National Lifestyle

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 24-30: Dec. 24: Actor Grand L. Bush (TV’s “The Visitor,” film’s “Demolition Man”) is 68. Actor Stephanie Hodge (“Unhappily Ever After”) is 67. Bassist-synthesizer player Ian Burden of Human League is 66.

TORONTO — A new survey suggests one in four Canadians are extremely concerned about having enough income to cover their basic needs, with the highest degree of hardship being felt by single parents.

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study adds to evidence that severe obesity is becoming more common in young U.S. children.

NEW YORK (AP) — “Wonka” debuted with $39 million in box office sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

NEW YORK (AP) — The scene: A crowded shopping center in the weeks before Christmas. Or a warehouse store. Or maybe a packed airport terminal or a commuter train station or another place where large groups gather. There are people — lots of people.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — It’s the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world’s Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries .

Hope is what kept Laurel Walker alive as thoughts of suicide overwhelmed her, and that is exactly what she says would be stripped from people battling the same darkness if Canada forges ahead with plans to expand medical assistance in dying to those

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Maury Povich received the Daytime Emmys Lifetime Achievement Honor on Saturday from his wife, journalist Connie Chung.

BERLIN (AP) — The Russian-American writer Masha Gessen received a German literary prize Saturday in a ceremony that was delayed and scaled down in reaction to an article comparing Gaza to Nazi German ghettos.

Australian drummer Colin Burgess, an original member of the hard rock band AC/DC in the early 1970s, has died, the band confirmed on its social media accounts. He was 77.