Morning Wire XX
[0] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[1] It's Monday, December 18th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
[2] Several northeastern states are facing heavy rains, flooding, and high winds as a result of a major storm system traveling up the coast.
[3] At least 700 ,000 people were without power in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine on Monday.
[4] Wind advisories have been issued from North Carolina to Maine.
[5] Oil giant BP announced Monday it will pause shipping its tankers through the Red Sea for safety reasons.
[6] 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.
[7] Global oil prices jumped Monday in response to the news.
[8] A newly released document from the Vatican on the subject of blessings for individuals in same -sex relationships is making headlines.
[9] Here with more as Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Bashan.
[10] The new document signed by Pope Francis seemed to cause widespread confusion about the Catholic Church's position on same -sex relationships.
[11] Many major media outlets reported on Monday that the fiducius supplicans, as the document is called, marks a groundbreaking shift in allowing blessings on gay couples.
[12] But many Catholics are pointing out that such blessings were always allowed, and the document does not actually change church teaching or practice.
[13] 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.
[14] But the blessings do not, quote, validate their relationships.
[15] The document stresses that the church still defines marriage as the exclusive union between a man and a woman.
[16] Two Chinese balloons were reported about 110 nautical miles north of Taiwan on Sunday over the contentious Taiwan's straight.
[17] Another balloon crossed to the southwest of the port city of Keylang on December 7th.
[18] Taiwan's defense ministry declined to comment on whether the balloons are suspected of being used for spying.
[19] 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.
[20] The Erez humanitarian crossing allows thousands of Palestinians to cross into Israel for work as well as to receive medical treatment.
[21] 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 Erez crossing.
[22] Authorities seized more than 10 million dollars worth of methamphetamine and cocaine in San Diego last week, hidden in a shipment of jalapeno paste.
[23] The packages containing 3 ,000 pounds of methamphetamine and more than 500 pounds of cocaine were being transported in a tractor trailer.
[24] The narcotics were identified by K -9 officers working with Customs and Border Protection.
[25] Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scermetti filed a lawsuit on Monday against Black Rock, the world's largest asset manager.
[26] 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.
[27] The AG said, quote, we allege that Black Rock's inconsistent statements about its investment strategies deprived consumers of the ability to make an informed choice.
[28] And two space tomatoes have been found after being lost for eight months on board the International Space Station.
[29] The tomatoes were part of an experiment to grow food in space using hydroponic and aeroponic techniques.
[30] NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who conducted the experiment in 2022, had accidentally lost track of the tomatoes while harvesting.
[31] I was pretty confident that I velcored it where I was supposed to bulker it, and then I came back and it was gone.
[32] And, I mean, I spent probably eight to 20 hours of my own time looking for that tomato.
[33] A lot of people were like, he'd probably ate the tomato.
[34] And, you know, I wanted to find it mostly so I could prove, like, I did not eat the tomato.
[35] So I never found it.
[36] Rubio has had his name cleared after the two rogue tomatoes were found by other teammates this month.
[37] We might have found something that someone had been looking for for quite a little.
[38] a while.
[39] Our good friend Frank Rubio, who headed home, has been blamed for quite a while for eating the tomato, but we can exonerate him.
[40] We found the tomatoes.
[41] All right, those are your drive -home updates this afternoon.
[42] 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.