U.S. airport security staff sickouts rise over holiday weekend

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers work at a checkpoint in John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, the United States, Jan. 20, 2019. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) experienced a national rate of 8 percent of unscheduled absences on Saturday, compared to 3 percent one year ago, the U.S. agency said Sunday. The TSA officers, who are among the 420,000 "essential" federal employees forced to work without pay after the partial government shutdown, missed their first paycheck on Jan. 11. The record-long shutdown has lasted for about a month. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)