By Meg Tirrell, CNN

(CNN) — The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a daily pill version of Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy, introducing a new option for how patients can take medicines in a class of drugs that has revolutionized obesity treatment.

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

Both Wegovy and Ozempic, which mimic the hormone GLP-1, are given as weekly injections, as are rival drugs from Eli Lilly, called Zepbound and Mounjaro. Altogether, about 1 in 8 US adults say they’re currently taking one of the medicines, according to data from health policy research group KFF.

The Wegovy pill showed roughly similar weight loss and side effects in clinical trials as the Wegovy shot, and will be available by prescription in the US in January, according to Novo Nordisk.

“We believe it will expand access and options for patients,” Dr. Jason Brett, principal US medical head for Novo Nordisk, told CNN in an interview. “We know there are some patients who just won’t take an injectable medication.”

The starting dose of the Wegovy pill will cost $149 for patients paying out of pocket, under an agreement announced in November with the Trump administration. The drug will likely become pricier via self-pay as doses increase, though Novo Nordisk hasn’t disclosed those prices yet. Patients whose insurance covers the medicine will likely have a lower copay.

The Wegovy pill is one of two oral GLP-1 drugs expected to hit the market in the next few months; the other, from Lilly, is called orforglipron – until it receives a brand name – and is expected to be cleared by the FDA by summer.

The pills haven’t been compared head-to-head in a clinical trial, but in separate studies, the Wegovy pill showed average weight loss of 14% over 64 weeks, compared with 2% for a placebo, while orforglipron showed 11% weight loss over 72 weeks on its highest dose, compared with 2% for the placebo group. Wegovy injection showed weight loss of 15% in its key trial, versus 2% for placebo, while Zepbound showed 21% on its highest dose, compared with 3% for those on placebo.

Gastrointestinal issues such as nausea and vomiting are the most commonly experienced side effects with GLP-1 drugs, which was seen in studies of the pills as well. Overall, 7% of participants in the Wegovy pill trial stopped treatment because of side effects, versus 6% on placebo. In orforglipron’s study, up to 10% of patients stopped treatment, compared with 3% on placebo.

One difference between the medicines is that the Wegovy pill must be taken on an empty stomach with a small amount of water, and patients are directed not to eat, drink or take other medicines for 30 minutes after taking it. A pill version of semaglutide approved for diabetes, called Rybelsus, hasn’t been used as widely as Ozempic in part for that reason, doctors say.

Lilly touts that, in clinical trials, orforglipron was taken once a day at any time, without restrictions on food or water.

That conve

The post Keeping Christmas Spirit Alive, the Old-Fashioned Way appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

By Michelle Watson, CNN

(CNN) — The Department of Education announced a review of Brown University following a shooting earlier this month that left two students dead and nine others wounded at the Providence, Rhode Island, school.

The department will investigate whether Brown violated the Clery Act, which “requires institutions of higher education to meet certain campus safety and security-related requirements as a condition of receiving federal student aid,” according to the Monday release.

Earlier Monday, CNN affiliate WJAR reported Brown University has retained former federal prosecutor, Zachary Cunha, in the wake of the shooting.

“Brown works routinely with outside counsel whose expertise complements that of the University’s Office of the General Counsel,” a statement obtained by WJAR said.

Brown said it retained Cunha to “assist the University in coordinating with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.”

CNN has reached out to the university for comment about the Department of Education’s review.

The Department of Education is requesting a range of documents and information from the university, such as annual security reports, records of reported crimes, and crime logs covering recent years.

“Students deserve to feel safe at school, and every university across this nation must protect their students and be equipped with adequate resources to aid law enforcement,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

She added the Trump administration “will fight to ensure that recipients of federal funding are vigorously protecting students’ safety and following security procedures as required under federal law.”

In the days since the shooting on December 13, questions have come up surrounding the Ivy League’s campus security features and procedures.

Brown has said its campus has an “expansive network” of security cameras, with more than 1,200 cameras installed across campus buildings and spaces in both interior and exterior locations.

Brown spokesperson Brian Clark has previously noted, however, that “security cameras do not extend to every hallway, classroom, laboratory and office across the 250+ buildings on campus.”

The doors to the engineering building at Barus and Holley, where the shooting took place, were unlocked when the gunman entered.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley has said the building “is on the literal edge of the campus,” and as soon as the shooting suspect, walked outside, he “was no longer on campus.”

This is not Brown University’s first run in with President Donald Trump’s administration.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration reached a multimillion-dollar agreement with school to restore federal funding.

Under the Read more

By Katelyn Polantz, Marshall Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files — mandated by Congress to be completed last week — is still a work in progress.

Thousands of files still aren’t public. The redactions are extensive, at times going beyond what was called for in the law passed by Congress last month.

The Justice Department said it made the decision on its own to withhold information in the files under executive branch and legal privileges, to be extremely cautious not to expose victims, and to re-release files that had been redacted previously by the federal government under broader guidelines before the law was passed.

In the past four days, the approach has put the Trump administration, and especially its leadership at the Justice Department, on the defensive. Inside the Justice Department headquarters, lawyers are still scrambling to correct mistakes made in redacting files and working through thousands more documents that still aren’t available, according to sources familiar with the work and statements DOJ leadership have made since Friday.

And despite their efforts to defend the work of hundreds of lawyers working through the Epstein records, the Justice Department’s leadership hasn’t been able to silence critics from all corners who now say they aren’t being transparent enough.

In a statement Monday, more than a dozen Epstein survivors who’ve called for transparency slammed the “abnormal and extreme redactions with no explanation.”

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie said Sunday that he is working with Democrats to potentially hold Justice Department leaders in contempt because they are “not abiding” by the law requiring broad transparency. And a widely shared fact-check on X said the Trump administration was protecting “pedophiles and rapists.”

On Monday, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton, who appears unredacted in many of the photos that make up the sliver of what’s new and notable in the files, said there’s “widespread suspicion” that the Justice Department is selectively releasing information to imply wrongdoing about individuals who have been cleared of any crime. Clinton has never been charged with or accused of wrongdoing.

“We call on President Trump to direct Attorney General Bondi to immediately release any remaining materials referring to, mentioning, or containing a photograph of Bill Clinton,” the statement from Clinton spokesman Angel Ureña said.

The Justice Department didn’t immediately return a request for comment for this story.

Persistent criticism

Criticism of the Justice Department for failing to be transparent with its Epstein records has dogged the department’s leadership throughout Trump’s second term. Bondi was previously panned for touting transparency while re-releasing records that were already in the public sphere.

Other choices made by the Justice Department’s top brass, including Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, added to the frustration, leading Congress to act and pass the transparency law in the first place. Federal judges previously noted the Justice Department’s prior publicized attempts at transparency, such as asking for grand jury records to be released, wouldn’t have delivered much new information to the public.

The Epstein files released Friday contain hundreds of photos that hadn’t previously been seen, as well some grand jury and interview transcripts that were previously secret and a few other notable filings and internal files.

But by and large, the massive and incomplete trove posted on the Justice Department’s website

Por Kevin Liptak, CNN

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, presentó este lunes una nueva “clase Trump” de acorazados de la Marina, describiéndolos como naves de combate superiores para reemplazar una flota estadounidense “vieja, cansada y obsoleta”.

“Van a ayudar a mantener la supremacía militar de Estados Unidos, a revivir la industria de construcción naval nacional y a infundir temor en los enemigos de nuestro país en todo el mundo”, dijo Trump al revelar la nueva categoría de nave desde la biblioteca de Mar-a-Lago.

Acompañado por imágenes de los acorazados “clase Trump” en el mar, Trump afirmó que participará activamente en su diseño. El anuncio se realizó este lunes por la tarde en Florida, junto al secretario de Defensa, Pete Hegseth, y el secretario de Estado y asesor de seguridad nacional, Marco Rubio. Trump no utilizó el término “clase Trump” en sus declaraciones.

Los barcos de la “clase Trump” formarán parte de la nueva “Flota Dorada” que el presidente ha ordenado para la Marina, destinada a contrarrestar a China y otros adversarios, y a ajustarse a los estándares estéticos de Trump.

“La Marina de Estados Unidos liderará el diseño de estos barcos junto conmigo porque soy una persona muy estética”, dijo Trump.

Equipados con “cañones y misiles del más alto nivel”, armas hipersónicas, cañones electromagnéticos, misiles de crucero y los “láseres más sofisticados del mundo”, los nuevos acorazados serán los más grandes jamás construidos, según Trump.

Cada uno pesará entre 3.000 y 40.000 toneladas y será construido en Estados Unidos. “Estarán muy controlados por inteligencia artificial”, añadió, sin dar detalles.

“Imaginamos que estos barcos serán los primeros de una clase completamente nueva que se producirá en los próximos años”, afirmó.

Inicialmente, la Marina construirá dos barcos de la “clase Trump”, seguidos rápidamente por ocho más. Trump dijo que prevé entre 20 y 25 de estos navíos, que se convertirían en el “buque insignia de la flota naval estadounidense”.

También señaló que trabajará para modernizar los portaaviones estadounidenses como parte de la actualización de la “Flota Dorada”.

Trump se había quejado previamente sobre la apariencia de algunos barcos estadounidenses.

“No soy fan de algunos de los barcos que hacen. Soy una persona muy estética y no me gustan algunos de los barcos que están haciendo desde el punto de vista estético”, dijo Trump a altos mandos militares reunidos en Quantico a principios de este año.

“Dicen: ‘Oh, es sigiloso’. Yo digo que eso no es sigiloso. No es necesario un barco feo para decir que es sigiloso”, añadió.

Nombrar una clase de barcos con el nombre de Trump podría significar que su nombre también se coloque en un barco real, aunque eso probablemente tomaría años.

Cada clase de barcos representa un nuevo diseño y tradicionalmente lleva el nombre del primer barco de ese diseño producido. Si Trump designara la clase con su propio nombre y la Marina de Estados Unidos siguiera esa convención, el primer barco construido con el diseño anunciado por Trump el lunes sería el USS Trump.

No obstante, los carteles en el evento mostraron el barco con el nombre USS Defiant.

La Marina anunció el viernes que encargará una nueva clase de fragatas, construidas en Estados Unidos, como parte de la nueva flota. Las fragatas están diseñadas para proteger rutas marítimas y resguardar embarcaciones más grandes.

El anuncio se produce en medio de un gran despliegue naval estadounidense en el mar Caribe, mientras Trump aumenta la presión sobre el líder venezolano Nicolás Maduro, incluyendo intentos de cortar sus ingresos petroleros.

La Marina ha participado en una serie de interdicciones de buques petroleros en el Caribe, aunque la Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos ha liderado las operaciones. Estados Unidos ha interceptado do