(NEW YORK) — Starting this week, customers shopping for period products like tampons, menstrual pads and liners will pay lower prices in CVS stores.
The national retailer announced it is reducing the cost of CVS Health brand period products by 25% in all CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide.
The retailer will also begin paying the so-called “tampon tax” — the sales tax that states place on feminine hygiene products — on menstrual products in 12 states where such a tax still exists, including Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Utah.
Only 23 states in the U.S. currently exempt period products from taxation, according to the Alliance for Period Supplies, which represents nonprofit organizations that collect and distribute menstrual supplies in local communities, according to its website.
A CVS spokesperson told ABC News the two price-lowering measures are part of the retailer’s Healthier Happens Together, or HERe, initiative, which works to make it easier for women to access services and products that support their “mental and physical well-being.”
In addition to the price changes on menstrual products, CVS said it is also offering new menstrual, menopause and contraception services at its MinuteClinic locations.
“Women experience conditions that are unique to their physiology and life stage, as well as those that are more common in, expressed in and treated differently for women of all ages,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Women also face serious health care gaps, from systemic barriers created by high health care costs and access issues to health challenges related to a greater risk of chronic conditions.”
Period poverty, when people cannot afford even the most basic of period supplies like pads and tampons, is an issue that affects women around the world, including in the United States. A lack of access to menstrual products and education affects 1 in 10 college students in the U.S., according to a study released last year.
Advocates for menstrual equity say the taboo around menstruation and the lack of access to menstrual products hurts women economically because it costs them money and may keep them from attending jobs and school. Poor menstrual hygiene also poses health risks for women, including reproductive issues and urinary tract infections.
On average, a woman will spend around seven years in their lifetime on their period, according to UNICEF.
Last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law requiring that public schools and colleges provide free menstrual products in classrooms.
In 2020, Scotland made history as the first country in the world to provide period products to all women for free.
(WASHINGTON) — During a trip to Los Angeles Thursday, President Joe Biden told reporters he plans to speak with Saudi Arabia soon, following the OPEC+ decision to slash oil production.
Asked what his message would be to Saudi Arabia on the price of gas, Biden said “We’re, we’re about to talk to them,” but he wouldn’t give more details, simply telling reporters to “stay tuned.”
Meanwhile, the Biden White House and Saudi foreign ministry leveled accusations against each other amid fallout from the OPEC+ move.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a lengthy statement Wednesday that the kingdom had turned down a U.S. request to delay the OPEC decision by a month — in effect, after the midterm elections in the U.S. — and took issue with any characterization that the decision “was politically motived against the United States of America.”
“The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would first like to express its total rejection of these statements that are not based on facts,” the ministry said, adding: “This decision was taken unanimously by all member states of the OPEC+ group.”
The White House fired back Thursday, with spokesman John Kirby saying in a written statement that other OPEC nations have communicated to the U.S. “privately” that they disagreed with Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut oil production — but felt “coerced” to support it anyway. In a call with reporters, he declined to name the other countries but said “there was more than one.”
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday did vote in favor of a U.S.-backed United Nations resolution condemning Russia’s attempt to annex parts of Ukraine. While Kirby called the vote “welcome,” he said “it doesn’t erase the fact that the decision that OPEC+ made was unnecessary, mathematically speaking.”
That decision, he said, provided not just economic support to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but also moral and military support, “because it allows him to continue to fund his war-making machine and it certainly gave him, Mr. Putin, a sense of comfort here.”
It was a remarkable accusation to make about a longtime U.S. partner, albeit one with whom the U.S. relationship is rapidly fraying.
“The Saudi Foreign Ministry can try to spin or deflect, but the facts are simple,” Kirby said in the statement.
Kirby said the U.S. “presented Saudi Arabia with analysis to show that there was no market basis to cut production targets, and that they could easily wait for the next OPEC meeting to see how things developed.”
He said Saudi Arabia took the “wrong direction” by taking a “they knew would increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions” the U.S. and other Western nations had imposed in the wake of Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine.
For its part, the Saudi foreign ministry said it “clarified through its continuous consultation with the US Administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences.”
On Tuesday, Kirby said Biden thinks the United States needs to “reevaluate” its relationship with Saudi Arabia, especially in light of the decision by the OPEC+ oil cartel to cut production.
“I think the president’s been very clear that this is a relationship that we need to continue to reevaluate, that we need to be willing to revisit,” Kirby said in an interview with CNN. “And certainly in light of the OPEC decision, I think that’s where he is.”
Kirby said Biden “is going to be willing to work with Congress as we think about what the right relationship with Saudi Arabia needs to be going forward.”
Sen. Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Monday called on the U.S. to “immediately freeze all aspects of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary to defend U.S. personnel and interests.”
Other Democrats, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, on Wednedsay introduced a bill that would pause U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia for one year.
Biden on Wednesday declined to take a position on the legislation. Kirby said Thursday “future arms sales… are certainly going to be on the table.”
“We understand that there are no imminent pending arms sales to Saudi Arabia right now,” Kirby told reporters. “So there’s not– you know, we’re not going to rush to make some kind of judgment here.”
(WASHINGTON) — After more than a year of investigation, the House Jan. 6 committee on Thursday ended what was possibly its last public hearing in historic fashion — voting to subpoena former President Donald Trump.
The hearing featured no live witnesses but did include never-before-seen footage and documents collected by the panel during its two-month hiatus since its last hearing in July.
Videos showed congressional leaders fleeing the Capitol as rioters closed in on the complex, and communication between the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies revealed the many warnings and tips the agency received about possible violence.
In a dramatic finish, the committee said there’s one more person they — and the American people — need to hear from: Trump himself.
“Our duty today is to our country and our children and our constitution,” vice chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in her closing statement. “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion. And every American is entitled to those answers, so we can act now to protect our republic.”
Here are the key takeaways from Thursday’s hearing:
Committee unanimous in vote to subpoena Trump
Each committee member — seven Democrats and two Republicans — voted “aye” on a resolution offered by Cheney to compel Trump’s cooperation.
The resolution directs chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., to issue a subpoena for relevant documents and testimony under oath from Trump in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.
Thompson argued there is precedent for Congress to compel the testimony of a president but recognized it was a “serious and extraordinary action.”
“That’s why we want to take this step in full view of the American people, especially because the subject matter at issue is so important to the American people and the stakes are so high to our future and our democracy,” he said.
Trump responded to the committee’s action for the first time in a post to Truth Social, his conservative social media platform.
“Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” he wrote while calling the committee a “total BUST.”
“Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?” he asked again.
Secret Service was concerned leading up to, during the insurrection
New Secret Service communications unearthed by the House committee showed agents were concerned in the days before the insurrection about the threat of violence and during the riot about then-Vice President Mike Pence’s safety.
One tip the agency received before the attack, the committee said, indicated that the Proud Boys, a far-right group, “think[s] that they will have a large enough group to march into DC armed and will outnumber the police so they can’t be stopped.”
“Their plan is to literally kill people. Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further,” the tip showed by the committee read.
On the day of the insurrection, other communications presented showed how agents spotted members of the mob with firearms and other weapons.
“With so many weapons so far, you wonder how many are unknown. Could be sporty after dark,” one agent wrote in a message to a colleague. “No doubt. The people at the Ellipse said they are moving to the Capitol after the POTUS speech,” a second agent responded, referencing the speech Trump was giving before the riot.
As the crowd ransacked the Capitol, committee evidence showed, the agency also grew concerned about the safety for Pence after Trump posted a broadside on Twitter lambasting him for not blocking the certification of the 2020 Electoral College results.
“POTUS just tweeted about Pence, probably not going to be good for Pence,” one agent said in a chat with a colleague. Another colleague responded that the tweet had received over 24,000 likes in under two minutes.
The messages dovetail with videos showing rioters saying Pence “screwed” them and chants of “hang Mike Pence” ringing out around the Capitol.
Former Twitter employee Anika Collier Navaroli, in testimony featured Thursday, said Trump’s tweet helped spark calls for Pence’s “execution.”
New footage shows Pelosi, congressional leaders reacting to the attack
Videos aired Thursday showed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers reacting to the events of Jan. 6 in real-time.
Pelosi spoke to or called various officials, including Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and then-acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and finally, then-Vice President Mike Pence.
The video was shot by Alexandra Pelosi, a filmmaker and the speaker’s daughter, who had been filming the day’s events as a part of a documentary project.
Pelosi was seen at times engaged in a bipartisan effort, huddling with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, often in discussion about how to move forward to certify the 2020 election results in a timely manner.
“We’ve got … to finish the proceedings or else they will have a complete victory,” Pelosi is heard saying as she is leaving the Capitol complex while rioters gather outside. “There has to be some way we can maintain the sense that people have, that there’s some security or some confidence that the government can function. And that we can elect the president of the United States.”
At one point, after being informed that individuals still on the House floor were putting on tear gas masks in anticipation of a breach, Pelosi said: “Can you believe this?”
The committee also played new footage of Pelosi speaking with Pence as Trump supporters were in the middle of storming the Capitol.
“We’re trying to figure out how we can get this job done today,” she said, noting the “overriding wish is to do it at the Capitol.
(NEW YORK) — Americans are expected to see higher energy bills when it comes to heating their homes this winter, according to a new analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Agency released this week.
The independent agency within the Department of Energy found that homes heated with natural gas could see prices 28% higher than last winter, while homes heated by electricity will see a 10% increase and propane heat will see a 5% increase. At least 90% of homes in the U.S. use natural gas or electricity for heat.
EIA said the supplies of fuels like natural gas, propane, or heating oil are low and could struggle to meet demand if temperatures are especially cold or supply chain issues make it difficult to deliver to where the fuels are needed.
Rusty Braziel, CEO & Principal Energy Markets Consultant for RBN Energy, said energy prices are dealing with several factors that are putting pressure on the market.
“It’s a whole different kind of market turmoil than we’ve ever seen before,” he said in a briefing with reporters.
“We’ve got a hot war in Europe, we’ve got sky-high prices, we got Russia’s use of energy as a weapon. We’re still recovering from a global pandemic. Our markets are absorbing a massive new energy transition and this economy is shaky, recession could be just around the corner. National politics are wacky, and producer discipline has basically reset the shale supply curve. So if that ain’t wild, I don’t know what is,” Braziel said.
The EIA report factors in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecast for a colder-than-average winter in some parts of the country. Officials said demand for energy could change if temperatures dip colder than predicted.
Energy costs are another factor that could lead to difficulty for many families dealing with the cost of living amid rising inflation. In 2020, 34 million U.S. households, about 27% of the country, reported having difficulty paying their energy bills or keeping their home at an unsafe temperature to avoid higher bills, according to an EIA survey.
The Department of Energy said there are multiple ways that households can reduce energy bills by switching to more energy-efficient appliances or lighting and making homes better at keeping heat in and cold air out by sealing air leaks around windows or other points where heat could escape. The Biden administration has launched programs that include more than $3 billion to help low-income homeowners “weatherize” or retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient.
The Inflation Reduction Act offers some tax credits to help with the up-front cost of installing more energy-efficient appliances or heaters. The advocacy group Rewiring America has a calculator where homeowners or renters can calculate what benefits they may be eligible to receive.
(NEW YORK) — Nearly half of COVID-19 survivors may have symptoms of long COVID months after they were first infected, a new study suggests.
Researchers from across Scotland looked at more than 33,000 patients over the age of 16 with a confirmed PCR test for COVID-19 in the past and tracked their symptoms.
Results, published in the journal Nature Communications Wednesday, found that six months later, of the more than 31,000 patients who had had symptomatic COVID, 6% reported not having recovered at all. An additional 42% felt they were only partially recovered.
Patients who reported no recovery were more likely to be women, to have been hospitalized when they had COVID, and to have multiple underlying conditions.
When the team looked at symptoms, they found the most common was tiredness, followed by headache, muscles aches, joint pain and difficulty breathing, respectively.
Patients with an asymptomatic infection were not at increased risk of experiencing symptoms months later.
What’s more, having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to infection reduced the risk of some symptoms including change in taste and/or smell, poor appetite, confusion and difficulty concentrating.
“Our study is important because it adds to our understanding of long-COVID in the general population, not just in those people who need to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19,” lead author Jill Pell, a professor of public health at the University of Glasgow, said in a statement.
“By comparing symptoms with those uninfected, we were able to distinguish between health problems that are due to COVID-19 and health problems that would have happened anyway,” the statement continued.
Long COVID occurs when patients who have cleared the active infection still have symptoms lasting more than four weeks after recovering. In some cases, these symptoms can persist for months or even years.
Patients can experience a variety of lingering symptoms including fatigue, difficulty breathing, headaches, brain fog, joint and muscle pain, and continued loss of taste and smell, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The authors mentioned some limitations including that most of the participants were white because the study was conducted in Scotland, which has a 96% white population.
“Therefore, it is important that ethnic-specific outcomes are reported by other long-COVID studies with more ethnically diverse populations,” the authors wrote.
Additionally, some of the common symptoms were also reported among a control group who had never tested positive for COVID. The symptoms that were most strongly associated with COVID infection were breathlessness, chest pain, palpitations and loss of taste and smell.
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — At least five people were killed, including an off-duty police officer, and two others were injured in a shooting along a nature trail in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday night, authorities said.
The suspect, who police said is a white male juvenile, has been taken into custody. There is no active, ongoing threat, according to Lt. Jason Borneo of the Raleigh Police Department, who told reporters that a motive will be determined over the coming days.
An injured officer has been released from the hospital and a second person remains in critical condition, Borneo said. A K-9 officer who has non-life-threatening injuries is among those injured, according to Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.
“When we lose one of our own, it is a tragic, heartbreaking day for all of us,” Borneo told reporters.
“We must stop this mindless violence in America and we must address gun violence,” Baldwin added.
At least three people were transported to WakeMed Health and Hospitals’ trauma center in connection with the incident, a hospital official told ABC News. There was no word on their current condition, and the hospital official did not know if others were injured in the shooting.
The shooting took place in the area of the Neuse River Greenway Trail near Osprey Cove and Bay Harbor drives, according to police.
“Residents in that area are advised to remain in their homes,” the Raleigh Police Department said in a post on Twitter.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he has instructed state law enforcement to “provide assistance responding to the active shooter in East Raleigh.”
“State and local officers are on the ground and working to stop the shooter and keep people safe,” he said on Twitter.
“Tonight terror has reached our doorstep. The nightmare of every community has come to Raleigh,” Cooper said during a second press conference Thursday night. “This is a senseless, horrific and infuriating act of violence that has been committed.”
North Carolina Department of Public Safety Secretary Eddie Buffaloe, Jr. also confirmed the department has made state resources available and is “working with local law enforcement to stop this shooter.”
North Carolina State Highway Patrol, North Carolina State Capitol Police and North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement are assisting the Raleigh Police Department with the incident.
(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — A Purdue University student accused of stabbing his roommate to death in their dorm room has been ordered held without bond before he goes on trial.
Ji “Jimmy” Min Sha, 22, was formally charged with murder on Thursday in the killing of Varun Manish Chheda, 20, in what police called an unprovoked attack. Prosecutors allege that Sha “did knowingly or intentionally kill” Chheda, charging documents state.
Chheda was found dead in his room at McCutcheon Hall, a residence building on the school’s campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, after midnight on Oct. 5.
Sha had called 911 and told police “he had just killed his roommate with a knife,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
Responding officers found “apparent blood spatter on the wall, a pool of blood on the floor and a folding knife on the floor,” the affidavit said.
Sha “admitted he used the knife to kill Chheda while he was sitting in the chair where police found him,” according to the affidavit.
Chheda died from”multiple sharp force traumatic injuries,” according to the Tippecanoe County Coroner’s Office.
Sha, an international student from South Korea, is scheduled to appear for a hearing on Dec. 2 in Tippecanoe Circuit Court. A trial date has yet to be scheduled.
ABC News did not immediately receive a response to an email seeking comment from Sha’s attorney.
As he walked into court for his first appearance before a judge last week, Sha told reporters “I am very sorry” when asked if he had a message to the victim’s family.
Sha also said “I was blackmailed,” though did not elaborate.
Police have not outlined a motive in the case.
“I believe this was unprovoked and senseless,” Purdue University Chief of Police Lesley Weite told reporters last week.
Chheda, who grew up in Indianapolis, was a senior majoring in data science. The university held a vigil for him on Wednesday, a week after his death.
“This is as tragic an event as we can imagine happening on our campus and our hearts and thoughts go out to all of those affected by this terrible event,” Purdue University President Mitch Daniels said in a statement last week.
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
(DALLAS) — A gun accidentally discharged inside a Texas elementary school cafeteria on Thursday after a child allegedly brought the firearm to school, according to the Dallas Independent School District.
The incident occurred before classes began as breakfast was served at John W Carpenter Elementary School in Dallas, a Dallas ISD official told ABC News.
The district official said no one was injured.
“I didn’t know what to think, what to feel… Just came over immediately,” parent Brandy Fields told ABC News Dallas affiliate WFAA. “She’s safe, so [deep breath].”
Fields told the station her daughter went directly to her class, but another student told her daughter a child was showing off a gun inside the cafeteria before it fired.
“My friend told me she almost got shot today,” Fields’ daughter, 5th-grade student Abbey told WFAA. “I was so confused. She told me someone brung [sic] a gun, and they were showing it to everybody. And while they was playing with it, it went off.”
Following the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where an 18-year-old suspect fatally shot 19 students and two teachers, Dallas ISD decided to require sixth to 12th-grade students to wear clear or mesh backpacks.
“By being able to easily see the items in the backpacks as students enter the school, campus personnel will be able to ensure that prohibited items are not included among the students’ belongings,” Dallas ISD wrote on its website. “Clear or mesh backpacks will also speed up students entering the school at the beginning of the day because opening and inspecting every backpack may not be necessary.”
The Dallas Police Department is investigating the incident.
(SAVANNAH, Ga.) — Police in Savannah, Georgia, said they believe the toddler who mysteriously vanished one week ago is dead, and they’ve named the boy’s mother as the primary suspect.
Chatham County police on Wednesday brought search dogs to the home of the 20-month-old Quinton Simon, who has been missing since Oct. 5.
Police later on Wednesday named Quinton’s mother, Leilani Simon, as the prime suspect in his disappearance and death.
No one else is considered a suspect, Chatham County Police Chief Jeff Hadley said at a news conference Thursday.
Quinton’s body has not been found.
Quinton was last seen at his Savannah home around 6 a.m. on Oct. 5 by his mother’s boyfriend, the chief said. After Quinton’s mother woke up, she reported him missing around 9:40 a.m., he said.
Police said last week that the case didn’t appear to involve a custody dispute.
Hadley added Monday that police have had contact with Quinton’s biological father and said he’s not a suspect.
Chatham County police requested FBI assistance the day Quinton was reported missing and over 40 FBI agents joined the case.
“To the Chatham County community: Our heart breaks, along with yours, in trying to comprehend what we believe happened here,” the FBI’s Will Clarke said Thursday.
(NEW YORK) — Federal agents on Tuesday discovered some $400,000 worth of liquid methamphetamine hidden in 136 condoms in four pumpkins while inspecting a vehicle at the southern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The agency said in a news release that CBP officers at the Eagle Pass International Bridge in Texas found the 44 pounds of narcotics while searching an SUV coming in from Mexico.
“Our frontline CBP officers have seen just about everything and this Tuesday was no exception as they encountered liquid methamphetamine hidden within pumpkins,” the acting port director at Eagle Pass, Elizabeth Garduno, said in a statement.
Garduno said the border agents “utilized their training, experience, interviewing skills and uncovered a rather novel narcotics smuggling method in the process.”
CBP said the unidentified driver and passenger were placed into the custody of the Maverick County Sheriff’s Office “for further investigation.”
So far in fiscal year 2022, CBP has seized 161,000 pounds of methamphetamine. In the previous fiscal year, the agency seized 192,000 pounds of meth.
Separately, in Arizona, CBP officials wrote on Twitter that on Wednesday they found about 2,100 fentanyl pills hidden in tamales in an ice chest.
