Good morning. Familiar with the color “greenery?” No? Well get ready to see a lot of it in 2017. Now let’s Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Tennessee wildfires
A pair of teens were charged with arson in the deadly wildfires that scorched Gatlinburg. We don’t know any other details, but more charges against them are being considered. Meanwhile, residents and business owners were able to return to the area. Thankfully recent heavy rains have helped put out most of the fire.
2. Pakistan crash
Everyone on the airliner that crashed in Pakistan is dead. The pilot of the Pakistan International Airlines flight made a mayday call declaring engine trouble before the plane crashed into the mountains near Abbottabad. There were 47 people on board, including a famous pop star-turned religious singer and two babies.
3. Trump transition
Some people call this putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Donald Trump’s picked Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to lead the EPA. Pruitt’s a climate change science denier, a good friend of the fossil fuel industry and has sued the agency in the past over power plant regulations. Democrats say, yeah, he’s the perfect guy to protect the environment. They promise a nomination fight.
4. Indonesia earthquake
The death toll in the earthquake that rocked the country’s Aceh province is rising. At least 102 people were killed and 136 were seriously injured in the 6.5-magnitude quake that flattened homes, businesses and mosques in the Pidie Jaya district. More medical personnel have headed to the area because a hospital there also was damaged.
5. Lebanon rape law
Lawmakers made moves to dump a law that let rapists avoid punishment by marrying their victims. A day earlier women wearing wedding gowns stained with fake blood held a protest against the law in Beirut. In some Middle Eastern countries rape survivors are sometimes pushed to marry their attacker.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Make it rain
Most flash mobs are just plain irritating. But not the one that showered a young mom with $13,000 for her cancer treatments.
Never ever getting back together
The “Gilmore Girls” did it. So did the family living in “Full House.” But there won’t be a “Dawson’s Creek” reunion. Send your complaints to Katie Holmes.
The viewing dead
Ratings for the once-hot “The Walking Dead” have plummeted this season, probably because there’s just too much death-and-destruction on TV right now.
Kiwi computers
New Zealand’s online passport application system is being called racist because it thought an Asian man’s eyes in a photo were closed. They weren’t.
Cool color
Get used to “greenery.” It’s 2017’s color of the year, even though no one can tell us what makes it different from good, old-fashioned green.
Number of the day
1,200
The number of points the Dow has risen since Donald Trump’s election victory.
AND FINALLY …
Happy hands
The “Finland’s Got Talent” winner performed John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas” with his hands, and it’s as weird and wonderful as it sounds. (Click to view)