The 10 most important things in the world right now

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People dressed as Santa gather on Queens Wharf before the annual KidsCan Santa Fun Run on December 2, 2015 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Good morning! Here's what you need to know on Thursday.

1. The British parliament has voted in favour of launching air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria after over 10 hours of debate in the House of Commons. 4 RAF Tornado jets based in Cyprus carried out strikes soon after the vote was announced.

2. At least 14 people are dead after a shooting in San Bernardino, California - about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The shooting happened at the Inland Regional Center, a county agency that provides services to the disabled.

3. President Barack Obama said the mass shooting in San Bernardino, is part of a deadly "pattern" of gun violence that has "no parallel in the world."

4. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday, and analysts are expecting a major announcement. ECB President Mario Draghi recently hinted that there was going to be more monetary easing in the very near future.

5. Alphabet Inc's YouTube is aiming to get rights for streaming TV series and movies for its $9.99-a-month subscription service as it tries to step up competition against rivals such as Netflix and Amazon.

6. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been criticised in some quarters after he announced that he would be giving away 99% of his Facebook stock to "advancing human potential and promoting equality."

7. Yahoo's board of directors finished its first of three days of meetings on Wednesday without reaching a decision on whether to press ahead with the planned spinoff of its stake in Chinese ecommerce company Alibaba.

8. Spain, long concerned about its aging population and emptying countryside, passed a milestone in population decline on Wednesday when it recorded more deaths than births in the first half of this year.

9. Uber is understood to be testing a new colour-coding system to make sure you know exactly which car is yours.

10. Germany's state intelligence agency says competition for influence inside the Saudi Arabian royal family is destabilising the Middle East.

And finally ... Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn has won global praise for his powerful and moving speech at the end of Wednesday's debate on whether to launch air strikes in Syria.