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New Year preparations are in full swing in the US, while dozens of countries are already welcoming 2025. In New York, around 1 million people are expected to flood Times Square to watch the ball drop despite potentially drenching rain in the forecast. Wherever you are, we hope you have a happy and safe holiday! 5 Things AM will return on Thursday after the festivities.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

One of the biggest questions during the holidays is what stores will be open for those who need to run errands. This year, many grocery chains, pharmacies and restaurants nationwide will continue business as usual today and on New Year’s Day. As always, check your local stores before going out as some may have modified hours. For example, Albertsons Companies will be open today and Wednesday on reduced hours. On New Year’s Day, warehouse club Costco is closed but Walmart and Target stores will be open. Also on Wednesday, most banks services will be closed and USPS will not be sending or delivering mail.

The official state funeral in Washington, DC for former President Jimmy Carter will be held on January 9, the White House confirmed. President Joe Biden declared January 9 as a National Day of Mourning in a proclamation on Sunday, hours after Carter’s passing at the age of 100. Biden will deliver a eulogy at Carter’s funeral service held at the Washington National Cathedral, a White House official said, a marquee moment for the Democrat to pay tribute to his longtime friend in the waning days of his own presidency. Public observances honoring Carter’s legacy will be held in Atlanta and Washington, DC, followed by a private interment in Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, according to the Carter Center.

US stocks dropped Monday, with the Dow falling by 418 points, or just under 1%, as markets close out a record year. The S&P 500 ended the day down by just over 1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw the biggest slide, down 1.19%, as traders sold off Big Tech investments such as Amazon, Tesla and Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Still, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are all on track to book another year of gains. Of the three, the Nasdaq is set to see the biggest gains of the year, up more than 32%. As for Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency traded at $94,000 when US stock exchanges closed Monday at 4 p.m. ET. Bitcoin surged to $106,000 earlier this month on hopes that the incoming Trump administration will espouse more crypto-friendly policies.

The US Treasury says China-backed hackers recently breached its workstations in what officials are describing as a “major incident.” In a letter reviewed by CNN, a Treasury official said the department was informed by a third-party software service provider on December 8 that a threat actor used a stolen key to remotely access certain Treasury workstations and unclassified documents. It’s not clear exactly how many workstations were infiltrated or if the department has fully determined the extent of the damage caused by the breach. Treasury officials plan to hold a classified briefing about the hack next week with staffers from the House Financial Services Committee.

India launched its first space docking mission Monday on an Indian-made rocket, in an attempt to become the fourth country to achieve the advanced technological feat. The mission, called Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX), was deemed successful after the spacecraft reached an altitude of nearly 300 miles. It is seen as pivotal for future space endeavors, including satellite servicing and the operation of the country’s planned space station. The testing of this particular docking technology could take place in about a week, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation said. A successful demonstration would place India alongside the US, Russia and China as the only countries to have developed and tested such capability.

15 remarkable discoveries of 2024
A monster diamond. A 12-sided enigma. An original Picasso painting. Check out some of the most important discoveries of the year.

New airline routes in 2025
Need some ideas for your vacation bucket list? Clint Henderson, managing editor at The Points Guy, shares what’s ahead for air travel in 2025.

This could be the world’s fastest high-speed train
A prototype train in China can reportedly hit speeds of around 280 miles per hour. Once in commercial service, it could be the fastest high-speed train in the world.

Walmart’s version of Hermès Birkin bag takes over the internet
Budget-conscious buyers looking for luxury alternatives have flocked to Walmart’s Birkin bag look-alike, nicknamed the “Wirkin.”

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie settle their divorce
The eight-year legal dispute to end the marriage of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie has finally concluded, according to Jolie’s lawyers.

Which country elected its first female president this year?
A. Italy
B. Mexico
C. Bulgaria
D. Iran
Take CNN’s Year in Review quiz to see if you got the right answer and what else you remember from 2024!
(Editor’s note: CNN’s weekly news quiz will return next Friday, January 10.)

Veteran journalist and former CNN anchor Aaron Brown passed away on Sunday. He was 76. Brown gained prominence for his live coverage of the September 11 terror attacks and also played a major role in shaping CNN’s evening news format.

5,565
That’s how many truckloads of aid have entered Gaza since October 6 of this year, when Israel’s concentrated operation in the north began, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. All of the hospitals in the enclave have been forced out of service and aid is now barely reaching the few hundred thousand Palestinians still trapped in the area, the United Nations said.

“We continue to call on China to share data and access so we can understand the origins of COVID-19. This is a moral and scientific imperative.”

— The World Health Organization, issuing a statement Monday urging China to share data to help understand the origins of Covid-19 — five years on from the start of the pandemic in the Chinese city of Wuhan. How the pandemic started has been a subject of intense scientific scrutiny and heated political debates, with opinions divided primarily over whether it originated from a natural animal spillover or a lab leak.

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AND FINALLY …

How this famous clock stays on time for New Year’s Eve

London’s Big Ben is widely known as the world’s most famous clock. But what does it take to keep the 165-year landmark on time for the UK’s New Year celebrations? Watch this video for a glimpse behind the scenes!