TOP STORIES
CHINA FIRES DIPLOMATIC WARNING SHOTS “In a veiled warning to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, China’s ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday that Beijing would never bargain with Washington over issues involving its national sovereignty or territorial integrity.” And reports emerged that China has installed weapons on the seven man-made islands in the South China Sea. [Reuters]
REPORT: PUTIN PERSONALLY DIRECTED DNC HACK NBC is reporting the attack originally started as a “vendetta” but then “morphed into an effort to show corruption in American politics.” All the while, Vladimir Putin’s favorability has been climbing with Republicans. [Mollie Reilly, HuffPost]
MEET THE SYRIANS FIGHTING TO SAVE THOSE TRAPPED IN ALEPPO These medical workers and activists are struggling to deal with the onslaught. Here’s how Aleppo factors into Bashar Assad’s plans to deal with Trump, as well as how you can help. [Rowaida Abdelaziz, HuffPost]
1 BILLION YAHOO ACCOUNTS COMPROMISED IN 2013 HACK Yes, that’s billion, not million. [Reuters]
FACEBOOK PLANS TO BUY ITS OWN VIDEO CONTENT Watch out Netflix. [Recode]
TRAVEL ADVISORY ISSUED FOR BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS After five people contracted locally transmitted Zika. [Reuters]
PREPARE YOURSELVES The polar vortex is back. [Gizmodo]
WHAT’S BREWING
AND IT LOOKS LIKE TRUMP FINALLY FOUND SOMEONE TO PERFORM AT THE INAUGURATION Hint: it’s definitely not Beyonce. [HuffPost]
MEGHAN MARKLE IS THE MOST GOOGLED ACTRESS OF 2016 She can blame Prince Harry for that. [E Online]
THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD ANNOUNCED THEIR NOMINATIONS With a “La La Land” snub to boot. [HuffPost]
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA HAS APPARENTLY DISCOVERED A TIME TURNER As he’s now developing another movie. [Vulture]
BASED ON THE TWITTER REACTION TO HARRY STYLES’ TRAILER DEBUT IN ‘DUNKIRK’ Christopher Nolan’s movie will be seeing a lot more of the tween girl demographic than you would think from a WWII battle epic. [HuffPost]
TRY NOT TO LAUGH AT THESE ORDER FAILS We made it through two posts before we lost it. [Buzzfeed]
BEFORE YOU GO
~ An ode to the “Lord of the Rings,” whose initial movie installment turns 15 years old this year.
~ Note to self: If everyone in a restaurant starts acting strangely, it could be carbon monoxide poisoning.
~ This Christmas card of a single gal and her pizza is everything.
~ There’s something to be said about the pace of the internet when you look at this compilation of a meme a day for 2016.
~ Apparently “half-night stands” are a thing now.
~ Michael Moore has some feelings about the president-elect.
~ Is the future less-allergenic peanuts?
~ We can’t get enough of these photos of Santa visiting babies in the NICU.
~ That didn’t take long: A father version of “How I Met Your Mother” is in the works.
~ Of course Ryan Lochte would announce he and his fiancé are expecting with underwater shots.
~ Bad news, folks: There’s a whipped cream shortage.
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