By LAURAN NEERGAARD, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has approved the world’s only twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV, maker Gilead Sciences announced Wednesday. It’s the first step in an anticipated global rollout that could protect millions – although it’s unclear how many in the U.S. and abroad will get access to the powerful new option.

While a vaccine to prevent HIV still is needed, some experts say the shot — a drug called lenacapvir — could be the next best thing. It nearly eliminated new infections in two groundbreaking studies of people at high risk, better than daily preventive pills they can forget to take.

“This really has the possibility of ending HIV transmission,” said Greg Millett, public policy director at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

Condoms help guard against HIV infection if used properly but what’s called PrEP — regularly using preventive medicines such as the daily pills or a different shot given every two months — is increasingly important. Lenacapavir’s six-month protection makes it the longest-lasting type, an option that could attract people wary of more frequent doctor visits or stigma from daily pills.

But upheaval in U.S. healthcare — including cuts to public health agencies and Medicaid — and slashing of American foreign aid to fight HIV are clouding the prospects.

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Millett said “gaping holes in the system” in the U.S. and globally “are going to make it difficult for us to make sure we not only get lenacapavir into people’s bodies but make sure they come back” even as little as twice a year.

Gilead’s drug already is sold to treat HIV under the brand name Sunlenca. The prevention dose will be sold under a different name, Yeztugo. It’s given as two injections under the skin of the abdomen, leaving a small “depot” of medication to slowly absorb into the body.

Gilead didn’t immediately announce its price. The drug only prevents HIV transmission – it doesn’t block other sexually transmitted diseases.

Global efforts at ending the HIV pandemic by 2030 have stalled. There still are more than 30,000 new infections in the U.S. each year and about 1.3 million worldwide.

Only about 400,000 Americans already use some form of PrEP, a fraction of those estimated to benefit. A recent study found states with high use of PrEP saw a decrease in HIV infections, while rates continued rising elsewhere.

About half of new infections are in women, who often need protection they can use without a partner’s knowledge or consent. One rigorous study in South Africa and Uganda compared more than 5,300 sexually active young women and teen girls given twice-yearly lenacapavir or the daily pills. There were no HIV infections in those receiving the shot while about 2% in the comparison group caught HIV from infected sex partners.

A second study found the twice-yearly shot nearly as effective in gay men and gender-nonconforming people in the U.S. and in several other countries hard-hit by HIV.

Ian Haddock of Houston had tried PrEP off and on since 2015 but he jumped at the chance to participate in the lenacapavir study and continues with the twice-yearly shots as part of the research follow-up.

“Now I forget that I’m on PrEP because I don’t have to carry around a pill bottle,” said Haddock, who leads the Normal Anomaly Initiative, a nonprofit serving Black LGBTQ+ communities.

“Men, women, gay, straight – it really just kinds of expands the opportunity for prevention,” he added. Just remembering a clinic visit every six months “is a powerful tool versus constantly having to talk about, like, condoms, constantly making sure you’re taking your pill every day.”

“Everyone in every country who’s at risk of HIV needs access to PrEP,” added Dr. Gordon Crofoot of Houston, who helped lead the study in men. “We need to get easier access to PrEP that’s highly effective like this is.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

It’s Kevin Durant.

That’s the thought in many minds when trade winds circulate regarding one of the better scorers to ever touch a basketball.

Few have put the ball in the bucket with the volume and efficiency at which “KD” has done it. Even at 36 (he’ll be 37 when the 2025-26 campaign tips off), Durant averaged 26.2 points per game last year with elite shooting efficiency.

How do you not trade for that guy if the opportunity presents itself? Especially Minnesota, which is searching for ways to take that next step after reaching the Western Conference Finals in consecutive seasons.

But it’s not that simple, and not just because Durant reportedly isn’t all that interested in playing in Minnesota — the reality is he doesn’t have final say on that, though the Wolves probably wouldn’t want to bring in an already disgruntled player.

But also because this is not prime Kevin Durant. While he’s still a supreme shooter, he doesn’t put pressure on the rim – Durant took just two shots per game in the restricted area this past season (for reference: Naz Reid averaged 2.8, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Donte DiVincenzo were both at 1.5) – and his defensive impact has waned over the past two seasons.

Whether the latter is due to age or Phoenix’s team-wide defensive ineptitude remains to be seen.

It’s quite possible Durant could seamlessly slip into Minnesota’s roster and perfectly handle the defensive assignments given to him on a team where talent on that end of the floor is abundant. And offensively, as Oklahoma City has demonstrated in these playoffs, it sure is beneficial to have someone who can consistently get and bury a contested 16-foot jumper when the going gets tough. Durant is also an excellent floor spacing option.

Does he fit Minnesota’s roster? Yes. For that reason, such an acquisition makes a lot of sense for the Timberwolves. But only if the roster he would come into post-trade still resembles today’s.

Rudy Gobert is a logical salary to go the other way to Phoenix in a Durant trade. He also would fill the Suns’ gaping hole at center. But doesn’t Durant fit best on a Wolves roster that still has Gobert? One with a defensive anchor who’s steadied the ship for a few years now in Minnesota and creates a high regular-season floor?

Durant was just part of a team missing a legitimate center option in Phoenix. That didn’t go great. Ideally, he’s entering a situation where he contributes but isn’t overly leaned upon for rebounding and defense.

And Durant would alleviate Minnesota’s spacing concerns. But those largely exist with Gobert in the fold. A Durant-Gobert frontcourt feels like a good complement to one another. Swapping out Gobert for Durant may swing Minnesota’s pendulum too far the other direction.

More versatile, but also far more volatile?

Perhaps you could live with that if you’re Tim Connelly and Co. The regular season could be more complicated in a post-Gobert world, but if you could still chart a course back to the conference finals, Durant could help you break through that ceiling that the current roster with Gobert has hit on multiple occasions.

But if such a trade also features Donte DiVincenzo, the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft and Terrence Shannon Jr., now your wing depth is depleted to the point where re-signing Nickeil Alexander-Walker becomes a must, with no guarantee that it will be feasible to do so. Otherwise you’re staring down a reserve backcourt of Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark behind an aging Mike Conley. That’s an even scarier proposition without the great stabilizer – Gobert – there to cover up holes.

Minnesota’s depth would be strained, as would the cupboard of assets it could use to address any potential weak points on the roster.

Trading for Durant would be a clear championship-level swing. And believing Durant could help them reach such a goal is the only reason the Timberwolves would make such a move. The Wolves clearly believe they’re close.

Would they be closer after such an acquisition?

That depends on the cost.

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DEDHAM, Mass. — A jury cleared Karen Read of all but the least serious offense — drunk driving — following a lengthy trial for the murder of Boston Police Office John O’Keefe, her boyfriend.

The verdict, delivered after over 20 hours in the jury room, was anticipated ever since jurors appeared to hint at it with two notes they sent on Tuesday.

Upon hearing the verdict, Read hugged her attorneys. A crowd of supporters erupted in cheers on the streets outside the Dedham courtroom in Massachusetts.

The notes each addressed the idea of “lesser included” offenses, which could only be found under the OUI manslaughter charge. The least of those options was operating under the influence of liquor, or OUI.

Read, 45, had faced up to life in state prison if convicted of second-degree murder, the top-level offense charged against her. She was also charged with manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Following Wednesday’s verdict, prosecutor Hank Brenna recommended Read be sentenced to  complete the state’s 24(d) program, which includes outpatient treatment, loss of license and probation, a sentence that is standard for first time drunk driving convictions in Massachusetts.

A crowd show their support as Karen Read leaves court at the end of the day Tuesday after jurors had finished deliberation for the day at Norfolk Superior Court. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

The charge she was ultimately convicted of, operating under the influence of liquor, was the least of three “lesser included” offenses the jury could consider under the OUI manslaughter charge — but only if they didn’t find her guilty of the definition of the primary crime.

Retired state Superior Court Judge Jack Lu, who called the jury result “a stunning win for the defense” said that OUI rarely sees jail time for first time offenders.

Cannone will “almost certainly” sentence Read to something called the “24(d) program,” which includes a loss of driver’s license, outpatient treatment and probation. He says “the sentence is almost automatic it is imposed so often.”

Early indicator

The jury’s decision was foreshadowed by two notes they sent to Cannone earlier in the day. The first honed in directly on OUI considerations and the second asked whether indecision on one charge by itself would mean they’re hung on all of them.

“What is the time frame for the OUI charge?” the jury’s first question stated as read by Judge Cannone. “Second, are video clips of Karen’s interviews evidence? How should we consider them? And the third, does guilty on a sub-charge mean guilty on the overall charge?”

Attorneys discussed how the questions should be answered and then Cannone brought the jury back in.

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As for the first question, on the OUI charge, Cannone sided with defense attorney Alan Jackson’s recommendation: “You folks have all the evidence and remember, it’s only you who decide the facts in this case. So that’s the answer to that question. You are the factfinders.”

For the second, on video clips, Cannone said, “Yes, the videos are evidence. You should weigh the defendant’s statements in the video as you would any other piece of evidence and give them whatever weight you deem appropriate.” She did not append “if any” as the defense requested.

The third question led to an amended jury slip, which the defense had previously requested and was denied. The amendments to indictment 2, OUI manslaughter, was clarified as to how to indicate a selection for a lesser included offense.

Read, who has often talked to the media during the trial, was tight lipped when court took lunch recess following the jury answers. Her attorneys are barred by a gag order from talking. But her father offered some brief words:

“I just want my daughter home. And free,” Bill Read told reporters.

After lunch, Cannone read a second note: “If we find not guilty on two charges but can’t agree on one charge, is it a hung jury on all three charges or just one charge?”

After some back and forth, Cannone decided to respond, “This is a theoretical question, not one that I can answer.”

Defense attorney Alan Jackson said the response was “over our objection.”

I don’t think that’s an appropriate answer to a very, very clear question that could be answered in an innocuous way that does not affect Ms. Read’s rights,” he added. “This way it does.”

By LINDSEY BAHR

Elio is a lonely 11-year-old just looking for big answers about life.

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He’s recently lost his parents, the only people who understood him and wanted him, and the one thing that seems to give him comfort and hope is the idea that we’re not alone in the universe. So, in Pixar’s latest (in theaters Friday), he starts waging a campaign for aliens to abduct him. Mostly, this involves laying down on the beach and waiting, his sand notes getting ever more desperate. Then one day it works.

It’s a solid premise that, viewed one way, has all the makings of a classic Pixar film. It’s existential but cute. It might make you cry and also want to buy a cuddly Glordon toy. Glordon (Remy Edgerly) is the toothy, slug-like young alien with no eyes who befriends Elio (Yonas Kibreab).

From a more cynical vantage point, however, it also doesn’t stray far from the formula. It’s another kid realizing that the things that make him different might just be his secret power played out on a heightened, fantastical scale. It’s safe and familiar, but also perhaps getting a little tired. “Elio” might even be the film that will have you wishing that Pixar would tone down the self-help sessions. Dead parents and a kid with a single tear running down his face is a brutal way to start an intergalactic adventure movie for the whole family. We’ve cared about protagonists with far less immediate trauma.

Elio and his aunt Olga ( Zoe Saldaña ) are barely holding on when we meet them living on an army base. She’s had to abandon her dreams of being an astronaut to be Elio’s primary caregiver, and he is a tricky subject — consumed with grief that he can’t quite verbalize and channeling all of his energies into a quest to communicate with extraterrestrials. Olga is trying but overwhelmed and Elio feels like a burden. On top of it all, he can’t seem to stay out of trouble, whether it’s his own making or in self-defense against a local bully. It’s no wonder he wants to flee for a world of infinite knowledge, voice powered anti-gravity devices and spectacular colors.

But life in the cosmos is no walk in the park either. Elio gets immediately entangled in a web of lies, in which he convinces the (we’re told) wise aliens of the Communiverse that he is the leader of Earth. Fake it until you make it, Pixar-style? He’s sent to negotiate with Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett), a warmongering leader who wants to lead the Communiverse, and learns techniques like “start from a position of power” and to use a “bargaining chip.” Like most Pixar movies, it’s building towards a message of empathy. But for a good long while it we’re also being taught something akin to the art of the deal.

“Elio” is the work of many people — there are three credited directors, Adrian Molina ( “Coco” ), who left the project but retains the credit, Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi (“Turning Red”), and three credited screenwriters involved. And the story stretches in a lot of different directions, making the overall experience a little disjointed and strained. It’s most fun when it lets its kid characters be kids — Elio and his new pal Glordon have a ball just playing around in the Communiverse. But the film just takes so long to get there. Dazzling visuals will only get you so far. And those are not without their pleasures and irreverent homages to film tropes in various genres. One of the more questionably intense sequences involves a bit of clone body horror, but perhaps that’s an adult projecting a horror element onto something that a kid might just find funny.

There’s a nice overriding message about parental acceptance and unconditional love – there always is. But in playing it so safe and so familiar, “Elio” is missing a bit of that Pixar wonder, and mischief.

“Elio,” a Walt Disney Company release in theaters Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for “thematic elements, some action and peril.” Running time. 99 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.