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nice88 link A single underwater cable supplies Beaver Island with its power. Storms, which are becoming increasingly frequent and severe with climate change, have knocked out the lights for days. A maritime accident once cut electricity for months in the 600-person island 30 miles off the coast of western Michigan. What if water surrounding Beaver Island could be the key to delivering the small island with more reliable — and clean — power? Backed by a $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation, researchers at the University of Michigan are working with island residents to explore converting wave energy into electricity. If they’re successful, naturally occurring waves would make the remote community more resilient to climate change and mitigate climate change-fueling carbon emissions. Remote islands with compromised grid reliability are early candidates for nascent wave energy converters. Once the technology is established and costs drop, the renewable power source is expected to complement solar and wind power in urban coastal communities as well, said Vishnu Vijayasankar, a doctoral candidate leading the university’s efforts. Vicky Fingeroot, a Detroit native, began traveling to Beaver Island in 2006. “I never thought about energy or how we got it when I bought my first piece of property here back then,” she said. It wasn’t until she moved to Beaver Island full time in 2021 and experienced her first power outage that grid reliability crossed her mind. A strong storm took down multiple overhead power lines that carry electricity ashore from the underwater line. More weather was on the way, so plane and ferry services were paused. There was no way on or off the island. The local line worker who knew how to turn on the backup generator was attending an out-of-town funeral. “It was the perfect storm, no pun intended,” said Fingeroot, who was on the board of trustees for one of the island’s two townships. Left without power for several days, her community’s vulnerability was suddenly thrust in front of her. “What about the elderly who need oxygen? What were they going to do? And are there warming centers?” she recalled worrying. When the emergency diesel generator was finally turned on, it powered only the two main business roads on the north end of the island. Many residents on the island’s southern end had to rely on personal propane generators until the lines were repaired. Both diesel and propane generators are polluting technologies. The generator had been installed after an outage in winter 1999 that lasted over three months. The lake froze over, inhibiting service technicians from reaching the underwater power cable, which had been nicked by a tugboat anchor. The island had expressed interest in exploring renewable energy sources then, but the technologies were new and still expensive, said Beth Croswhite, who has lived on the island for over four decades and served in local government. The 2021 outage, an influx of clean-energy funding under the Biden administration and dramatic decreases in the cost of renewables revived conversations about renewable energy. Beaver Island was one of 12 communities selected to reenvision its energy grid with support from the Department of Energy. Much of the focus in the program so far has been on solar power. The community also was approached by researchers at the University of Michigan seeking to explore wave energy as an additional carbon-free power source. In the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, remote communities are exploring tidal energy as well. Tides — changes in water level caused by the gravitational pull of the sun and moon — are too small in the Great Lakes. But waves, which are caused by strong winds and changes in atmospheric pressure, are abundant in the fall and early winter. Originally from India, Vijayasankar couldn’t believe how much wave activity Lake Michigan had when he first visited in October. “I went (to the shore) during October and there was a crazy amount of waves. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ I was worried that our device might not be able to withstand Lake Michigan,” he said. At the most basic level, a wave energy converter uses the rise and fall of the water to move a motor. That kinetic energy gets run through a generator that converts it to the electric energy needed to power homes and businesses. Wave energy converters are less common than wind turbines and solar panels, largely because of design challenges. One design makes floating buoys that bob up and down with the crest and trough of the waves. Another depends on the crest of the waves to compress air in a chamber, forcing it up through a turbine that spins. Every model comes with pros and cons regarding myriad issues, including but not limited to storm resiliency, energy generation and marine life safety. In the design phase of the Beaver Island project, anticipated to last two years, the university researchers are hosting dinners and creating a survey to ensure their blueprint is accepted by residents. A preliminary survey showed that residents were most concerned about marine life safety, signaling to Vijayasankar that he should nix designs with exposed turbines. Researchers also will have to address resident concerns about the seasonality of waves. They’re typically stronger during the colder months until the lake freezes over. Wave energy likely will be a complement to the solar power Beaver Island is also exploring, Vijayasankar said. There may be lots of waves on stormy days when the sun isn’t shining, for example. Large-scale batteries — which scientists are racing to perfect — could help store excess wave energy produced by passing storm systems for later use. “The end goal is to make us sustainable, and I don’t see us doing it with one thing. I see us doing it with many things,” Fingeroot said. “This wave energy project, there’s certainly an openness to it.”What to know about a Wisconsin man who faked his own death and fled to Eastern Europe

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NASA Leadership to Visit, Strengthen Cooperation with Mexico

Japan to hold first memorial for 'all workers' at Sado gold mines but blurs WWII atrocityU.S. admiral: No signs of North Korean attack plans amid South's political unrestSportscaster Greg Gumbel dies from cancer at age 78

Bitter in-fighting has broken out between the tech billionaire Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s hardline Make America great again (Maga) base after the US president-elect chose an Indian-born entrepreneur to be his adviser on artificial intelligence. The row has pitted Musk and his fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy against diehard supporters including the far-right activist Laura Loomer and Matt Gaetz, the former Congress member and abortive nominee for attorney general. The spat threatens to open up a chasm among Trump’s supporters over immigration, a key issue in his election victory. Presaging what has been called a “Maga civil war”, Musk went on the offensive after Loomer attacked the choice of Sriram Krishnan, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, as the nascent administration’s AI policy adviser as “deeply disturbing”. Loomer, a renowned anti-immigration provocateur widely credited for persuading Trump to highlight false rumors about Haitian immigrants eating pets in last September’s presidential debate with Kamala Harris, criticised Krishnan on social media for supporting the extension of visas and green cards for skilled workers. She said it was in “direct opposition” to Trump’s agenda. Her comments provoked a riposte from Musk, the Space X and Tesla billionaire who is Trump’s most influential supporter and himself an immigrant from South Africa. “There is a permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent. It is the fundamental limiting factor in Silicon Valley,” Musk posted on X, the social media platform he owns, on Christmas Day. In a later post , he wrote: “It comes down to this: do you want America to WIN or do you want America to LOSE. If you force the world’s best talent to play for the other side, America will LOSE. End of story.” Musk’s stance was supported by Ramaswamy, his partner in the fledgling “department of government efficiency” (Doge), an informal agency Trump claims he will create, under which the two men will be charged with the task of cutting government spending. In a lengthy social media post, Ramaswamy – the son of immigrants from India – argued that the US was doomed to decline without high-skilled foreign workers and suggested American culture had become geared towards “mediocrity”. “The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over ‘native’ Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit,” he wrote. “A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. “Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long. That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG. “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers. ‘Normalcy’ doesn’t cut it in a hyper-competitive global market for technical talent. And if we pretend like it does, we’ll have our asses handed to us by China.” The arguments were met by a fierce backlash from Maga exponents, led by Loomer, who delved into racist arguments. “ @VivekGRamaswamy knows that the Great Replacement is real,” she wrote. “It’s not racist against Indians to want the original MAGA policies I voted for. I voted for a reduction in H1B visas. Not an extension. “The tech billionaires don’t get to just walk inside Mar-a-Lago and stroke their massive checkbooks and rewrite our immigration policy so they can have unlimited slave laborers from India and China who never assimilate. “You don’t even know what MAGA immigration policy is.” Ramaswamy’s argument also came under fire from the pro-Trump podcaster Brenden Dilley, who posted: “I always love when these tech bros flat out tell you that they have zero understanding of American culture and then have the gall to tell you that YOU are the problem with America.” And even Nikki Haley, the former Republican presidential contender and Trump critic whose parents were also Indian immigrants, posted: “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture. All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.” The arguments appeared to portend a battle for the ear of Trump, who has based his political appeal on an anti-immigration message and who, during his first presidency, restricted access to the H-1B visas, arguing they were open to abuse. But in his recent presidential campaign, the president-elect indicated that he was open to the legal immigration of educated workers, saying he wanted to grant permanent residence status to foreign nationals who graduate from university in the US. “If you graduate or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country,” he told the All In podcast last June. Samuel Hammond, a senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, said the row flagged up the likelihood of future conflict within Trump’s administration. “It’s a sign of future conflicts,” he told the Washington Post . “This is like the pregame.”Blowout loss to Packers leaves the 49ers on the playoff brinkThe 25-year-old Sweden international took his goal tally for the season to 12 in the 3-0 Boxing Day win over Aston Villa at St James’ Park, 10 of them in his last 10 Premier League games, after a challenging start to the new campaign. Isak managed 25 goals in a black and white shirt last season to further justify the club record £63million the club paid to bring him to Tyneside from Real Sociedad during the summer of 2022, but as delighted as he is with his big-money signing, head coach Howe is confident there is even more to come. Murph 🔗 Alex Isak Different game. Same link up. 💪 pic.twitter.com/OMhZf7dtKZ — Newcastle United (@NUFC) December 27, 2024 Asked where the former AIK Solna frontman currently ranks in world football, he said: “My biggest thing with Alex is I am evaluating his game on a daily and weekly basis and I just want to try to push him for more. “Everyone else can say where he is in the pecking order of world football. His game is in a good place at the moment. “My job is to not sit back and appreciate that, my job is to try and find areas he can improve, push him towards that and never stop pushing him. He has all the ingredients in there. Football never stops evolving and changing and he has to evolve with it. “There is a lot more to come from him. Our job is to help him deliver that. “Of course the main responsibility is for Alex to keep his focus, ignore the plaudits and keep helping the team, not be selfish. It is about Newcastle and he plays his part.” It is no coincidence that Newcastle have prospered as Isak has rediscovered his best form, and they will head for Manchester United – where they have won only once in the top flight since 1972 – on Monday evening looking for a fifth successive win in all competitions. He has scored in each of the last five league games having grown into the mantle of the Magpies’ main man, a role performed with such distinction in the past by the likes of Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald and Alan Shearer, and he has done so with the minimum of fuss. Asked about his character, Howe said: “He is calm, cool – he is what you see on the pitch. “He doesn’t get overly emotional, which for a striker is a great quality because that coolness you see and calmness in front of goal is part of his personality, part of what he is. He seems to have an extra half a second when other players don’t. “With Alex, the beauty of his attitude is that he wants to improve. We give him information and he is responsive. He is not a closed shop. “He is in no way thinking he has arrived at a certain place. He knows he has to keep adding to his game. The challenge is great for him to keep scoring freely as he is now.”

What to know about a Wisconsin man who faked his own death and fled to Eastern Europe

Polite, unmistakably cultured, and endowed with creativity, my London-based friend Achala Sharma becomes uncharacteristically stern when someone refers to the great Indian singer, the late Mohammed Rafi (1924-1980), merely as Rafi. Looking intently into the eyes of the offender, Achala ji, the former chief of Hindi BBC Radio Service, raises a finger and firmly states — her voice gone from supple to steely — “Rafi Saheb, please”. The emphasis upon the suffix leaves no doubt about her reverence for the maestro nor does it permit others to be any less respectful of him. Now, we all know Mohammed Rafi and it is only to check a few boxes of literary formality that I note that he was born in a village near Amritsar, spent a few years of his childhood in Lahore, and at the age of 14 arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai). He gave his first stage performance at age 13, recorded his first song for the Punjabi film, Gul Baloch, at age 20, and got his break in Hindi film industry at the age of 21 with a solo rendering in the 1945 movie Gaon Ki Gori. The rest, as they say, is history. The increasingly popular singer worked with all the great music directors of his time, starting from Shyam Sundar and Husn Lal-Bhagat Ram through Naushad, OP Nayyar, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, Chitragupta and C Ramchandra, to Laxmikanth-Pyarelal, Jaidev, C Arjun and Khayyam. He lent his voice as a playback singer convincingly to actors as diverse as Dilip Kumar and Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and Bhagwan, and Balraj Sahni and Johnny Walker. All in all, he sang about 7,000 songs in 13 Indian and seven foreign languages. He won six Filmfare Awards, one National Award, numerous international prizes and recognitions and was honoured with Padma Shri. To be sure, such exceptional achievement deserves to be celebrated and cherished. However, far more striking than this enviable curriculum vitae is the breathtaking versatility of Mohammed Rafi’s creative praxis. He sang romantic songs, bhajans, qawwalis, comedic numbers, ghazals, semiclassical compositions, laments, “drunk hero” items, and patriotic anthems with comparable gusto and dexterity. His capacity to immerse himself in such broad range of human subjectivity was astonishing and made him stand heads and shoulders above the fellow singers not only of his era but of all times. Bracing for accusations of incompleteness, I list eight emotional experiences that Mohammed Rafi masterfully conveyed through his voice, noting that in each of them he could titrate the expression from subtle through lucid to outspoken. The resulting 24 variations of voice, uncannily, correspond to the date of his birth (December 24,1924)! Romance: From the sublime (Aap ke haseen rukh pe aaj naya noor hai, Bahaarein Phir Bhi Aayengi, 1966) through the impish (O mujhe dekh kar aap ka muskuraana, Ek Musafir, Ek Haseena, 1962) to the audacious (Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra, Kasmir ki Kali, 1964). Separation: From the pleading (O door ke musafir, hum ko bhi saath le le, Uran Khatola, 1955) through the resigned (Chal urh ja re panchhi, Bhabhi, 1957) to the tearjerker (Babul ki duaayein leti ja, Neelkamal, 1968). Heartbreak: From the anguished (Toote huye khwaabon ne hum ko yeh sikhaaya hai, Madhumati, 1958) through the regretful (Main yeh soch kar us ke dar se uthha tha, Haqeeqat, 1964) to the aching (Din dhal jaaye hai, raat na jaaye, Guide, 1965). Humour: From the ironic (Yeh hai Bombay, meri jaan, C.I.D, 1956) through the playful (Sar jo tera chakraaye, Pyaasa, 1957) to the bawdy (Suno suno Miss Chatterjee, mere dil ka matter ji, Howrah Bridge, 1958). Inebriation: From the defiant (Mujhe duniya waalon, sharaabi na samjho, Leader, 1964) through the sorrowful (Mehfil se uthh jaane waalo, tum logon par kya ilzaam, Chhandi ki Deewar, 1964) to the inconsolable (Koi saaghar dil ko behlaata nahin, Dil Diya Dard Liya, 1966). Self-awakening: From the soothing (Jaag dil-e-divaana, Oonche Log, 1965) through the insightful (Aaj puraani raahon se koi mujhe awaaz na de, Dil Diya Dard Liya, 1966) to the outrageous (Yahoo! Chaahey koi mujhe junglee kahe, Junglee, 1961). Religious: From Hindu devotion (Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj, Baiju Bawra, 1952) through Biblio-Islamic liturgy (Parvardigaar-e-aalam, tera hi hai sahaara, Hatim Tai, 1956) to the spiritually transcendent (man re , tu kaahey na dheer dharey, Chitralekha, 1964). Patriotism: From the celebratory (Yeh desh hai veer javaanon ka, Naya Daur, 1957) through the declarative (Apni aazaadi ko hum hargiz mita saktey nahin, Leader, 1964) to the exhortative (Awaaz do hum ek hain, Indian Film Division Documentary, 1962). How to account for such majestic ability of one person to submerge his individuality into so many and so varied affective states that we — all of us — feel it? The only explanation that comes to my mind is that such individual must have been deeply compassionate, empathic, and thus most fundamentally human at his core. This authenticity-universality paradox was evident in his private calm and public celebrity status as well as in his being a deeply patriotic Indian and a genuine world citizen. This last-mentioned dimension brings to my mind a song of Mohammed Rafi that I have not mentioned. Taken from the 1961 movie Mr. India, which I saw with my then 17-year-old brother Javed (Akhtar) in Bhopal’s Laxmi Talkies, the song opens with the following lines: “Mat poochh mera hai kaun vatan aur main kahaan ka hoon/ saara jahaan hai mera, main saarey jahaan ka hoon”. With the song echoing in my mind today, I want to burst out saying: “You are! Indeed, you are, Rafi Saheb”. The deference with which I will utter the word Saheb will surely please my good friend, Achala ji. Salman Akhtar is a US-based psychoanalyst and poet in Urdu. The views expressed are personalHowling winds could not stop Notre Dame Cathedral’s heart from beating again. With three resounding knocks on its doors by Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, wielding a specially designed crosier carved from fire-scorched beams, the monument roared back to life on Saturday evening. For the first time since a devastating blaze nearly destroyed it in 2019, the towering Gothic masterpiece reopened for worship, its rebirth marked by song, prayer, and awe beneath its soaring arches. The ceremony, initially planned to begin on the forecourt, was moved entirely inside due to unusually fierce December winds sweeping across the Ile de la Cite, flanked by the River Seine. Dignitaries including Donald Trump gather to mark the reopening of the landmark cathedral (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP) The restoration, a spectacular achievement in just five years for a structure that took nearly two centuries to build, is seen as a moment of triumph for French President Emmanuel Macron, who championed the ambitious timeline – and a welcome respite from his domestic political woes. The evening’s celebration, attended by 1,500 dignitaries, including President-elect Donald Trump, Britain’s Prince William, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, underscored Notre Dame’s enduring role as both a spiritual and cultural beacon. Observers see the event as Mr Macron’s, and his intention to pivot it into a fully fledged, diplomatic gathering, while highlighting France’s ability to unite on the global stage despite internal political crises. Spectators gather outside Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday (Alessandra Tarantino/AP) Overhead, 2,000 oak beams, nicknamed “the forest”, were used to rebuild the spire and roof, restoring the cathedral’s iconic silhouette. The thunderous great organ, with 7,952 pipes ranging from pen-sized to torso-wide, resounded for the first time since the fire. Its newly renovated console, boasting five keyboards, 115 stops, and 30 foot pedals, was a marvel of restoration, reawakening a cornerstone of Notre Dame’s identity. Firefighters, rescuers and builders involved in the restoration get applause in Notre Dame Cathedral (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP) Guests entered through Notre Dame’s iconic western facade, whose arched portals adorned with biblical carvings were once a visual guide for medieval believers. Inside, the hum of hundreds of guests awaiting the service filled the cathedral with human sounds once more – a stark contrast to the construction din that echoed there for years. The celebration is expected to give a much-needed boost to embattled Mr Macron, whose prime minister was ousted this week, plunging the nation’s politics into more turmoil. Paris’ archbishop Laurent Ulrich knocks on the doors of the cathedral to mark its reopening (Teresa Suarez, Pool via AP) Security will be high through the weekend, echoing measures taken during the Paris Olympics earlier this year. The Ile de la Cite – the small island in the River Seine that is home to Notre Dame and the historic heart of Paris – is closed to tourists and non-residents. Public viewing areas along the Seine’s southern bank will accommodate 40,000 spectators, who can follow the celebrations on large screens. For many, Notre Dame’s rebirth is not just a French achievement but a global one – after the reopening, the cathedral is set to welcome 15 million visitors annually, up from 12 million before the fire.

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. (AP) — For a pair of lower-level downhill events, this sure had plenty of Olympic medal-capturing and World Cup-winning ski racers. The stage belonged to Lindsey Vonn , the 40-year-old who took another step on her comeback trail Saturday with her first races in nearly six years. Vonn wasn't particularly speedy and finished in the middle of the pack on a cold but sunny day at Copper Mountain. Times and places weren't the mission, though, as much as getting used to the speed again and gaining the necessary points to compete on the World Cup circuit this season. Vonn accomplished both, finishing 24th in the first downhill race of the day and 27th in the second. She posted on social media after the FIS races that she had enough points to enter World Cup events. The timing couldn't be more perfect — the next stop on the women's circuit is Beaver Creek, Colorado, in a week. Vonn, who used to own a home in nearby Vail, hasn't committed to any sort of timetable for a World Cup return. “Today was a solid start and I had a blast being in start with my teammates again!” Vonn wrote on X . “While I’m sure people will speculate and say I’m not in top form because of the results, I disagree. This was training for me. I’m still testing equipment and getting back in the groove.” Her competition — a veritable who's who of high-profile ski racers — applauded her efforts. “I don't expect her to come back and win — just that she comes back and she has fun,” said Federica Brignone of Italy, a former overall World Cup champion and three-time Olympic medalist. “She's having fun, and she’s doing what she loves. That’s the best thing that she could do.” In the first race on a frigid morning, Vonn wound up 1.44 seconds behind the winning time of 1 minute, 5.79 seconds posted by Mirjam Puchner of Austria. In her second race through the course later in the morning, Vonn was 1.53 seconds behind Cornelia Huetter of Austria, who finished in 1:05.99. Huetter is the reigning season-long World Cup downhill champion. “It’s really nice to compare with her again, and nice to have her (racing) again,” Huetter said. “For sure, for the skiing World Cup, we have a lot of more attention. It's generally good for all racers because everyone is looking.” Also in the field were Nadia Delago of Italy, who won a bronze medal in downhill at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and Puchner, the Olympic silver winner in super-G in Beijing. In addition, there was Marta Bassino of Italy, a winner of the super-G at the 2023 world championships, and two-time Olympic champion Michelle Gisin of Switzerland. “For me, it was really a training, but it was fun to have a World Cup race level right here,” Gisin said. “It was a crazy race.” Vonn remains a popular figure and took the time after each run to sign autographs for young fans along with posing for photos. When she left the sport, Vonn had 82 World Cup race victories, which stood as the record for a woman and within reach of the all-time Alpine record of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s mark held by Vonn was surpassed in January 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 99 wins — more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport. Shiffrin is currently sidelined after a crash in a giant slalom event in Killington, Vermont , last weekend. Vonn’s last major race was in February 2019, when she finished third in a downhill during the world championships in Sweden. The three-time Olympic medalist left the circuit still near the top of her game. But all the broken arms and legs, concussions and torn knee ligaments took too big a toll and sent her into retirement. She had a partial knee replacement last April and felt good enough to give racing another shot. “It's very impressive to see all the passion that Lindsey still has,” Gisin said. Also racing Saturday was 45-year-old Sarah Schleper, who once competed for the United States but now represents Mexico. Schleper was the next racer behind Vonn and they got a chance to share a moment between a pair of 40-somethings still racing. “I was like, ‘Give me some tips, Lindsey,’” Schleper said. “She’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a highway tuck, the whole thing.’ Then she’s like, ‘It’s just like the good old days.’" ___ AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing Pat Graham, The Associated PressPositive impact of the FIFA World Cup Qatar highlighted in Riyadh

The Princess of Wales and family during the Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in London (Image: PA) Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice The Prince and Princess of Wales shared a new video following the fourth Christmas carol concert hosted by Kate Middleton on Friday. The Duchess of Cambridge looked radiant as she attended the annual event in London, which has become a key fixture in the Royal calendar. This year was particularly important for the future Queen, who is gradually adjusting to royal life after a challenging year due to her cancer diagnosis in March. Kate was accompanied by her family, including Prince William and their three children, Prince George , Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis . Another 22 members of the royal family and Middleton family attended. After the festive service, which honoured those who have supported others, the Prince and Princess took to social media to share their gratitude to everyone who attended alongside a heart-warming video of the evening. The footage featured snippets from the night, including Kate interacting with guests and strolling around the abbey with her family. The Christmas trees of Westminster were in full display, while another video showed the children of Wales leaving their messages on a 'kindness tree'. The post was captioned by William and Kate: "A wonderful time spent together with friends, family and those who make a real difference to the people around them. This year's Together at Christmas Carol Service celebrated individuals who have inspired, counselled, comforted, and above all else shown that love is the greatest gift we can receive. Thank you for all you do! " This marks the fourth occasion the princess has hosted her event at Westminster Abbey to celebrate people's positive qualities and spread festive joy. Celebrity performers included Faith, Richard E Grant and Gregory Porter, with Sir Chris Hoy delivering a reading for the 1,600 guests who have supported others, assisted people through their work or volunteered. Before the concert, the Princess of Wales spoke about "challenging times" and how she "didn't know" what this year would bring, reports the Express . Broadcast footage captured Kate telling Paloma Faith: "I didn't know this year was going to be the year I've just had. Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow CambridgeLive Facebook Twitter Comment More On Christmas Kate Middleton Prince William Prince George Prince Louis Princess Charlotte

Social media pays tribute to legendary CBS sports anchor Greg Gumbel, who died at 78Boston's Jaylen Brown throws shade at Timberwolves TV broadcast