LA County recommends indoor masking after increase in COVID cases Los Angeles County said it is "strongly recommending" residents wear masks indoors due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. ABC News ABC News

On Thursday, the largest county in the United States said it is "strongly recommending" people wear face coverings in indoor public settings but stopped short of requiring them.

Virus lockdowns hit China economic powerhouse Guangzhou BEIJING (AP) — A surge in COVID-19 cases has spurred lockdowns in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, adding to financial pressure that has disrupted global supply chains and sharply slowed growth in the world’s second-largest economy. AP NEWS

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The country’s borders remain largely closed and internal travel and trade is fraught with ever-changing quarantine regulations.

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EU Commission proposes tougher pollution rules

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm sought on Wednesday to toughen up pollution restrictions to ensure that harmful pollutants are eliminated by 2050 to potentially save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

The European Commission’s proposals center on air, waste and water pollution, and need the backing of the EU parliament and member states before they can be made mandatory. That is likely to take many months.

Air pollution is the biggest threat to the bloc’s 450 million citizens. The proposals include the doubling of limits to permissible fine air particles by 2030. Such particles are make up a significant part of air pollution overall, which the EU says is killing nearly 300,000 people a year.

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