September 14: Pennsylvania Measles Outbreak and China’s Defense Law

In public health Pennsylvania has reported 676 measles cases, including four in people fully vaccinated for their age. Officials say severe illness remains extraordinarily rare among vaccinated people, while unvaccinated residents face the greatest risk. An unvaccinated woman in her 40s died of measles-related complications in Jefferson County. People who may have been exposed are urged to call ahead before seeking care, rather than arriving unannounced and potentially exposing others. In New York City, officials ordered 10 cooling towers in the South Bronx to be cleaned as Legionnaires’ disease cases rise. One tower, at Yankee Stadium, tested positive for Legionella bacteria. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to keynote a Washington conference run by Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization he co-founded before joining the administration. The appearance comes as measles outbreaks continue to test public-health messaging. In China China has revised its national-defence law to require eligible citizens to perform national-defence duties during mobilisation and permit the state to requisition civilian resources, including land and aircraft, under specified conditions. The law takes effect October 1 and broadens the formal mechanisms available for national mobilisation. In markets The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly rose above 5 percent in Monday trading before easing below that threshold. It was only the second time in 19 years the yield had crossed 5 percent, a level that can feed into borrowing costs for mortgages, business lending, and government finance. At the Supreme Court The court is set to hear a challenge to Alaska’s forfeiture of an 83-year-old charter pilot’s $95,000 plane after he was convicted over a beer shipment to a dry Alaska community. Ken Jouppi’s criminal fine was $1,500. The case asks whether taking an asset worth more than 60 times that fine violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on excessive fines.