- A plane carrying members of the Chapecoense Brazilian soccer team crashed in the mountains of Colombia [1] on Monday evening. Many players of the club team were also on the country's national team. The charter flight encountered electric problems and went down shortly after declaring an emergency, killing 75 people. As of Tuesday morning, there were six survivors. The plane was traveling to Medellín for a historic match: the Chapecoense team was slated to play Atlético Nacional in the semifinal of the Copa Sudamericana.
- In entertainment news, Hamilton broke a Broadway record [2] for the most money made in a single week after selling $3.3 million in tickets. Clearly Donald Trump [3]'s criticism of the musical after the cast delivered an impassioned message to Mike Pence [4] did not negatively affect ticket sales. Hamilton's record surpassed Wicked, which had previously brought in $3.2 million in one week.
- Droughts and forest fires are becoming the new norm. On the East Coast, wildfires are ravaging the Great Smoky Mountains. According to CNN, at least 14 uncontrolled fires [5] are rolling through Gatlinburg, TN, prompting a mandatory evacuation of the community. Also concerning is that the Southeast is in the midst of its worst drought in almost a decade [6].
- A fitting word of the year, indeed. Dictionary.com announced its word of the year [7] is xenophobia, meaning "fear or hatred of foreigners." The online dictionary said it selected the word after inquiries spiked in the aftermath of Brexit and the American election. In choosing the word, it said that "it is not a word to be celebrated. It's a sentiment to be fought."
- Trump's cabinet is nearly complete. The president-elect nominated two more people [8] to his cabinet on Tuesday morning: Elaine Chao as head of the Transportation Department and Representative Tom Price as secretary for health and human services. Chao is married to the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and was the labor secretary under George H.W. Bush. Price, a representative from Georgia, is a former orthopedic surgeon and opponent of the Affordable Care Act.