|  | | | | | | | | | Highlights | | | | | | President Donald Trump's pick for U.S. attorney general says he will not 'be bullied' by anybody, including the president. William Barr told lawmakers at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday he would not shy away from breaking ranks with the administration. Much of the questioning he was given centered on the Mueller probe, which Trump frequently criticizes as a “witch hunt”. “On my watch, Bob [Special Counsel Robert Mueller] will be allowed to complete his work,” said Barr, who completed his testimony on Tuesday although the hearing has a second day scheduled for today. | | | | Four U.S. soldiers have been killed and three wounded in a blast near Syria’s northern city of Manbij, a U.S. official said. Two witnesses described the blast to Reuters. “An explosion hit near a restaurant, targeting the Americans, and there were some forces for the Manbij Military Council with them,” one said. | | | | The U.S. economy is taking a larger-than-expected hit from the partial government shutdown. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that nearly four in 10 U.S. adults said they were either affected by the impasse or know someone who is. With the shutdown dragging on, federal courts will run out of operating funds on Jan. 25 and face “serious disruptions” if the shutdown continues, according to a court statement. Neither President Donald Trump nor Democratic congressional leaders show signs of bending on the topic that triggered it - funding for a wall Trump promised to build along the border with Mexico.
| | | | Bank of America reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit. Higher interest income and loan growth eclipsed declines in revenue from investment banking and bond trading, sending its shares up 3 percent. The second-biggest U.S. lender’s results were underpinned by the central bank’s four rate hikes in 2018 and a strong job market that kept bad loans in check and borrowing healthy. | | | | | | | | | | | | | World | | Russia says it caught former U.S. marine accused of spying red-handed. Paul Whelan, a former U.S. marine who also holds British, Canadian and Irish passports, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service on Dec. 28. “He was detained at the moment he was carrying out specific illegal actions in his hotel,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a news conference. Whelan faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty of espionage.
| | | | The United States and Britain have conducted their first joint drills in contested South China Sea since China built island bases there. A U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer the USS McCampbell, which is based in Japan, and a Royal Navy frigate, HMS Argyll, which is on a tour of Asia, conducted communication drills and other exercises “to address common security priorities”, the U.S. Navy said in a press release. | | | | Commentary: Are China, Russia winning the AI arms race? Are China and Russia winning the artificial intelligence arms race? AI has created new avenues for intelligent weapons systems and both Beijing and Moscow are ramping up their investment in the field, writes global affairs columnist Peter Apps. "As the world’s most powerful autocratic states, Russia and China have that capability and intent, both to use AI to maintain government dominance at home and beat enemies beyond."
| | | | | | .@Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been imprisoned in Myanmar for 401 days. Follow updates on the case: https://reut.rs/2DbNoAx 7:20 AM - 16 Jan 2019 | | | | | | | | | | | Technology | | Netflix Inc is raising monthly fees for its U.S. subscribers by between 13 percent and 18 percent. Prices for its popular standard plan, which allows streaming on two devices at the same time, will rise to $12.99 per month from $10.99, the video streaming pioneer’s first price increase since 2017. 3 min read | | | | Facebook Inc told Reuters on Tuesday that it would extend some of its political advertising rules and tools for curbing election interference to India, Nigeria, Ukraine and the European Union before significant votes in the next few months. 5 min read | | | | Chief Financial Officer Tim Stone will be leaving Snap Inc less than a year after taking the job, the company said on Tuesday, the latest in a string of executive departures from Snap over the past year. Shares of Snap dropped 8 percent to $6.02 in after market trading.
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