North America

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court Friday revived a lawsuit by three doctors who say the Food and Drug Administration overstepped its authority in a campaign against treating COVID-19 with the anti-parasite drug ivermectin.

Ivermectin is commonly used to treat parasites in livestock. It can also be prescribed for humans and it has been championed by some conservatives as a treatment for COVID-19. The FDA has not approved ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment because studies have not proven it is effective.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Billionaires, burner phones, alleged bribes: The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is going to test the will of Republicans senators to oust not only one of their own, but a firebrand who has helped drive the state’s hard turn to the right for years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Florida on Saturday for a firsthand look at Hurricane Idalia’s destruction, but he won’t be seeing the state’s Republican governor and 2024 presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis, who suggested a meeting could hinder disaster response efforts.

WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The United States has seen notable progress by Ukrainian forces in southern Zaporizhzhia in the last 72 hours, the White House said on Friday, adding separately that it could not confirm reports that Russian missiles were put on combat duty.

"We have noted over the last 72 hours or so some notable progress by Ukrainian armed forces ...in that southern line of advance coming out of the Zaporizhzhia area, and they have achieved some success against that second line of Russian defenses," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

OTTAWA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Canada's economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter at an annualized rate of 0.2% and growth was most likely flat in July, data showed on Friday, a result that will probably allow the central bank to hold rates amid a possible recession.

The second-quarter reading was far lower than the Bank of Canada's (BoC's) forecast for a 1.5% annualized GDP growth as well as the 1.2% gain expected by analysts. June gross domestic product declined 0.2% from May, in line with forecasts.

SACRAMENTO, the United States, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- A new report adds to evidence of racial and gender inequality in California's economy, with white men taking the lion's share of the highest-paid jobs, while women and communities of color are overrepresented among the lowest-paid workers.

A statewide 2021 annual pay data report released by the California Civil Rights Department on Thursday showed that people of color and women were making less money for similar jobs compared to white men.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As an Army first lieutenant and Cobra helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, Larry Taylor flew hundreds of missions and saved countless lives. But no rescue flight was as daring, or as meaningful to Taylor, as the one for which he will receive the Medal of Honor from President Joe Biden.

Biden will recognize Taylor at a ceremony next week, the White House announced Friday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House will seek an additional $4 billion to address natural disasters as part of its supplemental funding request, bringing the total to $16 billion — a sign that wildfires, flooding and hurricanes that have intensified during a period of climate change are imposing ever higher costs on U.S. taxpayers.

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government will, for the first time, dictate staffing levels at nursing homes, the Biden administration said Friday, responding to systemic problems bared by mass COVID-19 deaths.

While such regulation has been sought for decades by allies of older adults and those with disabilities, the proposed threshold is far lower than many advocates had hoped. It also immediately drew ire from the nursing home industry, which said it amounted to a mandate that couldn’t be met.

PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has found that a Trump-era rule change that allowed for the logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest violates several laws.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Hallman on Thursday found that the U.S. Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Forest Management Act and the Endangered Species Act when it amended a protection that had been in place since 1994.

The findings came in response to a lawsuit filed by multiple environmental groups over the change.