Por John Liu, CNN

La queja de un cliente sobre un pastel decepcionante desencadenó una investigación gigantesca que sacó a la luz a miles de vendedores de comida “fantasma” en China, lo que resultó en multas exorbitantes para algunas de las empresas más grandes del país y puso de manifiesto los peligros de la feroz competencia de precios.

La investigación, marcada por altercados entre investigadores y empleados del servicio de entrega, una emergencia médica simulada y notas escritas a toda prisa para “guardar silencio”, comenzó el verano pasado cuando un hombre de Beijing, identificado como Liu, recibió un pastel de cumpleaños decorado con una flor que no era comestible, según informaron varios medios estatales.

Liu pidió el pastel a través de una plataforma de entrega en línea y, como no quedó satisfecho con su compra, denunció al vendedor ante las autoridades locales.

Lo que descubrieron los reguladores fue una cadena de pastelería fraudulenta, con casi 400 sucursales, que operaba con licencias comerciales falsificadas y sin ningún local físico.

El incidente desencadenó una investigación a nivel nacional y reveló una cadena de suministro de alimentos clandestina, en la que un comerciante cobraba al cliente por su pedido y luego lo publicaba en una plataforma intermediaria para que otros productores pujaran, eligiendo al que ofrecía el precio más bajo para completar el pedido, lo que sacrificaba así la calidad y la seguridad de los alimentos.

En total, se descubrieron más de 67.000 vendedores fantasma, que habían vendido más de 3,6 millones de pasteles, según informó la agencia estatal de noticias Xinhua.

El regulador del mercado chino, la Administración Estatal para la Regulación del Mercado, concluyó en su investigación la semana pasada que siete importantes plataformas de reparto, incluidas PDD (propietaria de Temu), Alibaba, Douyin (de ByteDance), Meituan y JD.com, no protegieron adecuadamente a los clientes ni verificaron correctamente las licencias de los vendedores de alimentos.

En consecuencia, impuso una multa récord de 3.600 millones de yuanes (US$ 528 millones), la mayor sanción desde la modificación de la ley de seguridad alimentaria del país en 2015, según Xinhua.

La investigación de diez meses dejó en evidencia el intento de Beijing por reprimir la intensa competencia de precios que ha llevado a las empresas a un ciclo autodestructivo insostenible. En este caso, la reducción de precios en las plataformas de reparto a costa de la seguridad alimentaria.

Conocida como involución o neijuan en China, la intensa guerra de precios se ha extendido a diversos sectores en los últimos años, desde los vehículos eléctricos hasta los paneles solares. Esta tendencia ha exacerbado el problema de la deflación en China y ha lastrado la economía, ya que los precios bajan y el consumo se debilita.

En respuesta, Beijing lanzó una campaña contra dicho fenómeno el año pasado, comprometiéndose a frenar estas prácticas perjudiciales para toda su economía. El mes pasado, el periódico estatal Economic Daily publicó un artículo de opinión en el que pedía el fin de la guerra de precios en el reparto de comida a domicilio.

“Las empresas de alimentos y bebidas se han visto obligadas a sacrificar la calidad y reducir los márgenes, lo que empujó a todo el sector a un círculo vicioso de pérdidas solo para generar volumen”, escribió.

Flora Chang, analista de la firma de servicios financieros S&P Global Ratings, declaró a CNN que la intervención proactiva del Gobierno ha tenido cierto efecto inicial en la contención de la competencia desleal, pero las plataformas podrían encontrar formas alternativas de competir, incluyendo la implementación de subsidios de otro tipo.

“Dicho esto, las multas están allanando el camino para que las plataformas compitan más en calidad… En general, esto sugiere que lo peor de

By Michal Ruprecht, Jacqueline Howard, CNN

(CNN) — Psychedelic drugs, once pushed to the fringes of medicine, are gaining serious attention within the Trump administration as potential treatment options for people with certain mental health conditions. And they could be getting closer to receiving approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday designed to fast-track both research on and access to these drugs, including a $50 million investment in state governments to study how psychedelics might help people struggling with mental health illnesses.

Psychedelics are a powerful a group of drugs that can alter perception and mood and affect numerous cognitive processes. Some scientists, doctors and patients believe they could hold significant benefits for mental health, especially for conditions that haven’t responded well to traditional treatment approaches. But these drugs can also carry risks that shouldn’t be overlooked.

There are many types of psychedelics – including LSD, MDMA and psilocybin, the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms” – but the new executive order mentioned only one by name: ibogaine.

FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Monday that ibogaine could “soon” be on track to receive FDA approval once the agency reviews data from late-stage clinical trials.

“Once we have them in-house, we’ll be issuing National Priority Vouchers for a review within one to two months instead of the standard one-year time frame. And that’s because this is a national priority,” Makary said.

“These are potentially promising treatments,” he said. “We’ll see how the data reads out when we get the applications, but we don’t want to waste any time, because this is an urgent matter given the mental health crisis.”

How the psychedelic is regulated

Ibogaine and some other psychedelics are classified as Schedule I substances by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, a designation the federal government uses for substances it considers to have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

But “the FDA has a system with the DEA by which, when a drug becomes FDA-approved and the FDA sets clear criteria, then it can be given with a transient de-scheduling that is exempt from those enforcement rules, because it’s given in a hospital setting or in a clinic setting under clinical supervision,” Makary said. “If they do get approved, these are not the medications you’ll just pick up at a pharmacy. These are given in a controlled, supervised setting in a hospital.”

Makary also said that “investigational new drug” clearance was issued for ibogaine last week. This means the drug can be shipped to clinical investigators across state lines as research continues.

“So we have now a clearance for ibogaine, which will allow for human clinical trials for the first time in the United States, paving the way for more research and, ultimately, a decision from the agency,” he said.

Although it’s too early to tell how the executive order will affect the medical field, Dr. Kirsten Cherian, a researcher at Stanford University who led a landmark study on ibogaine, calls the executive order a “great step,” adding that it may open the door to offering the treatment in US research facilities.

“The first step is to be able to do the research at home,” she said. “And it could open up a lot of research possibilities. It is kind of an exciting time.”

History of ibogaine

Although ibogaine has not been approved by the F

By Lilit Marcus, CNN

(CNN) — Kevin Miller considers himself a bit of a travel pro. The photographer says he’s able to fit all of his camera gear into a carry-on bag and mentally puts himself into “airplane mode” as soon as he closes the door on his taxi, a process singularly pointed at getting himself through the airport as quickly and efficiently as possible.

But on one fateful day in Bali in 2013, his usual machine-level precision hit an unexpected wrinkle. He’d checked in, selected a seat, spent the last of his Indonesian rupiah on a souvenir in the airport, and zoomed through the security line. Then he was asked to pay a departure fee.

Miller admits he was frustrated but quickly set to work getting the money — it had to be cash — he needed to exit the airport. But it was early in the morning and the currency exchange counters were yet to open, and none of the ATMs were functioning. Finally, an American tourist took pity on him and handed Miller the needed bills. When he asked to get the man’s business card to repay him later, the man shook his head and said he’d been in the same situation before.

“It felt like a curveball because it came out of nowhere,” Miller says. Due to the extra time spent running around the airport, he and his wife missed their flight to Kuala Lumpur.

“We had to catch the next flight, which we had to pay for, because it was an airport issue and not an airline issue.”

A ‘regressive’ tax?

Thousands of passengers pay departure taxes every day, but most have no idea. While some countries still ask for cash in hand from tourists as they leave the airport, most of these fees are baked into the cost of airline tickets. Indonesia, where Miller had his hectic experience, moved to this system in 2014.

These fees, though, are common. Most departure taxes go toward infrastructure projects, including maintaining the very airports they’re collected in.

According to a report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), airports around the world collected a total of $60.4 billion in departure taxes and other similar fees in 2024, an average of $6.80 per passenger. Generally, these fees are highest in North America and lowest in Asia-Pacific.

In 2024, Argentina charged the highest rate, amounting to an average of $138 per passenger, according to IATA. Behind it were Mauritius, Mexico, the UK, the Dominican Republic, the US, Egypt and Kenya.

Are these fees worth it? IATA would say no.

“Air ticket taxes are regressive in nature and may conflict with broader economic and social objectives as they place a significant burden on the traveling public, and do not meaningfully contribute to the government’s budgets,” says the group in its report, which was released in November 2025.

In the travel industry, fees like these have become a major talking point in the post-pandemic years, as rising overtourism continues to strain resources around the world.

Japan, which has been struggling with recent increases in visitor numbers, debuted a “sayonara tax” of 1,000 yen (about $6) in 2019 and has just announced plans to triple it. This cost is added to airline ticket prices, not collected in person.

A need for transparency?

These tourist fees have different names all over the world and aren’t centralized, making it harder for travelers to know what exactly they’re paying for.

In Australia’s airports, it’s called a ​​​​​​​​​​​Passenger Movement Charge and costs $70AUD ($40 US). In the UK, the Air Passenger Duty varies based on destination, with a maximum of £253 ($336) for long-haul flights. In Mexico, it’s the TUA (Tarifa de Uso de Aeropuerto) and each airport gets to set its own rate.

Some places, though, have decided these fees aren’t worth it. Sweden abolished its air travel tax last year. It was part of a larger eff

The post Rare Tornadoes Reported Near Fresno Amid Strong Storm Activity appeared first on edhat.

Reuters and Tami Luhby

(Reuters) — US airports could face a new wave of long security lines as early as May after the nation’s homeland security chief said on Tuesday that he will run out of money to pay 50,000 workers due to a partial government shutdown.

President Donald Trump in late March directed DHS to use emergency funds to pay Transportation Security Administration workers who had gone without paychecks for about six weeks, causing disruptions at US airports.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday that the money would run out by early May.

“That money is dried up if I continue down this path the first week of May, because my payroll at DHS is just over $1.6 billion every two weeks,” Mullin said. He said after the next paycheck, “There is no more emergency fund, so the president can’t do another executive order for us to use money, because there’s no more money there.”

The agency is drawing on a $10 billion fund created last year by the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It has a little less than $1.4 billion remaining, as of April 19, according to Office of Management and Budget data.

Workers are scheduled to receive paychecks at the end of this week. A union official representing TSA workers told CNN on Tuesday that he expects employees will be paid this week.

Other DHS employees received their back pay earlier this month. But it’s unclear whether they will be paid this week.

DHS did not answer CNN’s request for more information about whether staffers will be paid.

TSA workers also went unpaid for six weeks last autumn during an earlier partial government shutdown.

Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu told Reuters on Tuesday that Congress has to move fast to get DHS funded. “You cannot ask these (TSA officers) to go through this a third time,” said Sununu, who heads the group representing American Airlines AAL.O, Delta Air Lines DAL.N, United Airlines UAL.O and others.

In March, the weeks-long standoff in Congress caused security lines at some airports to exceed four hours, the longest in the TSA’s nearly 25-year history, as officers called out in higher numbers after not receiving a paycheck for weeks. More than ​838 TSA ⁠officers have quit since mid-February.

Senate Republicans will move forward this week on ​a budget blueprint that would boost funding for DHS agencies for ‌the next three years, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said as Congress aims to end a partial shutdown of DHS.

Democrats have pushed for a series ​of new constraints on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, which operate under the direction of DHS, before authorizing additional ​funds. They have argued that ICE and Border Patrol should be subject to the same operational rules as police forces across the ‌United States, ⁠including a requirement that agents obtain judicial warrants before they enter private homes.

The head of the union representing many DHS workers urged the House to approve the bill to fund the agency.

“Failure to pass this bipartisan compromise before Friday, April 24 guarantees that Transportation Security Officers, civilian Coast Guard employees, and FEMA professionals will go unpaid unless the administration steps in, as it did last month,” Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, wrote in a letter to House lawmakers on Tuesday.

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