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A new COVID-19 variant called KP.3 has surged to dominance in the United States, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 As of June 8, KP.3 accounted for 25% of cases, per the CDC. The variant has surpassed the previous dominant variant, KP.2, which now makes up about 22% of cases. Both have knocked down JN.1, the top strain circulating this past winter. With SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, mutating consistently, it’s natural to be concerned each time a new variant rises to prominence. Here’s what you need to know about KP.3, including...

COVID is back. But then, it never really left. And the respiratory disease’s late-summer resurgence might be a preview of an even bigger surge this winter. Experts say the latest bump in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States and other countries, in the fourth year of the novel coronavirus pandemic, was inevitable three years ago—when anti-science extremists all over the world began politicizing the then-brand-new vaccines.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) approval rating has surged as he finishes his first full week as Speaker of the House, according to the latest Economist/YouGov survey. Before November’s midterm elections, McCarthy’s approval rating sat at 27 percent among all Americans. Now, 36 percent of Americans approve of McCarthy’s job performance, which matches former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) approval rating in the days leading up to the midterms.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Shubham Chandra knows how dangerous the coronavirus can be: He lost his dad during the pandemic. So when he cleared customs at Newark Liberty International Airport and saw people offering anonymous COVID-19 testing, he was happy to volunteer. “It’s a minimum amount of effort to help a lot of people,” said the 27-year-old New York City man, who had just stepped off a plane from Cancun, Mexico. The airport testing is part of the government’s early warning system for detecting new variants, which began expanding recently in the wake of a COVID-19 surge in China.

The flu season is off to an alarming start. Hospitalizations from influenza are at their highest levels in the last decade, and case counts are rising across the country. Meanwhile, vaccination rates have fallen well below historical trends. This, plus a surge of other respiratory viruses, has contributed to what some are calling a pediatric care crisis in many parts of the country. Thankfully, some members of Congress are taking long-overdue action to improve the way our country prepares for and responds to seasonal and pandemic flu. Public health experts typically look to the Southern Hemisphere for a signal of...

(NewsNation) — Concerns are growing nationwide for rapidly increasing cases of what health officials have deemed a tripledemic: the flu, RSV and COVID-19, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is once again urging the public to wear face masks indoors. According to the agency’s Dec. 8 report, 13.7 percent of Americans now live in communities now rated “high” COVID-19 Community Levels, up from 4.9 percent of the population last week. An additional 38.1 percent of Americans are in “medium” areas and 48.2 percent are in “low” areas. A number of major cities are now mulling a return to...

Far-left Politico stopped juicing its generic tracking poll, and suddenly things aren’t looking so hot for Democrats. Politico is not only a joke; as you’re about to see, it’s a laughably transparent joke. For more than 18 months, Politico has tracked likely voters in the generic ballot, and only now — one week before the election — are Democrats not in the lead. NEW: For the first time in Morning Consult tracking among likely voters, Democrats do not lead Republicans on the generic ballot Sept 29: Democrats 49% (D+5) Republicans 44% Today: Republicans 46% (=) Democrats 46%https://t.co/yK3xtyw6On pic.twitter.com/3y4i5SO4Qs — InteractivePolls...

Countries with the world’s highest vaccination rates—including four of the top five most vaccinated—are fighting to contain coronavirus outbreaks that are, on a per-capita basis, higher than the surge devastating India, a trend that has experts questioning the efficacy of some vaccines (especially China’s Sinopharm) and the wisdom of easing restrictions even with most of the population vaccinated.

WOW! Donald Trump surges to 60% in New York state! Leads Ted Cruz by 46 points!NY1 reported: Donald Trump has a commanding 43-point lead in the New York Republican presidential primary, and Hillary Clinton has a 13-point advantage in the Democratic primary, according to a NY1/Baruch College poll released Monday night. Running in his home state, Trump is supported by 60 percent of likely Republican voters, the poll found. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas trail far behind with 17 percent and 14 percent, respectively. “Trump is just killing it,” said Baruch College pollster Mickey...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is enjoying a surge in the latest opinion polls of Israeli voters. The Jerusalem Post reports that its latest poll shows Bibi’s party, the Likud, is leading the race for the first time in weeks. Other polls agree, and show the Likud leading its rival, the Zionist Union, which is a combination of the Labor and Hatnua parties. The Post attributes Netanyahu’s improved showing to the cross-border conflict with Hezbollah, which attacked Israeli soldiers earlier this week, killing two. The attack was a retaliation, likely orchestrated by Iran, for Israel’s strike on a Hezbollah convoy...

Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul. Part of the reason for Santorum's surge is his own high level of popularity. 64% of voters see him favorably to only 22% with a negative one. But the other, and maybe more important, reason is that Republicans are significantly souring on both Romney and Gingrich. Romney's favorability is barely above water at 44/43, representing a 23 point...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumers increased their debt in November by a seasonally adjusted $20.4 billion, the largest increase since November 2001, the Federal Reserve reported Monday. Monthly debt rose at a 10% annual rate in November, a much faster pace than had been expected by Wall Street economists.

These polls dropped last evening. Most concerning to Team Romney? The numbers from the one early state in which Newt isn't ahead: Newt Gingrich has opened up a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney in three early states and significantly narrowed the gap in New Hampshire, the state that has been the firewall for the former Massachusetts governor’s campaign, according to a set of new polls by CNN and Time magazine. In Florida, a state where Romney’s campaign has put early emphasis, Gingrich is leading Romney by a 2-to-1 margin, according to the poll by CNN/Time/ORC Internatonal. If the election were...

Two things happened when the Senate voted in the "Bipartisan" plan into law yesterday: i) deferred debt on the Treasury's balance sheet finally caught up with reality, and ii) as a result of i) America's Debt/GDP just hit a post World War 2 High of 97.2%. Becasue as the Daily Treasury Statement as of last night indicates, total US marketable debt surged by $124.6 billion, while debt in intragovernmental holdings (Social Security, Government Retirement Accounts, etc), soared by $113.6 billion, for a combined one day change of $238.2 billion, the single biggest one day increase of US debt in history....

MADRID (AFP) – Spain announced Friday its jobless rate surged to a 13-year record above 20 percent at the end of 2010, the highest level in the industrialized world, as the economy struggled for air. It was more bad news for an economy fighting to regain the trust of financial markets and avoid being trapped in a debt quagmire that has engulfed Greece and Ireland and now menaces Portugal. Another 121,900 people joined Spain's unemployment queues in the final quarter of the year, pushing the total to 4.697 million people, said the national statistics institute INE. The resulting unemployment rate...

New York - Wheat prices are surging after export sales skyrocketed. The U.S. Agriculture Department said Friday that export sales of wheat totaled 1.05 million metric tons last week. It's the highest level since August, when Russia banned wheat exports after a drought devastated much of its crop. (Snip) Wheat for March delivery rose 21 cents, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $8.245 a bushel. March corn added 3.25 cents to settle at $6.5725 a bushel while soybeans slipped 2 cents to $14.1225 a bushel.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's popularity has boosted America's image abroad even though deep suspicions about the U.S. persist in the Muslim world, according to a poll released Thursday. The survey of two dozen nations conducted this spring by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that positive public attitudes toward the United States have surged in many parts of the world since Obama's election. Positive opinions about the United States have returned to higher levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001. The Bush presidency marked a steep decline in U.S. popularity overseas, notably after...

The amazing plant photographs which were ten years in the making and are filled with electricity 15th July 2009 These extraordinary images reveal what happens when electrical surges pass through a metal board with a simple plant on top. [Pics in URL] Photographer Robert Buelteman sends 80,000 volts through his flowery subjects and then literally paints photographs of the outcome. In three awe-inspiring series, the 55-year-old uses roses, petunias, and even cannabis in mind-blowing detail to give an extraordinary view of ordinary plant-life. Artist Robert Buelteman sends 80,000 volts through flowery subjects and then literally paints photographs of the outcome...

HARARE (AFP) – The death toll of Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic swelled past 2,000 people Tuesday, as a global doctors group called for President Robert Mugabe to be charged with crimes against humanity. Fresh data from the World Health Organization showed that the treatable water-borne disease has killed more than 2,000 people since August with the number of diagnosed cases reaching almost 40,000. The new figures came as US-based Physicians for Human Rights said Mugabe should be charged with crimes against humanity over rights abuses and the collapse of the nation's health system. The recommendation was made in a damning 45-page...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - More than 1 billion people live in low-lying areas where a sudden surge in sea level could prove as disastrous as the 2004 Asian tsunami, according to new research presented on Thursday. New mapping techniques show how much land would be lost and how many people affected by rapid sea level rises that are often triggered by storms and earthquakes, a U.S. Geological Survey-led team determined. E. Lynn Usery, who led the team, said nearly one-quarter of the world's population lives below 100 feet above sea level -- the size of the biggest surge during the...