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E. coli mystery solved: Ground beef is source of outbreak, CDC says
Ground beef is the food responsible for a mystery E. coli outbreak involving 109 cases of illness in six states, according to preliminary evidence, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
“Ill people in this outbreak report eating ground beef at home and in restaurants,” the CDC said in its outbreak update.
No single supplier, distributor or brand has been identified as the source of the outbreak. Therefore, no recall has been issued, and the CDC is not recommending that consumers avoid ground beef at this time or that restaurants stop serving it.
Illnesses are now being reported in six states: Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Indiana.
That’s one more state and 13 more illnesses since the previous update reported by the CDC on Tuesday.
As part of the investigation, 75 of those reporting illnesses have been interviewed by health investigators. Eighty-four of them reported eating ground beef in the week before their symptoms began, according to the CDC.
Symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. They begin, on average, three to four days after ingesting the bacteria. Most people recover in five to seven days. The first reported symptoms from this outbreak began March 2.
Seventeen patients have been hospitalized due to their illness.
Federal, state and local health officials are continuing to investigate.
In the meantime, the CDC reminds consumers to prevent E. coli by washing hands, cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, as measured with a meat thermometer, and keeping foods that aren’t cooked away from raw beef to prevent cross-contamination.
Cannabis users needed up to twice the sedation for medical procedures, small study says
People who regularly use cannabis may need two times the level of sedation required by nonusers when undergoing medical procedures, a small-scale study finds. Fentanyl, midazolam and propofol, three sedation drugs commonly used during endoscopic procedures, were compared in the research.
With “continued increase in legalization and use of cannabis, the field of anesthesia and sedation needs further studies with greater depth,” wrote the authors of the study, published Monday in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.
Wider use follows legalization
Marijuana has gained popularity around the globe in recent years due, in part, to changing laws. Between 2007 and 2015, use of marijuana increased 43% in the United States, where an estimated 13.5% of adults use cannabis, according to a United Nations report. Meanwhile, cannabis use around the world was estimated to include 183 million people, or nearly 4% of the adult population, in 2015.
How does increasing cannabis use affect medical care? Researchers at Community Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, explored one small area of medical care: sedation. They examined the medical records of 250 patients who received endoscopic procedures between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017 — years after the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2012.
Comparing cannabis users to nonusers, they found that patients who reported smoking or using edibles on a daily or weekly basis required 14% more fentanyl, 20% more midazolam, and 220% more propofol to achieve optimum sedation for routine procedures, including colonoscopies. For example, it took 13.83 milligrams of propofol, on average, for 225 nonusers to float into unconsciousness, compared with 44.81 milligrams needed, on average, by 25 cannabis users.
The study authors note that some sedatives have side effects and the higher the dose, the greater the likelihood for problems. Asking questions about cannabis use during intake “can be an important tool for planning patient care and assessing both medication needs and possible risks during endoscopic procedures,” they wrote.
Too few study participants
Dr. Roderic Eckenhoff, a professor of anesthesia at the University of Pennsylvania, said the study is interesting but lacked rigor. “I would consider this a pilot study that maybe somebody should pick up on and do a more complete trial,” said Eckenhoff, who was not involved in the research.
What is considered “enough” depends a lot on the individual providers and surgeons involved, Eckenhoff said. This “uncertainty” combined with a small number — just 25 — of cannabis-using patients makes the results “really tenuous at best,” he said.
Similar results have not been seen in previous research, he said: “Even if you give someone propofol for a long time, they get a little tolerant to it, but not by 200%.” Although upward of 200% “resistance” may be “possible, I’d be surprised if that held up in a bigger study,” he said.
Finally, he noted that patients are not always reliable and don’t necessarily tell their doctors about “everything else that they take,” and this may have influenced the results: “Some people who use marijuana also take other drugs recreationally.”
Sudan leaders face pressure for transfer to civilian rule
Sudan’s military rulers faced pressure from demonstrators and Western governments to hand power to a new civilian government Monday as activists warned of an attempt to disperse a 10-day-old mass protest outside army headquarters.
Thousands remained camped outside the complex in Khartoum overnight after protest leaders issued demands to the military council set up following the ouster of veteran president Omar al-Bashir.
The organization that spearheaded the months of protests leading to Bashir’s fall, the Sudanese Professionals Association, called on their supporters to boost the numbers at the complex.
“There is an attempt to disperse the sit-in from the army headquarters area, they are trying to remove the barricades,” the SPA said in a statement, without saying who was responsible.
“We call on our people to come immediately to the sit-in area to protect our revolution.”
Witnesses said several army vehicles had surrounded the area and that troops were seen removing the barricades which demonstrators had put up as a security measure.
The SPA has urged the military council “to immediately transfer power to a civilian government”.
It said the resulting transitional government and the armed forces must bring to justice both Bashir and officials from his feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).
The United States, Britain, and Norway urged the military council and other parties to hold talks over the country’s transition to civilian rule.
In a joint statement by their embassies on Sunday, they warned against any use of violence to break up the protests and said the “legitimate change” the Sudanese people demanded had not taken place.
“It is time for the transitional military council and all other parties to enter into an inclusive dialogue to effect a transition to civilian rule,” they said.
“This must be done credibly and swiftly, with protest leaders, political opposition, civil society organizations, and all relevant elements of society, including women.”
– Council ‘committed’ to transition –
The military council on Sunday met with political parties and urged them to agree on an “independent figure” to be prime minister, an AFP correspondent at the meeting said.
“We want to set up a civilian state based on freedom, justice, and democracy,” a council member, Lieutenant General Yasser al-Ata, told members of several political parties.
A 10-member delegation representing the protesters delivered a list of demands during talks with the council late Saturday, according to a statement by the Alliance for Freedom and Change umbrella group.
But in a press conference, the council’s spokesman did not respond to the protesters’ latest demands.
He did, however, announce the appointment of a new NISS head after the intelligence agency’s chief Salih Ghosh resigned on Saturday.
The foreign ministry said military council head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was “committed to having a complete civilian government” and urged other nations to back the council in order to achieve “the Sudanese goal of democratic transition”.
American actor George Clooney, who has campaigned hard to draw attention to the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region, over the weekend urged world powers to pressure the military “to turn over full executive power to a civilian-led transitional government”.
“The most potent form of leverage would be to go after the assets laundered by Bashir and his allies through the international financial system,” Clooney wrote in a joint Washington Post column with rights activist John Prendergast.
“Sudan’s courageous protesters need more than words: They need strong international action for real change to have a chance.”
On Saturday, Burhan vowed to dismantle Bashir’s regime, lifting a night-time curfew with immediate effect.
He also pledged that individuals implicated in killing protesters would face justice and that protesters detained under a state of emergency imposed by Bashir during his final weeks in power would be freed.
Bashir ruled Sudan with an iron fist for 30 years before he was deposed last week following mass protests that have rocked the country since December.
Tens of thousands of people have massed non-stop outside the army headquarters since April 6, initially urging the military to back their demand for Bashir’s removal.
But his departure in a coup failed to satisfy the protesters, who have demanded justice for Bashir-era officials.
The SPA has also called for the confiscation of properties belonging to the ousted president’s National Congress Party and the release of soldiers who sided with their movement.
Late on Sunday, the military council said it has set up a committee to register NCP properties and seize control of them.
A 4-year-old accidentally shoots himself in the head. He’s the 5th family member to fall victim to guns
Ramon Price picked up his telephone and was immediately jolted by screams.
“Daddy just pray,” his daughter Brijjanna Price shrieked through tears on the other end of the line.
She told him his 4-year-old grandson, Na’vaun Jackson, had found a gun at a friend’s home in Oakland and accidentally shot himself in the head.
The boy was rushed to a nearby hospital and admitted to an intensive care unit, where he was fighting for his life. The situation looked dire, and the family was afraid they would lose yet another relative to gunfire — they had already lost four.
It’s been several weeks since the March 27 accident and Na’vaun is now in stable condition, but Brijjanna Price still can’t bring herself to talk about it.
The gun Na’vaun found belonged to family friend Terrence Wilson, who was prohibited from owning a firearm due to prior felony convictions, CNN affiliate KRON4 reported. It was left unlocked and loaded under Wilson’s pillow.
Police have charged Wilson with possession of a firearm by a felon and child abuse. CNN was unable to reach Wilson for comment.
“It was really irresponsible,” Ramon Price said. “And unfortunately it was my grandson who got to pay the ultimate price.”
‘He’ll never be the same’
As soon as Ramon Price learned Na’vaun was shot, he drove directly to the hospital to be by his side.
Relatives, including the boy’s great-aunt Jamilia Land, were terrified he wouldn’t make it.
For the next few days, Na’vaun was showered with love and prayer, as his family surrounded his hospital bed, filling his room with toys and balloons. For a week, he lay bandaged up with no sign of activity.
Land said the boy was placed in a medically induced coma, and the family had to wait and see if he would respond once the medication wore off.
Finally, Na’vaun opened his eyes.
“He’s moving now, he’s opening his eyes, he’s yawning, he’s coughing, he’s moving his hands, he’s moving his legs, what a miraculous turnaround,” Ramon Price said on Facebook on April 3.
Since then, his once-critical condition has stabilized, and he’s been removed from the ICU.
He’s alive, but there’s permanent, irreversible brain damage, Land said.
“We maintain our faith and pray that things will turn out and he will leave (the hospital), but with the extent of his injuries, he’ll never be the same,” she added.
Ramon Price is grateful for the positive change in his grandson’s condition.
A tragic family history
After enduring a series of tragic shootings, Na’vaun’s family wants his shooting to be the last.
Nathan Jackson, Na’vaun’s father, has lost three siblings to gun violence. In 2010, Nario Jackson, 18, was shot and killed by a suspected gang member in West Oakland, The Mercury News reported. Less than a year later, Najon Jackson, 16, was shot and killed outside his grandmother’s home in East Oakland, the San Francisco Gate reported. And last year, Ellesse McFee, 21, was shot and killed in a car in East Oakland, Land said.
Brijjanna Price also lost her brother to gun violence. In 2012, Lamont Price, 17, was shot and killed by someone he knew, Ramon Price said.
In 2017, there were 277 non-fatal shootings and 63 fatal shootings, according to the city of Oakland. That’s down from 2011, when the city experienced 617 non-fatal shootings and 93 fatal shootings.
“Whether it’s a police officer’s gun or a community member’s gun or in this case an accidental shooting, a bullet does the same type of irreparable damage not just to the body, but to our psyches,” Land said.
“It’s an epidemic in our community,” she added. “We have these killings in our communities all the time, in the African-American community and oftentimes it’s not talked about.”
“We can’t seem to escape it.”
‘Not one more’
As a pastor and employee at a funeral home, Ramon Price says he sees young shooting victims every day.
It’s just “what happens when you live in Oakland,” he said. “Families are being shattered.”
He attributes the city’s gun problems to a lack of education and irresponsible behavior.
“There’s more people carrying guns than books,” he said.
And many of them, Price said, aren’t familiar with gun safety regulations.
Land believes the problem has more to do with American gun culture. “Guns are a part of our life, they are American as pie,” she said.
The problem is more pronounced in certain African-American communities, where poverty has given way to gun violence and other crime, she added.
“It’s time we take back our streets and our youth,” she wrote on Facebook, addressing the Oakland community. “I can’t afford to lose not 1 more. I’ve had a total of 5 nephews and 1 niece murdered in the streets of Oakland. My son’s fiancee was murdered, my great nephew shot himself and everyday I’m scared I’m going to get another call.”
Land plans to keep advocating for change until the shootings stop. “What I’ve chosen to do is be proactive because I’m tired of losing relatives.”
Former CNN ‘Inside Africa’ host Soni Methu dies at 34
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JkH8Uyh1fs
Kenyan journalist Soni Methu, the former host of CNN’s “Inside Africa,” has died at the age of 34.
She collapsed suddenly on Thursday in Kenya and died en route to the hospital, her sister, Faith Methu, said in a statement.
The cause of death remains unknown at this time.
“We don’t know much but a post mortem will be done to tell exactly what happened,” Faith Methu said.
Soni Methu hosted “Inside Africa,” CNN International’s longest-running feature program, from 2014 until 2015 when the show moved to a new format without a presenter.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and former colleague Soni Methu,” CNN said in a statement.
“Our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends, from all at CNN.”
Methu was very proud to be the first Kenyan host of “Inside Africa,” and was passionate about presenting her homeland to the world.
Those at CNN who knew and worked with her say she had great energy, an ability to light up the room and was incredibly kind to those she worked with as well as people she met in her travels.
She was previously east Africa correspondent at South African news channel eNCA for two years, where she covered the Westgate Mall terrorist attack in Nairobi and other incidents in the region.
Andrew Yang: We’re undergoing the greatest economic transformation in our history
I never thought I’d run for president. My parents were immigrants to this country — and leader of the free world was not on the list of careers presented to me as a skinny Asian kid growing up in upstate New York.
Instead, I became a lawyer for five unhappy months and then an entrepreneur. In 2011, I started a nonprofit organization, Venture for America, to help bring talented young entrepreneurs to create thousands of jobs in Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Birmingham, Baltimore and other cities around the country.
I chose those cities because there I experienced the aftermath of automation and witnessed the devastating effect it had on people’s lives.
And then Donald Trump became President.
For Americans who are still trying to figure out why Trump is President, the answer is simple — we automated away millions of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest, and Trump spoke directly to the fear and anger of those voters.
He promised them that he would restore those jobs — a promise on which he has notably failed to deliver. Here’s the reality, though: The financial crisis of 2008 brought our 14 million manufacturing jobs (itself a low plateau from the 17 million in 2000) down to 11.4 million, and 10 years of expansion has only brought us back up to 12.8 million.
But what happened to manufacturing workers will soon happen to retail workers, call center workers, fast food workers, truck drivers and others, as the next Industrial Revolution takes hold of our economy.
Bain, a leading consulting firm, projects automation will disrupt jobs at about three times the rate of the Second Industrial Revolution, which sparked thousands of strikes and mass riots at the turn of the 20th century.
If you doubt that this is already happening, consider that America’s labor participation rate (the ratio of people who are working compared to the total population aged 16 and over) today has fallen to 63%, about the same level as Ecuador and Costa Rica.
In the US, almost one out of five prime, working age men have not worked in the past year, and our life expectancy has declined for the past three years, in part due to surges in drug overdoses and suicides.
This is before a projected 33% of American malls and retail stores may be forced to shutter their doors, and it might not be long before truck drivers are replaced with self-driving trucks.
The challenge for the Democratic Party is to solve the problems that got Trump elected. However, when I went to Washington in 2017 to meet with lawmakers on this issue, no one wanted to touch automation and the changing state of our economy.
But here’s the reality: We are undergoing the greatest economic transformation in our history, and we are dealing with it by pretending nothing is happening. I have two young children, and I have no intention of leaving the country in shambles for them.
We need to wake up to the fact that it is not immigrants who are causing economic dislocations. It is technology and an evolving economy that is pushing more and more Americans to the sidelines.
We must reformat our economy to work for Americans around the country. My plan consists of three major pillars: First, I would offer a freedom dividend — or a universal basic income of $1,000 a month for every American adult starting at the age of 18.
Thomas Paine, Martin Luther King Jr. and Milton Friedman were all for this idea. This would create over two million new jobsand ease the transition of an evolving economy for tens of millions of Americans.
It would be paid for by a new tax that falls most heavily on the big winners of artificial intelligence and robotics, such as Amazon, Google, Facebook and Uber.
Second, I would introduce Medicare for All. We must separate access to quality health care from one’s employment — especially given that 94% of new jobs created from 2005 to 2015 were temporary, contract, freelance and gig-economy jobs that do not necessarily include quality benefits.
This would free up many Americans to pursue different opportunities and ensure those who are already employed under these increasingly common arrangements access to health insurance.
Third, I would encourage a human-centered capitalism. What good is a high GDP if some, or even many, Americans are left behind? We should instead measure our progress through our average health, childhood success, mental health, environmental quality, affordability and other metrics that would actually tell us how people are doing.
In other words, we need to build a trickle-up economy from our people, families and communities up. This is the only way to create a path to prosperity for most Americans during a time of unprecedented technological change.
This may seem like science fiction to you. But you are reading this on a supercomputer, Trump is our President and your local mall might have just closed. We are living in unprecedented times and must rise to these 21st century challenges.
So, why am I the right candidate to tackle this challenge?
I see these problems clear as day, and I am bold enough to propose solutions to fix them. This vision is attractive to people across the political spectrum, and since announcing my candidacy, our national “Yang Gang” has welcomed former Trump supporters, libertarians and progressives — who all see that the path is not left or right, it’s forward. More than 90,000 of these individuals have donated an average of $18 to our vision, and we are set to make the debate stage in June.
Trump is the symptom, not the problem. His solutions are to turn the clock backward, build the wall and bring old jobs back. I’m suggesting we do the opposite — accelerate our economy and society and move us forward to solve the problems that got him there in the first place.
Mohamed Salah wonder-goal sees Liverpool sink Chelsea
Liverpool’s hopes of winning the English Premier League title for the first time in 29 years are very much alive thanks a stirring second half performance against Chelsea and a sublime long-range strike from Mohamed Salah.
In what had been a tense and closely fought encounter, Sadio Mane opened the scoring for the Anfield club with a back post header shortly after halftime. But it was Salah who provided the game’s outstanding moment and arguably one of the goals of this Premier League season.
The Egyptian picked the ball up on the right of the Chelsea box in the 53rd minute and arrowed a rasping, unstoppable drive beyond Kepa Arrizabalaga from 25-yards to secure a 2-0 victory and three precious points.
Salah said he was so far out that he felt had to go with just “power” when speaking to UK broadcaster Sky Sports after the match. The goal was also the first Salah had scored from outside of the penalty box in the Premier League for more than a year.
Chelsea twice came close to getting back into the game in the second period through Eden Hazard, the Belgian striking the post before being denied by Alisson in the Liverpool goal.
The result puts Liverpool back atop the Premier League table, two ahead of a Manchester City side that defeated Crystal Palace 3-1 earlier in the day.
City, however, has a game in hand on its title rival.
Avoiding a title slip
The last time Liverpool was in contention to win the Premier League title at this stage of the season, an Anfield defeat to Chelsea put paid to those ambitions.
Steven Gerrard’s costly slip in 2014, which enabled Demba Ba to score for what was then Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, has gone down in English football folklore. It’s also made a significant contribution to meme culture.
Only Daniel Sturridge and Jordan Henderson, who missed that fateful game through suspension, remain at Liverpool from that season. However, a young Mohamed Salah started up front for Chelsea.
The Egyptian was quiet on that day but has gone on to become one of the most deadly strikers in the English league since signing for Liverpool in 2017.
On Sunday, he proved his quality once more.
Within minutes, the “Egyptian King” had doubled Liverpool’s advantage with a piece of long-range magnificence that was all his own making.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp described Salah’s strike as “a brilliant, brilliant goal” when speaking to Sky Sports after the match.
Yet Klopp was more cautious when asked whether his side could win its remaining four games and take the title challenge right to the wire.
“We have to try,” the German said. “We respect all opponents so much.”
Race for the title
Liverpool has four matches remaining, against struggling Cardiff and Huddersfield as well as a tricky trip to Newcastle and final day fixture at home to Wolves.
City, by comparison, has a game more and tougher run in, with Tottenham Hotspur set to visit next weekend followed by a trip to cross town rivals Manchester United four days later.
Two goals from former Liverpool winger, Raheem Sterling, and a late strike from Gabriel Jesus was enough to provide City with victory over Crystal Palace earlier Sunday.
It also ensures only the smallest of margins continues to separate the two teams outstanding teams in English football at the top of the Premier League table.
Gatwick drone chaos may have been an inside job, police say
The drone incursion that caused travel chaos for tens of thousands of passengers at London’s Gatwick Airport last December could have been an inside job, according to British police.
Based on the behavior of the drone, it is possible the pilot had either first-hand knowledge of the “airport operating environment,” or access to that information, Sussex Police said in a statement.
“This has been treated as a credible line of inquiry from the earliest stages of the police investigation and remains one of a number of lines of inquiry,” it added.
Gatwick’s Chief Operating Officer Chris Woodroofe told the BBC Panorama program that the drone’s pilot “seemed to be able to see what was happening on the runway,” or was familiar with the airport’s operational procedures.
“It was clear that the drone operators had a link into what was going on at the airport,” Woodroofe told Panorama in his first interview since the incident.
The perpetrator had “specifically selected” a drone that would fly under the radar of the airport’s DJI Aeroscope detection system, which was being trialed at the time, he added.
Woodroofe denied that the airport had overreacted, describing the situation, which caused more than 140,000 passengers to face flight delays and cancellations between December 19 and 21, as “malicious” and “criminal.”
“There is absolutely nothing that I would do differently when I look back at the incident because ultimately, my number one priority has to be to maintain the safety of our passengers, and that’s what we did,” Woodroofe said.
He also dismissed suggestions that the number of drone sightings was exaggerated.
There were at least 130 separate credible drone sightings recorded by a total of 115 people, including eyewitnesses, police officers, security personnel, air traffic control staff and pilots, police told the BBC.
Woodroofe said many of the drone sightings were by members of his team, “people I have worked with for a decade, people who have worked for 30 years on the airfield, who fully understand the implications of reporting a drone sighting.”
Despite a wide-ranging operation and a £50,000 (about $65,500) reward, authorities have still been unable to find the person behind the drone attack. Sussex Police said the investigation was ongoing and was still expected to take “some months to complete.”
Since the attack, Gatwick Airport has invested £5 million on anti-drone equipment, including two sets of the AUDS (Anti-UAV Defense System) system.
Woodroofe told Panorama that he was confident the airport was now protected: “We would know the drone was arriving on site and we’d know where that drone had come from, where it was going to, and we’d have a much better chance of catching the perpetrator.”
Tiger Woods on Masters victory: ‘It’s going to take a bit of time to sink in’
That is how Tiger Woods attempted to describe an extraordinary Sunday. A fifth green jacket, his first major win in 11 years; a story that the world had resigned itself to never seeing again.
It has already been coined by many as the greatest sporting comeback of them all — a journey that has included career-saving spinal fusion surgery and a tumultuous series of personal problems that threatened to bring an end to the career of a golfing icon.
As he completed a composed two-putt on the 18th for — almost certainly — the greatest bogey of his distinguished career, he thrust his arms aloft, his club above his head. He gave a trademark fist-pump, before taking the acclaim of his playing partners, all accompanied by a fervent roar from an adoring public.
Then, he found his family. It was an image for the ages — the completion of a cycle that many feared would never reach its natural end. Woods famously embraced his late father Earl after winning his first Masters in 1997. Now, Woods — the father — was embracing his children, his mother, his girlfriend and anyone else in his vicinity.
“I did the same thing to my dad and now I’m the dad with my son doing the same thing,” he reflected to CNN’s Andy Scholes. “It’s amazing how life evolves, changes.
Tiger Woods clinched his fifth Masters and 15th Major title with victory at Augusta
The 43-year-old former World No. 1 had not won the Masters since 2005 and last won a major in 2008
“That was 22 years ago, when my dad was there and then now my son’s there, my daughter was there, my mom’s there. My mom was there 22 years ago and the fact that she’s still around, still kicking, still fighting, goes to show you her resiliency.
“It’s hard to comprehend right now. I mean, honestly, it’s only been a few hours out of winning the tournament. I’m still trying to enjoy it and figure out that I actually won it.
“I know I have the green jacket on but it’s just, it’s still, I think it’s going to take a little bit of time to sink in.”
The battle for glory
Midway through Woods’ fourth round, it was a dream that looked like coming up short. Francesco Molinari — the American’s scourge at the 2018 Open Championship — looked like holding him off yet again.
But as the Italian found water on the perilous 12th hole and Woods located the heart of the green, it represented a changing of the tide rarely seen. A path opened up and the atmosphere on the famous old course changed as Augusta’s patrons began not just to hope, but to believe.
Woods, of course, had never lost faith. Champions always believe, and there have been few serial winners more ruthless than this golfer, whose significance has long since transcended the game of golf.