Polar bear dies from bird flu as H5N1 spreads across globe (www.theguardian.com)
A polar bear has been killed by bird flu as the highly contagious H5N1 virus spreads into the most remote parts of the planet....
Prosecutors Ask Appeals Court to Reject Trump’s Immunity Claims in Election Case (www.nytimes.com)
Federal prosecutors asked an appeals court on Saturday to reject former President Donald J. Trump’s claims that he is immune from criminal charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election and said the indictment should remain in place even though it arose from actions he took while in the White House....
From FedEx to airlines, companies are starting to lose their pricing power (www.cnbc.com)
After years of unbridled consumer spending on everything from home improvement to dream vacations, some companies are now finding the limits of their pricing power....
Gunman opens fire in a Prague university, killing 14 people in Czech Republic's worst mass shooting (apnews.com)
A student opened fire Thursday at a university in Prague, killing at least 14 people, officials said, and injuring more than 20 in the Czech Republic’s worst mass shooting....
Obamacare Enrollment Sets Another Record Even As Trump Threatens The Law Yet Again (www.forbes.com)
A record 19 million Americans are expected to purchase individual coverage, also known as Obamacare, via the health insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act for the 2024 coverage year....
The 14th Amendment plan to disqualify Trump, explained (www.bbc.com)
A longshot legal bid in multiple US states to disqualify Donald Trump from the 2024 US presidential ballot has pulled off a shock victory in Colorado....
Video shows Texas National Guard soldiers appearing to ignore a mother and baby’s pleas for help in the Rio Grande (www.tpr.org)
Video shows Texas National Guard soldiers appearing to ignore a mother and baby’s pleas for help in the Rio Grande
Elf Bar and other Chinese e-cigarette makers dodged U.S. customs and taxes by labeling them as ‘battery chargers,’ ‘flashlights’ and other items (fortune.com)
In only two years, a small, colorful vaping device called Elf Bar has become the most popular disposable e-cigarette in the world, generating billions in sales and quickly emerging as the overwhelming favorite of underage U.S. teens who vape....
A solar flare that hit the Earth on Thursday was “likely” one of the largest ever recorded. (www.theverge.com)
Hungry, thirsty and humiliated: Israel's mass arrest campaign sows fear in northern Gaza (apnews.com)
“We were treated like cattle, they even wrote numbers on our hands,” said Ibrahim Lubbad, a 30-year-old computer engineer arrested in Beit Lahiya on Dec. 7 with a dozen other family members and held overnight. “We could feel their hatred.”
New Hampshire attorney general files second complaint against white nationalist group (apnews.com)
The New Hampshire attorney general is again accusing a white nationalist group of civil rights violations, this time in response to a demonstration outside a Concord café hosting a drag story hour event....
Colorado cattle industry sues over wolf reintroduction on the cusp of the animals' release (apnews.com)
Just weeks before the deadline for Colorado to begin reintroducing gray wolves under a voter-approved initiative, representatives of the cattle industry association are suing state and federal agencies in the hopes of delaying the predators’ release....
Russia to hold presidential vote in occupied Ukraine (www.lemonde.fr)
US skips congressional review to approve emergency sale of tank shells to Israel (www.reuters.com)
Forget the ‘tripledemic.’ The U.S. is headed for a ‘syndemic’—and experts warn we’re not prepared (fortune.com)
COVID will likely reach levels in December not yet seen this year, combining with surges of flu, RSV, and other pathogens for a winter not so different from last year’s “tripledemic,” experts say....
Authorities Announce Arrest Of Man In Killings Of 3 Unhoused People Across LA (laist.com)
Israeli forces reported to be pushing into southern Gaza (www.bbc.com)
The BBC has also verified pictures on social media which shows an Israeli tank operating near the city....
US joins in other nations in swearing off coal power to clean the climate (apnews.com)
The United States committed Saturday to the idea of phasing out coal power plants, joining 56 other nations in kicking the coal habit that’s a huge factor in global warming....
Five senators ask Biden to impose China travel ban after respiratory illness cases (www.reuters.com)
Trump doesn’t have presidential immunity from lawsuits over January 6, appeals court rules (www.cnn.com)
Former President Donald Trump isn’t immune from being held accountable in civil lawsuits related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot in a long-awaited, consequential decision from the federal appeals court in Washington, DC....
Former Marine pleads guilty in California Planned Parenthood firebomb attack (www.nbcnews.com)
A former Marine pleaded guilty Thursday in a 2022 firebombing attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in California, federal prosecutors said....
Trump targets ‘young people’ in dark op-ed: Live (www.independent.co.uk)
Spotify Wrapped 2023: 'Music genres are now irrelevant to fans' (www.bbc.co.uk)
How very punk rock
A nonprofit group is pushing to get estrogen FDA approved for gender-affirming care (www.statnews.com)
Hormone replacement therapies have long been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use by cisgender patients, such as women who take estrogen when going through menopause. Now, for the first time, a nonprofit group is pursuing research with the goal of FDA approval for the use of estrogen as a gender-affirming...
Colorado Hospital Finally Admits to Cutting Lakota Elder’s Hair Without His Permission (nativenewsonline.net)
The UC Health Hospital in Aurora, Colorado on Friday finally admitted that a hospital staff member cut the hair of a 65-year-old Lakota elder Arthur Janis, without his or his family’s permission....