Chinese scientist claims he altered DNA of twin babies

A Chinese researcher claims that he helped make the world’s first genetically edited babies — twin girls born this month whose DNA he said he altered with a powerful new tool capable of rewriting the very blueprint of life.

GM slashing 14,700 jobs, closing 5 plants in North America

General Motors will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it restructures to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles.

Dictionary.com word of year selected to be call of action

Misinformation, as opposed to disinformation, was chosen Monday as Dictionary.com’s word of the year on the tattered coattails of “toxic,” picked earlier this month for the same honor by Oxford Dictionaries in these tumultuous times.

 
Mexico promises to beef up security to halt chaos at border

Mexico looked set to shore up security near its border with the United States on Monday, as police lined up outside a shelter in the city of Tijuana and told Central American migrants they couldn’t walk toward the border area.

Magician, ‘Boogie Nights’ actor, Ricky Jay, dies

Ricky Jay, a magician, historian of oddball entertainers and actor who appeared in “Boogie Nights” and other films, has died. He was 72.

Recovering body of American killed by tribesman ‘becoming futile’

Indian officials have traveled repeatedly in recent days near the remote island where an American missionary was killed by people who have long resisted the outside world. But they have not set foot onto North Sentinel Island since the killing, and it remains unclear if they will.

 
Amtrak passengers endure 11-hour nightmare

Some people spent the end of their Thanksgiving holiday stuck on an Amtrak train without working toilets.

 
Early winter storm pummels Midwest, cancels flights, shuts roads

A winter storm is continuing to batter much of the central Midwest early Monday from northeast Missouri into southeast Wisconsin and northeast Illinois, including the greater Chicago area.

‘Last Tango in Paris’, ‘Last Emperor’ director Bertolucci dies

Italian film-maker Bernardo Bertolucci, who won Oscars with “The Last Emperor” and whose erotic drama “Last Tango in Paris” enthralled and shocked the world, died Monday. He was 77.