McDonald's Says Russian Officials Shut Down 12 Locations

MOSCOW, Aug 29 (Reuters) - McDonald's said on Friday that a total of 12 of its branches in Russia had been temporarily closed over the state food safety regulator's allegations of sanitary violations.

The U.S. fast-food chain, which has 440 restaurants in the country, also said that more than 100 inspections were underway at its restaurants in various regions of Russia.

"We are studying the essence of claims in order to determine the necessary actions for the swift re-opening of restaurants for visitors," it said in a statement. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Pravin Char)

From Wednesday:

MOSCOW, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Russian courts on Wednesday backed the temporary closure of three McDonald's restaurants in Moscow for breaches of sanitary rules, amid a standoff with the West over Ukraine, while the state food safety watchdog suspended work at a fourth.

The three restaurants - on Moscow's Manezh square, under the walls of the Kremlin, at Pushkin Square and on Prospect Mira - have been closed since last week on the orders of the watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor. The court rulings confirmed that decision.

Rospotrebnadzor has introduced sweeping checks, including unscheduled inspections, at McDonald's restaurants across the country.

On Wednesday it ordered the temporary closure of a fourth branch in the capital - the sixth nationwide.

Russian businessmen have said the crackdown is linked to the crisis over Ukraine, which has soured U.S.-Russian relations and led to a round of sanctions and trade restrictions. Rospotrebnadzor has denied that its actions are politically motivated.

McDonald's said it would appeal the court rulings, which ordered the three Moscow branches to be closed for 90 days.

"We do not agree with the courts' decisions and will appeal them according to established procedures. We will continue to take care of our employees and do everything we can to continue successful operations in Russia," said a spokeswoman for the U.S. firm in Russia.

A lawyer representing McDonald's in the court, Maksim Titarenko, was also quoted as saying the courts' decisions to close the branches were unjustified.

"The court has ordered the maximum penalty under this article of the administrative offenses code although there are no grounds for it," Interfax news agency quoted Titarenko as saying.

A court in the Urals region delivered a similar ruling on Wednesday when it ordered the closure of a McDonald's restaurant in the city of Yekaterinburg for 85 days, backing the food safety watchdog's decision the day before.

McDonald's operates 440 restaurants in Russia and considers the country one of its top seven markets outside the United States and Canada, according to its 2013 annual report. Almost 1 million people a day visit its restaurants in Russia. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Additional reporting by Natalia Shurmina in Yekaterinburg; Editing by Louise Heavens and Pravin Char)

Some Insurers Ignore Obamacare, Refuse To Cover Birth Control

Provided by Kaiser Health News.

How much leeway do employers and insurers have in deciding whether they’ll cover contraceptives without charge and in determining which methods make the cut?

Not much, as it turns out, but that hasn’t stopped some from trying.

Kaiser Health News readers still write in regularly describing battles they’re waging to get the birth control coverage they’re entitled to.

In one of those messages recently, a woman said her insurer denied free coverage for the NuvaRing. This small plastic device, which is inserted into the vagina, works for three weeks at a time by releasing hormones similar to those used by birth control pills. She said her insurer told her she would be responsible for her contraceptive expenses unless she chooses an oral generic birth control pill. The NuvaRing costs between $15 and $80 a month, according to Planned Parenthood.

Under the health law, health plans have to cover the full range of FDA-approved birth control methods without any cost sharing by women, unless the plan falls into a limited number of categories that are excluded, either because it’s grandfathered under the law or it’s for is a religious employer or house of worship. Following the recent Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case, some private employers that have religious objections to providing birth control coverage as a free preventive benefit will also be excused from the requirement.

In addition, the federal government has given plans some flexibility by allowing them to use "reasonable medical management techniques" to keep their costs under control. So if there is both a generic and a brand-name version of a birth-control pill available, for example, a plan could decide to cover only the generic version without cost to the patient.

As for the NuvaRing, even though they may use the same hormones, the pill and the ring are different methods of birth control. As an official from the federal Department of Health and Human Services said in an email, "The pill, the ring and the patch are different types of hormonal methods … It is not permissible to cover only the pill, but not the ring or the patch."

Guidance from the federal government clearly states that the full range of FDA-approved methods of birth control must be covered as a preventive benefit without cost sharing. That includes birth control pills, the ring or patch, intrauterine devices and sterilization, among others.

But despite federal guidance, “we’ve seen this happen, plenty,” says Adam Sonfield, a senior public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and education organization. “Clearly insurance companies think things are ambiguous enough that they can get away with it.”

If you are denied coverage, your defense is to appeal the decision, and get your state insurance department involved.

“The state has the right and responsibility to enforce this law,” says Sonfield.

Store Employee Ties Elderly Man's Shoe Strings (And Tugs At Our Heartstrings) In Viral Pic

One simple act of kindness is catching the attention of thousands of people online.

Keith Kiel of Ormond Beach, Florida, was shopping at a Publix grocery store last week when he spotted an employee there in the midst of a good deed, according to a post on his Facebook page.

The employee, Gage Boucher, was assisting an elderly man who could not bend over to tie his shoe. Boucher quickly helped the man by bending down and tying both shoes for him. Kiel snapped a photo of the act on his iPhone and uploaded it to Facebook. In less than a week, the photo has received thousands of likes and shares.

Post by Keith Kiel.

The man then tried to pay Boucher, who refused to accept it, according to Fox 4 News. Kiel was moved by the scene, and hoped to bring recognition to the employee by posting the photo.

As for Boucher, he says he wants his deed to inspire others to be kind.

"Just like, do it, I guess. Just start being kind," he told Fox 4 News. "If you see someone who needs help, just help them out."

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