In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> "Wicked" sequel gets official title "Wicked: For Good" with film set for November 2025 release date (More) | Lionel Messi-inspired animated series tapped for Disney Channel and Disney+ (More)

> Jill Jacobson, actress known for roles on "Falcon Crest" and "Star Trek," dies at 70 (More) | Dick Van Arsdale, three-time NBA All-Star, dies at 81 (More)

> Documentary in the works by filmmaker Alex Gibney about the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson (More) | Jamie Lee Curtis in talks to play lead role in upcoming "Murder, She Wrote" film (More)


Science & Technology
> Google's DeepMind reveals Veo 2, the latest update to its AI-generated video platform; product is meant to compete with OpenAI's Sora (More) | Generative AI 101, from how it works to why it hallucinates (1440 Topics)

> James Webb Space Telescope confirms two-decade-old mystery, finds evidence planets bigger than Jupiter formed around stars much earlier in the universe than predicted by theory (More) | Explaining the JWST in four minutes (More, w/video)

> Researchers discover closest known relative to Psilocybe cubensis, also known as magic mushrooms; fungi potentially reached North America as much as a million years earlier than believed (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 +0.4%, Dow -0.3%, Nasdaq +1.2%); Nasdaq notches record ahead of Federal Reserve's interest rate decision tomorrow (More) | Nvidia closes in correction territory, down roughly 11% from record close last month (More) | Bitcoin hits new record midday, briefly surpassing $107K (More)

> TikTok asks Supreme Court to block the US' divest-or-ban law pending an appeal of a lower-court ruling to uphold the law taking effect Jan. 19 (More) | Ken Leech, former co-chief investment officer at Western Asset Management Co., pleads not guilty to federal charges over improperly allocating trades to favored clients (More)

> Honeywell considers spin-off of lucrative aerospace business—a move backed by activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which took a $5B stake in the conglomerate last month (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> Japanese tech giant SoftBank pledges to invest $100B into US companies over next four years and create 100,000 jobs; SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, who met with President-elect Donald Trump yesterday, made a similar pledge in 2016 (More)

> Former FBI informant pleads guilty to fabricating claim that President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepted bribes from a Ukrainian energy company; false claim was used as part of evidence in GOP-led efforts to investigate Biden family (More)

> Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigns following dispute with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over tax policy and the country's response to Trump's tariff threats (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS