DAILY NEWS Stream – January 7, 2026

Oats provide superior gut health and sustained energy. A feature in Plant Based News highlights seven vegan breakfast ideas, emphasizing versatility and cold weather comfort. These fiber-rich recipes prioritize easy preparation and long-lasting satiety. They are: 1. Blueberry and oat breakfast cookies 2. Pumpkin granola 3. Banana, walnut, and chocolate porridge with nutty drizzle 4. Double chocolate overnight oats 5. Oatmeal cookie granola 6. Apple pie overnight oats 7. Gluten-free mini oat pancakes (Plant Based News)

The United Arab Emirates reiterates its commitment to de-escalation in Yemen, emphasizing support for stability and avoidance of further tensions (Yemen Online)

The European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) causes severe delays for British travelers as biometric checks malfunction and airports struggle with capacity. Portugal suspends EES at Lisbon airport after six-hour queues, while Málaga [Spain] and other major hubs experience broken kiosks, overcrowding, and safety concerns (inews)

The Taiwan Banana Research Institute in Taiwan (Formosa) develops TC9, a banana variety designed to resist Panama disease, addressing one of the world’s most destructive banana crop threats (Taipei Times)

Hong Kong expands smoke-free zones to within three meters of childcare centers, nursing homes, schools, and hospitals starting January 1, 2026, and doubles fines to around US$386 (Tin tức)

Sideways walking activates hip muscles neglected during regular walking with research showing just six weeks of the exercise significantly enhances stability and reduces fall risks in seniors (Thanh Niên)

A UK study of over 150,000 adults finds women eating four or more fruit portions daily suffered smaller lung function declines from PM2.5 air pollution [compared to those who ate less] with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds protecting lung tissue (Plant Based News)

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes southern and central Mexico, killing two people and injuring 12 others while causing moderate damage and landslides (BBC)

Extreme heat and drought devastate Jordan’s olive sector with farmers reporting the weakest season in 40 years after temperatures ran 10-15 degrees Celsius above average in 2025 destroying around 70% of the crop (The Guardian)

Exceptional drought spreads across Colorado’s Western Slope [US] with December 2025 among hottest on record and the state-wide snowpack at 59% of median, threatening water supplies and winter recreation (The Aspen Times)

Floods worsen in Malaysia, with over 1,500 evacuated across the states of Sarawak, Johor, and Pahang. Johor’s Muar River exceeds danger levels and risks overflowing and in Terengganu, tidal surges may reach 3.5 meters (VOV)

San Diego [California, US] receives a month’s worth of rain in hours, flooding streets and stranding cars, with rescue teams saving multiple people trapped in vehicles and a creek (Times Now)

According to a newly published study, coral reefs regulate daily cycles of surrounding microbes, including bacteria and microalgae. Tracking these rhythms can provide early warning signs of reef stress from warming seas, pollution or coral bleaching (Báo Tin tức)

UK vet Professor Andrew Knight (vegan) urges extending Veganuary to dog- and cat-people with properly formulated vegan diets which will reduce obesity, allergies, and digestive issues (Jacksonville.com)

The world’s biggest app dedicated to helping users find vegan and vegetarian food, HappyCow, crowns Spanish vegan café Asante in Barcelona the world’s best vegan restaurant for 2025 based on millions of user reviews praising its realistic vegan eggs (Plant Based News)

Australia commits US$250,000 through non-profit Oxfam in Cambodia to aid displaced communities with water, sanitation, food, and shelter amid the recent border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand (Khmer Times)

India displays over 300 precious stones and jewelry buried with the relics of the Worshipped Shakyamuni Buddha (vegan) in Piprahwa [Uttar Pradesh, India] that were unearthed in 1898 and subsequently taken abroad and only recently repatriated (VnExpress)

Stray Rescue of St. Louis [Missouri, US] rescues dog-person named Wallace shot four times on New Year’s Eve and recovering with his gentle temperament intact (People)

Enlightening quote of the day: “A finger points at the Moon, but the Moon is not at the tip of the finger. Words point at the truth, but the truth is not in words.” – The Venerated Enlightened Master His Holiness the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng (vegan)

I became very fearful, and I wanted so badly to ask somebody to hold my hand. And I waited for death. American engineer and former atheist Jose Hernandez shares how a sudden accident led to an experience that reshaped how he understands life, death, and connection. Jose was working as an electrical engineer, running lines from a bucket truck. Running late, he and his partner decided Jose would stay up in the bucket to save time. His partner, worried about electrocution, was looking up when he bumped a tree. Jose hit the bucket and broke all his ribs on his right side. At the emergency room, Jose struggled to breathe. When the nurse came, she immediately hit the code blue [life-threatening medical emergency].

I started to feel, “What if this is real? What’s going to happen to my family?” I started thinking about God. “You know what, if You get me through this event, I will change; I’ll be a better person.” I’m waiting, nothing happens, and then I felt this sense of anger, like, “I knew He wasn’t real.” And then I got this tremendous sense of fear, because I thought when I die, there’s nowhere for me to go. I didn’t believe in anything, that I would just be shut off like a light bulb and turn into nothingness. So I became very fearful, and I wanted so badly to ask somebody to hold my hand. And then I started thinking, “Well, I can’t ask for help because my father would be ashamed of me,” because I’m supposed to be tough, I’ve got to tough this out. So I stiffened, and I waited for death.

I looked at the wallpaper, and I’ll never forget this because my eyes were so acute that I could see the grain in the wallpaper, and there’s this sense of wonder happening within me at the same time as I know I’m dying and I’m scared — terrified might be a better word. And then I noticed this shadow by the door, and it just stood there. And then I started thinking, “You know what, I’ve had such a hard and difficult life, maybe it’s OK to kind of let go. Maybe there’s no shame in this. I’m not quitting, I’m not giving up, I’m just realizing that there’s nothing I could do to stem this chain of events.” I kind of said, “It’s okay, it’s OK to die.” And the minute I said that, or thought that, this shadow just moved, and it moved around everybody in that room, and in my mind I could see its hand reaching out to me, and it touched my toe. And the minute it touched my toe, I felt this tremendous sense of relief, and relaxation, and peace, and love, and calm. And I wasn’t struggling to breathe anymore. I was in bliss, and I felt this breeze — this really warm breeze — just blowing, and I visualized, because I’ve got long hair, I’m thinking, “Wow, my hair must be blowing in the breeze, this is kind of amazing!” And then I felt myself being lifted, lifted until I found myself in the corner of the room.

Jose describes watching the CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) team working on his body below. I looked at myself and I said, “That’s me, and I’m dead, but if that’s me, then who am I?” And then I heard this voice right next to me say, “Think of your body as a car, and that car has like 5 million miles on it and there’s nothing we could do to fix it anymore, so you have to now say goodbye to your body.” For the first time in my life I loved and appreciated who I was and who I’d been, and I was so grateful for that body — that vessel — for giving me the opportunity to live the life that I lived. And I started to get these memories of what I call everyday benign things: somebody smiling, my little brother, me holding his hand, a kiss, simple things — a child looking at you with this amazing love in their eyes, your children. Because those are things that happen every day — just taking in a breath of air, how insane and how amazing that is, right? So I had this insane appreciation for who I had been and who I was.

The presence told Jose it was time to move on. They walked toward a vast dark opening. When I hit the bottom, the first thing I saw was this massive color, and the color was just moving, and it had so much life in it that I became instantly amazed. This color was alive! It was living, and it was moving, and it was talking to me — talking to me like millions of voices, but somehow there was some kind of comprehension. And then it opened up, and I saw this amazing forest. I saw this amazing vista. And I’m realizing that I’m flying, so I said, “Oh my gosh, I’m flying!” and I heard this voice say to me, “That’s normal here.”

Jose worried about his children. I said, “What’s going to happen to my kids?” and that voice said to me, “Don’t worry, you can see them from here,” and when I heard that, that was the most amazing thing I had ever heard. And I started flying, moving over this landscape and looking down and feeling an amazing sense of peace and calm and tranquility that comes with it, and this deep sense of love. And I looked down, and I saw this amazing cove, and I saw a beach, and I saw a man in the water — he’s knee-deep in the water — and he’s got six children holding on to his right hand in a string, in a line, and one child on his left hand. Jose flew down to see. The man turned around — it was his father.

Me and my father had a very, very hard relationship. We used to bump heads tremendously, and he used to drink, and he was quite abusive. And his ways were very strict, so we couldn’t hug — that wasn’t what men do. He had this image of men being empty, without a soul, without feelings, without… Wow, what an opportunity to say to my father what I could never say to him in life. And so we had this exchange that was very emotional to me, but I understood that he loved me, and I think he understood that I loved him. So it kind of reunited us in a strange way. Not only did we meet there, but from a more spiritual perspective, we became one. Anyway, after all this amazing time, he looks at me, and he says, “Look, you have to go back.” I’m looking at him, and I said, “I don’t think so, I really like it here.” He’s like, “No, you’ve got to go back, it’s not your time.”

Then I felt this tugging — like in my chest but coming from my back — and I started being pulled, and I went back into my body. I opened my eyes, and the doctor that was doing CPR, she kind of got surprised, and she lifted her head back a little, and then I went right back to my father, and I was in this space again. He said to me, “Look, when it’s your time, I promise I will come and get you.” How could I say no? And so I accepted that, and I went back. Jose returned to his body carrying the certainty that death was not an ending.