📌 Term Nears End, Obesity Not Just BMI, More

As his term of office nears completion, President Joe Biden said his administration's achievements left the US in a strong position.

Biden emphasized the reestablishment of alliances, particularly with NATO, and the reentry into the Paris climate agreement as key successes. He claimed US alliances are stronger and adversaries like Russia and Iran are weaker than four years ago.

Biden credited his administration with rallying global support for Ukraine and preventing a nuclear conflict with Russia. He acknowledged the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan but emphasized ending America's longest war.

Biden argued his administration has left the US in a stronger geopolitical position with more allies and weaker adversaries. “My administration is leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play.”

Stephen Wertheim, historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, disagreed with Biden’s assessment, saying the US is immersed in a war in Europe that could escalate; “is back to bombing the Middle East with no end in sight,” and has “entered into a strategic rivalry with China.”

Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump concede the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve.

Two Trump associates who discussed the Ukraine war with the president-elect said they were looking at months to resolve the conflict, describing the Day One promises as campaign bluster and a lack of appreciation of the intractability of the conflict and the time it takes to staff up a new administration.

Those assessments dovetail with remarks by Trump's incoming Russia-Ukraine envoy, retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, who said in an interview with Fox News last week that he would like to have a "solution" to the war within 100 days, far beyond the president-elect's original timeline.

Yet even Kellogg's extended deadline was “way, way too optimistic,” said John Herbst, a former US ambassador to Ukraine who is now at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington. “For this to work, Trump has to persuade Putin that there's a downside for being intransigent,” Herbst said.

In the run-up to his Nov. 5 election victory, Trump declared many times he would have a deal in place between Ukraine and Russia on his first day in office, if not before. Later, he simply said he would “solve” the conflict without offering a timeline, adding that ending the war will be harder than reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.

Sen. Joni Ernst said she will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense.

The Republican from Iowa said she would vote for Hegseth after he testified on Tuesday during a sometimes tense confirmation hearing of the Senate Armed Forces Committee on which Ernst sits. Her support makes the controversial nominee's path to the helm of the Pentagon more likely.

“I will work with Pete to create the most lethal fighting force and hold him to his commitments of auditing the Pentagon, ensuring opportunity for women in combat while maintaining high standards and selecting a senior official to address and prevent sexual assault in the ranks,” she said.

Hegseth, 44, requires a majority vote of the 100-seat Senate, which the Republicans control by three seats. As all Democrats are expected to vote against him, only four GOP senators are needed to cross the aisle to prevent his confirmation.

During his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Democrats grilled Hegseth over his previous disparaging remarks against women in the military, allegations of sexual assault, and perceived inexperience.

Notably, he failed to name any members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations while being questioned by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill, on his knowledge of the role the defense secretary and US military play internationally.

The House passed a bill banning transgender girls and women from school sports teams matching their gender ID.

The bill, known as the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,“ would amend Title IX, the federal law banning sex discrimination in schools, to recognize a person‘s “sex“ as “based solely on a person‘s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.

“Schools that allow “a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls“ risk losing federal funding.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 3% of high school students identify as transgender. Polling in recent years has found a lack of support for transgender athletes participating on sports teams that match their gender identity, and about half of states limit transgender athlete participation.

The bill passed in the House with 218 voting in favor, 206 voting against, and one voting present. Two Democrats from Texas — Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez — joined all Republicans in support of the bill. Democratic Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina voted present.

A widely supported group of scientists is pushing for substantial changes in how obesity is diagnosed and classified.

Obesity is diagnosed strictly by a person‘s BMI, calculated using a person‘s weight and height. People with a BMI over 30 are considered to have obesity, with severe obesity seen as having a BMI over 40 (some parts of the world use lower BMI cut-offs to account for population differences in average sizes).

The group of over 50 obesity experts recommends BMI be used alongside other bodily measurements such as waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, or waist-to-height ratio for diagnosing people suspected to have obesity.

The group calls for body mass index (BMI) to be phased out as the sole criterion for diagnosing obesity. It argues obesity should be categorized into two distinct types — preclinical and clinical obesity, depending on how much harm a person‘s condition is likely causing them.

Someone who has obstructive sleep apnea, severe knee pain, or poor cardiovascular health suspected of being linked to their excess body fat would be classified as having clinical obesity, while someone with obesity but no signs of abnormal organ function would be classified as having preclinical obesity.

The distinction allows for more personalized obesity care, the doctors say. People with clinical obesity could be treated with drugs like semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) or bariatric surgery. Doctors can use a less intrusive approach with someone who has preclinical obesity, they say.

Kate, Britain‘s Princess of Wales, is relieved to be in remission after visiting the London hospital where she received treatment.

Kate, 43, underwent a course of preventative chemotherapy after major abdominal surgery a year ago revealed the presence of an unspecified form of cancer. In September, she confirmed she had finished her chemotherapy.

“It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focussed on recovery,“ she said. Her visit to the Royal Marsden Hospital in central London, where she had undergone months of treatment, was her first solo public engagement since returning to official duties.

She met patients and staff and spoke of the care she had received. The trip also marked the announcement that she had become joint patron of the specialist cancer unit with her husband, the heir to the throne, Prince William.

In previous highly personal video messages to provide updates on her health, Kate had spoken of how hard her illness had been on her, William, and their three young children, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Princes George, 11, and Louis, 6.

Avoid false beards, carry plenty of change, and prepare for when you need to tell a taxi driver “Follow that cab!“

These were some tips given to rookie British Security Service (MI-5) “watchers,“ whose job was to covertly tail and report on suspected enemy agents. The guidance is contained in a booklet issued to all new “spooks“ in World War II. The document has been declassified.

A successful watcher should be a “rather nondescript type“ who should not stand out in a crowd. “The ideal watcher should not be more than 5 feet 7 inches or 5 feet 8 inches in height, looking as unlike a policeman as possible,“ the booklet says.

It adds: “It is a mistake to use men who are too short as they are just as conspicuous as tall men.“ The use of facial disguises, despite what then recruits may have seen in the movies, is definitely frowned upon. “It may be considered essential in secret service films but it is practice to be deplored,“ it warns.

There is very specific advice on how to tail a suspect, with watchers advised to double up with a partner where possible “Keep about 25–30 yards behind the quarry, and when on the move by foot, it is preferable to keep on the opposite pavement, except in very busy streets,“ it says.

“When he is suspicious, a suspect will often board a train just before the doors close, making himself the last one on the train, or he may alight at the last moment: so do not give him any rope on such occasions,“ the booklet advises.