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(NEW YORK) — Elon Musk, who spent months alternately courting and criticizing Twitter, ultimately acquired one of the world’s largest social media platforms days before the U.S. midterm elections.

The acquisition, meanwhile, has sent the company into flux. Musk removed top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, and announced the formation of a “content moderation council” that will review company policies, including the status of suspended users like former President Donald Trump.

Policy changes at Twitter — or the mere presence of Musk atop the company — could adversely affect election integrity and fuel a rise of hate speech and misinformation, a number of experts told ABC News. The leadership shift will also draw heightened attention to comments on the platform made by Musk, who has shown a willingness to post inflammatory or misleading content, they added.

With such a short stretch of time before the election on Nov. 8, some experts downplayed the possibility of an impact that could swing outcomes or meaningfully impact the election process.

“A lot of people have this quaint idea that the digital town square is all these individuals talking to each other,” Eddie Perez, a former product director for civic integrity at Twitter, told ABC News.

“People need to realize that this is effectively an information warfare battlefield where there are coordinated groups trying to take specific intentional actions to distort the information environment,” he added.

Neither Elon Musk nor a spokesperson for Twitter immediately responded to a request for comment.

Here’s what Elon Musk’s takeover could mean for Twitter’s impact on the midterm elections:

Content moderation and high-profile account reinstatement

Musk, an avowed proponent of free speech, spoke in recent months of a desire to permit nearly all legal forms of speech and allow the return of suspended users like Trump. Such moves could dramatically alter the discourse on Twitter, experts previously told ABC News.

Lately, however, Musk has walked back some of those comments. In a public letter to Twitter advertisers last week, Musk said the platform “must be warm and welcoming to all.” Soon after the acquisition, Musk announced that no major decisions on policing of the site would be made until the formation of a content moderation council.

Still, the use of some derogatory language on the platform spiked after Musk took the helm. Over a 12-hour period after the acquisition, use of the n-word increased nearly 500% from the previous average, according to the Network Contagion Research Institute.

“There wasn’t an official change of policy when Musk signed papers that made him owner but there was a discernible increase in extreme expression on the platform,” Paul Barrett, a professor at New York University Law School and deputy director of the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, told ABC News.

Perez, the former Twitter employee and a board member at the OSET Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on election security and integrity, echoed that sentiment: “It doesn’t take changing the rules literally to result in adverse impact,” he said.

In the final days of a political race, harmful posts may include false information about election logistics, such as deadlines for returning ballots or where to vote, Perez added.

“Historically, there have been areas where people can sew misinformation and that can have a suppressive effect on the vote,” he said.

Major personnel changes

Election integrity and content policing at the platform could also weaken due to the potential loss of some employees charged with monitoring those issues, experts said.

After Musk acquired Twitter, some of the company’s top executives were fired, including Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sam Edgett.

Close allies of Musk spent the weekend drawing up plans to impose widespread layoffs at the company, The Washington Post reported. Those cuts could eventually impact as much as 75% of company staff, a previous Post report said. Recently, Musk said he will not lay off 75% of staff, Bloomberg reported.

The urgency owes in part to a deadline on Tuesday, when employees will receive extra compensation tied to stock grants.

While details of the potential layoffs remain limited, the move could compromise the platform’s capacity to police false or harmful content, with ramifications that extend to social issues like election integrity, experts told ABC News.

“If he lays off half the employees, that’s going to obviously affect the operation of the company,” said Barrett. “If he’s laying off a lot of those people in the trust and security area, that’s going to be a big problem.”

Dam Hee Kim, a professor of communication at University of Arizona who studies social media platforms, said the firing of executives and employees could expose the lack of experience in the industry for Musk, who currently runs Tesla and SpaceX.

“It is a bit concerning considering that it is his very first time running a social media service,” Kim told ABC News.

Heightened focus on Elon Musk’s tweets

Another source of impact on the midterms stems from posts made by Musk, which will garner additional attention after the acquisition and could set a tone for droves of users, experts said.

“There will be intense focus and attention directed toward what he says and does in the coming weeks and months,” Barrett said. “There’s little doubt about that.”

Musk, who boasts more than 112 million Twitter followers, often posts multiple times per day on subjects that span business, politics and personal hobbies. Sometimes, the posts pertain to highly charged political topics such as the Ukraine-Russia war and Taiwan’s sovereignty.

On Sunday, Musk posted a tweet that pushed false claims about the recent attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The tweet from Musk came in response to a post from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who sharply criticized Republicans for forwarding “hate and deranged conspiracy theories” that she said leads to violent attacks like the one on Paul Pelosi.

In response to Clinton’s tweet, Musk said, “There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye” and included a link to an article in the Santa Monica Observer that featured false theories about the attack.

Hours later, the tweet from Musk was deleted.

Before its removal, the inflammatory tweet from Musk had stoked conspiracy theories, Perez said.

“Musk is the leader of the social media platform,” Perez said. “We saw him personally spreading misinformation about the attack at Nancy Pelosi’s household, which is pretty dramatic.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — With less than a month until Thanksgiving and just under 60 days until Christmas, ’tis officially the season for holiday travel planning.

Whether consumers are booking flights and hotels or need insight to save time and alleviate stress at the airport, travel experts shared their top tips and data with ABC News’ Good Morning America to help guide them toward the path of least resistance.

Top tips before you book your holiday flight

While some may not want to hear it, Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights and author of Take More Vacations, told GMA that “the best time to have booked holiday flights was in June.”

“I know that’s small comfort now, but think of it as a reminder for next year,” he continued, adding that “if you’re hoping to travel this upcoming summer — you’re actually starting to see some really cheap flights on those opposite season flights now.”

Last minute tips to book a flight for Thanksgiving

Keyes said the second-best time to book if you missed the off-season deals is right now, because flights are almost certainly going to get more expensive the longer people wait.

“You want to try to book it sooner rather than later because fares tend to move in one direction in the last few weeks and it’s not down,” he said.

Keyes suggests following the 21-day rule, which means backtiming when to book based on your departure date to align with an airline’s “advanced purchase requirement” found in the fine print of the fare terms and conditions.

“That usually states ‘this fare is only available if you book it at least 21 days before travel,’ ” Keyes said. “On day 20 that fare is no longer available, it’s expired, and at that point, the new cheapest fare is going to be $100 or $200 more expensive.”

“Twenty-one days before you travel is the sort of drop-dead deadline to book that flight,” he continued, adding that “if you’re hoping to travel on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, which would be Nov. 23, you’re actually going to want to try to get that flight booked by Nov. 2 at the latest.”

After that, the price will continue to go up incrementally.

The best flight departure time to book and why

“The most important thing to remember is that the earliest flight of the day has a 25% point higher on-time performance rate than the last flights of the day,” Keyes shared. “Get those morning flights cause they’re far more likely to get you there on time.”

In addition to better weather and fewer thunderstorms in the morning, Keyes explained that booking the first flight out helps mitigate risks of delays or cancellations due to any issues with an in-bound aircraft, since yours will have been parked overnight and ready at the gate.

Alternative destinations for Thanksgiving travel deals

“Thanksgiving is the best week of the entire year for international travel,” Keyes said, sharing an example in real-time that it would cost someone $118 more to fly from New York City to Omaha, Nebraska than New York City to Portugal over the week of Thanksgiving.

Plus, he said it’s a slower season than summer, with fewer crowds and lower prices, and some areas around Europe will be starting their seasonal holiday markets.

Tips to save time, money and mitigate stress at the airport over the holidays

Keyes offered a couple of his top ideas to “help keep your cool at the airport” during the chaotic holiday season.

“If you can avoid it, try not to check a bag,” he said. “It will actually really help improve your odds for many situations.”

“You’re not having to take the extra time to stand in line when you get to the airport and risk if the lines are too long or potentially missing flight. You’re not standing at carousel wondering if your bag is going to arrive,” he said. “If something happens to your flight, like a missed connection or cancellation, it is far easier to get reaccommodated if the airline doesn’t have to go find your bag in the belly of a plane and switch it to some other plane.”

Another way to reduce stress is to enroll in TSA Precheck or Global Entry, which Keyes said is particularly easy “if you have a credit card that is going to cover the cost of those applications.”

“That will let you whiz through a much shorter security line, you don’t have to take your shoes off — if you skip checking a bag and have TSA precheck, when you get through the doors of the airport to the time at your gate, it’s often about five minutes,” he explained.

But even if the TSA precheck line looks longer than the standard security checkpoint, Keyes advised staying in your lane.

“Even if the line is longer, typically it’s going to move quite a bit faster, not only because you don’t have to take off your shoes or your laptop out of your bag, but also because the TSA line tends to have more experienced travelers who know what to do,” he said. “Nothing against less experienced travelers, but they’re just going to take more time.”

If you don’t have TSA precheck, Keyes recommended checking if the airport offers the option of “letting folks schedule a time to show up at TSA, where you can essentially log on, schedule it the day before and show up for your specific block.”

“Your downside risk of a big delay is far less if you’re in one of those scheduled slots,” he said.

Best tip to easily rebook after flight delays or cancelations

“If your flight does get canceled or you miss a connection — especially if there’s bad weather — a lot of people will be calling, so don’t just stand in line at the airport to talk to a gate agent,” Keyes said. “You want to also make sure you call the airline. But specifically call the airlines international number.”

This handy hack will bypass the main U.S. hotline, Keyes said, which most everybody else would also be calling.

“If you call American Airlines’ UK number or United’s Canada number,” he said, “you’re much more likely to get right through to an agent because those have far fewer callers and those agents who are based internationally can help your case and get you rebooked just the same as U.S. based agents.”

Hotel prices and last minute holiday destination deals

The team of experts behind the travel app Hopper found that the average hotel prices per night for Thanksgiving and Christmas have increased 14% from last year.

For hotel stays, Hopper experts advise finalizing any Thanksgiving bookings by the first week of November, and for Christmas, by the first week of December.

For travelers who can be flexible with timing and locations, Hopper said consumers can “save as much as 25% by booking last minute for the holidays for hotels, particularly in big cities.”

“Hotels lower [their] prices on remaining inventory in the month prior to the check-in date so you can often find good deals in the days leading up to the holiday,” a representative for Hopper said in a statement. “However, keep in mind that you will need to be flexible with the hotel property and amenities to get a good last-minute deal.”

Best days for holiday hotel check-in

For anyone planning to stay at their destination for a few days, Hopper advised travelers to arrive on the Monday or Tuesday ahead of Thanksgiving, versus staying after the holiday.

The travel service app also found that prices for Black Friday check-ins are higher than Thanksgiving itself, with some folks looking at an additional $50 more for a post-turkey day weekend getaway.

For Christmas, Hopper found that checking in on the holiday itself could be 11% lower than checking in on Christmas Eve.

When it comes to New Year’s Eve, they noted that “hotel prices will be low until Dec. 27” but after that rates will “rise by about $30 per night.”

Overall, according to Hopper, prices will be highest the week between Christmas and New Year’s compared to the week prior.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — With the holidays around the corner, are you looking for ways to take control of your budget?

According to a viral hashtag with more than 376 million views on TikTok, you can accomplish both and all you need is some old-fashioned cash and a set of envelopes.

TikTokers swear by the concept of cash stuffing. It’s a technology-free way to budget and plan out your finances that’s similar to the “developing” method.

How to cash stuff

You can start by dividing up your set of envelopes into categories and labeling them. For example, holiday shopping, bills, utilities, etc.

From there, you then divide up your hard-earned cash into the respective category or envelope it will be allotted to.

“I swiped my card way too much,” TikTok cash stuffer Stephanie Garcia told GMA.

Since she began stuffing, Garcia said she managed to keep her debt low and also saved over $10,000 for the future.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A New York City law will require companies with at least four employees to post salary ranges in job listings in an effort to increase pay transparency starting Tuesday.

Employers advertising jobs in the city who have at least one employee currently located there must include a “good faith salary range,” according to the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which is enforcing the law. Employers must include a minimum and maximum salary.

There is no fine for a first-time offense, though companies and employment agencies found to violate the law could face civil penalties of up to $250,000 if not corrected within 30 days of receiving notice of the violation.

Temporary staffing agencies are exempt from the law because they already disclose this information under the New York State Wage Theft Prevention Act.

Starting November 1, 2022, the NYC Human Rights Law requires employers to include a good faith pay range in all job postings – another step toward pay equity for New Yorkers.

Read our fact sheet to learn more about pay transparency. #DisplayThePayNYChttps://t.co/QOu3ETw0NE

— NYC Human Rights (@NYCCHR) October 28, 2022

The new law, which passed the New York City Council late last year, was set to go into effect in May, though the start date was delayed following criticism from business groups and companies who said they were not consulted about the legislation beforehand and that the language of the law was vague.

The law was also amended to waive a penalty for a first-time violation and clarify that it would not apply to jobs that cannot or will not be performed in New York City, among other changes.

The city follows other jurisdictions that have passed laws to increase pay transparency. Among them, Colorado, Connecticut and Nevada started mandating salary ranges on job postings last year, and similar salary requirement laws will go into effect in California, Rhode Island and Washington state in 2023.

Several companies have already started complying with the New York City law, including Amazon, American Express, Citigroup and Zillow.

Pay transparency advocates who were involved in the new law called it a “game changer for the city’s workers,” in particular those who face wage disparities, including Black and Latina women.

“With salary ranges out in the open, employers must think critically about how they set pay at the front end of their process before they insert unconscious biases. At the same time, women and people of color have more leverage to advocate for themselves and more information to make better decisions about jobs and industries to pursue, helping to combat occupational segregation,” Beverly Cooper Neufeld, president of PowHer New York, and Seher Khawaja, senior attorney for economic empowerment at Legal Momentum, wrote in an opinion piece published in the New York Daily News on Thursday.

The chambers of commerce in each borough and the Partnership for New York City, an organization that represents the city’s business leadership, had unsuccessfully pushed for the law to exempt industries with severe labor shortages, as well as only require minimum salary postings for highly compensated jobs.

“New York City is a highly competitive labor market, where most employers are committed to gender and racial pay parity,” they wrote in a joint letter in April, arguing that the inclusion of a salary range is “not necessarily the most appropriate tool for the New York labor market.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN FRANCISCO) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk has closed a deal to acquire Twitter, ending a monthslong saga that cast Musk as suitor, critic, legal adversary and ultimately owner of the social media platform.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the deal closure to ABC News on Friday morning. Some of Twitter’s top executives were fired, including CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sam Edgett, and the company will likely be launching an internal investigation, according to the source.

On Friday, Segal recounted his tenure at the company and vowed to remain active as a user of the platform.

“The last 5 years have been the most fulfilling of my career,” Segal said. “The people, the potential, and the importance of Twitter. The shifts in technology, politics, culture. This will be hard to beat.”

Meanwhile, an employee leaving Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Friday told ABC station KGO he’d been terminated during a Zoom meeting.

Former President Donald Trump applauded Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Musk has said in the past he would rescind the ban on the former president, but Trump did not say Friday whether he would return to the platform.

“I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, a platform launched by Trump. “Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly.”

Trump told Fox News in April, when news of Musk’s bid to buy Twitter emerged, that he would not return to the platform if his ban was lifted and was committed to growing Truth Social.

Musk said on Friday that he will forgo any significant content moderation or account reinstatement decisions until after the formation of a new committee devoted to the issues.

“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” Musk tweeted. “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

The New York Stock Exchange confirmed on Friday morning that Twitter shares are now suspended for trading, which means the social media platform is headed for delisting and is no longer a public company.

On Thursday night, Musk tweeted: “The bird is freed.”

The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were among the first outlets to report the purchase had gone through on Thursday evening, also citing sources familiar with the matter.

Musk — the richest person in the world, according to Forbes — reportedly acquired Twitter at his original offer price of $54.20 a share at a total cost of roughly $44 billion.

On Wednesday, Musk posted a video of himself walking into Twitter’s offices with a sink, with the tagline: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”

After initially reaching an acquisition deal with Twitter in April, Musk moved to terminate the agreement in July, citing concerns over spam accounts on the platform.

Soon after, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk over his effort to nix the deal. The judge in the trial, set to take place in Delaware Chancery Court, gave Musk a deadline of Friday to reach a deal or proceed with the trial.

The deal completes a courtship that started in January when the billionaire first invested in Twitter.

By March, Musk had become the largest stakeholder in Twitter with the social media company announcing in April that Musk would join its board. Days later, however, Musk said he had decided against joining the board.

In April, Musk offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, valuing the company at about $44 billion. The offer amounted to a 38% premium above where the price stood a day before Musk’s investment in Twitter became public. Roughly 10 days later, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer.

One month later, however, Musk said he had put the deal “temporarily on hold,” citing concern over what he said was the prevalence of bot and spam accounts on the platform. Roughly two hours later, Musk said he was “still committed” to the deal.

Twitter said it had provided Musk with information in accordance with conditions set out in the acquisition deal.

Eventually, Musk moved to terminate the deal in July. Soon after, Twitter sued Musk in Chancery Court in Delaware to force him to complete the deal.

A scheduling decision made by the court in July — to hold the trial over five days in October — appeared to align more closely with a timeline requested by Twitter, which had sought a four-day trial in September. Musk asked the court to set a trial date no earlier than mid-February 2023.

Now, the court case is off and the deal is done.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk has closed a deal to acquire Twitter, ending a monthslong saga that cast Musk as suitor, critic, legal adversary and ultimately owner of the social media platform.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the deal closure to ABC News on Friday morning. Some of Twitter’s top executives were fired, including CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sam Edgett, and the company will likely be launching an internal investigation, according to the source.

Meanwhile, the New York Stock Exchange confirmed on Friday morning that Twitter shares are now suspended for trading, which means the social media platform is headed for delisting and is no longer a public company.

On Thursday night, Musk tweeted, “The bird is freed.”

the bird is freed

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022

The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were among the first outlets to report the news on Thursday evening, also citing sources familiar with the matter.

Musk — the richest person in the world, according to Forbes — reportedly acquired Twitter at his original offer price of $54.20 a share at a total cost of roughly $44 billion.

On Wednesday, Musk posted a video of himself walking into Twitter’s offices with a sink, with the tagline: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”

Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

After initially reaching an acquisition deal with Twitter in April, Musk moved to terminate the agreement in July, citing concerns over spam accounts on the platform.

Soon after, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk over his effort to nix the deal. The judge in the trial, set to take place in Delaware Chancery Court, gave Musk a deadline of Friday to reach a deal or proceed with the trial.

The deal completes a courtship that started in January when the billionaire first invested in Twitter.

By March, Musk had become the largest stakeholder in Twitter with the social media company announcing in April that Musk would join its board. Days later, however, Musk said he had decided against joining the board.

In April, Musk offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, valuing the company at about $44 billion. The offer amounted to a 38% premium above where the price stood a day before Musk’s investment in Twitter became public. Roughly 10 days later, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer.

One month later, however, Musk said he had put the deal “temporarily on hold,” citing concern over what he said was the prevalence of bot and spam accounts on the platform. Roughly two hours later, Musk said he was “still committed” to the deal.

Twitter said it had provided Musk with information in accordance with conditions set out in the acquisition deal.

Eventually, Musk moved to terminate the deal in July. Soon after, Twitter sued Musk in Chancery Court in Delaware to force him to complete the deal.

A scheduling decision made by the court in July — to hold the trial over five days in October — appeared to align more closely with a timeline requested by Twitter, which had sought a four-day trial in September. Musk asked the court to set a trial date no earlier than mid-February 2023.

Now, the court case is off and the deal is done.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly closed a deal to acquire Twitter on Thursday, ending a monthslong saga that cast Musk as suitor, critic, legal adversary and ultimately owner of the social media platform.

The Washington Post, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal were among the outlets to report the deal closure, citing sources familiar with the matter. ABC News has not confirmed.

Later Thursday night, Musk tweeted, “The bird is freed.”

the bird is freed

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022

Musk — the richest person in the world, according to Forbes — reportedly acquired Twitter at his original offer price of $54.20 a share at a total cost of roughly $44 billion.

On Wednesday, Musk posted a video of himself walking into Twitter’s offices with a sink, with the tagline: “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!”

Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

After initially reaching an acquisition deal with Twitter in April, Musk moved to terminate the agreement in July, citing concerns over spam accounts on the platform.

Soon after, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk over his effort to nix the deal. The judge in the trial, set to take place in Delaware Chancery Court, gave Musk a deadline of Friday to reach a deal or proceed with the trial.

The deal completes a courtship that started in January when the billionaire first invested in Twitter.

By March, Musk had become the largest stakeholder in Twitter with the social media company announcing in April that Musk would join its board. Days later, however, Musk said he had decided against joining the board.

In April, Musk offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, valuing the company at about $44 billion. The offer amounted to a 38% premium above where the price stood a day before Musk’s investment in Twitter became public. Roughly 10 days later, Twitter accepted Musk’s offer.

One month later, however, Musk said he had put the deal “temporarily on hold,” citing concern over what he said was the prevalence of bot and spam accounts on the platform. Roughly two hours later, Musk said he was “still committed” to the deal.

Twitter said it had provided Musk with information in accordance with conditions set out in the acquisition deal.

Eventually, Musk moved to terminate the deal in July. Soon after, Twitter sued Musk in Chancery Court in Delaware to force him to complete the deal.

A scheduling decision made by the court in July — to hold the trial over five days in October — appeared to align more closely with a timeline requested by Twitter, which had sought a four-day trial in September. Musk asked the court to set a trial date no earlier than mid-February 2023.

Now, the court case is off and the deal is done.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — As avian flu outbreaks continue to ravage poultry production in the U.S. and overseas, turkey availability has drastically dropped and experts say the devastating wave shows no signs of letting up ahead of the Thanksgiving and holiday seasons.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook report for October, turkey production will be lower than usual for the remainder of 2022 into early 2023 as a result of the deadly Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreaks.

“Turkey exports are adjusted slightly lower in 2022 and slightly higher in 2023, while imports are adjusted up in both years. Turkey prices are adjusted up on recent trends and lowered production expectations,” the USDA report stated.

As of the time of publication, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service data confirmed that 249 commercial flocks have been affected across 25 states with 47.76 million birds infected in total.

Farmers across the U.S. have reported horrific incidents of HPAI strains to the USDA that have wiped out entire flocks, and in other cases acted as a catalyst for farmers to cull infected birds in order to prevent the virus from spreading further.

Last month, the American Farm Bureau Federation announced that “families can expect to pay record high prices at the grocery store for turkey” due to bird flu and inflation.

The USDA reported that more than six million turkeys have died due to the virus nationwide thus far — nearly 14% of the total U.S. turkey production.

As a result, farmers are putting a premium on the birds that have remained healthy and ready for consumption.

According to a USDA report dated Oct. 21, combined with inflation, consumers can expect to pay around 20% more per pound for whole frozen turkeys this year, as compared to the price point at the same time last year. Ground turkey as well as bone-in and boneless drumsticks, cutlets and wings have also risen in price since last year.

For those still able or willing to take on the price hikes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises proper handling and cooking of all poultry and eggs to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, as a general food safety precaution.

In the meantime, federal and state partners, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, are working jointly to monitor and test areas near affected flocks to actively identify any disease in commercial poultry operations, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A union representing 6,000 rail workers said its members have voted against ratifying the tentative agreement brokered between rail companies, unions and members of President Joe Biden’s administration in September.

The vote by the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the second union to reject the White House-brokered deal, elevates the likelihood of a nationwide strike when a negotiation deadline arrives in November.

The potential work stoppage could paralyze the nation’s supply chain and transportation rail service as the U.S. enters peak holiday season.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about the union vote during a briefing on Wednesday, said Biden “remains focused on protecting America’s families, farms and businesses by avoiding a rail shutdown.”

“We continue to urge both sides to work in good faith and avoid even the threat of a shutdown,” she added.

The vote against the contract centered on frustration with a lack of paid sick days, according to a statement from Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen President Michael Baldwin.

“For the first time that I can remember, the BRS members voted not to ratify a National Agreement,” he said.

The rejection of the deal came despite a 24% compounded wage increase and preservation of the members’ health care benefits, Baldwin added.

The National Carriers’ Conference Committee, or NCCC, which represents freight railroads in national collective bargaining, expressed disappointment over the union vote.

The tentative contract “included the largest wage package in nearly five decades, maintained rail employees’ platinum-level health benefits, and added an additional day of paid time off,” the NCCC said in a statement.

The contract was rejected by roughly 60% of members in the the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, while nearly 40% voted in favor of the deal, the union said. The vote garnered the highest participation rate in union history, it added.

In all, 12 unions representing 115,000 workers stand to ratify a labor agreement with rail companies. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees division of the Teamsters, which represents 12,000 members, rejected the tentative agreement earlier this month.

Six unions have ratified the deal brokered by the White House, the NCCC said.

The two largest rail unions — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Trainmen, or BLET, and the SMART Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, which make up roughly half of all rail workers — are set to finish voting in the middle of next month.

The unions that voted down the agreement have vowed to continue negotiations at least until Nov. 19, when a strike could ensue.

“The artery of the US economy is the rail system. It’s one of the ways we get everything around. One third of everything gets around this way. And when you cut it, you have a stroke,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at global tax firm KPMG, previously told ABC News.

A potential strike could lead to $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to the Association of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of rail companies.

Freight railroads are responsible for carrying 40% of the nation’s long-haul freight and a work stoppage could jeopardize these shipments.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Uber drivers will take fewer left turns and soon be able to record rides through their smartphones as the ride-share company makes changes geared toward safety in the driver’s seat, officials said.

The company announced Thursday that it is launching a new pilot program in which certain drivers in three U.S. cities and in Brazil can use their phone’s front-facing camera to record audio and video during trips.

“Recording can just improve and make interactions on the Uber platform a little bit more comfortable because everyone knows that they’re going to be held accountable for their actions,” Rebecca Payne, group product manager on safety at Uber, said in an interview with ABC News.

The pilot is an expansion of the company’s already existing audio recording feature, in which drivers and passengers can both opt to record audio of trips.

Passengers will be notified after requesting a trip that their driver will be video-recording the ride, Uber said. If they don’t feel comfortable being recorded, passengers can cancel at no extra cost.

“We’ve seen many instances where this technology has helped us determine the best course of action after a safety incident, and the majority of riders and drivers in the pilot cities told us this feature helped them feel safer when using Uber,” the company said in a news release.

The new video recording technology will be available to select drivers in Cincinnati, Louisville and New York City as well as Santos and João Pessoa in Brazil, Uber said.

When asked about privacy concerns, Uber said the driver’s video recordings will be encrypted and stored directly on the driver’s device but inaccessible even to them.

“No one can access it … even Uber can’t access it,” Payne said. “If nothing bad happens on the trip, that recording will essentially just disappear after seven days.”

But should a safety incident occur during a trip, the driver could attach the encrypted video file to the safety report sent to Uber. Once the company had the report, the file would then be decrypted and a trained safety agent would review it to help determine what occurred, the Uber said.

The company also announced Thursday it will update its in-app navigation software to suggest drivers make fewer left turns. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 22% of crashes involved a car making a left turn at an intersection.

“Essentially what it does is when a rider puts in the destination, our algorithm and our navigation will choose a routing to reduce those lectures as much as possible without adding any additional time or cost for the trip,” Kristin Smith, Uber’s head of road safety policy, told ABC News. “We’re hopeful that this will be one of those tech interventions that can help to really improve road safety.”

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.

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