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Tag: COVID-19 pandemic

  • What to know as fall vaccinations against COVID, flu and RSV get underway

    What to know as fall vaccinations against COVID, flu and RSV get underway

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    WASHINGTON — Updated COVID-19 vaccines may be getting a little easier for adults to find but they’re still frustratingly scarce for young children. Health officials said Thursday the kid shots have started shipping — and reminded most everyone to get a fall flu shot too.

    About 2 million Americans have gotten the new COVID-19 shot in the two weeks since its approval despite early barriers from insurance companies and other glitches, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

    For the first time, the U.S. has vaccines to fight a trio of viruses that cause fall and winter misery. But health officials worry that shot fatigue and hassles in getting them will leave too many people needlessly unprotected.

    “We need to use them,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday. “Right now is the right time.”

    A flu vaccination and that updated COVID-19 shot are urged for just about everyone, starting with babies as young as 6 months.

    Also this year, a vaccine against another scary virus called RSV is recommended for people 60 and older and for certain pregnant women. And for babies, a vaccinelike medicine to guard against that respiratory syncytial virus is expected to arrive next month.

    “These vaccines may not be perfect in being able to prevent absolutely every infection with these illnesses, but they turn a wild infection into a milder one,” said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

    Some things to know:

    This year’s vaccine is updated to protect against newer versions of the constantly evolving coronavirus. Already there’s been a late summer jump in infections, hospitalizations and deaths. And so far the new vaccine recipe appears to be a good match to the variants currently circulating.

    Protection against COVID-19, whether from vaccination or from an earlier infection, wanes over time — and most Americans haven’t had a vaccine dose in about a year. Everyone 5 and older will need just one shot this fall even if they’ve never had a prior vaccination, while younger children may need additional doses depending on their vaccination and infection history.

    The rollout’s start has been messy. This time the government isn’t buying and distributing shots for free. Now drugstores, doctors’ offices and other providers had to place their own orders, and sometimes canceled appointments if supplies didn’t arrive in time. Some people had to wait for their insurance companies to update the billing codes needed to cover them or risk paying out of pocket.

    Manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna have shipped millions of doses, and say there’s plenty of supply — and in recent days, more appointments have started opening, at least for people 12 and older. In a Wednesday meeting, insurance companies told HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra they’ve largely resolved the paperwork issues blocking some patients’ vaccinations.

    The shots are supposed to be provided free in-network to the insured. For the uninsured or underinsured, CDC has opened what it’s calling a “bridge” program to provide free shots at certain sites.

    Adult doses got shipped first, CDC’s Cohen said. Doses for the under-12 set have begun shipping, and “the supply is filling out,” she said.

    Drugstore chain CVS said its doses for ages 5 and older began arriving last week, although supplies vary by location, while its MinuteClinic locations anticipate opening appointments for tots as young as 18 months in the coming days.

    As for pediatricians, they’ve had to guess how many doses to buy up-front while waiting to learn how much insurance companies would reimburse them for each shot, said Dr. Jesse Hackell of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He said early parent demand is heartening but that pediatricians expect to spend lots of time this fall explaining to hesitant families how important COVID-19 vaccination is even for healthy children.

    In Redmond, Washington, Ania Mitros got herself, her husband and her 13-year-old vaccinated pretty easily but despite calls to multiple pharmacies and clinics can’t find anyone to tell her when shots for her 8- and 11-year-old will be available. “There need to be clear expectations,” she said.

    Fewer Americans got a flu vaccine last year than before the coronavirus pandemic –- a discouraging gap that CDC hopes to reverse.

    People need a flu vaccine every fall because influenza also mutates each year. Like with COVID-19, flu is most dangerous to older adults, the very young and people with weak immune systems, lung, heart or other chronic health problems, or who are pregnant.

    There are multiple kinds of flu vaccines, including a nasal spray version for certain younger people. More important, three kinds are specifically recommended for seniors because they do a better job revving up an older adult’s immune system.

    Yes, although one in each arm might be more comfortable.

    RSV is a cold-like nuisance for most people, and not as well-known as the flu. But RSV packs hospitals every winter and kills several hundred tots and thousands of seniors. The CDC says already, RSV cases are rising in the Southeast.

    RSV vaccines from GSK and Pfizer are approved for adults 60 and older.

    Drugstores have adequate supplies but some seniors are reporting hurdles such as requirements to get a prescription. That’s because the CDC recommended that seniors talk with their doctors about the new vaccine. Cohen said it was meant just for education about a virus that people may not know much about.

    “We want folks to … get access to the vaccine as quickly as possible,” she said.

    The FDA also has approved Pfizer’s RSV vaccine to be given late in pregnancy so moms-to-be pass virus-fighting antibodies to their fetuses, offering some protection at birth. The CDC is recommending that pregnancy vaccinations be offered between September and January, when RSV tends to be most common.

    There’s no vaccine for children but babies whose mothers didn’t get vaccinated in pregnancy may get an injection of lab-made antibodies to guard against RSV. Called Beyfortus, the one-dose shot from Sanofi and AstraZeneca is different than a vaccine, which teaches the body to make its own infection-fighting antibodies, but is similarly protective. Cohen said it should be available in October.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Ancient ‘power’ palazzo on Rome’s Palatine Hill reopens to tourists, decades after closure

    Ancient ‘power’ palazzo on Rome’s Palatine Hill reopens to tourists, decades after closure

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    ROME — An ancient Roman imperial palazzo atop the city’s Palatine Hill was reopened to tourists on Thursday, nearly 50 years after its closure for restoration.

    The nearly 2,000-year-old Domus Tiberiana was home to rulers in the ancient city’s Imperial period. The sprawling palace allows for sweeping views of the Roman Forum below.

    The public is now able to tour it, following decades of structural restoration work to shore the palace up for safety reasons. Excavations uncovered artifacts from centuries of Roman life following the decline of the empire.

    The director of the Colosseum Archeological Park, which includes the Palatine Hill, in a written description of the restored palazzo, dubbed it “the power palace par excellence.”

    On the eve of the reopening, the official, Alfonsina Russo, quoted a first-century Roman poet as saying the sprawling palace seemed “infinite” and that “its grandiosity was just like the grandiosity of the sky.”

    Although the domus, or residence, is named after Tiberius, who ruled the empire after the death of Augustus, archaeological studies indicated that the palace’s foundations date from the era of Nero, shortly after the fire of 64 A.D that devastated much of the city.

    After the demise of the Roman Empire, the residence suffered centuries of abandonment, until when, in the 1500s, the Farnese noble family developed an extensive garden around the ruins.

    Thanks to the palazzo’s reopening to the public, visitors today can get a better idea of the path ancient emperors and their courts enjoyed en route to the domus.

    The English word “palatial” is inspired by the sumptuous imperial residence atop the Palatine, one of ancient Rome’s seven hills.

    The domus, built on the northwest slope of the hill, is considered to be the first true imperial palace. Besides the emperor’s residence, the complex included gardens, places of worship, quarters for the Praetorian Guard that protected the ruler and a service district for workers that overlooked the Roman Forum.

    Excavation and restoration work, carried out also during the coronavirus pandemic when for months tourism was at a minimum, helped archeologists piece together what Russo calls centuries of history in a place that “somehow went forgotten.”

    On display for those visiting the reopened domus is a selection of hundreds of artifacts that were found, including objects in metal and glass. Statues, other decorations and ancient coins were also dug up.

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  • UN rights experts report a rise of efforts in Venezuela to squelch democracy ahead of 2024 election

    UN rights experts report a rise of efforts in Venezuela to squelch democracy ahead of 2024 election

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    GENEVA — A U.N.-backed panel investigating human rights violations in Venezuela said Wednesday the South American country’s government has intensified efforts to curtail democratic freedoms with threats, surveillance and harassment as President Nicolás Maduro faces a re-election contest next year.

    The international fact-finding mission authorized by the U.N. Human Rights Council said the government shifted tactics since the COVID-19 pandemic, which marked the end of mass opposition protests and subsequent extensive arrests and torture of demonstrators.

    Now, the report said, authorities are increasingly repressing specific members of civil society, including politicians, labor leaders, journalists, human rights defenders and other real or perceived opponents. The targets have been subjected to detention, surveillance, threats, defamatory campaigns and arbitrary criminal proceedings on hate speech or terrorism charges, the report said.

    “By criminalizing participation in legitimate activities, the government is silencing and creating a chilling effect on anyone who might consider participating in any activity that could be perceived as critical of government,” Patricia Tappatá Valdez, a member of the fact-finding mission, told reporters Wednesday.

    The three-member mission said at least five arbitrary executions, 14 short-term enforced disappearances and 58 arbitrary detentions took place from January 2020 through August 2023. It also documented 28 cases of torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of detainees, of which 19 involved sexual and gender-based violence, during the same period.

    The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. It has also failed to respond directly to the mission, which has not received permission to enter the country.

    The mission does not have judicial powers, but the evidence it has gathered could be used by the International Criminal Court or by any country that might apply “universal jurisdiction,” such as Argentina, to prosecute alleged crimes against humanity. The mission has previously decried “crimes against humanity” in Maduro’s Venezuela.

    The report came just over a month before a primary election organized by factions of the Venezuelan opposition to choose a candidate to face Maduro in the 2024 election. The experts noted that the government barred three potential candidates — Henrique Capriles, Maria Corina Machado and Freddy Superlano — from taking part.

    Venezuela’s government frequently sidelines adversaries by banning them from public office, and not just in presidential contests. Such a ban was used retroactively in 2021 to remove Superlano, then a gubernatorial candidate, when he was ahead of a sibling of the late President Hugo Chávez but had not yet been declared the winner.

    Machado is a conservative, free-market firebrand seen as radical even among the right-leaning opposition for her unwillingness to negotiate with the Maduro government, but she has nonetheless become the leading candidate. Her ban, issued by the Comptroller General alleging fraud and tax violations, was dated just three days after she entered the primary race.

    Tappatá Valdez said the lack of independence of government institutions and the concerted efforts of some them, including the Comptroller General, the Ombudsman Office and the National Electoral Council, “contribute to curtailing the civic and democratic space.”

    Venezuela plunged into a political, economic and humanitarian crisis last decade, pushing at least 7.3 million people to migrate and making food and other necessities unaffordable for those who remain.

    Maduro was re-elected in 2018 after judges banned his main opponents from competing. But most opposition parties refused to recognize the election results. Instead, they challenged Maduro’s rule by creating an interim government led by Juan Guaidó, who was backed by the United States and dozens of nations that stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

    The U.S. government also imposed heavy sanctions on Maduro’s government that cut its access to U.S. banks and crippled the nation’s oil exports, hoping that would spark regime change. But Maduro’s government dug in and resisted the sanctions with support from Russia, Turkey and Iran.

    Guaidó’s claim to Venezuela’s presidency fizzled out, and he moved to the U.S. in April, citing increasing safety threats to himself and his family.

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  • Ukraine is the spotlight at UN leaders’ gathering

    Ukraine is the spotlight at UN leaders’ gathering

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    UNITED NATIONS — The war in Ukraine and its visiting president take center stage at the United Nations this week, but developing countries will be vying for the spotlight as well as they push for faster action on poverty and inequality at the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel three years ago.

    The annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly takes place at a polarizing and divisive juncture in history — the most fraught and dangerous since the Cold War, according to many analysts and diplomats.

    They point to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which upended already difficult relations among major powers as well as the ongoing impact of the pandemic, high food prices, the worsening climate emergency, escalating conflicts, and the world’s failure to tackle poverty, hunger and gender inequality.

    For developing countries, the top priority is the U.N.’s two-day summit starting Monday aimed at generating action by world leaders to achieve 17 wide-ranging and badly lagging global goals by 2030. In addition to ending extreme poverty and hunger, the goals include ensuring quality secondary education for all children, achieving gender equality and taking urgent action to combat climate change. At current rates, not a single one will be achieved.

    High-level meetings on issues including pandemic prevention and universal health care are also on tap.

    “We find ourselves at a critical juncture in human history,” former Liberian president and Nobel peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said last week.

    When the annual high-level meeting of the 193-member General Assembly begins Tuesday, presidents, prime ministers and monarchs from 145 countries are scheduled to speak, a very high number that reflects the multitude of global crises and lack of action.

    For the first time in years, U.S. President Joe Biden will be the only leader from the five powerful veto-wielding nations on the U.N. Security Council attending in person. This has sparked private grumbling from developing-country diplomats that key global players won’t be listening to their demands, which need billions of dollars to implement.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping attended last month’s Johannesburg summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Russian President Vladimir Putin, sought by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, didn’t go to South Africa and isn’t coming to New York. French President Emmanuel Macron, who attended last year, opted out to host Britain’s King Charles in Paris next week, and Rishi Sunak will be the first British prime minister to skip the General Assembly in a decade, officially due to a busy schedule.

    U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters last week that he didn’t think a leader’s presence “is more relevant or less relevant.” What counts, he said, is whether their government is prepared to make commitments on the U.N. goals and many other issues during the week. “So this is not a vanity fair,” he said.

    Richard Gowan, U.N. director of the International Crisis Group, said that after the recent meeting in New Delhi of the Group of 20 major economic powers, “for some European leaders right now there is not a lot of political capital in going to big summits, and you need to be seen at home a lot more.”

    He called the situation at the United Nations “bleak,” saying “it feels like we are a lot closer to a cliff edge in U.N. diplomacy” than a year ago. “Major power tensions are having a more and more serious effect on the organization,” he said.

    With the four leaders sending lower-ranking ministers, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is certain to grab even more attention, with the war in its 19th month and no end in sight. Biden, who speaks Tuesday, will also be closely watched for U.S. views on Ukraine, China and Russia.

    Zelenskyy also addresses the assembly Tuesday and will attend a Security Council meeting Wednesday on Ukraine focusing on the principles of the U.N. Charter, which require every country to respect others’ sovereignty and territorial integrity. The meeting could create the unique spectacle of placing Zelenskyy and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the same room.

    Underlying the entire week is the prospect that the very reason for the United Nations’ existence — to bring countries together to foster peace and security — is becoming more difficult because of divisions between the West, Russia and China, and the rise of regional and like-minded groups that are creating a multipolar world.

    Guterres, who will deliver his state-of-the-world address at Tuesday’s opening of what is called the General Debate, says he will tell world leaders that now is not a time for “posturing or positioning,” or for “indifference or indecision.”

    “This is a time to come together for real, practical solutions,” the U.N. chief said. “It is time for compromise for a better tomorrow.”

    Guterres, who says the Ukraine war has aggravated divisions, said the current shift to a fragmented “multipolar world” isn’t going to solve the planet’s myriad issues.

    At the same time, he argues that the multilateral institutions established after World War II — the United Nations and its powerful Security Council, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund — are outdated and need reform “to make them more fair and more equitable, and more representative of the world today.”

    Recently published IMF research found that if the world fractured into different economic, financial and trade systems, “the loss is of around $7 trillion annually,” Guterres said, making it crucial to have one global economy and agreement on how to govern “disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence.”

    Switzerland’s U.N. ambassador, Pascale Baeriswyl, said the summit on the 17 U.N. goals is the most important event this week apart from one-on-one meetings between world leaders. She expressed concern that with so many crises, it may be difficult to generate enough attention and political will to find solutions.

    Gowan said Zelensky’s visit to New York is an opportunity for him to engage leaders from the global South and others he hasn’t met. But Gowan said there is growing pressure for a diplomatic solution to the war, and if Zelenskyy says that “this is not a moment for diplomacy” and insists Ukraine has to fight on, “I think he will get a lot of pushback.”

    Guterres was asked how to keep the focus broader than only Ukraine and emphasize the U.N. goals. “We don’t want to have only one spotlight,” he replied. “We have the possibility, like in several theaters, to have different spotlights.”

    ___

    Edith M. Lederer, chief U.N. correspondent for The Associated Press, has been covering international affairs for more than 50 years.

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  • Repurposing dead spiders, counting cadaver nose hairs win Ig Nobels for comical scientific feats

    Repurposing dead spiders, counting cadaver nose hairs win Ig Nobels for comical scientific feats

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    Counting nose hairs in cadavers, repurposing dead spiders and explaining why scientists lick rocks, are among the winning achievements in this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for humorous scientific feats

    ByLISA RATHKE Associated Press

    September 14, 2023, 6:02 PM

    Counting nose hairs in cadavers, repurposing dead spiders and explaining why scientists lick rocks, are among the winning achievements in this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for humorous scientific feats, organizers announced Thursday.

    The 33rd annual prize ceremony was a prerecorded online event, as it has been since the coronavirus pandemic, instead of the past live ceremonies at Harvard University. Ten spoof prizes were awarded to the teams and individuals around the globe.

    Among the winners was Jan Zalasiewicz of Poland who earned the chemistry and geology prize for explaining why many scientists like to lick rocks.

    “Licking the rock, of course, is part of the geologist’s and palaeontologist’s armoury of tried-and-much-tested techniques used to help survive in the field,” Zalasiewicz wrote in The Palaeontological Association newsletter in 2017. “Wetting the surface allows fossil and mineral textures to stand out sharply, rather than being lost in the blur of intersecting micro-reflections and micro-refractions that come out of a dry surface.”

    A team of scientists from India, China, Malaysia and the United States took the mechanical engineering prize for its study of repurposing dead spiders to be used in gripping tools.

    “The useful properties of biotic materials, refined by nature over time, eliminate the need to artificially engineer these materials, exemplified by our early ancestors wearing animal hides as clothing and constructing tools from bones. We propose leveraging biotic materials as ready-to-use robotic components in this work due to their ease of procurement and implementation, focusing on using a spider in particular as a useful example of a gripper for robotics applications,” they wrote in “Advanced Science” in July 2022.

    Other winning teams were lauded for studying the impact of teacher boredom on student boredom; the affect of anchovies’ sexual activity on ocean water mixing; and how electrified chopsticks and drinking straws can change how food tastes, according to the organizers.

    The event is produced by the magazine “Annals of Improbable Research” and sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association and the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students.

    “Each winner (or winning team) has done something that makes people LAUGH, then THINK,” according to the “Annals of Improbable Research” website.

    ___

    Rathke reported from Marshfield, Vermont.

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  • Looking for the new COVID vaccine booster? Here’s where to get the shot.

    Looking for the new COVID vaccine booster? Here’s where to get the shot.

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    Pharmacies across the U.S. have started administering new COVID-19 booster formulations from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna.

    The Food and Drug Administration approved the revised mRNA vaccine shots Monday as several COVID variants spread and hospitalizations rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the shots for everyone 6 months and older. The vaccine is similar to previously approved formulas but it was updated to target the XBB variants that became prevalent last winter.

    Spokespeople for Moderna and Pfizer said people who want to get booster shots can contact pharmacies and hospitals directly for an appointment. 

    “Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine is being shipped to major retail pharmacies nationwide, and consumers can reach out to them directly to make their vaccination appointments,” a Moderna spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. 

    Pfizer said it has been “manufacturing this season’s vaccine in advance of the FDA’s decision to ensure supply readiness ahead of the fall and winter season. Doses will be available in pharmacies, hospitals and clinics across the U.S.”

    Here’s more information on where to get the latest COVID vaccine.

    CVS

    CVS on Wednesday announced that the newly authorized vaccines were in stock and available to consumers at its pharmacies. 

    “Pharmacies and retail medical clinics will begin receiving the new vaccine today and will continue to receive inventory on a rolling basis throughout the week,” the drugstore chain said in a statement.

    CVS said it expects all pharmacy locations across the U.S. to have doses of the new vaccine in stock by early next week. You can make an appointment at CVS.com or simply got to the most convenient location. If pharmacies have the vaccine in stock, they’ll accept walk-ins.

    Rite-Aid

    A Rite-Aid spokesperson said it expects to have the updated COVID vaccine in all of its pharmacy locations “soon,” without specifying exactly when. 

    Customers can schedule appointments beginning Friday. Walk-ins will be permitted once the vaccine becomes available in its stores. 

    Walgreens

    Walgreens told CBS MoneyWatch that it is now offering the jabs at locations nationwide. Consumers can schedule appointments immediately, with the first openings falling on Monday of next week. 

    Walgreens may add earlier appointments if vaccine supplies arrive earlier than expected. Doses of both brands’ formulas are currently being shipped to the company’s locations nationwide. 

    As with previous versions of the COVID-19 vaccine, the shots are available at no cost to consumers. 

    Because the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has recommended the vaccine for children, the government is required to administer it to kids as well as commercially insured adults for free.

    The federal government’s Bridge Access Program will also cover the cost of shots for the 25 million to 30 million uninsured adults in the U.S., according to KFF Health News. The program will pay for pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS to provide the shots for free, while Pfizer and Moderna will also donate a certain number of doses, according to the CDC. 

    Visit Vaccines.gov to identify pharmacies with available doses, as well as those participating in the Bridge Access Program.

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  • China’s ‘full-time children’ move back in with parents, as good jobs grow scarce

    China’s ‘full-time children’ move back in with parents, as good jobs grow scarce

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    TAIPEI, Taiwan — When she first moved to the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen after graduating from college, Marguerite Wang imagined she would spend her career working hard in a big city. Instead, she’s living with her parents in her hometown in northeastern China.

    A record of more than one in five young Chinese are out of work, their career ambitions at least temporarily derailed by a depressed job market as the economy struggles to regain momentum after its long bout with COVID-19.

    Wang, who was laid off from a gaming company in December, is among an estimated 16 million young Chinese who, daunted by the difficulties of finding decent jobs, have moved back home. She asked that her English nickname be used out of concern that speaking to foreign media might hurt her job prospects.

    After spending six months unsuccessfully applying for jobs in Shenzhen, the 29-year-old did something she had never imagined doing: she asked to move back home. Now she spends her days watching soap operas and studying Japanese to apply for a master’s program in Japan.

    Adult children returning to the nest is by no means unique to China, and many Chinese do live in extended families. But by some measures, young Chinese are enduring the country’s worst job market in generations, and many are coping by taking refuge with their parents.

    The urban unemployment rate for the 16-to-24 age group reached a record 21.3% in June. In July, the government stopped publishing age-specific data, prompting speculation the politically sensitive numbers had shot up even higher.

    If “full-time adult children” were counted as unemployed, the jobless rate would be more than double the official rate of almost 20 percent in March, Zhang Dandan, a Peking University economics professor, said in an op-ed in the Chinese business magazine Caixin in July.

    That would be a more accurate assessment of the unemployment crisis, said Zhang, who declined an interview request from AP. Her article was later removed from one of Peking University’s WeChat accounts, where it had been shared.

    The job drought is a ticklish problem for the ruling Communist Party, which is overseeing a sluggish post-pandemic economic recovery worsened by a downturn in the property market.

    The economy grew at a 6.3% pace in April-June compared to the same period a year earlier, when parts of China were under draconian COVID-19 lockdowns. Exports have been sinking as other major economies slow.

    China’s overall urban unemployment rate is officially 5.3%, but young people have been disproportionately affected. Over the past two years, Beijing has cracked down on industries such as high tech and education that usually hire young college graduates. That led to mass layoffs and shutdowns in both sectors.

    Other fields such as agriculture and construction lack enough workers, but most college graduates want less physically demanding white-collar positions. Research by online recruitment firm Zhilian Zhaopin showed a quarter of this year’s graduates wanted to work in the tech field.

    “There are job opportunities, but the job opportunities are low quality,” said Xiang Biao, head of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany. “So for the only child of a family, who received education, who grew up in a so-called time of abundance, it’s very difficult to embrace that kind of job.”

    An abundance of good jobs has been a mainstay of the social contract between the ruling party and young Chinese, Xiang said. A shortage of decent jobs undermines the Communist Party’s assertion that the country’s strong economy proves China’s political model is superior to Western democracies.

    There’s no evidence of significant political unrest over the unemployment problem, but late last year, protests against the government’s stringent “zero-COVID” policies sprouted across the country in the most direct challenge to the party in over 30 years. An official report in November noted that the growing “anxiety, disappointment and confusion generated by college students” could shake confidence in China’s economic future.

    Resorting to the usual Communist Party exhortations to toughen up, in June Chinese President Xi Jinping urged young people to “eat bitterness” – or endure hardship – “to create a better China.” Earlier this year, the Communist Youth League urged college graduates to “roll up their sleeves” and take up blue-collar jobs.

    Instead of eating bitterness, Xiang said, “full-time adult children” are taking advantage of the wealth accumulated by their parents to sit out the job drought, rest up and prepare for exams for relatively stable government jobs or for postgraduate studies.

    The trend also reflects changing attitudes among parents who typically would push their children to succeed financially and socially but now increasingly value their emotional well-being, especially when they see their them facing practical difficulties, said Mu Zheng, an assistant professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore.

    Having acquired a degree of financial security after decades of sustained economic growth, many parents now have the wherewithal to provide more support to their grown children.

    That was the case for Gui Xiaoru, who passed up the small-town teaching job she was offered after graduation because she was hoping for a better-paying position in a bigger city.

    She instead moved back home to Mianyang, in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, to study for a civil service exam. She cooks dinner for the family and goes grocery shopping. In return, she gets a 2,000 yuan (about $274) monthly allowance that allows her to focus on her studies.

    It’s a peaceful lifestyle, though she knows it’s temporary.

    “I think this phenomenon is normal,” Gui said, “but we can’t keep this status going forever.”

    Many “full-time adult children” are documenting their lives and domestic duties on social media. Some take on clearly defined roles such as cleaning, cooking and running errands for fixed monthly allowances.

    Wang Sinian, a 21-year-old from Bole, a city in far western China’s Xinjiang region near its border with Kazakhstan, started working at her parents’ home in April after finishing her studies at a Canadian university. On the social media platform Xiaohongshu, she documented her daily duties – scrubbing the kitchen, mopping floors, ironing clothes and running errands, in exchange for pocket money.

    But as is true for many of those who return home, her gig turned out to be temporary. In July, she returned to Canada to pursue a master’s degree.

    Marguerite Wang, the former gaming company employee, said she mostly keeps her parents company in return for pocket money.

    She’s cherishing the slower pace of life and time for reflection.

    “I don’t want to be in the same kind of work situation as before,” she said, “where I didn’t have a private life and all my energy went into my work, but I actually didn’t know what I was so busy for.”

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Fu Ting in Washington and researcher Wanqing Chen in Beijing contributed to this story.

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  • Looking for a refill? McDonald’s is saying goodbye to self-serve soda in the coming years

    Looking for a refill? McDonald’s is saying goodbye to self-serve soda in the coming years

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    Say goodbye to refilling that Coke

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 12, 2023, 3:27 PM

    FILE – A McDonald’s restaurant is seen, Feb. 14, 2018, in Ridgeland, Miss. McDonald’s plans to eliminate self-service soda machines at all of its U.S. restaurants by 2032, the Chicago-based fast food chain has confirmed. In an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, McDonald’s USA said the goal of the change is to create consistency for customers and crew members across the chain’s offerings — from in-person dining to online delivery and drive-thru options. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

    The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — Say goodbye to refilling that Coke. McDonald’s is getting rid of self-served soda.

    The Chicago-based fast food chain plans to eliminate self-service soda machines at its U.S. restaurants by 2032, McDonald’s confirmed this week. It’s unclear if locations outside the U.S. will follow suit.

    In an email to The Associated Press Tuesday, McDonald’s USA said the goal of the change is to create consistency for customers and crew members across the chain’s offerings — from in-person dining to online delivery and drive-thru options.

    The company did not specify if any additional factors — such as finances or sanitation — impacted the decision to part ways with its self-serve machines. For years, McDonald’s customers have used the machines to fill and refill their beverages without additional trips to a cashier.

    Behind-the-counter soda machines already exist at some other fast food chains — and a handful of McDonald’s locations across the country have also begun the transition. According to The State Journal-Register, which first reported on the company’s plans last week, several locations in Illinois, for example, are starting to phase out self-service soda.

    Over recent years, analysts have also pointed to changes in consumer behavior since the COVID-19 pandemic — including an uptick in digital and online delivery sales among fast food restaurants. As a result, some chains have toyed with enhancing drive-thrus or strengthening connections with food delivery apps — from Chipotle growing its Carside pickup locations to Domino’s penning a new partnership with Uber Eats.

    McDonald’s digital sales — made up of app, delivery and kiosk purchases — accounted for almost 40% of systemwide sales for the second quarter of 2023. Revenue rose 14% to $6.5 billion for the period, the chain reported in July, and net income nearly doubled to $2.3 billion for the quarter — exceeding analysts’ expectations.

    Some of those gains may fade a bit in the second half of the year. The price increases that have helped fuel McDonald’s sales in recent quarters will moderate as inflation comes down, Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said during July’s Q2 earnings call.

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  • Thailand’s new prime minister tells Parliament his government will urgently tackle economic woes

    Thailand’s new prime minister tells Parliament his government will urgently tackle economic woes

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    BANGKOK — Thailand’s new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin vowed to act quickly to relieve the country’s economic problems in his inaugural speech to Parliament on Monday, following four months of political uncertainty while parliamentarians were unable to agree on a government.

    Srettha entered politics after a career as a major real estate develope r, and his government is facing high expectations and pressing demands to address a range of economic, political, social and environmental problems in its four-year term.

    Thailand’s economy has slumped after the COVID-19 pandemic all but crippled its lucrative tourism industry. Public debt rose to more than 60% of GDP in 2023, while household debt spiked to over 90% of the GDP this year, he said.

    Thailand’s post-pandemic economy is like “a sick person,” with a sluggish recovery that puts the nation “at risk of entering a recession,” Srettha said.

    He vowed to quickly take measures to relieve debt problems, mitigate rising energy costs and boost tourism, without going into detail.

    He also said the government would work immediately to implement a campaign promise — a 10,000-baht ($280) handout for all Thais 16 and older to stimulate the economy by boosting short-term spending. Details were not given, though he’s previously said it would cost up to 560 billion baht ($15.8 billion) and will be ready to deliver by the first quarter of next year.

    The promise drew major interest in the election campaign, but critics have questioned whether it would have a sustainable effect.

    Long-term goals cited by Srettha include boosting international trade, supporting start-up businesses, investing more in transport infrastructure, improving agricultural production, empowering local government and increasing access to land ownership. The government would also seek to amend the current military-installed constitution through a process that allows public participation.

    These steps would allow the economy to grow and its people to be able to “live with dignity,” he said.

    The results of Thailand’s elections in May revealed a strong mandate for change after nearly a decade under military control.

    But Parliament failed to endorse a coalition formed by the progressive Move Forward party, which won the most seats in the May polls, because members in the appointed and conservative Senate were alienated by its calls for minor reforms to the monarchy.

    Srettha’s Pheu Thai party, which ran a close second in the election, then formed a broader coalition without Move Forward and was able to win Senate support. But it succeeded only by including pro-military parties and several parties that were part of the previous government, reneging on a campaign pledge not to do so. The deal raised skepticism over Pheu Thai’s ability to fulfill its election campaign promises while having to accommodate its allies that come from all along the political spectrum.

    Reforms to the military — a powerful political player that has staged two coups since 2006 — were part of the platforms of both Move Forward and Pheu Thai, Srettha addressed the point diplomatically in his speech, promising “co-development” with the military to end mandatory conscription, reduce the excessive number of generals and ensure transparency in defense ministry procurement procedures. The ministry is headed by Pheu Thai’s Sutin Klangsang, one of the few civilians to hold the portfolio, usually controlled by veteran senior military officers.

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  • New Jersey leaders agree with U.S. that veterans homes need to be fixed, but how isn’t clear

    New Jersey leaders agree with U.S. that veterans homes need to be fixed, but how isn’t clear

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    TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey’s leaders appear to agree with Justice Department findings that state-run veterans homes failed residents during COVID-19 and continue to violate their constitutional rights, but there’s little clarity on how exactly they’ll address the issues.

    The Democrat-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy gave the strongest indications yet that they’ll be addressing the problems highlighted in the report.

    Justice Department investigators on Thursday detailed what one veterans home worker in Paramus called “pure hell,” and another at the Menlo Park facility termed a “battlefield,” according to the report.

    Among the findings were that the facilities didn’t properly cohort residents, resulting in the mixing of people sick with COVID-19 with those who weren’t. The homes also didn’t properly train staff or use masks correctly, the document said. It also determined that the count of people who died from the outbreak was almost certainly higher than initially reported because of a lack of testing.

    The report’s publication comes as lawmakers are by and large in recess after passing a more than $54 billion budget in June, and ahead of legislative elections this fall.

    Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said he thinks “all options for comprehensive change” should be on the table to prevent further failures as described in the report. Senate President Nicholas Scutari said its findings “will undoubtedly require us to take further action.”

    Some lawmakers have put forward ideas for addressing the issues.

    Democratic state Sen. Joe Vitale wants to strip responsibility for the veterans facilities from the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and put it into a new Cabinet-level authority. That tracks roughly with what advocates for families of residents have suggested is the problem: Nursing homes being run through a military department instead of a health department.

    Democratic state Sen. Joe Cryan said he agrees and that legislation creating a new department is needed.

    Murphy hasn’t indicated what path he supports. He had promised a comprehensive review of how his administration handled COVID-19, but that’s not expected to be out until later this year. He didn’t take questions Friday at an event naming Tahesha Way as the new lieutenant governor.

    “It is clear that we have significantly more work to do and we are open to exploring all options to deliver for our veterans the high level of care they deserve and are entitled to under the law,” he said Thursday.

    Even before the report’s release, signs of trouble at the homes had been stirring. In 2021, the Murphy administration reached a $53 million settlement with more than 100 residents at the homes. And in October 2020 federal investigators questioned the Murphy administration’s nursing home death count and announced it was launching a formal investigation of the state’s veterans homes.

    Republicans, who are in the minority in the Legislature, want Murphy to be held accountable for the failures outlined in the report.

    “Our most vulnerable residents cannot survive this administration’s long-overdue Covid investigation, apathy and inaction,” Republican Assembly Leader John DiMaio said.

    The Justice Department report said officials there “look forward” to working with the state to remedy the failures they uncovered.

    It also notes that, within 49 days, the U.S. attorney general could file a lawsuit aimed at correcting the deficiencies they uncovered if the state hasn’t addressed concerns.

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  • A man charged with aiding Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot says the scheme didn’t seem serious

    A man charged with aiding Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot says the scheme didn’t seem serious

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    One of three men accused of assisting a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testified in his own defense Thursday, portraying himself as a scared participant in a daytime ride to see her vacation home in northern Michigan.

    Eric Molitor and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null are charged with providing material support for terrorist acts.

    Molitor said Whitmer’s name didn’t come up when he was encouraged by the scheme’s leader, Adam Fox, to go to Antrim County to check out a “high-profile vacation house” in August 2020.

    But Molitor said he became anxious when he learned that it was the governor’s lakeside house in Elk Rapids. He was in a pickup truck with Fox and an FBI informant when they twice drove by the property.

    “What do I say? How do I act? What do I do? How do I get out of this situation?” Molitor told the jury. “I don’t have training. I don’t have backup. I got nothing.”

    Molitor’s decision to testify was a rare move: In four trials so far in state and federal courts, only one other defendant has taken the witness stand. He was acquitted.

    Molitor and the Nulls are accused of aiding plot leaders Fox and Barry Croft Jr. Social media posts and text messages show they were outraged over COVID-19 restrictions, but evidence also revealed that they had anti-government views before the pandemic and were girding for a civil war.

    Molitor, 39, said his concern about the drive to Whitmer’s home eased, and he didn’t contact police.

    “It didn’t seem serious. … The danger level in my mind was decreasing just based on the fact that they were not organized. It was two guys, one of them just talking crazy,” Molitor testified. “My danger level went way down.”

    He said he voted for Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats, in 2018 but soured on them. Molitor said mask rules and lockdowns during the peak of COVID-19 were excessive.

    “Did I have thoughts of hurting people? No. I did back the idea of a civilian arrest if that was possible,” he said of Whitmer. “Other than that, voting her out was my best way of taking care of that.”

    The Null brothers were part of a separate night ride to see Whitmer’s property several days later. The three men also participated in paramilitary training.

    Informants and undercover FBI agents were inside the group for months, making recordings and collecting evidence. Whitmer was not physically harmed.

    Fourteen men were arrested just a month before the November 2020 election. Nine have been convicted in state or federal court while two have been acquitted.

    After the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given “comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” Trump called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal” in August 2022.

    ___

    This story has been corrected to show Whitmer and Nessel were candidates for elections in 2018, not 2016.

    ___

    Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez

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  • Man charged with aiding Whitmer kidnap plot testifies in own defense

    Man charged with aiding Whitmer kidnap plot testifies in own defense

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    One of three men accused of assisting a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testified in his own defense Thursday, telling jurors that government-imposed restrictions during the pandemic were excessive.

    Eric Molitor, 39, and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null are charged with providing material support for terrorist acts and gun crimes in a 2020 scheme to kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home in northern Michigan’s Antrim County.

    Molitor’s decision to testify was a rare move: In four trials so far in state and federal courts, only one other defendant has taken the witness stand. He was acquitted.

    The first hour of Molitor’s testimony centered on his personal background and views about government, gun rights and free speech, not the specific allegations against him.

    “Nobody should have to tell you to wear a mask,” Molitor told jurors, referring to COVID-19 rules. “If it’s for your safety, that should be up to you.”

    Molitor and the Nulls are accused of aiding plot leaders Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. Social media posts and text messages show the group was outraged over COVID-19 restrictions, but evidence has also revealed that they had strident anti-government views before the pandemic and were girding for a civil war.

    “I see things a lot as a slippery slope,” Molitor told the jury, referring to certain government actions.

    He said he becomes “worried about these small laws and rules that come in. They open the door for bigger laws and rules to infringe on our rights.”

    Molitor described himself as a libertarian but said he voted for Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel, both Democrats, in 2018. Nessel’s office is prosecuting him.

    There’s no dispute that Molitor drove with Fox to see Whitmer’s home in August 2020. The Null brothers were on a night ride to see the property several days later. The three also participated in paramilitary training.

    Molitor’s attorney has said he was a small player and didn’t initially know he was looking for Whitmer’s home.

    Informants and undercover FBI agents were inside the group for months, making recordings and collecting evidence. Whitmer was not physically harmed.

    Fourteen men were arrested just a month before the November 2020 election. Nine have been convicted in state or federal court while two have been acquitted.

    After the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given “comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” Trump called the kidnapping plan a “fake deal” in August 2022.

    ___

    This story has been updated to correct that Whitmer and Nessel were candidates for elections in 2018, not 2016.

    ___

    Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez

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  • Australia and China open their first high-level dialogue in 3 years

    Australia and China open their first high-level dialogue in 3 years

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    TAIPEI, Taiwan — Australia and China opened their first high-level dialogue in three years Thursday in a sign of a slight thaw to relations between countries that have clashed on everything from human rights to COVID-19 origins to trade.

    “I welcome the recent positive developments in the bilateral relationship, but we know that there is more work to do,” said Craig Emerson, the head of the Australian delegation and a former trade minister.

    The dialogue being held in Beijing will focus on trade, people-to-people links and security.

    China’s former Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said the two countries should work together, but added that “We should adhere to the liberalization of trade and jointly oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and trade protectionism.”

    Beijing often uses those terms in opposing the actions of Western countries, particularly the U.S.

    During the freeze in relations with Beijing, Australia formed a nuclear partnership with the U.S. and the United Kingdom that enables Australia to access nuclear-powered submarines.

    Australia’s current Foreign Minister Penny Wong has sought to stabilize the two countries’ relationship since her party won elections last year.

    On Thursday, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also met with China’s Premier Li Qiang at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia, describing the engagement as positive.

    “I told Premier Li that we would continue to cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest,” Albanese said to reporters, according to a statement from his office, saying he would visit China later this year at the invitation of China’s leader Xi Jinping.

    China’s and Australia’s relations sank to low depths during the pandemic. The previous Australian government passed laws that ban covert foreign interference in domestic politics, barring Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei from rolling out Australia’s 5G network due to security concerns, and for calling for an independent investigation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In response, China effectively blocked out Australian barley in 2020 by imposing an 80.5% tariff, widely regarded in Australia as punishment. China also put tariffs on Australian wine, beef, and coal, as well as other products. China recently lifted the tariff against barley.

    Australia is also hoping to see a breakthrough in the cases of five detained Australians in China, among which is Cheng Lei, a journalist who has been imprisoned for three years.

    “We continue to advocate for positive progress on the cases of Australians detained in China,” Emerson said.

    ___

    Find more of AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

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  • Can you still get free COVID tests in 2023? Here’s what to know about your options.

    Can you still get free COVID tests in 2023? Here’s what to know about your options.

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    Following a weekend of Labor Day travel amid an uptick of COVID-19 hospitalizations, many people are wondering where to get free COVID test kits in 2023, whether by mail or with insurance. 

    Levels of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths for now remain far below previous peaks seen during past summer and winter waves of the virus, but they have been climbing steadily for several weeks and are predicted to accelerate. 

    Health authorities are also tracking the spread of three new COVID-19 variants around the country.

    Does the government still send free COVID tests in the mail?

    While the government program to mail Americans free COVID tests is no longer in operation, there are still ways for both insured and uninsured people to get free testing. 

    If you still have tests saved from previous test mailings, they may still be usable even if they’re past the expiration date on the label — but it depends.

    While the Food and Drug Administration does not recommend using at-home COVID-19 tests beyond their authorized expiration dates, it says these dates may be extended as “additional stability data is collected” and provides a list on its website.

    “You can check the Expiration Date column of the List of Authorized At-Home OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests to see if the expiration date for your at-home (over-the-counter) COVID-19 test has been extended and how to find any new expiration date,” the FDA ays.

    Do pharmacies offer free COVID testing?

    Another option is free testing sites. No-cost antigen and PCR tests are available to everyone at more than 15,000 sites across the country. This includes locations such as CVS, Walgreens and other pharmacies and clinics. 

    People looking for no-cost locations near them can use the CDC’s testing locator website.

    Some city and state health departments also have their own COVID testing programs. 

    For example, New York City has four locations for free rapid PCR testing in addition to testing available at all the city’s public hospitals. There are also more than 200 locations around the city to get free at-home tests, including public institutions like libraries, recreation centers and food pantries.

    The Virginia Department of Health launched a program in 2021 that brought at-home test kits to libraries across the state.  “Community members can pick up FREE test kits from participating libraries (library cards aren’t required) and take the kits home to self-test for COVID-19,” the department’s website says.

    Looking for info on your state? The CDC has a page that lists all state and territorial health departments for quick access to their sites, where you can find the latest local information on testing.

    Does insurance cover COVID testing?

    Some private health insurance plans may reimburse for the cost of buying at-home COVID tests.

    Walgreens, for example, has an online form to place pick-up orders for tests in which they submit an insurance claim on the buyer’s behalf. However, many insurance plans will no longer cover at-home COVID-19 tests as of May 2023, according to the pharmacy’s website. 

    “Contact your plan for details,” the site advises. “If your plan does provide coverage, there may be cost-sharing and limits to the number of tests covered per person per month.”

    How long after exposure to test positive for COVID?

    In order to get the most accurate results — and not waste tests — it’s important not to test too early if you don’t have any symptoms.

    “If you do not have symptoms but have been exposed to COVID-19, wait at least 5 full days after your exposure before taking a test,” the CDC’s website advises. 

    If you have symptoms, however, you should test immediately.

    -Alexander Tin contributed to this report.

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  • Qantas boss retires early after allegations the Australian airline sold tickets for canceled flights

    Qantas boss retires early after allegations the Australian airline sold tickets for canceled flights

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    CANBERRA, Australia — The boss of Australian airline Qantas said Tuesday he would leave his job immediately — two months earlier than planned — following a series of embarrassing revelations about the company, including allegations it sold tickets for flights that had already been canceled.

    Chief Executive Alan Joyce said that after 15 years running the national carrier he was bringing forward his planned retirement date.

    The airline said Vanessa Hudson would take over as managing director and group chief executive from Wednesday.

    The announcement came after a difficult few weeks for Qantas and Joyce. He was grilled by Australian senators last week on flight delays and costs, while a consumer watchdog group announced Thursday it was taking legal action against Qantas and would seek a penalty that would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

    The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said it was taking the action after Qantas “engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by advertising tickets for more than 8,000 flights that it had already canceled but not removed from sale.”

    The commission said that in many cases, Qantas continued selling tickets or delayed telling ticketholders the flights had been canceled. That often led customers to have less time to make alternative arrangements and to potentially pay higher prices for new flights, the commission said.

    Qantas previously acknowledged its standards had fallen well short of expectations as the airline emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Joyce said there was a lot he was proud about during his 22 years working for Qantas.

    “In the last few weeks, the focus on Qantas and events of the past make it clear to me that the company needs to move ahead with its renewal as a priority,” he said in his statement. “The best thing I can do under these circumstances is to bring forward my retirement and hand over to Vanessa and the new management team now, knowing they will do an excellent job.”

    Last month Qantas announced a record pre-tax annual profit of nearly 2.5 billion Australian dollars ($1.6 billion), up from a loss of almost AU$2 billion the previous year.

    The airline has since come under pressure to pay back the AU$2.7 billion it received from the Australian government during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder said the board thanked Joyce for his leadership.

    “Alan has always had the best interests of Qantas front and center, and today shows that,” Goyder said.

    Shareholders will formally vote on the appointment of Hudson as managing director at the company’s annual general meeting in November.

    Qantas shares rose about 1% after the announcement but remained down more than 11% from a month ago.

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  • Biden heads to Philadelphia for a Labor Day parade and is expected to speak about unions’ importance

    Biden heads to Philadelphia for a Labor Day parade and is expected to speak about unions’ importance

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    WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, who often says he’s the most pro-union president in history, is heading to Philadelphia on Monday for the annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade.

    The Democratic president is expected to speak about the importance of unions in the United States and how the economy is recovering from the crippling coronavirus pandemic.

    Labor Day, a holiday honoring workers, comes as the U.S. has added jobs and more people have begun looking for work, the most since January, all news Biden is eager to highlight as he seeks reelection in 2024.

    “As we head into Labor Day, we ought to take a step back and take note of the fact that America is now in one of the strongest job-creating periods in our history,” Biden said Friday from the Rose Garden, where he spoke after the news that America’s employers added 187,000 jobs in August, evidence of a slowing but still-resilient labor market despite the high interest rates the Federal Reserve has imposed.

    Friday’s report from the Labor Department also showed that the unemployment rate rose from 3.5% to 3.8%, the highest level since February 2022 though still low by historical standards. But the rate rose for an encouraging reason: 736,000 people began looking for work last month, the most since January, and not all of them found jobs right away. Only people who are actively looking for a job are counted as unemployed.

    “People are coming off the sidelines, getting back to their workplaces,” Biden said.

    Biden has used executive actions to promote worker organizing, has personally cheered unionization efforts at corporate giants like Amazon and has authorized federal funding to aid union members’ pensions. Just last week, the Biden administration proposed a new rule would make 3.6 million more U.S. workers eligible for overtime pay, the most generous such increase in decades.

    Biden also has traveled the country, trumpeting how union labor is building bridges and improving train tunnels as part of the bipartisan $1.1 trillion public works package Congress passed in 2021.

    “Unions raise standards across the workforce and industries, pushing up wages and strengthening benefits for everyone,” Biden said Friday. “You’ve heard me say many times: Wall Street didn’t build America. The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class.”

    The 36th annual Tri-State Labor Day Parade and Family Celebration is hosted by the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, whose website says it comprises more than 100 local labor unions representing more than 150,000 workers.

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  • Court revives doctors’ lawsuit saying FDA overstepped its authority with anti-ivermectin campaign

    Court revives doctors’ lawsuit saying FDA overstepped its authority with anti-ivermectin campaign

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    A federal appeals court in New Orleans has revived a lawsuit by three doctors who say the Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority in a campaign against the use of a drug that is not approved to treat COVID-19

    ByKEVIN MCGILL

    September 1, 2023, 7:24 PM

    FILE -A box of ivermectin is shown in a pharmacy as pharmacists work in the background, Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, in Ga. A federal appeals court Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 revived a lawsuit by three doctors who say the Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority in a campaign against treating COVID-19 with the anti-parasite drug ivermectin(AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

    The Associated Press

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court Friday revived a lawsuit by three doctors who say the Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority in a campaign against treating COVID-19 with the anti-parasite drug ivermectin.

    Ivermectin is commonly used to treat parasites in livestock. It can also be prescribed for humans and it has been championed by some conservatives as a treatment for COVID-19. The FDA has not approved ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment because studies have not proven it is effective.

    The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Friday’s ruling from a panel of three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in New Orleans focused on various aspects of an FDA campaign against ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment.

    The ruling acknowledged FDA’s receiving reports of some people requiring hospitalization after self-medicating with ivermectin intended for livestock. But the ruling said the campaign — which at times featured the slogan “You are not a horse!” — too often left out that the drug is sometimes prescribed for humans.

    The doctors can proceed with their lawsuit contending that the FDA’s campaign exceeded the agency’s authority under federal law, the ruling said.

    “FDA is not a physician. It has authority to inform, announce, and apprise—but not to endorse, denounce, or advise,” Judge Don Willett wrote for a panel that also included Jennifer Walker Elrod and Edith Brown Clement. “The Doctors have plausibly alleged that FDA’s Posts fell on the wrong side of the line between telling about and telling to.”

    Drs. Robert L. Apter, Mary Talley Bowden and Paul E. Marik filed the lawsuit last year. All three said their reputations were harmed by the FDA campaign. Bowden lost admitting privileges at a Texas hospital, the ruling noted. Marik alleged he lost his positions at a medical school and at a hospital for promoting the use of ivermectin.

    The lawsuit was dismissed in December by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Vincent Brown, who ruled that the complaints didn’t overcome the FDA’s “sovereign immunity,” a concept that protects government entities from many civil lawsuits regarding their responsibilities. The appellate panel said the FDA’s alleged overstepping of its authority opened the door for the lawsuit.

    Willett was nominated to the 5th Circuit by former President Donald Trump; Clement and Elrod, by former President George W. Bush. Brown was nominated to the district court bench by Trump.

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  • COVID hospitalizations steadily rising as U.S. enters Labor Day weekend

    COVID hospitalizations steadily rising as U.S. enters Labor Day weekend

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    COVID hospitalizations steadily rising as U.S. enters Labor Day weekend – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased significantly over the past month and are expected to continue rising, according to the latest numbers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, demand for in-person and at-home COVID tests is also surging. Elaine Quijano has details.

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  • Top Chinese official tells the US commerce secretary he’s ready to improve cooperation

    Top Chinese official tells the US commerce secretary he’s ready to improve cooperation

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    BEIJING — The top Chinese official in charge of economic relations with Washington told Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Tuesday he was ready to “make new positive efforts” to improve cooperation following an agreement to reduce trade tension by launching groups to discuss export controls and other commercial disputes.

    The agreement Monday was the most substantial result to date out of a string of visits by American officials to Beijing over the last three months to revive relations that are at their lowest level in decades. They express optimism about better communication, but neither side has given a sign it is ready to compromise on disputes about technology, security, human rights and other irritants.

    Vice Premier He Lifeng sounded an optimistic note, referring to “in-depth exchanges” in July with his American counterpart, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

    “I’m ready to work based on that with you, to make new positive efforts to deepen our consensus and extend our cooperation,” He told Raimondo during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

    The two governments would launch an “information exchange” about U.S. controls on technology exports that irritate Beijing, though she defended the curbs as necessary for national security and gave no indication they might be relaxed.

    “I’m looking forward to finding ways that we can more effectively engage on commercial issues that impact our relationship,” Raimondo told He. She said President Joe Biden “asked me to reiterate to you our desire to have more open engagement.”

    Beijing broke off dialogue on military, climate and other issues with Washington in August 2022 in retaliation for a visit to Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The mainland’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-ruled island democracy as part of its territory and objects to any government having official contact.

    Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is trying to revive investor interest in China and reassure foreign companies as part of efforts to reverse an economic slump.

    A key Chinese complaint is limits on access to processor chips and other U.S. technology on security grounds that threaten to hamper the ruling Communist Party’s ambition to develop artificial intelligence and other industries. The curbs crippled the smartphone business of Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand.

    Raimondo defended the Biden administration’s strategy of “de-risking,” or encouraging more high-tech manufacturing in the United States and to develop more sources of industrial supplies to reduce disruption. Beijing has criticized that as a possible attempt to isolate China and hamper its development.

    “While we will never of course compromise in protecting our national security I want to be clear that we do not seek to decouple or to hold China’s economy back,” Raimondo told He.

    Also Tuesday, Raimondo met with the Chinese minister of culture and tourism, Hu Heping. She said they agreed to ”advance our people to people ties through increased tourism and educational and student exchange.”

    China is gradually reviving foreign tourism after lifting anti-virus controls that blocked most travel into and out of the country for three years. The number of foreign students in China fell close to zero during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The visits take place under an agreement made by Xi and Biden during a meeting last November in Indonesia. The Chinese state press has given them positive coverage, but Beijing has given no indication it might change trade, strategic, market access and other policies that irk Washington and its Asian neighbors.

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  • China won’t require COVID-19 tests for incoming travelers in a milestone in its reopening

    China won’t require COVID-19 tests for incoming travelers in a milestone in its reopening

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    TAIPEI, Taiwan — China will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test result for incoming travelers starting Wednesday, a milestone in its reopening to the rest of the world after a three-year isolation that began with the country’s borders closing in March 2020.

    Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced the change at a briefing in Beijing on Monday.

    China in January ended quarantine requirements for its own citizens traveling from abroad, and over the past few months has gradually expanded the list of countries that Chinese people can travel to and increased the number of international flights.

    Beijing ended its tough domestic “zero COVID” policy only in December, after years of draconian curbs that at times included full-city lockdowns and lengthy quarantines for people who were infected.

    The restrictions slowed the world’s second-largest economy, leading to rising unemployment and occasional instances of unrest.

    As part of those measures, incoming travelers were required to isolate for weeks at government-designated hotels. Residents were in some cases forcibly locked into their homes in attempts to stop the virus from spreading.

    Protests in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing erupted in November over the COVID curbs, in the most direct challenge to the Communist Party’s rule since the Tiananmen protests of 1989.

    In early December, authorities abruptly scrapped most COVID controls, ushering in a wave of infections that overwhelmed hospitals and morgues.

    A U.S. federally funded study this month found the rapid dismantling of the “zero COVID” policy may have led to nearly 2 million excess deaths in the following two months. That number greatly exceeds official estimates of 60,000 deaths within a month of the lifting of the curbs.

    During the years of “zero COVID,” local authorities occasionally imposed snap lockdowns in attempts to isolate infections, trapping people inside offices and apartment buildings.

    From April until June last year, the city of Shanghai locked down its 25 million residents in one of the world’s largest pandemic-related mass lockdowns. Residents were required to take frequent PCR tests and had to rely on government food supplies, often described as insufficient.

    Throughout the pandemic, Beijing touted its “zero COVID” policy — and the initial relatively low number of infections — as an example of the superiority of China’s political system over that of Western democracies.

    Since lifting the COVID curbs, the government has been contending with a sluggish economic recovery. The restrictions, coupled with diplomatic frictions with the United States and other Western democracies, have driven some foreign companies to reduce their investments in China.

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    Associated Press news assistant Caroline Chen in Beijing contributed to this report.

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