Justices to decide whether Trump is eligible for Colorado ballot
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether former President Donald Trump is eligible for Colorado’s Republican primary ballot, thrusting the justices into a pivotal role that could alter the course of this year’s presidential election. The sweep of the court’s ruling is likely to be broad. It will probably resolve not only whether Trump may appear on the Colorado primary ballot after the state’s top court declared that he had engaged in insurrection in his efforts to subvert the 2020 election, but it will most likely also determine his eligibility to run in the general election and to hold office at all.
Study: Ozempic and Wegovy users had less risk of suicidal thoughts
People taking the wildly popular drugs Ozempic, to treat diabetes, and Wegovy, to combat obesity, are slightly less likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who are not taking them, researchers reported Friday. Millions of people take Ozempic and Wegovy, which are considered to be among the biggest blockbusters in medical history. But last year, a European drug safety agency said it was investigating whether the drugs cause suicidal thoughts. The new study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, was funded by the National Institutes of Health and used a huge population. The findings provide data that may potentially reassure people who take the drugs.
House Republicans to broaden higher
education inquiry
beyond antisemitism
When Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, arranged a hearing about antisemitism on college campuses, she said, her goal was not to force the nation’s top university presidents out of their jobs. But after the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania gave evasive answers about whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated their schools’ codes of conduct, Foxx and other House Republicans decided to seize the political moment they helped create. House Republicans are now embarking on an aggressive and expansive investigation into institutions of higher education in America — all in the name of combating antisemitism.
MIT’s president has weathered the storm,
for now
As the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania were pushed out of their jobs recently, it was an open question whether the president of another prestigious institution, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would suffer the same fate. But Sally Kornbluth, who testified alongside her two colleagues in a congressional hearing last month on antisemitism, has avoided much of the ire directed at Claudine Gay, who resigned this week as Harvard’s president, and Elizabeth Magill, who stepped down as Penn’s president a few days after her testimony. Some are still calling for Kornbluth’s resignation, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who led the most pointed questioning at the hearing.
FDA issues first approval for mass drug imports to States from Canada
The Food and Drug Administration has allowed Florida to import millions of dollars worth of medications from Canada at far lower prices than in the United States, overriding decadeslong objections from the pharmaceutical industry. Florida has estimated it could save up to $150 million in its first year, importing medicines that treat HIV, AIDS, diabetes, hepatitis C and psychiatric conditions. Other states have applied to the FDA to set up similar programs. But some manufacturers have agreements with Canadian wholesalers not to export their medicines, and the Canadian government has already taken steps to block the export of prescription drugs that are in short supply.
Tesla recalls 1.6 million cars in China to fix
self-driving systems
The Chinese government announced Friday that Tesla would recall practically all of the cars it has sold in the country to adjust their assisted-driving systems, less than a month after a similar recall in the United States. To address the problems, Tesla will transmit updated computer software to its 1.6 million cars in China, the State Administration for Market Regulation said. The updated software involves “adding additional automatic assisted steering control,” the regulator said. It also said that Tesla would remind customers to pay attention to their driving and follow all regulations even if they use the so-called Autopilot capabilities.
Putin eases citizenship path for foreign fighters
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has approved a measure that makes it easier for foreigners to acquire Russian citizenship if they enlist in the army amid the war in Ukraine, part of an effort to increase the military’s ranks while also sparing Russians from being deployed to the battlefield. Under the decree, which the Kremlin published Thursday, foreigners who sign a one-year contract with the Russian army or volunteer for “army formations” during what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine can apply for Russian citizenship under a fast-track procedure. The benefits also extend to the recruits’ spouses, children and parents.
Nearly half of Gaza Strip population inhabiting crowded border city,
U.N. says
When Ghada Abu Samra, 24, leaves the room in Rafah, where she, her mother and brother have been living between their searches for food and clean water, she sees more Gaza Strip civilians packing in to the overcrowded southern city. As almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes by Israel’s nearly three months of airstrikes and evacuation orders, Rafah, once a city of 300,000 people, has become the main refuge for those displaced. More than 1 million people are squeezed into the city, in a tiny corner of the enclave on the Egyptian border, the United Nations said this week.
Oscar Pistorius, Olympic athlete convicted of murder, is released
Oscar Pistorius, the South African athlete hailed as an inspirational figure until he was convicted of killing his girlfriend, was released on parole Friday after more than seven years in prison. Pistorius quietly left a Pretoria prison, away from the public glare that characterized his high-profile trial nearly a decade ago, and the subsequent stop-start legal proceedings that continued until his parole hearing in November. Pistorius was granted parole on the basis that he had served half of a 15-year sentence for murder. In 2013, Pistorius shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, through a locked bathroom door before dawn, killing her.
If you wanna mail my letter, you gotta get some Spice Girls stamps
Postal customers in Britain will soon have the opportunity to spice up their mail: Royal Mail is issuing a set of 15 stamps to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Spice Girls. The stamp collection and other products related to the anniversary were made available for preorder Friday and will go on general sale Jan. 11, Royal Mail said. The Spice Girls formed in 1994. The group’s members were Victoria Adams (now Beckham) as Posh Spice, Melanie Brown as Scary Spice, Emma Bunton as Baby Spice, Melanie Chisholm as Sporty Spice, and Geri Halliwell (now Horner) as Ginger Spice.
By wire sources
