Airbnb beats Q4 estimates as revenue jumps 78%

Associated Press
Japan Airlines hit by cyberattack, delaying flights during year-end holiday season
Japan Airlines said it was hit by a cyberattack Thursday, causing delays to more than 20 domestic flights but the carrier said there was no impact on flight safety. JAL said the problem started Thursday morning when the company's network connecting internal and external systems began malfunctioning. The airline said the cyberattack had delayed 24 domestic flights for more than 30 minutes, and the impact could expand later in the day.
Associated Press
Flooding took away the love of his life after 35 years without a day spent apart
Jerry and Sibrina Barrett never spent a day apart over 35 years. Living in Johnson City, they were barely aware that Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on September 26. The next day it was raining heavily, so Sibrina went in late to her once-a-week cleaning job at the Impact Plastics factory.
AFP
Azerbaijan mourns 38 killed in plane crash in Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan began a national day of mourning Thursday after a passenger jet from the flag carrier crashed in western Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people onboard.Azerbaijan Airlines reported that 67 people were on board the jet -- 62 passengers and five crew members.
Associated Press
Israel's plan to double the number of settlers in the Golan Heights is met with conflicting emotions
A dry mountain wind whipped through a cluster of Israeli flags at the entrance of a kibbutz in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, where the tranquility belies the tumultuous events unfolding nearby. Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted after nearly 25 years in power. Within hours, Israeli tanks rolled past a razor wire-reinforced fence into the Golan's demilitarized buffer zone in Syria, created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the countries.
Reuters
China to build world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet
China has approved the construction of what will be the world's largest hydropower dam, kicking off an ambitious project on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau that could affect millions downstream in India and Bangladesh. The dam, which will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, could produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, according to an estimate provided by the Power Construction Corp of China in 2020. That would more than triple the 88.2 billion kWh designed capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest, in central China.
CNN
Accusations of genocide. Charges of corruption. Improbably, Netanyahu had a good year
The past year brought deaths, regional conflict, indictments and more. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ends it having transformed his standing in Israel.
Associated Press
A Syrian family recounts the horrors of the 2013 chemical attack near Damascus
A Syrian family that survived a 2013 chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people near the country’s capital, Damascus, says the ordeal they experienced haunts them to this day. The Aug. 21, 2013 attack targeted several Damascus suburbs, including Zamalka, where the Arbeeni family lives. Government forces of then-President Bashar Assad were blamed for the attack.
Associated Press
A survivor of the worst gang attack on Haitian journalists says colleagues were cut down by bullets
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A survivor of the worst gang attack on Haitian journalists in recent memory described Wednesday seeing colleagues cut down by bullets and reporters with head and chest wounds going an hour or more without help. Two reporters and one police officer died in Tuesday's attack at the reopening of Port-au-Prince's biggest public hospital. Seven journalists covering the event were wounded.
Associated Press
Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher in thin post-Christmas holiday trading
Asian shares were mostly higher Thursday in thin post-Christmas holiday trading, while oil prices rose. Japan's Nikkei 225 index surged 0.8% to 39,449.55, on strong gains in retailers and tourism-related stocks after Japan agreed to ease visa conditions for Chinese tourists. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, a major department store group, gained 7%.
Associated Press
Former Presidential candidate in Taiwan, Ko Wen-je, indicted for corruption
Prosecutors in Taiwan indicted former presidential candidate and Taiwan People's Party founder Ko Wen-je on corruption charges Thursday, accusing him of taking bribes during his time as mayor of the island's capital. Ko, a former mayor of Taipei, is accused of accepting bribes related to a real estate development during his time in office, according to the prosecutors' statement. Core to the case is a development owned by Core Pacific City group in Taipei.
Associated Press
Heat wave leads to warnings of potentially devastating wildfires in southern Australia
Communities and firefighters across Australia’s second-most populous state were preparing Thursday for potentially devastating wild fires as a heat wave fanned by erratic winds presented the worst fire conditions in several years. With temperatures in Victoria state reaching 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) and with wind changes expected throughout the day, fire chiefs have issued stark warnings to rural communities to delay travel or leave their homes and seek safety at shelters. Several fires are currently burning out of control across the state and Victoria deputy premier Ben Carroll said the possibility for further fires in the coming days was likely.
Associated Press
This Somali migrant watched others around her die at sea. But she wants to try again for Europe
Idil Abdullahi Goley’s journey seeking a better life in Europe started in Somalia with a $6,500 payment to local smugglers. It ended a month later with fellow migrants around her dying at sea, one of them screaming and reciting the Muslim profession of faith. The deaths of 25 migrants last month in boats off the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar brought to light yet another route that some in Africa are taking in dangerous bids for Europe.
Reuters
In a first, Taiwan's Presidential Office runs war games to simulate a China emergency
Taiwan's Presidential Office conducted its first ever tabletop exercise simulating a military escalation with China, several officials briefed on the matter said, at a time when the island is facing renewed Chinese military threats. China has in recent years stepped up military threats, including the large massing of naval forces this month and daily military activities close to democratically Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own over Taipei's rejection. The war game held inside the Presidential Office in Taipei was led by Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim and National Security Council Secretary-general Joseph Wu, the officials familiar with the meeting told Reuters.
AFP
India readies for 400 million pilgrims at mammoth festival
Beside India's holy rivers, a makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast it will be seen from space, the largest gathering in history.The millennia-old sacred show of religious piety and ritual bathing is held once every 12 years at the site where the holy Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
AFP
Nepal hosts hot air balloon festival
With Nepal's snowy Himalayan peaks as a backdrop, the sky above Pokhara transformed into a vibrant canvas of colours for the country's first hot-air balloon festival."We felt that we must bring a balloon festival like this to Nepal," Sabin Maharjan, an organiser of the event, told AFP. Hot-air balloons from more than 10 countries participated in the festival.
Politico
Prayers and tears mark 20 years since the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people
Many openly wept at the mass grave in Ulee Lheue village, where more than 14,000 unidentified and unclaimed tsunami victims are buried.
AFP
Asia stocks up as 'Santa Rally' persists
Asia's stocks rose in thin Boxing Day trade on Thursday, extending a "Santa Rally" with key markets Hong Kong and Sydney still shut for the holidays.Stock markets have traditionally fared well in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in the new year, a trend known as the "Santa Claus rally".
Reuters
Former Taipei mayor charged for bribery, misuse of political donations
Taiwan prosecutors have charged a former mayor of Taipei who heads a small opposition party with accepting T$17.1 million ($522,392) in bribes over a major property development in the capital and misuse of political donations. Ko Wen-je, mayor from 2014 to 2022 and who came third in January's presidential election, was arrested in August after investigators raided his home and party and questioned him for hours. Reuters was not able to reach Ko for comment, who is currently detained.
CNN
Israeli strike kills five journalists in Gaza, hospital says
Five journalists have been killed in an overnight Israeli strike that hit their vehicle in Gaza, a hospital and their news outlet said in a statement on Thursday.
AFP
Tears, prayers as Asia mourns tsunami dead 20 years on
Tearful mourners prayed Thursday as ceremonies began across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who died two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean, in one of the world's worst natural disasters.- Candlelight, train vigils - A total of 226,408 people died as a result of the tsunami, according to EM-DAT, a recognised global disaster database.

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