Anthony Law receives Thomas B. Herring Community Service Award at Chamber luncheon

Associated Press
The internet is rife with fake reviews. Will AI make it worse?
The emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools that allow people to efficiently produce novel and detailed online reviews with almost no work has put merchants, service providers and consumers in uncharted territory, watchdog groups and researchers say. Phony reviews have long plagued many popular consumer websites, such as Amazon and Yelp. The deceptive practice, which is illegal in the U.S., is carried out year-round but becomes a bigger problem for consumers during the holiday shopping season, when many people rely on reviews to help them purchase gifts. Where are AI-generated reviews showing up?
AFP
UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
Britain's economy was stagnant in the third quarter, according to revised official data released Monday, dealing a fresh blow to the Labour government.The ONS also revised down its second quarter growth reading to 0.4 percent from 0.5 percent.
AFP
Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
Sweden's foreign minister said Monday that China had denied a request for prosecutors to conduct an investigation on a Chinese ship linked to two severed Baltic Sea cables despite Beijing pledging "cooperation" with regional authorities.- Observers - However, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard also noted Monday that Swedish prosecutors had not been allowed to conduct an investigation.
NBC News
Biden commutes dozens of death row sentences to life without parole
The sentences will be reclassified to life without the possibility of parole, the White House said. The move applies to 37 of the 40 federal inmates on death row.
NBC News
House repairs, a car, grandkids: Where Evanston’s reparations payments are going
The first city in the U.S. to approve reparations has given 200 people in cash or assistance. We asked three residents how that money has affected their lives.
Associated Press
What a merger between Nissan and Honda means for the automakers and the industry
Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will attempt to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels. The two companies said they had signed a memorandum of understanding on Monday and that smaller Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors also had agreed to join the talks on integrating their businesses. Honda will initially lead the new management, retaining the principles and brands of each company.
USA TODAY
President Biden commutes sentences of 37 federal death row inmates: See full list of names
President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentences of 37 individuals on death row, the White House announced. See the full list of names.
Reuters
Switzerland adopts more EU sanctions on Russia and Belarus
Switzerland adopted the latest EU sanctions package on Russia and Belarus, the government said on Monday. The move came one week after the European Union targeted Moscow's vessels and Chinese entities found to have traded with the Russian military. The Swiss government listed 54 persons and 30 companies and organisations, freezing their assets as of Dec. 24, and banned 52 ships from providing services.
Reuters
Germany looking into possible security lapses after Christmas market attack
Germany searched for answers on Monday on possible security lapses after a man drove his car into a Christmas market, killing at least five people and casting a renewed spotlight on security and immigration ahead of a snap election. As a nation mourned, with citizens leaving flowers and lighting candles in Magdeburg where the incident took place on Friday, questions swirled about whether more could have been done and whether the authorities could have acted on warnings. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser called for tougher internal security laws to be adopted, including a new act to strengthen police forces as well as the introduction of biometric surveillance.
USA TODAY
Luigi Mangione faces arraignment today, charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO
Mangione's hearing on state charges comes days after his dramatic return to New York to face federal counts in the slaying of Brian Thompson.
CBS News
Luigi Mangione due in court on state murder, terrorism charges
Luigi Mangione is due in a New York courtroom to face state charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
CNN
Are abortion bans across America causing deaths? The states that passed them are doing little to find out.
In states with abortion bans, ProPublica has found, pregnant women have bled to death, succumbed to fatal infections and wound up in morgues with what medical examiners recorded were “products of conception” still in their bodies.
AFP
Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
Global stock markets mostly edged higher on Monday as traders welcomed below-forecast US inflation data that raised hopes about the health of the world's biggest economy.Official data out of Spain on Monday showed that the Spanish economy grew 0.8 percent in the third quarter as domestic consumption and exports increased, comfortably outstripping the European Union average.
CNN
Boy in hospital after drones fall from sky at Orlando holiday show
What was intended to be a dazzling festive spectacle ended in injury to a 7-year-old boy after several drones unexpectedly fell from the sky during a show in Florida on Saturday night, according to CNN affiliate reports.
Reuters
Young mammoth remains found nearly intact in Siberian permafrost
Researchers in Siberia are conducting tests on a juvenile mammoth whose remarkably well-preserved remains were discovered in thawing permafrost after more than 50,000 years. The carcass, weighing more than 110 kg (240 pounds), was brought to the surface on an improvised stretcher, said Maxim Cherpasov, head of the Lazarev Mammoth Museum Laboratory in the city of Yakutsk. It is the latest of a series of spectacular discoveries in the Russian permafrost.
CBS News
Over 1,000 North Korean casualties in Russia-Ukraine war, South Korea says
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to reinforce the Russian military in its war against Ukraine.
Reuters
How investments may fare during Trump 2.0 and Fed easing
U.S. investors are preparing for a swathe of changes in 2025, from tariffs and deregulation to tax policy, that will ripple through markets as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, putting the focus on whether the U.S. economy can continue to outperform. The changing of the guard in Washington has big implications for how stocks, bonds and currencies fare in the new year and may require investors to rejig portfolios. Forecasts call for another buoyant year for stocks, the dollar to maintain its recent strength over the coming months and Treasury yields to march higher.
Politico
Trump’s big Mike Johnson decision
A messy Capitol Hill endgame has the president-elect pondering a change in House leadership.
NBC News
Honda and Nissan officially begin merger talks to create world’s third-largest automaker
Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda on Monday announced they had entered into official talks to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker by sales.
Reuters
France holds day of mourning for Mayotte, island devastated by cyclone
France is holding a national day of mourning for Mayotte, its Indian Ocean territory devastated by a deadly cyclone on Dec. 14, on Monday, beginning with a minute of silence at 11:00 a.m. (1000 GMT). To commemorate Mayotte's losses, French flags were lowered to half-mast. Separately, flags were flown at half-mast in Brussels and Strasbourg because of Mayotte, as well as following attacks last week on a German Christmas market and in a Croatian school.

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