Anguished Relatives Learn AirAsia Wreckage Is Found

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AirAsia Wreckage Found  Family members responded with all-consuming grief when life vests and luggage were found floating alongside bodies from AirAsia Flight 8501. Among the 162 people on board were a father and his 2-year-old daughter and a family of five heading to Singapore on vacation. As some relatives offer goodbyes, another says, “From the bottom of my heart, I want them to still be alive.”     Learn More

AirAsia Crash Investigation  The U.S. Navy has offered to help in the underwater search for AirAsia’s black boxes from the doomed flight. Aviation experts suggest investigators will focus on the tubes that calculated the plane’s air speeds, similar to the Air France 447 crash in 2009. For now, one question looms: how did other flights near AirAsia escape the bad weather for a safe landing?     Learn More

New Year’s Eve Freeze?  An arctic blast is already putting the freeze on New Year’s Eve plans in some cities with much of the country shivering its way toward tomorrow’s countdown. Snow could even fall on revelers in Las Vegas and chill blooms at California’s Rose Parade. Get the latest forecast for your celebration.     Learn More

Police Gunfire Deaths up  The recent high-profile killing of two New York police officers was part of a dangerous trend this year -- the number of police killed by gunfire increased by a reported 56 percent. After months of nationwide protests calling for police reform, some question if the opposition is in part to blame.     Learn More

Warmest Year on Record  While many Americans think of 2014 as a cold year with constant snow, shoveling and freezing temperatures, for most of the planet it was a scorcher -- breaking records and continuing a century-long trend.     Learn More

That’s Dame Joan Collins  Newly named Sir John Hurt, Dame Joan Collins and the men behind the ceramic poppies in London are all being given the royal treatment.     Learn More

Meditating to Success  In a violent San Francisco neighborhood where a teacher would see fights “three to five times a week,” the educators, desperate for a change, took a pioneering, gentle approach. And the results are dramatic. Students meditate twice a day and it’s yielded a 79 percent drop in suspensions, 98 percent attendance and a rise in academic performance. All they have to do is breathe.     Learn More