Baylor News
Americans clicked away on their computers and smartphones for deals on Cyber Monday, which is expected to be the biggest online shopping day in history.
Shoppers are expected to spend $1.5 billion on Cyber Monday, up 20 percent from last year, according to research firm comScore. That would not only make it the biggest online shopping day of the year, but the biggest since comScore started tracking shoppers’ online buying habits in 2001.
More than 100 domain names were seized in an international crackdown on websites that sell counterfeit merchandise, federal authorities said Monday, just in time for the biggest online shopping day of the year.
It was the third consecutive Cyber Monday that websites selling knockoff sports jerseys, DVDs, cologne and other goods were blocked from doing business. This year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations coordinated the 132-site effort with Europol and police in Belgium, Denmark, France, Romania and the United Kingdom.
This year marks the third year modern foreign language students at Baylor will practice for and perform in a concert during Baylor’s annual Christmas on Fifth Street event.
Students studying various foreign languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, German, Japanese, French, Arabic and Chinese, will sing carols in their language of study from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday in the Bill Daniel Student Center Bowl.
He’s the greatest philosopher in the world, according to some.
Dr. Charles Taylor, professor of philosophy at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, will speak at 7:30 p.m. today in the Meditation Room in the Armstrong Browning Library as part of the Roy B. Albaugh Lecture series sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa.
Waco News
State News
Texas voters turned out in historic numbers Tuesday, delivering victories for State Rep. James Talarico and forcing a runoff between Attorney General Ken Paxton and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s U.S. Senate contest that claimed national attention. The total early-voting turnout of more than 2.5 million marks the highest ever for a midterm primary election. The results also kicked off the 2026 midterm cycle.
INTERNATIONAL
The Iran war is now in its 46th day. Iran responded by restricting access to Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil, and moving to toll vessels transiting the strait. Waco drivers are already feeling it. The local average hit $3.38 a gallon last week, up 21 cents in seven days and 75 cents year-over-year, according to AAA data.
Gas prices in Texas have surged more than 70 cents per gallon since the U.S. went to war with Iran three weeks ago. The near-total shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has driven oil prices up more than 40%, pushing the national average to its highest point since 2023 and sending diesel past $5 for the first time in three years.
The largest U.S. military operation in the Middle East in decades unfolded as American and Israeli forces struck Iran Saturday, killing its supreme leader and triggering retaliatory strikes from the Gulf to Israel. The White House said the campaign is aimed at dismantling Iran’s military and toppling its government.
Dr. Joshua Alley, assistant professor of political science, said part of the Trump administration’s interest in Greenland has to do with America’s national security strategy.
