Jordan’s King Abdullah is to meet U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday amid tensions with Israel over the management of Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites.

Although Jordan is custodian of those sites under a 1994 peace treaty with the Jewish state, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently announced a rejection of any foreign involvement on managing the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound there.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who is accompanying Abdullah on his U.S. visit, called the meeting with Biden “important for the discussion of regional issues.” Talks will also cover the recent surge of terrorist attacks in Israel, centered on Jerusalem and its holy sites, as well as the West Bank. 

The pending meeting between Abdullah and Biden comes about six weeks after the king held talks in Amman with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on regional issues. Herzog’s trip to Jordan marked the first official visit there by an Israeli head of state. 

Speaking to Sky News Arabia, Safadi underscored Jordan’s position that “any measure that violates the status quo in Jerusalem is legally void,” dismissing any change to Jordan’s continued custodianship of the Muslim and Christian holy sites. Palestinian journalist and analyst Daoud Kuttab in Amman told VOA that any change would be a violation on three counts. The first is the Status Quo Agreement by Ottoman Sultan Osman III in 1757 that regulates relations among all of Jerusalem’s faith groups. 

“A violation on the Status Quo Agreement, the 1757 agreement, that has survived the Turkish, the British, the Jordanian and the early years of the occupation,” Kuttab said. “Secondly, it’s a violation of the understanding by [former Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, King Abdullah, and [former U.S. Secretary of State] John Kerry in 2014, which stated that Al-Aqsa is for Muslims to pray and for all others to visit. And it contradicts Israel’s foreign minister, who said that Israel respects the status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque.”   

Foreign Minister Safadi also urged Israel to preserve calm around those places, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.   

As custodian of the compound, Jordan tries to ease tensions between Israel and the Palestinians and has been heavily involved in efforts to maintain calm there. But the area has witnessed repeated violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police.   

Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad also inflamed tensions by calling for stepped up attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank during the recent Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which coincided with Passover and Easter this year. 

On Monday, King Abdullah met with Christian leaders in New York. Journalist Kuttab noted that the king underscored the importance of Jordanian custodianship of Jerusalem’s holy sites.  

“They affirmed support for the king’s efforts in protecting both Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem and the respect of the Status Quo understanding,” Kuttab said.                       

That same day, King Abdullah and Queen Rania received an award from the Road to Peace Foundation of the Vatican Mission to the United Nations. It recognizes their role in promoting interfaith dialogue and working for peace, and Jordan’s humanitarian efforts in hosting refugees.  

 
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As more doctors prescribe Pfizer’s powerful COVID-19 pill, new questions are emerging about its performance, including why a small number of patients appear to relapse after taking the drug. 

Paxlovid has become the go-to option against COVID-19 because of its at-home convenience and impressive results in heading off severe disease. The U.S. government has spent more than $10 billion to purchase enough pills to treat 20 million people. 

But experts say there is still much to be learned about the drug, which was authorized in December for adults at high risk of severe COVID-19 based on a study in which 1,000 adults received the medication. 

Why do some patients seem to relapse? 

Doctors have started reporting rare cases of patients whose symptoms return several days after completing Paxlovid’s five-day regimen of pills. That has prompted questions about whether those patients are still contagious and should receive a second course of Paxlovid. 

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration weighed in. It advised against a second round because there’s little risk of severe disease or hospitalization among patients who relapse. 

Dr. Michael Charness reported last month on a 71-year-old vaccinated patient who saw his symptoms subside but then return, along with a spike in virus levels nine days into his illness. 

Charness says Paxlovid remains a highly effective drug, but he wonders if it might be less potent against the current omicron variant. The $500 drug treatment was tested and approved based on its performance against the delta version of the coronavirus. 

“The ability to clear the virus after it’s suppressed may be different from omicron to delta, especially for vaccinated people,” said Charness, who works for Boston’s VA health system. 

Could some people just be susceptible to a relapse? Both the FDA and Pfizer point out that 1% to 2% of people in Pfizer’s original study saw their virus levels rebound after 10 days. The rate was about the same among people taking the drug or dummy pills, “so it is unclear at this point that this is related to drug treatment,” the FDA stated. 

Some experts point to another possibility: The Paxlovid dose isn’t strong enough to fully suppress the virus. Andy Pekosz of Johns Hopkins University worries that could spur mutations that are resistant to the drug. 

“We should really make sure we’re dosing Paxlovid appropriately because I would hate to lose it right now,” said Pekosz, a virologist. “This is one of the essential tools we have to help us turn the corner on the pandemic.” 

How well does Paxlovid work in vaccinated people? 

Pfizer tested Paxlovid in the highest-risk patients: unvaccinated adults with no prior COVID-19 infection and other health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. The drug reduced their risk of hospitalization and death from 7% to 1%. 

But that doesn’t reflect the vast majority of Americans today, where 89% of adults have had at least one shot. And roughly 60% of Americans have been infected with the virus at some point. 

“That’s the population I care about in 2022 because that’s who we’re seeing — vaccinated people with COVID — so do they benefit?” asked Dr. David Boulware, a University of Minnesota researcher and physician. 

There’s no clear answer yet for vaccinated Americans, who already have a hospitalization rate far below 1%. 

That may come from a large ongoing Pfizer study that includes high-risk vaccinated people. No results have been published; the study is expected to wrap up in the fall. 

Pfizer said last year that initial results showed Paxlovid failed to meet the study’s goals of significantly resolving symptoms and reducing hospitalizations. It recently stopped enrolling anyone who’s received a vaccination or booster in the past year, a change Boulware says suggests those patients aren’t benefitting. 

At a minimum, the preliminary data should be released to federal officials, Boulware said. “If the U.S. government is spending billions of dollars on this medicine, what’s the obligation to release that data so that they can formulate a good policy?” 

Can Paxlovid be used to help prevent COVID-19 infection? 

Pfizer recently reported that proactively giving Paxlovid to family members of people infected with COVID-19 didn’t significantly reduce their chances of catching it. But that’s not the end of the story. Pfizer is studying several other potential benefits of early use, including whether Paxlovid reduces the length and severity of COVID-19 among households. 

“It’s a high bar to protect against infection, but I’d love to see data on how Paxlovid did against severe disease because it may be more effective there,” Pekosz said. 
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Congressional Democrats are preparing a plan that would boost President Joe Biden’s requested $33 billion Ukraine aid package to nearly $40 billion, and a House vote is possible as soon as Tuesday, two people familiar with lawmakers’ thinking said.

In a retreat, Biden conceded that the package should not contain any of the additional billions he’s requested to combat COVID-19. Republicans, whose backing would be crucial to pushing legislation through the evenly divided Senate, have opposed adding that money to the Ukraine aid.

“We cannot afford delay in this vital war effort,” Biden said in a written statement. “Hence, I am prepared to accept that these two measures move separately, so that the Ukrainian aid bill can get to my desk right away.”

Biden said he has “nearly exhausted” his authority to continue shipping military aid to Ukraine, adding, “We are approximately 10 days from hitting this critical deadline.”

Democrats have already offered their latest proposal to the GOP.

“I’m focused on getting it done without extraneous matters on it, and getting it done quickly,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, said of the proposal. He said the measure “may adjust some in the process.”

Details of the measure were described Monday by people who could speak only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Biden’s statement provided no details, saying, “Congress is likely to pass it in substantially the form I proposed.”

Democrats’ movement on the proposal comes with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in its 11th week and showing signs of becoming a grinding, long-term war. Heavy fighting in Ukraine’s eastern and southern areas is causing widespread damage and significant losses on both sides, and the Russian offensive is showing few signs of progress.

Still, U.S. officials in and out of Congress have stressed that it will be critical to continue speeding assistance to Ukraine, whose forces are outnumbered.

Emphasizing the urgency facing U.S. officials, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the Pentagon’s ability to send weapons systems and other equipment from Defense Department stockpiles to Ukraine will run out in about three weeks. The Pentagon currently has about $100 million in drawdown authority left from a $13.6 billion Ukraine aid measure enacted in March.

“Which is why we encourage Congress to act quickly,” Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. He said the Pentagon would like “no interruption” in its ability to send Ukraine weapons and other equipment.

While Democrats say more spending to combat COVID-19 is also crucial, their plan to seek votes on a package omitting those funds underscores their thinking that rushing assistance to Ukraine is their top priority. A push for a separate pandemic measure would come later, Democrats say.

The officials said Democrats’ Ukraine measure would include $3.4 billion more than Biden had requested for defense spending and another $3.4 billion over what the president sought for humanitarian aid.

Biden’s request, which he sent Congress on April 28, asked for $20 billion for defense spending for Ukraine, the U.S. and their allies. It also requested $3 billion for humanitarian assistance, including to help feed people around the world who rely on grains and other food from war-racked Ukraine.

Backed by Democrats, Biden has asked Congress for another $22.5 billion to buy vaccines, treatments and tests to better prepare the country for future COVID-19 variants and help staunch the virus’ spread in poor countries abroad. In a deal with Republicans, Democrats agreed last month to slice that request to $10 billion, but the compromise was derailed over other disagreements.

With elections approaching and the public tiring of dealing with the pandemic, Republican support for added COVID-19 spending has flagged. Democrats hoped wrapping the pandemic money into the widely popular Ukraine measure would ease approval of the COVID-19 funds.

In his statement, Biden said Congress should send him the Ukraine funds “in the next few days. And then, I urge Congress to move promptly on the COVID funding bill.”

Unwilling to slow the Ukraine package, Republicans also want to keep the pandemic spending separate so they can use that measure for a fight over immigration that could damage Democrats.

The GOP wants to force a vote on a proposal to continue curbs on admitting migrants crossing the Mexican border for fear of spreading the pandemic, restrictions imposed by former President Donald Trump.

With increases in border crossings expected soon, that proposal divides Democrats, with many reluctant to back Biden in ending those restrictions later this month.
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The Biden administration announced on Monday that 20 internet companies have agreed to provide discounted service to people with low incomes, a program that could effectively make tens of millions of households across the U.S. eligible for free service through an already existing federal subsidy.

The $1 trillion infrastructure package passed by Congress last year included $14.2 billion funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides $30 monthly subsidies ($75 in tribal areas) on internet service for millions of lower-income households.

With the new commitment from the internet providers, some 48 million households will be eligible for $30 monthly plans for 100 megabits per second, or higher speed, service — making internet service fully paid for with the government subsidy if they sign up with one of the providers participating in the program.

Biden, during his White House run and the push for the infrastructure bill, made expanding high-speed internet access in rural and low-income areas a priority. He has repeatedly spoken out about low-income families that struggled finding reliable Wi-Fi, so their children could take part in remote schooling and complete homework assignments early in the coronavirus pandemic.

“If we didn’t know it before, we know now: High-speed internet is essential,” the Democratic president said during a White House event last month honoring the National Teacher of the Year.

The 20 internet companies that have agreed to lower their rates for eligible consumers provide service in areas where 80% of the U.S. population, including 50% of the rural population, live, according to the White House. Participating companies that offer service on tribal lands are providing $75 rates in those areas, the equivalent of the federal government subsidy in those areas.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday were set to meet with telecom executives, members of Congress and others to spotlight the effort to improve access to high-speed internet for low-income households.

The providers are Allo Communications, AltaFiber (and Hawaiian Telecom), Altice USA (Optimum and Suddenlink), Astound, AT&T, Breezeline, Comcast, Comporium, Frontier, IdeaTek, Cox Communications, Jackson Energy Authority, MediaCom, MLGC, Spectrum (Charter Communications), Starry, Verizon (Fios only), Vermont Telephone Co., Vexus Fiber and Wow! Internet, Cable, and TV.

American households are eligible for subsidies through the Affordable Connectivity Program if their income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or if a member of their family participates in one of several programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA) and Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit.
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They crawled to the surface as the coronavirus pandemic roiled New York City, scurrying out of subterranean nests into the open air, feasting on a smorgasbord of scraps in streets, parks and mounds of curbside garbage. As diners shunned the indoors for outdoor dining, so did the city’s rats.

Now city data suggests that sightings are more frequent than they’ve been in a decade.

Through April, people have called in some 7,400 rat sightings to the city’s 311 service request line. That’s up from about 6,150 during the same period last year, and up by more than 60% from roughly the first four months of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.

In each of the first four months of 2022, the number of sightings was the highest recorded since at least 2010, the first year online records are available. By comparison, there were about 10,500 sightings in all of 2010 and 25,000 such reports in all of last year (sightings are most frequent during warm months).

Whether the rat population has increased is up for debate, but the pandemic might have made the situation more visible.

With more people spending time outdoors as temperatures grow warmer, will rat sightings further surge?

“That depends on how much food is available to them and where,” said Matt Frye, a pest management specialist for the state of New York, who is based at Cornell University.

While a return to pre-pandemic routines “is exciting after two years of COVID-imposed lifestyle changes,” Frye said in an email, “it also means business as usual for rat problems that are directly tied to human behavior.”

Rats have been a problem in New York City since its founding. Every new generation of leaders has tried to find a better way of controlling the rodent population, and struggled to show results.

When Mayor Eric Adams was borough president of Brooklyn, he annoyed animal rights activists — and upset the stomachs of some journalists — by demonstrating a trap that used a bucket filled with a vinegary, toxic soup to drown rats lured by the scent of food.

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio spent tens of millions of dollars on efforts to reduce the rat population in targeted neighborhoods through more frequent trash pickup, more aggressive housing inspections, and replacing dirt basement floors in some apartment buildings with ones made of concrete.

The city also launched a program to use dry ice to suffocate rats in their burrows, once demonstrating the technique for reporters at an event where workers chased — but never caught — one of the fleeing critters.

During a recent news conference in Times Square, Adams announced the city’s latest effort: padlocked curbside trash bins intended to reduce the big piles of garbage bags that turn into a buffet for rodents.

“You’re tired of the rodents, you’re tired of the smell, you’re tired of seeing food, waste and spillage,” the mayor said.

Rats not only strike fear among the easily squeamish, they can also be a public health concern.

Last year, at least 13 people were hospitalized — one died — because of leptospirosis, a condition that attacks the kidneys and liver. Most human infections are associated with rats.

As some cities consider making outdoor dining permanent — an option born of necessity during the pandemic — they are mindful of a further swelling of the rat population. Even before the pandemic, experts noticed a rise in rat populations in some of the country’s largest cities.

Rats can survive on less than an ounce of food a day and rarely travel more than a city block to find food, according to rat scholars.

Some New York City restaurants erected curbside sheds to allow COVID-wary diners to eat outside. But unfinished meals left at tables have sometimes drawn brazen four-legged leftover bandits — a la Pizza Rat, who gained fame in 2015 after a video went viral showing the rodent dragging a slice of pizza down a flight of subway stairs (debates raged at the time about whether the video was staged).

As fewer people used the subways, there were fewer morsels on which to feast in tunnels.

“What happened during the pandemic was that your restaurants shut down,” said Richard Reynolds, whose rat-hunting group for years periodically takes out teams of dogs to sniff out — and kill — vermin. “When outside dining came along, there was food again.”

In planter boxes outside dining sheds, rats lie in wait for any fallen crumb. They lurk in storm drains ready to lunge.

It’s the stuff of nightmares for Brooklyn resident Dylan Viner, who recently accidentally hit a dead rat with his bicycle. In recent months, he and friends have noticed a rise in the number of rats out in the open.

“I’ve always had a phobia of rats. I’m not squeamish about snakes or bugs — but rats, there’s something about them,” said Viner, a transplant from London, who likes to keep his distance from the vermin. “It’s OK seeing them around the subway tracks. It’s when you see one jump out in front of you and dash from a trash can to a dumpster or a restaurant … that’s when it makes you feel a bit squeamish.”

He recalled taking a recent walk in the West Village, where a stride landed on one of the creatures.

“I screamed and ran,” he recounted. The rat might have squealed, too.

“Mine was so loud,” he said, “that it’s hard to know if it was mine or the rat’s.”
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