Happy Thursday! Congratulations to future Hall-of-Fame pitcher, cancer survivor, and all-around good guy Jon Lester for calling it a career on Wednesday after 16 seasons, five All-Star Game appearances, and three World Series championships.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, hit 7 percent year-over-year in December, the steepest annual price increase since June 1982.

• According to preliminary data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 458 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2021, a 55 percent increase over 2020. 301 of those deaths were attributed to COVID-19, 84 to felonious assaults (including 61 killed by firearms), and 58 to traffic-related causes.

• The State Department announced Wednesday it had sanctioned eight DPRK-linked individuals and entities for their ties to North Korea’s weapons and missiles program. North Korea has launched two test missiles off its east coast in recent weeks.