Mexico migrant meeting, congressional maps, and best New Year's cities.

Happy Friday! Today’s edition is 1,192 words, a 4 minute read.

First time reader? Sign up here!

Big Stories

White house says meeting with Mexico “productive” despite record migrant crossings

The White House announced that the immigration meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was “productive” but offered few details about what that means.

• The latest: Mexican and U.S. officials agreed to keep the border crossing open after a number of key rail crossings were temporarily shut down due to the high number of migrants arriving. One of Mexico’s officials said that through joint efforts there has been a significant reduction in border crossings. During the meeting, Mexico also agreed that there needs to be a crackdown on smuggling.

• Yes, but: The most recent numbers from the U.S. Border Patrol tell a different story. In just five days last week, nearly 50,000 migrants entered the U.S. illegally. And over 191,000 were apprehended for unlawful border crossings in November. This month, as many as 10,000 migrants were captured daily at the southern border. The Border Patrol has made a record 2.4 million arrests for illegal crossings in 2023, with a large portion of the arrests coming in the last few months.

• Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued an emergency executive order that limits bus arrivals in the city to ease the surge of asylum-seekers sent from Texas. Adams, along with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, have requested federal aid to handle the increase in migrants sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Abbot has chartered buses and flights of thousands of migrants from Texas to cities in other states to protest President Biden’s handling of the border crisis.

House where four University of Idaho student were killed is torn down

Demolition began Thursday on the house where four University of Idaho students were killed last year.

• What’s happening: The rental house, near the university campus in Moscow, Idaho, was donated to the university by the owner and has since been boarded up and blocked off. The victims, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves, were fatally stabbed there in November 2022 by Bryan Kohberger. The university said the demolition will help the victims' families and the community find closure during the healing process.

• School officials plan to plant grass on the site afterward, with no other current plans for the location. Despite objections from some victims' families, prosecutors said that the house is no longer needed in the case as Kohberger’s upcoming trial will use visual aids created from data already collected at the house.

• For many years, communities have questioned what to do with houses linked to infamous killers or crime scenes. Frequently, these houses are demolished, like the home of the Sandy Hook shooter and 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles, where actress Sharon Tate and four other people were murdered by Charles Manson’s cult. However, the hunting estate of Alex Murdaugh, the now-disgraced South Carolina attorney who murdered his wife and son, was sold in March for $2.6 million and still stands today.

Brazilian law jeopardizing Indigenous rights takes effect

A controversial law has been put into effect in Brazil, favoring the powerful agribusiness group in Congress.

• Details: The law upholds the "time marker" theory, which says that Indigenous people can only claim land they occupied since October 1988. Critics argue that it ignores the history of displacement before that date, putting many legitimate Indigenous land claims at risk.

• The law: Brazil's supreme court initially ruled that the time marker theory was unconstitutional, but the senate later passed the law, overriding President Lula da Silva's objections. The legislation, nicknamed the "Indigenous genocide law," allows activities like road-building and mining on Indigenous lands, posing threats to environmental conservation and protections against deforestation.

• What’s next? Despite maintaining some restrictions, activists warn that the law undermines Indigenous rights, potentially leading to violence against Native Brazilians. Indigenous groups and leftist parties plan to challenge the law in the supreme court. Minister for Indigenous Peoples Sônia Guajajara said the law contradicts international climate agreements and is optimistic that the supreme court will uphold its earlier decision against the time marker theory.

Little Stories

U.S. News

• A federal judge in Georgia approved new Republican-drawn congressional maps on Thursday. The maps add a majority-Black district and represent a major win for the state's GOP in their effort to keep their majority. (More)

• Maine followed Colorado’s lead and has also taken former President Donald Trump off the state’s 2024 ballots because of his involvement in the Jan. 2021 Capitol riots. (More)

• Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley is facing backlash after failing to mention that slavery was the cause of the civil war. She is now suggesting the voter who asked the question was a “Democratic Plant.” (More)

World

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increased war readiness against what he described as “unprecedented confrontational actions” led by the U.S. In response, South Korea promised a strong retaliation to any provocations from North Korea. (More)

• Prosecutors from Mexico state said that villagers who killed 10 members of the Familia Michoacana cartel will not be facing any charges after it was decided that they were acting in self-defense. (More)

• Israel warned that time is running out to find a diplomatic solution with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as the two sides continue to attack each other along Israel’s northern border. (More)

Business & Economy

• U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Thursday (S&P +0.04%, Nasdaq -0.03%, Dow 0.14%). (More)

• Mortgage rates dropped for the 9th consecutive week — down to 6.61% from 6.67%. (More)

• AstraZeneca has agreed to buy Chinese cancer therapy company Gracell Biotechnologies for $1.2 billion. Cancer research and treatment now accounts for one-third of AstraZeneca’s business. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

• Alabama has banned its players from viewing game prep film on their personal devices leading up to their college football playoff game against Michigan. Michigan has been accused of stealing signs from its opponents this season. (More)

• Cher has filed for conservatorship of her son Elijah Blue Allman for his alleged substance abuse and mental health issues. (More)

• Mark Lore and Alex Rodriguez are expected to exercise their option to purchase a majority stake of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx. (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

• Amazon Prime will charge an extra $2.99 per month for an ad-free version. The announcement comes as the streaming service plans to release commercials across its video platform for the first time. (More)

• Computer experts at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore successfully hacked several AI chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Microsoft Bing Chat. They were able to make the chatbots generate content that breaks the rules set by their creators, a process known as "jailbreaking." (More)

• New weight loss drugs, like Wegovy and Zepbound, are still unreachable for millions of older Americans because Medicare isn’t allowed to cover those medications. (More)

Extra Credit

King Charles likes to give weird gifts to his staff.

The top photos from around the world in 2023.

Here are the 10 best U.S. cities to ring in the New Year.

Why healthy groceries are often more expensive.