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Donor-advised funds saw a sharp rise in 2025 as investors accelerated gifts ahead of looming tax changes and rode strong market gains. DAFgiving360 reported donors granted a record $9.9 billion to charities in 2025, up $2.2 billion (28%) from 2024. A large share of last year’s contributions — a record 74% — came as non-cash … Read more

Lead: In January 2026, reporting from Angers in western France shows traditional bistros and brasseries facing sustained decline as owners cite rising supplier costs, falling customer numbers and changing eating habits. Local restaurateur Mickael Moureaud reports a 10% drop in clientele over the past year and says he often breaks even after covering staff, suppliers … Read more

Lead: Activists and student organizers have called for a nationwide shutdown on Friday, urging “no work, no school, no shopping” to protest recent immigration enforcement actions by ICE. The action, framed as a blackout or general strike, follows a month‑long ICE operation in Minneapolis and a string of fatal encounters involving federal agents in several … Read more

Lead: Lindsey Vonn, 41, crashed in the final World Cup downhill at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Friday and was airlifted from the course after leaving the slope visibly favoring her left knee. The incident occurred one week before the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics and has left her Olympic participation uncertain. The race was later stopped and canceled … Read more

Lead Microsoft’s PowerToys team is testing a new optional top menu interface for Windows 11 called the Command Palette Dock. The proposal, shared as concept images and an early code project, aims to give users quick access to tools, resource monitoring and pinned extensions. The dock would be highly configurable—positionable at the top, left, right … Read more

Lead Chevron reported fourth-quarter results on Friday that exceeded Wall Street estimates as record oil output helped offset weaker crude prices. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.52 versus the $1.45 consensus and revenue of $46.87 billion. Net income for the quarter was $2.77 billion, down from $3.24 billion a year earlier. Chevron … Read more

Jan. 30, 2026 Lead: In late December, Russian forces slipped into the town of Huliaipole in southeastern Ukraine, exploiting fog and a river channel to bypass defensive posts and overrun a Ukrainian command position. The breach exposed battlefield maps and laptops that revealed nearby drone teams, permitting follow-up strikes. The episode underscores a core problem … Read more

Lead: In Melbourne on Jan. 30, world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz pulled off a dramatic recovery to beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 and reach his first Australian Open final. The match lasted 5 hours 27 minutes and became the longest semifinal in Australian Open history. Alcaraz battled visible physical distress — including … Read more

Lead Panama’s Supreme Court ruled late Thursday that the 25-year extension of a concession held by a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings to operate ports at both ends of the Panama Canal is unconstitutional. The decision follows a comptroller audit alleging accounting irregularities and missing payments tied to the 2021 renewal. The ruling … Read more

Lead A randomized trial in Sweden involving 100,000 women found that integrating an artificial intelligence (AI) system into routine mammography screening cut the rate of breast cancer diagnoses in subsequent years by 12% and raised the share of cancers found at screening. The trial ran from April 2021 to December 2022 and compared AI-supported reading … Read more

Lead: CoreWeave, a cloud provider specializing in capacity for AI workloads, has reversed a multi-month slide to regain significant ground since its March IPO. Trading near $99.53 after a recent pullback (down 6.12% or $6.49 intraday), the company has nonetheless gained roughly 172% since listing and climbed more than 50% so far this year. The … Read more

Lead: Leaked renders obtained by Android Headlines suggest Google may add two new color finishes to the Pixel Buds 2a lineup, showing a pale gray with a mint undertone and a saturated pink that leans toward red. The budget earbuds, which retail at $129, have so far been offered in Iris and Hazel; the leaked … Read more

President Donald Trump is expected to announce Kevin M. Warsh as his nominee to replace Jerome H. Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, with a public announcement slated for Friday after a Thursday White House meeting. Multiple people familiar with the plans told reporters the selection favors Warsh, a former Fed governor who was … Read more

Lead: New research argues that an English monk, Eilmer of Malmesbury, may have connected two comet sightings in 989 and 1066 and recognized their recurrence long before Edmond Halley formalized the comet’s periodic orbit in 1705. The claim rests on William of Malmesbury’s 12th-century chronicle and a fresh reading by astronomer Simon Portegies Zwart and … Read more

Lead: Public health officials in Chicago have confirmed seven cases of meningococcal disease reported since Jan. 15, 2026, including two deaths within roughly two weeks, according to a Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) news release. The department says close contacts have been identified and given post-exposure treatment. Meningococcal illness is uncommon in the city—typically … Read more