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Ukraine pleads with allies to send tanks, Pope Francis leads Benedict's funeral, and British shoppers defy the cost-of-living crisis

by Linda Noakes

U.S. News

Representative Jim Jordan listens to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy on the second day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol, January 4, 2023 REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will try for a third day to select a leader after six failed votes highlighted internal divisions and raised questions about their ability to govern. The chamber's top Republican, Kevin McCarthy, has failed to secure the majority needed for the powerful post of House speaker.
The United States plans to accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela under a program paired with expulsions of people from those countries caught at the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. and Mexican officials said.
Emergency crews braced for the latest bout of high winds and torrential rains sweeping California, renewing the threat of power outages and deadly flooding that gripped parts of San Francisco Bay and Sacramento over New Year's weekend.
A doctor who police say intentionally drove his Tesla off a California cliff - injuring his two children, his wife and himself - will face attempted murder and child abuse charges when released from hospital.
The Buffalo Bills said that safety Damar Hamlin has shown "signs of improvement" since suffering a cardiac arrest during a Monday night NFL game in Cincinnati, but that he is still in critical condition.

World News

An ice arena that was destroyed by a missile strike is pictured in Druzhkivka, Ukraine, January 4, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Ukrainian officials reported heavy fighting in eastern regions as Kyiv's forces tried to push back Russian troops, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West to provide his army with heavy tanks. Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now.
Pope Francis presided at the funeral of former Pope Benedict, delivering a homily comparing his predecessor to Jesus before tens of thousands of mourners in St. Peter's square.
China defended its handling of its raging COVID-19 outbreak after U.S. President Joe Biden voiced concern and the World Health Organisation said Beijing was under-reporting virus deaths.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new hard-right Israeli government unveiled a plan that would allow parliament to overturn some Supreme Court rulings and grant the government more say in nominations to the bench. The announcement is likely to raise concerns at home and abroad for Israel's democratic health.
Britain's Prince Harry says in his much-awaited memoir that older brother and heir to the throne Prince William knocked him to the floor during a 2019 argument over Harry's American wife Meghan, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Business & Markets

Alana Gomez-Solis, Communications and Content Specialist at Samsung Electronics America, speaks during a news conference at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, January 4, 2023. REUTERS/Steve Marcus

Samsung Electronics' quarterly profit will likely plunge 58% to its lowest in six years as a global economic downturn saps demand for electronic devices. The world's biggest maker of memory chips, smartphones and TVs is a bellwether for global consumption trends.
Amazon.com layoffs will now increase to more than 18,000 roles as part of a workforce reduction it previously disclosed, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a public staff note. Meanwhile, Salesforce said it plans to cut jobs by 10% and close some offices, after rapid pandemic hiring left it with a bloated workforce amid an economic slowdown.
General Motors reclaimed the top spot in U.S. auto sales from rival Toyota in 2022 as it was able to better meet strong demand for cars and trucks despite industry-wide supply disruptions.
All officials at the Federal Reserve's December 13-14 policy meeting agreed the U.S. central bank should slow the pace of its aggressive interest rate increases, allowing them to continue increasing the cost of credit to control inflation but in a gradual way meant to limit the risks to economic growth.
Britons spent more than expected over Christmas, Next, one of the country's biggest clothing retailers said, in a sign that resilient shoppers helped the High Street dodge a cost-of-living crisis that threatened to hit festive sales.
FTX's former top lawyer Daniel Friedberg has cooperated with U.S. prosecutors as they investigate the crypto firm's collapse, a source familiar with the matter said, adding pressure on founder Sam Bankman-Fried who was arrested on criminal fraud charges last month.

And Finally

A ski center is seen in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, January 4, 2023. REUTERS/Kirsten Donovan

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