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☆ Why School Absences Have ‘Exploded’ Almost Everywhere
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sarah Mervosh | Francesca Paris | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

Increase in chronic absenteeism, 2019–23 By local child poverty rates By length of school closures By school district size By district racial makeup Source: Upshot analysis of data from Nat Malkus, American Enterprise Institute. Sara Miller, a counselor at South Anchorage High School for 20 years, now sees more absences from students across the socioeconomic spectrum. But after a visit from her school district, and starting therapy herself, she has settled into a new routine. Nationally, about 26 percent of students were considered chronically absent last school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic. Kaylee Greenlee for The New York TimesThe Ypsilanti school district has tried a bit of everything, said the superintendent, Alena Zachery-Ross.

Persons: Nat Malkus, ”, Kaylee Greenlee, Katie Rosanbalm, —, can’t, Adam Clark, Sara Miller, Miller, Ash Adams, Tracey Carson, Ashley Cooper, she’s, ’ ”, Cooper, Rosanbalm, Duke, Quintin Shepherd, The New York Times Quintin Shepherd, Shepherd, Michael A, Gottfried, “, Nicholas Bloom, Lakisha Young, Charlene M, Russell, Tucker, Regina Murff, Sylvia Jarrus, Ann Arbor, Murff, Alena Zachery, Zachery Organizations: D.C, American Enterprise Institute, New York Times, The New York, Center of Child, Duke University, The New York Times, Missing, South Anchorage High School, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, Companies, Stanford University, Oakland Locations: Anchorage, Michigan, Washington, Victoria , Texas, Mt, Northern California, Hawaii, Mason , Ohio, Cincinnati, San Marcos , Texas, California, Connecticut, Ypsilanti, Mich, Ann, Ross

☆ A Crisis of School Absences
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sarah Mervosh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A few years ago, a troubling phenomenon began to spread in U.S. education: Students were not showing up to school. Schools had shut down in the spring of 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and some did not fully reopen until fall 2021. Before the pandemic, about 15 percent of U.S. students were chronically absent, which typically means missing 18 days of the school year, for any reason. By the 2021-22 school year, that number had skyrocketed to 28 percent of students. Last school year, the most recent for which national estimates are available, it held stubbornly at 26 percent.

Persons: Quarantines, Francesca Paris Organizations: Schools

Snow and freezing rain in China were disrupting travel on Monday and had already caused hundreds of rail and flight cancellations, as millions of people traveled across the country before lunar new year holiday begins this weekend. For many years, heavy travel within and into China ahead of the holiday, known as Spring Festival in Chinese, produced the world’s largest annual migration. During the coronavirus pandemic, fear of lockdowns, quarantines and other rules deterred many from traveling. Last year, the authorities abruptly lifted those rules weeks before lunar new year after facing widespread protests, but many would-be travelers stayed put because they were anxious about spreading the virus. This year was supposed to mark a return to normal levels of holiday travel.

Locations: China

☆ China says seasonal germs, rather than ‘unusual or novel pathogens,’ behind spike in pediatric respiratory illness, WHO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Some of those increases are a little earlier than usual, but WHO said they were “not unexpected.”Similar early surges in respiratory illnesses were seen in other countries after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. At Thursday’s teleconference, WHO said, the Chinese officials reported enhanced surveillance of respiratory illnesses that may be contributing to increases in reported cases of disease. Even with the spike in cases, China also said that its hospitals are not overwhelmed with patients. WHO has been monitoring data from Chinese surveillance systems since mid-October, when it initially noted an increase in respiratory illnesses in children in northern China. WHO said it will continue to closely monitor the situation, stay in close contact with national authorities in China and provide updates when appropriate.

Persons: teleconference, ”, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Katherine Dillinger Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, WHO, Chinese Center for Disease Control, Beijing Children’s, Media, International Society for Infectious Diseases, CNN Health Locations: China, Beijing, United States

☆ WHO asks China for more information on spike in pediatric respiratory illnesses
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Katherine Dillinger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The World Health Organization says it has requested more information from Chinese officials on an increase in respiratory illnesses and pneumonia clusters among children there. Officials from China’s National Health Commission reported an increase in respiratory disease at a news conference last week, WHO said in a statement Wednesday. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. Media reports suggest “a widespread outbreak of an undiagnosed respiratory illness in several areas in China,” according to the International Society for Infectious Diseases’ Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases, known as ProMED. The agency advises people in China to take precautionary measures to lower the risk of respiratory illness, including getting recommended vaccines, staying home when sick, wearing masks around others and washing hands regularly.

Persons: ”, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, ” ProMED, it’s Organizations: CNN, World Health Organization, China’s National Health Commission, WHO, ” WHO, CNN Health, Media, International Society for Infectious Diseases Locations: China

☆ Li Keqiang: Death of China’s former premier offers glimpse into discontent with Xi Jinping
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —The sudden death of China’s former Premier Li Keqiang has spurred an outpouring of grief and mourning across the country. But for many, it also appears to offer a rare opening to air pent-up discontent with top leader Xi Jinping and the direction he has taken the country. His death, just months after his retirement, shocked the Chinese public. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang review a guard of honor prior to a meeting at the Chancellery on July 9, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits a hospital in Wuhan on January 27, 2020, days after the city was placed under a complete lockdown to curb the raging Covid-19 outbreak.

Persons: Li Keqiang, Xi Jinping, Li, Xi –, ”, Alfred Wu, Lee, “, Xi, Angela Merkel, Sean Gallup, Zhang Lun, Mao Zedong, Zhang, “ I’ve, Wu, Li Tao, Zhou Enlai, Mao, Hu Yaobang, Fish Leong, ” Zhang Organizations: CNN, Communist, Lee Kuan Yew, of Public Policy, Getty, Studies, University of Cergy, Peking University, Li, AP Party, Communist Party, Xinhua, CPC, Party Locations: Shanghai, China, Singapore, German, Berlin, Germany, Pontoise, France, Communist China, Wuhan, AFP, Yunnan province, Weibo, Malaysian, Hefei, Anhui, Zhengzhou, Henan, Beijing

☆ Is Travel Insurance Worth It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Kat Tretina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +12 min

Trip cancellation and interruption coverage is the most common form of travel insurance, making up nearly 90% of travel protection plans sold. Travel medical: When you travel to another country, typical health insurance plans — including Medicare — don’t cover you. Like all forms of insurance, travel insurance policies don’t cover every event that can impact your vacation. “When you travel using airline miles and hotel points, most credit card travel insurance policies won’t cover the trips,” says Huffman. “If you do not get travel insurance, you are rolling the dice,” says Hines, who adds she always recommends travel insurance to her clients.

Persons: Kat, we’ve, it’s, ”, Tiffany Hines, Mark Friedlander, ” What’s, Friedlander, Lee Huffman, Huffman, Kevin Payne, Payne, Hines, “ We’ve, won’t Organizations: Global, Travel, Insurance Information Institute, Disease Control, Prevention, World Health Organization, Spirit Airlines, Delta, Allianz Travel Locations: Athens , Georgia, Europe, U.S

☆ North Korea hints at tourism reopening, but doubts remain
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Lilit Marcus | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

When North Korea slammed its already tight borders closed in 2020, he was one of many travel industry professionals left out in the proverbial cold. One of Cockerell’s business concerns, he says, is that a lack of search engine interest in North Korea trips could hurt his website’s visibility on Google. In 2017, the United States banned its passport holders from traveling to North Korea and has renewed this ban through at least 2024. The 2017 ban on American travel to North Korea came shortly after the death of Otto Warmbier, a recent college graduate from Ohio who participated in a Young Pioneer Tours group trip to North Korea. Warmbier was detained in North Korea in 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster and held for 17 months.

Persons: Simon Cockerell, ” Cockerell, ”, Cockerell, Kim, Otto Warmbier, Warmbier, CNN’s Paula Hancocks, Irene Nasser, Kate Springer, Yoonjung Seo Organizations: CNN, Air Koryo, of Tourism, United, DPRK, Tours, North Koreans, North Korean Locations: North Korea, North, Pyongyang, Beijing, China, Vladivostok, Russia, Koryo, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tourism, United States, Ohio

☆ For Hawaii’s Governor, a Balancing Act With No Margin for Error
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Shawn Hubler | More About Shawn Hubler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

At the Capitol, Mr. Green was neither part of his party’s progressive wing nor a player in the mainstream party apparatus, Professor Moore said. After focusing on homelessness and public health as a legislator, Mr. Green ran for lieutenant governor in 2018 and won again. When Covid hit in 2020, David Ige, who was then the governor, informally made Mr. Green the administration’s pandemic point man. But their relationship was not always harmonious, and the early call on the cruise lines fed perceptions that Mr. Green was prematurely campaigning to succeed Mr. Ige, who was prevented by term limits from running for re-election in 2022. A year later, Mr. Green defeated six other Democrats in the primary and won the general election easily.

Persons: Green, Moore, Jill Tokuda, Covid, David Organizations: Capitol, Congress

A gentle downtrend in foreign direct investment gave way to a steep drop last quarter and inflows to China slammed to their lowest since records began 25 years ago, raising the prospect that the long-term trend is turning. Sources have told Reuters the Biden administration is likely to adopt new outbound investment restrictions on China in the coming weeks. Japan, the U.S. and Europe have already restricted the sale of high-tech chipmaking tools to Chinese companies while China has hit back by throttling exports of raw materials. To be sure, investment flows often fluctuate and many firms aren't leaving China completely or aren't leaving at all. "A lot of our clients are worried about their exposure to China as a sole country of supply."

Persons: Carlos Barria, Deng Xiaoping, Logan Wright, Biden, John Ramig, Buchalter, Daniel Seeff, Cardigan, Chi Lo, Lee Smith, Baker Donelson, Samuel Shen, Tom Westbrook, Winni Zhou, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: REUTERS, Corporate, China Markets, China's, Administration of Foreign Exchange, Investors, Reuters, Oxford Economics, Ministry of Commerce, Management, Thomson Locations: Pudong, Shanghai, SHANGHAI, SYDNEY, China, Japan, U.S, Europe, Haining, Peru, Hong Kong, Baker, Singapore

☆ Opinion | The Normal Paths to Beating Trump Are Closing
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In the quest to escape Donald Trump’s dominance of American politics, there have been two camps: normalizers and abnormalizers. The first group takes its cues from an argument made in these pages by the Italian-born economist Luigi Zingales just after Trump’s 2016 election. The counterargument has been that you can’t just give certain forms of abnormality a pass; otherwise, you end up tolerating not just demagogy but also lawbreaking, corruption and authoritarianism. The more subtle version of the argument insists that normalizing a demagogue is also ultimately a political mistake as well as a moral one and that you can’t make the full case against a figure like Trump if you try to leave his character and corruption out of it. Trump won in 2016 by exploiting the weak points in this abnormalizing strategy, as both his Republican primary opponents and then Hillary Clinton failed to defeat him with condemnation and quarantines, instead of reckoning with his populism’s substantive appeal.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Luigi Zingales, Silvio Berlusconi, Zingales, Berlusconi’s, ”, “, Trump, Hillary Clinton Organizations: Republican Locations: Italian

CNN —A 79-square-mile area of Los Angeles County is under quarantine after an invasive fruit fly was found there – the first such quarantine for the pest in the Western Hemisphere, according to California officials. The Tau fruit fly, originating in Asia, is a “serious pest for agriculture and natural resources,” according to the release. It isn’t the first time the Tau fruit fly was found in California. The state agency plans to work with the US Department of Agriculture and local authorities to eliminate the Tau fruit fly and prevent its spread. Crews will cut host fruit and vegetables on properties within 200 meters of detections to inspect for fruit fly larvae, among other measures, the state agriculture agency said.

Persons: It’s, Stevenson, Crews Organizations: CNN, California Department of Food, Agriculture, Residents, US Department of Agriculture Locations: Los Angeles County, California, Stevenson, Santa Clarita, Asia, Los Angeles, San Bernardino County

When China suddenly dismantled its lockdowns and other Covid precautions last December, officials in Beijing and many investors expected the economy to spring back to life. Investment in China has stagnated this spring after a flurry of activity in late winter. Fewer and fewer new housing projects are being started. Extra stimulus spending now with borrowed money would spur a burst of activity but pose a difficult choice for policymakers already worried about the accumulated debt. “Authorities risk being behind the curve in stimulating the economy, but there’s no quick fix,” said Louise Loo, an economist specializing in China in the Singapore office of Oxford Economics.

Persons: ”, Louise Loo Organizations: Investment, Oxford Economics Locations: China, Beijing, Singapore

☆ Cathay Pacific Fights to Emerge From the Long Shadow of Covid
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Tiffany May | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2019, when Hong Kong was convulsed by pro-democracy protests, Cathay Pacific was caught in the crossfire with Beijing. Flights were canceled or delayed by airport sit-ins involving thousands of demonstrators, among them employees of the airline, Cathay Pacific. Turmoil grew inside Cathay Pacific. In 2020, as the pandemic grounded its business, Cathay shuttered its regional division, Cathay Dragon. It parked 70 unused planes in the desert in Alice Springs, Australia, and fired 5,300 employees based in Hong Kong.

☆ Pro sports unions unite to discuss importance of mental health
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Jessica Golden | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The NFL Players Association, National Basketball Players Association, National Hockey League Players' Association, MLB Players Association, MLS Players Association and Women's National Basketball Players Association will work together to raise awareness about the cause and invest resources to improve mental health for the pro athlete community. This is the first time the sports organizations have come together to promote mental health. The high stakes, busy lifestyles and pressures of professional sports have caused many athletes to reveal their own mental health struggles in recent years. As athletes from all levels have expressed their struggles, many of the leagues realized that mental health needs to be as much of a priority as physical health is. The sports leagues will also highlight inspirational stories from athletes and the various mental health efforts they are leading.

HONG KONG, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tencent (0700.HK) is sounding more like its normal self again. The combination of regulatory respite, a post-lockdown consumption bounce plus cost cuts have put the company in a sweet spot for 2023. Revenue in the three months to December inched up 0.5% from a year earlier, to $21 billion, reversing year-on-year declines from the previous two quarters. With 2022 firmly behind it, Tencent can put a spring back in its step. Shares of Tencent rose 4.7% to HK$364.00 during early morning trading on March 23.

☆ Berlinale film marks Chinese star Fan Bingbing's return to cinema
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( James Imam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Cast member Fan Bingbing attends a news conference during the promotion of 'Green Night' at the 73rd Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2023. Her reappearance also spotlighted the return of Chinese-language film to the international stage, as mainland China and Hong Kong have eased zero-COVID policies, allowing for international travel. Featuring both Mandarin and Korean dialogue, the film is one of several from China and Hong Kong receiving world premieres at the Berlinale. In "Green Night", Fan plays the role of Jin Xia, a Chinese immigrant working as a security guard at Seoul airport. Chinese cinema is showing signs of thriving in Berlin, Fan said.

HONG KONG, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong is under pressure to rein in spending when it unveils its annual budget on Wednesday, after racking up huge fiscal deficits during the COVID-19 pandemic and as it struggles to kick-start the economy and regain its financial lustre. "However, as our economy stabilises, we have to make adjustments to our fiscal measures accordingly." That compares with a shortfall of HK$56.3 billion or 1.9% of GDP, projected by the government in its budget last year. Hong Kong hewed closely to China's zero-COVID policies -- imposing some of the world's toughest measures including lengthy quarantines for inbound travellers and social distancing rules that hurt the tourism, retail and catering sectors. ($1 = 7.8306 Hong Kong dollars)Reporting by Jessie Pang and Donny Kwok; Writing by James Pomfret; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ In this volatile housing market, here's how to know when the bottom is in
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

"People for the most part have come to terms with interest rates." No return of 2008, or 3% mortgage rate The biggest reason why housing prices aren't plunging like they did after 2008? At current levels, the Housing Affordability Index says the median buyer can afford the median U.S. home — but barely. Having seen 6 percent interest rates when she bought her first place in 2007, she's not daunted by today's rates, she said. "People have wrapped their heads around where interest rates are, and they have adapted," Fisher said.

☆ Explainer: What we know about China's medical reform protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Laurie Chen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHAT ARE THE MEDICAL INSURANCE REFORMS? Beginning Feb. 1, personal medical insurance benefits for Wuhan retirees were slashed from about 5% of the average basic pension to 2.5%, or 83 yuan ($12) per month, according to the Wuhan Healthcare Security Administration. In an essay published Thursday that did not refer to the protests, Finance Minister Liu Kun vowed to "deepen the reform of medical insurance payment methods". Following initial protests in Wuhan last week, the hashtag "Major adjustment in Wuhan medical reform" was viewed over 100 million times before being blocked. Since January, similar insurance reforms have been rolled out in provinces and regions including Jiangxi, Gansu，Shanxi, Qinghai, Sichuan and Guangxi.

☆ China has U-turned on almost all major policies it put in place in the last 3 years — and it's not surprising, given the state of its economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But the country reversed some major policies in response to the abysmal GDP growth. China's GDP grew by 3% in 2022 — the worst since the chaotic Cultural Revolution ended. Most recently, after three years of pandemic lockdowns and isolation, China abruptly reversed course and abolished its zero-COVID policy — leaving the world guessing why. China's GDP grew only 3.0% in 2022 — the worst in nearly half a century since the chaotic Cultural Revolution ended. China's GDP growth is vital because it is the world's second-largest economy after the US, so it's a driving force for global investment and trade.

Hong Kong CNN —A protest broke out in central China’s Wuhan on Wednesday as elderly residents showed their discontent with a local government reform to public health insurance that came into effect earlier this month. In some footage, the crowd can be heard singing the unofficial protest anthem “The Internationale.”Police and government officials have yet to comment on the situation publicly. The protest was at least the second one in a week in Wuhan, which is home to more than 11 million people. Videos circulating on social media last week show a large crowd of elderly people protesting the same issue. While the government did not directly comment on last week’s protest, Wuhan health authorities subsequently issued a statement acknowledging the reform, saying it would “reduce medical benefits in the short term” but “benefit those in sickness and the elderly population” for years to come.

☆ Equatorial Guinea quarantines 200 after unknown hemorrhagic fever deaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Amindeh Blaise Atabong | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] People wait to cross the border into Equatorial Guinea by car and by foot in Kye-Ossi, Cameroon, May 23, 2015. Authorities have restricted movement around the two villages that are directly linked, he said, and contact tracing was ongoing. Equatorial Guinea's neighbour Cameroon on Friday restricted movement along its border after the "unexplained deaths", its Health Minister Malachie Manaouda said in a statement. Equatorial Guinea said on Wednesday that it had registered the "unusual epidemiological situation" over the past weeks in Kie-Ntem province's Nsok Nsomo district that caused nine deaths in two adjacent communities over a short period. A Cameroon district health official near the border area said around 20 deaths had been recorded on Wednesday in villages in Kie-Ntem province, which borders Cameroon's Olamze district.

SINGAPORE, Jan 31, (Reuters) - Like many rich Chinese, graduate student Zayn Zhang thinks Singapore could be ideal to park his family's wealth. His family might establish a Singapore family office to manage its wealth in the future, he added. Well-known Singapore family offices include those set up by James Dyson of vacuum cleaner fame, hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and Zhang Yong, founder of China's Haidilao hotpot restaurant chain. Though fresher statistics are not available, those involved in the industry said interest in family offices picked up in 2022 and is expected to continue unabated this year. While some are setting up family offices, others are setting up business headquarters in Singapore or investing in funds domiciled in Singapore, she said.

☆ Hedge funds that punted early on China recovery reaped the rewards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Summer Zhen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The hedge funds that used that as a buying opportunity profited, with tourism and consumption stocks quickly rebounding after Beijing adopted a more targeted COVID-19 policies and reduced quarantines following widespread anti-lockdown protests. The MSCI China index rose by 36% over November and December, even as a surge in case numbers cast doubt over the economic recovery in the short term. The strategy, managed by chief investment officer Peng She, made a 20% net return in 2022. For 2023, hedge fund managers said they were even more bullish about China, expecting traditional valuation metrics to return to focus after a year driven by macro events. Reporting by Summer Zhen; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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