Eli Lilly has asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve orforglipron after completing a Phase 3 trial showing it helped people maintain weight loss after stopping injectable drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound.

The request follows another Phase 3 trial indicating the drug produced double-digit weight loss in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Currently, GLP-1 drugs used to treat obesity and diabetes are injectable. Eli Lilly is among several companies developing an oral GLP-1 medication, though pill versions typically have more restrictions than injections. Lilly says orforglipron could be a more convenient alternative.

RELATED STORY | Eli Lillys Orforglipron shows potential for weight loss and diabetes control

Obesity is a chronic, progressive disease, and sustaining weight loss remains a significant challenge for many, said Kenneth Custer, executive vice president and president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health. He said the medication helped people maintain the weight they worked hard to lose and allowed patients to switch directly from the highest tolerated doses of available injectable therapies onto oral doses of orforglipron.

In the latest study, participants who had used Wegovy lost an average of 41 pounds. After a year on orforglipron, they regained about 2 pounds. Participants who used Zepbound lost an average of 55 pounds, and those who switched to orforglipron regained 11 pounds over the same period.

RELATED STORY | Eli Lilly could bring first widely available GLP1 pill for obesity, diabetes to market this year

Lilly says the pill helped participants keep more weight off compared to those taking a placebo, even with similar diet and exercise counseling.

In an earlier study involving people with Type 2 diabetes, participants taking the highest dose of orforglipron lost an average of 10.5% of their body weight after 72 weeks. Those on lower doses lost between 5.5% and 7.8%. All participants were considered overweight or obese and had Type 2 diabetes.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that reclassifies marijuana as a Schedule III drug. It was previously a Class I drug, which is in the same category as heroin and LSD.

By doing so, the federal government now recognizes that marijuana has a "moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence." The signing itself does not fully make marijuana use legal, but it could continue the process of legalizing the drug.

"We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain," Trump said. "For decades, this action has been requested by American patients suffering from extreme pain, incurable diseases, aggressive cancers, seizure disorders, neurological problems, and more, including numerous veterans with service-related injuries and older Americans who live with chronic medical problems that severely degrade their quality of life. And it's really, I mean just, I can't tell you, I think I probably have received more phone calls on this, on doing what we're doing. I don't think I received any calls on the other side of it, but hopefully, this reclassification, which, by the way, polls at 82% will help many of those patients live a far better life."

RELATED STORY | 'Scromiting' condition linked to marijuana use increases nationwide

Kent Vrana, director of the Penn State Center for Cannabis and Natural Product Pharmaceuticals, said this reclassification has real-world implications.

"Rescheduling could make it easier for patients to access medical marijuana. It could open the door for insurance companies to cover it because they currently wont cover Schedule I drugs," Vrana said. "It would also have a major impact on the growth of the industry. Because of marijuanas Schedule I status, the industry is a cash-based system. You cant use credit cards because the federal government oversees the banking system. Businesses also cant write off business expenses or get tax deductions. In that way, rescheduling could help grow the industry as a whole."

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that the reclassification opens the door for research to be used to explore marijuana's possible benefits.

The Trump administration on Thursday announced a series of new rules and regulations that, if allowed to stand, would effectively prohibit American minors from accessing gender-affirming healthcare.

The move announced by top Trump administration health officials including Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary, and Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services Administrator Mehment Oz, among others represents the most far-reaching effort yet by the White House to crack down on an expansive and fluid understanding of gender identity.

So-called gender-affirming care has afflicted lasting physical and psychological damage on vulnerable young people, Kennedy said in remarks at HHSs Washington headquarters. This is not medicine, its malpractice.

Pushing transgender ideology in children is predatory, its wrong and it needs to stop, echoed Makary.

Transgender people, LGBTQ+ advocates and major American medical groups quickly blasted the move.

These rules are about putting politicians in people's doctor's offices. They're about replacing parents and physicians, medical professionals, with politicians who have their own agendas, Brandon Wolf, national press secretary with the Human Rights Campaign, told Scripps News in an interview. It is a shame to see that this administration is taking aim, once again, at transgender young people at a time when they are ignoring so many crises that are impacting Americans across the country.

At a time when families across the country are facing rising costs and other health challenges, our leading government health care agency opts to introduce regulations that focus disproportionate attention on denying care to a small population of adolescents, echoed Susan J. Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. These rules help no one, do nothing to address health care costs, and unfairly stigmatize a population of young people.

A series of new restrictions

Federal officials announced six new policies Thursday aimed at restricting minors access to transgender healthcare.

Two rules promulgated by CMS target federal funds for gender-affirming procedures and the institutions that provide them.

One prohibits federal Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) dollars from being used to fund what are described as sex-rejecting procedures.

A second, broader policy bars hospitals from providing gender-affirming care as a condition of receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds. Nearly every American hospital receives such funding, and those federal dollars support at least half of all inpatient stays at more than 96% of hospitals, according to the American Hospital Association.

Both rules wont take effect for at least 60 days, while they undergo a standard notice and comment period.

Additionally, Kennedy authored an HHS declaration that stated gender-affirming care procedures do not meet professionally recognized standards of health care, and suggested physicians performing them would be deemed out of compliance with such standards.

Adm. Brian Christine, HHS assistant secretary for health and head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, also authored a formal public health message to American physicians and medical providers finding that [c]urrent evidence does not support claims that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries are safe and effective treatments for pediatric gender dysphoria.

FDA officials also said theyd sent a series of warning letters to companies that manufacture chest binders, which can be used to help reduce the size and prominence of breasts, suggesting they were illegally marketing such devices to children.

And HHSs Office for Civil Rights announced a reinterpretation of federal law clarifying that gender dysphoria a medical diagnosis for those who feel their gender identity contradicts their sex assigned at birth is not subject to some federal disability protections.

Trump administration officials pointed to an executive order signed by Trump during his first days in the White House that tasked health officials to propose new rules protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation as justification for such actions. The order suggested such care represented a stain on our Nations history, and it must end.

Officials also cited a recent report commissioned by Kennedy and other top officials that synthesized scientific research into such care practices as giving them an evidentiary backing for the new rules.

The report concluded that the benefits of medical interventions were uncertain, but the risks including loss of fertility and a potential future desire to detransition outweighed the benefits.

In comments provided as a part of the peer review process, American Medical Association officials wrote the reports claims fall short of the standard of methodological rigor that should be considered a prerequisite for policy guidance in clinical care and that it does not apply any kind of rational scrutiny to potential harms that have been associated with withholding intervention, including higher rates of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and social withdrawal.

Expected legal challenges to come

Medical experts and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups suggested the new measures likely run afoul of federal law, and hinted at possible legal challenges in the future.

Michael Ulrich, an associate professor at Boston Universitys School of Public Health and bioethicist who studies gender-affirming care, said Kennedy and other officials grossly misstated the current status quo.

There are licensure boards, there are ethical requirements, there are malpractice laws the idea that doctors can sort of do whatever they want without repercussions is just completely false in terms of the way that our healthcare system works, he told Scripps News in an interview.

Ulrich noted that some cosmetic procedures like breast augmentations or rhinoplasties are still allowed for minors with parental consent, despite the fact that they can permanently alter children's appearances.

It just demonstrates that, again, this is not something that they are even internally consistent about in terms of the justifications that they use, he noted.

Wolf, the HRC official, suggested the Trump administration is unlikely to stop at restrictions for transgender minors, and rather is looking to regulate trans people out of existence altogether.

The very same people that are behind the rules that were proposed today believe that no transgender person should be able to access health care, and they will not stop until they have full control over who gets health care in this country, he said.

Indeed, during Thursdays remarks, Jim ONeill, the deputy secretary of the Health Department, was blunt in his beliefs: Men are men. Men can never become women. Women are women, women can never become men.

Legal experts consulted by Scripps News said that while the Trump administration had broad leeway to issue public notices or try to steer federal funding, efforts to block funding to all hospitals that provide gender-affirming care were on shakier ground.

Experts specifically highlighted a section of federal code that prohibits federal officials from exercis[ing] any supervision or control over the practice of medicine or the manner in which

medical services are provided.

In rulemaking documents, CMS officials sought to circumvent such statutory bars by arguing gender-affirming care didnt actually amount to healthcare; whether such arguments will hold up in court remains to be seen.

Already, 27 states have enacted laws or policies blocking minors access to gender-affirming care, according to the health research firm KFF.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in

U.S. v. Skremetti

that states should be allowed to move forward with transgender care bans given ongoing medical debates about the efficacy of such procedures.

In finding Tennessees ban on such care was warranted, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. pointed to the fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field and said such questions should be resolved by the people, their elected representatives and the democratic process.

A growing anti-trans climate

Its not just the Trump administration and GOP-led states spearheading the charge against transgender minors.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a measure, authored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), that would criminalize gender-affirming procedures and medical care for minors.

The bill passed the House 215-201, with four Republicans breaking ranks to oppose it and three Democrats voting for it. The bill faces unlikely odds in the Senate, where Democratic support would be required to push it over a 60-vote threshold needed for passage.

Still, Wednesdays vote highlighted the shifting politics around transgender issues. Trump and Republicans have credited the presidents anti-trans messaging as central to his 2024 electoral victory prompting some prominent Democrats previously supportive of LGBTQ+ issues to hedge on wedge issues like trans students participation in school sports.

Yet in more recent electoral contests, anti-trans candidates have been less successful.

Wolf suggested the American public was on trans peoples side.

A vast majority of people in this country support LGBTQ plus equality, he told Scripps News. The American people don't want to punish their neighbors because, you know, they have a kid who's trans. They want answers to their own health care, premiums skyrocketing and the cost of groceries, and they're not going to tolerate politicians who try to hide behind transphobia to ignore the real crises that the American people are facing every day.

AAA expects the 2025 Christmas holiday week to be the busiest on record, with more than 122 million Americans traveling at least 50 miles.

Of the 122.4 million travelers, 89.4% will drive and 6.6% will fly, according to AAA.

While New Years week will also see heavy traffic, AAA says Christmas week will be most active. Hertz projects Dec. 20 will be the busiest rental car pickup day, with top locations in Orlando, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and Phoenix.

RELATED STORY | Christmas scams: Fake airline customer service scams are canceling real flights

Dec. 20 and 21 are expected to be among the busiest interstate travel days, with Dec. 26 also projected to see heavy congestion. AAA says traffic could more than double on some routes Washington to Baltimore could be 133% heavier on Dec. 20, and Boston to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, could see a 126% increase.

Travel between Fort Collins and Denver on Dec. 26 could take 1 hour, 53 minutes about 50 minutes longer than usual.

Year-end travel is a mix of family road trips, friend getaways and tropical vacations, said Stacey Barber, vice president of AAA Travel. Holiday celebrations look different for everyone, but a common thread is the desire to travel, whether its returning to your hometown or exploring new destinations.

RELATED STORY | Who's getting a white Christmas? National weather forecasts for the holiday

AAA says Dec. 24, 25, 31 and Jan. 1 are likely the least busy travel days.

Click here to see the best and worst travel times for your region.

President Donald Trump will address the nation from the White House on Wednesday evening in a prime-time speech.

The address will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will be streamed at ScrippsNews.com.

"I look forward to 'seeing' you then. It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!" Trump said in a social media post.

The White House has released few details on the topics Trump plans to address.

RELATED STORY | Four Republicans join Democrats to force House vote on extending ACA subsidies

"He's going to talk a lot about the accomplishments over the past 11 months, all that he's done to bring our country back to greatness, and all he continues to plan to do to continue delivering for the American people over the next three years," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

The address will prompt major broadcast networks to shift their prime-time schedules.

CBS will air its season finale of Survivor at 8 p.m. ET, pause for the presidents address and resume the show where it left off after Trumps speech.

ABC will also pause its programming. It will air the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball starting at 8 p.m. ET, resuming coverage of the concert immediately following the address.

RELATED STORY | Trump's economic speech turns to grievance on immigrants from 'filthy' countries

NBC had been scheduled to air Christmas in Nashville at 9 p.m. ET. It will now begin after Trumps speech.

The address will also cause many stations to delay their late local newscasts.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will adopt a recommendation from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to eliminate the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.

Earlier this month, the panel voted 8-3 to scrap the guidance in favor of individual-based decision-making, advising parents to consult their health care provider before vaccinating. Vaccine advocates warn the change could delay when infants receive their first dose.

The hepatitis B vaccine provides immediate antibodies to help prevent virus transmission. The CDC previously recommended nearly all newborns receive the shot as part of routine care.

RELATED STORY | CDC vaccine advisory panel changes its recommendations for MMRV vaccines

Under the new guidance, parents and physicians should weigh the risks and benefits when deciding on a birth dose.

Common side effects include pain where the shot was given, headache, fever, fatigue, irritability, and vomiting typically lasting up to two days. Many experts say the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks.

The American Academy of Pediatrics criticized the CDCs decision and will continue to recommend the shot for newborns.

This irresponsible and purposely misleading guidance will lead to more hepatitis B infections in infants and children, AAP President Susan J. Kressly said. I want to reassure parents and clinicians that there is no new or concerning information about the hepatitis B vaccine that is prompting this change, nor has childrens risk of contracting hepatitis B changed. Instead, this is the result of a deliberate strategy to sow fear and distrust among families.

Current guidance calls for a two-dose series given at 2 months and between 6 and 18 months. The CDC still recommends a three-dose series, including a birth dose within 48 hours, for newborns whose mothers test positive for hepatitis B.

This recommendation reflects ACIPs rigorous review of the available evidence, Acting CDC Director and Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O'Neill said. We are restoring the balance of informed consent to parents whose newborns face little risk of contracting hepatitis B.

Omer Awan, a physician and senior public health contributor for Forbes, said universal newborn vaccination since 1991 has reduced infections among children and adolescents by 99 percent.

RELATED STORY | West Coast states, Massachusetts issue vaccine guidance amid CDC turmoil

Were going to start to see hepatitis B circulating much more commonly in the population, he said. And more and more people will, Im afraid, be at risk for getting this infection that, quite frankly, is deadly. Hepatitis B can cause liver failure, liver cancer and, ultimately, death.

Retsef Levi, a member of ACIP who does not have a medical background, explained his reasoning for voting for the change.

If you are a baby born to a mother who tested negative for hepatitis B, you need to realize, as a parent, that your risk of infection throughout your early stage of life and probably throughout most of your childhood is extremely low, he said.

Police were still searching for the gunman hours after a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Late Saturday, authorities released video of a person of interest walking near the site of the shooting, dressed in all black.

Video of person of interest in Brown shooting: pic.twitter.com/fjufQ3MTdC

Providence Police (@ProvidenceRIPD) December 14, 2025

Hospital said one patient was in critical condition Saturday night, six were critical but stable, and another was listed in stable condition. Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said an additional person later sought treatment after realizing they had been injured by shrapnel; that person is expected to be OK.

A shelter-in-place order remained in effect Saturday night as authorities continued searching for the shooter.

Officials said the first report of an active shooting near the Barus and Holley engineering building came in just after 4 p.m. Students were inside at the time because multiple final exams were being held, the university said.

Authorities have not said whether the victims were all students.

President Donald Trump weighed in on the shooting, saying, All we can do at this time is pray for those who are injured.

Brown University has about 10,000 students.

House Democrats released photos Friday from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein that included images of Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Bill Gates and other prominent figures.

The images could embarrass those pictured, but Jeremy Saland, a former Manhattan prosecutor who now runs his own criminal defense practice, said the photos do not prove those figures were involved in crimes. Epstein was charged in federal court in 2019 with sex trafficking of minors. He died by suicide before his trial.

Epstein was accused of sexually abusing and exploiting dozens of underage girls.

As the alleged abuse occurred, Epstein maintained friendships with many highprofile figures.

RELATED STORY | House Democrats release new Epstein photos showing Trump, Clinton

"I see people who may very well have been engaged in personal relationships," Saland said. "I see people who may have been engaged in professional relationships. I see redactions, which by default make you think, 'Uh-oh, what are we hiding? There must be something nefarious.' But if you believe in due process no matter whether you love President Donald Trump or you abhor him this by itself does not move that ball from a criminal perspective."

As Americans await what could be the largest tranche of Epstein-related material to be released in the coming week, Saland said small batches of documents, such as the release of a handful of photos by House Democrats, only fuel speculation.

While photos of sex toys from Epstein's estate were among those released by House Democrats, those images by themselves do not indicate proof of a crime. Saland noted, however, that the photos could become significant depending on what other information is released in the coming week.

"What would be interesting to know is if one of these girls in one of their statements referenced one of these items and that reference is now corroborated that it exists. That would give more credibility and a foundation to what they are saying," he said.

A law requiring the Department of Justice to release Epstein-related grand jury documents by Friday includes an exception: the DOJ is not required to disclose material that is part of an ongoing investigation.

Saland said that could give the Justice Department and the Trump administration wide leeway to keep some information from the public.

"If anything is withheld in terms of the investigatory file the Department of Justice file the fallback is going to be that there is an ongoing investigation and they're looking into other players or people. Therefore, we are not going to release maybe the most damning or the most embarrassing evidence out there. We're going to hold that back," Saland said.

Abraham Quintanilla Jr., a music producer who helped launch his daughter Selena Quintanillas career to stardom, has died at age 85, his family announced in an Instagram post.

"Its with a heavy heart to let you guys know that my Dad passed away today," said A.B. Quintanilla, Abraham's son and Selena's brother.

Quintanilla founded the band Selena y Los Dinos, which featured his children including Selena as lead vocalist. The group stayed together, essentially backing her as she moved into a solo career.

He went on to manage Selenas career as it accelerated in the 1990s, pushing for her to sign with EMI Latin in 1989, a move that bolstered her popularity.

After Selena was murdered in 1995, Quintanilla served as executive producer of Selena, the biopic on her life. In the years since, he fought to protect her legacy, engaging in numerous legal battles over her likeness and music rights.

He also authored A Fathers Dream: My Familys Journey in Music, a memoir about building a musical empire.

The family did not release details about his death.

After a report showed that Instacart charges some customers up to 23 percent more for the same item, Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, urged state attorneys general to investigate the practice.

She said Instacarts pricing experiments erode fairness and transparency in markets and harm consumers, adding that charging different prices for identical items may violate the law.

This is why we have laws to safeguard our markets and ensure transparency. And so I really think it should be up to policymakers here to take a close look at this, Owens said. "Attorneys General should pursue investigations of Instacart and determine whether or not these prices, these pricing experiments may already be illegal under current law."

A recent Consumer Reports investigation using 437 volunteer shoppers found that prices on grocery items from major chains could vary by up to 23 percent depending on the customer. These differences could mean some shoppers pay between 7 cents and $2.56 more per item than others.

RELATED STORY | Same groceries, same store: So why did you pay more than your neighbor?

At issue is the potential for retailers to adopt surveillance pricing, which uses personal data to set individualized prices. Instacart, however, told Scripps News: These tests are not dynamic pricing prices never change in real time, including in response to supply and demand. The tests are never based on personal or behavioral characteristics they are completely randomized.

Owens noted the report determined that pricing differences appeared to be random.

You buy a whole basket, you go to the grocery store once or twice a week all year long. So even these small price hikes really can add up for families at a time when groceries are already unaffordable and prices are so high for food in this country, she said.

Owens said Instacart did not dispute Consumer Reports findings but expressed a differing opinion on whether the practice is problematic.

Experiments like these, particularly ones being run without our knowledge, are incredibly deceptive, Owens said. And on Instacarts website, when they talk about the underlying technology that powers these experiments, they suggest that secrecy the fact that we dont know were being experimented upon is a feature, not a bug, of their approach. But I do think this type of secret exploitation is not just bad for shoppers on Instacart, its bad for all of us.

Based on how much Instacart says the typical household of four spends on groceries, Consumer Reports estimated the price variations could amount to a cost swing of about $1,200 per year.

RELATED STORY | Could dynamic pricing be coming to a store near you?

In 2022, Instacart began using Eversight, a platform for continuous revenue optimization. Instacart says its short-term, randomized pricing tests mean some shoppers see slightly lower prices and others slightly higher, helping retail partners understand preferences and identify categories where they should invest in lower prices.

The company said it uses a machine learningdriven tool that helps retailers improve price perception and drive incremental sales for dozens of early-adopting retailers leveraging the product. The tool has reportedly generated millions of dollars in additional revenue for partner stores.

Instacart maintains the price differences are negligible.

As artificial intelligence becomes part of daily life for millions of Americans, Time has named its 2025 Person of the Year: the Architects of AI.

The magazine cited leaders such as Jensen Huang, Elon Musk and Sam Altman among those considered for this years honor. Musk was previously named Time Person of the Year in 2021.

While the designation is generally seen as an honor, Time has named controversial figures in the past, including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin.

Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs explained the decision.

A LOOK BACK AT 2024 | Donald Trump named Time's Person of the Year for a second time

This was the year when artificial intelligences full potential roared into view, and when it became clear that there will be no turning back or opting out, Jacobs said. Whatever the question was, AI was the answer. We saw it accelerate medical research and productivity, and seem to make the impossible possible. It was hard to read or watch anything without being confronted with news about the rapid advancement of a technology and the people driving it.

In announcing its choice, Time described the sweeping influence these figures have had on society.

It is the story of how Huang and other tech titans grabbed the wheel of history, developing technology and making decisions that are reshaping the information landscape, the climate and our livelihoods, Time wrote. Racing both beside and against each other, they placed multibillion-dollar bets on one of the biggest physical infrastructure projects of all time. They reoriented government policy, altered geopolitical rivalries and brought robots into homes. AI emerged as arguably the most consequential tool in great-power competition since the advent of nuclear weapons.

RELATED STORY | Google plans to launch its first AI-powered glasses in 2026

Time has occasionally chosen groups rather than individuals. In 2018, it named The Guardians journalists who faced persecution for doing their work as its Person of the Year. The year before, those leading the #MeToo movement, activists who spoke out against sexual harassment and assault, received the honor.

Last years recipient was Donald Trump, marking the seventh consecutive time a president-elect was chosen.

It has been since Sept. 6 that anyone has hit all six numbers in the multistate Powerball lottery, causing the jackpot to grow with each drawing.

On Wednesday, the streak of drawings without a winner grew to 41, as no one matched the five white balls and one Powerball. Without a winner, Friday's jackpot will hit $1 billion, making it the seventh-largest jackpot in the lottery's history.

If someone wins the jackpot, they have the option of choosing the $1 billion payment spread over 29 years, or a lump sum worth about $461.3 million before tax.

The Sept. 6 drawing, which marked the last time someone hit all six numbers, produced two winners. The winners opted to split that drawing's $1.7 billion jackpot.

Although Wednesday's drawing did not result in a jackpot winner, players in Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey won $1 million by matching all five white ball numbers.

RELATED STORY | Jackpot claimed: About the $1.3 billion Powerball win

The numbers for Wednesday's drawing were 10, 16, 29, 33, 69 and red Powerball 22.

The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292 million.

Powerball also offers prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million, and the odds of winning a smaller prize are about 1 in 25.

Powerball is played in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

Since Powerball lengthened the odds of hitting all six numbers in 2015, the multistate lottery has generally had six to nine winners a year. All 10 of its largest jackpots have also occurred since 2015. The largest Powerball jackpot in history was $2.04 billion, won on Nov. 7, 2022.

As fast-food prices continue to climb, McDonalds is reportedly taking a closer look at how its franchisees set menu prices.

According to memos obtained by CNBC, the company will soon assess franchises to provide greater clarity to the system to ensure every restaurant delivers consistent, reliable value across the full customer experience.

While owner/operators continue to set their own prices and make decisions that reflect local market nuances, weve now strengthened individual accountability for value leadership equipping you with approved pricing consultants, tools and other levels that support informed choices and elevate the overall guest experience across all order points, McDonalds USA Chief Restaurant Officer Mason Smoot wrote in one of the memos.

RELATED STORY | McDonald's to undergo most significant menu overhaul in years

McDonalds has said over the past year that it is prioritizing value after years of surging prices.

The chain also said it expects expenses tied to inflation to rise in 2026.

Were expecting to see above-average inflation next year, Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said. Youve heard others reference whats going on with beef prices. Certainly, were seeing very high inflation around beef prices compared to what weve seen historically. And so I think all of that just keeps putting pressure on the industry.

Between 2014 and 2024, McDonalds average menu price doubled, far outpacing the overall rate of inflation, according to FinanceBuzz. During that period, the consumer price index rose 31 percent. FinanceBuzz noted the average price of a McDouble increased from $1.19 in 2014 to $3.19 in 2024, while a medium fry increased from $1.59 to $3.79.

RELATED STORY | McDonald's plans changes to bring back low-income customers

Following the report, McDonalds said it planned to reemphasize affordability in an effort to bring back low-income customers. Earlier this fall, the company announced $8 Big Mac meals and $5 Egg McMuffin meals.

According to McDonald's, 95% of its U.S. locations are franchised-owned.

A new Consumer Reports investigation indicates that the price you pay for grocery delivery through Instacart may differ from what your neighbor pays for the same items.

According to Consumer Reports and 437 volunteer shoppers, prices on grocery items from major chains could vary by up to 23 percent depending on the customer. These differences could mean some shoppers pay between 7 cents and $2.56 more per item than others.

At issue is the potential for retailers to adopt surveillance pricing, which would use personal data to set individualized prices. Instacart, however, told Scripps News, These tests are not dynamic pricingprices never change in real time, including in response to supply and demand. The tests are never based on personal or behavioral characteristicsthey are completely randomized.

Consumer Reports expressed concern that with the growth of artificial intelligence and large-scale data collection, future pricing could be tied to an individual buyers habits, rather than time, location or other factors Instacart says drive pricing changes.

All of us, without our knowledge, are being conscripted in this enormous and growing social experiment being conducted by companies across a wide range of industries, said Len Sherman, adjunct professor and executive-in-residence at Columbia Business School. Everything weve ever done as a consumer could factor into the price we see next time.

RELATED STORY | Could dynamic pricing be coming to a store near you?

One example from Consumer Reports showed that 39 customers buying identical groceries from a Seattle Safeway were charged between $114.34 and $123.93.

While some products showed no difference in price, others varied by more than 23 percent.

Based on how much Instacart says the typical household of four spends on groceries, Consumer Reports estimated the average price variations observed could translate to a cost swing of about $1,200 per year.

In 2022, Instacart began using Eversight, a platform for continuous revenue optimization. Instacart says its pricing tests are short-term and randomizedsome shoppers may see slightly lower prices and others slightly higherhelping retail partners understand preferences and identify categories where they should invest in lower prices.

RELATED STORY | No, Wendys isnt trying surge pricing. Heres what its changing

The company added that it uses a machine learning-driven tool that helps retailers improve price perception and drive incremental sales for dozens of early-adopting retailers leveraging the product. This tool has reportedly generated millions of dollars in additional revenue for partner stores.

Instacart maintains the price differences are negligible.

Dashcam video taken on a Florida highway shows a small airplane crash-landing on top of a Toyota Camry on Monday.

The incident occurred on Interstate 95 in Brevard County, Florida.

Brevard County Fire Rescue told WESH-TV that there were two occupants in the airplane and one person in the Toyota. The 57-year-old driver of the Toyota was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, WESH reported.

RELATED STORY | Investigators say UPS plane that crashed in Kentucky had cracks in engine mount

The two people in the airplane were not injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the crash. Early reports indicate that the planes engine lost power before landing on the freeway.

It has been since Sept. 6 that anyone has hit all six numbers in the multistate Powerball lottery, causing the jackpot to grow with each drawing.

On Monday, the streak of drawings without a winner grew to 40, as no one matched the five white balls and one Powerball. Without a winner, Wednesday's jackpot will hit $930 million, making it the seventh-largest jackpot in the lottery's history.

If someone wins the jackpot, they have the option of choosing the $930 million payment spread over 29 years, or a lump sum worth about $429 million before tax.

The Sept. 6 drawing, which marked the last time someone hit all six numbers, produced two winners. The winners opted to split that drawing's $1.7 billion jackpot.

Although Monday's drawing did not result in a jackpot winner, one player in Florida won $1 million by matching all five white ball numbers.

RELATED STORY | Jackpot claimed: About the $1.3 billion Powerball win

The numbers for Monday's drawing were 8, 32, 52, 56, 64 and red Powerball 23.

The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292 million.

Powerball also offers prizes ranging from $4 to $2 million, and the odds of winning a smaller prize are about 1 in 25.

Powerball is played in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

Since Powerball lengthened the odds of hitting all six numbers in 2015, the multistate lottery has generally had six to nine winners a year. All 10 of its largest jackpots have also occurred since 2015. The largest Powerball jackpot in history was $2.04 billion, won on Nov. 7, 2022.

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8-3 on Friday to recommend eliminating the recommended schedule for administering the hepatitis B birth dose. The vote comes one day after the panel delayed a vote amid confusion over the wording of the proposed changes.

The hepatitis B vaccine provides immediate antibodies to help prevent transmission of the virus. The CDC currently recommends that nearly all newborns receive the shot as part of routine care. The ACIP is now recommending eliminating the CDC's universal recommendation of the birth dose.

Current guidance calls for a three-shot series with doses given within 24 hours of birth, at 1 to 2 months, and at 6 to 18 months.

If the CDC approves the changes recommended by the ACIP, CDC guidance would shift to individual-based decision-making, advising parents to first consult their health care provider before vaccinating. Vaccine advocates say such a change could delay when infants receive their first dose.

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Retsef Levi, a member of the ACIP who does not have a medical background, provided his reasoning for voting for the changes.

"If you are a baby that was born to a mother that was tested negative for Hep B, you need to realize, as a parent, that your risk of infection throughout your early stage of life and probably throughout most of your childhood, is extremely low," he said.

Dr. Omer Awan, a physician and senior public health contributor for Forbes, said in an interview that universal newborn vaccination since 1991 has reduced infections among children and adolescents by 99%.

"We're going to start to see hepatitis B circulating much more commonly in the population," he said. "And more and more people will, I'm afraid, be at risk for getting this infection that quite frankly is deadly. I mean, this can cause hepatitis B can result in liver failure, even liver cancer, and ultimately death."

Common side effects from the vaccine include pain where the shot was given, headache, fever, fatigue, irritability, and vomiting. These symptoms generally last up to two days. But experts say the benefits far exceed the risks posed by the vaccine.

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The evidence shows the side effects are mainly just a baby crying or being fussynothing different than typical infant vaccines. This is a very safe vaccine," he said.

If parents choose not to give the birth dose, the first dose would be administered after the infant is 2 months old.

Earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed new members to the remade board after firing all 17 members of the panel. The ACIP provides the federal government with guidance on vaccines.

This is a result of the chaos and turmoil from Secretary Kennedy handpicking 12 new members. People are losing trust in these committees and the guidance the CDC is giving," Awan said.

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James had a chance to keep one of the most mind-boggling streaks in sports alive for another game.

James Lakers beat the Toronto Raptors 123-120 on Thursday night as Rui Hachimura nailed a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer.

James finished with eight points, ending his streak of scoring at least 10 points in 1,297 consecutive games. The run began Jan. 6, 2007, when James was with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It far surpassed Michael Jordans 866-game double-figure streak; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the third-longest at 787 games.

With the score tied at 120 late, James had the ball in the final seconds. As he backed down his defender with nearly everyone in Scotiabank Arena expecting him to take the last shot he passed to Hachimura, who buried the winner.

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James said he had no regrets about the decision.

We won, he told reporters.

Just playing the game the right way. You always make the right play, James added. Thats been my M.O. Thats how I was taught the game. Ive done that my whole career.

Lakers coach J.J. Redick, who faced James many times during his playing career, said the NBAs all-time leading scorer knows the game situation as well as anyone.

LeBron is acutely aware of how many points he has at that point, Redick said. He did it like hes done so many times.

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James, who turns 41 later this month, has seen his scoring dip early this season. After an offseason injury, he has played only six games, topping 20 points once.

In the Lakers previous game on Dec. 1, James scored exactly 10 points. He is averaging 14 points so far this season, down from 24.4 last year.

The Lakers havent needed his peak scoring to succeed. They own the second-best record in the Western Conference and rank No. 3 in the NBA overall. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are among the leagues top scorers this season, while James has remained an efficient distributor, averaging 7.8 assists and 1.8 turnovers per game.

Netflix announced Friday that it will seek to acquire Warner Bros., HBO, HBO Max and related studios from Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal valued at $82.7 billion. The merger is expected to take 12 to 18 months, the company said.

Netflix said the pending merger would allow it to expand its content library and increase theatrical film releases. In addition to offering more titles to subscribers, the company said the deal would provide a larger studio footprint and boost investment in original programming.

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This acquisition will improve our offering and accelerate our business for decades to come, co-CEO Greg Peters said. Warner Bros. has helped define entertainment for more than a century and continues to do so with phenomenal creative executives and production capabilities. With our global reach and proven business model, we can introduce a broader audience to the worlds they create giving our members more options, attracting more fans to our best-in-class streaming service, strengthening the entire entertainment industry and creating more value for shareholders.

Netflix estimates the merger would save the combined companies $2 billion to $3 billion annually by the third year.

What this means for consumers remains unclear. According to Pew, Netflix is the United States' most popular streaming service, with 72% of Americans saying they have watched Netflix programming. HBO Max is tied for being the sixth-most popular streaming service in the U.S., with 41% of Americans saying they have viewed programming.