National: JP Morgan Chase and the government finalized a record $13 billion settlement over the bank’s sale of junk mortgage securities from 2005 through 2008. This brings the total of fines paid by JP Morgan since 2010 to $18.7 billion. The Justice Department’s new strategy is to shoot for fines in the billions, rather than millions, to get the attention of shifty financial managers.

 Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement, “Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown.” Only $4 billion of the settlement will go to homeowners struggling with a mortgage, and $6 billion to investors who bought a pig in a poke.

The Supremes: The Supreme Court turned down an emergency appeal to block the new abortion law in Texas that may close a third of the state’s 36 clinics.

Also this week, the court cleared the way for Missouri to execute a white supremacist serial killer. Joseph Paul Franklin, who was killed by lethal injection early today, committed a string of murders in the late 70s. He also admitted wounding civil rights leader Vernon Jordan and shooting Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, who was paralyzed in 1978.

World: The Mediterranean playground of Sardinia was hit by a freak cyclone yesterday, killing at least 18 people. Streets were flooded, cars washed away, and bridges knocked down. More than 17 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. The mayor of Olbia described the storm as “apocalyptic.”

• The US and Afghanistan are close to a renewed military agreement, so long as the US admits its military mistakes have killed innocent people. National security advisor Susan Rice said there would be no presidential apology. “Quite the contrary,” Rice said. “We have sacrificed and supported them in their democratic progress and in tackling the insurgency and Al Qaeda.”

Healthcare: The chief designer of the Healthcare.gov website told a congressional committee yesterday that 30-40% of the site is still under construction. The government promised completion by Dec. 1.

Amid all the noise about the federal healthcare website, the State of Oregon quietly rolled out a website that does not work at all. Instead, Oregonians have to submit paper applications. Some state exchanges have been pretty successful, including California, which enrolled 31,000 people in October and nearly doubled that within the first two weeks of this month. Also doing well are Washington, Connecticut and Kentucky.

Crime: Gunslinger George Zimmerman has been released from a Florida jail on $9,000 bail. The man who killed the unarmed Trayvon Martin was ordered to wear a monitor, give up his guns, and stay away from his girlfriend. In a 911 call Monday, the girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, said Zimmerman busted up her apartment and pointed a shotgun at  her.

Blackout: It’s about to go totally dark for the Broadway’s “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.”  Producers announced that dwindling ticket sales are forcing Spiderman to close in January. At a cost of $75 million, it’s the most expensive Broadway show ever, and one of the most troubled. Rewrites, lawsuits and the near death of an actor. It will re-open next year in Las Vegas, where maybe the odds are better.

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