As Joe Biden campaigned for president in 2020, national and global discussion focused on one issue: the COVID-19 pandemic. As then-President Donald Trump downplayed the pandemic’s severity, Biden pledged to increase COVID-19 testing, vaccinate 50 million people in 100 days and get the virus under control. But his campaign promises extended beyond the pandemic. Biden also said he would raise taxes only for the wealthiest Americans, pursue calls for racial justice and adopt policies...

“It didn’t have to be this way,” says Sara Gonzales of the ongoing L.A. wildfires that have already left 40,000 acres scorched, 1,300 monuments destroyed, and at least 24 people dead. “If the city had been ready for something like this, it would not have been able to spin out of control the way that it did,” she sighs. The blame falls heavily on California authorities, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who slashed the city’s fire department funding, and Gov. Gavin Newsom,...

Meta told Brazil it would not yet end fact-checks outside the US, but its attempts to clarify its new social media policies fell flat Tuesday as the Latin American nation slammed measures which promote a “digital Wild West.” Brazil had given Meta a 72-hour deadline to explain its policy for the country, after the shock announcement last week by company chief executive Mark Zuckerberg that he was ditching independent fact-checking in the United States. The social media giant...

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire deal that also ensures the release of hostages, Fox News has confirmed. "A Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal was reached following the Qatari Prime Minister's meeting with Hamas negotiators, and separately Israeli negotiators in his office," a source briefed on the matter told Fox News. Separately, a senior Hamas official confirmed to Fox News that a deal was reached. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has yet to...

Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage release deal, with President-elect Trump publicly celebrating the news shortly after noon Wednesday. No announcement had been made by the Biden administration as of noon Wednesday. An Israeli official confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday a deal has been reached, and predicted it would quickly move through a formal approval process.

A ceasefire deal has been reached to end 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Israeli officials and a source briefed on the negotiations told NBC News on Wednesday. The hard-won agreement will also free dozens of hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinians in Israeli jails, bringing the first real break in violence since a weeklong truce expired Dec. 1, 2023. The new follows weeks of talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, amid...

It’s fair to blame parents if they give their child a name and the initials spell out something unseemly or embarrassing. They should have considered this before giving the child the name. However, you can’t blame someone with funny initials after getting married because no one will reject the love of their life for having a last name that starts with the wrong letter. A woman shared that she can’t stand her initials because she can’t wear monogrammed clothing. "[My initials] are the bane of my existence, and I can never have traditional monogramming (first, last, middle) without it being a sandwich." Yes, her initials, in the traditional monogram form, are BLT. They are a tasty option for lunch but probably not something you’d want on a fancy necklace or bathrobe. She also refuses to eat the sandwich. "Raw tomatoes are disgusting to me personally,” she adds. Why is it that in traditional monogram form, a married woman’s initials are different than if she was writing them first, middle, and last? “A monogrammed gift for a woman should include her first, middle, and last initial or, if she is married, her first, maiden name, and married name initials. Traditionally, a woman's monogram is presented in first, last, and middle initial order,” The Monogram merchant writes. For example, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy would have a traditional monogram of JKB. Some commenters shared their initials, and many were worse than BLT. "My friend's is AIDS, so dont worry, i remember in secondary school having to sew our initials on pillows for home economics. I felt bad for her." "I’m D.M.B. - all I’m missing is the U." "Mine are TB.... just as unappealing haha." "My initials are BS, so don't feel bad. I get cracked on all the time." "Hubs initials are ET. Cue 'ET phone home,' circa the '80s from all his so called friends at work." "My initials are RAD, lol." "I knew a girl with the initials PMS, I think food is better than that." "Mine happen to spell 'ELF', and I hated it as a kid. Now I embrace it, lol." "My brother’s are R.A.T. He kinda embraced it, an animal lover and all.""I'm APE lol." It was once believed that having unfortunate initials meant more than suffering the occasional embarrassment—they could take years off your life. In 1999, a study found that men with positive initials, such as WOW or JOY, lived 4.5 years longer than those with neutral initials, while those with negative initials, such as DIE or ROT, died 2.8 years later. The idea was that people with negative initials subconsciously think less of themselves, which could lead to an unhealthy lifestyle compared to someone with positive initials. However, six years later, that study was debunked by a subsequent study that found there is “no persuasive biological theory of how longevity should be significantly affected by initials." Pamela Redmond Satran, author of "Baby Names Now," says we should still consider initials when naming children. "Every conventional naming book gives the guideline, 'Don't forget to look at the initials,'" Satran said, according to CBS News. "Even if the second study contradicts the first, and having bad initials is not going to shorten your life span, it could make what there is of your life less pleasant. And who wants to foist that on innocent children?"