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Questions about sexual orientation, gender identity and changes to queries about race and ethnicity are on track to be asked in the most comprehensive survey of American life by 2027, U.S. Census Bureau officials said Thursday. The new or revised questions on the American Community Survey will show up on questionnaires and be asked by survey takers in as early as three years, with the data from those questions available the following year, officials told an advisory committee. The American Community Survey is the most comprehensive survey of American life, covering commuting times, internet access, family life, income, education levels, disabilities and military service, among many other topics, with a sample size of more than 3.5 million households. Some of t...

Warner Bros. Discovery said Thursday its streaming platform Max added 7.2 million global subscribers in the third quarter. It marked the biggest quarterly growth for the streaming platform since its inception. Max now had 110.5 million subscribers as of Sept. 30. Warner Bros. Discovery’s flagship streaming service has been growing its subscriber base at a fast clip this year since expanding internationally during the first half. Warner Bros. Discovery’s stock was up more than 10% on Thursday. The streaming business has become a bright spot for Warner Bros. Discovery as its traditional TV networks have been pressured by cord cutting and a soft advertising market. Last quarter, Warner Bros. Discovery reported a $9.1 billion write-down on its TV networks. On Thursday, ...

DETROIT — Automaker Stellantis announced plans Wednesday to cut a manufacturing shift and indefinitely lay off roughly 1,100 workers at a Jeep plant in Ohio. The company, which has been battling high inventory levels and lower earnings this year, said the decision at its Toledo South Assembly Plant to cut production to one shift will better align output with demand of the Jeep Gladiator pickup — the factory’s sole product. “As Stellantis navigates a transitional year, the focus is on realigning its U.S. operations to ensure a strong start to 2025, which includes taking the difficult but necessary action to reduce high inventory levels by managing production to meet sales,” Stellantis said in an emailed statement. The layoffs will be effective as early as Jan. 5, acco...

With the glaring exception of the presidential race , North Carolina Democrats had a good 2024 election. While Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump in the battleground state by more than 3 percentage points, Democrats won nearly every other statewide race that was on the ballot Tuesday. Those results largely comport with decades of political trends in North Carolina. But Democrats and Republicans alike also attributed them to Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s disastrous campai g n for governor , which was constantly plagued by his long history of incendiary remarks. “We squarely blame Mark Robinson for losses in races that Republicans would and should have otherwise won,” said a North Carolina GOP operative, who requested anonymity to speak cand...

Donald Trump's presidential victory means some U.S. allies may have to reckon with prior scathing remarks as their countries prepare to build diplomatic ties with a president-elect whose return they may not have anticipated. “The most destructive president in history,” Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd said of Trump in 2020, who “drags America and democracy through the mud.” “A woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order,” David Lammy, the U.K.'s current foreign secretary, said in 2018. “A political pyromaniac who must be put before a criminal court,” Jean Asselborn, then-foreign minister for Luxembourg, said of Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. "Trump has ruined it all," Croatian Presid...

Over 130 homes have been destroyed in a wind-fueled wildfire in Southern California that has grown to over 20,000 acres, officials said Thursday as firefighters continued to try to control the blaze in Ventura County. Damage assessment teams were conducting inspections after the Mountain Fire, which is still burning, set homes ablaze in Camarillo Heights and other parts of the county. In 298 inspections of homes, 132 were found destroyed and 88 were damaged, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andy VanSciver said at a news conference. Video from NBC Los Angeles showed homes burned to the ground. "The devastation is absolutely heartbreaking," Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said. He said some residents escaped with nothing but their lives. The Mountain...

JACKSON, Miss. — The mayor of Mississippi’s capital said Thursday that “he will continue to handle the business of the city” after he pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegations of a bribery scheme that have also led to the indictments of a prominent district attorney and a former City Council president. Flanked by roughly two dozen supporters on the steps of a federal courthouse in downtown Jackson after his arraignment, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said he would remain in office. “I am not guilty, and so I will not proceed as a guilty man,” said Lumumba, a Democrat who is in his second term and last month announced plans to run for a third term. The allegations stem from what federal prosecutors have described in court documents as an effort also involving Hinds County Di...

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is expected to return for the team’s Week 10 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said i n a weekly radio appearance Thursday. McCaffrey has not played yet this season because of Achilles tendinitis. In September, he went to Germany to meet with doctors about the injury, which has been an issue since training camp. McCaffrey, 28, was the 2023 NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Last season, he led the NFL with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and 21 combined rushing and receiving touchdowns. He also led the league with 1,459 rushing yards, averaging a career best 5.4 yards per carry. More from Sports Inside the NBA arena that's trying to change how fans cheer Los Ange...

The Los Angeles Lakers will send guard Bronny James to their G-League affiliate beginning Saturday, according to ESPN. James will join the South Bay Lakers after he stays with the NBA’s Lakers through their game Friday, according to the report. Once he joins the G-League Lakers, the plan is for James to appear only in home games as he splits his time between the two teams. A second-round pick in July’s NBA draft, James — the son of superstar LeBron James — has appeared in only four games for the Lakers this season. In 13 minutes total, he has four points, two assists and one rebound. He has made only one of his six field-goal attempts. Bronny and LeBron played together during Los Angeles’ first game of the season, appearing alongside each other for three minutes in a win ov...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Mexican national who is in the U.S. illegally was sentenced Thursday to 39 years in a Michigan prison for killing his girlfriend, a crime that suddenly was thrust into the U.S. presidential race because of the man’s immigration status. “The actions I took on the night of March 22 do not define who my people are. I apologize with the utmost respect to all immigrants from all walks of life,” Brandon Ortiz Vite told a judge in Grand Rapids. Ortiz Vite, 26, pleaded guilty in September to murder and other crimes. Ruby Garcia was found shot to death on the side of a Grand Rapids highway. She and Ortiz Vite had been in a car on U.S. 131, arguing about their relationship, when he shot her in the head, removed her body from the car and drove aw...