The mission for the best cell phone of the year is consistently an intriguing excursion, with makers pushing the limits of innovation, plan, and usefulness. Every year, new models arise with innov

A judge said Friday that he planned to approve a deal for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who own the company to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of opioids, allowing money to start flowing to victims as soon as next spring. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Sean Lane said he would spell out his reasoning in a hearing next week. Members of the Sackler family have been cast as villains in an overdose epidemic that has been linked to 900,000 deaths in the U.S.

Brazilian authorities on Tuesday railed against comments by Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz in which he appeared to look down on Belem, a city on the edge of the Amazon rainforest where the United Nations' Climate Summit is taking place. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Para state Gov. Helder Barbalho, Belem Mayor Igor Normando, and several lawmakers have pushed back against Merz, who traveled to Brazil earlier in November to discuss climate measures with other leaders.