World Daily Top News

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Largest-ever U.S. border seizure of fentanyl made in Arizona: officials

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

U.S. border agents have seized 254 pounds (115 kg) of fentanyl that was stashed in a truck crossing into Arizona from Mexico, marking the largest single bust of the powerful opioid ever made at an American border checkpoint, officials said on Thursday.

U.S. charges 19 in Chinese 'birth tourism' scheme in California

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

Nineteen people have been charged in three "birth tourism" schemes that operated in Southern California to bring pregnant Chinese women into the United States in order to secure birthright citizenship for their children, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles said on Thursday.

Defense calls 'El Chapo' a 'fall guy' in drug trial closing argument

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

A lawyer for accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman told jurors on Thursday his client was a scapegoat, with even a famous 2015 prison escape part of an elaborate conspiracy to set him up as a "fall guy."

At least 12 dead as arctic freeze spreads into U.S. Northeast

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

A wave of frigid arctic air that paralyzed the U.S. Midwest and caused at least a dozen deaths swept across the Northeast on Thursday but was expected to move along by the weekend, making way for warmer weather.

In midst of U.S. arctic spell, outdoor workers just do their job

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

As the biting cold put Chicago into partial hibernation this week and the U.S. Postal Service kept mail carriers off the streets, Daly O'Brien was on the job, braving extreme conditions to deliver food to customers cocooned inside their toasty homes.

Trump's Mexico border mission may approach last year's peak size

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

The U.S. military is set to deploy 3,500 troops to its mission at the border with Mexico, U.S. officials said on Thursday, bringing the politically charged deployment back to near its peak level of about 5,900 in November, if only briefly.

Trump, Democrats battle in early stage of U.S. border security talks

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats on Thursday hardened their positions over a wall being built on the border with Mexico, raising new doubts over their ability to reach a deal just as negotiations were getting underway.

U.S. appeals court, House panel to take up net neutrality

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

A federal appeals court will hear arguments on Friday over whether the Trump administration acted legally when it repealed landmark net neutrality rules governing internet providers in December 2017.

Pennsylvania governor seeks natural gas tax to raise $4.5 billion

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf on Thursday proposed a tax on extracting natural gas to pay for his plan to spend $4.5 billion over the next four years to improve the state's infrastructure.

U.S. court finds Syria liable for journalist Colvin's killing

Reuters: U.S. Gulf January 31, 2019

A U.S. judge has ruled that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government is liable for at least $302.5 million in damages for its role in the 2012 death of renowned American journalist Marie Colvin while covering the Syrian civil war for Britain's Sunday Times.