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By Brenda Goodman, CNN

(CNN) — Covid-19 vaccines roughly halved the chances that a US adult would need to visit the emergency room or be hospitalized with their infections last fall and winter, according to two sources familiar with the findings of a new study. But you won’t hear about it from the agency that led the research: the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The current head of the CDC, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who’s also director of the US National Institutes of Health, blocked the publication of those findings in the CDC’s flagship journal, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, according to the sources.

The authors of the study received an official rejection letter from the journal on Tuesday, one source said, even though the study had cleared internal reviews and had been scheduled for publication.

Andrew Nixon, deputy assistant secretary for media relations at the US Department of Health and Human Services, confirmed that the study had been rejected.

“Scientific reports are routinely reviewed at multiple levels to ensure they meet the highest standards before publication. The MMWR’s editorial assessment identified concerns regarding the methodological approach to estimating vaccine effectiveness and the manuscript was not accepted for publication,” Nixon told CNN.

The rejection is unusual because the study followed the normal methods the agency uses to estimate the effectiveness of vaccines against seasonal respiratory viruses, and it utilized the CDC-led VISION collaboration, which stands for the Virtual SARS-CoV-2, Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses Network. The network uses electronic health records from nine US health systems to monitor vaccine effectiveness from season to season in various age groups.

According to sources familiar with the episode, Bhattacharya took issue with the study’s so-called test-negative design. HHS did not answer a question about what, exactly, Bhattacharya’s concerns had been.

Test-negative studies look at all the people who go to the doctor for a specific symptom or set of symptoms. They then compare vaccination status of people who test positive for a given infection against that of people who test negative for that same infection to derive an estimate of the effectiveness of the vaccine. Test-negative designs help minimize a type of bias called the healthy user effect, with which people seeking medical care may look sicker because they’re more likely to be diagnosed with a disease or condition, compared to people who don’t seek care for their symptoms.

It’s become the standard way of measuring vaccine effectiveness, not only for Covid but for other seasonal respiratory viruses like influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

The rejection of the new study is “pretty problematic in general, because it’s a very standard, well-established study design that has been used for a long time,” said Dr. Fiona Havers, who resigned as senior vaccine policy adviser at the CDC in June over changes to the agency’s vaccine policy made by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She used to be part of the team that worked on studies with VISION data.

“It’s not perfect, but it is a reasonable way of measuring real-time vaccine effectiveness during the season and getting data that can be tracked over time,” she said.

“This network has published in New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet and all of these other very high-profile journals in the past,” Havers added. “This seems like pretty aggressive interference by a political appointee into CDC scientific processes.”

The rejection of the study was first reported by the Washington Post.

Two weeks ago, after the first round of news stories that detailed a delay in the study’s publication, Bhattacharya

Por Gonzalo Zegarra, CNN Español

Los asesinatos del sangriento último fin de semana de marzo de 2022, episodio que marcó un punto de inflexión en la política de seguridad del presidente Nayib Bukele, llegaron a un juicio masivo que comenzó esta semana contra 486 presuntos miembros de la pandilla MS-13, un proceso bajo un nuevo modelo penal que es criticado por organismos de derechos humanos por restricciones al acceso a la defensa.

Uniformados de blanco, rapados y con mascarillas, cientos de acusados siguen el juicio por videoconferencia. De ellos, 413 están detenidos en el Centro de Confinamiento contra el Terrorismo (CECOT), una cárcel de máxima seguridad emblema del Gobierno de Bukele, y otros 73 están prófugos, pero serán juzgados en ausencia.

Un tribunal especializado en crimen organizado lleva adelante el modelo de macroaudiencia por “más de 47.000 delitos” cometidos entre 2012 y 2022, según la Fiscalía General, entre ellos, ordenar 86 asesinatos entre el 25 y 27 de marzo de 2022. Es un modelo de juicio establecido tras varias reformas aprobadas en 2023 al Código Penal de El Salvador, en el contexto de la implementación de un régimen de excepción que sigue vigente desde hace cuatro años y que suspende garantías constitucionales.

En estos procesos, los detenidos suelen contar con un defensor público. CNN intenta averiguar con qué tipo de acompañamiento legal cuentan las personas que están siendo juzgadas y cómo es el acceso a la defensa en este caso.

El Salvador comenzó 2022 con un promedio de 2,8 asesinatos diarios, una cifra que iba en aumento desde los últimos meses de 2021. El viernes 25 de marzo, las autoridades registraron 14 homicidios, lo que condujo a una reunión de emergencia del Gabinete de Seguridad, pero la escalada de violencia continuó el sábado. La Policía confirmó 62 asesinatos en esa jornada y 11 más el domingo.

Con esos números, es considerado el fin de semana más violento en el país desde la Guerra Civil de los años 80.

En medio de esa ola de sangre, Bukele pidió por redes sociales a la Asamblea que declarara inmediatamente el régimen de excepción. El Congreso, de mayoría oficialista, convocó a una sesión extraordinaria y alcanzó el 75 % necesario para aprobarlo.

Por ese entonces, el Gobierno de Estados Unidos ya había sancionado a dos funcionarios de El Salvador por supuestas negociaciones secretas con la MS-13. Bukele siempre rechazó las versiones de una presunta “tregua” con las pandillas.

El estado de excepción aprobado por la Asamblea se convirtió en la principal apuesta del Gobierno contra las pandillas. Desde ese momento, las autoridades afirman haber capturado a 91.300 personas acusadas de pertenecer supuestamente a las pandillas o tener vínculos con esos grupos criminales. Bukele, que mantiene altos niveles de popularidad, dijo que 8.000 personas que eran inocentes han sido liberadas, mientras que organizaciones de derechos humanos han documentado la muerte de al menos 488 personas bajo custodia de las autoridades.

El lunes, cuando comenzó la primera audiencia del juicio, no se autorizó el acceso a los medios de comunicación. La Fiscalía informó por la noche que los acusados están imputados por “crímenes que marcaron al país”: homicidios, femicidios, extorsión, narcotráfico, desapariciones y tráfico de armas, así como rebelión “al intentar mantener el control territorial para establecer un Estado paralelo”.

Los fiscales, que no han detallado cuánto durará el proceso, han presentado autopsias, análisis balísticos y testimonios, y solicitaron al juez que imponga la pena máxima por cada crimen. Un acusado podría recibir hasta 245 años de condena si es hallado culpable de múltiples cargos.

El martes, cuando s

By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Spirit Airlines is close to getting a $500 million bailout from the federal government, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

The deal is expected to include the federal government taking a stake in the troubled airline, which had struggled to make money ever since the Covid pandemic.

It also means Spirit avoids becoming the first significant US airline in 25 years that was forced to completely halt operations because of financial problems. Jet fuel costs have roughly doubled since the start of the war in Iran, derailing its plans to emerge from its second bankruptcy reorganization since 2024.

The source told CNN a deal could be announced as soon as late Wednesday night or Thursday. It is designed to give the airline a chance to complete its reorganization.

A shutdown of the airline will put thousands of Spirit employees out of work and leave millions of passengers that hold Spirit tickets scrambling to make other travel arrangements. It would also likely push up fares across the US airline industry.

But while a potential deal could be good for passengers and Spirit employees, it is likely to cause backlash across the rest of the airline industry. All airlines are struggling with higher fuel costs. Fuel is the second largest cost for airlines, behind only labor.

Past bailouts of US airlines have been done on an industry-wide basis, not in support of a single, relatively small carrier. And previous bailouts have come as passengers were afraid to fly in the wake of terrorist attacks and a pandemic, not because of high costs.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

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By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — Paramount’s blockbuster acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, is poised to clear a pivotal hurdle later this week.

Warner will hold a special meeting for shareholders to vote on the $110 billion bid on Thursday morning.

With the company’s board and multiple proxy advisory firms urging shareholders to vote yes, the deal is expected to be approved, moving Paramount closer to taking over its much bigger rival.

For shareholders, the math might be simple: A year ago, WBD was trading at about $8 per share, so Paramount’s $31-per-share offer comes as a relief.

But Paramount CEO David Ellison’s ambitions to combine his company with WBD remain a subject of controversy and anxiety in Hollywood and beyond.

Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other entertainment workers have signed an open letter opposing the deal, arguing that further consolidation of the media industry will hurt creators and consumers.

Opponents are hoping that state-level antitrust regulators will take action. And several Democratic state attorneys general have said they are examining how the deal will impact the media marketplace.

But Paramount executives are confident they can win all the necessary approvals to complete the takeover in the coming months. In fact, they’ve bet on it: the deal terms include a so-called “ticking fee” that increases the price per share if the deal isn’t finalized by September 30.

“Our goal,” Ellison told advertisers on Tuesday night, “is to build a leading media and entertainment company that strengthens competition, better serves the creative community, and delivers even more compelling stories to audiences around the world.”

Ellison added, “We’re doing exactly that by investing in great content and attracting and empowering exceptional talent, both in front of and behind the camera, and equipping our people with cutting-edge technology that enables them to do their best work.”

The deal that beat Netflix

Paramount prevailed in the bidding war for WBD in late February after Netflix declined to counter Paramount’s latest bid.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos suggested afterward that Paramount was an “irrational” bidder and said that Netflix walked away rather than overpay for the Warner Bros. studio, the HBO Max streaming service and other trophy assets.

Those Warner assets will turn Ellison, the son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, into one of the world’s most powerful media moguls.

He has been building to this point for quite some time, having successfully taken control of Paramount from the Redstone family last year by merging it with his production company, Skydance Media.

Then he approached WBD CEO David Zaslav almost immediately with a buyout offer, which WBD repeatedly rejected until the share price exceeded $30 per share.

In the weeks since Paramount emerged victorious, top executives have begun the integration planning process with WBD, although the two companies must still operate separately for the time being.

Paramount argued in response to the anti-merger open letter that the deal “strengthens both consumer choice and competition, creating greater opportunities for creators, audiences and the communities they live and work in.”

At a movie exhibitor convention last week, Ellison reiterated his pledge to release at least 30 new movies in theaters per year through both the Paramount and Warner Bros. studios.

But it might be difficult to make the math work. The combined Paramount-WBD will be laden with debt, creating red flags for credit agencies and all but guaranteeing that management will conduct mass layoffs to cut costs.