NewsHero (beta) Afternoon Update Issue 22
Jan 29, 2020
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for Wednesday, January 29, 2020.
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NewsHero Notes
So apparently the United Nations was hacked? A report published today by The New Humanitarian says that dozens of UN servers were compromised and some administrator accounts breached late last year.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) thinks it’s time for Punxsutawney Phil to retire, suggesting the famous groundhog that fake predicts the weather each February be replaced by a “groundhog” with artificial intelligence that could more accurately predict the weather. Job security can be so stressful!
Afternoon Brief
LGBTQ+
Virginia’s House of Delegates on Tuesday officially repealed a state provision banning same-sex marriage. Fourteen Republicans crossed party lines to eliminate the now-defunct prohibition on same-sex marriage. “Great day for equality in our Commonwealth! Moving Virginia forward one step at a time!” tweeted the measure’s sponsor Del. Nancy Guy.
Middle East
In almost-too-close-to-call-the-hero news, President Trump announced Tuesday his proposed plan for peace in the Middle East. Palestinians however were quick to reject it. Trump, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, claimed the plan was a “realistic two-state solution.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was thousands of miles away, called the plan “the slap of the century,” while the Palestinian ambassador to the U.K. said Trump “killed the prospect of a negotiated solution.”
Business
The Congressional Budget Office in its annual report predicted that the federal deficit will exceed $1 trillion annually for at least the next decade. The unprecedented numbers released Tuesday recalled doubts of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign promise to eliminate the U.S. deficit “over a period of eight years.” The report projects a deficit of $1.02 trillion for 2020, the highest since 2012.
Votes Insufficient For GOP To Block New Witnesses
NPR ‘demanding answers’ from State Department
Senators will use cards to ask questions of President Donald Trump's legal team and House impeachment managers during the Senate trial in Washington. Source: ABC News
As many Democrats and Republicans converge on calling for former national security adviser John Bolton and potentially others to testify in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he does not yet have the votes to block new witnesses in the trial. McConnell broke the news to GOP senators in a closed-door meeting he convened after the final day of defense proceedings.
Bolton has been issued a formal threat from the White House to prevent him from publishing his book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.” A top official at the National Security Council sent a letter to Bolton's lawyer saying the unpublished manuscript of Bolton's book “appears to contain significant amounts of classified information” and could not be published as written.
Additionally, in an interview with The Daily Beast, former chairman of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Oleksandr Danylyuk said that Trump’s asking Ukraine to investigate the Bidens “rattled” President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team. Danylyuk said of John Bolton, "I would say it was definitely John who I trusted…because we worked together on trying to set up an official framework for a U.S.-Ukraine relationship.”
NPR has sent a letter to the State Department "demanding answers" about its decision to deny an NPR reporter press credentials to travel with Mike Pompeo on an upcoming Europe trip, NPR's CEO John Lansing has announced. Source Twitter
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group, asked the State Department on Tuesday to turn over records related to the removal of NPR reporter Michele Kelemen from traveling with a group of journalists on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s trip this week to Europe and Central Asia.
NPR's CEO John Lansing announced that NPR has sent a letter to the State Department “demanding answers” about its decision to deny Kelemen press credentials.
This all comes just after NPR host Mary Louise Kelly questioned Pompeo last week about Ukraine, apparently getting him upset. After the interview was cut off, Kelly, according to NPR, was “called to Pompeo's private living room where he cursed at her and challenged her to find Ukraine on a map.”
Kelly wrote in an opinion piece in The New York Times: “Journalists don’t sit down with senior government officials in the service of scoring political points. We do it in the service of asking tough questions, on behalf of our fellow citizens.”
Extra! Extra!
News of the coronavirus spreading has proven to be an ideal excuse for QAnon conspiracy theorists to once again recommend enjoying a tall glass of what’s dubbed “Miracle Mineral Solution” or “MMS” as a cure. Let’s just stop here and point out that the The Food and Drug Administration has said MMS is merely a “dangerous bleach.” Yes indeed folks, step right up! Cancer? AIDS? Autism? Flu-like symptoms? Just drink bleach. Yes, those are claims by the fringes on the far (ridiculously far) right.
You might be better off (but only slightly) having had an ice-cold “MAGArita” or “Subpoena Colada” at the Blue Water Grille Restaurant and Bar at the Bolero Resort in Wildwood, New Jersey, the site of a Trump rally Tuesday. The restaurant had a special cocktail menu put together to celebrate the presidential visit, which also featured “Impeachment Punch” and the “Moscow Mueller.” We at NewsHero are excited to see what menu they come up with to honor the animatronic groundhog.
Sources:
EXCLUSIVE: The cyber attack the UN tried to keep under wraps - The New Humanitarian
PETA is calling on Punxsutawney Phil to retire and be replaced with an AI groundhog - CNN
Virginia state House officially repeals anti-marriage equality law - The Hill
Va. House approves bill to repeal same-sex marriage ban - Washington Blade
Virginia House and Senate pass separate bills to repeal laws banning marriage equality - Metro Weekly
Trump unveils Middle East plan that caters to Israel and was swiftly rejected by Palestinians - CNN
Trump unveils Middle East peace plan with two-state solution, tunnel connecting West Bank and Gaza - Fox News
Israel could clash with international court on settlements - AP News
‘A new Balfour’: Palestinians angered by Trump's Middle East plan - YouTube
CBO projects a decade of trillion-dollar deficits and soaring US debt - CNN
The US budget deficit is projected to top $1 trillion this year, its highest level since 2012 - Business Insider
CBO Report Projects ‘Unprecedented’ Decade of Annual $1 Trillion Deficits - National Review
NPR Seeks 'Clarification' From State Department About Reporter Dropped From Trip - NPR
White House has issued formal threat to Bolton to keep him from publishing book - CNN
Government watchdog seeks records on NPR reporter's removal from Pompeo trip - The Hill
Top Ukraine Official: I Trusted Bolton More Than Anyone - The Daily Beast
AP source: McConnell says he can’t yet block new witnesses - AP News
New York Times Opinion - Twitter
NPR on Twitter - Twitter QAnon-ers’
Magic Cure for Coronavirus: Just Drink Bleach! - The Daily Beast
MAGA-ritas on the menu as Wildwood plays to Trump rally crowd - NJ.com