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Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1. Call him the insurgent president.
Nearly a year after he took office, President Trump has transformed the world’s view of the United States.
His anger at NATO, awkwardness with allies and friendliness with autocrats have taken the U.S. from being an anchor of the international order to something more inward-looking and unpredictable.
Here’s a detailed accounting of Mr. Trump’s unorthodox approach.
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2. The long-simmering conflicts in Afghanistan and Yemen took strikingly bloody turns this week.
In Afghanistan, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack at a Shiite cultural center in Kabul that killed at least 41 people. It was the latest in a series of mass-casualty attacks against Shiite targets. Above, a man learned that his sister was among the victims.
Continue reading the main storyAnd in Yemen, airstrikes on a market and a farm killed at least 68 civilians, including eight children, the U.N. said. The two attacks occurred on Tuesday, making it one of the deadliest days for civilians so far in the country’s civil war.
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3. Much of the northern U.S. is in the grips of a deep freeze, and it won’t let up anytime soon.
Weekend highs in Bismarck, N.D., could be around minus 12. In Boston, wind chills may drop as low as 15 to 20 below zero. Police departments responded to crashes on icy roads, local governments issued safety warnings, and the hashtag #ItsSoCold stated trending on Twitter.
There were some bright spots: City crews in Lawrence, Kan., were preparing an ice-skating rink in a park, a tradition that had melted away in recent warm winters. Above, Erie, Pa., which saw more than five feet of snow.
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4. Doug Jones was cleared to represent Alabama in the Senate.
A judge dismissed Roy Moore’s lawsuit challenging the results of the Dec. 12 election less than 24 hours after he filed it. Mr. Moore had argued that he was the victim of voter fraud. Above, state officials certified the election results.
Mr. Moore still has not conceded his losses in the 2006 or 2010 Republican primaries for governor. There’s speculation that he might run for governor or attorney general next year.
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5. Nearly half of women say they have experienced some form of sexual harassment at work at least once in their careers. But there has been little research about those responsible.
So we decided to survey 615 men about how they behave on the job. About a third admitted to what would qualify as objectionable behavior or sexual harassment.
For more coverage of gender issues, sign up for our newsletter The #MeToo Moment.
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6. The I.R.S. has a message for the homeowners rushing to prepay their property taxes before new rules take effect on New Year’s Day: not so fast.
In a notice posted to its website, the agency said that to qualify, property taxes must also be assessed in 2017. Some municipalities have already done their assessments for 2018; others haven’t even started. Above, the tax receiver’s office in Hempstead, N.Y., this week.
And the hunt for loopholes is set to begin. The tax bill will most likely spark abundant creativity by businesses interpreting the tax code.
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7. Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, once a cash cow, is on the verge of collapse.
That would further destabilize a nation facing a dire recession and unbridled crime, as well as food and medicine shortages.
The company’s failures are at once a symptom and a cause of the nation’s downward spiral, our correspondents write.
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8. In much of the world, people are stressed about the potential job-destroying rise of automation. But not in Sweden, where robots are just another way to make companies more efficient.
As employers prosper, Swedes have consistently gained a proportionate slice of the spoils — a stark contrast to the U.S. and Britain, where wages have stagnated even while corporate profits have soared. Above, a worker operates a loader by remote control in a mine.
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9. As we mentioned earlier, it is icy in much of the U.S. Time for hot cocktails.
Our Cooking team presents 10 recipes sure to warm you up, ranging from easy to more ambitious, for your New Year’s gathering, or just for a quiet evening at home.
Market Snapshot View Full Overview
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10. Finally, let’s take a moment to remember some of the people we lost this year.
Our magazine’s latest issue profiles some of them, including the civil rights activist and comedic icon Dick Gregory, above, and other artists, innovators and thinkers.
Here are “The Lives They Lived.”
Have a great night.
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