HOLIDAYS WEEKENDS

The instruction many students get is not based on the overwhelming scientific evidence about how kids turn spoken sounds into letters and words on a page.

Independence of Taiwan is “a dead end,” China President Xi Jinping said Wednesday during a speech marking the 40th anniversary of when Beijing sent a message to Taiwan calling for unification.

The Trump administration has achieved remarkable success in confirming federal judges, while left-leaning groups are sounding alarms about diversity and other concerns.

Many Americans turn to crowdfunding to pay for medical care. But sometimes the money covers unproven treatments. Should crowdfunding companies be held accountable for spreading false hopes?

In the second week of the federal shutdown, consumers might notice fallout in unexpected places, from poop in national parks to closed museums.

A pre-game photo-op at the Sugar Bowl almost goes horribly wrong.

The Saudi government asked Netflix to remove an episode of the comedian’s show Patriot Act that was critical of the regime over the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Netflix said it was following local law.

As the partial government shutdown continued into its second week, the president invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to the White House for talks. “Let’s make a deal?” Trump asked in a tweet.

Composers of color have long had to compete with dead white men for space on the concert stage. A new project, spearheaded by Rachel Barton Pine, seeks to correct that for the next generation.

Bolsonaro’s path to the presidency was nearly cut short in September when he was stabbed while on the campaign trail, but he continued to rally supporters from his hospital bed.

A dozen people were hurt on separate continents after police say motorists deliberately plowed through crowds of revelers just past Midnight.

A number of unfinished criminal cases could be resolved. Democrats will take the majority in the House of Representatives. But many big questions still remain unanswered.

On New Year’s Eve, a man with a knife was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after three people were stabbed at a busy railway station in Manchester, England.

David Whelan, who says he is Paul Whelan’s brother, tweeted that his brother was in Moscow for a wedding, not a spy mission.

In the North Korean leader’s New Year’s address, he says Pyongyang is willing to work with the United States, but suggests cooperation could be contingent on lifting sanctions.

U.S. Strategic Command faced a backlash after it tweeted about the Time’s Square ball drop, adding that “if needed” it would “drop something much, much bigger.”

Torrential rain caused tons of mud to crash into a village on Indonesia’s main island during New Year’s Eve celebrations on Monday. Twenty people are still missing.

Letitia James says “it is the highest honor” to begin her time as the state’s top legal officer. She is the state’s first black attorney general and the first woman to be elected to that post.

A new day care facility is opening Jan. 2 for employees in the House of Representatives which will reduce the wait list for childcare from three years down to one.

As a freezing winter drives many of us indoors, some extreme athletes embrace the cold as a great way to burn calories and retrain the immune system while working out. Not so fast, physiologists say.

Early in 2019, China hopes to land a rover — the first soft landing on the moon’s far side. The mission is exploratory, and will lay groundwork for a trip by Chinese astronauts to the lunar surface.

Because of the partial government shutdown, a great number of federal workers are furloughed or working without pay. President Trump has ordered a freeze in 2019 federal employee salary rates.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to convene in Manhattan to watch the ball drop and see performances by stars such as Snoop Dogg, Sting and Paulina Rubio.

Monday is the Defense Secretary’s last day on the job. He urged people to “to support and defend the Constitution while protecting our way of life.”

With the Dow swinging up and down hundreds of points in a day, investors are feeling queasy. One economist says uncertainty in the stock markets may mean turbulence will continue in the new year.

The partial government shutdown is hurting the pocketbooks of 800,000 federal workers. But it also could affect consumer and business confidence down the line.

The incoming House leadership plans legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security for a month. President Trump shows no sign of agreeing to their terms, digging in on funding a border wall.

Russia says Paul Whelan was detained on Friday while on a spy mission. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on espionage charges.

On New Year’s Day, Jair Bolsonaro will be sworn in as president. He’s an admirer of Donald Trump, and his rise to power has created — and reflected — deep divisions among Brazilians.