Australia plans to outlaw the sale of vapes outside pharmacies from next week under some of the world’s toughest restrictions on electronic cigarettes.

In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes searched Tuesday for a submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.

In a race against the clock on the high seas, an expanding international armada of ships and airplanes is searching for a submersible that vanished in the North Atlantic while taking five people down to the wreck of the Titanic.

Australia’s tobacco tax will be increased by billions of dollars over the next four years as the government cracks down on smoking and vaping.

Gov. Brian Kemp is far outraising his main Republican primary challenger.

Honolulu is loosening some restrictions on social activity now that more than half its population has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday that the state will cut off the $300-a-week federal supplement to unemployed workers next month.

Georgia’s elected labor commissioner said he intends to reinstate the requirement that people must actively search for work to receive unemployment benefits “in the next few months.”

There were 526,000 people collecting state benefits as of Aug. 29, and another 260,000 collecting the special pandemic assistance. Georgia was approved for the federal money on Aug. 23, but had to program its computer system to pay the money. Those who have filed individually for regular state unemployment benefits will have to certify that they are unemployed or on reduced hours because of the pandemic. Because Georgia allows someone to earn up to $300 a week, plus $365 a week in state benefits, people getting the full $300 could make up to $965 a week with the extra federal money. Michelle Evermore, who tracks unemployment benefits for the National Employment Law Project, said she anticipates most states will have to borrow.

ATLANTA Georgias jobless rate fell to 9.7% in May from 12.6% in April as nearly 150,000 workers reported being back on the job. The states unemployment rate is still sky-high compared to last year, when it was 3.6% in May 2019. If they were still in the labor force and reported themselves as unemployed, Georgias jobless rate would be above 14%. A year ago, the nationwide jobless rate was 3.6%. Georgia has paid more than $6 billion in state and federal benefits in the last 13 weeks, including $1.6 billion in state benefits.

The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that the unemployment rate reached 11.9% in April -- an all-time high across all categories. While last weeks unemployment claims of 165,499, down 12,000 over the previous week and down for three of the last four weeks. Payments of unemployment benefits last week totaled $159,501,356 in regular weekly unemployment benefits, down $28 million over the prior week. The number of initial unemployment claims filed throughout the United States was 2.1 million last week, a decrease of 323,000 from the previous week. As of May 26, the Georgia Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Balance was $1,65 billion, 35% from March 24.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s labor commissioner has a message to people seeking unemployment benefits: Don’t forget to claim them each week. Recipients have to claim their benefits each week, telling officials they are still unemployed. The Atlanta zoo and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens each announced plans to reopen. Another 241,000 Georgia workers filed for unemployment last week, pushing the state total of those who have sought jobless benefits to 1.8 million since the crisis began. Outdoor areas of the Atlanta zoo will reopen to the public Saturday, with employees wearing masks and the number of visitors limited, zoo officials said.

More than 130,000 restaurant and hotel workers across Georgia lost jobs in March, the state Department of Labor said. “It’s just shut down everything, turned off the whole city,” Primo said. Georgia processed 318,000 new unemployment claims last week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. While that’s down slightly from the record-smashing previous week, more than 900,000 Georgia workers have filed for unemployment benefits since March 22. Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler predicted unemployment claims will soon exceed 1 million.

Figures released Thursday by the Georgia Department of Labor showed unemployment claims processed by the agency had nearly tripled compared to the previous week, when the pandemic had already driven claims to new record highs. The Georgia workers were among 6.6 million Americans who filed unemployment claims last week, and roughly 1-in-10 U.S. workers lost jobs in the past three weeks. Georgia has processed more than 536,000 unemployment claims in the past three weeks, according to state labor officials. Butler’s agency said Georgia saw fewer than 292,000 unemployment claims in all of 2019. The Georgia Department of Public Health reported at least 412 deaths Thursday and more than 10,800 confirmed infections.

iStock/sloboATLANTA, Ga. - The Georgia Department of Labor reports the state's unemployment rate approached an all-time low in July. The Peach state added 3,400 jobs in July, pushing the total to 4.62 million jobs a new record for Georgia. It seems like we are setting a record for jobs almost every month, State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said. The total number of claims filed in July climbed by 51%. Compare Georgia job gains 2018-2019Compare Georgia unemployment claims 2018-2019Compare overall job gains/losses 2018-2019Copyright 2019 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.