The Short List: Zuckerberg's big baby announcement; Chicago's history of corruption, 'Star Wars'
Did having a baby turn Mark Zuckerberg into Bill Gates?
Actually, no — but we'll get to that. First, congratulations are in order. Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan announced the birth of their daughter, Max, on Tuesday — where else? On Facebook. But that's not all. In a touching letter to Max, the billionaire Facebook founder and his physician wife pledged to give away over the course of their lifetimes 99% of Facebook shares, which are currently worth about $45 billion. Why? To "advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation." Nice. Is this surprising? Not really. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative follows in the footsteps of the Gates Foundation started by Bill and Melinda Gates and is part of a growing wave of philanthropy in Silicon Valley. Before today's announcement, Zuckerberg had already signed The Giving Pledge, a promise by wealthy individuals to donate most of their fortune during their lifetimes. He and Chan are no strangers to philanthropy: They've already donated $1.6 billion to various causes.
Chicago can't seem to shake its history of corruption
A lot's happened in Chicago in the past week. First, a white police officer was charged with murder for the shooting death of a black teen. Then the city was forced to release a year-old graphic video that showed officer Jason Van Dyke pump 16 shots into Laquan McDonald on a Chicago street. Then today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. It marks an about-face by Emanuel, who said in recent days he was standing by the city's top cop. The events have shown that The Chicago Way — the city’s shorthand for its politics in which corruption, patronage and ineptitude have long been part of the landscape — is alive and well.
The force awakens this month which means 'Stars Wars' just owned Santa
It's December, so the countdown has begun. No, not to Christmas. It's T-minus 17 days until Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters. You know you're more excited to see it than your family for the holidays. USA TODAY will have exclusive interviews with the cast and creators, videos, quizzes and more. Here's your guide for properly marathoning the Star Wars series. And because we're terrible and can't live in the moment, here's what you need to know about its sequel.
Car shoppers haven't forgiven Volkswagen
Nobody likes a cheater. Volkswagen's emissions scandal crushed the carmaker's U.S. sales in November.Refresher: The company admitted to fitting up to 11 million diesel cars worldwide with software that cheats emissions standards. After the scandal was revealed, Volkswagen offered heavy discounts to lure back buyers. Consumers didn't bite. AutoTrader.com analyst Michelle Krebs said one problem for Volkswagen is that the company hasn't publicly revealed a proposed fix yet: "We don’t even know the end game here. Nothing is going to improve in my view until a very clear comprehensive plan for taking care of consumers is outlined by Volkswagen."
PODCAST: Listen to The Short List
This rumor about the iPhone 7 has us freaking out
Hey, cool kids. Yeah, you with the white earbuds. Listen up. The iPhone is ditching its headphone jack. WHAT?! Well, that's the latest rumor, anyway. According to Japanese blog Macotakara, Apple, with the iPhone 7, will be getting rid of its standard 3.5 mm headphone jack. But, the site reports, those signature buds aren't going away, just yet — they're just going into a different port. The Lightning port. Supposedly so the iPhone 7 can be thinner. What's Apple saying? Nothing, of course — about this, and those other iPhone 7 theories. Excuse us while we feverishly add "Bluetooth headphones" to our Christmas list.
#Mustread: The U.S. steps up its fight against the Islamic State
The Paris massacres last month shook the world. They also added a sense of urgency to the fight against the Islamic State. The Pentagon announced Tuesday it plans to send additional U.S. special operations forces to conduct raids on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria. The commandos will coordinate with the Iraqi government and fight with Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga troops. The Obama administration has been reluctant to commit ground forces to the fight in Iraq and Syria. The addition of more troops to the fight represents a significant deepening of the U.S. involvement in the fight against the Islamic State.
If you only read one thing tonight: Taking these two anti-AIDS medications before and after sex can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 86%, a new study shows.
Stories you're clicking on:
Rudder problem, pilot actions led to AirAsia crash that killed 162
The most dangerous states to drive in
Mystery swirls around death of Alaska mayor
Calif. man pulls off good deed before his death
Why Browns need to name Johnny Manziel starting QB
Extra bites:
It's World AIDS Day, a global health day started in 1988 to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Swipe through a moving gallery of images from around the world.
Have you seen it? The smog in China is so bad, schools and highways are closed. Amid the climate talks. Yikes.
Linda Ellerbee, we salute you and your 44 years in news. The network veteran and Nick News chief is retiring.
Bring on the holiday feels. A $500,000 check was dropped into a Salvation Army kettle in Minnesota.
We all need a little distraction at some point during the day (what else are smartphones for?), so add DISTRACTME on the YO app. It'll be fun, we promise.
Want The Short List newsletter in your inbox every night? Sign up here.
This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn, Aamer Madhani, Tom Vanden Brook, Kelly Lawler, Nathan Bomey, Hoai-Tran Bui, USA TODAY