Today's Trending Topics: Headline Highlights for Jan. 8 - WKTV

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WKTV/Canva
CAIRO (AP) — Egypt has unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years. They were unearthed at the causeway of Queen Hatshepsut’s funerary temple on the Nile’s West Bank. Artifacts found at the tombs include bronze coins with the image of Alexander the Great dating to the Time of Ptolemy I, children’s toys made of clay, cartonnage and funerary masks that covered mummies, winged scarabs, beads and funerary amulets. Archaeologist Zahi Hawass told reporters that the discoveries could “reconstruct history” and offer an understanding of the type of programs ancient Egyptians designed inside a temple.
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts authorities say a person on board a plane at Boston Logan International Airport that was taxiing for takeoff suddenly opened an exit door and was quickly restrained by other passengers. A state police spokesperson says the JetBlue passenger is expected to face charges and be arraigned Wednesday. The passenger’s name has not been released. JetBlue says the opening of the overwing exit door Tuesday night caused an emergency slide to deploy aboard flight 161 from Boston to San Juan. The airline says the flight was eventually swapped to another aircraft and has since landed in San Juan.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The singer-songwriter and social activist best known as one-third of the folk-music group Peter, Paul and Mary, has died at age 86. Peter Yarrow died Tuesday at his home in New York. That’s according to publicist Ken Sunshine. Peter, Paul and Mary rose to overnight fame in 1962 when they blended their voices in stunning harmonies as they sang out against war and social injustice. Among their many hits were Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Pete Seeger’s “If I Had a Hammer” and Yarrow’s own “Puff the Magic Dragon.” After a 1970 breakup they reunited eight years later, continuing their partnership until Mary Travers’ death in 2009.
NASA Proposes Cheaper, Quicker Way to Get Mars Rocks and Soil to Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars. Administrator Bill Nelson presented two options on Tuesday, less than two weeks before stepping down as NASA’s chief. Nelson says he pulled the plug on the original plan after costs soared to $11 billion and the delay in getting anything back from Mars before 2040. NASA asked industry and others to come up with better options to ensure Mars samples arrive here in the 2030s, ahead of astronauts venturing to the red planet. NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has collected more than two dozen samples since its 2021 landing.
President-elect Donald Trump has told residents of Greenland that “we’re going to treat you well” as his oldest son visited the mineral-rich Danish territory that’s home to a large U.S. military base. Trump later told a news conference he wouldn’t rule out using military force to take control of Greenland, saying that “we need it for national security.” The comment, and the visit by Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday, heightened speculation that the incoming U.S. administration could seek to acquire the strategic territory in the Arctic. Greenland’s government described the visit as a private one. And Denmark said “Greenland is not for sale.”
President-elect Donald Trump says that he would move to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” a name he said has a “beautiful ring to it.” Tuesday’s remarks are his latest suggestion to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. He has repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st State” and demanded that Denmark consider ceding Greenland or Panama return the Panama Canal. The Gulf of Mexico is often referred to as the United States’ “Third Coast” due to its coastline across five southeastern states. Mexicans use a Spanish version of the same name for the gulf: “El Golfo de México.”
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say two bodies have been found in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft at a South Florida airport. The airline says the bodies were discovered in the wheel well area during a routine post-flight inspection on Monday night at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The names of the people found and other details were not immediately released Tuesday. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office says its homicide and crime scene units are investigating. The aircraft arrived in Fort Lauderdale shortly after 11 p.m. from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Four fraternity members at San Diego State University are facing felony charges in connection with a skit performed at party in which a pledge was set on fire. The San Diego County District Attorney’s office said the four all pleaded not guilty on Monday. Caden Cooper, 22; Lucas Cowling, 20; Christopher Serrano, 20; and Lars Larsen, 19, were all charged with at least one felony. Prosecutors say Cowling, Serrano, and Larsen pre-planned the skit during which Serrano would set Larsen on fire. Larsen spent weeks in the hospital for treatment of third-degree burns, mostly to his legs. At least a half a dozen SDSU fraternities have been put on probation over the past two years for violating university policies.
CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys say two sons of notorious Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” facing sweeping drug-trafficking charges in the U.S. are in plea negotiations with the federal government. Neither Ovidio Guzmán López nor Joaquin Guzmán López appeared at Tuesday’s brief hearing. Word of a possible deal for Ovidio Guzman Lopez was first disclosed in October. It came months after his brother Joaquin Guzmán López was dramatically captured in Texas with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Erskine said in court Tuesday that prosecutors need more time to work out details.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nvidia’s stock is on the upswing after its CEO, Jensen Huang, unveiled a suite of new products, services and partnerships at CES 2025. In a packed Las Vegas arena, Huang kicked off the CES this week with his vision for how his companies’ products will drive gaming, robotics, personal computing and even self-driving vehicles forward.
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The FBI says the New Orleans truck attacker who killed 14 people had previously scouted the French Quarter and recorded video with his Meta smart glasses.
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