Japan has restarted the world's largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, 15 years after the Fukushima disaster prompted its shutdown (Reuters). A Reuters investigation reveals China's civilian fleet is actively training for a potential Taiwan invasion, with commercial vessels practicing military logistics operations. North Carolina has cleared medical debt for 2.5 million residents in one of the largest such relief efforts in U.S. history.

The Biden administration has halted all offshore wind projects, citing undisclosed security threats (Reuters). A major winter storm is forecast to bring catastrophic conditions from Texas to the Carolinas. X has begun charging users to generate sexual images through its Grok AI chatbot, sparking renewed concerns about AI safety guardrails.