| | | | | | Reproductive rights advocates are planning to open new abortion clinics or expand the capacity of existing ones in states without restrictive abortion laws. This comes as a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion says justices could overturn the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Some Democratic-led states in the West and the Northeast are proposing public money for an expected influx of people traveling from other places for abortions. A clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, plans to open an abortion facility in August in the southern Illinois city of Carbondale. Illinois has easy abortion access but is surrounded by more restrictive states. | | | | | | Britain's Metropolitan Police has told Prime Minister Boris Johnson he faced no further action over officials' lockdown-breaching gatherings at his official residence and other government sites, after the force said it concluded its investigations into the offenses. Police said they issued a total of 126 fixed-penalty notices to 83 people for gatherings that took place on eight dates between May 2020 — at the height of the first wave of the U.K.'s pandemic — and April 2021. Some people received multiple fines. The scandal, dubbed "partygate" by the media, has dealt a heavy blow to Johnson's leadership. The conclusion of the police investigation means that results from a highly-anticipated probe by a senior civil servant, Sue Gray, can now be published. | | | | | | As Ukrainian refugees flooded into Poland to escape Russia's invasion, a hacking group aligned with the Kremlin tried to spread rumors and hoaxes intended to divide Ukraine from its allies. In one bizarre disinformation campaign, the hacking group known as Ghostwriter sought to spread rumors that Polish criminals were waiting to harvest the organs of the child refugees. That disinformation operation was one of many identified in a new report from the cyber security firm Mandiant which revealed how Russia has used fake accounts, state-controlled media and diplomats to spread disinformation and propaganda about its invasion. | | | | | | Germany's health minister is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is not over yet. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach noted the sharp rise in cases in some Asian countries such as North Korea but also parts of Europe. Lauterbach said that "in Germany, too, an average of 130 to 150 people are dying every day due to the pandemic." Lauterbach was holding a two-day meeting with his counterparts from the Group of Seven leading democracies on Thursday and Friday. U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra had been due to attend in person but tested positive in Berlin on Wednesday. Separately, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court announced it had rejected complaints against compulsory vaccinations for health care workers. | | | | | | THURSDAY, May 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Providing surgical fellows with operative autonomy does not appear to compromise long-term outcomes of abdominal wall reconstructions (AWRs), according to a study published online May 17 in JAMA Network Open. | | | | | | The head of the Food and Drug Administration is facing congressional lawmakers for the first time over the national shortage of baby formula. The shortage has rattled parents in many parts of the U.S. and become another political headwind for President Joe Biden, who's invoked the Defense Production Act to speed domestic manufacturing. There are several reasons behind the baby formula supply problems, including the closure of the largest U.S. baby formula plant in February. The FDA faces intense scrutiny over what it could've done to head off the problems. The FDA has announced plans to reopen the Abbott factory in Michigan while also allowing more imports from overseas formula makers. | | | | | | THURSDAY, May 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The number of American children affected by acute hepatitis of unknown cause continues to grow, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. | | | | | | THURSDAY, May 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Masks may not be required, but Americans should consider wearing one anyway if they live in an area where COVID-19 case numbers are high, federal health officials said Wednesday. | | | | | | |
