HEALTH

Authorities have lifted a monthlong pandemic lockdown on the northern Chinese city of Xi'an and its 13 million residents.

It was a fashion history-making moment in Paris for Kenzo as it unveiled the debut for its first Japanese designer since house-founder Kenzo Takada.

New coronavirus infections in Russia have reached an all-time high, the third consecutive daily record as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads through the country.

Some conservatives are taking aim at policies that allow doctors to consider race as a risk factor when allocating scarce COVID-19 treatments, saying the protocols discriminate against white people.

Police in Brussels have fired water cannons and tear gas to disperse violent demonstrations against COVID-19 vaccinations and restrictions.

The death of a Connecticut seventh grader from an apparent fentanyl overdose has renewed calls for schools to carry the opioid antidote naloxone.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is postponing her wedding after announcing new COVID-19 restrictions following the discovery of nine cases of the omicron variant in a single family that flew to Auckland to attend a wedding.

Thousands of people have gathered in European capitals to protest vaccine passports and other requirements their governments have imposed in hopes of ending the coronavirus pandemic.

Jon Vaughn’s small blue-and-white camper has been parked outside the home of the University of Michigan’s president since early October, and he says it isn't moving anytime soon.

State-by-state battles over the future of abortion are setting up around the U.S. Republican lawmakers are proposing new restrictions based on laws in Texas and Mississippi and some Democratic-led states are working to preserve access.

The first commercial airline flights in one month have taken off from Xi’an in western China as the government eased travel curbs imposed after a coronavirus outbreak ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The sweeping “zero-tolerance” policies that China has employed to protect its people and economy from COVID-19 may, paradoxically, make it harder for the country to exit the pandemic.

The homeless, the sick, the elderly: For people who fell through the cracks of the official system, the then-unprecedented decision to isolate the central Chinese city of Wuhan and its 13 million people was a matter of life or death.

Orange County health officer Dr. Raul Pino was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this week, now the case is being referred to the Florida inspector general.

The Florida Department of Health is investigating a health officer for the department in Orange County pending an inquiry involving COVID vaccines.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is suing the Biden administration over its demand that the state stop sending millions in federal COVID-19 relief money to schools if they don’t have mask requirements or close due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Poland's former president and former Solidarity pro-democracy movement leader, Lech Walesa, says he has COVID-19.

Italy's federation of physicians and dentists says some 1,900 members have been suspended from the national professional group because they haven't complied with a law requiring them to be completely vaccinated, including having a booster shot.

A U.S. judge in Texas has issued a nationwide injunction barring the federal government from enforcing President Joe Biden’s requirement that federal workers without qualifying medical or religious exemptions be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Government and business leaders have urged global cooperation on climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and the economic recovery at the World Economic Forum’s virtual gathering this week.

Three new U.S. studies offer more evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the omicron variant, at least among people who have gotten booster shots.

The omicron surge this winter has swamped U.S. hospitals with record numbers of patients with COVID-19.

In Costa Rica, election officials are encouraging those infected with the coronavirus to skip voting in upcoming national elections.

Daily new coronavirus infections in Russia have reached an all-time high and authorities are blaming the highly contagious omicron variant, which they expect to soon dominate the country’s outbreak.

The World Health Organization says that coronavirus vaccine boosters should now now be offered to people, starting with the most vulnerable, in a move away from its previous insistence that boosters were unnecessary for healthy adults and an acknowledgment that the vaccine supply is improving globally.

Australia has reported its deadliest day of the pandemic with 80 coronavirus fatalities, as an outbreak of the omicron variant continues to take a toll.

Nepal’s capital has shut schools, ordered citizens to carry vaccination cards in public, banned religious festivals and instructed hotel guests to be tested every three days as it battles its biggest COVID-19 outbreak.

California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without parental consent under a state senator's proposal.

Speakers at the annual anti-abortion rally in Washington say there's a growing sense of optimism that their long-sought goal of a sweeping rollback of abortion rights in America is finally in reach.

Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan beginning Friday as the country widens COVID-19 restrictions due to the omicron variant, which has caused cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas.

A new study finds that young children might be able to overcome their peanut allergies if treated early enough.

A federal appeals court has found that two California counties violated the Constitution’s right to bear arms when they shut down gun and ammunition stores in 2020 as nonessential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

Of all the questions that can be asked to measure one’s physical strength, this one might be the most common: “How much can you bench?”

The concentration of coronavirus in the Altamonte Springs Sewer Service Area wastewater has decreased slightly, but still remains high, according to the most recent sample taken from the city.

“Superbugs” have joined the ranks of the world’s leading infectious disease killers.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex says a new COVID-19 pass will go into effect Monday, severely restricting the public lives of those who refuse to get inoculated by banning them from domestic flights, restaurants, sports events and other venues.

The top U.S. public health agency has long been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information.

Portugal’s government is under fire over its preparations for people infected with COVID-19 to vote in an upcoming snap election.

U_S_ officials say the CIA believes it's unlikely that Russia or another foreign adversary is using microwaves or other forms of directed energy to attack hundreds of American diplomats and intelligence officers who attribute their brain injuries and other symptoms to what's come to be known as “Havana syndrome.”.

Indonesia’s leader says the country that holds the presidency of the Group of 20 biggest economies this year is seeking to strengthen global partnership to aid the economic recovery from COVID-19.

A lawmaker from Britain’s governing Conservatives has accused the government of blackmailing opponents of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Thailand will ease entry requirements for vaccinated visitors from all countries next month as concerns about the omicron variant of the coronavirus decline.

U.S. researchers are reporting the latest in a surprising string of experiments in the quest to save human lives with organs from genetically modified pigs.

A U.N.-backed group says it has signed agreements with more than two dozen generic drug makers to produce versions of Merck’s coronavirus pill to supply 105 developing countries.

Three Australian Federal Court judges have revealed their reasons for backing a government order to deport tennis star Novak Djokovic, explaining they did not consider the “merits or wisdom of the decision.”.

Germany’s health minister expects the number of coronavirus infections in the country to keep rising for several weeks reaching hundreds of thousands of cases a day.

Austria’s parliament has voted to introduce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for adults from Feb. 1, the first of its kind in Europe.

Some European countries such as Spain are making tentative plans for when they might start treating COVID-19 as an “endemic” disease, but the World Health Organization and other officials have warned that the world is nowhere close to declaring the pandemic over.

New Zealand is among the few remaining countries to have avoided any outbreaks of the omicron variant.

Disability rights activists and advocates for Britney Spears are backing a California proposal to provide more protections for those under court-ordered conservatorships, while promoting less-restrictive alternatives.

Several viewers got in touch to say they thought they had seen a lump under Shirley Ballas's arm.

The field’s future lies in reclaiming parts of its past that it willingly abandoned.

First day rituals old and new marked CPS's first full day back to school.

Gardaí are investigating reports of abusive calls to Ireland's chief medical officer and his deputy.

The mice aren’t just causing chaos in homes, farms and hospitals.

Intelligence agencies have long pored over what little information escapes North Korea for hints of life inside the Hermit Kingdom.

While public opinion of the medical care system has improved, a survey found opinion of local health departments and federal agencies has declined.

Should I take a vaccine selfie? Can I ask someone else if they've been vaccinated? How do I talk to family members about the shots? Vaccines bring new etiquette questions.

CDC pleads with Americans to take precautions amid rise in COVID cases Health officials are pleading with Americans to follow protective measures as coronavirus cases rise across the nation. As Mola Lenghi shows us, new infections are up 10% and hospitalizations are trending in the wrong direction. Then, Dr. Uzma Syed, an infectious disease specialist, joins CBSN's Elaine Quijano with more.

Health officials warn of potential spring break COVID surge as Americans travel Health officials are warning of a potential surge of COVID-19 cases around spring break. The warning comes as more than a million Americans traveled through U.S. airports on Monday. CBS News reporter Alex Tin joins CBSN's "Red & Blue" anchor Elaine Quijano with more on the variant that's expected to become dominant by April, as well as the latest on a new vaccine trial involving children as young as 6 months old.

Health experts fear COVID-19 surge as states lift restrictions Health officials are urging Texas residents to keep wearing masks and social distance even as restrictions are lifted. Janet Shamlian has more.

Sweeping COVID restriction rollbacks worry health experts Health officials are urging caution as states begin some of the biggest rollbacks in restrictions since the pandemic began. Nikki Battiste reports.

U.S. confirms first case of U.K. COVID-19 variant as cases and deaths rise Health officials in Colorado have identified the first case of a new coronavirus variant first detected in the U.K. CBS News correspondent Meg Oliver reports on the surge in infections already happening across the country, and Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, internal medicine physician at California Pacific Medical Center, joined CBSN to discuss what we know about the new variant and the challenges hospitals are facing.

“In my view, health and safety is a mandatory subject of bargaining which may not be disregarded by the provisions of 4.5, especially in light of the fact that it is unlikely in my view that the General Assembly, when contemplating 4.5, envisioned the situation we now find ourselves in,” Sered said. “It is undisputed that the Chicago Board of Education has announced a date certain to bring children and teachers back to in-person learning without bargaining that decision with the CTU. Further, as we are literally dealing with life and death issues, I find this to be irreparable harm.”

"This is the worst outbreak that we've had of a respiratory-borne illness that we've had in 102 years. You can't run away from the data. It's incomprehensible to me how people are not seeing that," Fauci said during a livestream interview. He said the U.S. needs uniform public health measures to suppress the virus' spread instead of a piecemeal approach taken by different states and counties. Meanwhile, other states have taken a less-severe approach to their growing coronavirus outbreaks in an effort to keep businesses open.

“We have seen the positive effects on Lake County’s health when being diligent in mask wearing, but it does take all of us participating to see the positive effects again,” Purdue University Northwest Nursing Professor Jodi Allen said. “I am hopeful that the mask mandate will improve our county’s influenza numbers at the start of the flu season this year which will be immensely helpful to our area’s health care system as we continue to deal with Covid cases.”

MADRID Spanish soccer matches could have the look of a video game when the competition resumes next month. The league is contemplating adding virtual crowds to the television broadcast of matches that will be played in empty stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic. Tebas said the Bundesliga, which resumed recently in Germany, was successful using virtual sound during its matches, and the Spanish league wants to go a step further by using the virtual fans. The biggest challenge for the virtual crowd the Spanish league wants to use is to make sure it will work properly when superimposed during the live event. Tebas said the league is expected to finish on July 19, with the next season starting on Sept. 12.

Civil protection workers move boxes of ventilators at the customs post in the Bosnia capital Sarajevo, Thursday, April 30, 2020. (AP Photo)SARAJEVO Bosnian authorities have detained two high-ranking state officials and the owner of a private company which imported 100 ventilators from China that were found to be useless for COVID-19 patients. The three are being investigated for money laundering, fraud, embezzlement of state funds and other crimes, the prosecutors were quoted as saying. The company owner has rejected accusations that he imported the ventilators at highly inflated prices. Bosnia, which went through a bloody civil war in the 1990s, is composed of the Muslim-Croat federation and a Serb entity.

This microscope image made available by the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research in 2015 shows human colon cancer cells with the nuclei stained red. Carroll jumped at the chance to help test a newer drug taken as a daily pill, AstraZenecas Tagrisso. A big drawback: It and other newer drugs are extremely expensive $150,000 or more a year. PROSTATE CANCERMen with advanced prostate cancer often are treated with medicines to suppress male hormones that can help the cancer grow. After a year, 55% on Keytruda were alive without worsening cancer versus 37% on chemo.

(Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)BRUSSELS The European Union criticized China on Friday for asserting more control over Hong Kong and suggested the move would have an impact on China-EU relations, but the 27-nation bloc ruled out taking any action against its major trading partner. We express our grave concern at the steps taken by China," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after chairing a video meeting of the foreign ministers. This risks to seriously undermine the one country, two systems principle and the high degree of autonomy of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong." The national security law approved in Beijing could severely restrict opposition political activity and civil society in Hong Kong, where the pro-democracy opposition sees the move as an assault on the territorys autonomy. The U.K. government warned that it would extend the visas and possibly provide a path to citizenship for some British passport holders from Hong Kong.

France is reopening its restaurants, bars and cafes starting next week as the country eases most restrictions amid the coronavirus crisis. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS Frances national health agency reported a sudden jump in new virus infections -- just an hour after the prime minister announced a sweeping national reopening plan. Its good news, but not good enough for everything to return to normal.Statistics released Friday showed 96 virus clusters have emerged around France since the government started easing confinement measures May 11. Overall COVID-19 is receding in France, with the number of virus patients in intensive care dropping every day since April 8 and now at 1,429. It is now testing more than 200,000 people a week, according to the health agency.

There are still few places where our homeless can go," Salvation Army Major David Yardley said at the group's downtown center. Blistering temperatures can endanger health, and can lead to heat exhaustion, heat stroke and even death. The daily high temperatures in Phoenix were forecast to hit 110 degrees (43C) or very close to it during the extreme heat warning in effect through Sunday, National Weather Service forecasters said. The cooling stations in metro Phoenix open when the weather service declares extreme heat warnings They were also open for a string of days during an extreme heat warning in late April. In metro Las Vegas, where an excessive heat warning is in effect until Friday evening, four heat relief stations were open.

The Fed's Main Street Lending is geared toward medium-sized companies that are too large for the government's small business lending program and too small to sell bonds or stock to the public. Powell noted that the complexity of the program goes far beyond the Fed's usual lending efforts, which typically involve buying bonds. It is far and away the biggest challenge of the 11 facilities we have set up, Powell said. It has also announced 11 separate lending programs that are intended to support borrowing by businesses, banks and households. Still, Powell has previously said the unemployment rate is likely to peak at between 20% and 25% in May or June.

The Food and Drug Administration said late Thursday that several batches of the drug metformin tested positive for unsafe levels of a chemical called N-Nitrosodimethylamine. Metformin tablets are a staple of diabetes care, reducing excess sugar in the blood. People with Type 2 diabetes use metformin alone or with other drugs to help control their blood sugar levels. Patients should continue taking metformin drugs until their doctor can prescribe a replacement, the FDA said in a statement, noting the risks of discontinuing. Drugmaker Apotex Corp. recalled its extended-release metformin distributed in the U.S. earlier this week after the FDA found contamination in one lot.

RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolina's top health official asked Friday for more details on how GOP leaders will protect attendees of a Republican National Convention this summer during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Donald Trump has threatened to move his formal renomination elsewhere if he does not soon get guarantees of being able to hold a large-scale event. The GOP's letter Thursday did not mention such a request, but Cohen said it had been discussed by phone. The state continues to support the hosting of the Republican National Convention in Charlotte if it can be done safelty, Cohen wrote to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and convention CEO Marcia Lee Kelly. Cooper is seeking reelection this fall in a state Trump won in 2016.

The Falcon 9, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of the rocket, is scheduled to liftoff from Launch Pad 39-A Saturday. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. SpaceX pressed ahead with its second attempt to launch astronauts for NASA a historic first for a private company but more stormy weather threatened more delays. Elon Musks company came within 17 minutes Wednesday of launching a pair of NASA astronauts for the first time in nearly a decade from the U.S., before the threat of lightning forced a delay. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said managers were debating whether to bump the next launch attempt from Saturday to Sunday to take advantage of a slightly improved forecast at Kennedy Space Center. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex reopened Thursday, after a 2 1/2-month shutdown, and within a few hours, all 4,000 tickets were snapped up for Saturdays launch attempt.

Missouri Administrative Hearing Commissioner Sreenivasa Rao Dandamudis decision means Missouri will not become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since 1974, the year after the Supreme Courts Roe v. Wade decision. Therefore, Planned Parenthood is entitled to renewal of its abortion facility license, Dandamudi wrote. A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood said the organization will have comment later Friday. William Koebel, director of the section of the health department responsible for abortion clinic licensing, testified that the clinic failed to provide a "complication report." That led the health department to launch an investigation of other instances where women underwent multiple procedures to complete an abortion, Koebel said.

FILE - In this Oct.23, 2019 file photo, tourists wait to see Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa, at the Louvre museum, in Paris. Iconic sites that are among some of France's biggest tourist draws won't reopen when the country lifts most of its coronavirus restrictions next week. Neither the Louvre Museum, the Eiffel Tower nor the Versailles Palace will be reopening next week when France lifts many of its remaining coronavirus lockdown restrictions. None of France's three most iconic tourist sites will reopen when the country lifts most of its remaining coronavirus lockdown restrictions next week. About 20%-30% of the museums rooms might be closed but of course the Mona Lisa will be open," Sacristin said.

Well be announcing what were doing tomorrow with respect to China and we are not happy with China," Trump told reporters at an unrelated event Thursday, referring mainly to COVID-19. Pompeo's determination opened the door to possible sanctions and the loss of special perks Hong Kong has received from the United States. The officials could not say how many people could ultimately be expelled, although they said it would be only a fraction of the Chinese students in the country. Overall, there were 369,548 students from China, accounting for 33.7% of international students who contributed nearly $15 billion to the U.S. economy in 2018. But the timing of a potential announcement could come at a time of increasingly heated rhetoric about the imposition of national security laws on Hong Hong in violation of the Sino-British accord.

The government continues to ease the lockdown which was set to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the country. Duterte made the televised announcement hours after the Department of Health reported a single-day spike of 539 infections, more than 60% of them in the congested capital. The Health Ministry's new figures on Friday show India now has 165,799 cases with 4,706 deaths, which both now exceed China. The figures announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brought national totals to 11,402 infections and 269 deaths. China on Friday again reported no new daily increase in cases of coronavirus and no new deaths.

She is one of Californias two elected members of the Republican National Committee, and shes a co-chair of Women for Trump that is part of the presidents reelection campaign. She chaired the city's Republican Party before winning election as vice chair of the state GOP in 2013. The governor's policies and the policies of counties are falling more heavily on Democrats than Republicans because there are more Democrats than Republicans in the state, Dhillon said. Dhillon represented the California Republican Party in a successful challenge last year to a law aimed at requiring Trump to release his tax returns to be on the California ballot. In fact its reinforcing the bad image of the Republican Party," he said of Dhillon's recent lawsuits.

In this May 27, 2020, photo, health care worker Tonya Wilkes adjusts her mask while working at a Lowndes County coronavirus testing site in Hayneville, Ala. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)HAYNEVILLE, Ala. Sparsely populated Lowndes County, deep in Alabama's old plantation country, has the sad distinction of having both the states highest rate of COVID-19 cases and its worst unemployment rate. Lowndes and nearby poor, mostly black counties in rural Alabama are facing an increase in confirmed infections. I worry about Lowndes County, said Thomas. Dr. Scott Harris, the state health officer, said the state saw its highest number of new cases since the pandemic began in recent days.

The latest job-loss figures from the U.S. Labor Department bring to 41 million the running total of Americans who have filed for unemployment benefits since the coronavirus shutdowns took hold in mid-March. In New Zealand, health authorities have not found any new virus cases for a week. That increased the overall death toll to more than 1,300 and the number of cases to over 64,000. And first-time applications for unemployment benefits have fallen for eight straight weeks, as states gradually let stores, restaurants and other businesses reopen and the auto industry starts up factories again. Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 5.8 million people and killed about 360,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

South Africa has backlog of nearly 100,000 unprocessed tests. ___JOHANNESBURG South Africa says it has a backlog of nearly 100,000 unprocessed tests for the new coronavirus. The ministry says one of the latest people to die in South Africa was an employee with the National Health Laboratory Services. Indonesia had recorded more than 24,500 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with nearly 1,500 deaths, the most fatalities in Southeast Asia. Thailand has had just single-digit increases in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases for most of May.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. Aventus Biolabs is now offering antibody tests at the University of Central Floridas main campus. Cress drove to UCF on Thursday to get an antibody test. Though the antibody tests are supposed to determine if someone has been infected with COVID-19 in the past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the tests may only work half the time. But despite the new guidelines from the CDC, UCF will continue to offer COVID-19 testing and antibody testing at Garage A at its main campus. UCF also said more antibody testing is expected to be added to the College of Medicine in Lake Nona in the coming weeks.

Igor Loparic prepares packages of aid for people in need for help in Pula, Croatia, Tuesday, May 26, 2020. Enter Igor Loparic, and Our Dream Their Smile -- a charity Loparic established a decade ago, and has refocused to help people living on the Adriatic Sea cope with the pandemic. Many have turned to Loparics group for help with food, other necessities or legal advice. It is important to approach everyone individually and it is important that no one feels bad about getting help." Jetis Bajrami, a community representative and former national boxing team member, says Loparics charity has made a difference.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The Florida Board of Governors is expected to meet Thursday in Tallahassee to discuss the reopening of universities in Florida. Officials are expected to discuss several options for the fall semester, including the possibility of having a mix of online and in-person classes. However, officials with the University of Central Florida have said they are looking to shift more classes online and reduce classroom capacities. Leaders there say in-person classes will resume in August, but the school will go back to online learning after Thanksgiving. Officials say the move is intended to reduce the chances of an outbreak from students who travel during the holiday break.

This photo shows a sign at the headquarters for Washington state's Employment Security Department Tuesday, May 26, 2020, at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Washington state's rush to get unemployment benefits to residents who lost jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak left it vulnerable to criminals who made off with hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)OLYMPIA, Wash. Washington has recovered $300 million paid to criminals who used stolen personal information to file fraudulent unemployment benefit claims amid the COVID-19 crisis, state officials said Thursday. This is a national attack by sophisticated criminals and isnt just happening to Washington state, LeVine said. Nearly 1.5 million claims for benefits with some of that number reflecting people who filed multiple claims were filed for the week of May 17-23, and more than $494.5 million was paid last week to 424,995 individual claims. Washingtons stay-at-home order has been in place since March 23 and the states unemployment rate jumped to a record 15.4% last month.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Boston's David Pastrnak share the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy the league announced Thursday, May 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)Since the NHL is planning to go straight to the playoffs, it's handing out a handful of trophies for the regular season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Not long after unveiling a 24-team right to the playoffs format, the league on Thursday announced the winners of its regular-season awards. Although Ovechkin was stopped short of a ninth 50-goal season, his ninth goal-scoring title extends his NHL record. The benefit and the curse of a bye, I suppose.___For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Health officials warned that the resurgence is getting harder to track and social distancing and other steps need to be taken. India, home to more than 1.3 billion people, reported more than 6,500 new infections Thursday as cases continued to rapidly rise. South Korean health officials warned the resurgence is getting harder to track and social distancing and other steps need to be taken. New Zealand has reported no new cases for six days and has just eight active cases remaining. Early on, President Donald Trump downplayed the severity of the virus, likening it to the flu, and predicted the U.S. wouldnt reach 100,000 deaths.

It was the biggest quarterly decline since an 8.4% fall in the fourth quarter of 2008 during the depths of the financial crisis. The downward revision to first quarter GDP reflected weaker investment by businesses in their inventories which was partially offset by slightly stronger consumer spending. Economists believe the lockdowns that shut wide swaths of the economy and triggered the layoffs of millions of workers will send the GDP sinking at an annual rate of 40% in the current quarter. That would be the biggest quarterly decline on records that go back to 1947. Many forecasters believe growth will rebound sharply in the July-September quarter with the Congressional Budget Office predicting GDP will rise at an annual rate of 21.5%.

Like dozens of other veteran spellers in their final year of eligibility, Anson Cook had big plans for this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee, which was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The SpellPundit bee, with spellers competing from their homes over Zoom, concludes Thursday night, the same time the Scripps winner would have been decided. The champion receives $2,500, a pittance compared to the National Spelling Bees first prize of $50,000, but worth a middle-schoolers time and effort all the same. Most of the spellers who would have been favorites at the national bee quickly signed up, including the top three still-eligible finishers from last year. Yes, eight: Last year's Scripps bee ended in an eight-way tie when organizers ran out of words difficult enough to challenge the best spellers.

HARTFORD, Conn. A Connecticut policy that allows transgender athletes to compete in girls sports violates the civil rights of female athletes, the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has ruled. The office said in a 45-page letter that it may seek to withhold federal funding over the policy, which allows transgender athletes to participate as the gender with which they identify. It said the policy is a violation of Title IX, the federal civil rights law that guarantees equal education opportunities for women, including in athletics. They were also seeking to erase all records set by the transgender athletes. Several other states have polices barring the participation of transgender athletes and Idaho recently became the first state to pass a law banning transgender women from competing in womens sports.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)DETROIT A Michigan court on Thursday ordered a barber to close his shop and stop defying the state's coronavirus restrictions, though he vowed to keep cutting hair. The Michigan appeals court overturned a decision by a Shiawassee County judge and ordered him to sign an injunction sought by state regulators. Gretchen Whitmer has kept barbershops and hair salons closed for weeks, citing a high risk of virus transmission as stylists cut hair and people wait for their turn. Separate from the court case, he's had his shop and barber's licenses suspended. Texas hair salon owner Shelley Luther, who was briefly jailed for opening her shop, appeared at a rally outside Manke's business.

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)CVS Health will try delivering prescriptions with self-driving vehicles in a test that begins next month. Customers will have to confirm their identity in order to unlock their delivery after the vehicle arrives. Nuro has previously started partnerships to test the delivery of pizzas for Dominos or groceries for Kroger, also in the Houston area. Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health Corp. said that for the Houston test, customers can chose the Nuro delivery option when they fill their prescriptions online. Earlier this year, federal regulators gave Nuro temporary approval to run autonomous delivery vehicles on public roads for the first time without human occupants.

(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)MOSCOW Health officials in Moscow updated their figures on coronavirus deaths Thursday, seeking to dispel doubts about Russia's comparatively low COVID-19 death toll. On top of 636 deaths in April directly caused by COVID-19 reported earlier, the Moscow Health Department added the deaths of 756 people who tested positive for the virus but died of other causes. The health department also factored in 169 deaths of people who tested negative but autopsies showed likely succumbed to the virus. Earlier this month, the Moscow Health Department acknowledged that the 639 coronavirus deaths it reported for April represented about 40% of the people who died in the city after testing positive for the virus. If only the deaths directly caused by the coronavirus are taken into account, Moscow's virus mortality index last month would stand at 1.4%, the health department said.

ORLANDO, Fla. Many businesses are still in the process of reopening, but there are lots of restrictions in place aimed at keeping everyone healthy. "I did work with PPP to help the other businesses in the area to help them Properly fill out their application," said Crosier. She said she's held regular meetings with many downtown and Parramore area businesses, helping them find resources. All of our businesses, each has their unique need, so we try to cater those needs, said Rosangela Parker. The Church Street District has a Facebook page to encourage downtown area businesses to share their reopening and safety plans.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)WASHINGTON Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Thursday that his department has all but stopped use of an unproven malaria drug on veterans with COVID-19. Major veterans organizations had called on the VA to explain its use of hydroxychloroquine after an analysis of VA hospital data was published month showing hundreds of veterans who took the drug saw no benefit for COVID-19. They remained at higher levels before tapering off in late April amid backlash over results of the VA hospital analysis and as remdesivir emerged as a form of treatment. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug and said hydroxychloroquine should only be used for the coronavirus in formal studies. The VA has said it prescribed the drug only when medically appropriate, after full discussion between doctor and patient about the risks.

When could a COVID-19 vaccine be ready? But scientists have never created a vaccine so quickly, and theres no guarantee any under development will ultimately work. The most promising vaccine candidates are expected to move into larger tests this summer. How quickly those studies can determine whether the vaccines are safe and effective depends in part on how widely the coronavirus is still spreading. The studies will need to enroll 20,000 people or more for each vaccine candidate, with half of them getting the real vaccine and the rest getting a dummy shot.

A family watches a movie from the back of their car at a drive-in movie theater where drivers must leave one space empty between them amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Brasilia, Brazil, Saturday, May 23, 2020. The drive-in is 47 years old and one of the only such open-air facilities in operation in Brazil. Every car must respect the distance, leaving a free parking space between you, he tells each of them. It offers three shows per day, with a movie for children at 6 p.m. followed by two features for adults. The drive-in is 47 years old and one of the only such open-air facilities in operation in Brazil.