• ☝️ The winners of the 10th annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards were announced Tuesday, with Milko Marchetti’s “Stuck Squirrel” winning first prize.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Nuts.com

• 📊 US markets closed mixed (S&P: +0.8%; Dow: -0.2%; Nasdaq: +1.8%). | 💵 Inflation rose 2.7% in the 12-month period ending in November, slightly above October's 2.6% figure but in line with analysts' expectations; markets are currently pricing in a ~99% chance the Fed cuts rates after its December 18 meeting.
• 🛒 ​​Albertsons terminated its planned deal with Kroger following Tuesday's court rulings; the grocer also filed a lawsuit against Kroger seeking a breakup fee + damages for failing to secure the deal’s approval.
• 📝 Macy's wrapped up its investigation into the employee who intentionally hid ~$151 million in delivery expenses over a nearly three-year period.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🇸🇦⚽ Saudi Arabia was chosen by FIFA to host the 2034 World Cup (it was the only bidder); the 2030 World Cup will be held in Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and three countries in South America.
• 📱 Meta's family of apps (Insta, FB, WhatsApp) experienced an outage on Wednesday.
• 🏈 The NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles were valued at a US sports-franchise record $8.3 billion in a recent minority-stake deal; the league also approved the first-ever sales of minority stakes to private equity (Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills). | 🏈 Bill Belichick was hired as the next head coach at the University of North Carolina.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Pique Life

• 📱 iOS 18.2 was released yesterday; new Apple Intelligence features include Image Playground, Genmoji, and ChatGPT access in Siri.
• 🌌 Firefly Sparkle – the newly discovered galaxy that mirrors the Milky Way's early days, per NASA.
• 🤖🎮 Google is testing Gemini AI agents designed to help users in video games.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🔥 The Franklin Fire grew to ~4,000 acres yesterday afternoon with 7% containment; its cause is unknown; authorities have issued evacuation orders to ~20,000 people in Los Angeles County.
• 🚫 A federal bankruptcy judge blocked the sale of Alex Jones’s Infowars to The Onion, citing a lack of transparency in the auction process.
• 📝 FBI Director Christopher Wray is set to resign before President-elect Trump takes office; Trump had previously pledged to nominate Kash Patel to lead the FBI.

CLICKBAIT

• 🤔🤖 Real or AI-Generated? You Guess (Quiz).