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By MATTHEW BROWN and MATTHEW DALY WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil companies offered $279 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in the first of 30 sales planned for the region under Republican efforts to ramp up U.S. fossil fuel production. The sale came after President Donald Trump’s administration recently announced plans to allow new drilling off Florida and California for the first time in decades. That’s drawn pushback, including from Republicans worried about impacts to tourism. Wednesday’s sale was mandated by the sweeping tax-and-spending bill approved by Republicans over the summer. Under that legislation, companies will…

By Madison Muller and Rachel Cohrs Zhang, Bloomberg News WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether COVID-19 vaccines caused deaths in adults, as part of a safety review that earlier appeared to just be focused on children. The investigation, being conducted across different divisions of the FDA, comes at a time when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is upending longstanding guidance for a wide range of vaccines. The “FDA is doing a thorough investigation, across multiple age groups, of deaths potentially related to COVID vaccines,” a spokesperson said in a statement to…

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Angels still have the chance to try something new. Gambling on low-risk players is their standard practice. The Angels have sprinkled their roster with plenty of those over the years, although they believe this batch has more upside. What the Angels haven’t done this winter – not yet, anyway – is spend on the kind of middling free agents that have been a staple of previous winters under General Manager Perry Minasian. No guys like Brandon Drury or Tyler Anderson or even Carlos Estévez. There are indications that this year they’d like to aim higher. They’d…

By DEE-ANN DURBIN Rejoice, New Year’s dieters: Oreos are getting a sugar-free option. Mondelez said Tuesday that Oreo Zero Sugar and Oreo Double Stuf Zero Sugar will go on sale in the U.S. in January. They’re a permanent addition to the company’s Oreo lineup. It’s the first time Mondelez has sold sugar-free Oreos in the U.S. They’re already sold in Europe and China, the company said. Mondelez said consumers are increasingly seeking what it calls “mindful indulgence,” and the new Oreos will fill an existing gap in the market for sugar-free sandwich cookies. Others have also noted the trend toward…

By STEPHEN GROVES and BEN FINLEY WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted to pass a sweeping defense policy bill Wednesday that authorizes $900 billion in military programs, including a pay raise for troops and an overhaul of how the Department of Defense buys weapons. The bill’s passage on a 312-112 vote comes at a time of increasing friction between the Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration over the management of the military. The annual National Defense Authorization Act typically gains bipartisan backing, and the White House has signaled “strong support” for the must-pass legislation, saying it is in line with Trump’s national security…

INGLEWOOD — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue sees the games slip by and along with them, opportunities to turn around the season. With their record at 6-18, each loss makes the next game much more critical, down to the minute, even less. “Every second counts, every day counts, every possession counts,” Lue said after practice on Tuesday. “We’ve played better. We’ve been close. It’s just one turnover that you shouldn’t have (made) or one missed box out or one missed open 3 and you can win the game. We’ve been close. “Just got to continue to keep plugging away and we…

By CORA LEWIS, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point Wednesday for the third time since September, bringing its key rate to about 3.6%, the lowest in nearly three years. Before September, it had gone nine months without a cut. The benchmark rate is the rate at which banks borrow and lend to one another, and the Fed has two goals when it sets the rate: one, to manage prices for goods and services, and two, to encourage full employment. The benchmark rate also affects the interest rates consumers…

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and THOMAS BEAUMONT, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A Dallas congresswoman opened her Senate campaign by telling voters that she “has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump.” Her Democratic primary opponent insisted that Americans are tired of “politics as a blood sport.” The divergent approach highlights how U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico are navigating a race where Democrats hope to break a three-decade losing streak in Texas. It also reflects a broader divide within the party, with some candidates continuing to focus on Trump while others barely mention his name. Figuring out…

By GRAHAM DUNBAR, Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The IOC set a target Wednesday of early 2026 to detail a new policy on eligibility in female sports that could see transgender athletes excluded from the Olympic Games. International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry also stressed the Olympic body’s statutory belief in access to sport being a human right for all people at grassroots and recreational level. The two-time Olympic champion swimmer created a working group after taking office in June to review “protecting the female category.” Coventry won an IOC presidential election where most of the seven candidates promised a…

By Todd Kelsey, Ph.D. We all have those boxes stored somewhere. You know, the ones with the stack of yellow Kodak envelopes, a VHS tape labeled “ ’87 Road Trip,” maybe even a floppy disk or two. These boxes hold the stories of our lives: birthdays, graduations, vacations, love stories. But here’s the thing: Many of our modern memories no longer live in boxes. The photos we once printed out at places like the drug store or Fox Photo now live as bytes in dozens of scattered places — Google Drive, iCloud, an old laptop, a forgotten hard drive, an…