6, including a child, injured in SPID crash near Sunrise Mall; driver facing charges

AFP
The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses
Saydnaya prison north of the Syrian capital Damascus has become a symbol of the inhumane abuses of the Assad clan, especially since the country's civil war erupted in 2011. When Syrian rebels entered Damascus early last month after a lightning advance that toppled the Assad government, they announced they had seized Saydnaya and freed its inmates.
Reuters
New top US Senate Republican John Thune steps up as Trump returns
Incoming U.S. Senate Republican leader John Thune faces the test of his career this year as he tries to steer Donald Trump's agenda through a narrowly divided Congress while protecting his own chamber's authority over Cabinet picks and spending. A 20-year Senate veteran, Thune is expected to be elected Senate majority leader on Friday. Thune, a 63-year-old South Dakotan, will have to maintain a positive relationship with a sometimes petulant and unpredictable Trump, who once sought his ouster and who has displayed little interest in the Senate's role as a check on executive power.
Reuters
US FAA will maintain enhanced oversight of Boeing after door panel incident
The Federal Aviation Administration's tougher oversight of Boeing will continue indefinitely, the agency's outgoing head said on Friday, nearly a year after a door panel missing four key bolts flew off a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 in mid-air. The Jan. 5, 2024 incident prompted FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker to cap production at 38 737 MAX planes per month and temporarily ground 170 airplanes. The incident exposed serious safety issues at the U.S. planemaker and contributed to the departure of its then-CEO Dave Calhoun.
Reuters
Judge to weigh holding Giuliani in contempt in Georgia election workers case
A Manhattan federal judge will consider on Friday a request by two Georgia election workers to hold former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in civil contempt for refusing to turn over property as payment toward a $148 million defamation award. The election workers, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Moss, sued Giuliani in 2021, accusing the former personal lawyer to Republican President-elect Donald Trump of destroying their reputations by lying that they tried to help steal the 2020 U.S. presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden. Two years later, Giuliani conceded he made defamatory statements about them, and a judge ruled he was liable for defamation as a sanction against him for failing to turn over electronic records to Moss and Freeman.
Yahoo Finance
Trump eases up on China
Trump now opposes the TikTok ban he once tried to enact and is softening on China in other ways.
Yahoo Finance
Tesla's 'day job' still matters even if its 2025 story is about something more: Morning Brief
Tesla stock fell 6% Monday after its quarterly deliveries disappointed investors — and showed a year-over-year decline. A reminder that the company's job of selling cars still matters.
CBS News
New Orleans attacker posted videos declaring support for ISIS, FBI says
One day after a man drove a truck into New Year's revelers on Bourbon Street, the FBI says he likely did not have accomplices.
Associated Press
Trump's strength and unpredictability can help end the war with Russia, Ukraine's president says
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is “strong and unpredictable,” and those qualities can be a decisive factor in his policy approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “The ‘hot’ stage of the war can end quite quickly, if Trump is strong in his position,” Zelensky said in a Ukrainian television interview late Thursday, referring to fighting on the battlefield.
AFP
Top European diplomats urge inclusive transition in Syria visit
The European Union backs a peaceful, inclusive transition in Syria, top French and German diplomats said Friday as they visited Damascus to meet with new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were in the Syrian capital for talks on behalf of the European Union, in the highest-level visit by major Western powers since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.
AFP
South Korean investigators abandon arrest of President Yoon
South Korean investigators abandoned their attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence on Friday over a failed martial law bid, citing safety concerns after a standoff with his security team."Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff," the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), probing Yoon over his martial law decree, said in a statement.
USA TODAY
DC officials brace for high-profile events for Congress vote, Trump inauguration
D.C. officials are tightening security amid the election certification, events honoring Jimmy Carter and President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
CNN
Barricades were supposed to keep Bourbon Street revelers safe. Here’s why they didn’t
Witnesses to the New Year’s truck-ramming in New Orleans this week say barriers that could have prevented the suspect from driving down Bourbon Street were not deployed, …
AFP
UK electricity cleanest on record in 2024: study
Britain produced its cleanest electricity on record last year with output of fossil fuels at an all-time low and renewables reaching a record-high, a study has showed.Britain has spearheaded a push into low-carbon energy also as part of its strategy to combat sky-high domestic electricity and gas bills, which rocketed after key producer Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022 and sparked a cost-of-living crisis.
Associated Press
Talks on a new 3-party Austrian government collapse as the smallest party pulls out
Talks on forming a new three-party government in Austria collapsed Friday as the smallest of the prospective coalition partners pulled the plug on the negotiations. The talks had dragged on since Austria's president tasked conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer in October with putting together a new government. Nehammer has been trying to assemble a coalition of his Austrian People's Party with the center-left Social Democrats and the liberal Neos party.
CNN
South Korean investigators suspend efforts to detain president after dramatic standoff
South Korean investigators have suspended efforts to enforce an arrest warrant for embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, hours into a standoff in which authorities tried to detain the leader following his short-lived martial law declaration.
USA TODAY
Could House Speaker Mike Johnson lose his job on Friday? Pivotal House vote looms.
At least one Republican has said he won't vote for Johnson, leaving no room for error in Friday's vote.
USA TODAY
Big policies, small margins and a Trump wildcard: What to expect from the new Congress
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to throw his weight around to get things done on the Hill.
Reuters
Ghana's parliament passes provisional budget, averts government shutdown
Ghana's parliament has passed a provisional budget that allows the government to spend 68.1 billion Ghanaian cedis ($4.65 billion) through March, the chamber's speaker said, narrowly averting an unprecedented government shutdown. Parliamentary Speaker Alban Bagbin said the parliament had approved the provisional budget in a sitting that stretched deep into Thursday night. John Dramani Mahama is set to take office as the West African country's president next week after winning a Dec. 7 election, staging a political comeback after serving as Ghana's president from 2012 to 2016.
Associated Press
Biden will award the Medal of Honor and Medal of Valor to military heroes and first responders
Bruno R. Orig was returning from a mission when he found his fellow soldiers under attack in what's now known as the Battle of Chipyong-ni. The infantryman provided first aid to his comrades wounded in the Korean War attack and began helping move those men to safety. When the ground was recaptured later that day, Orig was found dead beside the machine gun, surrounded by enemy combatants he had killed.
CNN
What you need to know about the House speaker election
The 119th Congress will begin on Friday, ushering in a new era of Republican control in Washington that will start with a high-stakes leadership fight to pick the next House speaker.

6, including a child, injured in SPID crash near Sunrise Mall; driver facing charges

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Latest Stories

The horror of Saydnaya jail, symbol of Assad excesses

New top US Senate Republican John Thune steps up as Trump returns

US FAA will maintain enhanced oversight of Boeing after door panel incident

Judge to weigh holding Giuliani in contempt in Georgia election workers case

Trump eases up on China

Tesla's 'day job' still matters even if its 2025 story is about something more: Morning Brief

New Orleans attacker posted videos declaring support for ISIS, FBI says

Trump's strength and unpredictability can help end the war with Russia, Ukraine's president says

Top European diplomats urge inclusive transition in Syria visit

South Korean investigators abandon arrest of President Yoon

DC officials brace for high-profile events for Congress vote, Trump inauguration

Barricades were supposed to keep Bourbon Street revelers safe. Here’s why they didn’t

UK electricity cleanest on record in 2024: study

Talks on a new 3-party Austrian government collapse as the smallest party pulls out

South Korean investigators suspend efforts to detain president after dramatic standoff

Could House Speaker Mike Johnson lose his job on Friday? Pivotal House vote looms.

Big policies, small margins and a Trump wildcard: What to expect from the new Congress

Ghana's parliament passes provisional budget, averts government shutdown

Biden will award the Medal of Honor and Medal of Valor to military heroes and first responders

What you need to know about the House speaker election