The 10 most important things in the world right now

Reuters/Denis Balibouse

A ferry crosses Lake Geneva near Lausanne, Switzerland December 16, 2015.

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

1. Stocks soared after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in nine years and gave an upbeat assessment of how the US economy is doing.

2. Destroying ISIS is job number one for President Obama and most Americans. But is the United States military set up to do it? Not according to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, America's top military officer.

3. Google is going to war with Uber after turning its self-driving-cars unit into a standalone business. Google's autonomous cars will offer "rides for hire," according to Bloomberg.

4. A fisherman who survived for 14 months at sea is being sued for $1 million (£650,000) by relatives of his dead colleague, who accuse him of eating their relative to survive.

5. The United States has ramped up pressure on Turkey to pull unauthorised troops from Iraq, aiming to defuse a dispute that has rankled relations between two countries central to the fight against ISIS.

6. The Obama administration formally notified Congress on Wednesday of a $1.83 billion arms sale package for Taiwan, including two frigates, anti-tank missiles, amphibious assault vehicles and other equipment, drawing an angry response from China.

7. A security guard was arrested for stealing $5 million in diamonds from a New York jeweler after a construction worker accidentally threw the precious stones in the trash, police said.

8. Another Apple supplier is implying that the iPhone may have lower-than-expected sales in the current quarter.

9. Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who opened fire on a holiday party in San Bernardino, California, earlier this month, have been buried Tuesday in a quiet, graveside funeral guarded by FBI agents.

10. Popular ad blocker Adblock Plus has revealed for the first time exactly how it makes is money. The Adblock Plus revenue model has long been a contentious one.

And finally ... We asked our readers for their wildest stories of office holiday parties past. Here are some of the funniest.