By Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) — Several veterans’ benefits programs, payments for 9/11 families, a ban on TikTok on government devices, and changes Congress made to how presidential elections are certified in light of the January 6 Capitol attack are all in jeopardy with a case challenging how the Democratic-led US House relied on proxy votes to pass a massive, Covid-era funding bill.

The case stems from the years-old Republican pushback to the move by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow members to vote remotely during the pandemic. The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, is moving forward in an appeals court known for embracing far-right arguments out of step even with the conservative US Supreme Court.

Paxton is now running for the Senate, where legislation is routinely passed without its members physically present. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who once led the chamber Paxton now seeks to join, is supporting Congress’ power to use proxy voting, even as the Kentucky Republican was critical of Democrats’ choice to do so during the public health crisis.

A federal judge in the far-flung Texas district where Paxton filed the lawsuit previously ruled in the case that the role remote voting played in Congress’ passage of a $1.7 trillion appropriations package violated the Constitution. While a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling, the full court hinted its openness to Texas’ arguments by throwing out the panel’s opinion and agreeing to rehear the case, with oral arguments on Tuesday.

The case affects only a provision of the law concerning workplace accommodations for pregnant employees. But if the appeals court agrees with Paxton’s arguments, it will create a precedent making any part of the massive appropriations package vulnerable to legal challenge in the 5th Circuit, which covers Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. If the case ultimately lands before the Supreme Court and the justices side with Paxton, such a precedent would apply nationwide.

Among the other provisions in the appropriations bill that the case endangers are an expansion of summer meal programs for low-income schoolchildren, legislation aimed at addressing doping in the horse-racing industry, and a permanent option for states to offer 12 months of postpartum Medicaid coverage. The Trump administration has continued the defense mounted by the Justice Department under President Joe Biden for how the House passed that bill.

The implications of the case are even broader, according to a friend-of-the-court brief from McConnell. The logic of the lawsuit threatens the way the Senate does much of its business by unanimous consent and voice votes, while inviting the courts to meddle with Congress’ internal rulemaking, he told the appeals court.

“The thing that you hear generally, from a lot of folks, is that the House and the Senate have to be able to set their own internal procedures,” Molly Reynolds, the vice president and director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institute, told CNN. “Those are things that the two chambers have to have power over, if they’re going to function and conduct the business of the country.”

The long tail of a political battle over proxy voting

Under the rules adopted by the Democratic-controlled House in May 2020, lawmakers who did not want to travel to Washington, DC, or otherwise be in the chamber to vote because of Covid-19 could designate a lawmaker on the floor to vote on their behalf.

Republicans were mostly against the idea at first, a reflection of the partisan divide over how aggressively to respond to the virus, according to Reynolds. Some Republicans Read more

Por Lex Harvey, CNN

Embarcaron el mes pasado en un crucero en Argentina para una expedición única a través del océano Atlántico con el fin de observar fauna silvestre singular e islas remotas.

Seis semanas después, la mayoría de los pasajeros estadounidenses que viajaban a bordo del MV Hondius se encuentran en una habitación pequeña y austera con una cama y una bicicleta estática en la Unidad Nacional de Cuarentena en Omaha, Nebraska, y se enfrentan a posibles semanas de aislamiento.

“Regreso por un momento para que todos sepan que estoy bien y me siento bien”, escribió el pasajero Jake Rosmarin en una publicación de Instagram el lunes, junto con una selfie sonriente en la habitación donde está en cuarentena.

“El vuelo de repatriación transcurrió sin problemas y llegué sano y salvo a la Unidad Nacional de Cuarentena en Omaha. Han sido unos días muy largos, pero espero poder volver a dar más información pronto”, publicó.

Poco más de una semana después de que la Organización Mundial de la Salud informara de un brote del raro hantavirus a bordo del Hondius, operado por Oceanwide Expeditions, continúa en marcha un esfuerzo mundial de repatriación para los pasajeros y la tripulación que se encontraban a bordo del barco infectado.

Hasta el martes por la mañana, 122 personas —87 pasajeros y 35 tripulantes— habían sido evacuadas, y la mayoría había regresado a sus países de origen. Cinco australianos y un neozelandés se encuentran en los Países Bajos y serán repatriados a finales de esta semana, informaron las autoridades.

Las 27 personas que aún se encuentran a bordo del barco —25 tripulantes y 2 profesionales médicos— navegan ahora hacia Rotterdam, Países Bajos, donde el barco será desinfectado. Se espera que lleguen el domingo por la noche, según Oceanwide.

Tres pasajeros han fallecido desde el 11 de abril y existen varios otros casos confirmados o probables, según la OMS, que ha reiterado que el riesgo para el público en general es bajo.

Las próximas semanas estarán marcadas por la incertidumbre para quienes se encontraban a bordo del barco, donde la OMS cree que se produjo la transmisión de persona a persona de la variante andina del hantavirus.

En Estados Unidos, 17 estadounidenses y un ciudadano británico con doble nacionalidad están siendo monitoreados en centros médicos como aquel desde el que publicó Rosmarin.

Las edades de los pasajeros oscilan entre los veintitantos y los ochenta y pocos años, y las personas mayores y aquellas con comorbilidades médicas presentan un mayor riesgo de sufrir complicaciones graves.

Dieciséis de esas personas se encuentran en el Centro Médico de la Universidad de Nebraska (UNMC). Una está en la unidad de biocontención tras dar positivo por el virus y quince están en la unidad de cuarentena. Todas son asintomáticas.

Otras dos personas —una pareja— fueron trasladadas a la Universidad Emory de Atlanta, donde permanecen en una unidad de bioseguridad debido a la saturación del Centro Médico de la Universidad de Tennessee (UNMC). Al menos una persona en Emory presenta síntomas.

Tras evaluar a los pasajeros durante unos días, las autoridades decidirán si cada persona debe completar su períod

By Stephanie Yang, CNN

Taipei, Taiwan (CNN) — In South Korea, a global energy supply crunch has hit hard. Officials have advised energy conservation, cut growth forecasts and warned of fallout from high inflation and 17-year lows in the value of its currency. Yet the nation’s largest companies are raking in record profits, and its stock market is hitting all-time highs.

The contradiction underscores how, in Asia, there are now two economic realities.

The historic oil shock caused by the war in Iran is accelerating a divergence of economic fortunes across the region. One is driven by tech giants and the promises of artificial intelligence. The other is darkened by fuel scarcity and rising prices that threaten a humanitarian crisis.

As the disproportionate impact of oil shortages in Asia widens the divide, economists warn that the phenomenon has significant ramifications for monetary policy, political stability, and future economic growth across the continent – and other parts of the world that rely on it for trade.

“Yes, the economy is booming, the equity market is doing very well, but we see limited wealth effect spilling over to the daily activities happening in the region,” said Benson Wu, a Korea and China economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “I think that is something really troubling many observers.”

The disparity is indicative of growing inequality, exacerbated first by the Covid-19 pandemic, and now the conflict in the Middle East. Shipping via the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s crude oil normally flows, has dried up over the past two months, sending oil prices to four-year highs.

Asia, which is heavily reliant on the Middle East for energy, has borne the initial brunt of those higher prices. But the impact isn’t spread evenly. Advanced, tech-heavy economies in East Asia like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have bigger fuel reserves to draw on, as well as the cash to pay higher prices to secure more stocks.

Meanwhile, nations like India, the Philippines and Thailand, whose growth is dominated by traditional manufacturing and services, are facing greater struggles to secure fuel and offset slowing economic activity.

“These are regions that, number one, they are not sharing that much of the good things coming from the current AI or tech story. And number two, they are potentially experiencing more shock from the inflationary pressures coming from the Middle East conflict,” said Wu. “That is something we need to watch very closely.”

Widening divide

Semiconductors were already powering everything from smartphones to cars to home appliances, earning the industry a reputation as “the new oil.” Now the AI boom is turbocharging demand.

A UN Trade and Development report projected that the global AI market will grow to $4.8 trillion by 2033 — a 25-fold increase from 2023. Morgan Stanley estimated that spending on AI infrastructure could exceed $3 trillion in the next two years.

The economic effects are most apparent in the chipmaking capitals of the world.

Taiwan’s first-quarter GDP growth notched a 39-year high of 13.69%, as its equity market overtook Canada’s to become the world’s sixth-largest. The gains are largely attributable to the chip-making behemoth Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which accounts for more than 40% of the Taiwan Stock Exchange

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Dos Pueblos and San Marcos both served up CIF-Southern Section road quarterfinal wins in boys tennis.

In Division 4 DP wins at Cerritos 10-8 and will host El Segundo in a semifinal match on Wednesday, May 13th.

In Division 5 San Marcos wins at Golden Valley 12-6 and the Royals are home in Wednesday's semifinals against Aliso Niguel. Braden Stewart and Eliot Gray went 2-1 in singles matches. Levi Reece and Nico Holve swept their doubles matches 3-0.

Thacher beat El Toro in Division 6 13-5 and will travel to Long Beach Wilson in a semifinal match.

The post CIF-SS Boys Tennis quarterfinal resuts: Dos Pueblos and San Marcos both advance appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Bryan Peck had a dominant return to the Santa Barbara area.

The former Westmont College standout pitcher who is now a graduate student at Cal Baptist, fired six innings of one-hit shutout ball as the Lancers snapped the Gauchos 7-game win streak 8-3. He improved to 7-1 on the season.

UCSB managed just 3 hits for the game and scored all 3 of their runs in the bottom of the eighth inning well after the game was decided.

Conner Ross homered twice and drove in 4 runs for the Lancers who improved to 40-13 on the season.

The Gauchos (34-16) used seven pitchers in this nonleague game with five of them allowing runs. San Marcos High School alum Chase Hoover pitched well in relief for UCSB with 2 2/3 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts.

UCSB will play for a Big West regular season title with three home games against UC Riverside starting on Thursday 4:35 p.m.

The Gauchos are tied for first place in league with Cal Poly who finish with 3 home games against Long Beach State.

The post Gauchos shut down by former Westmont ace Bryan Peck appeared first on News Channel 3-12.