The Short List: 'Affluenza' teen and mom; Asia's refugee crisis; your $400 New Year's at Olive Garden

Editors | USA TODAY

Texas welcomes return of world's most notorious 'affluenza' survivor

Tonya Couch's trip to Mexico with son Ethan was anything but a mother-son holiday getaway. Her shorter hair wasn't just a new 'do. Ethan's dark-brown dye job was no trip to Sports Clips. Mom and son had been on the lam, and their capture in Puerto Vallarta ended an international manhunt for Ethan, who was wanted for violating his 10 years' probation. Ethan, now 18, was found responsible for a drunken-driving crash that killed four people in 2013. He was sentenced to probation after his defense team claimed the then-16-year-old suffered from "affluenza," a condition contracted from coddling parents that leaves its victims without any sense of consequence. When Mexico returns the Couches to the USA, prosecutors say, mom Tonya will face charges of hindering apprehension because she planned the escape — which was complete with a going-away party.

DA wants 'affluenza' teen to face adult court Tarrant County Attorney General Sharen Wilson explained why she and prosecutors will seek to transfer Ethan Couch's probation from juvenile to adult court at a hearing scheduled for January.

It's the 'other' refugee crisis you haven't heard about

A new "sailing season" is beginning in Southeast Asia. The phrase sounds benign — like a nice day on the water. It's so not that. As the monsoon season passes and the sea calms, tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar make a grim decision to sail eastward on boats run by smuggling syndicates. Their goal: securing work in Thailand or Malaysia. Many die at sea. Those who don't are often swept into human-trafficking rings infamous for rape, extortion and burying those who can’t pay ransoms in jungle graves. As the West copes with a highly politicized influx of families fleeing Syria and Iraq, this lesser-known Asian crisis still simmers.

For $400, you can enjoy ringing in the New Year ... at Olive Garden

But not just any Olive Garden. It's the Olive Garden in Times Square, and for $400, you get drinks, a DJ and food. (We hope there are breadsticks. Lots of breadsticks. Mmmm.) While some may shake their head at the idea of spending $400 to ring in the New Year at Olive Garden, others think the price tag isn't so bad. Maybe easy access to a bathroom and an open bar is worth it. Can't digest spending that cash? Here are some other weird things that drop at midnight.

Weird things cities drop at midnight in honor of New Year Times Square has the ball to drop when the clock strikes midnight, but not all cities are so lucky. In lieu of NYC's signature holiday staple, other cities have gotten creative to honor the new year! Keleigh Nealon (@keleighnealon) has the story!

Apparently a hoverboard ruined Russell Crowe's holiday travel

We knew not to bring our hoverboards to the airport. Some people didn't get the memo, and they aren't happy about the ban on flying with the devices. By "some people" we mean Russell Crowe. The actor (who is not shy about things that make him unhappy) took to Twitter after he showed up at the airport and found out he couldn't bring along his hoverboard. Virgin Australia's response? We say it was pretty reasonable. Crowe? Still pretty unhappy. What's clear: Hoverboards are causing damage all over the place. They must be stopped.

@russellcrowe Hi Russell, due to safety concerns over the lithium ion batteries in hoverboards, these have been banned on all major... 1/3 — Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) December 29, 2015

Couple clones beloved dog, gets double what they paid for

Talk about puppy love. A British couple are now the happy parents to not just one, but two clones of deceased canine pal Dylan. Laura Jacques, 29, and Richard Remde, 43, of Yorkshire, England, welcomed the second pup — Shadow — to the world Sunday, a day after they filmed the first moments in the life of clone No. 1, Chance. It didn't come cheap: The couple doled out $100,000 to a South Korean tech company for the pups. Not everyone's thrilled about the new little yappers, reports USA TODAY Network's Mary Bowerman. There are no regulations on cloning pets, but the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told The Guardian the practice is "concerning." Puppy love, indeed.

If you only read one thing tonight: An incredible story. Brothers Aaron Arnold and Kenneth Catlett were reunited when Catlett was asked to counsel Arnold on his upcoming heart transplant ... the same procedure that Catlett had one year earlier. They hadn't seen each other in 20 years.

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Extra bites:

2015 is almost over. Ah, the memories. Got a great shot? Share it with #YourTake2015. Swipe through some great images in this gallery.

Today in social experiments: "If you were handed $1,100 a month, would you amount to anything?" So asks the Los Angeles Times in a Sunday headline atop a piece about a unique experiment underway in Germany.

Lemmy Kilmister, the founding member and frontman of Motörhead, and a leading figure in hard rock's resurgence in the late '70s and its endurance since, died of cancer.

Have you seen it? Photos of the University of South Dakota's new billboard popped up across social media over the weekend. And their (sic) not the most flattering.

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This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY.

Contributing: Kelly Lawler, Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY; Mary Bowerman, USA TODAY Network; Jim Douglas, Lauren Zakalik and Todd Unger, WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth; Thomas Maresca, Special for USA TODAY; Patrick Winn, GlobalPost