TGIF! Nobody gets much done on Fridays anyway, so wake up slowly with these news headlines.
1. Heavy weather
Last chance to pick up some TP or a can of soup. Winter Storm Jonas, the first major storm of the season, is poised to dump as much as a couple of feet of snow on the East Coast. If you’re in Washington, get your shovels ready: The capital is braced for more than two feet of snow today. New York City and New Jersey are under a blizzard watch beginning Saturday morning. Parts of Kentucky and North Carolina are preparing for significant ice. If you’re planning on going anywhere, don’t: Flights are canceled and officials are urging everyone to stay off the road. — Yahoo News
2. Arrested
North Korea has arrested an American student who was visiting the county on a tourist visa. Officials detained Otto Frederick Warmbier on Jan. 2 for carrying out a “hostile act” toward the country; the North Koreans believe he was in the country “for the purpose of bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity at the tacit connivance of the U.S. government.” The State Department is working with the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs to try to get this sorted out. — CNN
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3. Terror in Mogadishu
Islamic militants attacked a beachside restaurant in Somalia yesterday, killing 14 and wounding many more. The Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack in Mogadishu, the country’s capital and an important symbol in the country’s resistance to Islamic extremists. Among the dead were a pregnant mother and a small child. — The New York Times
4. Rot
The Oklahoma cop who raped and sexually assaulted poor black women has been sentenced to 263 years in prison. Daniel Holtzclaw specifically targeted vulnerable women who were poor and had criminal records, because he knew they wouldn’t be believed if and when they came forward. And indeed, his attorney did attack the credibility of the 13 women who testified. He will report to prison immediately. Exactly no one’s shedding a tear. — Slate
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5. Circular firing squad
The National Review, a conservative magazine, has published a very strongly worded editorial titled “Against Trump.” In case that’s not clear enough, the editors go on to write “Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist.” Trump dismissed the attack, tweeting that the National Review is a “failed publication.” The RNC disinvited the magazine from a GOP debate in Houston on Feb. 25. Ooh, burn. — NBC News
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6. Sayonara
The EPA official who oversees the region that includes Flint, Michigan, has resigned. Susan Hedman, noting that her presence could be a distraction, offered to resign as of Feb. 1, an offer that was accepted. The EPA issued an emergency order on Thursday that would require city and state officials to take action to address the contaminated drinking water — almost four months after advocacy groups asked the agency to do something. Emails show that EPA officials may have known as long as a year ago that the drinking water was contaminated with lead. In scientific terms, this is what’s known as a gigantic, possibly criminal, f%*kup. — NBC News
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