By Asuka Koda, CNN

(CNN) — Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer among women globally, and the number of cases worldwide is estimated to reach over 3.5 million by 2050, new research has found.

In high-income countries, decades of investment in screening, early detection and treatment drove a nearly 30% decline in breast cancer mortality between 1990 and 2023. But in the world’s lowest-income countries, the trend is moving in the opposite direction: Deaths from breast cancer have nearly doubled over the same period, according to a study published Monday in the journal The Lancet Oncology.

The findings, drawn from an analysis of breast cancer trends across 204 countries and territories for over three decades, show a deepening global divide between who lives and who dies from the most common cancer among women worldwide.

“There were improvements in mortality rates over time in higher-income settings, but there were really inequities in progress and increasing mortality in some lower-income settings,” said senior study author Dr. Lisa Force, an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

An estimated 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer globally in 2023, resulting in 764,000 deaths, according to the study. Nearly 1 in 4 cancers diagnosed in women worldwide that year was breast cancer.

While the death rate, adjusted to account for differences in population age across countries, dropped by nearly 30% in high-income nations between 1990 and 2023, it increased by roughly 99% in low-income countries over the same period. Meanwhile, the diagnosis rate in low-income countries rose by 147% over the same period.

For women living in sub-Saharan Africa, which includes some of the highest mortality rates worldwide, the numbers are especially alarming. Mortality rates in central and western sub-Saharan Africa are now more than double the global average, with roughly 35 deaths for every 100,000 people each year after adjusting for age.

“People’s outcomes from cancer depend on what country they live in,” said Dr. Kamal Menghrajani, an oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who wasn’t involved in the study. “And that shouldn’t be the case.”

A gap in infrastructure

The divergence reflects a fundamental mismatch between rising diagnosis rates and the infrastructure needed to treat the disease, Menghrajani explained.

Cancer awareness and screening are not enough, said Menghrajani, former assistant director for cancer innovation and public health in the Biden administration. “We need to have strong infrastructure in place to be able to treat people who have cancer and support them all the way through so that they can be cured.”

Treating breast cancer requires a carefully coordinated system, she said: surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy or targeted treatments. In the United States, all three are generally available and covered by insurance.

In much of sub-Saharan Africa, the picture is dramatically different. As of 2020, only about half of African countries had any external beam radiotherapy service — the most common form of radiation therapy for breast cancer — and none had sufficient capacity to meet their populations’ needs, according to the study.

Where radiation is unavailable, mastectomy often becomes the default treatment, the study noted, but without the surrounding infrastructure of postoperative care and systemic therapy, even surgery has limited effectiveness.

The cost of some treatments compounds the problem. The authors wrote that a standard course of trastuzumab, a targeted therapy for a common s

By John Fritze, CNN

(CNN) — The Supreme Court on Monday blocked a California education policy that restricts teachers from informing parents about a student’s gender expression, pausing an approach the state says is intended to protect trans minors from rejection and abuse at home.

The emergency case raised fundamental questions about whether parents have a right to know their child is going through a gender transition at school, and whether districts have an obligation to respect a student’s privacy wishes – particularly if disclosure could lead to abuse at home. The Supreme Court has repeatedly been asked to resolve that tension on its merits docket and, so far, has declined to do so.

“We conclude that the parents who seek religious exemptions are likely to succeed on the merits of their Free Exercise Clause claim,” the court said in an unsigned order.

The emergency appeal from a group of teachers and parents in California followed a decision from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that let the state’s policies stand. The appeals court paused an order from US District Judge Roger Benitez – who was nominated by President George W. Bush – that had sided with the parents and teachers, putting those policies on hold.

The Supreme Court granted the stay with respect to the parents, but declined to do so when it came to the teachers.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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By Sarah Ferris, CNN

(CNN) — GOP Rep. Nancy Mace is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly attempting to profit off of a congressional program intended to defray housing costs for lawmakers’ Washington, DC, residences — a claim she has denied.

According to a newly published report from the Office of Congressional Conduct, the South Carolina Republican sought and was paid roughly $9,500 beyond the actual costs of her residence in DC.

“There is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Mace engaged in improper reimbursement practices,” the nonpartisan watchdog group said in its official referral to the House Ethics Committee. The ethics committee announced Monday it is investigating the matter.

Mace was participating in a housing reimbursement program for members of Congress, which is intended to help subsidize lodging, food and travel expenses for lawmakers who must maintain households both in Washington and in their districts. The program has drawn intense scrutiny, since it does not require detailed expenses and has effectively given lawmakers who take part a major pay bump.

Mace did not respond to inquiries from the Office of Congressional Conduct, according to the report.

But a lawyer for Mace, William Sullivan, fiercely disputed the claims in a letter to the House ethics panel, calling the report “fundamentally flawed.”

The report’s narrative, Sullivan suggested, appeared to be “influenced by Rep. Mace’s former fiancé,” who co-owned the home with her.

Mace is not seeking reelection to the House and is running in a competitive GOP primary to become South Carolina’s next governor.

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By Alexandra Skores, Aaron Cooper, CNN

(CNN) — An engine fire reported on a United Airlines plane just after it took off from Los Angeles International Airport Monday forced the pilots to turn around and make an emergency landing.

United Flight 2127 to Newark Liberty International Airport returned to LAX Around 11:20 a.m. local time after pilots shut down one of the two engines after getting a fire alarm.

“We’re getting fire indications still, so we are going to need to evacuate,” one pilot told airport firefighters in radio signals captured by the website LiveATC.net.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner was carrying 256 travelers and 12 United crew members.

The plane stopped on a taxiway just off the runway and passengers evacuated down slides and mobile stairs, streaming across the tarmac past other aircraft.

“People are going to be coming out the right side, the side toward the runway. We would prefer to stay right here and just get people off,” the other pilot said. “We have another indication, it came back on that we have a fire on the left engine.”

The pilots told firefighters they deployed both extinguishers that are built into the left engine but were still getting warning indications of a fire.

“Come this way! Jump and slide!” flight attendants shouted, video from one passenger showed. “Get away from the plane! Leave all bags behind!”

No one was injured and passengers were bused to the terminal where another plane was dispatched to take them to Newark, the airline said in a statement.

Flights headed to LAX were delayed and one of the runways was shut down for a time, the airport said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what happened.

CNN’s Sharif Paget contributed to this report.

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High pressure brings warm and windy conditions to the Central Coast Monday afternoon. This large system will cause summer-like weather throughout the workweek. Strong wind gusts are projected for the interior and south beaches Monday night. The National Weather Service issued a Wind Advisory from 6pm this evening through midnight, gusts will near 35mph, prevailing from the north. Skies overnight remain mostly clear, perfect for the eclipse viewing. Overnight lows drop into the 50s, grab a jacket if headed out!

Warm weather continues Tuesday. Most areas remain sunny with maximum temperatures rising into the mid to upper 70s. Wind may be a problem again near the south coast, another round of Wind Advisories may be issued. Marine waters are calm, head out for a kayaking trip or take a dip at the beach! Stay hydrated and avoid strenuous activity during peak heating hours.

Expect minimal change in the weather pattern through the end of the week. Some low clouds will develop for fog prone areas north of Gaviota, visibility will be reduced for a few hours or so. Mostly clear skies all day for Santa Barbara and Ventura. It'll be a toasty weekend as upper 70s are set in the forecast, start planning your weekend adventures.

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