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Sahle-Work Zewde, pictured at the UN office at Nairobi in 2016, has been elected Ethiopia’s first female president. Photo credit: ITU Pictures 

Zewde appointed Ethiopia’s first female president

Ethiopian MPs named Sahle-Work Zewde the country’s first, and currently Africa’s only, female president, reported the AFP, Telegraph and Vogue. Zewde was a career diplomat. The post is largely ceremonial. Half of Ethiopia’s new cabinet are women.

Latest in Khashoggi case

Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor has now said that Jamal Khashoggi’s killing was “premeditated”, reported the AP and Telegraph. Khashoggi’s oldest son reportedly was given permission to leave the country and has arrived in the US, said CNN and Reuters.

Latest in Clearstream Iran case

The US Supreme Court has “asked the Trump administration to present its view on whether it should hear a plea for immunity by Iran and its bankers” in a case involving Clearstream, according to Bloomberg. The Luxembourg bank is custodian of $1.68m in bonds owned by Iran’s central bank. Families of US marines killed in a 1983 Beirut terrorist attack want the bonds as compensation. The trial judge ruled against them, but the families won an appeal. Clearstream, Iran’s central bank and an Italian bank also involved have appealed to America’s top court, which could issue its ruling next year. Government attorneys are not obliged to file a brief, however. Clearstream declined Bloomberg’s request for comment.

AIG gets OK for Luxembourg plan

The High Court of England & Wales gave AIG permission to split, in advance of Brexit, its European insurance business into two units, one to be based in Luxembourg and one in the UK, reported Reuters.

Amazon and Google disappoint market

Tech stocks closed lower in the US after Amazon and Google showed signs of slower growth, reported the Financial Times. Amazon gave a disappointing Christmas sales forecast in its quarterly earnings announcement, said the BBC. Google missed revenue projections, said MarketWatch.

Google makes decisions on sexual harassment and Berlin campus

Google has fired 48 employees due to allegations of sexual misconduct, reported the BBC, CNBC and DW. The company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, told staff that Google was “taking an increasingly hard line on inappropriate conduct by people in positions of authority”. Separately, Google cancelled plans to build a tech incubator in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district after months of anti-gentrification protests by local residents, reported The Local, New York Times and The Register. Instead, Google will offer rent-free space to local NGOs.

Facebook gets Cambridge fine

The UK Information Commissioner’s Office fined Facebook £500,000 over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, reported the AP and Guardian. That’s the maximum penalty the regulator can levy. The Sun pointed out that Facebook earns that much in “just six minutes”.

Cook wants a GDPR for the US

Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has said the US should pass stricter data privacy laws and praised the EU’s GDPR. Coverage of Cook’s speech in Brussels by DW, TechCrunch and The Verge.

“It wasn’t me”

David Schwimmer, the actor who played Ross in the TV show “Friends”, has provided an “alibi” after police in Blackpool, England, released a photo of a man who looks remarkably like the actor. The unknown man is wanted for questioning following a restaurant theft. The story from Newser. Maybe it was Monica’s friend?

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald