10 things you need to know today: January 26, 2019

1. Trump, Congress approve deal to reopen government

Congress approved a deal to reopen the government on Friday after a five-week partial shutdown, the longest in history. President Trump promptly signed the agreement, which funds government agencies for three weeks to provide Republicans and Democrats time to negotiate a deal on border security. The pact, widely interpreted as a defeat for Trump, did not include the $5.7 billion that Trump demanded for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, the issue that caused the shutdown. Trump said in the White House Rose Garden that if a congressional conference committee does not come up with a "fair deal" providing a wall by Feb. 15 the government could shut down again, or he could declare a national emergency to build it, a move that would be expected to face legal challenges.

The Washington Post

2. Roger Stone vows to beat Mueller's charges

Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Trump, said Friday he was not guilty of charges of lying to Congress and obstructing Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference. He is accused of lying about his pursuit of Russian-hacked emails damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign that were published by WikiLeaks. "After a two-year inquisition, the charges today relate in no way to Russian collusion, WikiLeaks collaboration," or any other crime in the 2016 campaign, said Stone, who was arrested early Friday at his Florida home. He called Mueller's investigation "politically motivated." He also said he would never cut a deal and testify against his old friend Trump. Outside the courthouse, critics shouted "lock him up" and supporters said "we got your back, Roger."

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Orlando Sentinel The Associated Press

3. Elliott Abrams named Trump special envoy in Venezuela crisis

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday that Elliott Abrams, a controversial neoconservative who was entangled in the Iran-Contra affair, has been appointed as a Trump administration special envoy to Venezuela. The South American nation is locked in a leadership crisis. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó has claimed to be "interim president" as protests build against Nicolás Maduro, who is resisting calls to leave power after claiming reelection in a vote widely seen as fraudulent. The U.S. has backed Guaidó. "This crisis in Venezuela is deep and difficult and dangerous, and I can't wait to get to work on it," Abrams said. Pompeo and Abrams plan to ask the United Nations on Saturday to recognize Guaidó. Russia supports Maduro, its socialist ally.

Politico Reuters

4. Judge sentences 3 militia members to decades in prison for anti-Muslim plot

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Kansas on Friday sentenced three militia members to decades in prison their roles in a foiled plot to kill Muslims. Melgren sentenced the alleged ringleader, Patrick Stein, to 30 years. Curtis Allen, who wrote the group's manifesto, got 25 years in prison. Gavin Wright, who was believed to have tested explosives at his mobile home business, was sentenced to 26 years. The plot was disrupted when another militia member alerted authorities. Melgren rejected pleas for leniency from defense attorneys, who said the men were motivated by the nation's divisive political climate to try to blow up a mosque and apartments housing Somali immigrants. In the emotional hearing, one of the targeted victims said: "Please don't hate us."

The Associated Press

5. Judge calls for sealed hearing on whether Manafort breached plea deal

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, the federal judge overseeing former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's criminal case in Washington, D.C., said Friday she had not determined whether Manafort had violated his plea agreement by lying to prosecutors. Jackson scheduled a sealed Feb. 4 hearing to hear arguments in the case. "I know everyone in the courtroom who is here does not want that to be the case, but we will do our best to get as much of the transcript released as soon as possible," she said. Special Counsel Robert Mueller says Manafort broke his plea agreement by lying about several things, including his contacts with the Trump administration officials and Konstantin Kilimnik, a former business associate suspected of ties to Russian intelligence, during the 2016 presidential campaign.

The Hill

6. House intelligence panel to release Russia investigation transcripts

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Friday that the panel would release all transcripts of interviews in its investigation into Russian election interference to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office. Schiff made the announcement after Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Trump, was arrested as part of Mueller's inquiry. "This is now the second witness who has been indicted for or plead guilty to making false statements in testimony before our committee," Schiff said. "The first order of business for the Committee will be to release all remaining transcripts to the special counsel's office, and we will continue to follow the facts wherever they lead."

Reuters

7. Ex-teacher accused of helping ISIS appears in Texas court

Former Texas substitute teacher Warren Christopher Clark appeared in a Houston court on Friday to face charges that he tried to provide material support to the Islamic State in Syria. Clark, 34, was ordered held without bail. He was captured recently by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and transferred this week to U.S. law enforcement authorities, the Justice Department said. Researchers at George Washington University's Program on Extremism first identified Clark and determined that he had submitted a resume and cover letter to the Islamic State. "Dear Director, I am looking to get a position teaching English to students in the Islamic State," he wrote in the cover letter. "Teaching has given me the opportunity to work with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and learning capabilities."

The Associated Press

8. Mexico says shelters for asylum seekers already full

The Trump administration's policy requiring asylum-seeking migrants to remain in Mexico while awaiting immigration processing took effect on Friday. Officials in Tijuana, Mexico said the shelters for the migrants were already overwhelmed. Before an expected influx of asylum seekers anticipated under the policy, immigrant advocates said they were concerned migrants turned away at the border would be left with nowhere to stay. Migrants attempting to seek asylum may be barred from the U.S. for up to a year before seeing a judge, and the new policy, announced in December, will require all non-Mexican migrants who aren't granted modified screening to wait outside the country or face deportation.

Reuters

9. Greece ratifies deal settling dispute over Macedonia's name

Greek lawmakers on Friday ratified a U.S.-backed deal to end a 27-year dispute over the name of its northern neighbor, Macedonia. The agreement calls for changing the name of the Balkan country to the Republic of North Macedonia. Greece rejected Macedonia's name when it gained independence in 1991 because there is a region in Greece with the same name. While the dispute dragged on, Greece had vetoed its neighbor's effort to join the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Despite continuing opposition within Greece to the deal, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev touted the deal as "historic."

BBC News The Wall Street Journal

10. Brazilian mining company's dam bursts, killing 9 and leaving hundreds missing

At least nine people were killed and up to 300 are missing after a dam that held back mining waste collapsed, burying a restaurant where mining workers were eating lunch and sweeping through the surrounding community. "The principal victims were our own workers," Fabio Schvartsman, CEO of the Brazilian mining company Vale. Schvartsman said it was not immediately clear what caused the catastrophe. There were 427 workers at the site when the dam crumbled, and only 279 could be accounted for in the immediate aftermath. The governor's office of Minas Gerais state issued a statement saying nine bodies had been recovered, but authorities feared they would find more victims as rescue and recovery teams continue to dig through several feet of mud.

The Associated Press