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States trashing troves of masks and pandemic gear as huge, costly stockpiles linger and expire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in an unprepared U.S., states scrambled for masks and other protective gear. Three years later, as the grips of the pandemic have loosened, many states are now trying to deal with an excess of protective gear, ditching their supplies in droves.With expiration dates passing and few requests to tap into its stockpile, Ohio auctioned off 393,000 gowns for just $2,451 and ended up throwing away another 7.2 million, along with expired masks, gloves and other materials. The now expiring supplies had cost about $29 million in federal money.A similar reckoning is happening around the country. Items are aging, and as a deadline to allocate federal COVID-19 cash approaches next year, states must decide how much to invest in maintaining warehouses and supply stockpiles. An Associated Press investigation found that at least 15 states, from Alaska to Vermont, have tossed some of their trove of PPE because of expiration, surpluses and a lack of willing take...

States are trashing troves of masks and pandemic gear as huge, costly stockpiles linger and expire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in an unprepared U.S., many states like Ohio scrambled for masks and other protective gear. Supplies were so limited in 2020 that the state bought millions of medical gowns from a marketing and printing company and spent about $20 million to try to get personal protective equipment made in-state.Three years later, as the grips of the pandemic have loosened, Ohio and other states are now trying to deal with an excess of protective gear, ditching their supplies in droves.With expiration dates passing and few requests to tap into the stockpile, Ohio auctioned off 393,000 gowns for just $2,451 and ended up throwing away another 7.2 million, along with expired masks, gloves and other materials. The now expiring supplies had cost about $29 million in federal money.A similar reckoning is happening around the country. Items are aging, and as a deadline to allocate federal COVID-19 cash approaches next year, states must decide how much to invest in mai...

What we know about Texas’ new law that lets police arrest migrants who enter the US illegally

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — How far can a state go to keep migrants out of the U.S.? The answer may soon come out of Texas, where a new law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott this week will allow police to arrest migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and give local judges the authority to order them to leave the country. Acting quickly, civil rights groups and a Texas border county filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to stop the measure from taking effect in March, calling it unconstitutional. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also blasted the Texas law but wouldn’t say whether the Justice Department would challenge it. Here are some things to know:WHO CAN BE ARRESTED?The measure allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, migrants could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave cou...

Argentina’s president warned of a tough response to protests. He’s about to face the first one

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Just days after taking office, Argentine President Javier Milei’s government announced drastic economic measures that angered some social and labor groups, and warned it would crack down on any protests blocking streets. The right-wing populist on Wednesday will face the first test of how his administration responds to demonstrations after those groups called on people to turn out to protest the economic shock measures, which Milei has said are needed to address Argentina’s severe crisis.The shocks include a 50% devaluation of Argentine peso, cuts to energy and transportation subsidies and the closure of some government ministries. They come amid soaring inflation and rising poverty.Milei’s security minister, Patricia Bullrich, presented a new “protocol” to maintain public order that allows federal forces to clear people blocking streets without a judicial order and authorizes the police to identify — through video or digital means — people...

Congo votes for president as conflict and smudged ballots lead to fears election won’t be credible

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo headed to the polls Wednesday to vote for president as authorities scrambled to finalize preparations in an election facing steep logistical and security challenges.Some 44 million people — almost half the population — are expected to vote, but many including several million displaced by conflict in the vast country’s east could struggle to cast their ballots. The fighting has prevented 1.5 million people from registering to vote.Both outside observers and locals have warned that such challenges could affect the credibility of the vote in one of Africa’s largest nations and one whose mineral resources are increasingly crucial to the global economy.On the eve of the vote, some polling stations in the capital, Kinshasa, told Associated Press journalists they were still waiting for materials. Thousands of stations, particularly in remote areas, still might not have what they need on Wednesday. A major concern is that ink on voting cards has smud...

Japan’s trade shrinks in November, despite strong exports of vehicles and computer chips

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s exports fell slightly in November from a year earlier, the first decline in three months, while imports were down nearly 12%, the government reported Wednesday.Tepid global demand has been a drag on Japan’s economy, which depends heavily on export manufacturing. Recent weakness of the Japanese yen against the dollar has meanwhile undercut its purchasing power for imports, though costs for oil and gas have fallen with a decline in oil prices since September. Preliminary customs data show that exports in November fell 0.2% to 8.8 trillion Japanese yen ($61 billion) while imports declined 11.9% to 9.6 trillion yen ($66 billion). That left a deficit of 776.9 trillion yen ($5.4 billion). Exports to the rest of Asia were down 4%, while exports to the U.S. rose more than 5%. Shipments to China, Japan’s biggest single overseas market, fell more than 2%. Japan’s exports of vehicles were a strong point, rising 11% from a year earlier, while computer chip shipm...

Putin ratchets up military pressure on Ukraine as he expects Western support for Kyiv to dwindle

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

After blunting Ukraine’s counteroffensive from the summer, Russia is building up its resources for a new stage of the war over the winter, which could involve trying to extend its gains in the east and deal significant blows to the country’s vital infrastructure.Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be hoping that relentless military pressure, combined with changing Western political dynamics and a global focus on the Israeli-Hamas war, will drain support for Ukraine in the nearly 2-year-old war and force Kyiv to yield to Moscow’s demands.“As far as the Russian leadership is concerned, the confrontation with the West has reached a turning point: The Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed, Russia is more confident than ever, and the cracks in Western solidarity are spreading,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow with Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, in a recent analysis.An aid package for Ukraine has stalled in the U.S. Congress as Republicans insist on linking any more mon...

Descendants fight to maintain historic Black communities. Keeping their legacy alive is complicated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

DAUFUSKIE ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Sallie Ann Robinson proudly stands in the front yard of her grandmother’s South Carolina home. The sixth-generation native of Daufuskie Island, a once-thriving Gullah community, remembers relatives hosting meals and imparting life lessons on the next generation.“I was born in this very house, as many generations of family have been as well,” said Robinson, a chef and tour guide. “I was raised here. These woods was our playgrounds.”Long dirt roads were once occupied by a bustling community that had its own bartering system and a lucrative oyster industry.“There were at one point over a thousand people living on this island,” Robinson said. Now, she and several cousins are the only ones of Gullah descent who remain.Historic Black communities like Daufuskie Island are dying, and descendants like Robinson are attempting to salvage what’s left of a quickly fading history.“The towns are the authentic source or sources of much of our culture, our history, our ...

UN resolution on Gaza hampered by issues important to US: cessation of hostilities and aid monitors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council’s adoption of a new U.N. resolution to spur desperately needed aid to Gaza has been bogged down by two issues important to the United States: a reference to a cessation of hostilities and putting the U.N. in charge of inspecting trucks to ensure they are actually carrying humanitarian goods.A vote on the Arab-sponsored resolution, first postponed from Monday, was pushed back again until Wednesday as council members continued intense negotiations to avoid another veto by the United States.“We’re still working through the modalities of the resolution,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday afternoon when the vote was still set for 5 p.m. “It’s important for us that the rest of the world understand what’s at stake here and what Hamas did on the 7th of October and how Israel has a right to defend itself against those threats.”It was canceled as the U.S. asked for more time and is now scheduled to take place a...

China’s earthquake survivors endure frigid temperatures and mourn the dead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:32:12 GMT

YANGWA, China (AP) — Surrounded by destruction, the relatives of an earthquake victim mourned her death Wednesday in temporary shelters and frigid temperatures high in the mountains of northwest China.Houses caved in and crumbled in a Monday night earthquake that killed at least 131 people and injured more than 900 others, Chinese media reports said. Most of the casualties were in Gansu province and the rest in the neighboring province of Qinghai.In the predawn darkness, Ma Lianqiang stood next to the body of his deceased wife wrapped in blankets in a tent-like temporary shelter lit by a single overhead light. His wife was hit and buried by debris in her mother’s house, where she had gone to stay because she was ill.Ma and other members of his extended family survived despite extensive damage to their house in Yangwa, a village in Gansu province. His father pulled Ma’s son, whose back was injured, out of the rubble. His uncle said they heard the earthquake and then the house started...