Top News Stories for Today – Jan 30, 2019
Top News Stories for Today – Jan 30, 2019
Texas non-citizen voters is flawed
After flagging tens of thousands of registered voters for citizenship reviews, the Texas secretary of state’s office is now telling counties that some of those voters don’t belong on the lists it sent out. Officials in five large counties — Harris, Travis, Fort Bend, Collin and Williamson — told The Texas Tribune they had received calls Tuesday from the secretary of state’s office indicating that some of the voters whose citizenship status the state said counties should consider checking should not actually be on those lists.
The secretary of state’s office incorrectly included some voters who had submitted their voting registration applications at Texas Department of Public Safety offices, according to county officials. Now, the secretary of state is instructing counties to remove them from the list of flagged voters. Texas Tribune
US intelligence chiefs warn US losing friends
US intelligence chiefs are sounding alarms about an ever more perilous future for the United States, one in which the country is in danger of seeing its influence wane, its allies waiver and key adversaries team up to erode norms that once kept the country safe and the world more stable.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, along with the leaders of five other top intelligence agencies, delivered the grim assessment Tuesday, unveiling their annual worldwide threats report for lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Coats described the challenges facing the US as a “toxic mix,” combing the exploits of the “big four” — Russia, China, North Korea and Iran — and of non-state actors such as terrorists and criminal networks, and factors such as rapidly advancing technology, climate change and migration. VOA
US warns Venezuela over threatening Guaido
US National Security Adviser John Bolton warned Venezuela’s attorney general that there may be “serious consequences” after the prosecutor asked the country’s Supreme Court to keep opposition leader Juan Guaido from leaving the country. Attorney General Tarek William Saab also asked the court to block Guaido’s financial accounts, as he launched a criminal investigation into Guaido’s activities against President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government.
Saab said the probe is linked to unrest that came after Guaido declared himself the country’s legitimate president last week. VOA
EU rules out Brexit renegotiating
European Union leaders have ruled out British Prime Minister Theresa May’s attempt to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s exit from the bloc in March. The British parliament Tuesday approved May’s request to the EU to re-work the Irish border provision of the current Brexit deal.
But the spokesman for European Council President Donald Tusk immediately ruled out any re-negotiation. Britain’s House of Commons rejected May’s Brexit plans two weeks ago, primarily because of the Irish border provision, known as the backstop. VOA
Roger Stone pleads not guilty in Russia probe
Roger Stone, President Trump’s longtime adviser, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges including obstruction of an official proceeding, witness tampering, and making false statements. Stone was indicted last week in relation to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s potential involvement with Russian election interference.
After his indictment, Stone publicly declared his innocence and pledged never to testify against Trump. Stone has been under scrutiny for his communications with Russian hackers during the 2016 election and alleged contacts with WikiLeaks. Several former Trump campaign advisers and Stone associates have reportedly told Mueller’s investigators that the self-proclaimed “dirty trickster” was a conduit for inside information from WikiLeaks, which released hacked emails damaging to Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton. The Washington Post, The New York Times via The Week
US needs assist from allies to curb China
Senior US officials and experts say the United States needs to rally allies to pressure China stealing advanced technology through cyber espionage. At the same time, key American lawmakers are questioning the readiness and capacity of the US to counter such threats.
The renewed push comes after US federal prosecutors pressed criminal charges against the world’s largest telecommunications company — China’s Huawei Technologies — its chief financial officer and several subsidiaries for alleged financial fraud and theft of US intellectual property. VOA
Pentagon to send more troops to Mexico border
The Pentagon is preparing to send additional troops to the US-Mexico border, even as some members of Congress question the appropriateness of deploying troops there. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told reporters Tuesday that “several thousand” active US troops likely will be assigned to the border. Shanahan said that the move is in response to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) request related to placing concertina wire.
There are currently about 2,300 active troops at the border, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. The number is down from a high of 5,900 at the end of last year. VOA
Extreme cold stalks US Midwest
Winter’s sharpest bite in years moved past painful into life-threatening territory Tuesday, prompting officials throughout the Midwest to take extraordinary measures to protect the homeless and other vulnerable people from the bitter cold, including turning some city buses into mobile warming shelters in Chicago. Temperatures plunged as low as minus 26 (negative 32 degrees Celsius) in North Dakota with wind chills as low as minus 62 (negative 52 degrees Celsius) in Minnesota. It was nearly that cold in Wisconsin and Illinois. Governors in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan declared emergencies as the worst of the cold threatened on Wednesday.
The National Weather Service forecast for Wednesday night called for temperatures in Chicago as low as minus 28 (negative 33 degrees Celsius), with wind chills to minus 50 (negative 46 degrees Celsius). Detroit’s outlook was for Wednesday overnight lows around minus 15 (negative 26 degrees Celsius), with wind chills dropping to minus 40 (negative 40 degrees Celsius). VOA