Martha Stewart gets in the holiday spirit with her famous (and extremely boozy) eggnog

AFP
Philippine Catholic devotees mass in Manila hoping for a miracle
Hundreds of thousands of Catholic pilgrims swarmed the streets of Manila in search of a miracle on Thursday, straining to reach a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ in an annual display of religious fervour.The giant religious parade commemorates the arrival of the wooden statue of the genuflecting Jesus the Nazarene from Acapulco, Mexico, in the early 1600s, shortly after the start of the Spanish colonial conquest.
Reuters
Shanghai kicks off plan to allow foreign-owned hospitals
Shanghai has kicked off a plan to allow the establishment in China of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in key economic zones, biopharmaceutical areas and downtown districts that are home to many expatriate residents. The commercial capital is the first city to announce steps after the central government said in September it would the allow wholly foreign-owned hospitals in nine locations including Beijing. The aim is to attract investment, improve business sentiment among foreign investors and reinvigorate the world's second-largest economy where growth has been sluggish.
Reuters
Netherlands secures Nvidia's supply for possible AI-facility
The Dutch government said on Thursday it had reached a deal with Nvidia for the supply of hardware and technological knowledge for a possible artificial intelligence (AI) facility. The Netherlands aims to build a facility where an AI 'supercomputer' can contribute to research and development, as part of broader EU projects to strengthen Europe's digital economy. Last year the Dutch government set aside 204.5 million euros ($210 million) for investments in AI, while it also aims to use European subsidies.
NBC News
Biden cancels Rome visit with Pope Francis to focus on federal response to California wildfires
President Joe Biden has canceled a planned trip to Rome to meet with Pope Francis so that he can instead focus on federal response to the rapidly moving wildfires that are tearing through the Los Angeles area, the White House said.
AFP
Deadly Los Angeles wildfires threaten Hollywood
Wildfires threatened to engulf parts of Hollywood on Wednesday as a growing number of blazes raged across Los Angeles, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and claiming at least five lives.Over 100,000 people have been told to flee at least five separate blazes, including in the heart of historic Hollywood, just a few hundred meters (yards) from the storied theaters of Hollywood Boulevard.
Associated Press
No more fact-checking for Meta. How will this change media — and the pursuit of truth?
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts,” the late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan memorably wrote four decades ago. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg's announcement this week was widely seen in news verification circles as a genuflection to president-elect Donald Trump, whose first term in office popularized the phrase “alternative facts.” Meta is replacing its fact-checking with a “community notes” system reminiscent of X, where it depends on users to correct misinformation on its platforms.
AFP
Tensions high in Mozambique as opposition leader due home from exile
Security forces prevented people from reaching the airport in Mozambique's capital on Thursday as the opposition leader Venancio Mondlane was due to arrive home from exile to push his claim that he won presidential elections.At one of several barriers erected around the airport, security forces shot and wounded one of hundreds of mostly young people wanting to reach the airport to welcome Mondlane home, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Associated Press
Trump wants to change colleges nationwide. GOP-led states offer a preview
Nearly a decade ago, intense protests over racial injustice rocked the University of Missouri’s flagship campus, leading to the resignation of two top administrators. Tensions were so high that football players were threatening a boycott and a graduate student went on hunger strike. Today, the entire diversity office is gone, an example of changes sweeping universities in states led by conservatives, and a possible harbinger of things to come nationwide.
Associated Press
Schools cancel classes across the Southern US as another burst of winter storms move in
Schools and buildings from Texas to Georgia were shut down Thursday or prepared to close ahead of freezing rain and snow forecast for much of the Southern U.S. as another burst of plunging temperatures and winter storms threatened to again snarl travel. Texas schools canceled classes for more than 1 million students in anticipation of icy and potentially dangerous conditions that could last into Friday.
NBC News
Major service workers union joins forces with AFL-CIO as second Trump term looms
The Service Employees International Union said it is re-joining the AFL-CIO. With the addition of SEIU, membership will expand to 15 million workers.
Associated Press
Jimmy Carter will be honored at Washington funeral before burial in Georgia hometown
Jimmy Carter, who considered himself an outsider even as he sat in the Oval Office as the 39th U.S. president, will be honored Thursday with the pageantry of a funeral at Washington National Cathedral before a second service and burial in his tiny Georgia hometown. President Joe Biden, who was the first sitting senator to endorse Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, will eulogize his fellow Democrat 11 days before he leaves office. All of Carter's living successors are expected to attend the Washington funeral, including President-elect Donald Trump, who paid his respects before Carter's casket Wednesday.
CNN
Missing hiker thanks rescuers after surviving 13 days on two granola bars in Australian national park
A 23-year-old hiker who survived 13 days lost in the Australian wilderness after stumbling on two granola bars has thanked his rescuers for enduring “tough conditions” to find him.
Associated Press
After 12 failed attempts over 2 years, Lebanon's parliament will try to pick a president
Lebanon’s parliament was set Thursday to make yet another effort to elect a president, filling a vacuum that's lasted for more than two years. While 12 previous attempts have failed to choose a successor to former President Michel Aoun, whose term ended in October 2022, there are indications that Thursday's vote may produce a head of state. The leading candidate is Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun, no relation to the former president.
Associated Press
AP PHOTOS: Making art and fun from the ice, snow and freezing cold in Harbin, China
People are making the best of the freezing weather in northeast China: Sculptors have finely chiseled ice into elaborate structures resembling landmark castles and temples, and visitors are appreciating the artwork and the excitement of ice slides and other attractions at the annual Harbin Ice and Snow World. The ice sculpture festival is a major tourist draw for the former industrial center that still boasts of its proximity to Russia with Tsarist-era architecture found nowhere else in China. The riverside site features dozens of giant artworks like the Taj Mahal of India, the Osaka Castle of Japan, and Beijing's own Temple of Heaven, all carved from clear blocks of ice.
Reuters
China discovers cluster of new mpox strain
Chinese health authorities said on Thursday they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib as the viral infection spreads to more countries after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency last year. China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said it had found a cluster outbreak of the Ib subclade that started with the infection a foreigner who has a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Four further cases have been found in people infected after close contact with the foreigner.
Reuters
Focus shifts to Tibet earthquake survivors as search called off
Authorities moved more than 45,000 people in earthquake-hit Tibet to shelters in a massive rescue operation at the foot of the Himalayas as they wound down the search in a high-altitude environment where the odds of survival were always slim. The epicentre of Tuesday's 6.8 magnitude quake, one of the Chinese region's strongest tremors in recent years, was in Tingri, a rural county with a population of about 60,000 people around 80 km (50 miles) north of Mount Everest. The temblor shook buildings as far away as Nepal and parts of India, and destroyed more than 3,600 houses around Tingri, presenting a formidable task to rescuers in an area where the average elevation is more than 4,000 metres (13,000 feet).
CNN
Alleged Yakuza leader admits trafficking nuclear materials from Myanmar
An alleged leader from Japan’s Yakuza crime syndicate has pleaded guilty to trafficking nuclear materials from Myanmar as part of a global web of trades in drugs, weapons and laundered cash, according to the US Department of Justice.
Associated Press
Harrowing escapes from Los Angeles wildfires were made by foot, by car or by the grace of strangers
Flames and pillars of smoke rose from both sides of the road and a woman yelled in panic as firefighters ushered a crowd of fleeing residents along. Aaron Samson positioned his 83-year-old father-in-law behind his blue walker, and they began shuffling down the sidewalk. “My father-in-law was saying, ‘Aaron, if we are ever in a position where the flames are right there, you just run and leave me here,’” Samson recounted Wednesday.
TODAY
Drinking this many cups of coffee a day may lower risk of diabetes, heart disease and more
Is black coffee good for you? Dietitian explains health impact of drinking coffee on heart, brain and weight loss, caffeine side effects and how much is safe.
AFP
Australia frets over Meta halt to US fact-checking
Australia is deeply concerned by Meta's decision to scrap US fact-check operations on its Facebook and Instagram platforms, a senior minister said Thursday. Facebook pays to use fact checks from around 80 organisations globally on the platform, as well as on WhatsApp and Instagram.

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