- PoliticsBloomberg
Cohen Reiterates That Trump Directed Hush Payments to Women
Michael D. Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, re-asserted Friday that it was Trump who directed him to make hush-money payments to two women claiming affairs with the then-candidate and that it was done to avoid any negative fallout for the 2016 campaign. In an interview with ABC News -- Cohen’s first since he was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for a host of crimes including those payments -- he rebuffed Trump’s assertions that he had acted on his own and that Trump had relied on him as a lawyer to say if something was illegal. Cohen insisted Trump acted knowingly.
WorldAssociated PressThe Latest: Italian journalist among the dead in Strasbourg
Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte says a young Italian journalist who was badly wounded in the Strasbourg Christmas market attack has died. French President Emmanuel Macron says authorities are working to clarify how the suspect in the Strasbourg Christmas market attack was not stopped before he could act. Cherif Chekatt had been on a French intelligence watch list for radicalism before he allegedly killed four people and wounded several others in Tuesday's attack.
- WorldReuters
U.S.-backed Syrian forces close to seizing town from Islamic State: spokeswoman
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces will soon seize the town of Hajin from Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria near the Iraqi border, a spokeswoman said on Friday. Hajin is the last big town Islamic State holds in its remaining enclave east of the Euphrates River. The SDF, spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG militia, has battled to eliminate the jihadists there for several months.
- NewsHuffPost
Pacific Life Yanks Ads After Tucker Carlson's Dig That Immigrants Make U.S. 'Dirtier'
Prominent insurance company Pacific Life has pulled its commercials from Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program because of his controversial comments that immigrants are making America “dirtier. A company statement posted on Twitter noted: “We strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements. Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Egypt unearths tomb of ancient high priest
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a priest dating back more than 4,400 years in the pyramid complex of Saqqara south of the capital Cairo, authorities said Saturday. "Today we are announcing the last discovery of the year 2018, it's a new discovery, it's a private tomb," Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told an audience of invited guests including reporters. "It is exceptionally well preserved, coloured, with sculpture inside.
- NewsUSA TODAY
Death penalty sentences, executions remained at near-record lows in 2018
WASHINGTON – After two decades of decline, the death penalty in America has reached a holding pattern. The numbers of prisoners on death row, new death sentences and executions remained low by historical standards in 2018, according to data released Friday by the Death Penalty Information Center. At the same time, the report shows slight upticks in death sentences and executions for the second consecutive year.
- NewsThe Independent
Man who sexually assaulted woman on flight while she slept is jailed for nine years
Prabhu Ramamoorthy, 34, was also sitting next to his wife on the overnight flight in January. Ramamoorthy had molested the victim while unbuttoning her blouse and unzipping her trousers as she slept. Prosecutors asked the court for a sentence of nearly 11 years but James Amberg, Ramamoorthy’s defence lawyer, had asked the court for a sentence of less than 10 years.
- BusinessCar and Driver
Infiniti's Next Concept Car Previews a New All-Electric Crossover
UPDATE 12/14/18: Infiniti has officially announced that a new all-electric crossover will join its lineup and that it will preview the new model with a concept car at the Detroit auto show in January. Like Infiniti hinted to C/D before, this new model's design will be inspired by the original FX crossover, and the teaser photo above bears this out given what we can see of the concept car's sporty silhouette. This concept will also debut a new EV platform for the luxury brand; stay tuned to hear more about the battery technology and electric motors that this new Infiniti EV will use.
- WorldBloomberg
Qatar Ruler Says Talks With Saudi Begin Only When Embargo Lifted
“Our position on the solution hasn’t changed,” Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said at a conference in Doha on Saturday. Last week, Sheikh Tamim spurned an invitation from Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to attend a gathering of Gulf monarchies, which was seen as a sign of thawing relations after 18 months of Qatar’s boycott by the kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. The overture came as Saudi Arabia sought to defuse pressure over the killing of a vocal critic in Istanbul.
- PoliticsYahoo News
Mick Mulvaney will be just the acting chief of staff 'because that's what the president wants,' White House says
WASHINGTON — A senior Trump administration official told reporters on Friday that the president had decided to give his new pick for chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, an interim title. The official spoke to reporters minutes after President Trump announced on Twitter that Mulvaney, his current budget director, would be the new “acting White House chief of staff.” Despite the “acting” designation, Mulvaney’s appointment is not limited in scope and will include all of the responsibilities of a position that is widely considered one of the most powerful in the White House, the official said. “He got picked because the president liked him.
NewsAssociated PressDeath row inmate seeks execution; judge to decide competency
A Mississippi judge will decide whether a death row inmate who says he wants to be executed is mentally competent to waive all his appeals. The state Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the examination in the case of David Cox. Cox wrote to Mississippi Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. in August saying he wanted to fire his lawyers, give up all his appeals and have the state Supreme Court set his execution date.
WorldReutersEU's Tusk says no more Brexit negotiations
European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday he had no mandate to reopen Brexit negotiations with Britain, while the head of the bloc's executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, said he "admired" Prime Minister Theresa May. Tusk and Juncker were speaking at a news conference after two days of talks at an EU summit that were dominated by the issue of Brexit and saw the other 27 national leaders of the bloc offer May only vague assurances over their Brexit deal. quot;I have no mandate to organize any further negotiations.
- U.S.WXIN - Indianapolis
Superintendent Praises Response of Students, Staff Day After Shooting at Indiana School
The superintendent of Richmond Schools said students and staff at Dennis Intermediate School did everything they`d been trained to do during a school shooting.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Isil defeated in its last Syrian town as jihadists mount final stand
The last Syrian town under the control of Islamic State fell on Friday, marking a defeat for the jihadists which will prove difficult to come back from. The flag of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US and UK-backed fighters battling Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), was erected in the central square in Hajin, eastern Deir Ezzor province. The Kurdish-dominated SDF faced one of their toughest battles in the war against Isil in Hajin, a nondescript town which had become the site of Isil’s last major stand in Syria.
- NewsHuffPost
6 Sandy Hook Survivors On Healing, Faith And Forgiveness, 6 Years Later
Dec. 14, 2018, marks six years since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7, as well as six adult staff members, were killed. The following narratives, written by survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting and excerpted from the book If I Don’t Make It, I Love You (Skyhorse, 2019), provide intimate accounts of the transformative nature of trauma in the aftermath of a school shooting. The survivors here illustrate how they’ve practiced healing, forgiveness and faith in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.
- BusinessUSA TODAY
Thousands of Ohio schoolkids plead with GM CEO Mary Barra to keep Chevy Cruze plant open
Schoolchildren near Lordstown, Ohio, are sending "thousands" of letters and drawings to General Motors CEO Mary Barra stating their Christmas wish is for her to keep the GM factory there operating. The handwritten missives from 20 school districts in the Mahoning Valley area were expected to be mailed to GM on Friday. Many plead with Barra to give Lordstown a new vehicle to build so it can remain operating and save the 1,600 jobs there.
- LifestyleArchitectural Digest
7 Incredible Suites at Europe’s Top Ski Resorts
From historic to simply splendorous, we’ve rounded up the best European ski suites for your next trip to the slopes
NewsAssociated PressFlorida tale of infidelity and homicide ends with conviction
Jurors found Denise Williams guilty of three counts including first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for her role in a case that has recalled the plot of the Hollywood film classic "Double Indemnity." The 48-year-old Williams was found guilty after testimony by a key witness, the man who shot her husband Mike Williams on a cold December morning on a large lake west of Tallahassee. Denise Williams, who could spend the rest of her life in prison, is to be sentenced at an unspecified date next year. Mike Williams disappeared nearly 18 years ago to the date of his wife's conviction.
- PoliticsBloomberg
Mueller Probe Has Cost Some $25 Million, Justice Department Says
Mueller spent about $4.6 million from April to September of this year, according to his most recent statement of expenditures released on Friday. Mueller previously reported that Justice Department units spent $9 million from the investigation’s start in May 2017 through March 2018, compared with $7.7 million spent by his own team. Most of the money spent by Mueller in the latest period -- about $2.9 million -- went for personnel, with the rest going to travel, office space and contracting services, the Justice Department said.
WorldAssociated PressRussian Orthodox church calls on UN for help in Ukraine
The Russian Orthodox Church on Friday called on the United Nations, the leaders of Germany and France, the pope and other spiritual leaders to protect believers in Ukraine in the face of pressure on Moscow-affiliated clerics. Ukraine's Orthodox clerics will gather for a meeting Saturday that is expected to form a new, independent Ukrainian church, and Ukrainian authorities have ramped up pressure on priests to support the move. The Ukrainian church has been part of the Russian Church for centuries, while enjoying broad autonomy, but Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has pushed for the creation of an independent church.
WorldReutersBrazil take first step in program to join nuclear-powered sub club
Brazil on Friday launched the first of five attack submarines built with French technology in a 35 billion-real ($8.9 billion) program planned to end in 2029 with delivery of a nuclear-powered submarine. President Michel Temer and his right-wing successor, President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, both pressed the button that lowered into the sea the 1,700-ton submarine named Riachuelo at a Rio de Janeiro naval base. Temer's wife, Marcela, had christened the vessel, by smashing a champagne bottle against its hull.
- StyleArchitectural Digest
Shamir Shah Creates a Serene Model Unit With Global References at the Kent
Quiet beauty reigns supreme in this Upper East Side project
WorldAFPYemenis fear collapse of UN-backed ceasefire accord
Residents of Yemen's flashpoint port of Hodeida and other cities fear a UN-brokered ceasefire could collapse at any moment, saying that after four years of conflict any accord is deeply fragile. On Friday morning, a day after the breakthrough agreement was penned in Sweden by representatives of the Yemeni government and the Huthi Shiite rebels, many held their breath. The Red Sea port of Hodeida, a main frontline between rebels and loyalist forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition and a key conduit of aid, had woken to calm after weeks of confrontation.
- BusinessHuffPost
Our Plastic Addiction Has Reached A New Crisis Level
In truth, there are few good plastics alternatives that work on a large scale, and the systems of collecting, sorting and recycling plastic need huge investment and reform. What if plastic trash could just disappear? The discovery was a breakthrough: Given the volume of plastic trash we’re dealing with, we need speed and scale to make a dent in the problem.
PoliticsUSA TODAYJon Kyl will resign from Senate on Dec. 31, setting up another appointment by Ducey to McCain's seat
Sen. Jon Kyl will resign from the U.S. Senate on Dec. 31, setting up a second appointment by Gov. Doug Ducey to the seat once occupied by the late John McCain, The Arizona Republic has confirmed. Ducey is required under law to name another Republican to the seat. Kyl wrote a letter dated Dec. 12 to Ducey, informing him of his resignation.
