Life expectancy in US dropped by nearly 2 years in 2020, CDC says
Life expectancy dropped in 2020 by nearly two years across the United States — mostly due to COVID-19 and drug overdoses, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics on Tuesday released its annual report looking at mortality in the U.S. The report analyzed death data in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) for 2020, the last year for which data is available.
Results found that from 2019 to 2020, life expectancy in the nation declined from 0.2 to three years across all states and D.C.
Overall, life expectancy in the U.S. in 2020 was 77 years — a decline of 1.8 years from 2019.
The states with the greatest decreases include those in the Southwest and U.S.-Mexico border area — Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas — as well as Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, as well as D.C.
The lowest decline in life expectancy was registered in nearly all New England states, except for Connecticut, as well as Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.
—New York Daily News
Imran Khan to face Pakistan court for remarks at public rally
A Pakistan court has asked Imran Khan to appear before it next week as it reviews whether remarks he made about the judiciary merit a contempt of court case, the latest in a string of legal troubles for the former premier.
Separately, the government has said it is seeking legal advice on whether to pursue action on a police complaint filed under the country’s anti-terror laws after the speech by the ousted prime minister Saturday targeting state institutions, including the judiciary and the police. Khan has been asked to be in court on Aug 31.
The South Asian nation has witnessed political turmoil since Khan’s government was pushed out in a no-confidence vote in April. The cricket star-turned-politician has been demanding early elections as he draws massive crowds to his rallies across the country. He has blamed the current government, led by Shehbaz Sharif, of colluding with the US and the country’s powerful military to force him out. All three have denied the allegations.
The political drama threatens to undermine Pakistan’s quest to convince the International Monetary Fund to release $1.2 billion at a board meeting later this month. Islamabad is also seeking aid from friendly nations to fill its financing gap as it deals with faltering foreign-currency reserves and one of Asia’s fastest-inflation rates.
—Bloomberg News
DeSantis’ plan to bus migrants to Delaware on hold for now
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis has talked about busing undocumented immigrants out of the state for the better part of the year, and his administration has $12 million to roll out a program that could do just that.
But the Republican governor on Tuesday said that a similar program in Texas has “taken a lot of pressure off” his administration, suggesting that DeSantis is not in any rush to start relocating migrants out of Florida.
“I think because of what Texas has done, I actually think that’s taken a lot of pressure off us,” DeSantis told reporters in Tallahassee on Tuesday morning.
Texas has been busing migrants to Washington, D.C., and New York City since April as part of a program called “Operation Lone Star” that was launched in a rebuke to President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
Texas’ program is voluntary for migrants who show documentation that have been processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security, and the state pays for the travel expenses, according to the Texas Tribune.
More than 7,000 migrants have been sent to Washington since April and another 900 to New York since Aug. 5, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said last week.
—Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau
Republican Tara Sweeney drops out of Alaska US House race
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Republican Tara Sweeney said Tuesday she is dropping out of the U.S. House race, after garnering around 3.7% of votes counted so far in the primary race — enough to put her in fourth place and place her name on the November ballot.
Sweeney is a Republican who previously served as assistant secretary of the interior for Native American affairs under former President Donald Trump. An Iñupiaq who previously was an executive with the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., she had endorsements from Alaska’s largest Native corporations. She cited expected fundraising challenges in her decision to end her bid for Congress.
“Looking at the outcome of the regular primary election, I don’t see a path to victory, nor to raise the resources needed to be successful this November,” she said in a written statement.
With thousands of ballots left to be counted, Democrat Mary Peltola is in first place in the pick-one primary that was held Aug. 16. Peltola has around 35% of the vote. She is followed by Republicans Sarah Palin with 31% of the vote and Nick Begich III with 27% of the vote.
—Anchorage Daily News
