News

Researchers examined all 19,423 NFL players who took the field for at least one game from 1960 to 2019 in what the scientists said was the largest study of ALS risk in professional football players.

NFL players are 4 times more likely to develop ALS, a new study shows

1:03pm December 16, 2021

by Joe Hernandez

Scientists who conducted the study say they couldn't determine exactly why the rate was higher but suggested that repetitive head impacts and traumatic brain injuries may play a role.

People wear face coverings inside Grand Central Market on Wednesday in Los Angeles. California residents, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status, are required to wear face masks in all indoor public settings beginning Wednesday.

As omicron spreads, health experts push for mask mandates. But few states have one

11:30am December 16, 2021

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Nine states have active mask mandates, even as the new variant is quickly moving in on the U.S. Despite their political unpopularity, research shows masks still work and could save lives.

The Code Switch team picks our favorite episodes from 2021

11:21am December 16, 2021

As we look back at the year, we wanted to share some of our favorite episodes of the pod. This list showcases the episodes that stayed with members of the Code Switch team, even amidst all the churn.

Trucks haul shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles on Nov. 24, just ahead of the semiofficial start of the holiday season. For much of the country, trucking is the only freight option.

The White House aims to boost the ranks of the pandemic-strained trucking industry

10:11am December 16, 2021

by Alana Wise

The plan is part of the Biden administration's efforts to improve the nation's ongoing supply chain problems.

Urban Meyer is out as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, after compiling a 2-11 record. A former player, Josh Lambo, says Meyer kicked him and called him names.

The Jaguars fire Urban Meyer, after a former player says the coach kicked him

10:01am December 16, 2021

by Bill Chappell

Josh Lambo, the Jaguars' former placekicker, went public with the latest in a string of stories that have depicted Meyer as disrespectful and abusive to his players and staff.

Former Chicago Blackhawks Kyle Beach player is shown here during a preseason NHL hockey game in 2008 in Dallas.

National

Chicago Blackhawks settle with a former player who says he was sexually assaulted

8:21am December 16, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

Kyle Beach said the organization mishandled his sexual assault allegations. He came forward publicly in October as the man behind the lawsuit.

A woman is administered a COVID-19 vaccine at a center on the outskirts of Sarajevo. Bosnia has so far inoculated just under a quarter of its 3.3 million people, one of the lowest rates in Europe.

Vaccine skeptics in Eastern Europe are having a change of heart

5:48am December 16, 2021

by The Associated Press

With surging coronavirus infections and countries making it more difficult for the unvacccinated to travel, some vaccine skeptics are now coming around.

In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a rescuer assists a girl as they wade through flooding caused by Typhoon Rai in Cagayan de Oro City, southern Philippines.

Powerful typhoon hits Philippines, nearly 100,000 evacuated

4:56am December 16, 2021

by The Associated Press

A powerful typhoon slammed into the southeastern Philippines on Thursday, prompting the evacuation of nearly 100,000 people. Officials say 10,000 villages lie in the projected path of the typhoon.

World News

Lithuania closes embassy in China after last diplomats leave amid Taiwan spat

1:01am December 16, 2021

by The Associated Press

Lithuania says it's closed its embassy in Beijing and pulled its last diplomat out amid a spat over the European Union nation allowing Taiwan to open a representative office in the capital, Vilnius.

A colorized scanning-electron-microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (the round blue objects) emerging from cells cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2 is the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19.

A tantalizing clue to why omicron is spreading so quickly

11:02pm December 15, 2021

by Michaeleen Doucleff

A new study from the University of Hong Kong offers preliminary information that could explain why this new coronavirus variant may be more transmissible.