Your Presidential Daily Brief: Kerry's Two-State Warning | Debbie Reynolds, 84, Dies

[The Presidential Daily Brief] [The Presidential Daily Brief] IMPORTANT December 29, 2016 [Mother and daughter Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, who both died this week, pictured with Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd. Source: Getty] [John Kerry Warns Israel That 'Two-State Solution' Is at Risk] Tsk tsk. That's the message from the U.S. secretary of state to Benjamin Netanyahu over new Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Kerry defended the U.S. decision to abstain from last week's U.N. resolution condemning the settlements, saying it was to preserve the two-state solution - and the region's only shot at "just and lasting peace." President-elect Donald Trump, meanwhile, said he wouldn't let [Israel] be treated with disrespect. Netanyahu denounced Kerry's speech, saying he's looking forward to working with Trump "to mitigate the damage." Sources: [BBC], [CNN], [FT (sub)] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Trump Takes Credit for Pre-election Sprint Jobs Plan] It's a marathon, not a Sprint. The president-elect boasted yesterday that the telecom company will bring 5,000 jobs "back" to the U.S. - though the positions were part of a $50 billion, 50,000-job investment plan from Japan's SoftBank that was announced before the presidential election. In a rare Q&A session with reporters, [Donald Trump] spoke positively about the transition after a call with President Obama, a reversal from a tweet just hours before: "Thought it was going to be a smooth transition - NOT!" Sources: [NYT], [Politico], [AP], [Washington Post] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Colombia Takes Next Step Toward Peace] Time to forgive and forget. Colombia's courts have approved legislation on amnesty for thousands of FARC rebels. After 52 years of war, amnesty is a key step in implementing a peace deal with the guerrillas - though it won't forgive war crimes or human rights violations from a conflict that left more than 220,000 dead and millions displaced. After a failed referendum on a peace deal earlier this year, the next six months will see 7,000 [FARC] fighters lay down arms as their group converts into a political party. Sources: [BBC], [AP], [Reuters] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Chinese Investors Are Snapping Up London] The Big Smoke isn't up in smoke quite yet. Investment in London property has dropped 55 percent since June's vote to leave the EU - but investment from Chinese companies only dropped 22 percent, giving China's [buyers] a bigger share of the pie. Analysts say about 15 percent of the West End is now Chinese-owned, as London real estate becomes cheaper and foreign investors take advantage of the pound's spectacular crash. But a change may be coming: Rumored regulations on overseas investment from Chinese companies could stymie more buying in Britain. Sources: [FT (sub)] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Briefly Know This: Vladimir Putin says Syria's [government] has brokered a cease-fire with rebels. The U.S. is expected to announce its [response] to Russia's suspected election hacking today. And Donald Trump is reportedly considering moving [the VA] along the path to privatization. Cluck This: In China, a large sculpture of a chicken with a Trump-esque [coiffure] has become a cultural phenomenon. Talk to Us: We want your feedback on the PDB - what you think we're doing right and what we should be doing differently. Send us an email at [pdbrief@ozy.com]. INTRIGUING [Actress Debbie Reynolds Dies at Age 84]  "I want to be with Carrie." That's what Reynolds - whose daughter, fellow actress Carrie Fisher, died Tuesday - reportedly told her son from her deathbed in a Los Angeles hospital, where she was rushed yesterday after a possible stroke. Reynolds became a star dancing alongside Gene Kelly in the 1952 classic [Singin]' in the Rain, and she was nominated for both an Oscar and a Tony during her 63-year career. Reynolds and Fisher will appear together in an HBO documentary, Bright Lights, early next year. Sources: [Variety], [USA Today], [People] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [SpaceX Shows Private Space Ventures Are Still Volatile] The final frontier doesn't forgive. It's been a big year for the world's largest private space firm. Elon Musk founded SpaceX partly to make space accessible - and marketable - to everyone: A private Mars mission remains a major goal. This year the company's had significant successes, like launching satellites into orbit and landing reusable rockets on targets. But "traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops." SpaceX's failures have revealed cracks in non-state-funded [space programs] - most significantly, when its $60 million rocket exploded on the launch pad. Sources: [Wired] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [China Intercepts Massive Attempt at Pangolin Trafficking] Get your thumb off those scales. The armored, raccoon-sized mammals are the world's most trafficked animals, with meat and scales prized by smugglers. Border officials in Shanghai have now seized 3.4 tons of pangolin scales, worth an estimated $2 million on the black market and representing as many as 7,500 of the scaly critters. All eight [species] of pangolin are considered vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered, and commercial trade has officially been banned. But this massive haul illustrates that even strict protections aren't doing enough to deter criminals. Sources: [NPR], [Smithsonian] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Scarlett Johansson Is 2016's Top Grossing - But Not Top Paid] Behold the Hollywood gender gap. Johansson's films - including Captain America: Civil War - reeled in $1.2 billion worldwide this year, but she didn't make the top 10 highest paid actors. That list was headed by Dwayne Johnson and Jackie Chan, and included just two women: Melissa McCarthy and Jennifer Lawrence. Only Ben Affleck made both top 10 lists. Though California's equal pay law went into effect this year, taboos on talking about [salaries] mean many women still don't know what their costars make. Sources: [CSM], [Forbes] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Upsets, Thrillers as College Hoops Conference Play Starts] The gyms are heating up. Top-ranked Villanova survived a squeaker. Oregon's Dillon Brooks nailed a game-winning 3-pointer to down No. 2 UCLA. And Virginia clamped down to sink No. 6 Louisville. As [college] basketball's conference season gets underway, No. 16 Indiana is proving to be the country's biggest enigma. With wins against Kansas and North Carolina, but shocking losses to Fort Wayne and, last night, unranked Nebraska at home, the Hoosiers find themselves in a Big Ten hole and perhaps knocked out of the top 25. Sources: [ESPN], [Louisville Courier-Journal], [Yahoo Sports] Share: [Facebook] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Twitter] Your 8 must reads to get you ahead of the curve RISING STARS [Giusy Nicolini: Governing at the World's Most Dangerous Border] [Read In Full] RISING STARS [The Vatican's In-House Astronomer] [Read In Full] FLASHBACK [The Ballet Girls Who Burned to Death] [Read In Full] 20M people love reading OZY every month. Be part of the revolution. [Facebook] [Twitter] [Instagram] [Vimeo] [Youtube] Add us to your Address Book | Having trouble viewing this email? 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