KARAH RUCKER: CHINA’S POPULATION HAS DECLINED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES.
AND A FORMER CANDIDATE HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN SHOOTINGS AT NEW MEXICO ELECTED OFFICIALS’ HOMES. BUT FIRST A TRIAL AGAINST ELON MUSK OVER TWEETS HE MADE OVER TESLA BEGINS TODAY.

THESE ARE YOUR TOP MORNING HEADLINES WITH STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS. UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS.

TRIAL OVER MUSK TESLA TWEET BEGINS

JURY SELECTION WILL BE UNDERWAY THIS MORNING IN A TRIAL BETWEEN TESLA INVESTORS AND THE HEAD OF TESLA…ELON MUSK. INVESTORS ARE SUING MUSK IN A CIVIL TRIAL…FOR A TWEET MUSK SENT IN 2018…SAYING HE COULD TAKE TESLA “PRIVATE” AND HAD “FUNDING SECURED.”
THAT TWEET PREVIOUSLY LANDED MUSK IN HOT WATER WITH THE SEC.

NOW INVESTORS ARE WANTING COMPENSATION…AFTER TESLA STOCK HAD SWUNG BY AS MUCH AS 14 BILLION DOLLARS IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING HIS TWEET.

THE JURY WILL DECIDE WHETHER MUSK WAS RECKLESS IN SENDING SUCH A TWEET…AND IF HE’S RESPONSIBLE FOR FINANCIAL LOSS OF THE INVESTORS.

CHINA’S POPULATION DECREASES

CHINA’S POPULATION HAS DECLINED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX DECADES. THE WORLD’S MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY SHRUNK BY ABOUT 850-THOUSAND PEOPLE IN 2022 COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

IT’S BAD NEWS FOR CHINA WHO SOME CONSIDER TO BE IN A “POPULATION CRISIS.”

CHINA’S ECONOMY GROWTH SLOWS

AND THE BAD NEWS KEEPS COMING. A NEW REPORT ON CHINA’S ECONOMY SHOWED A NEAR-HISTORIC SLOWING OF GROWTH LARGELY A SIDE-EFFECT OF ITS COVID-RESTRICTIONS.
CHINA’S ECONOMY GREW JUST 3 PERCENT IN 2022.

FOR REFERENCE— THE YEAR BEFORE THAT THEIR ECONOMIC GROWTH WAS 8.1 PERCENT.

MIDTERM CANDIDATE ARRESTED IN SHOOTINGS

Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock | Albuquerque Police: “The shootings were orchestrated. They were dangerous attacks, not only to these individuals, which was personally the most terrifying for them. But fundamentally also to democracy. That is why this is so terrible. This type of radicalism is a threat to our nation and has made its way to our doorstep, right here in Albuquerque, New Mexico.”

SOLOMON PENA HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION TO SEVERAL SHOOTINGS SAID TO BE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED. PENA WAS A REPUBLICAN RUNNING FOR A HOUSE-SEAT THIS PAST NOVEMBER AND LOST HIS ELECTION.

AUTHORITIES SAY HE WAS THE MASTERMIND BEHIND SHOOTINGS AT THE HOMES OF TWO STATE-LEGISLATORS AND TWO COUNTY-COMMISSIONERS.

NO ONE WAS INJURED IN THE SHOOTINGS BUT THREE BULLETS WERE SHOT INTO THE BEDROOM OF A STATE SENATOR’S DAUGHTER. PENA CLAIMED HIS ELECTION LOSS WAS RIGGED.

INSURANCE PROVIDERS BOLT FROM LOUISIANA

FROM FLOODING IN THE WEST, BLIZZARDS IN THE NORTH, AND TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH, WE’VE COVERED IT ALL WITHIN JUST A MONTH’S TIME.

AND WHILE IT’S THE RESIDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN LEFT TO PICK UP THE PIECES…IT’S INSURANCE COMPANIES THAT ARE FOOTING THE COSTS OF RECOVERY. AND IT’S GETTING TO BE TOO MUCH FOR SOME OF THESE PROVIDERS TO BEAR.

MORE INSURANCE COMPANIES HAVE PULLED OUT OF LOUISIANA FOLLOWING 21 TORNADOES THAT TOUCHED DOWN IN THE STATE NEAR CHRISTMAS. THE COSTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS…TOO MUCH FOR SOME INSURANCE COMPANIES TO COVER YEAR-AFTER YEAR.

SOME CALLING IT A “CRISIS” THAT IS LEAVING RESIDENTS WITHOUT HOME INSURANCE — SOME-TWENTY PROVIDERS HAVE EITHER GONE UNDER OR ARE WITHDRAWING FROM THE REGION BECAUSE IT’S BECOME TOO COSTLY.

PREMIUMS IN LOUISIANA ARE MORE THAN 2 THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR. 46 PERCENT HIGHER THAN THE NATIONAL AVERAGE.

ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE ON THE RISE

SINCE THE PANDEMIC…DOCTORS HAVE SEEN AN INCREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF AMERICANS DYING FROM ALCOHOLIC-LIVER-DISEASE. DOCTORS SAYING AWARENESS NEEDS TO HAPPEN NOW TO SLOW DOWN THE TRENDS THEY’RE SEEING.

ACCORDING TO THE CDC…22 THOUSAND PEOPLE DIE EVERY YEAR FROM ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE. NOW— NEARLY A QUARTER OF THOSE DEATHS ARE PEOPLE IN THEIR 20’S, 30’S OR 40’S.

DOCTORS SAY WITHIN THE PAST THREE YEARS…MORE YOUNG PEOPLE…PARTICULARLY WOMEN…ARE CONTRACTING THE LIVER DISEASE. HEAVY DRINKING FOR MEN IS CONSIDERED 15 DRINKS OR MORE PER WEEK. FOR WOMEN, IT’S EIGHT OR MORE.

DOCTORS DIRECTLY CORRELATE THE RISE IN “ALCOHOLIC LIVER DISEASE” TO THE STRESSES OF THE PANDEMIC.

SCIENTISTS STEER LIGHTNING WITH LASER

SCIENTISTS HAVE STEERED LIGHTNING BOLTS WITH THE POINT OF A LASER. IT’S THE FIRST TIME EVER THAT A LASER HAS BEEN POINTED AT THUNDER CLOUDS AND DREW IN STRIKES OF LIGHTNING.

METAL RODS ARE USED TO DETER LIGHTNING BUT ON A MUCH SMALLER SCALE THAN THIS. THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN SWITZERLAND DURING A STORM…AND IT WASN’T JUST FOR SHOW.
THE TECHNOLOGY COULD LEAD TO PROTECTING AIRPORTS OR EVEN THE LAUNCHPADS OF ROCKET SHIPS FROM LIGHTNING STRIKES.

THESE ARE YOUR TOP HEADLINES ON THIS MONDAY MORNING.
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