3️⃣ Hit musical *_"Wicked"_ has topped the nominations for the influential Screen Actors Guild Awards,* which are key to Oscars glory, while Golden Globes darling "The Brutalist" only got one nod and "Maria" star Angelina Jolie was shut out. 🇺🇸 🎥 🏆 *_"Wicked",_ the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway smash, earned five nods* including for _"outstanding performance by a cast"_ -- the top SAG Awards prize -- lead actress, supporting actor and actress, and stunt ensemble. *Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown" scored four nominations* while *surreal narco-musical _"Emilia Perez"_*, a major winner at Sunday's Globes, *scored three nods.* *Those three films will battle with Cannes favorite _"Anora"_*, which also had three nominations, and papal thriller "Conclave" for the top cast award, organizers announced.

1️⃣ *Massive wildfires that engulfed whole neighborhoods in Los Angeles* and displaced thousands have *killed at least 10 people, authorities said,* as California's National Guard soldiers readied to hit the streets to quell disorder. 🇺🇸 ⚠️ *News of the growing toll, announced late Thursday* by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, came as *swaths of the United States' second-largest city lay in ruins.* A *vast firefighting operation continued into the night,* bolstered by water-dropping helicopters thanks to a *temporary lull in winds,* even as new fires continued to spring up. *With reports of looting,* Los Angeles County *Sheriff Robert Luna said a nighttime curfew was planned* , and the state's National Guard was on hand to patrol affected areas. Governor Gavin Newsom said the *service members were part of a thousands-strong deployment of state personnel.*

3️⃣ Hundreds of *demonstrators took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus to protest the burning of a Christmas tree* near Hama in central Syria , AFP journalists witnessed. 🇸🇾 _“We demand the rights of Christians,”_ *protesters chanted as they marched through the Syrian capital* towards the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarchate in the Bab Sharqi neighborhood. 🎄 The protests come a little more than *two weeks after an armed coalition led by Islamists* topped the government of Bashar al-Assad. 🔥 The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing *hooded fighters setting fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah* , near Hama.

*Taiwanese lawmakers tackled and doused each other with water* as President Lai Ching-te's party tried to block the passage of bills *they say could harm the self-ruled island's _"democratic system"._* 🇹🇼 Scores of *lawmakers from Lai's Democratic Progressive Party had occupied the podium* of the parliament's main chamber since Thursday night and barricaded themselves inside -- piling up chairs to block entrances. The *DPP parliamentarians were attempting to stop three legal amendments* proposed by the opposition bloc, which would make it more difficult for voters to oust elected officials who they see as unfit. *_"Parliamentary dictatorship,"_ some DPP lawmakers shouted* to criticise the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party and its ally Taiwan People's Party (TPP) *for trying to pass the bills with their majority.*

1️⃣ *Christians across the world are celebrating Christmas* , with the mood darkened by wars and a massive "inhumane" Christmas morning attack on Ukraine by Russia as well as a plane crash in Kazakhstan. 🎄 With the war in Gaza also showing no signs of ending, *Pope Francis was also expected to call for peace in the Middle East* during his traditional _"Urbi et Orbi"_ (to the city and the world) speech at midday in Rome. 🇻🇦 *Francis used his Christmas Eve mass at the Vatican* to urge Christians to think of "the wars, of the machine-gunned children, of the bombs on schools or hospitals" after another year of raging conflicts.

3️⃣ *Newly crowned world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju said winning the title was a "dream"* that was more than a decade in the making, as he underlined his ambition to strive for _"greatness"_ . 🇮🇳♟️ *Gukesh was just seven when he watched compatriot Viswanathan Anand lose the world championship* in November 2013 to challenger Magnus Carlsen of Norway -- a match that fired up his dream to bring the crown back to India. Eleven years later in Singapore on Thursday, *the 18-year-old beat China's Ding Liren after a gruelling tournament of 14 match days* to become the youngest undisputed world chess champion. *Gukesh cited the 2013 game as a defining episode for his success:* _"When Magnus won, I thought I really want to be the one to bring back the title to India. And *this dream that I had more than 10 years ago* has been the most important thing in my life so far."_

3️⃣ *A powerful earthquake has hit the Pacific nation of Vanuatu,* smashing buildings in the capital Port Vila including one used by foreign embassies, with a *witness telling AFP of bodies lying in the city.* 🇻🇺 The *7.3-magnitude quake struck at a depth of 57 kilometres (35 miles),* some 30 kilometres off the coast of Efate, Vanuatu's main island, at 12:47 pm (0147 GMT) on Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey. A *5.5-magnitude aftershock struck minutes later, followed by a string of lesser tremors* -- shaking the low-lying archipelago of 320,000 people that lies in the quake-prone Pacific Rim of Fire. The *ground floor of a four-storey concrete block in Port Vila* -- used by US, French, British, Australian and New Zealand diplomatic missions -- *was flattened, AFP photos showed.*

3️⃣ *Newly crowned world chess champion Gukesh Dommaraju said winning the title was a "dream"* that was more than a decade in the making, as he underlined his ambition to strive for _"greatness"_ . 🇮🇳♟️ *Gukesh was just seven when he watched compatriot Viswanathan Anand lose the world championship* in November 2013 to challenger Magnus Carlsen of Norway -- a match that fired up his dream to bring the crown back to India. Eleven years later in Singapore on Thursday, *the 18-year-old beat China's Ding Liren after a gruelling tournament of 14 match days* to become the youngest undisputed world chess champion. *Gukesh cited the 2013 game as a defining episode for his success:* _"When Magnus won, I thought I really want to be the one to bring back the title to India. And *this dream that I had more than 10 years ago* has been the most important thing in my life so far."_

2️⃣ *Syria's interim government has vowed to institute the _"rule of law"_* after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, as *G7 powers push for an inclusive transition.* 🇸🇾 *Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)* group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of iron-fisted rule by his clan. Speaking at the state television headquarters on Thursday, the new government's spokesman Obaida Arnaout said *_"all those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law."_* *Leaders of the Group of Seven democratic powers,* due to meet virtually at 1430 GMT Friday, said they were ready to *support the transition to an _"inclusive and non-sectarian"_ government in Syria.*

2️⃣ *Syria's interim government has vowed to institute the _"rule of law"_* after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, as *G7 powers push for an inclusive transition.* 🇸🇾 *Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)* group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of iron-fisted rule by his clan. Speaking at the state television headquarters on Thursday, the new government's spokesman Obaida Arnaout said *_"all those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law."_* *Leaders of the Group of Seven democratic powers,* due to meet virtually at 1430 GMT Friday, said they were ready to *support the transition to an _"inclusive and non-sectarian"_ government in Syria.*