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Norwegian drops pre-boarding COVID testing requirement

Norwegian Cruise Line dropped its pre-boarding COVID-19 testing requirement on Wednesday in a major shift for the cruise industry more than two years after the vacation travel companies began wrestling with coronavirus outbreaks and new policies to keep guests safe.

In a news release, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said starting on Aug. 1 guests will no longer have to test for the novel coronavirus before boarding unless required by local regulations. The updated guidelines cover Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

The company still requires guests ages 12 and older to be vaccinated at least two weeks before boarding.

Norwegian officials nodded toward the fact that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have mostly dropped worldwide and vaccines are more widely available, especially in the U.S., where anyone ages six months or older can get inoculated against the virus.

The company said the “relaxation of the testing policy is in line with the rest of the travel, leisure and hospitality industry worldwide as society continues to adapt and return to a state of normalcy.”

Major cruise destinations, including the U.S., Canada, Greece and Bermuda, still require pre-boarding test requirements. Norwegian will not require the tests in those countries if health officials decide to drop it.

The company follows Viking Cruises, which dropped its pre-boarding COVID-19 testing requirement in June.

Cruise ships became a source of fear during the pandemic after a huge outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February 2020, a month before the U.S. would shut down businesses and events because of the virus. Princess Cruises had to quarantine residents on board as hundreds fell sick or tested positive.

Other ships and cruise lines also struggled with outbreaks during several periods of the pandemic before vaccines were widely available.

In the U.S., several restrictions and forced delays were placed on cruise ships over the past two years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Americans to stay away from the cruise liners because they carried an elevated risk of spreading the novel coronavirus.

In March, the CDC lifted its travel warning for cruise ships as cases and hospitalization rates declined. The CDC will continue to publish a color-coded system to indicate a risk level on certain ships, but only for companies that opt into a tracking system.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden: DOJ will take ‘appropriate action’ if violations found in Jayland Walker police shooting

President Biden on Wednesday told a crowd in Cleveland that the Justice Department will take “appropriate action” if an investigation finds that violations occurred in the shooting of Jayland Walker, a Black man who was killed by police during an attempted traffic stop in Akron last week.

Biden, who was in Cleveland to deliver remarks about his economic agenda, began his speech by addressing the shooting of Walker.

“Hello, Cleveland! Before I begin, though, I want to make one serious comment about the shooting and the death of Jayland Walker,” Biden said.

“If the evidence reveals potential violations of federal criminal statutes, the Justice Department will take the appropriate action. I just want you to know,” he said.

The president said the Justice Department and FBI in Akron, Ohio, as well as other officials are “closely monitoring what happened” and that the FBI is coordinating with state and local partners “to provide resources and specialized skill.”

Numerous elected officials and the NAACP have called on the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the police shooting. Law enforcement officers had sought to stop Walker for equipment and traffic violations when a vehicular pursuit and foot chase ensued. 

Police have said officers believed Walker was a threat because he appeared to have fired a shot during an earlier chase. Police body camera footage released Sunday showed officers firing a barrage of bullets at Walker but did not include the moment when police say they pulled him over.

The shooting has sparked protests and reignited calls for police reform two years after a white Minnesota police officer murdered George Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on him for more than nine minutes. 

A state of emergency was called in Akron on Monday following protests on Sunday night.

Source: TEST FEED1

FDA working to allow overseas formula makers to stay in US market

The Biden administration is working on a plan that will allow foreign manufacturers of infant formula to keep their products on the market in the U.S. long term, the Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday.

The move would diversify the supply chain and is aimed at preventing another situation like the current shortage, which occurred after the country’s largest manufacturing plant was shut down for months over safety concerns.

The FDA since May has allowed overseas manufacturers to temporarily ship their products to the U.S. as a way to ease the shortage.

“For some companies, the agency’s flexibility has resulted in their ability to use a greater breadth of their existing, global manufacturing footprint, creating more resiliency in the U.S. infant formula supply chain and reducing the risk of reliance on too few production facilities supporting the United States,” FDA commissioner Robert Califf, and Susan Mayne, the director of the agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in a statement. 

The agency said it will develop a new framework that will be more streamlined and allow companies to meet U.S. requirements and keep their products on the market past November, when the current enforcement flexibility ends.

FDA said it will issue further guidance in September to show companies that have already received temporary enforcement discretion how they can meet FDA requirements to continue to supply infant formula to the U.S. 

In the meantime, FDA said it will provide a single point of contact for any company aiming to enter the U.S. infant formula market, and will also host meetings with companies that import, sell, or distribute formula under the FDA’s temporary policy to help determine what additional steps should be taken to ensure uninterrupted marketing of products.

“The FDA expects that our continued efforts will help infant formula manufacturers who are new entrants to the U.S. market better understand their options to continue producing and supplying formula to the U.S. in the weeks, months and years ahead,” Califf and Mayne said. 

Just four companies are responsible for about 90 percent of the U.S. formula market. When a manufacturing plant in Michigan operated by Abbott Nutrition was shut down by regulators in February, the effects cascaded down a supply chain already strained because of the pandemic. 

The FDA has come under fire for failing to realize the severity of the problem until too late. 

Administration officials have been working to boost existing supply by easing federal import regulations, as well as by reopening Abbott’s plant. The plant reopened June 4 after the company committed to additional sanitizing and safety protocols, but closed again less than two weeks later after severe weather caused damage and flooding to the plant.

The company has not said when the facility will resume production, and did not respond when asked on Wednesday.

Source: TEST FEED1

Akron mayor lifts curfew imposed after police shooting of Jayland Walker

The mayor of Akron, Ohio, has lifted the curfew that the city imposed amid ongoing demonstrations in response to the police shooting of Jayland Walker. 

“The curfew was put in place due to safety concerns for our downtown corridor and our residents,” Daniel Horrigan said in a statement on Wednesday. “What I want our residents and community to know, is that we aren’t arresting protestors who choose to peacefully protest.” 

Walker, 25, was shot more than 60 times and killed on June 27 as eight responding Akron police officers pursued him after he attempted to flee from a traffic stop. Authorities say they pulled over Walker for equipment and traffic violations.

Authorities also said a gunshot was fired from Walker’s vehicle during the chase, and that they recovered a gold ring, a firearm and a loaded magazine from the scene.  

Protests have erupted in the city, both against the killing and ensuing arrests.

The Akron Beacon Journal reported that Summit County’s SWAT team was dispatched to the city’s jail on Tuesday as demonstrators gathered outside to protest.

Authorities used tear gas and arrested some of the 75 demonstrators, who they said were disrupting operations by banging on the jailhouse doors, according to the Beacon Journal. 

Horrigan added in his statement that hundreds of residents have also conducted peaceful protests in the community for the past several days, adding that authorities will take “every step” possible to ensure that peaceful demonstrations can go on safely. 

“Those who were arrested were engaged in criminal behavior. They were becoming violent with officers and disrupting the peace which the community has been urging throughout this difficult time in our city,” the mayor said in his statement. 

“These individuals do not represent the larger gathering of peaceful protests and we won’t let them control the narrative of our community who are voicing their concerns,” Horrigan concluded. “I continue to urge peace in our city and ask that if you see threats or instances of violence, that you report them.”

Police body camera footage of the incident has been released to the public. 

Walker’s death has sparked renewed calls for police reform in the U.S., just two years after the death of George Floyd, who was killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.

Source: TEST FEED1

White House's Bedingfield to step down as communications director

White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield will be stepping down this summer, a source familiar with the move confirmed to The Hill. 

Bedingfield, a longtime aide to President Biden who dates back to his time as vice president, quickly became one of Biden’s most trusted advisers and helped catapult him to the White House. 

The departure comes after Democrats have complained about Biden’s problems with messaging as he has been dealt a series of setbacks, from the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade to gun violence and record-high inflation. 

Party members have especially expressed frustration about Biden’s communications strategy in recent months as his approval ratings have soured and remain at record lows. 

“His messaging has been terrible,” said one Democratic strategist. “It’s bad. There’s no way around it.” 

Bedingfield, who worked on Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign in a senior role before joining the White House, is the latest member of the White House press office to depart over the past few months. It is not uncommon for officials to leave after a year in the job, particularly if they worked on the campaign trail, but Bedingfield is a particularly close adviser to Biden who helped prepare him for debates and interviews on the campaign.

“Without Kate Bedingfield’s talent and tenacity, Donald Trump might still be in the White House, the Rescue Plan and the Infrastructure Law might still be unrealized goals, and Kentaji Brown Jackson might not be sitting on the Supreme Court,” White House chief of staff Ron Klain said in a statement.  

“She has played a huge role in everything the President has achieved – from his second term as Vice President, through the campaign, and since coming to the White House,” Klain added. “Her strategic acumen, intense devotion to the President’s agenda, and fierce work on his behalf are unmatched. She will continue to remain a critical player in moving the Biden agenda forward from the outside.”

Jen Psaki left her role as press secretary in May, and a handful of assistant and deputy press secretaries left as well in the following weeks. Deputy Communications Director Pili Tobar also departed in the spring.

The White House has added communications officials from other agencies in the administration, most notably bringing former Pentagon press secretary John Kirby aboard as the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications at the White House.

The Biden White House has juggled a series of crises in recent weeks, including inflation, the war in Ukraine, gun violence and the Supreme Court striking down the Roe v. Wade abortion precedent.

Some Democrats have criticized the White House for being flat-footed in its response to some of those issues, particularly the Supreme Court ruling, which had been telegraphed weeks earlier in a leaked draft opinion.

This story was updated at 4:04 p.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

Restaurants show weakness of the case against ‘big is bad’

Critics of today’s leading tech businesses often say we are living in a new Gilded Age of modern-day robber barons. We’ve even gotten occasional cameos from the Monopoly Man in congressional hearings. While catchy, this rhetoric neglects that today’s tech leaders are hardly the only options available to meet our needs and desires for information, connectivity, or retail therapy. The reality is that the difference in technology and consumer preferences make it more akin to something like our favorite restaurants, with many choices to suit personal preferences and nutritional needs.

Think about it: In an average city, there’s a range of restaurants that could serve you a quick lunch, but only a few that satisfy your cravings and meet your needs on any given day. You also may think that some restaurants serve poor quality or unhealthy food, or that other choices are superior. But we would consider it crazy for the government to dictate that McDonald’s needs to add more salads or that Chick-Fil-A has to add burgers.

We are okay if a restaurant wants to “preference” its daily special at the top of its menu, and we don’t require Burger King to tell you the price of a burger at the local diner. These companies are quite successful and ubiquitous to Americans and many around the world, but consumers still freely use the information available to them and their own preferences to choose the restaurants that fit their diets, wallets, and stomachs — without government mandates.

So why are politicians okay with government mandates on successful online companies? A current Senate proposal, S.2992, would ban self-preferencing for covered platforms, meaning that today’s tech leaders would no longer be free to show comparisons to their own store brand alternatives or highlight information about reviews and hours for a business from their own services. Additionally, they would be required to give competitors — even Russian or Chinese companies — access to certain information in ways that could create serious privacy and security concerns.

The average American has more choices than ever before when it comes to how to surf the web, find and share information, connect with friends and family, and download apps or other entertainment. In many cases, these options not only compete with each other but also with offline entertainment and retail.

Today, many Americans take advantage of these choices and already engage in the practice of “multi-homing” or using the same or similar apps on a variety of platforms and diversifying the operating systems they use. For example, Americans can have streaming apps on their Roku, a different set of apps on their iPhone, and yet another set of apps on their Windows-based laptop for work. They can use all these devices interchangeably depending on their mood, situation, or location. It’s the same as how someone may choose McDonald’s rather than Subway on a given day for lunch.

But some state and federal lawmakers ignore this abundance of choice — calling it “unfair” when consumers choose one product over another. If they got their way, they would force McDonald’s to allow Burger King to set up and sell in the same store. While we may love when these restaurants team up to offer their products in a singular location like a KenTacoHut, we certainly don’t mandate that they provide their competitors such space.

Many of the proposed policies target specific companies rather than the current antitrust focus on consumer welfare. FTC Commissioner Noah Philips critiqued proposed changes recently saying: “Whatever is being done here, isn’t really about the competitive process or competition. Forget consumer welfare, or fairness. It’s not really about competition. It’s about identifying a set of firms and saying, ‘Here are some things that you can’t do.’”

Unfortunately, many seem to forget the benefits of today’s technology choices to everyday users, consumers, and Americans.

While many policymakers like to lump in today’s tech leaders with the robber barons of yore, the reality is that the tech industry is as dynamic and diverse as the retail or restaurant industries. It competes and evolves in ways to try to best serve us as consumers, and its innovation benefits all Americans by increasing our options both online and offline. Proposed government intervention wouldn’t save consumers from harm, it would eliminate all our choices in the name of what is “good for us.”

Jennifer Huddleston is an adjunct professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and policy counsel with NetChoice, an industry group that includes members such as Amazon, Google, Meta and Twitter.

Source: TEST FEED1

Congressional Black Caucus: Jayland Walker should be alive today

The Congressional Black Caucus on Wednesday called for more action on police reform following the death of Jayland Walker, a Black man who was shot and killed by police in Akron, Ohio.

The Akron Police Department on Saturday released bodycam footage of police firing a barrage of bullets at Walker as they pursued him over an unspecified traffic violation late last month. 

“From every account, he was a family man loved by many,” Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) said in a statement. “He should still be alive today. The body camera footage is gut-wrenching and leaves us with far more questions than answers.”

After pursuing Walker in police vehicles, the city’s police department said officers exited their cars and attempted to take Walker into custody by using stun guns. The officers ultimately began firing as he continued to evade arrest, believing he was changing to a firing position as they shot him, police said.

Authorities said Walker was unarmed when he was shot but he likely fired a weapon during the earlier vehicular chase. Police recovered a handgun, loaded magazine and a gold ring from the vehicle.

Beatty on Wednesday called for a “thorough and transparent” investigation with regular public updates.

“Jayland’s family, the Akron community and all of us deserve to know what happened and what the department will change to ensure routine traffic stops do not lead to more unnecessary deaths,” she said. 

The police killing of the 25-year-old has sparked protests in the city alleging police brutality. 

Local authorities have pleaded for peace as an investigation continues, but Akron’s mayor declared a state of emergency and implemented a curfew after he said the demonstrations caused “significant” property damage. The mayor lifted the curfew earlier on Wednesday.

Beatty commended recent action on police reform but said the incident makes clear there “is more work to do.”

President Biden signed an executive order on police reform in May that established a nationwide database of officers fired for misconduct, required federal agencies to update their use-of-force policies and restricted the transfer and purchase of military equipment by local police departments.

The order came two years after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement, which sparked protests in cities across the country and reignited advocates’ calls for police reform. 

“Far too many Black people in America are killed at the hands of police during alleged traffic violations, and we cannot remain silent,” Beatty said. “This is not an acceptable outcome, and we can no longer afford to be merely outraged and heartbroken.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Richmond police say 'hero citizen' tipped off officers, helped prevent mass shooting on July 4th

Police in Richmond, Va., said they thwarted a mass shooting planned for July 4th after a “hero citizen” tipped them off on two suspects, leading to officers seizing three firearms and ammunition from a home ahead of Independence Day.

During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Richmond Police Department Chief Gerald Smith said a person they are not identifying overhead a conversation about the planned mass shooting and reported the information to police on Friday, July 1.

Police quickly investigated the residence and saw “evidence in plain view” that corroborated what the witness reported, Smith added. Richmond officers were let into the home and seized two assault rifles, one handgun and 223 rounds of ammunition.

The police chief repeatedly said the “hero citizen” who tipped them off saved countless lives.

“One phone call saved numerous lives on the Fourth of July,” Smith said at the press conference. “The success of this particular investigation can only be juxtaposed against the horrors of which the rest of the country has seen. There is no telling how many lives this hero citizen has saved from one phone call.”

Officers, who also worked with the FBI on the case, arrested and charged Julio Alvarado-Dubon with being a non-U.S. citizen in possession of a firearm on Friday. A second suspect, Rolman Balacarcel, was surveilled by police throughout the holiday weekend and arrested and charged on the same count on Tuesday.

Both suspects, who were roommates, are being held without bond. Police said additional charges may be filed against the pair.

Police said they had evidence the suspects were planning to open fire at Richmond’s July 4th celebration at the Dogwood Dell amphitheatre and a city baseball game.

“This is where these cowards go,” Smith said. “Wherever we gather, this is where they want to be.”

The news comes after a deadly mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill., left seven people dead and dozens injured after a gunman opened fire during an Independence Day celebration in the Chicago suburb.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney (D) said mass shootings had become an “epidemic” nationwide, calling on the U.S. Congress to pass more than the bipartisan gun deal lawmakers passed into law last month.

“There is mayor after mayor across this country who are frustrated by the current state,” Stoney said. “We need more. If members of Congress — both Democrats and Republicans — want to pat themselves on the back and say they’ve done something, come to urban areas like Richmond on a day-to-day basis, weekend-to-weekend, and you’re going to see for yourself we need more.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Brewery crafts ‘hurricane season’ beer to educate drinkers on severe weather safety

As hurricane season rears its ugly, wet head and promises to be as destructive as last year, one South Carolina brewery is working to educate locals on how to safely weather incoming storms — one can at a time.  

Tradesman Brewing Co., located in Charleston, recently launched a new “Hurricane seasonal lager,” a California common that will be sold in select grocery stores and tap rooms in the state until the end of November.  

“Our focus is not necessarily to promote drinking, it’s to promote educating in a different format to people that were probably going to pick up a four pack anyway and drink responsibly,” said Sara Gayle McConnell, vice president of operations at Tradesman Brewing Co., who runs the brewery with her husband Scott McConnell. 

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The beer comes in silver cans decorated with the state’s ubiquitous blue and white hurricane evacuation sign on the front and a QR code on the back. If drinkers wish, they can use their phones to scan the code and be directed to The South Carolina Emergency Management Division’s online hurricane guide.  

Once there, drinkers can download the department’s emergency manager app which teaches users how to prepare for hurricanes of differing strengths, how to find shelter and how to find and travel along the state’s numerous evacuation routes.  

South Carolina’s population has increased over the last few years with U.S. Census data showing it was the fastest growing state in the nation from 2020 to 2021 due to an influx of people moving in. 

Tradesman wanted to create a “hurricane” beer to help educate Charleston’s newcomers who might not have experience dealing with hurricanes or handling extreme weather. 

“It’s very important for us as locals and as we see our population increasing and people moving here, while we appreciate everyone wanting to live in our city, we also know the really, really bad side of people not knowing what to do and maybe taking storms for granted,” said McConnell.  

Both McConnells are natives of South Carolina and know firsthand how serious hurricanes can be.  

McConnell, who grew up on a barrier island outside of Charleston, was in college when Hurricane Hugo made landfall in 1989. The category five hurricane left widespread damage across the Caribbean and the southeastern United States impacting about 2 million people and resulting in about $11 billion in damage.  

“It was the storm of the century for us until Katrina came,” said McConnell. “I didn’t live in my house for a year.”  

McConnell recalled that when she went to check on her house after Hugo hit, she had to wear jeans, snake boots and carry an ID showing her address in order to take a ferry out to her home since the Ben Sawyer Bridge had been so severely damaged.  

The “hurricane lager” has been available since hurricane season began last month and, in that time, Tradesman has tracked the number of QR scans and website visits to measure whether the information is getting to South Carolinians.  

In the first two weeks of the beer’s distribution, 120 people have scanned the code, the majority being based in Charleston or in the larger Dorchester County area. A few scans have come from people from as far away as Toronto and New York City, which could potentially mean vacationers are scanning the codes as well, according to McConnell.  

The next step is to check if the number of scans spiked after Tropical Storm Collins, which formed just before the 4^th of July weekend.  

“Our hope is to bring it back next year,” McConnell said. “Release it on day one of hurricane season and put all that new education out there.”  

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