A look at how some of Trump's picks to lead health agencies could help carry out Kennedy's overhaul
The team that President-elect Donald Trump has selected to lead federal health agencies in his second administration includes a retired congressman, a surgeon and a former talk-show host.
All could play pivotal roles in fulfilling a political agenda that could change how the government goes about safeguarding Americans' health — from health care and medicines to food safety and science research. In line to lead the Department of Health and Human Services secretary is environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine organizer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump's choices don't have experience running large bureaucratic agencies, but they know how to talk about health on TV.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid pick Dr. Mehmet Oz hosted a talk show for 13 years and is a well-known wellness and lifestyle influencer. The pick for the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, and for surgeon general, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, are frequent Fox News contributors.
Many on the list were critical of COVID-19 measures like masking and booster vaccinations for young people. Some of them have ties to Florida like many of Trump's other Cabinet nominees: Dave Weldon, the pick for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, represented the state in Congress for 14 years and is affiliated with a medical group on the state's Atlantic coast. Nesheiwat's brother-in-law is Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., tapped by Trump as national security adviser.
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Trump raced to pick many Cabinet posts. He took more time to settle on a treasury secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump launched a blitz of picks for his Cabinet, but he took his time before settling on billionaire investor Scott Bessent as his treasury secretary nominee.
The Republican not only wanted someone who jibes with him, but an official who can execute his economic vision and look straight out of central casting while doing so. With his Yale University education and pedigree trading for Soros Fund Management before establishing his own funds, Bessent will be tasked with a delicate balancing act.
Trump expects him to help reset the global trade order, enable trillions of dollars in tax cuts, ensure inflation stays in check, manage a ballooning national debt and still keep the financial markets confident.
“Scott will support my Policies that will drive U.S. Competitiveness, and stop unfair Trade imbalances, work to create an Economy that places Growth at the forefront, especially through our coming World Energy Dominance,” Trump said in a statement.
But for all the confidence, Trump was cautious in picking the 62-year-old, a sign that he understood the stakes after winning a presidential election largely shaped by inflation hitting a four-decade peak in 2022. He felt comfortable making faster decisions on Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and human services secretary.
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Israeli strikes in central Beirut kill at least 20 as diplomats push for a cease-fire
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli airstrikes Saturday in central Beirut killed at least 20 people, officials said, as the once-rare attacks on the heart of Lebanon's capital continued without warning while diplomats scrambled to broker a cease-fire.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said 66 people were wounded in the strikes, which were the fourth in central Beirut in less than a week.
The escalation comes after U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein traveled to the region in pursuit of a deal to end months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that has erupted into full-on war.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and the fighting.
The 4 a.m. strikes destroyed an eight-story building in central Beirut. Hezbollah legislator Amin Shiri said no Hezbollah officials were inside. The attack stripped the facades from some nearby buildings and crumpled cars.
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Voters rejected historic election reforms across the US, despite more than $100M push
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two weeks before Election Day, activists from across the country gathered for an online rally heralding the historic number of state ballot initiatives seeking to change the way people vote. Hopes were high that voters would ditch traditional partisan primaries and embrace ballots with more candidate choices.
Instead, the election reform movement lost almost everywhere it appeared on a statewide ballot.
“It turns out, in retrospect, we weren’t yet ready for prime time,” said John Opdycke, president of the advocacy group Open Primaries, which organized the rally.
In Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and South Dakota — a mixture of red, blue and purple states — voters rejected either ranked choice voting, open primaries or a combination of both.
The open primary proposals sought to place candidates of all parties on the same ballot, with a certain number of top finishers advancing to the general election. Under ranked choice voting, people can vote for multiple candidates in order of preference. If no one receives a majority of first place votes, then candidates who receive the fewest votes are eliminated and their votes redistributed to people's next choices.
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The week that upped the stakes of the Ukraine war
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — This past week has seen the most significant escalation in hostilities that Ukraine has witnessed since Russia's full-scale invasion and marks a new chapter in the nearly three-year war — one tinged with uncertainty and fear.
It began with U.S. President Joe Biden reversing a longstanding policy by granting Kyiv permission to deploy American longer-range missiles inside Russian territory and ended with Moscow striking Ukraine with a new experimental ballistic weapon that has alarmed the international community and heightened fears of further escalation.
Here is a look at the events in Ukraine in the span of a week that has fundamentally altered the stakes of the war:
Washington eased limits on what Ukraine can strike with its American-made Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, after months of ruling out such a move over fears of escalating the conflict and bringing about a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
The change came after the U.S., South Korea and NATO said North Korean troops were inside Russia and being deployed to help Moscow drive Ukrainian troops from Russia’s Kursk region. But the scope of the new firing guidelines wasn’t clear.
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Will a winter storm hit the US over Thanksgiving week? Here's what forecasts show so far
WINDSOR, Calif. (AP) — Forecasters warned over the weekend that another round of winter weather could complicate travel leading up to Thanksgiving in parts of the U.S.
In California, where a person was found dead in a vehicle submerged in floodwaters on Saturday, authorities braced for more precipitation while still grappling with flooding and small landslides from a previous storm. And thousands in the Pacific Northwest remained without power after multiple days in the dark.
A winter storm warning in California's Sierra Nevada on Saturday was in effect through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service's Sacramento office, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph). Total snowfall of roughly 4 feet (1.2 meters) was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations coming Monday and Tuesday.
Forecasters said the Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday, and the East Coast will be the most impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
A low pressure system will bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast, where areas from Boston to New York could see rain and strong winds. Parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks could get snow. If the system tracks further inland, the forecast would call for less snow for the mountains and more rain.
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Even with access to blockbuster obesity drugs, some people don't lose weight
Unlike scores of people who scrambled for the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight in recent years, Danielle Griffin had no trouble getting them.
The 38-year-old information technology worker from New Mexico had a prescription. Her pharmacy had the drugs in stock. And her health insurance covered all but $25 to $50 of the monthly cost.
For Griffin, the hardest part of using the new drugs wasn’t access. It was finding out that the much-hyped medications didn’t really work for her.
“I have been on Wegovy for a year and a half and have only lost 13 pounds,” said Griffin, who watches her diet, drinks plenty of water and exercises regularly. “I’ve done everything right with no success. It’s discouraging.”
In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of their body weight — up to 50 pounds or more in many cases. But roughly 10% to 15% of patients in those trials were “nonresponders” who lost less than 5% of their body weight.
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Fighting between armed sectarian groups in restive northwestern Pakistan kills at least 37 people
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Fighting between armed Sunni and Shiite groups in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 37 people and injured 25 others, a senior police officer from the region said Saturday.
The overnight violence was the latest to rock Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and comes days after a deadly gun ambush killed 42 people.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15% of the 240 million people in Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Although the two groups generally live together peacefully, tensions remain, especially in Kurram.
The station house police officer in Kurram, Saleem Shah, said armed men in Bagan and Bacha Kot torched shops, houses and government property.
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Hydrate. Make lists. Leave yourself time. And other tips for reducing holiday travel stress
Travel can be stressful in the best of times. Now add in the high-level anxiety that seems to be baked into every holiday season and it's clear that travelers could use some help calming frazzled nerves.
Travel pros say there is plenty you can do ahead of time to make for a happier and less-stressful holiday journey.
A week before you leave, write down things you need to bring and tasks you need to do before the trip.
“This can include essential packing items, as well as simple tasks like cleaning out old food from the fridge or watering the plants,” says Jess Feldman, special projects editor at Travel and Leisure magazine. “The key is to leave the list out for the entire week before you go. I cross the to-dos off throughout the week, and it helps me feel extremely prepared, lessening the stress every time.”
Noise-canceling headphones can go a long way toward blocking out annoyances during travel, although if you use them you should keep an eye on display boards or your phone for any flight or gate changes.
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Andy Murray will coach Novak Djokovic through the Australian Open
The recently retired Andy Murray is going to team up with longtime rival Novak Djokovic as his coach, they both announced Saturday, with plans to prepare for — and work together through — the Australian Open in January.
It was a stunning bit of news as tennis moves toward its offseason, a pairing of two of the most successful and popular players in the sport, both of whom are sometimes referred to as members of a so-called Big Four that also included Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic is a 24-time Grand Slam champion who has spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other player in tennis history. Murray won three major trophies and two Olympic singles gold medals and finished 2016 atop the ATP rankings. He ended his playing career after the Paris Summer Games in August.
Both men are 37 and were born a week apart in May 1987. They started facing each other as juniors and wound up meeting 36 times as professionals, with Djokovic holding a 25-11 advantage.
“We played each other since we were boys — 25 years of being rivals, of pushing each other beyond our limits. We had some of the most epic battles in our sport. They called us game-changers, risk-takers, history-makers,” Djokovic posted on social media over photos and videos from some of their matches. “I thought our story may be over. Turns out, it has one final chapter. It’s time for one of my toughest opponents to step into my corner. Welcome on board, Coach — Andy Murray.”
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