Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Friday.
The F.D.A. approved gene editing therapy for sickle cell diseaseThe Food and Drug Administration announced today that it had approved a gene editing treatment for sickle cell disease, the debilitating blood disorder caused by a single mutated gene. The therapy, called Casgevy, will become the first available treatment for humans in the U.S. to use the revolutionary gene editing tool CRISPR. The approval — which was announced alongside a second gene therapy that does not use gene editing — offers hope for the 100,000 Americans, most of them Black, who live with the disease. But the one-time treatments — so effective in clinical trials that they have been hailed as cures — come with both technical and financial obstacles that limit their reach. The sickle cell treatment will serve a test case for using CRISPR gene editing to treat other diseases. CRISPR Therapeutics, one of the developers of Casgevy, is now studying gene editing to treat cancer, diabetes, and A.L.S., among others. In sub-Saharan Africa, where a vast majority of people with sickle cell live, the new treatments will be effectively unavailable because of the price and lack of medical infrastructure to administer the treatment.
The U.S. job market shows signs of strengthThe American economy continued to generate robust job growth in November, according to government data released today, the latest sign of a durable economy. The hiring suggests that the labor market is still solid, despite gradually slowing since last year's pandemic rebound. In total, employers added 199,000 jobs last month. That includes tens of thousands of autoworkers and actors who returned to their jobs after strikes, meaning underlying job growth is slightly weaker. Even so, the report signals that the economy remains far from recession territory. The unemployment rate also dropped to 3.7 percent, which was particularly notable because it had been drifting upward.8 Most analysts have been surprised by the durability of the recovery, which owes a lot to the cash that consumers accumulated over the past few years, which they are now spending.
Civil order is breaking down in Gaza, the U.N. warnedAs Israeli forces struck hundreds of targets across the Gaza Strip, the U.N. warned today that relief efforts were faltering and that people were growing so desperate for basic necessities that some were stoning and raiding aid convoys. The streets "feel wild, particularly after dark," Thomas White, the Gaza director of the U.N. agency that assists Palestinians, said on social media. He added that "society is on the brink of full-blown collapse." Since Israeli resumed airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza after the collapse of a truce last Friday, the U.N. reported that it was struggling to deliver enough food, water, medicine, cooking gas and other essentials to hundreds of thousands of civilians who have packed into shelters and tent cities. At the U.N., the U.S. blocked a resolution that would have demanded a permanent cease-fire. More top news
Zombie TV has come for cableNot long ago, many of the most popular cable networks — including USA, TBS and Comedy Central — were rich with original scripted programming. But these days, they have essentially turned into vessels for endless marathons of reruns, becoming zombie versions of their former selves. USA, for example, once put out celebrated original dramas, including "Suits," "Mr. Robot" and "Royal Pains." But now, the network's original programming department is gone, and it often fills the air with reruns of "Law & Order" or "NCIS."
Tips for booze-free holiday funFrom wine at the office party to the requisite bubbly on New Year's Eve, drinking sometimes appears inextricably tied to holiday merrymaking. That can cause uncomfortable situations for people who decide to opt out. But it doesn't have to be that way. Experts we spoke to offered tips for a smooth alcohol-free holiday season, including embracing a delicious mocktail or rehearsing a decisive way to decline a drink.
Dinner table topics
Cook: Snack on these cheese sambousek during Hanukkah. Watch: These are the best movies and television shows coming to Netflix this month. Read: Quan Barry's "Auction" was one of the year's best poetry collections. Listen: Introduce yourself to jazz flute with Hubert Laws's "Land of Passion." Plan: Here are six cozy retreats for a winter getaway. Reconsider: Experts say there is little to no benefit in choosing low-fat dairy products. Compete: Take this week's news quiz. Play: Here are today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
This may be the world's smelliest cheeseRory Stone, a 59-year-old cheesemaker in Scotland, developed a washed-rind cheese so putrid-smelling that he calls it the Minger — a derisive term for someone who is ugly or smells bad. And yet, customers can't get enough of it. The Minger, which Stone bills as the smelliest cheese in the world, was initially rejected by supermarkets, who dismissed it as a gimmick. But it won several awards for taste and has sold so well at independent shops that a major British supermarket chain announced this week that it would soon stock the cheese. Have a delectable weekend. Thanks for reading. I'll be back on Monday. — Matthew We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.
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