January 1, IN BUDGET, TRUMP TO ASK CONGRESS FOR $8.6 BILLION FOR BORDER WALL

(Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Monday will ask the U.S. Congress for an additional $8.6 billion to help pay for the wall he promised to build on the southern border with Mexico to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking, officials familiar with his 2020 budget request told Reuters.

The demand is more than six times what Congress allocated for border projects in each of the past two fiscal years, and 6 percent more than Trump has corralled by invoking emergency powers this year.

Second Boeing 737 Max Crash Within Months Kills 157 in Ethiopia

(Bloomberg) – The Sunday crash of a Boeing Co. 737 Max operated by Ethiopian Airlines rattled confidence in the U.S. manufacturer’s best-selling jet with the second deadly accident for the model in five months.

Flight ET302 plunged to the ground minutes after leaving Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, Kenya, killing all 157 people on board. The pilot reported problems shortly after takeoff and was cleared to return to the airport, said the airline’s chief executive officer, Tewolde GebreMariam. The 737 Max 8 hadn’t had any apparent mechanical issues on an earlier flight from Johannesburg, he said.

NY Post: NYC Dangerously Close to Bankruptcy, Experts Say

Here is an inconvenient projection for politicians from Democratic-controlled New York City: It is spiraling toward bankruptcy, according to the New York Post.

With Mayor Bill de Blasio planning to add as much as $3 billion to the $89.2B budget, amid outward migration in high-tax states caused by tax reform, a U.S. economic recession puts NYC “perilously near total fiscal disaster,” according to the report.

Tucker Carlson Calls Women ‘Extremely Primitive’ in Unearthed Audio

(Daily Beast) – Fox News star Tucker Carlson once argued that women are “extremely primitive” beings who “just need to be quiet and kind of do what you’re told,” according to newly unearthed audio of the host ranting on a shock jock radio show.

According to the media watchdog organization Media Matters, Carlson repeatedly called into the popular radio program Bubba the Love Sponge between 2006 and 2011 and let loose with sexist and misogynistic language—often at the expense of well-known female figures, including Arianna Huffington and Elena Kagan, a then-Supreme Court nominee and now an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

Jennifer Lopez Engaged to Ex-Yankees Slugger A-Rod

(Reuters) – Former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is engaged to the pop star, actress and producer Jennifer Lopez, they announced on social media on Saturday, sharing a photo of her ring.”She said yes,” Rodriguez, known as A-Rod, said on Twitter. Lopez, or J-Lo, shared the same photograph along with multiple heart symbols. The couple have been dating since 2017.