Morning Wire XX
[0] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[1] It's Wednesday, December 27th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
[2] Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will meet with Mexico's president today to discuss the massive surge in illegal immigration into the U .S. Blinken will be joined by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Mexico City, where they will request help from Mexico.
[3] Record numbers of illegal migrants have been traveling through Mexico into the U .S. U .S. since President Biden took office, and the administration is feeling pressure from voters and Democrat city mayors to take action.
[4] The meeting comes as Mexican media is reporting that a caravan of 6 to 10 ,000 migrants is making its way toward the U .S. southern border right now.
[5] Many of the travelers are from Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Haiti.
[6] The U .S. launched airstrikes this week against an Iran -backed terror group in Iraq after the group injured three U .S. service members in a Christmas Day drone strike.
[7] Khatab Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, struck a U .S. base in Erbil Iraq, injuring three U .S. service members, leaving one in critical condition.
[8] The U .S. responded with airstrikes late on Monday night against multiple facilities used by the group.
[9] U .S. Central Command said in a statement that the strikes destroyed the facilities and likely killed a number of militants, and there are no indications that any civilian lives were affected.
[10] U .S. forces in Iraq Syria have reportedly been attacked by militant groups more than 100 times since mid -October.
[11] Former President Trump will stay on the ballot in Michigan after the state's Supreme Court said it will not hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling.
[12] The state's high court said the appeals court judgment was considered but denied.
[13] The ruling follows a controversial decision made by Colorado's Supreme Court, which in a very divided vote found the former president to be ineligible due to his alleged incitement of the January 6 riots.
[14] The Colorado ruling marked the first time in history that the 14th Amendment has been used to remove a presidential candidate from a ballot.
[15] An Israeli military official says the war with Hamas will go on for many months, and there's no magic solution.
[16] Israel has expanded its offensive into central Gaza and is warning Palestinians to leave the refugee camps in the area.
[17] Meanwhile, fighting continues in the north where Israeli forces faced off with Hezbollah militants along the Lebanon border.
[18] The Hamas -controlled Palestinian Health Ministry claims that tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed thus far.
[19] Those numbers cannot be verified.
[20] The IDF says they have lost 153 soldiers to date in the war.
[21] The conflict began when Hamas terrorists murdered around 1 ,200 Israeli citizens in surprise attacks on October 7th.
[22] Pizza Hut is laying off 1 ,200 delivery drivers in California.
[23] And Chipotle stores in the state say they will raise prices.
[24] The move comes in advance of the state's new $20 minimum wage hike, which goes into effect in April.
[25] Fast food restaurants are finding ways to deal with increased labor costs, mostly by raising prices.
[26] Consumers who want Pizza Hut will have to use a third -party delivery service like Grubhub or Uber Eats.
[27] Severe weather has killed at least 10 people in the eastern states of Queensland and Victoria in Australia.
[28] Several of those who died were aboard a ship on an annual fishing trip when it capsized.
[29] Others were swept away by floodwaters and several more were killed by falling trees.
[30] The strong winds and thunderstorms started on Monday and have left more than 85 ,000 people without power.
[31] Here's Premier Stephen Miles, who says the state emergency service is nearly maxed out as cleanup efforts continue.
[32] SES are dealing with nearly a thousand requests for assistance.
[33] That is a very heavy workload for them.
[34] The thoughts of all Queenslanders are with those families who are grieving right now.
[35] And as we approach the end of 2023, Google has released its list of the most searched news stories and people.
[36] The most popular news story may not surprise you was the war between Israel and Hamas.
[37] The second most searched news story was that of the Titan submersible, which imploded on its way to the Titanic, killing all those on board.
[38] The most searched person in 23 was NFL defensive back Damar Hamlin.
[39] He's the Buffalo Bill's player who collapsed on field during a game.
[40] He's since made a full recovery.
[41] The second most searched person was actor Jeremy Renner after he was involved in a snowplow accident.
[42] Rounding out the list of the most searched people were NFL player Travis Kelsey at number three.
[43] He's been dating Taylor Swift.
[44] And number four was Tucker Carlson who parted ways with Fox in April.
[45] The most searched song was Jason Aldeen's Try That in a Small Town.
[46] Al Dean was also the most searched musician.
[47] Those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
[48] To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire .com.
[49] And for more in -depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.