A terminally-ill Kansas man’s hospital room was raided by cops because he used a weed vape and THC paste to ease the symptoms of cancer that will kill him within weeks. Greg Bertz, 69, was targeted by police in Hays Medical Center on December 23. He was after officers found marijuana products within his room, and ordered to appear in court on January 2 – despite being so sick he cannot get out of bed or even move. Kansas is one of only three US states where medical marijuana is still illegal. Bertz told the Kansas City Star his doctor had told him to use whatever was necessary to relieve his pain, including products containing THC – the active ingredient in cannabis. But another

In Buffalo, one of the snowiest cities in the country, residents pride themselves on weathering extreme winter conditions. But the city and region were left reeling from a fierce and sprawling storm that pummeled parts of the country last week and devastated Western New York, where hundreds were stranded in their cars and stuck in homes encased in six-foot drifts on Saturday.At least three people died in Erie County, two of them because emergency responders could not get there fast enough; whiteout conditions left roads so choked with snow that sometimes even snowplows could not clear them.“This may turn out to be the worst storm in our community’s history,

El Salvador started Christmas Eve with a military operation against drug dealers in a San Salvador community, the government said on Saturday. The operation was part of the country’s controversial attempt to fight criminal gangs. The government deployed 1,000 soldiers and about 130 police officers who have been participating since dawn in an operation in the impoverished Tutunichapa community, President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter. Security forces arrested 23 suspected criminals in the community in El Salvador’s capital, well known for drug dealing and which faced a similar military intervention in October 2020. The government said in a statement later Saturday it had found

Recalling Jesus’ birth in a stable, Pope Francis rebuked those “ravenous” for wealth and power at the expense of the vulnerable, including children, in a Christmas Eve homily decrying war, poverty, and greedy consumerism. In the splendor of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis presided over the evening Mass attended by about 7,000 faithful, including tourists and pilgrims, who flocked to the church on a warm evening and took their place behind rows of white-robed pontiffs. Francis drew lessons from the humility of Jesus’ first hours of life in a manger.” While animals feed in their stalls, men and women in our world, in their hunger for wealth and power, consume even their neighbors, their

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has not been seen for days amid a historic storm battering the region, was spotted attending Christmas midnight mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Saturday night. When probed by The Post on where he had been for the past couple of days, Hizzoner quipped he’d been “getting some rest and hiding from The Post.”But just days earlier on Tuesday night, Adams — who’s known for his late-night lifestyle — made sure to drop by and party at the New York Post’s Christmas bash in Chelsea.He then went MIA Thursday, prompting a New York nonprofit to circulate “missing” posters Saturday — after the deadly Winter Storm Elliott

As extreme winter weather chilled much of the United States during the holiday weekend, Duke Energy announced Saturday that it was imposing rolling power outages in the Carolinas on Christmas Eve because of increased strain on the energy grid. Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress said they, like other utility companies nationwide dealing with the Arctic blast, were asking customers to conserve usage and expect “load-shedding steps that include interruptions in service.”Nearly 340,000 Duke Energy customers were without power at noon Eastern time, according to the utility’s outage map, including more than 140,000 in the Charlotte area. The number of homes

Dax Tejera, the executive producer of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” died suddenly Friday at the age of 37.ABC News President Kim Goodwin announced “with a heavy heart and great sadness” that Tejera died of a heart attack on Friday night, according to a memo she sent to company staff obtained by Mediaite.He is survived by his wife Veronica and their two young daughters. Goodwin said in the memo she would be sharing more information in the coming days. Tejera joined ABC News in 2017 as a senior producer before being promoted to the executive producer of Stephanopoulos’ show in February 2020, his Linkedin profile states. He

Three busloads of shivering migrants were dumped in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ Washington D.C. residence on a frigid Christmas Eve, according to multiple reports. The buses, believed to be from Texas, dropped the asylum seekers off in 18-degree weather in front of the Naval Observatory, where Harris lives, late Saturday, according to 7News and CNN. The outlets said the migrants were seen wearing only T-shirts or light sweatshirts in the freezing temperatures. They were given blankets and put on another bus bound for a local church. Video shared by 7 News DC reporter Christian Flores showed the third bus of migrants draped in blankets being helped by the

King Charles’ first-ever Christmas speech is being kept under wraps until it airs at 10 a.m. EST on Christmas Day. But Charles is expected to touch on his mother the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, her funeral, the Ukraine war, and Harry and Meghan. The speech was pre-recorded by King Charles, 74, on Dec. 13. In a departure from tradition, Charles filmed the address from The Quire of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, standing to do so, the Sun reported. Charles was crowned King after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September. Elizabeth was on the throne for 70 years. She filmed her final Christmas speech at Windsor Castle last year.The chapel where Charles filmed his

A state judge on Saturday rejected Kari Lake’s last-ditch effort to overturn her defeat in the Arizona governor’s race, dismissing for lack of evidence her last two claims of misconduct by Maricopa County election officials.The ruling, after a two-day trial in Phoenix that ended Thursday, follows more than six weeks of claims by Ms. Lake, a Republican, that she was robbed of victory last month — assertions that echoed the false contention that was at the heart of her campaign: that an even larger theft had stolen the 2020 presidential election from Donald J. Trump. Ms. Lake and her supporters conjured up what they called a deliberate effort by election officials in Maricopa

Have you seen this mayor? A New York nonprofit has skewered hizzoner for being absent from the five boroughs during a historic winter storm. New York Communities for Change posted a tongue-in-cheek missing poster in response to a city tweet earlier this week showing city leaders — sans Adams — briefing the press about the weather.“Have you seen this man? Retweet to help us find our city’s Mayor! WheresEric #MissingMayor,” the nonprofit wrote above a “Missing Mayor” flyer which also included Adams’ height, age, and weight.“LAST SEEN: Thursday, December 22nd leaving his city in the midst of a natural disaster,” the poster continued.On Saturday Adams was

“Correa-mas” may be on hold. After his deal with the Giants fell apart earlier this week because of a discrepancy in his medical evaluation, Carlos Correa’s physical with the Mets has now raised concerns as well, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed on Saturday. The Athletic first reported the news. The issue is reportedly Correa’s lower right leg, which he had surgery on in 2014 to repair a fractured fibula. The Mets and Correa’s camp are now trying to work through the concern. Correa, 28, was in New York on Thursday and Friday to undergo his physical with the Mets after agreeing to a 12-year, $315 million deal, and his agent, Scott Boras, voiced confidence that the deal would become

A U.S. judge dealt a blow Friday to Alex Saab Moran, a Colombia-born businessman accused in a corruption scheme involving Venezuela’s ruling Socialists, by rejecting his assertion of diplomatic immunity. The judge formally denied a motion filed by lawyers representing Saab Moran, an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to dismiss his criminal indictment on the basis of his claim he was protected from prosecution as a Venezuelan diplomat, according to a court filing. Saab Moran is being held in a Miami jail awaiting trial on charges of money laundering in the case. His lawyers argue Saab Moran was on a diplomatic mission for the

Covid-19’s rapid spread in China has prompted reports of crowded hospitals and inundated crematoria. It could also help answer whether Omicron is truly a milder version of the virus.Iterations of the Omicron variant are spreading rapidly in China after officials relaxed zero-Covid controls in place for most of the pandemic. Pharmacies say they are out of fever medications and hospitals are strained, employees have said. Chinese officials have reported a modest rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths, but some public-health experts and relatives of the deceased suspect a higher toll.Chinese officials have told citizens that Omicron is significantly less deadly than previous

A judge has ordered Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to take a paternity test as part of a legal dispute with a 26-year-old woman who claims the billionaire is her biological father. A Texas judge issued the order for genetic testing Thursday in a paternity case brought by Alexandra Davis, who previously alleged in a separate lawsuit she was conceived from a relationship Jones had with her mother in the mid-1990s. Attorneys for Jones did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday but said in court filings that they intend to appeal the decision. One of Davis’ lawyers, Andrew Bergman, confirmed the decision but did not immediately offer any other comment. In

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance said Thursday it had fired four employees after an internal investigation found they had accessed data on two journalists and other U.S. users while attempting to track down a company leak, a revelation that could further inflame doubts in Washington over the company’s Chinese roots.In an attempt to identify who had shared internal documents with journalists from BuzzFeed News and the Financial Times, workers on a ByteDance internal-audit team two in China, two in the United States pulled the reporters’ IP addresses and other data as well as that of people they’d connected with over TikTok, the investigation found.

A Los Angeles jury on Friday found Tory Lanez guilty of shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion during an argument in 2020 that left bullet fragments in her feet. The 30-year-old Canadian rapper, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty on three felonies — assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded and unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence, said George Gascón, Los Angeles County district attorney. Following the verdict, Gascón thanked Megan for her testimony and condemned the harassment and ridicule she experienced after coming forward with her account of being shot.“You showed

Former President Donald Trump has released a five-minute video in which he rambles on how the January 6 Committee findings were a ‘monstrous lie’.The video, which was posted to his Truth Social platform on Friday night sees Trump refusing the report’s findings that he was ultimately responsible for the 2021 Capitol insurrection.’The unselect committee did not produce a single shred of evidence that I in any way intended or wanted violence at our capitol,’ Trump said. ‘The evidence does not exist because the claim is baseless and a monstrous lie.’There was no insurrection and there was not going to be an insurrection. It was made up by these sick people,’ Trump stated

At least 12 people across the US have been killed — including four in a nasty 50-car pileup crash in Ohio — as a wicked bomb cyclone wreaked havoc with snow, sub-zero temperatures, and high winds. Three people died in weather-related crashes in Oklahoma, while another three were killed on icy roads in Kentucky, Fox Weather reported. Another person was killed after their vehicle overturned in Missouri, and a person in Texas died after prolonged exposure to the frigid temperatures. In Ohio, at least four people were killed and several others were injured in a massive, 50-car pileup Friday amid treacherous “whiteout conditions,” the Ohio State Highway Patrol

A cross-section of Mexican journalists, columnists, and cultural commentators demanded in an open letter that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador stop harassing critical media, arguing he fans the flames of violence with his rhetoric. The letter, signed by nearly 200 prominent Mexicans, was published in newspapers and shared widely on social media a week after a well-known journalist was ambushed by motorcycle-mounted gunmen who shot at his armored vehicle. Television and radio host Ciro Gomez Leyva survived the December 15 attempt on his life, and since then controversy over the leftist Lopez Obrador’s attacks on media critical of his government has grown. Accused

Sam Bankman-Fried’s EX- Caroline Ellison was facing up to 110 years in prison before she agreed to cooperate with the federal government, her plea agreement shows.The former Alameda hedge fund CEO, 28, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in an agreement signed on Monday.“The total maximum sentence of incarceration on Counts One through Seven of the Information is 110 years’ imprisonment,” the document filed by the US attorney for the Southern District of New York read.The agreement also indicates that Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang had agreed to “cooperate fully” with the feds, in exchange for which they will likely get much lighter sentences. Crypto

Donald Trump plans to argue that a New York law allowing a writer to sue him over her claim that he raped her decades ago is unconstitutional, according to a court filing. In a filing in Manhattan federal court this week, lawyers for Trump said they would move to dismiss the lawsuit filed last month by E Jean Carroll, in part on grounds that the law is invalid. Trump denies Carroll’s claim that he raped her in a dressing room in the department store Bergdorf Goodman 27 years ago. The former Elle magazine columnist is suing Trump for defamation and battery under New York’s Adult Survivors Act.The law was spurred by the #MeToo movement, during which many women

The Internal Revenue Service on Friday gave millions of Americans a one-year reprieve on new tax-reporting requirements, delaying implementation of a law that requires e-commerce platforms such as eBay, Etsy, and Airbnb to give the tax agency information on users with more than $600 in revenue. The delay means the platforms won’t have to send sellers and the IRS a blizzard of 1099-K tax forms early in 2023, and it gives opponents of the $600 threshold more time to push for a change in the law next year.“The additional time will help reduce confusion during the coming 2023 tax filing season and provide more time for taxpayers to prepare and understand the new

The House on Friday passed the massive $1.7 trillion measure to fund the government as they raced to hold a final vote ahead of a monster storm bearing down on the East Coast. The measure now goes to President Joe Biden, who said he will sign it into law. It includes large increases in defense and domestic spending along with billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. The final vote was 225 yes to 201 nays and one present. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the only Democrat to vote no. Nine Republicans voted yes. Additionally, more than half of the lawmakers in the House, 230, voted via a proxy, taking advange of COVID-related rules to beat the storm and get out of

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg wants to expand his media empire — and is interested in buying either Dow Jones, the parent company of the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post, according to a report. Citing sources “familiar with Bloomberg’s thinking,” Axios reported Friday that Bloomberg wants to expand his namesake media empire and sees Rupert Murdoch’s Dow Jones as a perfect fit. While the former mayor of New York sees a Dow Jones acquisition as “ideal,” he also would be interested in acquiring the Washington Post if owner Jeff Bezos is interested in selling, believing the combination would create “a formidable potential competitor to The New York Times,” according

A Chick-fil-A in North Carolina has been fined $6,450 for paying workers with meals instead of money and violating child labor laws, the Department of Labor has announced. An investigation by the DOL found that at a Chick-fil-A in Hendersonville, N.C., three employees under 18 were assigned hazardous tasks, such as operating, loading, and unloading the trash compactor.” Protecting our youngest workers continues to be a top priority for the Wage and Hour Division,” said Richard Blaylock, the district director for the department’s Raleigh, North Carolina’s Wage and Hour Division. “Child labor laws ensure that when young people work, the work does not jeopardize their

Trevor Bauer was reinstated Thursday by Major League Baseball’s independent arbitrator, allowing the pitcher to resume his career at the start of the 2023 season.The 31-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers star was given an unprecedented two-season suspension without pay by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on April 29 for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy after a San Diego woman said Bauer beat and sexually abused her last year, an accusation the pitcher denied.The players’ association filed a grievance on behalf of the former Cy Young Award winner, and a three-person panel headed by independent arbitrator Martin Scheinman

The “once-in-a-generation” deadly “bomb cyclone” moving across the US is expected to hit peak intensity Friday — bringing one of the coldest-ever Christmases as well as travel chaos with more than 5,000 flights grounded. Winter Storm Elliott has already triggered a state of emergency for New York, starting at 6 a.m. Friday, and left two-thirds of the nation under some form of an extreme weather alert. Temperatures have already plummeted 50 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas — with forecasters warning of worse to come.“If you’re waking up in Chicago at 27 (degrees) and feeling like it’s cold, there’s a whole new reality coming your way,” Fox Weather meteorologist

Three people have been killed and others severely injured after an elderly ‘far-right’ gunman opened fire in Paris, sparking ‘total panic’ as bloodshed returned to the streets of the French capital. The shooter, believed to be a 69-year-old retired train driver from France who attacked a migrant camp last year, shot blindly’ near the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdish Cultural Centre in a bustling part of the city near the Gare du Nord at around noon. In a nearby hair salon, a hero officer managed to wrench the gun from the killer, who was only released from prison 11 days ago, to stop the horror rampage after bullets rang out near the Eurostar station, also striking a nearby restaurant. Paris public prosecutor Laure

Two people have died and four wounded after a shooting in central Paris, French media have reported. Le Parisien newspaper said a man aged about 70 opened fire on a group of people at the Kurdish cultural center on the rue d’Enghien in the French capital’s 10th arrondissement. One witness told Agence France-Presse that seven or eight shots had been fired, causing chaos in the street. Police arrested the alleged gunman and seized his weapon soon after, according to reports. Paris police tweeted that a police operation was underway and asked people to avoid the area, which is close to a number of busy shopping streets and the Grand Rex, often described as Europe’s

Florida is once again the fastest-growing state in the U.S., according to a Census report released Thursday, reclaiming the top spot for the first time in more than 60 years. The Sunshine State saw a 1.9 percent population increase from 2021 to 2022, surpassing population growth in any other state for the first time since 1957. Since 1946, Florida’s population has grown every year — even when U.S. population growth slowed overall. But in past years, it’s been edged out by Nevada, a state whose population today is a whopping 22 times its population in 1946. Florida isn’t the only state with a rising population. Overall, the U.S. population is ticking back up after historic lows during the

Japan’s core inflation rose at the fastest pace in nearly 41 years in November, fueling market speculation that the Bank of Japan would look to tighten monetary policy in 2023. After the central bank’s surprise move Tuesday to raise its cap on a key interest rate, market watchers are split over whether more is coming next year. But they agree inflation will be a key factor in the decision. Core consumer prices—a measure that covers all prices except fresh food—rose 3.7% from a year earlier in November, the fastest pace since December 1981, government data showed Friday. Beneath the headline figure is other signs that Japan has broken out of its decades-long rut of near-zero

Target Corp. has recalled more than 200,000 weighted blankets after receiving reports that two young children died by suffocation earlier this year, the retail giant and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday. The federal agency said a young child can unzip the cover of the Pillowfort Weighted Blanket and become trapped inside. A 4-year-old girl and a 6-year-old girl in North Carolina reportedly became trapped in the cover and died due to asphyxiation this April, according to the CPSC.“Target has received four reports of children becoming entrapped in these weighted blankets, including the two fatalities,” the CPSC, the agency in charge of consumer

Juan Guaidó – swept to international renown in 2019 during anti -government protest when he declared Venezuela’s authoritarian president an illegitimate ruler and himself the interim leader.It was a major and bold move backed by the United States and dozens of other nations and the most serious threat to President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government.But on Thursday, with Mr. Maduro still firmly in control of the country, it seemed Mr. Guaidó’s mandate might be nearing its end.In a vote held by the opposition legislature that exists parallel to Mr. Maduro’s government, Mr. Guaidó’s own colleagues voted overwhelmingly to end his interim government.The decision

Dreams of a white Christmas week deteriorated to panic over whiteout conditions Thursday as Americans braced for what forecasters called “once in a generation” winter storm chaos. The warnings sounded across the United States: Get ready for feet of snow, freezing rain, subzero temperatures, power outages, and ruined holiday plans. The Midwest hunkered down for a potential “bomb cyclone,” which meteorologists described as a cross between a hurricane and a blizzard. At least 4,200 flights were canceled ahead of the busiest travel weekend of the year, and icy roads imperiled drivers. Highway patrol troopers in Wyoming responded to more than 100 car wrecks in 12

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has issued its final report. This is the culminating document of its work over 18 months, which included reviewing emails, text messages, call logs, and White House records, and conducting more than 1,000 interviews. The report lays out in further detail what had been shared in televised hearings over the summer and fall. Those hearings explored the scope of Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, despite being repeatedly told that his fraud claims were false; Trump and his allies’ pressuring of state and local officials to overturn results; and Trump’s campaign to get Vice

An internal investigation at TikTok parent company ByteDance found that several employees accessed the TikTok data of several US journalists and a “small number” of other people connected to them, according to internal emails obtained by The New York Times that were confirmed independently by The Verge. The accessed data includes the reporters’ IP addresses, which were used to see if they had been physically near TikTok employees who were leaking information to the press.In an email to employees, ByteDance CEO Rubo Liang described the incident as “misconduct of a few individuals,” and TikTok General Counsel Erich Andersen described it as a “misguided plan [that] was

Representative-elect George Santos broke his silence on Thursday, vowing that he would come forward next week to address questions surrounding his background. Mr. Santos has been the subject of intense scrutiny following the publication of a New York Times report that raised questions about whether he misrepresented key parts of his background and finances, and filed incomplete or inaccurate congressional disclosures.“I have my story to tell and it will be told next week,” Mr. Santos, a Republican, said on Twitter. Mr. Santos, 34, has refused to answer any questions from The Times about his past and finances and has only pointed to a statement released by his lawyer that

The openly gay congressman-elect accused of lying about his professional career in finance and his college education also failed to disclose his recent divorce from a woman and appears to have made up details about his family escaping the Holocaust.During the 2022 election cycle, Republican George Santos of New York described himself as being gay and married to his pharmacist husband. Now, a bombshell report from the Daily Beast alleges that there is no record of that marriage.There is, however, a record showing that Santos was married to a woman named Uadla Vieira, a native of Brazil, until 2019. The couple was married in 2012.DailyMail.com has now obtained an

Groups under the direction of pro-Trump activist Charlie Kirk received $1.25 million. Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist and far-right media personality, scored $200,000. Roger Stone, the Trump adviser, and self-proclaimed “dirty trickster,” received funds to fly privately to Washington.This money — aimed at financing protest activity on Jan. 6, 2021, that preceded the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol — came from Julie Fancelli, a daughter of the founder of the Publix grocery store chain.In all, Fancelli, 73, was willing to shell out as much as $3 million to people and groups protesting congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory, according to a transcript of her interview before

Senators passed a $1.65 trillion spending bill just ahead of the Christmas holiday and a gathering winter storm, after breaking an impasse related to immigration policy and racing through more than a dozen amendments.The bipartisan bill passed in a 68-29 vote. It includes $858 billion in military spending, $45 billion more than President Biden had requested and up about 10% from $782 billion the prior year. It also includes $772.5 billion in nondefense discretionary spending, up almost 6% from $730 billion the prior year. The overall discretionary price tag works out to about $1.65 trillion, compared with $1.5 trillion the prior fiscal year.The bill includes changes

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be released on $250 million bail in a deal designed by federal prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s defense attorneys, a New York federal judge ruled on Thursday. Bankman-Fried was indicted in the Southern District of New York on eight counts including securities fraud and money laundering. Judge Gabriel Gorenstein said that Bankman-Fried would require “strict” supervision following his release to his parent’s home in California.His parents, both Stanford Law professors, were present in the courtroom. Bankman-Fried was flanked by two U.S. Marshals, dressed in a suit and tie. Parents would put up the equity in their home to partially satisfy bail

Governor, Ron DeSantis, has appointed a judge who was previously ousted over a controversial ruling where he denied a teenager an abortion, citing her school grades.DeSantis appointed Jared Smith to the newly established sixth district court of appeal, an appointment which will begin on 1 January 2023. Smith previously served as a judge on the Hillsborough county court until he was ousted in August after his decision on the abortion-related case. In January, Smith had ruled that a 17-year-old teenager was unfit to obtain an abortion as hequestioned her “overall intelligence”. According to Florida law, both parental notification and consent are required in order for a minor

Chinese chemical companies are playing a major role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis as the main producers of ingredients needed to make the drug.Strained relations between Beijing and Washington are undermining efforts to stop the flow of those chemical building blocks, and thus impeding the struggle against illicit fentanyl.Among the available products are compounds with obscure names – N,Phenyl,4,piperidinamine which Mexican cartels purchase to make into fentanyl. Opioid has become the most deadly illegal drug the U.S. has ever seen.A few years ago, a joint effort to limit the flow of illicit fentanyl was a successful point of collaboration in a tense U.S.-China relationship. In 2018,

For the past few years, Republicans have largely stood by as various figures have sought to raise their profiles in the conservative movement by advancing baseless allegations of voter fraud — from Trump-aligned lawyers such as L. Lin Wood, Sidney Powell, and Rudy Giuliani to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. An apparent obstacle to the party taking action: Such figures were saying much the same thing as Donald Trump (and some were directly working for him, to advance his stolen-election cause in public and in court). So the GOP simply offered its own watered-down reasons for questioning the 2020 results,

The average life expectancy for Americans shortened by over seven months last year, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That decrease follows an already big decline of 1.8 years in 2020. As a result, the expected life span of someone born in the U.S. is now 76.4 years — the shortest it has been in nearly two decades. The two reports, released by the CDC on Thursday, show deaths from COVID-19 and drug overdoses, most notably synthetic opioids like fentanyl, were the primary drivers of the drop in life expectancy.”It’s not a good year for the data, let’s put it that way,” says

Spain kicked off the festive period Thursday with the celebration of one of its most iconic events, the bumper Christmas lottery, known as “El Gordo” (The Fat One). The most sought-after prize shells out 400,000 euros ($425,000), or some 325,000 euros after tax, to holders of winning 20-euro tickets, known as décimos.In keeping with tradition, the winning numbers are called out by children from Madrid’s San Ildefonso school in a nationally televised draw at Madrid’s Teatro Real opera house. The incredibly popular lottery will dish out a total of 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in prizes, much of it in hundreds of

Facing imminent investigation by House Republicans, Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has hired a high-profile Washington lawyer who represented Jared Kushner in Congress, as well as during the investigation of Russian election interference and links between Donald Trump and Moscow.“Hunter Biden has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” another attorney for the president’s son, Kevin Morris, told news outlets on Wednesday.“Lowell is a well known Washington based attorney who has represented numerous public officials and high

Sam Bankman-Fried left the Bahamas on Wednesday night and landed in New York after he was transferred to – FBI custody Bankman-Fried who is being prosecuted in the Southern District of New York, faces fraud and other criminal charges related to the sudden implosion of his billion-dollar empire and crypto exchange FTX. The alleged fraudster will appear in front of a federal judge “as soon as possible,” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a Wednesday night statement.Bankman-Fried flew out of Nassau’s Odyssey Airport at about 7 p.m. The former billionaire was filmed by local

An ABC producer used her credentials to create fake hit pieces on local politicians in Florida while pocketing thousands from a political lobbying firm, a report said. Kristen Hentschel who mostly worked for “Good Morning America” — was paid at least $14,350 by an Alabama-based political consulting firm Matrix LLC to sandbag the environmentally-friendly politicians with bogus questions, according to a report released Wednesday by NPR and Floodlight. Hentschel claimed to be working for ABC while filming the hit piece. The company said she had not been assigned to the story.“Kristen Hentschel was a

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an impassioned and emotional plea to Congress on Wednesday for continued American support against Russia’s unrelenting assault, speaking personally and passionately about why Ukraine needed more aid and weapons to lawmakers whose ranks include some vocal skeptics of future reinforcements.Zelensky’s address to a joint session of Congress came after he met with President Biden during an extraordinary day in Washington that marked the Ukrainian leader’s first international trip since Russia invaded Ukraine 300 days ago. The two projected a united front at the

The attorney who charged Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and FTX co-founder gave a stern warning to all crypto crooks to come forward while plea deals are still on the table. Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX co-founder, as well as his ex-girlfriend, have both pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges as part of the deal for leniency.FTX’s Gary Wang and Alameda Research’s Caroline Ellison – who once dated the embattled crypto crook – entered the guilty pleas in exchange for easier sentences at the Southern District of New York Court today. Wang and Ellison have been charged ‘in connection with their roles and the frauds that

President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet for Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Wednesday, giving him a warm welcome even as some Republicans are unhappy with the Ukrainian president’s visit.Biden, joined by first lady Jill Biden, kept Zelensky close, putting his arm around him to show his support. That demonstration of America’s commitment will include $1.85 billion in additional military assistance for Ukraine and a gift of the Patriot Air Defense System, an anti-missile system.A huge tranche of funding for Ukraine is in the federal budget bill that lawmakers will vote on this week. Some

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov has announced that over 10,000 additional Starlink terminals will be sent to Ukraine in the coming months, confirming that issues regarding how to fund the country’s critical satellite internet service have been resolved. The governments of several European Union countries are ready to share payment said Fedorov (who is also Ukraine’s minister for digital transformation) in an interview with Bloomberg, affirming that “As of now all financial issues have been resolved.” Fedorov did not publicly identify which governments are contributing towards