📌 Azerbaijan Crash, France, More

Azerbaijan observed a day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured.

Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea.

The plane went down about 2 miles from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft lying upside in the grass.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.

Asked about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict.”

Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on the cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine.

France’s president and prime minister formed a government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part.

Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an already tumultuous 2024.

The most urgent order of business is passing a 2025 budget. Financial markets, rating agencies, and the European Commission are pushing France to bring down its deficit to comply with EU rules limiting debt and keep France’s borrowing costs from spiraling.

France’s debt is estimated at a staggering 112% of gross domestic product. It grew further after aid payments to businesses and workers during Covid lockdowns and capped household energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine.

But France’s previous government collapsed this month because Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and left-wing lawmakers opposed 60 billion euros in spending cuts and tax hikes in the original 2025 budget plan. Bayrou and new Finance Minister Eric Lombard are expected to scale back some of those promises.

Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — remains a powerful force. The possibility of a new no-confidence vote looms, though it’s not clear how many parties would support it. Macron has repeatedly said he will remain president until his term expires in 2027.

China has approved the construction of the world's largest hydropower dam on the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau.

The dam, which will be located in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, could produce 300 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, according to an estimate provided by the Power Construction Corp of China.

That would more than triple the 88.2 billion kWh designed capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest, in central China. The project will help meet China's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, stimulate related industries, and create jobs in Tibet, Xinhua news agency said Wednesday.

Authorities have not indicated how many people the Tibet project would displace and how it would affect the local ecosystem, one of the richest and most diverse on the plateau.

But Chinese officials say hydropower projects in Tibet, which they say hold over a third of China's hydroelectric power potential, would not have a major impact on the environment or downstream water supplies.

India and Bangladesh have nevertheless raised concerns, with the project potentially altering not only the local ecology but also the flow and course of the river downstream.

South Korean researchers have developed a wearable robot suit to help wheelchair users walk.

Known as the WalkON Suit F1, the advanced exoskeleton attaches to individuals with paraplegia, providing powered leg mobility to enable them to navigate their surroundings on foot.

The 110-pound suit is powered by a dozen motors that replicate natural joint movements during walking. Sensors embedded throughout the suit monitor over 1,000 data points per second, allowing it to anticipate the user's intended motion and maintain proper balance.

The suit features camera vision that scans the environment, identifies obstacles and elevation changes, and compensates for the user's limited environmental awareness. One standout feature is its ability to locate and attach itself to the users while seated in their wheelchairs.

A wheelchair user and research team member demonstrated the suit, walking at about 2 mph, climbing stairs, and performing complex maneuvers, such as sidestepping onto a bench. A fellow team member said the Iron Man superhero inspired him, envisioning technology as a tool to empower and assist people.

Although exoskeletons have been studied since the 1960s, integrating them into daily life for paraplegics remains a significant challenge. Designs often struggle with adaptability, cumbersome fitting processes, and cognitive demands that limit their usability.

Whooping cough has been surging in the US for months and isn’t slowing, says the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a very contagious respiratory illness. Over 32,000 cases were reported to mid-December — about six times more than the same period last year and the most since 2014.

The bacterial infection often starts with symptoms similar to the common cold — a runny nose, sneezing, a low-grade fever and a tickly cough. A painful, full-body cough can develop after a week or two and cause vomiting or even a broken rib. Often, those infected will emit a whooping sound as they catch their breath.

The coughing can last for weeks or months, and people can spread the infectious bacteria for weeks after the cough develops. However, infections can be mild enough for some that they spread the illness without even knowing they have it.

There are peaks of whooping cough every few years, said the CDC. The latest data suggests the US is returning to pre-pandemic trends. About 25% of all cases are in the Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania has more reported cases than any other state.

Vaccination is the best way to protect against whooping cough, the CDC said The agency recommends children get the DTaP vaccine and adolescents and adults get the TDaP vaccine.

Over 1,500 prisoners escaped from a prison near Maputo, Mozambique on Wednesday during post-election unrest.

1,534 detainees escaped the high-security prison about nine miles from the capital, national police chief Bernardino Rafael said. Among those attempting to escape, 33 were killed, and 15 were wounded in clashes with prison staff. A search led to the arrests of about 150 fugitives, he said.

Around 30 of the prisoners were linked to armed groups that have been behind the unrest and attacks in the northern province of Cabo Delgado for the past seven years. The jailbreak was seen to be triggered by the controversial confirmation of the long-ruling Frelimo party as the winner of recent elections.

Groups of protesters approached the penitentiary on Wednesday, creating confusion and triggering unrest inside, where inmates ended up knocking down a wall through which they escaped, Rafael said.

Stores and public buildings were ransacked Monday, and ambulances were set ablaze along with a drugstore and other businesses. Monday's confirmation of the election results came despite claims of irregularities from many observers.

Fifty years later, a man who grew up in suburban Detroit tried to return a very overdue baseball book to his boyhood library.

Chuck Hildebrandt, 63, of Chicago, said he visited the public library in Warren while in town for Thanksgiving, carrying a book titled “Baseball’s Zaniest Stars.” He had borrowed it in 1974 as a 13-year-old “baseball nut” but never returned it.

“Five or six years ago, I was going through the bookshelf, and there was a Dewey decimal library number on the book. What is this?” Inside the book was a slip of paper indicating that it was due back at the Warren library on Dec. 4, 1974.

He returned the book to Library director Oksana Urban, who commented: “Some people never come back to face the music. But there was really no music to face because he and the book were erased from our system.”

“Baseball’s Zaniest Stars” is back on Hildebrandt’s shelf. In return, he’s now trying to raise $4,564 for Reading is Fundamental, a nonprofit literacy group. The amount roughly represents a 50-year overdue library fine. Hildebrandt is seeding the effort with $457.