| | | | | | Confusion reigned as jury selection in the death penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz concluded its second week with no immediate end in sight. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer united prosecutors and defense attorneys in protest over her plans for concluding the lengthy process that is picking the panel. The jurors will decide if Cruz is executed for murdering 17 at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day 2018. That confusion and other issues means opening statements in Cruz's penalty trial likely will move from May 31 to mid- or late-June. The trial has already been delayed at least two years by the pandemic and other legal issues. | | | | | | Thousands of California grocery store workers have approved a new contract with major supermarket chains, avoiding a potential strike. The union said Thursday members in the central and southern areas of California ratified a tentative deal that was reached last week. It grants some 47,000 employees at 540 stores higher wages, stronger health benefits and other benefits. Workers had voted to authorize a strike if a new contract wasn't reached. A strike and lockout in 2003 and 2004 put nearly 70,000 Southern California grocery workers on picket lines for more than four months. | | | | | | Anti-virus controls are shutting down some of China's biggest cities and fueling public irritation as infections rise. That is hurting a slowing economy and prompting warnings of possible global shockwaves. Shanghai is easing rules that confined most of its 25 million people to their homes, but most of its businesses are closed. Other cities are cutting off access or closing factories and schools. Nomura economists warned spring planting by farmers might be disrupted. That might boost demand for imported wheat and other food and push up already high global prices. The closures are an embarrassment to the ruling Communist Party and a setback for official efforts to shore up slumping growth in the world's second-largest economy. | | | | | | The U.S. may be heading into another COVID-19 surge, with cases rising nationally and in most states after a two-month decline. Experts don't know how high the mountain will grow, but they don't expect a peak nearly as high as the last one, when the contagious omicron version of the coronavirus ripped through the population. Still, experts warn the coming wave will wash across the nation and push up hospitalizations in a growing number of states, especially those with low vaccination rates, in the coming weeks. Most cases are now being caused by a subvariant known as BA.2 that is thought to be 30% more contagious. | | | | | | A new type of blood test that checks for signs of cancer in healthy people has hit the market. But it's still unclear whether these screening tests will make any difference in cancer death rates. Such blood tests, called liquid biopsies, are already used in patients with cancer to tailor their treatment and check to see if tumors come back. Now, one company is promoting its $949 blood test to people with no signs of cancer. U.S. government researchers are planning a large experiment to see if the blood tests do actually catch cancers earlier and save lives. | | | | | | Social media users shared a range of false claims this week. Here are the facts: There is no link between COVID-19 vaccines and male infertility. The numbers given in a popular post comparing inflation rates from 2017 through 2022 are not correct. The inaccurate claim that Disney shareholders are panicking after losing $2.4 billion in one day came from a satirical article, and more than a dozen withdrawals and retirements at the 2022 Miami Open tennis tournament weren't caused by COVID-19 vaccine effects. | | | | | | North Korea is marking a key state anniversary with calls for stronger loyalty to leader Kim Jong Un. However, there was no word on an expected military parade Friday to display new weapons amid heightened animosities with the United States. The 110th birth anniversary of Kim's late grandfather and state founder Kim Il Sung comes after North Korea conducted a spate of weapons tests in recent months, including its first full-range intercontinental ballistic missile launch since 2017. Experts say North Korea aims to expand its arsenal and ramp up pressure on the United States while nuclear diplomacy is stalled. There were indications Pyongyang could soon launch fresh provocations like an additional missile test, a rocket to launch a spy satellite or even a nuclear bomb test. | | | | | | | <script type="text/javascript" src="https://newsource-embed-prd.ns.cnn.com/videos/embed-video-player.min.js" data-newsource-publisher="853" data-player-data="6b1ac01b81deb7527986ef0fcbfcb55" data-max-width="auto" data-autoplay="1" data-player-type="1010" data-embed-type="3020"></script>This time last year, the brand new, stunningly effective Covid-19 vaccines were rolling out across the country, injecting a strong note of optimism into the United States’ once fumbling pandemic response.Millions of people were lining up daily to get their shots. Instead of the steady drumbeat of cases, hospitalizations and deaths, we... | | | | | | |
