Health

For people and groups planning to stay in Atlantic City, the resort’s main union for casino workers is warning that “labor disputes” could occur if the casinos don’t agree to new contracts by a May 31 deadline. Local 54 of the Unite Here union set up a website listing other hotels that have union contracts in place that travelers might want to consider using if picketing or a strike occur. The move comes at the start of what will be a crucial season for Atlantic City’s casinos in the third year of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Group of Seven wealthy democracies has announced plans to strengthen epidemiological early-warning systems to detect infectious diseases with pandemic potential. Germany’s health minister said Friday that an existing World Health Organization office in Berlin would be used to gather and analyze data more quickly. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the G-7 also wants to increase compulsory contributions to WHO by 50% in the long term to ensure the U.N. agency can perform fulfill its global leadership role. The ministers who met in Germany's capital this week separately agreed to better protect the global population from the health impacts of global warming by making adaptation to climate change part of medical training.

Now that he can travel again, Peter Greenberg is resuming “The Royal Tour,” a two-decade-long series that shows off the best tourist spots of a given country. The gimmick? The nation's leader is the tour guide. In the most recent episode, President Samia Suluhu Hassan shows the veteran travel journalist — and his viewers — the sights and sounds of the African nation of Tanzania. National leaders cede editorial control and take Greenberg around their country. In return they get an hour-long special that offers exposure to millions of rich and curious travelers. Hassan came to the United States to screen her country's episode of "The Royal Tour."

FRIDAY, May 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A bill that would allow families in a U.S. government assistance program to buy whatever brand of baby formula they can find is on the way to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

FRIDAY, May 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Dementia risk factors appear to shift with age, and experts say knowing that could help people make lifestyle changes to reduce their chances of developing the disease.

FRIDAY, May 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For many women, having it all may mean forgoing a decent night's sleep.

FRIDAY, May 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- If you've had a root canal, you can expect your tooth to survive for about 11 years, researchers say.

FRIDAY, May 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Giving antibiotics to a woman just before a cesarean delivery does not increase her baby's risk of asthma or eczema, a new British study says.

FRIDAY, May 20 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Poor eyesight makes it harder to read and easier to trip. But it can also lead to a misdiagnosis of mild mental decline in older people, according to a new, small study.

New legislation in the Senate requires the Justice Department to establish guidelines for the federal Bureau of Prisons and state correctional systems to notify the families of inmates if their loved one has a serious illness, a life-threatening injury or if they die behind bars. The bill was introduced by Sens. Jon Ossoff and John Kennedy. It's the latest maneuver by Congress to further oversight of the beleaguered federal prison system, which has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years. The bill’s introduction on Thursday comes more than two years after The Associated Press reported how the federal Bureau of Prisons had ignored its internal guidelines and failed to notify the families of inmates who were seriously ill with coronavirus.

Russia's war in Ukraine has accelerated inflation across Europe, with prices for energy, materials and food surging at rates not seen for decades. It’s causing sticker shock at the grocery store, gas pumps, electricity bills and construction sites. Inflation is expected to hit nearly 7% this year in the 27-nation EU and is contributing to slowing growth forecasts. Fishmongers and farmers are being forced to charge prices for their catch and crops that even they see as astronomical. High fuel prices threaten to paralyze ground transport of goods, and bread prices are soaring from Poland to Belgium.

President Joe Biden hopes to use his visit to Asia to confirm his belief that long-standing friendships can afford to become even friendlier — and pay dividends. He opens the trip in South Korea on Friday and ends in Japan next week at a time when world events are resetting the foundations of the global order. Among the issues on the table for Biden are seeking ways to show tighter relationships, rethinking national security aims, launching a new trade framework and improving the availability of computer chips after a debilitating shortage.

Australians will go to the polls Saturday following a six-week election campaign that has focused on pandemic-fueled inflation, climate change and fears of a Chinese military outpost being established less than 1,200 miles off Australia’s shore. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative coalition is seeking a rare fourth three-year term. Recent opinion polls have put the center-left Labor Party narrowly ahead of the coalition. But pollsters’ credibility has yet to recover since their spectacular failure in the 2019 election. The split of votes between the government and Labor in 2019 was 51.5% to 48.5% — the mirror opposite of the result that Australia’s five most prominent polls had predicted.

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol this week as the allies face a growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program. The North may highlight the threat with a major weapons demonstration, even as it grapples with a COVID-19 outbreak that is ripping through its unvaccinated populace. Both U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials say it’s possible that North Korea will conducts a ballistic or nuclear test around Biden’s visit to South Korea and Japan. While North Korea is expected to be at the top of the agenda when Biden and Yoon meet in Seoul on Saturday, it’s unclear whether the meeting will produce a meaningful new approach in handling the nuclear threat.

North Korea says that nearly 10% of its 26 million people have fallen ill and 65 people have died amid its first COVID-19 outbreak. Outside experts question the validity of its reported fatalities and worry about a possible humanitarian crisis. Some observers say North Korea was likely forced to acknowledge the omicron outbreak last week because it couldn’t hide the highly contagious viral spread among its people and suffer possible public discontent with leader Kim Jong Un. Observers also believe North Korea is underreporting mortalities to try to show that its pandemic response is effective, while the country lacks test kits to confirm a large number of virus cases.

The Food and Drug Administration's commissioner says a shuttered baby formula factory could be up and running by next week. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf faced congressional anger Thursday for not answering questions about whether his agency should have intervened earlier at the Michigan plant tied to a national formula shortage. Members of a House subcommittee questioned Califf about why the FDA didn’t step in when there were signs of problems at Abbott Nutrition's plant last fall before it was closed. The shortage has rattled parents and become a political headwind for President Joe Biden, who’s invoked the Defense Production Act to ease supply. Califf asked lawmakers for new food safety funding.

The Senate has approved a bill aimed at easing the baby formula shortage for families participating in a government assistance program known as WIC. That program accounts for about half of all formula purchases in the U.S. The House had passed the bill the day before, so it now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The vouchers can generally only be used to purchase one brand of infant formula, which encourages the manufacturer to offer big discounts to secure a state’s business. The bill makes it possible for families to redeem the WIC vouchers for whatever formula brand is available.

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) -- U.S. hospitals are running low on contrast media needed for enhanced X-rays and computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans.