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  • Democrats optimistic about saving abortion access in Wisconsin after liberal’s state Supreme Court win | CNN Politics

    Democrats optimistic about saving abortion access in Wisconsin after liberal’s state Supreme Court win | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The victory of a liberal judge in Tuesday’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election marks a significant political realignment toward the left in a crucial swing state, potentially closing the door on an era of Republican dominance with issues such as abortion rights at stake.

    With liberals now poised to effectively control the seven-judge court, Democrats are newly optimistic about saving abortion access in the state, establishing a firewall against any Republican challenges to the 2024 elections and potentially redoing GOP-drawn state legislative and congressional maps. That combination of issues proved a potent force in a race that attracted massive turnout and spending.

    And as they did in last year’s midterms in some places around the country, Democrats, once again, appear to have capitalized on a broad backlash to the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and a base still energized by the specter of another Donald Trump presidency.

    Republican-supported Daniel Kelly lost the technically nonpartisan contest to Democratic-backed Janet Protasiewicz, who will begin a 10-year term this summer, effectively flipping control of the divided bench to liberals. Conservative Justice Patience Roggensack’s retirement opened the seat, triggering a contentious race that attracted national attention – and donor dollars. It was the most expensive state judicial election in the country ever.

    “Anger about Roe hasn’t dissipated. Fear for our democracy remains. Voters are still alarmed by the MAGA extremism of candidates like Dan Kelly. And if this race is an early bellwether – we can safely say that Republicans didn’t learn their lesson in 2022,” said Sarah Dohl, the chief campaigns officer for Indivisible, a progressive advocacy group.

    Wisconsin has emerged as one of the country’s most competitive political fronts, with ground that’s expected to again be hotly contested in next year’s presidential and Senate races. But the state government – outside the governor’s office – has been bossed by Republicans. Since defeating GOP Gov. Scott Walker more than four years ago, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed roughly 150 bills and been hamstrung in pursuing large parts of his own agenda. Now, GOP policy gains at the state level – most notably its crushing of public sector labor unions – are in doubt.

    In the years before Trump’s emergence, the Wisconsin GOP ran roughshod over state politics and sought to export its national playbook around the country. Walker entered the 2016 GOP presidential primary as an early favorite, pitching his state as a model for the nation. But like so many others in that year’s Republican field, he never got off the blocks as Trump thundered to the nomination.

    That fall, Trump shattered the Democratic illusion of a “blue wall” in the Upper Midwest, defeating Hillary Clinton by fewer than 25,000 votes in the Wisconsin general election.

    But Trump’s victory also triggered a backlash – and a mini Democratic resurgence at the state level.

    Evers was first elected governor during the 2018 Democratic wave. He won a second term last year. And though Republican Sen. Ron Johnson held his seat in 2022, Trump had lost the state two years earlier by a little more than 20,000 votes. His false allegations of 2020 election fraud infuriated Democrats, along with many swing voters, and ultimately in this year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court race hobbled Kelly, who faced blowback for his role in advising GOP officials in their efforts to hatch a fake electors scheme

    And while the court could find itself ruling on election laws again, abortion may the most immediate battle to reach the justices.

    The state’s high court is expected to decide a lawsuit challenging an 1849 law that bans nearly all abortions, which had been dormant for decades but snapped back into place with last year’s US Supreme Court ruling. Protasiewicz, Wisconsin Democrats and allied groups such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America and Emily’s List all worked to frame the race as another referendum on abortion rights.

    “For over a decade, anti-choice ideologues have held their iron grip on Wisconsin’s highest court, leaving voters hungry for change,” NARAL president Mini Timmaraju said in a statement. “Judge Janet’s resounding victory comes as abortion access faces an onslaught of attacks by extremist state courts determined to tear up our rights at every step.”

    Victory for abortion rights activists follows a similar result in neighboring Michigan, which voted last fall to enshrine abortion and other reproductive rights into the state constitution while reelecting Democratic women to its three most powerful executive offices. Those results continued a streak of successes for Democrats who dug in hard on the issue – a political winner in many swing states and legislative districts.

    Kelly, the conservative in Wisconsin, was coy about how he would rule on a slate of potential hot-button cases, but his past writings and work for anti-abortion groups allowed Protasiewicz, who signaled her skepticism about the ban, to attack him on the issue. Her past comments also suggest a new day’s dawning for the labor community and Democrats seeking to upend the state’s skewed legislative maps.

    “Everything from gerrymandering to drop boxes to Act 10 may be revisited to women’s right to choose,” Protasiewicz told Wisconsin Radio Network in February. (Act 10 eliminated collective bargaining for most public sector employees.)

    And with another presidential election on the horizon, her willingness to consider attempts to roll back or reverse restrictive voting laws or regulations could have clear national implications.

    The state’s voter ID laws, put in place by Republicans, are among the strictest in the country. Wisconsin’s high court played a pivotal role in the outcome of the 2020 election, rejecting a Trump lawsuit aimed at invalidating Joe Biden’s victory – but only by a 4-3 margin with one conservative justice siding with the liberals.

    In the event of another challenge like that, Democrats would now only need their allies to hold the line to prevent a similar bid.

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  • US health officials aim to ‘transform’ Alzheimer’s disease research with $300 million data platform | CNN

    US health officials aim to ‘transform’ Alzheimer’s disease research with $300 million data platform | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The US National Institute on Aging is moving forward with efforts to build a real-world Alzheimer’s disease database as part of its aim to improve, support and conduct more dementia research.

    Last month, the agency, part of the National Institutes of Health, posted a notice of the grant for the six-year database project, setting its earliest start date as April 2024.

    The NIH confirmed Tuesday that plans are underway to fund the Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias’ real-world data platform.

    The National Institute on Aging intends to commit $50 million per year, starting in fiscal year 2024, to fund one award.

    The nonprofit Alzheimer’s Association is among those planning to apply for the grant.

    “The newly-announced NIA funding for a large-scale Alzheimer’s disease research database is truly exciting and a very important step forward for our field, and the Alzheimer’s Association will apply for that grant,” Maria C. Carrillo, Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer, said in an email Tuesday.

    “The Association is already leading ALZ-NET, which is a national network of physicians that is collecting data – including measures of cognition, function and safety – for patients treated with new FDA-approved Alzheimer’s treatments,” Carrillo said. “The NIA funding could expand ALZ-NET’s scope to the benefit of all stakeholders.”

    She added that the Alzheimer’s Association believes everyone should have access to treatments, regardless of their registration status.

    The real-world database “aims to transform” the Alzheimer’s disease research enterprise “by serving as a central hub of research access,” the National Institute on Aging said last week in its announcement of a webinar about the project that’s scheduled for April 19.

    According to the announcement, the aim of the data registry is to provide a comprehensive and diverse database that can “improve applicability and generalizability of findings,” be used as a tool for researchers and allow scientific questions to be answered more quickly.

    Last year, the National Institute on Aging convened an exploratory workshop to discuss gaps in real-world data and opportunities to expand real-world data sources for dementia research.

    Alzheimer’s disease, a brain disorder that affect memory and thinking skills, is the most common type of dementia, the NIH says.

    More than 6 million Americans are living with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, and the number of people affected is projected to double in the next two decades, rising to 13 million in 2050.

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  • Infertility affects a ‘staggering’ 1 in 6 people worldwide, WHO says | CNN

    Infertility affects a ‘staggering’ 1 in 6 people worldwide, WHO says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    An estimated 1 in 6 people globally are affected by infertility, according to a new report from the World Health Organization, which emphasizes that the condition is common.

    Rates of infertility – defined as not being able to conceive after a year of having unprotected sex – are similar across all countries and regions, Monday’s WHO report says.

    “In our analysis, the global prevalence of lifetime infertility was 17.5%, translating into 1 out of every 6 people experiencing it in their lifetime,” Dr. Gitau Mburu, a scientist of fertility research at WHO, said Monday.

    “Lifetime prevalence of infertility does not differ by income classification of countries,” he said. “Lifetime prevalence was 17.8% in high-income countries and 16.5% in low- and middle-income countries, which, again, was not a substantial or significant difference.”

    Yet there are differences in how much people are spending on fertility treatments and how accessible such treatments are, according to the report.

    “People in the poorest countries were found to spend a significantly larger proportion of their income on a single cycle of IVF or on fertility care compared with wealthier countries,” Mburu said, “exemplifying that this is an area with high-level risk of inequality in access to health care.”

    Global public health groups typically call attention to overpopulation as a major public health concern, so the spotlight that the WHO report turns on infertility not only is surprising but is welcome, said Dr. David Keefe, reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at the NYU Langone Fertility Center in New York.

    “That report did not surprise me in terms of the content, because it’s been known for some time that infertility is much more prevalent than anyone wants to think about: Having a child and having a family is kind of a universal dream or aspiration for people from every country, from every region. What surprised me was the World Health Organization coming out in support of it,” said Keefe, who was not involved with the WHO research.

    “It was a welcome acknowledgment of the other foot dropping on the population front,” he said. “The acknowledgment that this is a worldwide problem and that additional attention must be devoted to it in terms of policy and strategy is welcome.”

    The WHO report – described as the “first of its kind in a decade” – includes an analysis of infertility data from 1990 through 2021. The data came from 133 previously published studies on infertility prevalence.

    “The purpose of this analysis was to generate updated data on the global and regional estimates of infertility prevalence by analyzing all available data from different countries, making sure that we take into account different study approaches,” Mburu said.

    Based on that data, the researchers estimate that lifetime prevalence of infertility – representing the proportion of people who have ever experienced infertility in their reproductive life – was 17.5% in 2022.

    The period prevalence of infertility, meaning the proportion of people with infertility at any given point currently or in the past, was found to be 12.6% in 2022.

    Although the data showed some variation in infertility prevalence across regions – with the highest lifetime prevalence at 23.2% in the Western Pacific, compared with the lowest at 10.7% in the Eastern Mediterranean – those regional differences were not either substantial or conclusive based on the data, according to WHO’s report.

    The researchers also did not determine whether global infertility rates have been increasing or decreasing over time.

    “The data which we analyzed for this report was from 1990 to 2021, and during that period, we did not see evidence of increasing rates of infertility. However, the way the data was arranged, it was not really organized to answer that question,” Dr. James Kiarie, head of contraception and fertility care at WHO, said Monday. “We cannot, based on the data we have, say that infertility is increasing or constant – so we must say that probably the jury is still out on that question.”

    Over time, various factors can affect a person’s fertility, and age is one of the most important, said Dr. Emre Seli, chief scientific officer for the maternal and infant health nonprofit March of Dimes. Seli, who is also a professor at Yale School of Medicine and medical director of Yale Fertility Center, was not involved in the new report.

    “Fertility decreases as the age of the female partner increases,” he said.

    “Fertility is really an emotionally taxing issue for those who are affected by it. It is a major source of stress to want to have a child and not be able to,” Seli said. “Most of my patients are women, and they do become affected by this at many levels, and they do suffer from lack of adequate research as well as lack of adequate insurance coverage to undergo the treatments that they need.”

    Infertility, affecting the male or female reproductive system, can be treated with medicine, surgery or assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization or IVF, during which an egg and sperm are joined in a lab dish and put into a womb once the fertilized egg becomes an embryo.

    “Infertility is a major and a widespread health issue affecting a staggering 1 in 6 people globally over the duration of their reproductive lives,” Dr. Pascale Allotey, director of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research Department at WHO, said Monday.

    Despite that, solutions for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infertility remain “underfunded” and “inaccessible” to many patients due to high costs, Allotey said.

    “Infertility is an important public health concern because it can have wide-reaching negative impacts on the lives of the people affected,” she said. “WHO is calling for universal access to affordable high-quality fertility care, improved data to enable infertility to be meaningfully addressed in health policy and programs, and greater efforts to ensure this issue is no longer sidelined in health research and policy.”

    Mburu added that infertility can also have effects on mental health, raising risks of anxiety, depression and intimate partner violence.

    “Our message is that infertility needs to be included as a priority in responding to the needs of populations in different countries,” Mburu said. “This is because people have a right to expect to obtain the highest possible standard of mental, social and physical health as defined by WHO.”

    The new data from WHO reinforces that more people need fertility coverage and access to high-quality care than was previously thought, said Dr. Asima Ahmad, an endocrinologist and fertility expert who serves as chief medical officer and co-founder of Carrot Fertility, a company that helps employers set up fertility benefits. She added that inequities emerge in who has such access to care, such as Black women who tend to experience inequities in access.

    “These inequities, I’m not surprised that they exist on a global level, because we already see the inequities in the United States domestically, with how infertility impacts different populations and how some populations have limited access. And even with the access that they finally get, they, for example, will have a lower rate of success or even a higher rate of miscarriage,” said Ahmad, who was not involved in the new WHO report.

    “A lot of people don’t have access to clinically vetted evidence-based information around what causes infertility, how to recognize it, and then when you do find out that you have it, how to treat it,” she said. “The other, which is one of the biggest barriers that we see, is financial access to fertility. In the United States, a lot of that access comes through the employer providing, for example, fertility benefits, but on a global level, that’s not necessarily the case, and finances tends to be the biggest barrier.”

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  • WHO advisers to consider whether obesity medication should be added to Essential Medicines List | CNN

    WHO advisers to consider whether obesity medication should be added to Essential Medicines List | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Advisers to the World Health Organization will consider next month whether to add liraglutide, the active ingredient in certain diabetes and obesity medications, to its list of essential medicines.

    The list, which is updated every two years, includes medicines “that satisfy the priority health needs of the population,” WHO says. “They are intended to be available within the context of function health systems at all times, in adequate amounts in the appropriate dosage forms, of assured quality and at prices that individuals and the community can afford.”

    The list is “a guide for the development and updating of national and institutional essential medicine lists to support the procurement and supply of medicines in the public sector, medicines reimbursement schemes, medicine donations, and local medicine production.”

    The WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines is scheduled to meet April 24-28 to discuss revisions and updates involving dozens of medications. The request to add GLP-1 receptor agonists such as liraglutide came from four researchers at US institutions including Yale University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

    These drugs mimic the effects of an appetite-regulating hormone, GLP-1, and stimulate the release of insulin. This helps lower blood sugar and slows the passage of food through the gut. Liraglutide was developed to treat diabetes but approved in the US as a weight-loss treatment in 2014; its more potent cousin, semaglutide, has been approved for diabetes since 2017 and as an obesity treatment in 2021.

    The latter use has become well-known thanks to promotions from celebrities and on social media. It’s sold under the name Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss. Studies suggest that semaglutide may help people lose an average of 10% to 15% of their starting weight – significantly more than with other medications. But because of this high demand, some versions of the medication have been in shortage in the US since the middle of last year.

    The US patent on liraglutide is set to expire this year, and drugmaker Novo Nordisk says generic versions could be available in June 2024.

    The company has not been involved in the application to WHO, it said in a statement, but “we welcome the WHO review and look forward to the readout and decision.”

    “At present, there are no medications included in the [Essential Medicines List] that specifically target weight loss for the global burden of obesity,” the researchers wrote in their request to WHO. “At this time, the EML includes mineral supplements for nutritional deficiencies yet it is also described that most of the population live in ‘countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.’ “

    WHO’s advisers will make recommendations on which drugs should be included in this year’s list, expected to come in September.

    “This particular drug has a certain history, but the use of it probably has not been long enough to be able to see it on the Essential Medicines List,” Dr. Francesco Blanca, WHO director for nutrition and food safety, said at a briefing Wednesday. “There’s also issues related to the cost of the treatment. At the same time, WHO is looking at the use of drugs to reduce weight excess in the context of a systematic review for guidelines for children and adolescents. So we believe that it is a work in progress, but we’ll see what the Essential Medicines List committee is going to conclude.”

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  • How Girl Scouts found itself in a cookie debacle | CNN Business

    How Girl Scouts found itself in a cookie debacle | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    For decades, Girl Scouts has used cookie sales to raise funds and teach scouts about entrepreneurship. This year, thanks to the Raspberry Rally cookie, members got a painful lesson in what can happen when high demand meets limited supply.

    The much-hyped Rally, a raspberry-flavored spin on the Thin Mint, was always supposed to be a limited-edition cookie. But interest in it seemed to have taken Girl Scouts leadership by surprise — perhaps because of a new online-only ordering system.

    As demand surged, with some cookies even ending up on eBay, in some cases listed for about $40 per box, supply stayed the same because cookie makers couldn’t quickly pump out more Rallies. One of the Scouts’ manufacturers, ABC Bakers, said it needs lots of lead time to make limited-edition cookies. The other, Little Brownie Bakers, said bad weather caused power outages at a Kentucky plant, contributing to other inventory issues that lead to tight supply.

    As a result, the Rallies sold out rapidly, leaving scouts and parents to explain the situation to annoyed shoppers even as they tried to make sense of it themselves.

    For young scouts, having to tell customers there are no Rallies available “is a particularly frustrating transaction,” scout parent Betsy Everett told CNN. “When people ask for the new cookie, we tell them the situation and then they don’t want to buy anything. It’s disappointing for the girls.”

    Some parents have been frustrated not only by the shortages, but by what they say is piecemeal communication from Girl Scouts USA. And after years of Covid-related disruptions, their own patience is wearing thin.

    “Right now we are focused on ensuring all Girl Scouts have a successful Cookie Season,” Girl Scouts USA told CNN in a statement, adding that it is also focused on optimizing its operations “in real-time, and [capturing] learnings that will inform our strategy going into future seasons.”

    But for the scouts, those learnings have been hard-won.

    Predicting demand for the Rallies may have been especially difficult, because Girl Scouts introduced a whole new way to buy them, said Terry Esper, associate professor of logistics at the Fisher College of Business of the Ohio State University.

    Unlike other cookies, the Raspberry Rally was offered exclusively online with shipments sent directly to customers. That meant shoppers could order it themselves, though Girl Scouts encouraged them to ask scouts to place the orders. Girl Scouts, which has been relatively slow to move sales online, said when it introduced Rallies that the sales channel would help scouts learn about e-commerce. The Rallies aren’t supposed to be sold at scouts’ cookie booths.

    “Whenever you introduce a new way of buying a product, or a new channel to get access … that opens new [consumer] behavior,” Esper explained.

    The ease of online ordering may have attracted more customers. Plus, Girl Scouts built a lot of hype with the limited-time offer, creating a sense of urgency, Esper noted.

    Girls Scouts sell cookies in Los Angeles in February, 2022.

    Yet as customers clamored for the cookie, scouts and their parents learned there was no chance of increasing supply by the end of the cookie season in April.

    ABC fulfilled the “seasonal plan that was communicated to councils in June 2022” in regard to the Rallies, says an FAQ dated February 16 on the Girl Scouts Iowa site. “We cannot produce more at this time, as we do not have unique materials and packaging. The lead times … are too long to produce in time for the remainder of this season,” according to the FAQ.

    In March, Little Brownie Bakers informed local chapters about the multifaceted issues it was facing.

    “We share the frustration that some Girl Scout troops feel this cookie season,” a Little Brownie Bakers spokesperson told CNN. “Global supply chain issues, compounded by local labor shortages and a weather-related power outage … continue to impact production.” LBB’s problems constrained supply for other cookies, as well.

    Scout parents responsible for ordering the cookies have been left to deal with the fallout, on top of the usual job of helping scouts through the cookie-selling season, which runs roughly from January to April.

    Everett, the scout parent, orders cookies for three troops in Southeastern Michigan. She ended up getting a few cases of Raspberry Rallies but other families in her troop could not.

    “Out of our 30 scouts [across the troops], about three of them managed to order some cookies before they were gone,” she said.

    This is just another disruption for Everett, who said part of her initial cookie order went unfilled last year, meaning that cookies were missing from early cookie booths and only showed up weeks later.

    Chad Huset, whose two daughters are scouts in the Minneapolis area, watched his daughters field question after question about the unavailable Rallies at a recent cookie-selling event.

    Earlier in the season, when his wife placed an order for Rallies, it was promptly canceled. A separate Raspberry Rally FAQ page, posted to a Wisconsin Girl Scouts page, explained “ABC’s selling platform did not immediately shut down access to customers ordering [Rallies]…Because of that time lapse, they were selling cookies that were not available.”

    Huset’s wife received a similar explanation following the cancellation in a series of emails. ABC referred CNN’s request for comment for this story to Girl Scouts USA.

    Huset thinks Girl Scouts should have been clearer about the situation earlier, to allow the troops time to pivot.

    “It comes down to communicating what’s happening, not after the fact,” Huset said.

    Some of the scout community is finding silver linings, however.

    Deb Perry, a scout parent and co-leader of a Girl Scouts troop outside of Seattle, didn’t even bother to try ordering Raspberry Rallies. The selling season starts earlier in other parts of the country, and she heard the many reports of shortages elsewhere.

    “We didn’t even push it, or encourage it with our troop,” she said. “We just encourage them to sell what we have on hand.”

    Perry saw the situation as a chance to teach the scouts how to adapt and embrace the challenge. Scouts in her daughter’s troop have been encouraging shoppers who ask for the Rally to try the Adventureful, introduced last year, instead.

    “When things don’t go as planned, or when people say no,” she said, “the girls learn from that.”

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  • Price hikes are double whammy for pet owners who are crushed by inflation | CNN Business

    Price hikes are double whammy for pet owners who are crushed by inflation | CNN Business

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    Minneapolis
    CNN
     — 

    As head of PAWS Atlanta, Joe Labriola can get a good sense of the region’s economic well-being from the day-to-day activity of the city’s oldest no-kill animal shelter.

    Through the course of the past year, it’s become increasingly clear to him that people in the area are struggling under the weight of inflation and economic uncertainty.

    Practically the entirety of the daily call volume consists of requests to rehome pets. The shelter’s “surrender queue” is full, awaiting adoptions to free up space in the main shelter. And the shelves at PAWS Atlanta’s Pet Food Pantry quickly go bare.

    But perhaps the most heartbreaking indicator is something this particular shelter never had to track before 2022. Last year, 166 pets were found abandoned at the shelter’s front gate.

    “A number of animals are being abandoned that have serious medical issues,” Labriola told CNN. “The only thing we can guess is that people just can’t afford those expenses, and they’re hoping by dropping off [their pets] at our facility that we’re going to be able to pick up the slack. And we do as best we can, but it’s really putting a strain on our resources.”

    Overall inflation remains high across the United States, but has slowly and methodically stepped down since setting a fresh 40-year record of 9.1% in June 2022, as measured by the Consumer Price Index. However, during the past eight months, inflation in pet-related products and services has only worsened, rising in some cases to record-setting levels.

    In February, when annual CPI declined to 6%, the catch-all “pets, pet products and services” index rose to 10.9%, veterinary services jumped nearly 2 percentage points to 10.3% and pet food increased to 15.2%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

    Those price increases are a double whammy for pet owners whose household finances have been weakened by persistently high inflation and for those who fear for rising instances of “economic euthanasia,” when animals are humanely put to death for financial reasons.

    The recent pet-specific price spikes also are compounding pressures facing organizations tasked with providing a safety net for animals in need.

    Nationwide, shelters are not seeing increases in pets being surrendered, said Kitty Block, chief executive officer and president of the Humane Society of the United States. However, when there are certain communities seeing spikes in abandoned or surrendered pets, that’s a sign of broader societal hardship, she said.

    “When people are having to surrender their animals for economic reasons or because they’re in the middle of a horrible disaster or war zone area, that’s a people problem; this is not some issue that is not relevant to people,” Block said. “This is bigger than dogs or cats in shelters. It’s about the people who love them.”

    At the store level, many pet products saw double-digit average unit price increases during the past year, with several items — including pet food, non-clumping cat litter and bird grooming items — seeing year-over-year price hikes north of 20%, according to Nielsen IQ data for the 52-week period ended January 28, 2023.

    “Throughout 2022, price increases were pretty extensive — all the way up to 20% and almost 30% price hikes versus the year prior — across the pet department,” said Andrea Binder, vice president of NielsenIQ North America. “In early 2023, we have started to see those start to taper off a little bit. Prices are still increasing but at a lower rate than they were in 2022.”

    The price hikes have been attributed to rising input and ingredient costs, she added.

    “The cost of chicken, the cost of beef, the cost of aluminum to make a wet cat food can … a lot of those commodity prices have been rising pretty dramatically throughout 2021 and 2022, which has caused manufacturers to increase their costs, and then therefore a lot of retailers follow suit,” she said.

    Linda Harding's dogs, Lola and Phoebe.

    Pet products, services and food have become “exponentially” more expensive, said Linda Harding, who lives in San Diego with two dogs. She said her pet food costs for Lola, her Australian Shepherd mix, and for Phoebe, her Golden Retriever, have doubled to $250 per month.

    Harding has cut back on her own expenses. She hasn’t turned on the heat much all winter, she’s limited electricity use and she has stopped buying items like clothes and eggs.

    “When you take on a pet, you take on a big responsibility,” she said. “It’s almost like when you buy a car, you’re going to have a lot of responsibility with that car. That car is going to break down, that car’s going to need repairs. It’s an investment.”

    She added: “And they’re our furbabies. We love them to pieces. So it’s not really even a question. I need to find the money to keep them as healthy as possible so we can love them as long as possible.”

    Mary Avila, a disabled veteran who lives on a fixed income, keeps things simple.

    She doesn’t go clothes shopping anymore, she buys cheaper cuts of meat, and she does try to sock away money in case her pets need a small medical procedure.

    “They always give,” said Avila, who lives in Bakersfield, California, with her cat, Jack, and two dogs, Domino and Squirt. “The cat doesn’t give as much, because cats. But the dogs, they always give, they’re always happy, they always want you around. They always are there for you.”

    Patricia Kelvin of Poland, Ohio, said her Social Security benefits and pension can only go so far, so when the cost of utilities, food or trash collection go up, she has to cut back.

    But not for her cat, Jesse.

    Patricia Kelvin's cat, Jesse.

    “If he had some major medical concern, there are a lot of things I would give up so he would get care,” she said. “There’s just no question in my mind. If my diet was going to be more beans than something else, I wouldn’t hesitate. If I had to sell my sterling silver, which I’ve had for 60 years, that would go before my little ‘Whiskers’ would be deprived.”

    The Animal Rescue League of Iowa is the largest nonprofit rescue organization in the Hawkeye State and adopted out 8,400 dogs, cats and small farm animals throughout last year.

    As pet support services manager, Josh Fiala’s role at ARL is to help keep animals out of the shelter by offering programs — such as a pet food pantry, vaccine clinics, veterinary assistance and crisis care — to help keep pets with their people.

    “We definitely, without question, have seen a dramatic increase in pretty much every one of those services,” he said, noting that the pet food pantry in particular has seen spikes in demand.

    Josh Fiala, Animal Rescue League of Iowa's Pet Support Services Manager, helps load pet food into a vehicle during a Pet Food Pantry in January 2022.

    ARL gave out about 40,000 pounds of pet food in both 2020 and 2021. Last year, it distributed 146,000 pounds of food.

    Waggle, a pet-dedicated crowdfunding platform for medical expenses and emergencies, has seen recent spikes in the volume of postings on its website — with some of the biggest increases coming from pet owners in rural communities and areas with high costs of living, said Steven Mornelli, chief executive officer and founder. Additionally, Waggle has also seen a 30% increase in posting for help with medical bills $250 and under, he told CNN.

    “We have taken that as a correlation with the stresses of inflation,” he said.

    In 2022, 4% more animals entered shelters than left, according to Shelter Animals Count, a national database of animal shelter statistics launched by some of the largest animal welfare organizations in the United States.

    That’s the largest gap seen in the past four years and is the result of fewer pets leaving shelters, not increases in surrenders, said Christa Chadwick, vice president of shelter services at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

    Adoption levels have remained essentially flat, but there has been a large decline in animals being transferred to other shelters because of staffing and driver shortages, she added.

    Joey, a shelter dog at Baypath Humane Society in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, on April 9, 2021.

    But she also highlighted the economic pressures affecting current and prospective pet owners.

    “It’s heartbreaking to know that there are situations where pet owners are being put in a position where they are making a decision about their pet, whether it’s to surrender that pet to an animal shelter or they have to make a decision about euthanasia because they can’t afford care, she said.

    “People tend to get angry at the pet owner when they [abandon or surrender their pet] but our experience has shown that when pet owners get to that point, it’s the only option they see available to them,” Chadwick. “And that’s real, and that’s hard for everybody involved, and that’s really hard for the animal who’s at the center of that.”

    Chadwick sees a role for shelters and other organizations to provide a safe and welcoming place for owners who may feel like they have no other option.

    Despite the broader economic challenges occurring within the US, PAWS Atlanta’s Labriola has had its share of feel-good success stories this year.

    PAWS Atlanta's staff members take care of pets during a public vaccine clinic on February 23.

    Donations have remained strong as has the volunteer program, he said. The low-cost public vaccination and spay and neuter clinics are sold out, indicating that people are taking advantage of inexpensive ways to care for their pets, he added.

    And just recently, the shelter’s focus of working with dogs who have been there for more than a year, or “long-term guests,” is starting to pay off, he said.

    “We’ve been able to place three long-termers into forever homes recently, freeing up space to rescue more homeless dogs,” he said.

    • Shelters, veterinarians and local rescue groups can serve as first points of contact.
    • The Humane Society of the United States’ website has a variety of resources for people facing financial challenges and need vet care, food, boarding, supplies and information to help keep pets with their families. The website has a list of national, state and local organizations.
    • Inquire if veterinarians accept Care Credit, ScratchPay or a similar service but be sure to carefully review the terms of repayment and how interest rates would be applied.
    • Ask if your veterinarian has a client-driven donation fund to help other clients in need; consider fundraising platforms such as Waggle and GoFundMe
    • Consider purchasing pet health insurance.

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  • Trump and Le Pen backed these Dutch farmers — now they’ve sprung an election shock | CNN

    Trump and Le Pen backed these Dutch farmers — now they’ve sprung an election shock | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A farmers’ protest party in the Netherlands has caused a shock after winning provincial elections this week just four years after their founding. Could their rise have wider implications?

    The Farmer-Citizen Movement or BoerburgerBeweging (BBB) grew out of mass demonstrations against the Dutch government’s environmental policies, protests that saw farmers using their tractors to block public roads. The BBB is now set to become the largest party in the Dutch senate.

    The developments have thrown the Dutch government’s ambitious environmental plans into doubt and are being watched closely by the rest of Europe.

    The movement was powered by ordinary farmers but has become an unlikely front in the culture wars. Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen have voiced support, while some in the far right see the movement as embodying their ideas of elites using green policies to trample on the rights of individuals.

    On Wednesday, the Farmer-Citizen Movement landed a large win in regional elections, winning more seats in the senate than Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party.

    The first exit poll showed the party was due to win 15 of the Senate’s 75 seats with almost 20 per cent of the vote. Meanwhile Rutte’s ruling VVD party dropped from 12 to 10 seats – leaving it without a Senate majority. Results on Thursday showed the BBB party had won the most votes in eight of the country’s 12 provinces.

    Wednesday’s election win is significant as it means the party is now set to be the largest in the Upper House of Parliament, which has the power to block legislation agreed in the Lower House – throwing the Dutch government’s environmental policies into question.

    As the election results emerged overnight on Wednesday, BBB leader Caroline van der Plas told domestic broadcaster Radio 1: “Nobody can ignore us any longer.

    “Voters have spoken out very clearly against this government’s policies.”

    Newspapers described the election outcome this week as a “monster victory” for the Farmer-Citizen Movement, which has enjoyed support from sections of society who feel unsupported by Rutte’s VVD party.

    For Arjan Noorlander, a political reporter in the Netherlands, the provincial election results this week have made the country’s political future very hard to predict. “It’s a big black hole what will happen next,” he told CNN.

    “They don’t have a majority so they would have to negotiate to form a cabinet and we have to wait and see what the impact will be.”

    Tom-Jan Meeus, a journalist and political columnist in the Netherlands, believes Wednesday’s result is reflective of a “serious dissatisfaction” with traditional politics in the country.

    “This party is definitely part of that trend,” he told CNN.

    “However, it’s new in that it has a different agenda from previous anti-establishment parties but it fits in the bigger picture that has been around here for 25 years now.”

    Meeus believes that the shock rise in support for the BBB party largely comes from those living in small, rural villages who feel disillusioned by government policies.

    “Although it’s a small country, there’s this perception that people living in the western, urbanized part of the country are having all the goods from government policies, and people living in the countryside in small villages believe that the successful people in Amsterdam, in the Hague, in Utrecht are having the goods, and they suffer from it.

    “So the feeling is that the less successful, less smart people are trapped by a government who doesn’t understand what their problems are.”

    Noorlander agrees the main topic they’ve been talking about recently is the position of the farmers in the Netherlands, because of “the pollution and environmental rules mainly made in Brussels by the EU, they were pushing against that.”

    “They want farmers to have a place in the Netherlands. That’s their main topic but it became broader in these last few months. It’s become the vote of people living in these farming areas, outside the big cities, against the people in the big cities making the policies and being more international.”

    The Farmer-Citizen Movement was established four years ago in response to the government’s proposals for tackling nitrogen emissions.

    The Dutch government launched a drive to slash emissions in half by 2030, pointing the finger at industrial agriculture for rising levels of pollution that were threating the country’s biodiversity.

    The BBB party has fought back against the measures – which include buying farmers out and reducing livestock numbers – instead placing emphasis on the farmers’ livelihoods that are at risk of being destroyed.

    Farmers have protested against the government’s green policies by blocking government buildings with tractors and dumping manure on motorways.

    Meeus believes that this week’s election win for the BBB means the agenda to tackle the nitrogen crisis is now in “big trouble.”

    “This vote obviously is a statement from a big chunk of the voters to say no to that policy,” he said.

    According to Ciarán O’Connor, a Senior Analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, says the BBB have built a platform off the back of the protest movement for their party being the representative of the ‘true people.’

    The BBB, he says, “have been one of the leading driving forces behind getting people out to protest but also shaping the ideologies and beliefs that power a lot of the movement; rejecting or disputing climate change or, at least, measures that would negatively impact farmers livelihoods and businesses; wider EU skepticism; burgeoning anti-immigration and anti-Islam views too.”

    Former US President Donald Trump has promoted the protest at various points during his speeches in the past year. At a rally in Florida last July, he told crowds: “Farmers in the Netherlands of all places are courageously opposing the climate tyranny of the Dutch government.”

    The Farmer-Citizen Movement has also won support from the far-right.

    A report from The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism describes how what began as local protests got the attention of extremists and conspiracists, in particular seeing it as proof of the so-called “Great Reset” theory of global elites using the masses for their own benefit.

    According to O’Connor, the movement aligns with a populist viewpoint of climate action as a new form of tyranny imposed by out-of-touch governments over ordinary citizens.

    “One of the tactics used by the Dutch farmers’ protest movement has been using tractors to create blockades. International interest in the farmers’ protest movement, and this method of protest, really grew in 2022 not long after the Canadian trucker convoy that was organized and promoted by a number of far-right figures in Canada, the US and internationally too,” he said.

    “For many far-right figures, this movement was viewed as the next iteration of that ‘convoy’ type of protest and they viewed it as a people’s protest mobilising against tyrannical or out-of-touch governments.”

    For some analysts, however, for the far right to claim the Dutch protests is premature.

    “I wasn’t incredibly impressed by that,” Meeus said. “Generally the perception of the problem that was in the heads of the far-right people from Canada and the United States was pretty far off, as far as I’ve seen.

    “It remains to be seen whether the Farmer-Citizen Movement will present itself as a far-right party.”

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  • Scientists parse another clue to possible origins of Covid-19 as WHO says all possibilities ‘remain on the table’ | CNN

    Scientists parse another clue to possible origins of Covid-19 as WHO says all possibilities ‘remain on the table’ | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    There’s a tantalizing new clue in the hunt for the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    A new analysis of genetic material collected from January to March 2020 at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, has uncovered animal DNA in samples already known to be positive for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. A significant amount of that DNA appears to belong to animals known as raccoon dogs, which were known to be traded at the market, according to officials with the World Health Organization, who addressed the new evidence in a news briefing on Friday.

    The connection to raccoon dogs came to light after Chinese researchers shared raw genetic sequences taken from swabbed specimens collected at the market early in the pandemic. The sequences were uploaded in late January 2023, to the data sharing site GISAID, but have recently been removed.

    An international team of researchers noticed them and downloaded them for further study, the WHO officials said Friday.

    The new findings – which have not yet been publicly posted – do not settle the question of how the pandemic started. They do not prove that raccoon dogs were infected with SARS-CoV-2, nor do they prove that raccoon dogs were the animals that first infected people.

    But because viruses don’t survive in the environment outside of their hosts for long, finding so much of the genetic material from the virus intermingled with genetic material from raccoon dogs is highly suggestive that they could have been carriers, according to scientists who worked on the analysis. The analysis was led by Kristian Andersen, an immunologist and microbiologist at Scripps Research; Edward Holmes, a virologist at the University of Sydney; Michael Worobey, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Arizona. These three scientists, who have been digging into the origins of the pandemic, were interviewed by reporters for The Atlantic magazine. CNN has reached out to Andersen, Holmes and Worobey for comment.

    The details of the international analysis were first reported Thursday by The Atlantic.

    The new data is emerging as Republicans in Congress have opened investigations into the pandemic’s origin. Previous studies provided evidence that the virus likely emerged naturally in market, but could not point to a specific origin. Some US agencies, including a recent US Department of Energy assessment, say the pandemic likely resulted from a lab leak in Wuhan.

    In the news briefing on Friday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization was first made aware of the sequences on Sunday.

    “As soon as we became aware of this data, we contacted the Chinese CDC and urged them to share it with WHO and the international scientific community so it can be analyzed,” Tedros said.

    WHO also convened its Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of the Novel Pathogens, known as SAGO, which has been investigating the roots of the pandemic, to discuss the data on Tuesday. The group heard from Chinese scientists who had originally studied the sequences, as well as the group of international scientists taking a fresh look at them.

    WHO experts said in the Friday briefing that the data are not conclusive. They still can’t say whether the virus leaked from a lab, or if it spilled over naturally from animals to humans.

    “These data do not provide a definitive answer to the question of how the pandemic began, but every piece of data is important in moving us closer to that answer,” Tedros said.

    What the sequences do prove, WHO officials said, is that China has more data that might relate to the origins of the pandemic that it has not yet shared with the rest of the world.

    “This data could have, and should have, been shared three years ago,” Tedros said. “We continue to call on China to be transparent in sharing data and to conduct the necessary investigations and share results.

    “Understanding how the pandemic began remains a moral and scientific imperative.”

    CNN has reached out to the Chinese scientists who first analyzed and shared the data, but has not received a reply.

    The Chinese researchers, who are affiliated with that country’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, had shared their own analysis of the samples in 2022. In that preprint study posted last year, they concluded that “no animal host of SARS-CoV2 can be deduced.”

    The research looked at 923 environmental samples taken from within the seafood market and 457 samples taken from animals, and found 63 environmental samples that were positive for the virus that causes Covid-19. Most were taken from the western end of the market. None of the animal samples, which were taken from refrigerated and frozen products for sale, and from live, stray animals roaming the market, were positive, the Chinese authors wrote in 2022.

    When they looked at the different species of DNA represented in the environmental samples, the Chinese authors only saw a link to humans, but not other animals.

    When an international team of researchers recently took at fresh look at the genetic material in the samples – which were swabbed in and around the stalls of the market – using an advanced genetic technique called metagenomics, scientists said they were surprised to find a significant amount of DNA belonging to raccoon dogs, a small animal related to foxes. Raccoon dogs can be infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 and have been high on the list of suspected animal hosts for the virus.

    “What they found is molecular evidence that animals were sold at that market. That was suspected, but they found molecular evidence of that. And also that some of the animals that were there were susceptible to SARS-CoV2 infection, and some of those animals include raccoon dogs,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, in Friday’s briefing.

    “This doesn’t change our approach to studying the origins of Covid-19. It just tells us that more data exists, and that data needs to be shared in full,” she said.

    Van Kerkhove said that until the international scientific community is able to review more evidence, “all hypotheses remain on the table.”

    Some experts found the new evidence persuasive, if not completely convincing, of an origin in the market.

    “The data does point even further to a market origin,” Andersen, the Scripps Research evolutionary biologist who attended the WHO meeting and is one of the scientists analyzing the new data, told the magazine Science.

    The assertions made over the new data quickly sparked debate in the scientific community.

    Francois Balloux, director of the Genetics Institute at University College London, said the fact that the new analysis had not yet been publicly posted for scientists to scrutinize, but had come to light in news reports, warranted caution.

    “Such articles really don’t help as they only polarise the debate further,” Balloux posted in a thread on Twitter. “Those convinced by a zoonotic origin will read it as final proof for their conviction, and those convinced it was a lab leak will interpret the weakness of the evidence as attempts of a cover-up.”

    Other experts, who were not involved in the analysis, said the data could be key to showing the virus had a natural origin.

    Felicia Goodrum is an immunobiologist at the University of Arizona, who recently published a review of all available data for the various theories behind the pandemic’s origin.

    Goodrum says the strongest proof for a natural spillover would be to isolate the virus that causes Covid-19 from an animal that was present in the market in 2019.

    “Clearly, that is impossible, as we cannot go back in time any more than we have through sequencing, and no animals were present at the time sequences could be collected. To me, this is the next best thing,” Goodrum said in an email to CNN.

    In the WHO briefing, Van Kerkhove said that the Chinese CDC researchers had uploaded the sequences to GISAID as they were updating their original research. She said their first paper is in the process of being updated and resubmitted for publication.

    “We have been told by GISAID that the data from China’s CDC is being updated and expanded,” she said.

    Van Kerkhove said on Friday that what WHO would like to be able to do is to find the source of where the animals came from. Were they wild? Were they farmed?

    She said in the course of its investigation into the pandemic’s origins, WHO had repeatedly asked China for studies to trace the animals back to their source farms. She said WHO had also asked for blood tests on people who worked in the market, as well as tests on animals that may have come from the farms.

    “Share the data,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies program, said Friday, addressing scientists around the world who might have relevant information. “Let science do the work, and we will get the answers.”

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  • Kevin Durant misses potential Phoenix Suns home debut after slipping during pre-game warmups and injuring ankle | CNN

    Kevin Durant misses potential Phoenix Suns home debut after slipping during pre-game warmups and injuring ankle | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Kevin Durant missed the opportunity to make his home debut for the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night after he slipped and injured his ankle during pre-game warmups.

    Ahead of Wednesday’s NBA clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Suns’ Footprint Center, Durant was seen on video slipping while going up for a shot near the basket, rolling his ankle in the process.

    The 34-year-old was able to get up and continue his workout but moved gingerly throughout the rest of it, and minutes later, Phoenix announced he would miss the game, being replaced by Torrey Craig in the starting lineup.

    After the Suns had comfortably beaten the Thunder 132-101, Phoenix head coach Monty Williams provided an update on Durant’s injury status.

    “We don’t have anything official to report,” Williams told reporters.

    Williams said there will be more tests done on Thursday and the team is calling it an ankle sprain for the time being.

    “He’s out there working his tail off, getting ready for the game and he twists his ankle,” Williams added. “Can’t get frustrated about that. It’s life, you know what I’m saying? I feel bad for him because he feels bad. He feels like – I saw his face and I’ve been around him so many times. I know what he’s feeling.”

    When Durant arrived in Arizona in February – in a trade from the Brooklyn Nets for a huge haul – he was recovering from an MCL sprain which had seen him miss more than a month of action.

    The 13-time All-Star finally made his debut for the Suns last week against the Charlotte Hornets and the team has won all three of their games with Durant in the lineup – the 2014 MVP has averaged 26.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in those three games.

    In his absence though, the Suns never had to get out of fourth gear to beat the Thunder, being led by a game-high 44 points from guard Devin Booker.

    As a result, Phoenix improved to 37-29 and moved to within two games of the second and third seed in the Western Conference.

    “Our group has adapted to a number of things all year long from the summer until now. This is no different. We will do our best to get him healthy and get him back out there on the floor,” Williams said.

    Phoenix is next scheduled to host the Sacramento Kings on Saturday before heading on the road to play the Golden State Warriors early next week. The Suns then return home to host the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic on March 14 and 16 respectively.

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  • US agency assessment backing Covid lab leak theory raises more questions than answers — and backlash from China | CNN

    US agency assessment backing Covid lab leak theory raises more questions than answers — and backlash from China | CNN

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    Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here.


    Hong Kong
    CNN
     — 

    The US Department of Energy’s assessment that Covid-19 most likely emerged due to a laboratory accident in China has reignited fierce debate and attention on the question of how the pandemic began.

    But the “low confidence” determination, made in a newly updated classified report, has raised more questions than answers, as the department has publicly provided no new evidence to back the claim. It’s also generated fierce pushback from China.

    “We urge the US to respect science and facts, stop politicizing this issue, stop its intelligence-led, politics-driven origins-tracing,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

    The Department of Energy assessment is part of a broader US effort in which intelligence agencies were asked by President Joe Biden in 2021 to examine the origins of the coronavirus, which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

    That overall assessment from the intelligence community was inconclusive, and then, as now, there has yet to be a decisive link established between the virus and a specific animal or other route – as China continues to stonewall international investigations into the origins of the virus.

    Four agencies and the National Intelligence Council assessed with low confidence that the virus likely jumped from animals to humans through natural exposure, while one assessed with moderate confidence that the pandemic was the result of a laboratory-related accident. Three other intelligence community elements were unable to coalesce around either explanation without additional information, according to a declassified version of the 2021 report.

    The majority of agencies remain undecided or lean toward the virus having a natural origin – a hypothesis also widely favored by scientists with expertize in the field. But the change from the US Department of Energy has now deepened the split in the intelligence community, especially as the director of the FBI this week commented publicly for the first time on his agency’s similar determination made with “medium confidence.”

    Intelligence agencies can make assessments with either low, medium or high confidence. A low confidence assessment generally means the information obtained is not reliable enough, or is too fragmented to make a more definitive judgment.

    And while the assessment and new commentary has pulled the theory back into the spotlight, neither agency has released evidence or information backing their determinations. That raises crucial questions about their basis – and shines the spotlight back on gaping, outstanding unknowns and need for further research.

    Hear FBI director remark on Covid lab leak theory

    Scientists largely believe the virus most likely emerged from a natural spillover from an infected animal to people, as many viruses before it, though they widely acknowledge the need for more research of all options. Many have also questioned the lack of data released to substantiate the latest claim.

    Virologist Thea Fischer, who in 2021 traveled to Wuhan as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) origins probe and remains a part of ongoing WHO tracing efforts, said it was “very important” that any new assessments related to the origin of the virus are documented by evidence.

    “(These are) strong accusations against a public research laboratory in China and can’t stand alone without substantial evidence,” said Fischer, a professor at the University of Copenhagen.

    “Hopefully they will share with the WHO soon so the evidence can be known and assessed by international health experts just as all other evidence concerning the pandemic origin.”

    A senior US intelligence official told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the new Department of Energy assessment, that the update to the assessment was conducted in light of new intelligence, further study of academic literature and in consultation with experts outside government.

    The idea that the virus could have emerged from a lab accident became more prominent as a spotlight was turned on coronavirus research being done at local facilities, such as the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It was further enhanced amid a failure to find a “smoking gun” showing which animal could have passed the virus to people at Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market – the location linked to a number of early known cases – amid limitations to follow-up research.

    Some experts who have been closely involved in examining existing information, however, are skeptical of the new assessment giving the theory more weight.

    “Given that so much of the data we have points to a spillover event occurring at the Huanan market in late 2019 I doubt there’s anything very significant in it or new information that would change our current understanding,” said David Robertson, a professor in the University of Glasgow’s School of Infection and Immunity, who was involved in recent research with findings that supported the natural origin theory.

    He noted that locations of early human cases centered on the market, positive environmental samples, and confirmation that live animals susceptible to the virus were for sale there are among evidence supporting the natural origins theory – while there’s no data supporting a lab leak.

    “The extent of this evidence continually gets lost (in media discussion) … when in fact we know a lot about what happened, and arguably more than other outbreaks,” he said.

    Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the Covid-19 coronavirus make a visit on February 3, 2021.

    Efforts to understand how the pandemic started have been further complicated by China’s lack of transparency – especially as the origin question spiraled into another point of bitter contention within rising US-China tensions of recent years.

    Beijing has blocked robust, long-term international field investigations and refused to allow a laboratory audit, which could bring clarity, and been reticent to share details and data around domestic research to uncover the cause. However, it repeatedly maintains that it has been transparent and cooperative with the WHO.

    Chinese officials carefully controlled the single WHO-backed investigation it did allow on the ground in 2021, citing disease control measures to restrict visiting experts to their hotel rooms for half their trip and to prevent them from sharing meals with their Chinese counterparts – cutting off an opportunity for more informal information sharing.

    Citing data protection, Beijing has also declined to allow its own investigatory measures, like testing stored blood samples from Wuhan or combing through hospital data for potential “patient zeros,” to be verified by researchers outside the country.

    China has fiercely denied that the virus emerged from a lab accident, and has repeatedly tried to assert it could have arrived in the country for the initial outbreak from elsewhere – including a US laboratory, without offering any evidence supporting the claim.

    But a top WHO official as recently as last month publicly called for “more cooperation and collaboration with our colleagues in China to advance studies that need to take place in China”– including studies of markets and farms that could have been involved.

    “These studies need to be conducted in China and we need cooperation from our colleagues there to advance our understandings,” WHO technical lead for Covid-19 Maria Van Kerkhove said at a media briefing.

    When asked about the Department of Energy assessment by CNN, a WHO representative said the organization and its origins tracing advisory body “will keep examining all available scientific evidence that would help us advance the knowledge on the origin of SARS CoV 2 and we call on China and the scientific community to undertake necessary studies in that direction.”

    “Until we have more evidence all hypotheses are still on the table,” the representative said.

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  • Kentucky Supreme Court ruling allows state’s near-total abortion bans to remain in place for now | CNN Politics

    Kentucky Supreme Court ruling allows state’s near-total abortion bans to remain in place for now | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Supreme Court of Kentucky ruled Thursday that a lower court wrongfully stopped the enforcement of two state abortion laws, according to court documents.

    The two measures are Kentucky’s so-called trigger law banning the procedure and a separate “heartbeat” law restricting abortions at around six weeks of pregnancy.

    Siding with Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Justice Debra Hembree Lambert asserted in her opinion that the circuit court “abused its discretion by granting abortion provider’s motion for a temporary injunction.”

    Planned Parenthood, along with an abortion provider represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Kentucky, sued to block Kentucky’s sweeping abortion laws after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

    They filed two complaints challenging the two statutes, which effectively prohibit abortions in Kentucky except in limited circumstances where it is necessary to preserve the life of the mother, according to the opinion.

    The near-total bans outlaw abortion in most instances with no exceptions for rape or incest, making Kentucky one of 13 states that have banned or severely restricted abortion.

    The plaintiffs argued that the laws violate the state’s constitutional rights to privacy, bodily autonomy, and self-determination, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU said in a statement.

    After a circuit court temporarily enjoined the abortion bans last summer, an appellate court judge granted the attorney general’s emergency request to dissolve the injunction, but an appellate panel later recommended that the state’s highest court weigh in on the injunction.

    The Supreme Court of Kentucky ruled that the abortion providers did not have the standing to challenge the six-week ban because they had not argued it violated their own constitutional rights, only those of their patients.

    Although the court found that the abortion providers have standing to challenge the trigger ban, it ruled that the abortion providers did not show they were sufficiently harmed by the ban to warrant a temporary injunction on its enforcement, according to the opinion.

    Instead, the court remanded the case to the lower court to determine the constitutionality of the trigger ban, the opinion stated.

    The opinion does not determine whether the Kentucky Constitution protects the right to receive an abortion, as there was no “appropriate party” to raise the issue in the suit, according to Lambert.

    “Nothing in this opinion shall be construed to prevent an appropriate party from filing suit at a later date,” she said.

    In a statement, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU expressed disappointment with the ruling but said “this fight is not over.”

    “Once again, the Kentucky Supreme Court failed to protect the health and safety of nearly a million people in the state by refusing to reinstate the lower court order blocking the law,” the statement said.

    The statement added, “Even after Kentuckians overwhelmingly voted against an anti-abortion ballot measure, abortion remains banned in the state. We are extremely disappointed in today’s decision, but we will never give up the fight to restore bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom in Kentucky.”

    Cameron called the ruling a “significant victory” Thursday.

    “Since the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade last June, we have vigorously defended Kentucky’s Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law,” he said in a statement. “We are very pleased that Kentucky’s high court has allowed these laws to remain in effect while the case proceeds in circuit court.”

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  • Turkey rescuers say voices are still being heard under the rubble | CNN

    Turkey rescuers say voices are still being heard under the rubble | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Rescue teams in southern Turkey say they are still hearing voices from under the rubble more than a week after a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, offering a glimmer of hope of finding more survivors.

    Live images broadcast on CNN affiliate CNN Turk showed rescuers working in two areas of the Kahramanmaras region, where they were trying to save three sisters believed to be buried under the debris.

    In the same region, emergency workers saved a 35-year-old woman who was believed to have been buried for around 205 hours, according to state broadcaster TRT Haber.

    Two brothers – 17-year-old Muhammed Enes Yeninar and 21-year-old brother Abdulbaki Yennir – were also pulled from collapsed buildings on Tuesday, the broadcaster also reported. Further east, in the city of Adiyaman, rescuers pulled an 18-year-old boy and a man alive from the rubble, while Ukraine’s rescue team pulled a woman alive out of the rubble in the southern province of Hatay, according to CNN Turk.

    Eight days after the tremor and its violent aftershocks, more than 41,200 people have been confirmed dead across Turkey and Syria, and survival stories are becoming few and far between.

    UNICEF said it fears that even without verified numbers, it is “tragically clear” that the number of children killed following the quake “will continue to grow.”

    James Elder, a spokesman for the United Nations children’s agency, said 4.6 million children live in the 10 Turkish provinces hit by the disaster, while in Syria, 2.5 million children have been affected.

    A woman sits on the rubble of her destroyed house on Tuesday in Kahramanmaras, Turkey.

    Earthquake victims injured in Kahramanmaras arrive at Ataturk Airport by military cargo plane of Turkish Armed Forces for further medical treatment in Istanbul, Turkey on February 14, 2023.

    As rescue operations start to shift to recovery efforts, UN workers are racing to funnel aid to survivors in Syria through two new border crossings approved by the government in Damascus.

    The United Nations welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s decision on Monday to open “the two crossing points of Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra’ee” between Turkey and northwest Syria “for an initial period of three months to allow for the timely delivery of humanitarian aid.”

    Eleven trucks with UN aid crossed into northwest Syria via the Bab Al-Salam passage on Tuesday, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths tweeted, adding that 26 more trucks passed into the region via the Bab Al-Hawa crossing.

    The news came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday the two new border crossings that will take aid inside Syria from Turkey “are open and goods are flowing.”

    Guterres emphasized that human suffering from this natural disaster should not be made worse by manmade obstacles such as access, funding and supplies.

    The UN is launching a $397 million humanitarian appeal for victims of the earthquake in Syria for three months and finalizing a similar appeal for survivors in Turkey, Guterres announced.

    International aid has been slow to arrive in rebel-held areas in northern and northwestern Syria. The situation has been complicated by years of conflict and an already existing humanitarian crisis that has led to further difficulties for survivors who lack food, shelter and medicine as they battle freezing winter conditions.

    Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said last week that any aid the country receives must go through the capital Damascus. But many Western nations have been reluctant to lift sanctions despite requests from Assad, as the measures were placed on his regime after it led a brutal campaign in which hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed during the years-long civil war.

    Also on Tuesday, a Saudi Arabian plane carrying 35 tons of food, medical aid and shelter landed at Aleppo International Airport, in what is the first shipment of aid from the kingdom to government-held territory since the February 6 earthquake, Syrian state media reported.

    Two more planes of aid are scheduled to arrive in Syria on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Faleh al-Subei, the head of the aid department at the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

    Meanwhile, Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay has denied reports of food and aid shortages. There were “no problems with feeding the public” and “millions of blankets are being sent to all areas,” he said on live television.

    Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said more than 9,200 foreign personnel are taking part in the country’s search and rescue operations, while 100 countries have offered help so far.

    Syrians pictured in the northwestern province of Idlib on Monday dig graves for their relatives who died as a result of last week's deadly disaster.

    People displaced by the earthquake take refuge in shelters and temporary camps on the outskirts of Jenderes, northwest Syria, on Monday.

    On Monday, UN aid chief Griffiths said the rescue phase of the response was “coming to a close” during a visit to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

    “And now the humanitarian phase, the urgency of providing shelter, psychosocial care, food, schooling, and a sense of the future for these people, that’s our obligation now,” he said.

    After announcing an end to their search and rescue operation last week, the “White Helmets” group, officially known as Syria Civil Defense, on Monday declared a seven-day mourning period in rebel-controlled areas in the north of the country.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) stressed the need to “focus on trauma rehabilitation” when treating populations stricken by the devastating disaster.

    The WHO’s Turkey Representative Batyr Berdyklychev highlighted the “growing problem” of a “traumatized population,” forecasting the need for psychological and mental health services in the affected regions.

    “People only now start realizing what happened to them after this shock period,” Berdyklychev said while speaking at a media briefing from the Turkish city of Adana on Tuesday.

    The WHO is negotiating with Turkish authorities to make sure quake survivors can access mental health services, Berdyklychev added, noting that many people displaced by the quake to other areas of Turkey “will also need to be reached.”

    WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge told the briefing that the “immediate priority” for the 22 emergency medical teams deployed by the WHO to Turkey is “working particularly to deal with the high number of trauma patients and catastrophic injuries.”

    CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify where the 18-year-old boy and a man were rescued, which was in the city of Adiyaman.

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  • What to know about the lawsuit aiming to ban medication abortion drug mifepristone | CNN Politics

    What to know about the lawsuit aiming to ban medication abortion drug mifepristone | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A federal judge may rule later this month on a lawsuit seeking to block the use of medication abortion nationwide, in the biggest abortion-related case since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.

    The lawsuit, filed in November by anti-abortion advocates against the US Food and Drug Administration, targets the agency’s 20-year-old approval of mifepristone, the first drug in the medication abortion process

    Medication abortion, which now makes up a majority of abortions obtained in the US, has become a particularly acute flashpoint in the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade.

    US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, has extended the briefing deadline in the case until February 24.

    Reproductive rights advocates say that if Kacsmaryk sides with the plaintiffs, “it would eliminate the most commonly used method of abortion care,” according to NARAL Pro-Choice America.

    Here’s what to know about the lawsuit:

    The lawsuit, filed last year by a coalition of anti-abortion national medical associations under the umbrella of the “Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine” and several doctors, is seeking a number of actions by the court, chief among them a preliminary and permanent injunction ordering the FDA “to withdraw mifepristone and misoprostol as FDA-approved chemical abortion drugs and to withdraw defendants’ actions to deregulate these chemical abortion drugs.”

    “After two decades of engaging the FDA to no avail, plaintiffs now ask this court to do what the FDA was and is legally required to do: protect women and girls by holding unlawful, setting aside, and vacating the FDA’s actions to approve chemical abortion drugs and eviscerate crucial safeguards for those who undergo this dangerous drug regimen,” the complaint reads.

    The FDA responded to the lawsuit last month by asking the judge to deny the motion for a preliminary injunction, arguing that issuing one in the matter “would upend the status quo and the reliance interests of patients and doctors who depend on mifepristone, as well as businesses involved with mifepristone distribution.”

    The agency also says a ruling against it would set a dangerous precedent.

    “More generally, if longstanding FDA drug approvals were so easily enjoined, even decades after being issued, pharmaceutical companies would be unable to confidently rely on FDA approval decisions to develop the pharmaceutical-drug infrastructure that Americans depend on to treat a variety of health conditions,” the FDA wrote.

    “A preliminary injunction would interfere with Congress’s decision to entrust FDA with responsibility to ensure the safety and efficacy of drugs. In discharging this role, FDA applies its technical expertise to make complex scientific determinations about drugs’ safety and efficacy, and these determinations are entitled to substantial deference.”

    Danco, which makes mifepristone, also made a similar request to the FDA’s in a court filing, stressing that the lawsuit could decimate the company’s business.

    “Danco is a small pharmaceutical company. It sells one drug: Mifeprex,” lawyers for the company wrote in court papers. “Entering the mandatory preliminary injunction plaintiffs seek would force FDA to withdraw approval for Danco’s only product, effectively shuttering Danco’s business.”

    “Congress entrusts decision-making like this with the FDA. And they’re coming in trying to overrule that, saying this medication is unsafe because women bleed. Well, that’s part of having an abortion. It’s also part of having a pregnancy,” said Ryan Brown, an attorney representing Danco in the case. “The bottom line being that they just want to do away with abortion across the board and for any reason.”

    Kacsmaryk was appointed to the court in 2017 by then-President Trump and was confirmed by a 52-46 vote in 2019.

    Since then, he’s helped make Texas a legal graveyard for policies of President Joe Biden’s administration, presiding over 95% of the civil cases brought in Amarillo, Texas.

    In December, Kacsmaryk put on hold the Biden administration’s most recent attempt to end the so-called “Remain in Mexico” program. And he has overseen Texas cases challenging vaccine mandates, the gender identity guidance issued by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the administration’s limits on the use of Covid-19 relief funds for tax cuts.

    Before joining the court, Kacsmaryk served as deputy general counsel at the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit religious liberty legal group, where he worked mainly on “religious liberty litigation in federal courts and amicus briefs in the US Supreme Court,” according to his White House biography.

    The case is being closely watched by a number of interested parties, including Republican and Democratic state attorneys general. On Friday, two different multi-state coalitions filed amicus briefs with the court urging them to act one way or another in the matter.

    A coalition of 22 Democratic attorneys general urged Kacsmaryk to deny the motion for a preliminary injunction, writing in court papers that “annulling – or even merely limiting – any of the FDA’s actions relating to medication abortion would result in an even more drastic reduction in abortion access across the entire nation, worsening already dire outcomes, deepening entrenched disparities in access to health care, and placing a potentially unbearable strain on the health care system as a whole.”

    And a coalition of 22 Republican attorneys general asked the court to issue the preliminary injunction, arguing the FDA exceeded its authority when it approved the medication.

    “State laws on chemical abortion thus account for the public interests at issue – and they do so with the benefit of democratic legitimacy (and legal authority). The FDA’s actions can make no such claim. By obstructing the judgments of elected representatives, the agency has undermined the public interest,” they wrote.

    Abortion rights advocates have sounded the alarm on the case, stressing that a ruling by Kacsmaryk in favor of the plaintiffs would affect every corner of the country since the lawsuit is targeting a federal agency.

    “If FDA approval of mifepristone is revoked, 64.5 million women of reproductive age in the US would lose access to medication abortion care, an exponential increase in harm overnight,” NARAL said in a statement on Friday, pointing to internal research.

    “This research reveals the high stakes of this lawsuit, and we can only expect the worst from this Trump-appointed federal judge. Americans want access to abortion, but anti-choice bad actors are dead set on restricting reproductive freedom by any means possible,” said Angela Vasquez-Giroux, the group’s vice president of communications and research.

    And activists are mobilizing in Texas around the issue, with the Women’s March planning to hold a rally at the federal courthouse in Amarillo, Texas, on Saturday.

    “We’ve said it before: the fight for reproductive rights now lies in the states, and legal challenges like these are just the latest example of how our fight is bigger than Roe,” said Rachel Carmona, the executive director of Women’s March.

    On Thursday, Kacsmaryk told the plaintiffs that they had until February 24 to respond to a recent filing by the Danco, writing in an order that following the deadline, “briefing will then be closed on the matter, absent any ‘exceptional or extraordinary circumstances.’”

    On Friday, the plaintiffs in the case submitted one response to the FDA’s filing. But the deadline extension means that after the plaintiffs submit a separate response to Danco, the case is ripe for judgment since all required briefings will have been filed.

    Kacsmaryk can rule at any time after that, though he could also call for a hearing, or ask for additional responses as well.

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  • Jim Jordan issues first subpoenas targeting Biden administration’s response to school board threats | CNN Politics

    Jim Jordan issues first subpoenas targeting Biden administration’s response to school board threats | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan on Friday subpoenaed the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Education for documents as part of its investigation into whether a Justice Department strategy to address threats against teachers and school officials was abused to target conservative parents.

    The flurry of subpoenas are the first from the Judiciary’s subcommittee dedicated to investigating the alleged weaponization of the federal government and are an early indication that the newly minted chairman intends to aggressively pursue its probe into the Biden administration’s response to rising tensions and threats of violence surrounding school board meetings.

    The subpoenas set a document deadline of March 1. The panel sent the subpoenas after initially sending letters to the agencies for voluntary cooperation on January 17.

    The allegations being investigated date to 2021, when protests and some violence erupted at school board meetings across the country. Most of the anger came from conservative parents who wanted to repeal mask mandates, opposed anti-racism courses and had concerns about LGBTQ policies.

    With that backdrop, the National School Boards Association wrote to President Joe Biden asking for federal help to address the violence and threats against school administrators. The group said that “these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism” and encouraged the Justice Department to explore which laws, possibly including the Patriot Act, could be applied.

    The group soon apologized for “some of the language” in its letter. But it quickly drew backlash, particularly among conservatives.

    Attorney General Merrick Garland had issued a memo in response – which didn’t cite the letter, compare parents to “terrorists” nor invoke the Patriot Act. It merely told the FBI and federal prosecutors to step up collaboration with state and local law enforcement on the issue.

    According to a report Jordan released last year, emails show that the Biden White House consulted with the NSBA on the letter before the group made its letter public. An independent review by NSBA concluded, however, that there was no “direct or indirect evidence suggesting the Administration requested the Letter” or reviewed the contents before the letter was sent.

    Other emails also show that the Justice Department sent an advance copy of Garland’s memo to the NSBA.

    The FBI later established a “threat tag” to internally track cases about school board threats under the same categorization. Republicans have seized on the “threat tag” to accuse the FBI of carrying out Biden’s desire to stomp out conservative speech at school boards. But the creation of an internal database does not mean the FBI initiated any sort of crackdown against parents.

    Judiciary Republicans are requesting Garland provide a paper trail of the DOJ’s communications with the White House, intelligence agencies and members of the National School Boards Association about alleged violence at school board meetings.

    The subpoena also calls for a number of documents relating to Garland’s directive for FBI and US attorneys’ offices to meet with federal, state and local law enforcement partners to discuss strategies for addressing the issue, focusing specifically on what meetings took place and what recommendations were made.

    A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. Three days after Jordan’s voluntary request to DOJ, a department official responded to the Ohio Republican that “we share your belief that congressional oversight is vital to our functioning democracy” and encouraged the committee to prioritize its document requests to elicit efficient responses, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

    The FBI subpoena specifically demands that Director Chris Wray produce a variety of documents, including communications related to meeting with US attorneys’ offices and “establishment of the Department of Justice’s task force.”

    Wray is also told to hand over all documents related to formal and informal recommendations created or relied upon by FBI employees in accordance with Garland’s October 2021 memo.

    The FBI said in a statement that the bureau “has never been in the business of investigating speech or policing speech at school board meetings or anywhere else, and we never will be,” adding that “attempts to further any political narrative will not change those facts.”

    “The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities. The FBI is actively working to respond to congressional requests for information – including voluntary production of documents,” the FBI statement read.

    Jordan’s subpoena to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called on the Education Department to hand over any documents or communications related to a letter the National School Boards Association sent in September 2021.

    Jordan’s subpoena also called for any files related to Viola Garcia’s appointment to the National Assessment Government Board. Garcia was the president of the National School Boards Association and was one of two individuals who signed the September 2021 letter to Biden.

    An Education Department spokesperson told CNN that “the Department responded to Chairman Jordan’s letter earlier this week. The Department remains committed to responding to the House Judiciary Committee’s requests in a manner consistent with longstanding Executive Branch policy.”

    CNN has reached out to Garcia for comment.

    On Thursday, a day before the subpoena, the Education Department told Jordan’s team that the department played no role in crafting the letter from the National School Boards Association.

    “I would also like to reiterate – as the Department has repeatedly made clear – that the Secretary did not request, direct any action, or play any role in the development of the September 29, 2021, letter from the NSBA to President Biden,” Gwen Graham, assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs at the Education Department wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. Graham added that an independent review for counsel retained by the NSBA did not find any connection between the letter and Garcia’s appointment.

    Republicans gave Democrats on the committee a heads up that these subpoenas were coming, a source familiar told CNN. Democratic Del. Stacey Plaskett of the US Virgin Islands, the highest-ranking Democrat on the subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government, said the subpoenas were underpinned by “conspiracy theories” and said she is confident that what the Republicans have asked for “will once again disprove this tired right-wing theory.”

    White House spokesperson for Congressional Oversight Ian Sams said in a statement to CNN, “Chairman Jordan is rushing to fire off subpoenas only two days after the Judiciary Committee organized, even though agencies already responded in good faith seeking to accommodate requests he made. These subpoenas make crystal clear that extreme House Republicans have no interest in working together with the Biden Administration on behalf of the American people and every interest in staging political stunts.”

    Since the uproar at school boards became a major political issue in late 2021, Republicans have pushed the baseless narrative that Biden, Garland and Wray have weaponized federal law enforcement to attack innocent parents who care about education.

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy falsely claimed that “Biden used the FBI to target parents as domestic terrorists.” Jordan has said Garland tried “to use federal law enforcement tools to silence parents.” This claim even came up in the GOP response to last year’s State of the Union. These claims have been repeatedly debunked by fact-checkers from CNN and other outlets.

    For his part, Garland has aggressively pushed back against Republicans’ accusations. He previously testified to Congress that the Justice Department isn’t using counterterrorism resources against parents and said it was ridiculous to equate “angry” parents to “terrorists.”

    When GOP senators grilled Wray about the “threat tag” matter at an August hearing, he defended the FBI.

    “The FBI is not going to be in the business of investigating speech or policing speech at school board meetings,” Wray said. “We’re not about to start now. Threats of violence, that’s a different matter altogether. And there, we will work with our state local partners, as we always have.”

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  • Minnesota governor signs bill codifying ‘fundamental right’ to abortion into law | CNN Politics

    Minnesota governor signs bill codifying ‘fundamental right’ to abortion into law | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill into law Tuesday that enshrines the “fundamental right” to access abortion in the state.

    Abortion is already legal in Minnesota, but in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the Protect Reproductive Options Act goes a step further by outlining that every person has the fundamental right to make “autonomous decisions” about their own reproductive health as well as the right to refuse reproductive health care.

    “This is very simple, very right to the point,” Walz said Tuesday on “CNN Tonight.” “We trust women in Minnesota, and that’s not what came out of the [Supreme Court’s] decision, so I think it’s critically important that we build a fire wall.”

    With the passage of the bill, Minnesota is now the first state to codify abortion via legislative action since Roe v. Wade was reversed, the office of the bill’s lead author in Minnesota’s state Senate, told CNN.

    “Last November, Minnesotans spoke loud and clear: They want their reproductive rights protected – not stripped away,” Walz said in a news release. “Today, we are delivering on our promise to put up a firewall against efforts to reverse reproductive freedom. No matter who sits on the Minnesota Supreme Court, this legislation will ensure Minnesotans have access to reproductive health care for generations to come. Here in Minnesota, your access to reproductive health care and your freedom to make your own health care decisions are preserved and protected.”

    The bill states that local government cannot restrict a person’s ability to exercise the “fundamental right” to reproductive freedom. It also clarifies that this right extends to accessing contraception, sterilization, family planning, fertility services and counseling regarding reproductive health care.

    “The Pro Act also goes beyond just granting those rights to abortion, it really says all reproductive healthcare decisions aren’t our business, including access to contraception, including access to really anything that is related to personal and private decisions about your reproductive life,” Megan Peterson, the executive director of pro-abortion rights campaign UnRestrict Minnesota, told CNN following Walz’s signing of the bill.

    In a letter to Walz ahead of the signing, Republican legislature leaders argued that the bill went too far and urged the governor to veto what they called “an extreme law.”

    “As the PRO Act was being rushed through the legislature, Republicans offered reasonable amendments with guardrails to protect women and children,” state Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson and House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth wrote, “Sadly, each of these amendments were struck down by a Democrat majority.”

    In 1995, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in Doe v. Gomez that abortion was a fundamental right protected under the state’s constitution. The Protect Reproductive Options Act ensures that even in the event of a new state Supreme Court reversing the ruling, the right to abortion will be protected under state law.

    “By passing this law, Minnesotans will have a second layer of protection for their existing reproductive rights. A future Minnesota Supreme Court could overturn Doe v. Gomez, but with the PRO Act now in State law, Minnesotans will still have a right to Reproductive healthcare,” Luke Bishop, a spokesperson for Democratic State Sen. Jennifer McEwen, the bill’s author in the Senate, told CNN over email.

    Following the governor’s signature of the bill, the White House applauded Minnesota’s efforts, pointing to the popular support for women’s rights to make their own health care decisions.

    “Americans overwhelmingly support a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, as so clearly demonstrated last fall when voters turned out to defend access to abortion – including for ballot initiatives in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, and Vermont,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

    “While Congressional Republicans continue their support for extreme policies including a national abortion ban, the President and Vice President are calling on Congress to restore the protections of Roe in federal law,” she wrote. “Until then, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue its work to protect access to abortion and support state leaders in defending women’s reproductive rights.”

    This story has been updated with additional information.

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  • Meet the group protecting patients from protesters outside abortion clinics | CNN Politics

    Meet the group protecting patients from protesters outside abortion clinics | CNN Politics

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    A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.


    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, Planned Parenthood made a vow.

    “It is a dark day for our country, but this is far from over. We will not compromise on our bodies, our dignity or our freedom,” the organization said in a statement.

    But with more than a dozen states enacting complete or partial bans on abortion following the Supreme Court decision, abortion clinics, like those operated by Planned Parenthood, and the protests they attract have become an even more potent symbol of the country’s deep divisions over reproductive health.

    To minimize the effect these protests have on patients visiting Planned Parenthood clinics, the organization deploys volunteer clinic escorts to “help get patients to the door of our clinic with as little harassment from protesters and picketers as possible,” according to its website.

    The result is a defensive role on the front lines of America’s abortion debate.

    To understand the role and what it entails, we turned to Marian Starkey, a volunteer Planned Parenthood clinic escort in Maine who has been guiding patients past protesters at different locations since 2007.

    Our conversation, conducted over the phone in late December and lightly edited for flow and brevity, is below.

    LEBLANC: When you sign on for your clinic escort shift, what can the average day bring? I imagine every day is a little bit different.

    STARKEY: To a degree. I mean, the difference really revolves around the public’s reaction to the protesters. Honestly, the protesters are pretty consistent. It’s generally the same people who show up every Friday.

    Friday is the procedure day at Planned Parenthood. And so that’s the day that the protesters are there. They usually arrive around 8:30 in the morning and, depending on the weather, they’ll stay until 11 o’clock or sometimes later if it’s nice out.

    They show up with massive signs that barely fit in their cars. They have to kind of squish them into the back seats of their cars when they leave at the end of the shift. The signs show fetuses in very advanced stages of development and pretty, pretty gruesome images, and they’re meant to shock and disturb patients and passersby, which they do.

    They show up and they do a little prayer to start off their day. And then the men – it’s always men – will take turns preaching throughout the morning. I’ve never, in the 15 or 16 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen a woman preach, always the dudes. Young ones, too.

    I mean, men as young as probably 19 or 20 sort of get on their soapbox and preach at passing traffic, at the patients entering the clinic. But mostly at us.

    STARKEY: Honestly, the patient traffic isn’t so heavy that there’s always somebody for them to be sort of focusing on. So they focus most of their attention on us greeters and try to learn personal information about us and then use that to sort of get under our skin.

    I mean, they all know my name. They know that my mom’s a midwife. I hear about that a lot – that, you know, she brings life into this world and I take it out.

    LEBLANC: Oh, wow.

    STARKEY: Yeah, so it can be pretty targeted. We have a non-engagement policy across the country, so we don’t speak with them; we try not to even acknowledge them with eye contact. And so we just kind of look right through them or look up and down the sidewalk to see what’s going on with patients and people passing by.

    And that doesn’t deter them from talking at us, but we don’t engage.

    LEBLANC: How is it that they’re learning personal information about the clinic escorts?

    STARKEY: The same way that we’re learning information about them, if I’m being honest. If they make the mistake of using each other’s names out on the sidewalk, then now we know their name.

    They coordinate with each other using a Facebook page, and so if you go to that page, you can see a lot of their activity, and it can actually be kind of useful to see what they’ve got cooking. They’ll sometimes reveal plans for future protest events that they wanna do.

    But it’s also a place to see their pictures, and so we can recognize who they are. And I imagine they do the same thing with us.

    LEBLANC: So your goal is to basically shield the people using Planned Parenthood’s facilities from as much protester activity as possible?

    STARKEY: Yeah, and to just keep the chaos to a minimum, if possible. Patients can’t tell when they turn the corner from the parking garage and start their walk down the sidewalk – they can’t tell who’s a protester and who isn’t and who’s on their side and who’s not.

    And so when they make their appointments over the phone, they’ve already been warned there are protesters. They’ve also been told that there are clinical volunteers who are wearing these bright pink vests.

    But I think sometimes that doesn’t even register for them because they’re just in such a state when they see what they have to walk through. So, you know, we’re just trying to keep things as calm as possible, and not engaging with them tends to be the best way to do that.

    People are in all sorts of different mental states when they arrive. A lot of times just the presence of the protesters will make them cry. They have to walk down almost an entire block to get from the corner where the parking garage is to the front door of the clinic. And so I’m sure that can feel like an eternity for patients when they’re already upset.

    And so a lot of times they’ll burst into tears or the partners that they’re with – their support person – will start screaming at the protesters.

    A lot of times the men are actually the targets of the abuse from the protesters. They have sort of standard lines that they shout at them, like “real men don’t kill their children” and “be a father” or “don’t kill your child,” that sort of thing.

    So yeah, it’s just chaos out there. It’s a circus.

    LEBLANC: Have you ever had someone come in that was so traumatized by the experience that they no longer want to go through with their procedure?

    STARKEY: I haven’t seen that happen. The protesters, we will hear them sometimes boast about all of the lives that they’ve saved through people changing their minds. I haven’t seen it happen. So I’m not sure what they’re referring to when they say that.

    I don’t know, maybe something’s happening behind the scenes that we’re not privy to. I’m not sure.

    We have had patients for sure who, if there weren’t greeters on the corner, would not have walked down the sidewalk by themselves, and they told us that.

    LEBLANC: You’ve been doing this a long time. I’m curious if you’ve noticed a change at all since the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade?

    STARKEY: Honestly I don’t think so. The protesters seemed happy about it, but not overjoyed. They have told us over the years in their preaching, but also just kind of the one-sided conversations they have with us, that they’re not political people. That for them, the person in charge is Jesus Christ and they’re not all that interested in the laws of man and the elected officials that we have.

    What I have noticed that’s different is that people passing by are a lot angrier.

    The morning of the decision, a man came by and just screamed in the faces of the protesters: “You finally got what you wanted, now you can get out of here.” And they just kind of calmly explained to him, “Well, no, because abortion is still legal in Maine, so we still have work to do, and we’ll be out here regardless.”

    I had never before the Dobbs decision – I had never seen people passing by grab their signs and make off with them. And now that’s happened. I mean, I’ve probably seen that five or six times now.

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  • Satellite images capture crowding at China’s crematoriums and funeral homes as Covid surge continues | CNN

    Satellite images capture crowding at China’s crematoriums and funeral homes as Covid surge continues | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Satellite images taken over a number of Chinese cities have captured crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, as the country continues its battle with an unprecedented wave of Covid-19 infections following its dismantling of severe pandemic restrictions.

    The images – taken by Maxar in late December and early January and reviewed by CNN – show a funeral home on the outskirts of Beijing, which appears to have constructed a brand-new parking area, as well as lines of vehicles waiting outside of funeral homes in Kunming, Nanjing, Chengdu, Tangshan and Huzhou.

    The scene at the same home last week, showing more cars parked along streets near the entrance.

    China recently moved away from its strict zero-Covid approach to the virus, which had sparked mass unrest after more than two years of tight controls on citizens’ personal lives.

    China’s strict policy shielded its population from the kind of mass deaths seen in Western nations – a contrast repeatedly driven home by the Communist Party to illustrate the supposed superiority of its restrictions.

    Since those rules were lifted, people have regained freedom to travel around their country

    The satellite pictures are consistent with CNN’s reporting and witness accounts shared to social media concerning overcrowding in funeral homes and crematoriums.

    CNN has reported first-hand in Beijing on the makeshift facilities being used to store the deceased, as overworked staff try to keep up with the volume of crates containing yellow body bags, and families report waiting for days to bury or cremate their loved ones.

    A Tangshan City funeral home in January 2020, before the pandemic swept the country.

    The same home last week, where many more vehicles are parked.

    Meanwhile, China’s official Covid-19 death toll since it eased restrictions remains strikingly low – with only 37 deaths recorded since December 7.

    As reports of overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes roll in, China is facing accusations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and US that it is under-representing the severity of its current outbreak, as top global health officials urge Beijing to share more data about the explosive spread.

    “We continue to ask China for more rapid, regular, reliable data on hospitalizations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive, real-time viral sequencing,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news briefing in Geneva Wednesday.

    “WHO is concerned about the risk to life in China and has reiterated the importance of vaccination, including booster doses, to protect against hospitalization, severe disease, and death,” he said.

    Speaking in more detail, WHO executive director for health emergencies Mike Ryan said the numbers released by China “under-represent the true impact of the disease” in terms of hospital and ICU admissions, as well as deaths.

    He acknowledged that many countries have seen lags in reporting hospital data, but pointed to China’s “narrow” definition of a Covid death as part of the issue.

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  • 18 of Asia’s most underrated places | CNN

    18 of Asia’s most underrated places | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Comprising more than 40 countries, Asia can’t be summed up easily.

    The classics are classics for a reason – from the awe-inspiring architecture of Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal to the buzzy metropolises of Tokyo and Hong Kong and the beaches of Bali and Phuket, it’s impossible for any traveler to find something not to their liking.

    But for the travelers who are fortunate enough to have time to dig a little bit deeper, there are less-crowded, equally-rewarding treasures to be found.

    CNN Travel tapped into our network of colleagues and contributors to ask them where the locals go. Here’s what they had to say.

    When it comes to great Malaysian food cities, most people think of Penang. But that’s only because they haven’t been to Ipoh.

    The capital city of Perak state, Ipoh’s location between Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown makes it an ideal stop for any Malaysian road trip. It’s also the gateway to Cameron Highlands, a district known for its cool weather and tea plantations.

    Ipoh’s food and world famous white coffee are enough reasons to visit but there are also magnificent limestone hills and caves that are home to unique temples as well as amazing hidden bars.

    Visit the Chinese temples of Perak Tong, Sam Poh Tong and Kek Lok Tong and be blown away by intricate stone carvings and bronze statues of Chinese deities surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites. Ipoh’s colonial legacy is also evident in its architecture: from its Railway Station to the Birch Clock Tower, town hall and the Old Post Office.

    – Heather Chen, Asia writer

    As popular as Thailand is among international tourists, the country’s northeast – collectively referred to as Isaan – is usually overlooked.

    But for those in search of a less-traveled destination that includes historic architecture, dramatic landscapes and culinary delights, Isaan ticks all the right boxes, and then some.

    Visitors will find it’s one of the most welcoming destinations in Asia and easily accessible, thanks to excellent infrastructure that includes several domestic airports offering daily flights to Bangkok and a range of upmarket hotels.

    The only challenge is deciding which highlights to experience. Made up of 20 provinces, Isaan shares borders with Laos and Cambodia, and their influences can be found in the region’s cuisine, language, historic sites and festivals.

    Attractions include the ancient Khmer ruins of Phenom Rung in Buriram, mountainous national parks in Loei, the 75 million-year-old “Three Whale Rock” in Bueng Kam and Bronze Age artifacts in the UNESCO-listed Ban Chiang Archeological Site in Udon Thani.

    And then there’s the food. Isaan cuisine, now prevalent on menus in Thai restaurants around the world, includes refreshing som tom (payaya salad), tangy Sai Grok Isaan (northeastern sausage) and larb, a flavorful minced-meat salad.

    – Karla Cripps, senior producer, CNN Travel

    Most people travel to Leshan city for the sole purpose of visiting the Giant Buddha. The world’s biggest and tallest ancient Buddha statue is indeed stunning, but this Sichuan city deserves much more than a side trip from Chengdu.

    The Mount Emei scenic area – home to the Giant Buddha – is also of great spiritual and cultural importance as the birthplace of Buddhism in China. Many ancient temples are scattered and ingeniously built on the cliffs of the pristine dense forest.

    On top of sightseeing, Leshan is a hidden foodie paradise with local Sichuanese saying “eating in Sichuan, tasting in Leshan.” This city is where Chengdu residents come for authentic bites of iconic Sichuan cuisine: chilled bobo chicken, jellied tofu, Qiaojiao beef, steamed meat with rice powder and more.

    – Serenitie Wang, producer, video programming

    Skardu district, in Pakistan’s Gilit Baltistan region, is a land of stark gigantic beauty, with many of the highest mountains on the planet – most famously K2 – concentrated in this one area.

    Deosai National Park sits on the second highest plateau in the world. It is a riot of color, alive with birds and butterflies. With no ambient city lights the stars are exceptionally bright, with the milky way looking so close it could be plucked out from the sky.

    In contrast, there’s the Sarfaranga Desert. The world’s highest cold desert, it’s filled with diamond-white sands and ebony mountains.

    Skardu has been inhabited for centuries and is studded with ancient Buddhist stupas and carvings, beautifully preserved mosques from the Middle Ages and shrines of Sufi saints.

    The Serena hotel chain has transformed the stunning Shigar Fort and Khaplu Palace into two of the country’s best kept hotels. Both are filled with gardens and climate friendly wooden architecture while serving regional food like Mamtu dumplings and grilled trout.

    – Sophia Saifi, producer, Pakistan

    Nikko is just 150 kilometers (93 miles) north of Tokyo, but it feels like another world.

    This small city is one of the most important sites in Japan for Shinto culture, with the ornate, gold-dripping Toshogu Shrine – a UNESCO World Heritage site – its centerpiece.

    If peace is what you’re after, Nikko is the place to find it. Nikko National Park comprises 443 square miles across three prefectures, with dramatic waterfalls, groves of fir and cedar trees, finely carved gates and rocky outcroppings among the things to experience.

    The park is also home to some of Japan’s famous natural hot springs, making Nikko an ideal autumn or winter destination.

    While the area has long been popular with Tokyo urbanites looking for a bucolic weekend escape, Nikko is beginning to land on the radar of more international tourists – a Ritz Carlton opened there just before the pandemic.

    – Lilit Marcus, digital producer, CNN Travel

    With its fresh mountain air and pine forests in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Dalat is a popular destination for local Vietnamese that isn’t as well known among international travelers.

    At 1,500 meters above sea level, the city’s cooler weather is a welcome reprieve from the tropical humidity found elsewhere in the Southeast Asian country.

    Centered around the romantic Xuan Huong Lake, Dalat boasts everything from French colonial architecture – a holdover from its days as a hill station – to the “Crazy House,” the Seussian creation of architect Đặng Việt Nga, with its twisting stairwells and whimsical sculptures. Plentiful waterfalls and a vibrant flower industry mean that delights abound in the city for honeymooners and nature lovers.

    – Dan Tham, producer, Global Features

    Urban Davao City is beloved for its night market.

    Davao City is more than just a provincial capital of the southernmost part of the Philippines — it’s a true mosaic of Filipino cultures seen nowhere else across the country.

    There’s food for everybody at the Roxas Night Market, which is lined with barbecue and grilled seafood, along with humble yet complex delicacies such as the fresh seaweed salad called lato and hearty law-uy vegetable soup. Nothing represents Davao more than pungent durians, which grow in abundance across the region as well as pineapples, bananas and sugarcane – served in all forms from shakes to pies.

    The city takes pride in its indigenous roots and celebrates the Kadwayan Festival in August to showcase local textiles, woodwork, song and dance from 11 tribes that reign from the mountains and its surrounding sea.

    A ferry ride away from the city will transport you to luxurious Samal Island, best known for its pristine beaches and pearl farms. Take a roadtrip along the palm tree-lined paths that lead to the surfer spot of Mati, or perhaps a detour to Mount Apo, the highest mountain and volcano in the Philippines.

    – Kathleen Magramo, breaking news writer

    The northeast Indian state of Meghalaya, which translates to “abode in the clouds,” boasts some of the country’s most peaceful and lush landscapes. As it requires a permit, it can be challenging to visit. But it’s worth it.

    Meghalaya is home to the towns of Cherrapunji and Mawlynnong. Both hold records for being the wettest places on Earth, having received nearly 12,000 mm (472 inches) of rain a year. The results are verdant, leafy forests with rivers and creeks running through that can be explored through crossing the state’s famous bridges.

    Built by locals out of the roots of ficus trees, some are as old as 500 years and symbolize the self-sufficiency of the Khasi indigenous tribe and their relationship with the forest. The living root bridges, known as “jingkieng jri” in the Khasi language, can be found in over 70 villages and continue to be used and nurtured by locals to keep them alive for future generations.

    In 2022, they were added to UNESCO’s tentative list of World Heritage sites. The most famous living root bridges are the Umshiang Double Decker root bridge in Nongriat village, south of Cherrapunji, and one in Riwai near Mawlynnong, certified as the “cleanest village in Asia” since 2003 by UNESCO.

    – Manveena Suri, freelance producer

    Palau Ubin is just a short ferry ride away from mainland Singapore.

    Thought Singapore was all about parties and skyscrapers? Think again. Located offshore from its northeast Changi region is Pulau Ubin (Malay for “granite island”), a nature lover’s paradise with jungle trails, mangrove wetlands and majestic quarries.

    Getting around the island is a breeze: In true Singaporean style, everything is well-marked, from jungle trails to concrete footpaths, but the island still remains very untouched.

    Mountain biking is particularly popular, especially on weekdays when crowds are few. But Ubin really comes to life on weekends – when families, couples and nature lovers descend, hoping to catch a glimpse of old Singapore.

    One of the most popular attractions on the island is Chek Jawa, a saltwater mangrove wetland rich in marine life. A well-built wooden boardwalk runs through the mangrove, allowing visitors to observe plant and marine life such as sea sponges, octopuses, starfish and cuttlefish, at close range.

    – H.C.

    Indonesia is comprised of several thousand islands – and, in the case of Samosir, an island on a lake within an island.

    Samosir Island is a volcanic island in North Sumatra’s Lake Toba. one of the world’s largest crater lakes.

    The Batak tribe calls this land their home, and you can meet these locals as they sell handicrafts from their villages along the waterfront, where their houses are built from wooden beams lashed to stones and have tall red roofs that resemble a ship’s sails.

    As Samosir is several hours’ drive and ferry ride from the closest airport, opt to spend the night in a homestay and support the community by purchasing ulos, a UNESCO-recognized woven, naturally dyed cloth that is used in every important facet of Betak life.

    – L.M.

    Northern Laos – home to elegant Luang Prabang and adventure-loving Vang Vieng – get the lion’s share of attention. But head south for a different kind of experience in Pakse, where two rivers converge in the country’s second biggest city.

    Pakse is diverse, pulsing and modern. It has buildings left over from the days of French colonialism, but these days Vietnamese and Chinese communities bring their foods, traditions and references alongside the existing Lao presence.

    While in town, head up to the giant gold Buddha at Wat Pho Salao, stroll along the Mekong at sunset, and then go off to the Bolaven Plateau to get deeper into jungle.

    – L.M.

    India casts a long tourism shadow over its neighbors, including Bangladesh. But this smaller nation has outsized offerings many travelers to South Asia might not realize. This is especially true in architecture, history, nature and food.

    In the capital of Dhaka, the Ahsan Manzil is an ornate, stunning vision in pink. Set on the banks of the Buriganga River, it was finished in 1872 during the British colonial era as a palace for the local rulers of the time. It is now a popular museum.

    For a sample of Mughal Empire architectural splendor, check out the incomplete Lalbagh Fort.

    And if you’d like to visit a mosque, consider the exquisite Star Mosque (Tara Masjid), renowned for hundreds of blue stars on its gleaming white domes.

    – Forrest Brown, freelance writer and producer

    Lijiang's old town, in Yunnan province, is popular with Chinese domestic travelers.

    Even though China is still closed to international tourists, Yunnan province has already welcomed about 350 million domestic visitors in the first half of 2022 alone.

    If you’d like to see the historical Yunnan like an experienced local, head to Tengchong.

    Bordering Myanmar in the west of Yunnan, Tengchong has been a critical trading stop on the historic Silk Route and Tea Horse Road in the past.

    Today, many local travelers first visit Heshun, an old town built surrounding a mountain and a lake. The Double Rainbow stone arch bridges, the Laundry Pavilion and the 98-year-old Heshun Library – the biggest rural public library in China – are some of the must-sees when visiting the cozy village.

    Yinxing (Gingko) Village in the northern side of Tengchong is known for its thousands of ginkgo trees, turning the village golden yellow every autumn.

    – Maggie Hiufu Wong, freelance CNN Travel writer

    The Gogunsan islands – meaning “an archipelago of mountains” in Korean – have been a popular summer destination for locals seeking a break from city life.

    A group of 63 islands on South Korea’s west coast, the islands offer a picturesque view of verdant hills scattered amid gentle waters.

    The world’s longest seawall and a series of bridges connect the islands to the mainland, making them an especially attractive destination for those behind wheels. The landscape invites visitors to light hikes and swim afterwards.

    – Jake Kwon, newsdesk producer

    Lan Ha Bay is a less-visited waterwat in northeastern Vietnam.

    Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam is no secret – the UNESCO-listed waterway has long been popular with backpackers and luxury travelers alike.

    But visitors who want to ply the waters with a lot fewer neighbors should head to Lan Ha, south of Ha Long Bay. Like its more famous sibling, Lan Ha Bay is a stretch of shimmering water broken up by limestone (karst) islands that can be enjoyed by day trip (kayak, canoe) or overnight (cruise ship, junk boat).

    Most travelers get here by bus or car from Hanoi or Haiphong, and it’s easy to set up door-to-door service with tour companies in advance.

    Leave from Cat Ba Island to explore Lan Ha Bay’s grottoes, caves and white-sand beaches.

    – L.M.

    On the southern tip of Taiwan lies Kenting, a sunny, laid back peninsula known for its white sandy beach, boisterous night market and chill vibe.

    Take a dip at Baishawan (White Sand Bay); scenes from the “Life of Pi” were filmed here on Wanlitong Beach, a hotspot for snorkeling teeming with marine life.

    Take a stroll at the Eluanbi Park, where a towering lighthouse stands – one of the top eight iconic landmarks on the island – and walk down to the southernmost tip of Taiwan, a perfect spot to watch the sunset.

    No visit to Kenting is complete without a stop at Longpan Park. Take in the panoramic view of the rugged coastline, the majestic cliffs and the grassy hills that together form a jaw-dropping landscape. Given the open space and the lack of lighting, the park is also popular with sunset watchers and stargazers.

    – Wayne Chang, China news desk producer

    Nestled under a canopy of trees, the temple ruins of Banteay Chhmar offer a glimpse into the might of the Khmer Empire – without the hordes of tourists.

    Completed in the late 12th century by Jayavarman VII, the “Citadel of Cats” is in northwest Cambodia, a few hours’ drive from Siem Reap, home to Angkor Wat. Banteay Chhmar is located 20 kilometers from the Thai border and is accessible by taxi from Sisophon, the fourth largest city in Cambodia.

    The massive complex comprises eight temples, featuring stone-faced towers adorned with mysterious smiles. There are also remarkably well-preserved bas-reliefs, depicting religious and military stories. Visitors to this remote, less-traveled part of Cambodia are rewarded with a sense of adventure and quiet.

    – D.T.

    Most foreign tourists head to Sri Lanka’s beautiful south coast or into its central tea country, both of which are fairly easy to reach from the main city of Colombo and beloved by Instagrammers who come to ride the famous rails.

    But the northern patch of the island is worth the sometimes-challenging car or bus trip to get there.

    Jaffna is the primary home of the country’s Tamil-speaking population and still has glimmers of its Indian and Dutch colonial past, resulting in a fascinating, complex culture.

    Start with architecture: the ornate, bright gold Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil Hindu temple and sprawling white Colonial-era Jaffna Library are both exceptional.

    Then, indulge in the food: bananas and mangoes fresh off the trees combine with curries, pickles and rice dishes for filling, inexpensive meals.

    – L.M.

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  • After 25 years of wrongful imprisonment, 2 Georgia men set free after newly uncovered evidence exonerates them of murder charges | CNN

    After 25 years of wrongful imprisonment, 2 Georgia men set free after newly uncovered evidence exonerates them of murder charges | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    After spending 25 years in prison on murder convictions related to the 1996 shooting death of their friend, two Georgia men were exonerated this week, after new evidence uncovered in a true-crime podcast last year proved their innocence, their lawyers said.

    Darrell Lee Clark and his co-defendant Cain Joshua Storey were 17 years old when they were arrested for their alleged involvement in the death of 15-year-old Brian Bowling.

    He died from a gunshot wound to the head in his family’s mobile home on October 18, 1996, according to Clark’s lawyers, Christina Cribbs and Meagan Hurley, with the nonprofit Georgia Innocence Project.

    Moments before the gun was fired, Bowling was on the phone with his girlfriend and told her he was playing a game of Russian roulette with a gun, which was brought to his home by Storey, who was in the room at the time of the shooting, according to a news release from the Georgia Innocence Project.

    Storey was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but months later, police began investigating the death as a homicide, and interviewed two witnesses whose statements led authorities to tie Clark to Bowling’s death, the Georgia Innocence Project said.

    “Despite the circumstances, which strongly indicated that Bowling accidentally shot himself in the head, at the urging of Bowling’s family members, police later began investigating the death as a homicide,” according to a motion filed by Clark’s attorneys, requesting a new trial.

    The two teenagers were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, following a weeklong trial in 1998.

    Clark’s exoneration came a year and a half after investigative podcasters Susan Simpson and Jacinda Davis began scrutinizing his case in their Proof true-crime podcast in 2021, and interviewed two of the state’s key witnesses.

    Through their investigation, new evidence emerged which “shattered the state’s theory of Clark’s involvement” in Bowling’s death and the podcasters flagged his case to the Georgia Innocence Project, according to its news release.

    The first witness, a woman who lived near Bowling’s home was interviewed by police, who claimed she alleged the teens confessed they had “planned the murder of Bowling because he knew too much about a prior theft Storey and Clark had committed,” according to the Georgia Innocence Project.

    Based on her testimony, Storey was charged with murder and Clark was arrested as a co-conspirator despite having a corroborated alibi, stating he was home on the night of the shooting, which was supported by two witnesses, according to Clark’s motion for a new trial.

    But the woman revealed in the podcast, police coerced her into giving false statements and threatened to take her children away from her if she failed to comply, according to the Georgia Innocence Project.

    Darrell Lee Clark was released from the Floyd County Jail on Thursday after the Rome Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office and Floyd County Superior Court Judge John Neidrach agreed that his conviction should be overturned.

    Police claimed the other witness, a man who was in a different room of the Bowlings’ home at the time of the shooting, identified Clark from a photo lineup as the person he saw running through the yard on the night Bowling was shot, the news release said.

    It was uncovered in the podcast the man’s testimony was based on an “unrelated, factually similar shooting” which he witnessed in 1976, and he never identified Clark as the individual in the yard, nor did he ever witness anyone in the yard on the night of the shooting, according to the Georgia Innocence Project.

    Davis told CNN in an interview when she and Simpson started their investigation, they weren’t expecting anything to come of it, but as they interviewed more people, it was “clear that it just wasn’t adding up.”

    “It took us a long time to talk to both of those witnesses. The podcast was happening in almost real time as an investigation. When we finally found and were able to talk to those two witnesses, it really solidified that both of these guys had been wrongly convicted,” Davis said.

    Clark’s attorneys filed pleadings in September to challenge a wrongful conviction and ask for a new trial, citing new information which proved his conviction was based on false evidence and coercion, Hurley told CNN.

    Clark, now 43, was released from the Floyd County Jail Thursday after the Rome Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office and Floyd County Superior Court Judge John Neidrach agreed the conviction should be overturned and all underlying charges against him dismissed, after evidence in the case was reexamined.

    Storey, who admitted to bringing the gun to Bowling’s home, was also released after accepting a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter, and a 10-year sentence with time served, after spending 25 years in prison. He was also exonerated of murder charges.

    Storey told CNN in an interview he was afraid to go to sleep the first night after he was released in case he would wake up and “realize it was all a dream.”

    “It’s been surreal to say the least,” he added. “I believe it’s going to be great. One step at a time. I never allowed my mind to get locked up all those years, anyhow.”

    “You never think something like that is going to happen to you,” said Lee Clark in a statement released by the Georgia Innocence Project. “Never would I have thought I would spend more than half my life in prison, especially for something I didn’t do.”

    Clark’s father, Glen Clark, told CNN in an interview, “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long, long time. 25 years. My son was wrongly accused, and I knew it all these years. It’s hard for me to live with that.”

    “I watched my son go into prison as a kid, I watched him go through prison, I watched him come out as a man. He became a man in prison,” he added.

    Clark is living with his family in their home in Floyd County for the foreseeable future as he focuses on readjusting to life outside prison and rebuilding his life, he told CNN. Storey said he also moved back to Floyd County, with plans to go back to school and get a job.

    Clark said Judge Neidrach apologized on behalf of the state of Georgia and Floyd County this week during the court hearing this week, which was an important step toward healing.

    “That really touched my heart, because I had been living in corruption for so long, and it meant a lot to have someone acknowledge that wrong,” he told CNN.

    The Georgia Innocence Project will work to support Clark during his transition and connect him to resources, and a personal fundraiser has been organized on the MightyCause platform, open to the public for donations to Clark and his family, Hurley said.

    “It’s probably going to take some time to like truly process that he is free and doesn’t have to go back behind prison walls, because he spent most of his life behind them,” Hurley said.

    After his release, Clark is living with his family in their home in Floyd County for the foreseeable future as he focuses on readjusting to life outside prison and rebuilding his life.

    “More than anything, he’s looking forward to getting to spend time with his family and rebuilding some of those relationships that he was, frankly, ripped away from at the age of 17,” she added.

    The exonerations of both men were the culmination of a collaboration between Clark, Storey and his defense team, as well as the Bowling family, which was willing to take an “objective look at this case and reevaluate some of the things they have been told in the past,” Hurley said.

    Davis was in the courtroom during Clark and Storey’s hearing this week and said she’s still “in shock” and feels a huge amount of relief for both men.

    “In the end, I also feel for Brian Bowling’s family who have been incredibly gracious and supportive as well. It’s really rare when you have the victim’s family support the convictions being overturned,” Davis said.

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  • Great Barrier Reef should be placed on the ‘in danger’ list, UN-backed report shows | CNN

    Great Barrier Reef should be placed on the ‘in danger’ list, UN-backed report shows | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Great Barrier Reef should be added to the list of world heritage sites that are “in danger”, a team of scientists concluded after conducting a mission to the world’s largest coral reef system.

    In a new UN-backed report released on Monday, the scientists said that the reef is facing major threats due to the climate crisis and that action to save it needs to be taken “with upmost urgency.”

    “The mission team concludes that the property is faced with major threats that could have deleterious effects on its inherent characteristics, and therefore meets the criteria for inscription on the list of World Heritage in danger,” the report said.

    The 10-day monitoring mission by UNESCO scientists in March came months after the World Heritage Committee made an initial recommendation to list Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as “in danger” due to the accelerating impacts of human-caused climate change.

    At the time, the agency called on Australia to “urgently” address the worsening threats of the climate crisis, but received immediate pushback from the Australian government.

    The long-anticipated final mission report lays out key steps that the scientists say need to be taken urgently, though the report itself was published after a six-month delay. Originally scheduled to be released in May before UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting in Russia, the report was postponed due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

    The recommendations include slashing greenhouse gas emissions, reassessing proposed projects and credit schemes, and scaling up financial resources to ultimately protect the reefs.

    Jumbo Aerial Photography/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority/AP

    Spanning nearly 133,000 square miles and home to more than 1,500 species of fish and over 400 species of hard corals, the Great Barrier Reef is an extremely critical marine ecosystem on the Earth.

    It also contributes $4.8 billion annually to Australia’s economy and supports 64,000 jobs in tourism, fishing and research, according to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

    But as the planet continues to warm, because of the growing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the reef’s long-term survival has come into question. Warming oceans and acidification caused by the climate crisis have led to widespread coral bleaching. Last year, scientists found the global extent of living coral has declined by half since 1950 due to climate change, overfishing and pollution.

    The outlook is similarly grim, with scientists predicting that about 70% to 90% of all living coral around the world will disappear in the next 20 years. The Great Barrier Reef, in particular, has suffered many devastating mass bleaching events since 2015, caused by extremely warm ocean temperatures brought by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.

    During the UNESCO monitoring missions, reef managers found that the Great Barrier Reef is suffering its sixth mass bleaching event due to heat stress caused by climate change. Aerial surveys of around 750 reefs show widespread bleaching across the reef, with the most severe bleaching observed in northern and central areas.

    Bleaching happens when stressed coral is deprived of its food source. With worsening conditions, the corals can starve and die, turning white as its carbonate skeleton is exposed.

    “Even the most robust corals require nearly a decade to recover,” Jodie Rummer, associate professor of Marine Biology at James Cook University in Townsville, previously told CNN. “So we’re really losing that window of recovery. We’re getting back-to-back bleaching events, back-to-back heat waves. And, and the corals just aren’t adapting to these new conditions.”

    Weeks before the mission, global scientists with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released an alarming report concluding that with every extreme warming event, the planet’s vital ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef are being pushed more toward tipping points beyond which irreversible changes can happen.

    As researchers on the mission assessed the dire state of one of the world’s seven natural wonders, they witnessed how the climate crisis has drastically changed the coral reef system.

    A decision on whether the reef should be officially labeled as “in danger” will be made by the World Heritage Committee next year, once UNESCO compiles a more thorough report that will include responses from the Australian federal and state governments.

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