Abbott baby formula plant again stops production
A baby formula plant in Michigan that resumed production less than two weeks ago after a monthslong closure that exacerbated a nationwide shortage, has again shut down after parts of the facility were flooded during a storm Monday. Abbott had closed the plant and recalled batches of its Similac, Alimentum and EleCare formulas in February after the Food and Drug Administration received four consumer complaints of bacterial infections related to the formulas. On Wednesday, the company said that production and distribution at the plant would be delayed for a few weeks while it assesses damage and cleans the facility.
GOP, Dem Senate bargainers divided over gun deal details
Democratic and Republican senators are at odds over how to keep firearms from dangerous people. Bargainers are struggling to finalize details of a gun violence compromise in time for their self-imposed deadline of holding votes in Congress next week. Lawmakers said Thursday they remained divided over how to define abusive dating partners so they could be legally barred from purchasing firearms. Disagreements were also unresolved over proposals to send money to states that have “red flag” laws that let authorities temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed dangerous by courts, and to other states for their own violence prevention programs.
Bracing for end of Roe v. Wade, White House weighs executive actions
President Joe Biden’s top aides are weighing whether he can or should take a series of executive actions to help women in Republican-controlled states obtain abortions if the Supreme Court eliminates a woman’s right to end her pregnancy, according to senior administration officials. Since a draft opinion was leaked last month indicating that the Supreme Court was prepared to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, abortion rights advocates have been lobbying the White House to take steps to mitigate the effect. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision at the end of its term in about two weeks.
Gateway towns to Yellowstone become dead ends after flood
Businesses in some of the gateway towns leading to Yellowstone National Park are worried about the coming weeks and months after severe flooding closed the park. Officials say the park’s southern part, which features Old Faithful, could reopen as soon as next week. But the north end, which includes Tower Fall and the bears and wolves of Lamar Valley, could stay closed much longer, perhaps the rest of the summer. Towns like Red Lodge, Montana, are both cleaning up from the flood and figuring out how they’ll make ends meet without a steady stream of tourists.
49 states preordered vaccine doses for very young children. Florida did not.
Florida did not preorder any doses of coronavirus vaccines for very young children from the federal government, state officials said Thursday. How much Florida’s decision would impede distribution of the vaccines in the state in the coming days was not immediately clear. Other states have ordered millions of doses, which could be available for use as soon as next week. An expert advisory panel set up by the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend authorizing use of the Moderna vaccine for children ages 6 months through 5 years and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those ages 6 months through 4 years.
Leaders pledge arms and EU path for Ukraine in Kyiv visit
Four European leaders expressed support for Ukraine while meeting in Kyiv with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, vowing to back the country’s candidacy to eventually join the European Union and offering more weapons to fend off Russia’s invasion. French President Emmanuel Macron promised six more truck-mounted artillery guns, the latest in a new round of Western arms pledges as the war grinds on in the Donbas region in the east. Macron said France, Germany, Italy and Romania “are doing everything so that Ukraine alone can decide its fate.” The visit was a show of support amid Kyiv’s fears that Western resolve to help it could wane.
Fears grow over Iran’s nuclear program as Tehran digs a new tunnel network
Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials have been watching each day as Iran digs a vast tunnel network just south of the Natanz nuclear production site, in what they believe is Tehran’s biggest effort yet to construct new nuclear facilities so deep in the mountains that they can withstand bunker-busting bombs and cyberattacks. Although the construction is evident on satellite photographs and has been monitored by groups that track the proliferation of new nuclear facilities, Biden administration officials have never talked about it in public and Israel’s defense minister has mentioned it just once, in a single sentence in a speech last month.
WHO: Vaccination rates for the vulnerable are soaring in Africa
Most countries in Africa have made significant gains in vaccinating two vulnerable groups against COVID-19, but new infections are creeping upward as summer travel begins and some countries ease public health measures, the World Health Organization said Thursday. About half of public health workers and people older than 60 have been fully vaccinated in 31 countries in the agency’s Africa region, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director, said at a news conference. Moeti described that as an “impressive turnaround” since the end of 2021, when just one-third of health workers and 10% of older people had been fully inoculated.