Long flu season winds down in US

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season appears to be over. It was long, but federal health officials and doctors say it was a moderate one. Last week, for the third straight week, medical visits for flu-like illnesses dipped below the threshold for what’s counted as an active flu season. Springtime upticks in flu are possible. But other indicators, like hospitalizations and patient testing, also show low and declining activity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been at least 34 million illnesses and 24,000 deaths from flu since the beginning of October.

Biden administration indefinitely postpones rule that would have banned menthol-flavored cigarettes

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in recent months, President Joe Biden’s administration is delaying a sweeping plan to ban menthol cigarettes. The decision is certain to infuriate anti-smoking advocates but could avoid angering Black voters ahead of November elections. Biden’s top health official said Friday the administration would take more time to consider feedback on the ban. The announcement is another setback for the health officials at the Food and Drug Administration. They drafted the ban and predicted it would prevent hundreds of thousands of smoking-related deaths.

USDA tells producers to reduce salmonella in certain frozen chicken products

(AP) — U.S. poultry producers will have to reduce salmonella bacteria in certain chicken products to very low levels to prevent food poisoning. That’s according to a new rule from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The rule says salmonella is a contaminant in frozen breaded and stuffed raw chicken products — like frozen chicken cordon bleu or chicken Kiev that appears to be fully cooked but isn’t. Those products have been linked to more than 200 illnesses since 1998. The rule is a first step to curb salmonella poisoning, which causes more than 1.3 million infections each year.

Judge upholds disqualification of challenger to judge in Trump’s Georgia election interference case

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) — A judge upheld the disqualification of a candidate who had planned to run against the judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s 2020 Georgia election interference case. Tiffani Johnson is one of two people who filed paperwork to challenge Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. An administrative law judge earlier this month found that she was not qualified to run for the seat after she failed to appear at a hearing on a challenge to her eligibility, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger adopted that decision. News outlets reported that a judge on Thursday upheld the decision that said Johnson is not eligible.

Flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom

BOSTON (AP) — An American Airlines flight attendant has been indicted after authorities say he tried to secretly video record a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom. A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted 36-year-old Estes Carter Thompson III, of Charlotte, North Carolina. Police say he also had recordings of four other girls using lavatories on an aircraft where he worked. Thompson was indicted on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor. He remains in federal custody.