Pro Pickleball: Ben Johns, Pioneers reach semis; Gator great Danny Wuerffel grabs a paddle

Reuters
Malaysia's troubled ex-PM ordered to pay $300,000 to politician over defamatory remarks
A Malaysian court has ordered opposition leader and former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to pay more than $300,000 to another politician in a defamation case, state media said on Friday, adding to the former premier's legal troubles. Muhyiddin, who was premier for 17 months between 2020 and 2021, is also charged with sedition for allegedly insulting a former king and is accused of corruption and money laundering in separate cases. The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday ordered Muhyiddin to pay 1.35 million ringgit ($308,078) in damages for defamatory remarks against former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng in a series of Facebook posts in March 2023, news agency Bernama reported.
Associated Press
Australian states back national plan to ban children younger than 16 from social media
Australia’s states and territories on Friday unanimously backed a national plan to require most forms of social media to bar children younger than 16. Leaders of the eight provinces held a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss what he calls a world-first national approach that would make platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook responsible for enforcing the age limit. “Social media is doing social harm to our young Australians,” Albanese told reporters.
AFP
Qantas plane returns to Australia airport due to 'engine failure', sparks fire
A Qantas plane made an emergency landing Friday due to a "contained engine failure" soon after taking off from Sydney Airport, sparking a grassfire on a nearby runway and causing several flights to be diverted. Eleven domestic flights were cancelled and four diverted to other airports, a Sydney Airport spokesperson said. lec/sco
Reuters
Philippine president signs new laws to assert South China Sea rights, sovereignty
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed two laws on Friday aimed at strengthening the country's maritime claims and bolstering its territorial integrity, as tensions with China over disputed areas in the South China Sea persist. The Maritime Zones Act and the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act would define the Philippines' maritime entitlements and set designated sea lanes and air routes to reinforce sovereignty and maritime rights under international law. Marcos hailed the laws as a demonstration of the Philippines' commitment to uphold an international rules-based order, and protect its rights to exploit resources peacefully in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
NBC News
Every uncalled race left in the fight for control in Washington
With votes still being counted, here's a look at the key races that remain uncalled by the NBC News Decision Desk (read more on how those races are called on NBCNews.com).
Associated Press
The Berlin Wall: a divide that once shaped German women's lives apart still echoes today
Like many other young women living in communist East Germany, Solveig Leo thought nothing about juggling work and motherhood. Contrast that with Claudia Huth, a mother of five, who grew up in capitalist West Germany. Huth quit her job as a bank clerk when she was pregnant with her first child and led a life as a traditional housewife in the village of Egelsbach in Hesse, raising the kids and tending to her husband, who worked as a chemist.
Associated Press
AP Photos: 35 years after the Berlin Wall opened, fragments of East Germany's border remain
Most of communist East Germany's heavily fortified border was torn down quickly after it was opened in 1989, but there are still places where visitors can see the remains of the Berlin Wall and other sections of the frontier. East Germany closed the border in Berlin on Aug. 13, 1961, and expanded the Wall into an increasingly elaborate fortification snaking through the city and around the capitalist enclave of West Berlin. East Germany's leadership had already sealed off the country's main frontier with West Germany, snaking from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia, in 1952.
Associated Press
In an Israeli settlement named after Trump, residents see opportunity after the election
Israeli residents of “Trump Heights” are welcoming the election of their namesake, hoping Donald Trump's return to the U.S. presidency will breathe new life into this tiny, remote settlement in the central Golan Heights. During his first term, Trump became the first and only foreign leader to recognize Israel’s control of the Golan, which it seized from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel thanked him by rebranding this outpost after him.
Reuters
Analysis-Bond rebound uncertain as Trump plans overshadow Fed rate cuts
Prospects of a near-term rebound in the $28-trillion U.S. government bond market are faltering, as Donald Trump’s return to the White House is expected to usher in fiscally expansive policies that could temper the extent of the Federal Reserve's future rate cuts. The Fed lowered rates by 25 basis points at its monetary policy meeting on Thursday, following a jumbo-sized, 50 basis point reduction that kicked off its current easing cycle in September. But the outlook for further rate cuts has been clouded by expectations that key elements of Trump’s economic platform such as tax cuts and tariffs will lead to faster growth and higher consumer prices.
Associated Press
Trump victory spurs worry among migrants abroad, but it's not expected to halt migration
Venezuelans continue arriving at the U.S. southern border in reduced, but still large numbers. Mexicans made up half of U.S. Border Patrol arrests in September. The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration estimates there are around 281 million international migrants in the world, or 3.6% of the global population.
Associated Press
Who will buy Infowars? Both supporters and opponents of Alex Jones interested in bankruptcy auction
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars broadcasts could end next week as he faces a court-ordered auction of his company's assets to help pay the more than $1 billion defamation judgment he owes families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Both opponents and supporters of the bombastic internet show and radio host have expressed interest in bidding on the Infowars properties he has built over the past 25 years. If Jones supporters buy the assets, he could end up staying on Infowars.
Associated Press
The story of how Trump went from diminished ex-president to a victor once again
As he bid farewell to Washington in January 2021, deeply unpopular and diminished, Donald Trump was already hinting at a comeback. With his commanding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump achieved a comeback that seemed unimaginable after the 2020 election ended with his supporters violently storming the Capitol after he refused to accept his defeat. In the years that followed, Trump was widely blamed for Republican losses, indicted four times, convicted on 34 felony counts, ruled to have inflated his assets in a civil fraud trial and found liable for sexual abuse.
CNN
As Trump grasps unprecedented power, the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity looms large
The roiling debate over the strength of democratic restraints to keep Donald Trump in check when he returns to the White House in January has put a renewed focus on a divisive Supreme Court ruling that some fear could enable his worst impulses.
Associated Press
A voter-approved Maine limit on PAC contributions sets the stage for a legal challenge
Maine residents this week overwhelmingly approved a referendum to limit donations to political action committees that spend independently in candidate elections, setting the stage for a legal showdown over caps on individual contributions to so-called super PACs that spend freely in elections. In the nation's only campaign finance reform initiative on the ballot on Election Day, residents voted to cap individual donations to super PACs at $5,000. Supporters fully expect a lawsuit that they hope will bring clarity to PAC donations after the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to unlimited spending by super PACs.
Associated Press
Trump's win brings uncertainty to borrowers hoping for student loan forgiveness
Savannah Britt owes about $27,000 on loans she took out to attend college at Rutgers University, a debt she was hoping to see reduced by President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness efforts. President-elect Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans have criticized Biden's loan forgiveness efforts, and lawsuits by GOP-led states have held up plans for widespread debt cancellation.
Associated Press
Leader of the free world has never been a role Trump has embraced. The world has gotten the message
U.S. presidents usually pay lip service at least to being leaders of the free world, at the helm of a mighty democracy and military that allies worldwide can rally around and reasonably depend upon for support in return. Not so under President-elect Donald Trump, a critic of many existing U.S. alliances, whose win of a second term this week had close European partners calling for a new era of self-reliance not dependent on American goodwill. America’s place in world affairs and security will fundamentally change, both critics and supporters of Trump say.
CNN
Israel-France tensions deepen as Paris says consulate staff briefly detained by police in Jerusalem
France condemned the brief detention of two consulate members after it said Israeli police forced their way into a French-owned holy site in Jerusalem, in what is the latest diplomatic spat in a series of events that have sent relations between the two plummeting.
CNN
Racist texts referring to ‘picking cotton’ sent to several people across US following election
Authorities across the United States are investigating after several people, including children and college students, reported receiving racist text messages from unrecognized phone numbers in recent days.
NBC News
Thousands told to evacuate as fast-moving Mountain Fire explodes in Southern California
Over 130 homes have been destroyed in a wind-fueled wildfire in Southern California that has grown to over 20,000 acres, officials said Thursday as firefighters continued to try to control the blaze in Ventura County.
CNN
How a drab Soviet metropolis became Central Asia’s capital of cool
Since the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstan’s largest city (population 2.2 million and growing) has evolved to become the star of Central Asia. Here’s what makes Almaty worth a visit.

Pro Pickleball: Ben Johns, Pioneers reach semis; Gator great Danny Wuerffel grabs a paddle

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Latest Stories

Malaysia's troubled ex-PM ordered to pay $300,000 to politician over defamatory remarks

Australian states back national plan to ban children younger than 16 from social media

Qantas plane returns to Australia airport due to 'engine failure', sparks fire

Philippine president signs new laws to assert South China Sea rights, sovereignty

Every uncalled race left in the fight for control in Washington

The Berlin Wall: a divide that once shaped German women's lives apart still echoes today

AP Photos: 35 years after the Berlin Wall opened, fragments of East Germany's border remain

In an Israeli settlement named after Trump, residents see opportunity after the election

Analysis-Bond rebound uncertain as Trump plans overshadow Fed rate cuts

Trump victory spurs worry among migrants abroad, but it's not expected to halt migration

Who will buy Infowars? Both supporters and opponents of Alex Jones interested in bankruptcy auction

The story of how Trump went from diminished ex-president to a victor once again

As Trump grasps unprecedented power, the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity looms large

A voter-approved Maine limit on PAC contributions sets the stage for a legal challenge

Trump's win brings uncertainty to borrowers hoping for student loan forgiveness

Leader of the free world has never been a role Trump has embraced. The world has gotten the message

Israel-France tensions deepen as Paris says consulate staff briefly detained by police in Jerusalem

Racist texts referring to ‘picking cotton’ sent to several people across US following election

Thousands told to evacuate as fast-moving Mountain Fire explodes in Southern California

How a drab Soviet metropolis became Central Asia’s capital of cool