CNBC reports: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he told the European Union it must reduce its trade gap with the U.S. through oil and gas purchases or face tariffs. “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it …

Bloomberg News reports: Less than two months ago, shares of Tesla Inc. were on their way to just the third losing year in the electric-vehicle maker’s decade-and-a-half as a public company. But after a furious rally in the last seven weeks, the stock is suddenly among the S&P 500 Index’s best performers for 2024. Prior to the US presidential election …

Deadline reports: Wham!’s festive song Last Christmas never got to number one in the year of its release 1984, but it has scored a historical first, becoming the first track to occupy the festive chart’s top slot for a second consecutive year. 40 years after its debut, the song penned by George Michael beat off competition by Mariah Carey, Gracie …

Ars Technica reports: Craig Wright, the man who claims he invented bitcoin and has been filing lawsuits asserting intellectual property rights, was sentenced to a year in prison yesterday for committing contempt of court. The sentence is suspended and can be enforced if Wright continues violating court rulings—but he may be able to avoid imprisonment by staying away from countries …

German outlet Der Spiegel reports: The alleged [Christmas market] perpetrator is obviously a fan of the AfD, as revealed by an analysis of several of his social media accounts by SPIEGEL. Eight years ago, he wrote on Twitter that he wanted to start a project together with the AfD: an academy for ex-Muslims. When another user asked why he was …

The Hill reports: Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio praised his son Anthony, a walk-on player for the Florida Gators, who scored his first touchdown in the school’s Gasparilla Bowl on Friday night. Anthony Rubio, a running back, scored in the waning minutes of the game against Tulane. Florida won, 33-8. The touchdown set off a frenzy among his teammates, with …

ABC News reports: Shares of Trump Media and Technology Group slid in midday trading Friday after President-elect Donald Trump transferred all of his shares into a revocable trust, according to a regulatory filing. Trump transferred all of his nearly 115 million shares — worth around $4 billion on paper — in the parent company of social networking site Truth Social …

NBC News reports: NASA is preparing to “taste” the sun on Christmas Eve. The agency’s Parker Solar Probe is days away from making its closest-ever approach to the sun on Tuesday, swooping nearer to our star than any other human-made object in history. The spacecraft, which is about the size of a small car, is set to dive within 3.86 …

Reuters reports: Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden secured his 235th appointment to the federal judiciary on Friday, narrowly surpassing President-elect Donald Trump’s first-term tally by one with a record number of women and people of color named to the bench. The Democratic-led U.S. Senate voted to confirm two of Biden’s nominees to serve as life-tenured federal trial court judges in …

The New York Daily News reports: NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey resigned abruptly Friday night amid bombshell allegations from a female NYPD lieutenant who accused him of predatory sexual harassment, the Daily News has learned. In allegations that surfaced Saturday, Quathisha Epps claims that Maddrey repeatedly demanded sex from her and then paid her back by approving massive amounts …

St. Louis’s NBC affiliate reports: Missouri’s near-total abortion ban was deemed unenforceable by a judge on Friday, but some aspects of the state’s laws against abortion remain in place, even after voters enshrined reproductive rights into the state’s constitution by passing Amendment 3. Jackson County Judge Jerri Zhang ruled Missouri’s total ban, eighteen-week ban, fourteen-week ban, eight-week ban, and “reasons …

CBS News reports: Legislation to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans passed the U.S. Senate early Saturday and is now headed to the desk of President Biden, who is expected to sign the measure into law. Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including …

The Guardian reports: Elon Musk has caused outrage in Berlin after appearing to endorse the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland. Musk, who has been named by Donald Trump to co-lead a commission aimed at reducing the size of the US federal government, wrote on his social media platform X: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” The German health minister, Karl …

Via press release from the Teamsters: At midnight last night, Amazon Teamsters at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island joined the historic strike against the corporate giant. They join thousands of Teamsters striking at DBK4 in New York City; DGT8 in Atlanta; DFX4, DAX5, and DAX8 in Southern California; DCK6 in San Francisco; and DIL7 in Skokie, Ill.; as well …

CNN reports: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky called Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the situation “not that great,” saying he had a lack of “situational awareness” to know the first bill wouldn’t pass. He also expressed frustration at adding a debt limit increase into the bill, after President-elect Donald Trump demanded it on Thursday. “In some sense, there’s an institutional …

Axios reports: The MAGA-verse, with President-elect Trump and Elon Musk at the helm, continues to wield unprecedented power over Congress — but it has also found its limits. Three times now, the influential voices surrounding Trump — often organizing on X — have failed to get exactly what they want. John Thune was elected to be Senate majority leader, despite …

Cleveland’s ABC affiliate reports: Advocates condemned Ohio lawmakers for passing another anti-LGBTQ bill as the General Assembly wrapped up, urging Gov. Mike DeWine to veto the legislation, though DeWine has indicated he will sign it. The Ohio Senate passed House Bill 8 and the Ohio House concurred with changes made to the bill, sending it to DeWine’s desk. He will …

Politico reports: Senate Democrats wrapped up their extensive investigation of Supreme Court justices’ ethics practices Saturday, issuing a report blasting two conservative justices for accepting expensive gifts from wealthy benefactors and slamming Chief Justice John Roberts for a lackadaisical response to ethical lapses by his colleagues. “Now more than ever before, as a result of information gathered by subpoenas, we …

CNN reports: The Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt state, Reiner Haseloff, says the suspect is a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who works in the state and has lived in Germany since 2006. He’s yet to be formally identified, but German media have named him as Taleb A, withholding his full name in line with privacy laws. He has been arrested …

The Associated Press reports: Facing a government shutdown deadline, the Senate rushed through final passage early Saturday of a bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, dropping Trump’s demands for a debt limit increase into the new year. The House approved Johnson’s new bill overwhelmingly, 366-34. The Senate worked into the night to pass it, 85-11, …