French Senate Amends Fast-Fashion Bill to Target Shein, Temu
French senators are seeking to sharpen planned legislation aimed at regulating fast fashion to target sellers of ultra-cheap clothing such as Chinese-founded Shein Group Ltd. and Temu.
The right-leaning Senate is redrafting the bill, which passed unanimously in the lower house of parliament last year, to narrow its scope to mainly Chinese online retailers.
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Los Angeles Times
19 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Candidates for California governor face off about affordability, high cost of living in first bipartisan clash
SACRAMENTO — In a largely courteous gathering of a half dozen of California's top gubernatorial candidates, four Democrats and two Republicans agreed that despite the state boasting one of the world's largest economies, too many of its residents are suffering because of the affordability crisis in the state. Their strategies on how to improve the state's economy, however, largely embraced the divergent views of their respective political parties as they discussed housing costs, high-speed rail, tariffs, climate change and homelessness on Wednesday evening at the first bipartisan event in the 2026 governor race to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom. 'Californians are innovators. They are builders, they are designers, they are creators, and that is the reason that we have the fourth largest economy in the world,' said former Rep. Katie Porter., a Democrat from Irvine 'But businesses and workers are being held back by the same thing. It is too expensive to do things here. It is too expensive to raise a family. It is too expensive to run a business.' Conservative commentator Steve Hilton, a Republican, argued that state leaders need to end the 'stranglehold' of unions, lawyers and climate change activists on California policy. 'I've been traveling this state. Everywhere I go, it's the same story, this heartbreaking word that I get from every business I meet, every family is in such a struggle in California,' he said, with a raspy voice he explained immediately upon taking the stage was caused by a sore throat. The candidates spoke to about 800 people at a California Chamber of Commerce dinner at an 80-minute panel at the convention center in Sacramento. The chamber's decision on who to invite to the forum was based on which ones were leaders in public opinion surveys and fundraising. Making the cut were former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, Hilton, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Porter and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The sharpest exchange of the evening was between Kounalakis, a Democrat, and Bianco, a Republican. After the candidates were asked about President Trump's erratic tariff policies, Kounalakis cited her experience working for her father's reat estate company as she criticized Bianco for arguing for a wait-and-see approach about the president's undulating plans. 'You're not a businessman, you're a government employee,' she said to Bianco. 'You've got a pension, you're going to do just fine. Small businesses are suffering from this, and it's only going to get worse, and it's driven, by the way, it is driven by Donald Trump's vindictiveness toward countries he doesn't like, countries he wants to annex, or states he doesn't like, people he doesn't like. This is hurting California, hurting our people, and it's only going to make things worse, until we can get him out of the White House.' Bianco countered that Kounalakis and the other Democrat gubernatorial candidates are directly responsible for the economic woes facing Californians because they have an 'unquenchable thirst' for money to fund their liberal agenda. 'I just feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. I have a billionaire telling me that my 32 years of public service is okay for my retirement,' he said. 'It's taxes and regulations that are driving every single thing in California up. We pay the highest taxes, we pay the highest gas, we pay the highest housing, we pay the highest energy.' The Democrats on stage, though largely agreeing about policy, sought to differentiate themselves. The sharpest divide was about whether to raise the minimum wage. On Monday, labor advocates in Los Angeles proposed raising it in Los Angeles County Atkins reflected most of her fellow Democrats' views, saying that while she wanted to see higher wages for workers, 'now is not the time.' Villaraigosa said that while he believes in a higher minimum wage, 'we can't just keep raising the minimum wage.' Kounalakis, though, said not increasing the minimum wage would be inhumane. 'I think we should be working for that number, yes I do,' she said. 'You want to throw poor people under the bus.' California's high cost of living is a pressing concern among the state's voters, and the issue is expected to play a major role in the 2026 governor's face. Nearly half feel worse off now compared with last year, and more than half felt less hopeful about their economic well-being, according to a poll released in May by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies that was co-sponsored by The Times. Nearly exactly a year before the gubernatorial primary next year, the event was the first time Democratic and Republican candidates have shared a stage. It was also the first time GOP candidates Bianco and Hilton have appeared together. Although the state's leftward electoral tilt makes it challenging for a Republican to win the race – Californians last elected GOP politicians to statewide office in 2006 — Bianco and Hilton are battling to win one of the top two spots in next year's primary election. The pair expressed similar views about broadly ending liberal policies in the state, such as stopping the state's high-speed rail project and reducing environmental restrictions such as the state's climate-change efforts that they argue have increased costs while making no meaningful impact on the consumption of fossil fuels. A crucial question is whether President Trump, who both Bianco and Hilton fully support, will eventually endorse one of the Republican candidates. The gubernatorial candidates, some of whom have been running more than a year, have largely focused on fundraising since entering the race. But the contest to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom is growing more public and heated, as seen at last weekend's California Democratic Party convention. Several of the party's candidates scurried around the Anaheim convention center, trying to curry favor with the state's most liberal activists while also drawing contrasts with their rivals. But the Democratic field is partially frozen as former Vice President Kamala Harris weighs entering the race, a decision she is expected to make by the end of the summer. Harris' name did not come up during the forum. There were a handful of light moments. Porter expressed a common concern among the state's residents when they talk about the cost of living in the state. 'What really keeps me up at night, why I'm running for governor, is whether my children are going to be able to afford to live here, whether they're going to ever get off my couch and have their own home,' she said.
Associated Press
22 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Europe's central bank expected to lower interest rates as Trump's trade war threatens growth
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Lower inflation and concern that U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war will slow already modest growth have cleared the way for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates at Thursday's policy meeting, a step that would lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses and promote economic activity. With a cut widely expected by market analysts, a key question is how low the bank will go, given uncertainty about the impact of U.S. trade policy on Europe's export-dependent economy. Bank President Christine Lagarde will face questions about the bank's outlook for coming meetings at her post-decision news conference. A cut of a quarter percentage point would be the eighth rate cut since June 2024 and would take the bank's benchmark rate to 2%. Trump on April 2 announced a 20% tariff, or import tax, on goods from the European Union. He later threatened to raise the tariff to 50% after expressing dissatisfaction with the progress of trade talks with the EU. Trump and the EU's executive commission have agreed to suspend implementation and any retaliation by the EU until July 14 as negotiators seek to reach agreement. Trump added more disruption this week by suddenly increasing a 25% tariff on steel imports to 50% for all countries except for the U.K. The threat of even higher tariffs has raised fears that growth will underperform already modest forecasts. The EU's executive commission lowered its growth forecast for this year to 0.9% from 1.3% on the optimistic assumption that the 20% tariff rate can be negotiated down to no more than 10%. Low inflation has bolstered the ECB's ability to cut rates. Annual inflation for the 20 countries that use the euro fell to 1.9% in May from 2.2% in April as energy prices eased. The ECB raised rates to a record high of 4% to suppress a 2021-2023 inflation outbreak that reached double digits. But with inflation now below its 2% target, the bank has more freedom to cut. Lower rates make it cheaper to borrow and buy things, supporting demand for goods and in theory increasing spending and investment.
Medscape
25 minutes ago
- Medscape
New Hyperkalemia Risk Model for CKD and Diabetes
A new risk model may help identify which patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes are more likely to develop hyperkalemia, granting physicians more confidence in prescribing medications like finerenone. However, researchers caution that further validation is needed. The model is based on pooled data from two phase 3 trials of finerenone: FIDELIO-DKD (Finerenone in Reducing Kidney Failure and Disease Progression in Diabetic Kidney Disease) and FIGARO-DKD (Finerenone in Reducing Cardiovascular Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease). The combined dataset, known as FIDELITY, includes 6355 patients in the placebo groups. Researchers used this dataset to develop the risk score, identifying seven factors independently associated with the primary outcome of new onset of hyperkalemia (incident serum potassium level > 5.5 mmol/L): Serum potassium > 4.5 mmol/L Prior history of hyperkalemia No use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio > 1000 mg/g Hemoglobin < 12 g/dL No use of thiazide-type diuretics Estimated glomerular filtration rate < 45 mL/min/1.73 m2 The model was subsequently validated using data from the finerenone groups in FIDELITY. In their paper, published online in the European Heart Journal , João Pedro Ferreira, MD, PhD, of the Cardiovascular Research and Development Center at the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, and coauthors noted that the model could be used to reduce the risk for hyperkalemia among high-risk patients receiving finerenone. 'This could include tailoring of individualized treatment and follow-up strategies (eg, frequency of visits and serum potassium assessments, and use of potassium binders), thus optimizing patient management and potentially improving outcomes,' they noted. Welcome Results, Validation Required CKD, which affects more than 800 million people worldwide, is a common complication of diabetes. An estimated 15%-40% of people with CKD in the setting of diabetes may have hyperkalemia, noted Bernard G. Jaar, MD, MPH, clinical director for Nephrology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, who was not involved in the study. In an email exchange with Medscape Medical News , Jaar described the study as 'welcome and much needed.' He noted that hyperkalemia poses a challenge for clinicians, as many medications required for optimal care in CKD — including renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockade agents and finerenone — can raise serum potassium. 'This is a true barrier to care,' Jaar wrote. 'Clinicians are worried about the potential complications associated with hyperkalemia, such as arrhythmias and even death.' Jaar noted that the FIDELITY analysis has several strengths, including its large sample size of patients with varying stages of CKD and degrees of proteinuria, and a risk score model that incorporated readily available clinical variables. He added that it reports a stepwise increase in hyperkalemia risk across risk score tertiles in both placebo and finerenone groups, even though all patients were already on a maximally tolerated RAAS blockade agent. However, he questioned the study's generalizability, given that it excluded patients if their serum potassium was > 4.8 mmol/L. 'This risk model in predicting hyperkalemia needs to be validated in other populations where diet may be different,' Jaar wrote. 'Also, this needs to be validated in at-risk populations during real-life experience and not only in patients enrolled in clinical trials, who are typically highly motivated and selected.' Future Applications Rajiv Agarwal, MD, MS, professor emeritus of medicine at Indiana University and a lead researcher in the finerenone clinical studies, echoed the need for further validation of this tool. Although not involved with the development of the risk model, Agarwal was an author on key publications from the FIGARO-DKD, FIDELIO-DKD, and FIDELITY studies. Agarwal suggested that this model's approach could be applied to other therapies, including aldosterone synthase inhibitors in a similar population with CKD. He also noted the importance of incorporating validated risk models for hyperkalemia into electronic medical records or apps, particularly in countries with limited access to care, like China and India. This would allow more nuanced approaches for following up patients taking drugs with established hyperkalemia risk. 'If the patient cannot come after a month, can I make a clinical judgment and say, 'Okay, if you came back after 3 months, your risk of hyperkalemia is low enough that I'm willing to take that risk,'' he said. 'Or if the risk of hyperkalemia is high, you can tell the patient who can't come back in 30 days, 'I don't think I want to prescribe this drug for you'.' The work on the risk model was supported by Bayer, which also funded the FIDELIO-DKD and FIGARO-DKD studies and pooled analysis. The study's authors included Bayer employees. Other financial relationships of the authors included research support, consulting and other fees from companies including: Abbott Vascular, Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BioVentrix, Boehringer Ingelheim, Brahms, Brainstorm Medical, Cardiac Dimensions, Cardior, Cereno Scientific, CSL Vifor, CVRx, Edwards, Eli Lilly, G3 Pharmaceuticals, Gilead, GSK, Impulse Dynamics, Janssen, KBP Biosciences, Mundipharma, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Occlutech, PhaseBio, Proton Intel, Respicardia, Sanofi, Sarfez, scPharmaceuticals, Servier, SQ Innovation, Tricida, Vectorious, Vifor International, and V-Wave. Agarwal had received support from Bayer. He also had received consulting fees and other support from Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Akebia, Intercept Pharma, Alnylam, and Vertex. Jaar reported no relevant financial disclosures.
