2025

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – -Alcoholic drinks should carry a label warning consumers about their cancer risks, the U.S. Surgeon General said in an advisory on Friday, noting that their consumption increases the risk of developing breast, colon, liver and other cancers.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also called for the guidelines on alcohol consumption limits to be reassessed so that people can weigh the cancer risk when deciding whether or how much to drink, alongside current warnings on birth defects and impairments when operating machinery.

Shares of U.S.-listed alcoholic beverage makers fell between 1% and 2% in premarket trading, with Brown-Forman Corp leading the declines. 

“Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer,” Murthy’s office said in a statement accompanying the new report. 

It is responsible for 100,000 U.S. cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths each year, more than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash deaths, it added. 

In the U.S., there are about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths annually, according to the report.

Alcoholic beverages in the United States currently carry a health warning label that advises pregnant women to not drink them and that their consumption impairs a person’s ability to drive a car or operate machinery. 

This label has not changed since its inception in 1988. 

“The direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is well-established for at least seven types of cancer … regardless of the type of alcohol (e.g., beer, wine, and spirits) that is consumed,” the statement said, including cancers of the esophagus, mouth, throat and voice box.

The new report recommends health care providers should encourage alcohol screening and treatment referrals as needed, and efforts to increase general awareness should be expanded.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Susan Heavey in Washington, and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru, Editing by William Maclean, Gareth Jones and Krishna Chandra Eluri)

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Several of Brazilian air force investigators are working with colleagues from three other nations to analyze data from the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, killing 38 people. Azerbaijan claims the jet was unintentionally shot down by Russia.

The Embraer 190 aircraft, made in Brazil, was en route from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny in the North Caucasus when it was diverted. It crashed while trying to land near the city of Aktau after flying hundreds of kilometers (miles) east across the Caspian Sea.

Brazil’s air force said in a statement late Thursday that nine foreign investigators have gathered with its own experts at its center for investigation and prevention of air accidents in capital Brasilia to work on data extracted from the airplane’s black box and other tools. Kazakhstan has three investigators in that group, while six others come from Azerbaijan and Russia.

Investigators in Brasilia are working on recordings, cockpit voice and flight data recorders of the aircraft, the Brazilian air force added. There’s no deadline for investigators to publicize their conclusions, which will ultimately come from Kazakh authorities.

“The extraction, obtention and validation of the data of the flight recorders will take place in the shortest possible time,” Brazil’s air force said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that that the aircraft was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and was rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare. He accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to his counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident”, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible.

Putin’s apology to President Ilham Aliyev came as allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defense systems attempting to fend off a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, where the plane was heading.

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BERLIN (AP) — For the elephants and others at the Berlin Zoo, it’s finally time to unwrap their Christmas presents.

Trees that didn’t find a home this festive season were given to some of the animals on Friday in what has become an annual event. Elephants tore off branches with their trunks, lobbing them around their enclosure or eating the greenery.

The zoo takes only fresh, unsold trees from select vendors. It doesn’t accept trees from the public, which could contain chemicals or leftover decorations.

“They don’t just serve as food, they are also used to keep the animals occupied,” said Florian Sicks, the zoo’s curator for mammals.

“The animals can fight with them, they can rub themselves against them, they can throw themselves over them and do various other things with these fir trees,” he added. “And so we enrich the animals’ everyday lives, which they are very happy about.”

While the elephants eat up much of the tree, other animals take a more cautious approach.

This year, the giraffes got the belated stocking-fillers for the first time — suspended upside down at the height of their heads. Max enjoyed more than a taste of the greenery, but companion Mugambi appeared unconvinced after inspecting it.

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