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| TOP STORIES |
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| Scientists: Human activity has pushed Earth beyond four of nine ‘planetary boundaries’ |
| At the rate things are going, the Earth in the coming decades could cease to be a “safe operating space” for human beings. That is the conclusion of a new paper published Thursday in the journal Science by 18 researchers trying to gauge the breaking points in the natural world. Read full article » |
| JERUSALEM — Soon after four Jewish men were killed in a hostage-taking siege at a kosher market in Paris last week, the Israeli leadership leapt to offer refuge.“To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray; the state of Israel is your home,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address. Read full article » |
| Two suspected Islamist militants killed as Belgian police conduct anti-terror raids |
| PARIS — Belgian counterterrorism police conducted raids across their nation Thursday, killing two suspected Islamist militants and disrupting an alleged plot to launch an attack that would have been the second instance of homegrown Islamist violence in Europe in just eight days, officials said. Read full article » |
| Ben Carson holds up Islamic State for willingness to die for convictions |
| SAN DIEGO — Dr. Ben Carson, the renowned neurosurgeon now contemplating a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, held up Islamic State militants for their willingness to die for their convictions at a time when he said many Americans are prepared to give up their own values. Read full article » |
| FBI files tell how addicted agent was able to get the drugs |
| FBI agent Matthew Lowry checked out Item 1B4 from the evidence room at the bureau’s Washington field office on an August morning in 2013. He wrote “to lab” on a log sheet to explain why he was taking drugs that had been seized in an undercover operation dubbed Midnight Hustle. Read full article » |
| U.S. eases Cuban trade and travel rules as it moves toward restoring full ties |
| The Obama administration announced new rules easing travel and trade restrictions against Cuba on Thursday, moving quickly to implement steps the president ordered less than a month ago when he said the United States would reestablish diplomatic relations with the island’s communist government. Read full article » |
| ‘Boy Who Came Back From Heaven’ going back to publisher |
| Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,” by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey.The best-selling book, first published in 2010, describes what Alex experienced while he lay in a coma after a car accident when he was 6 years old. The coma lasted two months, and his injuries left him paralyzed, but the subsequent spiritual memoir — with its assuring description of “Miracles, Angels, and Life beyond This World” — became part of a popular genre of “heavenly tourism,” which has been controversial among orthodox Christians. Read full article » |
| Oklahoma carries out first execution since botch after Supreme Court denies stay |
| More than eight months after a chaotic, botched execution in Oklahoma that drew intense criticism, triggered an investigation and prompted a revamped lethal injection procedure, the state resumed executions on Thursday. Read full article » |
| Duke University reverses decision, cancels weekly Muslim call to prayer |
| Duke University canceled plans Thursday to begin a weekly Muslim call to prayer from the campus chapel this week, an initiative that had set off debate on social media. A school spokesman and a Duke Muslim leader said that a serious and credible security threat played a role in the decision. Read full article » |
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| POLITICS |
| RNC set to issue rules to cut, regulate presidential debates |
| SAN DIEGO — Republican leaders on Friday plan to unveil new rules for presidential debates, marking the most aggressive effort yet by a national party committee to limit the number of forums and to shape the environment for the nominating season. Read full article » |
| On views of Bill de Blasio and police, Staten Island is an island unto itself |
| There's a key point worth pulling out of the new Quinnipiac poll looking at how New York has reacted to the tension between Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and the New York Police Department following the death of Eric Garner and two police officers. Namely: Staten Island itself is far more pro-police and anti-de Blasio than the rest of the city. Read full article » |
| IRS shutdown possible amid budget cuts, agency chief says |
| The Internal Revenue Service might shut down and send its employees home for a few days this summer if it can’t find a “reasonable way” to close an anticipated budget gap, according to the agency’s chief. Read full article » |
| Will the FCC’s net neutrality decision cost Americans $15 billion in new taxes? Nope |
| “Another reason this is so damaging to the private sector is the taxes that it is going to put on your broadband providers — an estimate of $15 billion in new taxes that would come in through a Title 2 regulation.” Read full article » |
| OPINIONS |
| Fareed Zakaria: U.S. intervention is not the answer |
| The Paris attacks were barbaric but also startling, leading many to ask what can be done to prevent this kind of terrorism. One man has a clear answer. “That attack you saw in Paris? You’ll see an attack in the United States,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the New York Times. Elaborating on how to stop this from happening, he told the Times and CNN that prevention will require a more aggressive strategy from the U.S. military across the greater Middle East, with ground troops and a no-fly zone in Syria and more troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read full article » |
| Charles Krauthammer: Obama: Charlie who? |
| On Sunday, at the great Paris rally, the whole world was Charlie. By Tuesday, the veneer of solidarity was exposed as tissue thin. It began dissolving as soon as the real, remaining Charlie Hebdo put out its post-massacre issue featuring a Muhammad cover that, as the New York Times put it, “reignited the debate pitting free speech against religious sensitivities.” Read full article » |
| Catherine Rampell: Obamacare’s employer mandate must go |
| Republicans are right: The employer health insurance mandate is dumb. But gently rejiggering it, as the GOP is trying to do, is not the solution. The mandate should instead get full death-panel treatment and be euthanized once and for all. Read full article » |
| The Hire More Heroes Act is misguided. There is no veterans’ unemployment crisis. |
| Last week, the House of Representatives unanimously approved the Hire More Heroes Act, which would exempt businesses from counting newly hired military veterans toward the 50-worker threshold at which they must provide health insurance or pay a fine under the Affordable Care Act. Although the bill calls veterans “heroes,” it treats them as victims. Read full article » |
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| LOCAL |
| Metro to face passenger lawsuit after riders were trapped in smoke-filled train |
| Sixty-eight hours after Monday’s Metro ordeal, in which scores of choking passengers were trapped on a smoke-filled subway train and one of them died, the legal fallout began at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in the offices of a personal-injury law firm. Read full article » |
| D.C. area forecast: Chilly breezes offset near normal temperatures today, but lots of sun through Saturday |
| It’s somewhat windy and wintry, but at least we’ll have some sunshine today. Read full article » |
| Majority of U.S. public school students are in poverty |
| For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students come from low-income families, according to a new analysis of 2013 federal data, a statistic that has profound implications for the nation. Read full article » |
| Religion events around the Washington area |
| Application deadline: Feb. 1. Young Organists Competition, co-sponsored by the D.C. chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land, scheduled for May 17 at the monastery. Three organists will be selected from a taped preliminary round to compete for cash prizes. Official rules and entry forms available atwww.dcago.org or by calling 202-526-6800. Read full article » |
| SPORTS |
| Wizards find validation in wins over Spurs, Bulls as playoff expectations rise |
| Before his team added another standout performance to its increasingly impressive résumé Wednesday night, Washington Wizards Coach Randy Wittman challenged his players.Finally beating the San Antonio Spurs to terminate a nine-year losing streak was gratifying. A day later came another chance to knock off one of the conference’s top teams, the Chicago Bulls, on their home floor. They could validate the first victory with a second, Wittman said. Don’t settle. Read full article » |
| Is it just down to the contract details for John Fox and the Bears? |
| John Fox is not the head coach of the Bears — yet. But there are some strong indications that he will be, and discussions may already have progressed to contract details.Fox was let go as head coach of the Broncos on Monday, and he immediately became widely considered a front-runner for the Chicago job. That linkage became official on Wednesday, when Fox talked with Bears officials at their headquarters. Read full article » |
| Nate Robinson not in the Wizards’ plans |
| The Washington Wizards waived Glen Rice Jr. last week because they desired roster flexibility as the trading and buyout deadlines approach in hopes of supplementing a roster already among the best in the Eastern Conference. Read full article » |
| TV and radio listings: January 16 |
| NBA7 p.m. Brooklyn at Washington » Comcast SportsNet, WNEW (99.1 FM)8 p.m. Golden State at Oklahoma City » ESPN10:30 p.m. Cleveland at Los Angeles Clippers » ESPNNHL Read full article » |
| FEDERAL GOVERNMENT |
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| Other agencies can learn from dismissal of Secret Service officials |
| Bouncing a half-dozen senior officials is one way to get the attention of a slow-moving bureaucracy.News that the Secret Service is removing four top leaders and that two others are retiring is a major quake for an agency that was considered the epitome of stability from one administration to the next, no matter the party of the president. Read full article » |
| Report: State Department considers ending its domestic-partner benefits |
| The State Department may halt its domestic-partner benefits for gay employees in light of the 2013 Supreme Court decision that overturned a key portion of the Defense of Marriage Act, according to agency officials. Read full article » |
| NATIONAL |
| What do the academy and the military have in common? |
| One of the common tropes in the War on College is that the academy is so politically homogeneous and liberal. And that accusation is pretty much accurate. Poll after poll shows that academics are far more liberal than the rest of the country. I don’t need the polls to tell me this. Compared to the rest of the country, I’m a RINO-type moderate. Compared with the rest of the academy, I’m slightly to the right of Attilla the Hun. Read full article » |
| Metro’s a mess. All the more reason to ride it. |
| From the first reports of a “mass casualty incident” to the grainy YouTube videos of passengers coughing violently, passing out, and praying, the horrific events on board a smoke-filled Yellow Line Metro train Monday shook the city and the region. Then came news that the incident had claimed a woman’s life. It was enough to make you never want to ride Metro again. Read full article » |
| The religious chants the Islamic State is using to woo recruits |
| Paris is on high alert this week after terrorists killed 17 people. Though the attackers were affiliated with the Islamic State, reports suggest at least some were French-born. Which means they might have been wooed by the organization’s infamous recruiting videos. Read full article » |
| WORLD |
| Belgian Muslims face renewed anger, alienation after attacks in Paris |
| VILVOORDE, Belgium — In a Belgian town where dozens of young people have departed to wage jihad in Syria, the bloody attacks in Paris were the mosque director’s worst nightmare.Just days after the deadly assaults in the French capital, anti-Muslim graffiti went up at the soccer stadium in this hardscrabble Brussels suburb where marginalized Muslim youths have proved susceptible to quick radicalization. Far-right Flemish nationalist parties warned of sweeping new security measures aimed at Muslim communities. And after modest success in containing surging Islamist extremism, mosque director Mimoun Aquichouch worried anew about a setback. Read full article » |
| Map: The places where Islamic face veils are banned |
| This week, Chinese state media reported that Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region had approved a ban on the wearing of the Islamic burqa in public spaces in the city of Urumqi. Xinhua News Agency reported that the garment, which is worn by some Islamic communities and covers the face and body, was being banned to target "growing extremism" in an area inhabited by many Muslim members of the Uighur minority. Read full article » |
| How the Paris attacks turned into a war of words between Israel and Turkey |
| The two nations were once allies, but things have rarely been warm between Turkey and Israel since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power in 2003. Things took a marked turn for the worse after the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, which Turkey's foreign minister once described as "like 9/11" for his country. Read full article » |
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| BUSINESS |
| How Target’s epic failure in Canada could spell future trouble for the retailer |
| It was less than two years ago that Target opened its first store in Canada, marking the big-box retailer's first foray outside the United States. There were plenty of reasons to expect the expansion to be profitable: Wal-Mart had successfully pushed into Canada years earlier and Target followed its rivals' playbook, buying an established big-box chain and renaming the stores. The Target brand was already beloved by Canadians who made trips over the border to go to its U.S. stores, a sign that the retailer would have an enthusiastic customer base. Read full article » |
| The coolest cars from the Detroit auto show you can actually afford (and some you definitely can’t) |
| The North American International Auto Show this week in Detroit was a grown-up fantasyland for car fanatics, full of sleek luxury concepts and silky supercars worth more than your house. But among all the pomp and grandeur, there were actually -- surprise -- some things the common driver could afford and enjoy. Here's a roundup of a few you might soon find in your driveway -- plus several of the glitziest debuts for dessert. Read full article » |
| This powerful Reddit thread reveals how the poor get by in America |
| The poor pay more for everything, from rolls of toilet paper to furniture. It's not because they're spendthrifts, either. If you're denied a checking account, there's no way for you to avoid paying a fee to cash a paycheck. If you need to buy a car to get to work, you'll have to accept whatever higher interest rate you're offered. If you don't have a car, the bus fare might eat up the change you'd save shopping at a larger grocery store as opposed to the local corner store. Read full article » |
| TECHNOLOGY |
| Using Facebook and Twitter a lot can actually decrease stress — if you’re a woman |
| It's become almost common knowledge now that being constantly connected makes us unhappy, particularly when it comes to being inundated with incessant social media posts. There's a reason that "unplugging" was a popular New Year's resolution for 2015. Read full article » |
| China’s Xiaomi takes aim at Apple with new phone |
| BEIJING — Rising smartphone star Xiaomi is moving upmarket and taking aim at Apple’s iPhone.The Chinese manufacturer known for ultra-low-priced handsets on Thursday unveiled a new model that Chairman Jun Lei said is comparable to Apple’s iPhone 6 but thinner, lighter and much cheaper. The phone starts at 2,299 yuan ($375), less than half the 5,288 yuan ($865) price of an iPhone 6 in China. Read full article » |
| Elon Musk’s fear of Terminators just netted researchers $10 million |
| Elon Musk, the PayPal co-founder behind SpaceX and Tesla Motors, is really worried about artificial intelligence -- so worried that he's donated $10 million to support research "aimed at keeping AI beneficial to humanity." Read full article » |
| The Switchboard: Google and Facebook help launch a ‘super-coalition’ to fight patent trolls |
| Published every weekday, the Switchboard is your morning helping of hand-picked stories from the Switch team.Remember to join us at 11 a.m. Eastern on Friday for Switchback, our weekly livechat for all things tech. Read full article » |
| LIFESTYLE |
| From guilty pleasure to Emmy Awards: The delightfully weird history of Lifetime movies |
| For many people, the phrase “Lifetime movie” is synonymous with curling up on a lazy weekend afternoon in front of the TV, trying but thoroughly unable to tear yourself away from a movie called “My Stepson, My Lover.” Read full article » |
| Samuel Goldwyn Jr., second-generation Hollywood producer, dies at 88 |
| Samuel Goldwyn Jr. grew up with Hollywood royalty.Charlie Chaplin, Katharine Hepburn, Clark Gable and George Cukor were among the luminaries who would come to his parents’ palatial home for parties or tennis. Read full article » |
| Is that baby yours? |
| “Is that your baby?” asked the man on the subway.“Yup,” I smiled, thinking of the triumphant moment when I arrived at the hospital and was determined to already be 10 centimeters dilated.It wasn’t the answer he was after, but there was no need to explain that. Read full article » |
| Carolyn Hax: Intimate relationships can’t be all about one partner’s satisfaction |
| Dear Carolyn:I am a 70-year-old dating a 71-year-old widower. He divorced his first wife for infidelity, and the second marriage was not terribly happy as well, though he says “at least she was faithful.” Read full article » |
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