Major Jewelry Heist in Germany

In the early morning hours of Monday, an unknown number of suspects broke into the Green Vault Museum in Dresden, Germany and stole nearly a hundred pieces of jewelry dating back to the 18th century. The jewels survived bombing raids during World War II and were later stolen by the Soviet Union, who returned them to Dresden in 1958.

Potential Chinese Espionage in Australia

A self-professed Chinese spy, Wang “William” Liqiang, is seeking asylum in Australia in exchange for detailed intel on China’s alleged plans to interfere with Australia’s political system. He would be the first Chinese intelligence operative to break cover.

Northern Syria Operations Resume

Military officials confirmed the U.S. has resumed large-scale operations to combat ISIS militants in northern Syria. The White House had announced in October that the U.S. would withdraw from the Syria-Turkey border, but military leaders said recently about 600 troops will remain in Syria to combat ISIS.

TD celebration

Charles Schwab has reached an agreement to purchase TD Ameritrade in an all-stock deal worth $26 billion. The partnership will consolidate more than 24 million clients and $5 trillion in combined assets between the two companies and is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2020.

London Has Fallen

Uber has been refused a license to operate in London by transport regulator Transport for London (TfL). The organization had been incrementally extending Uber’s license in recent months after it was originally revoked in 2017, but TfL officially denied a full renewal due to a “pattern of failures” that put passengers at risk.

Round-trip ticket

eBay announced yesterday it will sell StubHub to Swiss ticket reseller viagogo for $4.05 billion in cash, in a deal that’s expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Eric Baker, viagogo’s founder and CEO, co-founded StubHub while in business school but left the company before its eventual acquisition.

For the record

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday, issuing 500 million shares with options to sell 75 million more. Alibaba has raised at least $11.3 billion from its secondary listing, beating out Uber’s $8 billion April introduction for the title of the world’s largest offering of 2019.

Reinventing the wheel

For kids with physical limitations, the gift of mobility is priceless. That’s why Variety KC, a non-profit organization in Kansas City, teamed up with local high school robotics teams to help give kids a lift.

150 high school robotics students adjusted 22 Power Wheels - a brand of battery-powered ride-on toy cars -  to create a more autonomous form of movement for kids who use wheelchairs to get around. The students were an intricate part of making each child’s experience enjoyable and easier for them to control.

Hunter Spangler’s mom, Samantha, is delighted. Hunter is mobile with the help of wheelchairs but his mom said that he misses out on some kid activities, like being able to use his sisters’ Power Wheels cars. “I have no words,” she says as she watches him play in his new ride. “I’m just thrilled to bits right now.” It’s not every day that a kid gets a new mode of transportation designed with him in mind, and all it took to make his day was ingenuity and passion from a few curious students.

Mother Nature

Ask any mother, and she’ll tell you that any young one in need is just as important as her own. The same is true for Serenity, a stray dog who was found on the side of the road curled up around a litter of 5-week-old kittens, shielding them from the elements.

Serenity lives in Canada, where temperatures can be frigid. It’s likely that if Serenity hadn’t safeguarded those kittens from the cold night air, they would have died. A passing motorist stopped and called the Pet and Wildlife Rescue, who picked up Serenity and the kittens and nursed them back to health.

The kittens are now awaiting adoption, hoping to go home to a warm family who will keep them safe, as Serenity did. Serenity’s interspecies selflessness can serve as a model of love to all, demonstrating that helping others can be as simple as using whatever you have to give - in her case, warmth, patience, and plenty of cuddles.