Regulators cracked down on sweet vapes after use by kids spiked

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vaping is coming before the Supreme Court next week as federal regulators ask the high court to uphold its block on sweet, flavored products following a spike in youth e-cigarette use. The Food and Drug Administration has denied more than a million marketing applications for candy or fruit flavored products, part of a wider crackdown that advocates say helped drive down teen nicotine use after an epidemic-level surge in 2019. Vaping companies, though, said the agency unfairly disregarded arguments that their sweet e-liquid products would help adults quit smoking traditional cigarettes. The case comes shortly before the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, whose incoming administration could take a different approach.

China releases 3 Americans it imprisoned for years

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released. That word came Wednesday from the White House and it’s a rare diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration. The three are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung. Each had been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. A plane carrying the three men from China landed late Wednesday night at a military base in San Antonio, Texas. China also announced Thursday that the U.S. had returned four people to China, including three citizens it said had been held for “political purposes.”

Florida authorities recover 37 gold coins that were stolen from a shipwreck

(AP) — Authorities have recovered 37 gold coins that were stolen by salvagers from a nearly 310-year-old shipwreck off of Florida’s coast. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced the recovery on Tuesday. The coins have an estimated combined value of more than $1 million. They were salvaged from the 1715 Fleet. The fleet is a collection of Spanish treasure-laden ships that sank during a hurricane off of Florida’s central coast. Authorities say the recovery is a milestone in a long-standing investigation into the theft and illegal trafficking of such historical artifacts.

Court backs Texas over razor wire installed on US-Mexico border

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that Border Patrol agents cannot cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border in the town of Eagle Pass. The decision Wednesday by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for Texas in a long-running rift over immigration policy with the Biden administration. Texas has continued to install razor wire along its roughly 1,200-mile border with Mexico over the past year. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.