Iowa high school state football: West Hancock defeats Grundy Center for second title in three years

Yahoo Finance
The AI stock trade is starting to shift beyond the 'Magnificent 7'
Strategists expect the artificial intelligence trade will mature in 2025 to benefit companies beyond those buying and creating new AI chips.
Associated Press
NASA's Parker Solar Probe survives close brush with the sun's scorching surface
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has successfully made the closest approach to the sun, the space agency confirmed Friday. NASA received an all-clear message from Parker on Thursday night confirming it survived the journey. Launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun, Parker has since flown straight through its crownlike outer atmosphere, or corona. With its close brush complete, the craft is expected to circle the sun at this distance through at least September.
CBS News
Experts doubt Russian claims of bird strike in Kazakhstan plane crash
Experts say evidence in the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash in Kazakhstan points to a possible midair explosion, not an encounter with a flock of birds.
AFP
Brazil views labor violations at BYD site as human 'trafficking'
Authorities in Brazil said Friday they are probing Chinese auto giant BYD and one of its contractors for suspected "trafficking" of Chinese workers building a factory in the South American country.The workers, employed by BYD contractor Jinjiang Open Engineering, were viewed as "victims of international trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation," said the statement.
Politico
The House China Committee risks partisan irrelevance in next Congress
Dems warn that GOP control of the White House and Capitol Hill will test the committee’s bipartisan harmony and risk descent into “messaging and rhetoric.”
AFP
Weak yen lifts Japan stocks higher, Wall Street slides
A weaker yen lifted Japanese equities on Friday, while Wall Street's major indices slid in quiet holiday trading. US indices slid lower at the start of trading, with the Dow shedding 0.6 percent.
CNN
Severe storms across the US could snarl holiday travel during one of the busiest weekends of the year
Storms across both the Western and Southern United States threaten to disrupt flights as millions of holiday travelers prepare to close out the year.
Yahoo Finance
Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq slide as Treasury yields hover near 7-month highs
Wall Street looked to be slogging to the finish of a largely triumphant year.
Associated Press
What to know about South Korean acting President Han's impeachment
The impeachment of South Korea's acting President Han Duck-soo Friday has plunged the country into further political turmoil, coming less than two weeks after lawmakers impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. The successive impeachments that suspended the country’s top two officials are unprecedented, and the deputy prime minister and finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, is now South Korea's new interim leader.
USA TODAY
NASA's Parker Solar Probe whizzes within 3.8 million miles of sun, setting a record
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has survived an up-close encounter with the sun, coming closer to the fiery star than any other spacecraft before it.
AFP
Tourists return to post-Olympic Paris for holiday magic
Holidaymakers are returning to Paris for winter holiday magic as the tourism industry rebounds, inspired by the successful Olympic Games and the re-opening of Notre Dame cathedral.With five billion viewers, the Paris Games were the most followed Games in television and social media history, according to the International Olympic Committee.
AFP
Probe suggests Azerbaijan plane crashed due to 'physical external interference'
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan this week suffered physical "external interference", the airline and Azerbaijan's transport minister said Friday, citing preliminary results of an investigation, adding to speculation it was hit by a Russian air defence system.Azerbaijan Airlines said it had suspended flights to 10 Russian airports, saying preliminary results suggested the crash of Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 was "due to physical and technical external interference".
CNN
History-making probe achieves closest-ever approach to the sun
On Christmas Eve, the Parker Solar Probe became the nearest spacecraft to the sun, flying within a few million miles of the solar surface.
NBC News
Insurance companies deny cancer treatment claims and Trump's 'border czar'on family detention centers: Morning Rundown
NBC News investigates health insurance companies denying cancer patients coverage for potentially life-saving treatments.
CNN
How Kremlin disinformation could hide the cause of the Azerbaijan Airlines crash
The cause of the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 near the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, is still unknown. The Kremlin has so far been tight-lipped, prompting questions over its messaging.
Associated Press
Student marches, traffic blockades in Serbia as protests persist over concrete canopy fall
Serbian university students left piles of old school books outside the education ministry building on Friday as part of almost daily street protests demanding accountability over the collapse nearly two months ago of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people in the country's north. Scattered traffic blockades were also held on various locations throughout Serbia at 11:52 a.m. — the exact time that the concrete construction on the front of the railway station building in Novi Sad crashed onto the people below. The traffic blockades have been held every Friday since the Nov. 1 crash, lasting 15 minutes for the 15 victims.
Popular Science
What is on the Voyager Golden Record? Shockingly, not The Beatles.
Voyager 1 and 2 are still hurtling through interstellar space well beyond our solar system after over 47 years and hundreds of millions of miles. While recent equipment issues hint at the historic mission’s impending end, each spacecraft carries a token of humanity with them into the cosmic abyss: one of two Golden Records engraved […]
USA TODAY
Severe weather across the country could hamper holiday travel this weekend
Severe weather across the country could lead to delays and traffic during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
CNN
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala arrested in Tehran, Italy says
Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has been detained in Tehran, Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement Friday. She was in Iran on a reporting trip.
CNN
Virus in Louisiana bird flu patient shows mutations that could increase transmissibility to humans, CDC analysis finds
A genetic analysis of samples from the patient in Louisiana recently hospitalized with the country’s first severe case of H5N1 bird flu show the virus likely mutated in the patient to potentially become more transmissible to humans, but there’s no evidence the virus has been passed to anyone else.

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