• Master Lock Comanche holds narrow lead over reigning champion

• Wild Thing 100 forced to retire from 80th running of race

Sydney to Hobart leader Master Lock Comanche is keeping a “close eye” on major rival LawConnect as the two supermaxi yachts fight out a tight tussle for line honours.

Comanche held a narrow advantage of four nautical miles over LawConnect, which is aiming for a third straight first-past-the-post win, in Bass Strait at 5.30pm on Saturday.

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© Photograph: Kevin Manning/Action Plus/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kevin Manning/Action Plus/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Kevin Manning/Action Plus/Shutterstock

Police seized many firearms, cartridges and documents during the raids.

A post on social media revealed that defense attorney Scott Danks said grand jurors did not indict his client, Jacob Lee Bard, for the Dec. 9 shooting at Kentucky State University.

Sergei Udaltsov, Putin critic affiliated with the Communist party, convicted of justifying terrorism

A court in Russia on Thursday convicted a pro-war activist and critic of Vladimir Putin of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison.

Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front movement that opposes Putin and is affiliated with the Communist party, was arrested last year.

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© Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov/AP

© Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov/AP

© Photograph: Pavel Bednyakov/AP

It was the second-largest lottery windfall in US history, with a lump-sum cash payment option of $834.9m

A Powerball player in Arkansas won a $1.817bn jackpot in Wednesday’s Christmas Eve drawing, ending the lottery game’s three-month stretch without a top-prize winner.

Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher than previously expected, making it the second-largest in US history and the largest Powerball prize of 2025, according to www.powerball.com. The jackpot had a lump sum cash payment option of $834.9m.

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© Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters

© Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters

© Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/Reuters

The backup QB, who has the same name as a new Mets pitcher, entered the game after starter Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play.

Three Palestinians have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Christmas tree and damaging part of a Nativity scene at a Catholic Church in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian Authority police said.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans Thursday for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an antisemitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season.

Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding and mudslides.

The North has indicated it plans to arm the submarine with nuclear weapons, calling it a “strategic guided missile submarine” or a “strategic nuclear attack submarine.”

A Delaware state trooper who was shot to death at a DMV office was described Thursday as dependable and professional on the job and steady and kind at home.

Governor declared emergency in several counties, with near white-out snow conditions in parts of the Sierra Nevada

A powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rain and gusty winds leading to evacuation warnings for mudslides in parts of the southern part of the state, bringing near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers.

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, declared a state of emergency in several counties, including Los Angeles.

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© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

© Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The assembly of the vessel is expected to take about four years.

The city where Christians believe Jesus was born cancelled Christmas celebrations for the past two years.

Critics say deployment is unwarranted and could cause fear in the city, which has seen a decrease in violent crime rates

The Trump administration is deploying 350 national guard troops to New Orleans ahead of the new year, launching another federal deployment in the city at the same time that an immigration crackdown led by border patrol is under way.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said on Tuesday that guard members, as they have in other deployments in large cities, will be tasked with supporting federal law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Parnell added that the national guard troops will be deployed through February.

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© Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

© Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

© Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

Masashi “Jumbo” Ozaki, whose 113 worldwide victories were the most of any player from Japan, died Wednesday in his home country after a battle with colon cancer, the Japan Golf Tour said. He was 78.

The lawyers said that Combs was treated harshly at sentencing by a federal judge who let evidence surrounding charges he was acquitted of unjustly influence the punishment.

In a motion to dismiss made public on Tuesday, Rozier’s lawyers argued that the government’s theory of the case — that he prevented sportsbooks from making informed decisions about accepting certain bets — runs afoul of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed the federal wire fraud statute.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, praised President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for coordinating the deployment and predicted the Guard’s presence would have a positive impact.

A Delaware state trooper was killed along with the suspected gunman Tuesday during a shooting at a motor vehicle agency near Wilmington, authorities said.

The protest group Prisoners for Palestine shared a video showing the 22-year-old Swede holding a sign supporting the hunger strikers and their organization, known as Palestine Action.