EU's Sefcovic welcomes "change in tone" from UK over N.Ireland trade talks

CBS News
Mexican cartel leader who faked own death arrested in California
Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa — the son-in-law of Jalisco New Generation cartel leader "El Mencho" — was arrested in Riverside, California, officials said.
USA TODAY
Trump's new attorney general pick
Plus: Do you hide your politics on dating apps?
Associated Press
Pakistani city mourns 42 Shiite Muslims who were ambushed and killed in a gun attack
Protesters in Pakistan's restive northwest chanted anti-government slogans Friday as funeral prayers were held for 42 Shiite Muslims who were ambushed and killed by gunmen a day earlier in one of the region's deadliest such assaults in recent years. The victims were traveling in a convoy of several vehicles from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when the attack took place Thursday. Thursday’s attack took place in Kurram, an area where Shiite Muslims dominate.
AFP
Kenyan street style snappers reclaim the heart of Nairobi
Alex Okwomi trains his lens on his latest clients: two young women whose identical crimson dresses will make a striking photo as they pose and pout against the photogenic skyline of Nairobi's central business district."You must have that good language to convince them," the 27-year-old street photographer told AFP, explaining how he approaches stylish people walking in the Kenyan capital's central business district (CBD).
Associated Press
US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems?
Delta and United have become the most profitable U.S. airlines by targeting premium customers while also winning back a significant share of travelers on a tight budget. Other discount airlines are on much better financial footing than Spirit, but they too are lagging far behind the full-service airlines when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Most industry experts think Frontier Airlines and other so-called ultra-low-cost carriers will fill the vacuum if Spirit shrinks, and that there is still plenty of competition to prevent prices from spiking.
USA TODAY
Huckabee as Trump’s pick for Israel ambassador is a win for Christian Zionism. Here’s why.
Trump nominated a Christian Zionist to Israel ambassador. What it says about pro-Israel evangelical influence in politics and success with organizing.
USA TODAY
49 states are in drought conditions, threatening water resources and agriculture
Nearly all of the U.S. is facing drought, with Kentucky becoming the 49th state to enter drought in November, due to a historically dry autumn
Reuters
Fast-forming alien planet has astronomers intrigued
Astronomers have spotted orbiting around a young star a newborn planet that took only 3 million years to form - quite swift in cosmic terms - in a discovery that challenges the current understanding of the speed of planetary formation. This infant world, estimated at around 10 to 20 times the mass of Earth, is one of the youngest planets beyond our solar system - called exoplanets - ever discovered. It resides alongside the remnants of the disk of dense gas and dust circling the host star - called a protoplanetary disk - that provided the ingredients for the planet to form.
Yahoo Finance
Bitcoin is doing the thing it needs to do: Morning Brief
Bitcoin has continued its massive gains, rising around the $100,000 mark in the weeks since the election based on expectations of improved regulatory treatment. But for the cryptocurrency, this rise just might be its own catalyst.
Yahoo Finance
Medicare premiums rise for 2025, nicking retirees' Social Security checks
Seniors awaiting bigger Social Security checks next year may be shocked to discover higher Medicare premiums will eat up a chunk of their cost-of-living adjustment.
Associated Press
More aid workers have been killed in 2024 than in any other year, UN says
More aid workers, health care staffers, delivery personnel and other humanitarians have been killed in 2024 than in any other single year, the United Nations reported Friday. Bloodshed in the Middle East has been the single-biggest cause of the 281 deaths among humanitarians globally this year, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. “Before the year is even over, 2024 has become the deadliest on record for humanitarian personnel worldwide,” OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said.
Reuters
Poland's Tusk says threat of global conflict is real
Recent events show that there is a real risk of a global conflict breaking out, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday, after Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at a Ukrainian city. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the strike was a response to the U.S. and UK allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons, a move he said had given the conflict "elements of a global character". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the Russian missile strike another escalation after deployment of North Korean troops on Russian soil.
AFP
Western leaders on their guard with China ahead of Trump return
Chinese President Xi Jinping pitched his country as a font of stability at the G20 summit this week as a second Trump term looms, but analysts say wary Western nations are likely to hold Beijing at bay."We're seeing countries' governments trying not to put all their eggs in one basket," Hameiri told AFP. - Stranger no more - Chinese state media has recently portrayed their country as a beacon of true multilateralism and globalisation while criticising what Beijing views as US meddling in global
Reuters
Record aid worker deaths in 2024 in 'era of impunity', UN says
More aid workers have been killed this year than in any year since tallies began, the U.N. humanitarian office said on Friday, with most of them killed in the Gaza conflict. So far this year there have been 281 aid worker victims, according to the Aid Worker Security database which has recorded incidents dating back to 1997, versus 280 in 2023 which held the previous record. It showed 178 had been killed in the occupied Palestinian territories including Gaza this year which has been the deadliest conflict for the United Nations.
AFP
South Sudan probes shootout at sacked spy chief's home
South Sudan security forces were investigating Friday a shootout at the home of the troubled nation's powerful former spy chief Akol Koor, who was sacked almost two months ago amid rumours of a coup plot.Koor became head of the feared National Security Services (NSS) after South Sudan's independence in 2011 but was sacked in October leading to widespread speculation he had been planning to overthrow Kiir.
Reuters
Pope Francis to visit French island of Corsica on Dec. 15, local church says
Pope Francis will visit Corsica on Dec. 15, the local diocese said on its website on Thursday, in the first recorded trip of a pope to the French island in the Mediterranean. The short visit to the island's capital city Ajaccio, where Francis is expected to speak at a conference on popular religiosity across the Mediterranean region, will mark his 47th foreign trip since becoming pope in 2013. Corsica, noted for its steep, mountainous terrain and as the birthplace of Napoleon, is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Associated Press
Ukraine's parliament cancels session after Russia fired a new missile
Ukraine's parliament canceled a session on Friday as security was tightened after Russia deployed a new ballistic missile that threatens to escalate the nearly three-year war. NATO and Ukraine will hold emergency talks next Tuesday, the alliance said, following a request from Ukraine. The meeting will be held at the level of ambassadors and will most likely address the new missile threat.
AFP
Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai tells court he advocated 'peaceful resistance'
Jailed Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai on Friday said he had advocated for "peaceful resistance" against China's erosion of the city's freedoms and tried to "reduce violence" during huge democracy protests in 2019."I always advocate peaceful resistance," he said, adding that the purpose of the articles was to "resist the encroachment of China on our freedom".
AFP
Hong Kong seniors celebrate life with mass marriage vow renewal
Rowdy cheers spilled from a Hong Kong banquet hall hosting a mass wedding party, as one of the 20 elderly couples renewing their vows coquettishly shared a strawberry marshmallow mouth-to-mouth.After the banquet, the couples piled into two brightly coloured Hong Kong trams and set off along the tracks, waving to passers-by who stopped to watch delightedly.
Associated Press
Japan passes $250B economic package meant to lift wages and spur growth
Japan approved a 39 trillion yen ($250 billion) economic stimulus package Friday centered around initiatives it said were aimed at boosting individual incomes. The broad plan passed by the Cabinet is the centerpiece of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s recently installed administration. It provides support for digital innovation in the world’s fourth largest economy, subsidies to defray for rising energy costs and help for low-income households.

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