Friday's Headlines: Putin ally spoke to Kremlin before his mercenaries attacked U.S. forces

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III files new charges against Manafort and Gates; Missouri governor indicted on felony invasion of privacy charge after blackmail allegation; Will...

Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Putin ally spoke to Kremlin before his mercenaries attacked U.S. forces Intercepted communications show that Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin told a Syrian official that he "secured permission" from a Russian minister to move forward with a "fast and strong" initiative that would take place in early February, according to intelligence reports. By Ellen Nakashima, Karen DeYoung and Liz Sly  •  Read more » Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III files new charges against Manafort and Gates The additional charges increase the legal pressure on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, Rick Gates, as they prepare for a trial this year. By Devlin Barrett, Rosalind S. Helderman and Spencer S. Hsu  •   Read more »   Missouri governor indicted on felony invasion of privacy charge after blackmail allegation Republican Eric Greitens was taken into custody on charges stemming from a 2015 affair. Greitens previously said he won't resign, despite calls to do so from many Republican and Democratic state lawmakers. By Marwa Eltagouri and Sean Sullivan  •   Read more »   Critic's Notebook Will a generation of youths scarred by shootings allow Hollywood to stick to its guns? One measure of the leadership of the Stoneman Douglas generation might be convincing Hollywood that glib, cynical violence no longer sells, and teaching the rest of us that guns are anything but a game. By Ann Hornaday  •   Read more »   President makes arming teachers a top safety goal after Florida school massacre President Trump aligned ­himself with gun rights advocates, arguing that allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons would "solve the problem instantly." Meanwhile, a ban on semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 used by the Florida shooter is not under active consideration, the White House said. By John Wagner and Jenna Johnson  •   Read more »   Inside Trump's shifting stance on gun rights Eager to be seen as leading the debate, President Trump floated ideas that were inspired by the emotion conveyed by the Florida shooting survivors on cable news, aides said, as much as by considered policy discussions. By Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker  •   Read more »   Armed officer stayed outside during shooting The officer assigned to protect students took a defensive position while the shooter was killing people, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said. The officer has resigned, following a suspension. By Lori Rozsa and Mark Berman  •   Read more »   Alina Zagitova captures gold in figure skating, edging fellow Russian Evgenia Medvedeva Zagitova, 15, emerged this season as a potent threat to Medvedeva, the defending world champion. All Zagitova's jumps occurred in the second half of her program, which earned her bonus points for coming so late. That gave her a razor-thin margin of victory. Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond took the bronze, her country's first Olympic medal in women's singles skating since 2010. By Liz Clarke  •   Read more »   Ivanka Trump arrives for the Closing Ceremonies, but Seoul says no meeting with the North is planned The South Korean government is going to great lengths to give Trump a royal welcome, especially given the precarious state of relations between Washington and Seoul as the government tries to engage North Korea. By Anna Fifield  •   Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT Opinions   Is anywhere in Florida truly safe? By Catherine Rampell  •   Read more »   There's reason to smile as we approach Day 400 of the Trump presidency By Hugh Hewitt  •   Read more »   Trump and the GOP won't act on gun control. So we must. By Eugene Robinson  •   Read more »   Syria has become a gruesome cockpit once again By David Ignatius  •   Read more »   The best strategy for the Parkland students: Go on strike By Elizabeth Bruenig  •   Read more »   The Russians are coming. Republicans need to do something about it. By Editorial Board  •   Read more » ADVERTISEMENT More News   Haley says Trump administration's Mideast peace plan is nearly finished The U.N. ambassador said both Israel and the Palestinians would have something to like in the forthcoming proposal. She added that U.S. negotiators Jared Kushner and Jason D. Greenblatt "are still going back and forth." By Anne Gearan  •  Read more »     They're almost out of school, but these DACA recipients' medical careers may slip away The standoff in Washington has left employers and universities that embraced "dreamers" in limbo and the students themselves worried. "In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, 'What if I can't finish?'" one fourth-year student in Chicago said. By Maria Sacchetti  •   Read more »   India to Justin Trudeau: Stop trying so hard Canada's prime minister, accustomed to being praised for his Prince Charming good looks, is getting a lot of flak on his tour of India, and the latest gags focus on his razzle-dazzle wardrobe, upstaging even India's flamboyant movie stars. By Vidhi Doshi  •   Read more »   'Lock her up!': Conservatives battle the left, without a clear foe The first day of this year's Conservative Political Action Conference was marked by jeers for Hillary Clinton, warnings about Democrats winning control of Congress and talk of the impeachment threat to President Trump. By David Weigel  •   Read more »   Poland's new 'Holocaust law' comes up against massacre of Jews in 1941 A law set to take effect in March makes it a crime to publicly invoke Polish complicity in Nazi atrocities. The measure has thrust Poland into a bitter debate over the nature of its history and, to an even greater extent, the nature of its identity. By James McAuley  •   Read more »   Trump casually threatens to pull immigration officers out of California to teach the state a lesson California lawmakers angered the president by designating the state a sanctuary for some undocumented immigrants. By Jenna Johnson  •   Read more »   'I don't think people recognize how dire it is': West Va. teachers strike, closing all public schools Teachers across the state walked off the job amid a dispute over pay and benefits, causing more than 275,000 students to miss classes. By Sarah Larimer  •   Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:    Twitter     Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Today's Headlines or because it is included in your subscription. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. 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