Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🤔 The great alcohol debate
• 🇬🇧 UK entry fee
• 🌍 Potential “Black Swan” events

… and more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.95-minute read (1,050 words).

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"Nothing can dim the light that shines from within."

–Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

A barfight of sorts is brewing in Washington, DC. A new report intended to shape the next edition of the US government’s Dietary Guidelines has reignited a debate over the potential health benefits – or lack thereof – of low or moderate alcohol consumption.

The conclusion: The report was made up of several meta-analyses of alcohol-related studies published between 2019-2023. It concluded “with moderate certainty” that moderate alcohol consumption – defined as two drinks/day for men and one drink/day for women – is associated with fewer heart attack deaths, stroke deaths, and overall deaths compared with never drinking.

• The report also found a small but significantly heightened risk of breast cancer associated with moderate drinking, but said there wasn’t enough evidence to link moderate consumption to any other cancers.

On the flip side: The report contrasts sharply with a growing consensus among scientists and policymakers around the world that alcohol has zero health benefits – and that consumption could actually pose a health hazard, regardless of the amount.

Many experts who are almost certainly partaking in Dry January have pushed back against the new report, noting the research it examined was observational, not controlled, making it difficult to know for certain that moderate drinking causes fewer heart attacks and strokes (as opposed to other characteristics like education or socioeconomic status).

Critics’ views were recently echoed by the "Nation's Doctor." Last week, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy published an advisory acknowledging a direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk, calling for an update to existing warning labels on alcoholic beverages to include the mention of cancer risk.

Looking ahead…The updated US Dietary Guidelines for 2025-2030 are expected to be published later this year.

📊 Flash poll: Do the US government’s Dietary Guidelines affect your personal decision making when it comes to health?

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Starting today, travelers from 48 countries, whether headed to Birmingham to meet the Peaky Blinders or London to visit the queen, need to secure an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) prior to entering the UK.

What’s an ETA? A digital pre-authorization for short-term travelers from countries where the UK doesn’t require visas, including the US, Canada, Australia, and Mexico.

How to get it: Travelers can secure an ETA online, or via the iPhone or Android ETA app. It costs ~$12.50 and takes 10-20 minutes to apply.

If approved – a decision is normally levied within three days – the ETA is good for two years and, like an all-you-can-eat buffet, allows for as many trips as the heart desires (though immigration will still need to be cleared each time).

Fun fact: Six million travelers from the US, Canada, and Australia enter the UK each year.

🌍 Zoom out: Digital pre-authorization requirements are becoming more common around the globe. The US offers a similar program, the ESTA (est: 2009), which applies to visitors from the EU, UK, and others. The EU is also planning this year to roll out its ETIAS visa waiver, a program mandating non-EU citizens traveling from outside the Schengen zone fill out a ~$7.57 application to enter.

Whether you’re social media-less or more plugged in than TMZ – gather ‘round for a look back on some of the top pop culture moments of 2024:

1. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce: From the Super Bowl to the Eras Tour, the pair were everywhere. Swift also had a record-breaking year thanks to her multi-billion dollar tour and newest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
2. BRAT Summer: Charlie XCX dominated the summer with BRAT: both the title of her album and the attitude that came with it.
3. The Paris Olympics: Featured Simone Biles taking home the all-around gymnastics title and helping Team USA secure the gold in the finals – among other things.
4. Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan’s rise to fame: Carpenter's Espresso dominated the charts for 14 consecutive weeks, while Roan’s drag-inspired performances drew attention worldwide.
5. Wicked: The highly anticipated movie adaptation of the Broadway musical came out in November, smashing box office records.
6. Kendrick Lamar duked it out with Drake: The beef spawned likely the most popular diss track of all time, with Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” setting Spotify’s all-time single-day streaming record.

👀 What to look out for in 2025: GTA VI (🤞), Lorne Michaels’ potential exit from SNL, Rihanna’s long-awaited album, and a big year for K-Pop. Read more predictions here.

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📉 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -1.1%; Dow: -0.4%; Nasdaq: -1.9%).
• 🏦 JPMorgan Chase is reportedly planning to mandate staff return to the office five days/week. | 🚗 Honda revealed its two new 0 Series EVs will be produced in Ohio.
• 👖 Jeans brand True Religion was acquired by two private equity firms, one of which owns a stake in American Eagle. | 📸 Picture this: Getty Images and Shutterstock are merging to form a company worth ~$3.7 billion. | 🤖 AI startup Anthropic is reportedly in talks to raise money at a $60 billion valuation; the Amazon-backed OpenAI rival was valued at $18 billion last year.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Asutra

• 📲 Meta is ending fact-checking on its social media platforms and adopting a user-run Community Notes system similar to X, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced.
• 🏈 North Dakota State University’s football team won their record-high 10th FCS national championship. | ⚖️ Former Fox Sports host Skip Bayless is accused of harassing a company hairstylist and offering her $1.5 million for sex, in a new civil lawsuit.
• 🤔 Adrian Dittmann may actually be Adrian Dittmann.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌋 Scientists have found the volcano they believe was responsible for a mysterious 1831 eruption so powerful it temporarily made the sun look blue.
• 🪐 NASA proposed a pair of cheaper and quicker alternative options to retrieve rock and soil samples from Mars; costs associated with its original plan have ballooned to $11 billion.
• 🌊 Scientists confirmed the most extreme rogue wave ever detected – a freak swell off Canada’s Pacific coast that raised a buoy 58 feet into the air.

MISCELLANEOUS

in partnership with Pique

• 🔥 A fast-moving wildfire has forced 30,000+ residents to evacuate from the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.
• ⚖️ A federal judge temporarily blocked the DOJ from releasing special counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigations into President-elect Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
• 🇺🇸🇦🇪 President-elect Trump announced a $20 billion foreign investment from Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani to build new data centers across the US. | 🗣️ Trump also held an hour-plus-long press conference, during which he floated renaming the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” and didn’t rule out using the US military to reclaim the Panama Canal or acquire Greenland. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

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Disney – calling back to its days of negotiating with Steve Jobs to buy Pixar – is once again trying to go toe-to-toe with a tech titan. In an effort to snag subscribers from Google’s YouTubeTV, Disney and sports streamer FuboTV are joining forces. The tie-up, announced this week, creates the second-largest online pay-TV provider in the US with 6.2 million subscribers, trailing only YouTubeTV’s 8 million subscribers.

Disney will own 70% of the combined company, which consists of its Hulu + Live TV business (not to be confused with regular Hulu) as well as all of Fubo’s offerings. And the marriage must be a progressive one – the union will retain the Fubo name.

The move also affects the wider world of sports. As part of the deal, Fubo agreed to settle all litigation with Disney and ESPN related to Venu. The sports streaming joint venture is now expected to resume its launch.

☝️ A new, wide-reaching storm is forecast to develop over the central US tomorrow night into Thursday, with frigid weather projected for 20+ states through Saturday.

🤔 Did You Know? ~5% of people who use commercial DNA tests like those offered by 23andMe end up discovering a person who they thought was their biological parent actually isn’t, per a 2022 study.

📰 Worth a Read: The Controversial Hams That Helped a French Cathedral Save Its Organ → (Atlas Obscura)

🖱Clickbait: Why Do Some People Look Like Their Dogs?

Kaylee, a senior cross country runner at Batesville High School, could see the finish line during the final race of her high school career when she noticed a fellow runner on her knees.

Rather than finishing strong and claiming her fastest-ever time, Kaylee stopped to help the runner in need, in a moment of sportsmanship which her dad caught on video.

• “I was overwhelmed with emotions,” he said. “It was hard to keep recording. It was a moment I will never forget. I was very proud of her.”

🏃‍♀️ Good karma prevails: Even after helping to stop her fellow runner, Kaylee still achieved a personal best by 10 seconds.

😍 Real estate porn: A look at the most expensive zip code in Hawaii.

⭐ Interesting: Check out this review site for YouTube channels.

🧠 In the know: 15 experts weigh in on world-altering "Black Swan" events that could upend life in 2025.

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

1. 🎤 25: How many Grammys Beyoncé has won.
2. 🏰 800 years: Age of the oldest castle still in use.
3. 🐘 500 lbs: Average weight of a newborn elephant.

1. 🎤 Over, 32
2. 🏰 Over, 1,000+ years old (Windsor Castle)
3. 🐘 Under, 200-250 lbs