OTHER UTAH HEADLINES   

Deseret News

Editorial: Congress' bipartisan show is a model for the nation

Jay Evensen: Utah doesn't really dislike electric cars, even though it looks that way

Utah's population swells more than any other state following recession

Legislature dives into canyons management

Judge reduces Jeremy Johnson's prison sentence after tearful apology

Salt Lake Tribune

Utah's GOP lawmakers dump on conservation plan for the Cottonwood canyons, but defenders says criticisms are misguided

Utah's tough new DUI law could save 1,500 lives each year if other states copied it, says National Transportation Safety Board member

Utah ranks No. 1 for population growth this decade - adds nearly 400K new residents

Utah's 'clean-fuel' cars face new fees starting Jan. 1

Proposed bill in memory of slain Utah student Lauren McCluskey 'will make people think twice before they loan their gun,' lawmaker says

  NATIONAL HEADLINES  

• The Senate passed a stop-gap funding bill on Wednesday night to avoid a partial government shutdown. It's not clear whether the House will pass the measure before Friday night's deadline. the plan does not include funding for President Trump's proposed border wall - https://wapo.st/2Ewog90
  
  
• Republicans in Congress are furious after President Trump announced his decision for a "full" and "rapid" withdrawal of U.S. military from Syria, declaring ISIS had been defeated - https://politi.co/2EzGOoQ
  
  
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said he favored the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria - https://wapo.st/2ExNzr6 
  
  
• Putin also warned about the rising threat of nuclear war, saying "it could lead to the destruction of civilization as a whole and maybe even our planet" - http://bit.ly/2EzLMC0
  
  
• The Trump administration announced Wednesday night they would bypass Congress and impose stricter work requirements on food stamp recipients - https://wapo.st/2EBaylk 
  
  
• Special counsel Robert Mueller asked the House Intelligence Committee for the transcript of Trump associate Roger Stone's testimony. The move may signal that Mueller is preparing to file charges against Stone in the investigation into the Russian attack on the 2016 election - https://wapo.st/2ExOhVi 
  
  
• A new secret filing in the criminal case of President Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been placed in the vault of a federal court in New York - https://cnb.cx/2EF98H1
  
  
• President Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, admitted Trump signed a letter of intent for a real estate project in Moscow after initially denying he signed the document. Giuliani dismissed the letter as "bull---t" - https://nydn.us/2EEESMv 
  
  
• BuzzFeed was victorious in a defamation lawsuit stemming from the website's decision to publish a dossier alleging ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia - http://bit.ly/2EF2G2Q
  
  
• Conservative commentator Ann Coulter tore into President Trump on Twitter Wednesday night, calling him "gutless" for failing to deliver on his promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. In response, Trump unfollowed Coulter on Twitter - http://bit.ly/2EH1VpQ 
  
  
• A group of Trump supporters is trying to crowdfund the estimated $22 billion it will take to build the president's proposed border wall. So far, they've raised $155,000 - https://thebea.st/2EG4SY6
  
  
• A new poll shows most Americans oppose the country becoming more politically correct - https://n.pr/2EF6Rfc 
  
  
• Enrollment for the Affordable Care Act fell 4% this year - http://bit.ly/2EEJvGp 
  
  
• A federal judge blocked Trump administration policies that prevented immigrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. - http://bit.ly/2EG0iZS
  
  
• The Trump administration announced a new set of sanctions against Russian individuals and entities on the same day the administration said they were lifting sanctions on some Russian companies - https://cnn.it/2Ez67ao 
  
  
• The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates on Wednesday and signaled it expects further interest rate increases in 2019 - https://nyti.ms/2EAV6ph 
  
  
• Three female Republican legislators in Kansas flipped their party affiliation to Democrats this month saying the GOP has become too conservative and is focusing on issues that divide the country - http://bit.ly/2EFKtlS
  
  
• The Illinois Attorney General accused the Catholic Church of withholding the names of at least 500 priests accused of the sexual abuse of minors - https://nyti.ms/2EzMS0k 
  
  
• North Korean officials said that country would not stop their quest to develop nuclear weapons unless the U.S. removes its nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula - https://thebea.st/2EEiR0v
  
  
• Two rouge drones shut down air traffic at Gatwick Airport in England. About 110,000 passengers were affected by the shutdown and incoming planes were diverted to other airports. Authorities said it was not terror-related, but a "deliberate act" of disruption - https://bbc.in/2EGtCiL 
  
  
• At least 20 advertisers, including Utah's Ancestry.com, have pulled their advertising from Tucker Carlson's program on Fox News after he said immigrants made the U.S. "dirtier" - http://bit.ly/2EHbKV0

  ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY  

• 1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
  
  
• 1860 - South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.
  
  
• 1946 - The film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City.
  
  
• 1968 - The so-called Zodiac Killer killed his first two confirmed victims in Vallejo, California. He would go on to kill at least five people, though he took credit for three dozen deaths.
  
  
• 1971 - The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded in Paris.
  
  
• 1989 - The U.S. invaded Panama to oust Manuel Noriega and install the duly elected civilian government.

Policy News

More National Headlines

Trump's Making Health Insurance More Affordable (RealClearPolitics)

Biden allies see O'Rourke as a clear threat (The Hill)

Beto, we hardly knew ye: O'Rourke's political record might not be what progressives expect (Salon)

Sanders: Flynn Was 'Ambushed' as Comey's FBI Operated With 'Clear Political Bias' (FOX News)

Trump signs executive order making Christmas Eve a holiday for federal workers (Washington Post)

Ocasio-Cortez bashes Politico article as 'birdcage lining' (FOX News)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez oddly receives support from Trump Jr. (New York Post)

George H.W. Bush secretly corresponded with Filipino boy he sponsored 10 years (USA Today)

Speaker Paul Ryan laments 'broken politics' in farewell address (FOX News)

U.S. Population Grew at Slowest Pace in More Than 80 Years (Wall Street Journal)