CDC: US is ‘in the thick’ of flu season

CDC: US is ‘in the thick’ of flu season

ATLANTA

Flu season is ramping up, with illness widespread in at least 35 states. That’s up from 25 in the previous week.

A flu expert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the agency’s weekly report released Friday shows “We’re in the thick of flu season.”

The CDC’s Lyn Finelli says the season likely hasn’t peaked but that it’s too soon to know if it will be worse than normal.

The numbers aren’t as high so far as last year, when flu season started early. Flu usually peaks in January or February.

The number of people seeking medical care for the flu climbed to more than 4 percent of all doctor visits last week, nearly doubling from two weeks earlier.

US withdraws diplomat from India

NEW DELHI

The United States said Friday it was withdrawing a diplomat from India in hopes it would end a bitter dispute that started with the arrest and strip-search of an Indian diplomat in New York.

Washington’s announcement that it was complying with a demand from New Delhi for the expulsion of the U.S. official came hours after Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, left the U.S.

Khobragade, 39, is accused of exploiting her Indian-born housekeeper and nanny, reportedly having her work more than 100 hours a week for low pay and lying about it on a visa form. Khobragade has maintained her innocence, and Indian officials have described her treatment as barbaric.

Ex-Reagan aide Larry Speakes dies

JACKSON, Miss.

Larry Speakes, who spent six years as acting press secretary for President Ronald Reagan, has died in his native Mississippi. He was 74.

Kenny Williams of the Cleveland Funeral Home says Speakes died Friday at home in Cleveland, Miss., where he had lived the past several years.

Bolivar County Coroner Nate Brown says Speakes had Alzheimer’s disease and died in his sleep. He was buried in North Cleveland Cemetery during a private service Friday morning.

Speakes became Reagan’s acting spokesman after Press Secretary James Brady was injured during an assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981.

After resigning in 1987, Speakes worked for Merrill Lynch in New York. He returned to Washington in 1988 and worked in public relations for Northern Telecom and the U. S. Postal Service, retiring in 2008.

Report: Sexism part of academy culture

WASHINGTON

Students at the U.S. military academies often believe they have to put up with sexist and offensive behavior, according to a Pentagon report released Friday, reflecting a culture of disrespect that permeates the schools and their sports teams and fuels reports of sexual harassment and assaults.

The report points to scandals involving sports teams at all three academies during the past school year as examples of the problems, and it urges leaders to do more to improve training and prevention programs.

The issue of sexual assaults has gripped the military in the past year after a series of high-profile cases from academy students to generals. Led by female senators, the defense appropriations bill President Barack Obama signed in December would tighten rules surrounding how sexual-assault cases are handled in the military justice system.

Associated Press