WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to announce he will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, officials familiar with the plans said.

Two administration officials confirmed Trump’s plans Thursday. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trump’s announcement.

VIENNA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- No oil output cut decision was announced on Thursday after hours of a meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The oil cartel is to negotiate with its allies including Russia on Friday.

"We still want Russia to cut as much as possible," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters as no decision was announced after the meeting.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A suspected California serial killer cannot afford a private attorney, a judge ruled Thursday, keeping in place a public defender in a case expected to cost taxpayers $20 million.

Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer facing 26 murder and kidnapping charges, could be required to reimburse the county to the extent he is able after the trial, Judge Michael Sweet said in Sacramento Superior Court.

DeAngelo, 73, stood in an orange jumpsuit inside a courtroom cage. He appeared to have lost weight in jail since his arrest in April.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee inmate became the second person to die in the state’s electric chair in just over a month Thursday, nearly two decades after Tennessee adopted lethal injection as its preferred method of execution.

David Earl Miller, 61, was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m. at a Nashville maximum-security prison.

Miller was convicted of killing 23-year-old Lee Standifer in 1981 in Knoxville and had been on death row for 36 years, the longest of any inmate in Tennessee.

PARIS (AP) — Drastic security measures will put a lockdown on downtown Paris on Saturday as French authorities try to prevent another outbreak of violence during anti-government protests.

In addition to the 8,000 police forces that will be deployed in the French capital city, the Paris police prefect has identified 14 high-risk sectors that will be cleared out.

HAVANA (AP) — For the first time, average Cubans became eligible to sign up for internet service for their mobile phones Thursday, a development long awaited on the communist-ruled island.

Users began receiving text messages in the morning from the state telephone monopoly informing them that they can buy an internet access packages for 3G service.

VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — A high school teacher in central California was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment after forcibly cutting the hair of one of her students while singing the national anthem, authorities said. Margaret Gieszinger was arrested Wednesday after videos posted to social media showed a student at University Preparatory High School in the city of Visalia sitting in a chair at the front of the classroom as Gieszinger cuts his hair.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week amid a steep decline in stock prices.

Continued slides in the stock market and tumbling oil prices have been pushing mortgage rates lower, although home borrowing rates remain much higher than a year ago. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 4.75% from 4.81% last week. The key rate stood at 3.94% a year ago.

The rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans declined to 4.21% from 4.25% the previous week.

7 Dec 2018; AFP: Nearly half of all American adults have an immediate family member who has experienced incarceration, according to a new study published Thursday that spotlights the extent of mass imprisonment in the United States.

The report comes as President Donald Trump has given his backing to a bipartisan bill aimed at reforming sentences imposed for drug offenses, a move that could begin to reduce the prison population after years of spiraling growth.

Beijing, Dec 7 (AFP) Chinese state-run media on Friday condemned the arrest in Canada of a top executive of telecoms giant Huawei on a US extradition request as a "despicable rogue's approach" to contain Chinese high-tech ambitions.

The arrest of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer, has angered the Chinese government and raised concerns that it could disrupt a trade war truce between the world's two biggest economies.

Exit polls predicted Congress winning in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh but BJP retaining Chhattisgarh.

Polls were conducted by India Today, ABP News, Times Now and C-Voter. UMMnews has averaged and moderated the polls conducted by the four organisations.

In Assembly polls last year in 5 states, held from April-May 2016, exit polls were largely accurate about the results.

Muzaffarnagar, Dec 7 (PTI) A woman was allegedly poisoned to death by her husband and in-laws over demands for dowry in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said on Friday.

The woman, Rashim, was found dead at her residence in Khedki village under Garhi Pukhta police station on Thursday evening, they said.

According to a complaint lodged by her father, Rajender, Rashim's in-laws called her parents on Thursday and asked them to visit their daughter as she was unwell.