Trump signs tax cut in "rush job" Oval Office signing event

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the end, Donald Trump's top achievement as president— a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul — was finalized in a "rush job" of an affair. And that was OK with him.

None of the members of Congress who muscled through the biggest tax overhaul in 30 years were in the Oval Office on Friday as Trump signed the measure into law. That's because the president was not pleased with news coverage that morning questioning whether he would get the bill signed before Christmas. So he ordered up a spur-of-the-moment signing event where he ticked through what he described as the "tremendous" accomplishments of his first year in office.

"This is the capper," Trump said of the tax package, using his last moments of the year in the White House to sign the bill before flying to Florida for the holidays. He also signed a temporary spending bill to keep the government running and provide money to upgrade the nation's missile defenses.

But the tax cut was at the top of Trump's mind after months of struggling to deliver his agenda through a Republican-controlled Congress. Trump on Friday thanked the absent GOP leaders and called the bill "something I'm very proud of."

Then, with no legislators on hand, he offered to distribute pens from his signing event to reporters assembled in the Oval Office. Clearly feeling some end-of-year cheer, the president who loves to decry "fake news" gave reporters and camera crews credit for "working very hard" and said, "We really appreciate that."

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Officials: US agrees to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has approved a plan to provide lethal weapons to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Friday, in a long-awaited move that deepens America's involvement in the military conflict and may further strain relations with Russia.

The new arms include American-made Javelin anti-tank missiles that Ukraine has long sought to boost its defenses against Russian-backed separatists armed with tanks that have rolled through eastern Ukraine during violence that has killed more than 10,000 since 2014. Previously, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with support equipment and training, and has let private companies sell some small arms like rifles.

The officials describing the plan weren't authorized to discuss it publicly and demanded anonymity.

The move is likely to become another sore point between Washington and Moscow, as President Donald Trump contends with ongoing questions about whether he's too hesitant to confront the Kremlin. Ukraine accuses Russia of sending the tanks, and the U.S. says Moscow is arming, training and fighting alongside the separatists.

Trump had been considering the plan for some time after the State Department and the Pentagon signed off earlier this year. President Barack Obama also considered sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, but left office without doing so.

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Miss America suspends CEO in email flap; more are on the way

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The Miss America Organization suspended its CEO on Friday, less than 24 hours after leaked emails surfaced showing him and others disparaging the appearance, intellect and sex lives of former Miss Americas.

Sam Haskell said he will abide by the suspension, even while decrying the Huffington Post story on Thursday that publicized the emails as "unkind and untrue."

"My mistake is a mistake of words," Haskell wrote in a statement issued Friday night, shortly after the board suspended him indefinitely while it investigates the situation. "Much of what was reported is dishonest, deceptive, and despicable.

"The story is so unkind and untrue, and hurts me, my family, and the stewardship of this nonprofit," he wrote. "Those who know my heart know that this is not indicative of my character, nor is it indicative of my business acumen."

Yashar Ali, who wrote the Huffington Post article, defended its accuracy Friday night, saying he was given the emails by two sources "who felt that Mr. Haskell's behavior was egregious." Ali said he now plans to publish all the emails he received in a future story.

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California wildfire now largest in state history

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California wildfire that has killed two people and seared its way through cities, towns and wilderness northwest of Los Angeles became the largest blaze ever officially recorded in California on Friday, authorities said.

The Thomas fire took only 2 ½ weeks to burn its way into history books as unrelenting winds and parched weather turned everything in its path to tinder — including more than 700 homes.

The fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties had scorched 273,400 acres, or about 427 square miles of coastal foothills and national forest, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

That was 154 acres larger than California's previous fire record holder — the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County that killed 15 people.

The Cedar fire had been recognized as the biggest California wildfire in terms of acreage since 1932. Some fires before that date undoubtedly were larger but records are unreliable, according to state fire officials.

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UN Security Council imposes new sanctions on North Korea

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea on Friday in response to its latest launch of a ballistic missile that Pyongyang says is capable of reaching anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

The resolution adopted by the council includes sharply lower limits on North Korea's refined oil imports, the return home of all North Koreans working overseas within 24 months, and a crackdown on ships smuggling banned items including coal and oil to and from the country.

But the resolution doesn't include even harsher measures sought by the Trump administration that would ban all oil imports and freeze international assets of the government and its leader, Kim Jong Un.

The resolution, drafted by the United States and negotiated with the North's closest ally China, drew criticism from Russia for the short time the 13 other council nations had to consider the draft, and last-minute changes to the text. Two of those changes were extending the deadline for North Korean workers to return home from 12 months to 24 months — which Russia said was the minimum needed — and reducing the number of North Koreans being put on the U.N. sanctions blacklist from 19 to 15.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said after the vote that "the unity this council has shown in leveling these unprecedented sanctions is a reflection of the international outrage at the Kim regime's actions."

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Suit: Apple slowed iPhones, forcing owners to buy new ones

CHICAGO (AP) — IPhone owners from several states sued Apple Inc. for not disclosing sooner that it issued software updates deliberately slowing older-model phones so aging batteries lasted longer, saying Apple's silence led them to wrongly conclude that their only option was to buy newer, pricier iPhones.

The allegations were in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Chicago federal court on behalf of five iPhone owners from Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina, all of whom say they never would have bought new iPhones had Apple told them that simply replacing the batteries would have sped up their old ones. The suit alleges Apple violated consumer fraud laws.

A similar lawsuit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles. Both suits came a day after Apple confirmed what high-tech sleuths outside the company already observed: The company had deployed software to slow some phones. Apple said it was intended as a fix to deal with degraded lithium-ion batteries that could otherwise suddenly die.

"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices," an Apple statement said. It said it released the fix for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE and later extended it to iPhone 7. Apple didn't respond to a message Friday seeking comment.

The Chicago lawsuit suggests Apple's motive may have been sinister, though it offers no evidence in the filing.

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NASA astronaut, 1st to fly untethered in space, dies at 80

HOUSTON (AP) — NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless, the first person to fly freely and untethered in space, has died. He was 80.

He was famously photographed in 1984 flying with a hefty spacewalker's jetpack, alone in the cosmic blackness above a blue Earth. He traveled more than 300 feet away from the space shuttle Challenger during the spacewalk.

"The iconic photo of Bruce soaring effortlessly in space has inspired generations of Americans to believe that there is no limit to the human potential," Sen. John McCain said in a statement. The Arizona Republican and McCandless were classmates at the U.S. Naval Academy.

NASA's Johnson Space Center said Friday that McCandless died Thursday in California. No cause of death was given.

McCandless said he wasn't nervous about the historic spacewalk.

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Tribe will move from shrinking island to farm in Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana officials have chosen a sugar cane farm as the next home for residents of a tiny, shrinking island — a move funded with a 2016 federal grant awarded to help relocate communities fleeing the effects of climate change.

Dozens of Isle de Jean Charles residents are to be relocated about 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the northwest, in Terrebonne Parish, Nola.com|The Times-Picayune and The New Orleans Advocate report.

The state is negotiating to purchase the 515-acre (208-hectare) tract, which is closer to stores, schools and health care — and which is less flood-prone than the island, which has been battered by hurricanes and tropical storms.

Louisiana's Office of Community Development expects to finalize the purchase in the coming weeks.

"Everybody seems to think it'll be a pretty quick property negotiation," said Mathew Sanders, the community development office's resilience program manager.

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Bitcoin goes on wild ride and it may only get crazier

NEW YORK (AP) — What's a bitcoin worth? Lately nobody knows for sure, but after a wild ride on Friday, it's worth a good deal less than it was Thursday.

After losses over the last few days, the digital currency fell as much as 30 percent overnight in Asia, and the action became so frenzied that the website Coinbase suspended trading. It later made up much of that ground, and slumped 9.5 percent to $14,042 Friday, according to the tracking site CoinDesk.

Experts are warning that bitcoin is a bubble about to burst, but things might get crazier before it does: A lot of people have heard of bitcoin by now, but very few people own it.

"Bubbles burst when the last buyers are in," said Brett Ewing, chief market strategist for First Franklin. "Who are the last buyers? The general public, unfortunately."

Ewing said 40 percent of bitcoin belongs to just 1,000 people, and hedge funds and other major investors are going to start buying it soon. But those funds may buy bitcoin and also protect themselves by placing bets that it will fall. Retail investors may just buy it only to see it fall.

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Replacing conductors creates musical podiums

NEW YORK (AP) — When conductor replacements are needed, opera companies and orchestras scramble in a game of musical podiums, with one change causing a cascade.

Several orchestras needed to make shifts after they severed relationships with Charles Dutoit on Friday, a day after The Associated Press reported sexual assault accusations by three singers and a musician.

The field of top replacements is small.

"You don't book every week of the year. But they're not sitting around waiting," said Jonathan Brill of Opus 3 Artists, which manages many conductors, singers and musicians. "Valery Gergiev, whom we don't represent, probably works around 60 weeks a year," he said of the notorious workaholic.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, where the 81-year-old Dutoit is artistic director and principal conductor, said Friday the symphony and Dutoit "have jointly agreed to release him from his forthcoming concert obligations with the orchestra for the immediate future."