Meanwhile . . .

A new study by researchers from Swansea University in the United Kingdom reveals that a third of men and one in 10 women are open to having more than one romantic partner — at the same time.... The study, which involved 393 heterosexual men and women, uncovered varying levels of “openness” to these arrangements. Approximately 33 percent of men surveyed in the U.K. expressed a willingness to consider the idea of having more than one wife or long-term girlfriend in a committed partnership if it were legal and consensual. In contrast, only 11 percent of women indicated a similar openness to the concept of polygamous marriage.

The Supreme Court announced... that it would take up a pair of cases concerning access to mifepristone, the first pill in a two-pill regimen commonly used to induce abortion. Mifepristone has been the subject of a high-profile legal battle throughout the past year. Crucially, the Court will not consider whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration erred in its initial 2000 approval of the Mifeprex (a brand name version of mifepristone) or its subsequent generic approval in 2019—which means the pill should remain legal no matter what SCOTUS decides. Rather, the Court will consider whether subsequent FDA rules regarding mifepristone's prescription are valid.

The high court will review an August ruling from a federal appeals court that upheld a lower court's restrictions to mifepristone, which include removing access to the medication by mail and shortening the timeframe for when the pill can be consumed from 10 weeks to seven weeks. The federal appeals court found the FDA didn't follow procedures when loosening regulations.

The Senate passed an $886 billion defense policy bill which could provide the largest raise for US service members in more than two decades. The sweeping legislation authorizes a 5.2% pay raise for members of the military among other provisions related to service member benefits, housing and childcare. 

Pope Francis takes on unprecedented attacks from American opponents

Despite "tipflation" and "tipping fatigue," most Americans are planning to be as generous in holiday tipping this season as they were last year — if not more