‘South Park’ Returns With Regular Season Episodes, Skewering Matt Damon and Cryptocurrency

Reuters
Factbox-Who are the main contenders in Romania's presidential election?
Romanians vote in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, with the second round due to be held on Dec. 8. There are 13 candidates vying for the presidency, whose powers include oversight of foreign policy. He is ahead in opinion surveys, with many voters attracted by his promise of stability.
Reuters
Cost of living fuels radical right challenge in Romanian presidential vote
Romanians vote in the first round of a presidential election on Sunday, with worries about the cost of living likely to earn radical right leader George Simion, who opposes military aid to Ukraine, a shot at victory. European Union and NATO state Romania holds a run-off ballot on Dec. 8, to replace outgoing two-time president and staunch Ukraine ally Klaus Iohannis, with a parliamentary election sandwiched in between, on Dec. 1.
The Conversation
When an atmospheric river meets a bomb cyclone, it’s like a fire hose flailing out of control along the West Coast
A powerful storm hitting the West Coast combines these phenomena for a wet week of erratic weather, as a meteorologist explains.
Reuters
Hong Kong democracy activist Jimmy Lai denies inciting hatred towards China in trial
Pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai said on Thursday he was against violence and had not sought to incite hatred against China and Hong Kong authorities by calling for protests to defend basic rights, speaking in his second day of testimony in a landmark national security trial. Lai, 76, a British and Hong Kong citizen and a founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, is considered one of the most high-profile prisoners under a national security law imposed by China in June 2020.
Reuters
Israel, Hezbollah trade deadly blows despite ceasefire talks
Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah traded deadly blows on Thursday as their war raged on despite signs of progress in U.S. ceasefire efforts, with airstrikes pounding Beirut's southern suburbs and rockets flying into northern Israel. U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein was in Israel for talks with Israeli officials to try to secure a ceasefire which he said was "within our grasp" during a visit to Beirut earlier this week. The diplomacy marks the most serious attempt yet to end the conflict between Israel and the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah, part of the regional spillover of the Gaza war that erupted more than a year ago.
CBS News
Russia hits back after Ukraine's strike using U.S. long-range missiles
Dnipro bears the brunt of Moscow's first retaliatory strike after Ukraine fires U.S.-made missiles into Russia, and Ukraine claims Moscow may have used an ICBM.
Reuters
Pope says Vatican's pension fund faces 'serious imbalance'
Pope Francis said on Thursday the Vatican's pension fund is facing a "serious imbalance" that may require changes to its operating structure, and appointed a senior cardinal to take over the fund's administration. In an unusual letter sent to all the world's cardinals and to the leaders of the Vatican's various offices, the pope did not quantify the scope of the issue. He said the changes would include "making difficult decisions that will require particular sensitivity, generosity, and willingness to sacrifice on the part of everyone".
AFP
Dozens feared dead in Gaza after Israeli strikes
Dozens of people were killed or unaccounted for after Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, a hospital director and the civil defence agency said Thursday.One strike near the Kamal Adwan hospital in the north of the territory left "dozens of people" dead or missing, the facility's director Hossam Abu Safiya told AFP. The process of retrieving the bodies and wounded continues, he said, adding: "Bodies arrive at the hospital in pieces."
Associated Press
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas officials
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas officials, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the October 2023 attacks that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory. The decision turns Netanyahu and the others into internationally wanted suspects and is likely to further isolate them and complicate efforts to negotiate a cease-fire to end the 13-month conflict.
Associated Press
Ursula Haverbeck, German far-right activist repeatedly convicted for Holocaust denial, dies at 96
Ursula Haverbeck, a prominent German far-right activist who accumulated a string of convictions for denying the Holocaust, has died. Haverbeck died on Wednesday, her lawyer Wolfram Nahrath told German news agency dpa on Thursday. Haverbeck repeatedly asserted that Auschwitz was just a work camp.
CNN
Trump team maps out Latin America strategy as part of mass deportation plan
President-elect Donald Trump’s team is gaming out an aggressive strategy toward Latin America that will be a crucial element to plans to deport migrants at large scale, according to two sources involved in transition policy discussions.
CNN
Bird flu virus isolated from hospitalized Canadian teen shows signs of human adaptation
The avian flu virus isolated from a hospitalized teenager in Vancouver has mutations in key areas that could help the virus spread more easily in humans, scientists say.
NBC News
Mehmet Oz once proposed massive changes to Medicare. Now he could run it.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, Donald Trump's pick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, has evolved on health care policy over the years.
Associated Press
Middle East latest: Gaza officials say death toll surpasses 44,000
Health officials in the Gaza Strip said Thursday the death toll from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
NBC News
'Like nothing you've seen': Trump team readies a flurry of executive actions for Day 1
Within hours of taking office, Donald Trump is planning to roll out executive actions aligned with his campaign promises on immigration and other policies.
Associated Press
Thai court dismisses activist's suit against Israeli spyware producer over lack of evidence
A Thai court on Thursday threw out a lawsuit brought by a pro-democracy activist which alleged spyware produced by an Israeli tech firm had been used to hack his phone. The Civil Court in Bangkok said Jatupat Boonpattararaksa had failed to show sufficient proof that his phone was infected with Pegasus spyware produced by NSO Group Technologies. Jataput, also known as Pai Dao Din, had alleged that the NSO Group had violated his and other activists' constitutional rights by facilitating the use of Pegasus to allegedly target them and extract data from their devices.
AFP
Stock markets diverge, as bitcoin closes in on $100,000
Major stock markets diverged and the dollar was mixed Thursday as traders weighed escalating tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war.Kyiv accused Russia of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile attack at Ukraine for the first time on Thursday but without a nuclear warhead in a new escalation of the conflict.
NBC News
NYC urologist sentenced to life for sexual abuse of patients, including minors
A New York City urologist was handed a life sentence Wednesday after previously being convicted of the yearslong sexual abuse of patients, some of whom were minors.
Associated Press
Death toll in Gaza from Israel-Hamas war passes 44,000, Palestinian officials say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000, local health officials said Thursday. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Reuters
Man killed in rocket attack on northern Israeli town, Israeli medics say
A 30-year-old man was killed by rocket shrapnel next to a playground in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya on Thursday, Israel's MDA medical service said. The Israeli military said about 10 rockets had been launched from Lebanon towards Nahariya. "Most of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified," the IDF said in a statement.

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