Barry Manilow Posts Positive Update Following Lung Cancer Diagnosis

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About two weeks after disclosing a lung finding, singer Barry Manilow shared a short, upbeat update from a hospital setting on social media. The Grammy-winning artist posted an image that appears to show him in a hospital gown with a visible text bubble reading “Better Today!” and a smiling expression. Manilow originally revealed in December … Read more

Saudi Airstrikes Target Separatist Positions Around Mukalla

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Lead On Saturday, Saudi warplanes struck separatist-held sites near the port city of Mukalla and other locations in Hadramout as forces aligned with Riyadh moved to reclaim the area. Southern Transitional Council (STC) sources and local commanders reported strikes on the Barshid Brigade camp west of Mukalla and said more than 100 sorties hit multiple … Read more

Senator Wiener Calls for Trump’s Impeachment Over Alleged Illegal Invasion and Coup in Venezuela

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Lead On January 3, 2026, Sen. Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco) issued a formal statement accusing President Donald Trump of ordering an illegal invasion and coup in Venezuela. Wiener said the administration seized and bombed Venezuela’s capitol, appropriated oil assets and detained President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The senator declared the action unlawful, called for … Read more

Tony Dokoupil’s CBS Evening News Run Begins Early Amid Venezuela Crisis

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Lead Tony Dokoupil will take the anchor chair on CBS Evening News two days earlier than planned, stepping in from KPIX in San Francisco on Saturday night as the United States conducts military strikes on Venezuela and reports indicate President Nicolás Maduro has been captured. Two people familiar with CBS’s scheduling told reporters the move … Read more

Instagram boss admits AI slop has won, but where does that leave creatives? – Creative Bloq

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Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, acknowledged in a lengthy Threads post in 2025 that AI-generated imagery has proliferated across feeds and that authenticity will become a central battleground in 2026. He warned that improving generative models are making synthetic work harder to spot and suggested platforms may need to verify real media rather than try … Read more

Nebraska Upsets No. 9 Michigan State, Extends School-Record Start to 14-0

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Lead On January 3, 2026, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska stunned No. 9 Michigan State 58-56 in a defensive slugfest that pushed the Huskers to a school-record 14-0 start. The win came before 14,841 fans and followed a provocative pregame comment from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo that Nebraska amplified on social media. … Read more

ASUS Sparks Fears of Potential Price Increase for the ROG Xbox Ally

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Lead ASUS warned partners and customers this week that selected product combinations will see price adjustments from January 5, citing rising component costs tied to AI-driven demand. The advisory, first reported by Digitimes and picked up by VideoCardz, did not name specific models, but gaming hardware such as the ROG Xbox Ally is widely discussed … Read more

Trump intervention warning over Iran protests ‘reckless’ says foreign minister

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Lead Iran’s foreign minister called US President Donald Trump’s public warning that Washington would intervene if peaceful demonstrators were killed “reckless and dangerous” on Friday. The exchange came amid a week of unrest across Iranian cities sparked by a sharp fall in the rial, with at least eight people reported dead as of Saturday morning. … Read more

US sees spike in flu cases in December after most severe season since 2018

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Lead: The United States experienced a marked rise in influenza cases in December 2025, following the 2024–25 season described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the most severe since 2018. By 20 December, the CDC estimated about 7.5 million flu cases and 81,000 hospitalizations, and data through the year ending August … Read more

Measles exposure at Greenville restaurant, Best Buy and Spartanburg library

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Lead: South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) says a person with measles visited three public venues in late December, potentially exposing others. The locations were Nose Dive restaurant (116 S. Main Street, Greenville) and Best Buy (1125 Woodruff Road, Suite 1201, Greenville) on Dec. 24, and the Spartanburg County Public Library (151 S. Church … Read more

Hannah Dugan, Wisconsin Judge Convicted of Obstructing Immigration Agents, Resigns

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Lead On Jan. 3, 2026, Hannah C. Dugan, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, submitted her resignation to Governor Tony Evers after a federal jury last month convicted her on a felony obstruction charge. The conviction arose from an incident in which federal agents attempted to arrest an undocumented immigrant and prosecutors say Dugan intervened. … Read more

Trump Says U.S. Captured Maduro After Venezuelan Strikes

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Updated Jan. 3, 2026, 1:30 PM EST — President Donald Trump announced from Mar-a-Lago that U.S. forces carried out overnight strikes in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. Trump described the operation as an “assault like people have not seen since World War II,” said no U.S. service members were killed, … Read more

Earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 rattles southern and central Mexico

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Lead: A preliminary magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck southern Mexico on Jan. 2, 2026, centered near San Marcos in Guerrero, briefly interrupting President Claudia Sheinbaum’s first news briefing of the year as seismic alarms sounded. The tremor was felt in Acapulco and Mexico City; Guerrero civil defense reported landslides on roads around Acapulco while initial checks found … Read more

Week 18 NFL picks: straight up, ATS and survivor

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Week 18 decisions matter for playoff seeding, draft positioning and — for many readers — final wagering lines. This roundup covers straight-up winners, against-the-spread (ATS) calls and the author’s survivor pick for the 2025 regular season finale. Several games carry immediate postseason consequences (AFC South, NFC South and top seeds) while others are shaped by … Read more