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America Will Celebrate Its 250th Birthday Next Year. There's a Commemorative Ornament for It

The front and back of a commemorative ornament released by America250 as part of events leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, is photographed Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The front and back of a commemorative ornament released by America250 as part of events leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, is photographed Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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America Will Celebrate Its 250th Birthday Next Year. There's a Commemorative Ornament for It

The front and back of a commemorative ornament released by America250 as part of events leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, is photographed Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The front and back of a commemorative ornament released by America250 as part of events leading up to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, is photographed Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

When the nonprofit organization planning America's 250th birthday celebrations decided it wanted an ornament to commemorate that milestone in history, its leadership knew just where to turn for guidance.

America250.org worked with the White House Historical Association, which, since 1981, has sold a popular Christmas tree ornament honoring a president or a key White House anniversary. More than 1 million of those ornaments are now sold every year.

The two groups worked together to produce a keepsake to mark the anniversary — officially known as the semiquincentennial — and America250.org unveiled it on Monday, The AP news reported.

The limited-edition, hand-crafted ornament features the Declaration of Independence, the document the Second Continental Congress used to announce it was breaking away from Britain on July 4, 1776. President Donald Trump has a copy hanging in the Oval Office.

One side of the keepsake features the document printed on linen and the other side shows American flags waving atop the White House and the America250 logo with the years 1776-2026 on a red ribbon. The ornament is trimmed in 24-karat gold.

Organizers say they view the celebration of America’s founding as an opportunity to help unite a politically divided country. “It’s a moment for us to reflect on the last 250 years and, even more importantly, where we’re going for the next 250th,” said Jennifer Condon, executive vice president of America250.org.

Condon said she hopes the ornament will play a small part in that endeavor as “a symbol of, truly, this unity that we’re trying to strive for.”

It is rare for the White House association to release an ornament outside of its annual holiday series. Stewart McLaurin, the White House association’s president, said his nonprofit organization had helped create a collector’s piece “that embodies the spirit and history of our nation.”

It is made by the veteran-owned Rhode Island company that produces the White House association’s ornaments, and will be sold exclusively starting Monday at America250.org for $26.95, and in January on the White House association's website.

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Massive Iconic Iceberg 'on Verge of Complete Disintegration'

Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)
Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)
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Massive Iconic Iceberg 'on Verge of Complete Disintegration'

Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)
Iceberg A23a has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said. This photo was taken on December 26, 2025 (NASA)

One of the largest and oldest icebergs ever tracked by scientists has turned blue and is “on the verge of complete disintegration,” NASA said on Thursday.

A23a, a massive wall of ice that was once twice the size of Rhode Island, is drenched in blue meltwater as it drifts in the South Atlantic off the eastern tip of South America, NASA said in a new release, according to CBS News.

A NASA satellite captured an image of the fading berg the day after Christmas, showing pools of blue meltwater on its surface. A day later, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured a photograph showing a closer view of the iceberg, with an even larger melt pool.

The satellite image suggests that the A23a has also “sprung a leak,” NASA said, as the weight of the water pooling at the top of the berg punched through the ice.

Scientists say all signs indicate the so-called “megaberg” could be just days or weeks from totally disintegrating as it rides currents that are pushing it toward even warmer waters.

Warmer air temperatures during this season could also speed up A23a's demise in an area that ice experts have dubbed a “graveyard” for icebergs.

“I certainly don't expect A-23A to last through the austral summer,” retired University of Maryland, Baltimore County scientist Chris Shuman said in a statement.

Blue and white linear patterns visible on A23a are likely related to striations, which are ridges that were scoured hundreds of years ago when the iceberg was part of the Antarctic bedrock, NASA said.

“The striations formed parallel to the direction of flow, which ultimately created subtle ridges and valleys on the top of the iceberg that now direct the flow of meltwater,” said Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow & Ice Data Center.

The berg detached from Antarctica in 1986. It remained stuck for over 30 years before finally breaking free in 2020.

According to current estimates from the US National Ice Center, in early January 2026, the berg's area is 1,182 square kilometers -- still larger than New York City but a fraction of its initial size.

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Scores of Homes Razed, One Dead in Australian Bushfires

Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS
Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS
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Scores of Homes Razed, One Dead in Australian Bushfires

Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS
Smoke rises from a burning forest on a hillside behind a home near Longwood as bushfires continue to burn under severe fire weather conditions in Longwood, Victoria, Australia, January 9, 2026. AAP/Michael Currie via REUTERS

Bushfires have razed hundreds of buildings across southeast Australia, authorities said Sunday, as they confirmed the first death from the disaster.

Temperatures soared past 40C as a heatwave blanketed the state of Victoria, sparking dozens of blazes that ripped through more than 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) combined.

Fire crews tallied the damage as conditions eased on Sunday. A day earlier, authorities had declared a state of disaster.

Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said over 300 buildings had burned to the ground, a figure that includes sheds and other structures on rural properties, AFP reported.

More than 70 houses had been destroyed, he said, alongside huge swathes of farming land and native forest.

"We're starting to see some of our conditions ease," he told reporters.

"And that means firefighters are able to start getting on top of some of the fires that we still have in our landscape."

Police said one person had died in a bushfire near the town of Longwood, about two hours' drive north of state capital Melbourne.

"This really takes all the wind out of our sails," said Chris Hardman from Forest Fire Management Victoria.

"We really feel for the local community there and the family, friends and loved ones of the person that is deceased," he told national broadcaster ABC.

Photos taken this week showed the night sky glowing orange as the fire near Longwood tore through bushland.

"There were embers falling everywhere. It was terrifying," cattle farmer Scott Purcell told ABC.

Another bushfire near the small town of Walwa crackled with lightning as it radiated enough heat to form a localized thunderstorm.

Hundreds of firefighters from across Australia have been called in to help.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was talking with Canada and the United States for possible extra assistance.

Millions have this week sweltered through a heatwave blanketing much of Australia.

High temperatures and dry winds combined to form some of the most dangerous bushfire conditions since the "Black Summer" blazes.

The Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

Australia's climate has warmed by an average of 1.51C since 1910, researchers have found, fueling increasingly frequent extreme weather patterns over both land and sea.

Australia remains one of the world's largest producers and exporters of gas and coal, two key fossil fuels blamed for global heating.

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New York's Chrysler Building, an Art Deco Jewel, Seeks New Owner

Pedestrians and cars move along Lexington Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City on December 16, 2025. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
Pedestrians and cars move along Lexington Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City on December 16, 2025. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
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New York's Chrysler Building, an Art Deco Jewel, Seeks New Owner

Pedestrians and cars move along Lexington Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City on December 16, 2025. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
Pedestrians and cars move along Lexington Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City on December 16, 2025. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)

The future of the Chrysler Building, a unique monument to art deco architecture on the Manhattan skyline, remains in limbo as it awaits a possible sale.

The building, affixed with gargoyles, stainless steel design nods to early Chrysler vehicles and a celebrated crown and needle top, has been put up for sale after a New York judge expropriated the property in September 2024 from prior leaseholders who were in arrears.

The famed skyscraper, which began hosting tenants in April 1930 and was once the world's tallest building, continues to draw tourists to its blue-chip address of 405 Lexington Avenue in the heart of Manhattan.

But real estate insiders say the property is badly in need of remodeling, with aging office spaces, tiny windows, fickle elevators and a pesky rodent population among its ills.

"The beautiful (Chrysler Building) has lots of technical issues but it's unclear what the best use for the building is," said Ruth Colp-Haber, a partner at Wharton Property Advisors, who believes costly investment will be needed to update the structure.

"Everything's on hold there until they figure out who's the owner and what's his game plan," she said. "They are not showing spaces."

The Chrysler Building was first envisioned in the roaring 1920s, prior to the 1929 Wall Street crash, and completed in just two years.

It opened with fanfare and hosted an observation deck until 1945. The building stood as the tallest structure in the world prior to the completion of the Empire State Building in 1931.

The land on which the building sits has been owned since 1902 by the Cooper Union, a private college that specializes in art, architecture and engineering.

The school's most recent tenant, a consortium of real estate firm RFR and Austrian firm Signa, had reached an agreement in 2019 to buy the building for $151 million with a promise of $250 million in upgrades.

But Signa filed for insolvency in 2023 and RFR stopped paying rent in May 2024, according to legal documents reviewed by AFP, with the latter owing $21 million when the property was expropriated.

Cooper Union leaders have said the Chrysler Building's travails will not result in higher tuition rates or fewer scholarships.

"We have built important reserves and surpluses over the last seven years," Cooper Union interim president Malcolm King said in a message to employees and students, adding that they had "planned for a range of scenarios, including this one."

Current tenants of the building include prestigious law firms, investment groups and creative agencies.

New York's commercial real estate industry has partially recovered from the pandemic and early post-pandemic period when companies were slow to return to the office.

But the Chrysler Building faces tough competition from newer buildings, like the nearby One Vanderbilt Avenue or the gleaming Hudson Yards structures.

Further complicating the situation is the structure's 1978 designation as a New York City landmark, a distinction that means significant changes must be approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Exactly what will happen to the building remains clouded in mystery.

AFP queries to the Cooper Union, the landmark commission and leading real estate brokers went unanswered.

In any case, "it is extraordinarily rare for the commission to approve the demolition of an individual landmark," said an expert who spoke on the condition of anonymity.