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Rochelle Walensky stepping down as CDC director
CBSN
Washington — Dr. Rochelle Walensky is stepping down as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), President Biden said in a statement Friday. The CDC said she will leave the agency at the end of June.
Walensky has overseen the agency responsible for much of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic since the early days of the Biden administration in 2021. Her departure comes as the U.S. is terminating public health and emergency declarations related to the pandemic, and on the same day the World Health Organization declared an end to the global health emergency from COVID-19.
"Dr. Walensky has saved lives with her steadfast and unwavering focus on the health of every American," Mr. Biden said in a statement. "As director of the CDC, she led a complex organization on the frontlines of a once-in-a-generation pandemic with honesty and integrity. She marshalled our finest scientists and public health experts to turn the tide on the urgent crises we've faced. Dr. Walensky leaves CDC a stronger institution, better positioned to confront health threats and protect Americans. We have all benefited from her service and dedication to public health, and I wish her the best in her next chapter."
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President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were honored at a state dinner in Paris at the Presidential Elysee Palace on Saturday, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day two days prior and the strength of the countries' long alliance.
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President Joe Biden said France was America's "first friend" at its founding and is one of its closest allies more than two centuries later as he was honored with a state visit Saturday by French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at showing off their partnership on global security issues and easing past trade tensions.
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The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau last week launched an inquiry into what the agency is calling "junk fees in mortgage closing costs." These additional fees, involving home appraisal, title insurance and other services, have spiked in recent years and can add thousands of dollars to the final cost of buying a home.
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Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic "Earthrise" photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. He was 90.