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Lead: Character.AI, its founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, and Google have reached agreements to resolve multiple U.S. lawsuits alleging that the AI chatbot maker contributed to mental health crises and suicides among teenagers. Court filings in a case brought by Florida mother Megan Garcia show the settlement, and documents indicate four additional cases … Read more

Lead Glenn Hall, the Hall of Fame goaltender famed for an unmatched ironman run of 502 consecutive regular-season starts (552 including playoffs), died on Jan. 8, 2026, in a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta. He was 94. Over an 18-season NHL career Hall won three Vezina Trophies, the Calder Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy, … Read more

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged US defence spending to be raised to $1.5 trillion by 2027, calling the move necessary for “these very troubled and dangerous times.” He proposed the increase from this year’s $901 billion budget, approved by Congress in December, and said higher tariffs could make the larger sum attainable. Trump … Read more

Lead: The Utah Mammoth will host the 2027 Discover NHL Winter Classic against the Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, with the exact date to be announced. The announcement, made Jan. 7, 2026, marks a major milestone for the franchise that the NHL awarded on April 18, 2024. The outdoor game will … Read more

Lead On January 7, 2026, Apple announced that JPMorgan Chase will become the new issuer for the Apple Card in the United States. The company’s update reiterates that certain Apple financial services—such as Savings and Apple Cash—are connected with existing banking partners while regulatory and account terms remain in force. The notice sets out key … Read more

Lead South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping during a Beijing summit on Monday to serve as a mediator to address the North Korean nuclear crisis and reduce tensions between the Koreas. Lee told reporters in Shanghai on Jan. 7, 2026, that Xi responded by urging patience. Lee framed … Read more

Lead Trae Young has been traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Washington Wizards in a multi-player deal that sends CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to Atlanta, sources told ESPN. The move ends Young’s more than seven-year run as the Hawks’ primary franchise player and sends the 27-year-old point guard to his preferred destination in … Read more

January 2026 — Tariff measures introduced since the start of President Trump’s second term have altered trade flows and investment decisions worldwide, and that process looks set to continue through 2026. The International Monetary Fund now flags the tariff shock as a factor in slowing projected global growth to 3.1% next year, down from its … Read more

Lead: On Jan. 6, 2026 — the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington — the White House published a new timeline that described that day’s pro-Trump marchers as “peaceful” and blamed Capitol Police for escalating violence. The administration’s page downplayed President Donald Trump’s pre-riot rhetoric, repeated a … Read more

Lead New analysis published in the British Medical Journal finds that people who stop weight‑loss injections such as Mounjaro or Wegovy regain weight about four times faster than those who abandon conventional dieting. The pooled data from trials show an average rebound of 0.8 kg per month after injections stop, which would typically return patients … Read more

Lead Samsung’s spherical home robot Ballie, first unveiled in 2020, did not appear at CES 2026 and the company gave no sign of a consumer launch. On Jan 7, 2026 Samsung told Bloomberg that Ballie remains an “active innovation platform” informing spatially aware and context-driven experiences, but the statement did not mention a retail release. … Read more

Lead: On Wednesday, January 8, 2026, Alphabet briefly overtook Apple in market value as shares rose 2.4% to a $3.89 trillion capitalization while Apple slipped 0.8% to $3.85 trillion. The shift — the first time Alphabet has led Apple in value since 2019 — underscores mounting investor confidence in Alphabet’s AI-led product push and renewed … Read more

Lead NASA announced on Wednesday that a spacewalk scheduled for Thursday at the International Space Station has been postponed because of a reported “medical concern” involving one crew member. The agency declined to identify the astronaut, citing medical privacy, and said the person is in stable condition. NASA said it will provide further details and … Read more

Lead On Jan. 7, 2026, in the pre-dawn hours over Caracas, a U.S. military operation aimed at capturing President Nicolás Maduro narrowly avoided disaster when a large MH-47 Chinook was struck but remained flyable. The mission, code-named Absolute Resolve, involved more than 150 aircraft launched from some 20 land and sea bases and carried dozens … Read more

Lead: Two new French cohort studies published on 7 January 2026 report associations between several widely used food preservatives and higher risks of multiple cancers and type 2 diabetes. Researchers working with the NutriNet-Santé cohort analyzed repeated, brand-specific 24-hour dietary records from more than 170,000 participants enrolled from 2009 and linked those reports to national … Read more