Trump chooses anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race, abandoned his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration. Trump also announced Thursday that he has chosen Doug Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, to run the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long record of promoting anti-vaccine views
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was building up a following with his anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, and became one of the world’s most influential spreaders of fear and distrust around vaccines. Kennedy has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism. He has also pushed other conspiracy theories, including that COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people, comments he later said were taken out of context. He has insisted that he is not anti-vaccine, but has shown opposition to a wide range of immunizations.
How Alex Jones’ Infowars wound up in the hands of The Onion
The purchase of Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction by the satirical news publication The Onion is the latest twist in a yearslong saga. The legal fight pitted the far-right conspiracy theorist Jones against the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims. The sale was ordered after relatives of many of the 20 children and six educators killed in the shooting successfully sued Jones and his company for defamation and emotional distress. Jones repeatedly said on his show that the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting was a hoax staged by crisis actors to spur more gun control. Jones ultimately acknowledged in 2022 that the shooting was “100% real.”
Powell says Fed will likely cut rates cautiously given persistent inflation pressures
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve will likely cut its key interest rate slowly and deliberately in the coming months, in part because inflation has shown signs of persistence and the Fed’s officials want to see where it heads next. Powell, speaking in Dallas, said inflation is edging closer to the central bank’s 2% target, “but it is not there yet.” At the same time, he said, the economy is strong, and the policymakers can take time to monitor the path of inflation. Economists expect the Fed to announce another quarter-point rate cut in December, after a quarter-point reduction last week and half-point cut in September.
Israeli strikes kill at least 12 Lebanese rescuers and 15 people in Syria
BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 12 Lebanese rescue workers inside a civil defense center in the eastern city of Baalbek. That’s according to health and rescue officials, who condemned the attack on a Lebanese state-run health center with no affiliation to the militant group Hezbollah. The strike came hours after Syrian state media said Israeli strikes in and around the capital killed at least 15 people. The Israeli military said it hit infrastructure sites and command centers of the Islamic Jihad militant group. Israel offered no immediate comment about the civil defense center strike. Israeli warplanes recently intensified airstrikes in Lebanon, targeting various areas in the country’s south and east.
New FDA rules for TV drug ads: Simpler language and no distractions
WASHINGTON (AP) — New rules require drugmakers to be clearer about explaining the risks and side effects of prescription drugs. The new guidelines from the the Food and Drug Administration are designed to do away with pharmaceutical industry practices that downplay or distract viewers’ attention from risk information. FDA officials spent more than 15 years crafting the rules, which apply to both TV and radio ads. But while regulators were drafting them, a new trend has emerged: pharmaceutical influencers pushing drugs online with little government oversight. A new congressional proposal would compel FDA to police those social media promotions.
Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend
WASHINGTON (AP) — Suicides in the U.S. military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend that the Pentagon has struggled to abate. The increase is a bit of a setback after the deaths dipped slightly the previous year. The number of suicides and the rate per 100,000 active-duty service members went up, as did the number of suicides among the Reserves. Suicides in the National Guard decreased a bit. The overall increase comes as top leaders have worked to develop programs both to increase mental health assistance for troops and beef up education on gun safety, locks and storage. The latest figures are in a Defense Department report released on Thursday.
Trump hammered Democrats on transgender issues. Now the party is at odds on a response
ATLANTA (AP) — Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue. There’s plenty of second-guessing after President-elect Donald Trump anchored his victory with grandiose promises on the economy and immigration. But Democrats also will not soon forget the punchline in anti-transgender Trump ads that became ubiquitous by Election Day: “Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.” Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign didn’t respond enough. He says the ad helped Trump paint Harris as a “far-left liberal.”
Former Marine misused a combat technique in fatal chokehold of NYC subway rider, trainer testifies
NEW YORK (AP) — A former military combat instructor says a fellow Marine veteran misused a combat maneuver when he fatally choked a homeless man aboard a Manhattan subway last year. Joseph Caballer has testified Thursday that Daniel Penny appeared to have attempted a “blood choke” on the man, Jordan Neely. He said Penny would’ve been trained in the non-lethal maneuver — but should’ve known to let go after Neely lost consciousness. The testimony came weeks into the trial of Penny, who faces manslaughter charges in Neely’s death. The case has divided New Yorkers and drawn national attention to issues of crime and disorder in the city’s transit system.
Masses flee homes in Haiti as gangs ratchet up violence amid political turmoil
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Masses of residents are fleeing a running battle between gang members and police in one of the few neighborhoods of Haiti’s capital that hadn’t already been fully taken over by the gangs. It was part of a surge of violence this week as gangs capitalize on the country’s political turmoil. Families frantically packed mattresses and furniture into cars and carried their belongings on their heads as they left the Solino neighborhood on Thursday. Solino is one of a handful of areas in Port-au-Prince where a coalition of gangs called Viv Ansanm and police were locked in a violent firefight in recent days.