FDA’s nutrition goals similar to Kennedy’s, experts say

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to helm the Department of Health and Human Services has said he wants sweeping changes to how the United States approaches health and food, going so far as to suggest that the Food and Drug Administration should eliminate its nutrition operations.

But the agency may be more aligned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s goals than he’s made it seem.

Just one day after Trump announced Kennedy as his pick for HHS secretary, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf published an op-ed in STAT calling for action on diet-related chronic diseases — an area that Kennedy has emphasized.

Such action would include “pushing for high-quality nutrition research related to ultra-processed foods” and “supporting and strengthening ongoing efforts focused on increasing consumption of nutritious foods that are limited in sodium, added sugars and saturated fat,” Califf wrote in an op-ed he co-authored with Jim Jones, the deputy commissioner of the Human Foods Program, and Haider J. Warraich, who is senior clinical adviser for chronic disease.

—CQ-Roll Call

Massachusetts looks to gain new sanctuary city, debate expected

Massachusetts could add its newest sanctuary city as early as tonight, with a MetroWest town considering a “Welcoming Communities” policy that would sharply limit its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

The Natick Select Board will meet tonight to discuss whether it wants to become the ninth sanctuary city in the Bay State. The policy drafted states that the commitment would “ensure that all individuals feel valued and a sense of belonging.”

The board is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m., with the policy discussion and potential vote slated for later in the agenda.

Under sanctuary status, town employees would be barred from inquiring about or collecting information regarding citizenship or immigration status unless federal or state laws require them to do so.

—Boston Herald

‘Promote Christian values’: Lobbying group wants Bible read in Idaho public schools

BOISE, Idaho — An influential Christian lobbying group in Idaho plans to bring forward a bill that would require all public schools to read the Bible.

The Idaho Family Policy Center — which has helped draft a number of controversial state laws, including ones that limit abortion and transgender rights — announced its plans for the proposal in a news release Tuesday.

Idaho would join a growing number of conservative states challenging decades of legal precedent, which generally prohibit government endorsement of any religion. Galvanized by a conservative U.S. Supreme Court, members of the Christian right have targeted bans on state-funded religious teaching.

“Government should promote Christian values,” Blaine Conzatti, the group’s president, told the Idaho Statesman by phone.

—The Idaho Statesman

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani charged by US over alleged $250 million bribe plot

NEW YORK — U.S. prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, with participating in a scheme that involved promising to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts.

Prosecutors in Brooklyn alleged on Wednesday that Adani and other defendants lied about the plan as they sought to raise money from U.S. investors. The five-count indictment also accuses Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, executives at an Indian renewable-energy company, of breaking federal laws.

“The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.

U.S. authorities had been investigating whether Adani Group may have engaged in bribery as well as the conduct of the company’s billionaire founder, Bloomberg has reported. The probe looked into whether there were improper payments made to officials in India for favorable treatment on an energy project.

—Bloomberg News