Top News Stories –

Amazon tells customers: Get rid of your exploding hoverboards –
Customers who bought hoverboards as Christmas gifts have been urged to “dispose” of them and accept refunds after three of Britain’s biggest retailers suspended sales. In an email seen by The Telegraph, internet giant Amazon has asked customers to take the self-balancing, two-wheeled scooters to a local recycling point for electronic equipment. Estimates suggest around 500,000 people in Britain have bought hoverboards as Christmas gifts. A further million are considering it, according to the watchdog Electrical Safety First. More than 15,000 of 17,000 self-balancing scooters analysed at borders since October 15 have been deemed unsafe and detained. [Daily Telegraph]

Germany: Star Wars-themed service at Berlin church –
A church in Berlin has announced it will hold a special pre-Christmas service devoted to Star Wars. Excitement is building in Germany ahead of the release of the franchise’s latest installment, The Force Awakens, on Thursday. But the Zion Church, located in the capital’s central Mitte district, is taking inspiration for its Sunday morning service from one of the classics – Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Those attending the event will be shown scenes from the 1983 film, and there’s also the promise of organ music inspired by the score, the local church district says on its website.
The idea came from two young pastors-in-training, Ulrike Garve and Lucas Ludewig, who see parallels between the George Lucas films and the Bible. “In the key scene of Episode VI, Luke Skywalker is drawn onto the side of the emperor, of evil,” says Mr Ludewig, described as a theologian and Star Wars expert by the church. “Luke resists with the words: I will never belong to the dark side.” That sentiment, he says, is reminiscent of a passage from Romans: “Do not let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” [BBC]

Last round pound coin minted –
The Royal Mint is producing the final round pound coin on Wednesday. It is more than 30 years since the now familiar gold-coloured coins were first minted. The new-look replacement will be brought into circulation in 2017. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

Jimmy Fallon, The Roots & “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Cast Sing “Star Wars” Medley (A Cappella)

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Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2015 San Bernardino attack
  • Neither Syed Rizwan Farook nor his wife Tashfeen Malik made open posts on social media regarding radical Islamic jihad or martyrdom prior to the attack, according to FBI Director James B. Comey. There were, however, direct, private messages to each other that did reflect this commitment. (Los Angeles Times)
• 2015 Chattanooga shootings
  • FBI Director Comey also announces the five military shooting deaths last July in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are now officially classified as a terrorist attack. The shooter, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, was inspired and motivated by foreign terrorist propaganda. U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announces the Navy will award the Purple Heart to the four Marines and one sailor who were killed, and the one Marine who was injured. (AP via ABC News) (Los Angeles Times)

Business and economics

• In a widely expected move, the Unites States Federal Reserve Board raised the federal funds interest rate, the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans, from the 0-.25% range to the .25-.50% range. U.S. stock markets rallied on the news.(CNNMoney) (Consumer Affairs)

Disasters and accidents

• An Air India aircraft maintenance technician is killed at Mumbai‘s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in India after being sucked by an Air India Airbus A319‘s aircraft engine during pushback. (Press Trust of India via Business Standard) (CNN)

International relations

• Cuba–United States relations
  • The United States and Cuba reach an understanding on restoring regularly scheduled commercial flights. Currently, the only option available is charter flights. (AP via The Washington Post)
• NATO leadership signs an agreement with the Ukrainian government to assist the country’s modernization of its defense industry and capabilities. (UPI)
• Taiwan–United States relations, Territorial disputes in the South China Sea
  • The United States announces a deal to sell $1.83 billion worth of arms to Taiwan, which includes two decommissioned U.S. Navy frigates, Assault Amphibious Vehicles, and surface-to-air missiles. China has also expressed its disapproval over the deal, claiming it would affect their internal affairs. (BBC News) (Financial Times) (RT)
• Islamic Military Alliance
  • Pakistan says it was surprised to learn of the country’s inclusion in Saudi Arabia‘s so-called “Islamic anti-terrorist alliance”, and that Pakistan was not consulted before inclusion in the alliance by the Saudis. Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry says he has asked the country’s ambassador in Riyadh to get a clarification from Saudi Arabia on the matter. Malaysia has also denied any involvement in Saudi Arabia’s military coalition to counter terrorism. (BBC) (DAWN)
• Latvia–Russia relations
  • Latvia‘s State Border Guard begins the construction of a border fence that will cover almost a third of the Latvia–Russia border in an effort to keep out migrants who attempt to illegally cross the border from Russia. (Business Insider)

Law and crime

• Japan‘s Supreme Court upholds a 19th-century law that requires married couples to have the same surname, but struck down another law that barred women from remarrying within six months of a divorce as unconstitutional. (The Guardian)
• The North Korean (DPRK) supreme court convicts and sentences South Korea-born Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to hard labor for life for trying to overthrow the DPRK and undermine the country’s social system. Lim’s relatives said he’s traveled to North Korea more than 100 times since 1997, to help people, but not for any particular political purpose. Lim, from the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Toronto, has been in custody since February. (Reuters) (Xinhua News Agency) (The Guardian)
• A bank in Minnesota (U.S.) is robbed by the same person a second time while an Iowa television station was doing a live update on the first robbery. The robber was arrested shortly afterwards. (Associated Press)
• After the jury fails to reach a unanimous decision, a Baltimore, Maryland, judge declares a mistrial in the trial of police officer William Porter, the first officer to be charged in the death of Freddie Gray. (NBC News) (ABC News)
• About 100 men in more than 50 machine gun-mounted trucks kidnap at least 26 Qataris, including members of the royal family, from a hunting camp in Iraq near the Saudi border. (Sky News)

Politics and elections

• Members of the U.S. Congress reach a spending deal that, once passed by both houses, will prevent a year-end government shutdown and will fund Fiscal Year 2016 federal government operations. President Barack Obama signs a separate bipartisan billthat extends government funding through Tuesday, December 22. (USA Today) (The Washington Post) (The Jerusalem Post)
• Spanish general election, 2015
  • Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is punched in the face by a teenager during a People’s Party campaign event in the city of Pontevedra. (The Guardian)

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