Look to the skies today and tomorrow. The Geminid meteor shower -- and its awesome green fireball show -- is at its peak.
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President Trump's former "fixer" is headed to prison for a three-year stretch. Michael Cohen got the sentence after admitting he committed several crimes, including arranging payments during the 2016 election to silence women who allege affairs with Trump, who denies the claims. Cohen also said in court he covered up Trump's "dirty deeds." It's the longest sentence yet imposed on anyone connected to the President.
But that wasn't all that went on yesterday. After the sentencing, federal prosecutors announced they had struck a deal with the parent company of the National Enquirer. In it, the company, which won't face charges, admitted it worked with members of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in making a $150,000 payment to prevent ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal's claims of an affair with Trump from being made public before the election. Surprisingly, the President's Twitter feed was quiet on all of this, although one administration official said Trump did utter three words about Cohen: "He's a liar."
So, what does all this mean for the President? Nothing good. Cohen will continue to cooperate with investigators, including those looking into the Trump Organization. And the upcoming sentencings of ex-campaign chair Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn will keep Robert Mueller's Russia probe in the national spotlight, much to Trump's chagrin.
Theresa May lives on as British Prime Minister. May survived a no-confidence vote, meaning she keeps her job and the Brexit headache that goes along with it. Today she heads to Brussels for a summit with EU leaders where she can try to renegotiate the Brexit deal that she can't get through her own Parliament. If the EU still refuses to rework it, the prospect of the so-called "no-deal" Brexit becomes much more likely. That scenario -- in which the UK leaves the EU in March without a trade deal -- scares the daylights out of everybody because of its predicted food shortages, grounded flights and other economic calamities.
At least nine people are dead after a high-speed train crashed near Ankara. The train, which had left the station minutes earlier, slammed into a maintenance vehicle, causing part of a bridge to collapse onto two carriages. Video from the scene showed rescuers combing through warped metal and injured people being evacuated from the wreckage. There were 206 people on the train. At least 46 were injured. Three of those killed were train conductors.
The Boy Scouts of America is thinking about filing for bankruptcy to deal with all the lawsuits it faces over inappropriate conduct by employees. The Wall Street Journal reports the Boys Scouts has hired a law firm for possible chapter 11 bankruptcy filing assistance. The Scouts, in a statement, said no immediate decisions about bankruptcy are expected. It wasn't immediately clear how a bankruptcy filing would affect the century-old organization's 2.4 million youth participants and nearly 1 million adult volunteers.
What's the deadliest drug in America? A new government report says it's fentanyl. The drug that killed pop icon Prince is the most commonly used drug in overdoses, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reports. The rate of drug overdoses involving the synthetic opioid spiked 113% each year from 2013 to 2016. Fentanyl was involved in almost 29% of all overdose deaths in 2016, compared with just 4% in 2011.
We would all go broke
Live in California? You might want to start finding new ways to communicate. The Golden State is seriously thinking about taxing text messages.
Bless our hearts
Southerners (like me) aren't used to earthquakes, like the two that hit Tennessee. So, forgive us if we confused the quakes for the Second Coming.
No more 'Ellen?'
Ellen DeGeneres indicates she might end her super popular talk show when her contract is up in 2020.
Saves on airfare
Scientists think an exotic fish native to Asia but found in California made the 5,000-mile trip from Japan by hitching a ride on debris from a tsunami.
Gosselin v. Gosselin
Remember "Jon & Kate Plus 8?" Yeah, we barely do, either. Anyway, the divorced TV stars are still fighting over custody of their kids.
'How do you like them ...'
Apple says it will spend $1 billion to build a new campus in Austin, Texas, as well as establish new sites in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, California. The tech giant also says it will create 20,000 new jobs in the US by 2023.
3
The number of US Navy nuclear-powered attack submarines "not certified to dive" because of maintenance delays caused by overcrowded shipyards
"Obviously, I was joking when I was talking on the podcast."
NBA superstar Steph Curry, walking back his comment on a sports podcast that he doesn't believe humans landed on the moon. He's also taking NASA up on its offer to tour the Johnson Space Center.
All by myself
Meet the man who lives all alone in an Italian island paradise. (Click to view.)