10 things you need to know today: February 20, 2015

Peshmerga fighters stand guard outside of Mosul.

(Image credit: (AP Photo, File))

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1. Pentagon lays out plans, dates to retake Mosul from ISIS
2. Walmart promises to lift wages for 500,000 employees
3. Record cold hits the East
4. Caracas mayor arrested, accused of planning a coup
5. Germany turns down Greece's initial bailout extension terms
6. Texas high court halts gay marriages
7. Bill O'Reilly accused of having his own "Brian Williams problem"
8. Man arrested in connection with Las Vegas road-rage killing
9. Giuliani defends controversial remarks about Obama
10. Parks and Recreation exec Harris Wittels, 30, found dead

last updated 21 February 2015

1. Pentagon lays out plans, dates to retake Mosul from ISIS

In a briefing on Thursday, a U.S. Central Command official detailed how and when up to 25,000 Iraqi troops plan to retake Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, from Islamic State control, starting in April or May. Twelve brigades will be involved, the official said: five that will lead the attack, three acting as backup, three Kurdish peshmerga brigades to keep ISIS boxed in, and a force of former Mosul police and other leaders tasked with keeping control of the city once ISIS is pushed out. It is unusual for military officials to detail plans for an attack beforehand.

Walmart pledged Thursday to raise the wages of a half million U.S. employees, boosting them to at least $9 an hour this year, and to $10 an hour by next February. Economists said the move by the giant retailer could signal that wage growth is finally picking up six years into the recovery from the Great Recession. The raises will affect about 500,000 of the company's 1.4 million U.S. workers at Walmart and Sam's Club stores.

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A blast of Arctic air brought East Coast temperatures to record lows on Thursday, with still colder weather expected in some areas on Friday. In parts of the upper Midwest, Thursday temperatures plunged to minus 35 early Thursday. Sub-zero temperatures hit a broad area stretching from North Dakota south to Kentucky and east to New York. Chicago hit a record low for Feb. 19 at eight degrees below zero. All-time February lows are forecast from Ohio to Virginia early Friday.

Venezuelan intelligence police on Thursday arrested Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, an outspoken critic of President Nicolas Maduro and his handling of the economy. In a televised statement, Maduro said Ledezma was detained on the public prosecutor's orders for instigating a coup. "Enough already of vampires conspiring against the peace," he said. Maduro also claimed the U.S. was attempting to destabilize his government, allegations the U.S. State Department called "baseless and false."

Germany rejected Greece's proposal to extend its European bailout package for six months, saying Thursday that the new Greek government's proposal was "not a substantial solution" because it did not stick to the austerity measures required under the original loan terms. Some analysts interpreted the rejection as a sign that Greece and its new anti-austerity government were destined to exit the eurozone. A senior Greek official said, however, that the two sides were near a deal heading into a Friday meeting.

The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday halted gay marriages after a lesbian couple became the first same-sex partners to wed in the state. The Texas high court stayed two court rulings calling the state's gay marriage ban unconstitutional. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared the marriage of the couple — Sarah Goodfriend and Suzanne Bryant — to be "void" after the Supreme Court decision. A county clerk in Austin had issued Goodfriend and Bryant a license because one had "severe and immediate health concerns."

Mother Jones published an article Thursday accusing Fox News star Bill O'Reilly of claiming he was in the Falkland Islands during Argentina's 1982 war with Britain, even though no U.S. reporters are believed to have made it to the islands. O'Reilly, who worked for CBS at the time, called the magazine's assertion that he had a "Brian Williams problem" "a piece of garbage," saying he never said he was in the islands. "I was in Buenos Aires," O'Reilly said. "In Buenos Aires we were in a combat situation after the Argentines surrendered."

Las Vegas police on Thursday arrested a 19-year-old man, Erich Nowsch, on suspicion of killing a Las Vegas woman, Tammy Meyers, after a road rage incident. Meyers was giving her 15-year-old daughter a driving lesson when the girl honked the horn at a car speeding by. The driver of the other vehicle stopped in front of the women and threatened them. Nowsch lives a block away from the Meyers' house. Tammy Meyers' husband said she knew Nowsch, and had given money and mentored him.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) defended Thursday remarks he made about President Obama's patriotism at a fundraiser Wednesday night for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). During the event, he said, "I do not believe that the president loves America." Giuliani told The New York Times on Thursday that he was not being prejudiced when he made the statement. "Some people thought it was racist — I thought that was a joke, since he was brought up by a white mother, a white grandfather, went to white schools, and most of this he learned from white people," he said. "This isn't racism. This is socialism or possibly anti-colonialism."

Parks and Recreation co-executive producer Harris Wittels was found dead Thursday at his Los Angeles home. He was 30. Police said they suspected a drug overdose, although the coroner's office will have to perform an autopsy to confirm it. Amy Poehler, star of the NBC sitcom, mourned Wittels as a "dear, young friend in my life who was struggling with addiction." Wittels also co-wrote the series and occasionally appeared as an animal control staffer. The show's final season concludes Feb. 24.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.