Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to ban drug ads on TV. It wouldn’t be easy
Since the late 1990s, drug companies have spent tens of billions of dollars on television ads, drumming up demand for their products with cheerful jingles and scenes of dancing patients.
Packers shut out Saints, wrap up playoff berth
Jordan Love threw a touchdown pass, the Green Bay defense dominated and the Packers clinched a playoff berth by beating the visiting New Orleans Saints 34-0 on Monday night.
NBA capsules: Short-handed Magic fend off Jaylen Brown, Celtics
Tristan da Silva scored a team-high 18 points and the Orlando Magic overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to beat the visiting Boston Celtics 108-104 on Monday.
Nation and world news in brief for December 24
Ford, GM donate $1M, contribute vehicles to Trump’s inauguration
Retiring Sen. Joe Manchin trashes ‘toxic’ Democrats in exit interview
Retiring Sen. Joe Manchin Monday trashed the Democratic Party as “toxic” in an interview timed to his departure from Washington D.C.
Women rally for equal rights in Syria after Assad’s fall to Islamists
QAMISHLI, Syria — Thousands of women rallied in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on Monday to demand the new Islamist rulers in Damascus respect women’s rights and to condemn Turkish-backed military campaigns in Kurdish-led regions of the north.
How US schoolchildren can stop trailing their international peers
U.S. educators better hope Santa doesn’t check test results. New results from an international comparison of K-12 students showed they continue to fall behind their peers around the world. If American students are to bounce back, policymakers nationwide need to ignore the calls for lower—yes, lower—standards coming from some sectors and reject claims that more spending in education is the answer.
Letters to the editor for December 24
Campaign to smear Gabbard is ‘shameful’
Kilauea puts on ‘outstanding’ show in HVNP
It’s a “Pele Kalikimaka” in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, according to Jessica Ferracane, the park’s spokeswoman, referring to the eruption that started early Monday morning within Kilauea volcano’s Halema‘uma‘u crater.
Biden commutes 37 death sentences ahead of Trump’s plan to resume federal executions
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal death row, sparing the lives of 37 men just a month before Donald Trump will return to the Oval Office with a promise to restart federal executions.
Landon McNamara says Eddie’s presence guided him in winning surf title
Hawaii residents getting COVID vaccines are now the minority
Sean Manaea set to return to Mets rotation with three-year, $75 million contract
NEW YORK — Sean Manaea, who emerged as the Mets’ ace down the stretch last season and shed tears as his time with the Mets came to an end in October, has reached an agreement to return, a source confirmed to the New York Daily News.
House ethics panel report accuses Gaetz of ‘regularly’ paying for sex and using drugs
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee said Monday that its lengthy investigation had found that former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., President-elect Donald Trump’s initial choice for attorney general, had regularly paid women for sex, had sex with an underage girl and used illegal drugs.
In season: Don’t forget about the humble beet
Beets are divisive. To some, their earthy depth and sly sweetness are irresistible; to others, the root vegetable tastes like dirt.
Rickey Henderson was about so much more than the stolen bases
When Kevin Towers was the San Diego Padres’ general manager, he received a voicemail delivered in a high-pitched, high-energy voice then familiar to most baseball people: “KT! It’s Rickey! Calling about Rickey! Rickey wants to play baseball!” Rickey Henderson, in 2001, became a Padre again.
Trump previews second term in sprawling speech to conservative conference
PHOENIX — President-elect Donald Trump delivered a sprawling address on Sunday that he called a “small preview of the common-sense revolution” his administration will bring, pledging to slam shut the nation’s borders, end federal regulations, lower taxes, prosecute his rivals, “stop woke” and “end the transgender lunacy.”
A new way to travel between islands? Proposed electric aircraft glides above ocean’s surface
Interisland travel could be cheaper, cleaner and lower under a proposal by a partnership between state agencies and a private transportation developer.
Jeff Bezos prepares to close the gap in his space race with Elon Musk
SEATTLE — Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have become the two wealthiest men in the world thanks to their breakthrough technology companies. But Musk, through SpaceX, has long held a big lead in the pursuit closest to their hearts: colonizing space.
Trump lawsuits, threats a clear and wrongheaded effort to bully the press
It’s wrong for the incoming president to start suing newspapers and it’s a transparent effort to bully the press, but there Donald Trump stood Monday, proclaiming that “we have to straighten out the press. Our press is very corrupt. Almost as corrupt as our elections.”
Here’s what is so unusual about the Wisconsin school shooting — and what isn’t
The Dec. 16 shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, has shocked the nation, not only for its horror but for its unique profile. This time, a teenage girl opened fire inside her school, killing a teacher, another student, and apparently herself, and injuring six others. Although female school shooters are exceedingly rare, the patterns that lead to such tragedies are painfully familiar.
Iran’s energy crisis hits ‘dire’ point as industries are forced to shut down
Government offices in Iran are closed or operating at reduced hours. Schools and colleges have moved to online only. Highways and shopping malls have descended into darkness, and industrial plants have been denied power, bringing manufacturing to a near halt.
Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges
MAGDEBURG, Germany — A man suspected of ploughing a car through crowds at a German Christmas market in an attack that killed five people and injured scores faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday.
Why is it so hard to make a robot chef?
The robot in the kitchen was upset.
Party City to close all stores by February, company says
Party City, the party supply store that has provided the glittering backdrops for generations of birthday celebrations, New Year’s Eve bashes and Super Bowl gatherings, announced just days before Christmas that it was closing its doors for good.
