1. Trump suggests keeping portions of ObamaCare
President-elect Donald Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday he is reconsidering a complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act after his meeting with President Obama on Thursday. While Trump argued Obama's signature health care plan has become so costly "you can't use it," he said he does like certain parts of it "very much" and is taking Obama's ideas into consideration. In the same interview, Trump also backed away from the suggestion he would try to jail Hillary Clinton. Previously, on Thursday, Trump surrogate Newt Gingrich said the incoming president "may not spend very much time trying" to make Mexico pay for a border wall, adding that the idea was still "a great campaign device."
The Wall Street Journal The Washington Post
2. Pence to take over as head of Trump's transition team
Vice President-elect Mike Pence will take over at the helm of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team, The New York Times reported Friday, replacing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the role. Christie, along with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, will instead serve as vice chairs of the transition effort. Pence reportedly replaced Christie because Trump saw Pence's "Washington experience and contacts" as vital to moving quickly to assemble a government in the wake of their surprise victory, the Times said. Trump tweeted Friday morning he will be making decisions "soon" on "the people who will be running our government."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
The New York Times Politico
3. Trump protests continue for third night, demanding faithless electors
Protesters objecting to the election of Donald Trump took to the streets for the third night Friday in cities across America. Chief among their demands is an upset in the Electoral College: In some states, electors can vote for a candidate other than the one selected by a majority of voters in their state without facing legal consequences. Protesters hope "faithless electors" will support Hillary Clinton, who won the popular vote. Marches in some cities were met by police armed with pepper spray and flashbang grenades. In Portland, Oregon, an unknown attacker shot a protester, leaving the injured person with life-threatening wounds.
CNN Reuters
4. Obama to embark on final state visit, prepared to discuss Trump
Before Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, 2017, President Obama will sit down with key U.S. allies during the final state visit of his presidency, where he expects to field questions about President-elect Trump. Obama will embark Monday on a six-day trip to meet leaders of China, Australia, France, Britain, Germany, and Greece. He is expected to "bolster support" for existing deals on Iran's nuclear program and climate change, but the White House has acknowledged the Trans-Pacific Partnership, another signature Obama deal, now has no way to move forward.
Associated Press Agence France-Presse
5. 4 dead in suicide attack at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan
A suicide attack claimed by the Taliban killed four people and injured 14 more Saturday at Bagram Airfield, a large U.S. base central to NATO operations in Afghanistan. The identities of the dead have not been released. "Response teams at Bagram continue to treat the wounded and investigate the incident," said a NATO statement. However, an Afghan police official told Al Jazeera "the person who got in with the explosives must be a dual citizen and someone who has an access pass and is trusted to go without escort." Bagram is best known as the site of a now-closed detention facility notorious for American guards' use of sometimes deadly torture on prisoners.
CNN Al Jazeera
6. FBI ran nearly half of dark web child pornography sites
Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal the FBI took over and operated 23 child pornography websites out of a government facility in an attempt to catch site users. Though it was previously known the FBI operated one such site for 13 days before closing it down, using the website to install tracking malware on visitors' computers, the new documents show the scale of the project was much larger, comprising about half of all dark web child pornography sites. More than 100 child pornography cases have been prosecuted in connection to the first site the FBI was known to operate, and in several of those trials judges have deemed evidence collected in this manner inadmissible.
The Hill Ars Technica
7. John Kerry visits Antarctica for a firsthand look at climate change
Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Antarctica on Friday for a two-day trip, where he will discuss with scientists how the continent is being impacted by climate change. Kerry toured the continent's McMurdo Dry Valleys via helicopter but skipped a planned visit to the South Pole because of bad weather. The trip makes Kerry the first secretary of state to visit all seven continents, and he is also the highest-ranking U.S. official to ever visit the continent. Since becoming secretary of state in 2013, Kerry has traveled more than 1.3 million miles. He leaves Antarctica on Saturday for visits to New Zealand, the Middle East, and Morocco.
Associated Press NPR
8. ISIS fighters massacre civilians as Iraqi troops enter Mosul
As U.S.-supported Iraqi forces advance into Mosul, the last major city controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq, the surrounded militants have murdered dozens of trapped civilians, sometimes forcing children around age 12 to do the executions. This fresh brutality is an ISIS attempt to show "they are still in business," said Ravina Shamdasani, a United Nations representative. Some 30 people were reportedly shot just for having cell phones, and the bodies of the dead are displayed in public as a warning to other civilians.
Reuters The New York Times
9. Moon to make its closest approach to Earth since 1948
By Monday morning, the moon will be at its nearest location to Earth since 1948, and within just 85 miles of the closest it can possibly get to our planet. Thanks to this proximity, the moon will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than normal. This weekend's full moon also will be the closest one until 2034. If you can't sneak a peek at the moon Sunday, fret not: "The difference in distance from one night to the next will be very subtle," said Noah Petro of NASA. "So if it's cloudy on Sunday, go out on Monday. Any time after sunset should be fine."
Space Reuters
10. Facebook glitch tells living users they are dead
Some Facebook users reported Friday the social network had a glitch that converted living people's profile pages into memorial pages as if they were dead. The glitch did not affect all users, but for those with affected accounts, screenshots indicate the glitch declares literally everyone has died, including Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The company said Friday afternoon this "terrible error" has been fixed.
The Hill Gizmodo
