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Weekend Briefing
Weekend Briefing
From Reuters Daily Briefing
By Robert MacMillan, Reuters.com Weekend Editor
Welcome to the Weekend Briefing, which is looking less brief thanks to a surfeit of news. I'll skip the palaver and direct you to the roundup below. Thanks for reading.
'I'm not mad at you': The White House posted video on social media from the mobile phone of an ICE officer who shot a 37-year-old woman to death in her car. State and local officials accused the U.S. of not working with them on the shooting investigation. Civil-liberties and migrant-rights groups called for national protests this weekend. We look at the increasingly violent consequences of Trump's showy immigration-enforcement campaign.
Warning: The Guards said they would protect public property and that safeguarding security was a "red line" as unrest across the country stretched into another night. Rights groups say dozens of people have been killed over the past two weeks. Tehran cut Internet service and President Trump expressed support for protesters. He's also taking a more cautious approach. U.S. intelligence assessments determined that the protests are not big enough to prompt regime change. Trump also has not offered support to the late Shah's son and crown-prince-in-exile Reza Pahlavi.
Frustration: Donald Trump's capture of Nicolas Maduro and focus on Venezuela and foreign affairs are worrying his aides and Republican lawmakers who think he should pay more attention to domestic problems. Oil companies summoned to the White House to discuss Venezuela are trying to balance Trump's enthusiasm for the task with the concerns of their investors. Exxon Mobil's CEO called the country "uninvestable" absent big changes.
Precipitation: The weather across Europe is proving intimidating all on its own. A strong winter storm cut power to thousands of homes, crippled public transport and trapped drivers in snow. Kyiv turned off its power, water and heat systems for repairs after Russian attacks. Temperatures reached lows of -10C, or 14F.
From the field: We visited a business park northwest of Los Angeles to learn how the U.S. trade war is affecting smaller businesses. They will have to wait at least a week to find out whether the Supreme Court will allow those tariffs to stand. If the justices strike them down, there will be a big fight over how to get refunds on the $150 billion companies have already paid.
Money: Trump said the administration will ban Wall Street firms from buying up single-family homes in a bid to reduce house prices. He also ordered his "representatives" to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to lower housing costs and proposed a one-year cap on credit-card interest rates at 10%. The efforts are meant to appeal to struggling American voters, but it's not clear if they will work.
Make it a double: Officials at the Department of Health & Human Services were working on a proposal to halve the recommended limit for men's alcohol consumption. Then the Trump administration killed it.
Make it a single: The CDC now recommends that U.S. children get a single dose of a vaccine against human papilloma virus at age 11, rather than the recommended two or three doses. It also ended longstanding guidance that children receive vaccines against the flu, rotavirus, meningococcal disease and hepatitis A. And more than 80% of the 310 measles cases reported in South Carolina are among unvaccinated people.
Before I forget…
Viktor Orbán wanted financial support from the U.S. as he tries to fend off an emboldened opposition. Trump wished the Hungarian prime minister "best of luck" instead.
Air-traffic controllers lost contact with most aircraft in Greek airspace last Sunday when communications systems failed – and nobody knows why.
I saved the imponderables for last: How do you put a price tag on Greenland? How does Denmark rally support for a territory whose population wants independence and whose biggest opposition party wants to negotiate directly with Washington?
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