--- title: Morning Must Reads: December 12 description: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tells TIME that the U.S. is to blame for starting a "new Cold War" canonical: https://time.com/3631352/morning-must-reads-december-12/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-12T12:15:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:48:24.931Z article:section: Politics og:title: Morning Must Reads: December 12 og:description: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tells TIME that the U.S. is to blame for starting a "new Cold War" og:url: https://time.com/3631352/morning-must-reads-december-12/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morning Must Reads: December 12 twitter:description: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tells TIME that the U.S. is to blame for starting a "new Cold War" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Morning Must Reads: December 12 > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 12, 2014 12:15 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 12, 2014 12:15 PM UTC [Gorbachev Wary of ‘New Cold War’](http://time.com/3630352/mikhail-gorbachev-vladimir-putin-cold-war/) Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tells TIME that the U.S. is to blame for starting a “new Cold War” with Russia and that President Vladimir Putin shouldn’t back down. “I learned that you can listen to the Americans, but you cannot trust them” [Congress Avoids Shutdown](http://time.com/3630875/congress-government-shutdown-spending-bill/) Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown on Thursday night, squeaking through a $1.1 trillion spending bill with only hours to spare [CIA Chief Defends Agency ](http://time.com/3630436/torture-report-john-brennan-cia/) CIA Director John Brennan defended his agency from a sharply critical Senate report into its post-9/11 detention and interrogations [How Ridley Scott’s _Exodus_ Strays From the Bible](http://time.com/3630829/exodus-bible-movie-ridley-scott-history/) The Biblical story of Exodus hits the big screen on Friday with the release of Ridley Scott’s _Exodus: Gods and Kings_. Like any retelling of a classic, Scott’s blockbuster invites questions about the tale’s origin and meaning [Storm Hitting California May Be Worst in 5 Years](http://time.com/3631115/storm-hitting-california-may-be-worst-in-5-years/) A storm described as perhaps the strongest to hit California in five years barreled in from the Pacific Ocean on Thursday and hammered the state with all manner of weather misery — hurricane-force winds, sheets of rain and heavy snow in the mountains [DOJ Allows Native American Tribes to Grow, Sell Marijuana](http://time.com/3631184/drugs-marijuana-native-americans-justice-department/) The U.S. Justice Department announced that Native American tribes would be allowed to grow and sell marijuana on their sovereign lands if they abide by the federal statutes laid out for the states that have already legalized the drug [Pope Francis Says There’s a Place for Pets in Paradise](http://time.com/3631242/pope-francis-dogs-heaven-catholic-church/) Pope Francis confirmed during his weekly address in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square that canines, along with “all of God’s creatures,” can make it to heaven. “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ,” he said [Drug-Resistant Superbugs Could Kill 10 Million By 2050](http://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/) Rising rates of drug-resistant infections could lead to the death of some 10 million people and cost some $100 trillion in 2050, according to a new report which called for “coherent international action” to regulate antibiotic use in humans, animals and the environment [Shonda Rhimes Slams ‘Racist’ Leaked Sony Emails](http://time.com/3631127/shonda-rhimes-sony-emails/) Shonda Rhimes, the creator of _Scandal_ and _Grey’s Anatomy_, took to Twitter on Thursday to condemn an email exchange between a Sony Pictures executive and an Oscar-winning producer that was leaked during the recent hack [Keira Knightley Is Expecting Her First Child](http://time.com/3631206/keira-knightley-pregnant-golden-globes-imitation-game/) Just a day after Keira Knightley nabbed two big acting nominations, the star has more happy news: she is about three months pregnant. Knightley, 29, is expecting her first child with husband James Righton, of the Klaxons, whom she married last year [No Casualties in Ukraine Truce](http://time.com/3631265/ukraine-casualty-truce-petro-poroshenko-russia/) A tentative truce between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine has resulted in the first 24 hours free from deaths and injuries since a civil conflict began in February, the Ukrainian President said on Friday [NYC Cops Want More Tasers](http://time.com/3630709/new-york-city-police-tasers-nypd/) Law-enforcement experts are skeptical that a move to get 450 more Tasers on the street will address use-of-force concerns that have buffeted the NYPD. The talk of Tasers comes amid incidents that have put city cops under scrutiny for their use of force [_Get_ TIME_’s_ _The Brief e-mail every morning in your inbox_](http://time.com/politicsemail) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3631352/morning-must-reads-december-12/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3631352/morning-must-reads-december-12/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: December 12","datePublished":"2014-12-12T12:15:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:48:24.931Z","description":"Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev tells TIME that the U.S. is to blame for starting a \"new Cold War\"","url":"https://time.com/3631352/morning-must-reads-december-12/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads","Marijuana","Ukraine","russia","Congress","Drugs","Shutdown","us","Cold War","ridley scott"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/morning-must-reads/","name":"Morning Must Reads"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3631352/morning-must-reads-december-12/","name":"Morning Must Reads: December 12"}}]}] ```