The UK and Mauritius governments issue a joint statement admitting that they still have not agreed a deal for the handover of the Chagos Islands with an incoming Trump administration set to try to block an agreement
A dog owner broke down in tears, screaming for joy through the streets of the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles on Sunday (12 January) as the pair were reunited after their home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
Why it matters: The push is the latest sign of the party's efforts to rebrand and bring in new audiences after a disappointing 2024 cycle.
Driving the news: The new rapid response @FactPostNews initiative will try to combat online misinformation and respond to Trump administration actions by pushing out memes, videos and graphics.
The account will be run by many of the same people who led the @KamalaHQ social media account during the 2024 campaign.
@FactPostNews will start on X, Threads, and Bluesky and will eventually expand to TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.
"The Republican disinformation machine is powerful, but we believe a stronger weapon is giving people the facts about how Trump and his administration are screwing over the American people," DNC chief mobilization officer Shelby Cole said in a statement.
Between the lines: The account will also take a branding cue from social media accounts that have huge, loyal followings, such as PopCrave and PopBase.
The war room relaunch is the latest example of the Democratic Party trying to sharpen its online presence — particularly on alternative media platforms — after the election revealed that Trump's media strategy broke through.
Zoom out: The DNC is also teeing up fresh economic attacks on Trump as he takes office, per a memo obtained by Axios.
Over the next several weeks of confirmation hearings, the DNC will try to spotlight the personal wealth of many of Trump's picks for key government positions, per the memo.
The DNC will also warn that Trump's proposed policies will walk back some of the economic progress made under President Biden.
"Trump's MAGA loyalists in Congress are gearing up to push through these unfit billionaire picks and Trump's anti-working families agenda," the memo reads.
Zoom out: The economy — and Trump's repeated focus on it on the campaign trail — was a major reason for his victory in November.
As the candidate associated with the incumbency, Vice President Harris struggled to make a compelling economic pitch to voters.
The bottom line: It's never too early to start messaging for 2028 (and 2026).
With their new initiatives out this week, the DNC is signaling where its priorities will lie, at least in the beginning days of the new Trump administration: Economic messaging and refining their digital outreach.
Microsoft Word is perhaps the world's most popular word-processing program, and has been a staple in homes, schools, and offices for decades.
Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Microsoft Word is Microsoft's legacy word-processing software.
You can access Microsoft Word for free online, or their are paid versions you can download.
Microsoft Word has a number of handy features and functions to customize your documents.
Microsoft Word came out during Ronald Reagan's first term in the Oval Office, and in the decades that have passed between then and now, it has become one of Microsoft's most important and successful pieces of software and one of the most-used programs on the planet.
A core program in the Microsoft 365 software suite, along with Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, Word is used in homes, schools, offices, government agencies, and beyond. But while Word used to be included with Microsoft Windows, today you have to acquire it separately.
How much does Word cost?
If you want to buy Microsoft Word on its own, you can do so from Microsoft's website. The purchase price is $159.99 and you will own the program outright.
But many people opt for a Microsoft 365 subscription, instead. This costs just $6.99 per month and gives you access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneDrive. That pricing comes out to $83.88 for the entire year, meaning you will be nearing the two-year mark before you pass the $159.99 price of outright buying Word on its own.
There is a way to get Word for free, but only for use online. It will not be downloaded on your computer. Go to Microsoft365.com and click on the words "Sign up for the free version of Microsoft 365."
You will be prompted to create a Microsoft account which you can then use to log in and access Word online for free. You must be connected to the internet and online to use Word for free.
How do I download Word?
Whether you choose to buy Word on its own or subscribe to Microsoft 365, you can do so at Microsoft's website. Just make sure you get the right plan if you are going with a subscription. There are Home plans and Business plans, as you'll see.
What are the best Word shortcuts and features?
There are the basics that are all but universal across Windows products and platforms, like Ctrl + C to copy and Ctrl + V to paste, Ctrl + S to save, and Ctrl + K to insert a link, but Microsoft Word has many lesser-known but highly useful shortcuts beyond the basics.
Hotkeys
Ctrl + A, for example, selects all of the text in a document, while Ctrl + Z undoes the last action. But moving beyond those simple shortcuts, there are more complicated quick actions you can take in Word.
Insert custom text
You can insert custom text, such as a greeting or a signature line, by creating text then using the Insert feature. Click "Insert" in the top taskbar, click "AutoText," and then enter your desired copy into the window that appears. Going forward, you can click "Insert" then "AutoText" to quickly drop in your pre-written words.
Insert custom text in your Microsoft Word docs, such as greetings and signature lines.
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Watermarks
To add a watermark that helps protect your document from being copied, you can click on the "Design" tab at the top of Word, then click "Watermark" on the top right of the application. Then choose an image or add text that will be faintly imprinted behind your copy.
There are many more fun and useful Word features, of course, so explore more yourself.
Microsoft Word vs. Pages vs. Google Docs
These other common word-processing programs have plenty to offer, though if your primary focus is creating and editing crisp, professional written documents, Word is likely the best bet.
Google Docs offers the same basic word processing features as Word, but it has fewer templates, text editing tools, tables, and other enhancements useful for complex documents. That said, Google Docs is far better for collaborative work, especially when a team is remote, and it's free.
Pages is Apple's primary word processing platform and it is free with a Mac, iPad, or iPhone, and it's easier to use than Word, especially for people who are not highly tech savvy. But it's also more limited in features, and the documents created in Pages don't transfer well to other operating systems or platforms, so they usually need to be converted to Word docs anyway if they will be shared.
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