• Mary Warwick of the Houston Humane Society said, "As soon as I wake up in the morning, I wonder: 'How are they doing, I need to go see them,'" after about 1,600 bats were rescued when they went into shock and fell from their roosts under two bridges during the recent cold snap.
• Jordan Douglas Krah of Denver was booked into the San Ramon, Calif., jail on hate crime charges after two people of Asian descent were targeted with bigoted and homophobic comments as they recorded a TikTok food-review video at an In-N-Out Burger.
• Michael "Ma-Man" LeBlanc, a convicted murderer awaiting sentencing who was mistakenly released from jail in Lake Providence, La., was rearrested after several weeks of officials pointing fingers at one another.
• Peter Knudson of the National Transportation Safety Board said an investigation is underway after a Grand Canyon tour helicopter made a hard landing at a Las Vegas-area airport, injuring seven people.
• Mesfin Tasew of Ethiopian Airlines celebrated the resumption of flights to the Tigray capital of Mekelle, starting with one per day, saying the peace-agreement development will "enable families to reunite, facilitate the restoration of commercial activities, stimulate tourist flow."
• Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, hailed "another feather of pride to the crown" of the people and the crown of development as the country launched its first metro rail service in Dhaka, the densely populated capital.
• Terese White, a Mesa Airlines flight attendant from Dallas, pleaded guilty to possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute after inspectors in San Diego didn't buy her explanation that the large mass on her abdomen was a "mercury pack" for weight loss.
• Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Mexico's president, appealed to citizens not to accept holiday handouts from drug gangs after online videos showed toys and other gifts being delivered by pickup, with bystanders describing the drivers as Jalisco cartel members.
• Callie Blue was waiting tables at Gus's Diner in Sun Prairie, Wis., on Christmas morning when Santa showed up in the guise of the head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, whose Pay It Forward campaign netted her an "amazing" $1,000 tip that she said she'll use to help feed her four horses.