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President Emmanuel Macron held himself out as the standard-bearer of internationalism, a beacon of light in a world clouded by rightward-shifting, isolationist leaders. He praises the United Nations. He declares nationalism a “betrayal.” This unprecedented moment in history was to be his moment. But now, with much of France in turmoil, the vultures might be coming for him. 

Here are today’s top stories

U.S. stocks plunged, capping the worst week for the S&P 500 Index since March, as the U.S. pressed its trade war on China, tensions rose over the arrest of Huawei’s CFO, jobs data disappointed, and oil prices rose after OPEC agreed to cut output. Have a nice weekend.

President Donald Trump nominated William Barr, who served as U.S. attorney general during the first Bush administration, to the same job. A critic of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Barr had urged President George H.W. Bush to pardon six people implicated in the Reagan Administration’s Iran-Contra scandal.

Heather Nauert is a spokeswoman for the State Department, was a regular on “Fox & Friends” and posed for a tourist photo during a mission to Saudi Arabia over the brutal murder of a Washington Post journalist. Trump is set to nominate her to represent America before the UN.

Vladimir Putin’s ‘American’ oligarch used to privately boast of his connections to Trump. It ended up costing him billions of dollars.

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an interview that Trump doesn’t like to read and often sought to order illegal acts. His former boss was not happy with the appraisal.

Trump’s campaign may have illegally coordinated with the National Rifle Association in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election, two groups alleged in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission.

What’s Luke Kawa thinking about? The Bloomberg cross-asset reporter thinks there’s a case to be made that the equity market’s woes this week have been led by the bond market rather than shifting perceptions about any trade truce with China.

What you’ll need to know tomorrow

  • There’s a monster snowstorm headed for the East Coast.
  • Get ready for surprise emergency room bills next year.
  • This Japan biotech stock rocketed 155 percent after a breakthrough.
  • Treasury delays sanctions on Russian aluminum giant a fifth time.
  • Elon Musk says he might buy a few of the factories GM plans to idle.
  • Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen should do time, prosecutors say.
  • Trump may have a new chief of staff as Kelly heads for the door.

What you’ll want to read tonight

Amazon’s worst enemy might be a robot-maker. The system had been a closely guarded secret, but a few days after Thanksgiving, Boston startup Berkshire Grey gave Bloomberg Businessweek a peek at dozens of little machines scurrying around a vast warehouse. It was an army built for one purpose: to fight the giant built by Jeff Bezos.

 

To contact the author of this story: David Rovella in New York at drovella@bloomberg.net

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