Вища рада правосуддя тимчасово відсторонила від роботи суддю Вищого господарського суду України Артура Ємельянова. Таке рішення ухвалила друга дисциплінарна палата ВРП 4 червня. «Суддя вважається тимчасово відстороненим від здійснення правосуддя без ухвалення Вищою радою правосуддя окремого рішення. Строк дії відсторонення судді від здійснення правосуддя – до ухвалення Вищою радою правосуддя рішення про звільнення з посади або скасування рішення дисциплінарної палати», – мовиться на сайті ради. Підставою стала скарга громадянки Катерини Іванової від 17 листопада 2016 року з проханням притягти суддю Вищого господарського суду України Артура Ємельянова до дисциплінарної відповідальності «у зв’язку з його втручанням у процес здійснення судочинства суддею господарського суду міста Києва Аллою Пригуновою». Як ідеться в тексті скарги, суддя Ємельянов у період 2013–2014 років «здійснював тиск на суддю Пригунову і шляхом погроз домагався прийняття потрібних йому судових рішень». Сама Пригунова, згідно з документом, підтвердила втручання в свою діяльність з боку Артура Ємельянова. Генеральна прокуратура підозрює суддю Вищого господарського суду України Артура Ємельянова у незаконному втручанні в автоматизовану систему розподілу справ між суддями. Досудове розслідування в справі триває. Суддя Ємельянов також є фігурантом журналістських розслідувань про рейдерство та корупцію. У жовтні 2017 року програма «Схеми» (спільний проект Радіо Свобода та каналу «UA:Перший») опублікувала розслідування «Легенда судді Артура Ємельянова». Як вдалося з’ясувати журналістам, його колишня дружина Світлана Ємельянова володіє елітною нерухомістю за кордоном. Йдеться про віллу в Анталії та апартаменти в Дубаї, два готелі у Відні, а також німецьку фірму, яка керує трьома готелями у Франкфурті-на-Майні. Більшість знайденого журналістами іноземного майна Світлана Ємельянова придбала до 2014 року включно, тобто в …
Study: Immunotherapy Cures Late-stage Breast Cancer in World First
A woman with an aggressive form of breast cancer which defied chemotherapy and spread to other organs, was cured with an experimental treatment that triggered her immune system, researchers said Monday. The woman has been cancer-free for two years, reported the U.S.-based team, presenting their results as “a new immunotherapy approach” for the treatment of patients with a late-stage form of the disease. Other experts not involved in the work hailed it as “exciting”. So-called “immunotherapy” has already been shown to work in some people with cancer of the lung, cervix, blood cells (leukaemia), skin (melanoma) and bladder. But an immune breakthrough for bowel, breast and ovary cancer has remained elusive. In the latest study, a team extracted immune cells called lymphocytes from the patient, tweaked them in the lab, then reinjected them. The woman was 49 when she signed up for the clinical trial after several attempts at a cure through conventional treatments had failed, said the study published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine. The cancer had spread to various parts of her body, including the liver. A person’s immune system is designed to kill invaders, including rogue, cancerous cells. But it can fail, often because it cannot recognize cancer cells containing the patient’s own DNA. Immunotherapy trains a patient’s own immune cells to recognize and fight cancer. For the new study, researchers took lymphocytes from a tumor in the woman’s body and scanned them for specific types which reacted to mutant, cancerous cells. Complete regression These were …
Challenges Hamper Polio Eradication in Pakistan
Only 3 countries have never stopped transmission of polio: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, largely because conflicts and cultural opposition thwart vaccination efforts. A common perception in Pakistan is that polio vaccination teams face difficulties only in tribal or rural areas, but there are equally big challenges in the country’s cities, such as Lahore, the country’s second most populous city. More in this report from Saman Khan in Lahore. VOA’s Bezhan Hamdard narrates. …
Bayer to Ditch Monsanto Name After Mega-Merger
German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer will discard the name Monsanto when it takes over the controversial US seeds and pesticides producer this week, it said Monday. But Bayer executives insisted Monsanto practices rejected by many environmentalists, including genetic modification of seeds and deployment of “crop protection” technologies like pesticides, were vital to help feed a growing world population. “The company name is and will remain Bayer. Monsanto will no longer be a company name,” chief executive Werner Baumann told journalists during a telephone conference. Bayer’s $63 billion (54 billion euro) buyout of Monsanto — one of the largest in German corporate history — is set to close Thursday, birthing a global giant with 115,000 employees and revenues of some 45 billion euros. Bosses plan to name the merged agrichemical division Bayer Crop Science once the merger is complete, German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported, citing “industry sources”. The Monsanto brand “was an issue for some time for Monsanto management,” noted Liam Condon, president of Bayer’s crop science division, adding that the US firm’s employees were “not fixated on the Monsanto brand” but “proud of what they’ve achieved.” Weedkiller arms race Producing high-tech genetically modified seeds, many designed to grow crops resistant to its proprietary pesticides, Monsanto has been a target for environmentalist protests and lawsuits over harm to health and the environment for decades. “It’s understandable that Bayer wants to avoid having bought Monsanto’s negative image with the billions it has spent on the firm,” said Greenpeace campaigner Dirk Zimmermann. “More important …
Big Investors Urge G7 to Step Up Climate Action, Shift From Coal
Institutional investors with $26 trillion in assets under management called on Group of Seven leaders on Monday to phase out the use of coal in power generation to help limit climate change, despite strong opposition from Washington. Government plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions were too weak to limit warming as agreed by world leaders at a Paris summit in 2015, they wrote. U.S. President Donald Trump announced a year ago that he was pulling out of the pact. “The global shift to clean energy is under way, but much more needs to be done by governments,” the group of 288 investors wrote in a statement before the G7 summit in Canada on June 8-9. Signatories included Allianz Global Investors, Aviva Investors, DWS, HSBC Global Asset Management, Nomura Asset Management, Australian Super, HESTA and some major U.S. pension funds including CalPERS, it said. As part of action to slow climate change, the investors called on governments to “phase out thermal coal power worldwide by set deadlines,” to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and to “put a meaningful price on carbon.” The investors also urged governments to strengthen national plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and to ensure that companies improve climate-related financial reporting. Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGC), said it was the first time that such a broad group of investors had called for a phase-out of thermal coal, used in power generation. “There is a lot more momentum in the …
Advances in Exoskeleton Technology Could Help Some Walk Again
An accident, a stroke, or a disease can leave someone paralyzed and unable to walk. That happens to more than 15 million people around the world each year. But new technological advances and physical therapy could help some of them walk again. Among the most promising is the use of robotic exoskeletons, like one made by Ekso Bionics. It looks a bit like a backpack that straps on the user’s back and around the midsection. Robotic ‘legs’ complete with foot panels extend from either side of the pack and wrap around the patient’s legs. A video game-style controller attaches to the pack with a long cord. “I’m going to be a robot!” Lindsey Stoefen has been doing physical therapy with the exoskeleton for an hour a day, as she works to recover from the rare disorder that put her in a wheelchair in October. The 17-year-old athlete climbed into a specially designed exoskeleton for the first time in late April, after becoming an in-patient at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Chicago. She recalls being nervous. “I was like ‘Dang, I’m going to be a robot!’ I was scared at first. I was like, ‘Am I going to like it? Will I be okay?’ And once I got into it, I loved it.” Lauren Bularzik, Lindsey’s physical therapist, says the exo robots help to accelerate the rehabilitation process. “For someone who takes a lot of energy to only walk a few feet, exo can get them up, can get them moving, …
Developing an Intuitive Exoskeleton
Every year more than 15 million people worldwide suffer injuries and illnesses that leave them unable to walk according to the World Health Organization. But new technological advances and physical therapy could help some of them walk again. Among the most promising – is the use of robotic exoskeletons. As Erika Celeste reports, scientists at the University of Notre Dame are leading the way with their work on wearable robots that allow patients to regain some or all of their mobility. …
Report: UK Food, Fuel, Medicine Short Under ‘No Deal’ Brexit
British civil servants have warned of shortages of food, fuel and medicines within weeks if the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal, a newspaper reported Sunday. The Sunday Times said government officials have modeled three potential scenarios for a “no deal” Brexit: mild, severe and “Armageddon.” It said under the “severe” scenario, the English Channel ferry port of Dover would “collapse on day one” and supermarkets and hospitals would soon run short of supplies. Britain wants to strike a deal on future trade relations with the EU before it officially leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, but officials are also drawing up plans for negotiations ending without an agreement. The U.K.’s Department for Exiting the European Union rejected the downbeat scenario, saying it was drawing up no-deal plans but was confident “none of this would come to pass.” Britain and the EU are aiming to strike an overall Brexit agreement by October, so parliaments in other EU nations have time to ratify it before Britain leaves the bloc. But British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government is split between ministers who favor a clean-break “hard Brexit,” that would leave Britain freer to strike new trade deals around the world, and those who want to keep the country closely aligned to the EU, Britain’s biggest trading partner. EU leaders are frustrated with what they see as a lack of firm proposals from the U.K. over how to resolve major issues around customs …
China Warns US: No Trade Deal if Tariffs Go Ahead
China has warned that any agreements with Washington in their talks on settling a sprawling trade dispute “will not take effect” if threatened U.S. sanctions including tariff hikes go ahead. The statement Sunday came shortly after delegations led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and China’s top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, held another round of talks on China’s pledge to narrow its trade surplus with the United States by purchasing more American goods. The Chinese statement said the two sides made “positive and concrete progress,” but neither side released details. The statement said, “If the United States introduces trade sanctions including increasing tariffs, all the economic and trade achievements negotiated by the two parties will not take effect.” Ross said U.S. and Chinese officials have discussed specific American export items Beijing might buy as part of its pledge to narrow its trade surplus with the United States. The two sides began a new round of talks in Beijing this weekend aimed at settling a simmering trade dispute. Ross gave no details at the start of his meeting Sunday with Liu, China’s top economic official. But Chinese envoys promised after the last high-level meeting in Washington in mid-May to buy more American farm goods and energy products. President Donald Trump is pressing Beijing to narrow its politically volatile surplus in trade in goods with the United States, which reached a record $375.2 billion last year. He’s threatening to hike duties on up to $150 billion of Chinese imports. “Our …
China Warns US Tariffs Will Undo Existing Deals
China is warning the United States any trade and business agreements between the two countries will be void if President Donald Trump carries out his threats to impose tariff hikes and other trade measures. The warning came after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He ended a new round of talks Sunday in Beijing aimed at settling a simmering trade dispute, in which Beijing pledged to buy more American products to narrow its trade surplus with the United States. The Chinese trade surplus reached $375 billion last year. No joint statement was issued and neither side released details. “Our meetings so far have been friendly and frank,” Ross said at the start of the talks, “and covered some useful topics about specific export items” China might buy. Chinese envoys had promised after the last high-level meeting in Washington in mid-May to buy more American farm goods and energy products. Ross was accompanied by agricultural, treasury and trade officials. Liu’s delegation included China’s central bank governor and commerce minister. There was no indication whether the talks also took up American complaints that Beijing steals from or pressures foreign companies. Trump is threatening to hike duties on up to $150 billion of Chinese imports, with Beijing vowing to retaliate in kind. The White House renewed a threat last week to hike duties on $50 billion of Chinese technology-related goods in that dispute. The state-run Chinese newspaper Global Times contended in an editorial that, “Tariffs and expanding …
5 New Suspected Ebola Cases Reported in DRC
The French news agency AFP is reporting five new suspected cases of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. AFP reported Saturday that DRC health authorities had recorded two new cases of illness in the Wangata area and three new cases in Bikoro. Both areas are in the northwest Equateur province. A new Ebola virus outbreak was declared in DRC on May 8 in Bikoro. Since then, about 50 cases of infection have been reported, with 25 of them leading to death. This is the most serious outbreak of Ebola virus since a massive outbreak in western Africa that ended in 2016 after infecting more than 28,600 people. On May 30, the World Health Organization said there had been 37 confirmed cases and 13 probable cases in DRC since the start of this outbreak. The fast-acting virus has killed about half its victims in the current outbreak. Meanwhile, the WHO has been involved in an effort to create a vaccine against the Ebola virus, which has broken out nine times in DRC since its discovery in the 1970s. On Friday, Peter Salama, the head of emergency response for the WHO, told VOA that teams had vaccinated about 500 people who had contact with Ebola cases discovered recently in Equateur’s capital, Mbandaka. So far, he said, it appears that the highly contagious virus has not spread in the city. VOA’s Jackson Mvunganyi and Kate Pound Dawson contributed to this report. …
Britain Won’t Sign Trade Deal with US That Is Not in Its Interests
Britain will not sign a trade agreement with the United States that is not in the country’s best interests, Trade Minister Liam Fox said Saturday after European Union officials filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over stiff U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. “If we can’t come to an agreement that we believe is in the interests of the United Kingdom, then we wouldn’t be signing any trade agreement,” Fox said Saturday in an interview with BBC radio. Fox’s comments came one day after European Union officials submitted a formal complaint to the WTO, the first in a series of retaliatory actions, including possible tariffs, against the U.S. Fox said the tariffs are “illegal” and that British Prime Minister Theresa May would raise the issue at the Group of Seven meeting next week in Canada. Trans-Atlantic and North American trade tensions escalated when the U.S. imposed on Friday a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. The U.S. also negotiated quotas or volume limits on other countries, such as South Korea, Argentina, Australia and Brazil, instead of tariffs. In a separate dispute, China is prepared to target billions of dollars in U.S. products, many of which come from America’s agricultural heartland, where Trump enjoys strong voter support. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived in Beijing Saturday in an attempt to avert an all-out trade war between the world’s two largest economies. On China’s target …
Buffett Lunch: $3.3M Paid for Private Meal with Billionaire
An anonymous bidder offered more than $3.3 million Friday for a private lunch with Warren Buffett, an amount just short of the record paid in 2016 and 2012 for the chance to pick the brain of the renowned investor and philanthropist. An online auction that raises money for the Glide Foundation’s work to help the homeless in San Francisco ended Friday night on eBay with a winning bid of $3,300,100. The winner wished to remain anonymous. Third highest price paid The price was the third highest in the 18 years Buffett has offered the lunch. Winners paid $3,456,789 in 2012 and 2016, which remain the most expensive charity items ever sold on eBay. Buffett has raised more than $26 million for the Glide Foundation through the annual auctions. Bidders continue to pay high prices for the chance to talk with Buffett, who leads Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway, and the event raises a significant part of Glide’s $20 million annual budget. Buffett supports Glide because of the work the charity does to help people. His first wife, Susie, introduced him to Glide after she volunteered there. “Glide really takes people who have hit rock bottom and helps bring them back. They’ve been doing it for decades,” Buffett said. Glide provides meals, health care, job training, rehabilitation and housing support to the poor and homeless. One topic off limits Buffett has said he gets asked about a variety of topics during the lunch. The only subject that’s off limits is what Buffett might …
US Unemployment Hits 18-Year Low, but Potential Trouble Looms
The U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in May, sending the unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. The Labor Department says hourly wages also grew, bumping average worker pay up 2.7 percent from this time last year. And yet, despite the improving job picture, economists say there may be dark clouds forming on the horizon. Mil Arcega reports. …
Ross Arrives in Beijing for Talks on Trade Surplus
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived in Beijing on Saturday for talks on China’s promise to buy more American goods after Washington revived tensions by renewing its threat of tariff hikes on Chinese high-tech exports. The talks focus on adding details to China’s May 19 promise to narrow its politically volatile surplus in trade in goods with the United States, which reached a record $375.2 billion last year. President Donald Trump threw the status of the talks into doubt this week by renewing a threat to hike tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Compromise on surplus Private sector analysts say that while Beijing is willing to compromise on its trade surplus, it will resist changes that might threaten plans to transform China into a global technology competitor. China has promised to “significantly increase” purchases of farm goods, energy and other products and services. Still, Beijing resisted pressure to commit to a specific target of narrowing its annual surplus with the United States by $200 billion. Following Beijing’s announcement, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the dispute was “on hold.” But the truce appeared to end with this week’s announcement that Washington was going ahead with tariff hikes on technology goods and also would impose curbs on Chinese investment and purchases of U.S. high-tech exports. Technology competitor The move reflects growing American concern about China’s status as a potential tech competitor and complaints Beijing improperly subsidizes its fledgling …
Death Toll From US E. Coli Outbreak Rises to Five
U.S. health officials say five people have now died from an E. coli outbreak involving romaine lettuce. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that another four people had died from the outbreak. The patients who died were from Arkansas, California, Minnesota and New York. The agency said 197 patients from 35 states have become ill from eating contaminated romaine lettuce or from coming into contact with those who did. At least 89 people have been hospitalized. The CDC said many of the new cases involved people who became ill two to three weeks ago, when contaminated romaine lettuce, which is popular in salads, was still being sold. Health officials have linked the E. coli outbreak to romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona. Officials urged people to throw away all romaine lettuce after the first outbreak was reported in March and now officials say the growing season in Arizona has ended. While the danger has mostly passed, reports of the illness are still coming in because of the time it takes officials to collect hospital information. Most E. coli bacteria are not harmful, but some produce poisonous substances known as Shiga toxins, which can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. …
Turkish FM, US Secretary of State to Meet Amid Souring Relations
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington on Monday amid souring relations between the NATO allies and trading partners over economic and other issues. The talks come as Turkish sectors, such as the major steel industry, reel from the higher tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration on Turkey and other nations. “Huge, huge effect, steel producers are desperate, the psychology is terrible among producers,” said Tayfun Senturk, a Turkey-based international steel trader. “For the last three months, there have been no new U.S. orders, and the U.S. is a major market for Turkish producers, especially in piping. If it continues for a few years, there will be closures.” In March, President Donald Trump introduced 25 percent tariffs on steel from several primary producers. Turkey didn’t enjoy an exemption given to the European Union, Canada and Mexico that ended Friday. “This is mainly a dispute with China and secondly the European Union. Why was Turkey targeted? I don’t understand,” Senturk said. Turkey is the eighth-largest steel producer in the world and second only to Germany in Europe. Last year, Turkey was the sixth-largest exporter to the United States. There are growing suspicions among Turkish steel producers that politics rather than economics is behind the steel tariffs. “There have been steps by the steel industry to try to build an understanding with the USA. As far as I know, it is not progressing, because of political reasons,” steel trader Senturk said. “They …
Despite Progress, Ebola Danger Remains in DRC
There is hope that the world’s latest Ebola virus outbreak may be contained in the coming weeks, top experts from the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders (Medicins San Frontieres) say. However, they told VOA this week that dangers remain as hundreds of international and local workers battle the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Yes, we are confident we can eventually contain this outbreak,” said Dr. Peter Salama, the WHO’s head of emergency response, but questions about speed and logistics remain. “Remember, we’re talking about very remote rural villages surrounded by hundreds of kilometers of forested area.” One encouraging sign is that epidemiologists have tracked the origins of the outbreak in rural DRC, said Dr. Hilde de Clerck, who is part of the aid group’s response command center in Brussels. “It’s definitely too early to say it’s under control, but it seems rather positive,” she said Thursday. The epidemiologists have tracked what she called the transmission tree, locating the patients and their families, which gives scientists a good overview of the origins of the outbreak and how it has spread. “It’s a good sign that we have this vision, and it’s also a good sign that our teams seem to say these people seem linked,” and confined to a few families and a few villages. This outbreak raised fears that it could spread like the West Africa epidemic in 2014-16, which killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. That was the worst outbreak in …
Vaccination Campaign Could Help Thwart DR Congo Ebola Outbreak
The World Health Organization has expanded its Ebola vaccination campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo to include high risk people in three areas. Latest WHO figures show 37 confirmed cases and 13 probable ones. Since the start of the Ebola vaccination campaign in May, the World Health Organization said 682 people have been vaccinated, among them nearly 500 in Mbandaka, a city of more than one million people. The campaign recently was expanded to include Bikoro, where Ebola was first discovered on May 8 and the Iboko health zone, which is the most remote of the three areas. Those immunized include health workers, responders and other people at high risk of falling ill from the fatal disease. WHO officials say the vaccine, which has not been formally approved, appears to be providing protection and giving rise to hope that it can help stop the spread of the Ebola virus. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was president of Liberia during the unprecedented Ebola epidemic in West Africa, shares that hope. Ebola broke out in West Africa in late 2013. By the time it was brought under control in 2016, the disease had killed more than 11,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Liberia lost 4,800 people during that outbreak. While on a visit to Geneva earlier this week, she told VOA there has been an improvement in health care delivery systems, including infection control since the experience with Ebola. “So the capacity to be able to address any outbreak is …
Мінфін: не розглядаємо варіант відмови від співпраці з МВФ
Міністерство фінансів України не розглядає варіант відмови від співпраці з Міжнародним валютним фондом, заявила перший заступник міністра фінансів Оксана Маркарова. «Ми для себе не допускаємо варіанту, що ми не будемо у програмі Міжнародного валютного фонду. Нам дійсно вдалося досягти стабілізації, у нас дійсно третій рік поспіль йде зростання. Ми ще не перебуваємо на тому етапі, коли ми можемо вийти з програми», – сказала Маркарова. Читайте також: Що чекає на гривню, ціни в магазинах та економіку без наступного траншу МВФ? Вона підкреслила, що співпраця із МВФ – це насамперед позитивний сигнал для інвесторів і партнерів України. У березні 2015 року між МВФ і Україною була затверджена чотирирічна програма розширеного фінансування на суму близько 17,5 мільярда доларів США. Наразі МВФ надав Україні за цією програмою близько 8 мільярдів 380 мільйонів доларів. Міністерство фінансів України очікувало на надходження нового траншу кредиту МВФ на початку 2018 року. У квітні в НБУ заявили, що очікують траншу від Міжнародного валютного фонду в третьому кварталі. …
Trump’s Climate Accord Pullout Galvanizes Holdouts
After President Donald Trump said the United States was getting out of the Paris climate agreement because it put the U.S. at a “big economic disadvantage,” the last two holdouts said they were getting in. Nicaragua and Syria announced late last year that they would join the global agreement to reduce emissions of planet-warming gases. Experts said it’s one way that Trump’s decision to pull back from tackling climate change has galvanized others to step up. But whether others will fill the gap the U.S. has left remains an open question. No other country has followed his lead, said former lead climate negotiator Todd Stern. “The first, most important piece of good news, and it wasn’t a foregone conclusion, is that other countries stayed in,” he said. Stepping up Some countries have announced plans to step up their efforts. China, France, Britain and several other countries have said they will end sales of fossil fuel-powered vehicles, though not all have set a deadline. More than 60 countries, states, cities and companies have promised an end to coal-powered electricity generation. In the U.S., experts note that states, cities and businesses have been taking action to fight climate change, even when the federal government has not. Following Trump’s announcement, an alliance representing more than half of the U.S. economy pledged to meet the nation’s Paris greenhouse gas-reduction commitment anyway. Counted among the “We Are Still In” coalition’s 2,770 members are New York, California and seven other states; 230 cities, including nine of …
US Gains 223K Jobs; Unemployment at 18-year Low
U.S. employers extended a streak of solid hiring in May, adding 223,000 jobs and helping lower the unemployment rate to an 18-year low of 3.8 percent. The Labor Department says average hourly pay rose 2.7 percent from a year earlier, a slightly faster annual rate than in April. But pay growth remains below levels that are typical when the unemployment rate is this low. Still, the report shows that the nearly 9-year old economic expansion – the second-longest on record – remains on track. Employers appear to be shrugging off recent concerns about global trade disputes. The job market is also benefiting a wider range of Americans: The unemployment rate for high school graduates reached 3.9 percent, a 17-year low. For black Americans, it hit a record low of 5.9 percent. The solid hiring data coincides with other evidence that the economy is on firm footing after a brief slowdown in the first three months of the year. The economy grew at a modest 2.2 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, after three quarters that had averaged roughly 3 percent annually. Some economists remain concerned that the Trump administration’s aggressive actions on trade could hamper growth. The administration on Thursday imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from key allies in Europe, Canada and Mexico. Earlier in the week, it threatened to hit China with tariffs on $50 billion of its goods. Still, while Trump has made such threats since March, most employers …
Photography Frames Cancer in Different Light for Young Patients
Student photographer Madeline Morales takes her camera everywhere she goes. She is always looking for something interesting to shoot. “I try to look at things with a lot of light; a lot of what draws me is positivity – something that means love or happiness,” said Morales. At 15 years of age, she has lived through experiences most teens have not had to deal with. She has faced cancer, chemotherapy and radiation, but she stays optimistic and tries to find beauty through her camera lens. Today, she will see something most people will never see in their lifetime. “It makes me feel excited, a little bit nervous,” said Morales, whose photos were on display at a gallery show in Los Angeles. “I think with photography and having that faith in God has really helped me a lot to staying positive and being motivated to want to keep fighting this disease,” she said. Morales was one of 23 students who shared their experiences with cancer through photos at the Pablove Foundation’s gallery show of its advanced photography class. The foundation aims to improve the lives of children living with the disease through its Shutterbugs photography program. The Pablove Foundation also provides money for underfunded pediatric cancer research. Proceeds from the students’ prints will go toward pediatric cancer research grants. The Pablove Shutterbugs program offers photography classes in eight cities across the United States. “Being in these classes with other people that completely understand their experience …
Photography Frames Cancer in a Different Light for Young Patients
Cancer is not just an illness of the body, it also takes a toll on a patient’s emotional well-being. To fight feelings of isolation and depression, an organization called the Pablove Foundation created a program that teaches photography to children living with cancer. Through a camera lens, young cancer patients can focus on the beauty in life. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports from a gallery show in Los Angeles where some of these students’ pictures are on display. …