Raul Castro steps down as head of Cuba's Communist Party



Fidel Castro (L) and his brother, Raul Castro, leader of the Cuban Armed Forces, are pictured in Havana in an undated file photo. UPI File Photo | License Photo


April 16 (UPI) -- Raul Castro, brother of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, announced Friday he's stepping down as head of Cuba's Communist Party.

Speaking on the first day of a party conference, Raul Castro said his resignation will allow a younger group of politicians "full of passion and anti-imperialist spirit" to take control.

"I believe fervently in the strength and exemplary nature and comprehension of my compatriots, and as long as I live, I will be ready with my foot in the stirrups to defend the fatherland, the revolution and socialism," he said at a closed-door meeting, according to NBC News.

Raul Castro has served as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since April 2011, when he took over for his brother, who held the position for more than 45 years. Raul Castro also served as president of the country from 2008 to 2018, and acting president during the last two years of Fidel Castro's tenure.

Fidel Castrol died in 2016 after decades of power in the Caribbean island nation.

Current President Miguel Díaz-Canel is expected to take over leadership of the Communist Party with Raul Castro's departure.

NPR reported that Raul Castro's long-time deputy, José Ramón Machado, also was expected to step down in his role of the Politburo, leaving the body without any revolutionary veterans for the first time in decades.

Former President Barack Obama (R) shakes hands with former Cuban President Raul Castro during meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on September 29, 2015. File Pool Photo by Anthony Behar/UPI | License Photo

Demonstrators protest police violence in Portland, Ore., Oakland, Calif.


April 17 (UPI) -- Residents and business owners in Portland, Ore., and Oakland, Calif., were assessing damages Saturday after protests against police misconduct turned violent in the two cities.

Oakland's demonstrations began peacefully on Friday, but as the night progressed participants lit fires and broke windows while protesting the police-involved deaths of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago last month Daunte Wright Sunday in suburban Minneapolis.

Between 250 and 300 people marched through downtown Oakland, then broke into splinter groups, according to media reports.

Some business owners boarded up their windows in anticipation of the demonstration, but store windows at a downtown Target store were broken and fires were set at several car dealerships.

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Oakland police also reported an officer was assaulted.

Protesters dispersed at about 11 p.m., police said, and no citations were issued or arrests made.

In Portland, police declared a riot and made multiple arrests Friday night after demonstrators broke windows and lit fires in the city's downtown.

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Portland has seen sustained protest activity for much of the last year, but witnesses described the vandalism as more significant in scale than other recent demonstrations.

The Portland Police Bureau announced four arrests following a demonstration involving several hundred people who started marching from Director Park in downtown Portland at about 9:30 p.m.

Police declared that event a riot shortly afterwards when individuals broke windows at downtown businesses, a church and a museum.
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Police and local media reported multiple fires set in dumpsters, a portable toilet and in a construction site outside an Apple Store.

Portland Fire & Rescue extinguished the fires.

A second demonstration in another part of downtown was characterized as "a peaceful event" by police. In that demonstration, marchers held a vigil and walked across the Hawthorne Bridge.

The Oregonian reported that while demonstrations had been previously planned in response to the incidents in Chicago and Minneapolis, they also came just hours after an officer-involved shooting in Portland.

Demonstrators gathered near the scene of that shooting in Lents Park in southeast Portland, about 10 miles from the downtown area.

Little information has been released about the victim, who police described as an armed white man, or the events immediately preceding his death. Police identified the officer involved as Zachary Delong, an eight-year veteran of the bureau. He has been placed on administrative leave.



A crowd of about 100 people gathered in the park early Friday as officers investigated the scene. Police described the crowd as "hostile" and encroaching on the area where investigators were working, but no arrests were made.

Brooklyn Center, Minn., meanwhile, saw a sixth night of protests Friday night, which police said was largely peaceful until protesters breached security fences, prompting arrests.
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Study shows double-masking -- medical mask under cloth -- cuts COVID-19 spread

A procedure mask worn under a cotton bandana filtered out 77% of droplets released, while the procedure mask in combination with a cotton mask reduced droplet spread by 66%, the researchers said.

When used alone, the three non-medical-grade masks -- the polyester gaiter, the bandana and the cotton mask -- had fitted filtration efficiencies of just over 40%, meaning they provided the least protection, according to the researchers.

Disposable medical procedure masks worn alone reduced the flow of virus droplets by up to 60%, the data showed.

In addition, when the medical procedure masks were worn over cotton or polyester coverings, fitted filtration efficiencies ranged from 55% to 60%, they said.

This suggests that double masking with a cotton or polyester covering over a medical procedure masks offers the best protection against the release of respiratory droplets, the researchers said.

"The best form of double masking is when you and the person you are interacting with both have a mask," Sickbert-Bennett said.

Shift work-induced sleep problems may raise risk for heart health problems


Disrupted sleep habits among shift workers may negatively affect their heart health, a new study suggests. Photo by Simon Law/Flickr

April 16 (UPI) -- Working night shifts or hours that deviate from humans' natural body clock may increase a person's risk for heart disease, a study presented Friday during the European Society of Cardiology's virtual scientific congress found.

One in five manual laborers who worked early mornings, late evenings or nights were found to be at high risk for heart attack, stroke and heart disease, the data showed.

This figure is about 50% higher than the prevalence of heart disease in the general population of Portugal, where the research was conducted, based on World Health Organization estimates.

In addition, about 40% reported short sleep duration, of six hours or less, on workdays and an average "social jet lag," or the difference between an individual's normal biological clock and working hours, of nearly two hours, the researchers said.

The odds of being classified as high risk for heart disease and other heart problems increased by 31% for each additional hour of social jet lag, according to the researchers.

"We all have an internal biological clock which ranges from morning types ... to late types ... with most of the population falling in between," study author Dr. Sara Gamboa Madeira said in a statement.

"Our study found that for each hour the work schedule was out of sync with an employee's body clock, the risk of heart disease got worse," said Gamboa Madeira, a physician and researcher at the University of Lisbon in Portugal.

About 16% of actively employed people in the United States work non-daytime schedules, including 6% who work evenings and 4% who work nights, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Working atypical hours or shifts may increase a person's risk for health problems such as insomnia and heart disease, based on recent research.

Nearly half of all adults in the United States are considered to be at high risk for heart disease due their being overweight or having high blood pressure or high cholesterol, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

For this study, Gamboa Madeira assessed the health of 301 laborers, all all of whom performed worked in the distribution warehouses of a retail company in Portugal.

Staff always worked during the early morning, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.; in the late evening, 3 p.m. to midnight; or at night, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Study participants completed a questionnaire on their work, sleep and health habits and had their blood pressure and cholesterol measured, Gamboa Madeira said.

The questionnaire was used to assess sleep duration, and to estimate each individual's internal biological clock to establish levels of circadian misalignment, she said.

Circadian misalignment, or social jet lag, is the difference between an individual's biological clock and their normal working hours, according to Gamboa Madeira. The phenomena occurs when there is a mismatch between what the body wants -- for example, to fall asleep at 10 p.m. -- and the schedule imposed by work obligations, she said.

The average age of participants was 33 years, and 56% were men, according to Gamboa Madeira.

Just over half were smokers, 49% had high cholesterol and 10% had high blood pressure, all of which increase a person's risk for heart problems, the data showed.

Twenty percent of the study participants were classified as being at high risk for heart health problems, Gamboa Madeira said.

In nearly 60% of the workers, social jet lag was two hours or less, but it was two to four hours for 33% and four hours or more for 8%, she said.

A higher level of social jet lag was significantly associated with greater odds of being in the high-risk group, the data showed.

"These results add to the growing evidence that circadian misalignment may explain, at least in part, the association found between shift work and detrimental health outcomes," Gamboa Madeira said.

"The findings suggest that staff with atypical work schedules may need closer monitoring for heart health," she said.

Global trade rules can help fight climate change: US trade chief

Issued on: 15/04/2021 - 20:36

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said trade policy must ensure global supply chains of key technologies needed to combat climate change, including batteries for electric cars STR AFP/File


Washington (AFP)

International commerce creates incentives for countries to erode environmental protections to attract investment, and global trade rules are needed to counter that "race to the bottom," US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Thursday.

"The view that environmental issues are not an inherent part of trade ignores the reality that the existing rules of globalization incentivize downward pressure on environmental protection," Tai said in her first public speech.

"This puts countries with higher environmental standards at a competitive disadvantage," she said in the address to the Center for American Progress, a progressive Washington think tank.


Speaking ahead of President Joe Biden's virtual climate summit next week, Tai said she was committed to strengthening rules in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to combat issues like illegal logging and overfishing.

"The forests are our planet's lungs, and we should use trade policies and trade enforcement actions to protect them," she said, however, the rules are ineffective if they are not enforced.

"Going forward, trade has a role to play in discouraging the race to the bottom and incentivizing a race to the top," Tai said.

"But we have to be mindful that we will only truly address the global scale of this problem through global rules."

Biden has made reversing the climate-sceptic policy of his predecessor Donald Trump a priority, and is hosting a virtual summit of world leaders next week.

- 'Conserve our resources' -

With the world badly off track on meeting goals on curbing global warming that most nations signed up to in the 2015 Paris climate accords, Biden hopes the summit will result in stronger pledges in advance of UN-led talks in Glasgow at the end of the year.

Just days after taking office in January, the US leader signed executive orders he said would "supercharge our administration's ambitious plan to confront the existential threat of climate change."

He announced Washington would rejoin the Paris Agreement and is expected to unveil an ambitious 2030 emissions target.

Biden recently announced a massive $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan that focuses on creating employment through expansion of renewable energy and other environmental projects "to reimagine and rebuild a new economy," Tai noted.

But domestic policies are not sufficient, and environmental standards must be a factored into all US policy areas and throughout international supply chains, to ensure reliable access to key technologies, which "will be essential for our transition to net zero by 2050."

"We must conserve the resources we do have and work with our trading partners to do the same -- to both mitigate and adapt to climate pressures," Tai said.

That is why the WTO fisheries negotiations "are critical" to address subsidies that encourage overfishing, as well as to clean up plastic and other forms of marine pollution.

Once comfortable, life in Lebanon now a struggle for basics

A shopper examines egg prices in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon. Many people are struggling to cover basic needs as food prices soar. Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE

BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 14 (UPI) -- Lebanon's latest economic crisis has transformed the people's once comfortable lifestyle into a struggle to secure basic needs.

Over about 45 years, the population has survived a 15-year civil war, 22 years of Israeli occupation and two major invasions, 30 years of Syrian hegemony, dozens of political assassinations and smaller economic crises, just to name a few.

But they were not prepared for today's growing poverty and unemployment, wrought by the collapse in value of the Lebanese pound, hyperinflation and a shortage of U.S. dollars.

Gone are the times when they could afford nice clothing, branded products, the latest model of cars or mobile phones, low-paid housekeepers from Ethiopia or Sri Lanka, touring restaurants and nightclubs, spending vacations abroad or holding the region's best summer festivals and cultural events.

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Today, putting food on the table is the ultimate priority.

More than half of the population is living below the poverty line of $3.84 dollars a day, unemployed and at risk of hunger. With the country fast running out of hard currency, people are bracing for the worst. The government can no longer sustain its food subsidy program or secure fuel for its power stations to prevent a total blackout.

Those who still have a job, but are paid in Lebanese pounds, or those who can withdraw a restricted amount of their savings blocked by the banks, are barely making ends meet. The rest are mostly living on charity and food donations distributed by local and international NGOs.

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Only the wealthy few who smuggled their money abroad, or the lucky ones working for foreign companies and earning U.S. dollars, are able to maintain a decent living.

The Lebanese pound has lost nearly 90 percent of its value since the financial crisis broke out in October 2019, gradually dropping from a long-stabilized rate of 1,500 pound for 1 U.S. dollar to a low record of 15,000 LL last month.

Going to the supermarket has become an ordeal, with consumer prices jumping every day and people fighting over subsidized items. Even fruits and vegetables, which people used to buy by the kilo or in boxes, have become a luxury to many. Shoppers are limiting their purchase to a few pieces.

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Food prices have increased five times since 2019, while a simple T-shirt at Zara clothing shop now costs 200,000-300,000 LL from a pre-crisis price of 45,000 LL.

"Now we realize how much everything has a value," Sabine Bustros, a mother of two and board member of the Chateau Kefraya wine producer, told UPI. "The crisis has affected my lifestyle ethically. I don't buy things the way I used to do...Many times, these were things we didn't really need."

Even though she now restricts herself to buying the basics, Bustros said she feels "ashamed" for what she can still afford while the number of people going hungry or losing their jobs has grown dramatically.

"There is so much sadness and pain...we used to take everything for granted," she said, explaining that she hasn't been to a restaurant for a year, not only because of the coronavirus restrictions but also the exorbitant bill, which would equal a worker's monthly salary of 800,000 LL.

Sabine Bustros (L), with her late father Michel Bustros who founded in the 1950s Chateau Kefraya, a Lebanese wine label and wine estate in the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon, says she keeps spending to the necessities now. Photo courtesy of Sabine Bustros/UPI

The worsening crisis has forced people to review their priorities, dropping unnecessary spending and saving whenever possible to cover more urgent needs: medical care, education, housing and even little things like buying a new cellphone or fixing a car or refrigerator, which now costs a fortune.

As the fate of their blocked bank savings remains unknown, and no new government has been formed to open the way for a rescue program with the International Monetary Fund, they know that darkest days are ahead.

"The crisis today is a very serious one, especially after the collapse of the youth uprising of Oct. 17," said Sari Hanafi, a sociology professor at the American University of Beirut, referring to the popular non-sectarian protests that broke out in October 2019 to demand the ouster of the government and the country's corrupt political leaders. Eighteen months later, they are still in power and doing little to save the country from a total collapse.

"Lebanese have the talent of language, and some have double nationalities, so it is very easy to think of an escape gate...I mean the good talented people will leave, and this will fragilize the whole ecosystem of Lebanon," Hanafi told UPI.

Although he believes that it is not too late to introduce reforms required by the international community to rescue the country, he said the chances of a serious recovery and reshuffling the political system "is very thin."

Echoing the fears of many, he said, "Lebanon after the crisis will not be the Lebanon before the crisis...But the question is: Who will take over this new Lebanon?"

Many fear the corrupt political class will remain, and the most powerful group, the Iran-backed heavily-armed Hezbollah, would try to exploit the deterioration and impose its own vision for Lebanon, influencing its political, economic, social and cultural life.

"We will certainly reach a point where Lebanon will no longer be the country we have grown up in," Bustros said. "I doubt that we will return to the Lebanon we knew. It is over."

Despite the "unbearable situation" and the available option to live in Paris or New York, she is not willing to leave as long as she is surrounded by her family and friends of the "same education and values."

The Lebanese way of life is not just about wearing European-style clothes, mixing Arabic with French and English words in common conversations, eating out and partying, but it's also about a rich cultural life, heritage, diversity, creativity, ground-breaking private initiatives and resilience.

Nidal Ashkar, a veteran actress and founder of Al Madina Theater, doesn't want to give up on efforts to keep the theater "alive" and open to "all artists and people who still have a dream."

However, Ashkar, who has turned the theater into a space for all types of cultural activities since it was established in 1994, has reached a point where she could not pay the rent, electricity bills or her workers.

"We want to continue...for the sake of all artists who became jobless," she told UPI. "But how we will be able to do that? I really don't know."

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Bill seeks to expand eligibility for Agent Orange-related benefits


Former United States Army Vietnam Veteran and President of Veterans for Peace David Cline look for his fallen comrades names on the Vietnam War Memorial with member of Veterans For Peace, during a campaign event bringing together victims of Agent Orange exposure, a deforestation chemical used in the Vietnam War, in Washington, D.C. on November 28, 2005. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo


April 15 (UPI) -- A bipartisan bill introduced Thursday would allow Vietnam veterans who served in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War to qualify for disability benefits related to Agent Orange exposure.

Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs mandates that veterans who served in southeast Asian countries other than Vietnam during the war provide evidence of exposure to the herbicide in order to qualify for benefits

The Veterans Agent Orange Exposure Equity Act, introduced by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., and Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Penn., would allow veterans who served in some other countries during the conflict to access benefits without providing additional evidence.

"Our veterans are heroes and deserve to be treated as such. I am proud to join Rep. Cartwright in introducing legislation that will ensure our Vietnam War veterans who served in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia receive the care they deserve now, and I urge my colleagues in Congress to work across the aisle to support these men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country," Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

"In the United States, we take care of our fellow Americans who have been harmed in the course of their military service. It should be no different in the case of the Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange," Cartwright said in the same statement. "Many of those who have been exposed are living with cancers, heart disease or Parkinson's disease. They deserve relief for the pain and hardship this has caused for them and their families."

Agent Orange is one of several "tactical herbicides" used by the U.S. military during Operation Ranch Hand, a multi-year chemical warfare operation during the Vietnam War.

Operation Ranch Hand exposed millions of people in Southeast Asia and at least 500,000 American troops to the chemical.

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Veterans began making claims due to health problems related to Agent Orange exposure as early as 1977, but they were often rejected unless patients could prove their health problems began a year after discharge.

The VA has gradually expanded coverage for Agent Orange-related illnesses in the decades since.

Last year's Defense Spending Bill included a provision, introduced by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., that added presumption of service connection for Agent Orange-linked illness for veterans suffering from bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson's disease.

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Typically, veterans need to prove -- usually through medical exams and service records -- that their injuries and illnesses are directly connected to time spent in the military, Military Times noted.

Removing that burden helps veterans avoid having to file that additional paperwork.

It's not clear how many veterans would be affected by the change.

Military Times reported that 50,000 U.S. troops were deployed to Thailand alone at the height of operations, but it isn't clear how many later deployed to Vietnam and are already eligible for presumptive benefits status.

Study: Later school start times aid sleep duration, quality for adolescents, teen


Later school start times can help improve sleep quality among children and teens, a new study has found. Photo by Tyler Olson/Shutterstock

April 15 (UPI) -- Starting school later in the morning allows adolescents and teens to get the sleep they need to perform well in the classroom and maintain overall health, a study published Thursday by the journal Sleep found.

By pushing the school day back an hour, high school students obtained an extra four hours or so of sleep per week, the data showed.

More than 10% of students in grades 9 through 12 surveyed as part of the study reported they slept better, and about 20% indicated they experienced less daytime sleepiness, or feeling the need for sleep during the school day, the researchers said.

"Changing school start times is a complicated process that involves a lot of logistical considerations, [including] transportation, food and nutrition, athletics and child care," study co-author Lisa J. Meltzer told UPI in an email.

"However, as shown in a number of school districts across the country, it is possible to make these changes with positive outcomes for the students," said Meltzer, a professor of pediatrics at National Jewish Health in Denver.

Several studies have linked sleep with overall health, social development and academic achievement in young people.

However, lack of sleep is common among children and adolescents, due in part to early school start times and the fact that biological changes to sleep cycles during puberty make falling asleep early difficult for adolescents, according to Meltzer and her colleagues.

For this study, the researchers surveyed approximately 28,000 elementary, middle and high school students and their parents before changes to school start times and for two years afterward.

Elementary schools participating in the study started classes 60 minutes earlier, while middle schools started 40 to 60 minutes later and high schools started 70 minutes later, according to the researchers.

Both student and parent surveys asked about students' usual bedtime and wake time on both during the week and on weekends. Respondents also were asked to report on students' quality of sleep and their experience of daytime sleepiness, the researchers said.

Elementary school-age children saw minimal gains in sleep duration and sleep quality as a result of the earlier start times, likely due to their earlier "bedtimes," which essentially remained the same, according to the researchers.

Children in grades kindergarten through 5 in the study averaged between nine and 11 hours of sleep per night before and after the school start time change, which is the exact range recommended by the Sleep Foundation for people in that age group.

However, high schoolers, or those in grades 9 through 12, saw average sleep times increase by about 45 minutes per night -- or 3.8 hours per week -- due to the later start, to about eight hours, 15 minutes from 7 1/2 hours, the data showed.

This change put them within the eight to 10 hours of sleep per night range recommended by the Sleep Foundation.

In addition, these older students had, on average, 77 minutes per night less of "weekend oversleep," the difference between weekday and weekend sleep times, the researchers said.

Similarly, middle school students obtained 2.4 additional hours of sleep per week with the later school start time, and 12% fewer students in this age group -- grades 6 through 8 -- reported daytime sleepiness, the data showed.

"It is important for families to make sleep a priority [by] having a consistent bedtime and wake time, with no more than an hour delay to either bedtime or wake time on weekends," Meltzer said.

"Families need to recognize that sacrificing sleep means sacrificing physical and mental health, as well as performance, both academic and athletic."


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More than 10% of women in U.S. use tobacco, CDC reports



More than one in 10 women in the United States report tobacco use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Photo by sarahjohnson1/Pixabay


April 15 (UPI) -- More than one in 10 women in the United States say they smoke cigarettes or e-cigarettes, according to figures released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, use of tobacco products varies from state to state, with just under 7% of women in California reporting cigarette or e-cigarette smoking, but as many as 75% of those in West Virginia doing so, the data showed.

About 20% of women in Kentucky and Oklahoma report tobacco use, while smoking rates are about 15% or more in many states: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming, the agency said.

Current tobacco use is highest among women ages 45 to 64, at just over 14%, and among those of American Indian and Alaska Native origin, at 21%, according to the CDC.

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However, tobacco use among women has declined since 2017, when 14% reported smoking cigarettes or e-cigarettes, the agency said.

"Although cigarette smoking among women has declined over time, tobacco product use among women across states is still primarily driven by combustible tobacco product use from cigarette smoking," the CDC researchers wrote.

"Multiple social, environmental, and personal factors influence tobacco use among women," who, research indicates, may be more susceptible to peer pressure to take up the habit in their youth, they said.

RELATED Majority of e-cigarette users want to quit, study finds

The new data is based on an analysis of tobacco use among women in the United States in 2018 and 2019, the last year for which information is available, the CDC said.

Up to 40 million adults nationally use tobacco products, and the numbers have been on the decline since 2000, according to the CDC.

However, more than 200,000 women die annually from health complications related to smoking, primarily cancers, based on recent estimates.

RELATED Study: Daily emails on smoking danger encourages people to quit

For this analysis, CDC researchers surveyed nearly 75,000 adult women ages 18 years and older from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Participants were asked about their tobacco use in the past year, including cigarettes and e-cigarettes, or vaping devices, the researchers said.

Nationally, just under 12% of the women participants reported tobacco use, with 10% citing cigarette smoking and nearly 2% indicating that they vaped, the data showed.

Just over 1% of the participants said they used both products, the CDC said.

Women ages 35 to 44 were nearly three times as likely to report tobacco use compared to those ages 18 to 24 years, according to the agency.

"As the tobacco product landscape continues to evolve, public health messaging efforts can emphasize to women that all tobacco products carry inherent risks," the CDC researchers wrote.

In addition, they can highlight "that multiple tobacco product users are at increased risk for nicotine addiction and dependence," they said.