Editors

USA TODAY

Manafort responds to Mueller's lying accusations

Just days after a filing from Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller claimed that he lied to prosecutors repeatedly despite a plea deal to cooperate, Paul Manafort is due in court Tuesday. in Washington, D.C., where his lawyers will respond to those accusations. The allegations cover Manafort's interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian national also under indictment for work with Manafort in Ukraine; a $125,000 wire transfer, and Manafort's contacts with senior Trump administration officials, according to the 10-page filing. Manafort, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy and obstruction of justice, with sentencing set for March 5. He was also convicted by a Virginia jury of bank and tax charges, with sentencing set Feb. 8.

Separated families among the contenders for 'Time' Person of the Year

"Separated families" are among 10 finalists for Time magazine's Person of the Year, which will be revealed Tuesday. More than 2,000 families were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border this year in the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" crackdown on people entering the country illegally. President Donald Trump reversed the policy in June after a national outcry. Other contenders on Time's shortlist include Trump, special counsel Robert Mueller, "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler, Christine Blasey Ford, and slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Time last year chose "The Silence Breakers," persons who triggered the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.

Trump's EPA prepares new clean water rule to roll back Obama regulation

The Trump administration is on the verge of moving forward with a significant rollback of an Obama-era clean water regulation that has become a rallying cry for farmers and property rights activists opposed to federal overreach. The new proposal, whose details will be unveiled early Tuesday morning by acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and other administration officials, is expected to ease government oversight of small bodies of water, undoing a regulation President Donald Trump has called "a massive power grab." Environmental advocates argue that the proposed rule could remove pollution and development protections from most U.S. waterways.

And the (college football) winners are ...

College football's award season rolls on Tuesday with the release of the USA TODAY Sports All-America teams. If the Heisman Trophy voting is any indication, the spot for the first-team quarterback could be the most debatable. Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray won the trophy Saturday over Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa, who garnered the most points of any Heisman runner-up ever. The two will get a chance to go head-to-head at the end of this month as the Sooners and Crimson Tide meet in the Orange Bowl with a spot in the national title game on the line. The full bowl season kicks off this week with a slate of five games on Saturday.

You might want to check your car's headlights soon

The plastic covering your car's headlights could pose a "major safety concern out on the roadways," a new report released on Tuesday finds. At an average of 11 years old, the typical vehicle on the road today is generating only 22 percent of the light that it did when its headlights were new, according to a study by AAA. The problem is that new headlights have a coating applied to their plastic casings to protect them from sunlight — and that coating wears off over time, causing the casing to go from transparent to translucent. Part of the problem is that many drivers don't notice the issue since their lights degrade gradually over time. If you're planning to drive during the holidays, you might want to consider replacement options sooner rather than later.