Top News Stories for Today – Jan 29, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – Jan 29, 2019
Huawei rejects US criminal charges
Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has denied any wrongdoing after US prosecutors filed a host of criminal charges against the firm. Huawei has also rejected criminal claims against its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada last month. The charges filed against Huawei in the US include bank fraud, obstruction of justice and theft of technology.
The indictment, announced on Monday, alleges Huawei misled the US and a global bank about its relationship with two subsidiaries, Huawei Device USA and Skycom Tech, to conduct business with Iran. BBC
Shutdown cost US economy $3 billion
The longest-ever partial US government shutdown cost the country’s economy $3 billion in lost economic activity that won’t be recovered, the Congressional Budget Office concluded Monday.
The CBO said its assessment of the effects of the 35-day shutdown on the US economy, the world’s largest, showed that $3 billion in economic activity was lost in the waning days of 2018 after the government closures took effect December 22, and another $8 billion in January, extending to last Friday when the shutdown was ended. VOA
Mueller probe close to being completed
Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Monday he thinks special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with President Donald Trump’s campaign will finish soon.
Whitaker has been the acting attorney general since November when Trump ousted Jeff Sessions from the position. So far, Mueller’s investigation has resulted in indictments or guilty pleas from 34 people and three companies. VOA
US drops in global anti-corruption index
On Tuesday, Transparency International released its 2018 Corruption Perception Index, and the US is not among the Top 20 “cleanest” countries for the first time since 2011. The US dropped four points from 2017, to 71 on a 100-point scale, a fall the group called “a red flag” that could “indicate a serious corruption problem in a country that has taken a lead on the issue globally.”
The average score for full democracies was 75, flawed democracies averaged 49, and autocratic regimes scored an average of 30. Denmark was the cleanest country, scoring 88, while Somalia was judged the most corrupt, at 10 points. “Our research makes a clear link between having a healthy democracy and successfully fighting public sector corruption,” said Transparently International’s Delia Ferreira Rubio. The Associated Press, Transparency International via The Week
Life threatening cold weather to come in US
The Midwest and Great Lakes regions may experience “the coldest air in a generation” in the coming days, says the National Weather Service. A polar vortex sweeping the country will cause temperatures that will likely “shatter dozens of records.” In Chicago, the temperature may come close to reaching a new record of 29 degrees below zero as residents are warned of “life-threatening extreme cold” that “can lead to rapid onset of frostbite and hypothermia,” per The Washington Post.
In the northern Plains, there are some areas where the wind chill will likely bring temperatures as low as 64 degrees below zero. The National Weather Service said that when outside in these areas, residents should “avoid taking deep breaths, and minimize talking.” The Washington Post, CNN via The Week
Apple to fix facetime bug
Apple has acknowledged a flaw in its FaceTime software that allowed for brief eavesdropping – even if the recipient did not pick up. In some cases the target iPhone could send video without the receiver’s knowledge.
The company said it had developed a fix and an update would be rolled out this week. In the meantime, Apple’s status page shows it has disabled the ability for users to make group calls on FaceTime. BBC