Santa Barbara County News and Events

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reconsidering reelection bid, expected to announce decision Monday, sources say

Kraig Pakulski 0 35 Article rating: No rating

By Jeff Zeleny, CNN

(CNN) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is reconsidering whether to seek reelection to a third term and is expected to announce his decision at a Monday news conference, two senior Democrats told CNN, as criticism over a welfare-fraud scandal in his state intensifies.

Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2024, spent the weekend discussing his plans with friends and advisers. He met with Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Sunday, two people familiar with the matter told CNN as the Democratic senator considers whether to jump into the race if Walz decides against running.

CNN has reached out to Walz and Klobuchar for comment.

A deepening federal probe into a sweeping fraud scandal in Minnesota has threatened to complicate Walz’s bid for an unprecedented third term. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but Republicans have sought to blame Walz and Democrats for the massive abuse of taxpayer dollars.

Minnesota officials have until January 9 to provide the Trump administration with information about providers and parents who receive federal funds for child care.

The Trump administration’s demands are the latest step in a yearslong saga that started with investigations into theft of government funds in Minnesota under the Biden administration.

Walz is scheduled to hold a press conference at 11:00 a.m. CT (12:00 p.m. ET) on Monday in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Klobuchar, who was elected to a fourth term in 2024, is a former prosecutor. She serves in Senate leadership, but over the years has privately expressed interest in being governor and serving as a chief executive. She sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reconsidering reelection bid, expected to announce decision Monday, sources say appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Greenland, Cuba, Iran: Here are all the countries Trump has warned since his Venezuela strike

Kraig Pakulski 0 40 Article rating: No rating
Since the Venezuela strike

By Tim Lister, CNN

(CNN) — Since the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Máduro by US forces at the weekend, US President Donald Trump and members of his administration have issued warnings to several other countries and territories – including Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Iran and Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark.

Trump said Sunday: “We are in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out.”

“American dominance in the Western hemisphere will never be questioned again,” Trump said.

Here’s what to know about what Trump has said in the last two days, and how some of those governments have responded.

Greenland

Trump repeated on Sunday that the US needs the huge north Atlantic island of Greenland “from the standpoint of national security.”

“We need Greenland. … It’s so strategic right now. Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Responding to Trump’s latest comments, Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen said Monday that “the current and repeated rhetoric coming from the United States is entirely unacceptable. When the President of the United States speaks of ‘needing Greenland’ and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it is not only wrong. It is disrespectful.”

“Our country is not an object in great-power rhetoric. We are a people. A country. A democracy,” Nielsen added.

Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants to annex Greenland — a huge, resource-rich 836,000 square miles (2,166,000 square kilometer) island in the Atlantic and self-governing territory of Denmark — claiming that this is needed for American security purposes.

Both Greenland and Denmark, a NATO ally of the US, are staunchly opposed to the idea.

Colombia

Trump had harsh words for Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Sunday, describing him as “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long.”

When pressed by a reporter if those comments meant there could be an “operation” in Colombia in the future, Trump responded, “sou

Starter dose of Wegovy now available as a daily pill instead of weekly injection

Kraig Pakulski 0 37 Article rating: No rating
Patients with a prescription can now purchase the lowest dose of the new Wegovy pill.

By Tami Luhby, Meg Tirrell, CNN

(CNN) — Americans can now purchase the starter dose of blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy as a pill, drug maker Novo Nordisk announced Monday. Other strengths will be available as pills by the end of the week.

The daily pill, available with a prescription, generally costs less than the weekly injection for self-pay patients willing to buy directly from Novo Nordisk and forgo insurance. The GLP-1 drug’s original steep price tag made it unaffordable for many people seeking to lose weight since many commercial insurance plans do not cover it for obesity.

The 1.5 mg starter dose of the pill costs $149 a month for patients who pay cash, as part of a recent deal Novo Nordisk made with the Trump administration. The 4 mg dose costs the same amount until April 15, after which the price will increase to $199. However, the 9 mg and 25 mg doses cost $299 a month, according to the manufacturer.

The injectable version carries a $349 monthly price tag for self-pay consumers, though new patients can receive two months of the lowest two doses for $199 each until March, according to Novo Nordisk.

Patients whose insurance plans cover the drug for obesity could pay as little as $25 a month for the pill or injection under a savings program offered by Novo Nordisk. The pill is available in pharmacies, certain telehealth providers, NovoCare Pharmacy and other locations.

Wegovy is also approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or death in adults with overweight or obesity and established heart disease.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the daily pill version in late December. The oral Wegovy drug showed roughly similar weight loss and side effects in clinical trials as the shot, according to Novo Nordisk.

The pill uses the same active ingredient – semaglutide – that powers the original Wegovy, along with its sister drug for diabetes, Ozempic.

Rival Eli Lilly, which manufactures the diabetes drug Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound, is also developing an oral GLP-1 medication, which is called orforglipron until it receives a brand name. It is expected to be approved by the FDA by summer and will also be available for the $149 starting price under the Trump agreement. Additional doses of orforglipron will cost up to $399 if patients are paying cash.

GLP-1 medications have become uber popular since hitting the market several years ago. About 1 in 8 US adults <

FDA misses another deadline on proposed ban on formaldehyde in hair-straightening products

Kraig Pakulski 0 55 Article rating: No rating

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration has missed its latest deadline to propose banning formaldehyde and certain formaldehyde-releasing chemicals from hair-straightening products, often used by Black women.

The proposed rule had an action date of the last day of December 2025, according to experts, which the agency lists as “12/00/25.”

But the FDA says the rule is still in the works.

“FDA’s proposed rule, ‘Use of Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde-Releasing Chemicals as an Ingredient in Hair Smoothing Products or Hair Straightening Products’ continues to remain a priority for the Agency,” an agency spokesperson said in an email. “FDA may adjust the anticipated publication date of this and other proposed rules when appropriate.”

The agency added that it will provide “periodic updates” to deadlines or other projected through the FDA’s Unified Agenda, which typically updates semi-annually, in spring and fall.

The FDA’s first deadline on the proposed rule was October 2023.

“That timeline was later moved to April 2024, then November 2024, March 2025, July 2025 and now December 31, 2025,” David Andrews, acting chief science officer at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental health advocacy group, said in an email.

“Formaldehyde is a well-established carcinogen that can also cause respiratory irritation, skin sensitization, and other adverse health effects such as an increased risk of asthma,” he said. “Every delay directly puts at risk the health of salon workers and consumers, particularly Black women, who are disproportionately exposed to harmful chemicals in personal care products.”

In 2021, salon workers joined forces with the Environmental Working Group and the nonprofit Women’s Voices for the Earth to press the FDA to act. In a citizen petition, they requested that the agency take regulatory action to prohibit formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals, like methylene glycol, in hair-smoothing products and hair-straightening products.

Due to worry about the chemicals’ links to increased cancer risks, the FDA under the Biden administration signaled that it was considering a ban on these ingredients in certain cosmetic products, including chemical hair relaxers and pressing treatments. Those products are heavily marketed to Black women, which also raises concerns about disproportionate health impacts.

But for the remainder of the Biden administration and into the second Trump administration, the FDA repeatedly pushed back its action date. Official action was never taken.

“Every day these products stay on the market further undermines public confidence in the FDA’s ability to safeguard health,” Andrews said, adding that “because this is not a legally mandated deadline, there are no formal consequences if it is missed,” but it remains unclear when or whether the proposed rule will be published at all.

A rule in limbo

There is no formal consequence or penalty for the FDA missing its deadline.

But to mov

Eva Schloss, Anne Frank’s stepsister and Holocaust campaigner, dies at 96

Kraig Pakulski 0 53 Article rating: No rating
Eva Schloss dedicated much of her life to educating people about the horrors of the Holocaust

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — Eva Schloss, who survived the Holocaust as a teenager before becoming Anne Frank’s stepsister and a tireless campaigner against prejudice, has died at age 96, her trust announced Sunday.

“Eva was a remarkable woman: an Auschwitz survivor, a devoted Holocaust educator, tireless in her work for remembrance, understanding and peace,” the Anne Frank Trust UK, which Schloss co-founded, said Sunday.

Such was her impact that Britain’s King Charles III was among those who paid tribute to her.

“My wife and I are greatly saddened to hear of the death of Eva Schloss,” he said in a statement. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding and resilience.”

Schloss was born in 1929 in Vienna, Austria, a month before Frank, and, like the Franks, her family fled to Amsterdam, the Netherlands to escape the Nazi regime. Their families met in Amsterdam and the two girls would sometimes play together, though Schloss recalled that they were not particularly close.

“I was a tomboy and she was so much more sophisticated,” Schloss told the Guardian in 2013. “We simply didn’t have the same interests.”

Her family went into hiding in 1942 on the same day as the Franks, and they remained concealed for two years until 1944, when someone betrayed them and they were sent to the Auschwitz death camp.

Schloss’ father, Erich Geiringer, and her older brother, Heinz, were both murdered there, leaving Eva and her mother, Fritzi, as the sole survivors of their family.

After the war, Fritzi became reacquainted with Otto Frank, Anne’s father, who had lost his wife and two daughters in the Holocaust, and they married, making Schloss the posthumous stepsister of her old friend.

Schloss settled in London where she met her husband, Zvi Schloss, and had three daughters – Jacky, Caroline and Sylvia.

It was only in 1988, after an exhibition dedicated to Anne Frank opened in London, that she began speaking publicly about the trauma she went through at Auschwitz.

“I was far from politics, but I realized that the world had not learned any lessons from the events of 1939 to 1945, that wars continued, that persecution, racism, intolerance still existed,” she said, according to the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam. “And then I began to share my experience, to call for changes in the world.”

From then on, Schloss dedicated her life to educating the world about the horrors of the Holocaust. She spoke in schools and universities, wrote three books – “Eva’s Story,” “After Auschwitz” and “The Promise” – and co-founded the Anne Frank Trust UK in 1991, which specifically aimed to educate children aged 9 to 15 about the dangers of antisemitism and other forms of prejudice.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Read more

RSS
First39273928392939303932393439353936Last