Trump Disputes Netanyahu's Claim Of No Starvation In Gaza - The Lead with Jake Tapper - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
With images of emaciated, dying children and Palestinians fighting for food, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu falsely stated there is no starvation in Gaza. What will President Trump do, if anything, to pressure Israel to alleviate this manmade humanitarian crisis?
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- Yahoo
Pfizer CEO details talks with Trump administration on tariffs, Most Favored Nations pricing
Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday he has a "special relationship" with President Trump, cemented during the COVID-19 pandemic when the two were in regular contact to help speed up vaccine production. That relationship, he said, has created a direct line to discuss some of the headwinds the company faces out of Washington, D.C. In his second term, Trump is targeting the drug industry for high prices and overseas production — threatening tariffs as high as 250% on imported drugs. But Bourla told Yahoo Finance he believes Trump and other officials in D.C. are having productive conversations with industry leaders about tariffs and drug pricing. "I think [Trump] is educated, of course he doesn't go into the details, it's not his job, but he understands the dynamics [of the industry]," Bourla said. When asked about the tariff threat, Bourla shared his understanding from his ongoing discussions. "I don't want to speak for the president, but what he said today, which was very important also, was that it would be a very small tariff in the first couple of years. And then he opened the window for a grace period. Because I had this discussion with him and I had this discussion with multiple other members of the administration," Bourla said. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet The industry is awaiting the results of an investigation by the administration into how those tariffs will be implemented — and Bourla said the devil will be in the details. Currently, more than 90% of prescriptions in the US are from generics, which are often the cheapest drug type. Branded drugs are often the most expensive and are largely produced in the US. But some early components of the manufacturing process, key chemicals known as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), are often made overseas in Europe or Asia. That will be important to understand when the final ruling for the tariffs is made. "We need to understand if the API will dictate the country of origin, or where the final product is made," Bourla said. Pfizer is also one of the companies that received a letter from Trump last week detailing demands to reduce prices for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees to match the lowest price paid by developing nations, known as Most Favored Nations (MFN). The company is currently planning for the implementation of reduced prices, as well as working on how to mitigate negative impacts, Bourla said. "We are still discussing it with the president. ... The devil could be in the details in these stages," he said. Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, provider services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee as AnjKhem on social media platforms X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky @AnjKhem. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Delay biometric visa checks for 80 Gaza students, dozens of MPs urge UK government
More than 70 MPs have signed a letter asking the government to delay biometric checks for 80 students from Gaza so they can study in Britain, Sky News can reveal. Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Barry Gardiner are leading the charge, asking Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to defer the requirement, so the students can take up their university places in September. However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp says the biometric checks should not be deferred, arguing they are "an essential part of our security arrangements". Gaza latest: Netanyahu mulls 'full Gaza takeover' In order to obtain a UK visa, applicants must provide a photo of their face, as well as their fingerprints. The Home Office guidance says these data points "play a significant role in delivering security and facilitation in the border and immigration system". UK visa process for Gazans 'all but impossible' In the letter, the MPs raise the case of a Haia Mohamed, who they describe as a "young poet in Gaza", who has won a scholarship to Goldsmiths College in London. But neither she nor 79 other successful applicants to UK universities are able to travel to the UK because providing the required biometric data is "all but impossible". They write: "Even before the war, leaving Gaza to pursue higher education was a complex process. The ongoing siege and restrictions made travel extremely difficult, but in the current state of constant bombardment, shootings at aid sites, and an IPC-declared famine, this process has become all but impossible." In an email to MPs asking them to sign the letter, Mohamed and Gardiner are far more blunt, saying: "Unless the government makes rapid progress with offering visas and coordinating evacuations over the next week, students who should be starting university next month in the UK will be among those who are being shot dead at aid sites, bombed in displacement camps, or starving as famine spreads deeper in Gaza." The UK did have an authorised centre in Gaza that was able to process biometric data, but it was closed in October 2023 after the 7 October Hamas attack, and as Israel's war in response to the atrocity got under way, according to The Guardian. As result, they are asking the home secretary to "defer biometric data screening for student visa applicants based in Gaza and open a safe passage to enable these young people to fulfil their academic dreams", pointing out that other countries in Europe "have taken proactive steps to ensure safe evacuation routes for students bound for their countries". Students are 'the future of Palestine' Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, one of the writers of the letter, Barry Gardiner MP, pointed out that the government has been able to find a way for injured children from Gaza to receive care in the UK, and exemptions have been made in the past, and so the same should be done in this case, and "quickly" because the academic year starts next month. The Brent West MP also said that this is about "giving the state of Palestine the possibility of a future". "These young people are the future of Palestine. They are the young talent, and it doesn't matter whether they're constructing a road network, or a sewage system, or they're town planners or, as in the case of Haia Mohamed, astonishingly profound poets - the state of Palestine will need everything from classical musicians right the way through to town planners," he said. "And these youngsters are coming over here with that full range of study potential, with the express intention of going back and building their nation." He added that the fact they have been able to win scholarships to, in many cases, the UK's top universities "shows extraordinary resilience, extraordinary courage, extraordinary ability, and we should facilitate that". Checks 'essential part of security arrangements' But Conservative MP and shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Sky News in a statement: "We should not be deferring biometric checks. These are an essential part of our security arrangements, and they should not be waived or delayed until arrival in the UK - by which time it is too late." Earlier this month, a student from Gaza reportedly left France after being ordered to leave following the discovery of alleged antisemitic social media posts. Her lawyer said she "firmly denies the accusations made against her", according to France24. Mr Gardiner told Sky News: "Anyone who breaks the law in that way must be dealt with as the law requires. But what you don't do is you don't say, 'somebody might break the law, so we're not going to allow anybody to come'." Read more:More children from Gaza to be brought to UK for medical treatmentNetanyahu to instruct Israeli military on next steps in GazaAnalysis: Full Israeli occupation of Gaza could massively backfire The UK requires that biometric data be submitted in advance of the visa being approved in order to: • Establish a person's identity by joining the applicant's biographical data with their biometric data;• Verify an individual "accurately against an established identity";• Check they are not on a watchlist, for example, to ensure they are eligible to come to the UK. Exemptions from the requirement to provide biometric data have been given in rare circumstances. It was waived for Ukrainians fleeing to the UK following Russia's invasion in January 2022. However, it was not waived for Afghans fleeing the Taliban in August 2021. But a judge later ruled that a family in hiding in the country did not have to provide the data in order to join British family members in the UK, which was thought to also apply to around 100 other families. The Home Office and Foreign Office have been contacted for comment.
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How US jobs data is collected — and why it's regularly revised
Recent data on the health of the nation's job market cost Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, her own employment after President Trump lashed out when revisions to earlier months' numbers suggested the economy could be in worse shape than previously thought. 'Last weeks Job's Report was RIGGED,' Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. The July employment numbers, released last week, showed the US added 258,000 fewer jobs in May and June than what was reported previously. Economists were quick to note the changes, while larger than normal, are routine, factoring in survey data from employers that's slower to arrive, while Trump's actions risk politicizing a crucial economic indicator. Here's how the jobs report is pieced together and why data within it is regularly updated. How 'jobs data' works Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes an 'employment situation' report that includes employment, hours, and wage data for workers on nonfarm payrolls from an 'establishment survey' of businesses representing varied sectors of the economy. The report also includes data from a separate 'household survey' on the labor force, employment, and unemployment. The report is closely watched by economists, traders, and businesspeople because it can move markets, influence monetary policy, and reflect the overall health of the economy. The revisions that upset Trump were from the establishment survey, which relies on a survey of about 121,000 businesses and government agencies across the week or pay period that includes the 12th of the month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Estimated data from this survey is always revised twice in the succeeding two months after it's initially published 'to incorporate additional sample receipts from respondents in the survey and recalculated seasonal adjustment factors,' the BLS says in a 'frequently asked questions' page. Put simply, some businesses are slow to respond, so their survey answers are added as they're received, leading to revisions — up or down — in the estimates of new jobs. Importantly, the most recent revisions were within the BLS's confidence interval — the measure of uncertainty in its own estimates — of 'plus or minus 136,000' for the monthly change in total nonfarm employment, said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics. May payroll data was revised down by 125,000 jobs to 19,000 jobs gained, while June was revised down by 133,000 to 14,000 jobs gained. Sweet noted that 'if you look at the size of the revisions relative to total employment, they're not significantly larger than what we've seen historically.' In a blog post earlier this year, Michael Madowitz, principal economist for the Roosevelt Institute, wrote that while revisions can lead to some confusion, it's worth reflecting on 'why incurring some temporary confusion, in this case, contributes to the universally respected economic statistics that are central to the long-term stability of the US financial system.' The BLS is showing its work, he noted, which is a good thing. The payroll estimates from establishment surveys are also revised annually to account for wage and employment data from state unemployment insurance tax records. One of these revisions made waves last August when the BLS announced the economy had 818,000 fewer positions in the 12 months ending in March 2024 than initially reported, though that revision itself was also revised earlier this year to 598,000 fewer jobs. Trump has referenced the 818,000 data point as another example of what he perceives as data manipulation to favor Democrats, though it wasn't exactly great news for the Biden administration. 'We were pretty devastated that in August of 2024 in an election year — right kind of in the home stretch there when people were starting to pay attention — BLS did its annual benchmark revision and found that we had added 800,000 fewer jobs than we had thought at that point,' said Alex Jacquez, a former Biden official and the chief of policy and advocacy at the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive group. Why are the revisions happening? A bigger likely problem than data manipulation is fewer businesses answering the survey. Response rates for the establishment survey have declined sharply in recent years, leading to some worries that the data is becoming more vulnerable to errors. Still, researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco wrote in March of the monthly employment gains through 2024 that 'despite the substantial decline in response rates, the incoming data are reassuringly not subject to greater noise, and thus greater uncertainty, than in the past.' But 'it's becoming less of a clear picture of how the labor market is doing in the first estimate' due to the lower survey responses, Sweet said. That's not a knock on the BLS, he added. 'These revisions are normal,' Sweet said. 'It's the nature of the beast of trying to measure a $30 trillion economy.' Additionally, big revisions have occurred in other times of economic weirdness, including the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. 'This is why we had massive upwards revisions in the early months of the Biden administration, when a ton of people were coming back into the labor force after COVID lockdowns,' Jacquez said. The US indeed has some weirdness right now, including tariffs, business uncertainty, and immigrant workers leaving the labor force. '(Major revisions) tend to coincide with idiosyncratic times in the labor market, which would make sense. If there's a big recession, there's a bunch of churn and a bunch of things happening in the labor market that wouldn't normally be captured by the standard analysis and regressions that you pull out of the data,' he added. Sign up for the Mind Your Money weekly newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy Keep watch That's not to say the revisions aren't worth examining, though: the two-month revision was the biggest since 1968 when excluding recessions, economists at Goldman Sachs have said, and could point to some strain in the economy. Even before the most recent jobs report, economists had been watching for recession risks and a slowing job market, making reliable data all the more crucial. In a video appearance on Yahoo Finance, William Beach, McEntarfer's predecessor, said the BLS commissioner has nothing to do with the estimation or preparation of the jobs data, but 'the damage is done' — people who don't follow the BLS that closely may struggle to trust the numbers. 'We're going to take a long time to recover from this,' Beach said. Emma Ockerman is a reporter covering the economy and labor for Yahoo Finance. 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