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--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Monday, December 18th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: Several northeastern states are facing heavy rains, flooding, and high winds as a result of a major storm system traveling up the coast. At least 700,000 people were without power in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine on Monday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Wind advisories have been issued from North Carolina to Maine.
--:-- John Bickley: Oil giant BP announced Monday it will pause shipping its tankers through the Red Sea for safety reasons. Since October 7th, armed Houthi terrorists have targeted vessels passing through the Suez Canal, causing a string of major companies to pause their shipments through the region. Global oil prices jumped Monday in response to the news.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A newly released document from the Vatican on the subject of blessings for individuals in same-sex relationships is making headlines.
--:-- Megan Basham: Here with more is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. The new document signed by Pope Francis seemed to cause widespread confusion about the Catholic Church position on same relationships. Many major media outlets reported on Monday that the fiducia supplicans as the document is called marks a groundbreaking shift in allowing blessings on gay couples.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But many Catholics are pointing out that such blessings were always allowed, and the document does not actually change church teaching or practice.
--:-- Megan Basham: The document confirms that priests are allowed to offer spontaneous blessings to individuals in same-sex relationships who recognize themselves to be destitute and in need of God's help. But the blessings do not, quote, validate their relationships. The document stresses that the church still defines marriage as the exclusive union between a man and a woman.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Two Chinese balloons were reported about 110 nautical miles north of Taiwan on Sunday over the contentious Taiwan Strait.
--:-- Megan Basham: Another balloon crossed to the southwest of the port city of Keelung on December 7th.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Taiwan's defense ministry declined to comment on whether the balloons are suspected of being used for spying.
--:-- Megan Basham: The Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday that they have discovered the largest ever Hamas tunnel inside Gaza and that it was only a few hundred yards from a humanitarian crossing The Erez humanitarian crossing allows thousands of Palestinians to cross into Israel for work as well as to receive medical treatment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The IDF said in a statement Sunday, quote, this massive tunnel system splits into branches of tunnels, spans well over four kilometers, and reaches only 400 meters from the Arez crossing. Authorities seized more than $10 million worth of methamphetamine and cocaine in San Diego last week, hidden in a shipment of jalapeno paste.
--:-- Megan Basham: The packages containing 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine and more than 500 pounds of cocaine were being transported in a tractor trailer. The narcotics were identified by canine officers working with Customs and Border Protection.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scirmede filed a lawsuit on Monday against BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. The lawsuit alleges that the firm violated consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its attempt to pursue leftist social and environmental goals through its ESG initiatives.
--:-- Megan Basham: The AG said, quote, we allege that BlackRock's inconsistent statements about its investment strategies deprived consumers of the ability to make an informed choice
--:-- Georgia Howe: And two space tomatoes have been found after being lost for eight months on board the International Space Station.
--:-- Megan Basham: The tomatoes were part of an experiment to grow food in space using hydroponic and aeroponic techniques. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who conducted the experiment in 2022, had accidentally lost track of the tomatoes while harvesting.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: I was pretty confident that I velcroed it where I was supposed to velcro it, and then I came back and it was gone. And I mean, I spent probably eight to 20 hours of my own time looking for that tomato. A lot of people were like, he probably ate the tomato. And, you know, I wanted to find it mostly so I could prove like I did not eat the tomato. So I never found it.
--:-- Megan Basham: Rubio has had his name cleared after the two rogue tomatoes were found by other teammates this month. We might have found something that someone had been looking for for quite a while. Our good friend Frank Rubio, who headed home, has been blamed for quite a while for eating the tomato. but we can exonerate him. We found the tomatoes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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