Here’s a look at the news for Jan. 4.
Mormon leaders remember Thomas S. Monson
LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson passed away Tuesday night. About 24 hours later, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared pain, joy and memories about the leader, according to the Deseret News.
Leaders of the church “remembered the numerous, well-loved personal accounts he shared in general conference talks, in meetings and in personal interactions and the lessons those stories conveyed,” according to the Deseret News.
President Monson's biographer, Heidi Swinton, said the president’s death was “a painful experience for me.”
"His legacy," she said, "lives on in the goodness in each one of us because of what he taught us from the pulpit and in his life. ... I saw him as a prophet and as a man we could learn from as we live our own lives."
Read more at the Deseret News.
Related stories:
- President Thomas S. Monson, 16th prophet of the LDS Church, dies after a lifetime spent going 'to the rescue'
- President Trump, Mitt Romney, Orrin Hatch and other leaders react to Thomas S. Monson's death
- President Thomas S. Monson: 'No one in our time has been called so young to do so much'
- 'Tom Monson will run that errand for Him': A timeline of the life of President Thomas S. Monson
- See photos from the life of President Thomas S. Monson
- How the LDS Church chooses its new president
- President Monson's funeral scheduled for Friday, Jan. 12
Hatch explains why he ‘probably would’ have run again
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, announced earlier this week that he will not seek re-election, instead deciding to retire at the end of the year.
But Hatch told the Deseret News he would “probably would” have run again if the recent tax bill hadn’t passed through Congress.
"I probably would because that was the single most important bill in the last 30 years," Hatch said.
He called the idea running again "a tough hypothetical. I'm glad that I really don't have to entertain that."
Read more at the Deseret News.
Winter storm brings cold to East Coast, southern U.S.
A major winter storm ran up and down the East Coast on Thursday, bringing freezing temperatures to areas of the country that don’t often experience it, CNN reported.
Southern states such as Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia experienced cold temperatures, which have led to more than a dozen deaths. Georgia itself received 3 inches of snow, according to CNN.
The Northeast will experience the storm next. Forecasters expect to see record-breaking frigid temperatures, bringing the storm’s worst conditions from Maine to the Carolinas, CNN reported.
The so-called “winter bomb” will also add hurricane-force winter winds and blizzard-like snow conditions, according to CNN.
Read more at CNN.
Trump-Bannon war makes headlines after new book
Lawyers for President Donald Trump have threatened former White House strategist Steve Bannon of violating a nondisclosure agreement, BBC News reported.
The lawyers issued a cease-and-desist letter to Bannon, who is accused of insulting and attacking the president when he spoke to author Michael Wolff, who released the new book “Fire and Fury,” which takes an in-depth look inside the Trump White House.
The book makes several “explosive” claims, according to BBC, including that Trump and his team were shocked by his election win and that first lady Melania Trump was in tears when she realized Trump won the election.
Excerpts from the book popped up online Wednesday. New York Magazine first published an excerpt that described election night, as well as the habits of Trump while serving in the White House.
You can read the expert here.
For more, visit BBC.
More reading:
Los Angeles Times: Magnitude 4.5 earthquake felt throughout Bay Area
International Business Times: North Korea Mistakenly Bombed Own City During Failed Missile Test: Report
BBC: Emmanuel Macron: French president announces 'fake news' law
Deseret News: New year, old problems dog Utah Jazz in loss to Pelicans
Deseret News: The faces of Utah's 80 homicides in 2017