Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🇺🇸🇺🇦 US aid to Ukraine is in the spotlight
• 🐶 Talking dogs
• 🌊 The Antarctic lake that never freezes

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.96-minute read (1,320 words).

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"Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”

–Jim Rohn (1930-2009)

On Saturday, the US announced an additional ~$1 billion in weapons support for Ukraine, as the Biden admin is rushing to spend all of its congressionally approved money for Ukraine before leaving office next month.

The new $988 million package – which brings total US support for Ukraine to $61.4 billion since February 2022 – includes counter-drone systems, cutting-edge rocket launchers, and other munitions aimed at boosting Ukraine’s military capabilities.

It comes amidst an ongoing stalemate in the war. Currently, most of the fighting is concentrated in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine captured 500+ square miles of Russian territory in a surprise August offensive – but later struggled to retain control, ceding 40+% of that territory in recent months.

• Russia’s war effort was recently boosted by the addition of ~10,000 North Korean troops, in a sign of increased military cooperation between the two nations.
• Overall, Ukraine has suffered ~310,000 casualties from the war compared to ~615,000 for Russia, per US officials’ latest assessment (though estimates vary depending on the source).

But the situation could soon change. In comments on Sunday, President-elect Trump called for an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders in Paris.

• Trump also said Ukraine should “probably” prepare to receive less military aid from the US government – Kyiv’s biggest single backer in the war – under his new administration compared to Biden’s.

Looking ahead… President Biden has pledged to spend all of the congressionally approved funds for Ukraine before leaving office on January 20, with an additional $5+ billion still left to distribute (in the form of weapons from Pentagon stockpiles).

📊 Flash poll: How would you describe the US government’s current level of military aid provided to Ukraine?

• It’s too high
• It’s about the right amount
• It’s too low
• Unsure/other

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🎅 Santa may be skipping Canada this year. An ongoing strike by ~55,000 Canadian Postal Service workers could continue well into the holidays. The sticking points: The union is fighting for pay raises, better benefits, and a promise from the CPS to not hire part-time workers or outside contractors, while CPS says it needs to have more flexible work hours – and hire more temporary workers – in order to move to seven-day delivery and be more competitive.

The strike is causing mail to/from Canadians to get held up like Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. On-time delivery performance in Canada has dropped 14% since the week of October 28, per a recent report from project44. Things caught in the post include: holiday gifts and cards, a bride's wedding dress, and even a father's cremated remains, according to Canadian media.

Thousands of passports are also stuck in transit, putting a question mark on holiday travel plans for many who may end up having to purposely mimic Kevin from Home Alone. Other affected parties include small businesses, some of whom rely on the holiday season for 30-40% of their annual revenue – and the Canada Post to deliver their products. Alternative carriers like FedEx and UPS exist, though capacity is already stretched during the holidays.

⚖️ The Kroger/Albertsons’ merger is like an uprooted plant floating in the ocean – dead in the water. Yesterday, two separate courts moved to block the $25 billion tie-up (the biggest supermarket deal in US history) – one federal and one in Washington state. The government attorneys arguing against the deal claim both workers and consumers would be harmed should it be allowed to move forward.

Kroger has said this legal outcome would likely scuttle the merger, putting Davy Jones’ locker in the position of prepping for yet another recipient. The supermarket pair, the 2nd (Kroger) and 4th (Albertsons) largest grocers in America by market share per Axios, argue the deal would help them better compete with behemoths like Walmart and Amazon and ultimately result in lower prices for consumers.

🐶💬 Science says dogs can be trained to “talk” with humans. In a new study published in Scientific Reports, researchers from UC San Diego and Johns Hopkins analyzed data from 152 dogs who were all trained by their owners to use soundboards, where buttons are pressed to produce pre-recorded words or phrases. They found the dogs in the study were able to combine two-word buttons purposefully to communicate needs and desires (like “outside + potty” or “food + water”), rather than randomly or by imitating their owners. It marks the first-ever published study to analyze how dogs use communication soundboards, which have grown popular on social media.

And if you’re looking for a window into a dog’s brain – it’s exactly what you’d think. The most-pressed buttons in the study were: “Go outside,” “Treat,” “Food,” and “Play.”

More commonly than ever, brands are making misleading claims about environmental impact to attract customers and investors. This includes shady tactics like deceptive labels, vague claims, or ignoring other impacts.

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Get sustainable picks for you from Commons.

• ☝️ America’s middle class – defined as households making between two-thirds and double the median income – contained ~40% of all US households last year, per Census Bureau data (via The Visual Capitalist).

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with Tuft & Needle

• 📉 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -0.3%; Dow: -0.3%; Nasdaq: -0.3%). | 📈 Alphabet shares rose ~6% following Google’s release of Willow, its newest quantum computing chip.
• 🤖🚗 GM is ditching its Cruise robotaxi service in a bid to cut costs; the automaker still plans to develop autonomous driving tech for personal vehicles.
• 📝 Adidas’s German HQ was raided in connection with a tax investigation.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏚️ Bengals QB Joe Burrow’s house was reportedly broken into while he was playing in Monday night’s win; it comes amid a larger string of athlete burglaries linked to a South American crime group, though officials haven’t said whether this incident is related. | 🏀 A.J. Dybantsa, the #1 high school basketball recruit from the Class of 2025 and projected top NBA pick, committed to BYU.
• 🙏 Nikki Giovanni, a renowned poet and icon in the Black Arts Movement, passed away at 81.
• 🏌️ Scottie Scheffler was voted the PGA Tour Player of the Year for a third straight time, joining Tiger Woods as the only golfers to earn this distinction. | 💰 The PGA Tour is reportedly nearing a deal to sell a ~6% minority stake to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns LIV Golf.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Sunlighten

• 🌌🔭 The James Webb Space Telescope gathered data appearing to confirm Hubble’s 2011 discovery that the universe is expanding faster than expected, per a new study.
• 🐬 Fentanyl and other drugs are present in tissue samples from dozens of dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, according to local researchers.
• 🏅 Nature’s 10: The annual list of the top 10 people shaping science and technology from one of the leading scientific journals.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• 🚨 The 26-year-old suspect arrested in connection with the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was charged with murder in New York; the suspect yelled to reporters “It’s completely out of touch and is an insult to the American people and their lived experience” before entering a Pennsylvania court yesterday to contest extradition to New York.
• 📉 American workers are falling behind those in other rich countries in terms of basic skills like creating a complex travel itinerary, reading a thermometer, or finding info from a website, per a new global test of adult know-how.
• 🇨🇳 China deployed nearly 90 naval and coast guard ships for apparent military drills, in its largest maritime exercise around Taiwan and the Western Pacific in nearly 30 years per Taiwanese officials. | 🇧🇷 Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva underwent successful emergency surgery to drain a bleed on his brain; officials say Lula is “well” and currently being monitored in the ICU. | 🇮🇱 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand yesterday in a corruption trial against him; it marks the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister testified as a criminal defendant.

CLICKBAIT

• 🌆🤗 The most caring cities in America, ranked.

⛰️🎮 Stat of the Day: Utah is best known for its natural landscapes, world-class skiing, and large Mormon population. But the state is currently poised to add a new highlight to the list: video game development.

Utah’s video game industry has grown in recent years to become a global powerhouse, largely thanks to the University of Utah’s top-ranked gaming program. Over the past decade, Utah video game companies have seen revenue grow by 230% to reach $2.3+ billion last year, with developers in the state creating several widely popular titles – like 2023′s bestselling game, Hogwarts Legacy – and playing a key role in other major hits like Fortnite.

The party is also poised to continue; like Mario after landing a star power-up (⭐), the Beehive State shows no signs of slowing down. Utah’s video game industry is projected to reach $4.5 billion by 2029, per market research firm IBISWorld.

🤔 Did You Know? The Don Juan Pond is a small lake in Antarctica that’s so salty it virtually never freezes, even at temperatures as low as -60°F. And you thought your “jilted” ex was salty.

📰 Worth a Read: Now You Can Avoid Taxes Like the Rich and Famous → (Wall Street Journal)

🏈 Lisan al Gaib! Timothée Chalamet knows ball. And he apparently has for a while.

👀 Watch: 98-year-old Hollywood legend Dick Van Dyke star in Coldplay’s new music video.

🤔 Jamais vu: Learn about the opposite of déjà vu.

🏙️ Bliss: See how an acoustics engineer would redesign cities to reduce noise.

📈 Level up: The Assist delivers free, actionable tips to work smarter, not harder – all with the same quirky, approachable vibe you love from The DONUT.*

🚀 Small but mighty: Inside Small Giants is your go-to for startup success. This weekly newsletter reveals steps to make small businesses thrive, sharing game-changing strategies and candid lessons.*

*A message from our partners.

Chicago resident Vamarr Hunter always loved to stop into Sweet Sugah Bakery when he needed a treat. He was a happy customer for years – even before he found out the owner of the bakery, Lenore Lindsay, was his biological mother. 

After discovering he was adopted years ago, Vamarr tried fruitlessly to track down his biological family, not knowing he was buying pastries from his mom the whole time. 

• The two recently made the connection through a DNA test, and have been inseparable ever since.
• “You can't make up for time and days gone by," Vamarr said. "What you can do is properly utilize the time that you have."

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

1. 🐛 3,500: How many muscles caterpillars have.
2. 🗽 500,000 pounds: The weight of the Statue of Liberty.
3. 🗣️ 10,000 words: The average vocabulary size of an adult native English speaker.

1. 🐛 Over, 4,000
2. 🗽 Under, 450,000
3. 🗣️ Over, 20,000-30,000