Donald Trump, Austin, Snowstorm: Your Wednesday Briefing
March 21, 2018 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
• He is believed to be involved in at least five bombs that have detonated this month in Austin and San Antonio, killing at least two people and wounding five. Here’s what we know about the bombings.
Scraping Facebook
• Regulators, prosecutors, politicians and investors are all asking whether the social network mishandled user data.
The business model of Mark Zuckerberg’s company is under scrutiny after reports that a political consulting firm improperly obtained information on 50 million users.
• The firm, Cambridge Analytica, suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, on Tuesday.
Spring started on Tuesday
• Starting today, however, 18 inches of snow could fall in New York City. Find the latest here.
Suing to speak about an affair
• Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, is the second woman this month to challenge efforts by allies of President Trump to bury stories about extramarital relationships.
She is suing The National Enquirer’s parent company — whose chief executive is a friend of the president’s — which paid her $150,000 to keep quiet.
• Separately on Tuesday, a ruling in a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Trump raised the possibility of a public airing of other accusations of sexual misconduct.
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Multimillionaire versus billionaire
• The Illinois governor’s race could become one of the most expensive in history.
After winning their parties’ nominations on Tuesday, the Republican incumbent, Bruce Rauner, a private-equity executive, will face J. B. Pritzker, a Democrat and billionaire philanthropist, this fall. Here are full results from the primary.
• In a congressional race that became a fight between moderate and progressive Democrats, the longtime representative Daniel Lipinski narrowly defeated a challenger from the left, Marie Newman. A Republican denounced by his party as a Nazi also won.
Yet another U.S. school shooting
• “If you don’t think this can happen at your school, you are sadly mistaken.”
A school superintendent in Maryland had a familiar warning after a shooting left the suspect dead and two students wounded. The police said the gunman, a 17-year-old student, had been confronted by an armed deputy at Great Mills High.
• The shooting occurred a little over a month after 17 people were killed at a school in Florida. A nationwide march in support of gun control is planned for this weekend.
The Daily
Listen to ‘The Daily’: The Data Harvesters
How did the brains behind Cambridge Analytica, the political research firm that worked with the Trump campaign, become its whistle-blower?
Business
• In trade talks with Mexico and Canada, the U.S. is pushing to limit warning labels on junk food.
• Lawyers for Bill O’Reilly and Fox News argued for the dismissal of the defamation lawsuit brought by three women who reached harassment settlements.
Separately, a longtime analyst for Fox News, Ralph Peters, is leaving, telling colleagues that the network had become “a mere propaganda machine.”
• U.S. stocks were up on Tuesday. Here’s a snapshot of global markets today.
Smarter Living
Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.
• Renovating? Here’s some advice.
• Enjoy fine dining on a fast-food budget.
• Recipe of the day: Get through Wednesday with this no-bake mango dessert.
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What We’re Reading
An inside look at the media diet of Times staff members:
• If you’ve ever seen a mind-blowing photograph of Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s swirls or the heart shape across Pluto, it’s thanks in no small part to NASA’s Deep Space Network. Shannon Stirone takes you behind the scenes of the infrastructure, which she describes as “worn out” and threatened by insufficient funding and outdated hardware. [Longreads] — Michael Roston, senior staff editor, Science
• “A magazine started by Elizaveta Osetinskay, a Russian journalist based in the U.S., found and interviewed one of the scientists involved in developing the nerve agents known as Novichok. The scientist, Vladimir Uglev, both confirms the existence of the substances (which some Russian officials said didn’t exist) and points out potential problems in Western accounts of its use against a former Russian spy in Britain.” [The Bell] — Ellen Barry, London correspondent
Noteworthy
• A war that hasn’t ended
Fifteen years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, The Times is reintroducing At War, which began in 2009 as a blog for our journalists and contributors in Baghdad.
The new iteration will continue to tell stories of the American war experience while expanding its coverage to global conflicts. In the first essay, a veteran Marine lieutenant recalls leading tanks into Baghdad in 2003.
• Finding a place at the bar
Our Food section discusses blended scotch, which is seeking a role beyond legacy drinkers and cocktails.
• Best of late-night TV
Noting the administration’s turnover rate, Jimmy Kimmel said, “Trump goes through cabinet members like he goes through cheeseburgers and Aqua Net: fast.”
And two books about Vice President Mike Pence’s pet bunny, Marlon Bundo, were published this week. One is a picture book. The other, the brainchild of John Oliver, is a gay romance.
• Quotation of the day
“Our teachers in Oklahoma are going above and beyond every single day for an unacceptable and unsustainable salary that doesn’t even provide them with a living wage.”
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— Deborah Gist, Tulsa schools superintendent.
• The Times, in other words
Here’s an image of today’s front page, and links to our Opinion content and crossword puzzles.
Back Story
Each week, The Times’s crossword column, Wordplay, highlights the answer to one of the most difficult clues from the previous week’s puzzles.
This week’s word: nene.
If it looks like a goose and honks like a goose, it should just be a goose, right? The nene, however, is special. Not only is it Hawaii’s state bird, it’s also the world’s rarest goose.
Its webbed feet have adapted to living on hardened lava, but it is a weak flier. Nenes were once hunted nearly to extinction, but conservation efforts have bolstered their population.
Another reason to know your nenes is that, although rare in the wild, they often come up in crossword puzzles. Nene has been an entry in Times crosswords 295 times since 1944.
It appeared in the puzzle on March 12 with the clue “Hawaiian goose.” The word might also appear in easy puzzles with the clue “Hawaiian state bird” or “Hawaiian honker.”
Later in the week, as the crosswords become harder, it might be referred to as “Aloha State bird,” “Endangered state bird,” “Lava geese,” “Bird so-called from its call” or “Gray-brown goose.”
You can find out about the nene and other birds that appear regularly in our Crossword Aviary.
Deb Amlen contributed reporting.
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