Trump Settles University Lawsuit, NATO Praises Chat with Trump and more You Missed in Politics Today

It’s difficult to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in this country and to break through the clutter, so we’re here to make it easier. Here’s what we at Countable are reading today:

1. BREAKING: "Trump University-related lawsuits settled for $25 million"

"U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday agreed to settle three fraud lawsuits linked to Trump University for $25 million. The settlement ends a dispute" between Trump and students at the “now-defunct school” who claimed in the lawsuits that they were swindled out of thousands of dollars. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that the settlement “includes restitution for students and $1 million in penalties to the state. .. The deal doesn't require Trump to acknowledge wrongdoing. Trump has strongly denied the allegations and said during the campaign that he wouldn't settle.”

Read more at Fox News.

2. "Trump, NATO chief pledge alliance's 'enduring importance' in phone call"

Trump spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday in a phone call in which both discussed the treaty’s "enduring importance," NATO said. The call comes after Trump repeatedly criticized NATO on the campaign trail, arguing that unless other countries stepped up to the plate to spend money on defending all NATO nations, he would renegotiate or even "withdraw funding" from the treaty as president. “There was no immediate comment from Trump's side.”

Read more at Reuters.

3. "On its way out, Obama administration moves to slam the door shut on Arctic drilling"

"The Obama administration on Friday banned offshore drilling in the Arctic, setting a likely collision course" with Trump, “who has vowed to ‘unleash’ new energy production in the United States by rolling back restrictions on oil and gas companies.” The temporary ban affects “the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the Alaskan coast,” which are currently “considered by big oil companies to be too expensive to explore.” It won’t be easy for Trump to overturn the ban, if he so desires, as that will require a new report, which “could take as long as two years” to complete.

Read more at the Washington Post.

4. "Zika Is No Longer Global Emergency, W.H.O. Says"

"The World Health Organization declared an end to its global health emergency over the spread of the Zika virus on Friday, prompting dismay from some public health experts still wrestling with the epidemic. An agency advisory committee said it ended the emergency … because Zika is now shown to be another dangerous mosquito-borne disease like malaria or yellow fever, and should be treated, like them, as an ongoing problem, not an exceptional situation."

Read more at the New York Times.

— Sarah Mimms
Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flickr