(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning,

We start today with a new criminal inquiry involving President Trump, the Senate’s rebuke of Saudi Arabia, and the eastward migration of big technology companies.

Prosecutors turn to groups tied to President Trump

Federal prosecutors are examining whether foreigners illegally funneled donations to the president’s inaugural committee and a pro-Trump super PAC in hopes of buying influence over American policy, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

The investigation focuses on whether people from several Middle Eastern countries used straw donors to disguise their donations. Federal law prohibits foreign contributions to federal campaigns, political action committees and inaugural funds.

Response: A spokesman for Thomas Barrack, a billionaire financier who raised money for both funds, said, “Tom has never talked with any foreign individual or entity for the purposes of raising money for or obtaining donations related to either the campaign, the inauguration or any such political activity.”

Notable: The president said on Thursday that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was to blame if there was anything illegal about payments made to two women claiming to have had affairs with Mr. Trump. Mr. Cohen said in an interview that was broadcast today that he had known arranging the payments was wrong and that the president had known it was wrong at the time, too.

The Senate signals anger toward the Saudis

Lawmakers approved two measures on Thursday that represented a bipartisan break with President Trump, who has defended Saudi Arabia and its crown prince over the killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

The Senate voted 56 to 41 to end American military assistance for Saudi forces in Yemen, where a nearly four-year war has killed thousands of civilians and brought widespread famine.

Senators also unanimously approved a resolution to hold Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the death of Mr. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who lived in the U.S.

Related: The Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels have agreed to withdraw their forces from the crucial Yemeni port city of Hudaydah and begin a cease-fire in the surrounding province, the United Nations chief said.

A quest for talent pushes tech companies east

Driven by a limited pool of skilled workers and the high cost of living in Silicon Valley and Seattle, companies including Apple, Amazon and Google are increasingly outgrowing their West Coast roots.

The companies are coalescing particularly around a handful of urban areas that were already winners in the new knowledge-based economy.

Yesterday: Apple said it would build a $1 billion campus in Austin, Tex., as part of a broader expansion that will create thousands of jobs across the country. The announcement followed Amazon’s selection last month of Queens and Arlington, Va., for new offices.

Quote of note: “In a sense, what we’re seeing is tech becoming a normal industry,” said Edward Glaeser, a Harvard economics professor, one “that’s not located in one incredibly expensive place.”

Democrats in power

Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey are seeking to make Republicans a permanent minority party by essentially writing gerrymandering into the State Constitution. Democrats have significant majorities in both chambers of the state’s Legislature.

The plan has faced bipartisan criticism, including from national Democratic leaders who say it undercuts criticism of what they call Republican power grabs in states including Wisconsin and Michigan. A vote on the measure is scheduled for Monday.

The House: Representative Nancy Pelosi promised fellow Democrats this week that she would step down after four years if she was elected speaker in January. The proposal would also apply to the No. 2 Democrat in the House, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, who has objected.

Looking ahead: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders met this week and said they were both seriously considering seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, according to two Democrats briefed on their discussion.

If you have time this weekend, this is worth it

On the crew of the Ghost Ship

Max Harris, 29, found his own original way to Oakland, Calif. He took up residence at an artists’ warehouse called the Ghost Ship, did chores there and collected rent. And then it was consumed by fire during a concert in 2016.

Now he lives in a 6-by-12-foot jail cell, awaiting trial related to 36 deaths in the fire, including those of some of his close friends. It’s been a long story.

Here’s what else is happening

Guilty plea in influence scheme: Maria Butina, a Russian national, has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors about attempts to shift conservatives’ views to see Russia as a friend, not a foe.

A new Brexit battle: After winning a confidence vote earlier this week, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain had less success in extracting concessions from European Union leaders to help her salvage her embattled plan to leave the bloc.

End of manhunt in France: After a two-day search, officers fatally shot Chérif Chekatt, who was believed to be responsible for the shooting deaths of three people at a Christmas market in Strasbourg.

A secret settlement at CBS: The actress Eliza Dushku said she was written off the series “Bull” and reached a confidential $9.5 million settlement after speaking up about harassment on the set.

Snapshot: Above, the holiday display at the Holland Tunnel’s New Jersey tollbooth plaza. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is allowing the public to vote on the placement of the decorations after an online petition called for the Christmas tree to be moved from the N to the more similarly shaped A.

In memoriam: Nancy Wilson, a three-time Grammy winner, bridged the sophisticated jazz-pop vocalists of the 1950s and the powerhouse pop-soul singers of the 1960s and ’70s. She was 81.

News quiz: Did you follow the headlines this week? Test yourself.

Late-night comedy: The White House’s cancellation of this year’s holiday party for the news media made sense to Jimmy Kimmel: “I mean, what kind of party would this be? What would his toast be? ‘Welcome, enemies of the people?’ ”

What we’re reading: This essay in The Atlantic, recommended by Alisha Haridasani Gupta of the briefings team. “Ever feel like smooshing a baby’s face?” she asks. “Or squeezing a fluffy puppy? There’s a term for that urge: cute aggression. And this piece explains why we go through what is a neurochemical roller coaster.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: Sheet-pan tostadas with chile-laced black beans, sweet peppers, avocado and plenty of crumbled cheese.

Listen to: Our critics’ favorite classical recordings of the year, music from the 15th century to the 21st.

Watch: “Counterpart” and “Berlin Station,” two entertaining espionage thrillers, both set in Berlin.

Go to: Chamonix, a French town at the base of a lofty Alpine peak that’s magical in snowy winters.

Smarter Living: A lot of energy and resources go into creating America’s food supply. But 40 percent of our food is wasted, mostly by households rather than retailers and restaurants. Planning meals and shrinking your grocery list can help, and leftovers can go home with dinner guests or be tomorrow’s lunch.

And we examine growing evidence that aerobic activities like jogging can make our cells biologically younger — and that weight training doesn’t have the same effect.

And now for the Back Story on …

A lock that changed global trade

Last week we asked you, our readers, for ideas for Back Stories — and we were overwhelmed by the response.

Richard Babyak, a reader from Cleveland, suggested we look into the Tantlinger twist lock.

Invented in the mid-1950s by Keith Tantlinger, the simple device made it possible to stack cargo containers aboard ships and securely attach them to truck trailers and rail cars.

Twist locks are placed into the corner fittings of shipping containers, which can then be locked to others by turning a metal handle. They’re simple to operate and extremely secure.

To be useful, containers had to be standardized, and others had developed rival ways of stacking them. But after Mr. Tantlinger persuaded his former employer to release the patent royalty free, it was adopted as an international standard.

These standardized stackable containers quickly replaced the manual loading and unloading of cargo and the cost of transport plummeted, ushering in the current era of global trade.

That’s it for this briefing. Have a good weekend.

— Chris

Thank you
To Eleanor Stanford for the cultural eye, Gabrielle Debinski for the travel suggestion, and Kenneth R. Rosen and James K. Williamson for the Smarter Living tips. Albert Sun, who helped redesign the Morning Briefing, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at [email protected].

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about an undocumented immigrant who worked at President Trump’s golf club in New Jersey.
• Here’s today’s mini crossword puzzle, and a clue: Change, as the Constitution (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The Times has 150 million readers a month, from all around the world.

Chris Stanford is based in London and writes the U.S. version of the Morning Briefing. He also compiles a weekly news quiz. He was previously a producer for the desktop home page and mobile site, helping to present The New York Times’s news report to readers. Before joining The Times in 2013, he was an editor and designer at The Washington Post and other news organizations. @stanfordc

Source: Read Full Article