At the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP28) this year, decision-makers won’t just talk about change. They’ll taste it. COP28 (Nov. 30–Dec. 12) will offer a predominantly vegan menu, reflecting a growing awareness of how meat, eggs and dairy contribute to the climate catastrophe. Let’s hope this mounting understanding will inspire everyone to go vegan — before it’s too late.

They are not typical diplomatic envoys. They spend their time eating, snoozing, lollygagging in the grass and rolling in the snow. But the giant pandas that have roamed a few select U.S. zoos for the last half century have captivated visitors who flocked to exhibits and lined up to see the debut of panda cubs and marvel at what seemed like plush toys come to life.

New Yorkers were shocked and appalled when some social media personalities rediscovered a 2002 “Letter to America” in which Osama Bin Laden, dripping with antisemitism, criticized U.S. foreign policy, suggesting it painted a more compelling picture of the terrorist. While the rehabilitation of the dead jihadist behind 9/11 may have been overstated, the Guardian, which had hosted a version of the letter, pulled it from its site.

It took no time at all for Donald Trump to again begin attacking the law clerk of Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron after an appellate court stayed Engoron’s gag order against the former president in the ongoing case over fraud in Trump’s real estate business. The defendant assailed Engoron in personal terms, calling him “politically biased” and “a disgrace.”

The holidays are around the corner and in this economy, that means Americans will either stretch budgets as best they can, go into debt or go without.

It has become impossible to distinguish between Israel’s decidedly non-surgical operation against Hamas militants in Gaza and the indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians. When so-called humanitarian pauses in the bombardment and ground operations are too brief to realistically permit innocents to flee, or when there is no place for non-combatants to go that is not also in the line of fire, such pauses are so deficient as to be meaningless.

Less than an hour after the House Ethics Committee published their extensive report on the elected fraudster from New York, Con(gress)man George Santos took to Twitter to claim that he will not be running for a second term next year. Don’t believe him. Don’t believe anything this schnook says, since everything is a lie.

The credit rating agency Moody’s on Nov. 10 lowered its outlook on the United States from “stable” to “negative” in the latest knock to the country’s fiscal stewardship. Though the White House and other federal leaders decried the change, is it any wonder investors have soured on the country’s long-term prospects? The federal government spent weeks careening toward a shutdown — again.

As President Joe Biden looks to boost his reelection campaign and lousy poll numbers, there’s one policy position that is popular with voters, could help unite Democrats and would leave Republicans scrambling to respond. It’s time he come out in support of legalizing recreational use of marijuana.