Prisoner Swap

On Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister announced the exchange of detained Princeton graduate student Xiyue Wang for an Iranian scientist held by the U.S. Both parties have thanked the Swiss government for their assistance in facilitating the exchange.

Today’s Impeachment Hearing

Impeachment proceedings will continue today with a hearing, where Democratic and Republican attorneys from the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees will argue for and against impeachment, presenting evidence gathered from previous public and closed-door hearings. Check out a live stream of today’s events here.

Naval Base Shootings

Last Wednesday, a U.S. Navy sailor fatally shot two civilian Defense Department employees and wounded a third before killing himself at Pearl Harbor Navy Shipyard in Hawaii. On Friday, an aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL, killing three people before being fatally shot by law enforcement.

Job Report

The U.S. Labor Department released November’s job report on Friday, reporting an increase of 266,000 nonfarm jobs over the past month. The unemployment rate fell from 3.6% to 3.5%, matching its lowest level since 1969.

Trial by fire

Bankrupt California power company PG&E has reached a $13.5 billion settlement with the victims of the wildfires that have erupted throughout the state. State fire investigators in May found that PG&E transmission lines were responsible for multiple wildfires, including the deadliest and most destructive fire in state history, the Camp Fire.

Case closed

Elon Musk was found not liable for defamation against British cave diver Vernor Unsworth in a Los Angeles court on Friday. Unsworth’s suit against the Tesla and SpaceX CEO involved a series of tweets from summer 2018, in which Musk referred to him as “pedo guy” following a dispute over Musk’s involvement in the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand.

Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems

Forbes has released its list of the top-earning musicians of 2019. The list is headlined by Taylor Swift, who reportedly earned $185 million over the course of the year - she’s followed by Kanye West ($150 million), Ed Sheeran ($110 million), The Eagles ($100 million), and Elton John ($84 million).

Court Support

On all the most important days of our lives, it’s nice to be able to count on the support of friends. That’s why Michael Orlando Clark, Jr. invited his entire kindergarten class to the Kent County courthouse in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Thursday - to witness a momentous occasion. On the county’s 23rd annual Adoption Day, Michael was being legally granted a lifetime with his parents.

Classmates held up hearts made of construction paper as the judge banged the gavel to declare the adoption official. The Honorable Judge Patricia Gardner was quick to recognize the touching moment, saying that children seeking to be adopted often endure many hardships: "Sometimes their journeys have been very long, they've included miracle and change for the children and family and incredible community support as you're able to see today in Michael's adoption hearing."

Everyone in the courtroom felt the love and joy that Michael did, cheering and crying - even being able to meet Santa at one point. While being interviewed by local news outlets, Michael couldn’t stop saying how much he loved his daddy. His kindergarten teacher said it best to WZZM: "Family doesn't have to be DNA, because family is support and love."

Happy Accident

For John Tierney and Stu McNeil, finding their life’s purpose began with a simple snack run to their local Stop and Shop. When the manager of the North Andover store informed the two retirees that he’d been forced to throw away dumpsters worth of food that was nearing their “sell by” dates, the aptly named Accidental Food Bank was born.

For the last 10 years, the two have been picking up quality food items from three local grocery stores, loading the supply into their cars, and donating it to veteran’s groups, shelters, food banks, and retirement communities. Jon and Stu estimate that they deliver two million dollars worth of food per year, which feeds about 24,000 local residents that might otherwise go without food entirely.

When he speaks about his reason for working so hard to keep the food bank going, John’s voice breaks with emotion. “The community is more important than anything else. They don’t go hungry. The people do not go hungry.” Tierney and McNeil could have heard the manager’s complaints that day and done nothing, but instead, they heard the call of opportunity to help others. Each holiday season for the last 10 years, there have been full bellies and full hearts with John and Stu to thank, and fortunately, these two show no sign of slowing.