Happy New Year, QuickTake readers! If you're in the U.S., check out the wave of new laws taking effect around the country in 2020.  Wildfires wreak havoc in AustraliaThe Australian state of New South Wales declared a weeklong state of emergency and Victoria declared a state of disaster on Thursday as more than 110 raging bushfires forced evacuations along the country's east coast, including a military-led naval rescue of hundreds of people trapped on the beach in Mallacoota, Victoria. An earlier start to this year's wildfire season has taken a huge toll: 19 people are dead, more than 1,300 homes burnt, A$297 million ($208 million) in insurance claims have been lodged, and an area twice the size of Wales has been destroyed since September. At least 17 people remain missing and more than 400 homes have burnt in NSW and Victoria this week alone—and more extreme weather is expected to intensify the blazes in the coming days.More: - PM Scott Morrison cut short his visit to the town of Cobargo after residents heckled him for his clumsy handling of the crisis.
- Watch the dramatic moment a 19-year-old woman tried to save her home from fast-moving flames in Goongerah, Victoria.
- The air quality in the capital city of Canberra was ranked as the world's worst on Thursday due to smoke from the wildfires.
- 2019 was Australia's hottest and driest year on record with average temperatures about 1.5°C (2.7°F) above the 30-year mean.
$ignificant figures$34.5 million. How much Bernie Sanders raked in from 1.8 million donors in the 4th quarter, outpacing any other Democratic hopeful but trailing Trump by $11.5 million. 750. How many troops the U.S. will send to protect its Baghdad embassy after Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militias stormed the grounds to protest deadly U.S. airstrikes. $115 billion. The estimated net worth of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who's still the world's richest person despite losing $10 billion in his divorce settlement last year. Highly quotable"Cornerstone of democracy." Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in a rare move, asked parliament for immunity from prosecution on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. "It simply isn't our time." Democratic presidential hopeful Julian Castro, the only Latino in the race, ended his 2020 White House bid but said he's "not done fighting." "We lose patience, even me." Pope Francis apologized for slapping a woman's hand away the night before he denounced violence against women in his New Year's Day address. This is not normal"We'd prefer the food." As economic chaos and a punishing drought push Zimbabwe to the brink of famine, the UN's World Food Program will, for the first time, fully switch from giving cash aid to rations of grain and oil.  The future is nowSmarter second opinion. Google's AI is better at detecting breast cancer than real doctors, a study found. Using the model in the U.S. and U.K. cut false positives by 5.7% and 1.2% and false negatives by 9.4% and 2.7%.  What's goodReaching for the stars. India may soon become the world's fourth country capable of sending people to space after four astronauts were chosen for Chandrayaan 3, its first manned mission set to launch by 2022.  Now that you're caught up... Tell your friends to sign up to receive the QuickTake newsletter five days a week, and follow us on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. Before you go: The FDA banned fruit- and mint-flavored vaping cartridges in the U.S. Here's how it'll work. Thanks for reading!
-Andrew Mach | 
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