Hello! Here’s what’s happening on Thursday.
1.US President Donald Trump made his first public statements following his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s plea deal. Trump admitted that hush-money payments to women he allegedly had an affair with came directly from him.
2. The British public now expects a no-deal Brexit. The UK government will publish its first batch of no-deal Brexit technical notes on Thursday.
3. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is ready to step down and quit Parliament. He is awaiting a petition signed by a majority of his party’s parliament members to trigger a party room meeting, which he’ll hold tomorrow at midday.
4. The US and China just imposed $16 billion worth of new tariffs on one another. The latest tit-for-tat escalation comes as representatives from both sides meet in Washington for further talks.
5. Michael Cohen's lawyer has created a GoFundMe page to pay for his clients legal fees, and it's raised over $125,000. Just yesterday, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes, including bank fraud.
6. Saudi Arabia says it "remains committed" to an initial public offering of the state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco. The oil company has been plagued with delays and growing speculation it may never be listed.
7. Facebook is warning 4 million users that another app may have mishandled their data. It's an incident similar to how the Cambridge Analytica scandal got started.
8. The US department of education is reportedly considering allowing states to use federal funding to arm teachers. Trump has suggested arming teachers may help prevent school shootings, but the idea was largely rejected throughout the US political spectrum.
9. Apple banned a Facebook-made security app that relayed information on what apps users were using. Apple determined at Onavo Protect violated its new rules on data collection.
10. The Arctic's oldest sea ice is splitting for the first time in history.Satellite images show ice near the North Pole that is usually frozen year-round is melting.
And finally ...
