--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Monday, January 1st. Happy New Year. And this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: At least two people are believed dead after a powerful earthquake hit the west coast of central Japan on Monday around 4 p.m. local time.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake measured 7.5 magnitude. 30,000 people are without power and others are trapped under collapsed buildings.
--:-- John Bickley: But officials in Ishikawa Prefecture, where the quake struck, said there is no major damage to important facilities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A tsunami warning has been issued and residents have been told to move to higher ground. The first waves have been around 10 feet high.
--:-- John Bickley: Despite the tsunami warning, some experts say the shallow nature of the quake is more of a concern on land.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As rescue teams get into the area, we may well find that the major impact of this earthquake is on land and with collapsed buildings and perhaps people trapped and dying in that situation.
--:-- John Bickley: Israel announced Monday that it will withdraw some troops from Gaza but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the offensive against Hamas will continue.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thousands of Israeli forces reservists from two brigades are expected to return to Israel and their jobs in the country.
--:-- John Bickley: The Israeli military says they are close to having operational control in northern Gaza.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A high surf advisory is still in effect for the coast of California, but waves are not expected to be as big as they were last week.
--:-- John Bickley: Monster waves hammered several beach cities in northern and southern California over the weekend.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The piers in Manhattan Beach and Ventura will remain closed today due to the danger of high surf.
--:-- John Bickley: Eight people were treated at a local hospital when a rogue wave crashed over the seawall and flooded streets and businesses.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And days of heavy rains caused a road collapse in Santa Cruz, trapping several hundred people in the small northern town.
--:-- John Bickley: Another storm is set to hit California later in the week with light rain and the coldest temperatures of the season.
--:-- Georgia Howe: North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un vowed to launch three more spy satellites in 2024 and to give up on reunification with South Korea.
--:-- John Bickley: The report came from North Korean state media after the country's five-day party meeting last week.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kim also said he will step up development of nuclear materials and develop attack drones.
--:-- John Bickley: The communist country launched its first successful spy satellite in November of last year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kim says his country needs to be ready for war based on increased U confrontations.
--:-- John Bickley: He also said his military should thoroughly annihilate the U and South Korea if they provoked China's President Xi Jinping said reunification with Taiwan is inevitable.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Speaking in his New Year's address on Sunday, the Chinese leader did not make any military threats, but did take a more forceful tone regarding reunification than he did last year.
--:-- John Bickley: Taiwan will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13th.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Both candidates for president have campaigned on peaceful relations with China.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Paula Abdul has filed a lawsuit against American Idol executive producer Nigel Lithgow, alleging that he sexually assaulted her twice over a nearly two-decade relationship.
--:-- John Bickley: In the lawsuit filed on Friday in Los Angeles, Abdul claims Lithgow assaulted her in an elevator in the early days of American Idol when she was a judge on the popular show.
--:-- Georgia Howe: She says he assaulted her again in his home in 2015 when she was a judge on So You Think You Can Dance.
--:-- John Bickley: Lithgow vehemently denies the accusations, saying in a statement, quote, While Paula's history of erratic behavior is well known, I can't pretend to understand exactly why she would file a lawsuit that she must know is untrue, but I can promise that I will fight this appalling smear with everything I have
--:-- Georgia Howe: Almost five months since a fire destroyed large swaths of Lahaina Hawaii thousands of residents are still living in temporary housing.
--:-- John Bickley: The American Red Cross says they are currently housing 6,200 people in condos and hotels, which would usually be used for tourists.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's down from 8,000 in September.
--:-- John Bickley: Governor Josh Green is encouraging short-term rental owners to allow long-term leases for locals, but many Lahaina residents have already left the area and say they are unlikely to return.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Wonka continued to dominate in the box office over the weekend.
--:-- John Bickley: The prequel to the beloved classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory pulled in around $32 million over the four-day weekend.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That surpasses the Aquaman sequel's $26 million, the animated film Migration's $22 million, the musical color Purple's $18 million, and the $12 million earned by the George Clooney-directed film Boys in the Boat.
--:-- John Bickley: The 2023 box office closed out with an impressive $9 billion total haul.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The biggest earners for the year were Barbie and Super Mario Brothers, both pulling in over half a billion dollars in the U.S.
--:-- John Bickley: Both earned more than $1.3 billion globally.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
--:-- John Bickley: To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
