300 U.S. Pizza Hut restaurants will close after franchisee bankruptcy

BUT WALL ST BOOMS

More than 300 Pizza Hut locations with dine-in restaurants will close in the United States, following the bankruptcy of one of the company's largest franchisees, the company announced Monday. Photo by Susan Montgomery/Shutterstock
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- As many as 300 U.S. Pizza Hut restaurant locations will close permanently in the wake of the bankruptcy of the chain's largest franchisee, the company announced Monday.

NPC International, based in Leawood, Kan., said it had reached an agreement with Yum! Brands, the parent company of Pizza Hut, to close one-quarter of its 1,227 Pizza Hut locations and make arrangements to sell the rest. NPC is the largest and oldest franchisee of Pizza Hut restaurants and operates most of the stores on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

The company didn't specify which locations would be closed, but said they would be locations with an attached restaurant. Pizza Hut has moved away from the dine-in restaurant business model to an emphasis on take-out and delivery through an app.

Pizza Hut said the 300 locations were identified as those that "significantly underperform." The chain said it would relocate employees to other Pizza Hut locations, CNN reported.

NPC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July. Shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic, along with a $1 billion debt burden and rising costs of labor and food contributed to the bankruptcy, CNN reported. But even in February, the company was looking at bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.

"With consumer behavior shifting towards more delivery than dine-in, Pizza Hut's competitors such as Domino's and Papa John's have continued to evolve their respective [delivery] models with better technology or more compelling price and product offerings," NPC said in bankruptcy filings.

NPC International will also sell its 385 Wendy's restaurants, a fraction of the total of 6,500 in the United States, the bankruptcy agreement says.

RELATED Chipotle to close 60 stores in restructuring effort

NPC employs about 7,500 full-time employees and 28,500 part-time employees at both Pizza Hut and Wendy's in 30 states, the company said.
RELATED NFL replaces Papa John's, names Pizza Hut as new official pizza sponsor


RELATED Chipotle taps former Taco Bell executive Brian Niccol as CEO

upi.com/7030155

Toronto police agree to $12.5M settlement for mass arrests at G-20

After a ruling in a 10-year class action suit, the Toronto Police Services Board will pay a settlement of $12.5 million to protesters who were corralled and abused by police during the G20 summit in June, 2010. File Photo by Alex Volgin/UPI
| License Photo

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Ten years after mass-arrests in Toronto at the 2010 G20 economic summit, the Toronto Police Services Board will pay a $12.5 million (U.S.) settlement to members of a class-action lawsuit of 1,100 people who were arrested and held by police during protests.

Those arrested will be entitled to payments between $3,780 and $81,700 and their criminal records for the arrests will be expunged, according to the settlement.

"When these events happened many Canadians could not believe they happened in Canada. The settlement appears to fairly recognize through financial compensation, acknowledgements and reforms that they shouldn't have happened and will never happen again," Eric Gillespie, the lawyer leading the case, told CBC.

The agreement also commits to changing the way protesters are treated by the Toronto police.

One of the claimants, Tommy Taylor, told the Toronto Star the settlement felt "surreal" after 10 years of legal negotiations.

Thousands protested when the G20 Economic Summit was held in Toronto in June of 2010. While most protesters were peaceful, at least four police cars were set on fire and police arrested hundreds of people.

At the time, Ontario Province Premier Dalton McGuinty admitted under questioning his government secretly gave police more authority to in the fortified zone where the summit was held, guarding a security fence around the perimeter that led to a "police vacuum," investigators said.

Ninety-seven officers and 39 arrestees were injured, and at least 40 shops were vandalized, causing $500,000 worth of damage. Several officers were accused of excessive force and assault of protesters.

Lawsuit plaintiffs, led by Sherry Good, a 51-year-old office administrator, filed suit in 2010, but the courts only approved class-action status in 2016.

"I'm just an ordinary person. I'm not an organizer, I'm not an activist," Good said in 2010. "I just feel that what happened to me and to hundreds of others was very wrong."

Good and 250 others were netted by police in a technique known as "kettling" when they were encircled by a wall of police officers. Good and others were held in the rain for four hours with no access to food or toilets, the lawsuit alleged.

Judge blocks Trump's reversal of transgender ACA protections

In his ruling Mondy, U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Block cited the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision that bans LGBTQ employment discrimination. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A day before the policy change was to go into effect, a federal court judge blocked the Trump administration on Monday from rolling back Obama-era healthcare protections for people who identify as transgender.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block issued a preliminary injunction Monday against the department's move, citing a recent Supreme Court decision that ruled it unlawful to discriminate against a transgender person as to do so is to discriminate against them based on their sex.

In his 26-page ruling, Block chastised the Department of Homeland Security for attempting to implement the rule despite the highest court's decision, stating "when the Supreme Court announces a major decision, it seems a sensible thing to pause and reflect on the decision's impact."

The new rule by the Department of Health and Human Services was set to go into effect on Tuesday and would have removed protections in the Affordable Care Act that made it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of sex.

The ACA's anti-discrimination protection has been blocked from going into effect since 2016, and in June of 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services gave notice of its proposal to repeal those protections, raising the ire of LGBTQ activists.

However, in June of this year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor in a civil rights case concerning protections granted to employees against discrimination in the workplace.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, which brought the lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of two women of color, called Monday's decision a "crucial early" victory not only for their clients but for the entire LGBTQ community.

"We are pleased the court recognized this irrational rule for what it is: discrimination, plain and simple. LGBTQ Americans deserve the healthcare that they need without fear of mistreatment, harassment or humiliation," David said in a statement.

The ruling, however, did not address all of the revisions proposed by the Trump administration to the healthcare law that has attracted legal challenges to eliminations of language access protections and others.

Lambda Legal, which is suing the Department of Health and Human Services over its proposed changes to the rule, applauded Monday's decision, accusing the Trump administration of targeting the LGBTQ people during a pandemic when they require medical services.

"LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people. have been under constant attack by the Trump administration. HHS' healthcare discrimination rule threatens to wreak havoc and confusion, hurting our most vulnerable populations, who already are suffering disproportionately at the nads of the COVID-19 pandemic," Lambda legal staff attorney Carl Charles said in a statement. "We applaud today's' decision and look forward to continuing our fight against this rule that unlawfully targets and singles out LGBTQ people for discrimination during their most critical time of need -- when seeking healthcare."

On This Day: 19th Amendment ratified giving women the vote

On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. The law took effect eight days later.


A member of the League of Women Voters participates in a demonstration to protest the lack of voting rights for the citizens of Washington, D.C., on the 90th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, in front of the White House in Washington on August 26, 2010. On August 19, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. The law took effect eight days later. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Read More

UPI Archives: Rosario Dawson, Retta to host women's suffrage podcast

UPI Archives: Women's right to vote now official in United States

upi.com/7030517

TO BE UPDATED

6.6-magnitude earthquake strikes Philippines; 1 dead



Several structures collapsed in Cataingan, Masbate, in the earthquake Tuesday. Photo courtesy of Philippine Red Cross - Masbate Chapter/Facebook

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck central Philippines Tuesday, killing at least one person, officials said.

The temblor struck at 8:03 a.m. at a depth of 13 miles about 4 miles east of the Cataingan municipality in the central island province of Masbate, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement.  


Cataingan disaster officer Venus Rojo confirmed to local media that a retired police senior superintendent had died after becoming pinned under his house, which had collapsed in the quake.

According to the Philippine Red Cross, several roads were damaged and many buildings had collapsed in Masbate due to the temblor, forcing at least 11 people to seek shelter at the Cataingan National High School.

"Psychosocial support is ongoing," Red Cross' Masbate chapter said in a statement.

Phvolcs warned that damage was expected as were aftershocks.

It said Intensity 7 "destructive" effects were felt in Cataingan while Intensity 5 "strong" effects reverberated through the cities of Masbate as well as Almagro and Tagapul-an in Samar province.

upi.com/7030616

COVID-19 hospitalization rate for minorities far beyond share of population

Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to the general population. Pictured, Virginia Hospital Center workers screen patients for testing for COVID-19 as they arrive onsite in Arlington, Va., in March. File Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Black and Hispanic Americans are hospitalized for COVID-19 at a rate of up to three times their share of the general population, according to an analysis published Monday by JAMA Internal Medicine.

The analysis shows that, in Ohio, Black Americans accounted for 32% of all people hospitalized with COVID-19 this spring, despite constituting 13% of the state's population.

Similarly, in Indiana, just over 28% of all hospitalized COVID-19 patients were Black Americans, while just under 10% of the state's population is Black.

In Virginia, Hispanic Americans made up 36% of all CVID-19 hospitalizations, despite being just 10% of the state's total population, according to researchers.

The findings, based on analysis of data for 12 states taken from the University of Minnesota COVID-19 Hospitalization Tracking Project, highlight ongoing racial disparities among those who experience serious illness from the new coronavirus, the researchers said.

"We are seeing large disparities in hospitalizations across racial and ethnic groups," study lead researcher Pinar Karaca-Mandic told UPI.

And these "disparities were across the board" in both urban and rural areas, said Karaca-Mandic, a professor of healthcare risk management at the University of Minnesota.

Researchers analyzed hospitalization data from April 30 through June 24 in each state, evaluating it against population figures from the 2010 U.S. census.

The 12 states in the analysis were Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

"At the time we did the analysis, these were the only states across the country that were reporting hospitalization data based on race," Karaca-Mandic said.

Since the analysis was completed, New Jersey and Virginia have start to report this data.

"We need to have more complete data so we can understand the true nature of these racial disparities," Karaca-Mandic said, adding that there is a "lack of standardization in the data on race -- even among those reporting it.

White Americans accounted for the bulk of COVID-19 hospitalizations in all 12 states, she and her colleagues found. In all cases, however, White Americans were hospitalized at a lower rate compared to their share of the general population, according to the researchers.

In Utah, for example, White Americans made up 43% of the hospitalized patients with COVID-19, despite being 78% of the state's population.

In addition to Ohio and Indiana, Minnesota and Kansas were among states that saw the highest disparities, the researchers found.

In Minnesota, 25% of the patients hospitalized with the virus were Black Americans, who make up just under 7% of the state's population, according to the researchers.

In Kansas, these figures were 22% and 6%, respectively, they said.

Hospitalization rates for Hispanic Americans were above 33% in Rhode Island and Utah, the researchers said. In both states, Hispanic Americans make up less than 16% of the population, they said.

The racial disparities in COVID-19 hospitalizations can be attributed to a number of factors, Karaca-Mandic said.

She said this includes that Black and Hispanic Americans are more likely to be "essential workers" -- meaning they continued to report to their jobs during lockdown and therefore were at greater risk for exposure to the virus.

These communities were also less likely to have access to quality healthcare prior to the pandemic and may be in poorer overall health as a result, she said.

upi.com/7030140

Free spread of COVID-19 in Sweden didn't lead to 'herd immunity'
By HealthDay News

People stroll, sunbathe and swim at a bathing jetty in Malmo, Sweden, in June. The country attempted to achieve COVID-19 "herd immunity" by skipping lockdowns and other measures most countries around the world are using to limit spread of the disease. Photo by EPA-EFE/Johan Nilsson/TT

Diverging from much of the world, Sweden let COVID-19 spread in hopes the population would develop "herd immunity." But the risky strategy failed, a new report finds.

Rather than imposing a hard lockdown in March as other countries did, the Scandinavian nation relied on individual responsibility to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus. This is the idea of "folkvett" -- common sense of the people -- and the approach made headlines at the time

Gyms, stores and restaurants remained open schools were open for kids up to age 16 while gatherings of more than 50 people were banned.

Authorities predicted that 40% of the people in Stockholm would get the disease and develop protective antibodies by May. The actual prevalence, however, was around 15%, according to the study published Aug. 11 in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

RELATED Common cold could boost COVID-19 immunity, study finds

It is clear that not only are the rates of viral infection, hospitalization and mortality [per million population] much higher than those seen in neighboring Scandinavian countries, but also that the time-course of the epidemic in Sweden is different, with continued persistence of higher infection and mortality well beyond the few critical weeks period seen in Denmark, Finland and Norway," said researcher Dr. David Goldsmith, a retired physician in London.

Experience suggests that severely infected COVID-19 patients acquire antibodies immediately and during early recovery, but antibodies are much less common in only mildly ill or asymptomatic patients.

This means they are likely not immune, and can't prevent the spread of the virus, the study noted. This is central to the concept of herd immunity.

RELATED Three top spots for COVID-19 deaths in Western Hemisphere

In the other Scandinavian countries, rapid lockdown appeared more successful in stopping the spread of infection, Goldsmith said.

The findings are a cautionary tale for the world, and for the United Kingdom in particular, he indicated.

"We in the U.K. would do well to remember we nearly trod the same path as Sweden, as herd immunity was often discussed here in early March. Right now, despite strict [but tardy] lockdown in the U.K., and the more measured Swedish response, both countries have seen high seven-day averaged COVID-19 death rates compared to other Scandinavian and European countries," Goldsmith said in a journal news release.

RELATED COVID-19 immunity might fade after 90 days, study finds

Only a year or two after the pandemic, however, can experts fairly judge what was done correctly, the authors said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19.

RELATED CDC: U.S. COVID-19 case count 6 to 24 times higher than reported



Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Study: Yoga helps half of adults with anxiety, but therapy is more effective

Kundalini yoga can help people with generalized anxiety disorder, a new study has found. Photo lograstudio/Pixabay


Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Yoga is an effective treatment for generalized anxiety disorder, a study published Wednesday by JAMA Psychiatry said, though researchers say therapy proved to be effective for more people.

More than half of patients who practiced Kundalini yoga, which includes movement, breathing techniques, meditation and chanting, responded well to therapy, the researchers said.

But cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, a form of psychotherapy, was effective for more patients, with 70% of people who underwent the treatment responding well.

Both approaches were more effective than stress education, which included lectures on the physiologic, psychological and medical effects of stress. One-third of all anxiety patients treated using this approach responded well, according to the researchers.
RELATED Anxiety, depression spiked among college students early in pandemic



"Yoga is a safe and popular stress reduction strategy that ... can also improve anxiety," study co-author Dr. Naomi M. Simon, professor of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told UPI.

"These anxiety-reducing effects for people with generalized anxiety disorder, however, may be less strong or long-lasting than ... cognitive behavioral therapy," she said.

Generalized anxiety disorder is a chronic anxiety condition in which patients experience frequently overwhelming nervousness, worry and associated symptoms, according to Simon said.

RELATED COVID-19 stressing out U.S. more than other nations, survey says
]

Nearly 3% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with the disorder, the National Institute of Mental Health estimates.

For their research, Simon and her colleagues compared treatment with Kundalini yoga, cognitive behavioral therapy and stress education in 155 adults with the condition.

Study participants practiced a Kundalini yoga program developed by the GuruRam Das Center for Medicine and Humanology. The program included physical postures and exercises, breathing techniques, relaxation exercises, meditation and mindfulness practices, yoga theory, philosophy and psychology.

RELATED Abused, neglected kids show increased signs of biological aging

After 12 weeks of treatment, 32 of the 60 generalized anxiety disorder patients in the yoga group and 47 of 67 patients in the CBT group saw a reduction in their anxiety symptoms, the researchers said.

Nine of the 28 patients who received stress education -- including information on the effects of lifestyle behaviors, such as caffeine and alcohol consumption as well as smoking, diet and exercise -- experienced an improvement in their GAD symptoms, according to the researchers.

"Access and engagement are among the greatest challenges to helping people with distressing anxiety receive adequate treatment," Simon told UPI. "Many people either are unable to access or afford cognitive behavior therapy, for example, [but] yoga ... is widely available and popular."

upi.com/7028407

Study: Nearly half of teens who vape say they want to quit

Nearly half of teens who vape say they want to quit, an analysis has found. Photo by kevsphotos/Pixabay

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Forty-five percent of teenagers who use e-cigarettes want to quit the habit, according to an analysis published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics.

Moreover, one in four young people who vape said they have tried to quit -- unsuccessfully -- at least once in the past year, the researchers found.

"Families and teens should know that like all tobacco products, nicotine vaping products are addictive," analysis co-author Tracy Smith told UPI.

"Teens who are struggling to quit should talk with their doctors," said Smith, an assistant professor of addiction science at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Recent research has found that just over 25% of American high school students use e-cigarettes at least periodically and 12% report that they vape daily.

For their research, Smith and her colleagues surveyed nearly 15,000 teens ages 12 to 17 on their use of e-cigarettes and their intention, if any, to quit as part of the Population Assessment on Tobacco and Health study.

Of the survey participants, roughly 500, or 3.6%, said they had used an e-cigarette product in the past 30 days. Just over 50% said they wanted to quit vaping within the next 30 days, while 17% hoped to do so within the next year, the researchers said.

Among teen e-cigarette users surveyed, 57% reported experiencing symptoms of depression and 61% indicated they had symptoms of anxiety, the researchers said.

"A significant portion of adolescents who vape want to stop vaping," Smith said. "Funding is needed for the development of cessation interventions."

Read More   

Vaping increases COVID-19 risk among teens, young adults,

 study finds Vaping-related lung injury still happening, may look like COVID-19 

upi.com/7030008

Philippines death penalty: A fight to stop the return of capital punishment
Preeti Jha - BBC News, BBC•August 15, 2020

Mr Duterte has once again pushed to reintroduce the death penalty
MR DUTERTE IS AN ATHEIST, APOSTATE, BLASPHEMER DO YOU THINK HE

CARES WHAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE OVERWHELMING CATHOLIC 

MAJORITY THINKS.....ABOUT CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.....DO YA......

Capital punishment opponents expect a steep battle to prevent President Rodrigo Duterte from reimposing the death penalty, as he renews calls for the law as part of a "drug war" that has already killed thousands of Filipinos.

Few were surprised when Mr Duterte last month pushed, once again, to reintroduce the death penalty for drug offenders.

Since coming to power in 2016 he has waged a brutal crackdown on suspected drug users and dealers, issuing police with shoot-to-kill orders while encouraging citizens to kill drug users too.

Officially the police say they shoot only in self-defence and data shows more than 8,000 people have been killed in anti-drug operations. The nation's human rights commission estimates a toll as high as 27,000.

Relatives mourn the death of a man who was accused of being a drug addict in Manila

The piling bodies have been documented by photojournalists whose images of dead suspects face-down in pools of blood after a police raid, or strewn on streets in suspected vigilante murders, have shocked the world.

"The death penalty would give the state another weapon in its ongoing war against drugs," said Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch.

How many have died in Philippines drugs war?

'Permission to kill' condemned in Duterte drug war

Mr Duterte was restrained, at first, by the upper house of parliament. But last year's mid-term elections saw his allies win control of the senate and many fear the law could now be passed.

Twenty-three bills have been filed across both houses to reinstate the death penalty for drug crimes, including possession and sales. Committee deliberations began last week.
Nuanced views

Mr Conde says he would like to be proved wrong but senses the law "is as good as passed". He points to the swift recent passing of the controversial anti-terrorism law, and the speed at which ABS-CBN, a broadcaster critical of the president, was forced off air.

The move would be a breach of international human rights law.

But this is unlikely to faze Mr Duterte, who frequently expresses his disdain for human rights checks. Last year the Philippines left the International Criminal Court as it was probing accusations of crimes linked to his drugs campaign.

Surveys by the Social Weather Stations, a pollster, have shown the war on drugs remains popular among Filipinos despite experts saying the signature policy has failed to curb drug use or supply. A majority are also in favour of reinstating capital punishment.

But a closer look at the results shows an alternative picture, says Maria Socorro Diokno, secretary-general of the Free Legal Assistance Group, a network of human rights lawyers.

When presented with alternatives to capital punishment for crimes linked to illegal drugs, for instance, most favoured other options.

"They begin to think that death is not always the answer," said Ms Diokno.

Ms Diokno, who leads her group's anti-death penalty task force, has been braced for a battle with Mr Duterte ever since he vowed to bring back the death penalty as part of his election campaign.

She knows that minds can be changed because she was part of the movement that succeeded last time.

The death penalty has been abolished twice before - first in 1987 and then again in 2006 after being reinstated in 1993.
Protests in previous years saw students condemning the return of the death penalty

The last push for abolition was led by the Catholic church, which holds considerable influence over Filipinos in the largely Catholic country while Mr Duterte is an open critic.

Last week the Clergy of the Archdiocese of Manila condemned the "lack of independence and imprudence" of some lawmakers in supporting the president on the issue.

"We see such acts as betrayal of the people's interests and an implicit support to the creeping authoritarian tendencies exuded by this administration," it said.
Mistaken convictions

In his annual address to the nation last month Mr Duterte claimed reinstating the death penalty by lethal injection would "deter criminality".

But there is little evidence to prove that the death penalty can be a deterrent. Instead research has shown the punishment frequently affects the most disadvantaged.

In the Philippines alone the Supreme Court said in 2004 that 71.77% of death penalty verdicts handed by lower courts were wrong.

By imposing the death penalty for drug offences, the Philippines would also be moving away from what Harm Reduction International has identified as a downward global trend in using the penalty for such crimes.

It says 35 countries and territories retain capital punishment for drug offenders but only a few carry out executions regularly. Five of the eight "high application states" are in South East Asia.

Raymund Narag, an assistant professor of criminology at Southern Illinois University, knows firsthand the problems of a flawed criminal justice system.

He spent nearly seven years jailed in the Philippines as a pre-trial detainee before he was acquitted of a campus murder that took place at his university when he was 20.

The death penalty was still intact at the time and prosecutors had sought it for the 10 men charged.

Worse than his overcrowded cell and frequent prison riots, he says, was the "agony of waiting" for hearings.
Inmates are cramped together in one Quezon City jail

"It was traumatic thinking that you can be put to death for a crime you did not commit," said Dr Narag, speaking from the US.

Now 46, he was one of five men eventually acquitted, while the others were sentenced to life imprisonment.

The experience has shaped his career. He now researches prolonged trial detention in the Philippines, while advocating for criminal justice reform.

Dr Narag says that if he hadn't managed to track down a key witness, an overseas worker, to return home and testify, proving he wasn't at the crime scene, he may have been convicted.

Through his advocacy he wants Filipinos to know the consequences of mistaken convictions, which could become mistaken executions if the law changes, in an already struggling justice system.

The scope of and timeline for the eventual death penalty bill put to vote in parliament is uncertain, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some have argued the bill should not be a priority.

Gloria Lai, Asia director of the International Drug Policy Consortium, says the death penalty has not solved the drug-related problems of any country.

"It is the poor and vulnerable who bear the harsh punishment of criminal justice systems in grossly unjust ways," she says.