• ☝️ You’re looking at how the $115 trillion global economy breaks down between each individual country’s GDP, according to Visual Capitalist.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Niphtio

• 📊 US markets closed mixed (S&P: +0.6%; Dow: -0.1%; Nasdaq: +1.2%). | 📉 The US Department of Defense added Tencent to its list of "Chinese military companies"; shares fell 5.4% in Hong Kong.
• 💅 Ulta Beauty raised its outlook; the company also revealed CEO Dave Kimbell is retiring and will be replaced by COO Kecia Steelman. | 👥 Meta added UFC CEO Dana White to its board of directors.
• 🍔 McDonald's is rolling back some of its diversity goals and practices at its head office.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏟️🎤 Taylor Swift’s recently concluded Eras Tour officially earned $2.2 billion per Pollstar, nearly doubling the previous highest-earning tour of all time (Coldplay's Music of the Spheres tour).
• 🏈 NFL Black Monday has come and gone. See the full list of coaches and general managers who were fired.
• 💒 Zendaya and Tom Holland are engaged, per multiple reports.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with NoNetz

• 🪐⛄ Pluto may have gotten its largest moon, Charon, in a 10-hour “kiss-and-capture” event where Charon – roughly half Pluto’s size – crashed into the dwarf planet and briefly rotated together as a sort of cosmic snowman.
• 🤖 Microsoft announced plans to invest $80 billion to expand its AI infrastructure this fiscal year, with half of the spending expected to be in the US.
• 🏛️ The Roman Empire’s activities introduced high atmospheric levels of toxic lead between 100 BCE and 200 CE, causing the average IQ of Europe’s entire population to decrease 2.5-3 points, per a new study.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🐦 America’s first human death from bird flu was reported in Louisiana; the patient was over 65 and had underlying medical conditions, per officials; there have been 66 total human cases of bird flu reported in the US since the start of last year.
• 🇺🇦🇷🇺 Ukraine launched a new surprise military offensive in Russia’s Kursk region amidst ongoing fighting with Russian and North Korean troops in the area.
• 🏛️🗳️ Congress officially certified President-elect Trump’s victory in the 2024 election. | 🧑‍⚖️ A New York judge denied Trump’s request to delay his hush-money sentencing set for January 10. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 👶 Welcome Gen Beta: A new generation of humanity starts in 2025.