell to their father at Milan’s gothic cathedral today as Italians held a national day of mourning for their former prime minister.

The children, from Berlusconi’s two marriages, were joined by thousands of mourners at the main square outside the Duomo to say their final farewell to the one-time cruise ship crooner turned billionaire media tycoon and politician.

Marina, 56, and Pier Silvio, 54 – from Berlusconi’s first marriage to Carla Elvira Lucia Dall’Oglio – and Barbara, 38, Eleonora, 37, and Luigi, 34 – from his second marriage to Veronica Lario – have been thrust into the limelight since their father’s death as rumours circulate about who will take on his empire valued at around £5.4 billion ($6.8 billion).

The late tycoon’s children were joined by Berlusconi’s 33-year-old partner Marta Fascina on the front bench of the Cathedral, as the former Italian prime minister was commemorated with a solemn state funeral.

The service for the 86-year-old billionaire attracted politicians and business leaders, as well as TV starlets, soccer players, soccer club chairmen, placard-waving fans of AC Milan, a club he owned for around three decades, and thousands of ordinary members of the public.

Marina, Berlusconi’s eldest daughter and the head of family holding Fininvest, held Fascina’s hand as they both wept as the coffin was placed before the altar.

Fascina had an established place in the family. She and Berlusconi never married, but last year they exchanged rings in a symbolic ceremony and he publicly called her his ‘wife’.

Unable to hold back her tears, she was seen again crying outside as the coffin left the building, on its way to be cremated.

The occasion has proved controversial in Italy, with many furious that such an honour is being bestowed upon a three-time Prime Minister and media mogul tarnished by scandals – including his famous Bunga Bunga sex orgies.

Nevertheless, tens of thousands of Berlusconi’s supporters gathered in the square in front of the Duomo to watch the proceedings live on giant screens, and applauded as the casket was carried up a flight of stairs and through the cathedral’s doors.

A further 2,300 people – made up of Italy’s business and political elite, including the president and three former premiers – gathered alongside Berlusconi’s children and companion, who openly wept as the casket was placed in front of the altar.

Today is also national day of mourning to mark the passing of the man that most Italians identify as the most influential figure in Italy over recent decades.

The media tycoon, soccer entrepreneur and three-time former Prime Minister – adored and loathed by Italians in equal measure – had been ill for several years, though he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.

Berlusconi’s legacy – positive or negative – was being hotly debated among Italians in the run up to the event. 

Italians are split over whether the former premier merits all the fuss and ceremony that will be on display in Milan.

His family held a private wake Tuesday at one of Berlusconi’s villas near Milan, the city where he made his billions as the head of a media empire before entering politics in 1994. They were seen together again inside the Duomo today.

Marta Fascina, an MP and Berlusconi’s final partner, could not hold back her tears. Those around her, included her partners older children, comforted her.

She was at his bedside as he succumbed to a rare type of blood cancer.

His two eldest children Marina and Pier Silvio were also front-and-centre during the ceremony. Marina, presumed to be the primary heir to Berlusconi’s media empire  also wiped away tears as the ceremony got under way. 

Fascina – 53 years Berlusconi’s junior – never officially married the tycoon, but they held a ‘fake’ ceremony in 2022 – making him his third ‘wife’. His ex-wives are understood to have been in attendance inside the cathedral too.

Some reports have suggested that Marina did not approve of Fascina and Berlusconi’s plans to get married. Nevertheless, she was seen comforting her father’s ‘widow’ all the same as the pair walked into the Duomo together.

Outside, large wreaths in the colours of the Italian flag stood along the front of the Duomo, where the ceremony began at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT).

It was presided over by Archbishop of Milan Mario Delpini. The cathedral was packed, but many more gathered in the square.

Delpini did not gloss over Mr Berlusconi’s complicated legacy in his eulogy.

He said he was a businessman who found success and failure, a politician who won and lost, and a notoriety-seeking personality who had admirers and detractors, ‘those who applaud him and those who detest him’.

‘When a man is a politician, then he tries to win. There are those who exalt him and those who cannot stand him,’ Delpini said in his homily.

‘When a man is a protagonist, then he is always on stage. He has those who applaud him and those who detest him,’ he said.

‘But in this moment of farewell and prayer, what can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? He has been a man: a desire for life, a desire for love, a desire for joy,’ he said. 

‘He is a man and now he meets God.’

With family members, political allies and opponents also sat in the pews inside.

Hungarian President Viktor Orban, Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid were among the highest-ranking foreign dignitaries attending.

Ms Meloni, who got her first government experience as a minister in a Berlusconi coalition, also attended, along with League leader Matteo Salvini, whose party has long been allied with Mr Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella was there too, while the European Union was represented by its economy commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella and former Premiers Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni and Mario Draghi were on hand, as well as other politicians, in a show of respect for a political figure with whom many had sparred. 

AC Milan legend and former England manager Fabio Capello was seen arriving to the cathedral earlier too. Berlusconi owned the Milan club from 1986 to 2017 through a sustained period of success – winning him adoration among the fans.

Among the crowd outside the Duomo was Lucia Adiele, a member of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia who travelled nearly 1,000 kilometres from her home in Altamura, southern Italy, to bid farewell to her favourite politician.

‘I was lucky enough to be a part of Forza Italia for 18 years. I was also lucky enough to meet him. The least I could do was to be here and say goodbye for the last time,’ she told Reuters TV. 

Fellow supporter Luigi Vecchione, 48, said Berlusconi was ‘my first and last political love. It’s a very sad day for Italy’. 

Not everyone in the crowd was a devotee, however. Amateur photographer Gianfranco Diletta, 65, said he had come to ‘immortalise this mass phenomenon’.

‘I never voted for Berlusconi, who embodied for Italy the modern populism of the 1990s… and was a friend of Putin’s to the end, a strategic error which put Italy’s national security in danger,’ he said.

The ceremony finished around an hour and a half after it began, with the coffin seen leaving the cathedral on its way to be cremated. 

Berlusconi’s ashes will be taken to the family mausoleum in the grounds of his villa in the northern town of Arcore, a source close to the family told Reuters news agency.

After a state funeral on Wednesday, the coffin will be returned to Villa San Martino, near Milan, to await the cremation which will take place at the Valenziano Panta Rei Crematorium Temple, near the city of Alessandria.

Berlusconi, who died on Monday at the age of 86, hired sculptor Pietro Cascella to build the mausoleum in the early 1990s.

Berlusconi originally built it to bury himself, his family members and friends, but then found out the law only allows bodies to be buried in public cemeteries, his long-time friend and art critic Vittorio Sgarbi told AdnKronos news agency.

Ashes can be placed in the mausoleum however.

Italian media described it as a white marble structure with an underground mortuary. A sarcophagus made for Berlusconi stands at the centre and a frieze representing chains is carved on the walls, with the tied rings seen as a symbol of family union.

The longest-serving premier in Italy’s postwar history, and re-elected to the Senate last year, Berlusconi was famed for controversial gaffes on the international stage.

Political opponents are questioning not only the decisions of Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government to hold a state funeral – an honour that can be afforded to all former premiers – but to also declare a national day of mourning.

National days of mourning are more rarely invoked. 

As part of the latter, flags were lowered to half mast on all public buildings from Monday in tribute to a leader whose influence extended well beyond politics, thanks to his extensive TV, newspaper and sporting interests.

Parliament was suspended for three days and the government declared a national day of mourning for Wednesday – the first time for an ex-prime minister.

But the decision was criticised by Berlusconi’s detractors, who accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing through laws to protect his own interests.

Senator Andrea Crisanti said he was ‘strongly against’ such national honours for ‘someone who had no respect for the state’, pointing to Berlusconi’s definitive conviction for tax fraud in 2013.

Rosy Bindi, former head of the Antimafia Commission, said it was ‘inopportune’ for ‘a person as divisive as Berlusconi’.

Repubblica daily said the ‘institutional shutdown’ was ‘extreme’ and compared it to Britain’s protocol for Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

‘Berlusconi split Italy, he insulted adversaries for 30 years, he criminalised the magistrates and he didn’t recognise laws. What are we talking about?’ journalist Marco Travaglio, a long-time Berlusconi critic and co-founder of the il Fatto Quotidiano daily, told private La7 TV on Monday.

Berlusconi is widely recognised as a precursor to the type of populist politics that later would bring Donald Trump to power in the United States.

Both used their high profile as businessmen to springboard into the political arena, upending politics as usual along the way.

Supporters of Berlusconi’s legacy cite his success in unifying the Italian center-right after the collapse of the post-war political landscape with the 1990s ‘Clean Hands’ corruption scandal. 

They also see his years as leader as periods of stabilisation, after years of quickly rotating governments, while admiring his bold rule-breaking and irreverence, perhaps especially in the face of other global leaders.

‘He did many big and small things, while suffering a mediatic and judicial aggression that only Craxi before him had endured,’ Stefania Craxi, a senator in Berlusconi’s party and the daughter of late Italian leader Bettino Craxi told private TV La7.

Her father died in exile in Tunisia in 2000 after being convicted in absentia for involvement in illegal party financing.

Berlusconi’s detractors’ list of political damage is long.

It includes conflicts of interest relating to his media empire, dozens of trials mostly for business dealings, revelations of sex-fuelled Bunga-Bunga parties at his villa near Milan and questionable associations.

The most controversial is his enduring friendship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is subject to an international arrest warrant and cannot travel to Italy.

‘He is not a leader who helped us grow,’ said Beppe Severgnini, a long-time foreign correspondent and writer for Corriere della Sera. ‘He tapped all of our weaknesses: moral, fiscal, sexual, everything.’ 

America’s postcode lottery for the price of giving birth has been revealed in DailyMail.com interactive maps.

Based on data from healthcare insurance claims analyst FAIR Health, they show how the national average stands at $12,900 for a vaginal delivery and $15,500 for a C-section.

The costs ranged by as much as $13,000 for a vaginal delivery depending on where someone lives, with Alaska and New Jersey charging up to $21,000 for birth, while in Alabama and Louisiana, the price for the same procedure could be below $8,000.

The situation was worst for uninsured patients, who could face costs upwards of $50,000 for giving birth in the country.

Some states were more expensive because of their high cost of living and the fact that they had nationally renowned healthcare providers. 

On the other hand, states with a lower cost of living tended to have lower price tags for giving birth. The map comes as the number of births per year continues to trend downwards in the US, with many now waiting until later in life to have children.

For the analysis, FAIR Health looked at its database of 41billion claims — the largest in the US — and included those linked to giving birth in 2022.

These were claims for the actual birth — such as renting the labor room — and for tests afterward — like fetal stress and any scans.

The analysis calculated figures for people with health insurance, comprising 92 percent of the population and those without.

Patients will likely only need to pay a fraction of the total costs out-of-pocket — typically $2,500 to $3,000, with insurance companies footing the rest.

Major insurance groups like Cigna and Aetna negotiate the price of a birth or C-section with insurance companies, with patients later required to pay only a percentage of the total.

However, those who come to healthcare systems without insurance face much higher costs.

The costs were calculated for people who did not face complications, with those that do likely to face a larger bill. 

Broken down by state, the most expensive for vaginal delivery was Alaska ($21,525) and New York ($19,990).

Rounding out the top five were New Jersey ($18,688), Connecticut ($17,387) and Massachusetts ($16,731).

At the other end of the scale, there was Alabama ($7,840), Louisiana ($7,981) and Maryland ($9,183).

Alaska was also the most expensive state for C-sections, with the procedure priced at more than $25,000.  

The state was followed by New Jersey, also at $25,000, New York ($22,353) and Connecticut ($29,956) regarding C-section costs.

The cheapest state was Alabama, priced at $8,913, with Louisiana second at $8,995 and Maryland third at $9,856.

Alaska is one of the most expensive places for healthcare in the United States, including giving birth, partly because of its geographical isolation.

This leads to higher costs for getting vital medical supplies to the state, while the limited competition — due to fewer providers — allows those there to charge more.

The costs of giving birth in Alaska are also forced by its high cost of living, with people needing to earn more to live comfortably in the state.

The cost of giving birth is also higher in the New York metropolitan area — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

This may be linked to it having a higher quality healthcare system, with hospitals there often ranking among the best in the country, alongside the higher cost of living in the area.

Women giving birth in these areas may also face higher insurance premiums and deductibles due to the higher cost of living, also inflating prices.

At the other end of the scale were the southern states — particularly Alabama — for both vaginal deliveries and C-sections.

This is likely driven by the state having a lower cost of living and, as a result, being able to charge less for healthcare than in other areas.

It also has a low population density, which can result in less demand for healthcare — which would also help to push down prices. 

Robin Gelburd, the president of FAIR Health, said that Alaska’s high prices were due to its ‘remote geography and practice settings, cost of travel and potential lack of access to practitioners and relevant facilities.’

On Alabama, he said this was a state with ‘a relatively low cost of living that translates generally into lower cost of healthcare’.

He added: ‘The lower prices may also be a reflection of the reimbursement rates negotiated between plans and providers in the South and the relative negotiating power of the parties.’ 

It comes after it was revealed that a record number of women are now waiting until they hit their 40s to have children. 

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that the birth rate for women aged 40 to 44 rose four percent 2022 from the previous year to a record high.

There was also a 12 percent uptick among women aged 45 to 49, the first change in this rate since 2015, and to another record level.

Experts say that more people are putting off starting a family until later in life, instead focusing on their career, travel and social life in their younger years. The cost of giving birth and becoming a mother is also a factor.

The rise of technologies such as invitro-fertilization (IVF) and egg freezing have also played a role.

The uptick among older women comes as America’s fertility rate hovers at just below 1.7 births per woman. It hit a record low in 2020 at 1.6 when the pandemic led many couples to put off having children.

The data was released as a ‘Cost of Giving Birth’ tracker on the FAIR Health website.

Its president Robin Gelburd said: ‘FAIR Health is pleased to shine a light onto the costs of giving birth from state to state and nationally.

‘With the Cost of Giving Birth tracker, we once again use our vast data repository to inform healthcare stakeholders — including patients, policy-makers, payors and providers — on issues that matter to them.’ 

A radio DJ from San Diego has created his own micronation called ‘Slowjamastan’ and has appointed himself ‘Sultan’ of the 11-acre territory in the Golden State. 

Randy ‘R Dub’ Williams has visited every UN designated country – more than 190 across the world – and has resorted to creating his own nation under his rules. 

‘I’ve seen some incredible places that many people do not get the chance to travel to … What’s next for me, it’s to make a country of my own,’ Williams told FOX 5.  

Like any country, the micronation has rules for residents. Outlawed actions include wearing crocs, eating string cheese by biting it instead of pulling it apart, and playing ‘mumble rap’ music. 

The micronation has not been officially recognized by the United States although Williams’ Slowjamastan passport has been stamped by 16 countries.  He also claims 5,000 people have signed-up to become citizens. 

Micronations like Slowjamastan are independent but are not formally recognized by sovereign states. There are an estimated 70 around the world. 

It was a micronation in Nevada called ‘Republic of Molossia’ that gave Williams the idea to come up with Slowjamastan. 

Since buying the land in 2021, the Sultan has put real elbow grease into cultivating the nation and putting it on the map. 

The country has a national anthem called ‘Slowjamastan (I think It’s Gonna Be an Awesome Place),’ a ‘parliament,’ and a national animal – the ringtail raccoon.

Slowjamastan also has its own currency – the ‘duble,’ which is a play on Russia’s currency, the Ruble. 

When asked what the structure of the government is, the ‘Sultan’ said it’s a  dictatorship that’s occasionally a democracy. 

‘We are a republic on some days, but on (other) days we have a dictatorship,’ the radio DJ told FOX 5. 

‘I am the great leader that makes the rules, although sometimes … we let the community chime in on issues that are important to the Slowjamastani,’ he said.

Aside from the ban on crocs and outlawing of ‘mumble rap,’ residents are not allowed to drive in the left lane unless actually passing another car.

No citizens live in Slowjamastan but there are thousands of citizens around the world and tons who are still waiting in line.  

Williams said the name of his new country is a reference to his time as a slow-jams DJ on Magic 92.5 in Southern California. 

‘The sultan is the sultan of slow jams,’ Williams said.  

‘He loves the Boys II Men, and the Usher, and the Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross and Anita Baker,’ the man said, speaking in third person. 

‘That’s just kind of the tie-in we wanted – the land of slow jams where people could come and just vibe out and relax,’ the ‘Sultan’ continued.

Williams said the micronation has no infrastructure but plans are in place to build solar power facilities, an armadillo farm, and a Mongolian BBQ restaurant. 

He said he hopes that the U.S. will recognize Slowjamastan with additional developments to the barren state and residents, of which they already have many. 

‘We have citizens from all over six continents,’ Williams told the San Diego outlet. 

‘We are very proud citizens … These people are proud to be a part of something new and fresh,’ the ‘Sultan’ continued.

Those who want to travel to ‘The United Territories of The Sovereign Nation of The People’s Republic of Slowjamastan’ will need to procure a visa. 

Without permission, visitors are unable to come into the area and are encouraged to take a selfie with the border sign on Highway 78 in Imperial County. 

Micronations are legal but are considered independent developments that exist as a state within a state, similar to Native American reservations. 

The concept of the small, self-governed countries is certainly not new. 

The Empire of Atlantium, a micronation founded in 1981 in a suburb of Sydney, was reported on by BBC in 2022 for the way that it came into the public eye. 

Founder George Cruickshank, a teenager at the time, declared the ‘nation’ independent from Australia and has maintained that status since. 

‘The idea of a sovereign nation state having complete authority over its citizens within defined borders is only a fairly recent development, and it led to all of the horrors of the 20th Century,’ said Cruickshank.