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Lead On December 18, 2025, the President issued an order directing that federal executive departments and agencies be closed and employees excused from duty on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, and Friday, December 26, 2025, the day before and the day after Christmas Day. The order authorizes department and agency heads to keep certain offices open … Read more
American Airlines announced this week that customers who buy Basic Economy tickets on or after December 17, 2025 will no longer earn AAdvantage miles or Loyalty Points toward status. The carrier said the change affects the airline’s lowest-priced, most restricted fare class but that standard on-board amenities such as a free personal item, a carry-on … Read more
Tom Cruise appears dramatically transformed in the first teaser for Digger, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new comedy, which Warner Bros. unveiled ahead of its October 2, 2026 theatrical release. The short clip shows Cruise as a heavily made-up, older character named Digger Rockwell, largely obscured in shadow while carrying a shovel. The film, described by studio … Read more
On December 18, 2025 the White House issued an executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate research on medical marijuana and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) and to move forward with administrative steps to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. The order cites 2023 federal reviews from the Food and Drug Administration and Health and Human … Read more
A civil complaint filed in Los Angeles alleges that John Travolta’s youngest child, Ben Travolta, was born after an egg donation from Riley Keough, making him a great-grandson of Elvis Presley. The plaintiffs say the arrangement occurred around Ben’s birth in November 2010 and included payment and a vehicle as consideration. The claim appears in … Read more
OpenAI on December 18, 2025 announced that third-party developers can now submit applications for review to appear inside ChatGPT, and the company added an in‑app directory that users and reporters have quickly called an “app store.” The move follows October’s preview of apps for ChatGPT, when partners such as Expedia, Spotify, Zillow and Canva introduced … Read more
Lead On 18 December 2023, Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee published a set of 68 photographs subpoenaed from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, drawn from roughly 95,000 images the committee says it holds. The batch includes site plans for Great St James island, multiple passports (most redacted), screenshots of messages including the line “I will … Read more
Week 16 brings an NFC West showdown as the 11-3 Seattle Seahawks host the 11-3 Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field. Media prognosticators are split, with several outlets favoring Seattle and others backing the Rams; the consensus centers on turnovers, red‑zone finishing and short‑week injury questions that could swing home‑field implications. The teams met earlier … Read more
Lead Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and members of his family were killed when a small business jet crashed and caught fire while landing at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina on Dec. 18, 2025. Local authorities and the families identified the victims, and the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office said five adults and two children … Read more
The first teaser for Avengers: Doomsday confirms that Chris Evans will reprise Steve Rogers, and it closes with a surprising image: Captain America holding a newborn child. The short clip, attached to screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash, sets the blockbuster for a Dec. 18, 2026 release and ends on a one-year countdown. The teaser’s … Read more
Lead President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing the attorney general to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal law, a change intended to widen research and ease some restrictions. The order does not legalise cannabis federally but would reclassify it alongside drugs such as codeine-containing pain relievers. The … Read more
In 2004 Paul Kalas first reported a planet-like source near Fomalhaut; two decades later astronomers have observed a separate, striking event near the same star: what appears to be two large planetesimals colliding and producing a bright, expanding dust cloud. The feature—detected at the outer edge of Fomalhaut’s debris belt roughly 133 astronomical units (AU) … Read more
The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.5 billion after Wednesday’s drawing produced no jackpot winner, marking the seventh-largest prize in combined Mega Millions and Powerball history and one of eight top-10 jackpots since 2022. This is the 14th lottery prize to surpass $1 billion, a milestone first reached in 2016. The prize has been … Read more
Lead: A business jet registered to a former NASCAR driver crashed near Statesville Regional Airport in Statesville, North Carolina, during the early hours, killing six people, local authorities confirmed. Emergency responders secured the scene and recovery operations were completed before investigators began a preliminary on-site review. Federal and local agencies have said a formal technical … Read more
Lead The White House announced that the Kennedy Center’s board voted to rename the national performing arts venue the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” a decision said to have been reached this week during a board meeting. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted that the vote was unanimous and framed the change as recognition of President Trump’s role in … Read more
