Telegram hits 500 million active users following backlash over WhatsApp's changing privacy policy

NBC News
U.S. tech continues to power Russian weapons despite export controls, Senate Democrats find
A report from Senate Democrats says a key national security office remains critically underfunded, resulting in U.S-made technology continuing to fall into Russian hands as it conducts its illegal war in Ukraine.
NBC News
Georgia prosecutors urge appeals court not to toss Trump election interference case
The Fulton County district attorney's office said the president-elect had presented the court with an "underbaked" argument for dismissing the case.
AFP
Trump opposes deal to avert government shutdown
US President-elect Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers Wednesday to scupper a cross-party deal to avert a fast-looming US government shutdown.Suggesting that concessions to Democrats in the text were "a betrayal of our country," Trump called in a joint statement with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance for Republicans to "GET SMART and TOUGH." Trump and Vance said they would be against any package that does not include an extension to the federal borrowing limit, which the country is on track t
USA TODAY
'Murder hornets' eradicated from US, Federal and Washington agriculture officials say
The northern giant hornet, better known as "murder hornets," have been eradicated from the U.S., Washington state and Federal agriculture officials said.
NBC News
Mother of missing U.S. reporter Austin Tice asks Putin for help in finding her son
MOSCOW — The mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a letter late Wednesday asking for his help in finding her son, who went missing in Syria a dozen years ago.
Associated Press
A trailing North Carolina Supreme Court candidate asks the court to get involved in his race
A trailing candidate in a very close election for the North Carolina Supreme Court asked that court on Wednesday to step in and prevent election officials from counting in his race over 60,000 ballots that he argues weren't lawfully cast. Jefferson Griffin, a Republican member of the Court of Appeals, filed the intervention request with the Supreme Court in his race with Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs. After recounts and protest hearings initiated by Griffin and other GOP candidates, Riggs leads Griffin by 734 votes out of over 5.5 million ballots cast for the Nov. 5 election.
USA TODAY
Video shows plane wreck near Connecticut, not New Jersey drone crash | Fact check
The video does not show a drone crash in New Jersey. The footage is from a plane crash near the border of New York and Connecticut.
Associated Press
Brazil's currency drops to weakest level yet 4 as Lula's fiscal measures debated
Brazil’s real on Wednesday fell to its weakest level against the dollar since the currency was introduced in 1994, undercut by investors' frustration with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's efforts to rein in government spending. A bill backed by Lula that aims to slash 70-billion-real ($11 billion) in government spending is being debated in Brazil's lower house of Congress. Brazil's lower house late Tuesday passed some less-divisive elements of the bill, but key parts — such as restrictions to increases in the minimum wage — have yet to be taken up for a vote.
CNN
Luigi Mangione charged in New York with murder as an act of terrorism in CEO’s killing
Mangione, 26, has been fighting extradition to New York after being accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Friday it is possible the suspect could soon waive his right to fight being handed over to New York authorities.
NBC News
U.S. reports first severe human case of bird flu, in a patient hospitalized in Louisiana
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the first severe case of bird flu in a human. The patient is hospitalized in Louisiana.
Associated Press
Alberta's premier responds to Trump's trolling by saying Canada's oil helps make America wealthy
Alberta's premier responded to President-elect Donald Trump's trolling of Canada on Wednesday by saying the trade deficit with the country is due to billions in raw materials being sent south which creates trillions of wealth in America. Trump said the United States “subsidizes” Canada and is threating a 25% tariff on all Canadian goods.
NBC News
Stocks plunge following Fed inflation projections
Major stock indices plunged Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled a slower pace of interest rate cuts for 2025 than previously forecast, renewing concerns about how fast inflation would fall.
CNN
Unanswered questions remain about teen who allegedly opened fire on Wisconsin school as details emerge about her home life
Unanswered questions remain about a fatal shooting at a Madison, Wisconsin, private school Monday as new details emerge about the upbringing of the teenage girl who allegedly opened fire.
Associated Press
Researcher: North Korea can produce ballistic missiles for Russia to use against Ukraine in months
North Korea demonstrated this year that it could produce ballistic missiles and supply them to Russia for use against Ukraine in a matter of months, the head of a research organization that traces weapons used in the war said Wednesday. Jonah Leff told the U.N. Security Council that researchers on the ground examined remnants of four missiles from North Korea recovered in Ukraine in July and August, including one that had marks indicating it was produced in 2024.
Politico
Hochul expands National Guard presence on New York subways
The New York governor has tried to allay voters’ concerns over crime.
CNN
Ukraine says it has a laser that can shoot down aircraft a mile away. It’s called ‘Tryzub’
Drone force commander Sukharevskyi did not offer any further details about the laser. However, experts told CNN the existence of the Tryzub was “feasible.”
AFP
TikTok's rise from fun app to US security concern
As the US Supreme Court considers whether to uphold a law that could get TikTok banned in the United States, here is a look at the rise of the video-snippet social app.- Sell or go - TikTok was back in the hot seat in the United States in 2024, when President Joe Biden authorized a law requiring TikTok to be banned if ByteDance does not sell the app to a company not associated with a national security adversary.
TODAY
Are Scotty Lewis and Aria De’Westbrooks from ‘The Ultimatum’ still together now? He told us
Are Scotty Lewis and Aria De’Westbrooks still together now? They revealed what happened during and after the proposal in The Ultimatum Season 3.
CNN
Trump brings Congress to a halt with new demands on spending as shutdown looms
President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance on Wednesday sharply criticized a deal to fund the federal government negotiated by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, undermining support for the plan across Capitol Hill just days away from a shutdown deadline.
Associated Press
After victory over Florida in water war, Georgia will let farmers drill new irrigation wells
Jason Cox, who grows peanuts and cotton in southwest Georgia, says farming would be economically impossible without water to irrigate his crops. For more than a decade, farmers in parts of southwest Georgia haven't been able to drill new irrigation wells to the Floridian aquifer, the groundwater nearest the surface. Farmers like Cox, though, will get a chance to drill new wells beginning in April.

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