How much have you missed?

Here’s a recap of this week. Just click the story to read on!

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Politics

• Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty for a myriad of criminal charges including lying to Congress to violating campaign finance laws by paying hush money women Trump had affairs with.
• In a heated meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer about funding for his border wall, Trump declared that would “be proud” to shut down the government until the Democrats agree to set aside $5 billion for the project.
• Nancy Pelosi made a deal with Democratic critics saying that she will support a proposition that would limit Democrats’ terms in senior positions in the House of Representatives. This means that she will likely be Speaker of the House again, but will step down by 2022.
• The Senate has advanced a measure to end U.S. Military support for Saudi Arabian-led coalitions in Yemen, which shows defiance of Trump’s response to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• A bipartisan agreement has been reached that will make members of Congress who are accused of sexual harassment pay out of pocket for their settlements, which would help protect the victims. The bill is expected to pass the Senate this week.
• Prime Minister Theresa May survived a confidence vote by the Conservative party, but the fate of the Brexit deal remains murky as parliament is “heading towards deadlock.”

Pop culture

• The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations are in.
• Ariana Grande announced the release of her newest song, “Imagine,” and provided some insight into the song’s message and inspiration.
• Meghan Markle wore dark nail polish at the British Fashion Awards. While many thought this broke royal protocol, here’s why it actually didn’t.
• Ellen DeGeneres is considering ending her show in the near future.
• Colleen Ballinger, the brains and beauty behind Miranda Sings (but more importantly, a part of the ‘thank u, next’ music video), has given birth to a son, and there’s a picture!

Humanity

• A terrorist attack at a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, left at least two dead this week. The suspect was previously on terrorist watchlists, and is still at large.
• Dr. Christine Blasey Ford spoke out for the first time since the Kavanaugh hearings, saying, “we all have the power to create real change.”
• A Virginia teacher was fired for refusing to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns.
• Sesame Street has its first character experiencing homelessness, and she has a really sweet message.
• The bodies of two missing mountain climbers have been found 30 years after they went missing in the Himalayas.

Science says...

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2018 “Arctic Report Card” revealed that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world, which is the “most unprecedented transition in history.”
• The Geminid meteor shower will reach its peak on Thursday and Friday of this week. Here are the deets.
• The New England Journal of Medicine shared a photo of a giant blood clot a man coughed up that was in the exact shape of his lung passage.
• Jimmy Dean recalled over 29,000 lbs of frozen sausage after pieces of metal were found in at least 5 packages.
• A woman died of a brain-eating amoeba infection that she contracted from using her neti pot incorrectly.