To get this in your inbox every morning, sign up right here.
After shutting down the government, Trump is getting even less wall money than Democrats originally offered
Following the longest shutdown in US history, Congress has finally reached a government funding deal. Here’s the thing: It gives President Donald Trump less money for a border wall than Democrats originally offered.
So far, the bill is on track to pass through Congress before another partial shutdown is triggered — the deadline for that is midnight Friday.
Though Trump said he is “extremely unhappy” with the deal, he stopped short of saying he would veto it.
By the numbers: The last shutdown was triggered after Trump asked for $5.7 billion for 200 miles of border barriers and Congress offered $1.6 billion. The new deal only offers $1.375 billion and adds restrictions to the barriers: They cannot be built with concrete.
While the Democrats are calling the barriers “fencing,” Republicans are using more robust words.
El Chapo, once the world’s most powerful drug trafficker, was convicted of all charges against him
A jury of eight women and four men heard 200 hours of testimony in the monthslong trial of the drug kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. When all was said and done, after six days of deliberating, the jury found him guilty on all counts.
Guzmán’s violent rise placed him at the head of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, and at one point he was named by the US as the “world's most powerful drug trafficker.” He was convicted of 10 charges, including conspiracy to launder narcotics proceeds, and now faces life in prison.
SNAPSHOTS
Despite Shane Dawson’s latest video, Chuck E. Cheese says all its pizzas are made fresh. Dawson, a YouTuber with 20 million subscribers, investigated whether the company’s pizzas are cobbled together from uneaten slices. Chuck E. Cheese said that’s not a thing.
The Tallahassee yoga shooter was motivated by hatred toward women, police say. He killed two women and wounded four after opening fire inside Hot Yoga Tallahassee on Nov. 2, then shot himself. Police said the attack was a product of a “lifetime of misogynistic attitudes.”
Four children in Texas were found malnourished and locked inside a dog kennel. Authorities say they found the kids in a barn house during a domestic disturbance call. The children, ages 5, 4, 3, and 1, were fed and taken to the hospital. Andrew Fabila and Paige Harkings, both 24, were charged with multiple counts of endangering a child.
BuzzFeed News employees unionized and the company says it’s open to voluntary recognition. The union's announcement came little more than two weeks after BuzzFeed laid off roughly 15% of its workforce. BuzzFeed Canada employees announced they are also unionizing, as did staff at BuzzFeed Germany.
21 Savage has been released from ICE custody pending a deportation hearing. The 26-year-old Atlanta-based rapper was accused of being in the country illegally, having come from the UK in 2005 on a visa that later expired. His lawyers said he was released on bond and granted an expedited deportation hearing.
Amazon bought a router company you’ve never heard of. Here’s why it’s a big deal.
Amazon announced its acquisition of Eero, which makes a router system whose multiple devices can be used to cover hard-to-reach Wi-Fi dead zones.
On the surface of it, this is a relatively boring decision to buy a home network infrastructure company. But as Nicole Nguyen explains, routers can capture telling data.
A router knows the number and brands of the internet-connected devices you have at home, and it knows when you’re at home using those devices. Combine this with the number of internet-connected devices that Amazon has already filled homes with, and you have a powerful nexus.
As one internet privacy expert described it to us, “One entity might own all the devices in your home. It can form a very complete profile of you as a person in both the physical and digital world, and this is extremely concerning from a personal privacy perspective.”
Michelle Obama’s mom doesn’t think she’s a real celebrity
Look, I don’t make the rules of celebrity status, but by any reasonable standards Michelle Obama is a star. You know how I know? I don’t have to add a sentence here explaining who Michelle Obama is.
Yet the former first lady’s mom, Marian Robinson, was on hand this week to remind us that no matter how famous you get, your parents will think otherwise.
Obama, who spoke at the Grammys and stood onstage next to Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Alicia Keys, shared a screenshot of a text her mom sent her the day after the show.
With the shade of a thousand trees, Robinson asked: “Did you meet any of the real stars?” Here’s the screenshot:
